AN: Canon typical violence - Vala's immolation.


Chapter 15 - Immolation

Home of Harrid and Sallis
Ver Ager

The Next Day

Jackson poured drinks for himself and Fannis while Sheppard watched.

"You said the Ori may have ascended. What does that mean?" Fannis asked.

Jackson sighed and launched into a lengthy explanation. "Where we come from, some people who used to look a lot like us evolved physically and mentally so much that they found a way to shed their physical bodies and live as energy on another, higher plane of existence. Some called it 'enlightenment,' and it came with a much greater understanding of the universe and all its knowledge. Now, this happened a long time ago, and I believe that those people may have originally come from here."

"And those 'ascended beings,' as you call them, do not guide you and ask that you worship them?"

"No, in fact, they believe so strongly in free will that they would not intervene and use their knowledge even if it meant the destruction of an entire galaxy full of us regular old humans."

Unless they find neat little loopholes they could exploit, that is, Sheppard added his own two cents even though no one could hear him.

He supposed he should be grateful for what Orlin did. He was. He did have a chance to unfuck a lot of bad things this time around. He just hoped he was up to the task. Sometimes, he feared that he was going to screw things up badly in the shittiest possible moment, and end up in a far worse place than he had in his… other life.

Those nightmares paid frequent visits at night, sometimes intermingled with the other horrible things he had gone through not that long ago. Those were the times that made closing his eyes at night just not worth the effort.

The only problem was, he was already running out of isolated corridors at the Mountain to explore during his midnight jogging sessions.

"Such is not the case with the Ori." Fannis' dejected voice brought him back from his depressing thoughts.

"Yes, so they ask that you worship them, and yet conceal the truth of your existence from you." Jackson agreed.

"That is not all."

"What are you going to do?"

"We are gathering as much evidence as we can. Our hope is that one day we will have enough proof to convince even the most devout believers," Fannis revealed the plans for their grand rebellion. "In the meantime, we meet in secret and share with those we trust what we have learned. We keep hidden those artefacts which prove our claims in case one or more of us are discovered."

"How many of you are there?

"A few. Our numbers are growing. Some believe the fact that we have not yet been discovered is further proof that the Ori are not all-powerful and all-knowing. Others wonder if they are just giving us the opportunity to see the error of our ways and repent."

Before Jackson could add anything to that, they heard loud voices outside. He got up to see out of the window. Fannis joined him.

"A crowd gathers at the Ara." The man's declaration had an ominous ring to it.

"That's an altar?"

Fannis for some reason got really nervous. "I cannot be seen with you." he blurted and ran out of the house to disappear among the gathering crowds outside before Jackson could ask anything else.

Jackson cursed and got out of the house to follow him. He promptly lost him in the crowd. But he kept pushing through the tide of villagers to get to the centre of the square, where everyone seemed to be heading.

The preacher guy, the Administrator, was already there, orating chapter and verse to the crowd from the Book of the Ori. He paced around a low, wide, intricately-patterned stone circle as he chanted. Smack dab in the middle of that circle, there was a small yoke-like bench with shackles on either end.

"…battle of ages. He spoke to the sky and said: 'And the people shall deliver unto you the wicked for your divine judgement, where their sins shall be weighed in the balance of all that is just and true.'"

In the middle of the chant, Vala's shriek pierced the air.

"Let go of me! Get your hands off me!"

Jackson and Sheppard spotted her screaming, kicking and fighting against two villagers holding her. It didn't look like she could break free. "DANIEL!"

She screeched again when she saw him in front of the crowd.

"What happened?" Jackson yelled back.

The men restraining Vala brought her to the centre of the circle, forced her to her knees and shackled her by her wrists to the low bench before Jackson could interfere. Sheppard didn't think he could do much, not against a crowd that could easily turn into a mob.

"It didn't go so well," she said, just in case Jackson couldn't figure it out for himself.

Jackson tried to get closer to her but was prevented by the same two guys who grabbed his arms and shoulders.

"Harrid, stand back. Sallis has been overcome." The Administrator thundered.

"No, she hasn't. If you'll just let me explain–"

Jackson struggled against his captors but couldn't get free. Sheppard was utterly unable to do anything for him, and it also didn't help that the feeling of being restrained brought flashbacks from his recent ordeal. He had to concentrate on keeping the connection because the Ancient device almost pulled him out as a response to his distress.

Now was not the time for him to bail. He gritted his teeth and held on, listening to Jackson's yells bouncing off uselessly against the silent and unmoved crowd.

"Listen to me!"

He was pulled further away from the circle to the edge of the line of spectators at the front.

"Fear not, for the Ori see all, outside and within," The Preacher rambled on. "If your heart is pure and your devotion unwavering, they will protect you. They will cleanse your being, and you'll be taken to be with them forever…"

Vala covered her own fear by rolling her eyes at the Administrator contemptuously. Jackson stopped struggling and stilled, worried.

"...If not, may the fire burn you down to the ground and lay you in the dust." the chanting continued.

That caught all their attention. "Fire?" Vala looked around, going pale.

At the Head Asshole's signal, a villager dipped a lit torch into a bucket, lighting the liquid inside. Sheppard and Jackson both stared, horrified, finally realising what they were planning on doing.

"Hallowed are the Ori."

At the Administrator's final chant, the men tilted the bucket, and the flaming liquid drained out from it into a stone channel, flowing around a small circle, and continuing along the circular maze-like pattern of the stone altar. It had one destination: Straight toward Vala who was helplessly shackled to the centre of the maze.

Isolation Area
Level 21
SGC

Meanwhile

"Her heart rate is 140. She's in distress." Lam's urgent tone was the first thing Mitchell heard when he entered the area behind a nurse and two SFs.

"Daniel's B.P. and heart rate are increasing too," Lee called from the other end. Mitchell automatically closed the distance to Sheppard, whose monitors also didn't look as calm as they had done before.

"Colonel's pulse has picked up too," a nurse watching Sheppard's monitor announced from the opposite side of his bed. "His brain waves are fluctuating,"

"Come on, Sheppard," Mitchell called softly, leaning in closer. "What the hell is happening over there?"

An alarm pierced the air then, startling everyone who was already on edge.

"Oh oh," Lee muttered, shaking his head at Vala's prone body. "She's in trouble."

Village Square of Ver Ager

Everyone stood and watched, transfixed, as the fire liquid made its way along the maze-like channel toward Vala. Jackson was back to struggling against the village thugs with renewed effort. Sheppard was torn between watching what was happening, fighting against his own horrific memories and trying to keep his connection to Jackson from breaking.

"What the hell did you say?" Jackson yelled at Vala as if that knowledge would make a difference.

"I think at first, it's what I didn't say," Vala started to ramble as she pulled against her restraint, now terrified. "You see, apparently there's a blessing you're supposed to recite over the leaves before you drink, which nobody warned me about. Then I think it's what I did say. I was trying to politely explain what was going on and then his wife started screaming and accusing me of being overcome. At which point I believe I suggested she might want to think about procreation…with herself."

"Listen! Please! Listen to me! You have to believe me!" Jackson turned frantically towards the Administrator, starting to beg. "This is not what it looks like. Sallis is not possessed, okay? Now, this is going to sound crazy… But we're from another galaxy."

The Administrator did look at him then, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right," Jackson continued, elated now that he had some attention. "We're using a communication technology that allows us to take over a body from very far away…and—and—and make us talk to you. We just want to talk to you!"

Sheppard could see Jackson's words were landing the wrong way. This speech was practically blasphemy to the fanatics of the village. The Administrator turned his gaze back to Vala halfway through Jackson's begging.

They were all desperate. There just wasn't anything they could do.

Isolation Area
Level 21
SGC

Meanwhile

"Okay, this is getting worse," Lam snapped, starting to prepare a syringe.

Vala looked pale and she was breathing hard. Her rapid eye movement was gaining speed by the second. Jackson, and Sheppard, although not as serious as Vala, looked badly distressed.

"I'm administering a sedative. Hopefully, it'll calm things down." Lam emptied the contents to Vala's IV, never taking eyes off the unencouraging readings on her monitor.

Village Square of Ver Ager

The fire reached Vala and her skirt caught on fire. Jackson renewed his agitated efforts to reach her without success.

"Daniel!" Vala screamed. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Listen to me! Listen to me! You have to believe me! You're killing an innocent person!" Jackson's desperate roars fell on deaf ears.

"Blessed are those that deliver us from evil." Administrator passively intoned.

"No! NO!" Jackson's yelling joined Vala''s animalistic screams as she burned in the fire.

Sheppard, trapped in the midst of horrifying imagery, Jackson's wild desperation and Vala's excruciating agony, started to feel something that was wholly disconnected… entirely wrong, considering the situation.

The deep, hidden place in his gut that always turned sour to warn him about approaching trouble, cooled and calmed.

It was the feeling that very seldom made its appearance.

It told him that things were going to be… okay.

It told him to stay calm and let it happen. And, when things were most dire, in the next moment, it was going to turn into something…better.

With Vala's burning image burned into his retinas, that was a feeling he had real trouble believing. But, this strange talent had yet to fail him. So, taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind and sent a new request to the Ancient communications device.

Isolation Area
Level 21
SGC

Meanwhile

Mitchell felt ice running down his spine when he saw Vala's heart monitor flatline. Lam pulled a crash cart over as other medical staff scurried around, getting ready to assist her.

"She's in V-Fib. Code Blue. Charging to 200."

Mitchell retrieved a firearm from an SF and cocked it, purely by instinct. He aimed at the device, careful to keep it from the other side of Sheppard. He wanted to shoot the damn thing right then, freeing all three of them. If Vala was already dying, he couldn't make it worse by blowing the cursed thing up, could he? He couldn't let whatever was happening to Vala happen to Jackson…Or Sheppard.

"Don't…" a quite hoarse voice stilled his hand. "Don't do anything–"

"Sheppard!" He moved around the table to get closer to Sheppard. He still had his eyes closed and his hand firmly placed on the device. One of his monitors looked like it had lost its mind. There were all kinds of lines fluctuating and crisscrossing against each other.

Sheppard didn't look like he was fully awake. To Mitchell, he looked like he was halfway back there, still with Jackson and Vala while the other half was here, to warn them.

"She is dying…" Sheppard whispered. "Let it happen."

Mitchell could not have heard that right. "What?"

In the background. He heard Lam and a nurse struggling to restart Vala's heart.

"Please, Mitchell, there's nothing you can do," Sheppard continued softly, with great effort, since he was struggling to keep himself split between two places. "Just let it happen."

"No," Mitchell snapped. Since when has he ever sat back and let something like that happen? Never. "Damn it–"

"It's going to be okay–"

Like hell. "John–"

"Trust me…" Sheppard's voice faded. "It'll get better."

Village Square of Ver Ager

Vala's body continued to burn. The strong, pungent smell of the burnt flesh wafted over, making Sheppard want to vomit all over Jackson's leather boots. Jackson, for his part, averted his eyes, defeated. Possibly heartbroken. The Administrator stood there, passively watching as her body continued to blacken, unmoved.

Sheppard wished his warning to the other side had been enough to keep them from doing something stupid as he fell fully back to this side of the universe.

A wind picked up then, clearing out the thick nausea-inducing smell. The small flames that still cracked around the body extinguished. Everyone turned towards the village entrance as one then, their attention called away almost by instinct.

A tall man with a staff stood there. He was unusually pale, had weirdly glazed eyes, was dressed in a hooded robe and carried a staff with a blue orb. The villagers all dropped to their knees as the man started to move slowly towards them and prostrated themselves.

The men restraining Jackson, did the same, releasing him. Jackson approached Vala's charred corpse as Sheppard tried hard not to recoil from horror. He cradled Vala in his arms and stroked her blackened hand, seeming in shocked denial. The shackle fell away from her wrists as he held it, surprising him.

Isolation Area
Level 21
SGC

Meanwhile

"Charge to 360. Clear!" Lam shocked Vala the second time, while Mitchell still stared at Sheppard who had stopped talking.

"Still in V-Fib. Charging again. Clear!" Lam tried. Nothing happened. She glared at Vala's monitor for a full minute before shaking her head.

"I've got no pulse," she declared softly, holding Vala's wrist. "She's gone into asystole. I'm calling it."

"She's dead!?" Lee repeated, alarmed.

"Just give it a minute," Mitchell murmured from his stop next to Sheppard's bed.

"Why?" Lam frowned.

"He said it's gonna get better."

"How?" Lee demanded, waving a hand at Vala's body. "She doesn't have a pulse."

Mitchell looked away. "I don't know."

Lam looked at the exit, torn, like she wanted to walk away. Then she looked at the body of Vala first and then at Sheppard's before pinching the bridge of her nose. When she looked up, she had made up her mind.

"Fine. We'll give it a minute."

Village Square of Ver Ager

The tall, pale, zombie-like guy approached Vala's corpse Jackson was holding. He tilted his staff towards Vala, and the orb started to glow a soft blue that strangely resembled the same shade of light usually flared from Ancient devices.

To Sheppard's utter surprise, Vala's clothing and hair started to restore to their previous pristine state, along with the rest of her. As he and Jackson watched, the burns disappeared from her hands, and her skin became whole.

For the second time in the day, Sheppard's strange forewarning system gave another unexpected warning.

Instead of letting him heave out a relieved breath at Vala's miraculous recovery, it issued a dire warning by twisting everything inside him into painful cramping knots.

It seemed that Sheppard had just met someone or something that was going to bring them a lot of trouble in the near future.

Isolation Area
Level 21
SGC

Meanwhile

"His vitals have stabilised for the moment," Lam said quietly, checking on Jackson's monitors.

"What just happened?" Lee demanded.

"No idea," Mitchell sighed. "He didn't say."

"At the very least, we need to find a way to get that bracelet off of Dr Jackson," Lam remarked, taking his limp wrist in her hand. "They're still linked, and without Vala, he'll probably—

That was when Vala's monitors started beeping unexpectedly, startling them all once again into mild heart attacks probably for the hundredth time since this curse of a mission started.

"She's got a heartbeat," Lam muttered incredulously, her gaze frozen on the impossible line on the monitor.

"How?!" Lee demanded, again, for the hundredth time.

"I have no idea," Lam said, checking Vala's pulse manually.

Lee frowned, glancing between Jackson and Vala. "These two certainly didn't know this was going to happen–"

"Not according to their monitors," Lam interjected.

He aimed a finger at Sheppard then, accusingly. "But he did!"

Mitchell moved to block him, almost instinctively.

"How?!"

Mitchell aimed a level gaze at the doctor that suggested he should calm down and accept that it happened.

"We don't know, Dr Lee."

Village Square of Ver Ager

Vala woke up in Jackson's arms when all the burns finally disappeared from her face. When she didn't immediately collapse again, Sheppard breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the other side hadn't done anything drastic, trying to save her.

"Daniel?" Vala sobbed.

"You okay?"

She nodded before falling back into his chest, embracing him tight, to reassure herself that she was back with the living. Sheppard could sympathise, for he'd had a similar experience of his own, although hers had been much more agonising and prolonged.

"I've got tingles all over," Vala stuttered, her face hidden under Jackson's chest. "And don't flatter yourself—I'm pretty sure it's not you."

Jackson looked up and thanked the miracle worker who was sure to spell trouble in the future.

"Thank the Ori." the guy said before gesturing to them both. "Stand," he ordered. Jackson and Vala, still kind of shocked, followed. "You will come with me."

He did an about-turn and walked away in a slow processional gait.

Jackson, seeing no other option, made up his mind to do as he was told.

"I think he wants us to follow him," he asked Vala softly. "Can you walk?"

Vala finally looked up. Her face was stained with tears. "If it means getting away from here."

Emotionally spent himself, Jackson half carried the weakened Vala as they followed the man who saved her life. Sheppard couldn't really stop the device from disconnecting him then, finally having decided that Sheppard had accessed enough remote viewing for the day as well.

Briefing Room
Level 27
SGC
The Next Morning

Mitchell filled two mugs with fresh coffee from the pot and took it to the conference table where Sheppard sat, blinking into space like he needed another nap. Mitchell knew for a fact that Sheppard passed out for a little over seven hours soon after he woke up from the device last time. Then he was woken back up for dinner by Lam herself to run a few more tests before letting him go back to sleep.

In the morning, just after seven, Mitchell found him at the mess hall and had breakfast together before heading to the briefing room to update the General and discuss their plan of action.

Now, a little before eight, there was no reason for Sheppard to look like he had been running straight for a few days without any sleep. Unless, of course, there was something wrong with him they hadn't noticed. Mitchell firmly told himself that Lam wouldn't have sprung the man from her domain if he hadn't been well enough. That he really didn't have to borrow more trouble to stress about while they already had plenty.

"Thanks," Sheppard mumbled, wrapping both his hands around the mug and inhaling the aroma like a man starved. He had his last cup only about twenty minutes ago when they were finishing their breakfast. Mitchell was getting a little worried, to be honest.

"You good?"

"Yeah," Sheppard said to the coffee. "Just not a fan of briefings."

"Landry doesn't do long and boring," he advised. "Give the man short and sweet and to the point, he'll love you for life."

"Damn right," Landry entered the briefing room with Teal'c and Lam following him a few steps behind. "Colonels."

Both he and Sheppard got to their feet as the General walked in. Mitchell closed his eyes and vowed that one of these days, he would say something without the damned man appearing out of nowhere to catch the tail end of his dissing.

"Sir."

They all sat down after the General did. He nodded at Sheppard. "Sheppard, I hear you had some excitement last night. Tell us what you learned."

Sheppard did. He recounted what he had seen succinctly since his update before that, keeping his own opinions and feelings out of his report. He finished by describing how the strange man with a staff brought Vala back from the dead and healed her injuries.

"What happened after that?

"They left with the guy," Sheppard said, before shrugging. "I couldn't stay connected, sir. The device pulled me back."

"Most probably it was due to your brain activity, Colonel," Lam interjected. "Any more of that, you would have gone into a seizure."

Sheppard grimaced but said nothing.

"During the unfortunate incident Vala went through, you managed to surface to warn us about what was happening, while staying connected, am I right?" Landry said, nodding at Sheppard.

"Ah, yeah–"

"Dr Lee is of the opinion you knew something like that was going to happen."

"Sir?"

"The fact that you knew she was going to get better," Landry said, cocking his head to the side, curious. "Did you?"

"Um, yes, sir," Sheppard said. "It was a feeling, an instinct. I don't know how or why I get them. But I do. And they haven't been wrong yet." Even though his delivery had been a little awkward under everyone's scrutiny, Mitchell heard the confidence and conviction laced in his words. Sheppard was dead sure about his instincts.

Landry nodded, obviously having noticed the same. "So, what's your gut feeling about this… new player?"

"Bad news, sir." Sheppard didn't hesitate even for a second.

Landry was taken aback a little. "That sure?"

Sheppard grimaced but held the General's gaze when he said, "Damn sure, sir. He didn't just heal Vala from her immolation out of the kindness of his heart. They are playing the long game."

"We'll deal with that when we have to," Landry accepted the forewarning for what it was and turned to Lam who was sitting to his right. "How are Vala and Jackson?"

"Their vitals have been stable for the past few hours," Lam said. "We've been monitoring constantly,"

"So they are probably not in danger with this guy, for now at least. There must be a reason why he did what he did," Landry said before turning to Sheppard again. "Do we know what he is?"

"Ori's lapdogs," Sheppard replied. "Other than that, I got nothing."

"I'm sure you'll learn later in the day," Landry said, dryly. "What about disconnecting them from the device? Any luck?"

"Dr Lee has been unable to remove the stones. He had been trying." Lam said.

"I was hoping Jackson and Vala would get a chance to look for the one on their end, so far, no luck," Sheppard added.

"We haven't tried C-4 yet, sir." Mitchell threw his two-cents in as well.

"That won't work," Sheppard said, smiling a little.

"Really?"

"I mean, C-4 is not going to be enough to blow it up," Sheppard explained. "But doing that will kill Jackson and Vala. That's what the warning that flashes in my mind every time I connect to it, says."

"Fair enough," Landry said, nodding. "We'll proceed with caution and learn what we can. The moment you find a way to get them back safely, do it.'' Then he stood up, signalling the meeting was over. To Teal'c he said, "A word if you please."

Teal'c inclined his head and followed the General out to his office.

Lam collected her files and moved the chair back towards the table. "I'll see you two in the infirmary in an hour." With that, she took her leave as well.

"What's with the big man?" Sheppard asked when it was just the two of them.

"Politics going sour," Mitchell replied, sipping the last bit of his coffee. "A former first Prime named Gerak is singing some bad tunes, and everyone is swaying to his ugly music."

Sheppard raised an inquiring brow. "Such as?"

"Gerak wants to stick to the old ways, the traditions, the council, the power and all that while Bra'tac and Teal'c are fighting for democracy," Mitchell explained.

"So Gerak is sweet-talking the council into his side."

"Pretty much."

"And we're not buddies with the guy much?"

"Nope," Mitchell shook his head. "Landry is probably planning a face-to-face with the new guy, through Teal'c."

Sheppard grinned then, getting up to place both empty mugs on the side table before they left. "How'd you know this stuff?"

"I had nothing to do while I watch you all sleep away the daylight, Shep," Mitchell declared as he followed him out of the briefing room. "I talked to everyone about everything."

Sheppard laughed. "Now, that I can believe."

"I'm not even kidding,'' Mitchell said, throwing an arm around Sheppard's shoulder as they walked. He was getting very used to the close proximity to the man again. He found that he was enjoying it very much too, like he hadn't stopped.

To his great satisfaction, he could tell Sheppard was enjoying it just as much as he did.

"Let me tell you the story about Harrison's grandpa who got into a fight with an alligator while he was cleaning the pool…"