She woke up in a foggy daze to a loud announcement on the intercom. "Ronon to the gate room immediately. Repeat. Ronon Dex to the gate room."
She felt someone beside her stirring. She sat up and realized with a rather large amount of embarrassment that she had fallen asleep on Ronon's shoulder. Without a word, he bounded out of his seat to leave, unholstering his gun and running at a quick pace. All of the other passengers sat still with astonishment. Emma looked around the jumper, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and realized that his coat was still on her, keeping her warm. In her mind, she replayed the last few seconds she remembered. Apparently, they had just landed. She hadn't felt the aircraft touch down, but then again the inertial dampeners on the jumper were incredible. The announcement had pulled her out of her sleep. But when she had woken up, she knew there was something else that hadn't registered at first. Ronon's arm had been wrapped around her waist. She stood up holding the coat in her arms and walked back to her quarters, a bit confused and very conflicted.
She sat on her bed staring at her wall, deep in thought, Ronon's coat still in her arms. You're overanalyzing this, she told herself. It's just a jacket. Just a small touch. It's nothing. Nothing is happening. Old feelings in the pit of her stomach reared their ugly heads. Distrust. Panic. Fear. Move on. Move forward. It's nothing. She hadn't come to Atlantis looking for any kind of romantic connection. She had come to escape all that. Move on. Move forward. It was nothing.
She heard something crinkle from within the coat. Brow furrowed, she reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a piece of paper folded in quarters. It had been folded and unfolded so many times, it was in danger of ripping into four pieces. She gingerly opened the blood and water stained piece of paper and discovered that it was a black and white photograph. Her breath caught in her lungs. Her heart did a somersault.
The picture was of a much younger Ronon and he was smiling, maybe even laughing. In the short time she had known him, she had never seen such a large grin on his face. But Ronon wasn't alone – in the picture, he held a woman in his arms, her back touching his chest. She was about a head shorter than he was and had long light hair that curled slightly down her chest. Emma couldn't be sure, but it looked like she was wearing some type of light-colored uniform. Her facial features were small, and her smile was wide and gorgeous. She too was laughing. Emma brought the photo closer to her face to see better. Both Ronon and the woman wore rings on their ring fingers. Hers boasted a small precious stone – obviously an engagement ring. Emma carefully folded the photograph again, and put it back where she had found it. She laid the coat over her desk chair and stared at it for moment.
She shook her head, pulling herself from her thoughts. She undressed and wrapped a towel around her body, then took her hair out of its braid. Her long dark red locks cascaded over her slightly sunburned shoulders. She turned the shower on and stepped under the small warm waterfall, feeling even more confused than she had when she entered her room.
He was sitting with his team in the commissary, talking. She figured she might find him here, but she was hoping he would be alone. Somewhat intimidated by the whole group, she walked up to all of them and interrupted.
"Hi," she said to all of them, "Ronon, I believe this is yours," she said, holding out his coat for him to take.
"Thanks," he said, standing up and taking it from her.
"No thank you," she laughed nervously, "Sorry to interrupt everyone," she aplogized, turning around to leave, "Bye."
"Bye," they all said back to her as she scampered off.
"I still think she's cute," Sheppard shrugged innocently.
Ronon shot him a glare.
"What?" he asked defensively.
Teyla cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at Ronon.
"We went to the mainland and I had to stay with her," he explained, "She wasn't dressed right and she got cold. I gave her my coat."
"Did she ask for it?" McKay asked.
"No," he replied gruffly.
"I also heard that you returned to the jumper an hour late," Teyla said, "You did not have your radio with you?" she prodded.
"No," he repeated.
"See, the Ronon I know wouldn't do that," Sheppard observed, "The Ronon I know would have turned it off though."
"Perhaps you wanted to spend more time with her," Teyla suggested.
No one spoke.
"Wait wait wait," McKay interjected finally, "Dr. Nielsen—"
"Nelson" Sheppard corrected.
"Yeah whatever. The new guy. He was talking about his trip to the mainland. I tried to tune it out but he does have a rather loud voice, doesn't he? Anyway, he mentioned that the new girl fell asleep on the way back, on the … how did he describe you … on the shoulder of the terrifying tall guy with the long hair. I didn't know he was talking about you!"
"Terrifying tall guy with the long hair? Seriously, Rodney, who else would that be?" Sheppard asked with an air of incredulity. "You like her," he teased, directing his attention back to Ronon.
"All right fine," Ronon admitted nonchalantly, biting his thumbnail, "Maybe."
They all stared at him expectantly.
"Fine. Yes," he conceded through gritted teeth, pulling his thumb out from his mouth and making a fist.
"I thought you found her…annoying," Teyla questioned.
"'Young' was the exact word he used, I believe," Sheppard interjected.
"Which in Ronon speak…what would that be your…your Dexicon? Means what?"
"Clever, Rodney," Sheppard nodded, his mouth full, "It means annoying," he confirmed.
"Things changed," Ronon said, now biting the inside of his cheek and crossing his arms, "I found out more about her. It's just…" he stopped.
"Yes?" McKay pressed on.
"He doesn't know how to get to know her," Sheppard offered, nodding slowly.
Ronon stared at him, which they all took as an affirmation.
"Well I got nothing," McKay said immediately.
"You could…ask her—no that won't work. Or you could see if she wants to—no not that either," Sheppard stumbled, staring at the table.
"Ask her to teach you a language," Teyla suggested.
"That's actually a brilliant idea," McKay agreed, wagging a finger in her direction.
"I can't do that," Ronon argued.
"Why not?" Sheppard asked, "Give me one reason."
"Aside from the fact that you can't sit still for longer than twenty minutes," McKay tacked on disparagingly.
Ronon glowered at McKay, then spoke. "Why would I need to learn a language from Earth?" he asked, "And I'm not learning Wraith," he added quickly, jabbing his index finger onto the table.
"The reason why does not matter," Teyla calmly said.
"But really," McKay began, "If she's secretly a geek on the inside, she'll be too excited about teaching you anything to care about why you want to learn it."
"You're not like that," Sheppard pointed out.
"Yes well that's because I'm not a geek," McKay retorted.
Everyone stared back at him.
"What?" he asked, his eyes darting back and forth from each of their faces.
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