I know I'm calling Sheppard Colonel a lot but that's because I didn't want to have to write out Lieutenant Colonel and I'm sorry for anyone who is military and is annoyed but it is too late in the game for me to change.
Quick thing. 'italics' means Sendings over distances, "italics" means Sendings face to face, "bold italics" Sendings over all Paths so everyone can Hear "bold italics underlined" are under thought, usually not meant to be Sent, only a young Wraith without training Send these.. K' ON WITH THE FIC!
(Author's note: I went through and made minor changes to grammar and sentence structure, nothing big)
Jayden was rushed into the conference room in the Hive the moment they left Atlantis's atmosphere and the cone was docked inside. The conference room was called such because Coating on the walls were Tuned to help Sendings carry.
'Jayden are you alright?' The Sender was old and familiar.
'I have not been harmed, as I reported before. I just need to be Surrounded.' Jayden replied as he felt the first quivering of Pain coming back.
'Then come and leave the Longing behind. Then you will feed and all will be well.' Mother's Voice washed over Jayden and he felt Love crash onto him.
'As you command, Mother, so I shall ever obey.' Opening himself to the Life Source, now within Reach due to the amplifying qualities that all Wraith get from being with one another and the fact that the Source was now so close. Life washed over Jayden as he submerged himself deep into the River inside the Source. Memories of new things that had happened since he had last been able to Reach the Source flooded him mind, he allowed his own experiences to be pulled from him, controlling what was allowed out into the River.
Unable to suck in anymore Jayden was filled with Joy beyond imagining. How could any creature Live without Feeling this? He was forced to withdraw from the Life Source and he felt instantly bereft and felt the way the world around him began to suck the Life out of him the moment he was no longer submerged in it. The feeling faded momentarily as it always did, but it kept Jayden aware that he was once again slowly Draining away.
The moment Surrounding was completed and any Wraith removed themselves from the Life Source they felt the tugging of it being Drained away and Jayden felt the normalcy of the tugging and smiled.
Reviewing all that the Wraith in his clan had left in the River for others to know Jayden was instantly caught up on all the going-ons in the clan. Smiling as he heard that a few weddings had happened; the Tarlex's oldest child had made his first Kill; the eldest of the Trefrai died; frowning he Reviewed something that made him very angry.
"Who authorized turning Feral of Warren? Or the Feeding of Freedmon to him?" Jayden hissed his Sending as he strode out of the conference room and into the control room confronting the Head of the Hive ship he was on.
"The Head of Hive ship 'Turn About' put the report to Mother and she authorized it. Warren was found guilty of crimes in which Feral is the Penalty." The Head replied.
"He was a good male!" Jayden Sent. Rage/Fury/Wrath/Anger mixed together in hues of red were Broadcasted in waves from him in such a way that everyone in the ship Felt it. The Feeling that hid under these Emotions was a swift stab of Betrayal.
"He was found guilty." The Sending was overlaid with Broadcastings of Calm.
"Freedmon? What did he commit? Why was Warren forced to feed upon his Kin?" The Calm had done nothing and now Sorrow was mixed in with the Anger of the Broadcasting.
"Freedmon was a traitor to Mother and his lineage showed he always would be. Watch your back Jayden, you are now one of ten surviving of your line." The Sending was cut off at the end and Jayden cut of his Broadcasting quickly.
The Fear that went through Jayden at those words was not something he ever wanted anyone to know. Reaching for the one person he trusted he Sent out a plea. 'Mother?`
'Yes, Jayden?' The voice that replied helped Jayden Relax. He searched his mind swiftly for a reason to have called out to her.
'About the promise I made. About the power crystals I promised to them. The things they call ZPMs?'
'Yes?'
'When can I make good on it?'
There was a sigh. 'You do know that I'm not Happy about this Jayden.'
'I know and I will accept any punishment you see fit.'
'Jayden Jayden Jayden.' The laughter was Amused. 'You know that I could never remain Angry with you. You can make good right now if you want. Disassemble yourself and I'll send you to where you can retrieve one. Then you can board a Fighter and drop it off at Yordeu. There is a Stargate there. We'll continue to leave and you can catch up as soon as you complete your promise.'
'Thank you Mother.' Jayden had thought they were done when once again her Voice broke into his head.
'I am sorry about your brothers Jayden. The Law must hold firm.'
'I know Mother, why? Why did they do it?' Jayden allowed Mother to See his Emotions, everything. The Betrayal, Sorrow, Anger, Hatred, and Fear. All of it was there.
'Oh Jayden.' Invisible arms wrapped themselves around him, and Jayden stopped in the deserted hallway. 'If I could answer that then the Pain of Loss would have been avoidable. I could have fixed it; I could have made them not Hate me. Don't Hate me Jayden. Please, not ever.'
Jayden winced and leaned into the wall, just Relishing the Feel of arms around him. 'I wouldn't hate you. I can't you're my Mother. My family.'
'Then why do they Hate me?' A sigh sounded in his mind. 'We are wasting time. You need to keep your promise.'
Jayden felt the connection sever and the arms disappeared. Jayden shrugged his shoulders as if to shrug the weight of his family's betrayal off of his shoulders, the weight of everything seemed to have settled there and he Felt Frustration at not being able to shrug it off. Whatever his brothers had done had to have been severe for Mother not to have found a way around such sever punishments.
Jayden continued down the corridor and to the Disassemblement station. Jayden couldn't help the flinch as he felt every molecule being stripped apart and his vocal cords were taken just as a scream started to emerge. The whole procedure of Disassemblement only takes about .005 seconds, it had been measured many times to tell the Wraith that had to go through it that it doesn't take forever. Unfortunately it seems to take forever and any Wraith who goes through it feels it all.
Jayden's scream turned into a grunt as he was Reassembled on the Mothership. The Soldiers guarding the stations snapped into a salute; hands over their biceps, wrists unbroken, Feeders touching their own arms.
He strode past them and they continued their salute until another male passed by and told them to stand down.
Jayden passed into a sealed room when he Felt he needed to go. The door was locked, he ran his hand over the side of the Coating causing spikes to emerge in his wake; he did not even bother to stop his movements he just reversed it and the spikes embedded in his flesh ripped and poured blood all over the wall and the sensors that soaked it up.
"Access granted." The voice that came over the hallway was quiet and human.
Jayden smiled at his Mother's voice. Then he opened the door before him and eyed the crystals lining the wall… So many choices.
John Sheppard watched as the Stargate's wormhole opened for a few moments. Then just like that, shut off.
"What was that?" Weir asked confused.
Sheppard suddenly smiled. "I think I know what that was. Permission to take a puddle jumper and investigate. I think our friend has left us a little present."
Weir just looked at Sheppard. "No."
"Weir I think that a ZPM is on that planet now. All nice and gift wrapped. If I'm wrong then… I'll never eat chocolate again." Sheppard stated his voice telling Weir that that was the worst thing he could think of.
Weir raised her eye brows. "You won't ever eat chocolate again because you'd be dead.
"We'll keep up our shield and cloak. Weir please." Sheppard looked at her.
Weir sighed. "It is no more crazy then letting Wraith into Atlantis so why not. You are cleared to depart. As soon as the base is once again as full as it normally is."
Sheppard groaned but his protests were swallowed as the Stargate once again powered up. "Incoming wormhole. Blast shields up." The normalcy of that announcement struck a chord in everyone of the crew still here. "Allah it is good to still be here."
Laughter erupted and smiles abound.
"The wormhole is coming from Earth. Receiving a radio transmission. Broadcasting the transmission."
"Atlantis, this is Earth are you still there?" The familiar voice of Colonel Caldwell raised everyone's already elevated spirits.
"Colonel Caldwell this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and we are all in one piece. The Wraith are leaving and you are cleared to once again inhabit Atlantis."
"What about the knowledge that we're still here. Doesn't that put Atlantis in an indefensible position?" Caldwell's protest was well founded.
"We are led to believe that the Wraith will keep their promise. As soon as this base is once again occupied…" Sheppard was cut off by Weir.
"And Teyla's people are moved back home."
Sheppard looked at her. "And Teyla's people are returned back home, we will be able to confirm that theory."
"It will all be in the report I presume?" The voice of General Hammond called over the waves.
"Of course, Sir." Sheppard held up his crossed fingers for everyone to see and they all laughed quietly so as to keep the General from knowing.
"Then open your doors, we're coming home." The transmission ended.
"Open the blast doors."
The blast doors winked out of existence and only moments later a team of old Atlantians emerged through the wormhole. Upon seeing no Wraith around they touched their radio transmitters and told everyone the coast was clear. Moments later people poured back into Atlantis.
The chaos that followed was enough to cause several hours worth of clean up. Sheppard sighed as he realized the Weir had planned this out perfectly. The likelihood that anyone would wait 10-12 hours on a planet for someone who might not even show up, and in showing up might bring men to come and kill them, was slim to none.
While organizing the mess of everyone moving back in, John stopped by the technician in charge of watching the monitors and asked whether he had seen the Wraith ship leave yet, the answer no wasn't very convincing since he was also informed that they thought it was a dart and he knew from experience that they can get through a Stargate.
Stay there Jayden, please. I need to talk to you. John prayed feverishly. Just then a small child came running up.
"Colonel Sheppard, where do you want us to put the stuff we had to take with us so that it can get back? How are we supposed to figure out which is ours and which isn't?"
"How about we send it all over in another puddle jumper or two, so more people can fit in each puddle jumper. Then we'll have a luggage pick up station."
"Major Sheppard?" Another little kid called. Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard allowed the lapse of rank since the boy was just a child and didn't understand rank changes. "What is luggage?"
"The things you brought with you, the packs and things." Sheppard replied.
"Oh… Um… Which puddle jumper?" The boy asked.
Sheppard signaled for a few soldiers to begin to set up a jumper for that purpose and was thrilled because it seemed as though this would hurry up the whole procedure.
John looked around quickly before moving towards the unused puddle jumpers. Although they were making progress with the Ancient gene therapy few of the occupants of Atlantis actually knew how to fly the jumpers well enough to be of use, though all who could were doing so. With the noticeable exception of Sheppard, who was unable to help load people into the mainland because he was needed at HQ as the military leader.
With the thought that there was nothing more he could do here John carefully snuck into a jumper, wary of Weir. There was another five or six hours left of work to be done but none of it needed his help. Rationalizing the skip ahead in the plan Sheppard booted up the jumper and put the cloak on, carefully maneuvering out of the bay he looked at the Stargate and sighed, hovering over the board, preparing to dial the address to P3841L John almost jumped out of his skin as Ronan sat down next to him. "Jesus! Don't do that!" John glared at him.
"Are we going to P3841L?" Ronan asked his tone direct and to the point.
"Yes." John said, knowing Ronan wouldn't try and stop him.
"Fantastic!" The voice of Beckett drifted in from the back. John looked back there to stare. Beckett, Teyla, a nervous looking Rodney, and an annoyed looking Weir stared back at him.
John froze, embarrassed at being caught in the act. "Am I that predictable?"
"Yes." Their voices mingled as they all informed him he was indeed very predictable.
"How'd you get in here? I didn't see you coming in and I didn't hear you all enter." John asked impressed.
"You were a bit distracted." Was all the reply he got. Knowing there was more to it than that John let it slide since Weir wasn't telling him off for doing it.
"Well… are we going or not?" Weir asked. "I want to meet this Jayden, if that is who we are meeting."
"Yeah. That's who we're meeting." Sheppard stated punching in the address. The Stargate powered up and a wormhole showed clearly. "Here we go."
The puddle jumper emerged from the Stargate in cloak mode and Sheppard scanned looking for life signs. No signs showed but a Wraith dart sat near the entrance looking decidedly conspicuous.
John landed the jumper and waited. The wormhole closed and he still waited, the dart sat there as well, with a sigh John looked back and Weir.
"I'm going out there to look around." Sheppard sat up and headed for the door.
"I'm coming." Ronan said, resting his hand on his gun.
Weir looked at them for a moment. "Be careful."
John smirked and headed out of the ship. Not bothering to try and hide he strode towards the dart. A moment later the dart's hood opened and Jayden climbed out of his ship. He eyed them carefully after reaching the ground.
"I'm surprised you waited." Sheppard said as he got within ten feet and stopped. Ronan waited about a foot behind Sheppard eyeing the land around them looking for an ambush.
Jayden just shrugged. Then he reached up and pulled out a bundle, extending his arm he held out the package and waited. Sheppard walked forward without any hesitation and grabbed the bundle; he felt the very distinct hardness and shape of a ZPM. Surprisingly the second he touched it Jayden let go and took a step back, almost colliding with the dart.
Moments later Rodney came at a dead run and almost collided with John and Ronan who had once again moved forward to stand near Sheppard. Jayden held still as the rest of the team arrived at a more leisurely pace. Rodney didn't wait for the others to arrive but unwrapped the cloth and stared at the ZPM it had concealed. "This is wonderful! This is absolutely wonderful! Look at this, I mean if this has even a third of its power we could…" Suddenly he looked up and blinked at Jayden. "I mean…"
Jayden ignored him and walked towards Beckett who smiled at him. "Are you feeling any better?"
Jayden bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile. "I am. Thank you. And are you still feeling the effects of the Holding?"
"No." Beckett eyed the people whom Jayden was obviously ignoring. "Um… Thank you for the ZPM that will help a lot." Jayden just shrugged. "I would love to take another physical exam. If you'd permit, of course."
Jayden hissed in Amusement and felt Ronan pull out his gun. "I doubt that Mother would be too happy if she once again had to come and retrieve me. Besides I have… family matters to attend to."
Beckett looked down and sighed. "Sure there is nothing I can do to make you change your mind? I swear you'll be shown the utmost courtesy. No?" Beckett pleaded as Jayden shook his head.
"You could come to my world." Jayden said and Beckett actually seemed to be considering it.
"No." Weir said and Jayden looked over his shoulder at her, the tilt of his head was as good as raising an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry Jayden. But I have patients at Atlantis, I can't be going off somewhere." Beckett said regretfully.
"This is good-bye then." Jayden stated.
"I'm afraid so." Beckett looked as though he were disappointed beyond the obvious scientific need.
"Now wait a minute." Colonel Sheppard said annoyed at being ignored. "I wanted to talk to you."
Jayden looked at him and turned away from Beckett. "Yes?"
"I… um… I wanted to say I'm sorry. I got to thinking you were like every other Wraith and I was a bit rash and harsh. I'm sorry I tried to kill you."
Jayden seemed to beam. "You are forgiven Sheppard; one cannot expect cattle to react well to a lion in their midst." He teased.
John recognized the teasing right away and laughed. "I shall have to remember that lions are not only good for their pelts."
"I also am to blame, when I could no longer control my words I reacted poorly; I should have realized it wasn't your fault entirely. You were just trying to help." Jayden nodded his head and looked back at Teyla for a moment, who had up to that moment been quiet. "You are quiet extraordinary…" "Would you like to train?" Jayden Sent to her, awaiting a response.
Like Beckett Teyla seemed to think on it. Very cautiously she Sent, "MY PEOPLEthe Atlantians are my people now, but are the Athosians still my people? Can I be both? ARE HERE split in two, trusting each other only because they must, oh my people!; I WILL NOT GO WITH YOU.Not to a Wraith planet, I will not be tricked, there is something wrong in me, am I a monster, a freak?"
Jayden almost winced. The wide Sending Teyla sent was much too loud for this distance. He also chose to ignore the under thoughts she inadvertently revealed. "Would you be willing to meet with me secretly every once and a while for training? I will give you the address for a planet, if you swear to tell no one where and why you are going there."
"WHAT ARE THE COORDINATES? Can I really trust a Wraith?"
Jayden Sent the address so that the pictures would be in her memory. "Tell the people there that you are looking for Jayden, they will send for me."
It only took a second for the exchange to take place and no one seemed to notice what had happened. Jayden looked towards where Ronan stood looking menacingly at the Wraith, almost no one.
"Well." Rodney spoke up looking around, an impatient expression plastered on his face. "Are we going back or not? We need to test this to see if it has any juice it in."
The Atlantis team looked at Jayden, who smirked at them. "I already know your address. I will not tell you mine."
Weir nodded after a second and the team started to trek towards the still cloaked jumper. Beckett held back for a moment and looked at Jayden. The team got about ten meters away before anyone noticed the doctor missing. As Ronan turned to look for Carson, worried that he had decided to leave with Jayden anyways, he spotted him in a hug with the Wraith.
Beckett pulled back, said something to the leech, who stood stunned, and then Beckett walked towards him. Ronan waited till he got close enough to hear him without the others listening too. "What was that about?"
"Nothing much. It just suddenly seemed the right thing to do." Beckett said looking uncomfortable for a moment. "He did spare my life, and most of what happened at the end was my fault, for giving him the drug and all." Beckett shrugged again.
Ronan just looked at him and kept walking. The idea of getting that close to a Wraith, any Wraith, was enough to make him clench his jaws to keep the bile in. His stomach tightened and rolled.
The ride back was short and everyone was once again dispersed to do their various tasks. Sheppard, Weir, Beckett, and Teyla went back to leading the people unloading in their specific areas of expertise. Rodney snatched Zelenka and they began to ooh and ahh over the ZPM and the readings it gave out.
"ASTONDING!" Mackay exclaimed making the girl who was walking behind him jump and drop what she was carrying. "Look, look at this!" He exclaimed grabbing the girl. He showed her something she couldn't make out but he didn't seem to mind. He began to talk at her, using her as a sounding board for his joy. Zelenka did the same thing, repeating what Rodney was saying and expounding as well.
Ronan waited until everyone seemed busy and disappeared into the exercise room. He spent the next four days in the exercise room attached to his own room to avoid the others. Everyone on base seemed busy and Sheppard went on several missions, Ronan opted out of them, needing a bit of time to try and relax, hoping he could keep down something.
Two Months Later
Teyla took a deep breath as she stepped away from the gate. She peered about. This particular planet hadn't been on any of the maps and Teyla had the suspicion that the Wraith had moved the gate to this planet. A little girl that had apparently been playing nearby stood looking at Teyla, no fear showed on her face and she wandered over.
The girl reached Teyla and held out her hand.
Teyla felt a smile overcome her face. "Hello."
The girl shook her hand as it hung in the air as though to bring it to Teyla's attention and Teyla reached over and grabbed it. The solemn expression on the little girl's face made Teyla want to laugh and the girl tugged at Teyla's hand leading her towards a path. Teyla followed behind and with about ten minutes of walking they emerged suddenly upon a village.
People turned and looked at Teyla, frowns on their faces, no one spoke. Teyla looked around for someone in charge and a small man with a crooked back stepped forward.
"I am Augustus, the Wiseling. Is there something we can do for you?" The man cocked his eye-brow at her. "We share our knowledge freely."
Teyla spoke cautiously, looking at the not hostile, but not quite friendly, faces around her. "I am Teyla Ammagon, I search for the one called Jayden."
The people around her all acted as though she had lifted some terrible burden, they all smiled. "JAYDEN!" The little girl next to Teyla screeched.
The villagers began to move into their own homes, or back to whatever duties they had been previously at. The little girl actually leaned her head all the way back, closed her eyes, and screamed this time. "JAYDEN!"
"Why are you yelling? I am right here." Jayden spoke from behind them both.
Teyla spun and dropped into a crouch while the little girl looked over her shoulder and smiled. Jayden eyed Teyla for a moment. "I thought you were not coming."
"I was able to get away." Teyla said with a nod. "Though I was not expecting you to be here; I thought they would have to send for you."
"They will most of the time, and I may not be able to come depending on when they try and contact me. I cannot drop everything for when you have the time." Jayden said, raising his eyebrow at her. The little girl looked at Jayden and tugged at his arm.
Jayden looked down at her and sighed. Pulling her up he balanced her on a hip like any human might have done to their children. "Follow me. We will begin our work away from the village; it is easier to concentrate at first with no distractions."
Walking out of the village, down a path slightly off to the right of the one Teyla arrived on, Jayden, the little girl, and Teyla emerged into a clearing, out of hearing from the village.
The little girl jumped from Jayden's arms and claimed the only rock worth sitting on. Jayden sighed and looked around for another place to sit before plopping across from the girl.
"This is Mia. She will be helping with your lessons."
Teyla eyed Mia and then Jayden before sitting, a little to the right of Jayden and facing Mia.
"What do I do?" Teyla asked; her voice was steady when she wanted to vibrate with tension. Part of her screamed what she was doing was wrong, Wraithlike, another was screaming she was wrong because she was lying to her friends, saying she wanted to visit old acquaintances. The last part, the part that wasn't screaming, but was calm and rational, said she needed to do this to help combat the Wraith.
"You must decide what you wish to learn. Do you wish to keep the Wraith Out? Learn to Speak to them? Listen without detection? Broadcast? Send? Feel?" Jayden seemed to run out of words. A sigh exploded out of his chest. "The human means of speech is so… limited." Jayden's eyes seemed to light up. "I can also teach you to read and write Simple… What you call Wraith."
Teyla frowned at him. "I wish to learn it all. Especially… Simple, but why are you doing this? Why teach me?"
"What happened to you, what happened to your ancestors, is inexcusable. I merely wish to allow you to be able to use your skills. To open your eyes." Jayden frowned and spread his hands.
"Then teach me." Teyla said.
Jayden pulled out some kind of flat object and a stick. "I will write out simple things, and write under them in English. You will receive this tablet once the lesson is over, if you do well. I will teach you how to use it." With that Jayden wrote for a few minutes on the tablet while Mia and Teyla watched. Jayden set down the tablet and pen and turned to Teyla.
"Your first lesson will be Broadcasting. Or better yet how to stop Broadcasting. Now I want you to…"
Teyla interrupted somewhat sheepishly. "I do not know what Broadcasting is."
"Broadcasting is when you… Broadcast your Emotions. Right now you are Feeling Guilt, Confusion, and Determination. Now Disbelief as well. Which is remarkable in a human, since most can't Feel at all."
"We feel. We may be a bit callous at times but humans can feel." Teyla said in Outrage.
"Human's feel but they don't Feel." This time he made sure she heard the capital letter. "Wraith Feel, it is just that way, human's emotions are fuzzy feeling. I will explain at a later date. Now I want you to picture a giant bubble all the way around you." Jayden sighed instantly. "Much better. Now that is usually hard to maintain so I suggest making it smaller and encasing it around your 'heart'. This allows no one else to feel what it is you do."
Teyla frowned as sweat began to bead on her forehead. The bubble she imagined shuddered and exploded, Jayden seemed to actually stiffen for a moment. "I cannot hold it."
"It takes time to hold in the Emotions. Try again."
It was several hours later before Teyla admitted defeat, it was now too dark to see one another and her stomach informed her that she had missed her meals.
Jayden seemed to recognize that she could not go on much longer because he called for the end of the session. Teyla stood and found her body stiff and unresponsive at first.
"The best you managed was thirty minutes, but that is much better than I expected for our first lesson. Here is the tablet. Press you finger here." Jayden pointed to a small indent, barely seeable. Teyla carefully pressed her finger down and the tablet lit to life. Its screen showed several different Wraith glyphs and written in neat hand writing under them were 'name', 'mine', 'yours', 'greetings', and 'farewell'. "Practice recognizing the glyphs and writing them. That is enough for today."
Mia slept peacefully on the flat rock, her hand tucked under her chin. Jayden looked at her and sighed in exasperation. He reached down, and to Teyla's amazement, picked up the girl and headed back towards town. They were approaching the town when they heard the voice of Augustus saying clearly. "I know not where Teyla has gone. I am sorry. We offer our knowledge..."
Sheppard's voice spoke over the man in the end. "I know she is here, this is where she dialed."
Teyla looked back at where Jayden had stopped. "Get rid of him, do not let him know of me or I will not come back." His voice hissed in her mind.
Teyla looked back at him, and her hand drifted to the tablet in her sack. She needed to do this.
Teyla walked into the village and up to Sheppard who was looking the other direction. "Have I been gone that long?"
John spun a look of relief on his face. "You've been gone almost ten hours. We were getting worried about you."
"We?" Teyla asked her eyebrow raised.
"I was worried to." Rodney said as he emerged from a house.
Teyla raised the other eyebrow. "Well then it is time for me to leave, I must admit I am tired."
John waved her ahead and they all headed back to the Stargate.
It took another two months before Teyla could hold on to the 'bubble'. Now she barely thought about it, another week of not once dropping the bubble and Teyla had memorized the writings as well.
Teyla went back to the village and once again had to introduce herself to Augustus.
"I am Augustus, the Wiseling. Is there something we can do for you?" The same man as before looked at her as though he didn't know her. "We share our knowledge freely."
Teyla looked at Augustus and frowned, perhaps this was some ritual. "I am Teyla Ammagon, I search for the one called Jayden." Augustus smiled at her.
"Jayden is not here, it will be another week before he needs to feed again, he will return then." Augustus shrugged. "But we can send for him." Augustus gestured to Mia who darted off towards the Stargate, to get Jayden supposedly, before Teyla could recover.
"Did you say feed?" A part of Teyla knew he must feed, but every other part of her screamed that Jayden couldn't, that he wasn't like the other Wraith. She held the bubble by a thread.
It was an hour before Mia and Jayden arrived. In that time Teyla talked to others in the village about things all villagers talked about. Crops, trade, children, marriages and expectant mothers.
"You have mastered the shield. Have you not?" Jayden said. "Come with me. We will move to the next lesson. If you are ready."
Mia hopped forward and skipped to their meeting place. She once again claimed the rock and Jayden settled down to his spot as well. Teyla paused for a moment before sitting in the spot she sat in last.
"First thing. Let me see the blueberry." His gesture indicated he meant the tablet in her bag. She handed it over after a second. He pressed a button and the screen cleared completely. "I want you to write out the words as I say them. Write them in Simple. Use the pen."
Teyla grabbed the pen and the 'blueberry' and wrote as Jayden spoke the words. He used the English word for each word, explaining that the Wraith didn't have a spoken language, that they used Sendings. He looked at the blueberry and did a sort of hiss. "You got them all correct, but I expected as much since you've had two months to study. Impressive on the mental side but this time I'll give you more words." He took a few moments and wrote another series of symbols.
"Today I'm going to teach you how to feel Broadcastings. I'm assuming that you can't because you are not Wraith. But with training you should be able to pick and choose what you Feel from others."
"Can Wraith not do that?" Teyla asked, something in Jayden's voice said that he Envied her.
"No. Now I want you to focus on Mia. Mia you don't have to do anything. Now Teyla focus on Mia, human's can't Shield the way Wraith can. Feeling a Broadcast is the same as Feeling it yourself, but there is no reason for it. Being Angry suddenly or Board, then it going away. And most of the time there are colors in association with a Broadcasting, colors that swirl just on the edge of sight. Wraith can Broadcast Feelings that aren't really Emotions such as Submission, Dominance, Learning. These are all lessons for another date." Jayden's voice suddenly took a hypnotic tone. "Feel her, block out everything but the girl in front of you. What is she feeling Teyla? Concentrate." "What is she feeling?"
Teyla relaxed her mind for a moment and snapped it to attention to focus on Mia. She was so concentrated she didn't even Sense Jayden slipping into her mind.
Ronan walked through the Stargate, side by side with John. He and John had their guns up and they moved into a search pattern. "Okay Ronan." John whispered as they made it to the line of trees with no sign of hostiles. "We have a team member here, we aren't sure it's a capture, they've missed their check in yes but they've been known to do so every once and a while. We don't know how many hostiles and civilians there are. So guard your shots, make sure you know who is a foe and who's just a poor villager. Remember there may not be any hostiles."
Ronan nodded. His blood pumping as they once again began to creep through the under growth. They followed a path that led away from the Stargate, not walking on the path but keeping it in sight.
Soon they approached a village, Sheppard signaled a halt and Ronan moved to his side, crouching so that Sheppard could talk almost right in his ear. John's breath sent tingles racing through Ronan's system and they pooled into his belly, for a change the feeling there was pleasant not painful.
"I'm going to head into the village, watch my back. Remember they may not be bad guys." John backed off a little so that it would seem like he had been walking down the path when he arrived in the village.
Ronan watched Sheppard's back as he entered the village, his lithe but muscular form moving with grace, a proud strut in his walk saying he could handle things himself. He approached the man who seemed to be the head of the small village who talked with him for a moment. The man began to shake his head and move his hands in a negating fashion; obviously he was telling John he didn't know who he was talking about.
The colonel wouldn't be dissuaded as he seemed to insist that he did know. Ronan barely saw the movement in time, a shifting and one of the women had brought a gun up and shot Sheppard. The shot a red spray that exploded over his shoulder. He dropped with a pained grimace; rolling he made a beeline for the trees and safety as some of the people screamed and darted away and others drew weapons and shot at John.
Ronan returned fire and people began to look for shelter. Making his way carefully to Sheppard he crouched behind a large overturned tree where his leader had dragged himself to.
He reached for Sheppard's arm but it was pushed away by the colonel's good arm. "Leave it let's go. We still need to…" What he was about to say was cut off as a man jumped over the log, a knife in his hand.
Ronan darted forward from his crouched position and tackled the man, wrestling the knife away he jumped back as another gun blast ricocheted near his head, the man crumpled to the ground as Sheppard fired on him. They zigzagged to avoid gunfire as they ran from the village. A little over an hour later and the villagers had lost Ronan and John's trail. They doubled back while the hunters tried to figure out their trail and went right back into the village, carefully they scanned everything before moving into the open, in case the villagers had someone guarding the settlement.
Pulling out a life sensor Sheppard used it to try and figure out where everyone was. Three dots off a little farther from the village attracted his attention and he crept that way. Ronan trailed behind, watching carefully. Sometimes it surprised the ex-specialist that gun fire never set off his stomach, fighting didn't either, but let him even think about the Wraith and it clenched and threatened to betray him.
As they emerged to a small building built in the woods they eased around different sides of the small shack. Peering through the windows, Ronan saw the white hair he had been dreading and fought his stomach and his rage. His head told him to wait, his heart told him to kill the bastard, and his body wanted to run. Sheppard peered through the opposite window and spotted Ronan. He motioned he wanted Ronan to prepare and he disappeared around the edge. Ten seconds later Sheppard kicked down the door and began to fire. Ronan plunged through the glass. They both fired upon the Wraith.
It took the combination of both of their guns to bring him down. Too late Ronan remembered the second dot, spinning in time to see John fall, his face tensing in pain and then relaxing right before he hit the ground, his back smoking from the energy blast. Ronan tried to bring up his gun but the other person was too fast and pain erupted in his middle, traveling to his brain as though he were hit with lightning. Nerves sizzled and shriveled as the shock ripped through him, He tried again to bring up his gun as his knees hit the floor and his vision began to clear a little.
Barely getting a shot off proved futile as the shot went wide and almost hit Rodney, who was tied and staring in horror. Ronan had enough time to wish Teyla were with them before another shot sizzled through him, his brain screamed as the shot ripped through his chest and darkness claimed him.
Beckett made his rounds and checked in on all his patients. None of the wounds were serious, though today they had lost several good men on a mission gone wrong.
Unable to stop himself Beckett's mind turned to the Wraith bodies, or lack thereof. So far they hadn't been able to return with many. Most of the team members who were fortunate to kill one of the buggers usually had to leave before he could collect the body, or they exploded in a self destruct kind of mechanism.
Thinking back to the other bodies he wondered idly whether he would ever get the opportunity to speak with Jayden again. The way the organs in the other bodies were arranged seemed to work even though they shouldn't. Carefully he walked into a screened off area and used a computer to begin looking at the X-ray/MRI type scan he used. The esophagus type tube that led from the mouth into something that seemed to be the intestines. After that it led into a bag that must function as the stomach. That seemed to be the end of their oral digestive track. All the organs in it were incredibly small.
The hands seem to be something all together different. There was nothing to reveal that they did anything, veins and arteries were more numerous in that area than anywhere else as far as the Atlantis team knew. It seemed as though whatever they suck from humans dumped itself straight into their blood stream.
In Jayden's body the opposite must be true. The veins and arteries were still there but the digestive track looked a bit more human. The stomach still ended and went nowhere, but everything was bigger.
Both of the types of Wraith seemed to be able to eat if ineffectually. The real stumper was that Jayden's heart, lungs, liver and such seem to be disconnected to anything, and in strange places. His lungs rested on their sides towards his abdomen and Beckett wondered what it was he had been hearing when he listened to Jayden's chest during the brief and interrupted physical. Everything was shaped oddly but Beckett thought he knew what most of them did.
But there was a strange organ in Jayden's body. Something that hovered somewhere in the vicinity of his heart, seemingly connected the organ that functioned as his heart. Beckett had no idea what this thing did and no one else seemed to know either.
I promised someone I'd update and I'm keeping that promise. Here's the update. I don't have any more but I have tons of ideas. So if updates are slow in coming I'm SORRY!
The other stories haven't been update in a lot longer. I have to run to the library to get this updated!