"So after the first night you decided not to destroy us – thanks, by the way – and then what?" Sheppard asked. "We could have just left?"

"Had you left, I would have returned to my watching, waiting for others to come."

"But we stayed," Teyla said.

"Yes. You remained in the cave – which made me curious, since I was still uncertain of your intentions. Your dreams had been a definite mixture of passions, from love to anger, and you people are as varied as those dreams. I could not ascertain if you were a threat or not."

"So you sent more…" Teal'c said.

"Yes." And now Johvon turned to Mitchell. "They were not intended to hurt, however. Merely to learn more of you."

Unwilling to let everyone in the group know what he was talking about; Mitchell kept her face impassive – with a lot of help from Talon.

"What did you learn?" McKay asked.

"Many things," Johvon replied candidly. "As a species you're wildly unpredictable, but the group you are with is honorable – with no ill intent towards my people."

"You figured that out from our dreams?" Ronon asked, clearly skeptical.

Johvon nodded.

"With your dreams come your thoughts, and your reactions to that which is placed in front of you. For example, you didn't know what bothered Colonel Mitchell in the dream you shared with her, and yet you were ready to place your safety in jeopardy to confront it."

Dex scowled, but McKay spoke up before he could say anything else.

"What about my dream? He was going to kill me…"

"You were goading him, but he would not have killed you. For all that you may have deserved it, the weapon he had was set to quiet you, but not to damage you permanently."

"Oh, well that's reassuring."

Sheppard didn't even bring up the dream he and Mitchell had shared, and the look she tossed his direction plainly said that she'd prefer he didn't. Instead, he changed the subject, hoping that Johvon wouldn't bring up any more dreams. Including the Star Trek convention – and God only knew what he'd learned from that one.

"So do we get to meet your people?"

McKay perked up.

"Yeah. What are they like? You?"

"My people are asleep."

"We'll be here in the morning," John replied.

Teyla frowned, remembering something Johvon had said before.

"You told us you feed on them. How can you protect them and feed on them at the same time?"

"It's not their bodies or souls that I require," he answered after a moment's hesitation. "I am created to sustain myself on their thoughts. The energy given off by their fury, their fears and their passions."

"You live off thought energies?" McKay asked, confused.

"I am sustained by emotion."

"That's crazy. Who can make a machine that runs on that? You can't measure it. You can't sustain it for long periods of time, which means there must definitely some downtime in your history – not to mention the fact that there's no way a-"

"You yourself are a prime example of emotions, Doctor," Johvon interrupted. "I am not a machine as you see them, and I was created by a race that was not only vastly superior to yours in technology, but also dwelt in the minds of humans for eons as they watched them. They understood emotions, and understood that even in a small population of humans there is always emotion. It is in your very natures. What better for me to subsist on?"

"What about now, though?" McKay asked, unwilling to lose an argument – or even a debate. "You said they're asleep."

"They undoubtedly dream…" Teyla said. "These dreams hold passions, as well – good or bad." She looked at Johvon for confirmation, and he nodded.

"Exactly. I have no downtimes, as you referred to them, Doctor, because there is no downtime for the people I watch."

"It's still crazy," McKay muttered.

Johvon wasn't offended however. Instead he smiled slightly.

"Perhaps for you it seems that way. It is normal for myself."

"Do your people know about you?" Mitchell asked.

He nodded.

"They believe me to be their god – though I tell them I am not the one who created them – nor am I one who will attempt to control their destinies."

"What if they wanted to leave here?" Teyla asked. "Would you allow it?"

"It happens occasionally. They have very little contact with outsiders, but if they wish to leave, I do not force them to stay. They are my people, but not my slaves."

"Not to mention, you can check the people out that they want to go with to make sure they're not a threat…" Sheppard added.

"There is that, yes."

"So… um… how exactly would you have destroyed us?" Rodney asked, curiously. "I mean, would it have been with a weapon? Or something in our heads just blowing up, or what?"

"I would prefer not to say," Johvon told him, evasively. "Make no mistake, however, it would have been swift."

Not very subtle… Talon said, hovering between approval and curiosity.

He doesn't need to be subtle – and I don't blame him a bit for wanting to get his point across, Melony replied silently. I'd do it as blatantly as possible if someone were screwing with the Jaffa.

Not that she'd need to since the Jaffa were more than capable of taking care of themselves.

My people need me much more than yours actually need you, a voice in her head said quite clearly. A voice that didn't belong to Talon. Startled, she came to her feet before she even realized what she'd done.

"Don't do that. Don't ever do that."

Johvon looked at her in surprise – either from the reprimand, or from the fact that she'd been startled. The others around the fire looked just as startled and everyone but McKay had jumped up in response to Melony's own actions.

"What did he do?" Sheppard asked, looking over at Johvon warily.

"Forgive me, Colonel Mitchell," Johvon said before Mitchell could answer. "I assumed you were more comfortable speaking in your mind. You do it so naturally with the creature that dwells within you…"

She scowled.

"We do it naturally because it's the only way he can talk to me. I'd prefer you stayed out."

Easy Hot Shot, he probably didn't mean anything by it

Easy for Talon to say; he was used to only speaking internally. Melony, on the other hand, didn't like anyone in her head that didn't belong.

"I apologize."

It was sincere and she knew it, but she still hesitated.

"Are you injured?" Teal'c asked. Which was his way of telling her he was right behind her no matter what happened. And that was all it took, really, to cool her down enough to accept the apology. The last thing they needed was a fight with this guy – especially since it was pretty apparent he could take them all out easily. Offended or not, violated or not, Melony wasn't going to pick a fight that would get everyone with her killed over something that could have been glossed over.

"No. I'm okay. It's all right."

Johvon smiled, broadly. A smile that was more cheerful than any they'd seen thus far.

"I'm pleased to hear you say that, Colonel," he said. "You are a far better leader than I could have guessed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rodney asked.

"It was a test…" Teyla guessed, proving once again that she was far more adept at reading the people around her than the others were. Something that had made her such a good leader for her people. "He wanted to see your reaction…"

She looked over at Johvon to see what he would say, and their guest nodded, looking pleased at her deduction.

"Very good, Teyla! Not just her reaction to the incredibly intrusive behavior, but also the way she responded to my apology." He looked over at Melony, who wasn't amused and showing that quite clearly. "I would never have been so discourteous if not for the fact that I needed to be certain of you and yours."

"And now you are?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Head towards the rising sun in the morning. You'll find my people less than a day's walk away."

With that, he vanished, leaving them all staring at each other.