FicWad

A/N: I promise to put some spoiler warning if I'm going to use any relevant spoilers from the series. This is taking place during season 3. Also I would like to thank my beta for reading and helping me correct my story. That's the reason why it's taking a bit long for my new chapters to come up. We're editing my previous chapters.
Disclaimer: The characters from Stargate Atlantis belong, to the creators of Stargate Atlantis, MGM and Sony.

Please let me know what you think. Concrit is always helpful. Flames will be used in my amazing fire-eating act.

~~***********~~
Lt. Col John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, and Dr. Rodney McKay walked down the dirty streets of the village. The people had all ran into their homes as soon as they saw the group, quickly closing the doors and windows behind them.
"That's strange," Sheppard slowly said as he eyed the village.
"I believe that we have frightened the villagers," Teyla said quietly. "We will not harm you! We are looking for trading partners and allies to help us with our fight against the Wraith." They continued to walk to the middle of village.
"Where do you come from?" A voice asked through a crack in a closed door.
"We came through the Ring of the Ancestors," Teyla said calmly.
"How do we know what you are saying is true?" the voice asked suspiciously.
"Look at us. We diffidently have better technology then you do," Rodney huffed annoyed. John and Teyla looked at him disapprovingly. Rodney shrugged his shoulders.
The door slowly opened and a man stepped out. He was short and a bit round around the belly. He looked to be in his mid-to-late forties with some white hair starting to show. He looked at them, then smiled.
"Welcome!" The man said as he walked over to them. "Forgive us for our earlier behavior. I'm afraid we are not used to having strangers arrive in our village. Not very many people come through the Ring of the Ancestors. My name is Brian and this is Mandima." Brian smiled. "Here let me take you to our village leader, Lord Kaden Mordor."
"We would appreciate that." Teyla said quietly.
Brian smiled and started to walk toward the north end of village. John and his team followed close behind him. A young girl, around the age of nine or ten, ran up to the group and began walking next to Rodney.
"Hi," the girl said to Rodney.
Rodney stared at her in disgust, "Leave me alone," he said a bit irritated.
"My name is Kira. What's yours?" The girl looked at Rodney intently.
"Rodney! Now go away!" Rodney hissed.
The girl looked up at the sky then giggled. "Rodney. That's a weird name. You're not from around here are you?" she asked.
"Noooo," Rodney said with an eye roll. "What are you blind? Can't you see what I'm wearing? Your people aren't even close to having the technology that we have." Rodney said quickly. "Now go away!" Rodney commanded.
"McKay!" John hissed and smiled apologetically at the young girl. The girl smiled at John as if she didn't care how rude was to her.
"What's it like where you live?" Kira asked.
Rodney bit his cheek so he didn't lash out at the girl. "Listen. Go. Away!" Rodney growled. John could tell that Rodney's patience was coming to an end.
"I bet it's nice. Better than this place." the girl said wistfully.
"Yes. Much, much, much nicer!" Rodney said making sure that he forcefully punctuated each word.
"I've always wanted to leave this planet but I can't. I have to repay these, people, for saving me." Kira said quietly.
Rodney looked at her in surprise. "You know about gate travel?" Rodney asked as he looked around.
Kira nodded then turned pale. "Gate travel?" she said quickly. "Do you mean traveling through the Ring of the Ancestors? You can do that?" she asked.
Rodney frowned and stared at her in surprise. "Wait?! You said that you would love to..."
"As if anyone could travel through the Ring of the Ancestors." Kira scoffed.
"But..." Rodney stammered. Kira looked up at the sky again then quickly turned took off running.
"Nice to meet you, Lord Rodney," she yelled over her shoulder.
"I... Good riddance" Rodney muttered.
McKay's teammates exchanged amused looks. This girl, whoever she was, didn't seem to mind Rodney's rudeness.
"Welcome!" a man said as he walked up to the group. "I'm the leader of Mandima. You may call me Kaden." The man said as he, bowed.
Teyla bowed her head slightly. "My name is Teyla Emmagan. This is Lt. Col John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, and Dr. Rodney McKay." Teyla said, introducing her teammates.
"Please enter. You must feast with me!" he said, smiling.
"A feast?" Rodney asked greedily. Kaden beaconed and then walked into his house followed by Lt. Col John Sheppard and his team.
"Yes! I will have the maids prepare the food." Kaden stated as he walked through the house. "Girls! Food NOW!" Kaden yelled.
John looked at Teyla and raised his eyebrow. Teyla shook her head; she was starting not to like Kaden. "I think it would be best if we did not stay to long with these people." Teyla whispered.
John looked at her in concern. "Anything wrong?" he asked.
Teyla said shaking her head. "I do not have a good feeling about this man."
"Let's eat first," John whispered. "Maybe your opinion of these villagers will change after the meal." John whispered to Teyla. Teyla sighed
"We shall see," Teyla said.

~*****~
Rodney had walked outside of the house and looked down the street. The rest of the team was still inside with Kaden. They had been discussing why the Wraith had not come to the planet in many years. But Kaden had quickly changed the conversation to trading. He was very interested in trading with them but he didn't have much to offer them.
"So..." Kira said. Rodney turned and stared down at Kira in surprise. She smiled as she looked up at him.
"What?" Rodney asked in an annoyed voice.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked.
"We were talking about the Wraith but that conversation didn't last long." Rodney shook his head in annoyance.
"The Wraith what are they?" Kira asked curiously.
"The Wraith are, um...green, ugly, life-sucking vampires." Rodney said moving his hands trying to describe the Wraith. He looked down at her and quickly stopped. Her face had grown pale.
"The Life-Suckers? Here? You brought them with you?" Kira asked terrified. "Why? They haven't been here in years!"
Rodney shook his head. "No! No! Of course not. Why would we bring them? We're just trying to warn you people that the Wraith will probably be coming soon and to be prepared." Rodney protested.
Kira sighed and looked away. "They're always prepared for the Wraith, as you call them." Kira whispered.
"What do you mean?" inquired Rodney. "Kaden said the Wraith haven't been here in years." Rodney said. Rodney jumped as the door behind him flew open.
"You, bastard!" Kaden shouted. "Get back to work!" He grabbed a stone to throw at Kira but she quickly got up and ran into the crowd. Before disappearing into the crowd she turned to look at Rodney. "I'm sorry about her. I hope she didn't bother you."
"What the hell is going on?" John asked Kaden. Rodney stared at Kaden in disgust.
"It was just a misunderstanding," Kaden said quickly.
"Sure. You threw a rock at a child!" Rodney hissed.
Teyla's eyes widened as she looked at Kaden.
"Kira is one of the bastard children that lives here. They do not realize that people of your importance should not be bothered by their kind. Do not worry it will not happen again." Kaden slowly nodded his head.
"She's a child!" John stated not believing his ears. Teyla looked away shaking her head while Ronon glared at Kaden. Rodney bit his lip.
"A bastard child of no importance," Kaden stopped as a man ran up to him and whispered in his ear. Nodding his head in apologies, "I'm sorry, but I must go. You may stay at the local inn if you would like." Again making his apologies to the group, Kaden quickly hurried off in the direction in which Kira ran.
"Bastard?" Rodney asked repeating the word.
"Most likely her parents were taken in the last culling and she was left with no one to care for her. It appears that the people that live here take care of the orphans but only because they feel that they have to." Teyla said.
"But the way that man treated her," Rodney hissed.
"She probably earns her keep by working long and hard hours," Teyla said with a sighed.
"Let's get out of here," Rodney said.
John nodded.
They walked out of the village into the woods heading back to the puddle jumper. Their walk was long but quiet. Nobody seemed in the mood to talk especially, Rodney. Finally, they reached a clearing and John took out a remote. The jumper appeared a few feet in front of them with the hatch open. The group entered quietly and John closed the hatch.
"Let's get back and debrief." John said. The panels powered up as he sat down.
"Wait!" Rodney said and looked out of the front viewport. The Stargate was in front of them. They stared at a group of at least fifty children who were laughing and running around in circles as if they had never played before.
"What the hell?" John asked. Teyla and Ronon looked at the children play.
"Kira..." Rodney whispered. John, Teyla, and Ronon recognized the girl that had bother Rodney in town. She was sitting on a large rock looking at the Stargate sadly.
"Why are all these children here?" John asked perplexed.
The Stargate immediately activated from off-world. As soon as the connection was established two Wraith Darts exited the wormhole. The children started screaming as the Darts culling beams picked up a number of them.
"The villagers are using the orphan children as a sacrifice," Teyla whispered in horror.
Rodney stared at Kira. She hadn't move from her spot on the rock. John, Teyla, and Ronon heard the back door open. They turned and looked as Rodney disappeared.
"McKay!" John yelled.
"I'll get him!" Ronon said as he quickly ran out.
"Kira!" Rodney yelled trying to be heard over the screaming.
Kira turned and looked at him, clearly surprised. "Rodney?" she asked.
"Come here!" Rodney told Kira.
Kira quickly got off the rock and ran toward McKay, a Wraith Dart headed toward her. Rodney tried to yell at her to move but the words refused to come out of his mouth. Ronon appeared in front of Kira and pulled her toward him, the culling beam barely missing her.
"Let's go, McKay!" Ronon yelled. He held Kira in his arms. They ran back to the Puddle Jumper and got in.
"What the hell was that, McKay?!" John shouted from the pilot's chair.
Teyla had run over to Kira to check her for injuries. John turned and looked Kira. She looked back at him, clearly surprised that she was still alive.
"Why do you care about me?" Kira asked.
Rodney opened his mouth to answer but couldn't think of anything to say. Finally, he shrugged. "I really don't know," Rodney stated and turned his back to her. He realized that he did know. He had seen her sit on that rock and accept her fate a fate that shouldn't have been hers.
Kira stared at John then Ronon then Teyla.
"So... what are you going to do with me?" She asked.
"Well..." John looked at Teyla for help.
"I believe my people, the Athosians, would gladly give you a home," Teyla said. Kira looked down.
"Figures. You might as well have left me out there," she whispered. Teyla knelt beside her and looked at her.
"My people are different. They have never and they will never use children as sacrifices for the Wraith," Teyla said. Kira looked into her eyes.
"And if all else fails you can live with Rodney." John said.
Rodney stared at John. "What?" he asked as his eyes grew big with fear. "No! No! No!" he yelled. "You can't do that!"
"Well, you did save her life." John said.
"Yeah!" Kira shrieked ignoring Rodney's protests. "I owe you my life! So I won't leave your side until I repay you!" Kira looked at Rodney then nodded her head. "It's decided!"
"Wait! I get a say in this." Rodney stated as his voice cracked.
"Nope!" Kira said shaking her head as she sat next to Rodney. Rodney quickly got up and sat in the seat behind John. Kira sighed but didn't move. John smiled as he watched Kira innocently look around.
It felt like an eternity for the Wraith to finally leave. The Wraith seemed to take their time leaving the planet, just to make sure that they had caught all of the children, before returning back into the 'gate.
The group waited and finally the Wraith Darts went back into the Stargate.
"Time to go home." John said as he dialed the gate. Kira stood up and walked to the front of the puddle jumper happily. Teyla got up and ushered Kira back to her seat.
"Atlantis, this is Lt. Col John Sheppard. Be advised that we're bringing a guest with us." John said. Kira looked at him and giggled.
"What's so funny?" Teyla asked.
"He's talking to himself!" Kira whispered into Teyla's ear, making Teyla smile.