Apologies to those who posted reviews and story alerts Saturday (and thanks by the way!) but I thought I had problems with publishing so deleted Part One and re-posted on Sunday - losing reviews, alerts and other data relating to Saturday's posting. It all seems a bit drastic now (and I won't be doing that again in a hurry!) but fanfiction weren't responding with calls for help.
Aundama - Part Two
"Well, assuming this is Todd, he's just proved he's not like Michael and still feeds on humans." Cameron and O'Neill had just witnessed the husk of the victim stretchered off in a body bag. "So why take… groceries? For Ronon?"
"Mighty considerate of him, ain't it?...Tell me, how well did you know Colonel Sheppard?" And O'Neill drew a finger along an almost empty shelf of the store, much to the annoyance of the forensics tech carrying out fingerprint dusting.
"What?!" O'Neill, indignantly responding to the man's dark look of objection, "its not like you're going to find anything! Wraith don't have fingerprints on record?... Do they?" Do they even have fingerprints?
"Colonel Sheppard?" enquired Cameron, answering O' Neill's first question, "Met him a couple of times… seemed a decent guy. Shame to have lost him. Why do you ask?"
"Hmm… nothing really… though there's one or two things about Sheppard, I seem to recall… liked movie nights with the guys… and was a little partial to… popcorn. Loved the stuff, he told me once."
And the two looked at the space left by boxes of popcorn.
"Coincidence, or what?"
-oAo-
There is blackness here.
You… fight me?
The thought… difficult… effort in the darkness.
No.
I thought you also wished to find Dr. McKay?
I do.
You are weak… this is why I asked you to eat… shall we stop?
No… ok… I'm ok… the thought strained. As is the face. Perspiration across the brow. The eyes are closed tight. Body tense, rigid. The neck arched. Not entirely free of pain then…
Then why?… of course… ah… naturally it would be so… it would be like this… he has not taken Sheppard far enough back…
We will stop.
No!
Sheppard-
-I said no!
And there is nothing the Wraith can do. Sheppard now is willing this? Sheppard will not permit the link to break? He has this… ability?
Voices. A male voice. 'Hell, what did they do to him?'
Who is that?
Colonel O'Neill.
I am not familiar…
Used to be at SGC. Sometimes… visits.
An infirmary bed. Not Atlantis.
Weak... So weak...
A voice he does not know. 'No, Colonel. This is Cheyenne Mountain. We'll get you to surgery shortly.'
A whisper… at his lips… that calls for Rodney…
'Dr. McKay is not here.'
'…know… know that…'
Words that ask questions in the blackness.
'McKay? You have seen McKay?'
'He… got… them… to let… me go…'
'We know this is difficult… any idea where McKay is?' O'Neill.
'Can't… no… numbers… don't wash… Rodney… Rod…ney…'
'….delirious… making no sense…'
Silence.
'Hang in there, soldier.'
Silence.
Then.
The voice of Teyla Emmagan. Faint.
Why only voices? Why is it so… dark? Why can't I see?
You are weak. And you were… weak then.
Unreceptive except to sound.
Is she… is she crying?
I believe this is so.
'Sorry. Very sorry… didn't make it...'
No.
Sheppard struggling… struggling with… struggling beneath his hand…
Please. Please don't cry.
My voice? No… Ronon.
Also needs to say… needs to say… please don't cry. But can't. Can't…
No… no…
We can stop this, Sheppard. This will not find Dr. McKay.
No.
A sound… faint also… but very, very close… like… close, near his face… like… like cloth being moved… no… like crisp cotton… a sheet… no... Teyla... one short, sharp cry… no... Cover me. Cover me. No. Don't let them see… this isn't me… no… the sound of… is that a sound?... the sound of movement… a face close by… the sound of a breath… breath… longs for breath… an Athosian kiss… no… a whisper at his ear… no…
Good-bye, John…
No… don't go… no… don't leave me… don't leave me… no… no…
O' Neill's voice… a military service… ashes over Atlantis… Sheppard's wish… no… no…
…no air… no air… no breathe… he does not breath… no air… needs to breathe… suffocating… needs to breathe… again.
"No! Todd! No! No!" And Sheppard jerks forward from his place on the bed. Violently pushing Todd's hand away from his temple. Ripping from the contact. "What the hell? What the hell happened?" His heart racing. His breathing fast. Shivering though he's not cold. Sweat running in rivulets down his face. Down his back. Hell, everywhere. Soaking the smock.
Todd's own heart racing. His own breathing fast. They had been as one, after all.
"I warned you, John Sheppard. This would not be easy."
"Tell me that didn't happen!... How?... How could that have happened?... I'm here!" Gasping out the words.
"I revived you." Revived? Hell, here was a master of understatement!
"Revived? I died!"
"Yes. And I revived you."
"How? The Gift?"
"Yes." John swallows hard.
"You… you took me from… the mortuary?"
"Yes."
"You went to Earth… just to do that?"
"Yes."
"This thing Rodney discovered, it is so important to you?"
"It is."
"And you're not going to let me in on it? Though I'm probably going to find out anyway."
"If we proceed. Yes. Probably."
"If?"
"You grow weaker-"
"-I'm fine."
"I have sent for water. And fresh food if you require it?"
"And I told you I'm fine!"
"It is as you wish… May I?" And he hesitates. He needs to feel for the pulse of John Sheppard. He is concerned for his heart. It has not long been beating again. This degree of trauma… He believes he will not be able to revive him a second time… All would be lost… Yet knows… his touch would not be welcome…
And John looks down at the offered hand. Uncertain. Still lost in thought. Uncomprehending. Wondering why Todd doesn't reach for his temple again. And this has changed everything, hasn't it?! Todd saved him! This isn't… no, no, this is still snakey Todd… Todd only did this because he needs to find McKay… leopards don't change their spots… same old snakey Todd… mixing metaphors, Sheppard!... but has to be the same old snakey Todd… has to be…
"Your wrist?... I must ascertain that you are indeed strong enough?"
John nods. Understanding. Though he could do this for himself. He allows this… contact. However awkward. Flinching. Resisting the urge to recoil. This Wraith… Todd… must have touched him… before…
Attempts to sound casual, conversational.
"This isn't going to get any better, is it? I mean… I died…" Everything that led up to that. Everything that led up to that moment. Everything that he could not remember.
"On this occasion, I must take you further back. I must go deeper… As I have said before, this is going to be unpleasant for you and… I cannot quite so readily let you go next time."
"I'll consider myself duly warned." And Todd allows Sheppard's hand to drop. Satisfied. The wrist has been trembling, shaking, however much the Colonel has tried to conceal the fact. No doubt shocked that he has been brought back from the dead. But Todd pays the complement all the same. It is still deserved.
"You always were stronger than any human I have ever known."
"Yeah." And Todd kneels beside John on the bed again. This closeness… this closeness… Todd's breath, low and gravely, so close. John grimacing. Ready. Bracing for the finger against his temple. It'd hurt at first. Drilling loud and piercing into his skull. Reverberating through, down the spine. Through, down every limb. Skewered there. Skewered there by that one hand. He has already learnt… that if he does not fight it… the pain eases… if he relaxes… yeah, relaxes… try freaking relaxing, knowing there's a Wraith at your head and everything you're about to see is everything that leads to your freaking death…
"So… we're after co-ordinates… right?"
"Any indication."
"And we're both looking?"
"You are understanding the procedure well."
And this is for Rodney. "You'll not harm Rodney? And the rescue? I'm in on the rescue? And this… thing that you're after? I'll be after it too…"
"Spare Dr. McKay?" Considers it. "Yes. I need him alive. The rest of the… bargain? No. And you are in no position to make demands, John Sheppard. Is it not enough that I have saved your life?"
And Sheppard bites his lip.
Damn you, Rodney, you'd better be worth it, is the last independent thought that he has.
-oAo-
What is this?
Noise.
So much noise. Shouting. Wormhole travel. That stretches thought. Compresses thought. Spirals thought. Another gate. But a handheld device. Thank God for Radek, eh?
A device that detects the last address?
If you're quick… you have to be so goddamned quick though… electronic fingerprint or something… another gate… another wormhole… another gate… and the shouting…
'Move it! Move it! Down! Get down!'
Gunfire that jars against nerves… can actually see Rodney for heaven's sake!... but they have to keep down... pinned down… there's only five of us… what… must be twenty of them…
'Over the top, sir? For one guy?'
Crap, the gate!… it's gonna close… running… like never ran before… the ground… the rush… lungs splitting… and hot… they're gonna make it!... wormhole… no… no… it's too quick for DHD address… try… no… no… too fast… on the other side… what the hell?... should have expected… ambush?... no… no… crossfire…
'Sir! Sir!'
Adams… down… blood... a wound at the thigh…
'Now! Go! Go! Go!'
Adams heavy to carry… moaning… cover behind bushes… crossfire… hell, if they don't look out they're gonna hit Rodney!... who are these other guys?... hey, any help… but they're gonna hit Rodney…
The body count is high… but the guys with Rodney long gone… and that feeling… that feeling that Rodney is lost… that they've lost Rodney… that he's lost Rodney… Adams fine for now… field dressing and painkillers… you look after your men… respect… they watch your back…
Brother warriors?
Yeah…
'Who are you?'
Tell a lie…
Atlantis a secret still?
Yeah, still…
'And who are you?'
'Rafisia.'
Never heard of it… but they're angry… lots… the bad guys using their planet as a base…
'These guys? Any ideas where they're from?'
'No… never seen them before… have tech… have guns… like you… sure you're not the same people?'
'No.'
Using locals as slaves… rebels really... hard times… see it on their faces… hell! that pisses him off!... as if living with Wraith isn't bad enough…
This is so?
Yeah, this is so...
They're obliging… though they owe us nothing…
'Likely locations?... a hideout? a base?'
Some idea… provide a guide… decent enough… its ok… can trust him… should head back to Atlantis?... let them know?... shouldn't blindly go through Gates… knows that… Jumper would be handy… but light fading… do that later… when it's dark… first location close by… close to the Gate? That's good… yeah… but… Murphy's Law… yeah… but… the guide's not straight after all… hell! didn't they trust us?... too easy… and then its an ambush after all… crap!… didn't even get a shot off… and they're surrounded… hands raised… easy… easy… easy does it… he'd led his men into this?... and where's Adams?... they'd left him on watch… where's Adam's for Christ sake?... and this is concern… not just hope of escape gone… if these guys find Adams… these guys aren't going to sit you at a table and quietly talk things over… these guys can't be soft talked… these guys are like Kolya's genii, who feed you to Wraith… see it… see it in their eyes… SERE training… as a pilot… as special ops, mandatory… you don't get caught… if you get caught, they'll either interrogate… or kill you… or both… the course… how to resist interrogation… how to resist interrogation?... rule one… you don't get caught… that simple… you don't get caught… as a pilot, worse… you're alone… chances are you're injured as maybe you've just ditched out… and they know exactly where you've come down… so don't get caught… proper planning… don't get caught… and as a pilot… you're alone… think for yourself… this is more difficult… complicated… got to think of the men… got to put them first… if he could… if he could… he'd stand in front of everyone of them… but he can't… helpless… but where the hell is Adams?...
Looking down the barrels of those guns… stomach clenching… that dread… this is it… just get ready to die, John… to die now… one of those… damn… P90s… their own damn guns?… just like Michael… not hybrids though… a uniform… not genii… more like their own BDUs… and there's the shout he didn't want to hear… Adams… dragged from his hiding place… no mercy... oh hell… oh hell…
Silence.
A struggle at his fingertips. Losing contact. Tension at his fingertips. The spine of the human arches. A vain attempt to jerk his head from the vice that is holding his mind. Stuttering hands reach up to clutch at the Wraith's wrist…
Todd… a pleading through clenched teeth… Todd!... A mind will always run away from horror. Even, no doubt, Sheppard's.
Sheppard… you must go back… it is important that we do not break contact… we would have to start again…
Silence.
Sheppard?
I know…
He is encountering more pain at the Wraith's fingers than that contained within his thoughts…
The Wraith is tempted to sooth… to stroke… to ease the torment that is there… you must go back… the hands relax a little, falling to the human's sides… trembling still…
I know… says a quiet voice… but… kinda… a rock and a hard place…
Blood… so much blood…
You must be accustomed?
Why?... never… never… I'm ok… get on with it…
You are certain?
I said get on with it!… but so much blood… no… no… stronger than this… mustn't let them see… mustn't let them see… never weak… Adams... one bullet… through the head… so… so… so… they were going to get moved… Adams was loose baggage…
And Wraith are considered animals?... and what is this?... blackness again… but this is different…
Hoods… they were ready for us then… but hoods?… an Earth thing… last time, hoods… with Aiden… Earth military… and hands tied… with military Earth ties… pushed forward… a forced march… feet that stumble in darkness… rough voices in darkness… hands that grip and push… fists that punch to push forward… guns that bruise…you can never tell… where it's gonna come from… breath that's short…
Fear?
Yeah… fear… John Sheppard feels fear… how about that?… 'move! move!'... left… or right… can't tell… can't tell… these guys not backward meting out the pain… a blow from a gun… cries out… involuntary… fists that push forward… punches that push forward… kicks that push forward… a blow from a gun… you can never tell… out of the darkness… and wormhole travel again…
But… it is long.
Sure?... means something?...
Possibly nothing.
It doesn't stop… the blows… shouting… his men… their captors… shouting and cursing… does nothing except earn more blows… a sharp pain in his side… gasps… wants to drop… knows the feel… the familiar feel of cracked ribs… but hands push forward… push forward… stumbles again… hands that hold back… a skull that splits into stars… hell… hell… and again his jaw… for not moving fast enough… and he's spitting blood… inside the hood… dazed… and feels he is falling again… spinning… where's forwards anyway?... yeah… as if… as if he'd do that on purpose… the noise of the shouts… yells… an echo… there's an echo… boots an echo on flagstones… buildings… a courtyard… through a door… knows that… coz slams into the side… half twists, half pushes through… hits solid… hits wall… where the hell is forwards anyway?... and the gun jammed in his side again… breath… catch breath… can't stop… move you bastard!... bastard?... who says… who says bastard?... hits wall again… crashes down… kicked… and kicked… and kicked… no… no… get up!... get up!... yeah… you wanna try it all busted up… you wanna try it with hands tied sometime!... get up!... am… but sound dribbles blood at his lips… am doing… don't… kick… am… and pushes up against the wall with his shoulder… pain… effort… the gun in his ribs… give… a… guy… a…fucking chance… will you?… pushed forward… pushed forward… then… kneel!... kneel!... hands on shoulders pushes him down hard on knees… the impact… shoots up… grunts hard… at least… at least they've stopped moving now… now, the questions… you bet… now the fucking questions… training… just tell them your name, rank, serial number… yeah… like that means something in Pegasus… training… expect the worse… expect no mercy… expect they're gonna hurt you… expect you're gonna die… tac vests pulled off… jackets pulled off… hanging at their wrists… rip their shirts… exposed shoulder… ready… ready… gritting teeth… knows they're after the transmitters… ripping… hot… cutting flesh… not going to cry out… not going… then… then…
'You, the officer?'
…and they push him… so he guesses they mean him… nods… coz… words fail… mouth too torn… mistake… wouldn't have seen the nod with the hood… just like he doesn't see the rifle butt… hears it… short swish… and his face… skull… explodes…
What is this? Blackness again.
…how long?... how long?...
Not long.
… and the hood whisked off… and they pull him up to kneeling by his hair… and he yells out…
'Ask you again, are you the officer?'
…swallows hard… blood at his mouth, in his mouth... the room's going loopy… wants to say yes… can't… can't… must say yes… mustn't let them get at the others… he has to take it all… because… he is the officer… officer?... who says officer anyhow?... always leader… old films… always take me to your leader… tries at yeah… low gasp… but they're satisfied… wants to say… wants to say don't hurt the others… knows they're gonna hurt them anyway… can't see much… right eye swelling… sees… a corridor… barred cells either side… sees… senses enough… these guys mean business… training… you don't say anything… name, rank, serial number… the reason?... don't give them a tool… that's the reason… if they know you care, they'll hurt them… not him… he has to take it all… you don't say anything… not even to the others… it makes them vulnerable… you have to do… cold… indifferent… flat… uncaring… and then… if these guys have Rodney?... then Rodney's long dead… all this for nothing… luck finally ran out, John, huh?... plans always work out, huh?... not this time, buddy!... forced to stand… all of them… hands untied… watching… watching… too many to overpower… then…
'Strip!'
…oh fuck!... stomach churns… not this…
'Now!'
…reluctantly bends to unlace boots… unsteady… the place reels… nausea… mustn't pass out again… got to watch out for the others… steady… steady… and mustn't give them an excuse to hit him again… got to watch for the others… the others… still hooded… fumble… steady… steady… mustn't fall… socks… the cold of the floor hurts… jackets… fall to the floor in front…
'Faster!'
…the others… still hooded struggle with shirts… shivers… but stands straight… indifferent… flat… don't let them see… don't let them see… don't look at the others… don't let them see… pity… sets lips hard… though that hurts like hell… eyes front… prodded with a rifle…
'Get a move on!'
…unzips pants… training is supposed to prepare you… they go through all this… humiliation… sniggers… jibes at manhood… but the back of your mind you know it's not real… this is real… humiliation… sniggers… jibes at manhood…
'Hands on heads!'
…touching… a rifle brushes past… trying not to flinch… play it flat… indifferent… and they call Paulo pretty… and he's taken away… aware of the movement… the space… won't look… indifferent… even when Paulo is yelling… even when Paulo screams once… even when Paulo is returned… even when Paulo is whimpering and sniffling and moaning all in one… you don't have to look… but you can't stop the voices… the feelings… the knots in your gut… in training… none of you should be homos… so if you don't wish to lose your virginity, you don't get caught… and there's laughter then… but by the time they're done with you… and the laughter is stopped… they'll be no guys in UN blue berets enforcing rules… the Arabs might not… but they've been trained by others that will… others that do… Pegasus guys? Do they?... and there's no Geneva Convention here is there, John?... and they say… give up hope… you won't be rescued... expect no mercy… expect the worse…
...he has no hood… doesn't want to look at the others… turns his face… second mistake…
'No, you watch!'
…and they grab his hair again… push him up against the bars… holding him there… twisting his head... forcing his damaged face against the bars…
'One thing you're gonna learn… you watch… always… you gonna watch… got that?'
…and they rip off his dogtags… winces as flesh cuts…
'Got that Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard?... say yes!'
…won't… name and rank only… head struck hard against the bars…
'Say yes!' they shout.
… training… you don't say anything… name and rank… concentrate on that… say only that… focus on that…
… he says 'Lieutenant!' ...before the next blow…
'Say yes!' they shout.
…fuck you!...
…he says, 'Colonel!'… before the rifle slams his ribs again…
…anger… use anger… only weapon you have…
'Say yes!' they shout.
… jolt... skull jarring… flesh ripping… a second, sees nothing…
…he says, 'John.'
…fainter…
'Say yes!' they shout.
…head… head… gasps the last name… gasps, Sheppard… sinks down… bars scraping bare flesh… down to the cold cold against flesh cold stone floor… shivering… trembling… breathless… panting… blackness there… almost… choking… mouth and throat and nose full of bile and blood … knowing these guys… these guys are only just starting… with their fun…
...no... stop!... no…
...a struggle… a murmur of begging… a plea… from deep… deeper than memory… a broken layer… as before, the Wraith has broken through a layer… that is private… that is never seen… he feels as an intruder… a plea that was not even necessarily directed at him… feels… no… but why this compassion?... this is means to an end… he has saved Sheppard for this purpose only… no other reason… no, no other reason, and this layer is quickly concealed… but it was there… a vulnerability that the human overcomes… and there is the layer that is courage again…
…Sheppard, think what you are asking?... you truly do not wish to break this?...
…no… no…
…you are recovered?... I have explained… to break contact… you weaken… it may be impossible to continue…
It's ok… I am fine now… fine…
…continue… an hour… two… three… standing there… hands on heads… nothing said… hard breathing… his face hurts… his side hurts… and its cold… where… where would be this cold?...
'Sir?'
…Paulo… from under his hood… no!... you say nothing!... it screams inside him… unsaid… you say nothing!... nothingness protects you… wants to feel nothing… to feel nothing for these guys… nothing… no pity… they are pushing the men into the cell… not him… stays in the corridor… forced to face the bars again… they're gonna make him watch… notices the hooks on the ceiling now… they're gonna make him watch… chains looped on hooks… linked to the hand ties… hauled up backwards… no… no… don't… the men's grunts… the men's moans… the strain on shoulders… chest… muscles bunch… can't watch…
'You watch! Sheppard! What did we tell you! You watch!'
…hold his head… make him watch… make him watch as they start beating the crap out of his men… his own arms pulled up and wrists wound, twisted through the bars… tied there… tight… panting… chest so damned tight… a horizontal bar cutting into his groin… face crushed up against the iron… half stooping… half collapsing… push his thighs apart… push his knees through the bars and bend the ankles back… tight and tied to the lower bar…
...crucified…
'You stay there… you stay there and watch…'
…breath comes as grunts… shivering… cramps, spasms… in every limb… training… they'll make you stay in one position for hours… you think you can stand it?... sounds simple… sounds easy… then hour… after hour… after hour… you'll feel like you're gonna explode… you'll feel like fire is in every muscle… you'll literally feel like you're being torn apart… coz, hey that's what's happening here… they might as well take a knife to you… but they're doing that too… to his men… trembling… its cold… but sweat… shiny sweat and trembling on his men… cuts that criss cross… flinching with pain… crying out with the pain… and when they pass out… filthy cold water from a bucket and... he has to watch…
'Want to know how to stop this? Sheppard? Why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
…that's all?... all this for that one question… why not… why not, where is Atlantis?... that fucking should have been the question… where is Atlantis?... these guys know already?... these guys damn well know where Atlantis is… it's the routine though… name and rank only… that's all he's telling them… can do defiant… piece of cake…
'Don't you like your men?... Do you enjoy watching your men get hurt?'
…and when he doesn't watch… when he tries to turn away… a rifle slams into his right side… lightning through every nerve… won't cry out with the searing, cutting pain heat that slices up his back and skull… and the agony is ten times worse than it oughta be… body tense… taut like a fucking drum skin… no way of escaping… and always his right side… that kidney isn't going to last… sometimes he passes out… seconds after, doused with the dirty water… gasping…
'Why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
…name and rank… breath as grunts… hit again and again…
'Don't tell them, sir!'
…don't tell them… do defiant… name and rank…
'You want to save your men, Sheppard?... then you have to speak up… you understand?... you have to speak up… or else they're gonna be dead… and when we've done with them… we'll start on you… understand?... only… believe us, we'll make it a whole lot worse for you…'
…seems like… seems like they already have… and hit again and again… always his back… always his damaged ribs pummelled into the bars… and vision blacks with the agony… so he can't watch… and it's the dirty water again… and he's left shivering… shivering…
…a rifle at his head… its point traces a line slowly down his spine… can only move his fingers… fingers move… fidget… wants to push the rifle away… gotta stop that… gotta stop that… mustn't let them see… tenses… tenses so tight… can't breath… can hardly breath… as the muzzle touches the crease at the bottom of his spine… their laughter… their laughter at his fear… mistake… let them see his fear… thought he could do this… thought he could do… flat… indifferent…
'Believe us, we'll make it a whole lot worse.'
…the rifle lower… touching… touching the inside of his thighs… prodding…
'You're a soldier… you know the damage we could do…'
...their laughter…
'Hope that's pain that's making you grunt.'
...their laughter...
'Why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
…head muddled… thought slow… again… and again… the question… again and again one of the men, beaten… or cut…
'Why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
…Atlantis?... how do they know?... no one has said… how do they know?... they've met these guys before?... Rodney's told them… knew of Rodney… knew Rodney was going to be in that place… at that time… how did they know…?
'Why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
…crying now… broken men crying… shoulders dislocate… bodies slump… brought down… broken… one by one… push their shoulders back… and that fucking hurts more… they're trying not to cry out…
…leaving them now… leaving them to think… to think things over…
'Sir? Sir?'
...hears the begging and the pleading… the men huddled on the floor…
'For…God's Sake… tell them.'
…voices of his men weak… cut with pain… can't…
He says, 'can't… they'll kill us for sure… buy time… buy time and wait for rescue… it'll come…'
…assurances… it'll come… because he's the officer… he knows… you don't let your men down… you don't let them get caught…
'Sir? Sir?'
…they're making his men torture him…
'Sir? Please!' ...or...
'For fucks sake, Sheppard, but its not that important… we're not even fucking helping Rafisia… its not important enough to die for… not like this…'
…perhaps Adams the lucky one after all… a quick bullet to put an end to all this… its not important enough to die for… whichever way… long… or slow… these guys are just doing it for kicks… put an end to it… no… no…
Norton… who's been quiet… 'tell them and it'll make no difference… they're going to kill us anyway.'
…when you get caught… they'll hurt you… or kill you… or both… they learn that… they learn that in training…
…they return… and Norton is dragged out into the corridor… on his knees… gun to his head…
'Again, Sheppard, why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
…Norton says nothing under that hood… accepting his fate…
'Colonel?!' cries Paulo…
'Why not tell them, Sheppard?... Why not tell them we have a gun to this brave young soldier's head and intend to end his life if you do not answer our question?'
… says nothing… and Norton says nothing…
…Norton… commendations longer than your arm… father a general… far to go…
'Again, Sheppard, why is Atlantis helping Rafisia?'
'Colonel!' shouts Hendrick.
…it'd be so easy… so easy to say… to say we weren't helping Rafisia… we're looking for McKay… and it'd be the truth… they would see that… but training… they're going to kill you anyway… every damn one of them… sooner or later… no hood… no hood… can watch theses guys too… sees it in their eyes… they're going to kill us anyway…
'Now, Sheppard… Now, Sheppard… Now, Sheppard or he dies.'
…an echo… now Sheppard… now Sheppard… now Sheppard…
'Colonel!' says Hendrick.
Hendrick says it… Hendrick…
'For fucks sake, Sheppard! I'm not taking any more of this shit for this! We're not fucking helping anyone on Rafisia. We were looking for one of our guys, a Dr. McKay! Ok?!!'
…and they shoot Norton anyway…
…and the officer is the one… without a hood… that sees it all…
-oAo-