Disclaimer: I own nothing save the original characters.

Author'sNote: Okay, this story came from several places. First of all, it came from a conversation on the Carson Beckett Challenges and Fun thread on Gateworld. Pisces317 mentioned a line in the episode "Tower," where Carson said, "I really need to stop makin' house calls." She wondered if there was a story in there. Secondly, I was inspired by the realization of what Apostle Paul went through during his life and ministry, in particular the times he was beaten. It came up during church one night, and I couldn't get this idea out of my head. I should warn you that this is a whump fic, not a ship fic. :) There are some very delicate issues discussed in this first chapter, including domestic abuse. I've kept it to a T rating, but I wanted to put a warning in here of some very adult subjects that aren't overly done but under the surface. Also, this story is only four chapters and is completely written. It will post on Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and it will not interfere with Those Who Survive for everyone following that story.

Also, in uploading this story, the server decided to remove the spaces in a good chunk of it. So I've gone through and added the spaces back in. If you catch any spelling errors, please let me know so that I can correct them. Special thanks to pisces317 and GraceW for the beta. Set just after "Conversion," and will contain spoilers for anything up to "Conversion" and the episode "The Tower." So, all that said, hope you enjoy! ~lg

oOo

He woke slowly. Lying on his stomach, he had a limited line of sight, but what he saw made him frown. Sunlight peeked through cracks in a crude, thatched roof and walls made of thin stalks of bamboo or some other reed of similar appearance. Barely enough to keep out any inclement weather, it did little to warm the occupants. His bed was constructed of the same bamboo stalks with a thin cloth stretched across them like a hammock. It was surprisingly comfortable for the moment, but his neck muscles begged to be stretched. Moving his head caused pain to erupt, and he groaned in agony.

"Shh." The voice was soft and hoarse. A form moved, and he felt cool hands touch his bare shoulders. "You should not move."

Blinking at the instructions, he ground his teeth together and turned his head. The simple action sent shards down his spine and across his back. He felt the pull of open wounds and squeezed his eyes shut to hide the tears. He wasn't crying because of his circumstance so much as how badly it hurt. "Bloody. . . .!" He broke off the curse when he saw his nurse.

A young woman, wearing a shapeless brown dress, sat next to the low bed. She smiled at him, but the bruise around her eye, combined with the split lip, made it seem sad rather than comforting. She rinsed a rag in a bowl of pink-tinged water and moved to lay it over the pain in his back. "I know how badly this hurts, but it will help."

"Wha' is it?"

"Just water." She smiled again, and her eyes showed compassion. "But it cools the sting a bit."

"Ye've had this happen to ye?"

"Yes." Her smile faded, but the compassion in her eyes only grew. "You should not have interfered."

He blinked again, this time in confusion. Having just come out of an unconscious state, no doubt suffering a concussion, his memories were vague at best. The girl was familiar, as was the hand-shaped bruise around her neck, but he had no memory. . . .

Staring at that bruise, Carson Beckett suddenly remembered.

oOo

It had been a bright, fall day when Carson stepped through the Stargate. Back on Atlantis, it was the middle of a very hot, very muggy summer. He'd experienced such weather before, but it was much cooler in his native Scotland. Positioned near the equator of the planet, Atlantis always managed to make him grateful for environmental controls. But this weather was eerily familiar. As was the landscape. A few ruins around the gate indicated what once had been a grand stone arch over the path, but they'd been overgrown by grass and moss. The mountains rose from one side, and he smiled happily. It looked almost identical to Glencoe.

Lieutenant Baker led the way down the path, the remainder of his team closing ranks around Carson. He followed with a sigh, the heavy backpack on his shoulders not quite bouncing as a result of how tightly he kept the straps. He carried another heavy pack in his hand, this one full of various medications and equipment. He couldn't know exactly what he'd face given the cryptic summons. Colonel Sheppard usually came to this world with his team to conduct the trades. Carson had come once before, when the wife of the village elder gave birth to their first child. That time, he'd been tense but focused. He knew what he was facing given that the midwife was unable to help the mother deliver the breech baby. This visit, however, set his teeth on edge.

First of all, Colonel Sheppard and his team were off world on another mission, as were Major Lorne and his team. Lieutenant Baker was a recent addition to Atlantis, and he'd been told to "keep an eye" on Carson. He'd taken those instructions seriously and signaled his newly-formed team to close ranks. Feeling a bit smothered and more than a little uncomfortable with the silence, Carson trudged behind Baker on their way into town.

Even the village resembled something straight out of medieval Scotland. The homes, called crofts like back on Earth, were whitewashed and neatly kept. The largest of these crofts housed the village elder, and the people raised animals in the hills. The familiarity of the setting helped Carson to relax as children and adults alike greeted them. He waved as they made their way to the elder's home.

Dougal, who resembled a Highland lord without the kilt, blinked at his visitors, his eyes not recognizing anyone until they reached Carson. "Dr. Beckett. This is a surprise."

Stepping forward to greet a man he'd managed to impress the first time he'd been here, Carson nodded. "Aye. We were told ye had an injured servant girl?"

Dougal's eyes hardened, and he turned to his young wife behind him. "Eilis?"

"Yes, I called them." Her blue eyes dropped suddenly. "I thought she could use the help."

Dougal regarded his wife for a long moment and then stepped back to admit his visitors. "Come inside, Dr. Beckett." He closed the door firmly. "I am certain it is a simple injury. There is no need for you to trouble yourself, particularly since you've got Atlantis to attend to."

Sensing the man was trying to keep him from something, Carson waved a hand. "Och, it's no trouble a'tall." Being in surroundings that reminded him of his home, his accent naturally thickened. "Since I'm here, why don't I take a look at the lass?"

Dougal and his wife exchanged another glance, and Carson saw Baker shift on his feet. So he wasn't the only person to pick up on the unspoken messages after all. Finally, Dougal nodded sharply. "My wife will show you to her." The way he said it made Carson wonder what had happened between Dougal and this servant girl.

Eilis led Carson and his team down the long corridor toward the rear of the home. While he wasn't a fan of a feudal society, Carson understood that it was a necessary stop in the development of these people. From what Colonel Sheppard had said, the people were fair with everyone, and he'd once believed it. Now, he wasn't so certain.

Eilis left the main croft and pushed the door open in yet another, smaller cottage. No more than one room, light poured through a single window to illuminate a huddled form on the floor. The young woman cringed away from the newcomers, and Carson turned to Baker. "Lieutenant, wait outside. I don't want ta frighten the poor lass any more than need be."

Baker watched Eilis scurry back to the croft and nodded once. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Aye, I will." Carson closed the door behind him, noting the crumbling walls of the place and how sunlight peeked through the roof. This cottage was in shambles and likely became very cold at night. No glass covered the window, and the young girl had a thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She sat on the only bit of comfort in the entire one-room house: a limp mattress that likely wasn't any softer than the floor. She didn't look at him, her dark, tangled hair hiding her face, and Carson had no problems summoning a gentle smile. Setting his gear next to the door, he sighed. "Hello, love. My name is Carson. Do ye mind if I take a look at ye?"

The head slowly lifted to look at the window, hair still concealing the owner's identity. Carson wondered why the girl was so frightened of having him see her face and then realized that it was likely a very embarrassing injury. Especially given the tension between Eilis and Dougal. Finally, she sighed, indicated by a heaving of her shoulders, and turned to face him.

"Dear Lord!" The single ray of light from the window revealed the pretty young face marred by an eye so swollen its green iris could barely be seen. Still, he recognized her and rushed toward her. Crouching in front of his patient, he made sure to meet her tortured gaze. "Reya, what happened?"

She opened and closed her mouth several times, her eyes returning to the window and giving him a chance to assess her injuries. She held the blanket around herself like a cloak, trying to ward off more than just a physical chill. Her lip had been split, and the black eye had an accompanying bruise across her neck. Finally, she swallowed with difficulty. "I cannot say."

Carson's eyes slid shut at the raspy voice that came from her mouth. The last time he'd been to visit, Reya had been the excited half-sister of the wee bairn, not this frightened, battered woman. Dougal's daughter had always worn the best his people had to offer, even if she seemed distant from her father. Now, she had on a shapeless brown dress that looked suspiciously like burlap.

Carson rocked back on his heel and gently lifted her chin to study the bruise there. Aye, that's a hand print, he thought. Letting her lower her head to maintain her shame, he kept his voice soft. "Did he touch ye anywhere else?"

Her eyes flew to his, and Carson's heart sank. Before he could do much more than assume the worst, she shook her head. "No." She swallowed again, clearly trying to help her voice return. "No, he didn't. But. . . ."

"But what?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "My child. . . ." She couldn't continue, but Carson didn't need her to tell him the entire story. He wanted to pull her into his arms but kept his hand on her shoulder instead. She drew in a deep, ragged breath. "It is over. I told Eilis that I would be fine, but she insisted you come to see me. I told her that Father would be angry, but she did not listen."

Feeling his own temper rising, Carson pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. The anger that stirred was deeper than anything he'd ever felt, and he wanted to actually hit someone. Instead, he gently squeezed Reya's shoulder. "Well, I'm here, and I'll make sure you're well before I leave."

oOo

He'd been a fool. Carson watched Reya as she carried the bowl of bloodied water to the other side of the hut—about ten feet away—and set it next to the door. A hand reached down and pulled it out of her grasp before it hit the dust, and a new one soon appeared. She carried it back over to his side, her face regretful.

"Dr. Beckett, I am. . . .You should not have. . . ."

"Call me 'Carson,' love." Even in his condition, he hated the formality. "And I only did wha' any good, self-respectin' man would ha'e done."

She smiled slightly. "You are a good man, Carson," she said, using his given name as her smile faded. "Just like my husband."

Carson blinked at her and then hissed as she used the last clean rag to finish cleansing his wounds. "Husband?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes." She glanced at him. "I am sorry for the pain. But it will help."

"Aye, I know." He nodded and allowed her to finish her ministrations. It hurt more than just about anything ever had, but he made no further sound until she'd finished. When she sat back and dropped to the ground, he met her eyes. "Reya, you're married?"

She nodded. "Two weeks."

"An' the child?" he asked softly, knowing it was a very sensitive subject.

"Would have been born in six lunar cycles." She met his eyes. "Please. Do not judge me for what I did. My husband and I were forbidden from even socializing for years. Then, when Eilis came, I was given some liberty. I went directly to him, and we. . . ." She trailed off as her face flushed, clearly knowing he didn't need her to spell it out. "When I realized the truth, I—we married. Without Father's knowledge."

"Ye eloped?"

She scowled. "Eloped? I do not understand."

"'Tis wha' we call it back on Earth." Carson moved to push himself up, but his shoulders wouldn't handle his weight. He fell back onto the cot with a frustrated growl.

Reya jumped to her feet and rushed over. "Do not move yet." Her cool hand pushed him down ever so gently. "Give yourself another hour, and then you should be able to change position."

Knowing she was right, Carson nodded. He needed to get out of this hut, where the heat had begun to build some time ago. But he had no weapons, and his Atlantis uniform had been shredded and likely burned. Still, infection could set in no matter how tenderly Reya treated his wounds. The situation, already serious, could turn deadly within only a short time. And that wasn't even counting the problems with Baker.

oOo

Carson stormed from the cottage so quickly that he startled Baker. The lieutenant jumped nearly out of his skin and frowned. "Doctor?"

Carson ignored him and marched directly into the croft. Eilis was in the main room of the home, holding her six-month-old son in a rocker. "Where is he?"

She blinked up at him, the baby fretting as she tried to maintain a cool demeanor. "I beg your pardon?"

"Dougal. Where is he?"

She sighed, and her eyes dropped to her son. "I am sorry I deceived you, saying it was a servant girl. But you must understand that behavior such as Reya's is frowned upon here."

"Behavior? Ye mean the way a man an' woman act who are married?" Carson hated being so blunt, but something was clearly wrong with this situation.

Eilis looked at him again, her face resigned. "I am sorry, Dr. Beckett. But you must understand. . . ."

"Och, I understand!" he interrupted. "I understand that Reya's unborn child was lost because of what her father did to her. I understand that she's bein' punished for somethin' that ye yourself have. Now. Where. Is. He?"

She pointed down the hallway. "Third door to the right."

Carson stormed off without so much as a "by your leave." Baker had finally caught up to him and tried to stop him with a hand on his arm, but he brushed off the young lieutenant. He was much too angry to slow down, especially with a patient heartbroken and so frightened that she refused to tell him the truth of her injuries. At the door Eilis had indicated, Carson rushed through and strode across the room to plant two heavy palms on the sturdy desk. Dougal jumped backwards in his chair, the ink from his quill leaving an ugly smear across his ledger.

The elder regained his composure within seconds. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I'll tell ye wha' the meanin' is!" Carson straightened and would have come around the desk if not for Baker's cleared throat behind him. "Your daughter is in tha' hole of a cottage, sufferin' because o' your cruelty!"

"I have no daughter." The cold statement told every person in the room what they didn't want to hear. "She died."

"She bloody well did not die!" Carson met the man's eyes. "I've just come from treatin' her injuries, an' I must say they're worse than you could understand."

"I understand the injuries, Dr. Beckett." Dougal's voice dropped several octaves, taking on a dangerous tone. "I know quite well what her injuries are, and I know what the punishment will be."

"Punishment? Hasn't she suffered enough?"

"She conceived a child out of wedlock and proceeded to run off with the father of the child. When I found them, they were illegally married."

"Illegally?"

"Yes." Dougal's superior smirk finally appeared. "It is illegal for a servant to marry without her lord's permission, and she did so. Therefore, she will suffer the punishment."

"An' the punishment is?"

"In one hour, she will be taken to the center of town and flogged."

"The wee lass has just lost her child!" Carson's voice rose along with his anger. "She cannae be handlin' a floggin' just now! Ye'll kill her!"

Dougal stared back at him, his eyes glittering harshly. "It is hardly my concern."

"Aye, it is your concern!" Carson insisted. "She's your daughter!"

"I've told you, Dr.Beckett, I have no daughter." Dougal's green eyes met angry blue ones. "I have a servant who broke the law and will bear the consequences."

"Not if I can help it." Carson's low words surprised even him. He'd often wondered how men could treat their women in such horrible fashion, and he'd always tried to be a buffer between those he cared about and the cruelties of the world. Still, he failed quite often and usually consoled himself with doing as much as he possibly could.

Dougal studied Carson closely. "There is only one way to prevent it, Dr. Beckett. Unless you decide to take her place, you cannot stop the punishment from happening. You will be safely back on Atlantis before then."

Still angrier than he'd been since coming to Atlantis, Carson blinked rapidly. "Take her place?"

"Yes." Dougal smiled again. "There is a law among our people. If one feels their loved one cannot handle the punishment or is being treated unfairly, that person can trade places, taking the punishment upon themselves. Both will be imprisoned for a set amount of time, and both will be released. But the severity of the punishment falls upon the one who intervenes."

Behind him, Baker shifted nervously. "Doc." The warning in his tone sounded much like Sheppard's voice at that moment. Carson held Dougal's glare, weighing his options. He wasn't a soldier or trained to handle these kinds of situations. He was a medical doctor, a healer. What kind of healing could he do if he was flogged? If he took the punishment—something Elizabeth would likely not forgive him for doing—he'd be unable to treat any patient for a long time. If he didn't, however, an innocent woman would die.

That made his decision. "I'll do it."

The soft answer created a stir. Baker erupted indignantly and tried to intervene. Dougal physically stopped the lieutenant, saying that their law prevented anyone from interfering the proceedings once they'd begun. And by agreeing, Carson had begun the proceedings. Of course, Baker fought back, and the resulting fight drew men from Dougal's property who overwhelmed the young lieutenant and his team quite quickly. Carson watched stoically, determined to see this through. In the process of the fight, Baker landed one good punch on Dougal's face, and the village elder roared in anger. By the end of the chaos, Baker and his team had been wrestled into what passed for a jail cell, their weapons taken by virtue of sheer numbers.

Carson remained unmoved by it all, his course already set. He kept the stoic expression on his face as he was unceremoniously dragged from the room. He stayed expressionless as Dougal shoved Reya into the village square. And he managed to hang on to his dignity as he was tied to the whipping post. Aye, compassion had a price, he realized. And he'd pay it gladly, if only to save Reya from experiencing this for herself.

He clenched his jaw as his jacket was torn from his body, the force causing the fabric to cut into him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he stayed silent as the first crack of the whip struck his back.

oOo

John Sheppard walked back through the gate with a pleasant expression on his face. Elizabeth rushed to meet him and his team as the wormhole closed behind them. She looked worried, something he'd learned to read in her expressions throughout the last eighteen or so months. "What happened?"

She gave him a rueful smile and sighed. "Dr. Beckett's team is an hour late for check-in."

"Beckett's off world?"

"Yes." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Just after you left, we received a call for assistance from M48-217."

"The Scottish planet?" John asked. The nickname had stuck after Carson's last visit, when he'd virtually gushed on and on about how similar the world looked to Scotland.

"Yes, the Scottish planet." Elizabeth included Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon in her report. "We received word that Dougal needed Beckett's assistance. I sent him through with Lieutenant Baker and his team. They're an hour overdue."

"And you're worried." John glanced at his team. "Well, we just came from walking through meadows, picking flowers, and talking about how much of a giant waste of time our mission was. We'll check it out."

"Thank you." Elizabeth turned to Chuck. "Dial it up."

As the Stargate began dialing, John watched impassively. The last time Beckett had been off world, John had paid the price. He'd turned into a bug, and only Beckett's medical brilliance had saved his life. He refused to consider anything less than bringing the doctor home.

~TBC