DISCLAIMER – Stargate: Atlantis is not my property. It belongs to MGM/UA and associated companies. This story is for fun, not profit.

RATING – still rated T for safety

SPOILERS – None in this chapter

A/N – Thank you once again for all the replies and the helpful comments. Everyone who reads, replies and reviews is greatly appreciated. You are all encouraging me to keep working on this story, so a big thanks goes out to you from me! I hope this chapter makes sense. I think it's a little less unified than the others but ehhh… I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I liked writing it.

There's a bit of Czech in this chapter. Translations are at the end.

Anything in «double-angle quotation marks» represents something written in Ancient.

Yep…this is me with no beta. All mistakes are mine.


The Song Of Silent Rivers

9. A Gilded Cage

After a good night's sleep and a satisfying breakfast, Elizabeth was able to put the aftermath of the previous day's mission to M4X-382 into a more rational perspective. She knew offworld missions rarely went according to the plan, but she usually handled the disasters, both major and minor, with considerably more aplomb than she had done yesterday. Her immediate reaction had been to blame her erratic behaviour on stress. She was discouraged about the failure of the mission and frustrated by the fact that an intruder had somehow gotten into the city without anyone noticing. Her worry and concern for Radek wasn't helping, either. In fact, she thought, her feelings for Radek had most likely been what had pushed her beyond the limit of her usual self-control.

Let this be a lesson to you, said the voice in her head. There was a very good reason why leaders weren't supposed to become involved with the people under them, and if Elizabeth had only understood it in theory before, she was beginning to understand it in practice now. The less rational part of her brain tried to justify everything by saying that perhaps 'involved' wasn't the best word to describe her relationship with Radek. They weren't exactly together, though they did spend a lot of time with each other outside the ordinary course of their work. They had a lot in common, so it was only natural that they'd become very good friends.

Right, said Elizabeth's conscience. You just keep telling yourself that. If you repeat it enough times, it'll appear true from a distance. Just don't examine it too closely.

Elizabeth wished she could tell her conscience to shut up and go away. She couldn't do that, of course, and no matter how much she hated to admit it, the rational part of her was the part she ultimately had to obey. She liked Radek Zelenka a lot – hell, she might as well admit she loved him – but as long as she was the leader of this expedition she couldn't do anything about her feelings except keep them under control. She could not allow her professionalism to lapse like it had yesterday. Her objectivity was something she couldn't afford to lose, because someday the lives of her people might depend on it.

Maintaining impartiality was relatively easy when she was walking down the corridor alone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Elizabeth, I've been looking everywhere for you."

Rodney was out of breath and pink in the face as he ran to meet her. Elizabeth had made a quick detour to her quarters after breakfast, and was just stepping through the door, on her way to the Infirmary, when Rodney had come charging down the corridor. He looked like a man being chased by a monster, Elizabeth thought. She remembered her earlier dialogue with herself, and pulled her diplomatic persona firmly around her.

"Why didn't you call me on the radio?" she said to Rodney.

"Radio? Oh…um…never thought of it. Look, I have something really important to tell you, which I should have told you last night, but I was running an important experiment, and I didn't want to leave—"

"Rodney."

"What?" Rodney said. The Canadian was clearly agitated. He couldn't seem to keep his hands still.

"You were looking for me," Elizabeth said. "You wanted to tell me something. What is it?"

"Last night Carson came to my lab."

"Is that a problem?"

"No. I mean, yes! Yes, it is a problem, Elizabeth, because he had that…that person with him! That little deaf alien person who somehow managed to get past every member of this expedition and maul a Marine in the process was in my lab last night and…and she stole one of my power bars!"

Elizabeth's first impulse was to laugh, though she managed to contain it. She never ceased to be amazed at how the possessor of one of the most brilliant minds in two galaxies could behave like a petulant six-year-old most of the time. Rodney the Tattler stood before her, waving his hands in a gesture of puerile outrage over somebody taking one of his favourite treats. The whole thing would have been downright comedic, were it not for the statement Rodney had made before telling her about the power bar.

"Rodney," Elizabeth said. "Are you trying to say Carson took the girl out of the Infirmary and brought her to your lab?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Rodney practically shouted. "I'm telling you, she's a menace. She should be locked up in the brig, or something. Carson was going on about how she was just defending herself when she bit that Marine, but if you want my opinion she should be considered dangerous. And besides that, we don't know what kind of diseases she's carrying. She could have infected us all with some alien plague by now."

"I'll speak to Carson," Elizabeth said. "I'm actually on my way to the Infirmary right now."

"I'm coming with you," Rodney said.

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea. All my ideas are good ideas."

Elizabeth had her doubts about the veracity of that statement, but as always, where Rodney McKay was concerned, some subjects were best left untouched. She said, "Remember what happened the last time you went to the Infirmary?"

"This is different. This is a matter of security."

"And you don't think I'm capable of dealing with it by myself?"

"No, no…I wasn't suggesting that at all," Rodney said hastily. "I think you're capable. I think you're more than capable."

"Good," said Elizabeth. "I'm glad we're agreed on that point."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

For the first time in ages, Carson Beckett felt confident in saying everything was under control. At some point during the night, his nurses had convinced him to go to his quarters for some rest. Against his better judgment, he'd headed for his room. He'd surprised himself by sleeping for four uninterrupted hours, and when he awakened he was glad he'd let the nurses boss him around this time. He returned to the Infirmary at sunrise to find things in relatively good order. Both of his patients were doing as well as he could have anticipated and no one else had turned up looking for medical attention while he'd been gone.

At the moment, both Radek and Shadow were awake and eating breakfast. Carson was gratified to discover Radek had awakened with an appetite. On the other hand, he hadn't been at all surprised when Shadow had scurried up to him with her notebook and pencil, and had scrawled the unmistakable demand:

«I want something to eat.»

One of the nurses brought oatmeal and fruit juice for the patients' breakfast. Upon reflection, Carson thought perhaps oatmeal hadn't been the best choice for Shadow. She might have been fine if she hadn't been watching Radek, but her attempts to copy the engineer's use of his spoon were less than perfect. She'd probably never used a spoon before, Carson guessed. She was as awkward as a toddler trying to feed herself. Carson marvelled that the same hands which were so deft with a pencil could not handle a spoon.

With a look of annoyance on her face, Shadow dropped the spoon unceremoniously onto the blanket beside her. She promptly stuck her fingers into her oatmeal and tried to scoop it up that way. Carson did his best not to laugh.

Radek was less successful in his effort to remain straight-faced. He grinned at Shadow, who had her fingers firmly ensconced in her mouth. "She reminds me of my nephew," he said. "Tell her to hold spoon in her other hand, Carson."

"Why?" Carson asked.

"She is left-handed."

"How do you know that?"

"Did you not watch her when she was writing? She used left hand. She did what I did with the spoon, and I am right-handed, so…" Radek let his voice trail off, and gestured abstractedly with his own spoon at his bowl of oatmeal.

Carson felt like smacking himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed that particular detail. He picked up the pad of paper and the pencil and brought them to Radek. "Here, you tell her. You're much better at Ancient than I am. I'm afraid I might say something I shouldn't."

"I think she would forgive you," Radek said. "She's in your fan club."

"At least somebody's in my fan club," Carson said.

"Who isn't?" Radek asked.

"Rodney."

"Zastavit trápit se. Rodney pretends not to be in anyone's fan club, but he is really good person beneath the surface," Radek said. He squinted at the paper in front of him and scratched a message on it with the pencil. He held both items out for Carson to take when he was finished. "No more of that, please. Without glasses, it makes my head ache worse when I look at it."

"I'm sorry," Carson said. "I expect Elizabeth's managed to find your spare pair by now, though. She'll probably bring them with her when she visits."

"I hope so."

Radek settled onto his pillows and closed his eyes, neglecting his half-finished breakfast. Carson let him be, and turned his attention back to Shadow. He showed her what Radek had written, and she immediately picked up the spoon in her left hand. She had much better luck on the second attempt.

Once she'd finished eating, she was ready to have a conversation. She wrote:

«Thank you. Can we walk together now? I want to see the sky. Are there forests on your world? Can I see trees?»

«Too many questions.» Carson replied, frustrated by his lack of knowledge of the Ancient language. «Ask one.»

«Am I a prisoner?»

The question caught Carson off-guard. It was the last thing he'd expected her to ask and it upset him that she thought she might be considered a captive. He wanted to reassure her that she was anything but a prisoner here, but he lacked the words to do so. Instead, he settled for:

«No, no, no. Shadow not prisoner.»

She smiled briefly when she read his words, but he noticed the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Carson wasn't sure she believed him, though he desperately wanted her to. He had his answer when she took back the pencil and wrote her reply.

Shadow's words drifted like dark clouds across Carson's mind as he read them.

«Your people are warriors. Your people think I am the enemy. Warriors make prisoners of the enemy. I am shadow in the forest. I want to live free.»

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Carson was in his office, working at his computer. Shadow was with him. The lass sat cross-legged on the floor beside Carson's desk with the now-familiar notebook resting on her knee. She'd been writing busily for the past half-hour, but she had declined to show Carson what she was working on. He was content to let her do what she wanted. She was quiet, and as long as she was occupied she wouldn't be bothering any of the nurses or the other doctors.

It was Elizabeth's sudden arrival in Carson's office that put an end to Shadow's good behaviour. One look at the expedition leader sent the deaf woman scrambling for cover.

Carson tried to pretend he didn't notice Shadow had hunkered down in the space between the wall and a nearby container of supplies. He tried to keep his expression neutral when he said, "Good morning, Dr. Weir. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'd like to speak to you about the girl," Elizabeth said.

"Shadow, you mean?"

"Shadow. Is that her name?"

"Well, it's what she calls herself," Carson said. "Shadow in the forest. What do you want to talk about?"

"I understand she's been roaming around the city."

Oh, good Lord. Here comes the lecture, Carson thought. Aloud, he said, "Where might you have heard a thing like that, Dr. Weir?"

"Did you take her out of the Infirmary last night?"

Carson knew there was no point in denying what had happened. He couldn't lie to Elizabeth, and anything he tried to make up would have sounded utterly stupid at any rate. Of course with hindsight being what it was, he realized it had probably been ill-advised to take Shadow for a walk around Atlantis without first checking with Elizabeth, but then again, like most bad plans, it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"I did," he said.

"You know you should have cleared it with me first."

"Aye, I know," he admitted.

"I'm getting the distinct impression there's a 'but' in that sentence somewhere, Dr. Beckett."

There were several 'buts' in the statement, Carson decided. He didn't know which of them to give voice to first. He wanted to tell Elizabeth that Shadow was fine. She wasn't dangerous and she didn't have any communicable diseases. He wanted to say that Shadow was curious and needed to explore. What he ended up saying, and what seemed to pop out of his mouth of it's own volition was, "She thinks she's a prisoner, Elizabeth. A bloody prisoner, for the love of God! She thinks we're warriors and that we believe she's the enemy. Now, where do you expect she got an idea like that?"

"Dr. Beckett—" Elizabeth's tone carried more than a hint of warning in it.

"You've got to explain to her that we aren't her enemies."

"Dr, Beckett, until we learn more about this woman, we don't know that she isn't an enemy. After all, she did sneak through the Stargate with Colonel Sheppard's team, and she did try to evade being captured. I'm not willing to risk letting her roam freely through the city until I'm as certain as I can be that she doesn't represent a threat."

Carson could hardly believe what he was hearing. Sure, he understood Elizabeth's need for caution, but the woman wasn't even trying to be reasonable. He pointed toward Shadow, who was still hiding behind the container of supplies.

"Elizabeth, just look at her," he said. "She thinks you're going to hurt her. You need to tell her that you don't mean to do her any harm. More than likely, she'll tell you want you want to know if you'll just ask her."

Carson watched a battle of emotions take place in Elizabeth's expression. He could almost hear the internal dialogue. He imagined Dr. Weir the Expedition Leader arguing on the side of caution, while Elizabeth the Diplomat wanted more than anything to make contact with yet another representative of an alien world. Carson was more than a little relieved to see that in the end, it was Elizabeth the Diplomat who won the silent debate. Her face relaxed into something a little less severe, and she took a step toward Shadow's hiding place.

She gave Carson an uncertain look. "Wait," she said. "How can I talk to her if she can't hear me?"

Carson hadn't finished his report on Shadow's physical examination yet, and he did not recall ever mentioning to Elizabeth that Shadow was deaf. In that moment, he understood exactly how Elizabeth had found out about it. She'd been told by the same person who informed her that Carson had taken Shadow for a walk around the city last night. Rodney McKay. Carson wasn't normally a vindictive person, but just this once, something made him want to repay the Canadian for getting him into trouble. Settling of scores would have to wait, though.

Carson picked up Shadow's notebook from the floorand gave it to Elizabeth. "Here you are," he said. "She reads and writes Ancient. You shouldn't have any trouble communicating with her."

"Ancient?" Elizabeth echoed. "How does she know Ancient?"

"If you really want to know that," Carson said. "Perhaps you ought to ask her."

TBC
-------------------

Zastavit trápit se – stop worrying

A/N #2 – I know this chapter was kind of all over the map, but the next one will be better, I promise. I always hit these spots midway through a story where things get kind of…odd. It's usually a self-resolving problem, though, so look for some improvements next chapter.

I think I've figured out how to show you all a picture of Grace, so here goes… Just replace everything in (parentheses) with the punctuation marks whose names I wrote in the parentheses and it -should- work... -crosses fingers- http(colon-slash-slash)i7(dot)tinypic(dot)com(slash)20tqszb(dot)jpg