RP: Visiting New Athos

[shepcrew]

[some time after this and this.]


She's still stinging from the conversation she had with John following the Marine sweep of Michael's base of operations. She had expected it to be unpleasant, but never had one of their arguments been so violent. She tried to reconcile his uncharacteristic behaviour during the mission with the aftermath as she waited for Chuck to dial the 'Gate. She was returned to her people for several days, a subtle request granted by a concerned Doctor Beckett.

That John was hurt and betrayed by her lies was no surprise; still, why a part of her had underestimated his ire was beyond her. She should know better.

The wormhole sprang into being, and Teyla barely registered the sounds. She repositioned her pack on her shoulder, double checked to make sure she had her GDO and then stepped into the glistening puddle.

She was met by her people as she stepped out on the other side. She forced a smile and allowed them to escort her back to the settlement, giving vague answers to their questions. She smiled at Rane, the young Athosian man she had decided would be the go-between for her and Michael, and headed to the tent her people had set up for her.

Once she had refreshed herself, she took a solo-hike out to the drop-point to make sure the place was still as hidden as she had remembered it. Satisified that all was in place, she sat down to meditate, hoping that the solitude would help calm her already frayed nerves.




[Um, I just realized that we forgot to do the "Beckett's dead bit" in the other RP, so, um, he'll be alive and we can kill him when Atlantis flees Lantea. Keller's presence is easily explained by stating that she was there for field experience and to work under Beckett so she could be more effective in her stint at the SGC and ends up being permanently stationed on Atlantis as Beckett's replacement.]

Comments

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

Michael wasn't sure what to expect when he came through the gate, although he was prepared for an armed greeting. And, to an extent, to be killed on sight. He wasn't too surprised when he wasn't. He also wasn't expecting to live to walk back through the gate.

Still, he didn't have anything to lose. And so he found himself walking, a strange tightness in his chest, to their rendezvous point.

She was sitting, quiet and still, meditating. One thought flickered through his mind and was pushed back so abruptly it almost might not have existed. For the rest... rather than disturb her for the moment he simply sat in front of her, quietly, waiting for her to open her eyes.

[D'oh! That works. It's not like there wasn't a significant amount of damage when they fled the planet.]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She senses him as he nears, her ability allowing her to have some forewarning of his approach. She doesn't move as he sits, nor does she open her eyes.

Instead, she allows a part of her mind to brush against his in a sorrowful greeting, but nothing more. Just an acknowledgment of his presence.


[Poor girl is so going back to the LC to indulge in a little Wraith-snuggle therapy after all this. And yes, I hid Sheppard so he wouldn't have to hear me say "Wraith-snuggle therapy".]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He hadn't counted on that. She hadn't been nearly so alert not the last time but the time before that. She really has been learning, and it makes him wonder from whom, and what else she's learned.

The tone of her touch startles him even more. Nothing combative, nothing antagonistic. Quiet and simple and for a moment he isn't sure how to respond. When he does it's hesitant and wary, but with the same quiet greeting. And, underneath, a polite patience that will wait until she's ready.

[I'm watching The Siege. I'd forgotten how pissed Sheppard got when Teyla screamed and dropped. So protective. And hee. Wraith-snuggle therapy sounds so incongruous.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She's grateful for his patience, and she lets him know that. Once she's calmed enough to be at least semi-functional in the presence of company, she opens her eyes.

"Michael."


[*had mad urge to start over from S1 the other day, even though she isn't even through her re-watch of S3 yet* Sigh. I miss Old Skool SGA. And Shep's even more of a woobie before he gets his Pegasus Street Smarts. Also? We need an icon list. Because Wraith-Snuggle Therapy needs several icons, each with a different slant to them.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

"Teyla."

He wonders if her nervousness is for him or for her people. The underlying tension that was there, that she has subsumed. He wonders if she would expect him to ask. He doesn't. Just incase.

[*g* Shep's just a woobie in general; I haven't watched enough of S1 to really remember. And yes. HEE. Shep's head would explode if anyone mentioned Wraith-Snuggle Therapy]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

If her were...somebody else, she might have thrown herself at him and crawled into his lap. But, alas, he is not that someone else, and so she forces a tiny smile.

"I am glad to see you are well."


[:D]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

This is so not going how he expected. Even after their first converation. He nods politely. "And I, you, as well." There may be a faint pause between that and his next comment.

"May I ask what happened after I left the planet?"

[*cracks up at the crawl into his lap thing*]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She nods, her smile turning rueful. "I met the Colonel and the Marines before I reached the surface. After telling them about the lab and warning the Marines about your creatures, Colonel Sheppard literally dragged me back to Atlantis. He left me in the infirmary, where I convinced Doctor Beckett to allow me to come here."

She takes a ragged breath. "Afterwards, Sheppard and I...talked." And by talked she means had a blazing row and the tone implies that it did not end well.


[Heh, it's how she's feeling right now.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He takes that in, thinking. Listening, both to what she's saying and what she's not saying aloud. "He is concerned for your safety and your well-being," is all he says for a moment.

There's another solution, but he isn't sure he wants to offer it up yet.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She sighs with a tiny shake of her head. "That is but a small part of it. I lied to him, even though it hurt me to do so. He did not take kindly to that. It was that, that fueled his anger. A minor betrayal made all the worse because I have never done so to him before. And in a setting such as a mission that would have been dangerous and potentially fatal? He has every right to be furious with me."

She can't help the confession from tumbling out. There is no way she would admit wrong to Sheppard's face, not so soon after the incident in question and its subsequent consequences.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He listens, wondering. Tired, and maybe a little saddened by what she says, although he isn't sure why. "You didn't have to do that," he says quietly, after a moment. She didn't have to protect him, didn't have to warn him. He wonders why she did. Especially at the price she is paying.

And then: "I did not intend for you to do that, and risk..." Whatever it is she's risked. He doesn't know Sheppard all that well.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She closes her eyes briefly before fixing him with a steady look. "But I did," she says.

[Can you deny that you would have captured me and held me out of spite for what we had done to you, if I had not?] There is no accusation or anger or anything directed at him in the statement. It is merely a question, meant for him to understand what she was protecting.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

Her lack of rancor invites the same on his part, keeps him calm. Helps him admit, equally calmly: [I would have captured you, used those of you who I could, and the soldiers would have taken the rest.] It is no more and no less than the truth.

And he wonders how easily she slips back and forth between speech and mind-speech. She wasn't like that the last time they met.

[I could tell him that, if you like.] Slight smile. He sighs. [Turn myself in. Throw myself upon the mercy of Atlantis.] That one word, mercy, is deeply laced with sarcasm.

On the plus side, if he does, they're probably more likely to just kill him now instead of pump drugs into his system.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[No.] She shakes her head lightly. [I think even a tiny part of Colonel Sheppard realizes what would have happened, had I not done what I did.]

Which is why she was tossed into the infirmary and not the brig.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

[No?] That surprises him, a little. It would have been hard to mistake his sincerity and willingness to turn himself in. [No...]

Mmm. Strange. [Well, he's not an idiot. And he participated extensively in the whole... experiment.] Now that's a word loaded with distaste. [He should remember how I felt, and be able to imagine what would happen if I encountere you again.] You lot, that is, not you-Teyla.

He isn't sure what he wants to do with Teyla.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

[No, he isn't. And yet I still turned him into one when I chose to try and contact you rather than walk blindly into your trap.] This is stated with the same neutrality as before, and perhaps a bit of a speculative note to it, as if even she can't believe she did what she did.

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

[Why did you not simply tell him what you were doing from the beginning?] he asks, now curious. Even he knows her well enough to know that this isn't like her. Much as he appreciates the outcome.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She sighs. [Because he did not approve of the plan when it was suggested to him. He doubted that risking myself in such a way would be beneficial. ...And, as much as he trusts me, he did not fully trust the source of our information, stating that there was a possibility of being deceived.]



[Not sure if you want the LC to be mentioned, so she won't. Because it's the best kept sekrit of Team Sheppard and Doctor Wier.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He doesn't ask about her source, presuming she would like to protect her people as much as he would have protected his, had he any. [Ah.] Pause. He isn't sure how to take that.

[You did take a great risk.] He ... isn't sure what he would have done, had she tried any other approach. He doesn't know what other approaches she might have tried. Still, he has been, sometimes still is, a very angry Wraith. With nothing whatsoever, he believes, to lose.

[Probably easier that way. Especially so we don't have two Michaels wandering in and out of the LC]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

A tired smile. [I had faith.] The unspoken implication adds the words in you to the end of that sentence.

[Colonel Sheppard, not so much. But one can hardly blame him.]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

[Not really, no.] Again the faith. Why? Why does she persist in this, insisting that he is better than he feels? It makes him...

... uncomfortable, somehow, and a little afraid. Of his own impulse to live up to her expectations, of his emotional reaction to her sentiments.

[Not so big a risk.] It's unexpected, almost the mental equivalent of blurting, although quietly. [I doubt I would have hurt you...] You-Teyla, not you-Atlantis team. An admission of feeling he isn't sure he wants her to know.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She ventures a hand on his knee. A reassuring physical touch to go with the mental. [Why would you have captured me, then?]


[She's going to end up with two Michaels, isn't she? And, um, other thread: Michael's computer: Tablet-style computer or laptop style computer?]

[notmichael.livejournal.com]

He makes himself not stare, for that. [Leverage. Ronon Dex would shoot me on sight.] But it's obvious, or may be considering he's still getting used to her increase in telepathic skill, that that's not the only reason. He could capture McKay for leverage, and it would probably be easier.

[*snickersnort* Most likely. *sighs* He's so, so alone. And she's the only one who ever shows him any kindness. And, tablet.]

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She's amused by that. [Ronon would shoot you regardless.]


[*sigh* See what being nice gets you? Groupies. ;) ]

[gospikey.livejournal.com]

Continue... :-P

Spikey