Title: Harvest Moon
Series: Stargate Atlantis
Theme: Drama /Romance
Characters: Teyla & (Kanaan/John); Cast of SGA, SG-1
Rating/Warning: R/Sexual Situations/Language
Summary: There would be confusion and pain on both sides and they would need time and space to heal.
Links: http:/devinem27 dot livejournal dot com
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews. I haven't written anything JT in a while and I feel as if I'm struggling to find them again, but it's coming back to me. Yes, life is very busy, so much so that I actually began writing this story some time ago. I'm writing on chapter 13 and will try to stay a head of the game and pace the chapters accordingly. So, please bear with me. This next chapter is a bit of a treat. Hope you like it.
D.
Chapter 3: No Other
"You are a beautiful woman. You are strong and bold. You have wisdom. This is a rarity for my people. I would be honored to claim you as mine. I would treat you well."
David watched the quiet woman sitting behind the bars and tried to ignore the threatening growl that emitted from the next cell. He sighed.
"I wanted you to know that you do have a choice. You can choose another man if he wishes to claim you."
She looked at him, a sad smile on her lips.
"I thank you for your offer and for your information."
David hesitated hoping that she would say more, but she didn't. With a sigh he turned and walked away.
"Is that eleven or twelve?"
John asked. He glanced through the bars at Teyla. She turned meeting his gaze.
"It is the twelfth offer," she confirmed.
He could see the resignation on her face.
"We could stall. Find some excuse to give us more time. Command is expecting us to radio in in another hour, if we don't they will send another team and-."
"By then it will be too late," she said cutting him off.
Teyla could see the truth of her words in his eyes, but he was still hopeful that there would be another way.
"Maybe David can help us? He's young, easily influenced and he likes you. Maybe you can convince him to help you escape."
She shook her head no, having already considered it.
"He is young as you say, too young. He does not contain the courage to disobey his father. Besides, as the next in line to become leader of these people he has much to lose. Helping a strange woman, no matter how beautiful he believes she is, is not worth losing that."
John tried another avenue.
"You could accept his offer. When you two are alone you could incapacitate him, tie him up and make a run for it."
She shook her head once more.
"They probably will expect it and tie me to the bed. No, I will not take the chance of being raped by a stranger."
He flinched at her words.
"It is better to lay with a man of my choosing, someone that I trust, a friend."
They shared a long meaningful look before he looked away. Teyla reached through the bars and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"John."
She waited until he looked at her again.
"You heard what Daylen said. If he chooses for me after I am claimed I would be taken off world as a precaution. I could go missing for months, possibly longer. Atlantis is scheduled to leave for Pegasus in two days. I have to be there when it does. This is the only way."
He said what she would not.
"And Kanaan?"
Teyla closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. Kanaan would be devastated. He would understand the reason for her decision, but knowing that would not lessen the pain. She knew that he harbored some jealousy of her friendship with John and had hoped that life on Atlantis would help him see there was no reason for it. But this, this would be the realization of his worst fear. Teyla did not want to hurt Kanaan, but did not know what else to do. It was her body and her spirit that would be broken if she lost everything that she had ever known. Better to turn to a friend, go home and find a way to make amends. When she met his gaze again her eyes were clouded with doubt.
"I can only hope that he will accept and understand the choices that I made to return to our family."
John lowered his voice aware that Ronon and Rodney listened from the other side of the cell.
"And us?"
She smiled and squeezed his shoulder.
"We will endure and our friendship will grow stronger, though for a while things may be a bit awkward."
He smirked.
"That's the understatement of a lifetime."
Then turned, resting his head back against the bars and closed his eyes.
Teyla took a similar pose on her side of the bars. When she closed her eyes the events of the last hour and forty minutes flashed through her mind. Their arrival to Ryan had caused little commotion, but the angry glares that she'd received from the men had put her on edge. Eventually, a man by the name of Wean had welcomed them to the village and taken them to see his leader. Daylen Agdon was the Chancellor of Ryan, his son David was acting Vice Chancellor. Daylen was a man set in his ways. He was not necessarily evil, but he was very narrow-minded and righteous in his beliefs. He could not understand nor see the benefit of a society that allowed women to interact with men as equals. In his opinion a women could never be a man's equal. Women were like children and needed a strong hand to control them. They were to be claimed and used to the benefit of the house to which they belonged.
John had tried to reason with Daylen, but he'd refused to bend. Teyla, though ignorant of it at the time, had broken five of their sacred laws. Women were forbidden to carry weapons, wear men's clothing, expose their hair, to go out in public without the one who claimed them, nor speak to a man unless he first initiated the conversation. Teyla had broken all five laws in less than twenty minutes of their arrival. These transgressions alone were enough to have her severely punished.
Daylen hadn't cared that Teyla had loved ones awaiting her at home. He'd stated that any man who could not control his woman was absolved of his claim and that it fell to another man to succeed where he had failed. Shortly thereafter he had given his ultimatum. As an outsider he'd given her one consolation, an hour to choose her new claimer. He'd warned that if she had not done so by then that he would choose one for her.
They'd tried to leave peacefully, but were easily outnumbered and quickly disarmed. They were escorted to separate cells, it being forbidden for an unclaimed to share a room with anyone but her father. And for the last hour, in between offers from strange men, they searched for ways of escape.
The low murmur of voices and the sound of footsteps reached her from the distance. Someone sneezed, keys clinked and a heavy door squeaked open and then slammed shut. The voices and footsteps grew louder and louder still. Teyla glanced up as Daylen, followed by David and six guards stopped outside of her cell. He called out to her.
"Teyla Emmagan, have you decided?"
She rose from the bench staring Daylen in the eye.
"Yes, I have."
He nodded.
"Good."
He gestured for the guard to unlock her cell and waited until she joined them in the hallway. Teyla paused and glanced back over her shoulder into the next cell.
John let out a heavy sigh and opened his eyes. He stood looking first to Ronon and then Rodney. They both stepped back against the far wall as he approached the cell door. The sound of the key scraping against the lock seemed incredibly loud. So did the groan of rusted metal as the door opened and then slammed shut. He went to stand beside Teyla and glared at Daylen Agdon. Daylen smiled.
"So she chooses you John Sheppard. Why am I not surprised?"
He turned and began walking back the way he'd just come.
"Very well, this way please."
John and Teyla trailed behind him, followed by David and the guards.
SSSSS
The heavy door closed behind them and the metal bolt slid into place. Teyla turned and stared at the huge wooden bed. It sat on a dais in the center of the room, draped in white linen and surrounded by candlelight. She breathed deeply, trying to slow her racing heartbeat. John stood at her shoulder, also staring at the bed. He glanced down at Teyla as she glanced up, meeting his gaze.
"We need to talk."
She'd known this was coming, but asked anyway her voice a low whisper.
"About what?"
He shifted uncomfortably, but his gaze did not waiver.
"Why am I here and not Ronon or Rodney?"
Teyla frowned, a small shudder going down her spine.
"I could not do this with Ronon or Rodney any more than I could with Halling or Jinto.
Though they are not of my blood, I love them as brothers. The very idea makes me ill."
John frowned as if he struggled to process the words. Finally he spoke.
"But, I am different."
It was a statement, not a question. Teyla nodded.
"Yes, you are different. It doesn't mean that I love you any less than the others. It is just that I love you differently."
John looked away, gathering his thoughts and Teyla turned to face him. She knew how difficult it was for him to express his feelings and didn't want to rush him. When he looked at her again his eyes were different somehow and his words surprised her.
"What I …feel for you is different as well."
He saw the shocked expression on her face and suddenly smiled, his eyes sparkled teasingly. But as he spoke his tone grew serious.
"I respect you and admire you. I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world. In another life maybe, in another time we could have meant something else to each other. But I didn't want to mess things up between us so I made a conscious choice not to express my feelings in that way. I drew a line on our relationship."
Teyla arched her brow. She understood what John meant, but couldn't help teasing him a little.
"That was very assumptive of you."
John smirked, noting her lighter tone.
"Oh, I could have worn you down if I wanted to."
She asked doubtfully.
"You think?"
He nodded with confidence.
"Oh, yeah."
They both laughed, but after a few moments he grew serious again.
"We're about to cross that line and once we do I want to be sure we'll be able to live with the consequences."
Teyla's answer was immediate.
"Yes, I can live with the consequences. Can you?"
John nodded and waited, following her lead.
Teyla turned and slowly approached the bed, trying to clear her mind. She refused to think of him. She wouldn't….couldn't. Not now. Instead she thought of Torren. Of seeing him, holding him in her arms and rocking him to sleep as she softly sang a lullaby. She would see her son again soon because of John. Teyla understood the personal sacrifice that he was making to help a friend and was grateful. She knew that after today living with what took place here wouldn't be easy. There would be confusion and pain on both sides and they would need time and space to heal.
Teyla paused at the side of the bed and reached out, grabbing one of John's hands. She pulled him close, less than an inch away, and gazed into his eyes.
"Thank you. For doing this. I know that…"
She sighed unable to find the words and squeezed his hand instead.
"Thank you."
John smiled sadly and caressed her cheek.
"You're welcome."
Then leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss.