OMGirl- I'm so glad you liked!
camy- Thank you! And you can stop begging. lol
Cpt. Ritter- Thanks for pointing out my spelling mistake. I know I should know it after having watched Stargate for eight years but I never seem to remember. And don't worry, threats motivate me. lol
Only Memories- Thank you for pointing out goa'uld. (There! I finally spelled it correctly thanks to all of you who so graciously pointed it out!) And thanks for reviewing!
ch. 4 Neith's New Host
John stepped out of the infirmary after his post mission exam. He still carried Teyla's gear with him. On his way to Elizabeth's office, he stopped at the armory and reluctantly placed it inside. Then he continued his trek to Elizabeth's meeting.
He entered to see Elizabeth talking quietly to Ronon. When they saw him, the two abruptly stopped and turned to face him.
"What's going on?" John said.
"John," Elizabeth started. "Ronon has been trying to convince me to send a rescue team for Teyla. We found the ship heading towards Atlantis. Although I don't really see the point in you going since Teyla was captured by the goa'uld and will undoubtedly become one, I am willing to let you and a small team go, but only if they are willing. If there's anyone who doesn't want to go, please don't force them. And you must come up with a way to get on the ship. Those are my conditions." John opened his mouth then closed it again. He repeated this three times before he managed to speak.
"You've found the ship?" Elizabeth nodded. "And we can go?" Again, Elizabeth nodded. "And I can take a small team and the only conditions are not to force them and find a way onto the ship?" Elizabeth nodded once more. John hugged her tightly. "Thank you so much Elizabeth! You don't know how much this means to me." John let go and Elizabeth allowed a small, solemn smile.
"There's one more thing. If- no, when- you find Teyla, you have to tell her how you feel."
"I will." He honestly promised. Then he turned to Ronon. "Ronon, I'm going to assume you're going?"
"I am."
"Great. Let's go recruit some people." They were almost out the door when Elizabeth called.
"Remember, John. Don't force anyone. You too Ronon!" John uncerimoniously waved at her from behind the glass wall of her office.
o
Rodney was doing an experiment in his lab when John and Ronon burst in, startling him so that the device he was holding was knocked to the floor.
"McKay!" John exclaimed once Rodney had given him his famous 'what did you do that for' glare. "We're going after Teyla. And we want you to come with us." McKay looked skeptical.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean-"
"Rodney!" John cut off what was undoubtedly going to be a long and pointless argument about the safety of kidnapping a soon-to-be goa'uld. "You're under my command. So that technically means that I could order you to come with us. But Elizabeth doesn't want anyone to be forced to go. So I am going to ask you a simple question and all you have to do is say yes or no. Now, are you going with us to rescue Teyla?" Rodney thought about this for a minute and then sighed.
"Yes." He agreed.
"Good. Now will you come with us to find some other people to help?" He nodded and they left the lab after Rodney picked up the shattered device.
o
The three remaining members of SGA-1 stood in the briefing room. They had managed to get a total of four people to help with the rescue mission. That included Major Lorne, Lieutenent Cadman, Dr. Beckett, and surprisingly, Sergeant Bates.
"Okay. You all know why you're here." John began. "Our objective is to rescue Teyla from the goa'uld. Does anyone have any questions?"
"I have one." A voice at the door said. Fourteen eyes landed on the woman leaning casually against the door frame.
"Terras?" Ronon stood up. "What are you doing here?" Terras stood straight up and walked over to an empty chair.
"My question is, why wasn't I invited to come?" She said, ignoring Ronon's question. John glanced at Ronon who glared at Terras.
"You're not coming." Ronon declared.
"Teyla is my friend too Ronon. I'm coming." She retorted.
"No you're not."
"Ronon," John said. "We could use her. I mean, we can use all the help we can get. And she knows how to defend herself so I think we should let her come." Now Ronon was glaring at John.
"She's not coming."
"Yes I am Ronon." Terras forced the words from her mouth in resentment. "Like it or not, I'm not going to let you leave without me. So you better get used to it." Ronon whipped his head around to glare at her again.
"No. I won't let you go." Terras returned his glare. They glared at each other for three whole minutes before Terras spoke.
"Then if I'm not going, then neither are you."
"What!" John protested. "Terras we need him."
"If you won't let me go, then you better learn to get along without him."
"Ronon, let her come. Please." John begged. Ronon just glared some more at Terras. But after a while, he broke down and gave in.
"Okay. She can can come." Terras smiled and took her seat. Ronon bitterly sat back down and John began again.
"Does anyone else have any questions." No one raised their hand so he continued. "Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get on the ship?" Cadman raise her hand.
"I think you should have someone with the gene fly the jumper to the ship and into the glider bay. Then the rest of us can go in and the jumper can fly to a safe distance while we rescue Teyla. It can come back when we give the signal."
"Good idea. But who should we get to fly the jumper? Only three of us have the gene here."
"We could get anyone who can fly it. They won't have to come. Just fly us there and back." John nodded his approval.
"Good. Now who are we going to get to fly the jumper?"
"I hear Lieutenant Miller is quite the pilot." Colonel Caldwell said from the door. John rolled his eyes at him.
"Is there anything I can help you with Colonel?" He said icily. Caldwell eyes hazed over in anger before he spoke. No one in the room moved. They all seemed frozen in time.
"Yes. I need to speak to you. Outside. Now." John dutifully folowed the Colonel out the door and into the nearest lab.
"With all due respect, Colonel, is this going to take long? Cuz I got a resue mission to go on."
"That is what I want to talk to you about." Caldwell folded his arms across his chest as if he were a father about to scold his son about his misbehavior. "I don't think you're thinking clearly about this mission. I heard your little outburst in the gate room. And the fact that you're willing to risk the lives of those people to save someone who in my opinion, is not worth saving, that sure shows a lot about the kind of person you are." John didn't respond for several long minutes. And when he finally did, his voice was coated with something that was colder than ice.
"The fact that you think she's not worth saving sure shows a lot about the kind of person you are. The value of a life is priceless. No matter what my reasons are for going, Teyla's life is priceless. To a lot of people. Not just me. And those people in there were given the option to come. I didn't force them. They chose to come with me to rescue Teyla. They are willing to risk their lives to save her."
"She's a liability-"
"NO!" John shouted. "She has proved herself many times. Yet you continue to believe that she is going to turn us in to the Wraith. Why? Because she's an Athosian? An alien? Because you don't like her. That's not fair Colonel. And you know it. She's a good person. And whether you like it or not, we are going after Teyla." John turned around and stalked out of the lab, fists clenched, leving a livid Colonel Caldwell behind.
John's footsteps echoed loudly in the silent briefing room where everyone still remained frozen in their seats.
"Does anyone else have any question?" The seething Lt. Colonel snapped. All heads shook 'no'. "Good. Lorne, go get Miller. Tell him he's flying the jumper." He ordered. The major obediantly stood up. John added as an afterthought, "If he wants to." Major Lorne nodded and disappeared to find the unlucky Lieutenant.
o
Teyla woke up in an extravagant bed of silken sheets and the softest feather pillows she could ever imagine. As she sat up, she became aware of her surroundings. She slept in a four post, mahogany bed that was surrounded by a thin, gold, silken curtain. Teyla moved the curtain back and was met by a golden room with mahogany furniture. To her left, a make-up table with a mirror and hair accessories on it stood against the wall with a stool in front of it. A bureau was set up against the wall opposite Teyla and two nightstands sat on either side of her bed.
Teyla pushed back the sheets and stepped onto the cold, metal floor with bare feet and looked around. The artificial lighting above her gave off an almost unreal glare, as if the sun really were inside the room. Teyla had walked over to the bureau to admire the small statues that rested on it, when a petite young woman with mousse-colored hair wearing a white satin dress underneath a blue chiffon coat with sequins along the sleeves and collar stepped in. On her feet she wore simple blue sandals.
The woman turned to look at Teyla and got down on her knees in a bow. She stayed like that until Teyla bent down and pulled her to her feet.
"May I help you?" She asked the woman kindly. At first the woman didn't know what to say to this unusual act of kindness. Then she composed herself and delivered her message.
"Hotep wishes you to dress and come down to dinner." Teyla looked down at he clothes and for the first time, noticed the dirt smudges and rips in her uniform. She was skeptical about going down but did not know what else she could do.
"What should I wear?" She asked, suddenly becoming self conscience of her ruined attire compared to this woman's elegant clothing.
"Perhaps the dress Meret gave to you last season?" The woman suggested.
"And which is that?" The woman looked shocked at this question.
"Do you not remember, Neith?" Now it was Teyla's turn to look shocked.
"I am not Neith. My name is Teyla. What is yours?"
"Kojhah. I am your- Neith's- personal servant." Teyla smiled warmly at her.
"Kojhah, will you please help me get ready for dinner tonight?" Kojhah nodded and opened one of the bureau drawers. She pulled out a strapless, mint green dress that laced in the back and had an elaborate design of brown and blue lines intertwining at the bottom. It looked a little small but Teyla thought it might just fit her.
"You should wash before going down." Teyla nodded in acknowledgement.
"How much time do I have to get ready?"
"Two hours." Teyla's eyebrows went up.
"I do not believe I will need that long."
"We must do your hair as well." Kojhah explained.
"And that will take almost two hours?"
"Yes." She replied as if that were the most obvious thing in the galaxy.
Kojhah led Teyla to a room with a basin of hot water in the middle. Teyla sank into the water and washed away all the dirt and grime of the day's adventure. There were an assortment of bath oils and salts along the rim and she smelled each one of them, relishing in their sent. It had been awhile since Teyla had had a hot bath. Atlantis had only showers. And she leisured in this luxury for almost half an hour.
When she was finally done her hot bath, Teyla wrapped herself in an extremely fuzzy towel that Kojhah had supplied for her. Teyla slipped on the dress and it felt like a cloud instead of silk sliding over her skin. Kojhah laced it up and sat her down in the stool in front of the make-up table.
It did indeed take two full hours to do Teyla's hair. After drying it and curling it and powdering it, Kojhah wrapped it in a bun and pinned blue hyacinths in it. She then began working on Teyla's make-up. She must have put an inch of powder, eyeshadow, blush and lip gloss on Teyla's face because it took her another half an hour to finish. Kojhah finished her artwork by painting two black lines just above Teyla's upper eyelashes and extended them out a quarter of an inch from the end of her eye.
When Kojhah had finally finished, Teyla looked at herself in the mirror. She was a real beauty. Kojhah disappeared for a few seconds and returned with brown sandals. Teyla slipped them on her feet and stood up.
"I am over an hour late, I should go."
"Do not worry. Hotep is not expecting you for at least another fifteen minutes. Neith is always late." Kojhah pulled a silver necklace out of her coat pocket.
"I would rather leave now though. What is that?" Kojhah held up the necklace for Teyla to see. It was a plain silver chain with a silver heart hanging on it. Kojhah placed it around Teyla's neck and fastened it. It rested nicely against her collar bone.
"My father gave it to me before he died and I became Neith's personal servant." Kojhah explained. "I want you to have it. I am not permitted to wear it. You have been unnecessarily kind to me. Neith has never been as kind as you are. I am sorry that you are to become Neith's new host, but it is something I want you to have to remember your previous life. Now you should go before you are truly considered late." Kojhah scooted the speechless Teyla out the door to a jaffa that stood waiting for her.
The jaffa escorted Teyla to the mess hall that Tomen had before eaten in. Hotep was waiting for Teyla, sitting at the table in a leisurely fashion. Teyla scowled at him and defiently remained stanting when Hotep had offered her a seat.
"You are an amusing one." Hotep chuckeled. "Neith's previous host had been extremely obedient. Come now. You must be hungry." Teyla refused but her stomach growled and gave her away. Hotep laughed at this and tossed some fruits onto her plate. "Sit. You are hungry. Don't worry, it's not poison. Why would we want to poison Neith's new host?" Teyla cautiously sat down, her eyes never leaving Hotep. She merely picked at her food and ate very little.
After two agonizingly slow hours, Hotep announced that dinner was over. Two jaffa seized Teyla by her arms and, despite her struggles and screams, would not let her go. They dragged the reluctant woman to another room where an altar stood by the far wall. From a curtained off area on the right, an amazingly beautiful woman jaffa, wearing a skimpy black outfit that showed her mid-driff, emerged and stood next to the altar. Teyla was dragged up to it.
The jaffa held her steady as Hotep stood in front of her. He held up his right hand on which a hand device was placed. It glowed and he waved it across Teyla's forehead. She immediately fell limp and the jaffa hoisted her up onto the altar. She was placed on her stomach and the woman jaff, stood by her head.
A mature goa'uld slithered out from the womb on her stomach and crawled onto Teyla's back. It writhed around a little before it dived into her neck and embedded itself into her skin. Teyla let out a cry of pain before she suddenly sat up and her eyes glowed.
A/N- Mwahahahahahahahahaha! I'm an evil writer! But I can't help it! I love cliffies! Well there you have it. Chapter four. Hopefully chapter five will be up by the weekend.
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