I have borrowed these characters, after re-watching a good deal of Atlantis, to play out a thought something along these lines...

10 Things I Hate About You

It was starting to become a problem. It wasn't effecting the way the team worked, nor was it slowing them down by any means but their unspoken bond was starting to become distracting... to say the least.

In the beginning, John and Teyla had been the ones to exchange those little secret looks and jokes. They had been the ones to spar, test their skills and challenge each other as if it was some big game. Now that they'd picked up the giant, stoic solider who was basically the coolest thing the Pegasus galaxy had to offer, John was suddenly on the outs and he was not enjoying it. The truth was, he hated being the one that was passed over and suddenly the old shoe opposed to the new, attractive one everyone wanted. He wasn't vain or anything... he just didn't necessarily like being replaced when he hadn't made the choice himself.

He'd noticed how close they'd become in such a short time. Everyone could see it. At first when their sparring sessions had been bumped, or Ronan and Telya's had gone overtime, he had simply pretended that he didn't care. He'd go for a run instead or bug Rodney just for the fun of it. He even consoled himself by flirting with a few of the attractive women in the city. Now, after months of that and no apparent change for the better, he was feeling a little rejected.

In a normal situation he'd just advise them to step back and follow protocol. Not get overly familiar with each other, seeing as that would result in a hell of a headache for him, not to mention the amount of paperwork it would generate but… they weren't on Earth. Not to mention the fact that neither Ronan and Telya were military personal, so normal SGC protocols did not apply. John wasn't sure if this consoled him or annoyed him. In the one hand, it meant he did not have to address the situation and risk angering two, quite dangerous, friends of his... but it also meant that he had to endure their cute little camaraderie as if it didn't bother him.

Something he was not necessarily handling as well as he thought.

Teyla found him soon after completing their latest post-op physicals. Something he appeared eager to escape with more then the usual eagerness. Not to mention the fact that he was not necessarily secretive about his desires to escape her company. Something which had never been normal.

"John."

Sheppard cringed as he heard her call his name from the corridor behind him. He took only one more step before casually falling still.

He hated the way she said his name. He hated it because it reminded him of their first kiss. He had told her to call him by his first name right before they'd kissed, back when he'd been infected by that damned bug. A moment of weakness or lust... he wasn't sure. He couldn't remember very much with clarity about that time, but he did manage to remember that. He tried not to recall how it felt, especially now because although he did regret putting her in that situation, he could not stop thinking about it. Especially lately. It hadn't been like the time Weir kissed him… that had been different. With Teyla… that... He gave his head a shake and turned to face her as she reached his side.

Forcing a smile he looked down at her. "Yes?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly in that way they did when she was observing something important. Searching for some kind of an answer she sought while daring him to reveal himself. He hated that. She made him nervous when she did that. He was so sure she could read his mind. Suddenly he was thinking of the exact taste of movie theater popcorn... just to be safe.

"Something is wrong." She remarked, maintaining that little frown that creased her forehead in that adorable way he always tried to ignore.

He frowned a little and shook his head once. All to rehearsed. "Nope. All good."

Her brows raised immediately, making him curse himself. He looked at his boots to miss the smile that appeared on her lips briefly. That damned smile that always made him smitten. He hated that too.

"John. What is wrong? Have I done something-"

"No." He barked without restraint then cursed himself again as she appeared chastened by his outburst. He raised his hand and massaged his forehead in frustration. He wanted to just come out with it but he couldn't. He was sulking like a child, that was all. He could rise above it and move on. He could be an adult and not poke a potentially lethal conversation.

He forced himself to make light of the situation, returning the fake diplomatic smile to his face as he looked down at her, willing himself not to fall for her abashed look and turn into a sappy idiot.

"Everything is fine." He told her slowly with that hint of casual melody to his voice. A tone he employed every time he was trying to make light of a situation.

Teyla knew John well, and this was not ignored. She again looked at him in that accusing manner, causing him to tense. He knew he was caught in his lie, and easily at that. He scrambled to rephrase his reply, veil another lie but his mind wasn't working.

What didn't help at that moment was the fact that Ronan appeared in the doorway of the medbay. He paused, looking down the hall at them. His eyes fixated on them, no doubt easily reading the situation. He was good at that, almost as good as he was a tracker. He gave a little half smirk, which made John inadvertently growl, then disappeared down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Sheppard didn't have a problem with Ronan. Not at all. He was just feeling a little protective, if not just for Teyla's sake then for that of the entire team. They had a good thing going, why mess it up?

Teyla did not move, instead she reached out and tentatively put her hand on his arm. Sheppard's jaw tightened because he knew he was mere seconds from confessing everything. He hated that about the way she could handle him so easily, making him confess everything whenever she wanted him to. No one else had that ability.

"John, have I done something to disappoint you? Whatever it is, I am truly sorry."

Sheppard frowned. He looked down the hall, glad the personnel he'd noticed there was moving away and not coming closer. He looked back at Teyla and cursed her sweetness in his mind.

"No. Don't do that. Its not your fault. Its me. …I'm not used to having people in my team exempt from the... well... protocols I'm used to."

Teyla frowned and stepped closer. "I do not understand. To which protocols do you refer?"

"SGC protocols… the military... the kind of thing they beat into people like me on Earth." He replied with agitation, regretting every word but unable to stop the words from spilling out. "You and Ronan aren't under the same rules we are. You're not military personal."

She looked at his quizzically. "...I was under the impression that Rodney is not military either…"

"No. He's not." Sheppard grumbled but quickly recovered. "But I'm not talking about McKay here, I'm talking about you and Ronan."

Again she frowned. "Have either Ronan or myself given you cause for worry?"

John grimaced and stepped away, turned a little circle then came back and stood before her.

"Cause for worry? No. I mean, not yet but its bound to happen." He plied, gesturing a little eccentrically.

She tilted her head with a little scowl of disappointment. "What is bound to happen?"

Sheppard turned away again in frustration. He couldn't believe she was making him do this, spell it out completely. She couldn't be that ignorant of what was going on.

"Problems. That's what." He snapped, glaring across the hall at her for making him say this aloud. "The second lines start blurring there's problems. Stupid, childish, keeps-you-up-at-night-obsessing problems."

"I do not understand."

John wanted to scream. "You and Ronan, Teyla. You and Ronan and whatever you two have got going on... in private."

Teyla pulled back, reacting as if struck by his words. She frowned again, overcome by confusion. "I do not understand. You believe there to be something between Ronan and myself beyond mere friendship?"

John frowned right back, rather angry she'd choose to claim otherwise. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

Teyla's frown darkened. She was angry with him. Something else he seemed quite adept at doing, apparently. She was hot-fused, that was for sure, but he didn't really care because he did not like being lied to. Not by her. He hated the fact that it had even come this far. They used to talk all the time, and now she was keeping secrets from him with ease. When had that started?

"Oh come on, Teyla." He laughed, a little more scornfully then he intended to. Call it wounded pride... it was better then jealousy. "I see you here in the city and out on missions. You two sharing those private jokes and having all the fun while I baby-sit McKay. You two are an awesome team, I can't deny it. I can barely keep up sometimes, but you aren't exactly fooling anyone."

She tilted her head only slightly but John felt himself tense just a little bit, enough to remind him to feel just a little scared of this woman. She could easily take him down. That would be a big mistake on her part but she just might risk it.

"That is because there is nothing to hide." She told him through clenched teeth. "You are mistaken Colonel. Ronan and I are friends, nothing more."

"Well, you two sure don't act like it." He quipped before he could stop himself. He turned away, irritated by his own annoyance this subject caused him. He didn't like how it made him sound. It made him sound spiteful and jealous. He hated that. He was the calm, laid-back slacker. Always had been. He'd never been the one to complain about things like this. About the way things should be.

"At the risk of sounding petty, what of your own friendship with Dr. Weir?"

John's brows shot up as he wheeled around and looked at Teyla, so sure of herself, standing there in defiance of him.

"Excuse me?" He demanded, terrifyingly calm, watching as she folded her arms over her chest.

She did not back down. "I am sure that anyone might assume the same extent of your friendship, blurring these lines in which you speak of."

John slowly moved towards her, narrowing his gaze accusingly. "You mean to tell me, you think that there's something between Elizabeth and me?"

Teyla raised her brows as she gave her shoulders a slight roll of acceptance. "You two care for each other a great deal."

"Sure, I care about McKay and Beckett too, doesn't mean we have something going on!"

She frowned at him, disappointed he would throw that back at her but she recovered well. "That is not what I mean, John. You two have a special bond. It is nothing to be ashamed of. It is not unlike the unique bond that exists between McKay and Dr. Zelanka. Dr. Beckett and Dr. Weir… or even myself and Ronan. Some friendships are different then others. Not necessarily more important or intimate… just different."

John remained silent for a moment, willing himself to see her logic. He exhaled, a resolute and sigh of utter defeat passing over his lips.

"You and me aren't in there... somewhere?"

Teyla smiled, blushing a little at his attempt to force some levity into the tense situation, which gave him pleasure. However, she did not let that moment remain as it was for very long.

"I do, however, apologize for our seemingly unprofessional manner." She told him, trying to settle things there. "I have never viewed our team as military. That might be my own fault but from the first day you have given the impression that this expedition is so much more then that. It is a family. You, yourself, have said so on numerous occasions… especially when speaking of our own team."

John was chastened by this because she was right. He hung his head and mumbled. "Yeah well, sometimes families fight over stupid stuff… well that's pretty much all we ever fight about..."

"I apologize for upsetting you, John. That was never our intention." She told him, her voice quieter, more soothing as she ignored his attempt to derail the seriousness of the conversation. "I will speak with Ronan and suggest that our 'familiarity' remain minimal and our time together limited so as not to offend."

"That's not what-" John turned away again. "Damn it!"

Teyla frowned, cocking her head to the side again as she watched him pace in aggravation.

When John turned to face her again, her expectant expression made him want to kill himself. Why did she have to look at him like that? He hated that. It made him all nervous and pathetic. It made him all sentimental. Something he had never been good at.

"That's not what I was trying to say." He managed to get out his lips, his words deliberately slow. "You're right, we are family. This isn't Earth and you guys aren't under the rules I am. I just have to accept that."

Teyla frowned. "What rules apply to you that do not apply to either of us?"

He grimaced, not wanting to say the words but he spit them out anyway. "Uh… relationships between a commander and a subordinate, or team members, in the military are against regulation."

"Ah." Teyla smiled, once more making his curse her.

He forced a smile and rocked on his heels, trying to appear nonchalant about the entire thing. "Yeah."

Her smile brightened a little more. "But as you say, both Ronan and I are except from these rules… are we not?"

John swallowed, regretting the jealousy that question caused him and nodded as he tried to appear disinterested in her meaning. "Yup."

She nodded slowly, her smile building. Finally, after another second he could not hold it in any longer.

"Alright, you don't have to be so dammed smug about it!" He grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"Forgive me." She chuckled but made no attempt to quell her smile.

He rolled his eyes, still irritated by the apparent joy she had found in his pain. She turned her body as if preparing to leave him there but she lingered.

"I can assure you, John, you have no reason to be concerned about myself and Ronan developing a relationship beyond the one we already have." She told him honestly, regarding him with sweetness. "He is a wonderful friend and ally, especially against the Wraith, but he is a wise and enjoyable companion during leisure time as well. Many women I am sure would consider him an ideal mate but I am not one of them."

John's entire body relaxed. He was surprised by that almost as much as he was surprised by her confession. He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her. At the risk of unsettling himself, he had to admit, if he was a woman he'd be all over Ronan. Anyone would. Except Teyla.

He took a step forward, frowning then flashing that little smile of his that brought her just as much joyful annoyance as hers gave him. "Why not?"

She smiled in return, in that unnerving way, and held his gaze long enough for him to feel something else. His curiosity dissolved, but only enough to prevent him from asking again.

Right before she turned away she spoke quietly, or at least he thought she did because all he could hear in his head were the echoing of her words… I've made my choice.

What the hell did that mean? John watched her go. He thought about jogging after her and demanding an explanation but he remained planted to the spot in which he stood. He replayed their conversation in his mind. Each word he played out differently until he was nearly cross-eyed with confusion. Women. He wanted to curse and rage because he was so dense to what they meant with all their subtly and hidden meanings.

It was something else he hated. Well… he loved it and hated it at the same time. Teyla was just another woman. Like all the rest. Well, alright, she wasn't anything like any other woman he'd met but still. She could confuse him just like the rest.

He let out a growl of frustration then turned and left, purposely heading in the opposite direction even though he had wanted to just go and hide out in his quarters. He couldn't because they were right down the hall from hers and he couldn't deal with that right now.

Another thing he hated. Who had been the one stupid enough to choose that room?

Oh right… he was.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think. I have no plans to continue this particular story but I will add more to the overall story of Atlantis. Check out my profile for more.