The Queen Turns
John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, and Rodney McKay sat in their wraith holding cell, waiting anxiously for the things to come.
"So, what's the plan?" Rodney asked.
"Do we have one?" John answered.
"Well usually we do have some kind of plan. Ronon, did you bring your hair knives? They could be very useful right now. No? Oh okay. No harm in asking though." Rodney withdrew his question as soon as he looked in Ronon's agitated face.
"What if they found out about Teyla?" Ronon asked as he was walking up and down the small cell.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, and be quiet before one of those guards hears us. We'll have to wait and see what will happen, and then..." Sheppard was about to come up with a plan as he let out the words, when the door at the end of the hall opened and he saw a short female wraith walking towards them.
"Leave us." She told the guards outside the trio's cell. One of the wraith hesitated until he caught Teyla's piercing eyes. He then also left.
"Come with me." Teyla ordered them, hardly looking at them.
Sheppard looked at Ronon and Rodney and lifted his eyebrows as the web-like door opened. They followed Teyla through the corridors to her quarters.
Teyla sighed and hesitated for a moment: "I have let you come here for a single purpose. Proving myself in front of the other wraith. However, there is a small problem."
"What kind of problem?" Sheppard raised his eyebrow as he looked at her with suspicion. The way that she had approached them made him feel nervous, even though that might have been part of her plan. For all he knew there was a wraith lurking somewhere when she came to their cell. Still, something was wrong and he could feel it. This was not the Teyla they knew. John wanted to kick himself for that thought. Of course this wasn't the Teyla they knew. They had turned her into a wraith. Even though it was her own choice, he had not liked it one bit.
"Todd has killed the hive's queen, and so.."
"He what?" Sheppard requested.
"Yes, I killed the queen." Todd had come in unannounced and unheard.
"What on earth would you do that for?" Rodney looked at Todd with a horrified look in his eyes. He looked from Todd to Teyla to Sheppard. "And now what? Her.. her wraith buddies are going to kill you? Great plan Todd. Great plan."
"Now, now, Dr. McKay. There is of course a reason why I did that." Todd tried to explain himself.
"It better have a good reason." Rodney mumbled as he brought his hands to his gun holster, which was empty. Coming to that conclusion, he sighed as if he were annoyed with himself.
"No need to shoot me doctor. The reason I killed the queen is because Teyla now has control over this Alliance. They will follow her lead if she proves to be a powerful queen. All she had to do therefore is prove herself." Todd explained further.
When Todd spoke, several wraith came in, aiming their weapons at Sheppard, Ronon and McKay. They wore the grey white masks that covered their faces and only showed long white hair running down their backs, which made them even creepier than actually seeing their faces.
"What's going on here?" Sheppard's gut seemed to like the situation less and less with every wraith that came in. He had a nasty feeling Teyla would have to prove herself in a way they would not like.
There seemed to be about twenty wraith in the room when Teyla stepped forward.
"You humans dare to come aboard this ship. What is your purpose?" She asked as she walked around the three of them. Rodney obviously felt uneasy as he followed her by turning his head and body in the direction she was walking.
"Intel." Sheppard answered shortly.
Teyla hissed and brought her face close to Sheppard's, even though that meant she had to stand on her toes. It made the hairs on his body stand up. This wasn't the Teyla he knew. Definitely not. Keller had said Teyla was unlikely to develop wraith instinct, yet here she stood, hissing at him like a real wraith queen.
"What kind of intel?" Teyla then continued to pace around them, and even Ronon seemed to feel the awkwardness of the situation as he also started following her with his head.
"Wraith intel. You guys seemed to have a bit of a culling problem lately, so we thought we'd check out how many of you were still left." Sheppard smirked when he said this, obviously liking the news, but Teyla was not amused and hissed again.
"You surely know you are partly the reason for this, and you must surely understand we cannot let this be." She came to a halt in front of Sheppard again.
Sheppard gave her a nonchalant look and raised his shoulders: "I was hoping you could let this one pass."
"Kneel before your queen." Teyla ordered him and she gave him a cold look.
Sheppard was really worried now and tried to give her a look of understanding, but it was not returned. Teyla continued to look at him with the same cold look in her eyes, and it made him feel even worse.
"Kneel!" Todd ordered him.
As Sheppard did not move another wraith came forward and kicked him behind the knees with his gun. At that, Ronon jumped forward and smacked the wraith in the face. Three other wraith ran forward and took hold of Ronon. They had to use all their strength and effort to restrain him, while Rodney looked at the scene in shock before he too was grabbed by two wraith at the shoulders to restrain him. His eyes turned large as he witnessed Teyla going down Sheppard's face with her index finger. Or Teyla had seen a lot of wraith queens in action, or they were really screwed, and Rodney would have gone for the last option if it had been a quiz question.
Sheppard himself had a hundred and one questions to ask Teyla, but he knew it was too risky to utter any of them out loud. Because of that, he again tried to comfort her with his eyes, but again it seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever.
"Tell me now colonel. What are you doing on my hive?" At the last part of the sentence, it sounded as if Teyla got really irritated with him, and she seemed to tighten her grip on his face that she was holding with her left hand, as she continued stroking his face with the other.
Sheppard was really freaked out now. Something had obviously gone very wrong. He knew talking to her the way he had done would only provoke her even more, so he chose a different approach. "Wait! Wait. Fine. We're really here to figure out how many you have lost from the Hoffan virus. It is obviously in our interest to know what we're up against."
"Are you satisfied with what you've found?" She wanted to know.
"We kinda got captured before we reached a computer." Sheppard improvised.
Teyla grinned and stood up. "Well that is excellent. Todd, bring those two back to their cells. I want to have a little word with this one."
"As you wish, my queen." Todd drew his gun and pointed it at Ronon and Rodney as they walked back to the cells with five other guards accompanying them. Rodney threw Sheppard a worrying look that John could not return with a reassuring one.
John turned to Teyla, still kneeling, and saw her standing next to her chair with her back turned to him. He was wondering what her next move would be. The other wraith were still in the room, and he thought she was probably thinking of a way to prove herself as a worthy queen to them. But how? She wouldn't actually hurt him, would she? But, it was quite obvious by now she wasn't herself at the moment.
Sheppard was still thinking of possible ways for Teyla to show her power, when Todd returned with the other wraith. That was apparently the cue of her, because she turned around to face Sheppard. She walked towards him, grabbed his vest at the back of his neck and urged him to stand up. Another wraith came hurling over with a chair, and John did not like the flashback he had from a previous encounter he had of a chair and a wraith. But she surely wasn't planning on doing that? Was she? A sudden sense of panic came over him. He could take a lot, and didn't panic quickly, but reliving the pain he had endured when Todd fed on him was unbearable. The chair, and Todd actually standing next to him did not help calm him down. He tried to catch Todd's look, but the wraith was looking at his surrogate queen. Teyla was still standing in front of him. Observing him as if she could read his mind. Then the interrogation started: "Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard from Earth. How did you come aboard this ship?"
"Magic." He said while looking at her with an angry look on his face.
When the hit to his jaw came, he was prepared for it. Yet the pain of his left jaw going out of its hinge wasn't one he expected. It hurt! How could a right-hand hit like this one hurt so much! When he retracted his head he saw a wraith standing on his left wearing some kind of iron glove.
John closed his eyes for a bit when he adjusted his jaw. He brought his hands to his face to feel what the damage was, but before he knew it, the wraith had gotten hold of both his arms and pulled back where he tied them together. John let out an indignant "Hey!" before the queen took hold of his chin and brought the two of them face-to-face.
"You're going to tell me how you came aboard this ship." She sounded so wraith-like, Sheppard no longer doubted whether or not something went wrong with the operation: something obviously had gone horribly wrong.
"Well you take a jumper, you fly it into this ship, and here we are." Teyla had obviously not expected them aboard, but she must have known how they managed since they usually did it the same way every time: cloaking and flying aboard when the darts retrieved.
The blow again came expected, but it still hurt. He felt a warm fluid run down his nose into his mouth. He attempted to wipe away the blood with his sleeve, but the restrains hold his arms behind his back. He spit the blood that ran into his mouth on the floor, but he still felt it running.
Teyla looked around at the other wraith still in the room. "Leave us," she commanded them. They left the room at once, except Todd.
"Is this really necessary Teyla? This whole show? A little punch would have been sufficient I think." Sheppard knew it was useless, but now they were alone he wanted to make sure she really was affected in the wrong way. Again he spat blood on the floor.
"Todd, do what needs to be done." Teyla sounded cold.
"What would that be precisely?" Todd required. Without the other wraith around, he dropped the 'yes, my queen'-act instantly.
"I want him to talk. Do whatever is necessary." Teyla was on her way out of the room.
Sheppard did not like the sound of that, and Todd hesitated before he responded.
"You want me to feed on him?" Todd almost sounded amused. Meanwhile Sheppard moved around in his chair feeling extremely uneasy. He had not planned to ever experience that again, let alone by the same wraith commanded by one of his best friends.
She turned around with a quick motion and Sheppard thought she looked annoyed, if a wraith ever looked relaxed that is. "What else would I mean? He is strong. He will not talk because of a few punches. We need a stronger means of persuasion."
"Teyla! Come on! You remember me! It's John! We're friends! You can't seriously mean to feed on me!" Sheppard looked into her eyes when he shouted at her. He wanted to get through to her. It would be the last opportunity, and he wanted to try everything in his power to get their Teyla back.
But it didn't work. She walked back to him, and without further hesitation ripped open Sheppard's shirt with her hands, down to his bellybutton, swung her right arm backwards and pressed it onto his chest.
The scream that he let out was one he had let out before, and while he was screaming he even had time to remember that last time no sound had come out of him. His mouth had been blocked, but this time he could let it all out. For what seemed like a minute, Teyla fed on him. The screaming was a way of dealing with the immense pain he felt, yet it did not ease it.
Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. He heard another scream, and even though he was dizzy and felt weak, he knew it was not his own scream he had just heard. It was Teyla's. When he opened his eyes, he saw her lying on the floor with Todd standing over her. He had her in a tight grip.
Todd looked at Sheppard: "Are you okay colonel Sheppard?"
"What do you think?" John was surprised by his own voice. It sounded soft and unsteady. He was not sure if he wanted an answer to his question, but he needed to know. "How much did she take?"
"Oh hardly anything. She barely even touched you before I grabbed her." Todd said casually.
"Oh really? Didn't feel that way." He didn't believe Todd and looked around for a mirror, then realising he had never seen a mirror aboard a wraith ship. Not strange looking at their teeth, he thought. No wraith would like to see its own teeth in a mirror when it looked like that. Not even to mention the rest of their looks. He shook his head when he realised he was thinking of wraith teeth when he had just been fed on.
Meanwhile Todd had restrained Teyla and put a piece of cloth around her mouth so she wasn't able to speak or scream to alert the other wraith. After that, he untied Sheppard, who was still shaking in his chair.
"So you stopped her?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Why?" He didn't understand why Todd would do that. It would have given them a fairly believable story to tell the other wraith ships: they finally killed the head of military of Atlantis. That must have given them a nice reputation among other hive ships.
"Because I still need you. You would be useless to me dead. Your people would not help me if I brought you back dead, and your friend here as a permanent wraith." Todd paced around the room, while Sheppard shook his head and lifted his eyebrow. "I guess that's true."
Sheppard tried to stand up, but he felt a bit weak in the knees and had to hold on to the chair to not fall down. He stretched his neck left and right, and tried to get the dizziness out of his system by shaking his head. It didn't help. He still wanted to know how much he had aged, but that was for later. First he had to get Teyla back to Atlantis to reverse the process.
"So, what now? How can we get off this ship?" He looked at Todd, and spat out blood again. He effort it took him surprised him. He moaned as he felt the muscles in his chest tighten.
"That might be a slight problem. Now the queen is on board, she should be the one giving out orders. I cannot walk with you along the corridors without questions being asked about the queen." Todd still paced around the room. "Although.."
Sheppard walked slowly over to Teyla and recognised nothing of the Teyla he knew, except the shape of her body. "Do you think we can get the old Teyla back?"
"Well you transformed her into a wraith and you were planning on reversing it. If you manage to get out alive, with her, you can always try and see if it will succeed."
Well that was most reassuring, Sheppard thought. He closed his eyes. He still felt a throbbing pain in his chest and he looked down to where his shirt was ripped open. The feeding mark was still there, as was there blood around the wound. Not that he expected anything else, but the last time Todd revived him, the feeding mark had faded as well, as if it had never happened. Now he knew this would leave a nasty scar. If only he could see how much he had aged. Not that he was all that vain, but he was a soldier. He needed to know if he would have lost any of his skills due to old bones and muscles. Not the time to know that yet though, he thought. First they needed to get off this ship alive, and he needed the strength he thought he still possessed.
"Can't you get Ronon and McKay here first? Then we'll see what we'll do." Sheppard wanted his team members with him. Maybe McKay could think of something genius under the threat of death.
"I'll probably manage to get them here yes." Todd walked to the entrance door of the room. A few seconds later he came back. "I told them to get them. They will be here shortly." He said as if it was a shopping mall announcement.
Sheppard still felt shaken up and sat down in the chair again. He bowed forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "So, you have a plan?"
"I have an idea. But it is risky for you and your friends." Todd walked back to Teyla, gave her a quick look, and started pacing the room again.
Sheppard bowed his head from a suddenly emerged headache. He moaned from the pain before he said: "We'll take our chances." He stretched his neck again to relief the headache, but it didn't work. He sighed and sat back on the chair. Then the doors opened.
"Hold on! The queen does not wish to be disturbed. I will be there shortly." Todd was just in time. The wraith retrieved before they had seen Teyla laying on the floor, and an untied Sheppard in the chair.
"Lucky you sat there. We could have exposed ourselves." Todd walked over to the door and left the room. Not a minute later he came back with a tied up Ronon and McKay. When McKay saw Teyla lying on the floor and Sheppard sitting in the chair, he immediately drew his conclusions. "You traitor! I knew you would betray us! I just knew it! We never should have trusted him! Ronon, kick him!"
"Rodney! Shut up!" Sheppard stood up, even though it caused him more pain in his chest, and unsteady legs.
"Wow, you look rough." McKay told him, looking at the blood dripping from his nose and the torn shit. Sheppard was surprised by his reaction. Just rough? He looked 'just rough'? He had been readying himself for a near-death look given to him by Rodney. Instead he just 'looked rough'. He was quite pleased to hear it, but he didn't try to show it. Apparently she hadn't fed on him for that long, otherwise Rodney would surely have given him the wide eyes and oh-my-god-he's-going-to-die look.
Then Rodney saw the feeding mark: "Oh God. He fed on you? You fed on him? Again?! What kind of friend are you?! I just knew it. Never trust a wraith!" He was desperately trying to loosen his hand restrains and tried to walk over to Todd in an attempt to kick him.
"Rodney, stop it. It wasn't him. It was Teyla. I think something went wrong with the operation." Sheppard saw Ronon's eyes fixated on the feeding mark on his chest. Ronon knew what it would have felt like, and it was as if he needed a moment to come back from that experience.
Meanwhile Rodney's eyes became bigger: "She what?!"
"Yeah, she fed on me. Apparently I was lucky it was just for a little while before Todd here grabbed her. Oh yeah, thanks for that. Don't think I properly thanked you yet."
"Indeed you had not. And you are welcome. We still need each other." Todd finally stood still for a change.
"So, what's the plan?" Ronon tore his eyes away from Sheppard and looked down at Teyla and examined her. She lay there with an angry glance in her eyes, but she had not attempting to scream and the struggling had stopped.
"Yes Todd, tell us the plan." Sheppard had trouble keeping his mind to the situation. The pain in his head and chest, and the weakness of his bones and muscles made it hard for him to concentrate at the task at hand. He put his hands in his sides, and closed his eyes for a second. He took a deep breath, wiped away the blood from his lip with his sleeve, and tried to pay attention to Todd explaining the plan.
"The other wraith aboard this ship will expect the queen to make an appearance before she leaves this ship. Well," Todd said as he looked at Teyla, "it seems like a bad plan to untie her after all this, so we need another plan."
"No way. I would have untied her and asked politely if she could oblige." Rodney replied with his usual sarcastic tone.
Todd continued as if he had not heard McKay. "Therefore, I think it is best if I gather the others aboard this hive to announce the departure of the queen. Meanwhile you take her and go to the jumper bay. After I have informed the other wraith, I will leave them to get the queen and you. Then I will realise you have escaped and that you have taken the queen."
"Wasn't all this planned to get you higher into the Alliance? I don't think the capture of your queen will look good on your resume." Rodney couldn't help himself, even though Sheppard agreed. "He's right. What was the point of this mission now? They will never believe you after this."
"Oh, do not worry." Todd replied in his usual ease, almost amused. "I will put three guards in front of the door. It will be their fault therefore, and I will obviously punish them severely. They cannot blame me for your escape. It will be their fault."
"Cunning." Sheppard replied. He was quite amazed by the ease Todd seemed to feel under all of this. Their plan has obviously failed, but it seemed as if he could twist it into his favour without much ado.
Todd left the room after he gave them back their weapons. They had agreed they would wait five minutes before they would head out. Ronon grabbed Teyla off the ground, and even though she was struggling, he had no trouble holding on to her.
"You might want to do that once we've taken out the rest of the wraith." Sheppard suggested.
Ronon got out his gun. "I'm fine."
Rodney's look at Ronon was one of annoyance combined with jealousy.
Once they opened the door the three wraith guards were not counting on their escape, something Sheppard had slightly feared. The taking out was a piece of cake, and they found their way back to the dart bay quite easily now Todd had gathered the others. Remembering where he parked, Sheppard opened the jumper doors and entered. The lights in the jumped flashed on as he sat down in the pilot seat. Ronon put down Teyla in the back compartment and sat down across from her. Rodney settled down next to Sheppard, but he looked anxious.
"We'll be fine, Rodney." Sheppard told him. He still felt sore, and the throbbing pain in his chest and head had gotten worse during their little adventure through the hive ship's corridors. Thank goodness he had his P-90 back so that he only had to shoot the wraith and not get into a physical fight with them. He was not sure how he would have handled those.
It took Todd twenty minutes to get to the jumper. Sheppard had cloaked it just in case he brought other wraith along. Rodney sighed in relief when he saw the wraith walking towards the jumper all by himself. Sheppard uncloaked the jumper, and Todd walked aboard.
"They believe my story. Unfortunately I have to stay at this hive. I cannot return with you to my other hive." He did not look disappointed at all when he said that.
"How unfortunate." Sheppard replied sarcastically.
"Yes, quite." Todd knew fully well Sheppard was being sarcastic, but it was quite obvious the tall wraith liked messing with them.
"So you're just going back inside now and take over the hive and the Alliance huh?" Rodney inquired.
"I have to, yes."
"You have to?" It was the first thing Ronon had said since Todd had returned and he was holding his gun firmly in his hand. With it came a suspicious glance.
"You would have to agree with me that I have to maintain their trust. Otherwise this whole mission would have been for nothing." Todd seemed to enjoy the prospect of being in charge of a hive.
"But shouldn't every hive have a queen? And what if that queen does not agree with you on this vital point of not feeding on humans but actually eating food?" Rodney clearly did not like the idea.
"I think I know a way." Todd gave Teyla a look.
"Well that's not happening!" Sheppard shouted from the front of the jumper. "We've seen how very wrong this all went, we're surely not going to risk her again!" He wasn't ready to think of the opportunity they might not even get their own Teyla back.
"No need for that. Both queens are dead, but this ship will need another one. We will have to ally with another hive. I will make sure it has a queen that agrees with me on this important point. We have defeated one queen. Teyla's demise, or at least that's what I will let them think happened, shall not intervene with this." Todd seemed certain.
"Right." Sheppard still wasn't sure what the plan was, and even if the plan would work in the end, but all he now wanted was to go back to Atlantis. But then he remembered he still had a question.
"Todd, how long did Teyla feed on me?"
"I would say about three seconds." Todd replied and immediately walked away from the jumper, back into the hive.
Sheppard looked at him walking away, and he could hardly believe it had only been three seconds. Next to him, he felt the worrying look Rodney gave him.
"Let's go now shall we?" Sheppard was waiting for Todd to open the dart bay doors. At least, he hoped he would remember doing that.
After ten minutes, the doors opened and Sheppard flew the jumper out of the hive ship.
--
Shep was lying in an infirmary bed wearing green scrubs playing with his little Ancient gameboy when he noticed Teyla had woken up.
"Ah, hello. How are you feeling?" He was relieved she finally woke up after sleeping for a week after the surgery. He had not been all that sure Keller would be able to reverse the effect of the first operation, and he had been extremely relieved when Keller came out the operation room and told them the operation had been successful. She was still concerned about the long-term effects of Teyla's exposure to wraith mentality, so Sheppard wanted to find out as soon as possible if she was herself again. He knew at their first look.
"Hello John. I am okay. Tired, but okay." She smiled at him, but then uncertainty appeared on her face. "However, I do not remember our mission. Why am I in the infirmary?"
Sheppard was pleased she could not remember what had happened. He did not want her to remember what she had done.
"Do you remember anything about the mission we were going on? Todd, the wraith?" Sheppard really did not want to get into the details of the mission, but he knew she would find out sometime.
"Yes, I was going to be transformed into a wraith. But I do not remember anything. Does this mean the operation was unsuccessful?" She tried to sit up, but apparently it felt too sore because she sunk back into bed straightaway.
"Not completely. But you know Todd, we can never be sure with a wraith." Sheppard tried to be as vague as possible without Teyla getting suspicious.
"I see you have a broken nose?" She noticed the white bandage around Sheppard's nose.
"Yeah, some wraith punched me a few times. My nose and jaw didn't enjoy that much." Sheppard was still very glad the aging had hardly occurred, even though it also slightly worried him.
"Did they capture you? Did they not believe me?" Teyla was used to remembering every little detail of every mission they had gone on, so her memory loss was strange for her.
"There was a little glitch, but we all got out safe and sound, sort of. And Todd is the boss of that Alliance now." Sheppard still avoided the details of their capture.
"Todd is the boss of the Alliance? That was not the plan. Do you think it was his plan all along?" Teyla seemed genuinely worried, and Sheppard was glad he distracted her for a bit.
"No, it wasn't the plan. But I guess it's better than before." He did really think so. Having Todd at the head of that Alliance was better than having any other wraith queen.
"I supposed you are right." Teyla looked at the ceiling, and soon after closed her eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep.
Jennifer Keller came in to check up on the two of them. "Did I hear her talk just now?"
"Yeah, she was awake. Back to her old self, but didn't remember anything about the mission though." Sheppard was still happy about this.
"I didn't expect her to have any memory of it. The wraith mentality inside her has been removed along with the rest of the wraith DNA, so she should be back to her normal self. I guess you are happy she does not remember?" Keller examined the data on the screens next to Teyla's bed.
"Yeah. I don't think she wants to know she fed on me." Sheppard still felt a throbbing pain in his chest every now and then. He could not remember this pain from when Todd had fed on him, and it worried him. He assumed it was due to the fact Teyla must have had some human DNA in her blood affecting the feeding process. Maybe that was also the reason he had hardly aged, if he had at all.
"You were lucky she only had a few seconds to feed off you." Keller smiled at him.
"Yeah, I know." Still it also worried him he had felt such an immense pain from only three seconds, but he did not want to bother Keller with it. The pain eased by the day, and he knew it would be gone eventually.
"You should get some rest yourself. You've been awake all day, and not all of your body parts have completely recovered." Keller adjusted some of the medical equipment attached to Teyla's bed, and walked out of the room.
Sheppard thought that was a good idea. His bones and muscles still felt sore, and he felt tired. He sunk down into his bed under the sheets and closed his eyes. Not much later he had fallen vast asleep.
Next to him, Teyla suddenly opened her eyes and sat straight up in bed. She looked over to her left where Sheppard lay. Her eyes wide open. She breathed heavily, while she twitched her fingers. After a minute of staring at Sheppard, she looked around the infirmary. Sinking back into her bed, looking at the ceiling, and rubbing her right hand with the other, she soon fell back to sleep.