A/N: This is just something I had started sometime last year after a really freaky dream and was left to gather dust for a few months for some reason or another (probably my short attention span - whoops!), but now I've finally gotten around to finishing it off. So have a read, and see if you like. There's eight chapters in total - most of which are finished - so updates will be regular. There's no spoilers in here so it's safe for everyone to read, however there are a few vague references on things some characters have said in an off hand way that you may or may not spot. Unfortunately I do not have a beta so mistakes are all mine. Oh yeah, this will be a Sparky fic, so if that's not your thing, turn back now. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: You know I don't own Stargate.
Sitting in Limbo.
When the door to the lab opened Rodney could see two sets of feet approaching his work station and considering who they belonged to, he was thinking about staying put on the floor behind his desk. Then again, if he was discovered on hands and knees with his nose to the floor, the fact that he is looking for a tiny piece of the device he was working on, would be immediately forgotten and he would...
"Rodney is that you down there?"
Damn, too late. He rushed to his feet to greet the new comers. "Elizabeth, I was, ah, never mind. Do you need something?"
She stopped on the other side of the work desk and put her hands to rest on it's cool surface. "Yes, actually. We just wanted to remind you that it's tomorrow that John and I will be going off world, and you will be charge of the city."
"What? I thought that wasn't for another couple of days yet?"
Elizabeth shook her head a little annoyed that he'd managed to forget their plans since the conversation they'd had last week.
"This is really bad timing Elizabeth, I'm in the middle of a very important experiment..."
"Yeah, we saw how busy you were."
Ah, there it is. He knew it wouldn't take long for him to get his two cents in. "I had dropped something Colonel. I was trying to retrieve it before somebody came in and stood on it."
"Don't worry Rodney," Elizabeth jumped in, "you won't need to do anything special, it's just to let everyone know if they have a problem, there's still someone they can come to. You won't even have to leave your lab if you're lucky," she assured him.
"Oh well, in that case have a nice trip." Rodney was about to dismiss them, but a question came to mind. "Hang on, where is it you're going again?"
"Glad to know you care," John said. "We're going to see Talen."
"Why?"
"It's been one of their years since we first made contact and they would like to honour us," Elizabeth informed him.
"Yeah, they're throwing us a party!" John said smugly.
"What? And they didn't invite anyone else?" Rodney sounded a little put out.
"I thought you were very busy?" John asked innocently.
"It's not a party, Rodney," Elizabeth corrected. "Besides, they have limited resources as it is. It wouldn't be fair if we all showed up."
"No I suppose not. How long are you going to be gone?"
"We'll be leaving at 0930 and we should only be gone a day."
"Day and a half at the most," John added. "We're not too sure what they've got planned, so we'll stay the night if things go on too long to make it back to the gate during the day."
"Okay, well, enjoy your trip. I'll see you when you get back. Now if you'll excuse me..." Rodney disappeared behind his desk again in search of the thing he'd dropped.
The stargate winked out behind them as John and Elizabeth walked down the stone stairs at the base of the ring. The usually bright, warm sunshine was having trouble breaking through the grey clouds as it crept up over the far horizon. John sighed as he surveyed the area, it didn't look like the weather had any plans for improving today.
"Guess we're early," John said. They had previously arranged with Talen to meet at the gate but there wasn't a soul in sight. "Let's make a start, see if we can save them from coming all the way up here."
With a nod from Elizabeth they headed off towards the path leading down to the village.
"So, do you think what they say round here is true?" John asked.
The question was rather vague, but she knew what he was implying . This wasn't the first time John had asked her about these people and their beliefs concerning the afterlife. According to them, at the time when a person is crossing over from this life into whatever lay beyond, they had the unique ability to manipulate what would await them when they got there. So if a person were to believe their spirit was commended into the hands of some deity or higher power when they died, they could make it happen. The same went if someone was to believe any awareness they had in this life simply ended with their death.
Elizabeth had found this fascinating as did many people on Atlantis, civilian and military alike, and had been drawn into a mass debate in the commissary late one night when she had gone for coffee. Time had escaped her that night and after several hours she'd had to drag herself away only so she could get some sleep before she was due back in her office in the morning.
"I don't think there's really anyway to prove or disprove it. I mean let's face it, if you were to find out for sure, it would be a bit late to do anything about it. Besides I think the whole idea is very comforting. What about you?"
John wasn't given a chance to reply, as a shout of childish glee caught his attention and he turned to find the source. They had just rounded a bend in the path when two young boys who had been jogging up towards them had seen them, picked up their pace and came powering up to greet them.
"John, Elizabeth, you came back!" The eldest called as he came to a stop just inches from colliding with John.
"We promised we would," John replied ruffling the boy's hair. "How have you been Derrel?"
When they had first come to this world, Derrel and his younger brother, Tobis, had just lost both their parents in the latest Wraith culling. What was left of their home was no more than charred wood and rubble, and the rest of the village had fared no better. It had been the worst culling these people had ever seen for many generations, leaving a few handfuls of people to rebuild and start again. Without the intervention of John and his team, their chances of survival were less than good to say the least.
"I am learning the skills Talen has been teaching to us. He says I will be a master in the art of farming one day!"
"A master? Is that so? Well, way to go kid. I'm proud of you. Speaking of Talen, where is he? I thought he'd be here to meet us, surely we're not that early?"
"Tobis and I ran ahead, but Talen is accompanied by Marai, they are still on their way."
Tobis, who had been happy up until this point to stay behind his big brother, still a little shy, crept forward and pulled on Elizabeth's pant leg to get her attention.
"Hello Tobis," she said as she bent down to see him. "You've grown since we last saw you."
"I have?" Asked the little boy. "That must be because it was my birthday last week. I'm five years old now." He held out all the fingers on one hand to show her.
"Wow. In that case, happy birthday for last week," she told him with a smile. To think this child was close to dying when she first knew of him and to see him now, happy and healthy again warmed her heart.
"Okay, how about we go and find Talen and Marai?" John suggested. "Save them from walking all the way here."
"Sure." Derrel clasped one of John's hand and started pulling him in the direction he had come from.
Elizabeth stood and offered her hand to Tobis, who readily accepted it and proceeded to rush after John and his brother.
They had offered to take Talen, a simple farmer and the others who had thrust him into the position of the leader of their small band, back to Atlantis. The Athosians had offered to take them under their wing and help them back onto their feet, but they had chosen to remain here, in their ancestral homeland. Clearly it was a choice well made. Talen and his people, the Somnium, had recovered much of what was lost. Set in the beautiful, yet hostile, ancient mountains, the challenge to regain their way of life had proved difficult, but homes had been rebuilt, seeds were sown, the daily routines their lives followed had once more returned and the people seemed to be happy. The Wraith had not come again, maybe they thought all were either taken or killed in the last culling, but no one wished to question why they had been granted this small mercy.
The terrain was just as bad as they remembered. The Stargate was located about two miles away from where the village lay at the bottom of the mountain and the climb was a hike and a half when you had fifty pounds of gear strapped to your back. Thankfully, this time their load was a lot lighter, but this was the wet season, which meant the ground was soggy and sucked at their boots with every step. John and Elizabeth, led by Tobis and Derrel, nimble as mountain goats, had met Talen and Marai half way down the rocky mountain side and with them their baby daughter, Aleena.
Marai had refused to be waited on during the last days of her pregnancy and had continued to help in some way rebuild her home. Because of this, she had gone into labour on a trip back from the stargate and so Aleena had been the first child born, just a month after the culling and she was delivered by Dr. Beckett on the wayside of this same precarious, muddy trial. Her birth had giving hope to all the people here that one day they would reclaim their lives.
"Colonel Sheppard, Dr Weir, I see the boys found you," Talen welcomed them. "You do us a great honour by visiting our people."
"The honour is all ours," John assured him while firmly shaking hands.
"It's a pleasure to see you again," Elizabeth said. "You and your people have achieved so much in such little time."
"Ah, I fear we would not be alive if you had not come when you did. And for that we will forever be in your debt. Please, if you would, let me show you just what we have been able to accomplish, with the second chance you have given us."
They began their journey down the rest of the mountain at an easy pace, the sky was steely grey now and the fine drizzle that had been in the air before was getting heavier as they went. Before long the light rain had developed into a cold driving force and from there it progressed into something worse still.
"If I knew it was gonna be this bad, I would have brought my wetsuit!" John shouted over the horrendous din.
Elizabeth had looked back over her shoulder to throw him a grin, taking her eyes off the track for just a second and missed seeing the massive sludgy puddle before her foot was lost beneath it's murky depths. Not finding the ground where it should have been knocked her off balance, she slid backwards fully expecting to land flat in the mud, but a pair of strong arms caught her at the last minute.
"Whoa, easy there! You nearly ruined that uniform," John teased as he helped her up right.
Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow at that. They were all completely drenched. Every item of clothing they were wearing was saturated, not to mention their legs were sprayed with mud for good measure. "Thanks. The uniform might be unsalvageable, but at least you saved my dignity!" The though of walking into the settlement covered head to toe in mud was highly embarrassing and a fate she'd want to avoid if she could.
A distant rumbling coming from higher up the mountain side caught her attention then. "John, did you hear that?"
He had and had turned his head to face the source of the noise, he answered, "Yeah, maybe it was thunder."
Elizabeth was about to say that was all that was missing from this trek, but the noise came again, louder this time. "John I don't think that's thunder, I can almost feel it through the ground..." Her words trailed off as they both realised with horror what the sound was.
"Landslide!" John shouted as he grabbed her arm and they began to run.
The others had gotten a little ahead from them but they reached them as another boom could be heard a lot closer this time. Talen and his wife needed no explanation and ushered them and the two young boys down the hill at a breakneck pace. Directing them into a cavern that faced down the mountain, Talen stopped and braced his arms on his knees as he took a second too breathe. "We cannot out run it. We would never make it to the bottom in time. This is our only hope."
"Talen, are you sure?" John quizzed him. "This isn't very deep and if the amount of mud coming towards us is as big as it sounds, it could swamp this place and bury us alive!"
"I am sure, our chances are slim, but outside we will surely die. We can only pray the ancestors will protect the village."
Aleena was not amused at being so roughly treated and had no qualms about making her complaint known, her shrill cries rebounding off the walls.
"Okay, well lets everyone get back as far as we can. Derrel, Tobis, find the place furthest away from the opening," John instructed the boys. He tucked them in as far as he could, knowing it would be of little use if the flowing debris found its way in here.
The ground was beginning to shake harder and Elizabeth found she was trembling at the thought of being entombed in this place. Her thoughts went back to the conversation she and John were having before the boys found them. He hadn't answered her question then, and now she wondered how he felt about it. She really didn't want to die in here. She was scared. "John?"
He was there beside her, pulling her back against the wall of the cavern, trying to shield her with his body for all the good it would do. The gesture didn't go unnoticed though and she clung to him, truly believing these were going to be the last moments of their lives. She saw how Talen and Marai had adopted a similar position in niche near to them, the baby between them. There was a temptation to say something to John then, tell him thank you, tell him... But there was no more time.
The mountain gave another great shudder. John shouted, "This is it!" He held her tight and then the world crashed in around them.