John woke to an extremely bright light shining in his eyes. Squinting he turned his head away in an attempt to stem the flow of light. His head pounded, the pain traveling down his neck. Raising his hand to feel for damage he realized his hands were bounded.
Trying harder to bring his hands up to his face, the tightness around his wrists grew. Handcuffs were around his wrists and a chain attached to them led to a metal picket in the ground a couple of feet away from him.
'Where am I?' John thought to himself, the last thing he remembered was Elizabeth being pulled through the gate by Kolya and him following. Elizabeth! She had to be here somewhere!
"Elizabeth?" he choked out in a raspy voice.
Trying again his voice was louder, more stronger. "Elizabeth?"
A shadow behind the light caught his attention and he called out, "Who's there?"
"Colonel Sheppard! How nice of you to join us." a voice broke through the uneasy silence.
"Kolya?" John growled.
The light was dimmed and though it took only moments for his eyes to adjust, John felt like time was passing at a much slower rate. Once his eyes had become accustomed to the more natural light filtering into the room, they scanned it slowly at first from left to right. The wall he was up against was made out of some kind of rough brick, a window no bigger than half a meter wide was the source of the light. Knowing that there was natural light, John knew that they were above ground. This puzzled him, the Genii were secretive people known now for having underground bunkers. Still taking in his surroundings he noticed the room must be used for interrogation. His eyes finally came to rest on the man responsible for this situation.
"Where is she?" he questioned fiercely.
"Dr Weir?" Kolya replied knowing full well who John was asking after.
"Who else?" John threw back.
"You will see her soon." Kolya smirked and John felt a shiver go down his spine. Whenever an enemy smirked like that it made him feel uneasy, like they knew something he didn't and that never sat well with him.
Kolya turned and made his way to the cell door.
"I want answers," John yelled.
Kolya didn't even turn around.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Back on Bedan (Earlier)
Ronon had obeyed Sheppard's orders to some extent, helping Rodney and the others and then radioing Teyla and informing her of the situation. As soon as that had been done he had sped out of the ruins and towards the stargate.
Running down the track, Ronon knew he needed to get to the stargate before anybody left through it.
He made it to the clearing just in time to see John jump through the even horizon. Knowing he wouldn't make it through as well, Ronon ran towards the DHD.
"One…Two…Three…Four…" Ronon counted the symbols highlighted. He knew that he needed six to be able to follow both Sheppard and Dr Weir. So far he had filed only four. The wormhole shut down and the DHD ceased to glow.
"Damn!" he growled. He had only got four, four of six.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
John jack knifed into a sitting position, he'd tried to sleep but now had a feeling that there was someone in his cell.
"John?" a voice whispered.
"Elizabeth?" he questioned.
A body moved out of the shadows walking silently towards him.
His heart started beating faster at the sight of her, still in her Atlantis uniform even if it was a little worse for wear. Tears were streaming down her face and all he wanted to do was get up and go to her but he was restricted by the restraints around his wrists.
She knelt down in front of him and leant in closer, he reached his hand out slowly to touch her face to know that it really was her. His fingers stroked he cheek and he brushed away the tears.
"Why?" she questioned quietly before throwing herself at him. His arms wrapped around her the best he could and he nuzzled her neck. He had never thought he would get this close to her again after all that had happened between them and here they were in one the worst situations he could have ever imagined. He wished it were just him here and that he could spare her this!
"I just couldn't leave you!" he murmured back into her hair. Elizabeth sighed and if it was possible leant in even closer.
"God, all of this is my fault!" she exclaimed hoarsely. John was shocked at what she had just whispered, how, why…what?
"What?" he asked back confused.
"You and me. He is using what you feel for me against you John. We are playing right into his hand. Everything he is doing is planned, why else would I be here right now?" she explained.
"Its my fault," she continued. "I didn't fight you hard enough. I'm stronger than that. I let this get to far and now what I feared all along has actually happened. I've compromised the mission!" she sobbed these last few words. "All because I couldn't stem what I was feeling."
John was taking everything in slowly, but there was one question that burned more than the rest.
"What do you feel?" he questioned her.
She pulled back and sat back on the floor in front of him, her head was down so John reached out and gently lifted her chin up to look at him.
"What do you feel?" he asked again.
"John…I…We…" she started hesitantly "I doesn't matter" she finally started. "What I feel for you doesn't matter in the long run because nothing can ever come from it."
"I just need to know," John asked quietly. "If nothing comes out of it, I can learn to accept that but I just need to know what we are giving up on."
Elizabeth seemed surprised at what John had said. She knew that their alone time together right now was limited and time was quickly running out. She needed to tell him, needed him to know.
"John…I have strong feelings for you."
"Define strong feelings." John probed. He wasn't going to make this easy for her, he needed her to tell him.
"I care for you John, further than what a boss should feel. I felt like had no right to these feelings growing but slowly they turned into…" Elizabeth paused turning her head slightly towards the cell door.
"He's back!" she whispered.
John closed his eyes knowing that their time together had been cut.
"Sit back away from me, make out you feel nothing. If he knows he will use it." John ordered her gently.
She nodded and reached out to touch him but he shook his head slightly and she withdrew her hand.
Elizabeth sat down against the opposite wall and waited. She didn't have to wait long, Kolya strolled in with two of his men. Looking at them he smirked.
"Who are you trying to fool?" he asked.
John just shrugged.
"Take her!" Kolya commanded his men while pointing to Elizabeth.
"No!" John bit out trying to get to Kolya. The chains around his hands restricted him from going very far.
"Calm down Colonel, you are also coming. This is something I wouldn't want you to miss." Kolya leered.
"John!" Elizabeth called out to him, the worry evident in her voice.
"If you do anything to her…" John threatened.
"Colonel, you are in no position to be making threats. What happens next is for your benefit only!"
This last sentence made Johns blood run cold, he knew they were going to use Elizabeth to get to him but he didn't know how far they would go to do it.