This is all you Angela, making everything better!
Notes: Oh man, oh man! You guys, with the reading and the reviews and...you're so darn nice, each and every one :)
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Relief…
Warming, comforting, happiness-inducing relief rushed through Rodney's body, weakening his knees and soothing his frazzled nerves. He stood transfixed, thinking he'd never seen a more beautiful colour than the soft hazel of the eyes that widened in recognition before disappearing in a slow blink.
"You're alive…" His body let him enjoy this moment, easing back the tension that had plagued him for more than a week. The world slowed down to a near halt, sounds took on a faraway, muted quality. Lokas, Mira, the accompanying team, the many guards they had picked up on the way; everything disappeared, only Sheppard remained.
Unfortunately, his contentment was quickly overridden by the coldness of hatred and his entire being contracted in a burning need to lash out. He bellowed without moving from his stance in front of the device. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?"
Sheppard's body was covered by small, deep cuts and blood ran in thin rivulets down his pale skin. Rodney's eyes followed the trajectory of a small object that shot up through a tube and fell down to the bottom of the device. He peered at it, trying to establish its nature and provenance. Another followed the same path and as he traced back to its point of origin, Rodney saw red. Red like blood, red like flesh wounds, red like rage.
This time, there was no one to stop Rodney from the spew of words that tumbled out of his mouth, no one to tell him to be quiet or calm. They'd all witnessed the same thing and were reacting in similar ways. Teyla let out a horrified gasp and fisted her hand on the sleeve of Rodney's jacket. Ronon took the same path, though his hands reached for a completely different target.
From inside the Sancta, it was quite an alarming spectacle. His own body, limp and lifeless, Rodney's hate-filled glare and unstoppable mouth, Teyla's distressed clutching of his sleeve, Ronon's struggle against the pull of his team-mates, reaching for…what was the man doing?
Ronon managed to take a few steps as Rodney followed trustingly, his eyes still locked on the device, unaware of their destination. John couldn't help but be amazed at the incredible naivety of the most brilliant man he had ever met. To just follow blindly like that, without assuring himself it was safe! He realised perhaps, this time, naivety was not in play. It was trust. Rodney trusted Ronon to lead him, to keep him out of harm's way because that's what they did. They kept each other safe. He watched as the two men moved, dragging Teyla towards Ronon's intended target. Rodney's eyes widened as he apparently understood the endeavour's unavoidable conclusion. He tried to hold back, stop moving, but he was no match for Ronon's brute force.
Lokas stepped in front of the group, hands raised in a hindering gesture. "Stop! Wait! I can help you!"
"Move!" Ronon would reach her no matter who stood in his way. He shoved Lokas away and, putting all his strength in one final pull on the opposing forces that held him back, his hands landed on the neck of the red-haired woman. He squeezed and threatened, "Release him!" It was similar to his standard tactics though his fingers usually clenched around a weapon as opposed to velvety flesh.
The woman spoke haltingly, the suffocating pressure on her neck restricting a good percentage of the air necessary to assure life. "I…cannot…he has…no right…"
"You mean you won't!" Ronon pressed harder; thus began the battle between a runner's instinctual reaction and a defenceless trachea. He looked at the woman's bulging eyes, her skin paling from the decrease in oxygen supply. She dug her nails in the constricting limbs in an effort to free herself. A slow spreading, disturbingly satisfied smile lighted Ronon's face as he saw her lose focus and felt her body slacken. He'd get Sheppard back, get his team back. They'd be all right; everyone alive and well. They'd be able to go on missions, watch movies together, spar, mock McKay and generally have a good time. Everything would be as it should be.
He didn't realised he was speaking aloud until he was shouting. "You will not take my life again. I have found a home, you will not destroy it! Free him! FREE HIM NOW!"
Oblee was wrenched from his grasp and he let out a furious howl. It had taken Mira, two guards, Major Lorne and Lieutenant What's-his-name to take her away from him. He lunged again, a feral need to destroy her for what she'd done to them all. Lorne raised his weapon, his face determined.
"Stop, or I will shoot." He indicated the console that stood to their left. "Dr. McKay, you should take a look at that thing, get Colonel Sheppard out." The Major had a good head, knew how to handle people, diffuse potentially explosive situations. This was definitely one of the highly volatile kind if only from the involved parties' emotional exhaustion. He couldn't fathom how they'd held it together so long. Granted, McKay had been irascible but it was not unexpected; he was prone to overly strong reactions and was not trained to deal with death in such proximity. No one ever was, but Major Lorne believed it was easier on the military contingent. Death was part of their everyday lives, even more so now. Sometimes, he truly hated his career choice.
Rodney gave one look at Sheppard, saw the blood on his body, his very alive body, and wanted nothing more than to bring him home to the safety of Carson's domain. "Yeah." He gave a pointed look to Ronon who was starring fiercely at Oblee before tapping him on the shoulder and indicating the console with a jerk of his head. "Let's get Sheppard. It's no use choking her, not going to help Sheppard or get us out of here any faster."
They moved to the console where Rodney quickly went to work. The woman sat up slowly, clutching her neck, feeling Ronon's predatory glare. He'd followed because it was true, their main concern was freeing Sheppard, but McKay didn't understand. No one touched his people and lived to tell the tale. She would know it had been a monumental mistake to harm Sheppard, his leader and the closest thing he had to a brother.
Lokas helped her get to her feet, speaking desolately. "What have you done, Oblee?"
"I have done no worse than the people who sent Banee to exile."
Teyla listened to them speak quietly as McKay feverishly ran his fingers over the console. She let her eyes wander to the devices filled with liquid and to John who stood frozen, his eyes roaming over them. She looked again to the other devices and her mind registered what she was seeing. Human lives, that's what the liquid was, or had been. She looked at John again and her heart lurched as another piece of flesh left his body. She knew her nightmares would not only be filled with images of a corpse but a fluid presence. This could've been the Colonel's fate. It could still be if they couldn't get him out. A savage scream pulled her out of sickening thoughts.
"STEP AWAY! STOP!"
Oblee was charging at them in desperation. Ronon smiled hungrily, ready to finish what he had started. She threw herself over the console and attempted to push Rodney away. When it failed to deter his efforts, she punched him in the face, twice. Her fighting skills drew an impressed eyebrow lift from Teyla and she hated herself for it, this was not the time for technique evaluation. Rodney's primarily scientific mind considered the implication of the velocity of impact on the field's permeability a split second before registering pain.
"OW! What's your problem? You broke my face! I need my face! Are you insane?" He regained his sight by unclenching his eyes, observed whom he was speaking to and considered his last statement. "Oh, yeah."
With strength born from urgency, Oblee was pushing them away from the console one nanometre at a time but carefully remained out of Ronon's reach concentrating all her efforts on Rodney's broad chest. Lokas and the guards rushed to her and attempted to drag her away.
"Let me go! Let me go! They will ruin it all! They will take Banee away! Lokas! Order them to desist!"
"Oblee. It is their right to free their friend. I am sorry but you will lose Banee through your own foolishness! You should not have done this, it is not right to force the assemblage! You have killed five innocent people! You have selfishly taken five wonderful lives to satisfy your need!"
"Wonderful lives! They were nothing! Carriers, senses! They had Banee!"
"They were more than that, you know this to be true. What have you done, Oblee? What have you done…"
"AH!" They were interrupted by Rodney's loud, satisfied outburst. He'd resumed his study of the console while Lokas attempted to calm his sister.
John was released from the Sancta, the shield disappeared and he fell to the ground in a bloody heap. A large cloud of dark green smoke rose up…up…up into the sky and disappeared in a languorous dance. Ronon, Rodney and Teyla hurried to John's side and he watched them approach with a small smile, purposefully ignoring his own deceased flesh being carried between the two men.
"You came…"
"Have they made stupid your default setting here or what? Of course we came! Who do you think you're talking to, huh? Though with the dead thing…" Rodney attempted humour but gave up, there was nothing funny about their situation. "He brought us here."
John's head rose an inch from the ground and he peered in the direction Rodney had indicated. He saw the man who held Oblee as she cried. Even her pain couldn't lessen his good spirits as he took in the sight of his people, his friends. He sighed contentedly and passed out, feeling like all was right in the world. He never heard the animalist scream Oblee released as she rushed to him and tried to put him back in the Sancta.
"NO! NO! I will not lose him completely! BANEEEEEEEE!"
She grabbed him roughly and dragged him to the device, screaming and crying. "You are not supposed to be here! Give me the essence! Give it to me! You are useless! Nothing, a carrier! Just a carrier! I do not want you! I want Banee! Give him back to me! Give me his life! It is not yours! You have taken what is not yours!"
She dug a gadget out of the depth of her cloak and applied it to Sheppard's neck. It performed its intended function with a soft hiss which brought a satisfied smile to her mouth. Standing, she gave a vicious kick to John's stomach, aggravating his injuries and spilling more blood.
This, Ronon couldn't tolerate. He let go of the weak grip he had managed to retain on his self-control and let his massive hands close around Oblee's neck once more. He heard the voices that begged him to stop, couldn't miss the barrel of a P-90 threatening him and saw hands trying to pry the woman away from his murderous grip, but decided she would not be taken away again. With a quick, strong movement, he turned her head too far to the left. The sickening crick of broken bones was the last sound to ever come from her. Ronon released her lifeless body and it slumped beside Sheppard's.
Everyone stopped and stared as Lokas held his sister close. Crying noiselessly, he stroked her hair for a long moment which no one dared to interrupt. Eventually, he wiped his eyes and stood, facing Ronon. "It will not be said that what she did was right, not by me nor any of my people, and neither will it be said that you are a bad man. It will simply be said that the hand of justice was forced for her, unlike it was for you. My sister has killed innocents, she would have been punished according to our laws; you have killed my sister and so justice shall be rendered." He was calm, as if explaining a simple fact. "Guards, please escort them to the city, I shall request a meet with the High House immediately."
The guards moved much faster than would've been expected, taking weapons, making officers unconscious in mere seconds. Teyla, Rodney and Ronon could only watch as their people were overpowered and their own weapons were turned against them. Rodney couldn't help but curse the force field for the umpteenth time for it made them as strong as the weakest member and he knew all too well how weak that member truly was. Were it not for him, Ronon and Teyla would've been able to fight and save the day. Internally berating his contemptible self, he followed the guards, loudly demanding they handled Sheppard cautiously. He felt Teyla's hand on the small of his back and turned to look at her. She smiled gently and inclined her head. They would be fine, they had Sheppard now. The quaternion was complete; they'd found the one to add to their three.