John had come to enjoy taking morning runs with Ronon through the city, even though he knew he was going to get his ass kicked every time. "What's on your mind, Chewie?" he asked the Satedan as they ran together the following day.

"Nothing," he grunted out.

"Oh really? Then why have we now missed the turn to head back to the transporter for the third time?" Ronon came to a stop. "What's going on with you?"

For a moment, Ronon actually considered talking to him. But he couldn't. There was a certain amount of optimism that surrounded the Earth-born residents of Atlantis like an aura. Being raised with the threat of the Wraith, living through cullings beat that optimism out of you. They didn't understand the shadow the enemy had cast over the galaxy because they'd always fought against it. If they hadn't managed to put a check in their 'Win' column, they'd certainly been able to claim a draw for each of their engagements. Ronon wondered how different he would be if he'd grown up in that kind of environment, sheltered from the rest of the universe. The only other person in the city that would understand his view was the one person he wasn't going to talk to.

"Nothing," he finally repeated, starting to run back to where they needed to go. Sheppard considered their brief exchange for a moment, and then followed. Something was definitely up. He'd figure out what later.

Elizabeth knew that her senior staff had been working extremely hard for the last few months between the Wraith, the retrovirus, and the IOA investigation. Things had hit a bit of a lull for the time being, so she suggested having a collective night off to relax and enjoy each other's company. Usually nights off meant movie showings in one of the rec rooms.

"Who's got the popcorn?" John asked as he came in the room. Ronon handed him a bowl.

"Has we reached a consensus on a DVD yet?" Beckett inquired. Everyone just looked at each other.

"No gore," was Elizabeth's vote.

"Football," was predictably John's suggestion. "Or something with cars or planes."

"I think they stuck 'Death to Smoochy' in the latest shipment," Rodney pointed out. Everyone turned to stare at him. "What? You didn't see that movie?"

"This is one of those things you shouldn't even bother to ask about," John stage-whispered to Teyla.

She smiled. "I had a feeling that would be wise."

Through some kind of trickery that John couldn't foresee, they wound up watching a chick flick, which pleased the girls greatly and left the guys looking for something else to do during the movie. Rodney happened to have a deck of cards with him, and they started a game of Texas Hold-Em.

"You know," Elizabeth said at one point, "If you guys are going to talk straight through the movie, you might as well just let us play, too." The guys looked around at each other warily. "What?" she asked.

"We don't actually have any money to play for," Beckett pointed out. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as she shut off the movie.

"So what are you wagering?" she asked. There was a long silence as the guys decided who was going to be the brave one.

"The paperwork we give you," John finally admitted. Elizabeth threw a couch pillow at him.

"We could wager food rations?" Teyla suggested. Rodney nearly had a stroke.

"Who taught you how to play poker?" John asked her.

"I did," Elizabeth replied with a grin. "And solitaire. So are you dealing us in or not?"

"I think it would be in our best interest to give the ladies some cards," Beckett told Rodney, who was holding the deck.

"Not if we're playing for food!"

"Don't worry, McKay," Elizabeth told him. "We won't let you starve when you lose."

"Don't you mean 'if' he loses?" Ronon asked.

She grinned wickedly as she picked up her cards. "No, I meant when."

That escape from everyday life in the city was exactly what they'd all needed. By the time they finally decided to call it quits, John had picked up some extra paperwork for the next two weeks and Rodney was going to be consuming smaller meals than normal.

Teyla wasn't expecting to find Ronon waiting for her in the hall when she came out of the rec room on her way back to her quarters. "That was a very enjoyable evening," she told him with a smile, hoping that didn't sound as awkward as she felt. She really had no idea what to expect from him.

"Yeah," he replied, falling into step with her as they walked down the hall. "Um…I'm not going to be able to make our training session tomorrow; I've got…some things to do."

Teyla nodded. "The day after, then?"

"Yeah, maybe."

She stopped outside her door. "Nothing has to change, Ronon. We are still teammates…and friends."

He finally nodded. "The day after, then," he agreed before heading toward his own quarters.

The next morning, Teyla was in the middle of a session with a couple students when she heard the door to the training room open. She wasn't expecting to see Elizabeth in the doorway. "What is it?" Teyla asked, curiosity piqued by the concern on her friend's face.

"We just got a call from the mainland. People have started to get sick, mainly the children right now. Carson and his team are on their way in a Jumper; I thought you would want to talk to them once they've gotten a chance to do examinations."

Teyla nodded, bowing to her students to dismiss them. "Thank you," she told Elizabeth, who offered a small, sympathetic smile. After Teyla grabbed her things, they both made their way back to the command level.

TBC...