A.N.- and again, I don't own it.
Trouble: chapter six
"How's it coming, Ronon?" Colonel Carter asked as she walked into the lab where Ronon and Doctor McKay were leaning over a computer console.
"Slow." Rodney mumbled, neither of them looking up from their work. "It's a surprisingly complex code. It makes it easy to mask, and not that I wouldn't be able to crack it but luckily for us Ronon's got that covered." His hands a blur of motion as he continued. "The signal was cobbled together rather clumsily so there's a lot of clean up to do before you can even begin to notice the the distinctive signals."
Sam nodded. "The next transmission should be received in another half hour."
Ronon stretched his arms above her head. "We're gonna work through it. Sooner we're done, sooner we can save Sheppard."
Carter nodded in agreement. "Do you need anyone else? I can send Zelenka to help."
Rodney shook his head. "No, Zelenka would just mess things up."
Sam nodded, smiling at the eye roll Ronon gave her. "Work fast." She told them before she walked from the room and headed to the control room, deciding not to take the transport. Choosing instead to walk amongst the city, the beautiful city of the Ancients, Atlantis. A city that seemed connected to John Sheppard. He carried the strongest gene by far and the city seemed to miss him. Yes, it was quiet without him running through the halls, trying to find people to play a game of football with or watch a movie in the rec room, but the city also seemed to grow quiet and subdued. The energy she occasionally felt from the walls had ceased. The city was in mourning. She sighed as she finally reached the gate room. The gate activating as she stepped over the threshold.
"It's Sora, ma'am." Chuck told her, his voice flat. Teyla and Lorne appeared silently beside her, none of them speaking. It did not take long for Dr. Keller to arrive as well.
"Teyla, you know my question." Sora's voice cut over the static. She stood behind Sheppard this time, one hand on his shoulder while the other played absently with his hair.
Teyla cleared her voice so it would not waver before she spoke. "There will be no trade, Sora."
"I have to wonder why you have chosen this. Do you enjoy torturing your commanding officer and friend? It does seem like you." She mocked, her hand continuing to caress the back of John's neck and hair line.
"She doesn't do this to the Colonel, you do." Lorne spoke up, stepping forward to take Teyla's shaking hand into his own.
"Tell me why you do not end this? You can stop his pain, simply turn yourself over to me. Why do you not accept my offer?"
"'Cause she's pregnant." John cut it, his voice irritated.
"Is this true?" Sora's hands stopped their movements as looked from her prisoner to the device. "I must admit I am surprised. I never thought of you as the motherly type, Teyla. Will you teach this little one to grow and become a murderer as it's mother is?" Sora mocked.
"I will teach him to protect himself and his people." Teyla stated firmly.
"So it's a boy? Glad to here you will have someone to replace Colonel Sheppard, since you do not seem to be willing to make the trade." She sneered, pulling back on John's black hair. Fear ignited in John's gut but he did not allow it to show on his face. The Genii man was not in the room so he was not sure what exactly to expect this round. Sora was a capable torturer, and John had had more than his share of the interrogators, but she had relied on the man for all of her dirty work, except for when she was having her own personal fun. So what did she have planned this time? John nearly screamed as she slammed the needle into his neck. The familiar burning returned to run across his nerves, always present, always painful. Sora smiled as John began to moan, a low guttural sound from his throat.
"No.." Teyla's cry was muffled as she buried her face it Lorne's shoulder.
Sora laid into him with a small whip, striping his back and shoulders with bloody lines. The beating continued with John refusing to cry out any louder than groans. Sora increased the power of her blows, growling in rage when she did not get the screams she wanted. John was broken from his pained stupor when she failed to deliver another strike. He could sense her behind him and this time he could not withhold his scream as another syringe plunged itself into his tender flesh. This dose sent him over the edge and almost immediately he found himself unable to form a coherent thought.
His team watched in despair as their commanding military leader shook at the ends of his chains, his vocal cords stretching to their limits. Sora showed no mercy as she beat the man in front of her. Using her fists and feet as well as the whip.
"STOP!!..PLEASE!!" Teyla cried out, causing Lorne to jump at her sudden burst of energy.
"I WILL STOP WHEN YOU DECIDE TO END THIS!!!" Sora screamed, spinning to face the camera.
"Will you turn yourself in?"
"No.." Teyla's voice was flat, her eyes on nothing but her C.O. His muscles were spasming without his control and he did not seem to be aware of anything around him. His head hanging limply only to jerk every time the leather came into contact with his skin.
"Very well." Sora strutted around John and casually picked up a small vial, different than the first. "I have always been curious what would happen if a mixed these two drugs. Perhaps this is my chance to try it." She said in a dreamy voice. Her hand was softly stroking Sheppard's hair with her fingers, the touch eliciting moans from John, her fingers feeling like burning flames across his forehead.
"Sora, you can't..." Keller cut in, wanting more than anything to step through the 'gate and save the man she had learned to call friend over the last year.
"But I can. That's the beauty." Sora smiled mischievously. "Though it would be a shame to dispose of him. We had so much fun. 'In between the takes' I believe the Colonel called it once." She giggled. "Perhaps the dose will kill him, but perhaps not in which case I will continue to enjoy what time I have with him. Either way, Teyla, he is lost to you." With that said, Sora drew the plunger back, filling the syringe full of the dreaded liquid. Sora pulled John's eyes upward by his chin. Sheppard's eyes were glazed over with pain, the undistinctive sounds around him pounding in his ears and head. Blinking, John tried to clear away the fog. He just wished Sora would stop moving. She smiled at him, sending a shiver down his spine. She had something between her fingers, waving it in front of his face. Squinting, he tried to focus in on the item. A syringe was held loosely in her hand, moving threatening towards his face. The sight caused fear to explode within his chest and his already spasming muscles to shake until Lorne thought his CO would fly apart. John's frown deepened as Sora began to say something, whispering it only to him. He could barely make out her words but she was patient repeating herself until his eyes widened in fear and understanding. With that said she slowly pushed the needle into his neck, holding him still with her hand. Teyla jumped as John screamed as the plunger was depressed and the drug filled his veins, burning it's way along the current and quickly traveling his body. Teyla couldn't take the screams anymore, running from the room and down the hallway. With a quick glance between the group, Keller ran off after her. Sora stepped back from the man, but John did not stop screaming, his muscles contracting and relaxing as he writhed on the chains.
"I will allow the camera to remain active until the remainder of the thirty-eight minutes that have past." Sora said, turning back to the screen, not knowing that Teyla was no longer present. "I will not contact you again but know this Teyla. I will track you down, use your friends against you, and you will pay for your crimes. I promise you that. As for Sheppard, if he survives he will become a slave of the Genii. So the remaining time is for you to say your goodbyes."
With that said, Sora walked from the room, believing full well that her prisoner was too drugged to give them any important information. A silence fell over the the room, only broken by John's increasing groans.
"Colonel Sheppard? Colonel?.." Samantha was the first to speak. She raised her voice when he didn't react. "John?"
Someone was breaking through the pained haze around him. The voice was not screaming, it did not bring any pain with it, like the others. He looked up slowly and squinted at the MALP in front of him, the light was still blinking meaning it was still active. The voice was coming from the speakers.
"John?"
"'M here...." He manged to croak out before another surge left him spasming.
"John, do you know your address? What is the 'gate address for the planet?" Carter pushed in a gentle voice.
"Don't know.....d..didn't see.."
"But who sent the message?"Carter's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Sara...." John mumbled, biting his tongue as another wave took him.
"Who?" Keller asked, jumping into the conversation.
"Sara, c-come..ere." Sheppard looked to something off camera. A small woman walked into the screen and knelt next to the Colonel. He began to speak to her, his voice to low and weak for them to hear.
The woman turned to the camera and licked her lips nervously. "I am Sara Genad of Sateda. Do you have the means to decode the transmission?"
"Yes." Sam answered, Rodney having contacted her in a flurry of talk, out of which she found him to have the address.
"Good, John is not doing well, please send help soon." She turned quickly as John convulsed on the chains, moaning loudly.
"The 'gate is about to cut out." Sam warned, "What force would you suggest, Colonel?"
"Marines....five...six teams..." He replied, fighting the drugs down as long as he could.
"Okay, Colonel, we'll see you soon. Just hang in there." Lorne replied.
"Mmm..T..Teyla?" He managed to push out of his lips.
"She's not here, John." Sam told him gently.
"No- Teyla....not her fault-" Sheppard was growing more agitated, shaking on the ends of his chains.
"We know. John, she knows."
"No! no..no..no. Not her fault. Not her fault-" He continued to mumbled his words soon becoming incoherent. Sara ran over and placed a hand on his cheek, gently trying to ground him. She quickly withdrew as he gasped in pain from the contact.
A.N.- Thanks for sticking with me. I've started watching Supernatural this week and haven't been able to stop and write, but I should pick it up soon. lol Hope you enjoyed it.