Trouble in Paradise (first fight, make-up/make-up sex, jealousy, break-up and reconciliation)

The Trouble With Lust…It Hurts
He was staring at her angrily over her desk, and she wasn't sure why. They hadn't been seeing much of each other lately, and it'd led to a distance between them, one Elizabeth wasn't sure how to broach. She wasn't even sure she wanted to close it, her mind was so busy lately. In one week, the Hive ship would enter the system and likely discover Atlantis. Elizabeth was dealing with the pressures from Stargate Command and Atlantis personell at the same time. Three times this week she'd had to calm down a nurse in the med-bay and convince her that they weren't going to die. In truth, she didn't even know if it was true, but she was getting tired of having to make promises to everyone else. She wanted someone to promise and comfort her. Unfortunately, her lover didn't seem to want to do that right now.

"Where were you last night?" His voice was calm, but his eyes always gave him away. Ronon could lie with his body, his face, his movements, but he couldn't lie with his eyes. Elizabeth was just the sort of person who'd notice something like that.

"I was here, working," she answered, in a matching tone. Her eyes gave nothing away.

"With who?"

"Alone."

"I thought I saw Caldwell in here."

"If you knew where I was, why'd you ask?"

Silence. Sometimes even the most clever man could be surprised by the speed with which Elizabeth grasped things. He shrugged. "Simple question."

"He stopped in with some papers for me. Then he left."

Ronon stood and walked to the window, looking down on the control room, empty this late at night. Below it, on the main floor, there were still a few people bustling about, doing this or that. He was angry, true, but he wasn't stupid either. Or so he told himself. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"Do what?" She was still calm, almost non-chalant about the whole thing. Elizabeth had learned early in life that anger does nothing but hurt. This quiet conversation hurt more than any anger she'd ever known.

"The secrecy."

"My job is at stake, Ronon. We can't have a public relationship. If Stargate Command found out I was…with…a subordinate, I'd be recalled to Earth, and any relationship we had would end."

"I don't care."

"I do."

"I don't want to hide secrets from people. I've been hiding for too long."

Elizabeth sighed. "Then we know what we must do."

Ronon nodded, and didn't even look back at her when he walked out. Elizabeth sat there, alone, in her office, and wondered not for the first time, why she was even here.