Debbie418uk2 - It seemed like the perfect last line. LOL. Hm, movie? Wow, I don't even remember mentioning a movie. LOL.
x Varda x - It's because I want the fic to last a while, and if I hold on to the chapters,... Well, I like to update somewhat constantly. If I post all chapters and have no muse for a couple of weeks, that'll put my story on hold, and I feel guilty about my readers who end up waiting. If I keep chapters put aside, I can keep updating for a while, even if I don't write for a while, and this way readers don't have to really wait as long.
Sparklyshimmer2010 - I think a lot of people wanted Twilight from Edward's POV. Actually, Stephenie Meyer had Midnight Sun started, which was a recount of Twilight from Edward's POV, but someone leaked the idea online, and so she's put the book on hold.
Well, I wanted to try and incorporate a few of the enemies and characters. I even have one done with Michael, that I have yet to post. But I didn't want to make Larrin an actual enemy, since she wasn't in the show, so I had someone else be the enemy. ;)
Jasminesmommy - I don't know. Dealing with a homocidal lover/stalker of Larrin's, and her practically obssessive behavior (in the fic, anyways), or a planet full of blood-sucking Wraith... I'd go with the Wraith, too. LOL
E. Nagrom - Well, it depends on Larrin's mood. If it's a good day for her... Well, either way it's a bad day for John, so...
Puddle-Jumper38 - LMAO! I couldn't stop laughing at that. That was a cute comment, and one of my favorites. LOL
Glad you all liked it, here's the next chapter.
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(Halls of Atlantis, Normal POV)
When he'd stepped through the wormhole for the first time, John didn't know what to expect. If you asked him, he'd give you all kinds of false bravado, and probably make a joke about it, but behind it all, his mind will race over everything he and the Atlantis Expedition had been through since that day.
It was funny how things worked. Since the first day, John found himself standing beside Aiden Ford, at the event horizon of the stargate. He'd never stepped through one before, and only recently learned about it, and to see it up close was unnerving. Sure, it looked harmless enough, but he'd learned about the whole demolecularizing and rematerializing theories, and all in all, it sounded like hell!
Flashback
"What's it feel like?" He found himself unconsciously asking as he stood just inches from the wormhole.
Standing next to him, Aiden turned to look at him, seeming completely serious. "Hurts like hell, sir."
John stared back, sure for a moment that the younger man was being wholly serious. The dark eyes gazing at him were resolute, and his face grim. Then, a grin broke through and backing to the gate, Aiden shot him a look that said he was kidding.
"Whoo-hoo-"
Somehow, John had a feeling that 'whoop' would have gone on longer, if Aiden Ford hadn't chosen that moment to step through the event horizon.
End Flashback
John never picked up that Aiden was joking. It took a few off world missions and the developing friendship for him to figure it out.
Everyone was awed. Atlantis was bigger and more magnificent than anyone could possibly have imagined. Even loud-mouthed self-appointed genius, Rodney, was shocked. Then, they found out why no one had ever heard of, or found Atlantis for so long.
It was underwater.
And not some mermaid city where the citizens would have to breathe under water or use water vehicles to travel around. Though that would be cool. John thought with a slight grin as he walked the hallway. Just for a moment, he allowed himself to imagine what Atlantis could have been like, in another reality. He saw mermaids, gorgeous ones at that, dressed in bikini tops with long, shimmering green and blue tails. They dove off the docks and into the water, swimming around the vast ocean as if it was their own background. Yeah, very cool!
Unfortunately, that was not reality. Reality was that Atlantis was so low on power, shields threatened to collapse shortly after their arrival. It was only with quick thinking did the Expedition team manage to save not only themselves and each other, but the city as well. Mark nine naqueda generators were installed at key points, and they minimized power usage until they could figure out something more permanent.
It was close. Too close. It had been harrowing. Scary. Looking out over the balconies, and out the windows, all you saw was blue ocean with the occasional odd creature swimming through. Only the fact that it could have come rushing in and crushed them easily, kept them from enjoying the majestic beauty.
Funnily enough, Rodney had worked well under pressure. Sure, he complained, but he got the city to the surface and floating and the shields stabilized.
Then, they realized that they needed more ZPMs. Several. The one they had could sustain them, but only for a short time. Teams were immediately put together to travel through the new stargate, to other worlds in hopes of making new allies, acquiring new technologies, and hopefully finding a few ZPMS. Their first mission had been a success, partially.
Traveling to an unknown world, Sumner, Aiden, John and several others made their first real trip. With how dark the planet was, the team was on edge, not knowing what to expect. But then, who in their right minds could possibly have expected to meet new allies, but also lose some of their own to a brand new, beyond terrifying threat??
And it wasn't just one threat. Or one time. Mission after mission, more often then not they went wrong. First it was Colonel Sumner, then some marines and civilian scientists John didn't know personally. Then Aiden was taken.
That hurt, a lot. He and Aiden had been friends since practically day one. To lose him to the Wraith Enzyme...
"Colonel Sheppard, please come in."
Jumping out of his thoughts, John sighed and tapped his ear piece. "Sheppard here. What's up?"
"We have an unscheduled off world activation. It's Lieutenant Ford's IDC, sir."
Stopping for a moment, John felt the blood drain out of his face. "Ford." After everything that had happened... Losing Aiden to the Wraith enzyme, having him reappear for a bit, hunting Wraith, and then being coerced into a mission to blow up a hive ship with him... He'd disappeared as the hive blew up. No one saw him get away. "I thought he was dead."
"No clue, sir."
Nodding to himself, John took a deep breath and began walking more briskly to the transporter that would take him to just outside the gate room, and subsequently, the control room. "I'll be there in a minute."
(Control Room, John's POV)
The rest of the team was here, along with Carson, and via a visual and audio link to the SGC, Elizabeth. I was busy reporting what had happened, and almost felt like I was on automatic. Somehow, I just don't think it sank in yet, that Aiden had contacted us. Hell, I didn't even realize he still had an IDC! Funny enough, he seemed a lot like the old Aiden. Friendly, joking, happy just to see us... He didn't even have the black eye thing going anymore, or the almost evil grins he used to get from the enzyme.
By no means did this mean he was cured, however.
"That's about it." I muttered, feeling the frown pulling my whole face down, as I stared into Elizabeth's pained and grim expression. "I thought you should know."
She nodded a little. "Thank you, John. What are you planning to do? I could order you not to go, but since I'm not there to physically stop you..." She grinned wryly for a moment. "Not to mention I'm sure you'd find another way to get there..."
"I'm going." I knew it. The others knew it. I knew she knew it. Aiden was a member of my team at one time. He may no longer be the man we knew, but if there was even the slightest chance of saving him and bringing him back... "I'll be taking Teyla, Ronon and Rodney, and have Lorne's team watching the gate."
Aiden had requested meeting us on the planet he currently inhabited, with a few of his remaining....friends? Followers? Apparently, after everything that happened, he didn't feel Atlantis was his home anymore. I didn't really blame him.
"John, I understand that he used to be a member of your team..."
I felt someone staring at me and tried to bite back the shiver, automatically feeling uncomfortable. I knew it was Ronon. Everyone else knew Aiden had been a part of my team, and a cherished friend. Ronon was still new. He knew about all this, but I think it often slipped his mind how affected we all have been, over what happened to the former Lieutenant.
Elizabeth sighed and lowered her head a moment. When she raised it again, I saw the resignation in her face. "Just be careful."
With a nod, I gave her a forced smile. "Will do. I'll let you know how it goes."
With a final nod, she ended the transmition, and I sighed, turning to the others. "Well, we better suit up."
"What if Aiden tries to, oh I dunno, kidnap us again?" Rodney seemed torn between being his usual snappy self, and feeling guilty.
"We're just gonna have to take that chance." Ronon spoke up, unusually quiet.
Teyla nodded and briefly placed a hand on my shoulder. "We will be there with you. We all miss Aiden." With that, she turned and walked off, walking with the one female on Lorne's current team, to get ready.
Looking to the others, I sighed. "Alright. Let's go."
(Sandy Desert)
Everything was hot. The air, the sun, the sand, even the water dripping from the giant orange cactus-like plants. Yeah, that was a weird feature. Pretty earthy desert with giant orange cactuses that dripped small rivets of warm water.
"Neat, but utterly useless." Rodney examined the plant curiously. "Katie would have a field day, though."
"Katie? What's this, Dr. McKay's got a girlfriend??"
Spinning at the sound of the voice, I raised my P90, my ears telling me the others were doing the same, and paused when I came face-to-face with Aiden Ford. "Lieutenant?"
He smirked a little and raised an eyebrow, two of his friends standing just behind him. "I think we can forget the formalities, John. I gave up being a 'Lieutenant' a long time ago." He grimaced a little, as if remembering the old times. He was wearing a black cloth muscle shirt, that looked like it used to have long sleeves, but they were torn off. He also wore beige leather pants, and a gun in a holster.
An all too familiar gun in an all too familiar holster.
"You can really say that when you're still walking around armed like a military man?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, gesturing to the thigh holster. "Still carrying earth weapons?"
"A weapon's a weapon." He stated back, his face set stony. "Not that I've had much use for it." He pulled the holster off his leg, snapping the straps that held it to his though, and tossing it over. "So feel free to take it with you."
Something in his mannerism hit me as funny, and I kept my P90 raised. "You said you wanted to talk, I don't see what we have to talk about." It was odd, I knew my voice was coming out cold, and by his searching expression, I guessed my expression was, too. That might have been my outward appearance, but my inner appearance was screaming and trying to go in a million directions at once. "So? Talk."
He frowned deeply and glanced at his two friends before seemingly hesitating. I don't think he'd been expecting my attitude. Then, he raised his head and stuck his chin out in a sign of defiance. "We want you to stop working with that retrovirus of yours."
Pausing for a moment, it hit me he was talking about the Wraith retrovirus. The one that almost turned me into a human Iratus bug, and the same one that Carson was trying to perfect, in order to turn the Wraith human permanently. It was my turn to frown, the mask I'd been wearing, shaking a little but not breaking. That can't be Aiden. It's not Aiden. It's not the Lieutenant. "Why?"
"Because once given the injection, they don't stay human, anyways, right?"
"...How do you know all this?"
"I have my resources. My point is, once you give them the retrovirus and they transform, they don't stay that way. When they transform back, their enzyme is tainted." He grimaced and his eyes narrowed. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a vial as I raised my P90 higher, in warning. "Here. Don't believe me?"
When he tossed the vial to me, I had a choice. Drop my P90 and catch it, or let it fall and pray the glass didn't shatter. If I dropped my P90, I was vulnerable to attack, if I let the vial hit the ground, it would probably have shattered, exposing us to whatever was inside it.
Luckily, I was saved from a decision as Ronon stepped forward quickly and caught the vial with one hand, using the other to keep his blaster on Ford and his men. "And why would that bother us?" He tilted his head a little.
Aiden snarled. "It's 'bothering' us! Two of my people tried to use the enzyme from one wraith who'd turned back, and became extremely sick! They got fevers and welts, and began acting aggressively!"
"You mean more so than usual?" Rodney put in with a raised eyebrow. "Really now? I don't see how you can tell the difference, with the way you're acting now, and all."
Waving his arm over his head, Aiden grabbed something else from behind his back. A gun. A strange P90 shaped gun that seemed to have two barrels and a scope on top. How he hid it.. He must have had it lying length wise down his back. Quickly he aimed his gun at us.
His friends joined him, carrying smaller Wraith stunner pistols.
"See?!" Rodney cried, grabbing his pistol and taking quick aim.
I raised an eyebrow. "Um, Ford? I think you forgot how to count. Only one of you has a weapon capable of killing, and there's three of you to the four of us."
Now Aiden smirked. "You sure about that? Better look again."
Figures began to move in the distance, behind his little group. Right at the farthest edge of the dunes, a bunch of people began to descend towards us. Two were carried in chains, making valiant efforts to break free, and snarling, but not being able to get away.
Oh, crap. I noticed the rest all held weapons.
"How about a deal, Colonel?" Aiden backed away with his friends. "A fight. You and..." He looked around. Gazing at Ronon, and then Teyla, he smirked. "Nah, the fight would be too easy." Seeing Rodney, his eyes widened with excitement. "Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. McKay, you two will fight these guys. Crealus." He pointed to one man covered in welts. "And Saron." He pointed to the other. "If you both beat your foes, you can go. If even one of you fails or dies, you all die."
"What kind of deal is that??" Rodney stared wide eyed at the men who were frothing at the mouths. "Oh my god, they probably have rabies! You expect me to fight him?!" One guy collapsed to his knees and got back up with a bit of a groan. "What the hell?! Are they zombies or something?!"
"They're not zombies, and if it makes you feel any better, we've found out their bites aren't contagious." Aiden stated, standing back in the circle that had formed around us. "Oh, and no guns." He snapped his fingers, and two people came forward, aiming stunners at us.
"'Bites'?!" Rodney squealed, taking a step back with a horribly pale face.
I wanted to fight, but there were so many, I was terrified of my people getting hurt. I also wanted to strangle Aiden about now. He wanted a challenge, so he decided to put Rodney directly in the way of harm. Reluctantly, we all handed over our weapons. "Well, I guess you were right. You're not the Lieutenant Aiden Ford we all know and miss. No military man would ever wanna put a civilian in a fight. Hell, I don't know if you remember, but it was considered cowardly."
Frowning for a moment, Ford looked away. When he looked back, he stared at me silently a moment. "...Release them." He stated, waving in the direction of the two chained men. "If you beat your guy first, you're allowed to help McKay, how's that sound?"
Obviously Ronon wanted to fight. He kept still however, shooting me a glance that told me he was waiting for me to give the word. Several people in the group had their weapons trained on all of us, however, and I was pretty certain we'd all end up hurt, if not dead, if he pulled anything. Shaking my head at him, I turned back to Ford. "Who goes first?"
He smirked. "First? You'll both be fighting at the same time."
Crealus and Saron were released from their chains and snarled at their captors, but the people carrying guns held them up, and the two sick men stopped. Gesturing with their guns, the directed the infected men's' attention to myself and McKay, as Ronon and Teyla were led out of the circle.
"You better not betray us." I snarled lowly at Aiden, wondering if I could really trust him.
He almost glared at me indignantly, standing just inside the small circle, as a sort of referee. "I'm more honorable than that."
"Could've fooled me." Ronon hissed from the sidelines.
Ignoring him, Aiden gestured to the two infected men, who were advancing on us. "I'd pay attention if I were you."
Glaring at him, I turned to the two infected men and stared at them, trying to judge if reasoning with them would work, or maybe if I just needed to knock them out for a bit. Their skin was red in places, and pale in others, and was slick with what I was hoping was sweat. Like Aiden had said, they had welts all over, most of which had broken open from scratching, and had gone incredibly infected. Their hair was damp and matted to their foreheads, and their eyes were all but blank, other than the amazing amount of rage they seemed to be giving off.
The elder of the men, the one Aiden had called Crealus, snarled and babbled incoherently before dashing forward, but instead of getting a hold of me, I managed to kick his legs out from under him. Strangely, he only seemed to be in his mid-twenties, but as he fought to get up again, I noticed the hesitation and how he seemed unsteady on his feet.
"Hey! Back off!"
Spinning to Rodney, I watched as he backed away from the other man, Saron. This man seemed to not even be twenty yet, he was definitely the younger of the two men. He lunged forward and grabbed McKay, and Rodney grabbed his arm, leaning back as the other man seemed to try and bite him. They grunted and wrestled for a bit, and I was about to run over to help him when I felt a nudge on my shoulder and a blinding pain in my side.
Having the wind knocked out of me, I went down fast. I landed on my hands and knees, if the burning sand was any indication, and gasped as the pain seemed to intensify for a moment before fading. "Ok." Standing up shakily, I turned and glared at Crealus. "Ow!" Lashing out, I punched him in the jaw and watched as he staggered back. "That was not fair!" I stepped forward and kicked him in the stomach.
"Sheppard!"
As Crealus bent to catch his breath, I spun and ran over to Rodney, who was currently on his back with Saron leaning over him, his hands wrapped around Rodney's throat. "Crap!" Hey!" Grabbing the narrow shoulders, I pulled him back and threw him with all of my strength, across the circle.
Now, I didn't grab that hard, and he didn't land awkwardly, but when he did land, he rolled, and there was an audible crack. Once he was done, he just laid there, his eyes open and unseeing.
"Geez, John! Remind me to never piss you off." Rodney rubbed his throat and hacked as he stared at the body.
Someone grabbed me, and I spun, raising my hand to lash out. I didn't get far, however, as Crealus grabbed my hand and bit down, hard.
"Ow-Hey!" Using the palm of my other hand, I punched him in the throat and watched as he staggered back, clutching the injured area and gasping and choking. As he was distracted, I checked out my hand, wincing as I saw the bite marks bleeding profusely. "Damn, that hurt!" When I glanced up again, I frowned as he came back at me, and jumped to the side, spin kicking him in the head.
Again a crack was heard, and he went down.
"What're these guys made of? Straw?" Ronon glared as he pushed his 'guards' off him.
Aiden seemed torn a moment, but looking at me, he nodded. "A promise is a promise." Narrowing his eyes at the others, I almost heard the sigh. "Come on, let's go." As the others left, he turned back to me and raised an eyebrow. "You might not wanna stick around too long. There's about two dozen or more of those guys out there." He gestured to the vast desert. "They're always looking for a meal."
"How many of these guys have been using infected Wraith enzyme?!" I felt my eyes narrow.
He shrugged. "They were mostly addicts when I found them, but since your little experiments, I'd say maybe close to a hundred."
"A hundred?!" Rodney's eyes had gone completely wide. "Why don't you stop them?!"
Aiden turned and glared at him. "Not my problem. Besides, how can I stop them when I don't even know which Wraith have been infected until after they've taken the enzyme and showed signs of infection?!" Turning, he stalked off without even a backwards glance.
"Aiden! Wait! Come back to Atlantis with us!" I knew it was a long shot, but I wasn't ready to give up just yet. "I still think we can get you off the enzyme! And all these people!"
"The only thing I want, Colonel, is for you to stop experimenting with the Wraith!" He shot back, before running off to catch up with his people.
Frowning, I sighed and looked again at my bleeding hand. "He's right. We might as well go." That didn't turn out well, but I guess I should have expected that. I started towards the DHD, a little surprised to remember we weren't that far from the gate. We hadn't made it far before Aiden and his men caught up to us. As I dialed Atlantis, I turned to my surprisingly quiet team. "You guys ok?"
Ronon remained quiet and shrugged. I wasn't too sure, but from everything I'd learned, my guess was that he was about as 'ok' as he got.
Teyla remained quiet for a moment, but frowned. "If people are truly becoming infected by the tainted enzyme, perhaps Aiden is right. We should stop experimenting on the Wraith."
"Or maybe they need to stop taking the enzyme." Rodney shot back with a look. "I mean, them taking it in the first place is not only careless, it's... It's dangerous!"
"Yes, but we have no way of knowing how many people have been allowed access to the enzyme, or how many are addicted. All of these people are suffering, and we are creating even more problems than answers! This is wrong!"
I nodded a little. "Look, I agree with you, Teyla. It's Carson and the SGC you gotta convince." I figured that Carson wouldn't be too hard to talk out of it, since people were being hurt, but the SGC, being ordered by the IOA... That could be a different matter all together.
As the wormhole stabilized, I sent my IDC through and waited for confirmation that the shield was down. Today didn't go well, but this is far from over. I thought as we stepped through the event horizon.
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Hope you like it.
Written October 18, 2008
R+R please, all suggestions are welcome. :)
Thank you.
Tenshi