Carson tried to steady his breathing.

This had to be a test, but he was loyal to the Daravilus name and would prove it.

People kept trying to talk to him, but he kept his gaze elsewhere avoiding their stares.

"Doctor Beckett, can you hear me?"

Arex...my name is Arex.

He didn't know how long he lay there, minutes? Hours? Time was fluid, his spot on the wall unchanging until a large head appeared over him, blue eyes blinking.

"Carson? It's me...Rodney, can you hear me? I know you can so just cut out the staring, okay?"

He slowly blinked and turned his gaze to the face above him, causing the face to smile and turn to someone out of his view.

"You see, I told you I could snap him out of it!"

Rodney looked back at Carson and frowned, the doctor was staring at him like he was a specimen in a jar.

"Hey, how you doing?" Rodney asked awkwardly, trying to lighten the sudden feeling of tension in the air.

Carson's breathing quickened as he continued to stare at the blue-eyed man.

"Uh...come on, say something." said Rodney. "Jennifer says the bruises on your face will heal, which is good because right now they're..." Rodney started to make a face, but then caught himself.

"And...um...she fixed your ankle so you should be on your feet in no time." He smiled; his smile fading at the lack of response from Carson.

"Come on, Carson. You're on Atlantis, you're safe, now say something!"

Rodney noticed the flash of surprise, then fear washing over Carson's face; then his eyes slipped back to a corner of the ceiling again, his face blank.

"Hey, come on..." Rodney shook his arm. "You in there?"

When he received no response, he looked up at the observation room.

"I don't know what happened…I had him back for a minute."

Jennifer sighed, "It's okay, Rodney," she said over the intercom, "Good try." She flipped off the intercom and turned to Teyla and Woolsey.

"Carson and the Colonel have a long road ahead of them to overcome what they've been through." she said.

Teyla nodded. "And we will be there for them every step of the way."

Two days had passed and Jennifer was on her way to the isolation rooms when she heard a startled gasp followed by a loud clatter and John shouting,

"Get away from me!"

She ran in to find an over-turned tray of food on the ground and John's perturbed teammates standing nearby.

"What happened?" she asked.

Rodney looked up in shock, his hand steadying Teyla who was standing next to John's bed, holding her forehead in pain. Ronon was pacing angrily at the end of the bed, weapon drawn and aimed somewhere between an irate John and the floor; Jennifer noticing the struggle on his face on where the final destination of the aim should be.

"Teyla was trying to feed him and he…head-butted her." murmured Rodney whose eyes flicked to John lying on the bed breathing heavily, body vibrating in anger, eyes fixed on Ronon.

Shocked, Jennifer glanced at John then back at the team.

"I am alright, Rodney." sighed Teyla, lowering her hands and pulling away from the scientist.

"Ronon, put it away." she continued, eyeing the Satedan's weapon. "Would you really shoot the Colonel?"

Ronon stopped pacing and glared at her, then at John who glared right back at him; then he holstered his weapon and with a shout of frustration turned and slammed his fists against the wall.

"He will not eat anything." sighed Teyla rubbing her forehead; she watched Jennifer bend to pick up the tray and its strewn contents.

The doctor put the tray on a side table then slowly walked over to the bed, checking the restraints around John's wrists and ankles. He scowled at her as she finished.

"Colonel..." she began, frowning when she noticed John flinch at the title.

"You really need to eat something, it will help you recuperate faster."

"Right..." said John sarcastically. "So eating something will make all of you people disappear then? Cause if that's the case, I'll do it."

"Sir, we're not going anywhere." sighed Jennifer.

"Yeah, that's the problem, isn't it?" John yanked at his restraints as he leaned forward. "Why not drop the pretense then and tell me who you people really are. You don't look like the Ancestor type, so who are you really and just how stupid do you think I am that I'd fall for this again?"

"Fall for what again, Colonel?" asked Jennifer earning her a bemused but dark look from John.

"The kind words, false friendship…" he motioned at the tray on the table. "Drugged food…you're trying to make me fall back into my delusions."

"Again with the…" Rodney touched John's leg letting go quickly when he felt him flinch.

"You're messing with my head.." John motioned to his hand that had the i.v. attached.

"There's more than one way to drug a person…What are you giving me?"

John's eyes flickered in anger. "Tell me!"

"You're being ridiculous!" said Rodney, exasperated. "We're your friends…we're not drugging you! Your name is John Sheppard and..."

"IT CAN'T BE!" John shouted suddenly, shocking everyone. Then he quickly looked away, his eyes narrowing in pain then a sudden sadness as he lowered his head back to his pillow; his eyes slowly turning to the ceiling.

"It-it can't be…" he whispered.

Across the room, Ronon frowned, turned to Jennifer and pointed harshly at John.

"You need to fix him!" he hissed.

Odalia was in awe.

She was in the ancestral city!

It was quite beautiful and much like Nahk…Sheppard had described to her before he had changed under Lucius' thumb.

She slowly walked around Woolsey's office, picking up random items to admire.

John's team, Jennifer, and Woolsey were seated watching her; giving her a moment before she started to tell them what she knew about what John and Carson had been through.

"Mind you, I wasn't with them all the time." She said picking up a carved paper weight and turning it around in her hands.

"Please, tell us whatever you know." smiled Jennifer motioning Odalia to sit.

Odalia looked around at all the expectant faces, then sighed and shuffled to the empty chair.

"Well, it started about 20 years ago…" she began.

"When Nahkhan ran away…"

The room was silent except for the warbled voice of Odalia as she went through what she knew and what she wished she didn't know about what John and Carson went through over the past months.

The SGA members' eyes widening in horror at the image of Carson's mouth being sewn shut.

"That room changed them." she said.

"How can an empty room change someone?" Ronon asked.

Odalia looked at him sadly. "I never said it was empty. Lucius told me something was in a room in a lower part of the manor, he called it his…pet." she shuddered remembering the smile on his face when he said it.

"Your healer went in once, Sheppard…twice.

"Do you have any idea what the pet was?" Jennifer asked, worry etched on her face.

"No, but Lucius threatened once to send me to that room; he said I'd never survive the visit." Odalia unconsciously hugged herself. "Whatever the thing is, it did something to them."

Woolsey nodded and used his comm to order Lorne and his team back to the manor to find the room Odalia spoke of and to see what was inside.

Ronon looked over at Teyla, who nodded at him.

"Teyla and I will go with them." he said.

Woolsey stood. "Okay, bring back what you find as soon as possible. We need all the input we can get to be able to help them."

They nodded and quickly left to prepare.

Woolsey took a moment, then smiled and turned to Odalia offering her his hand and helped her to stand.

"Thank you so much, Odalia. Without you we would not have our friends back." He motioned to a guard by the door. "Let's get you something to eat and you can rest; we'll talk more later."

Odalia smiled a little unsure but took the guard's arm; as he led her from the room she turned back to the group.

"May I see him….your Sheppard?"

Woolsey nodded. "Soon."

She smiled. "He's a good man."

"Yes…they both are." he replied.

Once she was gone, Woolsey turned to Rodney.

"Dr McKay…" he began, worried at the look in the scientist's eyes.

Rodney stood quickly giving a sharp uncomfortable cough, looking blankly at the corner of Woolsey's desk.

"I'll…I'll go and see how Sheppard's doing. Carson…" he cleared his throat, trying to keep a rein on his emotions. "...had to be sedated again. Imagine that, so silent but like a mouse…got out of his restraints and everything."

He nodded curtly and left the room.

Woolsey exhaled softly then turned to Jennifer who had stood and was preparing to leave.

"I had to…" she explained. "I'm not sure how he got out of the restraints, but he needs sleep. His bruises are starting to fade, but I'm worried. He's been tense, agitated, afraid…and too quiet…"

She frowned as the image of her friend being held down as his mouth was sewn shut, flashed through her mind.

"Why do you think he won't speak?" Woolsey asked.

"Maybe from the trauma he experienced…I'm just not sure."

Woolsey nodded. "And Sheppard?"

"The Colonel needs more rest; with his bruises, cracked ribs and concussion…" Jennifer took a moment to compose herself. "He's still agitated…confused…and so angry."

She closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose; when she re-opened them, they were heavy with concern.

"Colonel Sheppard is angry and Doctor Beckett is afraid…and I found his blood on Sheppard's clothing and hands when they were first bought in. Odalia said something might have happened between them. I…I honestly don't know what to think; could the Colonel have...could he have...?"

Woolsey's face was grim as Jennifer turned and left. He sighed, rubbing his forehead and leaned against his desk.

"I truly hope not, doctor." he whispered, answering Jennifer's horrible unfinished question.

-tbc-