She felt joy. For the first time, in longer then she could remember, she felt energy. She was closer to the creature she had been before her captivity. Months had passed since she had been assigned to her own rooms. And she felt bored. She got to the point where she was looking forward to Rodney's visits. But now there was something akin to the restlessness of hope in her soul. Tree hive ships were on course for Atlantis. She would either live to see those of her kind again, or die waiting for their arrival. She heard the human Rodney called Zelenka saying the ships were traveling through hyperspace and they would soon reach Atlantis.

As she stood on the balcony, her gaze wondered across the dark night sky. She held on to the rail and closed her eyes in concentration. She remembered how to seek the link. It was almost easy. The familiar tingle across her forehead let her know the connection was successful.

"Greetings, Queen of the Mekrane!"

"You are welcome. I do not recognize your Origin. Are of the Sisterhood?"

"I am your fore bearer."

"I don't understand. All the fore bearers are dead. And they have been for thousands of cycles."

"I am the last one. I was borne on Mekrane."

Eve sent images and feelings and pain. The Queen brought her hands up to cover her face. Eve knew she sent too much, but as the Queen tumbled from her throne she couldn't help the satisfaction that rushed over her.

"Stop! Stop! I understand! I believe!"

"I am now in the lantean city of Atlantis. I know you and two other Queens are headed this way."

"We seek passage to new feeding grounds."

"Earth is the planet of origin for the new inhabitants of this city. I know of it."

"What do you want fore bearer?"

Eve felt her anger rise. This young Queen was not about to recognize her true nature. But she didn't let the anger bleed over the link. She kept herself calm and asked for asylum.

"My freedom, Queen of the Mekrane I will render assistance to your fleet. In exchange you grant me free passage to my home."

"Consider it so. You may live at the fortress on the Green Moon."

"My gratitude is yours. We shall speak again."

Eve closed her mind. She was Queen of the Mekrane, not some new borne fifth generation female who was unable to identify her without her consent. And she had the audacity to offer her asylum on the Green Moon! When she was borne the Green Moon was still an orange desert. Eve felt more determined than ever to take back all she once lost. Her resolution was made: she would be Queen once more and her royal cape will be made out of the skin of the insolent who dared usurp her throne.

Taking a deep breath she opened her mind to the second hive ship's queen.

"Greetings Queen of the Purple Sky."

"Greetings I accept only from those I know of."

"I have seen many ages come. I am of the Forebears."

"I feel that. My mother's mother was the last of my kin to meet a fore barer. You are welcome."

"The Queen of the Mekrane bares my legacy. She asked for my assistance."

"I have no ill feelings toward her."

"Yet."

"Why would you tell me of this?"

"Your mother's mother would not ask."

"My gratitude is yours. I will speak to the Queen of the Dark Waters. I am sure you have her gratitude as well."

"Is your fleet able to sustain war?"

"It will only be a small battle. The lanteans have fled before."

"These are not lanteans. They know of your approach."

"Is there another reason to stop our advances? Are you afraid fore barer?"

"Fear is not the subject of this interlude. I know of other ways. I wish to share my insight. I am sure a victory is sweeter if it costs nothing."

"I will meet you. Where are you?"

"I will tell you where to meet me. There are small details to be taken care of."

She spoke to the third queen just before dawn. She was even younger then the Queen of the Mekrane. She felt confident. She only needed Rodney McKay to ensure the success of her plans. And he was an easy and willing target. She used the connection she had with his mind to make him come to her chambers and within minutes he was there. He looked tired, she noticed, exhausted even if the purple marring the skin under his eyes was anything to go by. She could see the weariness in his movements.

"Hi. Don't you ever sleep?"

"My kind finds rest in feeding."

He took a step forward at that removing his shirt. She smiled. The fear was still there, shimmering under the surface. He was uneasy. She trusted the power the link between them gave her over him, but even now, after so much time, his mind still fought her every step of the way. If ever this power was to falter even a little bit she would loose any leverage. He would break free at the first sign of her weakness. If she was to enlist his aid she would need more than this fragile connection that could break anytime. As much as she hated it, she had to bind him further. She needed to make sure he would be completely unable to resist. She had to achieve total control in order for her plans to work.

Her fingers traced the outline of his jaw. Rodney shivered and closed his eyes. He wanted her to continue her caress forever. The need to keep her safe that grew inside him since the surgery was slowly becoming laced with other needs. His primal ego mixed protection and possession into a very primitive need. He wanted to touch her, have her, and reassure himself that she was safe in his arms. And then there was an other part of him, one growing weaker at her being this close. That was the part that screamed he was not himself. That she had done something to him and he wasn't thinking clearly... that she manipulated him. Except that was a voice he could never bring himself to listen to for longer than five seconds. Her fingers ghosted over his lips, making his heart race and any thought of resistance fade from his mind.

"Many days ago, at the infirmary you wanted to do something. What do you call that?"

"Kiss?" Rodney barely managed a whisper. Eve nodded. "I wanted to kiss you. I'm sorry. I didn't... I mean back then I didn't realize that you didn't feel that way...I, I, just... Ah, I'm not good at this." He finished miserably moving a hand in the small space between them. But then she closed that distance, pushing up against him. His arms instinctively went around her.

"Try again." Eve whispered into his ear, her breath cool on his skin. Rodney swallowed hard shifting his pose a bit and angling his head to obey. And this time she didn't turn away. His lips brushed hers softly, tentatively and almost reverently. He sighed into her mouth as her lips opened for him. He tasted something incredibly sweet before realizing it was her tongue moving against his. It tasted sweeter than sugar, overwhelming his taste buds. Pain coursed through him, sweet like her kiss. He held on to her.

She knew what was happening. She knew he would experience pain equal to hers and still be unable to stop himself. She remembered how humans behaved when mating. She remembered how painful it had been for her to undergo those actions in the past as if it was just seconds ago. She could see the lanteans in her minds eye watching her. The human they forced on her then had a mind far simpler than the one embracing her now. The mind opening completely to her now was intricate, dark and subtle. The primal lair was still there, but in was enveloped in complex folds of emotion and reason. As the kiss between them deepened she drove herself further into his mind than any feeding short of killing would ever allow. She relayed on memory to move as a human female would to let him come on top of her. That was the way she had been forced to let the human take her in the past. As she let her legs fall open he settled between them. Thousands of years had not erased her first brutal introduction to human coupling. She closed her eyes to chase away the image of lantean scientist watching, instructing, and recording. It was pointless. They were in her mind. His lips tracing down her neck took her by surprise. It was new, just like his hands roaming over her body was. She focused on his mind. He found pleasure in trying to arouse her as well. And there it was again! The kindness she had always felt in his approach. It was gratitude and concern for her well being. She didn't have time to become distracted by his emotions before his touch became more demanding and urgent. His breath felt like fire on her naturally colder skin. He fumbled with his clothing briefly and then the pain of him pushing inside her made her breath hitch. He kissed her passionately pushing her right knee up with a hand to gain better access. She placed her hand on his chest over the wound that never got around to healing completely.

"Yesss!" He hissed as her feeding spikes broke his skin again. She could feel his heart beating frantically under her palm as he neared climax. She felt his pleasure as he crested, the rush of emotions quelling her hunger. She let go of his mind as he drew back and slumped boneless on the bed next to her.

"I think I'm beginning to like you feeding off of me more then I should." Rodney said, still a bit breathless. "Eve?" His tone was curious as he cocked his head to look at her.

"Yes?"

"I... I think I love you." He whispered moving his finger to caress her face. This was also new. She turned on her side ignoring the pain that still burned vivid in her lower abdomen to look into the blue eyes. She felt victorious. He took her lazy smile as a sign of satisfaction and kissed her.

"You have work to do. I will join you at the laboratory later."

He nodded before getting up and pulling his clothes into order. His crooked smile lingered as he bent over to her to kiss her lips again before leaving.

Rodney even managed a quick shower before heading to the lab he currently worked in. But when he settled at his work station he found he could not concentrate on the projects at hand. He thought he had ruined everything with the attempt at kissing her a little over five months ago. She rarely allowed physical contact between them when she didn't feed while his need for her only grew. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he had felt something wasn't right. Now that feeling was gone. Rodney only felt adoration at the thought of Eve now and he knew he would go to any length to ensure her safety.

***

Miko Kusanagi blinked nervously from behind her large glasses. The code she just finished writing wasn't helping. She would hate having to report she was unable to extract the needed information from the damaged console hard drive. But she had been working on it in every spare second she had for the past tree weeks since she had been assigned to the project... she was close to admitting defeat. There was no way to get anything more coherent or consistent out of the reek. With a heartfelt sigh she started writing up her report on the matter. She wasn't all that surprised when, shortly after she sent her report she was summoned to attend a senior staff meeting. Senior staff meant Dr. Rodney McKay would be there; probably ready to gut her publicly for her inadequate skills because she couldn't salvage more of the data. She decided not to commit seppuku because of a berating from the Canadian scientist while she gathered her folders. It wasn't like she could actually do a better job and frankly she had serious doubts that anyone, including the previously mentioned astrophysicist, ever could.

She was surprised that he wasn't attending the meeting. In fact there were only two members of the senior staff waiting for her in Weir's office.

"Hello, Dr. Weir. Dr Beckett."

They both acknowledged her with curt nods.

"We need to talk to you about the data you were able to salvage from the computer core we retrieved from M24-786. I don't know if you are aware, but it is the planet we found Eve on. We believe that there are records of the experiments that the lanteans subjected her to."

"I don't read Ancient very well. I didn't understand what the data I could gathered spoke of, but I can assure you there is nothing more I can do. Except for the bits and pieces I was able to extract, the data stored there has been compromised by physical damage to its support system."

"Yes, you mentioned that in your report. I was wondering if there was any way to make sure the information we got is correct."

"You mean run a scan for alteration from the original sequencing?"

"If that's what you call it, yes. We consider this data extremely important and we need to know how reliable it is."

"I can do it. Provided I find a recognizable pattern of original sequencing, I can tell you if it's been altered and how many times. I'll start right away."

"Thank you."

As the petite Japanese scientist left, Carson moved to the chair on his side of Elizabeth's desk.

"What do you think?" Elizabeth asked in a tired voice while she took her own seat facing Beckett.

"From what I saw there and from the tests I ran myself she's a formidable being. And the experiments they ran could tell us how to defeat the Wraith. If there is no tempering with the files Dr Kusanagi decoded, we might be looking at the plans to make a biological weapon against the Wraith and Eve is the most important piece of the puzzle."

"This is all just way too familiar."

"I know. And I would love to be able to tell you that it will be different this time. But the Wraith is approaching Atlantis..."

"Right. On to a different matter. How's Dr McKay?"

"Physically he's just dandy. Eve feeds less and less off of him, we are trying to get her body used to regular food. It's a slow process, but with the enzymatic gland removed her organism is more responsive to alternative nourishment. So the strain I predicted would be dangerous for McKay is moot now."

"So there really are no ill effects?"

"Not from a medical point of view. I'll detect a higher level of blood pressure every now and then, but that is not unusual. Life in this galaxy is stressful."

"Did he ever speak to you about her?"

"Not directly, no. But I can see he's being very protective of her. I think he's grateful for how she saved him, and well, maybe even all of us during the Genii strike."

"I'll admit she surprised me too at the point. I never expected a predator to choose its victims like that."

"She's not your regular predator. She's the result of a very complicated genetic experiment. Hopefully we'll know more about that soon."

"I guess what I'm asking is how do you think Rodney will take it if we can use Eve against the Wraith."

"Good question. We'll need to ask him that."

"I suppose we'll get a chance to do that this afternoon. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with Dr. Hanozeri to work on translating the text files Dr Kusanagi rescued."

"Sure. I need to look over my own notes before this afternoon's meeting."

Weir walked him to the door before returning to her desk. The ancient text was a huge challenge to her as there was such a big part of it missing; she doubted she could ever make sense out of it. She was well within the first paragraph when Dr Hanozeri joined her.

"I've been working on this ever since I got the e-mail from you. It's the most fascinating bit of text I've seen so far."

"It speaks of the project they involved our current prisoner in, I thought you might help, given you're a natural with the ancient language." Weir said looking over the translation Hanozeri handed her. "Why call it project Lilith?"

"It's what they called her. Lilitu or Lilith is an important figure in Hebrew mythology. The Ancients called this the Dark Moon project, see?" The anthropologist pointed to a section of the original text in front of Weir. "That was what the Hebrew called Lilith."

"I'll need some more explaining on that one. How come you think this has anything to do with...?"

"Before I was recruited for the Stargate project, I was involved in an extensive research on ancient Hebrew civilization. It was that which brought me to the attention of Dr Jackson. I was doing a study on how different religious and cultural idioms from the Babylonians were incorporated into Hebrew beliefs. These are the oldest civilizations to see the light of day on Earth. The city of Jericho is dated back to 9000 BC."

"About when the Ancients made it to Earth."

"That's right. Their legends are very likely to contain facts they learned from the Ancients. And the story of Lilith is, I think very befitting. See, Yahve created man, right, Adam and he made a wife for him. But the first wife was not Eve, as all Christians know today. It was Lilith. The legend says she was created the same way Adam was. But she was an unfit wife; she did not obey her husband and refused to bare his children. So Adam complained to God, he got a new and more obedient wife and Lilith was banished. She became a demon and consort to the fallen angel, Lucifer. Their offspring were the most vicious demons and she took her vengeance on human kind by feeding on all their new borne. These texts are mostly lab reports, right? They cover the experiments the Ancients ran on our Eve. One of those experiments involved having her mate with a human male. They soon realized that her anatomy only mimicked that of a human female and was not actually able to conceive."

"What could they have been trying to achieve by all this?"

"Stronger humans? I don't know. If this was all about researching ascension, I suppose they were trying to make a race strong enough to endure experimentation. We know they experimented on them selves later, but my guess is that first they tried to produce a race of lab rats similar enough to their physiology to run tests."

"It certainly looks that way from these texts. But so much of these are missing. So you think all these stories about demons are what were left from the Ancient warning the humans of Earth about the Wraith?"

"I believe so, yes."

"So what else can you tell me about Lilith? I mean what makes her more dangerous than any other wraith?"

"Well the legend says she was a seductress. Lilith had the means to seduce any human if she so desired. If we think of this in terms of a wraith being able to manipulate any human male, then..."

"I always wondered what she meant when she said she didn't support the war efforts of her kind because she believed in different methods. It must be easier to make the humans come willingly to their deaths then to hunt them down. It says here that after the Lilith project failed they freed her. And after that the number of Wraith started increasing until it became a problem for the human population of this galaxy. And a big portion of text is missing here, but I will assume they recaptured her at some point."

"Maybe we should ask her to fill in the blanks for us?"

"Yeah. Dr. Beckett said something about a biological weapon against the Wraith described in these texts. He has some graphic files about genetic modifications to Wraith DNA. He thinks it's about Eve's DNA."

"Unfortunately I found no actual description; it must be in the missing parts of text. There are some references, but I can't make out any coherent story."

"I'll e-mail your opinions and findings to Dr Beckett and maybe he can make sense of it all."

***

Rodney tried to keep the silly smile of his face. Most of the time he succeeded too. But it was difficult to focus on the tasks at hand when he kept having visuals about his morning encounter with Eve. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of having sex, no scratch that, making love to a Wraith. It definitely held no comparison to any of his previous experiences. Still, it figured. He finally finds a woman who he can consider his intellectual equal, a woman who overlooks his verbal inadequacies with ease, a woman who unlike Sam Carter doesn't hate him for speaking his mind. And given his luck, the woman in question is of a very dangerous alien species who feed on humans, no less! He didn't dwell on the different species issue much though, the proverbial butterflies in his stomach didn't seem to care much about that either. He looked over her work with a smile. That woman could do math! Her reasoning was sometimes hard to follow, her idea of logic defied that of humans on most occasions, but he'd grown accustomed to it in a way. The new algorithm he was looking over promised to increase the efficiency in energy preservation ratios. He only needed to rewrite some subroutine protocols and viola! More power to the City of Atlantis! He'll have Zelenka work on that. He needed to see her, outside of the lab. He knew she should be back at her quarters by now. He hated the rule of confining her to those chambers unless she was accompanied by a human, but since it allowed her to stay out of a cage it was acceptable. And she had no complaints. So he handed the equations over to Zelenka's assistant and made his way to Eve's room.

"Hi. I missed you, so I thought I'd drop by." She blinked at him, a look of confusion on her face. "I suppose you're not familiar with the concept of missing someone?" He asked sheepishly as he suddenly found the floor very interesting to look at. She advanced on him in silence, grabbed the back of his head and brought their mouths together in one fluid motion. Rodney almost lost his balance and had to lean into her for support. He was panting a bit when they parted again, her green emerald eyes looking into his. "I...um, wow!" He managed eloquently. She smiled. Her smiles weren't as creepy as they used to be in the beginning. He found them endearing now.

"My kind approach. Yes? They bring war."

"How do you know that?"

"I know you are concerned. I wish to help."

"You want to fight on our side?"

"On your side. Rodney, you are my mate now. I am yours." She spoke softly and he felt his cheeks blush at the hot wave of arousal that coursed through him at hearing her words. "I must leave, Rodney. If I am to help you, I must be on the ship that approaches."

"Leave? No! I just found you... you can't leave! You can't leave me!"

And there it was! The genuine part of his emotions toward her, the part she didn't control jealousy, possession. But she now had the power to overcome his will completely. You will let me leave.

"I must leave, to help you and your kind." was all she said aloud.

"The device...you can't leave Atlantis. It will explode and kill you. I can't..."

"Help me remove it, then."

"I can't. It'll hurt you. I can't hurt you like that again."

"It hurts me already. I only accepted it so I could be with you, free with you. Now you need to help me remove it so I can leave."

Rodney shook his head, even if he knew she was telling the truth. He knew the instant she said it that the implant caused her pain. But to forcefully open her flesh again that way was an unbearable thought.

"Let me get Carson to help."

"He will not, and you know it. As soon as you tell them I need to leave they will kill me. They are only waiting for an opportunity to end my life. They don't know me, not like you do."

"I love you. I want you with me."

"I'll take you away. You may come. I plan to board the flag ship and take control of the entire fleet which is advancing on your city. I will stop the attack, but I need to get there. There is one on the ship who remembers me, he will help. He will come and take me away and you can join me."

He felt better at that. If he could go too it meant he could keep her safe, even if he had to lose his life to do so. He needed to have her safe. He silently cursed himself for not anticipating that no one else on Atlantis trusted her like he did. Of course they would rather want her dead! Sheppard was gunning for her blood from the very begging. They didn't deserve her risking her life to save them! Ingrates, all of them! He only managed to find joy in being the one she trusted, the one whose help she asked for. He embraced her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder. Her hands caressed over his back. Maybe after all this was done and over they could just disappear somewhere together. The Pegasus Galaxy had to be big enough for them not to be found. He could not care less about his fellowmen at that moment. All he could think about was to be with her like they were, pressed up against each other, with her sweet smell filling his nostrils forever.

"Free me of the device now. I need time to heal after that." He just nodded and backed away slightly. She reached into the folds of her gown and produced a small but oh so sharp looking knife. His hand trembled as he took the blade from hers. He didn't even question how she had gotten hold of it. Eve slowly moved to toward the unfurnished wall of her room and he followed in silence. She was pleased with the outcome of her manipulations. The fact that he wanted genuinely to go with her was an unexpected reward. She had been fully prepared to order him to do so. After all she needed him in order for her plan to regain her crown as Queen of the Mekrane to be successful. But for once his real attachment to her proved less of a hindrance. It was the only advantage it bared however for it was that very attachment that made his hand shake as he made the first incision to start remove the device that caused her so much discomfort. She leaned against the wall for support and kept her arm above her head to lend him access to perform the operation. Her other hand snaked under his shirt to latch on to his chest so she could absorb the raw energy of his racing emotions. He worked fast, letting her mind guide his hand, cutting into flesh, pulling muscle out of the way. And then there was bone. He stopped to stare at the hard shield surrounding his target. The wound was closing under his astonished gaze, her wet and sticky flesh moving over his still fingers, her blood dripping to the floor.

"Break the bone. Take the device out!" Her voice cut trough the haze enveloping his mind, her commanding tone made him move with a force he didn't think he was capable of. And he did what she told him to. Next thing he knew, he was staring at the device while she shifted their pose backing him up against the wall.

***

"Dr Weir! We must contain Eve right away! Get Dr McKay away from her as soon as possible! Contain them both if you must, separately." Carson's panicked thickened voice came over the com.

"What?! Dr Beckett, what's wrong?"

"No time to explain! I have reason to believe Dr. McKay's been compromised. Eve cannot be trusted! Send a military team to confine her! Now!"

"Major Sheppard, this is Weir. Find and retain Eve ASAP! She is to be considered dangerous." Elizabeth spoke hurriedly as she started off to the infirmary.

"Understood." came Sheppard's answer.

"A team under Sheppard's command is on their way, Carson. Now explain!"

"I cannot believe I haven't caught this earlier! It was Dr. Hanozeri's notes that got me thinking'. It says there Eve was called the seductress. So I ran a test for human pheromones on the blood samples I collected from her. She has them in spades. I have reason to believe she is somehow influencing Rodney's behavior. Controlling him even. I... I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I should have done this sooner. I think that's how the ancients made the human male mate with her. I'm so sorry!"

"S'okay doc, we're on it." Managed Sheppard as he made his way down the hall toward Eve's quarters, gun ready, and the two marines he was working out with in the gym with right behind him. The handheld life sign detector indicated the wraith was at her designated quarters. It also showed him she was not alone. There was another life sign blinking at him and he bet he knew who that was. He ordered a security team to meet them there. They had placed her in a more insulated part of the city at his personal request. He felt it was safer to keep her as far from the human population of Atlantis as possible. He now allowed himself to feel proud for making his point on the issue despite McKay's grousing.

The soldier raced through the city, gut tight and fingers clenching on his gun in anticipation.

"There is wraith dart approaching the city! It will be above us within 15 minutes!" Zelenka announced in a terrified voice.

"My day just keeps getting better and better!" Sheppard muttered as he turned another corner.

***

As soon as the offending piece of metal was extracted Eve' wound began to heal. The energy feeding off Rodney provided made the ordeal less exhausting on her. The gland Beckett had removed and replaced with the device started to grow back instantly. Soon she will be able to drain humans again. She lounged for that, every instinct she had told her to wait it out and then kill the human in front of her. His heart was beating fast, telling her he was full of life, full of the force she needed so much. She knew she couldn't wait. She could smell the lantean approaching. With a roar of dissatisfaction she tore her hand away from Rodney's chest, as reason won over instinct. She could also feel her rescuer approaching. This was her only chance to escape. And she needed him with her and very much alive.

"Rodney, we must hurry!" She spoke as she reached out to caress his cheek. "Take me to an opened space."

"South pier. It's only a few corridors away."

He was running as fast as he could, trying to keep up with Eve. His chest hurt, his breathing came in gasps and grunts with the exertion, yet he couldn't remember when he last felt this happy, this alive. He heard the soldiers filling into the hallway as he and Eve took the last turn to get to the opened terrace on the southern pier. He half expected them to try and stop them. He wanted to yell at them that it was alright, that they should let them go because it was the only way eve could help. But he couldn't have managed to speak out loud enough for them to hear with his lungs on fire as they were. The sound of bullets flying through the air startled him. Protect Eve! No! No, don't harm her! was all he could think. He raced after her. The dart whined in the air above the city.

"McKay! Stop!" Sheppard yelled seeing the scientist was trying to interpose himself between the wraith and their bullets. She was hit, but she was strong and fast. She ran into the culling beam the second it deployed. It was then John realized McKay was about to follow her. He was headed for the beam himself. It wasn't only about getting her out of harm's way! The goddamn idiot wanted to join her. John aimed and fired. He never stopped running as he watched in slow motion the bullet he just released tear through McKay's upper thigh. The roar of his own blood filled his ears as he rushed toward the astrophysicist. It was a race against time, against all odds. With every passing micro second the beam inched closer to where McKay had stopped running and now stood on shaky legs, clutching at his wound, panting. John barely managed to push him out of harm's way, slamming into him bodily and toppling them both on the hard metal floor.

"Fire at the god damned dart! Bring it down!" He managed to order before Rodney regained his grip on reality and pushed him off, following him as they rolled over the floor. Rage washed over him.

"You idiot! You fucking moron! You shot me!" Rodney's hands grabbed painfully around Sheppard's throat. The soldier gasped, struggling for breath as the others fired inefficiently at the departing dart. McKay's fuller frame was pinning him to the floor and effectively forcing the breath out from his lungs.