Author's Note: In the ninth chapter, especially, I was having waaaayyy too much fun making Teyla a queen. I figured I'd have some more fun now ;)

Thanks again for all the reviews! I REALLY do appreciate them; and they've been keeping me inspied :). Keep it up! :D lol

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An Invitation to Dinner

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Teyla and Todd exited their little ship, and the hive commander that Teyla had dealt with glared at them as they emerged.

"My queen does not like to be kept waiting," he sneered. Teyla got that expression again, the one that reminded Todd of a raised eyebrow.

"Your "queen" did not plan this," she said. "She has shown little enough hospitality as it is; she can wait as long as I make her."

"You are very fortunate that you have him with you, or you would be dead," the commander nodded over her head at Todd. "Little queen." Teyla reacted instantly, kicking his legs out fro under him and holding him on his knees, a knife pressed against his throat.

"And you are fotrunate that your neck is still whole," she hissed in his ear. "But I severly doubt that it will remain so much longer; so I would advise that you do your best to please me and change my mind." she let him up and straightened gracefully, as if nothing had happened.

"Lead on," she ordered. The commander lead them through the dark halls of the hive, to what appeared to be the throne room. He stepped aside and stretched an arm out towards the door.

"Your queen awaits," he said. Teyla chose to ignore that insult for the moment, but swept past him without so much as a glance, entering the throne room.

The commander appeared to have let them in through a back door, so that they were coming in facing the back of the throne. Teyla pressed her lips together angrily, thinking that the wraith really had been lucky that she hadn't killed him yet as he continued to insult her. As far as he knew, she really was a queen; and she was strong. He should not be treating her like this.

Suddenly, she stopped walking forward, and held Todd back as well.

"I wil not be spoken to from a throne by such as you," she said regally. "Meet me on the floor like an equal."

"Why should I?" The queen sounded almost bored with her. "You are no queen; I definitely do not know you, and that makes you worthless to me. Go home, little one, and find someplace where you will be feared." Teyla sent Todd a message with her eyes, and he slowly and silently began to advance towards the back of the throne.

"You will come down to meet me," Teyla said again. "I do not take kindly to such offenses as you have already committed against me, but you may still redeem yourself of this disgrace."

"I have nothing to fear from you," the queen said. "I can feel your weakness..."

"You will do as I say!" Teyla roared. "Whether by your choice or by force!" Todd moved to the other side of the throne and siezed the queen in an iron grip, half-dragging her down the short steps to be on level ground with Teyla.

"Tell your subordinate to unhand me at once!" the other queen demanded. Teyla allowed that small smile to return, mocking the queen further.

"Thank you for reconsidering," she said condescendingly, before raising her eyes to meet Todd's. "I believe that you can release her now," she said. "There will not be anymore trouble." Todd bowed his head, and obediently released the queen's arms. She shook them as if disgusted by his touch, but then seemed to regain some semblance of dignity, and seemed to find it better to at least hear what Teyla wanted.

"Why have you come here?" she asked.

"I had come in peace," Teyla began. "But the reaction of your crew upon seeing my ship was unfit for a traitor, let alone a queen. Before we speak I demand that they be dealt with."

"You blame my crew for firing upon an unknown vessel?"

"Would you rather I blame you?" Teyla hissed menacingly. The other queen frowned.

"Perhaps they have done wrong," she admitted grudgingly, though Teyla had a feeling that her response had more to do with not wanting to waste more time than she already had to than actual fear of her. That would change soon, though.

"Your gunners," Teyla said. "Have them brought here." The queen gave a mental order, and a moment later her commander brought three proud-looking wraith into the room. Then he stood back by the doorway, seeming eager to see if his queen would fold before the whim of this impostor.

"Are these all of them?" Teyla asked, looking over each one with a critical eye and already knowing that---surprisingly---they had done exactly as she said.

"All that were on duty when the unfortunate incident occurred," the other queen replied smoothly. Teyla was silent for a moment, as she debated what to do. She could feel all the eyes in the room on her---literally---as she made her decision.

"You may deal with them as you see fit," the queen allowed. Teyla took that at face value, and stepping up to the first wraith in the group she reached up and broke his neck with a sharp twist of her hands. With incredible speed she repeated the gesture, while making it seem that she killed them differently each time.

When she was done she turned to the other queen, barely out of breath.

"Do we have balance?" the queen asked her. She hesitated for a second.

"I should kill him too," she said, nodding her head in the direction of the commander, lingering by the door. The queen hardened.

"You cannot have him," she said. "I need him."

"I thought that you would feel that way," she said. "But his actions were a great insult to me. There must be some form of retribution."

"What do you want?" the queen asked warily.

"I want his life," Teyla answered. "And I get what I want."

"You cannot have him," the queen repeated.

"But there is something else that you can do for me."

"Name it," she said; and Teyla wondered why she was so eager to protect her commander.

"I want the reverse drug," she said. "That undoes the transformation from humans into wraith." She had the satisfaction of seeing both the queen and her commander gasp.

"How do you know of this?" the male wraith demanded.

"I know many things that most do not," she said. "How I learned of this does not matter; I want it. And it will save your life to give it to me."

"Why would you want something so small to repay such an insult?" the other queen mocked. "Or were you not aware of exactly what happened?"

"Oh, I was aware," Teyla said. "But there are other things that I need more."

"Why would you need only half the drug?"

"Why does your "queen" need you so badly?" the commander closed his mouth, and Teyla turned back to the queen with a sound of satisfaction. "Do we have a bargain?" she asked.

"I will consider it," the queen said slowly. "But you must stay until I have decided."

"Of course," Teyla said. "I would not risk leaving before I have been repaid."

"And you will... dine with me?" the queen giggled, probably at her use of such a human word. To Teyla, the offer had the distinct sense of a trap; but she saw no other option at the moment; it wold take far to long to search every wraith's mind for the formula.

"If your intent is to treat me as my status demands and unlike a mere human, than I will," Teyla agreed. She saw the queen and her commander exchange a meaningful glance, but she could not begin to guess what they were planning.

"Then you may return to your ship for now," the queen said. "I will send for you when it is time."

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A/N: Drop me a review and let me know what you think! And what you think the queen and her commander are planning... ;)