Title: Elemental
Author: roseofthegate
Disclaimer: I do not own StarGate: Atlantis or any of its characters. I do own my character, who will enter the story later.
A/N: This is my first Atlantis fic that I've actually put up, so lots of feed back would be welcome! Thanks to my totally awesome beta eruannelaviriel. You're the best!
Chapter One
"Come on, Rodney. You can always come back with a team of your underlings. Let's go!" John Sheppard ordered as he hiked away from the Ancient ruins, which were located in a clearing in a vast forest. "I'm sure that Elizabeth will let you come back, now let's go!" He stopped at the edge of the clearing. Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagen were close behind him. A few minutes later the grumbling subject of Sheppard's orders appeared, and the foursome set out to the StarGate.
As they trekked through the forest, Sheppard noticed a motionless form, half-covered in brush. "What's that?" he asked quietly. Ronon's gun immediately came up as he wearily surveyed the forest, again. Sheppard made his way over, gun raised, and found a wounded woman.
As she felt the brush move around her, her eyes opened, revealing brilliant, emerald pools. "Help…me…pleassss…" she slurred and lost consciousness. There was a shallow gash on her temple, as wells as various bleeding wounds on the rest of her, which were evident by the dark marks on her dark clothes.
Sheppard leaned down to check her pulse; it was shallow and slow, but steady. He looked up at Ronon and Teyla, who both signaled that it was clear. "Rodney," Sheppard hissed at the balding physicist. "Pick up her bag."
"Oh, so now I'm a…" Rodney McKay began.
"Shut up, McKay," Ronon interrupted. The scientist gulped and picked up the satchel. Sheppard gently picked up the injured brunette, shifting his gun so he could still use it if necessary. Luckily, he did not. The group made it to the nearby 'Gate without any interruptions and went back through to Atlantis. They had radioed through about their guest and there was a medical team waiting
A few hours earlier
A team of scientists and military had been exploring the bowels of Atlantis, led by one Doctor Katharine Roth. So far, they hadn't discovered anything of major significance. A gadget here or a trinket there. No plagues or monsters of any sort, yet. They had just finished documenting the latest lab, which was full of what appeared to be the Alteran version of an electrical outlet, which could prove useful.
"Okay, people, let's pack it up and keep going," Dr. Roth ordered. The scientist-part of her team hurried to comply with her orders, while the military stood passively at the doorway; their leader was Major Lorne. After a few minutes of packing up equipment, the group was ready to move on. "Ready, Major?" Dr. Roth asked.
The major inclined his head slightly, and the lights dimmed as the team headed back out into the dim hallway. They moved down the corridor to the next lab on the right. After checking to make sure her team was ready to begin documenting the room, Dr. Roth gave the order to Major Lorne to open the door.
The team went inside, the military men leading the way. The scientists immediately followed and fanned out to take video, etc. of the lab. One of the scientists went over to a large, goldish-tan tube-shaped thing with frosty glass that was covering the top, preventing the contents from being viewed by an outsider. It was obviously the main feature of the lab because it was situated in the middle of the room. He laid his hand on the console before it and the tube came to life. The glassy top of the tube melted away, revealing a creature that was more hideous than anything anyone in the room had ever seen, emerged. Its face had two glowing gold dragon eyes and its nose was composed of two slits, but its head was shaped as a human's head. It had the form and size of a human man and was wearing clothes but its skin was covered with sharp red scales. Its hands were shaped very similarly to a Wraith's; they had the same eye-like feature in the middle as well as long claws on the end of each of its five fingers.
The scientist who had brought it to 'life' looked at it with horror. "What the—?" He never finished his sentence, but his cutoff speech caused everyone in room to look toward where he used to be standing. As they took in the creature, it hissed at them menacingly.
"Everyone out!" Major Lorne ordered, and the scientists hurried to comply. The creature snagged one of them as she tried to get away. Gunfire rang out, but the creature was not the least bit phased. It just looked ticked off as it hissed again.
The Atlantians got out of the lab and closed the door. That did not stop the creature; it opened the door, to the shock of the Atlantians and followed them, menacingly.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please take a moment and tell me what you think! Thanks, Jenn.