Part 15 - Power to the People
It had been nearly five weeks since he'd last seen Atlantis and her people but John was finally feeling strong enough to leave Sanjava and head for home. In the last day or so, he felt more like himself than he had in weeks. He'd eaten well and his stamina had improve so much that he no longer required the hoverchair.
Stepping out of the shower, he quickly dried himself off before donning his boxers and turning to the mirror to shave off his annoying stubble using an electric shaver borrowed from Major Lorne. The face that stared back at him was looking considerably better than it had a week ago. Gone were the dark shadows under his eyes and his complexion showed a healthy shade of pink.
His mind drifted to Atlantis as he removed the stubborn stubble. An overwhelming sense of excitement suddenly began to flood his brain, and with it a sense of joy at the prospect of seeing the beautiful city again and his other friends and collogues, especially Elizabeth. This time, nothing was going to get in the way of his returning home and he started to hum as he combed his hair, applied the Capellan equivalent of styling gel, and ruffled his hair up again so it stood up spiky in places. Not quite the same as the good old stuff from Earth but it would do.
Stilling happily humming, he entered his room to dress in the clothes the staff had found him for the homeward journey. They reminded him a little of the tunics he'd worn on board the Aurora and thankfully, they were totally different from the ones Tyrell had him dressed in.
He was just about to pack up his few meager possessions when Rodney came bursting into the room without knocking. "Hey, your Ancientness, are you ready to go… Oh my God what's that noise?"
John abruptly stopped humming and looked offended. "What do you mean, noise?"
"That tuneless noise coming out of your mouth."
"It wasn't tuneless, Rodney. You know what your trouble is, you're tone deaf."
"No I'm not. I think you should…" But before Rodney could say anymore, John shoved the last item into the backpack he'd been given and started to walk out of the room. "Come on, Rodney, let's go say our goodbyes and get the hell out of here."
A slow smile spread across Rodney's face as he watched John lightly step out of the room. It sure was good to see his friend back to his old self and to be finally going home .
Carson, Ronon, and Teyla were all waiting for them by the nurses' station and after a lot of thanks, good-byes and the a few odd kisses mainly from Carson to the nursing staff the Atlanteans walked off the join the others waiting for them in the main entry hall.
The medical staff and one nurse in particular watched them depart with a twinge of sadness. Yes, she thought as she watched him go. He certainly cleaned up nicely.
Arriving in the main hall, Lorne and the marines stood ready as more good-byes were exchanged between Sheppard, his team, and the newly formed Council. A promise was made to come back sometime to see how the people of Capella were coping and if they learnt anything about the defense system. In return, the Councilors offered them a safe haven should they ever become overrun by Wraith. John thanked them and wished them well. However, John was leaving with one regret and that was that he'd failed to convince Councilor Batas to destroy the last journal entries, but the man had promised they would stay confidential.
Goodbyes over, Sheppard gathered his people up with a look and everyone left Sanjava to start the long trek back to the gate.
-SGA-
An hour later, John was beginning to wish he'd taken up Tamar's offer of a ride to the gate as his legs began to tire and fatigue hit him. He would have accepted but Aldrich's people had gutted the air cars during the uprising leaving only one operational at the present time. That would have meant leaving Major Lorne and some of the marines still having to trek through the broken down city, and all the dangers that may have to offer. John had stated we all go together, safety in numbers and all that.
Finally, they reached the outskirts of the city and were about to encounter the suburbs and the dusty cracked road, an area familiar to Sheppard's gate team. Three marines had taken forward position, six others on flank, leaving Sgt. Macklin, Lorne, Teyla, and Ronon to cover their six, protecting the doctors and the Colonel like the precious cargo that they were. It slightly annoyed John but he saw the wisdom, as he didn't know how good he'd be if it came down to a fight.
For the first twenty minutes or so, they encountered no one. Not a hint life showed, if it still existed in this part of the city. John began to think they were in the clear as the broken down houses began to thin out and the countryside spread out ahead of them.
However, as if some deity wanted to throw them a last test, a small group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere and made to step in front of them blocking their way.
The marines immediately sprang into action, P90's and other weapons at the ready as they prepared to fight.
"Hold your fire!" Sheppard ordered as he stepped forward taking in the fact that most of the group appeared to be unarmed. "What do you want?" he asked them.
A lone woman stepped forward dressed in a ragged tunic top and pants that had certainly seen better days. Her hair hung lank, unkempt and she opened her mouth to show a row of discolored and broken teeth. "Is it true, mister, Tyrell and her henchmen are dead?"
Sheppard moved a little closer well aware of Ronon's shadow directly behind him. "Yes, it's true. She and Aldrich are gone and a Council has been formed intent on restoring equality for all the citizens of Capella. I'm sure if you approach them they will help you…"
John never had a chance to finish as another group of rough looking men appeared as if out of nowhere, causing everyone to go back on full alert. "Don't listen to him you stupid old bitch!" One of the men called out and then John recognized him as one of their previous attackers from weeks ago. Ronon stiffened by his side, meaning he'd recognized the man too.
However, in reply the woman turned an angry face on the man and screamed. "This is none of your business, Breton! We've had enough of scratching a living and begging to the likes of you and your kind." She turned back to Sheppard. "Would they really help us, mister?"
John looked at her earnestly. "I'm positive."
Breton turned angrily towards Sheppard. "It's all fucking lies 'cause how the hell do you know, mister?"
John poked his finger towards the brutes face. "I should know. I've just spent the last five goddamn weeks stuck in Sanjava. I witnessed Tyrell's death, first hand and the destruction of her duplicates. I was there for the upraising, and I'm the one who killed Aldrich. So, if you've got an ounce of brain in that empty head of yours, you'd realize that a better life could be had if you go with these people and asked for help. But that's up to you because all I want to do is go back home with my people, so get the shit out of my way if you don't want to die today."
The woman started to snigger at John's remarks. "He ain't got no brain, Mister."
Furious, Breton turned back towards to the woman and went to raise his hand to strike her but Ronon pushed him away. "You'd better not do that," he growled.
John could see that the situation was getting out of hand but as he told the idiot, all he wanted to do was go home, so he shouted. "Look, you and your gang can go crawl back into the rubble for all I care but leave these people alone. If they want a better future then that's up to them."
Breton seemed to consider his words, for a moment John truly thought that he would retreat but unfortunately, at that very moment Sanjava's only air car came into view, and spooked the already twitchy gang. Immediately, all hell broke loose as Breton's gang started to opened fire on the Atlanteans, and the woman and her group.
As people scattered in every direction, John brought up his P90 and got off a couple of shots as he grabbed the woman and dived for what little shelter there was a few meters away. He had to trust his men to ensure that the others were protected and his profound worry for Rodney and Carson was unfounded as he saw both men giving as good as they got from behind their shelter of a broken down piece of masonry. The rest of his group had also found cover and thankfully, none of the bodies lying on the road wore Atlantis clothing.
The air car had already landed several hundred meters away reminding Sheppard of the previous time as six armed and uniformed security guards alighted and opened fire on Breton's men. The ensuing battle didn't take long as the cowards, realizing that they were truly outnumbered, ran away.
Sheppard quickly got up to prevent the security forces from firing on the innocent people. "It's okay," he shouted. "These folks are unarmed and have asked for your help."
"Are you sure, Colonel Sheppard?" called the distinctive voice of Officer Tamar as he cautiously approached John's position.
"Yeah, I'm pretty positive," replied John. Turning towards the woman who was still crouching behind the boulder she'd found for shelter, he called to her "Its okay, you can get up now."
John watched her as she started to rise but then like a flash in the corner of his eye, John caught sight of Breton standing up from behind an old wall, brandishing a wicked looking knife aimed right for the women's unprotected back. Without a second thought, Sheppard pushed the woman back down and felt a thud and sharp pain as the knife sliced into his arm. Directly above him, the roar of gunfire spelt the end of Breton's life.
In the ensuing silence, John slowly rose to inspect his arm as the woman shakily stood up beside him. Dusting off her shabby clothes, she looked at Sheppard with concern. "Are ye alright, mister?" When John nodded, she continued. "I be thanking ye for saving me from me husband, mister."
Sheppard looked at her in surprise. "Your husband?"
"Believe me, t'was many moons ago. I left him 'cause the bastard turned wicked. Started to beat me real bad he did, steal all he could he did, and he'd kill anyone who stood in his way."
John winced at her bad grammar and was just about to ask more when a slightly out of breath Carson pulled up beside him. "I don't bloody believe it, you've done it again."
"Ah…come on, doc, it's just a nick."
Carson looked at him with a critical eye. "All right then, Dr. Sheppard, if ya say so but by the looks of it, I'd say it nicked a blood vessel."
Removing his backpack, Carson pulled out a medical kit containing all that he had left, which wasn't a lot as most of his other equipment had been either left for the staff in back in Sanjava or used up on his most persistent patient. As Carson went about examining John's arm, he heard the woman mutter. "He did save me life, mister."
"That's Dr. Beckett and you would be?"
"Caddy Breton but I don't go by the last name anymore." She spat towards where her husband's body lay riddled with bullets. Then a thought seemed to hit her and she turned back to smile seductively at John. "I'm a widow woman now are ye single, mister handsome one?"
Sheppard swallowed hard and was just about to answer when Teyla came to his rescue. "No he is not, good lady," she lied.
The woman looked sad and highly disappointed as she assumed Teyla to be John's wife. Not giving up however, she turned her attention to Carson and Sheppard quickly came to his rescue. "He's not single either. He has a lovely lady waiting for him back home."
By this time, everyone had overheard the woman and suddenly all the remaining men especially Rodney and Ronon seem to shrink as they all went about looking for distractions elsewhere.
The woman watched them with interest so Carson took the opportunity to pull John gently aside to continue his examination. Carefully removing the knife, he applied a pressure pad onto the wound before securing a tourniquet around John's upper arm. "Well that will have to do until we can get ya home and the quicker the better if ya ask me before anything else can go wrong or that woman finds herself an unwilling husband."
Officer Tamar smiled as he overheard him. "We could take you back to Sanjava, Colonel?"
John held up his good arm. "No offense, Tamar, but we've come so far and I'd really like to sleep in my own bed tonight."
"Of course, I fully understand. Why don't we take you, the good doctor, and a few others to the gate in the air car? Our forces will see to it that the rest of your people get there safely on foot."
"And these people?" John indicated Caddy Breton and her followers. "What will happen to them?"
"I can assure you, they will be taken to Sanjava, given food, new clothing, and a place to live. In return, they can help us rebuild Capella City to its former glory."
Caddy spoke up and gave him a predatory grin. "Sounds fair to me, mister," The others all nodded in agreement. "But there are more like us out there," she added with a wink.
Tamar swallowed hard and looked at the group. "Anyone who likes to join us is more than welcome but they must abide by the laws."
Once again, everyone nodded in agreement.
-SGA-
Half an hour later, the air car finally landed in front of the DHD and Rodney went about reinstalling the control crystals as everyone said their final good-byes.
It all felt strange to John, the fact that he was finally stepping through the gate. A sense of deja-vu washed over him as he prepared to go home. When Rodney ultimately sent his IDC and got a green light, John took a tentative step and followed him through hoping they would welcome him back.
TBC
Thanks again for the reviews. Hope you like this chapter as it's not so easy to write with temperatures of 30+ outside and no air con. There's one more to go and I hope to post that sometime over the weekend if I don't melt in the meantime.