Chapter 2: Banished.

Teyla stood staring at the stargate, and she had no idea how long it had been since Shiana's guards had thrown John through it. He would have gone willingly if he'd had more of a chance to say goodbye to his friends, but now she feared that she would never see him again and that brought her to tears. She had always intended to tell him how she felt about him and now she would never get a chance and that thought was too much to bear.

She still couldn't believe that even though Kelore and Dimas had found them not guilty of causing harm to the people of the Pegasus galaxy, Shiana had still wanted someone to pay for wakening the Wraith and the destruction of her world - unfortunately, she felt that person should be John Sheppard.

Woolsey had argued that since Atlantis had been found not guilty that no-one should have to pay and if they wanted Atlantis' involvement in their newly formed coalition of planets, they should seriously consider their next move.

In the end, the council had decided that John should indeed pay – she suspected that Shiana coerced them though – and he would be banished to a planet of their choosing, one without a DHD, with minimal supplies and John would have to spend the rest of his life there.

They had provided him with two canteens full of water a sharp knife some rope and a small tent. Luckily, he was allowed to keep his boots and Jacket, otherwise, he wouldn't have stood a chance of surviving.

At that moment she had no idea whether she was hoping that he would live a long life or whether it would all be over quickly for him. Shaking herself she tried to empty her mind of all negative thoughts because they would find him – they had to find him.

She had no idea where Rodney, Woolsey and Ronon were, but she suspected that they were off trying to convince Kelore to tell them where John had been sent, or in Ronon's case he would probably be beating it out of him. Although at this point, she wanted to hit someone or seek revenge for what had happened to John. That wasn't really her style though, she had to believe that in time these people would pay for what they had done to John.

Sighing she turned away from the gate, she knew that she couldn't stand there forever. At some point she needed to get home to Torren, Kanaan probably wouldn't be on Atlantis to greet her as he spent most of his time on New Athos these days. She suspected that he would probably leave her for good in the near future and although she'd miss him, right now she didn't care.

As she started heading away from the stargate she was greeted by Ronon, and he didn't look happy, in fact, he looked as if he wanted to hit something.

"Ronon what has happened now?"

"Kelore is allowing us to use the stargate to gate back home, Woolsey wants us in his office as soon as we get there. He'll let us know what is happening then."

"I take it that Mr Woolsey was not able to convince him to tell us where John is?"

"No!" Ronon growled and his tone told Teyla exactly how he was feeling. Although she couldn't blame him since she felt exactly the same way.

At that point, Woolsey and Rodney entered the room and neither of them looked happy either.

"Do you realise how many planets there are in this galaxy," Rodney whined, "I have no idea how we are ever going to find Sheppard. We may as well face the fact that we will never see him again."

Woolsey just glared at him as he answered and Teyla could certainly sense his frustration, "We will talk about it when we get back to Atlantis, but for now remain quiet and dial the DHD Dr McKay!?"

Looking at the door from where the others had entered, she realised that Shiana and Kelore were watching them, which meant that there was no way that Rodney was going to be able to check the last gate addresses dialled.

Once Rodney had dialled the DHD and the wormhole had sprung to life, she took one last look at Shiana and Kelore and stepped through, knowing that she would never forgive these people for what they had done to John.

Her first thought once she had stepped through the gate was to head to her room and meditate, then she contemplated heading down to the Gym and hitting something. Finally, she remembered that she needed to be in Woolsey's office for a meeting and she knew that for now, she would have to remain calm.

Rodney stepped through the gate next, followed by Ronon and finally, Woolsey came through.

"In my office now!" Woolsey demanded before walking off.

Ronon mumbled something that she couldn't hear and ran after him. Rodney looked at her and shook his head before following, which left her alone with her thoughts – again. She was getting sick of them because for the last few hours they had been profoundly depressing and she knew that she needed to snap out of it before she saw Torren and the first person her son would be looking for when she saw him was John.

It wasn't long before she reached Woolsey's office and when she got there, she took a seat next to Ronon.

"What is happening Mr Woolsey? I take it they would not tell you where John is?"

"I'm sorry Teyla, but they insisted that someone be punished for awakening the Wraith and that someone was Colonel Sheppard. I spoke to the Colonel before he went through the gate, and he told me to tell you not to worry. He also said that if anyone could find him it would be you Dr McKay and he would wait until we rescued him."

Rodney just stared at Woolsey and Teyla could see that he was working himself up to a rant, "Yes well, Mr Woolsey as I told you earlier, I have no idea how many planets there are in this galaxy, it's like looking for a needle in a very large haystack."

Ronon glared at the scientist, "well the sooner you get looking the sooner we'll find Sheppard."

"Sure Conon, I'll go and start now, and I'll just spend the rest of my life looking for him and a very miserable life it'll be."

"Gentlemen!" Woolsey chastised, "we will find him, I will begin contacting our allies and contacts, to see if they have any idea where this planet might be. In the meantime, you need to try and find a way to narrow down the planets that he may be on Dr McKay."

"I will contact the Athosians Mr Woolsey, to see if any of them have heard of a planet where people are sent if they need to be punished in some way."

"Thank you, Teyla but I would like you to get a meal and have a rest after you've been to see Dr Keller for your post-mission check."

"I will go to New Athos in the morning as unfortunately there is not much that I can do tonight."

"I'll come with you?" Ronon offered and at that moment she was grateful for him.

Woolsey smiled at them, "thankyou Teyla and Ronon. I do have one thing left to say before you all leave. I have told the coalition council that we will not be taking part and if they ever need help from Atlantis, we will not be helping them."

"Suits me, "Ronon mumbled before standing up and walking off.

"I'd love to see what happens if the wraith decide to pay them a visit," Rodney said sarcastically before following Rodney out of the room.

Once the others had left, she smiled at Woolsey and stood up, "I will see you in the morning, Mr Woolsey."

"Goodnight Teyla."

Leaving Woolsey's office, she began a slow walk to the infirmary for her post-mission check and the only thing that she could think of was that John should be walking next to her.

oOo

"So Timus, where are you from?"

"I come from a planet called Sateda, I haven't been there for almost nine years, and I have no idea whether it exists any longer."

Sateda rang a bell, but he couldn't remember where he'd heard it before. Did he know someone there, or had he been there himself? More to the point where did he come from, did he come from Sateda, but then he looked nothing like Timus, so maybe not?

Timus had just cooked a meal for him and after enjoying it with his new friend – at least he assumed Timus was friendly – he had every intention of trying to find out more about him. He still had no idea who he was or where he came from, but he was convinced that Timus was a good guy and was here to help him.

"So stranger, "Timus started, "I took these off of one of Jatel's goons and I think that they belong to you. They have some kind of writing on them, can you read them?"

In Timus' hand was a silver chain with two pendants. He looked at the writing on them and realised that he could actually read it. Looking up at his new friend a big grin crossed his face, "yes, I can read it. It says John Sheppard, do you think that is who I am? There are a few letters before my name LT COL, but I am not sure what they mean."

"Let me have a look, Sheppard?"

When Timus called him Sheppard, it reminded him of someone else who used to call him Sheppard and he had no idea who that was.

"They look like some kind of military tags, perhaps you are a soldier."

"Really," he said feeling a little surprised, "if I'm a soldier, what the hell am I doing here and more to the point how did I get here?"

"I have no idea John, but we will figure it out and when we do maybe we can work together to find a way off this rock. I used to be in the Military before the Wraith made me a runner."

He had heard of people from other worlds being made runners for the wraith, so at least he had some memories. Looking down at his clothes he remembered that he still had no idea whether the boots and jacket were his own since he remembered waking up at the gate without any jacket and boots.

"Are these my boots Timus?"

"Nope, I have no idea who stole your boots and Jacket."

"So where did these come from?" He asked suspiciously.

Timus looked at his feet before answering and he knew that he wasn't going to like the answer, "I got them off a dead guy, they weren't of any use to him, so I thought that I'd collect them in case I needed them."

It didn't take him long to realise that these clothes were too small for Timus, so why would he bother to take them off a dead man? Well, there were worse things that could happen, he was a soldier after all, and he was sure that he'd had to do unspeakable things in the past.

"No problems, anyway I'm exhausted, and I still have a headache and a sore knee, so I think that I might try and get some sleep."

"Let me take a look at your knee first John, I have some herbs that may help to reduce the swelling?"

Suddenly he felt shy, "I have two things to say to you, number one, please don't call me John, Sheppard sounds much better and number two, I'm not taking my pants off in front of a stranger."

"Well Sheppard, you have two options, I can cut your pants off, and you'll have to change into some that I took of a dead guy, or you can keep your pants and I'll cut the leg and eventually you'll have to take them off anyway."

He didn't miss the smirk on the other man's face and again, it reminded him of someone else, but he couldn't remember who it was.

"Hey Timus, do you have a brother?" He had no idea where that question had come from, but it felt like the right thing to ask.

"Yeah, I have a younger brother, at least I did before I left Sateda. I have no idea whether he is still alive or not?"

John watched as a sadness came over Timus' face and he suddenly felt sorry for him, "what was his name?"

"His name was Ronon?"

It was a strange name, and he was sure that he had heard it before, and he wondered if it belonged to the face that he kept seeing in his head. The conversation was getting a bit uncomfortable, so he decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, Timus, my leg is really beginning to throb, so perhaps if you cut the leg of my pants, you can use some of your herbs on my knee?"

"So, what's it to be Sheppard, are you going to take your pants off, or am I going to cut them?"

He looked down at his pants and he soon realised that they were pretty trashed anyway, "I just told you that you may as well cut them!" He stated a little more forcefully than he would have liked.

Before he had a chance to think about it further Timus pulled out one of his hunting knives and suddenly John felt afraid. The man almost looked excited about the opportunity to use his knife again.

"Don't worry Sheppard, I won't hurt you," the big man smirked.

He winced as Timus came towards him with the knife and when the big Satedan started to cut his pant leg away, he felt a real sense of relief. I have to get a grip and allow this man to help me, he told himself, perhaps if we work together, we can find a way off this rock.

Sharp pain in his knee brought him back to the present and he soon realised that Timus was putting pressure on his knee and applying a sweet-smelling herbal mixture.

"If you keep this on overnight the swelling should have gone down by morning. Now, let me wash the dried blood off your face and have a look at that cut on your head?"

He didn't mind this man looking at the cut on his head, but the last thing he needed was to have his face washed like a baby.

"How about you look at the cut on my head and I'll wash my face?"

A piece of wet rag was thrown in his direction and taking a look at it he was relieved to find that it was clean, so he carefully washed his face, trying not to touch the tender wound on his head.

"Just let me look at the wound Sheppard," Timus commented, and John could sense the frustration in his voice.

"Alright, alright, maybe you should hurry up so that I can go to sleep and then when I wake up tomorrow, perhaps I could do a little exploring."

"Whatever you say, Sheppard," Timus said, and he didn't miss the eyeroll that the big man gave him.

A glimmer of memory crossed his mind as Timus began to bathe his head wound. He was trapped in a collapsed building, buried beneath a pile of rubble, and gravely injured. A tall man with dreadlocks had been trapped along with him and the man was telling him to not give up. Perhaps he would take the man's advice now and not give up until his memories were restored.

Once Timus had finished bathing his head wound he came and lay on the opposite side of the fire to him. The night was cold so they both had an animal skin to pull over them for warmth.

Closing his eyes, he thought about what had happened to him that day and the first thing that he could remember was waking up at the gate with a bunch of thugs pointing their knives at him. Try as he might, he couldn't remember anything before that moment. He was sure that he had a home and someone who was missing him, so he decided that it wouldn't hurt to say a prayer that when he awoke in the morning, he would have his memories completely restored to him – he knew that it wasn't that simple, but there was no harm in believing for a miracle – was there?

oOo

Ronon left Woolsey's office and headed straight for the gym, someone was going to pay for what had happened to Sheppard and right now he knew that there was nothing he could do, so perhaps he needed to hit something and then go for a run. He hoped that there were no marines in the gym looking for a sparring session because the last thing he wanted was to send a bunch of them to the infirmary.

He was furious that Kelore and Dimes had hidden behind Shiana and sent an innocent man to his doom because it was almost certainly a death sentence. John wouldn't die instantly, but he was convinced that his friend would die slowly and alone.

When he was a runner there were times when he thought that he would die alone at the hands of the wraith, but even though he'd had those thoughts once in a while, he'd never given up and he'd kept on fighting.

Then one day, he'd met John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan and they had offered him a home and a family – even though he had tied them up and stunned them. From that day John Sheppard had become his brother and the man reminded him a lot of his older brother Timus in the way that he wanted to protect everyone, sometimes at a great personal cost.

It had been nine years since he had seen his brother and he had no idea whether his brother was still alive somewhere and with Sateda gone he sometimes lost hope that he would ever see him again. When he had found Rakai, Ara, and Tyre, he had been excited that some of his friends had survived the destruction of Sateda. But when he had found out that they had become wraith worshippers he had almost wanted to give up, but Tyre had gone through withdrawal from the wraith enzyme and redeemed himself, giving him hope that he would find his brother again.

Now, he had lost another brother and although Sheppard wasn't his blood brother, he was the closest thing he'd had to one since Timus had disappeared and if he never saw him again, he had no idea what he would do. The only difference between what had happened to Timus, and Sheppard was that he knew that Sheppard was alive and thanks to some small-minded petty people he had been banished to some rock, where it was expected that they would never find him.

When he came to the gym a few minutes later, he was happy to see that it was empty. He looked at the punching bag and decided that was the best place to start if he wanted to hit something, so he started to punch imagining that it was Kelore and Dimas' heads, when it came to imagining Shiana, he started to kick the bag, these people had taken away his best friend and at that moment the only thing easing the pain and loss he was feeling was hitting the bag.

When he started to tire, he still kept punching and kicking the bag and eventually the faces of Kelore, Shiana and Dimas morphed into the faces of the wraith, and he started to punch and kick even harder.

He had no idea how long he'd kept punching, but eventually, a soft voice pervaded his thoughts, "Ronon you need to stop."

Ignoring it he just kept on with what he was doing and the next time the voice spoke, it was more forceful, "Ronon you must stop what you are doing now!"

He still ignored it and kept on punching the bag, until the voice shouted at him, "Ronon, stop and look at your hands?!"

This time he stopped and looked at his hands and he suddenly realised that they were cut and bruised, and he was in pain. He looked up and found that Teyla was looking at him with concern and it was a look that he hated from her.

"Umm... I think I'll head back to my quarters and clean my hands up a little."

"No, you will come to the infirmary and see Jennifer," she said with her no-nonsense look on her face, and he knew better than to argue with her.

Grabbing his bag, he followed her out the door, even though he had messed his hands up, he definitely felt better and more determined than ever to find Sheppard alive.

oOo

Timus watched as Sheppard slept. He had heard the stories from some of the men who came to this planet about a group of people from a distant galaxy who had taken up residence in the city of the ancestors and he wondered if this man could be one of them. He had also heard of a runner from Sateda who had joined them and that gave him hope that some of his people were still alive – possibly even his brother Ronon.

His parents had died when he was eighteen and Ronon was fourteen and for many years he had looked after his brother by doing whatever work he could find. When Ronon had reached the age of eighteen, he had declared that he was going to join the Satedan military – which was a surprise to him since he had always thought that his brother wanted to study to become a doctor. He had always wanted to go into the military himself, but when his mother and father had died, he had vowed that he would put his dreams on hold so that he could raise his brother. Now that Ronon was eighteen and wanted to join the military he decided that it was about time he pursued his dream as well. So, the day after Ronon's eighteenth birthday they had both applied for the military and within a week they had both been accepted to the military college of Sateda.

For the next few years, they had spent their days in intense training exercises and their nights at the local bars drinking with friends and meeting girls. Those were some of the happiest times of his life and he knew that Ronon enjoyed them too – they were both adults therefore their relationship had changed to equals.

After three years at the military college, they both graduated with top honours – although he achieved slightly higher than Ronon – and they were assigned to separate units. It was not long after they graduated that Ronon met Melena and he could see from the beginning that they were meant to be together, so he was looking forward to seeing his little brother getting married one day.

For the next three years, they kept in contact the best they could and the times that he and Ronon were together were the happiest of his life, until that fateful they when he was off-world with his unit, and everyone was killed by the wraith – except for him.

The wraith placed a tracking device in his back, made him a runner for their pleasure and for the next few years he had tried to survive. It was only bad luck that he came through the gate to this planet, where he was shot in the back and the tracking device was destroyed – that was a piece of good luck. Although almost dying from the infection that the wound had caused was not, it was only the kindness of an elderly gentleman named Jeremiah that had saved his life. And when his friend had died not long ago, he had decided that he would help whoever he could when they became stranded on this planet.

Staring at the man before him for a few more seconds, he hoped that John Sheppard was everything that he hoped that he was and once he'd regained his memories, together they would be able to find a way off this rock. Maybe then he could find a way to be reunited with his little brother Ronon.

TBC…