Entry tags:

darkmoore:mckay/sheppard

Title:Rage
Fandom:Stargate:Atlantis
Pairing:McKay/Sheppard
Author:darkmoore
Rating:NC-17
Beta:ca_pierson
Warnings:AU, angst, violence, torture, mentions of rape, swearing
Prompt: Enemies
Summary: Rodney's been abducted and John is livid. He goes to get him back...


John bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently, waiting in the gate-room for Rodney and his colleagues to get back from M49-Y76. They were due to return from a five day long field trip to the Suridean village and John hadn’t been happy they had been allowed to go without military protection. But Elizabeth had deemed it safe enough. Rodney had been excited about the chance to study their ruins while his colleagues would in turn help the Suridee fix some of their rather primitive technology. John on the other hand hadn’t been excited about Rodney’s trip at all. He hated it when Rodney went offworld without him, hated the way their rooms were too silent and the bed too cold at night.

Five days without his husband sleeping beside him had been long, even though he got to talk to Rodney briefly every day at noon. It was really time Rodney came home. As if on cue, the gate activated and a moment later the gate-tech announced, “Receiving Dr. Pilgram’s IDC!”

John frowned. Rodney was the team leader. It should be his IDC they received. The uneasy feeling John had not been able to shake completely ever since the scientists had stepped though the gate without the protection of some of his Marines, re-appeared full force.

He reminded himself to stay calm and forced himself to focus on the event horizon when two figures stumbled into the gate-room. None of them were Rodney. The uneasy feeling in John’s belly grew when he took in the disheveled look of the two scientists – something had gone wrong, he just knew it. When the event horizon collapsed, making it clear that Rodney had not come back with them, John’s uneasiness turned into outright panic. His heart thumped painfully in his chest as he walked towards the men.

“Where is Rodney? What the hell happened?” John asked the two scientists, stepping up close to them. He had to restrain himself not to grab the nearest one by the shoulders and shake him.

“We don’t know, Colonel!” Dr. Siridopulous, spoke up. “Everything was fine until dinner last night. We’ve been treated with courtesy and respect. But then this servant girl spilt wine on Dr. McKay’s shirt. He was drenched, really, so he took it off, to clean himself up. He wasn’t even very rude to her, as it was.” Siridopulous sounded really surprised about that, but John knew Rodney could hold his tongue if he really wanted to.

“That was the point when the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed. Everyone seemed to become very tense. We didn’t actually realize something was seriously wrong until this morning, when Dr, McKay didn’t show up for breakfast. The patriarch himself came to the house we were staying at. He demanded we take off out clothes and yelled at us when we reminded him that he had no right to ask such a thing of us. He called us liars and said we had deceived him and his people. That his son would claim Dr. McKay as his own and that we would be the next to be claimed if we weren’t careful.” The scientist looked scared to death and John’s anger rose.

They had kept Rodney. The patriarch’s son - a stupid, but unfortunately very influential man named Serdaar - had apparently decided that keeping their genius scientist was better than just borrowing him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, John could see Elizabeth approaching in a hurry. He turned to her, about to ask for a rescue mission. “Elizabeth…”

“I heard it, Colonel. Go and get our Head of Science department back. You have a go for the rescue mission. Take Ronon and Teyla and whoever else you need.” She sighed, rubbing her temple. “I really thought they had understood it when we explained to them that our people are off limits for ‘marriage’… or whatever they call it.”

“Yeah and we explained it three times. You’d think they got it that we’re not ‘consort’ material. Screw them and their twisted caste-system. I’m getting my husband back and that bastard better didn’t touch him.” John cursed before tapping his earpiece. “Ronon, Teyla, we’re going on a rescue mission. Gear up and meet me in the gate-room in ten. Major Lorne, get your team together and come to the gate-room. Bring Cadman and Banks. We’re leaving at 1045 hours.” He waited for each of them to confirm and then turned to Elizabeth again.

She had raised a surprised eyebrow at him when he had ordered Major Lorne to bring Cadman, but now she just smiled sadly. A hard look appeared in her eyes when she said, “Do what you have to do, John; this treaty is over anyway. Bring him home.”

John nodded to her once before hurrying away to gear up. He didn’t have any time to lose.

oooooOooooo

John walked towards the Suridean village at a brisk pace, his grip tight on his P-90. Every moment that Rodney was still in the hands of these idiots heightened his anger more. He was pissed as hell at those Neanderthals who were keeping Rodney from him because they were too stupid to understand one simple rule: you can not have any of our people.

Ronon and Teyla were walking silently by his side, the Marines right behind them. In his mind he could see Rodney, locked up in some small room, angry and scared, but luckily unharmed. John would rather not think about he possibility that Rodney might not be unharmed, because that would have dire consequences for whoever had hurt him. If Rodney was harmed, John would happily do some hurting of his own.

When they reached the edge of the village, one of the village's Elders approached them, embroidered velvet cape flapping around his shoulders. He was waving a carved staff around wildly, looking positively livid. Well, John could relate. Nobody took his husband hostage and got away with it, that much was certain. If this guy didn’t have some good answers for him, things would get ugly really fast.

"You deceived us!" The Elder snapped, accusingly, before John could say anything. He stepped too close to John for comfort, foolishly trying to intimidate him. John tightened the grip on his P-90 and forced himself to stay calm. If he shot the man now, they might never find Rodney in time. "You stated all of your people were taken, yet you send an unmarked, unbound male to our village, claiming he is not available to us. You knew how desperately we need new consorts since the last culling and you still lied to us. We are taking great offense in your disregard of our culture and traditions. Our trade negotiations are in severe danger!"

Teyla stepped forward, undoubtedly to soothe the upset Elder, but John would have none of it. "Disregard your culture and traditions?" He snapped, voice tight with anger. He wanted nothing more than to wring this arrogant bastard’s neck. But he needed information so he opted for the next best thing, trying some intimidation of his own. He raised his weapon, pointing it at the Elder’s chest. If the man wasn’t a total idiot, he’d get the hint. "You are the one who’ keeping my husband hostage, you are the one who broke the deal by not letting him go back with the other scientists."

The Elder took one step backwards, looking insulted, but not scared, like John had hoped. "So you still claim this man to be your 'husband' when we all saw the evidence of your deceit and lying, last night? He is not marked, as we all could see at the dinner table." The Elder's voice was full of disgust now and he was gesturing wildly with his staff. "He's been unclaimed and we allowed him to walk about our village freely, which is not permitted for unmarked consorts."

John about had it. There was a little crowd gathering around them and he was getting impatient. He wanted to go get Rodney and go home, back to Atlantis, back to their quarters and make love to Rodney all night long. Doing some claiming of his own...But first they had to get it into this man's thick skull that Rodney was neither 'unmarked' nor unclaimed.

"Would you just stop talking of him as unclaimed and available? He's my husband, damn it, and I want him back, now, before I get really angry. You see that?" he tilted his left hand slightly, without letting go of his P-90. The sun caught his wedding-band and he indicated it with a nod of his head, when he was sure he had the Elder’s attention. "That's a wedding ring. He's wearing an identical one. It means we belong together. And if you morons had listened to us when we explained it the first three times, then this whole fucked up situation could have been avoided." John snapped, voice dangerously low now. His knuckles on his weapon turned white, as he fought for control. He wanted nothing more than beat some sense into this thickheaded, arrogant man. How could one person be so dense?

Or maybe not so dense after all. John could see the moment when realization hit. When the man in front of him finally understood that John was dead serious. The Elder paled visibly and took another couple of steps back. He was clearly terrified now. John lowered his P-90 and leapt forward, grabbing the Elder’s frilly collar and yanking him sharply. "Where is he? I want to see him right now!" John growled, patience running thin.

"Serdaar has taken your scientist home with him. He said he wanted to claim him for himself, so he can be Serdaar's consort and service him." The Elder stuttered, looking even more panicked now. John thought he’d finally bought a clue as to what would happen if Rodney had been harmed in any way. "Maybe it's not yet too late, maybe you can still..."

Behind him, his men shuffled with their feet uneasily and Teyla's hand came to rest on John's left elbow. John shook her off, tightening his grip on the Elder's collar. "You're taking me to Serdaar's house right now and if he has so much as made a scratch on Rodney, you're gonna pay. All of you!"

With that he shoved he Elder roughly, sending him stumbling to the ground. "Get moving!"

oooooOooooo

The walk to Serdaar's house had been a short one and John paused in front of the wooden door, looking at his life-signs detector. It only showed two people in the small house and John had to suppress a growl. Whatever this 'claiming' and 'marking' was all about, Serdaar better not had laid hand on Rodney. John didn’t even pretend to understand the complicated rules the Suridee lived by but if any of those rituals involved more than formal pledges, Serdaar would pay dearly.

Banning the image of a raped and beaten Rodney from his mind, John checked the life-signs detector one final time. "They're alone," he said, halfway turning to Teyla. "Teyla, you can come in with me but you stay by the door. Ronon, you stay out here, keep an eye out. If you don’t hear from me within fifteen minutes, come get us. If anyone tries any tricks - shoot them. I'm serious. They keep Rodney hostage and have disregarded every rule and every contract we ever agreed upon. They try something shifty - don't hesitate to take action. Cadman, I want that house wired and ready to be destroyed ASAP. I'm getting Rodney out of there now."

With that he silently opened the door to the house and stepped in, Teyla right behind him. As he had asked her to, she stayed by the door, guarding it.

John stepped further into the house following the direction his life signs detector gave him. He crossed the kitchen/living area and walked into the only other room - the bedroom. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Rodney was naked, lying face down on the bed, arms tied to the headboard with thick ropes, either sleeping or – which was more likely – unconscious. Serdaar was lying at the foot of the bed, half draped across Rodney’s calves, passed out. John pocketed the life-signs detector and soundlessly made his way over to the bed, part of his attention on Serdaar at all times. He wanted to deal with that bastard in his own time, but it wouldn’t do to be surprised and maybe even overpowered by the bulky man, should he wake.

Rodney didn’t look too well and John’s anger climbed new heights, mingling with cold fear as he leaned over Rodney and touched his head lightly. Rodney didn’t move, so John checked his pulse. It was there, fluttering and irregular, but not as weak as John had feared. Rodney was pale but his skin was slick with sweat and hot to the touch in a way that didn't have anything to do with the heat coming from the small fireplace. High on his left shoulder blade was an angry looking red spot about the size of his palm and it took John a moment to figure out what exactly he was looking at. Then it hit him. 'He is not marked, as we all could see...' the Elder had said. Marked as in branded. Serdaar had branded Rodney as his own, marking him as some twisted sort of property.

John cut the ropes that were binding Rodney, carefully avoiding the chafed wrists. He rubbed Rodney’s fingers briefly, trying to improve the circulation, before he placed them gently on the bed beside Rodney’s head. Time for Serdaar to wake up and answer some questions. John’s tight grip he had held on his anger slipped and he went over to Serdaar in two long strides. Rage was clouding his vision as he brutally yanked Serdaar's head back and upwards by his hair, making the man yelp in pain and surprise.

Serdaar’s hands came up to his head, trying to pry John’s fingers away, but John had a good grip on the man and held on tight. He pulled Serdaar from the bed and shoved him head first into the floor, one knee coming to rest between Serdaar's shoulder blades. Breath knocked out of Serdaar, John took the opportunity to get out some zip-ties. He swiftly grabbed Serdaar’s arms and pulled them back, tying the wrists together. He enjoyed the way Serdaar hissed when the zip-ties bit into the flesh of his wrists, where John hand pulled them way too tight, cutting off circulation.

"What the hell did you do to my husband?" John snapped, once again gripping into Serdaar's hair. The urge to hurt him like Serdaar hat hurt Rodney was overwhelming, but first John needed some answers.

Serdaar was still struggling for breath, John’s weight on him making it almost impossible to get any oxygen in his lungs. Finally he whispered, "Let me up, you have no business being here! You have deceived us!" Serdaar somehow still managed to sound like a petulant child and John lost his patience. He grabbed Serdaar’s bound wrists and yanked them backwards with brute force, almost dislocating his shoulders, before he smashed the man’s face in the floor.

"I'm here to take Rodney home with me," John hissed, teeth clenched tight against the urge to just slit Serdaar's throat.

Serdaar coughed, taking slow, wheezing breaths. John didn’t know if it was stupidity or stubbornness, but Serdaar still didn’t seem to get the hint that cooperation might be in order. Instead he said, "He was unmarked and unclaimed, it was within my rights to take him. He's mine now!" How he managed to sound insulted was beyond John’s understanding.

"Wrong answer, asshole! He is wearing my ring, that means he is mine. And if you brain wasn't the size of a pea you would have actually understood that when we told you three fucking times that our people are off limits. But no, you had to go and get your greedy hands on our scientist. On my husband!" John hadn’t known that the phrase ‘to see red’ could be taken literally, but somehow that was exactly what happened. He was losing control and he knew it. Time to get a grip on his emotions and get some semblance of control back. John knew that if he let his fury overwhelm him, he’d make himself vulnerable. He needed to keep the upper hand of the situation at all costs, so he took a few deep breaths and eased the pressure of his knee on Serdaar’s back the tiniest bit. He needed the man conscious to answer his questions.

Serdaar took a gasping breath, clearly feeling as if he was getting somewhere with his argument. That was the only reasonable explanation John could come up with, for his next words. "If he really were your 'husband' you should have properly branded him. But it's too late now, he's mine. He's carrying my mark and the laws protect me. He is mine to keep. You surely wouldn't want to risk our treaty for one lowly consort, would you?" Seerdar panted, and John wondered if this man really was this stupid or if this was some kind of act.

This time, John pressed his weight a little harder onto the man lying beneath him and heard Serdaar struggle for breath. John’s anger was getting the better of him once more.

"You can't do this, it's within my rights..." Serdaar wheezed out feebly, clearly slowly suffocating.

"I don't care what you think is your right. You tell me this instant what you've done to him. Did you drug him? Has he had any reactions to anything? Why does he have a fever? Tell me damn it!" John smashed Serdaar's face into the floor once more, breaking his nose.

"Fever’s from the branding. Happens all the time. I… Drugged his wine, tied him to the bed, branded him, spilled my seed in him to complete my claim..." Serdaar’s voice was thin now, his breathing sounding wet from the blood running into his mouth and clogging his nose.

Something in John snapped. Serdaar had raped Rodney, had hurt him in way John didn’t want to imagine, and he was gonna pay for it. When he pulled Serdaar’s bound arms back and upwards this time, he did dislocate his shoulders, making Serdaar howl in pain. The struggling ceased, Serdaar’s body going limp, and John shifted, his black ops training finally taking over completely. With a move honed to perfection a long time ago, in a life that seemed so far away now, he snapped Serdaar’s neck.

Paying the corpse no further attention, John went over to the bed and cradled Rodney to his chest. His eyes burned and this throat was tight when he wiped Serdaar’s cum from Rodney’s upper thighs. The smell of sex John hadn’t noticed before now almost made his stomach turn. That Rodney most probably hadn’t been fully conscious through this torture was cold comfort. Pushing his rage aside, John carefully wrapped Rodney in the sheets, muttering soothing nonsense to him all the time.

Of course it didn’t do Rodney any good, since he was still unconscious and yes, part of John was grateful for that. Burns were painful and the way Rodney’s wrists looked like – torn and bloody – he had struggled quite a bit despite having been drugged. John didn’t want to think about the other things Serdaar had done to Rodney. At least, like this he wasn’t in pain right now – which really was the only somewhat ‘positive’ thing he could find in this whole situation. It was ironic how John wished for nothing more than Rodney being awake, healthy and his usual abrasive self. Seeing his so silent and hurt was just plain wrong. Damn the Suridee and their fucked up society.

Finally John had covered Rodney up enough and he tapped his earpiece and activated his radio. “Ronon, Teyla, come in,” he said, fighting for his voice to keep steady. Both of his team-mates responded and he asked them to come to him, before he adjusted Rodney’s weight on his lap and tugged him more firmly to his chest.

Teyla’s soft “Is he dead?” alerted John of her presence, Ronon silently standing in the doorway behind her.

At first John thought she was asking about Rodney, but then he saw that she gestured to the body that lay in the middle of the room. “Serdaar? Yeah, he’s dead,” John answered.

“John, what happened here?” she asked softly, sitting down on the bed beside John slowly.

“He hurt Rodney,” John choked out, clutching Rodney’s unresponsive body more tightly. “He drugged him and ... and branded him. Branded him like a piece of cattle. And… and he…” he broke off when her small hand landed on his elbow, soothing him. He was pretty sure he didn’t need to elaborate more. Sitting on the bed, the stench of sex was unmistakable.

“It’s alright John, he is safe now. Let us bring him home,” her tone was soft but firm. She looked over to Ronon who then stepped up to them as well.

“Let’s go.” Ronon agreed, making eye contact with John before slowly reaching for Rodney. He slipped his arms under Rodney’s limp body and carefully lifted him off John’s lap. John took a deep breath, pulling himself together. Getting Rodney back to Atlantis was first priority and he had to get a grip on his feelings and be professional. He tapped his radio again, activating it. “Cadman, status?” he snapped, getting up from the bed.

“I’m done sir, detonation on your sign,” she replied.

“We’re coming out. Everyone: clear the area. Shoot whoever stands in your way or tries to keep us from leaving. That’s an order. Sheppard out.” John knew he sounded grim, his voice tight with barely concealed anger. Beside him Ronon grunted approvingly and even Teyla, who usually didn’t approve of violence didn’t object. John took one last look around the room, sparing a glace for Ronon who carried Rodney out of the door Teyla was holding open. Seeing Rodney’s tablet PC under the bed, he swiftly retrieved it, before following them outside.

A moment later they stepped out of the house into the circle of waiting Marines. There were no villagers nearby, not even the Elder that had led them here, earlier.

“Lorne, help me carry Dr. McKay. Ronon, take our six, Cadman, blow that thing up as soon as we’re far away enough. Everyone else watch out for possible threat. We need to get Dr. McKay back to Atlantis ASAP. Okay, let’s move out,” he snapped, tension returning to his body. He hoped that the Suridee would be so smart to let them leave without incident, but if they decided to make problems, John wouldn’t hesitate to have them shot. Rodney was too important and he would let no-one get in his way of bringing Rodney home.

When they started to move away from the house, Cadman asked, “Sir, what about Serdaar? I mean he’s… is he still in there?” John could hear she didn’t mean to question his order in her hesitation, but she needed to make sure he was aware that the explosion would kill anyone who was still in the house. John took a moment to decide what to tell her. He had killed the son of the most powerful man of the village. He had killed Serdaar because of what he had done to Rodney. John knew not everyone would understand that, but the people who were here with him now, they would. None of these men and women would judge him for what he’d done; none of them would try to cause any trouble for him. He could tell her the truth.

Without turning around to her, John replied, “He’s dead, Cadman. Don’t worry. Let’s just go home.”