fic: Acts Of Peace - PG [Teyla, Ronon]
TITLE: Acts Of Peace
SUMMARY: They'd fought and they'd lost. The Alliance would manage their lives, from birth to death. Ordered. Organised. Sanitized. Registered. A bitter pill to swallow, but one they'd learn to live with.
CATEGORY: AU, crossover
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Not making money.
SERIES: Fly The Stars - sequel to ' Choosing Resistance'
NOTES: Two more chapters to go. I've skimmed over the Unification war, but the details are essentially from the Firefly wiki, with a few of my own details added in.
Acts Of Peace
The cells on the Alliance Cruiser weren't comfortable, but it was better than the conditions they'd endured in Serenity Valley.
Two months of fighting the Alliance, every muscle aching, every breath a labour. Then defeat and the cold hard weight of failure. A week of waiting. Hunger. Sickeness. Recriminations. Madness.
Ronon had to admit, the Athosians survived better than some. Those that were left were tired and hungry, and one or two were fragile in health, but they were all sound in mind and relieved that it was over.
They'd fought and they'd lost. The Alliance would manage their lives, from birth to death. Ordered. Organised. Sanitized. Registered. A bitter pill to swallow, but one they'd learn to live with.
Slowly, the Independents were being allowed to go home. The Alliance didn't want prisoners - it wanted citizens to pay its taxes and instruct on how to order their lives. Their names and details were recorded, their homeworlds noted down in a central database. Groups from other worlds had already been processed and were long since gone.
The Athosians - and the other Pegasus towns who'd aligned with the Independents - stayed.
"How's Sela doing?" Ronon asked as Halling hunkered down beside him.
"Better. We traded a batch of penicillin for a protein block. Torin's coming down with it, too. It shorts our rations but we'll manage. Any news of Teyla?"
"Nothing." It had been nearly a day since they'd taken her away. For questioning, they said. For safekeeping, Ronon figured, remembering 'the Articles of the Academy'. He still wasn't sure if they'd bring her back.
"Think she's okay?"
Down the long corridor of the Alliance cruiser's brig, footsteps echoed. Too early for dinner, and not a usual time for questioning. Ronon glanced at Halling. "Guess we're gonna find out."
They stood as the door slid open, revealing an Alliance officer - a major, if the tabs on his shoulder were any indication. "Ronon Dex and Halling Bento of Pegasus?"
"That's us."
Greenish eyes swept the room before he stepped aside and Teyla walked in.
She looked unharmed and unafraid, but there was relief in her eyes as she tallied their numbers. "Gather your things," she said quietly. "We're going home."
The Alliance officer watched the corridor as they collected their things quietly and carried the sick. Ronon hoisted Sela in his arms, ignoring her protests, and followed Teyla and the officer through the lockup cells.
He noticed the guards turned away as they passed, as though they didn't want to see what was happening. "Teyla?"
She glanced back but ignored his question, and Ronon caught the steady, measuring gaze of the Alliance officer for a moment, before the man turned away to look at her. "The transport codes will get you out of the Hera system as long as you reach the cordon in the next four hours. You should steer clear of the core worlds, of course."
"Of course." Her smile was faint and amused as they reached the docked ship - not the one they'd arrived in, but a 440 Bandolier, shabby and run-down by the look of its hull. It would crawl across the system if it would fly at all. Teyla turned at the door, gesturing them on. "Thank you, Major. And thank your commander."
Ronon wanted to stay with her, but Sela needed to be set down and he wasn't about to let her walk on her own feet through the unknown ship.
He didn't have the chance to question Teyla for another four hours, too busy fixing the broken-down systems of the ship. The engines were worn and weary, life-support was nominal at best. They had basic supplies, but it would be a long, rough journey back to Pegasus.
It wasn't until they were well out of the Hera system, limping home through the back ways and smugglers' trails, that Ronon could leave the hold where the others had made their collective bunk, and seek Teyla.
She sat in the pilot's chair, her eyes full of stars as she stared out the viewport. She didn't look around as Ronon seated himself in one of the navigation seats.
He wanted to ask about the Academy, about the Alliance officer and his commander, about so many things that had niggled and gnawed at him over the last five years. But that was the past, and over and done.
Time to look to the future.
"Will they come after you again?"
The pale light of the distant stars glowed softly against her features. "I do not think they will," she said at last. "The Act of Acquisition is only valid in a time of war. And I am not so valuable to the Academy - merely a precursor..." Her voice trailed off, and Ronon heard a helplessness in it that clutched at his gut. "I believe they will soon have...others...to occupy their interests."
He could have asked, but she didn't want him to.
After a moment, he held out his hand; after another, she gripped it, her fingers cool and strong in his, an anchor in his life as she had always been.
"We are going home, Ronon. That is enough for now."
--
9. The Answer, Yes.
SUMMARY: They'd fought and they'd lost. The Alliance would manage their lives, from birth to death. Ordered. Organised. Sanitized. Registered. A bitter pill to swallow, but one they'd learn to live with.
CATEGORY: AU, crossover
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Not making money.
SERIES: Fly The Stars - sequel to ' Choosing Resistance'
NOTES: Two more chapters to go. I've skimmed over the Unification war, but the details are essentially from the Firefly wiki, with a few of my own details added in.
Acts Of Peace
The cells on the Alliance Cruiser weren't comfortable, but it was better than the conditions they'd endured in Serenity Valley.
Two months of fighting the Alliance, every muscle aching, every breath a labour. Then defeat and the cold hard weight of failure. A week of waiting. Hunger. Sickeness. Recriminations. Madness.
Ronon had to admit, the Athosians survived better than some. Those that were left were tired and hungry, and one or two were fragile in health, but they were all sound in mind and relieved that it was over.
They'd fought and they'd lost. The Alliance would manage their lives, from birth to death. Ordered. Organised. Sanitized. Registered. A bitter pill to swallow, but one they'd learn to live with.
Slowly, the Independents were being allowed to go home. The Alliance didn't want prisoners - it wanted citizens to pay its taxes and instruct on how to order their lives. Their names and details were recorded, their homeworlds noted down in a central database. Groups from other worlds had already been processed and were long since gone.
The Athosians - and the other Pegasus towns who'd aligned with the Independents - stayed.
"How's Sela doing?" Ronon asked as Halling hunkered down beside him.
"Better. We traded a batch of penicillin for a protein block. Torin's coming down with it, too. It shorts our rations but we'll manage. Any news of Teyla?"
"Nothing." It had been nearly a day since they'd taken her away. For questioning, they said. For safekeeping, Ronon figured, remembering 'the Articles of the Academy'. He still wasn't sure if they'd bring her back.
"Think she's okay?"
Down the long corridor of the Alliance cruiser's brig, footsteps echoed. Too early for dinner, and not a usual time for questioning. Ronon glanced at Halling. "Guess we're gonna find out."
They stood as the door slid open, revealing an Alliance officer - a major, if the tabs on his shoulder were any indication. "Ronon Dex and Halling Bento of Pegasus?"
"That's us."
Greenish eyes swept the room before he stepped aside and Teyla walked in.
She looked unharmed and unafraid, but there was relief in her eyes as she tallied their numbers. "Gather your things," she said quietly. "We're going home."
The Alliance officer watched the corridor as they collected their things quietly and carried the sick. Ronon hoisted Sela in his arms, ignoring her protests, and followed Teyla and the officer through the lockup cells.
He noticed the guards turned away as they passed, as though they didn't want to see what was happening. "Teyla?"
She glanced back but ignored his question, and Ronon caught the steady, measuring gaze of the Alliance officer for a moment, before the man turned away to look at her. "The transport codes will get you out of the Hera system as long as you reach the cordon in the next four hours. You should steer clear of the core worlds, of course."
"Of course." Her smile was faint and amused as they reached the docked ship - not the one they'd arrived in, but a 440 Bandolier, shabby and run-down by the look of its hull. It would crawl across the system if it would fly at all. Teyla turned at the door, gesturing them on. "Thank you, Major. And thank your commander."
Ronon wanted to stay with her, but Sela needed to be set down and he wasn't about to let her walk on her own feet through the unknown ship.
He didn't have the chance to question Teyla for another four hours, too busy fixing the broken-down systems of the ship. The engines were worn and weary, life-support was nominal at best. They had basic supplies, but it would be a long, rough journey back to Pegasus.
It wasn't until they were well out of the Hera system, limping home through the back ways and smugglers' trails, that Ronon could leave the hold where the others had made their collective bunk, and seek Teyla.
She sat in the pilot's chair, her eyes full of stars as she stared out the viewport. She didn't look around as Ronon seated himself in one of the navigation seats.
He wanted to ask about the Academy, about the Alliance officer and his commander, about so many things that had niggled and gnawed at him over the last five years. But that was the past, and over and done.
Time to look to the future.
"Will they come after you again?"
The pale light of the distant stars glowed softly against her features. "I do not think they will," she said at last. "The Act of Acquisition is only valid in a time of war. And I am not so valuable to the Academy - merely a precursor..." Her voice trailed off, and Ronon heard a helplessness in it that clutched at his gut. "I believe they will soon have...others...to occupy their interests."
He could have asked, but she didn't want him to.
After a moment, he held out his hand; after another, she gripped it, her fingers cool and strong in his, an anchor in his life as she had always been.
"We are going home, Ronon. That is enough for now."
--
9. The Answer, Yes.