A/N: This is dark. If anyone thinks it should be rated higher please let me know. This story is just acting like a death fic so don't worry. I will also be referring to previous stories: Pavilions, Spider and Wicked. Spoilers up to and including Conversion.
Specter
Chapter 1
Flight
There was just enough light that he could make out their silhouettes in the small room. Lined up with their hands secured behind their backs and forced to kneel with ankles crossed; Sheppard, Teyla, and Aiden were furious. Ronon was feral.
"Which one first Dr. McKay?" Such an easy question, one the speaker had asked twice before. McKay still did not give an answer.
Two guards flanked him. There was no escape and no rescue this time. He was growing tired of the game and the speaker was growing impatient.
"Which one?" The speaker repeated. He paced behind his captives enjoying his domination over the situation.
McKay glared back. Why should he play?
"Then I'll choose." The speaker walked up behind Teyla, pulled her head so her neck was exposed and ran the blade across it.
It was loud, it was messy and she died agonizingly slow. Sheppard, Ronon and Aiden struggled and yelled.
McKay was bored so he yawned.
"Oh please Kolya, let me show you how it's done." Now he was irked because incompetence was not to be tolerated. This was the man's business after all.
McKay sloughed off his guard and approached Kolya. He snatched the knife from the loathsome man.
"Now watch, a nice easy slice severs the jugular and they bleed out. Unless slow and painful was what you were going for. It might have been for all I know." McKay stepped up behind Sheppard, tilted his head and cut.
A wet hiss escaped and the blood flowed fast and furious. He listened to the last choking sounds and contentment spread through him. "See Kolya, that's how you do it"
He felt no remorse.
"McKay," said Kolya. "Wake up McKay."
Rodney's eyes shot open as he scrambled back in the bed until he bumped his head on the wall.
"Ow!" He rubbed his head and squinted.
"Calm down, you're OK…for now." Sheppard placed a hand on McKay's shoulder and whispered, "We're leaving."
McKay looked over at the door; Ronon and Teyla were standing in the doorway. They had the bristled guard dog aura about them. They were on alert.
With his heart still hammering in his chest, McKay grabbed his gear and boots. He had learned not to argue when the hairs of the others were already standing up. You can, however, get clarification.
"What happened? I thought we weren't leaving until dawn." He looked at his watch. He had a dial for Atlantis time and one for whatever world local time. "It's just after midnight."
"Ronon and I had visitors. Let's just say, they were a little more homicidal than I normally like."
McKay returned his attention to Ronon. The light from the hallway cast an eerie glow into the room. He shook off the similarities to his dream. Never the less, McKay noticed a cut on Ronan's left arm where the light hit it. Most of Ronon was in the shadows but once again he could see discoloration around his neck. Sheppard left him to move into the eerie hall light. It illuminated the same type of discoloration on his neck.
McKay's mouth dropped open. This was way too coincidental and freaky.
"I'll explain on the way. Let's get a move on McKay!" Sheppard's jaw was clenched and he hissed the order through his teeth.
McKay complied without further hesitation or vocalizations.
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They slipped quietly down the hall as Sheppard looked back towards McKay- nightmare. It was one of those nightmares if Sheppard had to hazard a guess. That damn Wraith had done a number on him. It had left McKay wondering of what he was capable. Could he do the things the Wraith influenced him to do? McKay confessed that allowing the thing to murder so easily had scared him. He was also afraid of the enjoyment Dr. Demento received at creating chaos. He was afraid it would transfer.
At first, McKay tried to bury himself in work. Then worry about his team leader metamorphosing into a bug. Finally, Rodney realized ignoring the problem was not working when Radek threw him out of the lab. And as Radek had put it, he could return when two plus two equaled four.
Sheppard had already been called down there to help remove the thorn that was McKay. When he arrived, McKay stood in the hallway just glaring at the door. Sheppard swept the man up in his wake and took him to get some food. After only four words being said through the entire meal, Sheppard took him down to Heightmeyer's office.
Since his everyday work started to suffer, Heightmeyer finally pinned him down and started working the problem in earnest. There was nowhere to go but up. Sheppard stood back and watched. He lent McKay support when necessary and stayed away when he needed to. It took awhile but McKay came around and was declared fit for duty. His last remaining vestiges of the trauma were those damn nightmares.
They had been decreasing, one every couple of weeks. It was the outright eeriness of this place that must have brought that one on. At least, Sheppard hoped it was.
Bad vibes. From the moment they walked into the little village, bad vibes abounded. The citizenry kept leering at them as they walked the streets. It was more than the normal, 'ooh look strangers,' reaction. I was more like the-creepy-old-guy-ogling-the-coed-at-a-nightclub reaction.
The local officials met them and even they kept eying them up and down like a porterhouse. He was definitely never going to make light of any of the women's concerns again. Not like he ever had, but he would make doubly sure now.
The officials had recommended a hostel near the center of town and they accepted grudgingly.
This was definitely a page out of Frankenstein or Dracula. The way the locals acted in the little tavern- the whispering, the pointing and the staring- was just unnerving. There was an underlying current; they wanted something.
God, he hoped there was not another monster-a.k.a. Wraith- to hunt. That had gone so well last time. Even the nano-bots got their little, collective asses kicked by the retro-virus. Rodney had been right- again. Be careful what you wish for.
The local officials introduced themselves more fully in the little tavern. They seemed downright excited. They asked all sorts of questions. How they fought the Wraith? How much experience did they have in battling their most feared enemy? Could they stop the culling once it started? Had they gone one on one? Had they won?
The head guy- Refer, Renfro, Afro, Refra! - Refra acted like he was buying a car. How's the gas mileage? Any accidents? Engine working good? The man stopped short of kicking the tires.
Sheppard deflected some of the questions, some he answered. "Yes we have fought the Wraith and won. No, sorry can't stop a culling. I think it's time we found our rooms." The Gate was a good three to four hour walk and the nocturnal life was an unknown. So, they stayed put. They would leave right before first light. He relayed the message to Weir at their appointed check in.
That had been the plan until his and Ronon's homicidal and amorous visitors. There are a few people he would not mind waking up next to: Rebecca Romajn, a young Bacall, or apparently Teyla, if his baser instincts were correct. He was not even going there anytime soon. However, the man dressed in ceremonial robes, who had one hand over his mouth and one where no man should ever touch him, was not even close to the list.
Then the guy whispered in his ear as if confirming a hypothesis, "Vitality."
He found out later, Ronon had a similar wake up call and a similar reaction. Throw the fucker off.
This guy was preternaturally strong and fast. Robes landed on one side of the bed and Sheppard rolled off to the other. Robes leapt and plowed him into the wall before he could even prepare for an attack. They fell to the floor with his guest sitting on top of him and his hands wrapped around Sheppard's neck. Try as he might, he could not move the guy off of him. His arms felt unnaturally heavy; he could hardly raise them. As his vision blurred and grayed, he studied his attacker. Smoke, or what looked like smoke, encircled him. Strange.
Just when thoughts of who should get his stereo whirled around in Sheppard's brain, a P90 slammed into the side of Robes' head. Teyla and Ronon had come to the rescue. Robes dropped like a lead weight and Sheppard gasped for breath as he rolled away from the freak. That's when he learned that Ronon had a visitor as well.
Teyla heard the scuffle while returning from a midnight excursion to the bathroom. Ronon was definitely no weakling but even he could not move his attacker. Teyla had used a vase by Ronon's bed to slam into his attacker's head.
Sheppard grabbed his gear and croaked out, "McKay." They left quickly to check on Rodney. Ronon and Sheppard were the only ones attacked. McKay was fine, sort of. This came back to his nightmares. According to McKay, they were dehumanizing and murderous. They scared the shit out of him. Sheppard would have to worry about that later. Right now, escape was their first priority.
They exited the back of the hostel. In front of the building, a unit of armed guards stood post. They slipped down a back alley away from the building and the guards towards one of the villages other exits. The village had three walls that formed a triangle. In the middle of each wall was a gate. Guards walked the top of the walls as well as being positioned at the gate. The direct route was cut off by the armed guards in front of the hostel. The second had a large contingent of soldiers as well as the men on the wall. The third and last exit was lightly guarded. It was also the most circuitous route to the gate.
Ronon and Sheppard exchanged looks of disbelief.
"Feel like you're being herded to the slaughterhouse?" Sheppard asked derisively. As he had stated before, he did not believe in coincidences.
Ronon snorted in agreement. Teyla just nodded silently. And McKay kept his mouth shut for once. That silence bothered Sheppard even more than his visitor.
Sheppard thought for a moment. They could not take out all the guards at the other exits. They would have to make the best of it and try to be unpredictable once they left the confines of the village.
The skirmish was quick and silent. Ronon's stun setting along with a few well placed punches let them quickly exit and disappear into the dark forest.
The man hidden on top of the wall gave a signal.
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A/N: Well here we go into the world of SGA one more time. Please as always, review.