It had been two months since Ronon had discovered that Elizabeth was alive and well
It had been two months since Ronon had discovered that Elizabeth was alive and well. During that time he had seen her maybe twice, never alone and always to do with some mission or other, and now he was getting impatient. He wanted to see her, to be with her – alone. To tell her how he felt, hoping, trusting she would feel the same and to hear her say it, knowing that was all it needed to calm his tender heart and heal his aching body, to bring him back from the nightmare he had been living for the last nine years.
He found himself, yet again, in his favourite spot, out on the East Pier looking at the waves below him. The one place in Atlantis where he felt he could breathe and be free with his thoughts, the one place where Elizabeth could roam freely in his mind. He heard the door slide open behind him and felt, rather than saw John Sheppard take his place beside him.
"Hey buddy" he said quietly.
"Hey" Ronon replied, not looking at him, but thankful in away for his quiet arrival. Sometimes he guessed he just thought too much!
"Colonel Carter spoke to me" Sheppard said softly, "and there's no easy way to say this."
Ronon sighed. He tried to like the military commander of Atlantis, he really did, but her very presence reminded him of why she was there. She was there because Elizabeth wasn't! She was stuck on the Alpha site, with her replicator team members, including a copy of himself, and he could go to her just when he felt like it. Elizabeth, RepliSheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ronon had not yet received clearance to travel to the City of the Ancients and sometimes he doubted they ever would. He wanted to see her sooooo bad!
"Ok" he said again, turning his back on the ocean and looking at Sheppard.
"They won't let Elizabeth into Atlantis."
So, his fears had come upon him. He looked at his commander and friend still leaning on the railing, one hand slowly rubbing the other.
"Ok" he answered, pausing he continued, "Then I'll just have to go to her, wont I"
"They won't allow that either, buddy"
"Who won't allow it Sheppard?" Ronon asked, anger beginning to well up inside, "Carter? The IOA? Who?" He approached the railing, the tone of his voice causing John to turn quickly.
"Elizabeth and the others are considered a security risk,"
Quietly Ronon seethed, his lips parted, teeth clenched, his hands forming fists at his side
"So," he said, softly, his rage channelled in a way that Sheppard had never seen before, "What am I supposed to do? Nothing? Ignore her, like she was still dead?"
"Well," Sheppard replied slowly, his brain racing to find an answer for the big man, instead he said, "technically she is dead Ronon."
It did not have the effect John hoped a thoughtful answer would have had, mainly because it wasn't the thoughtful answer he was trying to find. Ronon slammed both fists hard on the railing, making the iron bars shake and John pull off from them in shock. He turned to look at the big man standing beside him and saw the confusion and anger on his face, along with something else – a look of – Sheppard struggled to find the right word, but then it came to him, a look of hopelessness!
"Look," he said, again his brain racing, it seemed to be doing that a lot today he thought, "we'll work something out ok? I don't know what, but something, after all we don't control you Ronon".
Ronon shrugged, "No, that's right, you don't, but," he faltered for a moment and John saw emotion working on his features, "you, Teyla, even McKay have become like family to me, it matters what you think. I don't wanna jeopardise that."
Sheppard sighed, "Listen buddy, it doesn't matter what you do, whether you see Elizabeth or not, it won't change that ok?"
Ronon punched Sheppard on the arm in affection and relief. "Ok" he replied, "now how about me whipping your ass!"
Sheppard grinned, also feeling relief that maybe, just maybe Ronon would be ok, he would get through this thing with Elizabeth without being kicked out of Atlantis,"
"Nothing new there then," he said, leading the way to the gym.
A couple of hours later saw Sheppard and Ronon standing in the gateroom, while the gate itself whirled in dialup. They were going to the Alpha site, Sheppard having had a long discussion (it seemed long to Ronon anyway) with Colonel Carter about needing to give the team there a morale boost in letting them know they hadn't been forgotten. Colonel Samantha Carter was no idiot, not that Sheppard had ever thought she was, but she saw right through the ruse, especially when he said he needed Ronon to go with him. In answer to her question, he had replied that he never, well he couldn't remember if he had ever, went off world alone. She had looked at him with those large blue eyes of hers and raised her eyebrows. "Never?" she had asked, obviously not convinced and he had argued his case. In the end she raised her hands in acquiescence and bid them go.
As the final chevron locked and the event horizon shot into the room before settling down, Ronon looked at his friend and said softly, "thanks Sheppard." John shrugged, "maybe, maybe not, come on lets get going".
From her position on the balcony, Sam watched them go through the gate, sympathy for Ronon because no one knew better than she how he felt, and admiration for the friend that John Sheppard was. When the gate shut down, she went to her office and sitting at her desk wrote a letter to Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, a letter, she realised, that had been too long coming.
On the Alpha site, Ronon and Sheppard were met by Major Lorne, whose watch was currently on duty and it didn't take Ronon long to notice that there was no sign of Elizabeth or the others.
"Colonel, Ronon." Major Lorne said in way of greeting. Sheppard answered and Ronon nodded, his eyes searching the complex campsite of prefabricated building and tents for any sign of her. Lorne caught his action and said softly, "She's not here, none of them are."
"Where'd she go?" Ronon asked, turning to the marine, his eyebrows raised in expectation of an answer.
Lorne hesitated, "Major" Sheppard asked, noting the discomfort on his face.
"I don't know sir," Lorne replied, "they took off out of here when they heard that Michael had taken Teyla."
"And you didn't think to tell us Major?" Sheppard asked, "you didn't think we would need to know that?"
"I told Colonel Carter sir, I thought she would tell you"
Ronon cursed quietly as Sheppard said, "Well, I guess it must have slipped her mind".
"I'm sorry sir."
Sheppard stirred himself, "Well never mind about that now, we need to try and find out where they went. You know it was bad enough trying to find Michael, now we're trying to find Michael and replicators!"
"They wouldn't hurt us." Ronon said, speaking what he knew to be true.
"No maybe not, but don't forget they are human replicators, God knows what Michael would and could do with them if he finds them before we do."
Ronon went silent for a moment, his thoughts fixed on Elizabeth pinned down to a lab table as he had seen Teyla several months ago and a giant bug making its way up her body to her throat.
Sheppard put his hand on his shoulder, "We'll find them buddy, same as we will Teyla, ok? But right now we need to head back to Atlantis, Lorne, I need you and your team to come back with me, Sgt Michaels can take command for now." After several minutes, which seemed to Ronon an age, they dialled Atlantis and headed back to the city of the Ancestors. Sheppard had a few things he needed to talk about to his commanding officer!
To be continued…….