feltgoodthough | (no subject)

Ronon would never have said it to Heightmeyer or the woman who eventually replaced her who he had also been obliged to talk to on occasion (for a given value of talk). But every time he ran, every time he shifted his posture, picked up the pace and moved at speed, he could feel the Wraith at his back whether they were there or not. Running through the city levels with Sheppard, running through the buildings of Earth that mirrored Sateda just enough to make him think, racing back to the Jumper laying down cover fire. Ronon could feel the adrenaline race through him, his hands itching for a weapon even when he was already holding one. Ronon was no longer a runner – but he became one every time he ran. He'd mostly stopped wondering if that would ever change.

However it was not inaccurate to say that even now long after he has stopped being a runner that the Wraith had often been at his back. Right now - as he dodged through the empty corridors of the Daedalus trying not to think of Jennifer's stubborn, stupid sacrifice which he should have seen coming - that was certainly the case. Todd would kill her, Ronon was sure. Never trust a Wraith and right now Ronon had had enough of running as he had so many times before. He would stand, he would fight, Wraith would die and as he listened to the footsteps of drones and a prisoner, he realised he could do a little more good at the same time.

He ducked into an armoury and grabbed a extra gun.

The next bit was more complicated but whatever the reason for the design, the hand holds in the ceiling were thankfully obvious. He clambered up bracing himself. Now it was just a matter of waiting and he did not have long endure inactivity long. He shot quickly as he swung down before the orientation of the angle could confuse his aim and handed the spare gun off to Jennifer, dampening down his surprised relief that she wasn't dead because there were still drones coming.

Then there weren't. There weren't live drones. There wasn't Jennifer. There was no more Daedalus. There were trees, there was snow on the ground, two prone Wraith drones and the gun he had handed her lying on the jungle floor. One Wraith twitched and instinctively he put another blast of energy into it before bending to check they both were dead. He snatched up the machine gun and examined the area. There were no tracks. None. Snow normally made tracking easy - and this didn't look that freshly fallen.

Ronon had never seen Wraith tech that could do this and were normally incapable of using anything ancestral. But there was little he put past them even this had been an odd moment to try it. Todd had already betrayed them.

"Jennifer?" he called, first outloud and then into his static filled ear piece, receiving no response. He shivered, shrugged, armed his energy weapon picked a direction and set off at pace. Running again.

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Ronon is nearly at New Atlantis if the directions he was given are any good. He expected to find familiar faces there, Sheppard, he'd been told and McKay. But he hadn't ever expected to see Dr. Weir in any form since her new replicator form had walked willingly through the gate to save Atlantis again.

But there she is staring at him and it's not like before because he can't see any difference and she knows him. Which means there is only two options and he pulls his gun - just in case. She's another duplicate or worse a replicator. "You're not Weir."

Her smile faded to a small frown, and she lifted her hands to show she held no weapons. Truthfully, if Ronon had just arrived, his reaction was no surprise. She had gathered already that she had not survived the Replicator capture. That could only mean one of two things--death, or being turned into a Replicator herself.

Even now, it was a chilling thought.

She offered Ronon a soft, sad smile. "I know it's hard to believe, but I am. I arrived here at a time before the Asurans could finish their work."

Ronon knew the replicators were good at coming out with what they thought people wanted to hear. And they had all wanted Elizabeth to have survived - even on some weird island where they were stuck. He wanted that. But he wasn't going to just trust it. Her.

He unsheathed a knife and held it out to her handle first - he had more and if she was a replicator - it would hardly matter. "Prove it."

She frowned slightly, studying the knife for a moment, before turning a curious gaze back to him. She had her suspicions what he wanted from her...but it was not the most pleasant thing.

She would do it, if indeed that was what would convince him, but she wasn't about to do it without confirmation. "How?"

It didn't mean anything that she didn't seem keen - if anything it was Weir like - cautious, thinking everything through. "Replicators heal," he reminded her. If she was real - she wouldn't and then they would go find her a doctor.

It was...a bit of a barbaric test, and she had her suspicions how well it would work on a Replicator, but she nodded after a moment. At the worst, a few stitches were worth earning Ronon's trust on the island--and she knew all too well how difficult it was to overcome doubt about the Replicators on this island.

"Alright then, if that will prove to you I am human."

She held up one hand, palm toward him, and took the offered knife with the other. She might have preferred a lighter knife, more likely to cut shallowly, but she had no such knife on her.

For a moment, she wondered herself whether the stinging slice on her palm--which she sincerely hoped was as shallow as she'd attempted to make it--would indeed seal itself up. The moment passed, and she offered the knife back to him.

"I am Doctor Elizabeth Weir."

Ronon waited patiently - he didn't want to hurt her if she was Weir but until he saw her hand not sealing up in that odd way he could not trust that she was who she said. The Elizabeth Weir who had given him a chance, given him a home and made it possible for him to be here today. Even if here was stuck on an island that made no sense, Ronon knew of much worse fates.

He watched her blood drip down her hand then it sunk was really her. He didn't mean to pull her off her feet in a hug but couldn't quite help himself. Though he set her back on her feet quickly enough, careful of her wounded hand and the knife.

"It's good to see you," he told her leaving off alive or again or anything else that would make him even more disrespectful of her. "Dr. Weir."

The sudden hug was unexpected, but she recovered from the surprise quickly enough to offer a grateful smile once he released her. "It's good to see you, as well, Ronon."

She offered the knife back to him, and nodded. "Have you seen the others?"

"Heard where they were," Ronon said, nodding down the path and sheathing the knife. "Was headed there now." He'd hadn't heard about Elizabeth but that just made it all the better. If anything about this place was better.

She stepped back, and gestured toward New Atlantis. "I'm sure they will all be thrilled to see you." She doubted any of the others were in danger of being suspected to be a Replicator--or, she hoped that none of them were--but it would be good that he knew what to expect. "I'm not the only one from the past here."

Ronon fell into step wondering just what else awaited him. Not that he couldn't cope with surprises. Still it was best to be prepared. "Who else?" he asked. Elizabeth he could understand - Elizabeth they had lost. But no-one else had vanished.

She could not be certain of when he had arrived from, but from what she understood in her conversations with Doctor Keller, only herself and Carson's presence would be a surprise.

"John's last memory of Atlantis is the Wraith siege, shortly before we first met you. Teyla comes from a time shortly before myself, as does Doctor Zelenka." It was best, perhaps, to allow John or another who knew Ronon better to explain how John would recognize him. "Also...Carson is here. From not long after John."

Ronon frowned at the idea that John would not recognise him. And that he could have come from so long ago and yet not have warned them of this. But this was almost undone by the news that Carson, like Elizabeth, was not dead here either. He didn't have anything to say about it but without leaving Elizabeth behind he quickened his pace. "Good enough," he said

It would be quite a bit to explain it all, but learning it all at once had done nothing to help her arrival, and it was best to leave some of the more difficult to believe parts to someone whom Ronon had no reason to suspect.

"It is good to have you back, Ronon."