SGA FIC: FOREIGN CONCEPTS [CHAPTER 5]

[x_erikah_x]

Title: Foreign Concepts 5/11
Author: x_erikah_x
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence and torture
Word Count: ~26,000 in 11 chapters
Genre: Gen, H/C, Action, team friendship
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex and other cameos
Spoilers: Set at the end of season five, but no specific spoilers
Disclaimer: Stargate and its characters belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. No infringements of rights is intented.
Beta: Many thanks to wildcat88. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Author’s Note: The full fic has 11 chapters, all finished and edited. I’ll post daily until it’s finished.

Summary: When the team first arrives on Milania, they are impressed with their level of accomplishment. The feeling soon fades when they discover how deep their xenophobia goes.

Chapter 5

Ronon dropped the contents of his bucket onto the pile of minerals. Some men chose to slowly remove the rocks and rest for a few seconds, but Ronon saw no point in risking his luck like that. He started back to the mine, but snapped around when a familiar groan reached his ears.

Two guards were taking turns kicking and shocking a man curled on the floor. A loud grunt came and Ronon immediately recognized the spiky hair as the head shot up from the electricity. It was Sheppard.

Ronon growled and crossed the distance between him and the guards, the heavy chains not slowing his pace.

###

John came back to consciousness, as two guards sneered and reached down to grab him. Not really feeling up to it, John sagged in their arms. The guards let him fall and kicked his chest once.

He had a few seconds of relief from the torture before he heard the sparking of their cattle prod. But instead of pain, John heard a soft groan coming from behind him.

When John opened his eyes again, both guards were gone and the sound of two pain sticks buzzed behind him. John squeezed his eyes as he turned around, hiding the moans that threatened to escape his lips. The buzzing increased as John opened his eyes again.

A blurry shape slowly came into focus – Ronon curled around his chest, screaming and convulsing as electricity shot through his body. Ronon's white teeth were clenched as saliva flew from his mouth, eyes squeezed shut and sweat covered his face. A third rod joined in and forced Ronon's back to an acute angle, the screaming muffled by the muscles that contracted all over his body.

Then, they stopped.

Unable to hide his shock, John waited for Ronon to open his eyes. When he did, he watched John for a few moments before turning hate-filled eyes to the guards that had multiplied while John had been unconscious.

"Back to work, both of you!"

John felt a light brush on his feet, then a mock kick on his back as the numerous soldiers passed by him on their way back to their posts. He locked gazes with one passing by his head, then turned and saw Ronon already on his feet, moving to help John up.

John tried to do most of the getting up himself, but failed miserably. Ronon tightened his hold on John and pushed him up against a wall.

"Thanks, buddy," John said, short of breath.

"How you feeling?

John did a mental check over his body and what he came up with wasn't all that different than what he felt before, but he figured his hair must be a bit more spiky than usual.

"I'm good."

John saw Ronon’s incredulous look and agreed that he wouldn't believe himself either. He tried to make his point by pushing away from the wall and from Ronon's hold. When he continued in a mostly upward position, he smirked.

"See? I can even stand up on my own."

"That's not funny, you know."

John nodded. "Yes." He took in a few deep breaths and swallowed a wince. "But, there isn't much we can do about it besides... well, going back to slave work."

John took one step ahead and was glad he didn’t fall over, but still felt Ronon's hand hovering around his body.

"How are they treating you?" John asked.

Ronon shrugged. "Better than they're treating you."

John smiled. "Glad to hear it." John leaned down to pick up his bucket. He saw Ronon doing the same. "Seen Rodney and Teyla?" John asked after he caught his breath.

"No. You?"

John shook his head. "They must be here somewhere."

Ronon lowered his head to pass through the entrance of the mine. "I don't know how you're working, but I'm going to a different part of the mine each time I empty my bucket. You know, looking for them. And for you."

"I was doing the same. We should trade information about the sites we covered," John said more softly to avoid the echoes inside the mine.

Ronon tilted his head to a quieter corner and John followed. Once they were isolated enough, they crouched, pretending to be mining near the ground. John held the side of his chest as he started drawing the corridors he had explored. Ronon completed the map with his own findings and when they were finished, they discovered that their explorations didn't overlap, the reason they hadn't seen each other. But there was still over half of the mine left to go.

"Okay, we should split up to cover the rest quicker," John said as his finger traced a line dividing the remaining area to explore into two sections. "I’ll cover this area, and you cover this one." He looked up.

"You sure you can handle things on your own?"

"Don't worry, all right? I don't have plans for getting any more beat up than I already am. Besides, they seem to love that electric thing more and more these days."

"When do we meet again?"

John erased the drawings. "Here, near the end of the day. We need time to gather the intel."

"Got it."

###

Teyla scrubbed the floor of the shower room with both hands. Her injured arm was still a little sore, but the swelling had diminished and she could bend her arm without the pain spiking. Beside her, Milin and Bina worked silently.

Teyla looked over her shoulder from time to time, watching the guards. She had made a mental list of questions to ask the women, but ever since she had talked to Bina that first time, she had not had another opportunity to speak to them.

When the guards appeared to be out of range, Teyla crawled closer to Milin.

"Do you know where the men work?" she whispered.

Milin nodded. "They are taken to the mines."

Bina's small frame approached Teyla. "We can only go there when on water duty," the girl said softly.

"When does that happen?" Teyla asked.

Both women shook their heads. "Jobs rotate, but we don't know how long until we can go there again," Milin whispered.

Teyla glanced at the guards, then back to Milin. "Do all the men work in the mines?"

They looked at each other and shook their heads. "We don't know," Milin said.

When the doors burst open, Teyla crawled away from Milin and Bina and split her focus between scrubbing and observing what was going on at the entrance. Two guards dragged an unconscious man who left a trail of blood behind. They dropped the man roughly, then turned to Teyla's group of women.

"Tend to him!" one of the guards shouted.

Teyla promptly stood and went over to the man. The guards left and Teyla crouched next to him, gently turning his head. She gasped as she saw John's face half covered in blood.

###

Rodney dragged his chains as he followed his chaperon guard, wondering where he would work that day. He looked around the large deposit attentively, trying to see if his team was there. Dirty men carried their buckets and it was hard to see their faces under all the slime. Not that Rodney would need to see Sheppard's or Ronon's faces; he would immediately recognize their hair.

He hadn't had that much luck so far.

The guard came to a sudden halt and Rodney bumped against his back. Rodney swallowed thickly under the glare, but kept eye contact.

"Fix it!"

It appeared that was all the guards could say.

Rodney shook his head and waved a hand towards the big truck. "What's wrong with it?"

"That's for you to find out."

The guard promptly headed to his permanent post to watch over Rodney's shoulder.

"Great," Rodney said under his breath. "Fix it! How can I fix something if I don't know what the problem is?"

He huffed loudly and leaned over the open engine at the back of the vehicle.

###

Ronon's skin glittered with sweat as he finished loading a crate onto a truck. He wiped a hand on his forehead and started another one. The dark mineral stained his clothes and the skin on his arms, making him look like he had worked in that mine for years.

"I am trying to figure out how this thing works first!"

The familiar voice made Ronon snap his head around.

"I'm tired of your excuses!" a guard shouted before taking a rod from his belt and making it spark.

Ronon saw Rodney flinch as the guard touched him with the tip of the cattle prod. Rodney groaned and convulsed, his body shaking violently.

Ronon crossed the distance to the opposite end of the deposit and held the guard up by his neck, supporting him against a wall. The guard’s legs dangled and kicked while his face went red, then purple.

Ronon's body froze when two pain sticks touched his back. The pain eased for a moment, then increased, making Ronon fall to his knees, holding a scream inside his clenched teeth.

The pain stopped as suddenly as it had started, and Ronon slowly slumped to the ground. Ronon opened his eyes and saw a pair of shiny black boots in front of him.

"No need for more pain. This one will get another form of punishment."

Ronon raised his head and saw officer Percle smirking at him. Ronon held down his urge to bolt up and grab the officer by the collar and simply got back on his feet, glaring.

"Everyone back to work." Percle turned and left, his hands behind his back.

The guards nodded once and went back to their posts, watching over the prisoners from some distance. Ronon turned his attention to Rodney.

"You okay?" Ronon asked softly.

"I've been abused by brute prison guards and forced to do slave work. What do you think?"

Ronon smiled. "Seen the others?"

Rodney shook his head. "No. You?"

"Saw Sheppard yesterday, but he didn't go back to the place we agreed. Haven't seen him since." Ronon shook his head. "He didn't look so good."

"Why?" Rodney asked and leaned closer to keep away from some passing prisoners. "What was wrong with him?"

Ronon glanced around briefly. "They’re being really rough on him."

Rodney leaned in closer. "Look, we need to get out of here." He crouched under the truck and grabbed a something from the ground. "I have a plan, but I don't have time to explain. Take this." Rodney gave Ronon the strange looking engine piece. "There is a ventilator at the end of the first corridor on the right. Dig a hole behind it and bury it there with the rest."

Ronon stared at the part for a few moments.

"Go. Before they decide to see what's going on," Rodney urged.

Ronon tucked the part inside his pants and went back to work.

###

John moaned. He turned his head to the side and felt something soft supporting it. His breath hitched when he felt a touch that made his pain spike. He turned abruptly as a soothing voice shushed him.

The touching stopped.

"John, it's Teyla."

He opened his eyes. "Teyla?"

She was smiling gently down at him as her hand touched his cheek. "Yes, John."

"Wha-what happened?" He narrowed his eyes to focus on her. "Are you okay?" he asked, breathless.

She nodded. "You have to tell me where it hurts."

He groaned when the touching to his body resumed. Cold water on his skin made him shudder. He tried to turn away, but was held down by Teyla.

"Shhh, John. You have to let us clean your wounds."

Pain came from bruises on his body and a warm pull in his head made his eyes fall closed. Teyla shook his head, making him open them back slightly. He was so tired.

"John, talk to me. What did they want?"

"I don't think they like me," he whispered.

They had kept him awake all night, mostly shocking him, but hadn't asked for any information.

They had just had some fun with him.

"Have you seen Rodney and Ronon?" she asked.

He opened his eyes. "Ronon. In the mines. We were looking for Rodney."

John groaned when cold water ran over his wrist, and he tried to take his arm away. A firm grip kept it in place.

"Where's your cell?"

Staying awake was getting harder, but Teyla kept bringing him to awareness and shaking his head.

"Huh?"

"Where's your cell?" she asked softly but firmly.

"First block, by the mine," he whispered in a barely audible voice as his eyes drooped.

He felt the slow pull of sleep and heard Teyla's voice calling his name, but was unable to resist the exhaustion.

###

Chapter 6