Eek! I just realized that was wiping out all my space dividers, so the different sections were running into each other. I'm so sorry! Hopefully I've fixed it this time. :)

Part Six

John moved through the strangely-still yard. It was the middle of the night, but he knew they were expected, so where were all the guards?

He glanced at Ronon as they crept around the barn behind the house. Rodney was nearby in the cloaked Jumper as backup. Sheppard knew the whole situation was a trap; it wouldn't hurt to have a few surprises of their own.

Sheppard began to head into the barn but stopped when Ronon laid a hand on his arm. Ronon shook his head and pointed at a smaller stone building nearby. John wasn't sure what it was -- maybe a storage facility of some kind -- and he had no idea why Ronon cared about it.

Then he saw the guards. Two of them, dressed in dark clothing and carrying guns, slouched along the wall.

He exchanged a glance with Ronon. It was too easy. Way too easy, but they had to start somewhere.

They each took one of the guards, knocking them unconscious as quietly as possible.

Ronon looked around the yard, then nodded at the stone building. "You check this out, I'll look for more guards."

John thought about pointing out that he was the one who was giving orders, but he agreed with the plan. If Teyla was in this building, he wanted her out now. And he wanted to get her out himself. He nodded, and Ronon pulled the door open for him, aiming into the empty hallway.

Before John could even go inside, Ronon vanished around the side of the building. John entered the hallway, P90 at the ready, and pulled the door shut behind him. It was only a small hall with a door on either side. One oil lamp provided a little light, but John switched on the light on his gun anyway.

The first door led to a room packed with boxes. He took a moment to look inside one of them; it was full of rifles. He thought about snitching a few guns but decided he didn't want the extra weight. Cautiously, he re-entered the hall, but it was still empty.

Swallowing hard, he tried the other door. It opened easily, and he huffed out a breath of relief at seeing Teyla stretched out on the floor. He scanned the room quickly with his flashlight, but they were alone.

He shined his light on Teyla. Her arms were bound behind her back, and the light showed dried blood and bruising on her face, neck and arms; her shirt was ripped open in the front.

"Teyla?" he whispered, in case Ronon hadn't been able to take out all the guards.

She didn't answer.

He studied Teyla, finally realizing why her stillness was so unnerving.

She wasn't breathing.

John stepped forward quickly. "Tey -- ah!" he yelped as his legs were kicked out from under him. Teyla rolled to her feet in a flash and stopped, about one second away from stomping on his head.

"Uh, hey," he said, out of breath.

"Colonel?" Teyla staggered back, dropping onto the cot behind her.

John got to his feet. "Are you okay?" He couldn't stop himself from touching her, just a small brush through her hair.

"I ... " Teyla sighed. "Perhaps you could cut my bindings?"

"Oh, yeah," John pulled out his knife, mentally cursing himself. The bindings were some kind of thin rope, and he sliced through them carefully. After Teyla pulled her arms forward and rolled her shoulders, he gently took her hands in his, frowning at the marks on her wrists.

Wincing, she pulled her hands away. "I was unable to free myself," she said.

"You were doing a pretty good job of freeing yourself even without --" he froze, hearing a sound from the hall.

The door creaked open, admitting a thin young man carrying a lamp and a knife. He looked a little surprised to find himself eye-to-eye with a P90.

"It is okay," Teyla said, getting to her feet. "I believe Galen has come to free me."

"Galen?" John scowled. "Wasn't this the guy --"

"No!" the guy backed up against the wall. "I didn't do anything. M-my sister --"

"His sister is the one who arranged all this," Teyla said, rubbing at her wrists. "She seems to have a grudge against Ronon."

"Well, yeah, because he killed her father. I'd be a little pissed, too."

"No," Galen said. "Lee's glad father's dead. She always wanted the business anyway. Ronon refused to marry her, years ago. She's hated him since. This was just her excuse."

"You gotta be kidding me," John said. "All this because Ronon rejected her? She couldn't just --" He was interrupted by the sound of gunfire.

"She has several men waiting for him," Galen said.

"We must go," Teyla said. "He needs backup."

"Oh, we've got backup," John said, tapping his radio. "McKay, you see anything?"

"Six or seven men. They've got Ronon pinned down by the barn."

"Maybe you should show yourself?" John suggested. "But don't shoot anyone."

He paused for a moment and shrugged out of his jacket, handing it to Teyla. "Here." At her blank look, he waved his hand vaguely at her ripped shirtfront. "Uh, your shirt, ah --" He cleared his throat.

It was hard to tell in the lamplight, but it looked like she was blushing. "Thank you, Colonel." She slipped the jacket on and started to roll the sleeves up. It was way too big for her, but it covered her up. John mentally kicked himself for not thinking to bring her fresh clothing.

When Teyla was done, he handed his sidearm to her. "Let's go."

Rodney's appearance had evidently surprised them; all the gunfire had stopped by the time John exited the building. Sheppard spotted Ronon hunched behind some kind of farm equipment, the Jumper hovering in midair behind him. Across the yard he could see a few men scattered behind whatever cover was available.

He nodded to Teyla behind him in the doorway. "Take Galen, head to Ronon. I'll cover you."

He trained his P90 in the direction of the house, but nobody so much as dared to peek up at them as they ran toward the barn. Once they were safe, he followed. Still, nobody fired at him.

It was probably wrong that he found that disappointing, but he was fighting a powerful urge to shoot someone.

"Report," he hissed, frowning as he realized Ronon had been hit. He was bleeding from a place on his upper arm. "You okay?"

"A little mad," he answered, baring his teeth. "Galen."

"R-ronon," the man stuttered. "It wasn't me; it --"

"Analee," the Satedan nodded. "She's the one who shot me. I'd like to return the favor."

"As would I," Teyla said shortly. "But perhaps we should leave."

John glanced at Teyla, wondering what happened to her. He thought of the ripped shirt and what that might mean, then pushed it away to think about later. But now he really, really felt like shooting someone.

"Teyla, you and --"

"They won't stop," Ronon said. "She'll just come after me again."

"Well, you know what they say about a woman scorned," Sheppard said.

Ronon looked at him blankly.

"Hell hath no fury ... never mind. Point is, you hurt her feelings, and now she's trying to kill us."

"I what?"

"Hey, what's going on down there?" McKay's voice made Sheppard jump. "Should I shoot now?"

"No shooting, McKay."

"Is Teyla okay?"

John looked at her again. "She's going to be fine, if we can get rid of Ronon's psycho ex-girlfriend."

"Wait. What?"

"I'll fill you in later. Just stay up there and try and look menacing."

"Menacing. Right."

Sheppard stared at the ground for a moment. If Ronon was right, and this woman was going to try to come after him again, they needed to handle the situation now. He didn't want Teyla in the line of fire again.

"Ronon Dex!"

They all looked up at the sound of her voice. Sheppard looked to Galen, who nodded. This was his sister.

Ronon looked at Sheppard for orders. John nodded.

"Analee."

"You killed my father," she called. "I have the right of retribution under Satedan law."

"Doesn't really count if you have six or seven men backing you up." Ronon glanced at Teyla. "Or if you harm my friends."

Teyla laid a hand on his forearm, and Sheppard fought back the urge to pull her away from Ronon. He told himself to get a grip. If she even had an inkling of what he was thinking, she'd kick his ass into next week.

"I propose a fight," Analee said after a moment. She sounded like she was closer to them now, and John made sure his weapon was ready. "I'll call off my guards, and you call off your ... ship. I will kill you myself."

Ronon rolled his eyes but pushed to a standing position. "You've always had an inflated view of your fighting skills."

"Wait." Sheppard grabbed Ronon's good arm, then activated his radio. "If any of them move, McKay, shoot 'em."

After some negotiation, they formed two lines; six of Analee's men on one side, John, Teyla and Galen on the other with the jumper backing them up. Ronon and the woman stood in between, holding knives. One way or another, the fight would end the dispute.

Sheppard felt like he was watching "West Side Story." "If Ronon starts singing, I'm outta here," he muttered.

"It's a movie," he started to explain before realizing that Teyla wasn't even listening to him. In fact, she wasn't even watching Ronon and Analee circling one another. She was scanning the men on the other side; Sheppard realized that's what he should be doing, too. This bunch hadn't really been all that trustworthy so far.

"One is missing." She said it so quietly that it didn't register at first, but John understood what she meant immediately. If one of the guards was missing, then the whole situation was probably another trap.

"You sure?"

She nodded grimly, and he pushed back a wave of anger. It had to be the one who hurt her.

Sheppard started scanning the area, toward the trees and shrubs around the house. Casually, he clicked his radio on. The men on the other side weren't paying attention; they were all laughing as Analee managed to slice into Ronon's good arm. "McKay, we're missing a bad guy. See anyone?"

"There might be someone behind the well to your right," Rodney said finally. "I can't tell for sure. I don't suppose you can check the life signs detector without them noticing."

"Well on the right?" he muttered to Teyla, watching as Ronon scored a hit across the woman's belly. It had to be shallow, though, because it didn't slow her down a bit.

Teyla stared at the well. Then she nodded. "Someone is there."

Sheppard tightened his grip on his gun, considering his options. Analee was either ensuring that Ronon would die if he killed her, or, more likely, she was planning to have her man shoot him during the fight.

Analee nearly connected with Ronon again before he danced out of her way, smirking. Sheppard shook his head. Ronon was playing with her. He could have taken her out four or five times by this point. He didn't think the Satedan was going to kill her, though he supposed he should've cleared that up ahead of time, but dragging this fight out was only going to make things worse.

When Ronon met his eyes, Sheppard jerked his head. Finish it.

Ronon nodded, then attacked. Sheppard turned slightly toward the well and saw Teyla was doing the same. The dimwits on the other side didn't seem to notice anything. Sheppard thought a couple of them were even hoping Ronon would win.

Ronon cut Analee's forearm, then grabbed the wrist of her knife hand and squeezed until she dropped her weapon with a sharp cry. Deliberately or not, he had placed Analee in between himself and the well, so Sheppard felt free to keep his eyes on the other men. None of them seemed inclined to step in on behalf of their employer.

"Stop!" Galen stepped in. "That's enough. All of this is enough."

"I told you to stay--" Analee started, breaking off as her brother yanked her away from Ronon.

"Enough, Lee," Galen said.

Sheppard was so impressed at seeing him stand up to the sister he obviously feared, without stuttering, that he momentarily forgot the possibility of a shooter by the well.

Teyla hadn't forgotten.

Ronon jerked and went down as a bullet slammed into his shoulder. Teyla was somehow halfway to the well, firing as she ran. Sheppard caught up to her a moment later. She was holding her gun on a man who was collapsed on the ground, bleeding from wounds on his side and one leg. Teyla looked like she had a death grip on her gun as she kicked the man's rifle away.

"You all right?" he asked, trying to keep an eye on Teyla and the man.

"Ronon?"

"He got hit in the shoulder. Should be fine if we get him back quickly." She was still staring at the man on the ground. A quick glance told him that Galen had everything under control over there. The men seemed to be taking orders from him, and Analee wasn't even bothering to argue. Then again, Ronon was standing there menacingly, staring at her and bleeding. John mentally kicked himself for allowing himself to be distracted. He'd handled this whole situation wrong from the very beginning. Two members of his team were injured, and he blamed himself for both.

"You know this guy, Teyla?"

"We are acquainted," she said shortly. One hand pulled away from the gun and drifted to her midsection, gripping the jacket she still wore over her shirt. She didn't seem to notice. She was still staring at the man curled up on the ground, clutching his side and speaking -- cursing, probably -- in a language Sheppard had never heard.

This bastard had hurt Teyla. Tied her up, beat her ... and possibly more. John barely resisted the urge to kick him in the head, but he made his voice as normal as possible as he gently touched Teyla's shoulder. "Go help Ronon. I got this."

Pulling back, she took a deep breath and nodded. With one more look back at the thug, she went to Ronon.

After she was out of earshot, Sheppard leaned down. "You hurt her?"

The man didn't say a word, but his smirk certainly wasn't a response to being shot twice. Sheppard imagined filing a report of an accidental P90 discharge into this guy's head. The man shifted, and Sheppard waved his weapon. "Please reach for your gun. I would love to shoot you."

While not seeming too bright, the thug wasn't as dumb as that.

oOo

"Are you okay? I wanted to be, you know, down there, but Sheppard thought I would be more valuable in the jumper, and I --"

"I am fine, Rodney," Teyla said, shooting a small smile at John. He couldn't help but smile back. "Thank you for your assistance. Now. Should we not get Ronon back to Atlantis?"

"Yeah." Sheppard stepped up to both of them. "We better get you both ... home." He nodded at Ronon. It wasn't quite an apology, but it would do for now.

tbc

Just the epilogue to go, folks ...