13

When Ronon arrives, his old shadow is outside Jax's door. He nods to Ronon and smirks. "So, the suicide thing works for you, huh?"

Ronon stares at the man. "What?"

He nods towards Jax's door. "Her little cry for help. It reeled you in."

"What was that, Seargent?" Sheppard calls from down the corridor. He comes right up in front of his soldier, staring the man down. "You know how I feel about rumors."

"Yes, sir."

"Then I suggest you stifle any notions you have about spreading some. And should you hear any, you will dismiss them as lies. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir!" The Seargent salutes.

Sheppard turns sharply from the man and pulls Ronon aside for a private conversation. "So? What did you find out?"

"Everything." Sheppard raises his brows, waiting. Ronon smirks, shaking his head. "You know I can't tell you. You don't have…what did you call it? Security clearance."

Sheppard rolls his eyes and bares his teeth for a moment. "Crap. Since when do you listen to me?"

Ronon grins, slapping the Colonel on the shoulder. "Always…sir." He steps away then turns back and whispers. "What she's lived through…would have broken many men."

Sheppard bites his lip as he nods in understanding. Ronon goes back to Jax's door and the Seargent unlocks it.

Jax is waiting in front of the door, her hands on her hips, brow raised. "It may look like it, but I really don't have all night." She cocks her head. "I have to keep my strength up for all my fun-filled sleep hours." He catches the briefest glimmer of fear in her eyes, the same fear he saw in the infirmary, but then it's gone in a flash. The shield returns.

"Now," she moves aside and points to her bed that his covered in towels. "Get your ass over there, sit down, shut up and take off your shirt." She grins at that. Though for the first time, Ronon actually feels there is real humor in her smile.

He smiles in return, remembering the first time she said those words to him. He'd wanted to shoot her. Now he's willing to play along. "Couldn't wait to get me naked again, huh?" He says, stripping off his shirt and intentionally flexing his muscles.

She sighs. "Relax, Tarzan." She glances out the open door and he does the same, seeing Colonel Sheppard, who quickly shakes his head, clearly amused, then walks away. "You're not my type." She orders him to lay face down on the bed with his head nearest the door and his feet to the wall.

Though he's seen it from the door, he's never been in her room and it feels very small. There are no personal items, no trinkets or pictures of loved ones. The walls are bare as is the floor. There is a small desk with a chair next to the colored-glass window. In the center of the room with plenty of space on both sides, is the low, long, slim bed that everyone seems to have.

Jax's attire is generally different from that of the other females in the city, and she does't adorn herself with the metal chains or finger jewels as other women he's seen, so this must be an extension of her previous life…when everything had been taken away. Ronon feels like they are more alike every moment he's with her.

"You wanna watch?" she asks with a wicked sneer aimed at the Seargent. He grunts and closes the door. She smirks at Ronon. "Those guys are no fun."

Ronon lies down as she instructed, resting his cheek on the back of his hand as he looks at her. "Thought you liked Col. Sheppard."

"Sheppard's not one of them." She pulls a standard pillow off the chair and drops it to the floor, then grabs a bottle from her desk before kneeling by his side. Though she's small, the bed is low and she has plenty of room to maneuver.

He hears a sputtering noise as she squeezes the contents of the bottle out. He watches as she rubs the liquid over her hands. It's thick and makes strange noises, but smells nice. "What is that?"

"Tea Tree Gel. Very soothing." She places both hands on his lower back just above his trousers, a thumb on either side of his spine and presses gently, slowly pushing her hands up his back. The gel is slick and cool against his skin, but her hands are firm and warm. She continues this all the way up his back, staying near his spine the whole time until she reaches his neck. He notices she's particularly careful around his scar from the tracking device.

Ronon doesn't want to close his eyes, given that the last time she made him relax he dreamed of Nally, but as her hands move along his flesh with such precision, he is unable to stay alert. It's as if he's been given some drug. His senses are losing hold. The power she wields through her hands is amazing.

She could probably drive a man insane if she put these skills to use during other…activities. Ronon's gut churns at the thought. He knows why she affects him so easily, memories of Nally still fresh in his mind. As with her, he wants nothing more than to protect Jax and make her smile. She's beautiful, skilled and when she dances he doesn't want to be anywhere but in her presence.

And yet, he's not attracted to her.

He's been denying the fact for a while now. But there it is. Jax is everything a man could or should want and yet…he feels nothing for her romantically or physically. Probably a good thing considering how she looks at the Colonel. Ronon wouldn't find it difficult competing with Sheppard, especially when the man isn't even in the contest, but he wouldn't like it either. Not that it matters. Sheppard's eyes fall elsewhere. Even if he won't admit it. "Why did you say that?"

"Say what?" she asks softly.

"That Sheppard is not one of them."

"Because he's not. Most of the soldiers have a stick up their butt about something. Sheppard's easy going…but can still be a hard ass when necessary. He's…different." Ronon can hear the smile in her voice.

"Is that why you want him?" She moves to the other side of the bed and pulls his arm down so that it's by his side. He turns to watch her, resting his cheek on the bed, his other arm dangling to the side. She's blushing slightly. "Jax?"

"Who says I want him?" She plies her fingers into the muscles of his shoulder, moving in circles, releasing tension he didn't know he had. He feels something pop, not painfully or unpleasant even. She works that area until the pop is vanquished completely then she moves on.

"I do. And that smile you have only for him tells me all I need to know." Ronon doesn't know why, but he's finding it amusing to tease her about this. He wants to push her, make her blush more.

"I don't smile."

"You do for him. It's really sweet."

"Jealous?" She's trying to distract him from the topic, put him in the hot seat, but its not going to work.

"No. Because I've got a secret."

She moves around the bed again, this time working on his left shoulder. "No doubt you have many secrets, Ronon Dex."

"This is a big one."

"Really?" She presses firmly into his shoulder blade, finding the pop and working it into silence. "What's your secret."

"I'll tell you. If you tell me why you want him."

She sighs. "I don't want to start rumors." She shakes her head. "It's hard enough working here as is."

"No rumors. Just you and me." After a moment, he lifts his head briefly and catches her gaze. "Trust me." That flash of fear is there and gone again, but it's followed by a tiny twitch of her lips. "I already know about his eyes."

Her fingers stop moving and she sucks in a quick breath. "H…how do you…?"

"When you were sick. You said it." He rolls a bit, propping his head on his hand. "Is that the only reason? Because he reminds you-"

She holds up a hand. "Never mentioned again." Ronon nods a bit. She rolls her shoulders quickly, twists her neck from one side to the other. "And no. I consider that a bonus." She sighs. "And it's not the same."

"What do you mean?"

Another sigh, then she gets this gleam in her eyes. Something he hasn't seen before. "We were all in the gate room on Earth and in strolls this amazingly hot guy...I mean, scorch the eyeballs hot. And every woman there felt the temp rise by a hundred degrees." She smiles at the memory. "He's given these dirty looks by Col. Stick-up-his-butt and then this guy grins this cocky, sexy…unbelievebly…"

"Hot?"

"Yes!" She smiles bigger. "And there are these dimples from heaven."

Ronon sees the blush rising in her neck. She clears her throat. "And I remember thinking… that's it, that's what all the hub-bub is about. Love at first sight, or lust…whatever. Stick a fork in me."

"Why would I do that?"

She laughs and Ronon's heart pounds. He's never heard her laugh like that before. He likes it. "It's one of those colliquial things. An Earth saying. It just means I felt I was done looking for Mr. Right because Mr. Perfect had arrived …without ever knowing it." She looks at him sharply now, that ice wall in place, that defiant brow arching. "And he never will." He drops his arm and her gaze. "Ronon?"

"It's not my fault."

"What's 'not your fault'?"

Next thing he knows, she's got a handful of his hair in her fist and is pulling his face up from the bed. He growls and bares his teeth, but she doesn't back down. She never will. And that's what makes her so special. "He knows."

She releases him so quickly, his forehead hits his hand on the bed. She makes an unusual sound that he believes is a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "How? Did I babble in my delerium?"

"Not exactly."

She sits on his butt and drops her face into her hands. "Then what exactly?"

"I may have let it slip."

She drops one knee on either side of his waist and presses both thumbs into a tender spot on his lower back. "What did you say?" He chuckles. "Ronon?"

"Nothing really. But the man's not stupid. He managed to figure it out."

That isn't enough of an answer for her and she slowly increases the pressure on his back until an icy pain shoots down both his legs. Ronon tries to jerk but the pain is paralyzing. "What are you doing?" he growls.

"Tell me exactly what you said."

Ronon feels his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He can't move his legs. "I said…that you were taken. By someone who doesn't see you."

The pressure eases up a bit. "Is that it?"

"I might have mentioned you like being invisible."

The pressure and pain disappears. Her hands are on his back again, soothing and relaxing. "Good boy."

"Where did you learn that?" He asks, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I read it in a book once."

"What book?"

She flashes the wicked grin. "Torture techniques. By the CIA."

"CIA?"

"Hmm…human version of the Wraith…no that would be the IRS." She remains where she is as she starts massaging his back again. "Guess they're just more of the suckiness that is mankind."

Ronon wrinkles his brow. He may have gotten Jax to open up a bit, but clearly, he hasn't learned everything about her yet. And he may not get the chance. "You ever do that again…and I will shoot you."

Jax climbs off of him, her smile bigger than ever and she slaps his butt. "I trust you would."

She grabs the bottle and squeezes more gel into her hands. "Scooch forward. Drop your arms and let your head hang over the bed a bit." He does as she says and then she sits on the bed next to him. She lifts his hair and her fingers work into his spine again, this time at his neck. "I so need a real massage table." After a moment of working his neck, she says, "What's your secret, Ronon?"

"Oh…" he lifts his head so he can look at her. "You're not my type either." He grins.

Jax sneers at him then slaps his butt hard. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Teyla and McKay are going at it in a closet somewhere as we speak."

"No!" she gasps.

"Probably not. But wouldn't it be terrifying if it was true?"

Jax laughs again and Ronon loves every moment of it.