Volunteered
Sheppard was pulled from the sea of red and instantaneously placed in a small room. He felt wrong.
"Aah Protector, you have integrated." A young man approached him wearing garments similar to the two previous robed individuals just less ornate. "Let's get a look at you then."
After a moment of disorientation, he viewed the area immediately in front of him. The third priest to make his acquaintance stood there smiling. His robes were dark blue to match his eyes. It was striking even to Sheppard who usually did not notice such things.
"Wonderful! Welcome oh my brother and on behalf of Mina, we thank you for the Sacrifice."
"Well I'll be damned if I don't say this way too often but- excuse me?" Sheppard tried looking around but found- for whatever reason- he could not. He had to let the dizziness pass.
"Oh Protector please, stop moving. You are unable to do so yet. With time and training, you will be able to repel any attackers. But right now you are still becoming accustomed to the new existence." The young, curly, dark, headed priest's concerned face and body moved behind him out of sight.
"I'll let you rest. We can talk later."
John panicked, "No, wait!"
And then he was back to the red Kool-aid as fear, curiosity and anger intermixed throughout him.
What the hell was this?
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"Hey Killer," Sheppard whispered in his ear. Their cheeks touched from the intimate move. "That's right, enjoyed yourself didn't you? Snap a neck, gut a friend, slit a throat, all equally thrilling and satisfying." Sheppard circled him in his mission gear. "What's next? Up for a challenge? How about Beckett? Poison. Slow, undetectable. Exhilarating isn't it?"
McKay grinned wickedly as a thrill rippled through him. "Needles, I'll show him how to use needles."
He looked down at a restrained Beckett lying on one of his own gurneys. McKay picked up a syringe and pulled the plunger back.
"Who needs the poison? The air we breathe is just as deadly."
He drank in the scent of fear and sent the syringe home.
Not a care in the world.
"Rodney," said Beckett. "Rodney, your team needs your help."
McKay's eyes snapped open. That was not right.
They were dead.
Sheppard was dead.
Teyla was dead.
Ronon was dead.
He was alone.
"Beyond my help," he commiserated. "Killed by ghosts."
"Only mostly dead Rodney." Beckett leaned over him. "They are in a state of preservation. They are not truly dead."
Beckett looked across to someone else.
"Rodney, do you remember anything?" Weir took her turn and leaned over him.
"Not a warrior."
"What does that mean?" Weir asked.
"The wraith said I wasn't a warrior and flung me away like so much garbage." Rodney was becoming agitated again. He placed his good arm over his eyes.
"Wraith? No one had a feeding mark." Beckett turned a perplexed face towards Weir.
"Poltergeists, apparitions, spooks, non-corporeal entities. They took him and flung him too. I tried to help; I was too late, too weak. But he's a warrior, so is Teyla and Ronon." Rodney inhaled deeply and continued on the exhale, "Not me, I'm just a murderer."
"No Rodney, you're not. Not a soldier or a murderer," Weir stated supportively. She knew this was going to throw him back. She needed to call Heightmeyer in.
Carson patted him on his good arm. "Get some rest."
"No more sleeping, no more dreaming." It was a plea.
"I'll see if I can't help with that." Carson reached for another syringe and injected it.
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Teyla was sure this was how the fruit in the Jell-o cups felt. Trapped.
She was thinking back to the flight from the village. They had reached a clearing and she remembered Ronon coming to an unexpected halt. Someone or something was watching them from the front and from the side. The being from the side was on her before she could present a defensive stance. She was sure it would not have mattered.
A deep cold grabbed her and smashed her into one of the very large trees. Teyla felt her ribs break and her lower back crack as well. She fell to the ground and her ankle landed in a very wrong position.
She could not see Col. Sheppard or Dr. McKay but their cries reached her ears. It was agony.
A face appeared before her and smiled. "We missed you. You are acceptable."
Teyla was lifted back up the tree. She was not sure how long she was suspended there but a thud to her right wanted her attention. Unable move, she could not turn her head to give it; she could only speculate that it was Ronon. A man in robes approached with an entourage of vassals carrying red cubes.
"Prepare oh my sister, yours is the great sacrifice."
The robed man placed a pronged instrument into her stomach and injected a liquid ice throughout her body. That is when she screamed. Then everything that made Teyla Emmagan, Teyla Emmagan was removed.
Now she floated in a world of red absence. She felt like nothing until a tingle and a disorienting pull landed her in a nondescript room. No windows, a few lights, a table and stonewalls were pretty much it.
"Welcome oh my sister and on behalf of Mina, we thank you for your sacrifice." A young priest gave her a genuinely thankful smile.
She stared at him unsure how to answer.
"The procedure is now complete. You are now a Protector," he said proudly waiting for her response.
"I do not understand."
Now the young man was confused. It was clearly not the response he was expecting. "Usually there is no memory loss. You volunteered to be a Protector did you not?"
"No I did not. Where are my friends?" She was quickly becoming uneasy and frankly, a little scared. She did not remove her gaze from the young man.
"You did not? Your friends? I do not understand." His brow furrowed. "You have been chosen as a Protector of Mina. Those that were brought here with you are right here too."
He walked over to a table that held three red cubes. They were about four inches in height, width and length.
She tried to follow his movement with her head but queasiness overtook her. It felt wrong.
Realizing her movement, the young man put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Please stay still. You are not ready for such manipulations yet."
Teyla let the wrongness subside and returned her attention to the priest. "May I see them?"
"Sure…I guess so. Although, I do not understand why you are here if you did not volunteer?" He walked back over to the table shaking his head. A row of four buttons ran across the base of the boxes. He pressed one of them and Ronon materialized before her. Standing straight, he looked queasy for a moment. The priest pressed the button on another cube and then Col. Sheppard appeared with the same disorientation as well.
Relief spread across each face as eyes met until Sheppard asked, "Where's McKay?" He fixed the young priest with a hard glare. "Where is the fourth member of my team?"
The young man's confusion grew. "No one else arrived with you." He walked to the middle of the group. "Did you volunteer for the Sacrifice?"
"No," answered Ronon with a glower.
"Don't remember being asked, sort of just attacked us," offered Sheppard.
The young man blanched. "You were taken by force?" Now he seemed very upset. "I am sorry. Those who do this are volunteers. They give freely and except the mantle with pride."
"Do what exactly?" Teyla asked with distrust coloring her voice.
"Protect the rest during a culling so that they might escape," he explained. "You are the defenders and protectors of Mina."
"Well Skippy, we have not volunteered for this," Sheppard emphatically pointed out. "And would like to return through the Stargate back to our home." To punctuate his statement he attempted to fold his arms in front of him. The queasiness returned and his entire body blurred for a second.
"Colonel?" Startled, Teyla studied Sheppard then Ronon. A sickening realization struck her. "We cannot return to our normal lives can we?"
Ronon and Sheppard looked at her and the look on their faces proved they knew what she meant with the clarity of crystal. Their relief in seeing each other and their worry for their missing teammate had clouded their perspective. They simply had just not noticed it before now. It was funny really- funny horrifying.
They were looking through each other.
"No, you cannot. You have shed your mortal flesh."
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A/N: Sorry for the delay. Had to watch football (my team lost), take out the garbage and entertain a few friends. I still maintain this is not a death fic, except that it is. So give our undead team a little support, please review. Watch out though, they may eat your brains if you're not careful. ; )