Scream For Me, by Asturiet
Title: Scream For Me
Author: asturiet
Summary: Rodney dreams, John remembers, and Teyla and Ronon are along for the ride.
Rating: R (for adult situations)
Pairing: John/Rodney
Warning: The tattoos in this story are NOT consensually gained, and there's some torture involved -- if you don't like angst, shoo.
Disclaimer: Sadly still not mine. Wah.
Author's Notes: Sorry, it's a little long (again). This is also my first attempt at angst, so it's likely to be a little heavy-handed and weepy -- my apologies.
***
Burning fire along his skin, chasing down his back, his arms, his legs. Crawling up his chest, winding around his neck, licking at his feet, his hands, his jaw.
Rodney bolted upright, finding himself on his feet next to his bed, panting heavily. He stood there a moment, catching his breath as he fully awakened. These dreams were going to be the death of him.
Sighing, he swiped a sleeve across his sweaty forehead and lowered himself back onto his bed. As if he'd actually be able to get back to sleep.
***
The screams followed John when he walked down the halls, when he ran, when he sparred with Teyla or Ronon. He could hear them in the back of his mind when he discussed the duty roster, when he picked up lunch in the mess, when he checked on Rodney in the labs.
You would think Rodney's voice, overlaid with its usual sarcasm, would chase away the shrieking in his memory -- afterall, how could Rodney be pleading for his life when he was hale and whole right in front of him, insulting John's hair or his sexual proclivities?
But the screaming went on.
***
They had gone to the planet to investigate some Ancient ruins -- they hadn't even realized the planet was inhabited. McKay had actually seemed impressed by the enormous trees, comparing them to a similar plant on his homeworld. All was quiet when they came upon the ruins, hidden in a small valley.
Then they were under attack, darts and arrows raining down, pelting the ground around them like wooden hail. The points of the projectiles had been coated with some kind of tranquilizer, and by the time Ronon had woken up, Teyla and Sheppard were sprawled in the dirt around him, and McKay was gone.
Sheppard went a little crazy when he woke up, his eyes just a little too wide, his movements swift and economical. Ronon had seen the reaction before and knew there wasn't anything he could do. Sheppard would not rest until he was dead or McKay was safe, whichever came first.
As Sheppard started off, following the signal from McKay's tracking device, Ronon glanced over at Teyla. She met his eyes and nodded, and he nodded back, and the two of them started after the Colonel.
***
They traipsed through the dense forest for hours, following the signal. It wasn't moving, but they couldn't seem to find it, no matter how long they walked. Teyla watched as the muscles in Colonel Sheppard's back grew tighter with every moment that passed, every moment when they didn't find Dr. McKay.
Finally, she moved up behind him, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm. He flinched, spinning around to face her, but she'd expected that: he was far too tense.
"Colonel," she said. "It is getting dark. We should return to the Stargate."
"He has to be here," Sheppard ground out between clenched teeth, his eyes wide and wild even in the dimming light.
"If we have not found him by now," she said calmly, hoping her even tones would help settle the man, even though she knew they never would. "We will not find him in the dark."
"I'm not leaving without him."
"We should get reinforcements," Ronon chimed in, his low voice somehow settling Teyla's nerves. She hadn't even realized she WAS nervous. "More people to search."
It was a good suggestion, but it took Sheppard a long time to turn it over in his mind. Teyla watched the pale eyes as he considered Ronon's words.
"Fine," he said. "Teyla, you--"
Suddenly a piercing scream ripped through the cooling air, and Sheppard's head jerked in the direction of the sound like a dog on the hunt.
He was running before Teyla could blink.
***
***
He caught people looking at him now and then, when they thought he wouldn't notice. He noticed. He could feel their gazes, hot on his skin like the remembered fire, but, in a burst of uncharacteristic empathy, he did his best to ignore them. They couldn't help it -- humans were curious, were interested in the new, the bizarre. It wasn't their fault that he was the bizarre.
Maybe he should just flash them all, go walking naked through the halls of Atlantis. Maybe then they'd get their fill, maybe then they'd grow tired of watching him, waiting for a flash of skin, of thick, curving lines, whorls and thorny spikes.
Blue and green, purple and red, offerings to a god he'd never met, a faith he'd never known.
Shaking his head, Rodney refocused his eyes on his screen, pointedly ignoring the various gazes watching him across the lab. He had work to do.
***
"Hey, buddy, you wanna go get dinner?" John leaned against the door to the lab, his arms crossed over his chest, the screams echoing in his ears.
Rodney just raised an eyebrow. "Do you even have to ask?" he said, and quickly shut down his laptop.
John watched, his eyes picking out the purple and blue swirls that crawled up the scientist's neck. Rodney had his shirt zipped all the way up, but even the high collar couldn't cover everything, not when the sinuous markings licked at his jaw, his ears.
You screamed for me, Rodney, Sheppard thought, forcing a grin for the physicist as they started on their way to the mess, as the screaming rose to a frantic pitch. You screamed for me and I came...but not soon enough.
Dinner was a jovial affair, despite the some-kind-of-meatloaf and reconstituted something else that was served. Rodney and John snarked back and forth, and Teyla and Ronon joined them partway through the meal, both of them relaxed after a long sparring session.
And through it all Sheppard pointedly did not look at the strong fingers, now ringed with vines of green and black. He decidedly did not see blue spirals on wide palms, or red lines on thin-skinned wrists. He DID hear the screaming, though.
***
They came every few seconds, the screams that guided them through the forest like the device hadn't been able to. Ronon ran alongside Sheppard, though he found himself pushing to keep up. Sheppard, for his part, ran like a madman, not slowing, not tiring, relentless in his pursuit. Ronon had expected nothing less.
Even with the screaming to guide them, it was difficult to find what they were looking for. They moved in circles for long minutes, each scream seeming to come from a new direction, until, by chance, Ronon happened to see light leaking from one of the massive trees.
After that it took three more screams to locate the exact tree, and two more to figure out how to get inside. By that point, Sheppard was shaking, his hands clenching and unclenching on his P90.
It was not the best way to go into battle, but Ronon knew better than to try to delay Sheppard or calm him down. Neither would work.
***
The small village was unlike any she had seen before. Somehow the people of this world had managed to hollow out the enormous tree trunks for use as homes. Since they had seen no signs of people outside the trees, there must have been tunnels of some kind, perhaps in the large roots of those same trees.
Teyla entered the tree cautiously, following Ronon and Sheppard, who quickly stalked up the staircase winding around the perimeter of the blank, circular room they entered. There were lights coming from above, mostly blocked by what looked like large circular platforms placed irregularly up throughout the massive, hollow tree.
Checking and double-checking the area, she crept up the stairs, taking note of the voices she could hear now that they were inside the tree. The screaming had stopped.
After a few revolutions of the trunk she came upon Ronon and Sheppard, crouched in the shadows of the stairs just before the first of the platforms. She could not see past them into the "room," but she heard a man's voice rising and falling rhythmically. She did not understand the words, but it sounded like some kind of ritual chant, probably not unlike many she had encountered on other worlds.
Even so, Teyla's blood froze in her veins. Chanting and screaming were never a good combination, especially when the screaming ended so suddenly.
***
***
The bonds were rough on sensitive wrists and ankles, holding Rodney spread-eagled and upright before a roaring fire. He didn't remember how he'd gotten there, all he could find in his memories were fire and pain, slow, exquisite pain.
A man walked into his vision, a dark silhouette against the fire. Rodney struggled to focus on his face, but all he could see was the gleaming knife the man held aloft as he began to speak in a language Rodney was pretty sure he'd never heard before.
"Mewago gadji wobu ewube. Jizigo gadji ziluzilu ewuzi, ve leligo de wewi deli zizube."
Rodney's eyes widened as he realized what was going on -- that wasn't just a fire, there was an altar in front of it, and a very large bowl that looked entirely too ceremonial for Rodney's taste sat beneath where he hung.
Sacrifice.
He tried to speak, to plead his case, to talk his way out of what was obviously a very bad situation, but all that came out when he opened his mouth was a tiny, almost inaudible croak, and Rodney's heart sank as he remembered screaming...a lot of screaming.
The long, slim blade glittered in the firelight as the man raised it high, drawing back for the strike that would spill Rodney's blood into the wide, gleaming bowl.
***
A scream shattered the stillness, echoing off trees like sequoias. John ran and ran, and still the screams came, one after another, tripping over each other in their haste to reach his ears.
He ran towards the screams, but every time he thought he'd found them, they moved, came from somewhere else. Why couldn't they hold still? Why did they have to move?
Loud, strident, and disastrously familiar, the screams continued, the constant ebb and flow eating away at his mind.
***
Ronon could only barely see into the room where McKay was being held, and there was no way he would be able to get a clean shot at the man who was poised to strike the bound scientist.
Not that it mattered.
At the apex of his strike, the man suddenly fell backward, over the altar behind him to crash into the fire. He wouldn't feel it -- Sheppard had put a bullet in his brain.
Ronon swarmed into the room behind the Colonel, noting Teyla following more cautiously. After a quick sweep of the room to search for others, he made his way to the two sturdy poles the scientist was bound to and kicked the enormous bowl out of the way.
Sheppard was there, speaking to the scientist, who actually appeared to be awake, if a little out of it. McKay was naked and had been covered with some kind of body art, swirls of color and strange patterns coating him from head to toe, leaving only his face bare. Other than that, however, and the fact that he wasn't speaking in response to Sheppard's quiet questions (and after the screaming, Ronon really wasn't surprised by that), he seemed just fine -- there wasn't a mark on him. Even the leather bindings didn't seem to have cut into his skin when Ronon carefully removed them, releasing the scientist from the poles.
"We should leave as soon as possible," Teyla said, having completed her more thorough sweep of the area, and Ronon nodded. He turned to the two men, now sitting on the floor between the poles.
"Sheppard," he said. "We have to get out of here." Slowly, the dark head nodded, and Ronon placed a hand on the man's arm when he went to gather the scientist up. "Let me carry him." That earned him a dark glare, and Sheppard drew breath to speak, but Ronon cut him off. "We'll move faster that way, get him back sooner."
For a long moment, Sheppard just stared, then he nodded once.
***
The trek back to the Stargate took very little time, and no one followed them. Whether the man had been acting alone or it had just been a very private ceremony Teyla was not sure, but it seemed that no one was watching the ritual or even checking up on the man.
Teyla dialed the 'gate herself when they arrived, and sent her own IDC through -- Ronon had his hands full carrying Dr. McKay, and Colonel Sheppard...well, Teyla didn't trust him to do much besides run and kill things at the moment.
After radioing for a medical team, Teyla followed her teammates through the event horizon and into Atlantis, where she was greeted by a very worried-looking Dr. Weir.
"What happened? You weren't supposed to be back for another six hours!"
Teyla sighed inwardly, wishing she could follow Ronon and John to the infirmary with Rodney. Instead she inclined her head politely and calmly answered. "There were unforseen difficulties. The planet's inhabitants attacked us, and we were knocked unconscious. Dr. McKay was taken, and we had to find him."
"Why didn't you report?" Weir asked. "We could have sent rescue parties!"
Teyla hesitated, remembering the wild, not-entirely-sane look in the Colonel's eyes, and glanced around the 'gate room at the many inquisitive faces. "I think it would be better if we continued this discussion in a less public setting."
Elizabeth glanced around, then smiled tightly. "And I'd guess you'd like to be in the infirmary with the rest of your team at the moment."
"I would," Teyla replied, answering smile for smile. Elizabeth always understood her, after a moment or two.
***
Ronon and John entered the infirmary just as Carson was about to go to the 'gateroom to find them. John looked awful -- pale and wide-eyed, his skin covered with a thin sheen of sweat. Possibly shock. Ronon, however, seemed fine, though the Rodney-shaped bundle he was carrying was worrisome.
"Put him here," Carson said, motioning to a free bed. "Now what happened?"
"We were ambushed, drugged. They took McKay. We found him like this." Carson raised an eyebrow at Ronon's pared-down account, though to tell the truth he was more worried about the fact that it was Ronon who had answered him, rather than Colonel Sheppard. Sheppard, for his part, was just standing there, beside the bed, his eyes trained on Rodney's face.
"Well," Carson said, pushing his worries about the Colonel out of his mind for the moment. "Let's see what we have."
Turning his attention to the man in front of him, Carson was surprised to see that Rodney was awake, watching him through startled blue eyes.
"Rodney?" Carson said, meeting the scientist's gaze. "Rodney, can you tell me what happened?"
Rodney just grimaced, and it was Ronon who answered. "I don't think he can talk right now -- he was screaming a lot."
Rodney just glared at the big Satedan, his eyes narrowing dangerously, which Carson took to be a good sign. "Well then, we'll just have to stick to yes/no questions for now. Do you remember what happened?" Rodney's eyes lost focus, and Carson was worried he'd triggered a flashback of some sort, but after a moment the blue gaze sharpened again, and the scientist nodded.
"Good. Were you beaten? Do you have any open wounds? Bruising?" To each question, no. "Do you hurt anywhere?" Rodney just glared and nodded. "Alright, I'm going to go through each part of your body, you just tell me where it hurts."
A hand snaked out and grabbed Carson's arm as Rodney shook his head 'no.'
"What do you mean?" Carson asked, and Rodney grimaced.
"Skin," he croaked. Pointing at his arms, chest, and everywhere else.
"Ah," Carson said. "It's these markings that hurt?" Another nod. "Do they itch?" No. "Burn?" Yes.
Carson nodded. "It could be some kind of allergic reaction. We should wash this off as soon as possible." Again, Rodney's hand made its way to Carson's forearm as he vigorously shook his head.
"Rodney, we have to get this stuff off. I wouldn't think you'd want to keep it anyway."
The scientist grimaced, closing his eyes. "Permanent," he said, his voice coming a little more easily.
"It's probably just a vegetable dye of some kind, Rodney," Carson said quietly, trying to soothe the tired man. "Don't worry, it'll come off."
"No," Rodney said, quietly. "They used needles."
Carson's eyes widened as Rodney's meaning sunk in. Getting a variety of skin-safe solvents he scrubbed at various parts of Rodney's arm, doing his best to get rid of the markings without hurting Rodney, but there wasn't the slightest bit of smudging or fading. The doctor's stomach dropped into his shoes as he let his eyes roam over the extensive patterns that covered the physicist's body, swirling colors that took up at least half his skin, stopping only when they hit his jawline.
Rodney was right -- the markings, whatever they were, were tattooed on.
***
***
Fire on his arms, fire on his back, fire on his neck. Fire, fire everywhere, so why was he so cold? He was burning and shivering at the same time, naked on a rough stone platform as a group of people shoved needles into his skin. They worked quickly, like they knew what they were doing, but even with so many of them, even with their obvious expertise, it was slow, it was painful, and it took forever.
Rodney screamed.
***
Sheppard was out the door and striding down the corridors before he even knew he had woken up. The sound of screaming had catapulted him out of sleep, but for once it hadn't been in his mind, he was sure of it.
He didn't bother knocking on Rodney's door, he simply forced it open with his mind and swept into the darkened room, his eyes swinging unerringly to the restless figure on the bed.
"Rodney," he said, the screaming in his mind making his voice tight and reedy. "Rodney, you're having a nightmare, wake up." He crouched by the scientist's bedside, but did not touch him, not sure if that would make things worse. "Rodney, wake up!"
Suddenly, in a twisting, acrobatic leap Sheppard had no idea McKay had in him, the physicist catapulted himself across the room, landing on his feet, breathing heavily.
For a long moment, John watched the scientist, waiting for his breathing to slow down enough that he would be able to hear.
"Does this happen often?" he finally asked as Rodney started to make his way back to the bed.
Rodney ignored him and crawled onto the bed, curling up as far from Sheppard as he possibly could, though it wasn't that far away -- the beds just weren't that big. "What are you doing here?" he finally asked, blue eyes glaring.
"I...I heard screaming," Sheppard answered quietly, his eyes sliding away from Rodney's.
Rodney snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "Does THAT happen often?"
"It hasn't stopped since they took you," and oh GOD he hadn't meant to say that. John's eyes widened even as Rodney froze, a hideously blank look on his face. Eventually emotion seeped back onto the scientist's face, but it wasn't exactly what John wanted to see.
"Well I'm sorry some of us can't be as strong as you, G.I. John," he spat, glaring hotly at the offending soldier. "Next time I'm being tortured I'll keep your beauty sleep in mind and try not to scream."
"No, Rodney, jeez, no," John said, and somehow he was on the bed, his hands finding the scientist's face, cupping the jaw with its creeping, dark lines. "Scream. Scream early, scream loud, scream long." What was he doing? He hadn't meant to do this, not here, not now, not EVER. But he WAS doing it, and it wasn't stopping, and oh god, Rodney's eyes were so wide and blue and getting closer and closer as he leaned in, bringing their mouths almost to the point of touching, but not quite.
"Scream for me, Rodney," he breathed into the wide, crooked mouth. "That's the only way we found you."
***
***
Epilogue
***
Fire chased along his skin, crackling in the wake of John's trailing fingers, his tongue. Fire licked along his spine, his neck, his chest, and the nightmares dwindled and died in the face of the burning heat.
***
Rodney screamed and screamed. The shrieking filled John's ears, seeping into his mind, chasing away the phantom screams of his memory. Rodney screamed, and laughed, and cursed when John's fingers found a ticklish spot, and then he screamed some more.
***
Author: asturiet
Summary: Rodney dreams, John remembers, and Teyla and Ronon are along for the ride.
Rating: R (for adult situations)
Pairing: John/Rodney
Warning: The tattoos in this story are NOT consensually gained, and there's some torture involved -- if you don't like angst, shoo.
Disclaimer: Sadly still not mine. Wah.
Author's Notes: Sorry, it's a little long (again). This is also my first attempt at angst, so it's likely to be a little heavy-handed and weepy -- my apologies.
***
Burning fire along his skin, chasing down his back, his arms, his legs. Crawling up his chest, winding around his neck, licking at his feet, his hands, his jaw.
Rodney bolted upright, finding himself on his feet next to his bed, panting heavily. He stood there a moment, catching his breath as he fully awakened. These dreams were going to be the death of him.
Sighing, he swiped a sleeve across his sweaty forehead and lowered himself back onto his bed. As if he'd actually be able to get back to sleep.
***
The screams followed John when he walked down the halls, when he ran, when he sparred with Teyla or Ronon. He could hear them in the back of his mind when he discussed the duty roster, when he picked up lunch in the mess, when he checked on Rodney in the labs.
You would think Rodney's voice, overlaid with its usual sarcasm, would chase away the shrieking in his memory -- afterall, how could Rodney be pleading for his life when he was hale and whole right in front of him, insulting John's hair or his sexual proclivities?
But the screaming went on.
***
They had gone to the planet to investigate some Ancient ruins -- they hadn't even realized the planet was inhabited. McKay had actually seemed impressed by the enormous trees, comparing them to a similar plant on his homeworld. All was quiet when they came upon the ruins, hidden in a small valley.
Then they were under attack, darts and arrows raining down, pelting the ground around them like wooden hail. The points of the projectiles had been coated with some kind of tranquilizer, and by the time Ronon had woken up, Teyla and Sheppard were sprawled in the dirt around him, and McKay was gone.
Sheppard went a little crazy when he woke up, his eyes just a little too wide, his movements swift and economical. Ronon had seen the reaction before and knew there wasn't anything he could do. Sheppard would not rest until he was dead or McKay was safe, whichever came first.
As Sheppard started off, following the signal from McKay's tracking device, Ronon glanced over at Teyla. She met his eyes and nodded, and he nodded back, and the two of them started after the Colonel.
***
They traipsed through the dense forest for hours, following the signal. It wasn't moving, but they couldn't seem to find it, no matter how long they walked. Teyla watched as the muscles in Colonel Sheppard's back grew tighter with every moment that passed, every moment when they didn't find Dr. McKay.
Finally, she moved up behind him, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm. He flinched, spinning around to face her, but she'd expected that: he was far too tense.
"Colonel," she said. "It is getting dark. We should return to the Stargate."
"He has to be here," Sheppard ground out between clenched teeth, his eyes wide and wild even in the dimming light.
"If we have not found him by now," she said calmly, hoping her even tones would help settle the man, even though she knew they never would. "We will not find him in the dark."
"I'm not leaving without him."
"We should get reinforcements," Ronon chimed in, his low voice somehow settling Teyla's nerves. She hadn't even realized she WAS nervous. "More people to search."
It was a good suggestion, but it took Sheppard a long time to turn it over in his mind. Teyla watched the pale eyes as he considered Ronon's words.
"Fine," he said. "Teyla, you--"
Suddenly a piercing scream ripped through the cooling air, and Sheppard's head jerked in the direction of the sound like a dog on the hunt.
He was running before Teyla could blink.
***
***
He caught people looking at him now and then, when they thought he wouldn't notice. He noticed. He could feel their gazes, hot on his skin like the remembered fire, but, in a burst of uncharacteristic empathy, he did his best to ignore them. They couldn't help it -- humans were curious, were interested in the new, the bizarre. It wasn't their fault that he was the bizarre.
Maybe he should just flash them all, go walking naked through the halls of Atlantis. Maybe then they'd get their fill, maybe then they'd grow tired of watching him, waiting for a flash of skin, of thick, curving lines, whorls and thorny spikes.
Blue and green, purple and red, offerings to a god he'd never met, a faith he'd never known.
Shaking his head, Rodney refocused his eyes on his screen, pointedly ignoring the various gazes watching him across the lab. He had work to do.
***
"Hey, buddy, you wanna go get dinner?" John leaned against the door to the lab, his arms crossed over his chest, the screams echoing in his ears.
Rodney just raised an eyebrow. "Do you even have to ask?" he said, and quickly shut down his laptop.
John watched, his eyes picking out the purple and blue swirls that crawled up the scientist's neck. Rodney had his shirt zipped all the way up, but even the high collar couldn't cover everything, not when the sinuous markings licked at his jaw, his ears.
You screamed for me, Rodney, Sheppard thought, forcing a grin for the physicist as they started on their way to the mess, as the screaming rose to a frantic pitch. You screamed for me and I came...but not soon enough.
Dinner was a jovial affair, despite the some-kind-of-meatloaf and reconstituted something else that was served. Rodney and John snarked back and forth, and Teyla and Ronon joined them partway through the meal, both of them relaxed after a long sparring session.
And through it all Sheppard pointedly did not look at the strong fingers, now ringed with vines of green and black. He decidedly did not see blue spirals on wide palms, or red lines on thin-skinned wrists. He DID hear the screaming, though.
***
They came every few seconds, the screams that guided them through the forest like the device hadn't been able to. Ronon ran alongside Sheppard, though he found himself pushing to keep up. Sheppard, for his part, ran like a madman, not slowing, not tiring, relentless in his pursuit. Ronon had expected nothing less.
Even with the screaming to guide them, it was difficult to find what they were looking for. They moved in circles for long minutes, each scream seeming to come from a new direction, until, by chance, Ronon happened to see light leaking from one of the massive trees.
After that it took three more screams to locate the exact tree, and two more to figure out how to get inside. By that point, Sheppard was shaking, his hands clenching and unclenching on his P90.
It was not the best way to go into battle, but Ronon knew better than to try to delay Sheppard or calm him down. Neither would work.
***
The small village was unlike any she had seen before. Somehow the people of this world had managed to hollow out the enormous tree trunks for use as homes. Since they had seen no signs of people outside the trees, there must have been tunnels of some kind, perhaps in the large roots of those same trees.
Teyla entered the tree cautiously, following Ronon and Sheppard, who quickly stalked up the staircase winding around the perimeter of the blank, circular room they entered. There were lights coming from above, mostly blocked by what looked like large circular platforms placed irregularly up throughout the massive, hollow tree.
Checking and double-checking the area, she crept up the stairs, taking note of the voices she could hear now that they were inside the tree. The screaming had stopped.
After a few revolutions of the trunk she came upon Ronon and Sheppard, crouched in the shadows of the stairs just before the first of the platforms. She could not see past them into the "room," but she heard a man's voice rising and falling rhythmically. She did not understand the words, but it sounded like some kind of ritual chant, probably not unlike many she had encountered on other worlds.
Even so, Teyla's blood froze in her veins. Chanting and screaming were never a good combination, especially when the screaming ended so suddenly.
***
***
The bonds were rough on sensitive wrists and ankles, holding Rodney spread-eagled and upright before a roaring fire. He didn't remember how he'd gotten there, all he could find in his memories were fire and pain, slow, exquisite pain.
A man walked into his vision, a dark silhouette against the fire. Rodney struggled to focus on his face, but all he could see was the gleaming knife the man held aloft as he began to speak in a language Rodney was pretty sure he'd never heard before.
"Mewago gadji wobu ewube. Jizigo gadji ziluzilu ewuzi, ve leligo de wewi deli zizube."
Rodney's eyes widened as he realized what was going on -- that wasn't just a fire, there was an altar in front of it, and a very large bowl that looked entirely too ceremonial for Rodney's taste sat beneath where he hung.
Sacrifice.
He tried to speak, to plead his case, to talk his way out of what was obviously a very bad situation, but all that came out when he opened his mouth was a tiny, almost inaudible croak, and Rodney's heart sank as he remembered screaming...a lot of screaming.
The long, slim blade glittered in the firelight as the man raised it high, drawing back for the strike that would spill Rodney's blood into the wide, gleaming bowl.
***
A scream shattered the stillness, echoing off trees like sequoias. John ran and ran, and still the screams came, one after another, tripping over each other in their haste to reach his ears.
He ran towards the screams, but every time he thought he'd found them, they moved, came from somewhere else. Why couldn't they hold still? Why did they have to move?
Loud, strident, and disastrously familiar, the screams continued, the constant ebb and flow eating away at his mind.
***
Ronon could only barely see into the room where McKay was being held, and there was no way he would be able to get a clean shot at the man who was poised to strike the bound scientist.
Not that it mattered.
At the apex of his strike, the man suddenly fell backward, over the altar behind him to crash into the fire. He wouldn't feel it -- Sheppard had put a bullet in his brain.
Ronon swarmed into the room behind the Colonel, noting Teyla following more cautiously. After a quick sweep of the room to search for others, he made his way to the two sturdy poles the scientist was bound to and kicked the enormous bowl out of the way.
Sheppard was there, speaking to the scientist, who actually appeared to be awake, if a little out of it. McKay was naked and had been covered with some kind of body art, swirls of color and strange patterns coating him from head to toe, leaving only his face bare. Other than that, however, and the fact that he wasn't speaking in response to Sheppard's quiet questions (and after the screaming, Ronon really wasn't surprised by that), he seemed just fine -- there wasn't a mark on him. Even the leather bindings didn't seem to have cut into his skin when Ronon carefully removed them, releasing the scientist from the poles.
"We should leave as soon as possible," Teyla said, having completed her more thorough sweep of the area, and Ronon nodded. He turned to the two men, now sitting on the floor between the poles.
"Sheppard," he said. "We have to get out of here." Slowly, the dark head nodded, and Ronon placed a hand on the man's arm when he went to gather the scientist up. "Let me carry him." That earned him a dark glare, and Sheppard drew breath to speak, but Ronon cut him off. "We'll move faster that way, get him back sooner."
For a long moment, Sheppard just stared, then he nodded once.
***
The trek back to the Stargate took very little time, and no one followed them. Whether the man had been acting alone or it had just been a very private ceremony Teyla was not sure, but it seemed that no one was watching the ritual or even checking up on the man.
Teyla dialed the 'gate herself when they arrived, and sent her own IDC through -- Ronon had his hands full carrying Dr. McKay, and Colonel Sheppard...well, Teyla didn't trust him to do much besides run and kill things at the moment.
After radioing for a medical team, Teyla followed her teammates through the event horizon and into Atlantis, where she was greeted by a very worried-looking Dr. Weir.
"What happened? You weren't supposed to be back for another six hours!"
Teyla sighed inwardly, wishing she could follow Ronon and John to the infirmary with Rodney. Instead she inclined her head politely and calmly answered. "There were unforseen difficulties. The planet's inhabitants attacked us, and we were knocked unconscious. Dr. McKay was taken, and we had to find him."
"Why didn't you report?" Weir asked. "We could have sent rescue parties!"
Teyla hesitated, remembering the wild, not-entirely-sane look in the Colonel's eyes, and glanced around the 'gate room at the many inquisitive faces. "I think it would be better if we continued this discussion in a less public setting."
Elizabeth glanced around, then smiled tightly. "And I'd guess you'd like to be in the infirmary with the rest of your team at the moment."
"I would," Teyla replied, answering smile for smile. Elizabeth always understood her, after a moment or two.
***
Ronon and John entered the infirmary just as Carson was about to go to the 'gateroom to find them. John looked awful -- pale and wide-eyed, his skin covered with a thin sheen of sweat. Possibly shock. Ronon, however, seemed fine, though the Rodney-shaped bundle he was carrying was worrisome.
"Put him here," Carson said, motioning to a free bed. "Now what happened?"
"We were ambushed, drugged. They took McKay. We found him like this." Carson raised an eyebrow at Ronon's pared-down account, though to tell the truth he was more worried about the fact that it was Ronon who had answered him, rather than Colonel Sheppard. Sheppard, for his part, was just standing there, beside the bed, his eyes trained on Rodney's face.
"Well," Carson said, pushing his worries about the Colonel out of his mind for the moment. "Let's see what we have."
Turning his attention to the man in front of him, Carson was surprised to see that Rodney was awake, watching him through startled blue eyes.
"Rodney?" Carson said, meeting the scientist's gaze. "Rodney, can you tell me what happened?"
Rodney just grimaced, and it was Ronon who answered. "I don't think he can talk right now -- he was screaming a lot."
Rodney just glared at the big Satedan, his eyes narrowing dangerously, which Carson took to be a good sign. "Well then, we'll just have to stick to yes/no questions for now. Do you remember what happened?" Rodney's eyes lost focus, and Carson was worried he'd triggered a flashback of some sort, but after a moment the blue gaze sharpened again, and the scientist nodded.
"Good. Were you beaten? Do you have any open wounds? Bruising?" To each question, no. "Do you hurt anywhere?" Rodney just glared and nodded. "Alright, I'm going to go through each part of your body, you just tell me where it hurts."
A hand snaked out and grabbed Carson's arm as Rodney shook his head 'no.'
"What do you mean?" Carson asked, and Rodney grimaced.
"Skin," he croaked. Pointing at his arms, chest, and everywhere else.
"Ah," Carson said. "It's these markings that hurt?" Another nod. "Do they itch?" No. "Burn?" Yes.
Carson nodded. "It could be some kind of allergic reaction. We should wash this off as soon as possible." Again, Rodney's hand made its way to Carson's forearm as he vigorously shook his head.
"Rodney, we have to get this stuff off. I wouldn't think you'd want to keep it anyway."
The scientist grimaced, closing his eyes. "Permanent," he said, his voice coming a little more easily.
"It's probably just a vegetable dye of some kind, Rodney," Carson said quietly, trying to soothe the tired man. "Don't worry, it'll come off."
"No," Rodney said, quietly. "They used needles."
Carson's eyes widened as Rodney's meaning sunk in. Getting a variety of skin-safe solvents he scrubbed at various parts of Rodney's arm, doing his best to get rid of the markings without hurting Rodney, but there wasn't the slightest bit of smudging or fading. The doctor's stomach dropped into his shoes as he let his eyes roam over the extensive patterns that covered the physicist's body, swirling colors that took up at least half his skin, stopping only when they hit his jawline.
Rodney was right -- the markings, whatever they were, were tattooed on.
***
***
Fire on his arms, fire on his back, fire on his neck. Fire, fire everywhere, so why was he so cold? He was burning and shivering at the same time, naked on a rough stone platform as a group of people shoved needles into his skin. They worked quickly, like they knew what they were doing, but even with so many of them, even with their obvious expertise, it was slow, it was painful, and it took forever.
Rodney screamed.
***
Sheppard was out the door and striding down the corridors before he even knew he had woken up. The sound of screaming had catapulted him out of sleep, but for once it hadn't been in his mind, he was sure of it.
He didn't bother knocking on Rodney's door, he simply forced it open with his mind and swept into the darkened room, his eyes swinging unerringly to the restless figure on the bed.
"Rodney," he said, the screaming in his mind making his voice tight and reedy. "Rodney, you're having a nightmare, wake up." He crouched by the scientist's bedside, but did not touch him, not sure if that would make things worse. "Rodney, wake up!"
Suddenly, in a twisting, acrobatic leap Sheppard had no idea McKay had in him, the physicist catapulted himself across the room, landing on his feet, breathing heavily.
For a long moment, John watched the scientist, waiting for his breathing to slow down enough that he would be able to hear.
"Does this happen often?" he finally asked as Rodney started to make his way back to the bed.
Rodney ignored him and crawled onto the bed, curling up as far from Sheppard as he possibly could, though it wasn't that far away -- the beds just weren't that big. "What are you doing here?" he finally asked, blue eyes glaring.
"I...I heard screaming," Sheppard answered quietly, his eyes sliding away from Rodney's.
Rodney snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "Does THAT happen often?"
"It hasn't stopped since they took you," and oh GOD he hadn't meant to say that. John's eyes widened even as Rodney froze, a hideously blank look on his face. Eventually emotion seeped back onto the scientist's face, but it wasn't exactly what John wanted to see.
"Well I'm sorry some of us can't be as strong as you, G.I. John," he spat, glaring hotly at the offending soldier. "Next time I'm being tortured I'll keep your beauty sleep in mind and try not to scream."
"No, Rodney, jeez, no," John said, and somehow he was on the bed, his hands finding the scientist's face, cupping the jaw with its creeping, dark lines. "Scream. Scream early, scream loud, scream long." What was he doing? He hadn't meant to do this, not here, not now, not EVER. But he WAS doing it, and it wasn't stopping, and oh god, Rodney's eyes were so wide and blue and getting closer and closer as he leaned in, bringing their mouths almost to the point of touching, but not quite.
"Scream for me, Rodney," he breathed into the wide, crooked mouth. "That's the only way we found you."
***
***
Epilogue
***
Fire chased along his skin, crackling in the wake of John's trailing fingers, his tongue. Fire licked along his spine, his neck, his chest, and the nightmares dwindled and died in the face of the burning heat.
***
Rodney screamed and screamed. The shrieking filled John's ears, seeping into his mind, chasing away the phantom screams of his memory. Rodney screamed, and laughed, and cursed when John's fingers found a ticklish spot, and then he screamed some more.
***