Disclaimers: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this and I wish that I could make money from having such fun.
000000
The Wraith strode around them, leading them further into the Hive ship and away from the sunlight outside. Teyla kept a watchful eye the entire way, noticing several of the villagers ahead of them, who were lead away down another hallway. Teyla craned her neck to see where the villagers were headed, but the stark yet determined look to their faces implied they were the latest of volunteers to feed the Wraith.
She and her team had never suspected that the village they had visited to offer trade and medical supplies, had been populated by Wraith worshippers. She and her team had been captured as soon as they had arrived and had for half the day had been held in a room in the village, tied to chairs with guards watching over them with their own weapons. The Wraith had eventually appeared and led them out of the village towards what was now clearly a Hive ship buried into the forest. This ship's inhabitants had all woken over six years ago, as all the other Wraith had done, but had never left this planet. Instead, they maintained their long held control over the local villages. In return for an extended life as Wraith worshippers, the villagers only had to supply the smallest number of volunteers to be culled. The remaining sustenance the Hive required were brought in from cullings on other worlds, humans swept up in the darts and brought back for the Hive through the Gate. And it appeared that her team were to be the latest 'sustenance' for the Hive.
The Wraith escorting them marched around another corner and the familiarly designed collection of cells waited for them ahead. How many times had Teyla ended up one of these cells? Each time she feared that the ship around her would be the last place she would ever see. With that thought came the usual worries and fears – for what would happen to Torren, leaving John behind, and all her friends and people. Today's reflections felt rather more sour considering how things had been left in Atlantis. She did not have long to reflect on that for as she entered the cell and turned, down the corridor she spied another group of Wraith appeared and in their amidst walked a very familiar team.
The webbing went up over the front of her cell as she met John's eyes and she saw his relief, which she shared. Though, she was also felt a flush of annoyance and regret. She suspected this was why her team had been kept in the village for so long, to wait for another 'rescue' team to arrive from Atlantis for them. The Wraith wished to capture both teams, and here they both were. However, if she knew John, and she did, he would have brought another team with him through the Gate and she hoped that team were currently scheming somewhere to free them all from this situation.
As John's team were brought closer, she ran her eyes over John. He was walking fine, and showed no sign of injury. She would have felt some relief at that, but since they were both now captives of the Wraith there was little to be happy about just yet. Behind him, she saw that Rodney and Lt McKenzie were half dragging half carrying a stunned Ronon.
"Lorne," John greeted Teyla's team leader as he glanced away from her.
"Colonel. Surprised to see you here," Lorne replied as John and his team disappeared into the next cell taking them out of view, but not from earshot.
"Happy to see you too," John replied.
She listened to the webbing closing up over the front of the other cell and all of them together watched the Wraith depart, leaving them apparently alone. There was a long quiet pause.
"Teyla?" John asked into the silent room.
She had kept her mind's attention on the departing Wraith since they had departed the room. "They are stationed at the end of the corridor, at the junction," she told him. It was her guess, considering how far away the Wraith felt from her.
"Useful," Lorne muttered.
"They have no concern about us escaping," Teyla pointed out quietly.
"They'll learn," John muttered from the other cell.
She glanced to the thick organic yet physically solid wall between the cells that separated her from him. It was strange to hear his voice and not see or feel him close.
"Rodney?" She heard John ask their friend. "You think the old 'knife hits door control' plan is the way out today?"
She moved closer to the webbed front of the cell with her team mates, and looked out at the far wall controls. It was indeed of the older Hive construction that they had previously been able to escape using that technique.
"If you think you can hit it," Rodney muttered doubtfully.
"I'll give it a go," Lt McKenzie announced with clear anticipation from the other cell. McKenzie had been her replacement in John's team and she knew him quite well from shared breakfasts with the two teams. He and John had established a close friendship, which seemed based mostly around Earth sports.
"Okay, everyone," John announced to the room as a whole. "How many knives have we got?"
Teyla turned to her own team, who were all fishing out a knife each that they had secreted in their clothing somewhere, except for Dr Lewis, their scientist of the group, who looked quite shocked by the appearance of so much metal. Teyla reached to her ankle and freed the other longer knife she wore and added it to their collection.
"We got four," Lorne announced, sounding pleased.
There was scrabbling around from the other cell.
"We've got six," John announced.
Lorne frowned at her with surprise as he moved forward to the webbing. "Do we want to know where you've been hiding them?" He asked.
Teyla heard John's exhaled chuckle. "We keep them on Ronon mostly," he replied and from his voice it sounded like he was crouched low, most likely going through Ronon's clothing.
"Two more," McKenzie announced. "In his hair," he explained.
Teyla exchanged an amused look with Lorne.
"Okay, that's eight, and I'm not patting him down anywhere else," John added his voice drawing closer on the other side of the wall from her. "Here have some more," he offered and she watched as Lorne leant past her, reaching his arm out through the webbing towards where she could just see John's hand appearing with two knives. Lorne took the extra knives and moved aside, looking off to the left where the door control to their cell was located.
"You need to hit the main vein to the middle of the panel," Rodney explained from the other cell and Teyla heard the thud of the first knife on the furthest panel. She moved forward, setting her hands around the thick webbing, pressing her forehead and cheek close to it to look out as much as she could.
"We need Ronon," Rodney muttered as the second knife thudded into the panel ineffectually. She glanced at her own team, knowing that Lorne and Martins were both excellent knife throwers.
"I'll have ye know," McKenzie muttered in the raised whispers they were all using. "That I have beaten Ronon in throwin'"
"Right," Rodney muttered clearly not believing him.
"Teyla, keep an eye on those Wraith," John suddenly instructed her from the other side of the wall, and she heard his out breath as he threw a knife. She watched it hit the panel just a fraction off the vein.
"I am," she replied. She looked round her cell from where she watched Martins' throw land just shy of the target. They would hit it soon enough, she just hoped they had enough knives for them to refine their aim.
"Well, at least you're talking to me again," John commented quietly.
She looked back in the direction of his voice and narrowed her eyes at the edge of the webbing that was the closest she could be to John in his cell.
"I have been talking to you," she pointed out to him.
"Yeah, just this morning, you asked me where Torren's backpack was," he replied with a sarcastic tone.
"He frequently leaves it in your room," she replied, justifying herself for some reason. "And I hardly think this is the time or place to discuss this."
He muttered something that she couldn't hear and another knife impacting the panel with quite excessive force. She leant her cheek further against the webbing.
"What was that?" She asked, knowing that she should leave this 'discussion' alone, especially now, yet for some reason the fact that she was so relieved to see him here only made her lingering annoyance with him more apparent.
"Just surprised you want to 'discuss' anything at all," he replied with that tone she did not care for that he used when they argued. It was part sarcasm and part bitterness.
"I will be happy to 'discuss' things when we return to the city, but for now we need to focus on escape," she stated, trying to end this before it began in such an inappropriate time.
There was a deep groan from the other cell that meant that Ronon had woken up.
"What's going on?" He grumbled.
"We're imprisoned in the Hive, and Sheppard and Teyla are having a domestic. You're just in time to save us," Rodney muttered. Teyla suspected he had been referring to saving them from their domestic as much as from the cells.
"I can hit it," McKenzie protested and another knife hit the panel.
"You haven't thus far," Rodney argued.
"Come on, come on, we can hit ours first," Lorne muttered to Martins from her left. Teyla looked at their progress and suspected that it would be close, and surely Ronon's mind would be hazy, still recovering from being stunned.
"Give me that," Ronon muttered from the other cell and a knife embedded deeply into the panel opposite.
"Where were you hiding that one? No, let me keep one," McKenzie complained and there were sounds of hands slapping against each other.
Teyla heard John's quiet chuckle at whatever was going on and she watched as two knives abruptly appeared from inside other cell to bury deeply into their cell's control panel. The panel lit up and there was the distinctive sound of the webbing retreating from over their cell. Lorne muttered out his annoyance at John's team having escaped first.
"It was my knife," McKenzie could be heard complaining as Rodney appeared across the front of her cell, heading towards her team's panel.
"Just let me have one more go," Martins' protested.
Rodney flinched as he reached for the panel. "This is an escape not some darts match," he complained as he pulled out one of their previously thrown knives and then stabbing it back into the middle of the vein underneath. The webbing pulled away and Teyla stepped forward eager to be free.
She glanced immediately to the right to find John already there, his hand catching her sleeve as they all moved forward towards the exit. They reached the first turn in the short corridor outside the cell area along with Lorne and Martins, as behind them she heard the sound of knives being removed from the panels.
"It was my throw that did it," McKenzie whispered loudly.
"Prove it," Ronon replied.
"You've pulled them out already."
"My knives," was Ronon's simple reply and Teyla had to smile at what she imagined would be a frustrated look from McKenzie.
"We need to get outside as quickly as we can," John muttered from her side, his hand a pulling heavy weight on the sleeve still. She pulled it free of his grasp slightly and she saw his expression twitch but nothing else. She did not need to be led through the ship like she was incapable of looking after herself.
"They brought us straight here from the outside," Lorne whispered back. "We should be able to work our way back out."
"We need weapons to take down these guards first," John muttered.
"We've got plenty," Ronon announced pushing past with two knives in his hands, and McKenzie pushed past after him with more.
Teyla moved forward after them, and Lorne handed her own long knife back to her. At her back, leaning closer than most politely would, was John against her as they quietly as possible followed Ronon and McKenzie.
There was an abrupt scuffle ahead as the two tall men took out the two Wraith on guard. The way free, they all hurried forward, stunners removed from the fallen Wraith.
"They're not all awake," Dr Lewis was explaining to Rodney behind them. "This Hive decided not leave the planet when all the others woke and it seems that they put much of their Hive back into hibernation."
"Wish they'd all done that," Rodney muttered.
They reached a junction and all paused, peering in all directions. Lorne and McKenzie ahead had the stunners, and Ronon his knives, and the rest all hurried after them.
John pushed at her back as they dashed across one opening, his hand capturing her jacket and top beneath as he did, pulling at her as he moved slightly ahead of her. She pulled herself free once they were into the far corridor out of sight.
"Just making sure you live long enough to be angry at me back home," he muttered to her.
"This is not the time, John," she whispered back.
"Well, if we both get killed you can be angry at me forever," he replied with that tone again.
"I am not angry with you," she hissed back, her tone in contradiction to her words.
"Sure," he replied doubtfully. "That's why we've barely spoken for days."
"And whose fault is that?" She replied hotly, turning towards him as they moved forward. He remained very close to her side, watching over her like she was a small child.
He looked down at her with those defiant eyes. "Nothing happened," he reiterated plainly again.
"I know that," she replied as plainly.
"Cause you were listening in," he replied.
"I did not hear anything you said to her or her to you. It was clear enough from a distance," she added.
"Cause you were spying," he replied.
They had reached another junction, and they all paused as Lorne and Ronon checked the junction nodded all was clear, and they all scurried across to the next corridor. This time John did not take hold of her shirt to 'help' her across, but he kept close. She did not mind that really. In fact, she had missed his closeness these last few days following their 'disagreement'.
A new focus of cold minds formed not too far away and she paused. "Wait," she whispered loudly.
Everyone responded, all pausing, crouching low.
"Where?" John asked, understanding what she had sensed.
She closed her eyes trying to focus on where the sensation of the Wraith was coming from and how many. It was very difficult and she was far from perfecting the technique, but she could form a vague idea.
"That way," she replied indicating ahead to the left. "Not many."
"Likely the guards at the exit," Martins suggested.
"It could be," she replied.
"Let's move forward quickly and quietly. If you see sky, take them down as quick as possible, everyone get to the forest and keep moving. Stay together," John ordered them all and there was a sea of nodding around her.
They all moved forward, everyone silent now as they turned corners and up ahead the Wraith came into view. They were indeed the guards at the entrance, now the teams' exit, to the buried Hive ship. Ronon approached first, in a deadly silence, and attacked with his knives, opening the space for Lorne and McKenzie to fire at the others. The Wraith dropped and they all ran, as fast as they could towards the slice of sky ahead.
Other Wraith appeared behind, firing briefly at their backs, but Lorne and McKenzie took them down. And as they all ran out of the ship and into the forest, she could hear the strange alien call of the Wraith alarm start up inside the ship.
As she ran, she realised that she had hold of John's hand, unsure which one of them had initiated the hold, but they ran now close together into the trees. The group kept a fast pace through the trees, Lorne and McKenzie at their back, Ronon taking point, heading into the forest.
"Colonel," a voice shouted from up ahead drawing all their attention and following that warning, Major Walker and his team appeared from the trees.
"Good to see you, Major," John replied breathily as they reached the other team he had brought with him to the planet. "Ready to start the party?"
"Yes, Sir, plenty of party gifts for the Wraith," Major Walker replied with a smile.
"Great, let's get going," John replied and reached for the side arm Walker offfered him.
Teyla released John's hand as he did, and she moved to where another lieutenant offered her her own side arm to use. Now with another weapon besides her knife, Teyla felt slightly more comfortable, but they were far from free yet.
"Jumper's parked this way," John announced, heading in the direction he indicated and set a fast pace again. "Get the party started, Major."
Behind them, to the far right of the Hive ship, C4 exploded. Darts would no doubt be on their way, but the teams only had to reach the Jumper and they could cloak themselves completely from view from the Wraith.
As the distant buzzing of darts began, Teyla increased her speed to move from just behind John to alongside him. He glanced back over his shoulder, up at the trees overhead, as the buzzing grew louder.
"How close is the Jumper?" She asked.
"We'll make it," he replied, giving her one of his 'I'm being confident' smiles. She rolled her eyes at him, seeing through the look, but also knew that he wasn't too worried. The buzzing of the darts altered, indicating that they were turning in the distance, perhaps in the direction of the second explosion that the Major ignited back the way they had come.
"Here we go," John announced a few minutes later, and ahead in a gap in the canopy she watched the air shimmer and the Jumper appear. "Everyone onboard," he ordered.
"Have we…got enough…air…for everyone," Rodney panted from the back of the group.
The back of the Jumper descended and Teyla moved inside, heading straight for the seat behind the pilot. Behind her, she heard John assuring Rodney, something about oxygen, but she focused on looking out through the front. If the Wraith spotted this gap in the trees… She looked back to watch the three teams all pile in and with John the last one climbing inside, the back hatch began to close up. Beside her Lorne moved to the co-pilot seat and the consoles all lit up at his presence. The telltale sound of the cloak going up made her sigh with relief.
"Good rescue, huh guys?" John asked from behind as he pushed his way through the very crowded back section of the Jumper.
"Could they not have brought a second Jumper?" she heard Dr Lewis muttering.
"I'm sitting there," Rodney complained, but Teyla tuned out the rest of the noise from the back as she sat down with relief.
John had reached the front section and he pushed his way to the pilot's seat. As he passed her, his hand briefly touched against her shoulder, a silent comment at their survival, and she caught his hand in hers with a very brief squeeze before he moved away. Things may have been tense between them of late, but the essential affection and love between them was in no way diminished.
As she sat back in her seat, John sat directly in front of her, she reflected that she had been rather angry about what she had seen out on that balcony between him and Larrin. She had seen the woman leaning towards him, her smile so beautiful and alluring. John had turned down what had been clearly been an advance, but it had been the fact that he had been out there with Larrin, enjoying her flirtations that had annoyed Teyla. That 'nothing had happened' as he had stressed several times in their ensuing 'disagreement', Teyla had still felt hurt at what she had seen. He had been enjoying Larrin's attentions. She had seen him smiled down at Larrin, though only when he had been in profile for her to see. She did trust him, knew he had turned Larrin down, but she had been plagued by those smiles she had seen.
That he had stood so close to Larrin, that he had even put himself in that position. It had worried her greatly, and his response to that point had not lessened those worries. He had apologised, which had not helped, because that had implied that he had done something, or more likely had felt or considered something, that he did feel guilt about. He had in turn then grown angry at her insinuation and they had stormed away from each other following hotly exchanged words of mistrust for the other. They had 'cooled off', but following that neither of them had spoken to the other except when needed for the last few days. Both of them had been waiting for the other to make the first move towards apology, as it was in almost all arguments between lovers, but neither of them had done so thus far.
As she watched the forest outside slide away through the Jumper's front window, she reflected that perhaps she had been foolish. As much as she had wanted him to stay away and think about what he done wrong and how he truly felt, she had greatly missed his presence beside her. They had spent almost every night together since they had become lovers, the only exception being when one was on duty or away from the city. Why they had not moved in with each other into one large set of quarters had been something she had been thinking about recently. So, to find him flirting with Larrin on that balcony…she had begun to fear that he had other future plans. It was foolish thinking really, for he had never shown any reduction of affection for her. If they made love less now than they had in their first six months together, it was only because of work or that Torren was in the room for half the nights in the week. She enjoyed sharing a bed with John even just to sleep and she had missed his breaths beside her if she woke in the night. Torren had begun to grow upset at John's absence from her quarters as well, though he saw John at mealtimes and John had taken the time to be with Torren as much as possible still.
It was high time that she and John sat down and talked. She felt worried still as to why he had been out there on that balcony with Larrin when it was clear to anyone with eyes that Larrin held great interest in him. She needed to know if he had doubts that had made him seek out Larrin's interest, even just to enjoy her attention. And she would do so as soon as possible.
They had made a pact when they had first begun to see one another, to never leave on a mission angry. They had rarely argued before now, and these past three silent days represented the worse disagreement they had ever had. They had both lost their temper with the other surprisingly quickly, which suggested that their emotions had been especially high and sensitivities close to the surface. Clearly, he had been upset as well, perhaps for more than her accusation of him enjoying Larrin's flirtations. As she had been feeling anxious about their future, perhaps he had been as well.
Today could have ended badly for either of them, and though they would be safely returning to Atlantis once the Wraith released their dial out on the Gate, she felt the weight of this rescue. His team could have been killed or she could have been killed before they had been able to discuss their disagreement. They had been right to never leaving on a mission angry at one another, and now she truly felt the vital importance of that pact. She would not allow this to happen again, even if it meant forcing a discussion early in the sulking process. She should have reminded him that she loved him before she left, just in case. That he had arrived with his team to rescue her and her team was something he would have done anyway, but his slightly bitter mutterings to her in the cells implied that he had been feeling more than he had shown. He had wanted to keep her close in the hallways of the ship and they had left the ship hand in hand. Those were not the actions of a man who was thinking about leaving a relationship. Were they?
John turned in his seat in front of her, breaking her from her thoughts, as he looked round to the back of the Jumper. Only then did she register the raised voices from behind, and she looked back herself to see the eight people squashed into the back. There was enough room to sit, but not that much legroom.
"Kids, I'm pulling this thing over if you don't pipe down," John warned loudly down to the back.
The grumbling died down to a quiet that was interrupted occasionally by quieter mutterings.
Teyla smiled at them all and turned back to the front. She saw John's frown at the unruly group, knowing that it was all a sign of great relief that they had all survived. As he turned back to the front, she saw his gaze shift to her over his shoulder and she recognised he was checking on her. He sat back into his pilot seat, focusing out the window ahead again.
She reached forward and set her hand on John's left shoulder, mostly out of view of the others and she rubbed against his shoulder for beat. He looked to the side slightly, acknowledging the contact and she squeezed his shoulder again before she dropped her hand.
Yes, once back in Atlantis, it would be time to talk, to resolve this one way or another. She suspected it would end happily, she hoped, but the anxiety in her belly only reminded her how much he meant to her. And today's mission had reminded her how precious John was to her.
"It was my knife that did it," McKenzie muttered from behind her when he leant against the consoles, to be responded to by a grunt from Ronon sat behind Lorne's seat.
"Can you give me a little more room please," Rodney protested from the back. "I have long legs."
"Please," Dr Lewis muttered doubtfully in response.
Outside far below, the gate deactivated. John would wait a while longer, let the Wraith lose interest in the Gate, before he dialled a random Gate and they left. Then they would return to Atlantis, no Wraith on their trail.
"They're longer than yours," Rodney protested from the back.
"Should we measure and find out for sure?" Dr Lewis replied.
"NO!" Shouted John and Major Lorne to the idea.
She laughed with the others, the laughter filling the Jumper, and she felt her heart lifting a little more. Hopefully, by the end of the day, she and John would have had the discussion they had been avoiding and her heart would be happier still. She just had to wait to be alone with him and hopefully tonight she could fall asleep listening to his breaths again. Hopefully.
000000000
The END.