Chapter I: The paradise path.
They stepped through the Stargate, 'Man... what a great feeling' Sheppard thought, the mere fact that they were exploring different planets on a galaxy far away, made him think that this was probably a dream after watching too much sci-fi movies. But the reality was that this was not a dream. And so he walked along the sandy path near the Stargate. This expedition was an important one because this planet was not part of the planets that Teyla used to go for trading, but was one from the Atlantis mainframe.
The first thing different about the place was that the Stargate was located right beside a beautiful sandy beach, and even had some weird looking plants that Sheppard assumed were this planet's version of palm trees. Once he saw the beach, nostalgia overcame him for a moment.
Suddenly Ford commented, "This reminds me of earth. It is a nice change from all those forest filled planets."
Sheppard didn't say anything but a small grin appeared on his face, if this turned out to be a nice planet, this could turn out to be a great vacation spot. Teyla, however, snapped him out of his drifting world when she said, "I think we might be close to a village, the path, it seems to be more used here."
Sheppard moved to the front and ordered Ford to stay alert. Teyla looked around for any sign of civilization while McKay was looking in disbelief at his electronic equipment, the readings it was giving him were too good to be true, so he decided not to say anything, until he would be absolutely sure that his reading's were correct. So he just walked alongside the group, secretly hoping to find a ZPM in this place.
Suddenly Sheppard stopped, and signed everyone to be quiet; Teyla went to his side while the Major pointed at a couple of small buildings near a hill. They seemed to be made out of rock, but it didn't look like anything Sheppard had seen before. He looked at Teyla, and she answered, already knowing what the Major was going to ask. "I have never seen this kind of homes."
Sheppard knew that this could be just wishful thinking, but at the same time he didn't know what to expect to find in there. So he looked at McKay and said, "Are you getting something?"
McKay looked at his equipment and replied, "I don't know what to tell you. This place gives me readings one moment and it seems to pick up like a couple of energy devices around, the next its dead as if this place is completely empty. Look," he handed the Major the life signs detector, "even this is affected, and it doesn't pick us up."
Sheppard looked at the device, "Strange."
Lieutenant Ford frowned, "Do you think it could be some sort of jamming?"
Whoa! No, Sheppard hadn't thought about it, and Ford was right, realizing this he suddenly said, "Let's get off this path."
Having arrived at an area where the weird looking tropical plants were denser, they moved around the plants and hid behind a really thick one. A minute later two men walked right past them. For a moment Sheppard thought they were lucky to be hidden, but he was wrong, because all of a sudden, the two men stopped, to Sheppard they didn't seem to be suspicious of anything. They were not looking around for trespassers; they didn't look particularly menacing. In fact they just seemed to be standing there, as if waiting for something, and then Sheppard felt it. It started behind his eyes, went down to the base of his neck and down his spine. He gasped for breath; the pain was unbearable. He started to loose his sight, but he noticed that only Rodney was reacting as he did. After that he knew no more, because the pain increased and the last thing Sheppard remembered, was his own mouth screaming.
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Chapter II. Waking up
Major John Sheppard had no idea of where he was, or how he got there. The last thing he remembered was pain; mind numbing, excruciating pain. He opened his eyes to have a look at his surroundings, and saw Teyla and Ford sitting on the floor next to him, and McKay was lying on the floor on the other side of the room. He covered his face with his right hand, "what a tactical advantage", he thought, `having a device that causes pain to intruders, so they can capture them'.
Lt. Ford noticed the Major had woken up and asked, "Are you ok, Major?" Sheppard looked around and slowly sat up.
He looked at Ford and Teyla, "What the hell happened?"
Teyla shrugged, "We do not know. While we were hiding, you and Dr. McKay started to scream in pain and collapsed. The two men found us pretty quickly."
Sheppard started to feel confused, something he had never liked, it made him feel vulnerable. "Neither of you guys felt it?"
Ford frowned and says, "Felt what Sir?"
"The pain, I felt as if some clawed monster wanted to rip off my head and take my spine with it."
Then from the back of the room, they could hear McKay say, "Graphic, but I felt the same way." They all turned their heads toward McKay, who was slowly sitting up while massaging the back of his neck. They all stayed silent for a moment, thinking about their situation.
"What do you think this means? That not all of us suffered from the pain."
Sheppard said, only followed by a grim, McKay, "I think it's the ancient genes, both you and I have them, Ford and Teyla don't. So, there you have your answer."
Ford looked at McKay, "So, from all the planets in this galaxy, we had to come to the one where they don't like ancients?"
Suddenly a door was opened, and a white tall man entered the small room, he was wearing a long black cloak that reminded Sheppard to the ones worn by monks. Also he noticed the man carrying a small device in one of his hands.
"Come with me." The man said, Sheppard got up, and walked toward his captor.
"What the hell is going on? Where are we?" The man gave Sheppard a cold look back.
"Come with me now!" He touched the device he was holding and Sheppard fell to his knees, the pain in his head returned in pulsating bits. "Ok, you've convinced me, let's go." The man looked amused at Sheppard, as if enjoying his pain. He eventually turned the device off and signaled the group to walk out of the room.
They all walked out of the room, Sheppard in front, the man in the back. They were led to some sort of main chamber that did not look much like the buildings on the outside. To Sheppard this place looked like one giant gothic palace, but without the darkness. The place was as bright as if they were outside. Once inside the chamber, Sheppard noticed there were roughly 30 people in there. Most of them scattered around the chamber, except for one on the other side of the room, obviously the leader as he looked like a king sitting on his throne.
The man stood up and glanced at the prisoners. Sheppard and his team were led to stand right in front of the king's throne.
The Major was the first to speak up, forgetting for a second he was the prisoner, and those normally aren't aloud to talk much in front of their captors without retribution, "I think you might have made a mistake here. Why did you capture us? We are from..." But Sheppard was cut short by a guard that hit him over the head, making him stumble to the floor. The guard kept hitting him, this time on the ribs.
Nobody said anything until McKay started to loose it and shouted, "I don't know what we have done to be your prisoners, but I don't think this is the best way to communicate."
Lying on the floor, Sheppard was grateful that McKay was defending him, but he knew, just by the way the people reacted, that it would make no difference. He tried to move but his ribs objected wildly to that movement. From where he was lying on the ground Sheppard looked at the king and noticed a young woman walking toward the king. Her beauty could be seen from miles away, her skin as white as snow and her hair black as the night going past her waist. Even though her beauty was great, her facial expression was grim, almost bored.
She could feel Sheppard's stare, but she disregarded it as she approached the king. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and then without even looking at him, she left in much the same way she had entered. The king stood up and said in a calm and steady voice, "I will hear what you have to say. My name is Elek, leader of Toulnya."
Sheppard was helped standing up by Lt. Ford and replied as calmly as he could at that moment, "Thanks! Care to explain now, why this treatment?"
Elek looked sternly at the Major and replied, "Your race is banned from here, why do you dare to come back? If it is for her, I thought we agreed a long time ago that she belongs with us."
Sheppard stared at Elek. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Elek frowned, "Strange, you are from Atlantis, yes?"
"Yes, but this is a mistake, this is the first time we set foot on this planet"
"I think you are the one mistaken, and the agreement was final. It's been hundreds of years, but that agreement is still valid." Elek looked at his guards, "Take them away. I'll decide what to do with them tomorrow." The guards nodded and rounded the team up to be led out of the room and back from where they came. They didn't resist, as they knew that at this point that was useless. They'd be overpowered before they even made one move. They would have to collect more information on what was going on first before even considering some sort of escape.
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Chapter III: Conversations
The guards led Sheppard's team back to their cell. For a while everyone stayed silent. Sheppard wondered why Elek didn't know that the Ancients were gone. Teyla broke the silence, "They didn't even mention the Wraith, and this place looks untouched by it." Ford looked at Teyla and nodded, "Yeah, I noticed that too." Sheppard heard their conversation from his side of the room. He pondered everything he heard, plus his own questions. He definitely had to know more about the woman, because it wasn't until she `touched' Elek that he agreed to hear what they had to say.
An amusing thought came to his mind as he heard McKay say, "I'm hungry." `Man!' Sheppard thought, `this man should control his inner monologue'. Sheppard stood up and faced his team; Teyla looked at him, "How is your chest?" Sheppard became aware that the pain had faded a bit, so he replied, "It has seen better days, but I'm ok." He moved closer to his team, "Did anyone see where that woman came from?"
Teyla and McKay shrugged and Ford answered, "I think she came from a back room, because she wasn't in the chamber when we entered."
Sheppard frowned, "There's something weird about her, I don't know what it is yet but I'll find out." Sheppard stayed deep in thought while Lt. Ford paced around the room, mumbling softly, "This can't be a perfect place, it must have some weakness." Teyla looked at Ford, "Yes, but if they keep ignoring us I don't think we will ever find out what that is."
Sheppard thought that it might be for the best to brighten up their situation a bit, "Maybe tomorrow Elek will send us back to Atlantis, `never to return'" He accentuated it with mock suspense in his voice, but McKay had enough and snapped at the major, "What if they don't send us back?" Sheppard glanced annoyed at McKay and replied, "Then we must find a way out of here, the scenery is nice, but the treatment is not."
"What if they used to kill any ancient that came to this planet?" Sheppard turned to face McKay, "Don't be such a pessimist."
"I am the pessimist, and Major, you're just dreaming."
"Rodney!" Sheppard shouted, anger rising inside him. There was some truth in what McKay was saying, but he wasn't ready to give up. Miracles happened; maybe this would be their first. Then just as Sheppard began to say something, he was cut off by the door opening, revealing a cloaked petite figure. The blue cloak was hiding its figures, but it was clear to all that it was a woman. Once inside she took of the hood revealing her fair skin and hair, she stared at Sheppard. "You! Come with me!" Curious, Sheppard turned to face her and replied, "Why?"
The woman showed him a small device, just like the one the guard had had and said, "I know you react very well to this, so don't try anything." Shepard backed off, looked at his teammates and followed the woman out of the room.
They started walking down a long hallway in the opposite direction of the main chamber. Sheppard noticed that night had fallen, but before he could have a much better look outside, the woman had stopped in front of a doorway and signaled him to enter. Once Sheppard was inside the woman closed the door from the outside, leaving the Major alone.
Sheppard found himself inside of what looked like a bedroom, someone's suite. The room looked very tidy and very mystical. Further inside he came across a small round table, covered with a variety of native fruit and two chairs surrounding it. Suddenly he heard some movement, startled Sheppard turned around, only to find the mysterious woman from the main chamber looking at him, shining like an angel.
She just stood there, staring at Sheppard, who in turn started to feel very unnerved; he tried to smile, "Hello." She didn't move, she didn't say anything, she just signaled Sheppard to the chair, and he sat down.
The woman started to close in on the Major's position. Sheppard's mind began to race; he had heard stories of SGC personnel who had been influenced by alien women. He didn't want to be the first one on his team to have that experience.
The woman circled around him while coming closer and closer, studying his features as she did so. She had come to a stop behind him and extended her left hand, to touch his face, but stopped an inch away from his skin. It looked as if she suddenly regretted her actions and as fast as could she moved her hand away from Sheppard and sat down on the chair opposite of him. He noticed her expression had lightened as she scanned the food on the table. She picked up a small fruit and offered it to Sheppard. He didn't know why, but somehow the story of Adam and Eve came to his mind. He chuckled softly and shook it off blaming his overactive imagination in thinking that this was the same. So he extended his right hand to take the offered food the woman dropped it and instead grabbed Sheppard's arm with both her hands.
The woman's eyes closed instantaneously and Sheppard felt the air leaving his lungs and his heart beating wildly. He looked at the woman and noticed she now had her eyes slightly open, but was still looking down. John now started to feel as if his heart wanted to jump out of his chest so he desperately tried to break free from her grip.
Just as sudden as it had begun, it ended. She released him and Sheppard got up as quickly as his body wanted to co-operate, trying to catch his breath. He felt as if he had just ran 6 miles non-stop. The woman stayed calmly on her chair staring up at Sheppard. It unnerved him; why would she bring him here and not say a word?
"I am sorry." Sheppard suddenly forgot that this was the first time this woman spoke and snapped at her, "What the hell you think you're doing?"
"Learning" she said softly. Sheppard frowned a little at that revelation, "Learning what?"
"How to speak. I wanted to communicate with you." Sheppard stared at her in disbelief, "You just learned how to talk?" She nodded in response and Sheppard added, "Quick learner I take?"
The woman stood up and faced Sheppard, "I am sorry it had to be like this, but I am not supposed to know how to communicate with others. It is only with Elek." Sheppard frowned, "Why? Why Elek only?"
"He is our leader, he must know any information I get regarding our protection. But you are an Ancient, you should know." Sheppard paced around and replied, "No, I'm not. The Ancients could have been my ancestors, all I have is something called a gene." The woman moved closer to Sheppard, "Ancestors... that would explain it..." She stayed in deep thought for a moment before saying, "I can help you get out of here."
Sheppard frowned, "Why?
"I want to help you, on one condition only."
"Yes?"
"You must take me with you."
Sheppard stood in front of the woman, "You know... this sounds like a trap to me." The woman suddenly looked offended and replied, "I can assure you it is no trap but if you do not want to believe that is fine by me but tomorrow Elek will know perfectly well what to do with you and your team. Whether you are Ancient or not, to him you are and he will cut off your head, drag your body across town and then send it back to wherever you came from."
Maybe it was from the shock of hearing something like that or the fact that this woman was saying it as if it was done everyday, Sheppard managed to reply, "Ew, that's ... ew."
"They may seem like a peaceful people, but they mastered the skill of slaughtering a long time ago."
Sheppard moved across the room and sat back down on the chair he had previously been occupying, "Let's say I'll take you with me to Atlantis, what's in it for us? Besides being rescued from a gruesome, bloody death."
She walked toward Sheppard and sat opposite of him, "I can help you get rid of the Wraith."
"How?"
They remained in the room talking for a little while longer before she got up, made her way over to the window and started staring outside, "You should return to your cell. There is a woman outside this room, she will lead you back." Sheppard moved toward the door. "My name is Amara." Sheppard turned around and looked at Amara, giving her a small smile before replying, "John Sheppard." And then the door closed behind him and he found himself back in the hallway, following the woman, who had brought him there in the first place, to the cell.
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Chapter IV: Telling the Story
Major Sheppard walked into the cell, intending to share what he had learned with his team. But as soon as the door opened, he noticed McKay was missing. Sheppard waited patiently for the woman to close the door before he asked where McKay had gone.
Ford gave him a somber look; "They took him, like half an hour ago." Sheppard moved closer towards his remaining teammates, and sat down on the floor, "Any idea of what they want?"
This time Teyla replied, "No, they just came in, grabbed him and left."
Sheppard nodded and gathered his thoughts in order to find a reasonable plan to escape or at least find out more then what Amara had told him about their `hosts', `What next? Torturing my team for no reason?' Then his thoughts wandered towards Amara. He found her trustworthy, but could he really trust her after what she had revealed to him why exactly the people of Toulnya hated the Ancients, after she had revealed her true nature of what she was.
"Where were you all this time?" Lt. Ford clearly startled the Major with his question.
"What? Oh, I was with that woman we saw with Elek." Ford didn't know whether that had been a good thing or a bad thing. "She wanted to talk to me because she is apparently an Ancient."
Teyla frowned, "What! How is that possible?"
"She was made." Sheppard replied, only to have his fellow teammates stare at him in utter confusion so he decided for the best to continue. "You remember how the Ancients spread life in this galaxy and how everybody was doing just fine until the Wraith showed up and started spreading mayhem and death. Now... at some point in time this particular planet came to be very advanced, so they worked together with the Ancients to create a weapon against the Wraith. She was the weapon they created. How the agreement came to be is a little vague but as a result she had to stay in Toulnya while the Ancients had to go home empty handed."
It took some time for Teyla and Ford to absorb the given information. But after a while Teyla looked at Sheppard, "How is it possible that she's still alive?" Sheppard got up and started pacing around the room, "They have a stasis chamber of sorts. They only take her out for a couple of years, when the Wraith are causing mayhem."
"That makes sense." Ford nodded.
Silence returned to the trio as they waited for McKay to return. Minutes turned into hours but finally after three long hours the door to their cell was opened and two guards dragged the limp figure of McKay inside the room. His eyes were closed and Sheppard noticed there were some bruises on his face while his wrists were bloody and a nasty shade of purple. Maybe they had strung him up by his wrists, hanging him from the ceiling as a method of torture.
McKay moaned softly and moved a little, "She's an Ancient... the woman..." Sheppard cut him off, "We know, don't worry. What did they do to you?"
Rodney opened his eyes a little and looked around, "They brought me to this room, Elek was there, the woman was there. They didn't ask any questions, they just hit me a couple of times and then I saw her."
"What do you mean?" Ford asked.
"I saw her in my mind, as if she was probing me." Sheppard sat down next to Rodney's side and placed a hand comforting on the scientist's shoulder, "It's ok, rest while you can. They are probably going to probe us all."
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Amara was pacing around in her room. What she had seen in the scientist's mind had been very confusing. Sleeping much was out of the question now; morning was almost there. She had to find a way to speak with Elek.
But at the same time she was afraid. If Elek found out about what she knew now, the prisoners would certainly die and Elek would try to destroy what was left from the Ancients, their city. She couldn't let that happen, but what could she do to prevent all that from happening? Elek was on his way to talk to her.
The moment they would make contact he would feel the battle inside her... maybe not. NO, she wasn't going to let that happen, she would convince Elek to release the people from Atlantis and at the very last moment she would run off with them.
She was tired, so tired of just being a weapon, a shield used in times of need. She wanted to use her `weakness' as Elek called it, as her strength. She would try to live, without thinking of the moment she had to return to her stasis chamber and dream of monsters for thousands of years.
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Chapter V: Never to Return
The following day Major Sheppard awoke to the sound of the door being opened to reveal the guards. There was no need for an explanation, as the team knew they were going to see Elek again. Ford and Sheppard helped McKay get up from the floor and then silently followed the guards out of the cell.
Sheppard secretly hoped that Elek had changed his mind about them and that he and his team weren't going to experience first hand the kind of death Amara had described to him the previous day.
The moment they entered the main chamber, they immediately noticed that the atmosphere had changed entirely. Even Elek's behavior was different; he was smiling and received them as honored guests. Sheppard noticed Amara was sitting right next to Elek. The team looked at each other in utter bewilderment, shrugging as they moved further into the room.
Elek got up from where he was seated and addressed them a whole lot friendlier than he had when they had first met him. "I would like to apologize for our treatment towards you in the past couple of days. After carefully watching your behavior, I came to realize that you couldn't possibly be Ancient. Now sit ... eat, then we'll talk."
Sheppard's suspicion about the man's true intentions grew by the second. He wasn't sure whether to thank him for the food, as he was really hungry, or to just shoot him.
They ate in silence and Elek didn't disturb them until each of them was finished. "I would like to inform you that you are no longer prisoners. But we are still not very comfortable with what we have gathered from you. You have awakened the Wraith." Elek's tone changed from friendly to accusing rather quickly.
Major Sheppard couldn't contain himself any longer, "Gathered? You just let us starve for two whole days and beat one of my team members!" Instinctively Sheppard looked around him, expecting someone to swing something at him, but nothing happened.
Elek gave John such a serious glare that he received it as the swing he had expected earlier. "We have our means to retrieve information. We do not need to share them, especially not with intruders."
Sheppard had heard enough, "Ok, I'll go for that. But, what about the Wraith? You seem to be untouched by them."
"They do not dare to challenge us." Elek snapped back at Sheppard, feeling his anger slip.
"What makes you so special? You are human equals food."
"Enough!" Elek's anger had totally slipped, "You are free to go! For now but do not dare to ever return again! Because next time we will not be as forgiving as we were now."
"I'm still wondering for what reason we were imprisoned in the first place." John waited for an answer but didn't get one, while his team pleaded with him to drop the argument all together. John sighed getting the message and finally looked at Elek, "Can we at least get our stuff back? There's this one item that without it we can't get home."
Elek seemed to relax a little, "You will tell Maur which item it is and he will retrieve it for you." He pointed at the guard who had escorted Sheppard's team out of their cell the first time. Sheppard quickly walked up to him and described what he needed.
Elek faced Sheppard once again, "You shall remain here until Maur brings you the item you requested. After that you will be escorted back to the Stargate."
Sheppard turned back to Elek as soon as Maur had left the room and noticed Amara was standing right behind him. The man bowed to them in a way that could only be interpreted as `Good bye'. Major Sheppard stared at Elek, shooting a quick glance at Amara, who didn't seem to acknowledge anything around her. Elek, on the other hand, gave him a look, which held the middle between recognition and hatred. Sheppard couldn't figure it out and that unnerved him more than anything.
Elek left the room, as did most of his staff, few guards remaining to keep an eye on the team. Sheppard turned back towards his team and looked at McKay, who was looking a whole lot better than the previous day. Rodney didn't acknowledge John looking at him instead he was staring at his wrists. Eventually he looked up, "I know I'm the pessimist here, but doesn't this feel like the `never to return' chat that you gave us the other day?"
Sheppard lowered his voice a notch or two, "Let's just be thankful they are letting us go. Tonight we will be in Atlantis, pretty much not giving a damn about this place. So let's take the hint and leave this place."
"Yeah, but what I'm trying to say is..." But Sheppard cut Rodney off, "I know Rodney, something is not right, let's just pray we are wrong, okay." Rodney gave him a shrug, knowing there was nothing he could say that would change the Major's mind.
At that moment Maur re-entered the chamber, carrying the GDO, which he willingly handed back to the Major.
As they were walking back towards the beautiful beach, Sheppard couldn't believe that two days ago he was hoping this place could possibly be the ideal spot for a well-deserved holiday. But now he was leaving it with a big sign that read, `trespassers will be shot'.
He didn't mind staying away from this place for ever because he wasn't ready to experience first hand how cruel the death was that could have been theirs if Elek hadn't send them back home.
Sheppard couldn't deny though that there was definitely something not right about how Elek had all of a sudden changed from a beheading tradition to just letting intruders get away.
At least he was sure of one thing Amara was staying on the planet and wasn't in any way going to go back to Atlantis with them. They had never settled on anything. She belonged with these mysterious people.
When they had finally arrived at the Stargate, it was Teyla who dialed home while Sheppard entered his code the moment the wormhole connected. He watched how Rodney and Ford were the first to step through, closely followed by Teyla and himself.
But as soon as Teyla had stepped into the event horizon, he could feel the all too familiar pain in his head. `Argh... this can't be happening!' This time it was way worse than the first time, in seconds he was lying flat on the ground, grabbing his head with both hands and screaming out in pain. He could just barely make out the guard named Maur holding the small device.
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Chapter VI: Revelations
Sheppard's mind was slipping further away into unconsciousness only vaguely registering Amara's screaming voice in the distance, "NO! Leave him be!" But he knew no more as darkness overcame him.
Maur and his guards turned as soon as they heard Amara screaming. They were surprised to hear sound coming from her mouth, as she wasn't supposed to speak at all. And yet there she was, screaming, pleading to leave the Ancient intruder alone. Amara didn't realize her mistake until it was too late. She sighed, as she knew that as a result of her carelessness she would have a lot of explaining to do to Elek. She knew she had to find a good and solid reason for being so near to the Stargate at the same time the intruders were leaving and maybe more importantly, why she was able to speak.
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Doctor Elizabeth Weir was standing on the balcony near the control center where she had a clear view on the gate area. As soon as the team came through she ordered Dr. Beckett to report to the gate area as McKay was visibly injured. She needed to know what had happened, seeing Major Sheppard clearly hadn't made it back to Atlantis. She quickly made her way down the stairs, meeting the incoming team, "What happened? Where's Major Sheppard?" Lt. Ford turned from the gate to Weir, "What? He was right behind us. He should have made it through with Teyla."
Beckett soon arrived to take care of Rodney, who welcomed his help with lots of grumbling. After a few minutes he insisted on dragging McKay to the infirmary. Meanwhile Teyla approached Weir, "We must go back."
"No, I could be sending you into a trap." Ford looked at Weir, "Is the MALP still there?" Weir frowned, quickly realizing what the young lieutenant had in mind, "Come on." The trio quickly made their way up to the control area, dialing the planet a second time.
The gate opened with the usual swoosh, while everyone waited nervously for the video feedback to come on screen. As soon as the MALP started transmitting images they looked at the monitor in disbelief.
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Maur was standing near Sheppard who was lying seemingly unconscious on the ground. It looked as if the guard had been dragging him away from the gate the moment it had been locking chevrons into place, preventing the Major from being killed by the swoosh. Amara was standing close by, staring at the Stargate seemingly in horror. As their attention was drawn to the open gate, thinking someone was going to step through it any moment now, they didn't notice the MALP starting to function. But Amara did, and she stared at it. As seemingly nobody was coming, two guards picked up John while Maur grabbed Amara rather savagely by the arm taking off with the gate shutting down behind them.
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Amara's mind was racing, going through different options. She had to come up with something to help John. Damn it! What happened? This wasn't supposed to happen. She realized she hadn't considered the possibility that while she had been trying to convince Elek to release the prisoners, he had discovered she had been in contact with someone else. Amara knew Sheppard was going to pay for something she had done.
The moment she saw the entrance to the main building, she could see Elek waiting there, staring her in anger. Without giving it a second thought he turned to Maur, "Take her to her room and make sure she stays there!" The man nodded and while he escorted Amara to her room he instructed the two other guards to take Sheppard to one of the holding cells.
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Weir waited for Rodney to get out of the infirmary before starting a thorough briefing about what had happened to the team on their recent outing. As soon as they were all seated around the table, Teyla and Ford started telling Weir what had happened back at Toulnya. McKay remained silent as he listened to the part he missed while he was being tortured. When he felt that everything was covered, Rodney spoke up, "What's important is that they didn't like the Ancients. Major Sheppard, having a strong Ancient gene, probably made them believe we are their descendents. But the most important thing is they have a living, breathing Ancient."
"Not a real Ancient but an Ancient invention." Teyla interrupted McKay, "An Ancient creation with Wraith qualities, made for the sole purpose to fool the Wraith and shield the inhabitants from any Wraith ship that would fly past their planet."
Weir's look had turned grim. There had already been too many close calls for Major Sheppard. Moments like these she hated being the one to decide whether to risk a team to rescue him or not doing anything at all. She glanced around at each one them and knew whatever she said they were more than determined to return to the planet whatever the cost. "Didn't Sheppard think that something like this could happen, that she couldn't be trusted?"
"We don't know." Ford replied, and then added, "She met with him only once and there was certainly no reason for her to be near the Stargate."
"She was near the Stargate?" McKay looked up surprised, seeing them nod in reply. Weir called Peter over the radio, requesting the MALP recordings. Minutes later Peter walked into the briefing room, handing the recordings, now on a small disk, to McKay. Rodney immediately put it into his laptop and stared quietly at the images. When finished he looked at his friends, "Okay, that... sort of makes sense."
Weir frowned and looked a little confused at McKay, "What do you mean?"
"Well, think about it, she told Sheppard that she wasn't allowed to interact with others. So, why would she be near the Stargate other then to leave with us? That's the reason why that guard dragged her away from there. She wasn't allowed to leave that planet. She's stuck there."
And even though Rodney knew he was right he knew there was something else, something he couldn't place just yet.
-0-0-0-0
Chapter VII: Waking up... worse.
Sheppard woke up trying to inhale much needed oxygen, he felt as if someone had put something on his face. His body was aching all over while he realized he was hanging by his wrists. As if the aching wasn't enough, his head was suddenly flooded with thoughts and memories, how Maur had been holding that damn device when he had been inches away from returning home.
He tried to look around, but all he could see was darkness and therefore never saw it coming. Something was jabbed on his back, it felt like being hit by a Wraith stunner, only without the unconsciousness.
He tried to but wasn't able to scream while his mind went numb as they took out whatever was jabbed in his back. He began to feel the rope digging itself deeper into his skin and his wrists started to ache. Again he could have never expected what came next, a full blow to his chest, near the already tender spot. Another blow to his head making him swirl around while his head was thrown back.
The lights were turned on but Sheppard was unconscious so he didn't notice much of that revelation. Maur walked towards a bowl, took out a damp cloth and put it on John's face. Instantaneously the Major was awake, struggling to breathe.
John looked around, noticing Maur and another guard in the room. Elek was just walking in and both men stared at each other, a murderous glare visible in their eyes. "Why me?" Sheppard managed to say, before Elek furiously replied, "You tried to corrupt her!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" The Major frowned not quite following where Elek was hinting at.
"You know very well of whom I speak!"
"No, I don't! Why don't you give me a clue?"
"Then why was she with you near the Stargate?"
"Who? Amara? I don't know, maybe she followed us." Sheppard had a pretty good idea what Amara was doing so near the gate but he wasn't going to explain that to an already furious Elek. It wouldn't matter anyway.
Elek paced around the room, his anger rising with every few steps he took, "She is ours, and you had no business with her. She is supposed to communicate with me and only me." Sheppard couldn't control his own anger any longer and spat at Elek, "She was the one who wanted to learn how to speak! I was brought to her room, she was there. I didn't do anything. She was the one..."
Sheppard didn't get the chance to finish his forced explanation as Maur hit him square in the face. This only made him more angrier than he already was. Elek approached Sheppard and gave him another murderous glare, "Fool, I ordered her to see you, but she was never supposed to talk with you."
Sheppard gave Elek a sarcastic grin, feeling Maur had effectively split his upper lip, "I guess you never realized that she doesn't want to stick around here much longer, did you."
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Amara was running as fast as her legs could carry her towards the lower dungeons. She got as far as the door as the guard standing there wouldn't allow her in. All she could do was wait there while hearing Sheppard scream in pain. `What is Elek doing to him?' This was all her fault and she wanted to fix it. She needed to fix it. Amara waited for Elek to step outside. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened and the leader appeared in sight.
Elek wasn't surprised to see Amara in the hallway leading up towards the dungeon where they kept the prisoner, nor was he surprised when she started shouting at him. "Why?" Elek grabbed her by the arm and twisted it a little for good measure, "You do not talk to me!" Amara struggled, freeing herself from Elek's grip, "I talk because I can, because I want to! He did not do anything to me; it was my decision and mine alone."
Elek started pacing around again, just as he had done in the cell, "Who knows what he said to you? Who knows what he offered you in return so you would turn against me, against your people? He must and shall be punished!" Elek started to walk away but Amara didn't let him and stepped in front of him, "Elek! Don't you forget who I am, what I am! Without me this will be yet another forgotten planet."
Elek had officially gone beyond furious as he slapped Amara in the face in a wave of utter fury. He grabbed her by her hair, opened the door to the dungeon and entered dragging a struggling Amara with him. He let her go; dropping her unceremoniously on the floor and in that moment she got a glimpse of Sheppard's face covered in blood. She was shocked seeing him in such a fragile state, hanging from the ceiling with his wrists having to hold his entire body.
"Take a good look!" Elek pulled Amara's head back, so she had no other choice but to look at the broken man in front of her. "Is this what you want to save?"
Amara didn't hesitate and replied with little to no fear in her voice, "At least he is worth saving because he has something you lost long ago."
"And what would that be?" Elek was truly curious why Amara found the man worth saving.
"A soul."
The proverbial steam was leaving Elek's ears and he forced Amara to look at him, turning her head so it could face his, "A weak mind, I have always known it." Elek turned to his guards, "Take her to her room, lock her up and put a guard outside." He turned back to her and finished, "Maybe after a while you will reconsider what you have done." Amara stared at Elek while he was walking away, "I am your creator, and don't you forget that."
Amara was grabbed by her arm and she said loudly, "No, my creator, your ancestor has been dead for a long time. For what he did, I should have killed him myself." Elek stopped only to see Amara walk away with a guard beside her.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Almost 6 hours had passed since McKay, Teyla and Ford had walked through the Stargate without their CO. Ford and Teyla kept on bugging Weir to approve a rescue mission and had almost succeeded. They were aloud to go back if they could come up with a suitable and manageable rescue. Therefore they had locked themselves in the briefing room planning a couple of strategies to rescue Major Sheppard.
Rodney, however, had other things on his mind than helping with a good rescue plan. He had locked himself in his lab trying to figure out the past events. He had just seen Dr. Beckett, who had checked his wrists and had told him to get some rest, which the Doctor knew would have to wait till all was resolved and the Major was home safe.
McKay tried to remember everything he had heard or seen that could be useful in a rescue mission, but there was nothing in his mind that the others didn't already know.
He was missing something and he knew it. Rodney let his head resting on his hands, trying to find a moment of peace. He drifted off into what seemed like a light sleep. He soon found himself back in that room where he had been hanging down by his wrists. Amara was there, looking beautiful as ever and staring sadly at him, "I do not like this, but I must do it."
McKay asked, "Why?"
Then Amara started to pace around, "I know you are not Ancient. Know this: the Ancients believed in life. They believed that everything that has a soul should have the right to live. The Toulnyans never did, they took advantage of the ancestors, and when the time came they betrayed them. The ancestors had to leave, they had other enemies to deal with, other battles, maybe they thought that they could find the answer to their problems elsewhere. I was left behind..."
McKay awoke with a start as his head had slipped off his hands and had bumped into his desk. For a moment he was disorientated, strongly believing he was back at Toulnya. He looked around, touching his forehead lightly and wincing as he felt a small lump forming on his forehead.
He sighed, thinking about his dream but there was nothing there that could help them form a rescue mission. He decided he might be needing his rest after all and walked out of his lab and off to his quarters.
-0-0-0
Chapter VIII: Amara's Plan
Amara had spent the last couple of hours reflecting on her situation inside her room. She knew she had been created to protect, but was a society like this worth such protection?
For the first time she realized that without her the planet would be at the mercy of the Wraith. There were a lot of innocent people; of which most had now forgotten her story and saw her more like a goddess than anything else.
The current society had lost much of what it once was. They were advanced to some level of technology. The people had worked hard for their precious weapon but after she had been finished, progression had stopped and their level of technology had remained the same ever since.
At some point the population had grown so large, that some groups wanted to separate themselves from the main state. But the leader during that time had known exactly how to play the people. He had murdered the leaders of those groups, told them that it would be much worse with the Wraith roaming around and threatened to take Amara away to protect just a few.
She refused to have the deaths of so many on her conscience. Maybe if she left, Elek would come to his senses and let her protect them as well as the city of the ancestors.
She could help Elek find the original writings of the experiments regarding her creation, so there could be more like her. Or better yet find a way to recreate her abilities in something else than a human. She knew that had been the original intentions of the Ancients, as soon as they recognized she wasn't an empty shell, they wouldn't want to use her.
But dwelling on the past wasn't going to help her now, and she knew something had to be done pretty soon.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
McKay walked slowly towards his quarters. Once there he stumbled into his bed and closed his eyes. Falling asleep pretty quickly he once again started dreaming about Amara. The dream was the same as before, but this time Elek and Maur were in the room with her.
Then he heard Amara's voice in his head just as before, "I was left behind..."
Startled Rodney awoke, for the first time realizing something important. He got up quickly and made it out of his quarters in record time. He sprinted down the hallways towards the briefing room, feeling pretty stupid for not picking it up earlier.
As he walked into the briefing room Dr. Weir, Lt. Ford and Teyla were there. He barely excused himself for the interruption and practically demanded to see the MALP's recordings.
Weir directed him towards the computer standing on the table and without further explanation he sat down and started going through the recordings finding that which he had overlooked in the first place. Elizabeth had gotten up and had positioned herself behind the frantic scientist. "Rodney, what's going on here?"
McKay didn't even looked up when he replied, "I knew something was off about these recordings, now I know what it is."
Weir, Ford and Teyla waited for more to come as they knew Rodney always had long explanations about small things but not this time apparently as he remained silent. "Care to share what you discovered then?"
"In a moment." McKay replayed the recordings for a grand total of 5 more times before he finally spoke again, "Get Carson in here!"
Within minutes Dr. Beckett arrived in the briefing room. "What is it?" McKay signaled him to come closer and turned the computer so Carson could look at the recordings. Carson watched quietly as the video was played again just for him to see. When it was finished McKay asked him what he had seen.
"Major Sheppard getting dragged away from the Stargate and that woman staring at the camera." Rodney looked glum "You don't hear anything?" Carson frowned and took the computer to replay the recordings.
"What's going on?" Ford looked at McKay, hoping he was finally going to fill them on what he had discovered.
But before McKay could answer, Carson's mouth dropped and he stared at the screen in wonder, "Wait, there's something else... there's a voice."
"I knew it!" McKay could barely control himself, "She's saying something, isn't she?" Carson looked closer to the screen; as if by doing so he could pick up better whatever she was saying, "Please ... something."
"Return." McKay finished, "Please return."
Teyla and Weir walked towards the computer and stared at the video. Teyla was the first to speak up, "I can't hear anything." Then Weir added, "Neither can I."
McKay quickly answered their unspoken question, "That's because neither of you have the Ancient gene. She's telling us to return. I bet she can help us get Major Sheppard back." Ford nodded but he had his doubts as he interjected, "How do we know this is not a trap?"
"Because I keep dreaming about the moment I saw her in my head and she keeps on reminding me that she was left behind. She told me that the dispute between the people of Toulnya and the Ancients began when she was a little girl. The Toulnyan leader killed the chief Ancient scientist. Ever since then, all she wanted was a way off the planet. When we arrived she realized her opportunity to finally escape had come."
There was a brief silence. Weir was the first one to speak up, "Are you sure about this Rodney?"
"Of course not, but what other choices do we have? It's clear that she doesn't want to stay there." Everyone stared at McKay, not all too convinced. "I know this could work. We just need to take a Jumper and once there... well I know this is going to work. She is going to help us, believe me, she will."
The group fell silent once again before Weir looked up at them and quickly ordered Lieutenant Ford to gather what they needed. "You're set to leave in one hour."
They quickly walked out of the room, without a saying another word. They all knew what they were getting into, they knew the risks involved and everyone knew it was worth it as long as they could get their CO back.
-0-0-0
Chapter IX: Leading the Way
Major Sheppard awoke only to find that he was still hanging from the ceiling. If he didn't find a way to escape soon, Elek would have his head on a platter. He looked around but couldn't see much, there were no windows and the lights were turned off. He started to feel an incredible pain in his left shoulder.
He knew that if Maur gave him a bad time today, the shoulder could dislocate. He already had the pleasure of a dislocated shoulder once from the time he had been a teenager and he sure as hell didn't want to have that happening again.
John tried to shield his eyes as the door was suddenly opened up and bright light filled the room. He could barely distinguish a figure walking into the room. The person turned towards the ring on the wall where the rope holding him up had been tide up. The figure loosened the rope and as a result John fell to the ground, barely able to move. The person closed in on him and kneeled next to his side. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the light he could see Amara stare back at him. She was holding a bowl of water which she gently put to his lips. John was grateful to finally have something cool running through his mouth and down his throat. He drank the water but not all at once; making sure he didn't get sick, while staring at Amara. "I need to know... What do you want? Or at least what do you want when you decide to break the biggest law against you?"
She looked grim and a bit ashamed of the mess she had caused, "You won't understand."
John shifted so that he could sit next to Amara, "Try me."
"I am a thing, Major Sheppard. Here I have no more use than to be awakened every few thousand years and make the Wraith believe that this is an inhospitable planet. That is my life, if Elek's ancestors hadn't killed the Ancient scientist, the Ancients would have found a way to place my abilities in something else. Something not human, so that nothing like this could ever have happened."
For the first time since Sheppard had met Amara he pitied her, she was being used for other people's sake. If he had been in her shoes he knew he wouldn't have lasted long, knowing your only purpose in life is to do some tricks every few thousand years eluding an enemy you have never seen before. And then this man who has the distinctive gene of the Ancients comes to your planet, of course your curiosity will rear its head.
Sheppard started prodding his face, feeling the dried blood that had taken residence all over it. The cut on his upper lip wasn't that deep, but the one he had just found behind his hairline of his forehead was going to leave a pretty nice scar. At least he wouldn't be able to see it once it was healed, if it would ever heal properly.
Noticing John was prodding his face and feeling all that dried blood Amara got up and walked towards the small table in one of the corners, gathering water and a cloth. She returned to start cleaning his face, while he stayed still and in perfect silence.
"There was another like me on my team." John silently whispered, not wanting to break the silence of the moment, "Why did you pick me?"
Amara froze in her cleaning for a split second and seemed to need the time to think about his question. Why had she chosen him? Did she even know the real answer? Then as she drenched the cloth once more, she answered, "You are the one with the strongest gene and..." Amara fell silent. Never before had she talked about herself with others. John stared at her, "And?" She looked back at him.
"I knew the Ancient scientist as he was my caretaker while he was here. He was like a father to me and when I saw you ... to me it felt like having him back. I cannot understand why after so many years I still remember his presence."
But before she could say anything else, a small piece of paper was slipped underneath the closed door. Amara looked at it and quickly got up from where she was seated next to John, "That's my warning, I have to go."
Amara put the bowl back on the table and hurried to the door where she turned back at him, "I am going to help you, I promise."
Amara gave him a small reassuring smile before disappearing through the open door and out of the dungeon.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Amara quickly walked back to her room, often peeking around corners and long hallways making sure she wasn't seen or followed. As she entered her room she gratefully thanked Leila, her helper and friendly guardian.
As she closed her door she could hear a light shuffling behind her. She turned around at one, gasping as she saw Elek sitting on her bed, a murderous expression on his face. Amara was speechless. Elek raised himself slowly from the bed and walked over towards Amara.
In a futile attempt she started to backpedal until she bumped into someone. She turned around only to see Maur's sneering face. Elek had closed in on her and grabbed her by her throat, holding her so tight she could barely breathe, "Put her in her stasis chamber!"
"What?" Amara's eyes widened in fear. "No!" The guards grabbed her arms and started dragging her to the room she had learned to hate. "NO!" She struggled and screamed but to no avail as the guards were a lot stronger than she would ever be, and were determined on locking her up according to Elek's orders. As they walked out the door, Amara saw her aid and companion, Leila being carried away. Dead. Seeing there was absolutely no escape this time she aloud herself to be dragged away, knowing she could possibly help the Major better this way. The sight of his bloodied face was now imprinted in her mind and she wouldn't give up without a fight, even if that meant spending some time in the dreaded stasis chamber.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
As soon as the Toulnyan Stargate activated, there were guards deployed to see who dared to venture onto their planet this time. They waited, weapons drawn and ready to arrest any who would dare to come through but none came as the gate shut down.
They never saw the Puddle Jumper exiting the event-horizon and continue his flight over the planet. McKay had cloaked the little ship before entering the event-horizon to prevent any early warnings and by doing so elevating their chances of getting the Major back. Ford was sitting next to McKay, while Teyla and Sgt. Stackhouse where in the back getting ready.
The bluish screen came up in front of the Jumper as McKay was searching for the best place to land. Rodney landed the Jumper in a clearing near the beach and once on the ground they started gearing up.
McKay opened the rear hatch of the Jumper and turned to the rest of the team, "I want to make this clear, that in case they activate that damn device, do not let me give away our position. Is that clear?" McKay heard a general reply of clear, "Shoot me or stun me but I don't want to end up in Elek's prison again, loosing all hope of rescuing the Major."
The others nodded while picking up their stuff and walking out of the Jumper; Ford in the lead. "McKay secure the Jumper and don't forget the life signs detector, Teyla be alert, Stackhouse watch our six, let's move people!"
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Amara woke up inside the stasis chamber, hoping it was just a dream. She tried to move but it was useless, they had her tide up. She knew screaming wouldn't do any good and as she did a quick headcount of the guards surrounding her she realized she was now effectively a prisoner. She had pushed Elek too far and as a result he didn't trust her any longer.
Suddenly a forth guard appeared in the room and began speaking in hushed voices with the others. The conversation was quickly over and most of them left, leaving only one guard with Amara.
She had heard all she needed to hear. The Stargate had been activated, and there was a chance that the Ancient intruders had returned. Amara knew that she needed to act as quickly as she was able to.
-0-0-0-0-0
Major Sheppard started to feel worn out after the trials of the past couple of days. He was grateful Amara had cut him loose from the ceiling. He knew he had only a couple of hours to relax his shoulders, which were by now really sore. He had moved a bit, just enough to rest his body against the wall, and had closed his eyes for a moment. He was almost off for a good sleep, albeit uncomfortable, when he heard the door being opened.
Sheppard opened his eyes, hoping to awake from a nasty nightmare, only to find himself looking at one very pissed off Maur. The man and one of his loyal guards roughly grabbed John and had him hanging from the ceiling in no time.
John frowned as he noticed Maur dropping a wooden stick with three very long and very sharp-looking metal spikes on the table. No doubt it was going to be used in the daily beating ritual which wasn't all that good.
At that very moment Elek entered the room. Sheppard gave him his best glare. "No beheadings today?"
Slowly Elek approached Sheppard and replied with a mischievous grin plastered on his grin, "My dear Sheppard, beheading is the main event."
Elek was now standing so close to him that he couldn't let the opportunity slip and before anyone could react properly, he had his legs around the man's neck, strangling him with all the might he had still left in his body.
Maur immediately ran toward his leader, stopping just behind Sheppard hitting him twice in the kidney area. John released his captor, but not before he managed to kick Elek square on the nose, effectively breaking it.
Elek's face was an instant mess and Maur took his anger out on Sheppard's torso. He hit John twice in the back and one full blow to the stomach, knocking the wind straight out of him.
John gasped for air, knowing that all had gone to hell the moment he had decided to attack Elek. The pressure on his already weak body had been under more strain when he had attacked his captor, and the retribution received for doing exactly that was finally taken its toll on his body, his left shoulder was on fire. He knew it had been knocked out of place the moment Maur had started hitting him.
Even with the pain raging heavily through his body, John was conscious enough to watch Maur walk toward the table and pick up the spiked stick. Underneath the bloody mess that was now Elek's face he noticed the man smirking. John Sheppard knew that his little hell was about to freeze over. He was going to be a dead man soon.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The rescue team was walking near the main trail, but close enough to the big trees to be able to take cover every few meters. Ford ordered the team to stop and take cover as he had seen some movement behind them.
McKay was the first one to see it, an orb flying near them. They immediately recognized it as a Wraith probe. "Okay, now we're doomed!" McKay mumbled to himself while Teyla took another look at the probe. "Why now? Why so fast?" McKay turned to face her, "This planet has never been culled by the Wraith thanks to the wonderful being called Amara. What do you think the Wraith do when they find a place they'd probably been before but tasted the bitterness of defeat? You know they don't just give up. They continue scanning the area in hopes to one day return and cull without any interruption."
As they watched the orb fly away, Ford ordered them to move on. But before they had the chance to move, Rodney noticed more guards near the path. Rodney just saw it coming when the Toulnyan guards started to point at the orb, thinking it was Ancient they turned the device on. He quickly put his hands over his mouth, willing himself to stay as quiet as possible. Teyla began to fear that he might not be able to hold it much longer as she saw the Doctor loose his concentration. The moment he dropped to the ground and grabbed his head, she jumped on top of him covering his mouth with her hands and holding his body as still as possible.
It was like watching a wrestling match, waiting on who was going to win. And as suddenly as it had started the pain stopped. Rodney opened his eyes only to see Teyla on top of him. He quickly moved from under her, feeling slightly embarrassed he glanced at Teyla and whispered a quick thank you. She gave him a nod, while he was trying to get the blush of his face and to get his body and mind to co-operate again.
Ford moved toward McKay, "You feeling okay to move?" McKay nodded and they were back on their way. Rodney took the life signs detector out just in case. They hadn't walked more than a couple of meters when McKay abruptly stopped, his eyes glazing over for a second. The team stared at him confused about what was happening to him. It took McKay only a few seconds before snapping out of it, "I know where to go." Ford moved towards before he could move away too far from the team. "What do you mean?"
"She's telling me where to go. Come on!" McKay started moving towards the main building. Seeing he was not taking the trouble to cover his approach, Teyla and Stackhouse stopped him, giving Ford some time to catch up with them, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Okay, I want you to trust me and follow me. If we don't move now we might not get another chance, Amara is waiting for us."
Somehow hearing Amara's name convinced the rest of the team to follow McKay. They moved through the vegetation, until they reached the entrance to the main building. McKay stopped for a moment unsure of where to go to next. Amara was definitely leading them to her and she was the only one, besides Elek and his guards, who knew where Major Sheppard was.
Then the voice was back and while Rodney wasn't sure he followed Amara's instructions to a T. The rest of the team walked behind Rodney, uncertain and confused by the fact they were walking inside the enemy's lair, only to find it completely deserted. McKay felt like he was walking in a big maze, and having someone pointing the way out for him.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Amara gave Rodney one last warning about the guard that was still in place in her cell before leaving his head and concentrating on more urgent matters, like freeing herself somehow. But she also knew she had to somehow make it easy for the Atlanteans and therefore an idea popped into her head. When the idea had completely formed she could sense Rodney McKay standing on the other side of the door.
The guard looked around confused as the room started to swirl. He jumped back as in front of him a blurry projection of Amara appeared. "You are not real."
The projection rested a hand on the stasis chamber, "Maybe she is the one who is not real."
The guard backpedaled to the door suddenly fearing the being that was standing before him; as a result he didn't see the door opening and was hit over the head with the butt of Ford's P90.
The room immediately stopped swirling around; coming to a full and complete stop the moment Amara opened her eyes.
-0-0-0-0
Chapter X: The Wounds and the wounded.
McKay walked toward the stasis chamber and opened it. He asked Teyla for her knife to use to cut the ropes holding Amara in place. Once the bonds were cut, Amara sat up and looked at the team, "We must move now! I do not think Major Sheppard will be allowed to live past this day."
"Ok, but if I see any sign of shadow play, I won't hesitate to shoot you." Ford pointed his weapon at the woman for good measure.
Amara was taken aback by Ford, whose comment reminded her that this was all her fault, "I understand, now if you see things around you, ignore them."
The team had no idea of what she was talking about, but didn't hesitate to follow her when she started to walk away.
McKay started thinking it seemed rather strange that she hadn't mentioned anything about the Wraith being near. `She must know, how else had she been able to evade a Wraith culling.' It was bugging him so much he almost tripped over his own feet.
They went past the main chamber into some darker hallways, Ford and Stackhouse with their guns at the ready. Suddenly Amara stopped, and told the team to stay put. Teyla and McKay were the first to see it; there were shadows around them. They looked almost Wraith, but the shadows moved, passed in front of two guards and led them to the end of the hallway.
Then they heard two soft thuds, indicating the two guards had been taken out. Amara signaled them to move on, and so they followed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
John Sheppard hung limply from the ceiling, his shirt had been removed and his chest and back were covered in bloody gashes and deep punctures. He was currently floating between consciousness and blissful unconsciousness. All he was waiting for was that killer blow he knew would come any moment now.
There was no way he could release himself from there, he doubted Amara was going to try to make a move of this magnitude and even if the team managed to come back, they would probably be too late.
Sheppard saw Maur taking a little break, the man was obviously savoring the pain he was inflicting on his prisoner. He might not be much of a talker but John was pretty sure that the man understood him very well.
Most of John's wounds were caused by the Major's own sarcastic comments. Me and my big mouth! John thought for a moment, being unable to control himself had always caused him many problems, but never like on this scale.
John wasn't paying any attention any longer to the pain in his body, as by now there wasn't a specific place where the pain wasn't coming from. His whole body was on fire, and without some miracle he would be dead by the end of the day.
Maur took a sip of water, while Elek was sitting on a chair next to the table, his face now very red and a nasty bruise forming where Sheppard had managed to kick him. Maur grabbed the spiked stick again and walked towards Elek. He whispered something to Maur, and as Maur smirked John just knew it wasn't a good sign to see Elek having an amused expression.
Maybe this was the moment he had been dreading the moment they had started their torturing. Sheppard grabbed the rope holding him up with his good arm which would give him some movement if need be. If the next blow was a lethal one, maybe he could move enough to make it non-lethal.
Maur moved around as if studying the prisoner, while Elek was still having that amused expression on his broken face, which made John wish he could just shoot the bastard. Elek in return, just stared at Sheppard, "You know Major, here in Toulnya we have a way to break our prisoners. It has never ceased to amaze me how by attacking this, men are suddenly so ready to face death."
John couldn't think of anything to say in return; he was just too tired. Elek got up and positioned himself next to Maur, "Once we attack their manhood, men just crumble."
Sheppard's eyes widened in fear. It didn't need much thinking to know where Elek was going with this. John started to move, trying to get the rope to release him or at least give him the opportunity to evade the next hit. But everything he tried was in vain as he saw the spikes in Maur's hand move in his direction, aimed right at his groin. John's mind was screaming, `Not that! Anything but that!' He gathered all his strength and the moment the spikes were going to hit him, he swung himself aside.
Sheppard felt the spikes hit him nonetheless, but was happy at the same time that they had missed his private area. Instead the spikes had jammed in his thigh. John knew that wasn't good either, but for all he knew better there than someplace else. Maur seeing that the Major had prevented the original hit, dug the spikes deeper into John's thigh causing him more agony.
The wound started to bleed madly as Maur moved the stick with the spikes still inside John's thigh. Sheppard screamed in pain, letting his agony and anger finally take control. He was ready to give up all hope, as he knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself again if they tried this once more. The pain was now too unbearable and he happily slipped into peaceful darkness.
Maur took out the spikes and was about to hit John again with it, when the door was thrown open.
John's blood soon mixed with Maur's when Lt. Ford shot him. Maur's dead body fell to the floor just as Sgt. Stackhouse entered the room and pointed his gun at Elek. McKay and Teyla followed, going straight for Sheppard. "Oh my God!" was the only thing Rodney was able to say once he got a good look at John, "Major Sheppard!" Teyla tried to wake him while Rodney checked for a pulse. He found it and as could be expected it was very weak, "John, can you hear me?"
John opened his eyes and a weak smile appeared, "I've never been more happy to see you McKay." Rodney was looking for a way to cut the ropes, while he replied, "I know."
Teyla in the meantime had walked towards the corner where the rope was tide up and had untied it. McKay tried to hold Sheppard as the rope loosened its hold, but the Major was a little heavier than Rodney had hoped and he fell to the floor. Ford approached McKay and looked at his CO. "Major, we are ready to take you home!"
McKay did a quick check on John's condition now that he wasn't hanging from the ceiling any longer and noticed that there was something wrong with John's left shoulder. `That's going to hurt.' Going further over the Major's body he stopped short at the look of the Major's leg. "Lieutenant, I need your help here!"
Ford went down on his knees next to his CO and gave McKay a concerned look, Rodney in turn pointed at the wound in John's leg, "They may have hit the artery, you have to put a tourniquet to stop the bleeding." Ford nodded and started working on the tourniquet when Amara entered the room.
She had feared they were going to be too late, but in reality she didn't want to face Elek. So in the end she had just dismissed those feelings and had walked into the room anyway. Elek looked livid. "How could you? You have betrayed your people!"
Now it was Amara's turn to look livid, "No, I have not! I just decided I was not going to allow anybody to use me anymore."
"You are condemning this planet to death!"
"I am not as cold blooded as you think I am. But I want you to think for a while what you would do when the Wraith arrive and I am not around to protect you."
Major Sheppard awoke when he felt the sharp pain that caused the tourniquet; he first looked around and then stared at McKay, "My shoulder..."
"I know Major that needs to be put back in place." Rodney knew that John was in great pain, but he did not expect John's next request. "Pull it!" Rodney stared at the Major and replied, "No, you should wait"
"I might be able to use it" Rodney shook his head, "Carson might do a better job." Then Sheppard screamed, "Pull it!"
"Fine!" McKay shouted back at the Major, causing everyone to stare at him as he stood up and took Major Sheppard's arm. Ford held Sheppard to the floor, knowing of what was ahead.
"On three?" John glanced at McKay who nodded vaguely.
Then Rodney started counting, "One."
"Two" John followed.
"Three!" McKay pulled John's arm upward until he heard a crack. The Major screamed in pain, while Rodney checked if his shoulder had indeed been set back into place, "I think its set." But he wasn't entirely sure about that, knowing he would have to answer to Beckett if he had caused more trouble.
In the meantime Sgt. Stackhouse had bound Elek's hands. Seeing the Sergeant to this, Ford added a little something of his own doing as he got up to attach the man with his wrists to the rope that had previously been used to hang the Major from the ceiling.
Sgt. Stackhouse followed in pulling the rope, causing Elek to hang from the ceiling with his toes barely touching the floor. Lt. Ford glared at Elek, "I hope you enjoy this as much as he did!"
Ford moved back towards the Major, who by now looked more alert but still very pale. It was a sure thing that he had lost a lot of blood and was going to be off his feet for quite some time.
"You'll never get out of here alive!" Elek snapped.
"We'll see!" Ford glanced from McKay to his CO. "We'll see!"
McKay looked at the state Major Sheppard was in and noticed he was getting paler with each passing minute. "Can you stand?"
"Not sure but let's try anyway, shall we." Rodney and Teyla helped John get up. He winced a couple of times, but once he was on his good leg he was able to hold on to his teammates.
With Ford in the lead, the team left the room, with Elek's voice shouting in the back, "Amara! You will regret this!"
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Chapter XI: Close to home, but not yet.
The way back was quite uneventful, reminding them of their first walk down that same path. Once outside they quickly noticed that it had started raining really hard. Sheppard was trying his very best to stay conscious but he felt it was a loosing battle as he was fading faster than he would have liked to.
Ford ordered the team to head back to the jumper when out of nowhere two Wraith darts passed by the town and started shooting, obliterating the buildings of the city. The group separated just in time, evading a hit from the darts. Rubble from the explosion was falling over McKay's head as he heard someone call out for him. "McKay, Teyla, you guys ok?" Rodney lifted his head and quickly looked around to find John and Teyla okay while Amara was standing a bit ahead of them, looking spaced out but fine. "We're all fine; we'll meet you back at the jumper."
"Okay, meet you there!"
McKay started walking again but immediately noticed that Major Sheppard was getting heavier to carry and the man's movements were becoming increasingly weaker. They stopped and the scientist gave the Major a once over, "John, are you ok? Can you go on?" John's voice was barely above a whisper as he glanced up at his friend and answered his question, "Yes."
The darts made another pass, this time however they were further in town. Suddenly McKay heard Elek's voice behind them, shouting orders at his guards. Amara, who up until now had been quiet, suddenly turned around, "Tell your friend to pick us up at the gate."
"Why?"
"It will be easier for us to walk to the gate." McKay didn't second guess what Amara was saying and kept on walking, following the woman to the gate, letting Ford know where to pick them up. John was giving all his remaining energy to be able to leave this planet, but suddenly something was seriously off as he started to feel as if the ground beneath him was disappearing.
He fought the feeling. He knew he was slipping fast and he knew he couldn't hold on much longer. `One more step', it was his personal mantra, which was all he could think off at that very moment, but unfortunately for him he knew no more as he felt his legs give away and turn into Jell-O.
Teyla was the first to notice and she immediately stopped, "Major Sheppard?" McKay did the same as the Major had all of a sudden become very heavy to carry. They were near the Stargate, but not near enough to go through. Rodney and Teyla placed John gently on the ground. McKay gave the wound on John's thigh another look. "He has lost too much blood." He was more talking to himself then at Teyla or anybody else for that matter. He looked at Amara and shouted at her over the rain, "Heal him!" All Amara did in response was frown, "What do you mean?"
"The Ancients had the ability to heal. I'm sure you have it!"
"I do not have such an ability!"
"What do you mean you don't have it? You're an Ancient!" McKay's frustration of being helpless was starting to come trough in his voice.
Amara closed in toward Rodney and brought herself to his level so she didn't have to shout at him. "In order to give me Wraith qualities, they had to drop a few abilities. Unlike what you may think, I am not perfect!"
"I can see that!" Rodney replied, anger now replacing the frustration. He was starting to get seriously tired of her games.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She looked back at him, eyes wide with surprise and a hint of anger.
"The Wraith are attacking the planet you were meant to protect, and here you are not doing anything!"
Amara turned away from McKay and started moving again without giving him a second glance, "We must leave!"
But before they could move properly the gate activated and five guards and one male Wraith stepped through the event-horizon, blocking their way out. "Great! That's just great!" McKay said, glancing at Amara, "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" All she did was giving him a pointed look. "You knew the Wraith were coming, and you didn't do anything to stop it... you must do it, whatever it is that you do."
"No! We can still leave. Come on!" Amara turned around and continued her way towards the now guarded Gate. McKay went after her, not to follow her but to stop her from running straight into the waiting Wraith, "If you don't do it, no one will leave. They are controlling the Stargate."
Amara started walking away, still towards the Stargate. McKay started to think she was being careless on purpose. `What is she doing? Is she suicidal?' Before she could expose herself and the rest of them in the process he got up and pulled her down to the ground in attempt to hide themselves from the waiting party at the Gate. "What the hell are you doing?"
"We must leave!" She was looking straight at Rodney now, almost pleading to continue for the Gate.
It was right that moment that the two darts made another pass, in order to start beaming up people. McKay turned to Amara more urgently this time, as it wasn't only the lives of the people on the planet but also their lives who were at stake now. "You have to do it!"
"No, I do not!"
McKay turned as he heard Teyla scream and quickly grabbed Amara by the arm to return to where Teyla and the Major were hiding, only to find Elek and his guards standing at their sides. McKay could hear the darts fly by dangerously close now and he gave Amara, who had once again turned very quiet, another glare. He knew that if the Wraith activated the beam, they would have nowhere to run.
The darts were now visible while Elek, seemingly unaware of the danger closing in on them, closed in on Amara, "Amara, I will make sure you never get out of your stasis chamber ... ever again! And as for him," Elek pointed at Major Sheppard, "I will hang his rotten body next to your chamber, so you can see him until he becomes nothing more but dust! That way you will remember what you have done!"
It really unnerved Rodney that Amara hadn't said a word or that she was in any way fighting back against Elek. He was truly afraid the darts were coming right at them and there was no way they could escape without leaving someone behind.
The beam was upon them and as it was passing by Rodney shut his eyes, expecting that when he opened them he would be inside the Wraith ship. Instead he heard Amara whisper, "Good bye." The beam passed by and McKay opened his eyes only to discover that the only ones taken were Elek and his guards.
McKay glanced to his side where Amara was looking very pale, but other than that she wasn't showing any signs of weakness. "What just happened?" McKay heard Teyla ask, but Rodney already knew the answer.
Rodney's radio came to life, scaring the living daylights out of him. It was Lt. Ford, wondering about their whereabouts. "We're near the Gate, but that is currently out of bounds, six Wraiths just came through."
"Are you at a safe distance?"
"Yes."
"Ok, stay put, we're going to try to clear it for you." McKay checked on Sheppard, he was still alive but unresponsive. Teyla adjusted the tourniquet on the Major's thigh while Rodney checked on the shoulder. It was ok, but probably needed another good pull. For now Carson would have to deal with it. McKay looked around, a nasty chill was surrounding them, the air had become cold and the rain only made it worse. McKay began to shiver, as he didn't have much protection, as he gave his jacket to John.
Suddenly he realized Amara was missing. He looked at Teyla and told her to stay with Sheppard. McKay got up and started walking towards the Stargate. He was being really careful, as he didn't want the patrolling Wraith to see him. He quite easily caught up with Amara, who was almost at the gate. But before Rodney could say anything the jumper passed by and started shooting at the Wraith. In a matter of seconds they were dead but because of the shooting Amara had to get out of her cover and was now completely exposed. The guards were gone, until McKay realized he only counted five bodies lying on the path next to the gate. `Five?'
McKay realized too late, that the leader Wraith was missing. Then out of nowhere the missing Wraith appeared behind Amara. McKay was paralyzed. The only thing his brains allowed him to do that very moment was scream, which he did with all his might. "AMARA!"
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Chapter XII: Life's Purpose
Amara turned to McKay, as she heard him scream out her name. His look was one of pure terror and when she turned to where his gaze was pointed at she inhaled sharply. The only surviving Wraith was near; his right hand opened wide, closing in so fast that Amara had no time to react.
She was slammed against a nearby tree when the creature hit her in the chest, his claws digging deep into her skin. McKay heard Amara scream and the only thought crossing his otherwise rational mind was that they were doomed; they were really doomed.
In her mind, Amara could feel the struggle her body was putting up against the monster holding her. At first the Wraith gave her a nasty smile, as if he knew whom he was killing. But then his expression changed and he seemed confused. Amara's body shook violently, as she first grabbed the creature's arm, and then its head.
McKay couldn't believe his eyes. Amara had grabbed the Wraith's head and the Wraith having the perfect opportunity to kill her suddenly seemed frozen mid-action before collapsing to the ground ... dead. The Wraith darts made another pass and he involuntarily ducked.
Amara could still feel the mouth like opening of the Wraith's hand on her chest. Blood was seeping from the puncture wounds the Wraith had left on her chest while the pain was almost unbearable. The front of her dress was all red, covered in blood. Rodney saw her shaking badly, knowing she was clearly in shock. Amara started to walk away from the dead Wraith, but stumbled and fell to the ground.
McKay ran toward Amara, grabbed her by her shoulders and helped her stand up. "Amara, you ok? Can you hear me?"
For the first time in her long life Amara was feeling weak. Her body was shaking wildly. She could see McKay standing next to her, but she couldn't for the life of it hear what he was saying.
McKay could see it in her eyes, she wasn't aware of her surroundings, she was just shaking. Rodney tried to make her walk, so they could go back to Teyla and the Major, but Amara suddenly seemed to have other plans as she pushed Rodney away. Her push had him totally off guard and he fell backwards to the ground.
In her mind she could only see one thing, she couldn't delay it any further, it was her duty and hers alone.
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Ford was staring at the jumper's bluish screen. He could see where the rest of his team was, but the nearby darts made it impossible to land. That's when he heard it.
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McKay had been startled when Amara had pushed him away. He quickly got up, only to see Amara kneeling on the ground, grabbing her head in pain. Then she bent down, her head touching the dirt.
Suddenly a powerful sound was heard, as if a big explosion had just occurred. McKay turned around and started staring at Amara. Out of nowhere a wave of dust hit him, a weird dust, more like a cloud. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.
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Lt. Ford felt as if a nuclear explosion had just happened. He could see the cloud of dust expand at an unnatural speed and quickly ordered Sgt. Stackhouse to fly away from the planet and into space. The cloud was right behind the Puddle Jumper and it was catching up fast. When it finally hit them, nothing happened but Ford saw one of the Wraith darts spinning out of control.
Sgt. Stackhouse was giving all his might to get off the planet. The Jumper didn't show any signs of damage, but they couldn't push their luck. Once in space, he cloaked the Jumper, only to come across two Hive ships. Ford stared at all the different ships around them, and then looked back at the planet. It was now completely covered in dust. A dust made to destroy any Wraith technology.
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McKay couldn't see anything around him. He heard his radio but he couldn't understand what was being said. Rodney had flattened himself on the ground the moment the dust had appeared and with the rain and everything that was happening around him, he could say for sure that he was completely disorientated.
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Ford and Stackhouse saw the Wraith Hive ships moving, one of them started to move away while the other closed in on the planet. Then from the other side of the planet Ford noticed a bunch of Ancient drones, moving in a straight line, going directly towards the closest Hive ship.
The sight was impressive as the drones started to attack all the darts around the main ship. When they finally hit the Hive Ship, they entered from one side while the explosion burst out on the other side. Soon enough the ship was falling apart. The remaining drones started to approach the second ship, but before it was hit the ship went into hyperspace, choosing retreat instead of defeat.
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For Rodney McKay seeing the cloud of dust going away was the weirdest sensation he had ever felt. For some reason, it was like seeing an explosion in reverse. Once everything was settled, he could hear Teyla's panicked voice over the radio, "Dr. McKay, we need to return Major Sheppard to Atlantis! I can barely feel his pulse." McKay ran as fast as he could back to Teyla. Once he got there he checked on John, his pulse was indeed very weak and the man himself was still unresponsive. Rodney activated his radio and shouted, hoping Ford could hear him, "Lt. Ford, we need you now!"
"We're on our way." McKay sighed as he heard the familiar voice of Ford replying, thanking the Gods he was still in one piece as well.
Rodney and Teyla both carried Sheppard towards the Stargate. Once there, Rodney could see the Jumper in the distance. He also noticed Amara standing next to the Gate. Her gaze was empty and glazed over. Once the Jumper landed, Ford and Stackhouse helped moving the Major inside the ship. McKay turned around and walked over to Amara's side. He called her name a couple of times, afraid of what she might do if he touched her. Her dress was covered in blood and Rodney had a pretty good idea that the bleeding hadn't stopped yet.
Rodney placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, which seemed to help a little as she snapped out of her trance. Her gaze fell on Rodney and once she saw him, her eyes rolled back and Amara fell into oblivion.
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Chapter XIII: Returning to Normal.
With everyone on board, they could finally return home, possibly without having to come back to this planet ever again. McKay had carried Amara to the jumper and once the wormhole to Atlantis had been established he had immediately requested a medical team.
In no time they were home and in the jumper bay, where Dr. Weir and Dr. Beckett were ready to receive the team. The medical team went to work as soon as the Jumper's rear hatch opened. Both Elizabeth and Carson were a little taken aback when seeing in what state John was really in. Carson immediately started to work on his patients. A quick check up later he already ordered the wounded to be moved to the infirmary.
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The rest of the team had been forced to wait just outside the infirmary for hours on end, hoping to get some news, whether it be good or bad, about Major Sheppard's condition. By the time Carson finally walked out of the infirmary, everyone immediately started talking at the same time, asking him al sorts of questions all relating to the condition in which the Major was in. Carson held up his hands in an attempt to silence and calm the group of friends down. "Major Sheppard's in bad shape but we were able to stabilize him." Seeing Rodney was about to explode, Carson quickly said, "Don't worry Rodney, you did a good job with his shoulder. It's more the trauma to his leg that has me concerned for the moment. He did loose a lot of blood there. I'm going to ask that anyone who has blood type O negative should come down here and donate some."
Rodney's explosive mood disappeared at once and his face brightened up a little. "I'm O negative; I have no problem donating some now." Carson smiled, "OK, Rodney you can come in now." Elizabeth turned to Carson, "I'm going to contact everyone on the base. I'll make sure those who are compatible come by for a visit."
"Thank you, Dr. Weir."
"Keep me informed!"
Rodney looked at Ford and Teyla, "I'll let you know how he is." The two friends nodded as he walked into the infirmary following Dr. Beckett.
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As Rodney entered the infirmary, his heart sank seeing John so helpless and fragile. He was very pale and with all the machines around him, it made the scene only more surreal. Then he noticed that Amara was lying a few beds away from John. She was looking pale as well albeit less then Sheppard. Rodney blinked as the events of the past few hours returned to him in a little flash. "How is she?"
Carson stopped, glancing from his friend to Amara. "She's unconscious. She had a couple of broken ribs and she has lost a bit of blood. But nothing to worry about, she'll be fine." Carson moved again but instead of going to check on John, he walked towards Amara's bed. "There's something you should see though." Rodney joined the Doctor at Amara's side. "I think you'll find this very interesting." Carson carefully opened the front of the young woman's gown, revealing her wounds. "She was attacked by a Wraith, right?"
"Right!" Rodney nodded, remembering how the Wraith had pinned Amara between his hand and a tree.
Carson pointed at the wounds on Amara's chest, "Look at this." Rodney immediately recognized what was wrong with the picture in front of him while Carson continued, "She has all the markings of a Wraith hand, except for the mouth." It was true, all she had was her skin bruised by the impact, but the markings of the mouth like opening on the Wraith's hand were nowhere to be seen. "So, how is that possible you think?"
Even though Rodney was as confused as Carson, he tentatively answered, "She's immune?"
Carson looked at Amara, then back at Rodney, "Should I be worried about that or is this normal?"
Rodney shrugged, deep in thought, "I have no idea."
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Few days had passed by without either patient showing any signs of regaining consciousness. The only ones who had been allowed to visit regularly were Dr. Weir, Rodney, Lt. Ford and Teyla. The rest of the citizens of Atlantis had been restricted to donating blood when having Sheppard's blood type or being O negatives. That night the infirmary had been swamped with people, all more than willing to help one of the most beloved people in the city.
The four that had been allowed entrance to visit the Major had taken turns to visit John; Dr. Weir in the mornings, followed by Ford in the afternoons and Teyla in the evenings, while Rodney took the night. Most of the time Rodney would catch up on some readings from his lab or talk with Carson about John and Amara's condition. John was still unconscious, and Amara was going to be according to Carson but for now she was still out.
Rodney was on his way to the infirmary as it was his turn to sit with John and Amara. He made a quick stop in Carson's office, asking him about the status of the patients. Once inside the infirmary, Rodney noticed Sheppard having a little more color and fewer machines around him. Looking over at Amara's bed, he was momentarily panicked as it was empty. For a second Rodney considered going back to Carson, but dropped that thought as he saw Amara cowering against the wall next to her bed.
Her knees were drawn to her chest, her head resting on top of them. Carefully, as not to frighten her, Rodney closed in on Amara, "Amara?"
She looked up, but stared at the wall on the other side of the room. Then she brought her hands up and stared at them. To Rodney it looked as if this was the first time she was able to see something. She was contemplating every inch of her hands, closing them into fists and opening them again. Then Amara placed her hands on her chest, with this her actions suddenly changed. Rodney witnessed Amara going from spaced out but calm to complete hysterics, acting as if something was crawling over her chest.
"He is trying to kill me!" Rodney heard her soft murmuring slowly turn into frantic screaming. "Let me go!"
"Amara!" Rodney tried in vain to attract her attention on him instead of the invisible thing crawling over her chest. As quick as she had started wriggling about she started to take off the bandages and pulled the IV out of her hand. At this point McKay sank on his knees next to her side. "Amara, stop it!" She didn't react to his presence. "Carson! You better get in here!"
Rodney grabbed Amara's wrists, preventing her from harming herself. She fought against his grip, in vain, while repeating over and over again that someone was trying to kill her.
"No one's trying to kill you, Amara!" Rodney realized she was finally reacting to the Wraith attack on the planet, albeit a few days late which scared him a little and was most definitely not good. "Stop it ... Right now!"
Her eyes snapped open and locked with McKay's, "This is all my fault. I am so sorry. I tried to heal him, but I could not, I really tried. I am so sorry."
"You don't have to apologize." McKay said as he let go off her. At that moment, Carson arrived and Rodney signaled him to stop, as Amara was staring at him.
"You know it is my fault, I am so sorry." This time tears started to fall and roll down her pale face, "I am so sorry." McKay sat down beside her and slowly put his arm around her. Amara looked at Rodney and promptly hugged him for dear life while more tears made their way down.
While Rodney was trying to calm Amara down, Carson had gotten a sedative for Amara. Rodney tried to move her, but she was holding on to him as if life depended on it. Carson moved close enough to give Amara the sedative. The needle wasn't out off her arm when she went completely limp in Rodney's embrace. Carson helped McKay get up and put her back into bed.
Once Carson had the IV-line back where it belonged in her hand, he walked over to where Rodney was sitting at John's side. "She will be fine. I'll better inform Dr. Weir."
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Chapter XIV: Decisions and Apologies
His world had become a mix of senses, of touch, sound and smell. He could hear things but he couldn't for the love of it identify what he was hearing. The smell was familiar but all his mind remembered was him still hanging from the ceiling of the dungeon. His body felt different though, although the action of moving his fingers did give him pain nonetheless. He heard his name but he couldn't identify who was calling out to him. Who the hell is calling me?
He wanted nothing more than to be more aware. He so wanted to know who was calling him, but sleep took over once more. The voice faded again as he slowly drifted away.
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He slowly opened his eyes but squinted when met with too many bright lights, filling the room. His memories were shady to say the least, so he had not much of an idea of where he was or how long he had been there? At this point it was, however, more important for him to find out where he was, if he was still in his dungeon having some form of hallucination or if he had died and had gone straight to heaven.
His brain was suddenly filled with the very last memories he had. His team had come back for him and Amara had been helping them. John blinked and turned his gaze to his side where he noticed Elizabeth sitting in a chair next to his bed. She hadn't noticed he was awake until he caught her attention with a soft hello.
Startled Elizabeth looked up and immediately started to smile widely. She quickly walked out of the room to return seconds later with Dr. Beckett in tow. "Glad to have you back, John." Elizabeth said, while Dr. Beckett checked on Sheppard's vitals. John again tried to remember what happened and where he was. He knew now that he was home safe and sound, well that had yet to be determined, and very, very far away from Elek and Toulnya.
Dr. Beckett started checking John, starting with pointing his penlight into the Major's eyes, "Can you hear me, lad?" Sheppard tried unsuccessfully to shield his eyes from the annoying light, "Loud and clear... Could you stop doing that?" His voice was hoarse, but Carson just smiled and looked at Elizabeth, "He will be alright."
"So Doc, care to fill me in?" Carson started explaining about John's injuries, the dislocated shoulder, the trauma to his leg, dehydration, and how lucky he was his friends had found him just in time. Naturally John drifted in and out of the explanation. He knew all too well he had been in a bad shape and didn't really need Beckett reminding him of that. The memory of Maur and the spiked stick, and what he intended to do with it, flashed before his eyes. John shivered, if he hadn't been able to move out of the way he would have been singing soprano by now.
Carson finished his exam with checking for a pulse in Sheppard's injured leg, "I'd say you were very lucky. If they had been able to hit the artery, you would have probably lost your leg."
"Lucky me." Sarcasm was clear in John's voice. Carson smiled and even though the Major was barely awake, he had the impression that the man would be just fine. "I'd say you're on your way to a full recovery."
What John managed to rest that morning, it was all depleted by the afternoon, as all the members of his team crashed into the infirmary to see him. It got to the point where Carson had to throw everyone out as John had started to show signs of wanting to escape the infirmary.
The next day John was allowed to move within the confinements of his bed, and he was allowed to sit in the chair standing next to his bed. He had his left arm in a sling, easing his shoulder and giving it time to heal. He could barely move his right leg, which gave him not much of a choice than to stay in the vicinity of his bed. Carson had given him a chat first thing in the morning about the physical therapy he would need in order to get all his limbs to function properly again, especially the ones damaged by the nasty aliens.
The next few days all John Sheppard saw were positive attitudes, not a person who dared to in any way negative in his neighborhood. He had also noticed that no one had mentioned Amara, not even once in all the time they had been back and he had been awake. He wondered if something had happened to her. There were so many things he still didn't know about, like how they had managed to get off the planet in the first place. He knew it hadn't been easy the first time they had done that, or at least try to do just that in his case. Every time Rodney or Ford started explaining the massive event, Dr. Beckett would step in and throw them out of the infirmary, always saying his patient needed rest and that they could explain later.
John knew that the best person to get him filled in on the situation was Rodney; he would be easier to persuade. He decided that the next time he'd see Rodney he'd ask him about it and he was absolutely sure answers would be received. The day passed by and John stayed good boy all day, doing his exercises, eating when he was supposed to. The leg was still bugging him, but with the help of Carson he was able to keep the pain at bay.
Finally at night John got his chance to talk to Rodney as he arrived in the infirmary. Before he could start blabbering about things he had discovered, John asked him what had occurred on the planet when he had been busy trying to stay alive for as long as possible. "So Rodney, what happened back on the planet?" Rodney opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind and closed it again. McKay had a pretty good idea where John was aiming at. "Rodney?" The scientist let his gaze go over the infirmary, making sure no one would or could interrupt them and started explaining about what had happened to Elek, to Amara and what she had done.
"Where is Amara now? Was she hurt?" Rodney eyed John cautiously, and then told him about Amara's encounter with the Wraith.
"Where is she now?" Rodney sat in silence for a moment. John could barely stand it, "Rodney, where is she?"
"She is ok! She was given an empty living quarter. But she's been placed under guard."
"Under guard?" John felt a sudden rush of anger. "Why? How could you let Elizabeth make her a prisoner?" Rodney already regretted telling him what had happened. "She saved our buts, Rodney!" The whole situation was starting to go seriously beyond John's comprehension.
"Yes, but it was because of her that we got in trouble in the first place. This wasn't my idea, it was Bates idea, and Elizabeth agreed."
"I can't believe this! I want to see Weir. Now!"
"Hey, I don't like it anymore than you do. But what can I do? Dr. Weir is the one in charge here." With this Rodney got up as quickly as possible and bolted out of the infirmary. John couldn't wait for someone to come back, so with his good arm he took off the bed covers and slowly started to get out of the bed he was in. At first he cursed himself for even thinking he was able to leave, his leg was heavily protesting against the movements he was making. He held on to the bed, using the hand of his good arm. His head swirled for a bit trying to adapt to the sudden change. It was right at that moment that Doctor Elizabeth Weir chose to walk into the infirmary, "Major Sheppard, what are you doing?"
"What have you done to Amara?" John was furious. Elizabeth closed in on him, trying effortlessly to calm him down, "John, we did it as a precaution." John tried to walk, but his leg protested dearly, "You do remember it is because of her that I'm back." Elizabeth was still closing in on him, "Yes, but we still don't know what her true intentions are." John gave Weir a murderous glare. She was now standing next to his side, ready to support him if he let her, "John, Rodney told me what she did back on her planet. That alone was a very powerful thing, but I don't think she was aware of her abilities until that moment. Who knows what else she was programmed to do?"
Promptly the memory of her talking to Amara a few days earlier came to mind. She was already in her new quarters and Elizabeth had walked in, only to find Amara sitting on her bed staring at the wall. Her back was turned to the door and as a result also at Elizabeth. Amara's staring made her wonder if the whole ordeal she had gone through hadn't snapped something inside the woman's mind.
"Hello." Elizabeth said tentatively but Amara didn't move. Elizabeth moved in closer, grabbing a chair on the way and sat herself down near the bed. "May I have a word with you?" Elizabeth was again answered with silence. Amara hadn't even turned around.
But before Elizabeth could continue her monologue, Amara spoke up, "I can not be like this forever. I did not give up my life on Toulnya to come here and live in the same conditions." Elizabeth was taken back by Amara's statement, but remained calm, "This is a precaution I would take with anyone, it isn't just you."
"I am under guard; you blame me for what happened." So that's what it was all about, she was feeling guilty. "This is just a temporary situation; we need to know more about you before we can allow you to roam free around the city."
"You know all there is to know about me. I understand why I am like this but I cannot stay like this forever. I have nothing else to tell you." Elizabeth knew that with these words the conversation was over. All that was left for her to do was to get up and leave, which she did but not before catching something Amara said to her.
"How is John Sheppard?" Elizabeth turned around and smiled, even though she had not intended on doing so. "He's getting better, but he hasn't regained consciousness yet." She saw Amara nod and satisfied Elizabeth left the room.
That had all happened the day before John had woken up, which reminded her had yet to tell Amara about John. But at the moment she was more concerned about the man himself who was enraged by her decision to put the one who had helped them under guard. She was trying hard to calm him down. He was reluctant in returning to the bed, even with the constant pain in his leg. "John, I spoke with her, and she understands, I hope you will too."
John shifted a bit, "I want to see her." Elizabeth nodded comprehending the situation, "Let's give it a couple of days. Get better first, or at least a bit better than now. It'll be better for her to see you in the best shape possible." John finally gave up and returned to his bed. Elizabeth was putting the bed covers back on John, tucking him in. He stared back at her, "How is she?" Elizabeth thought of the right answer, clearly Amara wasn't in the best shape herself. "Physically she's fine, but emotionally she's a wreck. Dr. Beckett thinks she might fall into a depression if we're not careful. She is showing all the symptoms, maybe seeing you will help. But you need to be rested; otherwise I will not allow Dr. Beckett to let you leave this room."
John nodded slowly. If what Elizabeth was saying was the truth then he needed to be as good as he could get. "Elizabeth, could you get Carson for me, I might need some of his happy juice for my leg." Elizabeth nodded and smiled. He definitely didn't loose his sense of humor. Good! He'll be fine then.
-0-0-0-
Chapter XV: Before I go.
John had finally been given permission to see Amara. Apparently Carson had acknowledged he was feeling much better because first of all he had allowed Sheppard to wear scrubs instead of the horrid gown and secondly he was now on his way to Amara.
John thought back on what Rodney and Elizabeth had told him about Amara and what she had done back on her planet. Elizabeth was right, Amara wasn't fully aware of what she was capable of. While he was reflecting on all that had been said he was also wondering what he was about to say to the young woman currently held under guard in the city of Atlantis, where she thought she'd finally found her freedom.
The airman pushing his wheelchair stopped at the door of Amara's room and John nodded to the guard stationed outside who opened the door immediately. The airman wheeled John inside and left him in the middle of the room, leaving a fair distance between the chair and the bed. John stared at Amara, who was sleeping soundly, her beautiful young face facing him. John moved the wheelchair a little, or at least as far as he could get it and reached out to gently touched Amara's shoulder.
Amara slowly moved, stretched a little and sleepily opened her eyes, making John smile, "Hey." Amara froze at the sound of his voice. Not sure of what to do, she returned the smile, but at the same time tears started to form and roll down her cheeks. John took her hand in his, "It's ok!" In turn she wiped her tears away, "I was beginning to think I was never going to be able to apologize."
"You don't need to..." But before he could finish his sentence she cut him off. "Yes, I do. I acted like a selfish child and in the process I nearly got you killed." Slowly she sat herself more straight on the bed and shifted so she could rest her back against the wall. John was looking grim, "You didn't know..."
"No John, please listen." John nodded and Amara continued, "I understand why I am being guarded, but I can not be like this forever. I never intended to hurt anyone, but I did. A lot of people died on Toulnya, most of them innocent and unknowing. I do not regret what I did to Elek. He, like his ancestors, was a very cruel man. But at this very moment as we speak Toulnya is without protection and without leader. The Wraith may be gone for now, but people will panic and innocents will die if another person like Elek decides to fill the void left by him."
John stared at her in disbelief, "Are you saying you want to go back to the place you hate most?" Amara suddenly found her hands very interesting. Now it was her turn to look grim.
"I will not be going back to a slow life inside a stasis chamber. I do not even intend to go back and stay permanently. But at least I will be going back having enough time to help fix what I destroyed. I can find out if the writings concerning my creation are there, which I believe still exist. And if your leader allows it, I like to come back and help you fight. You know now what I can do; I hope I can fill your requirements." John smiled at Amara and she returned the smile ten-fold. "Are you sure about this?"
"My mistakes will be fixed and I will be able to move on."
John nodded as a sign he understood and called the airman, who was standing at the door, in. He immediately needed to speak with Dr. Weir. The moment the door opened and the airman walked in to take Sheppard back to the infirmary, Amara grabbed his hand, "Please do not leave me here alone again... At least not yet, your presence is kind of soothing." John smiled and replied, "Why don't we do something... I'll go and have a talk with Dr. Weir and after that I will keep you company for as long as you want."
Amara nodded, "That sounds good."
Major Sheppard urged the airman pushing his wheelchair to go a little faster, not wanting to leave Amara for too long a time. Once there he called for Elizabeth and in no time she appeared in the infirmary, answering his call and hearing what he had learned from Amara. "How did it go?"
John looked at Elizabeth as she made her way towards his bed, grabbing a chair on the way so she could take a seat next to him. Once seated comfortably she waited for John to start and end his explanation about Amara's plan.
"That would be stupid John, and you know it."
"What do you mean?" John asked a little annoyed, "She's willing to bring back everything regarding her creation. Do you know how valuable that could be?"
Elizabeth was pondering John's last statement while he continued, "I know how you must feel, but I believe her. I think her encounter with the Wraith changed her priorities. At first, all she ever wanted was to get off that planet, to escape from Elek, but then we came along. I carried the ATA gene and at once she knew she had a place where she could go to and be safe. She wants to return to help us fight the Wraith. Do you know how good it'll be for us to have her around when the Wraith come knocking on our door? And you know they will!"
Elizabeth knew John was right, who knew what she could help restore in the city, "Ok, I'll let her go back..." John smiled but Elizabeth continued, "But she won't be going alone."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Rodney walked into Amara's room, by now she was wearing a combination of military pants and a white shirt. She was barefoot which seemed like a strange view in Rodney's eyes, but seeing her up was nevertheless a good sign.
"Dr. Rodney McKay, I thought you had forgotten about me." Rodney smiled a little embarrassed, "Never, but I've been really busy. Do you want to go out for a walk?" Amara smiled as she nodded. They walked out of the room, and Rodney led her to the nearest balcony. "So... how have you been?"
Amara was leaning against the rail, looking at the ocean in total awe. "Good, I was really happy to see John Sheppard in good health. He was kind enough to show me around last night. The city is very beautiful. He took me to the top of the southwest pier; I think that was the name. It was really beautiful." McKay could only reply, "He did... that's nice."
McKay tried to hide his confusion, knowing the last time John went there was for a midnight picnic with Chaya, another Ancient beauty. Amara was staring at Rodney with an amused expression, "Is there something you want to say?" Rodney snapped back to reality, "Err no err ... I heard you want to go back, is that true?" She took another glance at the ocean, before turning back to Rodney, "Yes."
"John told me why. But, are you absolutely sure?" Amara smiled, "Your leader has decided, what did she say?" Rodney was now leaning against the rail next to Amara, "Well, Major Sheppard influenced her decision a lot. She decided to let you go back, but she's sending a small team with you. They can help you search for what you're looking for. There's going to be two scientists and two airmen for protection."
"I do not need protection in Toulnya."
"We know, it's protection for the team." Amara started to look grim, "Your leader still does not trust me?"
"Think of it as a test, if they all come back in one piece, then we know you're good."
Amara's eyes searched Rodney's, "Thank you, Rodney."
"What for?"
"You heard me and came back; I tried to make you more receptive when I sensed you carrying the same gene as John. But yours is not natural." Rodney understood, "Is that why I could see you in my head?" Amara nodded. Rodney had to give it to her, if another person from the team would have been the one saying that he was seeing Amara in his head, Rodney would have been the first one to say `crazy'.
Rodney reflected on the past couple of weeks. Now they finally had the opportunity of working with a living, breathing Ancient creation, who's power was still uncharted but great nonetheless.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
By the time John was finally checked out of the infirmary, Amara was getting ready to leave. Sheppard left his quarters, wearing his black Atlantis uniform. His arm was a little sore, but no longer in a sling. He was still limping, but Carson had given him a walking stick which he was obliged to use if he didn't want to end up in a wheelchair. Carson had threatened that the moment he saw John without the stick he would promptly place him in one of the few chairs they had. Therefore he limped his way over towards Amara's quarters. She was getting ready to leave. "Care for some company?"
Amara looked up and gave him a 1000 mega-watt smile, "I could use some help, thank you." John followed her gaze down and noticed she was unsuccessfully trying to tie the laces of her boots. He grabbed a chair and placed it in front of Amara, John sat down and in a swift motion he tied her shoelaces. He stared at her, "Are you completely sure about this?" Amara gave him a reassuring smile, "Do not worry about me, I think I know where to seek for what I need. As for the people in Toulnya, I know they respect me. I do not foresee any major problems."
"Shall we?" John opened the door and Amara walked out, John following close behind her.
As they walked into the gate room, Rodney and Elizabeth were already there, waiting for them to arrive. The team assigned to accompany Amara was ready and standing by. Elizabeth was the first one to speak, "Everything is set. My team will need to check back with me once every few days. I hope it won't be a problem."
Amara looked at the leader of Atlantis, "They will not be disturbed, Dr. Weir." Elizabeth smiled, "I hope we'll be hearing from you soon." Now it was Amara's turn to smile, "Thank you."
Amara turned to Rodney, "See you soon Dr. McKay, I am sure that whatever I bring back will keep you awake for several days. So rest now!" Then she looked at the group of people in front of her, "I apologize again for the trouble I caused. I truly hope that whatever I bring back will help against our common enemy."
Then she turned to John, "I hope the next time I see you, you are fully healed. I really wish you well John." John gave her a small smile, "I'll be fine, you'll see."
Amara then turned to Elizabeth, "I am ready." In turn Elizabeth looked up to the control room and gave them the go ahead to start dialing the Gate. The team grabbed their gear as the gate opened. One by one they walked into the even horizon. Amara followed them, just before stepping through; she turned and stared at the people, making sure she had their faces printed into her mind not forgetting what they were giving her ... a second chance.
Amara smiled one last time and then stepped thought the gate, off seeking answers to her many questions and hoping to find some sort of redemption, so that one day she could return to Atlantis and help her new friends in a fight much bigger than her own.
FIN
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