FIC: Reality is on the other side of the fence. 1-3/?
Title: Reality is on the other side of the fence.
Genre: H/C, Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, AU… you name it.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Meeting new cultures and creatures is always a good thing, until they encounter the ones that don’t like new creatures arriving at their galaxy.
Warnings: Torture, violence, story out of normal chronology.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I only wish I did this is just for fun.
A/N: Previously Parents of the Wicked, I tried… I really tried. But apparently there’s no way I can post this story as a finished fic and not a WIP. So, I’m choosing the WIP path once again. But this time I have a large outline of how the story is going to go and how is going to get there. There are some things that still elude me but I realized that I work better on fics when I post as a WIP.
Because this one is driving me CRAZY!!! So I decided to give it one last try. Hopefully I get it off of my head and I'll be able to move on.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The Storm Arrives
Colonel John Sheppard was angry.
Period.
Angry at the weather, at the planet and at the damned creatures that were lurking nearby, he was angry at his damned luck.
But the thing he was angry about the most was one scientist called Dr. Rodney McKay. John didn’t know why he was angry, but he just was. It seemed that Rodney couldn't shut up if his life depended on it.
John knew something was not right but for one quick second he started to feel like he was losing his head.
For the first time in his life John felt like really choking McKay to death. The thought scared John, because he never acted or thought that way. Rodney was a walking sign for annoying behavior, but John always managed to let it go and just be calm.
Not today, his train of thoughts was interrupted by yet another question from McKay, “Are they gone?”
John didn’t know whether to smack Rodney or just push him into the open. Of course he wouldn’t do that either. But the creatures were near and it was not a moment for questions.
Suddenly John felt as if his will had been given to someone else and he was just a puppet. It was only for a moment, but he felt it anyways. It was as if something or someone was trying to move him.
John glanced at the creatures once more; they were walking right past them. If they managed to evade them, everything was fine and they could go home unscathed.
Suddenly, the creatures started to walk away, and John turned his glare from the creatures towards Rodney. “Rodney, I swear if you don't shut the hell up I will hurt you.”
Rodney frowned, almost feigning innocence. “There's no need to get hostile.”
“Shut up!” John hissed as his anger rose a bit further.
As the creatures disappeared, John found rather odd though he was happy enough about it, his blind and uncharacteristic anger remained firmly in place. He knew it wasn’t normal for him to react in such harsh way.
But he was and maybe all he needed was a few days off, as far away from the babbling scientist as possible. Also, to be very far away from any hostile aliens such as the Wraith or the Genii.
The creatures seemed to be gone, which was good. They finally had the chance to return to the village and back to Atlantis. Rodney struggled up and moved closer to John’s side. He was about to say something, when John cut him off, “If you ever do that again, I will hurt you!”
Rodney was about to defend himself, when John’s eyes opened wide and he grabbed Rodney by the front of his shirt and pulled him back down. Rodney stared at John as if the Colonel had just gone completely insane, “What are you doing? I haven’t done any…”
“Shut up!” John half whispered, trying to control himself.
The creatures had suddenly returned and John realized now that they were just waiting for them to come out in the open. Also, he didn't know which he found creepier, how the creatures looked or the horrible feeling that invaded him every time they loomed by.
“What are we going to do?”
John turned to glare at Rodney, who in turn showed his hands in defeat, knowing all too well it was time for him to shut his mouth, especially if their life depended on it.
Why was he acting like this? John wanted to hit Rodney so badly; so much, that it was taking a tremendous effort just to stay still. The creatures disappeared again and John heard the Stargate activating in the distance. It shut down and then there was nothing but silence. Next to him, John could hear Rodney say he felt hungry. That was it. John snapped right there and then. “Rodney, run!”
Rodney looked at John, frowning in utter confusion. “Why?”
“Because if you stay there one more second… I'm going to kill you!”
Rodney was up in an instant and stared at John. “What? Why?”
“Can't you keep your mouth shut for one second?” John stretched to his full length, directing a deadly glare in Rodney’s direction.
Rodney’s alerts jumped in action and feeling quite scared by now he started to back away from the Lt. Colonel in front of him. John slowly moved from his spot towards Rodney, who in turn, stared bewildered at Sheppard’s actions. “Sheppard… what are you doing? This is not you!”
The Colonel didn’t even bother to answer as he moved slowly towards Rodney. The scientist in turn, spun around 180° and sprinted away from him. Anticipating exactly that sort of reaction, John ran after Rodney, while shouting. “Rodney! Don't let me get you!”
That simple phrase scared the hell out of Rodney, because it showed plain madness from the Colonel’s part.
The occasional slap on the head was in a way acceptable. But death threats were a whole other thing. Rodney slowed down, suddenly feeling extremely tired.
In a way, John knew what he was doing and went with it. But he also knew something wasn't right, the whole day hadn’t been right. They should’ve walked away the moment when trouble started, but as always curiosity won them over.
Now he was running after Rodney as if he was hunting a Wraith. Somewhere in his subconscious, John heard the shooting and the screams. But at the moment, nothing matter, nothing other than grabbing Rodney by the throat and just stay there.
But before Rodney’s brains could really think about their problem and come up with a solution, John violently tackled the scientist ending up in heap on the ground.
There, John straddled Rodney and hit him twice square in his face. Then he grabbed Rodney’s collar and lifted him a little from the ground bringing his face closer. “Do you want to get us killed?!”
Rodney was in shock, not knowing what to make of John's actions. But then he saw something that made his blood run ice-cold. He looked at John desperately and begged him to stop.
But to John it seemed Rodney's words were only spoken because he wanted the fight to end before he broke something precious.
John didn't want to stop, he wanted to break something, and he was bubbling with an unknown anger that was begging for release.
Rodney desperately tried again, his eyes darting around wildly, “Get off of me Colonel! We need to get out of here!”
John didn't care anymore; his rage was inexplicably blinding him. He knew it wasn't him, but there was no way to control it. He heard Rodney gasp and stare at some point behind him.
“Sheppard, watch out!”
For the first time in the last half hour John listened to Rodney. He turned his head to look back, but as he turned something slammed into his face, and all faded into darkness.
-0-0-0-
II. The Calm before the Storm
One day ago…
Another day, another gate and another planet, it was a simple recon mission. The planet didn’t look even remotely remarkable. There was something that looked like a gray beach to the gate’s right and a forest clearing around the gate, creating a semi circle of trees, lots of trees.
The gate itself didn’t look abandoned, but underused. The only thing on the clearing that was worth noting, were the large boulders that were scattered on the field. They had a pinkish tone, which is unusual for stones.
The team arrived and made their usual track around the gate, taking the necessary readings and making sure there weren't any immediate dangers around. Rodney took some energy readings, while the others scanned the area. This has been the routine for the last couple of months.
They walked along the north edge of the clearing. “I’m spotting some life signs around, there might be a village near by.” Rodney informed the team.
“Good, hopefully is not that far away.” John said as he walked towards the center of the clearing.
“Why didn’t we take a Jumper? I hate these long walks searching for villages that have nothing to offer us; other than food.”
“Because we’re not taking a Jumper out for a simple reckon mission. Is like taking out your car to drive to the corner.” John replied, and then continued; “Besides you could use the extra exercise.”
“I exercise everyday Colonel.” Rodney said offended.
“Yeah, and I’m an underwear model.”
Rodney stopped walking and frowned, “I’m going to have that image in my head all day.”
“Don’t get too excited, and keep walking.” John replied sharply.
Ronon looked at Teyla; Teyla just rolled her eyes while hiding a smile.
John ordered the team not to move too far away; as he didn't want to give future trading partners the wrong impression.
And so they moved on, their traditional morning banter growing in force as they progressed, ending in John and Rodney having a snark fest. Teyla would smile in amusement while Ronon would remain quiet. Joining in the banter once in a while when he had something he thought was useful to say which was usually something meant for Rodney. It was nothing out of the ordinary, just another day on a yet another simple recon mission.
-0-0-0-0-0-
As the team continued checking out their surroundings, they didn't notice the person who was hiding in a nearby tree. She took out a large weapon from behind her, a weapon that was remarkably compact enough to carry around. The weapon was black, etched with silver symbols. Very carefully and quietly, she prepared the gun and took aim. The group was relatively close together; it was decision time, the leader first.
Without a second thought she fired the gun. The weapon didn't make a sound. Just a small white semi-transparent ball popped out of its end. Traveling at an incredible speed, the ball opened into a mechanism, which transformed it into a small clamp. The next second the clamp embedded itself into the leader's neck. The man stopped moving instantly and instead went down like a rock.
The rest of the group immediately spread out, scouting the area. Two of them, a man and a woman split up to protect the one who was down and one that looked nothing like a warrior. That one kneeled down besides the leader, making him the next target. She fired her weapon again and the man besides the leader was quickly on his back.
Next in line was the woman. She was a little tricky at first, but with well-timed patience she was down like the other two. The last one, which seemed to be the most difficult one of them all, took more time than the others. That one had taken out his weapon and was searching the nearby area. The woman fired her gun, but missed as the man shielded himself behind one of the boulders near the gate. The woman cursed, he had spotted her sitting on the tree.
He fired his gun a couple of times, his shots impacting the branches around her. That only fueled her to calculate patiently when to make the next shot. She waited for the best moment, waited for the man to move in closer towards her. His face was riddled with a grin, as if amused by her attack. She wasn't pleased, so, she carefully took aim and fired her gun.
It hit target and the man went down with a soft thud. Pleased with herself, she climbed down from the tree and made her way toward her new prisoners.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
When John felt something hit his neck, he felt scared as his body went completely numb. He landed on the ground before he could even grasp what was going on. Oddly enough the Colonel was aware of his surroundings; he could hear and move his eyes. But that was all he could do.
Rodney hovered over him, “Colonel Sheppard, can you hear me?”
John tried to move his eyes signaling a yes but the scientist was totally oblivious to his attempt. Rodney located the object in John's neck, which looked like a white choker. He moved his hand to take it off but as he pulled it, John's eyes started to roll up so Rodney gave up.
Before the scientist could say anything else, John saw something impact with Rodney's neck, causing him to fall backwards. John knew that Rodney was now just like him; which wasn’t good, as they were now at the mercy of their attacker. He hoped that Ronon and Teyla were able to defend the team. John wanted to do something; he needed to do something. But there he was, completely useless.
John heard a faint shout and knew it was Teyla. Now the only one still okay was Ronon, but the runner was no longer in John's line of sight. He heard Ronon's gun go off a couple of times, but then he heard the distinct thud of a body hitting the ground followed by nothing but an eerie silence.
There wasn’t a single sound for about ten minutes, when John suddenly heard soft footsteps coming his way. They were coming closer and closer until they were right next to him and stopped. It started moving again, stopped, moved again and once more coming into John's line of sight.
It was a woman, probably in her mid 20's. She was wearing long pants and a shirt with long sleeves that looked like it was made out of dark leather. The woman kneeled at Rodney’s side and stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. Then she stood up and walked towards John. She kneeled next to him, giving John the opportunity to take a good look at her. Her hair fell around her shoulders, straight and blood red. Her features were a bit Asian, but really strong and yet almost graceful. Her expression was one of satisfaction.
She appeared to be inspecting him, the same way he was inspecting her. She said something in a strange language and pressed something on the choker in John's neck. A sudden wave of extreme dizziness took him as the ground beneath him vanished; he fell.
-0-0-0-0-0-
When John woke up, the thing in his neck had been removed. It took him a while just to open his eyes. Once he managed to sit up, he noticed that Teyla and Rodney were beginning to stir as well. Ronon was sitting not far from John staring out at something. John got up and walked towards Ronon, but there was no need to ask what he was looking at. It was the woman that had attacked them, who was now pacing back and forth right in front of them. John decided to walk towards the woman, but Ronon stopped him, “Don't.”
John frowned while Ronon threw his fist into an invisible wall; some sort of shield that sparkled white when Ronon hit it.
John shifted uncomfortably, and glanced at the woman, “Hello... what's going on?”
The woman looked at them with an amused grin as she bit a fruit, that looked a lot like an apple but it was pink in color. Then, she walked towards where Ronon was sitting and she crouched right in front of him as she took another bite. She smiled at him, and Ronon reacted by hitting the shield again. She laughed at him and stood up.
The native walked towards a nearby tree where she started preparing a spot on the ground. That started to look like an improvised sleeping bag. The runner hissed while he clenched his fists; the woman turned and grinned, amused at his outburst.
John reached out with his hand and touched the shield. It felt like touching a wall. He looked at the woman again; she appeared to be getting ready to go to sleep. By now, she had removed her leather shirt and was wearing another black shirt underneath, but this one was made of normal looking fabric.
The woman glanced at John, she still didn’t say anything, but then she turned and lied down on the ground.
John looked around, Rodney was sitting up and Teyla came walking towards him. John in turn, remembering that the woman had talked in a different language, tried again just to make sure, “Hello... can we talk?”
The woman, without getting up, turned around and stared straight at John, “You have to wait until my brother gets here. And it might be in a while, so you better get comfortable.” Then she looked at Ronon, who was still looking as if he wanted to slap her, and smiled before turning away from them, ignoring them further.
Giving up, John sat on the ground next to Ronon and looked at Rodney and Teyla, “Are you guys ok?”
Teyla sat down, “I am fine.”
Rodney was massaging the back of his neck absentmindedly, and John copied him. He noticed that he had two small areas where the skin was really irritated.
Evening seemed to fall on them, and the woman who, if she wasn't sleeping, was really good at ignoring people. She just lied there, for a very long time.
And wasn’t that just great… another day, another gate, another planet and another crappy cell.
-0-0-0-0-
III. There's no place like home
Present day...
Pain... all around, ever present; his face, his neck, everything hurt. John tried to remember where he was, but there was nothing... until the proverbial light bulb flipped on and everything fell into place. He had been fighting with Rodney when something had hit him square in the face.
John moved while making an effort to open his eyes. He was lying on a flat surface, which looked suspiciously like a table. Right in the middle of a cell; a dark, humid and crappy cell no less. John took another good look around and spotted Rodney lying nearby on the floor. John quickly tried to sit up, but the room started spinning.
“McKay!” John called out hoping that Rodney was awaking too.
But Rodney didn't answer, not even a peep. John memories seemed to spark and there he wondered what the hell happened to him. The Colonel knew that he would never hit anyone on his team. Yes, there was a time when he felt like smashing his fist at Rodney’s face after what happened in Doranda, but he never acted on it. He never even tried to do it; that was why now he felt so freaked out by his actions.
When he was finally able to sit, John touched his face. He hissed when he found a sore spot, and by the intensity of the pain John was pretty sure that he must have one serious bruise. The next step was standing up, but when his feet touched the floor, he almost lost his balance and had to hold the table to steady himself. Once his balance was somewhat under control, he walked towards the limp form of Rodney McKay. The Colonel kneeled down next to the scientist and checked for a pulse.
John sighed relieved as he found a strong pulse and normal breathing. He gently shook the man in an attempt to wake him up. “Rodney, wake up.”
Rodney let out a soft moan after which his eyes snapped wide open. “Where are we?”
John looked from Rodney to the cell around them, “I don't know. Do you know what hit us?”
Rodney started to sit up, shedding some more light on his bruised face. Somehow John knew what was coming. “One of those creatures hit you...” - Rodney's eyes widened in a mix of shock and anger - “...while you were hitting me!”
John turned away from Rodney. “Yeah... about that ... sorry!”
Rodney rested his back against the wall “What the hell was wrong with you, Colonel?”
John glared at Rodney. “I don’t know… but what the hell was wrong with you?”
Rodney frowned in confusion. “What?”
“You wouldn't shut up!”
“That’s hardly a reason to become all beastly on me,” Rodney retorted.
“You were giving our position away!” Sheppard hissed back.
“You could've broken my nose!” And as an added point Rodney gently touched his nose, making sure the Colonel hadn’t in fact broken it.
“But I didn't.”
“Still...”
“I get it, Rodney! I am sorry!”
They both fell silent for a couple of minutes, before John glanced away to the door. “I really don't know why I did it. Usually, I can keep myself in check and scream at you later.”
Rodney replied with a sarcastic smile. “Oh, thank you Colonel. That’s so nice to know.”
“Actually, it felt like I was mad, like I couldn't control myself.” He walked towards the door and touched it lightly. The metal felt soft against his hand. Next to the metal door was a small window. John took a quick glance outside, but all he could see was darkness and a faint blue light in the distance. He quickly backed away, however, as he noticed a shadow pass by.
John looked back at Rodney. “Do you know where we might be? I mean, are we still on the same planet?”
Slowly Rodney got up. “No, the last thing I remember was flying off.”
John frowned. “What do you mean ‘flying off’?”
Rodney shook his head. “I'm not sure.”
John took another look outside before moving back towards the table he had been lying on. He stopped and glanced at Rodney. “Do you think Teyla and Ronon are alright? They disappeared with Ilu and Gregos when we went into the forest.”
Rodney shook his head as he replied. “I know as much as you do.”
John stayed silent as he moved toward the table. His original intention had been to sit down on it and try to sort out the mess they were currently in, but fate seemed to have other plans. A sickening feeling started to rise in his chest. His lungs felt as if a giant hand was pressing down on them, pushing all the air out at once. He managed to sit down, and gazed frantically at Rodney. “Something's wrong.”
Rodney discarded his thinking and stood up, moving closer to his friend. “What is it?”
John's breathing became shallower. “I... can't...” -then his eyes snapped wide open and he fell flat on the table, gasping for air.
Rodney moved to John's side. “What's wrong? What do you feel?”
John gave another gasp his face was contorted with pain as he stared at Rodney wide-eyed. “I can't move.”
At that very moment the door snapped open and two creatures walked in. This time Rodney got a good look. They were tall; maybe six and a half feet tall, their skin was brownish with hints of white around their arms.
They were clearly humanoid, they walked on two legs, had two arms one head with two eyes something that resembled a nose and a mouth. But other than that, nothing else was near human; instead it appeared that in the evolutionary road, these aliens mixed with more than one wild species. They move quickly and looked quite agile; their head was large with several shark like fins on top of it.
It looked that at some point they might have been distant relatives of the Asgard, but any relation was now non-existent.
Rodney managed to count six fingers on each hand. The aliens had a slender body, which they tried to cover with a long black tunic. If Rodney hadn’t been scared by their appearance before, he was now. Rodney couldn’t explain it, there was something in the creature’s eyes that he felt it was tearing him apart. Rodney didn't know why, but back on the planet these aliens had looked quite different; not to be messed with, but not like this. Now they looked downright dangerous, enough so to make a Wraith run away in utter fear.
Since Rodney seemed to be in somewhat of a shock to actually see a creature like that, he didn't realize fast enough that they were walking towards him. It was only when he heard the Colonel's voice that he seemed to fall back into reality.
“Leave him alone!”
Rodney started to back away, wishing there was some way to escape from the creatures’ grasp. That's when he felt it, his chest started to hurt. Rodney grabbed the front of his shirt, he felt as if his heart wanted to go fast and slow at the same time. He was staring at the floor trying to overcome the pain but then he was suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back, resulting in lights out.
From the table, John watched helplessly as the creatures knocked Rodney out. The scientist's limp body floated in the air, and one of the creatures grabbed him by the neck, turned around and walked out of the cell.
John felt a mixture of anger and panic rise in his chest, which left him without much to do. He was stuck to the table; he was having trouble breathing and now the remaining alien finally turned to look his way. What really stuck with John was their face. The eyes were white with dark slited pupils, which moved slowly as the alien inspected his prize. The eyes bored into John as if they wanted to take something from deep within him.
The creature just hovered above him, studying him. John started hearing noises around him, mostly it sounded like interference on a radio or TV. But the volume was ten times more loud than normal. While this happened the creature didn’t even blinked as he stared at John.
John closed his eyes trying to convince his mind that it was all a dream, that what the alien was doing it wasn’t true. But just as it started, it stopped and then suddenly the creature turned around and left.
Once the door was closed, John's body slowly returned to normal and the noises were gone. He tried to get his breathing in control first, and then he stood up as quickly as possible and walked towards the window. John's mind was racing, he could now see out of the window to the surroundings outside. Where there were a couple of creatures looming nearby. Some were looking at him, with what John thought it was interest, as it was difficult to read their expressions. John only hoped, prayed that these creatures weren't dissecting Rodney.
But never in his life, not even in his wildest or most horrifying nightmares could he have imagined what he heard next. A blood-curling scream filled the cell, a scream of pain. Rodney was screaming at the top of his lungs.
John pressed his face against the window, frantically looking around, hoping to see what was going on. The screaming went up a notch while John wondered how much higher the man could go before loosing his voice. There was no babbling, no shouts of protests, nothing; just screams
It was driving the Colonel insane; he couldn’t just stay there as his friend was being tortured. John backed away as without warning the door suddenly opened, to reveal those same creatures again of which he didn't want them to get their hands on him. But before he could think of something to do in his defense, he was on his knees grasping his chest. The next thing he knew he was floating, going straight towards the alien at the door. Once within reach, the creature took John roughly by the neck and carried him out of the room.
John felt sick, feeling the hand tight around his throat. The skin was warm, too warm. The soldier looked around, trying to know where they were taking him. Then they walked into a big room, which looked suspiciously like a lab. Once inside they approached a couple of tables and the sight that greeted John made all the blood in his body go instantly cold. Rodney was lying on his stomach on one of the tables, stripped down and completely naked. There was something on his back but all John was able to see were the trails of blood running down from it.
John couldn’t see anymore, as he was dropped face down on the table next to Rodney. There one of the creatures held him down; another stripped all his clothes off. John couldn't do anything; he was being kept completely immobile. But he did feel the cold metal thing the creatures placed on his back. It was heavy and went all the way from his neck down to his lower back.
The next thing that happened made John understand why Rodney had screamed so badly. The pain started on his lower back, it felt as if someone was shooting nails into his spine. The first hit, John muffled his scream, but as the stabbing crept up his back and the pain intensified, he could no longer control his voice.
He screamed.
He screamed at the world, at the nails in his back, at the damned creatures. He screamed until everything went black.
TBC
Genre: H/C, Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, AU… you name it.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Meeting new cultures and creatures is always a good thing, until they encounter the ones that don’t like new creatures arriving at their galaxy.
Warnings: Torture, violence, story out of normal chronology.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I only wish I did this is just for fun.
A/N: Previously Parents of the Wicked, I tried… I really tried. But apparently there’s no way I can post this story as a finished fic and not a WIP. So, I’m choosing the WIP path once again. But this time I have a large outline of how the story is going to go and how is going to get there. There are some things that still elude me but I realized that I work better on fics when I post as a WIP.
Because this one is driving me CRAZY!!! So I decided to give it one last try. Hopefully I get it off of my head and I'll be able to move on.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The Storm Arrives
Colonel John Sheppard was angry.
Period.
Angry at the weather, at the planet and at the damned creatures that were lurking nearby, he was angry at his damned luck.
But the thing he was angry about the most was one scientist called Dr. Rodney McKay. John didn’t know why he was angry, but he just was. It seemed that Rodney couldn't shut up if his life depended on it.
John knew something was not right but for one quick second he started to feel like he was losing his head.
For the first time in his life John felt like really choking McKay to death. The thought scared John, because he never acted or thought that way. Rodney was a walking sign for annoying behavior, but John always managed to let it go and just be calm.
Not today, his train of thoughts was interrupted by yet another question from McKay, “Are they gone?”
John didn’t know whether to smack Rodney or just push him into the open. Of course he wouldn’t do that either. But the creatures were near and it was not a moment for questions.
Suddenly John felt as if his will had been given to someone else and he was just a puppet. It was only for a moment, but he felt it anyways. It was as if something or someone was trying to move him.
John glanced at the creatures once more; they were walking right past them. If they managed to evade them, everything was fine and they could go home unscathed.
Suddenly, the creatures started to walk away, and John turned his glare from the creatures towards Rodney. “Rodney, I swear if you don't shut the hell up I will hurt you.”
Rodney frowned, almost feigning innocence. “There's no need to get hostile.”
“Shut up!” John hissed as his anger rose a bit further.
As the creatures disappeared, John found rather odd though he was happy enough about it, his blind and uncharacteristic anger remained firmly in place. He knew it wasn’t normal for him to react in such harsh way.
But he was and maybe all he needed was a few days off, as far away from the babbling scientist as possible. Also, to be very far away from any hostile aliens such as the Wraith or the Genii.
The creatures seemed to be gone, which was good. They finally had the chance to return to the village and back to Atlantis. Rodney struggled up and moved closer to John’s side. He was about to say something, when John cut him off, “If you ever do that again, I will hurt you!”
Rodney was about to defend himself, when John’s eyes opened wide and he grabbed Rodney by the front of his shirt and pulled him back down. Rodney stared at John as if the Colonel had just gone completely insane, “What are you doing? I haven’t done any…”
“Shut up!” John half whispered, trying to control himself.
The creatures had suddenly returned and John realized now that they were just waiting for them to come out in the open. Also, he didn't know which he found creepier, how the creatures looked or the horrible feeling that invaded him every time they loomed by.
“What are we going to do?”
John turned to glare at Rodney, who in turn showed his hands in defeat, knowing all too well it was time for him to shut his mouth, especially if their life depended on it.
Why was he acting like this? John wanted to hit Rodney so badly; so much, that it was taking a tremendous effort just to stay still. The creatures disappeared again and John heard the Stargate activating in the distance. It shut down and then there was nothing but silence. Next to him, John could hear Rodney say he felt hungry. That was it. John snapped right there and then. “Rodney, run!”
Rodney looked at John, frowning in utter confusion. “Why?”
“Because if you stay there one more second… I'm going to kill you!”
Rodney was up in an instant and stared at John. “What? Why?”
“Can't you keep your mouth shut for one second?” John stretched to his full length, directing a deadly glare in Rodney’s direction.
Rodney’s alerts jumped in action and feeling quite scared by now he started to back away from the Lt. Colonel in front of him. John slowly moved from his spot towards Rodney, who in turn, stared bewildered at Sheppard’s actions. “Sheppard… what are you doing? This is not you!”
The Colonel didn’t even bother to answer as he moved slowly towards Rodney. The scientist in turn, spun around 180° and sprinted away from him. Anticipating exactly that sort of reaction, John ran after Rodney, while shouting. “Rodney! Don't let me get you!”
That simple phrase scared the hell out of Rodney, because it showed plain madness from the Colonel’s part.
The occasional slap on the head was in a way acceptable. But death threats were a whole other thing. Rodney slowed down, suddenly feeling extremely tired.
In a way, John knew what he was doing and went with it. But he also knew something wasn't right, the whole day hadn’t been right. They should’ve walked away the moment when trouble started, but as always curiosity won them over.
Now he was running after Rodney as if he was hunting a Wraith. Somewhere in his subconscious, John heard the shooting and the screams. But at the moment, nothing matter, nothing other than grabbing Rodney by the throat and just stay there.
But before Rodney’s brains could really think about their problem and come up with a solution, John violently tackled the scientist ending up in heap on the ground.
There, John straddled Rodney and hit him twice square in his face. Then he grabbed Rodney’s collar and lifted him a little from the ground bringing his face closer. “Do you want to get us killed?!”
Rodney was in shock, not knowing what to make of John's actions. But then he saw something that made his blood run ice-cold. He looked at John desperately and begged him to stop.
But to John it seemed Rodney's words were only spoken because he wanted the fight to end before he broke something precious.
John didn't want to stop, he wanted to break something, and he was bubbling with an unknown anger that was begging for release.
Rodney desperately tried again, his eyes darting around wildly, “Get off of me Colonel! We need to get out of here!”
John didn't care anymore; his rage was inexplicably blinding him. He knew it wasn't him, but there was no way to control it. He heard Rodney gasp and stare at some point behind him.
“Sheppard, watch out!”
For the first time in the last half hour John listened to Rodney. He turned his head to look back, but as he turned something slammed into his face, and all faded into darkness.
-0-0-0-
II. The Calm before the Storm
One day ago…
Another day, another gate and another planet, it was a simple recon mission. The planet didn’t look even remotely remarkable. There was something that looked like a gray beach to the gate’s right and a forest clearing around the gate, creating a semi circle of trees, lots of trees.
The gate itself didn’t look abandoned, but underused. The only thing on the clearing that was worth noting, were the large boulders that were scattered on the field. They had a pinkish tone, which is unusual for stones.
The team arrived and made their usual track around the gate, taking the necessary readings and making sure there weren't any immediate dangers around. Rodney took some energy readings, while the others scanned the area. This has been the routine for the last couple of months.
They walked along the north edge of the clearing. “I’m spotting some life signs around, there might be a village near by.” Rodney informed the team.
“Good, hopefully is not that far away.” John said as he walked towards the center of the clearing.
“Why didn’t we take a Jumper? I hate these long walks searching for villages that have nothing to offer us; other than food.”
“Because we’re not taking a Jumper out for a simple reckon mission. Is like taking out your car to drive to the corner.” John replied, and then continued; “Besides you could use the extra exercise.”
“I exercise everyday Colonel.” Rodney said offended.
“Yeah, and I’m an underwear model.”
Rodney stopped walking and frowned, “I’m going to have that image in my head all day.”
“Don’t get too excited, and keep walking.” John replied sharply.
Ronon looked at Teyla; Teyla just rolled her eyes while hiding a smile.
John ordered the team not to move too far away; as he didn't want to give future trading partners the wrong impression.
And so they moved on, their traditional morning banter growing in force as they progressed, ending in John and Rodney having a snark fest. Teyla would smile in amusement while Ronon would remain quiet. Joining in the banter once in a while when he had something he thought was useful to say which was usually something meant for Rodney. It was nothing out of the ordinary, just another day on a yet another simple recon mission.
-0-0-0-0-0-
As the team continued checking out their surroundings, they didn't notice the person who was hiding in a nearby tree. She took out a large weapon from behind her, a weapon that was remarkably compact enough to carry around. The weapon was black, etched with silver symbols. Very carefully and quietly, she prepared the gun and took aim. The group was relatively close together; it was decision time, the leader first.
Without a second thought she fired the gun. The weapon didn't make a sound. Just a small white semi-transparent ball popped out of its end. Traveling at an incredible speed, the ball opened into a mechanism, which transformed it into a small clamp. The next second the clamp embedded itself into the leader's neck. The man stopped moving instantly and instead went down like a rock.
The rest of the group immediately spread out, scouting the area. Two of them, a man and a woman split up to protect the one who was down and one that looked nothing like a warrior. That one kneeled down besides the leader, making him the next target. She fired her weapon again and the man besides the leader was quickly on his back.
Next in line was the woman. She was a little tricky at first, but with well-timed patience she was down like the other two. The last one, which seemed to be the most difficult one of them all, took more time than the others. That one had taken out his weapon and was searching the nearby area. The woman fired her gun, but missed as the man shielded himself behind one of the boulders near the gate. The woman cursed, he had spotted her sitting on the tree.
He fired his gun a couple of times, his shots impacting the branches around her. That only fueled her to calculate patiently when to make the next shot. She waited for the best moment, waited for the man to move in closer towards her. His face was riddled with a grin, as if amused by her attack. She wasn't pleased, so, she carefully took aim and fired her gun.
It hit target and the man went down with a soft thud. Pleased with herself, she climbed down from the tree and made her way toward her new prisoners.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
When John felt something hit his neck, he felt scared as his body went completely numb. He landed on the ground before he could even grasp what was going on. Oddly enough the Colonel was aware of his surroundings; he could hear and move his eyes. But that was all he could do.
Rodney hovered over him, “Colonel Sheppard, can you hear me?”
John tried to move his eyes signaling a yes but the scientist was totally oblivious to his attempt. Rodney located the object in John's neck, which looked like a white choker. He moved his hand to take it off but as he pulled it, John's eyes started to roll up so Rodney gave up.
Before the scientist could say anything else, John saw something impact with Rodney's neck, causing him to fall backwards. John knew that Rodney was now just like him; which wasn’t good, as they were now at the mercy of their attacker. He hoped that Ronon and Teyla were able to defend the team. John wanted to do something; he needed to do something. But there he was, completely useless.
John heard a faint shout and knew it was Teyla. Now the only one still okay was Ronon, but the runner was no longer in John's line of sight. He heard Ronon's gun go off a couple of times, but then he heard the distinct thud of a body hitting the ground followed by nothing but an eerie silence.
There wasn’t a single sound for about ten minutes, when John suddenly heard soft footsteps coming his way. They were coming closer and closer until they were right next to him and stopped. It started moving again, stopped, moved again and once more coming into John's line of sight.
It was a woman, probably in her mid 20's. She was wearing long pants and a shirt with long sleeves that looked like it was made out of dark leather. The woman kneeled at Rodney’s side and stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. Then she stood up and walked towards John. She kneeled next to him, giving John the opportunity to take a good look at her. Her hair fell around her shoulders, straight and blood red. Her features were a bit Asian, but really strong and yet almost graceful. Her expression was one of satisfaction.
She appeared to be inspecting him, the same way he was inspecting her. She said something in a strange language and pressed something on the choker in John's neck. A sudden wave of extreme dizziness took him as the ground beneath him vanished; he fell.
-0-0-0-0-0-
When John woke up, the thing in his neck had been removed. It took him a while just to open his eyes. Once he managed to sit up, he noticed that Teyla and Rodney were beginning to stir as well. Ronon was sitting not far from John staring out at something. John got up and walked towards Ronon, but there was no need to ask what he was looking at. It was the woman that had attacked them, who was now pacing back and forth right in front of them. John decided to walk towards the woman, but Ronon stopped him, “Don't.”
John frowned while Ronon threw his fist into an invisible wall; some sort of shield that sparkled white when Ronon hit it.
John shifted uncomfortably, and glanced at the woman, “Hello... what's going on?”
The woman looked at them with an amused grin as she bit a fruit, that looked a lot like an apple but it was pink in color. Then, she walked towards where Ronon was sitting and she crouched right in front of him as she took another bite. She smiled at him, and Ronon reacted by hitting the shield again. She laughed at him and stood up.
The native walked towards a nearby tree where she started preparing a spot on the ground. That started to look like an improvised sleeping bag. The runner hissed while he clenched his fists; the woman turned and grinned, amused at his outburst.
John reached out with his hand and touched the shield. It felt like touching a wall. He looked at the woman again; she appeared to be getting ready to go to sleep. By now, she had removed her leather shirt and was wearing another black shirt underneath, but this one was made of normal looking fabric.
The woman glanced at John, she still didn’t say anything, but then she turned and lied down on the ground.
John looked around, Rodney was sitting up and Teyla came walking towards him. John in turn, remembering that the woman had talked in a different language, tried again just to make sure, “Hello... can we talk?”
The woman, without getting up, turned around and stared straight at John, “You have to wait until my brother gets here. And it might be in a while, so you better get comfortable.” Then she looked at Ronon, who was still looking as if he wanted to slap her, and smiled before turning away from them, ignoring them further.
Giving up, John sat on the ground next to Ronon and looked at Rodney and Teyla, “Are you guys ok?”
Teyla sat down, “I am fine.”
Rodney was massaging the back of his neck absentmindedly, and John copied him. He noticed that he had two small areas where the skin was really irritated.
Evening seemed to fall on them, and the woman who, if she wasn't sleeping, was really good at ignoring people. She just lied there, for a very long time.
And wasn’t that just great… another day, another gate, another planet and another crappy cell.
-0-0-0-0-
III. There's no place like home
Present day...
Pain... all around, ever present; his face, his neck, everything hurt. John tried to remember where he was, but there was nothing... until the proverbial light bulb flipped on and everything fell into place. He had been fighting with Rodney when something had hit him square in the face.
John moved while making an effort to open his eyes. He was lying on a flat surface, which looked suspiciously like a table. Right in the middle of a cell; a dark, humid and crappy cell no less. John took another good look around and spotted Rodney lying nearby on the floor. John quickly tried to sit up, but the room started spinning.
“McKay!” John called out hoping that Rodney was awaking too.
But Rodney didn't answer, not even a peep. John memories seemed to spark and there he wondered what the hell happened to him. The Colonel knew that he would never hit anyone on his team. Yes, there was a time when he felt like smashing his fist at Rodney’s face after what happened in Doranda, but he never acted on it. He never even tried to do it; that was why now he felt so freaked out by his actions.
When he was finally able to sit, John touched his face. He hissed when he found a sore spot, and by the intensity of the pain John was pretty sure that he must have one serious bruise. The next step was standing up, but when his feet touched the floor, he almost lost his balance and had to hold the table to steady himself. Once his balance was somewhat under control, he walked towards the limp form of Rodney McKay. The Colonel kneeled down next to the scientist and checked for a pulse.
John sighed relieved as he found a strong pulse and normal breathing. He gently shook the man in an attempt to wake him up. “Rodney, wake up.”
Rodney let out a soft moan after which his eyes snapped wide open. “Where are we?”
John looked from Rodney to the cell around them, “I don't know. Do you know what hit us?”
Rodney started to sit up, shedding some more light on his bruised face. Somehow John knew what was coming. “One of those creatures hit you...” - Rodney's eyes widened in a mix of shock and anger - “...while you were hitting me!”
John turned away from Rodney. “Yeah... about that ... sorry!”
Rodney rested his back against the wall “What the hell was wrong with you, Colonel?”
John glared at Rodney. “I don’t know… but what the hell was wrong with you?”
Rodney frowned in confusion. “What?”
“You wouldn't shut up!”
“That’s hardly a reason to become all beastly on me,” Rodney retorted.
“You were giving our position away!” Sheppard hissed back.
“You could've broken my nose!” And as an added point Rodney gently touched his nose, making sure the Colonel hadn’t in fact broken it.
“But I didn't.”
“Still...”
“I get it, Rodney! I am sorry!”
They both fell silent for a couple of minutes, before John glanced away to the door. “I really don't know why I did it. Usually, I can keep myself in check and scream at you later.”
Rodney replied with a sarcastic smile. “Oh, thank you Colonel. That’s so nice to know.”
“Actually, it felt like I was mad, like I couldn't control myself.” He walked towards the door and touched it lightly. The metal felt soft against his hand. Next to the metal door was a small window. John took a quick glance outside, but all he could see was darkness and a faint blue light in the distance. He quickly backed away, however, as he noticed a shadow pass by.
John looked back at Rodney. “Do you know where we might be? I mean, are we still on the same planet?”
Slowly Rodney got up. “No, the last thing I remember was flying off.”
John frowned. “What do you mean ‘flying off’?”
Rodney shook his head. “I'm not sure.”
John took another look outside before moving back towards the table he had been lying on. He stopped and glanced at Rodney. “Do you think Teyla and Ronon are alright? They disappeared with Ilu and Gregos when we went into the forest.”
Rodney shook his head as he replied. “I know as much as you do.”
John stayed silent as he moved toward the table. His original intention had been to sit down on it and try to sort out the mess they were currently in, but fate seemed to have other plans. A sickening feeling started to rise in his chest. His lungs felt as if a giant hand was pressing down on them, pushing all the air out at once. He managed to sit down, and gazed frantically at Rodney. “Something's wrong.”
Rodney discarded his thinking and stood up, moving closer to his friend. “What is it?”
John's breathing became shallower. “I... can't...” -then his eyes snapped wide open and he fell flat on the table, gasping for air.
Rodney moved to John's side. “What's wrong? What do you feel?”
John gave another gasp his face was contorted with pain as he stared at Rodney wide-eyed. “I can't move.”
At that very moment the door snapped open and two creatures walked in. This time Rodney got a good look. They were tall; maybe six and a half feet tall, their skin was brownish with hints of white around their arms.
They were clearly humanoid, they walked on two legs, had two arms one head with two eyes something that resembled a nose and a mouth. But other than that, nothing else was near human; instead it appeared that in the evolutionary road, these aliens mixed with more than one wild species. They move quickly and looked quite agile; their head was large with several shark like fins on top of it.
It looked that at some point they might have been distant relatives of the Asgard, but any relation was now non-existent.
Rodney managed to count six fingers on each hand. The aliens had a slender body, which they tried to cover with a long black tunic. If Rodney hadn’t been scared by their appearance before, he was now. Rodney couldn’t explain it, there was something in the creature’s eyes that he felt it was tearing him apart. Rodney didn't know why, but back on the planet these aliens had looked quite different; not to be messed with, but not like this. Now they looked downright dangerous, enough so to make a Wraith run away in utter fear.
Since Rodney seemed to be in somewhat of a shock to actually see a creature like that, he didn't realize fast enough that they were walking towards him. It was only when he heard the Colonel's voice that he seemed to fall back into reality.
“Leave him alone!”
Rodney started to back away, wishing there was some way to escape from the creatures’ grasp. That's when he felt it, his chest started to hurt. Rodney grabbed the front of his shirt, he felt as if his heart wanted to go fast and slow at the same time. He was staring at the floor trying to overcome the pain but then he was suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back, resulting in lights out.
From the table, John watched helplessly as the creatures knocked Rodney out. The scientist's limp body floated in the air, and one of the creatures grabbed him by the neck, turned around and walked out of the cell.
John felt a mixture of anger and panic rise in his chest, which left him without much to do. He was stuck to the table; he was having trouble breathing and now the remaining alien finally turned to look his way. What really stuck with John was their face. The eyes were white with dark slited pupils, which moved slowly as the alien inspected his prize. The eyes bored into John as if they wanted to take something from deep within him.
The creature just hovered above him, studying him. John started hearing noises around him, mostly it sounded like interference on a radio or TV. But the volume was ten times more loud than normal. While this happened the creature didn’t even blinked as he stared at John.
John closed his eyes trying to convince his mind that it was all a dream, that what the alien was doing it wasn’t true. But just as it started, it stopped and then suddenly the creature turned around and left.
Once the door was closed, John's body slowly returned to normal and the noises were gone. He tried to get his breathing in control first, and then he stood up as quickly as possible and walked towards the window. John's mind was racing, he could now see out of the window to the surroundings outside. Where there were a couple of creatures looming nearby. Some were looking at him, with what John thought it was interest, as it was difficult to read their expressions. John only hoped, prayed that these creatures weren't dissecting Rodney.
But never in his life, not even in his wildest or most horrifying nightmares could he have imagined what he heard next. A blood-curling scream filled the cell, a scream of pain. Rodney was screaming at the top of his lungs.
John pressed his face against the window, frantically looking around, hoping to see what was going on. The screaming went up a notch while John wondered how much higher the man could go before loosing his voice. There was no babbling, no shouts of protests, nothing; just screams
It was driving the Colonel insane; he couldn’t just stay there as his friend was being tortured. John backed away as without warning the door suddenly opened, to reveal those same creatures again of which he didn't want them to get their hands on him. But before he could think of something to do in his defense, he was on his knees grasping his chest. The next thing he knew he was floating, going straight towards the alien at the door. Once within reach, the creature took John roughly by the neck and carried him out of the room.
John felt sick, feeling the hand tight around his throat. The skin was warm, too warm. The soldier looked around, trying to know where they were taking him. Then they walked into a big room, which looked suspiciously like a lab. Once inside they approached a couple of tables and the sight that greeted John made all the blood in his body go instantly cold. Rodney was lying on his stomach on one of the tables, stripped down and completely naked. There was something on his back but all John was able to see were the trails of blood running down from it.
John couldn’t see anymore, as he was dropped face down on the table next to Rodney. There one of the creatures held him down; another stripped all his clothes off. John couldn't do anything; he was being kept completely immobile. But he did feel the cold metal thing the creatures placed on his back. It was heavy and went all the way from his neck down to his lower back.
The next thing that happened made John understand why Rodney had screamed so badly. The pain started on his lower back, it felt as if someone was shooting nails into his spine. The first hit, John muffled his scream, but as the stabbing crept up his back and the pain intensified, he could no longer control his voice.
He screamed.
He screamed at the world, at the nails in his back, at the damned creatures. He screamed until everything went black.
TBC