A/N: Hello my pretties! Welcome to yet another episode of Stargate Atlantis – Legacy where we will be continuing the tale of our intrepid explorers and Todd the bemused wraith who's, mostly, just along for the ride. As always, please enjoy your reading and if you like it, drop me a review. I especially love the ones that consist of more than one sentence and I eagerly welcome discussions with anyone who feels so inclined.

Enjoy!


Episode VIII: Unsaid

Trading missions, in general, weren't fun according to John. There was the haggling, he hated haggling, and Rodney's tendency to put his foot in his mouth, Teyla usually did most of the talking and Ronon was pretty much just there to look intimidating. He didn't even actually have to do much other than nod and smile but still, overall, he just wasn't a fan. It was an unfortunate necessity – even with PSI funding Woolsey insisted they barter for whatever food they could get now the IOA no longer cared what was on their menu. Without Storm's ridiculous restrictions Atlantis was free to resume normal operations and trading missions were on top of the list. Trading helped commerce, commerce helped build relationships and relationships helped everybody stay alive. So here they were, back to negotiating for things like fruits, vegetables, milk, flour, eggs and whatever meat Atlantis' chefs could turn into something edible. So far, their favorite thing to experiment with was this blue, komodo dragon looking thing about the size of a cow. Seriously, you could ride the thing and it tasted kinda like a cross between chicken and pork. Thanks to David the city now had two five star chefs on retainer who John was convinced could made an old shoe taste good.

They also had a pastry chef. The man was a former navy seal who, after being medically discharged, had been hired by PSI to run security. John had no idea how it'd happened but somehow the guy wound up making cakes and pies instead of running background checks. It was an ongoing source of amusement.

"So that went well," Rodney said, pulling the colonel from his thoughts, "A hell of a lot better than last time."

"That's because you kept your mouth shut this time," said Ronon. "Didn't know you had it in you."

Rodney glared at him. "Oh ha-ha. It's not my fault the Fastions backed out of our agreement."

"You insulted their deity," Teyla reminded him, recalling the instance with annoyance. As much as she cared for him there were times she truly wished her teammate had just slightly more social grace. Being bound to Jennifer seemed to help but not significantly. Maybe he would improve with time.

"I did not," Rodney defended, "I merely pointed out the very slim chance that their deity even existed. I mean, what kind of idiots worship an old wooden plow that someone probably left in the middle of a field?"

"I don't know McKay," Sheppard eyed him, waving a hand in his face as some kind of flying insect buzzed past him, "That sounds like an insult to me."

The scientist was up in arms, ready to protest when John felt something like a pin-prick against his neck. Muttering a curse, he slapped at it; grinning in satisfaction when he drew his hand back and saw a black smear across his palm. "Ha! Got you, ya little bastard!"

His teammates stopped walking and turned back, their faces mirroring concern. He held up his hand, "I killed a bug."

The colonel's dislike for anything that flew and had more than four legs was well known – all three of them rolled their eyes indulgently before dialing Atlantis and stepping through the gate.

Woolsey was waiting for him on the other side along with Captain Ryan decked out in some serious heavy armor.

"Where's the fire?" John asked, looking the captain up and down, "And where'd you get the armor?"

"It's Twelve's," Ryan replied, adjusting his arm guards, they were just a tad loose, "On loan from the SGC. It's fuckin' sweet right?"

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need it?"

"I've been invited to meet with the Coalition to discuss a possible alliance," Woolsey explained, "I decided to take backup."

Remembering last time, John wholeheartedly agreed. "'S probably a good idea."

Teyla seemed less sure. "Are you certain you should be doing this?" she questioned, recalling their last two encounters with the coalition council. They had not ended pleasantly. "The Coalition has made it very clear, on numerous occasions, they have no wish to cooperate and they've made no secret their desire to take Atlantis from us. I fear they are leading you into a trap."

Having known as much when he'd received the invitation, Woolsey nodded. "I know. Unfortunately it's a chance we have to take. The Coalition is gaining strength; more and more planets are looking to them for protection. It's imperative we know what they're doing."

"So what happens if you get taken prisoner like last time?" Ronon asked, no more happy with this then Teyla. Woolsey didn't usually take risks; he was an administrator not a solider. Responding well to dangerous situations wasn't his strong suit. "You got a back-up plan?"

"Both the captain and myself have had subspace transmitters implanted in our arms. The meeting's set to take place at a secondary, unknown location – I've been told it may take several days. That said, if we're not back in seventy-two hours –"

"I'll send in the calvary." Sheppard sighed, "Guess this means I'm in charge."

Woolsey smiled wanly; as unhappy to be leaving the city as the colonel was in being left in charge of it. If at all possible he liked to avoid off world travel but, since their return, the need for him to do so had risen dramatically. He supposed he should be thankful; as much as he had had to leave Atlantis in the past year he had yet had to set foot on a hive.

Thank God Todd always came to them.

"Try not to burn her down while I'm gone."

"No promises," Sheppard smiled, crossing his arms as the director gave Chuck the signal to dial the gate before turning to walk through the event horizon. Ryan followed, smirking as he gave the colonel an informal salute before he too vanished. The gate closed, John turned to the rest of his team.

"We'll debrief once Woolsey gets back. In the meantime, I'm gonna go grab a shower and then I'll be in my office. If anyone needs anything, go bother Lorne."

Rodney frowned. "But…you're in charge."

John sighed. "Yes, I'm in charge and because I'm in charge I've got stuff to do. I don't have time deal with your bullshit or anyone else's, got it? Just, go back to your lab and try not to blow anything up."

Offended, Rodney started to protest but stopped when Sheppard gave him a look. He wasn't having it, whenever Woolsey left it seemed John got stuck with a never ending flow of stupid complaints – like everyone thought he'd handle everything better than Woolsey. It was easy when it was the military, when it was the military he could just pull rank and tell whoever it was to suck it up and deal with it. But with civilians he actually had to sit there and listen which was, according to his ex-wife, something he'd never been good at. Hopefully, since it was only three days, nothing terrible would happen and he'd be able to get by with minimal casualties.

Sighing, he started to walk away.

"Are you alright?" Teyla called after him, concerned, stopping him before he could retreat. "You seem…agitated."

He turned back, "I'm fine," he assured her, scratching absentmindedly at his neck where that damned bug had bit him. It already itched like hell. "Really, I'm just tired and I've got a lot of stuff to do. I'll catch up with you all at dinner."

Then, before she could reply he turned back around and trotted towards his quarters where he jumped in the shower, used up all his hot water and then took his time getting dressed. He was tempted to just stay in his room, maybe put on a movie but, like he'd told Teyla, he had a shit-ton of paperwork to get to. Contrary to popular belief he didn't make Lorne do everything only to scrawl his signature at the bottom of the page. And while, at times, he wished the rumors were true John actually spent an exuberant amount of time sitting at his desk when he wasn't on missions. Filing reports was easy; it was the performance reviews, recommendations, disciplinary actions, transfer requests and scheduling that was a bitch.

Sometime he wished he had a secretary.

"Hey colonel, got a minute?"

He looked up; Vega and Lorne were standing in his doorway. He sighed, so much for getting his work done. "Yeah, sure; what's up?"

Sinking into one of the chairs in front of the colonel's desk, Lorne quickly explained, "Got a couple requests for transfers."

John released another sigh; eyes zeroing in on the captain who'd taken up residence on the corner of his desk instead of one of the other chairs. "Lemme guess, Teldy said no again?"

She nodded, scowling. "I've gotta get off that team Sir. It's not…if I don't get out I'm gonna do something I'll regret like telling the major exactly where she can shove her all men-are-dogs-pro-women fucking bullshit."

Colonel Sheppard tried his best to hold in a grin. "And you Major?"

Lorne made a face. "I want Strauss off my team."

John's eyebrows rose. "Six months ago you wouldn't let me trade him, now you're saying you want him gone?"

He frowned. "Yeah, well, six months ago he didn't have a problem with Kate."

Vega snorted. "Yeah he did, he's had a problem with her since she got here."

"Maybe so, but he's been mostly unvocal about it 'til recently," Lorne explained. "Last time out, Kate gave him an order and he flat out refused, told her she could go fuck herself. I don't care what his problem is so long as he's quiet about it, but that – that shit don't fly. I want him gone."

John groaned. Kate, of course it had to be Kate. Why couldn't the lieutenant have a problem with someone else, someone he could actually reprimand him for disrespecting. When it came to disciplinary actions involving his sister his hands were tied. "What do you want me to do? I can't charge him; I can't write him up – what exactly am I supposed to do about this major?"

Vega grinned. "There's a reason we both came to you at the same time," she told him. "Lorne wants Strauss off his team and I want off of Teldy's. Ya see where I'm going with this?"

"I've got a disturbing idea I do." Sheppard blinked, "So, lemme get this straight. You wanna put a guy who's got a problem with women on a team under the command of a bra-burning, feminist who thinks all men are the devil?"

The pair of them nodded.

John couldn't believe they actually thought this was a good idea. "Are you nuts!?"

His outburst did nothing whatsoever to dissuade them, instead Vega smirked. "But see, that's the beauty of it. You can totally write it off as therapeutic or some bullshit. You know, learning to work with people you oppose or whatever trumped up shit'll make it believable."

John stared at her. Logically, from that angle, their scheme actually made sense. Lord knows he'd been forced to work with people he didn't like. Just look at Todd. The minute hell, the second the wraith was no longer useful Sheppard fully planned on putting a bullet right between his eyes. And that's if he didn't castrate him first.

Vega's plan wasn't actually so far off. "You're evil you know that? I worry about you."

The captain grinned.

Shaking his head he turned to Lorne, studying the major thoughtfully. "You sure you want her?"

He shrugged. "Yeah sure, I'll take her. While we're at it, can I have Cadman too?"

"What about Ryan?"

"Give him his own team," Lorne suggested, giving voice to an idea he'd been musing on for quite a while. "He's experienced, capable – give him some of the new guys off the Daedalus and let him show 'em the ropes."

It was a good idea. The captain certainly had the leadership skills and experience necessary to help break in the new recruits. Sheppard'd been racking his brain trying to come up with a plan on what to do with them all. Before Christmas he'd had just sixty people to deal with now, he had close to two hundred. He couldn't just make new teams, they had to be with somebody who had a familiarity with Atlantis and any threats they might come across. Captain Ryan certainly fit the bill.

There was only one problem. "You realize if I approve this your team'll have two majors and two captains right? That's an awful high concentration of officers."

"S'no different than your team really," Lorne countered. "Ronon's rank, from what he's told us, is about the same as yours, Teyla's an ambassador and a leader for her people and McKay's the head of the science department."

"He's got a point," Vega agreed, throwing in her two cents. Not that it mattered but at least on this, Sheppard really didn't have a leg to stand on.

John sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know." Then, having reached a decision, he sighed again. "Alright, I'll start the paperwork. You sure you want all three of them? Vega, Cadman and Kate? That's like, the unholy trinity right there."

The Major smirked while beside him, still perched on the edge of the colonel's desk, Vega preened. "Aw, gee colonel – I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Rolling his eyes Sheppard turned to Lorne. "A month from now, when they all decide to gang up on you just remember, you asked for this. Congratulations Major, they're all yours."

Still grinning, Lorne thanked him before grabbing his new teammate, dragging her off the colonel's desk, and then disappearing out into the hallway. Watching them go, John waited until he could no longer see or hear them before turning back to his files. He looked at the clock: it was seven thirty. Briefly he contemplated skipping dinner but knew he'd get one hell of a lecture if he did. Teyla was usually nice about it, gently reminding him he was no good to anybody if he didn't take care of himself.

His sister was just a brat.

Deciding he could always come back to it later, he closed the file he'd been working on, pushed in his chair and then headed towards the mess hall hoping there'd still be food left and that somebody had thought to leave him some dessert…

~xXx~

John slept poorly and woke in a horrible mood two hours before his alarm went off. Since getting back to sleep was out of the question he reluctantly dragged his ass out of bed and went for a run, hoping the exercise would clear his head of the headache he seemed to have contracted sometime during the night. It didn't work so after a long, blistering hot shower he got dressed and then headed down to breakfast.

It didn't take long to realize there was something wrong.

It started with the buzzing. As he walked through the halls he could've sworn he heard something buzzing, like there was a mosquito in his ear, but every time he checked there was nothing. Then, once he got to the mess hall, the buzzing changed into this muffled, whispering type sound that just wouldn't go away. He was so distracted he didn't even notice someone was talking to him until he heard the clatter of a tray being set down across from him.

He jumped. "What?"

Lorne frowned, brow furrowing in concern. "You okay Sir?"

"I'm…fine." Blinking, he shook his head in an attempt to clear it. It was only a partial success; the whispers were gone but the buzzing remained.

"Bullshit," chimed a new voice, this one distinctly female, from somewhere beside him. "You look like death warmed over."

Eyes sliding to his left the colonel immediately recognized the strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes of Laura Cadman. "I didn't sleep well," he defended.

She nodded in sympathy, reaching for her fork after setting her tray down next to his. Normally Sheppard ate meals with his team but lately, at least since she'd gotten here, she'd noticed him mixing it up a little. He still primarily socialized with his teammates but now his sister was here, he also spent a lot of time with her and her friends. It was nice to be able to talk to him outside of giving a report or some other official reason.

Several minutes passed by in which the three of them ate in silence before Cadman heard Sheppard ask, "Hey, have either of you two seen my sister? Normally she's up by now."

"She's off worl' wiff Johnson's team," explained Lorne around a mouthful of eggs and English muffin, "They're checking out a lead, it's possible it could be Michael. Johnson asked for her."

Although how much his request had to do with Michael was debatable.

John frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Confusion took over as Lorne's face shifted to mirror the colonel's look of befuddlement. "What do I mean about what?"

Sheppard's frown deepened, "You said he asked for her for some other reason than because he thinks it might be Michael."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did, I heard you," John insisted, irritated. Why was Lorne denying it? Did he think he cared? Well obviously he did, a little. Kate was his sister, if someone was asking her to go on missions for some other reason than as added protection then he needed to know about it.

Even if he couldn't do anything.

"Major –"

"He didn't say anything," Cadman interrupted. "Really Sir. The last thing he said was that Johnson asked for her. That's it, there was nothing after."

"But –"

Concerned, Laura twisted in her chair until she was looking directly at him. "Colonel, you're starting to worry me. If you're hearing things –"

"I'm not hearing things! I'm fine, nothing's wrong. Everything's perfectly normal."

Yeah right, thought Lorne as he crossed his arms and studied the man sitting across from him. He'd said he hadn't gotten much sleep, maybe that was what this was. Maybe…

John's eyes flashed towards the major just in time to hear Lorne stop mind sentence only, his lips hadn't been moving. He'd heard his voice, heard him say 'yeah right' and then something about how his lack of sleep might be the cause of all this only, the entre time, Lorne's mouth had remained closed.

What the hell was going on? Why was he hearing things when it was obvious nobody was talking? Sheppard was sure he wasn't going crazy; he had heard Lorne say that Johnson's reason for asking Kate to go along might not have anything to do with Michael. But if the major's mouth hadn't moved when he was speaking did that mean…

With dawning clarity John realized what was happening. Lorne hadn't said it, he'd thought it. Something was horribly and unmistakably wrong. Very, very wrong. He needed to go to the infirmary, talk to Jennifer. He needed…

"Colonel?"

Cadman's voice, her actual real voice not her mental one, woke him from his thoughts; clueing him in to the concerned looks on both her and Lorne's faces. Whatever was happening, John didn't want anyone to know. Not because he didn't think he should tell anyone but because there was a part of him that still hoped he was just abnormally tired.

"I'm fine," he said at length, trying his best to convince them everything really was okay. If only that were true. "Really, I'm fine, just…just tired. Like I said, I didn't get much sleep – haven't really been sleeping well all week actually. I'm…everything's swell."

"Swell?" Cadman echoed, managing somehow to sound both worried and condescending. "I didn't think anybody used that word anymore."

His eyes narrowed. "I'll have you know 'swell' is a perfectly good word it's just a little…okay yeah, you're right, it sucks. But really, I'm fine."

Whatever you say Colonel, Cadman thought inwardly, not quite sure she believed him. She didn't wanna push it though, not just because he was her commanding officer but also because Colonel Sheppard wasn't exactly the poster child for telling people what was wrong with him. He could be bleeding and have broken bones in several places and still maintain that he was 'fine'. One of these days she was tempted to tell him that 'fine' really stood for fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional all of which fit the colonel to a damned T.

Except maybe the emotional part.

John, meanwhile, had become very interested in his coffee. Taking a sip, he wanted to tell her he wasn't any of those things, but decided against it because doing so would only confirm he actually could hear what people were thinking. He was starting to get a little freaked out, convinced something horrible was going to happen and that any minute now the other shoe was going to drop and he was gonna die. Maybe he was just tired; maybe it'd go away on its own. Unwilling to say anything, he sat there drinking his coffee, listening to Cadman and Lorne banter back and forth until the former brought up Todd and asked if Kate was making any progress.

Suddenly his ability to read minds took a back seat to his wanting to know what the hell was going on between his sister and Todd. It was a conspiracy but Lorne always knew more than he did.

"She's making headway, learned some pretty interesting things," said the major. "According to Todd, the Ancients started the war."

Both Cadman and Sheppard looked surprised. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah apparently he was there, led the siege that sank Atlantis in the first place."

"He led it?" John queried, trying in vain to digest this new information. He'd known Todd was old, ancient even, but old enough to've actually participated in the war wasn't something he'd ever considered. "Whataya mean he led it?"

"It's exactly how it sounds," Lorne explained. "Kate said his official rank during the war was like Lord Commander or something. Todd told her and Woolsey his grandmother was the queen, as in the only queen for a pretty long while. Until she was killed and the whole each hive has a queen, no more female wraith thing was started."

Cadman blinked. "So, if that's the case, does that mean Todd's some kind of wraith royalty or something?"

The major nodded. "That's exactly what it means. Kate said she called him the king of wraith and Todd didn't correct her."

John slumped back in his chair. Of all the things they could've possibly found out about their wraith ally this wasn't something he'd been expecting. They'd known he had power, lots of it, both before and after his incarceration by the Genii, but this; for him to have this kind of legacy, didn't bode well for them. Absolute power corrupted absolutely and Todd was apparently used to having it – John was so sick of playing straight into his hands, dancing like a puppet to Todd's tune every time the wraith pulled his strings. And the worst part, something he'd become increasingly aware of the past few months, was that Todd wanted something from Kate. Whatever it was wasn't something he could get from the rest of them. Whatever it was, he could only get it from her. John was worried, beyond worried really. Kate was his baby sister and here she was playing what amounted to a blind game of chess with someone who had years more experience than she did. He'd give anything, literally anything, to know what the hell was running through Todd's head; what he hoped to gain by toying with her. Whatever he wanted, John knew it wasn't good.

Which gave him an idea. It was a crazy idea, certifiably insane and absolutely nuts, but by this point he was a little low on options. Woolsey wouldn't tell him more than the basics, Lorne's hands were tied and asking Kate what the hell was going on only ever earned him a roll of her eyes. And asking Todd was out of the question. Even if he answered John had a hunch it'd either be a lie or, at best, only a partial truth. Honesty wasn't really his strong suit and secrecy seemed to be the name of the game for everybody else. He understood the need to play things close to the vest but Kate was his sister, he needed to know; especially now. That kiss she'd given him, all five point two seconds of it, had scared him for life and made him wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had something he needed to be worried about.

There was only one way to find out. Before going to the infirmary, John planned on putting his new ability to good use. That was the stupid part. Because if something really was wrong, like he was gonna die or something, he'd be risking a lot for just a little bit of information. Then again, there really wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his sister. He'd loved her since the day she was born; more than his parents, more than David and, unfortunately, more than he'd ever loved Nancy. Growing up, their dad had been busy with the company, their mother hadn't really cared and David had gone to college by the time she was two. He'd been all she had and, for most of her life, she'd been his. Risking his life for her wasn't something he'd hesitate doing which was good because what John was about to do was not only ill advised but could possibly be described as the dumbest idea he'd ever had.

When he was done with breakfast, he tossed his tray, made his excuses to Major Lorne and Captain Cadman and then made a beeline towards their comm reply. Upon arrival he typed up a message, hit send, and then prepared himself for what he'd say whenever Todd decided to finally answer. It came as a complete surprise when, exactly forty-five seconds after he'd sent the message, the terminal beeped and then Todd's face appeared on screen.

He didn't look particularly happy to see him. "Sheppard. What do you want?"

"Got a little proposition for you," John said, deciding he'd just have to wing it. He really hadn't expected him to answer that fast. Normally it took a few hours which meant he was going to have to think of something, some kind of incentive, on the fly. Whatever it was it had to be good because otherwise the wraith would likely just hang up on him.

He might anyway if the look on his face was any indication. "Can it not wait?" he asked, "My hive was recently involved in a battle; we suffered sufficient damage. I do not have time for –"

"Actually…" John drawled, ranking his brain for something, anything, that'd catch the wriath's attention. This is what he got for not thinking ahead. There had to be something…he had a thought. It was lame but, at the moment, he didn't have anything better. "A while ago we had this temporary alliance with these wraith. It didn't end well – it was all a plot to get information about earth but the one good thing we got from it is a file containing pretty much everything we ever wanted to know about you guys but were afraid to ask. The file got deleted but not before we'd started transferring stuff into the city's archives. I want you to come check it out and make sure what we have is accurate."

His prediction about Todd hanging up on him now seemed to be assured. If possible, the wraith looked even more annoyed with him not to mention displeased and a little incredulous. "Allow me to understand, you wish me to abandon my responsibilities simply so I might ensure what information you have gathered about my kind is accurate?"

Fingers crossed, he nodded.

Todd growled. "No."

Damn. So far, his plan was pretty much a no go. If he couldn't convince Todd to come to him than any hope he had of figuring out what the hell was going on between him and Kate would go up in flames. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! What he wouldn't give right now to know what Kate'd said to him that'd made him come to her in under an hour. It had to have been something pretty damned persuasive because, in the entire time they'd known him, he'd never responded so quickly. If only…

The proverbial light bulb went off over his head.

"My sister."

Todd froze. On screen, John watched his reptilian eyes widen just the tiniest fraction before narrowing as all his senses seemed to go on high alert. "What of her?"

Holy hell, it'd worked. He hadn't expected it to. And even though the whole purpose of the experiment was to measure what Kate meant to him, he'd never considered just mentioning her would get him this kind of response. Todd seemed to be waiting on baited breath for whatever he was about to say. Unintentionally, he realized he'd stumbled across a freaking gold mine.

Swallowing the urge to grin, John realized he had him. Regardless of what he said next, the trap was set; Todd'd fallen for it hook, line and sinker. He decided to go with a little threat, just to see how he'd react. "If you can't find the time to come do this for us then the next time you're here, I'll make sure my sister won't be able to find the time for you."

Todd growled, yellow eyes darkening to an almost amber. "You cannot keep me from her. The arrangement I have with Mr. Woolsey expressly states she is mine whenever I am –"

"I may not be able to completely keep you away from her but I can make it extremely difficult for you to get that alone time Woolsey said you want," John hissed, completely pissed at Todd's use of the word 'mine'. His sister didn't belong to him. She wasn't his, not by any stretch of the imagination. If they'd been standing face to face John would've shot him.

"So that's the deal, take it or leave it. You come and I promise I won't interfere with whatever the hell you're doing. You don't, you lose her."

Fear. For the first time since they started working together John saw genuine fear flash through Todd's eyes before he could hide it. A moment later it was hidden behind a mask of open hostility and disdain but still, it'd been there; he'd seen it. He'd been afraid, probably still was, and in that moment John was very glad they were having this conversation long distance because if they weren't be probably wouldn't have still been breathing. The look on Todd's face was one of stone cold fury.

"S-so…you'll come?"

"I will," the wraith growled, shoulders shaking with barely suppressed rage. "Expect me within the hour, I will come by gate."

And then he was gone, terminating the connection on his end much to John's relief. This really had been a bad idea all things considered but it was too late to back out of it now. Todd was on his way and, hopefully, once he got here, John could finally get some answers.

At the top of the list was a better understanding of how important Kate was to him because, as thankful as he was his idea to use her as a bargaining chip had worked, in the grand scheme of things it shouldn't have. He'd expected Todd to be angry, maybe even a little annoyed by the fact he was trying to use Kate against him, but not afraid. You were only afraid to lose people you cared about and the thought that Todd genuinely cared for her wasn't something he'd been ready for. Respect, sure. Admiration, he could learn to deal with. But affection, sincere, real affection – no, just no. Now more than ever he needed to know what was going on between them because if Todd actually cared for her then John considered that a real problem. He didn't want affection turning into anything else.

With a heavy sigh he left the replay, meandering through the corridors on his way to the control room. He had an hour to come up with a plan, a better plan, because now just knowing what Todd thought wasn't good enough. He needed more, more info, more insight. He needed to what his sister thought about all this and he needed to see how the two of them acted together. With another sigh he got on his radio and let Chuck know Todd was coming…

~xXx~

Todd the wraith was absolutely furious. There were several reasons. For one, he had had to land his hive after suffering an attack in order to make repairs which were not going as well as he would have hoped. Two, during the battle he along with over half his crew had been injured which meant the repairs would take even longer. Three, having rejected the offer of nourishment so that those of his crew who were in worse condition could be healed, he had had to undergo an excoriatingly painful medical procedure, a bone graft and a blood transfusion before receiving approximately forty-three stiches down the length of his left side. And four, Sheppard had called at the worst possible time with an inane request before proceeding to threaten him with losing Katherine if he did not comply.

It was that last one which had angered him the most. He had been careful, so very careful, to temper his feelings for Sheppard's sister ever since he had given her the gift. Apparently he had not succeeded as admirably as he had thought. He blamed this on the intimate knowledge he had of her, the times when his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had allowed his mind to slip into hers. One could not know the things he knew about her, could not know how she viewed herself or know of the things she had done and not have developed feelings for her. Years spend in the service of faceless masters had left her soul blackened and her hands stained red. She might not view him as a monster but the same could not be said of herself. What she saw when she looked in the mirror was so eerily similar to what he saw in his own reflection Todd could not help the pang of companionship he felt whenever he looked at her.

And then, there were the feelings of possession.

Her words to the Abomination about the child, that she would protect what's hers, would not leave him to rest. They had repeated themselves over and over and over again within his mind, always in her voice, until the memory of her saying them could be recalled with prefect clarity. They were but words and yet they made him want her, all of her, her fire and her passion but it had not been until they had been standing in Woolsey's office that he had first felt the stirrings of possession. He hungered for her to be his: his ally, his confidant – his in any way she would allow. The wraith were territorial by nature, possessive and avaricious of what they considered theirs. It did not make sense for him to feel this way, to want to have her so very badly. Katherine was a queen and queens could not be owed but yet his desires persisted. They were obsessive, pervasive and entirely unwise but Todd could not stop them, he did not want to stop them. As contradictory as it was, as much as it went against his nature, he quite liked the idea of Katherine being his.

Which is perhaps why Sheppard's threat proved so effective. The thought she might be taken from him, that he might lose her, had filled him with dread. It was a cold hand gripping at his heart, squeezing with it's long fingers until anger and fury had come to chase it away. How dare Sheppard use her to threaten him, how dare the human try and take what was his. In that moment, had they been standing face to face, Todd very well could have killed him. Thank the stars they were not, Katherine would not have forgiven him for dispatching her brother.

He arrived in Atlantis, still in an absolutely foul mood, to find Colonel Sheppard waiting for him. He growled, "Let us get this over with."

The human raised an eyebrow. "Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the pod this morning."

Todd didn't bother argue or correct him. What did he care what Sheppard's misconceptions were as to his sleeping arrangements? Educating him was a waste of time and pointless so he remained quiet, silently willing himself not to lose his temper.

Insufferable human.

Catching the thought, John couldn't stop himself from grinning in triumph. He'd been a little worried he'd have problem's 'hearing' Todd what with the wraith's mental abilities and all. It was a relief to know he could, at least sometimes. 'Insufferable human' was the first thing he'd heard since Todd'd arrived so maybe he could only hear him whenever the wraith was feeling really strongly about something. Right now he was annoyed, and probably still angry. Apparently getting him worked up caused his shields to slip.

He'd have to remember that. "Come along you," he waved, gesturing for him to follow, "Archives are this way."

Talons digging into the palms of his hands, Todd fell into step behind him allowing himself to be led into the bowls of the city. Atlantis' archives were not unlike the data cores on most hives. The vast chamber had a high ceiling and a central terminal containing four screens on which any number of recorded entries could be displayed. The room hummed, creating a pleasant atmosphere similar in many ways to the natural thrum of a hive. The resulting vibrations and undercurrents made him feel more comfortable, more at ease here than in other parts of the city. Blessedly, after installing himself in front of one of the screens, Sheppard left him alone. The only other human presence was the guards posted silently outside the room. Other than that, Todd was left to his own devices.

Immediately he set aside the file Sheppard had brought up for him to look over, beginning a secondary search through Atlantis' memory. He did not want to be here. If he could, he would be anywhere else but the human had forced his hand and so Todd though to make the best of it. The Lanteans were known for keeping meticulous records of the different cultures they encountered. He planned to search for information pertaining to his race before the onset of the war. He was immensely dismayed when he found nothing.

That did not make sense. There should be images, digital scans, audio files, literary experts, writing samples; instead his searches were met with repetitive failure. Atlantis' archives yielded no information on who the wraith had been before the great rebellion and the destruction of the cities. What hope he had had of recovering the knowledge was now lost.

Damn.

Growling remorsefully he canceled the search and returned to the file Sheppard had pulled for him, perusing the data the humans had acquired since the inception of their expedition. What they had was very limited, scant bits and pieces here and there which amounted to nothing in the way of anything useful. It was little wonder Katherine had been tasked with gathering as much information as possible; it would seem as though, for the most part, Sheppard and the others had been fighting blind.

The realization was hardly pleasing but it did afford him some perspective, particularly on some of their assumptions. To their limited knowledge the wraith were comprised of a single entity distributed amongst individual hives. Each hive had a queen and all queens were alike, operating within a predetermined set of behaviors not unlike various insect species. The very idea was insulting and Todd resented the comparison but, without any further information with which to form an alternative option, he supposed he could see why they would think that.

"Having fun yet?"

Startled, Todd looked up to find Sheppard had returned. He frowned, having been so absorbed in what he had been reading he hadn't heard the human enter. "You use the definition of that word far too liberally, I think."

John shrugged. It'd been over an hour since he'd left and in that hour he'd finally come up with a strategy on how to go about getting the information he needed. Every six months Atlantis had a party celebrating the fact they were all still alive. Over the years their 'Hey, we aren't dead yet!' parties had become a moral staple and despite the fact they'd just had Christmas, it'd been unanimously decided not to postpone this one; especially considering they now had a state of the art rec-room, a fully stocked bar and one hell of a sound system. There were even strobe lights and a disco ball, not that they'd be using them. The whole city was going and his plan involved making Todd go, turning him over to Kate and then sitting back to 'listen' to what was going on.

The only obstacle was getting the wraith to go along with it. "So, bored yet?"

Todd growled. Why had Sheppard returned? Did he wish for him to finish his task or not? "What do you care?"

Rolling his shoulders lazily, John grinned as he took to leaning against one of the other computer terminals. He'd heard him think again and decided it was time to up the ante. "Well, you see, we're having a party here in a little bit and I thought you might like to go."

The wraith frowned. "Dare I ask why you would assume I would wish to subject myself to another of your…festivities?"

"Kate'll be there," John answered, watching the effect his words had on Todd's backbone. His spine had gone ramrod straight.

"I had not thought you would allow me the opportunity to see her."

"I only said I'd make things difficult for you if you didn't come," Sheppard clarified. "You came so I figure that means I'll let you see her. Word on the street is she's going all out, like she did at the McKay's wedding."

Todd hissed. "And is that supposed to entice me…"

John scowled at him. "Oh come on. Like you would actually pass up an opportunity to see my sister no matter what she's wearing. You want something, I know you do. You're freaking obsessed with her."

"I am not obsessed," Todd argued, hoping the human would not catch him in his lie. Sheppard was right, to a point; if he had the opportunity to see her he would take it.

"Yeah, whatever," said John dismissively, deciding not to push the issue. There would be plenty of time to get the truth out of him later provided he could actually get him to come with him. "Are you coming or not?"

"I will but only because I know you will not give me peace unless I comply."

"Great!" Sheppard chirped, turning on his heel as he led the way out of the archives up towards the rec-room. The place was already packed when they got there and, weaving through the crowd, John snagged a beer on the way up to the second floor. He found Lorne and Vega alone at a table tucked away in one of the corners and since he knew his sister would come looking for them first, he headed over.

"Hey guys!"

As one, the two of them turned their heads, eyes widening when they saw who was behind him. "Where the hell did you come from!?" they asked in unison.

Snagging a stool, John took a sip from his bottle before replying, "He got here about an hour ago. He's here to double-check the archives."

"Like, double-check them how?" Vega queried, eyeing the silent creature as he fell into an almost parade rest on Sheppard's right. He didn't look too happy to be there.

"I'm having him make sure all the stuff we have on the wraith is accurate."

"Is it?" asked Lorne.

Todd shook his head. "Not nearly."

The colonel opened his mouth but before he could get anything out, Vega beat him to it, "Does Kate know he's here?"

"Not yet," John said, taking another sip, "She'll be here any minute though."

Vega made a face. "I don't know how happy she'll be to see him – she's got a date."

Both John and Todd looked taken aback, one in surprise and the other in confusion. "What is a date?" the wraith asked.

"With who?" demanded the colonel.

"One of the new marines, Phoenix I think she said his name was," Lorne supplied. "She was real excited about it too."

"What is a date?" Todd asked a second time.

"It's a courting ritual," Vega informed him, resting her elbows on the table and leaning forwards as she explained. "Can be formal or casual although, in this instance, the word 'date's being applied loosely. Pretty much she's using it as an excuse to get laid."

John choked on his drink. "Captain!"

"What?" she shrugged innocently, "You think you guys are the only ones who ever go out looking for sex? News flash, we do it too. Deal with it."

Still coughing, Sheppard began to protest. "I don't want to deal with it. Kate's my sister!"

Instead of looking apologetic, Alicia's eyes narrowed. "And that means what, exactly?"

"It means, regardless of what or who she's doing, I don't want to know about it!"

"Well too bad, you asked."

"I didn't ask he did!" John yelled, pointing towards Todd who was now wearing an expression as if to suggest he'd swallowed something sour.

"Oh, right." Vega turned to him, "That answer your question?"

Unfortunately it did and he was less than pleased with the knowledge. He nodded.

John's head turned slowly towards him, an incredulous look on his face. What right did Todd have to be even remotely upset about this? And which part was he most upset over, the explanation of what a date was or the revelation of what Kate had been planning to do with her evening? Or maybe it was the who. Actually, John had his own questions about that one.

"She's really got a date with Captain Phoenix?"

Lorne nodded. "Yeah – she set it up last week. Why? There something wrong with him?"

The colonel shook his head. "There's nothing wrong per say except he's not really her type."

Vega found this hard to believe. "Have you seen him?" she exclaimed, "He's everyone's type. Hell, I'd sleep with him. If he's not her type then what the fuck is?"

Sheppard shrugged. "She's got a thing for bad boys, always has. You know; long hair, leather, tattoos, the works. And an age gap – half the guys she dated in high school were older then her by at least three years. In college she dated one of her professors."

Now he said it, Lorne wasn't actually all that surprised. Neither was Vega. "Figures," she snorted, eyes sliding over Todd as she realized the colonel had just described him. With a smile she decided to keep that observation to herself seeing no need to give Sheppard an unnecessary heart attack.

And a heart attack was exactly what John thought he might be having. Unable to stop himself from reacting, he felt the color drain from his face as his hands squeezed his beer as though it were a lifeline. A lot of good it did him. He really had just described Todd to a fucking 'T' and the worst part was he knew Kate was Todd's type as well. He swallowed hard thinking he now knew how the cat had felt when it died of curiosity. He could've gone his entire life without ever having made that connection.

Fortunately for his sanity, his sister's arrival stopped him from having any more thoughts on the matter.

"YOU!"

Spinning wildly, he almost fell off his stool as he turned to face her. Kate was marching towards him angrily wearing a black leather dress that had to be the shortest she owned. Cadman was following her, wearing something equally as short but blue. Both of them had their hair up and both of them were wearing some seriously high heels. They looked like they were going to a club.

"What the hell are you wearing!?" he wanted to know.

Coming to a halt just shy of their table, Kate crossed her arms and glared at him. "What am I wearing?" Her eyes darted left before refocusing on him. "A dress. What's he doing here!?"

"That's not a dress, that's a shirt!" John protested, trying in vain to keep track of the sudden invasion of thoughts. Lorne was trying not to look at her while silently chanting over and over again that she was his sister. Vega wasn't that discreet and was openly looking her up and down, bemoaning the fact that Kate didn't swing that way. Cadman was upset because all the work she'd done on Kate's hair looked like it was going to go to waste and Todd was mentally drooling.

Shaking his head, he tried regaining his composure by asking, "What the hell were you thinking when you got dressed?"

Kate gave him a look of supreme annoyance. "I was thinking I was gonna get to fuck somebody tonight and I wouldn't be wearing this thing long. Now, answer the God damned question! What's he doing here and why the fuck weren't I informed!?"

With too many thoughts in his head, her brother tried to answer, "Well I –"

"Sheppard summoned me to verify the information you have concerning the wraith is accurate," Todd explained, leaving his place at the human's side in order to angle himself towards the incensed female. Her eyes flew to his as an expression of skepticism transformed her face into one of incredulity. Once he was sure he had her attention, he allowed his gaze to drop, lazily working over her as he took in the nuances of her attire. So much skin, he liked this dress he decided; provided he was the only one who got to see it.

Behind him, Sheppard almost lost his seat again. What the hell was that!?

Kate opened her mouth.

"Major Sheppard?"

She turned, taking a breath of surprise at the man standing behind her. Captain Phoenix, damn. "Hi."

The marine smiled at her, carefully looking her up and down. "Wow you look great. You look –"

A low growl cut him off causing his eyes to fly upwards to the wraith he hadn't even noticed because he'd been too distracted by what Major Sheppard was wearing. Holy shit, where the hell had he come from? And what was he doing here?

"What –"

"Katherine is spoken for."

The hell? Phoenix blinked. "Uh –"

His date, meanwhile, had turned around again; expression unamused. "Oh I am, am I?"

The creature nodded; no longer concerned with the other male now Katherine's attention was back on him. "That is our agreement. Whenever I am in the city, you are mine."

Kate's eyes widened at the use of the word 'mine', suddenly sure she knew what was really going on here. Todd was jealous and if it were any other time except now she might've been flattered. Since it wasn't, she was just annoyed. "For the record, I'm not yours but you're right, we have an agreement."

She turned back to Phoenix. "I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to bail on you, apparently I've got work to do. Maybe a rain check?"

He nodded, knowing she hadn't planned this. He'd talked to her yesterday and everything had still been a go and she'd been gone for most of today, having only gotten back a couple hours ago. Really it was just bad timing. "Sure. We can try again later. Maybe next party, huh?"

"It's a date," she replied, turning around again so she could grab the wraith by the arm and drag him off somewhere quiet. They needed to talk and like most of their conversations, Kate didn't want any interruptions.

Back at the table, John watched her go knowing that following her was out of the question. Meanwhile Vega had turned to Phoenix.

"Tough luck dude. You can thank the colonel here for giving Todd the invite. Otherwise you'd still have a date."

Mumbling something about it not being anyone's fault just bad timing, the captain said his goodbyes and made his way back through the crowd towards his team. In his wake, the table fell silent until Cadman and Vega decided to accost Lorne by dragging him onto the dance floor. Alone, John finished his beer before going in search of his team while Kate continued to drag Todd through the crowd until they made it to the balcony. The temperature was well below freezing but the Ancients seemed to have been pretty good at manipulating their environment; their space heaters worked better than anything anyone on Earth could dream up. It may be twenty degrees outside but the section where they were now sitting was nice and toasty warm.

With a critical eye Kate leaned back in her chair and studied Todd. "Care to explain what the hell that was all about?"

The wraith tried to look innocent. "To what are you referring?"

Kate snorted. "Don't give me that, you know damn well what I'm talking about and I except you to answer. What was with the posturing?"

Todd sighed, searching for an explanation that would make sense. He wasn't entirely sure he understood. His reaction had been instinctual. "The wraith are territorial by nature. We are…I do not know how to describe it."

"Prone to irrational jealousy and feelings of possessiveness of things that aren't yours?"

His eyes narrowed. "I would not go as far as to say that."

"I would," Kate argued. "I meant it, I'm not yours and I don't enjoy being treated as though I am."

The rejection stung although Todd realized she did not mean it that way. He had no control over his reaction or the feeling of longing that accompanied it. Would that someday Katherine would deem him worthy of her but that day was not today. At present, Todd was certain she did not even think of him as having any potential. He was just a job to her, an assignment, while to him she had come to mean so much more.

That distant day could not come fast enough.

"I am sorry my presence has ruined your plans for the evening."

Kate snorted remembering how he'd reacted to meeting Phoenix. "No you're not."

"Perhaps," he admitted, folding his arms and he leaned back into his chair. "But I am sorry you are unhappy."

"I'm not unhappy, I'm just…I got all dressed up for nothing and…"

The corners of his mouth pulled upwards, exposing his teeth in what could only be described as a very predatory grin. "I beg to differ."

Kate felt the back of her neck heat up, a blush sweeping over her cheeks. She was suddenly very thankful to be outside away from the lights and other people. "Glad you like the dress."

Todd's answering growl was so low it was almost a purr.

Clearing her throat, Kate said, "I was also trying to send a message."

The wraith grunted. "Yes, Captain Vega said something about how your date being little more than an excuse to, what is your term? Get laid?"

Kate laughed, absolutely tickled to hear him use their terminology. Coming from him it sounded weird. "Yeah, something like that. I didn't want there to be any confusion."

"In that outfit I do not see how there could be," Todd commented dryly. "The queens certainly do not go through so much trouble. If they desire release they only need choose a male and then it is done. Surly you are capable of doing the same."

She shook her head. "That's not now it works for us. Humans like to feel as though they've made a connection, even if it's only a physical one. And our guys, usually they're the dominant ones. Normally they're in the driver's seat and us women are just along for the ride."

Todd blinked unable to imagine Katherine willingly submitting herself to anyone. She would not even concede verbal dominance to him. "And you allow this?"

She shrugged. "In bed, yeah. Submissive doesn't mean passive, a lot of times people get those two confused. Men are stronger, more aggressive and being on the receiving end of all that passion's a pretty big turn on. Especially if its only for one night. With a partner though, it's different – that's when you get to experiment because you know you can trust them. Everything's different with a partner."

He cocked his head. "And is that not what you seek? I thought all humans were caught in an endless pursuit of the right mate?"

"Not everyone, I'm not," Kate replied. "Eventually yeah, it'd be nice but for now I just need someone who can get the job done."

Todd snorted. "I doubt your chosen male would have proven adequate. Most likely he would have left you wanting. Might I suggest looking elsewhere for companionship, perhaps a wraith?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting I'm human? I doubt the wraith would be in any hurry to line up outside my door."

"On the contrary," Todd insisted, "I can think of several officers under my command who would quite enjoy the opportunity. You are human yes, but you are strong; and defiant. In an alliance with so few queens, there would be many who would relish the chance to mate with one such as you."

Eyeing him, Kate decided they really needed a change in subject. She was about two seconds shy of asking whether or not he was anywhere on the list. "How does that work anyway, with the queens? There's only one to a ship so how do you guys…"

"If a queen desires a male she takes him, the rest must find alternative sources for pleasure."

"Such as?"

Todd shifted in his seat, no longer as comfortable with this line of questioning as he had been moments ago. "There is a reason the majority of our worshipers are female."

"Ah."

"Of course," he added, "If you are a male with a high enough position and enough experience and power, you need not worry. If your queen does not want you there are others."

"That's you I take it?" Kate smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps," the wraith grinned.

With a frown, Kate remembered something he'd said to her a while back, at the wedding. "What about marriage or bonding ceremonies or whatever you call them? I remember you told me you do those, and divorce equals death."

Todd hissed, regretting having told her that because he had done so in anger. He had not lied, it was true, it was simply no longer a common practice. "Many thousands of years ago we bonded much the same as you do but now; we have so few females most of whom are queens. A female can still have an exclusive claim on a male but the same cannot be said in reverse. There are simply too few of them."

Through the darkness and the starlight, Kate studied him; mapping his features as though trying to commit them to memory. In the shadows his eyes glowed, a mixture of their normal golden-yellow but with an electric blue sheen. They were beautiful. "I wish I'd known you then."

"You would not have liked me," Todd confessed, knowing it to be true. The countless centuries had tempered him, hardening him to stone where before he had been like hot steel. No, Katherine would not have liked him then but he, had he allowed himself the opportunity, would have very much liked her.

Their contemplations were cut short, disappearing as Laura Cadman appeared, flinging open one of the doors as she yelled for Kate to come quickly. Rushing back inside, Kate hurried after the concerned captain with Todd in her wake; twisting through the crowd until she got to John who was on the floor clutching his head while Teyla unsuccessfully called his name.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"He collapsed," Ronon explained, turning to her. He frowned, eyes narrowing as they caught sight of the wraith hovering at her shoulder. "What's he doing here?"

"John called him, asked him to come double check the archives," Kate explained, "Now, what happened before he collapsed?"

"Nothing, we were talking," Rodney said. "Then he started complaining about his head and, the next thing we know, he's on the floor."

"He's been acting weird all day," Major Lorne announced, pushing his way to the front of the crowd with Vega in tow. "He needs to go to the infirmary."

Deciding that sounded like the best option, Kate turned back to Ronon and told him to help her get John off the floor. The act of trying to pick him up seemed to jar him out of whatever stupor he'd fallen into, making him protest, "I'm fine. I don't need –"

"Bullshit Sir, you fucking collapsed," Vega reputed, going to help Ronon and Kate. She threw one of the colonel's arms over her shoulder and then kicked off her heels so she could more easily maneuver. "Shut up and walk."

John was indignant. "I'm fine, really, I'm fine. I just need to sit back down –"

His protest was cut short when Kate's fist hit him square in the face, knocking him cold. His body went limp, Vega almost lost her footing.

"Fuck, Kate! What'd you do that for?"

"It's easier," she explained, following Alicia's example as she kicked off her shoes and then stooped down to pick up her brother's feet. "Grab his arms. Todd..." she turned, "…go ahead and warn whoever's in the infirmary we're coming and have them prepare the restraints. When we get there I want him strapped down so he can't escape."

Having received immense joy out of watching Katherine render Sheppard unconscious, the wraith nodded and disappeared into the crowd trusting the humans to get out of his way. In his wake, Vega took one arm while Ronon took the other and Kate, who was holding his legs at about the knee, steered. Once they got him down the stairs they were golden and headed straight for the nearest transporter. They had to prop him up in order to get him in, and with four of them it was a tight fit, but when they arrived in the infirmary they found Jennifer and Todd waiting for them.

John was also awake; having woken several minutes ago he had begun to squirm, complaining about being carried, until Ronon had threatened to drop him if he didn't stop. He did drop him when it came time to get him onto the gurney which is when Sheppard started complaining again – insisting to all and sundry that he was fine. Nobody believed him which was why, after they'd gotten him on the bed, Kate climbed up with him and sat on him.

The colonel was particularly unhappy with that. "Get off me!" he cried.

"No!" his sister fired back, looking around the room until her eyes landed on a very amused Todd. "Here, make yourself useful; go find something to tie him down with."

Grinning, Todd left to do as instructed, returning shortly with a set of restraints he'd retrieved from a petrified nurse. While Sheppard tried, in vain, to dislodge his sister who was sitting astride him, hands pressing down on his shoulders while her knees dug into his sides, the wraith made quick work of his wrists and ankles; securing him to the bed frame. Offering a hand, Todd helped Katherine climb down; releasing her only after her feet had had touched the floor.

"Thank you."

John looked at her as though he'd been betrayed. His plan was unraveling but he couldn't give up, not yet. He needed more info. "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm fine. Now unstrap me and let me –"

"You're not fine," Vega argued, "You fell to the floor because of a fucking headache. That's the opposite of fine. Doc," she turned to Jennifer, "Tell me you're keeping him over night?"

"I'm keeping him over night," she assured the captain, just as concerned for the colonel's health as her and Kate. Something was definitely wrong and she wasn't about to let Sheppard's stoic solider thing saw her into releasing him without doing a full work-up. "I'll put him in an observation room, run a video feed, and have the nurses' check on him every couple hours. Then in the morning I'll order some tests."

Satisfied the colonel would be taken care of, Vega announced she was going back to the party and that she'd tell Lorne what was going on. Ronon left too and Kate, who decided – since she wasn't getting laid – that she was done for the night, turned to Todd and said, "So, do you wanna go back to my room with me and watch a movie or should I drop you off at yours?"

He considered his options, realizing quickly that there was very little to actually consider. He had been having a pleasant time with her until her brother had collapsed. "What movie?"

Kate grinned. "Something you'll like, I promise." She started walking, bare feet slapping quietly against the floor, lost against the heavy thud of Todd's boot steps. After a while, once they'd reached the residential tower, she finally turned to him and asked, "So, what're you really doing here?"

The wraith scowled. "Your brother summoned me so I might make sure the information pertaining to wraith in your archives is –"

"– Accurate, yeah, I heard." She frowned, studying his profile, "Since when do you come when John calls?"

Todd growled. "Since he made it abundantly clear there would be consequences should I not." He saw Katherine raise an eyebrow, expression begging further details. He sighed, "He threatened that should I not do as directed, he would interfere in my dealings with you."

Beside him, grey eyes turned dark, narrowing in anger. "Did he?"

The wraith nodded.

"Son of a…" Kate snarled, pissed. Fuck him; fuck him straight to hell. John had no right to go behind her back and do something like this. She had half a mind to go back to the infirmary and beat him to within an inch of his life.

"Katherine?"

She looked up, noting with some surprise the expression of worry on Todd's face. "John doesn't have control over me," she spat, needing him to know that so nothing like this would ever happen again. The only one capable of ending their contract was Woolsey. "He's the CO of Atlantis yeah, but I report directly to Woolsey. John doesn't get to give me orders because he's incapable of remaining objective. He can threaten all he wants, but he doesn't get a say. He fucking lied to you."

Todd's face flashed surprise. "But why? What possible profit would there be in allowing me to believe –"

"He wanted to see what you'd do, what your reaction would be," Kate guessed, angrily shaking her head. "He's fucking paranoid – John's worried something's gonna happen with us."

"Such as?" Todd queried, fringing ignorance over what Sheppard was concerned about. He knew full well what the human feared but, selfishly, he wanted to hear it given voice; as though doing so might somehow make the concern genuine.

But Katherine wasn't fooled. "You know damn well what the hell he's afraid of. It's fucking stupid how terrified he is of it. I doesn't fucking understand…"

Apparently when angry, variations on the word 'fuck' were something Katherine used quite often. "Are his concerns founded?"

Pausing just outside her room, Kate turned to look at him. "That's a trick question," she said, waving open her door and inviting him in. Then, too worked up and pissed off at whatever game her brother was playing to care Todd was there, she unzipped her dress and wiggled out of it; kicking it into a corner as she went in search of sweat pants and a tank top.

When she turned, she found the wraith watching her with the same hooded eyed expression she'd first seen when he'd walked in on her in the shower. "See something you like?"

Todd's eyes snapped to hers. "Why is the answer to whether or not Sheppard's concerns are valid a trick question?"

Crossing her arms, she gazed back at him and sighed, "Okay, look. There's a saying on earth, several actually, about how you should 'never say never' and how 'you don't know what the future holds' and not knocking something until you try it. The point is it's never a good idea to deal in absolutes. Things change. How did you feel about me when you met me?"

"You were a challenger, someone that must be dealt with," the wraith replied. He had no idea how this was relevant but if it helped Katherine answer his question he would humor her. "No matter how intriguing you proved yourself to be, you were an obstacle."

"And now?"

"You are an equal. Something that, until I met you, I thought no human would ever be."

Kate felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth upon hearing him declare her an equal. She'd love to linger on it, maybe tell him she told him so, but she pressed on, "And you, when I met you, you were a job. You still are to some extent but now you're more than that. I wasn't just upset about John not telling me you were here, I was pissed knowing that whatever you were doing here it was probably not your choice and John was going to torture you again by making you do some stupid human thing. He treats you like shit, trying to make you look like an idiot and that...bugs me."

"Because you respect me, you did not wish me to suffer unnecessarily," Todd concluded, taking a step towards her. He lowered his head, locking his eyes with hers so he could see the truth of his statement shining back at him. His next words, however, were far more wistful. He only hoped them to be true, he did not know for certain. "Because you care for me, because you like me…"

Her conviction wavered, throat constricting as she swallowed hard wondering how the hell she'd let herself be drawn into this conversation in the first place. They were treading on very dangerous ground and yet, his gaze was direct; challenging. She'd never backed down from him before, she'd be damned if she started now. "I like you more then I should."

Todd's breath caught in his throat. "And what does that mean?"

Tongue thick in her mouth, Kate had trouble making the words. She had to force herself to answer knowing that if she didn't she'd lose more than if she told him the truth. "It means…if things keep going the way they're going… and if I'm not careful…then, yeah, John's got something he needs to worry about."

Pupils dilating, Todd felt his eyes widen; his surprise evident. He had not thought that to be her reply. He had hoped, stars yes he had hoped, but he had not expected it. That Katherine saw potential in him, in them, to be something more then what they were, filled him with excitement. It was not a confession of interest, or of attraction, but where before there had been no hope for either now lay the possibility for both. Katherine was a worthy female, a queen amongst humans – the chance to earn her affection, for her to be truly his, was something he had longed for.

Kate kept her eyes locked on his until she could no longer stand their intensity. Turning her back to him, she busied herself with finding the remote and then picking a movie she thought he wouldn't hate. She decided on the first 'Lord of the Rings', figuring that if he liked it they could watch the others later. Popping in the disk, she settled on the couch and pressed play, all while determinedly keeping her eyes on the screen. It was in the middle of Bilbo's birthday party that Todd finally decided to sit down, lowering himself onto the cushion next to her with his hands in his lap. By the time they got to Rivendell he'd relaxed, leaned back and propped one booted foot up on her coffee table. They didn't talk for the entire movie and, when it was over, Kate silently walked him to her door before muttering a quiet goodnight, and making sure he actually went into his room. Then, closing the door, she let out a sigh before turning off the TV and crawling into bed.

She was asleep in minutes.

~xXx~

John woke the next morning to a head full of whispers, a splitting headache and no memory of where he was. Opening his eyes, he recognized he was in the infirmary. He tried to sit up only to realize he couldn't because he was tied down. Suddenly he remembered how he'd gotten here; he'd been carried and Todd had tied him down. When he got out of here he was gonna kill him.

"You're awake."

He blinked, eyes searching until they found Jennifer. "Hey doc," he said groggily. "Where is everyone?"

"Probably at lunch," she informed him. "You've been asleep for over fourteen hours."

He frowned. "Is Woolsey back yet?"

She shook her head. "No but we have heard from him. Apparently the talks are going well but he's going to be a few more days."

"Huh." A new wave of whispers threatened to make his head explode; he winced and decided to ask if Todd was still here.

"He is, he was in the archives all this morning going through our information."

Another wince. "By himself?"

"Kate's with him." Jennifer's eyes narrowed in concern, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm just…" he trailed off, suddenly assaulted by an onslaught of silent inquiries into the state of his immediate health. Apparently the doctor was really worried. "Could you maybe not think so loud?"

Eyes wide, it took her a minute before Jennifer realized what he was talking about. "Can you…are you reading my mind?"

John nodded slowly, groaning as he was bombarded with another strong wave of ideas that weren't his. "You and everyone else in the damned city."

In shock, she sputtered, "When did this start!?"

"Two days ago," he replied, knowing his gig was up. He really should've just gone to the infirmary, it'd been stupid to think he could use this to his advantage. "After we got back from PX9."

Jennifer was exasperated. Two days and he was only now telling her he'd gained the ability to read people's minds? If he weren't bedridden and in pain, she'd slap him. "Where yu planning on telling anyone or were you just –"

"I was gonna tell you," he muttered, laboring under the sudden effort it took to talk. It was getting difficult to separate his thoughts from everyone else's. And it hurt, his head felt like it was gonna split open. "I just wanted to get something done with it first."

Comprehension dawning, the doctor looked at her patient in extreme annoyance. "Todd. That's why you invited him here, you wanted to try and read his mind."

Groaning, John could do little more the nod.

She scowled. "Dare I ask what you were hoping to get?"

The colonel moaned. "I was…I wanted to see if he was telling the truth. 'Bout Kate. 'Bout not having any plans for her."

"And is he?"

Sheppard groaned again, trying in vain to push out all the thoughts except his. "I…I have no idea what he's planning but it's something. He likes her I did…I did learn that. He cares about her too. Like…like he really cares."

Jennifer's curiosity got the better of her. "Like she's his friend or like he's thinking about going after her?"

"The second one," John confessed, twisting his neck as if he could prevent more thoughts from coming in just by moving his head. "He's…he's definitely attracted to her and he…last night…the way he looked at her – he got all territorial when Kate was talking to her date. It wasn't, it's not right. He called her his."

The doctor sighed. It was obvious to anyone with a working set of eyes that Todd was interested in Kate. It was also obvious that Kate didn't share that interest. He was a job and while they'd started getting friendly Jennifer wouldn't go so far as to say they were actually friends.

"Okay look," she told the colonel, "It doesn't matter if he likes her, or wants her other anything like that –"

"What!? Of course it matters!" John protested. "She kissed him!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "She kissed him to get back at you, not because she's secretly attracted to him or something. She doesn't want him back."

"And that matters why, exactly?" Sheppard wanted to know. "It's bad enough –"

"It matters because Todd's arrogant enough to want her to want him before he decides to do anything," Jennifer exclaimed. "Unless he's sure he's got a chance, he's not gonna do anything so you can stop being paranoid about it. It doesn't matter if he's attracted to her because right now, it's nothing more than an observation. You're making yourself sick over something that's never going to happen. Literally! If it weren't for trying to read Todd's mind you would've come to me right away instead of waiting until you completely collapsed! I only hope it's not too late."

With a sigh, she walked away leaving the colonel to hang his head and groan as another wave of thoughts rampaged through his cranium. With a groan he sank back into his pillows and stared uselessly up at the ceiling, realizing that Jennifer was most likely right about a lot of it. Todd might like Kate but Kate didn't like Todd.

At least he hoped she didn't. Problem was he'd spent so much time trying to get a bead on Todd he'd neglected to find out what his sister thought about him. If she liked him, even a little bit, even if it was only in a strictly platonic way, Todd might get it in his head to jump the gun anyway. John sincerely hoped not because if that happened, if Todd decided he wanted her, there wasn't really a whole lot he'd be able to do to dissuade him. What the wraith wanted the wraith eventually got one way or another. The same could be said of Kate, his sister was stubborn.

John sighed.

Damn.

~xXx~

After an initial round of tests Jennifer realized she should probably tell the others what was going on. She called Lorne and gave him a brief overview of the situation before asking how he wanted to handle it. With Colonel Sheppard out of the equation the major was now in charge so after delegating several tasks down the chain of command, Lorne told the doctor to call up the rest of Sheppard's team and then meet him in the briefing room. When she arrived the first thing out of everyone's mouths was what was wrong with him.

Fortunately she had an answer. "There's a parasite in his brain. At first I thought it was a tumor but then I realized it was growing much more quickly than it would be if that's what is was. From what I can tell it's feeding off Colonel Sheppard's synaptic activity – that's why he can hear what people are thinking. In order to generate more electrical impulses the parasite's turned on the inactive parts of his brain."

"Like what happened to me when I got hit with the ascension machine," Rodney mused, "Only what's happening to him is because of a disease and not because he's preparing –"

"– To ascend to a higher plane of existence yeah, we got that part." Lorne sighed, "So, what do we do?"

"I've no idea," Jennifer confessed, turning to Ronon. "I don't suppose you know of any more mystical shrines?"

He shook his head.

The doctor sighed, turning her attention back to the others. "Then I really don't know what all to try. I've put him in isolation; I thought getting him away from everyone might help but he says everything's as loud as ever. Other than knocking him out or putting him into a medically induced coma I don't know what else I can try."

"Maybe there is something in Atlantis' archives, some mention of this parasite or of the disease," suggested Teyla, glancing round the table. "It would certainly do no harm to look. The city's archives have yielded us information in the past."

Knowing they had to start somewhere, and the archives were as good a place as any, Lorne readily agreed. "Let's try that. I think Kate and Todd are still down there so I'll give them a call. Once we find something, if we find something, I'll radio everyone and then we can decide what to do from there."

In support of his plan, the briefing room emptied: Teyla and Ronon to the gym, Rodney and Jennifer to the infirmary. Lorne, meanwhile, retreated to his office after telling Kate over the radio to begin searching for any mention of either the parasite or Colonel Sheppard's symptoms. Then he sat down and got started on his paperwork, crossing his fingers they'd know more in a couple hours.

It took three.

After three hours of searching Todd finally stumbled across a medical entry detailing a disease with many of the same symptoms as the colonel. It wasn't an exact match but it had more commonalities than any of the other aliments he had read about over the last several hours. Feeling certain he had discovered the culprit, Todd first called Katherine – who had since left to help Major Lorne settle a dispute – and then the others, asking them to meet him at his present location.

They arrived shortly, all wanting to know the same thing. He answered their inquiries patiently, hoping they would at least let him finish before bombarding him with questions.

This was not the case.

"But how do we know this is even the right one?" asked Rodney, not even a full minute into the wraith's explanation. "Yeah it's got most of the same symptoms but there's no mention of gaining the ability to read minds. What if –"

"I am certain this is the disease affecting the colonel," Todd assured him, fingers twitching as he stepped to one side so Katherine could examine the entry. "There are too many commonalities for it to be anything different."

"But –"

"He's right," agreed Kate, turning back around to face everyone. "This is it, it's gotta be."

"But then, what about the mind reading thing?" Lorne wondered. "It's not like we can just write it off. It's a kinda big part of what's wrong with –"

"I have a theory on that, actually," said Kate. "The NC26 serum drove everybody who took it nuts except for me, Sixteen, Ninety-One, Twelve, Eleven, Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five, Sixty-Two and Three. You wanna know what all of us have in common?"

"What?" asked Ronon.

"The ATA gene."

Jennifer's eyes lit up. "You think that because Colonel Sheppard's brain is already technically more advanced, he has an extra symptom."

She nodded.

"So then this is the right one."

Rodney scoffed. "We don't know that for sure though. At best, this is all conjecture. We don't have any proof – "

"It's the only disease that fits," argued Lorne, ticking facts off his fingers as he laid out the evidence. "The parasite enters through the bloodstream and is carried by insects – ya'll said the colonel was bit by something while ya'll were on your way back to the gate on your last mission. The log also says after making its way into the brain, the parasite'll start to feed off the brain's natural electrical impulses. This makes the damn thing grow until the pressure it exerts on the brain tissue starts giving the host one hell of a headache. I don't know about you but I think it's safe to say we've found our guy so the next question is what do we do about it?"

"The Lanteans were able to devise a treatment by manipulating the natural enzymes of a particular plant," the wraith informed them. "The entry provides instruction on how to do so along with an image and physical description of the plant in question. There is also a list of planets where it can be located but I doubt it will be of any help to us."

"Why not?" Teyla frowned.

"These records are over ten thousand years old; much has changed in that time," Todd explained. "Of the fourteen planets listed I know of only two that may still be viable. It is difficult to tell for certain as it has been decades if not centuries since I have set foot on either. There is, however, an easier way to acquire what we need."

Ronon's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"There is a queen belonging to another alliance who has a fondness for all manner of flora and things that grow. Her hive has a rather impressive arboretum and, when last I had visited, I am certain I saw the specimen we require. It is one of her focal points."

The humans stared at him. "You mean to tell me there's a hive out there with a freaking forest right in the middle of it?" asked Lorne, openly gaping at this new information. "Are you fucking kidding me!?"

"I do not see why you are so surprised," Todd commented, cocking his head to one side as he studied the major. "Surely you have guessed by now our ships are not so very different from your human cities. There are amenities, areas for recreation and entertainment venues the same as are here."

Having never really wondered how the wraith actually lived, Lorne dropped his eyes. "Ah…"

Kate, meanwhile, turned to look at him. "So, you think you can get this queen to let us have –"

"What about the other planets?" Ronon asked loudly, not really into the idea of asking a wraith for help. He had enough trouble with how often they had to ask Todd to come bail them out; there was no need to drag some other wraith into the equation. One was enough.

Major Lorne didn't have quite the same dilemma. "Well I guess we can try but like Todd said, this report's over then thousand years old. It'd probably be easier –"

"Don't take this the wrong way but I don't trust you," said Ronon, staring straight at Todd as he said it. "It's better we just take care of this ourselves."

Lip curling, the wraith replied with a snarl, "I would despair if you did fortunately; Sheppard's fate is not up to you." He returned to Lorne, "Now, I believe I can –"

"I think we should at least attempt to find the plant ourselves before accepting any outwards assistance," Teyla advised, no more keen on Todd's proposal then her teammate. "At least then we can be sure –"

"Sheppard does not have that much time," Todd protested. "Your pride and unwillingness to accept my help is not worth his life."

"No offense, but why do you care?" Rodney demanded, "It's not like you actually like him or anything."

The wraith seethed, fingers itching to reach out and strangle every one of the intolerable humans. He growled, "My reasons are my own and do not concern you."

Rodney gulped and Ronon started to growl back but before either of them could say anything Lorne jumped between them and held out his arms. "That's enough," he cautioned, eyeing both parties to make sure they'd back down before he continued. "So here's what's gonna happen. Todd's gonna go talk to the queen while you, Ronon and Teyla go check out whatever planets on the list you can get a lock on. That way all our bases are covered and whichever of you gets back with the plant, you can collect your two hundred dollars and move on. Capeesh?"

The colonel's team nodded in unison while Todd, who actually understood that reference, followed suit. Breathing a sigh Lorne let his arms fall back to his sides as Ronon, Teyla and Rodney all turned and marched out of the archives. Jennifer followed, muttering something about checking on her patient and how putting him in a medical coma was probably the most humane choice. When she was gone, the major turned back to Todd.

"You on board?"

With narrowed eyes the wraith gave a slow nod.

"Whataya need from me?" asked Lorne.

"A jumper would be greatly appreciated. And Katherine," Todd replied. "I know you do not trust me anymore than the Setedan does. If you agree to allow her to accompany me you can be sure –"

"– This isn't a trick?" He turned to Kate, "You okay going with that?"

"I am," she assured him. Her posture was determined, "John's my brother. If it saves is life I'll do whatever it takes."

Lorne knew she would, that wasn't the issue. The issue was nobody trusted Todd and the only one Todd trusted was the woman standing next to him. "She stays with you, the whole time, got it? Whatever excuse you have to come up with, whatever story will explain why she's with you; Major Sheppard does not leave your side until your ass is back in Atlantis. You copy?"

Understanding of the human's distrust, if somewhat annoyed, Todd bowed his head before gesturing at Katherine he was ready to depart. Waving her in front of him he followed her from the archive room first to her equipment locker where she donned her armor and then the jumper bay. Lorne, meanwhile, returned to his office hoping that in his absence Strauss and Teldy hadn't had time to kill each other yet. He'd had Kate help him break the news to both of them about their new team assignments and, predictably, neither had handled it well. There had been lots of yelling, some shouting and a couple of threats before he'd had to call time out. Now they were waiting for him back in his office probably hoping he'd changed his mind.

He hadn't. The both of them would just have to learn to fucking deal with it. Sheppard was sick, Woolsey was gone and once again they were relying on Todd the damned wraith to save the day. Lorne didn't have time for Teldy and Strauss' bullshit. He had better things to do…

~xXx~

By morning the situation hadn't improved. Sheppard was in a coma, they hadn't heard from Woolsey, Todd and Kate were still gone and Lorne was in the gate room awaiting the return of the colonel's team. The three of them had spent the night traveling to different planets looking for the stupid magic plant without much success. They'd pretty much exhausted the list which, of the original fourteen, only five had turned out to be reachable and reachable did not mean viable. Todd's prediction was coming true: the first gate was under water, the second one let out into a planet wide desert, the third into a frozen tundra and the fourth into a rainforest with some not so friendly wildlife. Any minute now they were due back from the fifth planet and, based on their track record so far, Lorne wasn't gonna hold his breath.

"So how'd it go?"

"Not well," replied a weary Teyla looking more than a little worse for wear. "The terrain was hospitable enough but the locals…"

"Weren't exactly happy to see us," finished Rodney. "Told us if we didn't go back the way we came they'd feed us to their masters."

Lorne raised an eyebrow. "Masters?"

"The wraith," Ronon deadpanned. "We think they were wraith worshipers."

"How nice."

"We decided to leave rather than risk it," Teyla concluded, sighing. "Has Todd returned?"

"Not yet."

"Has he sent a message?" asked Rodney, "Maybe to say it was gonna be a while because it's been nearly ten hours. If we haven't heard anything back by now he's probably –"

"Not coming back," the Setedan growled. "He's played us."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," Lorne disagreed, "Kate went with him."

"That means exactly jack squat," said Rodney angrily. "If Todd wants to he can just get rid of her. It probably wouldn't even take that much effort. Kate's a super soldier yeah but Todd's stronger. If he wanted he could –"

"Todd wouldn't hurt her if his life depended on it," said Lorne, "And besides, it was his idea to take her with him in the first place."

The scientist blinked. "What! Why'd he do that!?"

"Because he's not an idiot," the major told him, "He knows we don't trust him."

Ronon didn't buy it. "That is only reason?" he asked, not believing for a second Todd didn't have secondary motivation for taking Kate with him. He wanted something from her, they all knew it. Question was what. "You know he –"

"He won't hurt her," Lorne assured him, confident in that even if he wasn't too sure about everything else. "If it were anyone one else I'd be worried but it's not. It's Kate. He wants her to work for him, to be a spy for his alliance – that's what he was here to talk to Woolsey about last month. He trusts her and he respects her hell, according to Kate he'd even called her a queen a couple of times. I may not trust him with my life or anyone else's, but I do trust him with hers."

Then, before anyone could say anything, Lorne turned on his heel and left leaving both Teyla and Ronon behind him slack jawed and speechless. Rodney, on the other hand, was less surprised and decided to follow the major from the gate room on his way to the infirmary. The other two, meanwhile, were rooted to the spot each contemplating the connotations behind Major Lorne's revelation. Neither knew what to say or how to react; there was nothing to say. Looking at each other they both knew instinctively that this was not the last they would hear of this. If Todd truly saw Kate as a queen then that meant he saw her as an equal and a human that was considered the equal of a wraith wasn't something these stars had ever seen. It was a concept that was completely new and new did not always mean better.

On this, only time would tell…

~xXx~

Despite Lorne's instructions, Kate knew that explaining what she was doing there was a hassle they just couldn't afford right now. She'd stayed with him the entire time they'd been on his hive but, when it came time to go to the other hive, Kate decided to stay in the jumper. It was cloaked of course, carefully hidden in some shrubbery about a mile from the grounded hive. Todd'd been gone close to three hours now and she was starting to get just a tad worried. Not that he wouldn't come back but that maybe something had happened. It was times like these she wished he carried a radio or that she could still communicate with him telepathically. Right now either would've come in real handy.

Outside, a rustling sound caught her attention pulling her eyes to the rear of the jumper. The hatch was open and through it she could see Todd as he appeared through the undergrowth, carrying a pot in one of his hands as he journeyed back to her. She frowned as he got closer and she could see the look on his face. He didn't look happy. His mouth was set in a hard scowl and she could hear him growling from here. She's have to ask him what'd happened later but for now she just stood there and waited until he found the jumper and stomped up the ramp into the rear compartment.

Raising an eyebrow, Kate lowered her gaze to the pot. "Is that it?"

With a soft rumble of a growl she wouldn't have heard if not for her enhanced hearing, he thrust the pot into her hands before brushing past her on his way to the co-pilot's seat. With a shrug, Kate secured the plant with the molted purple leaves before closing the hatch and then starting the engines. As she began the pre-flight sequence, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye; an expression of worry tugging her mouth downwards.

"Are you okay?"

Fingers flexing in a clear sign of agitation he replied, "I am fine."

Kate didn't believe him. "Bullshit. What crawled up your ass and died? You look pissed."

Todd growled again this time more audibly. "I am fine merely…frustrated."

Concerned she asked, "About what?"

Brooding in silence, and wanting nothing more than to be left alone, the wraith snarled. He regretted it immediately when he saw her reaction; she frowned and looked away, back stiffening as she piloted the Lantean shuttle into the sky and back towards the gate. A cold and yawning silence descended between them despite the glances Todd sent in her direction, attempting silently to convey his apologies. It might have worked if Katherine would but look at him but she refused. He sighed heavily, knowing he this could not go on. He had not meant to be so short with her.

"Forgive me," he said at length, making one last attempt to catch her gaze. "I did not mean…I should not have –"

"What did the queen want?"

Frowning, he cocked his head to the side expression inviting her to explain.

She glanced at him, briefly but it was a glance. For a hair's breadth of a second her eyes had finally met his. "Queens don't strike me as the type of people that give out freebies so, what'd she want?"

Since the price the queen had demanded was also the reason for his rather abrasive humor, Todd was hesitant to reply. Eventually though, he capitulated, giving her the answer he knew she sought, "Release."

With a quirk of her eyebrow, Kate finally looked at him. "Shouldn't that improve your mood?"

"Ideally yes, however…" he trailed off, extremely unhappy to have admitted even this much. He did not want Katherine to think of him as weak and yet, she was still awaiting an explanation. He owed it to her given his earlier outburst. And Todd paid his debts. "Completion for both parties is not always assured. Most queens care only for their own fulfillment."

Aghast, Kate stared. "You mean she made you finish her and then kicked you out before you could…" She shook her head. Yes she could see how that might frustrate him. Anybody was allowed to be in a bad mood after that. "Shit that sucks. Just…hang in there 'til we get back to Atlantis then you can take of the problem yourself."

His face registered surprise. And non-comprehension, "To what are you referring?"

Thinking maybe he was hung up on the terminology Kate tired again. When he still didn't seem to get it she realized it wasn't because he didn't understand but because he had no idea what she was talking about. "Seriously?" she asked, giving him a guarded look full of skepticism. How could he not know? He was over ten thousand years old for Christ's sake.

Todd's eyes narrowed, his confusion becoming more evident as he cocked his head back in the other direction.

With an exasperated sigh Kate felt herself go red before trying her best to explain it to him. Through a series of hand gestures she was able to get the point across. When she saw his eyes widen she knew he understood. Predictably her face turned an even darker shade of red.

Todd, on the other hand, was frowning. "Self-gratification is considered a weakness amongst wraith, control is much more prized. Males are counseled from a very young age on ways to surpass or mask their desire if it has no outlet. And of course, our females –"

"– Get to just pick yeah, I remember that part." She licked her lips, cheeks still burning over the revelation that the wraith, as a species, didn't know what jacking off meant, "Unfortunately for us humans we don't have that kind of herculean self-control. Rather than suffer the tension we just do it ourselves. Saves time, makes everyone feel better…"

Todd was watching her, the expression on his face indicative of someone contemplating something they'd never before considered. "What?" she asked.

"Do you ever reply on such methods?"

Kate's face turned red again. "I…sometimes…"

He looked like he was having a hard time believing it. "I know your society functions differently than ours but surely a desirable female such as yourself is not lacking for opportunities to – "

"Over protective big brothers are a wonderful deterrent and contrary to popular belief, the whole wonder woman thing isn't as big a turn on to guys as they'd everyone to think."

"So you do not have many opportunities – "

"Can we maybe not talk about this anymore?" Kate snapped, cutting him off before he could finish telling her what she already knew. "Let's just get back to the city," she mumbled, her hands gripping the flight controls so tightly her knuckles turned white. "If you still wanna talk about this later then we can but, for now just shut up."

Frowning, Todd continued to look at her but, in compliance, refrained from commenting. His mind however, would not let him rest and he would continue to think on this for some time.

Neither spoke the rest of the flight.

~xXx~

When John Sheppard finally opened his eyes he found himself still in the infirmary but no longer in isolation. Instead he was in one of the regular beds, no longer tied down and with a mind blessedly free of anyone's thoughts but his own.

Thank God.

"How're you feeling?"

He half rose; eyes traveling to the foot of his bed were Atlantis' director stood watching him. "When'd you get back?"

"Nearly four days ago," Woolsey replied. "You'll be pleased to know the Coalition has decided it would rather work with us then against us. I'll be going back sometime later this month in order to begin negotiating a treaty."

"That's…that's good right?" He groaned, still not quite back to one hundred percent. More like sixty. "What happened?"

Taking a step forwards Woolsey came closer to the colonel's beside, hands folded primly at his back. "From what I've been given to understand you contracted a rare disease after being bitten by some kind of flying insect –"

"I hate bugs."

"– The insect ws carring a parasite and the parasite, after making its way to your brain, began activating the inactive portions in order to create more electric activity which it then fed upon."

John made a face. "Is that why I could read minds?"

"We think so although, we don't know for certain. There was no mention of that particular symptom anywhere in the record we pulled from the archives but Major Sheppard seems to think it might have something to do with you having the ATA gene."

"Gotta love that ATA gene."

Woolsey hummed, inching closer. He wondered if it was too soon to tell the colonel to whom he owed his life. Jennifer had warned him not to rile up her patient and as much as he wanted to give the man time to recover, they needed to address this. He'd already waited too long as it is.

"You owe Todd your life."

Sheppard blinked at him. "I owe who what now?"

The director sighed. "I know why you called him here and I also know what you threatened him with in order to get him to agree. It stops now Colonel. What happens between Todd and Major Sheppard is none of your concern and it will continue to be none of your concern for as long as their relationship persists."

Scowling, John sat bolt upright glaring contemptuously at the former IOA bureaucrat. "Like hell it's none of my concern!" he shouted, "And they don't have a relationship!"

"Telling yourself something isn't true doesn't make it go away. They do have a relationship, a professional relationship but a relationship nonetheless. Todd respects her and trusts her, enough he's willing to bring her into his confidence and make her an official part of his alliance."

John sputtered. "What the hell does that mean!?"

Woolsey sighed. "It means Major Sheppard is about to have access to Todd's entire intelligence network plus any other information she would want. It's not an opportunity we can afford to pass up. The IOA, the SGC, they all agree that this is what we need to do and if you interfere with that then there will be consequences. Don't make me replace you because, if you pull a stunt like this again, that's exactly what I've been authorized to do."

John glared and for a moment neither moved. It was Woolsey who looked away first, turning his back on the colonel as he took his leave. In his wake, Sheppard stared after him wondering if he really meant what he said or if it was a bluff in order to force him into taking a step back. Either way it worked and John realized that unless he wanted to be permanently removed from the equation, he was gonna have to start playing it safe. It was time to start thinking about playing the long game.

With Woolsey gone, McKay's wife came over and gave him one final check-up before announcing he was free to go. Getting dressed, John made his way down to the mess hall in search of his team and maybe Lorne. When he arrived he found no trace of Ronon or Teyla and he knew from Jennifer that Rodney was a sleep and not to be disturbed. He did however find his sister, Lorne, Cadman and Vega alone at their very own table along with another person he would've thought for sure would be gone by now.

He headed over. "The hell are you still doing here?"

"Sheppard," the wraith greeted cordially, bowing his head. "I trust you are feeling better?"

The human glared at him. "Peachy, now answer the question. What're you still doing here?"

Spreading his hands, Todd passed them over the table as if indicating the humans and their lunch trays on either side of him. "I was invited to share a meal and graciously accepted."

John snorted. "I've never seen you graciously accept anything in my life."

"Oh, you'd be surprised Sir," retorted Vega, kicking out one of the empty chairs so he could sit. "He's been here almost a week and, so far, he's been the perfect gentleman."

"'Gentleman's stretching it but you're right, over all he's been very well behaved," Kate said, tossing the wraith next to her a wide grin. "He didn't even hog the popcorn."

"That is because I did not consume any of the popcorn," Todd reminded her. "You had me hold it simply because I had the misfortunate to be sitting in the middle."

"The middle of what?" asked John. A sinking feeling told him he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Kate's couch," Cadman explained. "We had a marathon, all three 'Lord of the Rings' followed by 'Indiana Jones', 'Star Wars', both 'Transformers' and all three 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. He's now chock full of cultural references we no longer have to explain to him."

"Yes," the wraith agreed, "I now know what a lightsaber is and why it was so amusing for you to inquire as to why all the rum was gone during our card game."

Hopelessly lost, John could do little more than sit there and blink. "You…what about your hive?"

"I have been receiving updates. The repairs are being made much more quickly than I had anticipated. We should be able to return to normal flight operations soon."

"I…well, that's good right?" John said, unsure of what else to say. The table quickly descended into an awkward silence broken only when Cadman asked Kate if she was planning on trying again with Phoenix.

"Naw," she said, "I think that boat's sailed. Besides, it was pointed out to me that it probably wouldn't have been very good in the first place. I think I'll keep looking."

Vega snorted. "Yeah, and in the meantime, bob's gonna get one hell of a workout."

The women all exchanged sly looks while the men, all three of them, squinted in confusion. "Who's Bob?" asked Lorne.

"Battery operated boyfriend," Cadman supplied, ticking off each word on one of her fingers. She grinned, "It's a fancy way of talking about a – "

"Yeah, we get it," John snapped, looking anywhere but at his sister. If he had though, he would have seen her looking determinedly at the table while Todd tried his very best to stare a hole straight into the side of her skull. His eyes were piercing, as though just by looking at her he could convey some kind of message.

Problem was, he was succeeding. Kate knew damned well what that look meant having covered the topic at length upon their return to Atlantis. Apparently when she'd said they could talk about it later, Todd'd taken her at her word. What followed had been a very awkward conversation centered on the differences between wraith and human sexuality. In wraith culture a female was applauded for having the sexual attention of multiple males and the more partners she had the better. In other words, the exact opposite of how it worked in most human societies. Todd seemed to have trouble grasping this, more so as it related to her, and had repeatedly suggested she look elsewhere for opportunities if none existed within the boundaries of her own culture. She'd tried telling him the argument was a moot point, that even if she were to take him up on it her reputation would still be ruined; probably beyond repair as his suggestion involved sleeping with multiple wraith. Todd's reply had been that if quantity was the problem she should choose a single male deemed worthy of her attentions and have him provide services whenever she wanted them.

It was at this point Kate'd turned bright red and decided they were done having this conversation. She'd changed the subject but it was clear Todd wasn't as done with the discussion as she was. He'd kept making comments, remarks, every hour or so until eventually Kate told him she wasn't going to just throw out everything she'd ever been taught about self-respect just because it didn't mesh with his culture's ideas. She'd also told him her rule about one-night stands and sleeping with people she didn't know and didn't have at least a basic respect for. The wraith had then hesitated, his entire face speculative, as though he were deliberating something, before opening his mouth to – Kate suspected – offer himself. She'd left before he could actually say anything, retreating to the mess hall in an act of self-preservation. Todd'd followed and here they sat, the wraith doing his damnedest to stare a hole into the side of her head.

She wished he'd stop; at this point all he was doing was making her uncomfortable. She'd barely admitted to liking him and yeah, if things kept going along as they had been that like might turn into something else but she wasn't there yet. She wasn't even entirely sure she found him attractive, at least from the neck up. His face with its sharp cheekbones, prominent brow ridges, alien eyes and those sensory pit things definitely weren't her cup of tea. The tattoo was nice and the rest of him was certainly drool worthy once you got over the fact he was green. All that still didn't add up to her jumping in bed with him and even if she could see herself doing it sometime in the future, that future was a long ways off.

In the meantime, she decided to ignore him which was easier said than done. Unless you were her brother who, thank God, remained oblivious. The same could not be said of Alicia Vega; or Laura Cadman. Both women caught the expression on the wraith's face as well as the look of forced disinterest on hers. Neither made a comment aware that doing so would only succeed in setting John off again and they'd just managed to get that bag of worms closed. Kate was eternally grateful Lorne choose that moment to change the subject, the new topic – Atlantis' new pastry chef – keeping all mentions of sex off the table for least thirty minutes. By the time someone brought it up again, this time it was Vega, Kate decided Todd had officially outstayed his welcome and it was time to go.

Offering to walk him to the gate, the wraith stood and then held out his hand in a very court-like gesture that had Sheppard, Lorne and Cadman's eyebrows almost disappearing into their hairlines. Vega on the other hand, caught both the challenge in Todd's eyes as well as the blush creeping up the back of Kate's neck as she defiantly slid her hand into his and then let the wraith escort her out of the cafeteria.

A quick look at Cadman confirmed she'd seen it too while a glance in the colonel and Lorne's direction proved they'd missed it. That was probably for the best, all things considered. Something was definitely going on and maybe, just maybe, Colonel Sheppard might have something he needed to be worried about after all.

The thought made her smile.


A/N: Welcome back my dears! I hope you enjoyed this updated episode so, without further ado, allow me to give the reasons for all the changes:

1) Content – There're a couple of scenes from this one that I pulled directly from the old one because they worked so well last time. If I don't need to change something I won't so those of you who're worried nothing of the original is gonna make it into this one, never fear, there is hope.

2) The thoughts – Going forwards I wanted it to be a little more organic as far as what Sheppard does and doesn't hear. He's not picking up on everything but he is picking up on a lot so, rather than expressly state what he does or doesn't hear, it's kinda open to a little bit of interpretation.

3) Kate's dress – This isn't a change per say because it wasn't in the original but I know there're people out there who are gonna ask me what it looks like. So here's the deal, go to google (or whatever your preferred search engine is), type in 'Commander Shepard Kasumi dress' and see the image that pops up. That's the dress only much shorter; I picture the hemline being just long enough to cover all the important parts when she'd sitting down.

4) Sex talk – Okay so, as you might've notices there's kind of an ongoing theme in this episode about a universal topic we all know everyone likes to discuss. I did this for a couple of reasons: one, it just kept coming up as I was writing. Two, I've gotten a lot of questions about it and I'm still doing that thing were I answer questions in the text. Three, in several instances we have characters talking about it as a subject rather than as something they'd like to do. And five, it's just fun. But really, all that aside, a lot of what gets covered is stuff that our characters need to know in order to develop healthy relationships with each other going forwards. I've kinda escalated things a little bit to make everything more sensual earlier on because (SPOILER ALERT!) this time around they're not waiting until season 8 to get in bed together. When Kate tells Todd her brother might have something to worry about it things keep progressing, she's not so much giving him a greenlight so much as the possibility of one. Before Todd hadn't thought it was possible because Kate doesn't see him like that but now he knows she's at least open to the idea. From here on out there's gonna be a lot of flirting and maybe just a smidge of honest to God seduction. Not gonna tell you when it comes to a head though. If you wanna know keep reading.

5) Kate's confession – Coming off of last topic, I want to make very clear that at this point in time Kate's still not attracted to him, at least physically. She's attracted to his personality and his male magnetism but as for the rest of it, she's not quite there yet. She is however; aware that she could be which is what her confession is. It's a maybe not a greenlight go. Todd's job, for the next several episodes, will be to convince her it'll be worth it by continuing to do everything in his power to make her like him. Now he just has the added challenge of making her like him sexually.

So, that's it for this episode, everything else was either changed or manipulated in order to better go with the flow of the story. If anyone has any questions or comments on anything please don't hesitate to PM me, I'll answer them to the best of my abilities.

Until next time my lovelies,

Cheers!