Disclaimer and notes in part one.

Part Three

Teyla wandered down the path toward the Stargate, lost in her own thoughts.

She could not believe the words that had come from her own mouth while arguing with John. It was unlike her to hold on to past grievances, yet once she had spoken the words, she could not deny that the feelings were there. She had told herself that the bitterness she had felt when her people were first accused was in the past.

She had lied.

For the most part, the people of earth had been good to her and the other Athosians. Teyla felt sure that they were the best hope for defeating the Wraith, which is why she had left her people to join with them in the first place.

A part of her still longed to be with her people, but now when she visited the mainland, there was a part of her that missed Atlantis and its residents. She felt divided, split into two women, and she did not fit entirely well in either place. Only with her teammates did she truly feel comfortable anymore.

"Why don't you trust me?" She could hear John's voice in her mind; he had sounded so hurt.

The truth was that she trusted him more than anyone else in Atlantis; she trusted him as much as her own people. She had only meant to spare him.

Earth's military knew John had a history of disobeying orders, and such things were not unheard of even now. But disobeying orders and being untruthful were two very different things. John had great affection and respect for Dr. Weir; some seemed to think they were romantically involved, but Teyla did not agree. Still, they were close, and Teyla had not wanted to put him in a position to lie to Dr. Weir.

She admitted to herself that she had lost some perspective about John Sheppard. In fact, the longer she knew him, the more she identified with him. Wanted to support him, fight alongside him, protect him. Be protected by him. She wanted things that were impossible, things that were against the rules of his military and her own common sense.

She could clearly remember the moment when he became more than just an interesting and handsome entertainment.

He came onto a Wraith hive ship to rescue his people ... and hers.

It was unheard of among her people, except in legends of heroes too fantastic to have ever truly existed. But John had done it. And many of them had survived. He had had her trust from that very moment, and her admiration for him continued to grow.

Teyla saw the Stargate in the distance but slowed her walk. Running away would solve nothing, and she wanted to make sure John knew that he did have her trust.

Even if she might never have his again.

She was turning to return to town when she realized her mistake. As she had been worrying about her problems, she had ignored the small sounds around her that would have told her she was not alone. Her father had taught her to always be aware of her surroundings, but she had allowed herself to become distracted.

She had also forgotten the possiblity that she could be in danger.

Several men appeared around her, and she reached for her P90 before remembering that she had come without it this time as a sign of friendship toward the Cirslans. Ronon had refused to leave Atlantis without his beloved gun, and now Teyla was seeing the wisdom in his stubbornness. He probably would not have been caught unaware, either.

Teyla pulled out her knife, realizing the futility when all five men pointed guns at her. Still, they would not take her without a fight.

Teyla considered which one to attack first. They were all dressed in normal clothing, and nothing seemed to signal which was the leader. But while four of the men held weapons like shotguns, the man in front of her held a small pistol. "What do you want?" she hissed.

None of them answered, but the man in front of her pulled the trigger on his gun.

Teyla heard no gunshot, only a faint hissing sound. She felt nothing and glanced down at herself to see if she had been hit. She stood there for a moment, stupidly staring at her torso before she felt the sting in her right arm. Slowly, so slowly, she shifted her eyes to the dart sticking out of her arm. She tried to grab it, yank it out, but her body did not seem to be following her commands. One of the men snatched the knife out of her hand. She tried to look at him, see his face, but all she saw was darkness.

"Sheppard!" Ronon burst into the meeting room, jerking John's attention away from Councilor Doram. "They took Teyla. We have to go after her."

"What is the meaning of this?" the councilor asked. "We have done nothing to ..."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sheppard interrupted, standing up. Ronon was the last person he felt like talking to at the moment. He focused on the key information. "Took Teyla where?"

"Not sure," Ronon said, glancing at the councilor. "Have you heard of a world called Belsa?"

The councilor shook his head. "I have not. Who is in this Belsa?"

"My question exactly," Sheppard said. "Care to fill us in?"

"Enemies of mine," Ronon spoke to the councilor, with a brief glance at Sheppard and McKay. "They were in Cirsla looking for me yesterday. They took Teyla."

Sheppard had a bad feeling about this. "Friends of this Kell guy?"

Ronon shrugged. "Family. I thought Teyla told you."

Great. Just great. "Must have slipped her mind."

"If Teyla is gone, how do you know who took her?" McKay asked impatiently. "I mean, she could've gone back to Atlantis or gone for a walk. And who is Kell? Is anybody going to tell me what's going on?"

John took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to calm himself. "Councilor, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short."

"Of course," Councilor Doram said, nodding. "Perhaps you would require assistance from some of my men? I have a few who are quite skilled trackers."

Sheppard glanced at Ronon, who shook his head slightly.

"That's a generous offer," he said. "I think we've got it covered for now, but if we run into any problems, we'll let you know."

After a few more niceties, the Atlanteans were on their way, Sheppard and McKay following Ronon out of the city.

As they walked, John filled Rodney in on the situation.

"So, wait. You killed a guy?" McKay asked incredulously. "You just shot him dead? No fight or anything?"

"McKay," Sheppard warned as Ronon shot a glare back at the scientist.

"Where we come from, that's a little thing called murder," McKay continued as if John had never spoken.

"Rodney," Sheppard said, exasperated. "We don't have time for this now. This guy has Teyla."

Rodney confined himself to some muttering under his breath, which was the most John figured he could hope for. It allowed him to tune out the words and focus on what he'd been pushing away since Ronon busted up their meeting.

Teyla was missing.

He stared at the ground as he walked, allowing Dex and McKay to outpace him. It burned that the last words he'd exchanged with Teyla had been in anger. In some ways, Teyla was the one in Atlantis that he depended on the most. The others -- Elizabeth, Rodney, Carson, even Ronon -- he knew theywould back him up no matter what. If he hadn't known it before he turned into a giant bug -- and he shuddered at the memory as usual -- he knew it now. They were a little like a family. An extremely dysfunctional family, for sure, but a family still.

But Teyla ... there was just something about her that struck him as familiar and exotic at the same time. He wasn't one to believe in destiny, other than that which you made for yourself, but the connection that he'd made with Teyla in that cave on Athos felt so right, like it was meant to happen. Something inside him had told him that he could trust her, that he could let her know him in a way he usually avoided. He could let her know the true John Sheppard, and she would support him.

Before that moment, clipping a necklace around her neck, he'd just thought she was hot.

"I knew you would not understand."

It seemed she did know the true John Sheppard. He didn't understand.

Lost in his thoughts, John didn't realize the others had stopped until he ran into Rodney.

"What the -- are you trying to kill me, Sheppard?" McKay groused. "I think you might have dislocated my shoulder."

"Your shoulder's fine," he said. "Ronon?"

"This is the place," Ronon replied, staring at the ground.

John and Rodney exchanged glances, the scientist frowning and rubbing his shoulder.

"And?" Sheppard asked. "You can tell that, how?"

Ronon glanced at him, then pointed at the ground. John saw some dirt, foilage, a little grass.

"I repeat: And?"

"She was surrounded. Four or five men. I'd say they drugged her."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "And how can you tell they drugged her?"

"No blood."

Sheppard studied the ground again. He could vaguely see what might be footprints, but that was it. But he saw that Dex was right. There was no blood. And Teyla would most certainly have put up a hell of a fight if she could have. Something in his stomach eased a little bit. They wouldn't have bothered to kidnap her if they didn't want to use her for leverage. She was alive. Now they just had to get her back.

"You sure it was this kid -- what was his name?"

"Galen Kell." Ronon pulled a knife from somewhere and presented it, handle first, to Sheppard. "This was left on the ground. One of his father's knives. Had them specially made, with his initials on the handle."

John rubbed his thumb over the engraving on the handle, passing the knife to McKay.

"Where do we find her?"

"Belsa," Ronon said. "It's where Kell lived."

McKay handed the knife back. "And how will we find this place? The DHD doesn't exactly have a redial."

John remembered Ronon asking the councilor about Belsa. "You don't know the address," he said flatly.

"I know someone who does."

"Someone you can trust?"

Ronon shrugged. "Enough."

Sheppard stared at the ground again, picturing Teyla fighting off four or five men. They had to do whatever it took to get her back.

"OK, here's the plan. McKay, go dial Atlantis; we're going home. Ronon, you find out that address and meet us back at the city." Sheppard waited until McKay got out of earshot, then spoke in a low tone. "We find Teyla, we bring her home. Elizabeth never hears about Kell. I want you out. You develop a sudden desire to see the galaxy on your own. Understood?"

Ronon nodded.

Sheppard could feel him staring as he walked past the Satedan and through the Stargate. A small voice in his head told him that he was being too hard on Ronon, but he ruthlessly squashed it and never looked back.

tbc