Hello, Stargate Lovers!
Thank you for the reviews! Thank you for all the private messaging coming my way in the past month. I'm deeply grateful for your words.
Whatever art you would like to do with it, go for it. Except certain OC's, the StargateVerse characters are not mine. I don't profit from any of this. Wish I did, but this world is not mine - it's from MGM and it's original creators. If you like them and would like to do something with it, go ahead. Always love a good depiction of written characters and wouldn't mind seeing your take on these ones.
Now, enjoy this new chapter!
Chapter 67: Original Chapter 0.24
"Come on, Ronon! You're taking it slow." Alexandra teased the satedan as they sparred in the gym area.
"You are full of energy today, O'Neill." Ronon chuckled, trying to tackle her but she was able to step aside at the last second, making him trip.
They were at it for the best part of an hour when Ronon, at last, made her fall onto the mat which made her coff and laugh at the end.
And that was how John found them.
"Hey. Don't you two have your radios?" The pilot was actually amused as he had witnissed the last part of the confrontation and crossed his arms, seeing her look up at him, upside down with a smile.
"Sure. But we are busy." She raised her brow at him as she started to sit up with a painful groan.
"Well, we have visitors and Woolsey wants everyone in the conference room in ten."
"We'll be there." Ronon stated, helping her up, before stepping away to get their things.
"I see you're getting back into your routines." John said, his eyes following the line of her body for a moment, before checking himself. But no one could blame him if the woman he... cared about was wearing his weakness at the moment, leggings and a top. It always made him weak at the knees when she wore it.
"Something like that, yeah. Ronon was the tone to mentioned it and I remembered." Alexandra rearraged her ponytail.
"You remembered?"
"Yeah. It just came to me." She shrugged, getting her sports jacket from Ronon and putting it on.
"She's full of energy." The warrior chimed in.
John watched her for a moment as the other two exited the gym, talking about moves, and he just followed them. He could see there was a glow and a relaxed stance he hadn't seen since visiting Chaya. It had been a week since Procullis and he had tried to stay clear from her after their argument. He was giving her time and space.
"You could have asked me, you know?" The words came out before he could stop them. He frowned at himself, watching her stop.
"You?" Turning, Alexandra raised her brow at John. "As I understand it, you hate the gym. I barely see you there. So, I don't understand how we could train together."
"Not gonna lie. It's not my favourite thing." The pilot rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh, and what is that, Sheppard?" Glancing back at his friend, Ronon teased him.
John gave him an annoyed look.
"Chess, maybe. Something more relaxed." She meant it in a jest, that earned her a sad look from the pilot, which made her frown and her heart contract. "Well, I'm gonna shower. Be there in five." She said eventually. Ronon waved at John, following Alexandra to the transporter.
"Golf. That's what he likes." The satedan started, his eyes carefully observing her. "You know, you should try to be..."
"Friendlier?"
"Open."
"Ronon."
"You don't remember. I get it. I'm not saying it's your fault, Alex. But you liked training with him. More so than with me. Or Teyla. And he was more than willing to do so. With you. And you kicked his ass and he loved it. You used to ran together too." Ronon could see the gears turning in her head as she turned silent at his words. "He missed you, Alex. I can't imagine what he's been feeling since you came back. Honestly, I don't know what's easier. If you being ascended and okay, watching over us. Or you being here and not remember him."
"And what do you want me to do? I can't jump into... what? A relationship with a guy I barely know."
"I'm not saying that. I'm only saying that... try to get to know him. Again. You were friends. You taught him everything he knew about the gates and the Ancients before he came to Atlantis."
Brown eyes found the satedan's. Eventually, she nodded.
"Dr. O'Neill. I had heard the news, but couldn't believe them." The Wraith looked pleased upon seeing Alexandra enter the conference room.
"How are you, Todd?" The scientist offered a smile. "Hear you are a valuable ally to Atlantis nowadays."
"That I am. All in good faith towards the friendship I have with Col. Sheppard. After everything he has done for me."
"Don't make me blush, Todd." John was already sitting down, next to Woolsey, his feet making the chair sway as he watched Ronon and Alexandra enter the room.
"Wouldn't dare, Col. Sheppard. Shall I continue, then?"
"Of course, Todd." Woolsey made a gesture.
Alexandra sat on the free chair next to John and he offered her his tablet to look at some pictures, which she nodded in a thank you.
"So, since you warned me about this ascended being called Adria, my spies on other factions have been notified about certain movements. One of those is in the pictures."
"Adria attacked a planet." Alexandra blurted out, making everyone look at her.
"Yes. She destroyed an entire Wraith coven that wouldn't choose her side."
"And what do you need us for?" Woolsey asked, leaning forward on the table.
"Warn you about a meeting between hives. They are considering stand by her."
"This is what the Ori do. She is going to enforce her so called religion onto the Wraith." Alexandra spoke, frowning as she kept looking at the pictures. "But there's no Priors now. She's it. She will give a show of force."
"Exactly." Todd continued. "Adria sent invitations. And there's no gate in the planet."
"She wants to see the fleets." Brown eyes looked up at the Wraith that nodded. "What she's up against if they turn on her. What do you want me to do?"
"Wow, hang on. You're not going anywhere." The pilot, that had kept quiet while listening to them, perked up at her words.
"You have powers." Todd merely said.
"Not right now. I am completely human. But I can talk with the covens. I have the knowledge at least. You can enter a human mind, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"Alex." John's commanding tone startled them all. His face was serious as he stared at her, quietly, once she turned to him.
"I have to do this, John. I have to try talking to them."
"No. It's too many hives, too many Wraith."
"She will be protected by me, Col. Sheppard. No harm would come to her."
"Stay out of this, Todd." John almost grunted the words, having a quick glance towards the Wraith.
"You don't tell me what I can or cannot do, Colonel."
"The hell I don't!" Angry, he stood and both stared at each other. "I can send you right back to Earth, like Gen. O'Neill wanted me to do in the first place."
"Just try it, Sheppard."
"Okay, let's calm down for a moment." Woolsey stood, scared upon seeing the two ready to pummel each other. "The Daedalus is here. Col. Sheppard and his team will accompany Dr. O'Neill and Todd's ship to the planet in question. Try to get a feel on what is their decision. Don't engage in combat. We just need to know their final decision. In the meantime I will warn our allies in the cohalition of planets about this turn of events."
Silent fell in the room, with all eyes glued to John and Alexandra that had gone quiet at Richard Woolsey's orders.
"Very well, sir." Eventually John nodded, exiting the room. "We leave in one hour."
Cooped up in the Daedalus for the past couple of days, John ended up finding Alexandra in one of the smallest control stations reserved for her to work without any interruptions.
What happened in Procullis... that was a moment. It was not her. He should be the one to make her remember of who she truly was. Not an Ancient that didn't understand her, her heart, her strength.
And what happened in the conference room... they had buttheads more than once in the two years she had been in Atlantis, but her making a plan, with no concern of her safety? He was not used to that side of her. He should be, but he wasn't.
He leaned against the doorframe, watching her for a few moments. After Adria, he had tried to avoid her. Give her time. Give her space. How the tables had turned. She had been the one to keep him at an arm's length, now it was him. He didn't fully understood it, but he thought it best. She was his. Not completely, but she was his. So, why was he not there, all the time? Trying to make her remember him, those days? Those weeks? The small moments?
"Want some company?" John asked, smiling when she jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.
"Are you going to try and entice another argument?" She raised a brow in defiance.
"Entice an argument... that's very professional of you." John tried to sound nonchalant and playful, seeing the small smile that appeared on her lips. "Nope. I am sorry for what happened. I shouldn't have tried..."
"It's fine, Sheppard." She interrupted him. "Go ahead." She gestured for the chair next to her. "Col. Caldwell didn't gave you any tasks?"
"Already did them." He shrugged.
"Aren't you an obedient flyboy?" She teased him, looking back at the computer.
John straightened himself up as he heard her.
"What did you call me?" His hazel eyes saw the small smile on her lips as she looked up from the computer to stare at him.
"Uh... flyboy?" She had a frown now, between her brows, watching his reaction. "Did I said something wrong?" She saw him get closer to her, in measured steps. "Because Teyla told me that it was something I used to call you... so... I figured, it was something that could jog my memories. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"And?" He was still watching her. She didn't remembered.
"Nothing. It actually sounds funny. Why would I call you that?"
"Teyla didn't tell you?"
"No. Well, but I figured that you, a pilot, someone that never turns down a challenge, wouldn't mind being called that. It's literally you." She had a smile again on her lips. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her... to scoop her up onto the table and turn that smile into something more. Hearing her calling him that had made his heart beat frantically.
"Well, true. But you didn't call me that because it was me."
"Why not? It's literally that designation. I looked it up."
"I know." John chuckled, imagining the scene. "But you called me that because..." Hazel eyes were amused as he leaned against her station, like he used to do in her lab, every time they ended up talking about senseless things. "I always got the mission accomplished, or save the day, or got the girl. It was more of a... tease, to be honest."
"Got the girl, uh?" She picked up on the cue.
"Something like that." He shrugged, raised a brow at her playful tone.
"Like Batman."
"Well, the girl he wanted, he never actually got. And it was difficult for him to get the girl, being a cape crusader and all."
Alexandra nodded, turning her eyes towards the screen.
"At first, I didn't like you calling me that. But then..." He sat down on the chair next to her and leaned closer, barely a air breaths away from each other, which made her look at him curiously. "There was this kiss."
"John..." Her heart started picking up the pace. She wanted to slid away, but there was something in the moment that made her stay still.
"And, even if there was this attraction that we tiptoed around, slowly building up, that kiss changed everything. And flyboy... I just knew it was something more."
A flicker of both their eyes went to each others lips.
"How...?"
"I just knew... There was nothing that would make me smile more whenever you called me that. Even when I was upset." He lowered the tone of his voice. "I knew it was your way of trying to get a rile out of me. Either it was to make me smile, think rationally, or just to..." His eyes noticed the slight tinge on her cheeks. "Get something out of me."
"Get something out of you? Why would I do that?" Alexandra gulped softly at his proximity, of the way he was looking back at her, of what would happen if she let it. "Oh..."
John shrugged, but there was this intensity to his eyes she couldn't place. It made her skin tingle.
"Because you knew, that if you asked anything of me, anything at all, I would do it. No questions asked." His tone was low, almost a groan.
They stared at each other, too close, too in their own little bubble. The feeling that John was experiencing had been forgotten. For a year. Now it was coming, full force.
[Col. Sheppard.]
The pilot narrowed his eyes, annoyed at the intrusion and was this close to not answer the call by the way she was looking at him. But he couldn't ignore it.
"Col. Caldwell."
[We have arrived.]
"We'll be right there." He said it without taking his eyes off her. There was something in her eyes. "Alex..."
"We have to go." His hand made her chair slide between his legs, before she could escape, making her look back at him. "What are you doing, Sheppard?"
"You don't remember. But you can't deny that you're attracted to me. I don't care what you said in Procullis."
"I..."
"Don't lie to me." His tone was soft, with a slight break as he made the request. "Don't pull away."
"John..."
"Whatever happened in the Ancients plane, with Adria before you became human again..." He took her hand and placed it on his chest where she felt his heartbeat. "Don't pull away." Those words pulled at her heart strings. "I saw how you acted with her. You were the warrior they need. Maybe the warrior we need now to fight her. But don't pull away."
"John... I can't make that promise. I remember what she did. Both in her galaxy and in ours. What she did to me, to Cam, to Daniel."
"Alex..."
"Stop." She stood and surpassed him. "We have to go."
"I don't want your promise." John stood, watching her stop.
"Why not?" The scientist turned to him, not understanding.
"Because you'll break it. No matter what, especially if the galaxy is at risk. Especially, if you feel compelled to save everyone and lose your life in the process."
"Then, what do you want?"
Without moving from his spot, to not scare her, his eyes bore everything he wanted into hers.
"You. So, don't pull away."
They stared at each other for a moment. With a slight nod, Alexandra left the room, shortly followed by him.
"It started." Todd said as he approached the main hive ship stationed on the planet and entered, with Alexandra by his side. Six of his guards were right behind them.
It had been agreed that only him and Alexandra would enter the ship, while SGA-1 team hid in a cloaked puddle jumper, not far from where the meeting took place. And, even if John didn't like that plan, he had conceded on the terms that she would take a radio and a tracker, threatening Todd in the process if anything was to happen to her. And, while they waited, the pilot was vibrating by the fact of the various unknown prospects that didn't accounted for while making the plan. With a sigh, Teyla placed her hand on his shoulder as they watched the wraith and the scientist disappear into enemy territory.
"Is there any way I should adress the Queen?" Alexandra finally spoke, her eyes going around the hallways as she followed Todd.
"Let me do the talking, Dr' O'Neill." The wraith said, glancing down at the human. "If you had your powers, this would be... easier."
"I know. But... I'll do my best with my memories. They need to know what will happen if they side with Adria."
As they approached the area where various commanders gathered around their queen, the Wraith turned to the new arrivals.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The Queen stood from her throne, seething at the presence of a human amongst her kind.
"I bring news, my Queen." Todd started, offering a slight bow, his guards immediately standing still, three on each side of him and Alexandra.
"And a meal, apparently." The snake like eyes of the female Wraith went up and down the scientist.
"My Queen, this human is special. I'm sure you've heard of her. She belongs to Atlantis."
"Ah! You bring a prize to deliver to our guest." The Queen stared at Alexandra that didn't look away, even if that was what she felt on doing.
"Your guest? A woman, right? The Ori. You already made contact." The scientist started, taking a step forward.
"How dare you speak to me?!" The female wraith seethed, hearing the buzz of her commanders.
Sensing the wraith around her, Alexandra took a deep breath. That was new. With Todd she hadn't felt it. Maybe it was because there was so many of them. For a moment, she felt overwhelmed.
"I dare." She continued. "Because if you stand by her side, you will make a mistake. She's not someone to trust."
"And you are?"
"I know Adria. She enslaves queens like you. She kills anyone that will stand in her way. If you don't obey her, she will kill you and enslave all of the hives. To be as powerful as she told you she was, she needs the prayers you will have to introduce to your society in the Book of Origin."
"We don't pray, human." The hiss was there in her tone.
"I know. That's why me, a human, powerless, weaponless, in a show of trust, came to you. To warn you. She's dangerous. She's not like the humans you know. Or the Ancients, for that matter. With you by her side she'll be more powerful than anyone else in this galaxy. More powerful than the Ancients. And you won't have a means to fight her once you realize you gave up your freedom."
The Queen stared at Alexandra, measuring her words.
"How do you know all of this?"
"I fought her. In my galaxy. Barely came out alive." There was a buzz around her as she heard the wraith hushed words. "I can show you." She stepped closer to Todd and nodded. "As another show of trust, I will let you into my mind, show you my memories. From there, you will make your own judgement."
There was a serious expression on Todd's face as he placed his hands on her head.
The buzz grew in tone as instantly as the memories flooded the hive like mind of the Wraith.
Ten seconds was what it took.
When Alexandra looked around, seeing the concerned expressions of the Wraith.
"Death. By the thousands. As powerful as you are, you will never defeat her when you don't agree with her terms."
"What if we already decided to stand with her?" The Queen stepped closer to the human. "What if we decided to kill you here and offer your body to her?"
Alexandra looked up at the taller Wraith with narrowed eyes.
"You..." She was not able to finish the sentence as the wraith held her hand up and placed it onto her chest. Immediately, Alexandra felt her energy to falter then something happened and an energy shield expanded from her body, sending both wraith and human to opposites sides of the room.
Breathing hard as pain flowed over her body, Alexandra sat up.
"We have to go, Dr. O'Neill." Todd helped her onto her feet, while his guards fought their way ou
"I'm... Todd, I don't think I will be able to..." She clutched her chest with one of her hands, while she felt the other arm out of it's socket. Exhaustion was overwhelming her and she felt she was about to lose conscience. "My radio..."
And those were the last words the wraith heard, before picking her up into his arms.
"Todd, I warned you..." The menacing tone was visible on John's expression as he walked into the infirmary after gearing down from the puddle jumper. Alexandra, Todd and his guards had been transported into the Daedalus as they existed the hiveship.
"Something happened, Col. Sheppard. She..." There was something in the wraith expression that made John stop and look down at the doctors taking care of Alexandra.
"What happened?" Teyla asked soflty, her eyes going from her team leader to the wraith.
"She talked with the Queen. We showed her memories of the Ori. Then... the Queen said she had already decided on what to do. And she placed her hand onto her chest. But..."
"But?" With his hand on the stunner, Ronon raised his brow menacingly.
"Something made them separate. Dr. O'Neill was pulled by some force that sent her against a wall."
"Like a shield?" Rodney asked.
"I believe so."
"Her powers..." The scientist started and three pairs of eyes turned to their team leader that had not changed his stance, staring at the unconscious body with crossed arms, thoughtful.
"Are coming back." John finished quietly.
Ps: Thoughts?