Title: The Exchange

Date: 27th June 2007
Author: Kazavid
Chapter: 1/10
Rating: M
Pairing: John Sheppard / OFC – Tanisha Toryn
Archiving: None
Warnings: Not sure yet (Sexual Content /Violence /Possible Torture)
Spoilers: None
Feedback: Yes
Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis and its character do not belong to me.
Summary: After being rescued from certain death, Sheppard must now escape…or persuade…his 'rescuers', not to hand him over to face retribution from someone who wants to see him dead.

The Exchange

CHAPTER 1

The sun was high above them, shining down from a perfect blue sky. A bead of sweat ran down Sheppard's face from the fierce heat of the sun. He was kneeling on the ground, as were the rest of his team, their hands were bound behind their backs. A man stood at the side of Sheppard holding a gun pressed to the side of Sheppard's forehead.

"Just be thankful that you're going to die first. You really don't want to see what we have planned for your friends," the man said with a laugh. He turned to look at his men who were all standing around…watching…and waiting.

Sheppard grimaced, wondering if this would be the last time he saw or heard anything. He glanced sideways at Ronon, who was badly beaten because he'd refused to give in. At McKay, who had already resigned himself to the fact he was about to die. And finally to Teyla, who seemed to have lost that characteristic strength that she normally possessed.

Sheppard's head jerked violently, as the man beside him, hit the butt of his gun against his temple.

"Maybe next time you'll learn not to interfere in things that don't concern you," the man sneered. He bent down until his mouth was right next to Sheppard's ear. "Oh, wait...sorry...there isn't going to be a next time. Not for you and not for your friends." The man took a step back and put the gun against Sheppard's head for the second time.

Sheppard was accepting the fact that he was probably about to die, the only thing he regretted was the fact that his friends were going to die too.

OOo

From the ridge just above the camp, Tanisha watched what was going on. She'd been following Sheppard and his team for the past few days. A couple of times, Ronon had almost caught her. When Sheppard and his team had been captured by the men, she'd cursed. He was her prey and she'd almost had him. Now she had to wait and see what the men planned to do with him.

As soon as their hands had been bound and they'd been made to kneel on the ground, she'd been pretty sure what the men's intentions were. When the leader had put a gun to Sheppard's head, her suspicions were confirmed. They meant to kill him.

She couldn't allow that to happen, she needed Sheppard alive. She quickly got together the equipment she needed to retrieve her prey.

"Tanisha what are you doing?" Lucas asked when he saw her getting the gear.

"I'm going to get my property," she replied, pulling out two hand guns from her backpack.

"You'll get killed if you go down there," he told her, his own thoughts were in turmoil because he knew just how much this deal depended upon them getting Sheppard, alive. The words from a few days earlier replayed in his head.

"You want him back safe and sound? Then you'd better make sure that cousin of yours gets Sheppard. And make sure he's alive when you deliver him, or the deal is off."

Tanisha held out the two guns toward Lucas. "Are you going to help me or not?" she asked him.

Her voice pulled him out of the dark memory and he glared at her. "Do you need to ask?" he bit out, angry that she'd even voiced the question. He grabbed the two guns from her and closed his eyes, praying that they would succeed.

Tanisha, like Lucas, held a gun in each hand, she glanced at him and said, "Are you ready?" He nodded and took a deep breath before moving toward the camp where Sheppard was being held.

OOo

Sheppard gritted his teeth and waited for the man to pull the trigger. The man's laughter was grating on his nerves. The least he could do, Sheppard thought, was keep his mouth shut as he killed him. He heard a click as the man readied the gun and he closed his eyes.

Waiting for the trigger to be pulled, Sheppard frowned because it was taking so long. He opened his eyes to see what was happening. In the distance he saw two dark figures. Both of them held a gun in each hand and were firing at the men in the camp. The funny thing was he couldn't hear any sound.

He watched as the men fell one by one. Then the two figures began to fire upon his team mates until he was the only one left. He didn't feel any pain as the gun was fired at him, but he felt himself falling, felt his eyes closing as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Tanisha looked around at the bodies strewn across the ground; she then looked at her hands to see they were shaking. Shoving the guns in her pockets, she clenched her hands in a bid to stop the shaking, but it didn't work.

"We need to get them out of here before anyone comes around to check," she told Lucas, who was standing next to her.

"What are we going to do with them?" he asked, curiously, pointing at the rest of Sheppard people. Their plan had never involved the other members of Sheppard's team, only the man himself.

"Nothing, we'll leave them somewhere to be picked up by their own people."

They got Sheppard and his team on to a wagon and set off for the Stargate. They dialled an address and went through the event horizon, wagon and all. They left Sheppard's team close by the Stargate and contacted Atlantis to let them know where their people where.

OOo

ATLANTIS

Everyone was standing around staring at the established wormhole, waiting for an IDC signal to confirm that it was Sheppard's team who were trying to contact them.

"You haven't received an IDC yet?" Weir asked the technician at the console.

"No ma'am, nothing yet," he confirmed, no sooner had he answered Weir when he began to receive a signal. He looked up at her. "We're receiving a transmission."

"Put it through."

The sound of a woman's voice echoed around the Gateroom.

"I have Sheppard's team here. If you want to retrieve them, then I suggest that you send someone immediately to pick them up. All of them are unconscious, and at least one of them is in need of medical assistance," the woman told them.

"May I ask why they are all unconscious?" Weir asked.

"Your people don't have any protection, so it's vital that they are picked up within the next twenty minutes. After that I'm afraid any predatory animals in the area will most likely attempt to feed upon them." The woman totally ignored Weirs question.

"How do we know it's not a trap?" Weir asked.

"You don't. I've done everything I can to ensure their safety, the rest is up to you," she told Weir.

Weir was just about to ask who she was when the transmission was cut off.

"I want Major Lorne's team up here and ready to go. And tell Beckett we need a medic to go with Lorne's team to assess any injuries."

"Yes ma'am."

OOo

As Lorne and his team exited the Stargate, their guns raised and ready to fire, they quickly scanned the area. The first thing they noticed was that there were only three bodies on the ground before them. There was no sign of Colonel Sheppard.

"Damn it!" Lorne bit out, he turned in a circle, searching for any sign of another body. "Lieutenant Anderson, take three men with you and check the area to see if you can locate Colonel Sheppard. And be careful."

"Yes sir," Anderson said.

"How are they?" Lorne asked the medic who was assessing their unconscious colleagues.

"McKay and Teyla appear to be fine. Ronon…I can't say, he's been pretty badly beaten. We won't know how extensive his injuries are until we can get him back to Atlantis."

"Is he alright to be moved?"

"Yes."

Lorne looked around the area and wondered if Colonel Sheppard was out there somewhere, maybe injured like Ronon and unable to get back.

Lorne activated his comm. "Lieutenant Anderson, any sign of Colonel Sheppard?" Lorne asked.

"No sir, we haven't come across anything yet," Anderson told him.

Lorne sighed, and then told Anderson to get back to the Stargate.

OOo

Tanisha and Lucas were watching from a high vantage point that gave them a good view of the Stargate, waiting for the Atlanteans to retrieve their unconscious comrades. They were taking a long time searching the surrounding area, obviously looking for Sheppard.

Tanisha turned her head to the side and looked at the unconscious Sheppard beside her. Since she'd been forced in to doing this deal, she'd tried to learn as much about the man as she could. Arrogant, over confident and very charismatic, were the first things she'd heard. But then her sources had also confirmed that he was honourable and trustworthy. Tanisha sighed, it didn't matter how nice or decent he was, she had no choice in the matter.

She looked back at the Stargate and caught a glimpse as the last man entered the wormhole.

"Do you want to move now, or wait for a while longer," Lucas asked her.

"I think we should go now. The quicker we can deliver him the better," she said.

OOo

Doctor Weir was waiting for the return of Major Lorne, anxious to find out how Sheppard's team were. As soon as they came through the Gate, she quickly moved to meet them. McKay and Teyla were the first through, followed by Ronon who looked to be in bad shape.

"Major, how are they?" she asked Lorne, her eyes moving between the Major and the Gate as she waited for Sheppard to appear. "Is Colonel Sheppard still on the planet?" she asked him.

"No ma'am. Colonel Sheppard wasn't with his team," he told her.

"Wasn't there!"

"We searched for him but there was no sign of him," he informed her. "I'd like your permission to take another team back there and do a more intensive search of the area."

"Of course, you have my permission Major."

OOo

Sheppard moaned and rolled over. His head felt fuzzy and his eyelids felt like lead weights. He could hear voices in the background and he tried to open his eyes, but found himself falling back in to unconsciousness.

The next time he woke up, he managed to open his eyes. He found himself staring at a woman who was sitting across from him, she was watching him. He went to sit up but his hands and feet were bound together with some strange looking devices.

The woman was sitting down, so he couldn't see how tall she was, but he could see how attractive she was. If they had met under different circumstances...he let the thought fade away.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" he asked, glaring at the woman. She didn't answer his question. She didn't even acknowledge if she'd heard him, which pissed him off a little.

"I've heard the phrase 'dumb blonde' before, but never 'dumb brunette' guess they must have missed that one, huh," he remarked sarcastically. She still didn't speak or react.

He was in a wooded area and he looked around as far as he could see, wondering where Ronon and the others where. "Where are my friends?" he asked quickly. He remembered the figures pointing their guns at them and firing. He was dreading the thought that they had been killed.

"Your friends should be fine," she said, finally deciding to speak.

"Should be?" he queried, not liking the vague answer she'd given him.

"The last time I saw them, they were being taken through the Stargate by their own people," she said.

"How do you know their own people took them?"

"Because, I, dialled Atlantis and told them where to find them," she said, exasperated by his questioning.

"So, what do you want with me?" he asked, curious as to why she wanted him.

She didn't answer him; she gave him the silent treatment again. Maybe he'd pissed her off, he thought, but then she'd pissed him off too, so now they were even. He looked at the devices that were around his wrists and ankles. Now if McKay were here, he'd probably be able to get him out of these things in no time. They looked like metal bracelets, the inner part of his wrists were stuck together, as where his ankles. He was curious as to how they worked, wanted to know if he could disable them somehow. He'd have to find out.

"Need any help with him," a man's voice came from behind Sheppard.

Sheppard turned to see the owner of the voice. He hadn't realised that anyone else was around. The guy stood about the same height as Sheppard, but he had a slightly thinner build. He had short brown hair and was dressed similarly to the woman, in dark clothes.

"No, I don't need any help, I can handle him," she told the man.

Sheppard snorted at her reply, oh yeah, he thought, how did she know she could handle him when she didn't even know him. Just wait until he got free, then she'd see if she could handle him. He watched her press something that was on a chain around her neck, then he felt the devices on him vibrate and suddenly come apart.

"Get up," she told him.

Sheppard pretended to have difficulty in getting up. She resorted to grabbing his arm to help pull him up. He made sure he stumbled in to her, which caused her to glare at him. He gave her a roguish smile, the one that seemed to charm everyone, he wasn't sure if his charm had worked with her though, she didn't show any reaction.

With the manacles around his wrists and feet uncoupled he found that he could walk quite easy. He decided to take a chance and run. He didn't get very far, the devices on his wrists and ankles suddenly locked together, causing him to go crashing to the ground.

"Satisfied, or do you want to try another method of escape," the woman asked with a blasé tone of voice.

He rolled over onto his back and looked up at her. "What other method would you suggest I try?" he asked perversely.

She pressed the device around her neck and the devices separated again. "Any you can think of. I'll just sit over here and wait until you've tried them all," she said. She moved back and sat down beneath a tree to wait for him.

Sheppard glared at her, bitch. What the hell did she expect him to do, walk meekly behind her?

She took her gun out of its holster and held it out to him. "Would you like to try the gun, see if you can shoot your way to escaping?" she asked.

He was slightly taken back by her gesture, but then he thought about it and realised she was doing this for a purpose. She wanted to teach him how far he could, and could not, go while he was wearing these damn devices around his hands and feet.

"I'll give you the run down before you go killing yourself," she said. "The devices you're wearing are designed to keep you under control..." she told him.

Sheppard couldn't stop the sarcastic remark. "You don't need to keep me under control, I'm fully house trained." he said, smiling sweetly.

"Any sudden movements and the devices will lock. Pick a weapon up and you'll receive a jolt of pain. The longer you hold on to the weapon, the more intense the pain will become. Get too far away from me or Lucas and you'll get another jolt of pain—"

Sheppard butt in again. "So what you're telling me is if I do anything other than walk, I'll get zapped."

"Yes, now if you'll let me finish. This thing around my neck," she touched the chain around her neck, "Is the controller for the devices. It is calibrated to my DNA and life signs, and so is Lucas'. That means if it is removed from me, or if I die…then you die," she told him.

"Meaning if I accidentally kill you or your friend, I'll be killing myself. Exactly how does that work, by the way?"

"Lucas, we're ready to go now," she shouted to the man.

"Where did you say we were going?" Sheppard asked casually, wondering if she'd tell him.

"I didn't say." She smiled at Sheppard frustrated look and pushed him in the direction of the Stargate.

TBC...