Authors Note: I'm so sorry for the horrible wait, I've never gone this long without updating, please forgive me.

Jammeke – There'll be a lot more of Teyla and Elizabeth working together in the chapters to come. I'm glad you liked the scene with Lorne walking onto the bridge, that was actually my favourite to write, thanks for the review.

Steph – I'm glad you liked Ronon's scene, it was a lot of fun to write. I usually struggle a little with Ronon but he came so easily to me in that scene and of course Ronon would agree once he knew Teyla was involved. I love writing sparky; it's good to know it comes across the way I want it to. I actually debated for a while whether to add the little girl in, I didn't want to upset anyone but I figured that would make it more real, more emotional. Thanks for the review.

Jessy Luke - Thanks for the review, I got a little carried away writing the last chapter so it ended up a little longer than usual. Ronon and Teyla will feature quite heavily in the next few chapters, I hope you enjoy this one.

Belanna30 – I was quite pleased with how the last chapter turned out and I'm glad you liked it too. Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Sparkly – I'm glad you liked Ronon and Teyla's reunion, they don't strike me as the type to just come clean about their feelings, especially after all this time. Elizabeth and John really are sweet and of course Lorne is just sexy. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the reviews.

Kuro – I'm glad you liked the sparky scene, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 10

Raised voices floated through the ship drawing John and Elizabeth toward the cafeteria. After a long day the two of them had opted for an early night – at least early by the usual standard. They'd barely been in bed ten minutes when Rodney had knocked loudly on the door telling them to get out of bed and prevent the murders that were more than likely about to happen. Having got out of bed they'd pulled on their boots and Elizabeth had grabbed her robe. They entered the cafeteria to find what could potentially turn into a small war. Laura and Marcus were arguing with Ronon and Teyla, an argument that looked like it was minutes away from turning physical. Rodney was standing by the door probably prepared to bolt at the first sign of real danger. Carson was nearby, the look on his face a mixture of worry, anger and exasperation most likely from failed attempts to intervene.

"Oh yeah, sure, because that justifies killing millions of innocent people," Laura stated sarcastically, a look of anger that Elizabeth couldn't ever remember seeing on the woman.

"The Alliance is scum, you're not all the good people you like to pretend you are," Ronon replied venomously.

"And you're basing that one what?" Marcus questioned his own anger as obvious as Laura's. "You're in depth knowledge of our personalities?"

"I was on the receiving end of the Alliance's lack of care for life," Ronon answered.

"As was I," Teyla added. "When it comes right down to it the Alliance are just as bad as the Vernai and so are its Agents."

"Now you just..." Laura began stepping forward to start causing some damage, comparing her to a Vernai was never going to go down well. Marcus grabbed her around the waist to prevent her doing something stupid, holding onto her despite her struggles.

"And I suppose you think Mr Macho here is the good guy, I can promise you he's not and after everything you did, neither are you," Marcus stated as Laura continued trying to get free. The argument seemed to reach a peak then and John quickly stepped in before anyone could get hurt.

"That's enough," he shouted gaining everyone's attention, all of them seeming to only just realise they were in the room. It was silent for several moments, Laura and Marcus at least had the good grace to look a little guilty for forcing their friends out of bed. "Now what the hell is going on?"

Nobody answered, the whole thing had probably started over something ridiculous, like Ronon and Teyla daring to leave their rooms and show their faces.

"Look everybody here has history," Elizabeth said stepping forward. "But we've all got to work together, probably for a while. There are innocent lives on the line and I'm not going to have them jeopardised because you guys can't get along. When this is over you can all squabble to your heart's content, until then you're just going have to learn to play nice."

"Now, it's getting late and we're going back to bed, I suggest the rest of you do the same," John stated and then turned around leaving the room. Elizabeth looked at the others a moment longer trying to judge if the war was going to continue once she and John were gone. It appeared that they were all prepared to drop it, at least for tonight and without another word she followed John.

"Well, I suppose we knew this wasn't going to be easy," she said as she caught up with him. "This was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Would've been nice if they'd picked a time when we weren't trying to sleep to blow up at each other," he replied and she shrugged.

"I doubt that'll be the last time," she stated.

"John nodded his head "But hopefully it'll be the worst."

The charts were beginning to turn into blurs, he'd been examining them since that morning and after several hours he still hadn't learnt that much. Too many people had been killed by the Shadow Warriors already, their medical files weren't telling him much but if he could learn anything at all then maybe it could help them understand these creatures, help to tell Elizabeth what she was fighting against. He put down the toxicology report from one of the more recent victims, the mother who had been killed along with her daughter. Leaning back in his chair he rubbed his eyes, keeping them closed as he sighed and allowed himself a moment to relax.

Two arms slipped around his neck from behind and he smiled at the feel of familiar lips on his cheek. "You're working too hard," Laura said quietly. "You've gone straight through lunch, everyone's wandering why there's no food on the table."

"Here's an idea," Carson replied humorously knowing full well that everyone would have eaten. "Make your own."

"I thought we decided that me cooking was a bad idea," she stated half seriously and Carson's smile widened as he opened his eyes and turned his chair around so he could face his wife.

"Sandwiches don't require cooking," he told her and she shrugged as she sat herself in his lap.

"Lunch is over rated anyway," she said.

"Laura Beckett," he admonished trying hard not to smile when she did. Even after being married for all these months she still wasn't used to the name change especially since when she was working she was still Cadman.

"I was kidding," she replied and he narrowed his eyes at her. He'd lost track of the number of times he'd had to scold her for thinking it was okay to miss meals so that she could fit in extra training. Instead of defending herself like she usually did Laura kissed him and he forgot he was supposed to be working on the medical files. He was so lost in her that he didn't hear someone walk into the room.

"Oh come on, that's disgusting," Rodney exclaimed walking into the small medical lab with a file in hand. Laura sighed as she broke the kiss and stood up glaring at Rodney.

"Anyone ever tell you that you have lousy timing McKay?" Laura questioned bitterly.

"Anyone ever tell you to make out in private," Rodney threw back screwing up his face at the thought of it. "I don't even know what he sees in you in the first place."

"I think I'll cut in there before this gets out of hand," Carson said quickly trying to prevent yet another argument from breaking out on the ship.

"The medical history you requested from victim number five arrived, I thought I'd be nice and bring it here," Rodney stated, pointedly throwing a scowl in Laura's direction.

"Thanks, hopefully this will explain the increased levels of chemicals in his system," Carson stated gratefully, focusing once again on his work.

Laura kissed his cheek again. "Just remember to eat," she ordered as she and Rodney left the room the two of them bickering once again.

After spending so long in a small cell with nothing but a bed – which wasn't particularly comfortable – and a toilet in it, her room on the ship ought to seem like a paradise. It wasn't huge but it was at least twice the size of her cell. The toilet was in another room, separate and private along with her own shower. Still, she couldn't help but remember Ronon's ship and when compared with that, this smuggler's ship paled. On the plus side she'd be going shopping today, she was by no mean a shopping lover but it would be good to do something normal for a change. Of course she wasn't going with Ronon; they were being taken separately to get some much needed things. Despite being free people now the crew of the Venture were keeping a tight leash on them.

There was a knock on the door and she didn't bother going to open it, if it was anyone but Ronon they would have shouted what they wanted through the door and then gone again. Instead she called for them to come in; the door opened and just as she'd expected Ronon walked in.

"Hey," he greeted. "You ready to go?"

"Yes," she replied "I'm just waiting for Elizabeth and Agent Cadman."

The realisation that Elizabeth would be with her on such a normal task felt weird, especially when she remembered all the times the two of them had gone shopping together back on Corlain. This time though, Elizabeth wasn't going with her as a friend, a sister, but as her escort.

"Lorne and Sheppard are taking their time too," Ronon commented as he sat down on the bed near her. She didn't fail to notice the distance he still kept. It occurred to her only then that she had yet to touch him since their release. With everything that had happened between them before they had left the Vernai there now seemed to be some physical barrier in place, one neither of them was prepared to cross.

"You going to be alright today?" he asked her "I know you have... issues with Elizabeth."

That was an understatement "I'll be fine, it'll be weird but I'll be fine, she's my escort not my friend."

"Still it's bound to bring up some memories," he pressed, concern in his tone he only really showed to her and not very often.

"Memories from a different person of different people," she stated firmly. "I'm not that person anymore and neither is she, whatever we were, whatever we had, it's gone now."

"Are you trying to tell me you don't fell anything for her? If that's the case then you're lying," Ronon said as firmly as she had and she wondered when he had gotten to know her so well, every part of her.

"Anger," she stated in response. "That's what I feel for her, lots of anger. She left me to the Vernai and if it hadn't been for you then I'd probably be dead or broken while she was living her cushy little life here."

"She might not have had Kolya and the Admiral to deal with but she's still an Electus, I doubt things have been that cushy for her," Ronon defended Elizabeth which took Teyla by surprise; he hated the Alliance more than she did but here he was defending one of them. "Don't get me wrong, she's Alliance, I hate Alliance but I'm just saying things can't have been that easy for her. Not only is she an Electus but she's had to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, we were there for the killings but she had to deal with the bodies, the survivors, the witnesses, everything that the Cloud and the Shadows left behind. We were always gone by then, we never cared enough to stick around, in fact half of the time we were the cause."

"I guess," Teyla conceded though she still wasn't going to let go of her anger. It didn't matter what Elizabeth had been through since; she had still abandoned her. "She just seems so happy, so comfortable with her life here. She has friends; she has Agent Sheppard even if they're not saying it out loud."

"Well," Ronon began, a humorous smile appearing. "I suppose you've got me."

That was more of a comfort than she was willing to admit to. "Oh, lucky me," she replied sarcastically, returning his smile with one of her own. He held her gaze a moment longer and she was so tempted to close that distance between them, to get rid of the wall they'd built up and try to find what they'd lost when they'd turned themselves in. She wasn't sure what it was, what it had been but she could feel the war waging within her as to whether she wanted to find out. There was a knock at the door and it broke the moment, she didn't know if she was grateful for that or not and Ronon was as hard to read as always, if he was disappointed she couldn't tell. The openness that had been there just seconds ago had been carefully covered up again and she had no idea what he was thinking.

"Teyla, we're leaving," Elizabeth's voice called through the door, it lacked the edge that everyone else's had when they spoke to her but there was no familiarity or warmth in it. She didn't bother to answer; she knew Elizabeth would already be gone, probably heading to the cargo bay to wait for her.

"She's so different, I can't even wrap my head around how much she's changed," she stated quietly, her eyes on the door and she felt Ronon's hand on her shoulder.

"She probably thinks the same about you."

Carson was just heading to the infirmary when he heard the beeping coming from the bridge, recognising it as the comm. he made his way there quickly hoping it hadn't been beeping for long. He dropped himself into the chair at the sensor's console, hitting the button to listen to the message that had been left for them. The voice of one of the officers they'd been working with since they got here informed him of another attack, one that had taken place fifteen minutes ago if the ship's computer was correct.

He headed down to the cargo bay where Laura and Marcus were sorting through some of their supplies having returned with Dex twenty minutes ago. The two of them had done very little bickering since this had started and even less since Dex and Teyla had been brought on board, even now they were both chatting amicably.

"There's been another attack," he stated and they both turned to look at him.

"Where?" John's voice came and Carson turned to the ship's ramp in surprise. He and Elizabeth were just returning with Teyla in tow, a few bags being carried between them.

"Alton grove, about fifteen minutes ago," Carson told him and John turned to Laura.

"Get Rodney, Lorne, go and get Dex," he ordered and the two agents nodded their heads and left immediately to get the two missing crew members.

"Since none of us know where Alton grove is I'll go and get the co-ordinates from the ship's computer," Elizabeth said, putting her bags down by one of the crates and heading through to the bridge.

"I suppose I'd better get my things together," Carson said and he too left the cargo bay all but running toward the medical lab where he'd left his case. He passed Laura and Rodney on the way, the scientist was complaining about being dragged away from his work at the most inconvenient of times until Laura threatened to shove a lemon down his throat.

He loved his wife.

Fortunately he always kept his case packed, all the things he'd need were already inside it so he just had to grab it from the counter. When he made it back to the cargo bay everyone else was already there waiting for him. Rodney was stood in the corner very quietly checking his equipment while Ronon and Teyla stood in the other corner keeping out of the way.

"Alright, if everyone's ready let's get going," John said walking down the ramp with Elizabeth at his side. The group split between the two cars they'd been given to help get them around the city whilst they were here. Dex and Teyla went with John and Elizabeth without anyone saying a word; it had become all too apparent that Laura and Marcus couldn't quite keep their dislike of the former Vernai to themselves.

The trip took far longer than Carson would have liked and Rodney put his fear of Laura aside to complain about it. At least up until the point where Marcus threatened to shoot him and Laura offered to back him up when he claimed the scientist accidentally shot himself. Rodney was quiet for the rest of the trip, sticking to mumbling under his breath rather than risk infuriating the already tense Laura and Marcus anymore than he had done.

What they found when they arrived was chaos, the attack had been in the middle of the street in a very residential area. It was filled with the kind of homes some people dreamed of having, beautiful houses, huge gardens and white picket fences. There were dozens of people running around outside of the police tape that had been used to cordon off the area around the body. A large tent had been put up in the middle of it all, no doubt to hide the body from public view though it probably hadn't needed to be so big. Police officers were trying to maintain some semblance of order, keeping people on the right side of the tape and answering questions as best they could without giving any information away. It didn't matter really, people knew the Shadow was here, they knew it had killed several people already and if they had an ounce of intelligence then they would know it had killed here.

They made their way through the crowd, ignoring the annoyed shouts of people who thought they were just spectators trying to get a better view. John flashed his ID and they were allowed under the table, the officer pointed toward the tent, the look on his face made it obvious he'd seen the body and Carson wondered exactly what it was he was going to see.

An officer by the tent pulled back the flap of the white tent and allowed them inside; thankfully there was more than enough room for the entire group to fit in though part of Carson wished he hadn't, a least he understood why the tent had been so big.

"Oh God," Rodney whispered, any complaints he may have had to make were no doubt gone from his mind. Yet another officer approached them, a small pad of paper in his hand and a grim look on his face, this had to have been the worst the shadows had done so far.

"Four victims, male, all age 12, they were playing football in the street when that thing attacked them," the officer reported, an undertone of anger in every word.

"Were there any witnesses?" Elizabeth questioned, her eyes still on the four small forms that were covered over.

"Yeah, a few including two of the parents," the officer replied handing her a piece of paper with the witnesses details on.

"Alright," John said nodding his thanks to the officer and drawing everyone's attention to him. "Elizabeth and I will handle the witnesses. Rodney do your thing, Marcus stay with him. Laura you stay with Carson while he examines the bodies. Teyla, Dex, come with us," John gave out orders quickly, giving everyone something to focus on and leaving the tent.

John was fairly sure that this one of the worst moments of his career. He'd seen so much death, he'd seen plenty of children killed by the shadow but this just seemed worse to him. Maybe because it had only been children, they weren't part of a bigger attack, it had just been them. He needed to keep everyone focused; this was the kind of thing that could get into your head, that would eat away at you until it broke you. He had every faith in his team, they could handle this but they needed to be given something to do, something to occupy their minds so they didn't dwell too much.

He spared a glance at Elizabeth as they left the tent, she seemed to be okay, a little shook up but he'd be more worried if she wasn't. Dex and Teyla were right behind them, he didn't bother to look back, they were either bothered or they weren't and he couldn't bring himself to care which right now. He asked one of the officers where the witnesses were and they were pointed to a nearby house that was being guarded by yet more officers.

Flashing his ID they were allowed inside and directed to the lounge where several people were sat, some with their arms around each other, some just staring at the walls in a daze. The parents, the mothers and father's of the boys who'd been killed in the street as they played, there were a couple of kids around, most of them too young to fully understand what was happening.

"I'm sorry to intrude, I'm Agent Sheppard, this Agent Weir of the Alliance," John introduced them as carefully as he could, it wouldn't take much to set someone off. "We're extremely for your loss but if we could speak to Jane Alson and Maria Kyton."

"I'm Jane, this is Maria," one of the women said gesturing to herself and then the woman beside her. Jane seemed to be holding it together, barely but Maria was in tears, if they were going to learn anything it would be from Jane. "We already told the officer's everything we know."

"I know and I'm sorry to make you go through it again but we're a separate investigation and we may be able to learn something the local authorities didn't," John told them, Elizabeth , Teyla and Dex stayed quiet, allowing John to be the focal point and keep everyone calm.

"I'll talk to you but leave Maria alone," Jane said quietly and John decided it was the best he was going to get. He nodded his head and gestured for Jane to leave the room ahead of him, she led them into the kitchen and then stopped for a moment, leaning against the side to try and pull herself together. "What do you want to know?"

"We just need to know exactly what happened, what you saw," John told her and she took a deep breath, holding back tears with what looked like inhuman effort.

"I saw my son die," she stated barely above a whisper. "He was playing football with his friends, he does most days, they are... were football addicts, you should see his room," she told them, wiping a tear away from her face with a sniffle. "That thing just came out of no where, it was like it just stepped out of the shadows, it looked like it was a shadow. It... surrounded Tommy, my baby boy and there was this light, then it let go and Tommy was dead."

She paused then, tears flowing freely and she took several deep breaths as though trying to calm herself enough to keep speaking. "I know this is hard but anything you can remember could help," John said.

"I screamed, I knew Tommy was gone but the other three boys were still there. Maria and I ran toward them, shouted for them to run to us but the... thing... it took Damien and I didn't even see the flash of light, he just cried out and then he was dead. Joey tripped as he was running; the thing was heading right for him. Adam would have made it but he ran back for Joey, they started running but the shadow it shot some sort of light, it hit both boys and they were dead," Jane finished and then turned around to lean on the counter again.

"What happened to the shadow after that?" Elizabeth questioned softly.

It took Jane a moment to answer "It disappeared, like it camouflaged itself into the shadows again."

"There must have been a lot of people around by then?" John questioned.

"Yeah I think there was, the boys screamed, so did I, attracts a lot of attention in a neighbourhood like this," Jane told them and John nodded his head.

"You've been very helpful Miss Alson, once again we're very sorry for your loss," John said, Jane didn't respond, just left the room to return to her family.

"What are you thinking?" Elizabeth asked John as they followed her and stepped back into the lounge where the families were gathered.

"I'll tell you later," he replied as one of the children, a little girl no more than four or five years old stood up, carrying her doll with her and walking over to one of the women. It was heartbreaking to watch as the little girl asked why her mother was crying followed by the even more heart breaking question.

"Where's Adam?"

TBC