Act 3

"Holy crap!" McKay exclaimed, "We knew it was big when it took out the mountain on M3X-667, but—"

"Easy, McKay, it's just another Hive," Sheppard answered lazily.

Teyla moved forward to look through the front of Jumper One's screen, her hand resting on the back of both McKay's and Sheppard's seats. She couldn't help but concur with McKay's assessment. Landed it had looked massive, but surrounded by the black of space and framed by the blue and green of the planet over which it loomed, the Hive seemed impossibly large.

"Well at least the Dart Bays are already open," McKay noted, watching as the Darts dodged and wove around each other coming in and out of both forward and aft hatches. "We won't need a diversion to get inside."

"You are certain the cloak—"

"Yes," chorused both Sheppard and McKay, each turning a sour expression Teyla's way.

"What do you think, McKay," Sheppard continued a moment later, "Front or rear?"

"Well… generally speaking the rear half of a Hive is concerned with the technical stuff… drive chamber, CO₂ scrubbers, that kind of thing, so… I dunno, but I'd go with front maybe?"

Teyla sighed, McKay didn't sound too sure and they had always relied on him to navigate their way around Wraith Hives.

"Will that not put us too close to the bridge to be able to move around freely?" she asked, trying to remember the geography of the Hives she had been aboard throughout her missions with her friends, and from her time aboard Michael's ship.

"She has a point," McKay muttered softly.

"Make up your mind, McKay," Sheppard answered, not without some irritation in his voice. "Front or rear?"

"What's the rush? I mean, we're cloaked and—"

"John!"

Teyla cried out at the same moment that the Jumper's proximity alarms began to sound and the needle-nosed Wraith Dart appeared seemingly out of nowhere. As if to prove McKay's point about them being cloaked it flew rapidly toward them on a direct collision course.

Having looked away to berate McKay for his indecision, Sheppard was slow to respond, but at her cry, and the sound of alarms, he snapped his attention back to flying the jumper and banked hard to the right.

Even with the inertial dampeners, Teyla stumbled and had to grab a tighter hold against the back of McKay's chair to prevent herself from being thrown against the bulkhead. Her left shoulder twisted, and a sharp pain bit, in protest of her rough treatment.

**

The Hive Second walked around the room slowly, never taking his eyes off the woman on her knees in the middle of the otherwise empty chamber.

"Neither is it because you had found favour with our Queen that saves you from that fate." He tilted his head as he came to a halt in front of her. "Rather her desire to make an example of you."

"Lord—"

"I did not give you leave to speak!" he raised his voice, pushing at her with his mind, full of threat. He had taken her from the pod into which she had been dragged, apparently screaming and begging for her life after her arrogance had led her to confess to the murder of one among the Handlers. Ordinarily this would not have bothered the Hive Second, but after so many incidents of violence among the worshipper populations, the issue had to be tackled and the problem stopped before it became an epidemic.

He saw her eyes flicker up toward him, and doubted strongly that the contrition he saw there was genuine. She was far too arrogant for that. This woman truly believed that since she spread her legs for the Hive Commander, his status conferred to her some kind of power or influence. The thing that annoyed him the most was that – in some ways – she was probably right, and he was certain that the Hive Commander would do something to undermine him, and the punishment he must deliver.

"That is why," he said, his voice even in spite of his growing ire, "she has decided that you will be publicly branded for your crimes."

He was prepared for almost any reaction to the declaration, for such a thing was not previously unknown aboard the Hive and those branded lived out what was left of their short lives – and admittedly they were short once such a thing happened – as the lowliest of creatures, reviled even by their worshipper companions. When she threw herself at his feet he was not, therefore, surprised. Nor was he irritated by it, it simply was.

Lesser Wraith would have kicked out at the woman; in some way punished her for her display. He, however, took her by the elbows and raised her to her feet, afterwards taking her hands in one of his, and using the other to cup beneath her chin and force her to meet his steady gaze.

"Once, I gave you advice, which you chose to ignore," he said calmly, though his voice was chilling. "Heed me now, woman. I know that your Commander will seek to undermine me in this, will use this to prove his mastery of the Hive. It would be wiser were you to show your loyalty to the Queen and not to that one…" He tilted his head then, watching as understanding of the situation, and of the coming of change, dawned slowly on her face. "If you do… then… perhaps… I will allow you to throw yourself upon my mercy."

**

"Receiving telemetry… they're in."

Colonel Caldwell turned in his chair slightly to regard his con officer as Marks relayed the progress of the others into the Hive.

"Send acknowledgement and then go to radio silence," he ordered. "If they need us, they can call. Let's also try and keep those moons between us and the Hive; minimise their chances of detecting us."

"Way ahead of you, Sir," Marks answered with a smile and Caldwell nodded. It was one of the reasons he preferred Marks at his side. He knew he could rely on the man to anticipate his needs, and to try and do what was best for the ship even before the orders came. On the end of that thought Caldwell sighed. Sooner of later Marks was going to achieve promotion and he doubted that the man would be satisfied in remaining a simple con officer. He would want a command of his own, and frankly deserved it.

"Sir?" Marks asked, obviously hearing the sigh.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Major," Caldwell said, nodding to the man. "How are we doing?"

"We'll be in position in ten, nine, eight…"

Caldwell tuned out the countdown, though he found the calm tones in Marks' voice a comfort to the tension he felt at being so close to the biggest damn Hive ship he'd ever seen. Taking a breath, he turned his thoughts to those members of the expedition who had just walked into the heart of the enemy's territory in order to affect the rescue of an individual who, in his opinion, did not warrant the risk, and much as he liked Teyla; much as he understood her dilemma, he wasn't sure that he would so readily have approved the mission if he had been the one making the decisions. It seemed like madness to him.

**

Sheppard held his breath as the two drones passed the small alcove into which he, Teyla and McKay were huddled. He prayed that the others had managed to find similar places of concealment. A fire-fight so early on in the mission would almost guarantee its failure and more than likely their demise – just to put the icing on the proverbial cake.

The moment passed and behind him, McKay exhaled loudly. Sheppard couldn't help but smile grimly.

"Don't tell me you were worried, McKay," he said and though his tone was one of teasing, even he could hear the underlying tension in it.

"And you're going to try and tell me you're not?" McKay's retort was brittle.

"It would be foolish," Teyla hissed, slipping past both of them and out into the corridor before turning back to finish, "to pretend that any of us are anything other, but this is nothing we have not done on any number of occasions."

Sheppard joined her in the corridor and shot her a withering look.

"Admittedly the size of this Hive is greater, but—"

"What now?" Ronon led the others to join Sheppard's position, interrupting Teyla.

"Now we find where they keep their prisoners, get Michael and get out, right?" McKay said nervously.

"Assuming Teyla's Intel is sound," Sheppard answered.

"My information is accurate, John," Teyla snapped.

"I don't mean to sound alarmist," Beckett said softly, and as Sheppard turned he saw the doctor looking first one way and then the other, "but is this the right place to be having this discussion?"

"Rodney?" Sheppard asked, throwing a glance McKay's way.

"I'm working on it," the scientist said, pushing rapidly at the screen on his tablet, "but without access to a data terminal I can only speculate based on what we know of other Hives and—"

"Do you know where we're going or not?" Ronon grumbled.

"Not!" McKay snapped, looking up from his tablet. "I told you—"

"Then we must find you what you need," Teyla said, interrupting and turning sideways to pass Sheppard.

He caught her arm before she could pass him, feeling the slats of her skirt swing to a halt against the lower half of his leg.

"No heroics, Teyla," he said softly. "You take it easy; take care of that shoulder. We're here to get him and get out with minimum engagement, minimum risk."

"Believe me, John," she said pulling her arm from his grasp. "I have no desire to put anyone at risk, least of all myself."

"Just so we understand one another," he said.

"Oh, I understand perfectly," she retorted softly as she moved off, cautiously leading the way along the corridor with her borrowed P90 at the ready.

Part of him was relieved that she had not forgotten how to use it.

**

At the signal from Ronon, Beckett flattened himself against the wall as much as the bulky medical pack on his back would allow. The tension between his companions bothered him. While it was understandable, it was not going to be helpful to the task in hand.

He watched as Teyla crouched, pulling Halling down beside her and could only imagine what must be going through her mind as the Wraith passed close enough that they could have reached out and touched them.

He had no doubt in her certainty that Michael was aboard and that fact, too, unnerved him. The last time he had seen Michael he had been trying to rescue Teyla – a very pregnant Teyla…

There were two of them, leading her, one at each arm along the gantry. He took aim, trying to take the hybrids down as humanely as possible. She looked at him with a mix of horror and incredulity on her face.

"Carson!" she hissed and backed away as he approached.

"I know… I'm the last person you expected to see," he said and reached for her as she continued to back away, trying to take hold of her arm. Her obvious fear of him hurt, even though he understood where it came from. "It's all right. I'm here to help you."

"No," she whispered and shook her head, snatching a breath before continuing, "It is not possible."

"I'm sorry, I don't have time to explain," he pointed behind him, desperate to reach through Teyla's doubts. "Colonel Sheppard and the others are waiting back at the lab. We have to go. Now!"

He took her arm then, somewhat relieved as she took that smallest of steps toward him.

"I can't," she said.

"Teyla," he called her name with rising desperation.

"Kanaan," she spoke the name with such pain that he couldn't help but stop to listen, "the father of my son, he is still here. I am not leaving without him."

"There's no time," he whispered urgently, and on his face a wash of understanding sympathy even as he began to pull on her arm, to draw her along with him. "Quite correct!"

He spun, pulling Teyla with him until she was behind him, and he had put himself, protectively, between her and Michael. He pointed his gun in Michael's direction.

"You should have run while you had the chance, but you let your feelings get in the way."

It was becoming difficult to breathe. His lungs ached as he drew each quick breath. Michael stepped toward them, almost smiling sardonically.

"Stay back. I'm warning you," Carson said, his face was creased with mixed anger and loathing, but in the back of his mind a strange fascination pulled at him – to lower the gun – to follow Michael; do as he desired.

"Shoot him, Carson," Teyla said, with such conviction that he was momentarily taken aback. The gun in his hand grew heavier and his hand trembled even as he tried to keep it steady. "Shoot him now!"

There was a terrible moment of silence, until Michael began to advance toward them again, and when he spoke there was a tired disappointment in his voice as he explained, "He doesn't want to shoot me… or to be more precise, he'd like nothing more, but… like all of my creations, he's open to my influence."

He trembled with effort, determined to prove Michael wrong; to prove himself to Teyla, to save her. He felt the heat in his face as he flushed with the effort.

"Carson," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Teyla," he said, still trying to pull the trigger.

She stepped toward him, obviously meaning to help; to close her hand around his and pull it for him, but Michael was faster. The stunner the Wraith-Human hybrid held in his hand flew up to aim perfectly at Teyla.

"Don't!" Michael snapped. Teyla froze.

Carson watched as Michael looked in Teyla's direction and tilted his head, an almost sour expression crossing his features for barely a moment, before Michael reached out and took the gun from Carson's hand. He could do nothing more than stand, gasping for breath in front of his creator.

"You don't look well, Doctor. You should have stayed with me," Michael said. "I'd give you an injection but I… don't have any with me. Anyway…"

For a moment a look almost of regret crossed Michael's features, before the corners of his lips twitched up sadly to an almost smile.

"…you've served your purpose."

He knew what was coming. Tried to fight to move… to do anything, but Michael held him fast as he switched his aim, and fired the stunner. The blast took him in the centre of his chest, and the freezing tingling did not have far to go until it had numbed almost everything that he was. He fell to his knees, and slumped over, losing consciousness even as he heard Michael's angry instruction to Teyla.

…and now that same woman, a dear and loyal friend was asking him to help her to save Michael, in order to save the child she had been carrying – though he knew that as much as she might protest otherwise, it was not the only reason. He couldn't be sure how he felt about that… any of it.

"Hey, Doc," Ronon's voice broke in on his fearful recollections – fearful because he was not sure what would happen when he next saw Michael.

"I'm fine, Son," he told Ronon. "We just need to get Rodney to that terminal, and quickly, before we all lose our nerve."

**

McKay jumped as Sheppard grabbed his arm and pulled him suddenly against the bulkhead.

"Sheppard, what are you—?" He gestured around the other man to the console that lay against the wall in the junction ahead of them. "The computer's right—"

"Yeah," Sheppard hissed, "and so are the Wraith."

As he spoke, Sheppard peeked around the corner of the bulkhead. He pulled back sharply and began pushing back along the line of their companions.

"Back it up: we got company!"

Hurrying along with the others, McKay felt the bubbling of fear in his belly, amid the frustration. They had been so close only to have to turn around; find another safe haven. He began to wonder if they were ever going to get anywhere and turned to face Teyla as Ronon pulled him through a doorway. He was going to tell her of his doubts, his worries, but Sheppard followed and hit the control to close the door, and it made him feel trapped, claustrophobic.

Teyla was standing to one side of the room and speaking with Halling quietly, but he thought, from the look on her face, that she was as frustrated as he was.

"Good enough," Sheppard said as he turned from the door. "McKay, you think you could lock this thing?"

"Of course I can," he retorted, turning to do just that. In his frustration he blurted out the words that were in the front of his mind. "Sooner or later we're going to have to stop… sneaking around – hiding."

"That's as may be," said Sheppard, "but I'd prefer any engagement to be after we've got Michael, on the way out."

"You know," Ronon said, sounding more than a little agitated. "Maybe McKay's right. We've been sneaking around here for hours, following what little we know of Wraith Hives and trying blind to figure out where to go. We need to know, Sheppard, or we're going to get caught no matter what we do."

McKay sighed, turning his attention to his computer and not at all liking the direction in which his frustrated comment had led the conversation. Like this he was failing his friends and letting Teyla down. He didn't want to do that, but what more could he do without access to the computers?

"Look," he said, interrupting, "basically all Hives follow the same design, right? I think the problem is, because of the scale, we're getting all turned around."

He looked up at Sheppard, and then from him to the others. He saw hope in their eyes and inherent trust in him to get them to where they needed to be.

"Five minutes, that's all I need. Five minutes with the computer terminal to get a point of reference."

"There is another way," Teyla said softly and as McKay caught the look in her eyes and realised what she meant, the blood ran to his feet, as chilled as the imaginary fingers that ran over his spine. He was about to protest; formulated the words in his head before he spoke them aloud when Beckett's voice sounded in earnest.

"No, Teyla," the doctor said, "not here. I've no way of pulling you out of it if something goes wrong and one of them gets into your head."

"Absolutely not," Sheppard added his voice to the objection.

"What choice is there?" she asked looking between the two of them. "Ronon is right: the more we wander aimlessly around, the more likely it becomes that we will be discovered."

"I won't expose you to that risk," Sheppard said, "Remember what happened the last time – with that queen?"

"Yes, John, I remember," Teyla said and from the look on her face, McKay suspected there was a lot she wasn't saying, "but—"

"But nothing!" Sheppard said, then suddenly turned his gaze McKay's way, startling the scientist. "Five minutes?"

"Five minutes," McKay confirmed.

"All right, Ronon, McKay, you're with me. Teyla – stay here with the others." He pushed the button to open the door and looked out before stepping into the corridor. "Anything comes through this door that isn't us, don't hesitate."

Teyla sighed. "I will keep them safe," she said.

**

"You think his course of action is wrong?" Halling asked her as Sheppard disappeared and Teyla sighed again softly.

"I do not think he believes or trusts the information I have brought to him," she said.

"That's not true, Teyla," Beckett said softly. "He trusts you just fine. He wouldn't have come otherwise."

Teyla shook her head. Once she could have believed that without question. She had known for a long time of the strength of her relationship with Sheppard, but it was one that had become further and further strained the longer and more intense the situation with Michael had become over the years.

"He is here because Mister Woolsey and the IOA have ordered this assault," she said sadly.

"Answer a question, Teyla?" Halling asked quietly, and she turned to him with a nod. "Do you truly believe you could safely reach into the minds of these Wraith to discover that which you wish to know?"

"I believe it may be the only way," she said, aware she had not answered the question. There was real threat and real danger doing so. The Hive belonged to the queen that had been seeking Michael when she had still been pregnant with Nethaiye, and should she in any way connect with Teyla's mind, without Michael's protective strength it would mean a fight that could cost her life.

"That wasn't what I asked," Halling said, and she knew by her avoidance he would understand her fear. She swallowed in surprise and further trepidation when he asked, "Then what of Michael himself? Could you reach him?"

"I…" she faltered, remembering the terrible and confused pain that had flooded her before. With apprehension she said, "I believe that reaching for Michael is just as dangerous. He… is… dying."

Halling took her hand and the simple action was almost too much; almost broke through the barrier she had erected against the emotion with which the knowledge assaulted her. She let out a soft, low moan, and turned the doctor's way when Beckett took her other hand.

"And you didn't say anything because you didn't want Ronon to have the opportunity to say I told you so," he said.

"It is why I asked you to come on this mission even knowing how hard it is for you, Carson," she said, fighting the feeling of defeat. "Hive mind is a jumble of thoughts and images. He is in so very much pain: physical as well as in his mind."

"Teyla, you realise that there may be nothing I can do," Beckett said, squeezing her hand.

"He… has suffered too much, Carson," Teyla answered. She freed her hands and covered her face briefly to wipe away the tears that fell; knowing what she was about to say. "If he will tell me where to find my son and if there is truly nothing you can do, then I… I… will… give him release."

**

Crouched beside the computer terminal, Sheppard looked first one way and then the other before he hurriedly gestured toward McKay and Ronon.

Ronon made his way quickly and with the efficiency that Sheppard had come to admire in the man, toward the junction that had proven the busiest.

"McKay, c'mon!" he hissed beckoning again.

McKay hurried over to him and Sheppard nodded at the computer terminal.

"Five minutes," he reminded the man as McKay started tugging at the semi-organic panels so that he could get at the interface.

"You know," McKay said irritably as he worked and Sheppard moved away to cover the other corridor that led to the junction they were in. "You could show a little faith in my abilities every once in a while."

"I have a lot of faith in your abilities, Rodney," Sheppard said, glancing at him before returning his attention to the mist wreathed walls of the hallway lit in orange and red light. "It's the rest of this whole messed up situation I'm not confident about."

"You don't think Teyla's telling the truth," Ronon's voice rumbled across the space between them.

"She's telling the truth," McKay snapped, looking up from his work, but, leaning against the wall, Sheppard waved him to silence.

Sheppard had no doubt in the truth of Teyla's words, or the situation she was in, but his own feelings for her coloured his opinion; left him unsettled about just where he stood.

"She's telling the truth as far as it goes," he said, "I just think there's a lot more she's not saying."

"Oh, what?" McKay said, his tone still bordering on anger, "So, because she wants to get the kidnapper of her son to tell her where he hid the boy, all of a sudden she's—"

"McKay, it's not like that," Sheppard said, "What has gotten into you?"

"I just," McKay looked up again, and Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "I just know how I'd feel if it was my son."

"You do?" Sheppard couldn't help the surprise in his voice.

"Well… no… but," McKay hedged. "I can imagine and one day I—"

"McKay," Ronon hissed and the tension in his voice made Sheppard look around worriedly.

"Ronon?" he asked.

"Company," the big Satedan said. "Drones. Two of 'em."

"Rodney," Sheppard warned, "work faster!"

"I'm on it," McKay said and his hands flew over the tablet and the Wraith computer alike.

"McKay," Ronon repeated, the worry in his tone doubled.

"Almost there," McKay answered.

"Work faster," Sheppard said, and turned from his post to go and provide backup for Ronon.

"I'm working as fast as I can, I—" McKay broke off, and with a small laugh that drew Sheppard's attention away from watching the corridor, he said, "I got it."

"Move!" Sheppard responded instantly, pointing back along the corridor they'd followed to reach the computer, but as he turned back, he didn't need Ronon's bleak words to tell him that it had taken too long. His worst nightmare was on them.

"Too late!" Ronon growled, and grabbed the first of the drones by the arm to spin him against the bulkhead wall. In the same moment, the Satedan grabbed the long knife from his sheath and drove it into the back of the drone's skull.

Hope flared somewhere in the churning of Sheppard's belly. If they could be fast enough to take out the second drone before it had a chance to link with whatever Wraith sub-commander controlled it…

Hard on the heels of the thought the backhand blow sent him flying, lifting his feet from the misty floor and propelling him across the junction to land awkwardly on the computer terminal and roll to the floor.

His vision blurred, but not before he saw the drone reaching for Ronon. He wanted to call a warning, but there was no breath in him. At any moment he expected to hear the high pitched wail of the Hive's alarm and his heart sank as he felt everything slipping away from him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw McKay raise his sidearm, taking aim at the drone. The alarm still wasn't sounding, but the Wraith weren't deaf. If McKay fired they would surely be alerted. They had to trust in Ronon to take out the second drone before it could become focussed enough to send the impressions to its master.

"McKay, no!" he rasped.

**

Ronon held his breath. He knew he had seconds. He felt the drone closing behind him. There would be one chance, and only one.

At the last moment he dared, Ronon kicked out. His foot connected hard against the drone's hard belly, and he pushed with all of his strength, to send the Wraith staggering backwards, off balance and trying to find its equilibrium again. Ronon couldn't let that happen.

Wrenching his knife free of the dead drone's skull, he quickly turned and advanced on its living companion. He reached out. His hands closed around the Wraith drone's head, even as the creature raised its hands, clawing at his forearms to try and find freedom. Ignoring the pain, Ronon pushed, driving the drone back against the opposite wall. He refused to let go and, pinning the Wraith with the whole of his body, he twisted with his hands until he was rewarded by a sickening crack, and the scrabbling, clawing fingers suddenly ceased.

"Sheppard!" he turned immediately to his friend. If he hadn't been quick enough to kill the Wraith they'd know soon enough, and it would be important to be able to move quickly.

"I'm all right," Sheppard rasped, leaning on McKay as the other man helped him up. "Just got the wind knocked out of me."

"We need to move," Ronon said, "Hide these two somewhere they won't be found."

"Way ahead of you, big guy," Sheppard said, nodding down the corridor their retreat to Teyla and the others would take. "We can put them in that alcove we passed a few yards back."

"Yeah," Ronon agreed. "Seems like we got lucky."

"This time," Sheppard said ominously, moving to help him drag the corpses of the Wraith drones to their place of concealment.

**

The Queen ran her hand almost affectionately over the stasis container that her loyal sub-commander held out for her inspection. The transportation of so precious an instrument as was held within the box was something she would rather have trusted to her Hive Commander, or even more preferably to the Hive Second, but she was not foolish and recognised that the Hive, and she, needed them both in attendance. They could not yet be spared and until the scientist returned that would be the beginning and the end of the matter.

=take this to our primary facility= =primary facility= =primary facility=

The sub-commander gave an obedient bow, and turned to go and carry out her command. He would take a scout ship, she knew, through the portal to the planet close to the primary facility and from there fly to that place.

She had no fear that the contents, in stasis within the box, would come to harm. The facility was well hidden, and covertly well guarded by the cruisers she had dispatched recently. All that remained was for her to conclude her business on this world before she could bring the Hive to join the sub-commander, and claim her prize.

"So hard won," she purred as though to herself, but the caress she ran along the wall of her chamber signalled that her words were meant for another, one who – long ago – had served her as her handmaidens served her now. "So—"

She broke off, an unfamiliar sensation, a presence not of her Hive drifting into her awareness, so subtly that she might have missed it, but for the strangely familiar sense of threat that followed hard on the heels of the growing awareness.

Growling softly she concentrated her mind, and followed the sense of the intruder back to the source.

=you!=

**

Sheppard moved from one spiral cell to the next, all of them empty. He turned to the others as they moved also from cell to cell, as if one of them would find something that he had not.

Part of him was relieved that they hadn't found Michael; that they didn't need to deal with the many repercussions that might bring. Then he saw Teyla's face; the anguish in her eyes, the disappointed sorrow that was written into each line of her face as she tried to hold back her emotions and he cursed himself to the callous unthinking bastard that he felt as if he was in that moment.

"He's not here!" Ronon growled, as if the big man was oblivious to the effects his words could have.

Sheppard did not anticipate the response they did elicit.

"He was here," Teyla said softly, and keyed a panel on a console in the centre of the block of four cells where she stood. The doorway to one of the cells spiralled open, and Teyla slowly walked inside and bent down to pick up a leather coat that even across the distance between them, Sheppard could see was stained with blood. Teyla finished even more quietly as she picked up the garment, "once."

"Teyla, I'm sorry, Love, I—" Beckett started, but his voice was cut off by the gasp that Teyla let out as her body jerked upright, and her head fell back as though it was pulled.

"Teyla!" Sheppard called, and hurried to her side.

**

=You should not have come here= =come here= =here= =here= =here=

Teyla cried out at the pain that was suddenly thrust along every nerve in her body; as the vice clamped around her mind and pulled her into darkness.

"Teyla!"

As if calling for her across the vast depth of space itself she registered Sheppard's call, wanted to reach out to him – warn him – but her body was not her own, and in a sudden panic she realised that if the Queen were truly to gain control, she could make her hurt her friends, even kill them.

"John," she managed to frame his name in her mind, though she had no way to tell if the word made it from her lips. "Run!"

She gathered to herself all of the pain of her loss, her fear, the aching terrible guilt for all the harm she had caused in trying to do good. Every tear she had cried, every sleepless night in which she had mourned the loss of a friend, every ill emotion she could find inside of herself… filled herself with them and then, with all the strength she could muster pushed it back along the path of anger, along the agony the Queen sent, pushing on her all of the gathered human feelings and pains.

**

Sensation rushed upon the Queen and she stumbled away from the wall, to trip and fall against the dais. It had been unexpected; a strength she would not have believed possible, and she reeled from it, fighting the cry that rose up inside of her.

Trembling she brought her hand to the brooch that was pinned to the front of her dress. She must find this woman, this pretender to her throne, and feast on the audacity of spirit inside the woman.

Her fingers found the button on the brooch and the air was filled with the shrill call of the Hive's alarm.

**

"Ah, crap!" Sheppard spat as the alarm started to pierce the air. He took a step toward Teyla. "That's it. We're leaving."

He reached for Teyla's arm, meaning to drag her along with them, but was intercepted by Beckett.

"No, Colonel Sheppard, don't," the man said. "You can't interrupt her. God knows what damage you'll do if you try."

"I'm not going to leave her here, Carson. Get out of my way," he ordered. He understood the dangers – that they could all too easily lose Teyla; the Queen could literally snuff her out of existence if her mind were that much stronger than Teyla's. Another possibility occurred to him, that they might suddenly find themselves facing Teyla in battle. Neither prospect filled him with warmth.

"I hear you, Doc, but we've got no other choice. They know we're here. Our cover is blown. We have to get Teyla out of here and this is the only way to—"

The musical whistle of Ronon's weapon sounded once, before Teyla became enveloped in the crackle of its energy.

**

As did every Wraith on the bridge, the Hive Second looked up as the shrill, two-tone warbling of the alarm split the otherwise quiet functionality of the Hive.

He reached out simultaneously to interface with the Hive, and toward the mind of the Queen. Pain and fear streamed back to him along those mental pathways, and filled him with a cold fury. Someone had dared to attack the Queen aboard her own Hive.

Quickly he stepped down from the console, and fixed a glare toward a nearby sub-commander, until he stepped up and took the Second's place.

"Recall the Darts, take us out of orbit," he ordered. He was aware that most of the worshipper population of the Hive was on the planet, gathering food and other resources they would need, but he could not risk that this was an attack from an outside source and leave the Hive in orbit where it would be vulnerable through a lack of manoeuvrability. "Prepare for battle. I must attend the Queen."

"But, Second, the Commander, he—"

A brief contact with that one had told the Hive Second all that he needed to know about the whereabouts and activities of the Commander, and of his inability to respond to the situation.

"Will not reach the Queen quickly," he snapped, resolved – once this was over – to speak to the Hive Commander and in no uncertain terms make clear his lack of confidence in the other Wraith. He did not wait to see if the sub-commander would follow his orders. The Queen needed him, and it was his duty to respond.

**

Teyla was only vaguely aware of rapid movement through the corridors of the Hive, or of the hands that held firmly around her arms, keeping her moving. She was still locked in a mental battle with the Queen – the one that Michael had warned her not to challenge – and she was fighting her fear, surrounding herself with as much bravado as she could muster.

It was true – at least in part. As Teyla had mentally assaulted the Queen with all of her own fear and pain and anguish, the Queen's control had slipped, allowing Teyla to gain a more secure presence along the neural pathway – more like a web – aboard the Hive. She was not foolish enough to expect it would last. The moment the Queen's Commander reached his Queen it would be over. Teyla knew that she had to cause as much damage as she could before that happened.

**

Sheppard risked a glance behind to where Beckett and Halling were leading an unresponsive Teyla along behind. She was murmuring, words he knew that she was projecting toward the Queen, with whom she was locked in a mental struggle and it did not sound as though she were winning.

"McKay," Ronon snapped as they came to a junction. "Which way?"

"Left," McKay answered. "I think."

Sheppard began to lead the way to the left, raising his weapon as he heard the approach of booted feet. Ronon did not immediately follow.

"You think?" the big man asked McKay.

"Yes," McKay answered, "I think. I think the left pathway is the shorter of the two to get us to the transporter we need to reach the corridor to the Dart Bay, I just—"

"Don't do this, McKay," Sheppard halted his steps and came back all but grabbing McKay by the front of his tac vest and pulling him closer. "We don’t have time for games."

As if to underline what he was saying Teyla took in a huge gasping breath, as though she were drowning and had managed to surface only for a moment to take a breath.

"There is no escape!" she said harshly.

"Teyla," Beckett cried, and shook the arm he held, "fight! You can't let her win."

Ronon raised his blaster again, flipping the setting as he did, but Sheppard caught his arm.

"No!" he said, and into Ronon's withering look said, "Much as I hate to say it, so long as she's keeping the Queen busy, the less we have to worry about too coordinated a defence of the pathway we need to take."

"In other words you're sacrificing Teyla to get us out of here," McKay accused.

"I have faith that Teyla's strong enough to hold," Sheppard rounded on McKay, raising his voice in anger. He didn't like the accusation – didn't like the truth that rang in the underlying sense of it.

"But what if she's not?" McKay asked, and the man's worry was clear in his voice.

"I have no way of pulling her out of this, John, if she loses control," Beckett added.

"But I do," Ronon growled and shook off Sheppard's restraining hand.

"Ronon, no!" This time Sheppard put himself between Ronon and Teyla. "She can do this, she—"

His words were cut off by the red burst of energy against the wall beside McKay, and the scientist's subsequent yelp. Sheppard didn't hesitate. He stepped forward past Ronon and opened fire on the approaching Wraith drones. He was much relieved when Ronon joined him in the fire fight.

"Go to the right, John," Teyla gasped as a lull came in the rattle of the P90. "The route is longer, but she heard what Rodney said and has gathered forces along the left hand path."

Sheppard's face split with an I-told-you-so grin, and he began to push forward along the left hand corridor, sending a spray of bullets ahead of him, and stepping over the fallen Wraith.

"Good lass, Teyla," he heard Beckett's soft voice, before he and Ronon were once again fighting in close quarters against the Wraith.

**

"My Queen!"

The Hive Second quickened his already rapid pace as he reached the Queen's Chamber and found the Queen sprawled against the steps of her dais. Her face was contorted with agony and her eyes, open and staring, were rimmed red as though in great hunger.

"She is here!" the Queen rasped in answer.

The mental impression that the Hive Second received in that moment rocked him backwards with the sudden force, and the stream of pain that was being forced upon the Queen. He hissed loudly, shaking his head to drive it back from his own synapses; to erect defensive walls.

Warring duties tore at him from both sides. His duty to his Queen demanded he join his strength with hers in order to give her victory in this battle she fought. However, his duty to his Matriarch suggested a different course of action in the recognition of the mind he felt behind the fervent – if doomed – assault.

The Hive Second growled softly, tightening his hold as the scientist's desperate anger increased, his strength, drawing energy from his situation, increasing as the Second's mind swept through thought after memory. There was an infant… a child that, not only had this one tried to shield from his searching, but which the very knowledge of its existence sat uneasily within the Queen's mind also.

~~

He was perfect. Barely hours old and already his mental awareness reached unerringly. Recognition – seeking the contact of a bond. The infant blinked his womb blue, gold flecked eyes, at first glance showing no other signs of his most special heritage…

~~

Special… why?

~~

The scientist calmed and moved away, turning to draw a tray of surgical equipment closer to the table, with which he would perform the genetic splice – releasing the terrified Athosian from his mental grasp.

"What," Kanaan gasped, "What are you doing?"

"Enough!" the scientist cut off the man's questions and protest, picked up a nearby syringe, and quickly injected the contents into the side of his captive's neck.

~~

"So…" the Hive Second gasped as he struggled with the scientist now, minds locked in the bitterness of the refusal to surrender to the other, to fail. "He was the child's biological progenitor… but what of the mother…?"

The image was clear, a strong mind, with even more strength in the understanding and compassion it held… the beauty, the creamy, coffee tones of her skin, her brown hair, the bright, sharp eyes… but most of all the bond, the connection, the—

"She is here!" the Queen cried again, and indecision faded. He had a duty to the Queen. Whatever damage he did in fulfilling that duty he would have to manage at a later time. He came to his knees beside the Queen and took a deep breath before entwining his mind with hers and pushing back along the line of pain… pushing hard.

But even as he did, along a shielded pathway that he wove through the pain to a receptive synapse he sent a warning touch.

{this is not a fight you can win} {withdraw and live} {live} {live} {live} {live}

**

The cry that came from Teyla's lips almost tore Sheppard in two and he turned in time to see her slump between Halling and Beckett. She would have fallen had they not been holding her. In the next second she gave another cry and this time her back arched as if she were trying to escape whatever torture the Wraith Queen was sending her way.

"Doc!" he appealed to Beckett, but the doctor shook his head.

"I told you already, there's nothing I can do. I don’t have the right equipment here to—" Beckett said.

"The medical kit has a portable defib machine, doesn't it?" Sheppard said.

"And risk killing her?" Beckett protested, having to raise his voice over the sounds of Teyla's distress. "The portable system is nowhere near sensitive enough, and even if it were, outside of the infirmary, it's not a procedure I would ever consider. Not even for this!"

"We gotta do something!" McKay said, clearly distressed by this turn of events.

"I agree with you, Rodney, I do, but—"

"Whatever you're gonna do," Ronon interrupted, "do it fast. There are more drones heading this way."

Even as he spoke, he began firing his blaster along the corridor, advancing enough to draw the Wraith's attention away from the others. He flattened himself against the side wall of the corridor and continued firing, almost as if he thought he wouldn't be affected by the return fire.

Sheppard growled and began to reach into the pouch in the front of his tac vest as he moved toward what almost looked like a pillar at the side of a slight curve in the hallway.

"To hell with this," he snarled, "McKay, how many systems you think run their power or data stream through this junction?"

McKay blinked at him, then screwed his face up, looking as though he was trying to think in spite of Teyla's mental battle and the cries she still made. At least, Sheppard thought, it meant that she was fighting and hadn't simply given up.

"I don't know," McKay yelped, "A dozen… maybe more, why?"

"If I can disrupt enough of those systems – cause enough damage to the Hive – maybe I can distract the Queen and give Teyla a better chance."

"It's worth a try," Beckett said. "Her pulse is thready. I'm afraid she's becoming tachycardic."

Sheppard frowned, needing no more encouragement than those words from the doctor's mouth. He pulled out several blocks of C4 and started fixing them to the junction, from top to bottom of the pillar.

"Ronon!" he called to the big Satedan once he was done. It was a warning shout, and he held up the trigger as he called, and watched as understanding dawned on his friend's face. Then, turning back to the others he called out, "Back! Move back!"

As Beckett and McKay struggled with Teyla's writhing form, Ronon slipped past Sheppard, still firing his blaster with one hand, and with the other, as he bent down, he all but scooped the stricken Athosian up against his side, half carrying her, half dragging her along, with Beckett and McKay trailing behind.

"Do it, Sheppard," he growled.

"Fire in the hole!" Sheppard called out, more from habit than from the necessity to actually warn anyone before he flipped open the red covered trigger, and squeezed it.

In such close quarters the explosion was mind-numbing, but still it could not block out the sound of Teyla's answering scream.

**

The Queen's fingers tightened around the Hive Second's upper arm, heedless of the blades that stabbed through the muscle, almost deep enough to scrape against the bone. He bore the pain stoically, for he knew the Queen's was the greater as he too felt the damage to the Hive; the heat and the rending, tearing of the explosion.

It took a moment, but slowly the Queen became more rational, recognition of her duty to her Hive filled the space where the other had been and the link with the intruder was severed. He felt it happen.

As each of them returned to full awareness of themselves as separate from the other, the Hive Second realised the deck beneath him was tilted.

"The explosion has damaged our inertial dampening system," he said redundantly, but the Queen merely nodded.

"Assist me to my throne," she ordered, and pulled away her bloodied hand only when he lowered her to the moulded comfort of its surface.

"I must withdraw to the bridge," he said, somehow managing to maintain his calm in the face of the growing worries about the Hive. Any further attack now, if it came, could prove to be more dangerous for them all.

"No," she instructed, the word like a single shot from a blaster. "Leave the care of the Hive to my Commander. See to your injury. I may have need of you yet."

**

Teyla took a huge gasping breath, flailing with her arm until she found someone to hold on to and slowly, Carson's soothing voice became audible over the sound of her heart as its beat began to regulate itself; returning to normal.

"It's all right, Love," he said softly, "I've got you. You're safe."

"Carson," she gasped when she could draw a proper breath.

"It's all right, Teyla," John's voice, "take your time."

"There were… there," she said and opened her eyes. "There were two of them."

"Two Queens?" McKay yelped. "I thought that Queens didn't work together. I—"

Teyla shook her head, and he broke off as she said, "One Queen, and the mind of a male Wraith. Her commander I would think."

"Y'all right?" Ronon asked and for a moment she detected the familiar warmth that had always existed between them.

"Yes," she told him with a faint, but grateful smile. "I am all right."

"We need another way around, McKay," Sheppard said.

"I'm on it," McKay said, already pulling up the schematics on his tablet.

"We need to keep moving," Teyla said. "It will not keep her distracted for long."

**

The deck beneath Michael pitched suddenly, and beside the piercing screech of the Hive's alarm that tore at the middle of him and instinctively made him want to act, the sounds of an explosion drifted across his awareness. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, allowing himself to be warmed and strengthened for a moment by the knowledge that it was almost over.

As he struggled to right himself he caught sight of the hybrid woman that had been in attendance on him. She had shown him kindness; had tried to help him. Before he realised what he was doing, he reached out to her and closed his fingers around her wrist. She jumped, clearly not expecting the contact.

"You need to leave," he told her, almost softly.

"But—" she began to argue with him.

"Leave now," he said, more firmly this time. "For my people will show you little mercy."

He saw as a terrible understanding dawned over her. Watched her eyes widen and an expression of fear unfold on her face. He felt the brief stirring of her mental facilities, but it amounted to little that could be a threat; merely a flutter against the connection with the Hive, and through it, the Wraith. He released her then.

"Go," he said, and this time she obeyed, hurrying toward the door.

It was a struggle, but, gritting his teeth against the pain and the effort of it, Michael managed to drag himself, somewhat gracelessly, to his feet. If they were here, and from the explosion he could only conclude that they were, he would need to be ready.

Carefully, testing the bounds of his slow-to-heal faculties, he began to reach out…

**

-execute- -execute- -execute-

The touch was tentative – almost as though it were not there at all, and the hybrid knew in an instant that matters were much worse than he had thought.

With great care he bit down on the false tooth in his mouth, and quickly spat the enzyme against the organic material of the shackles that held him to the wall of the alcove in the scientist's lab.

Just as quickly he bit down on the second tooth, releasing the neutralising compound into his mouth to prevent the enzyme from poisoning him. He let the rush of it pass through him, and the flare of hope as the chains dissolved, and as they did, the cuffs around his wrists released.

"Now, Rissek," he said to himself, "let me see how accurate your targeting really is."

Freed from one part of his confinement, he approached the edge of the alcove, where the wall remained open, though he expected that at any moment the spiral would begin to close in on itself as it always did when he got too close.

Before he had left, the Wraith scientist had calibrated the sensors around the archway to activate the web-like bars should the hybrid draw near to them, a secondary security measure, should anyone have been foolish enough to release the hybrid from the shackles. However, the laboratory had not been occupied for weeks, and only the coming and going of the worshipper assigned by the scientist to bring him food had saved him from starvation. He sighed softly as he looked around at the sensors. Perhaps getting out of the laboratory would prove to be a challenge and he could only hope it would not be an impossible one.

As soon as he approached the archway that had been the limit of his world for so long, he realised that something was different. Perhaps it was in the absence of the strange almost sentient brush against his mind that he had always felt in such close proximity to the archway, but whatever the cause, there was something that sent a shiver of relieved excitement along his spine.

Slowly, as he stopped walking, he reached out a hand, expecting that at any moment the bars would quickly spiral inward, preventing his escape. When nothing happened he took a tentative step closer – still nothing.

"Well, Rissek," he murmured, taking the final few steps that brought him under and then through the archway into the laboratory. He turned and faced into the prison he had occupied and couldn't help but chuckle. "It seems like your aim isn't so bad after all."

Though he knew that his task was not yet over, he felt a good deal more confident now than he had been when first the explosion had rocked the deck on the Hive. Taking a breath he opened his mind to the failing touch of the one that led them, knowing that if he could not find that one and get him to safety, all would have been for naught.

**

Standing felt as though heated spikes were being driven through every part of his body and it was by sheer force of will that he maintained his upright position, even if he did need to lean against the workbench.

With an unfamiliar awkwardness he closed his hand around the handle of the blade that lay atop there, no doubt left by the worshipper that had pulled the ugly looking weapon from one part of his body or another after one of the many torture sessions to which he had been subjected.

Anger flared within Michael, but it only served to sharpen his pain; to remind him of how much he had sacrificed to achieve this one, necessary step. Inevitably, such thoughts led to memories of deep brown eyes, once turned his way in empathy and once – though it seemed to be many more thousands of years ago than even he had lived – they had been turned his way in trusting appeal.

His mind whispered her name, and his injured soul answered with all the thoughts of anger and vengeance against those that had taken her from him. His grasp tightened around the knife and he knew that in spite of his condition he would unleash that storm on any that came through the laboratory door.

**

"Colonel Caldwell?"

"Major Marks?" Caldwell answered, "What have you got?"

"Sensors detected a hyperspace window forming six hundred klicks from our target Hive," Marks reported, watching the telemetry as it came in.

"Heads up!" Caldwell ordered, "Let's see it."

At his orders, Marks activated the HUD, and Caldwell could clearly see the warning traces of the forming spatial anomaly before, in the following moments, the window resolved, spitting out the additional Hive into theatre.

"Damn it!" Caldwell hissed.

The new Hive, though not quite as big as their target vessel, instantly took an aggressive stance, and it did not take Marks' warning, "Sir, they're powering weapons," to inform Caldwell of their intentions. He could see it merely in the attitude they had taken.

"Plot an intercept course," he snapped the order. He didn't want to risk compromising Sheppard's position by breaking radio silence, but neither could he leave them aboard the Hive to be fired on by the newcomers. A fire fight, while likely, was not high on his list of favourite things to do for the day. As the Daedalus began to move into theatre, he further ordered, "Shields up. Power all forward batteries."

**

Rissek tried not to let the size of the Hive intimidate him as it loomed large before him on the view screen. He took a deep breath, and trying to appear much calmer than he actually felt, gave his orders.

"Deploy the Darts," he said, "ready portside weapons. Initiate charging sequence on the Cascade Beam."

"Commander Rissek…" One of the other hybrids turned to him. "Sensors have detected an incoming craft. It's on an intercept course and is powering up weapons."

"What?" Rissek turned toward him, taking his eyes off the other Hive for a moment. "Where did they come from? Wraith?"

The hybrid checked his display again. "No. It's the Earth battle ship."

"And it is coming up on us fast," Rissek said, confirming the sensor readings at his own console. "Send out a second wave of Darts to slow them down. Continue to target the Hive. He will not accept failure or excuses for failure."

"Target is in range of our weapons," the hybrid at tactical confirmed, acknowledging his orders with a nod of his head. "Darts are away."

"Fire!" Rissek ordered, and was rewarded with the musically percussive sound of the weapons' ports firing one by one toward the Elder Queen's Hive. "How long before we have firing capability of the Cascade Beam?"

"A matter of minutes, Commander," the other hybrid assured him, "and we'll be ready to fire on your command."

"On his command," Rissek corrected him, and pushed away the shiver of unease that came to him with the words he spoke – as close as they were to the Hive, and to the leader of their cause, he should be able to clearly feel the vicelike presence in his mind and yet… he felt nothing.

**

Their new pathway back to the Dart Bay took them almost all the way to the outer bulkheads of the Hive. They were the lesser travelled routes according to McKay, probably because they were so much longer. Bringing up the rear of their rapidly retreating team, Sheppard turned back to check that they were not being pursued, his steps slowed a little as he tried to walk backwards and keep moving with his companions both at the same time.

Instinct had him throw up his arms in front of his face as he began to turn back and the hallway in front of him became awash with light and noise and heat, in response to which he turned away.

For a moment he feared he had been too late to save his lungs from the searing heat. He could not catch his breath, but as his vision cleared, and he saw the rapidly developing membrane in the jagged edge of the corridor, he realised the reason for his difficulty breathing was decompression from the hull breach from the explosion that had buckled the hull in on itself.

"Oh, crap!" he gasped.

**

The wave of dizziness swept over Teyla at the same moment that the sound of an explosion came from close behind them, around the corner they had just turned. She watched as ahead of her, Ronon slid to a halt, and turned quickly to go back. He was calling for Sheppard with every step.

She turned to go with him, as worried for Sheppard as everyone clearly was, judging from the expressions on their faces, but as she turned the dizziness worsened, and she began to realise that, at least in part – due to her battle with the Queen – she was somehow still connected with the Wraith neural network aboard the Hive.

"Teyla?" Beckett came to her side as she leaned forward, to catch herself partly against the wall, and partly against her own trembling knee.

She shook her head. "I am all right," she said. "Go. John may need you."

She was pleased to see that Doctor Beckett did not hesitate, as worried as she was for her friend, and as frantic as Ronon's cries had become as he called for Sheppard.

Through the ringing in her ears she began to hear the sounds almost like a dull metal being cast aside. She could only imagine what devastation must be around the corner and started to prize herself from the wall.

"No, stay here," Halling told her protectively. "I will go to assist Ronon. It is important that you rest."

"I am fine, Halling." She protested.

"You are not," he told her firmly. "Doctor Beckett said that when the Queen had you in her grasp your heart did not beat as it should. Rest while you may, and if you must do something, guard this corridor in case the Wraith also have become curious as to the damage to their ship."

He pointed behind her, and she flushed in embarrassment as she realised that his implied criticism was correct. Not one of them was watching the hallways for the coming of the Wraith.

**

"Sheppard!" Ronon called through the rubble that was blocking the hallway. Already he could see the growth of the restorative membrane across the breach in the hull, so he started pulling at some of the debris, trying to find a way through to his friend. "Sheppard, can you hear me?"

He growled softly and almost threw off the contact as a light touch settled onto his arm.

"What can I do?" Beckett asked him softly.

"Just be ready," he said as he continued to pull at the rubble.

"We will do this together," Halling's soft voice sounded close by, and the Athosian's hands closed around the other end of the large chunk of twisted biopolymer.

"All right, on three," Ronon said, and began to count. "One… two…"

He didn't make it to three.

The roar of a second explosion filled the corridor, from behind them – back towards where they had left Teyla, with sound and heat, and another rush of air proved a second hull breach had occurred.

"We have to find another way!" Beckett yelled over the diminishing sound in the aftermath of the explosion.

"Um… guys?" McKay's voice stopped Ronon cold. He spun around to see what it was the scientist was looking at, and his heart all but stopped. Where the corridor had been before, the blankness of a wall – obviously some kind of blast door –blocked the way out of the outer corridor, and blocked the way back to Teyla.

Ronon rounded on McKay. "You left her alone!"

"It wasn't my fault," McKay protested, backing up as Ronon advanced angrily toward him.

"Ronon!" Beckett called out, "Ronon, stop… at least she's safe."

"Which is more than can be said for any of us," Halling pointed out, pressing a hand to Ronon's chest as he came to put himself between the two men. "Our way is blocked from both sides and the shell of this Hive ship is damaged. We must find a way to cause that wall to open once more and for that we need Doctor McKay."

He was about to argue, Halling's reasonable voice only serving to fuel his anger, not to defuse it when the radio crackled into life as Sheppard broke radio silence.

"This is Sheppard. There's a… a hull breach my side. Don't know about yours. You need to go ahead without me. I'll find another way around, do you copy?"

Ronon tapped his headset mic.

"We hear you. Sheppard, we've had another breach this side. The Hive sealed off the corridor, some kind of bulkhead door it looks like."

"And?"

"Teyla's on the other side."

"Ronon," Teyla's voice came through the radio, "John, I am fine. I am safe and will find a way to meet you. Do not worry about me."

"Teyla, no!" Sheppard ordered, but Ronon knew that his words would be in vain. He heard the determination in Teyla's voice.

"We must be practical," she told him. "For me to wait here while you all find a way to join me is more likely than not to result in the capture of all of us. It is not safe to remain in one place, we must keep moving."

"I hate to say it," Beckett said softly, "but she has a point."

"McKay, you think you can get that wall retracted again?"

"I don't know," McKay answered, "I won't know until I can get a look at it, and the air's getting awfully thin in here. Hard to think."

"Ronon, is there another way around?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know, I—"

"Colonel Sheppard, it is Halling. Can you hear me?" Halling returned from examining the rubble beside the new breach to stand close beside Ronon.

"I hear you, Halling, go ahead."

"I believe the corridor is not entirely blocked and with a little effort we should be able to find a way through and take another junction." He looked at Ronon then and added, "With your help, Ronon."

"It's worth a try," Sheppard agreed. "Just do what you can to get out of there. We'll rendezvous in the Dart Bay."

"Understood," Ronon growled softly.

"I understand, John," Teyla said, "and I shall meet you in the Dart Bay."

**

Teyla took a deep breath as she deactivated her radio, and turned to leave the area. She knew she must be cautious; going further into the Hive, away from the outer bulkhead was safer from the explosions that kept rocking the deck beneath her feet, but it would be more populated, and after her encounter with the Queen she knew that if she were captured, there would be little chance of her survival.

With the residual link to the Hive neural pathway still accessible, it was an easier task to find which way she should go to reach the Dart Bay where they had left the Jumper, but one small niggling sense that she was giving up too soon walked with needle tipped fingers down her spine, turning her aside from the path to the Dart Bay even as the touch came as a ripple of her name within her mind.

-Teyla- -Teyla- -Teyla- -Teyla- -Teyla-

**

Still smarting from the proximity to the blast, Sheppard fell against the wall of the corridor as the ship rocked to the side again. He was running blind, having no clue as to which direction he should take to find the Dart Bay… but he trusted in blind faith and luck, for the most part, so was not worried. At least, not until that luck expired in the worst possible way.

Sheppard turned a corner in the corridor, feeling the quality of the sound that bounced back at him change and knowing even before he stepped past the corridor's threshold that he was moving into a junction in which many of the hallways met. In the same instant, so did the Wraith.

He was obviously one of the commanders of the Hive. The tallest Wraith that Sheppard had ever seen, taller even than Todd. His long, bone white hair was both shaved and braided tightly and hung about his shoulders, rustling slightly as he tilted his head; falling away to reveal the Wraith characters tattooed on the side of his neck. Instead of reaching for the blaster at his side, the tall Wraith reached for the long knife sheathed at his back.

"Crap!" Sheppard murmured.

"Lantean," the Wraith hissed.

"Yeah well," Sheppard said, trying to hide behind the lazy tone he so often used when dealing with the Wraith. "We all have our cross to bear, right?"

"Did you honestly believe you could walk through the fires of your own damnation…"

{damnation} {damnation} {damnation}

"…and not come face to face with the one that rules it?"

{rules it} {rules it} {rules it}

"Nah," Sheppard said in an equally lazy tone, though inside his mind was racing. Could this be the Hive Commander? If it was he was in deeper trouble than he'd originally thought. Circling away from the Wraith, as he began to move toward him, Sheppard continued, "See, you don't look like a Lucifer to me."

"Defend yourself, Human!" the Wraith snapped, growling as he continued to circle with Sheppard.

"Name's Sheppard," Sheppard said. "John Sheppard. Pleased to meet you… Malcolm."

He paused a beat, and somehow managed to deflect the Wraith's opening gambit with the butt of his P90. It left his arms aching with the force of the blow.

"Yeah," he gasped. "You look like a Malcolm to me!"