AN: Sorry, no continuation of whumpage into this chapter. There will be a bit more in later chapters... but I give you nekkid Shep! (This story is taking on a bit more plot than I had originally thought; not that that's saying much...)

Chapter 5

It had only taken twenty minutes for McKay to grow uncomfortable and Zelenka to grumble in frustration with the lack of progress on the restraints. McKay was relieved, though, to hear Zelenka grousing in czech. It was far better than the silence which had seemed to overtake the doctor when he had returned from... wherever they had taken him. Still, Rodney was scared and frustrated, and almost for the sake of normalcy, he took it out on Radek.

"Would you hurry it up back there? My shoulders are cramping," McKay snapped. He was relieved to hear Radek respond in kind.

"I would love to," Zelenka said. His tone was as waspish as Rodney's, but still held a distinct quaver. The Czech tried to steady his voice, but it didn't work too well. "Unfortunately, I have no tools, no equipment, no way of telling if what I'm doing is making any difference whatsoever!"

"Well then what good is this!" Rodney retorted, sitting up straight, rolling his eyes, his mind searching for the next brilliant idea.

"But..." Radek said quietly, but trailed off. Even though he hadn't been able to tell if he was making any progress, he wasn't sure he wanted to give up. He really wanted Rodney's jacket.

With a fair amount of effort, Rodney dragged himself to his feet and began retracing Sheppard's earlier steps around the cell. His keen eyes probed the walls and door for weaknesses. Radek wanted to help look for a way out, but he couldn't bring himself to stand up. Without an immediate distraction, his mind started churning through the memories of the previous hours. A soft voice broke through his horrible internal replay.

"Dr. Zelenka," Teyla said, sitting with her back to the bars of her cell, head turned just to the side so that her voice would carry across the hall without her directly looking into the other cell. "I hope you know that you have nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of."

"So you say," Radek snorted quietly, and curled into himself a bit more, the echoes of his own screams still ringing in his ears. Teyla was not put off. She knew the more information they had, the better off they were. Also, the more occupied her mind was, the less likely she was to dwell on Colonel Sheppard's situation.

"Did they ask you any questions?" she pressed as gently as she could. Zelenka paused for a moment before responding.

"They asked why we were looking at the panel," he said quietly.

"And what did you say?" Teyla asked. Radek took a deep breath.

"I told them we were scientists... and... and that we were looking for ways to defend ourselves against the Wraith," the small man stammered. He was terrified that he had said or done something wrong, to make this situation even worse than it already was. He berated himself, wishing he had said nothing at all, kept strong and silent. But the burning sensation that still clung to his skin, threatened to make him cry out every time he moved was a stark reminder that he was not that strong. He found himself holding his breath as he waited for any kind of a response from Teyla; she would tell him honestly if he had made a mistake.

"That is good, doctor," the woman said softly. "A wise response." Zelenka slowly exhaled, feeling himself shiver against the cold of the cell. "Did they ask anything else?" Radek took another breath, then glanced up to find Rodney, Teyla, and Karina all looking right at him. He felt himself flush, but forced himself to keep his voice as steady and even as he could.

"Yes," he said, and began to go through the events of the previous hours. It took him a while to get it all out, and he left out most of the... details... that he couldn't bring himself to speak about. Rodney and Teyla were grateful for that, anyway, because neither wanted to think about what might be happening to Colonel Sheppard. By the time he'd finished filling them in, more than an hour and a half had passed.

Teyla was impressed. Though Dr. Zelenka would not say specifically what they had done to him, it was clear he had suffered greatly. In spite of that, as he recounted the conversation that had taken place, she was pleased and proud of the scientist. He had said nothing to their captors about Atlantis. Though they had asked about the technology the scientists had been using, the doctor, when pressed to answer, had replied as carefully as anyone could.

"You handled the situation admirably, doctor," Teyla told him, smiling softly. Zelenka nodded curtly, but the corners of his mouth twitched upwards for a moment. Though still embarrassed by his lack of clothes, he didn't feel quite so ashamed anymore. Though his skin still burned, a heavy burden had been lifted from him, and he felt himself breathing much more easily than he had before.

The sounds of people coming down the corridor immediately grabbed the group's attention. In a moment, the now familiar sight of the group of men outside the door blocked the line of sight between the two cells. The door slid open at Soren's command, and a very disoriented Colonel Sheppard was tossed into the cell.

Like Zelenka, he was bleeding, soaked to the bone, sans clothing and restraints. McKay was about to yell at the men, when a realization dawned on him. He wondered why he hadn't though of it before. It was so painfully obvious that he was next. As the same two men swept towards him, he tried to scramble backwards, but too late.

"Oh crap," was all he managed to squeak out as he was dragged from the cell. He heard his friends calling after him, and he hoped this wouldn't be the last time he heard their voices.

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End Notes: I do hope yer all enjoying this lil monster. I'm enjoying writing it!