A/N Happy Tuesday/Wednesday!
This chapter might be a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster - especially with the return of everyone's favourite hero: Lucius!
Thank you to everyone whose reviewed my story, it means the world to hear how much you're enjoying it and really motivates me to keep writing.
"Doctor Riley, please report to the gateroom. Doctor Riley to the gate room."
Alice huffed, barreling her way through the halls. She'd been fast asleep at her desk when she'd been woken up by Radek saying her team had been paged and needed to be geared up for a mission immediately.
No matter how quickly she'd rushed back to her room, grabbed her gear and gotten to the armoury she was still going to be late. As she ran, she was attempting to clip her P90 onto her vest, and her combat knife was clenched between her teeth - sheathed - as she hadn't had time to attach it to her belt.
"I'm here!" She yelled, her voice muffled because of the knife. Ronon, Teyla, Rodney and John were all geared up and turned to stare at her as she burst in. Though to her surprise Carson was also geared up as well, he gave her a warm smile and held his hand out to take the knife out of her mouth. "Thanks." she mumbled, trying not to notice John's exasperated expression.
Elizabeth turned and looked up into the Control Room. "Dial the Gate."
Alice let everyone else step through the gate first, throwing an apologetic look over her shoulder at Elizabeth before stepping through. The planet looked like most she'd experienced, Earth-like but maybe with a bit more greenery and cleaner air.
Unlike in the milky way, there were rarely any structures around the gate and settlements were usually further away or hidden amongst the hills. Most likely so they had time to hear the Wraith before they were culled.
Carson walked beside Alice, keeping pace with her. "You need me to carry anything Doc?" She asked offering out her hand.
"No, I'm fine lass. But thank you." He smiled back at her.
"My childhood hero was Evel Knievel." Alice heard John's voice drifting back to her. This was the first proper mission they'd been on together since they retook Atlantis. A certain uneasiness loomed over her head, they'd not exactly had the best relationship since his return and it certainly hadn't been field tested.
"Beautiful day for a walk. It's planets like these that make me wish I spent more time in the field." Carson gazed around at the trees and the approaching village.
"I guess so." Alice replied half-heartedly, her mind more focused on John.
"You okay dear?"
Before she could reply, a man approached them dipping his head down respectfully. "Good day, travellers."
Teyla took the lead, emulating his greeting. "Good day to you."
It seemed to please the man, as he broke out into a warm smile at Teyla. "This is your first visit to our village?"
"Several of my people have said that you are good and fair traders." Teyla explained. Alice glanced around at the village around them, only a few villagers were paying them any attention so off-world visitors must be a semi-regular occurrence. "My fellow Athosians also speak of a great hero who protects this town."
"Rumour has it he's a warrior with some impressive kills to his credit, including the Wraith." Ronon added.
"This is true." The man smiled.
Ronon grinned, looking back at the team. "Then, uh, there's a good chance he is one of my people."
John threw him a look. Teyla just ignored him, focusing on the villager. "Can you take us to him?"
"Of course." He gestured towards the centre of town. "This way." He led them through an array of buildings and small streets until they opened up into a large central courtyard. A large group of people were gathered around in a circle laughing hysterically. Something seemed awfully familiar to Alice about this scene but she couldn't quite place it. "Here he is - the mightiest of heroes. Our champion protector ..." Their guide pushed through the crowd to reveal a large man sat on a table with his feet propped up on a bench. Alice felt the temperature drop instantly. "... Lucius Lavin."
Lucius looked up away from his adoring crowd to see who had said his name. His eyes widened and his lips pulled into a broad grin. "Well! Will you look who it is?!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Ronon groaned.
Alice had to stop herself from scowling, her mind filling with images of their last encounter earlier this year. Lucius stood up, opening up his arms as if he wanted to embrace them. Alice's hand twitched on her gun, as did Teyla and Ronon's.
Lucius seemed to get the hint, dropping his arms down, but his grin didn't fade. He turned to the crowd who all seem to be enthralled in the interaction between them and Lucius. "My friends, please let us make room for our honoured guests."
A few villagers brought over chairs and offered them to the team. Alice looked to John for his order. He seemed conflicted, but he nodded and took a seat. Keeping his hands on his gun, giving off a quiet intimidating look. He looked at Carson and jerked his head at Lucius. With a grimace, Carson took his backpack off and started prepping his medical kit. The others all took seats and listened as Lucius started telling his story.
"As I lay there, the iratus bug's tendrils just grasping my throat, choking me, I could feel my very life essence ebb and wane. With every passing second, I could feel myself drawing closer to death." Lucius exclaimed dramatically.
The story seemed to be going on forever. Alice had instantly noticed it wasn't one of Lucius' old stories. A permanent scowl marred her features as she listened. He seemed to have taken his time at Atlantis to pad out his stories. Alice was slumped in her seat, her foot bouncing up and down, she didn't want to be here a second longer than she needed.
Ronon was sitting across from her on a table beside Lucius, his head in his hand. Carson was standing on the other side of Lucius, preparing his arm to take a blood sample. Teyla and Rodney were both sitting on chairs nearby, both similarly slumped in a position of boredom and disgust.
"Now, had I been the only one in that building - the only one in that burning building ..." Lucius exclaimed, Alice snickered as Ronon briefly raised his head giving John a look that said Let me kill him now! "... I would have surrendered and allowed sleep to overtake me. But there were women and children there with me whose very survival lay in my hands, and I'm not about to let them down." Alice fiddled with the pockets of her tac vest opening and closing the different sections and counting the things inside them. "So I reached deep down within me and I summoned whatever strength I had and I grabbed that bug and I ripped him away, and through sheer force of will I began to choke him and strangle ... ow, ow!" Alice raised her eyes to see Carson had stuck the needle into Lucius' arm. "Ow! Ow! Thought you said that wasn't gonna hurt!"
Alice rolled her eyes, the fact this low life had effectively taken over Atlantis still baffled her. "I lied." Carson said callously as he drew the needle back out. It was funny to see the normally gentle doctor lashing out at his patient. She was just glad it wasn't her.
"Ow." Lucius whined as Carson lifted his arm to stop the blood flow. He cleared his throat, aware at the crowd around him. "And I - I sprang up and I led them all to safety."All around her the townspeople cheered and applauded. Alice took in a slow breath, her jaw clenched, she didn't understand what anyone saw in Lucius. He was overweight, with beady eyes and crooked teeth. Now if he'd looked more like John then… she stopped thinking. "Thank you very much! Thank you! I appreciate it. Thanks very much."
John took out a piece of grass from of his mouth. "How?"
Lucius looked over baffled at John. "What?"
"How'd you lead the people to safety?" John pressed.
"You said the way out was blocked." Ronon added, enjoying it a little too much. Alice couldn't help but smirk as Lucius floundered.
Lucius gave them both a look. He scratched behind his ear. "Oh, you were listening. That's good, that's good - because it was." His eyes darted back at the townspeople. "It was blocked - until I cleared a path through the burning wreckage ..." The townspeople gasped in awe. "... and, ignoring the searing heat and the flames that were just swirling and swirling ..."
John cleared his throat. "But how did you, uh ...?"
Lucius clapped his hands together. "OK. That's enough reminiscing for today." His voice high pitched and squeaky. The townspeople groaned, clearly not hearing the panic in his voice. "Believe me, there's plenty more where that story came from, so when we gather tomorrow, I'll tell you about how I was almost seduced by a beautiful Ancient!"
Alice felt her blood run cold, if he was really using Atlantis mission briefings for his inspiration, that meant he was talking about John and Chaya. Alice dropped her head to the ground, not wanting to look up at John. The townspeople murmured excitedly as they headed back to their usual routine.
"Sounds entertaining!" Carson said sarcastically.
"Yeah, you'd think so, but between you and me, not so much." Lucius sighed.
"You know, your stories are awfully fascinating, and familiar." John said.
Alice raised her head to look back at Lucius. "Alright." He checked around, probably to make sure that none of the townspeople were in earshot. "I admit - I took some inspiration from some of the mission reports that I perused while I was on Atlantis, but I spiced 'em: a little story here, bit of a story there ..." he whispered.
"Alright, I'm done here." Carson snapped his case closed.
Lucius leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, you're not gonna find any trace of that special herb in my system. I learned my lesson the last time, thanks to all of you."
"You mean these people aren't drugged - they simply adore you for who you are?!" Alice raised an eyebrow cynically.
"Yeah." He grinned at her, his eyes running over her body. "Innit great?" Alice grimaced, she felt like she needed to go take a shower. Lucius' smile faded. "You don't believe me."
Carson started opening another case. "Well, Lucius, I have a lab set up, so I think I'll just run the tests anyway."
Lucius just shrugged. "You're wasting your time. In all modesty, these people love me, pure and true."
"Lucius, you can't say anything modestly!" John stressed.
"I saved them." Lucius said seriously. Alice and Ronon exchanged a sarcastic glance. "A couple of months ago this bunch of ruffians come into town, start causing trouble. I beat 'em up, I chase 'em away, and all of a sudden I'm the town hero. They give me gifts; the women are throwing themselves at me..." Alice coughed uncomfortably. "... It's like the old days, except better, because now they're not drugged."
Rodney held up his hand. "Hang on, hang on. So you beat them up."
"Yes! Me! I did!" Lucius stuck out his chest proudly.
"How'd you manage that?" Ronon asked.
"It's not so hard ..." he said casually. "when you're invincible." He grinned at the team. "I'm invincible."
John laughed. "Right!"
"Alright. Looks like this is gonna take some convincing." He slid off the table and peered around the square. "Let me see." Nearby three men were hoisting a large pallet of sacks in the air. "Hey! Time for a demonstration." He waltzed over until he was standing underneath the pallet.
Teyla stood up. "What is he ...?"
Alice followed after her to look, unsure of what was happening, as Lucius waved to the me. "Let it go." John stood up and took off his sunglasses. The men shared a hesitant look with each other, none let go. "Trust me. Trust me." Lucius laughed. The men released the rope and the pallet plunged towards the ground. Alice covered her mouth as she watched it break over Lucius' head, white flour erupted all around him. Her head snapped around to share a wide eyed glance with Carson, but neither of them moved. She looked back as a familiar green shimmer was briefly visible before the dust cleared and Lucius was stood there completely unharmed.
The villagers and Rodney gasped. "Oh, my God!" But Alice realised where she'd seen that green shimmer before.
Nonchalantly, Lucius stepped forward and looked at Ronon, pointing to his own head. "Hit me."
"Don't!" John warned, he must have made the same connection Alice had.
"C'mon." Lucius goaded.
"Really Ronon...I wouldn't" Alice tried, but Ronon was already off the table and sauntering over to grinning. He squared up to Lucius, then threw a hard punch at him. Alice winced as his fist impacted a green glow just before it reaches his face. Ronon's face crumpled in pain, he turned away clutching his injured fist and trying not to cry out.
"See? Invincible." Lucius waggled his eyebrows smugly. Ronon let out a whine of pain. "I can't be vinced." Lucius laughed watching Ronon. If it had been anyone else Alice would have offered to help and see if they'd broken anything. But this was Ronon, if she did anything he'd only take it as a further insult to his pride, and she was sure he was already feeling embarrassed enough. Lucius jerked his head to a building. "How about a drink then?"
Alice followed behind the others in what turned out to be a tavern. Carson stayed to run his tests and confirm Lucius' story.
Lucius led them over to a table near the back, private enough where the villagers couldn't over hear them. "It's so great to see you all. I'd heard rumours you'd left Atlantis."
John grimaced. "You can't believe everything you hear."
Lucius bopped his head up and down in agreement. Then he narrowed his eyes and examined them all individually. "Something's different." He waggled a finger between Alice and John, a broad grin spreading across his face. "You dumped him."
Alice felt her face flush instantly, but she tried to keep her expression emotionless. John cleared his throat. "The shield Lucius."
Lucius kept grinning his eyes roaming over Alice, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small green device no bigger than his palm. "As it turns out, I had this personal shield all along. It was a gift from one of my many admirers back at the old village - you know, before I was forced to pack up and leave, thank you very much!" He gave John a pointed glare. "Anyway, I didn't even know what it was until I went to Atlantis. I perused some of the mission reports about the Ancient device that you guys discovered ..."
"You did an awful lot of perusing while you were on the base." Rodney muttered.
Lucius smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "I peruse. It's a gift." Rodney grimaced in response. Lucius looked around at the barmaid as she passed by with a jug. "Hey, sweetheart. What'd you say you come by my place tonight ...?"
"No thanks." She didn't even blink before dismissing him. Alice raised an eyebrow, this was the first sure sign she'd seen that proved Lucius wasn't using the herb still.
The woman started to walk on but Lucius held his hand out to stop her. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm the town hero!" He whined. Always an attractive quality in a man, she thought dryly.
The waitress rolled her eyes, pulling her arm away from him. "That was ages ago."
Lucius looked back to the team, looking slightly ashamed, but mostly unbothered. "Let me tell you something. You're only as good as your last rescue." He sighed, then raised an eyebrow at Alice, his body leaning in towards her. "Well now you're available. How 'bout you gorgeous?"
Alice scowled, and Lucius suddenly flinched away. She was almost certain John had kicked him under the table.
"How is it that you're able to operate the Ancient technology without the A.T.A. gene?" Rodney raised an eyebrow, as Lucius bent over to rub his leg.
Lucius waved his hand. "Oh, that was easy. All I had to do was find a guy with the gene, have him initiate the device. I mean, it took a long time but, you know, once it was done, I could activate this thing any time I wanted." He smiled proudly.
John leaned back in his chair. "Fascinating! You do know those things run out of juice eventually, don't you?"
"Come on - these Ancient things last forever." He grins at the team. "Look, lunch is on me." He dropped some coins onto a plate and stood up. "I'm gonna go take a walk. If I don't see you before you leave, well, then, I'll just, uh, well, I'll talk to you later."
John set his gun down on the table. "We're not going anywhere 'til we get those test results."
Lucius shrugged. "Whatever you want. People to save. And if you change your mind..." He winked at Alice and walked out of the pub.
John and Teyla both sighed. "Well, what do you think?" John let his eyes pass over all of them.
"Perhaps he's learned a lesson." Teyla said hesitantly.
"Unlikely." Alice muttered.
"He's Lucius! Are you kidding me?" Rodney shrieked.
"Well, he's made a lot of mistakes in the past, but who hasn't?" He gave a pointedly look at Rodney.
"Why are you looking at me?"
John rolled his eyes. "Look, at least he's trying to do something good in order to get people to like him this time."
Alice gestured her head behind John as Carson walked in. "Well, I've completed my tests. Looks like Lucius is telling the truth. No traces of the drug in his system. He's clean."
John smiled and picked up his gun. "That's our cue to leave." He pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Woah-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait. Am I the only person here who thinks he is taking advantage of these poor people?" Rodney looked around the table.
"C'mon, Rodney - you just want another crack at that shield." John chided.
"You're damned right I do! Look, it could come in extremely handy."Alice, Teyla and Ronon all exchanged a glance and got to their feet, heading for the door. "It's practically wasting it!" Rodney yelled after them.
They walked outside, John led them over to the original villager who had greeted them. "Where's Lucius?"
The man pointed off into the forest. "He went out for a stroll. He should be returning shortly."
"Well, whenever he gets back, tell him we said goodbye." John flicked his hand and they started heading towards the gate.
Once again Alice hung at the back of the group with Carson. She watched Ronon speed up to walk by John speaking lowly to him.
Nearby, a woman screamed in terror. Alice raised her gun in the direction, holding her arm out to push Carson behind her. A group of men entered into the courtyard, weapons drawn. Alice glanced over her shoulder to see more men approaching from behind her. Keeping her arm out she guided Carson into the middle of a defensive circle. The rest of the team had their guns raised at each direction, but they were surrounded.
The men in front of Alice were dressed in dusty brown jackets with guns that looked like old fashion revolvers. Alice checked her left and right, Ronon and Teyla were on either side. One man stepped ahead of the others, point his gun at Alice's head. His hair was long and unkept, like he'd been living rough, but the condition of his skin told her he hadn't always lived like that. He had bright green eyes, and although she wasn't sure why, but his face seemed familiar.
"Drop your weapons or die where you stand." Alice drew in calm breaths, her gun trained on the speaker, he was obviously the leader, if she could take him out... but they were outnumbered. From where she stood she counted at least eight men, and that's only the ones she could see. The square was also still filled with a number of villagers, any fire fight would definitely result in casualties. Alice bit down on her lip. The man pulled back the firing pin on the gun. "I said drop your weapons."
"We're not lookin' for a fight. We're just passing through town." John called out. The man's eyes flickered to Alice's left where John must've been standing.
"I've got three here." She whispered to Ronon.
"I've got two on my right and one straight dead ahead." Ronon said in a hushed tone.
"Two at twelve o'clock and one behind the fruit stand." She barely heard John, but her eyes darted to the nearby fruit stand. Sure enough a man was crouched down holding a gun ready to fire.
"If we act now, we risk injuring innocent villagers." Carson whispered from behind her.
"And us! We risk injuring us!" She heard Rodney complain.
"I can take my three out before they get a shot off." Ronon tensed next to her.
"Carson's right. The risk is too big." Her hands tightened on her gun. She hated not being able to do anything.
"There may be others hidden where we cannot see." Teyla added.
Alice let her eyes slowly drift up, she couldn't see any movement, but that didn't mean anything. These men looked like they knew the layout of the town well. This probably wasn't their first time doing this.
"Here's the thing: if we all start shootin' at each other, somebody's bound to get hurt." John said loudly. The leader shifted back slightly so he could see John. "I can pretty much guarantee you'll be one of 'em."
The leader pointed his gun towards John. "Are you this hero we've heard rumours of?"
A moment of silence passed, before John replied. "No."
The man frowned then looked around and pointed his gun at the barmaid standing nearby. "Come here." He walked over and grabbed her, dragging her across the square so they were in front of John, and then put his pistol at her head. "Then lower your weapons." Alice kept her gun pointed at the men directly in front of her, watching John out of her peripheral. When John didn't say anything the man pointed the barrel at his head.
Alice felt her body tense, she quickly memorised the positions of the men she could see. If she was lucky she might be able to get two of them before they started firing. Then she needed to get Carson out of the line of fire. "OK." John said casually.
Alice blinked, wondering if she'd heard him correctly. Since when did they just give in.
"Sheppard?" Ronon questioned.
"Trust me on this one." Slowly John kneeled down and put his gun out in front of him. Everything in Alice's instincts told her not to get down on her knees, but reluctantly she took her finger off the trigger and slowly dropped down onto her knees. Unclipping her gun she put it down in the dirt. The men rushed forward pulling her arms behind her back, the others all did the same.
The leader dragged the barmaid forward, still holding a gun on her. "So where is this hero - one who'd surely stop us from emptying the town's coffers, helping ourselves to its women, burning it to the ground once we're done?" He shouted around at the terrified townspeople. "So tell me - where is he?! Where is this great hero who'd keep us from destroying everything you hold dear?"
"He's right here!" Lucius appeared at the end of the courtyard. Alice narrowed her eyes, looked around at John who was rolling his eyes. Something weird was going on, something that John had picked up. "For I am the man you seek."
The leader released the woman and aimed his pistol at Lucius. "Kill him!" To Alice's surprise instead of firing their guns, the men grabbed some planks of wood and rushed towards Lucius. They encircled him and started trying to hit him, but Lucius just stood there as his shield shimmered around him. The last plank shattered and the men all stood still, Lucius then dramatically put one arm behind his back, beckoning a man closer. Alice felt like she was watching some low budget community theatre skit.
The man ran at him and Lucius punched him to the ground, backhanding the man behind him on his backswing. Each of the other men ran at him and Lucius punched each one down, tossing the last two into the walled pond in the middle of the square. Not one of them grabbed their guns, which had been holstered on their belts. "Get out! And don't come back!" The men stumbled to their feet and staggered out of the town square. "For so long as I protect these people, this town shall be safe." Lucius declared.
The townspeople cheered and rushed towards Lucius to hug him. Alice looked at her team mates, all of them had similar shocked expression, except John who was smirking. Rolling onto her back, she lifter her legs to her chest and pulled her bound hands around so they were in-front of her. Using her teeth she pulled the knot out and freed her hands.
She turned to help Ronon, but he'd already pulled his apart and was helping John. So she went to Carson helping him undo his ties. Once he was free she grabbed her gun from the ground and re-clipped it onto her vest.
The townspeople all started chanting Lucius' name and heading towards the tavern, most likely to celebrate his glorious victory. "What the hell was that?" Alice huffed. The team were back on their feet, Rodney was dusting the dirt off his pants. "why didn't they shoot him?"
John cocked his gun. "They weren't loaded, it was a stunt."
Alice turned back to look as Lucius' disappearing crowd. Now it made sense, why John ordered them to drop their weapons. It was because there hadn't been a threat.
John explained his plan and then went with the others into the tavern to bid their farewells to Lucius. Alice stayed outside with Carson. "You doing alright m'dear?"
Alice blinked. "Of course. This kinda stuff happens a lot actually."
"No. Not that. I meant with Colonel Sheppard." Carson rubbed the back of his neck. "I heard about what happened between you two."
Alice took a breath. "Yeah, you and the whole city." She didn't want to look at Carson and potentially give away more than she wanted to. "I'm fine."
"Let's move out." John came striding across the courtyard with a pissed Ronon hot on his heels.
"Yes sir." Alice muttered, allowing him and Ronon to take the lead. She caught a glimpse of Carson giving her a sympathetic look, but she kept her chin up and pretended not to see it.
They headed out into the woods just outside the village and took cover, John wanted to prove his theory and the best way to do that was by following Lucius. It wasn't long before Lucius appeared at the edge of the village, seemingly casually taking a walk and look around. Once he was sure none of the villagers had followed after him and sheepishly made his way into the trees.
Ronon led the way, easily following Lucius' trail but keeping them far enough away so as not to arouse his suspicions. They followed him across a bridge into a small clearing where an abandoned barn stood. Sitting on the ground outside the barn were the men who'd attacked the village. John flicked his fingers, Alice nodded and took up a position on the left flank, hidden amongst the trees but in a good position to hear and act, if needed.
The leader noticed Lucius arrival and stood up as he approached. Lucius held out his hands. "Nice job, everybody! Very convincing."
"A little too convincing. You took out three of Lanko's teeth and broke Fortnum's wrist." The man pointed to his injured comrades.
Lucius shrugged. "Hey, I had to make it look good." He reached into his inner jacket pocket. "Anyway, here's a little something that may make it worthwhile." He pulled out a small bag that jingled when he moved it, most likely gold coins Alice thought.
The leader took it and opened it. "This isn't the amount we agreed on."
"Yeah, well, to tell you the truth, you guys didn't really seem to have your hearts in it."
"We had a deal." The man's voice hardened.
"Maybe next time you'll make more of an effort."
"How dare you speak down to us? We were elite soldiers in the Genii army - Cowen's personal guard." The man stepped forward threateningly. Alice craned her neck to throw Ronon a look, no wonder they looked familiar, the leader was a man named Haemon. She'd seen his picture up in Ladon's personal office back on the Genii homeworld. These men had managed to escape during the take over and they'd been searching for them ever since. These men were dangerous.
Lucius squared up to him. "Yeah, you were. Now you're mercenaries. C'mon - as far as jobs for hire go, this wasn't so bad. You come in, you scare a few people, you take a few punches, then you leave. You get paid, nobody gets hurt ... well, except for Lanko, and of course Fortnum with his gimpy wrist." He turned to one of the men who had just put his arm in a sling. "Sorry about that, buddy."
"We may have been forced from our homes when Ladon Radim took power. We're still Genii, and one of these days we'll march into the capital and retake what was ours." Alice swallowed, they needed to report this back to Ladon, he'd be very thankful to finally take these guys out.
"Yeah, well, good luck with that." Lucius patted him on the shoulder and turned to head back the way he'd come. Once Lucius was out of sight, Alice crept her way back to John. Then she gestured with her head to move away so they could talk.
"They're Genii!?" Rodney whispered.
"The leader, his name is Haemon." Alice said. "Ladon and his men have been looking for them, they managed to escape during the mutiny." John face pulled into a frown. Alice knew he still had a deep seated distrust of Ladon, especially since he'd heard how close she'd become to him when he had been back on Earth. She cleared her throat knowing what she was about to say next wasn't going to go down well. "We should inform Ladon, he can come in with his men and handle the situation. This isn't our fight."
John's jaw was clenched shut. "No. Lucius is our problem, we'll handle this."
"But these men are wanted criminals, we-" Alice was cut off by John standing up and walking away. She sighed exasperatedly, he wouldn't even hear her out. "Where are you going?" She whispered, as John headed across the bridge into the clearing of the Genii.
—
Alice couldn't say she agreed with this plan. They were trusting men who had betrayed their people, who Ladon had warned her had done despicable crimes against humanity in Cowen's service. But John wouldn't listen to her.
John led the way back into the village square where Lucius was once again surrounded by a enthralled crowd, but he spotted them almost immediately. "Hey! Hey, what are you doing back here? I thought you left town?"
"Well, we were leaving when we ran into this gentleman who has a very interesting story to tell." John stepped aside to reveal Fortnum.
Lucius' eyes widened at him in panic, then turned nervously to the townspeople. "Uh, speaking of stories, um ... did I ever tell you the story about the time that I was on this planet made entirely of lava ..."
"The show's over Lucius." Alice snapped.
"You lied to these people." Ronon growled.
John addressed the townspeople. "This man's not a hero. He paid those men to show up and then made it look like he came to your rescue."
"It's true. It was all a set-up to make him look like he saved the town." Fortnum said.
Lucius bowed his head, his face cringing as he prepared for the outcry from the villagers. One man stood up and stares angrily towards them. "Deceiver!"
John shrugged. "Well, you do have every right to be upset with him."
"Not him - you." The man pointed at John.
"Me?"
"Unable to accept the shame of surrendering to those raiders ..." the man strode close to them, putting his hand on Lucius' shoulder. "he chooses to besmirch our Lucius."
The townspeople nod and murmur angrily as Lucius raised his head hopefully. "The whole thing was an act!The guns weren't even loaded!" John tried to reason.
"If it were not for Lucius, you and your friends would all be dead." Another villager yelled.
"No, no! He tricked you! You don't know him like we do." Carson tried to say.
"We're the good guys." Rodney whimpered.
The townspeople scoff and starting pressing in towards the team, protesting angrily. Alice could just see Lucius watching with a smug smile on his face. "That's enough." He called out, holding his hands up in the air. "These people are our honoured guests. Come with me." He gestured towards a nearby house.
The mob allowed them to pass through peacefully into what Alice assumed was Lucius' home. Two women followed with them, and proceeded to pour out water into bowls and kneel at the edge of Lucius bed. Lucius kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his bed, wiggling his toes and giggling at the two women, who started cleaning and massaging him.
Alice watched disgusted, trying to swallow the bile rising in her throat. "Listen, I wanna apologise for the whole angry mob thing." Lucius said finally.
"I suppose we should be grateful." Teyla said reluctantly.
"Yes, well, he did stop them from swarming us." Rodney agreed.
Alice turned away gagging. She moved to the window and looked, the mob had disbanded and people seemed to have gone back to the normal business.
"Just consider it my way of saying all is forgiven." Lucius said.
"Alright, I'm putting a stop to this." John snapped irritated.
"Oh, c'mon! They just got started!" Lucius whined.
"I'm not talkin' about the foot massage ... actually, I am talkin' about the foot massage!"
"Alright, alright. Girls, come back later, alright?" Lucius said, Alice glanced over shoulder and watched the women pack up and head out of the house.
"This little scam of yours ..." John continued.
"Scam? What scam?" Lucius said indignantly.
"You are taking advantage of these people." Teyla snapped.
"I know it looks that way, but I was being honest about that bunch of thugs that attacked this village a couple of months ago. You know, this is a nice town, nice people, and they needed somebody to save 'em, so I did. I was a hero! Now, today's incident ..." Lucius grinned.
"You mean performance." Alice turned back to the window, pulling the curtain back so she could see the edge of the village. A flash of movement caught her attention, but it was hidden behind a building.
"It was just my way of reminding them of that fact, but I insisted the guns not be loaded so nobody would get hurt." Lucius continued behind her.
"That was nice of you!" John said sarcastically.
Alice narrowed her eyes as she saw it again. "John..." she said hesitantly trying to get his attention.
"Yeah - then you had to go and figure it all out." Lucius complained.
"You're goin' out there right now and you're gonna come clean with these people." John said in a low threatening voice.
"John!" She said more forcefully.
"Not now Riley." John snapped at her.
The village erupted with the sound of gunfire and screaming. Alice whipped her head around to John. "I was trying to tell you."
John was glaring at Lucius accusingly. Lucius held up his hands. "It's not me this time, I swear."
The gunfire continued as the townspeople run screaming. Alice moved to the side of the window, hiding herself as she watched a group of Genii soldiers, this time in uniform, walking into the town square wielding Genii rifles. John came to stand beside her. That's when Alice's eyes widened in shock. "Kolya!"
John walked over to the back window. "The soldiers are Genii. They're part of a ..."
"Oh, I know all about Kolya and the Genii. When I was on Atlantis, I perused ..." Lucius interrupted.
"... mission reports, right, right." John finished.
"This is very bad." Carson mumbled.
"No, no, this is great. This'll be a great opportunity for me to solidify my place in the community. They're gonna give me a parade after this one!" He turned towards the door.
John darted across to stop him. "Hey, hang on! You're not takin' on Kolya and his men!"
"Why not? They can't hurt me. I've got the personal shield." He clapped his hand over his jacket.
"And if they burn the town down around you out of spite?" Alice tilted her head, pulling her gun up. From where she was she didn't have a clear shot on any of them.
"Well, that'd be petty of 'em."
"Yeah, well, they're like that." John said sarcastically.
"Obviously somebody tipped them off that we're here." Ronon was pressed up against the wall, peering out into the square.
"Gee, i wonder who..." Alice couldn't help muttering.
"So go ahead - shoot him." Lucius gestured towards the door.
"That's a good idea." John cocked his rifle and headed for the door.
"John, you can't." Teyla gave him a stern look.
"This is Kolya." John stressed.
"We can't just let him leave." Alice said glancing at Teyla.
"The shooting will not stop them."
Ronon stepped forward. "She's right. We'll have to kill 'em all." He looked at John. "I'm alright with that, by the way."
"Good! Let's do it." John started for the door again.
"John." Teyla warned.
"What?!" He snapped back.
"You can't." She held John's blazing gaze.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I can. In fact ..." he sneered.
"If we engage in open fire with them, then many of these townspeople will certainly be killed. They do not deserve to die because of us." John grimaced at Teyla's words. "If they search the town and cannot find us, then they will simply move on."
Carson held up his hand. "Nobody gets hurt. That's my vote, and my heartfelt recommendation."
"You wanna hide." John was still glaring at Teyla.
"Well, we could call it strategic concealment." Rodney offered.
Lucius smiled and clicked his fingers. "I got just the place."
"I'm sure you do!" John rolled his eyes
Lucius walked across to a grandfather clock and opened the glass over the face. "Here." He pushed the minute hand down to the 'half-past' position and closes the glass. The wall behind the clock opened to reveal a secret room. "See, I like to entertain and on occasion a husband'll get angry, come lookin' for his wife, so to avoid an awkward scenario ..."
"OK, we get it." Reluctantly, he jerked his head to the team. Alice bit her lip, taking one last look out the window at Kolya and his men, before following the others into the room.
"I'll let you know when the bad guys clear out." Lucius started to close the door but John turned back to him.
"Don't screw around, Lucius, alright? Tell 'em we've moved on. Once they get out of town and they're out in the open, we'll deal with it ourselves. This is no time to be a hero, you understand?" John gave him a pointed glare.
"Perfectly." Lucius said in a sing-song voice.
"I'm serious." John threatened.
"I can see that! No heroics." Lucius put his hand over his heart. John scowled but stepped back allowing Lucius to close the door.
He looked back at the others. Alice paced back and forth in the small room. "Do you really trust Lucius? This is the man who has no moral compass." Alice was seething.
"Of course not." John snapped examining the edge of the doorway. "We need to move."
"And then what? We need a plan, Kolya's gotten the best of us three times now."
"I'll figure something out." John snapped back.
"We wouldn't even be in this situation if you'd just listened to me in the first place." Alice spat at him, feeling blood pulsing in her ears.
John whipped around to face her, his face contorted in anger. His hand on his gun he took a threatening step towards Alice. Ronon stepped in his path, putting his hand on John's shoulder.
"That's enough." Teyla looked between them. "This is not the time, nor the place."
Alice bit down on her lip and turned around away from John. She could hear John muttering something and then the click of the door opening. "Let's move." He growled out.
She followed out behind Ronon quietly making their way into the house next door. Alice barged past John, knocking into his shoulder taking up a position looking down in the courtyard.
Her view wasn't much better than before, market stalls blocked a lot of her view, but she could see Lucius being held face down into a barrel of water. Trust Kolya to come up with one of the few ways to torture someone with an invulnerable shield.
She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she didn't suspect it would take long for Lucius to break. He wasn't exactly known for his pain tolerance. Haemon walked across the square to sneer at Lucius. Alice felt her blood pressure rise again, if John had just listened to her.
Only a few minutes later, Kolya and several men stormed with Lucius into his house.
"Well, that didn't take too long. Alright, let's get out of this town, set up a decent ambush without all these people around." John ordered, his voice calmer now.
Alice nodded curtly and grabbed Carsons' bags out of the house.
—
Alice took cover in a house just off from the main square. Carson was with her. They'd attempted to make their way out of the village and back to the gate, but Kolya's men had the town locked down tight - if there was only one or two of them, then they might have been able to sneak past. But not a big group.
And since they were stuck here for the time being, John had decided they couldn't let Kolya kill Lucius, Alice didn't exactly understand that bit. Though she knew Carson wouldn't have let them abandon him. So here they were.
The team had spread out across the town to make it harder to detect them, while John went for Lucius.
Carson was sat in a chair tapping his foot nervously. "Carson, please." Alice whispered.
"Sorry..." He placed his hands on top of his leg, but Alice could see them trembling as well.
"I'm not going to let them do anything to you. Okay?" She tried to give him a reassuring smile, that was until she heard the explosion.
A Genii soldier came bursting into the house from the back door. Alice rushed him grabbing his gun, not wanting to use her gun and draw more attention to them. The soldier was strong, he kept his grip on the gun, trying to wrestle it off her. Alice thrust her knee up catching him in the stomach. As he bent over she crashed her elbow into the back of his, sending him to the ground with a dull thump. Picking up his gun she placed it in the back of her trousers. "Come on, we need to move." Alice grabbed Carson's arm hauling him up.
"Alice!" Carson cried just as Alice felt an explosion of pain in her face. She dropped to the floor just managing to catch herself with her hands. She spluttered out a mouthful of blood, the leftside of her cheek felt like it had been split open.
Grabbing her gun she fired a shot at the man's foot. He yelled in pain, but more soldiers filed into the small room jumping straight for her. Alice struggled, fighting back as hard as she could, until a gun shot rang out. She froze on the spot. "Enough. Or your friend dies." One of the Genii had Carson with a gun to his head. Carson's eyes were wide with fear as he glanced between the gun and Alice, pleading for her to submit.
Slowly she raised her hands, immediately two soldiers grabbed her hands twisting them harshly behind her back. Alice winced in pain, but kept her lips pressed together to stop herself from making a sound. The soldiers led them out of the building and back into the main square. Alice could see the others on being dragged towards her. None of them looked hurt though, seems she'd be the only one stupid enough to try to fight her way out of it. Her cheek throbbed and she could feel blood dripping slowly down her face and neck.
She looked around towards Kolya, expecting him to be standing over John. But instead he was standing in front of the smouldering tavern. Alice did a quick double check, Telya, Ronon and Rodney were all off to her left but she couldn't see John anywhere. Loud coughing made her turn back towards Kolya. Lucius was stumbling out of the ruins. "What, are you crazy?! You could have killed me!"
"That shield of yours impresses me more and more. You did your part, Lucius. You get to live another day." Kolya said, then turned to walk over to Haemon. "Sheppard?"
Haemon shook his head. "He got away." Alice smirked, that would piss Kolya off to no end, and it meant they still had a good chance of getting out of this.
"That's unfortunate." Kolya raised his pistol and fired it at Haemon's heart, Alice tensed, but the gun just clicked.
Haemon stared at him wide-eyed, then sighed with relief. "Thanks for sparing me, sir."
"Don't disappoint me again." Kolya said, his face hard. Alice didn't think he sparred him on purpose. He turned back to face Alice and her team. "Secure the prisoners. Perhaps they'll be more effective bait." One of the Genii pushed Alice forward, but Kolya held up his hand. "Not her."
"Get your hands off her!" Ronon roared. Alice glanced at her teammates, Ronon struggled but it was no use. They were led off deeper into the village.
She didn't take her eyes off them until all she could hear was Ronon grunting. Then she turned back to Kolya. "He's not going to let you live this time."
Kolya laughed. "No I wouldn't expect so. But that's only if I don't get to him first." He handed his gun to another soldier. "Get that fixed." Alice clenched her jaw, she'd been right, he had no intention of sparring Haemon. "now Captain Riley, we're going to have a talk."
"It's Doctor now." She struggled against the man gripping her wrists. "And I'm not going to tell you anything."
Kolya smirked. "We'll see about that." He stepped forward, reaching his hand out. Alice flinched back, but there was nowhere she could go. Kolya's hand pushed her hair back and pinched the small earpiece, pulling it free from her ear. Then he jerked his head to the soldier. "Take her inside and restrain her."
"You're not getting out of here alive Kolya!" She yelled as the solider dragged her towards the house Kolya's men had set up as their base. "Do you hear me Kolya!"
The man threw her in the doorway and into chair. Another solider came in behind them and held her shoulders down as they tied her hands behind her back. "She's secure." The Genii let go and Alice struggled, but the ropes were too tight. If she struggled too much she'd end up cutting into her wrists.
A few minutes later, Kolya stepped through the door and smug look on his face. Alice narrowed her eyes glaring daggers at him, as he removed his hat and rubbed his forehead. "Doctor Riley, its been some time since we last saw each other." He pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her.
"Can't say I've missed you." She spat.
Kolya laughed. "No, but in that time my sources have told me you've spent quite some time in Ladon Radim's service." His face hardened. Alice clenched her jaw. "There's no need to deny it. My contacts are quite reliable, and they tell me Ladon seemed to place a great deal of trust in you." He smirked. "For instance, giving you the codes and details of the Genii security grid."
Alice steeled herself, keeping her jaw slammed shut. Kolya wasn't above torture, they'd seen that already. So she knew what her silence could cost her, but they'd worked so hard and come so far with Ladon and the new Genii regime. She couldn't betray them.
Kolya smirked. "I also know about your relationship with Colonel Sheppard. Did you know that when he was delusional with pain after being fed upon all he could say was your name."
Alice did her best to keep her face neutral, but she could feel her blood turning to ice. "I'm not telling you anything." Every word made the pain in her cheek worse, but she tried to ignore it.
Kolya nodded slowly. "Even if it meant saving the lives of your team." She wasn't sure if he was bluffing or not. If he wanted to kill John then using the team as bait was his best option, but he couldn't do that and kill them off to threaten her. It all depended on what he wanted more, John dead or the codes for the Genii base. "Very well."
He stood up, Alice struggled in her chair. "Kolya! Where are you going?" She said her voice filling with panic. but he didn't answer. Alice twisted her hands trying to free them, but the rope just cut into her wrists. "Kolya!?"
Alice tried to keep track of how much time passed, but there was nothing she could use. It could have been 20 minutes or an hour, but Kolya walked back in cracking his fingers. She watched him approach him warily, his lips twisted up. Then his fist shot out and connected with the side of her face. She had no time to prepare herself, or stop the cry of pain from escaping her lips.
"Tell me the command codes." He said curtly. Alice's head hung to the side limply. A mix of blood and saliva started dripping out of her mouth. Her head spun and she felt like she might be sick. "Tell me the codes." His hand gripped her hair pulling her head up to look at him. She spat a mouthful of blood in his face, causing him to recoil in disgust. The he started chuckling. "I have to say I admire your loyalty to Ladon. However misplaced."
Alice licked her lips, tasting the rusty tang of her blood. "What would you know about loyalty."
Kolya shrugged. "Shall we test your Colonel's loyalty to you?" He picked up the earpiece he'd taken off her earlier and pressed it to his ear. "Colonel Sheppard?" Kolya said. "I'm going to assume you can hear me. I'm also going to assume that if you haven't reached the Gate by now, you soon will, so I wanna save you some trouble. My men have secured the Gate. There's no way you're getting through. Come back and face me, Colonel - or I'll kill your friends." He paused and raised a gun at Alice. She took in a sharp breath, glaring daggers at Kolya. "Which one of them shall we kill first? I'm leaning towards your mouthy girlfriend, myself. Colonel?" John must have replied, as a smug smile twisted Kolya's features. "Don't keep me waiting." He dropped the earpiece down on the table.
"You won't kill me." Alice let out a huff. "You need those codes."
Kolya shrugged. "True it would be easier to get them from you. But not the only way." Grabbing another chair he dragged it over to face her, then sat down. "Ladon Radim is no hero, and he is certainly not the man you think he is."
Alice scoffed. "I think I spent enough time with him to know exactly what kind of man he is." She drew her mouth back into a sneer. "And he's something you'll never be. The leader of the Genii."
Kolya struck out hitting Alice in the face. Her neck snapped back and she heard a distinctive crack of her nose breaking. Blood flooded her nasal passage and she gasped for breath as it started flowing down the back of her throat. Rolling her head around she let her head drop forward, changing the direction of the blood so it now dripped out of her nose down onto her pants. She let out a small laugh, which crackled through the fluid in her throat. "Ladon would happily watch you die here than do anything to save you."
She drew in a deep breath through her mouth. "So long as you die with me."
One of Kolya's men stepped in from outside and whispered in his ear. Once he finished speaking Kolya stood up chuckling. "I can see why Colonel Sheppard chose you. I admire your spirit, but unfortunately it's time for you to die." Then Kolya jerked his head to the guards. "Leave us."
Alice swallowed as she watched them leave. Her hands twisting painfully against her restraints. Something was about to happen. Her heart rate increased as she watched Kolya pick up her gun from the table. Her cheek throbbed and her she pressed her lips together tightly to stop them from shaking.
"Despite what you may think, I take no pleasure in cruelty." He said, as he examined the gun. "Being military yourself I'm sure you understand, that some situations demand it." Kolya turned to face her, Alice's body started involuntarily shaking. She wasn't sure if it was shock, or fear or maybe both. He picked up the radio tapping the control to activate it. "Your time is up Colonel. Doctor Riley was just one in a long line wasn't she Sheppard?" Kolya's eyes drifted over to Alice. "Just another one that...slipped through your fingers." He raised the gun. Tears pricked in Alice's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Biting down on her tongue, she stiffened every muscle in her body. Barely daring to breathe as she glared defiantly at Kolya. But right when she expected him to pull the trigger he dropped the gun. And Kolya left the room.
Alice let out the breath she'd been holding, and let out a strangled sob. Her face throbbed as she felt a pair of hands on shoulders, holding her back as another untied her hands. "Get up." One of Kolya's men ordered.
Alice obeyed, lifting her head to see she was being led back into the main square, no villagers were out now, but she could see them hiding in amongst the houses. The Genii soldier kicked the back of her knees forcing her down into the dirt. Then the rest of her team were led out of the shadows. "Alice!" Carson yelled.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Alice wheezed, her voice contorted by the swelling of her nose.
Kolya paced back and forth, he just tapped the radio when Alice heard John. "Kolya!" John yelled, his voice echoing around the square.
Alice felt her stomach turn cold. "What are you doing?!" She screamed as he casually strolled into view.
Kolya turned to see John, smirking he holstered his pistol as John walked closer. "I should have killed you when we first met, Colonel. It would have saved me a lot of trouble."
"The feeling's mutual."
"Kolya!" Alice yelled.
Kolya didn't even spare her a glance. His eyes fixed on John. "Goodbye, Sheppard."
All around John, Kolya's soldiers opened fire on him. But the bullets bounced harmlessly off a green glow which surrounds him. John smiled smugly as the soldiers continue to fire until their guns clicked empty. "Well, now that you've got that out of your system ..." Alice stared with her mouth slightly agape, as he unzipped his vest to reveal the shield device. He laughed, but the green shimmer flickered. "Oh, crap!" With a groan the device shut off and dropped to the floor.
"Reload!" Kolya yelled.
"Don't bother."
Kolya and his soldiers turned in surprise as Lucius waltzed into view, followed by a group of the townspeople. "You should have left town when you had the chance." Kolya sneered.
Lucius just smiled as, all around the square, the townspeople burst out of their houses carrying various implements like shovels and pitchforks, together with some rifles. They surrounded the soldiers, forcing them to lower their weapons. Lucius smiled at Kolya. "I'm sure you're thinking the same thing right about now." Alice couldn't believe what she was seeing, but John's voice made her look back towards Kolya.
"If I gave you the opportunity to surrender, I don't suppose you'd take it?" John stepped forward tilting his head. Kolya smiled, then chuckled ironically. "I didn't think so."
Alice watched quietly as John and Kolya faced up to each other. Kolya went for his gun. But John was quicker and fired a single shot. Kolya stumbled, dropping his chin to see blood pooling over his heart. With a grunt, he dropped to the ground. John stared at him for a heartbeat longer, then raised his chin to address the soldiers. "Put down your weapons."
Alice stared at Kolya's body, it had dropped only a meter from where she saw. She could see the blood starting to soak into the ground and the color fade from his skin. And she felt nothing, but a cold calm. Like he'd said, some situations called for a cruel nature.
The soldiers complied, placing their guns on the ground. Lucius clapped his hands in delight and grinned.
Ronon rushed over to Alice, along with Carson, freeing her from the ties and examining her head. "I'm fine Carson, it's worse than it looks." She attempted to smile, but it just caused her to flinch in pain.
Though it must have looked pretty bad, as his lips were pulled into a tight line. "I'll be the one to decide that." He muttered, pulling her head to the side to look over her cheek. He touched it gently, but even the slightest touch caused her to wince and flinch away. "It looks like you might have cracked your cheek bone and you've got a broken nose. Nothing we can't fix though."
Alice had to look away from him, distracting herself as he started cleaning and bandaging her face. John was standing over Kolya's dead body, a glazed look on his face. Even though they both knew he needed to die, it wouldn't stop John from feeling the guilt that came with taking a life.
He kicked the gun away from Kolya's hand and then turned his back on the body. His eyes locked with Alice's. "How's she doing doc?" He asked.
"I'm fine." She snapped, a sudden rage built under her skin.
Carson sighed. "You most certainly are not. I need to get you back to Atlantis and under a scanner."
John pursed his lips and nodded curtly. He started to walk away, but she knocked Carson's hand away and stood up to follow him, ignoring his complaints. "Why did you come back?! You knew he wanted you dead. He wasn't going to do anything to us."
John's eyes blazed. "He was going to kill you!"
"No he wasn't. He wanted the codes I had to the Genii homeworld." Though she wasn't going to tell him what Kolya had said to her. "You put yourself at risk for no goddamn reason."
"Well I'm sorry I had to come in and save your ass." John sneered.
"It wouldn't have needed saving if you had just listened to me in the first place." Her nose and cheek throbbed as she shouted, but she barely noticed it as adrenaline coursed through her. "But your ego almost got this entire village burnt to the ground. If you don't trust me-!"
"That's enough." John roared back. "Ronon. Beckett, get her back to Atlantis now!"
Alice stepped forward, determined to yell more. But Ronon blocked her path, turning her back towards Carson. "Enough." He whispered lowly to her.
Alice huffed, but noticed all around her had gone quiet. Everyone had stopped to stare at her and John. Keeping her head up she allowed Ronon and Carson to lead her out of the village and back towards the gate.
Carson gently placed a new swab of gauze to her face. She hadn't noticed but her shouting had managed to reopen the wound on her cheek. "I think you might have taken it too far lass." Carson said gently.
Alice knew he was right, but her heart still pounded in her chest. The words had just spilled out of her, but the more she thought about it the more she realised she was right, he didn't trust her. Not anymore. That hurt more than anything Kolya had done to her.
Alice sat nervously in front of Elizabeth. She'd been called in front of their leader, and Alice was sure it had something to do with the recent public shouting matches John and her had been having. Gingerly she touched the gauze that covered the side of her face. Her nose was also covered in a bridge, packed with gauze to ensure it kept it's position. Luckily, he hadn't had to re-break it to get it back into its original position. It made it hard to eat, sleep and speak. Not to mention she was under strict no shouting orders from Carson, or she risked tearing open her stitches.
Elizabeth walked around in front of her desk, taking a seat on the sofa chair opposite Alice. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I've read the mission report, and had a few other reports about heated arguments between Colonel Sheppard and yourself, not to mention the one in the briefing room the other day." Elizabeth paused, clasping her hands together in her lap.
Alice felt like she was back in school waiting to find out whether she was about to be expelled. "Elizabeth…"
Elizabeth shook her head, making the words dry up in Alice's throat. "I can't have two of my senior officers at each others throats. You once told me your relationship wouldn't impact your responsibilities to this missions, but…" she took in a deep breath. "we're under more scrutiny than ever. The IOA are breathing down my neck, looking for any reason to take this chair away from me. I can't have your personal conflicts putting your team and everyone else at risk." Alice couldn't bear to look up and see the disappointment in her leaders eyes. "Until you and Sheppard can resolve your conflict, I'm removing you from his team effective immediately."
Alice couldn't say she was surprised. If John really didn't trust her then he'd probably recommended to remove her. It stung thinking how sour their relationship had turned. She nodded solemnly at Elizabeth, showing she understood.
Elizabeth stood up. "Until I can trust you two can be in the same room without being at each other's throats…"
Alice felt her eyes burning with tears. "Yes Ma'am." She managed to whisper.
Elizabeth frowned and walk around to her desk. It was clear that was the end of the conversation.
A/N #SorrynotSorry! i did warn you it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better...
