AN: Thank you to those of you who are still reading! Please keep the reviews coming! I love reading them!
Ronan had been planning his escape for days now, using the hours of meditation captivity had forced on him to focus on a plan to get to the gate and get his teammates out of Niflheim.
"What's the plan?" McKay demanded.
"You're staying here," Ronan grunted, reaching down into his boot for the knife and sawing carefully through the rope at his wrists.
"But I thought the idea was for us to escape!"
"Look," Ronan's patience was wearing thin. "This place is a labyrinth. I remember how to get to the gate, but do you? If you get lost, what are you going to do? I'm going to see what they've done to the gate and whether or not we can get back to Atlantis. If it looks like we can get through, I'll get you and Teyla out. No use getting more of us killed than necessary."
"Fine." McKay sulked.
Ronan slipped the knife into the lock and expertly flicked it open after a few twists.
"Cover for me if they come back," Ronan said to Teyla and McKay. "I shouldn't take long."
With that, Ronan raced off to the entrance of the prison area, finding it empty as he had suspected. For the first few days that they had been captured, a few of Gatak's men had guarded the entrance to the prison. After nearly a week and their prisoners had not escaped or attempted to escape, the guard had gone lax. Ronan knew they would be somewhere near, however, and he slipped cautiously through the passageways, hiding behind rock outcroppings and in various niches and crevices when someone would pass by. He discovered a nearby chamber in which the guards appeared to carry out their recreational activities. He wasn't certain, but as he peered in on his way down the passageway, he thought he saw one of their radios in the corner, a piece of information he filed away for future use.
It took him nearly a half hour to reach the Stargate's chamber in this way. There were no guards at the entrance to the chamber and he saw that the only door leading to the place seemed to be firmly shut. He searched around for a control panel, and finding none, placed his hands on the door's smooth surface, feeling across it for any seams or any indication as to how to open the door. The door remained smooth and featureless.
Ronan knew that the door must be very strong, for he was sure that Atlantis had probably sent a probe and then a team through when they had not returned as scheduled. They may have used various tools on the door to no success and the door revealed no damage on his side.
Seeing the DHD in the corner of the passageway outside of the chamber, Ronan wondered if whoever had been sent through had managed to return to Atlantis without the DHD. More likely than not, Weir had ordered that no one go through until a plan had been formed as to how to dial back. If they had not been able to find a way to dial out without the DHD, perhaps a team had not been sent at all.
Frustrated at his lack of information, Ronan returned as swiftly as possible to the prisons, slipping back into the cell with McKay and twisting the rope that had bound his hands for so long back around his wrists.
"Well?" McKay hissed.
"They've used a door to close the chamber," Ronan said. "I tried to find a panel or something to open it but couldn't find anything." Reluctantly, he added, "I think you need to take a look."
"Brilliant," McKay said dryly. "So when are we going?"
"Soon."
With a snarl, Fenrir leaped forward, his hands outstretched, reaching for Sheppard's throat. John deflected the man, stepping to the side and throwing his arm up to ward off Fenrir's hands.
Fenrir retaliated by moving in closer to spar Sheppard, throwing a fist towards his jaw. Sheppard ducked and threw an uppercut at the man. Fenrir's head snapped back at the contact and he growled in anger.
Backing away, Sheppard held his hands up. "Look, I don't want to fight. I don't want to kill anyone. I just want to get me and my friends home."
"You have no choice, Jotun," Fenrir growled, suddenly extremely wolf-like. "If you choose not to fight here, I shall kill you and you shall never escape."
Fenrir again grappled with Sheppard, trying to reach for his throat. Sheppard threw a punch, snapping the man's head around and causing him to stumble back. Growling in anger, Fenrir rushed at Sheppard, trying to catch the Colonel with an uppercut.
Surprisingly, Sheppard realized fighting with Fenrir was quite similar to fighting with Ronan. They both had similar, wild and unpredictable styles. It was a feral way of fighting and Sheppard wasn't too particularly happy to fight in such a disorganized manner. He was a military man, with black belts in various martial arts, but it still surprised him when it came to fighting in the Pegasus Galaxy. He had to reach deep down within himself and realize that this was going to be tooth and nail, Fenrir's life or his.
As Fenrir attempted to throw several punches at Sheppard's head, the Colonel blocked them, then launched into a powerful kick to the man's midsection. Fenrir grunted with the impact, but managed to grab Sheppard's boot and twist, causing the man to cry out in agony as his knee was wrenched around, and he fell to the ground.
Fenrir was on Sheppard in an instant, grabbing his right hand and pinning it to the ground as Sheppard tried to throw another punch. Sheppard managed to grab Fenrir's shoulder and push back, but the man's weight pinning him down wasn't enough for Sheppard to gain his feet. Desperate, Sheppard head butted the man, sending Fenrir sprawling and giving him enough time to jump to his feet. His knee was unable to support his weight, however, and Sheppard ironically thought that this might have been what the Karate Kid felt like in that final competition.
With a roar of rage, Fenrir dove at Sheppard, not even regaining his feet before trying to down the man again. Sheppard slammed into the ground with Fenrir on top of him once more, his hands closing on Sheppard's throat. Sheppard grabbed Fenrir's hands and tried to pry them off but the man was too strong. Black spots began to dance in Sheppard's vision and he realized that he was going to suffocate to death.