Elizabeth leaned against the railings; the back of her hands were warmed by the sun. She looked out to the shining ocean whose waves glinted in the morning light. She loved being awake before everyone else and taking the time to collect her thoughts as the day started. There was little wind, but the soft breezes were refreshing and energising. Moments of calm were something that she had grown to treasure especially in a place like Atlantis. She knew it wouldn't last but that didn't matter because she was, in the present moment, at ease.

She was pleased with the progress Rodney and John had made since they'd come back with Lorne's team. Although they had more questions than answers right now. She hoped to have a meeting with Carson today to discuss what further efforts would be required to understand specimens McKay had brought back. The initial reports looked good but further investigation was required.

She hoped the day would be fruitful, she still had a backlog of reports to read, package, and upload ready for Stargate command to receive. Unfortunately, just as she decided to go for an early breakfast, she heard the dulcet tones of the Stargate activating. She ran up the stairs and looked to the nearest technician, Bailey.

'What's happening?'

'The gate just activated and it's unscheduled. It appears to be from P5X-324.'

'That's the gate we've been trying to get through isn't it?'

'Yes, mam.'

'Is anyone trying to get through?'

'No, not currently, just the open aperture at this stage.'

'Right, we need both Sheppard and Lorne's teams up and mobile as soon as possible.'

'We are receiving a message.'

'On screen and play it.'

The screen flickered and displayed a vivid green. Weir looked around.

'Is that it?'

'Yes, it just loops.'

'Sheppard's team is still out, sir. They've checked in and will be back in a matter of hours.'

'Actually, they had to stay longer and haven't checked in to let us know their eta,' said a tech sitting behind Elizabeth.

'How long ago was that?' She asked.

'Five hours ago.'

'So are they late checking in?' Asked Weir.

'Technically, no, but I would have expected something to let us know when they are leaving,' the first tech replied.

'When should they check-in, latest?'

'In an hour, sir.'

'Ok, well, contact Lorne and tell him to get his team together. Sheppard is too far out to help in the interim.'

Elizabeth watched as her crew busied completing her orders. The Stargate shimmered and she got lost in the beauty of it for a moment. Like most technology that existed it had the ability to both give and take life, directly and indirectly, it was something that had to be used responsibly. She didn't want to send Lorne on this mission, she would have preferred Sheppard's team, given what had happened, but she did not want to miss out on any opportunity to gain the upper hand on the Wraith.

She thumbed the intercom looking determined.

'Carson, how quickly can you be ready to go off-world?'

xxx

Sheppard was not sure how much time had passed. He was sure that he was sick of waking up from being unconscious; it was getting really old. The last thing he remembered was his face rushing to the floor. Carefully, Sheppard opened his eyes forming a narrow slit by which he could assess the surroundings. Ronon was to his right, then Rodney, then Teyla. They were all unconscious and tied up by their arms, just like him. Sheppard was pretty sure that they were in one of the old building basements; the black sand was a giveaway. He'd be finding that sand in his boots for weeks if he lived. John noticed a level of technology here that he hadn't seen in the other buildings. For one thing, it was working, and tiny lights flashed here and there. That's one thing he could say for the Ancient's and others like them, they built things to last. They never seemed to consider the trouble they might be leaving behind for the future.

The throbbing pain in his leg had not gone away but was now competing with the cramps in his arms. Now, he balanced on the one good foot he had and tried to take the pressure off his wrists. Beside him, Ronon started to stir. The moment Ronon realised that he was unable to move, he thrashed about testing his bonds and growling.

'They seem real fixed on keeping us where we are, and by they, I mean the wraith,' said Sheppard.

'Where are they?'

'I don't know I haven't seen them yet.'

John listened hoping to hear something, but also hoping not to hear the wraith. Other than the sound of Ronon continually pulling at his bonds there was nothing. He noticed that Teyla was also awake, she was also testing her bonds but quietly unlike Ronon. The real noisy one, Rodney, had yet to awaken. No doubt he would make his feelings known loudly. Sheppard let his gaze linger on Rodney for a few moments before checking the room again.

'The wraith nearby?' Asked Sheppard as he looked at Teyla.

'Yes they are, quite close,' whispered Teyla. 'How long have we been here?'

'I don't know, judging from how thirsty and hungry I am… A while,' replied Sheppard. 'I'm just hoping that they aren't feeling the same. How are you feeling?' Sheppard looked at the cut on Teyla's head.

'It's fine, nothing serious.'

Sheppard raised an eyebrow to let her know he wasn't convinced.

'How is your leg?' Teyla countered.

'It's fine, nothing serious.' Sheppard smiled widely to be extra convincing and Teyla raised an eyebrow and then winced.

'I'm glad everyone is fine and not seriously injured,' said Ronon, his voice dripping with sarcasm, 'now what?'

A silence lulled between the three of them. They all knew that given the current situation they were on the menu. This was not ideal. Nobody wanted to state the obvious but instead quietly observed their surroundings. The pipe in which they had been secured was old and rusty, Ronon was testing its ability to hold his weight. Surprisingly, it fared well. And even if they weren't bound the wraith had weapons, they did not. A spasm of pain shot up John's good leg. He tried to move it around and work out the painful cramping he now had.

A soft groan emanated from McKay. His head rolled uncomfortably, and he seemed to realise that he was tied up. Unlike Sheppard and Teyla's quiet surveillance and Ronon's brute strength, Rodney was quite indignant about being bound.

'Where are we?' Asked Rodney.

'We don't know… Maybe one of the buildings?' Replied Teyla.

McKay struggled with the bonds that held his hands fruitlessly.

'What about the…?' Rodney trailed off as they heard movement from in front of them. The wraith walked into the room. 'Oh… There they are.'

The wraith-in-charge or the wraith Sheppard thought was in charge, sneered nastily at them. He walked around behind them brushing them all with his feeding hand and made them all feel thoroughly violated. Ronon glared which made the wraith smile all the more.

'Well, isn't this nice? We thought you'd all been lost in the explosion and the consequent crash thereafter. But no, here you are,' he walked around Sheppard paying him special attention, 'you don't seem to have so much to say. We couldn't shut you up the last time we met.'

'What?' Said Sheppard.

'Don't play games, or do, I don't care it all ends the same way.'

'I don't remember you, but then you all look the same to me. Why don't you enlighten the group? Or don't, I'll be bored either way.' Sheppard smirked when he saw the irritation on the wraith's face.

'How interesting.' He paused looking Sheppard up and down, deciding whether he was going to explain. 'We found you and your stupid little ship floating around in space. You seemed to be making your way towards a spatial Stargate. You never got there though. You wouldn't tell us where you'd been or where you were going, but it didn't really matter as from that point onwards you were coming with us. You don't remember me, but I remember you. Interesting.'

'How so?' Asked John.

'You've no memory at all?'

'Maybe I do, maybe I don't… what does it matter to you?'

'This planet is death.'

'Er…okay, but what does that have to do with anything?'

'Everything.'

'Y'know this is why I don't answer questions, but I haven't a clue what you are talking about. Make some sense and you might get an answer.'

'You stole a dart, scooped up your friends and ran. Do you remember why?'

'I guessed that much, but no, I don't know why. I could guess again like it was that or die?'

'Yes. Do you remember how you managed that escape?'

Sheppard frowned because try as he might, he could not recall what had happened.

'No.'

'You let us out,' said Ronon.

'You remember?' Asked John.

'Not much, but I do remember him coming to the cell and letting us out. The guards were all dead, we had a clear path,' replied Ronon.

They all looked at the wraith in disbelief.

'Why would you do that?' Asked Rodney.

'A question you might want to ponder,' the wraith answered cryptically.

'What do we have that you need?' Asked Sheppard.

'Power.'

They stayed silent for a moment and exchanged a few confused glances. What could we possibly have that he wants? John wondered. They all seemed to be in the same boat, relatively speaking. Was he referring to Atlantis? No, John didn't think so. John felt the connection click into place or at least the beginning of one.

'This planet is death?' John asked aloud, but not waiting for an answer, 'All those downed ships… we can't leave here. That still doesn't explain why you helped us.'

'There must be a weapon,' stated Rodney.

The wraith turned and smiled he seemed pleased with Rodney. This had always been Rodney's downfall: he'd give the information, but never consider whether he should.

'This planet fell thousands of years ago, but the civilisation continues to live underground. We know this because those left on the surface went to live elsewhere. Those underground dwellers created a devastating weapon that made any ship unfortunate enough to approach inert. If you think the graveyard here is bad you should see the desolation that orbits this planet. I know you humans value life, well human life, but you can't comprehend thousands and thousands of years' worth of decaying civilisations floating in orbit,' he paused looking around at each one of them, 'And whatever powers that weapon is something worth having… Well, the weapon alone is worth possessing.'

'If all that is true, you'd be pretty stupid to approach the planet,' commented Sheppard. 'And yet you did? Why?'

'If I were in your position,' said the wraith, 'I'd think the same, but luckily for you, I'm aware of other information. You came to our ship after we captured you. I recognised you from a previous encounter. Do you remember that one at least?'

'Are you going to give us a clue? A tiny hint? Charades is not my best party game, but I'll give it a go if it helps,' Sheppard smiled. He would've shrugged, but he was still tied up.

'You were not awake, as I recall, your friends fought for you,' said the wraith. He crouched near John, turning his back to his colleagues. 'Does that help?'

'Which time,' asked Ronon. Sheppard gave him an annoyed look.

'You are making it sound like that happens a lot,' said Sheppard.

'It happens enough that I don't know which time he's talking about,' replied Ronon with a glint in his eye.

'Don't listen to him,' said Sheppard to the wraith, 'Just give us another hint.'

'Your friend here killed a wraith by himself,' he pointed to McKay, who looked just as surprised as the rest of the group.

'Me?' Squeaked McKay.

'Yes.'

'I haven't killed any wraith…' Rodney trailed off as he recalled the desperate fight for his life where he did indeed kill a wraith. 'Oh… that time. He means P5X-324. You were one of the wraiths there?'

'Yes, I was. We entered by the Stargate just like you did, but that's closed now. We didn't know the first time where we were going only that it was new. Once it became apparent where we'd been, we couldn't go back. It seemed fortuitous that our paths intertwined again.'

Sheppard noticed as the wraith spoke, Rodney began staring intently at their surroundings. He seemed excited about something. John hoped McKay could manage to keep whatever it was under his hat. An uneasy feeling started to well in Sheppard's gut and he pushed that thought away. He hoped he was wrong.

'Okay, so you recognised us, and…?' Asked Sheppard.

'And… I recognised your worth,' he sneered as he said worth.

'I'm still not understanding you,' Sheppard shook his head. 'But I guess it's hard to think when you are bound.'

'You want me to take off your binds?'

'Well, yes,' said Sheppard surprised.

The wraith indicated for the other two wraiths to cut them down. They left their hands bound and instead, linked them in a chain.

'Sit,' said the wraith-in-charge and they sat. 'We are going to explore this place together.'

'Work together?'

'No, what a ridiculous thought…' Said the wraith. 'But you are going to help me find that weapon.'

'How do you expect us to do that?' Asked Teyla.

'I don't expect you to do anything,' the wraith looked at Rodney. 'He, on the other hand, I expect to find an underground city.'

'Oh, and what's so special about him exactly?' Asked Sheppard. There was a protective bite to Sheppard's voice and for a tiny moment, he let his guard down.

'You haven't made the connection yet, but you will. He will help or else…' said the wraith.

'I'm not helping you do anything,' said Rodney without thinking. The rest of the team tensed. Oh McKay, why don't you know when to keep your mouth shut.

The wraith didn't say a word but smiled in the way that all wraith smile when they're about to do something horrifically violent. Sheppard shifted uncomfortably in trying to hide the trepidation he felt inside. He grabbed McKay by the arm and pulled him up onto his feet. And led him out of the room. The other two wraiths stayed where they were, guns trained upon the team.

Cold sweat beaded on Sheppard's brow and the trepidation he'd tried to push away flooded back in with fear and terror.

'Hey!' Shouted Sheppard, 'He didn't mean it, he'll comply…. Hey, he'll do what I tell him!'

Teyla gave him a worried look. Then the screaming started.

Sheppard blasted out a series of swear words and threats that he was in no way capable of performing.

Wraith-in-charge came back in without Rodney and blood on his hands. Sheppard started to shake with rage.

'Is that really necessary?' Asked Sheppard.

'I think you know it is, after all, you want to play the game, so we are playing it.' The wraith gestured towards Teyla, then Ronon. 'Where we go from here is up to you, Sheppard.'

'What is it you want us to do?'

'I want you to find the entrance to the underground, or if not an entrance the best way to break in.'

'What makes you think after all this time you can find it or do any better than anyone else?' Asked Sheppard.

'I don't, but there is nothing else to do but try. I can eat you now or I can eat you later, it's up to you.'

Sheppard nodded and caught the eye of his friends, who then also nodded.

'Yeah, I mean I'm all for exploring, seems like the best use of our time,' suggested Sheppard nodding at his friends. They nodded back slower but getting the gist of what Sheppard was suggesting. They needed time to find a way to escape and going along with the wraiths crazy plan was the best thing to do.

The wraith widened his smile, and not for the first time Sheppard wondered, how they didn't bite their own lips. He disappeared and return with Rodney, who now had an open wound on one arm and a black eye. Nothing lethal, Sheppard noted. The wraith had created terror and noise knowing how it would affect the rest of the team. John imagined killing the wraith and how that would feel, before getting up. Sheppard had almost forgotten the injured leg, it had become a dull ache, but moving had reignited it. He sucked in air and groaned. Ronon caught John's elbow with his tied hands and stopped him from hitting the deck. John swallowed back nausea.

'Thanks.'

'He needs medical attention,' said Teyla to the wraith-in-charge.

'Which one?'

'Both,' said Teyla tersely.

The wraith stared at Teyla for a few moments before gathering the items he'd taken from the team when they were unconscious. Some of those items, John was sure, hadn't come down with them to the planet. Had the wraith brought them from his own ship? What an odd thing to do. Still going to kill him though, John thought. The wraith identified a small medkit and chucked it at Teyla.

'You administer what you think they need,' said the wraith.

Teyla struggled with her hands being bound but took out a bandage and painkillers. She also took out the broad-spectrum antibiotics. Turning to John she injected him with both and for a short moment, he enjoyed the feeling of the urgent throbbing dialling down to a less insistent level of fuck you. She then tried to bandage his leg, it was comical to watch, but not effective. Teyla gave him an apologetic look.

'Maybe, we should leave that bit?' Said John.

She nodded and moved over to Rodney. He was a much easier fix, though he winced and hissed like she was scalding him. She turned back to John and tried to give him the painkillers to hold on to. The wraith took it from her hand and pocketed it. The look Teyla gave him could've wilted flowers.

…

After a few hours of walking, seemingly directionless, in the dark uneven ground; Sheppard was ready for sleep. Not food, though he was hungry, or water, though he was thirsty. Just the peaceful oblivion of sleep. Of course, wraith didn't sleep or at least when they did sleep it was for a literal age. John had a hard time imagining a wraith tucked up in bed with pyjamas on. He giggled a little and was aware he sounded slightly mental. The wraith had allowed Teyla to give him more painkillers and they'd run out hours ago. John honestly thought the pain was the only thing keeping him awake. Still, the sun was rising, and the light lit up the horizon with a blue haze. The blue hue gave the night-time an eerie ethereal feel. He knew they were heading towards the hills he'd seen in the distance, they seemed much smaller far away. It was at the base of one of the foothills that John first saw the tunnel. It was hard to see, as it was black on black, but the nature of the architecture around the opening was awfully familiar. He tried to get Rodney's attention which was hard with his hands bound and walking in single file. They were also forbidden from talking. There was little hope the wraith stopping to catch their breath.

After twenty minutes or so trying to get Rodney's attention, the wraith decided to stop. The head wraith grabbed John by the arm and dragged him to the back of the line facing Rodney.

'Whatever it is you are trying to tell him get on and do it,' the wraith said impatiently.

John looked surprised, he thought he had been subtle, clearly not as much as he had thought. He gave the wraith a quizzical look.

'McKay, I was thinking does the architecture look familiar to you?' Asked Sheppard.

Rodney looked up and squinted at the distant tunnel mouth.

'I'm not sure,' he said, 'it is reminiscent of something we saw recently. I'd have to get closer and have a better look to be sure.'

John nodded but the excitement in Rodney's eyes told him everything he needed to know. Sheppard was sure this was like Miana's world or the drowned remnant world as he called it. The wraith tolerated no further conversation and they were pushed along towards the base of the mountains.

When they reached their destination the wraith ordered them to sit down next. They then proceeded to communicate quietly and occasionally look round at the humans. John felt exhausted and kept slipping into microsleeps. He glanced at Rodney who was watching him quite intently. Sheppard smiled hoping to reassure, but it was premature.

The wraith in charge walked up to John and unceremoniously placed his feeding hand on John's chest. The pain was immediate, and Sheppard was almost relieved but that didn't stop him fighting, as pointless as it was. Once again, the darkness took him.

xxx

When the wraith started feeding on John, Rodney immediately threw himself at the pair. He only got a few footsteps before another wraith backhanded him and he fell back onto the floor. The blow jarred his teeth and he bit his tongue, the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. The wraith that was feeding on John stopped and turned suddenly on the wraith that hit Rodney. Rodney only had eyes for John, and it pained him greatly to see the man in front of him aged 20 years or so. The wraith's started to hiss at one another and the wraith that had fed, now fed on his comrade. The lesser wraith flailed and hissed, and then slowly withered away in front of the group. The now, well-fed wraith-in-charge, turned back to John and smiled.

'Well… I guess you earnt a reprieve,' and he placed his feeding hand back on John. Life started to flow back into John and slowly he regained consciousness. Sheppard looked surprised, and then he looked confused. 'How is your leg?'

Sheppard reached down and felt his leg tentatively and then, with some disbelief, he pressed harder and examined further.

'Better?' Asked the wraith.

'Yes, much better… Why would you do that?' Asked John.

'I prefer my food walking and talking, it's fresher that way,' the wraith then pulled John up to standing to test the weight on his healed foot. Sheppard slowly tested the healed limb but still flinched slightly. 'Oh well, not quite perfect but better than it was yes?'

McKay watched John's face intently and he seemed to be going through several emotions. But there was something else, Sheppard seemed to be aware of something that McKay wasn't, he hoped it wasn't a bad thing. McKay noticed that John watched everything the wraith did from this point on. McKay also couldn't help noticing that there were only two wraiths left. The survivor didn't seem to mind that their commander just ate one of them for lunch. Rodney looked down his feet thought about the last thing he ate, and his stomach rumbled loudly. Teyla looked at him and Rodney looked away embarrassed.

'Now, we can all explore further. After you Sheppard…' The wraith gestured to the tunnel.

'Not put a downer on things, or to seem ungrateful, but light might be an issue,' said Sheppard.

The wraith threw a couple of devices at Sheppard's feet. He picked them both up and threw one at Ronon. Ronon seemed to know exactly what to do with them. He switched it on, and light glowed out of one end. Sheppard copied and did the same on his. They both pointed them into the cave mouth the wraith gestured that they should move in.

McKay looked around and what he suspected from afar turned out to be correct up close. The carvings and etchings in stone looked just like the Miana's world. Rodney felt an excitement in the pit of his gut, he knew he was looking at something extraordinary. This was much older than he had seen before. As he walked through the entrance his head spun and he stepped into something else.

The residual memories from his previous interaction with the entity, which had been dormant up till now, reared up. And although he was aware of John and the others, the darkness and danger from the wraith, he was also swept away with the beauty of what he saw. Although this part of the tunnel had collapsed it had previously been a meticulously hewn rock face. He saw the collapse of the future and the sublime architecture of the past, this entrance had once been the foyer to an amazing community area. It seemed to him that this mountain had once been hollow, which explained how up until now, it had been extremely difficult to enter the underground. A collapse had opened it up.

'You all right there, McKay?' Asked Sheppard.

'Err, yes, good thank you,' replied McKay. He really didn't want the wraith to know what was going on in his mind.

Sheppard raised an eyebrow but said nothing else.

'I'm curious,' said Sheppard, 'just exactly how do you think we are going to make our way through a collapsed mountain?'

'This is not the only entrance. There are many along the way; we will simply use another.'

'How do you know, I mean I've never been here before and I'm pretty sure you haven't, how can you know?' Asked Sheppard.

'It showed me,' replied the wraith.

The Atlantis team exchanged weighty glances with each other. McKay didn't think the entity would show the wraith the way.

'You don't actually know, you're winging it. I didn't see any other entrances, and I'm sure you didn't see any other entrances.' Sheppard smirked in a way that immediately annoyed the wraith. Rodney didn't think that was such a great idea.

'Well, if that's the case you'd better start digging through the rubble,' said the wraith. The wraith put his hand on his weapon and John stopped smirking.

'McKay? Where should we start?' asked Sheppard.

McKay blinked, he had no idea. But then the memories flashed before him and he saw the place as it used to be. There was a great Plaza and around the edges were exits to various other areas. There was once a walkway above with hanging plants and water very similar to what they had seen inside. Logically he knew they had to go down so he looked for anything in the memory that indicated they might be able to find a 'down'. He knew that if they could find the entity it would help them against the wraith. He had to hope that he could do that before the wraith decided that they were hungry again. It seemed reasonable to assume that the water features had to go somewhere and that meant some sort of underground pipe system. Maybe.

'We could start over here, we might be able to find something that leads to… something else,' replied McKay.

'Well, that's specific, but it's a beginning. Let's get started,' said Sheppard. He gave Rodney a look that said, we are going to get out of here, but I have no idea how we going to do it. McKay wished he had that confidence, but he wasn't feeling it. Ronon seemed most displeased with picking up rocks and putting them down again. He did so with renewed aggression and McKay could tell he wanted to throw them at the wraith. Teyla silently watched everything wraith did, Rodney had seen her do this before, where she pretended to be weaker than she was. In reality, she was surveilling them and planning her escape.

McKay watched Sheppard struggle with every step, despite the wraith's healing, his foot was still troubling him. Rodney walked over to where Sheppard was working and tried to help with the lifting. All in all, Rodney always tried to avoid this sort of work it was not something in which he excelled. He was rewarded, however, with a look of gratitude from John, which warmed him to his core. McKay tried not to let his mind drift back to his quarters, but frankly, that is exactly where he'd rather be. John must have caught this thought crossed his face because he smiled and there was one of those long moments, which was broken by Ronon hurling a massive rock.

It took about four hours them to clear the rubble surrounding what Rodney hoped would be a type of underground. They found a grating of sorts which had shielded the hole from being filled with rubble. The wraith came over to investigate and waited as Ronon prised the grating away from the ground. And while the wraith was distracted by the activity John indicated that they should run away. Teyla and Ronon started to edge away but quickly realised that Sheppard did not intend to run with them. This started a furious battle of silence and glares in which the others, including Rodney, indicated they were not leaving John. He insisted they should and stop being stupid.

The argument became a moot point when the wraith turned around and pointed at the hole in the ground.

'Get in,' The wraith indicated that Ronon should climb down first. There looked to be some sort of safety handholds in place. Ronon furrowed his brow and looked to Sheppard before making any move whatsoever. Sheppard nodded and the wraith seemed displeased at the show of loyalty on Ronon's part. So, he, of course, shoved Ronon harshly. The guttural growl that Ronon produced made the hairs on the back of McKay's neck stand up. Ronon slowly turned and made his way down the entrance.

'You next,' the wraith indicated Rodney. McKay also frowned but unlike Ronon let out a high-pitched squeak that really didn't feel as manly. He walked over to the hole and his gut flipped in fear. Reaching down he grabbed a handhold and started to descend. The handrails were almost the same as the ones he and John had used in the secret city. It made him uneasy, as his previous experience had been trying to say the least. Rodney had been so obsessed with getting back to the entity that he had not processed the ordeal he'd had to go through. He broke out into a prickly, cold sweat that made his skin clammy. He would have to find some way to let Sheppard and the others know where they were. Luckily, the descent did not last very long, in fact, Rodney judged that it had only been ten metres. The bottom was pitch black save for Ronan's light, which Dex was shining around and examining his surroundings.

There had been water here once the dusty blue algae was evidence of that but now the area was dry. The underneath was a service tunnel, the water was directed by viaducts into a larger stream. Well, when there was water. Even here the architectural details like small patterned tiles were pretty to look at. The only directions were left or right and he knew he would be asked to pick one. Based on what was in front of him he had no idea which way to go, so he would have to guess. It was not ideal, but then nothing about the situation was ideal.

The extreme exhaustion, dehydration and hunger started to take its toll on the team. All Rodney could think about was food. He'd started to stumble as he walked, and the wraith pushed him harshly each time he fell. The point of that seemed utterly futile and made him cross for a few moments. His rage did not last long as it was too tiring to stay angry. If Teyla and Ronon were tired, they barely showed it. John tried not to show it, but he was also tripping and struggling on his wounded leg.

The wraith-in-charge grabbed Rodney's arm and the fingertips dug in and pinched. That was going to bruise.

'Where do we go now?' The wraith pointed at the crossroads they'd reached. Rodney had barely noticed. He blinked tiredly and tried to see what direction might be best suited. On the wall in front of him, there were tiles, one way was red and yellow tiles, the other was blue and green. They'd come from a direction with purple and mauve tiles. Rodney lifted his arm and pointed at the green, it was as good a guess as any. The wraith peered down the path and indicated to Ronon to start walking. Ronon did so, but not straight away, he waited just long enough for the wraith to start getting annoyed. McKay smiled as he saw John smirk at Ronon's belligerence.

They walked for another hour or so, but it was hard for Rodney to say exactly how long it was. His mouth was so dry he'd forgotten all about being hungry. His head pounded with dehydration. The air down here felt humid compared to the black, dry dustiness of above. They had been gradually heading downwards at least. The twists and turns they'd made in this maze were so complicated he was sure even John would not remember how to get back. Where he could, he'd followed green, but he was starting to hallucinate flashing lights now and could barely tell what was what. Must be the thirst, he thought.

'Sheppard!' shouted Ronon from ahead. Everyone perked up and moved forward quickly.

They'd reached the end of the pipe network and breached a larger area. The wraith stepped through and seemed pleased with where they were. Rodney jogged a little to catch up.

It was an oasis. A cave bound one for sure, but a beautiful oasis full of trees, plants and small animals. Rodney could hear running water and his mouth seemed to twitch in response.

'Drink then, ' the wraith pointed to where the water was coming from and they all drank.

'Slowly, don't shock your stomach,' said John as Rodney gulped. Rodney nodded and slowed down.

They sat for a good ten minutes before wraith-in-charge started barking orders again. He didn't ask Rodney where to go but instead started to carve a path through the trees with Ronon. McKay's shoulders sank as he realised that was all the rest they were going to receive. He followed to catch up with John and was glad to feel the bounce of soft moss beneath his step. Much nicer than trudging on hard, unyielding stone. As he took the last few steps to Sheppard, he felt a spiderweb fall across his face. He wiped it off and looked at his hand, it was a blackish green and not a web but a thin strand running from the trees above him.

John followed his gaze and looked upward.

'You see a bird or something?'

Rodney looked down at the ground slowly and began to shake. The memories of being underground hit him with a vengeance. The memory was visceral, the smell, the dank and dark, the crunch of the bones beneath his feet. He felt the bile rising in his throat. There was no doubt left in his mind now, they were wherever the entity resided. The vision he'd seen before, a memory of the entity. He looked ahead and saw that the trees got thicker and the area darker.

'McKay, you all right?' asked Sheppard. Before John could move Rodney grabbed his hand.

'Don't move,' McKay hissed. Sheppard raised a tired eyebrow instead of asking another question.

'Sarlacc.'