Author's Note: Alright, sorry for the wait. Here's part 2. I hope you like it!
"Ah-hah!" Vala exclaimed proudly as she reached the door to the power room where she had just rendered two guards unconscious.
Slipping inside, she wandered over to a device which she knew contained the city's ZPMs.
"Hmm…" she said with interest as she rounded the contraption. After some amount of examination, she discovered the "eject" button and the ZPM was pushed up through a circular hatch.
Vala grinned in satisfaction when the lights above her flickered off.
V
Back in the control room, the technician's hands froze above the keyboard as his screen, and all the others in the room went black.
"Sir, we just lost power to all key systems!"
V
Vala set down her weapon momentarily so she could retrieve her prize, but as she glanced back to make sure no one was coming, her face was met with the unpleasant surprise of a flying fist, and she was sent sprawling backwards into a wall.
An angry looking Teyla stepped over the prone woman and up to the control consul. She took a quick moment to figure out what she was doing before the ZPM was swallowed back up by the device in a reverse push-pop motion and the lights flickered back on.
Vala let out a growl of frustration. She really wasn't in the mood for delays. She clambered off the ground and collided into Teyla, coming down on top of her.
The two women struggled against each other for several minutes before Teyla succeeded in throwing the other woman off of her. She stood and walked menacingly over to her, prepared to render her unconscious, but Vala rolled out of the way just in time and Teyla's fist hit the floor.
Vala was on her feet as quickly as her opponent, her fists dancing in front of her. Teyla was growing impatient, and advanced on her. Vala managed to duck the first kick and barely dodged a punch before she lashed out with her own fist and knocked the woman in the jaw.
She quickly took her opportunity to rush to the control consul and once again, attempt to remove the ZPM.
V
The technicians in the control room looked about in confusion as everything shut down for a second time after starting back up. Only moments later, the lights flickered on again for a short time and were quickly shut back off before the computers could even restart.
"Sergeant, what the hell is going on!?"
"I don't know, sir!"
Sheppard growled and stalked off at a quick pace in the direction of the power room.
V
Meanwhile, the battle raged on and Vala found herself being slammed onto the control consul while strong hands closed around her throat.
The force had given her a blow to the head and blood trickled from her nose. She looked around dizzily and it suddenly became clear to her that she was being strangled. But instead of trying to push the woman away, her hand wandered over the surface of the control consul until her fingers brushed a smooth, metal object. She fumbled for it until she had it held in her grasp and without thinking, aimed and fired.
Blue electric streams of light danced over Teyla's body and Vala could feel her grip falter before she dropped to the ground. Vala gripped the edge of the consul to keep from falling herself, and stood there for several moments while she regained her breath.
V
Back in the tiny, darkened lab, Keller stared up at the ceiling in confusion as the lights once again flickered off above her, and this time, stayed off.
Suddenly, she felt Sam stir beneath her touch and she looked down at where she held a damp washcloth to the woman's forehead. Sam's expression had gone from one of peace to distress and she flinched away from the cold wet feeling as though having a bad dream. Jennifer removed the cloth and waited until Sam's eyes fluttered open and she looked around in confusion.
"What happened?" she asked as her gaze landed on the woman kneeling beside her.
Jenn smiled warmly at her as she rewetted the cloth with cold water from one of the canteens and applied pressure to the Colonel's burning forehead once more. Sam flinched slightly but allowed her to continue, still waiting for an answer.
"You passed out, Colonel," she explained. "I'm just trying to keep your fever down."
Sam frowned and gently seized the doctor's wrist, stilling her movements and forcing her to meet her gaze.
"Where's Vala?"
Jenn quickly averted her eyes as she considered what to tell the woman. How was she to explain this? She could tell just from her brief experience with Vala that she was not one to have followed orders in the past. Sam was not going to be happy, but there was no avoiding it. She would have to confess.
"Jennifer?" Sam prompted.
"She, umm…she's not here."
"What?"
Jennifer bit down on her bottom lip nervously and shut her eyes, too afraid to see the Colonel's reaction. "She went back to the planet."
Jennifer had expected an outburst, but instead Sam only sighed and let her head drop back on the makeshift pillow in frustration. Jenn quickly continued, hoping to defend the woman.
"She wants to try and collect a venom sample."
Sam ran a hand down her face warily. "You shouldn't have let her go."
"She thought it was the only way to…" Jennifer trailed off, and Sam glared at her from over the cover of her hand.
"There is more at risk here then my life."
The doctor's brows furrowed over and she looked at Sam questioningly. "Well, I know that, but would it really have made that big of a difference? Like you said, there's three of us and over three hundred of them. Wouldn't we be better off just waiting for someone to…?"
"Someone to what? The rest of the city is under alien control. It's up to us."
Jennifer sighed. "Alright. Well, on the positive side, we're safe for now, right? I mean, we're only three people. They shouldn't be coming after us or anything."
Sam winced. "Sorry, Jennifer, but I'm afraid they will." Jenn's face fell and Sam painfully withdrew the clear disk from her vest pocket. "They'll be after this."
"Great," Jenn said sarcastically. "So, what? No good news then?"
Sam looked up at the ceiling as she returned the object to its original place of hiding. "Well, it looks like Vala managed to get the power shut off, so the city shouldn't be able to track us."
Jennifer smiled weakly. "Ah. You see, it's not all bad."
Sam smiled back, though she could tell the doctor was still rather distressed by the situation.
V
Sprinting into the power room, Sheppard discovered the empty control consul and let out a howl of outrage. Spotting the unconscious Teyla on the floor, he stomped over and gave her a swift kick in the ribs. She startled and looked up.
"What happened?" he demanded, showing little trace of concern.
Teyla sat up and looked around, recollecting her thoughts before responding. She sighed, and a look of distaste spread across her face. "It was the one called Vala."
John frowned, but before he could respond, Chuck's voice came over the radio. "Sir! We just saw a small vessel exit the city. Should we attempt to pursue by jumper?"
John continued to glare at Teyla as he clicked the radio to respond. "No. Let her go; she's not important." John finally directed his gaze away from Teyla and began to pace. "I want you to send out search teams. Find Carter."
V
Touching ground, Vala checked to make sure her shields were still activated before exiting the cargo ship. Gating back to the planet had been easy. All she had to do was locate a nearby gate orbiting a planet and dial the same address as before. As far as she knew, no one noticed her arrival. All the aliens were back to performing their regular tasks, as though nothing had happened.
Vala headed for the dome, P-90 clutched tightly to her. At a light jog, she made it there faster then before, (of course, she had parked the ship closer too). Crouching behind a bush, she retrieved her mini binoculars and scanned the area.
There was still a gaping hole in the top of the dome where the jumper had crashed through it, and a few aliens were working to repair it. No glow was emanating from within the structure, telling her power was still offline.
Since she had entered from the back where there was nothing but wooded area, there was no entrance. That would be in the front of the dome, along with the rest of the population. At least there were no guards to take care of this way.
Vala edged closer, scurrying from rock to rock, keeping her eyes pinned on the working aliens. They did not see her. When she was close enough, she peeked over the boulder and did another scan. Still no movement in her direction.
Aiming her zat, (because it made less noise) Vala fired at the two aliens on the dome. They were taken by surprise, and the first one fell in. The other slipped and rolled down the face of the dome.
Having cleared the area, Vala emerged from behind the cover of her rock and strode over to the base of the dome, looking down at the unconscious alien there. She took the time to zat the creature two more times, disintegrating it.
She looked up at the spot where it had fallen from, releasing a sigh of frustration. There appeared to be a rope ladder-type thing leading up to the shattered area of dome where the aliens had been working. Fastening her zat back into her belt, she made sure the rope was secure and began scaling up the side.
Once at the top, she peered down inside, but her vision was limited. She began pulling the ladder up, threading it back down into the dome. "Okie dokie…" she said to herself in an attempt to calm her nerves. "Here we go."
With that, she dropped into the hole and began her descent.
V
Sam could feel herself being pulled under; felt the pressure of the water building around her. Each time she gasped for air she swallowed a mouthful of murky water instead. She choked as it filled her lungs and prevented her from breathing.
The tentacles were snaking further and further up her body and she struggled against them but they had already wrapped themselves tightly around her shoulders and were serving as a straightjacket of sorts. All she could do was writhe like some kind of worm and fight desperately to stay conscious.
As the longest of the tentacles reached her neck, she expected it to constrict around her and finish it, but it instead came to rest lightly against the side of her neck and she could feel two sharp objects protruding from the tip.
She gasped as a sharp pain confirmed the fangs had pierced skin, and she felt herself becoming light headed and her eye lids became heavy and slid shut, darkening the world around her.
Sam gasped and her eyes shot open. Jennifer was instantly at her side, feeling her pulse and temperature. Sam breathed heavily, trying to calm her nerves.
"It's okay," Jenn said in a soothing voice. "It was just a dream."
Sam felt embarrassed all of a sudden as she remembered her situation and sighed, quickly regaining control of her heart rate. "What'd I miss?" she asked, trying to draw attention away from her manner of awakening.
Jenn frowned. "Not much. I think the poison is starting to have its affect; you've been losing consciousness a lot."
Sam didn't need convincing of this. She felt weak and feverish and her head and joints ached like hell. Besides this, the black scars left from the fangs had branched out, and now covered most of her neck and jaw line, and began down her chest.
Sam nodded, smiling weakly in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit.
"No word from Vala?"
"Not yet."
There was silence for a while, until finally Sam decided to speak.
"Jennifer…" she began, very lecture-like. Jenn looked up at her, listening intently. Sam continued. "I hate to say it but… there may come a time when we're going to have to defend ourselves—and there's a good chance I'm not going to be able to."
Jenn looked somewhat taken aback by this statement. She tried doing her bedside act. "Colonel, don't start talking like that…"
"Jennifer," Sam cut her off, and she said it firmly enough that Jenn stopped talking and only looked at her. "If it comes to that I'm trusting you to keep this out of enemy hands at all costs," she said, patting the lump in her vest pocket. Jenn's eyes went to the object and back up to Sam, wide with fright.
"Colonel, I can't…"
"Yes, you can. You've been taught everything you need to know; now you just need to apply it."
"But I…"
"Jenn." She locked onto her gaze again. "I can't do this alone."
Jennifer bit her lip and nodded, fighting back the tears as Sam drifted into unconsciousness again. Alone in the dark room once more, the doctor sobbed silently, holding the hand of her dying patient. She would be brave when the time comes.
V
Inside the dome, Vala scrutinized the area. It was dark except for the area of dim sunlight that shone through the hole to reflect off the black, murky water. Vala wandered in slowly, keeping a suspicious eye on the ceiling where an aerial attack could be conducted.
She crouched down at the water's edge, staring at her reflection for a few moments, hoping to see some hint of what was beneath, but she could not. She frowned and struck the water with the head of her P-90, hoping the disturbance would provoke whatever resided beneath enough for it to come out.
"Come on out, beastie…"
Eventually, bubbles started to rise to the surface and Vala backed a safe distance away, weapon raised as huge tentacles slowly rose from the water's depths. Vala only grinned; she was past fear.
"That's it," she said quietly, and a large pink bubble popped over her mouth as she cautiously aimed her P-90 and began to fire.
The creature's screams echoed off the walls as Vala's bullets ripped through the soft flesh of its tentacles, spurting blood everywhere. It sunk down into the water, its legs crashing down on the platform.
Frantic noises erupted outside. It was either the P-90 gunfire or the screams of the dying monster, but something had alerted them to her presence. Vala cursed and sprinted over to the carcass of the beast. She crouched down by one of the largest tentacles and conducted a quick inspection.
At the very tip, embedded within the softer flesh, were two tiny, dagger-like teeth. 'Odd…' Vala thought, but didn't linger on the thought for long. She whipped out the equipment Jenn had given her and began to extract the venom.
Standing up, her vial full of the clear greenish substance, she capped the test tube and returned it to her pocket. She was about to turn back when two energy blasts shot by her. She reacted quickly to the assault by zatting the two aliens in the doorway; but more would be coming.
Vala cursed again and began climbing up the rope ladder again.
V
Back in the tiny lab, Jennifer was jerked out of her thoughts as a loud bang echoed off the door. She jumped, startled, and turned her attention to the source of the noise.
Another bang sounded, and another. Jenn gulped. She could feel her heart beat beating faster against her ribcage, and she felt like a cornered rabbit. Quietly, cautiously, she reached for her zat and squeezed the trigger, opening it.
Another bang followed by a crunching sound, and the doors were being pried open. Jenn leaped to her feet, pointing her weapon at the doorway as the intruder clambered in.
"Ronon…"
Ronon grinned, stepping further into the room. He raised his stunner and, without thought, Jenn fired. The blue light danced over his body and he dropped to his knees, falling over on his side.
Jennifer scurried over and retrieved his weapon, backing up again and keeping her weapon on him. He was holding his chest, struggling back onto his feet. No… she thought. That should have knocked him out. Why wasn't he unconscious!?
Jenn breathed rapid breaths through her nose, training both weapons on the man in front of her. She couldn't zat him again. That would kill him. And who knew what effect a zat blast followed by a stun blast could have. She tried to steady herself, hoping he might buy the bluff, but her arms were shaking.
Ronon continued to grin. "You won't shoot me," he challenged. Jennifer did not respond, but held her ground, daring him to make a move. He straightened to his full height, taking a threatening step forward. "Get out of the way."
"No."
"I'm not here for you. Hand over Colonel Carter and you won't be harmed."
He took another step forward, and Jenn stepped back, blocking his path to the unconscious Sam. "I don't think so."
Ronon shrugged "Fine."
He moved, and was in front of her within two bounds. He knocked the stunner from her hand, sending it flying in one direction, while the zat was thrown in the other. He took a swing at her, and she ducked, dropping to the ground and rolling a safe distance away.
Adrenalin pumped through her veins, and she got into her fighting stance as she'd been taught, but Ronon was calmly turning to face her. He hadn't even broken a sweat.
He took an experimental step forward and Jenn immediately backed up a step. Ronon smirked and shook his head, turning away from the fight. He was moving over to Sam.
Jennifer, thinking fast, snatched up the metal thermos, holding it back threateningly like a baseball bat. "Ronon!" she shouted, causing him to look over his shoulder at her. "Don't make me hurt you."
Ronon turned and grinned. She swallowed hard as he began to advance on her, but this time, she did not back up. Instead, she held her ground and was struck across the face and sent sprawling onto the ground before she could act.
She blinked, and by the time she reoriented herself and looked up, Ronon was looming over Sam again. He held the power source proudly in his hand. He wasn't even looking in her direction, as he was too busy admiring it. Slowly, Jenn stood up and crept up behind him.
He was just about to stand up when she swung the thermos as powerfully as she could, striking him in the back of the head, and he was knocked out.
Breathing hard, Jenn dropped to her knees and crawled over, retrieving the power source. She then moved to Sam and checked her pulse. She sighed and leaned back against the wall, tears blurring her vision.
"Please hurry, Vala…"
V
Lifting herself into a sitting position on the roof of the dome, Vala risked a glance back into the room she had just vacated. It was swarming now with reinforcements, and a few were frantically pointing in her direction. Another couple were beginning to clamber up the ladder. Vala fired two quick shots and was scrambling further up the slanted surface.
At the crown of the dome structure, Vala paused, stood upright, and looked down at the scene before her. At least two football fields in length of nothing but ground to cover—ground scattered with at least a hundred armed aliens. They didn't see her yet; they were too occupied with their tasks, but it would still be a near impossible plan to carry out.
The first round of shots being fired from behind her, however, was all the motivation she needed. She glanced back once over her shoulder to see two aliens clambering out of the hole, aiming their weapons at her.
Vala took two long strides forward, and dropped onto her butt, allowing gravity to pull her down the face of the dome. Her speed increased as the dome steepened, and she held her weapon before her as she slid. Some aliens on the ground had noticed the commotion and were looking up. She began firing her zat, taking out at least five bystanders before she hit the ground.
She stumbled a bit, but only a bit, and then she was off, running hard and fast towards her goal: the only Stargate that remained open; the one connected to Atlantis.
Energy blasts whizzed over her head and all around her, but she kept running, tearing through the crowds. The aliens were slow, and although they tried to intercept her, by the time they took a step she was already out of reach.
The Stargate was in sight now. She was almost there. But a small group of aliens had foreseen her intentions, and were moving towards the DHD. They were going to try to shut it down before she could escape through it. She pushed herself harder, realizing this could work to her advantage if she got there in time.
Vala was skipping up the platform steps just as the aliens reached the dial home device and were reaching for the red crystal in the center. Squeezing her eyes shut, she threw herself into the event horizon.
V
John stood, arms crossed, staring down at the open Stargate, waiting to hear news from the search teams. Just then, a dark shape hurtled through the middle of the wormhole, sending large ripples across to the outer edge. John frowned, knitting his eyebrows together and jolting forward to get a better look.
It was Vala. She hit the ground and slid several feet across the smooth floor of the gate room, rolling into a ball and shielding her face with her arms. John growled in annoyance.
"Shoot her!" he hollered.
But just then, several things happened. First, the gate shut down, and John felt a nauseating wave pass through his brain, as though recovering from a fit of dizziness. Everyone else present seemed to feel the same because they all stopped what they were doing and looked around dazedly. The second thing that happened was there was a beam of light in the control room beside John. John spun around, still readjusting to the feeling of consciousness, to find himself face to face with the remaining three members of SG-1. Colonel Cameron Mitchell grinned and aimed his zat.
"I don't think so," he said, and fired the weapon, rendering John unconscious as quickly as he had regained it. Daniel and Teal'c did the same to the rest of the people in the room.
"Vala, you ok?" Daniel called down to her as she was standing up. She nodded, still confused.
"We brought a bomb!" Cam hollered, deciding explanations could wait until later. "What's the address!?"
Vala sprung into action, rushing up the stairs passed the dazed guards and waving a slip of paper. "Quick!" she yelled as Daniel rushed to meet her, examining the scribbled symbols. "Dial out before they can dial in!"
Daniel ran to one of the monitors and began to dial as Cam and Teal'c lugged the heavy, ticking explosive down the fleet of steps, Vala trailing behind them.
The gate kawooshed open and the two men stepped up to it, gently releasing the device to float in the wormhole before pushing it all the way through, the shield activating nearly immediately afterward.
"All right, shut it down!" Cam shouted, and Daniel quickly obliged, but not before they glimpsed a bright surge of power hitting the gate's shield, letting them know the bomb had gone out.
Vala heaved a great sigh of relief as her teammates turned to face her, Daniel jogging up behind them.
"How'd you find me?" she queried.
The men exchanged glances, and Cam smirked and slipped her a tiny square of paper between his fingers.
"We got your note," Daniel explained as she unfolded the paper.
Vala grinned at the big, red letters written on the page.
Daniel,
Gone to Atlantis. Be back soon.
Love, Vala
And there was a tiny heart next to the signature. Cam continued to explain.
"After everyone snapped out of that whole brainwashed thing, we figured we'd drop by and get you caught up."
Teal'c nodded in agreement. "When we arrived, however, we saw that the city's power was offline, and assumed something must be wrong."
"Well," Vala said with a grin. "You weren't a moment too soon."
The men grinned in satisfaction at their achievements as Vala went on.
"You do know, however, that once the gate was shut down, they were no longer under alien influence."
The grins vanished, and the men were now exchanging slightly humiliated frowns.
"Oh well," Cam said. "I'm sure Sheppard'll understand."
Teal'c inclined his head in concurrence, while Daniel only raised an eyebrow. Cam smirked and turned back to Vala.
"Where's Sam?"
Vala's face fell all of a sudden. "Oh my god. Sam!"
The men gave her confused looks, but she was already off in the direction of the small lab.
V
Vala burst into the room, Cam, Daniel, and Teal'c hot on her heels. Jenn's head shot up, her hand freezing on Sam's forehead. Relief washed over her face when she took in the dark haired alien, holding out a filled test tube.
"Oh, Vala, thank god!" she exclaimed, accepting the token and uncapping it for a quick examination.
The color in SG-1's faces drained as they took in their friend's appearance.
"Is she goanna be ok?" Cam asked, his tone desperate.
Jenn looked up with him at wide eyes and shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that yet."
Cam and Daniel exchanged worried glances as Jenn began to gather supplies, calling out commands at the same time. They stood out of the way as Teal'c passed them, carrying Sam and followed by Jenn and Vala. They sighed and took off after them, hoping for good news.
Author's Note (again): Ok, don't worry. I won't leave you hanging on that note. There will be an epilogue.