A/N: Hello there! I've got an update, finally! Thanks for being patient. I had initially planned for (and written) the next few chapters to go in a different direction, but it just wasn't working. So, I think I've mostly figured out the direction I want to go next. I already had point A and point C written, it was simply a matter of tweaking (or like totally changing) point B to get there.

Hope you enjoy! Thank you again for all of your reading and reviews! I appreciate it.

Eva glanced toward Emma in the dark, their eyes locking with both fear and understanding. She then shifted her eyes to the night sky and, through the small opening between the trees' leaves, watched as countless Wraith darts crisscrossed through the night sky, white conical beams glowing beneath them. Most of them flew northward, toward the planet's main settlement, but a few lingered directly overhead, circling like vultures above their encampment.

A dart's beam illuminated the woods to the east, the trees momentarily standing in stark black silhouette like shadow puppets against the backdrop of searing white light. Atlantis's first reconnaissance team leapt to their feet, all four weapons aimed toward the source, until another bright light flashed from the opposite direction, dividing their attention. The team stood back to back, Sheppard and Teyla as one flank, McKay and Ronon as another, as two squadrons of drones converged upon them.

"Fire at will!" Sheppard shouted to an immediate reply of heavy automatic weapons fire and red blasts from Ronon's gun. The barrage of metal bullets on Wraith armor sounded like nails falling into a metal bucket – futile, inconsequential, hollow.

Eva had flipped onto her stomach, P-90 aimed and ready, trying to get a better view of the firefight. Emma, still lying next to her, was doing the same with her small Beretta pistol. Though she couldn't see much, she was sure the team had managed a few kills - with impressive marksmen like Ronon and Sheppard, how could they not? But it didn't seem like enough. Over a dozen Wraith drones were descending on the small clearing, with still more emerging from the shadows of the trees.

Sheppard's sidearm emitted a foreboding click. He had run out of ammunition. Eva wondered why he had chosen his sidearm instead of something with more power. He had a P-90; why wasn't he using it? He was going to get stunned, they were going to capture him, they were going to feed on him. Why didn't he have his P-90?

Bile rose in the back of her throat. It was because she had it. In her hands. It was Sheppard's weapon. He had loaned it to Emma earlier in the day, who had kept it with her throughout the night. And Ronon had decided she needed it more than Sheppard did.

She tore her gaze from the firearm in question and returned it to the shootout. Stun blasts rained down upon them while Sheppard reloaded his pistol. Despite Teyla's best efforts to cover him, he wasn't quick enough and took a stunner blast straight to the chest. His body folded on itself and he fell, limp like a corpse, at Teyla's feet. She seized the collar of his TAC vest and dragged him away, all the while defending them both against the encroaching Wraith.

McKay and Ronon, some several yards away, were faring slightly better. The Wraith's armor failed to protect them from the fatal energy blasts of the particle magnum, after all. Shot after shot, the red flares met their mark and the targets fell.

At first, the team had been outnumbered four to one. But with Ronon's expert aim and Teyla's persistence, it dropped to three to one. Then two to one. And just as it seemed like the tide was about to turn, another wave of darts passed overhead, depositing four more legions of drones into the clearing.

Eva heard a loud and panicked "Shit, shit, shit!" from McKay as the three standing members of the team drew closer to one another, back-to-back in a compact tripod of strength, standing guard over the unconscious form of their friend and leader.

"We need to go help," Eva whispered.

Emma shook her head. "No. Ronon told us to stay put."

"They're going to get killed," she hissed back. "They need us."

"No," Emma insisted.

"I can't just lie here and watch this," she protested, shifting her weight onto her elbows. "I have to go out there!"

Emma snatched her by the shoulder and yanked her back down. "Eva Michelle, you listen to me!"

The air hitched in Eva's chest and she found herself at a loss for words. Logically, she knew this Emma was just as much her mother as the one she knew, the one she loved from her own time…but to hear her use her name, her full name, complete with that familiar Texan drawl, made something in her heart stir.

Emma placed a cool hand on Eva's cheek. "I can't risk you getting hurt." Her eyes, wide and pleading, bore directly into Eva's as she spoke. She had seen this expression on her mother's face before – many times – but she had never been the recipient of it until now. It was the look she would give Eva's father whenever he would leave for a dangerous mission. Right after their farewell kiss, she would touch him on the cheek, look him in the eyes, and silently beg him to come home safe to their family. And he always did.

"I'm sorry," Eva whispered. Without another word, she got to her feet and sprinted to help the rest of the team, bullets flying with little to no accuracy toward their targets. She hoped that quantity more than quality might serve better in this fight.

Distracted by the new source of weapons fire, Ronon's concentration wavered for a split second as he laid eyes on Eva. His eyes widened first with surprise, then narrowed with anger. "Eva!" Focus split, a stun blast hit him square in the stomach. He snarled, then faced the Wraith who had stunned him and landed a direct head shot.

It fell like a dead fly.

Eva was shocked. People had always told her how strong her father was; she experienced a taste of it whenever she sparred with him, but she had never known of anyone who could sustain the full brunt of a Wraith stunner blast – especially one to the torso – and remain conscious. It hadn't even knocked the wind out of him.

Suspending her awe, she lowered her head and continued running toward the group, dodging stun blasts, and shooting any Wraith who got in her way as she went. But there were too many. An entire squadron turned on her, surrounded her, cornered her, like a drove of cattle betraying their herding dog. They closed farther in on her position. She fired again and again until, predictably, her clip ran out. Blood thundered in her ears as she realized she had nothing to reload with.

Dropping her P-90, she drew her knife and ducked to avoid two successive stun blasts. Hand-to-hand it was. If she could just hold them off long enough for Ronon, McKay, or Teyla to kill them, she would survive.

"Eva!" Ronon's voice was distant and strained.

One of the Wraith advanced upon her, aimed his weapon, but then hesitated. "This is the one," he announced to the others. "Take the rest to the ship!" Once again, he lifted his stunner to Eva's head, put his finger to the trigger...and collapsed to the ground.

Eva looked up to behold her savior, and to her surprise, saw that it was Emma. Before the other drones could locate the source of the lethal bullet, Emma took aim from behind and fired a single shot into the back of each of their heads. One after the other, they fell like dominoes.

"Holy shit," Eva breathed. "Thanks."

Emma tossed a full clip to her. "Reload!" she ordered.

Eva didn't need to be told twice. Hands shaking, she released the magazine and replaced the empty clip with the new one while Emma stood guard over her.

More were coming.

With her newly-loaded semi-automatic, Eva shot at the advancing enemy with next to no equanimity, bullets pinging off their armor and tearing holes in their exposed flesh. Emma, with only a pistol, could not afford such a luxury. Like a cowboy in a standoff at noon, she aimed with great precision and only fired when she her chances of a kill shot were high. The fact that the drones' weapons were non-lethal must have helped her composure, she thought. Eva, on the other hand, knew too well what the Wraith were capable of after that non-lethal force was administered.

Emma discharged her last round into the neck of one of the beasts, just above its chest plate, when her pistol clicked with empty finality. She was out of ammunition and the Wraith nearest her knew it.

Faceless, it stalked toward the two of them, weapon raised. "I've got the girl!" it shouted to the others before turning its stunner onto Emma.

Without a thought, Eva stepped in front of her mother; but before her finger even depressed the trigger, she fell from two simultaneous stun blasts to the chest. She heard someone calling out her name right before the numbing darkness swallowed her.

A/N: Thanks everyone! Hope you liked it. :)