AN: As promised, Todd makes his appearance in this chapter! I find him funny in his own way, and despite his creepy-factor, he's just...adorable! Also, from the end of this chapter and into the next, the characters all decide to have some fun. Hey, they need some down-time, right?
Anyway, R&R as usual...you guys have given me awesome ideas so far – keep 'em coming!
Chapter 9
Rodney was ready to explode at any moment. He'd been hunched over the message beacon for a half-hour, with Sheppard hovering over his shoulder like a nervous mother, watching him work. Normally, it wouldn't have bothered him very much – after all, he often watched Rodney fiddle with some "contraption" or another – but it was hot and humid out here, and ever since Rodney had seen a scorpion scuttle across the sand nearby, he was paranoid that he would be stung.
And, if Sheppard told him to hurry up one more time, Rodney swore he was going to steal Ronon's gun and stun the Colonel with it.
"Rodney?"
Oh, God, here it came.
"Look," Rodney warned, holding up a finger in the air as if he were feeling for the wind's direction, "I'm going as fast as I can. I'm really not all that familiar with Wraith technology, you know."
"I was gonna ask if Ronon could just shoot it," Sheppard pouted.
"No! Absolutely not!" Rodney exclaimed, tapping away at his notepad.
"Why not?" Shannon asked, handing a bottle of water down to him. It was blessedly cold, and he pressed it against his neck for a moment before opening it and taking a healthy gulp of the icy liquid.
"Because," he replied after he swallowed, "I need to find out if it's already been transmitting a signal before we destroy it."
Dean crossed his arms over his chest and shot Rodney a confused look, which he didn't see as he was engrossed in his work. "But we got here before the Wraith did. He couldn't have turned it on."
Sheppard answered for Rodney. "Yeah, but the Wraith in the diner could've been lying about waiting to send the message. It could've been transmitting the whole time, and we wouldn't have known until we were back on the Daedalus, too far away to do anything about it."
Dean stuck out his bottom lip in thought. Sheppard had a point, he had to admit.
Just then, Rodney leaned over his pad, trying to block the sunlight that shone directly over them. "Aw, come on!" He shouted, his fingers now furiously pressing the keys on the screen.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, coming over to stand behind the scientist, using his large frame to help shadow him.
"Sheppard was right. The two Wraith from the diner turned the beacon on, but they used a sort of timer, so if they didn't make it back, it would send the message automatically."
"How long we talking about?" Sheppard asked. A pit of worry settled itself into his stomach, twisting his gut into knots.
Rodney pressed another button, and looked up at the Colonel. "Two hours ago."
"Is there any way we could stop the message from reaching the rest of the Wraith?" Teyla wondered aloud, but Rodney shook his head.
"No. Once the message is out, it can't be erased." When everyone stared at him in confusion, he sighed and explained, "It's like an email. Once you press 'send', it's on its way to whoever you wanted to send it to. No matter how many errors you might've noticed afterward, it's too late."
Rodney's use of the word "errors" had started Sheppard's mind churning, and it suddenly blocked out the pit in his gut.
"Errors," Sheppard said aloud, and started to walk away. Curious, Rodney scrambled up and followed after him, while everyone else shrugged at one another and formed a loose line behind them.
When Sheppard realized he had company, he said, "You said something that got me thinking."
"Um, that's not always such a good thing," Rodney replied, "but please, continue."
Sheppard ignored the personal jab. "What if the Wraith sent the wrong coordinates?"
"Which they didn't."
"Right. But what if we make it seem like they did?"
Rodney was confused. "What? How?"
"By sending another message. A 'corrected' message." He mimed quotation marks in the air.
Finally, Rodney caught on. He snapped his fingers excitedly. "Yes, yes, yes. And the Wraith will go to the coordinates we give, rather than come to Earth."
"Exactly."
"But how do we do that? I told you before I have no idea how to even turn the beacon off yet."
Sheppard stopped and stared down at his friend, a boyish grin on his stubbled face. "Sounds like we need someone who reads Wraith, then."
Knowing who Sheppard was talking about, Rodney shook his head. "Oh, you can't be serious!"
"Well, it's either him, or a whole hive full of Wraith gets here in…" he looked down at his watch for emphasis, "what, a little less than a month?"
Groaning, Rodney threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine. Go get him."
As Sheppard wandered off to talk with the Daedalus, Sam turned to Ronon and asked, "Who are they talking about?"
Scowling darkly, Ronon replied, "Todd."
"Todd? Who's Todd?"
Dean turned around then and wrapped his arm around his little brother, squeezing lightly. Sam curled his upper lip in disgust as the weight and heat of Dean's arm caused new sweat to stand out on his shoulders and back, sticking his shirt to his skin; he bore it silently, however, as he knew that if he tried to push him away, he'd only squeeze tighter.
"Todd is a Wraith who sometimes helps these guys out," Dean informed him.
"But he…he doesn't, you know…" he motioned with his hand to illustrate the Wraith's feeding technique.
"Not yet," Ronon growled, and they knew that he was desperately hoping for that time to come, for the opportunity to use his impressive weapon on him. Dean couldn't say he blamed the Satedan for that.
A few moments later, a bright beam of light appeared, engulfing Sheppard entirely. Sam shielded his eyes from it, turning his head away slightly, but Dean felt like he had to watch what was happening, and merely squinted his eyes into slits just wide enough for him to be able to see without being blinded. He saw Sheppard there one moment, standing sedately within the light, and the next moment, the Colonel was gone. Dean smirked as he saw the similarity between this technology, and Castiel's powers.
The group was oddly quiet as they waited for Sheppard to return. Teyla and Ronon leaned against a large rock, and Dean and Sam stood under the shadow of a larger cactus, their arms crossed over their chests, looking for all the world like twins. Fraternal twins, perhaps, but twins all the same. Shannon stood between the two groups, nervously chewing her thumbnail, and Rodney waited near the spot Sheppard had disappeared from, glancing every now and then at his computer notepad.
Then, the beam suddenly returned, and this time, when it faded away, beside Sheppard stood a Wraith, his long white hair blowing in the hot desert wind.
"So that's Todd," Sam breathed, both nervous and intrigued.
Sheppard led Todd toward the group, talking to him in a low murmur. Todd nodded every few seconds, and once in a while added a thought of his own, which Sheppard seemed to answer sufficiently.
When they reached Sam and Dean, Sheppard gestured toward Todd and said, "Dean, Sam; this is Todd. Todd, Dean and Sam. They're brothers."
"I suspected as much," the Wraith replied in a strange, almost watery voice that instantly unnerved Dean in a way he couldn't quite describe. "Their resemblance is quite obvious."
"I could say the same about you and your…friends," Dean quipped, nodding toward the dead Wraith a dozen yards away.
Todd smiled humorlessly at this. "Appearances can be deceiving. I may look similar, but I assure you, I do not share their…propensity for the domination of the universe."
"Uh-huh," Dean replied, shrugging doubtfully.
"Okay," Sheppard interrupted, before any offenses could be taken, "I explained the situation to Todd, and he's agreed to help us out."
"In exchange for what?" Ronon asked, locking his dark eyes with Todd's yellow ones. Todd simply folded his hands in front of him and stared back, completely calm.
"Well, that hasn't been determined yet, actually," Sheppard replied. "We agreed to discuss it afterward, seeing how urgent this is."
"Great," Ronon muttered, rolling his eyes toward Teyla. Though she seemed not to acknowledge him, the sudden flicker of worry across her eyes was enough for Dean to notice, and it made him more worried than if she'd actually voiced any concern.
"Rodney?" Sheppard called, and the scientist looked up suddenly.
"Yes?"
The Colonel sighed in exasperation. "You coming?"
"Oh. Of course." Keeping a wide berth around Todd, Rodney started back toward the beacon, and Sheppard nodded for Todd to follow, silently telling him he would be there in a moment. Todd nodded back once, and then clasped his hands behind his back as he paced across the desert after Rodney.
Before Dean could open his mouth, Sheppard said, "I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no, I really don't trust Todd. But he's our only shot right now at keeping Earth from being overrun by Wraith, so we've gotta work with him. Besides, we've saved each other's ass a few times already, and if he'd wanted to, he could've killed us any of those times."
Dean nodded, fully understanding where Sheppard was coming from. "It's just…he's so…"
"Creepy?" Sheppard finished for him, and both Sam and Dean nodded this time. "Yeah, we've noticed. But, a word of warning?" He leaned closer, as if to impart a great secret. "Try not to stare. He doesn't like that."
"Got it," Dean replied, filing that piece of important information away in his mind.
Sheppard grinned then. "Good. Now, if everything turns out right, we'll have this wrapped up within the hour."
"Thank God," Shannon murmured, wiping her forehead with the palm of her hand. "It's hot as hell out here."
Dean considered correcting her on that, but decided against it. Once he mentioned his time in Hell, she'd undoubtedly want to hear the rest; he didn't really want to go over those memories with anyone, ever again.
It was well over an hour before Todd had made any progress toward sending the message they'd agreed upon earlier, but as soon as he'd finally found the correct commands, it took him only minutes to type and send the message.
"It is done," he rumbled, standing up to full height, which seemed to Dean to be around 7 feet. He suddenly found himself wondering if there were Wraith who were taller than Todd, and the thought frightened him a little.
"Great," Sheppard replied, clapping his hand on Todd's shoulder. "We really appreciate it, buddy."
"That is not my name," Todd said, confused, and Sam found himself smirking along with Sheppard.
"Sorry," Sheppard chuckled, "forgot who I was talking to. 'Buddy' is a name we call someone we really like. It's another word for 'friend'."
Todd still seemed a little puzzled, but he merely narrowed his eyes and replied, "I see. In that case, you are welcome, Buddy."
Sheppard winced then. "You know, when you say it, it just sounds oddly disturbing. Why don't we just stick to using our actual names?"
"That is acceptable, Sheppard," Todd agreed with a nod.
"Good."
"So," Sam chimed in then, gaining the courage to speak to the huge Wraith before him, "Where will they end up?"
This time, Todd actually chuckled. "Far away from here, I assure you."
Rodney stood up away from the beacon and added, "Somewhere on the very edge of the Andromeda Galaxy, actually. They won't realize they're way off course until it's too late."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked. All this techno-babble was confusing him, and if he had to be honest, they'd lost him long ago. He'd just kept nodding his head as if he understood so they'd eventually shut up, and he could finally get out of the heat. Now, though, he was genuinely interested in Rodney's answer.
"Well, this is Todd's idea, which, for once, I happen to like." Todd bowed his thanks as Rodney went on. "We get on board the Daedalus, and go back to the Pegasus Galaxy. Then, we give Todd one of the darts the Daedalus has been holding onto, and he meets up with the main hive ship somewhere along the way. Suddenly and inexplicably, the hive ship blows up."
Sheppard continued the explanation as he watched Todd switch off the message beacon. "The rest is up to Todd to figure out. But he's done this kind of thing before, so there shouldn't be a problem."
"There will be no problem," Todd agreed, nodding sedately.
"Well, I like it," Dean replied, finishing his second bottled water. "But I thought you said there were a whole fleet of hive ships. Eventually they're gonna catch on."
Sheppard nodded, appreciating the elder Winchester's quick thinking. "Sure. But the Apollo and Sun Tzu will both be on guard to engage any hives that try to make it toward the Milky Way."
"Right," Rodney agreed. "So now, all that's left to do is to destroy the message beacon." He looked at Ronon pointedly.
Ronon's eyes flickered to Colonel Sheppard momentarily, who shrugged as if to say "it's your call", and then the large man stepped forward and raised his gun, aiming it at the blue-and-silver device. He flicked a switch on the side of the weapon, causing the light above the handle to glow red, and then turned back to the rest of the group.
"You might wanna stand back," he suggested, and everyone followed his advice, taking two large steps backward. When he was satisfied that everyone was a safe distance away, Ronon fired a shot at the beacon, and it exploded immediately, sending shrapnel in a wide circle from where it had stood.
When the smoke cleared, the only evidence that something had been there was a charred sunburst pattern on the parched ground. Ronon nodded, pleased with the way that had turned out, and walked away again.
"Well, that was quick," Dean observed. Sheppard shrugged lightly.
"It's why we like him," he replied, smiling genuinely at the Satedan.
"So I guess you'll be leaving now, huh?"
Sheppard nodded, though he suddenly felt as if he were being dragged away against his will, and it confused him. He'd never felt like Earth had been his home, but now that he was back again – now that he had met the Winchesters – he wondered if maybe he'd been wrong about that. He found himself wanting now to stay a little longer, to try and draw out this visit for as long as possible.
"Rodney," he heard himself saying then, "how long would it take for that message to reach any Wraith ships in the Pegasus?"
Rodney glanced at his superior, a puzzled look in his blue eyes. He ran a few calculations through his mind, then frowned. "Uh, maybe a week, depending on the interference in each galaxy, as well as…"
"Good," Sheppard interjected. He wasn't interested in hearing more of Rodney's scientific explanation right now. He glanced around at his team, and then at Sam, Dean and Shannon. "So whaddya say we take Todd up to the Daedalus, and then come back down for some first-class R&R?"
Everyone stared curiously at him, wondering what exactly he was planning in his head. Finally, Ronon raised his eyebrow and said, "Sounds like a plan to me."
Reluctantly, Teyla agreed. "I would love to see more of your planet."
"Great. You'll love it. Maybe Shannon could even take you shopping." He glanced at the young woman, who nodded excitedly.
"I haven't had a girls' day out in a long time. It'd be fun."
Sheppard smiled as the image of Teyla, dressed in a Bond-girl type gown, floated into his mind, but he pulled himself away from the thought before he could dwell on it any longer. It was too soon after her loss of Kanaan to entertain thoughts of beginning a romantic relationship with her, and besides, he wasn't sure if she felt the same for him. Until he was sure, he wouldn't jeopardize their friendship by proclaiming his love for her.
Dean shrugged then, and added, "I wouldn't mind a little gambling." He turned to his brother. "Sam? You in?"
Sam considered it for a moment before replying, "Sure."
Rodney stepped forward then, his agitation clear in the motions he made with his hands. "Hold on a minute, Sheppard. We really don't have time to go on a bender in Vegas. The Wraith…"
Again, Sheppard interrupted him. "won't get the message for quite a while, and we've been due for some leave for months…Hell, for years, if you think about it." He gazed straight into his friend's eyes, silently pleading with him. "Come on, Rodney. We don't get a chance to relax very often. What better place to do it than Earth?"
Rodney noticed the longing in Sheppard's gaze, and found it impossible to argue any more. Besides, he had to admit that he too was looking forward to spending a day or two on his home planet. He could call Jeanie, check in with her…
"Fine," he sighed, though Sheppard could tell it was only so Rodney could keep his reputation as the "serious scientist" he claimed to be. "But you're dealing with Colonel Caldwell, as I doubt he'll be amused at this idea of yours."
"No problem," Sheppard replied, his grin widened considerably and his eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Well, let's let the Winchester gang get out of this heat, before everyone burns to a crisp."
"Best idea today," Dean agreed, and Sheppard smiled again.
"We'll meet you guys back at the motel. You all should probably get some rest."
The Winchesters and Shannon turned to leave, but stopped when Sheppard added, "And Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Dean caught the meaning in his voice, and nodded seriously at him. "Don't mention it."
TBC...
