Disclaimer: All characters of StarGate and StarGate Atlantis belong to their respective writers and MGM. This is a work of fan fiction. I just want to play with them for awhile.

Copyright 2010

I know...its been a while but RL has been rather nasty...hopefully I can pick this back up and keep it going...*fingers crossed*

Enjoy!

Nosphorous

Chapter 21

John stopped. He crouched down. His nostrils flared, belly clenched, mouth watering at the sweet scent that drifted on the air.

Fresh meat…the Beast growled. He'd already fed on one tasty morsel. She'd been sweet too, but that one had just been an appetizer, this one was much better. A full meal, tasty and hot.

He licked his lips, waited. He heard footsteps, low…moving cautiously. He grinned and slowly got to his feet. He didn't bother keeping to the shadows now. Every minute he was learning a new trick and now he could draw the shadows to him. He could wrap them around himself like a cloak and hide from even the sharpest eye.

Everyone but Teyla, it seemed.

He frowned. His fangs dropped down, sharp canines nicking his bottom lip until he tasted his own blood. A low growl rumbled in his chest. When he got his hands on her…his hands clenched into fists.

When he got his hands on her he was going to pluck her god damn eyeballs out and eat them like grapes. Then he would rip her throat out with his bare hands and drink her blood as it pumped hot and delicious from her veins-

He stopped, something was there. He stamped down his anger, focused his attention to the sound of the footsteps coming closer to where he stood.

He stood still, waiting and then he saw the shadow moving against the wall. It was a male. Young, blood sweet, fresh and healthy.

A Vegan. A tree hugging hippy by the smell of him. John smiled slightly. He preferred meat but there was nothing wrong with a few tasty vegetables now and then. Besides, it had been a long time since he'd had a V8.

He took a step…something whirred out of the darkness, a silver flash and then a sharp tearing pain in his chest.

He stumbled, looked down and saw the hilt of the blade sticking out of him. "What the shit-?"

He grunted, wrapped both hands around the hilt of the blade and jerked it free.

He heard a voice, a shout and then the sound of running feet. Damn it, his prey was getting away from him. He took another step and staggered. He barely caught himself before he fell face first on the floor.

John closed his eyes, felt the wrench of pain as the muscles healed, veins and arteries repaired themselves and the wound closed. It had been close, so close…something else touched his senses. His head snapped up and his eyes began to glow.

"Teyla…" His voice rose into an ear splitting shout. "Nice try, little princess!"

"Next time I will not miss." Teyla's voice echoed out of the darkness.

His eyes scanned the walkway above him. The knife had come from somewhere above so she had to be there but he couldn't pinpoint where the sound of her voice was coming from. He pushed harder, his lips curled back into a snarl. Damn it, something was blocking him. Was it her damn Wraith DNA?

He pushed himself to his feet, the wound was completely healed now. The pain just a sting that quickly faded. He touched the place where the knife had struck him.

"Bitch, you tore my shirt." He growled. "My favorite one too."

"Better your shirt than your heart." Her voice echoed back.

He turned his head, ears tuned to the slightest sound. Maybe he couldn't sense where she was but he could certainly hear her.

"Where are you hiding, pretty kitty?" His voice became a low seductive purr. "Don't you want to come out and play with me?"

Her answer was hard and cold. "Leave this city, John. Now. Go and take your plaything with you."

"But I just got here!" His laughter bounced off the walls. "Besides, you owe me dinner, Teyla." He cocked his head slightly. "Scaring off that tasty little morsel…" He made a ts-tsk sound. "That wasn't very nice, now was it?"

She was quiet. Too damn quiet. He heard a sound. The soft fall of a foot. The scrape of a boot heel against metal. He looked up and caught the flash of a shadow moving too fast for the human eye to see.

But then again, he wasn't human anymore.

Fingers tightening around the hilt of the blade, he crouched down and with one powerful thrust of his legs, launched himself into the air. He landed light as a feather on the walkway above and just in time to block Alyssa's path.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He growled. He twitched. The scent of anger and pain fairly poured off of her. And worst of all…

Weakness.

"You'd kill to avenge that thing?"

Alyssa's eyes flickered. Her fingers curled into claws. "Shiya was a lot more-"

"Is that why you kept her on a leash?" John tightened his jaw. The images flashing through his mind made him feel sick. "Fuck." He spat like he's just tasted something horrible and nasty.

"Get out of my head, Sheppard." Alyssa was shaking. Her eyes were wild and she kept opening and closing her hands like she was grasping for something. She took a deep breath and stepped closer. "Your friend-"

"Belongs to me." He leaned forward. His nails grew. curved and became as sharp as a razor. He looked in her eyes and almost a second too late saw the reflection. "Shit!"

He dropped to his knees and rolled but still Alyssa's blood splattered hot and stinking on his face and neck. She fell over him, twisting and screaming as her fingers clawed at the silver blade sticking out of her chest.

Metal whistled through the air and John rolled as Alyssa fell. She reached out, tried to stop her fall but she tripped over his legs and landed hard on the narrow walk way. John heard the crunch when the blade scraped over bone as it was shoved deeper into her chest.

He pushed himself to his feet and froze when he realized what was happening.

Teyla was standing over Alyssa, a deadly looking blade clutched in her hands. It was long, like a sword and she swung, bringing the steel down across the back of Alyssa's neck and slicing through her pale skin like butter.

Teyla kept her eyes on John's face as she knelt down, dug her fingers into the blood splattered hair and tossed her gory prize at him. John moved and the thing sailed past him and disappeared into the shadows below.

John stared. Something had changed. Some subtle shift that had him backing away from Teyla. She was different. She was stronger, feral and eager to challenge him. He cocked his head slightly, staring at her. There was a scent too and the taste of it was bitter in his mouth. Curling his lip in disgust, he backed away from her, tucked the blade into his belt and felt his body burst apart.

Five seconds later, he rematerialized. Disoriented, he shook his head. What the hell was that?

Shit...feeling woozy, he leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes then opened them again as a startled thought crossed his mind. He tensed thoughts of what he'd just done slipping away fast as his senses went on the alert and then he smiled. He recognized that scent.

Slowly, he got to his feet and looked around. The scent was close and with every step he took, it got closer. Eyes narrowing, he looked up and down the hallway. There were doorways all along the corridor and he knew that his prize was hiding behind one of them. A slight noise caught his ear. He stopped, trying to zero in on the sound.

It was the sound of voices, low and hurried. Lorne, Carson...Elizabeth. He reached out, slipping into her thoughts as easily as a shadow creeping across the ground. Her mind was a jumble, lights and sound that made his head ache but he was able to soothe her. Be calm...he whispered...be still, Elizabeth. Be still.

She calmed. Open your eyes. He felt her hesitation and he pushed. She was so weak that what little defenses she had crumbled like tissue paper and then he was looking through her eyes.

The room that they were in was small and he made her be cautious. He kept her quiet, made her keep her eyes lowered and pretend that she was still asleep so that Carson and Lorne wouldn't know that anything was going on. Rodney on the other hand was a problem. He was sitting on the floor and her head was resting on his thigh. John could almost feel the touch when he suddenly started awake.

John frowned. With little effort, he slipped into Rodney's mind too. His old friend was a bigger challenge but it didn't take much to quiet him either. He used their eyes, letting them tell him that besides the four of them there was no one else in the room. Carson and Lorne had their backs to them and neither one of them saw or heard Elizabeth sit up or noticed that Rodney was slowly getting to his feet.

A second to late, Carson whirled around. His face was white and then red as Rodney jerked Lorne's gun from his holster and slashed the butt of it down across the doctor's forehead. Red flowers dotted the floor and the front of his shirt as a bloody gash opened on his forehead.

Lorne shouted as the other man went down. He tried to wrestle the gun from Rodney's hand but with Sheppard's strength guiding the both of them, they were able to take the younger man down. He lay on the floor, his face scratched and a gash in the back of his head.

Like puppets, they both stepped over him, moved toward the door and opened it so that John could slip inside.