As usual, this is dedicated to Marianne, who is RIGHT NOW writing me smut-to-order for our resident favorite couple (who've I just realized aren't getting a lot of play in this fic yet, but no worries, it's coming)...


Chapter Six: Mr. Brightside

Standing in the observation room, staring down into a currently empty examination room, Ronon Dex found himself in a state of emotion he'd very rarely found himself in. He was deeply unsettled.

Ronon, for all his masterfully deep looks and his brilliant quips of varying degrees of malice, perpetually lived in a state of numbness. He had distant memories, stretching past seven years of frantic running and fear, to a life of happiness and stability. Somewhere over the course of the past half-decade, he'd lost his connection to that time. Not even returning to the scene of the crime had reawakened the semblance of humanity he held in stasis. The most he felt was a profound sense of loss.

Yet, even that was fading. The more time he spent in Atlantis, with its varied people and gifts, the more he found himself without any sense of emotion at all. He simply existed, answering basic functions that called to him in this gray place. Hunger, exhaustion, restlessness. He walked, he trained, he ate, he slept, and he interacted (minimally) with other people.

For the first few months, he was content with that. He didn't miss or want any connections or emotions. He allowed for brief adventures that reminded him of why he'd joined the Satedan Militia in the first place, adventures mixed of humor, adrenaline, and loyalty. Apathetic of doing anything with his free time, he'd taken to observing other Atlantians.

In a brief time, he found himself watching her. She was a living contradiction, so passionate yet so controlled, capable of making hard decisions yet also able to enjoy simple pleasures. She could establish physical contact with great ease, a clasp of the hand, or a brush of shoulders, yet found it difficult to make relationship connections. They were all friends, yet she was more aloof than even he had been.

Is it any wonder he sought to know more? Perhaps he sensed kinship within her mirror-like eyes. Perhaps he was attracted to the vibrancy of her every move. The grace with which she walked, the quirk of her lips when she smiled, the dimple in her cheek when she finally relaxed enough to feel amusement.

In silence, he watched and because of it he'd been the only one to see the toll her duties took on her. Every few weeks, a few more lines in her brow, shadows deepening under her eyes, and the smile less frequent. Truth was, by the time her negotiations with the Genii had begun, she'd looked very little like the Dr. Weir he'd first met. Ronon might even dare to say that the emotion he'd felt when watching her walk through the Stargate that final time was worry. He'd intended, upon her return, to seek her out. He'd intended to offer her friendship. Instead of accepting the offerings of those around him, he'd decided, for the first time since he'd arrive, to make the offering.

Now, instead, in silence again, he watched as she was led into the room below, his friends beside him just as apprehensive about the entire thing as he was. As they engaged in a tension-relieving session of repeating what they all already knew, Ronon watched. He always watched.

"Why couldn't we greet her, again?" Sheppard asked as Shalimar and Gordy escorted a robe clad Elizabeth into the room below, flanking her as she sat on the examination table and waited for Carson to come in.

"Dr. Beckett thought it would be better to wait until we knew the status of her amnesia before we began to reintroduce her into overly familiar situations," Teyla explained in a low voice, more out of deference to the situation than to the need for quiet. It was a mellow moment for the team, watching as someone so strong, whom they'd all looked to for guidance, was brought so low.

Beth merely smiled in boredom and resisted the urge to tease her sentinels.

Sheppard nodded and glared at McKay. "And why did we listen?"

McKay twisted his lips sardonically and shrugged. "Because Carson threatened to use really big needles next time we needed medical help if we didn't."

"Ahh, now I remember."

Ronon allowed himself a smile, but they all grew silent as below them the scene began to unfold, Carson entering with a large chart and a smile on his Scottish lips. "All the blood work and the tests are good. You're in just as good physical condition as you were last time I examined you."

Beth nodded, of course not recalling having ever seen this man before (though she found that accent of his exceedingly sexy). "That's good."

Carson nodded and set down the chart, pulling over a roll-around chair to sit nearby (not too close) (Gordy didn't appreciate any undue closeness to his ward). "I'd like to ask you some questions if you don't mind."

Shal answered for her. "Depends on the questions."

Carson raised an eyebrow and smiled congenially. "About what she remembers. You explained that she has partial amnesia, she can remember some things and can't others. I'd like to establish what she can remember."

Shal approved, and nodded to Beth that she could precede. With a shrug and a smile, she relaxed onto the table and eyed up the curly-haired Scot. Maybe if she stuck around long enough...

"So, Elizabeth-"

"Beth," she interrupted.

"Beth?"

"I like to be called Beth."

Carson was surprised. During her time here in Atlantis, Dr. Weir had disapproved of any variations on her name, preferring Elizabeth or Dr. Weir to any shortening that people tried (she'd also disapproved of 'baby', 'sugar', and 'woman', as various chauvinistic military types had tried). "Might I ask why?"

"I've always liked to be called Beth. Elizabeth is so formal," she replied as she studied the room around her. There were very high walls to it, and at the top, a circle of opaque windows. She had the strange feeling that she was being watched.

Bringing her attention back to the situation at hand, she answered several questions about the older memories she had (she was a band geek, had worn braces, had her first kiss at fifteen, lost her virginity in college, and at one point had wanted to marry a man named George Clooney who was a doctor in the city of Chicago). After writing a page of notes, Carson turned the page and turned that dark gaze back on her.

Carson was the kind of man who could pack all his emotions in his eyes, and this time was no different. Oddly satisfied with every thing he was hearing, he saved this question for last, hoping to avoid the revelation of any sensitive material key to the running of Atlantis. Shal and Gordy had refused to leave "Beth" alone, even during examination (though in a purely gentlemanly way, they both looked away when she'd been required to disrobe).

"So, Beth, can you please tell me the last thing you remember? Or rather, the most recent thing?"

She thought on it before replying. "You mean clearly or just kinda?"

"Whichever."

She nodded and leaned back on her elbows, looking over her shoulder at Shal. He shrugged, knowing that he couldn't answer any of these questions for her. Finally, she turned back to the doctor and began to swing her legs. Above her, Sheppard and crew stood a little stiffer and leaned closer to better watch and hear.

"Um...it's a little fuzzy. I can see it but I can't really recall the names of the people in it, but I can remember things I knew about them, like feelings and stories and stuff?"

"That's good. What do you see?"

"Um...I'm in a room of sorts. No windows, though there is a large map-like thing on the wall. There's four people in there, I'm sitting and staring over at them. I think they're explaining something to me, it's important, that I know."

"Can you describe the people to me?"

She stood and began to pace, the short medical robe swishing around her long legs as she moved about the room, chewing idly on one of her thumbnails. "They're a team. You can tell just by looking at them. They stand there, but they're in complete sync, moving together and thinking along the same paths. They're family." She smiled. "They've been together a while, and there's relationships between them, I can see and recall some of them.

"There's three men and a woman..."

Sheppard elbowed Ronon in the side. "She's talking about us."

"...and the leader, he's tall. He's got tan skin like he's outside a lot, and he's good leader. He can joke a lot, but he knows when to be serious. He smiles a lot, and mostly at the woman. He and she have feelings for each other, that much is obvious, but for reasons I don't...um...understand or like, they're not together. In fact, I think," she concentrated on that part, "I think she's seeing someone else."

Sheppard resisted the urge to glare at Teyla, and ignored the implication that he had feelings for Teyla, which he didn't, other than that of friendship. Yep, friendship.

Teyla was beginning to think that Elizabeth was not talking about them at all.

Elizabeth continued. "She's cute, strong and easy to get along with. She can tend to be serious, but underneath that she has a strong sense of humor, though it doesn't come out often. Next to her is another man, a scientist or a librarian or something. He's the smart one of the group, you can tell, but he's kinda buff in a surprising way."

McKay's eyebrows shot all the way to his receding hairline as he turned to the others and mouthed in shock, "Buff?" He surreptitiously fingered his arms, and acknowledged that he had been exercising a bit lately, and it was paying off.

"I think that I might have been attracted to him. He had light brown hair, and shiny blue eyes. Sometimes he said things I did not understand but I liked it. You know, talk geek to me and get me hot?" She said with a laugh and subtle hip brush as self-proclaimed meathead Gordy. He pushed back and she walked past and around the table back to Shal, who she proceeded to hide behind whilst she thought more.

Carson looked up from his notes, and studied the shyness "Beth" was exhibiting. It was a sign that she was hiding something, but he didn't think now was the time to push her. By all physical aspects, she was healthy, meaning that her amnesia was most likely caused by psychological reasons. He'd have to have the resident therapist talk to her later. "And the final man?"

Ronon stepped closer to the window, watching as Elizabeth peered around Shalimar's large arm to peer at Carson. "What about him?"

"Describe him."

Elizabeth smiled broadly, and slipped behind Shal. "He's tall, virile, very sexy. Lots of muscles and brooding silence. He's different from the other three, like he's an alien or something, or maybe that's just because of how he acts. He's darker than the others too, his skin and his eyes. The way he stands and moves reads 'thug'; he's the muscle of the group. He has a thing..."

Ronon almost choked on the innuendo, while the others stared wide-eyed at him. Sheppard was surprised that Elizabeth would prefer the silent machismo to his own charming braggart of a self. Teyla silently thought Elizabeth had made the right choice, but kept that to herself.

Rodney was still wondrous at his own physical prowess was wondering if Laura Cadman would mind spending some time exploring his head further in private. (Yeah, that head).

Carson stood and slowly walked to an angle so that he could see Elizabeth, who'd fisted her hair on either side of her head in her hands as she concentrated. "What thing?"

She shook her head in pain as she concentrated hard. "It's a thing. It's like a tattoo, but not. It's um...gold. It's gold. It's difficult to describe because I don't think I've seen it in a long time. It's a circle of gold in his forehead with like a 'u' inside it. Does that make sense?"

Sheppard turned to his team and grinned. "I don't think she's talking about us."

Ronon stared. "Why would someone have a tattoo on their forehead?"

McKay, ignoring the implication that he was not buff, posed and answered at the same time. "It's not a real tattoo. It's more like metal burned into it as a sign of his loyalty to his god."

"It's a sign of religious servitude?"

Shep nodded. "To a false god."

"A false god?"

"Yep. Prolly makes him feel real stupid for letting them pour hot melty metal on his skin." Sheppard grinned and winked at Teyla, who showed her amusement by smiling back.

They turned to leave, two by two (McKay flexing his flabby arms and Ronon watching with great amusement) (Teyla walking beside Shep, shooting him curious glances every once and a while). Finally, she asked him what was on her mind. "You didn't deny being attracted to me."

"When'd I say I was attracted to you?"

"You didn't, Elizabeth did, but you didn't deny it."

"Well she obviously wasn't talking about me."

"That much is clear. Still, how coincidental that the woman she was describing is also seeing someone."

"You're seeing someone?"

"I am."

"Who?"

"That is a private matter."

"We're friends."

"Not that good of friends."

"Teyla."

"Sheppard."

Back in the examination room, the three men turned their backs as Beth dressed. Carson straightened his papers and explained what happened next. "I'll have the soldiers outside escort you all to the quarters assigned; I hope you boys don't mind sharing."

Shalimar shrugged. "We won't be."

Carson spared a glance over his shoulder for the tall blond man. "The Colonel informs me you and the gentleman will be assigned a room, and Beth shall return to her quarters."

Shal didn't smile when he replied. "I'll stay with her in her quarters."

"I don't believe that's appropriate-" Carson started, ready to rip into the warrior for taking advantage of a sick woman, but was interrupted by Shal's stern voice.

"We stay in the same room, or we don't stay at all."

Beth stepped up beside them, and slipped her hand into Shal's, instantly calming him. "It's fine. I prefer it that way."

Carson shrugged. "Alright. I'll just go get the soldiers."

As the strange doctor left, Beth found herself leaning into the safety of her two friends. Gordy rubbed her back, and Shal held her hand. She turned her head into Shal's shoulder and sighed heavily. "I don't like it here."

"We can leave. They can't stop us."

She shook her head. "I don't like it here, but it feels like home."

Gordy grinned and chucked her on the chin. "Hell of a feeling, kid."

"Hey, I'm older than you."

"Pssht, you don't know that. You don't know anything."

"You want me to hurt you."

"Only if you promise."

"If you two don't be quiet, I'm gonna hurt you."

Beth leaned into Gordy and smiled. "Promises, promises."