Title: A SHOW OF TRUST

Author: Tipper
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. The characters and their evolution belong to MGM, Gekko, SciFi, the actors, producers and the show's wonderful writers.
Parts: WIP
Characters: As usual, focus on Sheppard and McKay, but trying to give all the players a role.
Timing: Takes place after Sanctuary but before The Brotherhood.
Acknowledgement: NT, of course, who has a habit of blaming me for things. And to everyone who has given me reviews on my other stories—thank you!

Spoilers: Pretty blatant ones for both "Sanctuary" and, later, "Before I Sleep,"minor ones for the rest.

A/N – inspired by the initial plot description I read for Sanctuary on Gateworld before the show aired up in Canada, but my diseased mind came up with a very different scenario from the actual ep. This has no relation to that episode, except in passing. I also haven't seen The Gift or The Siege, so this might end up a little AU like.

Description: An impromptu rescue leads to a rift in the ranks, and that's just the start of their problems.

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CHAPTER ONE: TRESPASSERS

The young man stood, unfolding a long, lean frame more like a geometric puzzle than a body. Walking to the window, he tilted his head as the chimes rang in the distance, carried inside on the soft breeze. A couple of the younger acolytes in the room followed his movements, watching as he rested a tattooed hand on the window frame and gazed into the hazy daylight. Long, thick black hair fell across his face, and he impatiently pushed it back behind his ears, pale green eyes pinched in concentration.

His control, while strong, was not capable of stretching across the distance to the Great Ring yet, and he sighed in frustration.

"Who are they, Sette?" he asked quietly, turning to look at the bowed old woman sitting in the center of the room. She was petite and aged, with black hair heavily striped with silver and dark eyes hidden by cataracts. Her withered hands rested sedately on her lap above the dusty pink robe, and her eyes focused on nothing beyond what she saw in her mind.

"Travelers, explorers." The voice was like aged paper, crinkling with each word. Her brow furrowed deeply as she concentrated, "They have never been here before. One…is Athosian, with some talent. The others…."

A moment later, her eyes opened wide, and she looked across at her apprentice. "Callum's Blood," she hissed in surprise…and anger. "Trespassers!"

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"Do you know these people well, Teyla?"

Teyla Emmagen glanced askance at the Major, tilting her head in that way of hers that suggested she was not just looking at him, she was looking through him. It was sort of unnerving.

Sheppard met her eyes for a second, then looked away, adopting his best innocent expression at the annoyed look she gave him, and returned his scanning gaze to their surroundings.

They were walking down a flagstone pathway surrounded by flowering trees in full bloom, pale pink petals floating down around them. The forest floor to their left and right was a carpet of pink petals and light green moss, the two colors a sharp contrast to the pitch black of the tree trunks. Small, carved, white statues of animals and birds were artistically placed at regular intervals, complemented by white flowering azalea-like bushes. The whole thing reminded Ford of the grounds around a Buddhist temple he'd once seen on one of the pacific islands, though the colors here a little more surreal. The Gate itself had been up on a sort of gray stone alter, with more fruit trees and some sort of stunted bonsai like bush arranged around it. Soft chimes had been ringing when they walked through, presumably somehow triggered by the Stargate's activation, like a doorbell. Still, no one had yet rushed up this path to meet them. No one was quite sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Tell me, Major," Teyla asked, her voice honey sweet as she answered his question without answering it, "were you in the briefing with the rest of us?"

In back, Ford snorted, unable to stop himself. The major turned to fix him with a deadly stare, and the marine suddenly found the flowering trees overhead incredibly fascinating.

"He was physically there, Teyla," McKay said from his position on Ford's left, his tone completely serious, "mentally however…."

"Thanks McKay," Sheppard muttered.

"I only ask," Teyla continued, looking around at the serene surroundings, "because I recall quite distinctly stating that this planet was not one my people visited, because the people here are not traders. In fact, I believe I mentioned that they prefer seclusion and do not treat trespassers lightly. Isolationist was the term Doctor Weir used. And yet, still we came," she sighed a little, staring around at the trees, "against my…strong…objections."

"Oh, that's right," the major frowned. "Didn't you and McKay having some kind of argument about it…?"

"You mean a fight," McKay smiled.

"Merely a disagreement," Teyla corrected.

"More like a pitched battle," Ford amended, under his breath. Teyla glanced back at him, and the young man offered an arched eyebrow in return.

McKay was smiling smugly now from his position in the back, "Either way, all that matters is that you lost." He bobbed his head a little as she turned a glare in his direction.

Looking forward again, Teyla rolled her eyes. Sheppard smiled. It was interesting to see how quickly she'd picked up that particular mannerism. That was when something clicked in his head…. the sound of McKay and Teyla speaking in monotones to each other across the conference room table, neither raising or lowering their voices, but clearly at odds, the strain palpable in the air. He had only been half-heartedly paying attention…until, suddenly, both had looked to him. On the other side of the table, Weir had simply raised her eyebrows at him in question…to hear his opinion.

"That's right," he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the play running in his head. When discussing the planet initially, Teyla had mentioned that she believed the people here had some sort of small force field protecting a temple. The Stargate was kept within the grounds of a large monastery, surrounded by high walls on all sides, and there were a number of temples inside. At least one of them had a shield to guard it against the Wraith. She hadn't meant it to start anything, but McKay had jumped on it. She had then spent the next ten minutes trying to dissuade him, but the scientist was adamant.

Sheppard recalled that Teyla had said the people were not dangerous—they were even friendly as they turned people away--just that she didn't want to mess with these people's culture. But McKay's point that any kind of shield device was something they needed to check out, even if only for information purposes, was one the major tended to agree with.

"I said something about a quick recon, to check it out…." Sheppard trailed off, remembering now Teyla's gritted jaw at that answer and McKay's smug smile. Truth be told, upon learning that there was nothing dangerous about the planet, he'd spent most of the meeting thinking up potential football teams made up of the people stationed at Atlantis. He'd already made up his…the Sheppard Seahawks, he'd called it, after his hometown team….Stackhouse would lead the second one, the Stackhouse Steelers…and, of course, Bates would have the third…the Green Bates Packers….

A smile grew on his face. He'd loved that name when he thought of it.

His eyes tracked the woods, always alert, even though he had accepted Teyla's assessment that the people here were not dangerous. Truth be told, that was always his main concern…otherwise, he didn't really focus much on Teyla's concerns about Saroku, as she had named the planet, being isolationist. They'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

"So, you don't know these people that well then," he asked after a moment. Teyla rolled her eyes for the second time and an aggravated grunt emitted from her lips. Slowing her step, she fell back to walk next to Ford, reaching up a free hand for a moment to wipe at her forehead. A small headache had formed, and, combined with the major's obvious apathy to her opinion, she was not in the best mood.

Meanwhile, McKay jogged forward to take her place at Sheppard's side, his eyes on his scanner.

"I've got something here," he said happily. Sheppard glanced at him.

"Oh?"

"Not a ZPM, but something strong."

"But not a ZPM."

"No." McKay gave a small shrug, "but something very interesting. The readings remind me a little of those readings we got on the fog planet." He looked around at the trees again, "without the fog."

"You mean, there's something in the atmosphere?" Sheppard stopped instantly, and Ford almost walked into him. McKay stopped a couple feet ahead of him, then turned around, his eyes bright with excitement. Sheppard hated it when he looked like that—it either meant a "McKay" discovery that could get them all killed…or a "McKay" plan that could get them all killed, usually related to the previous "McKay" discovery.

The major's instinct for trouble had just kicked into high gear.

"No, no, not around us, just…," McKay walked one way, then another, his eyes on his scanner. Suddenly, he frowned. "Huh, that's odd, it just faded away for some reason."

Teyla dropped the hand from her forehead, suddenly feeling better. The coincidence with McKay's statement made her frown deeply. She was about to say something when the lieutenant cleared his throat.

"Sir," Ford said calmly. "We have company."

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TBC