Who Are You?

She should have seen this coming, They were her people after all. She should have been there when this happened. What kind of leader is off in another city, in another part of the planet? One thing people always said about Teyla is that she was fiercely loyal. They were wrong.

Teyla was in high spirits when she went through the gate, she wasn’t even going on a mission. She was just going to see her people, something she loved doing. It took her mind off work and let her relax among her own old friends. But as she walked through to the little village that they’d set up, her spirits sank, her chest filling with cold dread instead. 

Smoke billowed out from the debris. Dark red blood stained the green of the grass like some sick, twisted Christmas display. She walked through the splintered buildings, taking refuge in one of the semi-destroyed houses. She felt an intense anger roiling inside of her, her blood boiling for revenge. She was never one for anger for the sake of it, but this was not the time to be level-headed. Not when her people had been seemingly massacred. 

She put her hand on the wall for support, but recoiled when her hand came away sticky. She suddenly noticed a macabre message scrawled crudely on the wall, clearly for her eyes only. ‘Exchange- you for your people’. It had a gate address at the bottom, but that wasn’t what unnerved her most about this. What shook her right down to her core was that this crimson message wasn’t written in jam or something nearly that innocent. Instead, it was smeared onto the wood in thick, dripping blood.

Teyla recoiled, her stomach doing wild flips as she stared in horror. She felt sick to her stomach, powerless to do anything but stare. Somehow, she managed to stumble back to the puddle jumper, where she set a course and sank into the pilot’s chair, dissolving into a puddle of tears. When she got back to the city, she immediately radioed Weir. “Teyla to Weir. Where are you? I... I need to talk to you.”

“I’m in my office. If its important you can meet me here.” Teyla didn’t respond, but her legs shook as she left the shuttle and practically ran to Elizabeth’s office. When she got there, she immediately collapsed into the chair. Her eyes were red from crying, but they were dry and she had promised herself that she was done crying. Didn’t mean she was done feeling guilty though.

“No offense, but you aren’t looking so good, Teyla. Is there something wrong?” Elizabeth said, interrupting her thoughts.

“No... No, its not. My people... I went to the mainland today and they were gone. The whole village levelled, not a soul left.”

“Oh... I’m sorry, Teyla. But we’ll find them.”

“I know we will.” She muttered fiercely. “I came back to gather a team.”

“Take your usual team.” Elizabeth nodded. “Keep me posted, though. Is there anything else we should know before we rush in?”

“They left a message with a gate address. They’re expecting us.”

“Alright, just be careful.” There was an edge to her voice that made Teyla think she really meant that. She was suddenly glad she’d omitted what the message had said. She just nodded and left.

When the team was ready, they dialled the gate to the address written on the message that Teyla had burned into her mind. When they stepped through the gate, they were met by a team of guards flanking the gate on the other side. It was all they could do to pull their weapons and run for cover. But it seemed they’d been expected. As they ducked for cover, they were only met by more guards. All wearing Geni uniforms.