Spoilers: Set in Season 5, so mention of all things related!
Note: This story was written as one Very long story, but I am going to break it up for ease of posting and editing. Just thought I would mention it….
Disclaimers: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it.
--
The snow tumbled down from the overcast sky, ever falling, ever settling into a light blanket over the desolate landscape that stretched out in all directions. Beyond the settlement the flat bleak plane stretched out into the distance. One lone roadway snaked through the flat level, its dark stones standing out starkly against the dull grey soil and the light layer of snow. It was an empty road; empty today as it was everyday since she had begun to watch it.
Adjusting her thick hood Teyla lifted her eyes up to the sky, the snowflakes sliding over her forehead and down her nose, tickling and chilling her skin. She tried to focus on the sky above a little longer; searching the clouds for the sight she hoped to see. But, nothing today, the same as the past two months. No Jumper sweeping down to take her home. No, she was here alone among a full settlement of people.
She looked back out over the plane to the road and once again considered heading out along its dark path, but she knew there was nothing at its end but another settlement like this one. She had nowhere to go. In truth she knew a Jumper was unlikely to ever arrive as there was no Stargate on or above this world, but she still hoped. She prayed for the impossible. They surely would be looking for her. John would surely be looking for her, especially after what she had done; what she had so willingly sacrificed for him.
Her thoughts turned to her child then; her arms and chest aching at the loss of his touch. Without realising her actions she pressed her hands over her heart and began to rock, an instinctive behaviour of longing for her child and for comfort of her own. She knew Halling would be caring for him in her absence, but it still did not stop the hurt.
She tore her eyes from the empty road grief pulling her emotions down, tumbling like the ever falling snow flakes down onto the bare earth.
--
The papers covered the table, a blanket of maps, reports and scans; a sea of information that told him absolutely nothing. She was gone, untraceable and lost. That was the official ruling and damn if he was going to accept that.
It was late, the City in slumber around him, but he stayed up every night to dig through the waste of information. What he needed was to get out there and search for her. To travel to each and every world those damn traders had ever considered going and to paw his way through every person there looking for her. To seek out true information; knowledge of where she had been taken. Traded like some random piece of pottery or clothing. It angered him. The anger had not lessened over the past two and half months and it had almost begun to take over his life, so that he couldn't quite remember what it had felt like not to be angry. To feel guilty. It should have been him, not her, but she had stepped in and taken his place. He was angry at her for that, more than he was for the slave-traders who had taken her. John visited little Tagan everyday in Halling's now permanent quarters in Atlantis. The tiny boy was beginning to delight in seeing John, however it only hurt John more to see him; a reminder of his mother's life and beauty. But, John would not stop watching over Tagan, just as he would never stop looking for his mother.
The latest reports from the Mapa people stood to his right. A useless stack of information, but he had to go through it just in case there was something. The Mapa leader had been helpful enough, especially after John had smacked the guy one. It had been on the Mapa home world that Teyla had been taken. It turned out that they traded people as well as goods with a group of Pirates, as John continued to call them, who kept themselves busy using their stolen space craft to transport goods and people to a wide selection of desolate worlds that for some unknown reason no longer possessed a Stargate. Obviously these pirates charged very high prices for this service and John suspected that they were in fact responsible for the disappearance of the Stargates, but it didn't really matter. The pirates apparently would turn up every now and then to gather 'items' for trade from the Mapa people and unfortunately their team had been there during their visit.
A massive pirate had gotten the drop on John, hitting him across the back of the head before you knew what was happening. Despite the months that had passed, the bruise still felt fresh on the back of John's head. Dr Keller reassured him that the bruise was gone and there was no lasting damage, but he still felt it niggling at the back of his head. Perhaps it was the guilt. That he had been in no position to do anything but listen as Teyla talked the pirates out of taking him for trade and taking her in his place.
The Mapa leader had assured them that the pirates actually took great care of all their 'trading items' and that she would be living on a world somewhere else and they should not be concerned. John had seen red and lost it only becoming vaguely aware of hands holding him back and then pulling him away from the Mapa leader who had lain beneath him, blood pouring from his nose. After that John had not been allowed to attend any further discussions on the issue. But, the Mapa had given over all their information on the pirates and the worlds they supplied in drips and drabs as they found them. It was pitifully little, but it had reassured John slightly. There were testimonies from people on Mapa who had been traded away from one of those other worlds. It was clear that all those worlds were bleak places, cut off from others, facing starvation and extinction thanks to the Wraith and their loss of Stargates. So they relied on the influx of people from the pirates to work for trade and to keep up their populations against the cullings from the Wraith. Unfortunately these ex-slaves had no idea when these worlds were, having no Stargates or any idea of coordinates for the planets; there was nothing useful. John had wanted to go after the pirates, but where could they start and there was no known way to track them and all searches thus far had been fruitless.
So she was on a planet he could not find or reach, trapped on a terrible world, perhaps starving and in danger from a Wraith attack at any moment.
The others had given up, but he kept up the search. Every evening he went through these reports and scans looking for a tiny key, anything. But, there was nothing. No trail of breadcrumbs to follow to her, no way of knowing where the pirates were, or even which of their numbers took her. They called it hopeless, he refused to call it anything.
It was just after 2am when he lifted the penultimate Mapa report and found the first slight ray of hope. It was tiny, but something; an ex-'traded item' spoke of a world the traders stopped at in their journeys. She had accompanied them down to the surface of the planet to help carry supplies and she described a tavern in great detail. Obviously one naturally interested in art, she had noticed a large sculpted piece hanging to one side of the bar. John recognised the sculpture, or thought he did. A tavern he and Ronon had visited whilst following up on pirate reports that had turned up nothing of consequence. But, this woman described the tavern and the artwork in vivid detail; it had to be the same place.
He stood up sharply from his seat, the chair rolling away from him across the slick floor to thud against the wall behind him. He turned, piece of paper in hand, towards the exit, intent to share his finding with someone; but who? He stopped. What would they say to this; that he was reaching? That they had already scouted out this world. They would most likely send a team again, they wouldn't deny John that, but unless the pirates just happened to be wandering around the village at that exact time, they would not be able to remain. Teyla had been missing for a long time by the IOA's standards and no substantial time and effort would be fuelled into the search any longer. What he held in his hand was a faint hope, and they did not deal in those. John couldn't risk them not allowing him to go and do what was needed to find her, to bring her home. He turned back towards the littered table, searching through the papers for the details of this world. Yes, his instincts told him; this was the way to start. He held the transcript of his eye witness in one hand and the gate address in the other and considered what he could do.
Twenty minutes later he was walking into the Jumper Bay, ostensibly to check on some repairs. His black back pack and vest hung from his shoulder, most on duty in the evenings were used to seeing him with his bag full of reports and maps, however now his pack contained clothes and supplies along with the few useful reports. The Bay was empty, so he stored his bag away, checked his weapons and closed the Jumper's hatch. He sat down in the pilot seat and contemplated what he was about to do. Not that it would be the first time he would go outside his authority on a mission, but it was for Teyla. He was crossing a line by not asking permission to go and he may very well be signing away his job forever, but what else could he do? Tagan needed his mother and John wasn't about to let her remain lost on some horrible world. He started up the pre-flight and began lifting the ship towards the entrance to the Gate room. He called up Rodney's backdoor programme to the gate's shield and began to dial a random address to hide his ultimate destination from them.
He dropped the ship down into the Gate room, refusing to look to see if anyone was shouting at him or whatever and commanded the Jumper through the event horizon with a single thought. All he could hope was that they would not judge him too harshly and that Ronon would forgive him for leaving to save Teyla without him, but if this didn't work out he could not risk his other friend. So he left Atlantis in a hurried few secongs, leaving behind a hastily hand written note on the meeting room table amidst the useless reports; "Gone to check out a lead".
--
The snow still fell; constantly sucking away the warmth and freezing against the stone paths. Teyla trod carefully down to the meeting hall, pulling up her long woollen skirts so she could step steadily over the ice to the snow lined edges. The traders had visited one of the distant settlements and the news of a missed trading opportunity had soon passed around the small community. Teyla entered the packed wooden framed hall, the air warmer inside. She knew them all now, knew their stories and their dreams. They were good people, who had welcomed her as a new member of their community. They were rather used to gaining and losing people to the traders, or to the other settlements. They respected her desire to leave the world to return to her people, but could do nothing for her. So she had remained, working with them to work a difficult harvest and to work her part in keeping the community strong.
She took at seat, the chair one of the many carved by the town's two talented carpenters. Teyla had one of their rocking chairs in her small home they had given her and it had often been the means to get her to sleep through her worrying and the loss of her child's warmth.
The meeting progressed through the matters at hand. Everyone could speak their turn on any matter, all lead by the settlement's ironically named leader; Merryweather. Teyla could only guess he had either been born on another world, or that his parents had been very optimistic people. Teyla had begun to speak up herself when she felt she did in fact have something to offer these people. She had begun to contemplate the fact that she may be with these people for a long time, so she should try and make this place as much of as home as she could. Beside her the youngest carpenter, Lucas leant in.
"It is good to see you looking so well, Teyla." He said with a slight blush over his cheeks.
"Thank you, Lucas. You are well?" She said back politely, trying to keep her tone friendly, but not too friendly.
"I am indeed, all the better for seeing you. The meeting is very good today is it not?" He pushed, distracting Teyla from the meeting by his words. Lucas was a very kind and talented soul, but Teyla had no interest in his obvious attempts to court her. She knew it was a matter that the rest of the town were immensely amused by.
"Yes, though I hope the rumours about the traders is not true." She replied honestly.
"It usually is. They do tend to trade with one settlement at a time, it means that you will have to remain with us until the next time they visit our world." Lucas said, obviously trying to sound upset for her.
"How long will it be until they return again?" She asked.
"It is usually anything between three and six months, but they may choose to trade with another settlement. It is never clear. But, we made excellent trades last time that should last us to the end of the year."
"That is good, but I do wish to find my way back to my son." She reminded him.
"Of course, I understand. But you do realise that even if the traders took you away from this world, they may only just take you to another world."
"Then that is what I will have to do until I find a way to get back to my people." She said a little harshly. Lucas' face briefly. "Not that I am looking to leave you all. You have all been so good to me, but I have to get back to my son." She hastily reassured him.
"It is true a son needs his mother, especially one as strong and noble as you." Lucas replied.
Fortunately the meeting broke up at that point and Teyla had the opportunity to move away to speak to others. They would all head over to the tavern now, into the warmth contained there from the constantly lit fireplaces and from the strong ale they would consume.
Teyla headed out back into the cold, following the others towards the tavern. She paused at the side of a path, looking up to the sky hopefully then out through the fading light towards the roadway. It was becoming more of a reflex now that before. Some part of her heart was weary from even looking, rarely seeing anyone there except the occasional traders from the other settlements. She wasn't sure why she was even looking anymore, for if her team came to rescue her she may simply be beamed up into the Daedalus without warning. Why would they walk along the path to the settlement? But, she still looked out into the distance, hoping, dreaming and lying to herself.
--
It was the fifth world he had visited, stealing along on the side of a pirate ship when he could like some kind of suckerfish. The pirate ships tended to remain in orbit over a settlement of a world for at least a day to trade, which allowed him time to set the Jumper down in the settlements to ask questions and to trade for some food of his own. He carried a now dog-eared picture of Teyla taken at last year's Christmas party with the rest of the team. He had found no mention of Teyla anywhere. The pirates then usually moved to hover over another settlement on the opposite hemisphere of the planet to trade again. That gave John two days to search an entire world for her.
He couldn't rely on her personal beacon being active as the pirates apparently scanned their trading items for them and deactivated any trackers. Fortunately though the worlds were pretty empty, the settlements tightly packed together which allowed him to visit many in a short span of time. But it was difficult leaving the planets with the pirate ships worrying that she had actually been on that world and he was leaving her behind. But, at least now he had coordinates for these planets and could return later. Perhaps even the remaining Stargates from the now disabled galactic bridge could be transplanted to some of these worlds. If he didn't find her he would come back and check them all over again. But, he had to leave with the pirate ship or lose his chance to reach another world and it appeared they didn't return to planets for at least three months and he couldn't afford to be trapped on one planet that long.
So here he was above another world, this one grey and cold. His search among the settlements in the southern hemisphere had not been hopeful, but he hoped that may change in the northern hemisphere. The trouble was finding somewhere to hide the Jumper, as even when invisible it would be easily seen in the constantly falling snow. In the end he had found a small bedraggled forest in which he could hide the ship whilst he made his enquiries in the local settlement. He had traded his watch for a large heavy coat in the Southern hemisphere as the cold was so penetrative and draining.
He entered the busy tavern, brushing the damp snow from his face and headed towards the bar. The people had been friendly enough here, which he guessed was probably due to the fact that they lived in an appalling climate and spent as much time in the tavern as they could. He leant against the bar and a happy red faced woman placed a mug of ale in front of him. He smiled politely and as he had done on so many places he pulled out the photo of Teyla and asked if she had been seen here. He barely had finished the question when a gentleman leant in against his shoulder.
"That would be Teyla." He said, slightly slurred.
A burst of relief and excitement went through John. "Yes, that's her name. Have you seen her?"
"She lives over in one of the other settlements, can't quite remember which though." He squinted intently at the photo in John's hand. "Yep, pretty lady."
"Sure. Can you remember anything about the settlement you saw her in?" John asked working to contain his impatience.
"Think it's the one run by Merryweather." He replied.
"And which settlement is that one?" John pushed.
"Can't say I remember. All the settlements look so alike you know…."
John tried not to roll his eyes. Of course the settlements would look the same through the bottom of a glass of that much ale. There were five settlements close by and it would take him time to get round them all. He couldn't risk landing the Jumper on their doorsteps, so he was gonna have to walk some of the way. He was going to miss the pirates leaving and unless she was at the first settlement he visited they would be stranded here for a few months. But, at least he knew she was here, or had been if she was still alive.
--
TBC
