Building up for Romance chapter 2
Hours later, Ronon found himself up early and impatient. He was frustrated from watching Jennifer, dressed and looking amazingly, the previous night. Ronon felt his heart stop when he watched them retreat to her room.
Frustrated, he brightened when he had an idea. Their next training session… although they never set up a time or place, they agreed to do one or two while they were on Earth. Jumping up from bed, he quickly showered and made his way to her room.
Knocking on the door, he realized in the back of his mind that he may find Yardley in the room as well this morning, if his fears were true about last night. Gritting his teeth, he remained at the door. Growing more apprehensive, he waited several more minutes. Knocking again, he finally heard the locks disengage.
He didn’t know exactly what to expect, but he didn’t expect to see Jennifer, still in the clothes she slept in, with a scared, guarded look in her eyes.
“Ronon?” she asked, somewhat relieved. Although she checked in her peep hole before answering the door, she still didn’t understand why he was there.
“Hey,” he said. He glanced into her room and breathed a sigh that he didn’t hear or see Yardley from his line of vision. “I wondered if you were up for our second session today.”
Jennifer tried clearing her head. She barely got any sleep last night and kept imagining Yardley coming back to her door. Not wanting to be alone, she nodded.
“Do you mind waiting a few minutes for me to get ready?” she asked.
Ronon agreed. “Sure, how about I meet you downstairs?”
Jennifer stepped back into her room. “How about just waiting here,” she suggested. “You can watch TV while I grab a shower.”
Taken back, he walked into her room. He thought it was strange when she locked the door behind them, including pulling the chain across. Chalking it up to an Earth thing, he made his way to the chair next to her unmade bed. Tossing him the remote, she gathered a few clothing items and hurried into the bathroom. Hearing the shower and some sort of loud fan turn on, Ronon settled and explored the channels for something interesting to watch.
He heard her step into the shower. Shortly afterward, a light knock sounded at her door. He walked to get it. Struggling with the locks, he opened the door to find a surprised look on Major Yardley’s face.
“Ronon?” he frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for Jennfer,” Ronon said, using her first name deliberately, something he hadn’t done in front of her yet. He never did like Yardley, and that feeling intensified since he was Jennifer’s date last night.
A shadow crossed Yardley’s face. He looked angry. Searching Ronon’s face, he decided to feel the man out. He wasn’t sure if she had reported his actions last night to anyone.
“Look, Ronon,” he began. “I’m not sure if Dr. Keller told you, but we had a little disagreement last night. I just wanted to come by and apologize to her.”
Ronon stepped back, not budging from the room. “She’s showering,” he said. “But you’re free to wait.”
Frustrated that the man wouldn’t leave the room, Yardley glared at him. “Nevermind. I’ll see her later.” The major turned to leave.
Ronon walked back into the room and shut the door. Wondering what the two, who barely knew each other, could have fought about after leaving the party last night, he walked back to the chair. Hearing the shower turn off, he sat back down and pretended to watch whatever news channel was on. His eyes strayed around the room. Clothing fell on him as he shifted in the chair. Recognizing her dress from last night, he picked it up and laid it on the bed. Frowning, he noticed that one strap appeared longer than the other. No, he realized. Ripped.
His mind started to connect things. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, he waited for her to reappear from the shower. The door opened, letting out a burst of steam and a sweet smelling fragrance into the room. She had brushed back her hair into a neat French braid, and was wearing black running pants and a white tank top. Carrying a sweatshirt over her arm, probably because she was still hot from the shower, he looked at her while setting down the dress.
“Someone stopped by just now,” he began, watching her reaction. “Major Yardley just left.”
Jennifer dropped the sweatshirt and paled.
Ronon jumped up and walked to her. “You have ten seconds to tell me what happened last night.”
She avoided his gaze and picked up the sweatshirt. “Nothing. We just had a disagreement.”
Ronon lifted her chin to meet her gaze. Frowning, he noticed that her neck had smudges of what looked like skin colored makeup on it. Thinking it was strange that she didn’t have makeup on her face, he picked up the damp towel out of her other hand and wiped it off. She winced in pain. Enraged, he saw the bruising that was already forming on her neck. Scanning her face and arms, he spotted more bruising on her wrists.
“Did he do this to you?” Ronon growled. “And what about the strap ripped from your dress?”
Defeated, she looked up at him. Not saying anything but confirming by her silence, the tears began to flow down her cheek.
Ronon, torn between running out of the room and killing Yardley to comforting her, gently sat her down on the bed.
“Did he… hurt you?” Ronon couldn’t bear to ask what was on his mind.
Jennifer shook her head. “I was able to get away from him before he got into the room. I’m just so embarrassed. I can’t believe it happened to me.” Turning, she gave him a pleading look. “Please, Ronon, don’t tell anyone. I’ll tell you everything, but I don’t want anyone to know.”
Ronon sprang up and paced the room. “Tell me a reason why you didn’t call someone… Major Sheppard, at the very least.”
Wiping her face, Jennifer shook her head. “You don’t understand. This happens to many women on Earth, but many other women lie about it and make things up. Now, people never believe a woman when it really does happen because of so many people lying about it. Besides, I don’t want anyone to know. I’m supposed to be the leader of medicine on Atlantis. It will make me look incompetent.”
Turning to face her, he looked at her, clearly disapproving of her reasons. “I’m not going to force you to report this, but you need to rethink this. You may have to work with him again. What if he is permanently transferred to Atlantis? Are you going to barricade yourself in your room with ten locks on your door every night?”
Shivering at the thought, she looked out the window. Sighing, Ronon walked up to her and helped her to her feet. “Ok, Jennifer,” he said, using her first name for the first time. “It’s your choice. Let’s get you out of this room. We won’t train today… we’ll just go for a run outside.”
Thanking him, she followed him to the door.
A few hours later after dropping Jennifer back to her room, Ronon hunted Yardley down. He had promised not to tell anyone about the incident, but he hadn’t promised not to kill Yardley. No, he wouldn’t kill him. Just mess up that pretty face of his.
Discovering him in the fancy restaurant downstairs, Ronon ignored the military personal at the door who was seeing people to their tables. Passing by familiar faces, including Sheppard’s, he ignored everyone until he came to Yardley’s table.
“Ronon,” he said, a little nervously.
Ronon yanked the man by his shirt and all but dragged him out of the room to the restroom. Sheppard, eying his raging friend, quickly moved to follow them. Luckily, no one else seemed to notice the tension building in Ronon except for the two men who were sitting at Yardley’s table and Sheppard, and went about finishing their breakfast. Yardley’s friends, two steps behind Sheppard, also followed Ronon and Yardley into the bathroom.
Ronon, once he got Yardley into the room, slammed the man hard against the wall.
“Did you think you would get away with it?” Ronon seethed. “Just because she’s not planning on telling anyone doesn’t mean I can’t kill you right now.”
Paling, Yardley tried to call for help. Raging, Ronon landed a hard punch to the man’s stomach, then came back with an uppercut and broke Yardley’s nose instantly. Blood sprayed everywhere. Hearing people enter the bathroom and yelling Ronon’s name, he gathered all his strength and planted a lunging knee into his groin. Whimpering, Yardley sank to the floor.
Sheppard, pulling Ronon off of Yardley, began shouting at Ronon to stop. Ronon, satisfied, complacently let Sheppard lead him out of the bathroom while Yardley’s friends went to help the man.
Shouting orders to get medical personal to the men’s bathroom, Sheppard shoved Ronon down the hallway and led Ronon to his room. Calling Col. Carter and informing her they had a situation in his room, he glared at Ronon.
“What,” he began, “was that all about? You almost killed that man back there.”
Ronon flexed his hand, which appeared to be sore from one of the punches he landed on Yardley. Satisfied nothing was broken, Ronon just looked at Sheppard. “Ask Yardley.”
Sheppard, flying out of his chair and knocking it down, grabbed Ronon’s shirt into his hands and attempted to yank him up. “No, Ronon, you need to do better than that. I don’t think you understand what’s about to happen. They may kick you out of Atlantis for this.”
Ronon, now thinking about the repercussions of his actions, looked away as Col. Carter entered the room.
Carter, calmer than Sheppard, pulled up a chair across from Ronon. She waited a few beats until he looked at her. “I just came from watching an ambulance take Major Yardley to the hospital,” she said quietly. “He didn’t respond when I asked him what the altercation was about.”
Ronon shifted, struggling to avoid her eyes. He highly respected both leaders who were waiting for him to answer their questions. Deciding, he looked up at both of them.
“Look,” he said. “I can’t tell you everything. That’s up to someone else. But I can tell you this. Last night, Major Yardley tried to force himself on to a woman.”
Both Sheppard and Carter looked shocked at the admission Ronon just made.
“Who?” Carter said, this time clearly angry.
Ronon met her eyes. “I gave my word not to tell. The woman is terrified right now that others will find out.”
Carter, still angry, nodded. “I think I understand her situation. I had a friend who had something similar happen. But this woman needs to realize that if she doesn’t report this, it will happen again.”
Agreeing, he looked up. “I can try and talk to her again.”
Sheppard looked at Carter. “Ronon, as of right now, you’re to be confined to this room with guards at the door until we can clear you of charges Yardley will probably press.”
Carter shifted to sit on the bed with her hands rubbing her forehead. Sighing, she got up. “For what it’s worth,” she began. “And off the record… nicely done.”
His mouth twitched as she patted his shoulder.
Jennifer ran to Major Sheppard’s room after receiving a call there had been a medical emergency and one man had been taken to the hospital. They didn’t give her specifics other than to check in with Sheppard.
Confused by the guards at the door, she tried to get by to knock.
“Sorry, doctor, this room is not to be disturbed.”
Jennifer glared at him. “I was told to report here.”
One of them knocked on the door and entered the room. Jennifer couldn’t tell how many people were inside but could hear Carter’s voice.
“Yes, let her come in. I need her to take a look at his hand.” Carter said.
Jennifer pushed her way in and was shocked to see Ronon, with dried blood covering his chest, massaging his hand while Carter and Sheppard looked up at her.
“What happened?” she asked. Slowly, she began to fear the worst. When she looked into Ronon’s eyes, he held her gaze and confirmed her fears.
“Well,” Sheppard said dryly. “Our boy Ronon got into a fight at school today, doc.”
Carter rolled her eyes. “Doctor, please take a look and see if he broke anything in his hand.”
Jennifer nodded, approaching Ronon. She knelt beside him as Carter and Sheppard began talking to each other.
“Ronon,” she whispered. “What did you do?”
Ronon looked down at her. “Knocked some sense into Yardley after breakfast. Don’t worry, he’ll live.”
She began checking his fingers for broken bones. “Why did you do that?”
He looked into her eyes. “I can’t stand the fear he put into you. I can’t stand knowing what he did to you.”
Sighing, Jennifer completed examining him. “Is that all his blood?”
Ronon nodded. He noticed Sheppard and Carter had stopped talking and were both looking strangely at the exchange between Jennifer and himself. Whispering, he pleaded with his eyes. “Jen, this is your chance. If you’re going to be brave, now is the time.”
She looked back at him. Sometime after their run, she came to the decision that she did need to report Yardley. But it didn’t make her less afraid of what the reactions would be. Turning, she got up and stood by Ronon’s side.
“Doctor?” Carter said, confused.
“Major. Colonel. I need to report an incident involving myself and Major Yardley last night after the party.”
Both Sheppard and Carter’s eyes widened. “It was you?”
Jennifer, giving Ronon a curious glance, asked “how much do they know?”
Ronon said “Not much, other than he attacked someone last night.”
Sinking onto the bed, Jennifer recounted what happened, making sure to clearly remember all of the details. Ronon jumped in only once to point out the bruises on her body.
“Sheppard, get a camera out,” Carter said, pulling Jennifer into the bathroom. Closing the door behind them, Carter turned on the lights and had Jennifer take off her shirt, leaving only a tank top on her body. She snapped pictures of her bruised neck as well as the ugly purple mass of bruises on her arm. “Is there more?” Carter asked softly.
Jennifer nodded and turned. She discovered a few new ones after showering again after their run trailing down her back.
“He didn’t force himself into your room, right?” Carter asked without asking coming out to ask if he did more than bruise her.
Jennifer shook her head.
Once they were done, Jennifer pulled her shirt back on and followed Carter back into the bedroom. She noticed that Sheppard was being incredibly quiet.
“Look,” she began. “I know that this thing is reported often. And I know it’s his word against mine.”
Sheppard whipped his neck to face her. “Don’t even go there, doc,” he said. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to handle this.” Sheppard paced. “I feel responsible. Major Yardley has been in my command several times. I never quite liked the man but he never gave me a solid reason to yank him off my team. Just know I believe every word you just said. I’m just having a hard time believing I didn’t see this coming. He never acted right around women, but I never would have thought this would happen.”
Carter stood in the middle of the room. “Everyone needs to understand that this was no one’s fault except Yardley’s. Especially you, Jennifer.” Carter sat beside her. “Nothing you did could have warranted those actions.”
Jennifer nodded. “It’s funny. Until it happens to you, you always think it’s stupid that women blame themselves. The first thing I thought was that I may have led him on, but I know I didn’t. I actually had a horrible time with him last night and only agreed to go because he asked me.”
Sheppard tried to ease the tension in the room. “Well, next time you go on a date, we’ll have Ronon be your chaperone,” he joked, but noticed that Ronon wasn’t laughing. Wondering if something was there other than friendship, Sheppard filed that away in his head to ask him later. Tired, Jennifer asked permission to leave the room to get more sleep before lunch.
An idea formed in his head. “Wait a minute,” Sheppard said after she left. “Call security, colonel. I know this hotel prides itself on security for its guests. I believe each floor has several camera’s throughout the hallway. Let’s see if we can use that.”
Sure enough, the tapes were brought up immediately. Colonel popped in the tapes and security pinpointed, with Ronon’s help, the time that Jennifer and Yardley left the reception hall.
Sheppard noticed Ronon’s reaction as the tape clearly caught everything that Jennifer had said. “Are you handling this ok, buddy?”
Ronon gritted his teeth. “Should have killed him,” he said without apology.
The news of Ronon and Yardley’s fight spread quickly throughout the hotel. Rumors were kept to a minimum, but the consensus was that Ronon didn’t like Yardley’s attitude towards him being an outsider and not from Earth. Carter and Sheppard both filed charges against Yardley but kept the document sealed for only necessary personal to see. Grateful, Jennifer was happy that no one had found out yet. News had gotten back to her that Yardley pleaded guilty and was immediately transferred out of Stargate command.
Meanwhile, the Atlantis crew packed up for their journey back. Gathering up courage, Jennifer sat next to Ronon on the way home. Since all charges were cleared from him since Yardley declined to file any of his own, he was not in jeopardy of losing his place on the Atlantian team.
“Ronon,” she said. “I just wanted to thank you for your help. With everything. I don’t think I could have got through all of this without you.”
Ronon nodded, not wanting to think about what happened on that tape anymore.
Jennifer hesitated. “Ronon, would you mind continuing your training with me? Now more than ever, I feel like I have a lot to learn.”
Ronon grinned. “It looks like your knee maneuver is right on.”
Laughing for the first time about the ugly event, she leaned back and relaxed. “Yeah, well, I’m not about to place myself in a situation like that again anytime soon. I’ve sworn off men,” she said. “Well, except you.”
Ronon almost choked at her words. Not noticing, she continued. “But I don’t want you to take up your time when I’m not offering you anything in return.” Ronon continued to find it hard to breathe with every word she spoke. Oblivious, she continued. “So, what can I give you in return for all of the lessons?”
Trying to get it together, he struggled to not say what was on his mind. Thinking, he quickly came up with an idea. “First aid,” he said. “You’re not always with us and either Sheppard or myself always get injured. Teach me the basics and we’ll call it even.”
Surprised but pleased, Jennifer agreed. They set up their first training session and first aid training the day they would arrive back to Atlantis.