CHAPTER 30 – UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Rodney had immediately recognised the whine of the first dart as it took an exploratory path across the sky above the ruins. For a sometimes not so astute man, he reacted surprisingly fast – grabbing Nicole by the upper arm and shouting instructions to the two archaeologists working a short distance away.

"Wraith. We need to take cover – now!"

Nicole kept hold of her camera and pulled her glance upward, tracking the needle shaped ship that shot overhead with alarming speed.

"Rodney? What the hell was that... wraith? Please tell me you are not referring to the vampire, life sucking... things... that John told me about. You have to be kidding!"

Rodney didn't answer her, but keeping a grip on her upper arm he jogged to the outer edge of the ruins and tucked them back into a doorway as a second dart made a pass soon after the first one. Pulling his beretta out of his pocket, he released his grip on her and took aim towards the sky somewhat uncertainly.

"Jesus, Rodney. Do you even know how to shoot that thing? You're a damn scientist! And what the hell are you aiming at?" She had unknowingly drawn her camera upwards, capturing the path of the dart on her camera and kept the shutter down, so that a fast series of shots would show the speed that it streaked across the sky. When the second one passed over again, she yelped slightly when she saw a white beam of light that was emitted from beneath it, following a path along the ground, and coming alarmingly close to them.

"Stay away from that light, Nicole. That is a one way trip up to those ships, and believe me – it's not a trip you want to make. Once you get up there, you're dinner for one of those life sucking monsters."

"What about Major Lorne, what if he gets caught out in the open? We have to warn him..."

Rodney's voice was dry. "I suspect Lorne heard the darts before we did, and hopefully managed to get a message to Atlantis that we need help. He'll hightail it back here as soon as he can."

With the original fear wearing off slightly, Nicole became a little braver and ventured further out into the open, wanting to capture the light of the beam as it rode past her, and watched fascinated as it tracked towards her.

"Jesus, Nicole... are you crazy? Get over here now." Rodney lowered his weapon and gestured to her, but a sound in the bushes behind them had Rodney looking wildly over his shoulder.

"Lorne? Is that you?"

No reply, but the noise increased and out of the bushes stepped something that caused Nicole to stumble slightly and automatically bring her camera up and start clicking. A wraith, she assumed. Tall and clothed in a long coat with long straight white hair, skin the colour of the palest blue and textured with a tatoo like pattern that spread down one side of his face, almost like a series of cuts. His eyes gleamed yellow and focused immediately on her and the device that she held in front of her face.

She told her legs to move, but the connection from brain to that particular appendage had somehow failed. Short circuited. So she stood there, immobilised as the most terrifying creature she had ever come face to face with advanced on her with slow measured footsteps. And she remained in place as she stopped a short distance away from her and simply stared.

A shot rang out and the sudden noise galvanised her into action. She dragged her body around and ran, but felt the sting of something sharp as he was upon her in moments, his breathe cold and insidious as he breathed into her face and she flinched at the cold hatred she saw in those yellow eyes. She willed herself to look back at him, to try and show no fear. But human nature dictates that fear is a warning and allows you to create the appropriate adrenalin. And with said adrenalin racing through her system she did what came naturally. Aimed her knee into his groin area and gave it everything she had.

And somehow managed to bring him to his knees.

"Human!" His voice was a hiss and she shivered. Here in front of her was the vile creature that John and the rest of Atlantis had managed to keep in this galaxy and away from their own. This was their ultimate predator, the one thing that could decimate the human race if it was ever given the chance. This was what she had been asked to photograph.

For some unknown reason, a laugh bubbled out of her and she turned back to the wraith, and saw that he was on his feet, already recovered from the small blow she had dealt him. His gaze suddenly turned skyward as gunfire erupted up high and one of the darts was struck by something unseen, falling slowly out of the sky with a trail of black smoke. She too watched it's descent to earth and turning back to the wraith she saw that he was again coming toward her. Fight or flight. She chose the later, finally and simply turned and ran for her life.

Rodney had gotten off one shot and the gun had promptly jammed. He could only stand back and watch the interplay between Nicole and the wraith, unable to offer her assistance in any way. When he had seen the dart hit, he had known that a cloaked jumper from Atlantis had made the hit and mentally applauded what was likely John, Ronon and Teyla finally coming to their assistance. He had seen that the wraith was distracted by the sight of the dart being hit and saw also, that Nicole had finally run. In the opposite direction. And the wraith was in close pursuit.

Rodney made to follow, crashing through the bushes with enough noise to ensure any other wraith in the area would be alerted. But he didn't care. His mission was to keep Nicole in sight as best as he could, a failed mission already, as he pulled up to a stop having lost her.

"Rodney... Nicole?"

John! Rodney took a deep breath and called back. "Over here Sheppard! Hurry. Nicole's gone in that direction and she's not alone... I can't keep up."

John, Ronon, Teyla and Lorne came charging out of the bushes to his right upon hearing his voice and they barely paused to listen, they were heading in the direction that he indicated, simply waving a hand to show them which way to go. He remained doubled over with his hands on his knees, winded and wheezing and mentally regretting all those donuts he had eaten that previous day. It seemed that they were not appropriate fuel in this situation and wondered why the policeman of the good old USA kept ingesting such inappropriate food when they would likely be required to give chase during some point of their shift.

John pushed all thought from his mind as he ran. Nicole and the wraith. A match so not made in heaven. The image rose unbidden... her tiny frame and the monstrous feeding hand of the wraith as he hovered over her, hand held at the ready and about to strike. He increased his speed, heart in his mouth as he pushed himself almost beyond what he could possibly endure. Fight or flight? He chose the former. There had never been any doubt.

"Nic, Nicole? Where are you? Nic?" He called, hoping that somehow she would hear and respond. And somehow, he would be able to stop that wraith from doing what came naturally. Placing his hand upon her chest and sucking her life from her. Not gonna happen.

His breathing ragged, he burst out of some bushes and they were there. In front of him. She was lying on the ground and the wraith stood over here, an almost quizzical look on his face. He had paused for some reason, as though he was having difficulty in completing the job, having seen something in the face of the woman who lay beneath him.

John mentally applauded her. She did not go down without a struggle. He saw that her hair was tangled beyond anything a hairdresser could fix easily and her tshirt was pulled up to expose her tanned and trim midriff. Her jeans were ripped and blood dripped down one cheek. But she was alive and his heart beat a little faster at this. She was alive.

His weapon came up without conscious thought. The P90 kicked a little, then rattled like popcorn making their presence known in a hot pot with a little oil. Staccato. His aim was without thought, he simply lifted and fired and the wraith's body bucked in the aftermath, jerking and finally falling on the ground beside the woman who now rose unsteadily to her knees, head slightly bent.

He was beside her in seconds, leaving Ronon to check to see whether the wraith was in fact dead. His hands reached for her and with a sob she tumbled into his arms and he held her. So tightly that she gasped a little, but he would not let go. Pushing his face into her hair he breathed in her scent and shut his eyes, shutting out the sounds of the remaining darts and the sounds of the others. Opening his eyes he saw Lorne come up beside him and lay a hand on her head in relief and then Ronon had dropped to his knees and was peering into his face, concern and relief written across his features.

"Sheppard? You good?"

John nodded, not trusting himself to speech yet and feeling her movement, he let her pull back a little so that he could look down into those chocolate eyes. They held fear, loathing... not for him, he knew that, but for the monster that lay dead on the ground beside them. She shook her head, no words yet and leaned back into him so that he could take her weight and leave her with a weightlessness that took away some of the fear that had numbed her body.

"Aaahh, baby... god, I'm shaking right now. Seeing you with that monster... seeing his hand about to take you like that." He stopped, his voice had dropped to a whisper and was for her ears only, and she continued to lean into him while together, they found the strength to push away their combined fears. He helped her up, attempting to shield her from the sight of the dead wraith, but she couldn't resist. She picked up her camera and aimed, firing shot after shot – not caring what she captured. John's hand on her arm stilled her, and looking up she saw in his eyes what she had spent a life time looking for.