Okay, that was so not my fault! I couldn't log on last night! I'm sorry! Please don't hate me! LOL!

THIEVES IN ATLANTIS

BY TIPPER

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE SCALES TIP BACK

Garron, now alone in the Jumper and nervous as hell, looked down at the metal trunk. He could hear the desperate banging and muffled yelling—McKay had obviously woken up, though it was strongly muted by all that metal.

But all that screaming...the trunk wasn't air tight, but it was close. McKay needed to stop.

He'd already tried shooting the trunk with his stunner, but it had no effect on the man inside. The white light had just impacted the metal and shimmered into nothingness, and the banging hadn't stopped.

He grimaced, thinking about the delay now that they had to wait for Neera, Freya and Ren. They were supposed to have been out of here over an hour ago. Now Ren had gone to help Neera, and there was no way he was leaving without his brother. Neera had ordered him to go within a certain time again—knowing that the longer they delayed, the more likely someone would figure out where they were, especially now that almost all the Jumpers were back in their docks—but…Garron wouldn't leave without Ren. He just wouldn't.

But…he also really didn't know enough about what could happen if McKay didn't calm down. Damn it, the scientist would be no good to them dead.

Looking down at the stunner still in his hands, he flexed his hands around the thick handle. The kind thing would be to open the trunk and stun McKay again before he could get out…but what if McKay overpowered him? From the sound of it, the scientist was freaking out in there…Could he trust that he could open the lid, jump back and be fast enough to stun McKay again before McKay tackled him?

No, he wasn't taking the risk. McKay would just have to deal until Ren or one of the others came to help him.

A particularly loud bang from inside the trunk made Garron jump a little.

Swearing softly, the teenager made his way skittishly back to the front of the jumper.

Cadman had finally left, but Jumper Two was still sitting in the middle of the floor. Why the hell hadn't someone docked it yet?

Swallowing thickly, the boy held the stunner close to his chest.

For the first time since this all started, he had enough time to grow scared.

"Come on, Ren," he whispered, one leg beginning to shake with nerves. "Hurry up."

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Ren made it down to the level Neera had described, and slid into the hidden alcove where she had supposedly been hiding with Freya. There, resting against the wall in the shadows, were the two rucksacks.

Grimacing, he grabbed the larger one and muscled it onto his back, trying to ignore the weight.

Yeah…right.

Clipping it into place, he adjusted the straps as best he could until he felt he could handle it…then went to pick up the other.

He nearly fell over.

Swearing, he just grabbed the nylon handle on the top of the smaller rucksack…and started to drag it.

Just two levels up, he thought to himself, you can do it.

Garron's waiting for you.

He's waiting.

He had to believe that.

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Biro pulled the laboratory results up on her screen of Ronon's latest tox screen, her sharp eyes quickly scanning the information. Words and numbers finally came together in her mind in a clear picture.

A smile graced her face.

"So that's what you are," she whispered in relief, making a fist with her right hand next to the keyboard. Banging it against the lab bench, she stood up and started yelling orders for flumazenil.

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Freya ducked into a darkened doorway, holding her breath.

Sheppard and several marines strode past her hiding place, headed in the direction she had just come from, towards where she had left Neera. Her eyes skimmed the shadowed storage room she'd ended up in, glancing at the partially filled shelves then back again through open doorway at the brightly lit hall.

As Sheppard and the marines disappeared around the corner, she let go the breath, exhaling loudly.

Neera. She vaguely wondered if the Genii commander would keep going, or come after her. Probably keep going. If Neera came after her now, she'd run straight into Sheppard.

Not that Freya cared.

Well, she cared about Neera getting caught, but she didn't care whether Neera came after her or not.

That is, she didn't want to be left behind, but…she had made a vow. She swore that she wouldn't leave until someone here was dead. And, once she saw how much the people here cared about him, had decided that someone was Carson Beckett. She wanted the Atlantians to know her pain—the pain of losing someone you truly loved. And, as far as she could tell, Beckett was probably the most beloved person here. The fact that Beckett had been one of the Atlantians still here when Kolya had stormed the City last year—the stories from Layton and Sora's retellings were well known to every Genii—only made it sweeter.

More marching footsteps, and Freya held her breath again.

Damn it—how was she going to get anywhere with all these people around?

Neera's poison was supposed to have taken care of this. That and Beckett as a decoy. But they had found Beckett too soon. And then there was that Ronon character, whom Garron liked so much, alerting them to the dangers of the poison too quickly. Served the glutton right for eating too much, Freya sneered, but it had screwed up the plan.

Two marines moved past, this time with what looked like one marine slung over a shoulder. It was a slightly built woman soldier with long dark brown hair. Another sucker lost to Neera's poison.

Freya touched her blonde head. She wanted to dye it dark, like that woman soldier. She'd blend in better into shadows if she had dark hair.

She sighed, looking down at the gun in her hand. It felt big and heavy, though nowhere near as heavy as the Genii ones. She could get her hand around these Atlantian weapons, almost as if they wanted kids to be able to use guns. Genii weapons were for soldiers, not children…

Not that she was a child.

At least, not anymore. Not since learning that her brother and father had been killed without ever seeing the faces of their killers. Her father was part of the first strike force, and Layton had reported him one of the first to be killed, lured into a trap by Sheppard. And then her brother had been crushed against the gate shield, coming to help Kolya, while McKay and Weir refused to give up the codes to release it. He hadn't deserved that. He should have gone down fighting!

The gun seemed to grow bigger in her sight, heavier.

She would make them pay. She'd make sure they saw her face. She'd tell them why too. She wanted them to know.

If she did this…would they kill her? Probably. They protected their own here, that she knew.

She closed her eyes.

She wasn't scared. She had made a vow.

She was going to do this.

She looked up, and realized that the footsteps were gone. Had been for a while.

She peeked out of the doorway, then snuck the rest of the way out into the hall and kept low.

Not much farther now.

And it would all be over.

"Freya!" Neera's voice snapped in her ear.

Before the little girl knew what was happening, she was being dragged back into the dark room. Eyes wide, she stared up at the older woman glaring down at her, iron grip fastened on her arm.

"Neera?"

"You're coming with me," the older woman hissed. "Or so help me...I'll kill you right here."

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"Colonel Sheppard," the Canadian Sergeant's voice held a hint of pride as it came over the airways, and Sheppard hit his radio.

"Here."

"I've got them, sir. There is at least one additional Wraith device in Atlantis not where it's supposed to be. And it's on—probably masking life signs, like the one that hid Doctor Beckett from us."

"Where?"

"About a hundred feet behind you, in the direction of the Infirmary. Storage Room B3."

Sheppard's face broke into a dark smile, "Thank you," he said into the radio, and he meant it. Eyes glittering, he looked at the men with him. "Let's go." He hit his radio again, "Major, did you copy that?"

"Yes, sir," Lorne's voice replied. "I'll meet you there."

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Freya grimaced, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stared up at the woman towering over her. "Why won't you let me finish this?" she demanded, her hushed tone strained.

"Because you're going to get caught," Neera answered, "And I can't allow that."

Freya appeared confused, "But…but I heard you tell Garron to leave without us if we didn't get up there in time, so why does it matter if—"

"There's a big difference, Freya," Neera said, bending down so she could look the girl straight in the eye. "If we didn't escape with the boys, then we would continue to use this," she reached into her vest and pulled out the Wraith device masking their life signs, "to hide ourselves with. This City is huge, and the Atlantians barely occupy a quarter of it. If the boys left, I'd take you out to a corner of the City, and we'd hide until that time when we can make our own escape, whether it be in the middle of the night or by some other means. At no point, however, would I allow us to be captured. I would kill us both first."

"Why?"

"You know why," Neera spat. "Because the moment they learn it was the Genii that took their precious Doctor McKay, they would do everything in their power to get him back. And whether they succeed or not, it would start a war that Cowen does not want and probably couldn't win."

Freya frowned, her eyes dark, "You're assuming I would tell them who I was."

Neera gave her a knowing look. "Don't take me for a fool, Freya. Isn't that what you were planning to do?" she asked. "You were going to tell them why you were making them pay—which means telling them who you are."

Freya stared, then looked to the side.

Okay, she hadn't thought about that.

"Listen to me," Neera hissed, "This can't be about you. It can't be about any of us. You think I don't want to prove myself to Cowen? You think I don't know that I was picked for this mission because I was old enough to play an older motherly type—which is too old to be considered a real soldier anymore? You think Garron isn't trying to make up for the black mark his mother's betrayal cost his family? You think Ren would be here if he didn't love his brother so much? But it can't be about any those things, no more than it can be about your revenge. This is about stealing a puddle jumper and the Atlantian's most valuable asset—McKay—for the Genii. Nothing more."

Freya kept her eyes averted, waging an internal war within herself.

"Freya," Neera said, gripping the arms tighter, "I need to know that you are Genii...not a rogue."

The girl's eyes squinted shut, then opened again.

"Freya!"

"I am Genii," Freya whispered tightly.

Neera took in a deep breath, then nodded, exhaling a sigh. Nodding, she was about to say something else when someone cleared their throat. Her eyes widened, and she and Freya both turned to look out the door into the lit hallway.

Colonel Sheppard stood there with about a half dozen troops at his back.

"Genii, huh?" he said, eyes narrowed to slits. "Well, that certainly explains a lot."

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TBC...