Elizabeth hesitated at the console. She knew the call had to be made, but she wasn't sure she wanted to open this can of worms. The changes in Sheppard were frightening. Yes, on one level, he was still Major John Sheppard, the man she'd come to respect and care for…but on the other, he was a powerful weapon, and that's the part that was behind this call.
General O'Neill had to be told what was happening. Earth had been out searching the stars for almost a decade looking for exactly what Sheppard had been turned into; a weapon against Earth's enemies. What she'd witnessed in the gateroom fit that bill entirely too well for her comfort.
She sighed, and signaled the technician she was ready. "Contact the SGC, and get me General O'Neill," she ordered, wishing there was some other way.
oOo
John was dreaming. He was back on the Wraith homeworld, but this time, he was in the room with the human children. He spun violently in circles, and saw a Wraith enter, and in his hands he had a bug, and it was the same one that had latched onto him last year.
He watched in horrible fascination as the Wraith approached a male child, and pulled back the cocoon filaments far enough to allow the bug entry. It crawled rapidly in, and he saw the boy's eyes fly open in pain and shock when it attached itself to his neck. His mouth opened in a scream, and so did Sheppard's…
"Major!"
John's eyes snapped open, and he gasped for air. He quickly tried to gather his senses, realizing he was back in the infirmary. A dream, but it wasn't, and he knew it. He was seeing what was actually happening, and it made him sick with dread. He'd wondered why they hadn't seen any evidence of Wraith reproduction. It was because they didn't. Like a parasite, they were created by taking over a host, but not in the same way as the Goa'uld McKay had told him about.
"Are you all right?" asked a concerned Teyla.
He blinked a few times, trying to erase the pictures from his mind, but they stubbornly refused to leave. "No," he said shakily. "I'm not." He added silently, and I never will be.
Beckett was there before they could say more, and he was wearing a face painted with exhaustion. "Major, ye're wearing me out, Son."
John felt a pang of regret, because he knew this had to be wearing everyone out, not just the Doctor. Every since Chaya, his body just wasn't working right, and now the added burden of the recent changes; it was overloading his system. Whatever he'd done to that Wraith – "The Wraith?" he asked, wondering if he'd killed it. He thought he had, but he wasn't entirely sure.
"Dead," confirmed Beckett. "And you aren't far behind if you don't let that body of yours recuperate!" he remonstrated.
"I'm trying," declared John, feeling a little angry that he was being lectured when it wasn't his fault.
Beckett's eyes softened. "I know you are." Carson turned to Teyla saying, "Why don't you get something eat? I'll sit with the Major a bit."
Teyla nodded thankfully, reaching out and touching Sheppard lightly on his hand. "Get some rest," she said.
Sheppard moved his head slightly. "I will."
He watched her leave, before turning back to Carson. "The truth, Doc, is this killing me?"
He'd felt weak ever since he'd woken from his coma, and he'd been having problems eating and keeping hydrated. He often felt sick, and his head pounded.
Beckett shook his head, pulling up a chair and sitting. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I don't think so, but it's definitely not been easy on you physically." He crossed his legs, and regarded the man in the bed with an assessing eye. "If I knew more about what was going on, I could do more, but my gut tells me your physiology has changed. Your body's trying to adjust, but you aren't going along with it."
"Like what?" asked Sheppard, confused.
"Drink more, eat more, rest more," Carson reeled off the three things Sheppard was lacking. "Every time you've been back here, those three are the root of the problem. My guess – you're body needs more now, and you've got to start realizing that."
"So, I'm in overdrive?" Sheppard said, his mouth twitching in a rare ghost of a smile.
"Basically, aye, think of a 'souped up' race car," confirmed Beckett, returning the easy grin.
Sheppard mused over that, it made sense. He could feel the change in his blood. It was like feeling a low level static shock humming along his skin. He stretched, and felt the tug of the IV needle.
"Eat, drink and be merry," joked Sheppard, not feeling very merry at the moment.
"And have lots of sex," said McKay, walking in on the pair. He strode over, and grinned at John. "Sorry, couldn't resist."
"Because you have sex never," said Sheppard, smiling back. There was an easier feel between the two of them right now, and Sheppard wondered at the reason.
"I have sex all the time," protested McKay. He folded his arms, and lifted his chin. "Its just some people believe in the old adage of never kiss and tell."
Beckett snorted, earning a glowering scowl from Rodney.
Sheppard enjoyed the break from all the seriousness that had chased him wherever he'd gone of late, and it was especially appreciated after the debacle with the Wraith prisoner.
McKay and Beckett started going on about who was having sex in an expedition where the women were limited, and somewhere along that vein, Sheppard faded out, sliding into an easier sleep…
oOo
The next day, Beckett deemed Sheppard fit for release, and he made a quick escape. He'd figured out that McKay and Carson had stayed up for a while, and talked…which translated into McKay turning into a watchdog to make sure he did those three things that Beckett had ordered.
The ironic thing was, Sheppard had every intention of doing it. He was tired of landing in the infirmary, and if he'd known that was what he should've been doing, he would've done it.
He passed by the console room, and was surprised, and not pleased to see Avitus coming out. He wondered if he could get by without being seen, but the old man's head was already coming up, and –
"Major Sheppard!" beamed the Ancient.
No on the escaping then, he sighed, and said "Avitus" evenly.
"Feeling better?" asked Avitus.
"Better is relative," admitted Sheppard. "Essentially, yes."
The old man's eye twinkled. "I was hoping to find you. Our lesson was interrupted -"
"Maybe that's not such a bad thing," replied Sheppard. He remembered the intensity; the emotion…learning about her…the city was connected to him. The city was the low level humming through his veins, and even now he was disconcerted by the revelation. It seemed like every time he was beginning to cope, something new was thrown his way.
The twinkle fell. "But it is a bad thing," Avitus said. "There is much to do, to prepare!"
Sheppard was taken aback by the change in Avitus's demeanor. "And what would that be?" he asked. He'd sensed something underneath the Ancients exterior from the beginning, and now he wondered if the old man was letting something slip.
"Defeating the Wraith," said Avitus.
Sheppard frowned. He'd said that before. "Why do you keep going on about that? One man, no matter how powerful, can't defeat an entire race."
Avitus smiled sadly. "Then you've not fully realized your potential yet."
He started walking by Sheppard, but John thrust out a hand stopping him. "What do you mean?" he asked roughly.
Avitus paused, considering John. Sheppard wasn't sure if the Ancient was trying to decide how much to tell him, or something more sinister. He pulled his hand off Avitus's arm. "Please," he offered grudgingly, after a moment.
The keen eyes bored into John. "I'm not certain you are ready," Avitus said slowly. "But if you are willing, let us return to the console room. It is time you meet her."
John had a thrill of anticipation surge through at the thought. He knew what Avitus meant. So far, he'd only felt the city, felt her, in the background like a fan always spinning lazily against the heat. But the console, that was a different thing entirely, and he knew that would be something dangerous, but amazing at the same time.
He hesitated, just for a moment, suspended in the fear of what it might do. He looked at the Ancient, and saw the hope. For whatever reason, Avitus was convinced he was the key to defeating the Wraith.
He walked in, stepping past the old man. "Fine," gritted Sheppard. It was time to take the final step.
An eerie sense of déjà vu struck, as he recalled the night he'd come here for much the same reason. He was going to put his demons to rest, not realizing it was going to rewrite the meaning of demon on his very soul. Not that he considered himself a demon…rather the demons were in his mind.
He stood in front, and stared at the console. He brought his hand up, and flashed a last look at Avitus. He smiled encouragingly, "It is time, Major."
John nodded. It was. He placed his palm on the console and felt a shiver of recognition touch through his body, and tease his mind, like a fish nibbling at a baited hook, and then with a suddenness that took his breathe away, the fish grabbed the hook and ran.
He didn't know if he was living, or breathing, or dying and seeing. He was lost in a myriad of confusing and conflicting lines of information. He knew the location of every single member of the expedition all at once, and knew how high above the ocean floor Atlantis was floating. He felt the damaged sections, and the sadness the loss of those portions of the city caused her.
He felt her happiness at his being, and her loneliness while she had spent an eternity waiting. She loved, and lost, and loved again, and they were all her children…
…and then a startling discovery. She didn't trust Avitus! She was warning him; her familiar alarms ringing inside his head, she spoke to him.
Then the link was broken, and Avitus had John's hand in his own, holding it off the console. He came out of it, like waking from a dream. "Wow," said Sheppard. Nothing he said would be adequate.
"You see," said Avitus softly. "It is you, and you must save her."
"She's not in danger," said Sheppard calmly.
"Not now, but she will!" stressed Avitus. He released Sheppard's hand and stood back. "The Wraith will come back. They'll mass another attack, and another - they will never give up, Major! You! You can rid the universe of that scourge!"
Sheppard watched him, trying to figure out what Avitus's plan was. "You had all this thought out from the beginning, didn't you?" he accused. "It wasn't a fluke that McKay found you on that planet."
"No, it wasn't," admitted Avitus. "It was only a matter of time before you figured that out. But that doesn't change the fact that you are the key," Avitus said forcefully. "Major, my people have lived under the poisoned sky of the Wraith for centuries. We escaped, but our children -" Avitus thrust his hands out, pleading. "They remain, trapped and hunted; herded like cattle for the many. This must be stopped, and you are the only one who has the ability!"
"How did you know?" Sheppard wanted to hear how Avitus knew about him. How the old man knew that the city would react to him, change him, like it did.
Avitus pointed at the console. "The city told me," he answered simply.
But Sheppard remembered something the city had told him. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, trying to let Avitus believe he would help.
Avitus stared at him, a crafty smile drifting lazily across his face. "I do not think so, Major. I do not believe you are ready to hear my plan…not quite yet."
A surge of white hot heat soared through his mind. Atlantis whispered the truth, and John's face paled under the impact. "You want me to blow up their sun! You want it to produce a supernova -" he trailed off, his mind scrambling at the implications.
"It is the only way," said Avitus. He had lost the smile, and now appeared older, and more haggard. "It will wipe them out of the universe!"
"And all the humans; the children, on that planet as well!"
"They are already dead," he said.
"We can save them -" started John.
"No, we cannot," interrupted Avitus. "You're people cannot take on the fleet of Wraith. That is how they won, and make no mistake, they won, Major. Superior numbers, not superior technology."
Avitus continued, "They are insidious, reproducing by taking our own, and they live…they live; hit after hit after hit…no, one man cannot go in and expect to leave alive, not even you."
Sheppard stared, dumbfounded. He had known Avitus was dangerous, but this had surprised him. He couldn't do it, regardless of what Avitus thought he could do. He wanted to – hell, he didn't even know what he wanted to do anymore. Protect his people; save the city – beyond that, things weren't so black and white.
"Think about it, Major," said Avitus. "We can talk more later."
John watched Avitus leave. He was alone now, just him and Atlantis herself. He stared at the console, and slowly placed his hand back against the warm metal and glass display. And she talked –