Chapter 2

Eventually their wait was over as the group of Wraith entered the room; sniffing, searching, sensing and John stepped forward in a blaze of bullets. He managed to take out the first one holding a stunner before the others could react. He turned his attentions to the others but it was too late. A stunner blast hit him square in the chest and John's body hit the hard floor with a thud.

Elizabeth wanted to scream but there was something about the way Aylanna placed her hand on top of hers that made her feel everything would be okay. Before the lead Wraith could reach John, Aylanna had placed something around him, a personal shield Elizabeth concluded, and had stepped out into the light.
"Aylanna" the Wraith seemed familiar with her name, too much so. "You finally came out" he growled.
"I thought you'd have given up by now Laintar, I must have underestimated you" Elizabeth couldn't understand being on a first name basis with a Wraith, but apparently Aylanna was. "It's me you want, leave him out of it. Try and get me without all your gadgets."
"You destroyed my ship and killed four hundred of my brothers. I will take great pleasure in feeding on you after all this time." the Wrath hissed before sucking the life from his companion. Elizabeth realised now that this Wraith had been hunting Aylanna for eight years. It was personal. By the sounds of it he'd come close a few times but she'd managed to escape and ended up here, protected by the shields.

Seconds later Laintar was charging at her, stunner at the ready in his hand. It went off but the same shield that had been protecting John had protected her. Elizabeth kept to the shadows, watching both John and the square-off. The Wraith came in for another attack, this time abandoning the weapon and choosing hand to hand combat. Neither of them looked in good enough shape to maintain this for long. He was obviously drained of strength this, combined with the fact that Aylanna was quicker, made it possible to catch him off balance and throw him against a wall. Whilst she had no opposition, Aylanna managed to slide the stunner in Elizabeth's direction, probably so she could defend herself later.

While the Wraith lay on the floor both Aylanna and Elizabeth noticed John stir. Quickly the girl mustered all her remaining strength to move him away from the fight. Putting his arm over her shoulders and her arm around his waist she guided the weak Major to the security of the corner. There Elizabeth stood, stunner in hand.

Laintar was relentless, refusing to be beaten easily. He had stumbled to his feet and was snaking up behind Aylanna, arm out stretched. His hand connected with her back and her face filled with agony as he latched on. With no energy left Aylanna could not even contemplate resisting. John and Elizabeth had snuck through the shadows and were now in a position behind the Wraith. In a mixture of bullets and stunner blasts they killed him before he could start to feed. John, now over the worst of the pain, rushed over to his friend and picked her up. "Elizabeth" he grunted with the strain of carrying the girl.
"Way ahead of you." Elizabeth exclaimed as she punched on the DHD.

When they arrived in Atlantis there was already a medical team and an anxious Rodney waiting on the gate room floor. "What happened? I turned around and you hadn't come through. We tried dialling the gate but it wouldn't connect.
"She must have blocked it some how so no one else would get hurt" Elizabeth said breathlessly "She needs help fast. Carson?"
"Yer, Lass I know. What happened?" the doctor asked as he checked Aylanna's vitals.
"He was about to fed" John informed him. "But we killed him before he could start the process." He looked down at the girl whose blood was warming his chest. "I got hit by a stunner but I'm fine now ... Honest." He gave the room his best 'Really I'm fine' smile before he carried Aylanna to the infirmary under Carson's encouragement.

Rodney placed the ZPMs in the interface and charged up the shields as a precaution then proceeded to join John and Elizabeth as they watched over the girl in the infirmary. Carson had kept the Major in under observation but guessed that given the position he wouldn't leave anyway. Never one for personal attachments Rodney had hidden agenda in his visit. He asked Carson for the parchment from the blanket then left without even a 'Goodbye'. In Carson's medical opinion Aylanna had survived because of their actions and that the wound on her back had done no major damage.
"Then why is she unconscious?" they both asked.
"I sedated her. She needed to rest. Her body was nearing a total shut down because of her exhaustion and malnourishment. She'll be in here for at least a week until I'm happy she's recovered enough. I've got her on several drips most of them to combat the effects of the malnourishment."

Carson had her medically sedated for two days and during that time there was at least one person with her. Whether it was John, Elizabeth or both of them they never left her alone. On the morning of the third day Aylanna awoke and Carson was so surprised by her progress he was going to allow her to leave the next day. He told John and Elizabeth that he assumed that it was her alien physiology, which was more than 70 Ancient, which had allowed her to heal completely in such a short space of time.

Since Aylanna was not allowed to leave the infirmary for another day Elizabeth and John stayed with her. They were plagued with interruptions by Rodney, asking what a smeared word said on the stolen parchment. Other than that Aylanna explained everything more clearly to the two leaders; how she had Ancient physiology, how she'd watched her friends and family die one-by-one at the hands of Laintar's brothers and how she'd become to know him by name. To them Aylanna seemed incredibly at ease with her situation. Not dwelling on what had happened to her in the past. Or so they thought at any rate.