Chapter 14

"His eyes were lighter?" Sheppard said with a raised eyebrow. Ronon folded his arms. Sheppard raised a supplicating hand. "Alright, if you say so."

"Have you ever seen a laelia?" Ronon questioned.

"Ah, no." Sheppard replied.

Ronon proceeded to describe something that sounded like a large cat, say a panther or cougar. "That odd flat color."

"Ronon, he could just have contacts." Sheppard pointed out.

"Snipers cannot have bad vision." Ronon stated, remembering a half forgotten conversation.

"There are ones to change eye color." Sheppard said grimly hanging on to the concept. He'd only just rolled out of bed after all.

"Sheppard." Ronon growled. "They were almost white."

"Alright." Sheppard ran a hand tiredly through his hair. "Well, colour aside, he's really fast, his reflexes are bar none, an amazing gift for languages and sometimes he doesn't react the way he is supposed to. That's hardly a reason to run screaming."

"Sheppard, totally calm in that carnage in that village on PX509." Ronon all but snarled, and then added quietly. "Reason enough to run right there."

"Look, there's not a lot I can do." Sheppard shrugged. But then held up a hand to forestall Ronon. "But I can get Weir to make more noise about that file."

"John." Ronon said evenly. The unusual use of Sheppard's first name made the major pause in the middle of standing. "He moves like a Wraith."

The Major paused then resettled at the look on Ronon's face. He hesitated slightly then sighed. "Look, the was talk, only talk mind you, of some special weapons project back on Earth. It was some kind of drug for super soldiers or something." He shrugged. "But the rumor was that they, the soldiers that volunteered for it, were only good for a while then they started to go bat shit crazy."

"Where are they?" Ronon grunted.

"Locked and padded cell probably, if it was as bad as what was said." Sheppard shrugged. Ronon made a noise of dissatisfaction. "Look, he's human, probably as sane as the rest of us around here and yeah, a little weird. But aside from that, he's easy. I can't boot him out for performance. It'd never fly." Ronon grunted assent. "I thought you two were friends." As soon as he said it, Sheppard knew he was wrong. The look Ronon gave him only reaffirmed that thought. "You've been watching him."

"Nobody blends into a team that well, Sheppard. Nobody is that normal." Ronon growled before sniffing the air. "Food's up."

"I'll keep an eye on it." Sheppard sighed, what Ronon said had made sense but he was damned if he knew of a way to address it or fix it.

"Before McKay eats all of it?" Ronon suggested edging towards the door as the sound of Teyla scolding McKay could be heard and Dougle stuck his head out the door, whistling to grab their attention and waved a hand inward.

"Not even you can run that fast." Sheppard tried to stay with the topic change as they moved towards the house.

"Bet the Boy can." Ronon muttered as he opened the door. The mood abruptly crashed back down to earth.

"Bet I can what?" Dougle said pausing with a fork halfway to his mouth as he glanced curiously from one to the other.

"Stop McKay from eating all the food." Ronon grunted as he snagged a plate and started dropping food on it as he sat down.

"Think Teyla was holding her own." Dougle countered lightly.

McKay tried to speak through a mouthful. "Hegrh." Was all that was heard.

"Swallow." Teyla said sternly, pointing her spoon at him. "Then speak."

"I'm not three!" McKay protested to the honey skinned woman frowning at him. "And I'm not eating all the food! There's piles left!" This was directed at the table in general.

"Can see that." Sheppard muttered as he split the last of the scrambled egg looking substance between his and Ronon's plate. Ronon snagged a piece of untouched meat off the side of the scientist's plate as he paid absolutely no attention to him.

"Hey! It takes a lot to power this brain!"

Sheppard glanced up to reply and caught Dougle gazing at him. It unexpectedly made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Cursing Ronon in the privacy of his mind, he made a snarky comment in return without really hearing it. He relaxed fractionally when he realized the Boy was only following the conversation as he then turned his attention back to McKay's splutterings. He tried to soothe himself with the thought that it might only be Ronon's paranoia. But his gut clenched and suddenly he lost interest in breakfast. After all, Ronon knew an enemy when he spotted one. And Ronon had definitely spotted something, he was just unsure what it was.