Fluctuat Nec Mergitur Chapter 1, a stargate: atlantis fanfic

A note about the title: "Fluctuat nec mergitur" was once the motto of Paris (it may still be, I don't know). It is Latin and means, "It is tossed by the waves but does not sink." I thought this fitting for two reasons. One, it describes Atlantis itself rather well (sinking is not the same thing as submerging). Two, it also applies to the main character of this story (ok, actually quite a few of the characters, but her especially).

Continuity/Spoilers: All of Season 1 and 2, Season 3 through Common Ground (McKay and Mrs. Miller has not yet happened) with the following major adjustment to the timeline: the events of Critical Mass (Season 2) have not happened yet.

Warnings: The main cast will be in it quite a bit, but this is an OC-heavy fic. I'm not a fan of Teyla, so there will be occasional bashing of her character, so those who are big fans of hers will not want to read this. As far as I have planned, she does end up redeeming herself somewhat, but that may not be enough for her fans. Pairings include Sparky (Elizabeth Weir and John Sheppard) among others (though I will leave those others to be discovered).

Reading Key: (Mostly for future chapters) Thoughts and emphasis are in italics. Telepathic conversation is underlined. Flashbacks or memories are bold.

This story is also posted on deviantart under my screenname there (spideegrrl77) so don't think it's copied if you also lurk on that site.

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It took long moments for Chuck to figure out that there was no incoming wormhole when the alarm sounded. It was the only time he'd heard the claxon-like chiming in the command room after which no event horizon formed in the circular Stargate. He activated the shield anyway as was standard procedure. Confused, he moved a hand to the communications device in his ear to call Zelenka or one of the other technologically-minded scientists of the expedition to check out the apparent anomaly. This action was put off when he heard a shout below him from the 'gate room floor.

Standing from behind his console, Chuck moved to the railing overlooking the 'gate room to see a puddle jumper that had definitely not been there a minute ago. Sergeant Bates, newly returned from Earth and a stint at the SGC, had the jumper surrounded. He and his team were aiming their weapons at the hatch in the rear. After a couple of tense minutes, the ramp-like door lowered. From where he was standing, Chuck could not see into the Ancient vehicle.

But he tensed, his hand tightening on the railing, when Bates shouted, "Wraith!"

Bates immediately fired into the opening with his P90, but something evidently went wrong. The bullets appeared to be ricocheting off of something, and there was a sudden pained scream from inside the jumper. And the Wraith weren't known for showing reactions to pain. A female voice, decidedly human-sounding, cried out, "Marion!" a moment later.

Chuck watched in shocked awe as a young woman walked out of the back of the jumper. The bullets Bates had not stopped firing rebounded off the surface of what appeared to be a personal shield like the one Rodney McKay had had trouble with a few months after the initial arrival in the Pegasus Galaxy. The young woman's hands were up in the classic Earth gesture of surrender, but her face was fiercely angry as she glared at Bates.

"Stop!" she thundered at him, the tone of command in her voice somehow familiar to Chuck. "We are unarmed, and you have already injured one of us."

The Sergeant sneered at her but ceased firing, though he kept his weapon trained on her. "On your knees."

For a moment Chuck thought she would refuse, but she carefully folded one leg and then the other to kneel on the floor at the base of the ramp, her hands still above her head. It was as she was lowering herself that Chuck noted something disturbing. The light reflected off one of the fingers of her left hand. Squinting, Chuck recognized a Wraith implant as the cause of the reflection, his eyes going wide in surprise. As far as he knew, no one from the expedition had come across a human with a Wraith implant before. Not even the trouble-magnet flagship team.

"Now you," Bates demanded of someone in the jumper once one of his team members had trained his own weapon on the young woman.

A Wraith, tall for a human but not for his kind at around six foot four, slowly moved into view, mimicking the human woman's pose of hands-in-the-air surrender. When the Wraith was kneeling beside the woman, Bates motioned for most of his team to surround the two as he crept carefully forward into the jumper, coming back out moments later, pressing a hand to the radio in his ear.

"Major Lorne, you may want to come to the 'gate room, we have some uninvited guests." After apparently receiving a response from the military SIC of Atlantis, seeing as Colonel Sheppard was currently off-world, Bates pressed the device again and called for Dr. Beckett to bring a medical team.

But was the injured party another Wraith or a human like the other invading female?

Chuck took a shaky breath and a glance around, noting that the rest of the personnel of the command room were also at the railing, watching the scene below with curiosity and some fear. He couldn't help wishing Dr. Weir were here to say something calming and authoritative to all of them, but she was in one of the botany labs for a presentation of some of their findings.

Below, the young woman was speaking again, and Chuck tuned back in to hear her, "If one of you isn't going to do it, please let me apply pressure to her wound. I don't want her to bleed to death while we're waiting for Carson."

Chuck started at her knowledge of the Chief Medical Officer's first name, but Bates seemed to take no notice.

"Hand over the shield device first."

Knowing most people would at the very least hesitate to leave themselves unprotected in the face of so many hostile gun-bearing men, Chuck was surprised when the young woman immediately removed the small object from the front of her shirt and held it out toward Bates.

"Stand up," the Sergeant commanded, emphasizing the words with a motion of his weapon. When she had complied, he added, "Toss it to me, gently."

After the transfer had been accomplished, Bates putting the shield into a pocket, he motioned into the jumper with the gun. The young woman walked into the ship with Bates following close behind her.

Chuck noticed that the Wraith watched the movement of the two until they were out of his line of sight, only returning his attention to the men surrounding him when he would have had to turn around to follow Bates and the young woman with his eyes. If he didn't know better, Chuck would think the Wraith was more concerned for the young woman than himself.

Shortly after, Carson came rushing into the room with a gurney and a team of nurses. He stooped short at the sight of the Wraith, a quiet, "oh dear," escaping him. Everyone knew Carson had been more hesitant about being near any Wraith since the second failed attempt to turn Michael and the disaster of the transformation of Michael's hive.

"He doesn't appear to be injured," Carson said after a few moments, not having moved any closer to the Wraith.

To Chuck's surprise, the Wraith answered when none of the soldiers guarding him did. "I was protected. Marion suffered for it. She is inside the jumper."

Carson blinked twice before moving into action, disappearing into the ship with two male nurses. A moment later, Bates and the young woman came back out, the woman's hands now bright red with blood. So this Marion must be human as well. The Wraith's blood, from what Chuck knew, was a much deeper color. The unnamed woman knelt beside the Wraith once more, her gaze on her hands. Her chest and shoulders seemed to be heaving in a way that led Chuck to believe she might hyperventilate at any moment. And then the Wraith leaned subtly toward her, his arm brushing hers lightly. The young woman immediately and quite visibly relaxed, though she still held her hands awkwardly in front of her.

Seconds later, Carson's head popped into view from the interior of the jumper. "Can you come here for a minute, lass?"

Bates frowned at the doctor, but Carson told the soldier, "I need to ask her some medical questions so I can treat the one in here. I doubt an unarmed woman will be able to do anything while she's worried about her friend. And you do have her, uh, other travel companion under guard."

"Alright," Bates consented, waving with the barrel of his weapon for the young woman to go to Carson.

Once again the Wraith watched the human female until she was out of sight. Bates caught the action this time and sneered at the Wraith, a knowing glint in his eyes. The Wraith was saved from any jeers from the Sergeant by Major Lorne's appearance with his own team.

Bates filled the Major in on what had happened since the appearance of the jumper. Chuck noticed the Sergeant downplayed the invaders' cooperation. For some reason he couldn't name, he hoped he and the other witnesses would get a chance at some point to clarify what had occurred. And knowing the Stargate programs' penchant for filling out multiple forms on every incident, he knew they probably would. When Bates was finished with his recitation, Lorne looked up at Chuck and the others.

"Don't you people have work you should be doing?" Major Lorne snapped at the gawkers.

Chuck let go of the railing. Turning back to his station, he sighed. That had been some of the most intriguing drama he'd seen play out in Atlantis, particularly since it hadn't ended up being life-threatening to any member of the expedition. It was a shame that he'd have to find out what else happened through the rumor mill instead of being a direct witness.

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Turning his attention away from the dispersing curious onlookers and back to the situation at hand, Major Evan Lorne frowned. How was it possible that a jumper had gotten into the 'gate room without actually coming through the Stargate? Satisfied that there were already enough men with weapons trained on the Wraith, he glanced at the jumper itself. It was definitely of Ancient design but appeared slightly wider and longer than the Atlantis jumpers. It certainly didn't give him any clues about how it had gotten here or why.

Evan glanced at the Wraith, only to find the white-haired male watching him. Evan frowned again. It took a good deal of restraint not to try to question the Wraith. But he knew Sheppard would want the right to the first interrogation. As not only Military Leader of Atlantis but also the one with the most first hand experience with the Wraith aside from Ronon Dex, it was for the best. It didn't, however, ease Evan's own curiosity any.

The Wraith's attention left him to glance at the ramp leading into the jumper. Evan turned that way too to find a young brunette coming out. She was wiping her hands on a small towel, leaving smears of what was obviously blood. One of Carson's nurses took the cloth from her when she was done. She froze when her blue-green gaze met Evan's blue-eyed stare. She was very pretty, but that wasn't what captured Lorne's attention.

It was the way she was looking at him. Like she knew him.

She looked a bit familiar, but not enough for her to know him the way her gaze suggested she did. Had he met her on one of the planets he'd been to in the Pegasus Galaxy? Evan scanned her from head to foot, looking for anything that might give him a clue to her home planet. Her hair, waist length and thick, was pulled into a low ponytail that fell on the right side of her body, hiding her right ear from view.

Her shirt was a medium blue color with black trim at the neck that angled down the garment diagonally, silver designs stitched into the trim. The odd thing about it was that while it was sleeveless on her left arm, her right arm was covered to just past her wrist. Her pants were black and appeared to be made of thin, supple leather. There were geometric designs cut out of the left leg, but the right was solid. A small bulge in one of her pockets showed that she hadn't been patted down yet, and Evan found himself frowning at a strip of fabric tied around her left bicep. It was a very familiar color.

His gaze left her clothing and returned to her face. She had two tattoos on her face, stylized fire above her left eye and an unidentifiable mark under it. Remembering that a Wraith was one of her companions, Evan wondered if it was a Wraith mark. It was the third tattoo, located on her neck, that gave him a slight clue as to where she could be from. But it made the chance that they'd previously met even less likely and made her association with a Wraith even more of a mystery. It was the same Satedan symbol… and now that he thought about it, it was also in the same place… as the one Ronon Dex sported on his own neck.

The young woman had remained still while he conducted his perusal. When he frowned in confusion, she flinched slightly. Her right hand twitched, as if she wanted to reach for him. Both of her hands curled into loose fists and fell to her sides. She tore her gaze away from his, the action taking obvious effort. Moving slowly so her actions were clearly seen, she walked down the ramp. When she reached the bottom of the ramp and made to lower herself beside the Wraith, Evan cleared his throat.

"Don't bother kneeling," he said. "We need to move you now anyway."

The young woman swallowed visibly and nodded. Her hand lightly touched the Wraith's nearest shoulder. The Wraith stood up and shifted slightly so that he was standing behind the young woman. Turning his attention away from the pair for a moment, Evan watched Carson and his team wheel a younger woman out of the jumper. He glanced into the now-empty vehicle and paled slightly. The machine inside the back of the jumper was recognizable from reports he'd seen in his time at the SGC.

This puddle jumper had time-travel capabilities.

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Elizabeth Weir studied one of the surveillance screens that had been turned on to keep an eye on the latest inhabitants of the holding cell that had gotten a fairly regular workout since the capture of "Steve." The cameras had been set up after the second Wraith to be held in it, "Bob," had been killed. Those in charge of studying what they could of the Wraith wanted to be able to observe the recordings in case of future captures. They'd not had another until now, and Elizabeth had rather mixed feelings about the fact that the Wraith was in there with a human. But apparently, the human had insisted. Her insistence had led everyone to speculate that she was a Wraith worshipper, the existence of whom they'd become aware of when Sheppard and his team had been captured and held by Ford.

Elizabeth hadn't been there when the time travel puddle jumper had suddenly appeared in the 'gate room nor had she seen the events that immediately followed, but she had been caught up on it by Major Lorne based on what Sergeant Bates had told him. The Sergeant had been the one to try to shoot the Wraith that had evidently been traveling with two human females. The younger of the two women had been hit instead and taken to the infirmary.

The second woman had not resisted the actions of Lorne's team in their search of her and their stripping her of her personal effects. The only time she had balked had been when they'd taken a band that had been around her arm and a silver object that had been pulled from a pocket. Elizabeth was still waiting for the objects to be brought to her. The Wraith, too, had been oddly cooperative, but as far as she knew he'd not had anything on him to be taken.

The young human woman had been offered a chance at being guarded in a regular room, but she had insisted on staying with the Wraith if they wouldn't allow her to be with the other young woman in the infirmary. She had paced anxiously, asking every few minutes about Marion, the girl who'd taken the bullet that had ricocheted off what was obviously an Ancient personal shield when the woman now in the cell had stepped in to protect the Wraith. The pacing and asking had only stopped when an odd occurrence had taken over the city.

A melodic chime had rung over the PA system, and no one could seem to figure out where it had come from. But the sound had made the young woman in the cell relax and move to stand behind the Wraith, leaning her head back against his shoulder. The Wraith had reached back slightly with one hand to touch the young woman's fingers with his, but had otherwise not reacted.

John Sheppard came into the surveillance room carrying a bag, and Elizabeth gave him a small smile before turning her attention back to the screen. He came to stand beside her, looking at the screen as well. The young woman's right eyebrow arched upward and Elizabeth glanced at one of the other screens to see that one of the guards, a young Marine that had only been on Atlantis for a short time, was staring rather inappropriately at her. Next to her, John gasped. Elizabeth looked up at him with a question in her eyes, noting that his gaze had remained on the first screen.

"You do that same look, Elizabeth," John said in an odd tone.

The thought made her slightly uneasy considering that there was a chance the travelers had come from the future, but Elizabeth tried to brush off John's comment, "Many women do, John."

Instead of responding verbally, John dumped the contents of the bag on the table in front of them, pushing items, including one she recognized as being an Ancient shield generator, aside to focus her attention on two of them. One was a grayish-blue band of cloth that was oddly similar to the material used to make the jackets and pants of expedition members. John flipped it over to reveal a worn patch that matched the one on his own sleeve and those of most of the expedition, including Elizabeth herself. But it was the second object that sent an odd frisson down her spine. Her father's watch, a little worse for the wear but unmistakable none-the-less, sat innocently on the table in front of her despite the fact that she knew it was resting on the desk in her office.

"You think…" she asked breathlessly, unable to finish her question.

"I think she might be your daughter," John confirmed, an oddly hurt expression on his face.

Elizabeth stared at the screen again, picking out features that resembled her own for a long minute before John cleared his throat and told her, "We should go talk to her." It was only when he remarked, "You should come, too," to the back of the room that Elizabeth realized Ronon had come in as well.

The three of them walked to the holding area together, Ronon moving forward as he evidently noted something of interest. The young woman in the cell straightened and turned to face them. Her gaze passed over Ronon before settling on Elizabeth. Elizabeth scanned the young woman's face before noting the tattoo on her neck that must be the cause of Ronon's interest.

"Are you mine?" Ronon asked abruptly, causing the woman to glance his way and frown.

"No," she answered. "I don't look a thing like you, do I?"

Elizabeth heard a sigh of relief escape John. She blushed when she realized he'd been jealously assuming the same thing.

"No, but…" Ronon trailed off, gesturing to his own tattoo.

"That's a long story," the young woman responded tensely. "And it really has nothing to do with you. At all."

John stepped forward, Elizabeth moving after him a moment later. He hesitated, obviously not sure what to say to the young woman, before moving his gaze to the Wraith. He opened his mouth but was pre-empted by the young woman.

"Call him Ben," she told John with a hint of amusement in her voice. "It's what I named him."

Unshed tears made the young woman's eyes shine as she stared with a heart-wrenching longing at John. Elizabeth sucked in a breath.

"And what should we call you?" Elizabeth asked, barely able to find her voice.

A slight, tremulous smile touched the young woman's lips as she answered, turning her gaze to Elizabeth, "My name is Nycole Sheppard… mother."

To be continued…

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Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. They are property of MGM Television, SciFi Channel and their affiliates and are used here only to entertain. No infringement is intended and I am not making money off this. Characters created by me… especially Nycole, Marion, Ben and members of Ben's hive… as well as the plot of this story and the actual wording are mine. Please respect that.