Trust Once Broken | SGA John Sheppard

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Hello friends! Here is the exciting conclusion of Phantoms! It got a little long, but I'm really looking forward to the next two episodes! They will be a real turning point in John and Kai's relationship. I'm so grateful to all of you amazing readers who have stuck with this story for so long. You keep me engaged and loving writing this one.

Happy Reading!

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Phantoms Cont.
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John frowned down at Kai. "Holland?" he asked, his eyes clouded with confusion.

"John?" Kai said his name, but it was like he didn't hear her. "John," she snapped his name with more authority, hoping to startle him out of whatever it was he thought he saw. It didn't work, she tried to move, to reach out to touch him, but the motion pulled at her injury and she groaned in pain.

John jerked, the feel and sound of Kai's pain, somehow managing to penetrate the fog in his brain. "Are you okay?" he asked after a moment, kneeling down beside her. His face still looked haunted as though he had seen a ghost.

"Yes," she told him, still watching his face warily for any indication that whatever had caused the other men to turn on each other was about to appear. John was a fantastic soldier and would have been a danger to her at the best of times. The two of them sparred regularly and the only advantage she had was her speed. With her leg, she would be entirely at his mercy. Especially since she wasn't willing to resort to lethal force. She could feel nothing but vague concern through his end of the Bond.

John reached into his vest to pull out emergency medical supplies. "He got you pretty good," he said examining the gun shot wound on Kai's thigh. "Gotta stop the bleeding," he muttered almost to himself. He put a pressure wrap against the wound, tying it off.

Kai watched him, there was a slight tremble to his hands and he was focusing just a little too hard on what he was doing. He pulled the wrap tight and she sucked in a breath. John's eyes snapped to her face and his eyes seemed to clear for a second. Kai felt a flare of worry and she reached out and touched his cheek with her hand.

John caught his breath as he felt a warm pulse in the center of his chest. Kai. It was Kai in front of him. Not Holland. Holland was long since dead. He had already failed him. But Kai was here and she was injured. It was Kai's pain he could feel in the back of his mind like spiders under his skin. Kai's worry pushing past even her own pain. He could focus on that. He needed to take care of Kai. She was injured and he hated that she was more worried about him than about herself.

"Come on, let's get to some cover," he said. He reached down and helped her up.

Kai grit her teeth and didn't make a single noise of the pain she felt flare down her leg. She had been shot before, and this wasn't nearly as painful as when she had been shot in the stomach. John put her arm across his shoulders, using on arm to support her, while holding his side arm in the other hand. Kai drew her own hand gun and kept it in her free hand and the two of them started moving as quickly as they could through the dense underbrush.

They drew up short as they came across a primitive shelter, branches has been fashioned into walls and a camouflage tarp hung as a door. John and Kai exchanged a look and John jerked his chin towards a low hanging tree branch. Kai reached for it, using it to support her weight as she turned around to watch their backs.

John lifted his P-90 and slowly prowled towards the shelter. "Leonard?" he called quietly.

When there was no response he jerked the tarp aside. Inside, there were the wrappers from rations and a tarp on the ground that appeared to have been used as a bedroll. He turned back and moved towards Kai. "We're clear," he told her.