John awoke, this time on a cold floor. "What happened this time?" he said, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Where am I?"
"You are being confined." Teyla said. She was standing in front of him, and he saw a faint shimmer of a shield pass between them. "There was an—incident."
"What kind of incident?" John turned to see Elizabeth in a cell next to his. They were separated by another force field.
Teyla turned to her. "John woke up in the medical lab, and got out of bed. He wouldn't respond to any of us, and he attacked Dr. Beckett." She turned back to John. "You fractured his wrist and two of his fingers."
"No way," John said, getting to his feet, "I would never…" but he trailed off.
"If it's any consolation, I do not believe you were yourself."
"So we're being held so we won't hurt anyone else."
She nodded slowly.
John stood only a few inches from Teyla, but the barrier separated them. "This is insane. I'm not going to hurt anyone—I mean, not anyone else."
"Maybe you wouldn't." John looked at Elizabeth, and a tense silence followed.
Finally John said, "You don't think…"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Teyla move suddenly. He turned to find her with eyes closed, gently massaging her temples. "What's wrong?" he said.
"Wraith." Elizabeth said.
"Yes, but not like before. I know the Wraith are nowhere near Atlantis, but all the same…I can't explain it."
"Liu." Elizabeth said.
"The wraith girl? It must be her I sense." She sighed. "Her presence is different—softer somehow."
"Everything's all right then." John said lightly, "Liu's not going to hurt you."
"It is like I can hear her voice inside you head. She seems—sincere.
Still, it is frightening."
"Fine Teyla, if you don't believe her, then believe me. Liu is not going to hurt you, and neither are we."
She looked at John for a long time. John leaned as close as the field would allow. "Teyla, you know you can trust me."
She looked away from him and nodded. "I believe you. I will see what I can do about getting you released."
She walked to the door.
"Teyla," John said, and she turned. A long, meaningful look passed between them. "Thanks." He said at last, though he wanted to say more.
When they were alone, Elizabeth sighed heavily.
"Ditto." John replied, running his hands through his hair.
"This is incredible, but so confusing."
"Well, I was thinking something more along the lines of screwed up—and you're just realizing this now?" He paused, "Listen, we've got to figure a way out of this, before we go completely nuts."
"Or worse." Elizabeth whispered.
"What?"
"I have a bad feeling." She sounded truly frightened, "When we're in these altered states, we act out some of what happens to us—to them."
He nodded, "When I attacked Carson…I thought he was—"
"Morai. Clearly, what they do affects us here, in this time. We feel what they feel."
"And?" He said softly, but he felt that he already knew.
"John," she said, and the "what if they don't make it?"