CHAPTER 17 – THE PATH TAKEN

Over breakfast and coffee they exchanged veiled glances, then joined by Ronan and Teyla, John reached his hand under the table and gently stroked the inside of her thigh, watching as her eyes widened slightly. Ok, thought John not just one bad mistake, but a whole damn series of them. Might as well go down swinging...

Teyla's shrewd eyes noticed the telltale flush on Dani's cheeks and the slightly more relaxed demeanour that John exhibited and closed her eyes briefly. The path had been taken and she suspected they were both on it for it's entirety and she hoped fervently that the crossroads that came their way, did not present too much heartache.

"Any more news from Elizabeth guys? O'Neill should be organising that covert search tonight earth time – the pieces are falling into place. I just wanna get my hands on those bastards – happy to leave the VP to O'Neill and the boys back home, but those soldiers, they'll get my justice."

Ronan grunted in agreement. "They'll get the justice of this galaxy Sheppard. They've committed the crimes here, we'll dish out the punishment. They'll not go back to earth."

Dani's eyes had widened and John knew that this would be a difficult concept for her, having been an advocate of the earth legal and justice system, believing that the ways of earth, were the only ways. She would have a hard time conceiving of the fact that justice is served in the same helping as the crime dished out and they would make it their business to ensure that it was done.

"You'll not take them back to earth John? They'll pay for their crimes there."

His hand that had been making small circles on her inner thigh stopped briefly as he carefully chose the words he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I wish I could sugar coat this, but I can't. If they go back to earth, they'll get either get a small sentence in a military prison and essentially be treated like heroes, all but getting a ticker tape parade when they get out. The officials in the government who are on their side, they'll see to that. We can't allow that to happen, because in a short while, it'll all begin again, another group, another agenda. We are the end of the line Dani, and we make our stand here, in this galaxy and we'll not lose everything that we've been fighting for to scum who flout the rules and undo all the good that we have done here. Their fate was sealed the minute you came through that stargate battering and bruised."

"I don't know how I feel about that John,I'm sorry, but it has to be said. You are making yourselves judge, jury and executioner, and that goes against everything that I have grown up to believe in – that you have grown up to believe in. I wish you hadn't told me... better not to know, I think."

He squeezed her knee now. "You are stronger than you think, much stronger than we thought when you arrived here. And you need to finish what you started."

Her voice was quiet then. "And then what John? Where do I go from there? How do I go back, to work within a government that I have essentially lost faith in?"

"Dani, love – you're not seeing the whole picture. It's only a small growth within the government – kill the cancer and the good cells will take over the bad cells, simply biology. And it is this same government that put us here on Atlantis, so we still have to believe that are out to do good..." He paused a minute, wanting to word the answer to her question, the real question, carefully."

"You don't have to go back – Atlantis would be honoured to have someone of your strength and passion a part of it's residents and I'm sure that General O'Neill could pull enough strings to make sure you become a part of this team."

Both Teyla and Ronon shot John sharp looks. Teyla chose silence though – she had known it would come to this. Ronon however, voiced his concerns. "Be very sure you know what you're asking Sheppard, there's no turning back after that, I think you know that..."

John shot Ronon a look, then his ear comm was activated, and as he answered it, he returned his eyes to Dani. She had not given him an answer, and saw by the look in her eyes that it was something she had not considered. Too much, too soon, John thought, maybe I should have waited before springing that on her, but she needed to know, that I consider it a very real option... hell face it man, you want it more than anything right now...

Elizabeth's voice interupted his musings. "Colonel, you've got your rendevous. The rogue group have sent contact via Eldad – this afternoon, it's being set up. Does that give you time to get your teams in place and hidden? If you're going to take them down John, you'll only get the one shot."

"I'm aware of that Elizabeth, it'll happen. Sheppard out."

He filled in the others and then snapped on his comm to get Major Lorne to organise four teams of marines in four jumpers to leave within the hour. They did however, have the serious disadvantage of not knowing where the rogue soldiers would be intending to set up and that left a lot of ground for the marines to cover. Still, he'd make it happen. One way or another, Ted and his friends, were not coming out of this alive.

Dani followed him back to his quarters so that he could get changed into his Satedan attire. She felt restless, wanting to do something that would be useful... but simply feeling as though she was in the way. This is what she had put into motion on earth, a lifetime ago – and it seemed unfair that she would not be apart of the final showdown. There was a part of her that wanted to look Ted in the eye and ask him, why he had done what he did, so that she could get some closure of her own and she argued to herself that that is what the justice system could have given her, a chance to stare him in the eye and find out why. Pegasus justice? There may be some satisfaction for John, but there was none for her.

Edgey now, she paced in his quarters while he changed. Did she want to stay here after all this was over? Could she become a part of this life, this world and leave everything behind that she knew and loved. But there was a new factor in all this now... the man who stood in front of her and looked at her in such a way that she would happily move to another galaxy to feel the heat of that gaze... for just one more day. Sensing her disquiet, he wrapped her in his arms, stilling her agitated pacing.

"Dani, love... promise me you'll think about what I asked you. I'm just starting to get to know you, I don't want to give you up."

She put a careful hand to his face. "I know that John, and we'll talk about it some more, but there's something I need to do. I'll be back..." she gave him a fierce kiss and looked at his face hard as though memorising every plane, then was gone and he stood shaking his head, wondering what on earth she was up to.

Her only thought as she ran from his room was closure. Not getting it. Needing to have it. There was only one way that she could get that and she made her way at speed to the jumper bay, hoping they hadn't left yet, and wondering if they hadn't just how she was going to pull it off. The marines were in various stages of loading weapons onto the jumpers and most seemed firmly focused on their tasks. She spotted Major Lorne, carefully staying out of the way, and watched as he took several weapons onto the back of a jumper, then quickly returned, leaving the room briefly. She had her chance. It was a slim one, and likely a stupid one, but it was the only one and she took it, running lightly across the jumper bay and quickly entering the back of the jumper that Major Lorne had just vacated. The rear compartment was roomy and had a luggage hold area that allowed for small pockets for equipment where one could curl up and hide... if one were small enough. And she did just that. Fitting herself in the darkest area and sent up a small wish that Major Lorne would not get into too much trouble for what he was about to unknowingly do.

It was not long before she heard the whine of the jumper engines, the sound of the marines voices as they moved on board and took their places in both the front area of the jumper and the rear compartment, then the feel of the jumper as it rose up through the landing bay and exited through the rear roof into the skies above Atlantis. With no plan in her head other than getting to the meeting point, she shut her eyes and waited out the duration of the trip, knowing that John was going to be extremely angry with her when she was caught.

The trip took about an hour and it was a very small area to be enclosed in for that length of time, even given her tiny stature. She had to wait until the sound of their voices started drifting away before she made her exit and it was to pins and needles as feeling slowly came back to her cramped limbs. Shaking her head in disgust, starting to doubt her reasons for coming, she took a deep breath and followed the sound of the marines, being careful to stay well back from them.

The different groups went in separate directions and she was careful to stay with Major Lorne's group. They moved stealthily through the grasslands, looking for the perfect place to set up an ambush and Dani found it difficult to keep her movements quiet, and there were times when Lorne must have sensed something behind him and he turned quickly. She managed to will herself to not breathe, not move, during those moments, and after looking searchingly in the direction she was hidden, he had turned and commenced moving forward.

Unfortunately her luck ran out. A hand clamped down over her mouth and a hard body pressed against hers and feeling her head pulled savagely back, she got a look at the person who had captured her. Ted... and the eyes that looked into hers were the eyes of a killer.