Chapter 2: Ronon and Jennifer
Ronon met Jennifer's gaze, noting her worried expression as she watched John and Teyla walk away. "Let's get some breakfast first, " he said firmly. "Then you can redo all those tests."
Chuckling, Jennifer let him wrap an arm around her shoulders, pleased that he knew her so well. That fact still gratified and amazed her. That Ronon saw something in her worth putting aside his life of no attachments for was something she never took for granted, no matter how long it had been since their first date.
Not that you could call being trapped together in the infirmary ... alone ... during a false quarantine lockdown a date as such. It had been the first time they'd taken the time to share something of themselves. To Jennifer's mind that made it the beginning of their relationship, even though it had taken time to move from that to the closeness they now shared.
"You're worried," Ronon commented once they were sitting together at a table in the still quiet mess hall, their breakfast mostly finished.
"I am," Jennifer admitted. "Assuming Evan is right and there was no outside interference the only explanations that come to mind are medical – I can't think of anything else that would explain why both Teyla and John were affected."
"But you didn't find anything," Ronon reminded her.
"Not yet," the young doctor agreed. "But I only did the standard tests ... there are still plenty of other procedures I need to run before I can rule out all the pathogens, viruses, and diseases that could cause memory loss."
"You'll work it out," Ronon said with complete confidence. Her intelligence, her ability to think outside the normal and come up with solutions had always impressed him. Sometimes he wondered why someone as smart as her had settled for him ... an ex runner with no formal education. He'd said as much early in their relationship, suggested she and Rodney McKay were a match that made a hell of a lot more sense. She'd laughed and said they'd bore each other stupid inside of a week before grabbing Ronon and kissing him with enough passion to have him forgetting his own name. He'd stopped questioning after that, content to enjoy and protect the woman he loved more than he could find words to describe – a gift he didn't think he'd have again after his years alone.
"Maybe it's just a one off," Jennifer said it in a tone that suggested she didn't really believe it. "John and Teyla have both been working hard to fix all the problems created by the Attero device. Who knows what that kind of stress does over an extended period."
"Maybe," Ronon shrugged. "No point in guessing."
"You're right," Jennifer quickly drained the remaining coffee from her cup and got up. Moving around to his side of the table, she wrapped her arms around his chest from behind, leaning her head down next to his. "I'll see you later," she pressed her cheek to his, sighing quietly and then straightening up.
"Take it easy Doc," Ronon smiled in that way of his when she rolled her eyes at the usual reminder not to work too hard.
"You too," she returned. "If you turn up in my infirmary with sparring injuries today I'm sending you to Doctor Cole."
Chuckling, he nodded, knowing she didn't really mean it. Waving, Jennifer hurried towards the infirmary. She had a mystery to solve.
oOo
"Ronon?" Jennifer's voice was shaky in the darkness. She'd opened her eyes moments before to a scene that was only familiar because of Teyla's description from the previous morning.
Somehow she'd gone to bed after a fruitless day of investigation in the infirmary and woken up in a deserted lab on the other side of the city.
"Ronon?" Jennifer called out again, nerves and fear chasing chills all over her body. She might know where she was but that didn't mean she wasn't still creeped out by the whole thing. Because of Teyla and John's experience she expected Ronon to be there but as the silence continued she began to worry that she was alone ... or worse yet that Ronon was somewhere else, hurt ... or worse.
Staggering to her feet, Jennifer swayed dizzily. "Teyla didn't mention that," she thought, struggling with the effects of blood moving too slowly to her head after standing up too fast. She had to keep still for a few moments before she began to feel steady again. Frozen in place like that it still took her a while to realise what she was hearing. Breathing, coming from the floor in the opposite corner.
"Ronon!" Caution forgotten, Jennifer hurried to him, dropping down to his side. In the darkness she couldn't assess his condition by sight. Instead she carefully felt for his face, running her hands over his familiar features but not getting a response from him. He was breathing, and his pulse was steady. In fact there appeared to be nothing wrong with Ronon, except for the fact that she couldn't wake him up.
She needed help ... the darkness was making it impossible for her to do anything for him. Getting to her feet again she stretched out her hands and shuffled forward slowly until she literally bumped into the console in the centre of the room. Hoping that Evan had followed his usual practices and left a radio behind she fumbled blindly, cursing when she brushed against something and heard it crash to the floor.
"Damn," she muttered, dropping to her knees and searching across the cold floor. Fingers brushing plastic, she quickly grabbed up the radio, thumbing the controls and hearing a burst of static. "Oh thank god," she exclaimed, turning the channel dial and trying to raise someone.
"Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne this is Doctor Keller," she began. "Can you hear me?"
There was nothing, so she turned the dial and repeated the words again.
"Jennifer?" John's puzzled voice greeted her first, followed quickly by Lorne's a moment later. "Jenn – you okay?" the Major asked.
"Yes and no," Jennifer replied. "I don't know how but I think Ronon and I are in your room John – the one you and Teyla woke up in yesterday. Ronon hasn't woken up and it's too dark in here for me to assess him properly."
"We're on our way," John promised, his tone making it clear he was already on the move.
"Under the console Jennifer," Evan instructed. "I left a torch in an empty slot ... can you find it?"
"Hang on," Jennifer put down the radio, knelt and felt quickly along the underside of the console. The torch was a welcome weight in her hands. Switching it on she'd never been gladder to see a beam of light in her life even though the brightness stabbed into her eyes. Grabbing up the radio she spoke. "Thank you Evan!"
"You got it," Evan concluded in satisfaction. "How's Ronon?"
"Ah ...," Jennifer paused in shining the torch on her partner, frowning. "As far as I can tell there's nothing wrong with him," she reported back, her tone worried. "I need to get him under a scanner as soon as possible." She didn't say it but Lorne knew she was thinking about all the reasons Ronon could be unconscious that wouldn't be obvious from the outside.
"We're almost there," John promised, matching his words to actions when he ran into the room a minute later, large torch lighting his way. "Doc," he greeted Jennifer, noting her pale features and worried eyes. Holding up the fold away stretcher he'd grabbed on the way he continued. "As soon as Lorne gets here we'll get Ronon to the infirmary."
"Right behind you Sir," Lorne announced his arrival. Unlike the casual, bedtime attire John had on, Evan was wearing his Atlantis uniform, the shirt rumpled and untucked as though he'd dressed in a hurry. Attempting to smooth his messy hair down he grabbed the other end of the stretcher and helped his CO to place it next to Ronon's unconscious body. They carefully rolled the other man onto the stretcher, Jennifer doing her best not to hover too much. With John at his head and Lorne at his feet the two men lifted Ronon carefully and headed for the door, Jennifer walking quickly beside them.
oOo
"How is he?" John strode into the infirmary at 7am the next morning, quickly spotting Jennifer and heading straight for her.
"Impatient to get out of here," Jennifer replied. Ronon had awoken on his own a few minutes after they'd arrived in the infirmary the night before, while he'd been under the scanner in fact. After a moment of disorientation where Jennifer had been convinced if he'd had his gun he'd have stunned everyone in the room and destroyed the Ancient device, he'd calmed. His expression had gone from confused to angry when he'd realised that Jennifer had been left alone in the dark while he'd apparently slept through whatever had gotten them both down there.
Jennifer had insisted he remain in the infirmary for observation, taking a bed herself in the bay next to his to keep him company. It had been almost 3am by the time they'd settled down to sleep - luckily Jenn was used to the effects of so little sleep, well able to still do her duties.
"Shep," Ronon's voice called out loudly from across the infirmary.
"How you doin' buddy?" John asked, walking over with Jennifer at his shoulder.
"I'm fine," Ronon said insistently, shooting an impatient look at Jennifer. "Ready to go find the bastard behind this and make him regret it."
"You know something we don't?" John asked pointedly.
"No," Ronon grumbled, frowning.
"Look, Rodney was monitoring the room overnight, hoping to get another one of those power surges," John explained. "He's been down there for an hour or so analysing everything – surely he's got something by now.
"Let's go find out," Ronon proposed, looking at Jennifer expectantly.
"Fine, you can go," Jennifer agreed. "But I'm coming with you."
"No you're not," Ronon shot back.
"I was down there pretty much by myself last night Ronon," Jennifer pointed out. "I hardly think going there in the daylight with three men in attendance to protect me is going to be anywhere near as bad."
Ronon frowned but nodded wordlessly. Jennifer went to get his clothes, placing them on the bed as she smoothed the sheets over his legs. "You're sure you feel okay?" she asked. Seeing him unconscious for so long had clearly shaken her ... probably because it had never happened before. Ronon had always been invincible in her eyes and it galled to have that illusion crushed so blatantly. She knew as a doctor it was silly to feel that way ... but in this case it was more Jennifer Keller the woman who was running the show as far as her emotions were concerned.
"I'm fine," Ronon insisted, grabbing her hands and holding on tightly until she looked at him. He let his eyes speak for him, watching as Jennifer read his expression, nodding slowly as she visibly relaxed.
"We'll wait for you outside big guy," John spoke up, having kept silent during their exchange. Nodding towards Jenn's office he waited for her to move before following her, leaving Ronon a little privacy to get dressed. "He'll be fine Doc," John said reassuringly.
"I know ... I just ...," she trailed off awkwardly. "He looked ... smaller somehow ... I don't like seeing him like that."
"We'll work this out Doc," John promised.
"I hope so," she replied.
oOo
"I have no idea what this room is supposed to be for," Rodney began when the three descended on him a short while later. "It's been drawing power intermittently for a couple of days but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere."
"And yet four of us have ended up here in the middle of the night with no memory of how," John said pointedly. "Surely that's not a coincidence."
"I never said it was," Rodney shot back. "Just because I haven't worked out how it works yet doesn't mean I won't."
"Could you do it before anyone else ends up here?" John suggested sarcastically.
"We can rig up some temporary lights Sir," Lorne suggested. "Make sure if it does happen again at least whoever's affected will be able to find their way out of here." He'd appointed himself Rodney's protector, unwilling to let the other man work so far from the main tower alone.
"Do it," John ordered. He didn't like planning for the problem to be ongoing but they'd be stupid to assume it would just go away on its own.
Lorne nodded, touching a hand to Jennifer's shoulder on his way out the door.
"He's worried," Jennifer commented, watching the Major disappear down the corridor.
"We all are Doc," John returned. "So far it's been pretty harmless but it's only a matter of time before someone ends up getting hurt."
"Yeah, and knowing my luck it'll probably be me," Rodney muttered under his breath.
"So, do we know anything useful Rodney?" John questioned.
"Ah ... not really," Rodney admitted. "Radek's trying to trace the power usage coming out of the room but it's a little like trying to track a single raindrop in a thunderstorm."
"Why us?" Ronon's question fell abruptly into the room.
"Sorry?" Rodney's expression was sceptical, his first impulse always to see the Satedan only as a warrior rather than the intelligent man he must be to have survived seven years on his own against the Wraith.
"Is there a reason it was John and Teyla, and then Jenn and I?" Ronon clarified. "Seems a little odd to me."
"It does,' John's eyes narrowed, his mind clearly working the angles.
"What – like some kind of selection criteria?" Rodney queried sharply, his brow furrowed in thought. "The only similarities I can see are hardly going to fit that description. Apart from the fact that your rooms are probably amongst only a handful with more than one occupant. Maybe whatever is doing this needs two people to do whatever it's trying to do." Rodney had his classic 'I'm only playing along with this to humour you' face on ... he might not know what the room did yet but he wasn't buying into any theories that made the 'victims' anything other than random.
"Find out how many multi-occupant rooms we have in the city," John ordered abruptly.
"What ... me?" Rodney complained. "No, no, no ... I need to keep researching the data here - get someone else to do it."
"No - you do it Rodney," John insisted impatiently.
"Fine," Rodney muttered, turning back to his laptop and tapping on the keys harder than was strictly necessary.
oOo
"I never realised there were so many people cohabitating here," Rodney announced as he walked into Woolsey's office a few hours later. John, Ronon and Teyla were already there. Jennifer had elected to continue her work in the infirmary, adding the samples she'd collected from herself and Ronon to those she already had from John and Teyla. Major Lorne was also absent, still down in 'The Room' supervising the installation of lights and a radio connection that would work on a generator independent of the Atlantis systems.
"We have in excess of two hundred people living here Doctor," Woolsey pointed out, "and there are no rules against forming attachments, as long as they don't violate the militarie's non fraternisation provisions. It's only natural for people to be drawn together."
"Perhaps it is just that you had little reason to notice before now Rodney," Teyla suggested gently.
"Ah ... I guess it doesn't matter either way," Rodney regrouped. "Aside from you guys and Ronon and Jennifer there are another fifteen couples who've registered for a joint room. There could be more than that of course – they're just the ones we know about."
"More?" Woolsey looked at Rodney questioningly.
"Yeah – um ... people who haven't made it official or um ... one night stands, stuff like that," Rodney actually looked a little embarrassed as he elaborated.
"Of course," Woolsey nodded. "So we assume we have at least 30 people at risk here?"
"At least," Rodney agreed, "although I'm not convinced that really has anything to do with this. We really need to capture one of these events while it's happening. Did Major Lorne have any luck with the security footage?"
"He did," Evan strode into the room on the tail end of Rodney's question. "Sir," he acknowledged his CO, making his report succinctly. "We've got lights, radio and cameras set up – if anything happens tonight we'll capture it. I also took the liberty of setting up a surveillance room on the next floor down ... we won't spook whatever's behind this before we work out who they are but we should be able to get there pretty quickly if it becomes necessary."
"Good work Major," Sheppard complimented his second in command with casual ease.
"What did you find on the video Major?" Woolsey asked expectantly.
"This," Lorne nodded towards Woolsey's laptop, looking for approval to use it for his own purposes. When Woolsey nodded, Evan displayed a video file on the large screen across from the circle of seats, and hit play.
They all watched as a door to someone's quarters slid open and first John and then Teyla appeared. They walked down the corridor together, holding hands, appearing much as they did every day, apart from the fact that they were wearing their night clothes and seemed oblivious to that fact. There was nothing to indicate they were being coerced in way ... it was only when you looked really closely that you realised their eyes looked vacant, as though they were there but not there at the same time.
"That's a little disturbing," John commented, moving instinctively closer to Teyla.
"I have no memory of that," Teyla said, frowning at the screen. The video continued unchanged until the walking couple moved outside of security camera range.
"That's it," Evan said. "I can show you something pretty similar for Jennifer and Ronon but you get the idea."
"Maybe sleepwalking is the answer after all," Rodney suggested weakly.
"Collective sleepwalking?" Evan queried sceptically. "That sounds unlikely McKay."
"You got a better explanation Major?" Rodney shot back.
"No, but that doesn't mean there isn't one," Lorne replied mildly. "I hate to say this but we may have to hope that someone else gets lured to that room tonight. Otherwise we might never find out what caused this."
"Indeed," John agreed, his expression grim.
Authors Note:
There are so many wonderful Ronon/Keller writers out there I feel like I almost need to apologise for my attempt to write them ... I did enjoy the challenge of it and I hope I did them enough justice to not spoil the story.