`The cavern was vast; Dawn had never seen anything like it. It felt old, which was a large contrast to the Ancient architecture. The steps leading down to the ships were heavily damaged; something would have to be done about them if they were going to be using them a lot. It would only to a slight slip in footing for someone to take a tumble they wouldn't get back up from. The set up was one of a standard hangar. The stairway led down to a walkway straight through the middle of the ships, three on either side.
"All these ships are going to have to be searched. It will be quicker to get a couple of teams down here. Four of us aren't going to very efficient." John told the group as he surveyed the job.
"I know, you're right, but we are already here. How about we have a look around one of the ships? At least then we have something for Doctor Weir." Daniel compromised. He knew John was right but he couldn't leave without having a look at one of the ships.
"Oh yeah because 'hey we've found a giant cavern with some great honkin' spaceships in' won't hold her attention at all." Dawn smirked.
Daniel looked her and smiled shyly. It seemed Dawn knew what was going through his head.
"Well I'm up for taking a peak. Curiosity always gets the best of me." John agreed.
Faith stopped right in front of them, Dawn almost going in to the back of her.
"Geez, a little warning next time, we don't all have super Slayer reflexes you know."
Faith didn't reply, nor did she move. Dawn looked at the back she had almost collided with and felt the tension rolling off her. Faith seemed to be assessing something and whatever it was, it didn't seem to be good.
"Faith, what's going on?" John asked. All light heartedness seemed to have left him.
It occurred to Dawn she hadn't seen John in combat mode before. They had yet to face a threat to which such a response was needed.
"There's something agitating me down here, I don't know what but I doubt it can be of the good."
John looked at Dawn. "Part of your super powers?"
Dawn nodded. "Slayers can sense evil things, helps with the whole hunting them down and killing them thing. I can't sense anything but then I'm still a novice. It's a skill that needs to be honed."
Dawn could see the cogs turning behind Johns eyes. Scenarios were skimming through his head as he tried to think of the best way to deal with the situation.
"Okay, Faith you take point, Dawn you stay close to Dr Jackson and I'll watch our six. We'll get a quick look in one of these ships and see what we are dealing with. Is there any one in particular that is setting your spidey senses off?" He asked Faith.
"It doesn't work that way, I just know there's something bad and its close, which tells me it's one of the two closer ships."
"Great, so a 50/50 chance of meeting something horrible and dangerous, I've had worse odds. Let's go with the one to our left then." John decided.
Faith nodded and started moving again, her movements were different now. Instead of the casual walk every footstep was pre meditated, ready to go on the defence.
Dawn fell in line behind putting her in front of Daniel. If anything came at them from the front Dawn and Faith could stall while John and Daniel pulled back.
As they reached the warship Faith pace slowed.
"It's getting worse."
"I thought it would, some would say I have my own super power when it comes to finding the bad guys." John remarked grimly.
"Another danger magnet, that's just what we need." Faith muttered. "Well, let's go see what makes a Slayer's senses go haywire in the Pegasus Galaxy shall we? How does this thing open?" Faith asked, looking at the entrance.
"If it's like the previous ships we've encountered, it will only react to the ATA gene. Let me have a look." John answered as he took the lead.
There was a small control panel to the right of the door, as John pressed his palm to it the door seemed to hum and opened.
"Does that mean I can interact with the ship?" Dawn asked.
"Yep, that means no touching things if you don't know what they are, we don't need an Ancient technology mishap this early in to your residency here." John said pointedly.
"Ok, don't touch. I can do that." Dawn assured him.
Daniel gave them a small smile, this interaction was one he and Jack had been guilty of on more than one occasion. "Now that we are clear Dawn isn't allowed to touch anything, can we?"
John stared at him. "Dr Jackson, your reputation has reached the Pegasus Galaxy; the same warning applies to you."
Daniel had the courtesy to go slightly red. "Of course it does. Are you related to General O'Neill in anyway by any chance?"
John ignored him and motioned for the trio to go on in front. "So we are all on the same page, any serious issues we pull back to the Jumper and get word to Atlantis. The last thing we need is another team coming down here unprepared if we don't come back out."
"If we don't come back out you'll have one very pissed off little sister coming down to the rescue." Dawn pointed out.
"Are we done with the chit chat? Every nerve in my body is on edge and it's starting to aggravate me." Faith snapped.
"Let move out." John ordered.
As they stepped on to the ship it's as if it came alive. They touched nothing but lights flickered on and the air hummed with energy. The group headed down to the corridor as John pointed to the left.
"That should lead us to the deck."
"No, we're going this way." Faith disagreed, heading further down the corridor.
"This is going to take us to the main control room."
"Bad thing is this way." Faith bit out as she continued on her path.
Dawn looked at John, concern flashed through her eyes before they became guarded once again. Whatever Faith was sensing was obviously distressing her, which didn't bode well.
The ship continued to come to life as they walked through the corridor, meaning the way in front was clad in darkness. Dawn's eyesight had improved significantly and she could see through the dark, she silently thanked that this was the case.
As they reached a door Faith stopped.
"In here."
"I thought you said your senses weren't that precise?" John replied.
"The closer I get, the better I can pinpoint and the vibe from that room is whole levels of bad."
"Great, time to get this over with."
Faith nodded in ascent and moved to the side of the door. "Let us in."
John pushed past Dawn and Daniel to stand in front of the door. Daniel and Dawn readied their guns either side of John.
Then the door was open. John aimed his gun in the room the second his hand was free. Slowly, he entered the room with Faith close behind him. It was unsurprisingly Lantean architecture but John had been right, it wasn't a control room of any description. It was a lab.
John recognised the layout from the labs that had been found in Atlantis. He lowered his gun slightly, just enough that it would take a second to take aim again, but the more relaxed posture allowed him to take in his surroundings better.
"Well nothing has tried to kill us yet. I'm going to take that as a positive."
Faith eyed the Colonel for a moment before going back to surveying the room. "These feelings Slayers get, it doesn't always mean the bad guy is waiting behind door number one. The more it's honed the more we can sense. There is something bad in this room, I promise you that."
"Well we best have a better look at what's in here then, what were they researching?" Dawn pondered.
"I think I can help with that."
Daniels statement startled them all. None of them had realised he had sat down at one of the terminals.
"I told you not to touch anything." John barked.
"I know my way around a research station Colonel, whether it be Lantean or the SGC. How else were you intending to find anything out? You can't exactly interrogate a terminal."
"What've you got?" Dawn cut in.
"Well it looks like they were researching the Wraith here. I think they were looking for a way to use their own strengths against them. It's proving hard to get the terminal to respond. I think there power levels are severely depleted." Daniel frowned.
"Well that tends to happen when things are left just lying around for ten thousand years." John commented. "We can get a couple of generators down here to power the room. They won't make much of a dent in powering the ship to full capacity, but we can pick and choose which systems to operate."
Dawn was only half listening to the conversation between the two men. Something inside her was telling her she needed to find something, something that was close.
"You feel that?" Faith asked the younger woman.
"Yes, what is it?"
Faith smiled. "What I've been feeling since we entered the cavern. Every fibre in your being is telling you to follow the pull you're feeling."
"It's like its everywhere at once, its pulling me in every direction."
"That's your inexperience. Stop thinking about it so much. Close your eyes and feel the Slayer."
Dawn snorted. "Been there, done that, got the bruises to prove it."
"I said feel her, not completely let her out."
Dawn sighed and closed her eyes. She felt that same darkness as before, Sineya scratching at her invisible cage. Even with the struggle to keep it under control there was certain clarity to this mind set. All the greys were gone and all that was left was clear cut black and white.
Dawn didn't realise she was moving or even that she had a target in mind until she was behind Daniel.
"Hey Dawn, what are you doing?" Daniel protested as she pushed him to the side.
She didn't respond and the moment her hands met the terminal, the world went black.