Disclaimer: I don't own 'Stargate Atlantis' or any related concepts or characters; you know the drill by now. Also, the basic details of the plot were inspired by 'The Phantom of the Opera', although I have naturally put my own spin on things; hope it meets with your approval

Feedback: Always appreciated, trust me

The Phantom of Atlantis

The next morning's meeting with Colonel Sumner's team- accompanied by several senior members of the various departments currently operating in Atlantis- proved to be a far more cheerful encounter than any of the participants could have expected it to be. Only a few short hours ago, they had been sitting around trying to figure out a way of dealing with a situation that seemed to be virtually their own death certificate, and yet now, here they were, facing the genuine possibility that they might just be able to survive this upcoming nightmare after all.

Which, unfortunately, wasn't to say that it was a peaceful meeting; Elizabeth had long ago come to realise that, when it came to anything in the Pegasus Galaxy- particularly when it came to anything that remotely connected the Phantom and Colonel Sumner- all that she could do was prepare for the worst-case scenario, no matter how much she might hope for the best.

"So you're telling us that the shield just… shut down?" McKay asked, looking sceptically at Chuck- the technician who had been in charge of the control rook when the events that were the topic of the current meeting had taken place. "And you think that it wasn't your team that shut it off?"

"Uh… pretty much, yeah," Chuck replied, looking awkwardly around the room at the rest of the Atlantis senior staff. "I mean, I'd just been trying another password possibility from the database, so I guess it's possible that it could have been a delayed response…"

"Delayed by three minutes?" McKay said, looking sceptically at the technician. "I know you're not me, but everyone here knows that Ancient technology could never be that slow in this kind of condition; hell, even in the worst condition Ancient computers could be in without not actually being able to work, it should only take a minute- two, at most!- for them to respond!"

"So… you're saying that something else was responsible for shutting down the shield?" Sumner asked, looking pointedly at the Canadian scientist before he turned to look at Chuck. "You're certain that you've dialled a Milky Way address?"

"We managed to make contact with no less than three planets in the Milky Way that have established diplomatic relations with the SGC; all of them were able to confirm that we had dialled our home galaxy, with no time dilation or any other such issue delaying our ability to send and receive radio signals through the wormhole," Chuck said, a brief expression of frustration at the implication in Sumner's statement as he glared at the colonel before he assumed a more casual expression as he turned to look at Elizabeth. "We concluded that it would be best to wait until we'd told you all about this latest turn of events before we tried to contact Earth directly; you know, in case anyone else in the expedition had anything they wanted to send along with the main message about what we're up against right now…"

"You did the right thing," Elizabeth said, nodding in understanding at the young man (She was slightly annoyed that the program to shut the shield down hadn't worked out the way John had said it would, but she supposed it was hardly his fault if he hadn't had the time to test that it would do what he'd told her it would accomplish; when would he have felt the need to test something like that when he'd probably assumed he'd have more time before the city found itself in this kind of situation?) before she turned to look at Colonel Sumner. "With this in mind, we should send a message to Earth detailing our current situation as soon as possible; even if they can't send us anything through the Stargate themselves, any information we can provide them with about our current situation might help them to provide us with something we can use against the Wraith."

"Agreed," Sumner said, nodding briefly at Elizabeth before he turned to look at McKay. "Doctor McKay, prepare all available information we possess on the Wraith for transmission to the SGC; the more information we can provide them with the better."

"As long as we're sending messages, we should let the rest of the city know what we're planning to attempt," Elizabeth added, looking pointedly at Sumner for a moment to make sure he didn't object to her decision- she was fairly certain that he'd allow the messages for morale purposes but she couldn't be certain- before continuing. "If any of them wish to send a message home, we should give them the opportunity to do so; I assume that adding in some personal messages would be possible, correct?" she asked, looking inquiringly over at McKay.

"Hey, I worked out a way to transmit a large portion of data in a micro-compression data burst a few years ago; if we had to I could send our mission reports and personal messages from everyone on-base in just over a second and still have room left over to send a movie if I wanted," McKay said, smiling slightly smugly at her before he glanced back around the table. "Anyway, I'll do what I can about uploading the information from the Ancient databanks; in the meantime, maybe one of you could see about talking to the rest of the team? You know, let them know what's up, give them the opportunity to record a few messages, stuff like that…?"

"Good point," Sumner said, nodding briefly at the Canadian scientist before he turned to look at Ford. "Get on it, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir," Ford said, standing up and heading for the door to the conference room.

"Doctor McKay," Elizabeth continued, turning to look at the scientist, "have all your staff working on downloading all available information from the Ancient database as soon as possible; even if Earth can't send us any help, we have a duty to let them learn as much as what we've discovered here as we can."

"Check," McKay said, before he stood up to follow Ford out of the conference room, pausing briefly at the door to look back at the remaining three people in the room. "I'll let you know what I manage to download from the database when the time comes; if… well, if we can't come up with a decent plan to deal with the hive ships, I'd appreciate your input on what we decide to send back."

Elizabeth took a brief moment to collect herself- as much as she recognised the fact that they might have to abandon Atlantis to prevent the Wraith from gaining control of the city, she still hated to think about abandoning this incredible city unless they were certain they would have to do so-, before she nodded in understanding.

"Agreed," she said simply. "Call me when you reach that stage; I'll… I'll do what I can."

McKay briefly nodded in response, and then he turned around and walked out of the conference room leaving Elizabeth to turn and look at Sumner and Teyla.

"In the meantime," she said, turning the conversation back to an area where they could at least take some kind of action as she looked directly at Sumner, "we need to determine some way of getting a better look at these Wraith ships before they reach here; if we can gather a clearer picture of what we're up against we might be able to come up with a better idea of how to defeat them."

"I've already been thinking about that," Sumner said, nodding briefly at her in response. "I spoke with Doctor Zelenka and Sergeant Markham this morning before I came to the meeting; according to our sensors, the Wraith ships appear to be leaving and entering hyperspace at fairly regular intervals. Whether these pauses are the result of some flaw in their hyperdrives or simply them stopping to feed as they travel, Doctor Zelenka has been unable to determine, but he assures me that, regardless of the reasons for it, the regularity of their pauses means that he can identify a few locations where Teyla, Markham and I can travel via gateship to take a closer look at the hives while under cloak."

"A good strategy," Elizabeth said, nodding briefly at Sumner even as she wished he'd told her about that plan before he carried it out; his commitment to his military duties was commendable, but he sometimes seemed so dedicated to attending to the military side of things that he forgot that this was supposed to be a joint military/scientific expedition. "Just remember to be careful and stay out of sight; we can't afford to let the Wraith know that we're aware of their presence yet."

"I have already identified a suitable planet for us to observe the Wraith from," Teyla reassured her, taking up the explanation as she looked at Elizabeth after a confirming nod from Sumner. "My people have regularly traded with the people of one of the worlds that the Wraith shall pass by on their way here, and the Stargate's location is easily accessible by ship; Colonel Sumner and I feel that it is as suitable a location as any to observe the hive-ships from."

"Good to know," Elizabeth said, smiling slightly at the Athosian woman before she indicated the door to the conference room. "Get to it, but be sure to be back here as soon as possible; I want you here when we make contact with Stargate Command."

"Understood," Sumner said, before he stood up and looked over at Teyla. "Come on; let's go."

"Of course," Teyla said, standing up and nodding briefly at Elizabeth before she turned to follow Sumner out of the conference room, leaving Elizabeth alone to contemplate the most crucial issue the current situation left her with.

Specifically, if Atlantis faced destruction…

What would John do about it?

Would he leave the city with them to continue his fight against the Wraith, trying to continue his apparent 'mission' to protect the Pegasus Galaxy even if it meant working with people who didn't trust him…

Or would he stay and fight off the Wraith until the city had exhausted the last of its drones- of which they didn't have that many to begin with; the Ancients must have virtually depleted their drone supply during the last days of the Ancient-Wraith War- and the few remaining dregs of power in the ZPM, at which point he'd probably destroy the city with himself still inside it to prevent the Wraith from gaining access to the Stargate.

She knew that the chances of John agreeing to the first were low at best- given Sumner's evident disdain of him so far, it was unlikely the expedition's military leader would even consider allowing the Phantom to leave with them if things reached that point-, but the thought of him choosing the second…

For some reason, just the thought of John dying was… painful.

In many ways, it hurt more than the thought that she'd never see Simon again…

And where did that comparison come from?

Shaking her head to force such thoughts aside- she had more vital matters to deal with right now than her fiancé back on Earth to a man who went around in a mask and a cloak-, Elizabeth walked out of the conference room herself, trying to force her mind back to the matter of sorting out what she would send in the message; condolences for the deaths of those who'd lost their lives so far was definitely near the top of the list, although sorting out the mission reports she'd received over the last few months would also have to take priority…

Plus, she'd need to go over her old reports to make sure she hadn't mentioned anything that might possibly reveal anything about her feel-meetings with the Phantom; the last thing she wanted was General O'Neill questioning her judgement for personal reasons…

And why did she keep coming back to this?


As Doctor Kavanagh walked into his room later that night, he allowed himself a slight smile at the knowledge that he'd finally managed to voice his issues with the chain of command in Atlantis; even if they didn't get out of this situation- which, given the Wraith hive-ships currently bearing down on them, seemed to be the most likely final outcome of their current crisis-, at least everyone back on Earth would have an unbiased view of how things had been in Atlantis.

Quite frankly, he couldn't believe the lack of courage some people seemed to have when it came to confronting Doctor Weir about her actions; they'd been here for the better part of a year now, and yet as far as he could tell he was the only person to ever confront that woman about what she'd done wrong over that time period.

Why was it that none of the other members of this stupid expedition seemed to care about the fact that she'd put the city at risk for nothing more than a slender chance of saving a handful of expedition members and a couple of primitive civilisations that would take at least decades before they could contribute anything more worthwhile than food to the expedition's current campaign against the Wraith? If they couldn't find anyone able to actually offer them some kind of help against the Wraith, as far as Kavanagh was concerned the city should just leave them to fend for themselves and keep on trying to form an alliance with somebody who could offer them something; trying to help every pathetic civilisation out there just depleted their resources and left them increasingly vulnerable.

If Doctor Weir had just made a bit more of an effort patch things up with the Genii after that last encounter with them- it wasn't like they couldn't get away with giving the Genii some C4 if it would improve their own situation-, then maybe-

"Doctor Kavanagh?" a voice said from off to the side of the room, breaking Kavanagh's train of thought.

"What the… how did you get in here?" Kavanagh asked, turning to look in frustration at the corner of the room where the voice had come from. "Does nobody have any respect for privacy any more-?"

"When you show no respect for the leader who has kept this expedition intact for the better part of the last year," the voice replied, as the speaker stepped out of the shadows to reveal a pitch-black cloak and a gleaming silver mask that did little to conceal the evident hostility in his stance, "why should anyone else show respect for a little thing like that?"

Kavanagh's eyes widened in horror as he realised just who was now standing in front of him.

The Phantom

The man who had been running around through the city for the past few months, doing essentially whatever he wanted, regardless of the consequences to any of the expedition…

If there was one person in this city who frustrated Kavanagh more than Doctor Weir, it was this guy; he just waltzed in whenever the city was in trouble- often because of Doctor Weir's actions, such as when she chose to evacuate the city and rely on lightning strikes rather than the ZPM to protect them from the storm; they could have just as easily survived on the ZPM alone-, did what he wanted, and then walked away without even giving the expedition the slightest hint about what he wanted or where they could find something useful in this city…

And now, here he was, standing in Kavanagh's room, as casually as though he had done this before- that was a worrying thought; had this man sneaked into Kavanagh's room before for some reason?-, what looked like a gun just visible underneath his cloak- his right hand hovering over it in a manner that left Kavanagh feeling very uncomfortable-, and looking at him in a manner that made it fairly clear to the scientist that he was not going to like whatever reason the Phantom had for coming here.

"There are few things in this world I can tolerate less than the Wraith, Doctor Kavanagh," the Phantom said, his tone almost deceptively casual if one ignored the harsh glare in his eyes, "and one of them is when self-centred egomaniacs panic and complain about having to take a few risks simply because they feel that they are so important that people should consider their safety over everyone else's-"

"I was not-" Kavanagh began, taking a brief step forward before he paused mid-motion, the Phantom's weapon- which he had heard described in some reports of the Genii invasion as being capable of blowing peoples' limbs off- aimed directly at his face; the man had removed it from under his cloak so rapidly that Kavanagh had barely seen him move before it was right in front of him

"You mean you haven't been considering your safety over everyone else's?" the Phantom finished, an inquiring tone in his voice as he studied the man before him. "In that case, I would appreciate your explanation for your little 'speech' earlier while you were making your message for Earth, during which you listed what, in your opinion, were Doctor Weir's most significant 'mistakes' since she has arrived in Atlantis."

Kavanagh blinked in confusion.

"E-excuse me?" he asked, looking uncomfortably at the man before him (How could this guy know what he had said in his message; the room was soundproof and only he and Lieutenant Ford had been anywhere near that part of the city when he'd been recording his message for Stargate Command!).

"Well, I find it… interesting… how Doctor Weir's biggest 'mistakes', in your opinion- based on your little video message, anyway; it's possible there were other issues you have with her that you didn't mention because you recognise how self-centred they are-, are the ones that meant that you yourself would be at risk of getting hurt to even the slightest degree," the Phantom replied, shaking his head slightly as he stared at the scientist before him. "Whatever perspective I take to look at it, that seems very… self-centred… from where I'm standing."

"All I did was voice valid objections to her-" Kavanagh began, only briefly wondering how the Phantom could have known about that message; he'd only recorded the message about an hour ago.

"You objected to her decision to allow Sumner to try and rescue the captured Athosians; if things had gone wrong, the Wraith could have gained access to Atlantis," the Phantom interjected, not even allowing Kavanagh the common decency to finish his sentence before he continued to speak. "Her decision to allow the Stargate to remain open when the gateship was stuck half-way through it; weren't you the one who thought that Atlantis should raise the shield and/or shut down the wormhole because there was a chance that the ship had been so badly damaged that it would explode if Doctor McKay tried anything? Allowing the Athosians to join the expedition; there was a chance that they could be dangerous, even if subsequent events have proven to the contrary-"

"You have no right-" Kavanagh began, taking a step forward before the Phantom made a brief movement and suddenly Kavanagh found himself with a gun pointing at his face.

"I have lived in this city for over two decades, and am more aware of how this galaxy works in general- and how this city works in particular- than you could ever hope to be; I think you will find that this fact gives me every right to pass judgement on your petty complaints about how things have turned out for you in the last few months," the Phantom said, his eyes glaring at the doctor beneath the shadows caused by his mask. "I can assure you, Doctor Kavanagh I am fully aware of the circumstances responsible for why Eli-Doctor Weir- chose to take the actions she has taken up until this point, and I can find no fault in her decisions. They have put Atlantis at risk, I do not deny that- after all, I have been here for twenty years without the Wraith even looking at this part of space and now they are sending at least three hive ships because of your expedition's actions-, but even with my experience I can think of nothing else that Doctor Weir could have done that would not have brought the Wraith down upon this city far faster while leaving this city with far less men to defend it."

After pausing for a moment, apparently solely to confirm that the man before him was listening to what he had to say, the Phantom continued to speak, his eyes glaring harshly at Kavanagh as his fingers flexed over the handle of his gun in a more-than-slightly-worrying manner. "You, on the other hand, would have been perfectly content to allow hundreds of innocent people to die so long as you yourself received what you wanted; I am certain that, were it up to you, this expedition would be stealing the ZPM from M7G-677 as we speak, solely to provide Atlantis with just a fraction more power, despite the fact that doing so would doom that planet's inhabitants to being culled."

"The technology we have here could save millions- billions of lives!" Kavanagh countered, trying to strengthen his resolve as he stared back at the Phantom, refusing to allow himself to be intimidated by a man in a mask. "What do those… kids have to offer that we don't? We're the only people in this galaxy with any idea how this technology works-"

"You're right," the Phantom interjected.

Kavanagh blinked.

"You… you admit it?" he said, smiling slightly at the other man as he processed his last statement.

To actually hear someone acknowledge that he was right…

"To a point," the Phantom said, his eyes narrowing behind his mask as he looked at Kavanagh, dashing the scientist's brief hopes that he was dealing with someone who understood him. "Your peoples' knowledge of how Ancient technology works does put this expedition at a significant advantage over the rest of this galaxy, but as far as I am concerned, Kavanagh- and I am sure that there are many in this expedition who would agree with me, even if they do not trust my methods-, the lives of the children of M7G-677 are no less important than your life."

"But we-" Kavanagh began.

"You cannot fight creatures such as the Wraith by sacrificing that which separates you from them," the Phantom said, his voice cold and his tone low as he kept his eyes fixed on the scientist. "I do not care how smart you think you are, how strong you are, how many weapons you possess… as far as I'm concerned, one life is just as important as any other."

Despite himself, Kavanagh snorted at the hypocrisy of the man before him.

"You expect me to believe that after you killed all those Genii a few months ago?" he asked, his nerve apparently restored at the opportunity to point out the flaws in the Phantom's argument; after so long dealing with the 'legend' this man had left behind him, he would be damned if he wasn't going to take advantage of the current opportunity available to him to give the arrogant son of a bitch a piece of his mind. "You killed over sixty people-"

"There is a difference between killing those who would be willing to kill you and being responsible for the deaths of those who seek nothing more than friendship and protection from the nightmare that you all face, simply because you feel that you are more 'important' than they are," the Phantom said, his eyes narrowing even further as he glared resolutely at the man before him. "I have heard a saying in my time here that I have taken to heart; take care when you fight monsters, lest you become a monster yourself."

"Which has… what to do with anything?" Kavanagh asked, glaring back at the man before him.

"A monster is someone who takes life with no thought whatsoever for those whom they kill; for me, the worst kind of monster is the one that would cause harm, whether directly or indirectly, to others, for no other purpose than to accomplish their own goals," the Phantom said simply. "Doctor Weir's choices have been dangerous, I will grant you that, but all of them have been necessary for the city to survive long enough to reach this point… and she has never compromised on morality, whereas you appear to be perfectly willing to do so if you only had the authority."

For a moment, as the Phantom paused while glaring at him resolutely, his fingers flexing around his gun, Kavanagh briefly wondered if the man was going to shoot him…

Then there was a sudden brief, blinding pain in Kavanagh's cheek, and he glanced up just in time to see the Phantom slipping an arm back under his cloak and realise that he'd just been punched.

"Exploration through the Stargate is an incredible experience, Doctor Kavanagh, but it is not a safe one; if you wished to remain safe, you should have stayed back on Earth," the Phantom said, his tone cold as he glared at the scientist. "Perfection in this situation is impossible; Doctor Weir has done what she could do in a new situation with no prior experience, and you are far from being in a position to criticise her when you have no understanding of what must be confronted to survive in this situation."

Walking over to stand above Kavanagh, he crouched down and grabbed the scientist by the collar, subsequently lifting him up so that the two men were nose-to-nose.

"Therefore," the Phantom said, his eyes narrowing behind his mask as he glared at Kavanagh, "seeing as how you are an arrogant, spineless little toad who cannot even have the nerve to voice his complaints about his leaders to their faces, but still retain enough humanity or lack the nerve to avoid actually doing any of the things you 'think' this city should do to survive, I will give you this opportunity; take the opportunity to actually send a message to anyone back home that you actually care about- assuming there's anyone who fits that category for you, of course-, and then either show some backbone or get out of Atlantis, because I will not have cowards in my city. Understood?"

Kavanagh could only nod, even as he fumed at the man's arrogance; he was one man, and he thought that he had a greater right to this city than they did?

"Good," the Phantom said, standing up with a slight smile on his face, his arm shifting his cloak slightly to reveal his gun at his side once again; evidently he wanted to make sure that Kavanagh wasn't tempted to try anything as he left. "Think on what I have said once you wake up; have a pleasant evening."

Kavanagh barely had time to process what had just been said before he heard what sounded like something charging up, followed rapidly by a sound that he was prepared to bet was an energy weapon firing before blackness took over his brain.


As Kavanagh fell to the ground, reendered unconscious by the stun-blast, John allowed himself a slight smile.

That went well, he mused to himself, quickly slipping his gun back into its holster before he turned around and crouched down to open the small door that would lead him back into Atlantis's maintenance tunnels; it wasn't the most comfortable of locations, but he'd really grown used to these things after a while.

He knew that it was a bit of a risk to show up just to tell Kavanagh to either shape up or ship out, but he couldn't help it; that guy's constant 'complaints' about Elizabeth really got on his nerves, and he'd just reached the point where he'd wanted to give the guy a piece of his mind.

Besides, he doubted that he really had anything to worry about; Kavanagh was such a pathetic coward that he'd never dare to tell anyone about this particular meeting in case it increased his chances of getting a 'return visit' from the Phantom which might result in him receiving something more… permanent… from the gun than a stun-blast…

Too bad that's the last fun I'll have in a while


AN: Well, now that I've given that arrogant twat a piece of my mind- what can I say; Kavanagh's just one of those characters who REALLY got on my nerves-, next chapter features them contacting the SGC and learning about the situation at that end of the galaxy