Chapter 4
Ronon rejoined the others in the sitting room. Jeanne and Kaleb were sitting on the two seater while Rodney and Teyla sat on the couch and Madison was on the floor playing with the toys John havd given to her. Ronon took a seat in the arm chair and stretched out.
"Is he ok." Teyla asked.
"Yeah he was nearly asleep before I left." Ronon replied.
"It has been a long day for him." Teyla added.
"So are you going to tell me what happened to him?" Jeanne asked
"I can tell you what we know." Rodney sighed "But it may not be suitable for young ears."
"Ok." Jeanne replied. "Madison why don't you go out in the backyard with your new toys."
Madison looked up from the toys and around at all the grown ups "Ok." She said and gathered her things and went out.
"Ok this can go no further than these walls as it's classified." Rodney started and with a nod of agreement from Jeanne and Kaleb he continued. "We were on a mission off world, just a standard meet and greet. We had been in the village most of the day and were preparing to head back, when a group of raiders attacked the village. The village was close to a mountain side so the Colonel had me and Teyla take the villagers into the mountains, while he and Ronon held the raiders off. They were a farming community and had no way to defend themselves. So we had most of the people in the village safe but a family was captured."
"The mother, father and 3 small children." Teyla added.
"So the Colonel offered himself up in exchange for them."
"And they took him captive." Jeanne asked.
"Well no." Rodney continued. "Ronon got the family to the mountain, and then the three of us went after the raiders. Sheppard had told them that the villagers were gone so they decided to leave with just him as a prisoner. Anyway by the time we had caught up with them, he had managed to get free and hid in the forest. Unfortunately the group managed to capture me and Teyla, and Ronon had been stunned, so Sheppard offered himself up in exchange for our freedom. So they tied me and Teyla up and took Sheppard. Ronon woke up and got us free but Sheppard was gone. It took us 2 weeks to find him."
"Oh god 2 weeks. What did they do to him?" Jeanne asked but not really sure if she wanted to know.
"They starved him." Teyla continued the story. "They beat him daily. We are not sure of all the details and the Colonel has not told us. What we know we heard from one of his captors. We know he was beaten with a metal bar. His feet are very badly injured because of this. He was whipped with a leather strap. He was suspended by his wrist for days at a time. From his injuries we also know that he was electrocuted and stabbed numerous times."
"Oh my god." Jeanne gasped "How could someone do that to him? Why did they do it to him?"
"They wanted information on Atlantis." Ronon replied. "They will do anything to get it."
"Why." Kaleb asked.
"Because we have had such a big influence in the galaxy, some are jealous and want to take us out, some are enemies who want to kill us and some are just insane." Rodney replied.
"How is he handling things?" Jeanne asked.
"His injuries are severe. He has numerous broken ribs; the bones in both feet are broken. His knee is damaged. His right wrist is broken and the left one sprained. His right shoulder was dislocated. And he has numerous cuts and bruises covering his body. A lot of the cuts were badly infected so are only now beginning to heal" Teyla replied. "He says he is fine. Although, he has had some nightmares."
"Well that's to be expected." Kaleb added.
"Yes." Teyla agreed. "That is what we have told him. He does not wish to speak to a psychologist about it. He is insisting he is fine."
"Do you not believe that he is ok?" Jeanne asked
"How could anyone be OK after that?" Teyla replied.
"He says he has been through worse." Ronon added.
"Oh God really." Jeanne asked.
"Mmm his file does say he was missing for over a month in Afghanistan, and I know he was shot down in enemy territory once or twice. Not to mention what's happened since he's been on Atlantis."
"What else happened on Atlantis?" Jeanne asked.
"Do you remember the first time you came?" Rodney asked.
"Yes." She replied "How could I forget."
"Well we had only gotten him back 2 weeks previous. He was held captive by one of our enemies. They had a wraith feed on him several times, each time draining some more life, while we watched on a video feed."
"Oh that's terrible." Jeanne gasped. "But how is it that he is ok now."
"He worked together with the wraith and they escaped and the wraith gave him back his life."
"Oh wow that's … That's just insane. And he had only been back 2 weeks before I arrived."
"Yes." Teyla replied.
"He seemed fine when I was there." Jeanne replied.
"Yes he was." Rodney replied. "And I think that this time, once he has healed from his injuries he will ok mentally as well as physically."
"He is strong mentally." Kaleb added "You can tell by looking at him. He will get through this."
"Yes he is." Teyla agreed.
"He just hates to appear weak in front of anyone." Ronon added. "He doesn't like that he needs help."
"Yes well there is nothing he can do about that." Rodney sighed
"How did his brother react?" Kaleb asked.
"We don't really know" Rodney replied. "Woolsey spoke to him and they arranged things between them. John wasn't too happy that he would be with his brother while he is home."
"Why is that?" Jeanne asked.
"They spoke for the first time in years at their father's funeral." Rodney explained "and although they spoke and sorted some things out, they still aren't one the best of terms."
"His brother said he only came back for money." Ronon added.
"Sheppard's family are rich and when John arrived at the funeral his brother wanted to know what John expected to get in the will." Rodney elaborated. "John of course wanted nothing. He is apparently quite well off on his own. But it led to an argument and then John had to leave to save the world, which made things worse. John did go back to explain that he wanted nothing and I think his brother apologised, but he still never mentions anything about him, so we don't know."
"So it will be an interesting few weeks." Jeanne concluded.
"Yeah" they all agreed.
Wow Thanks for all the great reviews. Please kep tem coming..
