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Chapter 4
Sheppard's pov
Inari and I spent a very long night together in our uncomfortable cell. Our captors finally brought us water and food in the early hours of the morning. Well, foul tasting discoloured liquid that had to pass for water, and rustic, stale bread.
Inari didn't complain at our meagre provisions, she just ate and drank. Me? One swallow of the bread was enough for me to puke my guts up, and then lie in agony for twenty minutes, as my head felt like jackhammers were trying to strike their way out of my skull. I'd forgotten how much I loved head injuries.
Inari set about cleaning me up, and I sighed as she put a damp piece of her torn dress on my forehead to try and ease my pounding head. All I could do was groan and try not to throw up again.
She was a comfort to me through that dark, long night, and I hope that I comforted her right back. I'm not good with emotions or expressing them, but I like to think she knew how I felt; that she was a really special little girl, and that I'd do anything – everything I could to protect her. I didn't manage to say the words out loud, but I told her in my head, and hoped that her mind-reading skills were as good as I thought they were.
I knew my team would be pulling out all the stops to find us. I also understood how problematic that could turn out to be for them. Maybe Meldos would let McKay contact Elizabeth. Maybe she'd send the Daedalus. They had been due to arrive at Atlantis five days after we'd left on our mission. That meant Caldwell had to have arrived, didn't it?
What worried me about our whole situation, about my hopes of rescue, was that there were way too many maybes going on.
When morning arrived the guards returned in full force, and it was my turn to be dragged from the cell, with Inari pleading for them not to take me. I wasmarched roughly through dark corridors and hustled into a large room. They stood me in front of some sort of communication device, and activated it. I guessed it was my turn to play the traumatised hostage. Like Inari, they wouldn't get that satisfaction from me if I had anything to say about it.
When I looked at the screen opposite me, I saw Elizabeth's worried and angry face staring back at me.
"John? What have they done to you? Are you all right?" she asked in concern.
I had two guards holding me up on either side, a bloodied head and a bandaged arm. I was sweaty, dirty, unshaven and I'd guess I looked pretty rough. Good job Elizabeth couldn't smell me, because she wouldn't have liked the delicate aroma emanating from me either.
"I'm having a ball, Elizabeth. These guys sure know how to throw a party," I quipped, knowing full well my little joke would earn me a little love tap.
The leader of the thugs approached me, and swung the butt of his large gun into my gut. I doubled over and gagged as bile rose up my oesophagus. I swallowed quickly. I'd be damned if I was going to throw up in front of Elizabeth. It was bad enough that I looked like hell and was pretty helpless. Neither of those things worked for me.
"Leave him alone." I heard Elizabeth yelling. "Just stop. Don't hurt him anymore. If you want my co-operation, just leave him alone – please," she begged. That wasn't a side of Elizabeth I wanted to see. Her begging for my well being, or life, for that matter.
"I'm fine," I lied. Looking at the angry guy, I gave him a withering look. Well, the best one I could muster considering if he wasn't careful he would've found himself being vomited on. "If you think I'm going to relay your demands to Dr.Weir, forget it. You sure you like your dramatic, heartfelt scenarios, don't you? Obviously watched too many soap operas as a kid," I informed him sarcastically, knowing he wouldn't understand my reference to Earth television, but feeling the need to express myself anyway. I figured he'd get the gist of my little jibe – and he did.
My little foray into sarcasm earned me another blow, to the ribs, just to be original, and earned another yell from Elizabeth, though she didn't beg for them to stop hurting me that time. She merely indicated in a pretty forceful way, that it might be best if I shut the hell up, and stopped being such a smart-ass. Smart-ass? Me? Never.
Angry Guy laughed. What was it about the bad guys in the Pegasus Galaxy and their maniacal laughs?
"You have seen him Dr. Weir. You can see he is in one piece – mostly. If he decides to keep quiet and not interfere with our plans, he will be allowed to live and be returned to you – if you agree to our terms." He stopped talking, turned to face me and smiled in a nasty way. "The little princess' life is not negotiable. If Meldos doesn't agree to our terms – she dies." I struggled in the grip of my guards, but the bastard just snickered and returned to his former position facing Weir's projection.
Elizabeth nodded tentatively.
"And what exactly is it you want from me?"
Angry guy studied the screen in front of him.
"If Meldos does not agree to our demands, Inari dies tonight. Then Sheppard's life is in your hands. You have one rotation of Linaria to remove Meldos and his advisors from power, and hand them over to us. If that does not happen, Sheppard will be executed."
I saw the conflict on Elizabeth's face. I knew she'd never agree, at least I hoped she wouldn't. She understood I just wasn't worth it. No individual was. I knew she'd be working behind the scenes though. Relying on Caldwell, Lorne and McKay to get us out of there. I knew they'd try. They wouldn't let me down.
"I'm sorry, but I can't agree to those terms. I'm in no position to interfere in the politics of another world. I'm certainly not going to authorise any action which involves violence against the citizens of Linaria." Elizabeth looked directly at me, and I saw the pain in her features. "I'm sorry John," she concluded.
I smiled in understanding.
"Don't be. You know I'd never agree to those terms if the situation were reversed," I replied honestly.
That earned me yet another blow to the ribs. What was it with my ribs? Goons just seemed to love abusing them. I knew if I did make it back to Atlantis, that Beckett would lock me in his infirmary and throw away the key.
Angry Guy just nodded his head at Elizabeth.
"You have till tomorrow night, Dr. Weir. Inari is already lost to her people, Sheppard will be lost to you if you don't intervene."
I smiled patronisingly at the outsider's leader.
"I don't know why you're bothering with all this. You're not going to get what you want. You'll end up killing an innocent kid and a pretty unimportant colonel, and you'll have gained nothing. Of course, Meldos and my people will hunt you down, and believe me, they'll find you, and when they do – you'll be sorry," I warned. "Just let us go, and walk away unharmed. Maybe you can, I don't know, talk to Meldos about all of this and get something sorted out?"
Angry Guy just scowled at me.
"You do not understand anything. Ironically, it was your arrival here that facilitated our plans. With Meldos and his advisors beingso eaten up with you, their guard slipped, giving us the opportunity to take advantage and steal Inari from under their noses. You were just an unexpected bonus. So, in a way, this whole situation is your fault, Colonel."
With that, the conversation was abruptly ended, and I was thrown unceremoniously back into my cell.
Inari ran over to me, as I curled on the floor, holding my ribs protectively and panting in shallow breaths to try and stop from throwing up.
"Are you all right?" she asked gently, as her hand found mine.
"Not really, but I will be," I answered, knowing full well that was pretty unlikely, given the conversation I'd just heard.
"What did they want?" Inari asked quietly.
I sighed in frustration. If I told her the truth she'd be upset, if I lied she'd know. So, I went for evasion.
"Nothing much. Just tried to frighten my people into helping them. Don't worry about it."
I guess I must have satisfied her curiosity or maybe she'd read my mind and decided not to call me on my non-answer, as she just nodded and held my hand more tightly.
-oOo-
The next few hours were spent with me drifting in and out of consciousness. Each time I woke Inari was sitting quietly by me, staging a concerned vigil. Several times she tried to get me to drink; each time I managed a sip before my stomach threatened to expel its meagre contents.
I don't know how long I'd been drifting when I heard the first explosion. I immediately knew it was from a well-placed drone attack. The cavalry had arrived, and maybe we'd actually get out of the mess we were in. Maybe was a lot better than I'd hoped for. With those explosions, I realised we actually had a chance to get out of this relatively unscathed. I knew my faith in my friends wasn't misplaced.
I managed to sit up, and Inari helped me to my feet. Keeping upright wasn't easy, but it's amazing what you can do when the old adrenaline starts pumping. Explosions continued to rock our surroundings.
"John? What is happening?" Inari asked anxiously.
I smiled genuinely for the first time in over a day.
"It's my people. They've come to rescue us. Stay behind me, and do what I tell you, okay?" She nodded, and moved behind me. "This might get a bit messy, but I won't let them hurt you, I promise."
The cell door swung open and two guards entered followed by a flustered looking leader guy.
"It seems I have underestimated Meldos," he began, obviously believing the Linarians were behind the bombardment. "Move out of the way Sheppard. Unless you want Inari to witness your death," he warned.
I shook my head slowly.
"No way. You want her, you'll have to go through me."
It was then that everything went to hell. A huge explosion rocked the cell, and the guards were thrown to the ground. I grabbed Inari, pushed past the leader, out of the door, and ran for our lives.
Running with bruised ribs, a probable concussion and wounded arm proved difficult. I'd only managed to go about fifty feet, when my legs gave out and I crumpled to the ground, pulling Inari on top of me. I managed to get back on my feet, and grab Inari again, holding her to my chest; her legs hooked round my waist, her head resting on my shoulder. It was too little too late.
Something made me turn around, and there was the leader of the outsiders standing in front of me, gun pointing straight at us.
He smiled in satisfaction and just fired, giving me no time to react. The bullet hit Inari squarely in the lower back, and as I fell to the ground, I realised it had gone through her tiny body and straight into me. I remember distantly hearing shots, and the thud of somebody falling to the floor. Voices anxiously shouted around me.
I looked up to see McKay, blood dripping down the side of his worried face at an alarming rate.
"Sheppard? Are you ok?" he asked nervously.
I tried to answer, but an overwhelming emptiness enveloped me. Inari was dead. I just knew. She'd gone and the void was unbearable.
"Oh my God. Inari!" I heard Rodney yell, as she was pulled off of me. "Oh no. The bastard killed her."
I felt hands on me, pulling up my t-shirt, then heard McKay yell again.
"Shit. Sheppard's been shot. Get Beckett here. It's really bad. Christ, he's bleeding everywhere."
I was dimly aware of pressure on my side, and could hear Rodney's voice babbling away at me, but I couldn't make out his words. Breathing was getting difficult, and everything was getting dark and cold around me. My last thought was that I'd screwed up. For the first time in my life I urged darkness to come and carry me away. I'd failed to save Inari, and how the hell could I live with myself for failing her? Truth is, right then, I didn't want to. I closed my eyes and let it take me.
Tbc.