Author's Notes:

Hi everyone! As my friend Oceansoul or Seadragon or whatever (lol) has told you, I've been on a vacation to France for three weeks, I came home the day before yesterday but I still couldn't get online. Now we've found out that there was a problem with an antivirus so we just shut down the antivirus and reinstalled it and now everything's fine again with the internet connection. However I have been able to find a bit of time during these three weeks in France to do some writing and I've finished chapter 10. Usually I do write one chapter in like two or three times, this one I've written more in bits and pieces for like half an hour everytime. I don't know, maybe it has an influence on my writing, but do tell me if there's something that's bothering you about it.

Anyway, enjoy the next chapter and please leave a review so I know what you think about it (or what could be improved about the story or the writing style). Greetz: Wraith Fan –xXx-

PS: It's a very long chapter compared to the previous chapters, just toke me a while to get everything that happened written down in a decent way, so maybe the next chapters can be a bit shorter (or longer lol). I can't just write until I've got like ten pages and then stop lol. But I've read in the reviews you'd like longer chapters so … ;-)

Chapter 10: Deep Dark Ocean

'So tell me what this dream you had last night was all about ...', doctor Heightmeyer said, looking up at her Athosian 'patient'.

'It wasn't a dream.', Teyla started. 'I mean.. it was a dream but I was seeing something real in my mind, I've had it before on many occasions.

Usually when I was in danger or when there were Wraith involved. I cannot tell for sure if this dream was in the past, present or future ...'

'So you think this dream was real, a warning of some kind?'

'Yes, I'm quite sure of that. I don't think we have much time...'

'We have to be sure there actually is real danger before we start..'

'When did we have the last contact with the drilling station? That's where doctor Keller is and I believe she's in great danger, and so is everybody else on that station.'

'I guess it couldn't hurt to have a look, doctor Weir and your Team are trying to make contact with them as we speak but doctor Weir insisted that I'd interrogate you further about this before we did anything.'

Teyla sighed. Why didn't these people take her serious when she tought someone could be in danger? Hadn't they had enough evidence of her Gift over the last few years?And why did they not believe her when she told them it wasn't just any dream but a real vision?

Teyla's concern must have been visible on her face cause doctor Heightmeyer looked worried for a moment too.

'My Gift has never been wrong about anything, Jennifer. And as you said yourself, what bad could it do to just have a look? I propose we hurry, just in case the situation is as urgent as I think it is.'

At that moment the door of the office opened without even a knock. The Athosian leader looked up to see colonel Sheppard quickly entering the room.

'All right, get ready to go on a trip, the drilling station is not responding any of our calls and it's been over 24 hours since we've last had contact with them.'

He continued to speak as Teyla quickly got up and followed him to the jumper bay, where an irritated doctor McKay was already waiting.

'And they've said in their last repport that three people where missing and that strange things were going on.'

'Strange things? Can you please be a bit more specific about what we're dealing with here?', Rodney asked agitated as he was pacing up and down the bay.

'Some people acting strange, gaps in their memory, systems being activated and deactivated without use or permission. And then off course the three missing persons', the colonel said.

'And before you ask, last time I checked doctor Keller wasn't among the missing persons.'

'Just great! God knows how many more people or dea ... I mean, missing.', the scientist exclaimed.

'You said some people acted strange, maybe some virus that gave them amnesia, made them kill each other out of suspicion?', they heard the familiar voice of Ronon Dex from the entrance of the jumper bay.

'Yeah... yeah, that would be a logic explanation. I didn't have the chance yet to put my new safer quarantine system online on that station.'

'Still doesn't explain why Teyla's been having nightmares about Jennifer being attacked.', the Runner added, no hint of his concern visible on his face, just pure determination.

'Attacked? Oh come on, let's not get too optimistic here, the chances that she'll still be alive by the time we get there are very...', McKay started.

'We're all thinking it, I'm just saying it...', Sheppard interrupted him. 'Wraith.'

'They found Atlantis?How ..', Rodney asked.

'I told you no Wraith could be trusted! And now the Wraith know the location of Atlantis because of your trust in that Queen, Sheppard!', Ronon barked angrily.

'We don't know that, Ronon! I don't think Amarah's got anything to do with it. The Wraith aren't exactly friendly towards other tribes then their own or their Allies.'

'Call me crazy but I honostly don't think Amarah's responsible, I have a feeling it's not really her style.

Besides, why attack the drilling station first instead of Atlantis? Doesn't make any sense.', the scientist thought aloud.

'Thank you so much for being a bit more optimistic for a change, McKay.', John said smiling.

'Okay, so maybe it hasn't got anything to do with Ama ... Amal..'

'Amarah', John helped the Runner out.

'Yeah, her. But I still don't think you should trust her like you do, Sheppard. For your own sake, don't let her...'

'No time to argue right now, we've got ourselves a rescue mission.'

She wouldn't betray us like this. Like McKay said, not her style, and she cares about me, so she also cares about Atlantis.

This has absolutely nothing to do with her, John Sheppard reassured himself as he stepped into the nearest puddle jumper, closely followed by his Team.

I wonder what the use of this strange white stick is and what it is doing under his bed.

She lifted the golfclub from the carpet and held the end of it in her two hands. Maybe they used it to fight ... or they demolished old windows with it.

She quickly got bored of the strange stick and focused on the screen next to the desk. On top of it was some kind of remote control.

She pushed lots of buttons when suddenly there came a text on the screen.

Insert Disc.

Disc? What disc? She started searching the room for discs.

Eventually she found them in long plastic boxes in the cupboard under the screen. She placed a disk with the inscription 'Yaws' on it in the device underneath the screen.

She had no idea what yaws had to do with this screen, maybe it showed information about different subjects or something.

Then the screen flashed up and she saw a girl being eaten by some sort of big predatory fish with long teeth. Did he actually watch this video?

'Tsssssh ... And then humans say we're cruel!'

She didn't know how to turn of the dvd player so she just left it on.

The Queen opened the closet as the screaming in the background became louder.

They were all a bit nervous as the jumper arrived at the drilling station bay, especially Teyla.

I hope we're not too late. I would never forgive myself if people died just because I didn't react to the warning fast enough.

When John Sheppard opened the door a huge amount of water streamed into the jumper, he quickly shut the door again before the entire vehicle was flooded.

'What was that?! Oh my God! The entire bay is flooded!', McKay exclaimed as he looked through the front window when Sheppard turned the jumper around, the front of it now facing the entrance of the jumper bay. 'I just hate it when this happens!'

'Relax, Rodney, nobody likes this surprise any more then you do', John said.

'And it seems only the bay itself is flooded, they've been smart enough to put on a force field at the door. Don't ask me why they didn't just shut the door, strange things are going on here.'

'They said systems activated for no reason. Maybe they opened all the doors and made sure they couldn't be shut again outside the control room, is that possible, McKay?', the colonel wondered.

'Yeah, I think so. But why would they do that?'

'If they're Wraith the answer's very simple: to prevent anyone from escaping and shutting the door behind them.', Ronon answered.

'I'm afraid I do sense the presence of Wraith here, I cannot tell how many. But people acting strange and gaps in their memory sounds pretty much like the control I was under when that Wraith Queen took me over at this very spot.', Teyla said.

'Hold on a second, I thought we'd killed that bitch back then ...', Sheppard started.

'Maybe it's not her but another Queen ..', Ronon said.

'Other Wraith could have detected the flooded hive. They're quite fond of tracking devices everywhere.', the scientist said.

'It doesn't really matter if it's the same Wraith again or different Wraith, right?', the Runner asked.

'I think it does, when it's the same Queen, she's alone. But when it are other Wraith there's no way to tell how many there are ...', John thought aloud.

'Oh, I think we do have a way of knowing that.', Rodney said as he held up a lifesign detector.

'You really are a genius, McKay.'

Amarah had a good look at Sheppard's clothes, finding them quite boring. Not one single piece of leather in that entire wardrobe!

Off course John looked nice in everything, he could wear a rubbish bag and still be attractive.

She searched a chest of drawers next to the closet and suddenly found a drawer filled with underwear.

She'd seen much strange human underwear but this was the weirdest she'd ever seen! It had pictures on it of a yellow animal with bright red cheeks and pointy ears and there were electric bolts coming out of its tail.

On the back of the underwear there was a blue text that she read as 'Pooh Quay Moon'. What did a disgusting bay on a moon had to do with underwear and that strange yellow animal?

She had to admit it did look very cute. Cute underwear for a cute human!

'Next question: how do we get inside with the bay flooded?', Sheppard asked.

'If I could somehow reach the control at the door maybe I could get that forcefield down for a few seconds. But we're not getting in without getting wet.', McKay answered, obviously not liking the idea of getting out of the jumper into the icecold water.

'The survival of the people in there can depend on how much time we lose ...', Teyla started.

'Okay, okay, I understand. But how can I ... hold on!'

'What?', Ronon growled, expecting him to start an entire explanation of why he couldn't and shouldn't get wet.

'I think we don't have to get wet to get inside, if I could just do some adjustements to the jumper shield .. Sheppard, try to get as close to the jumper bay door as you possibly can.'

'All right but what are you doing?', John asked as he managed to get the jumper at a distance of one and a half meter from the door.

'Expanding the jumper's shield so I can get easy access to the control panel at the door ... Okay, this should work. Open the jumper door.'

'Are you sure, Rodney?', John asked.

'Positive. Now hurry up, as Teyla said, if there's anyone left alive in there they'd probably appreciate our help.'

'Hello doctor Zelenka, please, have a seat.'

Radek nervously sat down, he could already guess what this was about and hoped there would suddenly be a knock at the door and another more urgent matter then this.

'How far are you and doctor McKay in the reprogramming of the nanites?'

'Well ... not that far, I mean, we've been busy with other erghm occupations.'

'Now why am I not surprised to hear that?' Elizabeth Weir sighed. 'The longer you and Rodney hesitate, the more victims the Replicators will make.'

'There has to be another way ...', Radek started, already seeing an inexorable look on his employer's face.

'I mean, there is another way. I've been communicating with this Aylita and I'm quite convinced we could establish ...'

'Communicate with her? How did you communicate with her without using the gate?'

'Subspace code. She must have known at least one of us would detect it and try to find out where it came from.

I did find out and I sent her the morse code alphabet. I was surprised by how quickly she'd had it decoded.

We've been communicating a lot over the past few days and I really think we should give them a chance before we contact Oberoth.

I mean, Aylita's tribe already knows where we are, so why don't we try to use this to our advantage?

Contacting Oberoth would focus his attention back to Atlantis and you know just as much as I do that this could be a very bad thing.

We've tried negotiating with them before, when they were building these warships to attack Earth. They weren't willing to talk about it back then, why would they want to now?'

'The situation is far more serious now, we're talking about an entire galaxy ...'

'I know. And we care about that, there is no safe way of knowing if the Replicators care about it too. There's a chance you're right, but there's also a chance Sheppard's right. Is it really worth the risk? We're putting Atlantis in danger by doing this!'

'I know but when we accept the help from these Wraith we're putting Atlantis at risk too.'

'They already know where it is, if they wanted to attack us or find out Earth's location they'd already done it by now. What do we have to lose?' The Czech scientist looked as if he was ready to beg if he had to.

'You're right. But there's no safe option in the current situation. But maybe one option is safer then the other. Maybe I could buy us some time by contacting Oberoth, or just maybe it would lead to Atlantis' destruction.

But on the other hand, if we work together with the Wraith, it would take us more time to stop the Replicators.'

'If Atlantis is destroyed we won't be able to help the people in this galaxy. Many of these civilisations are completely defenseless against a threat like the Replicators.

You don't just make this choice for Atlantis, you make it for this entire galaxy. If Atlantis is destroyed before we can do something about the Replicators, this entire galaxy is probably doomed.

Don't we owe it to the people? Don't we owe it to them to take a risk for Atlantis if that gives us a bigger chance to deal with the Replicators?'

Elizabeth stared at her desk and then nodded.

'You're right. But I believe I'm right too. I'm having a difficult time here making this decision, I just want to make the right choice.

The only problem is, maybe there's more then one right choice ...

Anyway, I'll think about it, I'll try to make up my mind until next week.'

She looked up at him again. 'Thank you for your advice, Radek, I really appreciate your and everyone else's efforts. I think it would be best if you and McKay continued the reprogramming of the nanites, even if we're not going to negotiate with the Replicators, we can always find a way to turn this to our advantage.'

Zelenka sighed in relief. McKay and Sheppard would be happy to hear this.

'Thank you so much, doctor Weir; I hope you make the right decision, whatever it is.'

Radek Zelenka stood up from his chair and left Elizabeth alone in her office, staring at the papers on her desk without really reading them.

Sheppard's Team held its breath as the jumper door opened ...

No watter got inside, the forcefield held!

'Well ... good, it seems to be holding.' McKay sighed in relief. 'For now.'

He got out of the jumper and walked across the one and a half meter wet floor, walking carefully so he wouldn't slip.

The rest of the Team waited in the jumper while the nervous scientist attached his tablet to the now open control panel at the door.

After ten minutes Ronon began to become impatient. 'McKay, what's taking so long? I don't really trust this forcefield of yours to hold this long ...'

'Could you guys just for once shut up and give me enough time to finish my work here?! You're constantly nagging: 'Is it going to take much longer,Rodney?'; 'Hurry up, Rodney, or we'll be too late!'; 'Faster, there's a bunch of shooting ugly ... '

'We're all very sorry, McKay, could you please, please continue your work?', Sheppard said with a sarcastic voice.

'All right then ... but I need more time, so please shut up or it'll take even more time.'

After she'd inspected the bathroom, leaving the washing stand tab open cause she didn't know how to stop the water from flowing, Amarah lay down on the bed.

It was softer then she'd expected it to be. Yeah, she could sleep in a bed like this one.

Off course her own spiderweb bed was way more comfortable.

She sniffed at the pillow, it smelled lovely ... it smelled like Sheppard.

Amarah was about to burry her face in the pillow to inhale his scent even more when she heard footsteps in the corridor. In three seconds she was up against the ceiling, above the door to the corridor.

Richard Woolsey had decided to check if the members of the Teams didn't hide forbidden weapons in their rooms and off course his suspect number one was Sheppard's Team, since it contained two alien members and the infamous colonel Sheppard himself.

Sheppard's methods were efficient but far too risky, he constantly endangered this entire expedition by exagerrated heroic behaviour!

I wouldn't be a trifle surprised if I found out he was hiding weapons or other illegal things in his private quarters!

Off course Woolsey had obtained the necessary documents to legally check the rooms of the teammembers for anything illegal or dangerous.

He was surprised he didn't find the door locked, he knocked, just to be sure the colonel wasn't inside, though they'd told him the colonel wouldn't be back from his current mission any time soon.

Did he hear screaming in that room? For a moment he thought he heard someone scream 'Shark!!'. He knocked again but nobody responded.

He decided it was safe to enter, maybe the sound came from the room next door.

He entered the room and saw the source of the loud screaming, the dvd player was on and there was a movy about a shark playing.

So the colonel wasn't just arrogant, he was also a sloven!

Woolsey quickly shut the door behind him and continued to inspect the room, to his surprise he saw a drawer standing open that contained ... childish underwear with Pokemon pictures on it!

As Richard Woolsey made his way to the open bath room door he almost tripped his foot over a golfclub lying in the middle of the room. For a moment Woolsey thought he heard someone laugh. He looked around, seeing nobody. It must have been the dvd player.

The blankets on the bed were crumpled and the pillow lay next to the bed on the carpet.

The colonel didn't even have the decence to make his own bed!

He entered the bath room to see the water still running out of the tab. What was going on here?!

He couldn't just leave the tab open, wasting all that water from their limited supply of fresh water!

Woolsey shut the tab and tripped again over the golfclub as he went to the dvd player to shut it down. He fell with his head on top of the pillow.

There! He heard it again, someone was laughing at him!

'Who's there?! Show yourself!'

No response.

'I'm Richard Woolsey from the IOA, show yourself at once, that's an order!'

'I don't take orders from anyone, especially not from persons who stick their nose in other people's business.' A scary, alien, female voice came from right behind him.

Richard turned around, then he screamed and tripped over the golfclub again while shrinking back in the direction of the door.

'Okay, this should work ... Yes! Finally!', Rodney exclaimed when the forcefield at the jumper bay door shut down.

'Congrads, McKay. Come on everyone, let's get going, I don't think the jumper's forcefield can hold much longer now', John said, as he walked through the door, followed by the rest of his Team.

John closed the jumper door from a distance while Rodney got the forcefield at the jumper bay door back on.

'All right, we can't look for survivors as long as these forcefields are down so let's just try to get to the control room first. Rodney, what are you detecting?'

'I have a total of five human life signs and one Wraith life sign. Thank the Gods, it's probably the same Queen as last time. You can never be sure enough of the death of a Wraith, they really are tuff basterds ...'

'You can say that again. It doesn't really matter if it's the same Queen or another one, it's a Queen and she's responsible for the death of seven of our people unless they've escaped before the jumper bay was flooded', the colonel stated.

'If four people are still alive, we should try to save them even if it puts us in danger ...', Teyla started but was interrupted by Ronon, who'd gone ahead to explore.

'I've found three bodies over here.'

'Okay, so at least three people are dead. I propose we split up and try to find the four survivors and whoever runs into that bitch gets to shoot her.

I'll go with Ronon, Rodney, you go with Teyl ... Teyla?'

She was gone. The Athosian leader was nowhere to be seen. Strange, it wasn't like her to just run away like that, unless ...

'Sheppard, what is it?', Ronon Dex' voice came from behind him.

'Teyla. She's gone!'

'Oh my God, don't tell me she's under mind control again! We should have never taken her along for this trip! We're even more stupid then donkeys!', McKay started panicking.

'I guess we're gonna have to find five people now, one of them potentially dangerous ...', Sheppard sighed.

'WRAITH!! HELP ME!! WRAITH IN SHEPPARD'S BEDROOM!!'

Richard Woolsey came running into the control room of Atlantis, looking scared to death.

'What? In Sheppard's room you say?', doctor Weir asked shocked. 'How did it look like?'

'Terrible! It was a female I believe, with blue hair and a purple dress!'

'That sounds a lot like Amarah ...'

'Don't tell me you actually have contact with those ... those monsters!!'

'Amarah offered us an Alliance to defeat the Replicators, I'm still considering it ...'

'You just gotta be kidding me!!', Woolsey exclaimed, almost getting a heart attack.

'Try to stay calm, you're in no danger. Come sit down for a moment, would you like some water?', Elizabeth asked concerned.

She hoped she could somehow talk him into keeping this a secret for the IOA. The last thing she wanted was them to start interfering in their business at a critical moment as this.

'Hello doctor Heightmeyer', a strange female voice came from inside Heightmeyer's office just as she turned to shut the door behind her after entering.

Kate turned around quickly to see a bluehaired Wraith Queen sitting on top of her desk, legs crossed and having a look at Heightmeyer's labtop.

'Is John around? I looked for him in his room but he isn't there, I did meet this awful Richard Woolsey from the IOA. He seems to be the only person noticing my bad hair day.'

'I ... are you Amarah?', Kate stammered.

'No, I'm Queen Amarah for you. But you can also call me Majesty. Do you know where John Sheppard is?'

Stay calm, Kate, stay calm. You can handle this, she's just looking for John. She doesn't want to hurt you or anything like that, Kate Heightmeyer reassured herself in thoughts.

'He's on a mission, to the drilling platform actually, there are some strange things going on there and Teyla had this nightmare about it so they decided to go and have a look.

They were not responding either so I guess there really is something going on there.'

'Teyla Emmagan had a vision? Tell me, what was it about?'

Kate Heightmeyer gave her a very detailled version of Teyla's dream.

'Sounds like a trap', the bluehaired Wraith Queen said as she stood up from the desk.

'A... trap? How do you mean?'

'No time to explain, can't let that bitch have her way with my sweet little human ...'

'I guess it's not such a good idea to split up after all. You think Teyla's being controlled again? Sheppard?', the nervous scientist asked a trifle afraid.

'I think Teyla has been lured here with that vision, probably sent by that Queen, and now that Teyla's here that Queen can take control over her mind again ...', Sheppard said.

'I'll make that ugly monster pay for the deaths of our people!', Ronon yelled in anger.

'What's the plan? I mean, what do we have to do now?', Rodney asked, his voice high and trembling.

'We run around until we find that bitch and then we kill her!!', the Runner exclaimed.

'Ssssht! Not so loud, we don't want her to hear us coming, do we?', John said.

'If that's the plan ... I'm out of here, let me know how that plan went!', McKay shrieked.

'And how exactly are we supposed to get out of here when you leave with the jumper? Just try to stay calm, Rodney. We tricked that Queen once before, we can do it again', Sheppard reassured him.

'That was pure good luck! We canot 'trick' her without Teyla!'

'I guess we'll just have to do it the old fashion way then and sieve her with bullets.'

After an hour of walking (they found another corpse in the mean time), there was still no sign of survivors, Teyla or the Wraith Queen.

'I have a very bad feeling about this, Sheppard', Ronon growled.

'See? When he has a bad feeling about something, it really has to be extremely dangerous!', McKay exclaimed.

'Yeah, we could use some back-up here. Why don't you go back to the jumper and fly to Atlantis for assistance? We'll continue the search here, just hand over the lifesign detector', Sheppard proposed.

'That's the best idea I've heard so far on this mission! I'll just go back to the jumper and get out of here ... Off course I'll sent some help for you, good luck.'

Rodney was so happy to leave this horrible, dark place full of corpses, he could almost start dancing. If he wouldn't have been so scared of going back to the jumper bay alone.

'Yeah, good luck to you too ... Oh, McKay, the detector...', John mentionned.

'Oh, off course', Rodney said, turning around to hand over the detector to Sheppard.

'He, that's strange. There just popped up another lifesign', McKay continued.

'Back-up from Atlantis?', the Runner asked.

'You wish. No this lifesign is Wraith. Seems like this Queen isn't alone after all. God knows how many more of those bastards are on the way to kill us too.

Anyway, I should probably be going to the jumper bay before they destroy our only way of getting back to Atlantis in one piece', the scientist peeped anxiously.

'Go, McKay. And please hurry, we'll try to find Teyla and any other survivors ... Contact us with the radio when you arrive with back-up', the colonel said while checking his P-90.

McKay started running in the direction of the jumper bay. After fifteen minutes of running he was almost there.

'Come on, a little bit further ...', Rodney thought aloud.

He looked behind him to make sure he wasn't followed and then bumped in to someone that hard he fell to the floor. He screamed and then felt a hot pain in his ankle. Crap!

Rodney heard a high shriek from somewhere close. Then a high peeched voice.

'Rodney McKay, is that you? Where's John? Did you hurt yourself, let me help you ...'

The scientist looked up, using his flash light to see.

'Oh God, am I happy to see you!'

It worked. I fooled her! She probably thought I was a weakling because I look like one ... am one, Jennifer Keller thought as she was running in the direction of the jumper bay. Where else could she go? Oh, she hoped help would be here soon!

She ran into the next corridor ... Oh shit! She'd thought there was only one!

Jennifer was about to turn around and run as fast as she could when she saw a man on the floor. Rodney! She couldn't just leave him there to die, no matter what the risk was!

'Get back!! Or I'll shoot!', she yelled, holding her flashlight in front of her as if it was a weapon.

'You're going to shoot me with a flash light? Well, good luck ...', the bluehaired Wraith Queen responded as she helped McKay to get up.

'I think I sprained my ankle ...', Rodney started yelping. 'Jennifer! Thank the Gods, you're alive!!'

He jumped up to go to her but fell back again with a tormented look on his face. 'I don't think I can stand ... Can we please get out of here before we're slain?'

'I'm not going anywhere without my beloved John, besides, I can easily handle that tired bitch ...', the predator beauty interrupted him.

'Your beloved John? Easily handle her? !', the scientist exclaimed.

'Well, you're the one with the sprained ankle so you can choose between doing my bidding for now or staying here alone and waith for her to suck the life out of you ...', her Majesty spoke, clearly finding his cheeky behaviour even in his weakened state amusing.

'Dammit!', the colonel's voice sounded.

'What is it? Another body?', specialist Dex asked while looking behind him to check again if they were being followed, he had the uncomfortable feeling someone was watching them.

'Yeah, it's another body all right, but not here', Sheppard looked up at Ronon, noticing his concern not in his attitude but in his eyes. 'I just lost one of the lifesigns on the detector right after one of the Wraith lifesigns got closer. I'm surprised there's just two of them, and that they're not closer together.'

The Runner nodded without responding, looking behind him again.

'You think we're being followed? I don't see any lifesigns close to ours ...'

'I don't know but I have the feeling someone's watching us.'

'Maybe on a monitor or something. I have to admit this place is scary all alone in the dark, filled with corpses of our people ...'

Sheppard continued to walk down the corridor, P-90 ready to fire at once if something dangerous jumped out of the dark corners.

'Oh no ... two of the remaining lifesigns including Rodney's are only half a meter from one of the Wraith!'

'Is it far from here?'

'No, just two corridors away actually, near the jumper bay. We must have been walking in circles.'

'Let's go, I won't let that Wraith kill another Lantean, especially not McKay!'

They started running in the direction of the jumper bay, weapons ready and a determined look on their faces, mentally preparing themselves to fight for the life of their friend ...

'No,no. I'll just try to walk behind you, Jennifer, can I please lean on you, please?', the terrified scientist whimpered.

'You'd slow us down, my plan cannot work if you can't run fast enough ...'

'But you can't just leave me here!'

'No, I don't think John would appreciate it, Rodney is a good friend of his ...', doctor Keller added, concern and fear still in her eyes.

'What makes you think I'm going to leave him here?', the elegant Wraith Queen asked.

She made her way to the spot where McKay lay, kneeled next to him and started peeling of his sweaty shirt. 'This might hurt ... a lot.'

'What?! What are you doing?! Wait! Wait! Stay away, please! Stay away!!', Rodney cried out.

'Sshhh, hush! We don't want unwanted compagny to hear, do we?'

'Help! Sheppard! Help me!', he started crying even louder.

'Shut up, idiot, I'm trying to heal you!'

'Heal me?! But you can't just ... can't you carry me? Really, I wouldn't want you to waste your...'

Amarah ignored his yelping, pushed her blue hand on his mouth and gently pushed her other hand on the exposed skin of his chest. His muffled scream echoed through the hallways.

'Did you hear that too?', colonel Sheppard asked.

'Yeah, sounded like McKay, he's in trouble!' The Runner started running in the direction of the sound, gun in his hand.

Sheppard followed closely behind him as they quickly ran through the corridors.

The screaming suddenly stopped, John and Ronon looked at each other, fear in their eyes.

Quickly they ran through the final corridors and found the source of the sound next to the jumper bay door.

Ronon rose his gun and was about to start shooting at the bluehaired Wraith that seemed to be feeding off Rodney when Sheppard pulled his arm down.

'Ronon, don't shoot!'

The Runner looked angry and tried to pull his right arm free. 'Do you want McKay to die?!'

'It's all right, she's a friend ...', doctor Keller said, standing in front of Ronon.

'If she's a friend then why is she feeding off him?!'

'She's healing him, he sprained his ankle ...'

'And I'm supposed to believe that? You could be under mind control too!', Ronon said.

'I'm not under mind c ... Too? Whose under mind control?', Jennifer asked.

'Teyla. The Queen lured her here with a vision in which you were being attacked ...', he explained.

'How did you survive?', Sheppard wondered. 'Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're alive ...'

'I pretended I was dead. Not exactly heroic, I know but it did save my life', Jennifer answered.

'There you go, that wasn't so bad as you thought, was it?', an all too familiar melodic voice sounded. 'Can you stand now? Good ...'

'Hi Amarah, how nice of you to come all this way, how did you know we were here?', colonel Sheppard greeted the beautiful Wraith that was helping Rodney to his feet.

She looked up the moment she heard his voice. She wore a purple glitter dress with a long see-through skirt on top of a thin darkblue legging that accentuated the shape of her legs.

'Hello John. I was looking for you in Atlantis when I found doctor Heightmeyer's office, she told me where to find you. As soon as I heard about Teyla's vision I figured you'd be in need of my assistance.'

'Thanks, we could indeed use some help but why were you looking for me in the first place then?'

'I wanted to see you', she said, her flashy blue eyes sparkling.

'Yes, but why?', Sheppard wondered.

'I had to see you', the Queen said with a significant wink.

'Well ...', John started, speechless for a moment. '... it's a good thing you're here, we're in a bit of trouble and could use some help.'

Ronon looked as if he didn't want or need help from a Wraith but he didn't want to start an argument with Sheppard in this situation.

They had to find Teyla and the other survivors, and fast too or there'd be noweone left to save anymore ...

'So ...', McKay said while getting up. 'What's the plan?'

'You're the bait and I kill her', Amarah answered.

'What?! How do you mean, we're the bait?!', the scientist started panicking.

'You just stay where you are and lure her to you, then when she comes you quickly run away and make sure she follows you. You run to the jumper bay, where I'll be waiting to take her by surprise', her Fair Majesty continued.

'Sounds like a great plan ...', John started.

'Great?! We're supposed to be bait, I really don't see what's great about that!', Rodney yelped in fear.

'Who says we can trust you? Maybe you work with her and you're trying to set us up ...', Ronon accused her.

'I say we can trust her and don't let me hear one word about this again, at least not until we've rescued our remaining people', the colonel warned the Runner, a threatening look in his hazel eyes.

Ronon looked shocked and perhaps a bit angry at first but then nodded. The colonel was right about one thing, this wasn't the place nor the time to start an argument. He'd soon find out anyway if she could be trusted or not ...

Just as they were about to start their plan, Amarah suddenly looked behind her. She remained silent and just stared into the dark corridor.

'What is it?', McKay whispered. 'Please tell me it's not that Wraith ... I mean, that other Wraith ...'

'Ssshht, silence!', the Queen said while she started heading in the direction of the dark corridor.

'I can see a lifesign on our detecto ... it's Teyla!', John exclaimed.

Moments after he'd spoken her name aloud she jumped out of the shadows, roughly grabbed McKay and held a knife against his neck.

Ronon lifted his stunner but Amarah stopped him. 'Dont worry, I can handle this ...'

'Handle this?! She's got a knife, do something!', the terrified scientist shrieked.

Amarah slowly got closer to Teyla and continued to stare at her, as if she was concentrating and focussing her mind on the Athosian leader.

Teyla's body tensed for a fiew moments and then she let go of McKay and dropped the knife, a shocked and stunned look on her face.

'Teyla?', Sheppard asked while carefully approaching her.

Rodney was on the ground, holding his neck and trying to catch his breath. He looked extremely reliefed but still a bit startled.

'John... I... I'm so sorry, I've should have known it was a trap and that the Queen would try to take me over and ...', then she saw McKay laying on the floor, his face pale. 'What have I done?! Are you all right?!'

'Yeah ... yeah, as long as you don't try to cut my throut!', the shocked scientist peeped.

'Off course that wasn't Teyla doing that and it's definitely not her fault ...', colonel Sheppard added.

'How ... how did you save me? Or save McKay ...', Teyla asked.

'We've had some help', John said, now looking in the direction of Amarah.

Teyla looked very surprised. 'Erghm ... why ... are you Amarah?'

'Yes, that's me, an honour to meet you, Teyla Emmagan', her melodic high voice sounded.

'Yes ... I ...Me too. Thank you for helping me. How are we going to rescue the survivors?', the Athosian leader asked.

'Amarah's got a plan to take care of that bitch, there are still three survivors out there, doctor Keller here not included ... It's good to have you back, Teyla.', the colonel said.

'A plan including us to be bait and lure her into the jumper bay ...', Ronon said, clearly showing he didn't like that idea at all.

'How do we know she'll come after us instead of the other survivors?', Rodney wondered.

'Trust me, she'll go after Teyla the moment she's realised she lost control over her', the bluehaired Queen assured him, her blue, catpupilled eyes vigilant.

'Rodney ... is that blood on your chest, are you hurt?', Teyla asked concerned.

'I ... no, I just needed healing, I'd sprained my ankle. It's okay, doesn't hurt anymore. It did hurt, a lot ...'

'We don't have all day, McKay. You can tell us all about your horrible experience when everyone's safe and sound', Sheppard interruped his lamentations.

'I don't think this plan is going to work ...',the frightened scientist mentionned. 'I really don't think this is going to work, can we please go back?'

'Be quiet,McKay', Ronon said.

They sat against the wall in a corridor near the jumper bay with the lifesign detector, waiting for the Queen to show up so they could lure her into the jumper bay, where Amarah should be waiting for her.

Suddenly John saw a Wraith lifesign on the detector heading in their direction ...

'Okay, here she comes, she's two corridors away ... and Amarah's ready at the jumper bay corridor ... Run for the bay on my sign, all right? Any questions?'

'What do we do when we get there? Just wait at the jumper bay door?', McKay asked, his voice still shaking a bit.

'Amarah is waiting in the beginning of that corridor but I think it'd be better if we stayed close to her, just in case she needed a little back-up ...', colonel Sheppard answered.

'Back-up? She's a Wraith Queen for crying out loud! I reckon she can handle it!', the scientist exclaimed?

'Yeah, I know, but just in case. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her ...'

'You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. Okay, so maybe you're not under her control or something, but I really don't understand why you care so much for her, Sheppard. After all, she's still a Wraith, and Wraith can't be trusted, can they?', the Runner interrupted him.

'She didn't betray us, even when she knew the location of Atlantis. And she just healed McKay and is helping us to rescue our people. What more proof do you need, Ronon?

She's trying to do the right thing and to help us and all you do is keep on complaining about what race she is!', John started arguing.

'She's a Wraith! Have you forgotten how these monsters terrorise this galaxy? Have you forgotten how they've destroyed my entire planet and whiped out my people?! Not one of us hasn't been a victim of their terrible ...', Ronon stared yelling.

'Hey, hey!! Guys! Stop this, okay? We don't want that coming creep to hear us, do we?', Rodney tried to calm them down.

'Rodney is right. Let's continue this conversation when we're back at Atlantis, all right?', Teyla added. She was definitely shocked to see her two friends fighting over absolutely nothing like that. Sheppard never said they could fully trust Amarah, did he?

Only a fiew minutes after Ronon and John had stopped their agument, the Wraith Queen came in view. Sheppard wasn't even a bit surprised to see it was the very Queen they thought they'd killed some time ago. Wraith definitely were difficult to kill!

John and his team just stood there for a moment, looking their approaching enemy in the eye defiantly. The evil Queen grinned and walked towards them, not at all in a hurry.

Good. She thinks she's got us trapped, Sheppard thought.

When she was at a distance of two meters, John shouted: 'Run!!'

Everyone quickly turned around and ran, Ronon behind Rodney, making sure he didn't fall behind, John ran first, leading his team in the direction of the jumper bay.

Colonel Sheppard looked behind him, seeing that the Queen was already following closely. He couldn't help but feel surprised she could run that fast in a dress like that.

They'd have to be careful she didn't catch any of them before they could reach the corridor at the jumper bay, Rodney was already looking tired ...

Just as John entered the corridor at the jumper bay, they heard a scream behind them and saw Rodney on the floor.

'McKay!', Ronon quickly ran to him but the evilgrinning Queen had already reached him.

Ronon ran straight at her and then unexpectedly punched her in the face, causing her to trip and fall on her back.

It took merely seconds for her to get up again but it was enough time for Ronon to grab McKay and run into the corridor that led to the jumper bay.

Sheppard and the rest continued to run down the corridor, the now angry Queen right behind them.

Suddenly they heard her come to a stop, when John looked behind, he saw a bluehaired figure in a purple glittering dress decend from the ceiling at the beginning of the corridor, right behind the malicious blackhaired Queen.

The evil Queen must have sensed Amarah's presence cause she stopped and turned around, now facing the turquoisehaired beauty (who looked surprisingly calm according to the situation).

Amarah's eyes sparkled menacing as she looked upon her approaching enemy.

'If you're wise you would leave right now, Malana. You're alone, I've got over one thousand minds at my disposal, you cannot win this battle', Amarah said, her voice as soft as the whispering of the wind but there was something dangerous and threatening about her tone.

'What interest could you possibly have in these mortals, Amarah? They've attempted to kill me and therefore I want revenge. Why should it be any of your concern?', the vicious Queen answered, her tone hoarse and harsh like a crow.

Amarah's voice was far more melodic and clear, more like a nightingale.

'Non of your business, you've signed your death-sentence', the pretty blueskinned female answered.

Bouth of them still stood at exactly the same spot but it was obvious they've just begun a fight in their minds, firing thoughts more sharp and deadly then any dagger could ever be.

Amarah's eyes were calm and cold, as if she was firing icicles at her enemy's mind. The eyes of her opponent were yellow and wild, as if she was sending firebolts at Amarah's mind.

Each one of them was dangerous, sharp and powerful. But it seemed Amarah's attack had more of an influence on the blackhaired Queen then her attack had on Amarah.

Sheppard and his team could feel the tension between the two mind fighters around them, it was as if the air was loaded with a great amount of electricity.

Bouth the Queens seemed to be having a more difficult time by the minute and their efforts started demanding more and more of them.

Amarah had to struggle to keep her focus while Malana had difficulties with staying on her feet. It was physically visible how they were fighthing for control over theirselves and their opponent.

Eventually, after a fight of fifteen minutes the blackhaired Queen fell on her knees ...

But Amarah was tired and weakened too and in a moment of distraction Malana managed to escape her mind control and ran at her, now attempting to physically attack her.

Amarah could step aside just in time, causing the other Queen to turn her back at her. Amarah used this opportunity to kick her opponent's legs from underneath her body.

In one big jump Amarah was at her floored enemy, trying to physically shoke her while the fight in their minds still continued.

Malana roared and grabbed Amarah at her long blue hair, pulling several locks out.

Amarah screamed and kicked the blackhaired Queen in her stomach while now giving everything she had in her icy mind attack.

Malana shrieked and growled like a hurted animal and started kicking Amarah in her chest, not letting go of her hair.

'Just you wait, you young, ignorant slut, I'll kill all of your little, crawling Worshippers and you along with them!', the blackhaired Queen roared.

'You plan on doing this when you're death then?', Amarah asked, her voice menacing but still quite calm.

The other Queen was still trying to catch her breath and shrieked: 'What makes you think I'll die, little brat?'

'Just the fact that you're not leaving this place alive, ugly bitch!', Amarah yelled, scratching at Malana's hand in an attempt to make her let go of her hair.

Amarah had her enemy pinned underneath her but Malana struggled, pulled her hair hard and kicked her everywhere she could reach.

'You'll never defeat me, you're weak!', Malana growled.

'Just shut up, you old hag!', the bluehaired Queen spat at her, tearing the upperpiece of her dress to shreds. Then she slammed her hand in her opponent's chest, her sharp nails cutting in her flesh, drawing blood and fed of her.

Her already ugly face started aging and after ten seconds she was reduced to a wrinkled sac of skin containing nothing but bones.

Amarah pulled the stinking now bony hands out of her turquoise, long hair.

'Bah! I'm going to have to wash my hair like twenty times to get rid of this horrible stench! You guys owe me big time', the young Queen with the purple dress exclaimed.

Jennifer and Rodney were staring at Amarah and the dead Queen in a mixture of disgust, fear and relief.

'Besides, thanks for your back-up, Teyla, it wasn't much but it was something. If this bitch still had followers there would've been no way I'd won.'

'My help? I ... did I do something?', the Athosian leader asked astonished. They all looked at Teyla and now noticed how sweaty she looked. Teyla herself was surprised she was actually catching her breath.

'Really, if you'd have a decent teacher, you'd be quite good. For a mortal that is', the bluehaired Queen continued.

'That definitely was some hell of a fight, thanks for all the effort', Sheppard said, still almost speechless of the Wraith catfight he'd just beheld.

'It was worth it, couldn't let that bitch have her way with you ... and your people', the beautiful Wraith female said.

'Anyway, I'd better be going, Aylita's probably worrying already', she continued while walking towards Sheppard and his team, looking him straight in the eye. 'Until we meet again, John Sheppard.'

The other teammembers still were speechless or didn't know what to say.

'Yeah, till next time, Amarah', John answered, trying to hide his true feelings for her from his team.

'You know ... that was great. I mean, you got that ugly face good! How do you manage to stay calm in that kind of situation?!', the startled scientist suddenly stammered.

'Thank you, Rodney. I guess she deserved it. And who ever said I was calm? There's a great difference between being calm and looking calm', the young Queen answered with a wink.

Sheppard couldn't help noticing how McKay blushed for a second.

He continued to watch her turn around, rematerialise an entire Dart and getting in it at the spot. Then she flew away through the spaceous corridors in the direction of the closest exit.

'Now why don't those corridors fit jumpers too? They're bloody Ancient design!', McKay exclaimed while getting at the jumper bay doors, activating the jumper's shield once again so they could get out of that dark place as soon as the rest of the team had found the fiew survivors.

TBC ...

Please leave a review to let me know what you think about it! Thanks!