Tragedy & Simplicity

A thousand is a statistic, one is a tragedy. A number is simple, a face is hard. Impulse is forgotten, lingering burns into your mind.

A few months ago a world in the Pegasus galaxy was attacked by the wraith. 10,100 people lived on this world. 10,000 were counted dead, 98 were unaccounted for. A sad statistic, but it was not thought much about, until an Atlantian team stumbled upon the beaten and ravaged world. John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagian, Rodney McKay and Ronan Dex had the unfortunate task of finding the two survivors. The team dragged themselves around the ruins, stunned into silence as they stepped over decaying bodies, dried and withered bodies and torn and burning buildings. If there was a hell, this is what it looked like. None could find any words to speak right now. A soft whimpering could be heard from somewhere within the debris. Ronan was the first to hear it. They all stopped and listened carefully.

"Over here!" Ronan called, his gruff voice carried quickly to his team as they leapt over the rocks and dug into the ground before revealing a young girl, no older than eight. Ronan gently pulled the girl up, but she was almost lifeless. Soft moans escaped her heaving chest, her eyes rolled around in her head and her body was limp. Teyla pressed her fingers against the girl's neck.

"Her pulse is very faint." Teyla's eyes got sad as she realized this girl would not survive another hour. The child sputtered blood everywhere. Her chest heaved one last time and she was still. 10,001 were now counted dead. Ronan gently set the frail body down and roared with anger.

"Who did this!" He snarled through his teeth looking around the devastated world. Rodney stared on with disbelief and Teyla hung her head and closed her eyes. John crossed his arms over his p-90 and sighed.

"The wraith would be my best guess." He said taking in the fed on bodies. Ronan roared again and smashed a rock as hard as he could, only injuring his hand, making the man angrier.

"Are…are they all dead? I mean no one left?" Rodney finally spoke, his voice high pitched. Teyla glanced around the ruins.

"I'm not sure, I believe we should still look around, maybe there are a few left." She said, hoping for the best. John nodded.

"Teyla's right, we will comb the area, then report back to Atlantis." He said and began moving across the rubble. Everyone spread out and followed his lead.

It had been 4 hours and John was about to call it as he approached the tree line. He lifted his radio but out of the corner of his eye he spotted movement. Putting the communicator down then lifted his weapon and began stalking his way through the forest. He saw it again and spun around. Was it a stray wraith? His eyes narrowed as he tried to spot the darting figure. Finally he spotted a pattern with the movements. Stepping into the figures line he reached out and grabbed its arm and pulled him down. Pointing his weapon he looked at the creature on the ground. Turning its head up towards him John gasped and lowered his weapon. On the ground was a woman, about the age of 19. Her eyes were a mixture of icy blue and the deep ocean. Her skin was tan, about the same color as Teyla's. Her hair was a deep rich red brown that fell smoothly along her shoulders. A few strands were out of place hanging it her face. Now her face, it looked like a perfectly chiseled statue. High cheek bones, prominent jaw line, cat like eyes, thin lips and well defined features. Her body was just as smooth and defined, though she was covered in cuts and bruises. Her clothes were stained with blood and were torn.

"I'm sorry…are you…" John didn't get to finish went he noticed a certain familiar mark on her chest. A wraith feeding hand. She had survived that? She followed his eyes and covered her chest with her arms and scooted back against a tree. She stared up at him with a blank expression. He noticed how nervous she was and crouched down with her.

"Sorry, are you ok? Are there more survivors?" He asked her. All he got was a shake of her head. To which question? Taking in her injuries, probably both. He clicked his radio

"Teyla, Rodney, Ronan, I've got a survivor over here. About three clicks east of the city." He said then looked back at the girl who looked more confused now. "My name is John Sheppard. What's your name?" He asked trying to relax her. He sat on the ground a few feet away from her. Her blue eyes scrutinized him for a moment.

"Sh…" She was cut of short by the sound of the others approaching. She curled into a tight ball and stared at them as they appeared one by one. She stared them down.

"Oh!" Rodney said surprised about…what she looked like. Ronan looked her over and crossed his arms keeping his distance. Teyla tried to approach but she only moved away.

"She is pretty shaken up guys." John said as he looked back at the girl. Their eyes met for a moment and he got lost in them. Already he was wrapped around her finger. "What was your name?" He asked again. She swallowed hard and never took her eyes off him.

"Shay." She said. Her voice was smooth as velvet; it rang softly with the melodic sound of a song bird. Teyla and Ronan recognized the name.

"It means Dagger, or Poison." Teyla said, pondering how she came across such a name. It was in a rare dialect, she didn't even know what language it was. The girl only nodded as she tapped her chest where the feeding mark was. John began to put the pieces together. She was a poison to the wraith that is why she was alive. Everyone's eyes got wide at the same time.

"Shay, will you come with us? We will take care of you." John said holding out a kind hand for her. The frightened girl reached up and took his hand. Standing with a fluid movement she moved quickly to John's side and gripped his hand. She was so unsure of everything, so terrified, like she had never done anything in her life. She never left Johns side as they reached the gate and it sprang to life. She flinched back and buried her head behind him. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was ten. It took awhile but they finally coaxed her through the gate. This all started again when she arrived in Atlantis. Sheppard could not leave her side until Doctor Keller finally sedated the girl.

"The poor girl." Said Keller, stroking the hair away from the sleeping girls face. "I have never seen anyone so terrified of everything." She said turning back to an exhausted Sheppard. He leaned against the wall and nodded his eyes never leaving the delicate Shay.

"I have a feeling she has lived a very difficult life." John said, taking in the older wounds and scars. He felt sick to think this girl had been abused. Keller nodded, knowing what he was referring to. She moved over to a scanner.

"You will be the first to know when she wakes up John, go get some rest." Jennifer said, looking over her shoulder and giving him a comforting smile. He nodded, stretched and walked out of the room. He got to his quarters and stripped off his heavy gear and fell onto his bed. Starring at his ceiling his mind wandered over the day's events. It wasn't long before he was asleep; his dreams filled with the constant fear in Shays eyes. He tossed and turned in his sleep until he was awakened by his radio buzz.

"Sheppard, Sheppard? She's awake…and I think you need to get down here right away." He grabbed the radio and acknowledged it and took off to the infirmary.

As he slid into the infirmary, he saw her curled into a tight ball on her bed, Keller was standing off to the side, and two guards had their weapons trained on her.

"Lower your weapons!" Ordered John as he pushed the guards back. "What's going on Jennifer?" John demanded as he moved up to Shays bed.

"It was just a precaution colonel." Keller said softly placing her hand on his shoulder. "Relax." She said. "Shay woke up early while I was sewing up one of her cuts. As you can imagine she panicked and began to scream. The guards came in just to make sure everything was ok. I called you in to comfort her." She said explaining everything. Shay was shaking her eyes wide. She looked at john.

"I'm…sorry, I want to leave now." Shay said softly, almost begging. Sheppard brushed her hair back and looked into her eyes.

"It's alright; you don't have to be scared ok. You trust me don't you?" He asked, she nodded her head. "Ok, well I trust these people with my life, so that means you can to." She looked around at all the people in the room and took a deep breath. She nodded again. Just then Rodney walked into the room.

"What's with all the commotion?" He asked looking around. John leaned in and whispered in Shays ear.

"Except him." He winked at her and turned back to Rodney. "Just a misunderstanding McKay." He said. The slightest smile broke out in the corner of her lips. Rodney looked around, everyone seemed to be chuckling.

"What?" He asked. People shook their heads and went back to what they were doing. John sat on her bed next to her as Keller began to patch her up again. The two talked the whole time, Shay hardly noticed Keller working on her. John asked questions and occasionally got a full sentence out of her. He learned a lot about her, and she about him. After Keller finished, that's when John witnessed her first smile. Her soft pink lips turned up slightly with a shy smile as she looked down and allowed a soft giggle escape her lips. He was now officially hooked on the girl. Her smile was his world, and he would do anything to see that again.