Chapter Twenty

Alex projected outward calm as she approached the queen with Doctor Weir. She made eye contact with the queen just once, to ensure the queen didn't miss the fact that she, herself, was a converted queen. Then she lowered her eyes in submission. She had no problem letting the queen prove her dominance, but she wasn't about to let that thing into her mind. She kept her shields up protecting her innermost core while allowing her surface thoughts of disgust and mistrust to come to the fore for the queen's inspection

Introductions finished, Alex bowed her head slightly to the queen and Doctor Weir and turned to leave as they headed toward a nearby tent. Two of Sheppard's guards and the two Wraith scientists stationed themselves outside the tent. Two more guards entered the tent to stand at either end. Alex watched this just long enough to ensure she was safely out of sight before turning to race toward the tent where she had seen Major Lorne taken.

Alex skid to a halt on the rough stones just outside the tent. She used her extra sensitive hearing to confirm Carson was in there with Major Lorne, still; though she couldn't make out any words. Not really wanting to, anyway, she spent the next few minutes pacing and trying to force her heart back into a normal pace. Just a couple hours ago she had learned her team was still alive. But, Colonel Sheppard had cautioned, they might not be the same people she had known. Alex was well aware of how a person could be converted into a worshipper. She had witnessed the process for herself, once. Though she didn't believe in gods, a part of her prayed now to anything that would listen that her friends were as whole on the inside as they appeared on the outside.

Finally Carson appeared, a frown gracing his expression before he caught sight of Alex and his expression softened. She had no need to ask the obvious, but her heart skipped a beat as Carson took her by the arm gently to lead her a little ways away from the tent. Her fear was plain on her face as he stopped to face her.

"He's going to be fine, physically," he told her.

"There's a 'but'," she said, searching his eyes with her cat-like blue ones.

"Aye," he admitted. "There seems to be some sort of internal head trauma. But I won't know the extent of it until I can take the time to run some scans. It shouldn't be serious," he told her. He sighed heavily. "Alex, you and I both know what trauma to the brain could indicate. He's likely been compromised. And, until Doctor Heightmeyer says otherwise, we have to treat him as a threat."

Alex nearly laughed. "That's all? You had me worried for a minute there."

Frowning darkly, Carson opened his mouth but Alex cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"Let me be happy for just five minutes, okay? Three hours ago he was dead. I just got him back. I'll work with Kate and see what condition he's in mentally. For now, he's alive, and that's enough for me."

Softening his expression, Carson gripped her by the arms and pulled her into a hug. "Aye, I can agree with that. I've got him secured for now. I'll be back in a moment, and then I'm going to check on the others."

"Okay, I'm going to pop in and see if he's up for visitors."

"I doubt it, but he can tell you that himself."

When Alex poked her head between the tent flaps Major Lorne was staring up at the ceiling with a pinched and pained expression. Taking a moment to just appreciate the fact that he was there, alive, and in front of her, she took in his angry, pained expression. She caught sight of all the restraints holding him to the gurney and the guard posted just inside. Knowing he must be in a hell of a lot of pain to be showing it so openly, she made a note to let Carson know.

"Hey, slacker! Enjoy your vacation?" she called, stepping into the tent.

Lorne gave a start before breaking into a warm smile. "Alex! God, it's good to see you. I had thought I saw you get out of the beam's path. Did Burnthorn really make it, too?"

Alex nodded, taking his hand in hers. She had told herself she wasn't going to do this, but she couldn't help the tears that stung the back of her eyes. Trying to play it off, she swallowed a couple of times around the lump in her throat and put on a smile. Major Lorne saw right through it and squeezed her hand. For a moment she searched those pale blue eyes as if wanting to confirm for herself that Lorne was intact mentally.

"You had me worried," she finally admitted.

"Worried? I'm guessing they had a memorial service. You thought I was dead."

Feeling a tear escape her eye, she huffed a laugh and scrubbed it away. "Nah, we had a betting pool going."

"For what?"

"How many drinks you were going to have to buy for everyone that toasted your death."

Lorne chuckled softly at this before his face twisted in pain. "Don't make me laugh."

"What did they do to you?"

Lorne shook his head gently. "I don't know. The queen…she…ripped something…out of my head. I think it was Atlantis' address. It's hard to remember anymore. Psychic rape, Daniels called it."

Alex gave him a look of sympathy. "It's going to hurt for a while," she warned him. "Depending on the extent of the damage, things may be fuzzy around those memories for a while."

"Great, good to know," he sighed, closing his eyes with a briefly murderous expression that changed back to pain, the tensions still clear on his face. "Beckett should be bringing me something for the pain."

"Good," she said, returning the comforting squeeze he had given her hand as if sensing her concern rather than seeing it. "I'll let you get some rest."

As if too tired or in too much pain to open his eyes, Lorne squeezed her hand a bit more. "Look, I told Beckett, but I want you to tell Sheppard. I was only alone with her for a few minutes as far as I can tell. I know we don't have a foolproof way to prove I'm not compromised, but you make sure Sheppard knows. Church was alone with her for two days."

Alex's expression hardened. There was no doubt, Church for certain was compromised. It was the only explanation for him still being alive after being separated from the others for two days.

"I'll tell him. You get some rest."

Lorne nodded, relaxing onto the gurney, still not opening his eyes. "Daniels and Oaksford should be okay. They weren't separated."

"You'll be fine, too," she said. "We'll prove it."

Lorne just nodded. Finally he let go of her hand. She patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave. She caught Carson just returning with a cup of water and a couple of tablets.

"You might want to give him the good stuff. He's in a lot more pain than he's telling you," she warned, eyeing the tablets.

Carson grunted and slipped his hand into his pocket. "Aye, as I expected," he told her pulling out two more tablets of a different color and swapping them out.

"He's going to be hurting for a while. I'm not sure how long it's going to hurt, or how much damage she did. She had him alone; but he doesn't know for sure how long."

The sympathy was clear on his face as he nodded. There didn't seem to be anything to say to that. They both knew what it could mean for the Major.

"Who were you going to see next?"

"After what the Major told me, I was going to check on Church. Why?"

"I'm going to go see Krissy and Bryan, then," she told him.

He patted her on the shoulder and went back into Lorne's tent. If she knew Carson, and she did, Lorne was going to be flat unconscious for the next twelve hours. Poking her head in Oaksford's tent she caught him dozing off.

"You know, there's easier ways to get out of work than being captured by Wraith," she called, stepping into the tent.

His smile lit up the tent. "Aren't you just a sight for sore eyes. What are you doing here?"

As she had with Lorne, she stepped up and took his hand in hers. The restraints seemed almost too big for his thinner limbs. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on the queen while the negotiations are taking place."

"Well, shouldn't you be doing that?"

"Not yet," she said shaking her head. "I've already as much as announced myself. So I'm going to be lying low for a while until the negotiations really pick up. How are you feeling?"

"Bored and hungry."

"Carson should be coming to check you over, soon. Want me to see if we've got something to eat?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll just take a nap for now. I haven't had a good night's sleep in over a week. Those Wraith floors are torture by themselves."

Alex chuckled through a sheen of tears, "I'm glad you're back."

He squeezed her hand firmly. "It's good to see you again. We probably won't be seeing much of you after this. So you take care of yourself, understand? Stay away from those damned darts. They suck."

Again, Alex chuckled. "Get some sleep. I'll go poke Krissy and relieve her boredom. I imagine by now she's ready to chew through the restraints."

Bryan made a face, "You're probably right."

As she approached the next tent she could clearly hear Daniels' talking to someone. Curious, she stepped up and listened for a moment. Daniels wasn't talking, she was sobbing. Stepping in, she caught sight of the stony-faced guard just covering a look of empathy. Stepping up to the gurney, Alex took Daniels' hand. She's never seen the woman so distraught.

"Hey, Krissy, it's okay. You're safe now."

Daniels shook her head as if trying to shake off her emotional outburst now that she wasn't alone. The woman growled and took several deep breaths.

"Pretty pathetic, huh? I keep it together until we're free and now I fall apart."

"Not pathetic."

"Sorry, it's just…Tania. God, I want to see her again. I never thought I would, you know?"

Alex smiled warmly. That she could definitely understand. "I've been keeping an eye out for her. We didn't bring her to the Delta Site, but she'll be happy to see you again."

"Did you…" Krissy choked on more tears.

Alex wiped away the tears on her friend's face. "Yes. She's grieving, but she's tougher than you give her credit for. Just hang in there. You'll be back in Atlantis in no time."

Daniels seemed to regain some composure. "I'm glad you're okay. When you weren't on the ship with us, I thought the queen had gotten you."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just focus on Tania. You're going to be making up for this for a while," Alex teased.

Krissy chuckled. "Don't I know it. How long am I going to be in here, anyway?"

"I don't know. Carson just finished with Lorne and was heading for Church."

Daniels' expression darkened. "Church…he's been converted, I think. I don't care what Oaksford says, Lorne's not been turned. He was only gone maybe half an hour. That's not long enough, right?"

The naked hope in her eyes tugged at Alex's heart. She wanted desperately to assure her friend, but some people were broken more easily than others. Some people's triggers were easier to find that others. Though she didn't believe this of the Major, she wasn't going to lie to her friend, either.

"We don't know, yet. Right now he seems fine, other than being in a lot of pain. Likely she just took what she wanted from him and left the rest of him intact. We'll know eventually."

She seemed to accept this. Nodding she relaxed back onto the bed. "When are you going back?"

"I don't know. Depends on how fast the negotiations move. I'm spying on the queen to make sure she's being up front, which I doubt."

"Right. When you go back, will you tell her?"

"If you want me to, I can."

"Yeah, tell her I love her."

Alex squeezed her hand tightly. "She already knows. But I'll tell her anyway. Get some rest. You might as well sleep since you're going to be tied to this bed for a while."

"God, sleep. Yes! I can't remember the last time I actually slept."

"I'll be around," Alex assured her friend leaving the tent.

Outside the tent she took a deep breath. It felt good to have her team back, but it hurt, too. But she didn't have time to worry about them right now. She had no idea how long the opening talks would be between Weir and the queen. Once the queen was visible again, they had to make a show of getting Alex out of the Delta Site. They wanted the queen to believe Alex wasn't a threat and had little to no telepathic ability. Carson was just here for his expertise as a doctor, for now. Eventually, if the talks went well, they would bring him in to discuss his current formula and its weaponized format.

Scrubbing her face as if to scrub away the after-effects of the emotional roller coaster she'd been on today, she set her mind to her next task. After what she'd heard about Church, she was going to need to have a talk with Heightmeyer.

~o~o~o~

The talks with the Wraith queen went frighteningly well. She agreed to all terms set before her by Doctor Weir. When they ended the first round of talks on the first day, even Weir was suspicious. It was too easy. They all decided to meet up in the same tent afterward to discuss the situation. Inevitably, Sheppard argued against it, Beckett thought having actual Wraith to work on development of a permanent formula would be helpful, and Alex's opinion wasn't asked; but no one told her she shouldn't be there, either.

Finally Weir turned to Alex acknowledging her presence. "You're awfully quiet," she commented.

"I've already told you. Now that we have our people back, get away from here as quickly as possible. Drop that retrovirus on her ship. Anything but consider working with her, because she will betray you and kill us all the moment she has what she actually wants."

"Which is?"

"A weapon she can use against other Wraith, at the very least; possibly something more we don't know, yet. Let's be honest. We have no way to seriously defend Atlantis. She could send out our location at any moment if we anger her. The only reasons she's keeping it a secret now is because she has something to gain from this. The moment we have nothing more to offer, she'll either deal with us herself, or send out our location. Our best bet is to play along until the Daedalus can jump in and destroy her hive ship."

Weir frowned thoughtfully. Sheppard nodded enthusiastically. Beckett kept neutral. If Alex didn't know any better, Carson actually seemed eager to be able to work with the Wraith to perfect the drug.

"So, what you're saying is that we're backed into a corner. Work with her, or risk the city being attacked. On the other hand, the Daedalus might be able to take out a lone Wraith hive."

"If we're lucky, it can be done before Atlantis' location is broadcast all over again," Sheppard pointed out.

Weir nodded. Very well, then. We don't have a choice, and I'm certain she knows this. We'll proceed with caution. Doctor Beckett, you and your research teams setup a working lab here on the Delta Site. Colonel Sheppard, prepare the city for evacuation to the Alpha site—"

"I wouldn't recommend that," Carson cut in sadly. "Mister Church has definitely been compromised and Major Lorne may be as well."

"Explain," Weir said, clearly not happy at the possible accusation against one of her best mediators.

"Major Lorne, Sergeant Daniels, and Lieutenant Oaksford all agree that Mister Church was gone for the better part of two days. Doctor Heightmeyer and I haven't gotten it all out of him, yet. But he did say they fed on him, and then restored him over and over again. He's a wreck. I think if we put him in the same room as a Wraith he would do anything to keep them from feeding on him again. In short, he's been tortured for information he can't even remember disclosing. Any evacuation sites he is aware of we can assume are compromised."

"That would be Alpha and Beta, for certain," Weir stated, knowing she had once held negotiations on Beta Site and Alpha was the one location everyone in Atlantis knew as the place to go during trouble.

"And Delta Site. What about Major Lorne? Is he compromised?"

Beckett glanced to Alex before taking a deep breath. "We don't know. We believe the only information she took from him was the gate address to Atlantis."

"They all agree he was only gone for maybe thirty minutes, but Lieutenant Oaksford says he was compromised."

Ruthlessly crushing her personal feelings, Alex spoke up. "While it is possible she did more than he's saying, and he's been compromised much as has Church, I don't think that is the case. Torture by feeding and restoring is a common, but crude method of torture most often used by the males. Queens tend to find the psychological triggers. They invade your mind to find the deepest fear, and then make it a reality. So, yes, it could be she did just that, and broke him in a few minutes; though it's very unlikely. Did he look broken to any of you?" she asked them.

Weir considered it. Sheppard frowned darkly, not wanting to believe it. And Carson gave a clear shake of his head.

"Is there any way to be sure?" Weir asked.

"The only thing I could suggest that I've discussed with Kate was possibly hypnosis to take him back to what happened. I don't think even a Wraith queen could erase memories," Alex told them.

"Then do it," Weir said. "If he refuses, treat him as a hostile. Mister Church will need to be returned to Atlantis and placed in a cell. He might not be an engineer, but we can't risk him being loose in the city until we know more about what was done to him and how far he'll go to obey any commands."

"Consider it done," Sheppard said.

"Sheppard, Let's find out about Lorne before we assume all evacuation sites are compromised. We may still be able to use one, and that could save us precious time."

"Agreed," he said, a bit uncertainly. He seemed to want to say more, but glanced at Alex and closed his mouth.

"Carson, anything else?"

"No. I'll start setting up the lab."

"Thanks. Okay, I'll head back to Atlantis and start working on communicating with the Daedalus to see what we can do. Talks will reopen tomorrow and I hope to have something we can use to delay her. But we'll see what happens."

"Alex, hang back for a minute," Colonel Sheppard instructed, crossing his arms.

Yep, he's not happy, she thought to herself with a mental sigh, but just nodded to him.

After the others left, he stared at the rocky floor while he leaned against the table. Alex waited patiently. Finally he sighed and scrubbed his face.

"Okay, here's the deal. Church we know about. It was too obvious. Is it possible she planted some kind of instructions in Major Lorne that he's not aware of?" the fact that he even had to suspect his second in command was obviously not sitting well with him.

Alex considered this for a moment. She wanted to deny it outright, but she couldn't bring herself to do so if it meant putting thousands of people's lives on her conscience. Finally she admitted, "I don't know."

Sheppard chewed his lip, his green eyes intense. "And you think hypnosis may reveal what she did?"

"It's the only suggestion I have, short of going in myself," she confessed, her stomach churning.

That got his attention. "Can you do that?"

Alex squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and made a face. "Would you want me in your head?"

"No, but I'd trust you more than…her mucking around in there."

Heaving a sigh, Alex flopped down onto the bench. "I'm nowhere near as powerful as I was as a Wraith queen, but I should be able to find the truth. It's probably going to hurt, a lot."

"Then we'll keep it as a last resort," Sheppard agreed, patting her on the shoulder. "But we need to find out right now. We can't setup an evac site until we know what's going on in his head. Let me track down Heightmeyer. I'm going to sit in on the session. Meet me at Lorne's tent."

Alex nodded, her gut twisting. For a moment she just sat with her eyes closed. The idea of violating her team leader's mind in such a brutal way left her feeling sick. Hoping it didn't come to that, she pulled herself together. She had to find Carson before she headed over to meet with Sheppard and Heightmeyer.

~o~o~o~

"You're certain?"

"Yes, Alex, I'm bloody well certain that the Major suffered no actual brain damage! No! I said put that in the second tent! We don't want to mix up…"

Alex tuned out whatever else Carson was shouting at the multitude of people now setting up lab tents. Feeling downright ill at this point over what she knew was likely to be the outcome, she headed toward Lorne's tent. She was almost there when she heard Carson calling from behind. He was red-faced and looking rather harassed.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just—"

Chuckling, Alex put a finger to his lips to silence him. "Don't worry about it," she told him. "I'm just trying to find a way out."

"Way out of what?"

Before she could answer Sheppard called from the entrance to Lorne's tent.

"I'll have to tell you later," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"It's about Major Lorne?" he asked, following.

Alex just nodded as she headed toward the tent. With an utterly neutral expression, she let herself in; somewhat surprised that Beckett had followed. Lorne was awake and still pale. There were still lines around his eyes showing the headache had not abated.

"Well, looks like quite a party. Didn't realize you all missed me that much," Lorne quipped, seeing all the familiar faces.

"And you can blame John for the lack of alcohol. It was his turn," Alex quipped, trying to make light of things.

Colonel Sheppard's dark expression didn't even flicker. For a moment Sheppard started to ask Beckett something, but then caught sight of Alex holding his hand and decided to let it go. Lorne certainly didn't miss the expression on his CO's face.

"Let me guess, more bad news," Lorne said, closing his eyes for a moment against the pain. "Oaksford tattled on me."

"Can't we do this later? You can see for yourselves he's clearly in pain. There's—" Beckett said, pushing forward to check on his patient.

"No, Doc," Lorne snapped with an angry look, before anyone else could. "Let's get this over with."

"But—" Alex stopped Carson before he could say anything else as Lorne's eyes found hers. Something was seriously wrong about all this. But they had to know.

"Come on, Carson, let's let Kate do her thing. It'll be fine."

"Actually, all of you need to step out," Doctor Heightmeyer spoke up. "I need quiet, and there's too much distraction for him."

"Alex stays," Lorne demanded.

Sheppard looked for a moment like he was going to argue. Alex touched his arm and motioned toward the door. Something was seriously wrong, and she didn't want them interfering. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach had turned to a block of ice. Maybe it was something in her expression, but both Carson and John shut their mouths, and turned toward the tent flap.

Alex stood nearby as Lorne's blue eyes sought her out what seemed like every few seconds. One moment it was as if his eyes were trying to make sure she was still there. The next minute it was something akin to pure fear, and he wanted her to do something for him she couldn't understand. She resisted the urge to step up to the bed and hold his hand. Instead, she smiled briefly in what she hoped was a comforting expression, and visually checked his restraints.

"This won't hurt, and we can pull you out of it at any moment. Just relax and—"

Relaxing was the last thing he wanted to do, apparently. Doctor Heightmeyer found herself stepping back as Major Lorne shook his head and thrashed against the restraints for a moment. Alex's heart stopped. When he opened those pale blue eyes again his face was a mask of pure terror. It was gone in a flash and Kate was back to talking soothingly. Kate must have missed it, but Alex didn't. Lorne's face was back to being pinched in pain as he relaxed into the restraints.

More suspicious than ever, Alex stood back and watched Kate talking her team leader down little by little. Lorne's eyes closed and, inch by inch, he began to relax. Alex felt her own heart begin to slow down as she realized it was working. Perhaps she had just misinterpreted his expressions earlier. Maybe it was just a spike of pain. Maybe he didn't like the idea of hypnosis leaving him so vulnerable. Maybe—

Whatever else she tried to convince herself of flew right out of her mind as Lorne's body gave a violent jerk and he tugged against the restraints for a moment. Kate seemed surprised, but not concerned. His eyes sought hers again, and suddenly Alex knew. She knew exactly what was going on. Cursing herself for her stupidity, she gripped the side bar of Lorne's bed.

That's when the screaming started.

~o~o~o~

Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Beckett practically tackled each other scrambling back through the tent flaps. Doctor Heightmeyer had backed up to the wall of the tent, her eyes wide. Alex's body was solid as a rock and trembling from head to foot. Major Lorne was thrashing and screaming incoherently. Taking all this in in less than a heartbeat, Sheppard grabbed Beckett by the arms to keep him away from the two. He caught Heightmeyer's attention and nodded toward the door.

"Stay put, Doc," Sheppard said, finally releasing him.

"I'll do no such thing—"

"Whatever's going on, Alex is in his head. We don't know what kind of damage it would do for you to interfere."

"She's what?!" Carson asked, eyes wide in a face gone paper white.

"She didn't tell you?" Sheppard asked.

"My God…" Carson said shaking his head.

Suddenly Lorne's screams stopped. He still thrashed, his facial expressions ranging from agonized to murderous to things Sheppard thought were impossible. Seeing his Second in Command like this was downright frightening. If he didn't know any better, he would have believed Lorne was possessed like in all those horror movies.

Meanwhile, Beckett's face had gone from terrified to gritting his teeth. Half of him wanted to tear Alex away from the man, and the other half wanted to stop Lorne from whatever he was doing to her. Trapped and feeling helpless, he clenched his fists and forced his feet to stay where they were.

~o~o~o~

Alex was lost. Any sense of time or physicality disappeared. The ranging expressions she had seen in her friend's eyes had triggered something that she couldn't quite pinpoint. But that last gasp and full-bodied spasm made it crystal clear. Lorne was not alone. Instead of planting instructions in his mind or subverting him openly as had been the case with Church, she had left an open door. The Wraith queen had thought she covered her tracks well.

But Lorne knew. The headache. It was there the whole time. He was trying to tell them, but they didn't see it. The headache and flickering angry expressions had been him trying to tell them that he was actually compromised, no matter what she had done or was doing to him. That's why she was so distant during the introductions and negotiations. She had had a firm hold on his mind. Lorne himself might not have been consciously aware, but he had been subconsciously aware; hence the headache.

Alex was going to catch that bitch and make her pay.

First, she dug into Lorne's mind where she could sense the queen's presence. It was like a dark shadow over his thoughts. Alex's rage at this violation giving her extra strength, she attacked it, shredding it. Underneath, she had found memory after memory of Lorne's time on Atlantis; every last one of them associated with a dialing sequence. And it was for the Alpha Site. Alex mentally smiled to herself in pride at realizing the man had still fought to the last, trying to convince the queen it was the gate address to Atlantis.

Attempting to follow the path the queen had used, Alex found herself in a telepathic trap. Wanting to scream, she thrashed mentally against the seemingly solid jaws that were stabbing into her with each and every painful experience she had ever known. She found herself retreating back to Lorne's mind. Still screaming mentally under the assault, she felt herself pulling back even further, trying to preserve herself. She had to find a way out. If only she could just think past the pain! She couldn't leave her team leader like this. She had to break the link with the queen somehow. She wasn't going to let her have Lorne.

Screaming against the pain, and almost lost to it completely, Alex could hear somewhere in the distance a wicked female laugh. The vision of herself reverting back to a Wraith queen and feeding on Carson was the tipping point. Pulling back completely, she withdrew her essence into a tiny flicker; because now she was too trapped to even return to her own body. The queen had her.

Forgive me, Lorn, she thought struggling to close the queen out of her mind, but knowing it was too late.

Alex knew she was too weak. She wasn't going to be able to save herself, let alone her friend and team leader. The queen would squash her, and shred what was left of her mind any moment now. Cursing her weakness and failure right along with vile Wraith queen, Alex struggled to maintain her sense of self.

Like hell you will, a voice came out of the darkness.

The shock of hearing a coherent thought from Lorne made her slip. In an instant, the queen was in. Then she was consumed in agony, and all else ceased to exist.

~o~o~o~

Sheppard and Beckett watched helplessly. Alex was still standing there with her eyes closed, every muscle in her body tensed. Lorne had thrashed for nearly twenty minutes, almost seeming like more of a seizure were it not for the constantly changing facial expressions.

Then he went still.

The open, staring eyes made Sheppard and Beckett's hearts stop. Sheppard closed his eyes cursing himself for another man lost. Beckett leapt into action, coming around the bed about to start CPR. Just as he was about to lower the gurney Lorne blinked and started to breathe slowly and normally. He heard Sheppard gasp in surprise over near the tent flaps. Only then did Beckett glance up to Alex. Her expression was exactly what he saw when she slept. It had always seemed so peaceful to him. But now there were tears running down to her chin.

That's when the screaming started.

Her body was still solid as a rock and trembling as if straining to do more when she started screaming. The look on Carson's face was pure horror. For the second time Sheppard found himself restraining Carson.

"Doc, listen to me—"

"Whit the hell are ye doin'?" Beckett snapped, his accent thick in his terror.

Sheppard spun the man around gripping his arms painfully hard. "Carson! Think about it. You break the connection and they could both die. We don't know what it would do. Alex knows what she's doing. Let her do it."

The fury and fear in Sheppard's eyes was enough to make him pause. But then the screaming stopped. Tears still ran a steady stream out of her eyes, but she was as silent as Lorne and her now open eyes were locked. John and Carson watched with their breaths held waiting for whatever would come next.

~o~o~o~

One moment Alex felt her very essence being shredded and burned apart. The next moment she was enveloped in a comforting warmth that felt like a steel shield. For a time she didn't know who she was or what she was. But, gradually, the warmth and solidity penetrated her scattered thoughts.

Lorne! she thought frantically.

The warmth softened a bit from steel to stone. Am I dead? she heard him ask.

Grim determination now replacing her earlier fear Alex replied, Not yet. And not at all, if I have anything to say about it.

Alex sensed his amusement at her feistiness. Then it turned to profound sadness. Whatever happens, it's not your fault, Alex.

Irritated she snapped. I know that. Now shut up and let me work.

The essence of Evan Lorne that had seemingly surrounded her backed off. Alex searched his mind feeling for the darkness that had been the queen's influence. At each instance she found she destroyed it, and then replaced it with something softer, more pleasant. It was through pain and fear that a queen controlled; so it was only appropriate that Alex heal the wounds and set him free using happier, gentler memories. Somewhere in the mix, she felt her friend's emotions going up and down and all over the place with each association she created.

Finding a spot of resistance, she would move on. It was more than uncomfortable enough seeing this much of her team leader and friend. But the same resistant spot kept coming up time and time again as she reached for something to supplant a particularly painful memory or vision the queen had used. She still had no concept of time in here. For all she knew she'd been in his mind for days. But, at some point, she began to realize that some of the most painful, rawest memories were images of what the queen would do to his team, particularly to herself.

Reaching again for a happier memory to help heal the wound, she again encountered the same spot of resistance. One of those things Lorne didn't want anyone to know. She again tried to maneuver around it. But it kept coming back. Lorne's consciousness had long ago retreated during her work. If she'd had a stomach, it would have been churning now with indecision. But the longer she was here trying to undo the damage the queen had done, the harder it was going to be for both of them to separate. Giving in, she reached for the resistance and pushed.

It wasn't just a memory, it was a whole bundle of them. All about Alex. Evan's emotions were flat out raw over this. In some ways he almost seemed fragile where she was concerned. To him Alex was a little sister that needed protecting; and he would do anything to ensure no one ever hurt her again. That's when the association led her to catch a glimpse of something dark and violent. Evan had a sister, and she had been brutally beaten and abused. He hadn't known about any of it until it was too late, and the damage had already been done to her. Sensing something even darker on this string of memories, Alex backed out quickly. Her last glimpse had been something dark and threatening toward Carson should he ever hurt her. Picking through the happier memories, she supplanted the painful visions of the queen torturing her that had been imprinted in Lorne's mind.

So many faces, so much pain. She knew humans felt more than Wraith, but she could never have imagined one man carrying so much. Many of those faces were dead and staring. Others she knew were dead, but how they died, she didn't know. Which ones were real and which ones were implanted by the queen she couldn't tell. Some had become so snarled she couldn't separate real from implanted. She knew the implanted ones would fade, in time. But it tore at her heart to know that Evan carried a weight no one should have to carry alone.

Finally, it was done.

Alex had managed to locate and re-associate everything the queen had touched. The traps the queen had set had all been triggered by Alex when she had gone after the queen. The queen had seemed desperate to cover her tracks. She had just lost a pawn; but there was much, much more to this. No queen would ever relinquish a pawn to an inferior force unless something far greater was at stake.

Praying he would not remember all she had done and seen, Alex slowly retreated into herself. She still had no concept of time, but she was certain it had been a while. She was just considering what condition her body would be in when the world shattered and darkness enveloped her entire being.

~o~o~o~

Carson and John continued to wait in tense silence. Minutes turned into hours as Alex and Lorne stared at one another not moving and seemingly to barely breathe. Beckett even compared it to something like a catatonic state. They didn't know what they were expecting when it was all over, but certainly not what actually happened.

At some point Lorne finally relax and closed his eyes. Minutes later Alex gave a soft exhale and fell backward. It was like a marionette with cut strings. Her entire body relaxed as she slumped backward cracking her head on the edge of a table.

Cursing, Sheppard and Beckett dove for her at the same time. Realizing how stupid it was, Sheppard stopped himself halfway there and let Becket get to her first. Beckett's Scottish accent came back heavy as he started cursing. His hand was covered in blood from where he had checked her head. After a moment, he took a calming breath.

"I have to get her back to Atlantis," he finally threw over his shoulder at Sheppard.

"No."

"Excuse me?" Carson asked, a dangerous edge to his voice as he pressed his wadded lab coat gently against the back of her head.

"We can't risk it. We don't know—"

"To hell with it!" he snapped turning on his radio. "Doctor Beckett to Doctor Knightley."

"Knightley here, go ahead."

Sheppard relaxed as Beckett rattled off a list of things and then went back to focusing on Alex. Lorne appeared to be sleeping soundly. The pained and murderous expressions completely gone. Nonetheless, he was staying in those restraints unless someone could prove he wasn't a threat. That he had little hope for, at this point. He couldn't even really venture a guess what had passed between the two, but with screams like that, he knew it wasn't anything good. Now he had to wonder if Alex, herself, had been compromised.

Once he felt the bleeding was under control, Beckett hefted Alex into his arms and headed through the tent flaps. Knowing Beckett wouldn't want him in the way, Sheppard radioed for a guard and gurney restraints. He just couldn't take the chance. And, he'd already spent too much time on this. It was late, but preparations still had to be made. The only way to ensure the safety of Atlantis' population at this point would be to assume all evac sights compromised.

Cursing softly, Sheppard left the tent already forming plans to send out teams to look for a new site.

~o~o~o~

"It's a long story and I'll tell you later. Right now we need to know how bad her concussion is and she's going to need sutures," Carson explained to Rebecca.

Turning to the guard that had shown up, he let loose some expletives that made even Rebecca think he'd been spending too much time with the military types. But the Marine would not budge. He was going to follow Sheppard's orders, even if it meant shoving both doctors out of his way. And the man was easily big enough to lift each doctor with one hand. Gritting his teeth and already considering exactly what he was going to say to Sheppard the next time he saw him, Beckett finally motioned for Knightley to back away and let him restrain Alex.

Appearing just as concerned as Carson, Rebecca set to work. Minutes later they both gave a sigh of relief to see that there were no skull fractures and no swelling of the brain. Aside from a bump on her head and a few stitches, she was going to be fine.

Carson was just cleaning up and bandaging the fresh sutures when Alex woke. At first he thought she was having a nightmare as her chest heaved and began to hitch with each breath. Realizing she was sobbing quietly, he rolled her head toward him trying to wake her gently. Unfortunately all this did was cause her to try to jump from prone to upright causing all of her restraints to snap her back to the bed. Of course her head impacted the pillow saving her from at least some of the pain it caused.

For a moment she just blinked in confusion before her eyes landed on Carson. Already Carson had moved to place a comforting hand on her forehead, followed by a kiss just above her eyebrows.

"It's all right, Alex. You just fell and got a bit of a bump on your head," he told her, forcing a smile.

"Bump?" she asked incredulously. "It feels like mountain. And cracked open one at that."

Carson chuckled softly at the analogy. "You needed a few sutures, but you'll be fine."

Nodding softly, Alex closed her eyes for a moment. "Evan?"

"Major Lorne was sleeping, last I saw. There's been no update since."

"How long was I out?" she asked, an edge of fear in her voice.

Carson glanced at his watch. "A little over an hour."

"Good. Do I need to ask why the restraints, then? Or is it obvious?"

His face darkened considerably, "That daft bugger thinks you're compromised now, too. I—"

"I might be."

For a moment Beckett choked on his words as his face went from red to white. "No. I refuse to believe that."

"Exactly why John is calling the shots," Alex pointed out. "No, I'm not a Wraith queen's puppet. But you have no business letting your personal feelings put Atlantis at risk."

His face flushing to a point his ears turned red, Carson knew he had no excuse. She was right. Feeling properly chastised, he cleared his throat and stood up. Shoving his hands into the pocket of his lab coat, he sighed heavily.

"Aye, you're right."

"I know I am. Now, go get some sleep. You look worn out again."

Carson chuckled. "I could just bring a cot in here," he suggested.

Shaking her head, Alex said, "No. Go back to Atlantis, get some real sleep in a real bed. It might be the last you get for a while. In the meantime, can you radio to see if John's still hanging around?"

"Sure thing, love."

A moment later Carson's face fell at realizing Sheppard had already gone back to Atlantis. Alex assured him a night tied to a bed with nothing to do but sleep would probably be just as beneficial for her. With a quick kiss, Carson said goodnight and left reluctantly. He swung by Major Lorne's tent just long enough to ensure the man was sleeping soundly before turning his feet toward the gate. With a huge yawn, he returned to a city sleeping peacefully, seemingly unaware of the dangers hanging over each of them this very moment.