Tegan's Point Of View:
Atlantis was a beautiful place with a copper coloured theme for most of its walls and terracota coloured floors, silver-blue parts of the wall jutted out with engravings that were lit up with white light. The inside had been decorated with potted plants dotted around in places and they'd turned on water features in a few corridors to give it a more homely and welcoming feel. The sparring room (as Rodney had called it) was an odd shaped room, with a large window on the right hand side that had a window seat you could sit on. The small panels around the window glowed orange and gold as the sunlight streamed in and hit them, also adding shadows to the wall features that were sticking out of the wall. There weren't any mats on the floor and juding by Ronon's size, it was really going to hurt if I hit the floor after one of his punches.
Admittedly I was still more than a little shocked at seeing Rodney here, and it was certainly an advantage for Ronon because I found myself shooting glances his way to double check if I had really seen him. He'd changed a lot. He was a little rounder around the middle than I remembered, as a teenager he'd been a scrawny little twig like boy with a head full of floppy brown hair and braces. Now however, his hair was left in a short cut but still floppy state, a lighter shade of brown though and he was taller than I remembered. His cheeks had a light rosy colour to them but he was still kind of pale. His eyes had stayed the same, still that pale shade of blue that almost looked grey. He had settled into the window seat talking quietly to Colonel Sheppard. I'd only known him for just about three hours now but he had made an impression on me for sure, he seemed more relaxed than most of my former CO's, more willing to lay off the heavy stuff and try to keep things light hearted, but to be where he was and to have the respect he commanded from a guy as big and wild looking as Ronon meant he had to be one hell of a leader.
Not to mention he was pretty damn good looking, with his well built, muscular frame and light tan complexion he was every inch the man that came to mind when you thought of a typical American. He was tall, with touseled black hair ontop of his head hanging over his forehead, where dark brows perched above stunning hazel eyes. Both were paying only half of their attention to the conversation, waiting for me and Ronon to get on with it it appeared. Ronon however, was huge. I was right when I said he was at least a foot taller than me, he was really muscular to (superseding every male officer I'd seen so far on Atlantis) with long dark brown dreadlocks he'd tied behind him. He was an almost half cast colour to me with dark brown eyes that scrutinised everything...in excruciating detail too I imagined. He appeared to be waiting for me and raised an eyebrow,
"You sure about this tiny? You can back out now if you want." he offered, his voice deep and gruff. I frowned. He barely knew me yet I already had a nickname that made me sound, well, weak. What was up with that?
Lifting my fists to my chest I stood with my legs hip width apart, ready for an attack.
"I told you, I'm not tiny, I'm five foot five's worth of thunder." I shot back with as menacing a glare as I could muster. He smirked a little before coming in hard and suprisingly fast for such a bulky man. Stepping quickly to the left I focused on blocking his attacks. Deflecting his powerful left hook and ducking to avoid his right jab, before spinning underneath his arm and bringing my leg up to kick him in the back. My arms felt a little stiff, so I chucked my leather jacket off to the left. I hadn't got a uniform yet so I'd come in my civillian clothing, a brown leather bomber jacket over the top of my black tanktop and dark skinny jeans, calf length leather boots on to add extra oomph when I went in for a kick. Ronon barely even stumbled, turning quickly and launching another assault on me, combining powerful jabs with heavy yet graceful kicks. Gritting my teeth as his fist ploughed into my ribs I doubled over, quickly realising I needed to be quicker. Ronon was fast, strong, unpredicatable.
But he was big, which meant although he was suprisingly quick to turn, he was a little slower than I was, being small and more petite had its perks. So I had to run rings around him, and I did. Leading him in a circle I danced around him, taking steps closer and then stepping back again, blocking his hits when he attacked and when I saw the opportunity I delivered blows of my own. They hardly had any effect on him though which left me with a dilema, if I wanted to last long enough to win I needed stamina, and my stamina would be quickly depleted if I kept up my fast defensive routine and combined it with the powerful attacks I would need to at least make him stumble. I couldn't hear Colonel Sheppard and Rodney talking anymore, I'd drowned everything out including the warmth of the sun on my back that was beginning to break out little beads of sweat all over my body. Ronon dropped suddenly and I jumped back to avoid his legs, using the time it took him to stand up to send my fist sailing into his jaw. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth and an almost feral look entered his eyes as he lunged forward.
Diving to the left I rolled back to my feet, quickly grabbing the foot he sent coming my way and pushing it so he stumbled, before lunging forward and pushing my hand into his solar plexus, staggering backwards he took deep breaths to regain control of his breathing while I advanced on him. Knowing he was winded he kept retreating. This time, I had him on the defensive and he knew it. The smirk on his face though told me he was enjoying this. My heart was beating furiously in my chest, my breathing ragged and sweat dripped down my face and soaked my shirt, making my clothes stick to me. Stray hair was plastered to my face and I was sure I looked a mess. As he recovered I sent a quick flurry of attacks his way, my fist aiming for his jaw. He blocked it. A split second later my leg had come up against his ribs (even doubled over he was only maybe a head shorter than me I guessed) but he blocked that to. Frustrated now and with adrenaline surging through me at an alarming speed, I faked a right hook and instead threw all my weight behind a left jab.
Finally a hit!
I thought as he fell back on his ass. His lip was split and bleeding, even his nose was bleeding a little and I felt kind of bad, I mean beating the crap out of my CO's team mate was hardly a way to get myself into his good graces was it? Taking a few steps back I relaxed my stance, hearing a low whistle behind me. However Ronon apparently wasn't done, and as my adrenaline faded he leapt up and tackled me to the floor. Managing to jostle him enough to slip free I rolled back into a crouch all set to spring to my feet when his fist made contact with my jaw, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth as I fell sideways, smashing my elbow off the floor and gritting my teeth against the ache that was sent through my arm due to the impact. Perhaps I should of stayed down, but I didn't feel like giving up and pushed myself to my feet, only just deflecting his foot and recieving another hard hit to the temple that sent me back to the floor and caused me to see stars. I could feel blood dribbling down the side of my head and heard Sheppard's voice telling Ronon to stop. The big man looked down at me with a smirk and held out a hand, breatheless I refused to take it and instead forced myself to my feet under my own steam. Props to me, I thought for standing on my own even if I was a little shaky.
I barely had the breath left to talk but somehow, I found the energy to nod at him,
"You're good." I panted. He cocked his head a little,
"Practice. Not to bad yourself." he grunted, breathing a little hard but not as breatheless as I was. "Need to work on taking down your opponent though, never give up until their unconcious, don't trust them not to attack while your backs turned." he added with a slight huff before turning away. My hand had whipped out and smacked the back of his head before I thought it through and when he whipped around I smirked back,
"Don't trust me not to attack while your backs turned." I repeated childishly. He smirked back a little and shook his head,
"Where'd you find her Rodney?" Sheppard asked sounding half amazed. Rodney chuckled a little and I was reminded vaugley of a time when we were both younger, and he had chuckled that same smug little chuckle when he had found he had once again got the highest test results in the class.
Turning I saw the woman from Woolsey's office had joined us at somepoint. Her brown hair was down, a tan leather trench coat on that made her tan skin seem even darker. She looked dressed to impress really. Her brown eyes evaluated me for a moment and she smiled softly,
"You are very good. Not many have ever put Ronon on the floor that way." she commented, her tone was soothing, calm, very authoritive I thought. I tested out my own bloody smile, literally. I still had blood in my mouth that I wiped on my hand,
"Thank you, Teyla isn't it?" I asked for confirmation, she nodded and sent me another gracious smile. Sheppard walked forward then pointing at my head,
"That's going to need stitches." His face was impassive, almost impossible to read though I could see the surprise in his eyes. I'd still had my ass kicked though, so I was unsure of why even Rodney looked so amazed.
"Hmm, I'm hungry, I'll see you in the mess hall." Rodney said quickly and backed from the room,
"Ronon and I must get to New Athos, we were due to leave fifteen minutes ago." Teyla said with a tone that suggested she was scolding the boys, Ronon huffed a little but nodded turning he gave Sheppard a slight wave and nodded my way,
"See you later Sheppard, Tiny." I sighed as he left. What a nickname, I thought.
Right now, I was still tasting blood and was in desperate need of some mouthwash, heck I could even smell that coppery smell you get with blood and I was sure I looked a mess. It was trickling in sluggish drops down the side of my head and dribbling from my lip. Sheppard turned and motioned me to follow him out of the room, I recognised some of the corridors and realised we were trooping back to the infirmary.
"Not many people last that long against Ronon." he said casually as the awkward silence grew between us, it was clear he didn't know what to say and neither did I, we barely knew each others names so what were we supposed to say? Looking up at him for a moment I frowned, before wincing and straightening out my brows when it hurt like hell.
"It wasn't that long Colonel Sheppard." My tone was modest, perhaps a little quiet. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and shrugged.
"Half an hour is a new record either way, you okay? No offense but I can't tell what part of your face is bleeding and which part of it isn't." I laughed a little easing some of the awkwardness there before the silence could consume us again.
"I'm fine thank you, believe me if your face was like this, you'd know where you were bleeding." I said while rolling my eyes a little. He nodded slightly, looking a little more relaxed as he watched the infirmary come into view. "What a way to start." I muttered shaking my head, only intending for myself to hear it, but Sheppard did and looked at me questioningly. "Just thinking out loud." I said quickly, looking away as he lead me inside and called for Doctor Keller. She came out, took one look at me and glared at the Colonel. The glare could only be described as deadly, and Sheppard seemed to shrink back almost. She gave off an irritated vibe and stalked over to her cupboard, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves with a snap and grabbing a sewing kit. Grimacing I tried not to flinch as she motioned for me to come forward and I sat on the bed, Sheppard's eyes flickered to the door and I could almost see his eagerness to leave, I was hardly surprised when you could practically see the steam pouring from the Doctor's ears.
"What did I say? I told him, I told him to wait a while and now look, your first day on base and I'm stitching you up! I swear to god if you can't keep Ronon-" I honestly felt bad for Sheppard as she ranted at him while stitching me, okay part of me was afraid that she'd slip and stab my eye because she was so distracted but for now instead I took in a breath and cleared my throat a little.
"Er Colonel Sheppard, sir...I know it's rude to ask but I think I left my jacket back in that room, could you get it for me please?" I asked. He went from looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar to looking so relieved he actually cracked a smile and nodded, hurrying out eagerly. Doctor Keller looked at me sternly as she began to stich my cut up, after cleaning the blood off of my face of course.
"He needed a good chewing out, him and Ronon never learn that I'm sick of stitching up his human punch bags. You shouldn't of given him the excuse to leave." her tone was so firm I had to lower my gaze in shame, she seemed so serious and I didn't want to get the tail end of her rage.
The whole infirmary smelled of antiseptic and it was beginning to burn my nose a little, they must have recently cleaned it because it wasn't this bad when I was in here earlier. Finally, five minutes later and she was done. We'd been stuck in a tense silence, the irritation had not stopped rippling from her when Sheppard walked in just a mere second later, my leather jacket in his hand. His smile however dropped when he saw Keller's 'I'm mad as hell and you know it' face. "She's good to go, no more sparring or training or whatever you want to call it for a few days, that goes for anyone because if I have to stitch one more marine or scientist that you let Ronon go at... I will kill you. I have the medicines to make it look like an accident too, do you understand me?" she asked demandingly. Swallowing a little he nodded and looked at me,
"Come on, I can show you to your quaters. Your stuff is already there and they dropped off your uniform for you too." he said as I stood and made my way over to him,taking my jacket as he handed it to me before following him out of the infirmary. The silence was just as awkward as before and this time neither of us spoke. I took a mental image of the corridors and twists and turns it took us to get there before finally, he slid his hand over the crystals on the wall and I watched in pure fascination as the copper coloured doors slid open to reveal a bland but nice looking room.
It was a decent size, not overly large but spacious enough, with a single bed that had the sheets and duvet folded ontop waiting for me to put them on. Even though it was a single bed it would probably fit another person in, even if it was a tight squeeze. There were semi circle lights sticking from the walls and a window that was maybe two persons wide stretching from floor to ceiling in the middle of the wall, with a long dark blue curtain dangling infront of it. It let in a large amount of natural light to illuminate the desk I had on the left hand side of the room, where a silver laptop was already sitting with what looked like handwritten instructions beside it to get me started. My duffel bags were on my bed to and there was a red rug stretched out in the middle of the room to give it a more homely feel. Smiling to myself as we stepped inside I looked to see the curved wall sticking out on the left, another control crystal panel on the wall beside it that Sheppard used to open the doors and reveal an ensuite bathroom, complete with toilet shower and sink of course.
Sheppard rubbed his hand across the back of his neck.
"If you prefer a bath you could swap I guess." he said, looking at me like he wanted to get out of here, like he didn't think it was acceptable to be standing in my room when he barely knew me. Mentally, I smiled. That was kinda cute. But outside I kept up my professional appearance and shook my head,
"No, a shower is fine thank you, I'm honestly not that picky." I assured him. Compared to his smooth American accent my British one sounded very prim and proper, but they mixed together nicely to create a melodic sound. Sheppard gestured to the uniform on the bed where I could also see a watch sitting there. That made a ghost of a smile cross my face, "Thank you for remembering the watch." I nodded at the item and he smiled a little,
"No problem, if you want to change then there's your uniform...that's your radio, just hook it over your ear and press it when you want to talk to someone. I'll er...leave you to straighten your room out...I think Rodney might want to see you later though, he'll either be in his lab or the mess hall." he informed me before leaving me alone in my new room.
Moving slowly, I pulled my new uniform through into the bathroom where I then spent a few minutes brushing my teeth to rid my mouth of the taste of blood. Before I grabbed my hairbrush from one of my bags and pulled my hair into a simple fishtail braid that went down my right shoulder. My uniform had a selection, so I could co-ordinate my uniforms according to colour and have a fresh one waiting for me after the week was out or if my clothes were dirty. I had two sets of fitted navy blue cargo pants, jackets with black patches on the shoulder and black t-shirts, or I could go down the black route like Sheppard had and wear either of my pair of black cargo pants and baggy jackets. I had two sets of leather boots to work with too and I pulled on one of my navy blue sets of uniform on, checking it out in the small bathroom mirror to double check it fitted well enough. Walking out and hooking my radio over my ear like Sheppard had said to I turned to my duffel bags, going through a slow and methodical process of putting away my belongings in the dresser I hadn't noticed before that sat back aginst the right hand side wall. It took me two hours or so, by which time it was almost time for dinner and my stomach was growling at me to go eat, but I had done it, my bags were stuffed under my bed, now empty apart from a few personal items I didn't want on display in my room.
The few photo's I had were mostly of me and old friends while we'd been on tour in Afghanistan, but I did have one of my home back in England. We had been (and I still technically was) a well off family and lived in a big fancy manor house with maids and stuff, the photo had me and my mom, standing outside the front of our home with the dog that had died when I was nine, called K-9 funnily enough. Dad had taken the picture I remembered but I had long ago abandoned that house, instead giving it to the maids that had worked there where they now lived together as the best of friends with their families the last I heard, although they had told me that there would always be a bed ready if I needed to come home. Shifting my weight to my right hip I gazed out of the window, wandering how different my life might have been if I hadn't come to Atlantis, would I be dead by now? Most certainly I was sure that I'd be severely injured.
So lost in my daydream was I that I jumped when my radio went off in my ear, that was going to take some getting used to I realised. Pressing my finger against the small button as Sheppard had told me to I hesitated at first before I said,
"Yes?"
"James, how quick can you get your ass back to Woolsey's office?" Sheppard asked, his voice filtering through the earpiece as I mulled it over. My gut told me I could find my way there again and as I so often did, I went with my instincts.
"Erm...maybe five minutes?" I guessed roughly, I heard Sheppard huff a little,
"Try and make it quicker. We'll be waiting." he said before ending the conversation and leaving me alone in silence. I frowned slightly, why would they want me there so soon? I'd only been here a day and I was already being called to Woolsey's office? Shaking my head I left, deciding it'd be best to get whatever this was over with and walking through the maze of corridors until I found a transporter and stepped in, pressing the button near the middle of the screen which I knew would be the control tower considering it was a birds eye view of a city schematic. Stepping out again I followed my gut once more until I stepped out into the gateroom, allowing myself a brief smile of triumph before turning to walk up the steps. If anything I knew I had good sense of direction and could track things pretty well thanks to my military training, and my gut instinct was hardly ever wrong. However right then, I prayed it was, because my gut was telling me that something was wrong and I was about to be dragged into it.