Fic: You Know You're No Better; John/Ronon/Evan
You Know You’re No Better
One-shot
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters or plots. I mean no infringement, this is for personal benefit only.
Fandom: SGA & Sentinel fusion
Pairing: John/Ronon, John/Ronon/Evan
Word count: 1,987
Rating: NC-17
Summary: John Sheppard is a Sentinel, Evan is his Guide, and Ronon is his Lover.
Warnings: Threesome, really terrible writing *nods*
Author’s Notes:
- If you lack any Sentinel knowledge here is a (very) brief primer: Sentinels have heightened senses, Guides help a sentinel so they don’t overload or zone out on a sense.
- Also, played with the timeline, sorry. Ronon arrived on Atlantis before Lorne and it doesn’t really matter when, as long as it’s in that order.
*****
The second Evan Lorne materialized on Atlantis, he felt it. He felt it deep down at his very core. There was a Sentinel here, a Sentinel in pain.
Then everything froze.
Evan had read about other Guides finding their Sentinels and how nothing existed except the two of them, but he’d always attributed it to a fairytale meeting. After all, Evan was in his thirties, way past the average age of bonding to a Sentinel. He’d been sad when he’d had to honestly admit to himself that he might never find his Sentinel. Guides outnumbered Sentinels 103 to 1 back on Earth. Evan just figured he was one of the unlucky ones.
But then it happened.
He was met with a pair of startled green-hazel eyes and the pain he could see in them was overwhelming. He reached out without thinking and the man’s hand met him halfway. His hand was warm and calloused and everything inside of Evan was crying out for him to help this man.
“My name is Evan Lorne,” Evan said gently.
“Guide,” the other man whispered.
Evan smiled. “Yes, I’m your Guide.”
“Guide,” he repeated. “My Guide.”
“Your Guide,” Evan agreed.
Then time seemed to speed back up and there was another man, much larger, hovering next to the Sentinel. Evan glanced at him and the man stared him down. “There a problem?” He asked Evan gruffly.
“No problem,” Evan said. “We should probably move somewhere more private.” He gently tried to pull his hand away but his Sentinel tightened his grip, as though he was afraid Evan would leave him.
“I know a place,” the taller man said.
So Evan followed them through Atlantis, barely taking note of the City around him, all of his attention was focused on his Sentinel. He was led into a room, obviously someone’s quarters, and the door slid shut behind him.
“John,” the gruff man said.
“John?” Evan repeated. “You’re name is John?”
“My Guide,” the other man said again.
Evan bit his lip. “Does he talk?” He asked, gesturing to John.
“Yes.”
“I’m, uh, Evan,” Evan introduced. “Evan Lorne.”
“Ronon Dex,” the man replied. He nodded in John’s direction. “John Sheppard.”
Evan blanched a little, despite the warm feelings racing through him. He’d just partially bonded to his CO. “Colonel Sheppard?”
Then Evan was pulled into a hug and John Sheppard was smelling him, and Evan was seriously glad he’d taken a shower on the Daedalus instead of waiting to get to Atlantis. He was a little uncomfortable, but there was nothing he would deny his Sentinel.
“What’s he doing?” Ronon asked.
“Imprinting,” Evan explained. “I’m his Guide. He’s imprinting on my smell right now, I’m fairly sure he already imprinted sight, possibly sound.”
“What’s imprinting?”
“You, uh, know he’s a Sentinel, right?” Evan asked.
“Yeah.”
“Do you know anything about Guides?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, so he’s imprinting on me so that I can help him with his own senses, he can focus on my smell rather than someone else’s, or my voice, rather than everyone else in the City’s.”
Ronon shifted and Evan couldn’t tell if he was uncomfortable or what. Evan was uncomfortable with Ronon witnessing their imprinting, but John didn’t seem to mind and Ronon had been helpful thus far. It was when John’s hands began tugging at his shirt, that Evan really had the problem with Ronon being there. The feeling seemed to be mutual.
“Are you gonna sleep with him?” Ronon asked bluntly.
Evan shook his head. “No, he just wants some skin on skin contact.”
Ronon eyed them. “I’ll wait outside.”
Then Evan’s shirt was off and so was John’s and John was pressed up against him. Evan carded a hand through John’s hair. “Feel like talking yet?”
“You smell nice.”
Evan chuckled. “Thanks.”
“Taste,” John murmured. He met Evan’s eyes and Evan nodded. John pressed his mouth to Evan’s and kissed him. It wasn’t really sexual at all, and Evan still had the overwhelming need to comfort John. John’s tongue slipped smoothly into Evan’s mouth and Evan let him explore.
When John pulled back, he seemed much more himself. His eyes focused on Evan’s face and his cheeks were flushed. John stepped away from him, keeping a hand on Evan’s waist. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Evan answered with a smile.
“I, uh… I’m just gonna pull Ronon in here and then we can talk,” John said. “If you don’t mind.”
“Who is he?” Evan asked. “To you?”
“Everything.”
*****
It took a while, but eventually things began to smooth out. Not all Sentinel/Guide relationships were sexual ones, and it was clear to Evan that his wouldn’t be. He wouldn’t deny wanting John, but John was head over heels in love with Ronon, and Evan could tell that the feeling was mutual.
Admittedly, being bonded to John Sheppard left very little time for a social life. Evan was sent to Atlantis as John’s XO, but he had to step down from that position when he bonded to John. He was with John several hours a day, every day. He went with John’s team off-world, stayed on base when John was on base, and was usually only a few minutes away from his Sentinel. It took some getting used to, and Evan devoted an hour each morning, before breakfast, to spending time with John, working on his senses. All of that, unfortunately, left him with little to no downtime.
John went home every night to Ronon and Evan went home to no one. The one date he’d had since coming to the Pegasus Galaxy had been interrupted when John had zoned on something in McKay’s lab.
Evan was lonely. He could sense John’s pain still, significantly decreased since their bonding, but more than that, he could sense John’s love for Ronon. He could sense how happy the other man made him.
He sighed deeply and turned on his side, drifting off to sleep.
*****
John was pliant on top of Ronon’s naked body, sated after sex. Ronon had pulled a blanket up over them and John was content to rest his head on Ronon’s heart, listening to the steady beats. Ronon’s hands were cupping his bottom, holding him in place.
John felt sadness trickle down his bond with Evan, and couldn’t help but think it was his fault. When he’d been younger, John had been determined to wait for his Sentinel, but as the years passed, he began to lost hope. When he found Ronon, suddenly things felt better. It wasn’t perfect, but some of that aching loneliness in him that cried out for a Guide was appeased.
Then he met Evan and everything got better.
“What’s wrong?” Ronon asked.
“Evan,” John whispered. “He’s sad.”
“Are you supposed to be with him?”
“No.” John shook his head slightly. “No, Ronon, I told you… not all Sentinel/Guide pairs are together.”
“But most are.”
“Many,” John countered.
“Will he find someone?”
John swallowed. “I don’t know.”
He knew that most pairs that weren’t together were at the behest of the Sentinel. John had known four Sentinel/Guide pairs that weren’t in a relationship, and all four of the Guides had been single. John wasn’t sure if it was by choice, if they felt they couldn’t be with anyone else, or if they were just too wrapped up in their Sentinel.
“John.”
“Yeah?”
“He should be here.”
“You should be here.”
“Room for both,” Ronon said.
John took a minute to process that. “Are you saying… what I think you’re saying?”
“Talk to him about it,” Ronon said in lieu of an answer.
“You sure?”
Ronon gently squeezed John’s butt cheeks. “Yeah.”
*****
“Is everything alright?” Evan asked, concerned. It was the fourth time in ten minutes that John had begun to zone. John was facing him as they sat on mats in small room they used for meditation and Sentinel training. It was clear there was something on his mind.
“I just…” John looked away with a slight blush on his cheeks. “Ronon said something last night…”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Evan prompted.
“Why don’t you date, Evan?” John asked, turning back to face him.
“I’ve only been here a few months, John--”
“You’ve been here almost seven months.”
“Seven?” Evan repeated. “Wow. I… yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I went on one with Dr. Moray, but it didn’t really go anywhere.”
“No one else catches your eye?” John pushed.
Evan shrugged and shook his head. “I guess not.”
“If I… if I wasn’t with Ronon,” John whispered. “Would you want to be with me?”
Evan felt something in his chest tighten. “Don’t ask me to answer that, John.”
“Ronon thinks you should join us.”
“Join you where?” As far as Evan knew he already went everywhere with them.
“In bed,” John said tightly.
Evan frowned. “I don’t--”
“I can feel how lonely you are,” John told him. “How sad. It’s hard knowing that’s my fault.”
Evan reached out and took John’s hands in his own. “It’s not your fault, Sentinel.”
“It is, Guide,” John returned. “I wanted to wait for you.”
“Ronon was there for you when I couldn’t be, and I’m grateful,” Evan told him. “I can’t take his place now.”
“You wouldn’t be taking his place, we’re making room.”
Evan looked down. “How would it work?”
“You would move in with us, be with us. I already love you, and with a few cookies, Ronon will love you, too.”
“A few cookies?”
“He’s easy like that,” John said with a smile. “We want this. We want you, Guide.”
“Yes,” Evan got out. “Okay, yes.”
*****
Adding Evan into their lives wasn’t as hard as John had thought it would be. Ronon said it was because he was already there, just without the sex benefits. John thought that was probably true, and that it really sucked for Evan.
John had never been with two people sexually at the same time. Apparently that hadn’t been true for either Ronon or Evan. John might have been waiting for his Guide, but Evan sure hadn’t been waiting for his Sentinel. Also, John was pretty sure that Evan and Ronon had talked about how it would go down before hand.
It went down something like this:
They were all on their knees, Evan in front of John, who was in front of Ronon. Pressing into Evan, feeling his Guide surround him, had been better than John had ever imagined. Evan’s scent was everywhere, his skin was sweaty and so available to touch. John’s senses were going crazy on his Guide, so much that when Ronon pushed into him, John barely registered it.
Evan had one of John’s hands in his own, and his head was tilted back against John’s shoulder. He was speaking in a low tone, and John wanted to lose himself in Evan’s voice. Everything about his was just so goddamned beautiful.
Ronon was holding John up, and really he was holding Evan up to, because John was sure he was absolutely useless right now--buried inside of Evan while Ronon was deep inside of him.
When Evan came, one word was on his lips, “Sentinel.”
That pushed John over the edge, “Guide,” pouring from his mouth. Ronon bit John’s shoulder and followed him, saying nothing at all.
There was a beat of awkwardness as they untangled themselves, and John went to get a rag to clean Evan and Ronon up. When he returned he found Evan asleep in Ronon’s embrace, the bigger man wrapped around him.
John gently wiped their bodies down and let Ronon pull him down into a kiss as he set the cloth aside. John slid onto the bed behind Evan, facing Ronon. “Thank you.”
Ronon’s smile reached his eyes. “Sentinel.”
“Lover,” John returned softly.
Evan shifted and mumbled, “Guide.”
John laughed softly and let Ronon pull a blanket up over them.
*****