Disclaimer: I don't own anything...nada...I even stole the comp I'm writing this on...

Title: I Remember

Summary: After a night of celebrating, Elizabeth wakes up to a pleasant, no, make that shocking, surprise. Watch as the ramifications of this night slam through Atlantis, and the repercussions change everything, forever. WARNING! This is ROZ (Ronan/Liz) and SHEYLA (though this is only an afterthought to the ROZ)...


I remember it well
The first time that I saw
Your head around the door
'Cause mine stopped working

-Damien Rice, "I Remember"


The morning crept over Elizabeth slowly. Usually, she was up with the sun and working before most of Atlantis even thought of getting out of bed. Today was a day for leisure, however. Yesterday, she and Lieutenant Colonel Shepard, along with his team, had made contact with the Avarians, a planet of maybe 2 billion. It was first contact, and this time it'd actually gone great. The Avarians were actually about fifty years ahead of Earth, technology-wise, but with Atlantis being in Earth's hands, they were all about even.

In fact, the meet and greet had been so good, that the Avarians had thrown an impromptu party for them. After weeks of being on edge, what with the "Michael-Wraith" experiment and its disastrous results, Elizabeth had given in to the requests and allowed the people who'd accompanied her to "let down their hair". She herself had even given in to Shepard and Teyla's ribbing and drank some of the Avarian's specialty drink. It was called Lechto Niote. Translated, best as they could, it meant Demon's Spit. Very salivating.

That would have been the last thing Elizabeth remembered, but even as she lay there in the warm sunlight that came through the wooden slacks that encased the window, a slightly hairy and heavy arm slid around her waist and pulled close, evoking flashes of the night before.

She'd had more than one drink, and here on Avaria they were strong. She'd gotten...drunk. Very irresponsible of her, but the goading of her friends had gotten to her. So she'd imbibed a little too much. Elizabeth could remember watching Shepard and McKay dance; they too were a little drunk. Then things got blurry again. The next thing she remembers is walking down a dark corridor to the quarters she'd been assigned. There had been someone with her. Someone who had been "helping" her remove her shirt. Then, her memory went hazy again, and when it came back, it came with a bang. Or, rather, her banging someone.

She vaguely remembered toe-curling, back-arching sensations, and an intense feeling of gratification...and the feel of long dread locks caressing her stomach. Oh, dear lord...

Elizabeth turned in the arms of whomever she'd spent last night with, and fought the urge to scream. She'd had sex with Ronan. She'd had mind-blowing, sore-muscles sex with Ronan Dex. Ooooh, that rhymed.

Elizabeth felt the wild urge to laugh. Loudly. That would wake Ronan up, and she wanted to be far away before she did that. What had she been thinking? This sort of incident could completely undermine the respect and authority she'd built up over the last year. This sort of thing could lead to her getting reported and called back to Earth.

Elizabeth froze mid-reach for her shirt, which was hanging off the bed post. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Home. She could go home. Immediately, she shook that off. Atlantis was home now, and she wasn't letting anyone take that away.

Moving slowly, so as not to wake the big hunk of hot warrior beside her, Elizabeth slid from under Ronan's arm. She tried to move so that she could slip from the bed quietly, but to her still sleep-slowed limbs it came out as an ungraceful thump onto her rear. Ronan didn't stir.

Grabbing her clothes, consisting of a skirt and a knit-top and flip-flops, she dressed in the dark. She moved quickly, but took the time to stare at Ronan. Mostly, to make sure he didn't wake up, but also because he looked peaceful asleep. All the tensions in his shoulders were gone, and the worry lines imbedded near his eyebrows as well. Both came from too many years on the run. For a few seconds, Elizabeth felt almost tenderness for Ronan. He was only three years younger than she, but she felt oddly maternal to him. He'd become so primal, so basic when on the run, that it was almost like he was growing up, maturing right before her eyes. The soreness in her hips told her that he was maturing just fine.

There was only one thing left to do before she left, and it proved to be impossible in the dark. Elizabeth couldn't find her underwear. That's what she got for wearing a thong. Damn panty lines. Within five minutes, she gave up the search and headed for the door. This was the greatest risk, what with the doors opening the Atlantian way, with a "whoosh". It wasn't really loud, but in the silence of the room, it would seem to be.

Almost like she couldn't help herself, Elizabeth froze at the door, and turned to him. It was almost psychotic, this urge she had to go back to that bed and climb in, screw the consequences. She had people who relied on her, however, and she couldn't give in to temptation.

Elizabeth waved her hand in front of the crystals, and stepped through the now open door, still looking over her shoulder at Ronan. Damn temptation. Elizabeth focused on what she was doing, though it was a little too late, since as soon as she stepped out the door, she ran into Teyla, who likewise was stepping through the door opposite. The Avarians had freakishly narrow hallways.

The girls stood in tableau for a few minutes, both taking in what they were seeing. Three am, Teyla coming out of Shepard's assigned quarters looking rumpled, Elizabeth doing the same, except from Ronan's quarters. They studied each other for a moment, not quite friends enough to laugh it off and walk away.

"Hello. Teyla," Elizabeth started off coolly, calling into play all her skills at poker-face.

"Hello, Elizabeth. It's a nice night."

"That it is. Just perfect for a walk."

"I can see what you mean. I recall your quarters are on the other side of the compound. That's quite a walk."

Elizabeth fought the urge to smile. It seemed the serene Teyla had claws. "I'd have to say the same for you. Your quarters are only two hallways from mine."

"Lt. Colonel Shepard needed me-..."

"I bet he did."

Teyla cocked her eyebrow and smiled a little. "Dr. Weir, might I inquire what Ronan required of you at these late hours?"

Elizabeth smiled. "No." She then turned and slowly walked away. Though Teyla would have to follow her to go to her own quarters eventually, for the moment she contented herself with walking in the opposite direction. She'd learned something interesting about Dr. Weir tonight, and something told her this wasn't over.


The first thing Ronan heard when he jolted awake from a rather disturbing dream was the sound of the door opening. He assumed this was from someone entering the room, and thus the reason he'd awoken, but the second he sprang to his feet and grabbed his knife it was clear that there was no one in the room. However, Ronan's senses were telling him that someone had been. Beside him, the bed was warm from another's body, and the scent told him it had been a woman. Try as he did, Ronan could not remember her face, but did recall that they'd had a wild time together. She'd been a wildcat in bed, biting, scratching, and moaning with all the force of a hurricane. It'd been fun.

Suddenly, Ronan felt exposed standing on the bed naked, so he jumped to the floor and pulled on his pants. The room seem invaded somehow; like it wasn't the same room it had been hours ago when he'd first seen it. Even as Ronan wriggled into his leather pants, which though nicely protective of his legs, were a bitch to get into. They also made his butt look good, so he suffered.

Ronan remembered the sound that'd woken him from a dead sleep, and crossed quickly to the door, remembering to grab his knife on the way. With little trepidation, he waved his hand in front of the crystals. The door slid open, revealing another opening door opposite. Shepard stepped through, barely glancing at Ronan before looking both ways down the hall. Ronan did so too. At one end of the hall, Elizabeth was just turning the corner, only the dark curls alluding to who it was as she disappeared. At the other end of the hall, Teyla disappeared as well.

Ronan and Shepard looked at each other for a moment. Then they looked back into their own rooms. Rumpled sheets, clothes thrown everywhere, and drinks laying about. Then they looked into each other's rooms and back at one another.

Ronan was the first to break the silence. "Did you...?"

Shepard shrugged. "Did you...?"

"I don't know. With who?"

"I don't know. I have feeling; this is going to bite us on the ass."

Ronan nodded in agreement, and after one more look down both ends of the hall, he went back into his room. Ronan had no idea who the mystery woman was that he'd slept with last night (he'd had a little, just a little, too much to drink). It was either Elizabeth Weir, or Teyla. Almost all the way to the bed, something slightly under the covers caught his eye. Using two fingers, Ronan gingerly picked up what seemed to be two pieces of string tied to a swatch of fabric. Finally, he realized what it was. This was the "amazing" article of Earth women clothing called a "thong". Shepard had spent an hour some time ago explaining what it was, and why it was "hot".

Now...Ronan thought to himself...this helped matters a bit.


YAY! Coming up...more complications, and the kind you can't really imagine...