swficathon | FIC

Title: Escape!
By: Yunadax
Rating:
Spoilers: Pre Season 4.
Pairings: John/Elizabeth.
Disclaimer: They do - I don't.
For: SWFicathon
Recipiant & Prompt - Melyanna - Elizabeth has to rescue John, preferably in a non-typical fashion for her, meaning probably not with diplomacy.

Dr Elizabeth Weir looked around her surroundings, taking in the dire circumstances and wondering just how they were going to get out of this mess. The township was supposed to be safe, the previous team had reported that the villagers had wanted to open a dialogue and that there were no suspicious goings on. They’d returned to Atlantis to report their findings, and to invite Dr Weir to begin negotiations. She’d accepted with great vigor, having not been out of the city for some time. Sheppard had decided to come with her, as always just in case.

So much for just in case.

John was now nursing a broken if not very badly sprained right wrist, and nasty concussion and various other cuts and bruises he’d accumulated whilst trying to protect her when the villagers mobbed them. It seems the word is out that there was a price on her head… and his... and this village was determined to cash in. She’d been clubbed on the back of the head as well, but thankfully not to the level that John had. The villagers were also most likely clued in on who was the dangerous one. The pain behind her eyes was manageable, but rather uncomfortable.

“ Ugh” John groaned from the floor behind her, squeezing his eyes shut again and trying to rub them with his palms only to find one wrapped up in what looked to be the bottom two inches of his shirt. The confused expression on his face would have caused Elizabeth to giggle in other circumstances but their situation was a little too serious for that.

“ Don’t…. I don’t know if it’s broken or not… it didn’t look good” She said lamely as he tried to examine her bandaging handiwork.

“ Sometimes I really hate you being the most wanted woman in the galaxy… can’t take you anywhere” He grumbled, the smirk on his face belying the truth in his words. The double meaning however was evident.

Elizabeth screwed up her nose at his words, rising with an air of indignance before returning a few minutes later to check on his head wound.

“ And when was the last time one of your missions went as planned?” She retorted gently, her fingers probing around the nasty cut which seemed to have finally stopped bleeding.

“ Touché ” He replied, gritting his teeth and levering himself up into a sitting position, resting his back against the wall of the hut they were locked in. He looked around the hut, keen eyes scanning for structural weakness, anything they could use to escape. The walls were of some sort of sturdy but rudimentary timber construction, and the roof clad with timber shingles that appeared to be nailed down. So much for that idea. He patted around his body, checking his weapons only to find the most obvious ones removed.

“ They took my P-90” He said, missing the reassuring presence of his most effective weapon. To his delight the small 9mm was still concealed under his jacket in the shoulder hostler, as was his knife attached to his utility belt. Elizabeth’s eyes widened as the implications became clearer. With John unable to use his right hand and still concussed it would be up to her to break them out… and get them back to the gate.

“ John you can’t….” She started, backing away a few steps and raising her hands.

“ You have to... it’s our only option” John said firmly, passing the small handgun to her, as well as the knife.

Elizabeth accepted them with reluctance, tucking the 9mm into the back of her waistband and the knife into the side of her boot.

“ So what’s the plan?” She asked, still feeling as thought the weight of the world had descended upon her shoulders now that John was relying on her to bust them out of this place. Usually it was John doing the busting.

“ The plan… “ John started, pausing a moment as if to consider their options. “ Is to wait until dark, then make our escape. If we’re quick enough, and quiet enough, you may not even have to use those.” He said with an encouraging smile. He knew she wasn’t comfortable carrying weapons and wished for the umpteenth time he’d made self defense and weapons training mandatory.

He looked around the room they were held in, trying to find a way to get them out of there without raising the alarm. So far it didn’t look good. The room was constructed mainly of wood, with no windows, and only one door.

“ Can you see if you can get your fingers around some of those timber panels?” He suggested, indicating the rear of the room where the paneling seemed a little worse for wear.

Elizabeth headed over, wrinkling her nose as the harsh timber scraped against her skin. She managed to prize one of the pieces far enough away to see into the next room, an alleyway of sorts it appeared. If they could get out into the alleyway, they’d have a much better chance.

“ Looks like an alleyway behind” she confirmed, knowing he’d be more than interested in her findings.

“ Sweet, now all we gotta do is get enough of these panels off to sneak out there without getting caught” John replied, seeing the escape coming together in his mind.

“ All ‘I’ have to do” Elizabeth reminded him, pulling the knife out of her boot and working on prizing the panel off completely. With any luck she’d just have to get this panel, and the one above it completely off and they could wriggle though the small space and hopefully to freedom.

Four hours later her knuckles were raw and bleeding, her fingernails non-existant, and the hole in the back wall just high enough for them to crawl though.

She pushed John through first, insisting that she go last to help cover in case they were caught fleeing. Loud bootsteps echoed from just beyond the door, meaning their time was just about up. The bolt slid back revealing one of the more burly villagers that had roughed them up when they were first captured. It was either now or never.

Reaching around she gave John one mighty push and pulled the gun out of her waistband, clicking off the safety and aiming it at the guard before he could even wipe the startled expression off his face.

“ Don’t” She threatened as he was about to turn and holler for help.

To her dismay he surged towards her, raising his voice as he did so to summon more guards.

The sound of the gunshot shocked her to the core and would be something she always would remember, the way the guard’s eyes opened with surprise, then shock as he realized she’d shot him.

“ Elizabeth! MOVE!” John hissed from the alleyway, catching her attention and breaking her eye contact with the dead guard.

Tearing her eyes away from him she scurried towards the hole and squeezed through it, tumbling out into the alleyway headfirst.

“Run… deal with it later” John commanded, hauling her to her feet with his good arm and hauling her down the alleyway as fast as he could manage.

Obediently she followed him, darting this way and that through the darkened alleyways trying to elude anyone who may have raised the alarm by now. Their goal was to get back to the stargate, or if they couldn’t do that, hole up somewhere until they started to send rescue teams from Atlantis.

Soon the town was behind them, the smaller outer buildings giving way to the rugged forest that seemed to blanket most of this part of the planet. Here they could hide, and wait for their rescue, making sure they’re tracks were covered so they were not followed. A full moon shone and illuminated their path, trickling down to slits of silver light as they entered the forest.

Elizabeth sank against the trunk of a tall tree, sagging against it and closing her eyes for a few moments whilst she sucked in the damp fresh air.

“ Now what?” She asked as her breath finally calmed.

“ Now we wait for Atlantis to come find us, unless you’ve still got your IDC or your radio” John answered from the tree he’d propped himself up against.

Elizabeth made a show of patting down her torn uniform in an effort to lighten the mood.

“ Nope and nope on that one”

It was near that position that a team of Atlantis marines found them a day later, shivering with cold and starving with hunger but alive, and more or less intact. They’ve evaded the town’s search parties that night and all the next day, remaining in hiding until they heard the familiar chatter of a friendly search team.

Bedraggled and exhausted they crawled out of the small cave they’d been hiding in, keeping watch through the various bushes and saplings they’d dragged across the opening to conceal it.

The marines tossed them a canteen of water and some energy bars before escorting them back to the gate, a rather arduous 3 clicks away. They hooked up with the other Atlantis team on route, Ronon, Teyla, Rodney and Dr Beckett all relieved to see them alive.

It wasn’t until they were safely back in Atlantis, recovering in the city’s infirmary under the watchful eye of the medical staff did the gravity of their situation hit them. Someone out there had a price on their heads, a price large enough to turn peaceful towns and villagers into thugs and middlemen.

“ Elizabeth… what you did back there, was something that had to be done. They would’ve sold us to however has that tag on you head and then you would have been killed” John spoke quietly, concern colouring his voice. He knew she was taking this hard.

“ I know… it doesn’t make it any easier though. I can see his face in my mind every time I close my eyes.” She replied, rubbing her eyes as though to banish the images from her mind. Her hands were wrapped in clean white bandages, making the whole episode a little comedic to the casual observer.

“ You’ll deal with it, everyone does in their own way” John encouraged, extending his left hand across the void between their beds. He grasped hers carefully as to not aggravate her injuries and squeezed a little, reassuring her that he was here to help her.

Yes, she had killed, but together they would deal with it.