Infection

Chapter Ten - Capture

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Ronon's patience was stretched thin, not only by the situation, but also by the aches and pains in his body that were weaknesses slowing him down. It had been a long walk out to the pier, his knee shooting new pains up and down his inner leg, but he ignored them, pushing onwards, ignoring it all. He'd had worse.

Woolsey hadn't allowed the transporters back on, so Ronon had been forced to walk the entire way, and then divert and wait for the rest of the walking wounded to head in from the Infirmary behind him. The only thing that kept him from storming into the room where Teyla and Sheppard had remained for the last half an hour, was that he didn't yet have his stunner back. Once it was in his hand though, he would head in, regardless if anyone else was ready. He would bring in Teyla and Sheppard himself, this time ready for the speed and strength of her.

So it was with eager aggression, the local pain relief in his side now wearing off somewhat, that he saw Major Lightworth ahead at the rendezvous site, and the lost gun in the man's hand.

Ronon reached out towards it as he approached, his hand and hip hadn't felt right without it. Lightworth smiled as he turned the weapon and presented it butt first to Ronon. It was like the return of an old lost friend, and Ronon knew that that felt like. Only his stunner was far more valuable, especially today.

"She's a bit scratched up, but working fine," Lightworth reported as he handed over the gun.

Ronon turned it over, his gaze picking out the new scratches from the collection of old ones. There were a series of long deep scratches along one side of the barrel, but otherwise it was in good working order to Ronon's eye. Finally back in his hand.

"Thanks," Ronon replied gruffly as he gripped the weapon, his nerves settling slightly at its return, and some of his patient returned with it.

Lightworth's team, five in number now, looked rather beat up, sporting a series of field bandages and there was a dried trickle of blood down one side of the Major's cheek, but they looked ready to end this as well.

The team, who had been lagging behind Ronon even with his complaining knee, finally caught up, and all piled into the corridor to meet up with Lightworth's group. Random unnecessary pleasantries were exchanged between the two groups, who had been in only radio contact for hours now.

"They still in there then?" someone asked Lightworth, everyone turning towards the open doorway ahead. Rodney, Carson, and a Marine Hawking were stood facing it, each with a glowing scanner in their hands.

"There's a much larger room beyond, which has only two exits. We've sealed that far exit completely – there's no way out that way anymore, so this first room is the only way in or out now. We've got 'em trapped," Lightworth reported.

Ronon nodded at the plan, liking where this was going.

"Only problem we're having," Lightworth added which caught Ronon before he moved forward. "Is that the scanners are weirding out about their life signs."

That worried Ronon. Surely, despite how altered Teyla and Sheppard became, they would still register as clear life signs? Or were they getting sick?

"It's the power conduits," McKay interjected immediately. "There are two branches of power conduits in there that run almost directly from the ZPM itself. They must be right on top of a conduit for it to interfere with the readings."

"Could it be the start of hibernating?" Someone else suggested.

"Unlikely," Carson replied as he looked up from his scanner. "From what we've seen before, Wraith and even Teyla previously, can drop into hibernation at the drop of a hat."

"Is this going to present a problem for us once we're in there?" Hawking asked.

"Shouldn't do. Once you get close enough it shouldn't be such a problem," McKay replied, his sentence implying he wasn't planning on getting so close himself.

"And for that," Carson added, pulling his backpack free from his shoulders. "Other than Ronon's stunner, the only way the rest of us will have to slow them down, is to use one of these." He pulled out a handful of injectors and began handing them around to the group. "If you get close enough, use one of these and the inhibitor should clear their heads long enough. At least until Ronon can stun them."

Ronon didn't take an offered injector, he just held his stunner higher. He wasn't going to make a mistake this time.

"The stunner gonna be enough?" Lightworth asked glancing at Ronon's hand. "They've been resistant to just about everything else."

"We know from the last time Colonel Sheppard was infected with the retrovirus that Ronon's stunner worked on him, even at his most advanced stage," Carson replied with confidence.

All the injectors had been handed out and they were ready, so Ronon pushed ahead, impatient once again to get this done. Time was supposed to be important here.

He strode through the doorway ahead, his gun a welcome weight in his hand as it had always been when going into a fight. Behind him, Lightworth was issuing orders, splitting the group into twos to spread out through the room ahead, but Ronon didn't need to listen to that.

"McKay, with me," he simply ordered over his shoulder as he entered a room full of pipes and tanks of water set above glowing consoles. He heard the nervous patter of boots behind him as McKay caught up.

"That way," McKay reported in a loud whisper around Ronon's shoulder as he stretched his arm out straight indicating to the right.

Ronon moved in that direction, scanning the even floor ahead as he did. He ducked under a large pipe, the dampness thick in the air, to find a natural path ahead twisting between tanks and consoles.

"It's kind of like that Iratus cave," McKay uttered quietly and thoughtfully, talking to help control his nervousness, as usual. "Damp and dark, high ceiling."

"Quiet," Ronon snapped at him and the doctor lapsed into nervous silence.

They passed a metre wide tank that was level with Ronon's shoulder, which smelt faintly like a meadow and as he glanced at it, he could see a thick layer of green goo coating the water's surface inside. He had heard that algae or something was used to purify the recycled water, or maybe in processing sea water, but he hadn't quite believed it until he saw it. He had to admit that the organic scent of living things in here added to Rodney's assessment that it was rather cave-like down here.

Rodney gestured again with a huge waving movement to Ronon's right to indicate which way to go, the exaggerated signal his way of expressing annoyance and nervousness that he couldn't speak out loud as he wished. McKay's behaviour in the field had seriously improved over the years, but there was something about going up against the affects of the retrovirus that unnerved them all. Even Ronon felt the niggling nervousness at the back of his skull, a part of him acknowledging that he hadn't been so outmatched in a long time as he had against Teyla today. He had misjudged her, but he wouldn't this time. Her or Sheppard.

That the two of them had stuck together, not fought against each other, implied, as Ronon had suspected, that they would likely work together against their common 'enemy'. That would make things far more dangerous for everyone, including Teyla and Sheppard, so Ronon would make sure to deal with this his way. He gripped his stunner tighter, his determination growing with each step forward.

As he reached another pipe, he saw the faint outline of a smeared hand mark in the light layer of dust over it and judging by the hand's width, it was Sheppard's. Definitely on the right track. He climbed up over the pipe himself, McKay struggling over behind him. Ronon waited long enough to be sure that McKay wasn't going to fall off the pipe and make too much noise, and then moved on, following the snaking path between tanks and consoles. Pipes hung low overhead and he climbed over two more before another doorway came into view. McKay gestured that it was the right direction, and Ronon led the way towards it.

This new room was larger still and a massive tank of water, like a huge deep swimming tank, dominated the space. Ronon moved carefully and slowly forward, his gun raised ready. This was the room.

The walkway was metal and he frowned at the noise McKay's boots made against the mesh as he followed. He glared round at the man and looked pointedly to his boots and McKay pulled a worried expression of apology.

Ronon turned away again, moving quietly forward, towards the tank's edge, noticing that there was a clear covering over it, under which large paddles were turning the water, creating a constant background noise that filled the massive room. This was a smart place to hide. There had to be a hundred places down below the walkways, between pipes and conduits that they could hide, and with the constant sound from the tank, Ronon would find it difficult to pick up any quiet sounds. Doubtless, they wouldn't have such a problem.

McKay moved in close to his shoulder, holding round the scanner for Ronon to see. The display showed a large diagram view of the circular tank in front of them and bright lines moving away from it to one side that presumably were the power conduits. McKay pointed to where the two dots ahead held still between two of the conduits. They were to the far left, right up against the tank.

Ronon peered over the edge of the walkway, looking for a way to get down into the shadow of the massive tank.

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She breathed softly beside him, her belly moving with each breath beneath his palm as she slept.

He remained awake, resting, as his breathing still settled from their exertion. The sound of constantly moving water above soothed him, tempting him into sleep, but he resisted it. His attention was fixed both on her breathing beside him and alert to the constant sounds entering the confining space. Part of him itched to move to that exit, to watch over her from there, whilst another had him remaining beside her where he could touch her skin and listen to her breathe.

Beside him, her sleep deepened and he moved his eyes to her. Several times her sleep had deepened, her breathing slowing, and each time, as he did now, he rubbed his hand against her belly. That tiny distraction was enough to pull her from that deepest of sleeps that he was still so desperately reluctant to allow her to seek.

She would wake soon, her short rest recharging her strength. She desperately needed food though and he would find some for her once she woke. Memories of a large room, filled with tables and people, but more importantly food, filled his mind. There would be too many pursers around there though. He would have to find another way.

Something vibrated through the air and he snapped his eyes to the small exit to their space. He held his breath, listening through the constant sounds above, to hear a new faint distant sound. Instantly concerned, he slid along her side to the exit, his hand gliding down her leg as he did, drawing her from her sleep. He peered out into the large space outside, tasting the air, and listening intently. The sound repeated, confirming the first.

They had been found.

She tensed under his hand over her lower leg, her mind alive with sensation and activity once more as it slid against his. He released her leg and slipped out of the exit, softly dropping into a crouch outside. He secured his clothing around his waist, pulling down his top to cover his skin against the cooler air outside their hiding space. As he did, she slipped out to crouch beside him.

Her scent filled the air around him, distracting him for a moment. Her mind slid further against his, seeking out what he had sensed, and the sensation of the mental touch was almost as stimulating as her touch had been. He dropped his eyes to where she was pulling her clothing back into place. The urge to touch her pulled at him, until he heard the sound again in the distance. All arousal, thoughts of food, and sleep were gone. He turned, his shoulder against hers, as they listened.

She moved from him, rising up to peer up to the main floor space, set up from where they hid. He rose up and followed her, brushing one arm along hers as he moved ahead of her, the skin of his arm tingling with the contact. He moved past the flashing lights of a panel to his right, to the steps that led the way out of this lower section. He listened intently as more sounds added to the first, locating movement, speed, and number of those hunting his Queen. The newer sounds were from another direction, which meant that there were more approaching from further around the large space. All moving in this direction.

They would be trapped soon if they did not move.

She came to the same conclusion as him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see her turn and set her hands to the side of the tank and she climbed up enough to look up at the level above.

The attack began instantly. Light blazed overhead and she darted aside just before it engulfed her. Enraged, he leapt up to the level above, seeking out the enemy, to see they were some distance still. The tall male leading the hunt held a weapon that bolted out light again.

John dropped down and leapt away over a glowing conduit, half his senses locked onto where 'she' was moving up the tank. He looked up to see her climbing with powerful speed. The blast of light rang out again, but she moved further around the tank before it struck her. John would make sure she had the time to reach the height of the tank where he knew she was aiming.

He jumped up onto a glowing conduit and raced down its length towards those who would harm her. There was shouting from far to the left, but he ignored it, those ahead were the current threat. The tall male's attention was immediately split as he ran forward to keep sight of her, to then see John rushing in the male's direction.

John growled loudly to draw more attention to himself as he raced towards the threat to his Queen. The tall male turned his attention on John and fired a burst of light towards him.

John launched himself upwards as soon as he had seen the light begin to form in the end of the weapon, jumping over the bright emitted light as it flew towards him, to see that the tall male had already turned his attention back towards her.

The arch of his leap brought John down closer towards the tall male, but another smaller male appeared and shouted out an alarmed warning, which the taller male responded to instantly. The weapon swung back round towards John, so he twisted in the air, gripping a passing pipe and used it to abruptly stop his descent. As soon as John's boots hit the pipe, he pushed off from it, throwing himself towards the tank wall himself now. He was now between the pursers and his Queen. Satisfaction flared almost as bright as his anger as he leapt down at the tall male who thought he would harm her.

However, as John pushed up and forward through the air, the weapon fired faster than he had expected, and the light rushed towards him, impacting against his chest as he dropped down towards his prey.

His last thought was to injury the tall male as he fell upon him as hard as possible.

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McKay shouted a warning and Ronon looked out the corner of his eye to see that Sheppard had moved faster than predicted. Ronon sighted back down his gun to where Teyla was near the top of the tank, her movements disturbingly alien in their quickness and the angle of her limbs. But, before Ronon could stun her, Sheppard jumped abruptly into view, clinging to the side of the tank, clearly to block Ronon's view of her.

Wraith-like eyes stared at Ronon with an aggression that Ronon instantly understood, but Sheppard had made his mistake as he sought to protect Teyla. Ronon fired his stunner as Sheppard launched himself from the wall of the tank down towards him. McKay shouted again as Sheppard dropped towards them, the energy of the stunner fire surrounding him bright in the dim light.

Ronon took the brunt of the impact, unwilling to let Sheppard just drop to the floor, though there hadn't been all that much time to move anyway. Sheppard was unconscious at least, but he was still a heavy weight as he landed on Ronon.

Ronon fell back under the weight of his friend, the strange blue skin seeming darker now. The floor was damp, hard, and cold under Ronon's back, but he ignored it, rolling Sheppard away in time to see Teyla disappear over the top of the tank. Cursing he got up to his feet, his side burning intensely.

McKay crouched down beside Sheppard, and Ronon afforded himself a quick glance down at their friend whose face was almost entirely blue, the change faster and more dramatic than last time.

"Teyla's on top of the tank," someone shouted over the radio link. "Heading towards the east wall."

Ronon considered the best way to go, and picked the direction he and McKay had entered. He needed to get back up to one of the metal walkways above, which would give him a clear view of her on the tank, and he suspected she would aim for a walkway anyway.

"Sheppard is stunned," McKay announced on the radio.

Ronon trusted help would arrive for McKay, as he raced away.

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The water turned below her, agitating her, despite the solidity of the transparent cover across which she ran. Her mate had been taken down, she was sure, for she could not feel the presence of his thoughts against hers anymore. She was alone, and there were many in this large space, all hunting her. She ran though, across the vast tank, the water turning and sloshing beneath her feet. She could not smell her pursuers clearly, since the air was so thick with sweet scented dampness.

She ran faster straight across the width of the tank, but she could feel the sapping tiredness that was draining her body now. She should be furious with those after her, but it was too much distraction from forcing all her energy onto getting as far away from her pursers as possible. Her stomach was aching with hunger and her heart fearful for her mate.

She heard boots landing on metal and she looked across to the far right to see the tall male appear, sighting his weapon towards her. She darted one way and then another as she heard the blast of sound that had taken down her mate. She felt the heat of it rush past her as she dropped and rolled away. There was nowhere to hide whilst moving across the top of the tank. She rose up into a crouch, tensed her legs and leapt up and forward, feeling another burst of dangerous energy fly past.

Shouting told her that more were ahead of her now, and two more males appeared on a walkway ahead. They held up shiny cylinders in their hands that she recognised, but could not remember where from, but she understood how they held the cylinders – they were weapons to be used against her.

She landed into a crouch and tensed to leap forward again, only for another blast of fire to slip past her as she jumped and abruptly her left arm was tingling with numbness, the sensation spreading up her shoulder. It stole some of her breath and she fell back down towards the tank, though she barely felt the impact of the landing against her shoulder through the stealing numbness.

As she opened her eyes, she saw the turning water right beneath her, and a small series of cracks spreading out under her shoulder across the cover of the tank.

A fierce terror filled her to feel the cover weaken under her, threatening to break apart and drop her down into the water below. She struggled away, using her awake and useful right arm to push herself up and back. Her entire left side felt numb down to her hip now so she struggled up onto her knees as she tried to move away from the cracks.

A blast of cold fire hit her back, dancing over her shoulders and around her. She felt the tremors of it filling her body and the darkness engulfed her consciousness before she could feel anything more.

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"She's out," Major Lightworth shouted just as Carson reached the base of metal steps that led up to the walkway above, upon which the Major and Hawking stood. They held the injectors as their weapons, their guns by their sides, since they all knew that Ronon's stunner was all that would effectively stop her. And it had, finally.

Carson let out a loud rush of breath, his relief palpable, and he paused in his hurried rush to take another calmer breath.

"Moving in," someone said into the radio.

"Wait!" Major Lightworth ordered abruptly. "The tank cover, I can see a crack spreading out from where she fell."

Carson's relief was completely forgotten. There was no way he was going to lose Teyla now into a vat of water, unable to save herself in her unconscious state. He hurried up the steps, his legs burning already from his mad run around the massive tank following Major Lightworth.

He clambered up the top steps to reach the metal walkway, grasping the thin railing as he moved towards the two men stood looking across the tank. The top of the tank was clear, disconcertingly so, and about a third of the way from them Teyla lay on her front. She was completely still, but it was the small fracture lines in the clear surface near her that worried Carson.

"Do we know what's in the tank?" He asked worriedly.

"Water?" Hawking answered, partly with sarcasm, but also doubt.

"Salt water?" Carson demanded worriedly. If Teyla fell into salt water it could hurt her as dramatically as salt water burned Iratus bugs. He pushed right up beside Major Lightworth to look down over the edge of the tank before them, into the swirling water below.

"It's recycled water from the city," Rodney's replied over the radio and Carson relaxed a touch. "It's treated in the tank, but that doesn't mean that there isn't nasty stuff in there," Rodney added with distaste.

"How's Colonel Sheppard doing?" Carson asked as beside him Major Lightworth was carefully stepping forward onto the top of the tank's edge.

"He's still out," Rodney replied. "Do we know how long it might last, because I'm here by myself with him and…"

"Hayes and Chan, get round to sit with McKay," Major Lightworth ordered.

"I've got medical teams heading in to us, Rodney. It'll be no time," Carson assured his friend. Across the far width of the tank, Carson saw that two faces had disappeared from another walkway, to go help Rodney watch over John. Carson was pretty sure the stunner's affect would last for a good half hour. He turned his focus back to Teyla and her precarious position.

"It's barely a crack in the size of this tank," someone was saying over the radio from across the other far side of the tank.

"Yeah, like a crack in your windshield," the Hawkings agreed as he followed Major Lightworth up onto the tank's cover.

"You got to watch those, one big bump on the road and it'll spread big time. Didn't you ever see those ads?" Major Lightworth replied as he moved carefully across the tank.

"Sorry, Sir, I haven't been able to catch much TV lately," the Hawking replied with grim humour.

They were edging their way along the tank cover, following the line of a supporting strut visible under the cover, which ran widthways across the tank. Teyla laid a couple of metres or so away from that line. Carson watched cautiously as the two men neared Teyla's position and paused.

"Okay, this is more than a minor chip. The crack is spreading under her weight," Major Lightworth reported.

"It's been holding for over ten thousand years," Rodney argued over the radio link. "I think it'll take Teyla's weight."

"She came down pretty hard on it, hit it with her shoulder I think. She's pretty strong right now."

Carson watched, itching to help, as Major Lightworth and Hawking crouched down over the cover's strut, and the Major lent forward, lying down onto his front, spreading his weight as he began to slid himself towards Teyla.

Her head was turned away from him and Carson tensed, wondering if she could already have shaken off the stunner affects already. What if she was pretending she was out? He watched nervously as Major Lightworth carefully slid one hand around her closest arm and reached with his other hand for her waistband.

"Careful," someone whispered over the radio.

"Ronon, keep us in your sights," Major Lightworth asked, his voice tight with the awkwardness of his position and the growing tension.

"Already done," Ronon replied immediately and Carson looked off towards the ten o'clock position across the tank from him to where Ronon was stood tall on a walkway, his stunner pointed unwaveringly at the small group on the tank. Carson looked back to Teyla to watch as Major Lightworth carefully pulled Teyla towards him.

She didn't stir, and Carson could tell from the way she moved, as the Major shifted her, that she was completely under. He relaxed a little bit more.

Hawking reached forward and grasped the back of the Major's jacket and pulled him, with Teyla, further back towards the more secure support over the strut. Major Lightworth got to his knees on that more supportive section and with Hawking's help they carefully rolled Teyla over onto her back. Then the Major got one boot under him as he slid his arms under Teyla, and in one swift decisive motion, he stood up with her in his arms. They didn't pause then as they headed quickly back along the strut towards Carson.

Carson leant eagerly over the edge of the tank as they arrived, reaching to support Teyla's head as Major Lightworth stepped back onto the walkway and laid her down.

Carson knelt down beside her, running through medical checks without any thought, his experience already telling him that she was unharmed. She had changed more than he had expected. Her face had entirely changed colour, and along her hairline, her hair had begun to grow through a dark blue colour. He also noticed the differences between her and how Colonel Sheppard had looked before, noting the lack of spines and the darker stripes across her skin. He wondered if these were a sexual characteristic, the female alternative to the Colonel's change, or if her Wraith gene had made this change.

All these were tiny details though behind the deep relief and gratitude he felt that she and John had been found before it had been too late.

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TBC