((Just a brief note: SGA is not mine. And nor is Ronon Dex. I am more upset about one of these things than the other and I'll let you decide which. Here's a hint: rippling manliness. Also, this story is very AU, but hopefully it fits in all right and doesn't require that you suspend too much belief. I'm not 100% certain where this would fall in the timeline, considering I've kind of played with the timeline a lot. Basically, Elizabeth Weir is still in control of Atlantis, but Teyla has had her baby which may, or may not, only ever be mentioned once. If it helps, I started writing this shortly after watching (well, rewatching, but it's been a while) season 4. From here on out I'll put any notes at the bottom of the chapter save for the disclaimer and any notes about changes in the timeline you may need to know about. Sorry about any sciency terms I may get wrong. Also, will someone define the word brief for me?))

"I really hate this planet."

Sheppard sighed, not bothering to try and conceal the noise. They had been on the planet for less than ten minutes. The gate was still visible between the trees behind them. "You say that about every planet, Rodney. I'm sorry that we don't get to visit beach planets with those busty blondes you like so much."

"I never said-"

"You did though." Rodney didn't try to fight with Ronon. That was a fight he automatically lost.

"All I'm saying is that dark, scary planets are far from my favorite."

"I think that we are all very well aware of that fact, Dr. McKay" Even when it was directed at him, Rodney had to admire the way Teyla let just the tiniest bit of condescending sarcasm into her voice. He couldn't be sure that she had meant it that way, though he had a pretty good guess.

"I don't see why-"

Rodney broke off when Sheppard raised his fist, looking around him in a desperate search for Wraith. Years in the field had trained Rodney well and he was one of the first to raise his gun.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Now that he had pointed it out, the entire team could hear the soft crunch of rapid footsteps ahead of them.

"Wraith?" Teyla whispered, taking several steps toward the noise.

"No, they're alone. And the footsteps are too soft." Sheppard didn't even slow down. He had seen a flash of dark brown hair between the trees ahead of them. He turned the corner of the path just as she did, and they collided. She had been running, her breathing hard and her cheeks pink. The look in her eyes wasn't panic, but there was a sense of fear there and the tired, worn out look of someone who had had a particularly long, hard life. She couldn't have been more than seventeen.

The girl pushed off of Sheppard, leaping backwards several feet. She landed with a knife drawn in one hand, but made no move to use it. Instead she took a step to the side, trying to get around him. He reached for her arm and grabbed it just as she stopped short of her own accord.

"Impossible," her eyes were wide, the word so quiet Sheppard couldn't be sure he had heard it. He followed her line of sight and found Ronon on the other end. his eyes lacked the recognition that her's seemed to hold. There was a tense moment of silent. Sheppard had his gun trained on the girl. Teyla was confused, also with her gun up but still more at ease than the three men. McKay's gun also pointed in her general direction, though he was unprepared to fire should the need arise, and Ronon, the one to always shoot first and ask questions later, held his arm at a stiff angle, only half raised and pointing at a tree about six feet to the right of her. Their shock was understandable; the planet they were on, P7X-575, was uninhabited There was no reason for her being there. (Hell, there was no reason for them to be there, either, but McKay's girlfriend had been sure that a tree that grew there was the cure for leukemia, an opportunity they couldn't pass up.)

"You don't recognize me." It wasn't a question. Ronon shook his head, confirming her suspicions. "Of course not," she continued, "It's been what, 10 years? Maybe seven..." She thought for a moment. "How old do I look to you?" Ronon didn't answer. She turned to Sheppard, "How old do I look to you?" She enunciated each word as if she was speaking to a child. He was mildly offended.

"16? 17? 18, tops." Sheppard was having a hard time accepting the bizarre nature of the situation he was facing.

"So ten years, plus the eight, minus four, and then add six..." She continued muttering to herself, using the fingers on her free hand to do the math. "I should be 22. Wow. I'm actually [i]younger[/i]. I did not expect that." She seemed shocked, momentarily forgetting she was surrounded by four people with their guns more or less still aimed at her.

"What do you-" The familiar and much loathed sound of a wraith dart echoed above their heads. She checked her watch, swore, then turned her attention back to the team."

"You have to leave this planet. Now."

"I agree, so how about the five of us-"

"No. You need to leave. Go somewhere. Anywhere. And I need to go somewhere else."

"If you come with us, we can protect you." Sheppard had a bad feeling about where this was going, about why the wraith were there. She certainly didn't seem like a wraith worshiper. And the planet was devoid of human life. That really only left one option that he knew of.

"No. I can't be protected. I have to keep running and you need to leave." Her voice had turned cold, her words directed almost solely at Ronon.

"You're a runner." Also not a question.

"I am."

"You are a bit young to be a runner, are you not?"

"No. As much as I would like to stand around and explain-"

The wraith dart was preparing to make another pass.

"Right. Dial P9X-205. We're all going through." Sheppard didn't allow the girl to argue, using the arm he still grasped to pull her towards the gate.

"You don't understand," she tried to pull against him, but with the knife held in her captured hand there was little she could do. "Anywhere I go-"

"We know about runners." They were only a few yards from the gate, the wormhole already active.

"It's different. Any civilization that I go to is called. Every single last person-"

"Well, it's a good thing P9X is uninhabited." She went with him willingly then.

Moments after stepping through the gate she realized that he had been lying.

"We'll be safe here for a few minutes, anyway." The journey through the gate had made Sheppard loosen his grasp, and she pulled away easily.

"You don't get it!" The anger and bitterness in her voice shocked John. "It doesn't matter how long I stay here, a few minutes or a few hours. They will come and take everyone. You have doomed every human on this planet to death."

"What are you talking about?" Ronon seemed to be the only one taking her seriously, even though the intense emotion in her voice was very clear.

She sighed, and then dropped onto a rock a few feet behind her. The girl sheathed her knife in her boot and reached into the bag she carried on her back for a metal bottle. She drank from it and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand with another sigh.

"You're Ronon Dex, aren't you?"

"I am." Ronon had put his weapon away as she had put away hers.

"You should know that none of us blame you."

"Who doesn't blame me for what?"

"The other runners. You were the first person to ever escape that life. When you did they captured as many of us as they could, and cut out the trackers."

"They removed them?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"As far as I can tell, they were worried about us doing what you did, going somewhere and getting it cut out and then we'd be safe. They developed a new tracker, one that ties itself into the brain stem and down the spine. It can't be removed, not without death."

There was a flash of guilt in Ronon's eyes, but he hid it well. "And they did this to everyone?" There was a moment's hesitation before she nodded, and he sensed that she wasn't being completely honest with him. He didn't push it.

"And now they're calling entire planets?" Sheppard was the only one that hadn't completely lowered his weapon.

"Yes."

"And that goes for everyone?"

She met and held Ronon's eyes as she nodded, and he could see the lie there, but couldn't decipher what it meant.

Standing and stretching as if she had been sitting down for hours, the girl threw her bottle back in her bag. "You brought me here, these people are your problem." She checked her watch, "It's been a slow day, but we're still close to Ka'ai. You probably have about four hours until the hive ship gets here." She reshouldered her bag and went to the DHD, dialing an address none of them recognized. No one made a move to stop her.

"We have excellent doctors."

She sighed and bent over the DHD, but John, able to see her profile, knew that the faint glimmer of hope was enough to make her hesitate at least. "If you can figure out a way to remove some wraith tech from where it's wrapped around my spine, then I'm all ears. This planet," here she gestured to the DHD, "I go there about once every four days. It's the closest thing I have to a home. If you need to find me, you can do it here." With that she turned and sprinted towards the gate, disappearing through it before they could stop her. Ronon burned the symbols lit up on the DHD into his mind, memorizing them.

There was a moment of silence within the team before Sheppard spoke. "If she's right, and the wraith are going to call this entire planet, we need to get these people out of here."

"Agreed." Teyla began towards the village. It was one of the many planets her people had traded with and she knew she could explain the situation to them and get them off world, at least for a little while.

_
((This feels a bit impersonal to me... does it feel impersonal to you? First chapters always feel impersonal and distant to me... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story. I think it's gonna be a fun time. If you have theories about anything, feel free to post them in the reviews, that makes it more fun for me. And sometimes I get ideas from them, though of course I'll credit you if that's the case. If you do have any ideas you want me to use, either leave it in a review or PM me. Can you PM someone on here? I'll check later. And please, let me know if I suck so I can get a new day job. XD))