Disclaimer: The characters of, "Stargate: SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis", are owned by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, Sci-Fi Channel and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made from it.

Chapter 29: Planning & Dreaming

Elizabeth sat at the head of the table with Charage sitting on her left. She could see Sheppard and Ronon eyeing the Tigrian suspiciously. McKay hadn't taken his eyes off her since she had arrived in Atlantis and he wasn't the only one. Teyla was sitting on the other side of the Tigrian, her attention divided between the Tigrian, Ronon and Sheppard.

Sheppard and his team had insisted that she go see Dr. Beckett, but she had refused. She knew that they were concerned about her, but she didn't have time for any mollycoddling.

She had felt a great relief when she had returned to Atlantis and seen her friends but that familiar, almost overwhelming fear had returned.

Ereshkigal was coming and they needed to stop her. She hoped that the crystals would prove useful against Ereshkigal. She focused her attention back to the people sitting at the table.

Ronon pointed at Charage, "Can we trust him?" He questioned. She saw that his other hand was resting, casually, on his weapon.

Elizabeth locked her eyes with Ronon's eyes. "Yes, Ronon. We can trust him," she spoke, confidently.

"How did you escape?" Teyla inquired, trying to break the tension.

"Charage," she replied, nodding her head to the Tigrian. "He freed me from the dungeon."

"Wait a minute!" McKay exclaimed. "He," he said, pointing his finger at Charage. "Helped free you? It's his fault that Ereshkigal remembered her true and evil identity!"

"Now, McKay, that's not entirely true. The mind-control device that Sinell had put in her brain was going to shut down after a certain amount of time. It was a possibility that it would have happened while she was here in Atlantis. Who knows what she would've done if that had happened while we were still ignorant of her true self," Teyla pointed out.

He nodded somberly. "All right. That's a fair point, but still, how do we know we can trust him?"

"He saved my life at great risk to his own. And no," she added seeing that McKay had opened his mouth to protest. "He's not here to spy on us. He's not helping, Ereshkigal. Believe me." She made sure to give each of them a firm look.

"Very well, Dr. Weir. We all trust your judgment," Teyla said with a nod of her head.

Elizabeth held up her hand when McKay opened his mouth again. "We have other things to talk about, Rodney." His mouth closed and went into a deep frown.

"What do you think Ereshkigal has planned?" Sheppard asked, looking at Elizabeth.

"She will come here," Charage stated.

"Uh. We kind of knew that. That's why we are having this meeting!" McKay exclaimed.

"Rodney, calm down," Elizabeth ordered.

"Calm down?" He nearly screeched as he slammed both fists on the table. "We've been on the defensive for weeks. You've been," he said pointing at Elizabeth and continued, "Ereshkigal's prisoner and you look as though you've been through hell. So, no, I won't calm down! We are in great danger from this…this…being. A being that we don't even know how to defeat. We have a possibility, a chance, and a slim chance. We're not certain. We can't let her take Atlantis, because if she does, she will have a portal to Earth!"

"We know that, Rodney," Teyla stated softly, while he was catching his breath.

"Ok! Ok," he said more calmly and took another long, deep breath. He looked shrewdly at Charage. "What is Ereskigal's plan of attack?"

"She will come for him," The Tigrian replied, waving his hand at Sheppard. "She has feelings for him."

Stunned looks appeared around the table, except on McKay's face. He just sighed and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth questioned, looking from the Tigrian to Sheppard and then back again. "She despises the Ancients and since Sheppard carries the Ancient gene, she should want to destroy him."

"Yes, I am certain. I believe she doesn't understand such feelings. She believes she is above everyone and above simple emotions. Her feelings intrigue her and at the same time, disgust her. She wants to understand because she has never had those types of feelings before. She has manipulated those feelings in others to get what she wants, but she never truly felt such things herself." He looked at Sheppard. "Until now."

"Or, she could want to kill Sheppard so she doesn't have those feelings and he can be annoying" Ronon pointed out.

"Thanks," Sheppard replied with a small grin.

Ronon returned the grin and shrugged his shoulders. "It's a possibility."

"So, one possibility is that she wants to come here to figure out her feelings for Sheppard. The other is that she just wants to kill him?" McKay said with disbelief on his face mixed with mocking surprise in his voice.

"We could use her mixed feelings for Sheppard to our advantage," Ronon suggested.

"That's what I was thinking when I was planning on going to Tigria to rescue you," Sheppard said, indicting Elizabeth with a slight inclination of his chin.

She looked at Sheppard with widened eyes. "You knew about this?"

The Colonel shrugged his shoulders. "I had a feeling about it. Look, I know it's difficult to explain, even more difficult to understand, but Ereshkigal keeps talking about destroying me, but so far, she hasn't done so."

Charage nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, that is not the Ereshkigal that I've read about in the archives. She's decisive and she would get everything she wanted. There are still many of my people who believe she is our creator and that her will is to be done." He hung his head. "I was one of them. Until, I was shown the truth. She has caused profound pain throughout the centuries."

Teyla looked at the Tigrian. "Why does she despise the Ancients so much?"

He frowned and slowly shook his head. "What I've read in the Archives, reports that the Ancients were evil and wanted to destroy good. There was nothing that would indicate what happened."

"It could be the fact that one of the Ancients tried to control her, even if temporarily. We don't know for sure but if Sinell were here, he would be able to tell us," McKay remarked sarcastically with a sneer.

"Sinell?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes widening. "He was here?"

"Yes. Why did you meet him on Tigria?" Sheppard asked and Elizabeth nodded his head. "He went there to help Ereshkigal," He said with a frown and a flash of anger in his eyes.

She shook her head. "No, I don't believe that because he's the one that helped Charage when Ereshkigal found out that he was working for the rebels."

"Great, where is he?" McKay said lifting his arms up in the air and waving them around. "That's if he's really on our side." He added with a derisive snort.

She hung her head. "She killed him. He told us how to return to Atlantis through this back door."

"Does Ereshkigal know about this back door?"

"No," Charage answered. "He also told us how to retrieve the crystals and that one of them shall be the downfall of Ereshkigal."

"That's great, but we don't know which one and we may destroy Atlantis trying to find out," Ronon said.

She sighed. Ronon was right, but they couldn't stop now when they were so close. "I know, but it's the only chance we have to stopping her."

"All right, we'll need to go prepare for an immediate attack," Sheppard said, interrupting her thoughts from going into darker places.

She nodded her head dismissing everyone. Once everyone had left, she looked at Charage who remained sitting at the table.

The Tigrian looked at her with weary eyes. "Are you all right, Elizabeth?"

"Not yet, but I will be," she responded, truthfully. They would stop Ereshkigal, even if it meant the downfall of Atlantis because if Ereshkigal succeeded, Elizabeth had no doubt that she would go after Earth.

Sheppard took a sip of his beer. He had the television turned onto the Super Bowl. Teyla was trying his homemade, extra-spicy BBQ Wings while McKay was talking to Ronon about hockey.

The doorbell rang and he stood up and went to the door. When he opened the door, a frown spread across his face.

Sinell stood before him and his image was sharper and brighter. Sheppard turned around and looked at his friends. They froze and began to fade away. He sighed as he turned back to the Ancient. "I'm dreaming."

"You are correct but I am not part of a dream, Colonel. I am here to help you."

"Help? You're dead."

A smile spread across Sinell's face. "I'm an Ancient. I'm not truly dead."

"Of course, you ascended," Sheppard sighed. He looked around, the gate room had faded away and they were standing in a meadow. "Why are you invading my dreams?"

"Considering the contents of your dreams, this is far more important."

Sheppard frowned and glared at the Ancient. He wasn't pleased that the ascended being could drop in and see what was roaming around in his subconscious. It was the worst invasion of privacy that the Colonel had ever encountered.

Anger flashed within him and he stood right in front of the Ancient. "Why are you here? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

The Ancient's shoulders drooped and he hung his head. "Yes, I know. That's why I am here. I am here to help you stop Ereshkigal, once and for all."

"How?"

"The crystals that Elizabeth and Charage brought to Atlantis can aid you in destroying Ereshkigal."

"Which one? How?"

The Ancient motioned him forward.

He stepped towards the Ancient. The Ancient placed his hands on either side of John's head. "I shall show you which one, how to use it and give you the ability to use it without destroying yourself."

"So, there's a chance that the crystal could destroy me?" Sheppard asked but the Ancient didn't answer.

He wanted to move but he couldn't even blink. He felt a jolt of electricity go through his entire body.

John sat up in his bed, sweating profusely and trying to get his mind to focus. He jumped out of bed and got dressed. He called his team and told them to meet him in Elizabeth's office. He knew that Sinell and what he had shown him hadn't been a part of his imagination. He could still feel that energy within him. Now all he had to do was get as close as he could to Ereshkigal to stop her, once and for all. He hoped he would be able to do it.