A/N: This chapter has a bit of torture going on, so now you're officially warned. Hope you like it
Chapter VII: Waking up… worse.
Sheppard woke up trying to inhale much needed oxygen, he felt as if someone had put something on his face. His body was aching all over while he realized he was hanging by his wrists. As if the aching wasn't enough, his head was suddenly flooded with thoughts and memories, how Maur had been holding that damn device when he had been inches away from returning home.
He tried to look around, but all he could see was darkness and therefore never saw it coming. Something was jabbed on his back, it felt like being hit by a Wraith stunner, only without the unconsciousness.
He tried to but wasn't able to scream while his mind went numb as they took out whatever was jabbed in his back. He began to feel the rope digging itself deeper into his skin and his wrists started to ache. Again he could have never expected what came next, a full blow to his chest, near the already tender spot. Another blow to his head making him swirl around while his head was thrown back.
The lights were turned on but Sheppard was unconscious so he didn't notice much of that revelation. Maur walked towards a bowl, took out a damp cloth and put it on John's face. Instantaneously the Major was awake, struggling to breathe.
John looked around, noticing Maur and another guard in the room. Elek was just walking in and both men stared at each other, a murderous glare visible in their eyes. "Why me?" Sheppard managed to say, before Elek furiously replied, "You tried to corrupt her!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" The Major frowned not quite following where Elek was hinting at.
"You know very well of whom I speak!"
"No, I don't! Why don't you give me a clue?"
"Then why was she with you near the Stargate?"
"Who? Amara? I don't know, maybe she followed us." Sheppard had a pretty good idea what Amara was doing so near the gate but he wasn't going to explain that to an already furious Elek. It wouldn't matter anyway.
Elek paced around the room, his anger rising with every few steps he took, "She is ours, you had no business with her. She is supposed to communicate with me and only me." Sheppard couldn't control his own anger any longer and spat at Elek, "She was the one who wanted to learn how to speak! I was brought to her room, she was there. I didn't do anything. She was the one…"
Sheppard didn't get the chance to finish his forced explanation as Maur hit him square in the face. This only made him more angrier than he already was. Elek approached Sheppard and gave him another murderous glare, "Fool, I ordered her to see you, but she was never supposed to talk with you."
Sheppard gave Elek a sarcastic grin, feeling Maur had effectively split his upper lip, "I guess you never realized that she doesn't want to stick around here much longer, did you."
Amara was running as fast as her legs could carry her towards the lower dungeons. She got as far as the door as the guard standing there wouldn't allow her in. All she could do was wait there while hearing Sheppard scream in pain. 'What is Elek doing to him?' This was all her fault and she wanted to fix it. She needed to fix it. Amara waited for Elek to step outside. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened and the leader appeared in sight.
Elek wasn't surprised to see Amara in the hallway leading up towards the dungeon where they kept the prisoner, nor was he surprised when she started shouting at him. "Why?" Elek grabbed her by the arm and twisted it a little for good measure, "You do not talk to me!" Amara struggled, freeing herself from Elek's grip, "I talk because I can, because I want to! He did not do anything to me; it was my decision and mine alone."
Elek started pacing around again, just as he had done in the cell, "Who knows what he said to you? Who knows what he offered you in return so you would turn against me, against your people? He must and shall be punished!" Elek started to walk away but Amara didn't let him and stepped in front of him, "Elek! Don't you forget who I am, what I am! Without me this will be yet another forgotten planet."
Elek had officially gone beyond furious as he slapped Amara in the face in a wave of utter fury. He grabbed her by her hair, opened the door to the dungeon and entered dragging a struggling Amara with him. He let her go; dropping her unceremoniously on the floor and in that moment she got a glimpse of Sheppard's face covered in blood. She was shocked seeing him in such a fragile state, hanging from the ceiling with his wrists having to hold his entire body.
"Take a good look!" Elek pulled Amara's head back, so she had no other choice but to look at the broken man in front of her. "Is this what you want to save?" Amara didn't hesitate and replied with little to no fear in her voice, "At least he is worth saving because he has something you lost long ago."
"And what would that be?" Elek was truly curious why Amara found the man worth saving.
"A soul."
The proverbial steam was leaving Elek's ears and he forced Amara to look at him, turning her head so it could face his, "A weak mind, I have always known it." Elek turned to his guards, "Take her to her room, lock her up and put a guard outside." He turned back to her and finished, "Maybe after a while you will reconsider what you have done." Amara stared at Elek while he was walking away, "I am your creator, and don't you forget that."
Amara was grabbed by her arm and she said loudly, "No, my creator, your ancestor has been dead for a long time. For what he did, I should have killed him myself." Elek stopped only to see Amara walk away with a guard beside her.
Almost 6 hours had passed since McKay, Teyla and Ford had walked through the Stargate without their CO. Ford and Teyla kept on bugging Weir to approve a rescue mission and had almost succeeded. They were aloud to go back if they could come up with a suitable and manageable rescue. Therefore they had locked themselves in the briefing room planning a couple of strategies to rescue Major Sheppard.
Rodney, however, had other things on his mind than helping with a good rescue plan. He had locked himself in his lab trying to figure out the past events. He had just seen Dr. Beckett, who had checked his wrists and had told him to get some rest, which the Doctor knew would have to wait till all was resolved and the Major was home safe.
McKay tried to remember everything he had heard or seen that could be useful in a rescue mission, but there was nothing in his mind that the others didn't already know.
He was missing something and he knew it. Rodney let his head resting on his hands, trying to find a moment of peace. He drifted off into what seemed like a light sleep. He soon found himself back in that room where he had been hanging down by his wrists. Amara was there, looking beautiful as ever and staring sadly at him, "I do not like this, but I must do it."
McKay asked, "Why?"
Then Amara started to pace around, "I know you are not Ancient. Know this: the Ancients believed in life. They believed that everything that has a soul should have the right to live. The Toulnyans never did, they took advantage of the ancestors, and when the time came they betrayed them. The ancestors had to leave, they had other enemies to deal with, other battles, maybe they thought that they could find the answer to their problems elsewhere. I was left behind…"
McKay awoke with a start as his head had slipped off his hands and had bumped into his desk. For a moment he was disorientated, strongly believing he was back at Toulnya. He looked around, touching his forehead lightly and wincing as he felt a small lump forming on his forehead.
He sighed, thinking about his dream but there was nothing there that could help them form a rescue mission. He decided he might be needing his rest after all and walked out of his lab and off to his quarters.
