Westward to Pegasus
Disclaimer: The wonderful characters of SGA are still owned by other people. Also, thanks again to the folks at for posting transcripts of all of the episodes, which have been very useful in recreating scenes from the show in our new setting.
Author's note: Hi, folks! Big events in RL caused a delay in updating, but regular service is now resuming. Now, Teyla vs. Bates: Who will punch harder?
Chapter 12
"Mr. Bates!" Teyla called after the railroad agent, who was walking back down the street toward the school. His words a few moments ago could not go unanswered.
He turned to face her. "What is it?"
Teyla did everything she could to keep her anger in check, but this was pushing it. "You just accused me of bringing the Wraith Gang to Atlantis," she said through gritted teeth, referring to the man's comment moments before in front of a number of townspeople.
Bates seemed unperturbed. "Yes, I did."
Was nothing getting through to this man? Teyla fumed silently. Instead, she cooling stated, "Clearly you were wrong."
"That's yet to be determined, ma'am," he answered just as coolly.
Teyla couldn't believe her ears. Silently, she wondered what she had done to deserve such disdain. Was it simply because she was of native blood rather than from back East?
"Excuse me?" she managed to squeeze out. "Perhaps you are not aware, Mr. Bates, but being accused of working with the Wraith is the greatest insult among my people."
Everyone in the Pegasus Valley knew the story of how the Wraith Gang had cruelly slaughtered dozens, if not hundreds, of the native people living in the West, and they had no qualms about destroying villages for no other reason than because they could.
But apparently that wasn't enough for the agent. "Oh, I'm aware," he said.
At that, Teyla snapped. There had been too much violence in her young life. Too much loss of those dear to her. To insinuate that she had brought this upon Atlantis because of her mere presence after she had fought side-by-side with the town's inhabitants today was unacceptable.
Bates obviously did not realize that women could look pretty, yet hit hard. His head snapped back at Teyla's punch, and after a moment of shock, he moved to strike back.
Amid the intensity of their confrontation, neither had noticed the arrival of Sheppard and Ronon. John saw Teyla strike Bates, and when the other man moved to fight back, John knew it was time to step in.
"What the hell's going on here?" he bellowed as he grabbed Teyla, pulling her away and moving between the two combatants. He was not in the mood for this. A moment later, Ronon grabbed Bates and hauled him back, but it was clear that this was not over yet.
"What are you doing?" he hissed at Teyla as he fought to keep her from breaking free. She was much smaller than him, but sometimes he was sure she was just as powerful.
"I was simply stating an opinion!" she ground out through gritted teeth, her eyes never leaving Bates.
Now Bates' composure broke. "She attacked me!" he told the men, trying to shake free from Ronon's iron grip.
"And for good reason!" Teyla shouted back. John was inclined to agree with her. He had never met anyone more composed than Teyla. Whatever Bates said to raise her ire, it must have been bad.
"Yeah, what reason would that be?" he asked.
"The Wraith Gang!" Bates shouted at John, even though his eyes never left Teyla's. Both combatants renewed their struggles to break free, and John and Ronon both struggled to restrain them. "She's a spy for them! She brought them here!"
John knew this was not true. Teyla had lost more in Wraith attacks than almost anyone else. Although he had heard that some people informed for or paid off the Wraith Gang in hopes of placating them, Teyla was not one of them. This had to end now.
"Walk away, Bates!" John said in his best commander voice. If Teyla was this worked up, he had to rely on Bates to be the one cool enough to turn aside despite being the instigator.
Bates immediately protested, but John was having none of it. "Walk away!" he shouted again as Teyla nearly ripped herself free from his grasp.
Apparently Bates was finally ready to listen to reason, but barely. "This isn't over!" he shouted, shaking his finger at Teyla.
"I would be disappointed if it were!" Teyla shouted at his departing back.
Once Bates was far enough away, John grabbed Teyla's shoulders and turned her toward him.
"What the hell are you doing? We have enough on our hands already fighting the Wraith without fighting amongst each other!" he said, frustrated.
Strangely, Teyla would not let go of the issue. "He said…"
"I don't care what he said!" John blurted out. "You just stay away from him."
"Fine!" Teyla snapped before giving John a fierce glare. With that, she spun on her heel and stomped back toward the saloon to help tend to the wounded.
John sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Teyla had a damn good reason for her behavior. He had slipped back into battle commander mode during today's events, and had treated Teyla as one of his soldiers rather than the friend that she was.
Ronon clapped him on the shoulder in acknowledgment and they began heading in the same direction as Teyla. John just hoped that she would still speak to him once she had cooled down.
O~o~O~o~O
Their journey home two days later was not as cheerful as their journey into town. Figuring their animals had access to food and water and could be left on their own for a while, the three neighbors had stayed in Atlantis to help clean up and plan a course of action.
The town needed to come up with a plan for dealing with another Wraith invasion. This area was one of the few places that had not bowed down to the outlaws, so John was certain that the Wraith would return to Atlantis. Any men (and a few women) of fighting age were going to be trained up as a fighting force. Thankfully, that would not be difficult since so many had a military background. They would have to find a way to secret away the elderly, women, and children so they would be out of harm's way if the Wraith came again.
To that end, John had been elected head of the military component, and would be working with Elizabeth who, in her capacity as mayor, would oversee the plans. Rodney, Zelenka, and Sam had offered to help develop technology to help their cause, and others were pitching in wherever they could.
Much of their last day in town had been spent seated around the big table in the back room of the mayor's office. Elizabeth had sat at the head, coordinating the townspeople's efforts, while Sheppard and Lorne, his newly-elected second-in-command, had pored over maps in an effort to come up with an anti-Wraith plan. Rodney, Sam and Radek had contributed technical advice, while Ronon and Teyla were brought in for their contacts and knowledge of the lands around Pegasus Valley.
Satisfied that the town would be fine for the moment, John, Teyla, and Ronon had been able to collect the supplies that they had originally come to town for and were now heading home. A light snow had fallen the previous night, the first of the season.
Unusually for him, John was lying down in the back of the wagon with the supplies, allowing Ronon to drive his team home. Teyla looked back at John from her seat with the shotgun up front, worried about her friend.
After the incident with Bates, Teyla and John had not seen much of each other outside of meetings, and she had not had a chance to apologize to him for her behavior. But it wasn't just that. After the incident with Kolya, John had become quiet and withdrawn. In the strategy meetings, he had been focused on the business at hand. She was pretty sure that he hadn't slept the entire time they had been in Atlantis, instead taking overnight watches both nights in addition to fighting and assisting in the clean-up during the day.
John still didn't appear to be asleep, but instead lay beneath a blanket, staring at the sky with half-hooded eyes. It was obvious that he was so tired that he could do nothing else, but he was too troubled to sleep. Teyla sighed, eager for this day to be finished. They travelled on, the silence broken only by the creak of the wagon wheels.
TBC
Up next: Kolya may have been driven out of Atlantis after the raid, but he still continues to torment John.
