This, and the Jumper falling chapter, were my favorites to write. Thank you everyone for all the feedback! It's my lifeblood.

NEVER STOP MOVING
By TIPPER

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CHAPTER NINETEEN: PLAYING WITH FIRE

"It still puzzles me, Metra," Teyla said, tilting her head, "why you insist that an alliance with us, or an agreement to share technologies, would be of no value to you. You have seen a little of what we have—why close yourself off to more?"

"If your Doctor McKay stays behind, along with this ship, what more could we possibly gain from an alliance with you?" Metra asked, although she obviously meant it to be rhetorical.

Teyla shook her head. "That is the point, you have closed yourself off to finding out." She frowned at Metra. "Surely you must realize there is strength in numbers. Everyone in this galaxy fears and fights the Wraith. Since my people have allied themselves with the Terrans and the Genii," she arched an eyebrow, "amongst others, we have all benefited. The Wraith are no longer such an unbeatable foe. There is hope in what we have accomplished, something I do not believe this galaxy has known since the Lanteans left."

"On the contrary," Metra said somberly, "we have only known hope since we came here, to this planet, and isolated ourselves. Twenty years ago, we were nearly wiped out in a culling that was clearly a punishment not just for our advancements, but for sharing those advancements with others. We were given up to the Wraith by people we once called friends, and we are not about to make that mistake again."

"Not all alliances come with betrayal," Teyla argued.

"The Genii have been so trustworthy, then? They are a people you would have at your back in a fight at all times?"

Teyla paused, then smiled softly. "The Genii have proven themselves several times over the last year. Right now…I trust them more than I do you."

Metra smiled mockingly at that. "Regardless, the point is, we do not need or want any alliances—not with you, not with anyone. From our perspective, the only thing you have to offer is your ship and your scientist. Now," she inclined her head, "you have heard our terms, and it is obviously a generous offer."

"It is not generous if it means leaving one of our people behind. I already warned you, Metra, that we can not just agree to such a term, but if we could agree to a sharing of our respective scien—"

"I repeat, isolation has worked very well for us for the last twenty years—we have no reason to change. There is nothing you have other than what we can take right now."

"In other words, you will not negotiate further."

Metra inclined her head. "Correct. We have agreed that you may keep your weapons, and we have agreed that you, Specialist Dex," Metra's eyes flickered to the Satedan, still standing quietly by Teyla's back, "and your pilot, this John Sheppard, may leave unharmed. In return, we will keep the ship, Doctor McKay, and you will give your word that your people will never attempt to attack us again."

"That is not reasonable."

"We do not need to be reasonable. Again, what you have seen is only one part of our defensive and offensive capabilities—if you try anything, either now or in the future, to stop us from getting what we want, you will fail. Should you attempt to take your scientist and this ship back, for example—you will not succeed."

Teyla gave a wry twist to her lips, eyes dropping to the sand beneath their feet, then lifted them again.

"I need a moment to confer with the others on board. I assume you will grant us this moment of privacy?"

Metra nodded, holding up the radio she had confiscated from Teyla. Commander Cray held the other. Both made a show of turning them "off."

Teyla nodded, and walked several feet away, towards where she knew the Jumper was hidden. Ronon moved with her. When her foot tapped hard metal—meaning she had reached the end of the ramp, she looked up at Ronon and hit her radio.

"Colonel," she called softly.

"I heard everything," John replied from only a couple feet away. "These people are seriously beginning to piss me off." He sighed. "Just hang on—we're close. Pretend you are providing me with the details of what you've just gone over."

Teyla nodded, and proceeded to describe the deal they had been offered over the "radio", and some of the terms.

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"Is it done?" Sheppard whispered, moving back into the forward compartment. Rodney turned in the chair to peer up at him, blue eyes looking almost too soft to be his.

"It's done," he answered weakly, looking back down at his screen. "I've translated it into Ancient, and transferred it into the Jumper's mainframe. We just need to tell the Jumper to send the data."

"Good. Soon as I give the signal, tell the Jumper to send it." He reached up to grab at the buckle for his sling, fighting with it. "But first, help me get this thing off." It was said through gritted teeth—he had to mentally slam down the almost blinding agony that came with jarring the limb.

Rodney frowned, not missing the pain in the colonel's voice, and looked up again. "What? Why?"

"Because if I'm going to fly this thing, I'm going to need both arms."

"But…you can't. The burns—you need to keep your left arm elevated above—"

"Rodney," John looked directly at him, "I'll make this simple. You can't fly. You're dizzy, you've called me 'Major' twice and called Ronon 'Ford' once, and, frankly, I'm not even sure you can see me clearly right now. Hell, you can't even turn your head without turning two shades greener. There is no way I'm letting you fly this Jumper, especially not if Ronon or Teyla are going to be on the outside of this thing while we're in the air. Now, my arm may hurt—it may hurt a lot—but I'm the only one who can fly this Jumper right now, and that means I need to get this sling off." His eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you really going to argue with me about this?"

Rodney closed his eyes, then, with a hard swallow, admitted, "Clearly...no."

"Then help me take this sling off, and then give me your jacket."

With a grimace, Rodney stood up slowly, reaching for the buckles holding the sling in place. He was nearly finished with the clasps on the side when the second half of John's sentence clicked in, and he frowned. Blue eyes shifted to John's face.

"Why do you need my jacket?"

"Because I have some things to say to these people and I'm not about to let them see my arm like this."

Rodney grimaced—and, curiously, looked a little jealous. John smiled, mentally picturing a healthy Rodney laying into these people—it would be an evisceration—but, fact was, he was the only who hadn't had a chance to say something to the Kaveer. It was only fair that he have the last word—it was his turn.

And it was his people they had threatened.

Suddenly, his arm dropped down, released from the sling before he was ready for it. He hissed in a sharp breath at the searing spikes of pain all down the limb, catching it in his other hand before it fell too far. Forcing back the water in his eyes, he waited as Rodney shucked his jacket and then offered it to him like a tailor. Gingerly putting his left arm through the left sleeve, Sheppard looked out the back to focus on something else, anything else. He saw that Teyla and Ronon were still pretending to confer, and beyond, to where the Kaveer looked to be at the end of their patience.

He gritted his teeth—they weren't the only ones.

Rodney brushed some dust off the back when the jacket was finally on. "What if the shield doesn't hold when I expand it around you guys?" he asked quietly, straightening the shoulders—a little broad on Sheppard, but then, Sheppard liked his clothes loose (and he was particularly grateful for it now). "They have a lot of firepower out there," Rodney added, his voice quavering a little.

"It'll hold."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"Then get the hell out of here."

Rodney pressed his lips together tightly, obviously not going to answer that. Sheppard knew that meant he wouldn't leave. Still, it was worth a shot. McKay stepped back as Sheppard tugged the left sleeve of Rodney's jacket down a little more. Rodney then came around the front and zipped it up, since Sheppard's left hand still didn't seem to want to do more than wriggle a little.

"Thanks," John said quietly. Rodney just gave a nod.

"You're all set, though it's odd to see you in blue." He smiled crookedly, "Sort of like seeing clothes on pets—it's just wrong."

Sheppard tried to give him a dark look, but ended up with a crooked smile, so he ducked his head to hide it. He could see Rodney smiling smugly out of the corner of his eye. Checking his weapon, John drew in a deep breath and looked up, eyes finding the Kaveer. The smile disappeared. He patted Rodney absently on the shoulder, and walked past the scientist to the back hatch.

Rodney walked into the forward compartment, typed a few commands on the unbroken right side of the console, closed his eyes for a second with his hand on the console…then turned to watch.

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Teyla and Ronon didn't react as the Jumper appeared out of nowhere, and John strode down the ramp towards them in Rodney's jacket, every inch the officer he was. His head was raised, dark eyes zeroed in on the leader of the Kaveer. Teyla and Ronon stepped to each side as he centered himself between them on the bottom of the ramp. They stepped up to stand on the metal on either side.

Metra's mouth had fallen agape at the sudden appearance, obviously not aware that the Jumper was quite that close, but she shut it when she found herself the focus of his intense gaze.

"You are the pilot," she said, "John Sheppard. I am—"

"I know who you are," John said, his eyes narrowing. "You're the leader of this sorry excuse of a people. Teyla has said she offered you an alliance. She was being too kind. Me, I would never have proposed or accepted an alliance with anyone as contemptible as you."

"Contemptible!" Metra snorted, "How dare—"

"Shut up," John snapped. "You no longer have the right to talk. You lost that right the moment you turned a gun on my people. Now," he tilted his head, "I am here to tell you what the final deal is, and this one is not up for negotiation."

Metra sneered, "Please, who do you think you—"

"As of this moment, you are shut down. You will not commit theft or burglary, you will not threaten anyone, or kidnap or torture anyone ever again. You are not to speak to any of our people or our friends unless they approach you first. And if we, or any of our allies, ever hear that you have violated these rules, we will return to this planet to destroy you."

"Destroy us?" Metra jeered. "How could—"

"This ship is the smallest in our fleet, Metra. Believe me, between the Hive ships we've captured and our own vessels…you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Your fleet," she repeated, brows drawn down, obviously not missing John's shameless exaggeration about 'hive ships we've captured'. "Even assuming that was true," she sneered, the skepticism thick on her tongue, "I think you underestimate us, John Sheppard."

"Oh, no, Metra, this whole time, it is you who have underestimated us. Unlike you, we really can kick your ass."

Her eyes narrowed, "Our weapon—"

"Oh yes," John smiled, "your precious weapon. Hey, McKay—you worried about their weapon?"

"Not anymore," Rodney replied from inside.

"See, here's the thing," John returned his attention to Metra, "I wanted to destroy it, but McKay argued that, perhaps, you might someday be worthy of a weapon that powerful…so we're leaving it be. That, and," he arched an eyebrow, "he was afraid to hurt innocent people. Personally, I don't think anyone that can allow kidnapping and torture is innocent, and I'd be happy to wipe you all from the face of this planet. But, unlike you, I can be reasonable. Still, I think you'll find that using your weapon," he gave a dark smile, "is going to be difficult for a while."

Metra frowned, then looked at Commander Cray. He lifted his communicator watch to his lips, asking hurried questions over the link back to the people at the base.

"Now," John continued, "if I were you, I'd back off, because when we leave, we're not going to care if we hit any of you on the way up." He looked at the two people with him, "Teyla? Ronon? Time to go." On cue, Teyla and Ronon walked up the ramp into the Jumper.

"You won't make it off this planet!" Metra snapped at John's retreating back as he made to follow. "Did you forget the shield over the Gate?"

John turned, looking at her over his shoulder, while Teyla and Ronon stood inside the shadowed interior, dark knights to his still sun drenched king.

"If I were you," he offered darkly, "I would not make any more threats you can't follow through on. We have not taken away all of your defenses, but it would be easy for us to do so. Right now—be glad we're letting you off as easily as this. I wanted to fire a drone into the earth's core—I wonder how long you would last with this world exploding around your ears?" He finished his statement by reaching over and hit the lever for the hatch.

Metra came alive then, finally seeing that they were getting ready to leave. "No, wait!" She stepped back into the protection of her soldiers, pointing at the ship with a long nailed finger. "Stop them! Kill them! Don't let them leave with that ship!"

Gunfire and stunner fire erupted in the clearing, and glanced harmlessly off the Jumper's shield. John just watched it happen, smiling coldly at Metra the whole time until the back hatch closed.

A minute, the Jumper was in the air, both engine pods flaring up with a blast of hot air, the heat impressionable even against the desert heat. It swiveled in the air, then bore down and skidded across the tops of the heads of the Kaveer, forcing them all to duck. Then it was up high, flying swiftly out of the canyon.

Metra shook her head, and pulled up her wrist communicator. "Fire the weapon!" she yelled. "Take them down! " Her eyes followed the Jumper, the ship looking tiny now against the massive canyon walls, until it popped up and disappeared over the edge. It was only after it was out of sight, clearly on a bee-line towards the gate, that she realized someone was yelling at her over the communicator.

All the voice said was, "The weapon won't fire! I repeat, the weapon won't fire! We're blocked out!"

Metra lowered her wrist, still staring at where the Jumper had disappeared. She could hear Cray ordering the soldiers at the Gate to fire with their standard weapons as soon as they saw the Lantean ship, but Metra was begin to wonder if…possibly…they might have made a mistake.

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TBC...

Almost there! Thank you all for staying with me! So...think they're going to make it?