Title: Ten Days
Chapter: 1
Author: GeekyDollie
Date: 2006
Summary: Elizabeth awakes as a prisoner in a cold cell. Her people have no idea where she is. Will she lose hope?
Spoilers: The Eye, The Storm, and Coup D'Etat
Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis and the characters belong to TPTB of the Stargate franchise.
Elizabeth awoke lying on a cold hard surface she couldn't identify. Her sore muscles kept her from moving just yet, although the discomfort of her position caused a raspy moan to escape her parched lips. Slowly, she turned. Her hand pressing down to raise herself told her she was on a grimy concrete floor. Her other hand reached up to brush at the strands of hair and dirt stuck to her cheek. Elizabeth's fingers stopped when she felt the painful, sticky, telltale signs of blood on her left temple.
Sitting up now, she attempted to pull her shirt sleeve up to her face to dab at the wound.
Right hand contacted the bare skin of her left arm.
Gasping, she suddenly realized she was sitting there completely naked. A shiver went through her body. Whether from modesty or cold, Elizabeth instinctively wrapped her arms around herself.
A knot in her stomach paralyzed her in this position. She was cold, shivering, and starting to feel physically sick at the thought of how she came to be lying naked on the ground. Her eyes slowly took in her surroundings. To her side, was the unmistakable bars that was meant to keep her prisoner. To her right, in dimmer light, was a cot. Scrambling to her knees she half crawled, half reached to tear the blanket off the cot. The blanket was hard and scratchy, but Elizabeth wrapped it around herself, and it was warm. She lowered herself to sit on the edge in a daze.
She felt tears sting her eyes as her mind imagined the possibilities of how she came to be like this. Horrific imagery of her captors filled her clouded memory.
"Elizabeth. Stop. Think. What was the last thing you remember?" she choked out to herself. Her raspy voice shocked her more than calmed her.
A negotiation. She was walking towards the city with John Sheppard's team, and they were going to negotiate a trade with the new government of the Genii. They would offer medical assistance, and the Genii promised new information about the Wraith they had received from their friends off-world. Then what? Elizabeth scrunched her brow in frustration. She couldn't remember… she was admiring the flowers along the path…
A flash. There was a flash of light around her and a loud crack in the air that she could feel as deep as her bones. Then another. She looked in horror as her team fell around her and lay prone on the grass. Before she could even turn, get up, and think about looking for help, she felt arms grab her and her world went dark.
A hard chair. She awoke in a hard chair, still groggy. She must have been drugged. Two large men entered the room. She tried to ask questions. Demanded her whereabouts. Insisted on speaking with the leader of the Genii. But her pleas were ignored.
The men approached without a word, only throwing a knowing glance at each other. One lifted her roughly by her shoulders, and she knew her writhing to get away from his grip was futile. The other roughly unzipped her jacket and tore her clothes off. Elizabeth screamed, kicked, and tried to free herself but to no avail. Tears stung her eyes in anger and humiliation, but she set her jaw in defiance. She knew what was coming.
But instead of assaulting her there, she was caught off guard when the two dragged her out of the room and down a dark hall. At the end of a hall was a small enclosure with bars. Damned if she was going to be locked up, she tried to run. But with her minimal self-defense training, she couldn't get away and was rewarded by a fist contacting her left temple. Elizabeth fell to her knees, seeing stars. She felt hands drag her up and push her into the small prison before stumbling to the cold floor. And her world went dark again.
"Okay. So you weren't raped. Just roughed up a little. Completely humiliated, but overall physically okay." Elizabeth quickly checked herself for injuries, but the sound of footfalls coming towards her cell captured her attention.
Standing before her were the two men she had already met. Closest to her was a younger man in a green vest. He couldn't be much older than 20.He reached between the bars and threw a bundle towards her.
"Put this on," he glared at her before turning to leave.
"Wait," Elizabeth scrambled to her feet "What do you want from me?"
The man turned back.
"What do you want from me?" Elizabeth demanded again as she started to unfold the bundle. It was a beige tunic. She quickly pulled it over her head. The bottom hem ended just mid-thigh, but nevertheless, she was thankful for the garment. She wrapped the blanket around herself again.
"It's what we don't want from you," he spat in disgust. "Ladon doesn't speak for all of us."
"Who are you?"
"I am Corun." That was all he said before glaring at her in disdain and walking away.
oOoOo
"Colonel Sheppard!"
John squinted at the sunshine in his eyes. He moaned and rolled to his side feeling every joint in his body ache. Teyla's voice calling him brought him back to the present. There was an attack.
"Colonel!" Teyla called again.
John sat up and surveyed the situation. His team was lying on the ground around him. Teyla was slowly getting up and heading towards McKay.
"Ronon!" John shook the man to his left. Seeing him rouse, he looked around for Elizabeth. His heart dropped when he realized that she wasn't amongst them. "Where's Elizabeth?"
"I need help over here!" Teyla called for them. She was kneeling over Rodney, her hands pressing on his ribs. A red stain marred the fabric of his jacket.
"She's not here," Ronon had quickly sized up the situation.
"Shit." John's attention was divided. "We need to get Rodney back to the gate. I'll stay to look for Elizabeth."
"No," Ronon nodded towards the distance. "You are outnumbered by the men at the treeline. You won't get far."
As if hearing Ronon's comment, gunfire rang out from the edge of the forest. More than several men appeared and started for their position.
"Shit." John bit his lip. "Fall back. Head for the gate. We'll have to come back with reinforcements to look for Elizabeth."
ooo
"Get Dr. Beckett down here!" John yelled as soon as his team came through the gate.
Major Lorne ran down the stairs from the command center to meet them.
"Where is Dr. Weir?" he looked around at the team in confusion.
"We were ambushed. Elizabeth is still somewhere on the planet." John watched as the medics lifted Rodney onto a gurney and Teyla explained to Carson what had happened. "Get your team together. We'll meet in ten."
ooo
John walked away from the infirmary where Rodney was being attended to by Carson and his team. He was assured that the scientist was in serious condition, but would be fine. His thoughts now turned to the ambush and Elizabeth.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a second at the totally screwed up situation. He was responsible for escorting Elizabeth to meet with Ladon, and what does he do? He loses her. She rarely left the city as it was, and the one time his team accompanies her, he loses her.
What had Elizabeth said when Ladon came into power? That the new regime usually turns out just as bad or worse than the old regime?
He was going to fucking kill Ladon if he had done anything to Elizabeth.
TBC
