Moonlight of Your Soul, chapter two
Mar. 18th, 2005 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilascaveThis is the full chapter! :-)
Moonlight of Your Soul
Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Radek woke up with a start. He could hear voices and footsteps in the distance -- drawing rapidly near. Radek sat up quickly, only then realising he'd fallen asleep. He'd meant to keep moving though there was nowhere he could truly escape to within the city. But late in the night he'd stopped for a moment and closed his eyes and now he was lying here, human again, and about to be discovered.
The sounds were growing closer and he knew there was no point in running. The room he was in had only one door; there would be no way to get out except past them. A large window in one wall of the bare room looked out on the ocean, the sunlight telling him it was well into morning. He leaned sideways against a cold metal wall, drawing his legs up and wrapping his arms around them.
They were near the door, the footsteps loud and many. Through the door, in this form, he could not tell who was there by scent. It didn't matter -- they'd hunted him down. Radek thought about closing his eyes, but he found that he was not nearly as afraid as he should have been. Or perhaps he was so afraid that he could barely feel it anymore. He turned his head to face the door and waited for it to open.
A few seconds later it did and Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford were the first ones through. They were armed, muzzles aimed forward as they stepped inside. Radek didn't move, staring at the the small, round hole of the barrel of Sheppard's gun.
"Dr. Zelenka?" Sheppard looked around the room before lowering his weapon. Behind him -- Radek was surprised. Carson and Rodney came into the room; Carson pushed his way past Sheppard and walked forward, crouching down in front of him. He had a medical kit and a duffel slung over his shoulder.
"Radek, are you all right?"
Radek looked from Carson to the guns that were no longer pointing towards him. He felt Carson's hand on his shoulder and pulled his gaze back to Carson's face. He heard Sheppard tap his radio and reported to Dr. Weir that they'd located him, but the major said nothing about what was coming.
Carson was still frowning at him, touching his hand, then his arm. "You're freezing. No wonder, sitting on the floor this way. Here." He set down a duffel bag he'd been carrying, and Radek stared. Inside it were his own clothes which he'd left strewn somewhere last night. They must have followed him step for step to have located them.
He didn't move until Carson held out his shirt. He took it, though his hands didn't seem to be moving quite as quickly or agilely as he meant them too. After a moment Carson reached over and helped him put it on, then Carson muttered something in Gaelic and got Radek standing. He helped Radek put on the rest of his clothes, the familiar touch of his hands confusing Radek further. He tried to help, but his whole body was stiff and moving slowly; by the time he'd got his hands somewhere Carson's were already there, pulling clothing into place.
Bewildered, Radek finally just let him do it. No one said anything as they waited; Rodney was bouncing very slightly on the balls of his feet. Once Radek was dressed, Carson even held out his glasses and Radek slipped them on.
Radek looked at Carson again but couldn't find the right words to ask. He didn't want to know -- he knew what was coming, but he couldn't bear to hear Carson say those words.
"You're shivering." Carson had his hand on Radek's cheek; it was warm, even down to his fingertips. Radek wanted to press his face against it but didn't dare. Carson held out his other hand and gestured and Rodney leapt forward. Radek tensed, but all he brought out was a thermos. He watched, dumbly, as Rodney unscrewed the lid and poured some hot tea.
"Here, drink this. I thought you might need a bit of something." Carson was frowning at him again and Radek couldn't figure out why. But he gratefully accepted the tea as Carson wrapped Radek's hand around the cup and hesitated a moment before taking his hand away.
He wasn't at all certain he could swallow, but the heat of it felt divine. Radek held the cup to his face, letting the heat soak through his hands and rise up to his face. He didn't look at any of them, concentrating on the sensation of heat as he sipped, and on the flavor of the strong black tea.
Simple things.
"We need to head back," Major Sheppard finally said, no trace of inflection in his voice. "Dr. Weir wants us to report to her office ASAP."
"Are you up to it?" Carson asked, still frowning. "We can stop by the infirmary, first."
"No, I'm fine," Radek said, confused further by the question. He held the thermos lid tightly, afraid they might take it away before he was through. He told himself it was a foolish thing to worry over and forced himself to loosen his grip.
"Oh, thank god. I think I've been patient long enough," Rodney said.
"Rodney," Carson said, his tone scolding.
"I have questions," Rodney continued, ignoring Carson completely. "About four thousand and twelve, so far. We all have questions but feel free to start answering mine now, and we can recap for Elizabeth when we get back." Rodney waved a hand as though dismissing the importance of anyone else's questions.
He was acting so normal and Radek was oddly comforted to see that Rodney's scientific curiosity was stronger than fear. He took another sip of the tea, feeling the hot liquid go down his throat. He was cold, he suddenly realised. But he thought he understood now what was happening. Of course they had questions. They were scientists, explorers. They would ask him everything. Every question they had, then they would think of more.
It would not be until they had run out of questions that they would kill him.
He took another sip of his tea, then nodded. "I am ready." His voice didn't shake and he supposed he should be glad he still had that much courage left. Carson nodded and the others turned towards the door. Radek held onto his cup of tea, pausing only once in surprise as Rodney brought the thermos up and refilled it.
"I can't decide which is my first question, so feel free to jump in at any time to answer...well, anything," Rodney began as they walked out of the room. "Or you could just start talking and you'll probably get to at least the top dozen questions."
"Rodney," Major Sheppard said, falling back a bit from the point to walk just ahead of he and Rodney. Carson was close behind him, and Ford was walking silently ahead of them all. Sheppard was giving Rodney a look. "You do remember what Elizabeth said?"
Rodney sighed in exasperation. "Of course I remember. But she didn't mean not to ask *any* questions, she only said--"
"Not to ask a lot of questions until we get him back," Sheppard quoted.
"Exactly! 'A lot' implies that a few is permissible. Otherwise she would have said not to ask him *any* questions."
"I'm pretty sure she meant to wait until she was in the room, since she also used the word 'badger' and the word 'don't'," Sheppard said, glancing back at Radek.
"Oh, for-- do you really expect me to spend the entire walk back not saying a word? It's a long walk," he added, giving Radek a brief, serious glance.
There was a grin on Sheppard's face and the distinct scent of amusement. "I don't think that's possible. But you might let him finish his tea."
"He has an entire thermos of tea and I can't believe you don't want to know just as badly as I do."
"Is all right," Radek interrupted them. "I do not mind." There was no sense in delaying things even if there was something extremely peculiar about what was going on.
"See?" Rodney smiled triumphantly. "OK, first question - do you...no, first I want to know-- hold on. If you could--"
"Why don't you offer to bite him and let him find out for himself?" Carson asked.
Radek was shocked. Shocked, because Carson was grinning at him. "It does--"
"Excuse me!" Rodney said. "I...wait, can you? I'm not saying I...you know, that would be...."
"No," Sheppard said. "You are not becoming a werewolf."
"Well, of course not," Rodney agreed, distractedly. "Although it would be fascinating--"
"No, Rodney," Sheppard said again.
"I already told you it doesn't work that way," Carson said and Radek stopped in his tracks. The others turned, looking at him. He stared at Carson.
"How do you know that?" he managed to ask. It was true, one did not become a werewolf from being bitten. His family were all werewolves as were other clans -- a species rather than carriers of a contagious disease.
There was no fear in Carson at all, he suddenly realised. There had been none at all since they had showed up. The reason why became clear when Carson said, "I grew up with a boy who was a werewolf. Charlie was my best friend for nearly ten years."
Radek nearly dropped his tea. He gripped the cup tightly, too astonished to speak for a moment. "You...knew?"
"I didn't know you were a wolf," Carson said, sternly. "But I've known about them nearly all my life. I've spent the better part of the night telling everyone what I know."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. What he was *smelling*: none of them were showing any signs of fear. Concern and curiosity, but not a trace of fear or anger.
"Then you...are not..."
"Not what?" Carson asked, and his tone was gentle and encouraging.
It took him a moment to say it, because he didn't believe it could possibly be true. He felt himself trembling, afraid the answer would still be yes.
But they were acting like--
"Then you are not going to kill me?"
Four jaws dropped and they all stared at him, surprise as strong as his own. Radek looked at each one of them, ready to bolt if they said 'of course'.
"Dr. Beckett said you were harmless," Ford was the first one to speak. "Well, you know -- not an evil monster."
Radek nodded, quickly. "But that has never mattered. Humans...have always hunted us down when they've learned who we are."
"Yes, and thank you for lumping us in with the average moron," Rodney said. "Forget that the average IQ of the entire Atlantis expedition is 129.4 and that we're here expressly to explore strange new worlds and meet exciting, new aliens and thus might perhaps have an open mind about things like this."
"We're not going to do anything to you," Carson said, putting his hand on Radek's arm. "You're not in any danger."
Radek could only stare at him. It was impossible to believe. He'd heard stories of an uncle, shot to death. His great-great-grandfather, hunted down and hung. All his ancestors who had been burned, buried, drowned. He glanced at the gun hanging at Sheppard's side.
Sheppard followed his glance, confused for a moment. "We didn't know what we'd find," Sheppard said. "These were in case you were in trouble."
"In case...*I* was in trouble?"
"We can't go losing our second-best scientist, can we?" Rodney asked. "Who else would I get to take apart things that will probably blow up if the wrong wires touch?"
"You...." Radek tried to tell himself this was real. The words he was hearing were true.
None of them were afraid of him. None of them were even *tense.* Well, Carson was, he corrected himself. But his hand was on Radek's arm and he was looking at him with concern in his eyes, and there was still the always-present scent of mild arousal whenever Carson was nearby. The tension was for him, not because of him.
God. It was true.
"You're not...." He shook his head, not even sure what he wanted to ask.
"Surprised? Shocked? Confused? About to explode from a trillion unanswered questions?" Rodney asked.
"I thought you said four thousand and twelve," Ford said, sounding amused.
"That was before I had time to stand here and think of more," Rodney snapped.
"The numbers seems to be growing exponentially," Sheppard put in.
"Welcome to the way my brain works," Rodney said. "Now, may I *please* ask at least *one* question?"
"Let's head back," Carson said, and he took his hand off Radek's arm -- and slipped his hand into Radek's.
"Good, he can answer while we walk." Rodney stepped alongside Radek again. Sheppard just shook his head and he and Ford started walking along ahead of them, again.
"It's definitely a species?" Rodney asked. "That's what Carson said, but have you actually determined this, or are you just assuming? I mean, have you done genetic studies? How did you pass the Air Force physical, anyway? How exactly do you transform?" His eyes traveled over Radek's body. "Where does all the hair go?"
Radek didn't try to answer any of Rodney's questions. Rodney didn't stop asking them long enough for anyone to say a word. But he seemed content to finally ask them, so Radek just drank his tea as they made the walk back.
Carson's hand was warm in his.
Moonlight of Your Soul
Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Radek woke up with a start. He could hear voices and footsteps in the distance -- drawing rapidly near. Radek sat up quickly, only then realising he'd fallen asleep. He'd meant to keep moving though there was nowhere he could truly escape to within the city. But late in the night he'd stopped for a moment and closed his eyes and now he was lying here, human again, and about to be discovered.
The sounds were growing closer and he knew there was no point in running. The room he was in had only one door; there would be no way to get out except past them. A large window in one wall of the bare room looked out on the ocean, the sunlight telling him it was well into morning. He leaned sideways against a cold metal wall, drawing his legs up and wrapping his arms around them.
They were near the door, the footsteps loud and many. Through the door, in this form, he could not tell who was there by scent. It didn't matter -- they'd hunted him down. Radek thought about closing his eyes, but he found that he was not nearly as afraid as he should have been. Or perhaps he was so afraid that he could barely feel it anymore. He turned his head to face the door and waited for it to open.
A few seconds later it did and Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford were the first ones through. They were armed, muzzles aimed forward as they stepped inside. Radek didn't move, staring at the the small, round hole of the barrel of Sheppard's gun.
"Dr. Zelenka?" Sheppard looked around the room before lowering his weapon. Behind him -- Radek was surprised. Carson and Rodney came into the room; Carson pushed his way past Sheppard and walked forward, crouching down in front of him. He had a medical kit and a duffel slung over his shoulder.
"Radek, are you all right?"
Radek looked from Carson to the guns that were no longer pointing towards him. He felt Carson's hand on his shoulder and pulled his gaze back to Carson's face. He heard Sheppard tap his radio and reported to Dr. Weir that they'd located him, but the major said nothing about what was coming.
Carson was still frowning at him, touching his hand, then his arm. "You're freezing. No wonder, sitting on the floor this way. Here." He set down a duffel bag he'd been carrying, and Radek stared. Inside it were his own clothes which he'd left strewn somewhere last night. They must have followed him step for step to have located them.
He didn't move until Carson held out his shirt. He took it, though his hands didn't seem to be moving quite as quickly or agilely as he meant them too. After a moment Carson reached over and helped him put it on, then Carson muttered something in Gaelic and got Radek standing. He helped Radek put on the rest of his clothes, the familiar touch of his hands confusing Radek further. He tried to help, but his whole body was stiff and moving slowly; by the time he'd got his hands somewhere Carson's were already there, pulling clothing into place.
Bewildered, Radek finally just let him do it. No one said anything as they waited; Rodney was bouncing very slightly on the balls of his feet. Once Radek was dressed, Carson even held out his glasses and Radek slipped them on.
Radek looked at Carson again but couldn't find the right words to ask. He didn't want to know -- he knew what was coming, but he couldn't bear to hear Carson say those words.
"You're shivering." Carson had his hand on Radek's cheek; it was warm, even down to his fingertips. Radek wanted to press his face against it but didn't dare. Carson held out his other hand and gestured and Rodney leapt forward. Radek tensed, but all he brought out was a thermos. He watched, dumbly, as Rodney unscrewed the lid and poured some hot tea.
"Here, drink this. I thought you might need a bit of something." Carson was frowning at him again and Radek couldn't figure out why. But he gratefully accepted the tea as Carson wrapped Radek's hand around the cup and hesitated a moment before taking his hand away.
He wasn't at all certain he could swallow, but the heat of it felt divine. Radek held the cup to his face, letting the heat soak through his hands and rise up to his face. He didn't look at any of them, concentrating on the sensation of heat as he sipped, and on the flavor of the strong black tea.
Simple things.
"We need to head back," Major Sheppard finally said, no trace of inflection in his voice. "Dr. Weir wants us to report to her office ASAP."
"Are you up to it?" Carson asked, still frowning. "We can stop by the infirmary, first."
"No, I'm fine," Radek said, confused further by the question. He held the thermos lid tightly, afraid they might take it away before he was through. He told himself it was a foolish thing to worry over and forced himself to loosen his grip.
"Oh, thank god. I think I've been patient long enough," Rodney said.
"Rodney," Carson said, his tone scolding.
"I have questions," Rodney continued, ignoring Carson completely. "About four thousand and twelve, so far. We all have questions but feel free to start answering mine now, and we can recap for Elizabeth when we get back." Rodney waved a hand as though dismissing the importance of anyone else's questions.
He was acting so normal and Radek was oddly comforted to see that Rodney's scientific curiosity was stronger than fear. He took another sip of the tea, feeling the hot liquid go down his throat. He was cold, he suddenly realised. But he thought he understood now what was happening. Of course they had questions. They were scientists, explorers. They would ask him everything. Every question they had, then they would think of more.
It would not be until they had run out of questions that they would kill him.
He took another sip of his tea, then nodded. "I am ready." His voice didn't shake and he supposed he should be glad he still had that much courage left. Carson nodded and the others turned towards the door. Radek held onto his cup of tea, pausing only once in surprise as Rodney brought the thermos up and refilled it.
"I can't decide which is my first question, so feel free to jump in at any time to answer...well, anything," Rodney began as they walked out of the room. "Or you could just start talking and you'll probably get to at least the top dozen questions."
"Rodney," Major Sheppard said, falling back a bit from the point to walk just ahead of he and Rodney. Carson was close behind him, and Ford was walking silently ahead of them all. Sheppard was giving Rodney a look. "You do remember what Elizabeth said?"
Rodney sighed in exasperation. "Of course I remember. But she didn't mean not to ask *any* questions, she only said--"
"Not to ask a lot of questions until we get him back," Sheppard quoted.
"Exactly! 'A lot' implies that a few is permissible. Otherwise she would have said not to ask him *any* questions."
"I'm pretty sure she meant to wait until she was in the room, since she also used the word 'badger' and the word 'don't'," Sheppard said, glancing back at Radek.
"Oh, for-- do you really expect me to spend the entire walk back not saying a word? It's a long walk," he added, giving Radek a brief, serious glance.
There was a grin on Sheppard's face and the distinct scent of amusement. "I don't think that's possible. But you might let him finish his tea."
"He has an entire thermos of tea and I can't believe you don't want to know just as badly as I do."
"Is all right," Radek interrupted them. "I do not mind." There was no sense in delaying things even if there was something extremely peculiar about what was going on.
"See?" Rodney smiled triumphantly. "OK, first question - do you...no, first I want to know-- hold on. If you could--"
"Why don't you offer to bite him and let him find out for himself?" Carson asked.
Radek was shocked. Shocked, because Carson was grinning at him. "It does--"
"Excuse me!" Rodney said. "I...wait, can you? I'm not saying I...you know, that would be...."
"No," Sheppard said. "You are not becoming a werewolf."
"Well, of course not," Rodney agreed, distractedly. "Although it would be fascinating--"
"No, Rodney," Sheppard said again.
"I already told you it doesn't work that way," Carson said and Radek stopped in his tracks. The others turned, looking at him. He stared at Carson.
"How do you know that?" he managed to ask. It was true, one did not become a werewolf from being bitten. His family were all werewolves as were other clans -- a species rather than carriers of a contagious disease.
There was no fear in Carson at all, he suddenly realised. There had been none at all since they had showed up. The reason why became clear when Carson said, "I grew up with a boy who was a werewolf. Charlie was my best friend for nearly ten years."
Radek nearly dropped his tea. He gripped the cup tightly, too astonished to speak for a moment. "You...knew?"
"I didn't know you were a wolf," Carson said, sternly. "But I've known about them nearly all my life. I've spent the better part of the night telling everyone what I know."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. What he was *smelling*: none of them were showing any signs of fear. Concern and curiosity, but not a trace of fear or anger.
"Then you...are not..."
"Not what?" Carson asked, and his tone was gentle and encouraging.
It took him a moment to say it, because he didn't believe it could possibly be true. He felt himself trembling, afraid the answer would still be yes.
But they were acting like--
"Then you are not going to kill me?"
Four jaws dropped and they all stared at him, surprise as strong as his own. Radek looked at each one of them, ready to bolt if they said 'of course'.
"Dr. Beckett said you were harmless," Ford was the first one to speak. "Well, you know -- not an evil monster."
Radek nodded, quickly. "But that has never mattered. Humans...have always hunted us down when they've learned who we are."
"Yes, and thank you for lumping us in with the average moron," Rodney said. "Forget that the average IQ of the entire Atlantis expedition is 129.4 and that we're here expressly to explore strange new worlds and meet exciting, new aliens and thus might perhaps have an open mind about things like this."
"We're not going to do anything to you," Carson said, putting his hand on Radek's arm. "You're not in any danger."
Radek could only stare at him. It was impossible to believe. He'd heard stories of an uncle, shot to death. His great-great-grandfather, hunted down and hung. All his ancestors who had been burned, buried, drowned. He glanced at the gun hanging at Sheppard's side.
Sheppard followed his glance, confused for a moment. "We didn't know what we'd find," Sheppard said. "These were in case you were in trouble."
"In case...*I* was in trouble?"
"We can't go losing our second-best scientist, can we?" Rodney asked. "Who else would I get to take apart things that will probably blow up if the wrong wires touch?"
"You...." Radek tried to tell himself this was real. The words he was hearing were true.
None of them were afraid of him. None of them were even *tense.* Well, Carson was, he corrected himself. But his hand was on Radek's arm and he was looking at him with concern in his eyes, and there was still the always-present scent of mild arousal whenever Carson was nearby. The tension was for him, not because of him.
God. It was true.
"You're not...." He shook his head, not even sure what he wanted to ask.
"Surprised? Shocked? Confused? About to explode from a trillion unanswered questions?" Rodney asked.
"I thought you said four thousand and twelve," Ford said, sounding amused.
"That was before I had time to stand here and think of more," Rodney snapped.
"The numbers seems to be growing exponentially," Sheppard put in.
"Welcome to the way my brain works," Rodney said. "Now, may I *please* ask at least *one* question?"
"Let's head back," Carson said, and he took his hand off Radek's arm -- and slipped his hand into Radek's.
"Good, he can answer while we walk." Rodney stepped alongside Radek again. Sheppard just shook his head and he and Ford started walking along ahead of them, again.
"It's definitely a species?" Rodney asked. "That's what Carson said, but have you actually determined this, or are you just assuming? I mean, have you done genetic studies? How did you pass the Air Force physical, anyway? How exactly do you transform?" His eyes traveled over Radek's body. "Where does all the hair go?"
Radek didn't try to answer any of Rodney's questions. Rodney didn't stop asking them long enough for anyone to say a word. But he seemed content to finally ask them, so Radek just drank his tea as they made the walk back.
Carson's hand was warm in his.