"So," Sheppard said, hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels. "You got a name?"

The Prior stood silently, eyes staring blankly ahead through the cell wall.

"I didn't think so. I'm going to go with Larry. Sound good?"

Again the Prior ignored him.

"So, Larry. I hear you've been stealing technology from the wraith."

"To gather knowledge in pursuit of the truth is not theft, but spreading of the word," Larry said vacantly.

"I see. Well, my friends and I think that somehow you and your buddies can control wraith ships. Is that true?"

The Prior clasped his hands in front of him, remaining silent.

"You'd better start talking," Sheppard said threateningly, his voice turning guttural as he took a step forward. "I've been this side of the bars too many times before. I will kill you if you don't tell me something I can use."

"To die," said the Prior, his chin thrust boldly upward, "is not to cease existence. It is to rise up greater than before, to thrive on the promise of ascension as granted by our Creators."

"That's a lie, and you know it. I have half an hour before Atlantis is destroyed. Give me something."

The Prior turned his head sharply, his eyes locked with Sheppard's. "The city of the Ancients must not fall."

Sheppard cocked his head, stepping forward again, so close that he could reach out a hand and grab the Prior's throat if there was no shield covering the spaces between the bars. "Now we're getting somewhere. Why do you want the city?"

But the Prior was silent again.

Sheppard glanced over his shoulder and nodded to the Marines standing on either side of the door. One waved his hand over the panel, allowing Todd to enter, lips bared in a sinister grin.

Sheppard turned back to the Prior. "This is Todd. His ship – one of the ships you and your brainwashed thugs set on a collision course for Atlantis – was destroyed. As you can imagine, he's not very happy that we had to shoot it down. Normally we like to keep Todd on a fairly tight leash around here, but if you don't cooperate…" Sheppard gestured vaguely as Todd stepped closer, leering at the Prior through the cell bars. "Todd might get an unexpected snack break. Tell me, Larry. Have you ever seen a wraith feed on its prey?"

The Prior remained silent, his glassy eyes still expressionless, though there was a hint of tension in his stance. Todd stretched his feeding hand eagerly.

"Call the ships off."

"Such a thing cannot be done without a staff," the Prior said, his eyes locked with Sheppard's again.

Hesitating slightly, Sheppard pursed his lips in displeasure. "Corporal," he said over his shoulder to a Marine by the door, "Get the staff. Todd and I will escort our friend here to the bridge."

The Prior stood at the window of the bridge, flanked by a team of guards and held in place by two more. A Marine entered bearing the Prior's staff, the blue "egg" cracked open.

"The staff is damaged," said Larry, but took it anyway when Todd leaned closer with a menacing growl.

"Ships are in range," said Major Marks. "No indication of weapons power."

Sheppard, watching the three blips on the radar draw closer, nodded to Todd. "Cover him."

The guards yanked the Prior around to face Todd, perpendicular to the window. Todd ripped back his sleeve and placed his hand just above the Prior's chest.

"What is this?" demanded Mr. Woolsey. "Colonel Sheppard, you can't just –"

"Shut up, Woolsey," Sheppard snapped, marching down to the captive Prior. "Todd, if he makes any wrong moves, kill him. Understand?"

"Perfectly," Todd said with an evil grin, his fingertips coming to rest on the Prior's chest.

"Call the ships off," Sheppard demanded. "Now!"

"Twenty minutes to collision," Carter said quietly.

The Prior gripped the staff as if to comply, but as soon as his eyes closed in concentration, they opened again. "I cannot."

"What do you mean you can't?" Sheppard cried.

"The staff is damaged."

"Yes, I know, the scientists broke the egg to see what was inside." The Prior cocked his head in confusion, making Sheppard roll his eyes. "The egg. The blue thing on top."

The Prior merely repeated himself. "The staff is damaged."

Their eyes locked for one steely moment until Sheppard ordered, "Beam Lee and Rodney up. I want them to look at this."

"So, correct me if I'm wrong here," said Sheppard to Lee, Rodney, and Daniel. "The egg thingy doesn't have anything to do with the staff actually working."

"Of course not," McKay snapped. "That wouldn't make any sense at all."

"So why isn't it working?"

"I don't know!"

Daniel frowned, edging closer to look at the staff on the table. "You're sure the Prior isn't just screwing with us? I mean, he could just be stalling."

"No," Rodney shook his head. "Normally I'd be inclined to agree with you, but the power readings are all wrong. Usually when a Prior touches his staff, there's a minute power spike." He held up his tablet computer, a wave pattern displayed. "But it didn't show up."

"Plus," Sheppard added, "you didn't see him when I told him the ships were going to crash into Atlantis. He freaked."

"Freaked?" Daniel asked skeptically.

Sheppard shrugged. "He… well, he kind of cocked his head. Like Teal'c. But less."

"So," Daniel said, "if the staff really is damaged, couldn't we just give him the staff from Area 51?"

Rodney shook his head fervently. "No way. There's a million reasons why that would be completely insane, catastrophic in every sense of the word."

"So can we substitute the control system?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't think so," Rodney said. "Not without damaging the wraith… stuff," he gestured vaguely.

"Dr. McKay is correct," said Todd, prodding at the strands of wraith material with a black, distorted fingernail. "You could not replace the entire contents with duplicates from another staff. That would destroy it, without a doubt. However, if the crystal alone was removed for examination, I believe the filaments might survive."

"Right," McKay said. "So, I'm going to remove the crystal now."

"Be careful," advised Dr. Lee, standing at his side.

"Yes, I know that!" McKay snapped. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he picked up a pair of thin metal tongs. Carefully he pulled up the wraith material bordering one edge of the crystal. Dr. Lee handed him another instrument when he waved his free hand; he pushed another side away from the crystal. Lee stepped forward cautiously, reaching under Rodney's arm to grasp the crystal. Pushing a finger under the slimy layer, he pried the crystal up and out of its hold. Setting the tongs down, he breathed a sigh of relief and sent a contorted half-smile at Dr. Lee. "Thanks."

"I found it!" McKay hollered, running into the bridge. "I found the problem. I know why the Prior can't stop the ships."

"Go ahead," Colonel Caldwell said, his eyes never leaving the bridge window. "The hives are just visible now."

"I was able to pry out the control crystal," McKay said, holding it up. "Larry was right. It was damaged. I think our hypothesis that the wraith material is tapping into the ship's control system is correct. But the crystal is chipped." He held it up, pointing to an infinitesimal flaw in the clear surface. "I'm guessing we accidentally chipped it when we –"

"Dr. McKay," Caldwell snapped. "Can you stop the ships?"

"No. Not with the control crystal. But I got another idea – when Sheppard flew down to M75-771 to pick us up from Agora, the anti-Prior device was interfering with the dart's radio. He couldn't contact us at all. So, I'm thinking if we can expand the range of the device and find just the right frequency, it should disrupt the hive ships' course and stop them entirely. Then you can, you know, shoot them down or whatever it is that you… well… do."

Caldwell smirked. "Good work, Doctor."

Major Marks glanced restlessly from his station. "Sir," he said, scanning the screen as he spoke. "The hives are powering weapons. There's still no life signs aboard; they must be coming on automatically."

Caldwell nodded curtly and activated his radio. "All personnel, return to designated stations and brace for impact. Marks, prepare weapons."

"Done, sir."

"Fire at will; prepare for impact."

The hive ship nearest to the Daedalus opened fire; the exchange of energy bursts struck the Daedalus hull.

A fountain of sparks erupted behind the group of scientists. "What?" Rodney squeaked, glancing feverishly at Colonel Carter and Dr. Lee, both hunched over the anti-Prior device on the table in front of them. "What's happening?"

"Work faster," Carter snapped. She reached across him and connected two cables, hooking the anti-Prior device to a naquadah generator.

"Any time now, Doctors," Caldwell added as he sat and gripped the armrests of his chair.

"It's not ready yet!" McKay snapped. "If we activate the device too quickly it won't work and we'll have to start all over."

"Shields are at 70%," Major Marks announced. "Firing now." Another blow rocked the Daedalus. "Shields at 60%. Two minutes until the hives reach the atmosphere. Sir, if they get that far, the blast radius would destroy Atlantis."

"Daedalus, this is Hammond," the radio crackled. "We've got two of the hives on us; our shields are failing." An explosion echoed through the earpiece. "Shields are down. Repeat, shields are down. We're venting atmosphere!"

"Move to intercept," Caldwell ordered to his men. "Fire all batteries. Do not let that ship go down, airmen!"

The Daedalus moved in between the hive ships and the Hammond, taking the brunt of the blow. The hives, despite their targets' change in position, kept moving towards the planet and farther from the Earth ships. Their weapons grew less accurate, the fleet sill on a collision course for Atlantis.

Colonel Carter raced into the bridge carrying an anti-Prior device, Lee and McKay trailing her bearing generators. "Now!" Carter ordered.

One microscopic second passed; the last wraith blast rocketed past the Daedalus' shields, and the hive ships ceased motion, hovering in space.

The Daedalus and Hammond orbited Atlantis, which was for once quiet as it rode on the gentle waves.

Colonel Carter and Teyla strode into the control room of the city where a number of Atlantis personnel stood. "Well, the hive ships have been sent back, thanks largely to Teyla and Todd's negotiations."

"So he's finally gone?" Woolsey said, his lips tight.

"Well, not exactly," Carter admitted. "Todd requested that he be allowed to stay here on a temporary basis. After his crew being killed and his ship destroyed, I think he wants the Ori gone as much as we do."

Woolsey moved to protest, but instead sighed heavily. "Colonel Sheppard signed off on this, I suppose."

"Yes," she said with an apologetic shrug.

Teyla added, "I am sure Todd will be under careful supervision. But personally, I doubt he would try anything now."

The silence was tense for a moment, but Woolsey admitted begrudgingly, "I suppose Sheppard knows what he's doing."

"So," Carter said, glancing around the room. "If there's nothing else, I'm turning in for the night."

Mr. Woolsey shook his head. "Sheppard's not answering his radio, but I doubt anything requires your immediate attention."

Carter nodded and bade them good night, followed to the living quarters by a number of other tired soldiers.

"Ah! Sam!" Rodney said as he jogged to catch up with her.

"Rodney," she said with a smile. "How are you?"

"Good, very good. Glad to be back here. And you? What with the Hammond on missions, I haven't seen you in what, six months? Everything going well?"

"Yes, actually, it's been great. The Hammond's an amazing ship, just like her namesake." She paused for a moment, a wistful smile surfacing as they came to a halt at Rodney's quarters. "It's been good working with you again, Rodney."

"You too," he said quietly. He turned to enter his quarters, but stopped and spun to face her again. "Just so you know," he began gruffly, hands stuffed in his pockets, "I think it's best that we forget about whatever sexual tension we may have experienced in the past."

Carter scoffed.

"Sam," he said seriously, laying a hand on her shoulder as if he were lecturing a young child. "I'm a happily married man now. I'll admit," he shrugged, "that we've had our moments of potential, and I will always be here for you. But now I think it's best if we leave that all behind." He paused for a moment, scrutinizing her bemused expression.

"I'm sorry if my advances made you uncomfortable," she said, failing to hold back a grin.

"Please, Sam. Let's just put it behind is. Is that all right?"

"Yes, Rodney. I think I'll survive."

"Good." He patted her shoulder awkwardly, then drew his hand back to fidget at his side. "Good."

Sam nodded curtly. "Good night."

"Right," he said quickly, then turned and fled into his quarters.

Sam shook her head slowly. "Rodney, you are a strange, strange man," she said to herself as she continued down the hall.

Sheppard stood on the balcony, leaning against the railing and staring out at the moons hovering against the black sky. His black jacket and radio lay forgotten by the door. When the door slid open and quiet, crisp footsteps sounded, he didn't bother turning around to see who had entered. "Elizabeth used to come out here," he said quietly to his guest. "To think, I guess."

Mr. Woolsey approached calmly, taking his place beside Colonel Sheppard at the railing. "You miss her," he said gently.

Sheppard nodded, his eyes never leaving the horizon. "I never imagined being in her shoes."

Neither spoke for a moment, drinking in the cool, still night air. Woolsey sighed quietly, straightening his deep red tie to occupy his fingers. "I wanted to apologize, Colonel." Sheppard didn't respond, but he continued the plunge. "I know how difficult it is to command this city, and I think I've been harsher than necessary. I've fought your every decision, and… well, I'm sorry. I allowed my formal position and my...well, my fear of being criticized myself, to interfere with my better judgment."

Sheppard still remained quiet until he said suddenly, "I didn't want to come back at first."

"Why did you?"

"Teyla. We got to talking about everyone, what had happened while I was gone. She reminded me that I'm really not the jaded type – I'd thrown away everything I knew and I realized that pretending my years on Atlantis never happened wouldn't make it better." He paused for a shaky exhale, finally turning to face Woolsey. "I know I gave you quite an earful when I left. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Woolsey simply shook his head with a slight smile.

"Why did you come back?" Sheppard asked. "I heard you'd been removed from SGC oversight."

Woolsey glanced down at the ocean below. "When I was relieved of my command, I was subjected to an extensive review of my actions. I lost almost all of the power I had gained within the IOA – I was given minor domestic jobs, my security clearance almost nonexistent. Shen tried to help, but she was tied up at her end in China. I…" He shook his head with a chuckle. "I suppose I missed Atlantis. I've become rather nostalgic in my old age," he joked, but his tone sobered immediately. "I've pulled my last string there is to pull. This will be my last stand as a member of the IOA." When he looked at Sheppard, his eyes were serious but calm. "Good night, Colonel."

And so Sheppard was left alone, back on Elizabeth Weir's balcony. He sighed contentedly, patting the railing as if she was there with him, before turning in for the night.