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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Despite trying to withstand the Wraith's mental control, Sheppard is on his knees, being interrogated by the Wraith Queen. She walks around him, studying him before speaking. "The ship… where did you get it?" She uses mind control to force him to answer.
Sheppard struggles not to speak, "You mean the Dart? We call them Darts 'cause they're so pointy."
"Tell me. Where?"
"I really don't want to say."
She hits him in the shoulder, then lifts her hand to caresses his face.
"I don't even know your name." He says trying to back away from her hand.
"In time… you will tell me every—" The Queen stops talking and hisses. She leaves abruptly.
"Every" what? What's wrong?" Two Wraith take him by the arms and start to escort him out. "She didn't even tell me her name."
Ronon is pacing the floor of the cell when Sheppard is lead back with his Wraith guards. One of the guards puts its hand on John's shoulder to keep him still, then turns and looks at a control panel outside the cell. Lights flash on it and the cell door opens. The guard shoves John hard, propelling him into the cell where he crashes to the floor. The door closes again. The guards turn and walk away as Ronon runs to the door and glares out after them.
"Colonel? Are you unharmed?" Teyla asks him.
He sits up, "Yeah."
"Where'd they take you? Did you see Rayne?" Ronon questions, his chest tightening as he thinks about what she is going through right then.
"A little Q & A with the queen of the Hive." He shakes his head with a frown. "No, I didn't see her."
"What'd you tell her?" Ford demands to know.
"It was a short conversation. She walked out."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe she was late for a meeting." John snarks.
"No. There's something else. I sensed she was agitated, even angry." Teyla says.
"Why?"
A Hive ship exits hyperspace just beside the first ship the team is aboard.
"Another Hive ship has arrived."
The two Hive ships appear to be docked together in space.
"Are you sure there's another ship?" John asks and Teyla nods. "I sense it. Close by."
"Maybe they're planning on culling the planet together."
"Or they're gonna fight for it." Ford suggests, it would fit with their theories.
"Either way, the planet's only a few days away, so we don't have much time if we still intend to stop them."
"All right, first things first. How to get out. Any luck?" Sheppard questions.
"Not yet." Ronon says with a shake of his head.
"Don't worry. I'll figure a way out." Ford tells them confidently.
John frowns, "I was afraid you were going to say that."
Back in the cave McKay speaks quickly and nervously to Ford's men who stayed behind. "Okay, they definitely should've been back by now. Seriously, am I the only one who thinks that maybe things haven't gone according to plan?"
"Yes."
"Okay, look, we can't just sit here. We need, we need— we need to do something."
"Like what?"
"Like go get help! Look, we can dial the Stargate back to Atlantis where we have a ship, a fast ship with— with—with shields. We can fly to the Hive and rescue them if we need to."
"Can't dial the gate, remember? Ford removed the control crystals from the dialing device."
"Yes, I know that. But here's the good news. You're the ones guarding them. Look, all you have to do is get me the crystals. I can fix the DHD and look, you just have to walk into Ford's little room back there and get them."
"We're not giving you anything."
"Then I can't dial the gate."
"That's what I said."
"What is this, an Abbott and Costello routine? Look, just give me the damn crystals." McKay tries to enter Ford's office, but the two minders stop him, one aiming a gun at him.
"You want the crystals, you're going to have to go through us."
"Unbelievable." McKay pushes on the gun and walks away in disgust.
Sheppard studies the wall across from their cell. "Man what I wouldn't give for our Siren right now." He says softly to Ronon and Teyla, before addressing everyone else. "Last time we were in one of these ships, McKay was able to open a door by cutting right into the wall."
Ford holds up a small knife. "You mean, like, with a knife?"
"You have a knife?!"
"One for them to find, one to keep. Everybody knows that."
"Right. I forgot all about that rule."
"Well, it's a good thing I'm here."
"Right. Now, just uh, take your time—" Ford throws the knife into the wall, but nothing happens. "I said take your time."
"I hit the exact spot you were pointing at!"
"All right, all right. Anybody else have a knife?"
Ronon pulls a knife from his wrist guard. Sheppard rolls his eyes. Ronon throws the knife at the wall and a partial amount of the lights flicker out.
"Getting warmer."
Ronon pulls out another knife and Sheppard furrows his brows. "How many of those things you got?"
"How many you need?" Ronon answers.
The two minders play a board game while McKay sits nearby. McKay checks his watch and gets up, he enters the lab with a determined look. He goes to a glass cabinet full of bottles. "Okay. You can take them out, easy. Just a few well-placed karate chops, and—and—and—and—and then down they go. Piece of cake."
He steps away in doubt, "That's… What are you, an idiot?" He goes back to the cabinet staring at his reflection, "Desperate times desperate measures."
He opens the cabinet. He reaches for a small vial of the enzyme, but takes an entire bottle instead holding it up to admire it. "That's one hell of a karate chop."
There are now four knives stuck into the Wraith wall panel. Ronon pulls one more, from his hair.
"You must have a hell of a time going through airports." Sheppard comments.
Ronon throws the knife at the panel. The panel lights up for a moment, and the cell door opens. Sheppard sees Ford inject himself with enzyme. "Ford, what the hell are you doing?"
"That's the last of it."
"What about the rest of us?" Ronon asks.
"You don't need it."
"You don't know that." Ronon growls angrily.
Sheppard stops Ford from leaving the cell first. "We're heading to the Dart bay. Stay together, and stay quiet." Aiden looks at him for a moment, then nods and gestures for John to precede him out of the door. They all leave the cell.
McKay has injected himself with the entire bottle of enzyme. He grunts and breathes hard. "Lock and load."
McKay enters the dining area and attacks the two minders without warning. He throws the bouncer across the room, then breaks a bottle over the other one's head then punches him, knocking him down.
"And that's what happens when you back a brilliant scientist into a corner!" He turns and gets punched by the bouncer. McKay kicks him in the groin, knocking him to the ground. "Focus. Focus…"
He heads into Ford's office and searches through drawers finding the crystals. "Ha, control crystals." He takes them and leaves, breathing heavily.
The two Hives move through sub-space together as the team rushes down the corridors until Teyla stops them. "Wait. They are coming."
A Wraith soldier appears and Ford turns to it, "I got it."
"Ford!" Sheppard hollers at him.
The soldier shoots Ford, but it doesn't stop him. He struggles with the soldier, knocking the gun out of its hand and tossing it back over his shoulder to Ronon.
"Move!" Ronon shoots the soldier.
"More coming!" Kanayo shouts.
"This way." Sheppard leads them away from at least four more Wraith.
McKay works on the DHD all the while talking to himself in a high-pitched, nervous voice. "Big dose. Big, big dose. But you needed it. You needed it to lay out the guards. Idiots. "You want the crystals? You're going to have to go through us." Well, I went through you, all right, didn't I? Like a hot knife through Jell-O. No, wait. Butter. Hot knife through butter. Oh, man, am I hungry. Okay, shut up, Rodney. Focus. Must finish dialing. Please, please work, please please please."
The gate engages. "Okay, go home."
Sheppard and the others find humans wrapped in Wraith webs. One calls for help. "Help us…please…help us."
"She's alive." John shouts.
"So is this one." Teyla says as she finds another.
"Let's get them out of here." John says as they start to free the humans.
"We don't have time to stop. This isn't the mission." Ford snaps.
"There is no mission, Ford. There's just your stupid plan."
"If you hadn't screwed up—"
"Look, the sooner you stop arguing with me and help me save these people, the quicker we get out of here."
The Stargate is active, everyone looking at it concerned as a technician calls out to Dr. Weir. "Unscheduled activation! Doctor McKay's IDC."
"Lower the shield."
McKay comes rushing through the 'gate, he stops holding up one arm. "I know what I need to do!"
Elizabeth is relieved until she notices McKay has come back alone. "Rodney? What's happened? Hey, where are the rest of—"
McKay is sweating and speaks in a rambling fashion. "There's no time, no time. The planet, not Ford's, the one the ship's headed towards we need to get there and don't have much time. I was barely able to escape myself, but I managed to take out the guards. Oh, you should've seen me. I was amazing. I wish we got it on camera, because— that's not the point—"
"Rodney, slow down. Are you all right?"
"Yes. Yes. I mean, I don't know. I mean I had to take out the guards, and they were huge and dumb and stupid-"
"What guards?"
"Ford's guards. Didn't I mention Ford?"
"No, you didn't. You haven't mentioned Sheppard, Teyla, Rayne or Ronon either."
"Yes! They were there too, and there were the two guards. They were huge and massive, and I had to take them out, so I had to inject some of the enzyme."
"You took some of the enzyme?"
"No, no, no, no, no no, no. I didn't take some of the enzyme. I took a lot of the enzyme, because I had to, because I had to take out the guards, which I did. And you should've seen me. I was amazing!"
"Are you insane?"
"Yes. Yes. Now that I've taken the enzyme, yes!"
"Rodney, focus. Where is Colonel Sheppard?"
"No, no, no, I had to take the enzyme, because…because I had to take out the guards! But that's not the point. The point is we don't have enough time. We need to stop the ship from getting to where the ship is going."
"Come on, come on let's take a walk down to the infirmary. All right?"
"Where are we going? What are you doing? No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to go to the infirmary. I want to go to the, uh…the um…" He collapses to the floor.
"Dr. Beckett, we have an emergency. We're headed to you."
Sheppard and the others free the humans. Wraith soldiers rush in. Ronon fires on them but he's stunned in the chest. "Move!" Sheppard yells as he and Teyla each try to lift a human victim, but they are both shot by stunners. Ford and Kanayo fight on, but are eventually stunned as well. The soldiers take Neera and drag Ford away.
The Hives travel through hyperspace as the group is split up and taken to separate cells.
Teyla is seated on the floor and wakes slowly. Ronon is already awake, he looks at her in concern. "Are you all right?"
"I think so."
"You were shot by Wraith stunners. You both went down pretty quick. The effects of the enzyme must be wearing off." Kanayo tells them.
"Where are the others?" She asks.
Sheppard wakes up in a different cell. Ford is there, as is Neera, the woman who had called out for help.
"Feeling better? Her name's Neera. Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard."
"Hi. Where are the others?"
"They split us up into separate cells. I guess the Wraith figure keeping us in smaller groups will make it tougher to escape." He snaps angrily, "We shouldn't have stopped."
"What's done is done, Lieutenant."
"No. First, you set off the alarms, and then you stop to rescue people when you know damn well the Wraith are on our tail? It's like you're purposefully sabotaging this mission. You hate to see me succeed at anything."
"You got a lot of issues to work out, Ford."
"Teyla and Ronon went down too quick when they were shot. The enzyme's wearing off."
"Are you feeling anything yet?"
"Not yet… but I will. It's happened before when I've run out of the enzyme." They both stand. "It gets pretty bad. So we've got to figure a way out of here. No more unnecessary stops."
Sheppard and Neera exchange worried looks.
Back in Atlantis Weir escorts Caldwell into the infirmary where Carson is watching over Rodney. "Colonel Caldwell. I didn't think you were due back here for days." Carson says as he sees them enter.
"Dr. Weir requested that we join the search ASAP, so we pushed the engines a little."
"How is he?" Elizabeth asks.
"I've sedated him, administered a beta-blocker to bring his blood pressure down to a more manageable level. It's a wonder he didn't suffer a stroke."
McKay is lying on a bed, his hands restrained. He has an oxygen mask on. His eyes are closed, but he moves restlessly.
"Did he mention anything further about the location of Colonel Sheppard and his team?" Caldwell questions.
"Nothing coherent, I'm afraid. By the time he arrived here he was hyperventilating, pulse extremely rapid. He could barely get out a word. Although being Rodney, he certainly tried."
"How much of the enzyme did he take?" Weir asks concerned.
"A very big dose, I'm afraid. I found a significant amount of it in his system; nearly as much as Lieutenant Ford."
"All right. Can you wean him off it?"
"I wish I could. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Ford took the last supply of our enzyme when he left Atlantis, so an incremental withdrawal is out of the question."
"Unless we harvest more enzyme." Caldwell points out.
"Not an option. By the time we go out and collect it, the enzyme will have broken down in his system already. No, I'm afraid, for Rodney, the only choice is…"
"Cold turkey." The Colonel surmises.
"Aye, to put it bluntly. I can administer some drugs to help ease the process, anti-nausea medication, pain reliever, benzodiazepine for anxiety, as well as a multivitamin injection to bolster the immune system."
"Good."
"But there's no dodging the fact it's gonna be difficult, possibly even deadly." Carson says as they look at McKay, struggling in his sleep.
Ronon and Teyla appear sweaty and ill as they stand in the cell watching the Wraith patrol the corridors.
"Are you all right?" Teyla asks as Ronon walks away.
"I'm just tired." He says lying down on a platform.
"No. The enzyme's leaving your bodies. Mine too." Kanayo tells them.
"How bad will it get?" She asks.
"Bad. Maybe not for you. You guys haven't been on the enzyme for long… But me, on the other hand…"
In the other cell, Ford lies on the ground, shaking. Neera wipes his face with a cloth. "Thank you." He tells her gratefully.
"How you holding up, Lieutenant?" Sheppard asks.
"Alright. I just need to get my hands on some more enzyme. Then I'll be able to get us out of here."
"We'll do it together, with or without the enzyme. We're a team, remember?"
"I remember."
Awake, McKay struggles in the bed. The oxygen mask has been replaced by a cannula. "Don't just stand there. Get me more enzyme." He snaps to Carson.
"We don't have any."
"It's the cave. Ford's cave. He's got a whole cabinet of it. There's dozens of vials."
"Do you know the address?"
"No." McKay replies weakly.
"I'm sorry, Rodney."
"You don't have to scream at me!"
"I'm not screaming."
"Oh, this is fun for you, isn't it? Watching me like this."
"I assure you it's not."
McKay is frantic now as he screams at Carson, "What is this? Payback? You're jealous, huh? You're jealous of how vital I am to this mission. Vital, vital. Jealous of how I get to go off-world, and you get stuck in this stupid pathetic excuse for a hospital."
"You know that's not true."
"Jealous I get all the women and you don't!"
The two nurses across the room look over and Carson balks, "Excuse me?"
"Please, just give me a little enzyme, just enough to take the edge off. I'm dying here."
"I told you we don't have any."
"You think I don't know you're lying?"
"I'm not lying—"
"You are! You think I don't think you are, but you are. And don't think I won't forget it!"
Carson is thoroughly confused, "What?"
"I don't know. Just kill me." McKay sobs.
"I wish… It'll pass—"
"No. Don't shout. I am right here."
Carson turns to the two nurses, "Perhaps we should move him to a more secluded area."
"Why, so you can kill me in private? Stab another knife in my back, huh?"
"Rodney… no one's trying to kill you."
"You have no idea of the agony I'm going through."
"Oh, I have an inkling."
Kanayo writhes on the floor in agony as Teyla tries to calm him. "Kanayo, you must be strong. Fight it." She turns to Ronon, "I do not know what else to do for him."
"There's nothing we can do."
Kanayo convulses and exhales, then stops moving. Teyla bends to check on him. "Kanayo?" She checks his pulse and makes a startling discovery. "He's dead."
"Is that what's gonna happen to us?"
A Wraith approaches with two soldiers. The Wraith hisses at what he sees in the cell. Ronon stares him down, "One less for you to feed on."
The Wraith smiles at him, "He is of no consequence. We have the immortal one."
Ronon yells lunging at the Wraith, the soldier standing beside him stuns Ronon, who falls but isn't completely unconscious. The Wraith opens the cell and steps in, staring down Teyla very closely. "Take him." The soldier drags out Kanayo's body, then the Wraith and soldiers leave.
Ronon writhes on the ground, the pain in his body nothing compared to the pain in his heart as he thinks about Rayne being drained over and over by these wretched creatures. He'd heard her scream out twice since they'd been taken to the cells, he prays that when he finds her she is not too far gone to be saved.
Weir enters the more private room in the infirmary and finds Beckett sitting beside McKay's bed. "How is he?"
"Asleep, finally. Mercifully."
"Has he mentioned anything about Sheppard and the others?"
"No, not yet. Our conversation was of a different sort. I feel not unlike the priest in The Exorcist. But he's through the worst of it. The nausea has passed, his pulse has returned to normal, blood pressure in a more reasonable range considering he was borderline hypertensive before taking the enzyme."
"Good."
"I hate to say it, but his stubbornness is probably what sustained him throughout the ordeal."
Elizabeth smiles, "We won't tell him that, though."
"Aye. Mustn't feed the beast."
"No. You should get some rest. You look exhausted."
"I'll stay with him just a wee bit longer, just to make sure he's out of the woods."
"Carson… nice work."
"Thanks, Elizabeth."
Weir smiles and leaves.
Ford is struggling on the floor of his cell as the pains from withdrawals wrack his body. "Come on buddy. Hang in there. Don't leave us." Sheppard calls to him.
"Sorry, sir."
"No. None of that. Mission's not over, remember? We've still got to figure a way to get out of here. You hear me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Aiden… you can make it through this."
The Wraith arrives with two soldiers, they open the cell door and enter. "Move away from him."
"What are you gonna do with him?"
"Move away."
"He's sick."
"That is why we're taking him." The soldiers pick up Ford and drag him out. The Wraith hisses at Sheppard and follows the soldiers out, closing the cell door.
"Where? Where are you taking him?"
"To a cocoon." The young woman Neera says. "It will preserve him, keep him from dying."
"Until they're ready to feed."
Sheppard looks for weaknesses in the cell door, as he does the young woman apologizes to him. "I'm sorry. It's my fault you got caught. I should never have asked you to stop."
"It's okay. I mean, trapped in one of those cocoons? No one can blame you for wanting out."
"Now your friend has taken my place."
"Not for long. Not if I can help it."
"How will you get us out of here?" She asks doubtfully.
Sheppard tries to mask his own doubt as he answers her. "Okay, I haven't figured that part out yet, but when I do, it's gonna be real impressive."
"The Wraith will not allow us to escape."
"Yeah, well I try not to let them tell me what I can and can't do."
"You do not fear them?"
"The Wraith? Nah. Now, clowns, that's another story. Scare the crap out of me."
Neera appears unconvinced and confused as to what a "clown" is.
Weir is working on her tablet inside of her office when McKay enters, looking himself again. "Well, look at you."
"Ah. Yes. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as the idiom goes."
"You gave us quite a scare."
"Yeah, it was very strange. The whole time I was under the influence of the enzyme, it felt like I was perfectly uh, lucid. I was eloquent, even. I mean, it was you who wasn't making any sense or listening to reason. It was very peculiar. I think I kind of understand how Ford must've been feeling this whole time."
"Rodney… what happened out there? And where are the others?"
"I don't know, exactly, but I think I can figure it out. I told you Ford's alive." They walk out toward the gate room.
"You told me, but I didn't believe you."
"The man is nothing if not resilient. He's been busy, too. He's gathered himself together a little gang, doped them all up on the enzyme. They're the ones that caught us, drugged us, and coerced Sheppard, Rayne, Teyla, and Ronon into joining them on a mission to destroy a Hive ship." McKay has sat down at a terminal in the control room.
"A Hive ship?" She asks shocked.
"Yeah. They managed to steal themselves a Dart. Like I said, he's been busy. Look, when they didn't return from the mission, I realized something had obviously gone wrong. Now, I have the coordinates to the planet that the Hive ship was headed towards to cull."
"So if the team is still alive, maybe captured on the ship, there's a chance we can rescue them."
"Yeah, at the very least we can warn the planet of the impending culling."
"I'll alert Colonel Caldwell."
"Very good." Weir leaves and McKay starts typing.
Teyla is sleeping in the cell and wakes up suddenly, she looks to her right where Ronon is awake sitting on the floor. "How you feeling?" He asks her.
"Better. You?"
"Ready to get out of here. I need to find Rayne."
Teyla knows how much Rayne means to him and nods. "Have you had any luck finding a way to escape?"
"I think our only chance is to try to create a diversion, try to overpower them next time they come in here."
"Have you thought of Lieutenant Ford? If his withdrawal was as severe as Kanayo's…"
Ronon approaches her, "If it distracts you… you clear your mind of it. If it fuels your anger, use it."
"Do you have anything sharp? Knife? Hairpin? Anything to puncture the skin on these walls?" Sheppard asks Neera as they stand in the cell.
"No."
"It's just that everyone in my last cell had one, so…"
"Your people were taken by the Wraith, too?"
"A few."
"My whole world was destroyed, my people taken and brought here. I watched as my own mother and younger brother were fed upon."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Her words bring a picture of Rayne to his mind, she must have felt the same way as this young woman once.
"We had no means to fight the Wraith. We are a simple, peaceful people."
"We're peaceful, too, but the good news is, we have the means to put up a hell of a fight."
"You have fought the Wraith before?"
"Lots of times. Won some battles, lost some. War's not over by a long shot, but we're managing to hold our own."
"And the clowns?"
"Clowns?" He says sincerely. "Oh, yeah, the clowns. Yeah, we fight them, too. Entire armies spilling out of Volkswagens. We do our best to fight them off, but… they keep sending them in."
Neera appears thoughtful.
McKay walks with Caldwell, Lorne, and Zelenka on board the Daedalus. "According to Ford's intel, Edowin has a space gate. We can get there quickly in a puddle jumper, but we wouldn't be able to do much more than just warn people of the impending culling."
"Do we have enough time?" Caldwell asks.
"Yes." McKay says.
"We think." Zelenka adds.
"We should."
"We hope."
McKay waves him off, "It'll be close, yes, but using the Daedalus, we might be able to get a radio lock on Sheppard and the team inside the Hive ship. If they're still alive, we can beam them out."
"All right. Let's get this bird off the ground." Caldwell announces as they enter the bridge.
"Coming with us?" Lorne asks Zelenka.
"No. No." He nods to himself as he stands alone. "Right."
Sheppard is sleeping beside the cell door, when Neera steps over quietly and sits beside him. He wakes up as he feels her beside him and she smiles. "For warmth." She rests her head on his shoulder.
"Okay." He acquiesces as he gingerly put his arm around her shoulders. "How's that? Better?"
"Yes. Thanks… How long will they keep us in here?"
"That's a very good question."
"If we're able to escape, where will I go?"
"Wherever you want."
"Can I come with you to your world?"
"Sure. Why not? I'm sure we can find a spare room."
"I'd like that. What is it like, your world?"
"It's nice. Comfortable. Good climate."
Neera smiles at him as she cuddles further into his side, "Tell me what it looks like."
"Like every other world, I suppose. Trees, water, mountains… Starbucks on every corner."
"What is it called?"
Sheppard hesitates for a moment, this being the same question the Wraith Queen asked him and he refused to answer her. "Do you mind if we pick this up after I get some sleep?"
"Yes. Of course." She settles down, putting her hand over the middle of his chest. He does not close his eyes.
Later, as they are both sleeping, the ship makes a metallic clanking sound and shudders, waking them up.
"What is it?" Neera asks.
"I don't know. Must have just dropped out of hyperspace. Maybe they're getting ready for the culling."
They stand up. The Wraith arrives and grabs Sheppard, shoving him at the Wraith soldiers. "Take him."
Sheppard stands in the middle of the chamber as the Queen enters and circles him. "Shall we talk now?"
"About what?" He asks innocently.
"You are stubborn."
"Yes, I am… and, uh… she's very pretty, by the way." The Queen looks at him questioningly as he continues. "Neera. The girl you planted in the cocoon for us to rescue, after you let us escape. The one that was supposed to get information from me. That's never gonna happen."
The Queen hisses at him in anger.
The Daedalus flies through hyperspace as Caldwell briefs his crew, including McKay and Lorne. He uses a lighted board to illustrate the plan. "We'll drop out of hyperspace directly behind the planet. Use it to shield us from the Hive ship, where you're going to attempt radio contact with Colonel Sheppard."
"We won't be able to make radio contact from behind the planet." McKay mentions.
"Which is why you and Major Lorne will take a cloaked puddle jumper and get close enough to determine if Colonel Sheppard and his team are still aboard the ship. If they are, we'll move into position around the planet and beam them out."
"And if they're not there?" Lorne questions.
"We'll beam a nuke aboard the ship and destroy it."
"What if they jam us like they did before?" McKay asks.
"Doctor you worry about getting Colonel Sheppard and his team out of that ship. Let me worry about destroying it, okay?"
McKay and Lorne exchange looks.
Neera enters the Queen's chamber, Sheppard turns to see her standing behind him. "Oh, there you are. I guess that empty room is off the table, but nice try back there in the cell. I knew there must have been a good reason for you to let us break out, but that was quite the performance. Where'd you find her?"
The Queen circles him as she speaks, "She is one of many thousands that have come to serve us… even worship us. They do my bidding… and I let them live." The Wraith caresses Neera's face.
"A Wraith worshiper, huh? Wow."
"The prophecy of the great awakening has come to pass. The end days have come to the mortal—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know about that, because I'm one, too. Although in my case, it's not so much worship as it is a meaningful business relationship."
"You lie." The Queen hisses.
"Okay, tell me this. How else could I get my hands on a Dart? And who else could provide me with specific instructions on how to infiltrate your Hive and destroy it?"
"Of which queen do you speak?"
"You got to have a window on this boat, don't you? Take a look. The other Hive that joined you for the culling. A lot more people to feed on when you don't have to share."
"I will speak to her of this."
"Well, you don't really think she'd admit to trying to have you killed, do you?"
"Enough!" The Queen forces Sheppard to his knees, mentally. "I shall savor your defiance."
The Queen is shot with a stun weapon from behind Sheppard and cries out. Sheppard turns to see it's Ford, the Lieutenant shoots two soldiers and tosses Sheppard Ronon's gun. The lead Wraith fires at Ford, but he doesn't fall. Sheppard fires at the Wraith, knocking him out. Neera and other Wraith worshippers run out.
"How the hell did you get our weapons back?" They run out and make their way down a corridor.
"That was the easy part. Getting some more enzyme, that was hard."
Sheppard takes out a soldier. "You are one tough son of a bitch."
Ford stops suddenly and Sheppard looks at him concerned, "What are you doing?"
"Down that hall. Fifty meters. Turn left. It'll take you to Teyla and Ronon's cell. Down the hall from them to the right is the lab, it's where you'll find Rayne. I'll hold the Wraith back for you."
John walks back towards him, "You're coming with me."
"I'll hold the Wraith back, boss. Now, go. I'll be okay."
"I'm not going without you, Lieutenant."
"John, I'll catch up. Now, go!" Ford shoves Sheppard and runs off.
"Ford!" A Wraith alarm starts screeching and John sighs, "Oh, crap."
Ronon and Teyla ready themselves as they hear someone approaching their cell. "Get ready." Ronon calls over his shoulder to her as the alarm sounds.
Sheppard arrives and smiles at them, "Hey."
"Hey." Ronon replies.
"How about I bust you guys out of here?"
"If you don't mind."
Sheppard fires at the door panel, destroying it. "I've got to get myself one of these. Where's Kanayo?" He hands Ronon back his gun as Ronon picks up his coat from inside the cell.
"He is dead. Ford?" Teyla asks.
"I don't know. Last I saw, he was alive. I'm sticking with that." They rush down the corridor. "Let's find Rayne and get the hell out of here."
The Daedalus drops out of hyperspace above a planet. "Jumper One, you have a go." Caldwell orders.
Lorne is at the controls, McKay in the other front seat. "On our way. Engaging cloak." The Puddle Jumper leaves the Daedalus' hangar bay. After a moment, it disappears, cloaked.
The heads-up display lights up with two red circles. "Oh, no."
"There's two of them!" McKay shouts.
"You said there was only one."
"Well, there was only one."
"Now there's two!"
"I can see that!"
"Let's try and hail Colonel Sheppard."
Sheppard follows Ford's directions to the lab where a nightmarish sight greets their eyes. Rayne's limp body is hanging from a set of shackles attached to chains bolted into the roof, her head hanging limply towards her chest. Her body looks like that of a small child's, thin and frail, her clothes all but hanging off of her.
Ronon approached her slowly fearing the worst as he could not see her chest moving with life, but he could see the dried blood on her chest from where the Wraith had fed upon her. Lightly he tipped her head up with a finger under her chin and gasped in relief as he saw her aqua eyes staring back at him.
"You— you, came— for me." She stuttered out with bursts of shallow breaths as her eyes focused on him.
"Of course I did." He said as he found the device that unlocked the collar around her neck, throwing it to the floor and smashing it to pieces once he had it off of her. He grabbed her jacket that was lying on a table nearby and wrapped it around her fragile body; lifting her into his arms bridal style, he waited until Sheppard and Teyla had unlocked the shackles before cradling her tightly against his chest. "Let's go home."
The three race down the corridor with Rayne tucked against Ronon's chest. The alarm is still sounding. They arrive at the entrance to the hangar bay. Many Darts are leaving the hangar.
"The culling is beginning." Teyla announces.
"We gotta stop them."
"How?" Ronon questions.
"Stay here. When I give you my signal, get out in the open." He says before running out into the hangar.
"Jumper One, what's your status?" Caldwell radios to Lorne.
"We are unable to establish a radio link with Colonel Sheppard or the others on either of the Hive ships."
"Which doesn't necessarily mean they're not on either of the ships. They could've had their radios taken from them." Rodney adds.
"We can't make that assumption. Return to the Daedalus immediately."
"We're almost there now." Rodney responds disappointedly.
"Good. We need to take those ships out before they start culling."
Ronon and Teyla watch the hangar activity as a Dart turns and heads toward them. "Is that his signal?" Teyla questions.
"It better be." Ronon says as they run out into the hanger and are swept up by a culling beam.
Inside the Dart Colonel Sheppard takes a breath, "Oh, I sure hope that worked."
Dozens of Darts leave the hangar bay of both Hive ships. On the other side of the planet, the Daedalus gets underway.
McKay and Lorne arrive back on the bridge as Caldwell continues to call out orders to his crew. "Max power to the shields. Are we within transport range?"
"Yes, sir. We have a weapons lock on coordinates inside the first enemy vessel."
"Deploy warhead."
The display shows the transport failed. "The enemy has engaged countermeasures to block our transport."
"They're jamming us again." McKay surmises.
"We're under fire."
"Forward rail positions. Return fire." Caldwell shouts as the ship rocks with the impact.
Both Hives fire on the Daedalus, which fires back at both with the forward rail guns.
The Dart display shows many ships in the area and Sheppard shakes his head. "This is not good. Not good. Not good." Sheppard's Dart turns toward the side of one of the Hives.
"How much of this can the shields take?" Lorne questions.
"Not much. We're already down twenty percent." McKay responds back.
Sparks begin flying around the bridge. "Our people have been in Wraith hands too long. We have to assume they've been compromised and the Wraith know Atlantis wasn't destroyed. We need to win this." Caldwell announces.
Sheppard brings up the weapons display of the Dart and does a strafing run on the Hive ship, hitting it in the hangar bay and other sections.
McKay and the others watch the battle out the forward view-screen. They see the explosions on the Hive. "Look. You see that?"
"What?" Lorne asks.
"It's a Dart firing on one of the Hive ships."
"Why?" Caldwell asks furrowing his brows.
The realization comes to McKay instantly, "Sheppard!"
Sheppard keeps firing, as the Darts from the two Hives are firing on each other and each other's Hives.
The display shows massive fire between the Hives. "I don't believe what I'm seeing." Caldwell says watching the monitor.
"Sheppard's actually getting them to fire at each other." Lorne says impressed.
The two Hives fire on each other at very close range. One of the Hives explodes, and the blast takes out the second Hive, resulting in a huge fireball.
They have to look away from the brightness of the explosion. McKay looks devastated. He rushes to his tactical display shocked. "The blast has destroyed everything in the fifteen-thousand-meter radius."
"Did any Darts survive?" Caldwell questions.
"Negative, sir." An Airman announces.
McKay steps back to the fore of the bridge, shocked and devastated.
Back in Atlantis a technician receives a report from the Daedalus, "Copy that. Atlantis out." He gets up and goes to find Weir in her office. "Dr. Weir. We received word from Daedalus. They said they should be back to Atlantis by 1900 hours."
"They called the search off?"
"They said there was nothing to search for."
"Thank you." Weir answers very subdued. She turns away in shock just as the Stargate begins to activate.
"Off-world activation!"
"Who is it?" She questions.
"We have an I.D.C. It's Colonel Sheppard's code."
"Let 'em in!" Weir rushes down the stairs to the gate room.
Sheppard and Teyla walk through the active wormhole first and Weir jogs over to meet them, but her excitement at them being alive fades as Ronon rushes past with a clearly sick Rayne in his arms.
"Radio Beckett! Tell him to get the tank ready!" Ronon yells as he passes by them.
"Dr. Beckett, ready the tank, Rayne's in trouble." Elizabeth radios before she gives a smile to John and Teyla.
"Sorry we're late." Sheppard grins and the others smile.
The Daedalus returns and lands on the east pier, the occupants having no idea that Sheppard, Rayne, Ronon and Teyla are alive.
Beckett examines Ronon, while Teyla sits on the next bed. Sheppard stands between them, and Weir is nearby.
"All right, up you go." He helps Ronon sit up as McKay and Caldwell enter.
"Why aren't you dead?" McKay asks with wide-eyes.
"It's good to see you, too, Rodney." John replies.
"No, no, I mean, well you know what I mean. Why aren't you… dead?"
"Well, I knew when the Hives started to shoot at each other, it was just a matter of time before they blew each other up, so I went to the space gate and dialed an address where I could land safely. I didn't think the Dart could fit in our gate room."
"The Colonel was kind enough to make us whole again, and we returned home." Teyla says.
"Where's Rayne?" Rodney asks noticing the missing member.
"The Wraith's fed on her, so she's gonna be in the tank for a while to recover." Carson says motioning to the large Plexiglas tank on the far side of the room. The men could see the young woman floating in the water, her body surrounded in a bright blue glow.
"How is she not drowning?" Caldwell asked curiously, mesmerized by what he was witnessing, he had yet been privy to Rayne's specific origin.
"She's a Siren, Colonel." Beckett explains. "She was born underwater and lived there, she can breathe just as easily in it as you and I breathe air. The ocean's water is how she heals."
"Huh." He says clearly more impressed with the young woman now, before he turns to Sheppard. "I'm curious, Sheppard. How did you know the Wraith would fight each other?"
"Uh, a little Intel from Ford and the gang, plus I kind of goosed things along with the Queen." He says as McKay appears confused and a bit amazed.
"It would appear the Wraith are becoming more territorial than we had thought. There is definite tension building among them." Teyla informs them.
"Which is good for us." Ronon adds.
Elizabeth nods, "It certainly is. It also opens a brand-new strategy in fighting them."
"Huh. And where is Ford?" McKay asks.
"He was aboard the Hive ship when it was destroyed." Teyla tells them.
Sheppard corrects her, "He was last seen aboard the Hive ship."
"What does that mean?" Rodney asks.
"Well, you know Ford. I wouldn't be surprised if we run into him again." Sheppard says appearing hopeful but unconvinced.