Prayers in the Night (G)
Jun. 19th, 2007 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skidmo_ficTitle: Prayers in the Night
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Word Count: 600
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me...sadly
Feedback: yes, please.
Summary: First impressions are often wrong
A/N: Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
teyla_bates mini-fest as a pinch-hit for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wabbitseason with the prompts: Trust, Recovery, First Impressions of each other. Not sure I really got Recovery, but I think I hit the other two.
Suspicion was not Sergeant Bates’ first reaction to her. His very first reaction was surprise. When Halling had first said that they needed to meet with Teyla, Bates had been picturing someone more like...well, more like Halling. A giant of a man, tall and blonde and Nordic looking. He had been more than a little surprised to see this tiny, beautiful woman instead.
When he got to know her a little better, he was no longer surprised to find that she was a leader among her people. She had a strength he’d never seen before, and she moved with grace and confidence. He had no doubt that she commanded both the respect and love of all the Athosians.
That was why, even while he suspected her of being a spy for the Wraith, he pitied her when she was separated from them. Her trust in Atlantis had cost her the respect of her people. But Bates understood why she had made the choice she had. She believed it to be the only way her people would ever truly be free of the Wraith.
Even as she lost the respect of some, she earned the respect of another. But she would never know that.
***
Teyla, as a rule, tried not to judge people until she had something concrete to judge them on. She had noticed Sergeant Bates when the Earthlings first came to Athos, but she had not formed any impressions of him. She saw that he was a soldier and that he was respectful of his leaders and cautious of strangers. Eventually she came to respect him for this.
She saw a change in him when Colonel Sumner was killed. He struggled to be the soldier he had been. He struggled to respect his new commanding officer. He struggled to do his duty, to keep the city safe.
And he struggled with her. She could never decide if Major Sheppard’s trust in her helped or hindered in this. She knew he did not trust her, and she could not blame him. He was wary of handing the well-being of his teammates over to a stranger, and she would be the same in his position.
She could not resent him for his suspicion, but she would never give him the satisfaction of telling him so.
***
When he left...when he was sent away...she felt his loss keenly. The others had welcomed her openly, and while she appreciated that, she felt their trust had been unwarranted. The loss of Bates made her fear for the city. If they greeted everyone so openly, who would ensure that their trust was not taken advantage of?
That is why, each night before she sleeps, she goes to her window and looks up at the stars, knowing the ones he sees are different, and whispers a prayer of safety both for Atlantis and for one who fought so hard to keep it safe even from its friends.
***
When Bates woke up, broken and groggy and millions of light-years from the place he was just learning to call home, he thought of her. He wondered if her connection to the Wraith had destroyed the city, and he was beyond relieved when someone told him that she had saved it. It was the first time he allowed himself to believe that the city was in good hands so long as she was there.
Now that he has recovered, he likes to look up into the night sky above whatever planet he is on and say a prayer to anyone who will listen that Atlantis will always have Teyla and that she will always have Atlantis.
fin
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Word Count: 600
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me...sadly
Feedback: yes, please.
Summary: First impressions are often wrong
A/N: Written for the
teyla_bates mini-fest as a pinch-hit for wabbitseason with the prompts: Trust, Recovery, First Impressions of each other. Not sure I really got Recovery, but I think I hit the other two.Suspicion was not Sergeant Bates’ first reaction to her. His very first reaction was surprise. When Halling had first said that they needed to meet with Teyla, Bates had been picturing someone more like...well, more like Halling. A giant of a man, tall and blonde and Nordic looking. He had been more than a little surprised to see this tiny, beautiful woman instead.
When he got to know her a little better, he was no longer surprised to find that she was a leader among her people. She had a strength he’d never seen before, and she moved with grace and confidence. He had no doubt that she commanded both the respect and love of all the Athosians.
That was why, even while he suspected her of being a spy for the Wraith, he pitied her when she was separated from them. Her trust in Atlantis had cost her the respect of her people. But Bates understood why she had made the choice she had. She believed it to be the only way her people would ever truly be free of the Wraith.
Even as she lost the respect of some, she earned the respect of another. But she would never know that.
***
Teyla, as a rule, tried not to judge people until she had something concrete to judge them on. She had noticed Sergeant Bates when the Earthlings first came to Athos, but she had not formed any impressions of him. She saw that he was a soldier and that he was respectful of his leaders and cautious of strangers. Eventually she came to respect him for this.
She saw a change in him when Colonel Sumner was killed. He struggled to be the soldier he had been. He struggled to respect his new commanding officer. He struggled to do his duty, to keep the city safe.
And he struggled with her. She could never decide if Major Sheppard’s trust in her helped or hindered in this. She knew he did not trust her, and she could not blame him. He was wary of handing the well-being of his teammates over to a stranger, and she would be the same in his position.
She could not resent him for his suspicion, but she would never give him the satisfaction of telling him so.
***
When he left...when he was sent away...she felt his loss keenly. The others had welcomed her openly, and while she appreciated that, she felt their trust had been unwarranted. The loss of Bates made her fear for the city. If they greeted everyone so openly, who would ensure that their trust was not taken advantage of?
That is why, each night before she sleeps, she goes to her window and looks up at the stars, knowing the ones he sees are different, and whispers a prayer of safety both for Atlantis and for one who fought so hard to keep it safe even from its friends.
***
When Bates woke up, broken and groggy and millions of light-years from the place he was just learning to call home, he thought of her. He wondered if her connection to the Wraith had destroyed the city, and he was beyond relieved when someone told him that she had saved it. It was the first time he allowed himself to believe that the city was in good hands so long as she was there.
Now that he has recovered, he likes to look up into the night sky above whatever planet he is on and say a prayer to anyone who will listen that Atlantis will always have Teyla and that she will always have Atlantis.
fin
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Date: 2007-06-20 01:46 am (UTC)Thank you for writing this.
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