daisyscrapper

Building up for Romance chapter 4

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:34:38 GMT

Title: Building up for Romance
daisyscrapper
Characters: Ronon/Keller
Category: Ship Pairings
Genres: Romance
Rating: PG
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Ronon was grumpy at dinner. Sheppard watched for a few minutes as the big man swirled the food around on his plate. Amazed that he wasn’t eating, Sheppard decided to pull out whatever was bothering him.

“Ok, out with it. What’s wrong with you?” Not beating around the bush, Sheppard just plunged forward.

Grunting, Ronon just muttered something about idiot women.

Liking where this was going, Sheppard prodded further. “I take it that you haven’t gotten anywhere with the doctor?”

Ronon fumed. Deciding to vent, he told Sheppard about their conversation earlier today.

Not able to help it, Sheppard began laughing uncontrollably. Getting strange glances from tables across the room, he found himself crying he was laughing so hard. He sobered once he saw Ronon was about to tear his head off.

“Ok, ok,” he calmed down. “Sorry, man. It’s just too ironic. And what is wrong with you? Why didn’t you say anything? It was a perfect opening.”

Ronon shrugged. “I don’t think she feels the same way. What’s going to happen if she tells me she doesn’t feel that way towards me? I know what she’ll do… exactly what she did for Lorne… feel sorry for me.”

Sheppard tried not to laugh again. The gears in his head began spinning. “I have a plan, my friend. And by the way, I think you’re wrong about her feelings. But let’s play it safe. I decided to have a movie night tonight. In my quarters. I’ll spread the word to who I want to come. Just show up and be ready to put on a show. Around 2100.”

Ronon, confused at Sheppard’s wording of “putting on a show” shrugged and watched Sheppard leave the table.

Sheppard found everyone on his mental list to invite: Teyla, Dr. Keller, Ronon, and Major Lorne. He made sure they would arrive a little later than Ronon. Grinning when he heard Ronon enter his room without knocking, he told Ronon to help him push the bed and turn it around so that more people could sit on it while watching the TV. It would sit three and he set up two more chairs in the room.

Making Ronon take one side of the bed, he let the others in the room. As Sheppard predicted, both Teyla and Lorne each took a chair rather than sit next to Ronon on the bed since there was room. Jennifer, last to arrive, looked fresh from a hot shower and had put on a cotton running outfit. She looked a little tired, but was obviously excited to relax and watch a movie. Looking around the room, she said hi and then moved to the only available seat besides the floor- next to Ronon on the bed.

Suddenly noticing that Lorne was directly next to Ronon sitting a few feet away from the bed, she got nervous and remembered that he thought her and Ronon were dating. Inching closer to Ronon, she whispered “hi” while keeping her eyes lowered. Ronon, finally tuning in to Sheppard’s plan, almost burst out laughing at his friend’s antics to get him and Jennifer together. Sheppard, who had plenty of room on the remaining side of the bed, grinned over Jennifer’s shoulder as Ronon caught on and began the movie.

Pretending to remember what she had asked him earlier, Ronon glanced at Jennifer and wrapped an arm around her. Mortified that Teyla was watching with interest, Jennifer had no choice put to rest her head on Ronon’s shoulder and snuggled closer.

As the movie played, she relaxed more and began to enjoy the feeling of Ronon’s closeness. This was a bad idea, Jennifer, she thought. Especially after when happened during our training session today.

By the end of the movie, Jennifer had moved her head to the top of Ronon’s chest and was quietly breathing steady. Glancing down, and feeling his heart tug, Ronon discovered she was sleeping. As the credits rolled, the others stretched and thanked Sheppard for the movie. Teyla shot an amused glace over at Jennifer.

“Didn’t make it, did she?” Teyla asked quietly. Lorne, for the first time, also noticed she was sleeping soundly with her arms around Ronon’s body.

“You’re a lucky man, Ronon,” Lorne smiled.

Both left while Ronon shifted Jennifer into his arms and picked her off the bed. Turning to grin at Sheppard, he said “Remind me to thank you one day for this.”

Sheppard laughed, happy to see his friend in a better mood. “Anytime.”

Ronon carried her slowly to her room. Adjusting her weight to use a code to get into her room, her head dropped so that her mouth was grazing his neck. Sighing, she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. He heard her say his name softly and felt her lips press against his throat. He almost dropped her from the shock. Heat spread across his body as he moved her towards her bed.

Laying her down on the bed on one side, he pulled the covers back on the other side so that he could cover her. Untying her shoes, he pulled them off of her and set them next to the bed. Pulling the covers around her, he found himself not wanting to leave. Brushing the stray strands off of her face, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Sighing, he left her room and wondered if she would remember anything in the morning.

The next morning, Jennifer woke up very confused. Oh my gosh, she thought. I must have feel asleep last night. Embarrassed, she also vaguely remembered a dream she had, where Ronon had carried her off to bed and she couldn’t resist kissing him.

Wait a second, she thought. How did I get back here?

Frustrated that she couldn’t remember, she glanced at her watch. She was going to be late for her shift in the infirmary. Running a brush through her hair, she quickly pulled on her uniform and practically ran the entire way there.

The day went by quickly. A few electronical accidents as a team explored places they were unfamiliar with trickled in. Rodney came in with a splitting headache after drinking too much the previous night. Jennifer snickered at that. Sheppard came in with a nasty cut above his eye after sparring with Ronon. Surprised not to see Ronon walk Sheppard down, as he usually did whenever Sheppard got injured, Jennifer went over to talk to him while the nurse stitched him.

“So did you get anything to land on Ronon?” Jennifer teased.

Sheppard grinned. “Doctor. I see that you’re wide awake today,” Jennifer blushed. “Nope, I never had landed anything on him yet. But it won’t stop me from trying.”

Jennifer laughed at him and moved on to her next patient.

After showering and throwing on her work out clothes, Jennifer found herself nervous to face Ronon today. She wasn’t exactly sure what went on the previous night after she fell asleep. Deciding there was no use dwelling on it, she forced herself to open the door of the training room.

Inside, Ronon was practicing with a staff. He had already built up a healthy sweat. Jennifer almost drooled. What was coming over me? She asked herself while her eyes never left him. His muscles flexed with each movement as he continued his routine. Light headed, she sat down on the steps and tried not to disturb him.

Minutes later, Ronon noticed she was watching. “Hey,” he said. “Why didn’t you let me know you were here?” He wiped the sweat off of his body with the towel he had brought into the room.

Jennifer shrugged, pretending that she still had brain cells in her head.

Ronon beckoned her over and told her they would be covering balance today and how to use it to her advantage. He told her he was going to teach her how to send an opponent to the ground and possibly flip them over in the process.

Trying to relax, Jennifer laughed and told him she didn’t believe she could do it. But as he began showing her how to get someone off balance, she began to believe she could do this. As amazed as interested as she was, though, Jennifer couldn’t help feeling more attraction to him as his voice instructed her what to do and as Ronon’s hands kept correcting her stance or position.

Ronon smiled as he noticed her nervousness. It wasn’t fear, which he would have hated, but she was obviously nervous about their closeness. Trying to not get his hopes up, his confidence soared as he felt her hands shake slightly when he demonstrated the next move.

Jennifer, knowing she was a wreck, was glad when he told her that was it for today. Happy to be far away from him, she set up her medical instruments to teach Ronon how to help someone who broke their ribs in the field. Cursing herself knowing that they would have to practice on someone, she quickly decided to have him lay down and tried her best to give a medical lecture on how to wrap the rib cage.

Watching her above him, Ronon wasn’t listening to a thing. Her hands kept winding around him and he kept thinking about her kiss on his neck last night. Noticing she was looking at him strangely, he quickly tuned back in.

“Pardon?” he asked.

“I asked if you had any questions,” Jennifer reprimanded.

“Nope, that was a good lesson.” Ronon grinned.

Jennifer moved quickly to pack up her stuff, irritated she had made a fool out of herself today.

“Hey Jen,” Ronon said. “Sheppard invited us to play a game in the mess hall tonight. It will be kind of late, though, for you. I wouldn’t want you to fall asleep again.” He grinned mischievously, reminding her about the previous night.

Lifting her head confidently, she answered the challenge. “I’ll be there. What time?”

Ronon told her and she practically ran out of the room. For a few minutes afterward, he couldn’t help laughing at his good luck and promises that something may actually come out of this charade.

Sheppard pulled a game called “Imagine If” out of his bag. He lined up five chairs but used the fifth chair as a table for the board of the game. Sneaking the extra chairs out of the room before everyone arrived, he began setting up the game.

Everyone arrived who came to the previous movie night, except that Jennifer arrived late from an emergency in the infirmary. Assuring everyone that the person hurt was OK, she searched for a place to sit.

Lorne, seeing her dilemma, quickly offered his chair.

Ronon, two steps ahead of him, pulled on Jennifer’s hand as she fell into his lap. “Nope, she can sit here.”

Jennifer, turning red, sank against Ronon’s body as the game began. Everyone kept laughing as they read the cards and each voted on what each other thought. Ronon, in the meantime, did everything possible to tease Jennifer while she sat rigidly in his lap. He kept his arm snug around her waist the entire night. The only time it left its place was to fiddle with her hair or pull her closer to his body. Once, when everyone was laughing at something Sheppard said, he leaned against her bare arm and kissed it lightly. Almost jumping out of his lap, she wiggled uncomfortably and tried to pretend it never happened.

A few hours later, Teyla was able to get her colored game piece into the winning position. Congratulating her, everyone began to help pack up the game and move the chairs back.

Afterward, Ronon and Jennifer walked ahead of Teyla, Sheppard, and Lorne to her room. Knowing they were watching, he mischievously caught her hand. Pulling her close, he quickly kissed her lips and murmured good night to her. Under his breath before he released her, he asked “how am I doing?”

Confused, Jennifer looked up. Then understanding, she muttered something unintelligible and let herself into her room. Laughing, Ronon retreated to his own room.

Two days later, Jennifer arrived to their training session. They had put it off until later during the day because of a few doctors needing to trade shift times. Feeling better after showering, she began stretching and waited for Ronon to arrive. Today she wore shorts to practice in, the kind that bicyclists wore, and a old t-shirt from college.

She hadn’t seen him much since the night they played the game with their friends, but Jennifer couldn’t get her mind off of how she felt towards him that night. She was seriously developing a major attraction to him. Jennifer doubted it was the same for him. She knew he was only acting that way while they were in front of Lorne.

The doors opened and Ronon came through. Her heart skipped a beat in excitement. Crap, she thought. I’m hopelessly screwed.

Ronon said hi to her and sat down next to her to stretch. Talking about their day, they each exchanged a story or two about what happened and ended up laughing for the first 20 minutes of their session.

Standing, Ronon got down to business and went over a lot of the stuff they had already learned. He called it a review session, and she joked that she loved those in college. It was easy and you didn’t have to stress about learning something new.

Once it was her turn, she pulled up her medical bag and grabbed the long flesh colored bandage. “Ok, today we’re going to practice wrapped up an injury to the knee. Pretend like Sheppard was kicked during a fight and it caused his knee to bend the way it wasn’t intended on bending.”

Wincing, Ronon nodded. “Been there, done that.”

Jennifer sat down with her legs in front of her. Deciding to use herself as the dummy, she demonstrated how to wrap the leg tight enough and then use the silver clamps to secure it. Then, undoing it, she gave the materials to Ronon and told him to try it.

Ronon, untangling the bandage and trying to find the end, began winding it once around her leg. Lightly brushing her smooth leg, she felt his hand tickling her skin and almost began laughing. Trying to contain herself, she gritted her teeth when Ronon’s hand slipped and the bandage unraveled. Frustrated, he began again but this time tried to hold it in place. His hand must have brushed across the most ticklish part of her body and she jerked sideways and began laughing.

Startled, Ronon wondered what was happening. Laughing, she told him to stop and that it was tickling her. Grinning, he lightly wiggled his fingers behind her knee. She jumped and twisted around, landing a solid kick across his mouth with her foot in the process.

Gasping, she struggled to get up and found Ronon laying dazed on the floor, looking up at her. Laughter began to bubble inside her. “Ronon…” she began, snickering. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

Helping him sit up, she sat straddling his one thigh and checked his mouth for blood. Satisfied that she didn’t find any, Jennifer found the tender spot that was beginning to swell. Leaning over, she planted a soft kiss on the injury.

Ronon, not believing what was happening, looked into her eyes. “Jen?”

She looked up.

“If you do that again and I get hurt, do I get another kiss?” Ronon asked, smiling.

Jennifer’s face exploded in a grin. Happy that he honestly wanted to kiss her, and not for the benefit of anyone watching, she pulled his mouth towards him and kissed him softly again. Ronon, taking advantage of his good fortune, wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss.

Sighing, Jennifer lifted her head. He was now cradling her in his arms. “When did this happen?” she asked.

Ronon grinned. “For me, months ago. You’ve been driving me crazy.”

She laughed. “I need to thank Lorne for his help, then, huh?”

Shaking his head, Ronon said, “Sheppard had a hand in it, too” and explained how he told Sheppard about her lie and how Sheppard arranged for them to be by Lorne to get things moving faster.

Embarrassed but grateful, Jennifer stood up and walked hand in hand out of the room with Ronon. “Let’s go get you some ice… so I can brag about how I finally landed one on you.”

Ronon grinned, picked her up in his arms, and carried her through the door.

The end.

Building up for Romance chapter 3

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:33:04 GMT

Title: Building up for Romance
daisyscrapper
Characters: Ronon/Keller
Category: Ship Pairings
Genres: Romance
Rating: PG
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Jennifer, eager to begin, entered the training room. Ronon was already setting up. Jennifer carted her bag over to the area he had set his stuff down at and called out to greet him.

Ronon, not wanting to show his excitement to spend more time with her, smiled and turned. Noticing she didn’t shut the door behind her like she did before, he feared that the incident with Yardley may still haunt her on Atlantis.

He began their lesson by teaching her basic moves. Both knew that each move he taught her could have been useful the night she was assaulted by Yardley. Grateful he didn’t bring it up, Jennifer appreciated how he showed her different moves to get the advantage if she was ever in the situation before.

It wasn’t hard to notice that she avoided as much physical contact with him as possible. Frowning, he realized that he would have to find a way to regain her trust.

Afterward, Jennifer stretched herself while her body was still warm to avoid muscle cramping. Eager to begin her first repayment lesson of first aid to Ronon, she told him to sit down in front of her. Easing herself onto the floor, she asked him what typical wounds would he deal with off world.

Ronon thought. “Hmmm… stun guns, arrows, especially in Rodney’s case, knife wounds, sprains, torn muscles… Lorne once cracked a rib on a mission.”

Jennifer nodded. “Ok, let’s start with the basic knife wound. If you have a first aid kit in your bag, which would be ideal, you want to get something out that looks like this.” Jennifer held up a thick wad of gauze. “Pretend your leg is cut.” She moved to straighten his leg. “The first thing is to find gauze or something else clean to press firmly to the wound to stop the flow of blood.” After showing him how to wrap it afterward and how to elevate it, he practiced on himself.

Later on, as they exited the room, he stopped her. “Can we go somewhere and talk for a few minutes?”

Confused, she agreed and looked at her watch. “I’m not on shift for a few hours.”

He nodded. “Good. I’ll meet you in your room in 20.” Turning before she could protest, he went to drop of his stuff and shower.

Jennifer, finding herself nervous to have him in her cramped space, showered quickly and began picking up her room out of nervous energy.

Ronon knocked loudly and she answered the door. He could tell she wanted to leave the door open, but was too embarrassed. Deliberately giving her space, he sat on her bed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Ronon looked up at her without asking her to sit down. “You’ve changed,” he said. Still confused, she continued looking at him. “The others may not see it, but I can sense that you have lost your trust in people since what happened.”

He continued to talk. “Jen, you’ve got to realize that before he attacked you, no one on this base, especially me, has ever harmed you in that way. Trust is something you need to have if you’re to continue going on missions and be a part of this team. Trust me,” he said ironically. “I know this. When I first came here, it was the hardest thing for me to learn.”

Sitting down and not denying his accusations, she nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “I hate getting stuck now in the elevators here when it’s only me and another man. Even training today, I felt a little nervous.”

He turned to her. “Do you trust me?” he said.

Nodding immediately, she noticed he didn’t believe her. “Close your eyes.” Her first instinct was to refuse, but she was too stubborn to admit she was scared. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

He began to speak slowly to her. “Do you feel like I’m going to hurt you?”

She answered truthfully. “No.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because you would never do that,” she answered. “Because of how you reacted after you found out about Yardley.”

Satisfied, he held her hands. “Open your eyes. Now, can you name anyone here who would want to hurt you?
Feeling embarrassed, she shook her head.

“Jen,” he said. “It’s going to take time, but you need to regain your trust again.”

Understanding, she looked up at him. “I know. I guess I didn’t realize how this could affect my work… and my friendships… with everyone.”

She took a deep breath and took a chance. “Ronon,” she said. “I have some snacks in here I smuggled back from Earth. How about you stay and watch a movie with me and skip lunch. And we’ll leave the door closed.”

Ronon grinned. “Food and a movie? How can I resist?”

She set up the movie and deliberately moved next to him on the bed. Opening a package of her favorite chocolate chip cookies from home and a package of beef jerky, they popped open two cans of Coke and enjoyed the movie.

A few days later, Jennifer felt herself settle back into her old self. Since her conversation with Ronon, she worked towards regaining her trust with the people around her.

One day, Major Lorne came into the infirmary. Shyly, he asked to see her in her office. Closing the door behind them, Jennifer praised herself on her progress. Then kidded herself that Lorne wouldn’t hurt a fly in the first place.

“What’s going on, major?” she asked.

His face turned red. “Well, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind having dinner with me today. That is, if you’re not busy.”

Jennifer didn’t expect that to come out of his mouth. Even though she clearly liked Major Lorne, she just didn’t feel anything towards him other than genuine affection. She smiled, “I’m very flattered, major.”

“Please, call me Evan,” he interrupted. “Look, I know we don’t know each other very well, but I would like to just talk over whatever they’re feeding us today.”

Jennifer blushed and decided to tell a little lie. “Well, I’m kind of seeing someone right now.”

Lorne’s face fell. “Oh. I should have guessed it,” he worked up a smile and got up. “Ronon, right?”

Shocked, Jennifer looked up. Lorne smiled. “If there was a man you had to be dating, he’s the only one I would be happy for you to be with. Ronon’s a great guy. I’m just surprised he hasn’t said anything. We’ve been training together a lot lately.”

Jennifer nodded, deciding to let him believe what he wanted to. “Evan, thank you for asking me, though. You’re the type of man a woman wants to be asked out by.”

Smiling and opening the door, he grinned. “Thanks, doc. Let me know if any cute new nurses arrive from Earth.”

“I will,” she said. “And Evan… no one knows, so do you think you can keep this quiet?” That was the genuine truth. Yup, no one knew about her and Ronon. Especially Ronon himself.

He nodded. Watching him leave the infirmary, Jennifer made a quick decision and left her shift a few minutes early.

Ronon could tell she was distracted. He kept catching her off guard, which was not like her lately. Since they returned from Earth, she had become a focused student who soaked up everything he taught her. Today, though, something was on her mind.

Wanting to get her attention, he dodged her punch and caught her off guard, pushed her off balance and landed on top of her. Winded, she looked up at him.

“Ok, let’s have it,” he said. “What is going on?”

Jennifer paused to catch her breath. Surprised, she had a hard time stringing together a thought. He was literally laying on top of her, but at the same time thoughtfully rested most of his weight on his one leg that was laying next to hers. She was shocked to find herself distracted by his closeness. Confused, because she thought of Ronon as her best friend besides Teyla on Atlantis, she couldn’t stop the feelings of attraction running through her body for the first time. Of course, she had always noticed he was the best looking man on Atlantis. Who hadn’t?

Ronon continued to stare down at her. For a moment, he thought he saw naked attraction in her eyes. Almost convincing himself to make a move, to finally tell her how he felt about her, she opened her mouth.

“I…” she began, clearly not finding the words. “I lied today.”

Confused, he rolled off of her and propped his head up with his arm, laying next to her. “You lied. About what? You’ve barely spoken a word to me in the past hour.”

She shook her head and sat up Indian style. Turning her body to face him, she reddened.

“Something happened today,” she began. “Not bad. But something I didn’t want to happen. Major Lorne asked me on a date.”

Ronon’s face darkened, but he tried to hide it from her. “Don’t even think to ask me chaperone.”

Jennifer looked down at him, then realization dawned on her face. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just… I don’t want to date anyone. I’m just not ready. And besides, I’m not interested in him. But I couldn’t tell him the truth… about Yardley or the part about not being interested in him. He’s too sweet.”

Relieved, Ronon smiled. “So what did you lie about?”

Jennifer twisted her hair, which had come undone when he flipped her. “I kind of told him I was seeing you.” She nervously got up to gather her stuff now that the truth was out. She pulled out the next medical training she was about to give him and glanced up at his reaction.

He had stood up to face her. “What?” he asked.

“Ok, don’t be mad at me. I told him not to tell anyone, but it was the only thing I could think of!” Jennifer quickly said.

Ronon, not believing his opportunity, tried to think of something to say to her. Yes, that’s a great idea. In fact, Jennifer, there’s something I need to tell you. I’ve been obsessed about you since you walked through that gate. Training with you without you knowing has been torture. Or he could always just propose marriage and just be done with it.

Mentally beating himself up over being such a… what did Sheppard call him the last time he asked Ronon when he was going to make a move on the doctor… wuss, she beat him to it.

“Look,” she began. “Does this bother you? Just for awhile, can you pretend to be interested in me if Lorne’s around? Please?”

He lost his courage. Well, the courage he was about to muster up. She didn’t feel the same way. She would have come out and asked him. Well, maybe. He wasn’t sure. But either way, he decided not to bring it up.

Ronon shrugged. “No big deal. He barely sees us together anyways.”

Smiling, Jennifer rushed to hug him. “Thank you. I just didn’t want to hurt his feelings.” Ronon nearly lost it as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Inches from her mouth, he smelled her sweet fragrance surrounding him. Awkwardly patting her on her back, she left his arms to set up her portion of their training.

Building up for Romance chapter 2

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:31:50 GMT

Title: Building up for Romance
daisyscrapper
Characters: Ronon/Keller
Category: Ship Pairings
Genres: Romance
Rating: PG
Chapters 2
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Hours later, Ronon found himself up early and impatient. He was frustrated from watching Jennifer, dressed and looking amazingly, the previous night. Ronon felt his heart stop when he watched them retreat to her room.

Frustrated, he brightened when he had an idea. Their next training session… although they never set up a time or place, they agreed to do one or two while they were on Earth. Jumping up from bed, he quickly showered and made his way to her room.

Knocking on the door, he realized in the back of his mind that he may find Yardley in the room as well this morning, if his fears were true about last night. Gritting his teeth, he remained at the door. Growing more apprehensive, he waited several more minutes. Knocking again, he finally heard the locks disengage.

He didn’t know exactly what to expect, but he didn’t expect to see Jennifer, still in the clothes she slept in, with a scared, guarded look in her eyes.

“Ronon?” she asked, somewhat relieved. Although she checked in her peep hole before answering the door, she still didn’t understand why he was there.

“Hey,” he said. He glanced into her room and breathed a sigh that he didn’t hear or see Yardley from his line of vision. “I wondered if you were up for our second session today.”

Jennifer tried clearing her head. She barely got any sleep last night and kept imagining Yardley coming back to her door. Not wanting to be alone, she nodded.

“Do you mind waiting a few minutes for me to get ready?” she asked.

Ronon agreed. “Sure, how about I meet you downstairs?”

Jennifer stepped back into her room. “How about just waiting here,” she suggested. “You can watch TV while I grab a shower.”

Taken back, he walked into her room. He thought it was strange when she locked the door behind them, including pulling the chain across. Chalking it up to an Earth thing, he made his way to the chair next to her unmade bed. Tossing him the remote, she gathered a few clothing items and hurried into the bathroom. Hearing the shower and some sort of loud fan turn on, Ronon settled and explored the channels for something interesting to watch.

He heard her step into the shower. Shortly afterward, a light knock sounded at her door. He walked to get it. Struggling with the locks, he opened the door to find a surprised look on Major Yardley’s face.

“Ronon?” he frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Jennfer,” Ronon said, using her first name deliberately, something he hadn’t done in front of her yet. He never did like Yardley, and that feeling intensified since he was Jennifer’s date last night.

A shadow crossed Yardley’s face. He looked angry. Searching Ronon’s face, he decided to feel the man out. He wasn’t sure if she had reported his actions last night to anyone.

“Look, Ronon,” he began. “I’m not sure if Dr. Keller told you, but we had a little disagreement last night. I just wanted to come by and apologize to her.”

Ronon stepped back, not budging from the room. “She’s showering,” he said. “But you’re free to wait.”

Frustrated that the man wouldn’t leave the room, Yardley glared at him. “Nevermind. I’ll see her later.” The major turned to leave.

Ronon walked back into the room and shut the door. Wondering what the two, who barely knew each other, could have fought about after leaving the party last night, he walked back to the chair. Hearing the shower turn off, he sat back down and pretended to watch whatever news channel was on. His eyes strayed around the room. Clothing fell on him as he shifted in the chair. Recognizing her dress from last night, he picked it up and laid it on the bed. Frowning, he noticed that one strap appeared longer than the other. No, he realized. Ripped.

His mind started to connect things. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, he waited for her to reappear from the shower. The door opened, letting out a burst of steam and a sweet smelling fragrance into the room. She had brushed back her hair into a neat French braid, and was wearing black running pants and a white tank top. Carrying a sweatshirt over her arm, probably because she was still hot from the shower, he looked at her while setting down the dress.

“Someone stopped by just now,” he began, watching her reaction. “Major Yardley just left.”

Jennifer dropped the sweatshirt and paled.

Ronon jumped up and walked to her. “You have ten seconds to tell me what happened last night.”

She avoided his gaze and picked up the sweatshirt. “Nothing. We just had a disagreement.”

Ronon lifted her chin to meet her gaze. Frowning, he noticed that her neck had smudges of what looked like skin colored makeup on it. Thinking it was strange that she didn’t have makeup on her face, he picked up the damp towel out of her other hand and wiped it off. She winced in pain. Enraged, he saw the bruising that was already forming on her neck. Scanning her face and arms, he spotted more bruising on her wrists.

“Did he do this to you?” Ronon growled. “And what about the strap ripped from your dress?”

Defeated, she looked up at him. Not saying anything but confirming by her silence, the tears began to flow down her cheek.

Ronon, torn between running out of the room and killing Yardley to comforting her, gently sat her down on the bed.

“Did he… hurt you?” Ronon couldn’t bear to ask what was on his mind.

Jennifer shook her head. “I was able to get away from him before he got into the room. I’m just so embarrassed. I can’t believe it happened to me.” Turning, she gave him a pleading look. “Please, Ronon, don’t tell anyone. I’ll tell you everything, but I don’t want anyone to know.”

Ronon sprang up and paced the room. “Tell me a reason why you didn’t call someone… Major Sheppard, at the very least.”

Wiping her face, Jennifer shook her head. “You don’t understand. This happens to many women on Earth, but many other women lie about it and make things up. Now, people never believe a woman when it really does happen because of so many people lying about it. Besides, I don’t want anyone to know. I’m supposed to be the leader of medicine on Atlantis. It will make me look incompetent.”

Turning to face her, he looked at her, clearly disapproving of her reasons. “I’m not going to force you to report this, but you need to rethink this. You may have to work with him again. What if he is permanently transferred to Atlantis? Are you going to barricade yourself in your room with ten locks on your door every night?”

Shivering at the thought, she looked out the window. Sighing, Ronon walked up to her and helped her to her feet. “Ok, Jennifer,” he said, using her first name for the first time. “It’s your choice. Let’s get you out of this room. We won’t train today… we’ll just go for a run outside.”

Thanking him, she followed him to the door.

A few hours later after dropping Jennifer back to her room, Ronon hunted Yardley down. He had promised not to tell anyone about the incident, but he hadn’t promised not to kill Yardley. No, he wouldn’t kill him. Just mess up that pretty face of his.

Discovering him in the fancy restaurant downstairs, Ronon ignored the military personal at the door who was seeing people to their tables. Passing by familiar faces, including Sheppard’s, he ignored everyone until he came to Yardley’s table.

“Ronon,” he said, a little nervously.

Ronon yanked the man by his shirt and all but dragged him out of the room to the restroom. Sheppard, eying his raging friend, quickly moved to follow them. Luckily, no one else seemed to notice the tension building in Ronon except for the two men who were sitting at Yardley’s table and Sheppard, and went about finishing their breakfast. Yardley’s friends, two steps behind Sheppard, also followed Ronon and Yardley into the bathroom.

Ronon, once he got Yardley into the room, slammed the man hard against the wall.

“Did you think you would get away with it?” Ronon seethed. “Just because she’s not planning on telling anyone doesn’t mean I can’t kill you right now.”

Paling, Yardley tried to call for help. Raging, Ronon landed a hard punch to the man’s stomach, then came back with an uppercut and broke Yardley’s nose instantly. Blood sprayed everywhere. Hearing people enter the bathroom and yelling Ronon’s name, he gathered all his strength and planted a lunging knee into his groin. Whimpering, Yardley sank to the floor.

Sheppard, pulling Ronon off of Yardley, began shouting at Ronon to stop. Ronon, satisfied, complacently let Sheppard lead him out of the bathroom while Yardley’s friends went to help the man.

Shouting orders to get medical personal to the men’s bathroom, Sheppard shoved Ronon down the hallway and led Ronon to his room. Calling Col. Carter and informing her they had a situation in his room, he glared at Ronon.

“What,” he began, “was that all about? You almost killed that man back there.”

Ronon flexed his hand, which appeared to be sore from one of the punches he landed on Yardley. Satisfied nothing was broken, Ronon just looked at Sheppard. “Ask Yardley.”

Sheppard, flying out of his chair and knocking it down, grabbed Ronon’s shirt into his hands and attempted to yank him up. “No, Ronon, you need to do better than that. I don’t think you understand what’s about to happen. They may kick you out of Atlantis for this.”

Ronon, now thinking about the repercussions of his actions, looked away as Col. Carter entered the room.

Carter, calmer than Sheppard, pulled up a chair across from Ronon. She waited a few beats until he looked at her. “I just came from watching an ambulance take Major Yardley to the hospital,” she said quietly. “He didn’t respond when I asked him what the altercation was about.”

Ronon shifted, struggling to avoid her eyes. He highly respected both leaders who were waiting for him to answer their questions. Deciding, he looked up at both of them.

“Look,” he said. “I can’t tell you everything. That’s up to someone else. But I can tell you this. Last night, Major Yardley tried to force himself on to a woman.”

Both Sheppard and Carter looked shocked at the admission Ronon just made.

“Who?” Carter said, this time clearly angry.

Ronon met her eyes. “I gave my word not to tell. The woman is terrified right now that others will find out.”

Carter, still angry, nodded. “I think I understand her situation. I had a friend who had something similar happen. But this woman needs to realize that if she doesn’t report this, it will happen again.”

Agreeing, he looked up. “I can try and talk to her again.”

Sheppard looked at Carter. “Ronon, as of right now, you’re to be confined to this room with guards at the door until we can clear you of charges Yardley will probably press.”

Carter shifted to sit on the bed with her hands rubbing her forehead. Sighing, she got up. “For what it’s worth,” she began. “And off the record… nicely done.”

His mouth twitched as she patted his shoulder.

Jennifer ran to Major Sheppard’s room after receiving a call there had been a medical emergency and one man had been taken to the hospital. They didn’t give her specifics other than to check in with Sheppard.

Confused by the guards at the door, she tried to get by to knock.

“Sorry, doctor, this room is not to be disturbed.”

Jennifer glared at him. “I was told to report here.”

One of them knocked on the door and entered the room. Jennifer couldn’t tell how many people were inside but could hear Carter’s voice.

“Yes, let her come in. I need her to take a look at his hand.” Carter said.

Jennifer pushed her way in and was shocked to see Ronon, with dried blood covering his chest, massaging his hand while Carter and Sheppard looked up at her.

“What happened?” she asked. Slowly, she began to fear the worst. When she looked into Ronon’s eyes, he held her gaze and confirmed her fears.

“Well,” Sheppard said dryly. “Our boy Ronon got into a fight at school today, doc.”

Carter rolled her eyes. “Doctor, please take a look and see if he broke anything in his hand.”

Jennifer nodded, approaching Ronon. She knelt beside him as Carter and Sheppard began talking to each other.

“Ronon,” she whispered. “What did you do?”

Ronon looked down at her. “Knocked some sense into Yardley after breakfast. Don’t worry, he’ll live.”

She began checking his fingers for broken bones. “Why did you do that?”

He looked into her eyes. “I can’t stand the fear he put into you. I can’t stand knowing what he did to you.”

Sighing, Jennifer completed examining him. “Is that all his blood?”

Ronon nodded. He noticed Sheppard and Carter had stopped talking and were both looking strangely at the exchange between Jennifer and himself. Whispering, he pleaded with his eyes. “Jen, this is your chance. If you’re going to be brave, now is the time.”

She looked back at him. Sometime after their run, she came to the decision that she did need to report Yardley. But it didn’t make her less afraid of what the reactions would be. Turning, she got up and stood by Ronon’s side.

“Doctor?” Carter said, confused.

“Major. Colonel. I need to report an incident involving myself and Major Yardley last night after the party.”

Both Sheppard and Carter’s eyes widened. “It was you?”

Jennifer, giving Ronon a curious glance, asked “how much do they know?”

Ronon said “Not much, other than he attacked someone last night.”

Sinking onto the bed, Jennifer recounted what happened, making sure to clearly remember all of the details. Ronon jumped in only once to point out the bruises on her body.

“Sheppard, get a camera out,” Carter said, pulling Jennifer into the bathroom. Closing the door behind them, Carter turned on the lights and had Jennifer take off her shirt, leaving only a tank top on her body. She snapped pictures of her bruised neck as well as the ugly purple mass of bruises on her arm. “Is there more?” Carter asked softly.

Jennifer nodded and turned. She discovered a few new ones after showering again after their run trailing down her back.

“He didn’t force himself into your room, right?” Carter asked without asking coming out to ask if he did more than bruise her.

Jennifer shook her head.

Once they were done, Jennifer pulled her shirt back on and followed Carter back into the bedroom. She noticed that Sheppard was being incredibly quiet.

“Look,” she began. “I know that this thing is reported often. And I know it’s his word against mine.”

Sheppard whipped his neck to face her. “Don’t even go there, doc,” he said. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to handle this.” Sheppard paced. “I feel responsible. Major Yardley has been in my command several times. I never quite liked the man but he never gave me a solid reason to yank him off my team. Just know I believe every word you just said. I’m just having a hard time believing I didn’t see this coming. He never acted right around women, but I never would have thought this would happen.”

Carter stood in the middle of the room. “Everyone needs to understand that this was no one’s fault except Yardley’s. Especially you, Jennifer.” Carter sat beside her. “Nothing you did could have warranted those actions.”

Jennifer nodded. “It’s funny. Until it happens to you, you always think it’s stupid that women blame themselves. The first thing I thought was that I may have led him on, but I know I didn’t. I actually had a horrible time with him last night and only agreed to go because he asked me.”

Sheppard tried to ease the tension in the room. “Well, next time you go on a date, we’ll have Ronon be your chaperone,” he joked, but noticed that Ronon wasn’t laughing. Wondering if something was there other than friendship, Sheppard filed that away in his head to ask him later. Tired, Jennifer asked permission to leave the room to get more sleep before lunch.

An idea formed in his head. “Wait a minute,” Sheppard said after she left. “Call security, colonel. I know this hotel prides itself on security for its guests. I believe each floor has several camera’s throughout the hallway. Let’s see if we can use that.”

Sure enough, the tapes were brought up immediately. Colonel popped in the tapes and security pinpointed, with Ronon’s help, the time that Jennifer and Yardley left the reception hall.

Sheppard noticed Ronon’s reaction as the tape clearly caught everything that Jennifer had said. “Are you handling this ok, buddy?”

Ronon gritted his teeth. “Should have killed him,” he said without apology.

The news of Ronon and Yardley’s fight spread quickly throughout the hotel. Rumors were kept to a minimum, but the consensus was that Ronon didn’t like Yardley’s attitude towards him being an outsider and not from Earth. Carter and Sheppard both filed charges against Yardley but kept the document sealed for only necessary personal to see. Grateful, Jennifer was happy that no one had found out yet. News had gotten back to her that Yardley pleaded guilty and was immediately transferred out of Stargate command.

Meanwhile, the Atlantis crew packed up for their journey back. Gathering up courage, Jennifer sat next to Ronon on the way home. Since all charges were cleared from him since Yardley declined to file any of his own, he was not in jeopardy of losing his place on the Atlantian team.

“Ronon,” she said. “I just wanted to thank you for your help. With everything. I don’t think I could have got through all of this without you.”

Ronon nodded, not wanting to think about what happened on that tape anymore.

Jennifer hesitated. “Ronon, would you mind continuing your training with me? Now more than ever, I feel like I have a lot to learn.”

Ronon grinned. “It looks like your knee maneuver is right on.”

Laughing for the first time about the ugly event, she leaned back and relaxed. “Yeah, well, I’m not about to place myself in a situation like that again anytime soon. I’ve sworn off men,” she said. “Well, except you.”

Ronon almost choked at her words. Not noticing, she continued. “But I don’t want you to take up your time when I’m not offering you anything in return.” Ronon continued to find it hard to breathe with every word she spoke. Oblivious, she continued. “So, what can I give you in return for all of the lessons?”

Trying to get it together, he struggled to not say what was on his mind. Thinking, he quickly came up with an idea. “First aid,” he said. “You’re not always with us and either Sheppard or myself always get injured. Teach me the basics and we’ll call it even.”

Surprised but pleased, Jennifer agreed. They set up their first training session and first aid training the day they would arrive back to Atlantis.

Building up for Romance chapter 1

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:29:55 GMT

Title: Building up for Romance
daisyscrapper
Characters: Ronon/Keller
Category: Ship Pairings
Genres: Romance
Rating: PG
Chapters 1
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Jennifer and Teyla grinned at each other as they were beamed down to Earth. At last! Jennifer thought, eager to return for a few days to her world. It was Teyla’s first visit to Earth. Jennifer planned on showing her pregnant friend a good time.

The military had rented out an entire hotel for the night and stocked the business with military-only personal. Not that any business would be discussed in the open, the military wanted a relaxing setting for the members of the Atlantis team to spend their Christmas holiday.

Throwing their bags into the backseat of their rented car, Jennifer drove them immediately to the nearest shopping mall. Teyla, who had been begging for Jennifer to tell her more about this fantastic place she had heard about, all but ran out of the car when they pulled to a stop.

Jennifer and Teyla were laughing the moment their feet hit the concrete. Jennifer’s first stop was a full service salon, where her and Teyla would be primped and pampered for the next four hours.

Laying face down, naked from the waist up, Jennifer groaned as the woman massaged every tender area on her back. Teyla, who was receiving a mud facial, was sighing at the relaxing rhythm that the attendant was using.

“This is the life,” Jennifer murmured.

The attendant laughed. “You both act like you’ve never done this before.”

Teyla nodded, “I haven’t, but she has. This was the best idea she’s had since I’ve met her.”

Shortly later, the girls were polished to a shine. They each had their hair cut, colored, styled, and nails done.

“Next stop for me,” Jennifer said. “A clothing store to buy anything that’s not gray, blue, or black.”

Teyla looked at Jennifer. “Do they make clothing for women expecting babies on Earth?” she asked.

Jennifer nodded. “I’m all ready ahead of you,” she said. “Motherhood is on the next floor. We can get you a dress there for the dinner and party tonight.”

Teyla smiled. “Wonderful,” she said. “So, are you going to ask anyone to be your escort?”

A sheepish look fell over Jennifer’s face. “Nah,” she said. “I’m too chicken. But if someone asks me, I’ll definitely say yes.”

Teyla said, “Really?”

Jennifer nodded. “Why?”

“Well,” Teyla began as she waddled into the dress store. “Someone did mention they were interested in going with you. But I guess they decided not to ask you, thinking you maybe had a date already.”

They dropped the subject while Jennifer looked for a dress for the function later on that night. Both dresses she picked out herself were nice, but they didn’t differ from the other black cocktail dresses she had hanging up in her closet. Teyla, roaming around the store, came back into the dressing room and through another dress over the dressing room door to Jennifer.

“Here, try this one,” Teyla said. Minutes later, she heard Jennifer call to her.

“Teyla,” she said. “What do you think?” She walked out into the room. The dress came about three inches above her knee, was held up by thin spaghetti straps, and clung to her slim figure.

Teyla’s eyes gleamed. “Now that is the dress you need to get.”

Satisfied, but a little uncomfortable with the tightness of the dress, Jennifer took a risk and bought the dress, along with a pair of strappy high-heeled shoes.

“So, Jennifer,” Teyla began. “I heard from Ronon you had your first training session before we embarked for Earth. How did it go?”

Jennifer blushed. “Well, he didn’t kill me. But I don’t think he was extremely impressed with what I knew before coming into to the session. I’ll say this, for a tough looking man, he certainly has patience.”

Teyal grinned, knowing that her friend, the warrior from Sateda, has been developing a crush on the doctor for some time.

On their way to Motherhood, Jennifer heard her cell phone ringing. Not used to the sound, she fumbled to find it. She picked it up, even though she didn’t recognize the number.

“Yes?” she said.

“Is this Dr. Keller?” the voice asked. “This is Major Yardley. We met a few times on base.”

Jennifer recalled the good looking major without further description. “Yes, Major Yardley. Of course I remember you. You were one of the lucky few I never had to stitch up constantly.”

The major laughed. “Well, the reason I’m calling was to ask if you had an escort for tonight yet.”

Shocked, Jennifer paused. “Actually, no, I don’t.”

“Well, how about a swing by your hotel room around 6:45 to pick you up?” he said, without even asking her if she wanted to go with him.

Jennifer, thinking that it wouldn’t hurt, agreed. Hanging up, she found Teyla frowning. “What’s wrong?”

Teyla said, “I hear you now have an escort. Is that who you wanted to go with?”

Jennifer shrugged. “No, but who else would ask me this late in the game?”

Rolling her eyes and thinking of someone, Teyla remained quiet.

Jennifer was ready well before 6:45 and paced around in her room. Her hair was already styled from the salon, so she only had to throw on make-up and perfume before putting on her dress. Looking at herself one more time, she winced how clingy the fabric was and wished she had found something a little more comfortable.

A knock at the door signaled Major Yardley’s arrival. Grabbing her purse, she opened the door to greet him.

He was just as she remembered. Tall, good looking, and a little intimidating. Smiling, his eyes traveled down and back up. He took note of the bare skin on her back as she turned to leave.

“Wow,” he said. “Dr. Keller, you are even more beautiful than I remembered.”

Jennifer blushed and shut the door behind her. “I’m sure I look different from my regular uniform and scrubs.”

Walking down to the reception hall, they followed the crowd to look for a table. Spying Teyla and Ronon, Jennifer suggested to try a table over there.

The major shook his head. “I want to get closer. Besides, there’s a few people I want you to meet.”

Disappointed but willing to cooperate, Jennifer let herself be led to a table of higher ranking military officers. After the introductions were made, they sat down.

Teyla twirled the straw in her non-alcoholic drink Ronon brought to her and leveled a glance at Ronon. Clearly unhappy, even with plates of food at his disposal, she couldn’t help feel sorry for him.

“Ronon, I told you,” she began. “You should have asked her to come with you tonight. Up until a few hours ago, she would have said yes to anyone.”

Ronon glared at her.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she laughed. “I meant to say that she didn’t seem all that excited about being escorted by the major.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my luck,” he dismissed it.

Meanwhile, Jennifer sat in her chair, bored to tears. The men and women at this table seemed to have one thing in mind- networking. It was all about business, who they knew, rumors they had heard, and so forth. Yardley barely paid attention to her, even when she accidentally spilled her drink half-way through the meal. He just let her clean it up without offering to help.

An hour later, when Jennifer almost had given up hope, he asked her to dance with him. Surprised, she smiled and agreed.

Leading her to the dance floor, he took the long way around. Jennifer passed Teyla, Ronon, and the rest of the crew and waved at them. Once on the dance floor, the major smoothly guided her around the dance floor. He smiled down at her.

“I’m glad you agreed to be my date tonight,” he began. “You are very well respected among this group. And it’s just my luck that you’re the most gorgeous woman in the entire room.”

Overwhelmed by his flattery, Jennifer relaxed in his arms. It was the first real conversation they had all night.

Ronon, a few tables away from them, grinded his teeth. He didn’t think he would have this reaction if Dr. Keller was dancing with anyone else in the room. Something about Major Yardley always bothered him. He had met Yardley the few times the Douglass came in. The man seemed like he was only concerned about himself.

Watching the couple make their way from the dance floor, he noticed they were about to leave for the night. Tensing, he tried to figure out an excuse to follow them.

Teyla, who was watching Ronon carefully, squeezed his hand. “Don’t even think about it. You had your chance and lost it, my friend.”

Sulking, Ronon sank down in his chair.

Bending down to pick up her purse, Jennifer thanked Yardley for asking her to accompany him tonight. Hoping to escape to her room to catch a late night movie, he offered to walk her back.

Trying to fend him off, she realized he was very stubborn. She inwardly groaned, wanting the night to end as soon as possible.

“Come on,” Yardley said. “I would not be a gentleman if I didn’t escort you safely back to your room.”

As they walked up the stairs, she felt uncomfortable, like someone was watching her. And in the back of her mind, she realized anyone watching them may assume they were both retreating to her room to be alone. Hoping that wasn’t the case, she quickened up her pace.

When they were approaching her hall off the elevator, Jennifer quickly grabbed the hotel key card out of her purse. Turning at the door, she mustered up a smile.

“Thank you, major, for walking me back,” she said. Instead of turning around to return to the party or retreat to his room, Yardley moved closer to her so that she was back up against the door.

“The night doesn’t have to end right now, Jennifer,” his voice dropped lower. He cupped the back of her head and brought his lips down to meet hers.

Jennifer, disgusted at not seeing his intentions, squirmed and pushed away from him. Irritated, Yardley held her shoulders tightly and moved towards her neck this time.

“Major,” she breathed. “Here’s a news flash… only one of us is remotely interested in this right now, and it’s certainly not me.”

Angry, the major pushed her hard against her door and held her shoulder roughly. “Then let me ask you a question,” he seethed. “You mean to tell me you wore that dress just for yourself tonight? Don’t kid yourself. You wore it to impress me.”

His anger both frightened and enraged her. At this point, in the hallway, she still felt somewhat safe, but when he roughly bunched up her dress from the back and assaulted her mouth again, she heard her dress strap tear. With the arm she was trying to push him off with, he gripped it hard around her wrist to prevent her from pushing.

Warning bells went off in her head. Mustering up all the strength she had, she raised her knee to his groin, causing him to double over in pain. Quickly, she turned while he was doubled over in pain and let herself into her room. Slamming the door, she rushed to lock it. Backing away from the door, she still didn’t feel safe knowing he was still out there. Running to the bathroom, she ran inside and locked the door.

She sat on the ground, in the corner with the lights off, for what seemed like an hour. With her arms wrapped around her body, she shivered while replaying the events of the night. What had just happened? Jennifer knew she should call someone, but she didn’t. She was too embarrassed. What if everyone found out? What if it caused them to doubt her ability as lead chief of medicine on Atlantis?

It was something that she felt would never happen to her, especially a few feet away from the people she worked with on a daily basis.

Quietly opening the bathroom door, she finally got the courage to exit the bathroom. Checking and rechecking the locks on the door and making sure the room was empty, she took off the dress and laid it across a nearby chair. Her arm ached from where he grabbed her, as well as her neck. Checking in the mirror, she began to see bruising in both areas. Grabbing a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt, she gingerly stepped into the bed, leaving the lights on, and cried herself to sleep.

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:23:07 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
daisyscrapper
Characters: Ronon/Keller
Category: Ship Pairings
Genres: Romance
Rating: PG
Chapters: 1-11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Here are all the chapters of "A Beginning of Friendship." They are also listed below.
Chapter 1       Chapter 6
Chapter 2       Chapter 7
Chapter 3       Chapter 8
Chapter 4       Chapter 9
Chapter 5       Chapter 10
Chapter 11(not finished)

A beginning of friendship Pt. 10/11

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:30:46 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 10/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

In the morning, Jennifer’s father walked past his daughter’s open door. Thinking she may already be awake, he paused when he saw her sleeping soundly with her hand tucked inside Ronon’s larger one. Ronon, from the looks of it, was waking up and appeared to be startled at his surroundings. Shifting in his chair stiffly, he dislodged his hand from hers.

Seeing her father at the door, he slowly got up, raised her blankets over her shoulder, and shut the door quietly behind him.

Groggy, he muttered, “I didn’t mean to stay longer than for her to fall asleep again after the dream. Guess I must have been tired from the trip home.”

Mr. Keller nodded, understanding, and invited Ronon to join him for coffee. Hearing the words, Ronon instantly perked up and followed him downstairs.

As he got the coffee going, Jennifer’s father took advantage of having Ronon by himself again.

“Ronon,” he began, “I’m not a fool. I can tell there’s something between you and my daughter. Especially seeing you with her last night and this morning. Now, I trust her judgment and I have my own instincts about you, but tell me what your intentions are.”

Ronon, shifting, wasn’t expecting to answer a question like this first thing in the morning. “Don’t mess up” which were Sheppard’s words to him, flashed in his mind. Deciding to be real and honest with her father, he just began to talk what was on his heart. He looked up at the man, not blinking.

“I’ve only known your daughter for a couple months,” Ronon began. “We’ve been through a few missions and some defense training together. I admired her the moment I saw her work on saving the life of one of our commanders. Later, I respected her stubbornness when she forced me let my wounds heal and held me off duty in the infirmary for days, something that the other doctors were scared to force me to do,” he paused. “I can be pretty stubborn.”

“And then on our last mission together, I fell in love with her,” he looked up at her father. “I don’t say those words lightly. Only one other woman has ever made me feel the same way. And I lost her to an enemy years ago. There’s been no one since.”

Surprised at the heart-felt words of this tough warrior, Mr. Keller sat down across from him and dropped down two mugs of coffee in front of them.

“If you don’t mind my asking, does my daughter feel the same way about you?” he asked.

Ronon hung his head, wondering that himself. “Let’s just say we’re in the dating phase of our relationship,” he said. “We haven’t gotten to the deep stuff yet.”

Shortly after, Sheppard made his way down the steps. Fresh from the shower, he breathed in the scent of coffee.

“God bless you, sir,” he said as Mr. Keller poured another mug. “So, how’s the doc this morning?

Ronon nodded. “Sleeping still.”

Sensing that something was said between the two men, Sheppard tried to start a conversation. Within a few minutes, Ronon waited for an opening and asked if they wouldn’t mind if he walked around a little outside.

Once the door closed behind him, Sheppard smiled. “Ronon doesn’t like to sit still, by the way.”

Jennifer’s father grinned. “I think he was a little uncomfortable after I grilled him about his intentions towards my girl.”

Sheppard laughed, but at the same time felt sorry for his friend. “Ok, let’s have a talk, then.” Sheppard said. “I can’t imagine what I would feel like if my daughter, whom I probably treated like a princess my entire life, asks if she can bring two men she works with home for a few days of R & R.”

Mr. Keller, appreciating the young man’s humor, laughed.

“Well, you probably are torn between pulling out information from the two of us, because you know your daughter will be upset if you ask her anything, or punching the daylights over the beast of a man who clearly is very interested in her. And by the way, I wouldn’t try number two on that list. Trust me, I try often to get the best of him and end up hurting myself in the process.”

“Advice taken,” Jennifer’s father said. “So tell me, if you were in my situation, how should I feel about my daughter dating this man?”

Sheppard’s smile gradually softened. “Sir, there is no man I would rather see my daughter with than that man outside,” he began. “He’s loyal, a great friend, and completely head over heels for your daughter.”

They both watched out the window as Ronon walked around the house, looking up at Jennifer’s window every so often.

Later that night, Ronon and Jennifer got ready for their restaurant date. Jennifer laughed, thinking back to her conversation with Ronon earlier.

“So, where is a fancy restaurant we can go to around here?” Ronon asked, sitting next to her on the couch.

“Well, how about we forgo on the “fancy” and go to a good restaurant,” she answered, and then explained to him the difference. After he heard he would barely get enough food at a fancy restaurant to fill a tea cup, he eagerly agreed. She named a restaurant and they decided on a time to dine there later on in the evening.

As they met each other on the staircase leading down to the lower part of the house, Ronon was mesmerized by her beauty. She wore a red dress that looked like it was made for her. Her hair was tousled up in soft, curly waves piled on top of her head and cascaded down her neck, leaving a few strands flying away. She wore no jewelry, to his delight, as he wanted to give her his present tonight during dinner.

Jennifer was struck at how ruggedly handsome Ronon looked. He wore charcoal gray dress pants, a black dress shirt tucked in (which was a first), but opted out of a tie and instead left the last two buttons opened. His eyes met hers and she felt excited to begin their first date on Earth.

Intending on saying good-bye, they didn’t find Sheppard or her father downstairs. Spying a note, Jennifer read it aloud.

“Don’t be home late,” Sheppard’s horrible penmanship scribbled on the page. “We took off to go night fishing on the river. Have a good time.”

Shaking her head at the major’s message, she picked up the car keys and they made their way to the restaurant.

During their drive, Ronon relished the time they had alone together. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know your father… especially since he doesn’t look like he’s going to kill me in my sleep anymore. But it’s sure nice to have you by myself now.”

Jennifer grinned while she parked the car. It didn’t look busy, since it was a weeknight.

They walked up the stars, holding hands, and parted only for Ronon to hold the door open for her. Walking up confidently to the hostess, Ronon said, “Reservations for Ronon Dex.”

Surprised, Jennifer lifted up her eyes to Ronon. “Reservations? Wow, you thought ahead.”

They hostess led them to a secluded table. Two dripping candles lit the darkened table. Ronon pulled the chair out for Jennifer and sat down himself. Almost immediately, a waiter was by their side taking their order.

They decided on an appetizer together and then gave their menus after ordering to the waiter. Scooting closer to her, Ronon looked around at the restaurant.

It was a nice place- cozy, romantic, and perfect for a quiet dinner together. Jennifer smiled back at him and sighed.

“If only we could do this on Atlantis,” she said. “But it makes me appreciate it more when I visit back home.”

Ronon took her hand and grinned. “I’m hoping the food is a lot better here, too. Last time I went to a restaurant with Sheppard, I never had better tasting food.”

“So,” Jennifer said. “How do you like visiting Earth? More importantly, are you having a good time on this visit?”

Ronon leveled his gaze on her. “This has been my favorite visit,” he said. “Mainly because it’s with you.”

Their food arrived, and they both dug in. Jennifer laughed at Ronon’s lack of manners as he shoveled in his food. When he was finished, he watched her half-heartedly try and finish her meal. Giving up, she placed the plate in front of him and watched him wolf down the rest of her meal.

When the waiter picked up their plates and they each placed a dessert order, Ronon slipped his hand out of hers to retrieve something from his pocket. Silently, he placed in front of her the Tiffany wrapped box.

She gasped in surprise and looked up. “What is this?”

Ronon smiled. “I figured I would never be able to get you something from Earth until our next visit, so Sheppard and I went shopping at the mall. And I picked it out myself.”

Grinning at the proud look on Ronon’s face, she slowly opened the box. Inside sat a beautiful diamond necklace in a shape of a heart. The heart was made up of both diamonds and pink sapphires. Shocked at the beauty of it, she blinked and gazed up into his eyes.

“It’s beautiful!” she said. “Can you put it on me?” She turned so that Ronon was able to clasp the necklace together. His fingers brushed her neck, causing her to shiver, and she held the pendant afterward. “I don’t know what to say. No one has ever bought me something this wonderful before.”

Ronon, beaming that she liked it, reached over and brought her face closer to his. They kissed and Ronon reluctantly let her go. “It reminded me of you. The pink stones reminded me of your delicacy and beauty. The diamonds reminded me of how strong of a person you are. The instant the man showed it to me, I knew it was perfect.”

Melting over his words, Jennifer’s eyes teared up. When dessert was brought, both said little as they enjoyed and shared each others dessert.

After Ronon settled the bill, they walked around the lake hand in hand. Jennifer stopped when she heard music coming from a restaurant. It was a soft, romantic melody. Turning, she asked Ronon “Do you know how to slow dance?”

Ronon looked at her and smiled. “Teach me.”

Jennifer guided his handed, leaned her check against his chest, and swayed to the music with her. Ronon guided them in a slow circle until they reached a tree trunk laying on its side. Looking up at him, and frustrated she wasn’t as tall as him, she slipped out of her heels and onto the tree.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“This.” She gently yanked on his shirt and collided with his chest. Now level with his face, she pulled him into a deep kiss. Groaning, Ronon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snug against him. When his hand traveled to her hair, he impatiently found the pins and pulled them out, allowing her hair to cascade down her back. Breaking from the kiss, he pulled her hair back so that her neck was exposed and covered it with his mouth, taking tender care not to hurt the cut fading from her injury. She pulled her lips back towards his and sighed against his lips. Overwhelmed by emotion for this woman, he pulled her off the ground with his lips still firmly attached to hers and lifted her off her feet.

Somewhere nearby, they heard a group of women walking their way. Groaning, she lengthened their last kiss and savored it. Looking back to find her shoes, they both made their way back to the car.

Ronon’s mind swirled with thoughts. He wanted to tell her he loved her so much, especially back there during their kiss. He knew deep down that she cared for him, but he wasn’t sure if it was too soon to speak it aloud. As they drove back that night, he held her hand that was free from the wheel and occasionally reached over to kiss her bare shoulder.

Walking up to the house, they each silently made their way, smiling to the porch.

“You’re late,” came a voice from the corner. Jumping at the voice, Jennifer shrieked and Ronon stepped in front of her even though he thought he recognized the voice.

“Sheppard?” he muttered. “What are you doing?

Sheppard, with his hands behind his head, was lounging in a hammock in the corner of the porch. “I’m relaxing,” he said. “So, did you kids have a good time?”

Jennifer, with her heart still pounding, reached over to swat Sheppard on the head. “Yes, we did. How about you?”

John carefully got off the hammock. “It was great,” he said. “Your father taught me the art of fly fishing. We caught a few fish, but let them go.”

Ronon, confused why anyone would fish and then let go of perfectly good food, decided not to question it. Still adjusting to Earth time, they all decided to call it a night. Before they went in, Sheppard leaned over Ronon’s shoulder and suggested that he wipe the lipstick stains off of his mouth and neck.

Coloring, Ronon used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off everything before entering the house in case he ran into Jennifer’s father.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 9/?

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:30:25 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 9/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Two weeks went by and Ronon and Jennifer found little time together. Ronon went on several missions, one of which he came back after being tortured by the wraith for a day. Jennifer forced him to stay for two full days to recover. He had multiple wounds from the incident. The wraith had mostly knocked him around a lot, so fear of a concussion and dehydration were there.

Jennifer herself found the infirmary short handed during that time, so she put in several extra shifts and trained a few new recruits who would eventually take on some of the shifts so that she could go back to her normal schedule.

Shortly after Ronon was cleared in good health, Sheppard went to Col. Carter to ask permission for a visit to Earth. He also asked her a favor and requested to be accompanied by Ronon and Jennifer. Since Ronon began to see Jennifer, Sheppard became closer to her and considered her as a friend.

Carter agreed, glad that the three of them would get much deserved time away. It would also give Teyla time to rest as well as give McCay an opportunity to study a few pieces of technology brought back by Sheppard’s team.

Carter had noticed that at Atlantis, the strain of always being on the job site could burn out her team members. At Stargate command, they always had the luxury of retreating to their homes each night or at least a few times per week.

Sheppard joined Jennifer and Ronon for their training session, which they continued a few times per week. Ronon had said that she was building more strength and learning defensive moves quickly. He had also built in time during their training for strength endurance and had the doctor jogging and weight lifting.

He opened the door to find them both on the floor stretching before their run. “Mind if I join you kids this morning?” Sheppard asked.

Ronon looked up surprised. “Sure. If you can keep up with us, that is.”

Jennifer grinned at the two and stood up. “All right, boys, let’s go.”

Sheppard inwardly laughed at the couple. He never thought tough guy Ronon would fall for someone from Earth, let alone a doctor, and be grinning like an idiot all of the time.

They ran for almost an hour around Atlantis, passing a few people on their way. None of them said much, other than occasionally challenging each other for a quick sprint.

When they were done, all three agreed to meet for breakfast after a quick shower and change.

When they met back at the table, Sheppard joked at the absorbent amount of food on Ronon’s plate compared to his and Jennifer’s. After minutes of general talk about things that were going on around Atlantis, Sheppard broke the news.

“So, are you both up to help me on our next mission?” Sheppard asked.

Jennifer looked nervous while Ronon looked eager. “What is it?” Ronon asked.

“Earth,” Sheppard said. “You both are to accompany me, under Carter and my orders, to a visit to Earth. Six days. But I need your help in one area.”

Jennifer grinned, surprised for the unplanned time off and eager to go home. She just hoped it would be possible to see her father on the visit. “What?”

Sheppard looked at her. “We need to find somewhere where we won’t get into trouble or have trouble find us.” Getting serious now, he thought back to his last trip. “Let’s just say going to my father’s funeral only to be interrupted to chase down two replicators was not what I had in mind.”

Jennifer nodded sympathetically. “So this is just a fun, relaxing vacation visit? No work?” She asked.

“None at all. In fact, we’ve been ordered to relax as much as possible,” Sheppard said.

Jennifer began thinking. “How about we visit my home town? It doesn’t get as uneventful in my home in Wisconsin.”

Sheppard slowly smiled. “Perfect,” he said. “We leave in two days, so pack up.”

Sheppard and Jennifer planned what to do on their visit on the way back on the Douglas. Jennifer wanted to spend time visiting her father and make a “girl stop,” as she referred to it, to have a few hours at the salon and pick up a couple of things at a mall. After explaining to Ronon how women on Earth spend exorbitant amounts of time and money having people beautify them once a month, they also planned for Sheppard to throw in a surprise on the last day of the trip, which he got to pick, to end their vacation. Ronon told Sheppard, secretly, that he wanted to be able to take Jennifer to “the four star restaurant,” which after laughing for a few minutes, Sheppard translated it into taking Jennifer to a nice restaurant. Sheppard planned in time for them to go shopping while Jennifer had her girly time at the salon for more clothing for Ronon.

When the Douglas beamed them down to Stargate command, they were flown to a major city near Jennifer’s hometown for their first adventure of the trip. Sheppard had a driver take them to mall. They rented a car nearby for the remainder of their trip before entering the shopping mall.

Ronon, wide-eyed at the huge building before him, followed Sheppard and Jennifer into the structure. Blending in by wearing a pair of jeans and a button-down black shirt, he had tied his attention-grabbing dreds into a loose tie.

“Ok, boys, this is where I leave you,” Jennifer said. “Can we meet back in the food are in about four hours?”

Sheppard, moaning about women and their stores, grumpily agreed while Ronon tried to figure out what she was planning on doing that would take that long of time. About to open his mouth and ask, Sheppard cut him off and muttered something along the lines of “don’t even ask.”

“Here, program in my cell number in case we need you,” John said, exchanging cell phones with her for each of them to put each other in. Ronon, used to Earthly gadgets since his last visit to Earth, continued to look around at his surroundings.

Before departing, Ronon spun Jennifer around, kissed her full on the mouth, and walked back to Sheppard before she could even blink. Turning in a daze, she walked off with a smile on her face.

Scanning the mall directory for her first stop, Jennifer looked for a salon to hit while at the mall. Unfortunately, there was only one salon and she hadn’t thought about making an appointment. Adjusting back to life on Earth proved to be a challenge when she had leave time.

Making her way up the escalator and through the salon doors, she approached the receptionist with a hopeful expression.

“Hi,” she began, making a sheepish shrug. “I don’t have an appointment, but I’m in desperate need of help with my hair today.”

The receptionist looked up, smiled, and asked, “What is your name?”

Jennifer remained hopeful. “Dr. Jennifer Keller.”

“Dr. Keller,” she said. “We’ve been expecting you. A Major Sheppard called ahead for you and asked us to squeeze you in this afternoon. He wasn’t sure what you wanted done, so I called in two people to assist you today.”

Jennifer looked back, surprised. “What? You did that for me?”

The receptionist nodded. “When the major called, the owner answered. Her husband serves in the military out the country as well. Once he mentioned that you only get to do this a few times a year, she immediately set up the schedule to fit you in. Besides, he mentioned a debt he had to pay to you.”

Beaming, Jennifer smiled. “Wow! I can’t thank you enough!”

Two women approached the receptionist and guided Jennifer to the back of the salon. Because they knew she was limited on time, they bustled her through a hair cut, highlights and a quick coloring treatment to bring shine back into her hair, her nails and toes were painted a pretty red, and her eyebrows were efficiently groomed. Noticing her pale complexion, they sent her into the tanning beds for ten minutes to add a little glow to her skin. They ended the session with a hair styling, and styled her hair in bouncy waves of curls going down her back.

Her cell phone rang about two hours into her pampering. Flipping her phone awkwardly without messing up her hair, she smiled when she heard Ronon’s voice.

“Hey,” he said. “So I wanted to take you to a restaurant one day this week. Sheppard warned me I better tell you in case you need to buy something to wear to it,” he said.

“That sounds perfect and tell Sheppard I appreciate the warning,” she said, hanging up after their good-byes.

“So, ladies, where do I buy a killer dress?” Jennifer asked.

In the mean time, Sheppard took Ronon to a men’s clothing store and bought more Earth clothing, both casual and a casual suit for the restaurant. Before they had entered the store, Sheppard took Ronon aside.

“Ok,” he began. “The military set up a checking debit card for you.”

“Seriously?” Ronon said, surprised.

“Well, you can’t expect not to be paid for doing the same job as we’re doing,” Sheppard said. “So you have quite a bit loaded already on this card. Anywhere they accept plastic, you’re good to go. We’ll get some cash for you before we leave, too.”

After his clothing purchase, Ronon got up the nerve to ask John a question.

“So, do I have enough to buy something for someone?”

Sheppard turned back. “Does this someone happen to be a hot doctor that has you transformed from a menacing warrior into a sappy man in love?”

Ronon shot a threatening glare at his friend. “Just don’t tell anyone on Atlantis about that and you’ll live. Seriously, tell me a place to get her something. I won’t have any more chances once we’re back on Atlantis.”

Sheppard scowled. “Shhh… keep it down. You never know who’s listening,” he walked towards the information map. “Ah-ha. Perfect. You, my friend, are in luck. The ultimate woman present store, guaranteed to please any woman, from any galaxy,” he lowered his voice.

He guided Ronon into Tiffany & Co. and walked up to a sales associate. “Excuse me,” he said. “My friend would like to purchase something.”

Ronon and Sheppard described Jennifer to the female associate, and she came back with several samples of necklaces.

While Ronon was deciding, Sheppard made his way over to a different selection of necklaces. Spying something that caught his eye, he asked another associate to pull it out of the display. It was a drop pendant necklace, in the shape of an octagon, with another aquamarine colored diamond, shaped like a pear, dropping from it. It was perfect.

Quickly making his purchase and accepting the signature blue colored box, Ronon snuck behind him and made him jump.

“So, Sheppard,” Ronon began, grinning. “Who are you buying for?” Ronon stuck his own purchase in his pocket for safe keeping.

“None of your business, Romeo,” Sheppard smirked, turning to leave the store.

Ronon frowned. “Who’s Romeo?”

Sheppard called over his shoulder. “Come on,” he said. “I know just the place to kill a few hours while we wait for your woman.”

Jennifer twirled in the dress she had decided on for her first real date with Ronon. It was perfect. The dress was red, sleeveless, and ended shortly below her knees. It hugged her tiny waist and then flared out to sway down the length of her thighs. The woman helping her brought over killer strappy black high heeled sandals to complete the outfit.

She had a sales woman pull out a few more dresses and outfits her size, so by the time she left she was laden with several shopping bags.

Leaving the store, she past a few more stores and bought a few more “essentials” before calling the guys on her cell phone.

“Sheppard,” he answered.

“Hey, where are you guys? I’m about done with what I have to do. And I’m early, thanks to your advanced call to the salon, by the way,” Jennifer said.

“Don’t mention it,” he said, and she heard something like a pinball machine burst into sounds from somewhere nearby him.

“Where are you guys?” she asked.

“Where all men go while they wait for the woman-folk,” he said, half concentrating on the game. “In the arcade.”

Laughing, she told them she would meet them in the food area.

Sheppard drove them to her father’s home in Chippewa Falls. With Jennifer in the front seat, Ronon sat in the back in between the front seats to take in the scenes.

Jennifer smiled to herself thinking about Ronon’s reaction to her primping. When she approached them, stuffing their faces with pizza and breadsticks, both gawked at her appearance.

“Wow,” was all Ronon could say, stupidly. Wiping his mouth with his hand, he pushed out a chair next to him for her.

Now that they’ve been on the road for an hour, she still felt his gaze on her from the back seat. Glad that she had changed into one of her new sundresses and sandals, she enjoyed the time she could look girly compared to her uniform on Atlantis.

When they drove up into her father’s driveway, Jennifer could barely keep herself from throwing open the car door in excitement before Sheppard brought the car to a stop. Her father, just as eager, ran from their home towards the car. Jennifer, while the car was just coming to a stop, threw open the door and ran to meet him. Hugging his daughter fiercely, he picked her up and twirled her in a circle.

John looked back and Ronon. “Nervous?”

Ronon, always the confident and silent one, seemed a little uneasy. “I’m taking it that meeting the father of your girlfriend is just as awkward as it is on Sateda. Any advice?”

“Yeah,” Sheppard said. “Don’t mess up.”

Grunting, Ronon got out from the back seat while Sheppard went to meet Mr. Keller. Ronon began unloading the backseat while Jennifer made the introductions. Approaching them, Ronon tried his best to look friendly when he was introduced. Mr. Keller, obvious to his daughter’s change in tone when she introduced him, connected the fact that there was more to Ronon and his daughter than just co-workers, especially when he noticed the bigger man’s nervousness.

Deciding to investigate that more, Mr. Keller told Jennifer to show Sheppard where he and Ronon would be staying while he helped Ronon unload.

With his palms sweating, Ronon tried to relax as the older man approached the car.

“So, I hear you work with my daughter in the field,” he began. “What sort of work do you do?”

Although Sheppard had prompted him on what to say if he was questioned on Earth, he had a hard time lying to her father. “I was privately hired,” Ronon began carefully as he unloaded their suitcases and bags from shopping. “I basically make sure that no one messes with our team. Sheppard calls it bodyguarding.”

Not satisfied, Mr. Keller pressed for more information. “You’re not from the U.S., is that right?”

“No, sir,” Ronon said and didn’t encourage a follow up question by turning his back and picking up the packages.

“Now I know you’re not at liberty to tell me much, young man,” he began, “But explain to me how my daughter got that cut on her neck.”

Ronon froze. He didn’t expect to be asked that. Unfortunately, even with make-up, Jennifer’s cut from their last mission was still a visible reminder to how close she came to death. A dark look passed over his face. He would never forget holding her in his arms while Sheppard cleaned the wound caused by the enemy on the planet they carried out a rescue effort. “I wasn’t with her,” he said, looking straight into her father’s eyes. “But I can assure you that the person who caused that injury no longer is alive, thanks to John.”

The men made their way up to the house. For the mean time, Mr. Keller learned a lot in his short conversation with the young man. First, his daughter was in more danger than he originally thought while she was out of the country. The men she had brought home, from looking at their recent scars from some type of battle, go out of their way to protect her. The group obviously needed down time. And lastly, he learned that the big man carrying the suitcases next to him was in love with his baby girl.

Later that night, Jennifer settled into her old bedroom. Sheppard and Ronon were down the hall, each in their own guest bedroom, with a bathroom in between their rooms. She walked across the hall to shower and change for the night and then quietly made her way back to her room.

Drifting off to sleep, she had a hard time sleeping on her first night on Earth. A few hours later, a dream plagued her rest.

A wraith was in Atlantis, hunting her down. She ran down the corridors, desperately trying to find a weapon. When she reached Ronon’s room, she flew inside only to find the same wraith kneeling on the bed above him feeding on him. Screaming his name, she grabbed a gun from the corner and fired.

Ronon, in the room down the hall, felt his blood chill when he heard Jennifer screaming his name. Grabbing the gun he smuggled back from Atlantis, he threw open the door and bolted into her room. Sheppard, two steps behind him with his own weapon drawn, entered the room.

They found Jennifer sitting up in bed, eyes wide and panting. Ronon went right to her while Sheppard scanned the room to figure out what caused her reaction.

Panting, she began babbling about the wraith. As she continued to speak, her father rushed into the room and took in the scene.

Ronon, slowly, sat on the bed with her and grabbed her arms. “Jen,” he began. “You had a nightmare. There’s no one here.”

Not listening, Jennifer tore off his shirt to check for wounds. Mr. Keller, confused what was happening and also noticing the multiple scars on the back of the young man, tried to follow what she was saying.

“See,” Ronon assured her. “Just the same old stuff. Nothing new.”

Sheppard, aware that Jennifer was settling down, caught her eye and gave her a warning glance towards her father. Nodding, she took a deep breath and gave Ronon back his shirt. “I’m OK,” she began. “I’m sorry to scare everyone. I just had a really bad dream.”

Ronon got up to put back on his t-shirt while her father knelt beside her bed. “You sure you’re OK? It didn’t sound like a regular bad dream.”

Jennifer tried to smile and nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. “Just embarrassed.”

Her father hugged her, and left to return to his room. Sheppard, assured she was OK, tried to crack a joke to ease the tension. “As long as it wasn’t me attacking you in the dream, I’m not mad that you disturbed my first night back for this. It wasn’t about me, right?”

This time, Jennifer did smile. “No, Sheppard. No whacked out dreams about you in my operating room this time.”

Sheppard left while Ronon lingered.

“Stay,” Jennifer said, once Sheppard was gone. Seeing that Ronon was hesitant, she pleaded. “Just until I fall asleep.”

Ronon, not wanting to go himself, pulled up a chair next to her bed and held her hand in his. A few minutes later, he heard her fall asleep. Kissing her on the forehead, he rested his head back and drifted off himself.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 8/?

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:42:37 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 8/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Ronon awoke the next morning to find himself tangled in Jen's legs. Groaning at the kink in his neck, he tried to look down to see if she was still sleeping. Confirming that she was, he quietly untangled himself and got up to look at the time. It was 9 a.m.

Making his way to grab a shower, he grabbed his radio and contacted Sheppard.

“Ronon,” Sheppard said, still sleepy. “What’s up?”

“I’ll meet you in your room in a minute.” Ronon said.

There was a pause. “Ronon out.” Ronon set down the radio, turned it off, and tucked the blankets back over her shoulders.

Sheppard had the door open when Ronon arrived. Despite the door opened, Sheppard must have fallen back onto his bed face-down after he had gotten up.

“Sheppard, wake up.” Ronon said.

“What?” Sheppard said.

“We need to talk,” Ronon said. “I need you to contact Col. Carter to get Jen cleared of duty for at least today.”

“It’s been done already,” Sheppard mumbled. “Now go.”

Ronon shifted, trying to find a way to bring up another subject. “Can I use a shower over here somewhere?” He shifted the clothes that he brought in his hands.

“Whats matter with the one by your room?” Sheppard slurred, obviously almost back to sleep.

Ronon sighed, knowing he had to say it. “I left Jen in my room and don’t want to wake her. She needs more sleep.”

Sheppard shot his head up, clearly awake, and turned to face Ronon. “Did you say what I think you just said?”

Sinking down on Sheppard’s bed, Ronon growled. “It’s not like that,” he said. “She just came to my room last night to talk and fell asleep.”

Sheppard smiled. “Oh,” he said. “Ok. How’s she doing?”

Ronon got up and stood over the bed. “Better. I think she feels better now that it’s over and she’s sorted out some things in her head.”

“Why are you here if she’s in your room still?” John asked.

“I wanted to check in with you, clear her schedule, and take her somewhere today,” Ronon said, clearly uncomfortable. “So what do women like to do on Earth if they are with a man?”

Laughing, Sheppard got up and grabbed a bottle of water from his stash, tossing one to Ronon. “You’re asking me advice on where to take the doc on a date?” Looking at Ronon, who was awaiting an answer impatiently, he thought. “Ok. On Earth, this would be easy. Atlantis is another challenge.”

Sheppard chugged down the water and thought. “Ok, I got it. Get the cooks to pack you a picnic lunch for you both. I’ll take care of the rest,” Sheppard moved to grab clothes from his bag. “Tell doc to wear something for the beach.”

“The beach?” Ronon asked.

Sheppard nodded. “Go shower and take care of that. Meet me in the jumper bay in two hours.”

A half hour later, Ronon was showered, holding a basket, and feeling foolish. Standing outside his door, he opened it.

Jennifer, waking up, smiled when she saw him. “I’m sorry. I keep falling asleep on you.” She noticed him carrying something. “What’s that?”

Ronon sank down on the bed. “Sheppard called it a picnic. The cooks called it a basket. So I’m not sure.”

Laughing, Jennifer gingerly got to her feet. Her hands instinctively went to her bandage, which had pulled off slightly during the night.

He set down the basket and brushed her hair off her shoulder. “Let’s see how it’s doing.” Ronon moved close to her and pulled the bandage off. “Not bad. Do you want it to dry out during the day.”

Nodding, she self-consciously glanced in his mirror. “Maybe I can find something to wear that covers it during my shift.”

“You’re off today,” he said. “Sheppard’s orders.”

Surprised, she glanced back. “But I’m fine. And I haven’t been on shift in two days.”

Agitated at her stubbornness, he pulled her off the bed. “No arguing. My orders. You have about an hour until we need to meet Sheppard in the jumper bay.”

Confused, she began to slip into her shoes that layed next to his bed. “Another mission?”

Ronon grinned. “Nope,” he said. “We’re taking the day off. Oh, and Sheppard said to dress for the beach.”

Still surprised, Jennifer said a quick good-bye and went to get ready and shower in her quarters.

Meanwhile, Sheppard recruited Teyla into his plans. Teyla packed a small bag for the trip and included a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne, chocolate pieces that she knew Jennifer loved, and a large blanket for them at the beach.

As Sheppard watched her back, she explained. “Dr. Keller does not drink alcoholic beverages. She brought back a few bottles of this on her last trip for the both of us since I cannot drink with child. And my cravings for chocolate prompted her to give me a large quantity of this Earth chocolate, which is also her favorite.”

Glad that he had help, Sheppard grabbed the bag after thanking Teyla and made his way to the jumper. A confused looking Dr. Keller looked at him while Ronon took the bag from him.

“Major Sheppard,” she said. “Thank you for the time off today.”

He glanced at her, grinning. “Yeah, just consider it a payback for saving my life yesterday. Possibly twice.”

Jennifer blushed. “Well, where are we going, guys?”

Sheppard shook his head. “I’m just your driver, doc. Just consider yourself like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she flies off with Gere on the plane. Without the opera and hooker part, of course.”
“Hey, no talking so that the Satedan can’t understand,” Ronon grumbled, opening the doors to the jumper.

Jennifer shook her head, laughing at Ronon.

Luckily, she had brought a pair of kaiki capri’s and a summer blouse back on her last trip from Earth. She had also indulged this morning and fixed her hair and make-up more than normal. Glancing down at her toenails, it made her happy that she also brushed on a quick coat of red polish before slipping into sandals. Not lost on Ronon, he kept shifting his glances towards her.

Sheppard flew the couple to the mainland, circling for a pretty spot on the beach he had found during his last voyage there. Satisfied he had found it, he landed the jumper.

“Ok, kids, I’ll pick you up in about four hours,” grinning at Ronon, he patted his shoulder and took off back in the jumper.

Now alone, both of them looked at each other. Dropping the basket and bag that Teyla had packet, he looked around the beach. “Sheppard said Teyla packet a blanket for us to sit and eat on. Are you hungry?”

She nodded, relaxing. “I’m starving.”

Leaving Jennifer to spread out the blanket, Ronon began to unpack the food. The cooks, who have gotten used to Ronon’s big appetite, bagged a generous portion of fried chicken and cole slaw. Portioning out the food, they eagerly began to eat.

“So,” he said. “Now that it’s just us, tell me the truth. How are you really feeling today.”

Jennifer shrugged and sighed. “Truthfully, a lot better. Both in mind and body. What happened yesterday will live in my mind forever, but it doesn’t upset me today like it did last night.”

Wiping his chin with a large cloth napkin, he pushed the food away to the edges of the blanket and pulled her hand closer to his. “I’m glad.”

Jennifer stretched out on the blanket, full from the meal. Ronon spread out, putting his weight on his elbow and propped his head up with his hand. He looked down at her.

“So what prompted you to fly me away from Atlantis today?” she asked. “Still worried about me? Don’t worry, I won’t cry on you today.”

Ronon smiled, wiping the stray strands of hair off her face. “Nope. I didn’t want any interruptions today.” He cupped her face in his hand and sank down to cover his lips with hers.

Jennifer felt the world tilt. She vaguely remembered kissing him before going to bed last night, but this different. Although she hadn’t had much experience on Earth with men, she felt overwhelmed by her feelings for this man. Despite that they literally came from two different worlds, were complete opposites, she never felt more comfortable and drawn to another man.

The kiss went on and Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him closer. Ronon felt surrounded by her warmth, inhaling her scent that he associated with her.

Ending the kiss, he sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was rush this.

“So,” he said, moving slightly away from her. “Tell me why Earth women color their nails.” He reached down and grabbed her foot, inspecting the nails closer.

She giggled, twisting away from the tickling she felt. “Because we can. It makes us feel pretty.”

“And you need paint on your foot to make you feel pretty?” he asked.

She thought. “Nope, I’m feeling it just from your kiss. But the nail polish still gives me a thrill.”

“Come on,” he smiled, letting her foot go. “Let’s go play.”

Disappointed, but glad that they weren’t moving too fast, she laughed and ran with him to the water.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 7/?

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:34:11 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 7/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Jennifer awoke in the infirmary hours later. One of her nurses was walking around her bed, checking the monitors. Confused, Jennifer lifted her hand slowly to her neck.

“Dr Keller,” the nurse said. “Glad you’re awake. It’s good to see you back in one piece.” The nurse smiled at her when Jennifer looked confused. “The way that beast of a man came barreling in here, we thought you were minutes from death.”

Ronon, Jennifer thought. She looked around to see if he was near her with the other injured. “We had him escorted out finally after we treated a couple minor scratches. Major Sheppard had to come drag him to eat dinner.”

She was in a daze but reality began to set in. “How are the men who came back with me?”

The nurse glanced up. “Alive, thanks to you. Two needed surgery to stop internal bleeding. The others will be fine after a few days rest.”

Pulling together her thoughts, she slowly sat up and swung her legs off the gurney. Looking down, she saw a mixture of her blood and others staining the front of her uniform. Her hair in one area stuck to the mass near her neck.

“You need to stay for at least a few more hours,” the nurse cautioned.

Jennifer shook her head. “I have to get the blood off me.” Pushing the nurse gently aside, unhooking the IV herself, she made her way, bare-footed, back to her quarters. By some miracle, she only passed a few people on her way back. Most of them got the message that she didn’t want to talk.

Instead of showering immediately, as she planned, the minute her door closed Jennifer sank slowly to the ground with her arms wrapped around her. Shaking, her mind replayed the events that happened earlier that day. She had killed a man. Remembering the way the man had dropped to the Earth, spilling blood out of the wound that came from her hand, she began to sob.

Meanwhile, Sheppard convinced Ronon to leave Jennifer’s side to meet with Col. Carter in the mess hall while they debriefed her on the mission. It was informal, but no one was in the mood to make it formal.

For the first time, both Ronon and Carter heard what happened to Sheppard and Jennifer. Ronon watched Sheppard retell the story expressionless, but then revealed his emotions when he stood up to abruptly throw out his trash. Carter and Sheppard watched him make his way out of the mess hall.

Turning to Carter, Sheppard took a long gulp of his coffee. Feeling more alive after a shower and change of clothes, he stretched his legs out. “She had guts. I didn’t know if she could handle everything, but she not only saved those men’s lives but she saved mine as well. Not to mention her quick thinking to get the man from slicing her head off.”

“Well, John,” she began. “I’ll be the first to say how happy she got through this. But the thing is, she’s not through it yet.” Carter lowered her voice. “Do you remember how you felt the first time you took someone’s life in battle? Because I do. Speaking from a woman’s perspective, it took a long time for me to come to grips over it.”

He nodded. “Should I go see if she’s up to a chat?”

Carter shook her head. “I plan on seeing to it myself. The infirmary just told me she checked herself out about an hour and a half ago.”

“Ronon may beat you do it.” Sheppard glanced up, unsure how to approach this. “It appears that we may have a budding romance on Atlantis.”

Carter smiled. “It wouldn’t be the first time, nor the last.” She looked away, wistfully.

When Ronon quietly knocked on her door, he heard the sound of one of those Earth hair dryers buzzing in her room. Waiting for a few minutes, he gave up and went back to his quarters.

Sitting on her bed, Jennifer turned off the hair dryer. She just spent the better part of an hour, after her crying jag, scrubbing blood off her body and hair in the shower. She washed both her hair and her body several times before she began to feel clean again. Taking the wet towel wrapped around her body off, she pulled on a pair of cut-off sweat pants, a tank top, and a t-shirt. Inhaling the clean scent, she moved to redo her now wet dressing over her cut. Her eyes, as she glanced in the mirror, were red-rimmed from crying so much. Her cut, thankfully, did look a little better than she imagined it. Glad that there was no need for stitches, she covered it with a smaller bandage. Because the massive amount of scrubbing made her skin dry, she applied lotion everywhere before sinking under her covers.

A knock sounded at her door. Ignoring it, she pulled the covers over her head and waited for the person to leave. Minutes dragged on to an hour. Her mind wouldn’t stop thinking.

Jumping out of bed, she suddenly felt trapped in her room. She slipped into her flip flops and opened her door. It was shortly after 11 p.m. and mostly everyone, except for the men doing rounds of Atlantis, was in their personal quarters. Jennifer found herself making her way to the one person she wanted to see right now.

By the time she made it to his room, she was shivering from the coldness in the hallway. That, and a mixture of nerves, made her shake so uncontrollably that she skipped a courtesy knock and used her medical bypass code to open the door herself.

Finding him in bed, propped up with a dim light on, she suddenly became embarrassed that she barged in on him. “I’m sorry,” she began, still shaking. “I just couldn’t sleep and wondered if I could stay for a little while.”

He made his way over to hear and wrapped his arms around her. She shook more now that she felt the warmth of his body. Taking an extra blanket from a nearby closet, he wrapped it around her body and carried her onto his bed.

“Are you feeling OK?” He asked as he sank down on the bed and held her in his arms. “Why did you leave the infirmary already?”

She buried her head in his shoulder. “The blood.” Her eyes filled up again. “So much blood…”

He listened to her weeping and gradually she began to pour out her heart. “I killed him, Ronon.” She sobbed. “But I know that she would have killed us.”

Ronon pulled her head so that she was staring in his eyes. And at that moment, looking directly into her soul, he felt himself fall in love with her. This woman, who cried over killing an enemy, was at the same time the same strong woman who saved several lives today, including his friend John’s.

“It never is easy,” he began. “To take someone’s life. But you need to know that he made a choice to kill, and if you had not came, John wouldn’t be here still.”

“I know that,” she said. “But it doesn’t make it easier.”

As her tears began to subside, she pulled her arms around him. Ronon drew up the covers to the bed around them and they held each other without saying a word. Ronon tucked her head under his and kissed the top of her hair. She smelled so sweet. Knowing she was still awake, he rubbed her back to try and relax her.

“Ronon?” she asked.

“Yeah?” Ronon answered, still overwhelmed by his realization that he had just fallen in love for the second time in his life. The first time, it had been a young, sweet love. This time, it felt different.

“Thanks for listening.” Jennifer drew her head up, found his lips and kissed him slowly, and smiled for the first time that day. Snuggling deeper, she drifted off into sleep in the comfort of his arms.

Ronon sighed, wrapped his arms tighter around her, and slept soundly knowing that she was more at peace with what happened today.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 6/11

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:18:23 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 6/?
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Shortly before midnight, Jennifer was sleepy soundly after a long shift when Col. Carter’s voice came through her radio next to her bed.

“Dr. Keller,” Carter continued saying again. “Report for active duty immediately to my office.”

She grabbed the radio, mumbled incoherently to answer back, and stumbled off her bed to put on a clean uniform. Beginning to worry about what was going on, she walked quickly to meet with the colonel.

Carter was sitting on her desk with her head in her hands. “Colonel?” Jennifer asked, quickly approaching her to check for injuries. “What’s going on?”

“Doctor,” Carter breathed. “I know you may not be ready for this, but an off-world team needs emergency medical help right now.” She began pacing. “They are under heavy fire from an unknown enemy. We didn’t worry when they failed to report back at their assigned time tonight. They were only in peaceful trade negotiations. It turns out they have been held as hostages this entire time.”

She continued to pace. “Major Kelly is dead. According to the marine that escaped to dial Atlantis for help, three more are severely injured. They escaped, but are being hunted in the forest.” Carter looked directly into Jennifer’s eyes. “Can you handle accompanying Sheppard’s team to both treat and see that the men get back safely?”

Jennifer nodded immediately, mentally beginning to pack a bag of essentials. “Have someone pack my gear and I’ll go grab the medical supplies I need. How many minutes do I have?

Carter nodded, glad the doctor wasn’t panicking. “Ten minutes. Sheppard’s team is ready to leave immediately.”

Quickly hustling to the infirmary, grabbing a military issue duffel bag along the way. Shouting orders to her team, she quickly got the necessary emergency gear into the bag and made her way back to the gate.

Sheppard and Ronon were already there, waiting impatiently, while Rodney was adjusting an Atlantian device to track the missing men. Sheppard, as Jennifer walked in, quickly turned to nod at Col. Carter to dial the world. They boarded the jumper and waited for the gate to activate.

Ronon approached Jennifer before the gate activated. “Remember, your priority is to see to the men. We’re here to take care of protecting you and getting the men out.”

Jennifer nodded, feeling nervous for the first time. They quickly flew through the gate.

The planet they gated to would have normally appeared peaceful, if not for the distant sounds of gunfire. Sheppard immediately barked into his radio trying to get an update from the men. Unsucessful, he looked to Rodney to point them to the direction.

“Ok,” Rodney said. “I’m getting readings of life forms in two different direction.”

Sheppard looked at Ronon. “We’ll split up. Ronon and Rodney, doc and me. Keep in radio contact at all times.”

Ronon, not wanting to leave Jennifer, gave Sheppard a long look before departing with Rodney. His silent message must have gotten through to Sheppard he lightly patted Ronon on his way past him to assure he would protect Jennifer.

Sheppard and Jennifer made their way into the west side of the forest. Within an hour, he heard a voice from one of the marines detailing their location. Both hastened after hearing the man’s voice in pain through the radio until they found him hidden in a tight grouping of bushes.

Major Jennings was laying there when they arrived, clearly in pain and struggling to remain conscious. Jennifer quickly assessed his injuries and began treating him with the supplies she brought. Turning around, she glanced at Sheppard. “I can’t move him until I finish treating him. He’s lost too much blood and is in shock. Go on and find the rest.”

Reluctantly, Sheppard agreed but still was not confident in leaving the doctor alone. “Doc, keep your gun out and listen for anyone approaching. Keep your radio on too.”

She absently nodded, and quickly worked to stabilize Jennings. She was forced to get liquids into his body and hooked an IV up to a nearby low branch, improvising. Tearing off his shirt, she found the source of the blood flow and worked to stop it before he bled to death. What kind of weapon makes such a wound? She asked. It looked similar to knife wound but the tears in the skin normally wouldn’t appear so jagged. Jennings, who had passed out minutes after their arrival, couldn’t give her details so she worked quickly. His pulse was too weak. She was going to lose him if she couldn’t get him back to Atlantis.

It seemed like minutes, but a glance at her watch showed three hours had passed by. Quietly moving to the radio, she attempted to contact Sheppard without success. Suddenly, she heard him nearby shouting at men to get to their location. Two men stumbled into the shelter. Jennifer dragged them both fully into the shelter and next to Jennings. Both looked as bad, if not worse, than Jennings. She quickly treated them as best she could, forcing one of them to stay conscious to help her.

“Doc, Sheppard’s under heavy fire. He needs help. Patch me so that I can go help him.” He said.

Jennifer looked at him and shook her head. “All three of you can’t be moved.” She grabbed his weapon. “How far away is he?”

The marine pointed, and immediately passed out before he could refrain her from going.

Intent on finding Sheppard, she pushed aside her anxiety and carefully walked to the location Sheppard was last seen. Sure enough, she came upon him but couldn’t see any sign of the enemy. From the bodies strewn around him, she could tell he just had finished a long battle against tough odds. Without warning, she saw a man sneaking up behind Sheppard with a long knife. Just as the man was about to slice through Sheppard’s neck, Jennifer raised her gun and fired.

Sheppard, stunned at the sound, turned around with his gun raised. In shock, Jennifer lowered her weapon, pushing past the fact she had just been forced to take someone’s life. Just as she was about to approach him, a force from behind pulled her back and lifted a long, jagged knife to her throat.

Sheppard, still with his gun raised, stared grimly at the man holding Jennifer hostage. “Look, buddy. You’re going to want to drop that knife and let her go.”

The man, who smelled like he hadn’t showered in months, pulled her closer. “If you want her to live, put down your weapon and surrender.” He jerked the knife closer to her neck and grazed her neck with the sharp knife.

Jennifer felt herself close to fainting, but she knew she had to help Sheppard get her out of this mess. Suddenly, feeling stupid, she remembered she was still holding her gun. Although the man had her neck pulled back to expose the blood dripping from her neck to Sheppard, she was able to clearly look down to aim a close-range shot to the man’s foot. Looking once at Sheppard to try to relay what she was about to do, she saw a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. To distract the man, Sheppard pretended to lower his weapon to the ground just as Jennifer got off her shot.

The man instantly released her and she dove for cover as Sheppard fired shots, killing the man.

He ran over to Jennifer, who was laying face up on the ground. “Nice thinking, doc.” Then his face turned angry. “Now tell me why you are out here and not with the men.” Sheppard got out his bandana to wipe her neck, checking how deep the cut was. It was bad, but nothing life-threatening for now.

Her teeth chattered from the shock. “Two of the men may not make it unless we get back immediately. The one marine that just came back from here told me you were in trouble.” She grimaced and he helped her up. Sheppard took a bandana out of his jacket pocket and tied it snuggly against her wound on her neck to stem the flow of blood.

He looked closely at her. “Are you going to be OK?”

Jennifer looked around at the scene surrounding her. Bodies, one of whom she had killed, littered the immediate are. It was safe to say she was nearly killed by one of them, who luckily didn’t nick her jugular. She was mentally and physically exhausted.

Pulling strength she didn’t realize she had, she looked away and nodded. They quickly made their way, quietly, through the forest back to the shelter. On the way, Ronon finally made contact with Sheppard and said they had joined up with the injured men and had two more of their own. The best news either Sheppard or Jennifer heard all day was that one of the injured marines with the gene capable of flying the jumper would be picking them up at the shelter along with Ronon and Rodney.

When they arrived back at the shelter, Rodney and Ronon were already loading up the injured. Jennifer packed up the remaining medical supplies while Sheppard took over the marine who had flown the jumper. Once they were all in, Jennifer immediately went to each injured man and continued to treat them as they flew back towards the gate. Sheppard landed the jumper to have Rodney dial home.

While she was treating the men, Ronon was carefully watching her face. Something happened. He could tell by the way her face was tightly set while treating the men. Sheppard also kept glancing back at the doctor with a worried expression on his face. Neither of them had said what happened to them in the past few hours, but Ronon was sure that Jennifer had to deal with more than just a few injured men.

Because he was ready, and because of his hunch, when Jennifer fully stood up and held her head while swaying, he quickly jumped up and caught her as she began to slide to the floor. Sheppard, who was still waiting for Rodney, made his way back to them. Ronon set her carefully down on the floor with her upper body supported by his own. Sheppard, knowing the source of the problem, looked quickly at Ronon and shook his head.

“She was taken by one of the men for a few minutes by knifepoint,” he said as he untied his bandana from her neck. Jennifer, who never fully passed out, pushed away Sheppards hands and struggled to get up to make her way back to the injured men. “Doc, we may still need you before we get back and you’re no use passed out. Give us a minute to take care of you.”

With no other choice, she nodded and layed back, supported in Ronon’s arms.

Ronon was filled with rage when he took the long, thin slice of matted blood on the side of her neck. Sheppard wiped the wound clean with the supplies Jennifer had layed out while Ronon pushed her hair from the wound.

Rodney, who had reboarded the jumper, quickly inhaled his breath. “What happened?”

Sheppard handed him the supplies. “Finish cleaning and bandaging her. I need to get us back.”

Rodney and Ronon worked together to finish the cleaning. Meanwhile, one of the marines slid over and slipped Jennifer a hard piece of candy.

The marine looked at them. “Doc always makes me carry these because of my blood sugar problem. It should help her with the dizziness.”

A few moments later, they arrived back to Atlantis. Opening the doors to the jumper, several gate crew members helped the injured onto gurneys and transported them to the infirmary. Ronon lifted Jennifer to her feet but then changed his mind when she sank against him. Lifting her into his arms, passing a wide-eyed Colonel Carter, he walked past the others and quickly followed the injured to the infirmary.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 5/11

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:53:30 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 5/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Jennifer made her way back to her quarters in a daze. She half-heartedly waved at a few people who greeted her on the way but in her mind she was in a different world. What just happened? Or, what just ALMOST happened? Her heart was racing as she closed the door to her room and hurried to take a shower before jumping into her uniform for her shift.

Drying her hair, she quickly checked her appearance in the mirror. Her hair looked OK, but styling it on Atlantis was much more timely and difficult than plugging a curling iron or curlers in on Earth. Instead, she quickly applied a little makeup, careful not to go overboard because she rarely went past the natural look, and ran out the door.

She stopped. What am I doing? This entire time on Atlantis I haven’t once worn makeup. What was the point? Well, it appeared like she had one now.

Walking quickly to the infirmary, she mentally pushed thoughts of Ronon out of her mind and tried to get into the mindset of her job. As she walked in, she noticed it was fairly busy for this time of afternoon. Cursing herself for not making time to grab food for lunch, she jumped in and began assisting and aiding other doctors.

Not before long, Rodney flew in and insisted on immediate treatment of an unknown looking rash on his stomach. She groaned, knowing fully she was the only doctor not currently with a patient, and examined him while listening to his other listings of ailments.

“Furthermore, doctor, I need you also to check…” he began just as she interrupted his sentence.

“Enough, Rodney. You’re fine,” she exclaimed. “Here, take this cream and apply it twice a day until it’s gone. More than likely the laundry people switched the detergent and you are experiencing a slight skin irritation.”

After the last words were out of her mouth, they both heard her stomach rumbling loudly. Although Rodney was put off by her pushing aside his complaints, he snickered at her embarrassment.

“Yes. Well, I think I just heard an earthquake on the mainland.” He began. “No, wait. Was that just your stomach?”

Despite her intentions to stay annoyed at him, she laughed and relaxed. “I forgot to grab lunch. Dinner. Whichever it’s called at 3 p.m.

Rodney smirked as he jumped off the examining table, happy he got in at least one jab for her minimizing his rash. Turning, he thanked her and walked out.

Not paying attention, he ran into a bleeding Ronon in front of the cafeteria.

“Ronon,” Rodney stopped and stared. “You’re bleeding.”

Ronon glanced up and glared. “I know.”

“Oh, OK. Well, if you’re on your way to the infirmary, take Dr. Keller something to eat. Unless you want to listen to her barren stomach growl at you the entire time.”

Rodney made his way back to his work area as Ronon thought, switched his direction, and stopped in the cafeteria to grab a meal for Jennifer while getting asked twice more if he knew he was bleeding.

Jennifer sat down for the first time since she came on shift to look over paperwork that came across her desk for acquisition of more medicine supplies. She glanced up just in time to see Ronon, who she had just spent better part of an hour trying to forget, appear with dried blood caked on his face. She instantly jumped up and ran over to him.

“What happened to your face?” She asked loudly. “When did this happen?” She grabbed the items from his hand, not noticing what it was, and put it on the empty gurney next to them. She pushed him onto the other gurney and shoved him on his back.

“Easy, there.” Ronon said. “Lorne just got a punch in after you left during training.”

She examined the wound, determining that it would need at least a few stitches. She sighed.

“Seriously, how many stitches am I going to put in you while I’m here? This is probably the third time I’ve done it, not to count how many others have probably sewn you up.” Jennifer said as she worked to close the wound.

Ronon just laid there, with a half smile on his face. “Probably not as much anymore,” gaging her mood, he went on. “Most of it was just an excuse come here to see you.”

Jennifer, shocked, dropped the needle and swatted his arm. “What? What do you mean? You purposely have been getting hurt just to talk to me?” She slammed down her gloves. “Have you ever heard of asking a woman out on a date?”

“No, actually. This way was easier.” He quickly stood up and trapped her between him and the empty gurney. “So, will you go somewhere with me tomorrow after we train?”

With her back to the gurney, she stumbled back only to have him steady her. “Uh, well. How about dinner and a movie? Well, Atlantis style. We can’t exactly make reservations for a four star restaurant and hit the theater here.”

Confused, he just looked down at her. “I won’t pretend like I understood a word you said. But how about we have dinner and then watch one of Sheppard’s movies this time?”

Keller swallowed. “Sounds good.”

Ronon looked like he wanted to do, or say, something more, but he shifted his gaze onto the gurney. “Here,” he grabbed the sandwich and bottle he snagged from the cafeteria. “Eat.”

She looked surprised that he would know she skipped lunch. “Rodney told me,” he explained.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 4/11

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:54:04 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 4/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

When Jennifer woke up the next morning, she sat up, embarrassed to remember she must have fallen asleep on Ronon last night. She stretched, thinking it was one of her best nights sleeping on Atlantis since she arrived.

Energized, she walked to her wardrobe and searched for something to wear to her next training session this morning. A knock interrupted her search and she walked to open the door.

Teyla stood at the door, smiling. “Doctor,” she said. “Good morning. I’m glad I caught you before you began your day.”

Jennifer smiled. “I’m on my way to another training.” She glanced down at what Teyla was holding and grinned. “You brought one!” Jennifer looked at the outfit Teyla was letting her borrow for her training.

Stepping into the room, Teyla grinned at the excitement in Dr. Keller’s voice. They were quickly becoming friends since their experience off world. When Jennifer told her at dinner the previous night that Ronon made fun of her clothing for training, Teyla slyly came up with a plan to have someone alter one of her outfits for the doctor.

“Who did you get to do this so quickly?” Jennifer asked.

“One of the nurses from Earth did it last night for me,” Teyla responded. “Well, try it on for me!” She laughed as Keller ran behind the changing wall in the corner of her quarters.

After a minute, Jennifer came back out shyly and looked up at Teyla. “Well, it sure does leave a lot of skin uncovered.” The top of the outfit was similar to an Earth sports bra, but fancier with a little shimmer to it. It came stopped at least two inches above her belly button. The bottoms, however, covered more but were sheer below mid-thigh.

Teyla laughed. “Yes, but think of how often Ronon snagged you by your shirt yesterday. Today, that won’t be a problem. This is the reason I wear such ensembles to train.”

Moving towards the door, Teyla glanced back. “Let me know how it goes today.” She grinned as left the room, thinking that Ronon was in for a challenge to concentrate today.

Meanwhile, Jennifer quickly moved around the room to grab her water bottle only to be interrupted again by a knocking. She opened to the door.

Ronon stood by the door, leaning on the frame, with his own bottle dangling from his hand. His smile vanished when he looked at what she was wearing. His mouth dropped open as he scanned her visible mid-drift, her shoulders, and the flowing material of the bottom. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he used all of his strength to look back at her eyes.

“What did Teyla do to you since I left last night?” He asked, recognizing the clothing instantly.

She smiled shyly. “Well, you didn’t seem like you approved of my previous choice in training clothing, so Teyla offered to borrow me these.” She twirled. “Do you like it?”

Ronon groaned, knowing she didn’t know what she was doing to him. “They’re clothes.” He tried his best to shrug her off. “Are you ready?”

Jennifer sniffed, passing his reaction off as a typical man who didn’t care about fashion. She moved to leave but he was still blocking her way.

Ronon quickly thought, trying to find a way to get her covered without others, particularly other men, seeing her on their way to the training room. “It’s cold in the corridors this morning. Take a sweatshirt until we get there.”

She huffed. “It’s a minute walk. I’ll be fine!”

Ronon pushed past her and grabbed a sweatshirt he saw on the bed. “Trust me.” He took it upon himself to put the shirt over her head and helped her get her arms through. “Now let’s go. We’re behind already.”

Jennifer stalked behind him, pushing the hair out of her face, trying to keep up. “Yes, sir, Mr. Crankypants.” On the way, she quickly tied up her hair into a messy pony tail.

They arrived quickly, thanks to Ronon’s hurry to get there without being seen, and Jennifer peeled off her sweatshirt before meeting him on the mat.

Ronon stepped on to the mat, inwardly cursing the fact that he had planned to go over grappling on the ground today. Many times he’s seen great fighters lose their advantage as soon as the fight is taken on to the ground. It wouldn’t be easy staying focused with her dressed like that.

She noticed he seemed hesitant to begin today and wondered what was going on in his head. “Are you feeling OK?” She asked.

His eyes met her. “Wonderful.” He replied with his teeth closed. “I feel wonderful.” He tried to push aside his thoughts.

Moving closer to her, he began explaining ways to avoid moving a fight to the ground. He showed her techniques and stances that could possibly make her stance week, thereby moving her to the ground with her opponent. Or worse, leaving her helpless while an opponent got off a shot.

“Now,” he began. “There are a couple things you can do if you are in this situation.” He paused. “Lie down on your back with your legs straight out in front of you.”

Jennifer paused. For some reason, she was had been very comfortable with him up until this point. Laying down in front of him was different. She slowly followed his directions and looked up at him uncertainly. Ronon, from a kneeling position, got on top of her and sat on her just above her knees so that she was pinned from the lower half down. “Now,” he said. “Tell me what your options are. Your hands and arms are still free to do damage.”

Jennifer tried to keep her breathing even and thought quickly. “You’re too low for me to do anything major, unless I reach up and hit your stomach or your… ummm…” She blushed. “Your groin area.”

Ronon laughed, relaxing a little. “Good. You at least realize that if you’re down like this, you’ll need your opponent closer to you to take an advantage.” He scooted up a little. “Grab my wrist and pull me towards you as hard as you can.”

She quickly did and was surprised that he was put off balance by the move and landed directly on top of her with both hands on either side of her head. Jennifer inhaled quickly, overcome by emotion of being this close to him. What am I thinking, she thought. I can’t allow myself to think this way… he’s a friend. Only a friend.

He watched her squirm for a moment and smiled inwardly as he noticed that she was finally affected as he was.

“Now,” he said. “Let me show you what damage you can do from this position.” He ran through possibilities, half of them Jennifer instantly forgot. She continued to struggle with her focus. They tried a few of them until she got most of them down.

Giving her a break, he flipped her over so that she was now in the same position where he was before, on top of him. He instantly regretted his move as her hair flew out of the band and framed her face. She looked beautiful, and he had to get his mind back on track. Eager to get space between them for his own sanity, he placed his hands on her bare mid-drift and lifted her into a kneeling position over him.

He drew a breath. “Now, tell me what you can do from here,” he asked.

Because he kept his hands lightly on the outside of her thighs, she couldn’t think immediately. Come on, Jen. Get a grip. Think. “I think my only advantage at this point is putting as much weight down on your throat. Maybe with my knee?” She suggested.

He nodded. “Perfect. There are a few other things that we’ll try.” For the next few minutes, he went over a few other moves and sensed her focus and confidence returning. Thinking quickly, he suddenly grabbed and twisted her back under him to demonstrate how easy it would still be for an enemy of overpower her.

Jennifer let out a whoosh of air. “Where did that come from?” She looked at him, dazed.

He grinned. “Can’t let you get too confident.”

She slyly grabbed his arm, pulling him off balance and tried her best to show off some of her moves. Ronon, catching on quickly, defended himself much to her disappointment. “Nice try, doc.” He said. Pinning her arms over her head, he decided now was a better time than any. “But now that I have you down here, let me ask you a question.”

Still struggling, she stopped to look up at him. “What?”

He was inches from her face and starred into her eyes. “Tell me what you meant last night.”

Embarrassed, she rolled her eyes. “When?” He kept looking at her like she should know. “What? Was a talking in my sleep? What did I say?”

“Oh no, you were awake for this.” He said. “What did you mean that you’re not my type?”

She scrunched her face in confusion. “Type. Oh!” She relaxed. He just didn’t understand Earth jargon again. “You know, the type of woman you usually fall for would be someone with the looks and personality like Teyla.”

He narrowed his eyes and inched closer to her. “Really? And you just assumed this?” His voice got dangerously low. He let go over her hands and placed his weight on his elbows on either side of her head.

Not for the first time today, she sensed he was flirting with her. What? She thought. There is no way! But as his mouth got closer to hers, there was no mistake in his intention. Mesmerized, she automatically reached up to pull his head down to meet his lips. When he was a fraction away, they both jumped as they heard the door sliding open.

Jen tried to get up, but Ronon wasn’t budging. He glared up at the visitor while holding her down, taking notice it was Sheppard, and glared at him.

“What?” He demanded from his position on the floor.

John took in the scene and looked up, surprised. “Ah… sorry, guys.” He fumbled. Turning to leave, he called out to Ronon. “Just wanted to remind you the new recruits of Lorne are coming in shortly. Lorne wanted you to stay to demonstrate at the beginning with him, Ronon.” He quickly made his exit, grinning on the way out.

Ronon, cursing Sheppard, Lorne, and pretty much everyone on Atlantis, got up and lifted Jen to her feet. “That’s not over.” He warned her. “Not over by a long shot.”

Jennifer, stunned at the events that just happened, nodded stupidly and picked up her stuff to exit before the men arrived.

Lorne, arriving early, came through the door. His eyes widened at the site of Dr. Keller and he stopped dead in his tracks. “Doc?” he asked. “Wow, you look great.” Not taking his eyes off of her, he didn’t notice Ronon’s menacing glare shooting at him.

Sheppard, arriving back this time with several bottles of water, took in the scene. Quickly, Jennifer said her good-byes, avoiding Ronon’s eyes, and ran out the door. Lorne, eyes still glued to her, grinned at Sheppard while watching her retreating form.

Sheppard, acutely away of Ronon’s reaction to Lorne, felt the tension that Lorne obviously didn’t. “Son, wipe the drool off your face and let’s get to work.”

“Sorry, sir,” Lorne said sheepishly. “Can’t help it.” He finally looked at Ronon. “Hey, Ronon. You’ve been with Doc Keller for a few days of training. Do you know if she would mind if I asked her out?”

Ronon’s eyes narrowed and he began moving towards Lorne with the thought of strangling him clearly on his mind. Sheppard, sensing this, moved between them. “Lorne, if you value your life, let’s just move on to setting up before the men arrive.”

Confused, but still floating over seeing Jen, shrugged and began setting up more mats. As the men trickled in, Sheppard approached Ronon.

“So,” he started. “How’s the training coming along?” Sheppard couldn’t resist trying to prod information out of him.

Ronon turned and glared. “It went well today except for the interruption. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you, by the way.”

Sheppard smiled. “Nah, you wouldn’t have done that… but then again I’m sure some bodily harm would have happened might I have been closer to your… umm… practice session.” He moved to a safe distance. “If you could call it that.”

Ronon glared and turned to begin his demonstration part of Lorne’s lesson. He looked at the man, still fuming over his comments about Jennifer.

“Are you ready to begin?” asked Lorne, oblivious to Ronon’s mood. For those who didn’t know Ronon well enough, he mostly always had the same expression on his face. Only Sheppard could see Ronon’s boiling anger.

“Oh, yes.” Ronon answered.

They both moved onto the mats, took their stances, and began. Both tried attacking at the same time. Ronon, trying to play with Lorne and build his confidence, let him get a few minor hits in. He felt a sting when Lorne landed a hit near his eye and felt the wetness of blood. And that’s when he really began. Instantly, he went into attack mode and put everything into his punches and swings. Within ten seconds, he grabbed Lorne, knocked both legs out from under him, and threw him hard onto the mat.

Lorne, with the wind knocked out of him, merely stared at Ronon in confusion. Ronon’s anger began to disappear now that he let out some steam.

“Sorry. I know I was rough. And I probably embarrassed you in front of the new recruits,” he muttered under his breath so only Lorne could hear. He grabbed Lorne by the shirt and bent low, with his back to the recruits and Sheppard.

“Now, listen carefully,” he paused. “Stay away from Keller,” he moved closer so that he was inches away from Lorne’s face. “I don’t want you looking at her. I don’t want you hanging around the infirmary unless you’re bleeding to death. And I don’t want you thinking about her.”

Ronon paused, ready to say it aloud. “She’s taken.” He let Lorne go, offered his hand to assist him with getting up. Lorne, still in shock, was slow to take it. Once on his feet, his eyes didn’t leave Ronon’s and he nodded in understanding.

Ronon saluted the recruits, muttered something unintelligible to Sheppard, and went off on his own visit to the infirmary to get the blood now dripping from his eyebrow stitched up.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 3/11

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:42:27 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 3/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Jennifer yawned as she returned from her shower. Her body ached with the workout she had earlier, but she felt better than she had in weeks. Exercise hadn’t been a priority in the past few weeks with everything going on. Although she was paying for it now, Jennifer still felt satisfied with her first day of training.

She pulled on an old pair of flannel pajama pants… the ones her college roommate always made fun of… and a black tank top since she was still hot from the shower. Her hair was sopping wet and flowed down her back, cooling her down. Searching the room, she found her brush after turning on her laptop to settle in with a movie. Quickly running the brush through her hair, she mentally looked through her stash of DVD’s and picked Independence Day because of her mixed mood…. Cheerful, excited, but ready for a laugh. Will Smith could always deliver that.

She pulled on a different oversized sweatshirt from earlier, snuggled down in bed, and pressed play just as a knocking sound came from her door. She sighed. Then she felt guilty, hoping whoever it was didn’t need medical attention since she rarely had visitors come to her quarters.

Walking across the room, she opened the door surprised to find Ronon on the other side. He smiled, looked guilty at her bed while noticing the covers drawn back, and looked back at her. “Sorry, I got you out of bed. Trust me when I say this… I hate when it happens to me.”

Jennifer looked back at him, scanned him for blood, and glanced back up at his face. “Well, you’re not bleeding to death or unconscious, so I take it it’s not a medical emergency.” She smiled.

Ronon shook his head and said, “No, I just wanted to stop by and ask if we can do an earlier training tomorrow. I heard the room was needed for a bigger training later on.”

She nodded. “Actually, that will work out perfect. I only have a short late shift tomorrow evening with the time I banked from when we were short staffed doctors. Colonel Carter has been insisting that I shorten a few of my mid-week shifts.”

Ronon smiled. “Good. Well, I’ll let you get back to sleeping. Sorry, again Doc, for barging in.” He moved to walk away.

Jennifer thought for only a moment. “Ronon!” She called back and glanced back into her quarters. “Call me Jen. Please. And actually, I was about to watch a movie.” She grinned. “I’m too sore and keyed up to sleep this early. I know you’ve only seen a few Earth movies before. Have you seen Independence Day yet?”

He moved back towards her, brightening. “No, but I have to confess that I’m getting hooked on Sheppard’s movies. I’ve watched everything he has during my off time.”

She moved to let him into the room and frowned. “Well, I’ll be honest with you. I’m not set up for visitors, but we can watch it on the bed if you don’t mind.” She pushed the laptop to the middle of the bed and sat on other side, waiting for him to join her.

Ronon moved into the room, shut the door, looking around for a moment. Her quarters were unlike others. Keller room looked very female, with oversized pillows and curtains hanging over the walls.

Following his glances, Jennifer spoke up. “I love color, so I brought a few things from home to brighten up the place.” Ronon glanced back, suddenly aware how small the bed was compared to his big size. “Come on, let’s get started so that I don’t fall asleep half way through.” She said, stretching out.

He slid on top of the covers next to her, propping his back against the wall. Inching a little closer to her side so that he could see the screen, he was hit by the scent of her still wet hair. She smelled like flowers he remembered from his home. He sighed, wondering how he was going to be able to pay attention to the movie now.

Jennifer, oblivious to the thoughts running in Ronon’s head, settled the screen between them by propping it half on her leg and Ronon’s, pulled a pillow from behind her head and sighed. As the opening scene began to roll, she looked up at him. “I’m usually nervous when I’m around men,” she began, twirling a lock of her drying hair around her fingers. “But I’m not nervous around you.”

Ronon looked down at her, sinking lower in the bed. “What makes me different?” He asked.

She looked back at the screen, half paying attention to what she was saying as the storyline began. “I’m usually nervous around men because I feel like I have to make sure I look a certain way for them… you know, make-up, do the hair, watch I don’t say something stupid.” She stopped. “There’s no pressure to do that with you, I guess.”

He frowned, wondering where this was going. “What do you mean, no pressure?”

Jen looked up at him from her position. “I’m not your type, so there’s no pressure to live up to all of that. We’re just friends.”

Shifting, she moved closer to him after feeling the cold air on her still wet head, and rested herself on his arm while they watched the movie. Ronon, only giving the movie a little attention, ran through the conversation again in his head.

She has no idea how attractive she is, he thought. And worse yet, or maybe it was good for him, she didn’t notice his attraction towards her yet.

Dwelling on his thoughts, he watched the movie and made comments when she pointed out various actors, plot elements, and translated Earth jargon for him. Shortly before the movie ended, he noticed her quietness and slow breathing.

Moving the laptop to the small table next to her bed, he found her sleeping snuggly in his arms. He stayed like that for at least an hour, holding her against him, and savoring the time he had with her for the night. Sighing, just before midnight, he got up to pull the covers over her and walked back into his own room before someone saw him come out of hers.

A beginning of friendship Pt. 2/11

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:41:18 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 2/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

Ronon made his way to the gym a few hours later after receiving word from Sheppard that Keller was available for a few hours after lunch. Ronon purposefully grabbed something to eat from the dining hall to bring back to his room to avoid everyone altogether.

He didn’t know why Keller was on his mind since the battle with the Bola Kai. Sure, he made some glances at her when she first arrived. Everyone did. Keller was young, a little too young according to everyone, to be considered equal to the late Dr. Beckett. However, her care during Dr. Weier’s accident quickly erased doubts from mostly everyone’s minds. Still, she continued to get a few looks, especially from the men on Atlantis. Keller, which no one would debate, was easy on the eye.

Keller wasn’t a beauty like Teyla. No. But her innocence and freshness brought about a different beauty in her.

Ronon opened the door to find Keller already there. Keller jumped and covered her hand across her heart as the door opened.

“Sorry,” Ronon muttered.

Ronon kept his eyes on her, watching as she appeared to settle herself. She appeared younger without her uniform on. Keller was wearing black sweatpants that came up to her upper calves leaving her lower legs bare, running shoes, and what looked like many different tops layered over one another. The last one had a hood attached to it.

“Listen,” she began. Her hands were completely covered by the oversized sweatshirt as she fiddled with the sleeves. “I just want to thank you for offering to help me.” Keller moved towards Ronon. “I’m not stupid to think you don’t think this will work, especially within one week… but I’ve made up my mind to do this. I’ve put it off way too long, and I’m not going to be put into another situation again where I don’t know how to defend myself or others around me.” She rushed through her rehearsed speech, forgot to breathe through it, and gulped in air as she finished, satisfied she at least appeared like a competent learner.

He moved across the room to move the mats towards them. “Dr. Keller,” he began, “making up your mind to do something and being able to do it is two different things.”

He regretted it the instant it left his mouth. He looked back to see her hopeful face fall. Ronon quickly tried to recover. “That didn’t come out right.”

Keller tried to smile. “I think it did. You’re being honest, which I appreciate.”

Ronon shook his head. “Let’s start over.” He walked onto the mat, motioning her to join him. Keller slowly walked over, with a little less confidence this time as she approached him.

His eyes gazed over her, making her uncomfortable. “You can’t move with all that stuff on,” he said. “Take off some of it.”

Keller startled. “My clothes?” she asked. “It’s cold in here.” He simply waited for her to obey. “OK, OK,” she muttered and turned. The doctor reached down and took off the hoodie from her favorite university and her long-sleeved t-shirt, leaving on a t-shirt with a tank top underneath.

Ronon’s mouth twitched, which Keller caught. “What?” she asked.

He moved again towards her on the mat. “Nothing. You just dress much different than Teyla.”

Moving back towards the mat, Keller looked up to say “Well, not all of us can be gorgeous goddesses. The rest of us make do with what we have.”

Ronon thought differently, but didn’t verbalize this thinking. “Let’s start with basic self defense.” He took her wrists to make her fingers into fists, turned her body so that her shoulders were not square to him, and moved her feet to align with the rest of her body.

He didn’t have much experience teaching, other than with the military men on the base. Teyla didn’t count, seeing that she could occasionally over power him in a fight. Keller was new territory he wasn’t sure how to approach. So far, she looked like a strong wind would blow her over.

She stayed frozen in the position that he put her in, not saying a word. Good, he thought. He hated chattering people. Like Rodney. No, Rodney was OK but the chattering got on his nerves.

“Now, I’m going to pretend, in slow motion, to come at you with a punch.” He got into his own stance. “Block it with whatever comes to mind.”

Keller nodded, and her eyes widened when he came at her a little faster than what she imagined slow motion to be. With her leading arm, she efficiently swatted away his arm and quickly turned so that her back was not to him yet still in her stance.

Ronon’s eyebrows raised. “I’m impressed.” He said. “I thought you would duck and scream.”

Keller smirked. “You thought wrong.”

They continued the training and Ronon grew even more impressed with the doctor. No, she didn’t have the strength to back up her blocks or punches, but she was a natural defender. He didn’t expect that.

After three hours had gone by, Keller checked her watch. “Ronon, I’m on shift again in an hour. I need to go grab a shower and dinner.”

Ronon nodded. “Nice work today, doc.” He said. “Same time tomorrow?”

Keller smiled, beaming at the compliment. “You bet!” Turning as she toweled off and grabbed her clothes, she glanced his way. “My first lesson without anything broken or bleeding.” She smiled. “I’m sure a lot of bets will be lost between my medical team when I go back on shift.”

A beginning of friendship Pt. 1/11

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:36:10 GMT

Title: A beginning of friendship
Chapters: 1/11
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own these characters. I'm only borrowing them.

John Sheppard continued knocking on the door to Ronon’s quarters, impatiently waiting for Ronon to stir. It was 0600, but he needed to talk to Ronon before the morning hours slipped away. It seemed they had a deadline to make.

His hands moved to use his bypass code to the room when suddenly the door opened. Ronon, his eyes half shut but still able to give a killer look at his visitor, left the door open only to turn back into his still darkened quarters.

“Sheppard,” Ronon growled over his shoulder. “What can you possibly need this early in the morning?” He sat back on the bed and rubbed his face. “And it better be good or you’re going to pay for it the next sparring match we have.”

John winced, thinking of the beating that Ronon, who he knew wouldn’t forget the next time they fought, entered the room. He flipped on the lights, low, as to not get Ronon more cranky than he already was.

“Yeah, well, sorry,” John said. “At least you didn’t get a wake up call at 0500 like I did.”

“What’s going on? Who called you?” Ronon asked, getting up to reach for a half empty bottle of water from last night.

John sat down on a chair in the room. “Colonel Carter. In the next few missions, from what Carter told me, we’ll need someone from medical to join the team temporarily. It seems that the upcoming worlds have promise of new medicines that we may overlook while we’re there.”

Ronon’s eyes began to open more after he chugged down the remaining water. “Who?”

“Dr. Keller.” John said. “Well, as soon as she’s cleared for active duty.”

“Cleared?” Ronon asked. “What’s going on? She’s been off world a few times with other teams.”

“Well,” Sheppard began. “It appears that the young doc is in need of basic fighting training. Especially with weapons.” Sheppard got up to turn on the lights.

Ronon shook his head. “Why did Earth send her if she was unqualified to go on missions? Have they heard that we get into battle occasionally?”

Sheppard nodded. “The thing is, she’s brilliant. They couldn’t pass up on asking her and figured we could provide the needed training as soon as she arrived here. Problem is that after Weir’s injury and the battle with the replicators, it was pushed aside.”

“Which leads me to ask… why did you come here again?” Ronon asked, again.

John winced. He wasn’t looking forward to Ronon’s payback the next time the sparred. “I can’t do it.”

“Do what?” Ronon asked.

“Train her. You will,” Sheppard said quickly and moved hastily to the door to leave.

Ronon jumped from the bed and grabbed Sheppard’s arm. “What? This is the same Doc we’re talking about that shook in her boots for hours after the last mission? You’ve got to be kidding.” Ronon said loudly. “And how long do I have to do this?”

Dislodging his arm, which took a few seconds due to Ronon’s rough grip, Sheppard prepared to make his exit. “One week.”

“Impossible,” Ronon huffed. “Where’s the Colonel? I’d like for her to tell me how she thinks that will happen.” Ronon pushed past Sheppard in the doorway.

John put his arm on Ronon. He played his hunch to get the irritated warrior to stop before going on a rampage. “Hey, if you’re not up for it, Major Lorne was first to volunteer.” Ronon just shot a look at Sheppard. “Let’s just go get him to do it. But I’ll be honest with you, Carter was against it seeing that Lorne is developing a crush on the doc. Didn’t feel that Lorne would be able to stay focused.”

Ronon took one step towards Sheppard. “Crush?” He said. “Translate.”

John stopped the smile from forming. “Crush. As in, he has his eye on her.” Sheppard pretended to search for words. “He thinks she’s hot,” John said quickly and shrugged, moving as if to leave to room to track down Lorne.

John almost lost composure when he looked back to see if his friend was following him. Ronon’s face turned unreadable except for the narrowing of his eyes. John knew he had been right. After Teyla and Keller’s adventure with the Bola Kai, John thought back and felt it was strange that Ronon, who never backed down from a fight, turned his back to let John battle the remaining savages to help Teyla get Keller to safety.

“Wait,” Ronon said. He turned his back and walked back into his room. “I’ll do it.” Ronon turned. “But at least set up a time schedule with her. I don’t have time to track down doctors.” Ronon shut the door.

John stood there for a moment and grinned. Then he laughed. It was going to be a fun filled week ahead watching the Satedan and the Doc.