Trust Once Broken | SGA John Sheppard

0.44.0

Happy Reading!

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Several hours later Kai jerked awake. Her over tired mind tripped over itself as she fought to focus. She was still half asleep when she remembered the potential danger they were in. "We-" she mumbled and then her words were cut off as she caught sight of the Colonel crouching a few feet away. He was still under the shelter, he held a life signs detector in one hand and his handgun in the other. Flashes of lightning illuminated his face and she could see the steely resolve in the hard set of his jaw, but she could also see how exhausted he looked.

He turned at the sound of her voice and his gaze softened. "Hey," he said moving towards her. "How are you feeling?"

Kai frowned at his word choice. "How long was I out?" She finally asked.

John shrugged "Not that long, couple hours."

It didn't make her feel better. It felt like it had only been a couple minutes. She wrapped her arms around her torso as she shivered.

John noticed and glanced out into the forest. "The rain finally quit, but the wind is picking up," he said apologetically.

"Have you rested?" She asked. She subtly shifted her muscles, trying to gauge exactly how hurt she was without letting Sheppard know what she was doing. Her muscles were sore and all followed her commands, but her leg felt like it was on fire.

Johns jaw tightened as did his grip on his gun. "I will later," he allowed as casually as he could manage. He was feeling more protective than he should, and he knew Kai well enough to know she wouldn't appreciate it.

"Can you see anything out there?" she asked jerking her chin towards the dark forest. She could see well enough, but she never quite knew what everyone else saw.

John shook his head and trudged over to drop down next to her. When he noticed her shivering he slid over to sit closer to her. She tensed but didn't pull away.

"Temps going to keep dropping tonight," John said by way of explanation.

Kai didn't say anything, she stared off into the darkness and tried not to let her emotions get the best of her. She shifted a couple inches closer to Sheppard, hoping he wouldn't mind. She held herself rigid, waiting for his reaction but he simply exhaled and tipped his head back to rest against the rock wall.

"Why don't you get some sleep," she suggested. "I can take watch."

He pressed his lips together grimly. "Dawn is only a couple hours away, I wanna try and circle back and see if I can salvage either of our packs."

"Good idea," she agreed.

John froze and turned to look at her with exaggerated shock lining his features. "You must be dying, did you just tell me I had a good idea?"

Kai snorted. "Don't let it go to your head."

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Sheppard's eyes snapped open at dawn. Kai was sitting in exactly the same spot with the gun and the life signs detector in her lap. It worried him that she hadn't moved at all but he didn't want to draw attention to it. In the dim light of dawn he could see the vicious bruising on the pale skin around her neck. Her cheek bone was bruised and swollen as well. His hand tightened into a fist as a swirl of protective rage went through him. Overwhelmed with the need to move he shoved himself to his feet. He pulled his last powerbar out of his vest and handed her half of it. She looked for a moment like she was thinking of arguing, but finally took it.