Author's Note: Thanks so much to my lovely beta readers, Agata and Tally. You guys are great!

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Chapter 1

There was a bowl of fruit on the floor beside him, and a display screen full of equations on the wall opposite, but otherwise the room was empty, save for Rodney himself.

Knotted with vein-like tendrils and glowing with red light from within, the translucent walls were uncomfortable to look at. Even the warm, carapace-like floor felt wrong underneath him. Rodney really hated Wraith ships, most especially when he was trapped inside them, but at least this time he wasn't stuck in a cocoon.

Rodney did his best to focus on the display, and tied to stay awake. Having been knocked out during his capture, he was keenly aware of the possibility of a concussion.

He'd spent at least an hour trying to hack into the door panel, and another trying to pry it open with his bare hands. He told himself that he was only resting a bit before he tried again, and he wondered if there was anyone else from his team trapped in a similar room nearby, having better luck. He realized that the less captives the Wraith had, the better, but it was comforting to think that John or Ronon might be around somewhere, ready and willing to help him escape.

The last thing he remembered was digging through a patch of rubble at Michael's last research site, trying to find more information about the hive-growing pathogen. Teyla was back in Atlantis with newly-born Torren, or she might have been able to warn them of any Wraith presence on the planet. As it was, Rodney had heard the high-pitched whine of dart engines, and then... nothing.

The fruits were alien, and possibly drugged, Rodney imagined. Still, after a long spell of staring at the equations, he found that he'd eaten half of them quite without realizing it. They were slightly sweet, but mostly bland, and they didn't make him feel any different, so he continued eating, rationalizing that he could plan a way out of here much better on a full stomach than an empty one. You needed calories to think – everyone knew that.

He was halfway through the last piece of fruit when the Wraith walked in. Spitting out his current bite, he threw the rest of the fruit at the Wraith's head, before launching himself up in an attempted tackle.

The Wraith barely flinched, but only took Rodney by the shoulders and shoved him forcefully back onto the floor. Nonchalantly, the Wraith wiped fruit juice from the well-aimed throw off of a familiar star-burst pattern on its cheek. It was Todd.

"Sit down, Dr. McKay. I have no desire to damage you," said Todd.

Rodney watched in despair as the door closed firmly behind his captor. Shakily, he stood up and crossed his arms.

"No," he replied peevishly. "I'll stand."

The Wraith sighed. "Very well, then. Stand."

Rodney fidgeted, annoyed by a sudden urge to rebel against this command as well. He lifted his chin defiantly instead, looking Todd straight in the eye, until the creepiness of the slitted yellow stare drained his resolve, and his glare faltered.

"Do you have any theories yet as to why you're here?"

"I assumed it was because you missed my sparkling personality."

The Wraith smiled dryly and inclined his head to the side, as though in appreciation of Rodney's little joke.

"Close," he admitted. "It was rather the lustrous qualities of your mind that I felt were sorely missing from my little project," he explained, gesturing toward the display of equations.

As susceptible to flattery as he was, Rodney enjoyed a few moments of smugness before his brain finally registered the more significant bits of information in that sentence.

"That? Is a project? I thought it was graffiti!"

"The concept is a dated one, but I've recently decided that it bears revisiting."

"If you want my professional opinion, it's garbage! The conclusions are drawn from totally flawed premises. If you tried to construct something using that as a theoretical groundwork, you'd probably just blow yourself up! So, you know, go on ahead and knock yourself out." Rodney crossed his arms. "Look, why do you even need me to tell you this? If I recall, you're not exactly a lightweight in the knowledge department either, Mr. Ten-thousand-year-old-evil-scientist. Unless you're not as smart as I thought you were."

"I have supplementary evidence to support many elements of this theory, but my work has come to an impasse. I thought a new perspective, especially one familiar with Ancient technology, might be able to shed some light. And I'm sure you'll take great pains not to blow yourself up while working on it. Unless you're not as brilliantly intelligent as I thought you were."

Rodney's lip curled in annoyance. He wasn't taking the bait this time.

"I'd rather blow myself up than help you," Rodney stated with as much vehemence as he could muster.

Todd stared at Rodney in cool appraisal.

"Based on the conclusions of this equation, Dr. McKay, what is it you think I'm trying to build?" The Wraith asked after some consideration.

Rodney took a look at the display and made a few mental leaps.

"A weapon," he concluded, slightly puzzled. "A Wraith weapon – I mean, one designed to attack Wraith ships."

"And do you think it could be adapted for use in attacking humans?"

Rodney glanced over again. "No. Not unless humans started traveling by hive. Why would you want to create a weapon to destroy yourselves?"

The Wraith spread his hands. "For the same reason your kind has undoubtedly developed weapons to attack each other. I won't bore you with the details of Wraith internecine politics, Dr. McKay, but suffice it to say that such a device would be a great advantage to someone in my situation. And I might point out that it could also be of benefit to your species were there to be someone of high rank in Wraith society who was… less hostile to negotiation."

"Well that's a firm assurance of reward." Rodney snorted. "What if I said it would take something a little more guaranteed to get me to help you?"

The Wraith smiled. "I guarantee that I'll feed on you if you don't agree to help."

Rodney winced. "Small carrot, big stick, I get it."

"I pride myself on my ability to negotiate."

"Yeah, I bet you do."

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End of Chapter 1