His class had gone well, but Ronon was still a bit confounded that he had been teaching soldiers, he had assumed he'd be teaching civilians. Dr. Weir had interrupted and it was obvious she didn't know what to think of him, no matter, Sheppard had asked him to stay not her; still he wasn't sure she'd approve his and Sheppard's game.

Approved or not, Ronon spent the rest of the day focused on the game. He noticed that Sheppard had pulled the second team, but figured they would be back on once the game began. Ronon rubbed his stomach again; it still was unsettled so much so that he hadn't eaten all day, that and the change in routine confused the escort.

He had already decided what pair he would affect his escape on so he just played with the other rotations for the fun of it. Silent glares without moving a muscle made them all a bit jittery and feigning sleep only to flash his eyes open wide with a snarl while drawing and aiming his pulse pistol at them had actually made a few of them jump… it had been hard not to laugh; but his all time favorite was to sit cross legged immediately in front of them, hold his hands upward placed on his knees, roll his eyes back, and chant nursery poems in Satedan, then randomly point at one of them, wave his hand as if he was effecting a curse, roll his eyes back to normal, stand and give the one he had pointed at a sympathetic smile. Since he had 4 rotations, it had made for a very fun day.

-OO-

"Lieutenant, way to survive what I think may be my worst nightmare."

"Thank you, sir!" Lt. Laura Cadman replied with feeling.

McKay's sarcasm was dripping, "Yes, thank you!" so John gave him an impish smile.

Dr. Weir glanced between Laura and Rodney, "I imagine you two might want a moment."

"Actually, ma'am, I think I'd like some time alone."

Dr. McKay agreed immediately, "Same here. It's, um, been a while."

"Alright." Elizabeth said then addressed Dr. Beckett, "Release them as soon as you can."

"Aye." Carson agreed and then he gave Laura's hand a brief squeeze before hurrying after John and Elizabeth. "Dr. Weir, Lt. Colonel, might I have a word with ya in my office about our guest?"

Once ensconced in his office Dr. Beckett began his concerns, "When Specialist Dex first arrived we thought he'd be returning to his own world so his medical care was focused on the wound I caused by removing the tracking device; but now that he's staying we certainly should address the overall health issues I've found and that his guards have pointed out."

"Guards pointed out?" John was a bit perturbed considering he had just seen Dex prior to coming to the infirmary and hadn't heard a thing.

"Aye, his guards. They say he doesn't sleep at all and he's been eating way too much food. I did an overall physical when he was in here the day we returned," Carson paused to bring up the general scan on his monitor, "Ya see the lad's stomach is shrunk from starvation and see the beasties in his intestines?"

"Beasties?" Elizabeth was listening but resolutely not looking at the scan.

"Parasites, worms, or the Pegasus variety. His blood work came back sorely lacking as well."

"I've authorized him to be on John's team so Dex is one of our own Carson. What I mean is long term treatments are definitely an option now, what do you think he needs."

"I'll order a round of vitamin shots supplemented with antibiotics to start and it's simple enough to kill off the Beasties; then a rigid schedule for eating coupled with portion control and healthy selections should stretch his stomach back to the correct size…"

Here John interrupted him, "I don't think eating is a problem, Lorne says he practically lives in the commissary."

"Aye, typical for a starving man, eat while you can … but that will only cause him to get sick. In fact, I think he already has; the guards have reported that they believe he was throwing-up last night and that he hasn't eaten anything at all today."

"Elizabeth, I'll need you to talk to the kitchen staff about actually serving him the specified diet I'll lay out instead of just letting him choose. You might even suggest to Ned that he personally serve Ronon to avoid any issues." Elizabeth smiled at the mention of their new cook, Ned; he was a rather large Marine Staff Sergeant, who most certainly would not be intimidated by Ronon.

"John he wouldn't let me give him any anesthetic when I performed the surgery, I need you to convince him to take the shots or maybe arrange for him to accompany me to the mainland with Teyla when I have some inoculations to do for the children."

John nodded.

"As for the sleeping, at first I thought he just needed to adjust to being in the city and having others watch over him, but exhaustion should have had him sleeping at least a few hours. Then I thought when you returned his weapons he would feel safe enough to sleep, but after the last 24 hours I think he should really be referred to Dr. Heightmeyer."

"What happened today?" Sheppard and Weir chorused.

"He cursed all eight of the guards on the day shift."

"Cursed, aw come on you don't believe that."

"Of course not John, but the point is the lad thinks the guards have made him sick and he's still not sleeping. All day it was the same cycle – he stares angrily at the guards for a while, then tries to sleep. He'd fall asleep with that blaster of his either holstered or cradled in his arms and then as soon as he actually fell asleep, he'd startle awake and almost shoot the guards. He'd try a few more times to sleep with the same results and then start staring at them again; finally, he would place a curse on one or both of them. I guess since he doesn't know who to blame he's cursed them all. He's probably doing it to the night crew as we speak."

"Nah, he's sparring in the gym."

"What! Are you daft? It's only been a few days since his surgery and didn't I just tell you he was sick."

"In fairness to John, you just told him that Ronon was sick, and I saw Ronon teaching a knife fighting class today and honestly, I don't think his back was bothering him." But then again she hadn't known his stomach was upset either, Elizabeth shook her head; Carson would take care of him. "Carson, I'd like to see the security tape of one of the curses."

John was looking at her strangely so Elizabeth explained, "You can learn a lot about cultures through curses."

"Maybe luv, but this one isn't in English so you won't learn much."

Elizabeth just smiled, "We've learned that Ronon's primary language isn't English; maybe he isn't as taciturn as we've all believed, maybe it's a language barrier." Neither Carson or John had a response to that.

It was funny to watch Elizabeth scrunch closer to the monitor each time Carson replayed the curse, as if being closer would help her decipher the strange words; but once John took his eyes off Elizabeth and saw what Dex was doing he just cracked up.

"John, you can't laugh at other cultures like that."

"Oh come on Elizabeth, he's bored out of his mind, look at his face he's trying not to crack-up himself."

"I'm not so sure John; Carson said this strange behavior started after last night when he got sick."

"Yeah, after last night. Meaning, after I talked to him and we planned the drill. He's messing with them, he's good. I bet you he's already chosen which pair to disappear on."

Carson and Elizabeth looked at each other in disbelief; Elizabeth at how obtuse and callous John could be and Carson curious about the drill. For the moment Elizabeth chose to ignore John, "Were all the curses the same?"

"Aye, pretty much; I'll show ya another."

This time they caught the end of one of Ronon's attempts to sleep and he appeared to curse both guards. John was grinning widely, "I'm telling you he's too smart for curses, and I don't even think he was asleep. He's definitely messing with them."

"Even if he is John, he's still not sleeping, but after watching this tape I'm more inclined to believe Carson, Ronon looks pretty serious to me. I'm going to insist he has several sessions with Kate."

John shook his head and opened his mouth, but he never got to speak, Elizabeth held up her finger and continued. "Not just because of the curses and sleeping issues, he's going to need help integrating back into society and not even his own society at that! He needs to see Kate for his overall psychological health, we all felt terrible for Teyla and her fellow Athosians and rightly so; but Ronon's been through far worse for far longer."

John new an order when he heard one so he tried to control his laughter but it managed to still be heard, "Don't imagine him talking much, Dr. Heightmeyer might even get cursed for harassing him."

Elizabeth was about to berate him again when John's hand flew to his radio, "Sheppard here. How long ago? Both Carson and Weir are here with me, would you repeat that."

"Yes, sir – Dex is gone sir, we're not sure where he is or how long we've all been out."

John smiled at Elizabeth then said, "Citywide." instantly John's voice was booming over the city, "This is Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Specialist Ronon Dex is to be taken into custody unharmed. I repeat, unharmed. This is not a drill." He shrugged at Elizabeth's shock of disbelief, "Ok so maybe it is a drill but they don't need to know that."

Then he keyed his radio again but to the military channel, "I repeat unharmed, that's an order. Head to the gate room, he'll be trying to get through the gate." And that was the last they heard as John tore out of the infirmary.

Elizabeth and Carson looked at each other and both made to exit Carson's office causing a jam in the door, "After you luv." Carson grabbed a first response kit and yelled, "Dr. Cole you have the infirmary!" before jogging after Elizabeth.

Arriving in the gate room Elizabeth immediately looked up to the control room and was extremely pleased to see the designated technicians sitting at their stations clearly conscious but with red x's dutifully stuck to their foreheads. Turning toward the gate room she saw a lot of confused military with more arriving from all over the city with each second.

The Airmen and Marines weren't sure if they should be apprehending Dex, who stood stoically behind the gate with his arms crossed or give their attention to their leader who was currently grinning a mile wide and slapping Major Lorne roughly on the back all the while repeating, "Hot Damn, he really did it!"

Eventually, the gate room could hold no more and John straightened, turned away from Dex, and with absolutely no smile, shouted, "Attention!" every person in the room snapped to, even Elizabeth had straightened before she caught herself. "Had this not been a drill, had Specialist Dex truly been an insurgent Atlantis's cover would have been blown and the city's safety forfeit. Major Lorne and I will be reviewing this exercise with Specialist Dex's input before posting additional training for one and all. Dismissed!"

Dr. Beckett made sure he was on the military channel even though he was next to Sheppard, "Colonel, I'll need to see anyone who was stunned for a wee check in the infirmary" then privately to John, "and regardless of Mr. Dex's triumph I'll need to be seeing him as well."

John keyed his own radio, "You all heard Dr. Beckett, anyone stunned head to the infirmary."

"Sir, I stunned Dex, it didn't faze him."

John's head whirled to look at Dex, who was still standing behind the gate, but in a much more relaxed posture. Keying his radio again he asked, "Anyone else stun Dex?"

Only Major Lorne responded, in his disbelief John forgot to key-off his radio so the entire military contingent heard him speak to Beckett, "So in a matter of minutes he was stunned two times?"

Carson shook his head with worry, "I'll definitely need to see him too."

John strolled over to Ronon smiling again, "So much for taking your rep down a notch. Maybe, we can do this again. Only next time you start in the holding room so we see you on the cameras, not as much lead time for you and we'd nix your gun, you'd have to disable everybody but after what I saw in the gym that shouldn't be an issue, no permanent damage allowed, it'd be fun." Ronon shrugged as if it wouldn't be a bother.

Elizabeth seeing several scared faces file past her as the men headed for the infirmary, correctly assumed John was still broadcasting on the military channel and immediately interrupted on a private priority channel, "John your radio is still engaged and what I said about him seeing Kate, I was serious. I expect him to attend as many sessions as Carson and Dr. Heightmeyer require."

John responded with an ok, and then keyed his radio off. It was when they both passed her that Elizabeth heard, "Carson's going to be awhile before he gets to you, wanna go eat something first?"

"Not hungry."

"Ok, when's the last time you ate?" When John didn't get a response he changed the subject, "How'd you take out all the techs? Thought for sure a few of them would slip by and blow the whistle on you…"

Elizabeth never heard Ronon's answer, but she smiled none-the-less at once again having control restored over the city and knowing that Carson and John would take care of their newest resident.