Chapter 36

On an initial search, the Ancient database brought up dozens of data files referencing crashed Lantean warships. Rodney and Radek had divided up the files and begun the search through them for any planet names that might jog Rodney's memory of his distant conversation with Sheppard. One thing they both discovered very quickly was that Ancient files contained a lot of redundancy and repetition. Boy, did those guys ever like to log and double log everything. They were even more anal about data collection than he was, and that was saying something. He'd made it into an art form, but this...this was bordering on OCD.

Radek randomly called out planet names as he uncovered them, none of which helped. McKay silently cursed himself for having such a poor memory when it came to names, though he countered that it was because he always had to keep so much other information in his head that no one else could comprehend. It wasn't easy being the only genius in the city. If someone else was there to share that burden he might have a little space left in that memory of his for the mundane things in life. He left name recollection to the imbeciles he was surrounded by every day. He had far more important things to remember.

'Karafus,' Radek called over to him.

'No...' Rodney grunted, his mind on autopilot. Then he stopped, lifting his attention from his own screen, his jaw dropping and eyes bulging. 'Actually...'

'You remember it?' Radek asked hopefully, perking up after the tiring and tedious trawling.

'I...I think so,' Rodney muttered, wheeling his chair over to where Radek was sitting and reading over his shoulder while trying to mentally run through the conversation where Sheppard had divulged this now vital piece of information. 'Yes...that might be it.'

'That is excellent!' Radek said excitedly. 'We can send through a team to rescue him.'

'If he's even there. This is still only a hunch, after all. Wait!' Rodney had a knack for speed-reading no one could compete with. 'Wait a minute. A Wraith ship went down along with it. The Ancients had already begun to leave the Pegasus Galaxy so couldn't spare the manpower to help when they received the sub-space distress call from the ship. Anyone surviving the crash would have become the Wraith's next meal. If they fed on them and hibernated, there could potentially be live Wraith on the planet. Just like that time when Sheppard and I had to hold off that Wraith from the ancient Hive ship we found crashed and supposedly abandoned. I guess Sheppard forgot to mention that part.'

'Oh my,' Radek responded, looking anxious. Then he brightened. 'Well...at least now we can go in prepared.'

'Yes...there's always that.' Rodney tapped his earpiece. 'Elizabeth...we've found the planet. Do you want the good news or the bad news...?'

oooOOOooo

As she watched Rodney remotely manoeuvre the MALP into position in front of the 'gate, Elizabeth chewed her lip, arms wrapped tightly around herself, and tried to ignore the nerves gnawing away at the rest of her. She sincerely hoped they had located Sheppard's position, but she'd learned from bitter experience that things were rarely this simple in the Pegasus Galaxy.

'Dial it up,' she called up to the control room.

The 'gate began the process of dialling Karafus just as Teyla and Ronon arrived to join her. She could feel the mixture of tension and anticipation in them both as they stood at her shoulder, Ronon in particular ready to run for the 'gate the moment it engaged. But she wouldn't risk such a rash action, and Sheppard wouldn't condone it either, not for his sake. She would never hear the end of it if she allowed anyone to rush to his rescue and get hurt when it could have been avoided.

As the seventh chevron tried to engage the 'gate powered down. He heart sank and she closed her eyes. They were so close to making a breakthrough...

'Unable to connect,' the technician announced.

A guttural growl rumbled low in Ronon's throat. Elizabeth had to admit she felt pretty much the same way. 'Try again,' she ordered, but even as she spoke the words she knew it wouldn't work.

The technician dutifully did as asked, but once again the 'gate failed to connect. Anxious whispers were exchanged amongst the control staff as they waited for further orders.

'Well, we've seen her use this tactic before,' Rodney snorted. 'I guess that confirms Sarayah is on Karafus.'

'That or the Stargate has been damaged,' Elizabeth mused, trying not to make too many assumptions just yet. 'Things have changed before in this timeline, Rodney. I wouldn't put anything past her. Are there any planets with Stargates in the vicinity?'

'I don't know. I only gathered the 'gate address, not the planet's position in the galaxy.' He darted up the stairs, practically throwing the technician from his seat in his hurry to access the database.

Elizabeth mounted the stairs more slowly and walked across in front of the consol he was working at as he tapped into the systems and called up the data they required. He put it up on the display screen so they could all see it clearly.

'The nearest Stargate is a space 'gate in orbit around M3S 766. It's a four day flight from there to Karafus.' The respective positions of the planets flashed up to illustrate the problem.

'I'm not sure Colonel Sheppard has that long,' Elizabeth said, watching the mesmerising flashes. 'Or us for that matter if they get the 'gate device working. What are our alternatives?'

'I can write a continuous redial program like we ran last time...that should get it through once their 'gate shuts down...if they're holding it open.'

'All right, do it. I guess in some time under thirty-eight minutes we find out if there's a problem with the Karafus 'gate or not. Tell Major Lorne and Sergeant Jeffries I want them on standby. The minute we make a connection I want the MALP through and sending back data to keep that wormhole open.'

Rodney nodded and began his programming at furious speed. They might have plenty of time for him to complete it, they might not. They had no way of knowing how long it would be before the gate disconnected, so the sooner it was done and running, the better they would feel. It wouldn't do to miss their first window of opportunity and set things back a further thirty-eight minutes.

oooOOOooo

Sheppard kept very, very still.

It wasn't a choice, really, more a necessity. Any slight movement set his insides vibrating as if they might actually be about to break apart into their millions of individual cells. Been there, done that, and he had no desire to repeat the experience he'd been put through by the other Sarayah. So he had to stay very, very still. That way he could pretend the buzz of the enzyme wasn't real and he wasn't in as much trouble as he suspected he was in.

Someone yanked his head up by the hair, his brain shaken loose by the suddenness of the movement. His blurred vision slowly settled enough for him to make out Kolya's face smiling back at him.

'Can you hear me, Sheppard?'

Why the hell was he shouting? Didn't he realise how much that hurt his eardrums? 'Yeah,' he grunted through the gag, his own voice having the same effect now. So, not shouting, huh?

'Now Ladon has agreed to my terms that leaves only you to play your part,' Kolya said, his smirk fading in and out of focus.

Sheppard clamped his eyes shut and tried to hear clearly through the ringing. Everything had additional noise, echoes, distortion and some kind of damn church bells accompanying them that was all too much to handle right now. He felt rivulets of sweat streak down his eyelids and cheeks, soaking into the gag and making it harder to breathe through. Fresh air...he really needed fresh air.

'You have the time it takes for Ladon to complete his work to agree to initialise the machine or I will be forced to push you further.'

And you'd really hate to have to do that, Sheppard thought, actually smiling under the cloth still encasing his face. He couldn't believe he could still laugh after all this. Perhaps Sarayah wasn't the only one losing her mind out here. God, he could really use a cold beer right about now...Oh yeah, a chilled Bud out on the East pier under the twin moons back on M35-117 would really hit the spot...

A sharp slap brought him back into the here and now, his ears ringing again. His mind had slipped for a second. He really had to try to stay focused...but why? Oh yeah...the 'gate device. He couldn't let them get him near it.

'You understand what I'm saying, don't you, Sheppard?' Kolya clarified, his expression harder. 'If you do not willingly give your agreement, our Wraith friend will drag it from you, one more feeding session at a time.'

Yeah...I got that, Sheppard thought. It's not like you're big on subtlety. For Kolya's benefit, he gave the biggest nod he dared, which was barely at all.

'That might not be necessary,' Sarayah suddenly piped up.

Crap! That kicked Sheppard's brain into a higher gear. Was she about to tell Kolya he didn't need to be compliant to do what he wanted? With his genes no concentration was necessary to initialise the machine. He fixed his gaze on her, trying to read her face through the haze still fogging his brain. Right now, she didn't look like the crazy monster-handler she'd been only a few minutes ago. Now she looked...humble. That wasn't an expression he associated with her.

'There are other methods that can be employed to convince him,' she said.

For a moment, he felt relieved at her intervention. But only for a moment. Then his imagination went into overdrive and the Wraith suddenly seemed like the better option.

'Such as?' Kolya asked, his interest apparently piqued.

She shrugged walking closer to the chair Sheppard remained strapped to. 'There are many ways to bend a man's will, Kolya. Not all of them involve violence.' She stroked the back of her fingers down Sheppard's cheek, the contact with his over-sensitised skin making him flinch and setting off the horrible tremors inside him all over again. His wished now that the Wraith had kept all the years it had taken. Even Sarayah would draw the line at harassing an old man...wouldn't she?

Worryingly, Kolya didn't dismiss the suggestion out of hand. 'I'm surprised you make that offer after how he treated you, Sarayah,' he smirked. 'You of all people should enjoy seeing him suffer at the hands of that creature. Why offer yourself up this way?'

'You want results, don't you?' she asked, her tone a little more curt than before. She couldn't hide it from Sheppard, even if she could hide it from Kolya. She was pissed at the Genii commander. As far as she was concerned, he'd over-stepped the mark when he'd let that Wraith keep some of his life. So what was she planning to do, kiss it and make it better like his mom did with his grazed knees as a kid? No...not like his mom...so not like his mom...what was he thinking?

Kolya wandered over to the camera, and flipped a switch somewhere at the back, presumably turning it off to save it from draining vital power now that the show was over. 'I need time to think about that,' Kolya told her, heading off toward the door. 'I'm going to observe Ladon's progress for a while. Keep an eye on the colonel for me until I get back.'

Sheppard watched him go, barely able to breathe. Kolya had walked away. He knew what this woman wanted to do with him and he'd turned his back. He might as well have carried a placard with the words "Help yourself" emblazoned on it.

As the door slid close behind Kolya, Sarayah's eyes fixed on him and a smile alighted on her lips.

Sheppard tried desperately hard not to hyperventilate again. He needed all the oxygen he could get to go through to his brain right now. The feedings had left him shaken, physically and mentally, and there was no way he wasn't going to get hit hard by withdrawal some time in his rather ominous future. He really wasn't in any kind of shape to handle Sarayah right now, whichever version came out to play. Why couldn't he just pass out? Why the hell did he have to be cursed with a high tolerance for pain?

She reached out and stroked her fingers back through his hair, agitating the already sensitive follicles. 'I see a little more grey now...although, I have to confess, it quite suits you.'

Easy for the woman who didn't just get fed on to say, he thought, mustering up as much hatred as he could manage in a single look. Apparently, he did a god job.

'Don't look at me that way...I had nothing to do with it. That was all Kolya's idea,' Sarayah protested. She reached around and untied the gag now, and he wasted no time in giving her a piece of his mind.

'Don't give me that bullcrap! The couple of years he took don't matter to me. So I have a little less time to live fast and die young...so what? You're full of it, Sarayah. You helped him do this to me. You're just as much to blame as he is.'

'You're weak and in pain...this will all seem better in the morning...'

'What, when you've finished convincing me to help?'

Her eyes met his now and he could see this was her gentler form. Something in Kolya's actions had jarred her back into place, forcing the malicious brute who had revelled in his agonies into the background.

'I only said that to get rid of him...to give you the time you need to recover.'

He sincerely hoped that was true, but their history, and her propensity for taking advantage of him when he was at his most vulnerable didn't bode well. Deciding not to rock the boat for now he didn't respond.

She walked away, wandering over to an area where many of the Genii supplies lay piled up. She rifled through them and picked up one of the metal cases, setting it on top of the other things. She flipped the lid open and pulled out a bottle of something decidedly alcoholic; he could smell its potency the moment she took the stopper out.

'I'll drink to Ladon's soon to be success with the experimental 'gate generator. That would surely be something to celebrate,' she announced, swinging the bottle up in mock salute, then drinking deeply from it. She grimaced at the taste and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, smiling at him. 'Soon, I'll be able to use it to bring us closer together than we've ever been. No one will dare come between us again.'

He decided not to respond to that one either, watching warily as she stood up and sauntered back over to him.

'Drink with me?'

'I...I don't want –'

She pressed her finger to his lips to stop him talking, then tipped the bottle to them. He took the smallest sip he could, just to satisfy her. Whatever demon brew it was had a real kick, burning all the way down his throat. Definitely not the Pegasus Galaxy's equivalent of a cold Bud...

She bent down and kissed him, and he could feel her desire in the passion behind it. He'd barely regained his breath from the feeding, and now she stole it all again in a lingering exchange that told him his recovery had nothing to do with this alone time and that he was in serious trouble if Kolya didn't come back soon. But Kolya wasn't coming back...it was obvious to Sheppard, and it had to be just as clear to her, that the Genii son-of-a-bitch had decided to turn a blind eye and let her have her fun with him. It was just another way to soften him up and keep her sweet, another means to an end – nothing personal – and Kolya could console himself with the fact he wasn't there watching to know what was actually going on. He'd told her he needed time to think about it just to salve his conscience. He'd known she wouldn't wait for his go-ahead.

She pulled back and stroked his hair away from his damp face. His whole body was soaking wet with perspiration from the Wraith torture and the effects of the enzyme. He felt cold and shaky, his trembling only increasing as his nervousness grew. Maybe while she was in her quiet form he could reason with her, point out how wrong it would be to abuse him like this when he couldn't defend himself. Yeah...and wasn't that a pig of some kind he'd just seen fly by?

'Sarayah, please –' he tried, only to have his words smothered with another kiss as she climbed up into his lap, pressing her body in tight against his until he could hardly draw a breath. She had to feel how scared he was; his heart was thumping so hard it would be drumming against her ribs, too.

She broke off the kiss and whispered, 'Shhh, it's all right, John. I can help you forget what happened.'

By dragging me into an even worse nightmare!

She trailed her kisses down his neck, even down to the feeding marks, the only physical sign of the trauma his body had gone through. They would heal gradually over the next few hours, as they had done the last time, but the withdrawal of the massive amounts of enzyme the Wraith had used to sustain him meant his body could only utilise what was left after the more vital organs had settled. That final part of the healing was slower, but still more rapid than the human body alone could manage. 'I'm sorry she let him do this...I would never have allowed her to –' Another kiss, more greedy this time. Oh, crap he needed to stop this. 'But I'll make you feel better again, I promise. And soon, when I have that device, we will always be together. I'll be too strong for her to take control again. I know I can win.'

That was a truly terrifying thought. 'But what if you're wrong?' he panted, tensing his body to try to get a handle on his trembles. 'What if she wins out and then I'm always stuck with her?'

'I won't let that happen,' she smiled, stroking his hair back again and planting a kiss on his forehead. 'I'm sure I'm stronger than her. I'm here now aren't I?'

'Just like you didn't allow her to feed me to a Wraith?'

Her expression clouded for a moment, then she resumed stroking his hair. 'Shhh, John. I know you're scared, but you don't have to be. I'm not going to hurt you. I want to take care of you. Just relax and let me help.'

She smothered his mouth with hers again, leaving him battling with the urge to scream at her to get the hell off of him. Her touches made him want to be physically sick, especially as hopped up as he felt right now. He tightened his mouth under hers, the only signal he could give that he was not a willing participant. Maybe it would register with some part of nice Sarayah that this was a bad thing to do.

Sadly, he seriously doubted it would work...

oooOOOooo

Within five minutes of his butt hitting the seat, Rodney had the redial program up and running, and twenty-five minutes after that they made a connection. Radek had taken over the controls for the MALP and immediately set it running through the Stargate.

Major Lorne sat at the controls of Jumper Two in the gate room, his team, along with Ronon and Teyla all awaiting the go ahead to go through the Stargate. Above them a second jumper hovered, piloted by Jeffries, waiting in line and ready to drop down and follow them through.

Elizabeth watched on from her position on the balcony overlooking the gate room, a raw feeling of dread churning in her guts. Something told her it couldn't be this easy...she prayed to God she was wrong.

Once on the other side the MALP began sending back telemetry...for about five seconds. Then the feedback died and the 'gate shut down.

'Zelenka! What the hell happened?' Rodney demanded, standing up from his chair in the control room to yell down at him. 'I told you to maintain transmissions to keep the wormhole open!'

'I didn't do anything,' the Czech protested.

'Dr McKay, the telemetry failed a fraction of a second before the 'gate shut down,' Chuck announced, having taken the time to study the collected data.

'What caused it?' Elizabeth asked.

'Impossible to tell,' Rodney told her, checking the data himself now. 'It could be that the MALP suffered a malfunction, although that's unlikely because I checked it myself –'

Elizabeth rolled hers gaze to the ceiling and reined in the comment that one deserved.

'Or it could be that someone on the planet damaged it, and considering it's likely Kolya and his people are out there, I think that's a pretty safe assumption.'

She nodded, then tapped her earpiece. 'Major Lorne, we have a problem. Please set your craft down and come to my office.

'Roger that.'

She led Rodney to her office, and once Radek, Lorne, Teyla and Ronon had joined them she brought them all up to speed.

'We've run into a problem.'

'What happened?' Ronon asked, direct as ever.

'The MALP stopped transmitting. The most likely reason is some kind of damage inflicted after it arrived on Karafus.'

'So, someone attacked it?' Lorne clarified, picking up on the insinuation.

'We believe that may be the case,' she nodded, looking around at them to gauge their reactions.

'So?' Ronon demanded, folding his thick arms across himself and staring.

She sighed; this wasn't going to be easy to broach with them. 'So...without effective telemetry, we have no idea what you would be heading into.'

'Are you saying we cannot go through?' Teyla asked, her face drawn with worry.

Elizabeth looked about at all the faces staring back at her. Their expressions were all different, some worried, some angry, some frustrated, but each one of them was telling her they wanted to go ahead with the rescue mission. Her heart ached for them all. They desperately wanted to bring Sheppard home.

'We have just a little less than thirty-eight minutes to consider our best approach,' she told them, refusing to be intimidated by Ronon's continually burning glare. We know there's a good chance Kolya is on Karafus, and if he is, it's very likely his people took out the MALP. That means we can't rule out an attack on anyone going through the Stargate.'

'With all due respect, Dr Weir, we face that risk every time we go on a mission,' Major Lorne pointed out, a fact she little needed to be reminded of.

'I know, but on this occasion you are almost certainly walking right into a trap. I'm not going to ask you to do that.'

The men all looked around at each other, and she felt the protest building in them, but it was Teyla who saw the way through what she was telling them. 'You do not have to ask us to do this, Dr Weir. I think I speak for all involved when I say we do this willingly and of our own accord.'

The rumble of protest turned to one of support for Teyla's assertion, and Elizabeth's heart swelled with pride. She had dearly hoped they would say that without need for prompting. She wanted John back as much as they all did, but in good conscience she would not order anyone to go out there into uncharted territory.

'If it helps, I recommend sending through just one jumper. That way, if anything happens we're not losing too many personnel,' Lorne offered.

'Do you think that's wise?' Elizabeth asked. She'd always believed the old adage safety in numbers, but she was no military mind. She would bow to Lorne's advice.

'Well, much as I'm sure there would be no shortage of volunteers for this mission, I think until we know what we're up against we shouldn't go through in large numbers. We can't afford to compromise Atlantis' defences.'

'All right...if you think that's best,' she agreed. 'I want your team ready to go the minute the wormhole connects to Karafus.'

'I'm going, too,' Ronon grunted, not a request, just a statement of fact.

'I should also like to accompany Major Lorne's team,' Teyla said more diplomatically.

'Okay, get ready. And no—' she held up her finger to silence Rodney just as he opened his mouth to speak. 'I'm sorry, Rodney, but I still can't allow you out of the city...especially not anywhere near Sarayah and that machine.'

'But if there's something on that planet causing the MALP to actually malfunction they may need my help.'

'We'll manage, McKay,' Lorne told him. 'Dr Weir's right. We can't afford to go handing someone like you over to Kolya or Sarayah when they have that experimental 'gate with them. If we need your help, you'll just have to send it long-distance.'

'Sure...we can video conference,' McKay snarked, clearly thinking his skill set made him more valuable than that.

Elizabeth understood the man's frustration, but she would absolutely not give way. It had been Sheppard's suggestion to ground all the expedition's scientists, and thus far Sarayah had not managed to find someone to fix the 'gate generation device as a result of that action. All they could do now was hope Ladon himself could hold out against the demands of his two captors...for at least the next thirty-eight minutes or so.

oooOOOooo

Sarayah took another gulp of the fiery brew in her bottle, then kissed him again, the fumes on her breath strong enough to leave Sheppard's brain reeling in his current state. Trying to stay calm, he attempted to reason with her again once she'd let him up for air.

'Sarayah...I know you care about me...but this isn't the way to prove it. You know...you could help me get away from here. That would go a really long way to convincing me...a really long way.'

'I will...I will. I promise,' she whispered. 'But I need Ladon to fix that machine first.'

She stroked her fingertips down his chest, over the scars she'd put there. They didn't hurt anymore, the skin healed by the enzyme, but he knew the marks would still be visible, just like his old feeding scar, and now this new one. He saw a change in her expression, a glimmer of empathy perhaps. Was that something he could work with?

'If he gets it working, Kolya will never allow you to take it back. He'll kill you before he lets you have it.'

Her eyes flicked up to his. 'He can't kill me. He's old and slow and too confident for his own good,' she snorted, her usual bravado kicking in.

'Old enough to know every trick in the book,' he warned her. 'Don't think for a second that he trusts you. I don't think he truly trusts anyone.'

'Then that's something we have in common,' she smiled, before leaning in to trail kisses up his neck again.

His stomach lurched. He needed to side track her...keep her talking. 'If he walks in and finds us like this your plan'll be shot to hell.'

'He's not coming back just yet, John,' she whispered between kisses, her free hand weaving into his hair. 'He thinks I'm going to force you to help him. He thinks I hate you.'

'I wonder where he gets that idea,' he muttered, causing her to pull back.

She looked offended, a frown scoring her forehead. 'I...I know she has hurt you, and perhaps at some level she does hate you for the way you make her feel, but I don't hate you. I could never hate you.'

She renewed her efforts to seduce him again, pressing in against him in an attempt to produce the physical reaction he was hoping to avoid. Again, all he could do was remain as unresponsive as possible until she broke off the clinch.

Her face showed genuine confusion. 'You don't seem to be happy. Is there something else you would rather I tried?'

'Other than getting the hell off of me? No!'

She smiled patiently and stroked his face, royally pissing him off with her condescending manner. 'Try to relax, John. Forget what you think you know about me and allow me to teach you what I'm really like now.'

She tried to put the bottle to his lips again, but this time he refused to take a drink. By relaxed she clearly meant he should get drunk and lose his inhibitions. He wasn't about to do that. He needed to keep a clear head, which was hard enough already, and he needed her focused on something else.

'It's not what I think I know about you that's the problem. It's what I do know,' he snapped, tilting his head away from the bottle.

She straightened, again offended. 'What does that mean?'

Knowing this was delicate territory, he took it more carefully, his mind racing and quickly coming up with a new angle he hoped might work. 'I know you're sick, Sarayah. I can't allow you to do this right now. I would be...taking advantage of you.'

Her body relaxed a fraction. 'How so?'

'Your mind...it switches between love and hate so fast I'm not sure even you truly know what you want. It...it would be wrong to do this now when you might regret it later.'

'Don't worry,' she purred, stroking his chest again, catching the still ragged skin left by the Wraith's claw-like nails. 'I know I would never regret making love to you.'

'But I would!' he blurted out as she started tearing away what remained of his t-shirt. 'We should get you back to Atlantis...get you well again. Then we'd know any feelings you have for me are real...one way or another.'

'I don't like doctors,' she growled at him, her mood instantly shifting. 'I told you that already.'

She was getting angry again, and he knew what that meant; he'd seen that clear as day earlier. So he had a choice – keep her sweet and put up with her pawing, or set the monster loose and take a beating. Thankfully the Wraith feeding had healed his previous injuries and left him strong, if a little shaky, so he figured he could take a few punches if it got him out of a tight spot. Nasty Sarayah it was, then...

'Well, this is not gonna happen unless you agree to see someone I trust and they convince me you're playing with a full deck. I'm sorry, but I make it a rule not to get intimate with bunny boilers.'

'Bunny...boilers?'

'Yeah...you know, people who like hurting animals, kids...anybody who ever upsets them. Kinda sounds like you, doesn't it? Both of you, come to think of it.'

A moment or two passed in silence. Then her mood darkened, a veil of anger dropped over her features, and she leaned in close, a smirk twisting her lips. 'Just so we're clear, I know what you're doing.'

His heart skipped a beat, and he tried not to visibly react to the accusation. 'What I'm doing?'

'You figure I'm the better option because violence is easier for you to handle than affection, don't you?'

Crap! She was here already...and she really did know what he was doing.

Her grin widened. 'Well, if you're inviting me out to play, John, I accept. But I suspect you'll regret that choice. All she wanted to do was give you a good time until Kolya came back for you. Me...I'll defile you and laugh while you're screaming.' She looked at the bottle she was still clutching, a cruel glint in her eyes. 'She called this a celebration drink,' she purred, swilling the contents around and watching the dance of light reflecting in the amber contents. 'Do you know what I call it?'

Her gaze drilled into him. Apparently, she expected an answer.

He shook his head, determined not to speak in case his voice was as shaky as he feared it might be.

Her smirk spread into a wide and vicious smile. 'Liquid persuasion,' she announced. Then she grabbed his face hard and began to pour the contents down his throat.

A/N: Evil cliffie! I don't know, it takes me a week to post and then I go and do that to you. Sorry...it's just a good point to break at. Sorry posting is a bit slow at the moment. I'm sorting a few RL issues for my sons at the moment and it's eating into my spare time. But family has to come first! Thanks for those of you sticking with me. I love to hear your thoughts. :)