Story Notes:
For ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
tielan who requested Shep/Teyla, especially from those of us who usually don't write it. Feedback: Please do.
Originally posted to my LJ at http://ladyjax.livejournal.com/403541.html . Also archived at Wraithbait (The Stargate Atlantis Archive)
Disclaimer: All known characters belong to their respective copyright holders. All situations and original characters herein belong to the author. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This story is actually a John/Teyla pre-relationship story.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Teyla lets Rodney prepare her for the evening's bout, his fingers nimble as he tapes her wrists then snaps her leather wristbands over that. Rodney's low-voice banter is a hum in her ears and she focuses on what lies ahead.
She tries not to think about John.
When they'd first been captured, the Delvens insisted that one of their own be her corner man. Their insistence lasted only until Rodney discovered that they intended to spike her water with a drug that would have incapacitated Teyla half way through the bout. That night, Rodney taped her wrists for the first time, stood in her corner and watched as she defeated yet another opponent. When the fight was over, he carefully cut the bindings and massaged the feeling back into her skin, the warmth of his hands reaching all the way into her bones. He eventually learned the basic first aid techniques that all the makata handlers knew and was able to stitch and tape her back together. She keeps going, keeps fighting, winning enough to keep the three of them alive.
She won't let John come to the fights.
Tonight, her opponent is an older man, his face scarred and knowing. He swings the staffs with an air of wearied experience and Teyla is immediately on the alert. This one is different and behind her she can hear Rodney mutter: "Fuck, they put in a ringer."
Teyla doesn't know the word, but the minute they clash and she feels the vibration all the way through her body, she knows. This man is here to kill her.
There are the moves and the forms of the makata that Teyla learned as a child and has taught to others. Any one of them could disarm and disable an attacker. Then there are the other forms: the ones that are just about killing. Tegan taught them to Teyla with one caveat: "Understand this, when you use them, you use them for one purpose only. Do not fool yourself that it will be anything but that."
A stick crashes into her side and she can feel one rib give way. The pain is sharp and strong. Her breathing hitches and her vision swims and she immediately backs away out of range. He's bigger than she is, stronger. Teyla knows she's faster and that's what will keep her alive.
She doesn't want John to see her like this.
Teyla twirls her sticks and sets herself in place. She won't run for there is no where to go. The jeers of the crowd slowly fades and she reaches inside of herself and locks her heart away until she's left with something cold and diamond-hard. Then her opponent is rushing, sticks raised high and she moves.
One step to the side and she whips the metal tipped sticks around and into the small of his back, into his spine. He roars as the pain shoots through his body and he stumbles. And she's on him then, her body bearing his down to the ground. His sticks fall away from his hands and even as he struggles to throw her off, she takes her weapons and drives the handles right into the vulnerable point between neck and back. Teyla imagines she can hear that little bone in his spine shatter but that's drowned out by his scream.
The crowd has grown silent and not a little fearful. He was their best, the one who had defeated every opponent, every betrayed traveler who'd survived long enough to get this far. They'd never imagined that the outcome would be other than what it had been in the past.
She slips her sticks beneath his chin and slowly pulls backward until he is bent like a bow and she can look up and into the crowd.
John is standing in the corner with Rodney looking at her.
Her locked away heart cries out as she tightens her grip on the sticks and with what little she has left, twists, first left then right, leaving nothing but a piece of meat that was once a man.
Teyla falls to the side, her broken rib coalescing into one bright dot of pain. She whimpers when she's picked up and cradled against John's body and carried away from the ring. Rodney is silent but she can feel the waves of anger rolling off him, cocooning the three of them in an untouchable bubble as they make their way down the path and back to the tiny hut they've been living in for the past three months since they'd been ambushed.
It's John's hands that remove the gauntlets from her wrists and strips away the tape. His hands that remove her clothing and holds the wet cloth that sweeps away the sweat and dirt before applying what little tape they have left to hold her rib in place. Teyla keeps her face turned from him, her cheeks burning. Her naked body is a map of scars and stitches, each one a blood sacrifice to their captivity.
"They're letting us go."
Rodney's voice is a flat echo in her ears and she feels John stir beside her.
"What? What do you mean they're letting us go?"
The disgust in Rodney's voice is obvious. "She beat their best fighter. I guess that was enough for them."
John's voice is hard and unyielding. "We're going home. Now."
Teyla struggles to her feet, wincing at the pain in her side. As she reaches for her dirty clothing, John's hand shoots out and catches her wrist. It is only then that she looks at him.
There is no censure in his eyes but there is pain. Pain for what she was forced to do only because she had the skill and he did not. "Teyla," his voice is rough but gentle.
Her mouth works but there is no sound. Only when John's arms come around her again and he’s whispering her name over and over does she realize that she's crying.
Chapter End Notes:
Shatter was originally written back in 2006. There are a few things about it which I'd love to come back to one day, especially the aftermath and how it affects Teyla.