I 3 Reviews (sorry, but I do. It makes me want to write more) so thanks. Here's a new chapter. Hopefully this will help to answer Anonymous Human's questions and satisfy all you Ronon/Teyla junkies out there. Yes there will be John/Elizabeth later on, but not right now. Onwards

88

"He's going to the Queen? But didn't Ellia kill the Wraiths?" Rodney began. Surprisingly it was Ronon who spoke up.

"Ellia was a Wraith to begin with," he said, "no matter how 'human' she seemed. Colonel Sheppard's human DNA and his Ancient Gene helps to counter the insanity. Enough so he's going to go to the Hive to Feed. He'll be captured by the Wraith who will use him for whatever they need."

"Is that what happened to you?" Teyla demanded, though it came out as a jab more than a question. Ronon didn't flinch, he simply looked at her, his eyes completely closed off. Elizabeth frowned and looked at the pair, opening and closing her mouth several times, trying to figure out how to approach the subject.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Carson demanded. Teyla flinched and looked away. Ronon closed his eyes before looking at them. Elizabeth crossed her arms, her face completely neutral. Rodney's eyes were flashing from him to Teyla and back again until Ronon thought he'd be sick if he looked at the scientist anymore. Carson was leaning against the bed his eyes focused on Ronon, patiently awaiting an explanation to Teyla's statement.

"A similar thing happened to me," he said quickly.

The reactions were not as bad as he thought. No guns were pulled, he wasn't tied up or beaten as he had worried. Elizabeth had taken a deep breath and pushed a shaking hand through her hair, Carson had flinched visibly before checking to make sure the door was secure and Rodney was still looking from him to Teyla.

"Go on," Elizabeth said, her voice steady.

"Before Sateda was Culled, I had been captured on a scouting mission on another planet. I was physically attacked by a Wraith before my unit managed to get it off. It never fed on me, but it did manage to bite me."

"You had the symptoms?" Carson questioned.

"I wouldn't call them symptoms," he said tightly, "I turned blue, my body changed—I had no control over my reaction to my emotions, everything Colonel Sheppard went through."

"What happened?" Carson asked patiently.

"I left my base and went to find food—not the normal kind, Wraith kind. I didn't know how to hunt like them so I hid aboard one of their Darts and was taken to the Hive by mistake. I was captured and the information about my planet was taken from my mind. My unit tracked me and launched an attack."

At this point, his voice got tight and pained, as if he were being tortured by speaking. His entire stance changed from defensive to weary. His shoulders rounded forward slightly and his chin dropped towards his chest as he clasped his hands. Teyla pursed her lips slightly and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. Carson sighed at her, knowing inside she was probably crying.

He was wrong.

Watching Ronon was comparable to having John Sheppard kiss her. It was confusing, painful and she was sure she'd have some kind of mark on her for the rest of her life. She wanted to hug him, to tell him everything would be alright, none of it mattered for it was in the past and his future was too bright. But she wouldn't—she couldn't—do that, so she tried to look annoyed and hoped she succeeded.

"I was given my Commanding officer for food. I began to Feed on him and we connected. I saw myself," his voice cracked slightly and he stopped, hiding his face, "I saw myself through his eyes," he continued, "and I realized for the first time what I had become. A member of my unit attacked the Queen, hurting her badly before he was killed. She Fed off my Wraith side, draining it to heal herself. I grabbed one of the Guards' gun and tried to kill her, but I blacked out."

For a minuet they were all silent, staring at Ronon. What surprised Elizabeth was that she didn't want to reach over and kill him. She felt a flash of pain and guilt for her earlier words. John the Colonel, Elizabeth the Diplomat, Rodney the physicist, Carson the doctor, Teyla the alien and Ronon the Specialist—that was their team and she'd be damned if some Wraith destroyed it.

"Well do you have any after effects?" Carson asked crossing his arms, "your lab work came out fine but still—" he trailed off, "Rodney where are you going?"

"He said they tracked him to the Hive," Rodney said, "since Elizabeth rigged John's earpiece to stay on and I know he's got it with him, I'm going to go and see if I can use it to find that Hive."

"Unless, do you remember where the Hive was?" Elizabeth asked. She got no response from the warrior, "Ronon," she said sharply. His head jerked up, "do you know where it is?" He shook his head, "alright Rodney, see what you can do. Carson, fill out the report that John's on strict orders for bed rest and keep that bed quarantined until we can make it look like John never left. Tell your assistants who helped that John is in that room asleep."

Carson nodded and turned to Ronon as Rodney ran out.

"Colonel Sheppard's in that room asleep," he said seriously. He turned back to Elizabeth, "anything else?" he asked, standing up to curtain off the bed.

"Ronon and Teyla get ready. When we find where that Hive is, you two are going to go and get whatever's left of John back," she said, "I'm going to go and keep Colonel Cadwell from finding out anything and using it against us."

They nodded and left. Elizabeth crossed her arms around herself tightly and looked at the curtains before spinning on her heel and walking down the hallway. In control, this was where she belonged and where she needed to be. Just focusing on a task, something to take her mind off the fact that John was off somewhere about to destroy everything they had worked so hard for.

88

Teyla stood on a balcony, her hair blowing around, her arms wrapped firmly around herself. She had tried several places but all seemed to want to strangle her. Her room held his eyes when he walked in telling her he was sorry for beating her, the mess hall was too crowded and the sparring room, well given recent events that was out as well. So she was on a balcony, not John and Elizabeth's balcony but a different one, it offered views of only the ocean, the city to its back.

Ronon stood in the doorway of the balcony, his eyes ignoring the view and focused on Teyla. The few tears that he had shed had dried, their streaks wiped away from his face. If anything, he looked tired, not sad. He too had tried a few places to sit and think but had failed miserably.

Mainly because every place reminded him of her until the guilt threatened to overwhelm him.

When he had come to Atlantis he had been determined to keep his secret. He had decided he'd stay there for a few days before grabbing supplies and going through the Stargate. He had never dreamed he'd find a place in the city or that he wouldn't want to leave. The fact that when he had told them the truth they hadn't locked him up or shot him where he stood was testament to that. The most painful person to tell had been Teyla.

He had hoped, as time progressed, that if he had to tell her he'd do it somewhere private and quiet, where he could make her understand. If he could convince her that he was not going to bring the Wraith down on them, he could tell the rest of them. Instead, he had to watch her try to look annoyed and fail miserably.

He was jolted out of his reverie when she turned to go. She froze as their eyes locked and her lips parted. He tore his eyes away from hers and stepped aside, ducking his head. He didn't realize she was in front of him until her boots cut into his view. Tearing his eyes from the floor, he looked into hers and was stunned to see her eyes bright with tears. At the look in his eyes, Teyla turned and fled the balcony.

She made it to the nearest room—a storeroom—and punched in her access code, throwing herself into the small space and slamming the door behind her. Leaning against the cold metal, she covered her mouth to mask the strangled sob that tore itself from her throat. Sliding down the door until she sat on the ground, she covered her head and let herself cry, cursing the pain in her heart and the look in his eyes.

On the other side of the door, Ronon closed his eyes against the burning in them when he heard Teyla sob. A hundred things flew through his mind, one was walking to the balcony and throwing himself off it if it would make her feel better. The other was finding Rodney, stealing his access code, opening the door and—

Ronon shook his head, dismissing the thought. Turning from the door, he walked away. Scarcely thirty seconds later, a tear-streaked face peeked out from the half-closed door. Biting her lip slightly, Teyla slipped out, drying the tears quickly and tiptoed over to the balcony, only to find it deserted. Shaking her head she walked towards her quarters, knowing that she would have to be ready when Elizabeth called.