Thank you to those of you still reading. I do hope you continue to enjoy this fic. All errors are mine.

Love to read your thoughts. :)

Next chapter will have a different setting and no handcuffs for John. :)

Part 8

"Is everything ready?" She asked without explanations.

"Not gonna give me details? You're scaring me." The grin on Ronon's face was almost abnormal.

She moved towards John and their eyes met.

"Jealous boyfriend?" John asked with much more concern in his own voice than he cared to explain.

"Release him," was all she said, but her smile gave her away.

And instantly, something within John assured him that he wasn't her boyfriend. Thank God.

"More like a younger brother." Ronon's smile was really starting to annoy John.

He moved closer to the bed, "Much younger, too."

"Ronon!" She threatened.

Ronon moved closer to John and almost whispered with that sickening smile of his. "I guess you two got to know each other pretty well. That's too bad because now I'm sure that I'm going to kill you."

"Do I look like I'm having fun?" John replied.

"Are you two finished or would you like some privacy?" And John couldn't possibly think that her irritated look could make her look any sexier.

"I told you he'd be a good team player." Ronon all but laughed. "He's got the means, you've got the money and power, and I got the brawns!"

John really wanted to show him who had the power.

"He is here." She looked out the window with concern in her eyes. Immediately, John wanted to soothe her worried face, but he couldn't do squat tied up like this. He had to do something fast.

"Specialist Ronon Dex. You're from Sateda. I've been looking for you."

"He's smart, too." Ronon looked back at her.

John was about to say more, when she added. "It is of no consequence. Stick to the plan!" Her voice sounding more restless by the minute.

"Look, I don't know what kind of sick joke this is, but I want to be let go right now!"

The woman looked out the window, and then went to the door.

"We must not be seen." She said.

"Kanaan's got it covered." Ronon said without looking at her for he was now too busy looking near the bed, his head very close to John.

Kanaan? That's the idiot that took him to Halling. John's forehead crumpled with a questioning glare at Ronon.

"That lying son of a bitch is here? When I get my hands on him..."

"Ex-husband. Not to worry. He's harmless." With a big smile on his face, Ronon tried to yank John's handcuffs off him.

"Ouch! Will you stop that! You're gonna break my arms." John hated to sound like a whiner but right now, he had very little shame left in him.

"Cries like a girl, though." Ronon's eyes turned back towards the woman who was now fussing through her things and John was sure he said it with another stupid grin on his face.

John thoughts immediately turned towards his current situation. This woman was clearly not going to hurt him. Well, at least not at the moment. She wanted him for something, but up till now, he couldn't quite figure her out.

Ronon's involvement in this was just as puzzling. He was a bounty hunter. What the hell was he doing with her? And Kanaan? What the hell was that moron up to?

"Look, I need to know what this is all about, especially if you want my help." John demanded.

"Your questions will be answered shortly, John. At the moment my priority is for us to get acquainted and for you to trust me." She moved closer to the bed and suddenly, he felt an indescribable feeling.

"Sure, I can trust you. But it works both ways."

She looked at him then, and her head tilted slightly, as if she could read right through him. "You have a gift, as do I. That makes you valuable to my people and to our cause."

"I have many gifts, but you didn't let me show you any of them. And what cause? Look, you're talking in riddles here and I wasn't very good at this in school. So, let's just get to the point. What exactly do you want from me?"

She looked at Ronon, who looked at her in return, shrugging his shoulders.

"Alright. Do you recall when you met Halling?" And her face softened and for a split second, he remembered their kisses and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to kiss those luscious lips once again.

Until his brain brought him back to her question.

"That nice tall man that says a lot but really says nothing? Yeah, I met him. That son of a bitch Kanaan took me to the wrong guy." He could still hear the man's words without much meaning at all, and now that he thought about it, she was doing the same thing.

"Halling is respected highly among our people. His words carry strength, wisdom and experience. You should have paid closer attention."

"Yeah, and...Ouch! Will you stop that!" Ronon made him loose his next words because he kept on yanking the handcuffs.

"Athosians are a very proud and private people. We seek only what was taken from us and we only wish to educate our children in a peaceful world." She was almost sitting next to him on the bed when she reached out from underneath her top giving John another clear view of the bra securing safely her perfect mounds, and he almost missed when she pulled out a single key that had been expertly tucked away in the warmth of her bosom.

"Right! My mother used to that too with her money. She also always told me to share my toys with my older brother, but that doesn't mean I always did."

"Scratch that. He's dumb, after all." Ronon added.

John had almost forgotten about the man at this point.

"John..." Her voice was almost a whisper, a plea, and it captivated him into a trance that he couldn't quite shake off.

"You need my help. I get that. But you need to tell me more if you want me to cooperate." He realized a little too late that he had said this without thinking it out first. Without the least bit of effort, he was making her a promise.

He'd help her.

There was no question in his mind that he was going to, for something had connected them. What that was, he wasn't sure.

Oh, he'd hear about his stupidity and reckless decisions from Elizabeth, and Rodney and Lorne would go on and on about how he couldn't just let go another opportunity in which Jr. did all the thinking. And although part of that is true, now gazing at this beautiful woman, he had to know more. At the very least, he'd get her name of out of it and if he was really lucky, maybe something more.

Yes, he is a pitiful son of a bitch.

So, he'll go with her willingly, but he wasn't about to sell his soul to her. At least not yet.

"Come with me, John and I promise you will understand." Her words were honest, sincere, and completely entrancing.

He wasn't ready to go to the end of the world with her, but he will go with her.

"Let's start by taking these off." And he showed her his pearly whites while angling his head higher, just inches away from her face.

At which point, Ronon rubbed his hands together, and then pulling back his leather coat, he revealed a weapon. "Okay, now we're getting somewhere." He pulled out his gun and aimed it straight at the handcuffs directly above John's head. "Sheppard, don't move."

~TBC