Disclaimer - I do not own Stargate Atlantis, any of the characters or the events depicted in this story. I only own my character Rayne, her background and family, also anything not privy to the show.
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Chapter Text
A week later Rodney was still trying to make up his mistake to his friends. He had been on what most called his best behavior in his entire life. He had done everything Sheppard had asked of him quickly and without any bitching or moaning whatsoever.
He had also managed to get Rayne to finally hang out with him, she taking Rodney's actions as a personal insult to their friendship. Being someone who could literally sense ones emotions just by looking them in the eyes, Rayne felt that Rodney had suffered enough by her lack of presence in his daily life by the sadness and guilt filling his gaze.
However there was one person that was still on the Siren's bad side, and he was beginning to think that he had lost her, even before she truly had been his.
Ronon sighed as he knocked on Rayne's door, standing in the corridor painfully aware of the pitying looks he was attracting from the people around him. It was no secret to the whole of Atlantis that Ronon had pissed off the Siren. Mostly due to the black eye he had been sporting since a rather rough sparring session with her earlier in the week.
Shifting agitatedly from foot to foot he gripped the long metal box in his hands as he waited for her to open the door; hoping that what he planned to say would smooth things over and not earn him a matching ring for the other eye.
The door slid open to reveal Rayne standing before him in a low cut red tank top and short black shorts, showing off what Ronon believed to be her best assets. She regarded him with a scowl as she crossed her arms over her ample chest.
"What can I do for you, Ronon?"
He visibly flinched as he heard the cold tone his name rolled off of her tongue with, like icy daggers shooting straight into his heart. Yes, he definitely needed her to forgive him.
"Um..." He cleared his throat, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "Can we talk?"
With a sigh Rayne stepped to the side and allowed him passage into her room. He stepped just inside of the door, waiting for permission to proceed further into her quarters. As she walked over to the couch he got his first real look at the tattoos that wrapped up both of her arms and connected across the top of her back. From his grandfather's teaching he knew them to be Arcadian tribal, they wound around her arms and had several symbols weaved throughout them. What appeared to be a nautical rose star that one would see on a compass, rested at the base of her neck just above her shoulders. The top point just reached her hairline and the bottom point stretched down between her shoulder blades; there were also seven symbols below this point that ran down her spine. The lines were dark, almost black, but seemed to have flashes of blue, aqua and green inside of them.
"So…" She said softly nodding to the empty spot on the couch beside her.
Ronon walked over to the couch and sat down, setting the box on the table beside him before turning to face her. "I'm sorry." He had never been one to apologize, always acting off of instinct and never regretting a decision that he made. But seeing the small smile on her lips from those two words, he realized then just how powerful an apology could be.
"I didn't mean to lie to you, Rayne. I had every intention of having our dinner date. I went with Teyla because there were some things I needed, for you. I've been making you something and I was trying to keep it a secret, that's why I didn't tell you where I was going."
"I see." She said with an understanding nod. "In that case I believe that I owe you an apology, I have been so silly about this. I'm sorry, Ronon."
"It's okay." He said with a smile filled with relief. "I think we both have a tendency to jump to conclusions." He grinned thinking about his reaction to Sheppard and sending him to the infirmary.
"Yes we do." She said with a light laugh. "I must ask though, why did you not return that night? I didn't think trade excursions would take so long, especially with Teyla's knowledge and skills."
"They didn't. I actually found an old friend of mine there, and we proceeded to get incredibly drunk in celebration." He admitted.
"Understandable." She smiled.
"That's not all." He said scooting forward and taking hold of her hands which he was pleased that she allowed him to do. "300 of my people survived the Wraith attacks. I'm not alone."
Rayne laughed as she pulled Ronon into her arms and hugged him. "Ronon that is wonderful news." But as much as this news pleased her, it also sent a pang of pain through her heart. She related to Ronon because they were both the last of their kind, it was something that bound them together. Now she felt as though no one would ever fully understand what it was like to be the last one alive.
Ronon pulled back from her reluctantly, even though he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms forever; there was another reason for his visit. He turned and picked up the box, placing it on the cushions in between them.
"I made this for you. I hope that it makes you feel less alone."
Rayne smiled curiously as she lifted the top of the box open, a gasp leaving her mouth as she stared at the exquisite piece of craftsmanship contained inside. "Oh, Ronon, it is beautiful."
There on a bed of blue velvet sat a sword greater than any she had ever set eyes on before. The blade was nearly 3 feet in length and had Arcadian tribal designs etched into the blade from the hilt to the first quarter of the sword and inlaid with aqua coloring. The hilt was wrapped in black leather and had what appeared to be Wraith claws extending out to each side of the blade. But what caught Rayne's attention was the single large jewel that was set into the hilt just above the start of the blade.
"It's a fire opal. It's the closest I could come to your eyes." Ronon explained as he saw her staring at the jewel. "I, um, it's made from the metal of a Wraith ship, and the leather is from a Wraith jacket and it's bound with Wraith hair. And those claws were from a Wraith I killed."
Rayne's eyes filled with tears as she stared at the beautiful gift lying in front of her, before her eyes shifted up to look at Ronon. "You made this for me?"
"Yeah." He said rubbing the back of his neck. "I know it's probably not as good as the sword your father gave you…"
Ronon's words were cut off as Rayne grabbed him by the back of the neck and pressed her lips to his passionately. He was caught off guard at first, something that rarely happened to him, but he quickly gave in, reaching up and tangling his fingers into her long dark locks.
When the need for oxygen became too much, Rayne pulled back from him slowly, leaning her forehead against his as they sat there catching their breath.
"Thank you." She said softly still holding their heads together. "It means more to me than you'll ever know."
It was at that moment, everything between the two warriors changed. There was no longer a question in Ronon's mind, the heart of his Siren belonged to him and she in return had his.
A few days later Sheppard's team walks into a village on yet another planet they were exploring. There are some lanterns on, but it seems deserted. The entire area is blanketed in a dense covering of fog that limits their visibility. Sheppard was on point, followed by Teyla, McKay, Rayne and Ronon as they walked single file down the lane.
"Another great vacation getaway in the Pegasus galaxy." John commented as they searched around.
"Where is everyone?" Teyla wondered.
Ronon looks up at the tops of the buildings, "There's smoke from the chimneys. They're inside."
"Can't say I blame them. There's nothing I hate more than a damp cold." McKay comments.
"Is anyone else having trouble seeing, this fog is so thick." Rayne says as she walks beside Ronon, her new sword proudly displayed inside the leather sheath on her back.
"Yeah same here. Let's check this out." John says as he leads them to the nearest building where they can hear voices coming from.
The team enters the crowded candle and fire-lit tavern, all conversation ceases as everyone turns to stare at them. Clearly by the looks these people were not used to getting visitors, especially not ones that carried weapons like the team.
"Howdy, folks." John drawled out.
"Who are you?" The barkeep asked suspiciously.
"Sheppard. This is Teyla, Ronon, Rayne and McKay." John introduced them.
Ronon gives a brief, abortive wave to the crowd. No one responds. While not hostile, it's clear they'd be just as happy if the strangers turned around and left the way they came
"You from Ratira?" The barkeep asks as he lays a towel over his shoulder.
Sheppard exchanges a look over his shoulder with McKay, who has stayed behind the armed members of the team since they all arrived in the village square. "No."
"From over the mountains, then?"
"A little further."
"Huh. Then you've come a long way. You'll be in need of food and drink. Sit."
The team moves in the direction indicated, everyone in the tavern still staring at them in silence. As he closes the tavern door and follows the team to their table, Ronon is obviously surveying the room for threats. The barkeep, Callum, brushes off a table and pulls an extra chair over as Sheppard and Teyla take their seats.
"I take it you don't get many strangers around here." McKay comments still feeling the eyes of the whole place on them.
"No." He nearly collides with Ronon, who is a lot bigger, as he pulls out a bench for him and Rayne to sit on. "Especially not those that travel near dark."
"Why is that?" Sheppard questions.
He looks up in real surprise from wiping down their table. "You really don't know?"
"Callum." A man from behind the barkeep calls, the barkeep turns to face him in reply. He is an older man in perhaps his 50's with greying hair and a trimmed goatee on his chin. He crosses his arms in more obvious hostility as his attention turns to Sheppard, "What's your business here?"
"No business, really. We're just travelers."
"Then you best keep traveling." The man warns.
Teyla looks surprised at this lapse in hospitality; McKay, whose charming smile was turned up even higher than Sheppard's, fades to his usual cynical look. "Yeah." McKay nods.
"All right, then." Sheppard states as the team starts to stand up.
"Wait." The barkeep cautions them. "Goran, you can't send them out there."
"They look like they can take care of themselves. It may not even start tonight."
"It's been three months. How much longer do you think it'll wait?"
McKay looking first toward Sheppard then back at Callum, curiosity getting the better of him about things starting. He gives a little wave. "Hi. What are you talking about?"
Callum looks back at them, again not really crediting their ignorance, and Goran approaches their table. "The Daimos." Goran tells them.
"Never heard of it." John says.
"It lives in the forest. It'll be feeding soon."
"And it is, what, some kind of an animal, or…" Rodney says with a flourish of his hands.
"It's a creature. It has the appearance of a man, but it can suck the very life from your bones. Leaves only a dead withered husk behind." As he speaks, the team realizes what he is talking about, each of them exchanging knowing looks.
Sheppard nods, "Sounds familiar."
Goran now sits with the team as the barkeep serves them all drinks, the others are skeptical about theirs but Ronon and Rayne have already drank their entire glasses.
"Not bad." Rayne says with a nod.
"Look, we know you're not used to dealing with strangers, but we may be able to help you with this little problem you're having. We're used to dealing with this kind of thing." John offers nodding to his team, grinning at the two warriors to his right.
"We call them the Wraith." Teyla explains.
"These are the creatures from the old stories? From the time of the cullings?"
"So you have heard of them." Rodney concludes.
"Yes, but the histories of them are incomplete. They tell of the great ships that descended from the sky, but there's no description of the Wraith themselves. Although there were a few among us who guessed that Daimos might be one of them."
"Why?" Teyla questions.
"Because it, too, came from the sky."
Goran flashes back as he tells them the story, describing what happened. "It was about ten years ago. A bright light appeared above the village…"
Goran and others watch a light streak across the sky and into the ground over the horizon.
"…crashed into the hills. We didn't know what it was, but people were terrified."
The villagers took into the forest to hunt for the downed ship.
"I went with some of the other men to investigate. We found the wreckage, a few wounded survivors."
Wounded Wraith lie on the ground amidst the wreckage.
"We didn't know what they were. We decided to take no chances."
The villagers killed the Wraith with primitive wooden weapons and axes, before burning the Wraith bodies in a large bonfire.
"We slaughtered them, burned the bodies."
"Wise decision." Ronon tells him when he finishes his story.
"Unfortunately we didn't get them all and although none of us saw it, evidently one of them survived."
The villagers come back. A woman screams at what she sees — a desiccated body.
"It took its first victim that very night. We tried to hunt it down, but we couldn't find it."
None of them are having an easy time with this at all, though Ronon looks the most impassive. Goran stares down at the table, then takes a drink. "It's been out there ever since. It feeds three, four times a year. Takes two or three people each time. Two years after the crash, it took my own son."
"That's it? One Wraith, in the forest?" Ronon questions as he loads a new cartridge into his weapon.
"Yes."
"We'll be done by morning." He states as he stands up alongside of Rayne who stands ready to go.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We'll all go together, in the daylight." John says pausing the two gung-ho warriors ready for battle. Ronon looks as if he has something he'd really like to say about that, but restrains himself.
Callum pauses as he walks past with a pitcher, "You're really going to help us?"
"Well, like the man said, it's just one Wraith. It'd be downright un-neighborly if we didn't." Sheppard states as he picks up his own glass of red beverage and drinks as, next to him, McKay stares uneasily at the table.
"In that case, drinks are on me."
With that comment from the barkeep Ronon and Rayne sit back down eagerly.
"Uh, well, let's not forget the food." McKay says with a smile, of course as always that was all he cared about.
The next morning Rayne stands across a small courtyard polishing the blade on her sword, she is giggling lightly as she sees McKay working on an instrument as villagers walk by him. He looks worried and generally unhappy with the present turn of events. However it seemed as though a small boy has found the scientist fascinating and stands behind him watching carefully; of course Rodney has also noticed the young boy, but he finds the situation incredibly annoying.
"What?!"
The boy slowly approaches him, "Is it true? You're going to hunt the Daimos?"
To Rayne he looks to be at that age where she isn't really sure who he's rooting for, but just hopes to see some blood and guts on the ground before it's all over. McKay looks scathing. "It looks that way."
"I heard it has two heads, and it can turn you to stone just by looking at you."
"Well, you heard wrong."
"My uncle says it'll come and take me if I don't do my chores."
McKay looks pleadingly over at Rayne and raises his arms as if to say, 'Get this kid away from me!' then turns back to the boy. "He said that, huh? Well, then, if we get rid of it, you've got nothing to worry about, you'll never have to do chores ever again."
"Really!?"
"Yes. Look, go away."
The boy walks away and McKay looks up to see Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon looking at him with chastisement, and Rayne giggling behind them. "What?"
Goran walks up to join them preventing the team from saying anything in reply. "As far as we know, no one was taken last night, but it will strike, and soon."
Ronon slides a cartridge into his gun, having removed it last night as a precaution. "We'll kill it before that happens."
"You must be great at parties." John comments causing Rayne to laugh out loud.
They search through the forest, Ronon on point as he is most skilled at tracking the Wraith. Rayne follows closely behind him, Sheppard following her, then McKay and Teyla covering their six.
"We're talking about a hundred square miles of forest here." Rodney grumbles as he trips over a branch on the ground.
"Be patient. Ronon's been going up against the Wraith one on one for the last seven years. If anyone can track this thing, it's him." John informs the curmudgeonly man.
"And exactly how is he going to do that, huh?"
"It helps to have good hearing." Ronon calls out from a good ten yards ahead of them.
"Right." Rodney says before flinching as Sheppard slaps him on the back of the head as he walks past.
"Carry on." He mumbles as he catches Rayne giving him a sly smirk, clearly she finds his doubts of Ronon's skills funny; and even more funny when he gets called out on his doubts.
Later, Sheppard and Teyla walk together, John notices the way Teyla is turning and cocking her head. "What about you? You sensing anything?"
"I'm not sure."
"What do you mean?"
"There is a presence here… but it is different. I cannot quite explain it."
Ronon holds up his hand, then gestures for them to look ahead. "It's in there." They see a flash of the Wraith running behind a tree, Ronon and Rayne take off after it.
"Ronon! Rayne! Damn it." Sheppard yells.
They all follow the two warriors, chasing the Wraith through the forest. Ronon and Rayne arrive outside a cave; the others arrive a few moments later. "It's in there." Ronon announces.
"Was it Wraith?"
"Yeah."
"You see it?" McKay questions them.
"No." The two warriors reply in tandem.
"Well, how do you know?"
Ronon turns his head toward McKay, clearly ready with a withering take-down of his own, when Teyla interrupts. "They are correct. I can definitely sense it now." She states.
They turn on their gun flashlights and move slowly inside, but John holds Rayne back for a moment. "If it gets the drop on us, you unleash on it."
"Are you sure?" She asks.
"You can't hurt us and there's no one else out here. Trust yourself." He assures her before they follow the others inside.
They attach their flashlights to their weapons and the team enters the cave, guns first, McKay taking up the rear. They make their way through dark stone corridors, panning their lights around, until they come to an intersection and pause at the sight of a white flash around a corner, then make out a face staring at them, which quickly disappears.
"A female." Teyla states, they had not seen a female that was not a hive Queen.
She runs, and the team chases her. She runs into a laboratory built into the cave, with crossed beams and plants in the ceiling. An older man is there and she runs into his arms.
"Ellia?" He hugs her protectively as the team runs in and raises their guns at them, Ellia cowers in his embrace.
"Get out of the way." Sheppard orders in his 'no kidding around, someone's about to be very dead' voice. The rest of the team are all wearing their 'he is so not joking about this' faces as they take aim.
"No, please. Don't shoot. She's not what you think… She's my daughter."
Sheppard and the others stare in shock and disgust, as Ronon maneuvers over behind the bottles and vials on the work-table, looking for the best shot.
"She means you no harm."
"She's a Wraith." Ronon growls as he stands to the man's right, his gun trained on the girl.
"Maybe so, but she's different. I swear to you."
"Let me guess—Wraith with a heart of gold?" Sheppard scoffs.
"She doesn't feed. She's never taken a human life."
Teyla is confused, "How is that possible?"
"Please, lower your weapons, and I'll explain it to you."
There is a very long pause before Sheppard lowers his weapon first, followed by McKay (who had pulled out and aimed his pistol) then Teyla, Rayne and Ronon only lowered theirs on the Colonel's nod.
"It's all right." The elder man cautions the girl as she cowers into his side. "Father…"
"No, I won't let them hurt you." He turns to the team. "I raised her as my own."
"You live here, together?" Teyla questions arching a skeptical eyebrow and standing with her gun down, but clearly ready to pull it back into position.
"This was part of a mine before the last culling. It's not much to look at, I know, but we don't have much choice. The people of the village would not understand."
"Gee, I wonder why." John snarks.
"The villagers told us there was a Wraith in the forest." Teyla explains. "It came here in a crashed ship ten years ago."
"Ten years ago? Ellia was just a child. Do you really think that she could be responsible for the deaths that happened immediately after the crash?"
"So you know about that, then?" McKay asks the man.
"I was there. I helped kill the survivors. But when I found a young female lying unconscious some distance from the crash… I couldn't bring myself to hurt her. I brought her here to this cave to hide her from the others. To this day, the people of the village don't know, and you must promise not to tell them. She's not responsible for what's been happening."
"Then who is?" Ronon questions.
"I believe another Wraith survived the crash. An adult. That's who you should be looking for."
"If she does not feed, how does she live?" Rayne wanted to know, her eyes not leaving the young Wraith's.
"At first I fed her as you would any child and that seemed to suffice. But then something began to change."
As he speaks, McKay looks around at the lab, which has various old-fashioned chemical components.
"The food no longer gave her any sustenance. There was a hunger growing in her that would not be satisfied. I heard the stories of the other creature, what it did to survive, and I was afraid that was what Ellia would become. And so I… started to experiment. I have extensive knowledge of the chemical properties of various medicinal plants that grow in this forest. Are you interested in science?"
"I'm not sure that's what I would call this, but yes." McKay says with a nod.
"Ellia's hunger was growing stronger every day, and I wasn't sure that I could do anything for her. But eventually… I came up with this." He says holding up a flask that contains what looks like thick red blood.
McKay looks caught between realism and wanting to believe there is something that can deter Wraith feeding; Sheppard looks reluctant to believe what is too good to be true.
While the others stay with the man Zaddik to keep an eye on the girl, Sheppard heads back to Atlantis to brief Weir and Beckett. He sits straddling the foot of a bed inside of the infirmary as Weir and Carson stand in front of him.
"A drug that allows the Wraith to survive without feeding?" Elizabeth says with wonder.
"That's what he said."
"Is such a thing even possible?"
Carson shrugs his shoulders as he leans against the wall with his arms crossed. "We don't know enough about Wraith physiology to say for certain, although, I must admit, it's intriguing that this Dr. Zaddik claims the Wraith survived on normal food for a time."
"Why?" John queries.
"Well, if he's telling the truth, it might be the answer to a very puzzling question. Right now, our best guess is that the Wraith evolved from the iratus bug."
"Like the one that attached itself to my neck a year ago?"
"That's right."
"I hate those bugs." John says scrunching up his nose.
"Trust me, I know. We've speculated that they evolved into the Wraith when they began to take on the characteristics of the humans they were feeding on." Carson explains and Sheppard looks as if this is way too much information. "Now, there are many aspects of human physiology that are quite useful—bipedal motion, opposable thumbs, large brain capacity. But the human digestive system serves no purpose in the adult Wraith. So, why have one at all?"
"Because they eat normal food when they're young." Weir concludes.
"Exactly then at some point, they lose the ability to sustain themselves with that food."
"So it's a teenage thing—pimples, rebellion, life-sucking." John snarks and Weir gives him her 'must you always joke?' face, before she smiles.
"Something like that. The question is, what causes it? If it's due to some chemical deficiency, like a diabetic's inability to process sugar, then it's possible it may be addressed with some kind of drug." Beckett is looking hopeful at this point.
"So Zaddik could be telling the truth."
"I'd like to go to the planet and check into it." Carson says in reply to her comment.
"Is that really necessary? I'm sure we could get a sample, bring it back here for you to analyze."
"It's not just the drug I'm interested in. This young Wraith could be very important for our research."
"What research?" John prods.
"We're working on a retrovirus that would alter Wraith DNA, essentially stripping out the iratus bug elements of their genetic code and leaving only the human aspects behind."
"A drug that turns Wraith into humans?"
"Effectively, yes. But so far, we haven't had much success, partly because we lack the living tissue and blood samples we need to test it."
Elizabeth turns to Sheppard, "You think this girl would be willing to provide them?"
Sheppard starts to shrug as Carson continues speaking. "Look, I realize we can't bring her back to Atlantis but I could take the retrovirus and the equipment necessary for the analysis with me to the planet. A few days with a cooperative test subject could be worth months of theoretical research. Elizabeth, I don't have to tell you how important this could be for us."
"Is she dangerous?" Elizabeth inquires to John.
"She's a Wraith. Although… I have to admit she does seem a little different."
Back inside of the cave Ellia is grinding leaves with a mortar and pestle, her father watching over her shoulder as he teaches her. "Remember, the leaves must be dried and finely ground."
"Like this?"
He starts to walk around as the liquid in the flask begins to boil. "A little more. Now… why is distillation an important step?"
"To remove the toxins from the Ferassin root?" She replies hesitantly.
"Precisely." He says with a proud father smile. Ellia returns it with a creepy Wraith smile only a father could love, and he clearly does. It's a tender father teaching his little girl moment. "We wouldn't want the serum to send you into paralytic shock, now, would we?"
Ellia smiles and rolls her eyes like any other teenager would do when dealing with their parent. "No, Father."
Her eyes then turn to Rayne who stands on the other end of the table opposite her. "Your eyes, they glow." She says almost shyly, ducking her head down as she tries not to make direct eye contact.
"Yes they do." The Siren replies, her aqua eyes studying the girl in front of her. "When certain emotions become overwhelmed. Anger… Fear."
"Does everyone have eyes like yours where you're from?"
A flash of pain crosses Rayne's face, "No. The Wraith destroyed my entire race, along with my planet. I am the only one of my kind left."
"She's a Siren, Ellia." Zaddik announces as he stands beside his daughter.
The girl's eyes shimmer with wonder as she looks into Rayne's eyes, the Siren seeing no fear or apprehension from the Wraith before her, even knowing that she could kill her with one powerful scream.
"So, is it true that you can kill a Wraith with your voice?" She asks intrigued.
"Yes, I can."
Rayne cannot take the way the girl is looking at her, the wonder and near admiration in her eyes is sending the Siren's pulse rocketing. "Excuse me." She heads for the cave entrance, shoving past Rodney and Teyla as she leaves; she hears them call to her but thankfully they do not follow, knowing that she needs some time to herself.
Inside Rodney watches the way that Ellia interacts and speaks to Zaddik, he's intrigued, but extremely uncomfortable with the entire scene. "Seriously, have you seen anything like this before?"
"No, I have not. She is unlike any Wraith I've ever encountered." Teyla admits.
"What if it's all an act?"
"If she were a killer, why would he protect her?"
"Well, maybe the act's for his benefit, too."
"They live here together, Rodney. If she were like other Wraith, he would be her first victim." Teyla concludes as her radio crackles to life.
"Teyla, this is Sheppard."
"Go ahead."
Sheppard exits the Jumper with two large bags in his hands, behind him Carson and Ronon follow carrying several more. "We just got back with Beckett. Ronon's going to take him up to the cave. I'm going to check in with the villagers."
"What are you going to tell them?" She questions.
"I'm still working on that." Sheppard stops and hands his black case to Dex, who already had one in each hand, so he props it on the larger, and heads off. Dex sets down the big case, hands the smaller one abruptly to Beckett, who had a hand free, and picks up the others
Inside the cave Beckett starts to unload his equipment, starting with a laptop which he sets on the table.
"This equipment's remarkable. Where did you get it?"
Beckett has his "what does one say?" look on. "Oh, here and there. Let's start by analyzing that drug of yours, shall we?"
"Oh, yes. Of course."
Ellia arrives with a tray and Beckett sees her for the first time as she offers him something to drink. "Would you like some tea?"
"Oh, thank you." Her father says taking a cup.
She hands a cup to McKay and he declines, but she will not be denied, and McKay finds himself with a clay cup of tea in his hand, giving it the same careful regard he would a hissing cockroach. Ellia tries the same handing-the-cup thing with Beckett, but he turns her down more graciously, and successfully.
"Oh, no thank you." Beckett tells her as she offers it to him.
McKay is wearing his 'how'd you do that?' face as Ellia crosses the cave lab area to Dex, who has apparently been keeping his distance on purpose. He's leaning against a cave wall, not looking at Ellia as she approaches. "Would you like some?"
"No." He answers sharply.
"Are you sure? It's very good."
Dex comes away from the wall with the sort of body language possible only by the very fit and well-coordinated. "I said no." Frankly, he looms, arms crossed while glaring at her.
Ellia turns and leaves quickly. It is to be hoped Teyla wanted no tea. She sets her tea tray on a table, then picks up a plate of biscuits and pitter-pats back approaching Ronon. "Maybe some biscuits? I baked them myself."
He slams the plate out of her hand, furious. "Stay away from me!"
Ellia lets out an ear-splitting Wraith shriek, scaring everyone in the room but Ronon to death. It's extremely shrill and creepy. Ronon instantly has his sidearm out and aimed at her head in one smooth motion.
Teyla holds up her hand to stop him, "Ronon!"
Ellia stops shrieking. Ronon is wearing his 'dead Wraith walking' face over the steadily-aimed barrel of his sidearm; as Ellia backs away to stand next to Teyla, who is holding out a restraining hand with her 'we can't take you anywhere' face. Ellia, looking ashamed of her own actions and humiliated by Ronon's, leaves the room without a word and Zaddik follows shortly behind her.
Teyla turns a disapproving eye to Ronon, "Was that really necessary?"
"You can dress her up and teach her table manners, but it's not gonna change who she is." He snaps looking unrepentant as hell, before he leaves the cave heading out to find Rayne.
"Teyla, this is Sheppard. Come in." Teyla presses the button to activate her comms. "Go ahead, Colonel."
"Is Ellia still in the cave?"
"Yes."
"Has she been there the whole time?"
"Yes. Why?"
In the village Sheppard stands by as the villagers gather around a desiccated body. "They just found another victim. Apparently he's only been missing for a couple of hours, which means she couldn't have done it. It looks like Zaddik might have been telling the truth after all."
The dead body is wheeled by on a hay cart as the villagers start to speak amongst themselves. Goran, Callum and several other men approach Sheppard as he heads back towards the woods.
"Colonel Sheppard. Is there any progress with this hunt?" Goran asks.
"We're working on it."
"Maybe we could help you."
"That won't be necessary."
"We're sick of doing nothing! We're sick of being afraid all the time. That thing is hunting in daylight now! We'll never be safe." Callum states.
"Just be patient. We'll take care of it." Sheppard assures them as he heads back towards the cave.
Sheppard has now rejoined the team and informed them all of what he knows.
"You see? I told you she wasn't responsible for the killings. The serum makes it unnecessary for her to feed." Zaddik tells them.
"Can you confirm that?" Sheppard asks turning to Beckett.
"Not yet. It'll be a while before I can complete my analysis."
"All right. Well, in the meantime, there's another Wraith out there."
"I believe Ellia may be able to help us find it." Teyla offers.
"How?" The Wraith's father inquires.
"May I speak with her?"
"All right."
Ellia is sitting on the bed inside of her room when Teyla joins her. "May I join you?" Ellia looks up then away as Teyla enters.
"Ellia, we need your help. You can sense the other Wraith." She sees the young girl look away ashamed. "It is all right. It is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I have the same ability."
"Really?"
"I sensed you in the forest, when you were watching us. And I knew even then that you were different. Your father has raised you well. He has taught you right from wrong. You are not like the other one."
Ellia is nearly in tears, slightly shaking her head. "I don't let him in. I don't like what he shows me."
"I know but you have to try. Now, we need to find him."
"You don't understand."
"I have tried myself, but I can get nothing. Please."
"All right."
"Good. Now, concentrate."
Ellia slowly closes her eyes and sees scenes of the forest, she hears the terrifying shriek of a Wraith. She comes back, gasping in clear emotional distress and nearly hyperventilating.
"Try again." Teyla coaxes her.
Ellia has a 'you try again' look on her face for a second, but she takes a settling breath and closes her eyes again. She again hears the Wraith shriek and sees the forest again, before it settles on a distinctive-looking river in a rocky bed.
She snaps out of it, breathing a little more evenly than last time, and looks a little sweaty but triumphant. "I saw a river."
Zaddik sits across a workbench from a stone-faced Ronon, who is standing next to Sheppard and Rayne, watching Dr. Beckett peer through a microscope at the end of the workbench. Over Beckett's shoulder, McKay can be seen examining the contents of some shelves along the back wall. All but Beckett are standing.
"Zaddik? Is there a river nearby?" Teyla questions as she enters the lab at a brisk walk.
"Yes, just to the east."
The guys have all turned to look at Teyla, who reaches past Zaddik to recover her weapon and ready it. Sheppard, Rayne and Ronon follow suit.
"All right, let's go. McKay, stay here and help Beckett." Sheppard orders as the others get ready to leave.
"Uh, medical research is not really my thing." Rodney admits.
"And hunting Wraith, Rodney?" Rayne grins as she looks pointedly at him.
He looks extremely chagrined, "But, I mean, I can stay… and help Beckett."
She nods in agreement as she follows Ronon, John and Teyla out into the dark forest. McKay walks back over to the table standing beside Carson as he looks into his microscope.
"Never could get into biology. There's just too much information about the human body. One time, I took it as an undergrad, I diagnosed myself with half a dozen separate medical conditions before I had to drop the class."
"Really."
"Yeah, believe it or not, back then, I was a bit of a hypochondriac."
"You know, this does require a certain amount of concentration."
McKay leans down closer taunting Carson, "What, am I bothering you…?" He sees the look that Carson gives him and sighs, "Maybe I'll go get some air."
The other team members have arrived down by the river, Ronon checking the surrounding area for clues to the whereabouts of the other Wraith, if there was one.
"This must be the river she saw in her vision." Teyla says as they stand on the rocky embankment.
"Assuming she's telling the truth. Just because there's another Wraith doesn't necessarily mean you can trust her." John states honestly before noticing that Ronon has found something. "What do you got?"
Ronon gently pokes the edges of the imprint in the dirt and looks up and around. "Fresh tracks. It's him."
Teyla turns to Sheppard with a smug look, "Now do you believe?"
"I still think there's something more to this than she and Zaddik are telling us."
Ronon rises to his feet and gestures, "He's heading upstream, into the hills."
Beckett continues to test Zaddik's medicine as the older man watches him from the other side of the table.
"Let me ask you something. If you can prove to everyone that I'm telling the truth, that Ellia no longer needs to feed, do you think the villagers would accept her?" He notices that Dr. Beckett doesn't look hopeful. "That's what I'm afraid of."
Neither of them notice Ellia eavesdropping on the conversation from the hallway.
"No matter how hard we try to convince them, they'll always see her as a monster. I'm getting old, doctor."
"Oh, you've got lots of time."
"Never have as much as we think we have. And when I'm gone, she'll be alone. I…tried to teach her about love and human companionship. But that's exactly what she'll never have."
Ellia looks down in sadness at what she hears.
"Zaddik, there's something I want to show you. I didn't say anything at first, because I didn't want to get your hopes up." He opens a case and takes out a metal vial. "It's a retrovirus…something I've been working on."
"I don't understand."
"Oh, God. How am I gonna explain this? Part of Ellia is human, and part of her comes from a creature we call the iratus bug. It's the part that makes her look the way she does and where her desire to feed comes from. Now, it's possible, by means of this retrovirus, we can strip away those parts, and leave only the human parts behind."
Zaddik smiles hopefully, "You mean she'd be like you and me?"
"Yes. Now, I must warn you, the retrovirus is still experimental. In fact, it's only been tested on cell cultures in a laboratory, and so far, without much success. I'm hoping that what we can learn from your daughter will help me perfect it."
Just then McKay rushes in breathing heavily, "We've got a problem."
"Why didn't you just radio me?"
"Yeah, well, I could've, but…"
McKay, Beckett, and Zaddik rush out of the cave. After they are gone, Ellia comes out of hiding, checking around to make sure everyone was gone; she tiptoes over to the case containing the retrovirus and carefully opens it to reveal four syringes in foam padding.
McKay, Beckett and Zaddik are running bent over to seek cover toward the growing sound of approaching villagers. They drop down to watch from over a rise in the forest floor. Villagers go by carrying their farm implements and speaking loudly.
"Looks like they decided to join the hunt." Carson whispers.
"If they find Ellia, they'll kill her."
Rodney taps his radio, "Sheppard, this is McKay."
Sheppard answers from where they are hunting the Wraith. "What is it, Rodney?"
"The villagers are on the move, and it doesn't look like they're going to a picnic."
"Are they heading for the caves?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"All right. Get back there and sit tight." He turns to Ronon, Teyla and Rayne. "We're losing time, guys."
Beckett, McKay, and Zaddik return to the cave as ordered, they look around for Ellia, but cannot find her.
"Ellia? Ellia? She's not here."
Beckett sees that one of his cases is open and a vial has been moved inside of it, "Good Lord."
"What?" Rodney asks.
"She took the retrovirus."
"You said it wasn't ready." Zaddik states.
"It's not, not by a long shot."
"What'll it do to her?"
"To be honest, I have no idea."
Sheppard, Ronon, Rayne and Teyla continue to search through the woods, following the path they expect the Wraith to have taken.
"Colonel Sheppard, come in." Carson's voice calls over their comms.
"Go ahead."
"We've got another problem. Ellia's gone, and she's injected herself with the retrovirus."
"Why would she do that?"
"She must've overheard us talking about it. I told Zaddik it might be the key to making her human."
"Please, you've got to find her before the villagers do." Zaddik pleads to them.
"Look, Ronon says we're close. If we lose the trail now, we may never catch the Wraith."
"Rodney and I'll find her." Carson tells them.
"All right, but be careful."
"Understood."
"I'll come with you." Zaddik says as the two Dr.'s prepare to leave.
"No, I think it's best if you stay here."
"Look, is there anywhere that she likes to go—any favorite hiding spots or favorite places?" McKay asks.
"Yes, she often goes off for hours at a time, up into the hills. I don't like it, but she doesn't listen to me."
"It's a start." Carson says before they head out.
"You know, I thought it was pretty nuts when Ronon was trying to track a Wraith through this forest." Rodney comments as he and Carson trek through the woods.
"Now that it's just us, do you feel any better?"
"Oh, yeah. Supremely confident." He scoffs following behind Carson, his gun in hand and ready for anything.
At the bottom of a large rock outcropping Ronon checks a small cave built down into the base of it, with strings of cloth hanging around the entrance. "Sheppard. This is where he's been making camp. He was here less than hour ago."
Less than 100 yards away McKay pauses as he realizes that the forest has gone quiet, no birds, no sounds at all. "You hear anything?"
"No." Carson answers.
"Huh. Me neither."
Suddenly a Wraith drops down from a tree right beside Beckett. It hits him and knocks him flying about a dozen feet into the underbrush. McKay gets off a couple of shots, firing at more or less point blank range, but the Wraith knocks the gun out of his hand and swats him to the ground.
Nearby, Sheppard and the others hear the shots and go running in that direction.
At McKay's location, the Wraith starts to lean over McKay, but Ellia arrives and tackles the Wraith. They fight for a moment, and Ellia snaps the Wraith's neck like it was a twig. Ellia's skin is much darker, save for the right side of her face and her left hand is claw-like. She advances on McKay with a threatening expression.
"Easy, now. You went through the trouble to save my life. It'd be a shame to kill me." McKay pleads with her.
Beckett shoots Ellia, wounding her in the shoulder. She screeches at him then runs away. "You all right, Rodney?"
Rodney stands stock still, shaking and grasping at his chest. "Yeah, just peachy. What the hell was that?"
"The retrovirus is having the opposite effect than we intended."
"I guess so."
"Oh, God."
"On the… yeah, but…" Rodney mumbles incoherently as he pats at his chest.
Beckett pats his shoulder reassuringly and he mumbles putting his hand up under his tee-shirt to feel for a feeding wound.
Elsewhere in the forest, Zaddik finds Ellia, she growls and approaches him. As he tries to talk her down she snarls and grabs him by the neck. She throws him hard into the hillside before standing and screeching loudly.
Both Atlantis groups hear her, Rayne turns to Sheppard with a grimace. "You asked me what my scream sounds like when I'm angry." He nods to her and she sighs, "A lot like that."
Sheppard's eyes widen as they all take off towards the sound.
McKay and Beckett find Zaddik lying on the forest floor. "Are you all right?" Carson question as he looks the man over, Zaddik grunting in pain. "Don't try to move."
"It was Ellia… but it wasn't her fault." He tells them, blood trickling out the right side of his mouth.
Suddenly they hear shouting as Goran and the other villagers arrive. "No, no, no! You people need to go back to the village! It is not safe here." McKay orders them.
"Who is that?" Goran questions.
"Don't you remember me?" Zaddik questions as he looks up to the elder man standing above him.
"No… it can't be… You were taken by the daimos."
"No, Father."
McKay's eyes widen as he looks between the two men. "Father? I don't understand. You're…you're his son?"
"If my son were alive, he'd be 34 years old." Goran states.
"Precisely."
By this time John, Rayne, Teyla and Ronon have arrived to the area, and are filled in by Carson and Rodney on what happened.
"There's another one of those things out there. Look what it did to Zaddik. I say we go after it, now!" Callum shouts riling up the villagers.
"No one's going anywhere. We'll handle this! Stay calm. How is he?" Sheppard asks Carson.
Beckett steps over to talk to them, "I've given him something for the pain, but his injuries are too severe. He's not gonna make it."
"This can't be happening. It's not possible." Goran says still trying to wrap his mind around what was happening.
"I'm sorry. Don't blame Ellia. It was my idea." Zaddik says trying to breathe through the pain in his body. "You… have to have to understand… that when I found her, I'd just lost my own wife and son to a fever."
Zaddik finds Ellia after the crash.
"She was just lying there, helpless. When I saw her, I knew what I had to do. As I told you, in the beginning, she survived on food and water like any young girl."
Zaddik lifts up the Wraith child and carries it away.
A younger Ellia collapses in pain, the younger Zaddik comforting her and offering his chest for her to feed on. She resists so he takes her hand and puts it to his chest. She begins to feed off of him.
"She took what she needed from me to survive… until I perfected the serum."
Zaddik collapses after Ellia finishes feeding. She holds him, sobbing; he is only slightly more aged than he was.
"She never fed on anyone after that?" Sheppard questions the dying man.
Raddik hesitates for a moment, something that only Rayne notices with her acute senses, before he answers. "No."
"All right. Teyla, Ronon, Rayne, you're with me. The rest of you, stay here."
"Colonel, the retrovirus is acting quickly. The human part of her is almost gone."
"You said she killed the other Wraith and saved McKay's life."
"Yes, but I'm not sure she knew what she was doing. She's operating on a purely animal level right now."
"Is there nothing you can do for her?" Teyla asks.
"I might be able to reverse the effects, if you bring her back alive, but I doubt she'll cooperate. She's also stronger and faster than any Wraith I've ever seen."
"Great." John replies in a high-pitched, sarcastic voice causing Ronon and Rayne to smirk as they left.
Goran turns to his son visibly upset, "All this time… We thought you were dead."
"There was no other way. They never would have accepted us… And I couldn't abandon her."
"Why?"
"She… needed me."
John and Teyla walk through the forest together, Ronon and Rayne had split off from the two in an effort to locate Ellia quicker. Sheppard's comms crackle to life, "Colonel, this is Beckett."
"Go ahead."
"Zaddik's dead."
"Understood."
Suddenly John stops as he notices Ronon standing off to his right, he is cautiously scanning their surroundings. "She knows we're here. She's watching us." Ronon states.
Teyla continues walking ahead, she can also sense the young Wraith, "Ellia? We want to help you. Dr. Beckett can make you better, but you have to come with us. We will not hurt you."
Without warning Ellia tackles Teyla to the ground from above. They struggle and Teyla manages to throw her off. Sheppard and Ronon hear it and come running.
"Die!" Ronon bellows as he shoots Ellia, but she runs away. Ronon and Sheppard stop to check Teyla. She is unconscious and has blood on the back of her head.
"She took a blow to the head when it hit her." Ronon says showing John the blood on his fingertips.
"Where's Rayne?" John questions. Just as he asks they hear a loud scream pierce the silence of the forest, and it wasn't the Wraith. "There she is. Stay with her." Sheppard orders taking his jacket off for Ronon to use to pillow Teyla's head.
"Sheppard—"
"That's an order." He states before he runs off towards the screams origin.
Rayne stands in a small clearing, she can hear the young Wraith scurrying around the tress behind her. She re-holsters her gun then pulls the sword from the sheath on her back and waits.
The Wraith hits her broadside sending her tumbling sideways to the ground; Rayne quickly rolls to her feet, her eyes glowing bright as she lets her voice free.
Ellia grabs at her ears, tossing her head back and forth furiously as she tries to block out the sound.
But unlike the other Wraith, Rayne's scream does not incapacitate the young girl; a fact the Siren realizes too late as Ellia charges her, tackling the brunette to the ground and swiping her claws across the side of Rayne's face.
Rayne screams out once more hoping to weaken the Wraith, but it seems to only anger the girl even more. She scrambles to her feet grasping Rayne's throat in her claw, with a loud screech she throws the Siren backwards before disappearing. Rayne's back slams into a tree, the impact actually cracking the trunk; before she falls to the ground, her arm caught underneath her as she lands with her entire body weight on it causing it to snap. She lets out a pained scream as she rolls onto her back, cradling her broken arm against her chest.
Teyla wakes minutes later noticing that Sheppard is nowhere to be found. "What happened? Where's Colonel Sheppard?"
"He went after the creature."
"You let him go alone?!"
"Well, he wanted me to stay with you and Rayne's with him, she's got this."
"They will need your help. I am fine. Go!" She tells him exasperatedly.
"Aren't we supposed to follow his orders?"
"Sometimes we are allowed to make exceptions."
"Who decides when it's one of those times?"
"We do."
"That's good enough." He then jumps up and runs off.
At Sheppard's position, he turns to see Ellia approaching him along a large downed tree that he had just ducked under. "Ellia? Don't make me do this."
She screeches at him. He shoots her with the machine gun, but it seems to have no effect as she lands on him and tries to attack. He pulls his knife and tries to stab her, but she grabs his forearm in her powerful left hand, the tips of her claws penetrating his skin, blood flows from the wound.
Ronon arrives and shoots Ellia twice knocking her away from John with his stunner. Sheppard rolls away and Ronon shoots her again as she gets to her feet. He realizes then that she's not going back alive, so he flips the switch on his gun from stun to kill. With no other choice Ronon and Sheppard both fire on her, killing her.
Ronon catches sight of John's bleeding arm, "You okay?"
"Yeah. She tried feeding on me."
"She wasn't going to let us take her back."
"Yeah. I know."
Ronon starts to walk back the way he came. Sheppard looks at his arm, which is bloody from three puncture marks. He looks at Ellia again, then turns to follow Ronon.
As they head back they find Rayne leaning against a tree beside Teyla who is still sitting on the ground. Ronon rushes over to her side as he sees the blood coating the left side of her face.
"Are you okay?"
Rayne nods giving him a reassuring smile, "Scratches and a broken arm. Nothing that a little salt-water can't fix."
Smiling Ronon leans down and kisses her lips, his first open display of affection with others around them. Both John and Teyla smirk at the couple as the four of them head back towards the rest of the group.
After gathering up Beckett's equipment and helping the villagers bury the bodies, they returned back to the Jumper and headed home to Atlantis.
When they arrived Carson turned to Sheppard with a stern look, "Let's go get that arm looked at. And you." He said pointing to Rayne with a mock glare. "Into the tank with ya love."
Rayne laughed airily, "Thanks Carson, but it's such a nice night, I'm gonna go for a swim instead."
"Alright, but you come see me tomorrow for a checkup."
"Yes Sir." She said giving him a salute, before she turned and walked off with Ronon, his arm resting protectively around her waist.
Once they had dropped off their gear in the armory, Ronon followed her to the east pier, which had been determined as her place since she went there often. With a little assistance from Ronon she stripped down to her black sports bra and black shorts, before diving off of the pier.
Ronon sat on the edge dangling his legs over the side as he watched her head break the surface of the water. He smiled as he watched the blue lights again dancing over her injuries, healing them before his eyes; as much as it physically hurt him to see her injured, he would never get tired of watching the ocean heal her, it was a beautiful sight.
He looked down as she swam up to him, lifting herself up and resting her arms on his thighs. Dipping his hand into the water he brushed his fingers over her cheek, washing away the remnants of blood on her skin. She sighed contentedly as she closed her eyes, leaning into his touch as he cupped her cheek. As she opened her eyes he was caught in her gaze, the lights of Atlantis reflecting in her aqua orbs. Dipping his head down Ronon captured her lips with his own, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her out of the water, sitting her down sideways on his lap.
He could feel the water from her body soaking into his leather pants, but he could not be less concerned at that moment. His only focus was on her slick tongue as it wrapped around his own, her teeth nipping playfully at his bottom lip as she drew back away from him.
"Lay with me tonight." He said softly as he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip.
"Okay." She replied quietly.
Ronon smiled as he helped her stand and gathered her things, he then laced his fingers with her own before they walked slowly back towards his quarters. He had no intention of bedding her, not until he was sure that he wouldn't lose her; he simply wanted to hold her in his arms for as long as he could.