Title: Trespassers
Summary: Lorne and his team are in trouble. Can they get themselves out or will Sheppard have to do the honors?
Word Count: 3723
Rating: FRT
Warnings: Violence ahead. No spoilers.
Disclaimer: Since you don't see this on TV, I obviously don't own SGA. People far luckier (and wealthier) than I possess them.
Author's Notes: Not beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Written for a LJ challenge.
---
Rodney McKay, John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir sat in her office, going over reports when the alarm for gate activation went off. They raced into the control room, where they were told that it was an unscheduled offworld activation and that no IDC had been received.
Rodney looked over Chuck, the gate tech's shoulder, waiting to see if an IDC came. But none did, and the gate shut down.
"Did we get anything?" Elizabeth demanded.
"Negative, ma'am. No transmissions or any other signals, nothing hit the shield…" Chuck shrugged.
"What offworld teams do we have?" Sheppard asked Elizabeth.
"SGA Two and three. Major Lorne is out with Dr. Parrish while Sgt. Stackhouse is accompanying Dr. Neville to 217," Elizabeth answered. "Stackhouse reported in two hours ago, everything was fine."
"And when was the last time Lorne checked in?" Sheppard asked.
"They haven't, sir," Chuck answered. "They're first check-in was over an hour ago."
Sheppard looked up to meet Rodney's gaze, who wasn't looking back at him. Rodney was looking at the computer screen, though he couldn't imagine what the scientist would be looking at. But John didn't get a chance to ask as Elizabeth stepped in.
"Dial the Gate. I want to radio Major Lorne," she said, and Chuck immediately complied.
"Lorne, this is Weir, come in," she said, then repeated when no answer was received.
"Nothing, ma'am," Chuck said when the gate shut down.
"John…" she began.
"Rodney, be ready in 15. I'll let Teyla and Ronon know," the commanding officer said, then turned to head out before getting any reply from Elizabeth.
"Anything Rodney?" she asked, seeing that McKay had barely acknowledged Sheppard's order.
"Nothing," he sighed. "I was just checking to see if a signal of some sort came through, but the sensors didn't pick up anything. I guess we'll have to see for ourselves what happened."
---
"This kind of thing only happens to Sheppard's team," Lieutenant Justin Dillon said, pulling against the chains that tethered his wrists to the wall behind him.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Lorne drawled. He'd already run out of self-extraction ideas, and was hoping to be inspired, but so far, nothing was coming.
"When do you think Atlantis will realize something went wrong?" Lieutenant Brian Coffey asked.
"Depends on how fast Parrish ran," Lorne replied, "And if he got back to Atlantis. But, at the most, I'd say not long. Colonel Sheppard gets picky when a team misses a check-in by more than a few hours."
The conversation ended when the door open, and a haggard and roughed-up Parrish was tossed into the room, landing awkwardly in front of Lorne.
"He's one of yours," one of their captors sneered.
"Yes," Lorne replied, biting the sigh that would normally go with that. "He's our botanist."
"Botanist?" the captor repeated, taking a couple steps toward the Major.
"Someone who studies plants," Lorne defined after seeing that Parrish scrambled away from the man who threw him in the room.
The man snorted, then said, "Doesn't sound useful."
"Yeah, well, we like him," Lorne replied.
He got a fist to the stomach, and he couldn't do anything but take it. He bit his lip to keep quiet, only a rush of air came out of his mouth.
"You're the leader too," the man said.
"Yes," Lorne said, gritting his teeth a bit.
"Did you tell him to run?"
"Yes," Lorne answered, there was no point in lying. He'd ordered Parrish to run to the gate and get help. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
A black eye and a split lip later, Lorne could only watch as Parrish was chained to the wall like he, Dillon and Coffey. Then they were left alone.
"I…I'm sorry, Major," Parrish stuttered as Lorne tried wiping the corner of his mouth with his shoulder.
"Not your fault," Lorne replied, then spit blood onto the floor. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Parrish answered. "I'm fine. Little rough around the edges."
Lorne narrowed his eyes at the lanky doctor, trying to do his own once-over with a swelling eye. All-in-all, Parrish looked alright, but Lorne wanted a second opinion.
"Coffey, what do you think?" he asked, nicking his head toward Parrish.
"The doc looks better than you," Coffey answered, and Lorne was satisfied with that.
"Look, if anyone gets any ideas on how we're getting the Hell out of here, just let me know," Lorne sighed, shifting his weight from one leg to another.
"This may not be a suggestion," Parrish began. "But I managed to…establish a wormhole before I was taken. I didn't get to tell them anything, but…"
"They'll know something's up," Coffey finished. "Might just get help here earlier."
Since their watches had been taken, no one knew how long it was until several of their captors arrived again, including the leader that had identified himself as Novil when they were captured.
"What's this?" a captor demanded of Dillon, who moved his head back an inch just so he could focus on what was being held right in front of his face.
Dillon chanced a glance at Lorne, who nodded slightly. "A radio," the young Marine answered. "It's to communicate with other people. We all have one."
"And the others like you?"
"Yeah, them too."
"Which one of you is called Lorne?" the same man demanded.
"I am," he replied, then watched as the man walked to stand in front of him.
"Someone is calling you," the man stated.
"They're looking for us," Lorne replied. "We're late getting back."
"We wouldn't have this problem if you didn't trespass on our sacred land," Novil said, who was standing in front of Parrish.
"We wouldn't have if it were marked," Coffey offered.
But instead of Coffey taking a fist to the gut, Lorne got it instead from another captor. This time, Lorne couldn't help the grunt that escaped since he hadn't seen that one coming. Dillon and Coffey protested and struggled against their restraints until Novil quieted them.
"The leader takes the punishment for his soldiers," Novil told them, then looked over at Lorne. "I am still deciding on the proper punishment for your trespass, and his attempt to flee justice."
Novil had indicated Parrish, though they all knew who he meant. Dillon opened his mouth to protest something, but shut his mouth when he saw Lorne shake his head vigorously at him.
They were once again left alone, and Lorne really wished he could move his arms. He looked at the other three men, then said, "Look, next time anyone wants to get smart with these guys, don't. And that's an order. If I'm going to take a hit, I want to earn it myself."
Parrish, Dillon and Coffey all nodded, with Dillon and Coffey throwing in their obligatory "Yes, sir" as well. And Coffey knew that the Major didn't want to hear or say any more on the subject, so he considered it closed like Lorne wanted. Nothing more was said in the room as the four men contemplated their escape.
The door opened, and Novil entered first, dressed in some sort of ceremonial-looking garb, and Lorne's stomach fell. A small gang followed Novil in and unchained the Atlantis team from the wall.
"I have decided on a punishment," Novil said to Lorne. "You will take most of it. Though your…botanist…will also be punished as well."
Lorne wisely kept his mouth shut, but glanced at Coffey and Dillon, who automatically knew what the Major was telling them. Then Lorne looked over at Parrish, who was pale and trembling slightly. The botanist was ill-prepared for danger, especially this kind. There was no way that Lorne was going to let anything happen to Parrish. But, as he was being led away, he grimly thought that there may be nothing he can do about it.
---
Ronon was the first through the gate with Teyla and Sheppard on his heels and McKay bringing up the rear. Sheppard tried to radio Lorne while Ronon looked for clues, Teyla kept watch and McKay used one of his scanners.
"Anything?" Sheppard growled when his repeated calls for Lorne went unanswered.
"Nothing in the area," McKay answered, glancing up from his scanner.
Sheppard curtly nodded to McKay, then looked over at Ronon and Teyla.
"There was a struggle here," Ronon said, pointing to the ground. "Not much of one, but it was recent. And there is a set of prints that match the boots your people wear."
"Tell me that's a good sign," Sheppard sighed.
"Whoever made these prints was strong enough to walk well on his own," Ronon added, and Sheppard nodded.
Ronon led the way, following the prints as his guide. Teyla followed the Satedan with McKay behind her and Sheppard covering their sixes.
---
"This can't be good," Dillon muttered, followed by something in a language Lorne didn't understand, but didn't he want to know.
"Sir…" Coffey began, but Lorne only shook his head.
"Look, whatever punishment you're dishing out to my botanist, you might as well just give me. He may not be a soldier, but he still follows my orders. And I ordered him to run like Hell," Lorne told Novil and their other captors.
Novil turned to glance at Lorne, who stared right back. The pair engaged in a sort of staring contest for a few seconds, then Novil turned away.
"If the leader wishes to take his man's punishment, then so be it. Tie this one with the others," Novil declared, motioning toward Parrish.
"Major!" Parrish exclaimed as his arms were wrenched behind him.
"Go with it, doc," Lorne said, feigning a calm he hoped showed through.
Once Parrish was tied to a post on Coffey's other side from Dillon, Lorne was shoved chest first into a larger post, his hands bound around it. He turned his head as best he could, trying to see what was happening behind him. Then he felt something poke into his back, and he could feel the fabric of his shirt being cut open. Resigning himself at not being able to see what was happening, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against the rough wood. Whatever it was, he knew it was going to hurt.
Lorne closed his eyes, took steadying deep breaths, tightened the muscles in his legs and back, and waited amidst the vocal protests from the rest of his team. He silently prayed for a miracle as footsteps approached him, and something being dragged.