Briefing Room, SGC, 2330 hours.
It had been ten minutes since General O'Neill had returned from the Pegasus galaxy with Woolsey, Dawn and Satterfield in tow. After he parked the Puddle Jumper in the Jumper Research Lab, the General and Woolsey headed straight for the briefing room while Satterfield and Dawn headed for Colonel Ferretti's office. As the two men were heading quietly towards the elevator lobby, they were wondering what was going on. Even Woolsey was aware that they were not going by the standard protocol, which involved all teams returning from off-world missions getting checked out by the doctor first before any briefing. Woolsey could tell that whatever had happened to Willow and Daniel must have been urgent enough to overlook those established protocols.
Getting off the elevator and onto the twenty seventh floor, the two men walked along the hallway until they were near the briefing room. Where they would usually be hearing people talking about the current mission that was completed, all they noticed was complete and utter silence. It was the silence that worried General O'Neill; it was the same silence that pervaded the briefing room after Daniel's first visit to Kelowna where he suffered the overdose of radiation that killed him the first time. It was the same silence after they had learnt that Willow was dying despite everything they were trying to do, it was the same silence that would befall the SGC whenever something terrible had happened. And when the General entered the briefing room with Woolsey, he instantly knew that something terrible had happened.
He saw Faith and Colonel Carter looking at a particular spot on the table, oblivious to everything around them; Colonel Mitchell was standing next to Vala and Teal'c as she whispered at them while they looked out the briefing room window. Upon seeing that General O'Neill had arrived in the briefing room, General Landry sighed and got off his chair after he had finished talking to Cordelia at the BPRI. He then opened the door and walked into the briefing room as Faith and Colonel Carter looked up before standing up when the Colonel saw the General. Upon seeing the man's reflection on the window, Colonel Mitchell turned and stood at attention, while Vala and Teal'c could only turn around and look at each and then at the grey haired man.
"O'Neill" said Teal'c as he gave his friend a small bow, "it is a welcome sight to see you and Mr. Woolsey safe."
"Thank you, Teal'c" said Woolsey.
"Thanks" replied the General as he smiled at Teal'c before looking at General Landry, "Hank, what's going on?"
"Take a seat, Jack… Mr. Woolsey" said the General as he motioned towards the empty seats. Faith saw that General O'Neill was going to sit next to her so she quickly removed the vest that she had placed on that particular seat before placing it on the table, as did the other members of SG1.
'Definitely something bad' thought the General to himself as he noticed the frown on Faith's face, and the fact that she didn't look him in the eyes, 'they haven't been checked out either, nor have they changed. They must have just gotten back.'
"General" said General Landry, "you and Mr. Woolsey came at the right time. SG1 just returned from their mission about twenty minutes ago."
"I take it then that you haven't found Merlin's weapon?" asked Mr. Woolsey as he looked around the table, "and if I may ask the obvious, where are Dr. Jackson and Major Rosenberg?"
General O'Neil noticed that the mere mention of Daniel and Willow's names made everyone look down at the table as both of the Colonels frowned.
"Carter? Mitchell?" asked General O'Neill as Colonel Carter and Colonel Mitchell looked at each other. Colonel Mitchell then nodded at Colonel Carter who turned to look at General O'Neill. She told him about the trials they had to go through, but not after having first met Adria and then Ba'al. She told him and Woolsey that Adria was already disguised as another villager through the use of a holographic disguise. She told the two men that Adria's goal was to take the weapon for herself so that they could not destroy the Ori, and that she had threatened the entire team with harm had she not been allowed to join. When asked about Ba'al, Colonel Mitchell told the General that Ba'al had told them that he knew where the cave the weapon was stored in was located, that he could get them there. They then told him about having fought a dragon, and that it was Daniel who found the secret to defeating it.
"So he had to speak the guardian's name?" asked General O'Neill, "the guardian being Ganos Lal?"
"Yes, sir" said Colonel Mitchell, "then after it vanished, we went back in to the cave to retrieve the weapon."
"We were instead transported to another world through an Ancient teleportation device" said Teal'c.
"Cool" said General O'Neill, "so Daniel did real good then, so where is he?"
"We found Merlin" said Vala to the surprise of both Woolsey and General O'Neill, "he was in stasis, and well.. I went to touch something and…"
"Next thing we know he's out of stasis" said Faith.
"So he rebuilt the weapon then?" said Woolsey, "I mean if you managed to wake up Merlin, then that must mean he rebuilt the weapon."
"He said his body was too old" said Vala, "Daniel convinced him that he should continue and…"
"Couldn't Major Rosenberg have healed him?" asked Woolsey.
"I would suspect she tried?" asked the General as he looked at Woolsey, and then at the others, "right?"
"She did" said Faith, "but Merlin said that his body was simply too old, that whatever she healed… she…. I mean, his body was failing no matter what."
"He had no choice, sir" said Colonel Carter, "I came in after Merlin died, after transferring his consciousness into Daniel."
"What?" said both General O'Neill and Woolsey together.
"Big-G" said Faith, "I was there, he really had no choice. If he didn't do that.. then…. Daniel voluntarily took Merlin's consciousness into his mind."
"Sir" said Colonel Mitchell, "Jackson continued from where Merlin had left off."
"Ok" said General O'Neill, "and…?"
"It was my fault, sir" said Colonel Carter.
"You don't know that" said Colonel Mitchell.
"It wasn't your fault, Sam" said Faith, "it was no one's fault."
"Carter?" asked General O'Neill.
"He was finishing another stage of the weapon when Adria and the Ori army gated in" said Vala, "and well…."
"Red wasn't able to handle them?" asked General O'Neill.
"Sir" said Colonel Mitchell, "she was powerless, and I mean that literally."
"What do you mean?" asked Woolsey as he leaned forward.
"Before that" said General O'Neill, "what happened to Daniel?"
"He covered our escape" said Colonel Carter, "but….."
"Adria has him?" asked General O'Neill surprised, "Carter? Does Adria have Daniel?"
"We think so, sir" said Colonel Carter as she looked at the frown on the General's face before she quickly looked down on the table, "I.. I'm sorry, sir."
"O'Neill" said Teal'c, "if we had remained on the planet, we may have all been taken prisoner by Adria and her army. She has unique…. Gifts."
"But" said Faith, "Red said that Merlin will protect him, he'll protect Daniel's mind."
"But that doesn't excuse the fact that one of the SGC's own is now in the hands of the enemy" said Woolsey frustrated as he leaned back on his chair, "a very powerful enemy."
"I've already ordered all codes to and from the SGC changed" said General Landry, "but there's more."
"More?" said General O'Neill with an eyebrow raised. The General didn't think he could take more surprises, he lost his best friend to the enemy, one of the two girls he cared for as daughters wasn't at the briefing room which concerned him, and the SGC's premier team just escaped Adria by the skin of their teeth from what he had just heard.
"Major Rosenberg collapsed when she came in through the gate" said General Landry as General O'Neill and Woolsey looked at the base commander surprised, "before she passed out, she told me that they had a plan… and that her father would protect him."
"Wait" said General O'Neill, "her father? What does Ira Rosenberg have to do with any of this?"
"Merlin" said Vala, "she was referring to Merlin."
"Merlin?" replied Woolsey as he looked at Vala and then at Faith, "Miss Lehane?"
"It's exactly what Vala said" replied Faith as she looked at the bald man, "Merlin is Red's dad."
"Oh" said General and O'Neill and Woolsey in shock.
BPRI, Sunnydale, California, at that same time.
It had been a rough couple of days for Anya; first she hadn't talked to Daniel in a while since he was spending most of his time off-world looking for the Sangraal, and secondly since she hadn't been granting wishes for months… her boss, the ruler of the Hell dimension known as Arashmaharr, D'Hoffryn took away all her powers by force. Now not only was she lonely, she had lost all the powers she used to have as a vengeance demon, the same powers that would have served her well since she was about to get called back to the BPRI.
As she was heading back to her car parked outside the main BPRI building, she was looking through her purse for the keys when she received a call on her cell phone. Once she connected the call, she put it to her ear while she still searched for her keys.
"Anya" said Cordelia, "you need to get back in."
"Now?" asked Anya, "I was actually just going to go home and take a long, hot bath while thinking of…."
"Anya" interrupted Cordelia, "it's about Daniel, we need you back here now."
Once Daniel's name was mentioned, Anya stopped walking and looked straight ahead. She didn't like the tone of voice that Cordelia had, the same tone that indicated something was very, very wrong. She quickly turned around and ran back into the building after she stuffed the still active phone into her purse. Pushing the doors of the entrance open, she almost hit Tara and Kennedy who were walking out of the building.
"Anya?" said Tara as the former vengeance demon ran towards the elevators, "you alright?"
Tara frowned when Anya didn't answer. She then looked at Kennedy who shrugged her shoulders before the both of them walked out the doors, but not before Tara noticed that Anya was waiting impatiently for the elevator before she ran to the stairwell.
"Kennedy" said Tara, "you go ahead to Buffy's place, I just want to check up on Anya."
"You sure?" asked Kennedy, "maybe it's nothing, you know."
"She didn't wait for the elevator" said Tara, "instead she took the stairs. She'd never do that unless it was something really urgent."
Kennedy nodded her head before Tara rushed towards the elevators that had just opened its doors. Smiling at her girlfriend as she walked into the elevator, Kennedy watched Tara wave at her before the elevator doors closed and it travelled up to the fifth floor which was where Angel and Cordelia's office was located.
Just as Anya reached the fifth floor and stumbled out of the stairwell panting hard, she found herself being helped by Tara. Confused as to how the blonde witch was able to beat her to this floor, Tara smiled and nodded at the elevator doors which just closed. Smiling, Tara helped Anya slowly walk towards Cordelia's office as Anya explained the cryptic message from the woman.
"Anya" said Cordelia as the former vengeance demon walked into her office, "Tara?"
"Sorry" said Tara, "I saw Anya was a bit distressed so… I can go… I mean.. if it's personal."
"Actually" said Angel as he got up from behind his desk, "Anya is needed at the SGC, we just got a call from General Landry… Daniel's missing… they're searching for him, but they need someone who can take over for him temporarily."
"I'll go" said a shocked Anya, "but… I need to fly there… I need…"
"Everything's already set for you" said Cordelia, "there's already a ticket booked in your name at the airport, and if Tara's interested… I can have another ticket booked. But you guys need to leave tonight."
"Dawnie?" asked Tara, "cant she take over?"
"She's going on a mission tomorrow" said Angel as he looked at Anya, "Anya, they'll find him."
"I.. I'll go" said Anya as she turned around and rushed out of the door, with Tara following close behind her.
"Tara" said Cordelia as the blonde looked back just as she reached the doors, "watch over her."
"I will" said Tara as she nodded her head, and exited the office.
Infirmary, SGC, 0010 hours.
Dawn and Satterfield were quietly heading back to the locker rooms following their chewing out by Colonel Ferretti, and followed by a post-mission check-up in one of the Isolation Rooms that was much closer to the surgical suites than the main infirmary. Dawn knew that they were extremely lucky, that the Colonel could have written them up for disobeying direct orders. Instead all he did was give them a verbal warning. So now as they headed into the locker room, Dawn gently grabbed Satterfield's arm.
"Dawn?" asked Satterfield as she looked at the younger brunette who was looking down at the floor.
"I… ummm… I'm sorry" said Dawn as she rubbed the back of her head nervously, "I shouldn't have made you come with me, I realize that it was selfish… I mean I really went because I wanted to see Atlantis, you know. And…"
"You thought the best way to go would be to volunteer in the mission to save General O'Neill and Mr. Woolsey?" said Satterfield with a smile.
"Yea" replied Dawn as the both of them walked towards their lockers, "I know I got us into a lot of trouble, and I know that worse things could have happened.. and well, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Forget about it" said Satterfield as she opened her locker door and took off her BDU's, "we did our duty.. we saved people."
"I know" said Dawn as she did the same, "but still…"
"And to tell you the truth" said Satterfield as she looked at Dawn before putting on a red T-Shirt and her jeans, "I wanted to visit Atlantis too."
"I knew it" said Dawn excitedly as she put on her shirt after putting on a pair of jeans and a jacket, "I knew you wanted to see the city too."
"Yea" said Satterfield sheepishly, "anyway, looks like we have to postpone our trip. We're taking one more swing to Caprica tomorrow."
After the Colonel had given both young women a piece of his mind, he calmed down and told them that they still had to be ready to go out tomorrow for another mission to Caprica. Dawn and Satterfield then looked at each other before the older Asian brunette asked the Colonel if the Stargate on the planet was now somehow unburied. After answering in the negative, the Colonel said that they would be heading there by ship… and that the only reason they waiting this long was so that the Excalibur could be ready for her shakedown cruise, and provide additional backup due to the two ship having the Ancient weapons system installed.
"She's ready, sir?" asked Satterfield.
"Yes" said Colonel Ferretti as he looked at a folder on his table, "the Excalibur will be crewed by the Royal Navy led by a Captain Roger Lewis. The last time the Odyssey went to Caprica, her scans showed at least two thousand people on the surface of the planet before she went back into hyperspace."
"We read that report, Sir" said Satterfield, "three unknown ships launched a total of a hundred and fifty missiles, including nuclear weapons, at the Odyssey."
"Yep" said Colonel Ferretti, "and with the Daedalus still in Pegasus, and the Odyssey going in for her refit with the Ancient weapons. The Avalon and the Excalibur are the only workable ships in this galaxy. Our mission is to make contact with the survivors, send down supplies if possible, all the while trying to negotiate with the people abroad the strange ships that we're there to help the survivors. We will be placing one Puddle Jumper into one of the cargo bay's on the Avalon, so we can use that to go down to the planet if needed."
"If they fire on us?" asked Dawn.
"Then we fire back" said Colonel Ferretti, "but let's hope it doesn't get to that."
"Yes, sir" Satterfield had told the Colonel, "and thank you, sir."
"Get some rest" said the Colonel, "we leave at ten hundred hours tomorrow."
"See you, Colonel" said Dawn as she followed Satterfield out the door.
After they had changed, the two young women walked out into the hallway. As they were walking towards the elevator lobby, Dawn turned and asked Satterfield about the duplicate she had met on that planet.
"You think she's alright?" asked Dawn.
"She could still be a replicator" said Satterfield as they neared the lobby, "all in all, I don't really know how I feel about having others with my face running around in the galaxy."
"But it's strange though" said Dawn, "so many copies of you on that planet…. It's like…"
"Invasion of the body snatchers?" asked Satterfield.
"Don't mention that movie ever" said Dawn, "you know how many times Jon keeps forcing me to watch it with him? He says that the replicators could come back one day and that the events of the movie could happen for real. I swear to you that one day I'm going to destroy it, and then say that the dog did it."
"You don't have a dog" replied Satterfield.
"Your point is….?" asked the younger brunette with her eyebrows raised as they reached the elevator lobby, "you know what? I think I'll go check out how Willow's doing. If she wasn't in the control room when we came in, then I can guess that she was injured and is in the infirmary."
"Same with Dr. Jackson, probably" said Satterfield as she bit her lower lip.
"You and your crush on him" grinned Dawn as the doors to the elevator opened and Satterfield walked in while winking at the younger brunette who laughed, "see you tomorrow. If Willow's injured, then I guess I'll just stay on base."
"See you tomorrow" said Satterfield, "breakfast before the mission?"
"Sure" said Dawn, "you, me, Carl and Lewis."
"Neat" said Satterfield as he waved at Dawn as the doors closed.
Dawn then waited for the next elevator which had arrived in a few minutes, before she went in and pressed the button for the infirmary level. It took a few seconds before she reached the floor and calmly walked down the hallways. Through it all, she was telepathically contacting Willow but getting no response from the redhead.
'That's weird' thought Dawn to herself, 'she usually answers me immediately, did something serious happen?'
Almost at the infirmary, she was surprised to find that the door was guarded by two Airmen who noticed the young brunette walking towards them.
"Miss Summers" said one of them, "Dr. Lam is attending to Major Rosenberg, please wait here."
"Ummmm… ok" said Dawn as she looked on confused "is Willow alright?"
The Airmen glanced and each other before one of them told Dawn that Dr. Lam would talk to her as soon as possible. He also mentioned that Faith and the others have already been notified of what was going on, but since she was still in her briefing with SG1, General O'Neill, General Landry and Woolsey; she asked Dr. Lam to explain what was happening.
Just as the Airman stopped talking, the three of them heard the door open as Dr. Lam walked out into the hallway in her white coat.
"Miss Summers" said Dr. Lam as she signalled Dawn to follow her into the infirmary after nodding her head at the two Airmen, "while Faith and the others are in the briefing room, I would like for you to remain here with Major Rosenberg."
"Huh?" said Dawn as she walked into the room where she noticed one bed at the end where Willow was lying down with her eyes closed. As they walked closer, the brunette noticed that several wires were connected to her head, while others were connected to her chest, and then I.V lines were attached to the top of her hands. She looked in shock at the redhead as she heard the beeping made by the machines as it measured her heartbeat and other vital functions. She then saw another machine that had a series of vertical wavy lines, as well as a picture of Willow's brain with several places coloured blue and on the left side of the screen there was a number; all it said was four percent.
"Dr. Lam?" asked Dawn as she looked at the doctor, and then at Willow in shock, "what's… I mean… how?"
"Faith and the others will tell you exactly what happened" said Dr. Lam, "but it's a good thing you came when you did, I was actually going to call for you. All I can tell you is that Major Rosenberg had a traumatic experience that pretty much shut down her brain functions."
"Huh?" said Dawn, "but…. How?"
"Miss Summers" said Dr. Lam, "I told you.."
"Yeah" said Dawn, "Faith will tell me.. but…."
"When she came in, her brain seemed to be not processing any information at all" said Dr. Lam looking at Willow, before looking back at Dawn, "I'll tell you the same thing I told Faith, this really isn't my field of specialization so I called a colleague of mine from the Academy hospital. He's a neurologist who has already read about Willow's unique biology, he's already got the required clearance and he'll be coming in first thing tomorrow morning. But since she arrived, the amount her brain can process information has been steadily increasing. It used to be two percent, and now it… see… it just jumped to seven."
"Oh…. Ok….. so I can stay?" asked Dawn as she continued to stare at the unconscious redhead, "will she know I'm here?"
"It would help to talk to her" said Dr. Lam as she checked Willow's blood pressure, "we've been talking to her, but I think she's waiting to hear the voices of Faith or the others in SG1."
"Willow?" said Dawn as she grabbed a seat next to the bed and sat down after gently caressing her forehead, "I'm here."
Dawn and Dr. Lam then looked at each other when Willow visibly twitched as Dawn touched her forehead.
"That hasn't happened with any of us" said the doctor as the number that indicated her brain processes jumped to twelve percent, "this is interesting."
"Willow?" said Dawn as she gingerly held the redheads hand, "can you hear me?"
"Wow" said Dr. Lam as she looked on in shock as the number on the screen jumped up to twenty three percent before they heard a tiny whisper from Willow.
"Please forgive me" mumbled Willow as her heart rate started to jump, "please forgive me."
"That's impossible" said Dawn as she looked at Willow and then at the doctor as the redhead's heart rate normalized followed by Willow talking deep breaths. Eventually even her breathing normalized, but her eyes were still shut, "she's speaking in Ancient. I've just started teaching her the language, and she's a klutz. After weeks, she hasn't picked up a lot… but I never thought her those words."
"What did she say?" asked Dr. Lam as she checked more of Willow's vitals as Dawn held on to the redhead's hand, before she looked at the screen again as the number jumped to thirty percent.
"She said 'please forgive me'" said Dawn as she looked at Willow as the number on the screen jumped up to thirty six percent.
"Stay here" said Dr. Lam as she ran towards the hallway, "I need to let General Landry know what's going on, stay with her."
"I will" said Dawn as she sat down next to Willow, all the while holding her hand tightly, "I'll be right here, Willow."
Dawn looked at the screen as the number jumped to forty two percent. As Dawn looked at the screen as parts of Willow's brain started to become red in colour, she was wondering what would have happened to the redhead on the mission. She also wondered what Willow was dreaming about when she noticed her eyes moving at a rapid pace under her eyelids.
Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy; more than 10,000 years ago
Athena and Hera were the apples of their father's eye, he doted on the both of them extensively and the two young women cared for him, and for each other. The two of them were extremely close to each other, almost inseparable. Athena was more geared towards the sciences and would eventually taken up biology and genetic engineering, while Hera would take up linguistics and anthropology. Moros would say often that his daughters were exactly like their mother; adventurous. While the both of them shared similar traits, it was Hera who was cheekier. But when it came down to it, they loved each other to death. They were sisters after all.
Of course there would be days when the both of them were growing up that they would get each other's skins. One such example was the sisters would 'borrow' each other's clothes without telling the other. Hera would start it off, and then Athena would have to retaliate by stealing some of her sister's clothes. Or when, during a lesson, Athena placed a large reptile she took from the terrarium in one of the research labs in the city into Hera's bag. Athena peeked through the class door when Hera screamed in surprise at the creature that was staring back at her before it crawled out and wandered the halls of Atlantis. Athena remembered that day with fondness as she rolled on the floor laughing as Hera narrowed her eyes at her older sister. After that, Hera retaliated by placing a dark sticky liquid into Athena's shoes. She watched as her sister put her feet into the shoe when her face suddenly changed once she felt a gooey substance at the bottom of her feet. Her face twisted in disgust, she tried to take off the shoe but found that it was stuck. Glaring at her laughing sister who was hiding behind her own bed in the room they shared, Athena walked towards her while the redhead's feet started to make disgusting squishy sounds, which made Hera laugh even harder. Standing over Hera, who was holding her stomach while tears were falling from her eyes, Athena put her hands on her hips and glared at her sister.
"Sorry" said a smiling Hera as she looked up at Athena.
"You know what?" said Athena as she leaned forward before suddenly grinning, "I'll have my revenge now."
"Hey" laughed Hera as Athena tackled the little girl to the ground before she started to tickle her, "no… stop… I surrender."
"No" said Athena as she continued with the tickle torture, "no surrender."
"Stop" laughed Hera as she giggled loudly, "I beg of you….. stop."
"Fine" said Athena as she stopped, got on her knees and moved back a bit as Hera sat up and wiped her eyes, "you won't do that again?"
"Maybe" grinned Hera as she went and hugged Athena tightly, "maybe another time."
There was a time when a group of children from Atlantis were taken to the mainland on a educational excursion by some of the teachers. The mission was to conduct basic biological study on the local plant and animal species found on the mainland. Once they reached the mainland, they had split up into groups with Athena, Hera and two other students in one group. As the four of them followed the teacher to a brook about twenty minutes away from the Stargate, Hera held onto Athena's hand the entire way while looking around at the local vegetation when she suddenly heard a sound. Stopping suddenly, Hera turned around and noticed a small animal that was just looking at her from the side of the trail on which they were walking.
"Hera?" said the teacher when she looked back and noticed that Athena was frowning, and Hera was crouching down and had brought her hand outwards towards a tiny creature. Smiling to herself, she then walked with the other students back to where the two sisters were, and knelt down next to Hera.
"I heard it making a sound" said Hera as she looked at the teacher, and then back at the creature.
"It looks disgusting" said Athena as Hera looked back at her sister, and stuck her tongue out at the redhead, "look at it, webbed feet… slimy…. Brown with some green splotches on it.. and… eeeew, it just flicked its tongue out at me."
"Athena" said the teacher as she looked at the eight year old redhead, "you once told me that you wanted to study the biological sciences when you grow up. Eventually you may have to dissect once of these creatures."
"Dissecting is something that I would do, gladly" said Athena as Hera looked back at her sister in shock while Athena looked at Hera before sticking her tongue out playfully, "and I'd do it, again… and again… and again."
"Athena" said Hera with a frown as her brown hair framed her face, "it is an adorable creature. Why would you want to cut him open?"
"To see how the creature works?" smirked Athena, "it is ugly, and has no redeeming qualities."
"Don't worry little one" said Hera as she placed her hand on the ground and the small creature hopped onto her outstretched hand and started to make a strange sound, "my older sister is just playing with you."
Hera then stood up as the other two children approached her and looked at the small creature in her hand. Slowly, they reached out with their hands and started to pet it.
"This creature is called a Fereger" said the teacher as she looked around, "can anyone guess how it moves from one place to another?"
"It jumps around?" said Athena as she cautiously walked towards Hera and the creature in her hand. She then leaned forward and looked at the jet black eyes of the creature as it flicked out its tongue.
"See" said Hera smiling, "it's adorable… oh."
Suddenly the creature jumped onto Athena who then started to jump around in panic.
"It's on me….! its on me!" screamed Athena as Hera couldn't help but smile as the teacher rushed to the screaming redhead, "it's in my hair… someone get it off… I.. I.. can feel the slime…. AAAHHHH!"
"Athena, let me help you" said the teacher, who was trying to hide her giggle thanks to the antics of the young redhead as she grabbed Athena's shoulders and told her not to move. She told Athena that the more she moved, the more the creature would move. Athena closed her eyes as she felt the creature's small feet on her scalp, and then it was gone. Opening her eyes, she saw that the teacher held the creature in the palm of her hand as she handed it back to Hera. The teacher turned back to Athena as Hera and the other students watched her release it down to the side of the trail.
"Every creature's existence has a reason, Athena" said the teacher as Hera and the others watched the creature hop away while Athena still shuddered at the thought of the creature walking on her head, and then she shuddered even more when she thought about what would have happened if the creature had actually gone into her uniform. She heard the teacher say that the creature was responsible for keeping the population of other insects on the planet, and that other creatures were responsible for controlling the population of the Feregers.
"Balance?" asked Athena as she wiped her eyes.
"Yes" said the teacher as Hera and the others walked back to where the redhead was standing, "remember Athena, nature has ways of keeping everything in balance."
"Is that why we fight the Wraith?" asked Athena as she wiped her nose, "to keep a balance?"
"We fight the Wraith to protect ourselves, and the other worlds that they feed on" said the teacher.
"Then with the number of Wraith that keeps attacking Atlantis" said another student, "there is no balance. There are so many that keep on attacking the city.. more and more every day."
"I… I… I will one day discover a solution to killing all of them" said Athena.
"This coming from the one who is frightened of a small creature that got on her head" grinned Hera as she held her sister's hand.
"It was slimy, Hera" said Athena in a squeaky voice as she visibly shuddered again, "and what if it had gone into my uniform, or my nose, or my mouth, or my ears? All that slime….. when I get back to Atlantis, I am not leaving the shower for at least two hours."
"My sister" said a smiling Hera as she held Athena's hand tightly and put her head on her shoulder.
"Athena, Hera, children" said the teacher as she gathered all four of them together, "remember one thing, there is always another way of defeating an enemy. I hope that one day you will understand that committing an act of genocide is not the way to defeat the Wraith."
'But…" said Athena as the teacher interrupted her.
"Athena" said the Teacher as she held on to the young redhead's arms gently, "as a Lantean who is interested in the biological and genetic sciences, do you not believe that there may be a way to suppress the Iratus Bug genetic code that created the Wraith? Do you not believe that the human genetic code could be made dominant, and thus restoring their humanity and taking away the need to feed?"
"If it was possible" said Athena, "would we not have found it since the war with the Wraith started?"
"We still have not found that missing link" said the teacher, "maybe you would discover it one day, or maybe someone else in the future would discover it after basing it off your work. That is how the sciences work, you create something… and then future scientists would be able to improve upon what you have done previously."
"I understand" said Athena, "I think."
"My sister will cure the Wraith" said Hera proudly as she looked at Athena and then at the other two students, and then at the teacher, "you will see, she will cure the Wraith."
"Come" said the teacher smiling as she stood up, "it is time to return to Atlantis."
As they were heading back to the Stargate to meet with the other groups, Athena had to spend the time being made fun of by the other two students for the antics with the strange creature. While they were talking about what happened, Athena and Hera were walking behind the teacher and the other two students together. Athena turned and looked at her brown haired sister and smiled.
"You were good with that creature" said Athena, "are you certain you do not want to take up biology? We could work together on breakthroughs."
"I wish to spend more time among the Athosians, the Taranians and the Scion" said Hera, "father would always say that mother spent many days with them in the study of their culture. She had only scratched the surface, and I would like to continue that work."
"We will be seeing her in seven days" said Athena as they continued to follow the others. Every year, Moros and the children would go visit Melina's burial site. The first time Hera went, she touched the grave stone and a light shone from the top of the stone. The light soon shimmered into the shape of a tall, red haired woman. After the woman appeared from out of nowhere, the younger girl ran and hid behind Moros' leg much to the laughter of Athena and the brown haired man.
"That is your mother, Hera" said Moros as he looked at the brown haired girl who by now was peeking out at the woman from behind his leg.
"Hera" said Athena as she reached out her hand towards her sister who nervously reached out and held on to Athena's hand, "let us go together?"
Hera nervously nodded as the three year old Athena gently held on to her younger sister's hand and walked towards the grave stone. As Moros looked on, he saw both of his daughters sit on the ground as they looked up at Melina's hologram. He watched as Hera looked at Athena, who put her arms around her sister and pulled the brunette closer. He smiled when the hologram, which he had programmed, started telling both of them a story once the sensors inside the gravestone detected the two young girls had come into range.
"Yes" replied Hera sadly as she recalled that particular memory as they finally reached the Stargate, "I wish… I wish that I could have seen her face…. Her real face."
"Perhaps one day we will see her again" said Athena, "and that day we'll be together again."
"So you believe she has ascended?" asked Hera as she looked at her sister with a hopeful look on her face.
"I do not know" said Athena, "even if she had, she would not be able to interfere…. She would not make herself known to us."
"But she could see us" said Hera as she looked around, "she could be right here and we would not know."
"Perhaps" smiled Athena as the event horizon formed in the Stargate, "but for now, we have each other."
"Promise me that you would not do anything rash?" said Hera, "promise me that you would do everything you could to help the Wraith rediscover their humanity."
"We would have to still fight them, Hera" said Athena.
"Yes" said Hera, "but like teacher said, there is always another way to fight."
"Very well" replied Athena as she and Hera lined up to go through the Stargate, "as long as you are here with me, I would follow your wishes."
"Then I will always be there with you" grinned Hera.
"Just don't put another one of those creatures on me" replied Athena, "or else I would have to do something much more unpleasant."
"I would like to see that" grinned Hera as she looked at Athena before they walked through the Stargate.
Atlantis, Lantea, ten years before the exodus.
As they grew up in the city, Athena and Hera eventually went on becoming what they've always wanted to become. Hera would spend a lot of her time studying the Athosians, while Athena was working with the other geneticists in the city in trying their best to find out a cure for the Wraith. They were looking for something that would reduce the need to feed on humans, but their research would always hit some form of roadblock. They still tried however, Athena still tried. She made a promise to Hera that she would.
Eventually, the attacks by the Wraith became so frequent that Moros, who had recently become the High Councillor of the Atlantis Council, ordered that the city be sunk into Lantea's ocean while the great shield held back the water from flooding the city. When it was time, alarms rang throughout the city and groups of people including Hera and Athena ran to any open space to look as the city went beneath the oceans surface. Although the both of them were already in their mid-thirty's, both of the sisters ran through the halls of the great city with childish excitement on their faces. After taking one of the short range transporters to the towers at the edge of the city, the two sisters rushed out onto the large East pier and joined the small crowd of onlookers who were already standing in wait.
"Melia!" shouted Hera as she ran up to the dark haired woman who smiled back at the brunette, "has it begun?"
Just then, everyone felt a rumbling on the pier and then they felt the city sinking.
"You have come in time" said Melia as everyone watched in awe as the city started to slowly sink under the ocean.
Athena watched as the shield held up against the massive amounts of water on the other side. She then looked up as the intense light caused by the Wraith weapons almost disappeared when the whole city was covered by water. Everyone could feel the city making it's controlled decent onto the floor of the ocean. As Athena still looked up, she saw the Wraith weapons hitting the shield again but the intensity wasn't as much as earlier when the city was on the surface.
"The power of the weapons has been attenuated by the water" said Athena to herself, "gives us time."
"Yes" said Hera as she looked up as well, "we are safe. For now."
It had been a few days after the sinking of the city that intelligence gathered from a planet a hundred light years away indicated the Wraith had just retrieved ZPM's from a delegation that was sent to begin a series of peace talks aimed at ending the nearly hundred year war, a war that both sides had paid dearly. However, the fleet of ships along with three of the powerful Aurora class battle cruisers were unable to withstand the massive numerical advantage the Wraith had and was destroyed. The intelligence gathered stated that the Wraith were able to harvest the ZPM's from the Aurora class ships, and had used it to power their cloning facilities.
Hera had insisted on being on one of the retrieval teams. She reasoned with Moros, who did not want her going in the place, that the Wraith may have felt threatened by a large fleet that showed up at the meeting place; that maybe what was needed was a one on one meeting and she volunteered for the job.
"No" said Moros as he stood up from his seat in the Council room, "absolutely not."
"But father" said Hera, "if this does not work, then yes… the war will go on. But if negotiate one on one, then perhaps this war can then start winding down. We have lost so many, father; as have the Wraith. Perhaps they are tired of fighting as well."
"Or perhaps they wish us all to surrender" said another Council member who was seated to the left of Moros, "if we show any weakness on our part, then the Wraith with come at us and the human populations of the other planets much harder."
"But…." Said Hera.
"I have spoken, Hera" said Moros, "this is not up for debate. We have tried reasoning with the Wraith, but it has failed. We will continue to fight them."
"Father" said Hera as she stood straight, "you said it yourself, they can overrun us militarily… if we do not at least try once more to talk to them…."
"If we cannot hold them back" said Moros as he looked at his youngest daughter, "then we will leave Atlantis. We will return to our original home, we will return to Earth."
"Father, I…" said Hera as Moros slammed his hand onto the table which made the brunette jump back slightly.
"Hera!" said Moros, "you will not join the retrieval team, that is my order. Is that clear?"
"Ye… yes" said Hera as she turned around and left the room as Moros sat back down and rubbed his head.
It was an hour later that Athena had run out of her lab and ran as fast as she could towards the control room. She was supposed to have met with Hera for their afternoon meal and the usually on-time young woman was late. As she ran through the hallways at full speed, she hit one of the many teachers in the city who fell onto the floor with all her papers strewn about.
"Sorry, Ganos" said Athena as she ran into the short range teleporter. As she pressed the screen in front of her for the central tower, she felt a tingling sensation go through her body before she saw a bright flash of white light. Then doors to the teleportation chamber opened and she ran through the hallways of the central tower until she reached the Gateroom. Running up the stairs, she ran into the control room panting.
"Janus" said Athena as she grabbed her knees and breathed hard, "where… where is Hera?"
"She should be in the city" said Janus as he nodded at another woman at a console, "search for Hera's beacon."
"She is not in the city" said the woman as Janus put down the tablet he was holding and ran over to the screen.
"Is she anywhere on the planet?" asked Athena as Moros, after hearing the commotion from the Council room, walked into the control room, "father, have you seen Hera?"
"She had requested permission to go…. No" said Moros in shock as he pointed his finger at Janus, "activate all long range scanners, isolate Hera's subspace beacon."
Moros, Janus and Athena watched the scanners for any sign of Hera's beacon but there was nothing. It was then that Athena and Moros started to get worried.
"I was to have met with Hera for our meal" said Athena as she looked at Moros, "but when she was late, I….."
"Find the two retrieval teams" said Moros as he looked at Janus before looking at Athena, "she requested that she go with one of the teams to retrieve the stolen Potentia, I ordered her not to. She wanted to meet face to face with one of the Wraith, convince them that the war should end. She may have convinced one of the teams to take her without my knowledge."
"Moros" said Janus as he looked up at both the bald man, and Athena, before shaking his head.
"I will take a team to one of the two cloning facilities that are in close proximity to the battle" said Moros as he looked at Janus, "assemble a strike team at once."
"Moros" said Janus as he walked towards the man, "you are the High Councillor of this city, and…."
"My daughter is out there" said Moros, "assemble a team, have them report to the Stargate in ten minutes."
"And one team for me as well" said Athena as Moros and Janus looked at the redhead.
"No" said Moros as he looked at Athena, "you are not…."
"You have two possible locations to scout, father" said Athena as she looked at Moros, "Hera could be in any one of them. This way, we are doubling the odds of finding her… and I am her older sister. It is my responsibility to search for her as much as it is yours."
"Janus" said Moros as he looked at Athena, "assemble a team for my daughter as well, I want the best."
"Of course" said Janus as Moros ran down the central staircase. Janus then walked towards Athena and gently took a hold of her arm and squeezed, "be safe."
"I will" said Athena as she smiled at the man before she too ran down to the Gateroom.
Wraith Controlled planet, Pegasus Galaxy, thirty minutes later.
Athena was in a daze as she slowly opened her eyes. At first all she could see was fuzzy shapes all around her before her surroundings came into focus and she found herself stuck in a pod, the same pod that the Wraith kept captive humans so that they could be fed on at a later time. Still trying to get the daze off her mind, Athena shook her head and tried to move her arm. However, even trying to move her arm made her give out a sharp scream as a stinging pain went up from her arm to her shoulder.
"Athena?" said a familiar voice from her right side.
Athena looked at the outline of a female body that was covered in shadow, but there was no way to not recognize the voice of her sister.
"Hera" said Athena as she tried to move her body again, only to scream again because of the pain. Reluctantly, Athena then stopped moving and lay her head on the back of the pod as she started to pant heavily from the pain. She then looked at the shadow covered Hera and asked her if she was alright.
"I am sorry, Athena" said Hera as tears streamed down her face, tears that Athena would not be able to see until later, "I am so sorry. I wanted to help, I really wanted to…."
"Shhh" said Athena as she tried to calm down Hera, "it is alright, you will be alright… I will bring you home."
"I was a fool, Athena" said Hera as Athena heard the younger girl's voice breaking, "if I hadn't been such a fool, then you wouldn't have had to come after me."
"Silence" said another male voice from a dimly lit corridor as Athena looked away from Hera and at the tall, menacing shadow that was simply standing there.
"Please" said Hera, "don't take her, take me."
"Hera!" shouted Athena, "stop it."
"Athena… I….." said Hera, but was interrupted when the both of them heard heavy footsteps as the shadow walked into the light.
"Athena?" said the voice, "you are Athena? My queen will be pleased to have such an honoured guest."
"No!" shouted Hera as Athena heard the brunette struggling inside the pod, "I was mistaken, she's Hera… she's my sister… I'm Athena… take me.. please take me!"
"Hera!" shouted Athena as she looked at her sister, and then at the tall Wraith who was now right in front of Athena. He was close enough for her to smell his breath, and see into his yellow eyes.
"You are Athena" said the Wraith, "the one that our worshippers have been speaking of. The one whom, they say, is searching for a cure for our hunger."
"Let Hera go" said Athena, "let her go, and you can have me… she's not important to you.. I am. I am offering myself to the Wraith. Let her go and take me, then you will have the one responsible for trying to create a cure."
"Athena! No!" shouted Hera.
"But there are others in Atlantis, others who would search for a cure" said the Wraith as he leaned forward and smiled, "give me the access codes to the Atlantis shields."
"Let Hera go" said Athena, "and then we'll talk."
"What about your other companions?" asked the Wraith as he towered over Athena, "you will not save them?"
"Hello" said another woman's voice from behind the Wraith, "I see we have guests."
"Keeper" said the Wraith as he stepped back and moved to one side, "I present Athena for her majesty."
"Athena" said the voice as the one speaking it came into the light. Athena's eyes opened wide in surprise when she looked at the woman's pale, white skin along with long purple hair as the redhead started to struggle, "please struggle, the queen loves fear. She craves it, fear is…. Delicious."
"Other are coming for us" said Athena as she leaned her head back as the woman reached for, and caressed the redhead's face, "they know where we are."
"Good" said the male Wraith, "did you people believe you could come into our facility unnoticed? We struck down your gate ship even before you managed to activate the cloak. Our darts disabled your engines and took you down, and now… all six of you are in these pods."
'Six?' thought Athena to herself, 'I had come with ten, the others must be somewhere in the facility. My only hope is that they keep out of sight and sabotage as many systems as possible.'
"Let Hera go" said Athena, "let the others go, and I swear to you that I'll let you know everything."
"No" said Hera, "no.. don't, please."
"Hera!" said Athena as she looked at her sister as the redhead's eyes adjusted to the dark. She was now able to see the brunette's tear streaked face and red eyes, "I will protect you, and if this is what I have to do… then, so be it."
"But…" said Hera as Athena shouted at her again to remain silent. As much as it pained Athena to shout at her frightened sister, she had to keep up the bluff… at least until the other members of her team rescued them.
"How rude" said the woman as she pulled her hand back and smashed it into Athena's chest. The redhead tilted her head back and gave out a silent scream as long finger nails stabbed into her chest. She then felt teeth from the woman's palm bite into her skin as Athena's life force slowly made its way into the woman, who just simply gave a wide smile.
"No!" shouted Hera as she started sobbing, "stop.. .please stop."
"Keeper!" shouted the Wraith male, "she is for the Queen."
"I just wanted a taste" said Keeper as she removed her palm off Athena's chest, "and she is so delicious, I could not help myself."
"Return her life force" said the male Wraith as he stared at the aged version of Athena, "and hope that the Queen forgives you for this insult."
Athena then heard Keeper hiss at the male Wraith before she approached Athena again. She then reluctantly returned the red head's life force, before looking back at the male.
"I am hungry" said Keeper.
"Take that female" said the Wraith as he pointed to Hera's pod as Athena opened her eyes wide and stared helplessly in shock.
"No" said Athena shaking her head as Keeper slowly walked towards the pod, "no, please.. no. I beg you. I will go down on my knees and beg you, I will become a worshipper of the Wraith… just please… not her."
Athena could only watch as Keeper stopped and then looked back at the redhead. She then gave Athena a cruel smile before she continued to walk towards the pod. As she approached Hera, the lights above started to brighten until Athena could see her sister clearly… and Hera, in turn, could look back at Athena.
"Hera" said Athena as she shook her head before screaming and struggling against the pod as the male Wraith simply looked at her and smiled, "stop… don't… if any harm comes to her, I swear I will kill you all!"
"Athena" said Hera as her voice broke again.
"No" said Athena as she struggled some more inside the pod, "no!"
"Athena" said Hera softly as tears streamed down her face, "sister, listen to me."
Athena couldn't do anything except look into her sister's eyes, she knew deep down that no matter how much she struggled… there was nothing she could do. She had seen her mother die in front of her, and now she would see her sister die in a way that Athena would never wish on her worst enemies.
"I truly am sorry" said Hera softly, "if I hadn't come… then nothing would have happened.. none of this would have happened."
"No" said Athena as she looked at the Wraith standing next to her, "tell her to take me…. take me!... take me!"
"Athena!" shouted Hera as the pale woman stood right in front of her.
Athena, her face twisted in anguish, could only look helplessly at her sister as Keeper looked back at the redhead with a cold smile.
"I love you, my sister" said Hera as Keeper turned back around and smashed her palm onto the brunette's chest, "goodbye."
"Nooo!" shouted Athena as the woman pushed her finger nails, followed by her palm into Hera's chest, "no.. please no.."
Athena watched as Hera had her eyes opened wide in surprise at the moment of impact before she turned her head and looked at Athena. Hera watched, in her final moments, as the redhead looked back at her with a mixture of angush, and rage. Although it hurt her as she felt her life slowly draining away, the brunette could only give Athena a small smile as her vision slowly clouded until there was just darkness.
Athena looked on in horror as Hera's eyes became clouded, her skin became dry and shrivelled until her hair fall off and her entire body become just like a husk. During all that time, Athena could hear someone screaming.. and it took her a few moments after Keeper had removed her palm from Hera's chest to discover that it was herself who was screaming.
"That was amazing" said the woman known as Keeper as she turned around to face Athena, "but you…."
"You will die" said Athena as she looked up in rage at Keeper and the Wraith, "I will make sure that all of you die."
"There is nothing you can do" said Keeper as she turned and slowly walked away, "you will be joining the Queen for her meal."
"You were a fool, Lantean" said the Wraith as he looked at Athena, "you really thought you can come into our facility and take away our Potentia."
"You killed her" hissed Athena, "she wanted peace, she wanted the war to end…."
"This war will not end, Lantean" said the Wraith, "the human population are our cattle, we will do with them as we please. She was a fool as well in thinking that we'd want peace, and you are a fool for believing that we want to be cured."
As the Wraith kept on talking to Athena, she noticed two shadows from the corner of her eye. It was two out of the remaining four members of her strike team that was not captured by the Wraith. Not wanting to bring the Wraith's attention to them, all Athena could do was look forward as the Wraith then turned around and showed her five pods that were occupied by other members of her team.
She watched as even more rage built up in her when the Wraith fed on the five Lanteans in front of her before bragging that he and his brothers had already feasted on the other members of Hera's team. He told Athena that they had not fed on Lanteans in a long time, and they had savoured the moment. Once the Wraith in front of her had finished feeding on the members of Athena's strike team, he turned back to Athena with hunger still in his eyes. Athena could only look on as her reached for her when the entire facility shook, followed by the familiar sounds of explosions in the distance.
The Wraith stepped back and looked behind him as he saw a large explosion from a few meters down the hallway. He then looked back at Athena who was still staring at him in rage.
"There were more of you" said the Wraith.
"They will bring this whole facility down" said Athena, "take each and every one of you along with it."
"We have cloning facilities on many worlds" said the Wraith as he pressed a button combination and the pod opened as Athena fell out and fell onto the floor. As she tried to get up, she felt the Wraith grabbing her by the hair and pulling her along the floor, "come, the queen will want you."
"You" said Athena as there was another massive explosion that shook the entire building before the Wraith stumbled over and released his hold on Athena's hair, "will die."
Once he had fallen to the floor, Athena ignored the sharp pain in her right arm as she rushed towards the fallen Wraith in anger and started to kick down hard on his head as the heel of her boot pounded the dazed Wraith between his eyes. As she continued kicking, she could hear the sounds of various Wraith screaming. Looking up as the Wraith lay in a daze, she saw one of the survivors of her team run out of an adjoining hallway. Upon seeing her, the dark haired man ran towards Athena.
"Athena" said the man as he stopped when he noticed the Wraith that had blood pouring from a gash on his head.
"Argus" said Athena calmly as she stared at the Wraith and held her hand out to the man, "they took my weapons, give me yours."
"Athena" said Argus, "we need to leave, we planted explosives at critical areas of the facility… those will be going off very soon. Where are Hera and the others?"
"They are gone" said an angry Athena as she looked at Argus, "give me your weapon. Secure the hallway, I will join you."
Argus nodded his head as he handed Athena one of his handheld weapons, and then he ran to the end of the hallway where he met up with another member of the surviving team.
Taking the weapon and putting it to its highest setting, Athena shot the Wraith's two feeding mouths on the palms of his hands. She then kept on shooting his shoulders until he was unable to move. Athena then crouched down as another explosion rocked the facility, while the other two shouted for the redhead that they needed to move quick.
Ignoring them, Athena leaned down and whispered into the Wraith's ear.
"You monsters took away my light in the darkness" whispered Athena, "now you will all pay, each and every one of you will pay. You are correct, your people do not deserve to be cured….. I made a promise to my sister that I will continue as long as she was here with me always. You took her away from me, now there is nothing keeping me from annihilating each and every one of you abominations. I will see your race dead, if not by my hand… then I will ensure that my research is improved upon so that you all may die."
Athena then looked at the Wraith's face with a cold stare as he smiled.
"The oh-so-high morals of the Lanteans" said the Wraith with a wide open smile on his face, "you….."
The Wraith looked on shocked as Athena smashed the front of the weapon through his mouth. As his eyes locked onto the cold look on Athena's face, the last thing he felt before darkness overcame him was a burst of hot, searing energy that travelled through his mouth and exited the back of his head.
Calmly, Athena stood back up as she heard the others calling her name. Looking at the two of them as they did their best to secure an escape route, Athena ran back to the pod that held Hera's desiccated body.
"My Hera" said Athena as the pod opened and her falling body was caught by the redhead. She then knelt down and placed Hera's body in her arms gently before standing up as she looked down at what used to be Hera's face, "please forgive me, I promised Mother and Father I would protect you. I promised you that I would search for a cure, and I hope you understand why I will not do that anymore. Let that be the work of others, I will have vengeance on your behalf Hera. They will pay, each and everyone of them of pay."
As more tears fell down her face, Athena ran carrying Hera's body and met up with the two Lanteans from her strike team.
"Let us leave" said Athena as she met up with what remained of her team, "where are the others?"
"They are securing passage to the Stargate" said Argus, "the other Wraith have been distracted by the explosions, they are doing their best to prevent this facility from being destroyed; and so left the Stargate unguarded. We must leave now."
"Did you place charges in the primary power distribution systems?" asked Athena as they ran while she carried Hera's body.
"No" said Argus shaking his head, "the primary system room was too well guarded because of the Potentia, charges were instead placed in the secondary power generation chambers. Additional timed charges using the weapons we recovered from the Gateship after the Wraith had shot it down have been set in the cloning areas. Those are due to go on mere moments."
"Let us make haste then" said Athena.
It was a few minutes later that they reached the surface of the planet and ran as fast as they could towards the Stargate. Once they were close enough, the other two from the rescue team had started dialling the Stargate when they heard even more massive explosions coming from the facility behind them.
"Go!" shouted Athena as she turned around and watched the facility start to collapse on itself as the four left through the Stargate for Atlantis. As she watched everything burning, Athena swore that she could hear the dying screams of thousands of Wraith who were still in the facility… and she smiled. It was then she heard a strange buzzing sound from the sky. Looking up, she saw six Wraith darts that were flying towards the Stargate. It was then that she jumped through the Gate. That was the day that everything changed for the redhead, and she made it her mission to do everything she could to destroy the Wraith. But in doing so she would eventually cause, both directly and indirectly, events in the future to unfold in ways that she would never have predicted.
TBC.