The New Girl
Chapter Ten
"It looks like even though this place needs the raw power from the Zed'P.M.s, there are generators for each level of the facility to run for basic functions, like lighting, heat, door, ect." Rodney had been studying the layout for the facility for an hour, when he found the best place to set the charges. "So if we lay the charges near these smaller generators it will trigger several secondary explosions that will whip out the entire facility." John smiled, and said,
"Nice job, Rodney." and activated his com-link, saying, "Serena, how are things on your end?"
Serena was just pulling the needle out of her second to last patient, when she heard her com. going off. She looked around for her earpiece, and finally found it under her jacket, which she had removed almost forty minutes ago. Quickly putting the earpiece in, she said,
"Sorry John, sorry! I took my earpiece out, what's up?" Sheppard rolled his eyes and pushed down the urge to chew her out for not being in contact at all times, and said,
"Are you almost done down there, cause Rodney's got what we need to hook up the bomb squad." Serena looked over at Todd, he was busy labeling and stowing blood samples in the cool carrier, and said,
"I have three or so more to go, so give me another half hour or so and I'll pack up shop." John sighed, saying,
"Alright, but hurry it up will ya, I want us to head back as soon as possible."
"Okay okay, don't get your M4 all jammed up your ass. I'll be done soon." she said, as her next patient took his overcoat off and sat down.
John huffed and turned his com. to Lorn's team.
"Lieutenant, are you almost done down there?" Lorn had been assigned to checking the Hive's feeding room. Though there wasn't anything to be done about the Wraith's need to feed at the moment; knowing how many humans they had left stowed away, would give them a time frame in which they would be working with this particular Hive. Lorn stopped his counting, making a note of where he stopped before he answered his com.
"We're almost done, Colonel, just one more panel and we're outta here."
"Kay, as soon as you're done head back to Atlantis and let them know we'll be right behind ya, and we're going to need a lot of C4 for this place." said John as Rodney downloaded the specks for the facility.
"Understood Sir, out." said Lorn, and he went back to counting.
Meanwhile, Serena finished with her last patient, and then began helping Todd label and store the last of the samples. The guard watched them as they began putting things away. It truly annoyed Serena that Sheppard had assigned them a babysitter. Then, a thought struck her, and she turned to the marine, and said,
"Would you mind helping us with all these boxes, Sheppard will have our hides if we take much longer here." The marine seemed to shiver at the thought of Sheppard getting angry. So he moved forward, picked up a stack of boxes and headed for the door. He turned around to look back at Serena and Todd, but Serena just waved him on as she continued on putting things away, saying,
"Go go go, we'll be right behind ya!" She picks up another filled box and places it on another stack, Todd does the same, finally getting things cleared. So the marine shrugged and headed out the door.
As soon as he was out of sight, Todd turns to Serena, and says,
"You have a talent for deception." Serena turned to face him with a look of mocked offense on her face, saying,
"I wasn't lying about John being pissed if we take too long, though the implication of whether I really give a shit or not may have been a bit...exaggerated." Todd's lips curled up into a amused smirk, as he finishes stacking the last of the boxes. Serena moved over to him to take a stack, at the same time he bent down to take the same stack, and their hands touched.
His skin was cool, but smooth, sending shivers up and down her spine. He sensed her pleasure at his touch, and moved even closer, sliding his feeding hand up the side of her hip while the other played with her hair. Her breath caught in her throat as his hands moved, one to her back and the other to her scalp. She let out a shaky breath when she felt his clawed fingers creep along base of her neck near her shoulders, then down to her collar bone.
'God!' she thought, 'Don't stop...don't you dare stop!' He smiled, and said,
"I have no intention of stopping." He said the last word with a low rubbling somewhere between a purr and a growl, his face now buried in her hair as both hands wrapped themselves around her waist.
Serena could feel the heat rising as he leaned in closer to her ear and scraped his sharp teeth along the shell. She reached her hands up and behind her, tangling her fingers in his wild hair. His hands were moving again, smoothing across her belly then brushing lightly over her ribs. Her grip on his hair tightened and pulled, making him growl as he brought his hands up to meet hers. Their fingers intertwined, and as he lowed their arms so they wrapped around Serena, she tilted her head back. Is eyes were practically glowing, and a deep purr rubbled in his chest as he leaned down to kiss her.
The kiss was soft almost chaste, but soon it become hot and demanding. His tongue and teeth both bit and soothed her mouth as their breathing started to become short. Violently her turned her to face him and growled right in her face as he pushed her back against one of the work tables. He knew that he was out of line, that now wasn't the time for this, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he moved in for another kiss.
She was on fire with every touch of his hands as he pressed into her. He was a good deal taller then her, but that didn't stop him from pressing them closer together and kissing her till he'd left her gasping for air. They needed to go, Sheppard would come looking soon, and Lord only knew what he would do if he found them like this.
'But it feels so good...I want more.' she thought as she felt Todd's hands smooth down her sides making her shiver and moan into their kiss.
'We have to stop...we need to stop...oh yes, right there.' her thoughts were a mangled mess as he began biting her neck, then with a great lurch they were both thrown to the floor.
He still held her when the second blast came, which caused him to pull her even closer. Someone was attacking. But who? They didn't have to wait long for their answer as a Wraith officer charged through the door way.
"Commander, an enemy Hive has just arrived to lay claim to the cloning facility! Your presence is need in command, sir!" he said in a rush as Todd helped Serena to her feet. She looked around, the sample boxes had been throne about, but it looked like nothing had been broken. So with a slight pull out of the room Serena followed Todd, quickly making their way to the command deck. There Rodney was holding onto his computer tablet for dear life, while Sheppard ordered his men to stand down and get back to command.
John looked up and fumed saying,
"What was taking so long?!" Serena huffed right back at him saying,
"Well if you had over fifty samples of DNA to take, label, and safe pack for travel, you'd take your time too!" The ship shook again, causing everyone to grab hold of the nearest sold surface, which in Serena's case was Todd. He held her tightly to him till the shaking stopped then went about trying to hail the other Hive.
"Besides you'll be glade to know that because of Todd and I meticulously packing those samples in the cool carriers, it looks like even with all this shaking I won't have to redo them." she yelled as Ronan came in with the rest of Lorn's team. The Lieutenant made his way to Sheppard and asked what happened.
"Oh nothing, we're just in the middle of a fight between factions on who gets the rights to clone!" Sheppard yelled over the alarms warning of another incoming blast. The ship shook violently as the blast hit their drive engines, they were dead in the water now, with no possible way to escape.
Serena watched Todd work in a hurried manner, giving orders, checking the different deck that were damaged in the blast. He truly cared for those under his command, even if at times he seemed harsh in his judgement. Still, Serena could see his determination to make sure that every officer was accounted for, and she knew he would have no reservations making sure each and everyone of them received her cure, once she had perfected it. These thoughts calmed her mind as she heard an officer announce they had been boarded. Todd spun around to face her and the Atlantis teams, saying,
"If they find you here, it will be death for all of us!" Serena felt the fear coil in her stomach like a snake poised to strike as he went on. "You must take your teams back to Atlantis at once Sheppard, before we drift to far from the space Gate. With only one Hive focused on my ship you will be able to slip past their notice with your ship cloaked." Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing,
"But what about you?!" she asked with a feeling of dread as to what his answer would be. He looked down at her and gently brushed some of her hair out of her face, saying,
"I must remain with my men, I may be able to save the whole Hive if I can find a way to persuade their Queen to allow us to withdraw from the facility."
Her heart seemed to crack at his words, she was proud of the fact he felt such loyalty to his men, but at the same time she wanted him to be selfish, and come back with them. However, if that had been the case, Serena wasn't sure she would be able to trust him the way she did now. Sheppard stepped forward, and said,
"Alright, say we make it back, and all goes well with your withdrawal from the planet. That still leaves us with the very real problem of this new Hive having possession of the facility and the means to power it! What then?" Todd seemed to think for a moment, and said,
"We can still implement your plan of destroying the facility, but we will have to come up with a different method of execution. However, at the moment, we do not have the time. You must go now if you wish to get your teams back safely. It will only be a matter of time before the other Hive notices there is a space Gate, which will make your return very difficult if not impossible."
John nodded and order his men to fall back to the dart bay where the jumper were docked. Serena couldn't move, she couldn't leave him. Here heart was beating so fast in her chest, she thought it would burst through her ribs. The thought of leaving torn at her, like some dark nameless thing clawing her insides to nothing but raw and painful shreds that throbbed in time with her rapid heartbeat. Time seemed to stand still as Todd came to her side, taking her face in his hands, saying,
"You must go, it is too dangerous for you to stay." She shook her head defiantly at his request. He could feel her distress and agony at the thought of leaving, but he stood firm as he went on. "If you remain, there is no way I'll be able to protect you. Even if we are allowed to withdraw, the Queen will undoubtably take all she can from us, and that includes every human in our possession...whether worshiper or prey."
Her heart clenched painfully at his words, as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. Sheppard had stayed behind to carry Serena back to the jumper kicking and screaming, if it was necessary. He watched as Todd wrapped his arms around Serena and held her close, letting his hands smooth up and down her spine, while he buried his face in her hair and inhaled. Memorizing every part of her as if he would never see her again. Sheppard didn't know why that thought pained him. He guessed it was his worry for Serena and how she would suffer if Todd didn't make it, but he didn't have time to think about it. Todd seemed to be of the same frame of mind as he lifted his face to look at Sheppard, saying,
"Take her...take her." John moved forward and took Serena's arm and began to pull her away as she lifted her head. Her grip on Todd's coat was so tight her knuckles had turned white, but Todd smoothed his fingers over them prying them from him. She looked into his eyes, and the sight before her made tears stream down her face, for it was a look of pure agony and self loathing.
In that moment Serena pulled free from John's grip and wrapped her arms around Todd's neck kissing him passionately. If Todd had cared about how he was perceived by his men up to this point, that care was completely gone now, as he wrapped his arms around Serena and kissed her in return. The ship was silent, as if there was nothing there but the two of them, but Serena knew it couldn't last and pulled away, saying, as she looked into his golden-green eyes,
"You had better come back to me." He nodded saying,
"Always." With that John pulled her free of his grasp and ran with her close behind out of command down toward the dark bay.