Stargate Atlantis: Witch's Brew
"John! John!"
Moira's cry of fear was cut short as she scrambled backwards in the cell. The door shut and the Wraith Drones raised their stunners but did not fire. Moira hardly noticed as she was transfixed by the sight of the presumably dead Homo erectus rising to its feet. It made a weird keening sound, as if it was in pain and it slowly advanced upon her. Its feet were shuffling and a slow trickle of blood ran from its empty eye socket. The other eye was focused on her.
She knew it was pointless to call out for the military commander but his name issued from her lips automatically. "John!"
It shambled closer, closer, head tilting as if the loss of its neural implant somehow unbalanced it. Its mouth was moving but only that eerie keening sound was forming.
"Get some help! Get some help, damn it!" she called, but cringed as the creature's shadow crossed over her, casting her into darkness and she made her last thoughts be of the handsome military commander who inexplicably loved her.
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John was stunned. He stared up at the face of Elizabeth Weir, except it really wasn't her face. Her features were morphed by the Wraith genome and God knew what else into a horrible parody of the woman he once knew. The dark curls were longer and wilder. The aquiline features were more elongated. A fierce intelligence shone in her eyes which had an otherworldly, less human quality now.
There was no compassion there.
"You…you're not Elizabeth," he said. His voice was raw, crackling in his throat.
The queen smiled at him as she softly stroked his jaw. "No. I am an amalgamation of her. I have her memories, her feelings and her insights. I have her knowledge but not all of her."
"How?" John asked, riveted. He was still on his knees but locked in place although no one held him and the queen's power had receded from his mind and body.
"The ones you call Replicators," she answered. Her gravelly voice held remnants of Elizabeth's and it made a chill creep up John's back. He glanced at Todd and finally recognized the new tattoo on the Wraith's face. It was a drawing of the pendant that Elizabeth had always worn. He looked back at the queen. "We were able to access their…" She paused, head tilting. Her eyes became slits of fury. She turned to Todd. "You told me it was dead!" she hissed.
"What? It was dead!" Todd insisted, startled out of his enjoyment of John's shock.
John realized what they were discussing. "Crap!" He jumped to his feet and ran from the room before any of the Wraith could react.
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Moira braced herself, wanting to scream but no sound escaped her lips.
The creature paused in front of her. It raised one hand then stopped. It tilted its head, staring at her with its one good eye. Moira stared back, feeling compassion for the creature despite the terror. It was in obvious pain and bewilderment. She felt a surge of tears and blinked them away to clear her vision. This was a human, after all, a species of human no matter how incomprehensible it might be to her.
Moira slowly, slowly raised her hand, reaching out to the alien in front of her.
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John ran. His feet flew through the Hive ship, down and around hallways. He sped by the slower Wraith Drones. He knocked other Wraith aside that happened to get in his way. He could hear others pursuing him but he didn't care. A few stun blasts shot past him, sizzling along the walls.
His heart pounded in his chest with pure fear, but not for himself.
He rounded the corner so quickly his feet briefly left the floor and he drove past the Wraith guards who were standing near the cell, stunners raised but not being fired. He dove to the floor, skidding on his knees and shins towards his abandoned P90. He grabbed it, rolled and lifted up on his knees to fire repeatedly at the monster about to attack the biologist. "Moira, down!" he shouted before a barrage of bullets sprayed across the creature.
"No, no!" Moira cried in horror, but dove to one side as the creature was shredded with bullets. Lasers from the Wraith stunners followed in a blinding flash of blue and yellow. She shut her eyes, shielding her head as the creature yelled and toppled dangerously over her before falling backwards away from her.
"Moira!" John was on his feet, entering the cell and practically emptying his clip into the bloody remains of the creature. He rushed to her, circling the body. He set down the gun and pulled her to her feet, blocking her from the Wraith in case they decided to keep firing. "Moira, are you okay?" he asked, breathless.
Moira clung a moment, overcome by the sheer relief of being with John, in his arms as he pulled her to him in a tight embrace. "John!" She shoved free suddenly, angry. "What the hell did you do? It wasn't going to hurt me!"
"What?" John whirled suddenly and in one smooth movement he had his gun in his hands and pointed at the Wraith that were crowding the room. "What the hell is this? You said it was dead! That's it! This damn alliance is over!" He aimed his gun.
Todd stepped towards him, hands open, arms outstretched in a conciliatory gesture. "We thought it was dead as did your biologist, John Sheppard. It was through no fault of our own that this happened but she is unharmed."
"Not good enough! You can take that neural transmitter and shove it straight up your—"
"John!" Moira moved next to him, touching his arm. She looked down at the body of the Homo erectus. It was well and truly dead now, torn to shreds by the P90. "It…it wasn't going to hurt me," she softly repeated. "John, please. We need this alliance," she urged, fingers caressing along his arm. She could feel the tension, the strength as well as the anger.
He met her gaze briefly. He eyed the Wraith as they lowered their weapons. Slowly, slowly he lowered his. "She stays with me, got it? Or this alliance is over right now!" he growled.
"As you wish, John Sheppard."
"Then let's get this over with. I'll try to access the neural transmitter and then we can—"
"No, John. You can't!" Moira objected.
"This way." Todd gestured, smiling. "The queen awaits."
"I bet she does," John muttered, not quite convinced this had been an oversight, although the queen's fury had seemed real enough. He led Moira around the body. She quickly grabbed her kit on the way. He led her through the Wraith and followed Todd out of the chamber.
"John, John, it wasn't going to hurt me. It almost lashed out in anger and pain but it didn't, not when it—"
"Don't care, Moira. One of those things killed Lorne without a second thought, remember?"
His harsh words sobered her and she yanked freed of his hold, but John restored it and glanced at her. His expression was gentler than his words had been. Moira met his gaze, frowning as she saw the thin scratch along his face, the line of beading blood down his cheek to his jaw. Before she could ask he shook his head.
The group entered a chamber that was cast in sickly hues of gray and green. John paused, gently pulling Moira to him. There was a bed in the chamber, a cot really that looked very uncomfortable and utilitarian in the extreme. A wheeled tray was next to it on which sat the neural transmitter that had been removed from the alien. It was smaller than expected and Moira moved to it, taking John with her as he did not let go.
She stared at the small object. It was composed of three cubical devices, all linked together and gray in color. There were wires snaking out of it and those were attached to a headset of Wraith design that could fit over the skull and over one eye. She gulped, realizing and looked over as Todd neared, smiling. "You jerry-rigged it because it wouldn't work the other way."
Todd nodded, impressed. "Yes. We tried it the way it was, but it attaches inside the skull to the brain directly."
"And it didn't work?" John asked, feeling his stomach turn over at the thought. He was staring at the device in both curiosity and dread.
"Oh, it did work, John Sheppard." Todd's voice purred softly. "At least with the humans it did, but as you suggested, Doctor O'Meara, those humans couldn't handle the input or comprehend it. The transmitter literally buried into their brains and eventually killed them."
"And that's why you built the outer attachment and cut the wires," Moira surmised. Her heart was pounding and she swallowed. "Have you tested this?"
"Not yet. John Sheppard will be our first test subject," the queen replied with a smile.