Author's Notes (Psalm): Okay, this one has a few naughty words and some heavy material, and I'd rate this chapter T to be safe. Read at your own risk, but it probably isn't anything you haven't read in the fanfiction world already. And I am so sorry for the delay… that was my bad, haha.

Chapter 6

"Are you kidding me?" Sumner grunted as he tightened his safety restraint. Apparently there was some field around the planet that was messing with the technology, and they were going down for a wonderful little crash landing. Marshall was going to kill somebody. Probably not Sheppard, because he was a good pilot. Marshall needed him, even if he was a bit annoyingly insubordinate sometimes. That just seemed to be his way, and Marshall realized he needed to accept that. McKay couldn't be replaced for that big old brain of his, and Sumner liked Ford. Ford was a good kid.

Darn it. He couldn't kill anyone. Maybe Kavanaugh, when they got back. If they got back, he reminded himself cynically.


Sumner let out a heavy groan as he very keenly felt the crash. The shock went up through his feet, to his ribs, jarred those a bit, and then stopped in his head, smashing his skull back against the seat. The cushion-like apparatus helped somewhat, but it didn't really help the ringing in his ears.

"Okay, report." Sumner said as he undid his safety harness.

"We crashed, sir." Sheppard pointed out as he stood up, rubbing his head.

"Good landing, Major." Ford complimented.

"Thank you." John smirked.

Marshall gave Sheppard a look, and then turned to McKay. "What happened?"

Rodney wasn't listening. He was arguing with Ford for something (a compass? Sumner didn't want to know) and when the young man finally handed it over, McKay let out a sound. It might have been one of relief or one that foretold their imminent doom. Sumner hadn't spent enough time with the scientist to really get the nuances of his behavior down. He was really going to need to remedy that or he was going to be stuck in this wonderful wondering of whether there was a solution or they were all going to die.

And he really didn't like not knowing which of the two was going to happen.

"The field that forced us to crash land?" McKay started. "It was electromagnetic. Ford's compass is absolutely useless to us, as is the rest of our technology. However, if we can find the power source and turn it off, the field doesn't exist anymore and we can go home."

"Great." Sumner praised sarcastically. "How do we find the power source?"

Rodney shrugged slightly, his temperament suspiciously mild. Sumner was already onto this man. "I don't know, Colonel, just find it?" He said as though it was obvious. And it was obvious, but it wasn't the answer Sumner wanted.

"Great." He ground out. "Okay, people, I'm taking point. Sheppard, watch our sixes. Ford, stay between Sheppard and McKay at all times."

"Yes, sir." Ford and Sheppard mumbled as they followed his orders.

The team took off, heading into the brush with no real destination in mind. Theoretically, they could scour the entire planet and find the power source, but it would take far too much time and Marshall was pretty sure they didn't have the supplies to deal with something like that. He was already ticked that their radios wouldn't work, in an incident where they were separated and were making a run for it. This was just a bad situation, begging for some tragedy. As it was, Marshall was just hoping that they'd happen to trip over the power source and turn it off. It was the best plan they had so far.

Sumner was quiet, as usual, since there were no orders to be given out. Ford, Sheppard and McKay were talking amongst themselves. Ford and Sheppard were picking on McKay for various reasons, and the scientist was calm in his ego, knowing his "plan" was perfect and there was no reason to worry.

"So, McKay, how do you plan on finding this here power source for us?" Sheppard asked casually, grinning at Ford when the black man looked over his shoulder at his superior officer.

"Believe me," Rodney smirked as he puffed out his chest slightly. "I'll find it. I know exactly what I'm looking for. I mean, a field of this magnitude could only be powered by something very powerful. Possibly a zero point module, and it would be rather handy to have one of those."

"Really?" Asked John in a slightly sarcastic interested voice.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Yes, Major, really." He really didn't have time to deal with simpletons. As much as he was interested in continuing this conversation with Major Sheppard, he had a lot of… technological and scientific thoughts to entertain. Yeah. Lots and lots of thoughts.

He was actually as clueless as to where to begin as the rest of them. But he was a genius. He couldn't very well admit his mortality to the lower mortals. He was close to being a god, after all. Except he wasn't creepy like a Goa'uld. That would just be weird.

And, you know, creepy and all.

"Keep on your toes." Sumner warned his team as he saw a break in the trees coming up, and one could never know what that meant. There were some crazy stories circling already about different teams running into odd natives and their strange rituals. One could never be too careful. "Sheppard?"

"Nothing, sir." John responded, his eyes following each movement of the forest.

Marshall nodded and despised how he had no idea what to do.

"Wait a minute!" McKay definitely sounded like he had a positive revelation. See, Sumner was learning.

Well, not really, McKay was just being really obvious. He probably wanted everyone to know how brilliant he was. Whatever.

"Ford, give me your compass." Aiden obediently handed over the device, and McKay examined it. "I think I'm onto something." Rodney looked up at the others, his face hopeful.

Aiden grinned, looking over McKay's shoulder. "I'm glad I brought it."

McKay looked at him condescendingly. "Oh, yes, what great forethought you have, Lieutenant."

"Thanks." Ford pretended like it wasn't sarcastic.

Sumner shifted and glanced at McKay. "So, where to?"

Rodney didn't respond, and immediately began leading them in the same general direction as they had been traveling, but he seemed to be veering slightly to the left, his eyes glued to the wonky compass. Sumner accredited his ability to lead his team in almost the right way to the power source of the electromagnetic field to his awesome innate sense of direction.

The team traveled for almost another hour when Rodney broke through the last uneven row of trees to an 

open field. In this field was a set of old ruins, stretching off into the distance for about the length of a city. Mostly, the ruins were weathered rocks with some inscriptions on them, and Sumner wasn't paying attention to them. That was the business of people like Dr. Jackson and other archaeologist/anthropologist/soft scientist types. His eyes were watching the tree line. He didn't have a good feeling.

Sumner glanced over his shoulder at McKay, who was explaining something about how the wonkiness of the compass could point them towards the power source.

"I was thinking more along the lines of saving a good Jumper." Sheppard responded when McKay said they wouldn't have to walk back to the Gate.

"Well, that too." Rodney accepted, and then made to start nosing through the ruins.

"Okay." Sumner turned to his team. "Sheppard, go with McKay to see if you can find anything. Ford, go fifty yards off and keep your eyes peeled."

But before anyone could follow anyone's orders, several figures jumped out from behind the ruins, proving Sumner's old war instincts correct. When Sheppard jumped back in surprise at being attacked, several more persons rushed from the trees and approached. All were carrying bows and arrows, and even spears, which Sumner thought was rather nifty (but he wasn't going to enjoy it if one of those spears found its way into his butt), and all of them seemed to be about high school aged. That was just disconcerting because, if they had lived on Earth, they would probably be carrying backpacks, iPods and cell phones, and would probably be more worried about making it to gym class on time instead of running around with spears.

Sumner lowered his gun. "They're children. Weapons down." He ordered. He didn't like it, as he could tell Ford and Sheppard didn't, but they were still kids. "Hello… kids." Marshall greeted them awkwardly, not sure what to say to a bunch of teenagers with spears.

"We're not here to hurt you." Sheppard told them, his voice slightly lowered, his tone soothing. "We're just… we're friendly, okay?"

"We came through the Stargate. The Portal, the Ring, whatever you call it." Sumner really was trying. He was. "We're only trying to get home."

However, the kids remained silent, simply staring at them.

Ford shifted. "I don't think they understand us."

"I think they do." Sheppard disagreed.

Then a young man who couldn't have been older than sixteen looked at Sumner. "You're a full grown."

"Excuse me?" Sumner raised his eyebrows at this kid. An odd statement, to be sure. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen." The boy answered, his eyes narrowed.

"Oh, I'm real threatened." Marshall stated sarcastically.


"You should be."

"I'm not." Sumner assured him.

"You need to see the Elders." He stated, his dark eyes unmoving and emotionless.

Sumner shared a glance with Sheppard, who took the initiative. "Sounds great. Lead the way."

The same boy began to make his way through the crowd of his fellows and walked into the forest. Ford took point, and Rodney followed him. Sumner started forward, Sheppard falling into step beside him.

"Full grown?" Sheppard rhetorically asked.

Sumner could only shrug in response, and hope no one was going to get stuck with a spear soon. Messy business, spears.

XXX

Sumner hadn't quite expected this, he mused as the boy led them into the village. It appeared to be a fully functional village. There were children milling about, seemingly going about their daily business, haggling, doing business with one another, talking with their peers, and other such things. He definitely didn't like this. By their manner, these kids thought they were adults. Sumner hadn't seen anyone who looked over the age of twenty-one.

Suddenly, the boy threw an arm in front of Sumner, effectively stopping them. He raised an eyebrow at the kid, but suddenly, a rope ladder with wooden rungs was dropped. One boy held the ladder steady, and another boy climbed up. Ford looked around, and then spotted a seemingly random pile of metal and… a body?

"Colonel." He got his superior's attention.

Sumner turned to look at Ford, and then saw the same thing. The pile seemed to be piled carefully, and among the shrapnel was the body of a Wraith warrior in all of its armor. In a short phrase, it was really creepy. Sumner had seen a lot of dead bodies before, but dead alien bodies kind of topped anything he'd seen before.

"Now, where'd they get that?" Ford asked the air.

"Looks like a shrine." Rodney commented.

Sumner glanced at Sheppard. "Do they worship the Wraith?"

"That'd be a first." The major repressed a shudder.

McKay sputtered. "That'd be disturbing." He suddenly looked around, expecting any one of the particularly threatening looking twelve-year-olds to suddenly be a Wraith.

The boy suddenly appeared. "Wraith bones."


"Yeah, we know." Sheppard looked at the kid.

"Its death bird fell out of the sky years ago. We keep it as a reminder of how life used to be." He explained offhandedly, though his eyes were burning with anger for the Wraith.

"Used to be?" Aiden asked, trying to prompt more information from the child.

"Before." The boy shrugged.

McKay leaned into Sheppard slightly. "'Fell out of the sky'."

"Yeah, I picked up on that."

Sumner was interested by that statement. "Think whatever knocked us down knocked the Wraith out?"

"It's possible." McKay considered the idea. "And if that's the case, we need to find it."

"Why?" Sheppard asked.

"Anything powerful enough to knock a Wraith Dart out of the sky is… well, it's kind of a big deal." McKay pointed out, looking around for any clues, obviously itching to get back to the ruins and find the power source.

Sumner made a slight motion to end the conversation as a boy ran up to whisper in the other boy's ear. The four men watched the exchange, until the runner left to go about whatever business a thirteen-year-old could have. The first boy looked at the full growns and nodded.

"The Elders are ready."

XXX

Sumner was first up the ladder, and Sheppard was next. Rodney was breathless from the climb, and Ford followed him. Rodney breathlessly waved to the two men present in the tree hut, and Ford simply stood in the background, much more comfortable with watching. Sumner took a step forward, Sheppard at his side. This was where Sumner needed Sheppard, at first contact where they could mesh their diplomatic styles and hopefully work together.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Sheppard greeted cheerfully.

The one wearing a headdress nodded and smiled slightly in return. "I am Keras, one of the village Elders."

Sheppard nodded. "This is Colonel Sumner, and I'm Major Sheppard."

Sumner snorted. "Elders." He muttered derisively. "How old are you?" He had a feeling he'd be asking this a lot in this wacko village.

"Twenty-four." Keras answered, confused as to this man's rudeness.


"And that makes you an elder… how?"

Keras ignored that question, and instead, continued with one of his own. "How did you get here, Sumner?"

Marshall had to give this kid credit. He used every weapon he had in his arsenal. Keras was tall, and seemed to be pretty strong, and he used inflections Marshall had never heard in a young man's voice to showcase his strength. He was very dignified and sophisticated… well, as much as a kid in a headdress could be. But he had something going for him, and Sumner decided he would respect him.

"We came here through the Stargate." He answered. "You do know of the Stargate, don't you?" He didn't want to have to explain that. It would take too long, and would waste too much time.

Sheppard jumped in to help. "It's this big… round… thing." He explained.

Keras nodded, and after a moment of thought, he shook his head. "No one has come through the Well," There was a new one. "For nearly five hundred years."

Sheppard nodded. "Well, here's the thing. We're a little… lost."

"And you are all… older than twenty-four?" Keras asked to clarify.

Sumner inwardly rolled his eyes. Of course the kid asked basically the same question he had asked. Whatever. He glanced back at Ford. "Ford, how old are you?"

"Twenty-five, sir." Aiden answered.

Sumner turned back to Keras. "Is that a problem?" His tone suggested he was looking for an argument.

Keras seemed to wilt slightly, and then lowered himself onto a seat. "Please, sit down." He invited, and Sumner was more than willing to accept. They'd been walking for nearly two hours, and while it wasn't the hardest thing he'd ever done, Marshall always welcomed a chance to sit down.

The other man stepped up to Keras. "They are trespassers, Keras. We don't have to explain ourselves to the likes of them." He shot a dark glare to Sumner as his team.

Keras gave them a grim smile. "I apologize. You are familiar with the Wraith?"

"Well, it's not like we're friends or anything." Sumner clarified.

Keras nodded. "Our ancestors were farmed by the Wraith. They tried to fight, but their weapons were inferior, and when they tried to hide, they were always found. But… then my ancestors found a way to beat the Wraith and protect our people."

"How?" Marshall asked.

Keras looked up, his eyes dark and serious. "None of us passes the age of twenty-four."

McKay didn't really want to ask, but… "How do you manage that?"

"On the eve of our twenty-fifth year, we make the Sacrifice, and pass into the Eternal Rest." The native Elder explained.

"What?" McKay squeaked.

"You kill each other?" Sumner's throat was oddly stuck, and the words came out strangled, in an almost hopeful way. As though he really knew the truth, but was willing to accept a lesser evil. Sheppard barely glanced over to his commanding officer, but decided it wasn't his business and acted like he hadn't noticed a thing.

"No; we take our own lives." The room was deadly silent, and Keras shifted uncomfortably, not understanding what the problem was. "And the Wraith have not returned for five hundred years." He finished, a tentative, yet brilliant smile on his face. His people had survived, and that was what mattered to him.

Ford didn't comment, but he thought it odd how Sumner's face paled dramatically at that revelation.

A short while later, as the Elders were discussing the situation, the team was congregated in the corner, Sumner standing a little off to the side, staring off into the distance, still quite pale.

"I've never felt so… old." Ford shuddered slightly.

Sheppard nodded, agreeing. "This is easily the most screwed up way of life I have ever heard of."

"They seem to accept it." McKay pointed out, his face showing his disgust at the thought.

"They're kids; what the hell do they know?" Sheppard rolled his eyes.

Ford seemed thoughtful for a moment before thinking. "These kids… they obviously don't know about the EM field, do they? I mean, it's not their communal suicides that are keeping the Wraith away."

"You're right. The Wraith don't come here anymore because the EM field. If they fly too close to the village, the field causes their Darts to crash, like what happened to our Jumper." Rodney agreed with Ford's musings.

"Why don't they take the village on foot?" Sheppard asked.

"Excuse me, maybe I'm not being clear." The usual arrogance was present in McKay's tone. "The EM field deactivates all of their technology. I mean, their Darts, their stunners… everything."

"Our guns still work, don't they?" Ford inquired, looking down at his P-90, worried.

"Yes, because they're relatively primitive. They don't generate an EM field." McKay answered easily.

Before their conversation could continue, Keras and Ares walked over. Keras spoke. "You may stay until you have fixed your ship, but you must work quickly. Your being here makes my people nervous."

Sumner nodded. "Fair enough. We'll work as quickly as possible."

McKay spoke up. "There may be something in the ruins where you found us that caused our ship to crash land."

Ares glared darkly. "They should be watched at all times." He didn't notice how Sumner flinched at his angry tone.

"Ares!" Keras shot an angry look at his fellow Elder, already planning a lecture to reprimand his colleague for being so rude to visitors.

"No, no." Sheppard shook his head with an amiable smile. "That's fine. Totally understandable."

Keras nodded, still obviously ticked off with Ares. "I'll choose two of the villagers to accompany you."

Sumner thanked Keras. "All right. Ford, go with McKay and see what you can do. Sheppard, you're with me."

"Yes, sir." Sheppard nodded to his superior.

"Great." McKay tried to sound enthusiastic, but he wasn't one for faking it.

XXX

"I always knew Rodney had an aversion to little kids, but I never pegged you as the type. You may be a hard, tough soldier, but I think you're just a teddy bear on the inside."

Marshall could barely even register the winning smile on his subordinate's face as he sat there, on a rotting log, simmering in his own misery and anguish. He wasn't simmering so much as boiling in it. His mind was being ripped apart by painful memories of a young man he'd lost. In his mind flashed images of a grinning teenager, being party-boyed by one of his friends, and then a ten-year-old crying because he'd fallen from a tree and broken his arm. Then a twenty-one-year-old, spitting out his first taste of an Appletini. Then a six-year-old, jumping up and down on a couch, excited because he'd read his first whole book.

Then an angry sixteen-year-old, screaming into his face, the teen's face red and the beginnings of furious tears burning in his eyes. Then the sorrowful face of a twelve-year-old who just wanted his father to come to his first school play. He'd never been in another one because of that.

One of the worst images was the fact of a broken seventeen-year-old who'd fallen in love for the first time, only to leave his girlfriend because his father had to move across the country for the military. That same seventeen-year-old had been sullen and quiet for five days, hardly saying a word to anyone, and then he snapped, screaming at his father because he missed his girlfriend more than he would miss breathing if his oxygen was suddenly stolen away.

"Colonel?"

Marshall looked up abruptly. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "What do you want, Sheppard?"

"I was just wondering… you've been out here for nearly an hour." The major pointed out, his wariness showing clearly on his face. "Ares was getting worried. You know how he gets fussy." When Sheppard saw Sumner was not open to any humor, he sobered up and continued. "I know the kid, Ares, is annoying, but…" John let that sentence drift off into nothingness.

"The kid's confrontational and angry. He's frustrated because he thinks he's right and he wants everyone to know it. He's tired of being second best to his friends. He's tired of being second best to someone he looks up to." Marshall stated quietly, his eyes on the ground. "This entire planet is completely screwed up. No child should have to kill himself before his twenty-fifth birthday because that's the worst thing that could happen." He was quiet for a long time, and when he finally did speak, his voice was eerily calm. "My son killed himself when he was twenty-three." His shoulders slumped.

John accepted his words silently, and merely lowered himself next to his commanding officer on the rotting log. His green eyes were fixed on the forest floor, and he could only sit there. There wasn't anything he could say, after all. Nothing was appropriate after such a revelation.

"I found him." Sumner's words were strangled, clawing at his throat as he forced himself to speak. "I was coming to his room to yell at him for some stupid reason. Maybe he'd forgotten to turn the TV off. I knocked loudly, but he didn't respond. I opened the door, already halfway into a reprimanding tirade when I saw him on his bed."

Sheppard just pretended like he hadn't seen Marshall wipe a few tears out of his eyes.

"He was just… lying there. He was on top of his blankets, still fully dressed. He had his band's shirt on and a pair of jeans. He looked so much like he was sleeping. I remember thinking that he wasn't moving and I knew his lips were blue, but... I really thought he was… and then I touched his arm, and he was so cold." Marshall pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes as he kept talking. "There wasn't a note or an explanation. But there were two empty bottles of Vicodin on the nightstand. He'd recently had a couple surgeries and he just took the pills he had left from both."

Sumner grit his teeth. "Such a waste of life. He was only twenty-three, two or three months from graduating college. He was going to go off to med school and become a surgeon. But I killed him, Sheppard." He admitted lowly. "I killed him. I was hardly even a father for him. If he screwed up, I yelled at him. If he did something right, I ignored him. I dragged him across the country because I couldn't stand the fact my wife had left me because I was such a bastard."

"And these kids… they think they're doing something right. Offing themselves. They think it's all good and fucking holy but they don't even know half of it. They have no idea what it does to… people…" Marshall knew very well these kids didn't have parents anymore and they'd been brainwashed all of their lives to think twenty-four years of peace was better than living a natural life span fearing the Wraith, and he hated them for it. He hated them for glorifying how he had lost his son. He hated them for not valuing themselves for what they were: children.

Darren Michael Sumner had been an angry person because of his father, but he'd also been a recognized talent and someone everyone loved in whatever community he lived in. He was in a punk rock band, and he liked to play bass and sing. He was very good at math and science, but hated anything that had to do with writing. He thoroughly enjoyed arguing with his teachers and getting himself in minor trouble, just to ward off boredom. He was one of those people who others just liked – a friend magnet, for lack of a better term.


He'd fallen in love when he was seventeen with a girl he'd never forget, a pretty brunette who dearly loved to laugh and liked to cuddle on couches, and one thing his father hadn't known was when Darren died, he was thinking of that girl, and beginning to regret his decision when his fragile grip on his life slipped, and he fell into oblivion and whatever came after the darkness.

Darren had loved. He had been a great friend for anyone who needed one, and a fierce loyalist to anyone he was close to. He was willing to get into a fight if it was for the right reasons, and consequences be damned. He respected women because he loved his mom who he saw during his summers. His hero had been his father, no matter how much Darren hated him. He still respected the fact his dad was fighting for his country.

"I didn't go to his funeral." Marshall suddenly admitted. "I stayed in my apartment and drank. My ex-wife flew all the way from Texas to give me a copy of the video she had taken. I never watched it, but I brought it with me. I know he's gone, and I don't need a fancy ceremony to tell me I failed my son." He ground out, his strength finally failing him, and he slumped forward, his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry." John found that was the only thing he could say to a grieving man. He had never had a kid. He didn't know what it was like, but he knew it could only be one of the most world-shattering experiences someone could go through.

XXX

Ford was getting a kick out of this, seeing McKay surrounded by two kids. The two kids, a boy and a girl about seven or eight years old, were totally the cutest things Aiden had ever seen, and the older brother in him wanted to scoop them up and squish them, because they were just squishy like that. But McKay simply didn't know how to react around them, so he was condescending and mean. Ford thought it was hilarious, since he wasn't really worried with the kids being particularly traumatized, since one was already traumatized whenever one spent time with McKay.

He was overbearing, arrogant and could be rather mean. There really wasn't any other word for it – McKay was mean. He could have his moments of niceness, but they were very few and very far between.

"… I can't concentrate with your stupid little voices! Now, sit down and shut up!" McKay snapped, glaring at the cute little kids.

The little girl's chin started to tremble, and then she started to cry. McKay looked severely frightened by this, and he begged, "Don't… don't… don't!"

The little boy, obviously protective of his sister or friend, went up to McKay and started to punch him in the stomach. "You're mean!" He accused the scientist.

"Thank you for noticing." McKay rolled his eyes, but then grabbed the kid's fists when he kept punching. "You wanna go, you wanna go, huh?"

"Okay!" Ford finally announced, and picked up the little boy and set him near the girl. "You have a gift, man. You do birthday parties?"

"I have a purpose here." McKay reminded the lieutenant. "You deal with them!" Rodney shoved his way 

past the little kids and continued on, glancing down at the compass periodically.

Ford grinned at the two kids. "It's okay, kids. It's okay. He's just mad because you're smarter than he is." He suddenly got the most brilliant idea as to how to get these kids to feel better. "You know what chocolate is?" They shook their heads and his grin became ten times brighter. "Oh, man, this is going to be huge. Okay, let's go over here and leave the mean, old man alone."

Further down the path, McKay turned to the side, his eyes on the compass. In his present position, the needle had stopped shooting back and forth between north and west and had settled down, almost motionless. In front of him, there was a small cave with vegetation growing everywhere. But, once he stared at the vegetation for a long moment, he saw something glowing underneath it. He pulled away the vines and saw an Ancient device. He touched the top, and it raised up to reveal a glowing ZPM.

XXX

Eventually, Sheppard and Sumner stood up and went back to the village. Marshall had taken his leave from his second-in-command and went to see if he couldn't scrounge up any sort of information from others in the village, and John was studying how the village worked. Mostly because it was the twisted equivalent of people-watching.

John turned around when he felt a wooden ball hit the back of his thigh. He bent down and picked it up, a small group of boys looking at him expectantly. He smiled and threw it back.

Keras approached him, and greeted him. "Do you have young?" He asked, once the usual pleasantries were over.

John looked surprised at that question. "Me? Nah." He paused slightly. "Not yet, anyway. You?"

"Oh yes. They're raised in another village." At John's questioning look, he elaborated. "To keep family lines apart. There are twelve villages; most are smaller, but there are a few that are larger than this one."

John nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "And no one's ever…" He shrugged. "About the Sacrifice? You know, run off and decided not to do it?"

"There has been hesitation, but we can be… persuasive." Keras responded.

"Look, I gotta tell you…" John grimaced slightly. "I don't understand this at all. Where we come from, we value life more than anything. I mean, Lieutenant Ford? He's just a year older than you. Imagine what he would have missed out on. And…" He hesitated, but supposed that Sumner wouldn't mind. "You know Colonel Sumner?"

"Yes." Keras nodded.

"He was married, and had a son, and then his son was almost done with his schooling to do something that he loved… but he killed himself." It was even harder to repeat it than it was to hear it. "I bet it's easier to think about when it's just you, but you don't think about how it could affect someone who's not used to this. This is killing him to even be here because all of this reminds him of the son he lost."

Keras looked surprised at the revelation, but continued on. "The time comes for me, and our way of life 

has been set in place for many, many years and it's not my place to question it."

"When?" Sheppard asked, trying to reconcile the fact that this alive, vibrant young man across from him was so willing to accept his death, easily.

"Tonight."

XXX

"… Fine." Sumner finally gave McKay the permission to take Ford and return to Atlantis to study the ZPM in the lab.

"Think it's safe?" Sheppard asked.

"No, but McKay's got that tone when he's really excited about something." Sumner shook his head. "I don't want the man who knows more about Atlantis than I do to be pissed at me."

"Good point." Sheppard agreed as Ares, who looked rather pissed, approached them both.

"Why were the guides sent back?" Ares demanded.

Sumner raised his eyebrows at him. "Perhaps it was their naptime." He returned in the same hostile tone, squaring his shoulders and purposefully making himself seem taller. He lowered his voice as he stepped closer to the younger man so only Ares could hear him. "If you have a problem, I am more than willing to beat you so far into the dirt you don't remember what daylight is like, but I would rather not. Now, do you have a problem?" And then he gave Ares the same piercing glare he rewarded any misbehaving Marine, and nearly grinned when Ares glowered and slightly stepped back, a primitive sign that he would not undermine Sumner's authority, at least not in the near future.

"Two of the full growns are out unwatched." Ares said to Keras, who shook his head, unconcerned.

"It's fine. I'm sure they won't cause any trouble." Keras tried to soothe his second-in-command's anger and fear, but he was unsuccessful.

"You should be preparing yourself for tonight, Keras." Ares pointed out, the desire for power flashing in his dark brown eyes.

"Fine. I will go prepare myself now." Keras shot a look at Sheppard, which invited him to follow.

XXX

Marshall heard his radio crackle as he watched the ceremony from several paces off, his face deathly pale and his hands shaking at his sides. He was eternally grateful for something to occupy his time other than the impending thought that Keras, kind, gentle-hearted and intelligent Keras, would be dead very, very soon.

"Sumner here." He muttered, moving further from the gathering, his voice quiet.

"Where's Sheppard?" McKay asked, surprised, since Sumner didn't deign to speak to him unless it was 

absolutely necessary.

"Participating in Keras' suicide ceremony." Sumner spat bluntly. "What do you want, McKay?"

"Ford and I are back in the old city. We're going to put the ZedPM back." McKay responded.

"Good." He snapped. "Where's the Jumper?"

"Outside the EM field."

"We'll be there once you're finished." Sumner tried to hold in the scream of agony that he wanted to let out as he saw the ceremony continue as he forced himself to say, "Sumner out."

Sumner suddenly saw Sheppard race over to the pile of Wraith bones. "Sheppard?"

"Colonel, we have a problem." Sheppard shot over his shoulder as he threw the skeleton arm he had picked up from the ground and sent several bullets into it, but it was already too late.

"McKay, get that field up NOW or I will be the least of your worries!" Sumner yelled into his radio. "Ford, help him!"

"Yes, sir!" Ford's young voice returned with urgency.

XXX

McKay was on his knees in front of the ZPM holder as he fitted the device back into its holster. The top of the device lit up, and the scientist pressed a few buttons on the side, but the ZPM stayed dark.

"What are you waiting for?" Ford asked, his voice slightly higher in fear.

"That should be it!"

"What?"

McKay turned to look up at the young black soldier, and stumbled over his next words. "There may be a slight chance that… um, in my haste, I broke it."

Ford managed to get a hold of his anger before he throttled McKay, and the scientist used the next several minutes to attempt and get the ZPM to work. In his own little world, he was as calm as could be expected, but the field wouldn't put itself back into place, and he didn't know what to do.

Sumner and Sheppard arrived some time later, and while Sheppard moved quickly to McKay's side to ask what was going on, Sumner hung back, his face a stony mask, hardly acknowledging Keras' sudden appearance. He couldn't effectively lead his team while he was burning with rage, but he managed to hold it together and he took several deep breaths as he focused back on the conversation.

"No, we must leave now!" Keras insisted.

Sheppard shook his head. "We can't do that. This isn't even about our ship, it's about the protection of 

your villages." He got right to the point.

Keras turned his head slightly, attempting to digest the information he'd just been given. "I don't understand."

McKay butted in briskly. "Your Sacrifices haven't been keeping the Wraith away; the field this device generates has."

"That's right; the Wraith have stayed away because they know they can't fight when they enter the field." Sheppard added.

"And the field doesn't cover your entire planet. It doesn't have that kind of power. The Sacrifices… they make sure your population doesn't ever grow too big for the shield. Look, they play a part in your survival, but not in the way you think." McKay rushed through his explanation, irritated this was taking so long, and irritated because he couldn't seem to fix the field.

Sumner sighed. "Sheppard, Ford, Keras, come on. Let's keep watch." Sheppard tried not to appear too surprised by the weary tone in the colonel's voice, but obeyed immediately.

And of course, less than a few minutes later, Ares and his little friends arrived, waving their bows and arrows.

"This is not the Well, Keras." Ares sneered.

Sheppard immediately stepped forward, angling his body so he could take an arrow for Keras if need be. "Look, it's my fault. McKay called ahead and said our ship was fixed. I was just saying goodbye."

"You think I am an idiot?" Ares took an angry, calculated step forward.

Sumner stepped in front of Sheppard and was up in Ares' face once more. "I think you're just a little bit cranky. Now, you can escort us back to our ship if you want. We'll even let you watch us leave." He offered with the smallest amount of diplomacy he could muster.

"Lead the way." Ares finally decided.

XXX

And after another delightful confrontation, Sumner found himself once again the target of Ares' friends' bows. His hands were tightly clasping his gun, but it was still pointed at the ground, as was Sheppard's, but he could see Ford was struggling with "fight or flight" and he gave the young man a compassionate shake of the head.

"You have brought the Wraith and destroyed all of our ancestors' work. Simply because you refused to leave when you were told." Ares accused them, but Sumner could see the boy's anger was faltering, no matter how furious he looked.

"It's not that simple." Sumner contradicted him.

"It IS that simple!" Ares spat back, and nodded to one of his boys, who carried a crossbow, and then pointed it at Sumner.

"Sir!" Ford and Sheppard immediately at their guns pointed at the crossbow holder.

"Hold your fire." Marshall ordered almost casually. This almost reminded him exactly of an argument with his son, except Darren had never had a weapon to threaten him with. He wasn't worried… until the crossbow went off and hit Keras in the shoulder.

Marshall snatched the younger man and lowered him to the ground. "Look what you've done." He shot at Ares.

"He's as guilty as you are." And Marshall believed that Ares thought that was true. Darren had always been so confrontational and narrow-minded when he was pissed. "We WILL defend ourselves, and you will not like that." The order for Sheppard and Ford to shoot a volley above the boys' heads was on the tip of his tongue when one of the villagers came racing towards them, shouting something about how the device was real and McKay had fixed it.

"Get the medkit, Ford." Was the only thing he could manage before a faint flash of a smile passed over his face as he looked down at Keras. "Hold on, kid."

XXX

The next day, a group of the villagers and a patched-up Keras had come to see them off. Sheppard was happily entertaining the young leader as the younger kids seemed to flock around McKay, for whatever reason. Sumner spotted Ares in the shadows of the trees, and made his way over there, noting the young man's flinch with hidden amusement. It was good for the kid to be wrong.

"I see Keras has forgiven you." Sumner remarked lightly, turning his back at Ares to look at Sheppard who was smiling and had a hand on Keras' shoulder. "His honor guard wouldn't have let you come near him."

"I guess." Ares muttered sulkily. "He said he didn't blame me at all, and he might have done the same in my position. In one day, you have come and changed the entire structure of our culture. What gives you that right?" He hissed.

"Nothing." Sumner responded, giving Ares a dark look, which softened fractionally. "You remind me of my son. I usually don't like meddling, but the only thing I will say is that you deserved a scare to get all of your heads on the right way."

Ares looked at him, confused, but accepted the odd words and would ponder them later. "I apologize for my abominable behavior. I should not have threatened you."

"You did exactly what I would have done, and what I have done on occasion." Sumner didn't say he forgave Ares, since Ares had threatened his team and that was an unforgivable offense in his eyes, but Ares nodded.

"See you around, kid." Sumner said over his shoulder as he went to rejoin his team and head back to Atlantis.