Chapter 13 : And the Ones That Rose From the Ashes

"Dr. Weir, Colonels, we're receiving a distress signal from a ship just outside of the planet's orbit. It's audio only."

Sheppard and Elizabeth glanced at each other for a split second before he spoke. "Let's hear it Smith."

As soon as the young tech pressed the button a desperate voice came over the speakers. "This is the Dreadnaught Hereia calling to the Atlantian outpost. Please respond."

John, Rodney, Elizabeth and Cameron all glanced at one another.

"It could be a trap. How do we know it isn't the Wraith?" Rodney declared as he attempted to run scans on the ship.

John turned to Elizabeth with an expressionless mask upon his face. "And as much as I hate to say it McKay could be right."

At John's statement, Rodney lit up with a smile. Sheppard was quick to cut him off. "However, he could be wrong. No one knows we're here. The Wraith have no clue that we're still around. We haven't had contact with any races since we moved Atlantis to this planet."

Rodney went to protest but John cut him off again. "However, I do think that it's a bit odd that out of nowhere we receive a distress signal. No one should know we're even around. Thanks to Ashley and Lizzie we have both the shield and the cloak."

Elizabeth shook her head. "But it's like you said John, the city's cloaked. How do they know we're here? The Wraith can't see through the cloak."

"Well whoever it is, it's not Wraith. The ship doesn't resemble anything I've ever seen. Let me check the Ancient database and see what comes up."

They were interrupted by the distress call once more. "I repeat this is the Dreadnaught Hereia calling to the Atlantian outpost. We have been attacked by the Wraith and are in need of assistance. We know you are there, we can sense your presence. Our ship is dangerously low on power and our life support is failing. We have many in desperate need of medical attention and children on board."

The woman's voice sounded desperate and as if she was on the verge of tears.

"That's impossible," Rodney muttered as he hurriedly tapped away at his keyboard.

"What?" Cam asked as he stood behind McKay trying to see what he was muttering away about.

"According to the database, the ship matches designs on file for a race that is extinct. Well almost extinct."

Cam looked to John as he made motions like he was choking Rodney. They all hated that Rodney could never just come out and say something. He had to create some sort of hype before spitting it out. Whatever it was. "Well?"

"Well according to this, it's Antarian." He said as he glanced up at Elizabeth and John.

"That's impossible." Cam muttered from behind him. "They're all dead except for Liz, Ashley, Chatham, Reille and the kids."

John shook his head with a bit of a smirk on his face. "You're forgetting Sam and Vala now fall into that category man. And then there's those yet to born of course." Elizabeth promptly and wordlessly smacked her fiance in the back of his head. "What?" He groaned as he rubbed the now sore spot. "I was just pointing out that there are more of them now. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Well be that as it may," Cam sighed. "The fact remains that these people sound mighty desperate. So, what do we do?"

The distress call repeated again. "The is the Dreadnaught Hereia calling to the Atlantian outpost on the planet. We beg you for asylum. We have taken heavy damage from Wraith attacks and are venting atmosphere. We will die if you refuse to grant us safe passage. Please, we need your help."

Elizabeth turned to John and Cameron, "We have to help them. We cannot allow fear to keep us from helping others. It's a chance we have to take." They both nodded knowing she was right. It really was unlikely that it was a Wraith ruse.

She then turned to the tech "Open a channel to them." He nodded and pressed all the appropriate buttons. "This is Doctor Elizabeth Weir to the ship in orbit. You have permission to land on our south pier."

"Thank you Doctor Weir, we are most grateful. Some of us are in dire need of immediate medical attention. Do you have medical facilities?"

"I'll have a medical team standing by."

"Thank you Doctor. Hereia out."

"Rodney lower the shield but don't disengage the cloak." Elizabeth told him as she turned to Cameron, John and Keegan. "Gentleman I'd like you to get Doctor Beckett and go greet our guests."

The men nodded and headed off in the direction of the infirmary.

Outside: South Pier

As they exited the ship, she turned to her companion, hope shining in her brilliant green eyes. "Do you feel it?"

The woman nodded with a slight grin as she brushed her multicolored locks out of her face and bounced her daughter on her hip. "I feel it aight. I know it shouldn't be but I feel it. Someone's hea." Her son clung to her pants tightly.

"More than someone Aves." She closed her eyes briefly in concentration. "Three adults and three kids. One has yet to be been born."

Their conversation was cut short as a group of men approached them. Neither woman sensed any bad intentions in them and were glad that they had decided to leave their weapons inside. After all, these people did agree to give them safe haven and attend to Sienna and all the others needs.

John spoke first. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Ava?"

Up until her name was called, she hadn't really been paying all that much attention to anything besides the feeling that there were more of her people around and her children. Her head snapped up at the familiar voice. "Johnny?" For the first time in three years she smiled a genuine smile. The Gods must've been smiling on her to have led her here was all she could think. Not only did they find refuge, but she knew some of the people here.

He knew that Ava must have been mixed up in the whole alien thing but Liz had only mentioned Ava's name once since her arrival on Atlantis. But then again she really hadn't mentioned anyone else's name too much either. He guessed it must've still been too painful for her.

She had shown up in Roswell after Liz's birthday with her husband and son in tow. They had introduced her as Tess' older sister. But now that he knew the truth about their origins, he was definitely questioning the validity of that particular little fact.

Carson interrupted their little moment. "Lass ye said there was someone injured?"

Ava nodded uncomfortably. She felt all of them studying her and Rhienne like they were specimens or something. "There are a few but Sienna's tha worst. We tried ta heal her as best we could but she was hurt real bad when we was attacked." She gestured to the ship behind them.

Carson moved past them and motioned for one of the nurses to follow him.

Cam couldn't believe what he was seeing. The taller and older of the two girls looked just like Ashley. The younger of the two had a little girl on her hip who must've been about three and a boy hiding behind her legs whom he guessed was about six or seven. She looked just like a girl from one of Liz's photo albums. And the fact that Sheppard recognized her got the wheels turning.

He also noted that when she turned so that her eyes could follow Dr. Beckett, she had a familiar marking at the base of her neck. Liz, Chatham, Reille, Ashley, Sam, Vala, and the kids all had it. "You're Antarian?" It was a dumb question, but they didn't need to know that the jig was already up.

Ava was taken aback. These men were obviously human (John being there was a dead giveaway to that fact) and wore American military uniforms. But what were they doing in this galaxy? In an Ancient city? And how did they know of her heritage? "How ya know that?"

Cam didn't think twice before answering. "My sister-in-law, niece and nephew are."

John stayed silent. He kinda thought he knew what Mitchell was up to.

A pierced eyebrow shot up. "An who're they?"

"Well you should know, you've got the mark of royalty on you."

"They royalty?" She sensed something familiar about the people that were here but not strong enough to tell her that they were royalty. He had to be playing with her. Rhienne looked just as confused.

"Yep. So what does that make you?"

Rhienne placed her hand on Ava's arm as she could sense her sister getting ready to give a smart answer. That was all they needed right now. Ava to start a fight that she was far too tired to finish. "One of the Queens. Or at least she was." Her head hung low as she thought of their lost homeland.

The sadness in her voice lead Cam to give the game up. It was the same sadness that crept into Ashley's voice whenever he spoke of his family. It was the sadness that Liz had whenever she would talk about how her children would never know Antar's beauty or any of their heritage. He knew full well that they were related to Ashley, Liz and the kids. "So that makes you two Ashley's sisters." He smiled as he was met with nods from both the bewildered woman. Ava threw herself into Rhienne's arms and began sobbing.

"My brother's alive?" Rhienne asked as she caught Cameron's eyes with her tear filled own above Ava's head.

"Very. He's on Earth right now but should be back in a few days." He reassured her.

Ava mumbled with her face buried in her sister's shoulder. Rhienne couldn't quite catch what she was trying to say. She pulled Ava's head up and cup her little sister's tear stained face with shaky hands. "What did you say honey?"

She sniffled as she tried to regain her composure. "I said what bout Liz? We left both a them on Earth." Neither woman had been comfortable with that little plan. But Ashley insisted that Liz was giving up her life to help their people, the least they could do was allow her to finish her classes and receive her degrees. So they along with Max, Maria, Tess, Kyle, Alex, Isabel, Michael, Connor, Zan and Larek left in the last wave of refugees returning to Antar. They were only home for two weeks when the attack happened.

----

With in a matter of minutes, sheer chaos had broken out on the Hereia as every officer on the ship flew to their battle stations. Alarms were ringing throughout as shot after shot bombarded the much prided, brand new, flagship of Antar's re-commissioned battle groups. The comms went crazy.

"What the hell is it?"

"Where did they come from?"

"Oh my gods, they're attacking the planet. They're decimating everything in site. Trying to wipe us out."

"Who the hell is it?"

"I can't be sure. Some of the ships are Wraith. The others I don't recognize. Only the ships who have the new shielding are able to withstand the shot. My gods it's a massacre. We're gonna..."

And with that the Comm channel suddenly went silent.

Ava and Rhienne abruptly appeared on the bridge. "Report!" Ava yelled in an effort to find out what the hell was going on. She gripped the railing as they were rocked with another blast.

Colonel Kylen Enteri, Head of Security for the ship spoke out. He had taken command as soon as the attack began. "Commanders, we're being attacked."

"Yes well that's painfully obvious Colonel Enteri ." Rhienne snapped. "By who and what the hell do they want? Have they broadcast any sort of message?"

"The signatures of some of the ships match the Wraith. There are four more ships whose signatures don't match anything in the Hereia's database. Whomever they are they know what they're doing. They attacked all our Drednaughts first before going after any land targets. They've ignored any attempts at communication and are attempting to interrupt ship to ship frequencies."

"Commanders I hate to point out the fact that if it's really the Wraith, that means they've broken the Armistice. And seeing how they've brought friends to the party, our only hope is to get out of here and fast."

"Fine. Do it Colonel. Quickly." Ava yelled over the explosions that continued to rock the ship.

His blue eyes flashed confusion. "Where Highness?"

"I don't care Colonel. Do it. Now or we're dead."

Just as he was about to speak again Rhienne cut him off. "The Talisian system. It's mostly uninhabited. We can regroup from there. Buy some time if necessary."

Colonel Enteri glanced Ava's way to see if she concurred with Rhienne's assessment. "You heard the Princess. Do it. Fast. We're running out of time."

The next thing anyone knew, the ship was no longer being bombarded and the only sounds that were heard were alarms from within the ship.

Ava put on her brave 'Commander" face and turned to her Operations Officer. "Stand down from High Alert. I want a casualty report yestaday."

The young man quickly scurried from his seat. "As you wish Highness."

She then turned to Colonel Enteri. "I need a systems report as well. We need ta know just how bad we were hit an where we stand."

He nodded. "I'll get down to control now Highness." He too left Command as fast as he could.

Rhienne glanced at her sister. "What do you want me to do Av?"

"Get down ta tha playroom. Make sure that all tha kids're okay. Apprise Sienna a tha situation. I have a bad feeling that this is gonna get even uglier before we're really safe. Fa all we know, we could be all that's left."

Tears brimmed in Rhienne's eyes.

Ava squeezed her sister's arm reassuringly. "I know it's hard but now's not tha time Rhi. We'll grieve later. Right now we need ta hold it togetha. Our people need us."

Internally Ava was acknowledging the fact that everyone else had been on the planet. Max. Isabel. Michael. Maria. Kyle. Alex. Their parents. All their family. Worst of all, Connor was on Antar. In all likelihood, her husband had perished in the attacks. She fought back tears. They were lucky that the Hereia had a full crew compliment. There were more than one thousand souls aboard including some of the crew's families. They were supposed to be going out for a month long training exercise when the attacks started. They had food stores for months if not longer. They had a full armament of weapons. They could do this. As she sighed heavily, she hoped that they could do this. Or the lives lost on Antar would be in vain.

----

John and Cam overheard Ava questioning as to Liz's whereabouts and replied in unison "She's alive too."

Both girls released an audible sob. They had feared the worst for Liz and Ashley after Antar's demise. As is they didn't think they'd ever get back to Earth. Between the Wraith and the Ori, this galaxy wasn't exactly very welcoming to refugees from a world that had preferred to stay out of intergalactic affairs.

Carson chose that moment to step out of the ship again. "Well the lass is going to be alright it looks like. Between myself, Chatham, Reille and a healing device, we'll have her right as new in no time."

At the mention of two of their cousins, the girls froze again. The last ten minutes had been a roller coaster for them. Their eldest brother was alive, as was one of their sisters-in-law. Now they were finding that two cousins were too. "Chatham and Reille disappeared during the war over thirty years ago."

Cameron's eyes softened at Rhienne's startled declaration. Both sisters looked like they either wanted to pass out or could use a good stiff drink. Inwardly though, he was pleased, almost giddy. He couldn't wait for Liz and Ashley to come home now. They were gonna be so happy. He hoped maybe it would take some of the sadness away that was ever present in Liz's eyes. He had a real soft spot for his soon to be sister-in-law and loved her like she was his own kid sister. "They've been in hiding with a race known as the Tokra."

"Never would have thought they'd still be around. Not that we'd know much anyway. During the war, the government sort of cut ties with any of our allies including the Tokra, the Satedans, the Asgard and the Furlings. We've been blind to intergalactic politics for the better part of a century. But enough about that the more important thing is that we have family alive and well. Where are they?"

"Um there's something else you should know."

"Such as?"

"You don't know about the children do you?"

"What children?"

"Uh you'll see. Once you take a peek at them you'll know."

"I sense three children. One has yet ta be born. Tha two who are have a strong presence. Guarded but a strong presence none tha less."

"Guarded means that their parents taught them to be that way Av. Only a strong Antarian could do that."

"Well first thing's first. I want all of you to go to the infirmary and get checked out. Everything can wait until that's done." John declared with a wide grin. He knew that there were a few people that would be ecstatic to see Atlantis' newest visitors.

----

Ten minutes later: The infirmary

Ava and Rhienne sat on opposite sides of Sienna's bed clutching her hands. Doctor Beckett had told them that it would take her a few more days to recover but that she would be okay.

The silence was quickly broken as Chatham and Reille walked in.

Reille gasped. John had told her that she might want to go say hello to the visitors in the infirmary but he hadn't provided any more than that. "Oh my Gods. Avaria? Rhiennelynn? It's a miracle that you're here. We thought everyone was.." she was cut off as Ava engulfed her in a tight hug.

Chatham had rounded the bed and grasped Rhienne just as tight. The four of them had tears in their eyes. To be reunited with some of your own people was one thing. But to find that your family was still alive was a whole other miracle in itself.

Ava almost screamed as three more joined the party. "Sam?" Her eyes narrowed. "I can sense ya. What tha hell's goin on?"

Two little sets of giggles from behind Sam led to a quick topic change. "Ooh. Aunt Ava said a bad word."

Her eyes bugged out of her head as the two children stepped out from behind their Aunt. It was like seeing miniature versions of Liz and Michael. It couldn't be.

Sienna gasped from her bed. She had woken as soon as she felt the children's presences. "Oh my Gods."

Wordlessly, both children clamored up the bed to her. It gave her a chance to examine them more closely. "You both look so much like your parents. It's amazing."

"Uncle Ashley has been sad without you." Cairo told her as he stroked her face. She couldn't hold back the tears at the mention of her best friend. These past few years had been so difficult without him by her side. She had long feared him dead. Cairo's statement had made her heart swell.

She cupped both of their little faces. "What are your names?"

"I'm Aleera and this is Cairo. We's twins."

"I can see that." She told them as she laughed through her tears. They were every bit their mother in spirit. Caring. Warm. Welcoming. Loving. It surrounded them, enveloping her. It was almost tangible. They were amazing children. What amazed her more was that they had clearly known who her, Rhienne and Ava were. That could only be if Liz had taught them about their family and heritage. She couldn't be prouder.

Ava turned to Sam after quickly doing the math. "Believe me if we had known, we neva woulda left them behind."

Sam hugged Ava tightly. The other woman had seemed to be searching for accusation in her eyes. 'They think that I'm mad for leaving Lizzie behind.' "If she hadn't been left behind, they probably wouldn't be alive. I don't blame any of you. I would never. And if they hadn't been left behind my baby wouldn't be here."

Rhienne caught sight of Sam's neck. "You were healed?"

Sam examined the woman to her right closely. "You look just like your brother, you know that?"

"And you look nothing like your sister." Rhienne retorted.

They all laughed.

Cam knocked on the door. "Mind if we join the party?" John stepped in behind him.

Ava nodded and moved to hug John.

"Ya didn't answer my question Sam."

Cam had wrapped a possessive arm around his fiancé with his hand stroking her stomach where their son lay. "What question was that?"

"Well I was hopin that Sam would explain ta me how I sense her an ya son."

"Ashley healed me. There was a chemical left behind in my bloodstream after my time as Tokra host. We learned that it was harmful to the babies. So Ashley healed me."

"I only sense one baby within you Sam."

Another male voice interrupted from the doorway. "Ay, no one told me tha party was in hea."

Zan, in all his glory was leaning against the doorway in a pair of scrubs. His face held that trademark 'I'm the shit' smirk that always seemed to be plastered there. "There room fa one more?"

Sam smiled at him. He was another member of Liz's little club that she hadn't seen in years. Like Ashley, he was covered in tattoos and piercings. She couldn't deny the fact that the years had done him good. She was just a woman after all. And just because her meal had already been chosen off the menu, didn't mean she couldn't check it again once in a while.

"Ay Sammy, take a picture it'll last longa." He joked as he moved to give her a hug. When he pulled back his hand touched her stomach. "Bout time you had a kid. Liz always said you'd make a good mom." He the turned to Cam and stuck his hand out. "Zander Peyton. Everyone just calls me Zan though."

"Cameron Mitchell. You can call me Cam."

Zan's grin grew wider as he turned back to Sam. "Is he?"

She nodded.

"An ya guys are?"

She nodded again.

He pointed to her stomach. "An he is?"

She moved her hand to stroke where Caiden lay with a smile a mile wide on her face. Then Zan noticed the rock on her ring finger. He lifted her hand to examine it. He whistled. "Damn Sammy. Bout time. What tha hell took ya so damn long? Last I rememba Lizzie was ready ta use some a her magic if ya two kept dancing round each otha. I see that's no longa a problem aye?"

Cam rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. "Apparently everyone but me knew that."

He stopped when Sam elbowed him in the ribs.

Zan laughed. "Congratulations man. On both accounts."

It was then that he looked down and noticed two little people at his feet. He almost gasped.

Sienna laughed. "That was my reaction too Z."

He bent down in front of them. "Goddess Bless. Ya two're beautiful." He couldn't believe it. Liz and Michael had children. Surely Michael couldn't have known or he wouldn't have left Liz's side. 'At least I wouldn't a. Precious shoulda neva been left alone.'

Aleera smiled shyly. Zan stroked her cheek softly. "Ya just as gorgeous as your motha Lil Bit."

Cai blushed and looked at his feet. Zan ruffled his hair. "An ya Lil Man. Ya look just like ya Pops. Gonna have tha ladies chasing afta ya."

Cai made a cringing face accompanied by a whiny "Ewww."

He laughed at Cai's reaction. "Believe me Lil Man, when ya my age, ya won't be complainin."

----