Hello... I am sorry to say that from here on in the episodes will be further apart. I am just getting too busy and don't have as much time to write; so rather than reduce the quality of the story, it will just take longer to post. This also gives me the chance to work on up coming story lines to keep it interesting... Enjoy!

SGU s04 e02

Eli

Several days had passed since everything had happened; the full extent of the whole mess was now known.

Eli knocked on Camille's door.

"It's Eli, can I come in?"

Vanessa quickly hid herself under the covers; after a moment Camille answered "Ok..."

He tried to talk, but broke down instead; Camille could feel his pain. Without a second thought she rolled out of bed naked; grabbed her robe throwing it on, and hugged Eli as he sobbed.

"Eli... it's ok, none of this was your fault..." she tried to comfort him.

"But it was; I put the virus in her system..." he said trying to wipe his eyes.

Camille thought for a moment before asking Eli a question "Eli, why didn't the ship stop the upload? Destiny would have known it was a virus..."

Eli's technical brain finally began to spin again. "She didn't try and stop me...but I overrode the safety protocols anyway" his tears started to dry out.

Camille was trying to make him see what happened, as Vanessa also got out of bed with the sheet wrapped around her and came over for extra support.

Camille smiled as Vanessa sat beside them and put her arm around Eli as well saying "Sweetie, she let you do it...because she trusted you not to hurt her; and you didn't."

Eli sat with his head in his hands "I know, but I still did it anyway..." he said completely deflated.

Camille looked at Vanessa behind Eli's back with a shrug of "I don't know what to tell him".

Vanessa came out with the next line, "Well, have you spoken to her Eli...and told her how you feel? I know she understands you well."

Eli looked at her "I'm a bit scared too...I nearly hurt Chloe as well..." he said.

"Eli...I'm sure Destiny knew why and what was happening; it is not in your nature to harm anyone..." said Camille; a comment she may have regretted soon after...

Eli jumped off the bed and faced the two women in a rage; he pointed his finger at his own head like a gun;

"I blew someone's fucking brains out the front of their skull; they didn't even see it coming, cause I was too fucking cowardly to face them and do it..." Eli's face went from red to white as he grabbed his chest and fell to the floor in immense pain.

Camille screamed "Oh Jesus!" and dived to the floor checking his vitals.

Vanessa called an emergency over the com, and helped Camille get Eli comfortable; his breathing was shallow, but his pulse was strong. Amanda and T.J flew into the doorway several minutes later...

An hour later, the roles were reversed as Ginn sat beside Eli in the infirmary as his eyes slowly opened.

"Hi Baby..." said Ginn softly, holding his hand.

Eli put his hand to his head "Oh...what happened..."

"You collapsed talking to Camille and Vanessa..." She rubbed his hand and held it to her face.

Eli turned away remembering what happened "Yelling more like it..."he said in a horse whisper.

Ginn kissed the back of his hand saying "Eli...it's ok; they understand. TJ said it was all stress related tension; it seemed to manifest and came out as pain in your chest. They sedated you for an hour or so to relax your muscles and gave you some pain killers..."

Eli turned back to Ginn. "Why does my head hurt?"

Ginn leaned over him and kissed his cheek, gently pushing his hair back with her hand "Because you need to let this out Eli; please...don't keep it inside, it's destroying you..."

Eli started to cry. "I just can't shake the image from my head; I can see all the blood and stuff splatter out...and then he just fell forward. And that asshole Decca, the way he held the gun at Te'arly, I just froze... I couldn't even pull the trigger; and then he killed her..." Eli's tears were now free flowing as he finally started to let out everything. "It just keeps going around and around in my head; I can't seem to stop it. Then I see him hit you over and over again, like...it's a recording stuck on repeat; my heart hurts watching it...and what he said about you: it just won't go away..." he had just told Ginn the real issue; her.

Ginn's eyes watered badly as her own mind span out of control; in her head she said "This can't be happening..." but it was, and the man she adored and wanted to spend her life with could never know the truth; Decca Traise had taken Ginn as his so called "bride" when she was only a teenager, forced into a sham marriage for nearly a year. It had ended when Decca was left for dead on a barren planet, after fierce infighting amongst Alliance warlords. Ginn was able to be free of him, but was kept against her will within the Alliance until her life changed on Destiny. She had told herself "New body and new life" being free with a man she had only dared to dream about through her teenage years; Eli was the soulmate she never knew she could have...

Sgt. Greer came to see Eli later and feeling better, he took him to the garden dome in a quiet spot he knew.

Eli spoke staring out the window into the vastness of space "General Young and Te'arly came by...to thank me for being so brave, and saving him...again."

Ron put his hand on Eli's shoulder. "It was brave Eli; it took balls to do what you did. You pointed a gun at one of the most fearless men in the universe; and took out his partner...that was gutsy my friend, very gutsy."

"Coming from you I'll take that as a compliment..." said Eli with half a smile.

Ronald mused; "Huh..." he paused for a moment "You know, it's the hardest thing to do... to point a gun at someone...and squeeze the trigger. In the heat of battle, you don't think and just do it to save your own life, or the guys next to you...but what you did; that's a completely different ball game."

Eli looked at him. "How do you do it; I mean, that guy that had Camille...Vanessa told me you didn't even flinch...how do you do that?"

Ron looked out to space and shook his head smiling "I have no idea...it just seems to come to me; but Eli, I have been trained and in combat. I only spent a few hours a week training you; and you still came through..."

"I probably could have done with a few more weeks..." said Eli, now turning to the same view.

Ron agreed "Yeah man, you could have; but there is nothing to prepare you for it though. Look at it this way: do you think he would have let you off with a warning? Of course not; he would have done the same thing to you; now, tell me who deserved it more...you or him?"

Eli quickly looked back at Ron with an astonished expression saying "Fuck; I never even thought of that at the time!" suddenly Eli felt the burden of his action change into reason for his own survival; he was beginning to understand something about a soldier, from the ground floor.

Greer smiled broadly at him "Now you're gettin it..." The two of them sat and talked for another hour, watching stars and the largest of three Fildaran moons...

There were now four ships in a staggered orbit around Fildara; Destiny, Apollo 2011, the Ursini's new ship "Porta Galassie" (translation: "move between galaxies") and a new updated O'Neill class Asgard ship with matter stream technology, and the latest shielding and weapons. The Fildaran people had survived the biggest event of their history, with an estimated half a billion inhabitants around the planet finding shelter from the Ori's devastation; more were returning in ships every day. There wasn't a soul amongst them that hadn't lost someone they knew, or family.

The Asgard delivered a new stargate, being that it was one of the first targets taken out in the assault; it wasn't long before Castell came through the gate with his own people to offer assistance and technology for rebuilding. It didn't take him long to find his way to Destiny again, this time using the conventional means of Destiny's shuttle.

Castell walked straight up and hugged Te'arly, ignoring Everett standing there "You're welcome" he said to her still holding the embrace; she began to cry on his shoulder.

Castell stood back and turned to Everett, repeating the same hug to him saying "Not in my life time..."

The trio found their way to the observation deck and sat watching the view across Destiny's bow; it was some time before another word was spoken by any of them, happy just to be...

Finally Everett turned to him "Did you have something to do with that?" he asked while staring into Castell's eyes.

"Her death...no; her life...I may have asked a favour..." he replied casually.

Te'arly was staring at both of them, being on the outside of a conversation about her; Everett dropped his head forward and began to chuckle;

"Asked a favour...huh" his face became angry; looking at Castell who ignored his anger "Why...why didn't you stop it; you knew...didn't you!"

Castell turned in his seat and faced him, placing his hand on Everett's shoulder under his gaze and carefully relayed his message in a straight forward manner;

"No, I didn't know he would kill her; neither did the Ancients. Lady Destiny didn't need much encouragement from me to assist. All I said to her was... "Don't leave him like this again." he turned to Te'arly who was quite upset "And if you don't help her, I will!"

He pulled both of them into himself, one on each shoulder "There was no way in the universe I would let it end like that; not this time, not ever!" Even the wise old Castell shed some tears...

Tamara was sitting with Varro who had regained consciousness and was responding well to treatment; thanks to the healing belts, his liver was now working about eighty percent of normal function.

He and T.J were talking about what happened;

"As you know, I was working late on more batches of serum for the Artá people; to be honest I thought it was you coming in the door...wish it was now..." T.J just listened "As I turned around, I felt a searing pain in my shoulder before realising he'd shot me; so I charged at him in the doorway. That's when he shot me in the stomach and I fell down."

T.J struggled to hold back her emotions as he continued, "Decca just looked at me and said "I won't even let you crawl, traitor..." and he shot my knees out, then dragged me to the bench for someone to find me...dead I would think. I don't remember much after that; I think I passed out..." he placed his hand over T.J's "Thank you for saving me...again..."

Tamara couldn't respond with words, instead she just cradled him as he lay in bed; she had no idea how her and Varro had come about to be in love, all she knew know was that this was the man for her: nothing else mattered...

The rescued farming community had gone home through the new stargate on Fildara, with members of Apollo's Special Opps team insuring the planet was safe again. Vanessa had also accompanied them with an invitation from Andrew to "drop by sometime"; he had seen the devastation from the Ori first hand on Fildara, and could not thank Vanessa enough for their actions. The people aboard Destiny, people from another galaxy; had endured horrific treachery in saving them: their sacrifice was something Andrew's people would never forget...

Later on, Everett was summoned to the Apollo via Asgard beaming technology, again in mid conversation. Cameron Mitchell was sitting with Thor and Ra'toli, waiting for him;

"Sorry to beam you out at short notice again General Young, but there are things we need to discuss..." said Thor in a monotone way.

Everett smiled "I'm getting use to it... please, continue..."

Thor began, "Commander Ra'toli's ship intercepted a communication from the Ori vessels within the neighbouring galaxies. As expected, they are concerned about the destruction of their mothership from a seemingly technologically inferior vessel."

Everett looked at Cameron for confirmation, then back to Thor and Ra'toli "We assumed as much, but do they have any idea from where that technology came from?"

Ra'toli looked at Thor who gave nothing away, before speaking "We understand there is still an eternal battle raging between the Ascended and the Ori, yet we cannot confirm that word has been passed about the existence of the Valeyian people. What we do understand is that no one in the physical universe can find Valeya unless they're invited, as in case of your people, General Young."

Everett nodded his serious understanding, but was unsure of where this was all leading; putting two and two together he asked "So...if the Ori was to find out where, you believe they would focus all their efforts on that one task?"

Thor answered, "It is plausible they would try and attack Valeya, yes."

Cameron asked with a concerned, but confused look; "How can they attack a planet that can't be seen, and well...I guess technically, are their ancestors?" his question went unanswered.

Thor continued "I have spoken recently with Lady Destiny of the Ascended who informed me to pass this message..." he looked directly at Everett "When you destroyed the ship, it weakened the Ori's power substantially; but the taking of so many lives at once also had an impact on the Ancients..." Thor abruptly stopped.

Ra'toli made a comment that made everyone there think carefully about the next move:

"It is one thing to be more powerful than your enemy, but another to shake their belief. They will not stop; if we continue to destroy them, we are at risk of becoming that which we despise most...the enemy."

A cold silence descended over the table as Ra'toli's comment hit home. He was right, to continue with simply killing the Ori was no better than them enslaving others to Origin; the beings at the table needed to find a better solution: killing thousands of men, women, and children in a single blow was not the answer.

Col. Mitchell broke the silence "We need a silver bullet...for the Prior..." he said deep in thought.

Ra'toli questioned "Silver bullet...what is that?"

Cameron faced him to explain, "It's a term we use on Earth when trying to target a specific object or person...that's hard to destroy."

Thor questioned, "Isn't that from the mythology of a creature who stalked the night, where only a silver bullet from your projectile weapons could kill it?"

Cameron smiled "That's about it..."

Ra'toli nodded "I don't quite understand your history, but I do understand the meaning; what do you suggest Col. Mitchell?"

Cameron lay back in his seat and held his chin with one hand while thinking "We know we can penetrate their shields; but what we need is a way to target only the Prior and maybe those close to him, rather than the innocent. Most of their soldiers have been forced into Origin anyway and are not evil people by nature..."

Ra'toli looked impressed by Cameron's comment "Take out the command structure; the soldiers will not fight without orders...I like it!"

Thor as practical as ever asked "How do you intend to only target the Ori Prior?"

Cameron looked at Everett who smiled back knowingly; "Got something to do with the Prior inhibitor... not sure on the details yet but we'll work on it. Until we achieve this weapon, unfortunately we are left with not much choice in our defenses if need be, we will open fire as a last resort only..."

Everett was beamed back onboard Destiny with orders to continue on their journey in several hours time. Dr Volker and Matá were ready to leave and return with the serum to the Artá planet, Volker having switched places with Te'arly; Dr Brody came with them to the new stargate on Fildara. The crew of Destiny had wished them well, with Te'arly giving Matá a message for Venna:

"Tell her I have found love...and will visit some day; she will understand."

Adam looked into Dale's eyes "Are you sure about this?" he asked concerned.

Dale looked back and then at Matá and smiled "I'm sure, this is what I want..." he reached out and took hold of Matá's hand, turning back to Adam "See you 'round sometime..."

And they walked through the gate...

It was also time for some other people to leave, Krystal and Zanx; he had recovered from his ordeal and was ready to return home. Standing with Krystal near the gate, they thanked Tez for her help; they had left Destiny on good terms, with Everett telling her she was always welcome again with a simple message;

"Next time, trust me..." he smiled and gave her a hug.

Zanx looked at the girl he was madly in love with who didn't seem to notice; so he thought...

"Are you ready?" he asked

Krystal turned to him and said unexpectedly "You're in love with me aren't you?"

Zanx got the shock of his life, but didn't hide what he felt "For some time now..." he was a bit lost for words at her sudden question.

Krystal put her head down and sighed; Zanx's heart nearly broke in two until:

"Well then Mr Zanx..." she looked up at him; "are you going to kiss me or what?" she said with a loving smile.

He didn't need a second invitation as they kissed passionately in front of the open stargate...

Captain Scott caught up with General Young asking a bit of a touchy question, "General, is there any chance you would consider allowing Captain Tez to stay onboard?"

Everett looked at Matt who really wanted to keep her, "Who's asking, you or Captain Tez?" was his skeptical reply.

Matt smiled. "Well, I guess you could say both of us; she asked me to ask you. She wants to stay, and help...to be honest, I believe she can help; her flying skills are as good as any pilot I know, and better than most..."

Everett put up his hand, knowing Matt had made his mind up. "Ok, one condition: no more secrets. Trust needs to be earned, and she needs to understand that is of the utmost importance out here; so...where is she?"

Tez stepped out from around the corner; Everett looked at Matt and rolled his eyes before shaking his head, and then looked straight at her. "I hope you heard that!"

Tez walked over somewhat nervous. "I did General Young, and I will earn your trust back; I promise."

Looking her over, he nodded "You have my trust, earn my respect." Everett liked her and knew Matt had gone out on a limb because he believed in her abilities.

Tez grinned from ear to ear. "Yes Sir!" She tried to hold down her excitement.

After Everett left, Tez turned to Matt and hugged him with joy. "Thank you so much Captain..."

Matt gently pried her off "Ok, ok...First rule; no more hugs, I am technically your commanding officer. Secondly, I am engaged to Chloe and she is not someone you want to upset..." Matt found Tez to be very attractive and knew Chloe would get very jealous if she saw them embracing; most of all he loved Chloe and wouldn't do anything that may hurt her.

Tez immediately collected herself and apologized, "Sorry Captain..." She more appropriately put out her hand to shake.

Matt took it in his and said, "Your welcome, Captain Tez..."

Chloe took Destiny out of orbit after bidding farewell to the other ships and the Fildarans and jumped into FTL back towards Destiny's original path through the galaxy.

Nick was on the bridge with Adam, and Ginn at the forward CI panels "Chloe, the next system we arrive at, we need get some gas... we're down to half a tank..." said Dr Rush looking at Destiny's power readings, keeping it simple.

Brody questioned, "How did we use so much in a short time?"

Rush went through some more screens. "It had something to do with the shields, and no offense, Chloe's bid to outrun the Ori. It seems that every strike against the shield soaked up some power, and the sublight drive uses more than the FTL, being less efficient; then there was two shots of the main weapon. The shot at the Ori took nearly one percent of her power; all that energy had to come from somewhere..."

Brody thought for a moment. "But I thought the Valeyian's said the power drain on the shields and weapons was minimal..."

Nick corrected him without lashing out for once; he was happy to be finally rid of Volker, who he couldn't stand. "They said it won't use much power to generate, which it doesn't; but taking a hit from the Ori beam weapon still requires power to absorb the blast. That said, it would hold up for weeks of constant hits with full reserves; however, the main gun did need time to recoup after firing that kind of power. Franklin and I have done some checks on the V base and found just how much energy was required to create the hole in space."

Ginn looked over "V base?" she asked

Brody smiled "Franklin's abbreviation for Valeyian Data Base..." he turned back to Rush "So how many shots would you get if a wall of Ori ships appeared?" asking half heartedly.

Rush looked at him with contempt, "Dr Brody, do you really believe a wall of Ori mother ships would confront us..." he began to laugh sarcastically "I think FTL would be a better choice than stand and fight..." he got back to his work.

Chloe glared at Brody, with him saying "What?" and raising his hands in a "what did I say" gesture...

Elsewhere on the ship, Eli knocked on Camille's door.

Camille opened the door and smiled, "How are you feeling Eli?"

"Camille...I'm really sorry about what happened" Camille tried to stop his apology but Eli insisted "No, please...I want to apologize for the way I went off at you; it was uncalled for and not fair on both of you, so...I'm really sorry..."

Camille reached out and clasped Eli's hand between her own "Thank you Eli, apology accepted..." he nodded, then turned and left.

Eli went to the database room and sat watching the active screen in front of him;

"Destiny, please forgive me..." he said quietly.

A holographic image of Lady Destiny appeared and sat beside him "There is no need to apologise to me Eli, I know you would never intentionally harm me; although my sensors were down I could still read your mind. It comes from a different place within, so I am never blind to the ones I care about..."

Eli was a little taken back. "You care about us?" he asked somewhat unsure.

She put her hand on his knee, although Eli couldn't feel the touch "Yes Eli, I care about all of you..." with that the touch of her hand suddenly became real as the Ascended Lady Destiny materialised beside him.

Eli jumped with fright "What?"

"Eli my love, don't be afraid..." she said calmingly. "My ship and I are very much intertwined, we both hear you; I thought maybe it is time for us to talk, alone."

Eli settled down and put his hand over hers to feel that it was real, she smiled and placed her other hand on top of his saying "You are the most special of all my young Eli; the life you have chosen out here is the envy of others. I am sorry you had to learn some things the hard way, but you must always remember: what is to give light, must endure some burning. You, my love, are the bright star of Destiny; inside you is the key that can unlock all her secrets..."

Eli looked at the screen in front of him "You mean I can unlock this?" he asked amazed at who he was speaking with.

Lady Destiny snuggled her head into his shoulder "That is not your path Eli; your own destiny lay elsewhere. I cannot tell you everything; if I do you will miss the meaning of it all. The person who can open this is someone that you will love eternally; when she is ready, it will open..."

Eli's first thought was Ginn, but Lady Destiny could feel his question "No my love, it is not her; but she will be a part of you both."

The penny dropped as Eli asked in a state of surprise "We're having...a girl?" he stuttered.

"Yes, and she will be beautiful...just like her parents" she sat back up and turned toward him waiting for his questions.

A tear ran down Eli's cheek as he asked, "How do you know all this, I mean the future is not set in stone; every decision we make changes everything that happens..."

Lady Destiny answered honestly "Where we are from, time has no meaning. We can see many possible futures for all people, this is why we don't normally interfere; but there are fixed points in time that we know to be true: the birth of your daughter is one of them..."

"When will this be?" he asked in hope.

Lady Destiny chuckled; "Oh sweetie; that is one surprise I would never spoil..."

Eli took a moment to digest what she just said "So she is very special then, not only to Ginn and me?"

"Eli, I so wish I could give you the answer..." she wanted nothing more than to allow happiness to reign in his heart for the wonder that awaits him; but knew she couldn't.

Eli nodded his understanding even though he desperately wanted to know more; he changed the subject back to the ship, while he had the chance; "Can I ask you a couple of things please?"

"Yes, of course" she replied.

Eli thought for a moment "Can Destiny really think and feel emotions...like we do?"

Lady Destiny put her warm hand to Eli's face "She is an entity in her own right; and yes she can think and also feel emotions. The databank in front of you helped increase her abilities also; she is not mad at you Eli, Destiny understands why. All of your actions are teaching her about life in a different form; this is more than she can learn from the universe alone. Everything has purpose and reasons my love; you will come to see..." her voice was almost hypnotic to Eli.

"Um... there's just one more if you don't mind..." asked Eli as she smiled back at him "What is your name Lady Destiny?"

"Layla..." she answered.

Eli liked the sound of that "Thank you... Layla" he said.

Eli looked at his phone for the time "Holy crap, I was supposed to meet Ginn half an hour ago..." he said in a slight panic.

Lady Destiny gently took his hand "Time is only relevant to those it serves my love, this has only been a few moments of yours..." and with that she kissed his cheek and vanished at the same time.

Eli looked again at the time; it had only been three minutes since he entered the room. There was a message on the screen "Take care of your family, my love..."

"I will...Layla" he said quietly.

Eli sat and reflected on the conversation he just had with one of the wisest of all people in the universe; "Wow, we're going to have a little girl..." his heart pounded with love for the baby he had yet to meet. His love for Ginn and their daughter would know no bounds; in this very still moment Eli's heart found a peace he had never known, that transformed his life and the pain he had been feeling. He had a vision of clarity beyond his years, and in that instant; a vision of the future appeared to him in a movie format, like he was sitting in the cinema watching:

He saw the most beautiful woman with long red hair and pure green eyes; she appeared to be floating in space with a long silky black dress flowing around her in a breeze. Behind her was a point of pure light that was expanding by the second; the next thing he saw was a giant explosion of unfathomable size as the girl stretched out her arms allowing it to pass through her. It soon became a picture of the universe; still floating there, she put her arms and hands forward outstretched toward him and said;

"I love you Daddy..."

Eli jumped with fright as he banged his head on the wall; the com broke the silence; "Honey, are you still down there...I'm waiting Eli..." said Ginn in a sexy voice.

Eli rubbed his head and squinted at the sting "Yeah, yeah...sorry babe, got carried away...again. I'll be there shortly..." he got up and left...

Finally, Te'arly and Everett had peace and quiet together; she stepped out of the bathroom wearing a black satin teddy and a pair of high heels Castell had brought for her on Earth. Everett was spellbound as he watched this sculptured woman walk over to him in the sexiest way; she stopped and lifted her long brown blonde hair up, forcing her breasts to stand out even more. Everett walked up to her and run his fingers intimately down; starting from Te'arly's elbows and sliding along silky smooth underarms, over her breasts pausing to caress their hard nipples before continuing to her sexy pregnant belly.

She moaned softly "Oh baby..." as he gently kissed her enlarged belly and journeyed even lower. It wasn't long before Te'arly's first wave of pleasure erupted through her body; he carefully laid her on the bed and continued her pleasure further. Again her inner womanhood was released in uncontrollable waves of passion;

Te'arly grabbed Everett's hair in orgasmic desperation:

"Oh darling; please...have me...have me now!"