Chapter 31: Reluctance

Three days had passed and Sheppard hadn't been taken, the rest had done him good and he was now sitting up and chatting and Jack and O'Neil had finally managed to get a decent amount of food and water into him. They had stopped the day before and more people had been brought on board and placed into the cells beyond theirs.

At the time Sheppard was half asleep but as the new group had been marched past but he had been watching them with sleepy eyes. Out of habit he tended to lie facing the front of the cell as it allowed him to see what was going on beyond the cell and also allowed him to keep his back hidden from prying eyes.

As the group had walked past he had frowned and sat up. "I'm sure I know one of those kids..."

O'Neil looked between Sheppard and the disappearing group "Where? From Earth?"

Sheppard shook his head "Maybe I was just seeing things I only got a quick glance." They heard the closing of cells and the crying of the new captives but saw nothing more until two guards were stood in front of their cell.

Sheppard woke as the front of their cell opened and sighed as the two men came towards him, their intended victim obvious. He was picked up by his arms and for the first time in over a week he was able to support his own weight. He was walked out of the cell and down the corridor towards the power cell. When they stopped suddenly about ten cells down Sheppard was surprised. They waited for the Plexiglas front of the cell to open and then placed him on the soft floor right by the entrance.

Once again Sheppard was slightly surprised as they usually just threw him on the floor and didn't take the trouble to make sure he would land properly. They then backed out and the cell shut behind them. Sheppard heaved himself into a sitting position and started when he realised he wasn't alone in the cell, there was a woman moving towards him her hands outstretched as though she was going to give him a hand up.

The thought of skin to skin contact sent a surge of adrenaline through Sheppard and gave him the chance to push himself across the floor until his back met the padded wall. "Don't touch me!" He said to the woman.

Realising that the force behind his exclamation could have scared the woman he quietly added "Please."

The woman paused where she stood, about a meter from him and then after some thought she sat down where she had been standing. "What is going on here?" Sheppard asked

The woman didn't answer for a really long time and Sheppard was just starting to think she hadn't understood him when she started to talk.

"We are supposed to produce a child together." She told him. She didn't seem particularly bothered by this statement but Sheppard definitely was. She had said it with very little emotion in her voice and Sheppard got the impression that she had already come to accept her part in this and just thought of this as part of her role in life.

"I'm sorry but that is not going to happen." Sheppard told her putting as much conviction into his voice as he knew how to. "I'm not really ready for children and I don't know about you but I like to get to know a girl, take her out on a few dates before sleeping with her, you know what I mean?"

The woman looked blank but she had stopped moving towards him which was a good start. "If I'm with child they will not put me back in the power chamber" she told him. She was trying to keep her voice steady but Sheppard heard the waver in it as she mentioned the power chamber.

"I'm really sorry but there is no way I am going to sleep with you, maybe the next guy they put in here will be willing to but I'm not." He sighed, he was feeling better than he had in a while but he was still getting tired again. He was worried about falling asleep before he had managed to get this woman to agree with what he was saying. He lay down on his side, making sure it was his good shoulder, his back still against the wall. His bad shoulder had been giving him problems lately, he suspected that the way the guards had been carrying him around had exacerbated the problem and could only hope that he wasn't going to need more surgery.

He had an assortment of bruises littering his body but nothing serious as the guards knew that they would be severely punished for causing any long term damage. The only person that didn't seem to be worried about damaging him was Pietor. Sheppard didn't see him all that frequently but every time he did he came away from the encounter the worse for wear. Once he was as comfortable as he thought he was going to get he looked back up at the woman who still hadn't moved. "You understand right?"

The woman nodded and Sheppard let out a breath he hadn't even realised he had been holding, some of the tension leaving his body. As he relaxed his eyes began to droop as the adrenaline began to leave his system and exhaustion set in. Soon he was fast asleep.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when something woke him. He lay still keeping his eyes closed as he tried to figure out what had woken him. It took only a few seconds to realise that something was pressing against his lower thigh but was moving slowly upwards. His eyes snapped open and he looked down to see the woman he was currently sharing a cell with rubbing his thigh in small circular motions with one hand whilst the other was reaching for the hem of his scrub bottoms. He scrambled back rapidly out of her reach gasping "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry" she sobbed "I thought perhaps if you were in the right mood you would be more interested."

Sheppard felt bad for her, he could understand where she was coming from; if he was being offered a reprieve from the tank he might well take it but what she was asking for he just couldn't give her. "I'm really sorry but I'm not interested. We won't be here for much longer; my people will find us and then we will do our best to get everyone back to where they belong." He hoped he was telling the woman the truth; the longer they were on this ship the harder he was finding it to believe that himself.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked him having calmed down somewhat.

"Because we never leave a man behind." Sheppard told her; it was a philosophy he lived by and he had to believe that others did too.

"Ok." The woman said, "I won't bother you again."

Sheppard just nodded but he didn't think he would be falling asleep any time soon. Drawing up his legs he wrapped his arms around his knees and leaned back against the wall.