"Let's hope so," she joked with a wry smile. "I'm not off to the best start." At least the pills were starting to kick in, dulling the sharp pain to a dull, persistent ache.

If he asked, Rogue would tell him that she wasn't looking for someone to spend her life with, not in that way. John Sheppard deserved a wife, someone to be madly in love with him. Everyone she'd met at Atlantis deserved that. But Rogue didn't want that life anymore. She had loved someone with her whole heart and soul, and she'd lost him. Now all she wanted was a friend, a partner to have her back. A different kind of relationship.