Title: The Sentient Saurians
Words: 3058
Summary: Rodney gets kidnapped by some natives. They aren't very nice to him. Gen.
Rating: PG13 - violence
A/N: I kinda suck at crossposting my stuff to FFN. Most fics I've written recently are on my LiveJournal. I've been quite ill recently (bronchitis possibly), so it's a bit 'whump for the sake of it,' but hey... um, poor Rodney.
"Four people have entered our territory!" the leader roared as he stared at the dots on the screen before him in the bunker. "Bring me one specimen for sampling and analysis.
The soldier squawked a quick, "Yes, sir."
"And try not to hurt it."
xxx
"Anything?" John asked as he kept a wary lookout with Ronon and Teyla.
"Plenty," Rodney snapped back, pressing the screen of his life signs detector and shifting his weight restlessly between his feet.
"Anything useful, then?"
"Lots of lifesigns. But that's not surprising considering this place is a tropical mess."
Ronon was hacking a path for them through the undergrowth. They had left the Puddle Jumper in a clearing when it became clear that the rainforest covered much of the ground close to the gate.
"Ah ha!" Rodney spun around on the spot and pointed. "There's a faint energy reading this way."
Ronon took the lead to clear them a path. Teyla followed with Rodney and John behind her.
After about half an hour and many curses and complaints on Rodney's part, the forest opened up a little into another clearing.
"Can you go and get the Jumper?" Rodney asked.
"It's not that far," Ronon said as he cleaned the sap off his gooey sword using a giant leaf.
Rodney huffed and puffed his way over to a log, but then eyed it suspiciously and decided not to risk a nasty infection if he were to sit down. He mopped at his brow and sighed. "Why does it have to be so hot here?"
The other three ignored him as they had a quick break.
Ronon suddenly tensed up and looked around them. "Something's wrong."
John and Teyla grabbed their guns and all three of them went over and stood around Rodney, keeping him safely in the middle of the group.
"What is it?" John asked as his eyes skimmed the now very dangerous and claustrophobic forest around them.
"I don't sense any Wraith," Teyla said.
"Which rules out one of the billions of things that want to kill us," Rodney said in a high voice. He was looking at his scanner and holding his P90 loosely in his other hand, unable to raise it because of his team. "Something's coming."
"What is it?" John asked.
"It's a big life sign and it's coming at us really fast from that direction," he pointed to one side of the clearing.
John, Ronon and Teyla fanned out in front of Rodney, leaving him safely behind them.
Rodney frowned down at the detector. "That's impossible."
"What, McKay?" John uttered quietly.
"It's moving too fast and it's too big to be doing that considering how close together the trees are. It's nearly right on top of us."
There was no sound other than the chirrup of various bugs and birds and the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze not reaching the undergrowth.
"Where is it, Rodney?" Teyla asked, her eyes tracking back and forth across the solid wall of undergrowth ahead of them.
"Uh oh," Rodney said. He looked up in time to see the monstrous flying creature flap down into the clearing. He didn't have time to raise his gun and shoot the thing before it lowered its giant head and grabbed him in its sharp beak. He cried out in shock as he was lifted off the ground to the sound of P90 and blaster fire. His stomach dropped as the ground fell away below him.
"Ceasefire!" John shouted. "You could hit Rodney or it might drop him! Quickly, back to the Jumper!"
The press around Rodney's ribs and pelvis was intense and he closed his eyes as he struggled to breathe and air rushed past him. At least it was finally cool, but that was little comfort if he was about to be swallowed, dropped or chomped to death.
After an eternity of terror and increasing pain, the pressure abruptly released and Rodney fell. He impacted the ground and rolled over and over. He finished with his face in soil and he pressed his cheek against it and just breathed. There wasn't a part of him that wasn't hurting and he kept his eyes firmly closed.
"I told you not to damage it," an angry voice said from above Rodney where he lay.
"I didn't hurt it, I swear!" another voice said. There was an odd click between the words as it spoke. "I think it's male."
"Let's see."
Rodney didn't open his eyes as a strong touch pushed him over onto his back. The touch moved along his body, he felt his tac vest loosening and then leaving completely. His P90! He cracked his eyes open and blinked up at the creatures staring down at him.
"See, he's fine!" The pterodactyl thing and Rodney's kidnapper said.
"Am I hallucinating?" Rodney asked his apparitions tiredly.
"Did it speak?" the small tyrannosaurus rex said.
Rodney narrowed his eyes, no, not a T Rex, it had three claws making it an; "Allosaurus."
"Apparently so," the pterodactyl said.
The allosaurus sighed and continued touching Rodney. It only had claws though and it used them to tear open his shirt. Rodney rolled over in fright and got on his feet and ran.
There was a brief earthquake, then Rodney had his legs knocked out from under him and he tumbled to the ground.
"Hold him," the allosaurus growled.
Pterodactyl used its wing claws against Rodney's ankles and upper chest to pin him down. Rodney struggled, but the claws scraped him and he had to stop.
The allosaurus continued its examination and Rodney closed his eyes and turned his face away. "Lots of bruises, mammal skin is so fragile. There's a nasty gash here, but it shouldn't make it totally useless. Put it in the arena."
Pterodactyl grabbed Rodney in its beak again and took to the air. Rodney's torn shirt flapped around him and he tried not to shiver where he was likely to be bitten by the sharp mouth pressing into his bare skin, but he couldn't help it.
Less than a minute later he was dropped and his scream was abruptly cut off as his body smacked heavily into the ground. He didn't roll this time and the pain swiftly had him spiralling into unconsciousness.
xxx
John flew the Jumper over the rainforest. Teyla sat in the co-pilot's chair while Ronon sat forward in his seat and all three pairs of eyes studied the HUD, searching for a single human lifesign in amongst the hundreds of creature signs on the display.
John switched the scanner to search for Rodney's subcutaneous transponder and a single small dot showed on the HUD about thirty miles away.
"It flew a long way," Ronon said as he fingered the sword he was cradling in his lap.
John urged the Jumper to fly faster towards Rodney. The reading on the HUD couldn't tell them whether he was alive.
xxx
Rodney woke up, cold, alone and in pain. He gathered the tattered remains of his shirt around his shivering torso, but not before he had seen the large bloody scrape across himself or the two sets of diagonal purple bruises from where he had been held in the mouth of the pterodactyl.
His arms were similarly bruised and his right hip was vying for attention. He had been dropped into a round enclosure surrounded by a high fence made of thick wood. The ground was just bare soil. He looked around and found a door.
He groaned as he rolled over and stood up. He held his arms against his middle as he limped and dragged his hurting leg along behind him. How far had he fallen when he'd been dropped? The fence had to be 10ft tall at least.
Rodney was gasping by the time he reached the door. He took a moment to lean against the fence and concentrate on breathing and not passing out or falling down.
He reached forwards with a trembling hand and tried the door, but it was stuck fast. He slid down the fence into a sitting position and stretched out his pained leg with a wince.
His miserable thoughts were disturbed all too soon as the door opened and three raptors came into the enclosure. One clicked its sharp teeth together as it kept its beady eyes on Rodney, daring him to try and get past them. The other two shoved another man into the enclosure. They threw down a couple of sticks and then left.
"Fellow meat eaters!" a roar came from above Rodney and he looked up to see the allosaurus from earlier looking around the top of the fence. At least it looked like the same one to Rodney - maybe they all looked the same?
The man who had been tossed into the cell was highly muscled and clad only in a pair of shorts. He didn't even have any shoes on. He was covered in scars, but there was no apparent bruising on him.
"Welcome to the arena! We have a special treat for you today! We have now captured two mammals of the same species and they will fight each other for your entertainment!"
Rodney moaned. The man, his opponent, grabbed both of the sticks and growled.
"We don't have to fight," Rodney said wearily.
"If we don't, we're dinner. If we do, only one of us is dinner. I have no problem in killing you."
"That's what I was afraid of," Rodney said as he struggled to get back on his feet. His injured leg shook uncontrollably and nearly collapsed when he put some weight on it.
The man tossed him one of the sticks and Rodney caught it.
Scaled heads and beaked creatures looked over the top of the fence with their beady eyes trained on the men.
Rodney's opponent hit out and Rodney easily blocked the blows. He was almost relaxing when the man spun his stick and jabbed it through Rodney's block and straight into his stomach.
Rodney lost his breath and staggered backwards. The stick was blunt, but internal bleeding was still possible.
There was a load roar from the crowd.
"Why don't we turn up the tension a little?" the announcement allosaurus snarled.
The door to the arena opened and ten small dinosaurs came in. They were about knee height, but had razor sharp claws and teeth like their larger brothers.
A couple of them went for Rodney's opponent, the rest went for him. "Targeting the weakest," Rodney gasped.
He hit a couple of them away with his stick, but two latched onto his legs and bit him. He shrieked as he fell, batting away one more. The remaining five climbed on him as he struggled in the dirt. There was a sharp pain in his right forearm – the one holding the stick – and he used his left fist to punch the creature in the head. It let go with a small screechy roar. One of the things jumped up onto his chest, his shirt had long since given up trying to cover him and the monster easily raked its sharp claws down his chest, drawing six lines of blood through his skin. Rodney screamed and clobbered it in the head with his stick. He smacked the last three as they tried to attack him. His chest heaved with each whimpered breath as blood ran down him.
His human opponent was watching the whole affair with some interest.
"Thanks for all the help," Rodney said as he pushed himself up to his feet again. He lurched and steadied himself by planting the stick in the ground and leaning on it.
"I was hoping they were going to kill you."
"Nice," Rodney ground out.
"So then I wouldn't have to."
There was a loud explosion nearby and a lot of roaring from above. "John?" Rodney asked.
The other man frowned. "You know what that was?"
"I hope so. If I'm right, we'll both be out of here soon."
There was a sharp report of P90 fire from close by, then the door in the fence swung open. Teyla came in and her eyes landed first on Rodney's opponent. She aimed her gun at him and he quickly dropped the stick and raised his hands in surrender.
Teyla then looked towards McKay and her battle face fell away. "Oh, Rodney!"
She ran to him as his legs decided they'd had enough of supporting him and he crumpled to the ground. The other man, his opponent, caught him before he hit to dirt.
"We must hurry," Teyla said, pulling out a bandage and wrapping it around Rodney's chest wounds. "Can you support him while my companions and I hold them off?"
"Of course."
Rodney was vaguely aware of the strong arms wrapped around him as he was carried. "Ronon?" he mumbled.
"No. My name is Sydnu."
"Oh."
John and Ronon kept up their barrage of fire as Teyla and the two men approached the waiting Jumper. The newcomer laid Rodney down on the deck in the rear compartment and looked at the ship warily, he was just about to disembark, when Teyla grabbed his arm. "You may come with us."
She glanced at John who nodded his agreement just before he ran into the cockpit and powered up the ship.
"But I…" Sydnu frowned. "I've been here for so long." He glanced out of the rear hatch wistfully, then back into the Jumper. "But I have had enough of killing."
Ronon slammed his hand on the control panel on the wall and the hatch closed. The Jumper flew off the ground and sped back towards the gate.
Sydnu sat on the bench and watched as Ronon and Teyla dug through the open medkit and pulled out bandages and oxygen. Ronon fixed the oxygen mask over Rodney's face, then they wrapped his lower legs and added more layers to the pink spotted bandages around his chest. The bruising was stark and black in places on his pale skin.
"He was limping before he got bitten," Sydnu offered.
Teyla pursed her lips and nodded as she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut away Rodney's trousers. She frowned at the troublingly dark and extensive bruising around his right hip. "There is little we can do. Dr. Beckett should be able to help him."
Ronon grabbed an ice pack and held it against Rodney's hip, but the bruising was so extensive it wasn't doing much.
"What about you, Sydnu?" Teyla asked. "Are you injured?"
"No."
John hit the DHD symbols and called ahead for medical and security teams to meet them. Then they went through the gate and sped home along the wormhole.
xxx
"This sucks," Rodney said as he hobbled along on crutches. He'd only been in the infirmary overnight once all his lacerations had been stitched up and clean bandages applied. The bruises were painful and his hip was very badly bruised, but nothing was broken, so Carson had discharged him quickly with instructions to return once a day for his bandages to be changed.
"You're telling me," John said as he walked alongside at a safe distance from the sticks.
"I usually have to beg the infirmary staff to let me out or sneak out when they're not watching."
"You didn't blow any of their equipment up?"
"No." Rodney stopped moving and frowned. "Not that I remember." He shook his head and resumed clack-hopping. "I could have internal bleeding!"
"They scanned you?"
Rodney sighed and flinched as the lacerations on his chest pulled. "Yes."
"Besides, if you collapse, the infirmary's only a quick radio call away."
"Well, thank you for that reassurance, I feel better already," Rodney said in heavy sarcasm.
They entered the mess hall and Teyla beckoned them over to the table where she was sitting with Ronon and Sydnu.
Rodney sat down in the chair Ronon pulled out for him and stretched out his injured leg with a wince.
Sydnu was now fully clothed and he smiled broadly at Rodney. McKay's eyes widened and darted around the room looking for an exit. "Relax," Sydnu said. "I'm not going to kill you."
Rodney sighed and deflated. John came over then with a couple of trays of food and slid one in front of Rodney. "Thanks."
Ronon said, "We were just talking about Sydnu's homeworld."
"I remember the gate address," the man said, finally taking his eyes off Rodney, who had gathered his food in closely, protectively.
Teyla said, "With your permission, we would like to take Sydnu back there."
"I'm sure it won't be a problem," John replied. "But I'll have to clear it with Elizabeth and I'm coming too."
Teyla glanced over at Rodney, who was shrinking away from Sydnu as though he expected to be struck. She narrowed her eyes and then furrowed her brow. "We have just finished, so if you will excuse us, Colonel, Doctor, we have many sparring techniques to discuss and practice with Sydnu."
Ronon, Teyla and their guest stood up and Sydnu turned to Rodney. "Thank you for what you did in the arena, Dr. McKay."
"What I did?"
"They unleashed many of the small reptiles. I have never fought that many, but you were able to fend them off."
Rodney drew in a breath and his chest stung terribly. "Yeah."
They left John and Rodney alone at the table and Rodney finally relaxed.
"How many did you fight?" John asked.
"Quite a lot," Rodney said absently. "Hundreds at least."
John looked incredulous, but didn't have any proof either way, so didn't argue.
Once they had finished lunch John said, "Okay, to the infirmary to get you changed, then physio for that dodgy leg of yours."
"Wow, fun. Can't I just go back to the labs?"
John waggled his finger. "Carson hasn't signed you off yet."
"Can this day get any worse?" Rodney asked.
"Don't tempt it."
Rodney sighed and looked glum. "My chest hurts," he said in a small voice.
"I hear they're serving steak tonight for dinner."
Rodney perked up a bit.
"Some new stuff we found offworld: lizard steak. Teyla's got dibs on the skin ahead of Ronon, but I think they're still fighting over it."
Rodney made a disgusted face while John smirked and guided his injured friend towards the infirmary.