Evelyn POV

"May I join you?" Teyla asked, coming into the room and announcing her presence. I smiled at her and Ellia looked at me for reassurance.

"It's alright," I told her and she looked back at Teyla and nodded. Teyla came in and took Ellia's other side.

"Ellia, we need your help. You can sense the other Wraith," Teyla said and Ellia ducked her head away from her. I put a comforting hand on hers.

"It is all right. It is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I have the same ability," Teyla explained and Ellia perked up a little. She looked between the two of us.

"Really?" she asked.

"I sensed you in the forest, when you were watching us. And I knew even then that you were different, your father had raised you well. He has taught you right from wrong. You are not like the other one," Teyla explained. Ellia still looked worried.

"I don't let him in. I don't like what he shows me," she explained and I laced my fingers with her, holding her hand gently.

"I know, but you have to try. Now, we need to find him," Teyla explained and Ellia squeezed my hand. I gave it a squeeze back and smiled at her.

"We'll be right here with you, nothing's going to happen," I assured her.

"You don't understand," Ellia said.

"I have tried myself, but I can get nothing. Please," Teyla tried again.

"All right," Ellia relented and she sat between us with her eyes closed.

"Good. Now, concentrate," Teyla instructed.

"All right," Ellia breathed, squeezing my hand one more time. I watched her sit motionless for a few moments before her eyes popped back open, she shook her head.

"Try again," Teyla told her. I nodded at her and she closed her eyes again, staying wherever she was for a few moments longer.

"I saw a river," Ellia told her.

"I'm so proud of you," I told her. "You did really well."

"Will that be helpful?" Ellia asked. Teyla nodded.

"We will see," she said and headed back out into the central area of the cave. I smiled at Ellia and then let go of her hand.

"Thank you for helping her," I said and Ellia smiled.

"I just wanted to help you," she told me honestly and I smiled a lopsided smile at her.

Ellia wanted to show me her book collection next and she told me all about which were her favourites and why. She handed me one she thought I'd like and insisted I read it right then. I smiled at her and opened it up, scanning over the characters. I didn't want to tell her I had no idea what language this was in and couldn't read it so I smiled and nodded and occasionally flicked through the pages when I thought it was the right time.

"Who's your favourite character?" I asked and she smiled.

"The female lead," she said. "She's nice and kind to everyone and everyone loves her. She gets to go on adventures out in the woods and she's the leader of all her friends."

"She sounds pretty cool," I said. "Does she have a love interest?"

"She doesn't need one," Ellia told me excitedly. "She has all the love she needs from her friends."

"That's sweet," I told her. I went back to pretending to read when I overhead Beckett and Zaddik talking in the next room.

"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?" Zaddik asked and I glanced at Ellia. I couldn't tell if she was listening or reading her book. "That's what I'm afraid of. 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," Beckett told him.

"Never have as much as we think you 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," Zaddik said and I felt so bad for Ellia. She looked sadder now, she was definitely listening.

"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," Beckett said. Of course, that retrovirus he was working on while I was in the hospital.

"It's a retrovirus… something I've been working on," Beckett explained

"What's a retrovirus?" Ellia asked me.

"Well, retro can mean immative of something or a denoting action that is directed backward or is reciprocal," I started. "So a retrovirus is like a virus but it used to take away a specific part of something, or change something back to the way it was."

"Oh, God. How am I going to 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," Beckett explained in the next room when Raddik said he didn't understand.

"You mean she could be like you and me?" Zaddik asked.

"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," Beckett explained.

I heard running footsteps into the cave and McKay panting. I looked back out the slightly ajar door but couldn't hear what they were saying. The three men rushed outside and Ellia and I exchanged a look.

"Where are they going? What's happening?" Ellia asked me.

"I don't know," I told her. I bit my lip. "I can go check but I need you to stay here, where you'll be safe, alright? Things are getting heated around town and I don't want someone from there finding you and hurting you."

She nodded. I pushed myself up and tousled her hair, running out of the room and out of the cave all together. I jogged through the forest and got low when I saw McKay, Beckett and Zaddik laying on the ground watching a team of villagers mount a search party through the forest.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching the Wraith!" McKay scolded at a whisper.

"She sent me to find out what's going on under the promise she'd stay put," I replied. "Also, no one told me anything, how was I supposed to know?"

"You could have radioed!" he said and he was right, I could have but I'd forgotten.

"So could you!" I bit back. He looked back at me sheepishly.

"I forgot," he said and I shook my head.

"We're moving back now anyway, Sheppard wants us to keep an eye on her and stay in the cave," Beckett told me. Staying low we backed away from the hill we'd been perched on and hurried back towards the old mine.

"Ellia? Ellia?" Zaddik called and I went to her room to check if she was hiding. I shook my head. "She's not here?"

"Good Lord," I heard Beckett say.

"What?" McKay asked immediately and I turned to the lab bench.

"She took the retrovirus," Beckett said. Shit. That wasn't good. Did she plan this?

"You said it wasn't ready," Zaddik said.

"It's not, not by a long shot," Beckett said and I bit my lip.

"What'll it do to her?" Zaddik asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea," Beckett answered. He reached for his radio. "Colonel Sheppard, come in."

"Go ahead," John replied.

"We've got another problem. Ellia's gone, and she's injected herself with the retrovirus."

"Why would she do that?" John asked.

"She must've overheard us talking about it. I told Zaddik it might be the key to making her human," Beckett explained.

"She did, she asked me what a retrovirus was," I explained

"Look, Ronon says we're close. If we lose the trail now, we may never catch the Wraith," John said.

"Please, you've got to find her before the villagers do," Zaddik said.

"Rodney and I will find her," Beckett said into the radio.

"All right, but be careful," Sheppard said.

"Understood," Beckett signed off.

"I'll come with you," Zaddik said.

"No, I think it's best if you stay here," Beckett said.

"Look, is there anywhere that she likes to go—any favorite hiding spots or favorite places?" McKay asked.

"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," Zaddik said.

"It's a start," Beckett said.

"What will I do?" Zaddik asked.

"You and O'Neill are going to stay here in case she comes back," Beckett said. "I'll radio with any updates," he told me and I nodded.

Zaddik and I sat at the lab table, he was distraught, head resting in his hands as we waited for any word. Feeling bad I went over to the kitchen and reheated some of the tea Ellia had made. I brought him over a terracotta cup and he accepted it gratefully.

"Thank you," he said and I smiled softly.

"It's nothing," I told him.

"No, thank you for how you've treated my daughter, what you've been doing to help her," he said. "It means the world to me that someone will look after her if something happens to me. She won't be alone."

"Hang on," I said. I had agreed to no such thing.

"Father," I heard in the doorway and saw Ellia standing there, looking distressed. Zaddik turned to her with an empathetic dad look on his face. I reached for my radio.

"Ellia's back," I said softly.

"Good, we'll make our way back," Beckett said.

"Oh, where did you go?" he said, making his way over and wrapping her in his arms.

"I was hiding," she explained. "I didn't want the others to know."

"To know what? Ellia, why did you take the retrovirus?" Zaddik asked.

"Because I don't want to be this way anymore. I hate what I am," she sobbed.

"Oh sweetheart," I said softly. That was the problem, I supposed, with teaching a Wraith to have feelings and emotional attachments to people. To raise them completely alien to the Wraith way.

I walked over to her and put a gentle hand on her upper arm.

"You shouldn't hate yourself," I said. "Because why? Because you're different? You are smart, and kind and funny too. Our differences are what make us special."

"If you heard what Dr Beckett said, you know the retrovirus isn't ready," Zaddik said softly.

"I had no choice," Ellia said. "When they kill the other Wraith, I won't be able to pretend anymore." Oh shit.

"Pretend what?" Zaddik asked. Oh shit.

"I've wanted to tell you for a long time… your serum doesn't work, father. It never has," she explained. Oh shit. Oh shit.

"That's impossible," he smiled reassuringly. "it's been two years since you... Since the last time. That wasn't your fault, it was my idea. I needed time to perfect the formula," Zaddik said.

"But it wasn't working. The hunger just… got worse," she explained. Probably the energy requirement of staving off the poison her dad was feeding her.

"What did you do?" Zaddik demanded, realisation on his face.

"I'm sorry, Father," Ellia said. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable about being here alone with them and hoped Beckett and McKay got back soon.

"No. No, that was the other one," Zaddik justified, trying to explain it away to himself.

"It was both of us. I sensed him out there. I knew when he was feeding, and I would go out at the same time," she explained. Clever girl.

"No. No, it can't be," Zaddik argued.

Poor guy, he gave 10 years of his life to her, lived in a cave and ostracised himself from his village, and worked tirelessly to find her a cure, and she repaid him by eating his friends and neighbours. Parenting I guess.

Ellia let out a pained grunt and doubled over. Zaddik and I both reached out to her in surprise and she shoved us back.

"Ellia?" Zaddik asked.

"Stay away!" She warned.

"What is it? What's happening?" he asked, desperately.

"Side effects from the retrovirus," I concluded and watched her grimacing. She gripped the wooden lab bench and her hand started to change colour. It was dark purple. The colour change spread up her arm to her face and she let out a screech.

"Let me help you," he said and she shoved him away. I grabbed him to stop him from falling.

"No!" she yelled and ran out the door. I pressed my ear piece.

"She's running, the retrovirus is doing some weird shit to her," I said and checked Zaddik. He nodded he was okay and I took off at a run, chasing her through the forest. "I'm in pursuit." She was massively faster than me and all I was able to do was keep her in sight.

"Alright, be careful. And don't hesitate to shoot if the situation turns," John told me.

"I won't," I said.

"I mean it, O'Neill," he said and I decided to poke that one later.

I heard gunshots go off. In the distance I could see Beckett and McKay struggling with the Wraith. Suddenly, Ellia tackled him to the ground, wrestling with him. It gave me the opportunity to catch up and I held my P90 up, watching the fight. I didn't want to shoot Ellia, but I would if I had snapped the other Wraith's neck and then stood up.

"Good girl, you protected McKay," I said. "Now come with us," I said. One of her eyes had gone red and she growled at us. "It's okay, I promise," I told her and she ignored me, lunging at McKay.

"Easy, now. You went through the trouble to save my life. It'd be a shame to kill me," he said.

"Ellia," I warned, cocking my gun. Seeing her making no move to stop, I made my decision. Just as I was about to squeeze the trigger I heard a shot go off and a bullet whizz past me. Beckett had shot her.

"You got her in the shoulder," I announced just as Ellia ran off, probably to go lick her wounds. "Fuck," I said running off after her.

John POV

Ronon, Teyla and I took off at the sound of nearby gunshots. My mind jumped straight to Evelyn who I knew was chasing her. At least, if there were gunshots, I knew she was fighting the Wraith, not about to be eaten by her. I didn't know why she was so compassionate towards the girl anyway. Everyone else was suitably wary.

I paused in the woods, as did Ronon and Teyla when we heard the earth shatteringly loud sound of what must have been Ellia screaming. I took off running again, one thing on my mind. Evelyn was alone with that thing and she'd never fought one before. Evelyn was in pursuit of that thing she still thought was a friend.

We came to a halt again as I saw a crowd of villagers stopped in the forest. Pushing past I saw McKay and Beckett crouched near a wounded Zaddik.

"There's another one of those things out there," the Barkeep (Callum?) said, approaching. "Look what it did to Zaddik. I say we go after it, now!"

"No one's going anywhere. We'll handle this. Stay calm," I told him and then moved over to McKay. "How is he?" I asked and McKay turned to look down at Zaddik and Beckett. The doc climbed to his feed and walked over, speaking in a low voice.

"I've given him something for the pain, but his injuries are too severe. He's not going to make it," Beckett told me.

"This can't be happening. It's not possible," Goran said, staring down at his prematurely aged son.

"I'm sorry," Zaddik said on the floor, shaking as he struggled to breathe. Don't blame Ellia. It was my idea. You…have to have to understand…that when I found her, I'd just lost my own wife and son to a fever," he said, going into an explanation. "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. "She took what she needed from me to survive…until I perfected the serum."

"She never fed on anyone after that?" I asked, furrowing my brow in suspicion. I sound it pretty hard to believe. This whole damn situation was hard to believe. He paused, whether it was injuries or hesitation I didn't know. But I was pretty sure it was the latter.

"No," he said, breaking eye contact.

"All right. Teyla, Ronon, you're with me. The rest of you, stay here," I commanded, pushing forward up the hill.

"Colonel," Beckett called, making me pause and turn. "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," I said.

"Yes, but I'm not sure she knew what she was doing. She's operating on a purely animal level right now," Beckett explained.

"Is there nothing you can do for her?" Teyla asked.

"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," he replied.

"Great," I said sarcastically.

"What are you hanging around for?" McKay demanded. "O'Neill is in pursuit, alone."

"Shit," Ronon said, and the three of us broke away from the crowd in a hurried pursuit of the two women. We searched the forest, Ronon taking lead as he tried to establish tracks. Find any sign one of them may have left behind.

"Colonel, this is Beckett," I heard in my radio. I slowed.

"Go ahead," I replied.

"Zaddik's dead," Beckett told me.

"Understood."

Teyla pushed ahead of me to continue searching and I paused when I saw Ronon standing still by a tree. He was staring off at something, nothing maybe. Was he listening? He turned back to face me.

"She knows we're here," he said calmly. He started walking towards me and back in the direction Teyla went. "She's watching us."

If Ellia knew we were here, that led to the question, what had she done to Evelyn? I scanned the trees around, looking for Ellia, expecting her to leap out at any moment. Teyla was standing off on her own, eyes closed as she scanned telepathically for the Wraith girl.

"Ellia?" She called out, opening her eyes. "We want to help you," she called out, starting to move again. "Dr Beckett can make you better, but you have to come with us. We will not hurt you."

Some leaves rustled and Teyla whipped around quickly. Ronon and I heard it too, we turned where we stood. There was an inhuman growl and Ellia leapt out of the bushes, lunching at Teyla. We broke out in a run. Teyla hit the ground in a struggle with the Wraith. Teyla gained the upper hand and threw Ellia off. We caught up just in time to catch Ellia making a break for it. Ronon fired off a shot.

"Die!" he screamed. Ellia let out an awesome growl. She ran off, heading back, presumably to where she came from. Ronon and I squatted beside an unconscious Teyla, he put a hand under the back of her head and it came back bright red with blood. "She took a blow to the head when it hit her."

"Stay with her," I ordered him. I needed to deal with this thing and then go find Evelyn. I ripped off my jacket balling it and tucked it under Teyla's head.

"Sheppard," Ronon started and I didn't have time to argue.

"That's an order," I said, running off, closing my vest as I did. I heard screaming. I ran harder. "O'Neill!" I cried out. While screaming wasn't exactly good, it meant she was, at least, alive.

"Haha you bitch! That's the wrong arm," I heard Evelyn shout.

I caught up to see the two of them fighting. Evelyn wrestling her wooden arm out of Ellia's grasp like you would a pitbull with a chew toy. Evelyn kicked out in front of her, making Ellia stumble and Evelyn brought her head back, slamming her forehead into the other girl's. Ellia shrieked. If the two would hold still enough I could get off a shot.

Suddenly, Ellia threw Evelyn a few feet back, and onto the ground. Evelyn coughed, trying to push herself up but failing. I cocked my P90. I paused, remembering what Beckett had said. Ellia growled, staring down at Evelyn like she was wounded prey. I guessed she was. Evelyn scooted back hurriedly on her elbows using her feet to push her further.

"Ellia? Don't make me do this," I warned, drawing her attention to give Evelyn time to get up.

Ellia growled, crouching low before she surged forward. She leapt up on top of a fallen tree, the one I'd been standing behind when I'd caught up to the fight. Ellia screamed and I fired a stream of bullets. She leapt off the log at me and tackled me to the ground, knocking my gun out of my hand. I pulled my combat knife, jerking my arm out to stab her when she grabbed my forearm. I shook with the pain, gritting my teeth and trying not to cry out. Where the hell was Evelyn?

"Hey! Chow down on someone else!" I heard Evelyn call out and then a barrage of machine gun fire. Ellia screamed and looked like she was going to lunge at her and I kicked her back, rolling out of the way and running for my machine gun.

Evelyn continued to fire and I joined her, making Ellia turn back towards her. There was a back and forth as we saturated the area with gunfire. The Iratus hybrid almost didn't know which one of us to go for. Holding one arm steady as I continued to fire, I used the other to reach for my side arm. I pulled it and fired a singular shot to the head, finishing the job.

Ellia's body dropped to the ground in between us and Evelyn looked over at me, scanning for injury. She looked at my arm and jerked back in shock. It wasn't that bad. I took a step and wavered, a little woozy. Evelyn rushed forward, catching me as I stumbled, almost hitting the ground. She lowered me to the ground, looking at me worriedly.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, distress sounding in her voice.

"I'm alright," I told her and she burst into tears. I furrowed my brow. I thought O'Neill was meant to be tough. She was covered in dirt, blood and bruises but I was the reason she was crying? Unless this was more of that stuff to do with why she was mad at McKay.

"I'm so, so sorry," she sobbed. She held my wounded arm in her hand. "Look at you! I should have taken the shot earlier. I shouldn't have even left her to check on McKay and Beckett. She'd never have been alone to take the virus. This is all my fault!"

She pulled her hand away and stared down at the blood spilling over her palm and down her own arm. Maybe it was a little worse than I thought. She cried harder, guilt all over her face. I suppose everyone's reaction to a feeding Wraith was different. I usually went for anger, wanting to brutally kill anything that hurt the people I was in charge of. But Evelyn wasn't in charge of me, she felt guilty because I was her CO who got injured protecting her. I didn't want her to feel guilty. I had a shot and I took it.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"I'm okay," I told her. "I need you to stop crying and calm down. We're still miles away from the jumper."

She nodded, looking down for a moment and taking a few breaths. She wiped at her eyes with her forearm, using the only space free of blood to wipe away the tears. She smeared eyeliner across her cheeks in their wake, and got some drops of blood on her face anyway. Looking at her, she seemed like she'd calmed down enough to reason with.

"Right," I told her. "I need you to help me up. We're miles away from the jumper and we've got to get back to the others first." I made a move to get up but she pushed me back down, hard. She shook her head at me. "I can do it," I assured her.

"I know," she told me. "But you're bleeding. We've got to address this first."

"Alright," I agreed. If she was making that call, I knew she was back with me.

She pulled a field dressing out of her vest and pulled my arm towards her. She unfurled the dressing and hooked one end into the notch I'd made in her thumb for her this morning. She skillfully wrapped the dressing tight around my feeding wound, and then manipulated her prosthetic until she'd tied it tightly. It was amazing how much quicker one simple change had made in her ability to do basic things.

"Do you need help getting to your feet?" she asked and I nodded. She ducked under my arm and helped push me to a standing position. I walked a few steps without her and she scurried beside me, turning every few moments to make sure I didn't drop.

"It was the aftermath of the feeding," I told her. "I'm over the dizziness, I've not lost nearly enough blood to pass out. Don't worry."

"Of course I'm gonna worry," she assured me, like I was some kind of idiot. "You're my team, I care about you. But I'm not about to fall apart," she smiled. "Sorry I lost it back there. I just… It's bad when someone you care about is in danger, it's worse when you put them there. Even if you tell me it's not my fault, or it was your choice. It's not a good feeling."

"It really isn't your fault," I told her. "And I don't want you feeling guilty. You're right, we are a team and sometimes we take hits for each other. But that's not reason enough to blame yourself, or take all the responsibility. You see Ronon or McKay or Teyla doing that? You think they're losing sleep?"

"I'm a worrier," I shrugged. "It's a big sister thing."

"Is that why you were so nice to Ellia?" I asked.

"It's why I was so quick to believe Zaddik, when I should have known better," she explained. "I've never seen a wraith before and when she ran into the arms of her father, I just saw a scared little girl. It was so unlike the Wraith I'd read and heard about when I was offered another option I just took it. My protective instincts kicked in and I started treating her like I would any other child."

"That's sweet," I told her and she rolled her eyes. "I doubt the Wraith are capable of feeling it but I'm sure they'll at least find the love and support amusing."

"Do you think it was all an act?" she asked. I looked at her. "She was always just some predator?"

"I think she really did care about Zaddik," I replied. "But she was a predator. It's like taming a lion. It might show affection towards it's keeper but at the end of the day it's still a lion. If hungry they will bite."