Two Princes
Chapter 8 - Mera
------
John
The rains had been a constant background soundtrack to the two days following Sakura. John had slept most of the first day back, waking up from dreamless sleep to the patter of raindrops falling onto the tent above his bed. The sound was deeply relaxing and only helped to ease him back into sleep each time. The blissful relaxed state he had been in from the treatment had lasted for almost the entire first day back. It had been a far lessened version than what he had experienced in the clinic, but it had lingered nicely.
Teyla had visited him throughout that first day, waking him to offer him water and food. After eating a little he would drift back into that soft deep place of sleep once again. Teyla had seemed a little concerned, but he had assured her that he felt fine, very good in fact. It did not seem to satisfy her all that much, but he couldn't worry about anything the way he had been feeling. He couldn't remember ever having been so at peace before. Nothing had worried him that day except the occasional wonder as to how much time had passed since he had last woken up.
That was until the first night and as he had woken a few times he had been aware that the bliss was completely receding and his mind was returning into focus. The dreams had begun then – in which he had been tumbling along pushed by a forceful winter wind, forcing him backwards despite his desperate attempt to make headway through the snow. The vast stretch of snow ahead of him seemed unreachable and he knew that somewhere underground Teyla was trapped. Yet, the wind was too strong. He woke briefly then, as if his consciousness had recognised that he was trapped in a nightmare and needed to be reminded that it wasn't real. He blinked open his heavy eyelids to see the tent around him and the sound of rain. He slipped back into the wintery dream again though the reality of the weather outside mixing feverishly with his dream. This time he had been lost in the tunnels under that mountainside. Teyla was cold and weak in his arms and he had to get her to safety, but he didn't know where he was or where he was going. The urge to rest, to lie down with her and just stay warm was overpowering. But, he needed to get them home.
Staggering onwards he came across Rodney muttering over a small pile of sticks, complaining that he was unable to get a fire going. John had wanted to help, but he needed to get out of the tunnels and so passed by, telling Rodney to follow them. However he turned back to see the tunnel once again empty and Rodney had vanished. In the distance, echoing vaguely against the honeycombed tunnels, came the sounds of remembered voices and military issued boots hitting the tunnel floors. A soft scent of Atlantis drifted in the air and John looked around desperately trying to find the way back to the home he had loved for five years. Yet, there was nothing except empty tunnels and caves, all with the penetrating deep cold like Antarctica.
John's breath formed a small cloud around his face and he felt like his heart was thundering so loud that the sound was reverberating around the tunnels. The lost sounds of Atlantis had gone and a new worrying noise took its place. A small rumbling sound of a growl – there was something after John and Teyla in the tunnels.
John pulling Teyla onwards, looking back over his shoulder repeatedly to see what was chasing them. The scattering sound of dislodged stones could be heard then followed with a soft snarl. John abruptly knew it was Kanaan, knew he was out there and if he found John with Teyla…
Desperately John tried to get her moving faster, clasping her to him, still trying to warm her chilled body. But, she was heavy and barely conscious now, so he reached down and set his arm around the back of her knees and lifted her up into his arms. It was difficult to carry her when they were all bundled up, but he got her into a small cave. The walls emanated their chill around them. They had laid together in the sleeping bag in here he remembered, vivid flashes of memories of her half naked body added details to the dream images. He hadn't really focused on those details at the time, but now he felt the brushing of her naked skin against his as he held her to him in the sleeping bag. She felt so fragile in his arms.
Teyla rolled her head back and looked up at him. Her skin was deathly pale and her lips blue with the cold. Kanaan's growls echoed outside the cave, as the deep breath stealing cold drew away John's strength. He would die here away from Earth, Atlantis or even the Athosian camp that was now home. Teyla was growing colder and he hugged her closer, but she fought back against him, pushing her self away.
"You will only hurt me, John," she told him.
"Stay with me, Teyla," he told her as he had done so frequently when she had lain so cold and still in the sleeping bag with him. He just wanted to keep her warm.
"Do not ruin this, John," Teyla told him, her cold blue tinged hands pushing against his chest. "You should go back to Earth."
He tried to pull her back into the warmth of his embrace again, but she continued to weakly resist and her skin slipped out from his hands like it was layered with ice. She slipped from his grasp and he let her go. She fell back away from him onto the floor of the cave - her eyes still locked on him and he watched in horror as her last breath gasped out of her body, misting around her face. Her open eyes frosted over with ice as her life left her. Out in the tunnels Kanaan's scream echoed violently.
John woke, his body feeling hot and sweaty. He sat up on his Athosian bed and gasped for breath, reminding himself over and over again that it had only been a dream. She was alive and well, and they had both survived those caves and tunnels. The peace of his body and mind found through the treatment had certainly gone, leaving him shaking in the wake of the nightmare. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and took steadying gulps of air. The rain had stopped falling outside, and it was clearly late night, as outside nothing stirred. It was far too quiet. He stood up on weakened legs and walked across his tent to the exit, pulling aside the flap and damp late night air rushed in around him. The coolness was enlivening and seemed to help as he stood silently looking out at the row of quiet dark tents across from his. Everything was silent.
He drew in the spring air and for the first time since the Sweet Grain sickness had begun he could think clearly again. He was both grateful and disappointed. There had been something so easy about being so happy with the world. Everything had seemed beautiful and he had felt like he understood everything. Everything had had a purpose and place, and he had been happy with his.
Rubbing a hand over his face he stepped out into the cold, moving round to the nearby trees to answer the call of nature. The ground was cold under his socks, but he preferred the sting of it as it helped to remind him that he was awake, and that the nightmare had not been real. Of course the emotions held within it could not be so easily denied. He would though, for already he could feel his usual baggage settling into place.
As he moved into the line of dark trees he heard small creatures stir and scamper away from his shadow. After watering a shrub he stood for a short time in the still darkness, the only light supplied by one half shining moon over head. John tilted his head back to look up at the bright lunar half beyond the silhouette of the tree branches. He really was getting to enjoy living so close to nature. The Athosian life was one closely linked with their environment. On Earth, humans adjusted the environment to suit their needs, whereas here the Athosians lived in companionship with it. They only took what they needed and replaced what they took.
Teyla had adjusted easily to living in Atlantis and he had been surprised how easily he and Lorne had settled here. Sure he still missed the luxuries of Earth – those little details that occupied people's lives. He missed his music collection, reading magazines, his surf board and golf clubs, but he had lived without those distractions for long periods of his life before. He guessed it was the knowledge that he had lost them for good was what burned. But, it had been awhile since he had really missed those details. He wondered when he had stopped.
He moved quietly back out of the trees and back across the short distance to his tent. His feet were very cold now, so he got his tired legs moving a little faster to get back inside. The warmth of the tent was greatly welcomed and he pulled off his damp cold socks and looked down at his bare feet on the rug. Teyla had given him the rug, along with several wall hangings around his tent. He hadn't liked the bare dull colour of the inside of the tent and the brighter colours had helped him to stop the feeling that he was living back in military barracks. He wished for a moment that he was once again lost in the dazed reaction of the treatment, but he knew that was not a good thought to dwell on – that was how people got addicted to things. No, he had to face that his life still wasn't quite what he wished it was. Teyla came instantly to mind.
She had stayed with him through his treatment and though it was all a little dazed and confusing for him, he remembered her comforting touch over his forehead and head. He was pretty sure he hadn't said anything embarrassing to her during is treatment, for she had met his eyes willingly afterwards without concern or embarrassment. He vividly remembered how they had been around each other after his brush with the Iratus retrovirus. It had taken them a few days to be able to maintain normal eye contact, and they hadn't talked about the kiss since his apology.
When she had visited him in his tent following the treatment she had simply smiled as normal and had taken care of him. It had been nice actually; to have a woman care about his welfare so much again. He remembered one time when he had gotten flu when he had still been married to Nancy and she had studiously cared for him. Perhaps it had been the fact that he hadn't been unable to run off on a mission that she had enjoyed, but he had really appreciated her concern for him. That she had loved him enough to put up with him in that state.
He shook his head at his turn of thoughts and swung his legs back under the warmth of the bed sheet and covering blanket. The Athosians made good beds he had decided – the makeshift mattresses were deep and they had a series of different weather blankets that went over the main sheets. And the bed was long enough for his tall frame, unlike the one he had been forced to sleep on in Atlantis. He sighed as he laid back and nestled his head back into the pillow. As he once again grew still and sleepy he wished Teyla were beside him again, her cool fingers caressing over his forehead, her body nice and close.
--------
Lorne
Lorne stepped out from his tent and stretched his arms wide, his back and shoulders clicking. After three days resting following 'The Treatment' he was feeling back to his old self. He set out across the camp, nodding to people as they passed and confirming that he was feeling better for them. He had had several visitors during his recovery, which had been touching. The Athosians had truly accepted him and John into their camp.
"Morning, Major," John called out from the right and Lorne stopped and turned towards John.
"Colonel," he replied with a smile. John had visited yesterday with Torren, having recovered slightly quicker than Lorne.
"Decided to join us again?" John teased.
"I think that would be a question better suited to you. You feeling sober again?"
John smiled as he reached Lorne's side and they walked on together.
"It was medicine," John replied. The teasing had begun on the way back from the clinic and Lorne had every intention of keeping it going as long as he could.
"I'm sure that's what everyone tells the cops."
"You feeling up to some work today?" John asked.
"Not sure I'm up to much lifting, and I think I might have developed a slight phobia for Sweet Grain."
"I know what you mean," John replied.
Someone shouted out across the camp. Heads turned and Lorne saw people hurrying through the camp towards the open area at the far end. He and John were already jogging along behind.
In the centre of the open area they saw that someone had arrived from off world. The man was leaning over, his hands on his knees as he panted. Teyla and Halling were beside the man talking with him. Halling saw Lorne and John approaching and waved them over.
"These are the men," Halling said and then indicated the breathless man to them. "This is Aron from Mera. He says there are Wraith on their world."
A fear that had been quietly simmering in the back of Lorne's mind was suddenly realised – the Wraith had come back from the dead.
"Mera's been culled?" John asked.
Aron stood up straight now, his eyes worried. "There has been no large culling, but over the last two seasons we noticed that several of our people were disappearing into the woodlands. We thought that perhaps one of the predator animals had simply taken them, but we found no trace of animal prints. There were no bodies either, until two days ago when a friend of mine disappeared. We searched for him all day, until finally we found…" he man paused as he fought against the clear need to be sick at the memory. "Then we found his body hidden from sight. He had been feed on by a Wraith."
Athosians listening in around Lorne murmured worriedly.
"We assumed that a lone Wraith must have been responsible. We knew they can be killed if there are enough of us, so we organised a large hunting party and headed out into the woods. We found them this morning."
"Them?" John asked.
"Yes, they have a ship, buried into a bank, hidden by tree growth."
Lorne frowned. If there was a Wraith Hive ship on this guy's world, then why hadn't the Wraith simply done their usual culling?
"How big is the ship?" Lorne asked.
Aron's tired eyes shifted to him before he looked away, attempting to compare what he had seen to the camp around him. "From that tree to the second line of tents." Lorne shared a look with John.
"Too small for a Hive ship; it could be a cruiser?" Lorne suggested. John nodded thoughtfully, before turning back to Aron.
"How many Wraith were there?"
"I do not know exactly. They attacked us as we reached their ship, but they were thin, slower than Wraith I've seen before. We also saw carcasses around the ship, not just some of the missing people, but animals and even Wraith. They have been feeding on their own! Many of our party were terrified by that and by the Wraith's sudden attack. We lost three to them before we were able to escape." The man stepped towards Lorne and John.
"We have heard what those from Atlantis did to destroy so many of the Wraith, and that two of those from Atlantis now live among the Athosians. Can you help us?" The plea was begged honestly, the man's eyes watery.
Lorne exchanged a look with John.
"We will all discuss what can be done, but for now you need to rest, Aron," Teyla said into the pause. She guided Aron towards the communal tent.
Lorne turned to watch the man led away and saw all the anxious Athosian eyes on him. He turned to John. "Maybe a lone Wraith ship that survived our attack?"
John shrugged a shoulder. "We knew there'd be ships out there we didn't get, we couldn't have gotten all the Wraith, despite the Queens' boasts that they had gathered all of the Wraith forces. We know they have had different factions in the past."
"Like Todd's alliance of Hives," Lorne agreed as they made their way towards the communal tent.
"Todd said his alliance wouldn't last without strong leadership. Without him there 'guiding their hand' they probably were tempted by the Queen alliance," John whispered as they entered the tent.
Aron had been sat down at one of the large tables, a strong cup of tea before him. John moved to stand opposite the man.
"Tell me about this ship you saw."
The next ten minutes or so were filled with descriptions and questions. Aron thought he had seen at least ten Wraith, but adrenaline and inexperience made that analysis unreliable. Lorne had sketched out onto a piece of note paper the basic layout of the woodland, the location of the ship and where it was in relation to Aron's village. Aron pointed out small details like streams and gullies. Eventually Aron ran out of words, except to repeat his plea.
"Will you help us?"
There were benefits to not being the commanding officer in Lorne's mind, not that the two of them had kept to their ranks. John sat back in his seat opposite Aron and looked at Lorne, and then Teyla and Halling.
"We'll help as much as possible, Aron." Lorne knew the affidavit John meant – there was only two of them and they did not have a steady supply of weaponry and no back up. They would have to dig into the Athosian weapon cache, and there would be no way to replenish what they used. He and John had talked about contacting either the Genii or the Travellers for weapons if the need arose, but they had agreed that it would present a few risks. Risks they didn't need to take just yet.
John looked round at him. "We should go check it out. If it's just a small ship we might be able to take it out."
"Unless there is a Hive nearby?" Lorne pointed out, though he was nodding his head in agreement to the plan.
"If there was I'd have thought they would have tried a culling before now if that was the case."
"If this is a lone group of Wraith, we need to remove them as a threat," Teyla said as she leant forward over the table. "If we leave them on Mera, they will only continue to take more of Aron's people and grow stronger as time passes."
Lorne noticed a strange little expression cross John's face in response to Teyla's words, but it was gone as he turned back to Lorne.
"A reconnaissance mission is what's called for. Then we can tell what we're dealing with here."
Lorne nodded and he saw the look of relief cross Aron's face. However, he also saw the worried looks of the Athosians around them.
------
Teyla
Aron's planet was a dry world, though vegetation still flourished. The trees above Teyla shimmered as the thick coating over their leaves reflected the light and kept in valuable moisture. Two of three suns glowed in the sky overhead, but their heat did not penetrate down to the ground beneath the mighty trees.
She had volunteered along with four other Athosians to accompany John and Evan to Aron's world, but John had already made it clear that the three other Athosians were there as back up only. He and Evan had no intention of letting Athosians get hurt if they could help it and Teyla was grateful for that fact. Not for the first time did she feel a wave of nervousness at the prospect of what they were doing – they may have to engage the Wraith with no back up from Atlantis or from the Daedalus.
Aron had joined them as they had trekked quietly through the woodlands, past tall ancient trees. Aron was leading them, at John's request, not directly towards the Wraith ship, but to somewhere nearby from which perhaps they could spy on the ship from a distance. That location was fast approaching. Teyla kept her head low as she followed Evan, John and Aron up another embankment, now cresting out of the vegetation and into the bright sunshine. Aron was staying very low and the others copied him as they made their way through high grasses, towards the far point of the embankment. Eventually they stopped, and she paused behind Lorne as the two lead men lay down on their bellies and shimmed through the grasses. She did the same, but not after giving Halling behind her the signal to wait and keep guard. Halling and two other of their most experienced people were armed with Earth P90s and knives.
Teyla lay onto her belly and made her way carefully forward into the tall grasses, worried for a moment that she would lose the others through the grass. But, soon enough she saw three pairs of boots and she crawled forward to stop on John's left. As she settled into place she saw how good a view they had. Parting the grasses a little she could see the lower lying level of woodland, but from this angle they could also see under the canopy some distance away. She squinted against the sunlight, her eyes taking time to adjust to studying details under the shade of the trees across a bright landscape. John and Lorne both had their binoculars out and were studying the trees.
"I see them," John replied to Aron on his other side.
"I count…four," Lorne whispered back. "Aron's right; they don't look right."
"Where are they?" Teyla whispered.
John handed his binoculars to her and she set her elbows to the ground and held the eye pieces to her face. John leaned closer.
"See that large ridge about three quarters of the way across the valley?" She nodded, picking it out without the binoculars and then through them. "Drop down to two o'clock and under that slightly raised line of smaller trees."
She followed his instructions and turned the dial on the binoculars to focus across the distance and finally under the trees she saw the side of what looked like a Wraith ship buried right into the ground. She scanned around it and saw several shapes, and focused on them to see they truly were Wraith. Two were the larger masked breed, but the other two were the slightly shorter warrior Wraith.
"They look thin," she noted. "Perhaps from hunger?"
"I can make out ten human bodies and…a dozen of a deer like creature," Lorne reported. "So, they're definitely feeding."
"Teyla focused on the human bodies, despite the distaste. She re-focused the binoculars. "It looks like there is more than one feeding mark on the bodies."
"Really?" John asked. His fingers touched her hand, silently requesting to have the binoculars back to see for himself. She handed them over to him.
"Group feeding," Lorne said with a shudder.
"I don't remember ever seeing that before," John muttered.
"We have not," Teyla replied. "One Wraith feeds on one victim."
"I'm looking at the Wraith bodies," Lorne said. "I'm only seeing one feeding mark, same for the animals."
A thought occurred to Teyla and she looked over John's back towards Aron. "Aron were your people affected by a sickness a year or two ago?"
Aron nodded. "Yes, we lost a large percentage of our population."
"Michael's virus," John muttered. "It just keeps coming back to haunt us."
"What if these Wraith are afraid to feed on humans since they know many are affected by the virus? That may explain why they are not feeding on so many people."
"And the first feeding mark is a tester?" John asked her looking round from his binoculars.
"Perhaps," she suggested. "Perhaps a lesser Wraith tries the human first and the others then know it is safe? Or perhaps they are all sharing what they know to be a safe human upon which to feed," she added with a shudder of her own.
"So they're feeding off animals and each other most of the time, but when they get desperate they grab a human?" Lorne asked.
"They certainly do not look well fed," Teyla pointed out.
"There's more coming out of the ship," John whispered with concentration. Teyla wished she could watch. "They all look thin and tired. I'm counting twelve now." Teyla chewed on her lower lip – that was more than they had hoped.
"There may be even more inside," Lorne replied. "Looking at the ship, it could be simply the top of a much larger ship buried under the trees."
"The trees are very old in this woodland," Aron added.
"But those growing over the top of what we can see of the ship are smaller. Maybe this ship never left this world when all the other Hives woke up when they leant about us?" Lorne suggested.
John sighed as he lowered the binoculars. Teyla reached for them. "Either way, we need to do something about them," John said. "If we leave them there they'll only be forced to take more people from Aron's village and then move on to others."
"We don't have the fire power to take on an entire ship full of Wraith if there is one buried under all that vegetation," Lorne replied.
"It's not a Hive ship, so maybe it is just a cruiser," John said.
"A cruiser still holds hundreds of Wraith," Teyla replied.
"They've probably thinned the herd though, if they're feeding on each other."
"Or it may be that there are hundreds of more Wraith hibernating in the ship," Teyla pointed out.
"True," John agreed. "But, we're never going to find out by staying up here."
She knew from his tone that he had a plan. She turned to him. "What are we going to do?"
John rubbed one hand against his chin as he looked out at the distant Wraith. "We don't have the firepower, but they don't know that."
"They may know that Atlantis has gone," Lorne said.
"If that's true then maybe they don't want Atlantis returning to deal with them," John said as he looked round at Lorne. Teyla watched Lorne smile back at him.
"It's worth a try," Lorne replied.
Teyla frowned. "What is worth a try?" John looked back out at the trees. "Are you thinking that we can threaten them and get them to leave?"
John looked round at her out the corner of his eyes and she knew he was ready for her argument. "I don't see what other choice we've got."
"Other than to bluff them into thinking we have Atlantis as back up?" She asked in surprise.
John gave one of his half shrugs. "It's worked before."
She frowned at him and then out at the hidden ship. "And what if it does not work?"
"Then we'll just have to come up with a different plan," John replied.
Teyla opened her mouth, but John was already crawling backwards, back through the grasses. She followed, Aron and Lorne beside her. Once they had all crawled back to join Halling and the others they all stood upright again, dusting themselves down.
Teyla looked at John and Lorne. "Perhaps it would be best to call in assistance from elsewhere."
"There's no one else, but the Travellers and the Genii," Evan said.
"Then we should contact them," Teyla suggested. She was not pleased with the idea, but it was more likely to work than walking into the Wraith ship and threatening them to leave or else. Though there was no easy way of contacting the Travellers and the Genii would likely want something in return.
John gestured off towards the distant ship. "Except that those twelve Wraith may be all there are and we can certainly take care of them with the Athosians' help. Hell, a well placed piece of C4 would take out half of them."
"Then why not simply do that?" Halling asked.
"If it turns out there's hundreds more of them awake underground in the ship then we'd be unleashing a whole lot of hurt on this world and will have no chance to bring in some back up," John replied.
Lorne turned to John. "We should head in now then, before it gets dark."
Teyla looked up through the tree branches and saw that one of the suns was nearing the horizon. She had no idea how long a day was on this world, but she agreed with Lorne. If they were going to go ahead with this plan then they should begin soon.
"Then we should head out now," she agreed reluctantly.
John turned to her. "You're not coming."
His words were a shock. "Why not?" She asked. "Of course I will accompany you both, you will need as much back up as you can."
She noticed that Evan had turned away a little as he busied himself checking over his vest and weapons. John had pulled himself up to his tallest height over her and he looked down at her with an expression that she had not seen since they had been working as a team.
"Exactly, we're going to need as much back up as we can, away from the ship. I need you to stay with Halling and the others. I need to know there's someone I trust with these weapons to watch our six."
She understood his argument, but it went against her nature to just stay back and wait to see what would happen to her two close friends. Besides she suspected that John was attempting to protect her.
Halling moved forward. "We will hold back and wait to hear from you." He gestured to the emergency radios John had dug out of the Jumper. The batteries had been switched off and had preserved enough power for this mission at least. The familiar weight of the radio against Teyla's side was comforting in a way.
John nodded at Halling and her. "Stay back, but keep a perimeter up to watch out in case there are any more Wraith who might be returning from a snack raid."
Halling nodded and Teyla saw the two other men behind him nod gravely – they understood what John and Evan were walking into.
John looked away and began running through checking his vest and sidearm as Lorne had done. Teyla still felt reluctant to stay back. She followed along behind John as he headed towards Lorne at the treeline.
"I will stay with you some way into the trees to keep in contact," she suggested.
John looked over his shoulder at her. "That's what the radios are for, Teyla." She knew from his tone that he knew she remained unhappy about being left behind. She bristled. She reached forward and grasped John's arm. He stopped and turned back towards her.
She kept her voice low so it wouldn't carry to the others. "You will need as much support as you can. You have no idea what you are walking into. It would be best if I stay closer in case you need cover when you retreat from the ship."
He studied her for a long minute. "Teyla, you need to stay out of this one."
"Why? You have always valued by skills in the team, do not insult me by pretending that you do not need this back up."
He moved slightly closer. "Teyla, if this goes south, one P90 is not going to save us." She didn't like what he was saying, but he was right. "You need to stay back," he added. "Torren needs his mother." It was a very real pain in her chest when she heard his soft comment. She wanted to protest, feeling both angry at him and at the situation.
"John, please reconsider this plan," she begged him, her hand once again on his arm. She could not remember feeling so worried about a mission before, but then they had always had some support, even if it was just Rodney and Ronon. As much as she trusted Halling and the others, she knew they had no real experience in this type of situation.
"If we can convince these Wraith that Atlantis is still out there then that message might get round to any other lone Wraith ships out there. If we can keep them afraid of what might happen if they show their heads, then perhaps we can keep the people of this galaxy safe for a little while longer, Teyla. We can keep kids like Torren safe."
She agreed with everything he said, but she wished to be alongside him to meet this danger. Yet, she knew he would not let her accompany him and she sensed Halling's closeness behind her. Though it annoyed her that they were manipulating her, she knew they were thinking of Torren as much as they were of her. Did they not realise that protecting John and Evan was protecting Torren? She would not live in a galaxy in which people would be idly sacrificed. Especially not John. She tightened her hold on his warm arm.
"This is dangerous," was all she could think to say. She knew John's mind was made up though, she knew him well enough now to know that to argue further would be futile. But, when this was over they would have a talk about how any future missions were to be handled.
He nodded at her comment and looked off to Halling behind her. He pulled his arm gently out from her hand and began to move away. "Maintain radio silence, unless absolutely necessary," John told them.
He moved towards Lorne, his P90 ready in his hands. A deep painful ache lingered in Teyla's chest and she stepped forward towards them again. She didn't plan to try and stop them now, but the idea of John leaving now and getting killed out there by hungry starved Wraith…
"John," she said to him desperately. He turned back to her and she saw his reluctance to look at her. He gave her one of his forced smiles.
"We'll be okay," he told her.
She wanted to say so much to him, but there were was an audience around them. For a flash she was tempted to run to him and pull his mouth to hers, but she held back the urge. She did not wish to endanger him in any way such as distract him from his mission by forcing something like that on him, something that might not be welcomed. Yet, she couldn't just say goodbye.
"Be careful," she told him.
He nodded and turned to leave, but paused. He let his P90 rest against his chest and reached up to his neck. He pulled the loop of his dog tags over his head and turned to her. He held the silver chain out to her, the two small rectangles at its end shinning in the sunlight. "In case we don't make it back."
She reached out for it, palm up and he dropped the chain into her hand. It was warm from his body heat. She closed her fingers around it tightly. "I will hold it for you for when you return."
He nodded again and turned away abruptly. He was never one for emotional scenes, but this one felt even thinner than usual from him. She feared then that he really did believe that he wasn't returning. He moved ahead and passed Lorne, who was looping his chain up from around his neck as well. He moved towards Teyla and held it out to her.
"Just in case…will you give them to Fera for me?" Lorne asked.
Teyla reached out with her other hand and took the chain from his fingers. "Of course," she replied. She gathered the chain together and tucked it into one of her pockets as he turned away and she saw him smile.
The two men headed off into the trees and she watched their backs, seeing the subtle changes to their posture that she had not seen for a long time. Just as they were almost out of view she saw John look back briefly and then he was gone. She opened her hand and looked down at his dog tags. She lifted the chain and looped it over her own head, settling the tags over her chest.
That done she reached for her P90 and as she readied the weapon, her mind focused once again on the mission. She turned to Halling and the others.
"We need to set up a perimeter in this direction..."
-------
TBC