Disclaimer- I don't really own Stargate Atlantis but you know what they say, what you don't know, won't hurt you.

A/N- okay, I don't know if anyone noticed but I made a big mistake in the last chapter. Instead of spelling it Ronon I spelled it Ronan. Doesn't that make him sound British? I don't know, but I spelled his name correctly in this and future chapters.

A/N- I changed the time setting a little too. It takes place about a week after Sheppard recovered from the retrovirus.

Oh yea, and tête-à-tête means conversation. Strange title. Thank you reviewers!

Tête-à-tête

Dr. Weir was sitting in her office playing Solitaire on her little portable computer. She was free from all duties at the moment and everyone else was either doing what they do or taking some time off. Weir had better things to do than play solitaire but she was expecting Sheppard and the others. They were a half hour late and she was afraid something happened to them. But then again, they were always a little late, mostly because they screw around, so it was probably fine. Then again, you never know.

Then, the alarms went off, indicating there was an incoming wormhole. Weir rushed to the control room. The sergeant woke up and closed the iris.

"Is it Sheppard?" Weir said standing over him like a hawk.

"No IDC yet."

"Keep it open."

After about a minute, the sergeant received the code. "It's Sheppard."

"Let him through."

The iris opened and the team came through. Weir was in the gate room waiting for them. "You're late."

"Yea well we got into a bit of a snag." Sheppard said sounding apprehensive.

"Like what?"

"There's a wraith there." Ronon said right away.

"A wraith?" Weir said surprised.

"Yes, and something else." Teyla stepped forward with Mckay who was trying to comfort her. She was a mess and was shaking like a leaf.

"Teyla what happened to you?" Weir was extremely worried now.

"She was attacked." Sheppard stated clearly upset.

"Oh my god, Teyla you have to come to the infirmary right now." Weir led Teyla and the others to the infirmary. Beckett was doing some research when they suddenly rushed in.

"Beckett, Teyla needs help!" Weir burst through the door with Teyla followed closely by Sheppard, Ronon, and then Mckay.

"What's wrong with her?" But when he looked closer he got extremely worried. "Oh my lord, you're in shock! Lay down."

Teyla obeyed and laid down while Beckett examined her further. A few minutes passed before Beckett finished and went to consult with the others in another room. Teyla was resting peacefully (not dead).

"Beckett is she going to be okay." Weir asked extremely concerned.

"Well, she's beaten up pretty bad, and she's in shock."

"In shock!" All of them exclaimed in astonishment.

"I thought she was just shaken up." Ronon said alarmed.

"No, she's definitely it shock, and it looks like she had a few rounds, but she'll be fine." Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"If I may ask, but what did this to her?"

"We don't know." Ronon stated.

"Teyla said it was a creature." Mckay said still a little nervous.

"A creature?" Beckett inquired.

"Yes." Ronon answered.

"What kind of creature?" Weir said intrigued.

"We don't know. Teyla's the only one who saw it, and sensed it too, but she didn't give that much detail." Sheppard said and looked toward Teyla in the infirmary.

"Well what ever it is, it must have been terrifying, because I've never seen Teyla that scared before." Mckay said fearfully.

"I've never seen Teyla scared ever." Sheppard added looking at Mckay.

"Well what ever scared her, we're going back to hunt it." Ronon said just itching to get back there.

"We are!" Mckay exclaimed.

"No you're not." Weir was not going to let them leave. "You're staying here until Teyla gets back on her feet. And besides, how do you know this thing won't attack you?"

"We'll be together." Sheppard said.

"Maybe so, but judging by what happened, I'm not sure if all three of you can take this thing."

"We can try."

"No. I won't allow it. Besides, you should stick around and support Teyla."

Sheppard looked down, ashamed of himself.

"Well one of us has to go back. The villagers need to be protected from the wraith." Ronon stated.

"Yea and plus they're the only ones that could give us more information on the ruins." Mckay said agreeing with Ronon.

"Wait a minute, a wraith?" Beckett asked rejoining the conversation.

"Yea." Sheppard answered. "The people said that a wraith ship crashed there about a week ago, a Ronon proved it. It hasn't fed on anyone yet, but it's got to be getting hungry soon."

Weir looked up at everyone. "Is it possible that this creature could be the wraith?"

"No."

Everyone turned their head in surprise. Teyla was standing at the door, still a little shaken, but looking better. "This thing isn't a wraith, it's something else."

"Teyla what are you doing out of bed?" Beckett walked toward her concerned.

"I am fine Dr. Beckett, you have no need for concern."

"Oh yes I do lassie you can't just recover in only a few minutes."

"Dr. Beckett, I will be fine." Teyla stood strong, indicating that she was indeed, okay. Beckett sighed and reluctantly stood down.

"Glad your feeling better." Sheppard said felling better himself.

"Thank you Colonel Sheppard, I'm glad to be back myself."

"You sure you're okay?"

Teyla smiled. "Yes Ronon, I'm fine."

Ronon smiled back at her.

"Teyla?" Weir caught Teyla's attention. "Do you think you can tell us exactly what happened at the point when you sensed the creature?"

"Yes, I'd like to know why I was running back to the Jumper all alone!" Mckay exclaimed glaring at Sheppard.

Teyla dropped her head slightly and half stared at the floor. "The others and I were on our way back from the village. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Mckay were arguing. I had to separate them."

Beckett chucked while Mckay just rolled his eyes and Sheppard looked very embarrassed.

"That's when I sensed the creature." Teyla had everyone's full attention now. "It was unlike anything I ever sensed before. It was like when I sensed the Wraith, but it wasn't dark or cold, but it wasn't pleasant either. It felt more human yet it was not. Colonel Sheppard ordered us to spit up and look for the creature. While in the forest I found nothing at first but then…" Teyla paused taking a deep breath and fully stared at them now. "Then, it came. The creature surrounded me. I couldn't see it at first but I could sense it was toying with me. But when I started firing, it became very alarmed and very hostile."

Everyone looked at Teyla with curiosity, especially Ronon.

"I have never seen anything move like it did. One second it was there and the next it was gone. It's like it was invisible, but it was definitely there. When I ran out of ammunition I thought it was going to attack, but instead I saw the creature running off. That was the only time I actually saw the creature."

"What did it look like?" Weir asked.

"All I saw was a shadow before it went but I could not define the shape. I also saw a flash of its eyes. They looked like a beast but at the same time felt human. I can't exactly describe it."

Everyone in the room had chills. They have never heard of such a creature before, and that was saying a lot considering they were living in another galaxy.

"You said the thing looked human?" Ronon asked.

"Not exactly, it felt human."

"And you're sure it wasn't a wraith?"

"Yes, I'm certain."

"Teyla maybe you did feel the wraith, but it just felt different."

"No! I'm positive it wasn't a wraith!"

"Look, I searched all over that forest, and all I found was wraith tracks and wolf tracks, and I highly doubt a wolf could do what you said this thing did."

Teyla looked down in defeat. Maybe Ronon was right. If he didn't see anything unusual, then there was nothing there, and he never missed anything. No! He did miss something. She knew what she sensed and she knew what she saw. That thing was not a wraith. It was something much more dangerous.

"I saw what I saw." Teyla stated with defiance. "And what I saw was not a wraith. Nor was it human or beast.

The room fell silent. Everyone looked at Teyla with uncertainty.

Mckay was the one to break the silence. "So what do we do?"

"We have to go back there and at least kill the wraith." Sheppard answered firmly. "And if, and I mean if we find anything else, we kill it.

Ronon and Weir nodded in agreement but Beckett objected. "You can't kill the wraith."

"What?" Sheppard asked completely confused.

"We need the wraith alive to complete the retrovirus."

"Are you crazy? You know what happened last time you used that stuff. Ellia went nuts and I almost turned into a bug! And now you're telling me you want to turn another wraith into whatever Ellia became! I know that wasn't your fault but come on!"

"For one thing Colonel, Ellia took it prematurely, when it was no where near completion. We had no idea what the affects where. And second, I'm not going to inject the wraith with the retrovirus. I just need real live wraith cells and that would require a real live wraith, and as you can see, we don't have any real live wraith!"

Sheppard still looked at Beckett crossly.

Beckett sighed. "Look Colonel, we just need the wraith alive so we complete the retrovirus and experiment. It will be perfectly safe."

"Define safe."

"John that's enough!" Sheppard snapped his head toward Weir in surprise. "John, Dr. Beckett worked long and hard on this project and this may be the only opportunity we'll have to make any significant progress."

Sheppard still wasn't convinced.

"Look, I know you're still upset about the whole retrovirus incident, but if this works, we could save thousands of lives quiet possibly defeat the wraith, and that's not an opportunity I would pass up."

Sheppard still glared at her but his expression soften. "Fine, we'll capture the wraith."

"Good."

"But if anything goes wrong…"

"You are allowed to take necessary action."

"Good." Sheppard said finally agreeing with Weir.

"All of you except Teyla are to ship out whenever you're ready."

"What?"

Weir looked at Teyla. "I'm sorry Teyla, but you're going to have to stay here with Dr. Beckett."

"I already said I was fine Dr. Weir."

"I know, but I can't be sure what would happen if you ran into this creature again, or if it did something to you."

"The creature only caught me off guard. I will be prepared this time."

"No Teyla, I won't risk it."

Ronon attempted to reassure her. "It's okay Teyla, we can handle it."

It didn't work. Teyla glared at him disappointed. "I am the only one who can sense this creature, and if it is near then I will be the only one who knows it."

"Yea that's a good idea. Teyla can go with you guys instead and I can stay here with Dr. Beckett." Mckay said in a feudal attempt not to go back.

"Nice try Rodney but you're not getting out of it that easy." Sheppard said mocking him.

"Well at least I tried."

"Yea, which surprises me, because it's rarely something you ever do."

"Could you two joke around later? And Rodney, you're going with them too. Understand?" Weir commanded them harshly. Both of them instantly shut up and Mckay gave a weak nod.

"And Teyla, you will stay here and recover. Besides, some of the Athosians are visiting Atlantis, and they would be very happy to see you."

Teyla gave a reluctant smile and nodded.

"Excellent. Colonel Sheppard, you and Ronon and Mckay will head out when you're ready."

Sheppard looked down at himself and at Ronan and Mckay and realized that they never actually changed out of their uniforms. "We're ready now."

"Excellent, head to the Jumper."

The team stopped to get more ammunition and got in the Jumper. The Stargate was preparing to dial as the team prepared for the mission.

"Hey Ronon, what do you really think that creature is?" Sheppard asked while turning on the Jumper.

"To be honest I've never heard of such a creature that Teyla described. What about you?"

"Well, it could be a strange wraith-like animal."

"I don't think so. There weren't any unusual tracks there."

"That's weird. Hey what about you Mckay, what do you think it is?"

"Me? well I have no idea what it is but since it was stalking Teyla, my guess is that it either wants to eat us or suck the life out of us, but then again that's just the paranoid side of me."

Ronon and Sheppard exchanged glances. "Are you like this all the time?"

"Yes Ronon, I was like this since the day I was born. I have a feeling it's genetic."

"Well ya got that right." Sheppard said sarcastically.

Mckay acted like Sheppard didn't exist.

"Sheppard, are you guys ready?" Weir said through the radio.

"Ready when you are."

"The Stargate is activated. Come on through."

"Okey-Dokey, Sheppard out."

Sheppard flew the Jumper into the gate room and zoomed through the Stargate. When they reached the other side, they headed toward space.

"Sheppard, what are you doing?" Mckay said fretfully as he watched them leave the atmosphere.

"We're going above the planet."

"Why?"

"To find the wraith using the sensors."

"Right, I knew that."

"Sure you did." Ronon muttered.

Sheppard stopped the Jumper a good distance above the planet and turned on the sensors.

It showed a considerable amount of white dots, indicating that there were way more people here than they suspected.

"So where's the wraith?"

"I'm looking for him Ronon."

"Look around the vicinity of the village."

"Good idea." Sheppard zoomed in at the area of the village. There were many white dots in the village but no red dots anywhere in near the village.

"Where'd the wraith go?" Sheppard said bewildered.

"I don't know."

"Maybe it left."

"No, a wraith wouldn't leave an area like this, especially with all the villagers to feed on."

"Zoom in on the village."

Ronon and Sheppard looked at Mckay in confusion.

"Why?" asked Sheppard.

"Just do it, I have a hutch."

Sheppard shrugged his shoulders and zoomed in even further. Everyone gaped in horror. On the screen was the village and all the little white dots. But in the middle of the village was a blood red dot. The wraith was in the village. It was hunting.

BBR

Oh my lord this was a long and hard chapter to write, mostly because this chapter was mainly conversation, and I'm not that good at conversations. I know this chapter may have seemed boring but I left it with an interesting cliff hanger. I was thinking of making it longer but when I saw it was already six pages I decide to leave it at that. I'll update soon. Adios!