MGM owns all characters except OC.

Thanks you for the wonderful reviews and Scr1. Sorry for the hiatus, but family vacations do trump writing. I did sneak in some as you can see.

Within the hour, everyone fell back to the second floor after Richards set up grenades and C4 on the doors and windows of the first floor in case they were attacked. The last couple of flash-bangs that Roberts and Warrington had were set at the bottom of the stairs, so the men on the second level would be able to fire down on the creatures in the smoke below.

It was determined, through a brief assessment, that the staircase could probably be destroyed without collapsing the upper floor. Rants about not being a structural engineer from Rodney were met by comparisons between Jennifer's favorite Star Trek character, Doctor McCoy, and the astrophysicist by Sheppard. Gunny Richards took Rodney's half-hearted endorsement for fact and set his last C4 on the stairwell supports and had the genius rig a remote detonator.

Jennifer was tending to Wagner when Warrington, Sheppard, Lorne and McKay entered the room. "The others pull guard duty?" Jennifer asked as she finished changing yet another IV on the injured man.

"Richards won't let Roberts out of his sight and Ronon is bored and wants to shoot something, so yes, they are at the top of the stairs," Sheppard said as he sat next to Wagner on the man's right. Jennifer knelt next to his left side along with her equipment and a lantern they allowed her to light. Hunger and thirst were beginning to make her feel slightly light-headed as she shook her head briefly to clear the feeling, so she could concentrate on Wagner.

Major Lorne and Warrington sat near the door to the corridor and pulled out some power bars and water. Rodney sat between her and the doorway to the room where the equipment he cobbled together was sending out Morse code.

"Did you guys get any sleep?" Jennifer asked as she took the bottle of water that materialized next to her. Looking at Rodney, who had obviously put it there, she flashed a quick smile at the tired-looking scientist. He realized I needed a drink without asking?

Jennifer noticed the Colonel looked at Rodney with raised eyebrows and she knew Sheppard was harassing the physicist for what he thought transpired between them. Unfortunately for Rodney, if Sheppard knew what really happened, the abuse would be worse, so Jennifer could not help him. The physician sat against the wall next to Rodney but not close enough to touch him. Closing her eyes for a minute, she listened to the sounds of the constant code being sent in the next room, breathing and shifting of weapons and bodies in the room, no other sounds could be heard from inside or outside.

"A little," John said wearily pulling a power bar from his Tac vest and looking again at Wagner. "How long's he got, Doc?"

"If the jumpers arrive right as expected," Jennifer paused, "he should be okay. If they are delayed by an hour or two, we'll have to do the transfusion here."

"Well, the dial in will be due," the Colonel looked at his watch, "in three hours when daylight arrives here. If they get the message, they'll send jumpers and medical staff, right Rodney?"

"Assuming Doctor McKay remembered his Morse code," Lorne said from near the door.

Jennifer turned to glare at the Major. "Do you know your Morse code, Major?" Wow, I've really fallen for Rodney fast if I'm getting this angry all the time. I don't ever remember being this infatuated with someone after a day before. Maybe this is just the adrenaline rush

"A little. Can't make out most of what's going out though," the Major said, oblivious to her angry look when he questioned Rodney's abilities.

"It says: Send Jumpers. Men down. No DHD," Rodney explained angrily, like he was talking to a bratty child with a slow, angry voice.

"Let's hope it does," John said shooting Rodney a look.

"Can I ask a stupid question? I know I'm new to the program, but the SGC had been fiddling with the Stargate for years before they even got Doctor Jackson on board to translate the hieroglyphs," Jennifer said. "Isn't it time a portable DHD was developed and issued to every gate team?"

"Well the MALP ensures there's a DHD on the other side," the Colonel started to be cut off by Rodney.

"A portable DHD would be too large and would not work at the same efficiency as the real thing," Rodney chimed in. "The gate at Cheyenne Mountain has a computer instead of the DHD and it…"

"And it's ignoring half the data the gate sends," Jennifer said with a smile directed at the stunned physicist. "I read all the SG1 logs and everything I could on Stargates before I stepped foot in one. I was not going to be demolecularized if I couldn't understand the process."

"You… really? All the papers?" Rodney asked looking stunned.

"Yes and I must say yours are the best. Extremely thorough," Jennifer said and she could see him puffing himself up. "Even if they are really dry and, I must say, helped my insomnia when I read them."

Laughter erupted from Lorne and Sheppard as Rodney's chest lost the air he sucked in. Jennifer smiled and reached over to lightly touch his arm. "Just kidding. I was so excited to learn about everything that I couldn't sleep for days. I was worse than a kid on Christmas morning. None of your work put me to sleep. I swear."

"Oh, that'll go away once you get to know him better," John said looking at the two of them closely.

Before Jennifer could snap at the Colonel, a piercing howl unlike anything she had ever heard before caused all of them to jump and reach for weapons. Sheppard leaped to his feet and headed into the corridor to view the front of the building and the left side. Lorne headed into the other room to see the rear of the building and Jennifer and Rodney got onto their knees to look out the window in the room, clutching their P90s and breathing hard.

No movement could be seen in the moonlight, but the sounds were close by. Jennifer tried to force her eyes to pierce the gloom and wished for the night vision goggles the soldiers wore. I guess I need those in my survival pack, too.

"They seem to be staying away from the building," Rodney whispered so close to her ear that she jumped and bumped into him. "Sorry to startle you."

"Didn't realize you were on top of me," Jennifer said glancing at his face inches from her own. "So to speak."

"I think you and I need to have a long…" Rodney started with a grin.

"Conversation when we get back?" Jennifer finished with a grin. It amazed her that she could be so terrified with sweaty palms, racing heart and heavy, shallow breathing, and still be able to flirt with this man.

"Yeah, that's what I was gonna say," he said with a sly grin.

"I think we should put out the light," Jennifer said realizing the light would mess up the soldiers' goggles.

"Good idea," Rodney said. "I'll do it."

The feel of his presence left her for a few seconds causing her to shiver from the cold and her fear. When he returned, he knelt near her, so close, their shoulders touched. Somehow contact with him calmed her immensely as the howling turned to shrieking and then a strange repetitive sound that reminded Jennifer of language.

"Sounds like they are calling in reinforcements," Rodney said quietly.

"Great minds think alike because I had the same thought," Jennifer said with a smile in her voice.

"Any movement on this side?" The voice of Gunny Richards sounded from behind them.

Jennifer turned and saw the big Marine with night vision goggles standing behind them. "Nothing. Rodney and I think they might be capable of communication."

"Had the same thought," Richards said looking at Wagner. "Doctor Keller, I realize what you are going to say before I ask, but Wagner might need to be moved. Can you get him ready?"

"If we move him, we'll kill him," Jennifer said even though Gunny asked her not to.

"I realize that, Doctor Keller, but I need to know he's ready to go if they attack and we need to fall back," Richards said.

"Fall back, where?" Jennifer asked. "We can't jump with him."

"I've put a few things in place to help us get out of here if we need to," Gunny said.

"What kind of things?" Jennifer said swallowing hard. "Please don't tell me we have to scale buildings or something. I'm not real fond of heights."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine," he said as he left her and Rodney.

"Don't look at me, I can't deal with heights, either," Rodney said next to here. The moonlight on his face revealed he was smiling once again.

Time seemed to drag on as the noises from the creatures grew louder and then faded away. They were never visible, but they did scratch their claws onto the stone of the buildings nearby. The noises left everyone on edge inside the building. Jennifer felt like she was going to cry at one moment and wanted to shoot something the next. Then she had to deal with Wagner, who seemed to be going into shock. After wrapping him with blankets and giving him another IV, she realized the transfusion would need to be done.

"I need to get Roberts," she said to Rodney, who had maintained a vigil at the window. He had been given night vision goggles from Warrington who was left guarding the entryway into their room and had been giving her a rundown on what the creatures were doing.

"It's like something drives them back," Rodney said apparently not hearing her. As she got up to leave, he quickly yelled at her, "Where are you going?"

"I told you I need to get Roberts," Jennifer said.

"I'll get him, ma'am," Warrington said.

"Thank you, Sergeant," Jennifer said returning to prepare for the transfusion. She had her equipment and already prepped a place on Wagner's right arm, which was not as torn apart as his left.

"I wonder," Rodney snapped his fingers and jumped up. He paused before he left the room, "Oh, yeah. Can you look for a minute?"

"What?" Jennifer said as he handed her his night vision goggles.

"Just tell me if you see anything different," Rodney said. It was dark once again because the moon was behind some clouds, which meant she could not see his face.

"What are you doing?" Jennifer asked him as she adjusted the strap on her goggles.

"You realize, I'm going to be weak from giving blood," Roberts whined behind her as he entered the room.

"Just get in there," Sheppard said roughly.

"There's gotta be someone else," Roberts said as all hell broke loose outside.

Jennifer saw creatures emerging from the buildings all along the side of the meetinghouse. "What did you do, Rodney!" She screamed as she heard gunfire from the corridor.

Sheppard and Roberts immediately flanked her at the window and opened fire with their P90s. Jennifer started shooting as well, only to see the creatures race away from the building as quickly as they rushed it.

"Okay, McKay…" Sheppard started angrily.

Jennifer had her goggles on so she saw Rodney appear with a grin on his face in the eerie green light. He had obviously had an idea and no one was going to stop him.

"What the hell just happened?" Lorne could be heard from the corridor.

"It's the Morse code," Jennifer said as it clicked in place in her head. The creatures stopped their attack when Rodney turned it on. She saw him look crestfallen that she broke the news.

"It drives them away?" Sheppard said sounding surprised.

"It appears so." Rodney walked in and held out his hands for the goggles Jennifer was wearing, disappointment at not breaking the news to everyone on his face.

"Sorry," she said quietly as she handed him the goggles letting their hands touch a moment.

"Do I really need to do this?" Roberts asked once again now that the action was over.

"You and the doc are the only ones with the matching blood type and she can't donate," Sheppard said.

"Why not?" The young Sergeant said. "She's not mission-critical like us soldiers."

"You just earned yourself the biggest ass-kicking I've ever given anyone when we get back." Richard's angry voice came from behind the young man and caused everyone to jump. "You and me in the gym before we throw your sorry ass through the Stargate. Hopefully, someone will have dialed Earth. I don't care whom you're related to, General O'Neill will have your discharge papers waiting for you before you get down the ramp at Stargate Command. It is the duty of every soldier to donate blood to a fallen comrade. For you to even question it means you are the worst excuse for a soldier I ever met. "

Jennifer felt the tension in the room. She heard several people audibly swallow. A light came on to her right as Sheppard apparently turned the lantern back on.

"Better get this over soon," John said as he glared at the young man, who looked white as a ghost.

Roberts fell to his knees next to his wounded comrade and started removing his vest and jacket like he was a drone. Jennifer sat next to him and did not say a word as she thought about what would happen to Roberts when he gets back to Earth. Gunny isn't the only one he needs to be concerned about.

The transfusion took a long time and Jennifer and Roberts were both very tired when it was over. The young Marine had to lie down for a while and took an IV to help boost his strength. Jennifer rose to her feet after being on her knees for a couple of hours.

"You need to sleep for a couple days when you get back," Rodney said wearily from his post at the window. The sun was barely risen and its light was already reflecting off the mountainside nearest the village.

"Tell me about it. I don't think I'll be heading off world for a while," Jennifer said as she took the water bottle he held out to her. "Atlantis should be dialing soon, right?"

"Probably already have if they follow procedure," Rodney said.

Jennifer was tired, so it took her a moment to realize the sunlight reflected off something. "Rodney, do you have binoculars?"

"Sure, why?" He asked looking out the window.

"I saw something shiny on the hillside," Jennifer said pointing to the mountain east of the village, away from the Stargate.

Rodney raised the small binoculars he pulled out of his tac vest and exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

"What is it?" Jennifer asked as she strained to see.

Rodney got up and rushed into the corridor shouting, "Sheppard, you gotta see this."

"See what? Hey, I noticed it first," Jennifer said as she realized that she sounded childish.

"Here," Rodney shoved the binoculars into her hand. "It's a wraith ship."

"Wraith?" Jennifer, John and Lorne all said at the same time. Lorne and Sheppard had their binoculars out and Jennifer joined the soldiers looking at the ship near the ridge of the mountain.

"It doesn't look like the pictures I've seen of Hive ships. It looks round on top," Jennifer said. The room was lit by the brightness of the sun rising in the sky, so she could see Sheppard, Lorne and Rodney clearly. All of the men had looks of confusion on their faces.

"No, I don't think it's a Hive ship," Rodney said as he took the binoculars back.

"How long has it been since anyone stepped foot on this planet?" Jennifer asked. "The trees on the hillside appeared to have been knocked over quite a while ago. The leaves have all died on them."

"It's been at least nine months," the Major said. "My team was the last one here."

"They always used their IDC when dialing?" Jennifer asked. By the looks Sheppard and McKay were exchanging, they thought the same thing she did.

"This could be some kind of Wraith experiment," Rodney said as his voice rose an octave.

Uh-oh, panicking again. Jennifer moved closer to the scientist and looked up into his face hoping to calm him with her words and actions because kissing him in front of these guys was out of the question.

"Did I hear someone say Wraith?" Ronon said from behind.

"Looks like some type of ship," Sheppard said as he gave the Satedan his binoculars. "Ever seen anything like it?"

"Maybe the villagers were mutated by something they released into the air," Rodney was continuing to spiral out of control. "Maybe the missing men already transformed that's why the DHD is broken. They were trying to dial and…"

"Rodney, calm down." Jennifer moved closer and fought the urge to grab his vest again.

"I've been starting to feel a little weird. Light-headed, weak, unable to keep my concentration," Rodney started spouting off symptoms as he stared at Jennifer with a look of terror on his face. "We could be…"

Jennifer finally relented and grabbed his upper arms. "Because you are feeling exhausted, stressed out and hungry."

"Uh… Yeah… I guess so," Rodney said a little quieter.

"I saw black blood on the glass in the communications building," Jennifer said.

"So?" Rodney looked confused as he took some deep breaths.

At least he's trying to calm himself. Jennifer continued, "Black like a Wraith. These things are similar to Wraith, it would seem."

"So the Wraith let them lose here to kill the people?" John asked.

Jennifer looked away from Rodney and reluctantly removed her hands from his arms. "Ronon, have you ever heard of creatures being used to hunt humans?"

"No." Ronon continued to look at the ship on the hillside.

"Could the ship cause the interference?" Jennifer asked looking back at Rodney.

"Never ran into Wraith technology that could interfere with Ancient before," Rodney said. "But it's not impossible."

"The Wraith do have a telepathic component that could interfere with the neural interface, in theory," Jennifer said as her mind was racing through what she read about the Wraith and Ancient/human interfaces.

"But the radios?" Lorne asked.

"Radios are simple to interfere with…" Rodney began only to stop speaking as something else entered the horizon.

"Oh, thank God," Jennifer said as she saw a jumper sailing over the trees. The smile on her face faded however as the jumper suddenly hit the tops of a couple trees and then dropped like a stone onto the ground outside of the settlement in the field. Far enough away that the Morse code should not bother the creatures. "Oh no! We've got to warn them not to get out of the jumper. Those creatures are all around."

"Rodney, get a new message going," Sheppard yelled as Rodney ran next door.

"I'm on it," Rodney said.

Jennifer ran to the front window where she could see the jumper from a better angle. Praying that no one else was harmed, she gripped her P90, which she still held, tightly. Please let them listen to the Morse code and stay in the jumper. Hurry with the message Rodney.

Ignoring Jennifer's wishes, the jumper ramp came down and two Marines exited taking position on either side. She felt like she was watching a horror movie unfold before her eyes. "No," she whispered.

"They'll see them," Richards said. "Yamamoto and Saxon are good."

As if to prove Gunny correct, gunfire erupted from the two Marines, as some of the creatures could be scene moving away from the buildings toward the downed jumper.

"Um, can the hatch be closed manually?" Jennifer asked as she looked at Gunny.

TBC

A/N: I know it is a terrible place to stop, but I've got a reputation to uphold. Can't remember the color of Wraith blood. Couldn't quickly find an episode with a bleeding Wraith.