Chapter 24

Chapter 24

A/N #1 If you see any mistakes, please let me know…
A/N #2 One chapter remaining…

Aiden was in place behind the rocks. The teams had arrived through the Stargate a little under a half of an hour ago and had established a base perimeter. Marines were standing in strategic locations facing the Stargate and near the tree line. They had explosives set up and he was holding one of the switches. They were waiting for the wraith. Fully prepared and waiting. If he were to peek from behind the rock he would see Dr. McKay and Major Sheppard hunched over behind a large boulder ruin. Each person had their radio turned up and for once Dr. McKay was completely silent. Aiden wasn't sure this was a good thing or a bad thing. He really hoped McKay wouldn't freeze when the wraith surely showed up.

It was surprisingly easy to hold his position and survey for the wraith. Each thing he did proved it was as if he were on autopilot. He was watchful, vigilant and all that but a part of his brain was still occupied with remembering being back on Atlantis with Willow. Her standing on the balcony overlooking the Stargate had again been the last thing he had seen as he had stepped backwards and through the event horizon. He was beginning to think this would be their ritual.

After he had organized everything he had quickly made his way to the infirmary for a semi-private pre-mission goodbye. Willow had surprised him yet again. When he had walked into the infirmary she hadn't noticed him. Her back had been facing the door and she had been intently looking at a page out of the old book she had brought with her from her room.

Her hair fell in a straight red fall obscuring one side of her face. She hadn't heard him and she hadn't looked up. Aiden knew if taken on a mission she would be the scientist type—she would need to be protected and watched over. In the relative safety of Atlantis she was so engrossed she hadn't even heard him after he had cleared his throat. She'd only looked up when he had gently kneaded the muscles of her neck with his hands.

Willow had raised her hand to his forehead and had asked him to close his eyes. He had done so without question. He had felt a warm glow emanating from her fingers and the palm of her hand. When he had asked her what it was she had said it was for protection. So far it was working a little too well—that is if it was working at all. No wraith. The flat rock slab he sat on had gotten a little uncomfortable. He held the explosive switch in his hand just rolling his finger around the metal lever. There was a certain rhythm to his actions, as if he were holding a time bomb. The waiting had given the day a certain cadence and tick. The thought had crossed his mind that perhaps when Dr. McKay had tinkered with the necklace he had broken it or turned it off. Lucky for him and for everyone else as well, it was spring on this planet. As long as it didn't start raining and as long as night didn't fall and as long as there wasn't some natural disaster, they could just sit and wait and measure time.

He heard a certain crackle—time was up. He slinked to the side and looked out through his binoculars from behind the large rock. Four wraith were on foot, making their way through the grass and the ruins. Three were holding large cylindrical and rectangular weapons on their shoulders. Three of the wraith appeared to be standard nameless foot soldiers because they had the standard bumpy mask obscuring their faces, one was uncovered and dressed head to toe in black leather. His hair was unbound and bone straight. They didn't even bother to hide themselves or to be quiet. Their overconfidence and sense of their superiority would have to be their undoing or so Aiden hoped. They had erred on the side of extreme caution, three security teams and his team. It would have to be enough.

Aiden activated his radio. "Major, this is Ford."

"What you got, Lieutenant?" Sheppard knew time was up. He peered out from behind the wall at where Ford waited. Soon he would know if he had made the right decision on bringing McKay. Maybe training on the fly wasn't such a good idea. McKay was tightly gripping the P-90 and still seemed quite tense.

"We've got company. Four of them."

Sheppard heard Ford's voice over the radio and exchanged a tense glance with McKay. He looked over towards the Stargate. Four Wraith approached their trap. They had placed the wraith transmitter-necklace at the center of the ruins and had laid C-4 and electrical cable and charges in strategic locations.

"Alright then, we go as planned." Sheppard gave McKay a tight grin. They had to be ready. Day one of war school for McKay.

"Yes, sir." Aiden was still behind the wall keeping a close eye on the wraith.

Sheppard took cover behind the stone wall again and looked around at McKay. He was staring down at his P-90 as if he were confused as to exactly what he was holding and exactly why he had this 'thing' in his hands.

"You still seem nervous." Sheppard really wasn't so sure this was one of his better ideas. At least he had decided to take three security teams—four teams, counting his own against four wraith—overkill.

"No, no. It's good, good. I'm all good. All good." McKay answered as best he could. Soon the wraith would surely approach the transmitter and Ford and the few nameless marines would begin the battle. He was in a battle zone—in a war zone. He felt completely unprepared. He wanted to remind the Major that without him Atlantis would surely sink back into the depths of the ocean… he only decided against speaking because he was sure that might alert the wraith to his presence. Safety first, bitching later.

Aiden kept sneaking glances at their trap. The lead wraith picked up Teyla's locket from the ground. It straightened and held the locket up. They were almost on. Aiden watched as Sheppard snuck a glance over the top of his wall and whispered into his radio. Aiden couldn't hear who he had contacted but from the looks of things it was obvious he had radioed Teyla.

Teyla looked out from behind her hiding place behind a ruin at Sheppard. Teyla and Sheppard exchanged hand gestures and Teyla indicated to the marine concealed near her to press the button on the explosive control device. Large pieces of dirt and stone flew upwards as the roar of the detonated C-4 echoed through the landscape. It had begun. Aiden and another marine pulled pins from their stun grenades and tossed them simultaneously towards the wraith. The four wraith had stood still for what would likely be a few moments too much-- if they had been human. As the grenades exploded each wraith took off in a different direction and avoided the blast. They were fast.

One wraith advanced to where Sheppard and McKay stood. McKay rose first and began firing at the wraith. He felt instinct take over or maybe it was mind numbing fear. All he could do was react. He depressed the trigger and loaded the advancing wraith full of bullets. Between him and Sheppard they took him down. As the wraith lowered his body to the ground and Rodney felt the fear slightly dissipate the thought surfaced—the mission directive was to capture, not kill. Oh well. He shrugged and looked around. Teyla and the marine with her were firing at another wraith running towards them. The wraith cried out and dropped to the ground. The sound of guns and P-90's being fired continued all around Rodney. Teyla ran out and stood over the wraith while rapidly firing round after round of bullets into the wraith until her P-90 jammed. The wraith did not move from the ground.

McKay felt a dull jab on his shoulder. Sheppard had prodded him with the end of his P-90 and had turned and had begun firing at a third wraith. McKay joined him in shooting. He had the hang of this now. They fired off shots concurrently as if they were a single unit. McKay knew he was going to be good at this too. He hadn't a moment's doubt. As they advanced, the wraith fell to the ground. It lay for a moment and then started to get up.

He heard Sheppard say something that made little sense, "This one's ours, boys. Tasers."

Had someone actually tried to advance towards their kill? No way. Rodney didn't look around to see if it were Ford or one of the marines trying to help out he instead stayed focused. The first law of war had to be something like—'don't interfere with another man's kill.' There had to be a warrior code. If there wasn't a code he would be sure to think up ten good rules and expound and explain them at dinner tonight. The second law had to be, ' stay focused.' He slid the P-90 over his shoulder and uncovered his taser. He walked towards the wraith moving in what he was sure had to be an absolutely frightening stalking motion. He took aim at the wraith with the small taser. Thin green crinkly wires flew out from the barrel of the weapon and latched into the wraith. McKay watched as the wraith shook in pain as the volts of electricity surged through his body.

The wraith fell to the ground. McKay felt Sheppard force his taser into his empty left hand and McKay stood over the body of the wraith. Sheppard turned the wraith over. He wanted to give himself a pat on the back but the danger wasn't quite over. Adrenaline was still coursing through his system. He stood still, beside Ford and the other marine and aimed the weapons at the wraith. He was ready for anything. He watched in oblivious horror as the wraith slapped one hand to a round device on the armor on its chest. The circle lit up and started to beep.

"It's a self destruct! Take cover!" McKay heard the words and ran off as best and as fast as he could. The terrain was mostly flat. They were away from the rocks and the ruins. There was really no defined place to 'take cover'. Adrenaline failed him and he slipped slightly. He dropped to the ground and felt Sheppard's arm cover his head. The notion that Sheppard wasn't much of a bodyguard floated in his brain and left.

Aiden had run towards the ruined wall and made it. He stared from out behind the stone ruins as the smoke from the explosion dissipated. "Major! Dr. McKay!" He yelled out the words. Large chunks of wraith parts were falling from the sky. Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay were flat on their faces as the debris rained down. He was sure they had survived the explosion but he wanted to hear for sure.

Sheppard looked around at McKay as he groaned and shook his head.

"You OK?"

"I'm fine. This is, this is fun for me."

Aiden saw Dr. McKay raise one hand. He was okay. Aiden looked around. That made three wraith down… where was the fourth—the one in the full leather? So far the mission was arguably a complete failure. Kills—no captures. Where was Teyla? Aiden scanned the area looking. She was standing a distance away aiming a seemingly empty pistol at a fast advancing wraith. Suddenly she was close enough to the wraith for it to brutally shove her backwards.

Aiden took off at a dead run towards Teyla yelling, "Major!" Teyla was going up against a wraith without a weapon. He could only watch as he scrambled towards her as she used the impact of the wraith's vicious shove to her advantage. She sprung to her feet and grabbed one of the slim branches from the ground twirling it dramatically, daring it to approach. It did. She broke the stick into two pieces and fought the wraith. Matching it blow for parry. She would twist and hit at the wraith and the wraith would still advance forward. It used its forearms against her sticks. It didn't seem to matter if she slammed the sticks at his feet or at his head. The wraith was able to match and overpower her at each blow.

It was a game to him. Aiden didn't think it actually felt as if Teyla were a worthy opponent but her defiance surely only made the hunt sweeter. Aiden knew he was too far away, but the Major was fast closing on her position. The wraith knocked one of the sticks out of her hand and then slapped Teyla against the head and yanked the other stick out of Teyla's hand. She fell to the ground and struggled to get back up. Sheppard was still not in range to fire his P-90. Aiden raised his weapon and fired up in the air hoping that the sound would provide enough of a distraction for the wraith that he would think it better to leave Teyla alone and instead run off.

The wraith lowered his hand to Teyla's neck. Aiden was still moving towards Teyla and he saw the Major as he dropped to one knee and fired the wraith stunner. Aiden knew Sheppard had no clue exactly how it worked or if it would have any effect on the wraith. Blue flame and sparks erupted from the round end of the stunner and blasted the wraith in the back. The wraith fell backwards on the ground, squirming in pain.

It was over. Aiden wanted to let out a deep sigh but he knew he really couldn't do that until everyone was safely through the Stargate and back on Atlantis. He stared towards the wraith squirming on the ground. The wraith moved on of his hands towards his wrist. It was a self destruct device like the other wraith had worn on his chest. The Major noticed and moved forward, turning the wraith stunner on the other end. He positioned one foot on one of the wraith's wrists and used the bladed end of the stunner to pin the wraith on the ground.

As Aiden approached the wraith, as quickly as he could, he heard Sheppard speaking. "Easy. Don't go blowing yourself up." It was the most menace he had ever heard in Sheppard's voice. "Get his weapons." Aiden squatted next to the wraith to do exactly what Sheppard had asked. He had to touch the wraith's wrist to remove the self destruct mechanism. Small sparks of flame rose from where his fingers had grazed over the green skin. Aiden was almost sure he was sensing the slight smell of burning decayed flesh. Where he touched the wraith to remove the bracelet his touch left small ash colored fingerprints. He had no idea what was going on and this was far from the time to get answers. Maybe this was a normal reaction.

Sheppard kept the weapon pointed at the wraith as McKay and the other marines arrived and helped to bind and shackle the wraith. He wanted an excuse to impale the wraith. If he had been a few moments slower or a little bit farther away or if the wraith had been immune to his own weapon then Teyla wouldn't be alive. The wraith growled at them and Sheppard couldn't help himself. He aggressively lowered the weapon to the wraith's neck and pushed. He almost had a reason.

"Sir?" Aiden looked towards Major Sheppard and down at the wraith. He knew exactly what he was thinking. It the wraith had come anywhere near Willow there would be no way he would allow the wraith to live. While he fully sympathized, the facts were they had a prisoner and the mission was a success. The fact that the wraith now had shackles binding his wrists and his hands didn't concern him. There really was no fair way to kill an enemy.

"Lieutenant?" Sheppard turned towards Ford—daring him to stop him.

"If you both are finished with the testosterone fuelled posturing then I for one would like to get back to Atlantis… drop this wraith in the brig and head off to get an early dinner." McKay glanced towards Ford and then back at Sheppard. He knew Sheppard wanted to poke the wraith full of holes—but he didn't just almost get blown up for nothing. They had their prisoner and they were done. Mission accomplished.

Sheppard brutally forced the wraith to his feet and poked him in the back with the bladed end of the stunner. They moved towards the Stargate.

"Ford. Dial Atlantis. Tell them mission accomplished."

It hadn't been easy but the mission had been successfully accomplished. He knew he would replay the sight of Teyla fearlessly sparring with the wraith. Looking over her shoulder and daring him to advance, meeting him blow by blow, hit by hit—until she faltered and fell. That was something he didn't want to ever see again. His foremost desire had always been to do his job and enjoy life—now it was to ensure she was safe and to do his job. He poked the wraith again in the back. He wasn't moving fast enough.

Aiden had run in front of the Major and the wraith. He had dialed Atlantis and activated the radio. Dr. Weir had asked to speak to Major Sheppard and Aiden was patiently waiting for the Major to arrive so that he could hand the radio over to Sheppard.

"Major Sheppard, I hear from Lieutenant Ford, your mission was successful."

"Yep." Sheppard said the one word and gave the wraith a sly smirk. Captured, tied up, and being poked with your own weapon—this just wasn't a good day for this wraith. Not at all. He could also promise him that each day following this one would only get worse.

"Are their any precautions you want us to take when you bring the wraith through the Stargate?"

Sheppard knew this was a good question—for the life of him he couldn't see exactly what more precautions he could take. They had three—no four security teams in all if you counted his team. Surely they could handle one wraith.

"The normal security escort should be fine. We'll pack up and head through the gate in ten minutes."

"We can surely handle one wraith with the people we have." Sheppard looked around. There were no casualties… no visible scratches or bruises. All in all they could definitely manage one wraith. The only thing he could think of was the fact that they were running low on ordnance. They had loaded three of the four wraiths to the brim with bullets and what not. "Sheppard, out. See you in a few."

Sheppard idly leaned against a large slab of rock and watched the wraith. The marines were around him reloading supplies and placing the empty cartridges in their baggage. McKay slinked towards him, careful to stay a good distance away from the wraith.

"Hey, Sheppard? Did you see how that little red lightening sparked when Ford touched the wraith's wrist?" McKay was sure he had seen what he had seen—he was just equally sure there really wasn't a good explanation.

"Nope." What was McKay talking about? When Aiden had been removing the self destruct device he had been doing what any good solider always did- watching the enemy's eyes. You could always anticipate a person's next move by staring them down. "I think you are imagining things."

"Humph."

"What does that mean, 'Humph'?" Sheppard was skeptical. He knew McKay and he knew he wasn't finished. Sheppard really didn't think Ford would want to be set up to participate in a bizarre experiment where McKay would determine if his fingertips had the power to…

"He is touched by—loved by flame."

Sheppard immediately stood to his feet. The words had come from the wraith.

"Sheppard—it's talking--- tell him—he can't do that." McKay was quite sure he didn't sound imposing when he made the request to Sheppard. How could he? He was essentially begging Sheppard to silence the wraith.

"What was that again?" Sheppard could tell a moment when he was going to get some information out of the enemy. This may not have been a prime interrogation scene—they were practically out of ammunition—but he still had the stunner and he could still use it.

"The resistance, the touch will fade—and I will feast."

McKay didn't know how Sheppard restrained himself. He had no idea what the wraith was talking about but what he did know was that the wraith had promised to gorge himself on his friend. McKay raised the only weapon he had, the taser, and fired. The thin crinkly green wire flew out towards the wraith and fell short. The wraith grinned menacingly and growled and lunged at McKay. Blue fire fanned out from the end of the stunner and the wraith dropped to his knees again, inches from McKay's feet.

"Ttth-thanks."

"No problem." Sheppard looked down at the wraith. He half wanted to kick him to make sure he was out but he restrained himself. He knew from personal experience that a kick received while unconscious often had the power to half waken a person. At least that was what often worked for him. To be safe, he restrained his boot. "You have any idea what he was talking about."

"Willow." The truth came to Rodney in a bright flash. "She's got the flamey hair—maybe she did something to keep 'im safe?"

"Alright—that works in my book." Sheppard looked around. It looked like the marines had everything pretty well organized. They were going to take the wraith corpses back for Dr. Beckett to perform autopsies; of course they were leaving the chunks. It really was a pity they had to drag the unconscious wraith through the gate—though honestly it only made the situation safer. "We'll ask him about it in the briefing."

"Sounds like a plan." McKay made the statement but he had already decided to grill Willow the next chance he got. She needed to touch him with flame ASAP—

"Sir? We're ready." Aiden hadn't a clue what had happened. He had gone off to organize everything not expecting to return and find the wraith hopefully unconscious—and not dead on the ground.

"Alright then—let's move supplies and the dead wraith through first… Ford you take his arm and I will take the other…" Sheppard bent down and lifted the wraith up. The body was surprisingly light—for such a formidable enemy, this wraith was not weighed down by muscle.

He watched as Ford lifted the wraith by the shoulder. No flame—no sparks—what had McKay been going on about? It didn't matter. They were done with this mission. Just a few steps through the gate and then he could get back to other things. Sheppard called out to the marines instructions.

"Let's move through the gate." He looked to the side. Teyla had fallen into step with him. She moved forward and took the stunner from his free hand and briefly smiled at him.

They moved through the event horizon to Atlantis. They were home.