AN: As always continued spoiler's for The Defiant One but not as obvious in this chapter.This is a long chapter so be prepared. Thanks again for all the reviews. It keeps me motivated to know people are enjoying it!

Chapter Five

Light Bulb Moments

Sheppard was formulating a plan. He was stretched out in the pilot's seat of the Jumper, and had drifted off into an internal monologue of ideas shortly after arriving back on the ship. He knew Teyla was beside him, paranoid, and hovering. He tuned her out…tuned out the situation, and let her and everything around him fade into background static.

He knew the shortest way to finding a solution was to break things down to the simplest level. What are the facts? They were locked in a Hive ship, now on course for some unknown destination that they probably didn't want to get to, and had a Jumper, with weapon systems active. He shouldn't forget they were also hindered with a leader that was experiencing hallucinations.

They could blast their way out. Extreme, but it might work. He'd save that for last. McKay would probably shoot it down but he couldn't come up with any reason why it wouldn't work short of hoping the Jumper could withstand the concussive force of being that close to the detonation. They could blast the Hive ship's power source and pray it didn't set off a cascade failure throughout and blow them up along with the ship. That one was probably a last resort.

"Penny for your thoughts." Teyla spoke softly behind him. If he'd been any deeper into thought he would've missed it. He smiled at her use of a phrase he'd explained not so long ago.

"Not enough." He cracked. "Inflation."

Teyla got the gist of his words. "You are troubled. When my people have problems, it helps when we talk about them with others."

Just as Teyla got the general idea of his joke, he didn't miss her implied statement. "Sorry Teyla. I was trying to come up with a solution." He dropped his long legs to the floor, "Nothing comes to mind short of blowing up parts of the ship."

"We'll do what we must, you are ill Major, we need to get you back to Atlantis."

Sheppard didn't reply. He knew they needed to get him back. He looked at his watch. They'd be overdue in another hour. Knowing Weir, she was all ready looking for them.

Elizabeth Weir stared at the massive sliding doors in the briefing room. She had finished briefing a rescue mission moments before, and the team's departure left her alone, agonizing over another hard decision. Should she send them, or wait? She wasn't prepared for this. Nothing in her past had given her the skills to make military decisions. Still, she had good people who did have the skills and for the most part, their advice and knowledge was giving her the edge she needed to do the job. One of those was Major John Sheppard, and she missed his input sorely at a time like this.

It seemed like it was only yesterday she had made another similar call, the outcome of which would've been entirely different if she hadn't listened to her gut. That animal instinct that had cried out that something was wrong before the time was up for the Major and his team to report in. That same voice was clamoring for her to listen again.

She had called the members to the briefing based upon her inner gut, including Carson. So much of past events seemed beyond recognition. She couldn't tell you a solid reason for Beckett's presence, but she felt it was important, and so she'd asked him to join the team. Beckett hadn't asked why.

Grodin interrupted her thoughts. "Doctor Weir, the Jumper's ready."

"Thank you Peter." She stood, pushing aside any lingering doubts. A decision had been made and she'd follow through. She could only pray that again it would be the right one.

She walked out and stood to the side of Grodin, looking out on the Stargate. "Jumper two, you have a go. Once you get on the other side, report back. If you fail to make contact we'll open the gate and try to raise you."

"Yes Ma'am." Sergeant Stackhouse's voice answered.

"Good luck." Elizabeth whispered, as the Jumper lowered slowly into the gate room, rotated, and sped off through the event horizon.

Sheppard was pacing. He couldn't help it. He felt he was missing something important and it was driving him nuts. McKay and Ford had checked in, nothing new. McKay thought he might be making some progress deciphering the Wraith's controls, thanks to Sheppard's inadvertent activation. Once he'd gotten a base to work from, he had started making some progress, albeit it small.

That was the good news. The bad news was they were officially overdue. That meant Atlantis would be sending a team to look for them, if they hadn't all ready. He figured the gate was probably working one-way. They'd get a team through only to be in the same fix as his team. Worse, they'd pick up the beacon and set out in search of them. It was bad enough he was becoming unable to take care of his team; he didn't want another group of people to worry about.

Sheppard felt a now familiar prickle slide over his frame. He stopped pacing; "Teyla…" he called, knowing it was all ready too late. He felt his muscles tighten, and he began to fall, before everything went dark.

Teyla had looked up in time to see Sheppard go rigid, and start falling. She ran over and was able to stop the worst of his impact with the Jumper's floor. She punched the radio on her ear, "Doctor McKay, the Major is having another…seizure." She struggled with the word, and a combative Sheppard.

"We're on the way." McKay's voice came across her earpiece.

Sheppard was prepared for the bone chilling cold. He knew where he was and knew what to expect. In fact, he was experiencing a measure of anger over the situation. He knew his body was lying senseless on the floor of the Jumper and his friends would be hovering, worried. Anger was good. Anger overrode fear.

"Talk to me!" He shouted, knowing the Wraith was around.

"Why should I want to talk with you?" The Wraith replied. It was in front of him but he couldn't see where.

"We're in this together, you know. Maybe we can work together to figure out how to stop it." Sheppard reasoned, trying in vain to pull his jacket around him tighter.

The Wraith barked in laughter, "You are food, Major. Do you expect your food to provide answers to your questions?"

Sheppard tilted his head, a little pissed off at the Wraith's dismissal, "No, but then again, my food isn't a sentient being."

The Wraith became quiet. After a few moments had passed Sheppard had a momentary spike of fear that it had left him, and he was stuck in this limbo world. The sudden appearance of the Wraith in front of him caused him to jump. "Jesus!"

The Wraith smiled. "You are nothing." It said, amused.

Sheppard relaxed, "I don't think so…in fact, I bet I'm your ticket out of this situation." Connections were being made. Sheppard circled the Wraith, "Frank…do you mind if I call you Frank?" He didn't wait for an answer, "I bet that you're not dead…not yet at least."

The Wraith's lip snarled. Sheppard wasn't sure if it was his displeasure at being called Frank or that he had guessed right. "It seems to me that you're stuck like I am, which means, that if I were to order a search of the ship, we'd find one Wraith body, barely alive, somewhere out there."

"You wouldn't save me." It stated with a mixture of anger and fatalism.

Sheppard frowned. The Wraith was right. Regardless of the situation he found himself in, could he promise the Wraith he'd try to help him? This thing would kill him given half a chance. Trusting it was insanity, and that was a two-way street.

"Not if I could help it." He finally answered honestly.

A slow smile pulled onto the Wraith's face again. "I would win, and would feed off you before you had a chance to cry for help."

"Now see, that's where your race is lacking originality. It's always the same. Threatening to feed off me." Sheppard poked his finger into the Wraith's chest plate, surprised when it didn't go through, "Newsflash, I'm still here, and all those who threatened to have me for dinner aren't."

"Your death is inevitable." The Wraith said, and it turned it's back on John.

Sheppard felt a flare of pain in his neck. "Why?" He demanded. "What did that bug do?"

The Wraith kept walking, "You're sentient, answer that yourself."

Sheppard was stopped by a surge of heat through his neck. "Frank!" He hollered. But Frank was gone and Sheppard was falling back, and he knew he'd wake up on the floor of the Jumper with more questions than answers, again.

"Jumper Two, this is Weir, please report." The rescue team had gone through minutes before, and after they had failed to call back she had ordered Grodin to open the wormhole.

"This is Jumper Two, we think we found the problem." Markham replied through the speaker.

Weir relaxed, for now the second team was safe. "What is it?"

"Ma'am, the gate isn't functioning on this side. We attempted to dial home with no success. Doctor Zelenka believes the power source is malfunctioning."

"Any sign of Jumper one?" Weir asked.

"We've found a beacon. They went in search of an alternate gate home. It's broadcasting their location. It's approximately…"

Weir could hear mumbling in the background, "…Doctor Zelenka said it's about four hours away but it's moving. We'll have to overtake their speed."

She sighed. They were alive. "Understood. Will the radios operate that distance from this gate?"

"Not likely." Zelenka answered her directly.

Weir had figured as much but wasn't any happier having it confirmed. The two teams would be alone. "You know what to do. Good luck, and bring them home."

"Yes Ma'am." Markham radioed back before cutting the connection.

Weir took one last look at the rippling event horizon, "Shut it down Peter." She headed back towards her office. If she had to wait, she could at least keep busy.

"Major Sheppard?" McKay called. He had felt Sheppard tense, a sign that the man was regaining consciousness.

"Unless you've figured out how to get us home and stop my little trips to Never Never Land, go away." Sheppard said, opening his eyes, and unable to stop the twitching of his lips into a smile as he saw McKay hovering over him, just as he knew he would.

"I'm glad you find this amusing Major." McKay snapped, misinterpreting Sheppard's grin.

"I always find you amusing McKay." Sheppard replied, struggling to get upright. He hated to be down. It made him feel vulnerable. Even with the tic-wraith, he'd insisted they keep him propped on the rear of the Jumper, as close to a sitting position as he could maintain with the paralysis taking over his body.

"What did the Wraith ghost do this time?" McKay asked, helping the Major up.

"Frank." Sheppard corrected, grabbing on to McKay when he wavered and started to fall back.

"Woah, easy." McKay said, guiding him to the bench. "Frank?"

"Wraith ghost." Sheppard supplied, sinking gratefully onto the seat.

"What is it with you?" McKay sat down beside him, "They're not pets."

Sheppard looked around for Ford and Teyla, "Aren't we missing a couple of people?"

"I've got them checking on an idea." Rodney answered dismissively.

John straightened, "A way out?"

"Maybe…possibly." McKay said. He was staring at John again. "It's bigger."

"What's bigger?"

"The mark on your neck. It's spreading."

Sheppard's hand flew up to the area. He couldn't see it, but he could feel the area was hotter and bigger. He swore, "I'm getting really sick of this."

"You never told me what Frank said." McKay reminded him.

Sheppard hadn't. He wasn't sure he was really any farther ahead of the game after spending the time with the Wraith but he had a few more ideas now. "It's alive, somewhere on the ship. Maybe its bodily functions are so low as to register as dead on the Ancient's sensors, but it's alive."

Rodney paled, "You're kidding. There's a live Wraith on board?"

Sheppard nodded, "And it knows what this…" John waved at the general area of his neck, "…is."

"What?"

"It wouldn't tell me, but it knows."

McKay snorted, "Bet that made you mad."

"You could say that." Sheppard stretched his legs. His muscles ached abominably, "Got any more Tylenol?"

McKay dug into a nearby pack, and tossed an envelope towards the Major, who caught it with stiff arms. "Geez McKay, your bedside manner is amazing."

"Take the pills Major."