Stargate Atlantis Letting Go The Only Way to Hold On

Act 4

Warsh was not usually the paranoid type. He had won his captaincy through his steady, clear minded approach to the missions he led; his good judgement and his overall duty of care, not only to the marines under his command, but to the other people, often innocent bystanders, caught in the situations against which his team was made to act. Some of that had changed since he came to Atlantis, admittedly, though he didn't like it – especially not the idiocy of which he'd been a part under Major Hollick's orders.

It was for that main reason that he felt so uncomfortable with the bad feeling that was growing in his gut as his small team escorted Mr Woolsey, the native woman, Rowf, and a small group of her people away from the main settlement into the surrounding wooded hills.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he called back to the civilian party nestled in the protective ring of his men, "but is this facility much farther?"

"Not much, Captain Warsh," she answered with a smile. "Soon you will see it."

He sighed, unable to shake the feeling, and glanced at Woolsey who was looking around, taking in their surroundings.

"Relax, Captain," he said, "you've no reason for concern."

"Famous last wo—"

It was a strange sensation, as though someone had poured a liquid burning ice into him. It settled in the middle of his chest and began to spread slowly, as though in his blood, along his limbs, filling them with weakness. He tried to call out a warning but found his voice would no more obey his commands than would his arms as he tried to raise his P90.

As his vision finally closed into darkness, he saw the figure coming from out of the trees ahead, and the look of shock on Woolsey's face.

**

"You—" Woolsey spluttered as he glanced at Rowf, and then back at the all-too-familiar black clad figure coming toward them from the tree line.

"I am sorry it was necessary to deceive you," Rowf told him. "It really would have been better if you had left behind the men that we stunned when your people first came here."

"Better for whom?" Woolsey snapped.

"Do not try to pass judgement on matters you do not understand," she spat back at him and moved to stand beside the Wraith, so obviously her master.

"Bring them," the Wraith rumbled. He turned and began to walk back toward the trees ahead. "There is much work to be done, and I must return."

"Now, just a—" Woolsey took a step forward, meaning to make a challenge, but the Wraith turned around and with a look of fury let out a menacing hiss into his face, and before Woolsey could even summon the strength to move his suddenly paralysed limbs, grabbed him by the front of his jacket.

"You are lucky, Human, that my tasks are too important to allow me the time to take pleasure in feeding on you," he said.

"That's hardly a threat," Woolsey answered, though he felt the threat more keenly than he tried to reveal. "You're going to feed on me sooner or later anyway."

"Then enjoy the time you still have left to you," the Wraith snarled, and releasing him abruptly, turned once more and walked on into the trees.

"Bring him," Rowf ordered the men that were not already carrying one of the marines the Wraith had stunned into submission.

"Where are we going?" Woolsey asked as he felt himself grabbed by the arms, and a sharp blow in the small of his back, which was meant to encourage him to move. "Really, I mean."

"We are going where I told you," she answered, "to show you the Wraith technology you are so eager to view."

Even as she spoke, the trees through which he was being hurried gave way to a dark mass nestled in their midst. At first he thought it was some kind of crystalline rock face, but as they got closer he realised what it was he was seeing, and swallowed hard as he was led, a quiescent suckling pig for slaughter, into the dormant Hive Ship.

**

It was a sadistic cruelty she visited on The Renegade, an act of psychological warfare against him to force him to submit to her will. Todd knew this and yet he had to force himself to stillness and to remain impassive as the sub-commander she ordered to give the Gift of Life, in order to sustain The Renegade through the trauma of the changes he would undergo once the serum was administered again, was immediately executed before his eyes.

Todd waited until the drones had fastened The Renegade onto one of the operating tables, closing the restraints around his already bruised wrists and ankles, before he leaned over the miserable creature, under the pretence of examination, to speak to him urgently.

"Why do you not simply feed," he implored him. "Take away this power she has over you."

"She has no power over me," The Renegade hissed and though the words were viciously spoken, the sudden loss of his 'hive brother' had clearly had no little effect on him, even though Todd suspected the unfortunate Wraith would have died anyway.

"You know she will do this again and again until you acquiesce to your needs; submit to her," Todd said.

"Then more Wraith will… die at… her... hands," this time The Renegade could not keep the pain of it from his voice, "for I will do neither."

"Then you are more the fool than I believed," Todd said and sighing, moved to the nearby workbench to pick up the syringe filled with the serum that would further reduce the Human DNA still present in The Renegade's body. On his return he pressed a hand against the side of the creature's head to turn it and expose the vein in his neck.

The Renegade moaned. "Wait, Wait!" he said so desperately that Todd paused, and tilted his head in query.

"Please," The Renegade gasped, "Tell me."

"Tell you?" Todd frowned.

"Tell me what happened," he said, and when Todd frowned and shook his head, feigning confusion, as he knew full well what it was The Renegade was asking, the creature drew in a deep breath, and in an anguished whisper said, "Teyla…"

"It was… inevitable," he answered as though it was of little consequence to him, and before The Renegade could speak again, administered the serum, and stepped away with folded arms to watch its progress.

The struggles, perhaps an involuntary action, and the cries of pain began immediately, but the insults that flew from The Renegades lips were, Todd thought, an inventive mix of Wraith and Human anathema.

"You… Hiveless… Queenless… bastard!" he growled between cries, "You'll regret—!"

The pain finally overwhelmed him as the serum ripped through his system and dragged him down into the mutative darkness at its heart.

Todd sighed as he watched for a moment longer before moving away to check on the progress of the tests the Queen had insisted he perform after her last conversation with The Renegade.

"Release him," she commanded looking back over her shoulder at Todd as she leaned over The Renegade on the operating table.

"My Queen," Todd said with as much respect as he could muster, "I would caution—"

"I said release him!" she hissed at him, lashing out mentally. The punishment was a brief but sharp icy burn that left a wave of dizziness in its wake. Even so, he managed a slight bow.

"As you wish," he said softly, and activated the control to release the restraints from around The Renegade's wrists and ankles.

The Queen turned away from him then, leaning closer over The Renegade. Todd watched in idle curiosity as she ran a lascivious hand along the exposed skin of the creature's arm, where it was grey and mottled from the imperfect transformation. She made a soft purring sound as though the sensation of the puckered flesh beneath her touch aroused her. He couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before The Renegade rejected the touch, or if, indeed, his transformation had rendered him as vulnerable to the Queen's pheromones as any Wraith male.

He did not have to wait long for the answer to his wondering. Fast enough to take the Queen by surprise, The Renegade lashed out and struck at her wrist to force the, obviously unwelcome, touch away from his skin, before grabbing her wrist on the backward momentum. His next action was to reach up beneath their grappling hands and dig the fingers of his right hand into the softness of her throat.

The Renegade pulled the Queen closer, until he could snarl into her face.

"Though you do everything in your power to bend me to your will, I will never give to you that which you need to complete your purpose." She hissed at him then, and he hissed back with an intensity of hatred that chilled even Todd. Then The Renegade continued, "What is mine will remain mine."

"There are… other ways," she rasped through the constriction of his fingers around her throat.

"No," he mocked her, "because the needs of your madness seek the pleasure of taking it."

Todd considered, seriously for a moment, whether he should just stand by and allow The Renegade to snap her slender, pale neck and have done with it. In the end, he decided that it would probably bring more trouble than he could, at that time, handle, and began to take a step forward…

His intercession had not been necessary. The Queen had simply stopped clawing at the wrist at her throat and had freed herself with a backhanded slap to The Renegade's face. His head had rattled against the table. It was then she had angrily ordered Todd to take a sample of The Renegade's blood to test for the level of compatibility.

And still he awaited those results.

A sound behind him, in the open space in front of the doorway, caused him to turn in time to see the Hive Commander enter the room and glance around to take everything in.

"Can I help you with something?" Todd asked, almost congenially, moving out from behind the workbenches to put himself in a clear open space. He suspected this was not a social call.

"She warned you then?" the Hive Commander spat bitterly by way of an answer.

"Of course she did," Todd answered, not putting up any pretence of ignorance as to the Commander's words. "Why wouldn't she?"

"I would have thought that, by now, she would have learned to keep her silence in matters between Wraith." the Hive Commander growled, taking a step toward Todd.

"It just goes to prove that you know so very little about Humans," he said, and carefully, without making any obvious movements, slipped the knife from the sheath at his back hidden in the layers of his coat.

"I know enough about that Human to know that she is not at all what she seems," the Hive Commander said coldly, "And I assure you—"

"Don't make promises you cannot keep," Todd interrupted with more than a little sarcasm colouring his voice and his thoughts.

Angered, the Hive Commander's barely held self-control snapped and he flew at Todd. Todd responded with an upward sweep of his arm, revealing the knife in his hand as he did so, and the Hive Commander barely had time to raise a defensive arm, before falling back to drop into a half crouch, drawing both of his own knives as he did so, but not before he had blotted at the bloody slice to the underside of his chin.

"I will see you rot for this," he growled.

"Again," Todd answered calmly, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I know that you have been receiving covert transmissions," The Commander accused.

"From my own ship," Todd tilted his head as though confused by the accusation, though a cold lump began to form inside him, kindled of worry at how much the Hive Commander truly knew. "Of course – I am its commander; would you have me leave my crew entirely alone? Would you leave yours without your guidance?"

"Liar!" The Hive Commander flew at him again, both hands working in rapid circles and quick thrusts. Todd parried with both his knife and the padded leather of his forearm, struggling not only to keep the Commander's knives from reaching his body, but also to force the other Wraith to give ground. He wanted to prove his own superiority to the enraged Commander but as the Hive Commander thrust suddenly beneath his guard, Todd was forced to leap backwards to avoid injury and then to quickly raise his blade to catch the incoming, high strike with which the other Wraith followed through.

The hilts of the blades locked together, keeping Todd dangerously close to the Hive Commander's other hand that held an equally as deadly knife. As the Commander struck toward his side Todd caught the Wraith by the wrist and held tightly as they struggled together, each trying to get the upper hand.

"I know there was a coded signal in the last transmission you received," the Hive Commander grunted as they fought. "Soon I will prove it and—"

"You know nothing." Todd growled, angered by the growing coldness of his worry. "Not even of what occurs aboard your own Hive, with your own Queen."

"How dare yo—"

The deck of the Hive suddenly lurched beneath them both, breaking the equilibrium, and Todd felt a sharp pain against his hip before the Hive Commander pulled away, a look of alarm on his face as he fell into communion with the others of his Hive.

"We are under attack," he said urgently a moment later. "This is not over, Scientist!"

He turned and hurried from the laboratory, presumably to return to the bridge.

"No, Commander," Todd said softly to his retreating back, but with a deadly edge to his voice. He pressed his hand to his hip, and growled as it came away wet with blood. "It is only just beginning."

**

"Who's there?" McKay whirled round, and nervously brandished the handgun in the direction of the entrance to the Neural Wave Generator chamber as he heard the sound in the corridor.

"Relax, McKay," Sheppard's lazy voice came back from the darkness. "I'm not the big bad wolf come to feed on you."

"Ha ha, very droll," McKay said with deep sarcasm as Sheppard stepped into the dim light of the lanterns McKay had placed around the chamber. "Why don't you try something original, then you might even be funny."

Sheppard ignored him, and did not rise to the challenge, for which McKay found he was profoundly grateful.

Instead Sheppard asked, "What do you think it's for?"

"This thing?" McKay gestured to the Neural Wave Generator, "I have no way to know for certain of course, but I do have several theories. My favourite at the moment is that it's some kind of training device to help… improve the Wraith's mental acuity in their telepathic communications over longer distances."

"At the moment?" Sheppard raised his eyebrow in apparent disbelief.

"Yes," McKay answered, "You see—"

"Never mind," Sheppard cut him off, and then gestured to the other entrance to the chamber. "Where does that go?"

"I have no idea," McKay answered, hurt clear in his voice. "I'm a scientist, doing a scientific study of a very complex piece of Wraith Technology. If you want to know where the tunnels in this place lead, you'll have to investigate by yourself."

"All right, I will," Sheppard said and started toward the second exit.

"Wait a minute," McKay protested. He hadn't meant for Sheppard to leave him alone there. The chamber and surrounding tunnels could be hiding anything. More importantly there was no guarantee that he would be safe in the chamber, alone. He had asked for a marine escort. Even one would have been better than none at all, but his request had been denied when Woolsey had gone off on his wild goose chase after the promise of more Wraith Technology. Like Sheppard, McKay had protested the plan as reckless.

"Relax," Sheppard said for the second time in as many minutes. "You'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," McKay said. "You're not the one who's been alone all day in a creepy old chamber with nothing but an alien machine for company."

"Be strong, Rodney," Sheppard answered, and McKay was sure he had a wry smile on his face. "In the meantime, see if you can figure out what that thing's all about, right?"

Before McKay could answer, Sheppard had disappeared through the opening to the catacombs on the other side of the chamber.

**

It was unusual to find this particular Queen on the bridge, but it served his purpose well enough that she was there. Not only would he be able to fire the next salvo in his conflict with the Hive Commander in front of the rest of the bridge crew – a damaging attack at the best of times – but he would also be able to view, firsthand, the current progress of the battle against the attacking Hive.

It seemed that as soon as they had left hyperspace in order to approach the planet, to and from which the Subordinate Hive had been sending and receiving communications, they had been fired upon, presumably by the Hive in question, who appeared to be defending the very planet from which his own crew had reported Colonel Sheppard's signal had originated. It was too convenient to have been a coincidence.

Todd paused a moment to compose himself before stepping through the doorway. Immediately he looked at the display that showed the telemetry data streaming in to the Hive in order to get a feel for the situation. They were doing well, though with their superior size and firepower he had not expected anything less. He rather suspected that the Subordinate Hive was doomed, which would likely prove to be trouble for Sheppard and his men.

With a slightly growling breath he reminded himself to take one step at a time. He turned in the direction of the Queen and gave an unusually low bow.

"My Queen," he said softly.

"What is it?" she snapped, barely glancing at him. "This is a situation which requires all of our attention."

"Indeed," he said, still without straightening from his bow. "That is why I have come."

She suddenly turned away from viewing the screen to fix him with a surprised, but expectant glare and he knew he had her attention. Now, to choose his words wisely…

"No doubt your Commander has informed you," he began softly, with a viper smile appearing on his face when the Queen's gaze snapped back to the Hive Commander, demanding explanation.

"I have not had the chance, my Queen," he began apologetically, "but—"

"I am certain that, had we not met with this attack, he would have come to you with the news," Todd interrupted smoothly as though it were of no consequence, and in defence of the Hive Commander's lapse in vigilance, "that I have been receiving regular communications from my ship, in order that I might ensure that all is well in the event that we should need the backup they can provide for us."

He paused to glance between the Hive Commander, the Queen and the viewing screen, where he could see a further stream of Darts from the Elder Hive was closing on the Subordinate Hive. He did not speak again until prompted to do so.

"Continue," the Queen demanded.

"In the most recent of those communications," Todd said and made certain of the very careful selection of his next words, "my crew relayed a message that was sent to me by the Humans of Atlantis from the very planet this queen is attempting to defend."

"What was the content of this message?" the Queen stalked toward him, and grabbed the collar of his coat to pull him toward her. It seemed his care had not been sufficient to completely allay her suspicions, and over her shoulder he saw the satisfied smirk that appeared on the face of the Hive Commander.

"They were requesting my assistance," he said. It was the truth, though not the entire contents of the message. He neglected to mention the device that Sheppard had described and the fate that had befallen some of his soldiers. "It appears that Colonel Sheppard believes, after our last encounter, that I… owe… him."

He filled his mind with the negotiations between Sheppard and himself which failed due to the arrival of the Queen, who had been merely using him to draw the Humans to the meeting as bait in a trap for the Renegade. As he expected, she pushed at his mental barrier to investigate the veracity of his claims and he allowed her entry before he continued.

"But I believe it is as dangerous to assume that you can bend The Renegade to your will as it is to assume that the humans will co-operate."

The Queen turned away, and began to walk back toward her throne. "And will they?" she asked.

"Doubtful," he said, "Now anyway. They were ready to do so, before you launched your ill-advised attack. Now it is unlikely that they will trust even me."

"Then we must find a way to restore their faith in you." she purred.

"If you still wish to… maintain the possibility of a restoration of such faith…?" he left the question hanging for a moment before finishing, "Now would seem to be the perfect opportunity."

Her hold on both his mind, and the collar of his coat eased.

"Very well," she said after a moment. "Take a scout ship. Go to these… Humans and discover what it is they need."

With another low bow, though never taking his eyes off the enraged face of the Hive Commander, he said, "As you wish, my Queen."

"We will deal with this impudent whelp, and remain here to await your report," she told him, and he knew that her words were also her orders to the Hive Commanders.

**

He wasn't sure what had disturbed him from his angry reverie concerning Doctor McKay's arrogant and narcissistic self-aggrandisement, or his consuming irritation at being prevented, yet again, from examining the device that McKay seemed to insist it was his right, and his alone, to investigate.

Varnerin paused when the slight scuffle sounded again somewhere off to his right, through what looked like an opening in the rocky wall. It had been this he had heard in spite of his state of agitation.

Shifting his arm slightly, he pointed the flashlight in the direction of the sound, but its beam became lost in the vastness of the chamber that lay on the other side of the opening, and showed him nothing.

When the sound came a third time, Varnerin became convinced that something was down there, something real for him to investigate, and he felt a flush of elation, and a somewhat petulant rush of childish one-upmanship toward the Canadian scientist. Abandoning caution, he turned his steps to follow the weak beam of the flashlight and stepped through the natural doorway, into the cave beyond.

As he stepped within, up ahead, a soft glow began to increase, illuminating a small area of the chamber barely enough for him to see that a figure inhabited the lighted space. It was immobile, but very clearly humanoid and, fascinated, Varnerin began to step quietly towards it.

"Your stealth is unnecessary," a voice came out of the dim illumination. It was almost melodic, carrying its own harmony in the undertones that echoed from it. He had never heard anything similar. "I know you are there."

Varnerin froze. For a moment he was uncertain what to do, whether to continue forward, or opt for caution, though it was perhaps a little late to consider that.

"Who are you?" he asked, schooling his voice to remain steady. "What—"

"Come closer," the voice interrupted, and he thought that, even as quiet as it was, it began to echo around the chamber to the point of being a mild confusion and he found that, in spite of his growing need for caution, he began to move his feet, one before the other, carrying him closer.

It was a mildly disconcerting sensation.

There was movement in the darkness outside of the pool of light, but try as he might, Varnerin could not turn his head away from the figure he was approaching, could not stop his eyes from trying to penetrate within the harshness of the bright circle to better see the figure within.

His conscious mind baulked at what he was doing; at his own recklessness, but recognising that he was under the control of an almost hypnagogic state of awareness, he also knew that it would not be easy for him to regain control. It did nothing to dispel the worry that was growing in the depth of his belly.

As he stepped into the area illuminated by a small glowing object, his assessment proved to be in error. The figure moved, rising from a sitting position, it turned to face him. The angular face, with yellow eyes that burned into him; the pale flesh and the hair, a sharp black in contrast, were unmistakably Wraith. She was clearly female, and both of those facts and the rush of shock that released adrenaline to court his fear to greater heights released him from the mildly hypnotised state.

He tried to step backward, to put some distance between him, and the young Wraith Queen even as she reached for him, but collided with a solid body immediately behind him. The clamp of vicelike fingers closed around the back of his neck, and he was held in place, even pushed forwards until he met with the outstretched hand of the adolescent Queen. It did not take his superior intellect to know that the figure behind him was likely also a Wraith.

"Wait," he called urgently, "Wait!"

She did pause, and titled her head first one way and then the other, before glancing over his shoulder at the second Wraith.

"Her hunger knows no patience," the Wraith behind him hissed into his ear.

"Then she would be making a big mistake," Varnerin answered, thinking rapidly, thinking of a way to save him from being instantly fed upon. It would not help his mission if he were to fall so soon after his arrival. "I've been… looking for you. If you feed on me, you'll never know what it is I have to offer."

She let out a long growling hiss, and her hand halted, barely away from the thin material of his shirt. Varnerin shuddered as she spoke.

"What makes you think I am at all interested in anything you could possibly offer?" the young Queen asked.

"You haven't fed on me yet," Varnerin pointed out, surprising himself with his own dangerous audacity.

"Hmm," the Queen began, "a quick mind and an im—"

She broke off with a cry that sounded half way between a gasp and a barely audible screech. Varnerin felt the fingers holding the back of his neck tighten, as the Wraith behind him responded to her distress.

"My Young Queen…?" he queried.

"My Birth-Hive is destroyed," she gasped, and then shifting her burning eyes past Varnerin's darkly curious gaze, she growled, "Others are coming."

"You need to hear what I have to say," Varnerin repeated, fearing that with this development he would be more vulnerable.

"Then speak quickly, Human," the Wraith hissed. "My Queen hungers."

"No," she mused, "It amuses me to feel his fear."

Varnerin shivered at her assessment of his condition at the same time as he chastised himself for allowing himself to feel that fear. Ever since he had been given his mission, and was assigned to the Pegasus galaxy, his curiosity concerning the Wraith had soared. He had dreams in which he met the Wraith, in all their deadly glory, dozens of them – yet here he was, standing before a queen, not even fully grown, with a single commander as her guard, and his belly quivered with it. Even to himself he reeked of the stench of it – and he hated that of himself.

"You should feed on this one," the Wraith behind him advised. "He speaks too freely in your presence."

"Put him with the others." she said at last. "We will hear him – or not – when we depart."

**

Drawn by instinct in the right direction, Todd paused as he reached the chamber he knew contained the device that Sheppard had described in his communication. He could feel the waves of telepathic energy emanating from its many biogenetically created antennae, and even before he saw the configuration of the device, was beginning to speculate as to the many different possibilities for its existence. The two drones walking behind him stopped walking as he did.

~secure the chamber~

After only another moment, while he waited for the drones to move so that they were flanking the entrance, he began to move inside.

"Who's there?" an urgent, frightened whisper revealed itself from inside and he growled softly, easily recognising the voice.

"Doctor McKay," he greeted the human almost before he had stepped through the archway and could see the spineless little man. "I should have expected to find you here."

"So soon," McKay squeaked, backing up a step. "You must have been nearby. You—"

"Time and distance are relative to the urgency of the request," Todd answered. He tried not to let his irritation shop in his voice at the presence of the human scientist. It would hamper his discovery of the truth of the device, although, the more he saw of it, the less his doubt of its purpose. "…and to the curiosity of the … requested."

"You must be pretty curious then," McKay said, "this must be something importa—"

Todd watched as the dancing, crisp blue energy of his stunner enveloped the man; watched as McKay stiffened briefly, his face contorted in momentary pain, and then relaxed altogether as he slumped unconscious to the floor of the chamber. Slowly he lowered his weapon and then returned it to its holster.

Wasting no more time, Todd crossed to the device at the centre of the chamber and began an immediate and complete examination. It merely confirmed his suspicions.

"So," he murmured to himself, "that is what she has been attempting to hide from the Elder."

He couldn't help but chuckle. It was not an unknown practise among Wraith, for queens to send their offspring away from them, for safety, and to be raised in secret by a guardian Wraith who would then become the new queen's first Hive Commander, but in the many millennia of his life, he had encountered the practise only on a few occasions, for it was also dangerous. Queens raised in such a way could become unpredictable, dangerous… insane, and with an already capricious tendency, seemingly programmed into their very DNA, that was not necessarily a desirable trait. Even so…

He rumbled slightly as he began to formulate a plan that would allow him to manipulate the situation to serve his purposes. Likely, if there was a young queen here, there would also be a Hive ship, perhaps hidden somewhere deep within the planet's wilderness. He would also need to locate the queen herself, and her guardian. He was so engrossed that the first he knew of Sheppard's arrival was when the man's voice broke the silence.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Sheppard said.

"Colonel Sheppard," Todd said calmly as he turned to face him. "I came as soon as I received your message. An intriguing device, is it not?"

"It's a pain in the ass device, is what it is," Sheppard said, gesturing toward it. "Some of my men got hit by some kind of stunner and now this thing is all that stands between them and brain death."

"And you need me to…?"

"I want you to turn it off, is what I want you to do." Sheppard told him.

"Surely your… Doctor Keller has told you that simply… turning off the device will lead to the very eventuality of which you have just spoken, John Sheppard." Todd purred. He watched as Sheppard shifted from one foot to the other, and knew that he had passed some kind of test that the man had set for him. He couldn't help but incline his head in a nod of recognition. "Very clever."

"I had to be sure," Sheppard said, and Todd thought he sounded perhaps a little apologetic. "Can it be reversed? Changed to some setting that will make them wake up?"

"It could," Todd answered.

"Can you do it?" Sheppard asked with increasing irritation evident in his voice.

"I could," Todd mused, "but why would I?"

"Because I'm asking real nice," Sheppard said darkly.

"Are you indeed?" Todd countered, matching Sheppard's tone. "It seems to me that you are, more accurately, making unfounded demands on my time and my… patience, that you offer little in return for my assistance and that all this time you have been pointing your weapon at me; threatening me."

"You shot McKay," Sheppard said by way of explanation.

"I stunned McKay," Todd corrected him. "He was becoming… irritating."

He heard Sheppard chuckle, just a little before the human lowered his weapon.

"Look, bottom line, buddy," Todd raised a brow-ridge at Sheppard's choice of words, "I need your help on this. I need those men to wake up so that we can get the hell out of here. Some of my people are missing and—"

"They will have been taken to the Hive," Todd said as though stating the obvious.

Sheppard frowned. "There's no Hive ship here," he said.

"You are mistaken, Sheppard," Todd told him. "The very presence of this device reveals that there is a Hive nearby—"

"Great," Sheppard said under his breath.

"—and that, more than likely, is where your missing companions have been taken."

"Will you," Sheppard pressed urgently, and gestured toward the device, "make this thing wake my men or won't you?"

"First I shall need to return to my ship," Todd answered. "In the meantime, you need to find the Hive and rescue your people… and quickly."

"No shit, Sherlock," Sheppard said.

After staring at each other for a moment longer, Todd began to turn away, and heard Sheppard do likewise. He did not feel in the slightest remorseful for the fact that he had omitted to reveal certain details to the human concerning the device and what it meant, nor for the fact that, when he returned to his ship, it would be to contact the Elder Queen and inform her of the Lanteans' involvement in an unfortunate accident concerning a device they discovered. He would need to be careful to reveal only what information was necessary to alleviate her curiosity, while maintaining her ignorance of everything he, at present, only suspected. It was not the first time he would balance his life in his hands, nor, he suspected, would it be his last.

"Colonel Sheppard," he called as he reached the exit on his side of the chamber. Slowly he turned around to face the man once more. Sheppard also turned back to him. "Beware your arrogance. What little you know of Wraith may no longer be… enough."

He did not wait to view Sheppard's reaction to his words. He simply turned again on his heels and walked away.

**

Woolsey shivered as Rowf's men led him through the seemingly endless corridors of the Hive ship. He should have listened to Sheppard, to McKay, even to the marines who were telling him it was a bad idea to come out here – but his Intel had been sound, and the Expedition team did need to know more of the Wraith, with whom they found themselves in constant, day to day battles. It wasn't enough any more to simply shoot at them and expect them to run away with their tails between their legs… and what better way to discover more about them than by an examination of their technology.

No, he decided his reasoning was sound and so far he'd only seen a single Wraith. Sooner of later, Colonel Sheppard was going to realise that he was missing, and send someone looking for them. Rescue would come.

As the native soldiers – Wraith worshippers, he reminded himself – led him into a large, oval shaped chamber, in the centre of which was a raised dais, he saw Varnerin. He gasped.

"Reuben, what are you doing here?" he asked, his surprise at seeing the man rapidly becoming dismay.

Varnerin chuckled, and again Woolsey couldn't help but question whether such a sound came naturally from his lips or not.

"The same as you, Richard, I wandered around where I shouldn't have, and happened upon some Wraith." he answered.

"Some?"

"Two, as a matter of fact," Varnerin confirmed, "and while I managed to prevent the female from feedi—"

"Female?" Woolsey's heart sank even further, "there's a queen here?"

"I'd hardly call her a queen. Not yet anywa—"

Woolsey winced as Varnerin's assessment of the queen was interrupted by the fist that kidney-punched him hard enough to drive him to his knees. He didn't have time to recover his breath before Atterna Rowf wrapped a slender cord around his neck and twisted it hard.

"You will not speak disrespectfully of our Queen," she growled angrily into his face.

"Atterna," Woolsey jumped as the Wraith's voice interrupted Rowf's angry retributive act against Varnerin. "Release him. The Queen wishes him to live long enough that she may hear what it is he has to say."

Varnerin gasped for breath as the woman yanked the cord from around his neck, and fell forward to support himself on his hands. In spite of himself, Woolsey moved to help him to rise. No one stopped him.

As he leaned down he hissed urgently, "Please tell me you didn't try and make some kind of a deal with these… Wraith."

"I had to say something," Varnerin answered, leaning on Woolsey as he climbed to his feet. "She was about to feed on me."

Something about the tone in Varnerin's voice made Woolsey pause in answering, as if he wasn't quite saying all that he meant. With a shiver he let go of the man's arm as soon as the psychologist was upright and went to turn away, only to find himself face to face with the towering figure of the Wraith.

"You are the leader of the humans of Atlantis," he said, and while there was a certain question in the gaze with which the Wraith fixed him, the words were not entirely a query in themselves. Before he could answer, the Wraith continued, "You will contact your people and order them to my ship."

Woolsey blinked as the pale, greenish hand held something out in his direction. It took him a moment to realise that it was his radio. He made no move to reach for it, no matter how much he might have wanted to call for help.

"I will do no such thing," he answered and then gasped, almost a small cry as the Wraith's hand shot forward and grabbed him by the front of his jacket to pull him closer. Overbalanced he clutched at the Wraith's wrist.

"You will do as I have instructed," the Wraith said, idly opening and closing his feeding hand in front of Woolsey's face, "or the next few hours will be… interesting."

**

Vega did not enjoy being on the bridge, not alone. Not that she was alone, surrounded by Wraith and with Hanna standing at her side, moon-eyed over both the Queen and the Hive Commander, but she felt alone. She felt naked and vulnerable.

"He has been gone too long. We should have received his report by now," the Hive Commander grumbled, glancing over at the Queen.

"Concern, my Commander," the Queen purred.

Vega tensed as the Commander frowned before he began to speak.

"My Queen, I must confess, I do not trust him to act for the good of our Hive," the Hive Commander said. "It is my opinion that he only informed you of the transmission he received concerning the message from the Lanteans because I already knew and would have told you myself, if he had not."

"Are you telling me you believe he would betray this Hive," the Queen snapped, "betray me, after all I have provided for him?"

Vega felt suddenly sick to her stomach. Her heart pounded in her chest and she was certain that a sheen of nervous perspiration must have appeared across her brow. She knew, with the Hive Commander's glance in her direction, that the next words he would speak would be to denounce the two of them for what they had, or rather had not done.

Before she knew what she was doing, she had shuffled forward a half step, drawing a baleful stare from the Elder Queen.

"Did you wish to speak, Handmaiden?" she hissed.

"No, my Queen, only—" she barely whispered the words, but was saved from having to compound the lie by the announcement of one of the other Wraith at the controls.

"We are receiving an incoming transmission."

Vega was sure her sigh of relief was audible as the viewing screen activated to show Todd's face, staring calmly back at them, taking them all in.

"My Queen," he said with a respectful bow of his head.

"What have you discovered?" she snapped, and Vega's relief began to evaporate.

"Colonel Sheppard and his people arrived here to forge a trade agreement with the humans here and… unfortunately for them, accidentally discovered one of our neural generators and activated it." Todd tilted his head and his expression said that it was of no moment to him. "It has left them somewhat… scattered and the one person that may have been able to safely deactivate the device is incapacitated himself."

He had to be talking about Doctor McKay and Vega thought, bitterly, that it was typical of the scientist to have gotten himself into a whole load of hot water. It had been because of saving him that she now found herself, through a long chain of events, in the position she was.

"What do they expect you to do?" the Queen asked, a thought almost audible in her words.

"Without their scientist to make their technology compatible with ours so that they may operate the generator, they need me to deactivate the device, allowing them to return to normality." Todd answered.

"And this will restore you to their… good graces?" the Queen asked.

"Somewhat," Todd answered. His face and more particularly his eyes showed that there was more that he had yet to say. Vega knew the expression, she had been on the receiving end of it herself, and very recently. He glanced in her direction, and she was sure he could see into her as the thoughts, the memory – and the strong emotions they kindled came to her unbidden…

"…But first… I would like your help… if you are willing?"

She blinked at him, curious, but somewhat worried at the same time. He had never asked for her help before. In fact he had openly refused it on a number of occasions. "I… yes of course, I…"

Before moving, he took down a bottle that contained a liquid of a bright red colour and set it on the workbench beside her. She picked up the bottle, as he must have known she would, looked at it, and removed the stopper to cautiously sniff the contents.

He chuckled softly, and began walking toward the door at the far side of his laboratory. "Join me when you are ready," he said.

She glanced at him, frowning slightly at the tone of command in his voice, and saw him reaching to pull off the vest. Her belly flipped, and she gasped softly at the flash of pale flesh she caught just before he disappeared out of sight.

She caught the moan before she audibly made the sound, swallowing it down as a small gasp instead, but the whole of her body flushed with the memory of realising that he was heading to bathe, and that he wanted her assistance. Her hands trembled as they had then, and she could barely breathe when she felt the Queen glance her way, following the direction of Todd's gaze from out of the view screen.

The Queen's mind pressed hers; the Queen's emotions surrounded hers even as Todd began to speak again.

"Even though this world is outside of the feeding grounds of any Hive, I believe that the ancestors of the humans here were once loyal to a Hive and that it may still lie here, somewhere, undisturbed. I have yet to investigate, but—"

Under the press of the Queen's mind, Vega lost awareness of the words Todd was speaking, only the sound of his voice remained, heard from another time…

She hovered at the doorway of the bathing chamber, peering through the rising steam. She could hear the movement of the water; see the vague outline of his shape, lounging in the sunken tub.

"You may come inside," he said, mild amusement in his low voice. "I give you my word, I will not… bite."

The tone in his voice left all of her aching, full of curiosity that lingered within the desire his presence kindled. Her breathing caught in her chest, and for a moment she could not move.

The Queen came closer, turning to watch the view screen from behind her, and Vega couldn't help but shiver as she raised her hand to run the back of her knuckles down over her cheek. Drawing the memory still further…

With each step she took the steam parted, drawing her in as surely as if he had taken her hand and led her forward, until she reached the side of the tub, and lowered herself to kneel beside his hand, on the soft cloth he had left there. He looked up at her then, and smiled.

"Forgive me, if this is presumptuous—" he started.

"No, no… I don't mind, I…" she trailed off, and couldn't help running her eyes over him, over the breadth of his shoulders, his pale skin over a smooth, muscled chest… naturally undisturbed by either nipples, or by the scars of battle. His body tapered to a narrow waist, past well-defined muscles.

She couldn't hold back the sharp intake of breath at the burning in her body, the inner voice that cried out for her to touch. She swallowed hard, schooling herself to bring her eyes up out of the water to find his, hooded and watching her, and there remained the hint of wildness that had been present on his return from the Queen.

"Ah, my little Alicia," he purred… and she all but came apart.

"—in any event I see no harm in assisting Sheppard and his men, should that be your wish?"

The Queen released her from her mental grasp, and Vega staggered and took in a huge breath. She was still aware that Todd was speaking through the view screen, but still unsure of his words. She was dizzy, disoriented, and uncertain of what had just occurred. All she knew, all she could feel, was that her knees shook like jello beneath her, and at her centre she felt the swelling of her desire.

"Assist them," the Queen ordered, "but not too quickly. I think I wish to see these Lanteans for myself."

"As you desire, my Queen," Todd said, and bowed his head before cutting the link.

Vega swallowed hard as her awareness returned to the present; to the fact that the Queen intended to take the Hive to the planet; to the danger that posed to Colonel Sheppard and the others.

"The course is set, my Queen," the Hive Commander said softly, activating the view screen again to show the planet to which they would travel.

The Queen nodded, and the hum of the ship beneath her feet changed slightly as the engines fired and the Hive began to move. The Queen, it seemed, was not interested in waiting on the bridge for the duration of the journey. She called Vega to her side, Hanna too, and began to sweep so quickly to the door that Vega almost tripped over herself to keep up.

As the Queen's steps slowed, Vega felt the menace from the Hive Commander following in their wake. It should not have surprised her, though it did, that the Queen halted by the door and addressed him without turning back.

"Commander?" she said with a soft menace to match the feeling that surrounded them.

"My Queen?"

"Be not so quick to judge my scientist," The Queen said and Vega shivered. She did not miss the possessive emphasis. "He works for the good of all Wraith, but especially for the good of this Hive."

**

At the sound of P90 fire, Sheppard came running out of the entrance to the tunnels that led to the chamber where they'd found the Wraith device. Though his own weapon was held at the ready, as soon as he saw the single Wraith scout ship coming in to land on the edge of the village he called out a halt to the over-enthusiastic marines.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, allowing his weapon to hang from the sling around his shoulders, and spreading his hands to the side as the canopy cleared, and he could see, as he suspected he would, the unsmiling visage of his Wraith contact, Todd.

He frowned. More than unsmiling, he thought Todd looked concerned, perhaps even annoyed.

"Colonel Sheppard." Todd stepped out of his scout ship, completely ignoring the weapons pointed in his direction. "I thought I had impressed on you the need for all due expedition in rescuing your people."

"And I thought you said you'd deactivate the device," Sheppard countered, irritated that the Wraith thought he could dictate any course of action.

Todd spread his hands to his sides.

"I told you I had first to return to my ship." he said. "I had assumed, after all, that you would not wish for the arrival of further Wraith to hamper your progress."

"What are you talking about," Sheppard hissed, and when Todd reached out a hand toward his shoulder, he stepped back. Around him the marines all raised their weapons again, as did the two Wraith warriors that had accompanied Todd.

"Easy," Sheppard gestured to his men to lower the guns. They did so, slowly, and as Todd tilted his head slightly, Sheppard saw that the Wraith warriors did likewise.

"To answer you, Sheppard," Todd said, "I returned to my ship in order that I might give my report to the Quee—"

Instinct won out over reason, and before he could halt his movements, Sheppard raised his sidearm, cradling one hand in the other to point it in the treacherous Wraith's face.

"You son-of-a-bitch, I should—"

Faster than even Sheppard's own sharp reflexes could counter, Todd lashed out, caught the weapon in his hand and pulled it from his grasp. As Sheppard watched in astonishment, the Wraith thumbed the release for the clip and quickly ejected the round from the chamber, before turning the weapon again and offering it back to him.

"Most of us are, John Sheppard, most of us are," he sighed.

Sheppard smiled coldly. "More Wraith humour?" he queried.

"Indeed," Todd said.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" Sheppard asked, gesturing with his dismantled sidearm.

"Careful observation and a sharp mind," Todd answered. "We don't have time for this. I contacted the Queen in an attempt to prevent her bringing the Hive."

"Attempt?" Sheppard said. "I take it you weren't successful."

"Regrettably, she decided that she was… interested in overseeing matters personally," Todd admitted.

"Crap!" Sheppard said under his breath, quite vehemently.

"So you see why I counsel haste," Todd purred.

"Yeah," Sheppard told him, "one problem."

Todd cocked his head, inviting further explanation.

"You said they'd be at the Hive, but," Sheppard sighed and admitted, "we can't find it on our sensors."

"Hardly surprising," Todd said, "since it is no doubt dormant after so long."

"Then how are we supposed to—" Sheppard stopped as, growling slightly, Todd approached one of the startled inhabitants of the settlement. "What the hell are you—?"

Todd reached out and grasped the unfortunate man by the neck, even as he tried to back away. Sheppard's heart both sank and filled with an angry I told you so at the man's response.

"Have we angered you, Lor—?" he yelped.

"You will show this man the location of the Hive," Todd ordered.

"Of course, I—"

Todd all but threw the man in Sheppard's direction, then turned and said fiercely, almost snarling, "Now quickly, Sheppard. If she arrives before you have your men, I cannot help you any more."

Sheppard nodded, understanding, and to a degree supporting what Todd meant. It would do the Atlantis Expedition little good if Todd fell foul of his own people and ended up getting killed. He was a useful resource – an inside man, or Wraith as was the case.

"Just make sure you shut down that machine," he said and without waiting for Todd to reply, he gestured to the marines to move out, pushing the native onwards to lead the way.

**

"A little sport, before we feed on your little pet," the Queen said from nearby. "Good…"

"Ronon," Keller cried out to him, "Just go! Get out of here!"

Growling his steps quickened, until he ran full on at the Wraith, brandishing his chair-leg weapon as he did.

The Wraith blinked in momentary surprise, as though the last thing he expected was to see the Human charging him. It gave Ronon the moment's advantage that he needed. With all the strength he could muster, Ronon thrust forward with the broken end of the makeshift weapon.

The jagged, sharp edges sliced through the leather and into the Wraith flesh beneath. Ronon pushed harder and did not let go. The Wraith let out a roar of pain before, in defiance of Ronon, grasping the rod and dragging himself closer to the Satedan along its length.

Ronon lashed out, a roundhouse that sent the Wraith reeling backwards to fall against a control panel which exploded in a shower of sparks as the end of the metal the Wraith had forced through his own body penetrated into the circuits. The Wraith let out another roar, and then toppled sideways.

Ronon was not foolish enough to believe that his easy victory over the first of the Wraith would be repeated with the others, particularly not as one of those was a queen.

She snarled and came at him, even as Keller cried out in panic.

"Ronon!"

In wild desperation, he blocked the queen's raking blow with his forearm, even as he turned his head in the doctor's direction. The impact was jarring and sent a wave of deep, biting aches into the wound in his belly.

Keller was pinned, struggling against the balcony railing as the Wraith bent her backwards against it. She clawed at his feeding hand, attempting, with growing futility, to keep it away from her chest.

"No!" Ronon growled and lowering his shoulder, tried to barge his way past the queen. He suffered a painful clawing to his shoulder and his back. He punched wildly, his fists connecting with the queen's side in an increasingly more frantic rhythm.

Suddenly, Keller's weakened struggles gave way to the most terrible of screams.

Ronon's blood froze.

"Jennifer!" he cried out, and with renewed determination and strength, he lashed out at the queen, pushing her away. As she moved to make a new attack, he ducked under her reaching hand, before spinning away. New pain washed over him as he wrenched his gut, and he could feel the trickle of blood from beneath his bandages as he all but fell against the Wraith that was feeding on Keller.

Overbalanced, both the Wraith and the doctor pitched over the balcony to the floor of the Gate Room below.

**

Todd had not moved for many minutes, he simply stood watching, studying the device and the sequence of lights as they wound their way around the device, attempting to ascertain their pattern, to read the truth about the one that used this device. Of course he had left little to chance, and had already sent his second in command to gather what evidence he could concerning the strength and protection that had been provided for the young queen that had been left there.

"What have you discovered," he asked, sensing his second behind him.

"Evidence only of a single Guardian. He keeps her in the caverns below," His sub-commander answered. "There are other human settlements on the other landmasses, but the presence of Wraith only on this one."

Todd considered the news, running it over in his mind quickly – evaluating the usefulness of it all. Finally he nodded.

"Very well, return to the ship and keep it out of range of the planet until after the Elder's Hive has departed. Select a small number of these humans and take them with you. Find out what they know."

"And the Young Queen?" his sub-commander asked.

Todd turned his head sharply, and hissed, "I will deal with the Queen."

The sub-commander bent his head to acknowledge the reprimand. "And when the Elder has departed?" he asked.

Todd growled softly. "This world has remained outside of any Wraith feeding ground for far too long. I think it is long past time the humans here were reminded of the presence of their betters."

"A cull?"

"Naturally."

Todd waited until his sub-commander had turned and left to carry out his orders, and then once more approached the device.

"Now, Sheppard," he said softly, "let us see how much confusion you and your men can provide to… cloud the issue."

Without another thought, he laid his hands on the controls, in communion with the device to activate the reverse of the signal, and then, with a flick of his wrist against an entirely different, hidden switch, set the device to overload. He could not leave evidence for the Queen to discover. She would know immediately, as he had, what the machine revealed.

**

"Jennifer!"

"Easy, Ronon… easy." Doctor Keller pressed a firm but gentle hand against Ronon's shoulder to stop him from moving. "You're safe."

He turned his head to look at her, and she saw terrible confusion in his eyes.

"You…" he said, and his voice sounded gravelly. "The Wraith, he…"

She shook her head. "Colonel Sheppard came back for you; rescued you from the natives here and I've been trying to find a way to wake you ever since. We had to bring the marines back here from Atlantis when they started to get sick there. Whatever you think you experienced…"

Her voice trailed off mid-sentence and she watched his eyes slip past her to take in his surroundings, the frown on his face deepening as though he was fighting to remember.

"I was hit by a stunner," he said at last.

"At least you and the others are still alive," she said firmly, and glanced at the orderlies, who were moving among the wakening marines.

"What happened?" Ronon asked, and since he was more lucid she allowed him to sit up a little more. "How long have I—" He broke off suddenly, and shivered. After another moment, he said, "This is weird."

"What is?" she asked.

"I feel like… feel like I've had almost the exact same conversation with you before," he told her. "Only we were… talking about Teyla."

"Teyla?" Keller asked.

"Yeah, Michael took her. He stabbed me, I—"

"I guess that must have been what you were dreaming," she told him. "All of you were dreaming. There's some kind of Wraith device here that—"

"Wraith," she watched his face darken, and he started to try and sit up again, "here?"

"No," she said, pressing her hand lightly to his shoulder again. "Well yes – but it's only Todd, he—"

"Jennifer, we've got problems," McKay came hurrying into the tent, staring in worry at something on the screen of his computer tablet. "We've got to get you and your medical team out now, we—" he glanced up and his eyes widened. "Ronon, you're awake! You're all awake."

"What's going on, McKay?" Ronon asked, gently pushing her hand off his shoulder and sitting up slowly.

"The Jumper's sensors just detected the massive Wraith Hive moving into orbit. It launched a transport ship, heading for the planet." McKay, for once, came straight to the point.

Ronon snarled and swung his legs around so that he could get to his feet. "Where's Sheppard?" he asked.

"He and Edgecombe's team went to find the dormant Wraith Hive, here on the planet, to rescue Warsh and the others. You see… these people claimed to need aid and in return they were going to show us the Wraith tech their ancestors left them, only there isn't any Wraith tech, there never was any Wraith tech and now Woolsey and War—"

"Get Jennifer and the others to the Gate, and back to Atlantis," Ronon interrupted.

"Where do you think you're going," Jennifer grabbed a hold of Ronon's shoulder before he could get to his feet. "You've just woken up from a significant period of time in an artificially induced altered state. I can't let you go out there. You—"

"Listen, Jennifer," Ronon turned and took her by the shoulders, moving her aside as he climbed to his feet. "It was coming back for me that got them into this mess. It's up to me to get them out."

She sighed as she watched him look over to the small team of marines, and just knew what the next words out of his mouth would be.

"Which of you is with me?"

**

Sheppard pulled their guide back into the cover of the undergrowth as the dark bulk of the Hive came into view through the trees. Anger swelled inside of him and frustration bit deeper still. If Woolsey had listened; hadn't been so hell-bent on examining Wraith technology that he doubted even existed, then they wouldn't be in that position – about to assault a Hive ship, with the threat of a Queen breathing down their necks, and with no idea of what forces waited for them inside.

"Noire, stay with this guy. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere; warn anyone," Sheppard said and as Noire nodded, he added, "Edgecombe, you and your team, you're with me."

It was a cautious advance that they made toward the Hive. Sheppard was uncertain whether it would be Wraith or Human opposition – armed with the stunners – that would meet the assault. As they got closer, though, it became evident that they were not expected as he feared they would be. Their approach, careful as it was, went unchallenged.

The door to the Hive stood open and even inside it was unguarded. Sheppard signalled Edgecombe – take two men. Search. Maintain radio silence – he took the remaining marines as back-up of his own.

He couldn't help but shiver as they began to walk along the twisting, organic corridors. He'd been inside abandoned Hives before. It wasn't that which gave him cause to feel as uncomfortable as he suddenly did. He'd always had his friends at his side and keenly felt the absence of Ronon, and Teyla… she would have been a comfort to have beside him.

Sheppard risked a step forward, tightening his grip on his weapon and aiming a little closer at Michael. It was meant to be menacing.

"What did you do with Teyla's baby?"

"He is safe!" Far from being worried by Sheppard's actions, Michael grew angry. "Which is more than can be said for his mother!"

"I swear," Sheppard raised his voice, "if you so much as try and harm one hair on her head, I'll—"

"Me?" Michael snarled, as though the suggestion offended him. "She is in far greater danger from you! You do not deserve to have her at your side! You have used her… abused her, just as you did me!"

Sheppard ignored the barb, instead demanding accusatorily, "What the hell did you do to her!"

"Atlantis was supposed to be a place of safety," Michael growled.

"Maybe if whatever you did to her hadn't messed with her head," Sheppard spat, and broke off from returning fire to the Wraith, to aim a shot Michael's way.

"Her condition warrants torment? Abuse?" Michael snorted and, following a fierce barrage of fire from the Wraith, rolled into the open, coming to one knee to release a torrent of deadly fire their way. Several Wraith fell under his angry onslaught, before he launched himself to his feet again and sprinted for new cover. "And to think, you consider yourselves better than me… you are creatures… no better than animals!"

"Sticks and stones!" Sheppard yelled back, though in truth the words cut deeply. He hated the hurt he knew Teyla was suffering, blamed himself for it. He hated himself for not protecting her, from Michael, from Woolsey and Hollick… and sometimes even from herself.

"Sticks and stones," he whispered.

"Colonel?" one of the men beside him queried.

He shook his head, "Nothing, I—"

His words died on his lips as, from a side corridor, a blast of energy from a stunner took him down. The last thing he heard was the rattle of P90 fire as the two marines at his side returned fire.

**

"I didn't think you were ever going to wake," Varnerin said sourly as Woolsey opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground in what seemed to him to be a cell, though the bars looked more like a spider's web than real bars. "Thought maybe he'd done more damage than I imagined; broke your neck or something."

His head ached and he felt sick to his stomach. "What happened?" he answered the professor.

"He was about to feed on you when the chamber started to… come to life," Varnerin answered.

"Come to life?" Woolsey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Lights came on, all kind of… sickly and swirling in greens and reds, but they came on and there was a strange hum that started up. That was when the ugly bastard dropped you and split."

Woolsey couldn't help but chuckle. The words, coming from the professor's usually plumy mouth, seemed more than a little incongruous with his character. Varnerin shot him a withering look, and he sobered quickly.

"So what happened?"

"Wraith."

"What do you mean, Wraith?"

"I mean, more Wraith arrived. They didn't wait to find out what was going on, they just stunned us," Varnerin said.

"Another Wraith faction, do you think?" Woolsey asked.

"How the devil should I know?" Varnerin snapped. "More importantly: how the hell do we get out of here?"

"You don't."

=don't= =don't= =don't=

**

Ronon and the others watched from the cover of nearby bushes as several warriors came past the sentries at the entrance to the Hive and began to spread out into the surrounding woodland.

"It's too heavily guarded," one of the marines hissed, "How the hell are we going to get inside?"

Ronon smiled grimly and said, "Weapon's port."

"What?" the marine asked, "How?"

Ronon pulled his head back further inside the undergrowth, and turned to face the marine. "The Wraith in the woods will follow a specific pattern, they always do. All we have to do is make it to the bottom of one of the tubules and, climb inside."

"Is that even possible?" the man asked, leaning forward from the bush to search the side of the Hive ship with his binoculars.

"Oh yeah," Ronon told him softly, "it's possible."

"How do you—?"

"Sateda," he answered, and turned again to look out from the greenery. He slapped the marine's arm. "Come on… now's our chance. We have to get beneath the Hive before the sentries come back around."

Quickly, keeping as low to the ground as he could and moving as quietly as possible, he led the way to the shadows at the foot of the weapon's port, and quickly pulled himself up inside. He had to move up fast, to let the men get in behind him before the Wraith sentries could return and find them, and bracing his legs against either side of the tubule, he began the long and difficult climb.

**

Sheppard moaned as he started to come round, and felt himself hauled upright before he could open his eyes.

"Welcome back, Colonel," a voice beside him said quietly, and someone pressed a canteen of water into his hand.

"Thanks," he whispered, matching the man's tone. He took a sip of the water. It was warm, and slightly stale, but at least it banished the dryness that seemed to have taken root in every single one of his taste buds. "I guess that means that Todd got the device deactivated."

"I guess so, sir," the man said. "It was a small group of the locals. We took 'em out and then found a place to hole up until you came around. I think something's happened though."

"What do you mean?" Sheppard asked, opening his eyes and handing back the canteen. He frowned as soon as he did. Where once the ship had been lifeless, a softly pulsing light now flowed through the walls, and the creeping mist had begun to build up at ground level.

"I see," he said. "My money's on that queen that Todd mentioned."

"I'd have to agree with you, sir," the marine said. "So what now?"

"You still have that C4 on you?" Sheppard asked. The marine nodded. "Then I think I have an idea."

**

"Soon as I cut this membrane," Ronon said urgently, "we have about five seconds to make it through the gash into the vent on the other side."

"What happens if we don't make it," one of the marines asked, he sounded terrified, but Ronon wasn't about to coddle the man. He nodded toward the energy generator at the nearby head of the tubule.

"That thing powers up, and you get fried," he said graphically.

"Nice," another of the men said, drawing out the word. "And you couldn't have mentioned this before, like… when we were back down there?"

Ronon gave him a fierce grin in answer.

"Ready?" he asked a moment later, looking at each of the men in turn. Each of them nodded, some more nervously than others. "Remember, this stuff will heal itself fast. Just push through and keep moving, don't stop. When you get through, turn and pull the men still behind you. Clear?"

Again they nodded, and Ronon took a deep breath before pulling out his knife. He would have to make a larger incision than he had made when they raided the ship on Sateda, and diagonal to allow them all to get through. With another breath he reached out and savagely thrust his knife through the rubbery side of the tubule, pulling and sawing until he had a long enough gash.

"Go!" he hissed, and counting under his breath he continued to pull the knife through the tough, leathery hide of the ship, lengthening the gash even as the injured ship began to heal itself. Around him, as he cut and counted, Ronon could feel the almost electric tingle of the approaching energy. Under his breath he chanted, "Three, two…"

He grabbed a hesitant marine by the back of the vest he wore and all but threw the both of them through the rapidly closing gap in the wall, turning as he dove through to grasp the man by the wrist and pull, hard.

The two of them tumbled to the floor of the vent, barely a breath away from incineration.

**

His body ached, his gut churned and his mind was still reeling, a hornet's nest of confusion. Sound and images, like some giant, psychedelic nightmare, wrapped around him, filling him with fear and doubt; hate and desire burning in him at the same time.

"No, no more," he cried, though the sound was little more than a gasp to his own ears.

Still she came at him, demanding – denying, threatening – consoling. Nothing made sense and he could barely remember who he was, why he was there or even what she wanted of him… or what he could possibly give.

**

"Captain!" Edgecombe hissed through the spiral bars of the holding cell.

"Lieutenant," Warsh smiled at Edgecombe. "How the hell did you get here?"

"Colonel Sheppard," Edgecombe whispered. "We split up. Two teams of three – quicker to find you. There are Wraith on the way."

"Wraith?" Warsh asked, then sighed, "Why am I not surprised?"

"How do we get you out of here?"

Warsh shrugged and answered apologetically, "We were stunned before we reached the woods. I guess the natives must have… dragged us inside."

"What about Woolsey?"

Again, Warsh shrugged. "Last I saw he was still standing. He—"

One of Lieutenant Edgecombe's three man team came skidding back around the corner of the corridor from where he'd been on watch.

"Wraith!" he hissed.

Warsh watched as Edgecombe raised his P90 into a firing position.

"Then I guess the time for stealth is over with," Edgecombe said grimly, and as the two Wraith warriors turned the corner, he and his men opened fire on the unsuspecting Wraith.

**

"Fire in the hole!" Sheppard cried as he rolled around behind the cover afforded by the opening of the door. He and the others covered their ears as the C4 ignited, and took the main power generator of the Hive ship skyward with it.

Smoke billowed out of the doorway, like a rolling sea mist and all around him lights began to flicker and die.

"Guess they know we're here now, sir," one of his men said, grinning.

"Guess they do at that," Sheppard agreed. "Come on – this way."

Hurrying away from the twisted wreck of the power room behind them, Sheppard led the charge inward toward the centre of the Hive. If there was a queen coming, that would likely be where she would go, and if she was there, then she would probably have her prisoners brought before her, just like all the other arrogant queens before her.

Realising the truth of the words just spoken, Sheppard saw no further need for radio silence to maintain the surprise of the rescue attempt. Now they needed to coordinate their attack, hitting the Queen's Chamber from all sides at once. Quickly he keyed his mic.

"Edgecombe, this is Sheppard, respond."

"Go ahead, sir," Edgecombe said calmly.

"What's your status?" he asked.

"We have Warsh and his team," Edgecombe said, the smile evident in his voice. "We ran into a small group of Wraith warriors. Nothing we couldn't handle, but there are more of them around. They turned around when the explosion just hit. Probably heading your way."

"Understood," Sheppard said seriously. "Head for the centre of the ship; the Queen's Chamber. We're going to need to all hit it at the same time."

"Affirmative, sir," Edgecombe said. "We'll be there."

Sheppard smiled. It was a grim smile, but it was a smile none the less as he began to believe that they might just pull off the rescue after all – queen or no queen. The smile was wiped from his face a moment later as the wall beside him exploded under fire from a Wraith blaster. He barely had time to raise his weapon and return fire, before another section of the wall met the same fate.

**

The ship trembled under the force of an explosion from somewhere deep within and Ronon smiled as he flattened himself against the wall of a small alcove in the corridor outside of the circular hall that was the Queen's Chamber, where he and his small team could await the arrival of the others, promised in the radio transmission.

From his vantage point he saw the Queen make a sudden grab for the arm of the throne as the ship lurched, and heard, though could not see, someone fall to the floor of the chamber.

Recovering her composure quickly, the Queen gestured with a wordless growl, and some of the many Wraith warriors he could make out, that formed a standing guard around the chamber, turned and moved off, presumably to go and investigate.

A slight movement to his right caught his eye, and he saw several shapes creeping along in the shadows of one of the corridors. He smiled again as he recognised Lieutenant Edgecombe's worried face among the leaders of the small band of marines. He began to believe they had a chance, even with the presence of the Queen.

It wasn't long before the rattle of P90 fire began to echo along the halls, punctuated by the ever diminishing trill of Wraith stunners.

"Do not believe your friends will prevail," the Queen hissed, addressing one of the figures Ronon could not see. Slowly she descended the steps, a true predator in her slow, measured movements. Two commanders flanked her protectively, and one of them was probably the biggest Wraith Ronon had seen in many a year.

For a moment they passed beyond his line of sight, and a dreadful, agonised moan came from a figure he could not see, presumably the same one as had fallen. It was all Ronon could stand.

Pulling his blaster from its holster and with a terrible growl of his own, he launched himself toward the Queen's Chamber.

One of the commanders turned at the sound and fired blindly in Ronon's direction. The blast caught Ronon's shoulder, but didn't slow him. He turned his own weapon the commander's way and fired. The Wraith crumpled, a smoking hole in the middle of his chest.

It was only then, as the remaining Wraith turned his way, as he began to feel the unwelcome, crushing press of a cruel mind against his own, that he realised the recklessness his anger had kindled, and the peril he was in as a result. Before the presence of the Queen's consciousness could hamper his movements any more than it already had, he made a sliding dive towards the space behind the raised dais. As he did, from the doorways around the chamber, P90 fire erupted as the marines from his own, and Edgecombe's, teams joined him in the assault on the Wraith.

**

Hurrying towards the very welcome, high pitched sound of Ronon's gun, Sheppard skidded to a halt just inside the Queen's Chamber. He barely got his weapon up in time to open fire on a Wraith warrior that came charging at him, and forced the Wraith backwards toward the centre of the chamber.

He sensed movement all around him, and as the Wraith finally fell, he caught sight of it. It didn't take him long to realise what was happening – they were moving to try and protect their leader.

"The Queen!" he yelled, swinging his own weapon to bear against the tall Wraith female.

A second later he was forced to duck aside and raise his weapon sideways to defend against a vicious overhand strike from a huge Wraith commander, who quite deliberately put himself between Sheppard and the Queen. The commander even took the couple of rounds that Sheppard managed to get off in her direction.

The force of the Wraith's blow jarred Sheppard's wrists and arms painfully, and he staggered backwards. Still the injured Wraith came at him, evidently taking great exception to Sheppard's attack on his Queen.

Sheppard tried to raise the P90 once more to a firing position, but before he had a chance, an explosion, larger than the one he had caused in destroying the power generator, rocked the ship, sending him sprawling to the deck.

"Sheppard, this is McKay."

"McKay," he answered and he had to roll aside as the Wraith commander, snatching a staff-stunner from one of the few Wraith warriors not surrounding the retreating Queen, stabbed the weapon toward his chest. "What the hell is going on?"

"I'm in a cloaked Jumper outside the rear Dart Bay doors." McKay told him, a note of urgency in his voice. Sheppard had to roll again to avoid another stab from the Wraith commander.

"That's real nice, Rodney," he grunted as he hooked his legs around the Wraith's and in a scissor-like motion attempted to bring him down. "But I'm kinda busy right now."

"No, no, no, you don't understand," Rodney continued, the same note of panic in his voice.

Sheppard abandoned his attempt to topple the giant Wraith. Instead he rolled aside enough to get his hand to his sidearm, and even as the Wraith came after him, raised his weapon and took a shot at his leg. Ironically he found himself almost right beside one of the stricken men he'd come to rescue, though Woolsey was completely unresponsive.

The Wraith fell to one knee, but undeterred, attempted to turn the staff-stunner in his hand, meaning to take a shot, but the length of the staff, and his proximity to the ground made it virtually impossible.

Sheppard took the opportunity to find his own feet, and started to bring his P90 to bear on the struggling Wraith. "Rodney?" he asked as he did.

"As soon as he discovered what had happened, as ranking military officer still on Atlantis, Major Hollick ordered a full complement of Jumpers in to attack the Hive – take it out." McKay finally came to the point, "I estimate you have about seven minutes before the entire area is going to be one big smoking hole in the ground."

"Oh crap!" Sheppard growled and abandoned his attempt to shoot the Wraith, and instead grabbed Woolsey by the back of his jacket and began to haul him away. As he did, into the chaos of the fire-fight between the Wraith and Humans, he yelled, "Fall back! Air strike inbound! Grab Varnerin and fall back!"

Evidently the Wraith he was facing understood the gist of his urgent cries, as he too began to struggle to his feet, abandoning the staff weapon and, dodging as much of the gunfire as he could, hurried toward the wall of faceless warriors that were still protecting the Queen's escape route. As he reached them he turned and fixed Sheppard with a baleful stare.

"This isn't over, Human," he hissed, and his voice seemed to carry even over the sound of the gunfire.

Before Sheppard could answer, Ronon turned from where he was giving covering fire to the retreating marines and growled, "Yeah it is."

His blaster rang out once, and the Wraith Commander went down, toppling the nearby Atterna Rowf along with him.

Act 5

Todd waited patiently while the Queen finished in her earnest communion with her Hive Commander. He could feel her irritation at her Commander's attitude toward her, though it was muted, with what, he could not be sure. Perhaps she realised that he was right, that she had put herself in a vulnerable position in visiting the world before they had been certain of its safety. On the other hand, he could not help but wonder which of them had been victorious that day, the Queen's Hive, or Sheppard and the others from Atlantis.

He was drawn from his reverie by the departure of the Hive Commander, who passed him, snarling as he did so.

"They are interesting," the Queen prevented his response, coming slowly closer, surrounding him with her essences the nearer she came, "these Lanteans of yours."

"Hardly mine, my Queen," he answered softly, and gave her a respectful bow. "I merely… maintain contact from time to time. It serves my purpose."

"As it has served mine," she said, her voice a soft purring that came from behind as she circled him, her hand sliding over his back.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly… keeping his head low as she returned to stand in front of him, this time to the other side.

"You have given me a gift today," she purred, and before he could voice his confusion she leaned closer, her cheek almost pressed to his and hissed softly, "One that I shall cherish as much as I am… cherished."

=cherished= =cherished= =cherished=

As she pushed her mind upon his, ran the touch of her hand down over the leather of his coat, he knew that, as much as she was rewarding him with her attention, it was also a warning. He would have to tread more carefully.

"Of course, my Queen," he said softly, "ever and always."

=we shall see= =shall see= =see=

The words of course were a lie – meant to be a blind, though he doubted they would be a very successful one without evidence to prove them or at the very least a distraction to occupy her fickle mind.

~I have almost achieved full compatibility and genetic cohesion~

He opted for the latter, filling his mind with the memory of the image on the computer screen when he analysed the latest blood sample taken from The Renegade.

"How long?" she snapped, and drew away to regard him with a hungry, predatory and needful expression.

"Two, perhaps three more treatments at most," he said with a bit of a shrug. He tried not to let the relief show in his voice or his manner as she moved away.

"And you are certain?" she tilted her head to regard him.

"I have every faith, my Queen," he said, and could not resist adding, "and should it be necessary—"

"He will comply."

=your procedure will not be necessary= =not be necessary= =necessary=

"As you wish, my Queen," he said, with another low bow.

"When will you be able to perform the treatments?" she demanded.

"Soon," he told her. "There is the small matter of his refusal to… take care of his needs."

"Then we must continue to take care of them for him," she said, her impatience clear. "If you cannot see to it, I am certain my commander will do so."

"That will not be necessary," he said, and could not help but feel slighted by her words, even though he was aware that such was her intention. "He will receive the treatments."

"Good," she purred, stepping closer once more. "And once he has, it will fall to you—"

"I know my place," he snapped, and then added hastily, "Forgive me, my Queen, I am… weary."

She moved away, turning almost coquettishly and then regarded him over her shoulder as she said, "Then go to your rest. See to you own… needs."

=needs= =needs= =needs=

**

Sheppard sighed, taking one more pass over the smoking ruin that had once been the settlement. It had been destroyed by the Wraith, an act of retribution – or warning perhaps – to others that might… He stopped in his train of thought. What had these people done that had so offended the Wraith Queen?

He sighed again. There was too much he didn't know, and he was too damn tired to think about it. Too much had happened in too short a time. Too many ghosts that he needed to let go. Too many failures – he may have saved Ronon today, but what about Ford… Teyla?

"Hey, we have your address, we can always write."

He would probably never forget the faint, sad smile on her face as she had answered him.

"I do not think so. If we meet again, it will be a long time… to allow the hurt to heal. I fear we need that – both of us."

Did he need that? Did he have a right to need that? She was his friend, yes, but did that give him the right to dictate to her the way she should feel, and think and believe? Hadn't that been the issue all along…?

"Goodbye, John." she said softly, and walked to where Ronon was waiting for her by the Gate, to escort her back to her people.

…but he still held out the hope that it had not been a goodbye. That one day…

With a final sigh, he turned the Jumper, and headed for the Gate.

**

"Jennifer," Ronon called after her as she began to walk back to the infirmary. He trotted the few steps to catch up to her. "Jennifer, wait up."

She gave him a smile as he reached her side and took her medical kit from her hand to carry it for her. Then she gave him that 'once over' doctor's look.

"I'm fine," he assured her.

"Really?" she asked. He nodded, but she went on, "because some of the others that were affected by that thing have been complaining of having some pretty disturbing experiences in their dreams, and a lot of them are very reluctant to see the Professor."

"Can you blame them?" he asked.

"No, I guess not." She smiled wryly, and led him into the infirmary. "Just… if you had anything that was troubling you, I want you to know that my door is always open. You know that, right?"

"I do and it means a lot to me." He smiled and set down the kit. Then, taking a deep breath, said, "Listen, Jennifer, I—"

"Ronon?" She turned at looked up at him as he broke off.

"Actually, there was something," he confessed. "I wondered… if you're not busy that is… could I buy you a beer?"

"Ronon, I—"

"No strings," he added quickly. "Just…"

He trailed off, the feelings from his dream suddenly hitting him hard. When he looked at Jennifer again, she was looking up at him, a picture of concern. He saw in her the loneliness and self-doubt, the same as he had before, but this time understood it for what it was, in himself as well, the depth of friendship that could be theirs to share if only they could get past the awkwardness of the shadow of a mistake they had almost made.

"Jennifer, listen," he said softly, "I owe you an apology. That day we were trapped in here, if we hadn't gotten interrupted…"

"Ronon, it's okay. I know," she said with a soft smile, "and you don't need to apologise. Either that or I do too. It takes two, you know?"

He smiled, acknowledging her words, but said, "Let me finish. It would have been the wrong thing to do, not because you're not… smart, and funny… and beautiful, you are. You're all those things, but because of that, you remind me too much of Melena and, because of that, it wouldn't be fair to you to start something. Since then though, things have been… kinda…" he shrugged.

"Awkward?" she suggested.

"Yeah," he said awkwardly. "So anyway… I…"

"Listen to me, Ronon," she said, and when she reached for his hand, he didn't draw it away. "You loved Melena… a lot. I could tell that from the first time you talked about her."

"Those kinds of feelings don't go away," he said quietly.

"And nor should they," she said. "The pain should, maybe… over time, but the love, the way you remember her?" She shook her head. "That will always be part of the strength of you – part of what makes you… you."

He nodded, and gave her a smile. "Thank you, Jennifer." he said gently.

She chuckled, "What for? Being a friend?" She moved to draw him into a hug, which he shared without reservation. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me either," he rumbled. "So… 'bout that beer…"

"Couldn't make mine a light?" she asked, pulling back to look at him with a grin. He frowned confused. She explained, "I'm trying to watch my weight."

"You?" he blinked and drew her back to arms length to look her over. "Nothing wrong with your weight."

"Oh," she pushed him playfully, and he chuckled.

"Come on," he said, draping a companionable arm over her shoulders as they started to leave the infirmary together, "You can have light, dark, heavy… whatever you like."

**

"You have a nerve," Woolsey snapped as Varnerin appeared in his doorway.

"It's standard protocol, Richard," Varnerin said smoothly as he slipped inside and closed the door. "And it's one that you personally approved. All base personnel, after having been involved in off world combat situations, must undergo a psychological evaluation and debriefing."

"So who debriefs you?" Woolsey snapped, still not looking up from his paperwork.

"I can assure you, I'm fine," Varnerin said. "Richard, look at me."

Woolsey did look up then, but not in the way he suspected that Varnerin wanted.

"If it hadn't been for your insistence on going to M7X-415 in the first place, none of this would have happened," he said, "so you'll pardon me if I'm not exactly ready to spill my guts to you right now, Reuben."

"My insistence, Richard," Varnerin said in an almost gentle voice. "I don't think so."

"I know what I know, Professor Varnerin," Woolsey said, "Now kindly close the door on your way out."

Instead, Varnerin pulled a chair up to the other side of his desk. "Let's try this again, Richard," he said in the same, near-gentle voice.

**

Vega leaned against the arch in Todd's private quarters that led from the bedroom to the bathing chamber. She wasn't certain whether she felt more hurt or angry, but neither feeling banished the pulse of almost terrified desire she still felt; muted, but undeniably present as her eyes fixed on the sunken tub and glazed in memory.

"Ah, my little Alicia," he purred… and she all but came apart when he reached to take hold of one of her hands. His skin was warm, warmer than usual, from the heat of the deep water. She swallowed hard as his fingers seemed to pass a tactile examination over her hand and wrist. "Such small hands to carry such responsibility."

"I'm… sensing this isn't exactly to do with me scrubbing your back," she told him, trying to make light of the situation in an attempt to drive back the maddening need he was kindling inside her. It was as though the moisture from his hands raced through her being to swell within her centre, leaving her wet and aching in its wake.

"If that is something that you wish," he rumbled, "I would not deny you."

"Well, I'm here, I—"

She swallowed again, imagining the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips, his muscles firm under her touch.

He raised an eyebrow as though he could tell what she was thinking and she blushed. He reached up to skim his fingertips over the redness of her cheeks and she couldn't help but lean into the touch.

"What is this?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. How could she answer when there was still so much uncertainty she felt in what she wanted?

He let go of her hands then and moved as though he would stand, but she pressed a touch against his shoulder. When he stilled she moved to kneel on the soft cloth behind him and tipped a small amount of the liquid from the bottle onto her hands.

Almost hesitantly she began to run first the tips of her fingers, and then the whole of her hands over the broad plains of his shoulders, interrupted only by the raised nubs that defined his spinal column. He growled softly, and her hands shook against the smooth skin, that felt almost scalding to her touch.

The ache within her blossomed as the touch of her hands sank beneath the waterline, and the strong muscles of his back twitched to life beneath her fingers. She let out a shaky breath as her hands reached his waist and the narrow, twisted fabric cord there, as she crossed that line to massage and explore the firm flesh nearby the base of his spine.

He let out a long, slow breath, a sub-vocal hiss and let his head fall back. It came to rest against her shoulder, and with an answering sigh of her own, she rested her cheek against his angled temple, as she let her hands once more climb his spine until she could run the fingers of one hand into the tangles of his hair at the base of his skull.

With the other she crested his shoulder, slowly sliding the softness of her soapy skin over his chest as far as she could reach, drawing from him another rumbling growl, until he trapped her hand beneath his, against the hammering of his heart.

The flicker of an image, never clear, as if through a fog, began to form in her mind before it was snatched away suddenly, before Todd turned his head beneath the press of her own and raised her wrist to meet the light nip of his teeth against the softness of her flesh.

She gasped and then moaned as he repeated the gesture. She found herself almost falling into only the awareness of the heat of it, the slight sharpness that burned the length of her, and in sudden fear of where it might lead, she pulled away.

"What is it that you need me to do?" she whispered, hiding behind the practicality of their situation.

She heard him enter the laboratory; his approach to his private chambers and suddenly the memory of her discomfort at the intrusion of the Queen's mind, searching and seeking amongst her more private feelings and emotions; among her needs threatened to suffocate her.

"Alicia?" His soft query came from directly behind her, just as her angry confusion peaked.

Without a thought she turned and lashed out to slap his face.

He caught her wrist before she could make contact, changing in a moment from the gentle protector she knew him to be, to the harsh, strong and frighteningly exciting Wraith he was.

"No!" He let go of her wrist and grasped her by the shoulders to pull her toward him so quickly that she overbalanced and fell against him. He snarled, "Never raise your hand to me. Anything else I will accept, but never—"

"You used me!" Tears came to her eyes as the strangled cry came from her lips. "You knew she'd try and see what was… what I was…"

She pushed at him, hard, and he let go so suddenly that she stumbled backwards and he reached out again to steady her. His angry instinct faded before her tear-blurred vision.

"The Queen does not trust us," he said, his voice rising as though in irritation of her ignorance.

"And so you… did this," she gestured toward the bathtub, "and then made me remember when I looked at you so that she—"

She stopped when he shook his head.

"You accuse me of actions beyond my ability," he told her, his voice low. "I, myself, was the one that remembered as I felt the Queen searching among my memories, my motives."

"But—" she started. "I don't understand. I felt her in my mind… pulling at everything I felt. That was private, it—"

She turned and walked away from him, further into the bathing chamber, wrapping her arms around herself. Frustrated tears began to spill onto her cheeks. She felt him follow, and for a moment tensed as he slid his hands down her arms, to slide beneath them and enfold her in his embrace, his hands against her waist.

"No, my little one, you do not," he said softly, gently.

"Then, please, Todd," she breathed, leaning back into his arms, craving his warmth as a protection from her confusion, "explain it to me."

"You and I do not share such a bond that would allow me to touch your mind from such a distance as we were from one another," he said softly. "But the Queen, when she reached for my mind, and saw the memory of what we had shared so fresh and strong, in her mistrust she sought to be sure that I was not projecting a lie."

"So you knew," she accused.

"I knew." he admitted almost apologetically, "but I had no way to warn you."

"I don't— I can't—" she stammered, before finally finishing, in a breathy whisper, "It's too much, but I—"

"Look at me, Alicia," he told her softly.

She shook her head, afraid to turn, afraid of what might become of her if she allowed but one moment of madness to overcome the resistance of logic against the press of emotion; to break down the warring of the two inside of her. What the one wanted, the other repelled.

Instead he leaned closer, his face against her cheek, breathing deeply.

"Your fear binds you," he growled softly. "You believe that simply because I am Wraith, I will hurt you."

Her breathing quickened, the words and the tone in his voice filled her with longing, with need; the desire for his touch.

"No," she whispered, pressing back against him, and sliding her hand to cover his she guided his touch lower beneath her own. "Yes… I don't know, I—"

She lost all awareness of anything in the next moment as his touch brushed against the heat that burned at her core, disturbing the soft cloth of her skirt against her. He growled, a needful sound that matched her own soft cry as she clutched his arm.

It wasn't right. She couldn't—

"Our two species are not…" he purred in her ear, cutting off the voice of her fear.

~mutually exclusive~ ~mutually exclusive~ ~mutually exclusive~

"But here is not the place," he breathed softly as he unwound himself from around her, holding her only so long as she needed to find her feet once more. "Neither is there the time to give the moment the… attention… you deserve."

She turned and swallowing hard, blinked at him. When she could find her voice, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"There is a… small matter I must attend to." He tilted his head to regard her through hooded eyes, his lips parted, and she watched the rise and fall of his breath as he sought control. "Perhaps… when I return…"

Her whole body clenched tightly in a response she did not have the chance to give verbally, as he turned and left her standing in the bathing chamber, staring after him.

**

Burning… The whole of his flesh was dissolving in the fire of a bitter maelstrom that had taken root inside of him. His dreams were dark and too confused to even grasp the edges of any sense to wrap around them.

He moaned and turned his head first one way and then the other against the pillow as though seeking to escape the weight of disorder that beset him. Perspiration beaded on his forehead and his cheeks, a testament to the cold sweat that had him in its grasp. His breathing, rapid and shallow, reached a sudden crescendo in the cry that tore from his lips as he shot upright, waking from a terror he could neither name, nor remember.

Quickly, he threw back the soaked covers, and turned to put his head into his hands, as the familiar darkness of his quarters, and the bubbling hum of the city of Atlantis wrapped her comfort around him… and when he could stand, he padded to the bathroom to remove the evidence of his night terrors.

**

The Wraith scientist moved so silently that neither the Guardian, nor the Young Queen heard his approach and he deliberately shielded his mind so that neither sensed his presence.

For a time, Todd stood watching in silence as the Wraith Guardian, and the Young Queen remained locked in the desperation of her condition. Finally he spoke.

"I should simply kill you where you stand for your failure, your weakness," he addressed the Guardian, "and put your queen out of her misery."

As soon as he heard the voice out of the darkness, the Guardian turned, striking with the knife toward Todd's face. It was an easy attack for Todd to counter, and he grabbed the Wraith Guardian's wrist, slapping the weapon away with the other hand. Then he twisted the wrist he held and swept the Wraith's supporting leg out from under him with his foot, bringing the weakened commander to his knees before him.

As a signal of his superiority, Todd thrust his feeding hand against the Guardian's chest, and then halting all motion, said, "Instead I offer you a proposal."

~I offer you a proposal~ ~offer a proposal~ ~proposal~

"What is it you want?" the Wraith Guardian hissed.

"Surrender yourself to my command." Todd demanded softly.

"Why should I listen to you?" the Guardian growled bitterly, and Todd could tell that he was already considering the benefits of such a proposal. "What could you possibly offer in return for such a gift?"

Todd tilted his head, looking past the Wraith Guardian, to the pale Young Queen sitting on her pauper's, rock carved throne and growled his answer softly into the darkness.

"Deliverance from this miserable existence, a Hive… and life for your Queen."

fin