Fic: Slave to the Flesh (No Precious Time Series, 8/28)
Title: Slave to the Flesh (No Precious Time Series, 8/28)
Author: The Time Being/SGAtlantisLight
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Genre: Smutty angst, H/C
Rating: NC-17 overall, though some chapters are lower
Author's Notes: Part of the No Precious Time Series. Beta and encouragement from a lot of people, but especially lapislaz, mice1900, and inkscribe.
Warnings can be found here for those who can't read without them. These contain plot spoilers so do not read unless you can't live without knowing.
Disclaimer: I own them all! But, alas, not in this universe.
Previous chapter
"No man is free who is a slave to the flesh." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
"Am I being unreasonable?" Weir asked.
McKay shifted uncomfortably, suddenly interested in his hands.
Lorne leaned back with a sigh. "This is exactly the reason I made it a general order, pretty much as soon as the area was designated, that it was off-limits to military personnel, except while operating in an official capacity. With the American military there could be problems with DADT if they go for a guy, but what I was really concerned about is the ages we're looking at. I realise things are different here and people start young, but at least half the former slaves look to be underaged to me-- some of them extremely so."
"We're just lucky," Beckett said. "A couple of the lads came from one of the owner's other brothels that targets those who prefer them younger."
Lorne's stomach lurched. "God! So this brothel was for his older offerings?"
Beckett nodded.
Lorne rubbed his face. "Can I just say right now that, while tactically a bad idea, I sincerely want to raid all the brothels and then nuke the planet till it's nothing but slag?"
"You sound like Sheppard," McKay said.
Lorne smiled. "Only he'd really do it."
"Probably." McKay sighed. He still looked really off to Lorne-- too quiet, too tentative.
"Back to the question at hand," Weir said.
"Right," Lorne said, dragging himself away from thoughts of nuclear destruction. "As I was getting ready to say, certainly the underaged ones are off-limits in no uncertain terms. It's the policy on interactions with the adults we have to consider."
"I still feel it's an abuse of their situation to seek relations with them," Weir said.
"On the other hand, the person you quoted does have a point," Beckett said. "They are going to have sex with someone like as not, and there do appear to be... benefits to that someone not being a virus-carrier. Unfortunately, I'm seeing a rise in stress-related symptoms among the former slaves. The pain tends to cause adrenaline spikes. The body can only handle so many fight-or-flight reactions before things start to break down."
"Are you suggesting we should be encouraging relations?"
"I wouldn't go that far," Beckett said. "But to be honest, until I can find a cure, there are no easy answers to the ethical questions."
"So," Weir leaned back and considered, "those who are underaged are out-of-bounds, but relations with the adults are up to the discretion of the individual?"
"It's as good a policy as we're likely to get in this situation," Beckett said.
"I agree." Lorne nodded.
"Rodney?" Weir asked, looking at the head scientist.
McKay looked up, blinking. "Yeah. I think it's the best we can do."
"But what exactly is the age of consent, then?" Carson asked. "And how do we determine which former slaves qualify?"
"Do all of them know their age?" Elizabeth asked.
Carson shook his head.
"How good is medical testing for that sort of thing?" Lorne asked.
Carson shrugged. "It can give a decent range, but in this age group and considering the impact of different environments on growth rates and maturity, it's an educated guess at best."
"Could we test for mental age?" Rodney asked.
"And then what?" Lorne asked. "Slap labels on them? This has to be something the average Marine can have some hope of figuring out."
"Okay, let's deal with the question of the age of consent first and proceed from there," Weir suggested.
Lorne sighed. This was going to be a long meeting.
***
Radek glanced up from his lab table when he heard the quiet footfall behind him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded. "Colonel, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"It's just John now, Radek."
"My apologies. John. Was there something you needed?"
There was a moment's silence. John fretted, glanced at his feet, shifted nervously, then nodded. "Yeah. I really need some help and I didn't know who else to turn to..."
***
"Asan, lad, what have ye done here?" Carson asked, tracing the bruise around the teen's wrist.
Asan shrugged. "Just the usual."
"Well tell whoever the usual is to be more careful next time."
The teen smirked. "Okay."
***
John broke stride as he caught sight of the Marine skulking just down the hall from the transporter. "Vandeventer? What are you doing here?"
"Me? Just seeing who might be around?" The Marines eyes raked down John's body suggestively.
It made John's skin crawl. It made his cock twitch. "Yeah?" He gave the Marine a frankly interested stare, canting his hip. "And what kind of entertainment do you and... whoever come up with?"
Vandeventer looked smug, his eyes returning to John's frame in a slow, suggestive slide. "You know... a little of this... a little of that..."
John leaned against the wall, barely concealing a feral grin. "Do you always come alone, then?" He stretched, showing off a strip of skin between his shirt and sweats. Vandeventer's eyes fastened onto it.
"Why?" Vandeventer asked. "You interested?"
"Hm. Maybe."
Vandeventer stepped closer, breath hot against John's face. "I think you are."
John smirked. "First time or have I just missed you before?"
"You missed me. But we can make up for that."
"Sweet. I'll have to keep this place in mind."
"Yeah, you come here after any shift or during breaks, usually there's someone looking to take care of someone." Vandeventer's hand curled around John's hip. "Eventually one of your kind comes by."
"I see. Not choosy, then?"
"Nope. Get here early, 'cause it's first come, first served."
John shuddered as Vandeventer's hand slipped under his shirt, skating over his stomach and up to circle a nipple. "M-maybe we should fix that," he stuttered.
"What do you mean?"
"We've got room and plenty of willing people... Why not get all the interested parties together at once?"
Vandeventer grinned. "Oh, I like your thinking."
"Just after the shift change at eighteen-hundred, then?"
"Sounds good." The Marine's hand closed around John's wrist, pushing him back against the wall.
John made a sound deep in his throat. "Any... Anyone I should avoid inviting?"
Vandeventer shrugged, pushing up against him. "Doesn't matter to me."
John bit his lip. "Amaro, Ri, Veza... Asan? Jastain? Marna?"
"Oh, yeah. Definitely Asan... and the twins."
"I'll be sure to let them know."
Vandeventer reached down with the hand that wasn't holding John's wrist to the wall and began undoing his fly. "Think I need a little something to tide me over."
John shuddered.
"Oh, yeah. You like that, don't you? Where do you want it?"
"God! Um..."
The Marine's headset beeped. He swore softly under his breath, then activated it, still holding John against the wall. "Yeah? I'm on patrol, what d'you think? Yeah, okay. I'll be right there." He shut it off and gave John's erection a squeeze through his clothes. "This'll have to wait for later. Eighteen hundred. Bring your friends."
John stood for a long time after the Marine left, trembling, before he headed into the room he'd taken down here, stripped, and climbed into a shower so hot it left his skin red.
***
Elizabeth stared at them in shock. "You can't be serious."
"I'm getting nowhere, Elizabeth. I need a sample of the inoculation they're using to understand how this virus operates."
"The Genii want to send in a raiding force to recover any other Genii children that have been snatched over the years-- these slavers have been targeting them, given the ratios we've seen-- so it's a perfect opportunity to go along, have a joint operation," Lorne argued.
"I don't know exactly what to look for," Carson interjected before Elizabeth could respond, "so there's no way for me to rely on them to find it for me. I need to be there."
"And if the doc's going in, he needs protection," Lorne concluded.
"Which would be you," she said.
"Yes, ma'am. And a team of Marines."
"Colonel, you're the commander of the military on this expedition. Do you really think your talents are best used going on a raiding party?"
Lorne started ticking off points on his fingers. "One, Doctor Beckett is the Chief Medical Officer of this expedition and the most likely to find a cure for this thing. As such, he gets the best protection we can offer. Two, this is our best hope for finding a cure for this virus so we can give these people their lives back. Three, when the Genii raid this planet, they'll have even more people who are victims in need of a cure. We can provide that to them, which benefits relations between us. Four, you notice I said 'when', not 'if'. Ladon Radim is determined to do this with or without us. If he does it without us, whatever the doc needs may be destroyed or compromised in the process. We're only guaranteed one shot."
"Please, Elizabeth," Carson said. "Ye know I don't rush into danger when I don't have to."
She sighed. "When?"
"Day after tomorrow," Lorne answered.
"All right," she answered. "But you're going in primarily as protection for Doctor Beckett, understood?"
Lorne nodded. "Absolutely."
"Thank you," Carson said, giving her a smile.
She sighed as they stood and walked out the door. She hated how often a military solution seemed the only one viable, but she seriously doubted there was a diplomatic way to get these people to hand over the virus.
***
"We all ready?" John asked.
The others nodded. Amaro was off somewhere with Remy Lenoir, and Veza had begged off as not feeling well, which left Ri as the only adult he'd asked. All the other slaves with him were teenagers-- Jastain, Marna, Asan, Nikal, and Lein. John was just glad Jastain's and Marna's parents had left earlier today. Marna's eyes were still a little red and puffy.
"Let's go then. Don't want to keep 'em waiting."
They headed out. As they walked, John glanced over to Asan, who was rubbing the bruise around his wrist nervously.
"Hey," John said quietly, giving him an encouraging smile. "Everything's going to be okay."
Next chapter
Author: The Time Being/SGAtlantisLight
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Genre: Smutty angst, H/C
Rating: NC-17 overall, though some chapters are lower
Author's Notes: Part of the No Precious Time Series. Beta and encouragement from a lot of people, but especially lapislaz, mice1900, and inkscribe.
Warnings can be found here for those who can't read without them. These contain plot spoilers so do not read unless you can't live without knowing.
Disclaimer: I own them all! But, alas, not in this universe.
Previous chapter
"No man is free who is a slave to the flesh." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
"Am I being unreasonable?" Weir asked.
McKay shifted uncomfortably, suddenly interested in his hands.
Lorne leaned back with a sigh. "This is exactly the reason I made it a general order, pretty much as soon as the area was designated, that it was off-limits to military personnel, except while operating in an official capacity. With the American military there could be problems with DADT if they go for a guy, but what I was really concerned about is the ages we're looking at. I realise things are different here and people start young, but at least half the former slaves look to be underaged to me-- some of them extremely so."
"We're just lucky," Beckett said. "A couple of the lads came from one of the owner's other brothels that targets those who prefer them younger."
Lorne's stomach lurched. "God! So this brothel was for his older offerings?"
Beckett nodded.
Lorne rubbed his face. "Can I just say right now that, while tactically a bad idea, I sincerely want to raid all the brothels and then nuke the planet till it's nothing but slag?"
"You sound like Sheppard," McKay said.
Lorne smiled. "Only he'd really do it."
"Probably." McKay sighed. He still looked really off to Lorne-- too quiet, too tentative.
"Back to the question at hand," Weir said.
"Right," Lorne said, dragging himself away from thoughts of nuclear destruction. "As I was getting ready to say, certainly the underaged ones are off-limits in no uncertain terms. It's the policy on interactions with the adults we have to consider."
"I still feel it's an abuse of their situation to seek relations with them," Weir said.
"On the other hand, the person you quoted does have a point," Beckett said. "They are going to have sex with someone like as not, and there do appear to be... benefits to that someone not being a virus-carrier. Unfortunately, I'm seeing a rise in stress-related symptoms among the former slaves. The pain tends to cause adrenaline spikes. The body can only handle so many fight-or-flight reactions before things start to break down."
"Are you suggesting we should be encouraging relations?"
"I wouldn't go that far," Beckett said. "But to be honest, until I can find a cure, there are no easy answers to the ethical questions."
"So," Weir leaned back and considered, "those who are underaged are out-of-bounds, but relations with the adults are up to the discretion of the individual?"
"It's as good a policy as we're likely to get in this situation," Beckett said.
"I agree." Lorne nodded.
"Rodney?" Weir asked, looking at the head scientist.
McKay looked up, blinking. "Yeah. I think it's the best we can do."
"But what exactly is the age of consent, then?" Carson asked. "And how do we determine which former slaves qualify?"
"Do all of them know their age?" Elizabeth asked.
Carson shook his head.
"How good is medical testing for that sort of thing?" Lorne asked.
Carson shrugged. "It can give a decent range, but in this age group and considering the impact of different environments on growth rates and maturity, it's an educated guess at best."
"Could we test for mental age?" Rodney asked.
"And then what?" Lorne asked. "Slap labels on them? This has to be something the average Marine can have some hope of figuring out."
"Okay, let's deal with the question of the age of consent first and proceed from there," Weir suggested.
Lorne sighed. This was going to be a long meeting.
***
Radek glanced up from his lab table when he heard the quiet footfall behind him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded. "Colonel, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"It's just John now, Radek."
"My apologies. John. Was there something you needed?"
There was a moment's silence. John fretted, glanced at his feet, shifted nervously, then nodded. "Yeah. I really need some help and I didn't know who else to turn to..."
***
"Asan, lad, what have ye done here?" Carson asked, tracing the bruise around the teen's wrist.
Asan shrugged. "Just the usual."
"Well tell whoever the usual is to be more careful next time."
The teen smirked. "Okay."
***
John broke stride as he caught sight of the Marine skulking just down the hall from the transporter. "Vandeventer? What are you doing here?"
"Me? Just seeing who might be around?" The Marines eyes raked down John's body suggestively.
It made John's skin crawl. It made his cock twitch. "Yeah?" He gave the Marine a frankly interested stare, canting his hip. "And what kind of entertainment do you and... whoever come up with?"
Vandeventer looked smug, his eyes returning to John's frame in a slow, suggestive slide. "You know... a little of this... a little of that..."
John leaned against the wall, barely concealing a feral grin. "Do you always come alone, then?" He stretched, showing off a strip of skin between his shirt and sweats. Vandeventer's eyes fastened onto it.
"Why?" Vandeventer asked. "You interested?"
"Hm. Maybe."
Vandeventer stepped closer, breath hot against John's face. "I think you are."
John smirked. "First time or have I just missed you before?"
"You missed me. But we can make up for that."
"Sweet. I'll have to keep this place in mind."
"Yeah, you come here after any shift or during breaks, usually there's someone looking to take care of someone." Vandeventer's hand curled around John's hip. "Eventually one of your kind comes by."
"I see. Not choosy, then?"
"Nope. Get here early, 'cause it's first come, first served."
John shuddered as Vandeventer's hand slipped under his shirt, skating over his stomach and up to circle a nipple. "M-maybe we should fix that," he stuttered.
"What do you mean?"
"We've got room and plenty of willing people... Why not get all the interested parties together at once?"
Vandeventer grinned. "Oh, I like your thinking."
"Just after the shift change at eighteen-hundred, then?"
"Sounds good." The Marine's hand closed around John's wrist, pushing him back against the wall.
John made a sound deep in his throat. "Any... Anyone I should avoid inviting?"
Vandeventer shrugged, pushing up against him. "Doesn't matter to me."
John bit his lip. "Amaro, Ri, Veza... Asan? Jastain? Marna?"
"Oh, yeah. Definitely Asan... and the twins."
"I'll be sure to let them know."
Vandeventer reached down with the hand that wasn't holding John's wrist to the wall and began undoing his fly. "Think I need a little something to tide me over."
John shuddered.
"Oh, yeah. You like that, don't you? Where do you want it?"
"God! Um..."
The Marine's headset beeped. He swore softly under his breath, then activated it, still holding John against the wall. "Yeah? I'm on patrol, what d'you think? Yeah, okay. I'll be right there." He shut it off and gave John's erection a squeeze through his clothes. "This'll have to wait for later. Eighteen hundred. Bring your friends."
John stood for a long time after the Marine left, trembling, before he headed into the room he'd taken down here, stripped, and climbed into a shower so hot it left his skin red.
***
Elizabeth stared at them in shock. "You can't be serious."
"I'm getting nowhere, Elizabeth. I need a sample of the inoculation they're using to understand how this virus operates."
"The Genii want to send in a raiding force to recover any other Genii children that have been snatched over the years-- these slavers have been targeting them, given the ratios we've seen-- so it's a perfect opportunity to go along, have a joint operation," Lorne argued.
"I don't know exactly what to look for," Carson interjected before Elizabeth could respond, "so there's no way for me to rely on them to find it for me. I need to be there."
"And if the doc's going in, he needs protection," Lorne concluded.
"Which would be you," she said.
"Yes, ma'am. And a team of Marines."
"Colonel, you're the commander of the military on this expedition. Do you really think your talents are best used going on a raiding party?"
Lorne started ticking off points on his fingers. "One, Doctor Beckett is the Chief Medical Officer of this expedition and the most likely to find a cure for this thing. As such, he gets the best protection we can offer. Two, this is our best hope for finding a cure for this virus so we can give these people their lives back. Three, when the Genii raid this planet, they'll have even more people who are victims in need of a cure. We can provide that to them, which benefits relations between us. Four, you notice I said 'when', not 'if'. Ladon Radim is determined to do this with or without us. If he does it without us, whatever the doc needs may be destroyed or compromised in the process. We're only guaranteed one shot."
"Please, Elizabeth," Carson said. "Ye know I don't rush into danger when I don't have to."
She sighed. "When?"
"Day after tomorrow," Lorne answered.
"All right," she answered. "But you're going in primarily as protection for Doctor Beckett, understood?"
Lorne nodded. "Absolutely."
"Thank you," Carson said, giving her a smile.
She sighed as they stood and walked out the door. She hated how often a military solution seemed the only one viable, but she seriously doubted there was a diplomatic way to get these people to hand over the virus.
***
"We all ready?" John asked.
The others nodded. Amaro was off somewhere with Remy Lenoir, and Veza had begged off as not feeling well, which left Ri as the only adult he'd asked. All the other slaves with him were teenagers-- Jastain, Marna, Asan, Nikal, and Lein. John was just glad Jastain's and Marna's parents had left earlier today. Marna's eyes were still a little red and puffy.
"Let's go then. Don't want to keep 'em waiting."
They headed out. As they walked, John glanced over to Asan, who was rubbing the bruise around his wrist nervously.
"Hey," John said quietly, giving him an encouraging smile. "Everything's going to be okay."
Next chapter