This one was for
elfbystarlight, who requested Ronon, something radically unexpected. Set during earlier S2.Ronon has his own room. It's not what he's used to, but he needs somewhere to sleep. He's trying not to make anyone around him uncomfortable, but he can't help it -- he's taller than almost everyone, and a better fighter. They can't help being nervous around him, a stranger, a runner, not even when this whole place is strange to them.
He goes from an awkward conversation with Doctor McKay back to his room, opening the door to find Sheppard inside and leaning against the wall. "Sheppard," Ronon says, nodding warily.
"Sorry to barge in on you like this," Sheppard says. "I was kind of hoping we could talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" Ronon asks. This visit is unexpected enough that he's unsure, thrown off balance. It's not a feeling he likes.
"Oh, you know. How things are going. How you're doing." Sheppard straightens up and walks toward him as the door closes, and Ronon reminds himself that he doesn't need to run anymore.
"I'm fine," Ronon says.
Sheppard tilts his head to one side. His eyes are kind, and that's another surprise. "I just figured it can't be easy, going from out there to in here."
"It's not," Ronon says, as Sheppard reaches out and rests a warm hand on his shoulder. "But I'm not complaining."
This one has slight spoilers for "Common Ground."
It all takes too much time: the debriefing, the examination by the doc. Ronon's twitchy to the point of making the people around him twitchy, and that makes him feel bad, and he doesn't like to feel bad, which is why he's not thinking about all of what happened.
He ends up pacing up and down the hallway outside the infirmary until Elizabeth comes out. She's pale but smiling, and that takes the twitchiness down a notch.
"He's fine," she says. Her lips curve into a smile that's thin, but so genuine that it lets Ronon relax a little bit more. There's something about Elizabeth that reminds him of home, of a time and place so far away that it's more like a dream than something that really belonged to him. "Better than fine."
"McKay said he looked younger than before," Ronon says, because repeating something someone else said means he doesn't have to use his own words.
"He does. Carson says there isn't a thing wrong with him." Elizabeth reaches out and touches Ronon's arm. She's one of the few people who'll touch him like that, almost casual but knowing that it isn't, and he appreciates it in ways he'd never be able to explain. "Go get some rest."
"I will."
But he doesn't. He leans against the wall and waits for Sheppard until the other man comes out of the infirmary. Sheppard's eyes are bright, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet like he's ready for an hour-long run. It makes Ronon want to hit him.
Still, "You look good," he says.
"I feel good," Sheppard says. "I feel great. Clean bill of health."
"Good." Ronon follows him to his quarters, and stops just outside the door even when Sheppard goes in. The other man turns and looks at him, head tilted to one side and one eyebrow lifted.
"You coming in?" Sheppard asks.
Ronon hesitates; it's not like him, sure, he knows that, but then again it's not every day that Sheppard gets captured and tortured and there's nothing he can do about it. "Yeah, I guess," he says finally, and goes through the doorway. The door closes behind him, shutting everything out, and that's when Ronon can breathe again. The air rasps in his throat and lungs, and his chest is tight, and his hands are clenched into fists that are somehow closed around the fabric of Sheppard's shirt, holding on.
"Easy," Sheppard says. They're sitting on the floor. Ronon doesn't remember how they got there, but Sheppard is warm and alive and that's what matters, his arms solid and reassuring when Ronon runs his hands over them more roughly than he should. "Hey, easy. It's okay. I'm fine."
"Yeah, I know."
It's only one of the things that Ronon knows, though, and another is that he's trapped now. He cares past the point where he can turn and walk away without another thought.
That scares him as much as running from the wraith ever did.