Title: Ten Days
Chapter: 2
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.
"Get up!"
Elizabeth started at the loud banging on the bars meant to rouse her. She must have fallen asleep. The meager rations they had provided her left her weak and exhausted. She had lost count of how long she had been here. All she knew was that every so often someone would come to check on her, and no one wanted to answer her questions.
"Get up! You have someone here to see you," she could see Corun just outside her cell. Another figure stood in the shadow slightly behind him, but Elizabeth couldn't see the face. Hiding her weariness, she approached the new visitor with as much confidence as she could muster.
The second figure that stepped forward made Elizabeth's breath catch. Her blonde curls and dark eyes were unmistakable. Sora.
"Doctor Weir," her voice dripped with loathing.
"Sora?"
"How does it feel? Trapped in a cell like you had me for months?"
"Sora, we didnt…"
"Shut up!"
"What do you want with me? Where are my people?"
"Well, we would have much preferred Dr. McKay, but since he was killed in the attack I guess you will have to do."
"Killed?" Elizabeth gasped. "The others?"
"They suffered a similarly untimely end."
Elizabeth stumbled backward slightly, unwilling to believe that she was the sole survivor of the team.
"Then what do you want?" her voice sounded hollow to her own ears.
"What do we want? Well, one thing at a time. First, you are going to help us by telling me your access code to the Atlantis gate." Sora held up her IDC.
"WHAT? Our people are allies."
"No. You are allies with Ladon, a traitor to the Genii. Cowan may no longer be in power, but his legacy lives on."
"Through you."
"Yes. And when I have captured Atlantis, I will continue his and my father's work of uniting our friends on other planets under the government of the Genii."
"You can't possibly believe that taking me hostage will accomplish your goals. My people will come looking for me. Ladon was expecting to speak with us."
"Not if they think you're dead."
"They won't accept that without evidence."
"That can be arranged," Sora called down the hallway and a guard came dragging a young girl. The girl had chains on her wrists and ankles – obviously another prisoner – and was too weak to struggle. The guard bought the prisoner to stand in front of Sora and proceeded to undo the chains. Sora, shoved a grey garment into the girl's hands. "Put this on."
Even the sharp motion of Sora pushing towards her made the weakened girl falter. Hands trembling, the girl unraveled the cloth revealing a jacket with red panels… Elizabeth's jacket.
"You don't have to do this!" Elizabeth called out to her and approached the bars.
"Do it!" Sora growled. The girl looked up in fear and slowly put the jacket on. Sora signaled for the guard to come forward. "Kill her."
"No!" Elizabeth gripped the bars and appealed to Sora.
"Then tell me what I want to know. I was on Atlantis long enough to know that you have more powerful weapons now, and I want them. Give me your access codes."
"You know I won't tell you that."
"Do it!" she glared at the guard.
"Sora, you said no one would get hurt," Corun stepped forward, but Sora stood her ground as if she hadn't heard him.
"Please… you don't have to do this." Elizabeth cried out helplessly.
Her heart caught as the guard seemed to hesitate for a moment, only to watch horrifically as he lifted his weapon and fired point blank at the girl. The sound of the weapon was deafening in the echo of the cell. Elizabeth gasped as the blast felled the girl in a heap at Sora's feet. The sound of the body hitting the ground sickened her.
"Take her clothes." Sora ordered the guard. Immediately, the guard knelt and stripped the girl of Elizabeth's now bloodstained jacket. "Take it to Ladon as proof that Elizabeth is dead."
"Sora, you didn't have to do this." Elizabeth tried to compose herself enough to talk, but her voice sounded hollow. "This doesn't prove anything."
"Maybe not. But when we are done here, I promise, your people will have your body as proof."
oOoOo
John sat at Elizabeth's desk. He stared blankly at the computer screen that showed Carson's report on Rodney's progress. He glanced at the clock at the corner of the screen for the hundredth time and wondered if Lorne's team would be late checking in.
Given the choice, he would have gone back through the gate to look for Elizabeth himself, but without her, it fell to him to take her responsibilities. Other teams were off world. There were other issues that needed his attention.
So he sat here pretending to work while trying the place his trust in Teyla, Ronon, and Lorne's team to bring her back. What it came down to, though, was that John wasn't a patient kind of guy when it came to things like this. He wanted to be out there doing something rather than the tactician behind a desk.
John leaned back in the chair… Elizabeth's chair… and scrubbed his hands across his face. If it was any other member of his team, he would be similarly concerned, wouldn't he? He was ultimately responsible for everyone on his team, and being the military leader of the expedition he was also technically responsible for all the team leaders and teams under him. But that never bothered him as much. When Lorne was missing, he wasn't staying up at night worrying like this, that's for sure. But why does this feel so different? That day out there, he was responsible for her too. But Elizabeth was his boss.
Technically, she's his boss, but it's been a long time since he's treated her like one. She believed in him. She trusted him more than anyone had since his tour in Afghanistan. She never once treated him like the screw up that he was. At first he was extremely flattered that she would confide in him with her decisions She didn't care about his past. She wanted him for his expertise. Now, he was sure that she came to him as a friend.
Perhaps it was inevitable that, out here in another galaxy, people would be drawn closer. Perhaps it was the constant pressure that they face. It wasn't like Afghanistan when you knew that your country was out there somewhere to back you up. Here, they were all alone, and they only really had each other.
All he knew was that somewhere along the line, Elizabeth had ceased to be just a superior to him. And he couldn't let her down.
John flung his head back and stared at the ceiling. How does she do this constantly? Sending him and his team out to potentially dangerous missions all the time? John furrowed his brow. Is this how she feels every time that he is in some unknown situation? Does she stay up waiting? Does she worry?
He was startled from his thoughts at the sound of the gate activating. John ran into the control room in time to see Lorne step through the gate followed by the rest of his team. It was painfully clear that Elizabeth was not among them. Lorne's face was wide-eyed with shock.
John ran down the stairs to meet them.
"Major, report!"
Lorne was silent. In his outstretched hand was the blood soaked jacket of Elizabeth Weir.
TBC
