Exposed
I spent my days with Ronon and Teyla, as they were the only people I knew who had remained on Atlantis. There wasn't much to do in the city, but we did our best to keep busy. Teyla and I were both quiet, s she had left Torren on New Athos with Kanaan, and I hadn't been able to face Solus since our last night together. Talking to him – even thinking about him – it hurt too much.
Then the remainder of the expedition began to trickle back into the city. I was relieved to have an excuse not to visit Solus.
"Did you hear?" Keith said at morning meal. "Tim volunteered to take the gene therapy."
"Who's Tim?" I asked.
"The other Wraith. Not Todd." Paul sipped his orange juice. My heart raced.
"He did?"
"Yeah, Sheppard was all weird about it, though."
Evan joined the three of us. He had clearly overheard the last sentence.
"I was there when it asked," he said. "I kid you not, it said it wanted to take the therapy so it could be with its wife."
"Wait, its wife?" Keith gaped.
"I didn't know Wraith married," Paul said.
"They don't," I said before I could stop myself. My heart hammered as all eyes turned to me.
"How do you know?" Keith asked. I saw Evan's face go slack, then my radio beeped.
"Molli to Mister Woolsey's office. Molli to Mister Woolsey's office."
I fled the Mess Hall before my stupid mouth got me into more trouble. I wasn't prepared for when I arrived in the office and faced an expressionless Richard and John.
"Take a seat," Richard said. I sat. "Now, I apologise if I am completely wrong here, but Colonel Sheppard is levying a serious charge against you."
"I met with Tim this morning," John said, "and learnt some interesting information. Apparently Tim is married." His gaze bored into me. "You don't look surprised." What could I say? Nothing. "Now, I know from Teyla that you are married."
At this point, Richard turned and stared at John. "What?"
"Yeah, Molli here is married." John tilted his head at me. "And you never told us. Why is that? Teyla told me that you didn't tell because we didn't ask, but after this morning I couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it." He folded his arms. "You've always been weird against the Wraith, and Mister Woolsey informed me that you requested to guard Tim. And, judging by the fact that you haven't said anything, I'm guessing I'm right."
Richard looked between us. "Wait, does this mean…?"
"It's true," I said quietly. I felt compelled to at least explain. "We met when I was running. I saved his life. We fell in love. We got married. He left to protect me from the other Venator."
"And you didn't feel it necessary to inform us of this serious development?" Richard demanded. I levelled my gaze at him.
"Would you have treated me any differently than you are now?"
"Probably not." Richard leant away from me. "Sheppard, the Brig."
"Yes, sir."
John held the door open for me and I walked side-by-side with him away from the central spire, all the way down to the Brig. He walked me into an empty cell and the blue shield rose around me.
"Is there anything else you'd like to say?" he asked. His eyes glittered with anger. I shook my head.
Then he was gone.
I sat on the floor, allowing the wave of emotion to fall from me. The fear, the relief, the uncertainty, exuding into a mass of tears. I shook with each sob, my head light and heart heavy, terrified for my future.
Abruptly, the door hissed open and Ronon barged in, John and Teyla trailing behind him.
"You traitor!" he roared. He smashed his hand against the shield controls and John and Teyla grabbed his arms. I reeled back, my face soaked with tears and snot. "How could you be with one of those things?"
"Ronon, stop!" Teyla yelled. "She could not control her feelings, just as you cannot control yours."
"Wait," John said, "did you know?"
"I found them together on Todd's ship."
"And you didn't tell us?"
"I did not tell you because I knew you would react this way." Teyla backed away as both John and Ronon rounded on her.
"The Wraith are our enemy!" Ronon shouted. "If you're with the Wraith, then you're against us!"
"The world is not a black-and-white place Ronon," Teyla said. "For the entirety of the time we have known Molli, she has been married. She is still the exact same person that we brought back with us. She did not ask us to do that. The only difference now is that we know she's married and who her husband is."
Ronon opened his mouth to protest, but John put a hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down there, Chewie. She has a point." John looked at me. "Did you ever give information about Atlantis to your husband?"
"No. He never asked me for anything because he isn't using me for information." There was no way I could make them understand. They would think he'd brainwashed me no matter what I said. Why couldn't we have kept it a secret and run away together once we'd gone back to Pegasus? It would've been easier than this.
Anything would've been easier than this.
"John," Teyla said, "you believed me with Kanaan. While we may not approve of her choice of husband, we cannot change her feelings. We are her friends, yes?"
"We're not friends," Ronon said to me. He turned and stalked from the Brig. I wiped my face with my sleeve.
"All he wants is to take the treatment," I said. "He wants to be human."
"Did you seriously marry him?" John didn't sound angry anymore, only tired.
"I love him," I said, my voice small. "He loves me."
John stared at me for a long moment.
"You'll stay here," he said, "and Tim will get the therapy. I won't let you see him until we have a result."
"Okay. His name is Solus, by the way."
"Solus." John nodded and left, Teyla trailing behind him.
o.O.o
I saw no one in the ensuing days except for the soldier who brought me food in the morning and evening. I heard nothing about Solus, and nothing from my team. I wondered if the entirety of Atlantis knew by now.
It was made harder by the fact that my team would think I'd betrayed them, when I hadn't betrayed anyone. Solus hadn't known I was on Atlantis. Even when he did, he'd never asked for information. If I told the Lanteans that, would they believe me? Did I care if they believed me?
John entered with two soldiers.
"It looks like the treatment is going well," John said. "He's asking to see you."
I was escorted to a private observation room where Solus lay strapped to an Infirmary bed, needles injected into his arms. He lifted his head as I entered.
"Molli! You-you're safe."
I didn't care that John watched the exchange closely. I didn't care that I probably wasn't allowed to go near him. I rushed to his bedside and took his hand.
"Are you okay?" I asked. "Does it hurt?"
"It did at first. But…" He turned his hand palm-up and I saw that the feeding slit was now a red sore.
"It's gone?"
"Almost. I feel very empty here." He looked at where his stomach was. "What do humans call the digestive sac, again?"
"Stomach."
"My stomach is empty. I feel a different kind of hunger there." He smiled at me. "You are very beautiful." Behind us, John made a strange sound. We took no notice of him. "I do not wish to be without you, again," Solus continued. "Being without you is not living, it…" He trailed off, unsure of the words.
"It's just, not dying?"
"Yes. There is no point without you, and I am ashamed it has taken me this long to realise." He looked past me, to John. "I will spend my life with Molli, and no number of closed-minded humans will stop us."
"Hey, I respect that." John raised his hands. "Just don't rub the I.O.A. the wrong way and you should be fine."
