A/N: Many thanks to LoneRanger for the idea for Rodney and Ronon's night on the town.

The Friendship Files

A Simple Gesture

"May the best man win."

The words rang in Rodney's ears as he thought once again about when Jennifer had been kidnapped by the Runner, Kiryk. He readily admitted that if Ronon hadn't been there neither he nor Jennifer would have survived the Wraith attack. He knew his limitations, his tracking skills were non-existent, and at the very least, Jennifer might have died.

He'd gone to the workout room when they'd returned from their ordeal to thank his teammate for saving their lives and ended up confronting him about Jennifer. He'd regretted his silence when Ronon had died on the Wraith ship without ever knowing how much Rodney appreciated his abilities…and his friendship. That was why, at this moment, he was once again searching out the Satedan.

Rodney finally found Ronon standing on the balcony that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge watching the sunlight disappear from the sky to be replaced by the lights of the city and the stars. In an hour or so the moon would put in an appearance. It was strange to see only one moon instead of the two he was used to. But still this was home no matter how long he'd been away. Nearly five years, he reflected with a small smile.

Jeannie and her family would be coming to San Francisco in a week to visit him and the friends she'd made during her brief stay on Atlantis when they built the space-time bridge. Rodney rolled his eyes thinking about how they'd actually caused more problems than they'd solved. A part of him was still a bit smug that her idea hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped but the greater part was proud that she'd come up with the calculations that had made the attempt possible. If Jennifer had turned down his invitation to attend Tunney's debacle of a demonstration he'd planned on taking Jeannie. It all worked out in the end though. They'd saved Earth…again and Jennifer loved him.

The physicist brought his mind back to the reason for seeking out the Satedan and cleared his throat to announce his presence. "I, uh, don't mean to intrude."

"You're not."

"Mind if I join you?" Rodney asked and Ronon shrugged. The physicist was unsure how to say what he'd come to say. Neither of them was very forthcoming with their feelings so this was going to be almost as hard as when he'd confronted him about Jennifer in the first place. And it was past time to make the simple gesture.

Rodney cleared his throat. "I, uh…nice night."

"Yeah."

"Lots of stars." He only received a grunt in reply. "You been to the mainland yet?"

"No."

They lapsed into silence again and Rodney still had no idea how to broach the subject. He began drumming on the railing but Ronon shot him an annoyed glance so he stopped.

"Look, the reason I'm here is, well…" he reached into his pocket and drew out two tickets, "…I just happened to have these and was wondering if, uh, maybe you'd like to go to Extreme Fighter Amateur Night in Atlantic City tonight and…"

"Extreme Fighter?"

"Sheppard said its mixed martial arts fighting. Not sure what that is but it should be exciting…if you're into that sort of thing, which I know you are."

Ronon stared at him then unexpectedly smiled and hooked an arm around Rodney's neck. "Sounds like fun. Let's go!"

"W-w-wait! Us?" The physicist's eye went wide in near panic. "You and me? Together?"

"Yeah!" He kept his arm around Rodney's neck dragging him along.

"But, uh, I thought you'd wanna take…"

"Went to visit her family. Won't be back for three days."

Rodney managed to shrug off Ronon's arm. "O-O-Okay. The, uh, General Hammond is in orbit. They'll beam you, uh, us over whenever we're ready."

"When?"

"Uh, 1845 in the Gate Room?"

"Great!" Ronon slapped him on the back a little too hard then took off.

Rodney tapped his headset. "Hey, Jennifer. I'll have to skip dinner tonight." He winced when her voice rose in a fit of pique. "It's important…no, not as important as meeting your dad but I'll meet him next week when my sister's here…Yes, of course I won't forget…Love you." As he headed for his quarters to change, he wondered how a simple thank you could have become so complicated.

0238 - Atlantis Gate Room

"Atlantis, this is Hammond." The voice coming over the PA sounded loud in the quiet of Atlantis' graveyard shift.

Chuck dropped his feet to the deck and activated the comm. "This is Atlantis. What've you got for us?"

"We have…" Chuck's brow wrinkled in confusion when he heard caterwauling in the background. "…Doctor McKay and Ronon Dex ready to transport."

"Send 'em down, Hammond and thanks for the lift."

"No prob-NO! Doctor McKay, please leave that-" There was a loud electronic squeal, the start of an oath that was cut off then two figures appeared in the open area just in front of the bridge that led to Woolsey's office. The men were in civilian clothes, arms around each other and laughing. Ronon had a nearly empty bottle in his free hand. He also had a split lip, torn clothing with spots of blood all over and one heck of a shiner.

And Rodney…well, he was wearing the biggest, gaudiest fake gold belt Chuck had ever seen. The "buckle" was so big that sitting down would no doubt seriously impair the wearer's ability to procreate.

Chuck stood there staring at the two men as they swayed on their feet. He cautiously approached them but stepped back when he was hit with a wall of alcohol fumes that would kill a Wraith at ten paces. Finally, the gate tech found his voice and asked tentatively, "Doctor McKay, Ronon, are you guys okay?"

For a response, the two men began singing again. From the lyrics, it had to be a Satedan song. It was filled with references to killing Wraith in any number of unpleasant and extremely painful ways.

Rodney trailed off, hiccupped then began to sway dangerously so Chuck quickly rolled his chair behind him. He unbuckled the oversized belt and let it fall to the floor then grabbed a handful of Rodney's jacket when he started to pitch forward and sat him in the chair. Ronon didn't notice and kept singing though now he seemed to have forgotten the words.

As he watched, Ronon took a long drink from the bottle, belched then in slow motion, fell face down on the carpet. Seconds later, loud snores erupted from the big man. Chuck let out a long-suffering sigh, tapped his headset and made a call. A squad of soldiers quickly appeared and he directed them to take the men to their quarters while he picked up the dropped bottle. The cap was gone so he just shoved the bottle in a storeroom down the hall intending to dispose of it at the end of his shift. He then made a call to maintenance to have the spilled alcohol cleaned up before it burned a hole in the carpet.

"What's that all about?" Another tech, Sergeant Kwon, asked Chuck as he rolled his chair back to his workstation.

"Not a clue. They don't usually hang out together on their off time."

"What was in that bottle you were hiding?"

"I wasn't hiding it and it was Everclear. The 'good' stuff. Almost empty, too." Chuck rested his left heel on the edge of the console near to the DHD, crossed his right over it, scooted down in the chair and pulled his workstation onto his lap. Since it was obvious that no more would be said on the subject, Kwon went back to monitoring the long-range sensors.

0800 - McKay's Quarters

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Rodney rolled over, wrapped the covers around himself and walked to the door, the lower edge of the blanket dragging across the floor. It slid open to show John, fist raised, ready to bang on the door again.

"What the hell did you do last night, McKay? You look like…"

The physicist raised a finger in warning. "If you say I look like Shrödinger's cat, I warn you, revenge will be swift, sure and absolute."

"I wasn't gonna say that." John followed Rodney back inside and stopped him as he tried to climb back into bed. "Whoa there, pal. We've got a meeting at 0900. You need to get dressed." When he smelled his friend's breath, he said, "Maybe get a shower and brush your teeth, too. And shave…your tongue." He went to the door after making sure Rodney had gone into the bathroom. "If you aren't in the Mess Hall in 20, I'll be back. With reinforcements!"

* * * * *

Rodney walked into the Mess Hall 22 minutes and 42 seconds later, grabbed a cup and the entire coffee pot then joined his friends at their usual table. He sat down, poured some of the hot liquid then took a long drink. He looked up to see Ronon sitting across from him.

The Satedan was shoveling food into his mouth as if he were starving. He stared at Rodney then said, "What's wrong?"

"Hangover. Don't tell me you've never had one."

Ronon shrugged his massive shoulders, talking with his mouth full. "No."

Teyla set her fork down. "What did the two of you do last night?"

"Went to a fight." Ronon took a big drink of iced tea then wiped his mouth on a napkin.

Rodney moaned and lifted his head. "It wasn't just a fight. It was Extreme Fighter Amateur Night." He pointed to Ronon. "Conan here won fifty grand by beating the crap out of their champion."

John punched him on the arm. "Way to go, Chewy!" He glanced at his watch then scooted his chair back. "Gotta go. Don't forget, Rodney. Briefing. 0900."

Rodney waved him away like a pesky fly as Teyla stood up and followed him out. The physicist had his head in his hands.

"I had fun." The big guy's deep voice pierced Rodney's head like a spike making him wince.

"Good. I'd hate to think I felt this bad for no reason." He took a sip of coffee. "What happened after we left the buffet?"

"Went to a bar. Got drunk. Came home." Ronon finished eating and pushed his tray aside.

"That's it?" Rodney was incredulous.

"There was one thing."

"What?" Now he was getting annoyed.

"A nearly-naked woman sat on your lap for a few minutes then you gave her money."

Rodney's head snapped up making him groan again. "I got a lap dance?" Ronon just smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, crap! If Jennifer finds out she is going to…"

"If Jennifer finds out what she's going to what?" The men hadn't heard her approach and now she stood at the end of the table, tray in hand, waiting for a response.

Rodney's eyes pleaded with him so Ronon said, "McKay took me to this fight thing last night."

"Oh. Did you have fun?"

The big man shrugged and nodded.

The medical doctor gave him a smile then turned to Rodney. "Don't forget. It's meet-the-families day a week from tomorrow."

"I won't forget." He checked the time, picked up his coffee cup and followed Ronon out. When they got to the exit he asked, "Think it's too late to tell her about the lap dance?"

The End