Trust Once Broken | SGA John Sheppard

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"Hey, Colonel Sheppard come in! Sit down, sit!" Lucius exclaimed jovially when he spotted them. "Make way," he said waving his hands at the women gathered around him. "Let them have a seat."

"No, no, we have to go," Sheppard said, but the women cleared the area anyway.

Lucius looked crushed. "Are you sure? Because they are making a schnitzel for me tonight in honor of my victory."

John's jaw tightened as his temper flared but he managed to keep his voice steady. "No, we have to get back."

Lucius looked disappointed but when he met John's gaze there was a flash of cunning in his eyes. "Ah, well I guess the only thing left to do is for you to thank me then."

John went ramrod stiff. He had managed to play along and play it cool this whole time, but this was too far, too much. His eyes blazed dangerously as he met Lucius's gaze.

"What for?" Ronon demanded before Sheppard could say something he would regret.

"For saving your lives," Lucius said as though he really believed it.

John's jaw was like granite as he grit out the words. "Thank you."

The Bond was locked down as tight as Kai could make it, but even with a strangle hold on it she could feel the sharp prickles of the churning storm of John's anger at the edges of her consciousness. She didn't like being around Lucius either, and she would happily put him out of their misery, but John was handling it less well than she expected. John normally had a much better hold of his temper than this. She shifted her weight restlessly. She didn't like this one bit. The sooner they could get off this planet the better.

Lucius waved his hand. "It was nothing."

"It was nothing," John muttered half under his breath through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean it was nothing?" Lucius demanded. "Those people had you on your knees. Had your whole team on their knees, had Kai on her knees because you couldn't stop them," Lucius pressed pointing his finger at John's chest.

Kai could feel the beat of John's anger as it welled up through the Bond. Lucius was hitting on every one of John's buttons that he had aggravated during their previous encounter. John's ability to protect those he cared for was important to him.

"Yeah, they did," John agreed tightly, his words clipped and tight.

"Well, you're welcome," Lucius was all smug again and this time Kai wanted to lunge for him. He was purposefully baiting John, saying things he never would have dared without the shield to protect him. She liked even less that Lucius was trying to use her to do it.

Carson led the way out the door, doing his level best to keep the group moving before they attacked Lucius and faced the wrath of the town. 

"You be careful on your way back to the gate," Lucius called after them. "There's talk of some angry raiders in the area!" he shouted.

John stiffened and whirled around to march back in to confront Lucius but Ronon caught his shoulder and spun him back around. "No, let's go," he said pulling John along with him by his vest.

John shook off Ronon's hands but complied. He took some deep breaths as he worked to get his temper back under control. It wasn't like him to be this close to the edge, but he hated Lucius. He hated what Lucius had done to them in the past when John hadn't been able to stop him, and he hated that he couldn't prove he was taking advantage of these people. 

Kai and Ronon led the way down the path towards the stargate while John seethed behind them. The further away from Lucius and town, the calmer John seemed to get. They were half way to the gate when Ronon paused. He reached over and tapped Kai's shoulder. Kai turned and Ronon gestured to a small, barely obvious path that disappeared into the woods.