Sorry about the long delay, life caught up with me ^^

So this is chapter 10, and I'll get to writing chapter 11 tomorrow. FFnet has done something weird to dividers so I need to go back and edit earlier chapters to make sure the breaks are in there... and I'll take a good look at them fix up the grammatical errors I know are in there.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you have been so kind to me.

If you like Power Rangers have a look at my new Tommy/Kimberly fic, I'm quite happy with it.

-888-

Chapter 10

Ronon knew as soon as he saw Leila dive for the door that she wouldn't make it. Unthinkingly he lunged forward and grabbed her roughly around the waist and hauled her away from the door as it sealed shut.

Leila was stronger than any human her size, but she was still tiny and it shouldn't have been difficult for Ronon to restrain her but she shrieked at him and fought in his arms. When he was sure she was safe Ronon released her, drawing back from her. He didn't like touching the wraith-girl.

Free of Ronon's arms Leila turned her back on him and flew to the door where she struggled in vain to prise the door open with her hands.

Ronon watched her antics, somewhat amused. Her reaction was exactly what his had been the last time this had happened, and she was doing exactly what he would be doing if she wasn't here.

But watching Leila struggle with the door was borderline ridiculous. Her long, fine fingers sought for a gap in the door, her dark hair swished angrily around her tiny frame... Ronon was sure that when he had tried to break open the door in the infirmary he didn't look nearly so foolish.

"Communication's down," he told her.

At his voice Leila stiffened, as if suddenly aware of his presence. She rounded on him and her face was distinctly unhuman.

Ronon recoiled instinctively and his hand fell automatically to his gun.

Leila's eyes were more wraith-like than ever and as pale as ice, deep scars marred her cheeks, and her skin was even paler than usual, though still smooth and even in tone.

"This is your fault!" she hissed, pressing her body away from him, against the door. "Why didn't you let me go-"

Was her voice more distorted than last time?

Ronon hated this feeling. She was hurling accusations against him again. One part of him was angry, and responded to her challenge; the other part of him was calmer. Because Ronon had seen this reaction from her before, and it seemed he was becoming accustomed to it from her.

She was panicking. Leila was afraid of him.

"You wouldn't have made it," he told her gruffly. "These doors don't stop for anyone, you could've been hurt."

"I'm fast."

"Not that fast," he growled, looking at the failed screen.

After how uncomfortable she had made him feel, there was no reason why Ronon should feel the need to comfort this freaked out, half-human half-wraith creature. It wasn't like he was in the habit of comforting distressed women either.

Although he had been once... in another life on Sateda. Ronon Dex had been a devoted son and loving partner. Even then he hadn't exactly been in touch with his feminine side, but he liked to think he been somewhat intuitive.

Ronon turned his empty hands up. "We are going to get out of here."

She shook her head, her pale cat-like eyes frantic. Ronon watched with some relief as she slowly began to calm herself. Maybe he wasn't the only one becoming accustomed to her extreme reactions.

"This has happened before, and they managed to fix it last time. McKay was doing something to the security systems, he probably messed something up like normal."

Leila snorted and a wavering smile came to her lips. "It's happened before," she clarified.

"Last year. I got locked in the infirmary."

"For how long?"

"Not long enough. Or too long."

Ronon noticed how she had relaxed, the way she looked up at him. She was obviously curious about his cryptic statement but Ronon wasn't about to elaborate.

Leila sighed and looked wistfully at the door. "You're sure we can't get it open?" she asked him again. "Even if we... worked together?"

Ronon couldn't help but be pleased by her offer, or tempted by the idea to try. Almost every muscle in his body begged him to try and force the door open. "No," he steeled himself. "Last time Sheppard broke a window and escaped, and the city tried to self destruct."

Leila's eyes widened in horror and Ronon shrugged. "McKay said it was the city's version of self-defence."

"So you're just giving up?" she demanded.

Who would have thought that he, Ronon Dex, would be the one to think before he acted, to accept that there was nothing he could do? To trust that McKay or one of the others would work it out?

But maybe that's what happened when you saw how foolish acting rashly was, Ronon wasn't learning by the examples of Atlantis so much as by his determination to avoid looking idiotic in front of Leila.

Ronon found that he noticed things about Leila that he normally wouldn't notice about anyone. The way she shifted constantly, unable to remain completely still unless she was threatened, the way she tossed her head when she was thinking about something was bothering her.

"I don't think we're in danger," he offered by way of explanation.

Ronon noticed how she relaxed, and watched as her face shifted subtly, the distinctly wraith-like features fading. He realised he had almost forgotten they were there.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, unsure of what to do now. They were stuck in this transporter for god-knows how long, and it wasn't like small talk was his speciality.

Leila tossed her small head distractedly, her dark glossy hair bouncing. "It's... very small," she said finally.

Ronon watched her carefully, then gracefully settled himself onto the floor. "I thought you were getting used to small spaces."

He raised his hands and seemingly nonchalantly tucked them behind his head.

She looked down at him, seeming surprised by how comfortable he appeared to be.

Ronon felt it too; something in the way they interacted had changed.

He remembered her face as he grasped her wrist, stopping her from plummeting from the balcony and into the ocean below. He remembered cradling her to his chest as he carried her broken body to the safety of the infirmary.

Twice.

"I... am getting used to being indoors," she answered after some deliberation. "But it's not the same." Ronon watched as Leila fought with her instincts, finally crouching on the floor as far from him as possible. "You seem... quite comfortable. Indoors, I mean."

Ronon was taken aback; her comment was an invitation to a conversation.

He had seen her in animated conversions with Major Lorne, and he knew she was getting close to both Doctor Keller and Teyla, but never did Ronon imagine that she would overcome her aversion to him and actually speak to him.

"I'd been on the run for a long time, but Atlantis is my home now," he answered hesitantly.

Leila remained crouching, Ronon had never seen her sit, but her features shifted and she was human once more. Or as human as she would ever be, there was a graceful quality about her that would always set her apart from other people.

"You get to leave though... quite often," she probed.

Ronon measured the wistful tone of Leila's voice, the cautiousness in her eyes. She still didn't trust him.

Ronon didn't trust her either, so that worked well for him.

He inclined his head slightly. Leila didn't inquire further, but the longing in her face intensified.

Unable to bear the wistfulness in her gaze Ronon relented. "When I came to Atlantis, I had to stay in the city for two weeks before Doctor Weir approved me to join Sheppard's team."

The conversation should have been awkward, but although it was disjointed, Ronon found he was not uncomfortable.

He surprised at the passion behind her next words. "How did you cope?" she breathed, leaning towards him ever so slightly.

Unbidden Ronon remembered her face close to his as he confronted her just moments before the doors sealed shut, locking them in this transporter. He remembered her breath on his lips.

"I spent a lot of time sparring, training the guys here."

Leila exhaled sharply through her nose.

"Evan thought I would like that, but..." she trailed off. Ronon remembered their encounter that day. He remembered the feeling that had ballooned in his chest when he had caught his wrist in her hand and realised she was safe. He remembered her eyes brimming with emotion as they stood in silence on that balcony.

"I never apologised," Ronon said gruffly. "For what happened that day."

Leila's eyes widened and turned down at his admission.

Did she ever blink?

Leila's lips parted slightly and she became very still, unable or unwilling to make eye contact she stared instead at his chest. "You don't need to," she murmured, nodding to herself. "I should never have let Evan talk me into that. I know why I'm here and I overstepped my welcome."

Ronon was surprised by the bitter tone that laced her voice. It seemed unlike her.

"What do you mean?"

Leila smiled and rocked back on her heels, shaking her head. She ran her fingers over the door and Ronon wondered if she was willing it to open.

"Why are you here?" he asked her again.

Ronon was genuinely interested in what had bought the self-mocking smile to her face. Leila had always seemed so... wild. Instinctual. This was the most jaded he had seen her.

"I'm too dangerous to be set free. I don't belong here, with people."

Ronon couldn't deny the reason she had been entombed in the Ancestral city was because her genetic peculiarities posed too great a risk to fall into Michael's hands. But he had also seen how the people of Atlantis had warmed to her, even now she wasn't under guard she never lacked company.

Particularly Lorne's.

It was no longer just their own safety that concerned the people of Atlantis. They were worried about her; somehow she had bewitched them and wiggled her way into their hearts.

"That's not true," Ronon disagreed gruffly.

"I'm not even human!"

As if to prove her point her face shifted, deep scars formed in her cheeks and her pupils narrowed into dark slits.

"Does that hurt?" Ronon asked, suitably distracted.

The tiny wraith girl flashed to her feet and struck the door with the edge of her hand, actually creating a small dent in the solid door.

Ronon was amazed by the speed with which she moved, the strength that she possessed... And how juvenile the action was.

Leila groaned and leaned her head against the door. "Let. Me. Out," she hit her head against the door to emphasise each word.

"I think you're wrong," Ronon told her, stretching his legs out and lounging against the wall. He figured he might as well be comfortable. Maybe if he relaxed Leila would too.

She cocked her head back towards him. "About what?"

"I know it's hard to be stuck here, but I think you're wrong about not belonging here."

Ronon watched her shoulders slump.

And this was what really bothered him. Today Leila had stopped ignoring him and focused her entire attention on him, her pale eyes burning holes into his face during their meeting. The young woman had then walked out on him, shrunk away from him, tried to run from him, foster a polite conversation with him and now she was back to ignoring him. Ronon didn't like having to decipher mixed signals; he wasn't used to studying people.

When Leila didn't turn back to him Ronon considered the possibility that was going to cry again. It annoyed him that he was worried about that possibility, and frustrated him that he was relieved when it appeared she was going to be okay.

She remained standing, her forehead pressed to the wall.

Finally Ronon rose and touched her shoulder, "You okay?"

The wraith-girl jumped at his touch with a hiss.

Jumped. Literally.

Jumped straight up and stayed there... Ronon looked up in surprise to see her suspended several feet above his head. It took him a second to see her fingers and toes gripping minute cavities in the wall. She wasn't suspended in the air; she was clinging to the wall.

Ronon backed off, aware she couldn't stay that way for long, already her fingers were slipping. He raised his hands and backed off, fighting the smile that played at the corners of his lips.

Ronon looked closely at her, noting the shallowness of her breathing and the way her eye lashes fanned across her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut in concentration.

"Leila..." he started.

She shook her head in response but didn't move. "I'm okay," she clarified. "Just give me a minute."

In the forest where she had survived by following her instincts, her fight or flight reactions would have saved her many times. And made her a formidable foe. But as Ronon watched her trying to combat her natural instinct to run he had to admit that her wild streak and unconventional upbringing made it very difficult for her to settle in to a normal life.

Because as much as people here seemed wary of him, and recognised that his years as a runner had changed him, Ronon had come from a civilised society. He had lived with his partner in a city, owned a house, been a part of the military... had a family.

Leila had been raised in the wild by her grandmother for fifteen years, then lived on her own.

Ronon tried to hold onto these thoughts, hoping that the next time she was difficult or irrational he would remember this and use it to keep himself calm.

Leila's fingers began to slip and purely on instinct he reached out and caught her in his arms.

Ronon saw spots and reeled back, surprised by the pain in his head. Did she just hit him?

"Get off me," she snapped, flipping deftly out his arms. "Don't you ever touch me."

Ronon growled and crossed his arms, ignoring the throbbing in his head. It wasn't his fault his first instinct was to catch her. "If you hadn't freaked out I wouldn't have had to catch you."

Leila looked up at him and her face was as inhuman as he had seen it. "It was only a few feet I fall further that all the time," she hissed. "I always land on my feet."

Ronon glared back at her, aware his face was twisted into a sneer but unwilling to compose himself.

"You weren't trying to catch me at all you were going to-"

Leila gasped as Ronon snarled and stepped forward, his eyes bright and dangerous. Her breathing quickened and she sunk into a crouch and shifted her weight ready to spring.

Ronon watched her with barely surprised agitation, then whipped out his gun and levelled it at her.

Leila's eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly open, her face falling. Her bottom lip trembled slightly and Ronon sighed, tilting his gun to the side. Her reaction was completely uncalled for and he would not regret it, she should know better than to challenge an armed man in a confined space.

He would not regret it.

Ronon regretted it; he hated seeing the look of defeat on her face. He hated seeing Leila afraid of him.

But he was in this position now so what was he going do? Just apologise?

Like that was going to happen.

Ronon felt his resolve wavering as he studied Leila, she remained crouched down, and he wished more than anything that she'd stand up, or look away.

He was about to lower his weapon and do something, say something, when the door opened with a whoosh.

Faster than Ronon could see Leila rose and spun on one foot then bounded from the transporter and out of sight.

-888-

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