Title : Love After Love
Author : ElaineDex
Date : 07.05.07
Part 10 of 15
Rating : M
Characters : Ronon, Ellie, People of Atlantis and the SGC, Lyssa Hunter.
Archiving : None
Spoilers : This part of the storey has bits in it that follow on from Kazavid's 'Reunions' explaining what happened to Lyssa
afterwards (my version of events).
Disclaimers : Only Ellie is mine, Stargate/Atlantis and all their characters are not. Lyssa Hunter is kindly on loan from Kazavid.
Summery : Will Ellie and Ronon's love stand the test of time and all that fate has to throw at them?
As Michael moved further into the room Ellie moved backwards on the straw mattress, her fingers tight on the blanket that was her body's only defence from his eyes.
"What did you...we...what did you do?" she asked, her voice sounding far away even to her own ears.
Michael knelt on one knee in front of her, one hand cupping her chin as he replied.
"Ellie what's wrong? I thought you wanted to...you were very willing".
Tears pooled in Ellie's eyes as she shook her head.
"No...it can't be true. Why would I? I wouldn't...I just wouldn't".
Michael stood and threw her a look of disgust.
"Don't worry...I wouldn't touch you. Your human body does not wet my appetite, but now I know my formula works".
Ellie swiped at her eyes as she looked up at him. She didn't know which to be first; relieved, offended or inquisitive.
"Formula?" she asked, standing and as he turned his back to her she took the opportunity to wrap the blanket around herself toga style.
"Yes. With one shot of this", and he turned and showed her the stun-type gun again, "I can manipulate minds and implant memories. I tried it out on Teyla and Ronon but Sheppard arrived and took them away before I had chance to return and question them".
Ellie blinked at him, a sinking feeling filling her stomach as she realised just how many months of anguish and hurt Michael's experiment had caused her, Ronon and Teyla.
Slowly she approached him and without warning raised a hand and smacked Michael right across the face.
For a split second the human in Michael must have stayed calm as he simply stared at her but slowly Ellie saw anger rise in his eyes and she went to move but wasn't quick enough and her head snapped to one side as Michael returned her blow.
"Never do that again", Michael said and as she cradled her jaw, thinking it must surely be broken she nodded.
ooOoo
Rodney jumped out of his skin as Ronon nearly took the lab door off as he entered, closely followed by Sheppard and then Teyla.
"What have you found?" Ronon asked getting right up close to Rodney who cleared his throat and moved away nervously.
"This", he said indicating they look around the back of one of the lab tables to where a case was open with what looked like microchips inside. One was missing and there were drops of blood on the floor near the injector gun.
"What are they?", Ronon asked as Sheppard rubbed his eyes as though something had just dawned on him.
"So that's why Ellie was showing me her arm", he said and Ronon glanced at him before turning back to Rodney expectantly.
"They're tracking devices. It's a project Ellie and I were working on. They're still in the experimental stage but I think she's injected herself with one so if I can just match up the serial number and...", he trailed off as he became engrossed in what he was typing.
Ronon folded his arms impatiently.
"And?" he said.
"And", Rodney replied, smiling triumphantly as he turned and showed them his lap top screen, "hey presto, we can track Ellie".
They all moved closer and saw a tiny blip on the screen which was flashing on and off.
"So where is she?", Teyla asked, sighing when Rodney quickly snatched the lap top from their view and turned away.
"Haven't quite got that far yet", he murmured.
"Get there and fast", Ronon growled.
"Uh-huh", Rodney replied.
ooOoo
Ellie watched from the straw bed as Michael pottered about. Strange noises echoed through the corridors outside the room they were in
but she really didn't want to think too much on what was actually making those noises.
Her jaw throbbed painfully but her heart was happy despite her current situation.
Ronon had definitely, 100 per cent not slept with Teyla. It had all been a clever hoax. The formula Michael had used on them had not been perfected enough for them to remember the thoughts Michael had tried to implant and because they had woken up as they did they would have obviously assumed the worst.
Eventually Ellie began to get bored and she stood again.
"What are you doing?", she asked but as Michael turned to face her someone entered the room and Ellie jumped as she hadn't been expecting anyone else to be around.
The other woman was taller than Ellie and had short blonde hair. She did not look in Ellie's direction as she approached Michael.
"It's time for your injection", the woman said, her voice low and seemingly void of any emotion.
"Ah...good", Michael said offering his arm to the woman and Ellie immediately wondered who she was for Michael to have such trust in
her.
The woman injected Michael with more retrovirus and went to move away but Michael caught her arm pulling her close and turning her to face Ellie.
"I have a friend for you", he said and the woman looked across at Ellie, her face showing no signs of surprise that there was even another person in the room.
"This is Dr. Ellie Harrison. She's from Atlantis. You remember I've told you about my enemy from the city, Ronon Dex, well, Ellie is going to have his child", and Michael felt her stiffen even if Ellie didn't see the action.
"Ellie this is Lyssa Hunter", he continued, watching as the two women looked at one another.
Smiling he whispered in Lyssa's ear.
"I won't tell her about you and Ronon if you don't".
Lyssa wrenched her arm free of Michael's grip and left the room.
"What did you say to her? Is she alright?" Ellie asked eager to have any company other than just Michael's.
"It is none of your concern but if you feel the need to check she is only in the room next door", Michael replied and Ellie stared at him.
"You'll let me leave this room?" she asked disbelievingly but Michael nodded.
"There is no way out of this place unless you are with me. If you stray my creatures will kill you".
Ellie remained stood where she was for a minute or so whilst Michael continued on with his work. Finally she plucked up the courage to move and she slipped past him and out onto the corridor.
She paused, rooted to the spot as a huge black figure brushed by her.
Suddenly a slim hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room next to Michael's.
"Don't stand out there for too long, they don't have much patience", Lyssa said.
"Right", Ellie replied smiling gratefully at her.
They stared at one another for a moment, a strange silence settling between them.
Eventually Lyssa said,
"So...he brought you here to get revenge on Ronon?".
"I don't think so. I think I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time", Ellie replied and Lyssa nodded.
That was pretty much how it had been for her too. She had been nosing around in Beckett's lab looking for painkillers when Michael had appeared.
He had somehow gotten onto Atlantis and was after Beckett's retrovirus. He had taken her with him as a precaution but they had encountered no-one as they left. Turned out Atlantis' systems had been down whilst Rodney was doing some kind of update and therefore they had been undetectable.
She had been here with Michael now for almost two years.
Two years of her life gone. A life that should have been shared with Ronon.
A life that this woman now had.
Lyssa looked at Ellie and pondered briefly how one man could be attracted to two women so totally different.
Ellie was about seven inches or so shorter than herself and had long brunette hair whereas hers was short and blonde.
Ellie began to get uncomfortable with Lyssa's appraisal of her and she moved.
"I don't suppose you know what he did with my clothes do you?" she asked and Lyssa shook her head but reached for a longish looking coat, the type all Wraith wore.
"There's this though if you want to cover yourself better".
Ellie took the coat from Lyssa dubiously. She didn't particularly want to wear anything that belonged to Michael but it was preferable to walking around in nothing but a blanket.
She changed quickly but not quickly enough for Lyssa not to get a glimpse of her bump.
"How far along are you?" she asked.
"Only about four months or so but my mother was the same with me, she got huge pretty quickly. Dr Beckett, on Atlantis, thought I could be having twins", Ellie replied and Lyssa nodded.
"How long have you and Ronon been together?".
"Nine or ten months, give or take", Ellie replied then realised Lyssa was asking a lot of questions.
"Do you know anyone from Atlantis?" she asked and Lyssa looked away.
"No", she responded, her brain calculating that she must have been gone roughly just over a year before Ronon had moved on.
Not bad she supposed. She couldn't have expected him to wait forever for her to return.
Could she?
"I'm fairly certain that they'll find me", Ellie said, frowning when Lyssa looked back at her and smiled as though she didn't believe her.
"Believe me I have tried to get out of here and if I can't get out, you're friends won't get in", Lyssa said this despite knowing how determined Ronon and Sheppard for that matter, could be.
"I have this tracker in my arm", Ellie said lowering her voice as she showed Lyssa. "My friends will follow the signal from this, providing the signal can get through...how deep underground are we here?"
"Quite deep, I think you'd need to be higher", Lyssa replied frowning as Ellie looked thoughtfully at the door.
"Forget it. You'd get no further than the end of the corridor on your own".
"What if I wasn't on my own?" Ellie asked getting the feeling Lyssa knew a thing or two about Michael's creatures.
Lyssa looked at Ellie as though weighing up her level of seriousness.
"You want me to help you get nearer the surface?", she asked and Ellie nodded.
"I have a feeling you're not a loyal slave to Michael, otherwise I'd have been dragged back into him by now. If you help me you could come to Atlantis, I'm sure you'd be welcomed..."
"No", Lyssa said sharply cutting her off. "I'll help you get higher up but once we're out of here, when you're friends get us out, I'll go my own way".
Ellie looked at her for a moment.
"Ok, whatever you want", she replied and Lyssa nodded.
Ellie moved to a nearby work station. She began to gather vials of the retrovirus.
"What are you doing?" Lyssa asked and Ellie paused to look at her.
"I've noticed that just after Michael has one of these he becomes extremely calm and quite reasonable. I was thinking if you overdose him next time he's due it might help somehow".
Lyssa nodded. "Good thinking".
ooOoo
Sheppard landed the jumper as close to the entrance to the cave as was possible and he, Ronon, McKay and Teyla moved forward on foot.
"This is the place I'm certain", McKay said jabbing a finger at his lap top.
"It had better be", Ronon said as he moved past McKay and to the front of their group.
ooOoo
Michael had gone soft in the head. Totally cabbaged.
Ellie stood staring open-mouthed as Lyssa tied his hands together behind his back.
"I hadn't expected it to work this well", Lyssa said. "He can come with us and call the creatures off. I don't know why I didn't think of this months ago".
"I thought of it", Ellie said and Lyssa glanced at her. Without thinking she said, "You sound like McKay...damn".
"You do know Atlantis. Did you live there?" Ellie said, ignoring the bit about her sounding like McKay.
"Briefly", Lyssa said, turning to Michael in an attempt to put Ellie off.
"You'll do exactly as I tell you...won't you?" she asked and Michael nodded docilely.
As she pushed Michael into a standing position Ellie watched as Lyssa donned a hooded cloak and pulled the hood up over her head.
She felt at this point it was better not to push the other woman about her actions. After all she knew nothing about her.
ooOoo
Ronon forced his way into the cave and immediately became embroiled with two or three of Michael's creatures which he quickly killed off.
"I'm with him", Rodney said staying close to Ronon's back.
"So are we", Sheppard said sending Teyla a look that said 'I really am brave - honestly'.
They fought their way along for quite a way into the cave before the creatures suddenly seemed to melt away.
"Wha...what happened?" Rodney asked breathlessly and Ronon eyed him.
"Isn't that your department again?", he asked moving forward, regardless of whether the creatures were still around or not.
Rodney pulled a face at Ronon's back but straightened up as Ronon said without actually turning,
"I saw that".
Rodney looked down at his lap top and said,
"Up ahead...I'm getting Ellie's signal up ahead".
Ronon took off at a run.
"Ronon, wait up", Sheppard called as they followed.
"Ellie!!", Ronon bellowed, not caring if Michael heard him or not. He was ready for that bastard and the sooner they caught up with each other the better.
Up ahead Ellie stopped and Lyssa froze as they heard Ronon's voice shout Ellie's name.
"They're here", Ellie said looking at Lyssa before breaking out into a glorified waddle.
"Ronon!!", Ellie called back.
She only got a few feet on when Ronon rounded the corner, the sight of him taking both Ellie and Lyssa's breath away.
Lyssa watched, her heart constricting painfully as Ronon pulled Ellie to him before setting her back slightly whilst he assessed any damage.
He touched her bruised jaw with his large hands gently.
"Are you OK...and the baby?" he asked, his voice gruff and Lyssa had to turn away as he kissed Ellie.
"I'm fine, we both are", Ellie eventually replied, waving at the rest of the team as they caught up.
Suddenly Ronon spotted the relaxed Michael and shouted,
"Hey".
He headed off, frowning slightly when Michael stayed where he was but the cloaked figure at his side took off at a sprint.
"Michael's overdosed on the retrovirus", Ellie called.
Ronon, suspicious as ever, decided to bypass the still looking Michael and head after the hooded figure. He'd deal with Michael in due course.
As he caught the person in question and slammed them up against a nearby wall he heard Ellie's voice as she neared them,
"Ronon, don't hurt her...she helped me. Her name is..."
Ellie trailed off as Ronon snatched the hood down on the cloak and gasped audibly.
"Lyssa..."
End of Part 10