Well, thanks for all the reviews but everyone seems to think I'll make something bad happen! Am I really that predictable? All I'll say is that this story is very different from my other ones because I've actually thought it out carefully (yep, bet that was obvious! LOL). Also, if you ain't a fan of Stargate SG1 you might not understand it but I've tried to explain in the story. And as for the abandonment of the radios…stupid but it serves my story.

Heavy spoilers from SG-1 – various seasons.

Enlightened Beings?

Chapter 3: History lesson.

Elizabeth and John's mouths still hadn't closed as they stood in front of the slim passageway, almost hypnotized by the gorgeous blue lighting. John licked his dry lips and took a step forward.

"I guess we now know why this planet was in the Ancient's address book." He muttered hearing a small agreeing noise from Elizabeth. "So…" He trailed off as he walked to the hole but stopped when a hand grabbed his arm.

"Maybe we shouldn't go in." Elizabeth suggested, as he turned round to see her.

Frowning he glanced at the symbols and then back to her. "Why not? It was obviously intended to be used by those with the Ancient gene."

Elizabeth still looked unsure but whispered, "I suppose."

Examining her worried face he placed a hand on her arm and squeezed it lightly. "Okay, you stay here and I'll go in." When she was about to protest he continued, "I'll be fine! But if something happens you can swim back out and radio the others-"

"I'm not leaving you." Elizabeth stated firmly. "We'll both go." Her face was suddenly fixed with determination and John frowned again.

After a minute of staring he finally agreed, "Okay. Stay behind me though."

As he faced the passageway he heard her mutter, "Like we could walk side by side in there!" He grinned and took a cautious step into the blue light and sighed in relief. He felt Elizabeth's presence right behind him and grinned again when she gripped his lower arm tightly. "So far so good." He announced edging along the narrow path squinting forward to see the destination. There was nothing but blackness it seemed and John shivered feeling the cool air hit his naked, damp torso.

"See anything yet?" Elizabeth asked quietly, her teeth chattering slightly indicating she too was cold.

"Nope. Nothing but blackness." John informed her and felt his heart beat fast as he saw the walls coming to an end. His legs were getting tired from the weight of his wet trousers but persisted nonetheless. "We're nearly there."

After another second of walking they finally squeezed by the walls and as soon as John's foot touched the floor lights began springing to life around the room. Their eyes followed the ring of blue flames that ignited giving the small room an underwater feeling and they flashed some light onto a ring of five seats in the middle.

"Wow." John murmured sensing Elizabeth was just as amazed considering she wasn't talking. "This is pretty cool!" His voice echoed around the space, bouncing off the sloping walls and flooding their ears.

"Yeah, I wonder what it's used for." His companion uttered walking around the room hands running over the walls.

John headed for the ring of seats and noticed a small square pedestal in the middle. "There's some sort of stand here." He announced walking around it, scratching his neck thoughtfully.

"Does it have any writing or symbols?" Elizabeth asked curiously also joining him in the circle.

"Not that I can see." He muttered, leaning down closer to it. "I wonder…" He placed a hand gently in the middle of the square top.

Nothing happened for a few seconds until a large stream of blinding white light emerged from the stand, shooting upwards to the ceiling and startling the visitors. John pulled his hand back and pushed Elizabeth to the entrance again ready to bolt if need be. Shielding their eyes Elizabeth peeked through her fingers and saw with great relief the light had gone but couldn't breathe as she made out a figure standing behind a chair. Lowering her hand she gasped at seeing not just one but five figures – four sitting down and an elderly man standing.

"John!" She breathed nudging him and received a grunt.

"It's gone?" He peeked a look at her and saw her nod, face stuck in shock. "Damn that was bright!" He exclaimed and then yelped upon seeing the collection of new people. "Oh!"

They stared at them with curious eyes but stern expressions. The seated consisted of two men and two women, ranging from 40 to 70 years old. They wore white dress like tunics and white boots and emitted a feeling of calm and wisdom in their steady gazes. Glancing at the man standing Elizabeth immediately felt uncomfortable at his scowl, his scrutinizing eyes roaming over them disapprovingly. Upon closer examination she realized he hadn't even looked a John yet, all the negative feelings were shooting at her.

"Um…hi there." John greeted nervously and held up his hands. "We don't mean any harm."

"Who are you?" The man standing asked his voice booming around the room, directing his question at John.

"This is John Sheppard and-" Elizabeth began but was cut off by the male who was obviously in charge.

"I asked him!"

Elizabeth's eyes went wide with the reprimand and glanced disbelieving at John.

Clearing his throat John finished for her. "This is Elizabeth Weir and I'm…well John Sheppard…sir." He added feeling as if he was back in air force academy and standing before a very pissed general.

The leaders eyes narrowed and he scanned over John. "You have the Ancient gene." He stated approvingly and the pilot nodded. "It was you who accessed this chamber?"

"Yeah, but it was Elizabeth who found-"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Elizabeth interrupted feeling anger rise within her at the man's appalling attitude towards her.

His eyes traveled to hers again in disgust but before he could speak a woman did so for him. "We are the Ancients, original occupants of Atlantis. I presume you now reside there as you found this planet's address?" Her voice was firm but a lot friendlier and she seemed to sense Elizabeth's unease.

"That's right." She answered smiling briefly at the woman's kind face, noting she was probably the youngest being in her early forties.

"You are from Earth." Another man concluded his tone passive.

"Yes." John said with a nod remembering the chilly air and shivered again, trying to focus on the bizarre conversation happening at the moment. Glancing at Elizabeth he suddenly realized how revealing they both were and wondered if that was why the old man was severely pissed off. "Um, sorry about the lack of clothes…we were swimming. It's pretty hot out there-"

"It does not bother us." The kind woman assured him with a smile. "I have to admit your resourcefulness is remarkable. Many have traveled to this cave yet not been able to access this chamber."

"Elizabeth can read Ancient." John explained feeling annoyed when the leader practically scoffed at his remark. What is with this guy? He wondered furiously.

The seated look slightly impressed making Elizabeth blush a little. "I had thought our language had been lost long ago and that those from Earth no longer spoke it."

"It was only discovered by our people several years ago." Elizabeth told them. "Only a few can speak it-"

"She's a fast learner." John added shooting her an affectionate smile causing her to glare back embarrassingly.

The old man moved towards the younger woman and growled, "It does not excuse what she is Kyra!"

John screwed up his face and looked at Elizabeth who was gob smacked. "What I am?" She seethed suddenly wishing the old man would just vanish. "I'm sorry if I have somehow offended you-"

"You have not." Kyra replied standing up and facing the glowering man. "The times have changed Faenus, they changed a long time ago!" Her voice was still quiet but carried a determination in it. For a moment the woman reminded John of Elizabeth.

"Hey, hey!" He cried attracting the Ancient's attentions. "Look, we're kinda excited we've found you. We didn't mean to offend you…Faenus…all we want is to talk to you. I mean we're living in Atlantis now!" He exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air. "We want to learn from you."

Elizabeth nodded too, impressed by John's speech and realized that if they were going to talk it would probably be through him to keep everyone satisfied. "Please, we've waited a long time to talk to you."

Staring at the visitors, the Ancients leaned closer as if in a huddle their voices in a deep whisper. John rocked on his heels shooting Elizabeth a reassuring smile but his confidence was something she didn't feel. She had only felt this degraded once in her life and that was during a negotiation in the Middle East: where woman in that town were still treated like second-class citizens. She wondered what on Earth was so wrong with her to these people…or this man to be accurate?

The group seemed to agree and they faced the couple. "This chamber was created by the generation before us." Kyra explained as the old man stood behind his chair again, his face still grim.

"Wait, are you ascended?" Elizabeth asked wanting to confirm things.

"Yes." She replied. "Our parents were the founders of this chamber…a place where secret decisions about the city were made."

John frowned. "Why the secrecy?"

This time Faenus spoke. "During our time on Atlantis we were involved in a war with another civilization."

"The Wraith." John stated knowingly but they all shook their heads. "Not the Wraith?"

"No." Faenus said. "That was many years later, although their evolution was taking place."

"This war was between ourselves and another humanoid culture." The second quieter woman explained. "We had many differences, one being our superiority with technology, and tension arose between us."

John felt like he should be sitting behind a desk and scribbling this down, experiencing flashbacks to his history class.

"They lived in the Pegasus Galaxy first and believed they had more right to be there." Another man sitting down told them clasping his hands solemnly.

"They sent spies into our population." Faenus spat gripping the chair. "Tried to steal our technology, or destroy it. Some of these attacks cost us hundreds of lives." The group lowered their heads in sorrow and his voice sounded anguished. "We were an open culture, wanting to learn from others…but they would not have it."

"They were scared." Kyra muttered understandingly.

"They still had no right!" He cried.

Elizabeth wondered how this man had ever ascended. From what she understood from Daniel Jackson was that to ascend the person had to let go of their past and baggage…to be free from ones burdens. Her mind snapped back to the conversation.

"What were these people called?" John asked inquisitively.

"Furlings." She announced causing Elizabeth's eyebrows to shoot up.

"The who?" John asked confused glancing at Elizabeth.

"The Furlings?" She gasped an astounded expression gracing her face. "John, this race were discovered by General O'Neill and his team 7 or 8 years ago. Hardly anything is known about them other than they were in an alliance with three other races…the Knox, the Asguard and-"

"Us." Kyra finished. "But this alliance did not occur until after our time. And it is an action that still causes unrest amongst us, even now." Kyra said glancing wearily at Faenus.

"Sg-1 encountered some of their technology and it seemed pretty advanced." Elizabeth said receiving a glare from Faenus.

"Yes, but we were far more superior." He stated smugly. "The alliance was created between us only because the Wraith became too advanced, we had to combine forces."

"There's no mention of this war in the database you left." Elizabeth pointed out her mind reeling with this information. "Do they still exist?"

"Yes." Kyra replied firmly. "Like us, they also moved to another galaxy to start again. Little is now known about them."

John listened to the conversation feeling puzzled and wished that he had read some of those mission reports by SG-1 Elizabeth had recommended. He decided to change topic. "So…you guys hang around up there until someone activates the chamber?" He asked waving his hands upwards much to Elizabeth's amusement.

At first the Ancients frowned at his phrasing but eventually nodded. "We stay with the others until we are needed."

"Needed for what?" Elizabeth questioned, "I thought you weren't meant to help anyone?"

"It depends on what information you seek." She explained smiling.

"Oh."

Silence descended and the group looked at Weir and Sheppard expectantly. Feeling dazed from the event neither spoke and it was Faenus who broke the peace. "I must ask that you leave Elizabeth Weir. You should not be in here."

"Not this again." John groaned dropping his head. "I thought we were past this."

"I don't understand." She exclaimed her voice uncharacteristically loud. "I may not have the Ancient gene but…I am from Earth! I am a descendant!"

"A descendant!" He scoffed causing the others and John to cringe. "Your kind should not even be on Earth-!"

"Faenus that is enough!" The woman scolded standing up and facing him in anger. "The war was long ago-"

"They killed our family and friends!" He shouted stubbornly before pointing at Weir. "She should not be here!"

Elizabeth felt as if the entire room was looking at her for a response but she had none. Feeling her breathing become erratic she shook her head. "I don't understand, what have I done?"

She sensed John step closer, almost protectively and Elizabeth raised her head, determined to get an answer. The woman stood hesitantly for a few moments before walking towards the expedition leader.

"Elizabeth Weir, you have the Furling gene."

A/N: What you think? Very heavy with info I know but hope you liked it. Also, the two Ancient names are Greek and I thought 'Faenus' was quite funny sounding! LOL.