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katstale. Prompt: Cage. Rating: PG. I went for SGA on this one. A Gilded Cage This Isn't
They find him in a box: a box Rodney doesn't care to consider the measurements of except to notice that it's way smaller than Sheppard, forcing him into a fetal position, with air holes and a little slot to push water and maybe some food through. Not a lot of food, obviously, or maybe not even enough room to so much as maneuver the food into his mouth. He has that scarecrow look going for him, all sticks and cloth, sharp angles and knobs where the bones connect. Having his spine, hell having all his bones, digging into the solid wooden walls for...
Oh, gosh, almost two weeks. He'd been in that box for almost two weeks.
Sheppard moans, yelps and whimpers in pride-be-damned pain as Ronon and Lorne remove him as gently as they can. He pulls in a hissing breath and whimpers some more on trying to straighten out. He can't, his muscles won't let him, but at least he's no longer breathing in shallow, desperate pants. He'd been scrunched just right to allow for breathing while denying proper room for a wider expanding of his ribcage. He got air, but it probably never seemed like enough. Rodney's chest tightens from the mere thought of it.
Sheppard's still stuck in a fetal position. Muscle relaxants and gentle massages loosen him up enough to ease him out of it another inch. Problem is, touch makes him nervous, which makes him tense, which tightens him back up again. His captors hadn't been kind to him before shoving him like trash into that box. Drugged and out of it, it's easy for him to forget who's manhandling him, and no amount of sweet-talk from pretty nurses can change that. He needs it, though, the massages, in order to straighten out and ease his circulation and breathing.
Rodney hates thinking it, but even in scrubs Sheppard looks like a shriveled-up corpse. And being all curled up like that must hurt, because once the pain medication wears off, the moaning, groaning, and whimpering resumes.
It's actually Teyla who cracks first. The situation was reaching that point of “just straighten him out already, pain be damned!” and she wouldn't have it.
“Ronon, Rodney, I will need your help,” she tells them, firm yet pleading. Whatever she's about to do, she does not wish to do it alone.
They're Sheppard's team, and it was a long time ago that they reached the point of doing just about everything together. Well, everything that really mattered.
Teyla has Beckett's more trusted nurses strip Sheppard out of the scrubs and dress him in plain boxers for the sake of his dignity. They wheel him on a gurney into a room Rodney had pre-warmed to practically sweltering. Ronon gathers John's frail body and carries it into a bath – a kind of jacuzzi tub – to hold him for a fifteen minute soak. After that, and once dried, he's returned to the gurney. Teyla proceeds to kneed decrepit muscles, digging deep with fingers and the heel of her hands. She uses warm oils that smell fragrant but faint, like sandalwood and honeysuckle that makes one think of warm, quiet summer days. As Teyla kneads, she has Ronon gradually straighten locked limbs, little by little, inch by inch; arms, legs, wrists, ankles, then back. Rodney, hating to be left out, talks to Sheppard, telling him to think of blue skies and ferris wheels.
Sheppard emits tiny grunts during the straightening, but has yet to whimper. Teyla is able to roll him onto his back to work the chest and ribs, making it easier for him to breathe. They wipe away excess oil with warm cloths, then dress him in fresh scrubs. Rodney's never been this personal (no way will he say “intimate”) when it comes to helping someone else. Though there is mild discomfort in it, he's surprised that he's not all that bothered by it.
They return John to the infirmary, not quite his loose-limbed self, but getting there. There will be lingering stiffness for a time, Teyla says. For now, he's breathing easier, his face is relaxed, and he's able to sleep deeply, and that's all that matters.
The End
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Date: 2007-10-30 06:38 am (UTC)From:My heart was just breaking for him as he tried to recover from the absolute cruelty that he'd endured. The picture of man's capability to be cruel to his fellow humans was excellently painted here. And in the end, his team stepping in to take care of him and put him on the road to recovery was awesome.
I enjoy fic with a darker tone, especially when it ends with him on the road to recovery, and you've done that in spades here. Thanks VERY much for such an awesome response. :)
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Date: 2007-11-01 05:53 am (UTC)From:I think that's why I like dark/angst fic myself - bringing a character to their breaking point, then putting them back together again through love and kindness. I love stories where I can one character showing kindness to another, but can't resist whumping the character hard to bring it about.
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Date: 2013-12-01 09:39 am (UTC)From:Wow, what an incredible fic! Horrifying and painful in all the best ways, plus TEAM!! *hearts*
Love it!