Sorry! RL took over last night -- I got home too late too post.

THE SEEKERS
By TIPPER

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CHAPTER TEN: THE TREASURE ROOM

"Ancestors Above," Raina swore, taking in the massive room with wide eyes. "It's real. It is actually here."

Golden piles filled the room as she gazed across the space, some reaching as high as the ceiling far over their heads, gleaming and glittering beneath Ancestor's lights. And not just gold, though that was the most pervasive metal—silver, bronze and copper glinted inside the piles, and jewels sparkled, ageless and perfect. Plates, coins, jewelry, nuggets—every possible form of tradable wealth was visible. It wasn't just enough to live on; you could buy planets with the amount of wealth in this room.

The map hadn't lied. This was a source of great power; enough wealth could buy you anything you wanted. Even happiness.

Even forgiveness.

Pushing all thoughts of Herod and the Satedan and anyone else from her mind, Raina drank in the sight before her with the feeling of one saved. Nothing could go wrong now.

"There are stairs down," McKay noted, pointing to the stairs at either end of the platform. Raina just nodded, not really paying attention. Ancestors, it was pretty.

"You know," he added, sounding a little dazed, "the two doorways that disappeared? Had we walked through either of them, we would have fallen to your deaths off the edge of this platform. It's at least twenty feet down to the floor below."

Raina frowned at that, shaking a little as she understood what he'd just said. Shaking her head, she said, "But I thought only one of them meant…."

"Apparently not. I thought there was something odd about the word 'reward.' I guess if you were only in this for the reward, you weren't worthy to actually find it." He glanced at her.

"But looking for 'freedom'…," she acknowledged with a shrug.

He nodded. "That's the only one that was real." He pointed to the remaining doorway, off to their left. "It's also probably still the way out."

She nodded. The way out.

And then she smiled. Right now, she didn't want to go anywhere.

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Ronon threw the knife down in frustration, growling at the panel. Pulling it apart had not helped, even with Sheppard in his ear, trying to help. He could hear the other man's breathing growing harsher, shallower. Ronon slammed a hand into the panel, sending sparks everywhere.

"This isn't working!" he shouted.

"Ow," Sheppard muttered. "That was right in my ear, Ronon."

Ronon shook his head. He didn't care. Pushing away from the wall, he stood up, stretching his back and legs, and looked at the walls hiding him from Sheppard and Teyla. She'd fallen asleep, he knew. Sheppard wasn't long behind. He need to get them out of there!

He pressed his hands to the sides of his head and stared up at the ceiling, as if it could somehow provide the answers. Stepping closer to the mosaic, he then pressed his hands against the stone separating him from his team leader, leaning into it, wishing he could just push it out of the way.

And then he saw it. Several feet away, kicked into a dark corner far away from the recessed door.

Eyes widening in surprise, he jogged over and picked up his blaster. She'd left it behind? Why? Guns like his were worth a hell of a lot.

Shaking his head, he decided he didn't care.

"I've got a way out," he said, running back to the doorway.

"Oh?" Sheppard asked lethargically. "You found a way around the panel?"

"In a manner of speaking," Ronon replied, smiling.

He aimed the blaster at the door and started firing.

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Raina broke from her reverie when she realized McKay was no longer standing with her on the platform. He'd made it down the stairs to the floor below and was winding through the stacks of gold, intent on what appeared to be a cleared space in the center. She frowned, hand tightening around her gun, and ran down the stairs after him.

He wasn't going to take this from her. Before, when she'd made that promise about his teammates, she had been weak, thinking that maybe this wasn't what she wanted, what she needed…

She was an idiot. This was exactly what she needed. She was rich.

"Where are you going!" she demanded, jogging up to him and catching his arm as he made to climb over an oaken chest, out of which silks appeared to be spilling. "You're staying with me!"

He turned to glare at her, shaking his head and pulling his arm free from her grasp. "Why? Aren't we done? I brought you here. Isn't that what you wanted? Take your gold and go—you don't need me to get you out, and I need to find whatever is powering this place." He turned again, climbing over the chest and heading deeper into the room.

Raina shook her head, not understanding. She jumped over the chest and caught up to him again when he had stopped to look at a part of the flooring. As she watched, he knelt and pushed some loose pieces of gold and silver to the side, revealing a piece of a granite flagstone with a distinctly Ancestor-looking design on it—a set of concentric circles.

He seemed to twist in place on his knee, looking over his shoulder at the closest wall he could see, before looking once more at the flagstone at his feet. "This floor is an Ancient design," he said. "I think it's the real floor. They didn't cover it here."

"So what?" Raina replied. "We already knew this place was originally a temple built by the Ancestors."

"I never said it was a temple," McKay replied, standing up. "They didn't build temples to themselves. It was a facility, and this floor looks original, which means this room is likely original, though I can't see well enough to confirm that with all this gold in the way. Assuming it is, the next question is, what was this facility for?"

"Does it matter?"

"If I know the facility's purpose, I'll know what this room was for, and I can figure out how to use it."

"Use it?" Raina frowned. "What do you mean, use it? It's a room."

"Based on the size, it's the central room of the facility, which, in most Ancient facilities, typically means the control room. That means there are consoles here, somewhere. All those rooms we came through, all those traps, were bastardized from elements of this facility—meaning they tapped into the facility's power source to make them work. And the map said that this room contained a source a great power—assuming it wasn't being poetic and talking about the gold, which, I'll admit, could be a possibility." He frowned, as if considering that, and then shook his head. "No, this place runs on something—and I'm betting its in here. If I can figure out where…."

"You can take control of the temple. Release your teammates from that death trap."

"Yes." McKay placed his hands on his hips, turning in place now. "But without having an idea of what this place was, I don't know where to begin to find the central controls. Besides the fact that this room is huge, at least as big as the Control Room back on Atlantis, this gold weighs a ton—moving random piles in the hopes of finding something by chance is not going to work, and even moving one pile could potentially take too long to…." He trailed off, finally realizing that Raina had raised the gun again and was pointing it at his head.

He stared a moment at the gun barrel, and then up at her. Initially wide, his gaze quickly narrowed in annoyance.

"I'm getting a little tired of this," he said darkly.

"I am sorry," she said, swallowing unhappily. "I really am, but I can't let you figure out how to control this place."

He frowned in confusion. "But you promised. You said you would—"

"I changed my mind," she said, pressing her lips together in vague remorse. "I warned you about trusting my word before, Doctor." She glanced around. "Look at this place! How could I could give this up?"

He said nothing for a long moment, his jaw tensing, and then shook his head. "Raina, by now you must know that I don't care about the gold. You can have it all. I don't want it."

"I know. I still don't understand it, but I believe you. You just want to save your teammates. But I can't let you do it."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"You said it yourself. This gold weighs a ton. Too much for me, or for you and me, to carry—we'd kill ourselves just trying to get a small portion of it out. Over time, though…" she shrugged. "Way I see it, I can leave it here. It's well protected, what with all those traps and stuff. They work well. Kept everyone out for thousands of years—it'll keep working, 'specially now the map is gone." Her eyes narrowed. "And I can just keep coming back. After all, I know how to get in and out now."

McKay's jaw was tense. "So? Getting into the controls doesn't mean I have to turn them off forever. I can probably turn it back on again, once I've freed Sheppard and Teyla."

"Maybe," she said. "But even if you turn it all back on again because I make you do so...what's to stop you from telling others about this place? About the treasure here? And you're a scientist—I saw the way your eyes lit up when you saw those stairs in the pool room. You might want to come back yourself, explore this temple further, and you'll need the villagers to agree, since you'll want their help…." She trailed off, her eyes still narrowed.

McKay sighed. "And if I promise not to do any of that?"

"Can you make your friends promise? Can you swear not to tell your leader, back on Atlantis? Can you swear that, if you're ever under duress or if someone else points a gun at your head, that you won't tell them all about this place?"

He nodded. "I'll swear it all if it saves their lives."

Raina smiled softly. "You say that now."

"Unlike you, Raina," he said quietly, "I can keep my word."

She stared at him a moment, gauging his strength. And then shook her head. "I can't take that risk," she said finally. "I haven't trusted anyone in a long time, Doctor McKay, and I can't start with you. I'm sorry."

He just sucked in a deep breath, his hands curling into fists by his side. "So, what are you saying? After all this, you're going to kill me anyway, is that it? Just so you can get this…this…," he grabbed some coins from a pile on his left, holding them up in his hand. "This?" He tossed it to the side. "It's worth that much to you?"

"My brother died for it." She said it matter-of-factly, because, if she let herself really feel what she had lost, she'd crumble. Right now, that was the last thing she could afford.

"And, in honor of his memory," McKay spat, "now you're going to kill for it."

She shook her head. "I don't want to." And she really didn't. Before everything that had happened down here, she'd been prepared to kill him, because it had been inevitable. But now…? She felt the wheels turning in her head, images of possible futures whirring by, all underlain with the gold at her feet. Without even conscious thought, she was speaking again, feeling a little like she was falling into a deep, dark pool.

"Come with me."

His eyes widened. It was almost comical. "What?"

"Come with me," she said again, almost pleading this time. Because she did; she really wanted him to go with her. "You saved my life," she pointed out, "and you tried to save my brother's, almost at the cost of your own. That…that was…." She licked her lips. "Look, I don't want to kill you. I just…you…even with all of it, the constant talking and the bitching and the…the…. Truth is, you're…you're funny! And you're honest and smart and…and you're loyal. Fiercely so. And good—a good man. So, come with me! I'll need someone to help me, now that Herod…." She breathed out heavily, then let go of the gun with one hand to sweep her arm out. "Look around! All this gold! You and me, we could do so much with it. Just…just say you'll come with me." She swallowed, and hated the fact that, despite her head, despite her plans, her heart was desperate to hear him say yes. "Please," she said.

His eyes softened, damn him. After all the hardness of before, it was something of a shock to see sorrow in his gaze. No, not sorrow. Pity. He had heard her desperation, her desolation.

He knew she didn't want to be alone.

But he still shook his head.

"I can't."

She let out a shaky breath. That was the wrong answer. "You can," she insisted. "Just say you will."

"No."

"Yes!" she ordered furiously. "Say you will!"

His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head once. "No."

"Blood and Spit, why not?" she demanded, feeling her whole emotional core teetering on the brink. "If you don't come with me, I'll have to kill you! You have to come with me. Say you will!"

"I can't leave them. I won't."

"Your teammates?"

"My friends."

"Friends." She shook her head. "No. Not good enough. You can buy new friends with all this, and you'll have me. It's just two people! It's not like they're your family! Herod died for me, for this! I won't let it have been for nothing, but I don't want you to die either! Now say you'll come with me!" The gun was shaking in her hand, and she knew she was crying, could feel the tears running down her face.

But he just shook his head again.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I can't."

She screamed in frustration, feeling her face flush red, the tears stinging her skin. The gun in her hand wavered, shaking as she let loose a sob. What was wrong with him? How could he turn all this gold down, turn her down? It should have been enough! For her brother, for her, it was….Why not for him?

McKay lowered his gaze, moving closer to the pile of gold he was standing next to, resting a hand behind it as if he thought he could use it for cover, or throw some of the gold to stop her. He wouldn't be fast enough.

Raina shook her head, trying to find her anger, the anger from before. But all she had was her frustration. She wanted to hate him!

He looked up at her again, his pale blue eyes soft.

"Don't," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," Raina said just as softly, a tear running down her face.

Holding the gun tight in shaking hands, she pulled the trigger, aiming for his heart.

The gold plate appeared in his hand like magic from off the pile, covering his chest and deflecting the bullet. He looked almost shocked that it had worked, and Raina turned, trying to see where the bullet had gone as it ricocheted off something with a metal ping, and then something else, and then….

"OW!"

She was pelted by metal, one large piece cracking her cheekbone. Having a handful of gold coins and nuggets thrown at you really hurt! She staggered back a few steps when McKay threw even more gold at her, and when she looked up, her cheek screaming in pain, he had disappeared.

"Get back here!" She took off after him, running around the pile of gold he'd vanished behind, nearly tripping on the large gold plate he'd dropped on the ground.

He slammed into her side from out of nowhere, bringing her down hard on her side, her gun slipping out of her fingers. They rolled sideways, McKay grappling with her, trying to pin her arms under her. She reacted on instinct, throwing an elbow into his face, her knee coming up to catch him in the stomach. He gasped and fell away, and she dove for the gun she'd dropped. With a quick spin, she was on her back, pointing the weapon towards where she'd last seen him.

He was half crouched a few feet away, her brother's gun pointed back at her.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She'd almost forgotten that she'd been carrying it in the back of her trousers. He must have grabbed it when they were fighting.

His eyes were a little bit shocked, as if he too couldn't believe he'd managed to grab the weapon, but his hands weren't shaking, his aim was true—he had clearly handled a gun before.

Licking a little bit of blood off her lips, she pushed away from him without lowering her own aim. When she hit a pile of gold, she used it for leverage, getting her feet under her and standing up.

He straightened as well, all the time keeping Herod's gun trained on her. Blood was dripping down from his nose grotesquely, running down his face onto the floor in a black-red rivulet, and he was breathing hard.

She shifted slowly to the side, into the open to create more room for herself, and to see if he could remain steady. She was also trying to see if he'd removed the safety.

He had. Still, his expression was the picture of hesitancy, or reluctance. While his aim never wavered, she could see the tremors wracking his frame.

She smiled softly. Her right hand was rock steady gripping the gun she held, and her left rested calmly against the knife on her belt. Who was he kidding?

"You can't," she stated evenly. It wasn't in him.

He frowned, eyes narrowing. "Will you let me save them?" he asked roughly.

She just smiled more. He had to know the answer to that.

So he shot her.

She gasped in shock, the impact staggering her, too surprised to cry out. Looking down, she was amazed to see blood pouring out of her left shoulder where the bullet had hit her. Pain registered then, sharp and angry, turning her whole left arm numb. Involuntary tears ran down her face, stinging the cut on her cheekbone.

She looked up at him again, and found his eyes wide and mouth open. He was staring fixedly on the hole in her shoulder, Herod's gun finally wavering in its aim. It wasn't even pointing at her anymore. His gaze lifted at last to meet hers, and she could see the naked fear in them.

She released a brittle laugh and lifted her gun, aiming anew for his heart.

Something suddenly punched her between the shoulder blades, sharp and unyielding, cutting off her air. One moment she was fine, and the next she was on her knees, holding onto her back.

Her left hand fell away from the pain, and she stared at the blood coating her fingers in wonderment. When she looked down, she saw a small blood stain growing on her chest, where the tip of a knife had cut through her shirt.

"How…?"

She was on her side a moment later, and McKay was leaning over her, babbling about staying still and not talking. He grabbed at her jacket, bunching it up over the wound. He pressed down and it hurt.

Blood and spit, it hurt!

Her back arched, and her legs pumped, trying to get away from the pain, from the agony.

"Stay still," he ordered. "Just hang on."

"Let her die," said someone else. McKay looked up then, away from her at whoever had spoken, his mouth working, but no sound coming out. She thought he almost smiled, but when he returned his gaze to her, his expression was wretched. She was choking, her mouth filling with metallic tasting blood.

She was caught by the depth of his sorrow for her, clear inside the wide, desolate eyes, the same eyes that had seen his friends nearly killed, had seen her brother die….

Were watching her die.

She was still holding her gun. He hadn't taken it away.

He seemed to realize it at the same time, looking down at her hand as she gripped it tighter. He just breathed out heavily, staring first at it, and then at her.

"Hold on," he whispered.

Ancestor's above, even now….

She dropped the gun, letting it slip from her fingers. "I'm sorry," she breathed wetly.

He grimaced, confused. "It's okay. It'll be okay."

She smiled softly. "No, I'm...." The blood was roaring in her ears now, so loud that she couldn't hear anymore. The world began to spin, and she wanted it to stop. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she whispered again, closing her eyes, hoping it would make the spinning stop.

At his silence, she opened her eyes again. He just stared at her. He clearly didn't know what to say, his lips pressed unhappily together.

She had finally managed to shut him up. After thinking she wanted it so badly….

All she wanted was for him to speak.

To say she was forgiven.

But he said nothing.

She closed her eyes again, drowning in regret, misery and loss. The world spun into blackness, out of control, hopeless.

Please stop. Please make it stop. Please.

The spinning stopped.

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TBC…