AN: Thanks to Sean for betaing, you will all appreciate the difference.
Chapter 3: Artemis chooses Orion… Apollo is left behind.
Fear, Worry, Anger, Despair, Fury, Impotence, and Terror, John had experienced them all, as a fighter pilot he had been in some terrifying and death defying situations. But never in his life had he felt them all at once, not when he witnessed his mother battle and lose her fight against cancer, not when he witnessed his best friend's explode in front of his very eyes, not when he had break the news to Mitch's fiancée a week before the wedding that Mitch's wedding day was to be the day of the funeral, not Afghanistan, not Sumner, not the awaking of the wraith, not the death of countless pilots, marines, scientists and civilians under his command. All those situations tested him, to the limit, but none of them had caused such confliction, his heart, mind, soul and spirit were all at war with one another, and through it all he was overcome by his helplessness, his impotence.
3 hours
180 minutes
10,800 seconds
…Since she had gone
…Since they had left.
She had conceded. It had taken the combined forces of Weir, Ronon, McKay, Carson and surprisingly Caldwell and himself to get her to agree to an escort. His relief at her acquiescence was short lived, as much as he needed to go with her, be there for her, his heart knew she would never allow it, her duty to them would not let her put the military leader of Atlantis in danger, not for herself. Knowing that didn't stop the pain he experienced when she silently refused his offer, help, she refused him. Ronon he could understand, he trusted the Satedan to watch over her on missions, he could have accepted Ronan, but she didn't choose Ronon. Ronon was currently expending his own anger at being left behind in the gym; he had been since they left.
He knew it was petty, under the circumstances it should not even be on his radar; he had more than enough problems and worries. But he couldn't stop himself from wondering… since when did Teyla trust Mark Lorne more than him. When had that happened? Was he so self-involved? Did he miss the signs? She chose Lorne, his own second in command for crying out loud. What terrified him the most, incensed him was the look of relief in her eyes when Lorne readily accepted her offer. His 2IC, and his…teammate…best friend…his Teyla. How could he have been so blind? He was so damn tired, tired of the situation, tired at holding himself back, tired of pretending that he was ok, tired of hiding, tired of how Teyla made him feel, how she so easily affect him tear him down, crush his heart and them mend it all with a smile. He hated her for the power she had over him, hated himself for not actually hating her. She made him weak, but she was his also truest strength…and right now she was fighting for her life, on an unknown planet, with someone who wasn't him watching her back and all he could was wait.
000000
Laura wasn't a hesitant person by nature; she was a marine for god's sake, an explosives expert. Yet here she was hesitating outside hislab. He had already run off his entire staff, barring Zelenka who was sneaking glances at McKay who was typing furiously away. Witnessing Radek wince as McKay let out a particularly interesting string of expletives she decided to be brave and enter the lair of the Minotaur; after all she brought gifts to appease the monster within.
She smiled at Radek who gave her a relieved sigh as she entered; the Czech wasted no time in escaping. Her heart broke as she saw McKay barely acknowledge the changing of the guard.
"Rod-ney" Laura drawled in her soft southern accent.
"Huh- what? What are you doing here Cadman?"
Laura ignored his waspish tone; she was so used to McKay that it didn't even register. "Hey, I brought you some coffee and some food, you need to eat Rodney" she admonished him gently. He was hiding, avoiding, trying to lose himself in his work, she knew his patterns, and contrary to popular belief, when McKay was truly afraid he turned silent, internal. And right now she knew he was worried about Teyla. His teammate was on another planet, fighting for her life, and Laura knew that Rodney was terrified for her.
She smiled softly as Rodney began to eat ravenously, Laura herself had only got to know the Athosian leader after her 'melding' with Rodney, before then Laura had only been aware of the other woman, but after the event she had found herself watching Rodney, unconsciously she would seek him out in a room, and she began to feel conflicted, she liked Carson, a lot…but she was drawn to McKay. Thankfully only Teyla had noticed her preoccupation with the snappish scientist.
She had a peculiar relationship with the Athosian, it wasn't a typical friendship, but over the last few months Teyla had been a welcome support, Laura personally thought that the Athosian woman recognised and sympathised with Laura's situation, a woman being pulled in two different directions.
Laura herself was concerned with Teyla's situation, but at this moment she knew that Teyla would want her to watch out for Rodney. She knew how hard it was for Rodney to trust, to let people in, but she knew that Sheppard, Teyla, Weir, Carson and Zelenka were all recipients of that trust. She even suspected that Ronon and herself were becoming as important to McKay, not that he would ever admit it. They stayed that way, McKay tried to stay busy, bury himself in his work, and Laura watched over him, so he wasn't alone.
000000
Elizabeth was a worrier, it was in her nature, and ever since she took command of the SGC and especially since she became the leader of Atlantis she had become accustomed to worry, apprehension and fear. They were constant companions especially if she had teams offworld, especially SGA-1, that team were walking trouble magnets. Even though she was familiar with the feelings, she didn't like them, she was worried for Teyla, but her gut knew that Teyla could take care of herself and Mark Lorne was a trusted a capable man, no ...Elizabeth was more concerned for her 2IC, and military leader. He hadn't moved for over 6 hours, his gaze hadn't left the gate, as if willing it to open would work…it didn't.
Elizabeth knew John more than cared for Teyla, how could she not? They both radiated their admiration and care for one another. But she also knew the situation they were in, the war against the wraith didn't allow for the command staff to have relationships, especially not with each other, it was too dangerous, unprofessional and their duty to the rest of Atlantis to heavy. Elizabeth's heart ached for her two closest friends, to be stuck in their situation, forced to interact yet unable to act as they desired. Living in fear, that one of them may die any day, yet still continue in their charade of military professional. She still had nightmares of her time as Phoebus, Phoebus' desire to kill Thalen, to kill John, if not by her hand then by Teyla's. They had come so close to being destroyed, she didn't think Atlantis could survive the loss of John Sheppard or Teyla Emmagen or even herself, if Phoebus had won then none of them would have survived that situation.
Ironically it was Phoebus that reminded Elizabeth of the strength of John and Teyla's relationship, and their strength as leaders, she knew what killing Sheppard would have done to Teyla, she had every right to refuse, yet her head remained held high, like a goddess. Elizabeth had always been interested in mythology, there had been times in the last year where she had see facets of the Greek Gods around her, Aiden Ford, like Icarus he burned out, too soon.
Carson was like Poseidon deceptively calm, until angered, and then his fury was unleashed. McKay was as brilliant as Hephaestus and just as ridiculed, Sheppard could have been any of the heroes, Odysseus on his journey, Jason on his quest, Achilles the great warrior, Helios the sun god, Hermes the winged messenger, Ares at his worse, but most of all in Sheppard she saw Apollo, with golden arrows that brought justice and pain. Teyla was Artemis reincarnate, the huntress, and twin to Apollo.
Elizabeth prayed to the gods that Teyla and Lorne returned safe, because she didn't think John would survive any other outcome. Lt Colonel John Sheppard would exist, his honour, duty and oath would allow nothing less, but John Sheppard the man, her friend, and he would cease to exist without his mate.
000000
6 hours 25 minutes
375 minutes
22, 500 seconds…
…Since he had seen her, alive and well.
His well trained military mind had already thought of hundreds of scenarios, each one progressively getting worse, they could have been ambushed, betrayed, attacked by the wraith, the genii, Kalen could have won…how long did a fight to the death take anyway? Lorne could at least get in touch, let them know how things were going, if only he knew the Stargate address, but unfortunately Teyla had foreseen John's plans and had travelled to a neutral planet and from their she and Lorne would gate to her meeting with Kalen. She had however given Elizabeth an address to only be used if there was no contact for 3 days…3 days…72 hours a lot could happen in 72 hours…John's world could end, and he still had 65 hours and counting to go.
000000
'Crack'Mark winced as Teyla endured another backbreaking lash, this bastard Kalen seemed to favour a reinforced whip. He had lost count of the hits scored and landed by Teyla, the match itself was confusing, it was no holds barred and without a time limit yet it was infused with tradition. There was no restrictions on the weapons they could use, yet neither had chosen any number of 'advanced' weapons available but rather had opted for more traditional weaponry, they both were equally matched, in all areas, stamina, range, versatility and aptitude. Watching them against each other he could detect similarities in their form, style and stances, it obvious to his eye at least that they had trained together regularly, probably had learnt together.
It was disconcerting, someone equally as good as Teyla, all through the run up to this event he hadn't really thought that 'Kalen' could or would be better than Teyla. Especially after he had witnessed her training for this fight, where he got to see the truth depth and level of Teyla's skill. Even Ronon and Colonel Sheppard had appeared shocked.
Their current location was also a surprise, it wasn't a world that he recognised, but then that was hardly surprising. The architecture and dress was simple yet elegant, graceful and concise. The closest comparison he could find in Earth's cultures was 'Japanese', the structure they had first been led to, was indeed similar to a 'dojo' and Teyla was apparently familiar with both the people and the location. She had been greeted with warmth and respect, and by association as had he.
Mark had expected them to travel to some abandoned planet to witness Teyla and Kalen to fight, with only a few witnesses, for Teyla to win and then they left victorious back to Atlantis. Instead they had travelled to a well-kept, fertile planet, full of what appeared to be children aged between 4 and 18. He later learned that they were at a 'school' he didn't know what they taught, but weaponry was definitely one of the classes. They were actually less than 100 children, but they weren't the only audience. Elders, Leaders, Chiefs and Monarchs from a variety of worlds were also present. This wasn't an ordinary 'grudge match', Mark Lorne was quickly learning that Teyla Emmagen had many secrets.
He later learnt that as both Teyla and Kalen were leaders of their worlds that their status required certain formalities to be met. Which included a full quorum to witness the match. The fight was not a continuous affair, but rather a series of 13 bouts spread out over 3 days (another fact Teyla had failed to mention), and each contender was allowed a maximum of 3 'timeouts'. The fight did not always last 13 bouts, the fighters could end the fight at any point by killing their opponent, if by the 13th bout, both contenders are still alive then the last bout is literally to the death, continuing until somebody finally wins. They were now in the 7 bout on the 2nd day and the wear was showing on both the fighters. They had fought furiously the day before, each winning 3 bouts each, both had quickly tired of verbal attacks and had instead concentrated on their opponent's moves, as a single mistake could be fatal.
As Teyla was struck down yet again, this time by a vicious whack to the head from a fire-hardened assegai, Mark wondered if this was the time she wouldn't get back up.
TBC...
Author Notes:
Sorry about the delay in between updates, a combination of RL and computer viruses have conspired to make my life hellish, I am about to start a new job soon but I will endeavour to keep some sort of updating schedule, unfortunately I have 2 other WIP's to complete as well, so there may be a delay.
If anybody is confused by the title of the chapter, Mark Lorne is Orion, Teyla is Artemis and Sheppard is Apollo, so if the Greek Mythology is a bit much but I found that the story was quite apt.
Jodi: Glad you're enjoying the story, your review inspired me to update faster.
Sean: Thanks for all your helpful comments and insights. Hope you like.
Princessdreams: Here's the next chapter, thanks for taking the time to review
Camy: Thank you for the amazing comments, you totally made my day, I hope this chapter answers your queries about Lorne's role, he was originally part of the filler, but I like the idea of seeing Teyla through Lorne, because he came in season 2, he's the combination of audience perception and a fresh outlook. From a shipper perspective then if you think about it Teyla and Lorne are quite similar, both quiet, introspective and serious individuals. He could actually give Sheppard competition and Lorne is the safe/sensible option for Teyla...so you'll have to wait and see...
Ripsconscullmin: Thank you for the helpful comments, personally I was horrified I had made such a blantant error as refering to Caldwell as Everett, but in my defence nobody else noticed either, or they were too polite to point it out. On the 'Price of Leadership' I will go back to it at a later date, probably after I have completed all my current fics, I still like the premise of the story, it just went off on a tangent, so I'll most likely cut the latter part and attempt to stick to the plot. Glad you liked it though.
Jtjaforever: Thanks for reviewing, here's the update, not too long by my usual standards. (ps welcome to the party)
Kym: No need to wait too long here is Chapter 3, nice to hear from you.
Elle: Ah elle, your comments make me blush for the entire day, I'm glad you like the fic and notice the tiny details, Lorne was initially chosen as external perspective, but as I wrote him I felt he honestly would be drawn to Teyla, and he actually is well suited to her, it all about whether Teyla chooses the safe option or her heart, i.e. DutyLorne or LoveJohn.
Glocap: Nice to hear from you, thank you for the wonderful comments, IMO Teyla has many layers, she is a leader of her planet/people, well educated, a warrior, diplomat, woman, teammate, and living in an alien environment pretty much alone and isolated. Like all humans she has flaws, but her role/position doesn't allow them to be visible, I try to show that aspect of her character as much as possible. especially as she doesn't get to in the show. You'll definately see more of Teyla through Lorne's eyes, he is the Orion of the piece, and I like the idea that Caldwell and Teyla can relate to each other about honour and duty and how their lives are defined by the two concepts.
Let me know what you think, I am interested in how other people see this story.
R&R.
Inara.xxx
