Author's Note: Okay, sorry I took a little longer than normal on this one; as I said, I was working on SAWS, and I needed it to be up this week, so I've been busy. I hope that I've redeemed myself!

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Out To Dinner

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Teyla left with Todd, after a brief, private word with her team. They boarded a small ship that Tod had apparently claimed as his own---in her service, of course---after she had taken over the alliance. Teyla was graceful and silent, but for some reason that bothered Todd as he guided the little ship out of the dart bay and engaged its hyperdrive---a useful feature that it's previous owner had had installed---he'd come to know Teyla fairly well during her last stay on the hive, and he expected her to be asking questions, demanding answers from him now that her friends were not there to see. But she hung back, watching the bright blue lines of their hyperspace window stream across the semi-transparent windshield.

Finally irritated with her unusual silence, Todd spoke to her; though he did not turn around, but continued to make adjustments as they were needed.

"What did you tell your friends before we left?" he asked. He heard her shift behind him.

"I asked them to do something for me, if this should not work out."

"You don't believe that we can get the formula?"

"I don't believe anything that you tell me anymore," she said tightly.

"That means at one point you must have." She snickered softly, a sound that from her he associated with disagreement or displeasure. But she didn't give any more of a reply.

"Why are you so quite?" he asked her after a moment of silence. "This is not like you; definitely not what I have come to expect from my queen."

"Don't mock me," she snapped. "If you must know, concentrating on keeping myself silent is the only thing keeping me sane; the only reason that I have not attempted to rip you apart yet." Todd turned in his seat to face her.

"You really don't believe that you'll get back to the way that you were again, do you?" he asked incredulously. Teyla slowly blinked her cold golden eyes at him.

"You cannot expect me to return to my life and not be changed by what you did? You made me feed!"

"I did it to save your life-"

"By taking another?!" she demanded, her voice rising a little. "I felt him die; and when I fed, I could see into his mind. You have no idea what you have made me do."

"Believe me, Teyla, I want you back home as soon as possible, too; you killed far too many of my people on your last little stint here; and I am not anxious to lose more of my crew to your "queenly whims"." Teyla smiled tightly.

"That had nothing to do with me," she said softly. "They were already condemned. I just made it hurt less." Todd snarled softly and turned back to the controls.

"Why can't you be easier to deal with, like other humans?"

"Because I am not like other humans; I am a queen, remember?" Todd hissed, thoroughly irritated now and more confused by her rapid mood changes than ever.

"So long as you play the part to the other hive, I don't care what you do."

"And this will not end like last time?" she questioned.

"Not without your knowledge." He sighed theatrically, as only he could do. "I promise to tell you the next time I plan on stabbing someone."

"Good," she murmured. "Like I said, if anything goes wrong I believe that I will enjoy your death much more than that innocent man's." Her voice clouded with pain and horror as she remembered once again what she had done. Todd felt her resolve weaken, and for a moment he feared that she was going to flip out again. But she brought it back under control, and stood silent once again.

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"What's taking them so long?" Rodney complained. Carson looked at him, wearing a mask of false patience to disguise the fact that he had lost his long ago.

"They've only been gone about an hour, Rodney; and they have to travel far to get there. Todd said that they could take several days."

"Yeah, remind me why we trusted him again this time after he dumped that same load of garbage on us last time?" John asked.

"Teyla insisted," Ronon reminded him. "We didn't really get the choice to pick sides."

"Why couldn't we at least wait in the queen's quarters instead of in this claustrophobic jumper then?" McKay demanded.

"Because if Todd was lying to us and he was going to have his people capture us after he left, we don't want him knowing where we are."

"Why couldn't we just go with them? I mean, as long as we hide, the wraith'll never know we're there or try to eat us,"

"Don't you think that we thought of that?" Sheppard snapped, his patience long gone. "But again, it wasn't our choice; Teyla wouldn't have let us."

"Who said we have to tell her?"

"Rodney," Carson said softly, wearied by his friend's words, "you are only going to make things worse for yourself; it's not worth it. Try to rest."

"How can you rest when you have no idea what's going on?"

"I believe that we managed last time," the doctor reminded him.

"Ah, but that wasn't resting, that was working. This is different."

"Look Rodney," John snapped. "We know what you're thinking; we're all thinking it. I'm pretty sure that the good doctor here was just trying to find a nicer way to say shut up!" Taken aback, Rodney blinked, insulted.

"Fine," he huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the colonel. Let them sit there and pretend that nothing was wrong. Didn't they realize that silence was agitiating? He gave them two hours tops before it got too much for them and they all exploded.

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"We're here," Todd stated, as the little ship came out of hyperspace. Teyla leaned on a console and looked out of the windshield at the hive that they were coming up on.

"Do they know that we are here?" she asked him softly. He turned to her with a funny grin on his face.

"Your people are not the only ones who possess cloaking technology," he said. "They will not detect us until we wish it." Teyla drew herself up to her full height, managing not only to seem imposing, but bigger than Todd, somehow.

"I wish it," she said, falling back into her carefully cultivated role of a queen. "Allow them to see us."

"They often "see" intruders with their weapons," he reminded her. Teyla's forehead twitched, and Todd guessed that if she was still in her human form, that expression would have been a raised eyebrow. It was not quite so potent on her shiny smooth wraith features, but her eyes glowing betwen narrowed lids more than made up for it.

"Uncloak the ship," she said again, very softly but with an air of danger that he couldn't ignore. Whatever her transformation was doing to her mind, it was going to make her a very convincing queen. "And hail them. I wish to speak with them." Todd did as he was told. And as promised, the bigger ship immediately began to fire on them. Todd attempted to move the ship, but Teyla stopped him.

"Leave us on course," she said confidently, sounding as silky as was possible with the voice of a wraith.

"You're going to get us killed," he informed her; but he obeyed. And not one of the shots hit them. They passed around, very close, but nothing touched them. He stared a Teyla in amazement.

"I have controlled other queen's minds," she said, allowing a grin to curve her lips and expose her pointed teeth. "And you think that a few mere gunmen would be a problem." Todd allowed himself to laugh, unable to help it. She had some tricks left yet, this one. Any doubts that he may have had that things would go wrong from their end were banished. If they were to be discovered, it would not be for a mistake on their part.

They had no more time to enjoy their brief victory, for their hail was answered. A hologram appeared, of a single wraith. By the male's facial tattos, she recognized him to be a second in command. But his queen was noticeably absent. Teyla's face twisted into an ugly sneer.

"Is your queen hiding from me?" she demanded. "How dare she send a subordinate to deal with me?! You are lucky that I need you, or this further outrage would not be tolerated."

"Further outrage?" the wraith barked out a laugh. "What was the first?" Teyla's eyes narrowed angrily, and she stepped closer to the image. She had the satisfaction of seeing him shrink back a little.

"What was the first?" she mimicked. "You allowed you crew to fire on me. You did not greet me immediately. And now that my presence should finally be recognized in a way befitting a queen, she sends you to greet me." she hissed angrily. "You will send me your "queen" immediately." Instantly the male bristled, and drew himself up straight.

"She is not to be disturbed, especially not by the likes of you," he said haughtily. "I doubt that she will tolerate the insult of two underlings playing dress-up coming to challenge her."

"You will allow me to board immediately, so that I may discuss the the insult of being challenged by a mere drone, and a fitting punishment for both you and the gunners," she slid into his mind, and found the pain centers, and squeezed. "Am I understood?" he grunted with pain, and seemed to have trouble standing straight.

"You may board," he gritted finally. "She will grant you audience." Teyla awarded him a tight smile.

"And you will greet us personally, and take us to her." he nodded stiffly only when she tightened her grip on his mind.

"Yes, my lady," he ground out, before the hologram flickered away.

Teyla grinned triumphantly and turned to face Todd, who had been successful in hiding his amusement until then.

"Have I "played my part" to your satisfaction?" she asked smugly, remembering his earlier words. He nodded.

"Very impressive. If you do half as well with the queen as you have with her commander, I have no doubt that we can have anything that we desire." she turned back towards the windshield and watched them as they descended towards the hive, and Todd wondered if after this she would really want to go back to what she had been.

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A/N: Okay, the one problem that I KNOW is in this chapter is the little ship. It's not a normal wraith ship design. I know this. But this is a special, one of a kind ship that had been built slightly differently anyways; and Todd integrated technology from other races aside from the wraith into its design when he commandeered it. I didn't get to explain it in the chapter, but I had to explain it because it irritates even ME that it's not the proper design for a wraith ship. Anyways, continue, enjoy, and leave a review and tell me if you forgive me for taking a couple of days off. (which I hate doing... :P)