Chapter 4 - Wanna Know you...

And I salute you for your courage
And I applaud your perseverance
And I embrace you for your faith

In the face of adversarial forces

Alanis Morissette - Surrender

Ronon was surprised to find himself feeling amused as he stared down at the young Doctor in front of him. It was rare he found himself smiling but for some reason, now, he found it impossible not to do, somehow it felt almost like the most natural thing in the world, especially around her. "I saw it first." He said gruffly.

"Well this is quite the predicament." Lola sighed, shaking her head as she looked back up to the hulking man in front of her. Placing a hand on her hip she smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Are you really going to deny me this? It's the last of the chocolate pudding. Are you really going to be that mean?"

Around them people passed by, looking at them in confusion. What a sight they must have looked however, a huge muscle of a man, standing at well over six foot, arguing with the considerably smaller Doctor who just grazed 5 ft 6. Neither Ronon nor Lola paid them any mind though; they'd been at this standstill for well over two minutes and were still no closer to deciding who got the last of the pudding.

"I'm hungry." Ronon replied flatly, watching with satisfaction as the smaller woman's honey brown eyes narrowed dangerously as they flickered down to his already overflowing tray and then back up to him.

"And you've got enough food on your plate for a small army big man. All I want is the pudding." She said, holding out her delicate hand. "So hand it over."

"Not gonna happen Doc." Was Ronon's gruff response, challenging her to argue and Lola pursed her lips, retracting her outstretched hand. "They have fruit cups." He offered.

Lola struggled not to laugh at that and instead shook her head. "Well by all means take a fruit cup." She told him, plucking one up from the table top and holding it out to Ronon, arching her eyebrow. Inside she couldn't believe she was stood here, in the middle of the mess hall, trying to convince Ronon to give her the pudding, though needs must, and right now she had a chocolate craving that wouldn't fade. "I don't like pineapple. Come on I'm dying here."

"Lola. Ronon. Is everything alright?"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Teyla appeared at Ronon's side, looking between the two questioningly. Of course she'd spotted the pair of them upon entry to the mess hall, and in the time it had taken for her to grab a tray, and gather her lunch they had remained in place at the desert table, seemingly stuck on something.

Curiosity naturally had gotten the better of the Athosian, after all she'd never seen these two interacting at all in the 5 weeks since Ronon's arrival here on Atlantis, minus the one or two times Ronon had been in the infirmary after a mission in which yet again, he'd gotten himself injured. Dr Cassidy or Lola as Teyla now knew her had an extremely sunny, giving, understanding nature about her. It's what had brought them together as friends almost instantly upon meeting. Teyla now felt lucky enough to count the Doctor as one of her closest friends here on Atlantis.

"Ronon's being extremely unreasonable." Lola answered instantly, giving a look to Ronon that clearly dared him to argue back. The Satedan though remained quiet, the amusement written clearly all over his face.

Teyla looked up at Ronon, tilting her head to the side as she did so, giving him no choice but to look down at her. So when his attention moved away from her and onto Teyla, Lola took advantage of the momentary distraction and placed the fruit cup on his tray quickly and snatched up the pudding. "Thanks Teyla." She sang, smiling brightly at Ronon when he looked down at her in slight surprise. "You snooze you lose buddy."

Lola turned and quickly made her way over to a table, closest to the window before Ronon could even contemplate snatching the pudding back. As she walked away, Ronon kept his eyes trained on her. Teyla lightly patted his arm and indicated for him to follow her to the table at which both Rodney and John were sat. The Satedan went willingly but couldn't fight the urge he had to look over at the pretty Doctor.

Something was growing inside of him, something unfamiliar or at least something he hadn't felt in such a long time. It was impossible to describe, if asked to he doubted he could. He'd started feeling it the day he'd first met her, like maybe, even after everything that he'd been through, after learning the fate of his planet, that there was some hope left in the world. Like all wasn't as hopeless as he'd started to allow himself to believe.

"I believe Ronon is a little disappointed Lola succeeded in getting the last pudding." Teyla said with a small chuckle, as both she and Ronon settled down at the table. John though nodded his head in understanding.

"Yeah. Been there myself buddy. Never get between that woman and her chocolate pudding. Last time I did...well let's just say I learnt my lesson." He said with a grimace causing Rodney to chuckle as he too replayed the time Lola and John had come to blows, it had been a funny turn of events when Lola had flicked the green jello she'd been left with at John, scoring a perfect hit when it landed in his hair. To say John had been horrified would have been quite an understatement.

Teyla laughed softly as she too thought back to the events of that day, to say she'd been shocked would have been an understatement, but it had left her thoroughly amused, especially when Ford himself had been unable to hold in the bark of laughter, earning himself such a look of loathing from John. Her hazel eyes flickered back to Ronon and she watched him curiously as he failed to take in any of what had just been said.

Ronon found that he was incapable of looking away from Lola as she stared down at the tablet in front of her. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and smooth away those lines of confusion. Her skin looked incredibly soft, unblemished and it only increased his urge to reach out and touch her, to revel in the feeling of it.

He was finding he wanted to get to know her. It had been so long since he'd found himself so intrigued by someone. There was a secret pain though, hidden behind her eyes that only someone looking close enough could see. Something had happened to her, something dark; something that he could see still haunted her even now and it only served to increase his curiosity. Something about her seemed too good to be true, but he knew there was nothing false about who she was. She appeared to have this innate ability to make someone feel completely at ease, even someone like him.

He wanted to know her.


Sorry for the epic fail in updating guys. No excuse other than I've been writing and trying to update two stories. Plus I've been attending various job interviews, no luck yet though. Next chapter much longer!

Now onto review replies. Thanks to those who've put this story on alert.

Shellbean – I hated the way the writers ended the Runner episode, I mean I really did want to see how Ronon reacted to seeing the destruction of his planet. By the next episode he was over it, it's like the writers had forgot about it and that did my head in so thought I'd touch upon it here. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Kittenz714 – I hated that they didn't give Ronon a bit of love, I mean the guy had been alone for seven years, if anyone deserved it, it was him. We know Rodney and John had some loving both on and off screen why not Ronon. Trust me though this story is purely centred on our lovely Ronon getting his chance and opening up. Hope you liked this chapter.

Sam0728 – Poor Ronon indeed! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and thank you for your review.