A/N: This is for Hope, my dear friend, who's birthday is today. I hope it's a good one sweetheart, and that you have a great day. -hugs- Thank you for always being there for me, you're a wonderful friend, and a lovely person. :)
I own none of the Stargate franchise.
-Homecoming-
--
I watched Teyla from the Control Room balcony, as she walked into the Gate room, Keller following her. She was wearing her long leather coat, a deep brown colour that looked good on her.
She was dressed appropriately for the day; it would be chilly at New Athos this time of the year.
Sighing softly to no one in particular, I found myself wishing I was accompanying her, again. I'd cleared the mission without much thought, after all – what danger could there be on Athos?
We'd been there with the team more than once. The Athosians were settling in quite nicely, giving it a homey sense, welcoming any stranger that might be passing through the Gate.
Still, it was odd watching her prepare to leave with only the doc to accompany her. But, we wouldn't be far away in case of an emergency, which made me feel a little better.
Teyla usually wore her normal gear, on an off-world mission. But since this wasn't officially a mission, but just a visit, she'd chosen to wear her own coat.
"Oh, look at you!" I called from up the balcony, catching her attention. "Got a date?" I teased, working hard on keeping the playful smile present, as I grimaced inwardly at the idea of her going on a date.
Her response was as I'd hoped.
She rolled her eyes at me, a gesture she used almost every time now when I teased her. "Please!" she answered. "You will contact us if you need us?"
I resisted the urge to sigh. She always worried too much, even as she did something for herself for a change. It didn't show on her face, as she worked hard to keep her emotions from showing. Her eyes gave her away though, showing just a tiny bit of the reluctance to leave without her team.
I tried to reassure her. "Oh, we'll be fine," I answered casually. "You kids have fun." I turned to Jennifer, "You're going to love the Athosians." And she probably would, it was her first time meeting them, and they were kind people, welcome to outsiders Teyla brought with her.
Jennifer smiled, hopeful. "I'm going to experience my first Tendol Feast."
Ah… that brought on some memories, fuzzy ones, but pleasant enough. The fuzziness was all blamed on that stuff I'd been drinking, stronger than I'd expected. My glass had been refilled before I'd had a chance to put it down, and me – not wanting to be rude – kept drinking. Guess I ought to give the doc a warning, and spare her the headache.
"Oh, those are good, but watch out for the, um ... what do you call it?" I asked Teyla, frowning as I tried to remember the name.
"Ruus wine," she answered, the corners of her mouth curling upwards.
Yeah, that was it. "Ruus wine," I repeated. "Tasty stuff, but one hell of a kick," I warned the doc.
"We really should be going," Teyla interrupted my babbling, smiling as she did, obviously thinking of the same thing as me. I really wished she hadn't seen me like that, I thought to myself, pouting a bit. She didn't tease me about it, as Ronon happily did, and I guess I was grateful to her that she didn't mention it again.
I interrupted my train of thoughts, the smile returning to my face. "Have fun, kids!" I called after them, as they stepped forward, the Gate swallowing them.
Sighing, I forced myself to walk down the steps, heading for my quarters. There were a lot of mission reports waiting for me. Or rather – the lack there of… I had some work to do.
--
The rest of the day passed slowly, and I was pleased with the amount of work that I got done. My thoughts strayed every now and then, to the member of my team out there alone, with the doc.
Numerous scenario's scrolled through my head, of all the possible things that could happen over there. The doc wouldn't be much help in a fight, which only made me more restless. Maybe I should've sent someone along… One of the marines, or two, that wouldn't have hurt.
But I was pretty sure that Teyla would've objected to that. She didn't like being pampered, not that that was my intention. I mean, I knew first hand how well she was capable of taking care of herself. Still… I didn't like it.
--
McKay distracted me the following day. He was testing my knowledge, which wasn't the first time. The subject ranged from math to movies, and a lot of stuff in between. Most of the time I knew the answers to his questions, and when I didn't, I usually managed to distract him any way possible.
He always smiled at me, a smug little smirk, when I didn't know something. I didn't care most of the times, since he was a 'genius' and he didn't hide his intelligence very often. But of course, McKay was McKay, and he could be annoying, too.
I welcomed his distractions today, eager to think of something else besides Teyla. Well… Teyla not being safe, that was. Normally, thinking of Teyla wasn't all that bad.
His company was nice, as he seemed to be in a good mood.
My mood brightened also, for a little time, anyways. It wasn't until Ronon joined us, and pointed it out, that I realised that Teyla was late for her check-up.
That was weird. Teyla was never late, for anything.
Rodney frowned. "Well, she had that big feast last night. Maybe she did too much celebrating and needs to sleep it off," he suggested, smiling at his thought.
Ronon glared at him, and I had to resist the urge to respond to his suggestion. Ronon did it for me.
"Yeah,'' he grumbled. "That sounds like Teyla."
Rodney's smile faded quickly, the seriousness of the situation sinking in, as he too started imagining about what could have happened.
My pace quickened, but I didn't really notice it. The answer to Rodney's question suddenly popped into my head, and his sullen face made me want to say it out loud. I clicked my fingers, and told him the right answer.
Rodney smiled, complimenting me on my good answer.
--
I dialed the Gate myself, ignoring the questioning glance Chuck sent my way. Ronon and Rodney joined me on the balcony, the same one I stood on yesterday morning.
I called for Teyla over the radio several times, my throat thickening as her voice wasn't there to greet me on the other side. Rodney and Ronon shared my concerned look, and we all came to the same conclusion.
Teyla wouldn't turn her radio off, no matter how drunk she could've gotten. Which she hadn't, of course.
Something happened, it was confirmed now. The nagging feeling I'd had since yesterday increased in intensity, screaming at me now to take action.
It didn't take long for us to decide. We set up a rescue mission right away, though I refused to call it that in my head. Rescue.
We left with the jumper, just the three of us. Maybe it would've been smart to bring some soldiers with us, too, but we were in such a hurry, that I didn't even think about it until after we left.
I concentrated on flying the jumper, which was slightly comforting in a way. It was familiar, and it gave me something to do.
--
Flying over the Athosian settlement, Ronon explained about the Bolo Kai. I was glad that they weren't as advanced as the Genii, but a more primitive tribe.
Ronon and Rodney's banter made me smile, lighting the mood slightly. There were a lot of life signs showing on the front screen of the puddle jumper. We couldn't see a lot from above the forest, so I decided that we had to go further on foot.
I found a good landing spot, and we cloaked the jumper before heading out. Rodney pointed out all the life signs, which were, very conveniently, all around us.
Ronon looked around, and pointed straight ahead. "That way," he muttered, already walking forward.
McKay frowned, wondering what Ronon knew that he didn't. "Really? Why?" he asked.
Ronon shrugged casually. "No reason."
I nodded, following Ronon into the trees. "Good enough for me." I'd learned long ago that Ronon's instincts were usually right. And even though my mind started imagining what could happen if we where headed the wrong way, I followed my gut, too.
--
Not long after we were walking, the sound of a gunshot caught our attention. One single shot, from what sounded pretty close.
We sprinted towards the direction of the noise, our guns raised in case it wasn't Teyla we would find there. No more gunshots followed, and I wondered what could've happened.
Something caught my eye, and I turned my head to look. We weren't the only ones who'd heard the gunshot, it appeared, as a dozen or so Bolo Kai were heading for the clearing ahead also. It was an arrow embedding itself in the tree just inches from my face that had caught my attention.
The Bolo Kai had noticed our presence, and I wondered where the warm welcome was as arrows flew past us, luckily without any success of hitting me or my teammates.
We were almost at the clearing, and I could make out Teyla and Keller's forms now, turning at the sound of the arrows and footsteps heading their way. Keller stepped a little closer to Teyla, who aimed a gun at the Bolo Kai approaching them. She didn't shoot though, since there were way too many for her to take down by herself.
I opened fire while still running. Ronon took my cue right away, and the familiar sound of his gun discharging reached my ears, followed soon by the sound of another P-90.
The first line of Bolo Kai attacking went down in seconds, scaring the other warriors. They weren't nearly as well armed as we were, and it seemed like they were aware of that too now, as they watched their fellow soldiers fall.
It didn't take them long to retreat, using the cover from the trees to move back into the dense forest.
I saw Keller sag in relief as she recognised us. Ronon still aimed his gun at the retreating tribe, glaring.
I turned to Teyla and Keller when I was sure I could let my weapon down. Taking in their condition, I cringed slightly at the sight of Teyla.
She had a deep gash on her cheek, blood flowing freely from the cut. What bothered me more though; was the lost look in her eyes, a trace of hate, and sorrow also present.
"You ok?" I pressed, demanding her attention.
Keller responded for the both of them, nodding. "Yeah."
"What happened?" Ronon demanded, finally lowering his gun, though he didn't put it back in its holster yet.
"My people – they're gone," Teyla responded, choking the words out.
Gone? How could all of her people be gone? Gone how?
"What are you talking about?" I started, my head full of thoughts, all pressing to be heard at the same time. "All of them? What happened?"
Teyla turned abruptly, not answering my questions. She called out something – what sounded like a name – in the forest, turning and roaming the forest desperately with her eyes.
"Nabel!" She yelled, her eyes still searching.
Teyla turned to Jennifer, not paying attention to the rest of us. "Where did he go?" she demanded, staring at Jennifer's face.
Jennifer shook her head helplessly. "I didn't see."
See what? Who was 'Nabel'? What the hell was going on?!
"What are you talking about?" I repeated, still clueless, and desperately wanting to help Teyla, comfort her somehow.
Just then, a flurry of arrows flew out of the woods and smashed into the trees and the ground all around us. We all ducked instinctively, Ronon and Teyla pushing Jennifer to the ground as she froze.
Rodney and Ronon both muttered something, but I didn't need to hear them to understand what they were saying. Firing into the woods again, Ronon, Teyla and Jennifer run past us, while I and Rodney continued the cover fire.
The Bolo Kai retreat once again, running back into the woods. As soon as they were gone far enough, Rodney and I followed the other back to the Jumper, back to Atlantis. Where Teyla would be safe again, and we would find out what happened.
--
Teyla told us everything she knew in the Jumper, her face expressionless as she did, her eyes distant.
Keller forced Teyla to come to the infirmary with her, and I winced as she named all of the reason why. She refused at first, knowing that me and Ronon would return to Athos with the jumper to check things out. But it didn't take long for her to concede, maybe because she just couldn't care anymore… Which hurt me more than I could imagine.
--
As expected, the Bolo Kai were long gone by the time we returned, leaving no evidence behind.
I headed for the infirmary right after we landed, hoping that she was still there, being taken care of.
As I'd hoped, I found her there, lying still on one of the infirmary beds, her eyes even more cold and empty than before, as she stared in the distance.
We chatted for a little bit, mostly me trying to cheer her up, to bring that sparkle back in her eyes. Her statement of making the person who was responsible for this pay, for taking away her people, made me frown. And I was reminded once again, that she was raised in a world so different from mine. Her kindness made me forget sometimes, that she was someone who could kill without remorse, when deserved.
And I had no doubt that she wouldn't do just that when she found the one responsible for the disappearance of her people.
I couldn't even begin to imagine how she must have felt just then, with all of her family, the people she grew up with, gone. Their fate unknown, and she didn't even know if they were alive or not.
I wanted to hug her, to dry the tears that she refused to shed.
But I didn't. Not until she was ready. I'd wait for her to come to me, on her own time. I hoped that she would, eventually. Because I wanted to be there for her, just like she'd been there for me time and time again when I felt like crap and needed someone to comfort me.
And she did, eventually – come to me. I was on the balcony, late in the evening, staring at the reflection of the city in the water.
She didn't say anything, just sat down next to me, with her feet dangling over the edge, and finally mourned for her people, for losing them, hopefully only temporarily.
I hugged her this time, pulling her close and wrapping my arms around her as she let the silent tears fall.
We sat there for the rest of the evening. Neither of us mentioned it again, and no one needed to know.
I knew she was grateful though, for my support. She still had her team as her other family. And we kept her company in the quiet evenings, so she wouldn't have to be alone. We would search for her people until we found bodies, alive or not. Either way, Teyla deserved answers. And I'd help her get them.
Because she was my family, too.
--
The End.
Thanks for reading guys, I hope you all enjoyed! :D