Chapter 10- United We Stand- Uphill Battles

Sam rushed out of her office at the sound of the Gate activating. "Any IDC?" she asked Chuck.

"Colonel Sheppard's ma'am," He replied.

"Let them through, I'll meet them in the Jumper Bay." Sam rushed up the stairs to the Jumper Bay. "They're back early," she thought as she climbed. 'Too early, if the replicators had all ready gone, Rodney will should be driving John nuts checking out the replicator technology. And if they hadn't gone the team would probably be trying to make an alliance.'

Waiting, rather impatiently Sam watched as the Jumper rose from the Gateroom below. Rather slowly she watched as John moved the Jumper into place and the team with forlorn faces exited.

"What happened?" Sam asked, as they neared. "I didn't expect you so soon."

Watching their faces, and trying to see what was the matter, Sam notice Teyla seemed to be cradling something in her hand. "What happened on the planet?"

Finally it was Rodney who spoke, "We found the ship, and it is a rouge ship." He paused, his voice nowhere near the usual chatter it usually held. "It's mission is to whip out the Replicators and the Wraith, using the Replicators' own technology against them."

"Did you encounter the crew?" Sam asked, still puzzled at what was the matter.

"No," Ronan spoke up. "They must have built a new ship, eager to get back into the fight, or at least the log hinted to it. The one we found must have been deemed unfit for battle it was completely abandoned."

"Did you find anything of interest?" Sam asked, her eyes once again drawn to what Teyla was holding.

"Yes, this," Teyla replied very softly. She opened her hands to reveal the Atlantis uniform flag patch.

Sam's eyes widened at the sight of it, "Is that?" She had to fight to keep her voice from breaking.

"Yeah it is," John said, his eyes constantly on the patch. "Rodney checked the logs of the ship, their mission is led by Elizabeth, captain of the ship."

'This is going to through the IOA for a loop,' Sam thought, hoping someone could see their side, and that telling Jack straight off would increase those odds. "Go to the infirmary, and get something to eat, I need to contact Earth about this." She cut John off before he could say anything. "I know you want to see if you can find her, but right now she's seen as a security risk, though I doubt she is, and that's all the IOA will see right away. And like it or not we need the IOA support if we don't want any trouble for her. I'm all for bringing her back, you must understand that, and if I have anything to do with it we will."

"Fine," John conceded. "Come on, the Doc will want to see us."

Sam watched John lead his team away. Going down the stairs after them she went to Chuck. "Dial Earth," She ordered, looking grim, preparing herself for a battle.

Mess Hall

As soon as they were cleared from the infirmary the team decided to wait it out together, and take Sam's advice. Sitting and eating in silence while the other tables conversed about the happenings in Atlantis and various projects they were working on. Kavanaugh could be heard complaining loudly about Rodney's correction of his calculations from the day before, that he was certain they were still correct; which didn't even trigger a response from the usually argumentative scientist. Teyla sat in a daze fiddling with the food on her plate, while Ronan stared off into space next to her. The unusual silence brought some uneasy glances from the tables who were closest.

Radek entered the Mess Hall to see the unusual scene, seeing the other tables full he decides he has no other choice but to sit with the silent team. Taking a deep breath Radek braced himself and approached the table.

"umm…Colonel can I sit here?" Radek asked softly. "Everywhere else seems to be full."

"Sure," John replied somewhat distantly.

Radek took a seat next to Rodney and began to eat, feeling somewhat out of place. "I just came from the Control Room, and saw something interesting." He was trying to start any form of conversation to ease the mood of the table.

"What's that?" Rodney asked, the table's mood suddenly spiking suddenly.

"Well I had a meeting with Colonel Carter this morning about the Jumper Research we've been doing, and when I went to meet her she was in the middle of a video conference with General O'Neill about Elizabeth," He paused seeing he had everyone's undivided interest now, including several tables around them he continued. "Something about you had a mission to find a rouge replicator ship and through the logs found Elizabeth is alive leading a resistance against the wraith and replicators."

"What did he have to say?" Ronan asked.

"Something about the IOA is going to have a field day, and he would have endless meetings, but he is going to fight to bring Elizabeth back to Atlantis."

That perked everyone's moods up. "Did he give a hint if the IOA would even go for the idea?" Rodney asked.

"No idea, I left as soon as I saw I wasn't going to be able to meet with the Colonel I left," Radek took a drink. By this time the entire mess hall was silent, hanging on their words. "Is she really alive?"

"Yes," Teyla spoke up. "Besides the logs we found the patch of an Atlantis uniform. It could only have come from Elizabeth's."

Radek muttered something in Czech, Ronan looked up. "Here comes Carter."

Their heads turned as the new leader joined them. "Can I sit here?" she asked.

"Sure," Rodney said, eager to hear news as she fell into the only unoccupied seat. "How are things with Earth?"

Carter sighed, "I'm not sure yet, we have Jack on our side, but I'm afraid that it won't be enough. The IOA will only see a security threat, they have no idea what Elizabeth has done for this base, and how much it needs her."

The entire rooms faces fell, and Sam's heart went out to them. "There has to be a way to show those bureaucratic idiots what Elizabeth has given to the success of this expedition," Rodney said, slamming his fist on the table.

"You mean besides sacrificing herself in order to let us escape?" Ronan asked.

"Well yeah," Rodney said. "Let's start with that."

"Maybe we can all make a personal message to send to the SGC and show our support?" A scientist sitting at the other tables suggested, the others looked at each other and murmured their support for the idea.

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment, "You know that may just work." She grinned. "Just have it ready by our next scheduled check-in with Earth in a week. I'll let General Landry and Jack know to expect it."

Eager to begin the members of the Atlantis expedition began to bounce around ideas about what should be included in the messages and how it should be formatted. Sam smiled at the effort that was being put into this, and hoped that in the end it would help sway the IOA to some degree.

Elizabeth's ship

Elizabeth, wearing the clothes from the battle, strode into a partially lit room with a stressed expression on her face. In the centre of the room there was a holographic communication device, with seats surround it. She paused slightly as she neared the device, noticing that one of the seats had been moved. Her green eyes scanned the room to see a shadowy figure sitting in the corner of the room. Sighing, she positioned herself so that the hologram would have to face away from the figure when it activated.

"Elizabeth," Oberath greeted, appearing from the device.

"Lord Oberath," Elizabeth bowed in greeting, somehow keeping the disgust from her face. "To what do I owe this honor?"

"How fares your battle with the wraith?"

"Very well," Elizabeth took a seat. "We managed to defeat them, though our ship suffered heavy damage in the battle. I apologize that we could not come to your aide when you faced the wraith yourself, that was when their onslaught on us was at the worst. Our ship suffered heavy damage that has just been fixed."

"All is well now I trust," though Elizabeth did not reply Oberath continued. Though it is quite all right, we managed, but it would have been a great asset to have you in the battle alongside us."

"Thank you Lord Oberath."

"Are you pursuing any more wraith in your area?"

"Not at the current time, we have been monitoring their movements and it seems they have been moving out of our sector, we are in the process of plotting a course to pursue them."

"I see, well I have another task I can only trust you to take care of."

"What is that my Lord?"

"There is a planet that our intelligence reports that the Wraith have taken an interest in due to the abundant human life there. I have some new captains I would like to train using the wraith in that sector, but I cannot do it because as we both know Wraith are much more difficult to kill when they have recently fed. It is my hope that they will land there, hoping to feed and then the captains can destroy them due to intelligence we have planted within their ranks. Your ship is the closest."

"Of course Lord Oberath."

"Very well, I am sending the coordinates now. Good Luck."

"Yes Lord Oberath."

"And commander, I do want proof that they all are indeed destroyed if you can."

With that Oberath's hologram disappeared from sight. Cursing Elizabeth rounded the holographic device. "Can you believe this?" she demanded of the figure in the corner.

"Well it is Oberath lass," a familiar Scottish lilt came from the figure who stood. "What else do you expect from him? You're not really going to do it are you?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Of course not Carson. It's a test, I have a feeling that he knew that battle was set up, and that it was us shooting at him."

"Then what are you going to do?" Carson stepped into the light, watching the former leader of Atlantis with interest. He had followed her faithfully when they were in Atlantis and he wasn't about to stop now, things may have changed with them both; he being Michael's captive the past year or so and her part Replicator, but she was still the same leader that had ruled the city they had once called home. He would have done anything for her then, and still would today. "He asked for proof."

"I'm not sure." Elizabeth sat down in another seat, and Carson sat across from her.

"You could always contact Atlantis," he suggested gently, though visibly readying for a battle.

"NO!" Elizabeth's eyes widened at the suggestion. "We can't contact Atlantis, Carson, how often do we have to go through this? You know I would love to let everyone there know the truth, but all Earth will see me as now is a security threat, I'll be shot on sight. And you've been dead for a year, not to mention living among a bunch of Replicators. The IOA will see you as compromised, so you'll be at risk too. Our contacting them will only reopen old wounds that I'm sure have just begun to fade." Her face fell at the thought.

"You said your patch from your uniform was gone right? Well maybe the team found it, we should have come in on their long range sensors."

"No we were too far out in the galaxy, I wish that were the case though. It would be nice to see them again even for a little bit."

'Especially a certain someone.' Carson thought but he kept to himself. "I'm not sure what you are going to do then lass."

"I'm not sure either, let me think on it a bit, alone." Carson hesitated to get up to leave. "Please, I'll let you know as soon as I come to a decision."

"Very well lass, I'll leave you alone to think. I'll probably be in the infirmary , so you can find me there, maybe we can make a breakthrough."

Elizabeth chuckled as he left and shut the door. "You say that everyday Carson, but its nice to keep that hope alive."

A/N: Come on, you didn't think I'd fix on mistake and keep one still messed up did you? Chapter 11 coming soon.