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The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time - Chapter 2

Sheppard groaned as he rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes. The floor was hard and cold beneath him and the ceiling was definitely not that of the infirmary. The sound of movement to his right caused him to let his head roll in that direction. Nick was crumpled up on the floor next to him, his face bloody and bruised.

Nick's eyes flickered open and he looked in John's direction. "Ohhh, Toto, I've a bad feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

John snorted and immediately regretted the jabbing pain in his head it caused. "Not even the same galaxy, Dorothy."

"Hey, who you calling Dorothy?" Nick tried to smile, but didn't get very far before deciding it took entirely too much energy.

John slowly dragged himself up into a sitting position, leaning on his left arm. He looked around the small cell they had been thrown in. The floor and walls were made of large stones and the bars on one side seemed to be some sort of metal. There were no windows, causing the cell to be dark since the only light was the muted glow shining in from between the bars. The cell was cold, damp, and musty, leading John to think they were underground.

"Nice decorator. I'd say early medieval dungeon, wouldn't you?"

Nick sat up shakily and propped his back against the wall. When the dizziness finally subsided, he let his eyes wander around the room. "I think I have to agree with that assessment. Where do you think we are?"

"My guess is we're in prison for killing their precious Chancellor Gay-man."

Nick snickered, then winced at the effort. "I think it's Gaylen, not gay man."

John just waved one hand flippantly in the air. "Yeah, whatever. He had to pick right then to die, though, didn't he?"

"You know, somehow I don't think he planned it that way."

"I know, I know, our luck just really sucks sometimes." John pulled himself over to sit by Nick so he could lean with his back against the wall. He looked up to see Nick eyeing him critically. "What?"

"Tell me about your injuries."

John leaned his head against the wall, closed his eyes, and smiled. "You and Carson are so much alike it's not funny. I probably have pretty much the same injuries as you do, so don't go all doctor on me. Concussion probably, maybe some cracked ribs, a bruised everything else." He rolled his head to the side and opened his eyes. "Does that about cover it?"

Nick sighed. "Yeah, that's pretty close. Nothing I can do about any of that here."

John looked around and noticed he didn't have his vest any more. No medical supplies or anything else. This really wasn't looking good at all. Checking his watch to see how long they had been out, he discovered his watch was broken. No, this wasn't turning out to be one of his better days.

oOo

Teyla and Ronon walked through the gate with the medical supplies that Beckett had gathered. Teyla tapped her radio.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Teyla. We have returned with the medical supplies." When there was no answer, she frowned and tried again. "Colonel Sheppard, please respond." She looked up worriedly at Ronon. "He is not answering his radio."

Ronon shrugged, but narrowed his eyes. "Maybe his radio isn't working."

Teyla keyed her radio again "Dr. Strahaun, this is Teyla; please respond, I am unable to contact Colonel Sheppard." Again she was greeted with silence.

"Perhaps, but I think we should hurry," said Teyla.

Ronon just nodded.

They walked quickly to the town where Nick and Colonel Sheppard waited with the ailing Chancellor, talking very little so that they could move more quickly. Upon entering the edge of the settlement, they immediately knew something was wrong. The streets were full of people milling about and many of them appeared to be crying and comforting one another. As they made their way through the crowd toward Chancellor Gaylen's house, people turned to stare and point at them.

Teyla moved a step closer to Ronon. "Something is very wrong."

Ronon carefully watched the crowd as they walked. "What makes you think that?" he asked sarcastically.

They quickened their pace, watching the crowd all the while. When they reached the front door, Counselor Mistdol came out of the house and stood glaring at them from the bottom step.

"You should leave immediately. If you stay, I cannot be responsible for your safely."

"What has happened?" asked Teyla. She gripped the medical bag tightly, fear coursing through her body, setting her on edge. She rather suspected she knew what had happened.

"Chancellor Gaylen has passed on while in the care of your doctor. He and Colonel Sheppard have been held responsible for the Chancellor's death. They must be punished after we determine why they have done this terrible thing."

Ronon's hand went automatically to the butt of his gun. "What have you done with Sheppard and Strauhan?"

Teyla placed a restraining hand on Ronon's arm. "Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Strauhan wanted nothing more than to help your leader. I assure you they did nothing to hasten his death. There is nothing to punish them for since they have done nothing wrong."

"They are with the Enforcer and he will decide what they have done after his interrogation. He is very thorough and will determine the truth."

Ronon took a step forward and grabbed Mistdol by the front of his shirt. "You harm either one of them and you'll have to answer to me, is that clear? Where are they? We want to see them."

Mistdol twisted until he squirmed out of Ronon's grip, with Teyla encouraging Ronon to let him do it. "You cannot see them, it is forbidden. Not until they have been questioned and punished."

Teyla was frowning in sheer frustration at dealing with this man who did not seem to be listening to what she was saying. "Do they not have any opportunity to proclaim their innocence?"

"Of course. We are not barbarians, they can proclaim their innocence to the Enforcer."

Ronon snorted. "And how does this Enforcer interrogate prisoners?"

Mistdol hesitated, knowing the big man would not be happy with his answer. He looked around and decided he had enough people there to protect him if things went badly. "Let's just say that it is not pleasant."

"When does this interrogation begin?"

Mistdol smiled and crossed his arms, feeling safe now surrounded by the gathering crowd. "It has probably already begun if they are conscious."

Teyla's eyes widened. "If they are conscious? What does that mean?"

"Well, the crowd became agitated when they tried to leave and found it necessary to use force to retain them for the Enforcer. They were both rendered unconscious."

Teyla shook her head. "Who may we speak to about this? This arrangement is unfair and unacceptable."

"No one. It is decided. This is the way it is done. Now I would suggest you leave before the crowd gets any angrier."

Ronon and Teyla looked around at the street, now full of angry people, and decided it was time to begin a hasty retreat. As the made their way through the crowd, Ronon turned back to Mistdol.

"We'll be back for them and we will take them with us."

oOo

John looked toward the bars when he heard the footsteps approaching their cell. He turned to Nick, seeing the look of fear in his face as he watched to see who was coming.

"Nick, whatever happens, just remember, they'll come back for us. Don't give up or let them tell you any differently. We don't leave our people behind."

Nick nodded, believing that they would come back for them. What scared his was that it wouldn't be in time to stop whatever was about to happen. He'd never been held by the enemy before, and surely these people counted as the enemy by now. He felt the knot of fear tightening in his stomach.

"John? I've never been captured before. I've gotta tell you . . . I'm terrified."

"Join the club, Nick."

Nick looked back over at Sheppard, his eyes wide. "You're scared?"

John laughed, a tight strangled sound. "Shouldn't I be?"

"I just thought . . . ' Nick stammered.

"What, that I wouldn't be afraid? You've got me mixed up with someone else. I've done this before, but that doesn't stop me from being afraid. It's always different and it's usually painful. I'm scared to death."

Nick jumped as the door clanked open and four large men marched into the cell. Two grabbed Nick's arms and two grabbed John's arms. They were both jerked to their feet and dragged down the hallway.

John scrambled to get his legs underneath him so that he could walk down the hall on his own. It took several steps for his legs to catch up with the rest of him. They took them down the hall and into a room that was about fifteen foot square. The men suddenly grabbed John and pulled his shirt off over his head. When he was able to get his bearings, he saw that the Nick had suffered the same fate. The men then proceeded to place their wrists in shackles over their head and stepped back against the wall.

Another man that had been standing in the shadows stepped forward. He was a large man, almost as tall as Ronon. He had large shoulders and rather large gut to go with it. He kept twirling the edge of a big bushy mustache as he looked the two men over.

"Who are you?" asked Sheppard.

The man smiled as he walked all the way around them, looking them over from head to toe and making both men nervous. John figured that was exactly what he was trying to do, so he did his best to seem bored and disinterested. The man finally stopped in front of them.

"I am the Enforcer. It is my job to find out why you killed the Chancellor and exactly what you hope to gain."

Sheppard gave a small, nervous laugh. "Well, let me make this easy for you. We didn't kill him. The Chancellor was already very sick when we got here. We didn't hurt him, we just didn't get here in time to help him. The only thing we hoped to gain by coming to your lovely little planet here was to find a trading partner and possible ally against the Wraith. That's all there is to it."

The man stood and looked at John for several seconds, smiling and twirling his mustache. Faster than either of them expected for a man his size, the Enforcer punched John hard in the stomach. John gasped for air he couldn't seem to get, an act made harder by the fact that his ribs were already bruised and his arms were suspended above his head. About the time he got straightened back up, the man hit him again in the same place.

"What kind of a fool do you take me for? I will get the truth out of one of you sooner or later. Later is more acceptable with me because, you see, I rather enjoy my work." He walked over to a table while John got himself straightened up again.

"I'm telling you the truth. We came here to trade and when they told us this High Chancellor guy was sick, we offered to help. We didn't realize until too late that there just wasn't anything we could do. We didn't kill him."

They watched as the Enforcer carefully put gloves on his hands. They were old, dirty gloves stained with brown splotches that appeared to be dried blood. John dared a glance at Nick. The doctor's face was drained of color and lined with fear. The man had never been tortured and John was sure going to try to avoid having this mission with him being the doc's introduction.

The Enforcer began walking back over to them. "Now, let's start again." He stopped in front of Sheppard. "Why did you kill the Chancellor?"

Sheppard laughed a small, humorless laugh. "You aren't listening to me, are you? Maybe if I talk louder. We didn't kill the Chancellor! The man just died. He'd be just as dead if we had never come here, which I sincerely wish we hadn't."

The Enforcer smiled right before he hit John hard in the face. When John's head snapped forward from the first blow, he hit him again with the other hand. John's head lolled to one side for a few seconds as the room swam around him in an unfocused haze. He was vaguely aware of blood running down the side of his tilted face from his nose.

"John . . . John are you okay?" Nick's fear had escalated into being one step from sheer, unadulterated panic. This guy was crazy. John had explained things to him several times and that wasn't what the guy wanted to hear. He was just going to keep beating them, and possibly worse, because he wanted to. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on calming down. John said Atlantis would come for them, he just had to believe that and hang on a little longer.

The Enforcer walked around behind John as he began lifting his head, becoming more aware. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Got lost in the fog for a minute."

The Enforcer laughed. "You are irreverent and do not know when to keep your mouth shut, do you Colonel Sheppard?"

Sheppard tried to shrug, but quickly decided that was not such a good idea between his bruised ribs and the shackles. "So I've been told. Character flaw I guess."

"Perhaps I can help you with that." He hit John in the side with his fist, putting so much power into it that John's legs were knocked out from under him and he swung to the side from his wrists. This time he grunted in pain.

"Leave him alone! Can't you see that he's already told you everything? Why are you doing this?" Nick was panting and sweating and shaking with fear and anger, the adrenaline rushing through his veins.

The Enforcer seemed startled by the outburst for a second, but quickly recovered to the smooth, unruffled expression of before. "Why Dr. Strauhan, it turns out you can talk."

Sheppard struggled to get his legs under him and get back on his feet as the Enforcer walked over to Nick. "No, leave him . . . alone. I'm the . . . one you want. I'm the . . . team leader . . . he doesn't know anything."

The Enforcer tightened his gloves on his hands. "He is the doctor, though, correct?" He locked his eyes with Nick's.

Nick kept his eyes on the Enforcer, refusing to look away. He's heard people say they were so afraid they could actually smell it or taste it and he'd always scoffed at that. He was beginning to understand because there was definitely something foul and unfamiliar in his mouth and he figured it had to be the fear that was at a lifetime high right now.

"Yes, I'm the doctor. I'm sorry about the Chancellor, I really am, but there just wasn't anything more I could do to save him. He was too far gone when we got here."

The Enforcer watched him for a second. "You may be telling the truth . . . or you may be telling a lie. The only way to be sure is to push you both as far as possible and see if you break."

"No," said John. "Let him go. It's not his fault. I'm the reason he came in the first place, it's my fault. Just let him go and I'll stay."

Nick was taken aback. He couldn't believe John was practically begging the guy to let Nick go and keep him to torture. The events were no more John's fault than they were Nick's. He remembered Rodney griping and calling John a self-sacrificing idiot on more than one occasion and thought he was probably seeing where that came from.

"No, you'll both stay for the interrogation. Sometimes if one won't crack, the other will. I think for now it's time to loosen you both up a bit." He nodded to the men who had brought them here and two of them moved forward. "Why don't you get them warmed up for me." Smiling, he walked over to the table and took off his gloves, sitting in the chair beside it.

The two men took up positions in front of John and Nick. At that moment it occurred to John that he wasn't going to be able to protect Nick and that their day had just gotten a whole lot worse. When the two goons began using the Lanteans as punching bags, things really began to go downhill.

TBC