Sara POV

A quick glace around the room revealed a large bed, a wooden chest of drawers and a single chair pushed into the far corner. There was no trace of pictures or of personal possessions, and definitely nothing that could be described as a luxury. I looked at the woman. She seemed wary, particularly of Marcus, although he lingered by the closed door and made no move to approach. I did my best to put her at ease as quickly as possible.

"Hey," I said, "I'm Sara." I pointed to Marcus. "This is my friend, Marcus. We're not here to hurt you. In fact, we're hoping you can help us..."

She turned her eyes on me properly for the first time and I was taken back to discover that they were a deep shade of violet.

"…Some friends of ours have gone missing," I told her. "We think they might be here, held against their will."

She cast a nervous glance towards Marcus. "Marcus isn't going to hurt you," I repeated, and to emphasize my point, I approached him, clenched my fist, and punched him solidly in the chest. He flinched slightly – a due reaction, given the force I had used.

"What the heck was that for?" he rubbed his palm over the area I had connected with.

"Sorry," I told him, "I just needed to prove something in a hurry…" I turned back to the woman, who was watching us both with a confused expression.

"You see," I told her. "Marcus doesn't own me… and you have nothing to fear from him. I promise."

She fingered the satin trim on the neck of her gown, and I noticed for the first time that she was not completely naked beneath, but that a tiny pair of pink briefs preserved a shred of her modesty. I drew my eyes away. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Marissa," she whispered as she folded her arms across her chest.

I smiled in what I hoped was an encouraging way. "Marissa," I repeated. "How old are you, Marissa?"

She looked at me, a little bolder now. "I'm nineteen."

"Really?" I was shocked. The way she carried herself had led me to believe she was somewhere in her mid-twenties. "How long have you been here for?"

"Almost a year," she replied.

I nodded. I could barely comprehend a day in this place, let alone a full year. "That's a long time," I replied, the sympathy I felt for her echoing in my voice.

She held my gaze, so I took the chance to press her again. "The men we have come here to find… there are three of them, and they would have been brought here last night. Have you heard anything? Or do you maybe know where we can find them?"

She thought for a moment. "There was trouble here this morning…. Somebody attempted a break out. I don't know who it was…but Rydan was really angry about it."

I bit my lip. That had to be Ronon. "You say attempted to escape," I probed. "Do you mean that they failed?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Of course they failed," she said. "Graystone is like a fortress. As far as I know, nobody has ever escaped successfully."

"Graystone?" I echoed. "Is that what this place is called?"

She nodded. "For someone who has come here to save her friends, you don't seem to know very much."

A snort of amusement erupted behind me from Marcus, and I gave her a wry smile. "You could say I'm learning as I go," I admitted. "Look, we really need to find our friends. Can you help us or not?"

Her violet eyes hesitated again. "If we were caught below, Rydan would have all three of us killed. Or… or worse."

Caught below. I ignored her warning and filed the small piece of information to memory. "I know it's a lot to ask," I said, "But you don't need to come with us. If you tell us where to go, you can wait right here."

She shook her head. "Rydan would expect me to raise the alarm," she said. "Either way, I would share your fate – and the men you seek would as well, if he discovered their link to you."

I realized I had hit a sticking point, and I was grateful when Marcus came to my aid.

"Is this how you want to live?" he asked as he approached. "In servitude to a man who would loan you to the first person who asks?"

She shook her head. "You are not the first to ask," she corrected. "And no, of course this is not the life I choose. But what would you have me do? Your plan is foolhardy. Even if your friends are here, you will not be able to help them."

"Leave that to us," Marcus told her. "I understand that you don't want to risk your life for a cause that is not your own – nor would I, in your position – but what if I changed things so helping us would be to your own advantage?"

She looked at him. "I don't understand."

"Help us to find our friends, and I will go back on my deal with Rydan and find a way to make sure that you never have to set foot in this place again," he said.

Her eyes grew wide, and I grabbed the chance to play on her indecision. "Please," I tried again. "The men we seek are my family. My brother, my cousin, and…" I thought of the man that I loved above all others, "…and the father of my child. I can't leave here without at least knowing if they are still alive."

She let go of the edge of her gown and met my eyes. "Alright," she said slowly. "I will try and help."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," I smiled at her. "You don't know what this means to me."

She looked from me to Marcus. "No person in their right mind would ever break a deal they made with Rydan," she told him. "I won't hold you to your promise."

He held her eyes. "Let me worry about that," he said. "Right now, we should get moving."

She took a deep breath and walked towards the door. "Okay then. Follow me, and stay quiet."

She turned the handle and we followed her back out into the hallway. "You are lucky," she whispered as she led us to a doorway at the very end and punched a combination into the door lock. "It is lunch time. The men will be in their cells and Hank and Martha on their breaks."

I had no idea who Hank and Martha might be, but if Marissa did not want to meet them, then it was likely that neither did we. In single file, Marcus and I followed Marissa through the door and down a narrow stair well. The temperature got noticeably colder as we descended until finally the stairwell came to an end and we found ourselves in a long, stone corridor.

"These are the cells where they hold the new arrivals," Marissa whispered as she pointed towards two identical iron doors. "Take a look in the window, but be quick. If the occupants are not the people you are looking for, we don't want to disturb them and risk drawing attention."

With a pounding heart, I approached the window to the first cell and took a quick look through the bared window. There was nobody inside so I quickly moved onto the second cell.

"Someone there?" a male voice called out. I froze in my tracks and then just as quickly my whole being flooded with a wave of relief as I recognized Ronon's voice. I hurried towards the door and at the same moment as I looked in, he came over to look out. Abruptly, we found ourselves standing face to face with each other.

"Sara?" his mouth fell open with surprise.

I nodded, too emotional to speak. Quick as a flash, Erik appeared beside him at the window and my heart grew happier still. "Hey," I finally said. "You're hard guys to track down."

"How did you find us?" Erik asked as Marcus joined me at the window.

"The ship that bought you here left a trail….The people from Atlantis picked it up and followed you," I explained. "They're upstairs—"

"Sheppard's here?" Ronon interrupted.

I nodded. "And Rodney too. They're up above with Rydan." My fingertips were curled over the edge of the cell window, and Ronon placed his own on top of them.

"Can you get us out of here?" he asked.

I leaned back and took a better look at the door. It was made of solid iron and the lock was inbuilt… There was very little way to get inside without either a key or a gun to blast the mechanism.

"Where's Troy?" Marcus's words penetrated my thoughts, and I immediately froze. With my joy at finding Ronon and Erik, I suddenly realized that I had not seen my younger cousin in the cell. I looked at Erik, and a single glance gave me my answer. He shook his head, his eyes downcast.

"How?" I asked. "What happened?"

"They gassed us when they brought us in," he said. "It reacted with his asthma. He didn't wake up."

Tears sprang to my eyes. I had grown up with Troy and he was more like a brother to Erik and I than a cousin. Before I could become fully immersed in my sorrow, Erik dragged me back to the present.

"Is there anything out there that you can wedge down the side of the door? Maybe we can break this think off the hinges?"

"There's nothing," Marcus shook his head. "I've already looked."

Marissa approached and touched my arm. "We can't stay," she said. "Someone could come by at any minute…"

Ronon and Erik both noticed Marissa at the time.

"Who's she?" Erik asked.

"Can we trust her?" Ronon quickly added.

"This in Marissa. She bought us down here to see you," I quickly explained. "Marcus did a trade with Rydan for her purchase..."

Despite the situation, both men turned to Marcus with looks of amusement. Marissa was so beautiful that they obviously had trouble believing his chivalry to be entirely selfless.

He held up his hands. "You would have done the same thing," he told them. "It's not like I plan to… do anything with her. I just wanted to get her away from here, which is lucky for the two of you because I don't think we would have found you without her."

"Please," Marissa ignored the men and pulled on my arm. "We need to get going. Now."

I realized with a sinking heart that she was right. There appeared to be no immediate way to free the men from their cell and we would be no good to them if we got caught and wound up alongside them.

"Go," Ronon squeezed my fingers. "Talk to Sheppard. He'll figure out a way to get us out of here."

I reached through the window to touch Erik with my other hand. Aside from Natara, he and Ronon were the two most important people in my life. I hated to leave them here, not knowing if or when I might see them again. "We'll come back for you," I said over the lump in my throat.

Erik took my hand in his. "I need you to take care of things back at Tarus," he said. "Our people need a leader, someone to make the decisions in my place."

I shook my head. "I can't," I told him. "It's always been you or Troy who run things. I wouldn't know where to start."

"You'll do fine," he assured me. "Aunt Marie, the twins… they'll need to be told about Troy's death. There will have to be a memorial service for him… See to it that he receives full military honours."

My heart sank. There was so much to tend to, when all I wanted to do was to figure out a way to get Ronon and Erik back to Tarus as soon as possible. Slowly, I nodded my head. "I'll do my best," I promised Erik, and then I turned back to Ronon. This might be the last we saw of each other for some time, so I put the moment to good use. "I love you," I told him as I pressed my face towards the bars. He placed his lips upon mine in a soft kiss and then we broke apart.

He looked to Marcus. "See she gets out of here safe," he said.

Marcus nodded. "I'll do everything that I can," he said. He reached out and closed his hand around my arm. "It's time to go," he said.

Reluctantly, I released the fingers of both Ronon and Erik and retreated with Marcus down the corridor. In front of us, Marissa led the way back up the stairs and somehow the three of us wound up back in her room.

"Wow," she sighed as she closed the door behind us. "I don't think you two realize how lucky we were not to be seen down there."

Marcus turned to her and got straight to business. "All going well, you won't see this room again," he told her. "If there's anything you want to take, I suggest you grab it now."

She shook her head. "There is nothing."

"Good," he said, "then we should regroup with the others, let them know we've found the men and have spoken with them. He paused and looked at me. "Um… just one thing…"

I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"If Rydan's to believe we've been in here all of this time... uh, screwing… then the two of you should probably mess up your hair up a little… You know, look the part."

At his instruction, I lifted my hands and scrubbed my fingertips against my skelp until my hair no longer hung so neatly. Once again, the scenario might have been amusing had it been in any other context – a fact that was emphasized when Marissa finished with her hair and then bit her lips and proceeded to pinch her cheeks.

"Rydan is not an easy man to fool," she explained as she caught me starting. "He's seen me often enough to know how I should look after… after a man's finished with me."

Sick to my stomach, I turned away. Marcus did better at masking his reaction, but his curled upper lip was proof that he was just as affected by Marissa's admission as I was. I realized that if nothing else came of this day, then at least Marissa would no longer be in Rydan's possession by the end of it. I watched Marcus shrug out of his leather jacket and pull his t-shirt free from the waist band of his leather pants. "Okay," he looked to Marissa to lead, "Let's go."

She opened the door and we followed her back to the hall and then onto the balcony where Rydan, the Colonel and Rodney were seated around a wooden table. There was food and wine in front of them, most of which had already been consumed. Rydan looked at Marcus as we appeared. "I trust you found her to your satisfaction?"

"Better than expected," he said as he slung his leather jacket over the back of a chair and sat down next to Rodney.

Rydan's eyes lingered on the three of us, and Marissa cast her gaze downwards and stayed standing off to one side. I took my cue from her and did the same, rather than joining the men at the table as I had been about to. Below us, in the dirt arena, six men sparred together in pairs. A huge man with long red hair swung a mace, and his partner – a thick set black man with no hair – returned the blow.

"Seems I've worked up quite an appetite," Marcus brought me back to the present as he picked up a sliver of meat from the platter in front of him and dropped it into his mouth. "What did I miss?" he looked around the table.

Colonel Sheppard took the chance to fill him – and covertly, myself – in on what had happened during our absence. "It seems that among other things, our new friend here holds his own ring fighting tournaments," he replied. "The next one is being held in six days, and we've been invited to attend."

"Excellent," Marcus clapped his hands together and reached to fill a goblet with wine. I saw him hold the Colonel's eyes for a fraction of a second longer than necessary, enough to confirm we had indeed found Ronon and Erik. "What exactly can we expect from this coming tournament?" he asked.

Rydan leaned back in his chair and rested his hands upon his lap. "A ring tournament is a celebration of human life," he said. "Those who are strong, live – and those who are unworthy, die. The test of a true man lies in a contest without rules, so I present a fight to the death where anything goes." He ran his fingers through his copper hair. "With the amount of money that rides on the outcome, I'm sure you will all agree that the demise of an opponent makes for good, clean book-keeping."

I kept my eyes downcast, repulsed by his attitude. In front of me, Marcus threw back his head and drained his goblet of contents. "The matches are one on one?" he asked.

"Usually," Rydan replied. "I have been known to change the rules on occasion though." He slouched down in his chair and crossed his legs at the ankle as he continued. "This next tournament is to be my 50th. I plan to change things up accordingly…"

A chill ran down my spine. I hoped with all of my heart that we would have Ronon and Erik well clear of this place before the tournament day rolled around. I turned my gaze towards the iron fence that kept the men below enclosed. Not only did it circle the whole ring, but a separate section also edged the sides of Rydan's patio. It appeared the man did not take any chances with his personal safety, as the fence would allow him to watch the events while keeping him carefully separated from those below.

"I am sure we will enjoy whatever you have planned," Colonel Sheppard uncrossed his arms. "It's getting on though. My friends and I need to be on our way." He stood up and extended his hand across the table to Rydan who stood up also. "It's been a pleasure to do business with you."

"Likewise," Rydan took his hand, and then those of Rodney and Marcus. "Rest assured I will find a way to distribute the weapons you supply."

"I am sure you will," the Colonel replied as he turned to leave.

Rydan clicked his fingers and called to his guard inside. "Escort my friends back to their aircraft," he instructed and then put out his hand to halt Marcus as he passed by. "Four days," he said. "No longer."

Marcus nodded his compliance, but Rydan did not remove his hand. He looked over Marcus's shoulder to where I stood beside Marissa. "When you tire of the red-head, I will have her," he said. "Bring her to me and name your price."

"Sure," Marcus shrugged. "I'll let you know."

Rydan lowered his hand and I quickly followed Marcus and Marissa out of his sight. I did not breathe easily again until the jumper door pulled shut behind us.

Colonel Sheppard put down the gun he had retrieved from the guard and took a seat in front of the flight controls. "Well," he exhaled, "I'd say the man certainly lives up to his reputation."

"Did you see the power generator on our way back?" Rodney replied. "The thing's tiny. How on earth he runs everything off that single system is beyond me…" He trailed off as he realized the Colonel was looking at me.

"I take it you found them then?" he asked

I nodded. "They're being held together in a cell below the complex. Troy…" I faltered as I thought about my younger cousin, "Troy is no longer with them."

The Colonel raised his eyebrows and then his face contorted as he understood what I was saying. "I'm sorry," he said. "Troy was a good kid…"

I nodded, but before I could reply, he spoke again.

"Rest assured…we're gonna do everything we can to get the other two out of there." He fired up the Jumper, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Marcus remove a blanket from one of the side compartments. "Here," he passed it to Marissa. "Put this around you."

She took it gratefully and slipped down into a nearby seat.

"I'm sorry," he said as he then passed her a thin strip of material, "But if you're going to come home with us, then I'll have to ask you to cover your eyes."

She looked at the piece of material and then shrank back in her seat from it as if it was a snake about to strike. "No…I can't." she shook her head, her expression fearful. "Please don't make me cover my eyes. I'll do anything else you want, but not that."

"We need to keep the location of our home world safe from strangers," Marcus told her. "It's just a blindfold. I really don't see the problem?"

She shook her head again. "It was… Rydan would…" she struggled to explain. "It was one of the…things he liked to do."

Marcus looked to me. We didn't have time to argue, yet it was imperative that we protect the location of Atlantis – and Tarus by extension. I stood up and took the piece of cloth from Marcus's hand, and then in the most cajoling voice I could muster, I set about persuading the damaged girl that wearing the blindfold was in her best interest. It was in this manner that I left Danisine while the men I cared for remained behind.

Ronon POV

After Sara and Marcus left, Erik and I retreated to the bunk bed and propped our backs up against the wall to talk. Our spirits had lifted considerably from earlier, and the focal point of our talk centred on the possibility of rescue.

"Have many guards have you seen?" Erik mused aloud. "There's enough military personal on Tarus to storm this place in the blink of an eye."

"Maybe they'll bust us out in the middle of the night?" I suggested.

Erik nodded. "Whatever time they get here, I intend to see the Rat is sorry for that stunt he pulled with the taser this morning."

"He's got it coming," I agreed.

"I wish we knew a bit more about the lay of the land on this place," Erik continued. "I'd be happy to get out of here and just rough it in the wild until we find a way back to Tarus ourselves."

"Just because the others know where we are, doesn't mean we have to wait for them to come get us," I replied.

Erik laughed. "Can you imagine everyone's faces if we just showed up back at Tarus?"

"Uh huh," I nodded my agreement.

"Actually, I once did something much like that" Erik went on. "I took a sparc out by myself and did a bit of exploring off-world. Didn't bother to tell anyone where I was going." He ran his hand through his long hair. "I was young and full of myself at the time… hadn't completed the necessary hours to become a recognized pilot." He chuckled at the memory and I settled back against the wall, content to listen as he talked.

"I came across this place with a huge open lake. The air currents around it were really odd, kind of push-pull, and every so often you'd get this amazing uplift… Anyway, I opened the sparc up a bit and put her through her paces – you know, the kind of thing that gets your blood flowing and adrenalin pumping." He shook his head as he continued, "one minute I'm coming out of a roll and everything's going fine, the next, I'm plummeting towards the water."

I watched him from the corner of my eye. Former womanizer and now dare devil to boot. How many more sides were there to Sara's brother that I was yet to discover? "What happened then?" I asked.

"I ejected, and the sparc hit the water somewhere in front of me. Sunk like a sub," he chuckled at the memory. "So there I was, in the middle of a lake in the middle of nowhere. Took me a couple of hours to swim to shore and then I holed up for the night. Next day I walked back to the gate. Took me the better part of a day, and that was before I even hit Cynox and all of that damned sand."

"People would have been worried," I told him.

"Worried? Everyone thought I was dead," he grinned. "When my father found out that I'd lost one of his sparcs, he was livid. I think he'd have rather I sank to the bottom of the lake than one of his precious ships."

I laughed. "He ground your ass?"

"Literally. I wasn't allowed to fly for a month. I look back now and I can see where he was coming from, but at the time I didn't thank him for it." He shook his head slowly at the memory. "Kind of makes me wonder how Max is going to turn out."

I nodded. "It comes around."

We talked back and forth for a bit longer, and then the soup-woman re-appeared at our door. I got off the bed and went to meet her, Erik close behind.

"Here you go," she passed me a small bowl filled with some kind of meat stew through the bars. As far meals went, this one looked about big enough to feed a cat. "That all?" I asked as she began to fill a similar sized bowl for Erik.

"It's the rules," she replied. "Half rations only, until you pass the test."

"The test huh?" Erik said. "I'd ask you what exactly this test I keep hearing about is, but something tells me you'd only say I'm better off not knowing."

She gave him a toothless smile. "I like you," she told him. "You're a fast learner." She passed him his bowl and then gave both of us a spoon.

"What's your name, old woman?" Erik asked.

"Name's Martha," she said. "And I'm not so old that I couldn't put a strapping lad like yourself to good use."

I coughed into my stew.

"I bet you could," Erik grinned as he began to eat. "Lucky for me I'm locked up safe in here then, huh?"

She smiled. "Tell you what…" she filled another bowl and passed it through the window to Erik. "For luck," she said. "Share it with your friend."

Erik tipped half of the contents into his original bowl and then passed the remainder to me. "For luck, you say?" he looked at Martha. "I suppose you think I'm going to need it then?"

"You most definitely are," she laughed. And with that she left our window and began to trundle back down the corridor.

"Nice work," I said to Erik as I lifted my heaped bowl to his eyes.

"It's all in the charm," he grinned. "You should try it sometime."

"Not my thing," I told him.

He carried his bowl back over to the bed and gave me a sly look. "Maybe not," he agreed, "But you managed to win over my sister, and that's no easy task."

"She was alone for eight months before we met," I replied. "The odds were in my favour."

He laughed, and we lapsed into silence as we ate. With nothing else to do when we finished, I stretched out on the top bunk and stared up at the stone roof above. I wondered if Sara and the others were back at Atlantis by now, and if so, what exactly they were planning to do to get us out of here.

-O-

A/N: Thanks to the two kind readers who reviewed my last chapter! I loved hearing your thoughts