A/N: Okay...the first chapter is finally up. This story is going to be fairly long, and it's going to get pretty dark. Hope you come along for the ride if you don't mind angst and drama. Rating will probably end up T, but nothing M.
"Lizabeth, we have to do this. I mean…well…we can't let this pass by just because we don't want to share."
Elizabeth looked at her pouting chief scientist. She had every intention of going along with his request. However, Rodney didn't need to know that. If he found out too soon, she'd never get the information she needed out of him; he'd be off preparing and planning.
"Rodney. I didn't say that we weren't going to do it. I simply…" Rodney cut in faster than she thought he would.
"So we are doing this? Oh, good. I need to get to my lab and…" Elizabeth held up a hand to stop him.
"Will you wait a second? Just listen to me, okay?" At his frown and nod, Elizabeth continued. "Give me all the particulars and I'll put the final okay on it. As long as we can spare whatever they're wanting in exchange for the access, alright?"
Rodney sighed and sat down in the chair across from her and opened his notebook. "In short, they're willing to let us have all the time we need to study the Ancient lab we found there, including letting us bring any artifacts we want back here to study, provided we bring them back when we're done, or renegotiate for them." He looked over his notes, shut his notebook, and looked up, locking his gaze with hers. "Lizabeth there's no telling what information the Ancients left there. We can't pass this up for anything."
Elizabeth looked over her folder again. "All they're wanting is medicines and help with planting crops to obtain a higher yield, right? I think that shouldn't be too hard. And you said this planet is safe? Safe enough for, oh, I don't know…..someone like me to go along?"
Rodney couldn't help but smile at Elizabeth's subtle hint. "Lizabeth, it should be perfectly fine for you to come. It's a beautiful planet; Sheppard can fly us to the ruins in a puddlejumper. They're a couple miles from the nearest village, so it shouldn't be a problem to ensure your safety. And…regardless of what the linguistics department may think of their abilities, you're the best Ancient translator we have."
Elizabeth grinned at the compliment; high praise indeed from Rodney. He belatedly realized the effect his words would have, and cleared his throat self-consciously. "Yes…well. So we leave in the morning? You, me, Sheppard and Zelenka for now, if you agree. We can add more scientists as we discover the need."
Elizabeth nodded. They both rose, and went their separate ways.
The next morning, Rodney entered the Jumper bay to find Sheppard, Zelenka, and Elizabeth already waiting. He waved off their questions impatiently. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, I know. I'm a couple minutes late. Let's get going, shall we? Time's wasting, and all that." He turned to enter the jumper in front of him, pulling his backpack behind him. The others looked at each other and shrugged and rolled their eyes, then joined him, storing their gear for the flight.
In no time at all, Sheppard had the jumper sliding through the air towards their goal. Rodney and Zelenka were deep in the midst of a techno-babbled debate, so Elizabeth just leaned back in her seat to enjoy the ride. She hadn't been in a jumper many times, nor even offworld. She intended to enjoy every moment that she could.
The jumper set down in a large clearing about 50 yards from the majestic building. It looked a lot like the base of Atlantis itself, almost star shaped. It was overgrown with weeds and various samples of plant life. They disembarked and all headed inside carefully, starting their exploration.
Several hours passed in relative quiet, broken only by an occasional grunt of exertion, exclamation of discovery or groan of stiff muscles.
Rodney finally stood erect and stretched his back from the hours of crouching. "Ahhhh! Ow! Okay…more back damage." He rolled his neck around, and then looked to the others. "Anyone else thinking about food?"
Everyone realized that it was well past lunchtime. The fact that Rodney had gone this long without food was a testament to the amazement of their find. They all agreed to break for lunch and went outside into the sunshine, heading for the jumper and their food. They found comfortable places to sit in the grass near the jumper and tucked into their lunch.
About 30 minutes later, feeling satisfied but not overly full, Elizabeth stood. She brushed the seat of her pants off and looked around. "Um, guys? I'm heading over to those trees. Nature is not only calling, but knocking on the door as well. I'll be back in a couple minutes. And no, John, I don't need an escort." She rolled her eyes as he froze ½ way standing. He nonchalantly sat back down as she walked across the clearing, blocking out the sound of laughter from Rodney and the snap back from Sheppard.
She found herself enjoying the smell of the flowers and the chirping of the nearby birds, and was in no hurry to rejoin the others. After several minutes of absorbing the peacefulness, though, she realized they'd be worried about her, and headed back to the jumper to rejoin her team. She could still see John's feet protruding around the end of the ship, so she knew they hadn't been too concerned.
As she rounded the corner of the jumper, she smiled at the site before her. John was sleeping, his back resting on the jumper. Elizabeth nudged his leg with her foot, noticing at the same time that Zelenka was also asleep. She glanced around, but Rodney was nowhere to be seen. Probably back in the lab by now, sick of waiting for the lazy ones. She rolled her eyes at their lack of stamina and kicked John again, a bit harder, making his whole leg jiggle, but he didn't awaken. She frowned and called his name once, then again louder at his lack of response. When even shaking his shoulder didn't work, she quickly felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief to find it strong and steady, just slowed to indicate deep sleep and relaxation. A check of Zelenka proved they were both simply asleep, but the fact she couldn't wake them worried her.
Looking around again, Elizabeth decided to find Rodney. She headed for the lab, certain he'd returned and just knowing he'd be fine, and back to work like normal. At least that's what she kept telling herself as she quickened her pace.
She reached the room they'd been in before, and gasped at the sight before her. Rodney was on the ground in the middle of the room, obviously unconscious. If the swelling on his cheek and jaw was any indication, he didn't just go to sleep as the others appeared to.
All training she'd gotten from John about away missions fled and she hurried to Rodney. Kneeling next to him, she gently turned him over and brought his head to rest in her lap, smoothing his hair gently. He didn't stir through it all and Elizabeth felt despair set in.
She'd just decided to try to get him back to the jumper when every hair on her head tingled. She looked around almost frantically, curling around Rodney's head to protect him from whatever evil was out there.
A scuffled step behind her cause her to whip her head around and she screamed at the image in front of her. Standing about 10 feet behind her was the last person she'd expected to see.
"Hello Doctor Weir. Thank you for joining us finally. Doctor McKay was most unwilling to cooperate." The evil seemed to practically ooze off the man as he came closer.