Hello, Stargate Lovers!

Happy St. Valentine's Day! Hope there are a lot of romantics out there, for this chapter is a big, big one!

I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 42: Original Episode 0.11

"Eyes on the tablet, Dr. O'Neill."

Alexandra turned to Teyla, who was helping her catalogue a few items from the temple the first one found with her team on a reconnaissance mission three days before.

However, at the moment, she had been staring at John for the last couple of minutes.

"You should talk to him, you know." Teyla had a smile on her lips, noticing how quiet Alexandra was as she kept glancing John's way.

"Who?" The scientist went back to her notes, focusing on her tablet once again.

"Col. Sheppard." The Athosian stepped closer to her friend, watching her closely. "I know something happened. You two are not arguing, or avoiding each other, but there is this tension... And it has nothing to do with Kal, since John accepted that you won't stop on trying to find him."

"Mm... You're very observant, Teyla. But nothing happened." Alexandra mumbled as she wrote her notes.

"I don't think the Colonel feels the same way, Alex." Teyla smirked. "Perhaps you two could have… what is it called? A date. To talk. Be alone…"

"No!" Immediately, Alexandra looked up, apprehensive. "Not alone. No, no… There's…" She narrowed her eyes upon seeing Teyla look. "You're sneaky." And sighed. "Teyla… what is happening between me and John is just a phase that he has to get over with. Look, he's flirting with Megan right now. And that is good."

"You do know he's trying to make you jealous, right? Even Rodney mentioned it the other day, when he was at the gym with one of the new Daedalus female officers stationed for the week in Atlantis."

Yes, Alexandra remembered that. They had looked pretty intimate when she entered the room. She wouldn't lie to herself and say it didn't hurt her a little. But she had made her choice.

"Well, he's just being himself. And it's okay. And good that he does it. He's moving on from whatever he thought he was feeling towards me, from whatever Kal did to his mind... it's fading away and that is good. It means we can get back to normal..."

The Athosian's dark eyes found the Colonel's as he started to approach the area. So, Teyla let Alexandra continue her mumbling as she stepped away to give them some privacy.

The pilot gave a quick nod to his friend, who gave him a knowing smile. Then, he started to hear Alexandra mumble at the artifacts.

"Hey, doc." He was quick enough to catch the vase she let slip from her hands when he startled her.

"Sheppard, don't do that!" Alexandra sighed in relief and took the vase from his hands at the same time she took a step back upon seeing their proximity.

They had kissed. Again.

And she had wanted it. Badly.

And both had wanted more. So much more.

So, between gym sessions and midnight pier walks, she had cleared her mind... somewhat. But it was difficult. As such, not being alone with John Sheppard was a rule now.

"Where's Teyla?" She looked around.

"Not sure. Do you need any help?" He smirked following her with his eyes as she moved around some crates to place them between the two.

He wasn't an idiot. He could tell she had been very careful lately, so they wouldn't end up alone for some reason.

"No. I don't. Thank you."

"Are you sure?" Then, he smirked, wanting to see her reaction to his next words. "How about having a night off?" He pushed her buttons as he walked around the crates and she walked in a way to keep those between them. "We do have to spend the night here, you know that, right?"

"Yes. I know. You briefed it earlier." She kept looking at her tablet and making sure her feet kept them separated.

"You can't work at night. There's not much light and…" With his usual relaxed stride, he kept walking towards her and she kept stepping back.

"Then you should have a night off with someone else." There was an annoyed huff from her. "I'm sure Megan will like an invitation." She let it slip, showing she had been watching them.

"Megan, uh?" John looked towards where the other woman was, smirking as she waved back at him.

Alexandra rolled her eyes as she kept typing on her tablet.

"Or Larrin. Haven't you two been in contact?" Now, she was just being mean, trying to make him stop, since she knew the other woman had been M.I.A from contact with Atlantis for a while.

John raised his brow, knowing full well that she was turning the tables on him.

"Apparently, you're not the only woman avoiding me." He tried to sound nonchalant but when she had picked up on his tone of resentment.

"I didn't mean it like that, John. And I'm not avoiding you..."

It had been amusing to tease her, but the moment was over. So, he turned to walk away before he would say something he would regret. Of course, now he knew that his new tactics were half working. After all, he had noticed her looking back at him, whenever he was talking with another woman. Trying to make her jealous was actually fun, since she had this annoyed tone to her voice afterwards and would scrunch up her nose as she looked disinterested.

"I say one thing and you dismiss me?" Now it was her turn to walk around the crates.

He turned back to her, which made her take one step back.

"You might not be avoiding me, but you're keeping us apart, always having someone around, so we won't be alone. Yes, I noticed that." He saw her stop upon his words. "I know I'm not the easiest person, Alex, or maybe I am when I told you what I felt, which is a very difficult thing for me to do, by the way. But you're the one who put up a wall between us, walking away any change you get. Not me."

Alexandra was not sure on what to say next. Of course, he was right, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"I... I already explained it to you."

"Alex…" He took a step closer to her, not enjoying the hurt in her eyes, something he was not sure she was aware of.

"I need to get back to work, Colonel." Her voice was controlled as she took a step back from him and did exactly what he just said. She walked away, suddenly feeling exhausted. After all, she had made sure their interactions were manageable and friendly, not interfering with Atlantis missions or time with their friends. But, in the end, those were embers that, if poked, it would light a fire.

And she was tired of being in control of it all the time.

With a frown, John was about to follow her, when Ronon stopped him.

"I'll check on her."

John merely nodded, seeing the Satedan go after the woman he cared for.

[Col. Sheppard. The gate just got activated.] Major Lorne's voice came through the coms, interrupting his thoughts. Suddenly, there was a buzz in the air.

The pilot looked up to see a Wraith dart fly past him.

"Alex! Ronon!"

But it was too late. A light appeared above his two friends, taking them away.

"Her shield didn't work?"

Richard Woolsey looked from his tablet to his second in command quiet stand. He still wasn't able to sit down.

"No, sir." Teyla answered for John, glancing back at him.

"What could that possibly mean?" Woolsey mumbled, which made John frown.

"Any leads?" Woolsey asked.

"We've contacted Tood, but no news yet." Rodney continued, finding his team leader silence disturbing.

"Alright. While we wait, you should take a few hours to rest." The Atlantis leader said to everyone on the table.

"We can't just rest. They are out there." John finally said from his spot.

"She's not alone, Col. Sheppard. Ronon is with her."

"There's so much he can do." John's eyes were cold.

"I know what you might be feeling. Trust me." Woolsey continued. "Both can handle whoever took them. And if we get any leads, you'll be the first to know. And, for that, you must be at your best. For both their sakes."

John stared at his commanding leader for a moment and then nodded, before leaving the room.

There was a grunting sound as Alexandra blinked her eyes open, adjusting to the light. She tried to move her arms but they were locked in metal cuffs.

"Ah! You're finally awake. Was starting to get worried."

Brown eyes looked to the side and saw a Wraith.

"Michael."

"You remember me." The half Wraith offered a smile. "I'm sorry we missed each other the last time I encountered Col. Sheppard's team."

"I don't. If it was up to me, you'd be dead right now, for what you did to Teyla." Her tone was cold as she found Ronon's body on the floor looking up at them. "Ronon?"

"I'm fine, doc." The Satedan offered a smile as he was kicked by one of the foot soldiers.

Narrowing her eyes, Alexandra turned back to Michael.

"What do you want from us?"

"Not 'us'. You, actually, Dr. O'Neill. There's talk going around the Wraith ranks. I understand that you are quite special." Michael approached her with a knowing look, but Alexandra kept silent. "You might not answer me but I already tested your blood. How do you have such a strong Ancient gene?"

"Luck, I guess." Alexandra shrugged.

Michael smiled.

"I see Col. Sheppard's nonchalant humor is rubbing off on you." The half Wraith walked around the chair she was trapped in.

"What makes you think it's not from me that he gets his humor from?"

"I like you, Dr. O'Neill. But that won't stop me from getting what I want."

Moving in her spot, trying to free herself, she repressed her Ancient side.

"You can do whatever you want, Michael. I've been tortured many times. I won't tell you a thing about Atlantis."

There was an half laugh coming from him.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not Atlantis I want. As you can see, we are in an Ancient warship. And I want you to power it."

"You're out of luck, then." Alexandra's heart started beating fast as she looked from Michael to Ronon that had the sudden to urge to stand but it was knocked down upon those words.

"We'll see about that, don't we, Dr. O'Neill?"

Screams echoed throughout the ship.

"Any leads?" Woolsey looked up to Major Lorne, who had a shadow in his eyes.

It had been twenty four hours since Alexandra and Ronon had gone missing. Not even Todd, who John had tracked down in the early hours was able to pinpoint who had taken them and where they might be.

"All cold, sir. Should I inform Col. Sheppard?"

"I'll tell him." Teyla had approached the Atlantis leader office once the Major's team had arrived from their mission just minutes before.

"Thank you, Teyla." Richard Woolsey gave her a nod, seeing the Athosian leave seconds later.

It was late in the lost city and only a few minutes after, she found John on the pier she knew Alexandra enjoyed to exercise on.

"How are you?" Teyla sat by the edge, next to her team leader. He didn't respond or looked back at her. "She's fine. Ronon will do anything..."

"Teyla…" He sighed when she gave him a look. "I know. But we had this argument right before…"

"And you are feeling guilty."

"Her shield didn't work. Maybe I distracted her and that's why it didn't work..."

"I don't believe that. I know you and Dr. O'Neill have been... distant... since Kal. And, even if you're both good at conceiling it, there is something unresolved."

"You notice everything, don't you?" John looked at his friend.

"Alex said the same thing." Teyla offered a smile.

"I…" John started after a moment of silence. "About a week ago, we had an argument right before she went on that mission to retrieve information from one of Kal's labs. We... kissed."

"I see. And you want more, John? More than her friendship? Or just one night? Your track record..."

"I know." The pilot interrupted. "She says is not that. And I honestly don't know what I want. What I do know is that I feel attracted to her. I feel... something. As far as I know, her history with the Ancients doesn't help either, since I suspect that they interfered with her relationship with Mitchell but she doesn't budge on that either. And she called me human..."

There was an undertone of hurt in his voice, Teyla noticed and it was more than she expected from him as he usually wouldn't speak like that.

"We'll find her, John." She placed a reassuring hand on his arm.

With a sigh, the pilot nodded, looking back at the stars.

"You're not helping yourself, Dr. O'Neill. Or Ronon for that matter."

There was an intake of breath.

"You know, I've read every report about you since our first meeting." Alexandra's voice came out hoarse.

Michael looked at her from his control station.

"And?"

"I really thought you would have taken the chance to be something else..." Deep breath. "Something better... Dr. Beckett seemed to be sure of it." Her eyes were fixed on the light above her chair. Drops of sweat smeared her countenance.

"He will receive his punishment soon enough as well." The half Wraith merely said.

"You could be human." Another deep breath. "You could have stayed, worked, live in Atlantis, if you had just tried..." Alexandra felt tired and sore as she closed her eyes.

A zap went through her body and she gritted her teeth.

"Well, if you are still able to talk... A different source of motivation is needed, don't you think?"

SGA-1 was following a new lead that another team had brought back to Atlantis from a Wraith culled village.

It had been three days and John was becoming more and more frustrated, angry, ready to pummel anyone that would cross his path.

"Incoming!" He heard Major's Lorne shout too late as two darts passed by.

"Look out!" McKay yelled but John was taken away.

"Michael!" John's angry voice came to the Wraith once his two foot soldiers dragged him into what looked like a control room. "How are you alive?"

"Col. Sheppard, pleasure to see you again." He stood still, his hands behind his back as he watched the human being forced to kneel in front of him.

"What do you want?"

"Help, actually." Michael shrugged.

"I'm sorry. But I have more important things to do. So, I'll just be on my way." The pilot quipped, half standing, before one of the soldiers hit him on the side, making him grunt in pain and kneel back down.

"Like finding Dr. O'Neill, for instance?" The half Wraith stepped aside, letting John see Alexandra.

"What have you done to her?!" The pilot growled, being let free to stand. Immediately, he stepped closer to the chair.

Her eyes were closed, her lips moving, mumbling something. And the fury that had been simmering just under his skin made John to quickly grab Michael before the soldiers pulled him away, hitting him again.

"Don't worry, Colonel." Smoothing his long jacket, Michael looked stoically at the pilot. "Being an Ancient makes her recover faster than normal humans."

"If she dies..." John threatened, his eyes going from him to Alexandra.

"I have no intentions on killing her, Colonel. That's why you are here." The half Wraith gave him a mischievous smile. "Take them to the cell."

"What?" John was confused as he was roughly led away. "What do you mean?!"

Grunting in pain, Alexandra slowly opened her eyes as she felt a familiar scent.

"Easy." John helped her sit up.

"What... are you doing here?" Her voice came out rough.

"Michael took me." Gently, his hand cupped her cheek.

"Stop that." She pushed his hand away with an annoyed huff. "I'm fine, John."

Hazel and brown met for the first time, relaxing for a moment.

"What does he want from you?" His thumb went back to her bruised lip.

Frowning, Alexandra placed her hand on his wrist to reassure him she was alright.

"He wants me to power this Ancient warship."

"And you're not doing it so he went to find me to use me as leverage. I'm honored." He teased with a smirk. Then, frowned seeing her wince in pain as she laughed. "Did he got into your mind?"

"No. He tried to use Ronon first. Nothing happened, though. I hope he's alright. Haven't seen him in a while. I don't even know how long I've been here." Alexandra leaned back against the wall right next to him.

"Three days." He considered her words. "The others will find us." John was certain of it.

"I'm sorry you're here." She was so tired that her head fell to his shoulder.

"No other place I rather be." His hand found hers and held her softly. "Sleep. I'm right here."

"Michael, stop!"

At the sound of John's voice, Alexandra opened her eyes and saw him being held down by two soldiers.

"Why don't we let the doctor decide? After all it's between your life and hers." The half Wraith looked between the two humans. "Ready for the next round, Dr. O'Neill?"

"Not a chance!" A soldier kicked John in the ribs, who grunted in pain.

Standing up slowly, Alexandra's eyes went from one to the other.

"How do I know you won't hurt him? Or Ronon?" Her eyes stayed on Michael.

"I'm sure we have the right motivation now. So, no need to hurt anyone."

John's ears pricked at the information. His hazel eyes found hers before she was dragged away.

Michael strapped her tightly onto the chair.

"You know, I've never seen Col. Sheppard act so... emotionally. Well, perhaps with Teyla but... I must say, he has this... crazy look on his eyes. Almost like he's not thinking rationally, I must say."

Silently, the scientist watched him, preparing herself mentally for what was coming.

"He cares about you." He continued. "But it seems you don't care about him." The half Wraith was curious.

"Would you just get on with it?" She simply said.

For a moment, Michael stared at her. Then, he nodded.

The screams reached John's cell. And the lights flickered everytime.

Suddently, everything stopped and soon after two Wraith foot soldiers opened his cell and dragged him to the control room.

"Well, Col. Sheppard, I'm afraid we might need you after all."

"What are you doing to her?!" John's eyes caught a pale, drained and struggling to breath Alexandra.

"She's here for a purpose. And so are you."

"You are killing her!"

"No, Colonel. I'm just giving her a little push." Michael nodded towards his soldiers.

A masked Wraith threw John roughly onto the ground.

"Nooo... Stop…" They heard Alexandra say out of breath.

"Then do what we agreed upon, Dr. O'Neill." Michael turned to her.

"Don't give him what he wants!" John groaned in pain.

Alexandra's brown eyes saw him being kicked and punched, saw his pain and how much Michael was enjoying the scene. She couldn't handle it... So, she closed her eyes.

And something opened inside of her.

A fire.

A light.

And the energy burst out of her, free.

Unyielding.

"Dr. O'Neill, what are you doing?!" The controls were coming alive, with no restraint. They were slowly frying under the heavy intake of energy. "Stop!" Michael shouted.

Flashes of light, turned into lightning bolts started to shortcircuit the ship, destroying systems, exploding panels.

Without a way to stop her, Michael ran out of the room, followed by his soldiers.

For a few minutes, all John could do was duck from the sparkles coming out of the panels. And when it subsided, with a pained groan, he pulled himself up.

"Sheppard!" McKay's voice was heard from somewhere nearby.

As the team appeared behind him, the pilot's eyes never left the bubble of light surrounding Alexandra.

"Ronon. How are you feeling?" The SGA-1 leader asked the moment his eyes caught his friend.

"Beat up." The Satedan placed a hand on John's shoulder. "You don't look much better."

"Yeah, yeah." John turned to Rodney and Teyla. "Better late than ever."

"Yeah, sorry about that." The scientist said going for the controls. "Something was interfering with the signal. What happened?"

"I think I just saw Alex go full Ancient."

"Really? Well, everything is fried."

"Is there any Wraith left on the ship?" The pilot asked Teyla.

"Not that I'm feeling it." The Athosian said.

Then, John turned his full attention on Alexandra. He took a step closer and was met with a wall that electrocuted him.

"Damn it! Alex..."

The four watched the wall flicker around the scientist.

"She's protecting herself." Teyla was amazed by the power her friend possessed.

"How can we take her back to Atlantis if she doesn't let us inside?" Rodney had his radiation equipment at hand, measuring their surroundings.

Carefully, slowly, with his eyes on her, John took a step forward.

"Alex, it's John. You remember me, right?"

There was a fluctuation in the wall.

"She knows." Ronon was in awe.

"Michael is not here anymore. Only me." John kept talking, stepping forward as the wall slid back little by little. "You scared him away." Another fluctuation. "You protected me. I may have a few bruises, but nothing a good night of sleep won't fix." At that the wall seemed to caress him and its warmth engulfed him. "Ronon is alright too. And Teyla and Rodney are here to take us home. But you have to lower the shield." Another fluctuation and then he was able to touch her hand as he got her wrists free. "You can trust me."

Then, the wall collapsed and the cold of their surroundings hit him.

Gently, he picked her up and he couldn't help but notice how small and fragile she looked in his arms as the team ran away from the ship.

"How long, Carson?" The Colonel kept walking back and forth, hazel eyes sometimes finding the bed Alexandra was currently occupying, uncouncious.

"I can't tell for sure. Besides what happened in Antartica, there's no reports on her go full Ancient as you said."

After his check-up and a debrief with Woolsey, John went back to the infirmary. He thought that upon arriving to Atlantis, Alexandra would wake up but five hours later and she was still quiet and pale.

"Perhaps to protect her condition. She told me about the measures Gen. Hammond and her uncle went through to keep her safe."

"Most likely." Carson nodded. "Just give her time, Colonel. Other than this, she's fine. Go have a little rest and come back tomorrow."

John was tired and in need of a shower, so he did that.

However, after hours of turning in bed, he walked over to the infirmary and sat down on a chair next to her bed.

"You need to let her go."

At that voice, John opened his eyes and stood in a heartbeat, holding his gun up.

"Kal. What are you doing here?"

"I am supposed to be here, Colonel."

The pilot narrowed his eyes at the grey dressed Ancient in front of him.

"I thought Ancients didn't interfere in lower plains."

"We don't." The Ancient green eyes landed on Alexandra. "Unless is to protect our most valuable treasure."

"After what you did? Hell of a great job, then, pal."

"I know what I did was wrong. I... the others, we have made mistakes. We don't deny it. But we also don't regret them."

"So, you're all buddies again, is that it?" John knew he was treading dangerous waters.

"If you had seen her future, John Sheppard, old grudges don't matter."

"She might disagree." John lowered his gun when Kal closed his mouth. "You said to let her go." He was curious.

The Ancient looked at him, stepping forward.

"If you don't let her go, she won't achieve her full potential."

"So, you just want her for her power." Angry, John took a step closer, grabbing the man's tunic. "You are the ones that need to let her go. She does everything you ask of her to be worthy of her powers and you keep breaking her. That is over now."

"That is admirable, Colonel. But you are just a human." Kal made the pilot step back and release him. "Let me put it this way. Her powers are not ready to be used. Not like that. And if her mind keeps telling her to protect you, how long will she endure these breaks of energy? How long it will take her to recover next time? Will she even wake up next time?"

"Don't threaten her." John's tone was cold.

"I'm not, Colonel. I'm stating the truth. She turned into pure light, pure energy and she wasn't ready for it. Not yet, at least. And if you don't let her go now, you will make her weak. So, let her go now, so she can be strong."

"She's already strong."

Kal smiled.

"I know you care about her, Col. Sheppard. But, honestly, do you think that an Ancient as powerful as her, the purest of us all, would be with someone like you? A mere, flawed human?"

Staring at the Ancient, John didn't know what to say as he believed he was as such.

"You can protect her. You can die for her. But you will never be worthy of her, John Sheppard. So, let her go, so she can lead us one day."

And just like that, Kal disappeared, leaving John with his mind.

His hazel eyes found Alexandra.

Kal was right. How could he be worthy of her? He made mistakes, impulsive most of the times. Because of him, Michael had taken her because he had distracted her.

Her power was so much more than he thought. Pure feeling, pure light, pure energy. Powerful. He had never seen anything like that when he touched it while on the Ancient warship.

Alexandra was more than him. She deserved better than him. She was right on pushing him away.

He could just be her friend, someone that would protect her if need be. So, he would back off.

No more conversations about them.

No more flirtation.

No more stolen kisses.

John stayed the night. The last one he would do so.

Ps: Thoughts?