A/N: Thank you all for reading and especially for the reviews. I know the last several chapters have been sad, but Reunion had to be a very hard moment for many members of the expedition. I do promise though not to end this story on a sad note.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Stargate Atlantis or it's wonderful characters.

Spoilers: Through Reunion in Season 4

On the timeline: Reunion – Season 4

16 – Wanted

Marie heard from the first few Marines that shuffled into the infirmary that the search and rescue mission had been a success. She began assigning beds and staff as they entered the infirmary keeping an eye out for Evan. He had piloted one of the two Jumpers full of Marines that Carter had taken to rescue Sheppard's team and Ronon's friends when the mission had gone south.

She was anxious to see with her own eyes that he was home safe and unharmed. If the number of times Katie had called her over the com link was any indication, her friend was a little anxious to see Rodney back safe too.

Marie caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned toward the infirmary entrance. Col. Sheppard was walking into the room, followed closely behind by a an obviously injured Ronon. Marie looked over to where Jennifer was tending to Colonel Carter to see if the doctor had seen Ronon yet. When she confirmed that Jenn was preoccupied Marie escorted Ronon to a private room and instructed him to lie on the bed and told him that she'd be right back.

Marie touched her com link and called for Laura as she closed the door.

"Go ahead, Marie."

"Ronon's here." Marie's voice betrayed her worry for Jenn.

"Be right there." Laura's held the same concern for their friend.

Ronon wasn't sure why the nurse set him up in a private room, but he was troubled enough by his thoughts that without much conscious effort he did what he was told. Ronon took in his surroundings as he lay back on the bed. He found the familiarity of the stained glass and blue-gray walls calming. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the infirmary smells, finding the scents soothing his soul.

Jennifer had been right, Atlantis was in his blood. Ronon wasn't sure when the change had occurred. He may be Satedan by birth, but his heart belonged to Atlantis and its people. His mind had fought it. He was Satedan first, at least that is what he thought, but today he had found that was no longer true.

The hint should have been when Sheppard's team and the Satedan team split up on the second level of the Wraith facility. He'd watched Sheppard, Teyla and McKay head in the opposite direction and he'd worried a bit for their safety watching them until they disappeared from view.

He and his friends had headed out in the opposite direction, but his ears had strained, following the Atlantis team. At the first sounds of P90 fire he had abandoned his fellow Satedan's to render aid to Sheppard's team.

"Does she know he's here yet?" Laura asked when she found Marie in the infirmary a few moments later.

"No, she just finished with Colonel Carter. She's scrubbing up before I direct her toward her next patient." Marie explained.

"Is he injured, is that why he's back?"

"Evan told me he's back for good."

"What?" Laura hadn't expected that.

"Shhh, here she comes," Marie yelled in a whisper.

"Anyone else, Marie?" Jennifer asked looking around the infirmary. Most of the infirmary had emptied out except for Sheppard's team. They had a habit of sticking around until the very last one of them was ready to go. She admired their loyalty and concern for each other, but at times it could get in the way of her job.

"One to go," Marie said as she began to walk toward the room Ronon occupied. She hoped to keep Jenn distracted until they arrived at the room. She didn't want to have to reveal who was inside or why they occupied a private room.

Grasping for straws, Marie spoke, "Will you need me for anything else?" Marie knew if she made this personal she would be able to keep Jennifer distracted until they reach the door and she could shove Jennifer in there.

Marie looked over at Evan who was just finishing his physical with Dr. Cole. "Evan wanted to go eat whenever I'm finished." It was a lie, although she was sure Evan would want to eat, she just hadn't had time to talk with him yet. Marie felt a little bad, but knew Jennifer would usher her out the door if she thought Marie wanted to be with Evan.

"No, no, go, I'm sure I can handle this. Dr. Cole is on tonight anyway, so I won't be here much longer." Jenn waived Marie off as she reached in her lab coat for her gloves and with the other hand she reached for the door as a thought crossed her mind. Why was a team member in a single room instead of one of the curtained areas?

Ronon looked up when he heard the door open. He watched Jennifer walk in snapping her gloves in place. When she looked up and saw him she froze. He couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not.

All Jennifer could see was Ronon lying back on the bed. All that registered in her Doctor's mind was the blood on his face and neck. She walked quickly over to him.

"You're bleeding, why didn't they call me in here sooner," she mumbled while her hands explored his face and neck. Once she was sure it was nothing serious she looked back into Ronon's eyes, "Are you seriously injured anywhere?"

Her worry was evident in her voice and eyes and Ronon had not seen or heard anything so beautiful. "I'll be fine, Doc."

She nodded her head, but noticed that his small smile of reassurance did not reach his eyes.

When Sheppard was ready to leave the infirmary he noticed Rodney sitting on a gurney, back against the wall, feet dangling and computer tablet in his hand.

"You want to go grab a bite to eat?"

Rodney glanced up at Sheppard for a moment before looking right back at his computer tablet, "Uh, no… I'm waiting for Katie," he said gesturing toward the Botanist standing out of earshot visiting with Lt. Cadman, Teyla and Marie.

Sheppard hopped up on the bed next to Rodney with his back against the wall and feet dangling also as he watched Evan approach.

"So you and Katie, huh?" Sheppard asked the scientist.

"Yeah," Rodney replied absently.

"How long has that been going on now?" John asked

"Well, she kissed me the night before we all had to go back to Earth, so… a while now,"1 Rodney said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You might want to nail down how long," John chuckled, "women are kind of big on that."

"Oh, well… how 'bout you, Major Lorne, how long have you and Marie been seeing each other?" Rodney asked Evan, who was now leaning against the wall next to the bed.

"Wait," Sheppard couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. "You and Marie are seeing each other?"

Evan chuckled, "Yes. Should I be offended that you're surprised?"

"No, I think I need to be worried that I don't seem to know everything that goes on around here," John said shaking his head and smiling.

"To answer your question," Evan said looking back at Rodney, "Ironically, the same amount of time as you. Marie kissed me the night before we all headed back to Earth too."

The three men looked over at the group of women that included Katie and Marie. When Sheppard's gaze slid to Teyla, which it always did, a thought struck him. The night before they all had moved back to Earth he had kissed Teyla. As he thought back to that night, getting lost in his memories, he saw Teyla make eye contact with him and dip her head slightly at him. He did the same and his gaze moved on to Lt. Cadman. He remembered something else he'd seen before they'd all gone back to Earth.

Without thinking it through he began to speak, "You want to hear something kind of interesting? The morning that we left I stumbled upon Dr. Beckett and Lt. Cadman kissing out on the pier next to the docked Daedalus." The three men looked back at the group of girls huddled.

A second later Rodney and Evan's eyes met for a moment. Evan smirked while he heard Rodney clear his throat.

"So um... did you um… find yourself the uh… you know, recipient of a kiss before we left," Rodney attempted to inquire.

Damn, John thought, should've known that would be the next question. He looked over at the girls one more time before looking back at Rodney and Lorne, "Yeah, well, not all of us got a happy outcome. However, it kind of makes me nervous to watch them all huddled together over there. What do you think they're cooking up now?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Evan grinned, "But if that is how the kissing thing came about then who am I to interrupt."

Sheppard looked around the infirmary and noticed it was practically empty. "So, what are we all doing here?" He may not be in the know, but obviously these two should have a clue why they were hanging out in the infirmary.

"Well, I'm waiting for Marie," Evan chuckled, "she gave me strict instructions not to leave. She wants to hear everything that happened and why Ronon is back for good."

Sheppard looked around the infirmary, "Where is the big guy?" He hadn't seen Ronon in a while and assumed he had gone off to be alone to deal with the events of the day.

Both men pointed to the door across the room from them. It was the same door he'd seen Dr. Keller enter a while ago. He looked over at the girls and noticed that they may be huddled and visiting, but they all kept sneaking glances at the closed door.

"Well," John said amused, "that can't be good." He nodded toward the girls, "They seem to be interested in the occupants of that room."

Rodney's tablet had long since been abandoned, the conversation the three men were having was much more interesting. "You don't think that Ronon got… was… you know, kissed before we all left for Earth too?"

"The Doc is pretty tight with the Lieutenant and Marie," Lorne stated. "Actually they all hang out together a lot."

"Well," Sheppard said looking at the door to the room that contained the couple in question, "One thing I do know is that there is a very silent, scary, brooding, recently betrayed, man behind that door that can kick my ass. I'd rather not be standing out here looking like we're talking about him when he does finally exit that room."

Rodney's suddenly worried eyes shot to Sheppard's as he quickly gathered up his laptop and pushed off the bed. "I'm actually quite hungry… maybe we should all go grab a bite to eat in the mess hall."

Sheppard grinned, "Sounds like an excellent plan." Sheppard raised his voice slightly, "Teyla, Cadman, ladies, lets go eat, shall we." Teyla and Cadman both recognized the command, even if it was disguised as a suggestion.

"Shall we?" Laura asked.

"For now," Marie said, "but we need to find Jennifer later and find out what happened, both out there on the mission, and in that room over there," she said nodding in the direction of the occupied room.

Marie stopped and whispered something to Dr. Cole as they all made their way out of the infirmary. Sheppard wasn't sure exactly what was said, but Dr. Cole nodded her head with a small grin and headed in the direction of her office after a quick goodbye wave to them all.

Jennifer gave Ronon one more once over, taking in the injuries she could see and speculating on those she couldn't.

Jennifer walked to the counter along the back wall, pulling supplies deftly while her mind tried to catch up with events that were unfolding. Marie had definitely orchestrated this situation, getting Jennifer alone with Ronon. She wasn't sure if she should thank or curse her friend. Time would tell.

Gathering up the supplies she had grabbed along with a tub of warm water from the sink in the counter, she slowly walked back to Ronon's bedside, stealing herself before having to look at him again. She knew that he was a man of great perception and he was sure to notice her anxiety over this situation.

Jennifer took a cloth and dipped it in the water before she began to dab at his cut, loosening the dried blood so she could later apply the antiseptic and run the stitches.

There were so many things she wanted to ask. The more obvious questions seemed like a mine field though. Where were his friends? Why was he back? How long was he back for?

Ronon winced as she got closer to the cut and Jennifer tried to be gentler. The cut was rather long running from above his eye to below it. He was lucky it hadn't been deeper, threatening his sight.

"So what did this?" she asked as she gently dabbed near his eyebrow.

"Knife," he said as his eyes closed.

"I wasn't aware the Wraith fought with knives," Jennifer idly replied.

"It's from Rakai," Ronon growled.

Jennifer saw his jaw tighten. What had happened out there? She was afraid to ask, but knew it was important.

"Ronon?" she asked.

He knew what she was asking. There was a part of him that needed her to know, but there was a part of him that felt so betrayed and embarrassed that he hesitated. He felt her pause in the cleaning.

She watched Ronon swallow, and then his eyes opened piercing hers, "They were Wraith worshippers."

He looked away, but not before she saw the pain clouding his eyes. Jennifer felt the pain squeezing her heart. How could they do that to him? He was willing to give up everything for them.

Jennifer was at a loss for the words to comfort him. How could she possibly say anything that would make his pain lighter or their betrayal seem less gut-wrenching? The only thing she was sure of was how to treat his physical injuries. When it came to his emotional injuries she felt out of her depth, but unwilling to let him deal with those alone.

She pulled off her gloves and threw them away. "Why don't you sit up?" she quietly asked him. At his look of confusion she spoke again. "Your shirt is bloody."

Once his shirt was removed she began to wash the blood from his cheek and down the path it had taken to his neck. She rinsed out the rag and gently washed the blood that had seeped through his shirt and dried to his chest.

Her touch was like a gentle caress and he cleared his mind and concentrated on her touch. If he tried real hard he could block all the thoughts and feelings tearing at his soul.

He watched her get clean water and follow the same steps one more time ensuring she had cleaned all the blood from his body.

Jennifer took an antiseptic soaked pad and dabbed at each cut and scratch she could find to ensure a quick and bacteria free healing. She did all this while his jaw remained set, whether from emotions or from any discomfort she was causing she was unsure.

Next she let her hands gently explore his past scars as well as the new bruises forming as she searched his body for any other injuries all the while assuring herself he was truly here and ok. She heard his intake of breath from time to time as she checked him out, but he didn't utter a word during her exam.

She could feel his eyes on her as she pulled away. She helped him pull a scrub top over his head before smiling shyly at him. "I thought I told you to be extra careful," she teased as she indicted he should lie back down.

"This was being extra careful," he quietly teased as he lay back. He turned his head and watched her ready the needle for stitching as well as a syringe for pain and numbing.

Ronon had expected her to be upset with him… for leaving to begin with, but like his team, she accepted that he was back without flinching and moved on as if he had never planned to leave.

She held up the syringe for him to see and he shook his head no. She had known he would refuse the medication, but after the day he'd endured she wanted to at least offer any comfort she could. Jennifer carefully began stitching just above his eyebrow.

She covered the stitches as she finished and with his physical injuries attended to, she began to feel insecure. She wished that she could attend to his wounded soul as proficiently. She had no reason to keep him; she would have to let him go. She leaned down and kissed his forehead just above the bandage. "I'm glad that you're back," she whispered.

She stood back up and looked at him, insuring that he would hear her. "I'm sorry, Ronon. I'm sorry you lost your friends to those monsters."

She watched him sit up and swing his legs to the floor. He looked her in the eye and nodded his head in understanding and acceptance. "I need to go," he told her as he stood and made his way out of the room. She watched him until he'd exited the infirmary and let him go… for now.