Date : 10 June 2007
Title: Love Prevails
Author: Kazavid / ElaineDex
Chapter: 5 ?
Rating: M
Pairing: John Sheppard / Lyssa Hunter – Ronon Dex / Ellie Harrison-Dex
Archiving: None
Warnings: Sexual Content
Spoilers: None
Feedback: Yes
Disclaimer: Ellie Harrison-Dex, Major James Reece, Lieutenant Franks are mine. Lyssa Hunter belongs to Kazavid, the rest of Atlantis, unfortunately have nothing to do with me.
Summary: Can Sheppard and Ellie set things right with Lyssa and Ronon or has fate called time on their love?
A / N: --This story is a collaboration between Kazavid and me. The story continues on from right after Love Under Pressure.
Lyssa had been in the infirmary for two weeks before Dr Beckett decided it was ok for her to leave.
She was to stay off active duty for a further two weeks though, a fact that Lyssa was none too pleased about but Sheppard was. He had no desire to let her out of his sight longer than it took him to go off-world with his team and then get back again.
They were watching the sunset one evening from Sheppard's balcony. Sheppard was stood behind Lyssa and she leaned back against him, enjoying the peace and the feel of his arms around her.
"So…….", Sheppard began cautiously and Lyssa sensed he was going to ask her something.
"So…..what?", she asked when he didn't elaborate.
"So….you like my room…….don't you?", Sheppard asked warily and Lyssa's breath caught as she remembered the conversation she'd had with him in the mess hall back when she still had no memory.
He had said he'd been going to ask her to move in with him.
She twisted in his arms so that she faced him, trying not to betray how she felt.
"It's nice enough yeah. You've got a bigger balcony than I do", she said glancing to the side before looking back at him.
"So………..", Sheppard stalled, looking down at her.
"John…….just ask me", Lyssa said, her impatience betraying her and Sheppard grinned.
"I was thinking of changing the décor….lick of paint you know. What colour do you think?", he teased and Lyssa smacked his arm.
"John", she said, her voice holding a warning and Sheppard laughed.
"Okay, okay. Lyssa, will you move in with me? There, I've said it", he said, feeling like a weight had been lifted from him.
Lyssa threw her arms around his neck and held on to him tightly.
"You mean it?", she whispered and Sheppard felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest as he heard the vulnerability in her voice.
He eased her back, his hands gentle on her waist as he looked into her eyes.
"Yes….I mean it. I want you Lyssa….no-one else. I'm sorry about what Ellie and I did…..".
Lyssa cut him off by touching her fingers to his lips.
"That's over with", she said and he nodded, understanding that she wanted to forget.
They stared at one another until Sheppard could stand it no longer.
"Well, what's your answer?", he asked, feeling stressed.
Lyssa grinned, "My answer is…….yes. A resounding yes".
OOoOO
Major Lorne stood in the gate room with Lieutenant Franks and Major Reece who was accompanying Lorne's team in Lyssa's absence so that he could get some experience of how Lorne handled an off-world trip.
"What's the hold up?", Reece asked of Lorne who turned to look up at the level above and he indicated to Ellie who was running along, making her way down.
"We're waiting for our Scientific Advisor", Lorne replied as Reece looked up and saw the small brunette he'd bumped into on his first day on Atlantis.
"She's our Scientific Advisor?", Reece murmured, a smile playing upon his lips as Ellie ran down the steps toward them.
"Appearances can be deceptive", Lorne whispered and Reece's smile widened.
"I'm sorry. Rodney wouldn't let me leave until our experiment was finished", Ellie said, out of breath from running half way across the city to get to the gate room.
"Is Rodney your husband?", the sexy voice from a couple of weeks ago asked and Ellie glanced around to see Major Reece stood with Captain Franks.
"You?", she said, her face colouring as she realised 'the experiment' could have been anything, before she added, "God, no. Rodney is not my husband", then she asked, "What are you doing here?", and she looked at Lorne for an explanation.
"Major Reece is accompanying us to get a feel for how we work together off-world before he heads up his own team and I see you already know each other so I won't introduce you", Lorne said, then indicated that the gate be activated.
"Right", Ellie replied and then as the gate burst into life, Reece walked by her and said,
"Is that ok with you Dr….what was it……Dex?" and Ellie nodded mutely.
She would be glad when Lyssa was back on duty. There were far too many men on Atlantis.
When the team had gone through the gate, Ronon turned his back on the gate and sighed heavily.
He and Sheppard had been watching Lorne and his team from one of the upper levels.
"You've still not sorted things out with Ellie then?", Sheppard said, feeling brave since his recent good fortune with Lyssa and their 'moving-in together arrangement'.
Ronon glared at him.
"I'll take that as a no then", Sheppard said and Ronon folded his arms.
After a moment or two he decided to talk to Sheppard.
"I don't know what to do", he said and Sheppard looked at him.
"If you want to blame anyone for the jealousy stuff blame me. I cajoled Ellie into a lot of it", he said and Ronon regarded him thoughtfully.
"Look, do you love her?", Sheppard asked and Ronon looked at him sharply.
"Yeah I love her", he replied and Sheppard nodded.
"Right…so you'd better stop holding out on her. There are a lot of men on Atlantis crying out for a good woman. You don't want to loose her do you?".
"No", Ronon replied, realising that his actions had pushed Ellie farther away from him than he had ever intended.
He thought about the hurt in her eyes when he'd rejected her offer to rub Beckett's ointment into his shoulder and he cursed, making Sheppard eye him warily.
"When are they due back?", he asked.
"They only just left", Sheppard stated the obvious earning him yet another glare.
OOoOO
Ronon missed catching up with Ellie as when she returned with Lorne, Franks and Reece he was ready to leave with Sheppard, Teyla and Rodney.
They passed one another with barely a glance and Sheppard shook his head at Ronon as he let Ellie go without saying anything to her.
"This is hardly the time", Ronon muttered and Sheppard grimaced wondering if there ever would be a good time.
OOoOO
Later that evening, Ellie was sat in the mess hall with Hope balanced on her knee, trying to eat a sandwich.
She was lost in thought when a tray appeared before her face and she looked up into the blue eyes of Major Reece.
"Hey", he said, eyeing Hope, "Mind if I join you?", he asked and Ellie shook her head.
"Go ahead", she said, not noticing the jealous looks that were being fired her way from some of the female Marines who were sat nearby.
As he sat down Reece said, "Is she yours, she's beautiful?".
"Yeah, her name is Hope", Ellie said proudly tilting Hope forward a little so that he could see her better.
"She's just like you", Reece said and Ellie blushed when she realised he had just called her daughter beautiful. Did that mean he thought she was?
'Don't be daft', she berated herself. Men like Major Reece did not find her beautiful. She'd told herself this once before with Ronon and now it was proving to be true as Ronon had obviously had enough of her.
Reece watched as a play of emotions ran across Ellie's face and he wondered what she was thinking.
"I've heard the mainland is nice", Reece said and Ellie looked at him, dragging her thoughts back to him.
"Yes it is", she replied and he regarded her.
"You'll be on the same schedule as me, being on Lorne's team won't you?", he asked and Ellie nodded.
Reece smiled, knowing that tomorrow afternoon was free time.
"Fancy showing me around over there then tomorrow. We could get seats on the jumper that's going across?", he asked and Ellie's eyes widened.
"I'd really appreciate it", Reece cajoled and Ellie eventually gave in.
"Ok then. But I need to see someone whilst we're over there", she said, thinking about the Athosian Priest and her marriage.
Maybe she should set Ronon free. It was probably what he wanted deep down.
"It's a date then", Reece said watching as Ellie coloured up.
"Well, not exactly", she mumbled and he grinned.
OOoOO
The next afternoon, Ellie left Hope with Dr Heightmeyer who was always glad to have her and met Major Reece in the jumper bay.
They got seats on the puddle jumper and made their way to the mainland.
At the other side, Ellie showed Reece around the main village, introducing him to people as they went. They had been on the mainland a while when Ellie spotted the priest that had married her and Ronon.
She turned to Reece.
"Will you be ok while I just go and see someone?", she asked and he smiled at her.
"Sure. I think I'll give that family a hand erecting that new building", Reece replied and Ellie nodded.
"I'll see you later", she said and they parted company.
Ellie headed for the priest but had to stop as a young Athosian couple approached him and he became engaged in conversation with them and then they moved inside his home.
Ellie sighed and looked around.
Reece had disappeared with some of the men from the village and now she had nothing to do. She decided to go for a walk, pass some time on.
OOoOO
Ronon strode around Atlantis looking for his wife but he couldn't find her anywhere. This was supposed to be Ellie's afternoon off and he'd half expected her to be in her room with their daughter.
He decided to go and see Dr Heightmeyer to see if she had seen Ellie.
"I'm watching Hope for her, she's gone to the mainland with Major Reece", Dr Heightmeyer informed him and Ronon tensed.
"What for?", he asked and Dr Heightmeyer shrugged.
"I think he just wanted the guided tour and Ellie said something about seeing someone whilst she was there", she offered and Ronon grimaced as he realised she may have gone to see the Athosian priest.
"Do you mind watching Hope a while longer?", he asked and she shook her head. She'd watch Hope all night if it meant Ronon would shape himself and get back together with her friend. That was why she had told him where Ellie had gone and with whom.
Maybe it would spur him into action.
Ronon left Dr Heightmeyer and headed off to find Sheppard. He found him snuggled up to Lyssa in the DVD room.
"You have to take me to the mainland", he stated.
Sheppard looked up, his hold on Lyssa not loosening.
"Right now?", he moaned and Ronon nodded.
"But we're comfy", Sheppard said, nuzzling Lyssa's ear and Ronon folded his arms, his patience wearing thin.
"Ellie's gone to the mainland to see the Athosian priest who married us", he said.
"So?", Sheppard said, but Lyssa began to sit up and looked at Ronon's worried expression.
"What's going on?", she asked.
"I think she's gone to try to end our marriage and she's gone with Reece", Ronon replied.
"Ooh", Sheppard said in sympathy and Lyssa looked at them both.
"Who is Reece?", she asked.
"One of the new guys to Atlantis, Major James Reece", Sheppard informed her and Lyssa cocked her head to one side.
"Oh….I think he called in the infirmary my first day back…", she trailed off as Ronon bit out.
"Can we just go?".
OOoOO
They finally landed on the mainland a while later and Ronon exited the jumper without saying anything to Sheppard and Lyssa.
"You're welcome….", Sheppard called after him and Lyssa sighed.
"I hope they sort things out", she said and Sheppard nodded,
"Me too".
OOoOO
Ronon stalked across the village to where Reece was helping an Athosian family with some building work.
"Where is she?", Ronon grated and Reece turned to see the man he had seen on his first day, the one who had been stood in the infirmary doorway.
He put two and two together and replied,
"Ellie's husband I presume", and held out his hand which Ronon did not take, he merely glared at Reece.
Reece withdrew his hand and said,
"Ellie said she had to see someone and I assumed she'd come back over here when she was done".
Ronon nodded and walked away, leaving Reece watching his retreating back.
Ronon found the priest and was relieved to hear that Ellie had not been to see him, but in that case where the hell was she?
He looked and asked around but no-one had seen her.
Finally though a young girl said she had seen Ellie heading toward the forest a little earlier.
His anger growing by the second Ronon picked up Ellie's tracks easily and followed them into the forest. She was always doing this…wandering off on her own. She was lethal.
The deeper he got the more he could hear the sound of rushing water and he wondered what it was for he had never been this far into the mainland.
He kept going and eventually a waterfall was revealed to him. It fell into a pool that was not overly large but it was surrounded by rocks on one side and had a grassy verge on the other.
Then he spotted Ellie. She had her back to him and was wading into the pool, already the water was up to her waist….and she was naked.
Ronon stared for a moment, gathering his wits as the sight of her all but floored him. Then his anger returned.
What the hell was she thinking heading out here alone and then getting naked in a pool where anyone could find her?
He had to deal with her. Right now!
End of Chapter 5