Disclaimer – still own nothing all belong to the companies, people, and lawyers who own them. Actually, I guess Nelea, Timeus, and the prisoners are mine. But that's still all I got :D
*Flashback from Timeus' POV*
Sheppard and Timeus had quickly filed into line with the rest of their shift, recognizing the futility of antagonizing their captors by being late and made their way to the new section of mine first shift had been assigned.
Without a word, each of the men, along with a few of the stronger women, picked up their tools and found themselves empty spots, hacking away at the unforgiving grey of the solid walls in front of them and hauling it away in an endless cycle of physically exhausting monotony.
Timeus had taken his spot next to Sheppard. Easier to watch over him, at least that's what he told himself, there was no way that before today he may have actually been warming up to the older man.
The work was hard and unrelenting with the workers resembling grimy shadows by shifts end due to the dust, sweat, and dirt swirling colours on their skin.
On a positive note, this section of the mine was unusually warm. Although it made the work more difficult, at least it was a change. The damp, dankness pervading the majority of the mine of late wore on a person after awhile.
Timeus remembered hearing Sheppard muttering about guards and something called air conditioning , wondering briefly if the guards did indeed have some sort of magic which allowed them to change the mine's temperatures as often as it seemed to do. That sort of indirect torture would be in line with some of the older guards tastes, sitting back and watching prisoners suffer in confusion while they laughed behind the prisoner's backs.
For awhile, Timeus had held out hope that, perhaps, today they would make it through an entire shift without Sheppard getting into trouble. After all, the guards had only been picking on a young brawler and even Sheppard agreed that the man needed to be less brash. As a result, all the workers had spent their shift in quiet exertion.
However, luck was not Timeus' friend.
Just over three quarters of the way through their shift, one of the young girls stumbled while removing the most recent load of debris away from the floor surrounding those who were hacking away at stone.
Most likely, she would have been considered pretty before her stay in the mines. Her complexion had the distinct colouring of someone one from the mountain clans. Her long black hair, a source of honour among those people, showed vague signs of its former glory despite being hidden away in a grunge covered braid and showing distinct signs of a malnutrition which had robbed its nutrients. This was her first shift with this team
The trouble of workers collapsing was a common enough problem, in Timeus' eyes. As shifts wore on, energies flagged and more "encouragements" were doled out as incentive to complete the shifts quota. It was natural for some to falter, especially those who were new to the work, this was simply a part of life and not worth wasting any of his precious resources. It wasn't that he was heartless, Timeus just knew better than to get attached.
One of the guards, a young-up-and-comer, whose name Timeus hadn't bothered to learn had given one lash of the whip to the girl's face before Sheppard had, once again, intervened. Hadn't Nelea talked to him about his heroic streak and death already?
The second stroke of the lash hit Sheppard's left shoulder but the third lash never struck, and them, instead of his usual heroic stupidity, Sheppard did something very odd.
Taking no apparent note of his surroundings, Sheppard lunged at the young girl, wrapped her in his arms and began muttering to her in soft noises, which Timeus assumed was some language he had never heard before, all the while continuing to hold her close to his chest and stroking her hair.
To anyone paying attention, Sheppard's voice sounded distressed, although Timeus didn't know why. After all, the girl had only taken one lash, true it was to the face, but she'd be fine.
Later, when Nelea asked him about the shift, he would swear, that the way Sheppard was acting, it was as though Sheppard was convinced the girl was dead. But, that was foolishness, surely Sheppard could hear the life in the girl, couldn't he?
When Sheppard had finally looked up at the guard, he had muttered something in that same strange tongue, although this time, Timeus could figure out the gist, if not the specifics of his message. Isn't it odd how curses are somehow universally recognizable? Timeus supposed it was the hate required to say them more than the sounds people noted.
Oddly enough, it was as though the guards understood Sheppard's behaviour, like they had seen it before in their lives outside the mines. Still, even he was surprised at what happened next.
With a flash of, was that understanding? No, surely some shred of humanity in the mines was impossible. The head guard called out into the tunnel.
"Prisoner Timeus" the head guard barked out.
"Yes, Sir?"
"You and Prisoner Ralah will speak with Prisoner Sheppard until he is coherent. Following that you, Prisoner Timeus, will take him to Prisoner Nelea for evaluation. If he is not able to be moved by the end of this shift, the consequences lay upon your head."
"Yes sir?" Timeus answered hesitantly.
"Do you question my orders Prisoner Timeus?"
"No sir" Timeus answered, slowly inching past the guard and closing the distance to where Ralah and Sheppard were still laying huddled on the floor.
"Oh and Prisoner Timeus."
"If you value your safety, I'd move carefully round that one" the guard responded with an unidentifiable look on his face.
"Yes sir" Timeus clipped, mask firmly back in place.
Turning back to his charge, Timeus sighed softly."Sheppard? Come on; let's see what you've done this time."
End Flashback
Timeus had talked to Sheppard for the rest of the shift but in the end it was Ralah's quiet reassurances which finally snapped Sheppard, at least visibly, out of the state.
He reflected back to his and Ralah's goodbye at the tunnel's entrance
"Thanks for the help in there. This one's special to Nelea. It's me job to keep 'im in one piece. I guess I still 'ave a ways to go on that one. You know Nelea could look at that for you after she tends this one" Timeus offered, pointing at the wound on her face.
"I will be fine. I had some training in my village as a young girl. Sheppard will need Nelea's help more" Ralah smiled softly.
"He usually does, but how did you know what to do? Can I rely on your help if it happens again?" Timeus questioned.
"Yes, I would help again. He reminds me of my father. He too had memory trips following a long skirmish with a rival clan. He often claimed his memory would carry him away from us and take him to the land of nightmares, forcing him to relieve his sins. I believe this is what happened to Sheppard.
"How did you stop it?" Timeus asked, slightly hurried, worried about the effects of "memory trips" on Sheppard and the consequences on their survival as a group.
"Death claimed him" with that, Ralah disappeared into the shadows.
Back in Atlantis
"What do you mean your hands are tied!" an aggravated Rodney shouted across the gateroom.
"Rodney, please settle down and we'll discuss this calmly in my office" a worn and weary Elizabeth pleaded.
"Why bother hiding behind closed doors Elizabeth? Everyone's worried; we all know that Sheppard's still trapped in that prison. Everyone's noticed that Ronon only leaves the gym to hunt down leads to help John. Everyone's noticed that Teyla doesn't leave her quarters. Carson's prepared sickbay so many times even he's run out of ideas on things that need to be fixed. Heck, even I may have started having too much caffeine in an attempt to brainstorm ideas to help. We're all suffering and we deserve an answer."
"You are out of line Dr. McKay," Elizabeth said in a hard but quiet voice.
"John would rather die than leave any of us behind and, yet, what have we been doing? Sitting here, twiddling our thumbs for almost three weeks while he's out there, most likely, and thinking we've forgotten all about him. In actuality, we're all sitting here waiting for the powers that be to tell us 'Sorry, we've actually decided not to give you your officer back because we're mean and, oh yeah, he's dead." Rodney ranted in frustration.
"Feel better Dr. McKay?" Elizabeth said with a pained look.
"Not really." Rodney whispered, shame at his outburst towards his already stressed friend and leader.
"Good, well know that you've finished getting that out of your system. We have gotten the official word from the planet. John will not be released until a minimum of 75% of his sentence has been completed. Apparently, any leniency would undermine the legal system."
"That's . . ."
"I'm not finished Dr. McKay." Elizabeth interjected "As I was saying, King Mabon has given his final decree . . ."
"What is this about a final decree Elizabeth?" Teyla and Ronon had turned round the corner just as Elizabeth and Rodney were about to enter her office, following the two into her office.
"King Mabon has said no to releasing John."
Teyla looked towards the floor shakily at this news while Ronon's face darkened.
"However, there is a new plan."
Three faces instantly turned towards Elizabeth.
"What I'm about to say is need to know only, understood? At the moment, not even Stargate Command is allowed to know what I'm about to tell you"
Three heads silently nodded consent.
" How do you feel about joining a local rebellion?"
A.N. Another chapter in less than 5 months! Yay, me.
Actually, Yay for you guys, especially Sheppardlover928, Astrollama, Forahr, BookEmDanno50, Dernhelm962, JoeyLuv, firefighter22, and Sherry57 for commenting on the last chapter. It meant a lot, and the last side trek to Atlantis is inspired by Sheppardlover928's request.
Next chapter we're back to Nelea and more information on a prisoner or two. Updates will come as homework allows as I'm in class next week.