A/N: Well, here it finally is...Chapter 5. Thanks to that wonderful thing called college, my writing isn't progressing as fast as I'd like, but look this chapter's nice and long. So that makes up for it right? Real quick I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Your thoughts are more appreciated than you know. Now on to the story!


CHAPTER 5

A slight figure watched from above as the slavers cart was driven into the courtyard. As the cart came to a stop a large woman and older man walked out to great it. When the back of the cart was opened, the woman's voice rose in irritation. The boy couldn't hear what was being said from his perch, but he recognized the tone in the housekeeper's voice. It was the one she had used just last week when he had been caught stealing juja fruit from the orchard. He winced at the memory and then perked up with interest as a limp form was dragged out and dumped unceremoniously at the housekeeper's feet. The man made a hand motion towards the doorway and as the cart rolled away the unconscious figure was loaded onto a stretcher, with special care given to the left shoulder, and taken to the healer's building apart from the house.

The boy gave a soft sight and returned to staring at the stars through the braches. So that was his new tutor, a wounded slave. He wondered absently how much his father had actually paid for such rubbish. No doubt his mother would be satisfied with the purchase. Oh yes, he thought bitterly, their boy had a tutor from another planet. Even Senator Agrippa's son's tutor was from the river valley.

He almost felt sorry for the man; his father was not kind to slaves, least of all to those more intelligent than himself. Which would be almost anyone, the boy scoffed. His father found physical and political prowess to be far more important than knowing how the universe worked. This new slave would find his world a cold place to try and survive in.

As the child's thoughts turned darker than the sky he stared at so intently, he slipped from the tree and back into the window of his blackened room.


When Rodney finally woke up the first thing he noticed was the feeling of a mattress underneath him. It was hard and would probably wreak havoc on his back, but it was a mattress all the same. It also felt like someone had treated his shoulder properly, judging by the suspicious lack of pain as he moved around to see exactly where he was.

Blinking to adjust to the light, Rodney found himself in a small white room, furnished only with the bed he was on. There was a tiny window set in the wall above the bed, through which the sunlight was streaming in. A doorframe, minus the door, was directly across from the window. There was also a pile of clothing set next to the door.

It was at this point that Rodney realized his currently unclothed state. He rapidly tried to pull the sheets closer around him, but hissed in pain as he attempted to move his shoulder. He turned his head to inspect the injury. His arm had been wrapped across his chest to prevent movement, something he hadn't noticed till he had tried to move it. Okay, so by looking at the bandages and judging off the amount of pain he'd just experienced he was better, but not fully healed.

Gingerly reaching up to the metal collar still around his neck, Rodney wondered exactly how advanced these people were. First there was that 'pain-stick' he had the pleasure of enduring earlier, and then they'd knocked him out with this collar. Now it looked like his shoulder was closer to healing than it should have been after only one day. What was going on with this planet? They looked and acted like primitives, but some of their technology suggested otherwise.

He was so lost in his musings that he didn't notice the woman who appeared in the doorway.

"Ahem!"

Rodney jumped at the sudden intrusion. The first thought that entered his mind when he saw the figure across from him was that she looked a lot like Mammy from Gone with the Wind; not that he'd ever admit to having seen it, but the selection of movies on Atlantis during that first year had been rather limited.

In his flustered state, the first words out of his mouth were, "Where am I, and where the hell are my clothes?"

At this the imposing woman simply reached down to the clothes on the floor and threw them at Rodney.

"These are your clothes now. You better put them on and get to the main hall quick. Get a move on, you've slept too long already." As she turned around to leave she said one last thing. "I'm Prisca, the 'keeper here. Welcome to the house of Senator Garai."

"Wait…what…where?" Rodney could only sputter incoherently as Prisca left.

Giving suspicious looks at the door-less opening, Rodney inspected his new attire. Wonderful, not only did they give him their equivalent of sackcloth to wear, but it looked like he wasn't going to be getting any privacy either. Maneuvering underneath the bed sheet to get dressed took some doing, but there was no way Rodney was letting anybody just look in on him getting dressed. Soon he scrambled out from under the covers and readjusted the semi-sling around his arm. Looking at himself, he frowned in annoyance; he was definitely not a fan of dresses, skirts, kilts, etc on men, let alone on himself. Note-to-self: Never let Beckett find out about this. That is assuming he ever saw Beckett again. After tying on the red belt, at least that's what he thought it was, and slipping on the wooden sandals, Rodney decided he should probably try to go find this main hall Prisca had mentioned.

Peeking his head out the doorway Rodney ventured out into the long hall. He could see he was in the first room in the hall, which was lined with other rooms exactly like his own. He must be in the slave quarters. Now, how exactly did he get out of here?

After a great deal of getting turned around, of course they would have to paint every hall the same shade of white, Rodney was able to find his way out of the slave quarters and into the house. If he hadn't been in such a rotten mood, what after being shot, captured, and sold to a politician, he may have been impressed by the place. The marble-like floors shined similar to foggy mirrors, and the motifs on the wall were impressive, not only in their size, but also due to the obvious skill of the artisan who carved them. Stepping out into a hall with arched ceilings, Rodney realized he had reached the man hall. And standing at the far end was a man he recognized from the night before.

Senator Garai was a tall man. Rodney thought the senator had that look of someone who could have been a star athlete when they were younger, but all the beer and pizza had finally caught up with them later in life. However, no matter the man's physical condition, the look he sent in Rodney's direction let him know that the Senator was not the sort of man to mess with. Of course when had that sort of thing ever stopped him before? Rodney marched across the hall, a determined look plastered on his face. But before he could put his foot in his mouth the Senator spoke.

"So you have some spirit after all. Shame." This statement made Rodney freeze mid-stride. What the hell did that mean? He wasn't given time to ponder the question as the Senator turned and gave one simple command, "Follow."

Now, Rodney didn't respond well to orders given to him by his friends, let alone ones given by strange aliens politicians. "Wait just a minute! Where am I and why am I here?"

The look on Garai's face made Rodney begin to second-guess the wisdom of opening his mouth. "If you were to have obeyed your commands, you would have found out. I will not tolerate defiance again. Follow."

Despite the obvious threat, Rodney stayed frozen in position. "No, you answer my questions right now, or I'm not going anywhere."

The next thing he knew was pain, pure intense pain. When the pain finally stopped Rodney found himself lying on the floor, his view of the ceiling swimming about in his vision. Okay, so he now knew those collars could do more than just knock people out. The next instant he found himself being hauled to his feet and eye to eye with Garai.

"Next time I will not be so kind."

That was kind? Rodney really didn't want to find out what unkind meant, his self-preservation instinct ran to deep for that. So when the Senator started to walk, Rodney followed.

As they walked through the house Garai, began to talk.

"You were bought because my fool wife believes our son should have a tutor. The slaver said you had skill in the language of the Ancestors and in number manipulation. Was he truthful?"

"Yes, I'm skilled in both of those areas." Rodney wasn't about to say no even if it wasn't true.

"Then you will teach my idiot son what you know."

After this they walked in silence, but Rodney's mind was anything but. He didn't like this guy. The tone of voice he used while referring to his son set Rodney's on edge. It was familiar in a way he preferred not to remember.

It wasn't long before they reached a door at the top of a flight of stairs. When Rodney stepped through after Garai he could see a figure bent over a table against the far wall of the room. This must be the Senator's son.

"Caius!" At the shout from his father, the boy spun around. To Rodney's eyes the boy looked thin and malnourished, frail would be good word to describe the boy's appearance.

"Yes Father?"

"This slave is to be your tutor; he will accompany you wherever it is you go and teach you in whatever it is your mother wants." Finishing his statement, Garai gave the boy a long look, and then abruptly left the room. Leaving Rodney alone with the kid.

Rodney noticed the cowed behavior Caius had exhibited when his father was in the room was replaced by something darker when the door shut.

"So, do you have a name?" There was a bitter tone in the boy's voice Rodney recognized far to well. He wasn't exactly a kid person and being forced to be around one all the time, and teach it things, wasn't sitting well with him. Especially not after seeing the sort of 'father-son' relationship these two had going on. It reminded him too much of his own past.

Quelling his own dark memories he roughly answered, "Dr. Rodney McKay, astrophysicist."

"Rather long name." Oh yeah, Rodney was going to enjoy this experience.

"It's my name, title and occupation. How old are you anyway?" The sneer on his face indicating that he thought this boy was too young to know anything of real value.

"I've seen sixteen floods. How old are you ancient one?"

"Well, if by floods you mean years, then thirty-seven. Which isn't exactly ancient, but certainly older than you." Rodney crossed his arms and couldn't help but wonder how exactly he was supposed to teach this kid anything.

"You know number manipulation?"

Sighing Rodney answered, "Its called mathematics, and yes far better than you I'm sure."

After this the two simply glared at one another, before Caius turned around and began walking back over to the table he'd been at earlier.

"Well, if you're supposed to be my tutor then why don't you show me? I've been working on some calculations for a magnetic generator. Perhaps you could be of assistance."

Rodney stalked over to the table and looked down at the papers strewn across the surface. Picking up one of them he immediately recognized the equations for a tesla coil.

"I've been trying to figure out how to create a current in one coil using the magnetic field in another…" The boy trailed off at the incredulous look on Rodney's face. Suddenly Caius' voice became defensive. "Despite what my father may say, I am intelligent. If you have anything at all to teach me I will be an eager student. I am not some arena brute Doctor."

Rodney stood there in silence for a moment. This boy reminded him so much of himself; he had a family that obviously didn't give a shit about him, looking at the papers on the desk told him the boy was extremely intelligent, and he had a defensive streak a mile wide.

"Well first you need to look at your magnetic flux equations. You should look at the flux of the inner coil and relate it to the flux on the outer coil."

"Really? I thought the outer flux was the only thing that mattered."

Yup, he might get along with this kid after all.


It was purely by accident that Rodney met Garai's wife, and Caius' mother, Agrippena. He'd been trying to find his way back to the slave quarters when he'd walked into a room filled with women. The room was incredibly lavish. Every surface, including the women, was draped with expensive cloth and jewels. The air was heavy with the smell of incense. It was this last attribute of the room that Rodney blamed for what happened next.

A slight figure in the center of the room had stood up and asked him what his business was. He couldn't remember his exact response, but he vaguely recalled saying something about the Senator's wife and her friends being in danger of using up all the available oxygen.

Which is how he ended up lying facedown on the cold stone floor with blood seeping from the fresh wounds on his back. It turned out Agrippena was just as bad as her husband; only she had a strange penchant for blood and whips.

Using his good arm Rodney tried to push himself to his fee, but only slipped on his own blood, bringing his head crashing back down to the floor. It wasn't until Prisca hauled him up, that he was able to move.

"Foolish man. Your mouth is going to get you killed. Get it through your head; you're a slave now. Do what the masters say, you won't have anymore troubles." After her little tirade, the woman began to drag Rodney out of the room.

Rodney tried to help by shuffling his feet, but every movement sent a wave of fresh agony across his torso. He was so lost in the pain that he didn't realize they'd sopped moving till he felt himself being lifted and placed on a small bed.

Rodney quickly came back to his senses at an all to familiar smell, antiseptic. Hospitals always had the same smell, whether you were in the Milky Way or Pegasus Galaxy.

Well there was no way he was letting these Neanderthals do their voodoo on him. He quickly started to protest, eyes screwed shut, when he felt a hand against his back.

"Ow, hey! Hands off. Just let me die in peace." He attempted to say this with as much authority as possible, but just ended up sounding like a tired, petulant child.

"You're not dying. But if you don't let me treat you, you very well may."

The calming voice convinced Rodney to open his eyes. Fighting off the haze of pain, he saw a tall older man standing next to Prisca. The lack of collar around his neck surprised Rodney, but it was the look of kindness in the man's eyes that convince him.

"Fine," he managed to force out.

He wasn't sure how much time passed while the man worked on his back, mainly because he passed out as soon as the man began prodding his butchered back. However, he was shocked at the lack of pain as he regained consciousness. And was even more surprise when he realized it wasn't due to pain medication, but instead because his wounds had already closed and were beginning to scab over.

Looking suspiciously around the room he had been put in, he spotted the doctor putting something back on a shelf. It was time to find out exactly what was going on with this planet.

"Not that I'm opposed to miraculous healing, but how exactly does such a primitive society do that. Not to mention develop a highly technical method of pain inducement?"

The doctor turned around in surprise at the sudden alertness of his patient.

"Well, it is good to see you up Doctor McKay. How are you feeling?"

Rodney wanted answers, and he wasn't going to wait for the doc to do a checkup. "Fine. Now um…"

"Secundus."

"Yes well, Secundo, how about answering my question. How does a primitive desert society have access to higher technology without the Wraith interfering." Here he paused, "You do know who the Wraith are right?"

Rodney waited for an answer, growing more impatient with each passing femtosecond. The doctor was just sitting there. However, before Rodney could explode the doctor launched into a lengthy answer

"Yes, we know the Wraith. They come every hundred floods or so. However the government of our people decided that for our society to survive they would go into hiding during these times. There is a small facility underneath this city where the Senate can wait out a Wraith attack. The only reason I know of it is my status as personal healer to Senator Garai. The system has been a very effective means of keeping the city mostly intact. Over time there have been several technological advances, however these are not widely implemented, for it would only draw the attention of the Wraith. Most of our advances have been medical. This is how your wounds have been healed so quickly. Within a week's time your back will be fully healed and you will have regained limited use of your arm." Secundus stopped briefly before asking, "Does that answer your questions?"

Underground bunkers, hidden technology. It reminded him too much of the damn Genii. At least he'd be healed in a week, assuming he could keep his mouth shut that long. Ha, yeah right.

"Yes, it does. Thank you"


Over two weeks had passed since Rodney was separated from Sheppard in that hellhole of a slave market. He was well on the way to regaining a full range of motion in his arm. Miraculously he'd managed to avoid direct contact with either Garai or Agrippena within the last week, so he had been feeling ten times better. Currently, he was giving Caius a lengthy lecture on magnetic fields of solenoids. However he wasn't really into it, he couldn't stop wondering what had happened to the Colonel after he'd been taken. He hoped the man hadn't done anything rash. It would be just like Sheppard to get himself killed without Rodney there to keep him out of trouble.

It wasn't until Caius shouted his name that Rodney realized he had quit talking.

"Is something wrong?"

It still amazed Rodney how well he and the kid had gotten along after that first meeting.

He figured he might as well tell Caius; after all it wasn't like the boy was going to go off and tell his parents what Rodney said. Rodney sometimes wondered how Caius had managed to reach age sixteen living with such monsters. And he thought his parents had been awful to live with!

So Rodney decided to tell Caius what exactly had happened, in hopes that the kid might be able to help him out somehow. He started with the team stepping through the Stargate and ended with him finding himself in the Senator's house. Caius simply sat quietly throughout the story. That's what Rodney liked about the kid; he was respectful and mature.

"Where's your friend now?"

Rodney answered, exasperated, "That's just the problem, I don't know." Oh how he hated those three words, I don't know. They had to be the worst words ever spoken.

"Hmm, judging by your description of the other slaves you were with I'd say he was sold to a gladiator company."

That's right! Now that he thought about it he remembered the slaver saying something about Sheppard being in an arena or something. Maybe he should have brought this up a lot sooner.

"So how would I find him?" He looked intently at Caius.

Caius merely looked thoughtful, "Well, the annual harvest tournament will be starting in several days. If your Colonel belongs to any of the Amnis Levis teams then he will participate in the games. My father insists that I go to the tournament each year in hope I might learn how to become a 'real man'. Being my tutor, it wouldn't be too strange for you to accompany me."

"Would there be anyway to get word to him if he's there?"

"If he survives, possibly."

If he survives. Rodney didn't like the sound of that. Still, it was his obligation to rescue the soldier, his commander, and more importantly his friend.

"He'll survive. He's too stubborn to die," Rodney said with as much conviction as he could muster.

Caius looked skeptical. But Rodney was determined that Sheppard would survive, and then he'd bust them both out of this crazed city.


A/N: Next we'll check back in with John and start the tournament. However, it may be a bit till I can get the next chapter up. It's an important one and I want to make sure it's done right. Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think so far.