Enslaved

By Leesa Perrie

This between the episodes after 'Echoes', but before later episodes. However, I am putting over one year between theses two episodes, partly hence the AU designation. Rodney McKay goes missing three weeks after 'Echoes', but this story starts a year after that.

Be warned of spoilers for 'Irresponsible' and 'Tao of Rodney'.

Chapter One – Gone Without a Trace

Atlantis - One year after losing McKay.

Carson Beckett was not a happy man. Colonel Sheppard's team had come to P2L-209 to trade with the inhabitants, to discover a plague in progress. It wasn't that Carson didn't want to help these people, it was that he was going off world to do so. He should be used to gating off world by now, he knew. And he should be used to collecting equipment and taking it with him into primitive situations. But it still made him nervous; the whole going through the gate. Not to mention, the whole never knowing what was going to happen once through the gate.

Of course, the fact that it was a year to the day that Rodney McKay, his annoying but valued friend had disappeared on a similar mission, had nothing to do with it. Except he knew it did. The plague that Sheppard had detailed sounded very familiar. Awfully familiar. In fact, it sounded like the same plague that he had been called in to try and cure, and failed to cure, when Rodney went missing.

No one knew what had happened to him. He went to get something for Carson from the supply tent that had been set up, but never returned. There had been no trace, no clue of what had happened or where he might have gone. Even Ronon couldn't find anything to help them locate their missing friend.

And they had looked. They had torn the planet apart looking for the Canadian pain in the neck. Eventually, the search was reluctantly called off by Elizabeth. He knew Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla still went back to the planet from time to time, but that was it. Rodney McKay was MIA, possibly dead.

He sighed. This seemed wrong. The timing, the nature of the plague, everything. And even after all this time, he couldn't adjust to seeing Radek on Sheppard's team. Radek, who had jumped at nothing on his first trip off world, but who had stepped up to the plate and taken McKay's place, despite his worries, because he knew it would be what Rodney would have wanted. And, amazingly, Radek had adjusted to the danger, and whilst Carson believed Radek would more than be happy to retreat back to the labs if he felt that he could, he had also proved himself in the field. Still nervous, but able to control his fears, hide them, and do whatever needed to be done.

Of course, for all that the Colonel, Teyla and Ronon had taken Radek in as a part of the team, no one doubted for a moment that that would all change should McKay be found alive and well. It was clear that Radek would be happy to stand down and therefore Rodney's place on the team was secure as long as Radek filled it.

Carson sighed. If this was the same plague as had hit M8J-459 a year ago, there wasn't much hope of finding a cure. He had continued tests on it even after the population had died, but had soon realised that the plague was unlike anything he had seen before, and was outside of their current level of medical knowledge. Eventually, he'd had to leave it and turn to more pressing work. The only good thing about that plague was the fact that it had been tailored to kill the local inhabitants on M8J-459 specifically, and the Atlantis personnel, including Ronon and Teyla, had proved immune to its effects.

Carson gathered his equipment, and waited for the gate tech to dial P2L-209. Looking back briefly to nod to an anxious looking Elizabeth, he headed through the wormhole to meet up with Radek, who would take him to the village.

M8J-459 – A Wraith ship - One year previously

Rodney McKay woke up to a nightmare. Strapped to a table on a Wraith ship, he so desperately wanted to scream, but somehow managed to stop himself, afraid that it would bring someone to investigate. He did, however, struggle against the restraints frantically for several moments before rational thought returned, and he stopped. The restraints were too tight and too strong. He was trapped.

Trying not to hyperventilate, he cast his eyes around the…lab. Oh yes, definitely looked like a lab…a Wraith lab…and over there, with its back to him…a Wraith. His breathing increased, and it was all he could to control it. His eyes darted around the room, panic squeezing his heart, and he realised one more thing; there were no other Wraith here, at least, not yet.

Movement drew his eyes back to the Wraith as it turned to look at him. Male, not a drone, and, oh crap, approaching him. Rodney pulled back, but the restraints stopped his movements, as the Wraith stood over the table, bringing its face in close to Rodney's. He remembered both Teyla and Sheppard saying how the Wraith seemed to like getting into your personal space, real close. Like this one was. And he couldn't move away from it.

"Please," he whimpered. "Don't…please…"

It grinned at him, enjoying his fear and panic, but pulled back slightly.

"You are mine, human," it said.

"Um…yours?" Rodney managed to say, not liking the slight squeak to his voice.

"Mine," it reiterated, placing its hand over his chest.

"No…please…" Rodney closed his eyes, expecting the worst. Instead, the Wraith pulled its hand away and…laughed. It laughed…at him. McKay felt anger stirring, battling with his fear, and opened his eyes to glare at the Wraith.

The Wraith merely leaned in closer again, and trailed a finger down the side of his face. And then…Rodney screamed, as the Wraith invaded his mind. Flicking through his memories like some kind of rolodex; reading his thoughts. Rodney was powerless against it. This wasn't how Carson had described what Michael had done to him on that planet…this was something else…something worse…

It felt like an eternity, but was only minutes. The touch of the Wraith's mind burned him, leaving an imprint, and then it was gone, and his screams subsided into pain filled sobs.

"Mine," the Wraith said once more, before injecting Rodney with something, causing darkness to calm the fire still burning in his mind.

P2L-209 – The Village - One day after Carson's arrival

The plague was almost a carbon copy of the one on M8J-459, except that it was now tailored to the people of P2L-209. Again, Sheppard and his team, as well as Beckett and a handful of personnel he had requested to join him, were immune. And again, a cure was proving impossible to find.

The Colonel, Ronon, Teyla, Radek and himself seemed to be especially on their guard, the events here too much like a year ago, and the fear of losing another member of the expedition the same way as Rodney was clearly on all of their minds. No one went anywhere unaccompanied, and to be extra safe, everyone had a subcutaneous transmitter fitted, in the hopes that if someone was to go missing, they could be found easily. Unless they were taken somewhere shielded, of course.

He had worked almost constantly after arriving here, only taking short breaks when forced to. But he knew it was hopeless, and grew depressed as well as frustrated as each villager died despite all of his and his medical team's efforts to save them.

A few hours later, he, along with Ronon, entered a hut belonging to an ailing villager at the very edge of the village. There was a blue light, and then nothing, until he woke up later, alone, in a cell. A Wraith cell…

M8J-459 – The Wraith ship – One year ago

When Rodney awoke this time, he was no longer in restraints, but he was still in the Wraith lab…with the Wraith. His head ached, and the skin on his left cheek felt tender. Confused and very scared, he slowly pulled himself upright, looking towards the open doorway...and then he felt it, the Wraith, in his mind…a dark and brooding presence, but this time there was no pain, just a horrible, creepy awareness.

"You cannot escape, Rodney McKay."

"Get out of my mind," Rodney snapped. The Wraith turned to look at him, and he shivered. "Please," he added more calmly.

"When I am ready," the Wraith merely answered. "You are mine now, completely, to do with as I wish. The imprinting is complete, I can access your thoughts, your memories, your knowledge whenever I wish, and you cannot stop me. I own you."

"Imprinting?" Rodney said, trying to ignore the ownership issue, trying to understand what this Wraith had done to him.

The Wraith approached, and Rodney found himself off the table and backing away before he was aware of his actions. The Wraith simply looked amused at this, and continued to approach, backing him into a corner, and looming over him.

"For every few thousand Wraith born, there is one such as I. One who can connect to a human in a way others of my kind can't. Those such as I are normally killed, but I was able to escape death. However, I am shunned, an outcast. To be connected to a human in this way is seen as a weakness, but with the right human, it can be a strength," the Wraith placed its hand over Rodney's heart, but did not feed. "Your mind is strong, and you have much knowledge I can make use of. You will be a fine slave. The imprint allows me to access your mind as I please…and enslaves you to me. I can kill you with a thought, should I wish to, Rodney McKay."

Throughout this speech, all Rodney could think of was how incredibly screwed he was, and when was his team going to get here and rescue him from this nightmare.

"Your team will not find you. Soon we will leave this planet, and they will never find you then. You should be pleased. If they found you, I would have to kill you. That would be such a waste."

The Wraith pulled away from him, returning to whatever it was working on, and secure in the knowledge that Rodney could not, would not run.

And the fact was, he could not run, not if he wanted to stay alive. Besides, if this Wraith could access his mind so easily…he couldn't go home.

Home. Atlantis. Oh no…

"I have no interest in Atlantis. Nor in helping those who would kill me. Your secret is safe from other Wraith, for now. Of course, if you try to run, not only will I be forced to kill you, but I will ensure that Atlantis' continued existence, as well as Earth's location, is passed onto them."

And now he really couldn't run, could he?

Oh crap, he was so, very, very screwed.

P2L-209 – The Wraith ship – About an hour after waking up

Carson had hoped that Sheppard and the others might have located him by now, via the transmitter, but if so, no rescue attempt had yet been made. Neither had he seen any Wraith since he had woken up, for which he was extremely grateful.

But the sounds of footsteps meant something was about to change. His hope was that it was rescue, but it sounded like one person, or Wraith… Not a good sign, he decided.

Fully expecting a Wraith to appear in front of his cell, it took him a moment to realise that the person standing there, wearing Wraith clothing, was not a Wraith. In fact, it was…

"Rodney!"

"Hello, Carson," Rodney looked into his eyes, quickly averting his gaze at Carson's reaction to seeing him face on.

"Oh crap," Carson moved closer to the door. "Rodney, what's happened to you?"

"This?" he asked dully, fingering the tattoo that covered his left cheek. "Some Wraith use tattoos to indicate which hive they belong to. The one who owns this ship is alone, rejected by his kind. He altered his tattoo, and now I wear it as a sign of being part of his hive. His hive of two; one Wraith and me."

"Bloody hell."

"That about sums it up," Rodney said flatly. "I'm sorry about this. My Wraith," he huffed a bitter laugh at that. "My Wraith has decided that he wants you to help him with his experiments. You were the target the first time, but he caught me by mistake. But I've been useful to him, just in different ways."

"And now he has me."

"Yes. Takes him a while to engineer the plague to kill only a specific group of people, and then he had to wait for a team from Atlantis to arrive before he could release it," Rodney saw the look in Carson's eyes, and cut him off before he could start. "Don't you dare blame yourself for their deaths. He's killed far more people for far less reason in his life…you can't be held responsible for his actions."

"Maybe, but the fact remains, the people on both planets are dead or dying because he wants me."

"Not your fault."

"Maybe. I have no intention of helping him…"

"Not like me, you mean?" Rodney said bitterly, before turning haunted eyes to him. "You think I want to be his…his slave? He knows about Atlantis, knows how to find Earth. He has no interest in any of that, or in passing the information on, but if I disobeyed or tried to escape, he would do that. He'd kill me, and then make sure that Atlantis and Earth fell to the Wraith. You think he won't use the same threats on you?" Rodney's voice had risen during this talk, as he tried to make Carson understand what was at stake and explain his actions.

"Aye, I expect he will. But I'm hoping for a rescue sometime soon."

"No one came last time," Rodney stated dispiritedly. "And no one will come this time. He'll make sure no one can find us."

"Maybe, but…"

"Don't. If you have reason to hope, keep it to yourself. I…he can read my mind whenever he wants to, with no effort. Not like other Wraith, that's why he was cast out by them. He's connected to me, imprinted himself onto me, and I can't stop him. I can't…" he trailed off, distressed and embarrassed. "He owns me, Carson, completely. I can't fight him, and there's nowhere I can go to escape him, even if he wasn't holding Atlantis and Earth over me. He says he can kill me with just a thought. It may even be true, I don't know, but I know he can read me and that I can't stop him," he rubbed a hand through his hair, shuddering slightly. "I can plot all I want, try to find a way out of this mess, but he reads my mind frequently, without warning. He finds it amusing, my plans to kill him, to get away. Because he knows I can't. That he'd find out and stop me before I could, and that I know that too," he looked at Carson, fear and anger in his eyes. "He finds me amusing, Carson. Amusing, like some…some pet… some…"

"Easy, Rodney."

"You don't know what it's like. To feel his presence in your mind, to feel his laughter…You don't know what it's like," the last came out in a whisper.

Carson was leaning against the doorway, and he reached through a gap in the membrane, placing a hand on Rodney's arm.

"It sounds a lot worse than anything I experienced with Michael," he said calmly, quietly. "I'm sorry."

Rodney looked at the hand on his arm.

"I don't think he can connect to more than one human at a time. You might be safe from this, unless he releases me. I don't think he intends to release me, though. He seems very… possessive of me."

"Just hold on, a little longer, Rodney. I'm still hopeful for a rescue… or maybe an escape."

"I've tried to hold on, really I have, but it's been so long. He has me trapped, enslaved… you don't know what it's been like," Rodney's eyes were desperate. "I lost all hope of getting out of this some time ago. It's too hard…" he trailed off, ashamed of his outburst.

Carson pulled on Rodney's arm, making him look him in the eyes again.

"Trust me," he said simply. And the Canadian pain in the neck, the annoying but valued friend, nodded and smiled. Just slightly, hesitantly. And then left. Carson just prayed that he didn't end up letting Rodney down.

P2L-209 – The Wraith ship - Half an hour of waiting later

Further footsteps alerted Carson, and this time there were more than one person approaching. The hurried but quiet steps came closer, and he almost fainted in relief when Radek appeared outside the cell door, immediately starting work on opening it, as Teyla, Sheppard and Ronon covered his back.

"Colonel," Carson breathed out. "Oh crap, am I glad to see you."

"Hey, you okay?" the Colonel asked in a quite voice.

"Better now," he replied. "Colonel, Rodney's here."

"What? Do you know where?"

"No, sorry, but he's on this ship. Apparently, there is only one Wraith on board, and you have to kill it, as it knows too much."

He then went on to explain as quickly and succinctly as he could what Rodney had told him about the Wraith, the plague and Rodney's situation. The door opened just as he finished catching them up with what he had found out.

"Any idea what the experiments are?" Sheppard asked.

"No, Rodney didn't say. Does it matter?"

"I hope not," Sheppard stood in thought for a moment. "Okay, Ronon, you, Teyla and Radek check out the ship that way," he pointed to the left. "Carson and I will head this way," pointing to the right. "Stay in radio contact, every five minutes. If you see Rodney before the Wraith, don't let him see you. If that thing can read his mind…"

"Understood," Ronon said.

"Good. We need to kill the Wraith first, then rescue Rodney, and get the hell out of here."

Once he was sure they were all on the same sheet, they split up into groups to search the ship.

P2L-209 - The Wraith Ship – Fifteen minutes of searching later

Sheppard and Carson heard voices, and approached the room they were coming from carefully.

"How long to repair the inertial dampeners, Rodney?" a Wraith voice asked.

"Another hour," came the emotionless response.

They cautiously looked into the room, and saw that Rodney was sitting in front of a console, with the Wraith standing over him, a hand placed on his shoulder. As they watched, the Wraith leaned down, bringing his face close to Rodney's, thoroughly invading his personal space. Sheppard had expected a reaction; maybe a shudder, or a recoil even, but Rodney seemed resigned to it.

"One hour is not acceptable," the Wraith hissed. "Work faster."

"I'll…try."

"Good," the Wraith moved away from Rodney, and Sheppard saw his opportunity, entering the room shooting. Rodney spun round, and then dived to the floor.

A few seconds later, and the Wraith was dead. Sheppard put a few more shots in, just to be certain. Carson entered the room, heading for Rodney, who had screamed as the Wraith died, and was now holding his head in his hands and rocking in pain, whimpering.

"Oh crap. Rodney, lad, are you okay?" Carson sat next to him, trying to pry Rodney's hand away. "Come on, let me see."

"No, no…" the voice was weak, pain filled. "Oh crap, it hurts… it hurts… Carson… please… it hurts…"

Sheppard sat the other side of Rodney, looking worried, and offering Carson the med kit from his pack.

"We need to get him out of here. We have a couple of cloaked jumpers outside."

"Okay," Carson said, injecting Rodney with a field dose of morphine. "Just give him a moment, this should take the edge off."

Sheppard contacted the rest of his team, telling them to fall back to the jumpers. Rodney's shuddering and rocking motion began to still, as the morphine took effect.

"Hey, buddy," Sheppard said gently. "Think you can move yet? We have a nice ride waiting outside for us."

Rodney looked up, his eyes still pinched with pain, but nodded carefully. Although Carson had mentioned the hive tattoo on Rodney's face, it was more disturbing than John had thought it would be to see it in the flesh. However, he managed to hide his reaction beneath a grin.

"Good, let's get out of here."

"The hibernation chamber…you need to destroy his experiments," Rodney said, wincing at the sound of his own voice. "Tried to create Wraith with the ATA gene. Not sure of his success, but need to…to destroy them. Five of them."

"Okay," Sheppard said. "Let's get you safely aboard one of the jumpers first, and then I'll deal with them."

"Sounds… good."

Carson and Sheppard helped him to stand. He swayed, groaned loudly, but stood nonetheless. Supporting him, they moved out to the waiting jumpers.

Once Rodney and Carson were safely onboard, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and a small team of marines, that had been guarding the two jumpers, returned to the cruiser, placing explosives throughout the ship. Sheppard and Ronon made sure that the five hibernating young Wraith were dead, before retreating back to the jumpers. Sheppard remained in the back with Rodney and Carson, allowing Major Lorne to fly them home.

Once they were all far enough away, they detonated the explosives, destroying the Wraith ship. A jumper on recon had picked up an approaching hive ship on its sensors, which was now about an hour out, so they didn't have time to study or try to take control of the Wraith ship they'd found on the surface.

Fortunately, with the rescue going without a hitch, they were able to return to Atlantis long before the hive ship arrived.