Blood Rituals – The Way of This World
by Angel Ruse

Sheppard, Beckett, McKay and Teyla gate to a world with a deadly secret—will Sheppard and Beckett become the victims of genetic exploitation? Sheppard and Carson whump. No Slash.

Apart from being accustomed to the dim lighting of their world and the freakish blood moon, Colonel Sheppard figured they must have some sort of affinity for the chilly weather. There was a breeze coming from a nearby window that was hitting him just right to make his skin crawl. They had stripped him to his t-shirt, leaving his arms bare and susceptible to the cool winds of their world.

It was getting dark outside. He could see a faint red glow that betrayed a rising moon. Night creatures made noises in the forest outside. It made the fact that he was alone, shackled to a chair on a strange planet and waiting to have his blood stolen from him seem all the more spooky. He sighed. He had never really thought of what the people in horror flicks went through when he watched, but he knew he would never be able to watch Dracula in the same way again.

And then, after a good hour of waiting, the doorway to his lonely little room opened. A familiar face entered with three guards following. "Ah," said Atius, looking up from a notepad he was scratching on. "Colonel Sheppard. I apologize for the wait, but well, things happen, yes?"

John blinked at the casual demeanor. "Apparently things do happen, yes," he replied carefully. He motioned to his wrists that had been stuck to the arms of his chair. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to…?"

Atius shook his head. "Oh, no. Can't do that, I'm afraid." He set his notebook down and wandered to a cupboard nearby. John watched him fish through it and pull out several needles and vials, some of them empty and others filled with a black liquid. He fidgeted with the tools as he returned. "I'll let one arm go, if you'll hold it out for me."

For a moment Sheppard just stared at him, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, did you miss the memo about us being enemies? I'm being held here against my will."

The doctor nodded. "No reason for me to be rude. We can do this the hard way, of course." He motioned and one of the guards approached. The imposing figure reached down and undid one of the cuffs around Sheppard's wrist.

His arm was jerked outward so that his palm faced up and the inside of his forearm was bared. Atius came before him with one of his needles. "I don't suppose explaining any of this is part of your plan?" Sheppard hissed, trying to pull his arm back away from the guard.

Atius looked down. "I am going to take your blood. I wish to study it, of course. Now please, hold still."

John wasn't in a very cooperative mood. He yanked his arm back and was hit in the jaw in repayment. He glared at the Khon'Suan doctor as one of the other guards helped hold his arm down. Atius paid little mind. He stuck the needle into Sheppard's arm efficiently. Sheppard grit his teeth, trying to thwart them, but it did no good. The doctor stole several vials of his blood, then pulled the needle out, letting the blood flow freely down John's bare skin. He watched as Atius pressed a gloved finger to the wound and drew a symbol with the red liquid, murmuring something in a tongue the Lantean didn't understand.

And then he reached for a vial filled with the black stuff. "And just what the hell is that?" John growled, still trying to fight.

Atius reinserted the needle and began pumping it into him. When it had all entered his bloodstream, the Khon'Suan removed the needle and held a small bit of gauze over the tiny wound to keep the liquid from flowing back out. "Don't worry about it, Sheppard. Think of it as a genetic flagger. It singles out certain traits and makes them more prominent."

"Yeah?" John breathed, trying to rub at his arm after the Khon'Suans let it go. "This have anything to do with your blood sucking habits?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "The girl told you, did she? As a matter of fact, it does. These traits that are being flagged will be absorbed into the coding of Minster Indaali once he partakes, if he does."

"Why do this? Why are you sacrificing your own people?" Sheppard asked.

Atius studied the Lantean. "To make ourselves worthy for the Wraith. When they come again, they will take the chosen and consume them even as we consume those lesser than ourselves. We must be strong to strengthen those we serve."

"You worship those monsters?"

"It is the way of this world."

At that John had to laugh, a cynical sound that filled the quiet room. "The Wraith don't give a damn about your worship. You're nothing but food to them. One of you is as good as any other."

Atius shook his head. "No. One who has been strengthened will sustain a Wraith longer than one who is weak. It is the price we pay for peace." He turned towards the guards. "Return him to his friend. Beckett must be worried."

John fought the urge to retort, but truth be told, he didn't have to fight hard. As the guards unlocked him and got him to his feet, he felt as if he would fall over. They shoved him forward, but he didn't miss the interested look on Atius' face as he stumbled.

He couldn't pay much attention to the journey through the drafty halls back down to his cell, he was so concentrated on keeping his footing. Not until he heard Carson say, "Thank God," did he even look up.

The guards opened his cell and pushed him in, and John went without a fight. He sank down on his bunk and rubbed his arm again. "Hey, Doc."

"What'd they do to ya?" the doctor asked, coming to stand near him. He looked down at the Colonel's bruised jaw. "I'm guessin' it wasn't fun."

Sheppard rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall at the foot of his bunk. Iryll was already at the front of her cell, looking at him. "They gave you the catalyst." It was a statement, not a question. She held her arm out and both men saw a bruise there. "Now they will say the prayers and consecrate your blood to he that will consume you."

"Lovely," he replied, exhaling a deep breath. He shivered. "I learned an interesting bit of information, though."

Beckett looked at him worriedly. Sheppard could appreciate the helplessness he saw in those blue eyes. Certainly the doctor would want to heal him, but could do nothing except watch. "Aye, lad? What's that?" he asked.

John frowned up at him. "Our friends worship the Wraith."

"Well, that's always a nice thing to run into," Carson sighed. "So let me guess, they do this blood drinking to emulate them, then?"

Sheppard wrapped his arms around himself and leaned against the bars. "Worse. They do this because they claim it actually sustains the Wraith longer. Apparently this blood drinking makes them stronger somehow, some sort of genetic absorbing. And the Wraith…you know…"

Beckett watched him a moment. "You a' right, lad?"

"Yeah. Tired." He looked at Iryll. "This catalyst supposed to do this to you?" The girl shook her head. Sheppard closed his eyes, missing the concerned look on Carson's face.

By the time Carson touched his forehead to feel for a fever, he was out.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, dragging me off to this god-forsaken cave in the middle of nowhere, but I demand to see someone in charge."

McKay stood with his arms crossed, looking at the band of treacherous locals that had whisked both he and Ronon off within minutes of exiting the Stargate. He was soaked, having been forced to walk through a marsh to get to this remote location. Ronon had been knocked out with several drugged darts, immediately cited as a real threat to those that had captured them the moment he had started fighting. Rather than assuming they didn't take his being a threat seriously, Rodney concluded that they must need someone awake to negotiate with and since he was the obvious choice in the matter, well that explained that.

There were weapons pointed at them. Big knives and mechanisms that looked like some sort of strange crossbow/gun combo. Not exactly friendly. "And I said you're going to have to wait," one of their guardians replied harshly. He had said the same thing a few minutes ago, but Rodney was not beyond pressure tactics and would likely ask again in the next quarter of an hour.

He paced a little, trying to think of what he could do to get them out of this situation. If only Ronon would wake up. Their impending escape really needed some muscle behind it. He glanced down at the prone figure with an annoyed grunt. Well, he had been in worse situations before. He was just going to have to use his brilliance to find a way out of this one.

McKay touched the rock wall of their pleasant little hideout and sighed. Brilliance could do wonders, but it was a little hard when there were blades trained on you. He had already tried logic, threatening and pleading. These insufferable guards kept insisting that someone was on the way, even going so far as to dart glances at the entrance, but so far they remained all alone. "Look, maybe your friend got sidetracked?" he suggested. "If you could just…"

"Shut up," a tall guard growled. He had been the main speaker since the beginning of this little diversion, and he was an intolerant one at that. McKay had private fantasies about smacking him upside the head with his own crossbow.

He rolled his eyes. "Or maybe they're lying dead in a great big ditch," he grumbled beneath his breath. He held his arms up in concession when the guard lifted his crossbow as if to shoot.

A great big ditch was not where the expected party was. Suddenly the guards and their two captives were not alone. McKay turned his head towards the sound as three people entered—two rough looking Khon'Suans and Minal Iilara.

"Well, it's about time," Rodney said to her as she handed off her crossbow and sank into a chair.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Dr. McKay," she responded with a half-smile. "Unfortunately, I cannot slip away from the Minister very easily these days."

He grunted and tried to approach her, stopping when the guards pointed their weapons again. "All right. So what now? Is this the part where you demand some sort of service I wouldn't otherwise provide if you weren't threatening me? What do you want? Explosives?"

The chief of security laughed and shook her head. "I want nothing, McKay. On the contrary, I've brought you here for your own good. Your friends have landed themselves in some trouble."

"For my own good?" he sputtered incredulously. "Yeah, I call having my friend rained upon by drugged darts and me being threatened by a psycho part of my own good. Right. Where is Colonel Sheppard?"

Iilara pursed her lips, looking at him gravely. She was going to spill it, he could see. She knew she would get nowhere without giving a little. "He and Dr. Beckett have been taken prisoner by the Minister. It seems Indaali has taken an interest in their genes. They are in very serious trouble. Your friend Teyla is raising quite a ruckus at the senate building, but she's otherwise unharmed."

McKay cursed and scratched at his temple. "Wonderful. I can't leave them alone for five minutes without Armageddon unleashing." He studied her. "So, why are you telling me this? Don't you work for Indaali?"

"Working for someone and agreeing with someone are two different things," she replied evasively. "I serve him because I must, because we need people on the inside."

"So you can overthrow the government?" he retorted, feeling agitated and nervous about this situation. A civil war was not what he considered an ideal time to pay a visit. People weren't always rational during wars.

"I'm trying to save lives. The lives of your friends and the lives of innocent people on this world. You don't know what has been going on here."

Considering the manhandling and mistreatment he had suffered so far, he wasn't inclined to feel very sympathetic to their cause. His first concern was his own at this point, so he said honestly, "I don't want to know. All I want is my people back so we can get off this planet. Then you can play V for Vendetta until the cows come home."

Minal gazed at him with cool eyes. "Of course. And we aim to help you get them back."

"Good. How do we do that?"

Her expression didn't look promising. "That's the trouble," she replied softly. She stood up and paced a little, ignoring his impatient glare. "We're working on something, you see. An antidote, if you will. Your friends are being held in a compound where Indaali keeps a poison called 'the catalyst'. Our antidote will render this catalyst and the plants it's made from impotent. It's a one-shot thing, McKay. When we go in to destroy the poison, we get only the one chance. So you see we must rescue your people while simultaneously carrying out our plans."

Rodney shrugged. "So let's do it."

She shook her head. "It's not that simple. The antidote isn't complete. We will have to wait."

"No," he responded simply. "My crewmates are in danger. You're going to help me get them out. Now."

"I can't do that."

"Then you better tell me and my sleeping friend there where to go."

Iilara sighed in frustration. "No one gets into the Winnowing Grove without the security codes, and…"

"And I don't care," Rodney interrupted roughly. "Give me the codes. Destroy Indaali and mount his head on your wall for all I care, I won't try to stop you. We didn't ask to be a part of this, and though helping may or may not do my karma some good…"

"But you are a part of this," Minal finished hotly, glaring with an intense fire in her dark eyes. "Like it or not, you are a part of it. And I'm not going to let you ruin years of carefully constructed plans. If you go there Indaali will know someone is leaking information, so you must see the logic in my choice. And if you don't, I'm sorry."

"Fine," he breathed, pacing a few steps. "And what happens if Indaali uses this poison on my companions?" She looked away, unable to give him an answer he would be satisfied with. He had expected as much. Rodney shook his head. "Look, just tell your dogs to back off, will you? I'd like to sit somewhere that isn't the floor."

Minal waved her hand and the guards allowed him to flop down on a chair near their leader.

A/N: Again, I thank you for the reviews. Ah, I haven't see the epi where they find people that worship the Wraith...I just learned there was one from my beta. So ah...I tried to make it kinda like this was the second incident of that sort of thing. :-O +hands out tins of distracting cookies+

Email: angelruseATgmailDOTcom
Archive: Go for it.
Disclaimer: Don't own the fine hineys of Shep or Beckett. Don't mean I can't imagine I do.