Author's note: sorry about the wait on this. I got wrapped up in the Campers story I was writing. No more waiting, though! Here we go!

OOOOOOOO

"Look," Melony said, losing her patience. "We don't need your help with this plan of ours. We just came to make sure that any population on this planet wouldn't be in danger in the event that a few Wraith showed up here before they went on to the little planet. Since you're so positive that they don't pose a threat to you and yours, we'll be on our way. Thanks for the meal."

If she expected an explosion she was in for a surprise. Although Cane looked ready to pop, Hu was looking at her with an odd expression. One that she didn't expect – and didn't recognize because it was the last thing she figured to see. Talon noticed immediately, however, and was quick to take action, even as Hu spoke.

"Come, now, Colonel…" he said – practically purring, now. "We don't need to be enemies…" his pale eyes were locked on hers, now, and they seemed to be smoldering. "Our people should be allies… friends…" and now he smiled. "Maybe even more than friends…"

What the hell?

He's trying to seduce you, Talon told her, sounding irritated and surprised at the same time. His pheromone level just skyrocketed

Why isn't it working?

I changed your body chemistry, of course. How do you want to play it, though? Let him think it's happening? Or tell him where to shove himself?

She was tempted to play along. For one thing, they were in the middle of a village filled with shape-shifters who could probably take her, Teyla and Ronon down fairly quickly – even with the firepower they all three wielded. For another, they weren't here looking for a fight.

However, she also wasn't about to let Hu have his way with her – she wouldn't even let him pretend to. It just wasn't in her nature.

"We could have been allies," she said, softly, still looking into his heat-enticing gaze, matching his expression with hers. "My people are dangerous, and yours are amazing. However, I don't like having people try to screw with my perceptions of them, and certainly don't like it when they attempt to tamper with my emotions."

His gaze hardened as he realized that his ploy hadn't worked, but he hid the annoyed look almost immediately behind a forced smile.

"I should have known you were different…" he said. "You feel different, and look different…"

Ronon scowled, shaking his head as he fought off the pheromones that had spiked so crazily around him. He wasn't even interested in guys, but he'd found himself for a moment almost under Hu's sway, simply by virtue of the fact that the man was incredibly sexy – which infuriated him, of course. Ronon hated being played with even more than Melony did, and thanks to Mitchell and the others warning him all about what the Light Ones were capable of doing – unconsciously – he easily figured out what Hu had tried to do purposely. Ronon looked big and dumb, but he definitely wasn't.

"That was a mistake," he said, half standing and reaching over his shoulder for his sword. His gun might have worked better in the close quarters, but he was angry enough to want full contact with the blade just then. "We aren't-"

"Ronon!"

Teyla, too, was shaking off the effects of the pheromones, like a wet puppy shaking off water, and she was quick to call him back from doing something that would irrevocably damage any chance they might have of being allies with these formidable people. It was the difference between the two of them; Ronon wasn't the leader of his people and as such wasn't always willing to look at things from more than one angle. He was a fighter first and foremost, and his hands – and mind – were seldom far from his weapons.

Hu stood up, quickly, taking a step back even as the Shasari around the table – except for Cane – immediately shifted into cat form at the implied threat to their god and leader. Mitchell pulled her gun, aiming it not at the cats, but at Hu, who was the bigger threat as far as she was concerned.

The Shasari were circling the team, now, and Hu smiled. A smile that had no amusement in it whatsoever.

"That is a mistake, Colonel," he said, smoothly. "The last one you'll make."

With her gun still trained on him, Mitchell reached up and tapped the side of her temple, activating her radio.

"Jaffa… Korush'nai… Bradio."

Hu frowned, even as Melony, Teyla and Ronon all heard the response from the Jaffa in their earpieces, replying to the warning she'd just given them, and the order for them to get help and not try a rescue on their own.

"Your people are leaving…" he said, his eyes narrowing. "How did you-"

"They are wearing devices to allow them to warn their companions!" Cane shouted, reaching for Teyla, obviously intending to find and remove her radio.

He never finished the move. With a motion that was so quick even Melony – who was expecting something – missed it, Ronon brought his sword around, slicing the leader of the Shasari in two. Blood spurted everywhere, even as he fell, and the other cats all attacked.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Incoming wormhole!" Peter Grodin shouted, barely heard over the sudden alarms that were blaring from their computers.

Elizabeth Weir came out of her office, her expression concerned.

"Who is it?"

Grodin looked down at the terminal, hesitated as he waited for an IDC, and then looked up.

"It's Colonel Mitchell's team – but it's one of the Jaffa's codes."

"What does that mean?" she asked, rhetorically, as she headed for the stairs that led to the Stargate. "Lower the shield…"

"It might not be anything…" Grodin said as he complied.

An instant later he knew he was wrong, however. The Jaffa that had accompanied Mitchell, Teyla and Ronon to the planet emerged from the event horizon, but the gate shut down immediately after they did.

Weir frowned as the tall warriors came over to her.

"Where are the others?"

"We are uncertain," one said. "They left with my Lady to search for humans, were gone for a couple of hours and then she sent us a message to leave and bring help. We must get reinforcements and return there!"

"What kind of trouble did she say was-"

"She did not," he interrupted, nodding to his fellow warrior, who turned on his heel and headed out the door at a fast trot, his staff weapon still in his hand.

"Where-?"

"He goes for reinforcements," the Jaffa answered before she could voice the question. "We must return immediately."

Weir looked over at Grodin, who had joined her – along with several Marines from the security team that had been guarding the gate.

"Call Earth," she told Peter. "We need Teal'c here. Now!"

There was no way she was going to allow a hotheaded group like the Jaffa to go looking for the missing team alone.

Grodin nodded, and ran up the stairs to dial Earth, and Weir turned to the closest Marine – who happened to be Duck.

"Get a rescue team ready to join with a Jaffa team. Full gear, Sergeant."

"Yes, ma'am."

Duck ran out of the room as fast as the Jaffa had, and Weir turned to the messenger.

"We have to wait until Teal'c arrives. Tell me all you know about the planet…"

The Jaffa looked like he was going to argue – he definitely didn't like the plan – but Mitchell had schooled all the Jaffa thoroughly on the chain of command on Atlantis, and had reminded them continuously that Weir was one of the leaders and was to be listened to. He nodded, curtly, and started talking.