Title: Ten Days
Chapter:
5
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 had no idea how many hours or days had passed since her conversation with Corun. Sora had continued to come demand information from her, and she returned to her cell often too exhausted to eat the food left for her. When she slept, she dreamed of her people coming to find her; she dreamed of being back at Atlantis. She could hear their voices, see their faces, feel their touch. Elizabeth dreaded waking and finding that her mind had only tricked her with a fantasy.

If her people were to find her, they would have come by now, wouldn't they?

oOoOo

John roughly tugged the zipper of his vest upwards and clipped his P-90. He had reached the limit of his patience. Ladon had been absolutely useless in helping them locate Elizabeth. He continually claimed he had no idea where she was, and denied that he had any leads. Lorne's team had turned up nothing other than the false evidence on Elizabeth's jacket the first day.

He was tired of waiting.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ronon power up his weapon.

In the distance he saw a man approaching with his hands stretched over his head. A Genii.

oOoOo

John followed Corun towards an innocent looking barn, his P-90 close to his chest. Close behind were Teyla, Ronon, and several of Ladon's men, who Ladon had finally agreed and sent with them. Ronon had already been indispensable at taking down Sora's lookouts silently. As they approached the wooden fence of the livestock pen, they stealthily approached it.

"Thru the door of the barn, there is a passage that goes underground and then a stairwell down to the compound where they are keeping Dr. Weir," Corun informed John. John peeked through the slats in the fence and surveyed the area.

John turned back and selected a few of Ladon's men to team with him. He nodded to Corun to have him stay back with Ronon and Teyla. Now prepared, they made their way towards the barn.

oOoOo

She jolted awake at the sound of commotion down the hallway. She could hear it, but not see far enough to see what was going on. Voices were yelling loudly and chaotic sounds of the scuffling of people and objects moving carried into her cell. A moment later, Elizabeth recognized the sound of gunfire. The sound of the weapons was deafening to her and the people sounded as if they were heading her way. Without the strength to fight, she backed away to the far wall.

oOoOo

John ducked back behind the door leading out of the underground stairwell just before gunfire impacted the wall close to him. In front of him, he saw one of Ladon's men fall as another shot caught the man in the chest. Beside him, Ronon stepped forward and felled several of Sora's people.

Entering the compound, they quickly found cover in the room. Sora stepped forward for a moment to fire. Her innocent slight build and curly blonde hair was in stark contrast to her hardened expression and confident stance. Two men were stationed to either side of her. Behind John, Corun shifted.

"Corun!" Sora's hissed at his betrayal, and just barely missed his shoulder with a bullet.

"It's over Sora," Corun fired several shots.

"You wouldn't dare betray me!"

"I know you want change for our people, but we don't need to take hostages to do it."

"These people can't be trusted, Corun," she spat.

"These people are going to help us talk to Ladon."

At this moment John chose to move forward and drew the fire of one of Sora's men. Ducking down fast, he rolled towards an overturned table to avoid the blasts. The firefight continued on both sides.

"You think these people really want to help us?" Sora yelled back.

"Yes. Ladon has already agreed."

"Cowan always thought you were too trusting for your own good." She fired several rounds at Corun. "If you want to betray me, I don't need you!"

Corun's weapon clicked a telltale sound signaling that he was out of ammunition. His eyes focussed on Sora who had him directly in the line of fire.

Suddenly, a shot caught her in the wrist and her bullets sparked against the ceiling, narrowly missing the lights. John and Ronon took this opportunity to move forward to catch the two men off guard. John easily subdued one, while Ronon swiftly kicked the pistol out of the other's hand, and threw an uppercut that left the man unconscious on the ground. Both looked up just in time to see Sora on the ground, hands tied, with Teyla's knee on her back. Teyla nodded, and they moved into the corridor.

oOoOo

Elizabeth was huddled on the floor against the wall when she saw three figures approach her cell. They seemed to be looking into each room with their weapons ready. She held her breath as they passed by. Two of them had already passed, when the tallest of the group paused in front of her. He was still hidden in the shadows, so she couldn't make out his features.

"In here," the figure called out for the others to come back. His voice sounded familiar to Elizabeth, but after so many comings and goings from her cell and the numerous dreams she'd been having, she quickly dismissed the thought.

"Elizabeth?" another voice called out. This one also familiar.

She watched cautiously as they worked the lock on the door. The third member of the group stood guard slightly further in the shadows.

"Elizabeth, stay where you are," the second voice called out again and backed away slightly from the door. She watched, too weary to do otherwise.

Suddenly, a bright flash and a loud bang filled the small room and the door sprang open. Elizabeth ducked her head and closed her eyes instinctively. Her breath caught at the intensity of the blast. She felt hands take hold of her shoulders.

"Elizabeth? … Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She opened her eyes and saw… no… it couldn't be. Before her was a man wearing a uniform, black vest with a P-90 on a clip. Even with the patches removed, it was unmistakable as an Atlantis uniform. She felt his hand touch her face gingerly.

Elizabeth stared at him blankly without focus in her eyes. She might have recognized the face, but her mind would not allow her to believe. She'd believed too many times in her dreams and had been disappointed too many times.

"Elizabeth?" he kept calling her name.

"No," she whispered to herself and pushed him away. "You're not real."

"I'm real. I promise." His hands smoothed back her hair to look in her eyes, but she still refused to look at him.

"No." her hands weakly fought him away.

"Elizabeth, look at me," he pleaded quietly. Very slowly she lifted her eyes. And very slowly her she recognized.

"John?" she finally managed. Her voice was almost a whisper. John winced at how withdrawn and exhausted she looked. Her hands were feather light as she raised them to grasp his arms.

Elizabeth could hardly bring herself to touch his face, in case she would awake and find herself in another dream. But finally her hands reached his warm cheeks and brushed against his soft hair, and he was real. More real than any of her dreams ever seemed. Her heart nearly stopped.

"John," her soft voice cracked with emotion. This was it. They had found her. He had found her.

"Colonel," came a warning from outside the cell. Teyla was signaling that others were coming.

"Can you walk?" John gently helped her stand and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders to cover her slight tunic.

Ronon, looking over doubtfully, approached the pair. In an easy movement, he had lifted Elizabeth into his arms.

"I'll carry her. Let's move."

John looked Elizabeth over one more time before turning, and the group proceeded to make their escape.

For the first time in a long time, Elizabeth felt safe. She was going back to Atlantis.

She was going home.


TBC

A/N: There is one more part to wrap up this story. I just want to thank everyone who has left comments and enjoyed this fic so far. xoxo - GeekyDollie