Author's Note: Another quick one. I realized last night that they've been out of contact with Atlantis for quite a few chapters now; and I figured that it was time to fix that. (and my brother helped me figure out exactly what I would be doing with *that* half of the chapter...) I apologize, by the way, for being late with this chapter again; the past few days have been surprisingly busy, and inspiration seems to have stalled just a tad... :P

Thank you once again to everyone who has reviewed so far! You've really made this story what it is; more than me, because I expected *maybe* three chapters, and look where all your nice comments have led me! Your support is amazing, and I'm so glad that you've been enjoying this fic! :D

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Ordering Out

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The silence in the jumper had once again stretched to the breaking point; but no one but Ronon could feel it. Everyone else---even McKay, in spite of all of his words---had fallen asleep, leaving the Satedan to his thoughts. He had soon lost track of time, but no matter how long or how little it had been, he decided that being alone with his thoughts was a bad thing; he was going absolutely nuts imagining all of the terrible things that could be happening to Teyla. He resolved to never let his friends leave him the only one awake again.

A transmission to the jumper jarred him out of his disturbing thoughts, and his friends out of their sleepy stupor. John smacked clumsily at the button to open a channel.

It was Mr. Woolsey.

"Where are you?" he asked irritably, making them sit straight up in their chairs when they realized that they were supposed to have radioed in with him hours ago.

They shared a guilty glance.

"We're still on the hive," John said evasively. "In the cloaked jumper, if you're worried."

"Where's Teyla?" he asked. The guy all shifted uncomfortably. "Did you find out what happened to her?"

"Yeah, we found out; it wasn't Todd. At least, not directly."

"Well, did you get her back to normal?"

"Not exactly..." Rodney began.

"She started changing into a queen," Beckett explained. Woolsey frowned.

"Did Todd tell you how to fix it?"

"He had an idea..." Woolsy seemed to be looking around them, as if there was something behind them.

"Where's Teyla?" he asked suddenly.

"She's... not here at the moment." John said.

"I didn't ask where she wasn't; I asked where she is."

"She's with Todd," Ronon said grumpily. Woolsey's mouth opened and closed several times in surprise, making him look like a gasping fish.

"Can you get her please?" he asked finally, once he had recovered. "I'd like to speak with her."

"She... no, we can't get her."

"Why not?"

"She and Todd aren't exactly here right now..." John said, cringing a little under Woolsey's gaze.

"Where are they?" he asked, his voice tight.

"They went to get the cure for whatever's wrong with her from another rival hive," McKay said. He was surprised when Mr. Woosley's eyeballs didn't pop out of his head.

"You let her go off with Todd alone again?"

"Well, it's not like he didn't give her a choice this time; she wanted to go. She can't stand being like this."

"And why did you four give her a choice?"

"It isn't our choice whether she does it or not," John said painfully. "She follows our orders because she wants to, not because she has to."

"Wasn't she thinking of what could happen to her kid if something happens to her?"

"She's doing this for Torren," Carson cut in. "She doesn't want to be like this; she wants to get back to the way that she was so that she can care for her son." Woolsey sighed in resignation.

"When are they getting back?"

"It could be a few days," Ronon bit out, remembering their conversation with Todd.

"A few days...? And you're just sitting around on his hive, not expecting a trap?"

"Relax," John said. "The jumper is cloaked, and we moved it to a different part of the dart bay. They won't find us. And we are NOT leaving this hive until we have Teyla back, safe and human again." Woolsey rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He had learned quickly upon his first visit to Atlantis that it was impossible to change any of their minds.

"Be careful," he charged them. "And if something does happen to her, I'm holding you all responsible, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," John said, not daring to glance at his team. "I'm pretty sure we all will be, too..."

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"That went well," Teyla said, once she and Todd had returned to the privacy of their little ship. They were in the small quarters where Teyla had sent the message from---Todd told her that the previous queen had kept this ship as a personal escape craft, which was why these quarters and their contents were here at all---for the first time able to discuss what had happened.

"Did it?" Todd asked, sounding careless, but with an undertone of worry that she couldn't ignore.

"What?" Teyla asked. "It could have gone worse; I half expected her to try to kill me when I "suggested" that she let me deal with her crew."

"You forget what you accepted," the wraith reminded her. "You realize that you are going to have to feed again?"

"I will just have to find another of her crew to be displeased with before then," Teyla said carelessly, though if she were to be truthful with herself, she was very worried. She didn't want to feed; that was the whole point of this. But if she did, it was going to be another wraith.

Another wraith. That thought shocked her, and she frowned. Where had that come from?

"She won't let you off that easy, you know," Todd said. "She doesn't like you; this is all a trap."

"I know that!" Teyla said, letting her irritation show, just a little. "But we have no other choice; we need to get that formula."

"You don't think that she'll give it to you as promised, do you?"

"I will think of something," Teyla informed him. "We have come this far; we must finish it."

"Whatever you say..." the wraith said, wondering briefly if the queen that had owned this ship before him had left echoes of herself that were now projecting on Teyla. She was changing, somehow. He didn't understand it, but he had a feeling that if they were going to change her back, it was going to have to be soon.

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A/N: So there you go. I don't know how much I'll be able to update this week (I'm busy almost every night...), but I'll write a lot, even if I don't post, so that I can update as soon as possible :).

Please leave a review, and inspire me for the week ;).