A/N: I made this chapter a lot shorter than I was going to, but another one is probably coming soon, so stay tuned!


Chapter 7 – Wraithified

A deep cold.

That's how Teyla described it. The feeling that you got when the Wraith were nearby. Izzy didn't understand it, but now she did.

Izzy had been walking to the library for some down time. After having breakfast with John and his team followed by three hours of hand-to-hand training, lunch, and a few hours with Radek learning how to redirect power in one of the jumpers, she needed to be alone for a while. Come to think of it, she probably wasn't allowed in the jumper bay without John, but neither she nor Radek cared about her supposed "restrictions" from Woolsey.

She left the Jumper Bay and headed straight to the library. She was having the same feeling intermittently since the Wraith came through the gate in a security breech a few days prior. They figured out how to disable the shield momentarily and sent a device that knocked the entire base unconscious. It sounded like a major event, but it was hardly worth mentioning, really. Five Wraith came through the gate after the device was sent through, and they attempted to get into the computer system to find the location of Earth. John had been heading back from the Mainland at the same time and was out of range from the device that had knocked everyone else unconscious. He was able to kill the Wraith before they obtained and sent any vital information, and Rodney figured out how the Wraith overrode the shield controls. Life moved on.

Initially, she couldn't put a finger on it what she was feeling, thinking it was a bout of anxiety. But after a few days, the feeling grew stronger. This was like the deep cold, she decided. A feeling so deep that you can't ignore it, shake it, or even try to explain it. A feeling that is so distinct, you can't ever forget it, and every time you experience it, you will remember it. This was the second time she felt it. The first time was shortly before she was attacked by the other Wraith that had found its way into Atlantis. She ignored it at the time, thinking that it was because she couldn't sleep, but this time it was so strong she couldn't shake it.

What they didn't know is that they did not get all the Wraith.

Now, if Teyla were there, she would have felt the Wraith presence immediately. However, she took Torren to visit Kanaan and the other Athosians for a few days, and she wasn't going to be back until next week. Since Izzy didn't know that the feeling meant there was a Wraith nearby, it went undetected until he killed someone, leaving a withered corpse behind. The feeling disappeared as soon as the Wraith was killed.

Izzy knew that it wasn't a coincidence. The only two times she ever felt something even similar to "a deep cold" were the only two times a Wraith was ever nearby.

So, on the same day that a withered corpse was discovered, she went to the infirmary. She knew that Teyla had some Wraith DNA… is it possible that she had Wraith DNA too?

"Carson." Izzy said, her voice cracking. She was terrified, for sure, and she knew that her best friend would pick up on this merely from the change in her voice.

"Izzy? What's wrong?" Carson asked, rising from his desk and pinning her with a concerned gaze.

"I need you to run some tests." She said vaguely. Dr. Beckett put a hand on her shoulder and led her to an infirmary bed. She hopped up without hesitation.

"Why?" Carson inquired.

"I think I'm part Wraith." Izzy admitted.

Carson's eyes widened at her admission.

"What would make you think that?" Carson asked, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"You know how Teyla describes the presence of the Wraith as 'a deep cold?'" Izzy asked. Carson nodded, prompting her to continue.

"I've felt it." She said, taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Remember when I was attacked a few months ago by the Wraith that found its way into Atlantis?"

Carson nodded again, a pained look on his face at the memory. "I felt it then. I thought it was because I wasn't sleeping well, so I ignored it."

"And you felt it since a Wraith was in Atlantis again." Carson concluded.

Izzy nodded. "I thought it was just really bad anxiety after the Wraith got in, but it wasn't. It's the same feeling I had before. There's no mistaking it. And the feeling disappeared as soon as the Wraith was killed."

"Izzy," Carson sighed. "If you're right, I think we should call your father."

Izzy swallowed thickly but nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Could you call him, though? I might start crying if I do, and I'd rather not do that on an open channel."

Carson nodded and tapped his earpiece, "Colonel Sheppard, come in."

"Go ahead." John promptly replied.

"Could you come to the infirmary?" Carson requested. It wasn't unusual for him to request Colonel Sheppard to come to the infirmary. With the number of marines with bullet holes in them, or soldiers recovering from stunner blasts, he was in the infirmary on a semi-regular basis.

"Be right there."

John appeared in the infirmary only a few minutes later, the worry not evident on his face until he realized that Izzy was the reason Carson requested he come to the infirmary.

"What happened?" John asked, moving to stand next to his daughter who was sitting on the edge of an infirmary bed.

Carson looked to Izzy, prompting her to explain why she was there to her father. "We have a problem." Izzy said, her face dry for the time being. "I think I have some Wraith DNA in my system."

His eyes widened, his years of training in keeping his face stoic despite surprising news being shot to hell at that point.

"Why do you think that?" John asked, looking between Dr. Beckett and his daughter.

"The deep cold." Izzy said simply. "I've felt it. Twice. Both times when the Wraith were in Atlantis. There's no mistaking it once you've felt it more than once." Izzy knew that John would recognize 'the deep cold' as the feeling Teyla explained to them.

"Is that possible?" John asked, directing the question to Dr. Beckett. "She's part Ancient. She has almost as much Ancient DNA as I do."

Carson sighed and shrugged. "I suppose it's just as possible to be both part Wraith and part Ancient as it is to be, say, German and Irish."

"Are you sure it's not just anxiety?" John asked Izzy.

Izzy nodded glumly. "I'm sure."

John sighed, running a hand down his face. "Could you run a blood test, Doc?" he asked.

Carson nodded, pulling out a needle and the necessary amount of vials to draw blood from the supply closet.

"How long will it be before I know?" Izzy asked, rolling up her sleeve.

"Well since I know what I'm looking for, not long." Carson said. "You're welcome to wait here until I know for sure."

Izzy nodded. "Little poke." Carson murmured. Izzy didn't care, though, because needles didn't really bother her.

She looked at John who nodded at her reassuringly. While Izzy knew that having Wraith DNA wasn't the end of the world, it still unnerved her. It would actually give her an advantage because she would be able to operate both Wraith and Ancient equipment, which could be a powerful tool with the right training.

Still… having the same DNA as your biggest enemy didn't exactly top her list of 'things to be excited about.'

Once Carson left to run some tests, John hopped up on the bed next to her and sat close enough so that there wasn't any space between them.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing, Izzy." John consoled, seeming to be thinking the same thing she was.

"I know. It's just not a good thought to have the same DNA as your biggest enemy." Izzy said, leaning against John. John wrapped his arm around her briefly and squeezed her shoulders, giving her a kiss on the side of her head.

"I know." John consoled.

They sat talking for a little while, waiting for Carson to get preliminary results of her DNA test, even though Izzy already knew what it would say.

Carson entered their section of the infirmary, a grim look on his face.

"I was right, wasn't I?" Izzy asked.

Carson hesitated before nodding, pulling up a chair and sitting in front of the father-daughter duo. John reached for Izzy's hand and held it, knowing that Izzy would need help from him to keep her grounded in the moment.

"The results are only preliminary, but yes, I found some Wraith DNA in your system." Carson said. "However, the amount of Wraith DNA is very small. You seem to have a little more Wraith DNA than Teyla, but you still don't have very much."

Izzy took a deep breath and squeezed her father's hand a little harder than she intended.

"Woolsey is going to go nuts over this." Izzy groaned.

"Nah." John said. "It's not like the Wraith can connect with you at will. As long as you don't try to connect with them first you'll be fine."

"I'll run some more tests to see exactly how much Wraith DNA you have, but that will take a while. You're free to go about your day." Dr. Beckett said, giving her a small smile of encouragement.

"Thanks, Carson." Izzy said, smiling glumly when he patted her knee and left.

John hopped off the bed, holding a hand out to help Izzy down. She seemed a little shaky on her feet but was otherwise doing well… at least, was doing a lot better than John thought she would be.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" John asked, walking with her to the mess hall for dinner.

"I don't know what there is to say." Izzy said honestly.

"It at least explains why your nightmares have been a lot worse the last few nights." John said, shrugging. "The same thing happened to Teyla when she found out about her Wraith DNA."

"She had nightmares too?" Izzy asked.

John nodded. "She said they hadn't been so bad since her father died."

Izzy nodded, slightly comforted that the seemingly invincible Teyla had horrifying nightmares shortly before she found out about her DNA. The past few nights had been extremely taxing for Izzy. It seemed that anytime she closed her eyes she would have a horrifying nightmare... Wraith feeding on her, Wraith feeding on John, Wraith torturing Jason and Landon before feeding on them, Wraith watching her while she slept, Wraith, Wraith, Wraith...

For a few nights, she slept on the couch in John's room. That seemed to help some, but not much.

Izzy had been silent for a few minutes. John put his hands in his pockets and waited, knowing that she probably just needed to process things before she drew any conclusions.

"Does this mean that I'll be able to connect to the Wraith like Teyla?" Izzy asked.

"With training, probably. But that's not going to happen." John said. He hated the idea of his only child exposing herself to the mind of a killer. As long as she didn't reach out to them first, they wouldn't know that she was part of them. Granted, a very small part, but a part nonetheless.

This thought sent chills down his spine. Knowing Izzy, she would probably try to connect with them if she thought she could obtain valuable information from them. Teyla did the same thing a couple of years ago when they first discovered her Wraith DNA. They were similar in that regard; both selfless, but that selflessness can lead to a bit of recklessness.

"What if there's a situation when we need to get information from them? What then?" Izzy asked.

"If it comes to that, then Teyla will take care of it." John said. "I don't want you exposing yourself to the Wraith, because once they know that you can get inside their minds and have some of that same abilities they do, they will take a special interest in capturing you or killing you… especially with your added Ancient DNA."

The blunt statement caught Izzy off guard. She hadn't thought of it that way, and now that it was verbalized, it terrified her.

"You know what Michael did to Teyla." John added. "It could be much worse for you if they found out you were both part-Wraith and part-Ancient."

"I don't even know how it's possible that I'm part-Wraith." Izzy said.

"I guess the same way you're part-Ancient." John said, quirking his eyebrows. "We know that some of the Ancients fled through the gate to Earth during the Wraith attack. I guess it's possible that some of the people with Wraith DNA were with them. We've let other people live here over the past few years, who's to say that the Ancients didn't do the same?"

Izzy grabbed the proffered tray and eyed the turkey sandwiches. She took after her father in that department, enjoying turkey sandwiches almost as much as he did. Today seemed like a day where she needed something else; some comfort food, maybe. Skipping the sandwich, she went straight for the chicken noodle soup.

"I suppose you're right." Izzy said. "This isn't going to change anything, is it?"

"Not for now, at least. We'll just do our best to keep this information away from the Wraith, especially Michael. Woolsey might need a little convincing, but I'll take care of that."

"Maybe I should talk to Teyla." Izzy said, taking a seat at an empty table.

"Probably wouldn't be a bad idea." John replied, taking the seat across from Izzy.

It wasn't too long after they sat down that both of their radios blared to life.

"Colonel Sheppard's team, report to the control room immediately." Chuck said.

That didn't sound good.

John swore under his breath. "Rain check?" he asked.

Izzy nodded. "Keep me posted."

John moved around the table and paused long enough to give Izzy a kiss on the forehead before he took off in a sprint to the nearest transporter.


"What's the situation?" John asked.

"Major Lorne's team is pinned down on P3X-499. They are requesting immediate backup. They also reported one injury." Chuck said, giving him, Ronon, and Rodney a short briefing of the situation.

"Do we know who was injured?" John asked.

"No sir."

"Do we know how serious of an injury?" John asked.

"Not for sure, but it didn't sound good." Chuck said, a grim look on his face.

Well, shit. John knew than Landon and Jason were both off world with Lorne's team today. Izzy was going to have a fit over this, but she needed to know.

"All right let's gear up." John said, moving to head to the armory. "Have a team of marines meet us in the jumper bay in 10."

As soon as John left the control room, he radioed Izzy.

"John Sheppard to Izzy Sheppard."

"Go ahead."

"Meet me in the armory in 2 minutes." John said.

"Okay." she replied, hesitating slightly.

Izzy was waiting outside the armory by the time John got there. She already looked scared about whatever was taking place even though she didn't know the situation yet. After all, John didn't normally page her to meet him by the armory after getting a cryptic "Colonel Sheppard's team report to the control room" from an anxious Chuck only a few minutes prior.

"What's going on?" She asked. Ronon and Rodney moved past her and into the armory, both avoiding eye contact. That wasn't a good sign.

"It's Lorne's team." John said. Izzy knew that Evan, Landon, and Jason were on a mission today. "They're pinned down and need help."

"Is everyone okay?" She asked.

"They're reporting one injury, but we don't know who." He said gently, squeezing her shoulder. "We're taking a team of marines and a jumper and we're going to go get them."

Izzy nodded tersely, her eyes wide.

"I'll be waiting for you when you come back." She said, her voice wavering.

John nodded and wrapped Izzy in a hug briefly before walking into the armory. Izzy waited outside the door per the rules and went up to the control room when they headed for the jumper bay, giving John one last hug before they parted ways.

"Izzy, you're not supposed to be here." Woolsey said. Izzy was sitting on the small balcony in the control room that jutted out over the gate room, her legs dangling in the air.

"I know." Izzy said, rolling her eyes before turning her head to meet his eyes. "Can I just wait here? Just this once?"

Woolsey seemed to consider her request. Izzy put on the best puppy dog eyes that she could muster – the ones that only sometimes worked on John and always seemed to work on Carson.

"Considering the circumstances, I suppose that's all right." He said, a sympathetic smile on his face. Izzy smiled widely and jumped up, giving Woolsey a hug around his shoulders. She cringed while doing so, because while she disdained the man, she wanted him on her side and for him to loosen up. Maybe by hugging his she would chip away at his rough edges a little. Maybe.

"Just this once." Woolsey said, his cheeks a deep shade of pink.

"Thank you." Izzy said honestly.

Woolsey nodded tersely. "Have a medical team on standby in the jumper bay." he said to Chuck.

Woolsey returned to his office and Izzy returned to the balcony, her mood returning to the anxious state it was before. Hugging Woolsey was an act, but she hoped he didn't pick up on that.

Carson came by a few minutes later. He spotted Izzy and climbed the stairs from the gate room to the control room, taking a seat next to her.

"This is an interesting choice of sitting locations." Carson said good-naturedly, nudging Izzy with his elbow.

Izzy shrugged. "It's as good a place as any. Out of the way, good view of the gate."

Carson chuckled before slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"You really should do something to help keep your anxiety down." Carson suggested.

"Is it that obvious?" Izzy asked, leaning against Carson.

"Flowing off of you in waves." He replied, a small smile on his face.

"Sorry, can't help it this time." She said, smiling bashfully. She had temporarily forgotten about her Wraith DNA, the situation of the moment overwhelming her mind. There was always something, it seemed. She really did need to find a way to channel her anxiety. Maybe resuming meditation lessons with Teyla would be a good idea?

"I know, lass." Carson replied, giving her shoulder a squeeze before removing his arm from her shoulders. "I'm worried about them, too."

"Aren't you supposed to be in the jumper bay?" She asked bluntly.

"Heard you were sitting here. Thought I would come check on you first." He replied, not at all phased by her blunt question.

Izzy smiled at him gratefully and opened her mouth to say something else before the gate started to spin.

"Unscheduled off world activation!" Chuck announced.

"Are you receiving IDC?" Woolsey asked, emerging from his office. Carson and Izzy stood in anticipation, waiting to see who was dialing in.

Chuck looked at the computer screen. "I'm reading Dr. Mckay's IDC."

"That was fast." Izzy remarked, following Carson out of the room and towards the jumper bay.

"Let them in." Woolsey said, following Izzy and Carson.

Izzy stood off to the side as the jumper landed, purposefully staying out of the way but close enough so that she could see who was injured. Carson and a medical team were waiting outside of the jumper until the back hatch opened and the medical situation was assessed.

Two marines whose names escaped Izzy exited first, and her anxiety grew. The chance that someone she cared deeply about was injured just increased.

Next came Rodney who was covered in dirt and sweat but was otherwise unscathed.

Then she spotted Ronon and Jason dragging a figure out of the back of the jumper. He was covered in dirt, and by all appearances was unconscious. His skin was pale and blood covered the side of his head. To someone who didn't know him very well, he may not have been recognizable with the amount of dirt and blood on him.

But to Izzy, he was unmistakable, because it was Landon.


A/N: Told you another chapter would be coming soon. I didn't break my promise this time. You guys are going to leave a bunch of lovely reviews to reward me, right? (Please review. Please.)

Special thanks to…

Guest 64: Thanks for the review! Unless you've changed your username, I don't remember you reviewing before. New reviewers are my FAVORITE! 3 Thank you so so much. This review was very encouraging. I'm always so happy to hear that people are enjoying the story! Really. This was great. Thanks a million!

Adela: I know… Woolsey's a pain in the backside. He'll loosen up eventually, but for now I'm having fun making him a jerk. Hopefully it doesn't seem too out of character though. Thanks for reviewing so faithfully!

dani2theela: YAY! I'm so glad you liked them! I was pretty proud of myself after tackling that episode… it was definitely a tough one. Thanks for reviewing! You da best.

Mkoepp63026: I'm so happy you liked it! I know I sent you a PM but I wanted to write to you on here as well. I'm coming closer to getting ideas of what her "affinity" is going to be, but am still probably going to do a poll anyways. Thanks again, and I hope you keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing!