Author's Note: I felt they owed it to Tyro to clear his name. I am very sorry that he's gone. He was a great character, and would have deserved to be in more episodes than just two. Although IMHO, they were two of the best ever.
This is the conclusion, so please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism especially welcome, I'm still on a learning curve. The 'submit review' button is at the bottom of the page...
Drink
They saw Solen through a haze of smoke that saturated the air in the Belkan tavern. He was seated at his usual table, playing cards with an old crone with barely a tooth left in her gums. From the pile of coins in front of her she seemed to be winning.
The Satedan looked up as Sheppard and Ronon stepped up to his table. A big grin began to spread over his face.
"Look who's come back from the dead. Ronon Dex."
Obviously relieved at the interruption that cut his losing streak, Solen motioned to the old woman to leave, which she did after the coins had disappeared like magic into a baggy pocket of her frayed cloak.
"Well," Solen began after John and Ronon had sat down opposite him, "I guess you're here to thank me for the tip I gave you. Looks like it paid off."
"No," Ronon answered, "We're here to set you straight about Tyre."
"Tyre?" Solen spat. "He's a coward and no-good traitor in my book. And there's nothing you could say that would change my mind." He looked at Ronon. "I'm surprised at you. Obviously you withstood the Wraith. So how can you defend somebody who didn't have the guts to resist them?"
"Because I didn't resist either. I submitted."
Leaning back in his seat, Solen looked at Ronon through narrowed eyes, while his hand inched towards the gun in his belt.
"You submitted…" he said finally.
"Yes, I did. There was nothing I could do."
John felt it was time for some explanatory words. "Look. Our doctors examined both Tyre and Ronon when they came back from the Wraith. Both had massive amounts of an enzyme in their blood that the Wraith pumped into them. It acts like a drug, it messes with the brain and makes you dependent on it."
Solen snorted. "No drug is powerful enough to mess up a person's brain so they serve the Wraith. Or to stop you from killing yourself to avoid that fate."
"How about the time you smoked hicca leaf when we were kids?" Ronon spoke up again. "You stole your mother's skirt, hung it around you like a cape and would have jumped from the cliff to your death if we hadn't pulled you back at the last minute." Ronon leaned closer to his former friend, his voice only a whisper. "This is worse. A hundred, a thousand times worse. Trust me. If the Wraith put their mind to it, they would break you, too."
Solen blinked. It clearly wasn't easy for him to have his preconceptions rearranged in this manner. He cast a suspicious look at Sheppard.
"How do you know he's alright now? That he's no longer working for them?"
Ronon was about to jump up and punch the other Satedan in the face, but John put a restraining hand on his arm.
"That's a valid question. But our doctors are certain that once all the Wraith enzyme has been purged from the body a person becomes his old self again. After he survived his withdrawal, Tyre sided with us to get Ronon back, and sacrificed his own life to cover our escape, destroying an important Wraith installation in the process. That's good enough for me."
Solen nodded slowly. Then he withdrew his hand from the butt of his gun and reached instead for the bottle that was sitting on the table, raising it in a toast.
"To Ronon and his rescue. And to Tyre and his redemption."
As Solen brought the bottle to his lips John eyed the pitch black liquid that was sloshing around in it with suspicion. He would probably not get around having to take a swig of whatever rotgut it was. But he decided Ronon's peace of mind was worth it.