A/N: Oh man, sorry about that. This chapter took ages to write…obviously. But now that my time in Europe is over and I can start watching the show again, the writing will pick up pace. Also, considering I have nothing else to do for the next month until school starts except write and socialize… Well, one can only hope.

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Chapter Four

The world blossomed to life in brilliantly painful splotches of colour. Sheppard groaned and pressed his eyelids together if only to block out as much light as possible before attempting to roll over. Even though he did not move very far or very fast, his stomach immediately objected, forcing him to stop moving. The last thing he wanted right now was to be tied up, but since he couldn't avoid that fate, the next worse thing was being tied up and laying in a pool of his own vomit. That would just be unbearable.

As he lay there on his side, his temple pressed into the damp earth beneath him and his eyes shut against the light that was starting to become bearable, Sheppard started to think back on what had happened. To his dismay, he could hardly remember what had landed him in this predicament. There was something about people being able to do things they shouldn't be able to do and then a woman with long white hair standing in nothingness. Growling, Sheppard tried to remember harder, as if it would help clear the muck out of his mind. It didn't work. All that happened was a strengthening of the imposed mental block and silent laughter that echoed through his skull and not in the space he was laying in.

Pressing his lips together out of frustration rather than nausea, Sheppard opened his eyes once again. The spot of light that had recently formed a halo around his head had moved roughly a foot across the floor and was now illuminating somebody's socked foot. Even though Sheppard suddenly realized that his boots, too, were gone, things were looking up (though, admittedly, not by much). Not only was the source of light from the sun (or so he presumed) he wasn't alone in this…place. Teyla was here and by the soft snoring that came from behind him, Rodney was, too. The only person he could not currently account for was Ford. Since the rest of his team was nearby, however, he assumed the young man was not far off, especially since faint rustling was coming from the other side of Teyla that was accompanied by a masculine voice mumbling nothings.

Now that his nausea had settled and he could move his head without feeling the need to empty his stomach, Sheppard attempted to sit up. The dark world spun as he did so, but he was able to change positions nonetheless. Closing his eyes and giving everything a moment to settle, Sheppard slowly cracked his eyes open and glanced around. Just as he suspected, a form lay on the far side of Teyla that was roughly the shape of a full grown man. Beyond Ford, however, there was nothing but the dark. The same could be said when Sheppard glanced to the other side and beyond the unconscious scientist to his left. The only source of light seemed to be the beam that fell across Teyla's ankles that came from a pinpoint source above his head. It was hard to determine the exact height of the ceiling, but it couldn't be too far if the light was as intense as it was.

After assessing the situation, Sheppard's mind immediately shifted to figuring out how to get out of their predicament. He could faintly remember the white-haired woman saying something about contacting Atlantis but his memories were so scrambled that nothing made sense at the moment. Shaking his head, Sheppard tugged at the restraints around his wrists and determined that a thin twine had been used. This would have been all well and good had the twine not tightened slightly so that it was now biting into his skin. And as the twine tightened, Sheppard became acutely aware of his injured hand; pain was coursing its way up his arm and his hand was throbbing.

"Dammit," Sheppard muttered through clenched teeth. "I need that hand."

Assuming that the same twine, knot, whatever, had been used to bind his ankles as well, Sheppard did not test it. He did not need his ankles cut up—that would be detrimental to his escape plans. Not that he had any at the moment, but when he did…

The thought did not progress much further then that as Rodney started to stir. Before Sheppard could warn him about the twine, however, Rodney panicked and started to struggle, crying out as the twine cut into his wrists and drew blood.

"McKay!" Sheppard exclaimed. "Stop moving before you lose your hands."

That stopped the scientist.

"But you're allowed to breathe," Sheppard said after a moment. A deep sigh came through the dark and Sheppard squinted to look at his friend. The beam of light had moved further away from the two men which only proved to make their section of this place darker. It also told Sheppard that he had been awake a lot longer than he thought he had been. Though he did not know this planet, he could faintly remember Thea telling him that, during the summer, they had very long days and very short nights and that it was the opposite case in the winter. Sheppard had suspected that, based on this information, this society was very far north on the planet (prior intell had informed the Atlantis team that this planet had a tilt that was similar to Earth's).

Not that that was of any particular importance at the moment.

Shaking his head once again to clear his mind, Sheppard looked at Rodney. The other man did not look happy in the least and the dirt smudged across his face did not help that image any.

"Where are we, Major?" Rodney's voice took a higher timbre than usual, betraying his fright.

"Some place underground, as far as I can determine." Sheppard said, just coming to that conclusion as he relayed it. "There are no breaks in the walls that suggest a man-made structure and the entire place smells like earth…as in dirt."

"Of course as in dirt. I wasn't going to assume for a moment that we were suddenly back on Earth, Major."

Sheppard simply shrugged. He didn't feel like arguing with the scientist at the moment. Rodney, on the other hand, shot him a look.

"Are you dismissing me?"

Sheppard glanced at Rodney and lifted a brow.

"There's no point in continuing the conversation, McKay. We're not on Earth and we're sitting in dirt. That is obviously clear to the both of us. Now if you would get off the subject and turn your genius towards getting out of here we would all be better off, don't you think?"

McKay looked at the Major, unsure as to whether he had just been complimented or insulted. He chose the former and nodded slowly.

"Of course, with my mind we should be out of here in no time. So, where are we?"

"Why don't you make that your first task?" Sheppard said as Teyla started to stir. Before she could move, Sheppard warned her about the twine and repeated his instructions a moment later when Ford woke.

"Are either of you hurt?" Was his next question. He could faintly see the two of them in the dim light and squinting made things slightly better.

"I am fine," Teyla said as Ford shook his head.

"Just a little roughed up but nothing serious, sir," the younger man assured Sheppard when he caught his commanding officer's scrutinizing look.

"You have a pretty nasty cut on your forehead, Ford. At least it looks nasty, I can't tell in this light."

Teyla, who was closer, turned to inspect the younger man.

"It does not look deep, Major. And it is no longer bleeding. The Lieutenant will be fine unless our captors neglect to clean it in which case it might become infected."

Sheppard nodded as there was nothing to say or do. They couldn't clean it, tied up as they were, so they would have to depend on the Ortians to stave off infection.

The four of them sat there in silence for some time, each thinking of ways to get out of this underground prison. After a length—Sheppard was unsure as to how much time had passed—a great groaning sound echoed through the space and a crescent of light appeared to Sheppard's left and beyond Rodney. They all looked at way as the crescent grew larger, each squinting as more and more light flooded the space.

When the crescent had stopped growing and a roughly circular opening had replaced it, a figure stepped into the center of the light. Though only a silhouette, Sheppard was quite sure who this was. When Master Rehina spoke, Sheppard pressed his lips together, not quite sure how he felt about being correct.

"All awake, I see, and no worse for wear?" Her voice was serene as she stepped deeper into the cavern. "Except the young one, Lieutenant Ford. You woke up, my dear, at the most inopportune moment and had to be taken care of. Unfortunately for you, Kirin was in charge of your person and he is rather rougher than the other Warriors."

Drawing right up to Sheppard, she smiled down at him. "Are you ready to speak with your leader, Major? The Portal opened up several hours ago and we assumed it was your Atlantis looking for you. Still, they have not sent through men to find you so I believe it safe to assume that she is not very worried about you…your Doctor Weir."

Sheppard felt a weight around his shoulders as Rehina spoke to him and though he struggled to lift it, he had no such luck. She was simply too strong. Again, he heard the laughter that echoed nowhere else except within his mind.

"She'll send men for me if you insist on keeping us here," Sheppard struggled to say. He managed to look up at Rehina and gave her his most defiant glare. She simply laughed, out loud this time.

"Not if you tell her that you are fine, she won't. And you are perfectly well, John; we will take very good care of you. In fact, we will clean your boy's wound to show our good will."

"Keeping us prisoner is not a very good way to convince me that you have our best interests in mind, Rehina."

"Oh, don't fool yourself, John. We have our best interest in mind, not yours."

She smiled at him as two men forced him to his feet. A moment later he could feel the twine around his ankles loosen and then fall away. He glanced at his feet in order to get a good look at it but by the time he did, the twine was gone. The man holding his right elbow grinned and, had it not been for the situation, the Ortian's handsome face would have made the expression almost pleasant. Almost.

From then on, Rehina did not say two words to John; or even one, for that matter. She simply led her people through the woods to the Gate, her white dress fluttering serenely around her ankles. She seemed less like a physical being than she did an entity of nature. Wind, perhaps, but the wind that precedes a tempest, not a summer breeze.

As they continued on through the dense forest, Sheppard was surprised that she did not blindfold him until he remembered waking up with scrambled memories that still made little sense in his mind. The thought caused a lump to form in his throat that he could not swallow. If she could do that, what else could she do to them…?

Though he did not wish it, Sheppard dwelled on this for the rest of the trip to the Stargate and by the time they reached their destination he was so caught up in his own thoughts that he did not notice the Ancient object until he was instructed to dial Atlantis. Blinking a few times and giving Rehina a dumb look, he glanced at the DHD, still unsure as to what she had said.

"John," Rehina said in the voice Sheppard could feel rattle through his skull, "Dr. Weir is waiting for you to answer her hails of this morning and the sooner you do it, the better off you will be."

Though he understood her perfectly this time, Sheppard hesitated a moment longer before saying, "You'll need to release me so I can dial Atlantis."

"Of course," Rehina said with a gesture. Sheppard was so surprised by her answer that he barely felt the twine slip away from his wrists. That had never worked before…

Sheppard laughed a humorless laugh that only those in the immediate vicinity could hear. Of course it had never worked in the past. Before now he had definitely not been captured by a people who could use their minds to throw large animals across a field or scramble memories like eggs. This was something completely different.

"I suggest that you stop stalling, John," Rehina said just as John felt his hand move towards the DHD. To his dismay, he could only watch as he dialed Atlantis, completely out of control of his actions. He could hear his voice yelling, screaming at him through the fog in his mind to stop, to fight back. But he couldn't.

Sheppard could only imagine the expressions his teammates might have exhibited as he dialed Atlantis, his own disgust at his complete lack of strength to fight back evident in their eyes even though they were not there. Glancing back at the Gate, he watched in slow motion as the worm hole to Atlantis opened.

"Very good," Rehina said though her lips did not move. Sheppard simply looked at her without expression as he turned on his IDC and tapped his earpiece.

"Atlantis Control, this is Major Sheppard reporting in," he heard himself say. It felt as if he were watching this whole scene from a distance, from some point meters above his head. He knew that Rehina was somehow controlling his actions and, he feared, his words, but he simply could not fight back. He tried with every ounce of his being to take back control of his body, but he could barely move even a finger under his own will. All he could do was watch as things unfolded around him.

"Go ahead, Major," came Elizabeth's voice in his ear.

"Everything is coming along magnificently, Doctor. In fact, the Elders have already been speaking with me about an alliance and they seem to think that it would be very beneficial to both of our societies." Though he was saying the words, they were not forming in his mind. They were coming from somewhere else and he suspected he knew from where. Glancing at Rehina, he felt himself go on. "However, Master Rehina would like us to stay with them a few more days to prove our worth before making any final decisions so your presence will not be needed until then."

"Major?" He could hear the confusion in Elizabeth's voice. "Is everything all right?"

"Of course."

Elizabeth! He screamed.

"You're sure?"

No!

"I am trying to appease the wishes of the natives so we can be friends rather than enemies."

"You are aware of our time restraint, aren't you, Major? Though I appreciate what you're doing, you need to be quick about this."

Help us!

"I am going as quickly as I can, Doctor." His voice seemed pleasant, jovial even, as if nothing was wrong. "But I do not wish to offend them."

There was a pause and the air around Sheppard almost crackled with anticipation. Slight doubt crossed his mind that did not belong to him before Elizabeth spoke once again.

"Okay, Major. As long as you can assure me that you are working as quickly as you can then you're welcome to continue with the negotiations on your own. However, if you can, try to speed things up. A hasty alliance will suffice for the moment until the Wraith have been dealt with."

"Of course, Doctor."

"Atlantis out."

Sheppard stood there for a moment, blinking, as the wormhole collapsed. He then felt his legs give out beneath him and would have fallen had it not been for the two Ortians who suddenly grabbed his elbows and held him upright. Looking up as Rehina approached, he narrowed his eyes.

"She won't buy it for long, Rehina," he spat. Rehina simply tilted her head to one side.

"No, I suspect that she won't," she conceded after a moment. "But considering the words came from you, she will believe them for longer."

Sheppard could feel a growl rise in his throat but he did not want to give her the pleasure of seeing him so upset as to make such a barbaric sound. The woman's eyes sparkled, however, as if she knew just what he was doing, which made Sheppard bare his teeth.

"You are a magnificent specimen, John, and I am willing to assume that the rest of your people are just as fascinating. It really is too bad that you found out what you did. Our people would have been good for each other." Her smile was gentle as were her words which made them all the more poignant. Reaching out, she laid a hand on the side of Sheppard's face and ran a thumb over the rough stubble that had grown on his jaw. "But that is not the case. You may take him back to his fellows, Kirin."

Stroking his cheek once more, Rehina turned and started to make her way through the clearing and towards her village, an entourage of Warriors following in her wake. As soon as they were gone, Sheppard was pushed to the ground and kicked swiftly in the ribs. The blow forced all of the air out of his lungs and left him choking for air. Before he could quite comprehend what had happened, however, he felt strong hands on his elbows once again and he was being led back into the forest, his mind searching for the event he had just witnessed but suddenly couldn't remember. All that he knew was that he was in pain and that something was terribly wrong.