*Author's Note: I'm sorry this took so long to get up, I've been swamped with school! I'm hoping to get some chapters written during the winter break for this story and my OUAT/Stargate crossover as well. As always, please follow and review if you enjoy.*

As the jumper went through the gate, Sheppard quickly cloaked it, watching as a ship flew after the decoy. "Alright, we have limited time, guys." He said, as he punched it, zooming through the city with a concentrated look, focusing on flying the jumper with the utmost concentration. He zoomed under bridges and buildings, avoiding the ruins with the skill granted to him by years of flight training.

They got as close as they could before landing and exiting the jumper. "Ok, McKay, Teyla, Ronon, and Jackson, you guys head for the control room, buy us time and make sure that our way is clear. Nichols, Rush, and I will head for the gem room. We don't have long to do what we need to do, so move as fast as you can, but be safe too. No heroics if we can help it, like I said on Atlantis. Now, let's move." Sheppard said, as they split into their respective groups. Sheppard and his group quickly took off, heading right, for the gems.

Since entering the city, Rodney's head had begun to clear, and he was already regretting his words. He wasn't even sure where they had come from, but before he could say anything, they had left. He sighed, then focused, moving to the left with the others, heading for the control room. It wasn't far from where they were now, and they were able to reach the room pretty quickly, as he took his tablet and hacked into the system to get the door open using the data they had gotten from their last trip here. Once inside, he and Jackson were able to pull up monitors and door locking systems.

"Alright, all doors unlocked in 3…2…1…" he said, as the indicators on the screen showed the whole place opening up like Christmas morning for them. He smirked. He may be injured, but he was still badass.

"Well done, Rodney. How are you doing?" Teyla asked, checking his arm, and looking at him.

"Better. I felt better as soon as I arrived here, for whatever reason. I'll figure that out soon enough too." He said, as the lights on the display lit, showing where movement was in the city. So far, it was just showing Sheppard's team.

Speaking of Sheppard and his team…

They were having an easier time now that the doors were opened for them, however, as they neared the gem room, they happened to hear a loud boom from across the distance. Sheppard quickly checked his equipment, and swore.

"Damn it, they took out the decoy! Let's move, we don't have time now!" he said, as he radioed to Teyla. "Teyla, do you read me? Keep everything open to us and head back to the jumper. You guys need to be ready to leave soon, the decoy was just blown up." Sheppard said, as Teyla returned the call.

"Understood, John. Rodney and Daniel are working on that right now, then we will head straight for the jumper." She said as he gave an affirmative response and shut his radio off, keeping up with Rush and Kait.

"This place is amazing…" Rush said, looking around at all of the dormant technology. "If I had an hour or two here to just work uninterrupted…" he said, almost in lament, as Kait nodded. "If you think this is interesting, you should wait until you see the gems." She said.

And she was right.

As they entered the gem room, the floor shook lightly, and Sheppard moved to the window, watching as soldiers were beamed at the entrance points. They'd be up here in minutes, and they'd be stuck.

"Shit, we're about to have company." He said, grabbing his radio. "Teyla?"

She answered. "I'm here, we saw soldiers beam in… we have locked the doors in here, but as soon as the two that he is calling the protectors were on the ground, he grabbed his arm and began to scream. He's in serious pain, John, and nothing is calming it." She said, and Sheppard could hear the panic in her voice.

"Tell him to try and hang on, we'll be there as soon as we can…" he said, as Kait unlocked the box from the pedestal, and grabbed it tightly. She had heard the whole conversation, and her head had turned to stare, her face ashen.

"He'll be ok, Kait." Sheppard said, to get her to focus, as she nodded wordlessly.

She gripped the box and held it tight, as they heard movement in the staircase. Sheppard quickly moved and blocked the door, then broke the crystalline window he had just looked out of. "We're out of options, we have to move a floor down." He said, securing a rope to one of the pillars and handing it to Rush. "Rappel down, and use your feet to smash the window. I'll send Nichols down a minute later, then I'll be down. Go!"

Rush quickly grabbed the rope, secured it as best as he could, and moved down the side of the broken window and wall to the window below. He began to kick the crystalline glass, as hairline fractures began to form in the window. As he made it through, so did the soldiers who had been beamed down, and John cut the rope to prevent them from heading down. Kait ran to the window with the box, and tripped, dropping it to the floor.

The box had popped open, and one gem had skittered across the room. She closed it, and called down to Rush, dropping the gems down to him as he leaned out the window. He caught the box with a grunt, then she was back in the window and being pulled back. She broke free quickly and was able to grab the other gem, which had begun to ebb in a blue-green light, and she shoved it into her pocket before being struck and then dragged with Sheppard.

She closed her eyes and prayed Rush would make it to the others…

Jackson's face paled as he watched what was going on in the gem room. Rodney was panting, holding his arm like it was burning off, and Ronon and Teyla were at the door in case someone decided to head their way. He looked up at another monitor, and watched Rush moving towards them, using his tablet to access a map of the place.

Kneeling by Rodney, Daniel sighed. Rodney spoke up a minute later.

"How's… Kait… Sheppard…Rush?"

Daniel looked away, and Rodney blinked. "What happened?"

"They've been captured. Sheppard and Kait are being taken by the soldiers to the protectors. Rush is on his way here, he was able to get away… and Kait threw the gems to him. He's coming here with the gems."

If Rodney's face went any paler, Daniel would think he was trying to get on Night of the Living Dead. Rodney grit his teeth and moved to the panels and screens, watching the soldiers march their captured comrades closer and closer towards the protectors in the center of the city, weapons aimed at their backs.

On another monitor, he could see Rush moving quickly towards them, his eyes darting around to make sure that no one was coming to stop him or injure him. He was actually rather close, having found a short cut to the control room via the map system he was using. Daniel moved to the door, and opened it just as Rush made it to them.

Daniel quickly pulled him in, and re-sealed the door, Teyla and Ronon moving back to their guarding position. Rush panted, but handed the case with the gems to Daniel, who moved over to the side and popped it open. Rodney looked over, then choked out a pained question.

"Where's the last one… there were 4 in here before… now there's 3…"

Daniel did another quick count, then looked to the screens along with Rodney, trying to spot the last gem.

Kait kept her eyes on the ground as they walked nearer to the protectors. The gem made her want to touch it, like Bilbo Baggins and his One Ring. So far though, she hadn't had much of a chance to do so. The guards were marching her and Sheppard straight for the center square, where the protectors were waiting for them. At least that was what she had gathered from the small bits she had overheard. And from what she had heard, these protectors were not going to take any bullshit.

The rounded a corner to see the center square, the decrepit fountain spewing water as if someone had been living here all the time. The protectors, the beautiful people they had seen as Rodney had been burned, looked at them disdainfully.

"Humans." The woman said, her lip curling in annoyance. "We left your planet years ago to get away from your kind and their meddling… And apparently, you have found a way to follow us out into the Pegasus galaxy." She moved to Sheppard, and curled her dagger-like nails into his arm.

"Where are the gems?"

"Gems? What gems?" he said, as she tightened her grip, the nails slicing into his skin and digging into the muscle. He let out a yelp, and she continued to glare.

"Do not play games, human. We know how your kind is. You are bad liars and even worse actors. Where are they?" she asked, tightening her grip again as Sheppard began to howl, making Kait pull against those restraining her.

"No, let him go!" she said, wincing as she was pushed to her knees. The male sneered, and raised a hand to the woman to stop. He raised his other hand at the fountain, and a blast of fire blew the fountain away, leaving what looked like a bottomless pool of water. He moved beside her, standing between her and the now destroyed fountain.

"This is known as the Ateleío̱tes ýdata, or the Endless Waters in your tongue. They go through down to the core of this planet, and will pull you under as far as you can think and imagine. They will engulf you and steal your air, make you beg for Hades to free you from your torment… and they will be your fate if you do not tell me where the gems are…"

Kait stubbornly blinked, and kept her mouth shut, making him smirk… then he raised his hand and used a blast of fire to shoot her into the waters.

As Kait went under with a splash, Sheppard gave a yell and began fighting furiously to free himself and go after her. What he didn't know was that her husband was doing the same thing in the control room and was being restrained by Jackson and Rush.

Under the surface, she managed to get her hand up once or twice before the water seemed to pull her down against her will and despite her fighting. She was a great swimmer, a diver in fact, but these waters had a mind of their own. She watched the surface grow further and further away, and she felt the last of her air leave.

Barely functioning, she watched as the gem in her pocket floated out and glowed brightly. She only gave it one second glance before wrapping her hand around it, and feeling power engulf her. Her lungs instinctively tried to draw air, and as water filled her lungs she felt empowered. The water surrounded her like a hug, like an old friend, and she willed herself to rise up and out of the dark water.

Sheppard stopped struggling when, minutes after Nichols has been tossed in, the water began to bubble and froth over the opening, and Kait rose from the top, standing on the water, her body glowing a faint teal. Her hand was clenching something, what he could only assume was a gem. The protectors, he noticed, were now frowning.

"You are Ancients?" the woman asked, glaring at John.

"No." Kait's voice rang out and reverberated through the ruins. "We are not Ancients… we are their Descendants. We are the Tau'ri." She raised her hand, as the woman was about to speak, and the water from the Ateleío̱tes ýdata shot at them and engulfed them, pinning them to the walls. The guards rushed them, and she raised her other hand to use the waters to sweep them down and into the Ateleío̱tes ýdata. Her eyes were a bright teal color, and as the protectors passed out, Sheppard grabbed her arm.

"KAIT! We need to go!"

She looked at him, and nodded, releasing the protectors into a crumpled heap on the floor and moving with Sheppard swiftly, as they headed for the control room. As they arrived minutes later, though, the door was thrown open and they were on their way out.

"JOHN! We were on the way to the gate!" Teyla said, as Rodney looked over to Kait.

"K-kait?"

She didn't speak, but walked forward, and placed her hand on his arm. He winced, then gasped as the pain and burning flowed away as cool waters flowed all over his arm. The reddening tint to his eyes disappeared, and he shook his head in astonishment. As he went to speak, she shook her head.

"I'm tired right now… I need to rest…" she said, her eyes returning to brown, and back to teal. Rush spoke from the rear.

"The gem, you have it don't you?"

She nodded, and began to hand it to Daniel before he stopped her.

"Not yet, we may need you to use the gifts that the gem is granting you again, as much as I hate to say it…"

She nodded at that, and they made their way to the puddle jumper. As soon as they arrived, they went to get in and had to dodge a blast of fire at their heads. Kait instinctively threw her hand up, and a shield of water flew up and surrounded them. They quickly got in, and as they began to move, Kait, her body exhausted in the jumper, finally gave out and passed out in her seat, the shield falling as they entered the event horizon, the gate closing behind them.