"This is a beautiful world." Xander commented. They'd landed after a strange energy wave had taken out a Wraith cruiser in orbit to find the source of the energy wave. "Very peaceful. And these people seem honest. My bullshit detector may not be as highly tuned as Cordelia's is, but I'm getting nothing but good will from these people."
"Same here." Sheppard said. "Whatever the source of this energy is, I don't think these people know."
"Someone has to know." McKay said, stubbornly. "Let's ask some questions."
Their questions lead to them being directed to the priestess for their goddess, Athar. She seemed friendly, especially with Major Sheppard, but kept looking at Xander in a strange way that him made uncomfortable. He didn't think she was interested in him, it wasn't that kind of look. He might not understand why he got hit on alot, but he knew what the expression of someone interested was. She had the interested look for Sheppard, the looks she kept giving him were...confusion. Why would she be confused by him?
When she agreed to visit Atlantis with them, he hoped they'd get some answers. They did, just not the kind he'd expected. She was an Ascended Ancient and she had a crush on Sheppard. Still didn't explain why she looked even more confused when she saw Cordelia.
When she realized her world was being attacked, she left and Sheppard followed her. He came back with some very interesting information.
"When she was human, she lived on that world. After she Ascended, she returned to this galaxy to watch over the planet, a self imposed task. When the Wraith attacked, she destroyed them with her power. The other Ascended punished her for it. She's allowed to watch over the people born on that world, but no one else. That's what makes it punishment. She knows there are other people out there being hurt and dying and she can't do anything about it. Most of her powers don't even work off planet, because they've hobbled her. As for why she kept looking at you two." He said, addressing Xander and Cordelia. "She says you look like the physical avatars of two of the Ascended. Rogues. The others helped them Ascend because they thought they were giving them a gift. These two don't see it that way. They refuse to be apart of the others group and refuse to abide by their rules. They've formed their own group. While they rarely reveal themselves and they don't pretend to be gods, they do subtly help people. They can't risk being more open about it because the others outnumber them and might attack enmasse but they do what they can."
"Ascended Ancients who actually try to help people instead of pretending they're better then them or above it all? Wow, aside from Daniel, Oma and Morgan, I didn't think there were any with any moral courage." Cordelia said. "Weird that they'd look like us."
"It gets even weirder actually." Sheppard said. "They're not Ancients at all. They were humans who accomplished something the Ancients thought was impossible. Which is why they 'rewarded them'. She doesn't know what it was, just that it impressed the others."
"I don't know if I'd want to impress them. Bunch of hoity-toity assholes, excuse my language, ma'am." Xander said. "Still. Would be interesting to find out what exactly it was they did that was so impressive."
"I agree." Elizabeth said. "Or why they look like you two."
"Yeah, that I don't like." Cordelia said. "I'm an original. Accept no substitutes."
"I certainly never will." Xander grinned at her.
"Well, unfortunately, unless we meet them, it'll just have to remain a mystery. We may not have found a new weapon or a power source or a sanctuary, but you all came back in one piece and with no injuries. So, not as bad as it could have been. Dismissed."
Cordelia dragged Xander to their quarters to double check that he hadn't been injured.