A/N: Please note that because of access issues to this site, this story is usually updated on my LiveJournal page first. My username there is j_r_hartley.

When The Night Comes - Chapter 11

"How many more planets do we have to go to Sheppard?" Ronon's tired and bored voice asked. "It's been almost four months and nothing's changing. It's the same thing everywhere we go – fever, headaches, blackouts, nausea, loss of appetite, irregular sleeping patterns. The bursts of excess energy after that are a bit strange, yeah, but it's bad for two or three weeks, then gets easier, and eventually fades. Nearly everyone's back to normal in a month or so! It messes with you, then goes away - Beckett said that's what viruses do."

With a deep sigh Sheppard replied, "I'm not too happy about this either but Elizabeth has a point. There's too many of our trading partners with the same symptoms for it to be coincidence, so until we have a better idea what we're dealing with, we carry on visiting planets until we find some information that can help us."

Ronon tried to stay calm but ended up raising his voice louder than he'd indented to. "But that's just it – we're not the only ones looking, Sheppard. Most of our trading partners are too. They know what the situation is, they know how many people have been infected – they'll let us know when they find something out."

"That's enough, Ronon!" Sheppard snarled. "We can't just sit by and let other people do the work. We know that some of the villages affected are still having new outbreaks, so it could be gone in as little as month, or it could be something longer term – permanent, even. For all we know, we've not seen the worst of it yet! Just because most of Atlantis' outbreak seems to have cleared up, doesn't mean we can take it for granted. We need to find out what's going on, and that's the end of it."

Ronon let out a frustrated growl. "But no-one's seriously ill, no-one's died. There are better things we could be doing with our time! There's still a galaxy full of Wraith that need killing, and - "

At this Sheppard stopped walking and looked Ronon dead in the eye with that sexy one-sided smirk and turning his head slightly to check Rodney and Teyla were still some distance away. "And? And what exactly?"

Moving as close to Sheppard as he dared with Rodney and Teyla only a few feet away, Ronon lowered his head and huskily whispered into the Colonel's ear. "Like me lying you down and kissing you all over…licking you all over." He heard Sheppard swallow and watched as he licked his lips. He could see and hear Sheppard's breathing quicken as the smirk changed to look of pure, unadulterated lust. He felt a flood of heat through his body, and his dick gave a quick twitch, very much liking the sight of Sheppard right now. If he had a mirror, the Satedan was sure he would see the same dilated pupils, flushed cheeks and swollen lips as his CO.

"Uh huh, and what else?"

Thinking for a moment Ronon replied, "You on your knees. With… with your hands behind your back. Asking… no, begging to be allowed to suck me." He knew he was panting, as his breath and heartbeat got faster and faster.

Sheppard's brow wrinkled as he closed his eyes and groaned; and a satisfied grin spread across the Satedan's face.

The Colonel was so easy to distract these days, his libido seemed to know no bounds. Though they'd both lost their appetite for food for a while, their appetite for one another more than made up for it. Ronon had never had so much sex in his life as he had with Sheppard these last few months. He'd expected things to calm down a bit after the first few weeks, but neither of them showed any signs of that. The more they had, the more they wanted – it was amazing that no-one on Atlantis had picked up on it, especially with the number of late night 'sparring sessions' in the gym, which left them both bloodied and bruised for reasons entirely unrelated to any weapon.

"Bastard" Sheppard spat, discretely moving his P-90 over his crotch as the rest of the team caught up to them.

"What's going on? Are we done?" McKay asked.

Still grinning, Ronon replied, "Oh nothing much…just making plans for when we get back to Atlantis."

He watched as Sheppard increased his pace, shouting back to them, "Come on guys, let's do this so we can home ASAP. Some of us have things to get back for!"

~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

Several long, hot and fruitless hours later, the team returned to Atlantis.

By the time they got back, Ronon was ready to sleep on the spot. Although he still didn't feel 100%, most of his symptoms with the exception of some lethargy and the odd headache, had gone. Carson said that was only to be expected after suffering so many other symptoms over the last week weeks. It would take time to get back to perfect health, and Ronon wasn't a patient man. Sleep wasn't at option though, so he trailed behind the rest of the team to into the briefing room for another session of "We have nothing to report".

As the sun poured into the room, Ronon got fidgety. It was hot and stuffy, and it was making him more tired and grumpy. He half listened to the conversation, knowing it would be very little different to the last fifty they'd had. Everyone around the table was as frustrated as each other, and Ronon was growing weary of going through the motions. It was an attempt to keep everyone positive, but the longer the mystery went on, the more they all knew it was a sham.

Again, Dr. Weir advised the room that every SG team they had were out looking for a link in the cases, as were most of their trading partners. Only a handful of villages were unaffected by the sickness, and they all claimed to have no knowledge of what might be the cause. None of them said they wanted to temporarily cease trading, when Elizabeth asked them directly, for which she was very grateful. When word spread to the other villages, those who had had concerns about trading with the high profile city with many afflicted, they were soon happy to carry on as if nothing had happened.

Carson and his team were run ragged, yet they couldn't come up with any possible explanation. He too gave his report in a voice that was trying to be upbeat, but failing miserably. "I can't find any reference to anything remotely similar in the Ancient database. None of the medical personnel in any of the villages have heard of anything quite like it; and even the Athosians' contacts are drawing a blank. I just don't know what the link could possibly be."

His voice had grown steadily more distressed as he spoke, and Ronon reached across and patted him on the back, "It's OK Doc, you'll find it…whatever "it" is, I know you will."

Carson sighed, "Thanks for the vote of confidence big man, I just don't know what to do next. All we can do is keep looking. There has to be a connection somewhere, and I'm going to bloody well find it if it's the last thing I do!"

Ronon had no doubt whatsoever about that Carson would find the answer. He just hoped it would be soon.

TBC…