16

Jax is waiting at the top of the stairs in the Gate Room as they return. Ronon sees her easily enough; her eyes are full of worry as Sheppard is instructed by Dr. Beckett to get on the waiting gurney. Though she no longer works in the infirmary, she must have heard about Sheppard's injury from others. She seems transfixed as the Colonel is wheeled away, and doesn't notice as Ronon comes up the stairs to her side. He touches her shoulder and she jerks away. Then she looks at him and grins, a little embarrassed. "Is he all right?"

"He got bit by…something."

She looks him squarely in the eyes. "Is he all right?"

Ronon nods. "It's Sheppard. He'll be fine."

She sighs and smiles with relief. "Sorry about last night. Falling asleep on you."

Ronon rubs her back, she doesn't flinch. "Best night's sleep I've had in a while."

She grins up at him, the shield missing. "Me too."

"Why don't we check on Sheppard?"

Her brows wrinkle and she pulls in her upper lip with her teeth. "Dr. Beckett won't let me in there…unless I'm sick." She bobs her head from side-to-side. "Besides. Like you said. It's Sheppard. He'll be out of there in no time." She turns to head down the corridor and Ronon follows. "Did you like the show last night?"

"Yes. It was…interesting."

"Good. 'Cause I've got the whole first season," she grins. "If you wanna watch."

Ronon chuckles. "I'll keep it in mind."

Ronon finds her in the gym punching and kicking the heavy bag with more force than he believed she possessed. The loud music slams into his brain, making it impossible to think clearly, but he's intrigued by her fighting technique. This must be something else Ryan taught her. Or she read a book on it once. Either way, Jax looks like a formidable opponent when she's enraged.

She's definitely not in a good mood. Though the bad ones are fewer now; that fire still burns deep inside. Though, lately, it takes something big to set her off. And there's something big brewing in the city. Jax has never accosted anyone, besides Ronon, but he knows her glares could melt ice and they've made several of the soldiers clutch their side arms a bit tighter.

"What!" she snaps, jabbing hard at the bag.

"Been looking for you," he yells over the music.

"Busy." She kicks the bag with her right leg then punches with her left glove. The muscles in her abdomen, neck, arms and shoulders glisten with sweat and tremble with fatigue. She's been here long enough.

Ronon grabs the bag even as she lands another high kick. "You're done."

She slams her fist into it. "Not even close." Another punch. "Song's not over."

He notices she's moving in time with the heavy beat. Ronon continues holding the bag as she works out her frustration; it's in her eyes even with the icy shield in place. After the song ends, Jax waves a gloved hand in the air and turns off the system, leaving them in overwhelming silence.

Ronon almost forgot what it's like to be able to hear his own thoughts. Using her teeth, she opens the right glove enough to shake it off then pulls the left one free. There's blood on her knuckles. He grabs her wrists. "Enjoying the pain?"

She yanks her way out of his grip and glares at him. "Yes, actually."

Ronon crosses his arms. "They're still working on it. Dr. Beckett's going to cure him."

"You can't know that." She grabs a bottle of water and squirts it into her mouth, her eyes never leaving his.

"It's not your fault, Jax."

She throws the bottle at him. "I know that! The universe doesn't revolve around me! I'm not an idiot."

"Then stop acting guilty."

She screams then, a low guttural roar: "Fuuuuck!" If everything wasn't so serious, if he didn't know why she feels this way, he would laugh. But he knows her too well by now. She blames herself simply because it's the only way she knows. Someone she cares about may die.

She's said it often enough, she's doesn't love Sheppard. She can't because she really doesn't know him—and she doesn't do that sort of thing anymore. She likes him because he's so pretty. But no matter what, she believes she's cursed him because she likes him. Believes she's cursed everyone on Atlantis…especially Ronon. Usually when she's in these dark moods, he's able to pull her back out. Make her see reason. "Jax-"

"Ronon, this is Teyla." The call comes over his headset.

"Yes."

"We are leaving for the planet in ten minutes."

"On my way." Jax is watching him carefully. "We're going to help him. I promise."

On his way out he hears her mutter. "Nobody keeps promises to me." And Ronon swears he's going to do exactly as he said.

Upon returning from the planet having lost two of their team, Ronon tries to find Jax, but only half-heartedly. He isn't in the mood to deal with her. Sometimes she needs to be on her own and so does he. Right now is one of those times. He knows his feelings of guilt and helplessness would only combine with hers, probably driving them into a screaming match about who feels worse followed by blows.

Instead he chooses to go to the mess then heads to his room. The alert comes in just as the door to his quarters opens. He rushes to the Control Room.

Sheppard's on the loose.

"Bravo Team your on deck. Our tango is on the floor right below you." Col. Caldwell says over the radio as Ronon, Teyla and three soldiers head down the corridor hunting for Col. Sheppard.

The Colonel broke free of his guards less than twenty minutes ago and is now running lose in the city. Ronon wonders how much of Sheppard is still within the body.

"You heard the man, down the stairs," the point guard says, readying the Wraith stunner.

Ronon's following but sees something out of the corner of his eye and darts left into an adjacent corridor. Teyla calls to him, but he's already on the move and can't turn back.

His heart nearly stops.

Jax's red bag is on the floor.

Ronon recognized the corridor as soon as they stepped off the transporter. Part of Sheppard must have felt fairly secure coming down here…where no one was supposed to be.

Not three feet from the red bag is Jax, slumped against the wall, unconscious. Ronon kneels in front of her. There's blood on her neck. Feeling for a pulse, he sighs with relief. "Jax?"

Her eyes open. "Ronon?"

"You're awake."

"Playing dead." She sits up slowly, in obvious pain. He sees one of her daggers securely in her hand. "Oh…oww…now I need a massage."

"What happened?"

Her eyes roll, unable to focus. "Wrong place…wrong place…again." She leans against the wall, closing her eyes. "I was on my way back. He came out of the transporter." She touches her throat. "Grabbed me…dragged me over here. I hit the wall hard." Her mouth twists with disgust and she wipes her sleeve across her cheek. "He licked me."

"He could've killed you."

She shakes her head, only to instantly regret it. "No. He wanted something…worse."

"What could be worse." Her drowsy eyes hold his and her brows arch. Ronon growls and sets his gun to fire.

"I'm all right…something stopped him. He didn't hurt me…well, more than knocking my brain around a bit." Ronon's about to get up when Jax grabs his arm. "He's still in there, Ronon."

"Not anymore."

Her arm drops and she mumbles wearily. "He can't die…not because of me." She blinks, trying to stay awake. "Promise me."

Ronon growls again then sighs, switching to stun. "I promise." He touches her shoulder. "Stay here."

"Not a problem." Her eyes close.

Ronon goes back to the outer corridor. He can hear the others below. He goes right, taking up a different post. Gun fire. Lots of gun fire. Then Sheppard runs by him and he shoots twice, stunning the Colonel who drops face first to the floor. "Get the doctor down here," he says into the radio. "I have him."

Teyla sighs then jumps when Jax appears behind her. "Jax!"

She waves the other woman off. "I'm fine." And steps closer to Ronon, looking down on Sheppard.

"You're bleeding," Teyla says.

Jax doesn't seem to hear her. She's staring intently at the Colonel, her eyes glassy, voice raspy and her speech slurring a little. She tilts her head. "I know he's all icky…but…is it wrong that I still find him fantastically hot?"

Teyla and Ronon look at each other, then at Jax.

She catches them staring and wrinkles her brow. "Suppose it could just be the massive head trauma." Then she drops forward and Ronon catches her with one arm.

Ronon looks up from Jax as Dr. Beckett approaches the bed. "How is she?"

"A couple of contusions on her neck. She has a concussion, but no swelling or skull fractures. Plus you found her awake and mostly alert, which is a good thing. The head lac wasn't so bad…just messy. And I've tested her blood…no sign of the virus."

Ronon sighs with relief. "And Sheppard?"

Beckett shakes his head. "In a coma. He's not in any pain."

"You're sure there's nothing we can do. I can try to go-"

Beckett shakes his head. "You saw how quickly those bugs moved, son. Nobody is that fast. Even you. Now, the lass is going to wake up when she's good and ready. I'll let you know when she does. Why don't you get some rest."

Ronon nods and heads out, plagued by the image of Jax slumped on the floor. He was ready to kill Sheppard for hurting her, or almost hurting her worse. But then she would have had legitimate reason to blame herself and Ronon couldn't let her live with that. Not Sheppard's death. Even if she doesn't feel the same way about him that she did for Ryan…she feels something. And that means everything.