Chapter Two. The Deal.

The Queen of the Vampires arrived a few months later via Stargate. Her only companion was a tall man, just as pale as she was, but with strange blue hair. Instead of the strict red and black of the Queen, he wore blue and white.

They stared with blank expressions at the weapons pointed at them until the blue-haired man sighed and stepped forward. He held out his hand to help the Queen off the ramp and were promptly told to follow a man to the conference room.

There assembled was the SG-1 team and their general. The blue haired man seated himself across from Daniel while the Queen stood, waiting a moment for full attention.

"We would like to take this opportunity," the Queen began, "to extend a hand of peace and communication between our races. In hopes that perhaps one day Earth will become one of our protected planets. Our counterparts, that chose to stay here so many years ago, wished not interfere whatsoever with the Humans; we decided to step in their place."

"We spoke to your counterparts here," General Landry said, "they seemed pretty upset you were here in the first place."

The blue haired man snorted and the two shared what could only be described as an evil smile. "They are probably afraid that we will come back and take over Earth," the man said in a heavy accent that sounded almost Russian.

"We are far more organized, my dear King," the Queen replied, bending to share a chaste kiss. Their audience shared bewildered looks and Teal'c managed yet another expertly raised eyebrow.

"What's keeping you from doing just that?" Cam asked.

The monarchs laughed. "We said that our wish was only that Earth might one day become a protected planet."

"Just what exactly is involved with being one of your protected planets? You seem to think we would be reluctant," Landry pointed out.

"Trade," the King replied, "volunteer Humans to live on our planet, and we will give limited technology and supplies."

"Humans? You mean like cattle? Is that was those villagers were for?"

Mitchell received twin glares for his indignation. "As you may have noticed, they are perfectly happy to live with us. And they hardly 'cattle'," the King spat the word, as if it left a foul taste in his mouth.

"You use them to drink blood, don't you?"

The King stood suddenly, his face contorted with fury, but his Queen stopped whatever he might have said with a hand on his shoulder. They shared a long gaze before the King stormed out of the room. The Queen sighed heavily and sat in his place, folding her seemingly delicate hands on the table.

"I would ask you to please not refer to our humans as 'cattle' or any such livestock. We do not abuse them; if we did it would be much harder to acquire a sufficient population for our planet."

"So it's just business then?" Landry attempted to smooth over the tension.

The Queen nodded curtly, staring fixedly on Mitchell as though she wanted nothing more than show him just how she would treat cattle.

"I don't see why we can't trade."

Her eyes flicked to the General. "At least five, and they will never come back to Earth."

"Not even to visit?" Daniel tried.

"No. Lives begin anew on the Vampire planet."

"I'm sure we could find a few people with nothing to lose, the military tends to be full of them."

At that point, Walter burst into the room. "General, that other Vampire just collapsed in the hall. A medical team is already taking him to the bay."

The Queen had barely waited for Walter to stop speaking before she rushed past him. She found her King lying in one of the hospital beds, barely lucid. When she held his hand, he turned to look at her.

"I am sorry, my love. It had surprised me again," he said softly and attempted to squeeze her hand in reassurance, but fell into another seizure. The Queen keened and pulled him to her in a tight embrace until it stopped.

"Oh, my husband! How much longer must you be in this pain?"

The King smiled and kissed her. "Until our Xanthus creates a cure."

"Excuse me," Carolyn Lam cut in, stepping forward, "but I think we could probably give it a shot."

The Queen had the audacity to laugh. "Perhaps, child. Humans have always proved innovative. You see, the King was exploring another planet with a few others, when they discovered a rather large spider-like creature. The King attempted to extract it from its web when it attacked him. It injected a poison in him that was supposed to paralyze and kill. But because he is a Vampire, the poison cannot kill him but its effects are felt because of the blood that cycles through his body constantly."

"Alright, well clearly we need to know more about your anatomy."

Unfortunately, the lesson the Queen gave the doctors didn't bring them any closer to a solution except to drag Xanthus to base. The Healer was more than disgruntled by the doctors' inquires into his work, as if he hadn't tried everything he could possibly do. Until Selmak and Jacob walked in to see what was going on. Sam was explaining the King's condition when Selmak strode over to the King and stared at him.

"Why did you never contact the Tok'ra? We could have been sharing technology and information for years in aid for our rebellion."

The King tried to laugh, but a coughing fit seized him.

"A curse on the skies! The poison has entered his lungs!" Xanthus muttered in Vatah, ignoring the doctor he had been talking to and going to a medicine cupboard. He fiddled with a few of the bottles before coming back to the King's side, whom was coughing in earnest by then.

He gently lifted the King into a sitting position, his hand on the heaving chest. "Your Majesty, please drink this."

The King did so, holding his breath long enough to swallow. "Your hand is cold to me, Xanthus. Whatever does it mean?"

"Only that you must rest, let this impertinent fool speak to the Queen."

"No," the King responded in English, "I will talk with him."

"As I was saying," Selmak continued, but the King cut him off.

"Your apparent rebellion is nothing to us, Selmak of the Tok'ra. We will not trouble ourselves with a war that is only lasting so long."

"You can't mean that-" Jacob interjected, only to be interrupted again.

"Yes, I do. Vampires live for a very long time, conflicts such as yours do not affect us."

"Really? The death of thousands and thousands more enslaved mean nothing to you?"

"You cannot start on those odd tales of woe. I am sure this... S-G-C would be more willing to listen to you."

Selmak stepped back in disgust and turned away, bumping into the Queen in his rush to leave. She grabbed hold of his sleeve and pushed him back into the room.

"Who are you to speak to my King?"

"Selmak of the Tok'ra, my dear," the King answered from his bed.

"Tok'ra? Do the symbiotes not have some sort of healing property?"

Selmak made the mistake of growling at her.

"Fascinating. Both of you are working in harmony inside that mind of yours. Battling for dominance, but agreeing at the same time." The Queen had him against the wall and no one dared interfere. Sam was confused, but she caught a look from the King she thought she could trust.

The Queen paused in her examination of Selmak and hummed. "This is going to hurt," she warned just before pressing her lips to his neck. She did not pierce his skin, but prodded until she felt the symbiote at the back of Jacob's neck. It struggled beneath her tongue and Jacob fell limp against the wall. Holding his weak body in place, she withdrew and looked to her King.

"I believe if you drink from the symbiote, you will be cured."

At her statement the King struggled out the bed and would have fallen to the floor if Xanthus hadn't caught him.

"Majesty, please."

"No no, Xanthus. This must be tried."

Jacob roused in the Queen's arms just in time to see the King coming towards him. "What's going on? I was just leaving!"

"You will help my King, Jacob. No harm will come to you or Selmak from it."

"What? What are you talking about? I'm not going to- Oh!"

The King, in a final effort to silence the human, had pushed him up against the wall and bit his neck in quick succession. The symbiote's blood tasted odd and bitter, but the King drank regardless. It lasted only a few seconds before the King withdrew and picked up the Human. He gently placed him on the bed next to his. He climbed back into his own and promptly fell asleep before anyone could ask if it had worked.

"Wow," Sam said, breaking the shocked silence rather loudly. "That was a little alarming. Is Dad going to be okay?"

"Of course, dear child," the Queen replied with a disarming smile and swept out of the room, perfectly unconcerned. Sam took a last look at her father lying so prone on the bed with the doctors surrounding him, and decided to follow the Queen's attitude.

That night, the Security Officers had something so interesting to watch, half of them left and the other half stayed. They weren't really sure how the Vampire King got into Selmak's bed, but he was there without having seemed to move. Luckily, or unluckily, the sound had been turned off and no one knew just why it had happened.

But the King only had a sort of affection in mind, enjoying holding down Selmak like a panicked bird. He supposed it was because they were both naked under the sheets. He bent to sooth his prize, whispering into his ear.

"Quiet down, little one. I shall have you by the end of the night, I will hear of nothing else."

Selmak stilled in shock at the statement, carefully keeping Jacob asleep. He wanted so to protect his host from the advances of the Vampire, no matter how intriguing the King was with his blue hair and strong hands.

"Have me? What do you mean?" he shrieked, trying to compose himself and fend off the King at the same time.

The King chuckled and settled into position above him. "Do not play coy with me, Selmak of the Tok'ra. You know well what it is I want. Now let me have it before I take your freedom away from you."

Selmak had no idea what the threat meant, but he took it seriously and stopped struggling. The King gave a cat-like smile and leaned down to gently press his lips to Selmak's. The Tok'ra melted and felt the rise of desire course through his veins. The wonderful thing about a human body, was that sex never grew dull. The sensation of arousal and what a simple stroke of the hand could do, always felt new and exciting to Selmak. Though in all honesty, Jacob thought him odd for it and refused to indulge him; Jacob being straight and Selmak enjoying the same sex far more.

"You th'nk too much of th'ss, Ss-elma'k," the King murmured against his neck, the slight accent he normally held becoming quite heavy.

"Then erase my thoughts," Selmak replied, thrusting his hips up and lifting his legs higher.

"I will make the heavens weep for your screams of pleasure," the King hissed in Vatah, just before giving Selmak a fierce kiss. He plundered the Tok'ra's mouth, biting and scrapping teeth where he could to make clear what his intentions were.

Selmak had no idea what the King had said, but he was sure it something like, "I'm going to fuck you so hard the entire base will hear you scream," judging by the way his mouth was being fucked into submission.

There was a loud clatter on the metal table beside the bed and Selmak suddenly felt cold, but lubricated fingers enter him without warning. He moaned and moved to meet those fingers just as a third was added. Selmak cried out and stilled, wincing at the flash of pain it brought. When the moment was over, the Vampire pressed his fingers down hard on his prostrate. Selmak moaned loudly, whimpering with each successive wave until he felt something much bigger push into him. He squirmed, but the King grabbed his hips and pushed in fully. Selmak's vision went white for a moment, utterly unaware of any sound he might have made. When he could see again, the King was panting above him, instilling a hard and fast rhythm. Desire was rapidly climbing to climax when the King wrapped his hand around his cock, then he screamed as orgasm tore through him.

A few minutes later found Selmak in the King's arms and sharing a gentle kiss.

"You are 'ery sweet, my dear S-elma'k," the King said, his voice low and his accent still heavy as he mapped Selmak's skin with the tips of his fingers.

Selmak chuckled. "Wait until Jacob finds out."

The King looked confused and halted his movements. "Why? Was he not present as well?"

"Oh no, that would have been too much of a shock," seeing the Vampire was still confused, he continued, "Jacob is straight. He only likes women."

The bewilderment vanished from the King's expression. "Ah! So it is you whom I felt the attraction, not both of you?"

"Most likely. Unless Jacob has suddenly become very good at keeping secrets."

"That is a shame for him. Perhaps your experience will enlighten him?"

Selmak laughed and kissed the King again, letting his tongue linger in the other's mouth. "My nearly 2000 years experience still have not swayed him, my King."

"A considerable time to have been living. You are the oldest of your Tok'ra, yes?"

"Yes. Though the Council is not always wise enough to listen to me. They have become very arrogant in their cause."

"Do not think that because I have affection for you, that it extends to your Tok'ra."

Selmak waved away the statement. "I never expected such a thing."

"But this will open discussions. Though you must keep in mind, the Vampires will never help the Tok'ra until they have parted with their arrogance."

Selmak shrugged. "As long as I can see you again, I don't care what you do with the Tok'ra."

Volunteers turned out to be a lot harder to find than General Landry had thought. Forever seemed to be pretty daunting to a lot of people, never mind getting their blood sucked. Despite such troubles, he did find five men by the Queen's deadline. All of which were waiting patiently when the gate whooshed into existence and Xanthus stepped through. He was already frowning by the time the wormhole deactivated.

"It smells of wet dog in here," Xanthus hissed, flicking his tongue against his fangs. The five men shared confused looks and shrugged. The Healer approached one of them, whose name was Sandro, and quite literally spat in the man's face.

"Do you even realize what kind of filth you are? A plague is all you are, a disease spreading among perfectly healthy humans."

"What?" Sandro said, his voice rising as he spoke, "what are you talking about?"

"Don't you feel it?" Xanthus suddenly drew a silver dagger and held it between them. "Hurts, doesn't it? Think you have an allergy to silver?"

Sandro flinched away from the blade. "Lots of people have an allergy to silver... What's that got to do with anything?"

"Change, you filthy dog! Don't keep me waiting. Did you all think I wouldn't notice? This is an insult to everything we agreed upon."

Sandro's eyes went wide with shock. "Insult you! What are you on about? Crazy Vampire!"

Xanthus stepped back, thoughtfully playing with the dagger in his hands. "It's only a matter of time before the symptoms manifest themselves. You won't be able to control them in my presence."

"Symptoms?" Sandro choked. The man suddenly fell to his knees, an inhuman growl escaping his throat.

Xanthus became aware of the crowded room and someone trying to help Sandro to his feet. "All of you! You must leave this room and lock the door behind you!"

No one moved and just stood staring at the frustrated Vampire. "GO!"

The mental nudge got them going along with the force of his shout. Xanthus waited as they left, watching Sandro's transformation carefully. The Vampire didn't fail to notice that the large window above was crowded with viewers. Another loud growl sounded and Xanthus ducked just as the werewolf launched itself at his head.

The beast was huge, larger than Xanthus remembered dealing with in the past. His dagger wasn't going to help him very much unless he could kill the beast. Which was not something he wanted to do with so many humans as witnesses. He ducked again, but the monster aimed lower this time and sharp claws tore out his left shoulder. Xanthus snarled and whipped around to face the werewolf, tossing his dagger to the floor with a loud clatter. The Vampire braced himself for the next attack, which came quickly. Rolling with the beast, he broke as many reinforced bones as he could. He broke the neck last, holding it place as the werewolf struggled violently under him. It snarled, hissed, and growled, until it finally whimpered and stilled.

Xanthus let go and stood slowly, shuddering at the feel of its blood dripping down his skin. Humans poured in just as the werewolf reverted back to naked human form. The Vampire wanted to scream at them when he felt metal cuffs linking his wrists together. But he remained silent, knowing he had to wait in order to explain properly. They had the werewolf in a stretcher and Xanthus noticed the minute twitch of a hand.

"I would suggest putting him in a holding cell as well. He is not dead, only paralyzed for the moment," Xanthus told them, his voice colder than ice. Luckily, they took his suggestion, but only after the werewolf twitched enough to strike at another doctor.

Half an hour later, the Queen and Alexis showed up, demanding to know why Xanthus hadn't been sent back. The reasons given only enraged them more as they explained just what a werewolf was and why trading relations were off the table.

"How can it be a plague? It looks to me like they're a whole new race!" Landry's hold on his temper was loosening. It was so strange to have a conversation about monsters with a 13-year-old.

Alexis snorted. "They change from human form to wolf within a moment, they are neither beast nor man. After their first change, there is nothing left of what you would call their human-selves. Werewolves were created to destroy Vampires, regardless of what stands in their way."

"Created? I thought you said they were a plague?"

Alexis sighed, glancing briefly at his Queen, whom was staring out the window with a sad expression. "Evolutionary genetics, General Landry. When there is an excess population, nature will create something to reduce it to a more reasonable rate."

"But you left Earth..."

"Exactly. Nature doesn't exactly factor in intelligence and technology. Which leads us to the conclusion that the Vampires here sent the werewolf to volunteer on purpose. Such a move makes it too dangerous to attempt trade again, because we cannot know if they will venture to do it again. And," Alexis glanced at his Queen again, but she remained resolute, "we do not believe the Earth humans are ready for such a trade if they cannot even trust their population with such information as the very existence of 'aliens'."

"That's insulting," Mitchell stated, coming out of the shadows. "First you tell us trading humans is nothing like trading livestock and then it turns out was really just a test? And if there hadn't a werewolf?"

"Eventually one of you would have demanded to go back," the Queen finally interjected, turning to glare at Cameron, "disgusted at the atrocities our society commits on a daily basis."

"If it's so scary over there, why trick us into it?"

"So that all of you may realize exactly what you are getting into in having relations with us. We are not a benevolent race, our society isn't moral in any human sense. Just because we refuse to enter the wars of others, does not mean we are not capable of tearing this galaxy in two."

"So... This was really just a show of your power?" Landry put forward vaguely.

"Yes and no. We have no wish for you to fear us, but to understand that we are not what we seem. To understand your fear of us and overcome it."

"Right. Well, I can see what you mean that this might take awhile. The matter of sharing technology and supplies-"

"Continues to stand, General Landry. Now if you please, I would like to take my Healer back to our planet."

"Of course, your Majesty."