Spoilers: "Quarantine" and very vague foreshadowing of events in "Trio".

Notes: SGA is not my usual sandbox, as a result I do not have a beta for this fandom and I am well known for comma abuse etc. I have done my best by reading it over and over and using spell and gramma check. I rather like the idea of Ronon/Keller, the writers seemed to have let it die over the last few episodes so I wanted an explanation. I don't think this completely slams the door on a future relationship if you are inclined that way but it is really friendshippy, not relationshippy.

Aftermath

"You reminded me of her."

Jennifer jumped out of her skin and span around. There he was, the one person she really didn't want to see.

There weren't many injuries after the Quarantine, Zelenka had some bruises, Rodney the aftermath of a near nervous breakdown and John's hands were abraded from his climb. A few other people had similar injuries; getting the medical staff organised to deal with it all and checking diagnosis where needed gave her a reason to keep busy and not think about what had happened.

Jennifer had seen personally to Teyla, she'd been a little dizzy during her forced incarceration in McKay's lab, nothing unexpected in a pregnant woman who'd gone a little too long without a meal. Jennifer had diagnosed nothing worse than low blood sugar and as a quick fix prescribed a bag of Doritos's she had lurking in her desk drawer. Then she did a scan of the baby, just for both their peace of mind. Finally, she sent Teyla off with John to get something proper to eat.

That left her with an empty medical bay, other than a couple of nurses working in the back and no excuse not to talk to Ronon. Who was right there, in front of her. She'd hoped to avoid him for at least a month, or preferably forever.

She let her eyes flicker up to his, so high above hers, and tried to gauge his feelings. He looked, what? Impassive? A little distant? That was no help at all.

She could feel her face heating up and her eyes dropped, "Y-you told me that."

She sensed, rather than saw his nod and even if she hadn't been looking at his feet she would have known he'd stepped closer by the static on her skin. A tiny "eek" escaped her and she had to stop herself from hopping back.

"Doctor?" His voice was a gentle rumble.

Well, that was formal, she forced herself to look up and relax her shoulders from their position up around her ears. "Yes?" She winced; her voice had come out at least an octave too high.

"Uh," his eyes slid away to the wall and his arms folded across his chest, it was intimidating but curiously vulnerable at the same time. "When we were trapped, I," he dragged his eyes from the wall and met hers briefly. "You remind me of her, your hair and… even smell like her a little. I…" He cleared his throat, "She… Uh…"

Jennifer had a flash of inspiration, "You'd been remembering her, you wanted to kiss her."

"Yeah," his eyes came back to hers, "You're not her, I know that." He shifted uncomfortably, coughed and let his eyes slide away again, all at once, "Just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to bother you. That I know it didn't mean anything."

Jen's shoulders started to shake, a look of horror passed over Ronon's face, "Please don't, oh," a reluctant smile tugged at his mouth and his eyes softened, "you're laughing at me."

"No," Jennifer tried to get a hold of her giggles, "at me mostly," she wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry; I've been hiding in the infirmary because I felt such an idiot. It's not that your not," she looked him up and down with a twinkle in her eye, "hot as Hades, it's just…"

"Relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last." Ronon nodded.

Jennifer frowned, that sounded familiar and completely not the sort of thing she expected Ronon to say. Still, it applied.

"Yes, that's it exactly." She shook herself. "So," she looked up at him again. "It would be nice to be, um, friends?" she hazarded.

He grinned at her; it nearly stopped her heart. "Sure. I'm going to get something to eat in an hour; maybe I'll see you there?"

She smiled back, "that would be great."

"'Kay," he gave her an easy smile and loped off out of the Infirmary.

Jennifer sagged; it had all been so ridiculous, nearly kissing Ronon. Not because he wasn't as previously mentioned, too hot for words, simply that he was, well, Ronon, six foot four of gorgeous wild man. She'd be constantly pinching herself to wake up. As she closed down her computer a little voice whispered in her head "would have been nice". Of course, the little voice was referring to having a boyfriend in general, someone to share things with, not Ronon specifically, or a boyfriend even, just friends. Not that Teyla and Sheppard, even Samantha Carter weren't friendly but so far it all centred around her duties as Chief Medical Officer. She needed people to just hang with.

"Doctor!"

Jennifer jumped again cursing internally. There was McKay, back like a hysterical boomerang.

"I have pins and needles in my fingers, pins and needles. This cannot be good." McKay flumped down on a medical bed frantically wiggling his digits then poking one index finger with the other, "Now they're numb, oh god," he collapsed backwards. There was an expectant pause, then his head popped up. "Aren't you going to scan me, Atlantis relies on these fingers you know." He waved them about again.

Jennifer took a deep breath and conjured up a bright smile from somewhere, it was tempting to point out that Atlantis had got by without him during the recent crisis, but that would lead to a long, self justifying spiel that she didn't have the patience for. She considered him for a moment, he looked like he was going to implode with panic, a scan was worth it. It just meant she might be a little late getting to the Mess Hall.

As the scanner went through its start up routine, she let her mind wander. One good thing had come out of the incident with Ronon, she'd been spending too much time working and then too much time alone, if she was close to kissing a guy just because of a little peril and an exchange of confidences then she needed to get out more.

"Hey Doc!" Rodney nodded irritably at the scanner that was beeping softly to let her know it was ready, "These fingers, remember?" He waggled them again then stared at them blankly, "Oh, they're better."

Jennifer placed a gentle palm on McKay's brow and pushed his head back. "Just lay still Doctor." Something else occurred to her as she watched the early results of the scan reveal themselves on the monitor, Ronon had misjudged her, maybe she should think about her own assumptions.

She looked down at McKay, doing a poor job of lying still. A vaguely maternal feeling stole over her. Perhaps she should try to get to know him better, he might be from a Doctor's point of view a pain in the ass, but he was smart and at times amusing however un-intentionally. Yeah, maybe McKay wasn't so bad when you got to know him.

She opened her mouth, intent on making small talk, maybe inviting him for a friendly coffee.

"What's taking so long," McKay snapped before she could get the first word out. His fidgets increased and the scanner started to make disapproving noises. "This shouldn't be taking so long, oh god, its found something." He sat bolt upright, wild eyed. "Don't try and spare my feelings, what is it? Tenosynivitus? Carpal Tunnel syndrome? Oh," he poked his cheek, "now my cheek is numb, it's a stroke!"

Dr Keller gritted her teeth and looked at the now hopelessly garbled results of the scan; she was going to have to start again from scratch. She took a cleansing breath and worked on getting him re-settled.

Nope, until further notice Jennifer was leaving McKay in the pain in the ass category and it was going to take something really, really remarkable to get him out.

Maybe, she thought as the new scan finally revealed that there was nothing wrong with Rodney that a mild muscle relaxant or maybe some deep breathing wouldn't cure, she should try making friends with Zelenka.