007. Days; Solace
Title: Solace
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Amelia Banks, Ronon Dex
Prompt: 007 Days
Word Count: ~600
Rating: PG
Summary: Amelia reflects on the outcome that no one wanted to admit had the possibility of coming true.
Notes: LDT
*
Five days, 16 hours, 15 minutes and 5... 6 seconds since it had all ended for her. It had been five days since she had been told that she could never return to Earth again. Never see her father, her brothers, her friends, ever again.
And there was nothing she could do about it. That was the worst part. The total and undeniable fact that she had the inability to change what had happened or what will happen from now on.
Sure, others might have had it worse than her - others that have wives, husbands, children that are probably already dead or just a matter of time until they are.
Amelia had never thought herself a pessimistic woman but today she was. For today and the last five days they all were.
The only time when she could not be pulled back into the dark abyss that was when she was with the ‘aliens’ - if that’s what Teyla and Ronon could be called after more than five years in the service of Amelia’s expedition. Amelia had never thought of them as aliens but for the last days, she was glad of it. They were quieter, solemn even, of course, but they didn’t let it consume them as some of Amelia’s previous friends did.
That was why she never even said a word when the first day back she turned up at Ronon’s door. He didn’t either, just let her in and then sat with her for the next few hours, just holding her. His strong, protective arms were enough for her to feel she could let herself go. That was the first time she had cried since the return.
And this was why at this moment, she paused as she reached out to open his door. It was sunrise and she had to be at her post soon. She looked back as her hesitation lengthened. He was still lying on his bed, watching her. At her expression, whatever it was at that time, he sat up slowly and looked at her intently, as if waiting for something that not even Amelia knew was coming.
“Thank you,” She found herself saying. It didn’t even sound like her voice, as if she was disconnected from her body and her mind for those few seconds that she voiced her gratefulness. She didn’t think that thank you even covered what Ronon was doing for her but he seemed to understand. He nodded once but when Amelia didn’t move, her hand still outstretched to the activation crystals and her eyes looking over her shoulder, he stood from his position and crossed over to her.
Amelia was surprised to notice that he was so graceful in his actions as he stood in front of her. A warrior like him shouldn’t be graceful. But just like everything else about this man, it comforted her. This man, who had seen so much death and destruction, was no less a human for doing so. It brought her the solace that she didn’t think could exist after what she had witnessed on her home planet.
So, they had lost the battle. But as Ronon leaned down and gently brushed his lips across hers in the softest way that Amelia could think possible, she had the faintest glimmer of hope that maybe... just maybe, if love like this could exist, they hadn’t lost the war.
*