Chapter 12

"Just one... hostile... Wraith in the city can fuck us up badly, Britney." Sheppard explains. He's just been given the full update on Helena and Ivory, as well as the City's situation. "We have to find him and cut him down. Right now."

"Signal's moved, actually." McKay adds. "It's on the West Pier now. We should probably take care of it soon."

Most of the chaos the assault had caused is being dealt with. The Lantheans are lucky – so far, no deaths have been reported, but a good half of them are in need of medical attention. Thanks to the overcharged shields, the structure itself has sustained no damage, although the sea is now full of debris from the crashed Hive.

Ivory's Hive is orbiting the planet silently, having given a life sign to her, and confirmed that the crew is in the process of recovering from the Unyielding Thirst.

"Whatever you choose to do, I wish to accompany you. This survivor is likely Wraith, and my presence could be of great benefit to you." Ivory suggests. Her explanation has caused her to be able to move freely now, without being constantly guarded by marines.

"Fine with me." Sheppard says, and makes a beeline for the door.

Him, her, and a group of marines quickly make their way to the last known position of the survivor, as the signal has stopped moving, according to McKay.

Cold, salty sea-air assaults Ivory's nostrils, as she steps outside behind Sheppard. He's pointing his weapon at what looks like a pile of wet leathers by the pier.

"It's not moving." he announces, and Ivory moves past him.

"I will investigate this." she informs him. "Stand by, for now."

She can tell that the survivor is not dead. Their mental presence is very prominent in her peripheral, so she approaches slowly, and then crouches down next to the figure.

Wiping a few strands of damp, dark hair away, she reveals the Wraith's face, torn from pain, eyes closed, and breathing flatly. A wave of hunger, pain and fear assaults her mind, as she connects to the survivor's.

It's a Queen, although Ivory would rather describe her as a young girl, barely out of adolescence, shaking in terror. She's aware of the armed men behind Ivory. Like a cornered animal, she plays dead.

"Do not be frightened." Ivory speaks into her mind. "I will not harm you."

She rouses slightly, and Ivory hears a gun click behind her, prompting her to raise her hand to stall.

"They will," the girl's feeble mental voice replies.

"They may, if they deem you a threat." Ivory admits. "You were this Hive's Queen."

"I was not. I was their prisoner." The Girl shifts away from her, but the only option she has is jumping back into the water.

Ivory reaches out, and pulls her closer.

"You are in pain, child." she hums to her, trying to give her presence a calming, comforting quality. "I can help you, if you do exactly what I say. Can you do that?"

"I am so hungry." she whimpers.

"I know. I know you are. But if you want to live, you must do as I say. I can get you out of this city alive, but only if you work with me. Trust me. These humans are not bad, they are merely afraid, just like you." She angles her head a little, and watches as the girl fights herself into a sitting position.

"What must I do?" she asks, avoiding eye contact with Ivory.

"I will tell them that you are not a threat. Stay behind me, and only speak when addressed. I will show you someone you can feed on, but if I tell you to stop, you must obey." Ivory senses wordless approval, and gets up, turning toward Sheppard.

"She's young, injured, and terrified." she lets him know. "The enemy held her prisoner, and she somehow survived the crash. She is no threat."

"Why would they hold a Queen prisoner?" Sheppard asks, eyeing the girl with furrowed brows.

"I do not know. But I can tell that she is not lying. Look at her. She's frightened." Ivory lowers her head before continuing. "I will take her to feed on Helena – she can handle it. Then, we will find out what she knows."

"You'd let her hurt your friend?" Sheppard's voice gains sharpness as he asks this.

"Helena is not my friend. She is my lover." Ivory corrects him. "And furtherly, she is not human. It will weaken her, but she will not die."

She turns, and speaks to the girl verbally.

"Can you stand?"

The girls shakes her head, and Ivory reaches forward, pulling her left arm over her shoulders, keeping her upright.

"Do not be afraid. Everything will be fine." she assures her, and Sheppard looks at the pair, confusion in his eyes. He's likely never seen a Wraith treat one of their own this way.

With difficulty, Ivory helps the girl limp back to the conference room, keeping her mind intertwined with hers, to help her remain calm, at the sight of six weapons trained on her.

They're met with an array of confused looks, as Ivory drags in a Wraith that looks essentially like seaweed in her arms. Sheppard offers an apologetic shrug, while she maneuvers the girl onto a seat.

"Helena,..." she asks, and her lover makes her way over to the girl, turning the chair next to hers into her direction, and sitting down on it.

"Hello," she says softly, looking the shivering girl in the eyes. "it's okay. You don't have to be afraid. I'm a friend."

The girl's feeding hand twitches, and a shiver runs through her form. Helena smiles, and takes her hand, placing it on her chest.

"It's okay. You won't kill me." she assures her, noticing the surprised look.

Without hesitating any longer, she feeds, no longer having the capacity to care about the weapons pointed at her. Instead of snarling, she weeps, but her bruises and cuts begin mending, her sunken cheeks regaining their fullness.

Helena gasps in agony, and Ivory touches the girl's shoulder.

"That is enough." she commands, and the girl recoils so quickly, one would think Helena'd stung her.

Helena straightens her posture.

"Feeling better, I see." she says. "Now. Would you like to tell us your name?"

She shifts uncomfortably, looking around the crows of humans having formed, cutting her off from the exit.

"It's okay. We're all friends." Helena comforts her. She knows a traumatized child when she sees one.

"I..." The girl's first verbal word comes out in stutters, and she clears her throat. "I am Nova. Second daughter to Coldamber."

Ivory's pupils dilate briefly.

"Coldamber. That means..." She shifts into mental speech. "You are Death's sister."

Nova nods. "Yes." she whispers, verbally, and lowers her head in shame. "She locked me up, when I refused to bend my knee to her. My Hive turned against me. They did things to me, I... I cannot recall them. My memory is spotty at best. I was so hungry. So very hungry."

Helena exchanges a glance with Ivory, then focuses her attention on the girl, Nova, again.

"Death is doing awful things to all of us. That's why these humans want to help us." she explains, "We came here to plan our next steps against her with them, when yours and two other Hives appeared and attacked us. Do you know anything about that."

Nova shakes her head.

"I was kept in solitary confinement most of the time. They even locked me out of the telepathic network." Her voice cracks as she says this, and for a second, Helena is genuinely concerned she might start crying. "I had the faint hope to retake my Hive eventually, but now that it is destroyed, I have nothing left to live for. Nowhere to go, nowhere to belong."

Helena clenches her teeth, but quickly relaxes again, then lifts her hand and wipes the wet hair out of Nova's face. She initially shrinks away from her, but gets comfortable quickly when she sees that Helena isn't going to harm her.

"You can come home with us. We'll keep you safe, and then we can work on taking revenge for you." she offers.

Nova looks at her with eager eyes.

"You are a Vampire. I have read about your kind. I can tell from the way you taste."

"Correct."

McKay mumbles something unintelligible about Vampires, and Teyla steps closer to them. It's not easy for either Ivory or Helena to read her face, but the fact that she does not carry a weapon is a good sign.

"We're granting you a lot of trust with this." she tells them. "I do hope you won't abuse this trust. Our dealings with Wraith hardly ever end well."

"I am not exactly a regular Wraith, am I?" Ivory counters. "Nothing about this situation is normal, so I urge you not to expect things to go the way they normally do."

Teyla looks at her silently, then shifts her gaze to Nova.

"You're young. I can tell." she opens, and Nova returns her gaze, shifting on her seat, as if she's trying to take up as little space as possible.

"I am." she responds.

"You said they did things to you. What did they do?"

Again, Nova looks at Ivory, as if asking her for help.

"You are telepathic, are you not, human?" she asks, and Teyla nods. "Have you ever had someone else's mind intrude upon yours by force?"

Teyla freezes, then nods again.

"They did that. A lot." Nova continues. "They made me feel things I would not naturally have felt. Made me see things that are not there. Broke me. I do not remember much of it. My mind is in shambles."

"Do you know of the weapon they developed?" Teyla continues, now with more care.

"I do not. No one spoke to me for the duration of my confinement."

Helena gets up.

"That's enough, Teyla. They likely used her to help develop the Unyielding Thirst, and she's deeply wounded by that. I don't think we should rip open these wounds."

The woman breathes deeply, then nods slowly.

"I apologize." she says, sincerely, and takes a step back.

"We would like to depart from the City. I will entrust you with a way to contact us at all times, in case you need our help." Ivory addresses the whole room, having involuntarily positioned herself protectively before Nova.

–

The Hive is a mess.

Staffed with a sorry excuse for a skeleton crew, they glide through hyperspace, while trying to keep things together, The holds are empty, the crew survives on Drones, and Nova hasn't spoken to anyone in days.

Helena and Ivory have left Atlantis, and given them their subspace message data, enabling the Lantheans to not only contact them, but also to track them.

There are no new reports, neither from the group working on an immunization for the Unyielding Hunger, nor from Shine and Myah.

What hope Helena felt upon learning that her friend is defying Death, is quickly fading, making room for worry.
Concern, that Myah may not even be alive anymore.

Ivory's off hand toys with her hair, as they both recline on her throne, Helena resting her head in her lover's lap. She's staring straight ahed, and so is Ivory, the caress being an idle fidget.

"We can make it through this." Ivory speaks, sounding hollow, contrasting her words, and Helena just hums, more a confirmation that she heard her, than agreement.

She sits up, and pulls Ivory close, pressing her lips on her head.

"I'm terrified." she admits, mumbling into her hair, as Ivory wraps her arms around her waist.

"I am too, my love."

–

Time feels off for Nova.

These two women that saved her.

The humans that spared her.

Her kin, that betrayed her.

Nothing feels real for her, and she worries, she might awaken in her cell, having just dreamed up an unlikely scenario of rescue.

Her sister, Death.

It makes her feel sick, but part of her actually misses Death. Not her current, violent, awful self. The way things were, when they were both younglings.

Nova has always looked up to her, the older one.

Death, the promising one, the prodigy, with her shining eyes and captivating presence. Death, named after the greatest Queen to ever live.

Nova, the feeble one, the weak one, with her shaking hands and thin voice. Nova, saved by an outcast. Nova, betrayed and tormented, used for someone else's benefit.

Nova, starving and suffering, lonely and broken, on the brink of insanity. Nova, all alone, as the ship crashes into the ocean. Nova, frantically clawing herself out of her rapidly filling cell.

Nova, dragging herself on dry land, rolling over and waiting for death. Nova, the outcast, the pariah.

Nova, the fallen Queen, Nova the Crownless, Nova the Forsaken.

Nova, named after a dying star.