3

Ronon's eating as Sheppard joins him at the table. "That went well," he says, smiling like a kid.

"What?" Ronon shovels food into his mouth, still getting used to using the fork that Sheppard showed him earlier.

"Dr. Weir says I can keep you."

"Keep me?"

Sheppard's smirk falters. "That you can join my team. If you want."

"Sounds good. For now."

Sheppard smirks again, pats his hands on the table. "Looks like you're gonna be here a while. Mind if I get some food and join you?"

"Fine."

Sheppard nods as he gets up and goes to the other end of the mess to grab his dinner. Ronon looks up, seeing the Colonel go to the end of the line…so unlike what he's used to seeing in military leaders. This guy doesn't use his position to overpower even the lowliest of people. Ronon smirks at that thought, seeing as the person directly in front of Sheppard is none other than Jax.

He doesn't know why this woman disturbs him so much. The fact that she stood up to him in defiance would normally make him consider her worthy of attention, as he does with Teyla. But he does not feel this way about Jax. He disliked her immediately like a stone in his boot and would have pushed her aside in an instant if he'd met her on some other world.

But at the same time, he obeyed her command. She instilled in him a need to cooperate, however grudgingly. He did not do it to please her in any way. It was as if he had no will of his own to rebel. He remembers that feeling from long ago.

She turns and smiles at the Colonel as if he just said something amusing, but she turns away quickly occupying herself with getting food. Colonel Sheppard continues with his side of the conversation from what Ronon can see, but all he gets in return is a few head bobs and sideways glances.

Then something strange happens. Jax turns to the Colonel, all smiles, says something that makes Sheppard laugh out loud. The Colonel places a hand on her shoulder and she visibly flinches. Ronon feels his guts tighten and for some reason is ready to jump out of his chair and pull the Colonel away from her, but his hand is already gone from her arm.

The two finish loading up their plates and head away from the line. Col. Sheppard walks a little behind Jax, his face creased with worry lines as he tries to keep the conversation going. Ronon doubts that Sheppard missed the flinch any more than he did considering how quickly he pulled away from the woman.

Jax glances over her shoulder at the Colonel and smiles, saying something Ronon doesn't hear over the clanking of dishes and din of voices in the mess. But Sheppard grins in return and nods, though his eyes still look worried. Jax swiftly walks away, carrying her tray, passing Ronon without acknowledging him in the least.

Sheppard sets his tray on the table with a final look at the departing Jax then sits and starts to dig in.

"What was that?" Ronon asks, trying to sound as if he doesn't care. Which he doesn't really. The sudden surge of protectiveness was fleeting at best. He's not even sure if it actually happened, in fact.

"You mean Maggie?"

"Thought her name is Jax."

"Yeah. Maggie Jackson…no relation."

"To who?"

"Dr. Jacks…never mind." Sheppard shrugs. "I suggest you don't call her Maggie," he said sincerely.

"You did."

"Not to her face." Sheppard sips his drink. "She's over-stressed, I guess."

Ronon catches Sheppard's gaze. "What does she have to get stressed about? Not like she goes off world…"

Sheppard leans in. "Everyone here is stressed, Ronon. And everyone here works their ass off. Don't go assuming that the people who aren't on teams or in the military don't have enough work of their own to keep this place running."

"I get it. But…" he chews. "What the hell does she do around here?"

"Besides bunch your shorts, you mean?"

Ronon looks up and grunts. "Yeah."

Sheppard starts eating. "She's a floater." Ronon narrows his gaze and Sheppard adds: "She probably has a hundred different jobs any given week. Mostly grunt work, which is probably why she's so stressed."

"Grunt work?"

Sheppard nods. "Mopping floors, doing laundry, cleaning rooms, taking care of trash. After the Genii attack, she was on one of the teams that had to clean up my mess."

"You're mess?"

"Bodies." Ronon nods and Sheppard continues. "And since we lost a few medical people during the Wraith attack, Beckett trained her for little stuff in the infirmary, like removing stitches and giving shots, taking blood. She's also the aerobics instructor…as you've seen," Sheppard grins, a twinkle in his eyes. "More like a dance instructor, I guess."

Ronon ignores the flash of memory at seeing Jax as some anonymous exercise leader. He'd been drawn to her…until he knew who she was. "Anything else?"

"Why so interested, Ronon? Getting ideas?"

He wrinkles his brows. "Just making conversation. Like to know my…"

"Enemies?" Sheppard smirks. "What'd she do to you any way."

Ronon rolls his eyes. "Nothing."

"Has to be something. I've seen that glare before, you know. Had your gun in front of it."

"You were saying?"

"Fine. Be that way." Sheppard's grin turns wicked again. Then he shrugs. "Sometimes she types reports during debriefings. I've heard that she's also a masseuse and an ex-hairdresser. She cut Teyla's hair, think she did a nice job. You know, you could probably use her skills in that department." Ronon glares at him and Sheppard rethinks the tangent. "Mostly, she's McKay's lab rat. Poor kid."

"McKay's?"

Sheppard nods. "She's got the ATA gene and can use it almost as easily as I can. Plus she's got like a two-hundred IQ, not that she's allowed to use it around here." Off of Ronon's look, Sheppard says, "She's way smarter than you and me put together, which is one reason Dr. Weir wanted her on the team."

"So she's a doctor?"

"Uh…no. I'm sure she could be, but…from what I understand, her brother's in the military back on Earth. Special ops."

"A specialist?"

"Yeah. He was on leave at her place when Dr. Weir, General O'Neill and McKay went to do the prelim interview for possibly having him join the team. McKay was there to subtly hand over something that can only be activated by someone with the gene."

Ronon chuckles. "McKay…subtle?"

"Yeah, that gets me too. Anyway, Jax came home early, surprising everyone… and catching McKay's eye, as Elizabeth tells it."

"Figures."

Sheppard nods. "McKay got all jumbled trying to talk to her while keeping her out of the apartment since she didn't have security clearance. He was holding the device in his hand and she pretty much just grabbed it and it activated."

"What about the brother?"

"He recently got engaged and wasn't interested in signing his life away for a seemingly one-way mission. Plus…no gene, so the General didn't push it."

"So you all just uprooted her instead?"

"It's more complicated than that. Just because she had the gene didn't make her an automatic candidate."

"What about being a stripper?" Ronan smirks. His shadow had been eager to tell him about female strippers. Turns out most of them do other things for more money. Ronon's seen such women on other planets, though none of them could move like Jax and most were not as attractive. She must have made a decent living on Earth. Maybe that's why he dislikes her so much. A female willing to sell herself in trade…he could never respect such a woman.

Sheppard's brows rise and his mouth sets in a thin line. "I don't like rumors, Ronon. She's a nice person and doesn't deserve it."

"Why so protective, Sheppard?"

He digs his fork into his food and grumbles. "I don't like it when people are pre-judged and treated unfairly."

The look on Sheppard's face tells Ronon a lot about the Colonel. He must have received similar treatment in the past. Ronon understands better than Sheppard could possibly know, though he says nothing.

Sheppard continues, his voice low. "She passed her background check. They found her over-qualified for any number of positions, only no actual college degree in any field. That's why she's not a doctor. Elizabeth liked her spunk and pulled some strings to get her on the team as a floater. Besides, it's always good to have a masseuse around."

"She's not the most sociable person."

Sheppard cocks his head. "Look who's talking."