CHAPTER 51 – DIFFERENT AGENDAS
He walked fast and she chose to slow her pace a little to allow her time to think. By the time she had reached the village he had already gathered the Athosian people together and a search to make sure that all children were accounted for was already underway.
She met one of the elders who waited for her arrival beside John. He had a kind face and did not look at her with suspicion nor distrust and for this she was grateful. He asked her calmly to describe the little girl that she had seen, and she did - carefully leaving out the information that she had called her Mummy and watched as the man shook his head.
"That sounds a little like Kayla from your description – the little girl who you were carrying around earlier? But I can assure you, she has not been out of the village area since you left and she is now tucked up in bed so it is unlikely that it was her you saw. No other children from this village fit that description – you yourself have seen the children from here. The Colonel advises that he did not see anything clearly."
She watched as a glance passed between the two men and back to her and felt as though she was being put under a microscope, with all her actions being scrutinised. She didn't know that she particularly liked that feeling and after smiling politely at the elder, she turned and headed back to the jumper, pausing first to look into direction of the field where she had seen the girl. She would come back, on her own. Soon. If there was anything to see, it was likely the girl would manifest herself to Gina alone. With that resolve, she leaned against the jumper and waited for John to return, determined to keep her plan to herself, knowing that he would likely not sanction it.
When he arrived back he flicked a concerned glance at her but she simply smiled and waited for him to open the jumper door.
"Gina? You ok? You gave in a little too quickly back there. You're certainly easier to read than War and Peace sweetheart, and I know there's something going on in that head of yours. You gonna fill me in or do I need to resort to other means to get my information?"
With that he sidled closer, and stood looking down at her letting his body heat reach out and encompass hers. She breathed in his smell, told herself she was not going to, but hell – he stood too close and as she raised her eyes to meet his amused hazel ones she could see that he knew exactly what affect his nearness was having on her. Damn the man. And when he picked up her wrist, her bruised one and brought it gently to his lips and began kissing it she felt herself lean in closer to him and slide her free hand around his neck, pulling them tightly together.
"Nothing you want to tell me... hmmm?" He murmured against her wrist, all the while looking down into those guileless blue eyes that she kept carefully shuttered against just such an intrusion.
"You'll have to do better than that Colonel Sheppard, if you wish to extract pertinent information from me. I'm not that easy. I can withstand far more... intense forms of torture before I crack."
"Really...hmmm... like this?" His hand had slid into the waist band of her trousers and straight into her warmth finding her instantly ready for his touch. She sighed, struggled to keep the knowledge from her eyes and allowed the pleasurable sensations to roll over her, then regretfully pulled away – out of his reach.
"Well let's just say Colonel, that you'll not have the opportunity to find out right now."
"We'll see about that ..." he growled as he moved past her to the control area of the ship and prepared the craft for takeoff. But her focus was out the window now, looking for the little girl who had seemed lost and frightened – a little girl who was caught between two dimensions. She had to find out what Rodney had discovered and it needed to be closed to stop such occurences. Those from one dimension could be be allowed freely to move to another. The consequences were not inconsequential as she had first thought. They could potentially become a liability.
She barely had time for breakfast the next morning, seated beside a brooding Colonel who had done his best the night before to wear her down and extract information from her – and not succeeded. She smiled to herself. Now who was the sulky child – really! Ronon appeared at their side, a slightly cheeky look in his eyes and she groaned. She knew what they were up to, it was immature and she saw though John's rather possessive and controlling nature and saw clearly that he had organised it so that she would not be alone for a single moment. He intended to make sure that she was kept busy to keep her away from Rodney's work and now he had another reason. To keep her away from the mainland. The look she sent the brooding man at her side was sharp and she noticed that he was quick to look away. Guilt? Yes. Much!
"Ok Ronon, what delights do you have in store for me this morning? Hmmm? I hope that the good Colonel here is paying you overtime for your babysitting services. Did he warn you that I am extremely good at getting what I want and even better at letting him see, only what I want him to see? Hmmm? I am sure that I can apply the same theories to you, so I hope you're on your toes, Ronon Dex of Sateda, because I am going to make sure that this is the hardest job that Colonel Sheppard has made you do yet. As penance. For treating me like a damn fool!"
Her eyes sparked as she stood and she noticed that some of the other personnel in the mess had overheard her tirade and were trying unsuccessfully to hide their smiles. Likely they were fascinated and a little pleased to see the big Satedan taken down a peg by a small woman who stood looking up at him with fisted hands placed on her hips and sparks shooting from brilliant blue eyes. John just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders at Ronon. What could he say? He just hoped the big man could control her. Because he was no longer sure that he could.
Ronon glared at John as he left the mess. He would have words with his team leader later because this sure as hell wasn't what he had signed onto this mission for. But he'd do his job – take the woman and teach her how to defend herself – thought it looked as though she didn't need much help in that department.
They stood in the centre of the large rec room and Gina was not intimidated by the big man. She had learnt her lesson from Terrence O'Neill. Take no crap from no man, regardless of his size. Ronon was no different. He sought to dominate, albeit on John's instruction – but she would show him that she was not the woman he had first thought she was and as she faced him down now, in the centre of the room she saw a small measure of respect in his eyes. By the time this morning was over, she would make sure that she saw more.
"Ok Ronon let's do this. John wants me to take care of myself, defend myself. Teach me how to do that. Teach me how to stop men looking at me and acting as though I am some fragile doll that will break apart with one touch." Her eyes were sincere, she really did want to learn – but not for the reasons that she at first thought. And she did acknowledge that John's reasons were valid and necessary for life in this galaxy.
Ronon ran her through simple moves, carefully keeping his big frame from hurting her and found that she was a receptive and willing student. His respect for her shot up a notch. They had been at it for over two hours and while she was hot and sweaty, she was determined and he saw the steely glint in her eye whenever she struggled to manage one of the movements as he instructed and saw also the frustration she immediately directed at herself.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Gina. I've been doing this for years – my people are taught from an early age, to defend themselves. It is the way in this galaxy – the enemy is often at the door and we rely on only ourselves most of the time so we are taught to do just that. Come here – this movement is a hard one, but you're making it harder. Try this..."
She was pulled up hard against him and felt the steel in his body. The manoever had her extricating herself from his grip, one of his large arms was across her throat and the other banded her stomach and while she had told him to not go easy on her, right now a part of her wished that she had not said that. Her whole body ached. This past hour had intensified and he had not held himself back so much so that when she went down, she was starting to go down hard. And it was taking it's toll.
"Come on Gina – remember where I told you to place your hands. It'll be reflex for me to let you go, but you have to hit the exact spot." She let out a small groan, unbidden and he immediately lightened his hold. "You wanna stop now? You're tired and you'll make mistakes soon. You've done good. We can do some more tomorrow."
Gina was aware that John had come into the room and was lounging against one wall. His eyes raked over her and had taken in her disheveled look and the tired posture of her body. Hell, Ronon had pushed her hard, but wasn't that what he wanted? Maybe, but not like this. She was just a little thing and still recovering from a head injury. He groaned. Idiot, he told himself. You don't think straight where she's concerned. Damn idiot. He pushed away from the wall, intent on breaking this up now and letting her rest – hell maybe getting her checked out by Carson. He certainly didn't need the scotsman on his case about mistreatment of his woman. Hell no.
He heard a grunt and a cry of pain and hastened his movements seeing that Gina was down on her back and not getting up immediately. Ronon had dropped to one knee beside her and glared at John as he moved in closer.
"She's all right Sheppard. Just winded. Damn it Gina, you lost concentration that time, let me take you down. You forgot everything I taught you about that move. If that had been a real battle situation you would be dead, a stun blast would have finished you off while you lay there." He offered a hand down and when she didn't take it he placed one hand around her chin to turn her face towards him. "Talk to me Gina. Are you hurt?"
She groaned. "My pride Ronon – just give me a minute to get my breath back and tell my body that yes, it still is in one piece. More or less." She rolled to her side groaning. "Ah crap... maybe not. Ronon – can we cheat a little next time and use mats. I don't think there's any part of me that doesn't have a bruise – of some sort."
Ronon helped her up and waited until she got her balance before letting her go. He picked up a couple of towels and tossing one to her, he went to leave but paused briefly. "You did good today Gina." and watched as a small smile lit her face. He could see what the Colonel saw in her. She was a tough one and a good person. His heart thawed a little as he let her in. Trust. A hard commodity for him to give up.
John stood close behind her and she felt soft fingers begin a gentle massage against her neck. She groaned and he moved closer. "Teyla has special herbal creams for bruising. Used them myself a few times... I'd be more than happy to take care of applying some cream... to your bruising...hmmm?"
In spite of her pain and her tiredness she laughed. "John – you think with one part of your anatomy and I'm guessing that's because the food here is so bad that getting to a man through his stomach is really not an issue here..."
"Yeah well... kinda hard to think with much else sometimes when I'm around you. It sort of has a mind of it's own."
"It certainly does John... fortunately, we're generally on the same wavelength, so perhaps I can be persuaded to allow you to...apply cream to bruised areas and perhaps a small afternoon nap wouldn't go amiss..." He softened his touch and brought his head down to nuzzle her neck and smiled.
"Your wish is my command...my lady."
"Good – because after that, I would like to go back to the mainland – no objections, no arguments. That is my wish. Got that Colonel John Sheppard."
And he saw the soft look in her eyes turn to steel and groaned. He had a monster on his hands. All soft sensual woman who melted at his touch, who could turn instantly into a hard soldier of fortune. But damned if that wasn't just a little bit sexy... and he would distract her for now with other things... and perhaps she would forget all about her little request...