walk in the wet and cold, PG-13

[mayachain]

Title: walk in the wet and cold
Character: Jennifer Keller
Pairings: Rodney/Jennifer, hints of John/Rodney and Jennifer/other
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~480
Summary: For the decision she made to affect all their lives, she needs to survive.
Note: The title is a line from this song.

The day Jennifer decides to break off her relationship with Rodney McKay, she finds herself alone in a ditch on M4X-593, nursing a broken ankle. She can hear the sounds of gunfire and Wraith darts overhead, can hear the shouts from Major Lorne and three marines. She bites her lip and only in the last moment remembers not to draw blood, presses herself against the muddy wall of her prison and makes no sound as heavy footsteps run by. I'm here, she wants to shout. Two years ago, she would have. Now, she knows the difference of combat boots and Wraith footwear on uneven ground. If she dies, her father will never know what happened to his little girl, will never hear about the adventures his daughter went through. The darts are mostly far away, but she gets mud all over herself anyway, trying to mold her body into the small indentation in the wall because they can change course so suddenly. There are screams from above, and she wants to scream, too, because a Wraith is feeding on one of her people and she cannot tell who the voice belongs to. If she dies, Rodney will never know about her decision, will mourn her as the wife he never got to marry. If she dies, the Colonel – – More gunfire, and the whine of stunners, and maybe an opening wormhole and a Jumper's engines, but the Stargate is too far away to hear anything, so it must be wishful thinking. Then there is silence, and more silence, and bird sounds and wind and leaves and finally, finally someone calling her name. Major Lorne is yelling “JenniFER!”; Sergeant Anders, from another direction, is booming “DOCTOR KELLER!!" and no-one seems to be shooting at them. She draws a breath to respond, I'm here, get me out, but the words get choked in her mouth. Stumbling footsteps. Not combat boots. She sees the Wraith before it sees her, shot through with bullets and not carrying a stunner. The small cuts and scrapes on her arms and legs were irrelevant before, when there was prey to be chased up and about. The nightmare sniffing the air above her is desperate, will fall unconscious if not for her life-force. If she dies, she will never get to see how her life will turn out. Trying as hard as she can not to make a sound, she draws her knife from its place as support for her ankle, remembers everything her own research and Teyla and Ronon have taught her. Pain-crazed eyes snap toward her, and she waits, gripping the knife tightly. She cannot do this to Rodney, to her father. She cannot do this to the Colonel, to the man she wants to meet, to the children she wants to have. She will not die.