A/N: Change in POV. This chapter is almost solely the SGA team. If anyone is curious about what these people look like (they're all canon characters), just Google: 'Stargate Atlantis insert-character's-name' and you get images, wiki pages, etc. But I try to write my crossover fics so that someone one familiar with one fandom can still follow along easily. Still, if anyone has any questions, please ask me. I love explaining things. ^_^

Chapter summary: In which Dr. Elizabeth Weir is faced with a daunting task ahead of her, an injury on her watch, and the realization that trust isn't always a prerequisite to getting help.

3: Direct Contact

"Dr. Weir."

Elizabeth twitched, jolted from her intense study of their latest guest. She reached up and tapped her earpiece radio. "I'm here, Peter," she said. "Go ahead."

"I've figured out a way to track the entity," Dr. Peter Grodin said. She could hear the excitement in his voice. "It looks like it's focusing on the naquadah generators."

That wasn't the best news she'd had all night, but it was better than all the nothing they had before. "Thank you. I'll be right there," she said.

"Wait!" the person on the hospital bed pleaded. "You must release us. We can help subdue to the Erebus. Let us help."

Her people were in danger in unfamiliar territory and their enemy was something they knew nothing about or had any idea how to fight. She shouldn't wait. But if this person could help them control the shadow creature and keep her people safe, then it was worth considering.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked, turning back to face the stranger. "I don't even know who you are or where you came from."

"His name's Timaeus."

Elizabeth looked at Jinto still sitting close to his father in surprise. "Timaeus?" she said.

Coincidence?

"The boy speaks truly," Timaeus said. "We were asked to aid in the containment of the Erebus as my people are familiar with their form of energy and molecular manipulation. We offered to keep it calm while under observation."

Which, however outlandish, matched up roughly with what Dr. Rodney McKay had told her earlier. The Ancients had been using the shadow entity to study Ascension by capturing it and holding it in the cylindrical containment device for observation. If Rodney's speculations were to be trusted at face value, then that meant it was possible something or someone had been helping the Ancients figure out how to Ascend in the first place.

But it did not explain Timaeus' role in all this. If he, and whoever else constituted the 'us' he kept referring to, were only present to keep the entity calm, then why imprison the creature in the first place? That aside, how had Timaeus gotten here at all? It had been 10,000 years since the Ancients abandoned the city to return to Earth after they lost the war with the Wraith. Where did Timaeus come from?

"I'll think about it," she said.

That was the best she could offer given what she knew at the moment. She may be the leader of the Atlantis Expedition, but she was not the only one involved in this mess. She would need to confer with her advisors and colleagues on the best course of action first.

It seemed Timaeus understood because, although his face revealed his disappointment, he allowed himself to relax back onto the bed. That was a point in his favor.

"Jinto?" she said, drawing the Athosian boy's attention. "Would you and your father mind keeping Timaeus company until I come back?"

The boy's smile was genuine as he nodded excitedly. Outwardly, she smiled and nodded to both Jinto and his father Halling gratefully. Inwardly, she winced. The boy already appeared to be bonding with Timaeus. That could go any number of ways, good or bad. She fervently hoped for the good.

"Dr. Beckett," she called, waving the Scottsman over as she and Maj. Sheppard left the makeshift hospital and headed for the control room and Stargate Operations.

Dr. Carson Beckett was a friendly man with a heart of gold, but he was also a doctor who held the privacy of his patients and his integrity in high regard. Elizabeth could trust him and, who knows, another opinion might be the best thing she could get right now. She already knew Maj. Sheppard's stance on the situation.

She glanced at the young man currently acting as the senior military officer of her expedition after the untimely death of Col. Sumner at the hands of the Wraith several days ago.

Had it only been a few days? So much had happened since she and her expedition of military officers and civilians stepped through the Stargate from Earth to Atlantis with nothing but what they brought with them and the cold, hard knowledge that they may never return home. Her people were so incredibly brave.

Then her team was forced to relocate the surviving Athosians from their destroyed homeworld to Atlantis and she had twice as many people to look after and the worry of the lack of resources to handle the growth hung over her head. She already had assigned a handful of people she could spare to begin taking note of any worlds listed in the city's archives which could be a new home for the Athosian people.

The Athosian leader Teyla Emmagan was a valuable ally and her diplomatic skills were highly desired, but Elizabeth didn't fool herself. Teyla's ultimate loyalty was to her own people. Elizabeth couldn't fault the leader for that.

Although Teyla and many of her comrades were warriors, the Athosian people as a whole were an agrarian society. They thrived under the open sky, in the forests, and working the fields. Elizabeth could see the lingering fear in the Athosians' eyes whenever they looked out the windows of the great Ancient city of Atlantis and saw only ocean as far as the eye could see.

"Dr. Weir," Carson said, pulling Elizabeth from her sinking thoughts and back to the present.

"What can you tell me, Doctor?" she asked, looking at her friend as she continued walking to Stargate Operations.

"Not much unfortunately," Carson said, falling into step next to her. "I can confirm that, aside from the superficial burns and severe exhaustion, he appears to be in perfect health."

"Appears to be?" Elizabeth said, frowning.

Carson shook his head. "I was only able to do a quick exam after making sure Jinto was alright," he said. "But I can say that I'm fairly certain at this point that very little could physically harm him."

"What do you mean by that?" Sheppard said, not liking the sound of the medical doctor's declaration in the slightest.

"Put it this way," Carson said, coming to a stop just short of the stairs leading to Stargate Operations. "When I tried to draw some blood to run some tests, the needle didn't pierce the skin. It bent."

Elizabeth stilled, staring at her friend in open mouthed shock. "It bent?" she repeated, not quite believing her own ears.

"It did," the doctor confirmed. "I wouldn't go so far as to saw our new guest is impervious, but his skin does appear to be incredibly resistant to piercing damage."

Elizabeth drew a deep breath and deliberately set the new revelation aside in favor of dealing with the problem at hand. "Thank you Carson," she said. "Let me know if there's any changes."

"Aye." With a respectful nod, the doctor returned to the medical facility leaving Elizabeth and Sheppard alone.

"Well that's new," the major said, accompanying her up the steps.

She hummed in agreement. When she arrived at Stargate Operations, she moved across the mezzanine to where Dr. Peter Grodin sat staring fixedly at his computer. Displayed on the screen was a depiction of a section of Atlantis. The spinning, white circles she'd come to recognize as her expedition's naquadah generators were clearly visible on the map, as was a reddish blob moving across the map.

"What is that?" she asked.

Grodin jumped in surprise and she offered a smile of apology which he returned. "I believe that's the entity," he answered, turning back to the screen with focused interest. "I was able to calibrate the city's internal sensors to pick up its frequency."

"It looks like its heading to the generators," Sheppard said, narrowing his eyes at the dark red blob.

"It is." Adjusting his position in his chair, Grodin typed several quick commands into his laptop. "Based on what we know so far, we can assume the entity is feeding off the energy from the naquadah generators. I've been able to anticipate which generator its heading for and shut it down remotely."

"So it's running in circles," the major commented, pursing his lips impressed. "Nice."

"Yes, let's just hope we're not making it mad," Elizabeth muttered. She tapped her radio earpiece. "Rodney, can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"It looks like the entity is heading for the generator closest to your position," she said, double checking the red blob's position on Grodin's map. "We're going to be shutting the generator down to redirect it away from you."

"That would be much appreciated."

She and Sheppard shared a look of amusement. "Is that fear I hear in you voice?" she teased.

"Let's not do this again," she heard the scientist drone. "We're all adults here."

"Are we?"

"I heard that, major," McKay snapped.

Still sitting in his chair, Grodin had to cover his mouth to smother his snickers. Elizabeth smirked.

"Cutting power in three," Grodin began, his finger hovering over the Enter key, "two, one."

He hit the key and the spinning white circle of the generator closest to the red blob vanished. The three friends stared at the screen, watching as the blob paused as if in confusion before shifting and moving towards another generator further away.

Elizabeth sighed. This was only a temporary fix. They couldn't keep this up forever. One way or another, they had to get the entity out of the city. It wasn't hurting anyone yet but there was always the chance that it could start. She tapped her radio again.

"Rodney, what if we shut down all of the generators?" she asked, chewing on the idea.

"I would highly advise against it," the scientist said.

Next to her, Sheppard straightened. "Why?" he asked.

"It's a creature of energy, major," Rodney said in a tone that made it easy for Elizabeth to imagine the mousy man emphasizing his words with his hands. "It is energy, it feeds on energy. It's probably responsible for some of the system malfunctions we've been experiencing."

"What's that have to do with turning off the generators?" Sheppard pressed.

"I'm getting to that. The generators are currently the entity's sole source of food. You take that away and it'll be forced to turn to something else."

Elizabeth did not like the sound of that. "Like what?"

"Without an obvious source of energy, humans are the next best bet," McKay said and yes, Elizabeth definitely didn't like where this was going. "Now, granted, humans don't give off anywhere near the same amount of energy as a naquadah generator does but if this thing has been imprisoned for at least 10,000 years? Then that means it was starving all that time and its hungry."

"You're saying it's intelligent?" Elizabeth gasped, folding her arms as she processed the information.

"Not like you and me, but sentient, yes," McKay confirmed.

"Can we reason with it then?"

"About as well as you could reason with a shark maybe," McKay snarked. "Look, if it's as sentient as I think it is, then its aware that it was imprisoned. During that time, it couldn't eat. I don't know about you, but going a long time without food and suddenly finding a food source nearby and then having it constantly moving away from it?"

"I'd be mad," Sheppard said darkly.

"So would I, to be honest," Grodin added, looking up at her with a shy smile on his tan face. "I can get pretty hangry sometimes."

"You're not alone," the major reassured the scientist.

Elizabeth kept her mouth shut. She knew she had her weaknesses too but there was no need to voice them. Still.

"Jinto's friend is awake," she said. "He says his name's Timaeus."

"Oh, that's not creepy at all."

"You're telling me," Elizabeth said. She noticed the odd looks Sheppard and Grodin were giving her and waved to indicate she'd explain later. "He says he can help calm the entity. He said that's why he was here to begin with."

"Actually, he said 'we,'" Sheppard corrected her. "He always referred to himself in the plural."

"Hm. That could be a difference in language-"

"Or there're more people out there we don't know about," the major countered.

"There's no one else in the lab, major," the scientist insisted. "Just me and my assistants. Which brings to mind, I think I might have a way to catch the entity."

Finally, some good news. "I'm all ears," Elizabeth said, propping her hands on her hips.

"Apparently, the containment device is capable of not only capturing the entity but luring it as well. It has a setting that gives off a unique energy signature. There's just one catch."

"Of course there is," she tried not the groan, rubbing her forehead to stem the burgeoning headache. "What is it?"

"Someone has to actually be here to activate the controls that will capture the entity."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and breathed. One of her people would have to endanger themselves in order to do this.

Actually, "Rodney, I have a quick question."

"I'm listening."

"In the lab notes you founds, did the Ancients mention anything about someone else helping with the experiments with the entity?" She noticed the way Sheppard's eyebrows climbed to his hairline and Grodin frowned, unsure what he was missing.

"Yes, now that you mention it," McKay answered. "They didn't mention any names, but from what I understand, the Ancient were having trouble keeping the entity calm during the observation before and during the study so they called in three assistants. I haven't finished translating the rest of the notes, but I that's the gist of it."

"Assistants?" Elizabeth asked. "Plural?"

"Yes. Uh, it said three people. Why?"

"You think this Timaeus is saying 'we' because he means himself and the two others," Grodin said.

Elizabeth nodded. "I do."

"Oh yes, that's ironic. How much you want to bet the other two are Critias and Hermocrates," McKay drawling sarcastically.

"Am I missing something here?" Sheppard asked.

Elizabeth huffed a laugh. "Much of what we know about Atlantis in mythology comes from Plato. He wrote about it in two works called the Timaeus and the Critias. The third, the Hermocrates, was mentioned in the previous works, but it was either never written or never found and published."

The major tilted his chin down and eyed her, unimpressed. "Plato."

"Um, Dr. Weir?" Grodin said, the concern in his voice catching both hers and Sheppard's attention. "I think you should look at this."

Stepping closer, Elizabeth looked at the map on Grodin's computer screen and noticed the two small white dots in the hallway the red blob was currently moving through. "Are those our people?"

Instead of answering directly, Grodin grabbed his own handheld radio and pressed the call button. "Lt. Ford," he said urgently. "The entity is currently closing in on your position. You might want to find somewhere else to be for a while."

"Acknowledged," the young officer replied.

"Was that Lt. Ford?" McKay said over Elizabeth's radio.

"Yes it was, Rodney. Hold on a second," she said. "Grodin, why is it moving that way? None of the generators are in that direction."

"I'm not sure," the scientist said.

Peter Grodin's worried gaze followed the progression of the two dots representing First Lieutenant Aiden Ford and Sergeant James Stackhouse. The dots stopped at the line indicating a doorway and Grodin frowned.

"Hey," Lt. Ford's voice came over the radio. "Did you close the doors?"

Oh god.

"No, we didn't," Elizabeth replied, feeling her heart begin to pound as she watched the red blob move ever closer to her people.

"It's probably the entity affecting the city," McKay said. "An energy draining thing like that could easily wreak havoc on the Ancient's advanced systems."

"Lieutenant," Sheppard said sharply, placing a hand on the table Grodin's computer rested on and leaning over so he hovered by the scientist's shoulder.

"Yes sir."

"There's a room back near where you were standing before," the major said. "Head back there and hunker down."

"Yes sir."

Together, Elizabeth, Sheppard, and Grodin watched as Lt. Ford and Sgt. Stackhouse hurried back down the hall towards the door and, incidentally, closer to the entity. They didn't leave the hallway.

"Ford?"

"It won't open, sir," the lieutenant said.

"Damn!" Sheppard cursed. "McKay! Ideas."

"Right. Okay, um. Lieutenant, is there a locking mechanism by the door?" McKay asked.

"There is, yes," Ford replied.

"Good. Open it and tell me what you see."

The entity moved closer.

"There're three crystal things in slots," Ford said. "They're all in a line."

"Try short-circuiting it," Grodin suggested.

"How?"

"Take out the middle crystal and move the top one to the middle slot and tell me what happens," McKay instructed.

The seconds of silence as the lieutenant followed Rodney's instructions were painful. And the red blob representing the entity was constantly moving steadily closer to their position.

"Alright," Ford's voice said suddenly. "Did it. Nothing happened."

"Okay, um."

Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat when the red blob rounded the corner of the digital hallway and began advancing on Ford and Stackhouse.

"Okay, try bridging the first two crystals with the third one," McKay said.

"Sir?"

That wasn't Ford. "Sgt. Stackhouse?" Elizabeth called.

The answer she got wasn't words. It was screams. One scream. Like a man burning alive. It must have only lasted a few seconds, but to her, it would last forever. She would hear that scream in her nightmares for years to come. Dear god, Aiden was so young.

Then it was silent.

"Lt. Ford," she called. No reply. "Lt. Ford, if you can hear me, please respond." Nothing. "Sgt. Stackhouse."

The radio buzzed. "Here ma'am," the sergeant replied, sounding out of breath. "Lt. Ford's unconscious. The entity got him. I don't know what it did, but there're burns and the lieutenant's uniform is smoking."

Burns. "I'm sending a medical team your way," she said. Turning to the major, she said, "Take Dr. Beckett and get them back here. I'm going to enlist some help from Timaeus."

"I still don't trust him," the major warned her as he straightened and followed her out of Stargate Operations.

"You don't have to," Elizabeth said curtly. "I don't either. But if he can help us get rid of that thing without causing more problems, I'll take what help I can get."