Heartbeat by AndromedaMarine
Asuras
"Please," Elizabeth croaked, holding her hands up to block Oberoth's from entering her mind another time. "Please."
The Replicator glared at her. "You think that you can come into this city and steal a ZPM without us knowing about it? And furthermore, attempting to sabotage our core? I am truly sorry, Dr. Weir, but you crossed the line a long time ago. I cannot stop." He advanced and Elizabeth crawled backwards until she could go no further. The brig blocked her path and she cringed, expecting the agonizing pain of torture.
Oberoth stopped and stared curiously at his victim, watching her every movement. Elizabeth glared up at him and he too saw what John did. His face contorted in rage and he inflicted pain like no other on the leader of Atlantis, only stopping when she blacked out.
"Make sure she doesn't die," Oberoth said to the guards. "Yet."
--
They had a team of two Jumpers; one with John's and Evan's teams and the other with Stackhouse's and Hunter's teams. Eight men wouldn't cut it, John had decided, so sixteen ought to do the trick. He dialed the Stargate and took the Jumper through to the Asuran space-gate. Both Jumpers cloaked. "All right, men, stick to the plan. Don't get left behind. Our mission is to extract and bring Elizabeth home. Understood?" He got confirmation from the other Jumper. "Then let's go get Elizabeth."
Rodney couldn't help but smile at John's determination. He had been sworn to secrecy about John's little revelation and John had made sure Rodney knew what would happen to his coffee supply if he let it slip. The Jumpers soared toward the planet Asuras and soon they were 'parking' the Jumpers on top of the building from which Rodney was picking up Elizabeth's subcutaneous transmitter signal. Apparently Oberoth wasn't smart enough to remove it.
"Stackhouse, spread out and keep this area secure. Rodney, you got the – whatever they're called?"
Rodney nodded and handed out ten of the small wristbands. "These will only work for a maximum of thirty minutes on one charge," he said, glancing at John. "They haven't been fully tested so all we really know about them is that they'll shift you out of phase."
Evan still looked skeptical. "You sure, doc?"
"Do you have a better idea? They won't activate until you press the button on the top. Radio contact is only among those wearing them and you'll have to deactivate it to fire any shots. John," he said, handing another one to the colonel, "this is for Elizabeth. I don't know if she's strong enough to walk by herself but if she is she'll need this. If not you might have to carry her."
John took the extra wristband and slid it into a pocket of his tac vest. "All right men, move out. We have thirty minutes to find and bring Elizabeth back. At the first sign of Replicators activate your cloak and don't wait for an order to do so." He turned to Rodney. "The LSD can track Elizabeth's transmitter, right?"
Rodney stared at John incredulously. "Who am I? Hello? You're staring at the guy who configured the Daedalus to pick that up. A simple LSD is no problem."
"So it can?"
"Yes, it can."
John led with his team down the stairs slowly and quietly. Lorne's team followed, and then Hunter's. They walked for five minutes before they ran into a Replicator.
--
Elizabeth curled into a ball in the corner of the brig. Oberoth had finally given her serious time to recover, if she could. The mental torture had escalated into physical and her body was covered with black and blue bruises. Dried blood was all over her face and she probably had a concussion. She heard the door of the brig open and she whimpered, curling further away from the intruder.
Whoever it was knelt next to the battered and bloodied woman. She cringed when the intruder touched her face. "I am sorry," he said. It was Niam. "Oberoth can be...difficult...at times. But he is a good man."
"He is no man," Elizabeth replied as icily as she could, but her vocal chords screamed in protest. She coughed. "He will kill me."
Niam gave her an expression that mirrored his want to help her, but the Replicator in him must have taken over. "I cannot help you."
"You must," she pleaded.
The Replicator stood and turned away, walking out of the cell and never looking back. It wasn't that he couldn't; he wouldn't.
--
John was the first to activate his cloak, and once Rodney couldn't see him he and the rest did the same. "This was easier than I thought," Rodney commented, and was immediately shushed by Evan.
"Shut up; you'll jinx it!"
The Replicator they were avoiding didn't notice them and continued on her way. "Oh please! You don't believe in jinxes, do you?"
Evan glared at him and Rodney turned away, walking closely behind John. The LSD was in John's hand and they were walking fast toward a blinking purple dot that Rodney said was Elizabeth. "Twenty minutes left," John said, glancing at his watch. They had five to get Elizabeth and then fifteen to make it back to the Jumpers without their cloaks running out of battery. "Not far..." They rounded the corner and were faced by six Replicators barring the entrance to the brig. "Oh, crap," he muttered, lowering the LSD and glancing at Rodney.
"What? They can't see, feel, or hear you and we can walk right through them."
"The part I'm worried about is the door." Green energy pulses flew across the door, making it clear a shield was there.
Rodney walked forward, through two of the Replicators – John cringed as he did that – and waved his hand through the shield. "See? Works fine." He walked through the shield and the door and disappeared. John leapt forward and followed Rodney – when he walked through the shield he got a tingly feeling – and his heart crashed when he saw Elizabeth.
"Ronon, Lorne, on my signal silence the guards."
Ronon stood behind one of the Replicators and held out a P90. Evan and his team did the same with the remaining four guards. John walked through the brig walls and restrained himself from deactivating his cloak right then and there just to hold her.
"Now!" he yelled; Ronon and Lorne's team deactivated their cloaks and obliterated the five guards. John disengaged his cloak and knelt next to Elizabeth. He cupped her face and moved her head so he could see her eyes. "Elizabeth?" She was unconscious. "Rodney?"
"Pick her up and activate your cloak – it'll cover both of you but it'll drain the power – put the other on her just in case."
John followed Rodney's instructions and picked up the woman, who was surprisingly light. He activated his cloak and walked right back through the walls.
They were going home.