Disclaimer - I do not own Stargate Atlantis, any of the characters or the events depicted in this story. I only own my character and anything not privy to the show.

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From the inside of an abandoned building on a dead planet just outside of the Pegasus galaxy, loud shouts and cheering echoed into the far distance surrounding it. Contained within a pit in the center of the interior, two men fought one another for the right to live; much to the enjoyment of the spectators surrounding the top of the pit some 10 feet above.

This was the coliseum, these were its gladiators, and the penalty for losing… was death.

Down in the dilapidated interior cellar locked in individual cages, some thirty combatants hesitantly awaited their turn in the pit. Some were aliens, some humans, but all were victims; kidnapped from their home worlds and brought here to entertain their captors.

A species known throughout the galaxies as the Wraith.

The Wraith were the worst threat to mankind, a vampiric hive-based species that sustained themselves by harvesting the "life-force" of other humanoid beings for nourishment through suckers on their right hand palm.

In the farthest cell from the door under perpetual watch from four armed guards, the longest running champion of the pit sat in the corner, their back up against the wall. Aqua-green eyes peered out of the darkness their cage was cloaked in, as they awaited their summoning to the pit. The two gladiators currently competing for their right to live were not human, meaning that the Wraith could not feed on the loser; which is where the guarded prisoner's skills came into play. Like clockwork as the crowd chanted for the loser to die, the cage door was opened and the prisoner was escorted out of the cellblock at gunpoint.

The regular attending spectators cheered as the prisoner was lead into the pit, this being the highlight of their night and the reason most of them continued to return to the fights. The majority of the commotion however was caused by the new attendees as they got their first look at the champion of the pit; and it was not their size or intimidating demeanor that elicited the whistles and deafening cheers, but the radiant beauty that stood before them.

The champion was a woman.

Her aqua eyes slowly scanned the crowd gathered above her, memorizing each and every face that was taking pleasure in the captive fighter's pain. While she was never one to shy away from a fight, falling victim to her own bloodlust at times, and she had taken part in her share of battles; she took no pleasure in killing her opponents that she faced in the ring. She held no ill will towards the other fighters, they were captive victims just as she was; but it was survival, and when it came down to them or her, she would kill to remain alive.

It was this survival instinct that forced her to do what the Wraith were commanding of her now. The victor was lead back to the cells as the Wraith in charge held up a small black box and depressed the lone button on it. The light on the steel collar wrapped around her throat switched from red to green, her skin instantly feeling the cease of the currant that kept her voice at bay.

Her eyes dropped to the combatant that lay on the ground before her, an alien who looked to be a cross between an Elf and a lizard. She could feel her throat tightening, as it always did before these times, her eyes filling with tears.

"Please forgive me."

The hybrid heard her whispered words, giving her a solemn smile and a nod. "I would rather die by your voice, than their hands."

Closing her eyes she felt the tears slip down her cheeks, as she opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream that shook the walls and shattered what glass still remained in the windows. The creature made no attempt to cover his ears as his body writhed on the floor in agony; even as his eardrums ruptured and blood streamed from his ears, nose and eyes.

Within seconds the fighter was dead, the champion turning away before she opened her eyes, refusing to look at what she had done. Her eyes did however travel up to the crowd as she felt the currant begin once again on her neck; seeing a panic amongst the wretched people. Apparently several of the newcomers had not been informed to wear the ear protection they had been provided, and as a result had expired along with the fighter.

The champions aqua eyes sparkled as she exited the pit with her escorts, a smile gracing her lips.

Ronon Dex grumbled as he walked through the halls of Atlantis heading for the training room; his team leader, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard had ordered him to train the new Marine recruits that had recently come aboard the floating city. While he enjoyed knocking the young men on their asses, he was growing restless; his team was not scheduled to go off world for a few more days and the large Satedan's mood was rapidly declining. While he was in no way a threat to the people of Atlantis, this being his new home after he had been saved from the Wraith; he was sure to send more than a few of the Marines to the infirmary as he let them take the brunt of his anger.

Seven years ago Ronon was a completely different person, some might even say a nice guy to be around; he laughed, smiled and talked with everyone. That was until the Wraith attacked his home planet of Sateda; the woman he loved was killed in a hospital explosion as she tried to save lives and his entire civilization was wiped out. Ronon was captured shortly after by the Wraith, and when they discovered that he was different than any normal human; i.e. much stronger and more resilient, they turned him into what they call a "runner."

They implanted a tracking device in his upper back and released him so that he may be hunted by the Wraith for sport. However the Wraith hadn't counted on just how resilient and cunning the large Satedan truly was; as he began teaching himself how to track and kill the Wraith. The hunters then became the hunted.

For seven years Ronon tracked and killed any Wraith he came upon, his weapons of choice being his energy pistol, which could be set to stun or kill given his discretion; or his sword, the hilt being made from the mandible and humerus bones of a Wraith and wrapped in Wraith hair, the blade made from the metal of a Wraith ship and the scabbard from a Wraith's leather coat.

It was after these long years of running that he encountered the Atlantis team on a planet referred to as P3M-736. He ended up taking Sheppard and his companion, an Athosian woman named Teyla hostage; hoping to use them as collateral. Sheppard then made a deal with Ronon to remove his tracking device, in exchange for the Satedan's help in locating their missing man, Ford, who had been infected by Wraith blood and capturing him. Dr. Carson Beckett arrived to perform the surgery, albeit not happy about it as Ronon refused anesthetic and was still holding Teyla at gunpoint the entire time.

With his tracker removed and Sheppard holding up his end of the deal, Ronon set out to uphold his end; however even after finding the man, Ford managed to slip away into the culling beam of a Wraith dart and escape.

Now knowing that his entire home world had been destroyed by the Wraith, Ronon returned to Atlantis where he was welcomed onto Sheppard's team and found a new home in the floating city.

Ronon spent most of his time with Sheppard and his team, only a few outsiders had been brave enough to attempt to speak to him; and even then, Ronon's gruff attitude sent them running for the hills. It wasn't as though Ronon was unhappy, he had a place to live and spent most of his time tracking and killing the Wraith; but yet, there was still something missing in his life, something that could make him feel whole again.

After an hour long training session and being admonished by Dr. Carson Beckett for the group of Marines now lying in the infirmary in pain, Ronon was elated to receive a call on his comms from Sheppard informing him that they had a mission.

Once he had taken a quick shower and dressed, Ronon headed to the gate room where the rest of the team was gathering; Sheppard informing them of where they were going and what to expect.

"We're heading to a tiny village on the small planet P7M-510, the locals have reported seeing Wraith darts flying through the skies over the town."

"But they have not been attacked?" Teyla questioned.

"No they haven't. Which is weird I know, and that's exactly why we're going there. Our mission is to locate the Wraith and figure out what they're up to on an otherwise dead planet."

After receiving confirming looks from his team, he gave a nod to Dr. Weir who dialed up the gate; the team waited for the portal to form before they followed Sheppard through it.

Once through the Stargate they easily found the village thanks to Ronon's tracking skills; the inhabitants had built themselves into the side of a mountain so as to shield themselves from the Wraith. While Sheppard and Teyla conversed with the elders of the village, Ronon stood guard on the edge of the tree line; his intuition was telling him that something was coming, and he was right as mere moments later, two Wraith darts exited out of the portal.

Ronon radioed Sheppard and the others before he took off in the direction that the darts had flown; the team caught up with him as they found themselves standing before an abandoned building. Unlike they had previously thought, it was clear from the shouts and cheers inside that this planet was not uninhabited by others.

Cautiously Ronon and Sheppard made their way onto the roof and over to a broken skylight in the center; peering down they were shocked to find at least 30 Wraith scattered throughout a crowd of around 150 people. Their attention was then pulled downward past the spectators into what appeared to be a pit where two fighters were squaring off. As they watched, one man was declared the winner, the other was then held up and fed on by the Wraith.

The two men quickly realized what was going on, their blood boiling as they turned to climb back down to join the rest of the team. Teyla, McKay and Beckett waited until the two men had joined them back on the ground before they asked what they had seen.

"It's a gladiator pit." Sheppard revealed gaining him a confused look from Teyla, she was not fully familiar with Earth terms just yet, and so he explained. "The Wraith have made a sport of pitting two fighters against one another in a ring, the loser is then given to the Wraith to be fed upon. My gut says that if we checked through all of the missing person's reports we have been receiving from different planets, we'd probably be able to match those people to the fighters here."

"You're saying the Wraith have been kidnapping people and forcing them ta fight one another for their enjoyment?" Carson gasped.

"That's exactly what I'm saying Doc, and it's not just the Wraith, there has to be at least 150 people in there watching, all from different races."

"We have to get those fighters out of there. No matter what they have done or who they are, they do not deserve to die like this." Teyla stated and she was not alone in her thoughts as the others quickly nodded their agreement.

"Teyla's right." Sheppard said. "But we're gonna need reinforcements. We have to get back to Atlantis and round up Major Lorne and his soldiers. Let's go."

The group collectively started back towards the Stargate, but something caused Ronon to pause in his movements. A haunting melody coming from inside of the building had wrapped around him like a blanket, gripping his heart and mind as though he was under a spell. He turned and quickly scaled the building once more to the roof, he had to find the source of the voice that was calling out to him.

He hadn't felt pure raw desire like this since Melena, it was a feeling he swore he was never going to allow himself to feel again; because of the Wraith, anyone around him would ultimately end up dead, and he would never allow himself to love another only to lose them in the end. But this voice had enraptured him, it made him believe that perhaps he could love another. The closer he got to the sound the more impulsive he felt himself becoming; as Ronon reached the broken skylight he was near madness, whatever was eliciting this enrapturing sound he had to possess it, to claim it for himself and he would kill whoever or whatever got in his way.

Glancing down Ronon found the source of his insanity, a beautiful woman was standing in the center of the pit singing, but she was more than beautiful, she was exquisite; what Ronon believed a Goddess would look like, even with the layer of dirt and dried blood that covered her tanned skin. Long dark brown hair, slightly oily from not being washed properly, floated around her face as though she were underwater, and her lithe toned body moved in time to the music in her head. He was mesmerized by her song and hypnotized by the slow steady sway of her hips; but Ronon's undoing were her eyes. Aqua-green, like the clear tropical waters of the ocean, they seemed to glow with an unearthly quality, enchanting and bewitching him as he fell into their depths.

Tearing his gaze away from his prize he growled as he noticed the men in the crowd below staring at her with the same fire that was in his eyes; they would not have her, she belonged to him.

The low growl from above caused the woman to falter in her song, releasing the men from her spell; her eyes locked with the stranger on the roof, the aqua orbs pleading with him to rescue her from her fate.

The Wraith's were in no way affected by her song, so while the men in the crowd were regaining their senses, the Wraith's were already sharp and had tuned in on the outsiders presence. Their heads snapped up to the skylight where the woman was staring, seeing the intruder through the broken glass.

Upon hearing the lead Wraith's orders the woman yelled out to Ronon, "Ruuuunnnn!" The word died out seconds later replaced with an earth shattering scream that Ronon noticed had them all including the Wraith's grabbing their ears in agony. Ronon yelped as he covered his ears, feeling as though his head was about to explode; but the pain receded a moment later as the woman's voice was cut off by a strangled cry. He watched as she reached up to her throat, clawing at the steel collar locked around her neck; he surmised quickly that this woman had power to hurt the Wraith and the collar was how they kept her subdued.

Seeing the Wraith heading for the exits in pursuit of him, Ronon quickly slid down the roof, landing in a crouch on the ground. Ahead of him he saw the team had doubled-back, presumably when they had noticed his absence; he waved them off, shouting as he ran towards them.

"The Wraith are coming! Run! Get out of here! Go!"

The team heeded his call, turning and rapidly running for the Stargate; behind him Ronon could hear the Wraith darts closing in on them. The Wraith had only witnessed him, his priority now was to keep the rest of the team safe so that they might escape and return to Atlantis for help. As a true Satedan warrior, Ronon chose to sacrifice himself to ensure the safety of his team; he stopped in his tracks and allowed the culling beam to pass over his body trapping him inside of the dart.

When Ronon awoke he found himself locked into a cell aboard a Wraith hive ship, his weapons had been taken, even the daggers he concealed so carefully in his dreadlocks. Glancing around he could see at least 15 other people scattered in the cells around him, these must have been the other fighters the Wraith had been holding captive.

Ronon's attention was caught as he heard a small quiet voice speak from the opposite side of his cell. "Forgive me. This is all my fault. You should not be here."

He turned seeing nothing but a silhouette in the darkness, until a pair of aqua eyes revealed themselves. At once he remembered the madness and insanity those eyes had invoked within him, the voice that had enraptured and held him captive. "Who are you….? What are you?"

The soft voice spoke to him again, no more than a whisper in the air. "My name was Queen Raynelle Dawn. I came from a planet called Arcadia."

Suddenly Ronon remembered stories told to him by his grandfather, about a planet made entirely of water; which just like Atlantis, had a city built underwater. It was home to a race of the most beautiful women in the galaxy. The planet had been one of the first destroyed by the Wraith when they found that the female inhabitants held a power that could wipe out their entire species.

Everything clicked and fell into place then, her beauty, her voice, her eyes, her scream… "You're a Siren."