RUNNER ²
Colonel John Sheppard's team had done this many times before. Traveling through the Stargate to new worlds. "To boldly go...", you know how it goes. They were always on the lookout for new trading partners, or useful plants and minerals to mine or cultivate, or better yet a new power source. This was a routine scouting mission so Sheppard was not, shall we say, on high alert as he and his team were traipsing through the lightly wooded area close to the Stargate. All their scans had shown this to be an uninhabited planet but with traces of an energy source. They just had to find it. Sheppard's resident team genius, Dr. Rodney McKay, was having trouble getting a fix on it. He said it was if it was moving around which made sense to no one. Of course, most of what McKay said didn't make much sense to most people. But all of them understood the sound of the Stargate activating and the noise of the Wraith Dart piercing the event horizon. Sheppard instructs everyone down with a hand movement. The Wraith Dart flies overhead, above the trees. They all run back to the gate as shots start firing. McKay starts dialing their home address on the DHD when he reaches it.
"Sam we are coming in hot! Repeat coming in HOT!"
"You're clear!" says Colonel Sam Carter as she lowers the forcefield around the Stargate, protecting them from unwanted intruders.
They all make it back through the Stargate with no injuries. But they are not alone. That strangely moving energy source is a person with a cloak and, unbeknown to anyone, has come through with them to escape the Wraith. She nervously follows the team up the stairs to the control room as she doesn't know where she is yet, just that she seems safe. The Gate room seems like a fortress to her.
"I'd like to know what brought the Wraith to an uninhabited planet. There's no one for them to feed on. Do you think they have a way of tracking us now? They sent the Dart within minutes of us getting there and then started firing on us through the trees as if they knew exactly where we were." wondered Sheppard.
"Maybe we have a spy among us." said Ronon, accusingly looking at everyone in the control room. Was he forgetting that he was actually the outsider? The men in the control room all started acting strange. Arguments were starting over inconsequential things. The tension was as thick as fog. But why?
"Hey knock it off before I knock your HEADS off!" yells Sheppard. Someone throws a coffee at him and gets him square in the face. "That's it!"He starts a fight with someone, anyone, it didn't seem to matter. He just felt the need to hit someone.
Sam and Teyla look at each other in wonder. "What's going on?" This is very unusual behavior.
The intruder hasn't been in close proximity to people in many years. She realizes she has to leave fast before this gets really out of control. She's seen it before. She decides she's better off revealing herself down by the Stargate where she can run if she needs to but hopefully they will send her back through the gate. She walks down the stairs and uncloaks. Sam and Teyla see her and become alarmed at the intrusion.
"I am the reason your people are fighting, I'm sorry. I had to come through the Stargate with you to escape the Wraith. I'm a runner. Please, just send me to an uninhabited planet before the fighting gets worse or the Wraith track me here." She didn't tell them any more as she just wanted to get away. Seeing all the men fighting just reminded her of her past and how different she was.
"You're a runner. We can help you. We'll send you to a safe place and send Dr. Keller through after to take out your tracking device." Sam dials the DHD and it opens. She is about to go through.
Ronon almost hits Sheppard, his best friend, and stops with his fist raised and realizes what he's doing. "I'll go with her, make sure she's telling the truth. Not that this isn't fun."He heads down to the Stargate quickly, slightly confused as to why he's feeling so angry.
" No! No men, please! They aren't safe..." Ronon smirks and easily picks up her tall, lean athletic frame over his shoulder and carries her through the gate, not believing she could do the big man any harm. On the other side he changes. He suddenly looses control completely and is aggressive, just like in the control room. But different. He roughly takes her off his shoulder and holds her firmly in front of him. She sees the look of confusion in his eyes and is amazed. Most men don't realize they are being affected by something, being controlled. Most men simply act on their aggression, their lust. He is obviously trying to control himself. Then their eyes meet and his look of desperation almost stops her from finding the trigger on her weapon. Almost. As he lowers his lips towards hers, his eyes never flicker. She gets the feeling he wants her to stun him before he does something he will regret. The big man goes down in a heap at her feet as her weapon discharges into his abdomen. She starts tying him up as Dr. Keller comes through the gate. Dr. Keller stops walking, dead in her tracks, stunned as she sees Ronon taken down by this slender woman.
"He'll be fine, I just stunned him." Shefinishes tying Ronon and starts walking with her hands up towards Dr. Keller. "Please let me explain, I won't hurt you, you're a woman. When the Wraith made me a Runner they also changed me somehow. When men come near me they become crazed and lose control. That's why I had to leave your city. The fighting was my fault. I'm sure things went quickly back to normal after I left. If you would just take this tracking device out I promise never to go back. I'm used to being alone, but I can't escape the Wraith forever."
Dr. Keller thinks about the information she has just heard. "I'll take the tracking device out and I'll talk to Colonel Carter about any other help. First things first, I have to deal with the tracking device before the Wraith find us. Ronon is supposed to be our security." She looks over at his unconscious form. "He's not going to be much help to us in that condition so I'll have to hurry." She looks back to this strange woman. "Lay face down over here." Dr. Keller points to a flat area on the ground. The stranger starts walking over.
"He'll be less help to us when he wakes up. Make sure he stays tied or he might hurt you." she warns Dr. Keller.
"Ronon would never hurt me." says Dr. Keller, not wanting to tell this stranger more about her relationship with Ronon.
"You'd be surprised."The lanky red-head lies down on the blanket Dr. Keller has laid on the ground for her, as advised. Dr. Keller sedates her and starts removing the tracking device. She forgets about her nervousness at being off world without protection as she begins her work.
Dr. Keller is finishing up surgery as Ronon wakes up. He starts to try and untie himself. He looks over at Dr. Keller with a crazed expression she has never seen before. It unnerves her.
"Stay where you are, Ronon. I'm almost done." She finishes and looks at Ronon. "Ronon you have to control what you're feeling right now. She said the Wraith changed her in some way that affects men." Dr. Kellerpauses as Ronon starts to bleed from his bindings as he fights to untie himself. "REALLY affects them. Ronon! I need you to get control of yourself!"The stargate activates anda Wraith Dart comes through. Dr. Keller looks up in fear and then back to Ronon. She's scared and unsure what to do. She doesn't get off world very often. Ronon has now untied himself and is coming towards her. "I NEED YOUR HELP TO GET BACK!!"
"Dial the Stargate. I'll carry her through."He glares at her as she sits on the ground stunned and frightened by his behavior. "NOW!!"
Dr. Keller runs to the Stargate and dials their address home to Atlantis. Ronon bends over the unconscious woman who just stunned him, as the Dart comes back firing. He is visibly sweating from trying to stay focused and in control. Somehow he manages to pick her up and stagger towards the gate, straining with every step.
"Colonel Carter we are coming through HOT! Clear all men from the control room to the infirmary. REPEAT CLEAR ALL MEN FROM THE CONTROL ROOM TO THE INFIRMARY, STAT.!! We are coming through!" She looks at Ronon carrying the stranger and they nod at each other and run towards the Stargate as the Dart continues firing. On the other side there are no men in the control room as Ronon sprints to get to the infirmary fast. Dr. Keller is right behind him, trying hard to keep up. In the infirmary, Ronon runs in and puts Brin on a bed. It takes all his effort to extricate himself from her. Until he sees a male nurse has remained in the infirmary. He forcibly throws him out as Dr. Keller comes running in and she locks the door behind her. Ronon starts pacing in front of the door, gun ready. Sam comes on headset to Dr. Keller.
"Dr. Keller, what the hell is going on?" asks Sam, understandably upset at the turn of events.
"Colonel Carter, she..."
"Her name is TROUBLE!", Ronon yells.
"Whoever she is, she's been modified by the Wraith to... have an extreme affect on men." Dr. Kellerbrings her monitors on line around 'Trouble' and starts hooking her up and analyzing them, while Trouble is still unconscious. She looks over at Ronon who is still pacing at the door. We can see men outside through the door and fights starting. "She seems to be radiating an extremely high level of pheromones. I'm glad I'm not male." Rononsnorts and she looks at him. "I think I can dampen it for now until I can research what exactly they did to her."
"Do it! The men are all acting overly aggressive. Even McKay." To McKay, "Get away from me, McKay, or I WILL shoot you." To Dr. Keller. "If it doesn't work we will be ready to send her through the gate to somewhere uninhabited. I'm on my way to you. If I can get through! Out."
Dr. Keller prepares a needle and quickly injects her patient. "Done."
"That's it?!" asks Ronon incredulously.
"That's it."Dr. Keller looks at him. "How do you feel?" Ronon thinks about it. Puts his gun back in its holster and nods his head. The men outside slowly start to retreat. He unlocks the door. "Better."
The infirmary doors open as Sam and Sheppard come in. Sheppard is rubbing his jaw, he's been fighting. Trouble starts to wake up. She sees Ronon and Sheppard and grabs for her gun and aims it at them.
"It's OK now." advises Dr. Keller. She is right next to Trouble and tries to lower the gun with her hand. The woman is only just awake and grabs Dr. Keller and puts her in headlock, still with her gun on the boys. Then she looks around and realizes her mistake and lets Dr. Keller go, still with her gun on the boys.
"Sorry." she says to Dr. Keller, "I've been running so long its instinct." To Sheppard and Ronon. "You two have to leave or I WILL shoot you!"
"It's OK. I've managed to suppress the pheromones you radiate. No one will hurt you."She puts her free hand up to the back of her neck. "The tracking device is gone too."
" The phero-what?" The redhead has never known exactly what the Wraith did to her, only the effects.
"We sort of fixed what the Wraith did to you, for now." She takes a second, tears form in her eyes and she lowers the gun. Ronon lunges forward and takes it from her, still unsure how much she can be trusted.
" What's your name, besides Trouble." Ronon asks gruffly, still trying to work through the aggression he was just feeling.
"My name is Brin."She looks at Dr. Keller and smiles. "Thank you. The Wraith took me about 10 years ago from my home planet, Aleese."
"We know that planet. The government put their prisoners on an island with the Stargate so the Wraith would feed on them and leave the rest of the population alone." says Sheppard.
"Not just prisoners. The poor, the sick. Anyone who was considered a drain to society. When I was 15 my parents were killed in an accident. I went from one relatives home to another but none could 'control me'." She said, still with hurt dripping from her words even 10 years later. "When none of them would have me, the government stepped in, saying I was going to a foster home. I was sent to the island instead. I didn't know about the Wraith."
"You said you've been a runner for 10 years? I thought 7 years was impressive." Sheppard looks at Ronon. "She's got ya beat, big guy." He says with a wry smile as Ronon was the first runner any of them had encountered, just a few years ago.
" We've never seen them modify the runners before. Why would they bother?" asks Dr. Keller.
"I'm guessing they had an easy food supply so they started experimenting, possibly to make it more entertaining or more difficult. Hard to say. There were 12 of us at first. The Wraith put us on some planet and waited. Eight were men. I learned very quickly I needed to leave FAST. Myself and 2 other girls left together and we never saw the others again. We managed OK for about a year, staying clear of people, and then we found this cloak or cape. We could all hide under it if we needed to but it only worked if I wore it. And then about 3 years ago we were ambushed. Not by the Wraith... The men killed my friends. But not me. When they started fighting each other I managed to cloak and get away... I haven't gone to an inhabited planet since. Until now."
"But why would the Wraith do this? What did they have to gain by making you... like this? I don't get it." wondered Sheppard.
"Babies." added Ronon.
"WHAT?!" The rest of them said at once.
"Babies are the Wraith's choicest food source. They have the largest life force in the easiest prey."
"Candy IN a baby." remarked Sam, disgusted.
"Whatever. Why else would they put her on a planet with 8 men. The tracking device just meant they could keep an eye on her until she got pregnant. I'm sure they thought tracking a young girl would be easy. Doesn't take a genius." Brin is silent and won't look at anyone.
"Well whatever the reason, we seem to have it under control for now. I'll keep looking into it to see what they actually did to you. Then maybe we can think about a cure. For now, Brin needs some rest if you all don't mind leaving."Sam, Sheppard and Ronon head towards the door and stop to chat.
"Where am I? And what did you do to me?" Brin asks Dr. Keller.
"You're in a city we call Atlantis and I've given you an extreme form of the "pill" so to speak." Brin can't possibly understand the Earth slang. Dr. Keller realizes. "We all secrete pheromones as natures way of propagating the species. Yours was on major overdrive, to say the least, so I made your body think its pregnant, & then some, so it doesn't think it needs to secrete so much. It isn't a perfect solution as you're still showing above average pheromone levels but it seems," she looks at the men who are not showing any attention now, "to be working. I didn't exactly have a lot of time to get creative. But I'll look into a more long term solution as soon as I can. Now you should really try to rest." In the meantime the others have been talking.
"Obviously we need to leave a security detail. We still don't know much about her."
"I'll stay. I still say she's trouble." says Ronon. Sam nods. She and Sheppard leave.
Later, after Dr. Keller gave her the all clear, Brin goes to the mess hall, with Ronon right behind her. Brin looks around, amazed at the extensive food selection and all the people she can now be around without fear. She's still nervous. She doesn't recognize any of the food. McKay comes up behind her .
"You've probably never seen anything like this before." He smiles in superiority. "This is potato salad, it actually looks palatable today. That is a tuna salad sandwich, if you like fish. I do, it's brain food. Speaking of brains, or lack of, you should have seen Ronon's first time in here. He ate everything. What a mess. And, come to think of it, he still won't use a knife and fork. Oh.. that's these." He holds them up and tries to give them to her. She grabs a bottle of water in one hand and some bread in the other.
"This will do fine, thank you." She goes to sit down at a table. She looks at Ronon standing over by the door and keeps walking to a table. McKay tries to sit down with her but Sheppard beats him to the chair.
"This seat is taken, Rodney. Isn't Colonel Carter looking for you? Some sort of technical question she couldn't do without you?"
"What? Really? Well of course. Nice talking to you... ahh"
"Brin."
"Right." Rodney is oblivious of anyone else as he leaves, thinking he's going to show his superior intelligence to the one person he thinks of as almost an equal.
"So, how are you making out?" He looks at the bread and water. "There are a lot more tasty things to eat. Don't let McKay scare you off the food. He's got very peculiar tastes."
"So Dr. McKay has told me. But I'm not used to all this, I don't think my stomach could handle the change. Believe me, bread and clean water is a feast for me." She looks around, not used to being around so many people. Some men are still staring but, pheromones or not, she's a beautiful redhead. "I'm not used to being safe around so many people. It's unnerving." She rubs her hip where her weapon would normally be found. She feels vulnerable without it, and her cloak. Both were confiscated, of course, while she's on the base.
"You'll get used to it. Ronon did and now look at him. A social little butterfly." Sheppard smirks and waves at Ronon who doesn't wave back. "He was a runner for 7 years. Not as long as you, but not bad for a man."
"Hard to believe. I wonder how many humans they do this to. How many of them survive." She looks down and takes a deep breath and changes subject. "So, what am I supposed to do now? It never occurred to me that I'd ever be free, it's hard to adjust. Do I have to go back to Aleese?"
"Well... I wouldn't recommend that. Ya see, a lot has changed since you last saw it and I wouldn't say it's safe from the Wraith culling like it used to be... sorta. Why not stay here?"
"Well, for now I have no choice. I'm tied to those injections from Dr. Keller. I'm just not sure what I can do for you after all you have done for me."
"There's lots you can offer! Us, I mean." She raises an eyebrow. "You have 10 years experience fighting the Wraith, how many people can say that? I think you would be a great asset to us."
She rises to leave. "I'm considering it. Thank you." She heads towards the door and Ronon blocks her way, crossing his arms and leering at her. She surprises him with a swift movement and gets around him and through the door. But she stops on the other side. She doesn't know which way to go.
"Not easy, is it? Follow me." She considers and then follows as she has nowhere else to go. He takes her to his training room. It's empty. "I come here when I need to think. That was a nice move in the mess hall." He takes a sparring position in the middle of the room to encourage her to spar with him. "But you won't be able to surprise me again." Brin recognizes that this attractive man is used to getting what he wants. She also recognizes that that would be his greatest weakness. She takes a fighting stance and tries not to smile. As they spar her long red hair, always worn up and out of the way, comes loose and he uses it to pull her to the ground and pins her down. "You should cut this off. It can be used against you." He smiles and looks like he is going to try and kiss her but she uses that distraction to grab HIM by the dreadlocks and change positions with him, pinning him down.
"Surprise! I will if you will." He seems to think she means the kiss and tries to pull her down. She gets away. "Cut the hair, you fool." 'Men like him always think they can get whatever they want.' she thinks to herself, slightly disgusted with herself that she finds him attractive. She starts to walk towards the door and he gets up and follows her. She turns around and looks at him, crossing her arms accusingly.
"I'm still your security, remember."
"Fine. I'm told I have a place to sleep. Do you know where?" She thinks she can lose him this way.
Ronon smiles. "Follow me."
"I've heard that before." But she still follows him. Go figure! They leave the training room and go down a few corridors. Ronon stops at a door and touches the controls on the wall that release the door lock. The door slides open. Ronon lets Brin in first and she looks around. Normal guest quarters, no window. Brin is uncertain.
"Are all quarters like this?"
"Pretty much. Why?" Brin turns to him and is about to say something but he beats her to it. "You can't sleep here." She looks at him surprised he can read her mind. Ronon smiles. He's uncharacteristically been doing that since she arrived. "I felt the same way when I first got here. Follow me, again." Brin grabs a blanket from the bed and follows. They leave the sterile room and head down yet another corridor, then up many flights of stairs. Then a few more. Where are they going, she wonders. Then, finally, Ronon finds a door and walks in with Brin following behind. The wind takes her breath away as they walk outside on a terrace. Ronon walks over to the rail and leans on it, looking out to the sun set. It's dark, cool and windy. The lights from the city sparkle beautifully, echoing in the water. It's a breathtaking site.
"I came here a lot when I first arrived in Atlantis. It's a big change going from running to... NOT." Brin comes over to the rail and looks across the water. Aleese was a very far advanced civilization compared to most in the Pegasus galaxy. But nothing like this. But her mind was full of turmoil and she couldn't appreciate the beauty that surrounded her. She turns to Ronon.
"What made you decide to stay here? How did you know what was right for you?And how did you resist my... you know, I saw it in your eyes, you were fighting it and no one has ever done that. No man can get close to me without... How did you.."
"STOP! One question at a time!" Ronon says jokingly, standing next to her at the rail. Then he stops smiling and gets serious. "My home planet was called Sateda. It was devastated by the Wraith. There was nothing to go back to. My life before the Wraith was over." He stopped for a second, remembering the life he once had. "At first I wanted revenge. I felt like I could do something about the Wraith by being here. If anyone can defeat the Wraith, its these... Earthlings. My experience is useful here. I have a purpose. That's why I chose to be here. Now I STAY because I consider them my friends. This is my home now." He turns to her. "As for your pheromone thing..." he shrugs, "just a different type of fight."
Brin had been watching him speak. "Well, I don't want to go back to Aleese, I don't think they deserve help." He looked at her face as she said that. It was full of hatred. There was more to her story than she was letting on. She thinks for a moment. "It never occurred to me that anyone could defeat the Wraith. I'd certainly like to see that happen. For now, I don't have a choice anyway, I'm tied to those injections." She moves away from the rail and sits down with her blanket, leaning against a wall. Ronon walks back over to the door and sits down. Watching her. "What are you doing?" she asks.
"Security, remember?" Pause. "So what really happened to you on Aleese?"
Her eyes widen in alarm but she quickly tries to hides it. Not quickly enough, even in the dark, for Ronon. "What do you mean?" Ronon grins.
"When they took the tracking device out of me, my first thought was of Sateda and how soon I could get back." Pause. "When they showed me the remains of it... what was left..." He looked out to the city lights, away from her. "MY first thought was how to get back," he looks back to her, "you're first question was if you HAVE to go back."
She got the impression he didn't completely trust her. What did he call her? Trouble? "You overheard my conversation with Col. Sheppard." He was still waiting for her to answer the question. "I told you the truth. I was put on the island because my parents died."
"You said no one could 'control' you. What did you do?" He pushed. She was not about to tell him her life story. She did not trust HIM. Did he really think she would just open up to him? Because he was a runner too? Again, she thought, here is a man who is used to getting what he wants, including information. Not this time.
"I was 15 and I missed my parents and I took it out on the world, okay? When I ran away I was handed over to the state. That's it." She stopped, thinking about the two wonderful people who raised her. Who were taken away too quickly. Ronon wanted to ask her about them, try to keep her talking, but thought it might be too early. She obviously wasn't ready to talk.
They both sit quietly but neither really sleeps.
Meanwhile, McKay has been busy since he discovered Sam didn't really need him.
"Rodney to Sam." He says over the headset.
"That's Colonel Carter, Dr. McKay. Go ahead." Sam was getting frustrated with his obvious crush on her. It was very unprofessional.
"Right. I think you need to come see this."
"On my way." She leaves the office and heads to McKay's lab.
"What is it , Dr. McKay?" She purposefully didn't call him Rodney.
McKay is very excited. "Watch this!" He puts Brin's cloak on and disappears.
"I know how it works, McKay." She's a little annoyed at wasting her time. He rematerializes right in front of her, too close for comfort, again annoying her.
"You try it." He tries to hand her the cloak but she doesn't take it, thinking this is ridiculous. "No, really. PLEASE!" Sam takes the cloak suspiciously and puts it on. Rodney never says please. She thinks she's cloaked so she sticks her tongue out at him. "Oh, that's very professional, Sam."
"You can see me?!"
"That's what I wanted to show you. This cloak only works if you have the Ancient gene." He crosses his arms and looks smug.
Sam starts to take off the cloak. "You're telling me that Brin has the Ancient gene. Maybe that's why she was chosen for experimentation. Maybe the Wraith are up to more than we realize."
"Exactly!"
A week later Sam is sitting behind the desk in her office. Brin comes in. Her long red hair is always down now to show the freedom that she now feels. Her tall lean frame even seems to have filled out a little. She looks much healthier.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Brin, please come in. Sit down." She does. "Brin, you've been here for a week now. I was wondering how you're feeling about staying with us here on Atlantis?"
"I would like that very much but not if I will always be confined to Atlantis. I feel like a trapped rat." She smiles.
"You picked up reading our language fast. I don't see that as a problem. In fact, I was hoping you'd join my team."
"I would be honored. Who else is on your team, Colonel Carter?"
"I'm still working on that but I think you'd be more of an asset than you realize. I've asked Colonel Sheppard to teach you how to fly a jumper."
"Me? I've never flown anything before. Not part of the Aleesian curriculum." She jokes.
"That's OK. You're smart and obviously know how to think on your feet after 10 years as a runner with a pheromone problem. If you don't like it we'll try something else." Brin is smiling. Sam changes the subject. "How about everything else? Are you managing around so many people?" Brin's smile fades.
"It is more difficult than I thought, getting used to "socializing". Why people have to talk so much and discuss EVERYTHING, I'll never know. Small talk is just that, SMALL, so why bother?" Sam smiles and hands her a headset.
"This is for you so we can communicate- which you so love- much easier. Especially until we find a cure for your situation. Do you have any idea what the Wraith might have done to the others?"
"No. I had to leave the men right away and Kree and Saleed, the 2 girls that came with me, both had medical backgrounds. It came in very handy."
"Too handy. Eight men, 2 medics, an unknown and you. All put together by the Wraith. Seems like Ronon was right. That unknown girl may have also had been experimented on in some way." Brin's face falls in shock.
"I never thought about it. I left her there. She didn't want to come but maybe she didn't realize what she was really facing.. I didn't know!" Brin is obviously very upset at the thought.
"Wait! I'm just guessing. I'm sorry. See what small talk does. I don't know why I said that out loud. I am sorry. We can't possibly know."
Brin takes deep breath. "You're right. I have no control over that and can't change it now. If I ever get a chance to get back at the Wraith..." Sheppard comes in.
"So where's my new co-pilot? Are you ready for some fun?" he asks smiling.
"If that's all, Colonel Carter. I would very much like to try puddle jumping!" They all laugh and Sheppard and Brin leave for the hangar bay as Dr. Keller comes in and smiles at them.
"She seems to be fitting in faster than I did."
"Pheromones are a wonderful thing. Well, in small amounts."
"Right."
"Still, there's something she's holding back. That's why I've assigned her to my team. I'm hoping being part of a team will help her open up."
Almost a week later, in the control room, Sam and her colleagues are looking at computer screens. Sheppard comes over to Sam.
"She's a natural. Bumpy ride at first but now she flies better than half the pilots here."
"Good because she's about to go on her first mission."
"That was fast." Sheppard said surprised.
"Not really. You had Ronon out within a week. It's been almost 2. Besides, I think Atlantis could use pheromone R&R! We've had an increase in fighting in the last week."
"You can't prove it's because of Brin. There's been a lot going on around here."
"No. But that's my guess... and I'm usually pretty smart about these things." She smiles.
"OK, McKay." He says sarcastically as McKay is normally the one to toot his own horn. "So where are you going on this mission?"
"To the mining colony on Griterna. We've arranged a trade for some of their nacwada for some of our better mining equipment so they can mine it more efficiently.. and safely."
"Who are you taking with you? You should take Ronon, just in case. You never know when you might need some muscle."
Sam looks skeptical at him. "I think you need some pheromone down time too. No. At first I thought Ronon was less affected by Brin but now Ronon seems to be more affected by her than others. Wherever Brin is, Ronon is not far away. I don't know if it's pheromones or the fact that she's a pretty girl. No, this is a girls mission. Teyla, Brin and me. I'm not going to take any chances."
"Do you think that's wise?"
Samgives him a cynical look. "I have been stepping through that gate for a while now, COLONOL Sheppard. I think I have a clue about what I'm doing. This should be an easy trading mission and with our combined experience, those miners don't stand a chance." She smiles and leaves, heading to the hangar to meet the other members of her team. When she gets there Teyla and Brin are already waiting in the jumper.
Sam comes in and sits down in jumper. "Let's get this party started." Teyla and Brin don't understand the slang since neither of them are from Earth. "Sorry. Earth slang. Let's get going."
Brin starts up the jumper and carefully and smoothly goes through the Stargate. On the other side she flies perfectly and lands in the designated spot near the mining colony and group of tents.
"Wait, Brin, I want you to have this." Sam hands her the cloak and her guns.
"Thank you! I feel whole again!" She smiles. They all head out to meet the men waiting for them outside. Sam is in the lead as she shakes the hand of the head of the mining delegation and they are shown into a tent.
"So you brought the equipment you promised?" says Pemarr, head of the miners and always straight to the point.
"Yes, of course. It should make mining the nacwada much easier for you and, as we discussed, we would just like a small percentage of what you will now be able to mine." explains Sam.
"And who are these lovely ladies?" asks Pemarr, a little strangely.
Sam shows some reservation but assumes he's just being polite, sort of. "This is Teyla and Brin." They nod as their names are mentioned and smile.
"We don't see women here very often. Our wives stay on our home planet with our families while we come here to work for months at a time." He is now staring at them all. Will he drool? Brin gets nervous and puts her hand on her cloak.
"Right, well the equipment is in our jumper. We'll unload and then start loading the nacwada."
"What's your hurry? Surely you ladies could stay a while." The men start laughing and small pushing matches start. The girls are nervous and then Pemarr grabs Brin in a headlock. "I think I have a better idea. If you want the nacwada, this one must be included in the trade. We'll pay."
"We don't trade people." Teyla's gun is raised, then the men raise their guns, no longer laughing.
"I'm sure these nice people don't want you to send an army here just for me, Colonel Carter." says Brin trying to alleviate the situation. "Perhaps, not a trade. A loan might be more appropriate. I'm sure they'd be happy to escort me home in the morning. Safe and sound."
"That's right! A loan." agrees Pemarr.
"And of course, they're willing to GIVE us the nacwada that's here as a good will gesture and release me, knowing I am happy to stay, since they'll let my friends go home." coaxes Brin.
"Yes, right. Terrax load the nacwada into the jumper!" Terrax begrudgingly leaves. "So, Colonel Carter, is it a deal?"
Sam looks at Pemarr, still holding onto Brin. He lets her out of the headlock but puts his hands on her shoulders instead and smiles an empty smile. She looks at Brin questioning.
"I'll be fine, Colonel Carter." She gives Sam a look. "Go back to the ship and I'll signal you in the morning when I'm ready to leave." Brin touches her cloak and Sam notices.
"Let's go, Teyla. Brin obviously would like to stay with these... gentlemen." She and Teyla leave the tent and head toward the ship.
As they leave the tent and walk away Teyla says quietly to Sam, "Colonel Carter, you know we can't fly the ship without Brin."
"Ya, I know that but they don't. She better have a good plan." Shooting starts behind them and they duck and turn with guns pointed towards the tents.
"Don't point those at me please." they hear Brin say as she whizzes by, still cloaked and invisible. She decloaks as she enters the jumper. "Time to go." She starts the ship. Nacwada is on board and they have not unloaded the equipment. Luckily Terrax must have been in a hurry to get back to the tent. Teyla and Sam run on board. The ship takes off as shots are still being fired outside.
"Well that was interesting." says Teyla caustically.
"We got some nacwada but lost a trading partner." She looks angrily at Brin and then notices she's bleeding and goes over to help her. "You're bleeding."
"It's nothing, I will heal. I'm sorry about losing a good trading partner, Colonel Carter. It was the best plan I could think of."
"I didn't say they were GOOD trading partners. We'll talk about it later." She radios home as the Stargate activates. "Control room, this is Carter. We request clearance and medic at the hanger."
As they land on the hangar deck, Dr. Keller, Sheppard and Ronon are waiting. The jumper lands, doors open and Dr. Keller comes in and looks at Brin.
"Let's get you back to the infirmary." Dr. Keller says to Brin. Ronon hears this and picks up Brin and starts taking her back to the infirmary, Brin protesting and Dr. Keller in tow.
"What the hell happened to 'easy trade mission'?" Sheppard asks Sam.
"I think we underestimated Brin's affect. We are used to it now and perhaps the men here are more used to keeping their emotions under control." suggests Teyla, grinning at Sheppard as he gives her a questioning look.
"I think we need to be putting more effort into finding a cure." adds Sam. They start heading towards the door. "Can you imagine what life was like for her before?"
"I don't like to think about it." Teyla and Sheppard echo, looking at each other quizzically. They may have said the same thing but both had different intentions. They go through the hangar door.
In the infirmary Brin is sitting on a bed with Dr. Keller and Ronon standing nearby.
"Dr. Keller, it's just a scratch. It will heal. I could've walked!" She glares at Ronon. He smiles. Dr. Keller has Brin's shirt up slightly to dress the wound.
"It's more than a scratch, but you're right. There's no major damage. It will heal. I do want to check your pheromone levels while you're here. When I'm done." She finishes and brings the monitors over to check the levels. "Yep. Just what I thought, they're higher again. That would explain the miners behavior. Not that they probably needed much incentive. I have been looking at all your scans and so far I haven't found anything out of the ordinary so I'm going to look through your DNA next. I have to admit, Dr. Beckett was far more experienced in genetic modification than myself but I'll do my best. In the meantime..." She gives Brin another shot. "You may need these every month instead of 3 months till we figure this out. I'm concerned about what too much will do to your future child bearing capability but we don't have much choice." Brin looks very upset. Sam comes in to check on them. Brin doesn't notice.
"So how's she doing Dr. Keller?" asks Sam, sincerely concerned.
"She'll be fine. But her pheromones are not reacting to the meds as long as I'd hoped so we will have to keep a closer eye on it."
"I should've had your pheromone levels checked before we left. That's my fault."
"I'm sorry , Colonel Carter. Those men are probably very good people- it really wasn't their fault. They've been away from their families and never had to deal with...me before."
"No, Brin. It's not your fault. I remember, a long time ago, I went on an away mission with SG-1 where the people had never seen a blond blue eyed woman before and they tried to trade for me too." Sheppard raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Luckily my pheromones were just fine so there was no shooting involved. We can deal with this. The injections will help till we find a cure. And we WILL find a cure."
"The injections. Right. Can I go now?" Brin really didn't want to talk about her issues with the injections in front of everyone.
Dr. Keller was confused as to why Brin seemed upset but told her she was free to leave.
Brin gets off the table and holds her side where the bandages are and pulls her shirt down as she leaves quickly, bumping into Ronon as she goes through the door but never looking back. Ronon looks at Dr. Keller and Sam, they all shrug and Ronon goes after her. They walk quickly down the hall.
"Is there a problem?" he asks.
"No." Brin walks faster and winces and rubs her side.
"My legs are longer and you're injured. You can't outrun me, Trouble."
Brin realizes she still has her cloak so she smiles smugly at him and puts it on. She disappears and he stops and swears.
A few minutes later Ronon walks through the door to the rooftop terrace where he took Brin the first day she arrived. He looks around- no one to be seen. He walks over to the railing and leans on it, looking out over the ocean and the city lights.
"Ya know, eventually, you have to stop running." He waits. She uncloaks next to him.
"How? How do you forget everything you've been through and pretend to fit into this pretty picture of a life in Atlantis?"
Ronon thinks for a minute. "What triggered it?"
Brin turns away from the ocean to look at him full on. "Have you told them everything? Do they know all the details of everything that's happened to your whole life?" Ronon looks down and is quiet. "They don't need to know everything. Just that I will fight to my last breath to eradicate the Wraith. What else do they want?"
Rononturns to face her head on. "Trust. We, not they, need to know we can trust you with our lives. Some secrets are meant to be kept. Others help us learn from them." He takes her hand gently. "Follow me."
"I've heard that before. I'm in no condition to fight." Ronon laughs and leads her out the door.
Ronon takes Brin back to his quarters. She walks in cautiously. He walks over to a picture on the wall that was obviously there before he was- Ayers Rock (HA HA). He stands next to it facing Brin and turns the picture over- his hiding place. There is another picture, tattered, but mostly intact. He takes it down.
"This is a picture of my ...wife. She died 8 years ago fighting the Wraith." He pauses as he looks solemnly at the picture in his hand. "I've never shown anyone this picture. No one here even knows her name." He pauses. "Her name was Melena. This is my past but it reminds me of what's important- trust, friendship. There will always be enemies- Wraith, replicators, Ori, whatever. We need to have something worth fighting for, to believe in- a future worth fighting for. For our kids and their kids." She looks at him with what he thinks is fear. "Everyone's kids, children everywhere." He tries to recover. "My point is we all have secrets. It's what you learn from it that's important."
"You loved her?"
Ronon thinks that's a ridiculous question and is obviously bothered by it. "Of course I loved her. What the hell kinda question is that?"
"On Aleese, marriages are all prearranged. My parents had someone picked out for me long before they died. We were SUPPOSED to marry when I turned 25." She rolls her eyes and shakes her head as she turns away from Ronon and looks around the room and goes over to the window. Ronon clues in.
"So something happened when they passed away." he says as he walks up behind her. She says nothing. "You said you went from relative to relative but no one could control you. What you meant was your family wanted you to marry this guy early and you didn't want to. So they exiled you?" He thought it sounded rather extreme. She turns around to him.
"It's not that simple. By law, until the age of 21, all children are the responsibility of their parents. Without a parent, the responsibility fell to my grandparents. My grandparents couldn't afford to raise me and they decided I should live with my selected husband's family until I was 25 and could legally marry. HIS family didn't agree. You see, a child's education is a huge financial burden to the parents on Aleese. Most people only have one child because of it. So to ask them to support two was... well, they obviously thought it was too much. So it went to court. I ran away in the mean time because I didn't want to live with any of them! The police picked me up on the street and they sent me to the island until the courts figured out what to do with me. You know the rest." She turned back to the window.
"Wow. Your culture is a hell of a lot different then mine." Pause. "So you've never been in love." he smirks, knowing it would rile her. It does. She turns around with sparks flying from her eyes.
"WHAT? What kinda question is that?" she echoes him from earlier. "Love doesn't matter."
"Sure it does!" he replies, smiling. He's got a reaction out of her and that's what he wanted. To get her to start feeling more and maybe thinking less.
"Look, my people value intelligence and order and and and..."
"You're people put you on an island to be culled by the Wraith." She glares at him. Glares at him for telling the truth and she knows it and can't reply. "No wonder you don't know what love feels like." She's stunned. She tries to slap him across the face to shut him up. But he's ready for it, waiting for it. He grabs her arm and surprises her by pulling her close and planting a gentle but passionate kiss on her shocked lips. She's surprised at her own reaction. Her legs go weak and she holds his shoulders so she doesn't fall... but she doesn't pull away. She's over come with arousal, a feeling she's never had before. Rape is the only experience she has ever had with a man. This was new and exciting... and over. Ronon pulls back and looks down at her with a wry smile on his happy face. Her face was full of emotions; lust, shock, and fear. "There's a lot more to life than 'intelligence' and 'order'. And revenge." He tells her in his low gravelly voice, still with his arms around her gently. She pushes him away, unsteady and confused by her own reactions to him. She walks out the door as fast as she can on her wobbly legs. He's wrong. This has given her LOTS to think about.