Authors: Wild Force Ranger & Jadelyn Tate
Story: The Shadows Grow
Disclaimer: We own only the idea and two of the three ladies. Alice is Wild's creation while Nicole and Oliver are Jadelyn's.
Summary: As the danger to Atlantis grows, Ronon recruits the legendary Shadows to fight alongside them. But capricious allies can be worse than none at all...
Chapter One: Shadows in Pegasus
If the trip out to the Aurora had done anything, it had taught Ronon just how much these new Atlanteans needed help. They had a very simple approach to fighting the wraith most of the time—blow them out of the sky. But there was something to be said for stealth and sneakiness, a quality that seemed to be in short supply among his new comrades.
After thinking about it for several days, Ronon reluctantly realized there was only one group who could provide the stealth backup these people desperately needed.
"So, why did you call us here, Ronon?" Dr. Weir asked, sitting down. Ronon shifted; Dr. Weir still made him uncomfortable, mostly because she was so completely different than any commander he'd worked under before.
"There are a group of people I think might be able to help you," Ronon told them, sitting down. "They have a history of doing well against the Wraith. They understand the need for stealth and sneaking around."
"We're stealthy!" Sheppard argued. Ronon ignored him.
"They're called the Shadows," Ronon told them. Teyla's mouth dropped open a bit in surprise; she obviously had heard of them before.
"The Shadow falls!" Sheppard grinned. Everyone but Dr. Weir frowned at him.
"What?" Ronon asked.
Sheppard's grin faded. "The Shadow...falls? Come on, with the fighting, and the…," he turned to the astrophysicist. "Rodney, you know what I'm talking about!"
"I do?" McKay asked blankly.
"Oh, no, you were probably experimenting on something," Sheppard said and tuned back to Ronon. "It's a video game, I'll tell you later."
"The Shadows fight the Wraith," Ronon said after a pause. Sheppard was visibly restraining himself from saying anything.
"The Shadows...I believed them to be a legend," Teyla said, trying to get everyone back on track.
"Wouldn't be the first time we met a legend," Sheppard pointed out, having calmed down a bit with the knowledge that Teyla had heard of them too.
"True...," she agreed. "But these legends are said to be responsible for thousands of Wraith deaths. And the rescue of several Athosians...including my father.
"They rescued your father and you don't know if they're real?" McKay asked incredulously. "How does that even work?"
"Rodney!" Sheppard gave the scientist a look.
"No one ever saw those who rescued them," Teyla explained with a shrug. "Not even my father."
Ronon nodded. "That sounds about right. No one sees them."
"You saw them."
"Hence the shadows part of there name," Sheppard and McKay said at the same time. They frowned at each other.
"I...was a special case," Ronon admitted quietly. Dr. Weir frowned, studying him intently.
"Oh?" Sheppard asked, leaning back with a grin. "Do tell."
Ronon shifted, not particularly happy about this tale, especially since he was fairly certain Sheppard was thinking more intimate thoughts. "I...was hunting the Wraith that was hunting me. The Wraith got distracted by the Shadows and I killed him. I didn't know who they were until later," he explained shortly. That wasn't even half the full story but they didn't need to know he and Josiane had accidentally shot each other.
"Convenient," Sheppard said, giving Ronon an unreadable look. Ronon shrugged.
"The Shadows said they try and help Runners when they can," he explained. Which was why Ariana dragged me back to one of their safety planets and patched me up he thought but didn't say aloud.
McKay frowned. "They couldn't help you by taking out your tracker?" he asked and Ronon shook his head.
"They didn't have the knowledge," he shrugged. "Their worlds were destroyed as well. That's why they became the Shadows."
Sheppard was quiet a moment. "You think they'd meet us?" he asked.
Ronon paused. "I'm not sure," he told them. "They don't trust easily."
"Perhaps if you were to set up a meeting on a neutral world?" Teyla suggested and Ronon snorted.
"No world is neutral for them. Wraith and their followers can be found anywhere," he reminded her and she lowered her head in acknowledgement of that fact.
McKay was getting impatient. "Then what do you suggest?" he demanded. "This was your idea, remember."
Ronon sighed. This was the part the new Atlanteans weren't going to like. "I go alone. Leave a message where I know they'll find it. They'll call if and when they want to," he outlined.
"You can't leave our address lying around, Ronon," Sheppard shook his head immediately. Ronon growled low in his throat.
"Trust goes both ways, Sheppard," he reminded the colonel tightly. Sheppard looked at Dr. Weir who studied Ronon carefully.
"Ronon, you're sure these...Shadows...can be trusted?" she asked carefully.
"I trust them with my life," he answered without hesitation. Dr. Weir looked at Teyla who nodded slowly. The civilian commander turned back to Ronon.
"And no one else will find this message?" she asked. Ronon just looked at her. She took a deep breath. "Alright. Do it."
~~*^*~~
Ronon looked around the planet, remembering the argument he'd had with Sheppard. The man didn't want him going alone but the former Runner had been firm. Just because they didn't have the medical knowledge to take out his tracker didn't mean the Shadows were stupid—they had ways of knowing if anyone but Ronon came through the gate and to their haven.
He also didn't think he'd ever be able to get McKay away from the planet if he saw all of Ariana's security machines.
After a dozen rounds of lets try to trip up trespassers, Ronon found himself in the cleverly hidden haven of the Shadows. He ignored the food and boxes of weapons (he knew from experience they were booby-trapped) and went straight to Ariana's computer. He didn't even attempt to turn it on since the last time he did he ended up breaking the damn thing and she'd shot him for it. Instead, he took out a rolled piece of paper written in Common, the language the linguists back at Atlantis called Ancient. On the bottom of the letter was his own signature in Satedan so they'd know it was really from him.
He gently placed the paper on the computer where Ariana was sure to find it quickly. Then he dropped his bag and took out the food Teyla had convinced him to leave for them, both as a thank you from the Athosians and as a peace offering. Along with the food, he placed two of his many knives on top of the food as a gift for the women.
Once everything was situated, he left the same way he came, redoing most of the traps to the best of his ability. The Shadows would be very unhappy if he avoided all the traps and then forgot to put them back up.
~~*^*~~
The Shadows popped through the gate, smiling as they took in the abandoned planet. The redhead looked around curiously; she'd never been to this haven before now, having only been a Shadow for four months. The two brunettes frowned, looking around.
"You feel that?" the shorted brunette asked. The third Shadow nodded, holding up a scanner.
"Follow us very carefully," she told the redhead, who nodded. She knew about all the precautions they'd set up on other planets and wasn't surprised to find they had set up similar ones here. After walking the new Shadow through the precautions so she wouldn't be caught unawares, they finally made it to the haven.
"This isn't right," the taller, older brunette said, frowning as tucked her scanner into its pouch on her belt. The shorter brunette frowned at the pile of food in the center of the room.
"Where'd the food come from?" she demanded, eyeing it hungrily.
"Are those knives?" the redhead said, brightening.
"Stop!"
The redhead and the short brunette both froze, their hands outstretched for the knives. The tallest one carefully unstrung a trap. "Someone's been in here, avoided the traps, and put them back wrong," she told the other two.
"I thought you said no one knows this place!" the redhead exclaimed.
"No one is supposed to," the shorter one said, frowning.
The taller girl motioned to knives. "Those look familiar?"
The brunette studied them, frowning before realization crossed her features. "Ro!" she exclaimed brightly.
The redhead frowned. "Ro?" she asked blankly.
The taller girl rolled her eyes. "Ronon. A Satedan fri...a Satedan we know," she explained.
The short Shadow picked up one of the knives. "Hey, wait a minute...," she muttered. "This is the knife he stole from me last time we saw him!"
"Someone stole from you and he's still alive?" the redhead asked, amused.
"For now," the shorter one snorted. She passed the knife to the redhead and picked up a paper. "Here."
"Let me see that," the oldest said, grabbing the paper to study it. "It's in Common. And signed in Satedan."
"What does it say?" the redhead asked her before glancing at the short one. "This is a really good knife."
She smirked. "That was why I stole it from the Wraith," she confided.
The older brunette frowned at the note. "I think Ronon may have finally lost his mind," she said and then looked at the shorter brunette doubtfully. "How strong was that root you gave him last time?"
She waved a hand. "He'd have been dead by now," she told her dismissively. "What does he say?"
"He wants to ally," she answered, still frowning.
The shorter girl blinked. "You're right, he has lost his mind," she agreed. "Has he forgotten we're already allies?"
"No, not...he doesn't want us to ally with *him*. With the...," she looked up from the note, almost horrified. "With the *Earthers*.
The other two women stiffened. "The Earthers? On Atlantis?" the redhead asked incredously.
All amusement had fled from the shortest of the three. "The idiots who woke up the Wraith?" she asked flatly.
"Looks like," the tech agreed. "He's joined them recently, and they can't handle undercover, apparently."
The redhead snorted. "I'm not surprised."
The tech frowned at her briefly but ultimately doesn't ask. "He's left us an address to set up a meet. And the food's from an Athosian friend of his, to show good faith."
The short brunette perked up immediately. "Athosian? Is there any of that pastry with the little nuts in?" she asked and starts examining the food again.
The taller woman rolled her eyes at the redhead, who grinned.
"Sometimes I wonder why you're the leader," the tech told the shorter woman.
She looked up, mouth full. "Because you're not bossy enough," she told her.
The older girl bristled as the redhead watched in amusement. "I can be bossy!"
"Yelling at Ronon cause he broke your machine does not constitute being bossy," the leader told her, swallowing the food.
"But it's my machine!" the tech pointed out. "Anyway, you just think you're the boss. I'm the power behind the throne."
The redhead rolled her eyes and took the letter. "Are we going to do it?"
The leader looked thoughtful. "Ronon was a Runner. For him to be with them...they had to have taken out his tracker."
The tech shrugged. "Or he doesn't like them that much, and he's setting them up," she said. "Either way, my scanner'll tell us before they get within a hundred feet."
"True," the other brunette agreed.
"He's never let us down before," the taller girl pointed out.
The leader snorted. "Speak for yourself!"
"Are you still mad because he shot you?" the tech demanded. "You shot him back! Get over it."
The other brunette pouted. "I still think he should have lost points."
"He *did* lose points. Remember?" the older girl rolled her eyes. "Just not enough to knock him off the trust list...which, in case you've forgotten, is * one* person long."
The leader stuck her tongue out at her. "Paranoia is your friend. Embrace it!"
The redhead shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder why I became one of you," she mumbled.
That's what I have you for," the oldest told the shortest. "Look, a meeting won't hurt anything. We need to go check out some things on Belken anyway. We could meet him there no problem."
The short one perked up. "Isn't that the planet where Solen lives?"
The tech stared at her firmly. "You can *not* hurt him this time. He won't even serve us any more, you have him so afraid of you. I'm tired of picking up our own drinks."
The smaller woman pouted. "But he deserved it!"
"That was before I even met you," the redhead pointed out. "He's never tried anything with me."
"Because I taught him not to!" the hit-happy woman said pointedly.
"Beating him with a piece of his own bar doesn't count as teaching," the taller woman pointed out. The shorter one frowned.
"Ronon would agree with me that it does," she told her stubbornly. The tech rolled her eyes.
"Ronon's not a good measure of normal," she reminded her. "Running for seven years will do that to you."
"That explains you, I guess," the redhead said softly.
The taller woman sent the redhead a half-hearted glare while the shorter woman just frowned at her. Neither one disputed it however—they learned long ago they were not normal.
"I'll leave the message? We can ditch Ronon no prob, and these guys can't be anywhere near as good as him or he wouldn't want our help," the taller girl pointed out softly.
"Whatever, but if it's weird I get to hit him," the shorter girl told them firmly.
"Which means you definitely get to hit him cause us meeting the Earthers? Is going to be weird."
"Don't you ever have a normal day?" the redhead asked. "With no shooting at anyone, or killing things?"
"No!"
"Boring," the brunettes answered at the same time.
The redhead simply sighed.