Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.

Present Day (February 18, 2009):

Evan claps both men on the back. "Tough luck guys." He says with a snicker.

"You knew about this?" John asks accusingly.

"Not the distraction. But the playing? Well, Jen's kinda good at pool. She spent a lot of time in a pool hall near Harvard." Evan admits.

"No Kidding." John mutters under his breath.

"So yeah, I kinda knew that she could at least sink some balls in. Didn't know that she and Teyla were going to throw you guys off, though." Evan continues to say.

Ronon surprisingly accepts the defeat more gracefully than his best friend. He walks towards the doors to get the singing over with. The girls are laughing in the background. Jennifer is already inside talking to the DJ or whatever you call the karaoke guy to start the song by the 'Killers'.

"Ya know, what you girls did was cheating." John says to Teyla and Jennifer when they all enter the bar.

"What are you trying to say, John?" Teyla asks him innocently.

"He just accused you of cheating." Laura says, adding more fuel to the fire.

"So you're saying we don't play fair." Teyla says as she steps forward.

John takes a step toward her until they're standing chest to chest. "That's exactly what I'm saying." Amusement dancing in his eyes.

"You're just a sore loser." Teyla tells him with a smirk.

"I am not…" John begins to say.

"Sheppard, you wouldn't have lost if you had paid attention to the game." Mike butts in.

"I was paying attention." John protests. "But Teyla here…"

"What did I do?" Teyla asks him.

"You blew in my ear."

"So?"

"And so I got distracted." John tells her.

"Why would that distract you?" Teyla asks.

"Yeah, why would that distract you?" Evan asks as he takes a seat at the bar.

At a loss for words, John says "Shut up Lorne."

Teyla smiles, happy that she still has an effect on him. "Just sing the song, John." She tells him.

"Yeah just do it." Mike says.

"Yeah, do it!" Rodney shouts.

"Do it!" Everyone in their group screams. Soon enough the whole bar is chanting "do it!"

John grabs the mic and moves to stand next to Ronon. "You ready buddy?"

"Let's just get this over with." He gruffly answers with a shake of his head.

"When there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
One more son
If you can hold on
If you can hold on, hold on"

Ronon sings the first lines. Jennifer and Teyla start clapping. And then John sings the next line.


"I wanna stand up, I wanna let go
You know, you know - no you don't, you don't
I wanna shine on in the hearts of men
I wanna mean it from the back of my broken hand"

And then Ronon sings the next part.

"Another head aches, another heart breaks
I am so much older than I can take
And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection, no no no no"

Then they sing the chorus together.

"Help me out
Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out"

Then John swings the mic up to sing the next part, watching Teyla from the corner of his eye.


"And when there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
These changes ain't changing me
The gold-hearted boy I used to be"

They sing the chorus together again.


"Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down"

Then the bar goes quiet. You can only hear the beat from the song which Jennifer's fingers are tapping silently to. After a few beats Ronon sings the lines in a very low voice.


"I got soul, but I'm not a soldier
I got soul, but I'm not a soldier
I got soul, but I'm not a soldier"

On the fourth line, John joins in.

"I got soul, but I'm not a soldier

I got soul, but I'm not a soldier"

I got soul, but I'm not a soldier

Before the fifth line, Ronon winks at Jennifer, who jumps in, along with Laura, and joins them with the seventh line, singing in a higher voice.

"I got soul, but I'm not a soldier
I got soul, but I'm not a soldier"

After the eighth line almost everyone in their group have joined in and stood up to sing along.

"I got soul, but I'm not a soldier
I got soul, but I'm not a soldier"

Then Jennifer hooks her arm through Ronon's and swings her other arm over Laura's, who's waving Rodney to come closer, and setting her hand on his shoulder as he sings with them.


"Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner
You know you got to help me out
You're gonna bring yourself down
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the back burner"
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down"

Jamie snaps a picture of the group of friends. Ronon and John finish the song by themselves. But the group is still standing with the duo.

"Over and in, last call for sin
While everyone's lost, the battle is won
With all these things that I've done
All these things that I've done
If you can hold on
If you can hold on?"

The whole bar erupts in applause when the song is finished. Jennifer takes a bow, making everyone laugh.

When they all settle down around the tables they've claimed, Ronon leans over Jennifer from behind and whispers seductively in her ear. "Cheat."

Jennifer shivers at this, and then turns her head to look at him. "It worked, didn't it?" She says to him.

Ronon grabs a chair and places it beside her to her right and takes a seat. "Yeah. Well, you already knew that before you even made the bet." He says as he pulls her chair closer to him, leans back and puts his arm around the back of her chair. Jennifer leans her head against his shoulder, with her wrist resting also on the same shoulder, her other hand clutching his jacket sleeve. "You okay?" He asks her, placing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. She nods her head yes. He brushes her hair away from her face and then kisses her forehead.

Suddenly a hand stretches out in front of his face, handing him a leather jacket. It's Evan's hand, giving him the Jacket Jennifer tossed at him when they started playing. Ronon grabs it and spreads it over her.

Jennifer has fallen asleep while Katie and Patty started to sing Debbie Gibson's 'Electric Youth'. Ronon is still holding her when John says to him "Hey big guy, some of us are gonna head to the casino. You wanna come or are you gonna play the devoted husband?" John teases. He takes a step back when Ronon tries to take a swing at him.

"I think I'm gonna take her home." Ronon says as he looks at Jennifer.

"You mean back to the hotel." John says, amused.

"That's what I meant." Ronon replies with a growl.

"Have it your way." John says, walking away.

Ronon, do you want me to get a cab for you guys?" Hank asks.

"Uh, no, I think she needs the walk." Ronon answers. "Fresh air and everything. It'll sober her up. Thanks anyway." Then he gently shakes her awake. "Jen, wake up."

Jennifer stirs. Lifting her head from his shoulders she rubs her eyes. "Huh? What's going on?"

"You need to get up. I'll take you back to the hotel." Ronon tells her.

"But it's still early." Jennifer protests.

"Yeah, but you need to rest sweetheart."

"Okay." She concedes. She stands up suddenly and almost loses her footing. Ronon steadies her.

John, Evan, Rodney, Hank, Nick and Paul prepare to head to the Spa Casino. Elizabeth is exhausted so she and Mike opt to go with Ronon and Jennifer and Teyla who decides that she's done for the night, too. Patty and Katie tell their husbands to just go along with John and the others while the both of them hang out with Marie, Laura and Jamie.

Ronon supports her as they start to descend the stairs. Jennifer is still wobbly on her feet, so when they reach a landing he stops her and goes to her front and grabs her arms as he bends down at the knees. Jennifer realizes what he's doing so she lets him place her arms around his neck. When her arms are secure, Ronon then grabs her legs and holds them to his sides.

Elizabeth and Mike watch Ronon give Jennifer a piggy-back ride. Mike rummages through Elizabeth's purse and fish out a digital camera. He snaps a picture of them both as they walk down the stairs.

The couple look so adorable. Ronon, with his body so big and strong carrying the tiny Jennifer on his back, with her arms wound around his neck, her cheek resting against his. Her golden hair falling over his shoulders. The last time Elizabeth saw the both of them this way was a very long time ago. A day that she remembered very clear.

Flashback to Senior Skip day (June 2, 2000):

Elizabeth is sitting by the shore, enjoying the view of the water when Mike Branton flops down beside her on the sand. "Penny for your thoughts." Mike says as he nudges her shoulder.

"Hey." Elizabeth says. "Just enjoying the sunset." Several of their classmates are in the water. Kate and Teyla are doing laps. Marie is walking along the shore, occasionally bending down to pick up a seashell. Ronon is teaching Jennifer how to stand on the surf board.

"So how are you doing?"

"You mean with the whole Simon thing?" Mike nods yes. "Over it. I realized that I was just comfortable with him. He's the safe bet."

"So does that mean that you're gonna walk on the wild side now?" Mike asks with a smile.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're really corny?" Elizabeth asks with a shake of her head.

"Did someone say horny?!" A drunken Bates yells in the background.

"Shut up Bates!" Laura says, throwing a flip flop at his head.

Elizabeth looks back at Mike and cocks her eyebrow in question.

Mike takes a fistful of sand and lets the grains slide through his fingers. "I heard somewhere that love can be corny." And then he gets up to leave, bending down to tweak Elizabeth's nose. "See ya later gorgeous." And then walks off, brushing the sand off of his board shorts, leaving Elizabeth slack-jawed and speechless.

Her mouth stays open like that for a few more minutes, only shutting it when she sees Ronon and Jennifer emerge from the water with him giving her a piggy-back ride. Ronon bends down to pick up his camera that is laying on their beach towel. He turns it around, stretches his arms out and takes a picture of the two of them.

Back to the Present:

Elizabeth smiles at the memory. That day she decided then and there that she would walk on the wild side and try something extra spicy.

TBC.

Note: The song 'All the Things I've Done' are by The Killers. One of my favorite songs. Heard it play in one of the NBA commercials. And if you remember, the photo that Ronon took of the both of them is the same photo that Marie found bookmarked in the last entry of Jennifer's journal when she was helping her move.