Angela! You are the best of the best of the best.

Dull

"I am his guardian, have only been for a short time." The woman hung her head in shame.

They were standing in the woods, hidden by large trees and the shadows they created. The gate stood not too far away. The search teams had spread out a few minutes earlier; John, Teyla and Ronon heading for the woods first. They'd rather be away from the people they were convinced had taken Rodney. After all, they did carry guns and their state of mind was none too friendly at the moment. They'd been walking quietly, each surveying an area, when a woman had appeared out of nowhere. Didn't people know not to jump out like crazed lunatics in the middle of a dark forest! Ronon had almost shot her, with his gun and his unfriendly inclination!

"I was the one who brought him…that day, when The Lord chose him and sent him to the Complex. I was the one who greeted him…under the pretence of touring our research facilities…" She was lost in thoughts, oblivious to the presence of the people she had sought out. She'd heard they'd come back, the guardians had sent words of their arrival to the city, and had hurried to meet them. Selfishly, she wanted to rid herself of the guilt she felt at what her people had done but it wasn't what had driven her to them. No, she wanted to see detainee…Rodney…go back to his world, with his people where he could thrive once more.

"I could see why he had been sent. Full of life, he couldn't stop moving. He spoke, asked questions without pause; showed a keen interest and a depth of knowledge unknown to me. Tall, broad-shouldered, of light colouring, he was quite pleasing to the eyes." She smiled a sad, regretful smile.

"He is even more so now. The Lord has insisted he be put through intensive training so as not to let him fall deep in the abyss of sorrow. It happens. Strength of character harbours great weaknesses and sometimes the specimens cannot cope easily with what is asked of them. They are made to work their bodies; it releases the burden of their soul."

John hadn't heard anything after the word that had caught his attention and produced horrible pictures in his mind. "The specimens?" His body was trembling. If he had been angry before, it had been nothing like what he felt hearing her refer to Rodney as a specimen! He was a scientist, he studied specimens he didn't become one!

"Yes. That is what we call those that are put through the formatting process."

Sheppard's hands formed fists of their own volition. This just kept getting better and better didn't it? Rodney was going through formatting! He couldn't help making the computer analogy and was glad Teyla and Ronon didn't because it was wreaking havoc inside him. Just the thought of Rodney's brain, erased of all data, ready for input…they had to find him and find him now! Lost in this gruesome contemplation he did not hear Teyla's question, only the answer the woman gave.

"He is kept in the Complex but you cannot go to him now. You must wait for nightfall. He is to pay his respects to The Lord tonight and I am to accompany him from the Complex to the Center then back. We will be alone for very few moments and you will need to move fast."

An alarm sounded in his head alerting him to danger but Ronon was quicker in voicing his concern. "Why would you let us take him when you're meant to be guarding him? Won't you suffer consequences?"

She looked at them, almost pleadingly. "Yes…yes, but I will never suffer as he would, was he to remain here." Her voice was soft again, as if she was talking to herself, as if she had retreated back into a hidden part of her.

"He screams…at night…long animalistic sounds that tear my heart apart. He was never meant to be here. The Lord has made a mistake and will not recognise it, which is very fortunate. Was it not for this, was The Lord not enthralled by him…he… would already be dead." Sharp intakes of breath from her interlocutors did not distract her from her monologue. She went on.

"The formatting process is usually a very short and simple one. Soon, the specimen can be integrated into the community, take the role he has been assigned or be kept by the highest bidder. Rodney…is different. Formatting has not been completely successful on him. He retains a part of his previous self. He is so angry. Screaming every night…every night…" She came back to reality and as she looked at them, they saw tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"I did not know of this! I have never seen a specimen who resisted formatting be kept alive so long. They are useless to us, a waste of resources and are discarded! I did not know! I have only been his guardian for a short time! His previous guardians…They had not seen him before. So full of life, blue eyes shining with unbridled intelligence! Now they are as dull as a grey sky. He cannot be here, you understand? He was never meant to come here! He cannot let go, he cannot surrender completely to The Lord, to his love and protection…"

The more they heard, the more the team felt the need to run to the city and tear everything down until they found him.

"Why does the Lord want him to surrender? What is it that your people want from Doctor McKay?" Teyla's face revealed the genuine confusion she felt.

"The Lord…is a great collector…of lost souls. He sees those who are in need of salvation and takes them, betters them. He is a loving man who wants nothing but to bring peace to all. He saw something in Rodney, something that was not there. You friend is not a weak man nor is he lost. That is why the formatting is so problematic. He was never lost so it is making him lose himself! He remembers and wants the few memories that he retains; he does not want them to leave him."

For once, Rodney's stubbornness could be considered a blessing. Never again would John blame him for it…well, not for a few days at least!

A sound came from deep in the woods and the woman's eyes darted from side to side. "I must get back to the city before I am missed. Continue your search as you would've had we not spoken. Continue your search of the city well into the night. I will not be able to contact you. You must pay close attention to the Complex, the rectangular structure that stands a short way from the City. You must take him by force. It must not show that I was party to his disappearance!" They nodded and she left at a run, fleeing the darkened forest and the anger she had put in the hearts of these people. People who had done nothing wrong but whom her community had condemned to anguish all the same. She believed in The Lord's mission but in this instance the needs of the few, or the one, outweighed the needs of the many.

John turned to his team-mates and shared his plan. "We'll keep this between us for now, it'll limit the chances of it being found out. It might be the only chance we get so we can't screw up!"

"Sheppard. If he was kept in that…Complex…why haven't we found him? Why haven't we heard him? We've searched that area before and they let us search everywhere…"

Teyla nodded. Ronon had raised a valuable point. Could the woman be trusted? If so, then why hadn't he been found? John shrugged in ignorance and they were silent, contemplating the great task of keeping Doctor Rodney McKay, motor mouth of universal renown, quiet. Wanting none of the thoughts that emerged from the 'worst case scenario' part of his mind, John detailed the rest of the day.

"Let's search the wood and make a great show of it, take a long time. The sun should set in three to four hours. When it does, I'll contact Lorne, let him know what's going on and have him send everyone back home except for his team. Maybe we can get a jumper here, keep it flying over the city, cloaked. Yeah…It can detect the life signs and tell us when Rodney's on the move." Teyla smiled and completed John's plan.

"Then we can remove him and make our way back to Atlantis where we shall celebrate his return with a large quantity of Halling's…ummm…distillation efforts I believe is the term." They smiled at each other. Finally, Rodney had been found and they were going to take him home.