Mitchell entered the training room after getting lost twice. Seriously thinking about asking Rodney to make him a map, he decided to tag along with someone once he left. Seeing the rest of his team already stretching out, he looked over apologetically. "Sorry, I got lost. Again."
Daniel, wearing his black SGC issued pants and a black tank top, grinned. "I was smart and tagged along with Keller. You really need to get your own tour guide."
Noticing the young doctor, he glanced over, making sure she didn't see his eyes on her. They hadn't really spoke much since the infirmary. He guessed she had been busy balancing working there as well as preparing to join his team on missions.
She was so much more smaller and slender from the rest of the team, especially flanked between Ronon and Jackson. She wore black capri bicycle pants and a matching sleeveless top. The top stopped right at her waistline, revealing a tiny glimpse of pale skin from her back as she stretched her hamstrings. Hearing a warning growl, he saw Ronon's eyes on him. He quickly averted his gaze and began his own stretches while wondering if the young doctor was paired up with him as well.
"Cold?" He heard Jackson ask her. Looking over, he saw her running her hands up and down her arms.
"Yeah, I didn't realize they keep this place so cold. I guess it makes sense, if everyone is coming in and working up a sweat."
Mitchell went over and dug in his duffel bag. Pulling out a gray Air Force hooded sweatshirt, he walked over and offered it to her.
She took it from him and said a thank you, embarrassed by the extra attention. Yanking it over her head, Cameron smiled when he saw how large it was on her. He held out his hands, motioning her to come forward, and rolled up the sleeves so that her hands would poke through. "Sorry, it's even a little big on me. I usually wear it over my work out stuff."
Because they were already standing next to one another, Ronon paired them up.
"OK. This is what we're going to do," Ronon started. "Sheppard told me on Earth, they do these trust building activities. So I thought... before we begin some defense moves and stuff... we can do this."
He had Jennifer and Daniel each have their back facing their partner. Jennifer stood with her back to Mitchell and so did Daniel.
"OK, now close your eyes," Ronon said.
Jennifer muttered. "I'm so not going to like this, am I?"
"Quiet, Jen," Ronon answered. "When you're ready, I want you to keep your feet together with your legs straight and fall back."
They were silent for a second.
"Ronon?" Daniel said, with his eyes closed. "I think you forgot about one part."
Ronon grinned. "Oh yeah. Mitchell and I will catch you. That's the trust part."
Jennifer, knowing that Mitchell's eyes were glued on her, wiped her hands on her pants. She heard Daniel's movement and Ronon, hopefully, catching him. Taking a deep breath, she began to move but stopped before she could fall.
"Sorry. Sorry." She said, going back. A little dizzy now from having her eyes closed for so long, she tried to give herself a pep talk. Seriously, Jen, she thought. They're going to find out you have some major trust issues here. It's not like the man already thinks you're crazy and cry on the floor of your office.
Trying again, she almost fell back but then stopped again.
"OK, stop," Ronon said, walking towards her. Instructing her to open her eyes. "Jen, what's up?"
Turning beat red but still having her back to Cameron, she covered her face. "Sorry. I just have control issues."
"Yeah, no kidding," Ronon smiled, joking with her. "OK. Do you think Cameron is going to let you fall? Or that he's not strong enough to catch you?"
Jennifer, still red, shook her head. "No. And if he did, you'd probably knock him out."
Ronon laughed. "Right. So this time, I want you to just think how he'll be there to catch you... and not the falling onto the floor part."
She nodded. Once he left, she stood, and thought about falling into her arms. Once she thought about that, it didn't sound so bad. It actually sounded nice. Not even breathing, she let herself fall back and almost immediately had his arms come around her.
"Nice job, doc," Cameron whispered in her ear, making her shiver. Trying to get her color back down to normal, she hid her face from his eyes for an extra moment before turning and standing beside him.
Seeing Jennifer's embarrassment, Daniel tried to take the attention off of her. "So I'm thinking that it may be hard for me to catch you, Ronon. And same goes for Jennifer and Cam."
"That's why we're doing something else," Ronon said. "OK, Mitchell and Jackson, put on the blind folds." He set two object on the other side of the room once they couldn't see. "Jen and I will be guiding you to find something on the other side of the room. We're allowed to talk to you or even touch you. Whoever gets theirs first will win."
"Now see," Jen muttered. "I could have totally done this without freaking out."
"Speak for yourself," Cameron whispered back. "This is my worst nightmare. Not being able to see. It was bad enough I couldn't walk for a year, but being blind is just crippling."
"You couldn't walk for a year?" She said. "What happened?" She hadn't read his file yet. Reminding herself to pull it tonight, she faced him towards the direction she wanted him to walk towards.
Ronon was talking but both were ignoring him.
"Hey, guys. You ready?" Ronon yelled out.
"Yes." They replied. Jennifer took position behind him and started giving him commands.
"OK, straight forward about 20 feet," she said. When he started to stray off course a bit, she slowed him down and guided his elbow. "No, not that far off." He stopped dead in his tracks and Jennifer slammed into him. Giggling, she yelled at him "Cameron, seriously, warn me next time."
Cameron smiled. It was the first time she had used his name. Despite wanting to not initiate anything more than a friendship, he found himself growing more and more interested in Atlantis' CMO.
"Sorry," he replied. Deciding to make things more interesting, he purposely over-exaggerated his movement, causing her to correct him repeatedly. He liked hearing her laughter.
"OK," she said, catching her breath. "Daniel and Ronon were done like ten minutes ago. Make me proud. You need to bend down and under the chair is the ball."
Finding the chair, he knelt down and retrieved the ball. "Ta da!" he said, pulling off the blind fold. Looking back at Ronon, he could tell the man did not find antics amusing, nor was he fooled by the delay of getting their ball. Shrugging at Daniel, he made his way back over with Jennifer in tow.
Ronon, still not looking away from Cameron, smirked. "Time for a partner change. Daniel and Cameron, switch. Then get geared up for sparring."
Mitchell immediately knew this was deliberate pairing. Seeing Daniel and Jennifer walk to the other side of the room, he followed Ronon to their gear. "Look, big guy, sorry about all of that. She was finally relaxing around me and I stretched it a bit."
Looking up from putting on his gloves, his eyes glinted at Cameron. "So you're not trying to get with Jen?"
For a brief moment, Cameron almost blurted out that he might be. Deciding now was not the time, especially since he was about to train with Ronon, he shook his head. "No, everything is strictly professional. Just trying to build up some trust."
Ronon nodded, and walked away. He glanced back at Cameron and found the man stealing a glance over at Jennifer. Between that look and the pause he made, Ronon knew Mitchell was lying. Or just plain in denial about his attraction to Jen. Either way, it was excuse enough to not hold back while they spared. He grinned when he saw Major Lorne wheel in Sheppard. Minutes later, a few more military men and women eagerly came into the training room.
Looking at Sheppard, he gave him a questioning look.
"I may have talked at breakfast about you possibly giving Mitchell the old Atlantis initiation," Sheppard said mischievously. "But truth be told, I think the guy will set a record holding you off. He's had a lot of training on Earth, but what may set him apart is the weeks of training he had off world with the Sodan warriors." Noticing Jennifer's shirt, he raised his eyebrows. "Dr. Keller, there will be hell to pay if Cadman see's you in that."
Shrugging, Jennifer rolled her eyes. "What is up with you and the Marines? Why can't you just get along?"
Mitchell, overhearing their conversation, quickly assumed Cadman was a man. And that Cadman was somehow tied to Jennifer. He had already been corrected by Lorne that they were not together. So who was this Cadman? Besides a Marine. Pushing thoughts of disappointment aside, he walked over. "Hey, you tell that to those jar heads. And it's not our fault we keep wining every football game year after year." He walked back over to Ronon.
Ronon just grinned, obviously overly confident that the man didn't have the weight behind his punches to do any harm. "Mitchell... hand to hand or weapons?"
Mitchell calmly looked over at him, even though he was a little surprised to see the growing audience. "I like the staff," he said, reaching in to take off his shirt, revealing a black tank top underneath. Ronon did the same, and soon both men were facing off.
Jennifer stood close by, knowing full well that injuries and stitches were coming up soon. She was surprised to see Mitchell so calm. When Laura came into the room and spotted the young doctor, she jogged over to stand next to her.
"Oh my God," Laura said. "I just came for the fight, but didn't expect to see a show. Look at those muscles." She began fanning herself. "Both of them. I may need you to get me oxygen by the time this is over."
Jennifer lost her focus. She made the mistake of looking at Cameron. Slender hips. She could see the ripples of his stomach through the tank top. Her face flushed, sending Laura into giggles.
"Ah, so the doctor finally turns off her medical professionalism and puts on her female eyes. Not bad, huh?" Looking down at Jennifer's shirt, her jaw dropped. "What are you wearing?"
Grinning, Jennifer just swatted her. Looking back at the men, she saw that they had begun to circle one another. Some men began cheering for Ronon, just out of Atlantian loyalty. She heard a bunch of Air Force men cheering for Mitchell. Ronon came at Mitchell at a dead run, sending Cameron quickly to the side to avoid him. For the first five minutes, Cameron shocked the crowd as he successfully held off Ronon's advances. Once, Ronon was quicker and hit the side of his temple, earning him a small cut. Wiping the blood away like he was swatting a fly, he just calmly kept fighting.
Ten minutes turned into twenty. A hush fell over the crowd, and a few gasped when Mitchell landed a few blows to Ronon's thigh and back. When the men were almost to the twenty-five mark, they both stood apart and caught up on their breathing.
Even Sheppard was stunned at the young man's skill. "Hey, guys, why don't we call this a draw?"
Ronon glared at Sheppard. Mitchell just shrugged.
"I can go on longer," Mitchell said, finding himself wanting to proof himself. Dropping his staff, he motioned for Ronon to do the same. "Hand to hand?"
Ronon nodded.
Despite his skill with the staff, Mitchell did not do as well against Ronon without the weapon. Although he landed a few onto the beast of a man, he was outweighed tremendously. When Ronon plowed his fist a little too hard into Mitchell's mouth, Jennifer stood up. Catching Sheppard's eye, she gave him a pleading look. She didn't want to call the match herself, hoping Sheppard would say something.
He nodded her way. "OK, we're done. You guys can't be injured if you're going off world in two days." Sheppard motioned for Jen to come forward. She had already grabbed the medical kit before the fight. "Dr. Keller will patch you both up."
Jennifer knelt where Mitchell had slumped down into a chair. He was dripping sweat. "Sorry, doc. I'm going to drip all over you."
Ignoring him, she took a close look at his eye. "Stitches. For sure." Jen scooted over to Ronon, looking over his cuts. Everything looked pretty minor, so she butterfly bandaged what looked bad.
Cameron hissed when she came back to him and wiped the blood away. "Come on. I can't live this down if I need stitches and he doesn't," he joked, smiling. Instantly he winced because of the cut on his lips. "Seriously, don't worry about me. I've had much worse."
Laura came over and dropped a towel into each man's arms. "Thanks for the show," she said, then remembering his rank. "Sir." Raising her eyebrows at Jen, she smiled. "I'll let the doctor tend to your boo-boo's." Under her breath so Mitchell could hear, she muttered about kissing them too. He snorted with laughter. The Marine had some spunk to her.
"Hey, Cadman. Do me a favor and walk Mitchell down to the infirmary. I'll meet him there," Jennifer called over to her, giving her a warning glance to behave. "I just want to get Ronon an ice pack for this hit to the back."
"It will be my pleasure. This way, Colonel," she helped him up.