CHAPTER 32 – A STORY TO WRITE

With wakefulness came a moment of panic. He was alone in the bed. Had she run again? Damn... would she always be one step ahead of me, looking back at the life she had..?"

A small sound had him rolling over and a relieved smile came to his face. Not alone. Her small figure was hunched slightly over his laptop which she had set up on the small table near the other side of the room. The early morning sun had crept across the balcony and allowed questing fingers to reach into the room and one particular band of warmth seemed determined to hold her in it's insistent grip. She glowed in that early morning light, her hair a mess of riotious curls that had been tumbled haphazardly on top of her head and her face held an intense expression as her fingers flew over the keyboard with relentless speed.

She didn't acknowledge him when he pushed himself out of bed, reaching for his shorts on the ground and stretching a little to ease out some of those incessant kinks, he ambled to the other side of the room, still not talking, and leaned in behind her, dropping a light kiss on the back of her neck and reaching over to read the words on her screen.

He winced slightly. Her skill with words was comparable to the quality of the photos she took. Honest to the point of brutality, she had painted a picture of what she had seen out here so far, with startling clarity. It was all there in black and white, and as he continued reading, he knew why they had chosen her to do this job. This expose. Her skill was formidable and believable. If this was published, they'd have commercial companies lining up to be the ones to mass products ships such as the Prometheus but what would be longer? The lines of people who would pay a million dollars or more, to step onto those ships. Life as they knew it on earth, would change in a heartbeat.

"So...?" Her voice held an amused quality, but her eyes were still on the screen in front of her as word after word rippled across it.

"So... my delectable little writer... this is what that group are after? Or is this your own slant on things? Somehow, this puts things in our favour, not theirs."

"My intention, Colonel Sheppard. You like?"

His mouth moved around, dropping small kisses around her neck and up to her cheek. "Mmmmm... I like..."

She giggled, squirming a little. "I'm working..."

Sighing a little, he pulled away and grabbed some clothes. "I'll at least get some caffeine and food into you. Anything in particular you want me to bring back?" He waited at the door hopefully, and when she didn't answer straight away, he turned back to the door about to open it.

He didn't get that far. He felt her small arms wrap around him and a soft body pull itself against his back. Turning with a smile on his face, he pulled her into his arms, wrapping them tight around her for a brief hug.

"Morning... John." Cheekily she raised her eyes to his and he saw the humour glinting there and growling slightly, he dropped his head and ground his lips hard enough against hers to bring a delighted gasp from her. He walked her back towards the bed, pushing her down onto it – her gasp turning to laughter as she held out her arms to him and he dropped down lightly onto the bed beside her, burying his lips in her neck.

"Morning... sweetheart..." and she giggled as his hands found the same places that had brought her so much pleasure last night.

She accompanied him to the mess in the end. Closing the laptop, he noted with amusement that she had somehow managed to appropriate it and mentally filed a request to Sam to order a new one. For her. A shower had tamed that mess of curls, and now they sat in more or less relative harmony down her back in long auburn waves. He couldn't resist tugging on one as she moved past him in the doorway, heading into the mess.

Without asking she made a beeline for the table where the rest of his team sat. Rodney, a tray full of food and a mouth as equally full. Attempting to speak around said full mouth. She simply waved at him, indicating that he should continue eating, and he needed no further encouragement. Ronon raised a questioning eyebrow at them, took in the glow that lit Nicole's face and waggled the eyebrow in John's direction. John moved off toward the coffee, chosing not to say anything, but did slap the big Satedan on the shoulder as he walked past. Hard.

Teyla's eyes were warm and it was she who gestured to the chair beside her and gratefully, Nicole pulled it out and sat down beside the Athosian.

"You do not appear to be suffering too much from your ordeal yesterday. An encounter with a wraith is not a pleasant experience and I know of many who would be in a far worse condition today."

"I come from tough stock Teyla. Yeah, it was not so pleasant... those guys? Ughhh... let's just say the story I'm writing? Is pretty much writing itself. As John will attest."

"So... you've been writing?" Ronon's tone was derisive. He knew that it was more than passion for her work that had put that glow there.

"I have, Ronon. Why? Is there something else you think I should be doing?" Her tone was slightly acid and he laughed. This little thing could give as good as she would get and he earned a dark look from Sheppard who had come back to the table with two cups of coffee, placing one on the table in front of Nicole. Her eyes over the rim of her cup with sparkling with a little fire and he mentally debated leaving Ronon to her acerbic tongue knowing that she could well take care of herself in that department.

"Writing... Ronon. Yeah. On my laptop. In my room. Got that?"

"Loud and clear Sheppard!" He grinned and turned his attention back to his own breakfast. A heaped plate of bacon and eggs – an earth meal that he had taken to as soon as he had arrived in Atlantis. In fact, John thought it might have been one of the considerations in making Ronon stay in this city. That, and the fact that he had no where else to go. His homeworld of Sateda had been destroyed by the wraith over a year ago and they had found him on a planet running from the wraith with a tracking device in his back, used by the wraith as bait for hunting. They had removed the tracking device, earning this trust of a man who did not trust easily. The food in Atlantis? That was the deciding factor...

"So Sheppard. Plans for the day? Mission?" Ronon finished his plate and wiped his hand across his mouth. He had yet to develop manners as would be considered necessary on earth in what was deemed to be polite company, and ate the way his people had eaten for centuries. Mostly with his hands. John took his as he found him. He had befriended Ronon from the very first, and they now had a formidable bond that would not be broken easily.

"John?" Sam stood at their table looking down at the group and their easy comraderie. "There's been a development. Robert's been called back to earth for a meeting. He received an encoded communique this morning and if he doesn't go, they'll know he's been compromised and those people on his list will start to fall down like a house of cards. We need to let him go back."

"We need to trust him..." John's voice was pensive. "Can we do that?"

"It's my call John, ultimately. But I want your take on it." Sam pulled out a chair from a neighbouring table and slotted it at the end of their section.

"It's a case of damned if we do and damned if we don't. No choice really. I trust him, as much I trust anyone that comes to us with a story that'll blow life as we know it out of the water. With a large grain of salt. Can we send someone with him?"

"Well heres the kicker John... and you're not going to like this very much. Amend that. You're not going to like this at all."

"Spill it Sam..." John's face had darkened considerably and he placed the coffee cup down on the table. Hard.

"They've told him to bring Nicole with him to the meeting. They want a face to face with her. He thinks they're worried he's not...handling... her. I think they want to reinforce their message."

Of it's own accord, John's hand swept the coffee cup off the table, the noise of it shattering on the floor suddenly loud in the mess. Silence followed and looking around, Sam saw that all eyes were upon them.

"John..." she murmured. "We need to take this to my office. Don't do this here."

One of the kitchen staff had come out with a brush and shovel and had quickly cleaned up the mess and John squeezed his fist, attempting to show some sense of normality until they could move this to a more private location. He gave the man a tight smile and pushing his chair back, signalled to the others that breakfast was over. Rodney took a last sip of coffee and cast an aggrieved face at his half full plate.

"Why can't you at least do these things when it is not a mealtime, Sheppard. You're spoiling one of the few pleasures for me here in Atlantis. Free food."

John's glance at him had his words drying quickly in his throat, and it was with more than his usual speed that he pushed back his chair and quickly took his tray to the disposal area. It was Teyla who had the foresight to pick up two muffins to go for John and Nicole, knowing that they had not eaten yet and the somber group left the mess, amid curious glances from the others who had attempted to return to their meals after the interuption. It was obvious to everyone on the base that something was going down.