Stargate Atlantis: S7—A Gilded Cage

Sloth.

Colonel John Sheppard wasn't moving. He shifted slightly, and sure the manacles binding his wrists were a tad uncomfortable but he wasn't moving. A smirk lined his lips as he blearily waited to see what Moira was going to do next. Already his shirt was ripped open and he wondered if the stains of blood on his bare skin were intentional or just an accident of fervid passion.

A groan escaped his lips and he blinked, trying to clear his mind. Moira hadn't chained him to the wall. Moira was gone, dead, killed on their wedding day. He squinted although the cell was quite dark. He could feel a thrumming under his feet and realized it was the motion of a ship. It was a spaceship.

It was a Hive ship.

Memory was a cold wash that slapped him out of his forgetful lethargy. He spit. Blood from a cut lip had been filling his mouth and making him taste copper. He experimentally worked his jaw. He lifted his head to view his bleak surroundings. He was alone. His P-90 lay tantalizingly close on the floor, but it may as well have been a million miles away at the moment.

He recalled running, running, herding the last scientists to the Jumper and away from Echo Base as it was about to explode. Then a bright, brilliant light that lit up the snow and enveloped him into nothing. Then this. John hoarsely swore and pulled at the chains but they held fast.

A soft chuckling sent a shiver along his spine.

"John Sheppard," a voice crooned. It was alien. It was familiar. "Defiant to the last."

John slowly lifted his head to see Todd the Wraith approaching. There was a ghoulish smile on his face. "Guess the alliance is done," he observed. "Good move that. Placing a tracking device on my ship."

"Yes, it was my idea. But you didn't lead us to Atlantis. Instead you traveled to a ghost planet."

"Yep."

"Presumably to render assistance to those scientists? Who were quite delicious, by the way." Todd almost licked his lips at the memory.

John glared.

"And to repair the damage your ship sustained."

John said nothing. He was trying to recall how many had been culled along with him. He couldn't remember exactly and that bothered him.

Todd paused near him. He tilted his head, as if assessing the situation. "You know we will get the information one way or another. Why not make it easy on yourself and just tell us?"

John frowned. There was a slight pounding in his head but he ignored it. "I won't tell you a damn thing."

Todd shook his head. "John Sheppard. You should know better by now."

"Yeah, well, guess I'm a slow learner."

"No. Just a stubborn one."

John froze. The voice was female, familiar. It was the voice of Elizabeth Weir, filtered through a Wraith larynx into a hideous parody of the former expedition leader as was the figure who approached him now. Todd stepped to one side, deferential as the new queen of all Wraith stepped into the cell. She remotely resembled Elizabeth, but she was not Elizabeth. She was a strange amalgamation of Wraith and Replicator and human.

She was the most dangerous creature in the Pegasus Galaxy.

And right now she had John at her mercy.

John kept silent. He recalled the questioning, over and over. He recalled the pain of this creature trying to penetrate his mind. He recalled being fed on and revived. He recalled the violence. Nothing had made him talk or break and so far he had not inadvertently revealed what she most wanted from him.

The location of Atlantis.

He felt a chill as she touched his jaw. She ran her clawed finger along his skin, drawing a bead of blood as she lifted his face to hers, to meet him eye to eye.

"You will tell me everything, John. You will tell me the location of Atlantis."

"Bite me," he muttered.

Elizabeth smiled. "Oh…I intend to do more than that. Much, much more."

XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX

The view from the balcony was spectacular, as always. Waves crashed and rolled beneath the city of Atlantis. The pier was washed in sea spray which sparkled in the air as the sunlight shone upon it. The air was fresh and cool. John and Elizabeth stood at the balcony, admiring their city and the tremendous architecture that surrounded them. The wind was warm. It ruffled their hair and felt like soft kisses on their skin.

"I can't imagine a better place than this for the city. It's a pity we have to leave it," Elizabeth said.

John shrugged. "I know, but this planet's been compromised. We need to find a new planet, off the grid so to speak."

"You said you had some promising locations," Elizabeth said with a smile.

John met her gaze. He nodded. "There a few that might meet the

No, this isn't right, this isn't right, this is some memory but it didn't happen like this. We were in her office and it wasn't

Criteria. We need an ocean planet, obviously, but with a temperate climate," John stated. He looked back out at the ocean waves. The blues and whitecaps were hypnotic. Suddenly there was a data pad in his hands. He looked at it and saw the scrolling data. Addresses.

"As long as surfing is not part of the criteria," Elizabeth teased. She stepped closer to eye the data pad. "Which of these is the most promising?"

"Well, M17X39 was nice but it had some dinosaurs, so we couldn't

I should have told Moira about that planet. She would have loved it and demanded to go there to see the dinosaurs. Moira. Moira. But I hadn't met her yet. This…this isn't right. I'm not on Atlantis with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is gone, gone, lost to us, killed by the Replicators and

Set up a base there. M17Z29 was too humid, more like a jungle and…" John paused, touching his brow. A headache suddenly blazed behind his eyes, and he almost stumbled with the force of the pain.

"John, what's wrong? Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked in concern. She took his arm, steadying him and pointed at the data pad. "What about this one? M18R56?"

"Yeah…that's…" John shook his head. His vision was blurring as a pressure was building, building inside his head. He fought to resist it. He glanced down at Elizabeth's hand on his arm and saw that her nails

Claws were digging into his skin, drawing blood, rich red blood that trickled along his bare skin. He lifted his gaze to see her sallow, lined face was full of Wraith slits and her eyes were yellow and full of guile

Concern as she frowned in that pretty way she had where one brow lifted slightly. "John? Is this the one? Is this the one?" she repeated. Her voice was soft and feminine and low

Scratching at his mind. It was a low tone that commanded and insisted, pounding in time to the rapid beating of his heart and the thrumming of the pain cascading in his mind. No, no, this isn't right. I can't reveal anything about Atlantis, good God she's a Wraith she's a super Wraith and will destroy everything and everyone and I must stop her! I must

Tell her because she's the expedition leader and must make the final decision, yes, John realized. He nodded, pointing dumbly at the third address. He had lost the power to speak. He squinted and tried to look at Elizabeth as she smiled at him. The city wavered behind her like a dream.

"No, no, you rejected this one, remember? You said it wasn't, wasn't…" The memory was slipping from him even as he tried to bury it. He tried to free his arm but her grip was like iron and her eyes were boring into his, as if she could burrow into his brain and find whatever she wanted and needed from him. She was a

Monster, a monster and not the Elizabeth he knew! The Elizabeth he had known was gone, long gone, leaving this hideous parody in her place.

"No! NO!" John growled, bucking and yanking at the chains. He was bathed in sweat and his legs trembled from the exertion of trying to keep himself upright. Pain erupted and he shut his eyes, trying to will it away, trying to remove the rude penetration of his mind.

Abruptly the pain ceased. He sagged back against the wall, exhausted. He blearily opened his eyes. His vision swam with tears and anger as the Wraith Queen was smiling. She lowered her hands, an elegant motion.

"Thank you, John. I knew you would break, in the end."

"I told you nothing!" he flared, but his voice was hoarse and weak.

"On the contrary, you told me everything I need to know. You told me the location of Atlantis. Rest now, John. You've done very well." She caressed his cheek, savoring the expression of horror and shock on his handsome face. "Such a pretty, pretty man. Elizabeth always found you so, did you know that?"

"No," John said. His head was throbbing and he tried to keep alert. For once he was the prey and she was the deadly predator and he had to be very careful. "You'll never find Atlantis!"

"Oh we shall, thanks to you, my dear. My dear John…whatever shall I do with you?" the queen pondered. She was almost flirting with him and the idea of a Wraith flirting with him made John recoil in disgust.

"Shall we kill him, now, my queen?" Todd asked.

Elizabeth turned. Her dark skirts made a swishing sound. "No. I want him to witness the destruction of Atlantis. Make sure my new pet is tended."

"As you wish, my queen."

John glared. He sagged against the wall again. He lowered his head as a dull pain thudded, thudded.

Neither saw the quick smile come and go on his lips.