It was bad. They had not encountered any more Hive ships and the rest of the ride home had been smooth. Except John's anger only grew. The more he tried to make himself focus and see past his guilty conscience the worse it got. The voice in his head, the one that usually sounded like his father, kept telling him what a failure he was: As a soldier, as a man, as a person. He hated feeling this impotent.

The bed was too narrow and his sheet tangled in his legs. Again. As he turned furiously, trying to untangle himself without actually opening his eyes, the rage inside him grew. He stiffened in the sweat-soaked bed, took a deep breath and gave it one last try. The wet cotton did not yield. Another turn and he fell unceremoniously to the floor with a thud. The surprise made him still. He sat up, all pretense of keeping his eyes shut gone to hell.

The sobs came naturally after that. His exhausted body and mind gave in to the shudders and soon enough he was huddled on the floor, head between his knees, crying into his fists. The moment ended as quickly as it began and untangling himself finally from the mess that used to serve as his sheet, he stumbled to the small service bathroom. He thought the light on before actually reaching out and flicking it on. He missed Atlantis.

After the short shower John felt human again and too wound up to try and go back to sleep. So instead he pulled on his uniform and went to the Daedalus' commissary. He was going to grab a cup of coffee before an extra-early work-out session. The hall was empty except for a brown haired person huddled behind a laptop, in the far corner. Sheppard couldn't stop a smile as he approached.

"Hey, Elizabeth."

"Hi." Her eyes held questions but her smile was genuine even if a bit tired.

"Been here all night?" he asked, pushing the coffee he'd gotten for himself towards her.

"Now that you put it that way, I guess I have. Why are you up?" she took the bitter liquid gratefully and pushed her laptop away.

"What are you working on?" Sheppard asked as he went over to the coffee machine to get another one.

"The message for the Nox and the Asgard," Weir explained. "We need to convince them to interfere. As far as I know, neither race does that easily. They might not see the Wraith as an enemy. It's like this-You wouldn't drive the lions extinct for the sake of the antelopes, would you?"

His eyes narrowed, but before he could argue she went on. "I don't like it either. But it is, unfortunately, the truth. We are not the top of the food chain any longer. We stopped being the most evolved species the moment we opened the Stargate." Elizabeth was looking at her own wrists now, head bowed so he couldn't see the green of her eyes. "What if we're left alone in this war?" she asked barely above whisper.

John ached to get away. He couldn't bear the sight of an insecure Elizabeth. During the time they'd worked together, sharing the command of Atlantis, he'd come to rely on her strength. She was always there to temper his enthusiasm, always the calm and collected voice of reason. And now here she was, paper cup shaking in her hand, pale and tired with dark circles under eyes that had lost their shine.

He wanted to say something that would restore her hope, but there were no words that could do that. They would be in orbit above Earth in a matter of hours. As much as he wanted to get to Earth sooner and start doing something instead of being trapped in an over-sized tin can floating in space, the closer that moment came the more he dreaded it. Once on Earth he would be forced to admit that there really was nothing to be done. There would be war, there would be bloodshed, and they might even find and attack some of the new Wraith home worlds. It would not be enough. McKay would not be on any of those worlds. And if he was, he would not fight on Sheppard's side. There was nothing that could be done to save him. They couldn't save him.

So he hung his head, exhaled and stood quickly, leaving Elizabeth staring into her now cold coffee.

***

The SGC was buzzing with activity. After they beamed themselves down into the bowels of the mountain, everything started falling into place. They'd organized SG teams to scout for information and Sheppard ended up leading one of them. Elizabeth was gone through the Gate as soon as the first report about the situation had been given. Five days passed in a blur of planets for John, and as exhaustion started to show its pale face so did a glimmer of hope.

As he sat down at the debriefing table, John felt more in control then he had since he met Eve almost a year earlier on that sandy abandoned desert planet. Elizabeth was sitting across from him, looking just as pale as she had the last he saw her but now there was a spark in her eye. It wasn't the usual bright spark of reason, though. It was closer to the glassy brightness in the eyes of someone ravaged by fever.

"All right, folks. What do we know?" General O'Neill asked in his casual voice.

A few moments of tired silence followed his question, but then Daniel Jackson spoke. "As far as we can tell, the information Miss Emmagan got from Dr. McKay is correct. There are seven Wraith Queens in the Milky Way. Now as far as we could find out from our different missions, things aren't going as well as they might have hoped. It seems there is a power struggle going on in their midst." Daniel licked his lips as he flicked through a folder in front of him. "There was a conflict when it came to dividing the territory. Three of the Queens managed to maintain an alliance and they have most of the other Wraith still under their command. The other four fled with only their immediate clans and are being hunted down by the three allied Queens. We don't know if these three are still loyal to Eve, but there are reasons to suspect they have their own plans."

Sheppard knew as much already. Most of the information in the folder Jackson held had been gathered by the team under his command. He allowed himself a smile all the same.

"As far as we know, Eve's Hive has not yet made it to our galaxy but she can't be far away. She won't be pleased when she gets here, that's for sure." Someone else spoke.

"The System Lords are also engaged in war against the three Queen alliance. Some of them are thought to be harboring one or more of the renegade Queens. We have been approached by an emissary of Lord Baal." Teal'c continued in his even baritone.

"Are we that desperate?" O'Neill asked, looking at Elizabeth.

She cleared her throat and sat up straight in her chair. Sheppard did not like what her body language conveyed.

"The Nox have refused to assist us with weapons or troops or technology. They have offered asylum. We may evacuate to one of the planets under their protection. If we choose to do so, they forbid us from using their planet as base for initiating attacks." She looked down to where her hands rested on the table, fingers tightly entwined. "The Asgard will be able to spare three ships from their fleet and Thor assured me he would be aboard one of them to assist technologically. Unfortunately, they are losing the war against the replicators and their worlds are being systematically taken over."

There was a sound of hurried footsteps on the corridor just as the off-world activation alarm went off. Everybody stood in unison and hurried to the Gate-room.

"Colonel Carter's team returning from P7Q-2134, Sir." The technician announced even as he made the iris open to show the blue glimmering event horizon behind it. Sure enough five figures broke through in matter of seconds and the wormhole disengaged behind them. One had long black hair going down to her knees and falling in curtains, hiding a face that Sheppard knew would not be human.

"Carter?"

"We captured one of the Queens, sir."

On a closer look the Wraith was wounded, its beautiful garment sullied by her almost black blood, and she slumped in the hold of the two soldiers flanking her. Sheppard swallowed around the lump forming in his throat at being this close to a Queen. Even wounded and weakened she was intimidating. And when she lifted her head to pin him with her blood-red eyes, he fought down a new wave of panic. Yet he found himself wishing that the black mane was magenta and those fearsome eyes were green.

He did not hesitate to request permission to conduct the interrogation and O'Neill didn't hesitate in giving it. He considered asking the guards to leave him alone with the prisoner, then decided against it.

He approached carefully. He could see her alien flesh knitting through the holes the bullets tore in her lovely red tunic. She was very lanky, bones visible under her skin, all sharp edges. If it wasn't for her eyes one might be inclined to feel sorry for her.

"What's your name?" John found himself asking, even though he really couldn't care less. Nor did he expect an answer beyond the now-familiar hiss. He was already pondering calling her Sue when her clear, cutting voice whispered.

"Ereskigal."

"What?"

She looked up, letting her thick hair fall back over her shoulders. Her lips drew back reveling a frightening mouthful of teeth.

"My name, human." Her voice was louder now.

"Let me just ask this," Sheppard said flippantly, as much to knock her off-balance as to regain some of his own equilibrium, lost at her actually responding to him. "I've been curious about it ever since I woke you guys up. Why the teeth? I mean, it's not like you actually eat with your mouths. You don't really need them, do you?" Sheppard's tone was curious, but he knew there was nothing but cold hatred in his eyes.

Ereskigal blinked and moved her arms behind her, testing the restrains. The movement emphasized her shoulder joints and collar bones, which stood out obscenely now.

"Well? Talk to me? Don't you guys have dentists? Someone to fix that mouthful of horrors, make you just a tad less scary?" Sheppard stood up and started pacing. The Marines standing by the door were giving each other questioning looks. He would have to find something worthwhile to ask and soon. So: "Are you loyal to Lilith?"

"Yes."

"Have you been in contact with her Hive?"

"No."

"What is she planning to do once she gets here?"

And there was that shark smile again. "You are pathetic. You tried to stop us from reaching this place, yet here we stand. You have no chance against us."

"We'll see about that."

John left, letting the door shut loudly behind him. His head was spinning with rage. But he'd had an idea. Her red gleaming eyes that seemed to somehow be able to see under his flesh and into his very core, in combination with what he'd heard in the briefing room earlier, had given him an insight.

When he got to General O'Neill's office, Colonel Carter was still in there. Normally he would have waited for their discussion to be over before he barged in, but things had ceased being normal a long time ago when a metallic armchair had lit up under his butt as he sat in it.

***

"Well?" John asked impatiently as Dr. Jackson exited the event horizon, followed closely by Colonel Carter. She looked tired, and the dark marks left by sand sticking to her sweat-soaked face did nothing to improve her general appearance.

"The Tok'ra will not do it," Daniel said flatly. "It's against their beliefs. The High Council has refused to help us." Daniel sighed. "However, as you probably expected, Baal didn't have any problems with it. He wants to do it himself."

"Yeah, well," Jack interrupted Daniel. "I have a problem with Baal doing this. Carter, couldn't you convince that Martouf guy? Weren't you almost dating or something?"

John could see Carter almost-but not quite-roll her eyes. "No, sir. The Tok'ra have made their position on this subject very clear. They're not going to help us with this. We left Dr. Weir's diplomatic team there for further negotiations on weapons and manpower that they'd be willing to give us in the upcoming confrontations with the Wraith."

They'd been walking as they talked and were now in the mess hall. It was eerily quiet. Everybody was either off-world or asleep. They'd pretty much given up on the post-mission medical since they had so many missions scheduled these days.

"Okay," O'Neill agreed with obvious reluctance. He sat down. The other three sat with him. "Carter, go get some shuteye before you drop dead on your feet. Not a request," Jack continued before she could open her mouth as he taped the star on his shoulder.

"Yes sir. Thank you."

Daniel glared at the General but did not say anything. It wasn't a malicious glare. Sheppard knew the kind. He had been on the receiving end of such glares countless times. He shook his head to dislodge the migraine that threatened to take over any minute. He tried not to think of Rodney-what was happening to him right now, what the Wraith were doing to him.

"You can stay, Danny," O'Neill said. "If you feel up to it, I'd like you to supervise the proceedings. There is not much a medic can do, given that both the patients are aliens, but..."

Daniel nodded. John figured that he wanted to be there and supervise so that Jack wouldn't have to.

"I would like to be there too, sir," Sheppard said.

"Well, it was your idea after all, so yeah, you're still in charge of the interrogation," O'Neill said. He gestured at John and Daniel. "You two should probably go greet our guest. I'll be in my office, reporting to the president, if anyone needs me."

"So," Daniel asked, "did you meet a Goa'uld before this?"

"No. Read the reports though." John took a breath. "Look, I know there are more moral issues with this than I could consider in a lifetime... But we don't have a lifetime."

"I know," Jackson stated simply.

They entered the Gateroom just as the Marines were taking the last weapons off Baal. His hands were raised above his head and the most unpleasant smile graced his handsome features. He looked the two men up and down and his eyes lit up like liquid gold. Sheppard kept his face impassive even as the hairs on the nape of his neck stood to attention.

"I am unarmed, are you satisfied?" His voice seemed to reverberate off the walls. "Where is the creature?"

***

Ereskigal was bound to a solid metal frame. The last wounds were just now closing from the rows of bullets the humans had used to subdue her enough to be moved and bound as she was. They were obstinate, she had to give them that much. How hard was it to understand that a Wraith never gave away anything if they didn't want to? She had seen into Lilith's chosen one's mind, and she knew that the one asking her questions had interrogated and killed two others of her kind. Granted they were males, not Queens, but all the same. These humans never learned.

She tested her restrains again. At least, healed, it didn't hurt to do so anymore. She had to admit they knew how to render someone motionless. There was no way to free her wrists and ankles short of cutting them off.

The door to the cell opened. There he was: the interrogator, Sheppard, and one of the team that had captured her. And there was another one with them. His smell told her he was not human and she hissed her displeasure.

"She must be freed before I start."

"Are you insane? She has superhuman..."

Baal shrugged. "So do I. If you do not free her, there is no deal."

"Fine," Sheppard snapped. "But that means we lock you in with her. And if she eats you, that's your problem." Sheppard motioned to Daniel to follow him outside the cell's door. Daniel frowned but went. Before he closed the door, John handed Baal a knife.

Ereskigal hissed as Baal approached. He circled her once as if assessing the best way to get closer. Her muscles twitched as she jerked against her restrains. He stopped behind her and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her up against himself. At his touch she started to thrash as if he'd burned her.

John could recognize the despair of a trapped animal in her reactions. Suddenly he was sick with himself for standing outside and watching this happen. Baal was enjoying himself too much. John banged his fist against the door to get his attention.

"Stop playing around!" He knew his voice did not carry through the hermetically shut door, but the words didn't matter-the message still got a grimace from Baal. As if to spite him, the Goa'uld held his gaze as he flicked his tongue over the side of the Wraith's neck, outlining taut tendons under the skin.

Her pupils were dilated and there was nothing but horror etched on her face. Her struggles were fruitless. The knife cut quickly through the plastic restraint holding her left arm to the frame and then the restraint on her right was severed. She tried to turn and grab him, but Baal had calculated his moves and the angle he stood at behind her. He jumped and pushed her to the floor with his body weight. Planting a knee in the middle of her back, he caught hold of her wrists and pinned them to her back, twisting her arms painfully to do so. She was bucking wildly, trying to throw him off. But like a cockroach pierced by a pin, there was no escape.

John wanted to look away. Baal's victorious smile turned his stomach inside out, as did her scream as Baal nuzzled the nape of her neck. And even as every fiber in his body screamed with her, commanding that he look away, John kept his eyes right at the spot where Baal's lips parted over her unnaturally pale skin.

And there it was. Just a flash of glistening brownish flesh passing his lips. Her screams intensified and he could hear her perfectly now. She did not speak in any language that would be familiar to human ears, but he understood her perfectly. The slim, long limbed body writhed on the floor under her captor's weight. Then Baal fell to one side and as she thrashed under him, he was flung away like a rag doll.

"Let's go!" Daniel said loudly, startling John out from his horror-induced numbness.

The two medics present entered the cell along with Daniel. John stood just outside, knowing there was nothing he could do other thank keep his gun trained on the Wraith. Ereskigal was still twisting and turning on the floor, her face screwed up tight and her mouth covered in dark red foam that kept being sprayed by the fury of her hisses. She looked like she was in the grips of an extremely bad seizure. Nobody concerned themselves with her, though. They just threaded carefully around her to avoid being hit by her arms and legs as they jerked disjointedly.

Everybody huddled over Baal, lying unconscious on the floor. They fitted an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and ran an IV line. One of the doctors looked up at Daniel and shook her head. The brown eyes fluttered open and Daniel leaned in close and muttered some words that John did not understand. Then Baal closed his eyes again. The medics finally moved him onto a gurney and took him away.

Ereskigal had managed to turn over on her back and soft whimpers were all that was left of her angry tossing. Her hair was damp and tangled. John took a few steps closer. It looked like she was muttering under her breath.

As he leaned in to listen her blood-red eyes opened wide and flashed to molten gold. An easy grin spread on her alien features, one that looked very out of place there.

"Point the gun away, human." Baal's cavernous voice came from the pale lips as he wiped the red foam away with the back of one hand.