Disclaimer: We own zip, natta, nothing.
A/N Tinuviel Undomiel: We needed a little break from the Libra Trilogy and this story came to mind. This little gem came to me while watching Smallville and complaining about Superman Returns and suddenly this idea struck us. If you like superheroes you will LOVE this story. Enjoy.
A/N Nerwen Aldarion: I love this story, this first one is almost entirely spanky and if you can't tell Teyla is like Lois Lane and Ronon is Superman, it follows the old adage of superheroes, falling in love but lying to them. There is always a special place in our hearts for Lois and Clark, M.J. and Peter Parker and all the other superhero couples, this gives all of you the chance to add Teyla and Ronon, John and Elizabeth to the list.
Note: The song mentioned is Save Me by Remy Zero. It is also the Smallville theme song.
The Heroes League
Chapter 1: A World Needs Saving
Stars studded the black sky and helped illuminate the city below. Tall skyscrapers rose up from the earth and desperately tried to touch the heavens but fell short every time. This was Atora, the core planet of the galaxy. There was no set central government, most of the systems depended on themselves. But the newly elected council of Atora was trying to convince the rest of the galaxy to bind together in an alliance. Success came slowly but they refused to give up.
With all their attention focused on other worlds, the council failed to see the growing problems on their own world. Crime was rising rapidly on Atora and the authorities were having difficulty handling it on their own, something criminals took joy in.
Glass shattered a harsh sound that echoed through the still air. Pursing their lips to keep from laughing at their triumph, the two bandits climbed inside the jewelry store. Their torches shone on the prizes resting inside the glass cases. Diamonds sparkled like sun shining upon snow. Emeralds, rubies and sapphires gleamed with green, red and blue rainbows. The twinkle of the jewels was a promise of the wealth these two would gain once they pulled this off.
They used the butts of their torches the break the cases and ripped the jewels out with greedy hands. No alarms blare to signal their misdeeds, no lights flashed as a cry for help. The cunning burglars had long since disconnected them. No one was coming to stop them from leaving with their loot.
Once the jewelry store was cleaned out, they hefted their sacks, "Let's go," the leader of the two said.
A dark frame filled the gaping hole of the broken window, "You're not going anywhere."
Damn! One of the neighbors in the apartment complex across the street must have grown a heart and called the police. "Bad idea, Copper," the bandit leered, dropped his load and pulled out s gun from his belt. Smiling, he fired three shots anticipating the look of horror on his victims face.
The bullets whizzed through the air and struck the man. They didn't make so much as a ping of noise as they bounced off his body and rattled to the floor. Shocked by the fact that the man was not dead as he should have been, the second bandit dropped his bag and trembled as he raised his torch.
He obviously was not a member of the police force. The uniform he wore was fairly tight and showed off the fact he was of large build and very muscular. It was black with silver edging, making him appear even more powerful. A black mask surrounded his eyes and kept the upper half of his face hidden.
The man kicked the bullets away and began to step menacingly toward the criminals. The second one backed away in fear but the leader was bolder. He continued to fire his gun, praying to the Guardians that one bullet would get through. The masked man's face was blank as he swatted at the bullets and continued to walk towards him. He reached out and twisted the muzzle of the gun so it faced its bearer.
Seeing that this man was not human the bandit was afraid. He dropped his mangled gun and started to back away but he was grabbed by the man and flung outside on the street, his body scraped a little from the jagged edges of the broken window. A spurt of loyalty entered the second bandit and he raced forward to stop their attacker. He felt like he had just slammed into a brick wall. He reeled back a fist and punched his chest. The bandit let out a cry of pain as he cradled his wounded hand. The man lifted him off of his feet and hurled him over to his friend.
The next morning as the citizens emerged from their homes, an old woman spied a strange sight as she left her ground apartment to shop for groceries. Two men, dressed in black, were tied back to back and gagged. They weren't restrained with rope but instead with pipe that had been ripped from the building and twisted around them.
While there were local police that walked the streets of Atora taking care of as much of the petty crime as possible, the council of Atora was not blind to the fact that more help would be needed. The help came from the AIB or the Atora Investigation Bureau, the agents of this department worked to uncover the truth about major crime lords and rings within the city of Atora as well as the more unusual aspects of the city, these happenings rarely occurred but when they did they usually left a pretty big mark…like the one happening now.
All the agents in the office were buzzing about the latest news, it wasn't everyday that two thieves were snared by an outside source and it had never happened where they were tied up with pipe!
Truthfully this wasn't the first incident like this, for a couple weeks now there had been reports of a man dressed in black and attacking people…it just so happened that these people were criminals. The most important question on the agent's minds, was he for them or against them?
They were all also wondering who Jack O'Neill would assign to investigate this masked man, which is why eyebrows were raised when he called Teyla Emmagen into his office. Teyla had been an investigator for several years, her record was clean and she had never been a problem, the AIB was her life so it came to no one's surprise that she might be the one chosen.
Teyla had her own thoughts about the man dressed in black but rather than share them with the rest of the agents she kept them to herself as she walked into Jack's office wondering why he wanted to see her and trying to dampen the hope she had for what it might be.
"Emmagen," Jack said as she took a seat, "I assume you've heard about the latest run in with our favorite masked man."
"Of course," Teyla replied, "it's hard to ignore two men being tied up with metal."
"Yes well we can't afford to ignore this anymore," Jack explained, "what I need you to do is find out anything you can about this guy especially if he's working for a crime lord."
"You want me to track down a man who wears a mask, can bend steel and throw a thief forty feet and you want me to do it alone?!" Teyla asked incredulously.
"No," Jack told her and Teyla was visibly relieved, "I'm assigning you a partner his name is Ronon Dex."
Teyla turned her head to see a very large and muscular man entering and her eyes widened. Jack assumed it was the first time she's laid eyes on him, but unknown to him Teyla had been watching the brand new agent since he'd been hired…and she'd liked what she'd seen.
"H…h…hi," Teyla choked out suddenly wishing the ground would swallow her up. If only Ronon would stop staring at her with such perfect green eyes maybe she could actually form a coherent sentence.
"Something wrong?" Jack asked a little confused at Teyla's behavior.
"No," she squeaked out mentally kicking herself.
"You're Teyla right?" Ronon asked sitting down next to her, Teyla nodded doing her best to avoid his eyes, "You've heard about you."
"Oh you have?" Teyla said her voice sounding a little funny, "I've uh seen you…around…here." I am such an idiot Teyla thought.
Jack looked at her a little strangely, "Okay then, well as you know you two are here to find what ever information you can about this guy we want to know if he's working for us or against us and we need to know as soon as possible."
"We'll do it," Teyla finally said normally, she was ready to get out of the office and find her bearings that way she didn't act like a total fool every time she came near Ronon.
She stood up to follow Ronon as he left the office and she was enjoying watching him walk away, which was why she was a little startled when Jack pulled her aside before she could leave. "You're still working on the Kel project…alone don't let Dex hear about it."
Teyla nodded, "I understand."
"Good," He told her before letting her leave.
Teyla didn't see Ronon again until the end of the day as they left the AIB building at the same time. She blushed at little at her foolishness earlier; Teyla still didn't know how she was going to handle being his partner.
"After you," Ronon said graciously letting her go first; she couldn't help but smile at his manner.
And Ronon couldn't help but admire the view…Teyla hadn't been the only one checking someone out.
Outside the Bureau, the traffic on Atora was congested. Horns blared in protest as busy people tried illegal moves to get to their destinations. Travel moved slowly and tempers were high. In a grungy autopod, there was one person who didn't care about the traffic. He was content cranking up his music as loud as he could as he creeped through the highway.
John Sheppard switched the station once the song ended to catch the news on his new home. "Kel Enterprises recently purchased Granton Biotics in hopes of starting an experiment on embryo research…" Too boring, he switched the channel, "Senator Delfman was caught outside a strip club…" Next, "The latest news, two burglars were caught outside a jewelry store, tied together with a pipe," Now that was interesting, John turned up the volume. The robotic tone of the woman's voice filled the autopod as she continued, "Citizens found the two criminals restrained by a pipe early this morning after they were stopped trying to rob a jewelry store. It is apparently another appearance by what people are calling the Black Steel, a masked man with inhuman strength and impenetrable skin. The police don't have any leads on who he is and still don't know if he is trying to uphold the law or is just another criminal."
That is a good question, John speculated to himself, looks like I'll have to follow up on this guy.
Now the news turned to an even more interesting subject, "Authorities are still on the look out for Acastus Kolya, a local crime lord behind the Golden Star Bank robbery. Unfortunately, they have no leads."
John gripped the controls even tighter, I'll find him; you can count on that.
A couple days later Teyla and Ronon were in the commons area at the AIB building, they'd been working on the Black Steel for a couple hours now and they both needed something to recharge their energy.
"You want some coffee?" Ronon asked her as he walked to the counter to get some for himself.
"No," Teyla replied, "I never liked it much," she confessed.
"Okay, I think there's some tea here," he suggested.
"That would be great thanks," she said as she pulled out some newspapers. The headlines screamed about the Black Steel along with pictures of the unfortunate thieves.
"I wouldn't call those reliable sources," Ronon said sitting back down.
"You'd be surprised," Teyla explained, "the press isn't restricted like we are so sometimes so they find things we don't, like here," she pointed to a picture on one of the papers, "somebody was able to get a picture of him."
"If it's not a fake," Ronon pointed out.
Teyla sighed, "I will concede to that," she took the newspaper back and stared at the picture, "I wish I could meet him there are so many questions I would ask."
"Do you agree with the papers," Ronon asked, "do you think he is actually a criminal?"
Teyla thought for a moment, "Truthfully…no I think that he might actually be here to help us."
Ronon raised an eyebrow, "Really why?"
"I know he has caused a lot of money in damages and his methods are certainly unorthodox but all of the people he's attacked were criminals in the middle of committing a crime," Teyla pointed out, "he's done a lot more good than bad."
"Sounds like you admire him a lot," Ronon said.
"Somebody who could use his amazing gifts for his own gain but instead uses them to help others; that is someone worth admiring."
"I don't disagree," he replied. The two of them shared a smile and a moment in which Teyla could have sworn she saw sparks, finally she turned away afraid if she continued to look at him she might just melt into a puddle on the floor.
"So…you haven't been here long," Teyla began fishing for information, "where are you from?"
"I'm from Sateda," Ronon explained, "but I haven't been there in years."
Teyla nodded, "I understand considering what happened."
"It's in the past," Ronon replied but Teyla could hear the sadness in his voice which explained why he would change the subject, "What about you, are you a native of Atora?"
"No I'm from Athos, it's a small planet," Teyla told him, "I moved away a long time ago, I wanted to do something for the galaxy and I figured this was the best place to start."
"Oh," Ronon was silent for a moment before asking, "Did you leave anyone behind?"
"No my mother had died when I was young and my father passed away a few years ago," she explained.
"Actually I meant did you leave…anyone behind."
"Oh," she finally realized what he meant, "you mean…no there wasn't anyone…like that now or ever." If Teyla had been looking at Ronon, she would have seen a pleased look on Ronon's face; unfortunately she was busy wondering the same thing about him, "So…what about you…does your wife like that fact that you're an agent?"
"I'm not married," Ronon told her.
"Oh…your girlfriend then."
He shook his head again, "I don't have one." They stared at each other again until Teyla felt her cheeks growing warm. Were there rules against what she was thinking? She'd have to look it up, at any rate it definitely wouldn't be right to attack your partner in the common room, no matter how pleasurable it might be.
"Maybe we should go…I still have a lot of work to do on another case," Teyla admitted standing up, "I'll see you later."
She left hoping and praying he hadn't heard how fast her heart had been beating…or the desire in her eyes.
The Ressidal Apartments housed mediocre apartments at fairly good prices. Most of the residents were either older couples in need for comfortable but cheap homes or young, medium job holders.
In apartment 3B, Elizabeth Weir was busy going over several important documents. She had finished her dinner earlier but had yet to do the dishes. She had more vital things on her mind. The papers were spread out on the sofa and she was calmly reading through them one by one.
A strange sort of pulse interrupted her thoughts and she stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. The light fixture above her was quivering and her ears picked up a few muffled words.
Letting out another sigh, this one of frustration, Elizabeth tossed down the papers and left the sofa. On her way up to apartment 3C, she began to hear the actual lyrics to the song:
Somebody save me
Let your waters break right through
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it
Just stay, stay
Come on
I've been waiting for you
At last she reached the door to her new neighbor's apartment and wondered over why the miracle that it was still attached to its hinges considering the earsplitting sound inside. She knocked softly at first but there was no answer. What a surprise. She tried again, this time a little louder. Still nothing.
Now wondering if the occupant inside had gone deaf from the music, Elizabeth pounded on the door with her fist. Finally it swung open to reveal one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen. She wasn't sure if it was his hair, which was a few shades darker than hers and in some messy, bed hair like style, or if it was his dark hazel eyes that seemed to burn her with their gaze, but her insides went topsy-turvy and her heart began an involuntary beat. The fact that he was shirtless wasn't helping.
It was his music that brought her back to reality as well as her chagrin. "Do you realize how loud it is?" she asked.
"What?" he asked, not hearing her question due to his music.
"Do you realize how loud it is?!" she asked louder this time.
"Hold on," he said and left her standing in his doorway. The music was cut off abruptly and he returned, "What?" he asked again.
"Are you going deaf?"
The handsome man looked at her strangely, "No."
"Oh, than is there some other reason why you are blasting your music so loud my ceiling is falling apart?" she asked flippantly, wondering why she had found this man so attractive in the first place.
He smiled and then she remembered. "If you wanted to join me all you had to do was ask."
Now she frowned, "What? Are you insane? I'm complaining about your loud music and you're flirting with me?"
"Pretty much."
She let out a long sigh, "Keep it down or I'm calling the super."
As she was walking away she heard him say, "And they say good neighbors are hard to find." His sarcasm was blatantly obvious and Elizabeth knew he had successfully gotten in one last dig. Living with him directly above her was going to be about as fun as walking over a bed of broken glass barefoot.
On the other side of the city Ronon Dex entered his own much nicer apartment. It was simple and masculine; he never really did give the furnishings much thought besides he hired someone else to take care of it so that it was livable.
He switched on the holoprojector, the news was on and Ronon only semi listened to the woman on the screen. "In other news the AIB still refuses to comment on the incident involving the Black Steel but sources say that they are investigating this masked man…"
Ronon rolled his eyes; he shouldn't be surprised that they were still talking about that, considering the situation it was almost worth laughing over. Then his thoughts turned to what Teyla had said, she thought that the Black Steel was working for the people not with the crime lords, she admired him, she wanted to meet him.
That made Ronon smile, if only she knew the truth.
The news woman was still stalking, "perhaps the biggest question on everyone's mind is who is this masked man working for or even more so who he is?
Ronon's eyes turned to the suit hanging up, the black and silver entwining in a simple pattern, the most important part was the mask hiding the truth from everyone the secret of who he was.
Show time.
TBC
A/N: Next chap John and Ronon team up and Teyla gets into a little trouble and her knight in shining...spandex comes to her rescue.
