Title: The Enemy You Know
Author: SlayersGrl
Summary: Atlantis has a traitor in its midst and they never saw it coming…
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the show. I am simply borrowing the characters to satisfy the voices in my head...

Author's note: This is so frustrating! I currently have about 7 fandoms floating around in my head along with about 4 fully formed story lines. And on top of all that there's my original epic, which after floating around in my head for ten years, is suddenly demanding to be written. So, expect my writing to be erratic at best. Whichever plot demands the loudest will be written first.

Chapter 3: Entrapment

Three hours earlier…

Four travelers quickly trekked across an expansive field towards the familiar alien artifact looming on the horizon. For the first time in a long time, they weren't being chased back to the Stargate by some soul-sucking Wraith or angry locals. However, the small group couldn't wait to be back on Atlantis.

The cause of their hurry was trudging along a few paces to the rear. The utter look of misery plastered on his face almost made you feel sorry for the guy. Well, almost. He was the one who had gotten himself into the situation in the first place. Sheppard quickly glanced back over his shoulder to assure himself that McKay was still following them, even though he already knew for a fact the man was still there. His nose had already informed him of that.

Their whole mission had been rather routine, to the point of being boring. They had come to this particular planet seeking trade allies. The rolling hills of green grass had hinted at finding a small farming community where they could stock up on some much needed food supplies. But they had quickly discovered the planet to be completely deserted. There was nothing but wide open fields and sparse forests as far as the eye could see. But most deserted planets are abandoned for a reason, as Rodney had the unfortunate opportunity to find out.

As they had explored more of the planet, they had begun to notice the strange flowers scattered across the fields. There were hundreds of tiny orange bulbs, each one closed up like it was waiting to bloom. They didn't think about them as anything more than a colorful addition to the landscape until Rodney made the mistake of tripping over a small patch of them.

The bulbs had immediately burst open, spraying the physicist with pollen. And that's when they knew exactly why this planet had been abandoned. The pollen happened to smell like decaying meat. And now Rodney was stuck with the odor until he could take a proper shower back on Atlantis.

Thankfully, the group made it back to the Jumper without any further mishaps. They quickly loaded into the ship and prepared to take off. "Atlantis, this is Major Sheppard." John had to wait a few minutes for a response to come over the radio.

"Major, you aren't due to check in for a few more hours. Is everything alright?" Dr. Weir replied.

"We finished scouting the area. It doesn't look like anyone's visited this planet for a while. No sign of the Ancients either." He decided to leave out the part about Rodney's little incident with the local plant life. They'd know all about it soon enough…

"Are you sure you checked everything thoroughly?"

Since when did Weir start questioning his methods? "Yeah, I can assure you there is nothing here. Requesting permission to return to base." If he didn't know better, he'd think she didn't want them to come back. There was a long pause in the communication and he repeated his request for them to lower the shield. Finally, the authorization came through and the pilot gently coaxed the Jumper through the gate. He had a quick glance of the almost deserted control room before the ship changed directions to head to the Jumper bay.

"I can't wait to take a shower…" Rodney muttered from his position at the back of the ship.

"I hear tomato juice works really well for getting rid of bad odors," Aiden supplied helpfully. Undeterred by Rodney's angry glare, he added, "Or vinegar is supposed to work good too."

After landing smoothly, the team quickly disembarked from the vehicle. Rodney was eager to rid himself of the overpowering scent and the rest of the team was eager to put some distance between themselves and their teammate. They were so preoccupied in rushing out of the Jumper that they almost didn't notice the dozen men pointing weapons at them.

"No one move!" one of the men commanded, a Genii weapon held firmly in hand.

"What's going on here?" the major asked, thoroughly confused by this unexpected encounter. After all, who would expect to return from a mission to end up staring down a group of armed Genii soldiers in Atlantis' Jumper bay.

"You don't get to ask questions. Just cooperate and no one will get hurt," the man replied. He then motioned for a few of the other soldiers to relieve the team of their weapons. Once their task was completed, the leader of the group motioned for his new captives to start walking. But he stopped them after they had each taken a few steps to head towards the control room.

"Just Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay." He then turned to address the man standing next to him. "Lock the other two in the brig. We'll deal with them later."

The team was rather dismayed to realize they were being separated, but they didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Something big had happened in the short time they had been gone. And the only way they were going to get any answers was to play along for the time being.

The last image Teyla and Ford had of their other two team members before they disappeared around the corner was of the major wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Why did I have to get stuck with Rodney?" John thought to himself. Any other time he would be grateful to have the scientist by his side. But at least he could take satisfaction in knowing that their captors would have to deal with the awful smell as well. If they were lucky, the smell might drive them back through the Stargate…

AN: Sorry for the short chapter! I'll try to write more in the next chapter…