Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

Title: When You Know He's Watching

Season: One

A/N: This is mostly an Elizabeth-centred fic. Reviews are appreciated but I'm not going to beg. I intend to finish this but it'll help if I know a few people are reading it.

I'm also trying to steer it away from Shep/Weir, but there are going to be a few 'moments' necessary for later parts of the story.

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Years after the Ancestors leave their city, another people will arrive to take their place. The leader of this group will be a woman, strong-willed and fiercely protective of those she loves.

If she is to marry one of our own, Kiseta will become very powerful, admired by all those in the galaxy. If she does not, life will be as it always is.

The first path will see amazing change in Kisetan life. But a harsh lesson will be learnt and nothing will be the same from the moment the bonding chains are worn.

The evening was drawing to a close; nervous- looking servants collected the empty plates from the dining table. Korai, the stately leader of the Kisetans, smiled with a forced pleasantness. He waved a hand over the table where a pale girl had set several shallow dishes of green sprigs and glasses of amber liquid. Though his face was still stretched in a beam, his eyes remained eerily cold.

'These are special plants grown especially for consumption at the end of heavy meals. They settle stomachs-' he turned his gaze onto Teyla, who looked quite ill after the amount she'd eaten- 'and help with digestion.'

Korai stopped, waiting for his peoples' new allies to try the weed-like plants tangled in balls. Gone was the iciness; instead there was an almost excited anticipation. The two members of Korai's family who'd joined them for dinner, revealed nothing in their expressions. His daughter Syrella, however, showed her anxiety as she twisted her hands.

Sheppard's team hesitated, each throwing Elizabeth discreet, questioning glances. There was something wrong with this scene: Korai's barely hidden eagerness, the way his family didn't touch the sprigs themselves and the fear in the servants' eyes.

'Will you not eat?' Korai prodded, pushing forward a dish. 'Was this meeting not a means of showing our trust and friendship?'

'Yes, but I fail to see how eating these… plants, will prove to you that we trust you and your people.' Elizabeth watched Korai stare back at her before shifting so that his next words were directed at her team as a whole.

'Trust is shown in the smallest of ways. Do not believe for a second that I do not see how you look at each other, silently asking if it is safe to eat. You emptied the plates placed before you earlier, but I know you all hesitated for a time before doing so. Why else would I have taken my family outside under the pretence of having been called for? You were given a moment to talk through your concerns and no doubt have someone test the food. And you are all healthy, are you not? Does that not say something?'

Korai's tone had changed, anger lightly coating every sentence. The guards by the door sensed this, tensing ever so slightly.

John made a gesture, signalling he would try one of the plants. Atlantis could not afford to lose the alliance they'd made, especially as every other race they'd met had given them a wide berth upon learning they'd woken the Wraith and were enemies of the Genii. The Kisetans were very generous trade partners. They had offered to hand over four months supply of food in return for help with advancing their technology. But still, if her people could never be certain of their safely while on Kiseta, Elizabeth didn't want that alliance.

She shook her head at John and keeping her voice polite, said, 'I admit what you say is true. However, surely you know real trust can never be earned in the space of three days, the time we've known you. I'm certain your people don't trust us as yet.'

Korai nodded in agreement to her words.

'Very well. Briego, eat and show our friends that there is nothing wrong with the food.' He looked at his son, who pulled a few leaves and soft stalks from a dish and popped them into his mouth. Five minutes later and he still seemed perfectly fine. 'Satisfied?'

In response, the Atlantis team reached for the plants. A bitter taste flooded their mouths as they chewed, worse than anything they'd ever experienced. As one, the group grabbed their glasses and downed the drink, a tingly sensation rising in their stomachs as they did so.

'Your suspicions of the plants being poison, or poisoned, were wrong.' Korai smiled as his guests leaned back in their seats, pleasantly drowsy. 'But you did not question the drink provided. That, was drugged.'

Shocked exclamations burst from the team as they struggled to sit up and prepare to defend themselves against the two guards now moving in. But the drug was already taking effect. Even as her mind clouded, Elizabeth saw the ease with which they'd been tricked.

Korai, acting shifty about the plants, had led them to become suspicious of whether an attempt on their lives was being made. Having his son taste it first banished these fears. No doubt Briego was used to the bitterness, or had numbed his tastebuds beforehand. And so his guests had eaten, then drunk the liquid so thoughtfully provided for them. Which then, turned out to be drugged.

Her body felt heavy. Elizabeth tried to lift up an arm, but she was so weak and tired. Fighting desperately to stay awake, but not successfully, she succumbed to the darkness. One by one, her team did the same.

Smiling grimly, Korai called in the guards in the hall, joining the men who had been stationed at the door.

'Take them to the cells, separate ones. Find the four men who accompanied them here and bring then as well. Use as much force as necessary.'

The men obeyed, hurrying out and leaving Korai's family at the now only occupied part of the table.

'You will have your wife soon, my son,' Korai laughed.

Syrella turned, having watched the scene before her in anguish. She stared at her father beseechingly.

'Please Father, you mustn't-'

'Be quiet child!' he snapped. 'This matter is not of your concern.'

'But-'

'Leave us!'

Syrella's lips turned down in a frown and she swept from the room, ignoring the smirk her older brother directed at her.

'When she wakes, Briego… you must do your part.'

Briego nodded, two plans forming in his mind. One, he was sure, would work.

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TBC

A/N: I'm aiming to have one chapter up each week, but we'll see.