Fic: The City is an Island, by scherryzade [h/c challenge]
Title: The City is an Island
Rating: PG, gen
Character: OC & ensemble
Disclaimer: Not mine (except the mistakes), no harm meant.
Summary: Whether she believes the stories or not, Janel never expected to cross paths with the Lanteans. Injured and evacuated to the City of the Ancestors, she finds the newcomers very different from her expectations.
The City is an Island
The market at Ordan was chaotic, half in a panic over the renewed threat of culling, half in a flurry of activity to distract from that fear.
Idiot that she is, Janel didn't realise what she was seeing at first. She just saw travellers. The market brought people from many worlds, no face too strange, no clothing too different, no trade too new - or old.
The tallest of the men was testing blades, checking weight and balance and ignoring the stallkeeper's patter. The man - Satedan, if I'm any judge - had already picked out three knives. His companion also looked casually through the weapons, but seemed content with the firearm he never quite let go of, and the unwieldy looking blade on his hip.
The other half of the party had wandered closer, the woman looking at skeins of fabric, the third man following, watching the market with an expression of resigned disgust.
She was losing interest - the weapons marked them out as a hard-science race, not likely to be swayed by her wares, and she was too far from home to be ashamed of that - when the last man called out.
"Sheppard! Will you two stop fondling weapons so we can get out of here?"
She looked around in horror, but no-one else had heard.
Sheppard. The Black Colonel of Atlantis. Which meant the Satedan was Ronon Dex, and the woman Emmagan of Athos. Traitors. The third man must be their 'scientist' - Doctor McKay, she thought. Planet-killer.
She cursed her superstition. She'd spent too long travelling the rings, listening to the credulous and the ignorant. When did I start listening to Genii?
But if she didn't believe all the stories (How do you blow up a solar system, anyway?), she believed enough to extrapolate that the presence of the Lanteans was bad news.
When she saw the flash of muzzle fire, she almost laughed. Instead, she ran.
Rough hands pulled her down behind one of the stalls, and she found herself staring into frightened blue eyes. The scientist. She tried to scramble away from him.
"Oh, for - Just stay down, ok?"
She stared at him, his face split by the unhappy downslant of his mouth.
"They're not looking for you, are they? So if you just stay out of the way, instead of running around like a headless chicken, they're not going to shoot you."
His radio crackled. "McKay! Where the hell are you?" He slapped at the radio control to lower the volume, and hissed, "I'm hiding, Sheppard. Which you are not helping."
She started to move away, but he grabbed at her, pulling her sideways so that the bullet that would have ripped into her throat hit her shoulder instead.
She sat down sharply, and the Lantean followed her, already grasping at her wound, pulling bandages from his pockets to staunch the flow of blood.
"Morons," he snapped. "The entire galaxy. All morons." He slapped his hand over her wound aggressively, his expression still sour.
There was another burst of gunfire, louder this time, and his eyes widened in surprise. His mouth worked as if he was about to snap at her again, but nothing came out. He coughed once, wetly, and tried again.
Nothing.
He stared at her pleadingly, and she tried to hold him up, but her own wound had weakened her, and she found herself trapped by his weight.
The gunfire continued.
~
There was a strange hum around her, and bright lights shining down. Even before she opened her eyes, she knew she was no longer on Ordan. The Lanteans, she remembered with a jolt. They took me with them. She tried to look around surreptitiously, but the Lanteans were watching her closely, and one approached immediately.
"Ah, you're awake, good. How do you feel?"
Like I've been shot. "Not great."
The woman smiled gently. "That's not surprising. You lost a lot of blood." Taking Janel's wrist in her hand, she ran her eye over the machines that surrounded Janel.
"Where am I?" What will you tell me?
The nurse kept smiling. "I'm just going to get a doctor."
She brought over a young man who looked her over with cheerful efficiency and declared her 'on the mend'. He smiled as much as the nurse, and Janel felt herself shrinking away from them.
"Don't worry, you're safe here."
Janel saw someone walk past the doorway, and froze. The Colonel, with a dark expression on his face, fists clenched. That, she thought, was a man she could believe the stories told of, not the amiable stall-browser at the market.
"That's Colonel Sheppard," said the doctor. "He's - well." He fiddled with Janel's bandage. "Doctor McKay's still in surgery..." He trailed off.
"McKay?" Then she remembered bright blue eyes widened in shock.
"He - I think you were shot when they attacked him? Do you remember?" Do you know what he did?
"He tried to stop me."
"Stop you?"
"He pulled me down." She reached for the bandage on her shoulder. "Saved my life." He pulled me a hands-breadth from a bullet through my carotid artery, and I just stared at him while they shot him in the back.
The two medics exchanged looks.
He didn't want to be there.
The Colonel stalked past the doorway, and she looked more closely at him. Anger there, wrath, she thought, but more than that. He looked so weary.
The Athosian woman, Emmagan, approached him, sweeping him into that traditional greeting of theirs. She had a child on her hip, and when the Colonel broke the greeting, he ran his fingers through its hair. "Hey, TJ," he said, smiling weakly. The child babbled eagerly, and held out his arms to the Colonel, who looked disconcerted.
"Would you?" said Emmagan, holding the child out to him.
"Um - sure." He didn't look convinced, but she smiled serenely at him, and he took the child without protest.
"I shall return presently." She smiled at the pair as she left.
"Right." The Colonel stared at the child, who stared patiently back. The child babbled emphatically, pointing at something out of Janel's sight. Sheppard sighed. "I'm sorry, kid. I really have no idea what you're saying." He bounced the child gently, and it giggled. "I get the parental telepathy your mom has, but how come everybody else understands you?"
"Ah boo," remonstrated the child.
"Exactly. There's no way that's a word." This is the butcher of Atlantis?
"Colonel." A new doctor entered, stripping off bloody gloves as she approached him.
He span to face her, holding the child tighter. The child wriggled in protest. "Doctor Keller?"
"He's out of the worst of it, Colonel-"
"Oh, thank-" Sheppard shifted the child, still wriggling, to the other arm.
"It'll take a while, but Rodney's going to be fine."
Sheppard nodded, and the doctor smiled at him. "I'm going to go back in there. You okay out here? You'll be able to see him soon."
"Great." The child had wriggled itself sideways by this point, and Sheppard swung it out to arms length.
The child pouted at him. "Mo ro," it said, and Sheppard gave a startled laugh.
"Yeah, that's me. Moron." He hugged the child, still laughing, and pressed a kiss to the top of the child's head. "Me and him both."
As Janel watched him dandle the child, Sheppard noticed her for the first time. His forehead creased for a moment, and she tried not to shrink back. Then he broke into a gentle smile. Soft and silent 'til you cross him.
"You're awake," he said, walking to her bedside. She nodded, not trusting her voice. "I'm John Sheppard." He gestured towards the child. "This is Torren John." The boy beamed at them both.
Sheppard looked at her expectantly. "Uh. Janel," she said. Of the Five Towns, she did not add. Burnt by the Wraith you woke.
"Janel," he repeated. "Sorry about -" He nodded towards her bandaged shoulder, the smile turning embarassed. "We should never have -"
"It was the Genii?"
A fleeting glimpse of the Black Colonel as he said, "'Rogue' Genii, but yes. They don't like us much. We don't like them either."
"Who does?" I listened to them, though.
"Too many people, these days."
"Not me." I thought I saw truth in their tales.
"Well, no. They shot you." The boy was struggling over Sheppard's shoulder, grabbing a fistful of the Colonel's hair to gain purchase as he went. "Hey, kid, stop that-"
"John." The woman Emmagan had returned.
"Save me, Teyla." Sheppard stooped down, and Emmagan took hold of her son once again.
"Janel, this is Teyla Emmagan. Teyla, this is Janel. She doesn't like the Genii."
Teyla Emmagan bowed to her. "That is understandable, after their disregard for your safety during their ambush of our party."
"That's what I said," Sheppard winked at Janel, and she began to wonder what narcotic they had drugged her with.
Teyla seemed to sense her consternation. "Do not be concerned. You are among friends here."
She stared at the Black Colonel, leaning casually against her bedside, and the treacherous Athosian, half her attention devoted to her son. "On Atlantis," she said, and they exchanged looks, Sheppard wincing slightly. "You didn't think that was still a secret, did you?" They called themselves peaceful explorers, and never said where they travelled from, but everyone knew, soon enough.
"No, it's not that, I just like doing the big reveal. City of the Ancestors and all that." Sheppard shrugged. "But nobody's impressed any more."
They call you godless (atheists, heretics, blasphemers), desecrating the City of the Ancestors. Janel was no prayerful niaf, but this was the City. Impressed?
An alarm sounded, and a voice said "Unscheduled off-world activation."
The Black Colonel was back, she realised, Sheppard suddenly tense and alert. "Who do we have off-world? Teldy, Hughes..."
"Captain Rodriguez."
Sheppard groaned. "I'll give you even money that it's Rodriguez."
"John," said Teyla in a chiding tone.
"I know, I know. I'm gonna - Excuse me," he said to Janel, nodding to her and then Teyla.
As he left, the voice called again. "Med team to the gate room," and the infirmary burst into a flurry of activity. Janel watched as three medics grabbed equipment and loaded a gurney, never reaching for the same bag or getting in each others way. Efficient. They've done this often. She shook the thought away.
"Should I- They'll need this bed." She pushed herself upright, but Teyla held out a hand to stop her.
"Rest, please."
"I'm fine," Janel started, then bit down on the protest. Better here than a prison cell.
Teyla tapped a device at her ear. "Ronon."
"Ro!" exclaimed her son.
"Ronon, when you have a moment, could you join me in the infirmary?" She sighed, and turned back to Janel. "The blade-seller insisted Ronon buy every weapon he used when we were ambushed. I suspect he may have had this in mind when defending himself."
"Ro?" said young Torren.
"Yes, Ronon. I would stay with you myself, but this one -" Teyla shuggled her son on her hip, and he giggled. "- needs to rest, do you not?"
"Ro!"
Teyla shook her head. "Ronon is not restful, Torren."
"Hey, I can be restful." The Satedan loomed up behind Teyla, and she spun round. "Hey, TJ."
"Ew-ee!" The boy giggled as Dex ruffled his hair. Teyla took a step back.
"Please do not do that. His hair will grow like John's."
Dex chuckled, then grew serious. "How's McKay?"
"Jennifer says he will be fine. They will be bringing him out from surgery soon. In the meantime - Ronon, this is Janel,"
He raised a hand in half-salute. "From the Oldan market."
"Janel, this is Ronon Dex. It may seem an imposition, but I am sure you understand. He will stay with you..."
"I understand." His weapon is set to stun. The knives - maybe not.
Dex grinned at her. "In case you decide to go River Tam on our asses."
As Janel stared at him, Teyla sighed. "Hush."
There was a commotion in the corridor approaching the infirmary, the medics pushing the gurney carrying a soldier.
"I'm fine. Tell 'em, Doc." The soldier tried to slip off the gurney, and the medics pushed him down
"Mark, there's a hole in your leg." The reply was from another soldier, not one of the medics. Not a soldier, and not a medic. A doctor of science, then, one of McKay's men.
"It's a scratch."
"Shut up, Mark, and let the nice doctor give you drugs."
The soldier opened his mouth to protest, then stopped. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
"Yes, that's why I have a PhD and you have an HNC in blowing shit up. I know a good idea when see one."
The soldier snorted. "I prefered it when you cowered behind rocks."
"I still do. Didn't I just explain that? Cowering, good idea. Running towards the bad guys -"
"It was dark! I got turned around!"
Another soldier entered, younger than the other, and stopped abruptly when he saw the first. "Jesus, Collins."
"Hey, I'm fine. Actually, I am fine." He frowned.
"Drugs," said the scientist, emphatically.
"Nice. How's your arm?" said the first soldier.
"What? Oh, it's just a scratch," said the younger soldier. Now that he was closer, Janel could see that his right arm was red with blood. The scientist and the closest nurse made the same disbelieving sound.
"Sit down," snapped the nurse.
"I'm fine. It can wait."
"If you prefer, I can sew you up without anaesthetic."
The scientist laughed, then broke off abruptly. "Damn," he said softly, and they all turned to see what he was looking at. Two medics where pulling a gurney in from the adjoining room. Dr McKay, thought Janel, seeing pale skin and a tuft of light brown hair. Teyla and Ronon left her side, going straight to McKay.
"Guess someone's having a worse day than us," muttered the first soldier.
"How is he?" said Teyla to Dr Keller, and she reached out to touch McKay's hand.
"He will be fine." Janel wasn't sure if the doctor believed it. Then Keller said again, with more conviction, "He'll be fine."
Beside Janel, the young soldier pulled himself onto a bed, and sat silently as the nurse cut open his sleeve to look at his wound.
"He's tougher than he looks," said Dex, and Keller nodded.
"Well, that wouldn't be hard," she said, smiling weakly.
Sheppard and another soldier entered, deep in conversation. Sheppard stopped when he saw McKay, clearly itching to go to him, but then turned back to the anxious soldier at his heels. "You did fine, Captain. You know what I say -"
"Everyone home safe? That's a -" She broke off, finally seeing McKay.
"Everyone home, that's all we ask," said Sheppard, gently. "You did good. Good intel, and nobody we like died."
"I lost a jumper."
"Ah, we've a lot of them. Go, Rodriguez, check on your guys. We'll de-brief later."
"Sir, yessir." She stepped smartly away.
Sheppard stood for a moment, the easy command in his expression slipping away, before turning to McKay and the young doctor. The medics pushed the gurney past, towards another room, Keller talking softly of tissue damage and recovery times, her hand never far from McKay's. Sheppard, Teyla and Dex crowded into the room behind her.
Such concern for the planet-killer.
The man who saved me.
Who are these people?
I could run. She looked at the other soldiers, the captain smiling and joking with her wounded men. But I would not reach the Gate, and the City is an island.
Rodriguez turned to the scientist, nudging him a little away from the two soldiers. "You okay?"
He grimaced. "Sure. I might need a dark room to panic in later, but I'm okay. You?" She nodded. He touched her arm, just barely. "Hey, we didn't need that jumper anyway."
The younger soldier looked up guiltily. "I am really sorry about that, Captain."
"Forget about it, Wright. She was flaky anyway. This way, we get Jumper 6 next time."
Teyla came back from McKay's room, her son drooping in her arms. She nodded to Rodriguez and the men as she passed.
"Wright, Collins, stay here. I'll check in on you later." Rodriguez followed Teyla from the infirmary. "Teyla, can I talk to you?"
The scientist clapped Wright on his uninjured arm. "I have to get back to the lab. Don't let him do anything stupid, Tom."
"Huh, you say that now."
As she watched the scientist leave, Janel realised that Ronon had returned, sitting at the far wall so that he could still see into McKay's room while he watched her. Dr Keller bustled past with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Ne, jen jsem slyšel, že to z chirurgie. Nikdo mi nic neřekne." Startled by the unfamiliar sounds, Janel stared at the speaker, hurrying into the infirmary with his hand on his radio. Wild-haired and speaking in tongues, the scientist of Atlantis come...
He looked around, frowning. "Zelenka," said Ronon, and pointed him towards McKay's room.
"Thank you." Zelenka hurried over. "Colonel."
"Hey, Doc." Janel could hear the ragged edges in Sheppard's voice.
"How is he?"
"Quiet."
"Ah, a miracle, eh? This is Dr Keller's work?"
As she strained to hear Sheppard's reply, another scientist entered, cradling his arm. As a nurse hustled him to a bed, one of the soldiers entered, and the scientist shot him a filthy look. "Doc..." said the soldier, as the scientist turned away pointedly.
"I'm not going to apologise," said the soldier, and the scientist whirled back to face him.
"You destroyed a unique specimen! You know we can't go back to M7X-"
"It was trying to eat you!"
"That's an exaggeration. Besides, I had it under control."
"Really? Well then I am sorry, because from where I was standing, it looked like it had its teeth in your arm."
"It doesn't have teeth. Thorns, yes, but not teeth."
"Thorns scratch. Teeth-" The soldier grabbed the scientist's arm, exposing deep, bloody gashes. "-leave marks like that." The scientist flinched, and the soldier let go suddenly. "Jeez, I'm sorry." Elidae, she thought with a start. We always called them teeth, too. There were maybe a dozen attacks each year.
The scientist looked down at his bloody arm, and said nothing. The soldier squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry, David. I just - it attacked you. How else was I supposed to react?"
"Major Lorne." The doctor who had declared her 'on the mend' stood beside them, carrying a tray of instruments, bandages and disinfectant.
Laughter threatened to bubble up. Major Lorne. The little major with the honest face and the hair trigger. These people - they called themselves peaceful explorers and never let their weapons drop, and they take home elidae as house plants?
As Lorne stepped back, the little wild-haired scientist joined him. "What..."
"Oh, don't ask." Major Lorne pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Ah, the evil plant. I will tell Chuck."
Lorne frowned at him. "Thank you, Radek," he said, an edge on his voice. "Say, I hear Rodriguez crashed another jumper."
"Oh, sure, Rodriguez, who is as good a pilot as Colonel Sheppard, she crashed the jumper. Not Wright, who cannot steer engine on railway tracks."
Wright, still sitting beside Collins, sank down in his seat, and the other soldier smirked.
"She does fly like Sheppard," agreed Lorne, the edge giving way to mock innocence.
Zelenka snorted. "I see your point."
Elidae. She hadn't thought of them in years. And then she remembered that she never saw them anywhere but the marshes. "You know we can't go back to M7X" Why not? The marshes wouldn't burn. The elidae will still be there.
When her gaze cleared, Zelenka was gone, and the Major stood in the doorway of McKay's room.
Janel saw Dex watching her, too knowing a look in his eyes. The City is an island, she reminded herself. No way off. She turned instead to watch Lorne, and forced her hands to unclench.
"How is he?" She couldn't see Sheppard, but saw his reaction in the way Lorne relaxed.
"What brings you here, Major?" Sheppard's voice was clear, and maybe too loud.
"Audrey got a little frisky, sir. I had to put her down, but she took a chunk out of Dr Parrish before I could reach her."
Sheppard laughed, and Lorne smiled.
"You know you just made Dr Laukinnen a rich man?"
"It didn't occur to me at the time, sir. I understand the pool was quite substantial."
Sheppard chuckled. "Maybe we should let the zoologists bring back more live specimens."
Lorne blanched. "Please, don't, sir. At least this one was stationary."
"I still say I could have dealt with it," Dr Parrish called across the infirmary.
"And I still say you were lunch," replied Lorne. "Sir," he said, almost an afterthought to acknowledge his CO before he walked over to the scientist.
Parrish raised his bandaged hand in an appeasing gesture, a rueful expression on his face. "Apparently, I'll be fine."
"Sorry about the plant." Lorne was suppressing a smile.
Two soldiers came into the infirmary, one with his head bloodied and the other holding him upright. They stopped abruptly when they saw the Major. He nodded to them. "Sergeant. Addes." The scientist slipped past them, a glance at the Major and then gone.
The nurses pulled the injured man away from the other soldier, and he slumped, his expression more embarrassed than pained. The other soldier took a step towards Lorne, and hesitated.
"Anything the Colonel should know about, Sergeant?" asked Lorne, his voice low.
"Sir, nossir." The sergeant paused. "You might want to run Morrison's papers through a little faster, sir. I'm sure he'd be glad to make the next Daedalus run."
Lorne nodded. "Shore leave was interesting, I take it."
"Sir-"
Lorne raised his hand. "Just - talk to the Athosians, will you? Maybe take Addes with you. Introduce him to Halling."
The sargeant relaxed. "Yessir."
"He's not going to need libo in nine months time is he?"
The sergeant smirked. "Nossir."
They keep turning things round. Her head hurt. They're so arrogant it's palpable and yet - These military men who smile as often as their nurses, these scientists who stand fast alongside soldiers under fire, these people who have turned Atlantis into their home - I can't make sense of them.
She felt a presence at her side, and turned to see Dex at her bedside. "I didn't recognise that at first." He cocked his head towards her tattoo. "Sign of the Delta, right? The - Five Towns?"
"Yes."
He nodded. "I was there, once. Long time ago."
A lot of people passed through the Five Towns.
"Went with my army buddies. Got very, very drunk. One of them - " He grinned at the memory. "Made us walk the marsh at dawn, go down to swim in the sea."
It brought luck. Swim at dawn, drink at dusk, walk the marsh, rule the Towns. For a day or two, she thought. If the elidae don't get you. And if they do, the salt water cleans the wounds.
"Nearly drowned. Never saw so much water. Til I came here."
"The City is an island," she said.
Ronon nodded. "I was sorry to hear the Five Towns were culled."
So was I. She felt her head tip up in scorn. But he's a Satedan. He knows. "Thank you." The words stuck in her throat.
He shrugged, not holding her gaze.
The Wraith culled Sateda with no prompting from the Lanteans. I should remember that.
Their alarm sounded again, and Ronon gave a frustrated little growl.
"Security team to the gate room."
"Sheppard," called Ronon.
The Colonel was already leaving the infirmary, his face grim. "No - stay with her. We don't need any more-" He broke off, made as if to speak again, then shook his head and turned away.
"All medical staff stand by."
The medics scrambled to organise themselves, a series of teams gearing up and heading out. The adrenalin kicks in every time, however long you've been standing. You focus, focus. She shook her head, but the thought stayed. I know these people.
Her little doctor clapped his hands. "We're going to need this room, guys." He pushed Addes towards the sergeant. "He's got a mild concussion. Keep him awake, come back if he gets worse." The sergeant nodded, and pulled Addes out of the infirmary.
"Wright? Out." Wright protested, sticking beside Collins, who started to pull himself upright. The doctor stopped him. "Ronon? Get him next door."
Ronon nodded, and pulled the soldier over his shoulder without ceremony. "Hey!" yelped the soldier, but Ronon ignored him.
Twisting around, Collins caught Janel's eye. "Well, this is dignified."
She laughed.
Ancestors help me, she thought. She followed Ronon into McKay's room, where he set down the soldier, still protesting, on an empty bed.
McKay was still unconcious, but the monitors around him showed a steady pulse, strong will to live. She had assumed that the equipment was scavenged from the city itself, but these machines did not have the uncanny, flawless textures of the Ancestors' works.
Four years ago, I would have said they looked familiar.
In the main infirmary, the first wounded were entering. She stood in the doorway, and Ronon put his hand on her shoulder. She stopped, and watched the Lanteans work.
Five, no, six wounded. A Lantean soldier, gored from chest to hip, two medics working on him and Dr Keller readying herself for surgery. A few terse words of instruction, and they were gone.
Another soldier, staring after his comrade, his own injuries forgotten. Janel's doctor pushed him to a chair, forcing bandages onto the worst cuts. "Hold this, here. Don't move."
And then on to the next wounded man, not a soldier. Not Lantean. Janel saw the coarse linen of a farmer, and pale shaking hands. No obvious injury. "Where does it hurt?" Softly asked, unheard. "He's bleeding internally-"
A woman, her hands torn but no other harm, except the blankness in her eyes. A nurse steadied her, sitting her down.
A gurney in the corridor beyond, a medic straddling the patient, the steady count of "-three, four, breathe-" as they entered the infirmary.
A child, barely hurt, just scraped knees and elbows from a fall, and breath coming in hitches, too scared to cry. "Ronon," a nurse called, and he pushed past Janel, sweeping up the child and carrying her into McKay's quiet room.
More wounded, and the noise in the infirmary surged and then dimmed again, steadied. You focus, and the noise slips away. All you see is what's in front of you.
Sheppard strode into the infirmary, carrying a boy of maybe ten years. "I need a doctor here." He looked about for a bed. "Dammit, he's not breathing." Seeing no bed, Sheppard crouched, laying the boy on the floor and swiftly clearing his airway. Janel saw him counting under his breath as he pushed down on the boy's heart, then stopped to breath for him.
The City is an island, but it is not isolated.
They have made a home here, and its heart is in this space, where they return, time and again, when the worlds beat them down. They bleed for a galaxy that is not their own, and then they rise up.
Janel took a step towards Sheppard, and knelt beside the boy. Sheppard looked up for just a moment, then shifted to let Janel reach the boy's mouth, and counted out "One, two, three, four."
Janel breathed for the boy.
"One, two, three, four."
Breath.
~~~
Edited 21/11/9 to say, there's now a sequel, Janel Ettesdotter Medicat, and a prequel, Wraith and Rings
A/N: I'm pretty sure I stole the idea of the 'black Colonel' from someone, but I can't remember where.
"Ne, jen jsem slyšel, že to z chirurgie. Nikdo mi nic neřekne." - "No, I only just heard that he's out of surgery. Nobody tells me anything." Translated at nicetranslator.com, so it's probably horribly wrong...
And I apologise for the gratuitous use of additional OCs that I've plotted elaborate back-stories for.
Rating: PG, gen
Character: OC & ensemble
Disclaimer: Not mine (except the mistakes), no harm meant.
Summary: Whether she believes the stories or not, Janel never expected to cross paths with the Lanteans. Injured and evacuated to the City of the Ancestors, she finds the newcomers very different from her expectations.
The City is an Island
The market at Ordan was chaotic, half in a panic over the renewed threat of culling, half in a flurry of activity to distract from that fear.
Idiot that she is, Janel didn't realise what she was seeing at first. She just saw travellers. The market brought people from many worlds, no face too strange, no clothing too different, no trade too new - or old.
The tallest of the men was testing blades, checking weight and balance and ignoring the stallkeeper's patter. The man - Satedan, if I'm any judge - had already picked out three knives. His companion also looked casually through the weapons, but seemed content with the firearm he never quite let go of, and the unwieldy looking blade on his hip.
The other half of the party had wandered closer, the woman looking at skeins of fabric, the third man following, watching the market with an expression of resigned disgust.
She was losing interest - the weapons marked them out as a hard-science race, not likely to be swayed by her wares, and she was too far from home to be ashamed of that - when the last man called out.
"Sheppard! Will you two stop fondling weapons so we can get out of here?"
She looked around in horror, but no-one else had heard.
Sheppard. The Black Colonel of Atlantis. Which meant the Satedan was Ronon Dex, and the woman Emmagan of Athos. Traitors. The third man must be their 'scientist' - Doctor McKay, she thought. Planet-killer.
She cursed her superstition. She'd spent too long travelling the rings, listening to the credulous and the ignorant. When did I start listening to Genii?
But if she didn't believe all the stories (How do you blow up a solar system, anyway?), she believed enough to extrapolate that the presence of the Lanteans was bad news.
When she saw the flash of muzzle fire, she almost laughed. Instead, she ran.
Rough hands pulled her down behind one of the stalls, and she found herself staring into frightened blue eyes. The scientist. She tried to scramble away from him.
"Oh, for - Just stay down, ok?"
She stared at him, his face split by the unhappy downslant of his mouth.
"They're not looking for you, are they? So if you just stay out of the way, instead of running around like a headless chicken, they're not going to shoot you."
His radio crackled. "McKay! Where the hell are you?" He slapped at the radio control to lower the volume, and hissed, "I'm hiding, Sheppard. Which you are not helping."
She started to move away, but he grabbed at her, pulling her sideways so that the bullet that would have ripped into her throat hit her shoulder instead.
She sat down sharply, and the Lantean followed her, already grasping at her wound, pulling bandages from his pockets to staunch the flow of blood.
"Morons," he snapped. "The entire galaxy. All morons." He slapped his hand over her wound aggressively, his expression still sour.
There was another burst of gunfire, louder this time, and his eyes widened in surprise. His mouth worked as if he was about to snap at her again, but nothing came out. He coughed once, wetly, and tried again.
Nothing.
He stared at her pleadingly, and she tried to hold him up, but her own wound had weakened her, and she found herself trapped by his weight.
The gunfire continued.
~
There was a strange hum around her, and bright lights shining down. Even before she opened her eyes, she knew she was no longer on Ordan. The Lanteans, she remembered with a jolt. They took me with them. She tried to look around surreptitiously, but the Lanteans were watching her closely, and one approached immediately.
"Ah, you're awake, good. How do you feel?"
Like I've been shot. "Not great."
The woman smiled gently. "That's not surprising. You lost a lot of blood." Taking Janel's wrist in her hand, she ran her eye over the machines that surrounded Janel.
"Where am I?" What will you tell me?
The nurse kept smiling. "I'm just going to get a doctor."
She brought over a young man who looked her over with cheerful efficiency and declared her 'on the mend'. He smiled as much as the nurse, and Janel felt herself shrinking away from them.
"Don't worry, you're safe here."
Janel saw someone walk past the doorway, and froze. The Colonel, with a dark expression on his face, fists clenched. That, she thought, was a man she could believe the stories told of, not the amiable stall-browser at the market.
"That's Colonel Sheppard," said the doctor. "He's - well." He fiddled with Janel's bandage. "Doctor McKay's still in surgery..." He trailed off.
"McKay?" Then she remembered bright blue eyes widened in shock.
"He - I think you were shot when they attacked him? Do you remember?" Do you know what he did?
"He tried to stop me."
"Stop you?"
"He pulled me down." She reached for the bandage on her shoulder. "Saved my life." He pulled me a hands-breadth from a bullet through my carotid artery, and I just stared at him while they shot him in the back.
The two medics exchanged looks.
He didn't want to be there.
The Colonel stalked past the doorway, and she looked more closely at him. Anger there, wrath, she thought, but more than that. He looked so weary.
The Athosian woman, Emmagan, approached him, sweeping him into that traditional greeting of theirs. She had a child on her hip, and when the Colonel broke the greeting, he ran his fingers through its hair. "Hey, TJ," he said, smiling weakly. The child babbled eagerly, and held out his arms to the Colonel, who looked disconcerted.
"Would you?" said Emmagan, holding the child out to him.
"Um - sure." He didn't look convinced, but she smiled serenely at him, and he took the child without protest.
"I shall return presently." She smiled at the pair as she left.
"Right." The Colonel stared at the child, who stared patiently back. The child babbled emphatically, pointing at something out of Janel's sight. Sheppard sighed. "I'm sorry, kid. I really have no idea what you're saying." He bounced the child gently, and it giggled. "I get the parental telepathy your mom has, but how come everybody else understands you?"
"Ah boo," remonstrated the child.
"Exactly. There's no way that's a word." This is the butcher of Atlantis?
"Colonel." A new doctor entered, stripping off bloody gloves as she approached him.
He span to face her, holding the child tighter. The child wriggled in protest. "Doctor Keller?"
"He's out of the worst of it, Colonel-"
"Oh, thank-" Sheppard shifted the child, still wriggling, to the other arm.
"It'll take a while, but Rodney's going to be fine."
Sheppard nodded, and the doctor smiled at him. "I'm going to go back in there. You okay out here? You'll be able to see him soon."
"Great." The child had wriggled itself sideways by this point, and Sheppard swung it out to arms length.
The child pouted at him. "Mo ro," it said, and Sheppard gave a startled laugh.
"Yeah, that's me. Moron." He hugged the child, still laughing, and pressed a kiss to the top of the child's head. "Me and him both."
As Janel watched him dandle the child, Sheppard noticed her for the first time. His forehead creased for a moment, and she tried not to shrink back. Then he broke into a gentle smile. Soft and silent 'til you cross him.
"You're awake," he said, walking to her bedside. She nodded, not trusting her voice. "I'm John Sheppard." He gestured towards the child. "This is Torren John." The boy beamed at them both.
Sheppard looked at her expectantly. "Uh. Janel," she said. Of the Five Towns, she did not add. Burnt by the Wraith you woke.
"Janel," he repeated. "Sorry about -" He nodded towards her bandaged shoulder, the smile turning embarassed. "We should never have -"
"It was the Genii?"
A fleeting glimpse of the Black Colonel as he said, "'Rogue' Genii, but yes. They don't like us much. We don't like them either."
"Who does?" I listened to them, though.
"Too many people, these days."
"Not me." I thought I saw truth in their tales.
"Well, no. They shot you." The boy was struggling over Sheppard's shoulder, grabbing a fistful of the Colonel's hair to gain purchase as he went. "Hey, kid, stop that-"
"John." The woman Emmagan had returned.
"Save me, Teyla." Sheppard stooped down, and Emmagan took hold of her son once again.
"Janel, this is Teyla Emmagan. Teyla, this is Janel. She doesn't like the Genii."
Teyla Emmagan bowed to her. "That is understandable, after their disregard for your safety during their ambush of our party."
"That's what I said," Sheppard winked at Janel, and she began to wonder what narcotic they had drugged her with.
Teyla seemed to sense her consternation. "Do not be concerned. You are among friends here."
She stared at the Black Colonel, leaning casually against her bedside, and the treacherous Athosian, half her attention devoted to her son. "On Atlantis," she said, and they exchanged looks, Sheppard wincing slightly. "You didn't think that was still a secret, did you?" They called themselves peaceful explorers, and never said where they travelled from, but everyone knew, soon enough.
"No, it's not that, I just like doing the big reveal. City of the Ancestors and all that." Sheppard shrugged. "But nobody's impressed any more."
They call you godless (atheists, heretics, blasphemers), desecrating the City of the Ancestors. Janel was no prayerful niaf, but this was the City. Impressed?
An alarm sounded, and a voice said "Unscheduled off-world activation."
The Black Colonel was back, she realised, Sheppard suddenly tense and alert. "Who do we have off-world? Teldy, Hughes..."
"Captain Rodriguez."
Sheppard groaned. "I'll give you even money that it's Rodriguez."
"John," said Teyla in a chiding tone.
"I know, I know. I'm gonna - Excuse me," he said to Janel, nodding to her and then Teyla.
As he left, the voice called again. "Med team to the gate room," and the infirmary burst into a flurry of activity. Janel watched as three medics grabbed equipment and loaded a gurney, never reaching for the same bag or getting in each others way. Efficient. They've done this often. She shook the thought away.
"Should I- They'll need this bed." She pushed herself upright, but Teyla held out a hand to stop her.
"Rest, please."
"I'm fine," Janel started, then bit down on the protest. Better here than a prison cell.
Teyla tapped a device at her ear. "Ronon."
"Ro!" exclaimed her son.
"Ronon, when you have a moment, could you join me in the infirmary?" She sighed, and turned back to Janel. "The blade-seller insisted Ronon buy every weapon he used when we were ambushed. I suspect he may have had this in mind when defending himself."
"Ro?" said young Torren.
"Yes, Ronon. I would stay with you myself, but this one -" Teyla shuggled her son on her hip, and he giggled. "- needs to rest, do you not?"
"Ro!"
Teyla shook her head. "Ronon is not restful, Torren."
"Hey, I can be restful." The Satedan loomed up behind Teyla, and she spun round. "Hey, TJ."
"Ew-ee!" The boy giggled as Dex ruffled his hair. Teyla took a step back.
"Please do not do that. His hair will grow like John's."
Dex chuckled, then grew serious. "How's McKay?"
"Jennifer says he will be fine. They will be bringing him out from surgery soon. In the meantime - Ronon, this is Janel,"
He raised a hand in half-salute. "From the Oldan market."
"Janel, this is Ronon Dex. It may seem an imposition, but I am sure you understand. He will stay with you..."
"I understand." His weapon is set to stun. The knives - maybe not.
Dex grinned at her. "In case you decide to go River Tam on our asses."
As Janel stared at him, Teyla sighed. "Hush."
There was a commotion in the corridor approaching the infirmary, the medics pushing the gurney carrying a soldier.
"I'm fine. Tell 'em, Doc." The soldier tried to slip off the gurney, and the medics pushed him down
"Mark, there's a hole in your leg." The reply was from another soldier, not one of the medics. Not a soldier, and not a medic. A doctor of science, then, one of McKay's men.
"It's a scratch."
"Shut up, Mark, and let the nice doctor give you drugs."
The soldier opened his mouth to protest, then stopped. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
"Yes, that's why I have a PhD and you have an HNC in blowing shit up. I know a good idea when see one."
The soldier snorted. "I prefered it when you cowered behind rocks."
"I still do. Didn't I just explain that? Cowering, good idea. Running towards the bad guys -"
"It was dark! I got turned around!"
Another soldier entered, younger than the other, and stopped abruptly when he saw the first. "Jesus, Collins."
"Hey, I'm fine. Actually, I am fine." He frowned.
"Drugs," said the scientist, emphatically.
"Nice. How's your arm?" said the first soldier.
"What? Oh, it's just a scratch," said the younger soldier. Now that he was closer, Janel could see that his right arm was red with blood. The scientist and the closest nurse made the same disbelieving sound.
"Sit down," snapped the nurse.
"I'm fine. It can wait."
"If you prefer, I can sew you up without anaesthetic."
The scientist laughed, then broke off abruptly. "Damn," he said softly, and they all turned to see what he was looking at. Two medics where pulling a gurney in from the adjoining room. Dr McKay, thought Janel, seeing pale skin and a tuft of light brown hair. Teyla and Ronon left her side, going straight to McKay.
"Guess someone's having a worse day than us," muttered the first soldier.
"How is he?" said Teyla to Dr Keller, and she reached out to touch McKay's hand.
"He will be fine." Janel wasn't sure if the doctor believed it. Then Keller said again, with more conviction, "He'll be fine."
Beside Janel, the young soldier pulled himself onto a bed, and sat silently as the nurse cut open his sleeve to look at his wound.
"He's tougher than he looks," said Dex, and Keller nodded.
"Well, that wouldn't be hard," she said, smiling weakly.
Sheppard and another soldier entered, deep in conversation. Sheppard stopped when he saw McKay, clearly itching to go to him, but then turned back to the anxious soldier at his heels. "You did fine, Captain. You know what I say -"
"Everyone home safe? That's a -" She broke off, finally seeing McKay.
"Everyone home, that's all we ask," said Sheppard, gently. "You did good. Good intel, and nobody we like died."
"I lost a jumper."
"Ah, we've a lot of them. Go, Rodriguez, check on your guys. We'll de-brief later."
"Sir, yessir." She stepped smartly away.
Sheppard stood for a moment, the easy command in his expression slipping away, before turning to McKay and the young doctor. The medics pushed the gurney past, towards another room, Keller talking softly of tissue damage and recovery times, her hand never far from McKay's. Sheppard, Teyla and Dex crowded into the room behind her.
Such concern for the planet-killer.
The man who saved me.
Who are these people?
I could run. She looked at the other soldiers, the captain smiling and joking with her wounded men. But I would not reach the Gate, and the City is an island.
Rodriguez turned to the scientist, nudging him a little away from the two soldiers. "You okay?"
He grimaced. "Sure. I might need a dark room to panic in later, but I'm okay. You?" She nodded. He touched her arm, just barely. "Hey, we didn't need that jumper anyway."
The younger soldier looked up guiltily. "I am really sorry about that, Captain."
"Forget about it, Wright. She was flaky anyway. This way, we get Jumper 6 next time."
Teyla came back from McKay's room, her son drooping in her arms. She nodded to Rodriguez and the men as she passed.
"Wright, Collins, stay here. I'll check in on you later." Rodriguez followed Teyla from the infirmary. "Teyla, can I talk to you?"
The scientist clapped Wright on his uninjured arm. "I have to get back to the lab. Don't let him do anything stupid, Tom."
"Huh, you say that now."
As she watched the scientist leave, Janel realised that Ronon had returned, sitting at the far wall so that he could still see into McKay's room while he watched her. Dr Keller bustled past with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Ne, jen jsem slyšel, že to z chirurgie. Nikdo mi nic neřekne." Startled by the unfamiliar sounds, Janel stared at the speaker, hurrying into the infirmary with his hand on his radio. Wild-haired and speaking in tongues, the scientist of Atlantis come...
He looked around, frowning. "Zelenka," said Ronon, and pointed him towards McKay's room.
"Thank you." Zelenka hurried over. "Colonel."
"Hey, Doc." Janel could hear the ragged edges in Sheppard's voice.
"How is he?"
"Quiet."
"Ah, a miracle, eh? This is Dr Keller's work?"
As she strained to hear Sheppard's reply, another scientist entered, cradling his arm. As a nurse hustled him to a bed, one of the soldiers entered, and the scientist shot him a filthy look. "Doc..." said the soldier, as the scientist turned away pointedly.
"I'm not going to apologise," said the soldier, and the scientist whirled back to face him.
"You destroyed a unique specimen! You know we can't go back to M7X-"
"It was trying to eat you!"
"That's an exaggeration. Besides, I had it under control."
"Really? Well then I am sorry, because from where I was standing, it looked like it had its teeth in your arm."
"It doesn't have teeth. Thorns, yes, but not teeth."
"Thorns scratch. Teeth-" The soldier grabbed the scientist's arm, exposing deep, bloody gashes. "-leave marks like that." The scientist flinched, and the soldier let go suddenly. "Jeez, I'm sorry." Elidae, she thought with a start. We always called them teeth, too. There were maybe a dozen attacks each year.
The scientist looked down at his bloody arm, and said nothing. The soldier squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry, David. I just - it attacked you. How else was I supposed to react?"
"Major Lorne." The doctor who had declared her 'on the mend' stood beside them, carrying a tray of instruments, bandages and disinfectant.
Laughter threatened to bubble up. Major Lorne. The little major with the honest face and the hair trigger. These people - they called themselves peaceful explorers and never let their weapons drop, and they take home elidae as house plants?
As Lorne stepped back, the little wild-haired scientist joined him. "What..."
"Oh, don't ask." Major Lorne pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Ah, the evil plant. I will tell Chuck."
Lorne frowned at him. "Thank you, Radek," he said, an edge on his voice. "Say, I hear Rodriguez crashed another jumper."
"Oh, sure, Rodriguez, who is as good a pilot as Colonel Sheppard, she crashed the jumper. Not Wright, who cannot steer engine on railway tracks."
Wright, still sitting beside Collins, sank down in his seat, and the other soldier smirked.
"She does fly like Sheppard," agreed Lorne, the edge giving way to mock innocence.
Zelenka snorted. "I see your point."
Elidae. She hadn't thought of them in years. And then she remembered that she never saw them anywhere but the marshes. "You know we can't go back to M7X" Why not? The marshes wouldn't burn. The elidae will still be there.
When her gaze cleared, Zelenka was gone, and the Major stood in the doorway of McKay's room.
Janel saw Dex watching her, too knowing a look in his eyes. The City is an island, she reminded herself. No way off. She turned instead to watch Lorne, and forced her hands to unclench.
"How is he?" She couldn't see Sheppard, but saw his reaction in the way Lorne relaxed.
"What brings you here, Major?" Sheppard's voice was clear, and maybe too loud.
"Audrey got a little frisky, sir. I had to put her down, but she took a chunk out of Dr Parrish before I could reach her."
Sheppard laughed, and Lorne smiled.
"You know you just made Dr Laukinnen a rich man?"
"It didn't occur to me at the time, sir. I understand the pool was quite substantial."
Sheppard chuckled. "Maybe we should let the zoologists bring back more live specimens."
Lorne blanched. "Please, don't, sir. At least this one was stationary."
"I still say I could have dealt with it," Dr Parrish called across the infirmary.
"And I still say you were lunch," replied Lorne. "Sir," he said, almost an afterthought to acknowledge his CO before he walked over to the scientist.
Parrish raised his bandaged hand in an appeasing gesture, a rueful expression on his face. "Apparently, I'll be fine."
"Sorry about the plant." Lorne was suppressing a smile.
Two soldiers came into the infirmary, one with his head bloodied and the other holding him upright. They stopped abruptly when they saw the Major. He nodded to them. "Sergeant. Addes." The scientist slipped past them, a glance at the Major and then gone.
The nurses pulled the injured man away from the other soldier, and he slumped, his expression more embarrassed than pained. The other soldier took a step towards Lorne, and hesitated.
"Anything the Colonel should know about, Sergeant?" asked Lorne, his voice low.
"Sir, nossir." The sergeant paused. "You might want to run Morrison's papers through a little faster, sir. I'm sure he'd be glad to make the next Daedalus run."
Lorne nodded. "Shore leave was interesting, I take it."
"Sir-"
Lorne raised his hand. "Just - talk to the Athosians, will you? Maybe take Addes with you. Introduce him to Halling."
The sargeant relaxed. "Yessir."
"He's not going to need libo in nine months time is he?"
The sergeant smirked. "Nossir."
They keep turning things round. Her head hurt. They're so arrogant it's palpable and yet - These military men who smile as often as their nurses, these scientists who stand fast alongside soldiers under fire, these people who have turned Atlantis into their home - I can't make sense of them.
She felt a presence at her side, and turned to see Dex at her bedside. "I didn't recognise that at first." He cocked his head towards her tattoo. "Sign of the Delta, right? The - Five Towns?"
"Yes."
He nodded. "I was there, once. Long time ago."
A lot of people passed through the Five Towns.
"Went with my army buddies. Got very, very drunk. One of them - " He grinned at the memory. "Made us walk the marsh at dawn, go down to swim in the sea."
It brought luck. Swim at dawn, drink at dusk, walk the marsh, rule the Towns. For a day or two, she thought. If the elidae don't get you. And if they do, the salt water cleans the wounds.
"Nearly drowned. Never saw so much water. Til I came here."
"The City is an island," she said.
Ronon nodded. "I was sorry to hear the Five Towns were culled."
So was I. She felt her head tip up in scorn. But he's a Satedan. He knows. "Thank you." The words stuck in her throat.
He shrugged, not holding her gaze.
The Wraith culled Sateda with no prompting from the Lanteans. I should remember that.
Their alarm sounded again, and Ronon gave a frustrated little growl.
"Security team to the gate room."
"Sheppard," called Ronon.
The Colonel was already leaving the infirmary, his face grim. "No - stay with her. We don't need any more-" He broke off, made as if to speak again, then shook his head and turned away.
"All medical staff stand by."
The medics scrambled to organise themselves, a series of teams gearing up and heading out. The adrenalin kicks in every time, however long you've been standing. You focus, focus. She shook her head, but the thought stayed. I know these people.
Her little doctor clapped his hands. "We're going to need this room, guys." He pushed Addes towards the sergeant. "He's got a mild concussion. Keep him awake, come back if he gets worse." The sergeant nodded, and pulled Addes out of the infirmary.
"Wright? Out." Wright protested, sticking beside Collins, who started to pull himself upright. The doctor stopped him. "Ronon? Get him next door."
Ronon nodded, and pulled the soldier over his shoulder without ceremony. "Hey!" yelped the soldier, but Ronon ignored him.
Twisting around, Collins caught Janel's eye. "Well, this is dignified."
She laughed.
Ancestors help me, she thought. She followed Ronon into McKay's room, where he set down the soldier, still protesting, on an empty bed.
McKay was still unconcious, but the monitors around him showed a steady pulse, strong will to live. She had assumed that the equipment was scavenged from the city itself, but these machines did not have the uncanny, flawless textures of the Ancestors' works.
Four years ago, I would have said they looked familiar.
In the main infirmary, the first wounded were entering. She stood in the doorway, and Ronon put his hand on her shoulder. She stopped, and watched the Lanteans work.
Five, no, six wounded. A Lantean soldier, gored from chest to hip, two medics working on him and Dr Keller readying herself for surgery. A few terse words of instruction, and they were gone.
Another soldier, staring after his comrade, his own injuries forgotten. Janel's doctor pushed him to a chair, forcing bandages onto the worst cuts. "Hold this, here. Don't move."
And then on to the next wounded man, not a soldier. Not Lantean. Janel saw the coarse linen of a farmer, and pale shaking hands. No obvious injury. "Where does it hurt?" Softly asked, unheard. "He's bleeding internally-"
A woman, her hands torn but no other harm, except the blankness in her eyes. A nurse steadied her, sitting her down.
A gurney in the corridor beyond, a medic straddling the patient, the steady count of "-three, four, breathe-" as they entered the infirmary.
A child, barely hurt, just scraped knees and elbows from a fall, and breath coming in hitches, too scared to cry. "Ronon," a nurse called, and he pushed past Janel, sweeping up the child and carrying her into McKay's quiet room.
More wounded, and the noise in the infirmary surged and then dimmed again, steadied. You focus, and the noise slips away. All you see is what's in front of you.
Sheppard strode into the infirmary, carrying a boy of maybe ten years. "I need a doctor here." He looked about for a bed. "Dammit, he's not breathing." Seeing no bed, Sheppard crouched, laying the boy on the floor and swiftly clearing his airway. Janel saw him counting under his breath as he pushed down on the boy's heart, then stopped to breath for him.
The City is an island, but it is not isolated.
They have made a home here, and its heart is in this space, where they return, time and again, when the worlds beat them down. They bleed for a galaxy that is not their own, and then they rise up.
Janel took a step towards Sheppard, and knelt beside the boy. Sheppard looked up for just a moment, then shifted to let Janel reach the boy's mouth, and counted out "One, two, three, four."
Janel breathed for the boy.
"One, two, three, four."
Breath.
~~~
Edited 21/11/9 to say, there's now a sequel, Janel Ettesdotter Medicat, and a prequel, Wraith and Rings
A/N: I'm pretty sure I stole the idea of the 'black Colonel' from someone, but I can't remember where.
"Ne, jen jsem slyšel, že to z chirurgie. Nikdo mi nic neřekne." - "No, I only just heard that he's out of surgery. Nobody tells me anything." Translated at nicetranslator.com, so it's probably horribly wrong...
And I apologise for the gratuitous use of additional OCs that I've plotted elaborate back-stories for.