Happy Endings by Nemesis; Exhaustion Challenge
Exhaustion Challenge
Title: Happy Endings
Author: Nemesis, the rogue_planet
Rating: PG, post-second season, no spoilers
Length: 823
Disclaimer: Without Prejudice. The names of all characters contained here-in are the property of the creators. No infringments of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.
Summary: A Setedan fairy tale set to the backdrop of impending disaster or, Ronon tells a story to keep John awake
Please let me know what you think of this. I'm not entirely happy with it, but Ronon's fairytale has been driving me batty and this seemed like a good way to tell it.
"Sheppard."
John's head jerked up and he stared blearily at Ronon. "What?"
"You can't go to sleep." Ronon took a quick look under the bandage on his Taskmaster's head and hid a wince. "McKay said."
"I’m tired and Rodney..." John was kinda uncomfortable lying in a pool of his own blood, but every time he tried to move, the world kept spinning in a way that made him queasy. "Is not always right."
"Basic field medicine. You have a concussion." Not to mention a hole in the upper right calf, but they weren't talking about that. It had hit an artery, he'd had to tie it off. In ten minutes, he'd have to undo the tourniquet, and hope McKay got back before Sheppard bled to death. He wouldn't force a field officer to endure the indignity of a lost limb.
"Fine. Talk to me." Ronon looked at John like he'd suggested he tap dance. "Don't do that silent warrior thing to me. Keep me awake. Tell me a story or something."
"I-"
"I could make it an order."
"Alright." Ronon sat cross-legged on the ground, cradling his P90. "Generations ago, my people were guided by a strict code of behavior. It had faded away in the North, but the people of the South clung tightly to the old ways.”
John stifled a laugh, then a groan when his leg twitched. “Sorry, just… I’ll explain later.”
At least Sheppard was facing his possible demise with good humor but he’d sworn to McKay and Teyla that he’d keep John awake until they got back, so on with the story. “During the time of Unification on Seteda, the king of the southern continent refused to give up the old ways and his absolute power. He kept his people ignorant and subservient to false gods."
"Sounds like those guys the SGC fought back on Earth." John's head started to bob downward and Ronon pinched the skin between his thumb and index finger. Hard. "Hey! Wounded here!"
"Stay awake." Ronon stared out of their shelter into the night sky, where three blood moons hung low in the sky. A bad omen if he'd ever seen one. "His daughter was a great beauty, and he wanted to use her as a bargaining chip to keep his freedom. But she had already chosen a lover, a servant she'd grown up with. Lower class."
"I bet Daddy loved that." It sounded like any of a dozen fairy tales John's mother had told him, with the exception of some Firefly-esque Alliance.
"Love was not the word I would use." Ronon stopped to look under John's eyelids. "They kept it a secret. When he came of age, he bid her goodbye and joined the army. Under the law of the kingdom, a Queen could never marry a servant, but by unspoken custom she could take a soldier as a lover."
"Lemme guess. She receives word that he dies, marries another man, and then the guy comes back, miraculously alive and she's torn tragically between them."
Silence, then, "No.” His silence implied he thought John’s theory was strange and disturbing. “She refused any man her father presented to her, as was her right, until her lover came back. The Unification army was two days behind him." Ronon looked at his watch. Almost an hour. "They lead a coup and captured her father. They beheaded him in the temple of his false god-"
"They BEHEADED him?" John tried to sit up again, but Ronon pushed him back down.
"They beheaded him." Ronon was nodding and smiling. "She broke the statues, shredded the class codes and burned them with his body. Then she married her soldier. That's why on Seteda, our family names were only used for record keeping."
"Wait, then-" Ronon's watch started to beep. "It's that time, huh?"
"I could leave it." He kept his voice light, like they were talking about a sandwich and not a leg.
"They'll send me home." John followed Ronon's gaze to the blood moons. "Get a pressure bandage, then cut the tourniquet off." He could hear Ronon rummaging in the first aid kit. "Did they live happily ever after?"
As he cut the thick rubber cord cutting off the blood flow to John's leg, Ronon could hear people running through the woods. Maybe they'd get lucky and it was help. Either way... "The princess became a queen and tempered her monarchy with the rule of law. She forged an alliance with the North and since the leader of the Unification Army had no wife nor wanted one, she bore him a son and she and her husband raised it as their own.” He tied the pressure bandage as tightly as he dared, but he knew the blood would just soak through. “The boy grew up to be a man. She and her husband lived to grow old. In Pegasus, that’s as happily ever after as we dare.”
Title: Happy Endings
Author: Nemesis, the rogue_planet
Rating: PG, post-second season, no spoilers
Length: 823
Disclaimer: Without Prejudice. The names of all characters contained here-in are the property of the creators. No infringments of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.
Summary: A Setedan fairy tale set to the backdrop of impending disaster or, Ronon tells a story to keep John awake
Please let me know what you think of this. I'm not entirely happy with it, but Ronon's fairytale has been driving me batty and this seemed like a good way to tell it.
"Sheppard."
John's head jerked up and he stared blearily at Ronon. "What?"
"You can't go to sleep." Ronon took a quick look under the bandage on his Taskmaster's head and hid a wince. "McKay said."
"I’m tired and Rodney..." John was kinda uncomfortable lying in a pool of his own blood, but every time he tried to move, the world kept spinning in a way that made him queasy. "Is not always right."
"Basic field medicine. You have a concussion." Not to mention a hole in the upper right calf, but they weren't talking about that. It had hit an artery, he'd had to tie it off. In ten minutes, he'd have to undo the tourniquet, and hope McKay got back before Sheppard bled to death. He wouldn't force a field officer to endure the indignity of a lost limb.
"Fine. Talk to me." Ronon looked at John like he'd suggested he tap dance. "Don't do that silent warrior thing to me. Keep me awake. Tell me a story or something."
"I-"
"I could make it an order."
"Alright." Ronon sat cross-legged on the ground, cradling his P90. "Generations ago, my people were guided by a strict code of behavior. It had faded away in the North, but the people of the South clung tightly to the old ways.”
John stifled a laugh, then a groan when his leg twitched. “Sorry, just… I’ll explain later.”
At least Sheppard was facing his possible demise with good humor but he’d sworn to McKay and Teyla that he’d keep John awake until they got back, so on with the story. “During the time of Unification on Seteda, the king of the southern continent refused to give up the old ways and his absolute power. He kept his people ignorant and subservient to false gods."
"Sounds like those guys the SGC fought back on Earth." John's head started to bob downward and Ronon pinched the skin between his thumb and index finger. Hard. "Hey! Wounded here!"
"Stay awake." Ronon stared out of their shelter into the night sky, where three blood moons hung low in the sky. A bad omen if he'd ever seen one. "His daughter was a great beauty, and he wanted to use her as a bargaining chip to keep his freedom. But she had already chosen a lover, a servant she'd grown up with. Lower class."
"I bet Daddy loved that." It sounded like any of a dozen fairy tales John's mother had told him, with the exception of some Firefly-esque Alliance.
"Love was not the word I would use." Ronon stopped to look under John's eyelids. "They kept it a secret. When he came of age, he bid her goodbye and joined the army. Under the law of the kingdom, a Queen could never marry a servant, but by unspoken custom she could take a soldier as a lover."
"Lemme guess. She receives word that he dies, marries another man, and then the guy comes back, miraculously alive and she's torn tragically between them."
Silence, then, "No.” His silence implied he thought John’s theory was strange and disturbing. “She refused any man her father presented to her, as was her right, until her lover came back. The Unification army was two days behind him." Ronon looked at his watch. Almost an hour. "They lead a coup and captured her father. They beheaded him in the temple of his false god-"
"They BEHEADED him?" John tried to sit up again, but Ronon pushed him back down.
"They beheaded him." Ronon was nodding and smiling. "She broke the statues, shredded the class codes and burned them with his body. Then she married her soldier. That's why on Seteda, our family names were only used for record keeping."
"Wait, then-" Ronon's watch started to beep. "It's that time, huh?"
"I could leave it." He kept his voice light, like they were talking about a sandwich and not a leg.
"They'll send me home." John followed Ronon's gaze to the blood moons. "Get a pressure bandage, then cut the tourniquet off." He could hear Ronon rummaging in the first aid kit. "Did they live happily ever after?"
As he cut the thick rubber cord cutting off the blood flow to John's leg, Ronon could hear people running through the woods. Maybe they'd get lucky and it was help. Either way... "The princess became a queen and tempered her monarchy with the rule of law. She forged an alliance with the North and since the leader of the Unification Army had no wife nor wanted one, she bore him a son and she and her husband raised it as their own.” He tied the pressure bandage as tightly as he dared, but he knew the blood would just soak through. “The boy grew up to be a man. She and her husband lived to grow old. In Pegasus, that’s as happily ever after as we dare.”