Two Warriors

By

Stealth Dragon

A/N: By popular demand, here's more. I hadn't planned on adding to A Change, but the idea for this little tid-bit has been stumbling about for quite a while in different forms. I'm going to try and do more chapters from the POV of SG-1 as they bear witness to the recovery of SGA, and the the closeness SGA shows. Each their own story and complete so the status will remain as complete (In other words, it's not a chapter fic, I'm just clumping each story together). As for doing a story concerning what had happened to John and Rodney, though many of you have begged for that story, I'm sorry to say I have no intentions of writing it as I never had any intentions to do a back story behind John's and Rodney's torture to begin with.

Now on with the story.

SGA

Teal'c clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head slightly to one side as he observed the man called Ronon Dex leaning casually back against the wall with arms folded. Teal'c's initial assumption had been that Ronon was indecisive on whether or not to knock on the door belonging to Colonel Sheppard's temporary quarters. It was a short lived assumption as Ronon showed no indications of being unable to make up his mind. He looked like he was waiting, and probably was.

Teal'c broke from his observations and approached the quiet warrior.

" Ronon Dex."

Ronon's head turned whipping ropes of his knotted hair to look Teal'c up and down. He pointed at the Jaffa warrior, " Teal'c right?"

Teal'c bowed his head ever so slightly. " Indeed. I have come to ask if you would like to spar. Your friend Teyla has said that you are a very formidable warrior, and I am curious to see what skills you possess." It normally came as a surprise to Teal'c's own team – off and on – that he possessed a curious nature, normally as he did not express to having such a nature. But observation was key in assessing enemies and opponents, and knowledge was always an advantage in any situation, so Teal'c took every opportunity he could to learn.

Ronon shrugged. " Sounds cool."

Teal'c arched his eyebrow. Only Jonas Quinn had ever taken to using such earth phrases. Ronon did so with an ease as though Earth dialect had always been common to him.

Ronon then jerked his thumb over his shoulder. " Got something I've gotta do first."

Teal'c glanced at the door. " Colonel Sheppard has not come out?"

" It takes him a while," Ronon said, but didn't elaborate.

Teal'c did not know the full extent of what Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay went through – just a condensed version told during a briefing and written in a file. The physical and mental state of the two men filled in the blanks. Until the last three days, Colonel Sheppard had not even emerged from his quarters as he'd been lost in a drugged haze that had severely distorted his perceptions.

" Does he still suffer from delusions?" Teal'c asked.

" Not really. He gets confused sometimes, especially after waking up. But it doesn't last long."

Teal'c inclined his head. Curiosity leaned in, prodding to want to know more, but such traits had yet to ever get what they wanted. Some things were best left unsaid, unknown. These were not his people, so the situation was not his to pry into, and he easily accepted that. They were, however, good people, so questions concerning their welfare were genuine and not out of curiosity.

Besides, what happened did not matter. The outcome mattered. These people's health and well being mattered. Teal'c did not need to know the nightmarish details of the incident to understand it. Within the facade of Ronon's indifferent posture hummed tension. Within his eyes flickered lightning quick snatches of anger. It brought to Teal'c's mind memories of his own vigils standing outside doors or next to infirmary beds, forced to endure the aftermath of pain suffered by those close to him, with absolutely nothing he could do about it. So as though to make up for it, every waking minute, and minutes when he should have been asleep, he spent keeping vigil and attending to every need of the one's who suffered.

Most of the time, Teal'c found contentment in it, no matter how small the task or short the watch. In this man, Ronon, there was no contentment. There was, however, acceptance as the man was not pacing the halls raging against lost chances at retribution. Given the chance, Teal'c knew this man would seek revenge the moment he could. But because he could not, not right away, he took what he could get.

Teal'c decided it would be best to leave, and was about to turn.

" They cheated."

Teal'c froze and turned back. " Cheated?"

Ronon lifted an arm away from his chest to scratch the top of his head. " When I finally got to Sheppard, he was curled up in a corner with his arms covering his head because this guy wouldn't stop kicking him. He wasn't a big guy. Short, pudgy – the kind of guy even McKay could have taken down in hand to hand combat. The little man and his guards didn't notice me at first. The runt was too preoccupied with beating Sheppard. Kept gloating about how he'd broken the 'mighty warrior'. I went in, killed the guards... Couldn't kill the runt, though. He was too pathetic. It was enough just to make him wet himself. By then, I just didn't care. I just wanted to get Sheppard and McKay out of there. For a time..." Ronon faltered and looked away, only for a heartbeat before returning his gaze to the floor. " For a time, I thought the runt really had broken Sheppard. He kept screaming while I was carrying him out, kept struggling, but was too weak to break free. After we got him home and Beckett told me he'd been drugged..."

A small, slightly amused, but mostly melancholy smile tugged at Ronon's lips. " I was relieved. Mad too, but not as much as I should have been. It meant they hadn't broken him. Couldn't, so they filled him full of drugs just to pretend they did. A lot of drugs according to Beckett, which meant that Sheppard kept fighting right up to the end, when he no longer had sense enough to fight. They couldn't break him, so they cheated."

Teal'c could not say if Ronon's theory was true. He did not know Colonel Sheppard enough to make such a call. Yet something deep within Teal'c whispered to him the truth of Ronon's words. Teyla had said that Ronon was a man of pure truths. So if Ronon believed that Sheppard could not be broken, then he could not be broken.

A muffled cry grabbed both men's attention. Ronon reacted quickly as though he'd been given a silent command and burst through the door without knocking. Teal'c remained just outside but stood where he could see inside. Ronon flipped on the light and moved in several long strides to the corner where the skeletal body of Colonel Sheppard was huddled and attempting to press in further. The man's sunken eyes wandered wildly around the room without actually seeing it. Sheppard's breath came fast and labored, his body shook, and he was muttering incoherently. Ronon moved slow in crouching down beside the panicked man. He reached out and took Sheppard's face into both hands to turn the Colonel's head until eye-contact was made.

" Sheppard," Ronon said. " Sheppard. Look at me."

The muttering stopped, the eyes stilled, and Sheppard's breathing slowed. " Ronon?" Sheppard croaked.

Ronon dropped his hands with one touching the floor and the other draped over one knee. " Yeah. It's me."

Sheppard stared at him for a moment, blinking rapidly, probably to clear away the sleep film and dream remnants. The tension visibly drained from Sheppard's body until he slumped against the wall in exhaustion. He brought up one shaky hand and rubbed the side of his face, steering his hand to massage both his eyes.

" Crap," he groaned, then dropped his hand limply to the floor with a thud on the coarse carpet. " Bloody freakin' hell."

Ronon grinned. " You've been around Beckett too long."

The comment induced a weak smile from Sheppard. " Ya think?" But it was a brief smile that faded quickly away. Sheppard closed his eyes and shook his head. " This really sucks, Chewie."

Teal'c cocked an eyebrow at the nickname.

Ronon clapped Sheppard lightly on one bony shoulder. " Yeah, I know. Can you get up? You need a shower."

Sheppard cracked one eye open. " That your subtle way of telling me I stink?"

" If you smelled bad, I would have told you. You look cold."

Sheppard nodded. He was calm, but the shivering remained. Ronon released Sheppard's shoulder and shuffled back as Sheppard pressed against the wall in his struggle to rise. A difficult struggle from the way his face screwed up, his legs trembled, and he had to pause every so often just to reclaim energy. Ronon made no room to help. The bigger man rose, watched, and waited but with his arms loose at his sides, just in case. Sheppard's journey to his feet was long, arduous, and seemingly agonizing for the man. But it was a journey he fought with everything he had to complete. Sheppard's body was weak. The sweat-soaked gray shirt clung to him like skin that had shrunk around his bones. Those bones looked fragile enough to snap under the slightest pressure, the ribs seemingly as brittle as dried twigs, the legs certain to give out at any moment.

The man himself was anything but weak. His determination was mountain solid, and weak body or not he was going to stand even if he ended up falling more than once to do it. This was not a man who gave up. This was a man who would fight to the bitter end, no matter how drugged or beaten down.

Ronon's theory made perfect sense. Sheppard's tormentors had cheated.

Sheppard's struggles and stubborn resolve won out over his own body, and he was upright leaning against the wall slick with sweat and panting. A triumphant, rather smug smile spread across his face.

" Okay," he said. " I'm up. And I could definitely use a shower for the purpose of getting rid of the bad smell."

Sheppard was careful about turning, and keeping to playing it safe he shuffled along rather than simply walked. Ronon stayed by his side, and it took a moment for Teal'c to realize that Sheppard was leaning a little against the bigger man.

Sheppard lifted his weary head to let his gaze wander the room. His eyes paused on Teal'c, and the emaciated body flinched in momentary alarm. Recognition took its time as Sheppard was not used to Teal'c, just familiar with him. Even when Sheppard bodily relaxed, unease still lingered in his gaze.

Unease and just a little embarrassment, which was perfectly understandable. No matter the strength of the soul, the frail body was what grabbed attention. However, once the shock of seeing someone in such a state had passed, allowing the strength to have its turn at being noticed, then the frail body no longer demanded an audience. Teal'c smiled congenially at Sheppard and bowed his head in greeting.

" Colonel Sheppard," he said. " Good day to you."

Sheppard smiled tentatively back. " Hey... Uh... Teal'c?"

" That is correct. You are looking well today," which was the truth. Teal'c no longer saw the state of the body, just the state of the soul.

Sheppard's crooked smile became slightly more genuine. " Thanks." Daniel had always said of Teal'c that there was no denying the warrior's honesty, even if you'd just met him for the first time.

Ronon escorted Sheppard to the bathroom but let the Colonel handle things from here on in. Ronon waited outside the door leaning his shoulder against the frame with arms folded again. Sheppard was not in the bathroom for long, and eventually emerged wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and gray sweat pants. Drops of water flecked from the man's wild black hair to soak into the shoulders of the shirt and down his back. He shivered, then was handed a jacket by Ronon.

" You need to stop by the infirmary after you eat," Ronon said.

Sheppard nodded as he slid the jacket over his arms. " I know the routine, big guy."

" I'm still supposed to remind you."

" Just because McKay tells you to do something doesn't mean you have to listen. I'm still the team leader here."

Teal'c stepped aside to let them out the door, and joined them as they headed up the hall to the mess.

" He's just worried about you."

Sheppard snorted. " I'm worried about him but you don't see me reminding him of every little thing every twenty minutes."

" You kept telling him to keep off his leg."

" Has he listened yet?"

" No. I saw him just a couple of minutes ago."

" There you have it then. I have the right to nag, he doesn't..."

Teal'c smiled at the exchange of words, and felt honored to be in the company of these two great warriors.

The End

A/N: I liked writing Teal'c's POV, though I don't know if I got it quite right. I'm going to plan out POV ficlets for Daniel and Cam, but they may be a while in coming. Sorry there was no McKay in this one but I'll try to have him in the next two.