Author's Note: Here's a bit of silliness that DaniWilder and I came up with yesterday. Hope it makes you smile. 494 words. Enjoy! ~lg

oOo

"Tell me something, Doctor," Harmony began. "The place where you sleep at night-is it guarded?"

Ronon heard the girl's question through the trees and snorted. Sheppard should have taken this trip. But he'd decided that Ronon would be the better person to escort this world's snotty child queen on her right of passage. So far, she and McKay had done nothing but squabble, making him want to gag them both for his own peace of mind. He really didn't want to leave McKay alone with her, but he couldn't take much more.

As he slipped through the woods, looking for Genii, Ronon shook his head. He'd been reduced to escort duty. Of course, Atlantis would benefit, but. . . . He spied another Genii soldier and added the numbers together. Not good.

Returning to the clearing, he overheard another argument.

"I'm burning your face into my memory."

"You. . .?" McKay was completely confused.

"This way, I can give the bounty hunters an extremely accurate description of you." Harmony continued to stare at him.

"All right, your Highness. I have had just about enough out of you with this whole …"

"McKay! Shut up!" Ronon glared as he entered the clearing.

"I was. . . ." McKay pointed. "She was. . . ."

Ronon rolled his eyes and simply turned around. "This way."

Hours later, he'd heard enough arguing to last his lifetime. McKay and Harmony snarked at each other the entire time, sounding enough alike to be siblings. Ronon nearly gagged both of them. Before he got to that point, however, night fell, Harmony snuck away for a short time, and then the Beast she mentioned decided to protect them in the cave she'd found. Ronon briefly debated returning to the settlement but decided to continue the quest.

When they reached the ruins, the Genii found them. Ronon and McKay argued as McKay worked to fix the device. In the end, McKay got the drones working and activated the device, Ronon killed a couple more Genii, and Harmony now adored him. She and Rodney continued to argue as they walked back to the settlement.

Finally, Ronon had enough. "Quiet!" he ordered.

Harmony glared. "No."

McKay smirked. "He'll shoot you."

"He can't," she added with a superior glare.

"She's right." Ronon stood, looking at McKay with a smile on his face. "But I have this." He pulled out a long cloth, watching the realization dawn on McKay. A few minutes later, Harmony had been bound and gagged. She glared at Ronon, and he already dreaded talking to Sheppard. But she'd been such a nuisance that he had finally had enough.

McKay, however, didn't want silence. He rambled on and on about the Ancient platform and the mini-drone technology. Finally, Ronon turned to him. "McKay."

"What?"

Ronon held up another strip of cloth, a smile coming to his face as Rodney's mouth closed with a snap. The rest of the walk passed in blissful silence.