Title: Show No Fear

Author: Feral Geek
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: Chapter 26, if you're here and don't know the story, go back to chapter one and start reading.

Disclaimer: Amie no own Stargate or Wraith, they own Amie

A/N: REVIEW! I swear If I don't get at least five reviews (I don't care if they just say 'whoo!' just friggin review) I WILL STOP WRITING THIS

-- and if you think I'm joking I swear to god TRY ME.

ONWARDS

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A single human in their prime could sustain a fully grown Wraith for varying lengths of time.
The younger the Wraith, the more often they would have to feed.
As it was, Cavan could go for about a month without feeding before the eternal hunger would start to tear at him fully.
However his healing and time spent in hibernation had sapped much of his strength, thus he would need to feed more often.

This was why he eventually had to drag himself from the bed in the middle of the night while Adrienne slept, carefully picking his way through the darkened room as he dressed, and making for the exit.

The doors slid open as he waved a hand over the panel.
It still disturbed him; some of the cities sensors, such as door panels did not require the Ancient gene to operate, this would leave the Lanteans open to any.
Of course he did not take into account the gene locks, a special command that could only be undone by another gene carrier, and even then they could be hard to override.

And there were passwords, and the fact that certain rooms could be barred to certain people.
And of course the fact that, like a Hive Ship, the city was sentient and could bar or allow access to any it chose.

As he slunk down the corridor he passed a few security patrols, they said nothing to one another, simply exchanged a few suspicious glances before moving along.
Cavan was too deep in his mind to pay the Lanteans any mind, contemplating the cities weaknesses.
Perhaps he would bring his concerns to the Lantean Queen once he returned to Atlantis.

The gateroom was rather empty, a few technicians manning the controls in case of an emergency return or departure.
A few of them glanced over at him, watching in an uneasy silence as he made his way to the leading technician for this shift, conversing with the rather confused looking man for a few minutes.

To the Lanteans it appeared as though he was going to gate to an unoccupied planet, pointless.
In truth he would be 'gate hopping', a strategy he and Dalkar had devised one late night during tracking.

As adolescents, they would be paired off and let loose; one was the hunter, the other the 'prey'.
During one of these sessions, Cavan had been the mock prey, and Dalkar the hunter.
Passing the Stargate, he had a rather sudden inspiration.

It was not an original idea; Runners had been using it ever since the first of their kind had been chosen, simply one the Wraith had not thought to use so swiftly.
Just as his companion had come into view, about to proclaim victory, Cavan had dialed out and made his exit, landing on the other planet and dialing to another rapidly.
Thus, gate hopping.
Using this strategy, it had taken the pair almost two weeks to run into one another, and to be perfectly honest, it had been Cavan dragging Dalkar back through the gate.
Once home, they had faced furious instructors and parents, but it did not matter, it was a good way to attack or raid the enemy, they would be gone before the enemy Hive knew what happened, and it was virtually impossible to track them.

With this in mind, he watched impassively as the technician dialed out to the uninhabited world and stepped through the gate.
He waited for the connection to close a few seconds later before gating to another planet.
He went through about seven planets before dialing into the proper one.

It was under the control of an enemy Hive, one his Hive often raided during these times.

However he would not be taking one of their humans.
He would be taking one of their fighters.

True, they were meant to feed off of humans, but it was possible to feed from another Wraith if you were stronger or had the element of surprise.
And with their nearly immortal lives, the amount of power drawn would last far longer than the amount drawn from a human.
However the amount of power was also proportional to how recently the Wraith had fed, and their age.
During the battle before his wounding, he had drained three of the enemy Wraith; the life he took from them was all that sustained him during his time in hibernation.

Cavan took the guards at the gate by surprise, stunning one and draining the other.
As the body of the first guard dropped, he could hear the distant whine of Darts, and he swiftly drained the second guard before disappearing through the gate and starting the process of gate hopping again.

Much later, he would end on the planet Laren, the very planet where he had met Adrienne.
Skirting the village, he made his way into the forest.

He would rest here.

--

The next morning Adrienne woke to an empty bed.
For a few long minutes, she stared at the slight depression that Cavan had occupied during the night.
She had been growing used to waking up next to someone, and now it was a bit disconcerting to wake up alone.

Still, this was something she would have to grow used to; Cavan could not permanently reside on Atlantis, he had his duties to the Hive.
But she would not have to like it.

Carefully the woman bundled up all of the nagging feelings within herself and set about her day, dressing quickly and making her way down to the infirmary.
The first person she encountered there was of course, Carson, who looked at her, then past her as though expecting someone else.
When he looked back at her, she shrugged indifferently, simply choosing to say, "He wasn't there this morning."
The older man gave her a rather skeptical look which caused her shoulder sagged slightly.
It was always rather difficult to pull things around him; Carson was very good at reading other people.
"Should I try to find him?" these words came out rather hesitantly, and the response was a slight shake of the head. "You dunno where he is, or what he is doing right now," Carson spoke gently, "Besides, he obviously loves you, if he can...he'll be back, don't you worry."

She smiled faintly, and got to work after that.

--

Malka would find her son standing beside the gate, waiting somewhat impatiently for the connection to finish so he could send his identification code through.
It had not taken her long to locate the truant Wraith, despite the fact that he was doing his best to avoid a council meeting.
As a commander, he was now required to attend such meetings should his direction in tactical matters be required.
"Exactly where are you headed, my son?" she asked with a rather deadly edge to her voice. It was a bit of a rhetorical question since she already knew exactly where he was headed, Atlantis.
Apparently he knew this, since he simply stared at her.

He kept his eyes trained on his mother as she stalked around him, careful to turn with her and keep from exposing his back to her.

Not only did it present a weakness, but to turn one's back on a fellow Wraith, especially one of higher rank, was considered highly disrespectful.

As she walked, she studied him, nothing out of the ordinary, he was dressed in a more informal uniform, the standard black leather closely fitted to his body and worked with a durable metal armor in places.
This she looked over, instead focusing on the small glint of metal that wrapped around his hand.
"I see you still carry that Lantean's charm around" she said easily, the light tone betrayed by a rather cold facial expression, and the slight shift in her posture.

Here he made the mistake of playing into her hands, and then mocking her.
"Indeed, I was just planning on returning it...however I have had second thoughts...it would be considered impolite to return such a gift."
The moment the words left his lips he wanted to take them back, now was not the time to be truculent, she was far angry at the moment.

Malka's eyes widened a fraction, and Dalkar managed a single, small step toward the gate before she struck, sharp black claws raking across his face, causing black blood to run in rivulets down his face.

In Wraith, the skin of the face is often the slowest to heal; it is thinner in places than it is in other parts of the body, so the gashes knit together a bit more slowly and left welts that would fade in an hour's time.

She spoke again as Dalkar snorted blood out of his nose and shook it from his eyes, "Watch yourself, I am not so forgiving with you as I am with your companion. You are my child, I brought you into this life, and I can take you from it."

With that, Malka made her way back to the Hive, her guard falling into place a few paces behind, and Dalkar stepped through the gate and into Atlantis.

Many were surprised by the marks across his face and the blood that still dripped from a few of the welts, but they said nothing, allowing him to stalk off, escorted by a security team.

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A/N: Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your reviews...

I'm thinking about writing another story, perhaps Malka's story, would any of you want to read it?