Three days later and she was still avoiding him. Had dove into a supply closet when she'd seen him coming around the corner. Had locked herself in her office when she knew his training session with a group of Marines was finished. Had started eating at the oddest hours in order to not see him. It had reached the point where Jennifer was either going to collapse from one of the heart attacks caused by the possibility of running into him or she'd have to figure out a way to implant some sort of tracking device in him while he slept.

She was the Chief Medical Officer on an international expedition in another galaxy and she was running around like a nervous teenager with a crush. It was immature and inappropriate and she could not stop herself from doing it. It had gone too far, she knew it had gone to far and yet, here she was once more, hiding in a closet full of medical supplies clutching a box of swabs to her chest instead of facing Ronon.

"Doctor Keller?"

She squeaked, the box flying out of her hand, a corner of it knocking her nose during its upward trajectory. She grabbed her nose, letting out a small "ow," before looking around her at the mess. The box had exploded, the swabs falling out and covering the floor like oversized snowflakes, and Jennifer could feel her face turning bright red. She dropped to the ground immediately and began picking them up with shaky hands, muttering all the while about her luck and what an idiot she was being.

"I'm sorry that I startled you," Doctor Chen said, dropping to the ground beside her and sweeping up some of the swabs into his hands. "I just thought I'd come in and check on you - I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's my fault. I guess I've just been a little bit on edge lately."

"If you don't mind my asking, any particular reason? I mean, maybe I could help"

"Yes, there is a reason and, no, I'm not going to tell you why although it was nice of you to ask, Dr Chen."

"You can call me Eric, you know," he smiled as he helped pull her up off the floor.

"I know," laughed Jennifer as she deposited the swabs in her hands in the trashcan by the door. "Maybe when I'm off-duty, not being your boss. And, when I call you Eric, you can call me Jennifer."

"Sounds good. But everything is okay in here?"

"It's fine, I'll be out in a moment."

He headed toward the door, Jennifer watching him go. Eric Chen had only been on board Atlantis for a few months but he was already proving invaluable - quick on his feet, good in a crisis and a more than competent doctor. He was also smart, funny and not too bad to look at, not that Jennifer was really looking.

He turned back and smiled at her as he pushed open the door to the supply closet, a comforting and slightly playful grin in her direction. Maybe it was the fact that he caught her watching him or maybe it was just something in the air but, instead of exiting the room, he instead turned back and stopped.

"Are you on a break right now?"

"What?" she asked, confusion setting in. A break? Well, technically hiding in a supply closet from the man she was possibly in love with could be considered a break. "I guess."

"Good. So, Jennifer," Eric smiled again, charming and cool. "Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?"

Jennifer turned red and looked away quickly. Dinner? "Like a date?"

"Yes, a dinner date in which I pick you up at your door and escort you somewhere else, in this case the mess hall, to eat. We talk, laugh a little and generally enjoy the evening together. So, what do you think?"

She should say no, she was technically his boss, even though there weren't really any rules on the matter, and she was currently battling a losing war with her feelings over Ronon Dex. It was the last point that settled it.

"What time do you want to pick me up, Eric?"

He hadn't meant to be eavesdropping, not really. He had come to the infirmary with one of the Marines from his training session who had taken an elbow, not Ronon's elbow, to his forehead during an exercise. It had required a couple of stitches and some time spent with a flashlight in his eyes but the young man would be fine.

It had become a habit, one that had started right around the time that Jennifer Keller had started working on Atlantis, for Ronon to take any injured men down to the infirmary. At first he had figured it was good for morale as Sheppard would say. Later, after the almost-kiss during the not-really-quarantine, he had figured it was just his way of spending more time around the pretty doctor. He kept coming even after her rejection out of habit and expectation which was why he was here now, standing outside of the supply closet that Jennifer had ducked into the moment she'd seen him coming, listening to her say "yes" to a dinner invitation.

He moved back from the door quickly as Doctor Chen, 'Eric' she'd called him, walked out of the closet, a grin spread across his face. Ronon resisted the rather primal, and completely unwelcome, urge to punch him in the face. There would be blood, people would get upset and he'd have to explain exactly why he had randomly punched a doctor. And in order to explain that he'd have to admit that, after months of suppressing and ignoring it, he was jealous.

He was jealous. It was that simple and that complex. He shouldn't be jealous anymore, he should have gotten over her months ago, but there was still a torch burning in her honor in his heart. He hadn't gotten over her, hadn't really moved on because how did one move on from the woman who let you believe you could love again, the same woman who let you get close and then chose another over you. You didn't, not really, and that, and the fact that he was jealous of some spiky-haired doctor, irked him more than he could really explain.

He jumped, literally jumped, at the sound of her voice saying his name. He looked at her, disbelief written across his face, as she giggled slightly.

"I finally got the jump on you, didn't I?" she laughed. She looked at him, really looked at him, and for a moment his heart stopped. Then he reminded himself of what he had heard, reminded himself that any and all feelings of jealousy and possessiveness had to be smothered.

"Did you need something, Doc?" She blushed, remembering the last time she had really seen him and the fact that he probably now thought she was some sort of crazy person.

"What? Oh, no, I was just wondering why you were here - you're not hurt are you?"

"No, I was just bringing one of the Marines down, took an elbow to the head."

"Lawrence is all stitched up and ready to report back to work," chimed in Dr. Chen who had appeared suddenly behind Jennifer's left shoulder.

Ronon couldn't help the glower he threw in the doctor's direction and he barely kept in the growl that threatened to emerge at the sight of Chen's hand on Jennifer's arm. He watched as Jennifer looked up, 'not as far up as she had to look with him,' he thought with some male satisfaction, and smiled at Chen before turning to face him. "I just got the test results back for Dr. DeLange - they are in your office if you want to go take a look at them with me."

"Thanks, I'll go do that. Ronon, if there isn't anything you need, then I'll see you around, I guess." She gave him a nod before turning and heading toward her office.

Ronon watched her walk away, Dr. Chen following close behind her and his stomach turned at her soft laugh at something the doctor said. He turned then, stalking out of the infirmary, throwing a glare at a nurse who happened to get in his way.

Jealousy was not an attractive quality in a person. It was not a useful emotion, it was a distraction and he was feeling it in spades. He wanted to hit someone, mostly himself. Maybe Sheppard would be up for some sparring?