Stargate Atlantis: S7—Do Not Go Gentle3

"Goddamn it, John! You need to get to the Jumper now or we will have risked all our lives for nothing!" Ronon growled, physically hauling the recalcitrant military commander down the hallway. The alarms were shrieking and the three men were forced to run and duck into the shadows as a phalanx of Wraith Drones were heading their way.

"Shit! What do we do now?" Rodney said. "The Jumper is that way! And if they find it—"

"There goes our ride, I know!"

"Enough!" John wrenched free and whirled, snatching Rodney's sidearm from the startled physicist. John held the gun pointed at Ronon. "Get to the Jumper! I will get Moira! I am not leaving her a second longer with that bitch queen!"

"You are jeopardizing this mission, yet again for—"

"I would rather die than live without her!" John proclaimed.

Rodney looked from one to the other as the two men stared, guns pointed at each other. It was an unsettling sight. The thundering of approaching feet broke the moment. The men whirled and froze. They were surrounded by the Wraith Drones. All held stunners and weren't firing, at least not yet. They tilted their heads as if receiving some silent instruction.

"Why aren't they—"

"Teyla. It has to be Teyla!" Ronon grinned. "Let's go. This won't last forever! Come on!"

"Come on, John! We can pick up Moira on the way!" Rodney offered.

John scowled but followed after the two men.

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"My queen?" Todd advanced a step, halted. He glanced at the other Wraith who were also as puzzled and startled as he was. Todd glanced at the human still kneeling at the queen's feet, but paid her no mind. She was nothing.

The queen snarled, shaking her head. Her eyes flitted and she swayed. She regained herself. "Do not harm them. I want them alive, but not yet. First they must show us where their ship is," she ordered. She freed Moira's shoulder. "You. Stand."

Moira slowly moved to her feet, hoping this was Teyla's doing but not quite sure. "I can help you access the genetic material but you must let John go, and the others too, unharmed. We will need their help to access the necessary files and—"

"This is a ruse! Can you not see that?" Todd flared.

"Silence!" The queen raised her hand and Todd staggered backwards as a pressure briefly filled his head and then was gone. "I will learn more of this! Leave us! Leave us!"

The room emptied. Moira glanced round, uncertain.

"This genetic material…it does exist?"

"Yes…I…Teyla? Moira whispered.

"Go. Go now. She is fighting me and I do not know how long I can maintain this. John is free and with the others. Go now."

"Thank you."

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What are you doing, Teyla? Are you trying to harm me?"

Teyla blinked. She found herself standing in the throne room, opposite not a Wraith but Elizabeth Weir. She knew it was an illusion as the queen fought for control. Nevertheless it rattled her and the Athosian struggled for dominance. She only had to maintain the control a little longer, a little longer.

"Don't you recognize your friend, Teyla? I recognize you."

"I know that you are not Elizabeth Weir. You are a Wraith."

I am more powerful than you are, girl! I will take your friends. I will drain them one by one. I will find your city and destroy it! And then, oh then…I will find your precious Torren."

"How do you know about him?" Teyla asked, startled. She stared, forgetting the fight for control as she confronted this creature.

The queen smiled. "I know all about him, how very special he is. I know what Michael did to him. I know how he sought to advance his evolution into something more than a human and a Wraith. I know what he injected. You have no idea what is going to happen to him. He will serve me when the time comes."

"No! No!" Teyla shuddered, losing control as the shock that this creature knew about her son and was planning to make him her own. She fought to regain possession but she felt herself weakening as her concentration was breaking. The queen was whittling away at the slim hold she was maintaining. Her heart was hammering in her chest and the sense of calm was gone.

The queen shoved at her. It felt like a physical motion and Teyla fell backwards. She gasped for air and found herself prone on the bridge of the Daedalus. The connection was gone, severed in an instant.

"Teyla! Teyla, are you all right?" Carson rushed to her side as she struggled to sit. "You're bleeding!" The doctor worriedly looked at her, assessing.

"What?" Teyla took the proffered handkerchief and held it to her nose. The white cloth came back a little bloody.

"Are you all right, love?"

"She is strong, so strong, Carson! I must try to take control again!"

"No, love. You don't look so good. You are shaking. Rest now. You've done very well."

"I…" Teyla saw that her hands were shaking. She held the handkerchief to her nose and leaned her head back, disconcerted. At the moment concern for her friends was trumped by worry over her son.

Worry over what her son might become in the future.

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"STOP!"

Moira froze. It felt as if someone had yanked her backwards. The tone of the queen revealed that Teyla was no longer in control. Moira softly swore and turned slowly to face the irate Wraith queen. Moira was close to the doorway, so very close and escape was in arm's reach but now all that was in jeopardy.

"Did you believe that I could be controlled like that?" the queen hissed. She raised an arm and pointed at Moira. "You have failed. Now you shall die as will all of your friends. As will John."

"Then you will never find the answers you seek," Moira threatened. She felt a pressure in her head but fought as it sought to force her to her knees.

"Kneel to me! You will beg for mercy and then I will destroy Atlantis!"

"You are acting irrationally. If you destroy Atlantis you will never find the others who are like you and the others who were made into more than Wraith," Moira argued. She winced as pain was a wave infiltrating her skull. Suddenly she straightened as the pain was gone and she felt a familiar pressure behind one eye, the one that had been changed by her connection to the Fugly neural implant.

"Kneel! Kneel!"

Moira stood. She smiled. She just smiled.

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"Crap." John swore and ducked as the Wraith were pursuing them again, as if suddenly remembering that these humans were the enemy. "Looks like Teyla's hold is gone."

"Great. The ship's over there!" Rodney pointed but dove behind a pillar as laser fire cut the air around him. A fog was rising in the ship, making visibility difficult. The gloomy colors made the shadows loom. Quickly he hit the remote and suddenly the ship came into view.

Rodney had never seen anything more beautiful.

"I'll cover. You two get to the ship and power it up," Ronon offered.

"No. I'll cover. You two get to the ship and power it up," John argued.

"How about all three of us get to the ship and power it up?" Rodney suggested. Suddenly he peered round the corner. "Hey! They stopped firing again!"

"Wish they'd make up their minds," Ronon muttered. He charged, firing his pistol and shouting. The Wraith fell to all sides, clumsily returning fire as they fell. The hallway was full of fog and shadows and writhing Drone bodies.

"Get the ship prepped, Rodney! I'm going after—"

"John!"

John spun on his heels, nearly falling over as dizziness assaulted him. He stared as a figure emerged from the fog. "Moy?"

Moira was running towards him. "John! John, get in the ship now! We've haven't much time!"

He smiled but quickly raised his gun. Behind her the Wraith were pursuing. "Shit! Get in the Jumper, Moira now!" He stepped to one side and waited for her to pass.

"John, we have to go now! We—"

"John! We've got a problem here! The Jumper won't initialize!"

"What? What?" John was firing his weapon while trying to shove Moira to safety. Rodney's words brought him up short and he glanced behind him.

"It won't start!" Rodney shouted over his shoulder. His fingers were playing frantically over the controls but so far the vessel was inert.

"What?"

"Go! I'll cover you!" Ronon shouted.

John nodded as Moira caught his free arm and began to pull him towards the visible Puddle Jumper. He quickly moved with her and gave her his gun. "Hold this for me! Oh!" He suddenly pulled her into a kiss.

Startled Moira struggled then melted at the passionate intermingling of their lips. "I—"

"If you ever do something like this again I will spank that pert little ass blue!" He grinned before moving to the front of the ship. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know!" Rodney sighed. John touched the console. There was a brief, a too brief flare of power before it died. Rodney moved to his feet. "Stay here and keep trying! I will see if I can jumpstart the damn thing!" He moved to the access panels in the back, glancing to see Moira at the hatch's opening, gun in her hand as she stood sentinel. The noise of weapons beyond them urged Rodney to haste.

"Come on, baby, come on," John urged, trying to power the vessel. He sat in the pilot's seat. A wave of utter weariness engulfed him and he closed his eyes for a moment, only a moment.

"Rodney, you better hurry! We have five minutes!" Moira warned.

"Oh, you think? I am trying!" the physicist snapped. He snarled at the controls, switching wires and crystals like a madman. "Is Ronon out there?"

"Yes, but he can't hold them off forever!"

"I know that! John, try it now! John!"

There was only silence from the front of the Jumper.