A/N: Sorry yet again for the delay. I had quite a bit of writer's block and my life was crazy for a while there (I have a new puppy!), but I'm finally unblocked. Hooray! Thank you all for being patient and for sticking with me.

Hope you enjoy!

McKay's lab. Janus' personal belongings had to be in McKay's lab. She had visited the comatose Ancient in the infirmary just the day before, and noticed that nothing had been allowed to remain with him. What had happened with his more innocuous belongings, like his clothes and shoes, she didn't know. What she did know, however, was that Dr. McKay had been tasked with making sure that nothing he possessed at the time of their escape could transmit his location to the Wraith. That meant somewhere in McKay's lab lay the key to her return home.

She wondered if McKay even remembered the amulet. Thinking it just a vain extravagance, he probably gave it a quick once over to make sure it would cause no harm before casting it aside in favor of the no doubt countless more interesting gadgets Janus had carried on his person. But McKay wasn't a stupid man. Chances were, the mention of gemstones, sooner or later would jog his memory and lead him to the amulet likely still sitting on his desk. And then what? Knowing he had the answer to their problems in his possession, would he tell Emma? Or would he tell Woolsey? If he told Woolsey…would that sway his opinion about the risk and reward of a return mission to M5R-233, or would he try to confiscate the gem – simply remove the temptation – in an all-out effort to discourage them from going back there?

Standing alone inside the transporter, she weighed her options. McKay and Emma were colleagues, they worked well together, they even got along with each other whenever McKay was in a decent mood. But Woolsey was McKay's superior and under his direct orders to prioritize Eva's tracker above anything else. While McKay had his moments of insubordination, they were usually borne out of desperation. In this circumstance, though, Eva was the one who was desperate to go back home – not McKay. The odds were stacked in Woolsey's favor.

Eva glanced at the transporter screen and tapped the East Pier. To McKay's lab she would go.

She whipped around the corner toward the lab, but backtracked almost as quickly once she saw what was on the other side. Usually, if McKay or one of his assistants were in his lab, the doors were left open. But if no one was there, then the doors were often closed, accessible only to those who had a badge. She knew that running into a locked door would be a potential obstacle; what she hadn't expected was a guard to be standing there. What now?

As her heartrate returned to normal, the realization that the guard's presence might actually be a blessing in disguise slowly dawned on her. She poked her head around the corner again. He was a young marine, maybe a couple years over twenty, and probably new to the expedition. He was only lightly armed and, dangling from his belt in plain sight, was his access card. If she took him by surprise, she could probably get the drop on him and steal his badge.

But then what would she do with an unconscious marine in one of the busier areas of the city? What if he shouted or struggled? Someone would definitely see or hear them. There had to be an easier way.

Thinking quickly, she removed her jacket and hastily tossed it behind a potted plant. In an effort to look more professional, she took out both of her nose rings and shoved them into her pocket. She then removed the necklace her father had given her and balled it up in her fist. Lowering the zipper on the front of her shirt as a final touch, she rounded the corner and strode past the guard, pretending to be in a hurry. As she passed him, she let the necklace fall from her hand and onto the floor.

After a few short paces, the guard called out to her. "Ma'am?"

She smirked before turning around. Hook, line, and sinker. "Yes, Captain?" she replied with a smile.

"It's uh…it's actually just Lieutenant."

"Really?" she asked with a frown. "I could have sworn you were Captain," she took a quick glance at his lapel, "Williams."

He shook his head and tried to hide a sheepish smile. "No ma'am. Lieutenant Williams."

"How can I help you, Lieutenant?"

"You uh, you dropped this." He extended his arm, necklace in hand.

She gasped, eyes wide. "I did? Oh my goodness." Her fingers lightly grazed his palm as she took it from him. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost this."

He loosened his militaristic stance, stuck his thumbs through his belt loops and lifted the corner of his mouth in a half smile. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

She shrugged one of her shoulders and looked up at him from under heavy eyelashes. "I've only been here a couple weeks."

"Me too." He furrowed his brows with suspicion, causing her heart to skip.

"I...I know. Don't you remember?"

His eyes widened. "Remember what?"

"We were part of the same cohort that came through at the end of last month." She shook her head and cast a glance to the ground. "I can't say I'm surprised you don't recognize me, though. You men in uniform don't tend to remember people like me."

The features on his face softened from surprise to pity. "What do you mean people like you?"

"Oh, you know…us non-military people. Techs, scientists," she shrugged. "I'm one of Dr. McKay's new assistants."

"Well, I definitely won't be forgetting you after today…" He waited for her to supply her name.

"Eva."

"Eva," he repeated.

There was a moment of awkward silence, which Eva filled by intentionally fumbling with the chain of her necklace as she struggled to fasten it around her neck. "Damn thing," she muttered. "Do you mind?" She held the two ends of the necklace out to him.

He emitted an audible gulp. "No," he said, voice strained. "Not at all."

She handed him her necklace, stood close with her back to him, and swept all of her hair over her shoulder, baring the back of her neck. He draped the necklace over her and, with shaking hands, managed to clasp the ends together. Turning around, she resituated the pendant and watched as he worked to keep his eyes from following her fingers to her chest. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

"No trouble at all, ma'am."

He was actually quite cute and charming, she had to admit. A little something in her melted every time he called her "ma'am" – not "miss," not "kid" – "ma'am." Truth be told, she felt a bit guilty for trying to trick him until she reminded herself that he was likely pushing fifty in her own time, and some of that guilt was assuaged.

"So Eva," he started, "have you, um, have you ever been to one of those weekend movie nights in the mess hall?"

She shook her head.

"Well, they're pretty fun. There's one this Saturday night…if you think you might be interested in going."

"Going in general or going with you?" she clarified.

"With…with me."

She bit her lip. "I'd like that."

"Good." His face relaxed into a smile as he let out a breath he had apparently been holding. "I'll meet you there? How does…eight sound?"

"Eight sounds perfect. See you then, Lieutenant Williams."

"Josh," he corrected.

"Sorry - Josh." She pretended to leave but spun back around after just a few seconds. "Oh!" She touched his wrist. "You almost made me forget. Dr. McKay wanted me to grab his tablet from the lab for him."

He stepped aside as she made her way to the control panel and feigned a search through her pockets for her access card, her hand slowly tracing the curve of her backside as she pretended to feel for the card in her back pocket. Though she couldn't see the lieutenant from where she was standing, she could feel his eyes on her. "Hm," she murmured, "I must have left it in my jacket." She glanced back at him from over her shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to have your card, would you Josh?"

There were voices in the corridor that drew Ronon's attention as he made his way to the nearest transporter. Voices themselves in this part of the city weren't uncommon at all. Several labs were located here in the East Pier, as was the gym, even his own quarters. But the kinds of voices normally heard throughout this portion of Atlantis tended to be authoritative, business-like, occasionally boisterous. These voices, by contrast, were quiet…hushed, even. Curiosity piqued as to the owners of these voices, he peered around the corner to see a marine he didn't recognize – likely a new arrival – and Eva, who was standing close to him. Very close. No wonder they were keeping their voices low. As close as they were, whispers would have sufficed.

Something about the way they were interacting felt wrong; and as Eva lightly touched the man's arm and batted her doe-like eyelashes at him, a sudden yet inexplicable wave of both rage and nausea washed over Ronon. Was she flirting with the marine? Admittedly, he was handsome enough to catch her eye and young, too…but not young enough.

Just as the growing urge to barrel through the corridor and separate the two nearly took control of him, Eva turned to leave. Satisfied that he had been imagining their dalliance, Ronon nearly continued on his way, too, until he saw her double back to talk to the marine once more. He watched as she gathered her long chestnut hair to the side, a gesture that triggered a familiar yet murky, almost eerie sense of recognition in his mind, and he knew without a doubt that something was going on between them.

He took a step forward, but her next statement jolted him out of his thoughts as it echoed down the hallway.

"You wouldn't happen to have your card, would you Josh?"

And it all clicked. She wasn't flirting with the guard for the hell of it; she was trying to gain access to McKay's lab. Without hesitation, Ronon emerged from around the corner, causing the marine to immediately straighten his spine and stand at attention, and grabbed Eva by the back of her shirt as if it were the scruff of her neck.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, dragging her away from both the lab and its gullible guard.

Her seductive façade instantly dissolved as her face contorted into a scowl and she growled at him in frustration. She struggled to break free, but he held on tight.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the lieutenant shouted. "Let her go!"

"She's sixteen, you idiot. Next time a pretty girl tries to get into the place you're guarding, try thinking with your brain instead of your cock."

"You're gonna hurt her if you keep handling her like that!"

Ronon and Eva replied simultaneously.

"No, I won't!"

"No, he won't!"

They looked at one another in brief surprise before Ronon spoke once more to the marine. "She's a lot tougher than she looks, believe me." He pulled her into the next corridor and, once they were out of earshot, freed her from his grasp.

"Why is McKay's lab being guarded?" She tugged on the hem of her shirt to straighten it. "What's in there that you don't want other people seeing?"

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that? And zip that up," he barked, gesturing to her chest with his chin.

"Bite me!"

"The hell you think you're doing, anyway, tempting a guy like that? Parading yourself around like some kind of – of…" he searched for the right word, "skorda."

"Skorda?" A flame ignited within the depths of her gaze. "How dare you call me that! Notho!"

"Notho?" His surprise was enough for him to momentarily ignore the insult. "You speak Old Satedan?"

She bit back whatever argument she had intended to hurl at him. "A little." The ferocity returned to her eyes as quickly as it had left. "Enough to know what skorda means."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And notho, apparently."

"I know the essentials."

He might have laughed if he hadn't been so unsettled by what he had just seen.

"Look, that lieutenant is not that much older than me."

"He's at least twenty-two or twenty-three. That's six years difference!"

"So? You and Emma are five years apart!" she argued.

"And? How is that relevant?"

"You know exactly why that's relevant."

"For the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Rogers." As soon as he said it, he couldn't help but notice that his voice lacked the conviction it had when he had told Eva nearly the exact same thing several days ago. Sharing a bed, even for one short night, wasn't nothing.

"Oh, please. Quit lying to yourself."

"The point is, Eva, that he is a man and you are a child."

"I wasn't even being serious. I was just messing with him."

"Just because you know that, doesn't mean he does. What happens when you're ready to stop your little act, but he's not? What happens when he calls your bluff and gets hurt? Gets angry? Tries to make you fulfill empty promises you made in deceit?"

"I can take care of myself." The volume of her voice had dropped significantly.

"One-on-one against a Wraith, I would put all my bets on you," he said, to which she tried her best not to smile. "But defending yourself against a Wraith and defending yourself against a man…it's completely different."

"I've sparred with men before…"

"You know that sparring and defending yourself – truly defending yourself – aren't the same thing. There's a safety to sparring. You know your opponent will stop if you ask. Would a Wraith, bent on feeding relent if you asked?"

She shook her head.

"Then why do you think a man who wants something from you would?"

"Oh, come on. You're being a drama queen."

He quirked an eyebrow at the strange expression.

"That lieutenant was as polite and respectful as they come."

"Maybe. But after living with these people for four years, believe me when I say they aren't all like that. And based on what I just saw, I don't think that was your first attempt at a stunt like that."

Eva was finally rendered speechless and had trouble meeting his gaze.

Ronon closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "I'll ask you again. What were you doing trying to get into McKay's lab?"

She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows in a gesture of downright defiance. "What's in McKay's lab that needs guarding?"

"You think I know?"

"I think you know something I don't know."

"I know a lot of things you don't know, kid."

She rolled her eyes.

"The guard is there on Woolsey's orders," Ronon revealed.

"What kind of orders?"

"To keep anything that belongs to Janus under lock and key. It's advanced technology that even McKay doesn't fully understand and he doesn't want any of it going missing."

Eva bit the side of her cheek and looked away. It was the truth and she knew it; not the whole truth, probably, but he had told her what he knew.

"Look, I gotta go. Teyla and I going off world for the day. But don't think we're done talking about this."

She glanced back up at him.

"You're gonna come spar with me tonight."

"Why?"

"You're gonna spar with me so that I can find out the truth. I win, you tell me why you were going into McKay's lab."

She raised an eyebrow. "And if I win?"

"If you win, I talk to Sheppard. Try to convince him to make a case for returning to M5R-233."

Her eyes searched his and he could tell she was seriously considering his offer.

"You know it's a fair deal," he said before walking away.

"According to you…" she muttered.

"Gym. 7 tonight," he called over the sound of the transporter doors closing. "And make sure you're ready to confess!"

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! I had fun writing conservative, over-protective dad Ronon. Let me know what you thought! :)