Dark Element
In Dark Places

A dark world leads to the discovery of an Ancient long imprisoned by his own people. The team is placed in grave danger when Beckett sets him free.

"Lower your weapon," the voice insisted again. The sickly Ancient inhaled a deep breath, seeming to bask in the act of actually being able. "I will not fight." He gazed at Sheppard thoughtfully. "You're not one of the scientists that worked here."

The Lt. Colonel lowered his weapon for the time being and shook his head in response to the question put at him. "No, we're not from around here. We're exploring."

True to his profession, at the moment Beckett was more concerned with the health of their new contact. He continued scanning the Ancient before them. "How ya feelin', son?" he asked, aiding as the stranger before them attempted to sit. "Ya look a bit green around the gills, if ya don't mind my sayin'."

"Thank you for your concern," the stranger replied simply. An odd and somewhat evasive response. Beckett and Sheppard exchanged glances as the Ancient went about smoothing hands along his arms as if reaffirming he was indeed awake. When his hands crossed paths with the metal devices on his wrists he looked, and when he saw what was there he laughed. "You'll forgive me if I seem a bit strange," he responded to their curious stares. "I have been through an ordeal."

"Must have been something to warrant shutting yourself away for thousands of years," Sheppard remarked causally.

If the Ancient thought much of the revelation that he had possibly been asleep for thousands of years, he showed only a second's betrayal of surprise at hearing it. He watched John with eyes that seemed to see through all. "It was not my choice to sleep, I'm afraid. They did this to me."

"Ya thought they'd kill ya?" Carson assumed, taking from what he heard in the recording. "We ah, heard your message."

The Ancient nodded slowly. "Yes. I thought they would kill me. They had me in their grasp and I remember falling into the blackest sleep I could have ever imagined. My last thoughts then were that they had, in fact, injected me with a deadly agent."

Sheppard shook his head, wanting to get this from the beginning before it became too confusing. "Okay, who are 'they'? What is this place?"

"Ah, I assumed you must have had an idea, but then no. You say you are exploring?" the Ancient murmured, turning that quizzical look on them again. Wise though he may be, born to it by heritage, this man had as many questions as the two Earthmen before him. He knit his brow, appearing lost. "My name is Aerien. I was a scientist here."

There was a pause in which the Lanteans assumed they were supposed to introduce themselves. "John Sheppard," the Colonel supplied, then motioned to the doctor at his side. "This is Carson Beckett. He's a physician."

A smile curled along Aerien's lips. "And you are a soldier." His pale eyes seemed to consume both men as if he were reading their spirits. "I can tell. Well, you are indeed my saviors. As to what this place is, it was a place of intense study. We wished to understand the secrets of pure energy."

"Ascension?" Sheppard assumed.

Aerien nodded once. "That was a part of it, yes, though we studied all manner of physics and biology. Unfortunately I learned things that my brethren did not wish shared with the greater population. Deadly, dark secrets they feared would ruin them all. And thus they captured me."

"And Aila?" Carson asked gently.

The Ancient flinched, for the first time betraying a break in that steady calm of his. "I wanted to save her," he whispered. Those luminescent eyes closed in remembered pain. He apparently would say nothing of that. He lifted his hand to Beckett. "Would you be so kind as to help me?"

"Aye." Carson moved to aid the weakened man, taking up a place at his side to lift him from the confines of the chamber. "We should get you to an infirmary," he suggested, though was uncomfortably reminded of the strange rooms within the building. Was what they had seen the evidence of the terrible discovery Aerien had made, the discovery that lead to his being locked away?

Aerien shook his head. "I need but to rest, I think. Where is this place?" He looked around him uncertainly.

"Beneath the fountain," Carson replied, reluctantly letting the Ancient stand on his own upon his insistence. Aerien froze and paled at the answer.

"Of course. They put me with Aila," he whispered, stepping from the chamber into the water on the floor. He did not seem to notice or mind. Carson was about to inquire about his health again, but stopped when his faraway gaze hardened. "Then let us depart this wretched place."

Beckett glanced at Sheppard, who looked just as uneasy as he felt inside. Aerien inquired about where they had come from as the two men led him through the tunnel, back towards the hole in the fountain. "At the moment we're from Atlantis," Sheppard offered.

Aerien glanced at him. "And they allowed you to come here?"

"Well, a lot of things have changed." The Colonel stopped when they came beneath the fountain. "We suspect you've been asleep a very long time. And I mean quite long. The Ancients don't inhabit Atlantis anymore."

"The Wraith overcame them?" Aerien asked darkly. He appeared greatly relieved when they were able to deny that. Sheppard explained as the three men climbed from the darkness into the fresh air. Sprinkling droplets rained on them from the opening in the canopy above.

Beckett rushed the other two out of it, murmuring, "Ya'll catch your deaths." Without much fuss or fanfare the trio made their way back into the compound and out of the chilly wind. Once within the doors Aerien stopped. A hand caressed the wall in remembrance. Carson wondered what terrible thing this Ancient had discovered that had caused him to be the target of such ire as he saw the evidence of.

The doctor threw a questioning look at Sheppard, wondering what was to become of their new friend. John pursed his lips, understanding the question and likely trying to arrive at an answer himself. "Aerien," he prompted, and the Ancient turned to regard the Colonel. "Will you come to Atlantis with us?"

The Ancient's response was not what either Beckett or Sheppard expected. "No," he said simply, without a moment's hesitation. "I must continue my work. Come."

He left them, heading with a specific destination in mind it seemed, for he did not waver from his path. Sheppard shrugged and motioned Beckett to follow. He looked a bit annoyed, but willing to let this play out.

They followed Aerien back to the creepy office down the hall. The strange scientist had already disappeared inside when the Lanteans reached the door. "I wonder what he's lookin' for?" Carson asked softly as Sheppard pushed it open.

"I don't know, Doc," Sheppard whispered in reply. Aerien was already in the adjoining lab, it seemed, for the office was empty. "Just keep your eyes peeled. You know Ancients and how 'funny' they can get."

"Aye," Beckett agreed readily. Even in their messages left on the databases of Atlantis the Ancients could be aloof and very cryptic. He could well understand the Colonel's need to keep things under control.

Sheppard opened the door to the lab and they entered, finding Aerien within. The Ancient scientist stood at a cupboard near the back, betraying no emotion or confusion as to the disarray surrounding them. Instead he was preparing an injection as if nothing were amiss. Ten thousand years was nothing to this man's drive to work.

The mood in the room changed from curious to uneasy. Sheppard took a few steps back, fingering his P-90 as if he weren't sure whether or not to raise it again. Aerien seemed unfazed when he turned and saw the Colonel's guarded stance. He simply took what looked like a tool from the table before him, aimed and just as the P-90 was lifted, fired the weapon. Carson stared in horror as John crumbled to the floor.

"He is alive," Aerien responded to the doctor's shock. He then aimed again.

Carson dove behind a gurney, surprised at himself for even moving that quickly. He scrambled towards the fallen P-90, but a rainfall of shots from Aerien's weapon prevented him from getting close enough to grab it. "What the bloody hell is going on?" he tried to shout, but couldn't get it out as the Ancient began upending the gurneys in the room. He had one chance and that was to get out of the lab, into the office and back out into the hall.

Well, it worked in theory, anyway. Carson crouched, then made a leap for the door, only to find stunning blasts dogging his footsteps the entire way. He grabbed at the handle in a fluster, but couldn't get it open in time. A bolt of energy consumed him and he was out before he even hit the floor.

It was getting dark outside and it showed. The complex was running on minimal power now; he had even managed to get Ronon and Teyla some air even if he couldn't unlock their disagreeable prison door. So at least no one was going to die—yet. Of course he wasn't holding his breath. He had eaten his last power bar thirty minutes ago and it just hadn't been enough. Rodney McKay was still annoyed, still hungry and very much sick of this place.

He had abandoned the accursed terminal that wouldn't respond to his commands. A quick request had given him the location of Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Beckett, and a third life sign that had him worried. Trying to raise them over radio was useless, so he grabbed the nearest thing he could use to pummel the living crap out of an enemy and started towards the transport rings that would lead him to his friends.

He passed all the sights his four friends had passed; saw the candles, the clawed chair and the nature in its entire splendor. And at last, as he wandered the hallways carefully and quietly, night had fallen. The hall he was now standing in was dark, and he was debating on whether or not to light his flashlight.

In the end he decided against it. Better to play it safe and stake out his friends first. Still, he couldn't see a darn thing and it agitated him to have to squint and hold his hand out.

A moan and the barest hint of light betrayed he was on the right track someway down the path. He shambled towards the bit of blue seeping out of a door left ajar. Within the crack he could see what looked like a laboratory. Rodney strained to hear. There was another moan, but no talking, no clatter of tools moving or anything else at all. Closing his eyes, he pushed the door slightly open, gripped the heavy book he had grabbed, and waited for someone to catch him.

No one did. Or if they saw him open the door, they didn't care. McKay shoved it the rest of the way and saw the room empty—almost. A rustle to the right drew his attention. There was another groan and this time he recognized it. Carson.

He rushed in, darting looks here and there, then stopped at his friend's side. The doctor was on a bed, cuffed down and maybe it was just the eerie blue lights, but he looked pale. "This just got bad, didn't it?" he whispered.

Carson's lashes fluttered open. The Scot winced and tried to shift his weight, but couldn't because of the cuffs around his wrists and ankles. "Where am I?" he asked a little too loudly for Rodney's taste.

McKay shook his head and said, "Sssh! For god's sake, Carson." He brandished his book, watching the only other door in the room. No one came to see about the doctor. "What's going on?" he asked when he thought it was safe.

"Mmm," Carson groaned, closing his eyes again. His hands were clenched and his jaw held tight as if he were in pain. He didn't answer.

"Carson?" McKay put his hand on the doctor's jacket and jarred him.

Beckett clawed the bed beneath his fingers and said, "Lad," like it was a plea. His blue eyes looked crystalline in the azure glow of the room as he looked up again. "My head is killin' me. Don't…don't shake me."

Pursing his lips, McKay looked around for anything better than his book. He found a scalpel on the tray near his friend—a fact that left him a trifle nervous—and considered his options. He could try to get Carson off this table, but that would require breaking the chains barring his extremities. In the time it would take he could very well be caught by whoever had done this. Or he could go straight for the kill, take the knife and go into the adjoining room. "I'll be right back," he whispered, giving Carson a reassuring pat. The doctor winced.

McKay went back into the hall, shutting the door behind him. He jogged a few yards away, took out his radio and said, "McKay to Teyla. Please respond."

There was static on the other end. He could barely make out her voice as she said, "…here…r. McK….made any…gress?"

"Wonderful," he growled, rolling his eyes. "Listen, I don't know if you can hear me, but we've got company. Bad company from the looks of it."

"…again? You're brea…" she replied, then added in, "…going on?"

"Look, if you hear nothing else, just hear this," her told her, hoping beyond hope his message would get through. His message didn't have to be coherent, he hoped. If they could pick up on the tone of his voice, the words he said, perhaps they could glean that he was trying to warn them. "Uh…danger! Danger! God, I sound like that friggen robot on Lost in Space. We are in serious trouble, here. Ah, badness, pain…destruction, ten plagues of Egypt—I really hope one of these stupid words makes it through—just proceed with caution, okay? Be careful. Do you copy?"

The other line went dead. Rodney tried several times to reestablish the link, but it was gone. He rubbed his forehead, trying to think. He wasn't really a 'guns blazing' sort of guy, then there was both Beckett and Sheppard to consider. Could they wait for him to reconnoiter around until the right moment, perhaps after Ronon and Teyla had been freed? The physicist stood in agonized indecision. He could not hear screams, heard no fighting or thrashing about. Carson had seemed fine except for his headache.

McKay wandered to the door and listened again. He heard the doctor pulling at the cuffs that bound him. He slowly opened the entry again, hoping that he could get a little information before he had to choose. Beckett stilled as he approached, eyes dull and lips silent. "What happened?" McKay whispered.

"An Ancient," Beckett replied softly, still looking very much in pain. He took a ragged breath and sagged against the bed. "I don't know where John is."

"Do you know what this Ancient wants?" He couldn't afford to explore his surprise at the fact of just who it was, nor ask where the Ancient had come from, even though the questions burned on his tongue.

The doctor shook his head slowly. "He seemed normal at first. Then he led us here, took us by surprise. Right bloody bastard." He moaned, closing his eyes. "Ugh, I think I'm goin' ta die, lad."

McKay made a face. "Don't be stupid. I'll get you out of this, but I need time to find Sheppard." There was a clank from the adjoining room that started Rodney nearly out of his skin. Beckett opened his eyes again. Time was running out. "Do you think he'll be all right until we get Ronon and Teyla?"

"Sure," Carson whispered, drawing in a shaky breath. "Assumin' o'course, Aerien doesn't kill him while we're gone."

"Do you really want to go looking right now? All I have is this tiny knife that probably wouldn't scratch a squirrel." McKay could see it now. Two mice brandishing a needle against a rat with a gun.

He sighed and examined the cuffs a little closer. Metal was locked around the doctor's wrists, latched together by what he discovered was a manual lock. He cursed beneath his breath. "Hello, electronically advanced society. Use keypads, duh." Of course it did occur to him that perhaps hackers like himself was the reason the maker of this contraption had chosen mechanical locks. That really ticked him off.

"What're you on about?" Carson asked weakly.

"Nothing." McKay replied, looking around for anything small and bendable. He decided then and there that he was going to fashion himself a lock pick just for annoying occasions such as this. A wire from a torn bundle of cables on a nearby tray caught his attention and he grabbed it, molding it into shape. "I used to do this in high school," he said softly, making conversation to keep the pressure of the moment from interfering with his skill. "Me and one of the other tech geeks used to go through the girl's locker room during swim practice."

The doctor rolled his eyes. "Ya come from sick roots, lad."

McKay shrugged indifferently, then bent over to listen to the tumblers in the lock. He was very aware it could take him a few minutes to figure out the pattern and while that didn't sound like much, it could mean the difference between getting caught and escaping.

He tapped one of the tumblers and it locked into place, then moved to the next one, cursing as it fell. "Ya seem a bit rusty," Carson observed.

"You wanna do this?" Rodney retorted quietly.

And then a thrill of fear pulsed through him. The door near him started to open. He barely had time enough to rip the wire out of the lock before diving behind the cover of the desk. He shoved himself under and listened.

"Awake, I see," a strange voice said. Rodney couldn't see what was going on, but Carson groaned out in pain and the physicist balled his fists, debating on what to do.

Carson took a deep breath, finding the fortitude to ask, "Where is Colonel Sheppard?"

Apparently, the Ancient didn't see any reason to respond, for he remained silent even when Beckett demanded a second time. The doctor took a hissing breath that could only mean more pain. Rodney tensed, about to spring into action to save his friend. And then nearly dropped when the desk flew off of him. The Ancient had kicked the table over his head. With wide eyes he gazed up at a very stern expression. "Did you think I couldn't hear?" he said darkly.

Straightening, not looking directly at his foe and yet mustering as much dignity as he could, McKay declined to answer in the same fashion in which Beckett had been treated. He glanced at his friend, seeing the doctor tense and shaking. "Carson, are you okay?" he asked through clenched teeth. Beckett didn't respond.

The Ancient did. McKay was rewarded with a swift punch to the stomach that sent him doubling over. He hissed in a breath, then tackled the unwary Ancient, not content to just give himself over for whatever purposes he had in mind. They plummeted to the floor with a great crash. Yet instead of fighting back the Ancient shoved his palms against Rodney's temples and closed his eyes.

McKay let out a feral yell as blinding pain lanced through his skull. He thought for sure he would 'follow the bright light' as they say, but he remained painfully alive and aware. When the hands let him go he fell backward. The Ancient hovered nearby, gasping for breath. McKay wanted to use that second of weariness against his foe, but found his limbs unwilling to cooperate.

The Ancient recovered and got to his feet. Rodney groaned as unkind fingers wrapped tightly around his right ankle. A wave of dizziness crashed through him like the tide on a shore as the victor dragged his prize from the office into the adjoining lab.

"What the hell did you do to him?Carson?" he heard, but couldn't look to find out from where. So, Sheppard was indeed alive. That was good news, he thought vaguely, as he was pulled and locked into a holding cell at the back of the room.

A shadow blocked the light from Rodney's face. He looked up as Sheppard said, "McKay. Well, there go any plans for a surprise rescue." He didn't mention Ronon and Teyla deliberately to hide their presence. The Colonel sighed. "Welcome to Hell."

Rodney gave a tiny, cynical wave, then slumped.

Hehehe, whump at last. ;-) Thanks for reading, guys. :-)