Vegas: Resistance
"Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more;"
3 years after invasion.
Colonel John Sheppard, formerly Detective John Sheppard stood hunched over the table. His hands were splayed upon its smooth surface as he studied a series of maps spread out across the grainy length. He was weary. His tattered green camo gear was stained and torn but he didn't care as he stared along the map. "You're sure?" he asked, his voice gruff. He licked his lips, wishing he had a beer or even water. It had been a long trek from Nellis AFB to the facility.
Rodney McKay nodded, pointing along the map. It wasn't a map of Nevada or even of the United States, or what was left of it. The map was of the stars, specifically the constellations and the global view of the planet. "I'm sure. We've intercepted several communications and a Hive ship is due to pass over us in exactly a week. It will be here." He stabbed the map with a forefinger. "If it follows the usual trajectory and culling path it will pass over Vegas and head south towards the Arizona/Utah border. This may be our only chance, John. I don't have to tell you that."
"No, you don't," John agreed wearily.
"Daddy! Daddy, daddy, daddy!" a little voice broke the somber mood. John turned to see a little boy with dark hair and a grin clumsily racing towards him. "Daddy!"
John smiled, all fatigue forgotten. He squatted, catching the little boy before he fell. "Hey, buddy!" He kissed the child then stood, swinging the little boy up into the air. The little boy squealed in delight, giggling as John swung him over his head and round. He pretended to almost drop the boy. John laughed as his son's expression. He held the boy at his shoulder. "Give daddy a kiss, junior."
"Daddy!" The little boy kissed his father then grinned at Rodney. "Daddy home!"
"Yes, kiddo, so I hear," Rodney agreed with a smile. The little boy's joy was infectious.
"Where's mommy?" John asked, gaze roving over the little boy. The child was a mirror likeness to his father, down to the messy hair and green eyes. His black t-shirt and blue jeans were like miniature versions of John's own clothing when he wasn't on duty, which wasn't often these days. A new offensive was being planned and John was involved down to the tiniest detail.
"Mommy play wit Unca Carshon."
"What? She better not be playing with Carson!" John stated. He quirked a brow as Rodney laughed.
"Face it, John, that Scottish accent gets them all of the time," Rodney jested.
"Ha ha. Let's go, buddy." John eyed his friend. "We can discuss this later, all right? Any word from Lorne?"
"Not yet. He should be on his way back from the SGC by now. It takes longer these days to avoid detection, you know."
"I know. Not only do we have to save the world, we have to save it surreptitiously."
"Daddy, daddy, I wanna ice seem!"
"You want ice cream? You must get that from your mother. Let's go, buddy."
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Moira Sheppard sat back from the microscope. A look of shock crossed her face. She tried to speak but no words came, not right away anyway as the full implications of what she had just seen hit her. She turned on the stool to see Carson watching her, his expression grim but full of resolve. "I…I…we can't."
Carson shrugged. "We have no choice, love."
"But, but you are talking total species annihilation."
"Yes, that is the objective, isn't it?"
"Yes, but…this…this…" She turned back to the microscope again but it held no answers. No moral qualms upset it. "You've created the perfect bioweapon."
"We have," Carson corrected. "We attack the one unique feature the Wraith possess that we do not."
"The enzyme," she replied. "And when that is destroyed—"
"The Wraith will be destroyed. First from starvation and then from disease. A virus to attack from within. The problem is how to get the toxin to them."
"The problem is should we do this at all?" Moira stated, moving to her feet. "Defending the planet is one thing, but this! This is total genocide, Carson, of an entire species! And God knows what kind of affects it will have on every other species not to mention the planet and—"
"Are you seriously arguing for not killing them?" Carson asked, blue eyes widening in surprise. "After what they did to you, Moira, what they did to your son! You both were almost killed! You would offer them leniency after they have invaded and decimated half of this bloody planet! They feed on us!"
"I know! And I hate them more than anyone, except perhaps for John, but that isn't the issue, Carson! The issue is do we have the right to annihilate every single one of them and can we accept the consequences when we don't even know what they could encompass!"
"Yes."
Both turned at the interruption. John was standing in the doorway, holding his son. He had been listening to the argument, letting his gaze wander over the form of his wife but the white lab coat blocked most of her curves. Her rising anger was making his pants tight however, as it always seemed to do, but he ignored the sexual attraction as he listened to their every word.
"John!" they said at the same time, exchanged a glance.
"Mommy! Mommy, mommy daddy say I get ice seem too!" Johnny Sheppard piped in with a smile. He was oblivious to the argument, only knowing that his parents were both here with him and that made it a happy day.
John walked over to them, but his gaze was glued to his wife. Her long brown hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. Her brown eyes flashed concern and relief and ire. "You have it. A toxin?"
"Yes," Carson answered.
"No! Not yet, anyway," Moira refuted, her relief at seeing her husband returned and unharmed tempered by the argument. And by the child in his arms.
"Which is it?" John asked mildly.
"Yes," Carson repeated.
"No! We can't be sure it will—"
"All that we need is a delivery system, and a way to make it airborne. I am working on that," Carson assured as John's gaze flitted to him, then back to Moira. "Give me a few weeks and I can devise a—"
"You have a few days or less, doc," John informed. "I want that thing viable in an airborne form for mass distribution."
"No!" Moira glared, hands on hips. "It's not ready yet, John! We have to consider all of the implications not to mention any resulting environmental reactions because we are in new territory here! We just don't know what will happen and since the Wraith are half human there could be implications that we haven't even imagined yet!"
John was silent, eying her. He stepped closer, adjusting the little boy in his arms who was quietly watching, content.
"John! Damn it, say something!" Moira snapped, but she was losing herself in the depths of his green eyes and she knew very well the effect her anger had on him. Particularly on the lower parts of his anatomy as she glanced down at his pants, then to his eyes again.
John just smiled.