Ella sighed. She was getting increasingly tired of standing around in the gate room amid a crowd of people. Daniel had fallen asleep, so her mind was somewhat roomier. She glanced over at Todd, who she was supposed to be watching at the moment. She didn't see why, though. With his arms chained to his midsection he didn't seem to pose much of a threat, but everyone else begged to differ.

Ronon glanced down at his little sister, watching her gaze at the wraith. She seemed to trust him, and Ronon just didn't understand it. He hated the wraith. Maybe he hated this one a little less, but only a little. Ella treated Todd as if he were human. Ronon shook his head in disapproval.

Ella's attention was drawn to the gate as it activated. A woman with short blond hair in dress blues stepped through the gate. Ella's eyebrows rose as she tried to remember the conversation she and Woosley had that night. He had said 'she'. She laughed to herself and mentally nudged Daniel. He yawned, and she had to struggle to keep it from escaping. She could feel his contentment when he saw Colonel Carter was there and had to stop the wave he tried to send her.

'Daniel, stop it!'

She heard Daniel's groan as he settled in to wait. After a short speech the crowd began to disperse and she succumbed to Daniel's prodding. With a sigh she headed towards the Colonel, waving goodbye to Ronon and aware Todd was following loyally behind.

Samantha Carter had returned. Todd remembered the woman well. She had been headstrong and resolute. He did not like her. However, since one of the two humans he actually respected was left in charge of him, he would control himself. For now, anyways.

Ella walked up to Samantha and extended a hand with a smile that looked a lot like Daniel's. Sam smiled back as the young woman introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Ella Dex. Daniel says hi."

Sam looked confused, and was a bit worried when Ella smiled.

"He's in my brain."

Sam smiled and chuckled slightly. "So it's just the usual."

Ella sighed. "Daniel thinks that's funny. Well, I'll see you later I suppose." Without another word Ella walked around her and headed down a hall. It was only after Ella began to leave that Sam noticed there was a wraith behind her, Todd, by the look of his tattoo. He was following behind her like an extremely deadly puppy. Sam decided she'd have to ask Sheppard about that. Ronon was obviously as unnerved as she felt, because he gave her only a short nod of greeting and what looked like approval before following Ella at a safe distance. Safe from the wrath of his little sister, anyways. Sam smiled and headed to her room.

He could feel them. At some point he had gone from behind her, to following along at her side. Now Todd could feel the confused and horrified stares as he walked down the hall at Ella's side. They amused him. He assumed the light boot steps that were almost in sync with Ella's were those of Ronon Dex, but he didn't dare look back. He had been so wrapped up in his examination that he hadn't noticed they were taking the long way back to his cell.

'Ella.'

Ella sighed inwardly, trying to make her irritation extremely obvious to Daniel. She felt him ignore it, so she decided to humor him.

'What, Daniel?'

'Do you realize how much he respects you?'

Ella began to roll her eyes, but she stopped midroll, risking a glance in Todd's direction.

'Where did you get that idea?'

'Well if you were in his shoes, wouldn't you be gone?'

'You already know the answer to that, don't you?'

She felt Daniel smile gently. 'Yes, and so do you.'

Ella sighed and turned through the doorway that led to Todd's cell. She waved goodbye as Todd allowed the marine to guide him into the cell and remove the harness.

"See you later, Todd."

Todd inclined his head as Ella was turning away, trying to hide her smile. She wanted to know why he was different. She tried to push the thought away. She didn't want Daniel to hear it, but she knew he had already heard. Suddenly his gentle voice flooded her head, louder and clearer than it had ever been.

'Why are you afraid?'

Ella sighed and stepped to the side of the hallway, leaning back against the wall. "What do you mean?" She knew she looked like a crazy person talking to herself, but she also knew most of the personnel was aware of her predicament by now.

'You've seen a different side of Todd. Why don't you encourage him, help him to be that other...'

"Person? You know that's what you were going to say."

'Well, yes, I suppose. So maybe he's not a person. Help him to be that other wraith.'

Ella was quiet and thoughtful for a minute, and she could feel Daniel given her the space she needed. "You seem like you've done this before."

She could feel Daniel's somber nod and assumed his tries hadn't all gone well. She smiled back and headed off to find her brother.

Ronon was worried. The owner of the small fingers intertwined with his seem distracted. He got even more worried when she tensed and jerked to a halt.

"Ella?"

She was silent for a moment longer before collapsing.

As she walked along side her brother, she felt a pulling inside her. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she felt it getting stronger and stronger, threatening to tug her inside her self. She was trying to fight it as beads of sweat began to pool onto her face. She felt herself collapse onto the floor, but she didn't feel the impact or the pain. She was aware Ronon had crouched at her side and was radioing Keller, but what stood in the foreground was Daniel's voice, strong and clear.

'Let it pull you in.'

Ella continued to struggle, but she heard Daniel's voice again.

'Let go.'

'Why should I?'

'I don't know.'

Daniels voice was strong and determined. Ella realized she had to make a choice. She could continue to fight, doing what came naturally after so many years of fighting wraith queens inside her head. Or she could trust Daniel.

Jennifer gasped as Ronon rushed in with a very pale, limp Ella in his arms. The woman who had seemed so strong now looked so fragile, as did the man holding her. Ronon laid her on the bed next to Daniel and looked expectantly at the Doc. Jennifer sighed and wished Carson was there. He always knew what to do. She shouted at one of her assisstants to go see how fast Doctor Beckett could get there as she began running tests, trying to remember what Carson had done last time they had been in this predicament.