Disclaimer: Not mine, except for origional characters.
Pairing: Sheppard/Other
Spoilers: Perhaps some minor ones for early season 3 in later chapters.
AN: First attempt at an SGA fic and a WIP. AU
She had seen them earlier as she completed her morning tasks. They were dressed in dark green and seemed to blend in with the surroundings. The three men and one female walked confidently towards the center of the village, talking quietly amongst themselves. The only words she had seen came from the one with little hair who babbled excitedly as he held some object in his hand. Hearing a shout from inside the building she had quickly turned back to her task not wanting to be caught watching the strangers.
Now they were sitting with some of the leaders of their village awaiting their evening meal at the night-house she worked in during the evening and into the night. Normally she would not be permitted to be around the others but due to the strangers it was a busy evening with most of the locals choosing to eat there and catch a glimpse of them. Rylon had ordered her to help serve tonight and once they were all gone she could finish her work that she was supposed to be doing now.
At Arian's yell she shook herself mentally and forced herself to concentrate on doing the serving, nervously accepting several plates of steaming hot food and trying to meander between the tables and chairs that created dangerous obstacles between her and their table.
She set the plates down carefully, keeping her head down the entire time so as not to make eye contact and hurried back to retrieve the other plates. On her last trip she felt a wave of relief as she hadn't dropped anything nor caused any embarrassment to Rylon. She placed the last two meals in front of the long haired woman and the man with the dark scruffy hair and turned to leave, her task complete.
"Gimme another drink and get some for out guests too." She recognized the gruff voice of Hiyil, their village leader, and fled to obey him.
Returning she placed the full mugs by their plates and about to leave when she heard a voice.
"Thank you," he said softly and she made the mistake of looking up, startled by his thanks. She stared into deep green eyes and for a moment forgot where she was, but the daydream was quickly vanished as she heard a loud crash at the opposite end of the table.
"Get back to work, girl."
She ran before he threw anything at her.
He wasn't tired even though everyone else had been. Rodney was happily snoring from the lone bed and while he was not positive Ronan was sleeping, he was not making any sound other than the noise of slow, even breaths. He didn't want to get up as if Ronan was sleeping he would wake in an instant. It sounded like Rodney could sleep through a Wraith visit but could wake alarmingly easily if there were voices in the background. John guessed that it was because he didn't want to miss anything.
Despite his protests that they could return the following morning or sleep outside their hosts had been insistent. It was the finest night-house, as they called this hotel of sorts, in the area and they wished to offer the best that they had to their new friends. Reluctantly John had agreed and they had been given the only two free rooms. Originally the plan had been to have Rodney share the other room with Teyla but given that it was so small he was surprised they had fit the makeshift bed inside it hadn't been an option. The only small comfort was that she was sleeping in the room next to them.
Perhaps that's why he was awake, just in case anything happened to her in the next room. It wasn't often that they spent the night away from Atlantis and when they did they usually had a Jumper to crash in. Unfortunately that hadn't been possible today.
This address had been one in the Ancient database that they hadn't explored yet and Telya had not recognized it. As they headed to the Jumper Bay an alarmed Dr. Zelenka had called for Rodney to hurry. Once there, fearing something terrible had happened, Rodney had deduced that the Jumpers were doing some sort of update that was controlled by the Ancient computers. It had happened before and had never taken long but this one had taken an unusual amount of time.
After several hours of listening to Rodney babble on about the necessity of the updates he had been mildly amused to find that Rodney was debating shutting down the computers to see what was going on. It turned out that one of the Jumpers had malfunctioned preventing all of them from receiving the full update and Rodney devised a plan to fix the problem. All John could remember was that he had done some sort of reboot and refresh but it would take time to complete. Eager to leave and have something to do he had begged Elizabeth to allow them to send a MALP through and if everything checked out on the other end, head through the 'gate themselves.
He'd been surprised when she agreed and even more shocked when she ordered Rodney to go with them. She had explained that Dr. Zelenka could handle it just fine by himself and after Rodney had finished grumbling the data from the MALP had come back.
They'd stepped out into a heavily treed area with a hint of a path leading off into the distance. It wasn't so much a path, more trampled grass and it hadn't been done recently. Their life signs detector picked up several signals, none Wraith, and they had begun to hike towards them. It had been less than a half hour before they met their first inhabitant.
He had become wary of anyone who farmed but Rodney had assured him that there was nothing on that device of his to indicate that anything technological was occurring. Not relieving him of any unease he had ordered his team to keep an eye out for anything that would indicate Genaii or any unfriendly presence.
The man they met first had eagerly given them directions to the village, apologizing profusely that he was unable to escort them himself but he was waiting for someone. They'd thanked him and headed off in the direction he had indicated, and with the name Ynon as the man to speak to. As they began to pass houses John noticed that there were few people. Rodney began babbling excitedly about the style of the houses and that he assumed these people were at a similar technological evolution as Europe was just before the industrial revolution began.
Ynon was a tall, slender man and greeted the locals by name, usually receiving a nod or wave in return. He had taken them on a tour to show off their village but halfway through they had been disturbed by a loud clanging that had John reaching for his P-90.
"What was that?"
"Ah, that is our warning bell."
"Warning of what?" Rodney looked around, panicked.
"It used to warn of the Wraith now it only warns of the sometimes lengthy council meetings."
"Used to?" The use of past tense intrigued John.
"We have not used the bell to warn of the Wraith for many many generations. Please, continue to look around and I should return shortly." Ynon excused himself politely and followed several other men into a small building on the opposite side of the square.
"Rodney?" John wanted an explanation about why the Wraith had not visited this planet.
"I'm not getting anything, nothing. Just the life signs."
"Then..."
"Perhaps the people of this village are protected like Chaya and her people," Teyla added.
"Could be," Rodney responded.
"I don't think so." John indicated towards a man struggling with a large sack. He had either been in a fist fight or the wrong end of the cart he had been using.
"Who's Chaya?" Ronan's deep voice had broken the sudden silence and Rodney immediately began to regale him with the tale. Rolling his eyes, John began walking, Teyla at his side, trying to ignore Rodney's embellishing of Chaya's visit.
Several hours had passed before a troubled looking Ynon had returned. Teyla had inquired if anything bad had occurred and John watched as the man forced his features into his previous mask and assured them that everything was fine, that it was only a small matter and had been dealt with.
During the afternoon the discussion had turned to trade and while John was unsure if these people had anything that they would need, they could always use allies especially if they were able to offer them sanctuary in the event of a disaster or attack on Atlantis. When the invitation for dinner had been offered, John had been hesitant to accept. It was beginning to get dark already and John didn't particularly wish to walk back to the gate in the dark. That's when the offer to spend the night had been offered, this time by the burlish Hiyil.
John had compromised saying that they needed to check in with their people back home and if it was alright with them, they would return. He had been counting on Elizabeth to say no but the mention that the Wraith had not culled here for many years was something that she told them to investigate. The MALP was still by the gate and as usual it had some gear loaded on it for any unexpected delay and once that was retrieved, the MALP was returned. Elizabeth bade them a pleasant evening and informed them that she would check in with them in 12 hours.
The night-house had been crammed full by the time they returned. After handing their belongings, minus weapons, to a young man who assured them he'd place the items in his room, they attempted to navigate their way to where Ynon and Hiyil were seated. Once there it had become apparent that the large mugs were filled with some form of alcoholic beverage and that Hiyil had already consumed many. He was a large man, tall and wide, and when he walked the entire room seemed to tremble not just from his mass. He had an air about him that demanded respect and a loud gruff voice that everyone listened to. No matter the comment, whether ridiculous or inappropriate, those around him reacted in a way that John felt was forced. There were many in the room that seemed to genuinely like Hiyil and from what he had heard previously this man was someone who had stopped the fighting between their village and several of the outlying villages and had earned the position of leader.
The woman who had served him his meal had seemed shocked and slightly scared when he had thanked her and after Hiyil had spoken she had fled to obey his command. There was definitely something about this man that John disliked despite the fact the man had been cordial with them.
The meal had been filling and tasty but no-one had seemed interested in breaking up the evening so soon. More of the drink had been passed around, his team abstaining, and the night had ended much later when he had excused himself after watching Teyla and Rodney try to hide their yawns. After the small debate over where everyone was sleeping, Rodney had fallen asleep almost instantly while he and Ronan had been kept up for at least another hour listening to the sounds of the party continuing downstairs. Now he was still staring into the dark wondering where the closest bathroom was.
As silently as he could he shook the blankets off and retrieved his boots, opened the door and slipped into the corridor. One hand held a small flashlight in front while the other hovered near his sidearm as he made his way towards the dining area. He peaked in to see if anyone was around and discovered the woman who had served them on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.
"Excuse me." He stepped into the room turning off the flashlight as he did. At her startled look he hastened to apologize. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I'm, er, looking for the bathroom."
She shook her head at him and he hoped desperately that she didn't understand him and not that the shake of her head meant they didn't have one.
"Outhouse?" They didn't have indoor plumbing so he wondered if this would be accurate.
She nodded and pointed towards a rear entrance he had seen earlier.
"Just through there?"
Again she nodded but this time the light from the candle caught the side of her face and he noticed a large bruise that hadn't been there before.
"Hey, you ok?" After receiving another silent nod he continued, "how'd you do that?"
She took several steps back as John approached her.
"Did someone take a look at that?" He noticed a large cut that had been hidden by the shadow which ran from her temple down to her jaw. "I've got some stuff with me that'll make sure it doesn't get infected."
Before she could protest he dashed up to his room wondering if she'd still be there when he got back.
She was to his surprise and was back to cleaning the floor. As she heard him approach she stood and backed up to the wall.
John took a few steps towards her but not so he was more than three feet away and she still refused to look at his face. He showed her how to place a bit of the creme on her finger and gently place it on the wound, explaining that it would take less time to heal. Once he was done he placed the tube on the closest table, bade her a good night and slipped into the darkness in search of the outhouse. On his way back he glanced into the dining area but she was gone, as was the tube.
When he opened his eyes to find daylight streaming in through the window he wondered how long he had slept as it didn't feel like much. Rodney was grumbling about the cold while Ronan poked the figure under the sheets with his gun.
"Where were you?"
"Me?" John looked at Ronon still not feeling quite awake.
"I woke last night and you were gone."
"Had to use the outhouse."
"Oh great. Outhouses, perfect," came a mumbling from the bed. "First thing we teach these folks is the wonder of indoor plumbing."
"Teyla?" John asked Ronan, ignoring Rodney's complaining.
"I heard her get up not long ago." Ronan ceased trying to harass Rodney, grinned at John and left.
"Think they have coffee here?"
"I dunno, Rodney, but the best way to find out would be to get up!" John changed swiftly, grabbed his jacket as there was a late fall chill in the air, and followed Ronan downstairs.
They were given directions to Hiyil's house and once John had assured them they wouldn't need a guide they set off through the muddy streets. It must've rained after he had fallen asleep but if the clear sky was any indication it should be a warmer day than the previous one. The house was on the outskirts of the village almost nestled within the trees with only one other residence close by. Ronan knocked on the door and they waited for several minutes before trying again.
"Yes?" A cross looking woman finally answered and glared at the four.
"Is this Hiyil's?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"I'm Sheppard and this is Teyla..."
"Ah, yes, he spoke of you last night. I'm terribly sorry, won't you come in?" John met Teyla's glance as the woman's demeanor changed abruptly.
"We don't mean to intrude but the woman at the night-house informed us we were supposed to meet Hiyil here this morning."
The woman frowned momentarily while looking Teyla over but responded kindly. "Yes, and I am supposed to send you to meet him. I'm afraid that there was a small incident last night in one of the other villages and he had to tend to that. I will find someone to guide you to him. Qaswa, Qaswa, come here." As she spoke she moved to the rear of the room and yelled for Qaswa several times.
"If you just want to give us directions.."
"You will not find him as he is in the Forrest. Qaswa will take you. Where is that boy? Kallanat, get up here."
Several minutes later the woman returned informing them that Kallanat would take them to Hiyil as Qaswa was not there. She apologized to the team explaining that if she had someone else to send she would, but Kallanat did know the way and not to mind her as she was not very quick thinking. As John was unable to find the words, Teyla thanked the woman and exited, waiting the few minutes for Kallanat's arrival outside.
John couldn't help but grin as he saw the woman from the night-house approach but before he could say anything, the other woman appeared explaining that this was Kallanat and for them to have a safe trip.
Kallanat began walking a much quicker pace than John expected and they fell into a line behind her; Kallanat at the front, John right behind, Rodney behind him staring at his life signs detector and talking, Ronan and Teyla bringing up the rear listening and teasing Rodney in turns. John took the opportunity to talk to Kallanat.
"Looks much better today."
She nodded.
"So, Kallanat, you must've been up later than me, yet you were up pretty early today."
Kallanat did not acknowledge his comment and John began to wonder if perhaps she had a hearing problem or was unable to speak.
"So, is that your parents house?"
That earned him a reaction, a violent shake of her head.
"You work there?"
Affirmative.
"So you work all night serving then cleaning and have to get up early to work there? Do you do that often or just helping out for the busy nights?"
No response.
"Can I ask you something?" John waited for a response and when he received nothing, continued. "Can you speak?"
Nod.
"Ok." John had run out of things to say. He wondered if she was painfully shy, or perhaps she was handicapped like the woman had suggested and he prepared to continue their journey in silence, listening to the light hearted banter coming from his teammates.
"Please." It was barely over a whisper and at first he was unsure if he had heard her. "You do not understand."
"Understand what?"
"I am not someone with whom you wish to converse with."
"Why's that?"
"I am not the same as you and you dishonour yourself by speaking with me."
In a flash John remembered some of his high school history. "You're a servant?" He remembered that in Europe the system of classes had been something that those in the higher class had strictly adhered to.
She hesitated before answering. "Yes," but she sounded unsure.
"Ah, see, where I come from that doesn't matter. Everyone's equal no matter what they do or how much they earn. We work together like a big family to survive."
"Truly?"
"Yeah, we have our disagreements and time when things don't work out so well but in the end we're all here together."
"How many?"
"About as many as your village." As they continued walking John told her about Atlantis without speaking the name or informing her about the complex systems they used.
As they entered a clearing John immediately spotted Hiyil with another man and noticed that Kallanat had fallen quiet beside him.
"Greetings, Sheppard, Telya, Ronan and Rodney. I'd like to introduce Gio who is visiting from another village."
Gio greeted them warmly and thanked Hiyil for his time, preparing to make his exit when Hiyil invited him to stay for the day. Kallanat was ordered back to his house the moment Hiyil realised she was still there.
The day was spent discussing various items and goods that could be traded between Hiyil's people and Atlantis. Rodney was quick to offer them technological advancements, Teyla brought up medical assistance and supplies while John tried to think of something that they would want in return. Hiyil seemed to be pleased with what they were offering and as they began to make their way towards the Stargate he inquired about their herbs and medical supplies.
Once they arrived at the 'gate Hiyil inquired as to which world they were located. He explained that while had made several trips through the Ancestral ring when he was younger and had visited many worlds he had not run across a culture such as theirs. John tried to brush him off with some vague answers and when the questions ceased, Hiyal began to point out many of the plants that grew by where they were walking.
The entire journey back to the village Rodney kept badgering Hiyil with questions about the Wraith. When was the last culling? Where they aware of any weapon to defend themselves with? Had they ever met an Ancient? When he received answers that indicated Hiyil did not know anything about the lack of Wraith cullings Rodney inquired about any written records.
"Many of us do not read the old text anymore. It was deemed a skill that was not mandatory and most felt that it was a waste of time to learn. There are a few who can still understand but as we have few documents there is no real need for them."
"So you don't have any written records of your history?"
"Only a few that describe the few laws that govern out people. Sheppard, if you are interested in the herbs we have this is the place you will find most of them." Hiyil changed the subject swiftly as he led the group into what appeared to be a small store. Inside there were many shelves filled with goods of all shapes and sizes. Hiyil pointed out many of the contents of the small containers continually asking if they had seen or heard of any of them.
Again they were invited to spend the evening and as before, Elizabeth requested that they stay. In the morning, she informed them, she would send a team of scientists to analyse the herbs and someone to set up trade, if Hiyil agreed. He did promptly and the meal occurred in the same fashion as the previous evening.
Halfway through the meal John began to feel a slight headache coming on and after excusing himself went to get a bit of fresh air. The smell of the food combined with the heat in the room had created a nauseating mixture and John wasn't sure why it hadn't seemed that bad earlier. Sitting outside in the dark he contented himself with taking deep breaths, focusing on the stars illuminating the sky.
Hearing a shuffle he automatically reached for his sidearm but placed it back in it's holster as he recognized Kallatan approaching.
"See, now it's your turn to scare me."
He heard a slight laugh.
"How's the cut? Healing?"
"Much better. I thank you."
He felt something being pressed into his hand and recognized the tube he had given her the night before. "No, you keep it. I've got lots more at home." He handed it back to her and with a quiet thank you she disappeared into the building. He stayed outside for several more minutes before he decided that seeing as his headache was fast becoming a persistent pain he would head upstairs and find some painkillers and maybe try and get some sleep before Rodney began snoring again. Relaying his plan to his team mates he wearily climbed the stairs and headed for his room.
"Wake, please, you must wake."
John felt something liquid in his mouth and began to spit it out.
"No, you must drink this if you are to waken." Again the liquid flowed into him and this time he was unable to stop himself from swallowing some. Almost immediately his mind began to clear though the headache did not leave.
"Kallatan," he began as he sat up only to hit his head on something that he didn't remember being there before.
"Please, they must not find me here."
"Kallatan, what's going on?" John's eyes adjusted to the dark and he could see that they weren't in his room anymore but he had no idea where they were. His wrists were tied together behind his back and his shoulder throbbed along with his head.
"The Wraith are coming. We must wake your friends."
At the mention of the Wraith the last trace of fog in his mind vanished and he began to look for something sharp to cut the bonds. Kallatan saw him struggling and produced a blunt knife that eventually got the job done.
"I could not retrieve all your belongings but here is what I have." She passed him two bags with his jacket, his P-90, Ronans gun and some other small items. "You must give this to your friends and leave. There is no one watching this house as they are awaiting the arrival of the Wraith."
"We can't just leave, we have to help."
"Do not worry, the Wraith will not harm us." With that Kallatan passed the cup of liquid to him and fled into the night.
As fast as he could, John began to give the liquid to his team mates and one by one they woke, groggy, all with headaches.
"They drugged us!"
"Yes, Rodney, and that's the least of our problems. We need to get out of here now."
"What about the people?" Teyla asked as she searched for something she could use as a weapon.
"Kallatan seemed convinced that the Wraith wouldn't hurt them but I think there's..."
"It's a signal." Rodney waved his device at John, elated at finding it still in his jacket pocket. "They've signalled the Wraith."
"We need to leave now." Ronan stood ready at the door.
"John, we can not help these people with only two weapons. We can return here after getting supplies from Atlantis."
John nodded at Teyla and the four slipped out of the house and ran for the trees. They ran into no-one on their way to the gate but as they reached the DHD the familiar sound of a Dart shot overhead. Guessing it would only be moments before the 'gate was dialed preventing their escape, Rodney punched the address in furiously as John stood ready to send his IDC as soon as the wormhole formed.
The moment their IDC had been confirmed they ran through the event horizon, a Dart close behind.