fic: Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eight [PG-13]
TITLE: Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eight
SUMMARY: The worst thing was that even with the hesitation, she didn't know if he was lying or not.
CATEGORY: crackfic, shermer_high AU
RATING: PG-13
NOTES: It may be a while before the next part comes out. Thanks to snoggingpicard for the new icon!
Part Seven
Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eight
Luckily, when they got out of John's car, it seemed that it was just her parents, no clients or guests. That was one less thing to worry about anyway.
"Elizabeth?" Her father stood up as the people began coming in. "I see you've brought a few friends over." There was an implied censure to his voice, and she opened her mouth to explain.
"Hey, Michael," John said, sunnily. "Hi, Megan!"
"John!" Elizabeth's mom called from the kitchen, poking her head out. "How'd your game go?" Then she saw all the people in her living room and paused on all the people. "Rodney, Teyla, Carson, Ronon..." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Ronon before she nodded at Mark, Aiden and Laura and turned back to her daughter.
"Elizabeth? Is there a party on or something?"
"Uh, not quite, mom..."
"What happened to your face?" Her mom came out and set down the glasses of wine she'd been bringing out. Sharp eyes studied Elizabeth's face, particularly the aching cheekbone. "Have you been in a fight?"
"Not exactly," she began.
"Some gang members attacked her outside the coffee shop," John said, interrupting her explanation. She glared at him. Of all the lame explanations, he'd picked the one most likely to get her into big trouble.
Her father turned as he closed the door behind Ronon, alarmed. "Gang members?"
"Nothing so bad as that," Rodney said hastily. "Some former students of a rival school holding a grudge."
"Against Liz?"
Oh God, this was going from bad to worse. "I'll explain later," she said. "We'll be in the upstairs den."
Her father's expression darkened and he opened his mouth to say something to the effect of, 'You're not leaving here without an explanation, young lady!'
Thankfully, her mother interrupted. "Do you want an ice pack for that cheekbone?" She glanced around the group and her gaze lighted on Mark. "And you'll probably want something for that eye."
"Uh..." Mark glanced at Elizabeth, and she saw the slightly swollen flesh beside his eye. She nodded and he turned back to her mom. "Yes, please, Mrs. Weir."
"Elizabeth?"
"Mom?"
"Rodney or John can show them to the upstairs den," her mom said. "I would like you to carry some refreshments up."
Which meant she was going to get a grilling.
Ronon hesitated as the others headed off to the den. "Need help?"
She appreciated the offer. It was thoughtful of him, but his presence was not going to help either her parents' curiosity or her own state of mind. "No. You go up. I'll be up in a minute."
Her father closed the kitchen door behind him as he followed Elizabeth in. "So," he said, his voice casual but his eyes hard. "Gangs?"
"Dad, it's not what it seems," she said, busying herself collecting glasses for drinks so she didn't have to meet his gaze. "They've been making threats at us for a while--"
"Us?"
"John, mostly," she said, shuffling glasses across the tray. A glance at her parents showed them exchanging a look. "Look, Mom, Dad, this guy called Kolya started a vendetta with John. I got caught up in that, and so did Ronon, Rodney and the others. It's just...shit."
"Elizabeth!"
"Well, it is," she insisted, ignoring the reprimand. "Look, it's nothing to worry about."
Her mother put two cold packs down on the tray. "You come home with bruises - and bringing friends with bruises - tell us you've been in a fight, and you expect us not to worry?"
Put that way, it sounded a little far-fetched. Elizabeth sighed as she pulled out the jugs of iced tea and lemonade. "Can you at least not ground me or something? The Founder's Dance is coming up..."
Her parents exchanged a look. "Who are you going with?" Her father asked.
"Ronon."
Another look. "Not John?"
Elizabeth bit back an expletive. She was never going to live this down - not at school, not at home, not among her friends... "John's dating someone else," she said. "I'm going with Ronon."
So maybe she said it a little more fiercely than she needed to, because her parents exchanged another of those looks.
"Okay," her father said, holding up his hands. "But if anything more happens with this gang, then I want you to tell us. If they're roaming around targeting high school students then your principal should at least know what's going on."
She wasn't so sure that there was anything that could be done about Kolya and his gang, but she agreed to it to get them off her back. At least for the moment.
When she got to the upstairs den with the tray, Rodney was speaking.
"...not going to be much help if they start targeting other people who hang around you!"
Elizabeth set down the tray and began pouring drinks as John swivelled in the computer chair and mocked, "Worried about your safety, Rodney?"
Teyla was perched on the desk, between John on the chair and Mark leaning against the desk. She casually reached over and smacked John on the shoulder. Elizabeth hid a grin as John glared at Teyla. But he turned back to Rodney. "Look, you don't have anything to worry about. Kolya's not going to come after you."
"After tonight, I don't know if that can be said," Carson murmured. "I don't know Kolya, but I've heard of him, and the guy doesn't seem like the kind to forgive and forget."
"Ah, see, I told you that getting involved was bad!"
"Yeah, and watching Kolya and his goons beat up Liz and Mark would have been worse," retorted Laura, hopping up from her place next to Carson and helping Elizabeth with the drinks. Elizabeth handed her the ice-pack indicating Mark and his eye. She'd put a pack on her cheek when she'd finished serving everyone.
Rodney scowled at Laura's comment. "I wouldn't have left them to be beaten up!" He accepted the iced tea that Elizabeth gave him. "No lemon, right?" Her exasperated look shut him up and he sipped it cautiously at first, then with a greater thirst.
"Is there anything that can be done about Kolya and his gang?" Ronon interrupted. His faint lean on the verb made it clear that he wasn't willing to just sit and discuss the situation.
"Well, we can't report them," Aiden Ford said bluntly as Laura and Elizabeth handed out the drinks and she placed the cookies on a footstool. "They're not criminals..."
"Yet," John interposed.
"Yet," amended the younger guy. "They're just bullies."
"And they're not subject to a school," Teyla said.
"If the school authority even mattered to them," said Mark dryly, taking the ice pack away from his cheek for a minute so he could sip the iced tea Teyla was holding for him. "Aaron Kolya doesn't strike me as the type of guy who'd let a 'D' on his report card stop him from doing anything he wanted."
"So how do we deal with them?" Elizabeth asked, choosing to perch on the armrest of the chair in which Ronon was sitting. She received various amused and calculating looks from the others, but ignored them. The most important matter right now was the question of what they were going to do about Kolya and his group.
There was a moment of silence.
"We've already established the authorities can't do anything about them," Carson began.
"So we stay in groups," Aiden said after a moment.
"Oh, and that worked so well this evening!"
Aiden scowled at Rodney. "Well, you think of something!"
"They're pretty bold if they're attacking us in public places," Mark murmured. "Is there that much that we can do?"
"Staying in groups is better than wandering alone," John said with a glance at Elizabeth.
"But hardly the perfect solution."
"Rodney, this isn't physics," said John bluntly. "Not everything is going to have a nice, neat answer."
"Well, not everything in physics has a--"
"Rodney," Elizabeth interposed before Rodney could go into one of his diatribes. "Shush."
That stopped him. He stared incredulously at her. "Shush?"
"Rodney," John said pointedly, "Shush!"
"I will not--"
"Rodney." Teyla's voice was quieter, appealing rather than ordering. "Please."
He scowled at her, mumbling something about not being eight, but subsided.
Ronon cleared his throat. "I have an offer if you're interested in hearing it."
That got everyone's attention. Not a 'suggestion', but an 'offer'.
"What kind of an offer?" Elizabeth spoke, both cautious and worried by the way he glanced up at her, then back down at his lemonade.
"Assistance," he said. "Sort of."
"Do you want to be more clear about this 'assistance'?" John demanded.
Ronon lifted his gaze to meet John's suspicious stare. "I know people who know Kolya," he said simply. "They have a vendetta against Kolya - the way Kolya has a vendetta against you." His lips quirked slightly, amused by something that he wasn't going to share with the rest of them. "These people--"
"A gang?"
Ronon paused and looked over at Aiden. "You'd consider them that," was all he said. "These people have even more reason to dislike Kolya as you do. I know they'd be happy to...distract Kolya and his group."
"And you think this would stop Kolya from bothering us?" John was clearly sceptical, while the others were considering.
Ronon's shrug brushed Elizabeth's leg. "It's just a distraction."
"Even a distraction might be useful," Laura said mildly.
"How long?"
"Maybe a week, maybe a month."
Teyla was the one to ask the question preying on Elizabeth's mind. "And when the distraction ends?"
"A lot of things can happen in a week," Ronon said simply.
Elizabeth watched his profile and wondered if he was talking about more than just the distraction for Kolya and his gang. If he was, it wasn't a relevant point to bring up now, although she could ask him about it later. Maybe.
"How exactly would you get these people to turn the heat up on Kolya and his gang?" Mark asked.
Ronon's expression was closed and cautious. "A word here and there."
"A word here and there?"
"Yes." Ronon held John's gaze, meeting the skepticism with his own grim calm. "That's all I can tell you."
"Is this legal?" Aiden asked, half-amused, half-wary.
"I think the necessary question is 'will it work?'" It was, of course, Teyla who posed that question. "Although I also would prefer it if this course of action was legal." Humour lurked in her voice, and both John and Mark gave her wry looks as several people bit back smiles.
Laura shrugged. "We won't know until it's tried. I'm for it." She looked at Ronon with a smile, her head slightly tilted so her reddish-blonde hair swung over her shoulder. "Is it legal?"
He bared his teeth in a brief grin of easy complicity. "Absolutely."
Elizabeth couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. But if something wasn't done about Kolya soon... The look in Kolya's eyes earlier tonight still gave her the chills. Whatever she'd told her parents, she couldn't quite convince herself that it would all be okay; not after tonight.
"Do it," she said.
Ronon met her gaze, once again solemn. Then he nodded. "Okay."
"Excuse me?" John interrupted. "It's me that Kolya has the vendetta against!"
"And it's Elizabeth that's being targeted by Kolya," Ronon said, his voice holding a slight edge. "She should have a say in whatever's done to stop it."
"That makes sense," Carson said.
"Logical," Rodney concurred.
Between the two of them and the varying agreement of the others, there wasn't much John could say to that.
"And until Dex gets all this working?" Mark asked. "After tonight, Kolya will probably have an APB out on all our heads."
Teyla set her glass down on the desktop and rested her hands on the table edge. Elizabeth noted that her friend's arm just brushed Mark's shoulder. "As Aiden says, we can avoid being caught alone."
"It's not going to be enough," John said.
"It is all that we have," she replied coolly, holding his gaze. "Would you have us allow Kolya and his friends to intimidate us?"
"No!" The answer was instant and grim. "But that's not going to stop Kolya from picking on us."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "John, all it needs to do is give them a reason to be wary until Ronon can get this...rival gang onto Kolya."
"Assuming that this rival gang can sufficiently occupy Kolya--"
"They can." Ronon's words were so definite, there was a moment of silence as they all glanced at him, then looked away. He seemed a little tense, and Elizabeth automatically reached out to touch his shoulder. He didn't quite flinch, but she could feel the way his shoulder lowered slightly so their contact was minimised.
Dark eyes met hers for a moment, wary and unreadable, before he turned to where Rodney was talking.
Elizabeth took a moment to remove her hand, but she felt achingly conscious of the rejection as she folded her fingers in her lap and listened to what Rodney was saying.
"...we finished here? Fun as it's been, I was going to head around to Radek's this evening."
"And we'd hate to be disrupting your busy social life," Carson muttered. Rodney glared at him as Laura covered her giggle with her hand.
"I do not believe there is much else to be discussed." Teyla looked to Elizabeth, then to John. "And Mark and I also had plans for the evening." She shared a brief grin with the guy beside her. Beyond them, John rolled his eyes.
"Okay, okay," he grumbled. "Meeting's over. You're not the only ones with social lives, you know."
"Aw, relax, Sheppard," Laura said. "Chaya won't mind if you're late. She's usually running late herself." Blue eyes twinkled mischievously.
Elizabeth caught the slightly concerned look from Carson and shook her head the slightest bit. She wasn't hurt by the mention of John and Chaya anymore; a week of hearing it every time she turned around at school had effectively gotten her over any hurt she might have felt. And John's pissiness had helped.
"Ha-ha," said John, his voice flat. It didn't get much more positive as he turned to Ronon. "You'll have a word with your friends, then?"
"They're not my friends." There was no more tone to Ronon's voice than there had been to John's. "But I'll speak with them."
Elizabeth wanted to ask Ronon why he was so cagey about these people, who they were, what kind of connections he had with them. But now wasn't the time. She wasn't even sure he'd answer them for her - his expression was completely closed right now, and he wasn't looking at her.
She closed up the hurt and started seeing to the people who were leaving.
Rodney, Carson, and Laura were the first to leave. Rodney mumbled something then stumped off across the road, not seeing the faces Carson made behind his back.
"You're sure you'll be okay getting back to the coffee shop?" Elizabeth asked, mindful of the trek through suburbia and the park.
"Kolya and his group have tried once tonight," said Laura, "they won't be game to try again."
Carson didn't seem quite as sure of that as Laura, but he shrugged. "We've got a mobile if we need help."
There was a moment when Elizabeth wasn't sure what he was saying. "Cellphone," Laura supplied, elbowing Carson in the ribs. "It's a cellphone."
He shook his head in exasperation, and the pair of them headed out into the street, arguing over the differences between the two variants of the English language.
Elizabeth turned to go inside and found Ronon standing in the doorway. "Hey."
"I'm leaving."
Nothing more. Just the announcement that he was going. He stepped out of the doorway and began to move past her.
She caught his arm, halting him. "Wait, Ronon." Did her voice sound breathless? She hoped not. "You don't have to go right now. Can't you stay a little longer?"
There was something in his expression, like resentment or bitterness, only harsher - and directed at himself, not at her. "I don't think that's such a good idea right now."
"Why not?"
"It just isn't."
"Is this about the gang you're going to set on Kolya?" He hesitated a moment too long. "It is, isn't it?"
"Yes."
Elizabeth held his gaze, willing him to understand, to share whatever was making him so terse. "You don't have to protect me, you know."
He didn't look entirely convinced, but give her a few minutes and she was pretty sure she could persuade him to talk to her.
"Liz?"
She cursed John's timing. "What?"
"Your mom wants to talk to you inside."
"Can it wait?" If she went inside then Ronon would leave and she wouldn't talk to him until Monday.
John sighed. "You know your mom. Look, I want a word with Ronon anyway. Privately."
When she glanced back at Ronon, he seemed as surprised as she. "Don't you dare leave without saying bye," she warned. "I'll be back out in a minute."
He didn't give a response to that, which she hoped meant assent. She gave John a hard glare to let him know he'd better behave himself, and looked back at Ronon. His brief smile reassured her enough that he wasn't going to just vanish on her. She hoped.
In the kitchen, her mom was looking through the fridge. "This had better be good," she said.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to invite Ronon around for Sunday lunch," her mom said. "Seeing as he's going to the dance with you, it would be nice for your father and I to meet him."
Elizabeth stared at her mom. Then she bit back the urge to ask her mom if she was crazy. Then she bit back the urge to give a flat-out 'no'. The last thing she wanted was for Ronon to end up before the Spanish Inquisition of her mom and dad, especially right now when things seemed kinda rocky.
Finally, she said the only thing she could think to say that didn't involve questioning her parents' sanity. "I'll ask."
At the front door, Elizabeth paused, hearing the guys' voices outside but not the words they were using. From the sound of it, they weren't yelling at each other. John actually sounded reasonable, while Ronon sounded more amused than anything else. Of course, amused seemed to be his default tone of voice, so that could mean anything or nothing.
With a deep breath, she stepped out of the house and watched as they turned towards her. "Everything okay?"
"It's fine," John said. He turned back to Ronon. "Think about it, okay? And if you need backup, then call."
It was quite a turnaround from earlier in the week - or even a week ago. Elizabeth couldn't help staring as Ronon's mouth curved just a little. "Okay."
"Great." John clapped Ronon on the shoulder and headed up the path towards Elizabeth. "I should be getting Aiden home."
She nodded, but waited until the door had shut behind him before she turned to face Ronon. "You're not going to tell me about this gang thing, are you?"
"No."
"But you told John."
"Yes."
Great. Not only was this a guy conspiracy thing, but they'd gone back to monosyllabic answers. Elizabeth didn't know how she was going to deal with this, but there was no way she was letting him retreat. "Mom asked if you want to come for lunch on Sunday."
He stared. "Your mom asked me to lunch on Sunday?"
"Yeah." She watched him. "So...will you?"
Ronon hesitated and looked away. "Not this weekend."
On one hand, she was relieved. Her parents wouldn't have the chance to pester him - and her - with questions. On the other, she was getting the feeling he was pulling away from her - and she didn't like that at all. "Are you busy or don't you want to?"
He hesitated again. "Busy."
The worst thing was that even with the hesitation, she didn't know if he was lying or not.
"Fine," she said, shortly, feeling more than a little hurt as she turned away to go inside. "I'll see you on Monday, then."
It would figure, she supposed as she opened the door. No sooner did she discover she liked a guy then everything would go bad.
Ronon's hand caught her arm. "Elizabeth."
She turned, still angry with him. "What?"
His face was surprisingly close, and she only realised what he was about to do when she felt the touch of his lips against her cheek in a warm caress, soft and sensual.
"Be careful this weekend." The words were low and gentle, and he drew back enough to see her eyes, then bent to kiss her lightly on the cheek again, before he turned away and walked to the letterbox.
Elizabeth's brain scrambled for words but couldn't come up with any. Her mind wasn't working, and her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, incapable of forming any words at all. She watched him as he paused at the letterbox, looking back towards her as though expecting a reaction from her. Then he shook his head and jogged off into the night.
--
Part Nine
SUMMARY: The worst thing was that even with the hesitation, she didn't know if he was lying or not.
CATEGORY: crackfic, shermer_high AU
RATING: PG-13
NOTES: It may be a while before the next part comes out. Thanks to snoggingpicard for the new icon!
Part Seven
Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eight
Luckily, when they got out of John's car, it seemed that it was just her parents, no clients or guests. That was one less thing to worry about anyway.
"Elizabeth?" Her father stood up as the people began coming in. "I see you've brought a few friends over." There was an implied censure to his voice, and she opened her mouth to explain.
"Hey, Michael," John said, sunnily. "Hi, Megan!"
"John!" Elizabeth's mom called from the kitchen, poking her head out. "How'd your game go?" Then she saw all the people in her living room and paused on all the people. "Rodney, Teyla, Carson, Ronon..." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Ronon before she nodded at Mark, Aiden and Laura and turned back to her daughter.
"Elizabeth? Is there a party on or something?"
"Uh, not quite, mom..."
"What happened to your face?" Her mom came out and set down the glasses of wine she'd been bringing out. Sharp eyes studied Elizabeth's face, particularly the aching cheekbone. "Have you been in a fight?"
"Not exactly," she began.
"Some gang members attacked her outside the coffee shop," John said, interrupting her explanation. She glared at him. Of all the lame explanations, he'd picked the one most likely to get her into big trouble.
Her father turned as he closed the door behind Ronon, alarmed. "Gang members?"
"Nothing so bad as that," Rodney said hastily. "Some former students of a rival school holding a grudge."
"Against Liz?"
Oh God, this was going from bad to worse. "I'll explain later," she said. "We'll be in the upstairs den."
Her father's expression darkened and he opened his mouth to say something to the effect of, 'You're not leaving here without an explanation, young lady!'
Thankfully, her mother interrupted. "Do you want an ice pack for that cheekbone?" She glanced around the group and her gaze lighted on Mark. "And you'll probably want something for that eye."
"Uh..." Mark glanced at Elizabeth, and she saw the slightly swollen flesh beside his eye. She nodded and he turned back to her mom. "Yes, please, Mrs. Weir."
"Elizabeth?"
"Mom?"
"Rodney or John can show them to the upstairs den," her mom said. "I would like you to carry some refreshments up."
Which meant she was going to get a grilling.
Ronon hesitated as the others headed off to the den. "Need help?"
She appreciated the offer. It was thoughtful of him, but his presence was not going to help either her parents' curiosity or her own state of mind. "No. You go up. I'll be up in a minute."
Her father closed the kitchen door behind him as he followed Elizabeth in. "So," he said, his voice casual but his eyes hard. "Gangs?"
"Dad, it's not what it seems," she said, busying herself collecting glasses for drinks so she didn't have to meet his gaze. "They've been making threats at us for a while--"
"Us?"
"John, mostly," she said, shuffling glasses across the tray. A glance at her parents showed them exchanging a look. "Look, Mom, Dad, this guy called Kolya started a vendetta with John. I got caught up in that, and so did Ronon, Rodney and the others. It's just...shit."
"Elizabeth!"
"Well, it is," she insisted, ignoring the reprimand. "Look, it's nothing to worry about."
Her mother put two cold packs down on the tray. "You come home with bruises - and bringing friends with bruises - tell us you've been in a fight, and you expect us not to worry?"
Put that way, it sounded a little far-fetched. Elizabeth sighed as she pulled out the jugs of iced tea and lemonade. "Can you at least not ground me or something? The Founder's Dance is coming up..."
Her parents exchanged a look. "Who are you going with?" Her father asked.
"Ronon."
Another look. "Not John?"
Elizabeth bit back an expletive. She was never going to live this down - not at school, not at home, not among her friends... "John's dating someone else," she said. "I'm going with Ronon."
So maybe she said it a little more fiercely than she needed to, because her parents exchanged another of those looks.
"Okay," her father said, holding up his hands. "But if anything more happens with this gang, then I want you to tell us. If they're roaming around targeting high school students then your principal should at least know what's going on."
She wasn't so sure that there was anything that could be done about Kolya and his gang, but she agreed to it to get them off her back. At least for the moment.
When she got to the upstairs den with the tray, Rodney was speaking.
"...not going to be much help if they start targeting other people who hang around you!"
Elizabeth set down the tray and began pouring drinks as John swivelled in the computer chair and mocked, "Worried about your safety, Rodney?"
Teyla was perched on the desk, between John on the chair and Mark leaning against the desk. She casually reached over and smacked John on the shoulder. Elizabeth hid a grin as John glared at Teyla. But he turned back to Rodney. "Look, you don't have anything to worry about. Kolya's not going to come after you."
"After tonight, I don't know if that can be said," Carson murmured. "I don't know Kolya, but I've heard of him, and the guy doesn't seem like the kind to forgive and forget."
"Ah, see, I told you that getting involved was bad!"
"Yeah, and watching Kolya and his goons beat up Liz and Mark would have been worse," retorted Laura, hopping up from her place next to Carson and helping Elizabeth with the drinks. Elizabeth handed her the ice-pack indicating Mark and his eye. She'd put a pack on her cheek when she'd finished serving everyone.
Rodney scowled at Laura's comment. "I wouldn't have left them to be beaten up!" He accepted the iced tea that Elizabeth gave him. "No lemon, right?" Her exasperated look shut him up and he sipped it cautiously at first, then with a greater thirst.
"Is there anything that can be done about Kolya and his gang?" Ronon interrupted. His faint lean on the verb made it clear that he wasn't willing to just sit and discuss the situation.
"Well, we can't report them," Aiden Ford said bluntly as Laura and Elizabeth handed out the drinks and she placed the cookies on a footstool. "They're not criminals..."
"Yet," John interposed.
"Yet," amended the younger guy. "They're just bullies."
"And they're not subject to a school," Teyla said.
"If the school authority even mattered to them," said Mark dryly, taking the ice pack away from his cheek for a minute so he could sip the iced tea Teyla was holding for him. "Aaron Kolya doesn't strike me as the type of guy who'd let a 'D' on his report card stop him from doing anything he wanted."
"So how do we deal with them?" Elizabeth asked, choosing to perch on the armrest of the chair in which Ronon was sitting. She received various amused and calculating looks from the others, but ignored them. The most important matter right now was the question of what they were going to do about Kolya and his group.
There was a moment of silence.
"We've already established the authorities can't do anything about them," Carson began.
"So we stay in groups," Aiden said after a moment.
"Oh, and that worked so well this evening!"
Aiden scowled at Rodney. "Well, you think of something!"
"They're pretty bold if they're attacking us in public places," Mark murmured. "Is there that much that we can do?"
"Staying in groups is better than wandering alone," John said with a glance at Elizabeth.
"But hardly the perfect solution."
"Rodney, this isn't physics," said John bluntly. "Not everything is going to have a nice, neat answer."
"Well, not everything in physics has a--"
"Rodney," Elizabeth interposed before Rodney could go into one of his diatribes. "Shush."
That stopped him. He stared incredulously at her. "Shush?"
"Rodney," John said pointedly, "Shush!"
"I will not--"
"Rodney." Teyla's voice was quieter, appealing rather than ordering. "Please."
He scowled at her, mumbling something about not being eight, but subsided.
Ronon cleared his throat. "I have an offer if you're interested in hearing it."
That got everyone's attention. Not a 'suggestion', but an 'offer'.
"What kind of an offer?" Elizabeth spoke, both cautious and worried by the way he glanced up at her, then back down at his lemonade.
"Assistance," he said. "Sort of."
"Do you want to be more clear about this 'assistance'?" John demanded.
Ronon lifted his gaze to meet John's suspicious stare. "I know people who know Kolya," he said simply. "They have a vendetta against Kolya - the way Kolya has a vendetta against you." His lips quirked slightly, amused by something that he wasn't going to share with the rest of them. "These people--"
"A gang?"
Ronon paused and looked over at Aiden. "You'd consider them that," was all he said. "These people have even more reason to dislike Kolya as you do. I know they'd be happy to...distract Kolya and his group."
"And you think this would stop Kolya from bothering us?" John was clearly sceptical, while the others were considering.
Ronon's shrug brushed Elizabeth's leg. "It's just a distraction."
"Even a distraction might be useful," Laura said mildly.
"How long?"
"Maybe a week, maybe a month."
Teyla was the one to ask the question preying on Elizabeth's mind. "And when the distraction ends?"
"A lot of things can happen in a week," Ronon said simply.
Elizabeth watched his profile and wondered if he was talking about more than just the distraction for Kolya and his gang. If he was, it wasn't a relevant point to bring up now, although she could ask him about it later. Maybe.
"How exactly would you get these people to turn the heat up on Kolya and his gang?" Mark asked.
Ronon's expression was closed and cautious. "A word here and there."
"A word here and there?"
"Yes." Ronon held John's gaze, meeting the skepticism with his own grim calm. "That's all I can tell you."
"Is this legal?" Aiden asked, half-amused, half-wary.
"I think the necessary question is 'will it work?'" It was, of course, Teyla who posed that question. "Although I also would prefer it if this course of action was legal." Humour lurked in her voice, and both John and Mark gave her wry looks as several people bit back smiles.
Laura shrugged. "We won't know until it's tried. I'm for it." She looked at Ronon with a smile, her head slightly tilted so her reddish-blonde hair swung over her shoulder. "Is it legal?"
He bared his teeth in a brief grin of easy complicity. "Absolutely."
Elizabeth couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. But if something wasn't done about Kolya soon... The look in Kolya's eyes earlier tonight still gave her the chills. Whatever she'd told her parents, she couldn't quite convince herself that it would all be okay; not after tonight.
"Do it," she said.
Ronon met her gaze, once again solemn. Then he nodded. "Okay."
"Excuse me?" John interrupted. "It's me that Kolya has the vendetta against!"
"And it's Elizabeth that's being targeted by Kolya," Ronon said, his voice holding a slight edge. "She should have a say in whatever's done to stop it."
"That makes sense," Carson said.
"Logical," Rodney concurred.
Between the two of them and the varying agreement of the others, there wasn't much John could say to that.
"And until Dex gets all this working?" Mark asked. "After tonight, Kolya will probably have an APB out on all our heads."
Teyla set her glass down on the desktop and rested her hands on the table edge. Elizabeth noted that her friend's arm just brushed Mark's shoulder. "As Aiden says, we can avoid being caught alone."
"It's not going to be enough," John said.
"It is all that we have," she replied coolly, holding his gaze. "Would you have us allow Kolya and his friends to intimidate us?"
"No!" The answer was instant and grim. "But that's not going to stop Kolya from picking on us."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "John, all it needs to do is give them a reason to be wary until Ronon can get this...rival gang onto Kolya."
"Assuming that this rival gang can sufficiently occupy Kolya--"
"They can." Ronon's words were so definite, there was a moment of silence as they all glanced at him, then looked away. He seemed a little tense, and Elizabeth automatically reached out to touch his shoulder. He didn't quite flinch, but she could feel the way his shoulder lowered slightly so their contact was minimised.
Dark eyes met hers for a moment, wary and unreadable, before he turned to where Rodney was talking.
Elizabeth took a moment to remove her hand, but she felt achingly conscious of the rejection as she folded her fingers in her lap and listened to what Rodney was saying.
"...we finished here? Fun as it's been, I was going to head around to Radek's this evening."
"And we'd hate to be disrupting your busy social life," Carson muttered. Rodney glared at him as Laura covered her giggle with her hand.
"I do not believe there is much else to be discussed." Teyla looked to Elizabeth, then to John. "And Mark and I also had plans for the evening." She shared a brief grin with the guy beside her. Beyond them, John rolled his eyes.
"Okay, okay," he grumbled. "Meeting's over. You're not the only ones with social lives, you know."
"Aw, relax, Sheppard," Laura said. "Chaya won't mind if you're late. She's usually running late herself." Blue eyes twinkled mischievously.
Elizabeth caught the slightly concerned look from Carson and shook her head the slightest bit. She wasn't hurt by the mention of John and Chaya anymore; a week of hearing it every time she turned around at school had effectively gotten her over any hurt she might have felt. And John's pissiness had helped.
"Ha-ha," said John, his voice flat. It didn't get much more positive as he turned to Ronon. "You'll have a word with your friends, then?"
"They're not my friends." There was no more tone to Ronon's voice than there had been to John's. "But I'll speak with them."
Elizabeth wanted to ask Ronon why he was so cagey about these people, who they were, what kind of connections he had with them. But now wasn't the time. She wasn't even sure he'd answer them for her - his expression was completely closed right now, and he wasn't looking at her.
She closed up the hurt and started seeing to the people who were leaving.
Rodney, Carson, and Laura were the first to leave. Rodney mumbled something then stumped off across the road, not seeing the faces Carson made behind his back.
"You're sure you'll be okay getting back to the coffee shop?" Elizabeth asked, mindful of the trek through suburbia and the park.
"Kolya and his group have tried once tonight," said Laura, "they won't be game to try again."
Carson didn't seem quite as sure of that as Laura, but he shrugged. "We've got a mobile if we need help."
There was a moment when Elizabeth wasn't sure what he was saying. "Cellphone," Laura supplied, elbowing Carson in the ribs. "It's a cellphone."
He shook his head in exasperation, and the pair of them headed out into the street, arguing over the differences between the two variants of the English language.
Elizabeth turned to go inside and found Ronon standing in the doorway. "Hey."
"I'm leaving."
Nothing more. Just the announcement that he was going. He stepped out of the doorway and began to move past her.
She caught his arm, halting him. "Wait, Ronon." Did her voice sound breathless? She hoped not. "You don't have to go right now. Can't you stay a little longer?"
There was something in his expression, like resentment or bitterness, only harsher - and directed at himself, not at her. "I don't think that's such a good idea right now."
"Why not?"
"It just isn't."
"Is this about the gang you're going to set on Kolya?" He hesitated a moment too long. "It is, isn't it?"
"Yes."
Elizabeth held his gaze, willing him to understand, to share whatever was making him so terse. "You don't have to protect me, you know."
He didn't look entirely convinced, but give her a few minutes and she was pretty sure she could persuade him to talk to her.
"Liz?"
She cursed John's timing. "What?"
"Your mom wants to talk to you inside."
"Can it wait?" If she went inside then Ronon would leave and she wouldn't talk to him until Monday.
John sighed. "You know your mom. Look, I want a word with Ronon anyway. Privately."
When she glanced back at Ronon, he seemed as surprised as she. "Don't you dare leave without saying bye," she warned. "I'll be back out in a minute."
He didn't give a response to that, which she hoped meant assent. She gave John a hard glare to let him know he'd better behave himself, and looked back at Ronon. His brief smile reassured her enough that he wasn't going to just vanish on her. She hoped.
In the kitchen, her mom was looking through the fridge. "This had better be good," she said.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to invite Ronon around for Sunday lunch," her mom said. "Seeing as he's going to the dance with you, it would be nice for your father and I to meet him."
Elizabeth stared at her mom. Then she bit back the urge to ask her mom if she was crazy. Then she bit back the urge to give a flat-out 'no'. The last thing she wanted was for Ronon to end up before the Spanish Inquisition of her mom and dad, especially right now when things seemed kinda rocky.
Finally, she said the only thing she could think to say that didn't involve questioning her parents' sanity. "I'll ask."
At the front door, Elizabeth paused, hearing the guys' voices outside but not the words they were using. From the sound of it, they weren't yelling at each other. John actually sounded reasonable, while Ronon sounded more amused than anything else. Of course, amused seemed to be his default tone of voice, so that could mean anything or nothing.
With a deep breath, she stepped out of the house and watched as they turned towards her. "Everything okay?"
"It's fine," John said. He turned back to Ronon. "Think about it, okay? And if you need backup, then call."
It was quite a turnaround from earlier in the week - or even a week ago. Elizabeth couldn't help staring as Ronon's mouth curved just a little. "Okay."
"Great." John clapped Ronon on the shoulder and headed up the path towards Elizabeth. "I should be getting Aiden home."
She nodded, but waited until the door had shut behind him before she turned to face Ronon. "You're not going to tell me about this gang thing, are you?"
"No."
"But you told John."
"Yes."
Great. Not only was this a guy conspiracy thing, but they'd gone back to monosyllabic answers. Elizabeth didn't know how she was going to deal with this, but there was no way she was letting him retreat. "Mom asked if you want to come for lunch on Sunday."
He stared. "Your mom asked me to lunch on Sunday?"
"Yeah." She watched him. "So...will you?"
Ronon hesitated and looked away. "Not this weekend."
On one hand, she was relieved. Her parents wouldn't have the chance to pester him - and her - with questions. On the other, she was getting the feeling he was pulling away from her - and she didn't like that at all. "Are you busy or don't you want to?"
He hesitated again. "Busy."
The worst thing was that even with the hesitation, she didn't know if he was lying or not.
"Fine," she said, shortly, feeling more than a little hurt as she turned away to go inside. "I'll see you on Monday, then."
It would figure, she supposed as she opened the door. No sooner did she discover she liked a guy then everything would go bad.
Ronon's hand caught her arm. "Elizabeth."
She turned, still angry with him. "What?"
His face was surprisingly close, and she only realised what he was about to do when she felt the touch of his lips against her cheek in a warm caress, soft and sensual.
"Be careful this weekend." The words were low and gentle, and he drew back enough to see her eyes, then bent to kiss her lightly on the cheek again, before he turned away and walked to the letterbox.
Elizabeth's brain scrambled for words but couldn't come up with any. Her mind wasn't working, and her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, incapable of forming any words at all. She watched him as he paused at the letterbox, looking back towards her as though expecting a reaction from her. Then he shook his head and jogged off into the night.
--
Part Nine