"Welcome!" The rotund, ruddy-cheeked inn-keeper rushed to the door to greet the newcomers. "Travelers, welcome! Come, come. Have you travelled far? Of course you have, I can tell by your dress."
Rodney McKay looked at John Sheppard, who shrugged and followed the large man further into the dark, dank, and yet lively saloon.
"Please!" The man gushed. "I am Garleen. This is my place. Come; enjoy my food, my drinks, and my women."
Ronon grinned until John shook his head, slightly, then he swallowed it.
"We'll take the food and drink," John said. "But we'll wait a while for the women, if it's okay."
"Of course, of course!" The man stopped at a round table. "Please! Sit! I will get your food and drink."
As they sat, John frowned. "This is a bit different."
Rodney looked around. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
Teyla's eyebrow rose. "'A gift horse'?"
He grimaced. "It's an idiom that means to be grateful and not question when something good happens."
Her eyebrow rose. "And since when do you embrace this philosophy?"
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Hello? When there's food involved."
The four travelers from Atlantis sat and began to enjoy their food and drink, keeping an eye out on the locals and speaking, from time to time, to the inn-keeper about who was in charge of the town and trade.
After a time, a woman walked over to their table. She wasn't the first to do so, but she was different than the others. Instead of being dressed in skimpy dresses designed to gain monetary favors from intoxicated patrons, she was dressed in a figure-friendly, deep V-necked, long-sleeved blue and black shirt, tight-fitting black pants and heeled, black boots. Her hair was long and dark, falling in waves over her shoulders and down her back. In the dim light of the tavern, it was hard to tell what color her eyes were exactly, but they were definitely light in color. She took up a position near the table, standing between where John and Ronon sat, and directly across from Rodney.
"Excuse me," she smiled, softly, with a hint of timidity. "I'm so sorry to interrupt your meal, but I had to ask you a question."
John put his drink down and swallowed looking up at her. "Sure," he smiled.
She looked over her shoulder at a couple of men who sat, smiling, next to the window. "One of them said you were Lantean. Is it true?"
Ronon looked over at the men, who were trying to hide their faces in their ale as if to hide their laughter. He leaned forward to look at John with a smirk in his eyes.
John, in his typical fashion, was cryptic with his answer. "Let's just say that we're from out of town."
She smiled at him and ducked her head. "I'm sorry to be so forward, really. It's just that your equipment looks like none I've ever seen and I thought…well, I was wondering if you knew someone I've heard of and wondered if you knew the truth about him." She shrugged. Then she looked down at Ronon. "Well, it looks like I'm a fool. You are clearly Satedan."
Ronon's eyebrows rose and he smiled up at her. "How would you know that?"
She put a finger to her neck, mirroring where his tattoo was printed. "Your rank."
He nodded. "Well, you're right."
She nodded. "I'm sorry. Serves me right for listening to those drunkards." She stiffened and took a deep breath, like one about to face doom.
"Hold on, there, Miss?" John held up a hand.
"Abrina," she pronounced.
"Abrina," he smiled a small smile up at her. "Who is this person you're looking for? Maybe we've heard something about him."
She smiled and knelt slightly so that she pretty much sat on her heels. This gave both Ronon and John a nice view of her assets as she spoke.
Teyla rolled her eyes and took another sip of her ale.
"Well, he is supposed to be tall and good-looking, with a quick tongue and wry wit. I'm told that he is a fantastic fighter and an exceptional strategist." She smiled, almost dreamily. "I've also been told that he…" she blushed. "Well, let's just say he's rumored to have a way with women."
John traded looks with Ronon, whose smile widened.
"Oh, brother," Rodney muttered. "And does this lothario have a name?"
She stood and focused on him. "Well, you probably don't know him, because he's supposed to be Lantean."
John smiled up at her. "Well, we do travel a lot, maybe we've heard of him."
Ronon smiled. "Sounds like an interesting guy."
"Give me a break," Rodney rolled his eyes.
"His name is supposed to be John Sheppard."
Teyla choked on her drink. Ronon's grin turned into a laugh. John's smile dissolved, and Rodney crossed his arms.
"Of course, it is."
"Rodney," John warned.
She looked down at him, then over at Rodney with renewed interest. "Rodney is a very unusual name."
Rodney paled. "It is?"
She tilted her head. "You wouldn't happen to be Doctor Rodney McKay, the Lantean scientist who is said to have aided the Genii with the creation of their super weapon? He's said to be an essential part of John Sheppard's team. But you're not him," she leaned forward, across the table. "Are you?"
Faced with the deep cleavage in front of him as well as light eyes glowing at him under ebony waves of hair, Rodney forgot who he was.
John looked over Abrina's rounded rear-end as she was bent over the table between him and Ronon.
"Ah, Miss Abrina," John said, finally. "Could I have a word with you?"
He stood and she straightened to face him. "I was so hoping you would, Colonel Sheppard," she said, coolly.
Suddenly, the sounds of weapons being charged and cocked filled the tavern. Two were aimed at Ronon's head and others were aimed at Rodney and Teyla as well as John.
Abrina smiled up at him. She sidled up so close that their bodies almost touched. Then, with hooded eyes she reached out and moved her hand across his hip to relieve him of his 9 mm.
"Mistress," a man said, curtly from behind. "He has a knife as well."
She smiled up at him. "I really don't think the great John Sheppard would stoop so low as to stab an unarmed woman."
"Well, technically," John said, his eyes narrowed over a humorless smile. "You're not unarmed. You have my gun in your hand."
She raised her eyebrows and smiled in such a way that John's mind immediately followed hers to the gutter. Before he really had a chance to squirm, however, she placed the weapon on the table behind her, where another man picked it so that it would stay out of reach of Ronon or Teyla.
"All I want to do, Colonel, is talk."
"Oh, yeah, right! Then why do you need all the guns?" Rodney's voice pitched slightly higher.
She shrugged. "Call it security, Dr. McKay." Her eyes did not waver from John's. "Before you agree to talk to me, however, I must be honest with you." She set her mouth into a wry smile. "My name is Abrina." Her left eyebrow rose. "Abrina Kolya."
John's eyebrows rose. He swallowed, then smiled, half-heartedly. "Sister?"
"Daughter."
He swallowed again and looked at Rodney, who went from being perturbed to terrified. He looked back down at her and grimaced. "Sorry."
Her eyes were green. He could see that clearly as she stepped closer to him. So close that he could smell her and feel heat from her. Her eyes narrowed.
"Do not start our conversation with more lies or evasions, Colonel."
His eyebrows rose then knitted together. He looked around. "So, you just want to talk, right?"
She nodded. "Just talk."
"So why don't your guys put their weapons down and we'll all sit and talk."
Her smile widened. "A member of your team is a Satedan Wraith Runner. And Teyla Emmagan is well known among the Genii. I think my men will remain armed, but you and I can take a walk, if it will make you feel more comfortable."
She motioned toward the door and he looked at her, then to his team and the men holding weapons on them. Finally, he nodded and stepped away from the table.
Outside, she looked up to the sky at the two moons. He looked at her. Then, she looked at him.
"So, the rumor is that you killed my father." She said, without preamble.
He swallowed. "It's true." His eyebrows drew together. "But, to be fair, he tried to kill me first. Four times."
She looked at him and shook her head. "Acostas Kolya didn't try to kill anyone. He either did or he didn't."
John shrugged. "Well, he obviously didn't, but he did get close several times."
She crossed her arms and looked at him.
"He took my friends hostage and tried to have me killed. Then he threatened to leave me buried alive and poisoned. Then he took me hostage and fed me to a Wraith. Then he took my friends hostage again and tried to have me killed, again. I just outdrew him."
She studied him. "So, he's definitely dead."
He was concerned with this, but he answered. "Yes."
"You saw him buried. You can show me his grave."
He frowned. "Uh, no. I mean, I assumed that his men took him and buried him according to the Genii customs."
She frowned back at him. "Then how can you be sure he's dead?"
John looked at her like she was crazy. "I shot him in the heart!"
She frowned. "Acostas Kolya didn't have a heart, Colonel. So, unless you saw him buried and can show me the grave or you burned his body, don't assume." She poked his chest with each of the last two words.
"You're not well."
Her intensity turned to a smile. "The fruit falls rather close to the roots, I'm afraid."
He glanced back inside. "So, is there a really good reason you couldn't just ask, without the guns drawn?"
She smiled. "Are you feeling" she glanced down at his waist with a slight pause. "naked without your weapon?"
His eyebrows rose again and he took a breath. "I wouldn't say that, exactly."
She pouted. "Well, I hope you understand that I must be cautious. My father had many enemies and my men would expect me to avenge my father's death," he voice lowered. "Even after everything...." She sighed. "Many of them were hired when I was just a child by my father to act as my personal body guards." She moved toward a fence that was next to the building.
John followed. "I take it you and your father didn't get along."
She offered a very small smile. "When I was ten, my mother died. My father hired a group of men to act as my teachers, and guardians. Then he left. He would come to my home once a year, around my birthday, to evaluate my progress and give me an 'inspirational' talk. As I got older, those talks began ending with arguments." She looked up at him and smiled. "When I was eighteen, I fell in love with one of my instructors, a newly hired, young man only a few years older than I. I thought he was the stars," she smiled, dreamily. "I confided in my personal body guard and asked him to cover for me when I snuck out to meet him."
Her look turned dark. "My father found out and had him killed. I dismissed the guard who had betrayed me and refused my father's demands to reinstate him. I rebelled like I never had before."
She examined her hands. "I approached his second-in-command, his best friend. I seduced him and arranged an illicit meeting that my father would 'accidentally' walk in on."
John grimaced. "Ouch."
She lifted her chin. "You must understand that I was in love with the man my father had killed. I wanted to hurt him as he'd hurt me. His second-in-command was like a brother to him. When my father found us together, he had no choice."
John nodded. "Kolya killed him."
She nodded. "I thought it would make me happy, but I felt as much guilt and responsibility for this man's death as I had for the young man I loved. So, I ran away."
John frowned; he looked back to the door. "But your friends…?"
She smiled. "A couple of years later, they found me and told me that my father had put bounties on their heads and one on mine. My bounty would be paid only if I was returned alive. Theirs would be paid dead or alive. They pledged their loyalty to me and we have hidden from him ever since."
"Well, I guess you can stop hiding, now."
She shook her head. "Not until I see his dead body."
He frowned and moved closer to her. "Look. I'm sorry about everything you've been through, but I can assure you he's dead."
She looked up at him and touched his vest. "I hope you're right," she said, softly. "because if you're not, he will come after you again. It has been many years since I ran away and, still, he hunts." She held his gaze intently. "I apologize for the weapons. I live a life that is completely dependent on caution. I do not take chances."
He shrugged with his face and a corner of his mouth tilted up. "I understand."
She continued, holding his gaze. "I would rather count you as a friend rather than an enemy."
He smiled, slightly. "I like friends."
Abrina smiled back. "Me, too." She stepped back. "Shall we get back before your Satedan kills one of my men?"
As they started walking back, John chuckled. "If he hasn't already."
Soft laughter accompanied her next statement. "If he has, I'll wager he's killed them all. Then I will be coming home with you."
"I don't have that kind of luck," he said, lowly, looking her up and down from his position two steps behind her.
Abrina stopped and turned to look at him. Her smile was wide and her eyebrow was up.
John lifted his hands in a surrender motion, with an innocent look.
She laughed and shook her head, continuing to the door of the inn. He reached around her to open the door for her and she put her hand on his hand on the handle. Since he was bent, slightly, to get the door knob, when she turned to look at him, their faces were inches apart.
"Don't trust the Genii," she said, huskily. "As long as there is one person in the government who has ever worked for Cowan or my father, they will betray you."
He looked down at her mouth as she spoke. "But you're Genii," he responded in a whisper.
She looked at his mouth, then back up to his eyes. "Exactly," she smiled and whispered.
He narrowed his eyes again. "H…h…how about we go inside?" He straightened, opening the door.
Her smile widened. "Good idea."
When they walked in, she waved for the men to put the guns away and walked, saucily, over to Ronon, who glared on her. "Mr. Garleen," she called, looking down at Ronon with a smile. "a round of ale for my new friends."
Ronon stood and looked down at her, menacingly.
She smiled widely at him. "If you want, Mr. Dex," she winked. "You get beat the pulp out of me later. Right now, I'm thirsty."
Rodney approached John and whispered. "You killed her father and now we're all friends?"
He watched her as he answered. "She's Genii."
Rodney nodded, understanding and grunted. "Hmm. That explains it."