Author's Note: Okay, I am sorry that I've been ignoring this fic all week; that was NOT my intention. This chapter has ben murder to write, and at the end of the day I'm still not *really* satisfied with it; but this is *all* that would come out. So please forgive me for taking so long on the chapter; and for the chapter in general. And please enjoy and review!

Thanks, by the way, to The King's Soldier, fyd818, and raduzhok, for your reviews :).

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Lose It All: Chaper Three

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Ronon knew immediately that Teyla wasn't on the world that Darus had taken him to. For one, he didn't feel her there; not even traces like he had on the planet.

For another, the twelve guys pointing guns at him didn't seem to know anything, either.

He glared murderously at Darus.

"I swear I didn't know that this would happen!" the kid said earnestly, the truth. Ronon's eyes shifted subtly, judging his enemies strength and reflexes and all that. It took him only a moment to make a decision.

"Duck," he muttered to Darus, before leaping into action and firing on his adversaries. He'd dropped three of them before they even knew what was happening, and then he was in among the, too close for them to use their weapons, forcing them to fight hand-to-hand. As he fought, he noticed absently that Darus was fighting, too, giving him less to deal with.

Well, a point in his favor, then.

Their battle was over in a matter of minutes, all of their opponents unconscious or dead. Ronon realized then, with certainty, that it hadn't been Teyla's intention to kill Darus at all; merely to teach him a lesson.

Of course, that didn't mean that he had to cut the kid any slack, regardless of his help.

"You have about ten seconds to tell me why you brought me here to be killed instead of to someplace that she might actually be."

"Or you'll do what?" Darus scoffed, seeming insulted that Ronon still didn't trust him.

"Eight seconds."

"I don't want my people to kill me," the kid admitted.

"What? Why would they kill you?"

"Because if I brought you there, I would die for it. And because I'm supposed to be dead right now, anyways. They don't want me to come back."

"That's too bad," Ronon muttered, running his list of options through his head.

"Look, I can't take you where you want to go; I value my life, even if you don't care about yours."

"I do," Ronon said firmly. "But I'd give it for her any day." Darus frowned, trying to figure that out.

"She won't be there, anyways," he mumbled. Ronon looked up sharply.

"They were going to kill her anyways?"

"No, I think that he was going to let her go..."

"Who? And why bother with any of this at all, if you were going to let her go, anyways?"

"It wasn't us," Darus said, backing away. "Never mind, forget that I said anything."

"Who has her?" Ronon growled angrily.

"I don't know his name; no one does..."

"Well then guess," Ronon said, taking a threatening step forward.

"I've never even seen him," the kid said. "The guys who did said that he's a wraith; but not quite a wraith..."

"Michael," Ronon hissed, swearing softly. If it that sick, sorry excuse for something living had her...

"You seem to know a lot more than you did back on the other planet," Ronon said, turning back to Darus with new anger in his eyes.

"If I'd told you everything, you would have killed me on that planet," Ronon opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. He knew exactly what the kid meant; it was a strategy that he'd used a lifetime ago. He couldn't grudge the kid for knowing how to think like him. But he had wasted precious time in which Ronon could have at least gotten closer to finding Teyla.

"Look, tell me where he was having you take her, and I'll let you go." Darus narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Look, I'm not like your people. I don't want to kill you. I just want my friend back."

"What makes her so special that everyone wants her so bad?" the kid asked, amazed. Ronon shrugged.

"She's... Teyla," he said simply, as if there was nothing else. Then he turned around and began to dial the gate.

"How did you know that she wasn't here?" Darus asked, as the big blue puddle rippled, throwing showers of sapphirre light over them. Ronon paused.

"I'm not sure," he said finally. "I can feel her, I guess. Or not feel her, here."

"Are you seriously letting me go?" the kid asked, before Ronon had taken three steps towards the gate.

"Yeah." He sighed. "She didn't kill you, so I'm not going to." Darus was silent for a second, considering that.

"She must be powerful," he said finally. "That her simply being alive controls the lives of so many others..." he trailed off into silence.

Ronon was halfway through the gate when he heard the kid say one more thing...

"Don't bother looking for revenge; if you want her alive you have to find her first. Look for her "sense"." And then he had stepped through the gate, and it shut down behind him.

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A/N: Whew! This chapter really did fight me the whole time; I had to drag it out kicking and screaming. But the purpose was to get Ronon on the right track looking for Teyla, and to get rid of Darus (the kid hates me.), and I think that I managed it...

I reeeeaallyyy really hate this chapter; please leave a review and tell me what I did wrong.