Disclaimer: Atlantis is the property of rich men, not broke teenagers
A/N Tinuviel Undomiel: Yes guys, a new chapter is finally here. For all you Teyla/Ronon fan's, you are gonna love this! And their is a small Shweir moment, so I hope ya'll like.
A/N Nerwen Aldarion: I came up with the idea for this chapter a long time ago, but I didn't have a fic to put it in till my sister came up with this fic, so now my little idea has a home. I hope all you Teyla/Ronon fans like it.
Always a Chance
Chapter 3: Two of a Kind
If Teyla was not in her room she was most likely in the sparring room, where she trained many Athosians and Atlantis Personel in the art of combat. That was where she was that day training one of her more difficult students.
He feinghted towards the left but she was ready for him, once again she despaired over his lack of progress and in a matter of a few simple maneuvers had knocked the sticks out of his hand and hit him with her own.
"Once again you have not been practicing." She told him before stepping away.
"I have been, " John protested, "probably not as much as I should."
She shook her head, "One of these days I will have to find myself a suitable challenger."
"So why don't you?" A voice asked from the doorway. She and John turned to see Ronon standing or rather leaning against the doorframe watching them intently. In fact John could have sworn it was Teyla, Ronon was watching, but then again he could be wrong.
Teyla smiled at Ronon, "You believe that you would provide me a challenge?"
He gave her a cocky grin, "I beat you once didn't I?"
"Indeed you did," She said, "I do believe it is time for a rematch."
John was more wary, "I don't know, remember what happened last time?"
She turned to John, "What happened last time was my own mistake, I let you distract me."
He smirked at her, "So now I'm a distraction?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ronon glaring at him. Hmmmm, he thought, this could be fun.
Teyla rolled her eyes and sent a glare of her own at him, "You know what I meant and I expect you not to distract me again."
"Ok, looks like some entertainment is about to happen, it's too bad I don't have any popcorn."
Teyla and Ronon faced each other sticks in hand. Teyla looked up into Ronon eyes, trying to stare him down despite the fact that he towered over her. They stood that way for an endless moment looking at each other intently, minds empty except for on anticapation of what the opponent might do.
It was Ronon who attacked first, lunging at her with his right hand and that was how it all began. It was a flurry of motion as the air whisteled with the sound of their sticks, the grunts as they blocked the others attempt at victory. It was a dance, their feet moved around the room almost as if to music the fight was so perfectly balanced. And the entire time their eyes never left the other. That was the real trick to the game, you never watched the other's hands because it would lose your own focus. You watched their moves from the corner of your eye, what you had to do was watch them, specifically their eyes, because the eyes never lied. The eyes said whether they were tiring or losing hope, whether they were overconfident or afraid. But Teyla saw none of that in Ronon's eyes, his eyes were confident but not overly so, he knew how good he was and he knew that he could win.
Teyla was holding her ground but those green eyes held her under a powerful spell, she found herself faltering and that was when Ronon made his move. He used his sticks to knock one of hers out of her hand. Feeling foolish for allowing this to happen she thought of how to make a quick recovery. She was going to kick him to drive him back in order to grab her lost stick but he anticipated this. He dropped his own sticks and grabbed her foot and spun her to the ground.
She tried to get up but he wasn't going to lose this chance of victory, so he did the one thing he could do to ensure he won. He straddled on top of her and pinned her arms down.
She was caught and she knew it, but her thoughts were not on the fact she had lost. Rather they were on the fact that Ronon Dex was now on top of her and his face was very close to her own, very close in deed.
She could hardly breathe and her heart was pounding and she knew it was not just becuase she had just fought him. She found herself thinking that he may just kiss her, in fact she hoped he would.
But obviously he wasn't thinking the way she was, he didn't kiss her. He stood up and leaned over her.
"Mistake number one, " He said, "You tried to kick me," But he didn't stop there, "Mistake number two, thinking I would lose."
Teyla nodded her head as if she understood and then quickly swung her legs so that his feet came out from under him.
He landed, hard, on the ground. She quickley scrambled over with a stick she rechreived and held it to his throat. Now it was her who was stradling him. It was her lips that were dangerously close to his. And she was tempted to taste them, but she wouldn't give him that victory.
"Mistake number one," She told him, "underestimating me. Mistake number two, thinking you could win."
With that she stood up and walked out of the room, leaving John doubled over in laughter and Ronon speechless on the floor. Ronon stared after her retreating form and a slow smiled graced his features.
She had spirit and he could tell he was getting to her.
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John's team sat in Colonel Caldwell's office, the were there for a mission briefing, but there was only one problem; the Colonel was late. The minutes ticked by and John was about to lose his temper when he finally came in.
"I'm sorry I'm late." He said as he breezed in.
"It's no problem, we were just sitting here for half and hour." John said sarcasticly.
"Colonel Sheppard, I am not in the mood for your insubordination so please refrain from sharing your comments." The Colonel said glaring at John. "Now you are here to discuss your mission to M3P-794. The malp we sent shows all the life signs necessary, but we didn't see any signs of civilization."
The Colonel continued to talk of the planet but Teyla's mind was on other things. Teyla didn't miss the look that Caldwell was sending Ronon, it was pure poision. That confused her, as far as she knew Ronon had not done anything that Colonel Caldwell would dissapprove of. All she could do was look from one to the other and wonder.
When they were getting ready in the gate room she pulled John aside, "Has Ronon done something to offend Colonel Caldwell?"
He looked at her quizzicaly "No, why are you asking?"
She glanced at Ronon before continueing, "In the mission briefing he kept glaring at Ronon. Are you sure nothing is wrong?"
He sighed, "Caldwell just doesn't trust Ronon."
Teyla was very surprised about that, "Why?"
He shook his head, "He just thinks that Ronon might betray us."
"That is ridiculous he has proven to us time and again that he wouldn't do that."
He nodded, "I agree with you but Caldwell is a lot harder to convince." He smiled at her, "Don't worry about Ronon."
Teyla became flustered, "I'm not worried." John gave her a doubtful look, "I'm not!" She protested.
"Yeah, right." He said in a tone that said he believed anything but, then walking away leaving Teyla not quite sure if even she would believe herself.
After stepping throught the gate they found themselves on a planet the personnel had dubbed M3P-794, but it also reminded John of another planet.
"Welcome to Endor," John said, "home to the Ewoks."
Teyla and Ronon both turned to John obviously confused, "I thought this plantet was called M3P-794." Ronon said.
"It is,"John told him.
"Then why did you call it Endor?"
"That's a joke, a referance to Star Wars." The two still stared at him confused, "Star Wars was a movie from Earth, it was about Jedi and lightsabers." He shook his head, "Just forget what I said.""Ok," John began, "We need to search the area so we better split up."
If he sets me up with Mckay again, Teyla thought, He may lose a member of his team, I can't stand another mission of his complaining. "Colonel Sheppard, might I ask that I search with someone other than Dr.Mckay."
"Hey," Rodney said suddenly offended, "What's wrong with me I have you know I am a great conversationalist..."
John remembered what Weir had told him and he figured he'd be nice to Teyla, "Ok Teyla you and Ronon can search over there," He pointed to show them where to go, "Rodney we'll go this way."
Rodney was still complaing when they set off, "I can't for the life of me figure out why she wouldn't want to pair up with me, perhaps my intelligance intimidates her." And suddenly John was regretting his decision with the split as well.
Teyla and Ronon entered the forest in silence. She was a bit nervous to be around him, not that she would admit it. The images of what might have happened in the spar room came back to her, she decided to try to focus her attention on something else like the scenery.
"The trees are so tall," She spoke a loud, "It's almost as if they touch the sky." He looked at her and she smiled, "When I was younger I used to climb the tallest tree I could find becuase I wanted to touch a cloud, being here it seems like I might actually be able to do it." She looked and he was looking at he intently, she blushed, "You might think that's foolish."
"No," He told her, "When I was little I jumped out my window because I wanted to fly, its a good thing I was close to the ground." And they both laughed over they sillyness of their childhood.
"Did you learn to fight when you were a child?" Ronon asked, very curious about her past.
"Yes," Teyla said with a smile, "I was one of the best."
"Really?" Ronon replied, "I found you quite easy to subdue."
Now Teyla frowned, "If I remember correctly, I defeated you."
"Once."
"Well the next time we duel, it will be you lying on your back again!"
Ronon smiled at her insult. She was very beautiful when she was angry. Perhaps that was why he goaded her so much.
"Only if you are on top of me again," He said with a smirk.
Teyla was stunned for several seconds. He did NOT just say that. Now she was begginning to regret her request for not working with Rodney. Or, at least she was close to it.
"Why would you say such a thing?" She replied, flabergasted.
"Do you know a man who doesn't want a beatiful woman on top of him?" He asked and walked ahead, leaving her to stare at him. She couldn't believe the remark he made, it infuriated her that he would say such a thing, but wait a minute did he just say she was beatiful? Suddenly she was no longer angry with him, in fact she was smiling. Ronon thought she was beatiful.
That was when she noticed that he had stopped up ahead and seemed to be looking around for something. "What is it?" she asked.
He didn't say anything just held a finger to his lips, still scanning the trees around them. Teyla took that to mean he thought they might be being watched. She began to look around as well but she didn't see anything. She heard it, the sound of a dart whistling through the air, she felt it prick her skin and the next thing she knew she was falling towards the ground.
John and Rodney made there way back to the gate finding nothing signifigant towards Atlantis.
"I better contact Teyla and Ronon, see if they found anything." He told Rodney.
"Oh yes, I'm betting they found just what we found nothing."
John ignored him, "Teyla, Ronon come in." But there was not response, "Teyla, Ronon do you copy?" He continued to try to contact them through the radio but there was no reply. He turned to look at Rodney, "Something's wrong."
In a camp somewhere else on the planet a man with long, dirty hair and a face streaked with dust, picked up the small box in which a voice had come from. He turned to look at another man in the room who was just as dirty as he was.
"Teyla, Ronon, do you copy?"
The dirty man nearly dropped the talking box. What magic was this? Such power could only come from Horan, the god of power.
"The voice of Horan," the Fertian tribal man spoke to his companion in their hoars, throaty language, "These intruders must be a gift from him. We will give them the great honor of a sacrifice."
His friend nodded, "Tommorrow night, we will spill their blood upon the Altar of the Old, and praise Horan for his power."
The first thing Teyla noticed when she finally woke up was the smell. The place smelled of animals, waste, and men who had not washed in a very long time. She then noticed the sound of people talking in a strange language, the sound of fires and cooking. She opened her eyes to see the blank canvas of a tent, she saw that she was sitting on the ground. And that was when she realized that she was tied up back to back with Ronon.
"Ronon?" She asked seeing if he was awake.
"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." He told her.
"What happened?" She asked, "Why can't I move?"
"They hit us with darts that paralyzed us," He struggled, "I'm starting to feel my legs again."
"Once we regain feeling in our hands we must work on getting them free." She told him.
"I won't argue with you."
She sat there hoping that she would begin to feel her limbs soon enough and suddenly she was reminded of another time she was tied up like this. She let out a small laugh at the irony.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"This reminds me of the time I first met you." She told him.
"I wasn't tied up." He reminded her.
"Yes, but I was, I just thought it was rather funny that I met you captured and now I'm captured with you." She wished she could see his face to see if he was smiling like she was.
"Strange galaxy, huh?"
"I suppose."
"So what do you think they want with us?" Ronon asked.
"I honestly don't know."
"I'm not sure if I like thier hospitality," Ronon said, "Can you feel your hands yet?"
"A little," Teyla replied.
That was when they heard the tent flap opening. A dirty, bronzed man clad only in a loin cloth stepped in. A circlet of blue beads was tied around his head, and his gray hair stuck out in little tufts.
"We've got company," Ronon said, Teyla's back was to the flap.
"You," The man pointed, "great gift. Belong to Horan."
"What did he say?" Teyla asked. She didn't understand who this Horan was.
"He says we belong to Horan."
"We give to Horan," the man pointed to the sky, "Give you to Hornan. Sacrifice on altar. We drink blood."
Ronon glared at the man, and sucked in a deep breath. He hated captivity, and he hated being sacrificed even more.
"Tomorrow, you die, go to Horan," He said, "We be blessed." He then left the room leaving Teyla and Ronon in silence.
"Change of plans, once we get out of here we kill them." Ronon told her.
"Ronon," Teyla admonished, "we can't kill them just because of their beliefs."
"Didn't you hear him, they are going to sacrifice us."
"Because of what they believe in, you wouldn't kill me for my beliefs anymore than I would kill you for yours." She told him, "You will not kill them."
"You're not Sheppard," He reminded her, "You can't order me not to."
"But I'm your friend," She said gently, "And I'm asking you not to."
John scanned the horizon through the windsheild of the Puddle Jumper. Rodney was looking out it too, while eating a candy bar. He had practically gotten on his hands and knees in front of Caldwell to get permission to do a Search and Rescue. Thankfully, he was able to persuade the stodgy commander, and now they were here, searching for their friends.
"You see anything?" John asked Rodney.
"I see trees," Rodney said, "All I can see is trees."
"Well they have to be out there somewhere," John stated.
"You logic is impecable, Colonel," Rodney repleid, "I mean I was honestly thinking that they had floated into space."
"Rodney, I'm not in the mood," John said, "Now keep looking."
"Well how can we even find them in these trees?" Rodney complained.
"Gee, I really don't know, maybe I shoud throw you out of the Jumper and then find you," John replied sardonically.
"You know I don't appreciate your hostility."
"And I don't apreciate you talking, so shut up and keep looking!"
Rodney, for once, obeyed and both men continued to look down at the forest below.
Ronon and Teyla were finally able to get free from their bonds, but now the problem was finding their weapons. Luckily in addition to being primitave the race wasn't very bright. Their weapons were found just outside the tent they had been held, there was just one problem.
"Are radios are gone." Teyla noted, "They must have taken them."
"Probably thought it was a way to talk to their gods." Ronon inferred.
"We still have our transmitters we can get to the Stargate and still go back to Atlantis." Teyla said.
"Lets just get out of here." Ronon said making his way towards the door.
Sneaking through the camp was relativily easy, they were just thinking they were going to get out of this one when the deep sound of a horn filled the camp.
"What was that?" Teyla ask.
"They know we're gone." Ronon said calmly and right on que the camp became chaotic. The men came out with their darts and various other weapons. Teyla and Ronon were forced to do the one thing they could at a time like this: run.
The race for the for the forest was on, they ran towards the treeline hoping to lose them in the woods. With darts flying past them they were nearly there, it was then Teyla felt a slight pain in her leg. But she kept running, it wasn't until they were surrounded by trees, witht the people still coming that her legs gave out.
"We have to keep moving," Ronon said.
"I can't," She told him gritting her teeth. She looked at her leg and saw a slight cut, hardly superficial but she knew what it was, "One of the darts must have grazed my legs, not enough of the poision entered my system for me to lose conciousness but I can no longer move my legs."
Ronon didn't say anything, he heard the men coming and he saw Teyla lying on the ground. So he swung her over his shoulder and kept running.
After running for quite a while and Teyla feeling rather foolish, he finally set her down on the ground.
"I think we've lost them," He told her, "Can you walk yet?"
"No," She said dissappointed, "Listen, leave me here..."
"Not a chance."
"Find Colonel Sheppard, you can come back for me then," She could tell he was not convinced, "I don't want you to keep carrying me, I'm holding us back."
"You're not heavy," He said smiling at her.
She sighed, "That wasn't what I meant, you should just..." She didn't get to finish her sentence. Ronon walked over and picked her up again, holding her in both of his arms rather than his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" She asked trying to fight him.
"I'm not leaving you." Was all he said. She continued to struggle for a minute but then resigned to the fact that he was going to carry her. It wasn't till than that she realized she was in his arms. Her stomach started feeling fluttery as they continued to move through the woods.
"Atlantis this is Sheppard, over," John said as his Jumper hovered by the activated Stargate.
"We read you Sheppard, Caldwell came in over the radio, "Have you found Teyla and Ronon?"
"Negative, Colonel," John replied, "And it's starting to get dark."
"I understand, "Caldwell said, "Return home, you may continue your search tommorrow."
Rodney breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh that's a great idea, my back is starting to kill me."
"No, sir, I'm staying here," John said.
"What!" Rodney nearly squeaked.
"Colonel?" Caldwell replied, "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright then, report in tommorrow morning," Caldwell said, "Atlantis out."
"Are you nuts!" Rodney said, "You want to stay here!"
"I'm not leaving them alone out there," John said.
"And where are we supposed to sleep?"
"In the Jumper," John replied to the obvious.
"Oh right," Rodney said, momentarily speechless, "I happen to have a weak back, however."
"And that's my problem how?"
"Forget it," Rodney said. He stared out the wondow, while John sailed into the sky to search for a place to settle down for the night.
Ronon stopped in a clearing, "It's getting dark," Teyla told him, "We should stay here the night."
"Alright," He said setting her down. She began to feel a slight feeling in her legs, she began to rub them in hope of waking the sleeping muscles.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
"I'm starting to get a little feeling in my legs, rubbing them seems to help." She told him.
He sat down at her feet, "Here let me help." And he began to help her try to get some feeling beck into her muscles. She began to feel strange having his hands on her legs. He was so gentle yet so strong, she began to wonder what other wonders his hands could do. As his hands were slowly moving up her legs, her hands began to shake. The higher up his hands went, the more butterflies went into her stomache.
"That's enough, I don't think any more will do much good." She told him before he or she for that matter got any ideas.
They sat together in silence as the sun began to set, and the night began to get cold. Teyla began to feel the sting of the air, she tried rubbing her hands over her arms trying to get warm. Ronon noticed and gave her a questioning look, "It's cold," She admitted, envious that he didn't seem to feel it. He nodded as if he understood, he then moved closer to her and even put his arm around her.
She looked at him in alarm, "It'll keep you warm." He explained and she smiled her thanks. She readied herself for the coming, cold night and let herself indulge in the pleasure of feeling Ronon's arm around her.
It was cool. A sweet, calming cool that refreshed the soul.
Light filtered through the air, showing through the pale green leaves. Rain drops rested like mirrors on thier pale surfaces, and dripped down to the musty, brown soil below.
Birds sang a delicate song. Animals darted between the tall trees, and shrank into the bushes.
John stared at this strange perspective. he could feel the life throbbing in the trees. He could smell the rich earth, and hear the music of nature.
"The forest," a strange whisper sounded in his ear. The voice seemed to echo, and he couldn't tell whether is belonged the man, woman or child.
"What?" He asked.
"The forest."
"What do you mean?"
"The forest."
"This whole planet is a forest," John said, "where?"
"The clearing in the forest," the voice said again, "the forest. Leave the ship. Search on foot. The forest."
"Who are you?" John asked, "Tell me."
"John?' Rodney's voice in his ear woke him up.
"Yeah, what do you want?" John asked sleepily.
"You were tossing in your sleep."
"I was?" John said a little surprised.
"Yeah, so, are we going to get started after spending a restless night aboard the Jumper?"
"No," John said.
"What do you mean no?"
"We're leaving the Jumper," John said "we're searching the forest on foot."
"You have got to be joking!"
"No," John got uo form his chair, "get your gear, let's move."
"Wait a minute, what gave you this brilliant idea to search on foot in the dark, creepy forest?" Rodney asked.
"I had this dream," John explained as he slipped his P90 over his shoulder, "it was incredible."
"I didn't ask for a dream analyisis."
"This voice was telling me to search in the forest," John said, "And that's what I intend to do."
"I knew that you had gone insane."
"Rodney, shut up and move," John said shoving him out of the Jumper. While Rodney complained about hiw crazy this was, John thought back to the dream, and the voice. Who was it?
"Aww, how sweet."
Teyla opened her eyes slowly, and then snapped open at the sight. John was leaning over her with a big grin on his face, Rodney was also there trying to hide a smile. It was then that she realized that she had fallen asleep with her head on Ronon's chest.
"Colonel Sheppard," She said, slowly getting up. Her legs were finally back to normal.
Ronon woke up when she left his arms.
"Oh, well don't let us interrupt," John teased, "If you want we can give you a little privacy."
"We're fine," Teyla said, shrugging off the teasing.
"What happened to you?" John asked.
Teyla and Ronon peiced together thier account about thier capture by the natives, and their escape.
"It's a good thing we found you," John said.
"How did you find us?" Teyla asked.
"Ah, well, John is psychic," Rodney answered with a smile.
"What?" Ronon replied.
"I had a dream that told me to look in the forest," John said, "And it must have meant something because we found them in the forest," he glared at Rodney.
"It doesn't sound like a coinidence," Ronon agreed.
"Who would help us that would give you this vision?" Teyla wondered.
At that moment, a small breeze blew in and tickled their faces. The strange thing was that no blade of grass stirred, and not a leaf shook. It seemed that only they could feel the breeze.
John closed his eyes and smiled into the wind, "Elizabeth," he whispered.
No one siad a word, they just stood therr as the breeze circled them, and then seemed to blow straight into the sky. They looked up, and knew that their former commander was watching them, as she had promised.
"Come on guys," John said, a small smile still on his lips, "Let's go home."
TBC
A/N: How did you like it? Next chapter Weir begins to realize the mistake of ascending and Teyla's heart will break when Ronon is captured by the Wraith.
Note: I know that it was a risk having Elizabeth give John that vision, let's just sya that she is walking a fine line. So please don't flame at me saying she interferred,my theory is that if she doesn't give away the exact location, it's not exactly interferring. So please, forgive us if we have offended.
