Author's Notes: Common Ground is such a great story, but I just wanted a little more. Fair warning, this one is definitely one of my darker stories, and there are some extensive torture scenes. If that isn't your type of story then I'd suggest you skip this one. But there is some comfort at the end, and no one dies or suffers from injuries that can't be healed. Although I'd like to get my hands around Kolya's neck myself for what he does to poor Sheppard …

Prologue

"The gift of life is reserved only for our most devout worshipers … and our brothers.

"You gave me back my life. I have merely repaid the debt."

Sheppard staggered back, his hand automatically going to his chest where he had felt a surge of adrenaline and life pour back into his body only moments before.

Todd looked at him, then behind into the forest.

"More are coming. We must go."

Sheppard looked around, scanned the ground for a weapon and grabbed the nearest gun he could find. He had no idea if his team was coming, but he wasn't willing to go down without a fight this time.

"You go," he said to the Wraith. "I'll hold them off."

It was too late to run as more Genii soldiers crashed through the trees. Sheppard dropped to one knee, the gun snug against his shoulder. He couldn't worry about what Todd was doing. It was every man for himself right now.

Aiming and squeezing the trigger, he brought down the nearest man, then in rapid succession three more, until running footsteps behind him alerted him too late to the fact that he was surrounded.

Two bodies slammed into him from the side and behind, flattening him as the air rushed from his lungs and the gun was knocked from his hands.

Kicking and struggling as he was hauled to his knees, Sheppard looked up into the angry eyes of Kolya.

"Where's the Wraith?" he demanded. "What did he do to you?"

Sheppard grinned. "Looks like he undid what you wanted him to do."

The radio at Kolya's belt crackled. "Sir, Atlantean forces are coming our way. We need to evacuate."

Kolya stared down at John, face twitching, before gesturing and stalking off into the trees. "We take him with us."

Sheppard dug in his heels as he was pulled to his feet, the promise of rescue on the horizon. He wasn't going to make it easy for Kolya if his team was already here. He had to stall.

The men restraining him didn't stop, but one pummeled him in the solar plexus, leaving him gasping and sagging in their arms, too weak from the sharp pain to stand or resist. The men grabbed his arms and shoulders more firmly and took off into the trees, dragging Sheppard's limp body along with them. The faint sound of Ronon's blaster and gunfire sounded in the forest behind them.

They were so close.

Sheppard managed to pull himself together enough to start struggling again, and the men tossed him to the ground. One didn't hesitate to pull out his gun and press it against Sheppard's forehead.

"Stop fighting," the man hissed.

"You think I'm gonna stop fighting when I know my team is a few steps behind you?" Sheppard retorted.

"We don't have time for this."

The gun whipped around and sent him spinning into white lights between the tree branches.

Chapter 1: Reality

If they'd only been five minutes faster.

Ronon cursed all the gods he knew when they came upon the dead Genii. It was definitely Sheppard. The man knew how to put up a fight, but it wasn't enough.

The tracks showed that they had pulled him away, deeper into the forest. He struggled, there was a patch of blood, and the signs of resistance stopped. They carried him.

Ronon ran, not bothering to wait for Teyla, McKay, and the others. Time was imperative.

He was just fast enough to see a small, battered ship in the clearing, and two Genii soldiers dragging Sheppard's unconscious body onboard as the ship began to lift into the air.

But Sheppard's greyed hair was black, and his slack face, although covered in blood, looked unlined and un-aged. He was young again.

Ronon didn't have time to wonder at the transformation. Roaring in rage he lifted his gun and fired.

It was too little, too late.

The bolt ricocheted off the side of the door as it closed and the ship lifted into the air, hovering for a moment, before taking off into the atmosphere.

Ronon fired several more shots after it, not thinking. His mind was full of hot-red anger.

They were so close.

Sheppard woke to humming. The floor beneath him was vibrating gently, cool to the touch.

His body ached everywhere. A sharp pain in his diaphragm told him that the hit to his solar plexus might have been a serious one. Hopefully it was just a nasty bruise and nothing more.

He held his breath and opened his eyes.

The room was dark, with filtered light coming from a grated ceiling overhead. Shadows filled the corners, but the room wasn't that big, maybe four by four meters. He appeared to be alone. He briefly wondered if Kolya had also recaptured Todd.

Pushing himself up, Sheppard leaned against the cool wall behind him, taking in the empty room. The walls were rusted brown and metallic. The floor under him was also metal, and the doors opposite him were faceless with no window. There was a depression in the floor in one corner that he guessed was his cell's version of a toilet, but there were no obvious panels or anything he could pry open. The room was completely faceless except for the soft blinking of a red light in the ceiling corner. A camera. They were watching him.

Pushing himself to his feet, he discovered more aches and bruises. Touching his face he found dried blood caking the right side of his head and jaw, probably from being pistol whipped. Based on the amount of bruises he was now sporting, Kolya's men didn't care too much about handling him carefully while unconscious.

Sheppard touched the humming walls, walking the perimeter of the cell. Where was he? Underground? Everything smelled metallic, almost like copper or iron. He certainly wasn't in the last place where he had met Todd. Or at least, he probably wasn't in that place. It had smelled earthy and damp there.

He banged on the door.

"Hey! Anybody there?"

Either the door was too thick for him to hear anyone on the other side, or he was completely alone.

Sheppard spent the next twenty minutes banging on the door and shouting at the ceiling.

There was no answer. Was this Kolya's idea of an execution? Dying of loneliness?

Sheppard slumped against the wall facing the door. He could be patient. He could wait. After what he put Kolya through, he knew it wasn't the last he had see of the Genii.