Chapter Text
John’s door slid open to reveal Ronon dressed in his normal tunic, pants, and boots, with black clothing slung over one of his shoulders and small black tennis shoes in his hand.
“Ready?” Ronon questioned.
“Yeah,” John turned back to his desk, “Let me just grab my radio.”
Ronon waited in the doorway as John slipped the small earpiece over his ear and stepped outside. The door slid shut behind the two of them and they made their way to the nearby transporter.
“Got make a stop first,” Ronon tapped the screen.
The transporter flashed them to a different section of the City and Ronon stepped out, John following quietly behind. As they got closer to the labs, music began drifting through the hall. By the time the two of them reached McKay’s lab, the music – something classical with lots of piano – was blaring loudly. Ronon grinned when he saw D facing away from them. He shoved the shoes and clothes he carried into John’s hands. He stalked across the lab, making his way silently to where D was standing in front of an equation covered whiteboard, swaying back and forth in time to the music. Ronon lifted his hand to grasp her shoulder but D’s hand snapped up, grabbing his hand and twisting before he made contact. She used her grip to force him to his knees, his wrist now twisted at an odd angle away from his body. D used the slim remote in her hand to cut-off the music as she held Ronon in place with the light pressure on his hand.
“What have I told you?” D asked evenly.
When D twisted harder Ronon gritted out the words, “I can’t sneak up on you.”
“Why do you keep trying?” D wondered.
“Because all it takes is one time,” Ronon grinned, “to prove you wrong.”
“All it takes is a little more pressure to break the delicate little bones in your hand,” D sighed as she released him, “Then you won’t be able to use it for two months. You won’t be able to sneak up on me in the City, Ronon.”
“You coming?” Ronon asked as he stood.
D frowned down at her watch, “It’s morning already?”
“Yeah,” Ronon nodded as John came over to join them, “You sleep?”
“Nope,” D shook her head, “You remember my shoes?”
“Right here,” John held up the shoes in his hand, “What happened to Rodney?”
D snorted and motioned for the men to follow her, “I put decaf in the pot.”
As they stepped around several different whiteboards, Rodney’s desk came into view. Rodney was slumped over in his chair, head pillowed on his folded-up jacket, laying on top of the keyboard as he snored softly, mouth opened slightly and hair sticking up in odd directions.
“He didn’t make it past 0300,” a small smile appeared on D’s face, “Passed out on his keyboard mid-rant. It was extremely difficult to get his jacket off to put underneath his head. Took me almost five minutes to do it without waking him.”
“You could’ve woken him up,” John drawled, “Sent him to his room to sleep in his own bed.”
“If I’d woken him up, he would’ve insisted on helping,” D replied easily, “At least this way he got a couple hours sleep. Also,” D crept closer, moving silently around behind Rodney, “I wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
D leaned over and drew a finger lightly down the edge of his ear. Rodney’s hand slapped the side of his face and he jolted awake violently, red creases in the side of his face that had been pressed against his jacket.
“I’m awake,” Rodney insisted as he blinked rapidly, “I only closed my eyes for a second,” Rodney focused on the two men standing in front of him, “Sheppard? Ronon? What are you guys doing here?”
“It’s 0530, Rodney,” D’s raspy voice from behind him startled Rodney into jumping off his chair, “You’ve been asleep for two and a half hours.”
“Damn it, Red,” Rodney put a hand over his heart as John and Ronon grinned, “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“Just having a little fun,” D smirked as she moved around him to take her clothes from John, “Give me two minutes to change, Ronon, then we’ll go.”
“Wait a minute, you can’t leave yet,” Rodney called after her as she moved behind two large cabinets at the back of the lab, “Where are you going? We’re not done with this yet.”
“I’m going running with Ronon,” D answered, “And if you’d actually look at the boards, you’d notice that I finished it.”
“What?” Rodney scrambled over to the closest whiteboards scanning the equations written there in silence for a minute before he spoke again, “What’s with the-”
“It only works if it’s inverted,” D interjected, “Look at the other-”
“Yes, I see it,” Rodney moved to the next several boards in rapid succession, “I told you I was right about the-”
“Yeah, yeah,” D agreed, “Have you gotten to the-”
“Wow,” Rodney stepped closer to the last board and another minute of silence followed, “This is…hmmm…are you sure this is right?”
“Checked it twice. I was about to enter the data and run a simulation,” D started walking back to the desk. Her gray uniform and blue shirt were folded neatly in her arms and she carried her black boots and watch. She had changed into a long-sleeved hoodie, thumbs stuck through holes in the sleeves and collar zipped up to her throat, and fitted black pants with no pockets, both made of stretchy black lycra. She set her uniform, including her boots, down on Rodney’s desk, slipped the watch back around her right wrist, and after grabbing her shoes from John, went around the whiteboards to sit down on the floor.
“I think we’ll be able to get an eight percent increase at least,” D slipped one foot into her tennis shoe and laced it up tight, “Pretty cool, right?”
“It’ll be more like twelve percent once you take into account the…” Rodney finally looked away from the boards to scowl down at D, “‘Pretty cool’? All the words in all the languages you speak and the best you can come up with is ‘pretty cool’?”
D finished lacing up the second shoe, “Arketá droseró.”
“What does that mean?” Rodney held out a hand to pull D to her feet.
“It’s Greek,” D smirked, “for pretty cool.”
“Go away,” Rodney commanded, throwing his hands up in the air, “I can’t deal with you before I’ve had caffeine. All of you, out of my lab.”
“I’ll be back for my clothes later, Rodney,” D pulled several pins from the bun in her hair and dropped them into her boots. She picked up a slip of paper from the desk and slid it into one of the pockets on her shirt as she walked away. She pulled the elastic band from her hair and drew her long hair into a high ponytail as she followed John and Ronon out of the lab, “You keep pace with the Colonel or leave him behind?”
“Depends,” Ronon shrugged.
“On?” D looked between them.
Ronon grinned, “Whether he’s whining or not.”
“I don’t whine,” John protested.
“How many laps?” D ignored John.
“Only two with him,” Ronon grunted, “Doesn’t have much stamina yet.”
“My stamina is just fine,” John scowled at the two of them as they stepped into the transporter. He stabbed a finger onto the screen and white light flashed around them.
“Only two?” D sighed heavily as the doors slid open, “I suppose I can go swimming afterwards.”
“We could go around again,” Ronon offered, “when he’s done.”
“Hey,” John insisted, “I can go just as long as either of you.”
Ronon and D exchanged a quick look before turning back to John with identical smirks, “Prove it.”
*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*AM*
John winced as he slid into the seat next to Elizabeth, dropping his head onto the table with a groan.
“What happened to you?” Elizabeth set her PDA down in front of her and put a warm hand on the back of his neck.
“Had to defend my stamina,” John mumbled.
“Defend your stamina?” Elizabeth repeated, “What does that mean?”
“It means Vaughn is trying to kill me,” John groaned as Elizabeth rubbed her hand up and down his back, “Apparently, Ronon’s been going easy on me this whole time and I didn’t know it.”
Elizabeth looked up as Rodney all but collapsed in the chair on her other side, half his hair smashed down, the other half sticking up in wild tufts. His uniform was rumpled, his jacket extremely wrinkled. He clutched a coffee cup in one hand and a tablet in the other.
“And what happened to you?” Elizabeth dropped her hand from John’s back.
“Dr. Vaughn’s trying to kill me,” Rodney set the tablet down and stared at it blankly.
“You too?” John lifted his head momentarily.
“She hid all the good coffee that I had stashed in my lab,” Rodney whined, “I could only find decaf. What kind of person keeps a person up until three in the morning, wakes them up a mere two and a half hours later, then deprives them of hot caffeinated beverages? An evil, evil person, that’s what kind.”
“Who is evil?” Teyla sat in the chair next to John.
“Dr. Vaughn,” Rodney glowered.
“She tried to kill me,” John winced as he sat up mostly straight in his chair, “Evil.”
“Tried to kill both of us,” Rodney took a long sip of his coffee, frowning down at the mug, “It’s just not the same.”
“What’s not the same, Rodney?” Carson sat down next to him.
“Decaf,” Rodney gazed into the empty coffee cup forlornly.
“You’ve started drinking decaf?” Carson smiled, “Good for you, Rodney. I’m glad you’re taking our last talk about your blood pressure seriously.”
Rodney lifted his head to glare at Carson, “Believe me, the decaf was not by my choice.”
“Then why are you drinking it?” Carson wondered.
“Because Red is evil,” Rodney insisted.
“Definitely evil,” John nodded, “Tried to kill us.”
“I haven’t tried to kill anyone for at least a month,” D walked up to the table, several trays full of food and a large carafe balanced in her arms. Ronon followed behind her slowly, very carefully carrying three trays of his own.
“Let me help you with those, D,” Teyla stood, carefully transferring the trays D carried to the table.
“Thank you, Teyla,” D set the carafe down.
Ronon sat in the last chair, pushing one tray in front of Teyla and the other in front of Carson, keeping the one piled high with sausage and bacon for himself.
“Is that real coffee?” Rodney eyeballed the carafe warily, “Or more decaf masquerading as coffee?”
“Real coffee, Rodney,” D turned away as Rodney made grabby hands at the container, “Eat something first. You skipped dinner. I’ll be right back.”
John pushed the carafe close enough that Rodney could reach and everyone began eating quietly.
“How did it go last night, Rodney?” Elizabeth asked curiously, “With the hyperdrive specs.”
“Really well,” Rodney sighed happily as he inhaled the steam coming off his coffee, “I’m pretty sure we found a way to increase the efficiency of the 304s hyperdrives by twelve percent.”
“Really?” Elizabeth marveled, “Twelve percent? That’s fantastic.”
“It’ll take a little time to adapt the Ancient-based systems to the Earth-Asgard ones they’re using now,” Rodney shoved a bite of eggs into his mouth, “but we should be able to do it. I’ve already sent Zelenka a copy of the report and assigned a team to work on it. I sent a copy to your inbox and put it in the file for the next transmission to Earth too. I did most of the work last night figuring out the equations they were using in the simulation, so it should be pretty simple for the engineers at this point. A week, at the most.”
“You did not do most of the work, Rodney,” D set down five glasses in the middle of the table, pouring orange juice into each of them from a large clear pitcher, “It was a combined effort. And I was the one who actually finished the last equation while you were passed out at your desk.”
“Because some evil person,” Rodney glared up at her, “decided to put decaf in the coffee pot. Why do we even have decaf in the City? Who requisitions decaf? Does anyone in Atlantis actually drink decaf?”
“How else was I supposed to get you to shut up long enough for me to concentrate?” D smirked at him, “Do you want something else to drink? They have milk and some other fruit juices that aren’t citrus.”
“No, I have real coffee now,” Rodney used his fork to gesture to his coffee cup, “I don’t need anything else.”
D looked around the table, “Anyone else want coffee or is McKay drinking the whole thing himself?”
“I wouldn’t mind a cup,” Carson looked up at her, “Thank you, dear.”
“I’ll take one as well, D,” Elizabeth smiled, “Thanks.”
“But I need the caffeine,” Rodney pulled the carafe closer to him protectively, “Carson, aren’t you always saying coffee is bad for your blood pressure? Why are you drinking coffee now?”
“I had a late night as well, Rodney,” Carson informed him, “And I said drinking the sheer amount of coffee you do is bad for your health.”
“I’ll bring another one,” D rolled her eyes as she left, “So Rodney will stop pouting.”
Ronon reached for one of the glasses of orange juice, downing half of it in one large gulp and refilling it from the pitcher before he went back to his food.
“So do you run like that every morning, big guy?” John pulled his own juice in front of him.
“Three laps with her,” Ronon answered with a mouth full of food, “Two with you.”
“You ran with Ronon and D this morning?” Teyla looked over to John, “No wonder you are hurting.”
“Hey!” John objected, “I did just fine.”
“They challenged his stamina apparently,” Elizabeth smiled wryly.
“There’s nothing wrong with my stamina,” John insisted.
“I have seen the two of them running together,” Teyla patted his arm in comfort, “I doubt many could keep up with them.”
“The Colonel did much better than I thought he would,” D set two coffee mugs and a second carafe of coffee on the table, “but I’m sure he’s feeling the strain from overexertion now. Did you need anything else before I go, Dr. Weir?”
“You’re not going to eat with us?” Elizabeth questioned.
“No, ma’am,” D shook her head, “I just wanted to make sure everyone ate properly this morning. It’s been a busy week.”
“Doesn’t that include yourself?” Carson looked up at her, “You should take time to eat something too, dear.”
“I’m going to go change so I can get in a quick swim before I have to get to work,” D said easily, “I’ll grab something when I’m done.”
“Didn’t you already do three laps around the City?” John asked warily.
“Yes,” D agreed easily, “But normally I do three laps with Ronon, then another three afterwards.”
“Six laps around the catwalks?” Rodney looked up at her oddly, “That’s almost twenty-four kilometers.”
“Twenty-four point one,” D shrugged as she accepted the piece of bacon Ronon offered.
“You run twenty-four point one kilometers every morning?” Rodney gaped at her, “Even after being awake all night?”
D finished chewing and swallowed quietly before she responded, “Not every morning. Sometimes I swim laps for an hour instead. Or a combination of the two like today.”
“Wait,” John paused with his glass halfway to his mouth, looking between Elizabeth and D, “Since when do we have a pool?”
“We don’t,” Elizabeth explained, “but D convinced me to have the space between the North and West piers sectioned off for swimming.”
“Are you not concerned about the creatures living in the ocean?” Teyla wondered.
“I requisitioned waterproof netting a couple months ago,” D responded easily, “The marine biologists assured Dr. Weir that anything small enough to get through the holes was harmless. Captain Bosco’s entire team is dive certified and they were kind enough to install the netting. There was a memo sent out to all personnel when it was finished. Why do you think I smelled like sea-salt when a certain person got the irrepressible urge to sniff me?”
John choked on the sip of orange juice he had just taken. Elizabeth bit back a laugh as she reached over to thump him on the back.
“Must be extra pulp in the orange juice this morning,” D smirked and pulled a piece of paper out of her shirt pocket, “Here, Teyla.”
“What is this?” Teyla accepted the paper.
“It’s the location where I hid McKay’s coffee,” D explained, “If he’s a good boy and eats all his breakfast, you can give it to him. If he’s naughty and doesn’t finish his food, you can trade it to Nurse Soto for those chocolates you like.”
“Wait a minute!” Rodney protested loudly, “That’s my coffee, you can’t just-”
“The ones with the caramel filling?” Teyla pursed her lips as she looked at Rodney’s tray thoughtfully.
“The very same,” D nodded as she leaned down to fake-whisper in Carson’s ear, “Make sure Rodney doesn’t choke when he starts shoveling food into his mouth. I’d hate to have to break in another physicist.”