EASTER 2010 FIC EXCHANGE: Another Life by stella_pegasi
Title: Another Life
Author: stella_pegasi
Rating: PG 13
Prompt: At the end.
Written for: *sterenyk_strey*
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, original characters.
Spoilers: None that I can think of…
Warnings: Graphic violence, torture, some sexually suggestive but not graphic scenes, suggestion of non-con.
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Genre: hurt/comfort, action/adventure; partial AU (embedded in main story)
Word count:
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Summary: Sheppard leads his team on a search for a Marine missing for over five years but what SGA-1 finds is trouble. With Sheppard badly injured, a familiar voice speaks to him and tells him not to worry; all will be well and helps him survive. But will he survive?
Another Life
CHAPTER ONE: THE QUEST
Colonel John Sheppard and his team stepped through the stargate on third planet they had visited since they began their quest. Chasing leads wasn’t Sheppard’s favorite pastime but this time he was looking for a Marine who went missing the first year they were on Atlantis. He needed to know if the Marine was really alive.
“Sheppard, do you think this is wise? I mean, we don’t have any way of knowing if that last idiot we talked to even knew what he was talking about.” Dr. Rodney McKay had been attempting to talk Sheppard out of continuing to look for Marine Sergeant Leonard ‘Lee’ Strayer.
“Look, McKay, I am going to find him; Lieutenant Vickers was positive that he saw Strayer. I want to either find him or find proof that he’s dead. I need to give his family closure.” Sheppard walked ahead of his teammates.
Ronon and Teyla both stopped next to Rodney, Teyla spoke in a low tone so that the colonel would not hear her, “Dr. McKay, we must let John do this, you know he cannot deal with not knowing what has happened to one of his command. So, we will continue to follow leads until there are no more to follow.”
McKay knew Teyla was right but he was not feeling good about this mission, maybe he was developing some of Sheppard renowned ‘spidy sense’ but whatever the reason he didn’t want to continue. Reluctantly, he followed his teammates as they walked toward town.
Sheppard had stayed a bit ahead of them as if he really didn’t want to talk to anyone. Once they entered the small town, he scouted out the location of the local bar and waited for the other three to catch up with him.
“OK, let’s do this.” He said and they all walked into the crowded bar.
It was near dark and the bar was filling up fast as workers from the town and those who worked in the fields were straggling in for a drink. The bar was like the others they had visited, heavy wood tables and chairs, grimy windows, the smell of whatever alcoholic beverage they sold mixed with the smell of bodies that had worked all day and other acrid smells from bad sanitation. Rodney was tired of trying to hold his nose without actually holding it; the smells seemed to get worse with each bar they entered. He really hoped that Sheppard would decide to return to Atlantis soon.
As with the last two establishments they had entered on the last two planets, the locals stared at them in a less than welcoming way while looking at Teyla with more than a passing interest. Ronon kept his eye on Sheppard and McKay but stayed close to Teyla. He figured there was less of a chance that anyone would make a move on Teyla if he were nearby.
The bartender looked up as Sheppard leaned on the bar and grunted more than spoke to the colonel, “What ya need?”
“Information,” Sheppard laid a picture of Sgt. Strayer on the bar, “have you seen this man before.”
The bartender looked at the picture, “Yeah, I seen him, comes in here once or twice a month, was here yesterday. Don’t look like anymore, hair’s longer but he got that scar.”
“Do you know where I could find him?”
Grunting again, the bartender glared, “No…now do ya want a drink or not?” Sheppard shook his head no and walked over to the team.
“The bartender recognized him from the scar, he was here yesterday. We need to ask around.” Sheppard took off to talk to other patrons; the other three looked at each other and did the same.
Other than a few off-color remarks to Teyla, they learned nothing. Finally Sheppard motioned for them to walk outside.
“No one else seemed to see anything; it’s getting late but some of these shops might still be open. I’m gonna go look for a town official. Meet me back here in thirty minutes.” Sheppard walked away before anyone could protest.
None of them noticed the two men who slipped out of the bar behind them and headed toward the edge of town where the stargate was located.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
It was completely dark by the time they met up in front of the bar and no one had discovered any more information about Strayer. Sheppard was quiet and Teyla and Ronon exchanged glances knowing that he was quite upset to get this close to possibly finding the sergeant only to see the trail go cold.
McKay was looking nervously at Sheppard and then at Teyla and Ronon; he wanted to return to Atlantis but was afraid to bring it up. Ronon was pretty sure he knew what McKay wanted to ask, so he asked for him.
“So, Sheppard, what now, back to Atlantis?”
Sheppard turned around, looking at the big Satendan and said, “No, there’s an inn down the street, we can stay there tonight.” He started walking away and without a word, his team followed.
The inn was located on a side street and as they turned down the dusty, darkened street, a buzzing noise reached them. Whirling around to look behind them, they were hit by weapons fire, yellow energy discharges that dropped them in seconds. Several men crowded around them and picked up the colonel, McKay and Teyla, leaving Ronon lying on the ground.
“What about him?” One of the kidnappers asked of the leader with them.
“King Leonard doesn’t remember him, he only wants the traitors. Leave that one; we will be long gone before he wakes.”
The men didn’t realize that Ronon had only been dazed by the weapon. He could hear them and as they were heading for the gate he struggled up and followed them. He was having a difficult time keeping up but he managed to keep them in sight. When they reached the gate, Ronon watched the leader dial the gate and the group carrying his team mates disappear into the event horizon. Without a thought, Ronon ran through the shimmering puddle before the gate shut down.
Exiting the gate, Ronon grunted as he rolled across rough ground but the group carrying his team didn’t hear him over the sound of the gate disengaging. He quickly jumped up and followed as closely as he dared.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
After twenty minutes, the kidnappers arrived at a small dilapidated village. The village consisted of a few stone buildings and several smaller wooden structures. They headed for the largest of the stone buildings; a two story structure located in the center of the village on the northern edge of a large square. Standing in the middle of the square was a wooden platform with four tall wood poles about a foot in diameter sitting in the center. Ronon was fairly certain the poles were not for decoration.
From where he was hiding, he could see straight down the center hallway toward a double door. The kidnappers carried Sheppard, Teyla and McKay through the doorway. Skirting around to the left side of the building near the Ronon found an open window and taking a chance, he peeked into the room.
His teammates had been thrown onto the plank floor in front of a platform that held a large overstuffed chair and sitting in the chair was Sergeant Lee Strayer. The sergeant was heavier than in the picture that Ronon had seen but it was definitely him, the deep scar across his right cheek positive proof. He was dressed in clothing made from very opulent fabrics, a heavy cape around his shoulders and some sort of metal crown on his head. Ronon ducked below the open window when Strayer rose from the chair.
“Ivo, you did well. I have wanted a chance for revenge on Major Sheppard. He has many things to pay for. And you have brought me the arrogant Dr. McKay and the beautiful Teyla. The only other Atlantian I would love to have is Dr. Weir. Perhaps when I am done with these, I will bring Weir here for a little fun and games before she suffers the same fate as Sheppard, Teyla, and McKay.”
Ivo bent at the waist, as Strayer descended the four steps to the floor, and replied, “Thank you, your majesty; we are all here to serve you. One point, sire, the one you call Major Sheppard, he is now called Colonel Sheppard. I thought you would want to know, sire.”
Strayer looked at Ivo and then walked over to Sheppard. “Colonel, is it? My, my, the Air Force will promote anyone, even someone who killed their CO to get the promotion.” He bent down and pulled Sheppard’s face toward him, “You will pay, pretty boy.”
Standing up, Strayer kicked Sheppard four times in the gut, then once in the back for good measure. Next he walked past McKay and kicked him in the gut twice and then he approached Teyla. Bending down, he ran his hand over her face and neck and smiled and quietly said to himself, “Still following Sheppard around; well, we’ll see what you think about what I do to him.”
He stood up, “Guards, take them to the prison and throw them in together in a cell but rough them up first. Just don’t do too much damage to the woman. I’ll take care of her.” He strode out of the hallway, his long velvet cape trailing behind him.
Ronon waited until the guards had taken his teammates out of the main building, across the wide square, and into another stone building. He made his way around several of the buildings to stay out of sight. By the time he got circled back to the building housing the cells and found a window to look in, Sheppard, McKay, and Teyla, still unconscious, had been tied to rings that were attached to a beam above their heads. They were in a large room that was lined with cells on two sides and Ronon could see a staircase in the corner that led to a lower level.
All three Atlantians had been stripped of their vests, jackets and boots, and were clad only in their t-shirts and pants. Two large men were wrapping tape around their hands and once done, they both approached the trio. They began striking Sheppard and McKay over and over, setting the two men spinning. It became almost sport for them as they struck out at a new spot on the Atlantians with each spin. After a few minutes, one broke off hitting McKay and walked over to Teyla.
“Ah…this one is pretty and it will be a shame to mar this face but I will,” and he hauled off and hit Teyla in the jaw, spinning her faster than the two men had twirled around. The guard hit her a few times in the abdomen, hips and back, and then stopped.
A short, gray-haired man who appeared to be in charge spoke, “That’s enough, untie them and take them to the lower chamber. Put water and bread in with them, the sire wants them alive, for now.”
Ronon was torn, he knew he needed to get back to Atlantis for help but he didn’t know the planet’s gate address and he had lost his radio when he rolled through the gate. He was going to have to go it alone and see if he could find out where he was or rescue his teammates on his own. That he knew was not going to be easy.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
McKay regained consciousness first; he was disoriented and in a lot of pain and he couldn’t see anything. Panicking for a second, he thought he was blind but his eyes began to adjust to the dim light coming from a nearby sconce and he realized that it was still night. Then he panicked a second time when he wondered where the rest of the team was; reaching out along the floor, his had touched something, a leg, a skinny leg, it had to be Sheppard.
“Sheppard, Sheppard,” he was crawling toward him as he called for him, “Shep…”
“Rodney…” a shaky voice came from his left, Teyla’s voice. Rodney crawled to her.
“Teyla, I’m here.” He reached her and in the dim light, could just make out her face. He could see a dark line from her nose and out of the corner of her mouth…blood. “You’re hurt.”
“Yes…but not too badly. You…?”
“Yeah…been beat up but don’t remember anything. Sheppard’s over there and he’s still out.”
Teyla rolled onto her side toward Sheppard, “John, John…can you hear me?” No sound came from the colonel; Teyla rolled over on her stomach to crawl toward him, grimacing from the bruises on her abdomen.
“Rodney, where’s Ronon?”
Rodney rose up to look around the cell but couldn’t see any other dark shapes. “He’s not here.”
Teyla reached Sheppard and with trembling fingers she touched his neck, checking for a pulse. She let out the breath she was holding, “He’s alive; his pulse is strong. What happened to us, Rodney?”
Rodney laid his head on his arm, “I don’t know, Teyla. I remember walking to…uh…the inn and then some kind of flash.”
“I wonder…where Ronon is; do you think he might have…gotten away?”
Rodney was quiet, “I hope so,” but he was also afraid of a worse outcome for Ronon, he just wasn’t going to verbalize that worry to Teyla.
Rodney kicked something and he soon found the metal water pitcher and a loaf of bread. “Well at least they…don’t want us to starve.” He handed the pitcher of water to Teyla and then the bread. They ate in silence, keeping an eye on Sheppard before they dozed off to sleep again.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
Ronon spent the night in a shed near the prison building. Earlier he had backtracked a bit to a larger road he remembered branching off the road the kidnappers had taken; following the wider road he came across another, larger, village. Locating a small store that sold food, he had helped himself to a loaf of bread, cheese and fruit and a bottle of what turned out to be a fermented fruit drink. Once he procured food, throwing the items into a leather satchel he found in the store, he returned to the smaller village. He scouted for a safe location to rest, found the shed and tried to get a few hours sleep.
It was nearly dawn when Ronon left the shed, looking for a perch from where he could watch both the main building and the prison yet stay out of sight. There was a decaying stone building on the western edge of the square and he was able to climb to the roof and hide behind the still intact stone chimney. As the sun rose, he watched as several men left smaller buildings that sat outside the main square area and head to one building where smoke was rising from a chimney; he suspected it was their mess hall.
From his vantage point, he spotted a large two-story dwelling built of stone that appeared to be a residence. The building was larger than the other outlying buildings and he suspected that it might be where Strayer slept. He decided he needed to keep an eye on that building, wanting to find out as much as he could about the errant Marine.
As more and more men appeared, Ronon became increasingly frustrated. There were simply too many of them for him to take care of and rescue his teammates. He knew he was going to have to get back to Atlantis but he wanted to scout the area so that they would know what they were up against. He just hope that his friends had enough time for him to get the intel, find out where they were, return to Atlantis, and bring help. Meanwhile, he was just going to wait.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
McKay was sitting up, his back against the cold stone wall. The interior of the cell was damp from the morning mist and he was hurting more than he had when he had awakened earlier. He wanted to stretch out his legs to relax the muscles but he was cramping too badly to try.
His teammates were sleeping; Sheppard had finally awakened during the night and Teyla had gotten him to drink some water but he wouldn’t eat anything. He fell asleep again almost immediately, never even asking what had happened to them.
Sounds were coming from outside and as it got brighter, McKay could hear movement inside the prison and assumed they were not going to be left alone for long. He had closed his eyes when he heard a low groan.
“Sheppard, you awake.”
‘Yeah…um ‘wake.” He rolled a bit on his right side and winced; he had taken a really heavy hit to his right shoulder and it was deeply bruised.
“Help me…” reaching out his hand to McKay, “wanna sit…up.”
Rodney crawled over to Sheppard and helped him sit up, putting the colonel’s back against the wall. Scooting over to the water pitcher, Rodney grabbed the pitcher and brought it to the colonel.
“Here, drink this.” McKay held the pitcher up to Sheppard’s mouth. Taking a couple of swallows, the colonel slightly choked on the second sip and nearly coughed up the water.
‘Nah…” Sheppard batted McKay’s arm away and leaned his head against the wall. “Wha’ happened?”
“Don’t know, haven’t seen anyone. Teyla and I think…we got hit by a stunner in the village but we don’t know…where we are.”
Sheppard opened his eyes and in the brightening daylight, he could see Teyla and he pointed to her. “Teyla…OK?” Rodney answered yes and then Sheppard realized that Ronon was not with them. “Ronon?”
“Don’t know.”
They could hear footsteps coming down the stairs and Sheppard told Rodney to wake Teyla. As she responded to Rodney’s voice, three guards appeared at the cell door.
“Well, our little lovelies are awake; let’s get them to his majesty.” They unlocked the door and roughly pulled the three Atlantians up and forced them out of the prison to the main building.
When they arrived in the large hall of the main building, the guards held the three upright as the double door to the rear of the room opened and a man in a long red robe with a metal crown on his head entered. He kept his head down as he walked up the steps to the chair sitting on the wooden platform. Once he was seated, he looked up and was overjoyed at the shock that registered on the now ‘Colonel’ Sheppard’s face.
“On your knees in the presence of the sire,” the guards commanded them. When they didn’t immediately comply, the guards pushed all three to their knees on the rough wooden floor.
“Didn’t expect to see me again did you, major…or should I say, Colonel Sheppard? I see that you are also surprised, Dr. McKay and the lovely Teyla…wouldn’t give me the time of day when I was on Atlantis but you sure followed Sheppard everywhere didn’t you.”
“Strayer? We came…looking for you, get you home; why the hell…are…you doing…this to us?” Sheppard struggled to get free from the guard holding him but he only succeeded in receiving a kick to his lower back for his efforts.
Strayer laughed, “You came to take me home? It’s been over five years since my team was ambushed; you’re a little late, don’t you think?” He stood up and paced back and forth on the platform for a few moments and then abruptly sat down on his ‘throne’.
Sheppard took a deep breath. “Sergeant, after we found…the bodies of your teammates, we looked…for you, we never…stopped looking for you. I gave standing orders,” he stopped to take a breath, “to all teams…to stay on the look out for you.”
“You gave standing orders, colonel? You wouldn’t have been giving the orders if you hadn’t killed Colonel Sumner; got what you wanted didn’t you, Major Sheppard? Cushy little gig with Weir and the lovely Ms. Emmagan to play with and Marines to order around at your whim. I know you, you are an Air Force lightweight, a traitor, and you are going to get what you deserve.”
“You are wrong, sergeant.” Teyla’s voice was angry; she was fighting to remain in control. “Colonel Sheppard did not kill Sumner, the Wraith did; he was…withered and nearly dead when he told Sheppard to end the pain for him. He has…tried to find you on his own many times. You are wrong.”
“Do not call me sergeant; that man doesn’t exit any longer. I am His Majesty, King Leonard and you will address me as such.” He quickly descended the stairs and grabbed Teyla by the hair, “Defend him if you wish, but it will only make things worse for him,” he kneeled down next to her, “and for you.” He kissed her roughly and then brutally slapped her across the face. She would have fallen but the guard holding her kept her upright.
Sheppard tried to get to him but he was hit in the jaw by one of the guards and fell sideways to the floor. McKay started yelling at Strayer.
“You bastard, stop it; we only wanted to find you,” McKay was breathing hard, “to find you and let your family get closure or…” McKay stopped when Strayer backhanded him.
“Shut up you whinny little arrogant know it all. You think you are so much better than the Marines…you and you little puny scientists. You get all the glory and we die.”
Strayer stood up and tried to take a regal pose, he climbed the steps to his chair, turned and sat down. He glared at Sheppard for a moment and then looked at a short, grey-haired man standing on the floor at the corner of the platform. “Doulis, you know what to do. Take them to the square. I will be there shortly.”
Author: stella_pegasi
Rating: PG 13
Prompt: At the end.
Written for: *sterenyk_strey*
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, original characters.
Spoilers: None that I can think of…
Warnings: Graphic violence, torture, some sexually suggestive but not graphic scenes, suggestion of non-con.
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Genre: hurt/comfort, action/adventure; partial AU (embedded in main story)
Word count:
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Summary: Sheppard leads his team on a search for a Marine missing for over five years but what SGA-1 finds is trouble. With Sheppard badly injured, a familiar voice speaks to him and tells him not to worry; all will be well and helps him survive. But will he survive?
Another Life
CHAPTER ONE: THE QUEST
Colonel John Sheppard and his team stepped through the stargate on third planet they had visited since they began their quest. Chasing leads wasn’t Sheppard’s favorite pastime but this time he was looking for a Marine who went missing the first year they were on Atlantis. He needed to know if the Marine was really alive.
“Sheppard, do you think this is wise? I mean, we don’t have any way of knowing if that last idiot we talked to even knew what he was talking about.” Dr. Rodney McKay had been attempting to talk Sheppard out of continuing to look for Marine Sergeant Leonard ‘Lee’ Strayer.
“Look, McKay, I am going to find him; Lieutenant Vickers was positive that he saw Strayer. I want to either find him or find proof that he’s dead. I need to give his family closure.” Sheppard walked ahead of his teammates.
Ronon and Teyla both stopped next to Rodney, Teyla spoke in a low tone so that the colonel would not hear her, “Dr. McKay, we must let John do this, you know he cannot deal with not knowing what has happened to one of his command. So, we will continue to follow leads until there are no more to follow.”
McKay knew Teyla was right but he was not feeling good about this mission, maybe he was developing some of Sheppard renowned ‘spidy sense’ but whatever the reason he didn’t want to continue. Reluctantly, he followed his teammates as they walked toward town.
Sheppard had stayed a bit ahead of them as if he really didn’t want to talk to anyone. Once they entered the small town, he scouted out the location of the local bar and waited for the other three to catch up with him.
“OK, let’s do this.” He said and they all walked into the crowded bar.
It was near dark and the bar was filling up fast as workers from the town and those who worked in the fields were straggling in for a drink. The bar was like the others they had visited, heavy wood tables and chairs, grimy windows, the smell of whatever alcoholic beverage they sold mixed with the smell of bodies that had worked all day and other acrid smells from bad sanitation. Rodney was tired of trying to hold his nose without actually holding it; the smells seemed to get worse with each bar they entered. He really hoped that Sheppard would decide to return to Atlantis soon.
As with the last two establishments they had entered on the last two planets, the locals stared at them in a less than welcoming way while looking at Teyla with more than a passing interest. Ronon kept his eye on Sheppard and McKay but stayed close to Teyla. He figured there was less of a chance that anyone would make a move on Teyla if he were nearby.
The bartender looked up as Sheppard leaned on the bar and grunted more than spoke to the colonel, “What ya need?”
“Information,” Sheppard laid a picture of Sgt. Strayer on the bar, “have you seen this man before.”
The bartender looked at the picture, “Yeah, I seen him, comes in here once or twice a month, was here yesterday. Don’t look like anymore, hair’s longer but he got that scar.”
“Do you know where I could find him?”
Grunting again, the bartender glared, “No…now do ya want a drink or not?” Sheppard shook his head no and walked over to the team.
“The bartender recognized him from the scar, he was here yesterday. We need to ask around.” Sheppard took off to talk to other patrons; the other three looked at each other and did the same.
Other than a few off-color remarks to Teyla, they learned nothing. Finally Sheppard motioned for them to walk outside.
“No one else seemed to see anything; it’s getting late but some of these shops might still be open. I’m gonna go look for a town official. Meet me back here in thirty minutes.” Sheppard walked away before anyone could protest.
None of them noticed the two men who slipped out of the bar behind them and headed toward the edge of town where the stargate was located.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
It was completely dark by the time they met up in front of the bar and no one had discovered any more information about Strayer. Sheppard was quiet and Teyla and Ronon exchanged glances knowing that he was quite upset to get this close to possibly finding the sergeant only to see the trail go cold.
McKay was looking nervously at Sheppard and then at Teyla and Ronon; he wanted to return to Atlantis but was afraid to bring it up. Ronon was pretty sure he knew what McKay wanted to ask, so he asked for him.
“So, Sheppard, what now, back to Atlantis?”
Sheppard turned around, looking at the big Satendan and said, “No, there’s an inn down the street, we can stay there tonight.” He started walking away and without a word, his team followed.
The inn was located on a side street and as they turned down the dusty, darkened street, a buzzing noise reached them. Whirling around to look behind them, they were hit by weapons fire, yellow energy discharges that dropped them in seconds. Several men crowded around them and picked up the colonel, McKay and Teyla, leaving Ronon lying on the ground.
“What about him?” One of the kidnappers asked of the leader with them.
“King Leonard doesn’t remember him, he only wants the traitors. Leave that one; we will be long gone before he wakes.”
The men didn’t realize that Ronon had only been dazed by the weapon. He could hear them and as they were heading for the gate he struggled up and followed them. He was having a difficult time keeping up but he managed to keep them in sight. When they reached the gate, Ronon watched the leader dial the gate and the group carrying his team mates disappear into the event horizon. Without a thought, Ronon ran through the shimmering puddle before the gate shut down.
Exiting the gate, Ronon grunted as he rolled across rough ground but the group carrying his team didn’t hear him over the sound of the gate disengaging. He quickly jumped up and followed as closely as he dared.
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After twenty minutes, the kidnappers arrived at a small dilapidated village. The village consisted of a few stone buildings and several smaller wooden structures. They headed for the largest of the stone buildings; a two story structure located in the center of the village on the northern edge of a large square. Standing in the middle of the square was a wooden platform with four tall wood poles about a foot in diameter sitting in the center. Ronon was fairly certain the poles were not for decoration.
From where he was hiding, he could see straight down the center hallway toward a double door. The kidnappers carried Sheppard, Teyla and McKay through the doorway. Skirting around to the left side of the building near the Ronon found an open window and taking a chance, he peeked into the room.
His teammates had been thrown onto the plank floor in front of a platform that held a large overstuffed chair and sitting in the chair was Sergeant Lee Strayer. The sergeant was heavier than in the picture that Ronon had seen but it was definitely him, the deep scar across his right cheek positive proof. He was dressed in clothing made from very opulent fabrics, a heavy cape around his shoulders and some sort of metal crown on his head. Ronon ducked below the open window when Strayer rose from the chair.
“Ivo, you did well. I have wanted a chance for revenge on Major Sheppard. He has many things to pay for. And you have brought me the arrogant Dr. McKay and the beautiful Teyla. The only other Atlantian I would love to have is Dr. Weir. Perhaps when I am done with these, I will bring Weir here for a little fun and games before she suffers the same fate as Sheppard, Teyla, and McKay.”
Ivo bent at the waist, as Strayer descended the four steps to the floor, and replied, “Thank you, your majesty; we are all here to serve you. One point, sire, the one you call Major Sheppard, he is now called Colonel Sheppard. I thought you would want to know, sire.”
Strayer looked at Ivo and then walked over to Sheppard. “Colonel, is it? My, my, the Air Force will promote anyone, even someone who killed their CO to get the promotion.” He bent down and pulled Sheppard’s face toward him, “You will pay, pretty boy.”
Standing up, Strayer kicked Sheppard four times in the gut, then once in the back for good measure. Next he walked past McKay and kicked him in the gut twice and then he approached Teyla. Bending down, he ran his hand over her face and neck and smiled and quietly said to himself, “Still following Sheppard around; well, we’ll see what you think about what I do to him.”
He stood up, “Guards, take them to the prison and throw them in together in a cell but rough them up first. Just don’t do too much damage to the woman. I’ll take care of her.” He strode out of the hallway, his long velvet cape trailing behind him.
Ronon waited until the guards had taken his teammates out of the main building, across the wide square, and into another stone building. He made his way around several of the buildings to stay out of sight. By the time he got circled back to the building housing the cells and found a window to look in, Sheppard, McKay, and Teyla, still unconscious, had been tied to rings that were attached to a beam above their heads. They were in a large room that was lined with cells on two sides and Ronon could see a staircase in the corner that led to a lower level.
All three Atlantians had been stripped of their vests, jackets and boots, and were clad only in their t-shirts and pants. Two large men were wrapping tape around their hands and once done, they both approached the trio. They began striking Sheppard and McKay over and over, setting the two men spinning. It became almost sport for them as they struck out at a new spot on the Atlantians with each spin. After a few minutes, one broke off hitting McKay and walked over to Teyla.
“Ah…this one is pretty and it will be a shame to mar this face but I will,” and he hauled off and hit Teyla in the jaw, spinning her faster than the two men had twirled around. The guard hit her a few times in the abdomen, hips and back, and then stopped.
A short, gray-haired man who appeared to be in charge spoke, “That’s enough, untie them and take them to the lower chamber. Put water and bread in with them, the sire wants them alive, for now.”
Ronon was torn, he knew he needed to get back to Atlantis for help but he didn’t know the planet’s gate address and he had lost his radio when he rolled through the gate. He was going to have to go it alone and see if he could find out where he was or rescue his teammates on his own. That he knew was not going to be easy.
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McKay regained consciousness first; he was disoriented and in a lot of pain and he couldn’t see anything. Panicking for a second, he thought he was blind but his eyes began to adjust to the dim light coming from a nearby sconce and he realized that it was still night. Then he panicked a second time when he wondered where the rest of the team was; reaching out along the floor, his had touched something, a leg, a skinny leg, it had to be Sheppard.
“Sheppard, Sheppard,” he was crawling toward him as he called for him, “Shep…”
“Rodney…” a shaky voice came from his left, Teyla’s voice. Rodney crawled to her.
“Teyla, I’m here.” He reached her and in the dim light, could just make out her face. He could see a dark line from her nose and out of the corner of her mouth…blood. “You’re hurt.”
“Yes…but not too badly. You…?”
“Yeah…been beat up but don’t remember anything. Sheppard’s over there and he’s still out.”
Teyla rolled onto her side toward Sheppard, “John, John…can you hear me?” No sound came from the colonel; Teyla rolled over on her stomach to crawl toward him, grimacing from the bruises on her abdomen.
“Rodney, where’s Ronon?”
Rodney rose up to look around the cell but couldn’t see any other dark shapes. “He’s not here.”
Teyla reached Sheppard and with trembling fingers she touched his neck, checking for a pulse. She let out the breath she was holding, “He’s alive; his pulse is strong. What happened to us, Rodney?”
Rodney laid his head on his arm, “I don’t know, Teyla. I remember walking to…uh…the inn and then some kind of flash.”
“I wonder…where Ronon is; do you think he might have…gotten away?”
Rodney was quiet, “I hope so,” but he was also afraid of a worse outcome for Ronon, he just wasn’t going to verbalize that worry to Teyla.
Rodney kicked something and he soon found the metal water pitcher and a loaf of bread. “Well at least they…don’t want us to starve.” He handed the pitcher of water to Teyla and then the bread. They ate in silence, keeping an eye on Sheppard before they dozed off to sleep again.
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Ronon spent the night in a shed near the prison building. Earlier he had backtracked a bit to a larger road he remembered branching off the road the kidnappers had taken; following the wider road he came across another, larger, village. Locating a small store that sold food, he had helped himself to a loaf of bread, cheese and fruit and a bottle of what turned out to be a fermented fruit drink. Once he procured food, throwing the items into a leather satchel he found in the store, he returned to the smaller village. He scouted for a safe location to rest, found the shed and tried to get a few hours sleep.
It was nearly dawn when Ronon left the shed, looking for a perch from where he could watch both the main building and the prison yet stay out of sight. There was a decaying stone building on the western edge of the square and he was able to climb to the roof and hide behind the still intact stone chimney. As the sun rose, he watched as several men left smaller buildings that sat outside the main square area and head to one building where smoke was rising from a chimney; he suspected it was their mess hall.
From his vantage point, he spotted a large two-story dwelling built of stone that appeared to be a residence. The building was larger than the other outlying buildings and he suspected that it might be where Strayer slept. He decided he needed to keep an eye on that building, wanting to find out as much as he could about the errant Marine.
As more and more men appeared, Ronon became increasingly frustrated. There were simply too many of them for him to take care of and rescue his teammates. He knew he was going to have to get back to Atlantis but he wanted to scout the area so that they would know what they were up against. He just hope that his friends had enough time for him to get the intel, find out where they were, return to Atlantis, and bring help. Meanwhile, he was just going to wait.
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McKay was sitting up, his back against the cold stone wall. The interior of the cell was damp from the morning mist and he was hurting more than he had when he had awakened earlier. He wanted to stretch out his legs to relax the muscles but he was cramping too badly to try.
His teammates were sleeping; Sheppard had finally awakened during the night and Teyla had gotten him to drink some water but he wouldn’t eat anything. He fell asleep again almost immediately, never even asking what had happened to them.
Sounds were coming from outside and as it got brighter, McKay could hear movement inside the prison and assumed they were not going to be left alone for long. He had closed his eyes when he heard a low groan.
“Sheppard, you awake.”
‘Yeah…um ‘wake.” He rolled a bit on his right side and winced; he had taken a really heavy hit to his right shoulder and it was deeply bruised.
“Help me…” reaching out his hand to McKay, “wanna sit…up.”
Rodney crawled over to Sheppard and helped him sit up, putting the colonel’s back against the wall. Scooting over to the water pitcher, Rodney grabbed the pitcher and brought it to the colonel.
“Here, drink this.” McKay held the pitcher up to Sheppard’s mouth. Taking a couple of swallows, the colonel slightly choked on the second sip and nearly coughed up the water.
‘Nah…” Sheppard batted McKay’s arm away and leaned his head against the wall. “Wha’ happened?”
“Don’t know, haven’t seen anyone. Teyla and I think…we got hit by a stunner in the village but we don’t know…where we are.”
Sheppard opened his eyes and in the brightening daylight, he could see Teyla and he pointed to her. “Teyla…OK?” Rodney answered yes and then Sheppard realized that Ronon was not with them. “Ronon?”
“Don’t know.”
They could hear footsteps coming down the stairs and Sheppard told Rodney to wake Teyla. As she responded to Rodney’s voice, three guards appeared at the cell door.
“Well, our little lovelies are awake; let’s get them to his majesty.” They unlocked the door and roughly pulled the three Atlantians up and forced them out of the prison to the main building.
When they arrived in the large hall of the main building, the guards held the three upright as the double door to the rear of the room opened and a man in a long red robe with a metal crown on his head entered. He kept his head down as he walked up the steps to the chair sitting on the wooden platform. Once he was seated, he looked up and was overjoyed at the shock that registered on the now ‘Colonel’ Sheppard’s face.
“On your knees in the presence of the sire,” the guards commanded them. When they didn’t immediately comply, the guards pushed all three to their knees on the rough wooden floor.
“Didn’t expect to see me again did you, major…or should I say, Colonel Sheppard? I see that you are also surprised, Dr. McKay and the lovely Teyla…wouldn’t give me the time of day when I was on Atlantis but you sure followed Sheppard everywhere didn’t you.”
“Strayer? We came…looking for you, get you home; why the hell…are…you doing…this to us?” Sheppard struggled to get free from the guard holding him but he only succeeded in receiving a kick to his lower back for his efforts.
Strayer laughed, “You came to take me home? It’s been over five years since my team was ambushed; you’re a little late, don’t you think?” He stood up and paced back and forth on the platform for a few moments and then abruptly sat down on his ‘throne’.
Sheppard took a deep breath. “Sergeant, after we found…the bodies of your teammates, we looked…for you, we never…stopped looking for you. I gave standing orders,” he stopped to take a breath, “to all teams…to stay on the look out for you.”
“You gave standing orders, colonel? You wouldn’t have been giving the orders if you hadn’t killed Colonel Sumner; got what you wanted didn’t you, Major Sheppard? Cushy little gig with Weir and the lovely Ms. Emmagan to play with and Marines to order around at your whim. I know you, you are an Air Force lightweight, a traitor, and you are going to get what you deserve.”
“You are wrong, sergeant.” Teyla’s voice was angry; she was fighting to remain in control. “Colonel Sheppard did not kill Sumner, the Wraith did; he was…withered and nearly dead when he told Sheppard to end the pain for him. He has…tried to find you on his own many times. You are wrong.”
“Do not call me sergeant; that man doesn’t exit any longer. I am His Majesty, King Leonard and you will address me as such.” He quickly descended the stairs and grabbed Teyla by the hair, “Defend him if you wish, but it will only make things worse for him,” he kneeled down next to her, “and for you.” He kissed her roughly and then brutally slapped her across the face. She would have fallen but the guard holding her kept her upright.
Sheppard tried to get to him but he was hit in the jaw by one of the guards and fell sideways to the floor. McKay started yelling at Strayer.
“You bastard, stop it; we only wanted to find you,” McKay was breathing hard, “to find you and let your family get closure or…” McKay stopped when Strayer backhanded him.
“Shut up you whinny little arrogant know it all. You think you are so much better than the Marines…you and you little puny scientists. You get all the glory and we die.”
Strayer stood up and tried to take a regal pose, he climbed the steps to his chair, turned and sat down. He glared at Sheppard for a moment and then looked at a short, grey-haired man standing on the floor at the corner of the platform. “Doulis, you know what to do. Take them to the square. I will be there shortly.”