Jennifer, eager to begin, entered the training room. Ronon was already setting up. Jennifer carted her bag over to the area he had set his stuff down at and called out to greet him.
Ronon, not wanting to show his excitement to spend more time with her, smiled and turned. Noticing she didn't shut the door behind her like she did before, he feared that the incident with Yardley may still haunt her on Atlantis.
He began their lesson by teaching her basic moves. Both knew that each move he taught her could have been useful the night she was assaulted by Yardley. Grateful he didn't bring it up, Jennifer appreciated how he showed her different moves to get the advantage if she was ever in the situation before.
It wasn't hard to notice that she avoided as much physical contact with him as possible. Frowning, he realized that he would have to find a way to regain her trust.
Afterward, Jennifer stretched herself while her body was still warm to avoid muscle cramping. Eager to begin her first repayment lesson of first aid to Ronon, she told him to sit down in front of her. Easing herself onto the floor, she asked him what typical wounds would he deal with off world.
Ronon thought. "Hmmm… stun guns, arrows, especially in Rodney's case, knife wounds, sprains, torn muscles… Lorne once cracked a rib on a mission."
Jennifer nodded. "Ok, let's start with the basic knife wound. If you have a first aid kit in your bag, which would be ideal, you want to get something out that looks like this." Jennifer held up a thick wad of gauze. "Pretend your leg is cut." She moved to straighten his leg. "The first thing is to find gauze or something else clean to press firmly to the wound to stop the flow of blood." After showing him how to wrap it afterward and how to elevate it, he practiced on himself.
Later on, as they exited the room, he stopped her. "Can we go somewhere and talk for a few minutes?"
Confused, she agreed and looked at her watch. "I'm not on shift for a few hours."
He nodded. "Good. I'll meet you in your room in 20." Turning before she could protest, he went to drop of his stuff and shower.
Jennifer, finding herself nervous to have him in her cramped space, showered quickly and began picking up her room out of nervous energy.
Ronon knocked loudly and she answered the door. He could tell she wanted to leave the door open, but was too embarrassed. Deliberately giving her space, he sat on her bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Ronon looked up at her without asking her to sit down. "You've changed," he said. Still confused, she continued looking at him. "The others may not see it, but I can sense that you have lost your trust in people since what happened."
He continued to talk. "Jen, you've got to realize that before he attacked you, no one on this base, especially me, has ever harmed you in that way. Trust is something you need to have if you're to continue going on missions and be a part of this team. Trust me," he said ironically. "I know this. When I first came here, it was the hardest thing for me to learn."
Sitting down and not denying his accusations, she nodded. "You're right," she said. "I hate getting stuck now in the elevators here when it's only me and another man. Even training today, I felt a little nervous."
He turned to her. "Do you trust me?" he said.
Nodding immediately, she noticed he didn't believe her. "Close your eyes." Her first instinct was to refuse, but she was too stubborn to admit she was scared. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.
He began to speak slowly to her. "Do you feel like I'm going to hurt you?"
She answered truthfully. "No."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you would never do that," she answered. "Because of how you reacted after you found out about Yardley."
Satisfied, he held her hands. "Open your eyes. Now, can you name anyone here who would want to hurt you?
Feeling embarrassed, she shook her head.
"Jen," he said. "It's going to take time, but you need to regain your trust again."
Understanding, she looked up at him. "I know. I guess I didn't realize how this could affect my work… and my friendships… with everyone."
She took a deep breath and took a chance. "Ronon," she said. "I have some snacks in here I smuggled back from Earth. How about you stay and watch a movie with me and skip lunch. And we'll leave the door closed."
Ronon grinned. "Food and a movie? How can I resist?"
She set up the movie and deliberately moved next to him on the bed. Opening a package of her favorite chocolate chip cookies from home and a package of beef jerky, they popped open two cans of Coke and enjoyed the movie.
A few days later, Jennifer felt herself settle back into her old self. Since her conversation with Ronon, she worked towards regaining her trust with the people around her.
One day, Major Lorne came into the infirmary. Shyly, he asked to see her in her office. Closing the door behind them, Jennifer praised herself on her progress. Then kidded herself that Lorne wouldn't hurt a fly in the first place.
"What's going on, major?" she asked.
His face turned red. "Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind having dinner with me today. That is, if you're not busy."
Jennifer didn't expect that to come out of his mouth. Even though she clearly liked Major Lorne, she just didn't feel anything towards him other than genuine affection. She smiled, "I'm very flattered, major."
"Please, call me Evan," he interrupted. "Look, I know we don't know each other very well, but I would like to just talk over whatever they're feeding us today."
Jennifer blushed and decided to tell a little lie. "Well, I'm kind of seeing someone right now."
Lorne's face fell. "Oh. I should have guessed it," he worked up a smile and got up. "Ronon, right?"
Shocked, Jennifer looked up. Lorne smiled. "If there was a man you had to be dating, he's the only one I would be happy for you to be with. Ronon's a great guy. I'm just surprised he hasn't said anything. We've been training together a lot lately."
Jennifer nodded, deciding to let him believe what he wanted to. "Evan, thank you for asking me, though. You're the type of man a woman wants to be asked out by."
Smiling and opening the door, he grinned. "Thanks, doc. Let me know if any cute new nurses arrive from Earth."
"I will," she said. "And Evan… no one knows, so do you think you can keep this quiet?" That was the genuine truth. Yup, no one knew about her and Ronon. Especially Ronon himself.
He nodded. Watching him leave the infirmary, Jennifer made a quick decision and left her shift a few minutes early.
Ronon could tell she was distracted. He kept catching her off guard, which was not like her lately. Since they returned from Earth, she had become a focused student who soaked up everything he taught her. Today, though, something was on her mind.
Wanting to get her attention, he dodged her punch and caught her off guard, pushed her off balance and landed on top of her. Winded, she looked up at him.
"Ok, let's have it," he said. "What is going on?"
Jennifer paused to catch her breath. Surprised, she had a hard time stringing together a thought. He was literally laying on top of her, but at the same time thoughtfully rested most of his weight on his one leg that was laying next to hers. She was shocked to find herself distracted by his closeness. Confused, because she thought of Ronon as her best friend besides Teyla on Atlantis, she couldn't stop the feelings of attraction running through her body for the first time. Of course, she had always noticed he was the best looking man on Atlantis. Who hadn't?
Ronon continued to stare down at her. For a moment, he thought he saw naked attraction in her eyes. Almost convincing himself to make a move, to finally tell her how he felt about her, she opened her mouth.
"I…" she began, clearly not finding the words. "I lied today."
Confused, he rolled off of her and propped his head up with his arm, laying next to her. "You lied. About what? You've barely spoken a word to me in the past hour."
She shook her head and sat up Indian style. Turning her body to face him, she reddened.
"Something happened today," she began. "Not bad. But something I didn't want to happen. Major Lorne asked me on a date."
Ronon's face darkened, but he tried to hide it from her. "Don't even think to ask me chaperone."
Jennifer looked down at him, then realization dawned on her face. "No, no, nothing like that. It's just… I don't want to date anyone. I'm just not ready. And besides, I'm not interested in him. But I couldn't tell him the truth… about Yardley or the part about not being interested in him. He's too sweet."
Relieved, Ronon smiled. "So what did you lie about?"
Jennifer twisted her hair, which had come undone when he flipped her. "I kind of told him I was seeing you." She nervously got up to gather her stuff now that the truth was out. She pulled out the next medical training she was about to give him and glanced up at his reaction.
He had stood up to face her. "What?" he asked.
"Ok, don't be mad at me. I told him not to tell anyone, but it was the only thing I could think of!" Jennifer quickly said.
Ronon, not believing his opportunity, tried to think of something to say to her. Yes, that's a great idea. In fact, Jennifer, there's something I need to tell you. I've been obsessed about you since you walked through that gate. Training with you without you knowing has been torture. Or he could always just propose marriage and just be done with it.
Mentally beating himself up over being such a… what did Sheppard call him the last time he asked Ronon when he was going to make a move on the doctor… wuss, she beat him to it.
"Look," she began. "Does this bother you? Just for awhile, can you pretend to be interested in me if Lorne's around? Please?"
He lost his courage. Well, the courage he was about to muster up. She didn't feel the same way. She would have come out and asked him. Well, maybe. He wasn't sure. But either way, he decided not to bring it up.
Ronon shrugged. "No big deal. He barely sees us together anyways."
Smiling, Jennifer rushed to hug him. "Thank you. I just didn't want to hurt his feelings." Ronon nearly lost it as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Inches from her mouth, he smelled her sweet fragrance surrounding him. Awkwardly patting her on her back, she left his arms to set up her portion of their training.
