Hello, my wonderful readers and welcome to my Stargate SG1/Atlantis story, The Lost Child. I'm not planning on this one being longer than fifteen chapters, so it's not too much of a long haul.

This first chapter begins after Season 5, "First Contact" of Stargate Atlantis. Please enjoy and review, if you like. :)

An Average Day for an SG Team

"So, why are we here again?" Ronan grumbled, taking long, bored strides as the Atlantis team followed the weed-covered forest path away from the gate.

Rodney rolled his eyes and nearly tripped on a root sticking out of the ground. Though it seemed to be late autumn on this planet, at least it wasn't too cold.

"Didn't I mention that in the briefing?" No answer. "Does anyone listen to my briefings?" Teyla graciously raised her hand, while Shepherd just looked guilty. "We're here because these people are trading partners with the Athosians and requested our help in order to improve their power supply without attracting the Wraith with any signs of threatening technology.

"You mean your help."

"Yes! Because I just happen to be the genius of everything, monkey boy."

"Including humility?"

"Aw, just…just shut up!"

"And why did we have to come?"

"Backup? I don't know!"

"Quiet, both of you," growled Col. Shepherd. "I think our greeting party has arrived."

Sure enough, not even a few seconds later, a tall, thin man and a pretty, rather full-chested woman of thirty rounded the bend in the treed path and bowed shortly to the newcomers. They both had wavy black hair and brown eyes; their earth-colored clothes were simple and unadorned, but very clean and well kempt.

"Teyla, it is good to see you again. I am Kivara, leader of my village," said the woman with a rich low voice. "Welcome to Medevra. Which of you is Colonel Shepherd?"

"Uh, that would be me," John replied with a lop-sided grin. McKay's quick reaction was a distinct muttering of 'Kirk.'

"And which of you is the scientist who could very well be the instrument of our civilization's advancement."

"Dr. Rodney McKay."

"You can just call me 'Rodney'," the mentioned man piped up with a boyish grin. There was no way he was going to let Shepherd's cute personality beat his infinitely greater mind in impressing the ladies on this planet. Both Teyla and Ronan merely looked away in disgust at their friends' subtle (yet not-so-subtle) antics.

"So, you basically you harvest a ton of peat from the fens just outside this forest in the summer and use it for fuel in the winter. But how? You have – what? – three hundred people in this village, using peat for heat, power, cooking, and all that. They couldn't possibly get enough from this area every year without running out. Peat takes thousands if not millions of years to develop! And you keep this all hidden from Wraith? You live in log cabins and caves. Where is the power generated? How do you manage?"

"The gods are good to us and...we have our ways," Kivara answered cryptically, "…which I will tell you at a later time. For now, let us finish our meal with talk of what improvements you have in mind."

Teyla suddenly stood from the rough-hewn table before Rodney could continue.

"My apologies, but I wish to inquire after this year's trade possibilities and I do not wish to take up any more of Col. Shepherd's time after you finish your discussions."

"I'm coming too," Ronon volunteered, nearly knocking his chair backwards in his eagerness to escape any more of McKay's technobabble. Shepherd looked longingly after them, but someone had to stay behind and keep Rodney from inviting the whole village back to Atlantis to see his research. The main town was carefully placed next to the cave-riddled mountain, the rock of which seemed to be difficult for the Atlantis scanners to penetrate. Half of the villagers dwelled in the spacious caves, while the rest stayed in the cabins.

Teyla sighed with relief upon breathing the open air again.

"Thanks for the excuse," Ronon said. The woman warrior smiled at her friend's constant state of restlessness.

"My people came to negotiate this year's trade with this world months ago. I only wish to investigate this power source of theirs. Didn't you find it odd that men and women of all ages just seem to be…relaxing, playing, or tinkering?"

Ronon picked up an offered piece of fruit from a small girl and sniffed it.

"Kivara said they harvested the peat stuff in the summer."

"Yes, but there should still be a fair amount of people tending the fires that support this power, however it is actually done. There are hundreds of people in this village, from what I saw in that short tour, both here and in the caves. All of them seemed to be using power for something – fires, light, heat. Who is working to generate it? Their technology isn't advanced enough to be that efficient."

"Are you thinking they're hiding something?"

"I can't imagine that these people have any intentions beyond survival and improvement, but I have been wrong before…with the Genii." Ronon looked around for any watchers and promptly started walking away quickly. "Ronon, what are you doing?"

"You wanna see if they're hiding something or not? I saw a small path leading out of the village, next to the mountain. Maybe we'll find something."

"And what if we're caught?"

"We'll tell 'em we got lost."

"Very well… From Rodney's briefing on the Medevrans' use of peat, it sounds like, the sooner they find an alternative for power, the better. An uncontrolled fire could be devastating."

"It's worked for them so far."

Once out of the village, the duo walked for a mere fifteen minutes through the forest with the rocky hill to their left before they encountered something of interest. There was a thirty-foot clearing in the trees with five large, round grates in the dirt, emitting large amounts of smoke. They seemed to have found the power site. In the middle of the area was a three-foot hole with a metal ladder leading down; however, they couldn't see anything in the hole for all of the smoke clouding the entrance.

Teyla and Ronon exchanged wary glances. Ronon jumped onto the ladder and disappeared; Teyla had no choice but to follow.

Things were clearer below; it was a large, boiling hot room with a gaping furnace on both sides and a giant stack of square chunks of peat covering an entire wall. These furnaces were connected to numerous pipes attached to the wall. (The smoke made their eyes sting and almost instantly produced coughing.) There were two people, as well: a man of about thirty, whose movement was restricted to the space between the furnace and the pile by a chain on his ankle, and a young woman of about twenty. Both were grimy, exhausted, covered with sweat, and coughing occasionally. The man continued to slowly haul peat into his respective furnace, all his energy seemingly focused on that one task, but the woman, who remained unchained, stopped and walked towards the strangers.

"We've gotten our supper already and you don't look like any of Kivara's usual messengers, so who are you?"

Teyla stepped forward cautiously. Frankly, she was worried. From all the years she had come here with her people to trade, she hadn't seen past the seeming convenience of the people's winter power supply to imagine something like this harsh labor.

"My name is Teyla Emmagan and this is Ronon Dex. We are travelers from another world and wanted to see how the Medevran's get their power without sending their working age people to do any work. You couldn't possibly be the only ones keeping the fires going!"

"Guess…" She stopped to cough, a dry and painful-sounding cough. "Guess again."

"Why is your companion chained? Are there others?"

A guilty look flashed across the girl's face.

"It wasn't always like this, from what I hear. The people did their own work, even after the yearly harvest – they sent people down here in short shifts. But, then the 'gods blessed them' and dropped me here to do the work for them. Since I can't do all of the work, they keep their 'worst criminals' down here with me. In reality, that usually means the people who get nosey about where their power comes from. We're here in the daytime to stoke the fires; the villagers keep warm with wood fires at night."

"So…there are others?"

"Since it's still fall, they only need two down here. In the winter, there's at least five or six. Never more. The other ones never last long."

Teyla raised her eyebrows in alarm.

"They die? How long have you been here?"

The girl laughed dryly.

"Too long. Not that it matters. I don't have a choice."

"It does matter. We can bring you back with us; you'll be safe. The Medevrans are looking for a more efficient power source, anyway, so they won't need you."

"I'm sure," was the mocking answer.

The man had stopped working and looked at his friend hopefully.

"Evie, do you know what this means?" he asked with a desperate tone, fighting a coughing fit. "We can be free."

'Evie' turned back around and looked at him, shoulders slumped. His ankle chain had suddenly just come loose.

"You can go, Josar."

"What about you?"

"I don't know if I can."

"Wanna bet?" Ronon abruptly asked, striding forward, hauling the girl over his shoulder, and heading up the ladder. Evie was not pleased.

"Put me down, you big ape! You don't understand. I can't leave!"

Teyla rolled her eyes and followed with Josar. A whistle had already started to wail in protest of the fires not being kept perfect. Above ground, Evie was sitting on the ground and scowling up at Ronon.

"Why can't you leave? You weren't chained in there. You could've left at any time."

"The Ancestors," was all she offered, but Teyla's interest was increased significantly. She looked at Ronon and quickly demanded,

"Go and tell Colonel Shepherd about this. I don't think he'll be wanting anymore negotiations." When Ronon ran off, she turned back to the workers. "Now, could one of you tell me what exactly is going on?"

Josar piped up.

"She just…appeared about a year and a half ago, just before the first frost. The elders thought it was a gift from the Ancestors…she seemed impervious to any disease or physical malady – perfect for this work. I was one of the people who discovered her. She was unconscious and naked in the middle of a field…no memory of her previous life and no connections here. And, just when she appeared, the peat bogs just seemed to replenish themselves, out of nowhere!

"When she disappeared, most of us thought she had been put to good use, as a gift should be, but others got suspicious that she was being abused. Month after month, the suspicious ones just disappeared and the power kept running. Last week, I discovered her down here and got caught…this is what I get for looking for the truth. Less work for most people doesn't mean a better way of living."

"You know your people. How will they react to the power being stopped?"

"They won't be happy. And Kivara's guards will probably kill us before anyone can speak against her."

"In that case, we should head for the stargate. We'll bring you with us and you'll be safe. I promise."