Chapter 18: Explanations

Ronon wasn't happy with the speed at which things were going downhill. He didn't want to voice his concerns to Mitchell however as he could see that Sheppard's brother was already as wound up as a spring and looked ready to explode from worry and confusion. Ronon had been watching the corridor and he had seen the group of people being herded back into cells. It seemed smaller than it had been previously and notably Sheppard had not been returned to his cell.

Mitchell walked over from where he had been sat talking to the woman who had been put in with them. "Calm down big fella," he said in an undertone so as not to be overheard by the others "the fact that the others have come back and Shep isn't with them hasn't escaped my attention either but we can't do anything rash, we are no good to anybody dead. I saw Shep in that clinic place they had and he didn't look like they had done anything to him... they probably just want to verify that those devices in his back don't pose a threat to them. What would our reaction have been like if we had picked someone up with devices like that? Granted we wouldn't be kidnapping large groups of people but that's a side issue right now, we have to think of David and Lilly."

David had been chatting to Lilly for a while now as they cemented a bond that was forming through the shared experience of being kidnapped. David had been fretting about what his fiancé must being going through as they sat in silence with nothing to do but watch the people in the surrounding cells and chat. Lilly, relieved to have someone else who sympathised with her lack of knowledge on the current events and the worry of what family members back on earth would be going through at this moment in time, had taken it upon herself to calm him down. They had spent the last hour talking about all manner of things including where they lived, what they did for work and more importantly family.

The conversation had been on David's illness for a couple of minutes, as Lilly had had an aunt who had died of oesophageal cancer, when Mitchell could see a thought run across David's face and he looked up now puzzled and quite possibly more confused than ever. Wait I've just remembered; my doctor told me I didn't have cancer anymore right before this..." unable to find the correct word for the situation they were in he continued; "all happened and I've never felt better in my life. What the hell is going on, did you people help me?"

Mitchell had been expecting this topic to be brought up all day but he had hoped that David wouldn't ask until they were out of this particular situation. "It wasn't us per say, it was your brother." Seeing the incredulous look on David's he stopped for a second thinking through his next words. "Look it's a really long story and to be quite honest I'm sure I don't know the whole of it but while he was in captivity your brother developed the ability to heal physical injuries and, it would appear, diseases too."

"But... how? And why doesn't he heal his own injuries then? I've never seen him look so ill in his life why doesn't he just help himself as well?"

"As I said before I don't know the whole story but from what I've read some sort of drug he was given on the planet reacted with his system and caused the transformation, even the doctors don't know what really happened and so far they haven't been able to replicate it. They think that it may have reacted with a variety of different substances that have been introduced into his system over the past few years and altered his genetic sequence slightly but as I said before that's just conjecture. What they do know is that it has made him very similar to a race of aliens we call the Ancients."

Seeing the alarmed look on his face Mitchell quickly moved to assure David. "It's not as bad as you may think; the Ancients are a race that settled on earth thousands of years ago after they were nearly wiped out by a plague. They eventually died out but we think there must have been some interbreeding as a very tiny fraction of the Earth's population have genes that were specific to the Ancients, I think that may be the reason why we are here; because of one gene that the Ancients used as a lock to prevent their technology from being used by other races. The thing about the Ancients though, was that they could also heal others but, like John, they couldn't heal themselves. I do know that healing other people takes a massive toll on Shep's body, it's one of the reasons it has taken so long for him to heal after he and his team were captured; he felt the need to help one of the men who was badly injured during their rescue."

"He saved my life that day as well" Ronon added hoping to help David understand his brother a little better.

David looked astounded and from the corner of his eye Mitchell noticed that Lilly was also staring in astonishment, he could only imagine what it must be like to have so much unbelievable information thrust on you while you were in a situation that only happened on TV. He had had years to assimilate all the knowledge he was now passing on and he was still not quite sure he could believe what had happened to Sheppard, even after reading about general O'Neil's transformation into something akin to an Ancient several years before.

"But if it was going to hurt him why did John help me?" David was clearly having problems with the concept but had decided to go with what they were saying, at least for the time being.

"Because that's what he does," Ronon supplied "he can't sit by while someone suffers especially if he can help."

A wry smile crossed David's face "yeah that sounds about right. He never did think about himself."

"Don't worry, we'll figure out how to get out of this situation... we always do" Mitchell assure the pair looking to Ronon who merely gave a confidant nod in affirmation.

"I'm not sure how comforting that is; knowing that you've been in this sort of situation enough times to be that confident..."

A/N: well you didnt have to wait months this time... to all those who have reviewed so far a resounding thank you! i will try to reply to you all at some point and i hope to clear up various questions and omissions too :) enjoy the next chapter should only be a couple of days