Disclaimer - I do not own Stargate Atlantis, any of the characters or the events depicted in this story. I only own my character and anything not privy to the show.
Rayne had then been taken back to the infirmary and given a thorough onceover by Carson, he still not believing that she was completely healed.
While she was resting in one of the beds per Carson's strict orders, the group members met inside of the conference room so that Dr. Weir could debrief the team.
"So her voice can hurt them?" Weir questioned the members around the table.
"Yes it can." Rodney stated. "But more than that, I believe that her voice could possibly kill the Wraith, given long enough exposure to it."
"And you said that she's immune."
"Not immune. The Wraith can still feed on her." Ronon explains.
"You said that she was immortal, so how is it possible that they can hurt her?" Elizabeth questions.
"She is immortal, but not like we have been lead to think." Sheppard clarifies as he leans his arms on the table top. "When we think immortal, we think vampires, werewolves. Things that live forever and cannot be killed. Like the supernatural Rayne doesn't age, but that is where her immortality stops. As we have seen first-hand she can be hurt, she bleeds just like us and according to her, she can be killed."
"Well, whatever the case of her immortality may be, she is a welcome addition to Atlantis." Elizabeth said with a smile towards Ronon. "Please let her know that if she wishes to stay, we would very much enjoy her company."
Once the meeting was finished Rayne was shown to a room directly beside Ronon's quarters, where she could freshen up. She took a long hot shower for the first time since she could remember, washing away the dirt and grime from the pit, feeling more like herself than she had in years past. As she stood in front of the mirror she sighed and closed her eyes tight, still hearing the screams of anguish from the fighters she was commanded to kill; if only water could wash away bad memories as well.
Hearing a chime at the door she wrapped a towel around herself and made her way across the room; her bio-signature had already been programmed in by Dr. Beckett, so she waved her hand over the sensor to unlock and open the door. A beautiful young woman who looked to be around her age stood in the hallway, her eyes sparkled as she gave Rayne a pleasant smile that comforted the Siren.
"I am Teyla Emmagan. I am a friend of Ronon's."
"I am Rayne Dawn. It is nice to meet you, Ronon spoke of you fondly." Rayne moved to the side and motioned to the room with her arm, "Would you like to come in?"
"Thank you." Teyla said as she stepped into the room, carrying a bundle of fabrics in her arms. "I thought you might need something to wear, and I figured you would perhaps like my style of clothing over the Atlantis uniforms."
"Thank you, Teyla. That is very kind of you, I appreciate it." Rayne said genuinely as she accepted the clothing from Teyla.
"I was heading down to the mess hall to have lunch with the team, would you like to join us, Rayne?"
"I would very much. Please excuse me, I will be right back."
Rayne laid the clothing on the bed and picked out a pair of black leather pants and a turquoise off-the-shoulder long-sleeved shirt that showed off her toned abdomen before she walked into the bathroom to get dressed. After pulling on her black knee high boots and the clothes that fit snugly to her body, clearly Teyla and she were similar in stature, she rejoined her new friend and together they walked side-by-side towards the mess hall.
The two women could hear loud laughter and many conversations chattering away as they neared the hall, but all voices ceased when they entered the room, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Rayne slowly leaned over to her friend, "What is going on?" She took in every eye in the room that now seemed to be trained on the two of them. "What are they all staring at?"
Teyla smirked as she glanced around the room, true there was not one eye that was not focused on them. "I believe they are staring at you, my friend."
Rayne's eyes snapped over to Teyla quickly as if the woman had made a ridiculous accusation. "Why? Surely they would be used to outsiders after having you and Ronon around."
Teyla found the situation very amusing, that Rayne was oblivious as to why she was suddenly the focus of every man's eye and every woman's glare; thinking that it was because of her being an "alien" as some of the Atlantis members had deemed outsiders. She could not believe that a woman with beauty that by far rivaled her own, was utterly shocked that anyone would be sparing her a second glance.
"Perhaps it is because they have never seen a woman of such beauty…" She paused a moment to allow her words to sink in before she added, "…Siren."
Rayne's eyes swept the looks in the room as Teyla's words sunk into her mind, she could now clearly see the looks of lust from the men surrounding her, as well as the glares and somewhat hostile stares from the women. "Oh." She said softly as she dropped her eyes to the floor and nervously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
Truthfully Rayne had all but forgotten how beautiful she was a very long time ago, after having seen the effects that her beauty as well as her voice had on people. While the Siren's in Arcadia were prided on their beauty and voices, once her home was destroyed Rayne learned a horrible lesson, beauty such as hers was a curse around the men of other cultures. In the year following the destruction of her planet, Rayne learned quickly that most men were vile, dangerous and cruel creatures.
Teyla chuckled seeing her new friend's discomfort and gently took her arm, "come on," steering her over to the food and grabbing them both a tray. After deciding what they wanted to eat, Rayne followed Teyla over to a table towards the back where her new friends were sat. She blushed slightly as the four men sitting around the table quickly stood up as she and Teyla approached; clearly they had been brought up as gentlemen, despite two of them being stone-cold killers when the situation called for it.
"Thank you." Rayne said softly as she took the offered seat beside Ronon who was sitting opposite John as they were both seated at the heads of the table. Teyla took the seat to her left beside Sheppard, and Rodney and Carson sat across the table opposite the ladies.
"So, perhaps formal introductions are in order." Teyla stated as she nodded to the men around her in turn. "Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, he is the man in charge of our team and second in command of the Expedition. Dr. Rodney McKay, is an Astrophysicist and he is Head of the Science and Research division of the Atlantis Expedition. Dr. Carson Beckett, he is our chief medical officer and of course Ronon Dex, but you already know him."
Rayne looked over to Ronon with a smile, "Yes I do," before turning her attention back to the other men at the table. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. I cannot thank you enough for rescuing all of us from the pit, even though we were not your first concern." She said glancing once more over at Ronon who nodded in return, before her eyes landed on the Irishman. "Dr. Beckett, I must say thank you for saving my life."
"Oh lass, I didn't do anythin', it was Ronon who saved ya." Carson admitted with a frown, he was still upset that he hadn't been able to save her on his own with his extensive medical knowledge.
Rayne smiled as she reached across the table and laid her hand down over his. "Ronon was not present when you brought me back to Atlantis, you kept me alive until Ronon could figure out how to save me. So for that, I thank you, Carson."
"Aye, anytime lass. But please don't make a habit of it." Carson said with a smile as he squeezed her hand.
Rayne chuckled at the doctor, "I will try my best."
"So, Rayne, can you tell us where you come from? We all enjoy hearing about one another's worlds." Teyla's kind voice said to her as they ate.
"Of course, but only if you all teach me of yours in return." They all nodded in agreement, leaning into the table as if to hear her better and so Rayne continued. "I was born on a planet called Arcadia, one made entirely out of water. There the elders built a massive city on the seafloor, much like your Atlantis, keeping my people safe and invisible to the eye."
"An entire city underwater? How did you power the shield? Did you have Zed PM's?" Rodney asked quickly firing off his questions in rapid succession causing Rayne's eyes to widen in confusion.
"What is a Zed PM?" She asked.
Rodney looked like a child that had been told there was no Santa Claus. "It's short for Zero Point Module, it is a power source created by the ancients, one of the most formidable power sources known to exist. It's what powers the shield and keeps the city from flooding."
"We did not have a shield." She told Rodney and the team swore they could see the beginnings of a McKay meltdown in the next few seconds.
"Then how did you keep the water from flooding your city?"
"We didn't." She answered calmly not comprehending the slack jawed-bug eyed look that Dr. McKay was giving to her at that moment. "Doctor, perhaps you can tell me what a "Siren" is in your culture. That may help me to understand how I am perceived to you all, so that I can better answer your questions."
Rodney shook his head bringing his mind back into focus before he cleared his throat and answered. "Uh, sure. On Earth, the only reference we have to "Sirens" is in Greek mythology books. They depict "Sirens" as seductively beautiful women that lured sailors to their deaths with their songs, hence the Earth term, "a Siren's song." Some also believed that "Sirens" could conjure up a storm on the water, to sink the ships of their victims. Later on in history they started associating "Sirens" with other mythological beings called "mermaids;" which were again beautiful women that lived in the sea, but had a fish's tail instead of legs."
All was quiet after Rodney gave his explanation, the group allowing Rayne to digest the information that had been presented to her. After several minutes they grew concerned as her head remained down and her shoulders started to shake lightly, causing them all to fear that they had upset her as she now appeared to be crying.
But their fears were extinguished as they heard what sounded like a snort come from her, and they were surprised as she lifted her head, laughter bubbling out of her mouth.
Rayne covered her mouth as she fought back the laughter coming from her throat; seeing her new friends eyeing her with concern and curiosity, she managed to calm herself down with deep breaths and wipe the stray tears that had tracked down her cheeks.
"I am— I am so sorry. I mean no disrespect to your mythology Dr. McKay. It is just that I suddenly got an image in my mind of my father and my three older brothers with fish tails."
She broke into giggles again, only this time the others at the table smiled making her feel less inappropriate for laughing. "Well, unfortunately Doctor, my actual heritage is far less entertaining than your mythology description."
"You're born from the ocean, how is that not entertaining?" Sheppard questions from on her left.
Rayne smiles at him, "Actually, Colonel, it was my ancestors that were born from the ocean waters, from then on our people were born from a mother like any other race. But since we are born in the water, we do have it flowing through our veins just as our elders did. We breathe and speak underwater, just as you do on land, so there was never any need for a shield you see. Now while I cannot control a storm to sink a ship, I can feel the ocean, it speaks to me, and I can communicate with the aquatic life within it."
"So you're like a real-life Aqua-man? Er, Aqua-woman?" Sheppard said, his eyes lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning.
"What is an Aqua-man?" Rayne asked bemused.
"Oh, uh, he's a superhero, he lives both underwater and on land, who can talk to fish and sharks and stuff."
Rayne smiled, "Yes you can say that. You will have to teach me more about your superheroes Colonel Sheppard, I would very much like to hear about them."
John made a clicking noise with his cheek as he shot her a wink, "You got it, and please call me, John."
"As you wish, John."
John could hear the low rumble that came from Ronon as Rayne said his name, he hadn't intended on flirting with the Siren, it was just something that John could not control around beautiful women.
Thankfully for Sheppard, Elizabeth walked up at that point, taking some of the tension out of the air. "Ms. Dawn. I was hoping that we could talk."
"Of course, Dr. Weir." Rayne said as she stood from her chair. "Dr. McKay, I do hope we can continue this conversation later. I believe that there is much that we can learn about our cultures from one another."
"Yes of course." Rodney said with a nod.
"Very well. Thank you all for lunch." Rayne smiled, giving them all a polite nod before she followed Weir out of the mess hall.
Ronon was breathing heavily as he stood on the balcony just outside of the gate room overlooking Atlantis; feeling the wind drying the sweat that was coating his skin. After Rayne had left with Dr. Weir, Ronon had talked Sheppard into a little sparring match in the gym; which fueled by his jealousy had landed John in the infirmary with a split eyebrow and caused Ronon to be filled with guilt.
He knew that John acted that way with every woman that he encountered, but he had never bedded any of them, it was merely just a trait of John's character. It was more due to the looks of lust that every man in the mess hall had been throwing Rayne's way; it filled him with white hot rage to think about them undressing her with their eyes, and unfortunately, John had paid the price.
He realized shortly after leaving the gym that he had no right to be jealous; Rayne did not belong to him, he had not yet revealed the feelings that he had for her, and he was afraid of losing another he loved. But he knew that he had to take a chance and do it soon, because he was now 1 in over 100 men in Atlantis that wanted Rayne to be theirs.