Hi guys, apologies for the delay on this. I know that there's dozens of you who've marked this as a favourite and no doubt hate waiting for updates, but I'm afraid I'm not a very good writer. My muse comes and goes, and sometimes my graphics muse takes over, and sometimes real life just drains me of any creative ambition. So, I am sorry for making you wait, and I really do appreciate you taking the time out to read my story and comment on it. Thanks a million :)

And now, without further ado...

After a quick pit stop in the galley to obtain some food not sealed in little packets, Sheppard and Ronon made their way down to the holding cells. Sheppard was busy working on his third PJ&B sandwich and wasn't paying attention, but with Ronon leading the way why bother? The Satedean's memory and sense of direction was better than breadcrumbs which, incidentally, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard was leaving in his wake.

Sheppard dusted the last of them off his hands as Ronon stopped at an intersection and pointed down the hallway at the two men on guard outside the door, "There."

"Thanks," John said with a small smirk, "I would never have guessed. Hey guys," Sheppard made his way over to the guards, "How 'bout you take a break, huh?"

It took a minute for them to glance awkwardly at each other before electing one of them to speak on their behalf, "We have orders. Two men at all times, 6 hour shifts. We're not due to be relieved for another two and a half hours. Sir," he added as an afterthought.

"Well, it was just a request, but I can make it an order if you need it to be."

Sheppard would have liked to have believed that it was the men's response to a higher authority that made them cooperate without too much fuss, but judging from their worried upward glances and the fact that Ronon was standing behind him looking intimidating without trying… Yeah, he highly doubted it was his rank that scared them.

"Okay then," he said, more to himself than anyone else, as the guards wandered off, "Let's go make some new friends."

---

They had been playing the A-Z game for so long that Dean had even resorted to using 'proper' actresses for answers after running out of porn stars. Alright, so he hadn't run out of porn stars… just names for them.

'Brittany Spears."

Sam laughed.

"What? She was a movie, it counts!"

"Whatever you say Dean. Uhhh…" but before Sam could counter with 'Carmen Electra', which Dean would kick himself for not saying at a previous opportunity, both brothers sat up in their bunks and listened to the muffled voices behind their cell door. Sam stood up and Dean hopped down off their respective beds and glanced at each other.

"It's a bit too soon after the last meal, isn't it?" Dean queried.

"Yeah…"

"Maybe they're going to upgrade our rooms? Penthouse suite?" Dean joked.

Sam couldn't help but smile, a smile that disappeared as soon the door started to open.

The brothers stared at the friendly face before them, not quite willing to believe the strange contrast between the man and his surroundings, most notably the 6'4" gun-toting hunter-type standing in the background.

"Hi there. I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard with the United States Airforce." The man who introduced himself as Sheppard looked at them expectantly, before raising an eyebrow and leaning in, "And you are…?"

"Oh, sorry, um, I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean." Sam held out a hand, an automatic reaction, one which received a quizzical look from his brother. "What? He was being polite."

Sheppard smiled at them and shook Sam's hand. "Nice to meet you Sam. Dean."

"And if he was being 'sexy' I'm sure you'd have flirted right back." Dean muttered.

Sam froze, glared at his brother, and then he glanced at Colonel Sheppard, "Could I have my hand back? I need to hit my brother."

"Sure thing." Sheppard said with a smirk, releasing the kids hand, watching as it curled into a fist and smacked Dean in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Well, then… now that we're all acquainted…"

"No, we're not." Dean interjected, rubbing the feeling back into his shoulders, "Who's the Sasquatch?"

Sheppard turned to the man behind him, "You didn't introduce yourself? That's a bit rude," he commented casually. After waiting the allotted time for a Ronon response and receiving none John spoke for him, "That's Ronon. He's not much of a talker."

"No kidding." Dean muttered.

"Now, where were we? Right… Let's start with something easy: where are you boys from?"

"Earth." Dean snapped before Sam could stop him, "But aren't we all?"

"No." Ronon replied. Before Dean and Sam had a chance to ask a follow up question John steered the conversation back to somewhere safer.

"Where abouts on Earth? Me? I've been all over the world, but my last post was in Antarctica." He said with a note of pride.

"Uhh…" Sam started, having issues tearing his imagination away from the fact that the tall dark guy with the glowing gun wasn't from Earth, "We, uh, we didn't really stay in one place for much. We're kinda from all over, I guess.

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Second question, how did you get here, onto this ship?"

"C'mon, we've already been through this with the other Colonel guy." Dean spat.

"Fair enough." Sheppard replied, not wanting to have the conversation halted so quickly, "Question three , where were you before you were here?"

"Just outside of Buffalo." Sam replied before Dean had a chance to.

"Buffalo, huh? Cool. Now that's something I should have arranged for you to bring back with you!" Sheppard directed at Ronon, "Buffalo wings would have really hit the spot right about now," he mused, his imagination wandering away before the weird looks brought him back. "Sorry, um… Question four,"

"Colonel Sheppard."

A voice was heard from nowhere in particular that had three of them spinning around for the source. Ronon however simply moved his eyes to the small speaker/camera located in the hallway outside the cell.

"God? Is that you?" Sheppard asked, staring at the ceiling.

"I think it's Colonel Caldwell." Ronon offered helpfully.

Sheppard turned to Ronon to explain the joke but thought better of it, "Thanks."

"Colonel Sheppard?"

"Yes, Colonel? Something wrong with the radios?"

"Not that I'm aware of," came the reply. Sheppard smirked, one to Caldwell. "Colonel Sheppard can I ask what you think you're doing, dismissing my men and interrogating my prisoners?"

"Uh, well… I'd say you have a pretty good idea of what I think I'm doing."

"And yet protocol would dictate that you should have reported to me in order to be debriefed on the… recent situation."

"Well… You see, I thought, that since we were going to be on… this ship," he said cautiously, unsure of what had to be kept 'highly classified' whilst talking with the intergalactic stowaways – at least in front of Caldwell, "for a few more days at least that we'd have plenty of time for that debriefing later, but come on Colonel, stowaways from Earth. How often do I get a chance to shoot the breeze people from home, ask about the weather… and who won the Superbowl." he said with a smirk.

Soon after Colonel Caldwell's exasperated "Colonel!" came Dean's hushed "Pittsburg!"

"Really," replied the very intrigued Colonel Sheppard. As he went to open his mouth to ask a follow up question, God started talking to him again.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is my ship and I am the ranking officer on it. I am ordering you to report to the bridge so that you can debrief me about the Midway situation. Please return the prisoners to their cell. I'll radio for some men to stand watch outside their door."

"That's little bit excessive, don't you think, Colonel? The only real danger here is that they're going to go stir crazy sitting in that cell. How's about we let them out, get some… not so fresh air, maybe get a real meal from the mess…"

"Those men are not going anywhere without an armed escort."

"If I get Ronon to be their babysitter, would that be satisfactory?"

"…Yes, I suppose it would."

"Good, that's settled then. I'll head up to the bridge now."

And with the deal made God terminate his transmission.

"Alright," Sheppard said, addressing the two stowaways as he began walking away, "Now, you two behave yourselves."

"Sheppard." Ronon said in his 'I won't disobey an order so you better make it an order or I'm not doing it' voice.

"Come on Ronon, it'll be a cake walk. And if they give you any trouble – I give you permission to shoot them."

Bug-eyed with fear-of-Ronon (quite similar to fear-of-Ronon's-gun) the brothers watched the Colonel turn a corner and disappear out of sight, only to reappear a fraction of a second later.

"Put it on 'stun' Ronon," he said. And then, going off Ronon's smirk, "I mean it."

Ronon kept smirking as he pulled his gun from its holster, spun it around - accompanied by various clicking and whirling type noises – and reholstered it. Sam and Dean stood gob smacked, feeling as though outta be paying to see something that cool.

"Alright, that's better." Sheppard said as he went to leave for the second time, "I'll meet see you in the mess hall in 30."

Sam and Dean watched Sheppard leave and then slowly turned to meet the gaze of the dreadlocked gargantuan, who in turn was looking down at them. After a few seconds of staring Ronon broke free and started walking down the corridor.

"Come on, I'll take you to the mess hall."

Sam and Dean fell in behind him, quietly obedient, afraid that one wrong word and they'd be on the receiving end of a blast from Ronon's gun… whatever Ronon's gun fired, sure didn't look like it took bullets.

"Hey, you guys are from Earth, right?"

"Uh… yeah."

"What's a cake walk?"

"It's where you go for a walk with the specific purpose of getting cake." Dean replied before he could stop himself.

Ronon stopped and turned to them, staring intently, thinking on Dean's reply. Eventually he processed it and nodded in acceptance.

"I like cake," came the Satedan's reply, as he turned around and picked up the pace.