Chapter 12

No Time to Wallow in the Mire

So, anyway, maybe revenge was not a new concept in his kind's way of doing things. He had lied to himself because revenge had been around for awhile and, apparently, this queen had a design for it against Teyla. He had tried to tell himself that Wraith were different. That, Wraith were superior. It was a complete fabrication and an immature delusion on his part.

They were all tainted in some little way.

Lucky for Teyla, her reflexes were quick enough that the knife did not breech her heart, but those same reflexes were not quick enough to completely get her out of the way. Her shoulder, right over her left breast, caught the dagger and her body staggered backwards before collapsing. Her companions were by her side in seconds and yelled very loudly all sorts of very unkind epithets. The drones stopped them from advancing any farther in Michael's direction.

Michael reacted by striking the queen hard in the face. It staggered back a few steps and laughed at his temerity. Wiping a trail of blood off of its split lip, it walked forward and returned the back hand with a punch of its own. To his surprise, he staggered back a few steps definitely unprepared for the strength behind the blow.

"Enough," it hissed. "You fool, she was reading everyone's mind! Finish them," it commanded.

His brethren agreed in his head. They were hungry and it was not easy standing guard over such savory delights.

He took the transmitter out of his pocket and turned it off.

"RESET!" McKay yelled and sat up woozily. He blinked furiously and his coordination was nonexistent. His arms spastically flopped as he tried to grab at the shirt of the sergeant sitting with him.

"No," Michael answered her. "They have another purpose that we will need later. It was not my intention today unless they forced my hand."

"They are the enemy, Michael. Do not forget what they did to you." She tried to entice him with her ancient pheromones, but he was stronger than his traitorous genes.

He simply responded, "We are wasting time." Please, he thought spitefully. How could I forget?

Michael looked directly at Ronon while the drones stunned Stackhouse and his team because of his silent command. At the same time, two drones grabbed a groggy, mud-caked McKay and dragged him over to Michael and the shell of Sheppard's body. McKay's head sagged and lolled around on his neck. His legs tried to help but failed. Ronon postured and snarled his lip threatening dire retribution at his teammate's condition. He remained next to Teyla trying to stem the bleeding.

"Ronon, you have a choice," Michael started. "Either try to catch us or get them help. I am setting a beacon somewhere on this planet and it will reach amongst the stars and call more Wraith here. Within an hour of your time, this planet will be culled for the second time today. I suggest you take care and leave as quickly as possible."

Ronon pulsated with fury alongside the bewilderment at the sudden change of events.

"When Dr. McKay is finished with his task, he will be returned," Michael offered as small consolation.

"What about Sheppard?" Ronon barked clearly not trusting the Wraith for a moment.

The queen tensed at his side waiting for the betrayal. Not yet, Michael thought. There will be time for all of that later.

"I have no control over it. I will see what I can do." He gave her a placating glance.

"And I'm supposed to believe you?" Ronon's voice lowered.

"You have my word such as it is." Michael knew this would not be taken at face value. Anyway, why should Ronon believe anything he had to say?

Ronon reacted with a dark, rich laugh before answering through his teeth, "By all means, what could I've possibly been thinking."

"You are foolish, Michael," it spit at him interrupting their conversation. "They will not hesitate to kill our kind."

It was Michael's turn to laugh because how his brethren and he were viewed by the Wraith landed on his shoulders like a crashing dart. "We have no kind anymore. Our kind finds us unclean. And you, my unfortunate queen, are wrapped in a delicacy."

He turned back to Ronon.

"Tell Dr. Beckett: when Dr. McKay returns, I will have a message for him."

As his last act, Michael threw Ronon a headset before two darts screeched through the air scooping up the entire Wraith party. It left Ronon quite alone.

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All of their plotting and planning was for nothing. Radek and company did not even get a chance to transmit the signal or give Michael a sabotaged cloak. Michael had turned the tables and gotten away. Carson's zeal for finding a way of defeating the Wraith had led to all of this. Two were missing and the lass- with a standard issue, military knife protruding from her upper left chest- lay on his examination table waiting for him to finish.

"Teyla dear, hold still so the scanner can give us a nice clear picture." She nodded and winced because of the pull on her muscles. She was a little loopy from pain medication and blood loss, but overall, she was coherent.

"How are the others, Dr. Beckett?"

He studied the monitor and held up a hand to have her quiet for a second. He clicked on a few images saving them to study before answering her.

"They'll have the normal pins and needles along with mud caked in every conceivable and uncomfortable place, but they'll be fine. Ronon got everyone back in one piece…"

Ronon's voice had blared over the comms demanding assistance. Lorne had already been preparing response teams when the Satedan's voice continued to give what information he had.

"Except for Rodney and the Colonel," she added. "I failed on two agreements today."

"I know the feeling Lass, but he pulled the wool…" He paused and wanted so badly to hear some disparaging comment to come from McKay that he nearly said one himself. "…over our eyes."

"I am beginning to wonder if I've lost my edge," she lamented.

"No lass, you just met your team who has a penchant for trouble and likes to share." He patted her very lightly on the leg and let the attendants wheel her to the prep room for surgery.

The control room had erupted when Michael said the trade was off. Lorne had two teams geared up and in Jumpers before Carson could even make it to the Gate room. After Ronon's call for help, they were off as soon as the Gate could be reengaged. The teams encountered no Wraith. The only people left were the Atlantians and a few Chell survivors. Ronon said leave them. Lorne said no. They were not coming back home with the Jumpers, but they needed to find themselves someplace else to live unless they felt like going through a second culling for the day.

Carson had no idea what had happened to the survivors, but Teyla said their Chieftain had decided their fate. Atlantis could not help everyone on such a personal level-- especially those that made deals with Wraith. She pretty much ordered Carson not to worry.

This was still all his fault.

Beckett, so lost in his thoughts, was startled by an iron grip that encircled his arm. It pulled him to the hallway and whirled him around to face a smoldering gaze.

"Ronon, are ya daft? Let me go!"

"Not until you let it go yourself."

"What are you talking about?" But, Beckett already knew exactly what he was talking about.

Ronon had been standing not too far away from Teyla and him as they talked. Beckett had allowed Ronon to stay so he could have some piece of mind that part of his team was safe. That might have been another mistake.

"Your people pine and weep over things you can't change. I've watched you since the planet of changed ones and can see you beating yourself up. It was a success and that makes it even worse. There are always choices you make that you wish you could take back." Fierceness entered Ronon's eyes and made Carson flinch back into the wall.

"Ronon, now's…"

"Now's the perfect time. You're second guessing yourself. I could hear your conversation with Teyla. This is Michael's fault. This is that queen's fault. Your virus worked and it eats at you. But if it didn't, we would have all been dead; lost in the void between galaxies. Sheppard, McKay, me, and the entire crew of the Daedalus would have suffocated because there was no air. The Hive ship was our only hope. Your virus was our only hope. They're the enemy and I had no problem using it on them. All of the Wraith on that ship did not die and those that did, it doesn't matter because I'll continue to kill Wraith the old-fashioned way and enjoy it. No matter what they look like, they're still Wraith. Beckett you could not save them, but you saved us."

He increased the pressure of his grip and made sure Beckett looked right at him.

"You have reminded me that there is more to life than fighting the Wraith with any sort of weapon. I'm standing here, in this place, for two reasons. One, you gave me freedom of life back. That, I'll never forget. And two, I didn't go after Michael or any left over Wraith on a one man vengeance crusade, but stayed with those I needed to help and protect. I'm not alone anymore and neither are you."

Ronon let go.

"Go save Teyla's life." He left without waiting for an answer.

Carson stood there in the brightly lit hallway shivering and massaging his arm. He closed his eyes and regained his composure. He was doing that a lot today. His decision was a no brainer.

"Guess I'd better be a listenin' to the man," whispered Carson and walked back into the infirmary to go save Teyla's life.

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Elizabeth watched all of the happenings in the infirmary. Sgt. Stackhouse and his team resided near her blissfully unaware. The nurse informed her of Teyla and then Ronon told her of John and Rodney. That was the hardest pill to swallow. It seemed her message of "not John" had had some meaning after all. Now, all she had to do was figure out what "reset" meant.

She also witnessed Ronon man-handling Carson out of the infirmary. One of the marines stationed near the door was going to investigate when she shook her head no. They still listened to her even with an octopus in her head. It suited her just fine because she too had overheard Teyla and Carson. He carried a heavy burden as did they all. Each new mistake canceled out triumphs more numerous to count. They lived in a what have you done for me lately kind of society even if it was a few billion light years away.

She would have to officially welcome Teyla to the shark infested waters of leadership, Earth style. That is, when she was better.

As she lay upon her bed, more suitors came to pay their respects or give her the lowdown on the happenings around the city. Lorne had come by with a run down of the status of things in general and welcomed her back from the land of the lost. She appreciated the gesture. Radek came in to steal sideway looks and check the most recent scans on the octopus. Ronon would be stalking through from time to time after getting all of the caked mud off of him. She was sure he would take up residence near Teyla when she exited surgery and recovery.

Elizabeth was pretty much confined to the infirmary until they could track down Michael. It was a wait and see game of galactic proportions. Whatever his plans, he was calling the shots. Well, he did give his word to return Rodney. So, what was there to worry about?

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A/N: Thanks for all of the well wishing. I'm feeling loads better and just thought I wouldn't leave such an overt cliffy with this chapter. I do love them though. Makes it worth checking out the next one, doesn't it? Thanks for taking the time to read!