Authors Note:

Forgot to add when I posted the last chapter an apology for not replying to chapter 7 reviews yet - I totally forgot to do it beforehand and now I'm having issues with fanfiction and can't seem to reply to reviews. I WILL do so as soon as the site lets me but in the mean time THANK YOU to everyone reviewing - your comments really do make my day!

Chapter 9: It's time someone deleted you.

"Sheppard's not gonna be happy," Ronon commented when the three members of team Sheppard were alone again.

"Maybe," Rodney agreed. "Lorne had all but worked it out for himself before Atlantis confirmed it for him ... and you know, with some of Sheppard's "odd" behaviour, that was always a possibility."

"I am sure that John will understand," Teyla offered. "He and Major Lorne are after all friends as well as leader and second in command. Perhaps it was foolish of John to believe that such a secret could be kept from the Major indefinitely."

"I don't think he'll mind about Lorne," Rodney said, his expression still troubled. "It's Woolsey that I'm worried about."

"You wish to tell Mr Woolsey John's secret?" Teyla asked in surprise.

"Of course not!" Rodney shot back. "But if you thought everything else John has done with Atlantis's help looked suspicious then this is gonna look ten times worse! How are we going to explain what we're doing with that amplifier? If this works how I think it works then Lorne is gonna be sitting in that chair acting as some kind of relay station for Atlantis ... it'll look like he's getting information 'magically' because the good stuff will all be taking place inside Evan's, and hopefully John's head. Atlantis will be using our gate connection to 'search' for John - don't ask me how because I still don't understand how she even exists for anyone to talk to." Rodney shook his head. "We're so screwed on this one and you know who John will blame if the truth comes out and he ends up being dissected at Area 51. That's right - me!"

"Lighten up McKay," Ronon said, as always amused at the other man's doom and gloom outlook.

"Lighten up?!" Rodney glared at his teammate. "That's the best you can offer? Lighten up? How the hell does that help?"

"Rodney," Teyla's tone was both a request and a command that he take a step back and relax.

"I'm sorry, but I've been up for ... God, too many hours to count," Rodney's tone went from agitated to whiney in a heartbeat. "I'm tired and I've still got hours of work ahead of me before there's even a hope I'll get to sleep so excuse me for being just a little bit concerned!"

"It'll be fine," Ronon slapped the other man on the shoulder before leaving the conference room.

"I hope so," Rodney muttered before following him, glancing at Teyla as he passed with a faint hint of apology in his eyes.

Teyla stood looking after the two men with a thoughtful expression before she too left the room.

oOo

"Ma'at wishes to speak with you," Vulture's voice intruded on John's sick contemplation of the scene in front of him. "For no other reason would I reveal her presence in this manner."

"I bet she does," Sheppard replied sarcastically. With a shrug, he capitulated. "Might was well - I can't see how things can get much worse."

"Ma'at bestows a great honour in speaking with you directly," Vulture said seriously, objecting to John's less than impressed tone.

"I've spoken to Ma'at before," John put extra emphasis on the name, "and let me tell you, it's no honour. But hey, you wanna believe she's the equivalent of a God from ancient Egyptian times, then go for it." John stopped, looking directly at his captor, his eyes intent. "Answer me one thing though ... did she say she was Ma'at right there in the beginning, or did that happen after you'd plugged that device into your systems? Because I'm betting it was after ... after she'd worked out the best way to get what she wants. She's playing you and you don't even know it."

That said, Sheppard let himself be led from the room by another one of Vulture's underlings ... his mental head count now up to four. The corridor was narrow and it felt colder there than it had elsewhere. They walked the short distance to a closed door, again with nothing obvious for John to even work out where he was. The man opened the door and waved John inside.

Sheppard turned towards the corridor in time to see the door closing in front of him.

"Hello John Sheppard," the familiar voice echoed from all around the room, spurring him into spinning around.

And there she was ... the familiar figure of Aperio, beautiful but cold. Her skin was still translucent and perfect, her hair still lustrous, her eyes still vibrantly green. But where John had once thought her the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, now he saw what she was stamped into every feature. Her skin was cold, lifeless, her hair a veil to hide her true intent. And her eyes ... her eyes were the windows on a selfish existence that only wanted. Wanted to control, to take, to deprive and to deceive. Just as she had in the past.

"Aperio," Sheppard greeted her casually, glancing around the room, trying to work out how it was possible he could see her. "Or should I be calling you Ma'at these days?"

"You would do well not to anger me," Aperio shot back, her tone cold and calculating. Sheppard took note of that detail too ... clearly what was being said in the room could only be heard by them - and Aperio seemed to be making no attempt to play things 'in character' just for John's benefit.

"And why is that?" John asked, smirking slightly. "You gonna turn off the lights, leave me in the dark? We're not inside the systems anymore and you really have no power over me."

"My followers are loyal," Aperio replied, "and they will kill you at my command."

"Well - that's dramatic," Sheppard laughed outright. "What do you want Aperio? I know my being here isn't a mistake and it sure as hell wasn't driven by Vulture or any of his crew. You've carefully manoeuvred everything to get me here. Why?"

"Because I need you John Sheppard," Aperio shifted, taking a couple of steps towards him and then stopping. "I need that which makes you different from everyone else on Atlantis ... and possibily anywhere."

"My ATA genes," John concluded, frowning. "You got something you want me to switch on because if so you're out of luck. There is no way I'll co-operate ... no way I'm giving you access to anything. After the last time we met I'm pretty sure you already know that."

"I am sure that I ... and my followers ... will be able to change your mind," Aperio said confidently.

John barely noticed it in the darkened room, that faint flicker. Suspicious now, he walked forward, not stopping until he was standing right in front of her. "Step back!" Aperio warned.

"I don't think so," John shot back, reaching out a hand to touch her face.

The shock had him jumping back with a yell. The pain was momentary and well worth the more obvious flicker of image he'd created.

Shaking his hand, the tingling still painful but not damaging, Sheppard smiled. "Now I get it," he said. "They've got some kind of hologram projection thing going here ... and a shield so no one else can work out that you're not really there. How'd you explain the need for all of that? Surely a Goddess can appear without technology assisting her."

"Millennia in space damaged the vessel designed to house and protect me," Aperio raised a brow regally. "My strength was depleted ... it took too much to maintain my connection to this plane of existence."

"Nice one," John laughed. "So I guess you didn't tell them that storage device was only in orbit for a year." He laughed again. "You really are a piece of work, aren't you? I should have had Lorne blast you out of the sky when I had the chance!" He stopped, turning back to look at Aperio once more. "So tell me, how does having me here help you? You're plugged into a system on some kind of outpost planet in the middle of nowhere ... even if I did switch something on for you how is that gonna help you with whatever little take over you've got planned?"

"That is where you are wrong John Sheppard," Aperio said with obvious delight. "Your journey here was more complicated and took far longer than you believe. We are not on a planet in the Pegasus galaxy. We are on your planet ... Earth ... a small distance from the Ancient outpost that was used to defend your pitiful race from a Goa'uld attack. I will have the outpost as mine ... and from there control of your entire planet."

"Antarctica?" John asked incredulously. "We're on Antarctica? How the hell is that even possible? I stepped through the Gate to M7G-677 ... I think I'd know if something went that wrong with the wormhole."

"A carefully constructed redirection protocol was hidden within the dialling programs on Atlantis by one of my followers," Aperio seemed more than keen to brag about her methods, answering John's question without hesitation. "When the opportunity to capture you stepping through the gate alone arose, my operative activated the protocol. Your wormhole was redirected to one of our facilities in the Pegasus Galaxy, your signal stored inside the buffer of a specially constructed portable dialling device. From there my follower gated to a planet at the edge of the galaxy, utilising the remnants of the intergalactic bridge your very own Doctor Mckay helped create to return to this galaxy." Aperio's expression turned smug. "I was able to counter the effects of the dominant stargate and capture his incoming wormhole here, to my facility, where you were allowed to rematerialise as usual. To you mere moments passed when in fact it has been several days since you left Atlantis."

He'd been wrong - things could get worse ... a lot worse.

John had been counting on Rodney coming up with a clever plan to track him but clearly that wasn't going to happen. Rodney would be looking in the Pegasus Galaxy, not on Earth. There was no way for him to know he was looking in the wrong place.

"I am so screwed," John muttered under his breath, pacing away from Aperio and then returning to glare at her. "That's a lot of trouble to go to for one man, even one with a few Ancient genes. So what is it really? Revenge for what I did to you? A dig at Atlantis because she got to stay but you were banished? What?"

"I simply wish to fulfil my purpose," Aperio replied. "I was designed to control and adapt ... and with the help of my followers I will be able to guide your people towards the true path. I will have freedom and the recognition I deserve."

"Great," Sheppard shook his head. "A computer system with delusions of grandeur." He stepped closer again, feeling this time the faint tingling of the shield protecting her before he touched it. "You're nothing more than a malfunctioning program and it's time someone deleted you."

"Arg!" Aperio shouted in anger, throwing out her arms so that they touched the edge of her shield. Twin sparks of lightening shot out from her point of contact, striking John in the chest and throwing him across the room and back into unconsciousness.

oOo

Lorne returned to his quarters from the debrief and fell onto his bed fully clothed, not even taking the time to remove his boots. Between one breath and the next he was asleep.

"You will do well Evan Lorne," opening his eyes, the Major saw what he now knew was Atlantis smiling down at him. Sitting up, he looked around curiously and found himself on a balcony floor ... and not just any balcony, the one he always thought of as his, the one he painted scenes of the city from. He knew he was dreaming again but it felt very real, the hardness of the floor under him, the breeze travelling across his face, the warmth of the sun shining down on him.

"Listen," he said as he stood up and turned to face Atlantis. "I know you mean well and I'm not trying to question you or anything but I'm not sure I can do what it seems you think I can do."

"You are stronger than you know," Atlantis replied with an almost amused smile. "You stand in the shadows because that is your way." She took a step forward, resting a hand lightly on his arm. "You do not reveal the talents you possess but that does not mean they are not there. I have not chosen to communicate with you because it would be difficult for both of us, much more so than with John. There was no need to put you through that just as there was no need to do so with others strong in the Ancient gene. But I have seen you Evan." The air rippled suddenly and where the balcony had been empty now an easel stood, one of his completed pictures of the city resting there.

"You love the city," Atlantis stated with conviction.

"Ah ... sure," Lorne said, uncomfortable with having the spot light put on him. "Who wouldn't? It's beautiful." He almost blushed when he realised that in effect he was telling her that she was beautiful. He also found himself wondering what else he was revealing by allowing her to tap into his mind while he slept ... not that he saw any way to prevent that.

"Your appreciation of what your ancestors created, your genuine regard for the city makes you open to what I require of you now," Atlantis smiled fondly. It amused her to see him embarrassed and awkward ... and suddenly he reminded her of John. Talking with the others through dreams was something ... it gave her access to things beyond what was recorded in her systems ... access to some of the lives lived within her walls. But it was not the same as what she shared with John, not something she would have even sought to use were it not for his absence.

"You miss the Colonel," Evan suddenly realised that the connection had an aspect of a two way street about it. She'd been thinking of John and he'd picked up on that.

"Yes," Atlantis said simply. "My perceptions are ... narrower without his presence." She smiled suddenly. "And you show that you are capable of what I will ask of you by sensing what I did not actively share with you."

"Okay," Evan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the balcony railing. "So tell me, what exactly is it that you want me to do?"

"Nothing more than to be what you are," Atlantis reassured him. "Your desire to help others, your need to make a difference ... they will guide you."

"I was kind of hoping for a little more detail than that," Lorne admitted.

"When the time is right I will show you," Atlantis replied. "You will be the link that holds all aspects of the plan together ... but first you will need to assist me in helping Doctor McKay prepare the amplifier to suit my needs."

"The link?" Evan wasn't sure he liked the sound of that but at the end of the day he'd do everything required to get his commanding officer back. It really was as simple as that for him.

"You will do well," Atlantis repeated her first statement again. "For now, rest." She stepped forward, placed her hands on his shoulders and drew him down so that his forehead rested on hers. He felt the peace wash over him even as he settled back into sleep.

Authors Note:

On how they got John from Pegasus to the Milky way, think Teal'c in 48 Hours ... he was stored in the SGC buffer and to him it seemed little time had passed by the time they got him out again. Here, I've added in a portable DHD so that they could move a stored John to another gate that could be used to get them to the Milky Way - using the gate network already set up in space in both galaxies because I don't think they went out and collected them all when the Midway station was destroyed. I know - bordering on very, very, very implausible even by Stargate standards but it was the best I could come up with for what I needed in this story.