A/N: I just really enjoy the pairing of Ronon/Jennifer and can't help but think of ways they could have changed it. A very big thank you to Journeyman07 for the beta! Please review and let me know how the story is doing. Any type of criticism is helpful. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis or it's wonderful characters.
Spoilers: Through Season 5 up to Brainstorm.
1 – Crashing Down
Jennifer sighed heavily as she left the infirmary. It'd been such a long day. Her offworld luck had been just as bleak today as any other trip that she'd made offworld. She'd been kidnapped, stunned numerous times and attacked by the Wraith.
By the end of her ordeal though it all turned to good. Her captor, Kiryk, turned out to be a Runner like Ronon and she'd successfully disarmed the tracking device in his back. He'd kidnapped her in hopes of forcing her to help a little girl, Celise, who was in pretty bad shape. The little girl was in the infirmary on Atlantis now and stable. With time she would make a full recovery. A family from the planet they had been on heard the little girl's story and volunteered to take her in as soon as she was well enough to travel.
Thinking back on it, maybe she did have good luck every now and then. Ronon and Rodney both volunteered to tag along with her to the planet and without their help, she and Kiryk would've never made it to the stargate with Celise without being captured by the Wraith.
Jenn grinned, she'd even wowed Rodney when she'd defended herself against a Wraith. The sparring lessons with Ronon had actually paid off, which was good to know for future offworld missions. Not that she minded taking lessons from the Satedan. It was just one more excuse to spend time with him.
She'd been quite excited when he volunteered to accompany her to the planet for her follow-up checkups. She'd really been looking forward to spending some time with him away from Atlantis and all the distractions that came with work. When Rodney volunteered to tag along and help too she couldn't think of a reason to turn him down.
Rodney's volunteering to go on a mission on his day off sent up a red flag for her. She'd been getting these little hints of moments that made her worry he may have more then friendship feelings for her. When he almost died before the emergency surgery at the Shrine, he'd confessed as much while he was sick, but she'd decided to chalk it up to his sickness and let it go. He was a great friend and when his sickness first set in he was even charming, but her feeling didn't go any further then a deep friendship.
After today she realized that she may need to actually talk with him about it. She put that thought aside for now, it would be awkward and could be dealt with later. Today she was just grateful he and Ronon had been with her, there was no need to hurt a friend, or put him in an uncomfortable position right now.
She turned a corner and watched Rodney walk into the gym, she'd hoped to catch him and Ronon before she retired for the evening, to thank them one last time for their rescue. As she drew closer to the doorway into the gym she could hear voices and realized Rodney was speaking with Ronon. This was perfect because now she could thank them both at once.
About a foot from the door Rodney's words caught her ear and she stopped. She hated to eaves drop, but curiosity got the best of her.
"…uh, I need to know your intentions," Rodney spoke with a bit of a nervous quickness to his words.
"Intentions?" she heard Ronon question.
"With Jennifer," was Rodney's reply and her heart stopped. She held her breath not wanting to miss Ronon's reply.
"I don't have any intentions," was his reply. She felt her stomach drop and her throat tighten.
"Oh! OK," she heard McKay happily reply and she turned to slip away before she was noticed.
"Wait," came Ronon's call and she turned worried that she'd been noticed, but quickly realized that he was talking to Rodney who had not yet exited the gym. "What'd you mean by intentions?" Ronon asked.
"I mean, are you interested in her in a ... romantic fashion?" Rodney sounded a little worried in his reply and Jenn found herself moving closer to the door.
"No." With Ronon's reply Jennifer felt first a moment of relief followed by a great sense of loss. It was an odd combination of emotions, but she didn't have time to dwell on it at the moment.
"Good!" she could hear the joy in Rodney's voice.
"Wait," came Ronon's voice again and she felt hope begin to rise cautiously.
"What?" was Rodney's annoyed answer.
"Maybe I do ... have intentions," she heard the reservation in Ronon's admission.
"Oh," growled Rodney.
"Do you have intentions?" Jennifer held her breath, she was about to know for sure and was scared of what this revelation would mean.
"Yes, well, of course I do -- that's why I was asking you." Rodney's voice sounded a bit annoyed and fearful at the same time. Jennifer didn't know what to think. Did she stay and listen, did she really want to hear more. She was having a little trouble taking a deep breath or making her feet move.
"So what are we gonna do about it?" She was glad Ronon had asked, because she was curious too.
"I don't know… I'm not gonna fight you for her, if that's what you're thinking."
"Great!"
"I'm not gonna step aside, either, so we're just gonna have to let her decide."
"OK."
"OK. So .. may the best man win." Jennifer turned and began to run back the way she had come. She couldn't stop running or thinking. She found herself out on the South Pier when she finally slowed down. She walked to the edge and looked out over the calm water, in such contrast with her turbulent emotions.
She plopped herself down and tried to put her thoughts into order. Shouldn't she be ecstatic? The smartest man and the fiercest warrior in the city both had romantic intentions toward her. They were in essence in a battle to see who won her.
She felt the need to cry but the tears wouldn't come. For some reason when she was the most confused, crying helped, she could think better with tears. Maybe it was from the release she got from crying.
She'd always had a thing for the surly Satedan, but it was non-threatening to have unreciprocated feelings. Jennifer had a lot of experience with unreturned feeling and knew where she stood in that type of relationship. She wasn't sure she actually wanted him to have intentions towards her. That would mean she would have to deal with some awkward situations and insecurities she had. She could command the infirmary as the CMO of Atlantis, but dealing with feelings and relationships was something she knew nothing about and she found it frightening as hell.
