He had never thought to feel this way again.

After his wife's death, Ronon had allowed the emptiness to consume him, eating away at his soul.

Melena's death had taken him with her, pulling him to the black oblivion.

And then he met Jennifer.

Small, waifish almost, and always ready with a smile.

The other doctors were content to let him suffer in silence, they tended his wounds and sent him on his way without a word.

Jennifer would try not to laugh as she worked information out of him of his latest misfortune in the sparring room.

Soon, he found himself watching her from a distance, staring at her as she ate, or read. If she left her curtains open, he could even see into her room as she slept. Unlike Melena, Jennifer wasn't pretty by Satedan standards, where beauty was merely a tool to use, stepping up from one social ladder rung to another.

But she was fascinating. Jennifer took over in a triage, directing where the worst hurt should be placed so as to treat them more effectively. Never hesitating in the face of insurmountable odds.

Injuring, but not killing, a man who was trying to kill her.

When she asked him to teach her to spar, a tiny part of his soul stirred, waking as if from a long sleep.

And then the fake quarantine. She was only centimeters from him, her breath falling on his lips, when the doors opened and she was up and running, medical kit in hand.

And his eyes followed her.

Later that evening, well, the next morning really, she joined the group sitting at the table, exhausted, but elated that there was no danger to the city. The fact that she approached him at all after that was enough to bring his spirit to life, giving him something to look forward to.

*******

"I'm kinda' interested in someone else."

The words took his breath away, made him blink. He had been expecting something else from her.

Not this. She had healed him in more ways than one, first his body, then his broken spirit. Such a thing on Sateda would have made their life bonds tighter.

Ronon nodded, walked away, heart aching. Jennifer didn't want him.

As the months passed, Ronon found solace in beating anything on two legs that entered the gym.

After one such harrowing workout which sent twelve Marines to the infirmary, Sheppard caught up with Ronon outside his quarters.

"Hey Buddy. Wanna' talk for a minute?"

Ronon waited. If Sheppard wanted to talk, he would have to carry the entire conversation.

"Doc's kinda' ticked at you for nearly killing Lieutenant Hayes the other day. Says he'll be okay, but not to send anyone else in with internal bleeding. And, from the looks of the guys that I saw crawling to the infirmary, I'll be hearing from her again. So, what's the deal? Somebody spit in your food?"

Ronon stared.

"Or, would it be the young Doc herself? I know you two broke up." Sheppard continued. Ronon just waited. Eventually, Sheppard would give him an order to stop injuring more Marines, then give up and walk away.

"Relationships aren't all black and white Big Guy. She'll still need you, especially when she goes off world." That being said, Sheppard started past him down the hall.

"Oh, and, injure my Marines again, and you'll be telling the doc why you did it." He added, almost as an afterthought.

Ronon ignored the jibe and kept going, changing his mind about resting in favor of running. He needed to let off more steam before going to bed.

The day they got Jennifer back from having her conciousness switched, he was able to look at his actions with pride. She would still always need him, as Sheppard had said. The embrace she gave him that day healed him completely.

As the years passed and her marriage to Rodney produced four children, Ronon was her ever vigilant protector, staunchly standing up to defend her, hunting down the ones that had injured her, even training her children to hunt and track. McKay was clueless about the depth of Ronon's love, had their roles been reversed Ronon would have seen and taken the appropriate steps to discourage such behaviour.

But things weren't different. They were as they always had been. Distant

And Ronon found solace in watching, loving her from a distance.

The End