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Sheppard opened his screwed up eyes to look down and see that his heart was not open and bleeding, that he couldn't feel the ebb of life run away from him.
Instead the wraith was tearing through his pockets and ripping his radio out of his vest.
"What are you doing?"
Sheppard looked up through the rain and found himself squinting.
He could see that this wraiths face was not gnarled and malformed, and its teeth weren't yellow and fang like.
No, this wraith had normal, if a little yellow, teeth and he realised that this wraiths face was coming off with the rain.
He realised that this wraith was a man.
He swung his head around when he heard Mckay groan out and then back to the wraith man.
Even the long dreds he realised were some kind of wig, "Who are you?" he asked over a rumble of thunder.
The wraith man wasn't up for conversation and he hit Sheppard across his face with the butt of his gun.
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"Sheppard!"
Sheppard forced his eyes open and blinked a couple of times to clear his vision.
"Sheppard?"
His name was hissed at him again and he found himself looking around to find its source.
"Major?"
Oh God, he was losing his mind. He couldn't see anybody.
"Major?"
Movement from behind him and Sheppard could feel his senses returning. He assessed the situation as best he could.
Mckay was behind him, well he hoped it was, and they were sitting in the centre of what seemed to be some kind of man made shanty town. He was tied up to a stake and his hands were way too close to McKay's.
Oh and it was drizzling and both his ribs and his head were screaming out at him.
"Mckay?" he said through the fog in his brain.
"Oh thank god," he heard Mckay say.
"How are you doing?" asked Sheppard trying to strain against the ropes that were binding their wrists.
"Oh I'm fine," said Mckay, the sarcasm dripping his tone, "How about you?"
"Mother of all headaches," said Sheppard scanning the town.
"So what's your plan?" asked McKay hopefully.
"I don't have one," he said pulling at the restraints again, "Not at the moment."
"Stop pulling on the rope, your hurting my wrists," Mckay snapped.
Sheppard knew that it was just a way of him hiding his fear so he let it go.
"Has anyone been out since we got here?"
"No," said Mckay.
They were silent for a moment.
"Should have bought my jacket," he heard McKay saying.
"Is that all you can think about right now?" asked Sheppard trying to straighten out his legs.
"Well id rather think about that, than my obvious impending death."
"We're not going to die," said Sheppard dryly, "You saw them right. They were just men."
"Dressed as the wraith," said Mckay.
"Maybe they like their dress sense," suggested Sheppard.
"Maybe they like their M.O," snapped Mckay, "Perhaps you shouldn't talk if you don't have a plan to get us out of here."
Sheppard rolled his eyes and laid his head back against the wooden pole between their backs, "Fine."
----------
Sheppard hadn't realised he had dozed off. That knock to his head must have been harder than he had thought.
He was woken by a foot prodding him in the leg and when he did manage to pull himself out of the darkness, he found himself looking up at Wraith-man again.
"He's awake," he said looking over Sheppard's head at someone.
Sheppard tried to crane his neck round but he couldn't see who it was. It was only when another guy dressed in similar clothes, complete with white dreds and face paint, stepped in front of him he could look him in the eyes.
"You okay Rodney?" asked Sheppard.
There was movement behind him as Mckay obviously tried to look round and he heard a mumbled, "Yeah."
Sheppard licked his lips and looked up to the sky. It was getting dark, but it had stopped raining at least. Thank heaven for small mercies, he thought.
"Why have you come here?" asked one of the wraith men.
Sheppard sighed, "We're peaceful explorers. I'm Major John Sheppard and the other guy is Rodney Mckay. We didn't come here to pick a fight."
"I am Kai," said the wraith-man with a nod of his head.
"Are you the leader?" asked Sheppard tilting his head to the side.
"Are you?"
Sheppard nodded, "Yeah I guess so."
They stared at each other for a moment before the Kai finally crouched down in front of him, "Why have you come here?" he asked again.
Sheppard found his eyes drawn to the mans hands. He could see that he had grown his nails in imitation of the Wraiths characteristic talons.
"We found your guy under our city," he said narrowing his eyes.
Kai looked up at his friend and then back to Sheppard, "Larik," he said, "What have you done with him?"
"He was messing with our computers," said Mckay all of sudden breaking his silence, "I caught him and he tried to drag me down to that pit he called his room," he finished.
Sheppard could see Kai's eyes were drifting towards McKay's back so he tried to get attention back to him, "I killed him," he said feeling McKay's back tense against him. All he could hope was that Mckay didn't admit to firing the shots that killed him and he waited.
"You killed a man here too," said Kai with a shake of his head.
There was a split second between the point at which he stopped talking and the point at which he raised his hand and scratched them across Sheppard's face.
He felt the wounds bleeding and the blood started to streak down his cheek.
"What's going on?" asked Mckay trying to shift in his position, "Sheppard?"
"Everything's fine," said Sheppard evenly.
"You'll pay for their deaths tonight," said Kai with a vindictive laugh.
"What's happening tonight?" asked Sheppard.
Kai stood up and brushed down his clothes, "You'll see." He said and started to walk around them.
"Does it end with us dying?" asked Sheppard, "I bet it does."
"If we're going to die," said Mckay all of a sudden, "You can tell us what the man, Larik was doing in Atlantis."
Sheppard couldn't see Kai now, which meant he was glaring down at Mckay, "Larik was a spy. We have many on different worlds, they collect information and seek out new feeding grounds for the wraith."
"Do the wraith know you do this?" asked Mckay suddenly, "Because I would say that this is a pretty rife feeding ground." There was a moment of silence before Mckay spoke again, "They don't know you do this, do they? Because if they did, you would already be dead." He could hear the smugness in McKay's voice and if he hadn't of been tied up he probably would have slapped him around the face too.
Kai smacked him so hard across the head that Sheppard felt that one and he let out a grimace on his behalf.
"You know nothing about us," said Kai and he appeared yet again in Sheppard's field of vision.
"We know that you think the wraith are Gods," said Sheppard.
Kai narrowed his eyes at him, "They are and when we sacrifice you to them tonight and give them vital information they will be pleased and spare us."
Sheppard couldn't help it, he found himself laughing, "Have you ever seen one, have you ever witnessed a cull?" he asked, "And you really think that they will be satiated by the two of us?" He laughed again and this time felt the tip of a boot in his side. His ribs screamed out at him and he found himself leaning forwards heavily and spitting blood.
"We have lived like this for a long time and the wraith have not touched us. They know we worship only them and so they leave us alone."
Mckay started talking again, "They have kept away because they were in hibernation, but now they have woken up."
"That is not true," said Kai with a dismissive wave of his hand, "We have sent out a signal to them to call them here to take you and-"
Sheppard managed to drag himself away from the pain in his chest to look up at Kai, "You've called them…here?" he asked.
Mckay stiffened behind him.
"Yes," said Kai, "We have an offering for them." He laughed and turned to his friend.
"You're an ass," said Sheppard with a shake of his head. He felt the boot in his stomach again and he coughed up bile, "Sonofabitch," he said quickly and tried to stop himself from keeling forward and pulling McKay's bindings with him.
"We have much to prepare," said Kai with a small bow, "They will arrive soon." He turned and walked off, his friend in tow.
"Can you believe this?" asked Mckay.
"Maybe the wraith won't get the signal?" said Sheppard hopefully, because at the moment he wasn't up for fighting. That guy had just broken his rib clean in two.
"Are you kidding?" he heard Mckay say, "The wraith aren't going to pass up a meal. Free at that."
"They're totally deluded," wheezed Sheppard.
"Its not totally unheard of," said Mckay and he shifted behind him, "Some people worship the devil, you have pro-Nazi demonstrations-" he paused, "They think an offering will appease their Gods, sound familiar?"
"Very," said Sheppard.
"Reminds me of the Gou'ald," said Mckay.
Sheppard waited a beat and then said, "The who?"
"You do have clearance to be here, don't you?" asked Mckay with a sigh.
Sheppard let the comment go, "Well at least we have some answers."
"Yeah, right before we die."
Sheppard tried to pull at his bindings but they just got tighter the more he moved. "We need to get out of here," said Sheppard.
"Oh really, because I was thinking of stopping here."
"Mckay sarcasm isn't helping," said Sheppard.
"They don't realise that they are all going to die," said Mckay and he sounded somewhat distraught, "You can't appeal to the wraiths better nature. They don't have a nature besides sucking the life out of you."
"I know," said Sheppard.
He could taste blood at the back of his throat and wondered if that was because he had bit his tongue when the guy had slapped him across the face, or whether it was because he was bleeding internally.
"And they look ridiculous. Bad wigs, face paint……they look like clowns."
"Shame they don't make us laugh." Sheppard looked up at the sky and hoped that it would offer up some answer. It wasn't likely that the clouds would come together to form the phrase, 'You get out of this mess by….'
"This is hopeless," he heard Mckay whine, "We're tied up, beat up and there's no way out of this."
"Teyla and Ford would have made it back to the gate. They're probably back there forming a plan as we speak." Said Sheppard.
"Yeah and what if they're saying we'll rescue them tomorrow morning, because there isn't going to be a tomorrow morning for us."
"You never know the wraith might not be into midnight snacks," said Sheppard.
"Stop making jokes."
"Stop talking then," said Sheppard feeling tired all of a sudden. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and go to sleep, "We're not going to get out of this. We're going to have to wait for our team. They won't let us down."
"I hope not," said Mckay. He waited for a response but there was none, "Sheppard?" There was no answer and he could feel the body behind him loosening up, "Hello? Sheppard, answer me?"
"Wh..a?" Sheppard's head snapped up and knocked McKay's, "What?"
"Are you okay?" asked Mckay and he tried to turn again.
"I'm fine," said Sheppard with a shake of his head, "Just tired," he slurred.
"You're not going to pass out on me," he said.
"I said sleep not pass out," said Sheppard more clearly.
"You think I can't distinguish between the two. I know you Sheppard. Now stay awake."
"I will," said Sheppard.
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"Like a bridge over trouble…ed water…I. will-"
"Would you shut up Mckay," snapped Sheppard, "You're giving me a headache."
"Stop fading out on me then," said Mckay coarsely.
"I'm just dozing," said Sheppard.
They had been sitting like that for hours and now they were both feeling sore and increasingly sorry for themselves. Nobody had come to talk to them since the grand revelation about them being sacrifices.
It was now dark and it was becoming colder by the minute. Sheppard could feel Mckay shivering against his back and he felt somewhat guilty for not having let him get his coat earlier that morning.
"What time do you think it is?" asked Mckay.
"Late," said Sheppard looking up at the black sky.
"Where are they?"
"Who Kai? The wraith? Our team?"
Sheppard could feel himself dropping off again when he suddenly could hear high pitched whining over head.
"You hear that?" he heard McKay say.
Sheppard swallowed hard and lifted him eyes up to the sky, "Yeah."
Sheppard silently hoped that it would be a puddle jumper coming to their rescue, but when he saw the ship that flew over head, he recognised the lines and the sound immediately.
There was no mistaking the high pitched whir of an alien engine.
There was a sudden flurry of activity and men and women dressed as their 'Gods' came rushing out from their homes and stood in a circle around Sheppard and Mckay. Sheppard could hear various mumbles of excitement.
"Can you believe this?" he heard Mckay say, "We don't even get to die in peace."
"All of us will die," Sheppard said through gritted teeth. Partially because the pain in his chest was now making breathing difficult but mainly because he was trying to contain the anger he felt.
Kai stepped forward from the crowd and looked up at the sky with a smile, "You see," he said raising his hands upwards, "They have come to take our sacrifice."
"You're all going to die," said Sheppard lifting his head, jaw set.
"You are wrong," said Kai.
The wraith dart was thankfully on it's own, but once Wraith began beaming down into the city that's when Sheppard knew they were really screwed.
"Untie us," shouted Sheppard suddenly. "The weapons you took off me will kill them, We can help you."
"Why would we want your help?" asked Kai, "We don't need your help."
"More than you realise," said Mckay.
Just then the wraith beam swept over some of the crowd and took up a man and a woman, "They have been chosen," someone shouted and Sheppard couldn't sit still any longer. He fought to release the bonds with every ounce of his strength, the ropes cutting into his wrists as he tried.
"Kai," he shouted over the noise of the wraith dart overhead.
Kai was distracted. A wraith had beamed down and he was walking towards him.
"You see?" said Kai again a manic grin spreading across his face.
The wraith walked up to him and stood their in complete stillness. He was looking at the man before him with a look of puzzlement.
"We have sacrifices for you," said Kai as the wraith stepped forward and took a deep intake of breath.
He looked over to where Mckay and Sheppard were tied up and then back to Kai, his eyes widening.
Kai was licking his lips and was now looking a bit nervous, "We want to assist you in your-" He was cut off suddenly as the wraith ripped open his cloak.
"Somebody free us," shouted Sheppard to the people just standing around and watching.
Kai looked down at the wraiths hand which was hovering over his chest.
"We um, we've been waiting for this day," he said looking over to the crowd.
"Waiting?" the wraith said pulling back his hand briefly.
"We have much to tell you about feeding grounds," started Kai.
"This," said the wraith, "Is a feeding ground." He plunged his hand into Kai's chest and Sheppard watched as he dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. His eyes fixed on his and Sheppard found himself looking away solemnly.
As Kai dropped to the floor with a sickening thud, men and women started to run around in panic.
"What happened?" asked Mckay.
Sheppard had forgotten that he couldn't see the ensuing action, "Kai's dead," he said looking up at the wraith who was now sucking the life out a young woman.
The scene that played out in front of him was like a badly directed horror movie. He could see the wraith were running around, plunging their hands into peoples chests and sucking the life out of them. It was difficult to see who was genuinely a wraith and who was a sad imitation.
"Are you seeing this?" asked Sheppard grimly.
Mckay was silent.
Shepard could see a wraith making his way towards him, striding with purpose and if he wasn't feeling quite so shell-shocked and increasingly ill he would have sworn he saw him crack his knuckles in preparation.
It approached him and stood over him and he could hear his own breathing becoming loud and erratic.
This one he couldn't mistake for a man and this one sadly would kill him.
Its face contorted into a sneer when it looked down at him, "You are weak," it said through fanged mouth.
Sheppard tried to move his hands again but to no avail.
"You're dying," it said again and Sheppard felt more paralysed by fear than he had before. Not at his impending death, but at the truth that he was too weak too feed off. Because the wraith sensed that he was already dying.
It confirmed his earlier belief that he was bleeding internally.
The wraith walked away and behind him and he realised quickly that it was going to kill Mckay.
"Rodney?" he called out feeling every bit useless, "Mckay?" he called out.
He heard the sound of flesh being hit and felt McKay's last death throw.
TBC
Okay so I did it again, but its not a character death fic okay, so don't panic.
