Ties That Bind

Chapter One: Default Chapter

"So, did you seal the deal?"

John Sheppard was now walking along side Elizabeth Weir, on the grasses of an alien planet named Eirene.

"I'd like to think so but as you should know Major, we're invited to their ceremony in the hopes of sealing the deal." Elizabeth said as they got to the Stargate to check in.

"Lets hope that McKay isn't too dramatic until that time comes." They boarded the Jumper to meet the rest of the team.

"Lucky us, we're all invited to a ceremony!" said John cheerfully to Teyla, Rodney, Ford, Markus and Stackhouse.

"Oh thank god! I'm not going to die from hunger after all!" John, Markus and Stackhouse merely rolled their eyes at Rodney. "What?" Elizabeth cut in before anyone could reply and start bickering.

"Alright then peoples. The ceremony starts at 1800 hours Atlantis Standard Time so we've got just enough time to check in. Dial it up Lieutenant."

"Yes ma'am." Ford started punching in the chevrons on the control panel of the Puddle Jumper.

"What does this ceremony involve, Dr. Weir?" Teyla inquired.

"They didn't tell us much except for the fact that it will be a short ceremony and is very important to their people, so we can't say no, even if we wanted." Elizabeth took a seat in the rear end of the Jumper.

"They also said something about asking the ancestors if it would be alright to give us a supply of food." John joined Elizabeth and offered her a Power bar. She declined.

"And just how are they going to do that?" Rodney took the Power bar that John offered him next and started munching away.

"Your guess is as good as ours."

Ford walked to the exit of the Jumper. "Ok, we're ready to go."

All seven piled out as John hit the button on the remote and the Jumper cloaked. Elizabeth raised a brow in this action.

John shrugged back in reply. "You can never be too sure."

"Ah! Welcome back, Major! I hope you are ready for the ceremony." said Euphrosyne, the village leader and head priest.

"Umm…. about that? What is it exactly do we do?" Rodney asked from behind John.

"All in due time, Doctor. Then you will see," Euphrosyne guided them into the central part of the village.

There, the locals had all gathered in a circle as Euphrosyne ushered the Atlantis team to the middle and told them to line up. Euphrosyne stood in front of them, in his great white robes, with a priest at either side of him with similar clothes.

He started chanting in a different language with his hands out in front of him. The sky above started to darken and gray clouds gathered. Rodney made a face as he put his hands over his head, hoping to shelter himself from possible rain.

"May the leaders come forth," Euphrosyne said.

John looked at Elizabeth with an uneasy glance and she returned it with a reassuring smile. They both stepped forward, with John staying close Elizabeth, as the chanting resumed.

The two priests beside Euphrosyne stepped forward, both holding a ceramic bowl with clear liquid, and trailed a line of the liquid from their forehead to the bridge of their nose and repeated this to the others. After that was done, they returned the bowls to a stand. One picked up two red strings while the other picked up five blue strings. The first tied the red string around both John and Elizabeth's wrists. The other did the same to Teyla, Aiden, Rodney, Stackhouse and Markus with the blue strings.

There was one more last chant before all became quiet as two drops of rain hit both John and Elizabeth's head but neither of them moved incase they did something wrong. A moment passed before the clouds above cleared and the sunshine came through. Rodney sighed in relief that no water got on him.

"The ancestors have given us permission." Euphrosyne smiled at the two Atlantean leaders.

"What just happened?" John asked, still looking at the sky.

"You were linked with the ancestors. You may return home with your first delivery."

Elizabeth returned the smile. "Thank you, Euphrosyne. We appreciate this greatly."

"No, no! We are delighted to have you as our friends."

The seven bowed as they made their way back to the jumper with a week worth of food.

"This stuff, thankfully, taste like Earth food." said Rodney as he scooped a bit of what looked like ice cream into his mouth. John, Teyla, Rodney, Ford and Elizabeth were eating a substitute for ice cream that the Eirenes had given them in Elizabeth's office, as a little celebration.

They all nodded happily as they watched various members of the Atlantis exhibition eat variety of foods below them on the gate level and in the control room. By the time they finished, they realized that it was getting quite late and decided to turn in. Elizabeth lingered behind, wanting to finish up some work that she hadn't finished.

"Uh, big no-no there." Elizabeth looked up at John.

"Come on John, I just need to finish this. I'll be finished soon."

"Well, in that case if you're going to be done soon, I'll wait for you to finish up." He put on a small grin, which made Elizabeth smile. John slumped in the chair opposite of hers and leaned back.

Ten minutes had passed before he sat up and walked around the table to look at what she was doing that was so important. He leaned so close to her that she felt his breath on he neck. She paused in her typing and closed her eyes for a moment before snapping them open.

"You're a distraction, you know that?"

"Yep!" he answered back, his usual smug grin in place directed at Elizabeth.

She sighed and massaged her temples. "Okay! I'm off to bed."

"Great! I'll walk you to your room." John smiled at Elizabeth who in turn looked up at him questioningly.

"I'm not going to get abducted on the way to my room right?"

"No! It's just because your room is on the way to mine."

"Point taken." Thus, they walked along side down the corridors to their respective quarters.

"Astarea, I'm sorry. Good-bye," said a man with green eyes as he caressed his lover's cheek before leaving her quarters.

"Apollyon," mumbled the asleep female.

Elizabeth woke up with a start with beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. Her breath was shallow and she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She looked out the window of her quarters as she recalled the dream. 'It's the same man from the other time…'

Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her eyes before swinging her legs over her bed to dress for the day ahead. She tied the laces of her boots and stretched as the sun shone through the room, sunlight pooling the room. She reached over and accessed her radio, looping it over her ear, tapping it twice making sure that it wasn't broken. As she walked down the hall whilst pushing her thoughts of the dream out of her head, John had just exited his own quarters down the hall from hers. Elizabeth smiled to him and he fell into step with her. In Elizabeth's opinion, he looked as if he just woken up and got dressed in a rush.

"Had a bad dream?" Elizabeth shot him a sideways glance.

"Yeah, oddest thing. I think it was set in Atlantis but it looked different…"

"There's been energy being used throughout Atlantis, yes, but one of the unexplored areas has been getting more energy then the other unexplored places." Atlantis One was presently seating around the table in the briefing room with Rodney explaining to Elizabeth about the unusual power consumption in the unexplored areas of the city.

"And you want to go down there and find out for yourself why it's doing that, correct?" Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. Rodney nodded.

"Well hang on, why are you noticing it now?" John asked Rodney, leaning forward in his seat.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure but it only started recently. Who knows what we might find there, maybe it's a weapon to defend ourselves from the Wraith."

"Okay Doctor, you have a go. Report in when you reach the area."

tbc...

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