A/N: Hello and welcome everyone! Are you excited to finally find out who the saboteur is? Or have you guessed already? Ah well, you'll know for sure in a few moments. Anyway, I posted a one-shot in LOTR/Hobbit world that you can get to through my profile if you're interested. I have been kind of wearing out my drive and losing skills over here (I'm really not used to episodic writing yet and undoubtedly will benefit from more practice.), so I took a quick breather Saturday and wrote Nightmares and Daydreams. I was fighting back tears in the short little thing, I swear. But then I like Thranduil.

I'm coming to the end of this season in Stargate Atlantis (because I need a break and a chance to flesh out the second installment) so be sure to like, subscribe, follow, favorite, and review so you get notified when I begin the next season! Hopefully, I will not be killing my brain with the next one so I can actually get back to my normal world-building and detail. This style of writing just was not gelling with me. Practice makes perfect I suppose.

Anyway like, subscribe, follow, favorite, and review!

Much love,

J.R.

Recap:

Rebuilt Military Training Gymnasium

Appearing at Rodney's elbow, Radek tried to separate the two. "Rodney, what is going on? What did you two find?" Catching the tablet that Rodney shoved at his stomach, her quickly clicked through the information on the screen, his eyebrows rising by the second. "Oh."

"Radek, please continue looking for the repeater." Sophie leveled tired eyes at her old friend. "I'm going to find him." She said, all the air leaving her lungs in a single breath until her shoulders slumped like a deflated balloon. Closing her eyes, the blond spun on her heel and walked out the door.

No one saw her scrubbing tears from her eyes.

Episode 12 Part 1

West Pier. Still Under Reconstruction Covered Observatory.

If Sophie had been trying to either be stealthy or make a dramatic entrance she would have failed drastically because the airlock doors screeched open on rusted rollers the way they had since the repair crew had pried them open the first time after the battle. What they had seen, took their breath away and made all the strain and showers that ran red with rust worth it.

Unlike most of the observation decks in the city, this one was not to look out over the top of the ocean and observe the clouds or the night sky. This one was to observe the life under the waves, and so the floor was a metal alloy that earth had never seen before. As strong as the rest of the walls of the city, it was built in such a way that a simple tap of a button and the floor and walls would disappear until only a wide grid of walkway forming beams would appear as a mild current passed through the floor.

They hadn't even known the button existed after the very first time that the city had risen for the Atlantis team until some enterprising young engineer, in an effort to impress his direct superior, had done the routine systems check on rooms slated for repair and seen the odd little power drain trying to flicker to life. He had searched for three days until the tiniest of shorts was found in the circuit that allowed the system to work.

But while in space, this was one of the few observation decks that were open for use, or would be once the doors were finally fixed. Admittedly, the engineering teams were not moving as swiftly on this out of the way little room as they had it's more accessible twins. She would admit that sometimes they left nonessential rooms like this one until later, not out of necessity or time constraints, but because they didn't exactly want to share it yet. Engineers were an odd bunch that didn't necessarily mesh well with the doctors and other scientists at times, so they liked having their own spaces. As long as it wasn't hurting anyone.

It was breathtaking. To be among the stars like that. With seemingly nothing between you and them. Once you got over the stomach-churning idea, it was as close as she ever wanted to be to EVA without a suit. She was much happier when there was water under them.

"Issac." The name echoed slightly in the silence of the barren observatory. "We need to talk."

Watching carefully as Romanov's shoulders rose and fell with each breath, lit only by the stars outside the windows, she moved to sit on the raised walkway that ran the back wall. Each time his shoulders fell, she noticed a slight unnatural shake, and once silence fell again, she heard a soft catch of air. There was only one thing, one person, she had ever known to crack the shell of the man before her. Imminent death, starvation, explosion, pain, fatigue, nothing else but that one thing. That one person.

"Where is Natalia?"

The shaking became worse as the man fell to his knees with a thud that shook the inner layer of glass gently under her feet and openly wept. Sobs echoed off the transparent walls as the man vented his feelings to the unfeeling stars.

Pushing away from her perch, Sophie wasted no time wrapping her arms around the man she had known for the better part of their working life. Closing her eyes, Sophie sent out a silent prayer, her own heart shattering with every shake of his shoulders. Natalia was dead.

"They killed her." He gasped between tears, curling into her like a small child with his hands fisted in her shirt. "They killed my Talia."

"Tell me what happened." She prompted with a whisper, stroking his back. "Tell me everything. We'll make them pay."

The words came out halting at first, filled with anguish and fury. Romanov was not a man moved to strong emotions normally, but now they swamped him until he could barely breathe from them. In turns, he shook and raged or wailed and fell silent. The words slowed at times but never halted.

"I have only been loyal to three people in my life, Sophie." He cried into her shoulder when she pulled him close.

"I know." She assured, reaching into her pocket for the handkerchief that was always there. Gently she dabbed at his eyes before covering his nose and prompting him to blow.

"I tried to tell you." He swore as the tears slowed with shuddering breaths. "So many times."

That was where Shepherd and his team found them. Heavy boots thumped in the corridor like elephants to her ears, bouncing off the walls. "We'll figure it out," she promised as she released him and moved to stand between the charging marines and the collapsed man. "You won't be alone."

Interrogation Rooms

"Let's start at the beginning." Colonel Shepherd ordered, much kinder than he had planned before Sophie insisted the Russian programmer wasn't the enemy in the hallway after Romanov had been led inside. She had stared him down like a mother bear defending her cub until he shifted uncomfortably under the look. And at first, he wanted to discount her warning. But then he had seen the absolutely broken look that the other man had worn. No hardened mask. Just pain.

Romanov looked to Sophie with red-rimmed eyes before she nodded. "It's okay, Issac." She prompted, placing a bottle of water before him. "Tell him everything you told me. Beginning to end."

He sighed, cuffed hands coming up to the tabletop. Staring at the square of cloth in his hand, Romanov took a deep breath. "It began when we got the orders to transfer to Atlantis. It was only supposed to be until the city left earth." The man swallowed. "Talia and I grew up being watched for a distance, it was normal for us with our parents."

"Why?" Shepherd interrupted, adjusting the cool light of the room to a more normal level.

"Their parents were among the best hackers in all of Russia." Sophie supplied, waving it away. "The government could never prove anything because they weren't anarchists or actually hurting anyone, more bored than anything, and they couldn't move against them without having a few nasty things exposed. But that's only supplemental information and peripherally important."

"Da." Romanov nodded, his eyes still glued to the tiny rolled hem of the handkerchief. "When I began a legitimate job and Natalia came with me, the government relaxed somewhat. And when we found Sophie, they were thrilled. We were aiding the Russian people and making sure our two governments actually shared information. That I was also aiding the French, English, Chinese and everyone else didn't truly matter."

"I'm sorry but all of this seems like ancient history." Evan Lorne interrupted from the wall nearest the closed door. "How does it change anything now?"

"History informs the present, Lorne." Sophie corrected with all the tack of a pissed off history teacher. "Ignore the past and you are doomed to repeat it until you either die from the beating or learn from it."

Holding up a finger, John moved to one of the seats on the other side of the plain metal table. "Who is Natalia?"

Jaw clenching as Issac fought for control of the swelling grief, he answered. "She was my fiancee."

"And my head of supply and acquisitions. Natalia Belova." Dr. McIntyre supplied, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. "She was supposed to be in the last transfer of staff that we had before we left Earth but I got an email saying that she had an emergency and requesting that she come out on the first supply run after we got to the planet we now orbit. I will of course be handing over the email to Doctor McKay and you as evidence. As well as her personnel file and the supply records. I warn you, the records are very long, detailed, and boring."

Nodding his reluctant thanks, John silently asked the man to proceed.

"We still were followed at that point, any time we were off base. We were considered national assets to protect." He began again. "But once we moved to any of the Homeworld Defense posts, the detail of course ended. But then we were told to transfer to Atlantis, there was a change. I don't know how, or what exactly the change was but somehow…" He trailed off and sighed, bringing the cloth to his face to wipe away the tears that began welling as he approached the more difficult part of the story. "I've been trying to track our paperwork, believing that may be how our transfer was found and where the security leak was. But I'm being blocked by clearance levels. I can crack it but it will take more time. I didn't want to leave fingerprints."

"Fingerprints?"

"All programmers, legitimate or otherwise," Romanov breathed. "Have a… specific way of working. If you know what you're looking for, it's as telling as fingerprints and DNA."

John nodded. "Rodney may have mentioned something like being able to tell one programmer from another even in the Lantean computers but I wasn't sure if that was actually a thing."

Romanov chuckled darkly, thinking about the computers he trolled through for his day job. "There were eight main programmers. One was a real artist. Absolutely frustrating to follow."

Coming painfully back to the matter at hand, his jaw worked under his skin before he spoke again. "Since Natalia was the department head of supply for our small company, it wasn't unusual for her to remain in the offices for days or travel to inspect supplies if she suspected that they weren't the quality that we needed." Swallowing hard, Romanov let his bound wrists fall back to the table with a clang. "One morning I wake up to hear her cursing about a power coupling that wasn't made to the specifications that we demanded. She had barely eaten breakfast before she left to tear into our supplier. I think she had been emailed that morning."

"I'll get McKay access to her work emails if someone will hand me a tablet." Sophie supplied when John looked at her for confirmation. "I only got a notification email that she needed to check with a supplier, which wasn't at all unusual."

Nodding, Romanov began picking at his nails. "I watched her send it. She was so furious. But she told me she would be back as soon as she had the problem fixed."

"So it wasn't out of the ordinary that she didn't get back right away?" John asked. "A power coupling doesn't seem like a big thing."

"Nat is cutthroat about business but a fluff ball everywhere else. She's the type that will camp out in the office for weeks to fix a problem if it's needed." Sophie answered. "And it is a big thing when it's a power regulation coupling like the ones on the shields that we had so many problems with." She turned to Romanov. "That was why you hit them wasn't it? To get my attention?" When the man nodded, she cursed a blue streak. "I'm sorry. I should have seen it sooner."

Turning back to the Colonel, Sophie continued. "And it is a big thing. The shield generator's couplings blowing would leave us dead in the water to the vacuum of space with a nice big hole of city missing like when you cam through the asteroid field. But there was at least a shield around the main tower. The main couplings blow and we'd be space dust. Each carries a power load equivalent of," she stopped and sighed. After a moment she explained, "I'm trying to explain it in military terms. The largest bomb on earth without naquada enhancement was five hundred kilotons. Think about an explosion with six times that, then add in the fact that every wall in this city is made of naquada."

"They are like the arteries that supply power to each section of the city." Romanov supplied when John paled.

"Are we in danger of them blowing right now?" He asked, his rough voice going nearly hoarse.

The Russian man shook his dark head at the same time as his partner. "No. It was our immediate concern after everything that this city has gone through, so we checked it first. There is damage but it was minor and as the repairs progressed the strain on them has eased somewhat. We wanted to get them repaired before making the interstellar journey back to Pegasus though. And I was not suicidal enough to tamper with them, especially in space."

"Will either of you object if I have Rodney double-check?"

Sophie snorted indelicately. "I'd be worried if you didn't." She assured, then went on with her part of the tale. "The reason that we had ordered couplings was that I'm a bit paranoid after so many years working in and around the SCG. I like having backups of backups of my backups. I find it comforting to be over-prepared that way. And it seems as if the ancients either have a hidden cache of spare parts somewhere in the city or they ran through them all in the battle against the wraith. Either way, reverse engineering spare parts was one of my highest priorities And Natalia was my best negotiator."

"So Natalia doesn't get back right away. Then what?"

"Then she never checks in at the base." Romanov took up his narrative once more. "I check her GPS locator, it's gone dark. I can't turn it on, I can't remotely hack it. Nothing." He began twisting the handkerchief through his fingers. "I get worried and call base security. But they say she isn't overdue according to how long she says it will take so not to worry."

His jaw clenched under the stubble. "I get an email minutes later from Talia's account. But not from Talia. Growing up the way we did, we have codes in our emails. Always there. Always to say 'I'm safe.' This one does not have a code that says safe. Has a code that says 'Danger.' Talia asked for borscht that night. She hates borscht. It's our code. Safe is asking for dessert at dinner that night. Any dessert. Email said borscht."

"Natalia was being forced to write it, you think?" Evan clarified. "So she included the code to warn you?"

"Da."

"We'll need a copy of it," John said before motioning the pair across from him to continue.

"At first, no demands. Only more emails. This time it says tell no one. Not from Talia. No codes." Issac forced out past emotion choked vocal cords. "Then the attack on Earth happens." He coughed and straightened in his seat. "It fails, then demands. Slow down the repairs. But they do not know how far repairs progressed. I get pictures, videos, proof she still alive. So I do as they say. Small things. Things we talked about in morning meetings so I know the teams already on the lookout for them and they will not truly endanger anyone even if they look threatening." His accent deepening as he continued.

"Nothing that really hurt us until the shields." Sophie reminded.

Nodding the man beside her went on. "At the shields, I begin leaving clues because demands change. I want to get caught. I think maybe if I'm caught, I can ask for help, they can't use me to kill. But they see clues too, somehow, and realize what I do." With a broken sigh, he slumped in his seat, bringing his head to his clenched hands on the tabletop. "When we get out of hyperspace jump and connect to planetary gate system again, I get another email." A sob tore from his throat. "Video of Natalia." Tears leaked from his eyes, running down his fingers and soaking the cloth he held. "They shoot her in the head."

"Execution." Sophie guessed.

John had heard enough. Yes, they had caught the saboteur, but it was a hollow victory.