38. GQ and Dreadlocks (Ronon Dex)

GQ and Dreadlocks

Tony got off the helicopter that was supposed to take him to the Seahawk and frowned. He’d been exhausted after the last case as well as having to pack with no time to rest and had fallen asleep shortly after lift-off. Not even the refueling stops had disturbed him and he’d only woken up when the wheels hit the ground some ten hours later. This was no ship, a huge mountain but no sea for miles around. “Oooookaaaayyyy. I think we took a wrong turn somewhere.”

There was a snort behind him and he saw a two-star general and his old director, Tom Morrow standing there.  “No mistake. We decided to take advantage of Vance’s prejudice against cops.  Stick around, we have a mountain of forms for you to sign to raise your security level and then ... then, I think I might just have found the one thing that will finally get you to accept my offer.”

Tony followed in a daze but taking everything in with eager eyes and ears. Upon hearing a most fantastical and brilliant tale about aliens, cool technologies and crazy bad guys he was struck by a random thought and started to laugh.  “My God, whoever thought to use Wormhole Extreme as plausible deniability was a genius.”

O’Neill snickered remembering that case. “Believe me, when you read the report on that one you will find it crazier.”

Tony wondered one thing. “So where do you want me? And as what?”

Morrow rolled his eyes hearing some insecurity there and he was well aware of the reasons.  He had a few things to say and if he got a chance he was going to tear Gibbs a new one, old friends or not.  “Okay, Shepard chose how she was going to die and did do at least one honourable thing during that whole mess... She kept you and David away.”

Tony looked up feeling the guilt easing somewhat and he already looked a few years younger. O’Neill nodded his agreement seeing some of the shadows in Tony’s eyes lifting. “I agree completely with Morrow. Now, I have a very cool ship but it is in a galaxy far, far away.  It has a rather large Marine contingent and a too curious science staff - so I need a cool calm investigator who can support the expedition leader. You up for the job?”

Tony’s eyes shone. This was an adventure that he wasn’t going to turn down.  “Where do I sign and how quick can I go and tell Vance to shove his job up his arse?”

Morrow snorted seeing Tony’s old enthusiasm spark back into his eyes. “If you will allow an old man some fun we can take my jet to Dulles and then my chopper back to the Navy Yard.”

“Yes Sir.”

O’Neill hated the fact that he wasn’t going to be there because from the reports he was hearing the guy sounded like a dick and O’Neill hated all douches on principle.  Still, Tom was a fishing buddy and would enjoy retelling the tale when they next saw each other.

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*Vance saw the chopper touchdown on his helipad and wondered just what the Homeland Director wanted.  He flushed in anger at seeing his agent step off the chopper too.  What the hell did DiNozzo think he was doing disobeying orders?Morrow smirked internally. “Good to see you, Leon. We need to step into your office to discuss a few matters.”

Vance nodded to acknowledge the Homeland Director but his opening gambit was directed toward Tony. “DiNozzo you better have a hell of an explanation or you are going to lose your job quicker than you can blink.”

DiNozzo regarded him coolly. “You misunderstand Director. We are discussing me .”

As soon as they stepped into Vance’s office Vance picked up a toothpick. He knew this meeting was going to stress him out. “So there is a good reason why you are not on the Seahawk?”DiNozzo didn’t smile or react which bothered Vance - this was not what his profile of DiNozzo suggested.  “Well, I stepped on the helicopter accepting my demotion and punishment to the Seahawk.  Only when I stepped off the chopper there seemed to have been a communication error as I was not on the Seahawk.  By coincidence, I happened to run into Director Morrow who offered me a job commensurate with my skill and experience level and I accepted.”“You can’t just quit!” Vance roared.

DiNozzo was still calm. “Yes I can and why are you upset? I got the distinct impression from our last chat that this is what you wanted.”

Morrow decided to interject and he would be having words with SecNav Davenport because his choice of Director could do with additional scrutiny.  “Leon it is a done deal. Do not make waves as the President is the one who has signed off on this.”

Vance was bewildered but refused to show it. He had sent DiNozzo away to cool his heels and flex his authority so that the agent would understand who was the boss at NCIS. This was not what he intended at all but all his plans were now for naught.  “So you are just leaving?”DiNozzo smiled and it was a change in his whole being. “Yeah I am, I am doing something for myself. Goodbye, Director.”He didn’t say any of the polite falsehoods about how it was a pleasure to work with you, or, any of the other platitudes. Even with his undercover skills, he doubted he would have been able to sell it.  Morrow smiled as he said this knowing Tony deserved the chance to say a few goodbyes.  “Why not say goodbye to your colleagues? I should imagine you have a few things you want to say.”

Tony slipped away as quietly as he came. First of all, he headed down to autopsy. He wanted to say goodbye to Ducky.

“Hello, Anthony. Forgive me, I am always pleased to see you but shouldn’t you be on the Seahawk by now ?”Tony chuckled knowing what the medical examiner meant and didn’t take it to heart. “I planned to be but a few things have changed. I got an offer and for the first time in five years I found myself saying yes.”Palmer looked up from the inventory. “Oh thank god.  Please tell me they’ll actually respect you?”Tony chuckled because no one would believe Palmer could be feisty. “Yeah, Jimmy but I’m here to say goodbye.  It’s a foreign posting I’m afraid and I will be able to email but not much else.”Ducky looked sad because he hoped Gibbs would see sense.  Too bad, Anthony did first and realised there were places around that would appreciate him more.  It was a crying shame as Ducky was well aware what a positive influence Anthony used to have on Jethro.  He had not been a good friend to Tony when Gibbs had run away so even though he was sad, he found himself saying. “I wish you every luck Anthony. You deserve it and do try to write once in awhile.”Anthony grinned. “I will Ducky, stay well.” Turning to Jimmy. “Thanks for everything, Autopsy Gremlin. I’ll be in touch when I can.”

***

Tony headed down to the forensics lab. “Hey, Abby.”“TONY!”

Tony was glad of the distance as it probably protected his hearing.  This was not going to be fun but she had been someone who had been dear to him and at one time, he’d thought of her as his little sister.  “What’s going on? You coming home?”“No, Ab’s I’m not,” Tony said softly. “The Director hates me and as of two hours ago ... I am now a Homeland Agent.”Abs sat down stunned. “But what about the team, our family?”Tony sat with her. “Families move apart. You know this Ab’s. This is a great opportunity for me and my career, plus you know things just haven’t been right for a while now with the team. In our line of work, that’s too dangerous. I still care and I will email when I can but due to the posting it may be a while before I can reply”

“You better Mister.”She said with a pout and hug.

Tony hated how abrupt and awkward the ending for him and Abby was but he had changed, and sadly, the scientist had not.

***

Gibbs was the last one he had to see and Tony had planned it that way.  He had no way to predict how this would go as he no longer understood his boss. Still, there was no point in delaying the inevitable - he walked into the bullpen. “Hey, Gibbs.”“DiNozzo. What are you doing here?” Gibbs asked him, cold towards him still.  

Tony let it go reminding himself of what Morrow told him. “Transferring agencies. Your Director is mad as hell. Mine is pleased as punch.”Gibbs could hear the line in the sand - DiNozzo was already separating himself from NCIS.  He was glad that DiNozzo was leaving the agency.  His behaviour would make many people believe he was a bastard but DiNozzo was too loyal to him so unless he completely embodied that second B, DiNozzo would never leave.

He shook Tony’s hand. “I wish you luck Agent DiNozzo.”

Tony returned the handshake choosing to remember times gone by. “You too. Agent Gibbs.”

Tony left the bullpen with his head held high - and tellingly he didn’t look back to anyone.  

&*&*&*&*&*&Tony’s mind hadn’t stopped absorbing facts and training since he’d gone back to the mountain.  The marines who were going to Atlantis with him liked the fact that they had an agent who wanted to train with them. At first, they thought he would be as useful as a team mascot and then they realised that whilst not a marine - DiNozzo could keep up, they kind of wanted to adopt him.    

“Why are you grinning DiNozzo? We just ran five miles.” The new military second in command asked him sounding somewhat exasperated.DiNozzo was beaming from ear to ear and he just knew this one would cause trouble.  “Because I can. Vala healed my lungs and knees and I feel as fit as when I almost went Pro back in college.”“What sport?” Lorne asked out of curiosity.“Football. Quarterback.” DiNozzo replied.

Lorne shook his head. “Well, you will make sure the marines don’t slack off. I know you came from NCIS so I presume you’re at least a reasonable shot.” There was a challenge in his voice but he needed to know what the civilians could do.

DiNozzo grinned. “Between you and I, my ex-boss was a marine sniper and trained us to shoot like him. He had inventive methods involving your mobiles and other treasured items.”

Lorne smirked and saw the opportunity to win a few bets.  “So if we go down to the shooting range we can make a few bets and win?”

DiNozzo grinned at him.  “Sure thing Major.”

Tony left to prepare for his daily meeting with Weir, Sheppard and McKay as a way to get up to speed before they reached Atlantis.  The briefings were done in Caldwell’s briefing room and the Commander of the spaceship would join them.  

“So ... problems?” Weir asked.

Tony shrugged looking to Sheppard as they’d discussed something yesterday.  He was aware of the less than cordial relationship between Caldwell and Sheppard.  He had no doubt they would be professional but doing favours wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.  “Sheppard and I were discussing if there’s a way to help the marines let off steam ? Everyone’s going a little stir-crazy.”

Sheppard snorted because the newbies were so green they were ridiculous. “Yeah, too much energy and a little too much like Wraithbait.”

Caldwell nodded his agreement. “I’m this close to asking McKay about the viability of making a space suit to keelhaul them.”

Lorne smirked at the way McKay brightened at Caldwell’s thought.  Lorne was smart enough to redirect the thoughts.  “They are just adjusting to the fact that their commanders are zoomies and scary.”

Sheppard shrugged, they soon shut up after they read the action reports from their first year.  He was in awe of the way DiNozzo gently slid the issue in as a way to address it when the whole leadership team was present.  “We should start training early.  Colonel, could we commandeer the empty cargo bay?”Caldwell nodded. “With pleasure.”

No one missed the smirk between Sheppard and DiNozzo.  Weir smirked right back at them both. “You won’t be able to pull that trick too often gentleman.”“Won’t have to.”&*&*&*&*&*&*&

Tony wondered what all the commotion was because this was a level beyond Atlantis’ normal level of crazy.  He loved the fact that he had only been in the city two months and he was already a good judge of levels of crazy days.  He headed into Liz’s office knowing that she would be able to shed light on the situation.

Weir was unhappy. “He is bringing an alien to the city.”DiNozzo could see why that might freak her out a little. “Sheppard loves this city and she loves him so there is no way he would voluntarily bring a dangerous threat here.”

Weir knew this, she did.  She was also aware that this, Ronon, had taken her first contact team hostage when they first met.  It made her predisposed to be somewhat unkeen on him. “We’ll see, I want you to give me an honest threat assessment of him as soon as you can.”“Yes, ma’am.”

&*&*&*&*&*&

In the infirmary, Tony walked in to see Sheppard sitting by their newest visitor’s bed.  And wow, he had no idea that muscles could be on top of muscles in such a delicious way.  Dreadlocks looked so peaceful in sleep.  “So I didn’t expect you to be standing sentinel against your previous captor?”

Sheppard looked up. “You doing the threat assessment?”Tony nodded because there was no reason to lie.  After all, it was part of his skillset and he would be the most impartial of the people in the city.  “Yep, that’s me. So talk me through why you let him come back to Atlantis.”Sheppard sighed. “Yes, he took me hostage but that’s because that is what his life has taught him to do.”

Tony nodded to say keep going.

“I didn’t know it until Ronon told me but the Wraith play sports. They keep what they call runners and this guy was one of them. They put a tracker in him as they obviously don’t play fair and hunt him for sport.  He did that day in day out for seven years DiNozzo. I damn well made sure the tracker was removed, the scar was so bad because he tried to take it out of himself with his hands and a knife ... No anesthetic as that would have dulled his senses.”

Tony shuddered because that was a horrific image. He hadn’t met a Wraith yet and whilst he knew he would more than likely meet one eventually, he was more than okay delaying that for as long as possible.  “Does he want to stay?”

Sheppard shrugged as he had no idea. “No clue, but he has no one. The Wraith decimated his entire world. Why not stay here?”“Is he a risk?” Tony asked in all seriousness because if there was one person from Earth who understood the Pegasus Galaxy - it was Sheppard.  Tony had read all the reports from the first year and could also read between the lines about what wasn’t reported.  He also wouldn’t ignore that out of the three official Military Commanders assigned to Atlantis - Sheppard was the only one who managed to survive and even flourish in the role.

Sheppard had a wry grin. “We have an accord.”Tony just gave him a look. “That’s great. I’ll be sure to tell that to Dr. Weir... I just can see how well that will go.”

Sheppard snickered having had more than one of those meetings himself. “Okay, so I will give you more. This is how we sell it.”&*&*&*&*&*&*&*Ronon was close to Sheppard and would talk sparsely with Rodney and Teyla.  Tony hadn’t really had time to get to know many on base with all the work he’d been catching up on.  You wouldn’t believe the amount of paperwork a base in the ass end of another galaxy could generate for the US military.  Tony had made best friends with Major Lorne and between them, they had righted the ship and got everything organised.  

Tony walked into the canteen and got a drink and some food. Beckett was scary good at finding out if he missed a meal and was not shy in telling him off.  

Tony was surprised when someone sat opposite him. It was Ronon sitting there in all his dreadlock glory.  Tony didn’t blink or make a big deal of it.

He got a gruff question by way of greeting. “So I have you to thank for being able to stay here?”Tony shook his head. “Nope. I just did the right thing.”

Ronon nodded and seemed unsure whether to ask his next question.  Tony knew the only way to make it easier was to bulldoze through any awkward conversations and to just have them.    “You okay?”Ronon stared at him for a moment. “I want to know if you share pillows with anyone.”Tony didn’t flush but he did smile because wow, that was not what he was expecting.  He had to smile guessing what the phrase meant. “No, I have no one I share my bed with.”“Why not? You’re really pleasing to look at and people like being around you.”

Tony did flush at that because whilst he was no stranger to how he looked - It had been awhile since someone had been so blunt in chasing him. “Thanks - you are not so bad yourself.”

Ronon frowned and Tony didn’t like that look on him. “Is this like that stupid rule Sheppard’s men have to follow?”Wow. Way to dismiss DADT in one easy step. Tony had to smile and shake his head. “You will find my people are strangely reserved about talking about who they share a bed with.”Ronon looked over at a bunch of marines he’d been helping to train and raised an eyebrow.

Tony could guess what he was thinking and wondered how he could tactfully phrase what he needed to say. Ah well, he would just say it. “You will soon learn that the way marines talk to each other is not how everyone speaks with each other.” Tony paused but continued. “They have a unique turn of phrase, they’re brilliant soldiers and fantastic men but not the best group you should learn about earth customs from.”

Ronon smirked letting him know he was more than aware and being sly about playing the alien card.  Tony snickered. “Oh, you are going to be so much fun.”“Didn’t I see you running this morning?” Ronon asked in a sudden change of subject.Tony nodded surprised that anyone noticed.  He ran one of the approved safe routes that were marked out but he was still adjusting to his new limits with his improved lung capacity.  “Yeah you did ... Want to run together tomorrow?”“Sure.” Ronon definitely liked the idea of seeing Tony in the running clothes humans wore.  Those fabrics did show all the best attributes of people.Tony and Ronon left the food hall together and both could hear Rodney say to Sheppard as they passed the other pair. “GQ and Dreadlocks? ... since when?”

Tony liked the sound of that and so did Ronon.  No matter how many of the new women or men tried to get either man’s attention - they soon learned that GQ and Dreadlocks only had eyes for each other.