Rodney's description hadn't prepared Teyla for what she saw through the limited vision provided by her gas mask on the other side of the gate. The guards were all down, she couldn't tell if they were dead or unconscious. It didn't matter, they probably did not have much time before the gate was reinforced.
Teyla let her mind wander as she raced after Ronon and Laura, into the forest. She reached back for the place John had so recently occupied in her mind. Where he could talk to her. She could feel his presence, but she couldn't seem to get any further. His mind was unnaturally closed, impossible to enter.
"We've got at least thirty minutes before that stuff dissipates." Rodney said. "It'll take the guards another hour or more to wake up, depending on how well I mixed the stuff."
"We did not have time for scientific accuracy." Radek added.
"At this point it... hardly... matters." Rodney said, rapidly becoming breathless from the aggressive pace set by Ronon and Laura.
The pace slowed as they put more distance between themselves and the gate, finally slowing to walking after running for a good half hour. Both Rodney and Radek were bent over, exhausted. But they continued with only mild complaints.
Teyla closed her eyes, trying to find where John was based on her telepathic sense alone. She could still feel him, distant, muted, but she was at a loss to explain where he was. She could feel the pressure from her teammates to find that information as quickly as possible.
"We need a direction." Ronon said, stopping and turning to look at Teyla.
"I am trying." Teyla said, disappointed at her own failure as much as frustrated. "I need a place where I can concentrate fully."
"And while she's working on that, hopefully I can find Sheppard's transponder with the scanner." Rodney added.
Ronon looked to Laura.
The marine shrugged in return. "I want to find a cave, but anywhere will do."
"A cave is probably for the best." Teyla said. "We wish to avoid detection, do we not?"
Laura quickly looked around. "Except of course I don't see anything."
"I do." Ronon said, leading them towards what he saw in the distance.
XXX
"This woman... this Teyla you treasure so much..." The woman said, casually walking around John as he stood in the center.
He'd already tried lunging for her, she was as elusive as Orin had ever been. He felt more of prisoner in his own mind than in control. When he'd had Teyla in the back of his mind, he'd felt better, stronger, able to counter Orin's attacks. "Gotta name, or just a big mouth?"
"No, it's not time for introductions yet." The woman seemed to not even care that he was there, glaring at her.
His mind was working with every moment to fight back. He knew he couldn't do much just arguing with her, that's probably what she wanted. All the while he kept trying to confuse her by thinking of random things.
He hoped he was succeeding. "When Teyla gets a hold of you, you'll beg for her mercy."
"Its a shame there won't be much left of your mind by the time she gets here." The woman smiled. It wasn't a nice smile either. "Perhaps I should show you what we do know, it might help you with your decision to tell us everything we want to know."
John awoke to the sensation of his muscles burning. He was in the room where he knew he'd spent the last... he didn't even know how long. His stomach churned in demand for more food. It was a classic interrogation trick.
He tired to move his toes, and remarkably he could. He couldn't move his legs because of the restraints but he knew now that he could walk and more importantly fight again. Or so he was hoping. He hoped Teyla was going to arrive soon.
Large burly henchman one and two were still present. The woman was holding a small display pad. It looked vaguely like Elizabeth's PDA, but still alien. She moved to straddle him in the chair, holding it inches from his face.
He tried to avoid reacting when he saw the unmistakable cross hair of a sniper's weapon, and Teyla's head centered in the sight. He bit his lip, weighing his options. In the lower corner of the display, the word 'HOLD' flashed in bright red letters.
"Why are you doing this?" John managed after a moment. "You know I'm no spy in whatever war you're involved in."
"Oh I've known that from the first moment you were captured." The woman replied, tightening her grip on him with her legs. "But you hold the key to Atlantia, the lost city of our forefathers, the Telvass Empire's legacy."
"Really now, wouldn't have guessed." John replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Just like everyone else in this damn galaxy."
"I've seen into your mind, don't lie John Sheppard." She said. "As soon as I press this button, the sniper will fire. And I'm sure you know about the lethality of a head shot."
"Even if I tell you what you want, you'll still kill her anyway." Run Teyla, RUN! John thought into their former connection. You're being watched, get out of there! Suddenly, he felt an echo, but it wasn't his voice. He repeated his message, waiting for Teyla to move.
XXX
Run Teyla, RUN! John voice echoed into her head, their connection reopening as quickly as it had been blocked. You're being watched, get out of there. At least one sniper on your 3 o'clock. Teyla glanced sideways quickly, directly in the direction John had told her. Her hand lowered to her P90's trigger. "SNIPER!" She yelled, just as she focused in on the sniper with her P90, using John's vision to aim her shot directly along the sniper's site. She fired.
Seconds later there was a crash as someone fell from a nearby tree. Laura and Ronon were already running, their weapons out. Radek and Rodney followed closely behind, Teyla took up the rear. "The cave, it is no longer safe!" She yelled.
A shot impacted near her foot, and then time seemed to slow down. Teyla spun, stepping sideways as she did and fired, aiming for where she knew John was viewing another sniper. She almost felt his laughter at his captors as she raced to catch up with Laura and Ronon.
Adrenaline made her feet quick. Within seconds she was running behind them again. There was another flash, and she knew where she had to go to find him. She ran ahead of Rodney and Radek, gently taking the lead and directing them in a new direction. Laura dropped back to cover the rear.
"Found him?" Ronon asked, even though it was more of a statement.
"Yes." Teyla replied simply. "He informed me of the snipers as well."
"Any more on us for now?"
"Not that John can see from."
Ronon grabbed her, hauling her back and causing them all to stop. He ducked into a nearby cave. For a second, Teyla wanted to protest, then she realized what Ronon had done. He was trying to throw off their pursuers, at least temporarily.
She joined him in the cave, letting Rodney and Radek into it first. The two scientists were both red in the face, exhausted from the running. Teyla realized that while she was not exhausted, they had been doing much running recently.
"We cannot wait for long." Teyla said.
"Just a bit." Ronon replied, "or at least until we've got an idea of the patrols."
"Agreed." Teyla said, she sat down, away from the entrance to the cave. She didn't dare light her P90's flashlight. The needed to stay hidden, at least for the moment. She tried to openly communicate with John again, but he seemed distant again, unable to communicate. The blocks had returned.
The colorful dialect of Athosian that she swore in drew a few glances, but she could tell Laura got it by the way the marine semiled, even in the dim lighting of the cave. Ronon seemed to understand, only Rodney looked completely clueless.
The only lighting was coming from the scanner Rodney held in his hands. Its light did not carry far, but illuminated his face in a blue glow. After a few seconds, Rodney looked up with a grin on his face. "Got Sheppard's location." He showed the device to everyone.
On the display was a single blue dot, right now at the edge of the screen, but it gave them a direction. Several yellow dots were close by. "The yellow dots are their soldiers." Rodney added quickly.
"Not many of them." Ronon said.
"That's because they know we're after Sheppard." Laura replied.
"They're moving away." Rodney frowned. "They're all going to where Sheppard is."
"Are you sure Rodney?" Radek asked.
"Positive." Rodney looked speechless.
"Then we'd better hurry." Laura said, getting to her feet. "Hopefully it's not some kind of underground bunker."
"Knowing our luck... it'll be just that." Rodney moaned, getting up and leading the way with Ronon next to him.
XXX
John laughed, despite himself. He was certain that he'd regret it. The woman slowly climbed off of him, setting her pad on a nearby table. She looked closely at the instrument, then turned to face him once more.
John took a deep breath, trying to force feeling into his muscles. They burned in response, probably a good sign, he could still feel them. Of course it wasn't like he could move either, the restraints still dug into his skin. And he still had the crazy woman about to start round two on him.
"Sheppard." She stated simply. "I underestimated the connection... I thought I had managed to disconnect you." She climbed onto him once again. "However, your connection works both ways." She smiled once again.
John didn't have a word for the pain that he felt following that. He felt as if his brain was being ripped from his skull. In seconds the entire world blackened around him... and John Sheppard felt himself slip away into the black.
XXX
"It's here." Rodney stated, gesturing towards what was definitely a bunker before them. It was built straight into the ground, with a inclined surface leading deeper into the complex.
Teyla nodded in response. "A bunker... as you predicted Rodney. We will have to move quickly, before they have a chance to further setup."
"No way we're going to make it going head-on." Ronon was surveying the site with a pair of binoculars. "There's two mounted guns at the entrance and at least 4 guards."
"Scanner shows at least 30 in the compound." Radek added. "I would imagine that they are at least aware that the gate guards have been incapacitated if not completely aware of our impending attack."
Ronon passed the binoculars over to Laura. "There's a row of air vents beyond the entrance."
"I see them." She replied. "Can't tell if they're accessible or not."
"Let's go check them out." Ronon gestured to the treeline which would take them around the main entrance. He started to move then noticed Teyla wasn't. "Teyla?"
She blinked, then look back at Ronon. "Yes Ronon, I am coming."
"You alright?" Rodney asked.
"Yes Rodney, I am fine." Teyla motioned for Rodney and Radek to follow Ronon and Laura. She was lying, at least for a second, the entire world had seemed fuzzy to her. Fuzzy was not the correct word, but it was hard to place the feeling that something was off. Something that might've been coming from inside of her. It passed as quickly as it began. She shook it off and managed to keep up with the rest of the group.
They approached the air vents. Steam rose from them into the atmosphere. Ronon placed his hand in the steam. It didn't stay there long.
"It's hot." Ronon gave the obvious statement.
"Well... we might be going in the front door then." Laura sighed and looked back towards the entrance. "We'd need a lot of luck to get through that."
"Wait wait wait." Rodney held up a hand. "I think there's an access hatch. The scanner shows... something."
"It is barely something Rodney." Radek shrugged at the looks from the other three of the group.
"No it's something! I'm smarter than you Radek." Rodney looked intently at the scanner, then the ground. He then slammed his foot down on the ground. A loud metal bang rang out across the clearing.
Time seemed to slow down for the next few seconds. There was a thunk as a latch clicked free, and then the ground under Rodney pivoted, knocking the scientist off his feet. A head appeared. Teyla didn't recognize him. She drew her stunner and fired without thinking. By the time she'd fired, two other stunner blasts rang out as well. The face, obviously connected with someone else collapsed back down the hatch he'd come out of. There were several thumps, followed by another bang and a crash before all the noise stopped.
Ronon took a quick look down the hatch, then jumped down into it. His weapon fired several times. There was no return fire. "Clear." His voice rang out from below.
Laura gestured for the scientists to get into the bunker. "I've got our six, go!"
The room that they dropped into had computers along the far wall, similar to the ones used by the Atlantis team, or at least it looked that way to Teyla. The other walls were bare gray metal plating. There were 4 bodies on the floor.
Each wore black jumpsuits, padded with some kind of armor. While it obviously had been ineffective against Ronon's weapon, the padding looked and felt similar to the kevlar vest that they used. Teyla made a mental note to shoot for the head if and when the time came.
Rodney was working a panel near the door, both he and Radek already had their computers out. Wires dangled precariously from the panel's exposed interior. Laura was standing on at the top of the ladder near the hatch, occasionally popping up to see if anyone was on to them.
Another clunk and the door opened... along with alarms beginning to wail throughout the facility. Rodney sighed. "This is why I told you to slow down Radek."
"Slow down... this was all you Rodney!" Radek responded.
Ronon shoved the door open. "Shut up and move out!" Seconds later Ronon's weapon began firing. Soon it was joined by automatic weapons fire from the various guards. Ronon had taken covered just beyond the doorway in a small alcove. Teyla moved up to cover him, darting pass Radek and Rodney. Ronon held up 3 fingers. Teyla leaned around the corner and squeezed off a burst, then ducked back just as quickly. Bullets ricocheted off the wall behind her.
The distraction was enough for Ronon however, who rolled out into the hallway, firing as he went. There was one solid thud as his weapon drilled one of the guards clean in the chest burning through armor and flesh at the same time. Teyla moved to cover him, darting across the gap and firing a burst as she went. It was far from an random burst though. The bullets all struck home on one target, leaving the last one for Ronon, who dispatched his target effortlessly.
The bigger man came to his feet quickly. "McKay... direction?"
"Second hallway on your left!" The scientist yelled in reply.
Ronon and Teyla led the way.
XXX
Ultimately the guards had failed to be much of a hindrance. Within minutes, they were on top of Sheppard's subdermal transponder. The door was locked, like every other door in the building. Ronon and Laura set up position on either side of the team, to keep an eye out for other guards.
"Security lockdown is making each door more difficult." Radek commented to Rodney.
"Not nearly difficult enough though." Rodney disconnected his computer. "Teyla if you would be so kind?"
Teyla readied herself, raising her P90 as Radek toggled the door switch. The door slide open, revealing two very large guards. They both were easily twice her size, but their weapons were pointed elsewhere... Teyla's heart sank.
Without even wasting a heartbeat, she opened fire, spraying bullets clear through both targets. She then entered and rolled. The whole world rocked beneath as she made eye contact with the woman standing over John. She felt her mind being forced open, it took every last bit of concentration to hold her ground. Time seemed to stop.
John was on his knees before her, but this was not the room she was just in. It was Atlantis, the gate room. The woman she'd just made eye contact with was standing behind him, a weapon pointed at his head. Teyla herself was weaponless.
"So you are Teyla Emmagen." Her voice dripped with confidence. "Your mind is much stronger than his."
Teyla narrowed her eyes. The domain of the mind was something she was used to fighting in. "You will release him immediately." Her voice responded to the unspoken threat with a calm that frightened even Teyla herself.
To her surprise, the woman stood. "Of course Teyla."
Teyla found herself back in the room where John had been interrogated. The woman standing before her stumbled, then turned to her. "Teyla?" The voice was hesitant.
Teyla knew at that moment what she had to do. She closed her eyes. Time stopped around her as she stretched her mind out across the distance and into the body of John Sheppard, where an intruder was doing her best to remain unseen.
The mental barriers were strong, but Teyla's will was stronger.
The gate room reappeared. This time a stasis pod to her left held John Sheppard. Standing before her was the woman. "Nice try." Teyla drew her knife. "I am stronger than you."
"No you're not." The woman replied, brandishing a sword.
Teyla shook her head. "The size of weapon matters nothing to me."
"Oh but it does." The woman crossed the distance between them in and instant. Teyla simply vanished. For a moment the woman simply looked around startled. Teyla reappeared behind her, and rammed her weapon home. The woman gasped, collapsing to the floor. "Go back to your body woman." Teyla's voice was laced with anger.
"No... I will not be defeated."
Teyla opened her eyes again and met the eyes of the woman before her. Sure of her success, she pulled the trigger. A single bullet impacted the woman's head, pitching her back and slamming to the floor. Death for her was instant. Teyla immediately came to her feet and crossed the distance between her and John.
His eyes opened. He blinked, once, twice. "I'm not hallucinating." He stated.
"No Colonel, you are not."
"It's really you?"
Teyla began to undo the restraints.
John feel to the floor as she undid the last one. "Ow... forgot to mention they gave me something that made all my limbs pretty numb."
By now Rodney and Radek had both entered the room. "Well can you feel them?"
"Now I can." John managed to roll over. "But I'm gonna need a bit of help getting out of here."
"Teyla, we'll carry him," said Rodney, "we'll need you shooting."
"Will you be alright?" Teyla directed her question to John.
Rodney was the one who replied however. "Don't worry."
She caught a knowing glance from John however and single thought. Don't worry, they've got it. She also caught another one added on. Just get me back to Atlantis.
Fear not John. Teyla smiled for the first time in days.
XXX
John could feel his limbs, for the first time in however long he could feel them. Also worth noting was that he was very hungry. However, that was probably something of secondary importance in the grand scheme of things. Ronon and Teyla were leading the way, with Rodney shouting directions as they cleared every corner.
The further he got away from that room, the stronger he felt. He started moving his legs with the two supporting most of his weight. As the fog lifted from his mind her could even start paying attention to what was going on. Ronon and Teyla both stopped abruptly near what Rodney had described as the main entrance.
"That's alot of bad guys," Ronon stated.
"We cannot shoot our way pass them." Teyla replied.
"Whatever you're gonna do, make it quick." Laura was guarding the corner behind them and had begun to open fire. "We've got company at our six o'clock.!" Her voice rang clear above the gunfire, which further helped John focus.
He shoved himself free of Rodney and Radek and managed to stand on his own two feet. "Rodney, stunner."
Without thinking the scientist passed the weapon to John. By the time he thought about it he turned in shock to see John standing on his own and ready to go. Well... as ready as he was gonna be. "What's the situation?" He asked his teammates.
Teyla smiled despite herself. "We are trapped, much like we were when we first arrived."
"And our plan is?"
"We're working on that." Ronon also flashed a grin.
"So business as usual? Ok."
"Umm... guys..." Laura pulled a grenade from her belt while firing a burst down the hallway. She threw the grenade and ducked behind the corner. "They're gonna catch up to us any second."
"Well... then we're make a break for it. Got any grenades?"
"That was the last one!" Laura yelled.
John took a deep breath. "Well... get ready... 1... 2..." He didn't make it to 3.
Teyla held up her hand as she listened into her radio. "Affirmative Major we are pinned down at the main entrance could you please clear a path."
Second later the sound of jumper drones impacting the forces outside was all they needed to know before heading out. Teyla took point, Ronon behind her, followed by the scientists and John, and finally Laura.
While the troops that had assembled ran from the invisible jumper the door opened right in front of them. 2 soldiers disembarked, firing at the groups heading into the forest with M-60 machine guns, further drawing them into a retreat.
"Get in." Major Lorne yelled from the cockpit.
They climbed aboard, and just as suddenly as the battle had begun, it ended, with the invisible jumped flying high into space. They could breath again.
XXX
John awoke with a start, heard the distinctive sound of an EKG beeping to his side. He didn't even recall passing out, his last memory had been of getting on the jumper, then it had all gone dark. "Am I dead?" He said out loud.
"You were bloody close Colonel." Carson replied. The doctor placed a hand on John's shoulder. "We put you on a nutrient drip the second we got you here, how long has it been since you ate?"
"I don't have a clue." John shook his head. "Where's Teyla?"
"I told the poor lass to go get something to eat." Carson smiled. "Had to shoo the entire group of them out of the infirmary at least twice in a pass few hours." He glanced down at his tablet. "I took the liberty of running your bloodwork, the drug that you were subjected to was some very strong stuff, you're lucky not to be paralyzed."
"So I will be able to move again right?"
"Of course." Carson replied. "You can actually move right now, your body seems to have processed most of it. However, you may feel a wee bit light headed."
John flexed his hand, it hurt a bit and his muscle tingled with the sensation of a million tiny little needles, but it moved. How he had managed to become fully alert initially he didn't have the slightest clue, probably adrenaline. He sat up slowly, being mindful of the IV.
"I can remove this... but on your doctor's orders you have to eat immediately."
"That's one order I can follow."
As he dressed he reached out with his mind and found Teyla. Her mind instantly recognized his presence. I will be there momentarily.
By the time he was dressed, the Athosian woman had made it to the infirmary. He gave her his best smile. "That's so much cooler than a cell phone."
Teyla frowned then, as she remembered what a cell phone was, smiled. She took a deep breath. "How are you?"
"Better." He replied. "Hungry though, doc says I need to eat."
"Then you should follow Dr. Beckett's directions." We can talk afterward.
"Lead the way." He offered her his arm.
Teyla took it with a smile. They both exited the infirmary and once in the hallway John swore he could smell the feast all the way down in the cafeteria. Of course that only made him even hungrier.
XXX
He'd been hungry in the infirmary. Now it was becoming a problem as he entered the cafeteria. Worse yet, as he tried to make his way to get his food from the chef, everyone... and he meant everyone... kept blocking his way to say how good it was to see he was still up. Teyla helped to divert some of them, repeatedly saying that he was under doctor's order to eat.
He took his tray of steaming hot food and head straight for the table where his team sat, though with a few notable additions. Sitting next to Rodney near the back wall on the left side of the table was Laura Cadman, to her left was Ronon. Elizabeth and Radek were sitting on the other side. An abandoned tray of food was to Elizabeth's right. John set his tray down on the outside edge of the table and grabbed a nearby chair.
"Sheppard, are you alright?" Rodney was the first to speak. "Breaking a few seconds of awkward silence as John sat down.
Laura punched him in the shoulder. "Can't you see the man's hungry?"
John held up his hand to forstall any other comments and quickly devoured a sizable quantity of his food. After making sure he'd finished chewing he looked back up at his team and smiled. "Aside from being very hungry, I'm doing good." He proceeded to continue clearing his plates.
"Have they told exactly what they did to rescue you?" Elizabeth asked.
"No." John replied. "I haven't exactly asked."
"I'll leave them to explain it, but I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining this to stargate command."
Now John was interested. "What did you guys do?"
"We broke out." Ronon stated in between bite of his food.
"Broke out?"
"As in we violated strict orders." Radek explained.
"And made something that is probably considered a chemical weapon." Laura added, a grin coming to her mouth.
"However, aside from a few bruises, no one was hurt." Teyla added to finish the story.
"Report." John pointed to Laura.
"Why me?" She asked in response.
"You're the new kid on the team." John grinned from ear to ear.
"What about Radek, he's new!"
"He's not military."
Laura bowed her head in submission, before laughing. "Good one Colonel."
John's grinned vanished as the painful reality set in. "I can't thank you enough for coming to rescue me."
Teyla placed a hand on John's shoulder. "You are not alone. We would never leave you behind."
"Even if it did mean facing near death." Rodney added. "Though I'd like to remind you that near death experiences are not something I'm particularly..."
He was cut off by a punch from Ronon.
"Did you ever find out who those people were?" Elizabeth asked.
"Telvass Empire." John replied. "The claim that Atlantis is their legacy." He swallowed slowly. "And they're good at using your mind against you, naturally born talent if you ask me. Probably better than the Wraith."
"Mental abilities beyond the Wraith." Elizabeth shook her head. "The IOA is going to love this."
"I can vouch for Colonel Sheppard." Teyla replied. "Because of my natural abilities I was able to sense their minds."
"What can we do?"
"I recommend backup in the form of a cloaked jumper for every mission in the near future." John knew it wasn't exactly cost effective, but it would've prevented them from being captured in the first place. "We didn't seem to encounter any of their abilities when we were first fighting, but they had alot of soldiers to throw at us."
"And alot of them came after us after we rescued Sheppard." Ronon finished.
"In the meantime we'll lock out that address." Elizabeth sighed, finishing off the last of her dinner. "Now I have to work on the report," Elizabeth stood, "Colonel Sheppard, please send me yours when you have a chance."
"I'll get some help from my rebellious team." He said with a smile.
XXX
One by one, everyone said their goodnights, slowly trickling away for the evening's activities. John had delegated out sections of the report for everyone to write. Finally it was just John and Teyla. They exited the cafeteria and took the first detour to one of the city's numerous balconies. John took her hand in his. "Teyla... what I went through... I can't even begin to describe."
Use your mind John.
Her voice startled him... especially as he was still watching her. He took a deep breath, then let his memories free and shared them directly with her mind. He watched as she closed her eyes. He felt his stomach churn as he remembered all the pictures he'd been forced to watch. He saw a tear drop from Teyla's eye to hit the floor beneath their feet.
"You need not say anything at all John." Teyla said after he had finished showing her what he had witnessed.
"I know it wasn't real." He said, turning to look out over the water all around the city. "But that doesn't change the fact that it felt real... and it looked real."
"John, what you have lived through would have broke lesser men."
"Well, glad to know I'm not a 'lesser man'" He replied, a smile returning to his face.
Teyla smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are indeed far from a 'lesser man.' I am honored to fight beside you. To share a friendship with you unlike any other."
John reached out with his mind, touching Teyla's. She opened her mind in response. Their thoughts flowed freely from each other. "This is so cool."
"We are joined John Sheppard. I will never leave you side, no matter how far apart we may be."
"And neither of us will be alone, ever again."