A/N: My first serious Atlantis fic! This started out as a
conversation I was having online with Mary Christmas about
hurt/comfort fics in general and after I had signed off, I began
plotting and came up with this. It is a WIP, so updates may be
slow. I am looking for a beta-reader if anybody's interested.
"Darkness of the Soul"
Chapter One
Pain.
All Elizabeth knew was pain, pounding in her skull, racing along her
nerve endings. She gasped as her mind slowly gained consciousness and
wished she had remained oblivious. She had never felt anything as
agonizing as this; nevertheless, she struggled to push it to the back
of her mind where she could ignore it, to focus on her surroundings.
It was a long, weary fight, but by remaining still, the pain
eventually subsided into a dull, aching throb. As long as she didn't
try to move, she would manage.
Carefully, she opened her eyes a crack. When she wasn't immediately
blinded by light, she opened them further to find herself staring up
at a high beamed ceiling of some sort, though she couldn't really
tell what it was in the semi-dark. Confusion and disorientation
fought alongside each other as she attempted to determine where she
was at, and how she had gotten there.
Squeezing her eyes shut as a fresh wave of pain surged through her,
she tried to remember what had happened last. Bits of memories
flashed past her mind's eye. Flowers. Gunfire. Teyla being
grabbed. Darkness.
She gasped and her eyes flew open, concern now filling her. Had that
all really happened, or was she just imagining things? Slowly, she
sat up, wincing with the sharp jab that lanced through her head and
steadying herself against the sudden dizzyness. Her pain-clouded
eyes took in the musty surroundings.
It was an enormous, one room building and she was at the end furthest
from the door. Though it was now empty, save for herself, there were
pallets of furs similar to the ones she was laying on spread about in
a seemingly haphazard way. The only lightsource she could determine
was the various cracks in the walls, letting sunlight filter through.
Unfortunately, her observations didn't tell her any more than what
she already knew and she lay back on her own pallet. Taking a deep
breath, she tried to recall everything she had done since she had
woken that morning. She had no way of knowing if it was the same day
or not, but that could wait until later.
Closing her eyes, she let her mind drift until a memory snagged it..
--Flashback--
It was very early when a knock on the door of her quarters woke her
up. Elizabeth frowned, sleepily crawled out from between the warm
blankets, and stumbled over to the door. When she opened it, she
practically cursed to see Rodney standing there, his hand raised to
knock again.
He must have sensed her bad mood, because he began apologizing
profusely, something he rarely--okay pretty much never--did. She
frowned at him and waved him off.
"What is it, Rodney?" she asked snappishly.
"What is what?" He sounded distracted and had an odd expression on
his face as he stared at her.
It was too early for this. Either that or it was just going to be
one of those days. Whatever the reason, Elizabeth lost her
temper. "Someone had better be dying, Rodney," she growled, before
she could keep the words back, "Or you're going to find yourself put
on the remotest, barronest planet I can find."
The astrophysicist blinked at her and then walked away, mumbling
something about it not being that important, sorry for waking you.
Elizabeth sighed, instantly contrite. It wasn't his fault she hadn't
had much sleep in the past week. She'd have to go find him and
apologize.
After she found some coffee.
Later that morning, she sat in her customary chair at the conference
table. Sheppard and Teyla were the only others in the room, and they
were talking in quiet voices with each other. Elizabeth smiled
slightly, but didn't comment. Her mind was still on her
confrontation with Rodney earlier. She hadn't been able to locate
him once she'd had her coffee and began to think the man was avoiding
her on purpose.
Just what she needed. A guilt trip.
She sighed just as Rodney and Ford walked in. The young lieutenant
took his own seat, but Rodney gave her a quick, indecipherable look
before sitting in the chair furthest away and refused to look at her
again. This hurt her for some unacountable reason, but she pushed
the feeling aside. She'd catch him after the briefing and apologize
then.
"All right," she said, and they all turned their attention to
her, "Teyla, the Athosians still haven't managed to figure out why
the crops aren't growing as they should?"
"Correct," the Athosian woman said, "It may be that the soil is not
quite the same as what we are used to, but Halling says they should
have been able to counteract that."
"All right," Elizabeth murmured, "Well, we need food. The stores
have just about been depleted, and unless we find something soon..."
She let her voice trail off there, knowing they'd understand what she
meant.
Rodney was uncharacteristically silent, and Elizabeth chanced a look
at him. He still wasn't looking at her, but a frown had creased his
brow, as though he were thinking of something.
"Doctor McKay, do you have something to add."
The scientist looked up as though scalded, opened his mouth, closed
it and shook his head. Elizabeth frowned, but didn't press him.
"I know of someone who may trade with us," Teyla began
tentatively, "But I have never met them. My father and Halling have
always done the trading." Her face was also creased in a frown, but
she went on, "Even after my father's death, Halling or another male
have always done so, when necessary."
Again, Rodney opened his mouth to say something, but he glanced at
Elizabeth first and shut it quickly. Sheppard seemed to have noticed
this too, because he kept looking at McKay as though he had grown a
second head.
"We could always send Halling to speak with them," Ford
said, "Right?" The young man asked the last of Elizabeth.
"Sure," Sheppard said before she could respond, "But I think we need
to do this ourselves. We need more allies."
The last was said with a hint of bitterness, and a look at all the
faces showed they were all thinking of the Genii, and the Hoffans.
Races that had been nearly as advance as they were, but who had used
them to further their own means.
"And I suppose we're just going to go up to them and say 'hi',
right?" McKay finally said and Elizabeth felt herself relaxing ever
so slightly, "I mean that's what's been getting us into so much
trouble, isn't it? They don't trust us."
"That's why I'll be going with you," Elizabeth surprised herself by
saying.
Judging by the looks on the others' faces, they were all just as
startled by the statement. However, it felt right. She was, after
all, a diplomat. Keeping the peace between the people of the
Atlantis base was one thing, but she yearned to actually go out and
meet peoples of other cultures. The one time she'd had any dealing
with aliens was when she had bluffed the System Lord representatives
into leaving Earth (and their possible weapon) alone.
Once Sheppard had recovered from the shock, he began to immediately
protest, Ford right behind him.
"It's too dangerous."
"If we make first contact, then you can..."
"...meet with the alien leaders."
"We just need to..."
"...make certain they're not..."
"...hostile."
Elizabeth blinked and looked between the two of them. They looked at
each other and then burst out laughing.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you read Harry Potter," Rodney
said testily.
"What is Harry Potter?" Teyla asked.
"It's a series of books about a young boy who can do magic,"
Elizabeth interjected before any of the men could say anything, "And
it's not the issue here. I appreciate your concern, gentelmen, but I
am going. That's final."
It wasn't final though, and they spent a good deal of time arguing
about her safety, and her importance to Atlantis. Rodney and Teyla
remained silent throughout, watching the three of them as though it
were interesting entertainment.
Finally, Sheppard reluctantly agreed, though Ford still seemed
uncertain. The Lieutenant wouldn't go against his commanding officer
though, so Elizabeth was smug in the face of her triumph.
As they all gathered their things to leave, she stopped Rodney and
indicated she wanted him to remain behind. He gave an annoyed sigh,
but he did as asked anyway--even though he had resumed studiously not
looking at her.
"I'm sorry for earlier," she told him softly, "I guess I'm not much
of a morning person, but it's no excuse for being so...surly."
He blinked and looked at her incredulously. "I thought that you were
angry because...oh never mind. I've got to go make sure Carson
hasn't stolen my supply of cheese curls, and then make sure all the
equipment on the Puddle Jumper is in order before we embark."
Elizabeth watched him as he practically skipped from the room and
shook her head. At least he wasn't being sullen any longer. Then
she began her own preparations for the coming mission.
-----------
The planet they 'gated to was lovely. Devinely scented flowers grew
up over nearly every surface--rock, gravel, trees--and were
overpowering in their intensity. Elizabeth was delighted. It was
the first time she'd set foot through the 'gate since coming to the
Pegasus galaxy and this was a very good omen.
At least it was until Rodney mentioned something about the Garden of
Eden.
"Good thing none of us have allergies," Sheppard commented loudly, to
cover up McKay's words, "'cause we'd be having a really hard time of
it."
"Yes, sir," Ford said with a grin, looking around with relish.
"Father never told me how beautiful this place was," Teyla said in
awe, "I wonder why he wouldn't let me come."
"Probably because this is one of the Wraith's first stops," Rodney
said. Of all of them, he seemed to be the only one not enjoying the
scenery. Of course, that was normal for the acerbic astrophysicist.
"Try to be a little more pessimistic, McKay," Sheppared muttered, "I
don't think anyone's convinced yet."
Before Rodney could retort, the sound of heavy gunfire distracted
him. Instantly, Sheppard and Ford were on the alert, with Sheppard
glaring at Elizabeth as if to say 'See? I told you it was too
dangerous'.
"Get down," was what he said aloud, however, and Elizabeth dropped to
the ground with Teyla and Rodney on either side of her.
Ford crawled over to them, and raised to a half-crouch with his gun
pointed towards where the weapons fire could be heard. Suddenly, it
stopped, and the only sounds Elizabeth could discern were her
heartbeat and breathing. The rest of the clearing was eerily silent,
and she marveled at the way she hadn't even realized that there had
been some birds and small animals.
After a few minutes, Sheppard relaxed. Ford continued to keep his
gaze trained on the dense forest. Elizabeth rose slowly and turned
towards Teyla, only to scream in fright. A strange creature covered
in mismatched fur had a hold of the Athosian woman.
Elizabeth surged towards it, as Ford and Sheppard turned towards
her. She could hear them shouting a warning, but it didn't register
in her brain. The next thing she knew, she felt a sharp pain in her
leg and in her head. Then everything went black.
---End Flashback---
Elizabeth jerked awake as she felt something soft and cool touch her
face. She opened her eyes to see a young woman who could be no older
than Ford kneeling at her side, dark eyes filled with concern. At
least the pain wasn't so bad this time. She felt that she would
actually be able to move if she were careful enough.
Testing out her theory, she slowly sat up. No pain. She smiled and
looked at the young woman again. Then she did a double take. The
girl was wearing nothing but a shift and it made her aware that she
was wearing something similar.
"What is..." she began, but the girl quickly placed her hand across
her mouth.
Elizabeth glared, but was too weak to get away.
The girl frowned slightly and then bent to speak softly into her
ear. "No speaking allowed. They'll hurt us if they hear us."
Then she was gone, leaving Elizabeth alone to ponder on her
situation. Where was Teyla? Were the others all right? What had
happened? And who were the 'they' that girl was talking about?
tbc
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