Disclaimer - I do not own SGA or its characters. I do own Orla Grant. I am not making a profit from this story.

Rating - M for violence & threat.

A/N - Thank you to bailey1ak for being a great Beta and friend.

Setting; Season 5, Ronon / OC, Carson is still CMO of Atlantis but Keller is also on Atlantis.

"Off world activation," Chuck announced. "Colonel Sheppard's IDC," he quickly added.

"Lower the shield." Richard Woolsey answered as he descended the staircase outside his office leading into the lower gate room.

The Stargate whooshed into life; the wormhole jutted forward, swirled back into itself and finally settled into place. A moment later, Colonel Sheppard stepped through the Stargate into the gate room. Rodney McKay followed directly behind Sheppard with Teyla to his side and Ronon looming behind them. McKay instantly began to complain, "Seriously, in what solar system was that meat? It had the texture of jellied eels!" He berated the people of PY334-M and their so called "Food offerings".

"What is an eel?" Teyla asked.

"A fish but it's beside the point, it's gross."

"Ronon, may I have a word in my office once you've been cleared by Dr Beckett?" Woolsey asked as he approached the homecoming team.

Sheppard stopped mid stride, turned around and looked first at Woolsey then at Ronon. "Is there something I should I know Mr Woolsey?"

"Everything's fine Colonel, this purely a personal matter," Woolsey calmly replied.

"Orla?" Ronon stepped toward Woolsey, concern on his face.

"She's fine, as far as I know," Woolsey answered, quickly realizing his comment had caused more concern than he'd intended.

"Fine," Ronon mumbled.

"Ronon, what did you do?" Sheppard inquired warily.

"It's fine Sheppard," Ronon replied stonily as he strode past and towards the gate room exit.


An hour later, having been cleared by Beckett, Ronon hovered by the door to Woolsey office. He knocked and walked into the room not waiting for Woolsey to invite him in.

"Ronon," Woolsey acknowledged the man's presence. He momentarily looked up from his paperwork. "Close the door, please," he said before signing the document held in his hand. "Take a seat, please."

Ronon slumped into a nearby chair, his concerned masked by his deliberately slouched posture.

Woolsey put down his paperwork and looked directly at Ronon. "We've spoken previously about the IOA and Dr Grant's contract being in jeopardy because of the pregnancy. The IOA's requirements have been quite specific." He paused, knowing he had the man's attention but he wanted to word his comments correctly. "I wanted to speak to you first, I don't believe deception no matter how well intended, is ideal for Dr Grant's… condition, nor do I believe she would be 100% happy with it." He paused again, waiting for Ronon's response. When he remained stoic Woolsey continued, "their requirements are that Dr Grant continue to go off-world as per her contract requirements until she is on maternity leave." On hearing the low rumble resonating from Ronon he held his hands up, "Ronon, please, hear me out. I'm not happy at letting her go off-world either, whilst Dr Grant knows the dangers of being off-world doing so carrying a child is another matter. Not one I am fond of my staff doing. What I'm proposing is this, I send Dr Grant off-world in the morning as scheduled with Major Lorne but instead of Lieutenant Wilkinson, I'd like you to go. This way you can make sure she's alright and you can bring her back safely. Afterward, I'm sure Dr Beckett will be able to state the stress of the mission is such he now deems her medically unfit for off-world missions but that she is capable of continuing her work on Atlantis."

"Why can't Beckett to do that now?"

"Because the IOA would see through it, if the record reflects Dr Grant was indeed off world then it's a medical matter, not a preference." Woolsey hoped Ronon would understand.

"Are you sure it will work? Beckett will sign her off?"

"It was Dr Beckett's idea Ronon."


Ronon strode into the mess hall. He was genuinely relieved after his meeting with Woolsey. He hadn't wanted Orla taking part in missions off-world at all, he just hadn't figured out yet how he was going to stop her from doing job her job short of keeping her locked in their quarters. The decision to stop her from going off-world had been taken out of his hands, she couldn't blame him for agreeing with Beckett. He grabbed a tray and began to load it with food and headed to the table shared by Sheppard, McKay and Teyla.

"Hey buddy," Sheppard said as Ronon sat, "everything okay?"

"It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yep," Ronon said then added casually, "Going off-world tomorrow with Lorne," as he tore into the food before him.

"Why? Your team Sheppard," Rodney added with surprise between mouthfuls of jello.

"Woolsey's never mentioned anything to me. Scheduling my men, now is he?" Sheppard stabbed at his food just a little irritated at not being privy to the changes to his personnel.

"Orla's going off-world and Woolsey asked If I wanted to help out as she's been sick." Ronon replied flatly.

"I'm sure she will appreciate you being there," Teyla added smiling.

"What's wrong with Wilkinson?" Sheppard queried not letting the subject drop.

"Not sure, but you can handle the Marines tomorrow, give them a day off real fighting," Ronon chuckled as he tossed the remains of his sandwich onto his tray and rose heading for the exit. His appetite lost by Sheppard's heightened curiosity, Ronon knew he wouldn't leave the subject alone until he'd discovered the real reason and for now, he'd promised Orla to keep their news quiet.

"Ronon didn't finish his food, is he sick?" Rodney remarked.

"He's something, Rodney, just not too sure what yet," Sheppard muttered as he watched Ronon leave the mess hall.


"Off world activation," Chuck declared, "Major Lorne's IDC."

"Lower the shield," Woolsey confirmed as he stood in the gate room.

The wormhole broke through, surging around the Stargate and settling. A minute later Major Evan Lorne stepped into the gate room. He was followed moments later by Orla, another scientist Woolsey had not had time to meet, or if he had, remember. Following behind was the towering figure of Ronon Dex. "Welcome back Major Lorne, everything alright?"

"Mr Woolsey, Sir, everything's fine," Lorne answered, not sounding totally convinced himself.

"Splendid," he replied moving forward to stand before Ronon. "A word later, Ronon?" he quietly requested before turning to smile at Dr Grant and her other companion. "Did you get the data you needed Dr Grant?"

"Mostly. Might need to go back though to get further samples..."

It was at that point Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard walked into the gate room, he was pretty sure there was something going on he wasn't part of. As Lorne approached, Sheppard tilted his head to one side and quietly asked, "Everything okay Major, anything to report?"

"Colonel, Sir. Everything's … okay."

"Lorne?"

"Off the record Sir?"

Sheppard nodded while his stomach dropped this wasn't going to be good.

Major Evan Lorne turned back to look at the team he'd just commanded. "Well Sir, I've got no idea why Ronon's on my team. Wilkinson's not sick or anything. Don't get me wrong, I like Ronon, a lot. He's a good guy and the best soldier we have… no offense, Sir," Lorne turned back to look at his superior hoping he wouldn't be offended.

"Go on," Sheppard ignored the comment as he saw Woolsey deep in conversation with Ronon once more.

"Well, let's just say Ronon had his moments and today, he was less Chewie more Vader, Sir."

Sheppard's eyebrow rose at the comparison, "How was he around Orla?"

"That's the thing, he was Ronon but just more Ronon. At one point he was waiting for her to finish taking samples and someone from the nearby settlement approached her, I swear I heard the "The Imperial March" play in my head when I looked at him, if you get my meaning."

"Thanks Lorne, go see Beckett and get some food, I'll deal with our resident Sith Lord." Sheppard ordered as he began to walk towards Woolsey the two scientists moved away heading toward the exit for their infirmary check-ups. Sheppard stepped in front of the Satedan. "Ronon, we need a talk."

"Now?"

"Go see Beckett, then we'll talk." Without waiting for a response, he walked over to Woolsey. "Sir, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Colonel Sheppard, of course, let's use my office. Shall we?"

Sheppard watched as Woolsey lowered himself into his seat behind his desk, he was angry but he knew he had to keep calm, Richard Woolsey was still the Lantean Commander.

"Sir, I appreciate you're in charge of Atlantis, the day to day running etc but with all due respect, Sir, the military are my responsibility," he wasn't about to let Woolsey interrupt his monolog. "I don't appreciate you changing my teams or schedules, those are my orders based on my knowledge of my men and women. The next time, you want Ronon going off-world on a mission not sanctioned by myself, I'd appreciate a heads up, Sir."

"Quite right Colonel, I apologize, I should've run this by you first."

Sheppard hadn't expected Woolsey to apologize, he expected an argument. "Thank you."

"Was there anything else, Colonel?"

"Why did Ronon go with Lorne?"

"Dr Grant was returning to off-world duties for the first in some while. Ronon isn't very keen on her returning to them at all. Quite honestly Colonel, I did it to keep the peace here instead of having an impatient Ronon pacing the gate room waiting for her to return, I asked him to ensure she did just that,," Woolsey explained with an element of truth.

"Not a bad idea, though according Lorne his mood wasn't a good one."

"Maybe so Colonel, but to be quite frank, he's not really known to be… jolly so how do you tell the difference?"


Sheppard headed to the infirmary; he'd had a busy day but he was still restless. Something wasn't sitting right with him. He'd understood Woolsey's intentions but it wasn't like the man to go behind his back with his men. Entering the infirmary, he looked around, he couldn't see Ronon or Orla and Ronon wasn't easy to miss. Nodding his greeting to Major Lorne he stopped at the man's bed. "Where's the others?"

"I don't know Colonel; Doc gave us all the usual tests then they went into a side room."

"You never mentioned any injuries?"

"As far as I know, there are none, Sir."

Sheppard headed further into the infirmary and called out, "Ronon?" He waited a minute before he saw the side door open.

"Sheppard?"

"Everything okay? Thought you'd be done by now, have our little conversation."

"Be another ten minutes, you want me to come to your office?"

"Sure, why not," Sheppard replied his gut instinct telling him something was going on.


Sheppard sat in his chair waiting for Ronon. He picked up the Rubik cube Rodney had challenged him to complete. He was restless, he swung his feet onto the desk and tossed the cube back onto the desk with a sigh. A knock at the door got his attention. "Come in."

Ronon entered the office, closing the door behind him, "Hey," was all he offered.

"Hey yourself, take a seat Ronon." Sheppard swung his legs off the desk, he reached into the lower desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. "Want one?" he tilted the bottle as an offer.

"Sure."

"So, what gives Ronon?"

"What?" Ronon didn't have a clue what Sheppard was asking. He reached for the glass of whiskey.

"Something's off. You're more Ronon than normal, what's bugging you?"

"I'm fine."

"Ronon, if you give me that "I'm fine" one more time, I swear to god, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Ronon chucked the whiskey down his throat in one swig, his face stoic as he banged the glass onto the desk and rose. "Nothing's wrong Sheppard, I'm tired is all. Anything else?"

"Yeah there is, sit down. That's an order if you need it to be!" Sheppard re-filled their glasses. "I don't believe you, since you got together with Orla you've…. relaxed more. Become a team player over keeping your Runner mode on, but lately, you're furtive. More than your normal furtive and I'm worried. Is it Orla?"

Ronon looked up on hearing Orla's name, he hated keeping a secret from his friend but he didn't want to break his promise to Orla. "Everything's fine… I mean, she's been sick but she's okay now. I don't like her off-world is all," He reached for the glass once more and took a mouthful of the amber fluid welcoming the burn if offered.

"Well if you're not going to tell me maybe I should have a one on one with Orla?" Sheppard pushed, unsure if he was about to take a trip to the infirmary.

"Leave her alone Sheppard," Ronon said quietly, aware he was disrespecting his senior officer and would probably be punished for it. "Please."

"Well, If I didn't think there was something wrong before, I do now."

Ronon sighed, he knew Sheppard and he knew he was tenacious. He swirled the remaining whiskey around the glass in his hand. You're making me break a promise Sheppard."

"It won't go further Ronon, you have my word."

Ronon sat back in the chair and drained the rest of his whiskey. As he swallowed the liquid, he smiled to himself thinking back to the test Beckett had demanded Orla have upon the return from off-world, a sonogram he'd called it. Just a precaution but she'd need one anyway he'd told him, the first trimester was going to be over in the next few days. That's when he'd seen their child for the first time, the tiny life, which was able to fill him with more worry and fear than any Hive ship had. Looking directly at Sheppard, he moved slowly forward in the chair, his leathers creaking as he did, "Orla's pregnant."

"What?" Sheppard sputtered, "Since when? You sure? I mean, how?"

"How?" Ronon asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow, teasing the man.

"No, I know how, I mean, wow … congratulations! How far along is she?"

Ronon finally broke into a huge smile, "three months, almost." The relief of not lying to his friend any more evident in his face. Instead it was replaced with his excitement and happiness at becoming a father. He explained all the meetings with Beckett, Woolsey and the IOA. The whiskey flowed as he went on to describe Beckett and Woolsey's idea to placate the IOA whilst keeping Orla from going off-world. All the while Sheppard grinned at his friend's excitement and nodded along with the plans.