Title: Show No Fear

Author: Feral Geek
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: Chapter 21, if you're here and don't know the story, go back to chapter one and start reading.

Disclaimer: Amie no own Stargate or Wraith, they own Amie (they keep her in a little box in one of the Hive Ships with a laptop so she can write this crap without getting sued)

A/N: Oh crap! 21 chapters! -dies- and almost all of them written between midnight and three am...whoo...yeah...oh gods I need sleep .

Read and Review my loyal minions! Give me a reason to be caffeinated at ungodly hours!

Questions? Ideas? Comment or contact me by email! I promise to stalk you ASAP!

3 Amie

ONWARDS!

---

Mutely he stared at the lanky body that had quite unexpectedly stepped between him and the infuriated Malka.

Dalkar had been surprisingly quiet as they had moved through the Hive to join Malka in the throne room, and even after the perfunctory greeting between mother and son he had stayed silent, merely watching.

He had said nothing of what had taken place on Atlantis until now.

Malka had moved to administer the punishment for Cavan's insolence when Dalkar had placed himself in front of Cavan, effectively halting the attack.

If ever there was a time where the resemblance between mother and son was noticeable, it was now.
And if ever there was a time that Cavan would be thankful for Dalkar's lack of tact, it was now.

"You cannot kill him." as the words left Dalkar's lips, Malka's face contorted with rage, but she would do nothing.

Such insolence would not normally be tolerated, but Dalkar was her only child.

The Wraith were many in number, and due to their near indestructible bodies and regenerative properties a great number of them were ancient.

However their birth rate was quite low compare to other species due to a lack of females.

"I cannot?" there was a mocking tone, the words caustic and laced with menace as she stared the male down.

But her son merely stood there with a blank expression.

"You cannot." he repeated after a moment, allowing the words to hang in the air before continuing, "His mate is to have children."

And despite the fact that the other was currently saving him, he had the sudden urge to strangle the young male.

Now the menace in her voice was replaced with confusion; under normal circumstances Malka would have known that Cavan had taken a mate.
But what Dalkar had said was true; according to the rather strict code they maintained she would have no right to take the life of a mated Wraith, at least not one of her own Hive, due to the effects that would have on the innocent mate.

And one that was bearing children...

She backed down slightly, still regarding the pair coolly, "And where is this mate of his?" as though they were lying to save Cavan.

Before Dalkar could speak, Cavan cut in. Better he should say this, "Atlantis."

Malka's arms slid numbly from her hips as she stared openly, startled...she had always been more expressive than other Queens, perhaps it had something to do with her young age, "You took a human for a mate?"

Before her initial shock could wear off and she could react to this news, Dalkar stepped in again, "I believe we can turn this revelation into something...beneficial." a smile twisted his lips as he launched into his plan as Malka sank back into her throne and listened.

She had always enjoy being a deviant, and the insult this would hurl at the other Queens would be insurmountable...an alliance with the Lanteans could prove quite fruitful.

---

Malka looked quite smug as she exited the debriefing room, a few rather astonished faces staring after her.

All of them turned as one to stare back at Elizabeth, bewildered for a moment.

How could she agree to this after the incident involving the two Hive...their betrayal?
So many questions and terse replies before the group would finally leave, still hesitant and suspicious, filing from the room one by one until there were but two left.

This was the moment she feared.
But it did not come the way she expected; there was no argument, none of the usual ferocity and hatred that he showed when the Wraith were concerned.

His intense scrutiny made her want to crawl into a hole and die.

Because of this she might loose the one person she could be free around, a tentative romance that had blossomed into something...something that she had never had with Simon.

In silence she met his gaze, and there was no softening, nothing of what he usually showed when they were alone.

His eyes were like mirrors, cold and hard.

In silence he left her.

And in silence it felt like something inside was shattering.

"Ronon..."

She called out in a voice faint and cracked...

But he was already gone.

---

Adrienne spent the entire meeting hiding in the infirmary.

She seemed to be doing that quite a bit these days.

But she would need to venture from the sanctity of her small office. There was only so long she could do her research, only so long she could go without needing to take a break and go for a walk, or go to the commissary for a meal.

By now the entire city knew what was going on.

In small communities secrets don't stay secret for very long, and Atlantis wasn't an exception. Nearly the entire population had known the day she had told Elizabeth and Carson, and the rest were filled in on the facts.

A number of interesting rumors had surfaced within the following four days.

In the beginning there were stares and people avoided her, but things were slowly turning back to normal...very...very slowly.

Many here had lost friends and co-workers in the sieges, to the Wraith during off-world exploration, and they took longer to accept her.

The newer people who had yet to learn the full extent of the Wraith were the first to welcome her back, then slowly the rest of the city followed suit.

But still there would be stares.

Hesitantly she edged out of the infirmary, knowing she was to meet the Wraith negotiators in the conference room, an armed guard outside should anything go wrong.

And while there was a certain amount of excitement for her, there was an underlying current of tension, fear even.
She had learned from both Cavan and Dalkar that Malka was not your average Queen, with a tendency to do things on a whim, or merely to spite the other Hives.

Hopefully she took the news in stride and would use this as another excuse to spite the others of her kind.

There were not many people in the corridors, so she was able to make her way to the meeting place mostly unnoticed.

The doors slid open and she looked at the guards, both of them had been selected from her off-world team.

It was good to have friends nearby.

In the room was a rather strained silence; two familiar faces and one completely foreign one stared back at her.
Of course the two she recognized were Cavan and Dalkar, and the third's identity was quite obvious, the deadly looking female was clearly Malka.

Adrienne stepped inside and the doors slid shut behind her as she made her way closer to the trio.
The group looked at one another over her head, and a slight, irritating, tingle formed in her head, causing her to frown and say; "I'm right here you know...it's not polite to talk about someone."
That remark made Cavan smirk. The link given to her by her children was strengthening, and while she could not hear the words or form ones of her own, the tingling sensation in her head alerted her to the hidden conversation.

Malka stared at her appraisingly, head back and tilted to one side, an odd mixture of disdain and amusement written across her face.
"I can tell why he chose you." the words were not a compliment; instead they were quite mocking as her eyes flicked back and forth between the two.

It was true, what she had been told; Cavan had taken a mate and she was with child.

By the code she could do nothing to harm either of them.

However she did not have to approve.

Thus she continued to watch them for a moment, as though expecting a slip up that would reveal that everything was a lie.
Instead, Cavan slipped an arm around the human and drew her close, a thinly veiled threat in his eyes as he stared back at Malka.

That proved it.

She gave a slight nod and turned to make her exit, stalking from the room, the guards immediately breaking away from the room to follow her.

Dalkar looked back at them and shrugged slightly, "That went well." he finally said before making his exit as well.

Adrienne sighed and leaned against Cavan, eyes closed, "How long will you be staying?" she asked after a long moment, head tilting up but her eyes stayed closed.

"Two...perhaps three days, until the details of our...alliance...are finalized." he replied quietly, wrapping his other arm around her and resting his chin atop her head.

They would stay that way for some time.

---

Elizabeth Weir watched the pair from the balcony, the two oblivious to her gaze.
After a moment she looked away, it was not her place to watch the private moments of others.

But still there were traces of envy.

They would be happy at the expense of her own heart.

In silence she frowned down at the floor, watching the gate techs move around, the familiar sounds of Rodney complaining drifting up to reach her ears.

Under normal circumstances she would have laughed.

But today she felt no amusement, didn't see a reason to smile.

A sigh escaped her lips, and her shoulders began to shake, eyes prickling with unshed tears.

She was the fearless leader; she could show nothing of sorrow or fear around her people.

Elizabeth Weir was what kept Atlantis going, without her seemingly eternally calm attitude things might fall apart.

It was her job to be strong for those who couldn't be strong for themselves.

But there were times when she wondered where the person who could be strong for her was?

Her breathing hitched and one hand tightened around the railing, soon she would have to make her way back to her office or her quarters, the places where she could let things out.

Keep a box of tissues to wipe your tears away, hide the broken feelings.

The world blurred wetly as she pushed away, turning and walking right into someone.
She kept her head slightly bowed and opened her mouth to apologize when a pair of arms pulled her into a familiar embrace.

For a moment things felt right, but then her shoulders began to shake even more, and Elizabeth had an even harder time as she tried to fight away her tears.

But then a warm hand tilted her chin up, and once again she met his gaze and grit her teeth, but the things she saw there were different.

A shuddering sigh and she buried her face into his chest; the words murmured in her ear seemed to make everything better.

"You don't have to be strong for me."

---

A/N: Aye, Amie ships Elizabeth/Ronon...she loves that pairing, it makes her squee with crazed joy if anyone can recommend a few good fics I would worship them for the rest of my life!

Anyway! REVIEW! gawd