A/N: I know this has been done to death, but this a slight AU for Conversion.
Teyla stood alone. "COLONEL!" Her voice rang out over John's attempt to flee. Raw emotions surged through her already shaking hands and arms, making holding the weapon stead difficult. She couldn't do this. Did she have the strength to shoot the man she loved.
"Do not make me do this." She said as calmly as possible.
She prayed to the ancestors themselves for a miracle, something to make the John Sheppard she knew resurface, if only for a second. He took another step close. It was unsteady, as if something was fighting him. His eyes blinked, momentarily she thought she could see the normal color of his eyes.
John stared at her, his gaze unflinching. Something in her expression brought up the mostly buried part of him. The part that cared for her more than she knew. The monster gave ground; John clung to the only piece of his mind that was still his.
His took another step closer, his movements feeling zombie-like. This wasn't his body, it couldn't be. He would never hesitate like this in real life, yet he was doing it now. The monster screamed for him to get away from her, if only so it could regain control.
He took another step towards lucidity. The pain in his head blew up to massive proportions, dropping him to his knees. His hands clutched his head. He screamed in pain and collapsed further, whithering on the floor in pain, but John Sheppard would not give in. He would never hurt Teyla. He could never hurt her.
Inside his body was a struggle between life and death, good and evil, man and monster. He would win. He screamed again, and clutched his eyes shut against the harsh light of Teyla's P90. When he opened them he saw her hands wrapped around him, holding him like a baby. From her lips, an Athosian song emerged.
Beyond the Night A Rising Sunday
Beyond the Night the Battle's Won
The Battle is Won
Her voice was like water in a desert, blinding the monster with its serenity. Her voice was a piece of lucidity screaming in his face, something he could cling to no matter how bad the pain become. Her touch and gentle rocking reminded him that she was there, with him. She wasn't afraid because she knew that he wouldn't hurt her-that she was his lifeline.
Fear and Shame now in the Past
Pain and Sorrow Gone at Last
Gone at Last
The monster in him reeled as blow after blow took it down into the very recesses. He could hold on to his mind, it was his. The monster could try to take his body, but it could never conquer who he was. John Sheppard was a fighter, to the bitter end he was a fighter.
Circle renewed
Peace will be Found
Beyond the Night On Sacred Grove
His peace began to subside in his mind as the monster fled from his strengthened will. He leaned gently into Teyla's embrace, knowing he couldn't hold it forever. But if he tried, her could hold himself in this moment, where the monster couldn't defeat him-because he had Teyla with him.
River flows led by the Wind
First new breath, our journey Begins
Our Journey Begins
Her lips connected with my forehead as Ronon stood above me, his weapon pointing at me. My journey's going to begin. The monster begins to gain ground again. I hold Ronon's gaze for a second, then gaze back at Teyla. I mouth the words, "I love you." Then I look at Ronon again. Ronon knows what he has to do, and he doesn't hesitate. At least I know that I can fight it. Then Ronon fires and I black out.
A/N: The rest of Conversion happens as it happened, I just changed that for a far more tender moment and an excuse to use the song from Critical Mass.
