Author's Note 1/23: I posted this story quickly last October, just before I started my first fiction writing class. I was never really happy with it, and since finishing my class, I now know why. The basic story is the same, I've just fleshed it out a bit, and worked on some things that will help me move into the next chapter more easily. I hope you enjoy it. I'm almost finished with the next chapter. Thanks to everyone for being so patient.
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Rodney found himself wandering the halls of the temple late at night. He felt disoriented, like he had been drugged. He stopped in front of one of the murals to look for a hidden clue that might lead to a ZPM. He pulled out a chocolate bar and unwrapped it. It had started to melt in his pocket, but he didn't care – chocolate was chocolate. Rodney started to eat, savoring each bite. He didn't remember chocolate ever tasting so good.
He felt a presence next to him and turned. Emma was studying the same mural. She was wearing a gown made out of a silky material. What there was of it clung to her body, hugging her every curve.
She turned to him and smiled. "Dr. McKay, you have chocolate on your hand."
Rodney looked down to notice the chocolate bar and wrapper were gone, but his fingers were covered with chocolate.
Emma reached for his hand and started licking off the chocolate. She slowly sucked his fingers one by one, flicking her tongue suggestively over the tips. When she was done she turned away still holding his hand and guided him down the hall to a small room in the back. There was a large bed in the far corner draped in the same silky material as her dress. The only light came from hundreds of candles placed around the room.
Emma led Rodney over to the bed. She climbed on top of it and knelt in front of him. He was thick with arousal, feeling himself hard against his trousers. Emma pulled off his jacket and ran her fingers lightly over his chest, causing him to shudder. She drew her hands up around his neck and pulled him to her. He could smell the chocolate on her breath as she parted her lips and bent in to kiss him.
Rodney woke with a start, every detail of his dream burned into his mind. He tried to move but couldn't. It felt like a weight was holding him down. He hated sleeping out on away missions – it always played havoc with his body. Looking down he saw a tangle of red hair on his chest. Somehow in the middle of the night Dr. Grayson must have curled up next to him. He looked to see his right arm wrapped around her, his fingers entwined in her hair. He could also see that he was still aroused from that incredible dream he had just had.
Rodney slowly started pulling away from Emma. He had to separate himself from her before she woke up and caught him in this aroused state. It would be too embarrassing to try to explain his erection. Emma sighed and nuzzled into him even more.
"Um, Dr. Grayson," Rodney whispered softly.
"Just a few more minutes," Emma mumbled. She apparently wasn't a morning person.
Perhaps if he moved her just a little he might be able to slide out from under her without waking her up. Rodney adjusted his body so that he was facing her. He gently lifted his right arm slightly and started to pull it out from beneath her. Again she nuzzled into him, grabbing on to his jacket, pushing her body into his. Rodney tried to remain calm. He needed to figure a way out of this and soon. Emma's actions were doing nothing but getting him even more aroused.
He tried again to lift her, bracing himself with his left arm behind his back. Nothing. He was definitely going to pay for this – he was sure he wouldn't be able to move for a week. Perhaps if he put his left arm on the other side of her he might be able to get enough leverage to pull his right arm away. Just as he started this new maneuver, Emma woke up. Seeing that she was firmly planted in Rodney's arms, she sat up quickly knocking him over. He landed squarely on his back.
"That's gonna hurt tomorrow," he cried. Rodney immediately scrambled to his feet and quickly turned away, realizing his erection hadn't decreased in the slightest.
"I'm, uh, I, uh, I didn't realize..." Emma looked around, not quite sure of what had just happened.
"No need to apologize Dr. Grayson," Rodney said, with his back still towards her. "It was cold last night, I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it."
"No, of course not," she muttered trying to grasp the fact that she had woken up in Rodney's arms. She still felt the warmth of his body and realized they must have been sleeping curled up next to each other.
"And I would never... uh, never... uh…." Now it was Rodney's turn to stutter. Pulling himself together, he started barking orders at Emma. "Pack up the gear. I'm going to go see if the storm's over."
"Yes sir," she replied.
Emma watched Rodney tear out of the room. At first she had been startled to find him wrapped around her when she woke up, but she had to admit the feel of a warm body pressed up against her felt really nice, especially Dr. McKay's body. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud scream and a thud. Running as fast as she could, she stopped on the top of the landing just outside the main entrance to see Rodney sitting in a huge mud puddle at the bottom of the steps. The tension that had been coiled up inside of her gave way as she started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Rodney yelled.
"I'm sorry, but you look ridiculous sitting there covered in mud!"
Rodney was indeed covered in mud. He had slipped and landed head first into a puddle courtesy of last night's storm.
"Alright, alright. Just come and help me out," he snapped.
It was obvious how angry Rodney was. It took all of Emma's strength not to laugh, but she knew Rodney well enough by now to know that this was not the time to coax him out of one of his infamous bad moods. She walked carefully down to the bottom step and reached out for Rodney to take her hand. The stairs were still slick with rain and Rodney was not very much help as she tried to pull him out. She started to make headway when suddenly she, too, slipped on the wet steps and found herself sitting next to him. Looking at the two of them sitting there covered in mud, she couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. She burst out laughing all over again.
"That's just great. Now what are we supposed to do," he snarled.
Between fits of laughter Emma managed to stand up, knee deep in muck. "Come on, it's only mud. It's good for your skin!" Emma tried to get Rodney to see the humor in their situation as she worked her way to the edge of the puddle.
"Good for my skin. I'll have you know I have very sensitive skin. I don't see how sitting in a mud pile with God knows what bacteria is going to be good for me. And have I mentioned the back problems I'm going to have from this."
Emma just continued to laugh. "Come on, Rodney. You have to admit we do look pretty funny." Emma wiped as much mud as she could from her face and hair, but it was a lost cause.
"I see absolutely no humor in this. Right now I'm cold and wet and there's mud in my shoes." Rodney looked up to see Emma staring over his head, suddenly silent. "What are you standing there for? Help me up!" Emma ignored him. "Could use some help here, Dr. Grayson!" She continued to ignore him. Rodney turned to see what had captured Emma's attention so thoroughly. There were seven warriors standing at the edge of the clearing with crossbows pointed at them.
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"Don't you think seven guards is overkill?" Emma whispered to Rodney.
"Don't use the word kill," Rodney replied.
"I'm just saying..."
"Don't say anything," he snarled. They had been hiking for an hour, their captors not revealing any information about where they were heading.
"Maybe we should talk to these men," Emma stated. "Maybe we have something in common with them."
"Are you kidding? They are seven huge men with weapons pointed at us. What in the world would we have in common?"
"I don't know. But we won't find out if we don't talk to them!"
"We are not talking to them."
"But…"
"I said we are not talking to them." Rodney glared at Emma, praying that for once she would obey his orders. He was desperately trying to come up with some plan of escape. But escape plans were not his strong suit. If only they had been captured by a ZPM.
The group walked on in silence for a while.
"Dr. McKay. I really think we should try to talk to them," Emma whispered, this time loud enough for the guards to hear.
"Shhh!" Rodney scolded.
Emma waited a minute before continuing. "Aren't we supposed to make contact with alien life forms? Make new friends, new allies in the fight against the Wraith?"
"You want me to say something like that's an interesting weapon you have there. How does it work?" Rodney asked sarcastically.
"That's a start," Emma replied.
"Make friends," Rodney muttered under his breath.
Emma was quiet again. Rodney hoped it would last this time, but with no luck.
"Perhaps they'll take us to their leader. We can explain everything. We can tell them that we're friendly and they'll let us go."
"Ah, yes, the quintessential alien greeting. Take me to your leader. Can you be more naive!" Rodney was getting more frustrated by the minute. How could he get Emma to understand how dangerous their situation was?
"Don't you..." she started in again.
"Be quiet!" Rodney shouted, surprising both himself and Emma. He paused to make sure the guards weren't about to use him for target practice.
Emma started walking toward him. He could see the anger in her eyes. This was not good. She was too unpredictable when she got like this. At least there were no Ancient devices around for her to set off.
A guard stepped firmly between them. "Enough. Both of you quiet."
The captain of the guard pulled Emma to the front with him. He motioned to one of his men to take Rodney to the back. "Perhaps separating you two will shut you up."
Emma was dragged away from Rodney. "Thank you for doing that. He can be rather difficult at times." She smiled, trying to get some response from the man.
"Grayson!" Rodney yelled from the back of the group.
Emma looked up at her captor. "He's just cranky since he hasn't had much to eat today."
They walked for several hours, stopping only briefly for water and slim rations. At least the guards were taking care of them. But who knew what would happen once they reached their destination. Emma's thoughts wandered back to Rodney. They had been getting along so well last night. Now that things were back to normal she guessed that included Rodney's animosity towards her. But she had to try something. She couldn't let Rodney give up without a fight. For both their sakes.
An hour later they crested a ridge to see a secluded valley below. Nestled in the hillside was a city made up of a mixture of Ancient and Greek architecture very similar to the temple, surrounded by a large protective wall. Farmland filled the countryside and picturesque villages dotted the landscape in the distance.
"It's beautiful!" Emma gasped as she took in the site before her. She felt like she had stepped back in time hundreds of years.
"Our destination," the captain informed her. "You will be tried for treason for disturbing one of our sacred temples."
Emma stood motionless. For the first time, the seriousness of their situation sank in. Until now she truly believed that they would be released once the misunderstanding had been resolved. But now everything was changed. Their lives were in danger and she and Rodney had only each other to rely on.
"Oh no, no, no, we didn't disturb it." Rodney tried to convince the guards that they meant no harm. "It was raining and we needed a place to stay."
"It is against our laws to enter a temple unattended. Only a chosen one can enter without recourse."
"A chosen one?" Emma asked.
"Emma, it's okay. I can handle this," Rodney said quietly.
There was something familiar about that phrase – if only she could remember where she had heard it before. "What makes someone a chosen one," she asked.
The captain ignored her question. "Anyone who enters the temple unattended will be punished by the Ancients."
The Ancients. Emma smiled. These people knew of the Ancients. "We were not punished last night."
"Speak for yourself," Rodney whispered under his breath. His back was still hurting where he had landed after Emma had knocked him to the ground.
Emma continued on, ignoring Rodney. "If we were not punished last night, does that make us chosen ones?"
The guards looked at each other warily. The captain stepped forward angrily. "There are no more chosen ones. The charges stand."
He pushed Rodney and Emma forward down the path leading to the city.
"Have you lost what's left of your mind?" Rodney whispered. He glared at Emma, ready to strangle her.
"I thought it would help."
"Oh it's helping alright. Helping convict us."
Emma turned away from Rodney. She was not going to argue any more with a man who spent his days finding fault with her every action. She turned and walked ahead of him trying to maintain her composure. The more she thought of the way he treated her, the angrier she became. There was no way they were ever going to see eye to eye on anything. Maybe she would ask for that transfer to Kavanagh's lab after all, once they got back to Atlantis. If they got back to Atlantis.
The group headed down the path toward the city. Approaching the gate Emma was still fuming. She continued walking determinedly ahead of Rodney, not noticing that everyone had stopped behind her. Walking over the footbridge she continued on as the city gates opened in front of her, just as the doors on Atlantis always opened for her. She entered a small courtyard filled with people.
The guards standing with Rodney came to action, pulling out their weapons. The captain rushed forward trying to catch up with Emma. Emma had no idea of what she had just done.
Inside the city walls the people who had witnessed the gates magically open stopped in their tracks. Emma found herself standing alone in the courtyard, a crowd forming around her. She tried not to panic as the crowd closed in, staring at her and reaching out to her. She started backing away slowly, trying to find an avenue of escape when the captain rushed up and grabbed her by the arm.
"Back to work everyone," he ordered. Slowly they obeyed, moving off, turning back briefly to catch a glimpse of the strange woman who had activated the Ancient Gates.
The rest of the guards ran up dragging Rodney with them.
"Hey, watch it! Ow!" he protested.
Emma turned to see Rodney being restrained by two guards on to either side of him. "Please don't hurt him!"
The captain ignored her plea. He pulled her away from the group toward a small hallway to the left of the courtyard. She stared helplessly as Rodney was dragged in the opposite direction.
"Rodney!" she cried.
"Emma! Just do what they say and they won't hurt you!" he called back.
Emma watched Rodney disappear around a corner. She struggled against the Captain's firm grip. "You don't need to separate us like this. Please, let me go with him!"
"You will see him soon enough." The captain replied grimly.
