Ronon stood on the balcony near the room he had been given, thinking about where to go once he left. He was no longer a Runner, no longer a toy for the Wraith to chase but free, for the first time in years and he felt slightly lost.
He was surprised by his own willingness to trust in these people, trust was something he had in very short supply these days but he allowed himself to go with them. Ronon considered his reasoning at the time. They’d defended the villagers he’d inadvertently put in danger from the Wraith without so much as blinking, offering them shelter until it was safe again before remaining on the soon to be Wraith infested planet while their doctor removed the locating beacon in his back.
Ronon turned as he heard a gentle knock on the door, surprised to find the leader of the city standing there. He’d been extremely surprised to find a woman so young in charge of his new acquaintances, Ronon assumed it was really Jackson giving the orders once he discovered their marriage but he soon found out that she was definitely the one in charge.
“Can I join you?” Sha’re asked, her voice soft and a little unsure of her reception.
Ronon nodded and turned slightly so he could look at her. She reminded him a bit of Melena, slim built, dark eyes with a will of iron hidden behind a gentle manner.
“I confess I am only here because John asked me to speak with you,” Sha’re told him, “He wants you to remain with us on Atlantis.”
“Why?” Ronon sat against the wall, stretching his long legs out.
Sha’re sat across from him with her legs crossed, “You are a great warrior and you have no home.”
Ronon simply stared at her so Sha’re continued.
“Do you know much about why we came to Atlantis?” Sha’re asked.
“Only that you’re escaping your homeworld,” Ronon replied.
Sha’re gave a small laugh, “It is not my homeworld but you are correct. Earth was taken over by aliens who came in the guise of helping and someone who was once a trusted friend of my husband showed them the way. The people here have lost family, friends, everything that was theirs, and are still fighting. I understand that you wish to eradicate these Wraith for what they did to you, and I am not saying you should not want this, but they forced you to be an animal, hunted for their sport for a long time. You have a choice, Ronon.”
“What’s that?”
“You can leave here and continue as a nomad with nothing but revenge to live for,” Sha’re replied, “Or you can stay here, help us and possibly find a place for yourself. It is your decision and if you decide to leave, once Dr Beckett agrees you are healthy then I will have them open the gate to wherever you wish.”
“What if I want to leave before he agrees?” Ronon asked forebodingly.
“I will try to persuade you otherwise,” Sha’re told him with a smile, unfazed by his dark stare, “But I will honour your decision.”
Standing she started to leave before turning back, “I know what it is like to live as a slave, Ronon. My people were slaves to an evil being who kept us downtrodden and uneducated so that we believed him to be a god. Almost exactly one year after we were freed, I was abducted by a creature called a Goa’uld. It is a snake like creature that can only survive within a human host. It enters by the neck and takes over forcing the host to be nothing but an observer,” she stopped for a few moments, swallowing hard against the feelings her story was bringing up within her, “I was held captive like that for almost three years and I vowed never to be a slave or allow anyone else to give into slavery again. Do not be a slave to your anger, Ronon. We are offering you a place here. Think about it and tell me whenever you are ready.”
With that said Sha’re left Ronon alone once more.
-
John saw Sha’re coming towards him and stepped forward ready to ask but he didn’t get the chance.
“I have spoken with him,” she said softly, telling the former Runner her history had disturbed her more than she had realised it would, “It is his choice, John and no matter what you want you cannot change his decision.”
“Can I ask him to come with us to Athos tomorrow?” John gave her a puppy-dog look.
Sha’re rolled her eyes at him, “Yes,” she walked away shaking her head muttering how he was worse than her younger brother.
John grinned and headed to where Ronon was sitting, humming to himself.
*********************************************
Night fell on Atlantis; in the control room a skeleton crew sat drinking coffee and talking as they watched over the city. The night shift of the city’s guard walked the corridors around the safe part of the city.
-
Daniel walked through the dimly lit corridors to the room he shared with Sha’re. He found his wife already asleep curled up around his pillow; she was more of a morning person while he had always been a night owl. They’d fallen into a pattern where Sha’re would usually work for an hour or so early morning before joining him for breakfast while Daniel worked later at night – he’d always found it easier to study while it was dark outside.
Daniel swiftly undressed before sliding in beside Sha’re and taking the place of his pillow in her arms, resting his arm across her waist he closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.
-
Not far from them in the largest lab they could find, Rodney and Radek were working, talking quietly so not to wake Jeannie. She’d decided to lie down for a few minutes over an hour ago and fallen asleep on the couch. Rodney glanced over at her as she murmured in her sleep. He stopped Radek mid-sentence and grabbed the blanket sitting nearby before gently covering her with it. Rodney rested his hand on his baby-sister’s shoulder for a moment before returning to his conversation.
-
Teyla walked across the room the Athosians were sharing, heading to her sleeping mat. She noticed one of the children sitting up and motioning to his friend and coughed slightly. Both children turned guiltily to where she stood with a frown on her face, seeing her standing there they both lay back down and Teyla smiled. She headed to her own bed again and lay down to sleep. Tomorrow they would return to Athos to discover if their home was safe once more.
-
Ronon Dex slept. His years on the run meant the slightest thing would wake him, however in the few days he’d been with these people he’d slept longer and with no interruption which hadn’t happened in such a long time, even before the destruction of his world.
John was sleeping fully clothed on his bed, the book he’d taken from the library set up was hanging limply from his fingers open at the first page.
In her room Laura was curled up around a pillow sleeping; across the city Ferretti was sleeping face-first in his pillow after a sparring match with Ronon hoping he wasn’t going to be one big bruise in the morning.
In their own rooms on either side of the infirmary, Janet and Carson both slept after a long day leaving Jennifer in charge of the night-shift as the city slept.
In the infirmary he waited, watching the staff as they moved around checking on their patients. Finally the floor cleared as the doctor disappeared into her office and the nurses all moved to the furthest corner giving him the space he needed. Slowly, making sure he looked as though he was merely trying to get up for a walk, he stood and pulled on the slippers sitting at the end of the bed. Slipping from the infirmary he moved slowly through the corridors wondering where he was exactly. Finding a balcony, he stopped staring out across the moonlit sea and the part of the city he could see. Standing there he held onto the banister, trying to rationalise his need to grip the rail as an after-effect of his injuries and not to do with the place he was seeing before him.
It took him several minutes before he could pull himself away from the view. He sternly reminded himself what he was doing here, that he had to stop these traitors.
With difficulty he started on again, walking forward to one of the labs. He smiled to himself as he found everything he needed, it wouldn’t take him long to set up his little surprise. And then he would have to wait for the right time.
*********************************************
John slipped into the pilot’s seat of what he’d decided was his Jumper; he grinned as Teyla and Ronon joined him, each taking a seat in the cockpit.
“Just waiting on Rodney and we’ll be ready to go,” John told them.
“What about the rest of your team?” Teyla asked.
“Daniel, Ferretti and Cadman all have other things to do,” John explained, “Besides more than four in the ship gets a bit tight.”
Teyla smiled and looked around the small vessel they were in, not understanding what everything was for but it made her feel comforted knowing that John obviously did.
“Why bring McKay?” Ronon asked from his seat, “He’s not a fighter.”
“No,” John agreed, “But he is a brilliant scientist whom I want on board if something goes wrong but tell him I said this and I’ll deny every word.”
Ronon chuckled; grinning as Rodney came jogging in trying to juggle a bag and his computer as well as a power bar.
“Are we ready?” Rodney mumbled round his latest bite.
John grinned, “Just waiting for you. Control,” he called over the radio, “This is Jumper One, ready to go.”
“The Athosians are waiting for your word so they can return home,” Sha’re told him, “So do not decide to go for a journey around the entire planet.”
“You’re no fun,” John laughed.
“Go,” Sha’re ordered, obviously trying not to laugh as well.
John turned to Rodney who dialled the Gate barely even looking at the controls as most of his concentration was on his laptop. The automatic system took over and John grinned as the Gate appeared before them, before they moved through the shimmering blue surface.
-
The first thing John thought when they exited the Stargate was ‘Oh crap’, the second thing he thought was ‘being invisible would be helpful’.
“What the hell is that?” Rodney cried in horror as the large ship sat covering the horizon.
“Wraith cruiser,” Ronon growled, before pointing at the small dart like ships filling the sky, “Can they see us?”
John tilted his head as he moved the ship slowly through mass of ships, “I don’t think so.”
“They can’t. We have an invisibility cloak,” Rodney told them from his seat, he’d found a scientific console just behind the pilot’s seat and hooked up his laptop to it instantly.
“Are you sure?” Teyla asked nervously.
Rodney gave her a quick glance, “Of course I am. We have to get out of here now,” he turned to John, “Right?”
“Right,” John agreed, “The problem is opening the Gate and getting back through without being followed.”
“We could just destroy them,” Ronon rumbled from behind Teyla.
“Okay, one I have no idea what the fire power is on this thing,” John told him, “And two, we’d end up getting killed before we could do any real damage.”
“We also must warn the rest of my people,” Teyla reminded them softly with sadness in her voice.
John winced, seeing Rodney and Ronon both looking as apologetic as he felt for not remembering instantly that this was Teyla’s homeworld. John aimed the Jumper up towards space so he had some time to think of a plan.
*********************************************
Laura sat in the small lab Radek had directed her to. They’d found several devices they weren’t sure about and since her area of expertise was explosives Rodney had asked, through Sha’re, for Laura to look at them. Taking a sip of tea, Laura placed the current strange shaped object to one side, it wasn’t a bomb – it was possibly a music box.
She sighed, annoyed that she hadn’t been allowed to return to Athos but she knew John wanted to take Ronon along so he could try and persuade the big guy to stick around. Laura was all for that, he knew the territory and was obviously able to fight.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” an apologetic voice came from the doorway.
Laura turned and tried not to wince as Katie Brown stood in the doorway holding what looked like several potted plants.
“I was looking for a sunny spot for these,” Katie told her, “Since we’re only allowed in certain parts of the city I can’t get to the best places just now.”
“Oh,” Laura waited before realising Katie was waiting for her to say something, “Are you wanting to put them in here?”
Katie smiled, “I can see the perfect spot just at the window. If you don’t mind?”
“Sure, sure,” Laura murmured, “Whatever I’m not doing anything with it.”
She went back to work trying to ignore the happy humming from the other woman; Laura gritted her teeth knowing that the other woman wasn’t purposefully trying to annoy her.
“Can I ask you something?” Katie suddenly said.
Laura winced before turning to her, “Sure.”
“You’re close to Rodney,” Katie said, stepping over to the desk, “I was wondering if...well...”
“You want me to tell you how to get close to him,” Laura finished for her.
Katie nodded “He’s sweet and brilliant but I get the sense he’s holding back from getting too involved with me.”
Laura groaned inwardly, “I’m not the best person to ask.”
“But you are,” Katie continued, “I’ve heard that you were the one who helped rescue him from Dr Carter and you were very close for the six months before we came here.”
Laura gritted her teeth trying not to lose her temper with the other woman but she was getting close to the end of her fuse.
“Look,” Laura snapped before pulling her voice back, “Dr Brown, I am not as close to Rodney as everyone thinks. You want to know how to get to know him better, talk to his sister.”
Turning back to her work, Laura studiously ignored the other woman until she left the room before dropping her head onto the table. Life sucked.
-
Daniel sat going through the database trying to find any reference to the mainland. Sha’re wanted to know if he could find anything concerning the mainland, hinting that if there had been farms it would be helpful to know where they had been.
Unfortunately he wasn’t getting anywhere since he had spent most of his time thinking over the conversation he’d heard during their escape.
Teal’c was alive; Teal’c had been alive all this time. They’d abandoned him then, and Daniel had abandoned him once again.
-
“It was Teal’c’s choice,” Jack reminded them.
Daniel stared back at him as he sat on the bed in Janet’s makeshift infirmary, Sha’re sitting at his side with Daniel’s arm wrapped around her shoulders while Janet sat in a chair at their side.
“Teal’c was a big boy,” Jack continued, “And getting you back, Daniel was the one thing he wanted above all.”
“I didn’t want him to die for me,” Daniel snapped, wincing as he almost pulled out his IV.
“Dan’iel,” Sha’re tried to calm him, “I did not want anything to happen to Teal’c either but...”
Seeing tears fill her eyes, Daniel pulled her closer before kissing the top of her head, “I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“If he’s alive,” Jack said, knowing that was very unlikely, “Then we’ll get him back,” he watched his friends as they all felt the loss of the former First Prime but Jack felt proud that Teal’c had sacrificed himself to save Daniel.
-
Daniel grimaced as he realised he’d lost a good bit of time thinking about the past, shaking his head he realised he’d entered ‘Andurian’ into his search instead of ‘animal’.
“Damn it,” he muttered, groaning as it entered the database.
Rubbing his eyes, Daniel started to enter the search properly when he saw the results from the previous database search.
“Oh my God,” he breathed, staring at the screen, “The Ancients knew them,” he leaned forward slightly as more information filled the screen, “And they did not like them.”
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Cuckoo In The Nest
by LE McMurrayKapitel Bemerkung:
Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.Hope this answers a few questions and I’m working on the next chapter.
Enjoy.
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