AN: Sorry this is a little later than I had said, but it's vacation time and we have been playing Clue, Monopoly and watching all those cool DVD's we got for Christmas. Thanks again for all the reviews, they truly do keep me motivated and I love each one!

Chapter Seven

Facing the Enemy

Seconds slowly ticked by while the scientists stood mesmerized by the blinking blips showing the approaching enemy. Ford cleared his throat, "Shouldn't we inform the Major?"

Rodney wasn't sure informing the Major would do any good. He was now in the hands of Beckett and wasn't exactly capable of doing anything at this point. He pulled his eyes from the display and realized that everyone in the room was watching him and waiting. That gave him a moment of pause. How did he become somebody that others looked to for answers? He shook off those thoughts, knowing for now the reason why was irrelevant. "Yes, we should." He answered. The Major wasn't in any condition to help but he did have the ability to impart tactical advice despite being flat on his back.

"Lieutenant, come with me, we'll check on Sheppard and update him on the latest." McKay decided. It was almost a surprise when Aiden nodded without questioning his order…or more precise that he had given the order.

Sheppard knew what he said wouldn't go over well with Carson. He'd be lucky if he didn't get sedated for the remainder of the journey for suggesting this, but at the same time, he knew it was the only answer he could provide. "We need to find Frank."

Doctor Beckett stared at Sheppard for a few beats then lifted his head to see if Teyla had heard what he thought he had heard. Judging by the shocked expression, they had both heard the same thing. "Major, excuse me for my ignorance, but you want to search the ship for a possibly dead Wraith, on a ship that is full of dead Wraith?"

"I know it sounds crazy…"

"Crazy doesn't begin to cover this." Beckett interrupted.

Sheppard glared, "Look Doc, if I'm right Frank is alive. He's created some kind of telepathic connection with me. We find him, and I've got the power to bargain for information. If it comes down to it, we kill him."

Teyla smiled soft and slow, "The Wraith have the ability to get in ones mind, trick you and make you see things that aren't there. You believe that this is how he is pulling you into this other place."

Sheppard nodded, "The Wraith must have some type of telepathic ability to influence their prey. It's possible that Frank is able to use it for more than we had previously believed."

Carson swiveled his attention from Teyla to Sheppard, "Why you and not McKay, or Ford, or even Teyla?"

"Maybe it's the same thing that enables me to use the Ancient's technology easier then anyone else, maybe the ATA gene is more than just another rung on the DNA ladder, or maybe it's the damage from the tic-wraith." Sheppard suggested, not without a level of frustration. Maybe I'm grasping at straws and only getting the short one, he thought to himself.

"Maybe you need to rest." Beckett replied dryly. He could tell Sheppard was struggling to keep awake.

"There isn't time for that." McKay spoke from outside the rear hatch of the Jumper.

"You're back." Sheppard stated the obvious.

"And I've got bad news." McKay stepped in to the Jumper and crouched on the seat beside Carson and Teyla, staring down at Sheppard with a concerned frown. "We think company's on the way."

"You think?" Sheppard asked.

McKay grimaced, "There's four ships approaching from behind. I think they're Wraith."

"Four?" Sheppard asked, stunned at the amount. "That must've been some distress signal."

A thought occurred to McKay, one with decidedly bad implications. "Or some trap."

Ford had joined the group inside the Jumper. He was in far enough to participate in the conversation, but able to keep an eye out for approaching danger. "That would mean they knew we'd be coming this way."

Teyla was all ready shaking her head, "The Wraith aren't precognizant. Even they can't see the future."

Sheppard agreed. It was true at one point they had believed a spy was amongst them, one of the Athosians, but it had been a locket he had found and given to Teyla that had allowed the Wraith to monitor their movements and intercept them at almost every turn. The Wraith didn't have that luxury now that the beacon inside the locket had been destroyed. There was no way they could've known of their presence. "Maybe it was a trap, but it doesn't seem likely."

"Trap or no trap, there are four Wraith ships coming at us. What do you suggest we do Major?" McKay was in full intensity. Whenever trouble got thick McKay seemed like a lab rat on speed, focused and jittery.

Sheppard was quiet. He had begun to formulate a plan but the approaching Wraith ships were arriving earlier than he had figured they would. "McKay, can you increase our speed?" The Hive ship was all ready moving towards the previous location. If they could increase their speed, they'd get to whatever they believed had destroyed these Wraith, dragging the other four along with them. He could only hope he was right and this wasn't some elaborate trap.

McKay swallowed, "Yes, probably."

"Do it." Sheppard took a deep breath, "Beckett, Teyla and myself are going to search for Frank."

"I haven't agreed to this Major." Beckett reminded him, "I'm still not certain you are up for it."

"I believe Major Sheppard is right Doctor. We find…Frank…and we may get some answers." Teyla offered support to Sheppard's idea. She wasn't anymore certain of this than Carson but she understood if they were going to find any answers, they had to start looking somewhere. Doing anything seemed preferable to sitting in the Jumper and watching the Major go in and out of consciousness.

"McKay, take Ford and go. Get this thing moving at a speed that will get us to its previous location ahead of our trailing friends." Sheppard tried to sit up, ultimately needing the helping hand from Beckett. "Beckett, give me something to keep me going."

Ford gestured for McKay to follow him out, but Rodney was reluctant to go. He crouched beside Sheppard, and made eye contact, "Be careful."

Sheppard quirked his eyebrows with a half-grin, "I'm touched McKay."

Rodney pulled back, "Don't be, I just don't want to get used to some one else, especially that overloaded Bates."

Sheppard shrugged, leaning closer to McKay before he could pull away, "I promise I won't tell anyone that you actually care." Sheppard had begun to see through McKay's self-important façade before anyone else. Underneath the cowardly exterior was a man who would give as much as anyone else to save those around him.

Rodney didn't reply, waving at Ford and leaving the Jumper. Sheppard was right. He did care. He cared more than he thought he would, for all of them. He wasn't used to opening up and letting people in, and it scared him. When Carter was working to save Teal'c he had realized that nothing short of a solution that produced Teal'c alive was going to satisfy her and it wasn't because she was dedicated. She was that, but she was also Teal'c's friend, and it made her vulnerable. He didn't want that vulnerability but it had happened, and he knew Sheppard knew. It galled him and at the same time pleased him. Sheppard has seen through him and believed in him. He could only hope he wouldn't let the man down along with everyone else.

Beckett produced two syringes, examining them closely, then pulling out an alcohol pad. He propped the band-aid and cotton on his knee, and tapped the liquid, squeezing out any air in the syringe.

"What is that?" Sheppard asked nervously. While he wasn't afraid of needles, he wasn't convinced that Beckett wasn't going to sedate him despite his assurances to the contrary.

Carson smiled, "A neuroleptic to control your seizures, and a stimulant to keep you on your feet." Beckett helped the Major bare a shoulder and swiped the area quickly with the sterilizing pad. He deftly injected both into the Major's muscles, and stuck the band-aid on the site where blood welled out in small burgundy droplets.

"Ouch," Sheppard stared accusingly at Beckett.

"Don't be a baby." Carson admonished, slipping the caps on the syringes, and putting the supplies into a hazardous waste disposal bag. It was a temporary solution until they reached Atlantis and could put it in the proper disposal.

"I think I see where McKay is picking up his bedside manner." Sheppard said, scowling at the Doctor and then at Teyla when she threatened to laugh.

"Up with you now, and quit your bellyaching." Carson tugged Sheppard on to his unsteady feet, cautiously pulling his support away to see if the Major could remain upright on his own.

Sheppard was up but he didn't feel good. His stomach rolled a bit and he was thankful he hadn't eaten much in a while. He must have betrayed his condition because Beckett clucked sympathetically, "Nausea is a common side-effect of the drug, it'll pass."

He didn't reply, but started walking out of the Jumper. Teyla jogged even with him and Beckett followed closely behind. "Where do we begin?" Carson asked. It was a big ship.

Sheppard held a hand for the life-signs detector that Teyla had in her hand. Taking it from her, he examined the information, searching for any sign that would indicate Frank's position. There wasn't a chance in hell of finding the barely alive Wraith if they had to rely on checking each one; the ship was too large for such a feat.

The detector wasn't giving anymore than it had previously. He sighed, and handed it back to Teyla, "I guess it's going to be up to me and my gut." He only wished his gut wasn't feeling so sick.

"How much farther Major?" Carson asked. He felt like a little kid bugging his Dad, but he was getting tired. They had gone up and down corridors on the ship, and once the creepy feeling had given away to fatigue, he was not only tired, but also worried about Sheppard. If he was worn out, then Sheppard was probably dead on his feet. The stimulant wouldn't keep him going forever.

Sheppard had tried to focus on Frank using his mind. It was hokey, but it was all he had. He had led Beckett and Teyla for over an hour around the Hive ship, never sure of where they were going. He felt something…he wasn't sure what. It was like background noise; present, but indistinguishable from everything else. He was certain it was Frank. "I think…" Sheppard focused his eyes ahead. That background noise had suddenly become deafening. "Here."

Teyla searched the dim gloom ahead, trying to find sign of this Wraith that Major Sheppard was inexplicably linked to. She inched forward, and was able to see what looked like a body ahead. "I see something." She whispered.

Sheppard nodded, he knew it was Frank. "Beckett, see if it's still alive."

Carson blanched, "How the bloody hell am I supposed to do that?"

Sheppard straightened, "You're not afraid, are you?" He couldn't resist the jab.

"Major, I'd be crazy not to be afraid." Beckett replied, his Scots accent as thick as his apprehension at the thought of approaching the downed Wraith.

"Trust me when I say it isn't going to jump up and eat you." Sheppard assured the man. "Teyla?" Teyla could sense Wraith; she might have picked up on something.

Teyla was almost on top of the body, and knelt in close. She cocked her head slightly, as if listening to something that no one else could hear. She nodded, "It is alive."

"Well then," Sheppard clapped his hands together, "It's show time."

Beckett didn't like the sound of this. "You aren't seriously going to seek it out?"

"That's the point Doctor." Sheppard drawled. He needed to find Frank and get some answers. Now he had the leverage to hopefully force the Wraith into giving up some intel, no matter how insignificant it seemed to Frank. The slightest slip could give them the edge they needed. He knew that if what the Wraith said was true, and he was changing into one of them, Beckett wouldn't be able to help him here. They needed to get back to Atlantis. They couldn't leave, and they were being herded towards a possibly greater enemy than the Wraith. It was crunch time and he hoped he could pull out a Hail Mary, because if he didn't, they were all in for a lot of trouble. "Knock me out."

"No!" Beckett declared, "This is insanity. Whatever it's doing to you, going back into that state is dangerous."

"The Major is right Doctor. It's the only thing he can do." Teyla argued in Sheppard's defense, "Eventually he will succumb, it's better if he does so on his own terms."

"Major, as your doctor, I'm advising against this." Beckett said. He didn't like it, and he wanted it noted.

"Fine, now do it." Sheppard understood Beckett's concern but it didn't change what he knew he had to do. He lay down, a healthy distance from Frank's body, and waited while Beckett prepared the sedative.

Teyla knelt by his shoulders, "We'll be with you Major." She could read the Major's unspoken worry and his resolve.

Sheppard nodded, and felt the needle slide into his arm. The liquid traced a line of cold upwards and then he was cold all over. He realized his eyes had closed and opened them, not surprised to find Teyla and Beckett gone. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the confrontation to come. He wasn't letting Frank go this time without answers.

"Frank, we need to talk!" He shouted.