Fic: Defense Mechanism, 5/6 (nc-17)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Carson’s eyes flickered to the Stargate briefly before he jogged up the stairs towards Caldwell. He knew he was becoming a nuisance to the man, but Carson’s manners seemed to be inversely proportional with the amount of sleep he had. He neither cared for nor sought Caldwell’s approval anymore, except regarding one thing.
“We need to start a search party,” he announced as a greeting.
Caldwell looked up. “You have a planet in mind? Major Lorne already took a jumper through to the first address Sheppard gated to. It was a stargate orbiting outer space. Nothing’s there.”
Carson nodded. “They’ve probably hopscotched across half the bloody galaxy by now. But I think I know what they’re looking for.”
“You do?”
“Colonel Sheppard’s cognitive abilities should not be underestimated. His treatment was nearly 40% complete when he left. I believe he realizes the extent of the situation, and he’s resourceful-”
Caldwell rolled his eyes. “His resourcefulness was never in question, Doctor.”
“But I believe his motivations are singular in nature, which limits his options for planets.”
Caldwell paused, then connected his gaze. “Explain.”
“Is there somewhere we could talk in private?”
Caldwell glanced aside at the nearby technicians, then nodded, beckoning Carson to follow him up to Elizabeth’s office. Caldwell was temporarily using the space, and though it rankled Carson a little so see Elizabeth’s office taken over, he knew Caldwell had done it for practical purposes like overseeing Stargate operations.
When they reached the office, Carson closed the door behind him. “I believe that Colonel Sheppard is motivated by one thing.”
Caldwell took the seat behind Elizabeth's clear glass desk, and after a pregnant pause, finally returned Carson’s gaze. “Dr. Weir.”
“Aye.”
They stared at one another, unwilling to further explore the whys or wherefores of that reasoning. Elizabeth had long ago told Carson that she was seeing someone; such were the confidences of the patient-doctor relationship. He didn’t know whom she was sleeping with, but he’d always had his suspicions. Now, it seemed glaringly obvious and though he hated to bring it up with a hardnosed military man like Caldwell, it might shed some light on John's current motivation.
“He wants to protect her,” Carson said, delicately.
He knew he wasn’t fooling either of them by such a careful phrasing, but he hoped Caldwell would take refuge in it. But a wink was as good as a nod to a blind man, and Carson wasn’t sure how Caldwell would use this exchange for later purposes.
After a beat, Caldwell slowly nodded. “They… they’ve been through a lot together. And Colonel Sheppard is the type to go to extreme measures to save his people. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that her safety is his number one priority.”
The response was crafted carefully. They both knew exactly what wasn’t being said, and Caldwell seemed comfortable with leaving it that way.
Carson’s estimations of Caldwell rose in stock.
“Aye,” Carson sighed, relieved. “And he knows she’s changing into something else, and whatever effects these mutations have had on them, they’ve always been eager to reverse the process.”
“What are you saying?”
“That the mutating Colonel Sheppard isn’t all that different from the normal one when it comes to the protection of Eliz… his people. He’s resourceful. He knows my alternative cure for Elizabeth didn’t work, and he knows we need more stem cells.”
“You think he’s going to go looking for Iratus bug nests?” Caldwell asked. “We already tried, remember? That cave was destroyed, and the planet was searched and found void of any other nests.”
“That was only one planet address that we pulled from the Ancient database. There are others, and one in particular that Colonel Sheppard is familiar with.”
Caldwell leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the clear glass table. “Go on.”
Eventually the bright daylight became too much and forced John and Elizabeth to retreat to an abandoned cave. He hated losing time, but he couldn’t help it. The glare of the sun was like someone drilling a hole in his head. The jumper was nearby, but their bodies’ natural inclinations to seek out dark and damp places overruled them.
‘Fire,’ Elizabeth told him.
John looked to her. She wasn’t communicating verbally anymore, only through their telepathy. He knew that was an indication of her advancing mutation. He drew Elizabeth further inside the cave, then surveyed the area, securing it before he came back to build a small fire for heat. Elizabeth took some time to explore some writings on the wall, something that looked man-made but upon closer observation, John discovered it was probably something else.
‘This was a Wraith planet,’ Elizabeth acknowledged. ‘Humans haven’t lived here in centuries.’
John flinched, trying not to think about that. He tried not to think about a lot of things, like how they were wasting precious hours here in the dark when they should have been hunting for nests instead. Agitation grew, and he threw another log onto the fire and bent, warming his hands over the open flames. His left hand was mutating again, fingertips sharpened to pointed nails, the rough discoloration beginning to spread across his entire body. John stared, transfixed, disgusted. What had taken over a week of treatments to undo was taking less than a 24 hours to begin again.
He’d always been uncomfortable in this skin. In his more lucid moments, he viciously hated what he was becoming. Then the next moment, those same transformations would also open up a whole new connection with Elizabeth that he couldn’t describe in words. It was too primal for words. Innate, almost primordial, when he wasn’t searching for nests, he couldn’t take his eyes off Elizabeth.
That still didn’t mean he liked what he was becoming. Self-disgust ran rampant, but he tried to tamper it down, remembering his mission. Find the nest. Find the eggs. Then he could return to Atlantis and save both of them. Still, staring at the bluish color of his hands, he had to stifle the urge to burn the skin off, feel it peel away until something more human revealed itself underneath.
Elizabeth caught his hands in hers, and brought them away from the fire. He avoided her gaze because he knew she’d caught his stray thoughts. He pulled his hands away and rose, and it disturbed him even more when he realized that being with Elizabeth made all these changes less scary, less hideous. This shouldn’t be less hideous. This shouldn’t be less scary. He couldn’t become complacent about this.
A moment later, Elizabeth was behind him, the palms of her hands pressed flat over his shoulder blades. Her hand moved higher, scrubbing her fingers up and back down the spikes of his hair, playing a little with the short strands that rested at the base of his neck. It lulled his anxieties a little, but not enough.
‘Let me see,’ she whispered to his mind.
She was slowly tugging off his shirt before he could protest. He turned around as his black shirt was pulled over his head, and the firelight shone in Elizabeth’s eyes as she examined him in the dim light. Her fingers trailed down his chest, over his abdomen, the texture rough and coarse beneath her fingertips. She traced lazy circles against his hardened skin, seemingly transfixed, and John sucked in a breath, trapped under her soft ministrations and focused gaze.
His alternations extended down, lower, and their earlier sexual escapades had already confirmed that his lower body was more alien than not. Elizabeth seemed caught up in the exploration, though. She slid an index finger down, along the inseam of his pants, then cupped him through the material. He groaned, fighting the urge to close his eyes because he wanted to watch this. Elizabeth slid his zipper down, reached inside and wrapped her fingers around his shaft.
He was already half-hard, simply from Elizabeth touching him. As much as he thought himself hideous, he couldn’t help but think she was turning into something gorgeous. He wondered at that, and what it meant. The curves of her body now had a grace of a predator. A Queen.
His Queen.
For the first time, he was beginning to understand what the Wraith were like - their psychic bonds, the hive minds, the natural supplication to the Queens of their clans. She was changing with every passing day, and out here in the wilderness she was adapting scarily well. Still, uncertainty festered. Without treatments, all alone on an alien planet, he’d brought them to a very precarious position.
‘Stop thinking,’ she reproached.
‘Isn’t that my line?’
She flashed him a dark look, full of warning, but he knew her real mood. His heartbeat sped up when she lowered herself onto her knees, bringing her mouth level with his hips. A kick of lust surged threw him, and he knew exactly what she intended to do.
‘Stop thinking,’ she told him again.
Elizabeth leaned over and licked the large tip of his cock.
“Fuck,” he rasped.
She lowered her mouth again and took his head fully into her mouth, licking with hard flicks of her tongue. He groaned as she teased the ridge on the underside of his cock, working him up with quick, increasing vigor. John watched her, his lips parted and he fought the urge to shove himself deep inside her mouth. His hand threaded through her dark hair and tension lined his entire body. She explored him with her tongue, swirling and licking, languishingly working from tip to base and back again until his muscles tensed.
'That's it. That's it. Just like that.'
He leaned heavily against the wall for support, eyes screwed shut, fingers tangled in her hair as his hips bucked slightly against her mouth. She pumped him a few more times with a hand, simultaneously licking her tongue clear across his cock, and John’s hips were almost shaking with restraint. His entire body ached with the need for release, and he wanted to hold back but couldn’t, coming with a rush of mindless release. It forced his entire body to shudder, and Elizabeth’s lips rode him through it, mumbling against his skin as he spilled into her mouth.
“Fuck,” he muttered again.
Elizabeth rose up his body with a predatory gaze that told him she wasn’t nearly through with him yet. But then she stopped, abruptly, and her head tilted aside. Her eyes narrowed, and he knew she was picking up things he couldn’t register. With this stage of her evolution, and the fact that she was a queen, he knew that her senses were far more advanced.
‘What is it?’
‘Company.’
He tensed, then quickly fixed his clothes. ‘I’m gonna check the boundaries. Stay here.’
‘John-’
He cut off her protests. ‘I serve and protect, but it’s the latter more than the former. Stay, Elizabeth.'
He strode away. Outside, it was still broad daylight. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. He took in a drag of air and closed his eyes, enhancing his senses but he didn't really need it.
A Dart soared out of the sky towards John.
The Dart swept over his head, transporting down a Wraith onto the dirt pathway facing him. It growled, head tilted aside to give John a curious and malevolent stare. He’d seen Wraith like this before - soldiers that were given the task of only one thing: killing.
“What are you?” the Wraith demanded.
John’s gaze never wavered or flinched. Knowing Elizabeth was not far, he took immediate action. He ran towards the Wraith, leaping up into the air and hurling himself towards it with his claw outstretched. The Wraith judged its timing perfectly and slammed a hand into John’s chest as he descended, throwing him across the ground to crash painfully against a tree trunk.
The Wraith walked across the dirt and kicked John in the face, flipping him over onto his back. It reached down and hauled John half upright. The Wraith shoved him hard, but John twisted away from the blow, then delivered a roundhouse kick that sent the Wraith flying into the bushes.
“What are you?” it repeated, then sniffed the air. “Not Wraith. Not human. Something else.”
The Wraith snarled angrily, rising. It pulled a stunner from its coat then fired - once, twice. John dodged, escaping into trees, but the Wraith had faster reflexes than he’d been expecting. A third hit slammed into John’s back, sending him sprawling to the ground. He struggled to regain mobility, but the stunner left his body with the feeling of pricks and needles, immobile. The Wraith advanced, then hauled John onto his knees.
“What are you?” it demanded again.
“The last thing you’ll ever see,” John promised with a low growl.
It raised its hand, ready to strike down onto his chest and feed on John when suddenly the hand was stopped. The Wraith turned back to find Elizabeth holding its arm immobile. The look on her face was dark and full of warning, and the Wraith immediately wrenched its arm free, dropping John.
“A female,” it said, staggering in shock.
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed, and she hissed once. She bent to pick up a fallen tree branch, one that was narrowed into a spiky point at one end. It was hefty and twisted, and Elizabeth circled around the Wraith with the stick held idly in one hand. John couldn’t hear anything, but suddenly he knew she was communicating with the Wraith via a telepathic link.
“I didn’t know there were Wraith Queens still left on this planet.” The Wraith studied Elizabeth, trying to hide its awe and fascination - and failing. “You are… different.”
The Wraith looked to John for further explanation, and it never saw Elizabeth’s attack coming. Without fanfare or preamble, she shoved the branch through its chest. The bloodied point stuck out its back, and the Wraith staggered. The sheer force should have been impossible to impel, but Elizabeth did it without blinking. The Wraith grunted, gasping for air. It fell to the ground in shock, staring up at Elizabeth.
There was no mercy in Elizabeth’s eyes, nothing human or familiar. The look was hardened and angry, and in that moment John realized something. Elizabeth would never have killed so brutally, especially when there was a possible recourse. John had just enough humanity left in him to realize the implications. The woman he knew was disappearing, being replaced by an entity that was ruled by violence and primal tendencies.
He was already losing Elizabeth.
“Careful with that!” Carson admonished the marine who was hauling a few supplies onto the Daedalus. “That is extraordinarily expensive and it’s not like we can run to the local hospital for extras!”
“Relax, Doc,” Lorne said, approaching him from behind. “We’ve got everything under control. Why don’t you go make sure the Daedalus’ infirmary is up to your standards? Or, y’know, try taking a nap? When was the last time you slept properly?”
Carson grimaced, and decided to ignore Lorne’s question mainly because he couldn’t remember the answer. “Aye, well, I suppose I could use a few moments of res- oh, for goodness sake!" he snapped, catching sight of a few unattended crates of materials. "Those medical supplies should have been loaded up hours ago! I hope you haven't left anything behind. I need a full running facility if I'm expected to work miracles aboard this tin can!"
Lorne stared for a bit. "Dr. Beckett," he began in a voice one might use on an angry bear. "I'm going to suggest to you what I suggested to Colonel Sheppard's team. Sit back and relax while you can. We'll call you when you're needed."
"Colonel Sheppard's team is already on board?"
Lorne rolled his eyes. "Like I could stop them from joining the search party. They're on deck, but don't worry about them. Just, please, go get some rest. You'll do Dr. Weir and Col. Sheppard no good if you're so exhausted you can't think straight."
As much as he hated to admit it, the Major had a point. Usually it was Carson that was dispensing such sage advice, but weeks of frustration and scares were beginning to take their toll. He couldn't imagine a more stressful time, except maybe a year ago when the Hoffans had come to him for inoculations and he'd been forced to watch Perna die. He still hadn't gotten over that death, and he'd only known Perna for days.
If something happened to Elizabeth and John...
"This job is going to be the death of me," Carson announced, sighing. He turned back to Lorne and refocused. "Just make sure you call me when we reach the planet.”
“Of course. You're right up there with Teyla, McKay and Ronon.”
"No, Major. I'm priority number one, understood?"
"Anybody ever tell you that when you're exhausted, you get the same entitlement issues as Dr. McKay?"
Carson grimaced. "Oh, now, that's just uncalled for!"
Carson walked away and ignored the grin on Lorne’s face. He couldn’t blame the lad for the exuberance, though. With Caldwell stuck in Atlantis running things, someone had to take the Daedalus out for the run to P3S-X63. With Sheppard out of the picture, Lorne was the next ranking military officer in the city. The placement would have left any Air Force soldier with an uplifting grin.
Carson quickly sought out his temporary quarters, and collapsed into an unyielding metal chair. Bloody hell, he was exhausted. He wasn’t that thrilled with the current assignment, either. They were expending a lot of resources on Carson’s guess - an educated guess, but a guess nonetheless. He just prayed that John was really as cognizant of the situation as Carson had told Caldwell he was. P3S-X63 was their safest bet, but in a galaxy this big, who knew where John and Elizabeth really were?
A few moments later, Lorne’s voice registered over the intercom. “Daedalus, this is Major Lorne. Sit tight. We’ll be jumping into hyperdrive in less than ten minutes, and should arrive at P3S-X63 within hours.”
Godspeed, Carson thought as he slumped back in his chair.
The Daedalus swept past the skyline just over the far eastern forest. Elizabeth stared up at it, squinting against the glare of the setting sun. It was far away, nothing more than a diminishing spot on the horizon, but Caldwell had tracked them here, to this planet - he’d find them.
Elizabeth lowered into a crouch, staring at the distant ship with narrowed eyes.
“Back to the jumper,” John rasped. “We need the cloak.”
They moved swiftly. The rush of greenery flashed by as they hurdled over broken logs and through dense forestry. But they never had the chance to reach the jumper again. The Daedalus covered the ground 1000x faster than they could outrun, and then it was dispatching several jumpers for recon. John and Elizabeth slid to a stop on the dirt floor, staring up.
There was a beat and Elizabeth watched as a single puddle jumper broke off from formation and landed not a hundred meters from them. The vehicle's back door lifted, and in pairs, six marines exited the back. She recognized none of them by name; they were all Caldwell’s men. They spread out through the woods the moment their boots hit dirt ground, aiming P-90s every which way. A few had stunners, and one man had a bio scanner.
One of the marines spoke up, “How many life forms are you detecting right now?”
“Over two dozen unknown,” the guy with the bio scanner said. “This planet is full of life.”
“Great,” the first marine responded. “So we could be tracking Sheppard and Weir, or two wild animals fucking.” A pause. “But I repeat myself.”
“Shut it,” another ordered. “Any of the Atlantis crew hear you say that, you’ll be dealing with shit duty every time we swing by the Pegasus. They’re crazy-ass loyal to Sheppard and Weir.”
The bio-scanner guy halted and looked around. “There’s two larger life forms one Klick west of here.”
“Alright, people. This is not a drill. Eyes focused and alert. Let’s do this right. If you can’t stun ‘em, bag ‘em. We’re not taking any chances anymore.”
A rush of adrenalin hit Elizabeth and only the sound of John's breathing near her ear kept her sane. They were both crouched low to the floor, using some low-hanging trees for cover. Her face grew serious as she turned back to the setting sun, watching as the twilight sky blackened. Eventually Elizabeth’s eyesight shifted, light-yellow eyes piercing through the darkness, enhancing the forest into de-saturated earth tones. They could see better in the dark; one point to their advantage. The second was the environment; the woods were more familiar to her, even after such a short time here.
She felt John’s stare and she turned. Together, they moved along the treetops, silently and swiftly, watching the Marines progress deeper into the forest. The two in the back were engrossed in the bio-scanners, and the one up front was clearly the leader. Elizabeth studied them, head tilted aside, and a spike of something savage and primal reacted to the threat of them. She tried to stay calm, to remember that these were good men doing their jobs, but the rationale was nearly washed away under a current of hormones.
“Wait,” a marine announced. “I got something weird on the scanner.”
“What?” another returned.
John caught her gaze again. He motioned with two fingers, pointing to his eyes and then hers, telling her not to leave his sight. She shook her head, knowing they needed to split up or else his focus would be too narrowed on her safety. She could handle herself.
‘Elizabeth,’ he hissed angrily.
‘Don’t need-’
A sudden noise erupted. Elizabeth was only a few feet away from John as a wash of bright light blinded her night vision. Elizabeth stumbled and emitted an alien high-pitched shriek, falling from the trees. She landed with a hard impact, then looked up, squinting to find the source of the light. She raised her arm to shield her eyes but everywhere she looked, there was nothing but a white brightness. Gunfire erupted. A second later, she felt John drop down and haul her aside by the arm.
‘A flash stun grenade,’ John told her, and he moved her quickly. At some point he must have found a safe hiding spot because he pushed her towards the ground. ‘Don’t move.’
‘Did it blind you?’
‘No, I closed my eyes. Stay here.’
‘John-’
‘Stay here!’
‘No heroics,’ she warned back.
She wondered if he rolled his eyes. Disoriented and blind, she waited and felt John move away. Her heightened senses picked up the crunch of leaves and the scent of those marines. Elizabeth didn't have the chance to see John working through the forest, then start attacking the men. The abrupt burst of gunfire filled the air again. A man screamed, followed by another, and then there was more gunfire and sounds of chaos. Bodies hit the ground - two men, then a third.
A fourth marine collapsed just as Elizabeth’s eyesight finally started to drift back. It was blurry around the edges, but the indistinct splotches cleared and then crystallized.
Her eyesight half-returned just in time to witness John take a hit.
The horrific moment happened in slow motion. One bullet pierced him square in the chest and he threw his head back, roaring. A second round hit the tip of his shoulder and a splatter of blood burst. He crumpled to the ground. Elizabeth screamed, and then she was moving, still disoriented and half-blind, but rage took her over.
Elizabeth lunged at the first standing marine she saw. She tackled him to the ground, the P-90 knocked loose. She ducked an incoming uppercut and whirled, grabbed both his arms and head-butted him in return. As he groaned and recoiled, she slammed an elbow and knocked her prey unconscious. Someone else fired and two rounds flew by her head. She dove for cover, then scaled quickly up a tree, blending in with her environment. The remaining marine scanned his surroundings, alert and waiting. When the moment was right, she leapt down from the treetop and tackled him to the ground, then used a series of blows to render him unconscious.
For a moment, she rose to stand amongst six fallen marines.
There was blood on her hands.
Then she heard John groan. Reality snapped back into focus. She immediately found her way back to him. He grimaced as he lifted his head to look for her, but Elizabeth automatically forced him to lie back down. She ripped open his shirt to examine his wounds, finding the blood pooling. The splash of red contrasted harshly against his bluish skin. Her throat tightened painfully.
He gritted out, “Go! They’ll send more men.”
She shook her head stubbornly.
"Finish what we came here for."
‘I’m not leaving you.’
Her eyes were transfixed with horror and welling with tears. This was a dance they had done before: watching him suffer, dying - and she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think beyond the blood. Her mate’s blood. Behind her, another jumper flew towards them and landed. John tried to shove her away, almost savagely, but she didn’t budge, pressing a hand to his most fatal wound.
‘Go! Carson will help me. Heal.’
Elizabeth ignored him, staring at the blood.
Men disembarked the jumper behind her.
‘Go,’ he urged harshly, the fear transparent. She thought furiously over her options, but she couldn’t think beyond the blood. His expression softened, but his eyes remained intense when they locked with hers. ‘You have to, and you know it.’
Elizabeth wanted to lower her gaze or look away, but she couldn’t. His gaze pulled her in, driving home the message that she refused to listen to. She exhaled sharply, and tears escaped her eyes. Men approached from behind. He grabbed her by the back of the neck, then pulled her in for a fierce kiss.
'Remember me,' he told her, desperately.
Confused - as if she could ever forget - she nodded and then pulled herself free from John’s reach. It ripped her heart apart to do it, but with one last fleeting look, she turned and disappeared into the forest.
Part 6
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Carson’s eyes flickered to the Stargate briefly before he jogged up the stairs towards Caldwell. He knew he was becoming a nuisance to the man, but Carson’s manners seemed to be inversely proportional with the amount of sleep he had. He neither cared for nor sought Caldwell’s approval anymore, except regarding one thing.
“We need to start a search party,” he announced as a greeting.
Caldwell looked up. “You have a planet in mind? Major Lorne already took a jumper through to the first address Sheppard gated to. It was a stargate orbiting outer space. Nothing’s there.”
Carson nodded. “They’ve probably hopscotched across half the bloody galaxy by now. But I think I know what they’re looking for.”
“You do?”
“Colonel Sheppard’s cognitive abilities should not be underestimated. His treatment was nearly 40% complete when he left. I believe he realizes the extent of the situation, and he’s resourceful-”
Caldwell rolled his eyes. “His resourcefulness was never in question, Doctor.”
“But I believe his motivations are singular in nature, which limits his options for planets.”
Caldwell paused, then connected his gaze. “Explain.”
“Is there somewhere we could talk in private?”
Caldwell glanced aside at the nearby technicians, then nodded, beckoning Carson to follow him up to Elizabeth’s office. Caldwell was temporarily using the space, and though it rankled Carson a little so see Elizabeth’s office taken over, he knew Caldwell had done it for practical purposes like overseeing Stargate operations.
When they reached the office, Carson closed the door behind him. “I believe that Colonel Sheppard is motivated by one thing.”
Caldwell took the seat behind Elizabeth's clear glass desk, and after a pregnant pause, finally returned Carson’s gaze. “Dr. Weir.”
“Aye.”
They stared at one another, unwilling to further explore the whys or wherefores of that reasoning. Elizabeth had long ago told Carson that she was seeing someone; such were the confidences of the patient-doctor relationship. He didn’t know whom she was sleeping with, but he’d always had his suspicions. Now, it seemed glaringly obvious and though he hated to bring it up with a hardnosed military man like Caldwell, it might shed some light on John's current motivation.
“He wants to protect her,” Carson said, delicately.
He knew he wasn’t fooling either of them by such a careful phrasing, but he hoped Caldwell would take refuge in it. But a wink was as good as a nod to a blind man, and Carson wasn’t sure how Caldwell would use this exchange for later purposes.
After a beat, Caldwell slowly nodded. “They… they’ve been through a lot together. And Colonel Sheppard is the type to go to extreme measures to save his people. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that her safety is his number one priority.”
The response was crafted carefully. They both knew exactly what wasn’t being said, and Caldwell seemed comfortable with leaving it that way.
Carson’s estimations of Caldwell rose in stock.
“Aye,” Carson sighed, relieved. “And he knows she’s changing into something else, and whatever effects these mutations have had on them, they’ve always been eager to reverse the process.”
“What are you saying?”
“That the mutating Colonel Sheppard isn’t all that different from the normal one when it comes to the protection of Eliz… his people. He’s resourceful. He knows my alternative cure for Elizabeth didn’t work, and he knows we need more stem cells.”
“You think he’s going to go looking for Iratus bug nests?” Caldwell asked. “We already tried, remember? That cave was destroyed, and the planet was searched and found void of any other nests.”
“That was only one planet address that we pulled from the Ancient database. There are others, and one in particular that Colonel Sheppard is familiar with.”
Caldwell leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the clear glass table. “Go on.”
Eventually the bright daylight became too much and forced John and Elizabeth to retreat to an abandoned cave. He hated losing time, but he couldn’t help it. The glare of the sun was like someone drilling a hole in his head. The jumper was nearby, but their bodies’ natural inclinations to seek out dark and damp places overruled them.
‘Fire,’ Elizabeth told him.
John looked to her. She wasn’t communicating verbally anymore, only through their telepathy. He knew that was an indication of her advancing mutation. He drew Elizabeth further inside the cave, then surveyed the area, securing it before he came back to build a small fire for heat. Elizabeth took some time to explore some writings on the wall, something that looked man-made but upon closer observation, John discovered it was probably something else.
‘This was a Wraith planet,’ Elizabeth acknowledged. ‘Humans haven’t lived here in centuries.’
John flinched, trying not to think about that. He tried not to think about a lot of things, like how they were wasting precious hours here in the dark when they should have been hunting for nests instead. Agitation grew, and he threw another log onto the fire and bent, warming his hands over the open flames. His left hand was mutating again, fingertips sharpened to pointed nails, the rough discoloration beginning to spread across his entire body. John stared, transfixed, disgusted. What had taken over a week of treatments to undo was taking less than a 24 hours to begin again.
He’d always been uncomfortable in this skin. In his more lucid moments, he viciously hated what he was becoming. Then the next moment, those same transformations would also open up a whole new connection with Elizabeth that he couldn’t describe in words. It was too primal for words. Innate, almost primordial, when he wasn’t searching for nests, he couldn’t take his eyes off Elizabeth.
That still didn’t mean he liked what he was becoming. Self-disgust ran rampant, but he tried to tamper it down, remembering his mission. Find the nest. Find the eggs. Then he could return to Atlantis and save both of them. Still, staring at the bluish color of his hands, he had to stifle the urge to burn the skin off, feel it peel away until something more human revealed itself underneath.
Elizabeth caught his hands in hers, and brought them away from the fire. He avoided her gaze because he knew she’d caught his stray thoughts. He pulled his hands away and rose, and it disturbed him even more when he realized that being with Elizabeth made all these changes less scary, less hideous. This shouldn’t be less hideous. This shouldn’t be less scary. He couldn’t become complacent about this.
A moment later, Elizabeth was behind him, the palms of her hands pressed flat over his shoulder blades. Her hand moved higher, scrubbing her fingers up and back down the spikes of his hair, playing a little with the short strands that rested at the base of his neck. It lulled his anxieties a little, but not enough.
‘Let me see,’ she whispered to his mind.
She was slowly tugging off his shirt before he could protest. He turned around as his black shirt was pulled over his head, and the firelight shone in Elizabeth’s eyes as she examined him in the dim light. Her fingers trailed down his chest, over his abdomen, the texture rough and coarse beneath her fingertips. She traced lazy circles against his hardened skin, seemingly transfixed, and John sucked in a breath, trapped under her soft ministrations and focused gaze.
His alternations extended down, lower, and their earlier sexual escapades had already confirmed that his lower body was more alien than not. Elizabeth seemed caught up in the exploration, though. She slid an index finger down, along the inseam of his pants, then cupped him through the material. He groaned, fighting the urge to close his eyes because he wanted to watch this. Elizabeth slid his zipper down, reached inside and wrapped her fingers around his shaft.
He was already half-hard, simply from Elizabeth touching him. As much as he thought himself hideous, he couldn’t help but think she was turning into something gorgeous. He wondered at that, and what it meant. The curves of her body now had a grace of a predator. A Queen.
His Queen.
For the first time, he was beginning to understand what the Wraith were like - their psychic bonds, the hive minds, the natural supplication to the Queens of their clans. She was changing with every passing day, and out here in the wilderness she was adapting scarily well. Still, uncertainty festered. Without treatments, all alone on an alien planet, he’d brought them to a very precarious position.
‘Stop thinking,’ she reproached.
‘Isn’t that my line?’
She flashed him a dark look, full of warning, but he knew her real mood. His heartbeat sped up when she lowered herself onto her knees, bringing her mouth level with his hips. A kick of lust surged threw him, and he knew exactly what she intended to do.
‘Stop thinking,’ she told him again.
Elizabeth leaned over and licked the large tip of his cock.
“Fuck,” he rasped.
She lowered her mouth again and took his head fully into her mouth, licking with hard flicks of her tongue. He groaned as she teased the ridge on the underside of his cock, working him up with quick, increasing vigor. John watched her, his lips parted and he fought the urge to shove himself deep inside her mouth. His hand threaded through her dark hair and tension lined his entire body. She explored him with her tongue, swirling and licking, languishingly working from tip to base and back again until his muscles tensed.
'That's it. That's it. Just like that.'
He leaned heavily against the wall for support, eyes screwed shut, fingers tangled in her hair as his hips bucked slightly against her mouth. She pumped him a few more times with a hand, simultaneously licking her tongue clear across his cock, and John’s hips were almost shaking with restraint. His entire body ached with the need for release, and he wanted to hold back but couldn’t, coming with a rush of mindless release. It forced his entire body to shudder, and Elizabeth’s lips rode him through it, mumbling against his skin as he spilled into her mouth.
“Fuck,” he muttered again.
Elizabeth rose up his body with a predatory gaze that told him she wasn’t nearly through with him yet. But then she stopped, abruptly, and her head tilted aside. Her eyes narrowed, and he knew she was picking up things he couldn’t register. With this stage of her evolution, and the fact that she was a queen, he knew that her senses were far more advanced.
‘What is it?’
‘Company.’
He tensed, then quickly fixed his clothes. ‘I’m gonna check the boundaries. Stay here.’
‘John-’
He cut off her protests. ‘I serve and protect, but it’s the latter more than the former. Stay, Elizabeth.'
He strode away. Outside, it was still broad daylight. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. He took in a drag of air and closed his eyes, enhancing his senses but he didn't really need it.
A Dart soared out of the sky towards John.
The Dart swept over his head, transporting down a Wraith onto the dirt pathway facing him. It growled, head tilted aside to give John a curious and malevolent stare. He’d seen Wraith like this before - soldiers that were given the task of only one thing: killing.
“What are you?” the Wraith demanded.
John’s gaze never wavered or flinched. Knowing Elizabeth was not far, he took immediate action. He ran towards the Wraith, leaping up into the air and hurling himself towards it with his claw outstretched. The Wraith judged its timing perfectly and slammed a hand into John’s chest as he descended, throwing him across the ground to crash painfully against a tree trunk.
The Wraith walked across the dirt and kicked John in the face, flipping him over onto his back. It reached down and hauled John half upright. The Wraith shoved him hard, but John twisted away from the blow, then delivered a roundhouse kick that sent the Wraith flying into the bushes.
“What are you?” it repeated, then sniffed the air. “Not Wraith. Not human. Something else.”
The Wraith snarled angrily, rising. It pulled a stunner from its coat then fired - once, twice. John dodged, escaping into trees, but the Wraith had faster reflexes than he’d been expecting. A third hit slammed into John’s back, sending him sprawling to the ground. He struggled to regain mobility, but the stunner left his body with the feeling of pricks and needles, immobile. The Wraith advanced, then hauled John onto his knees.
“What are you?” it demanded again.
“The last thing you’ll ever see,” John promised with a low growl.
It raised its hand, ready to strike down onto his chest and feed on John when suddenly the hand was stopped. The Wraith turned back to find Elizabeth holding its arm immobile. The look on her face was dark and full of warning, and the Wraith immediately wrenched its arm free, dropping John.
“A female,” it said, staggering in shock.
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed, and she hissed once. She bent to pick up a fallen tree branch, one that was narrowed into a spiky point at one end. It was hefty and twisted, and Elizabeth circled around the Wraith with the stick held idly in one hand. John couldn’t hear anything, but suddenly he knew she was communicating with the Wraith via a telepathic link.
“I didn’t know there were Wraith Queens still left on this planet.” The Wraith studied Elizabeth, trying to hide its awe and fascination - and failing. “You are… different.”
The Wraith looked to John for further explanation, and it never saw Elizabeth’s attack coming. Without fanfare or preamble, she shoved the branch through its chest. The bloodied point stuck out its back, and the Wraith staggered. The sheer force should have been impossible to impel, but Elizabeth did it without blinking. The Wraith grunted, gasping for air. It fell to the ground in shock, staring up at Elizabeth.
There was no mercy in Elizabeth’s eyes, nothing human or familiar. The look was hardened and angry, and in that moment John realized something. Elizabeth would never have killed so brutally, especially when there was a possible recourse. John had just enough humanity left in him to realize the implications. The woman he knew was disappearing, being replaced by an entity that was ruled by violence and primal tendencies.
He was already losing Elizabeth.
“Careful with that!” Carson admonished the marine who was hauling a few supplies onto the Daedalus. “That is extraordinarily expensive and it’s not like we can run to the local hospital for extras!”
“Relax, Doc,” Lorne said, approaching him from behind. “We’ve got everything under control. Why don’t you go make sure the Daedalus’ infirmary is up to your standards? Or, y’know, try taking a nap? When was the last time you slept properly?”
Carson grimaced, and decided to ignore Lorne’s question mainly because he couldn’t remember the answer. “Aye, well, I suppose I could use a few moments of res- oh, for goodness sake!" he snapped, catching sight of a few unattended crates of materials. "Those medical supplies should have been loaded up hours ago! I hope you haven't left anything behind. I need a full running facility if I'm expected to work miracles aboard this tin can!"
Lorne stared for a bit. "Dr. Beckett," he began in a voice one might use on an angry bear. "I'm going to suggest to you what I suggested to Colonel Sheppard's team. Sit back and relax while you can. We'll call you when you're needed."
"Colonel Sheppard's team is already on board?"
Lorne rolled his eyes. "Like I could stop them from joining the search party. They're on deck, but don't worry about them. Just, please, go get some rest. You'll do Dr. Weir and Col. Sheppard no good if you're so exhausted you can't think straight."
As much as he hated to admit it, the Major had a point. Usually it was Carson that was dispensing such sage advice, but weeks of frustration and scares were beginning to take their toll. He couldn't imagine a more stressful time, except maybe a year ago when the Hoffans had come to him for inoculations and he'd been forced to watch Perna die. He still hadn't gotten over that death, and he'd only known Perna for days.
If something happened to Elizabeth and John...
"This job is going to be the death of me," Carson announced, sighing. He turned back to Lorne and refocused. "Just make sure you call me when we reach the planet.”
“Of course. You're right up there with Teyla, McKay and Ronon.”
"No, Major. I'm priority number one, understood?"
"Anybody ever tell you that when you're exhausted, you get the same entitlement issues as Dr. McKay?"
Carson grimaced. "Oh, now, that's just uncalled for!"
Carson walked away and ignored the grin on Lorne’s face. He couldn’t blame the lad for the exuberance, though. With Caldwell stuck in Atlantis running things, someone had to take the Daedalus out for the run to P3S-X63. With Sheppard out of the picture, Lorne was the next ranking military officer in the city. The placement would have left any Air Force soldier with an uplifting grin.
Carson quickly sought out his temporary quarters, and collapsed into an unyielding metal chair. Bloody hell, he was exhausted. He wasn’t that thrilled with the current assignment, either. They were expending a lot of resources on Carson’s guess - an educated guess, but a guess nonetheless. He just prayed that John was really as cognizant of the situation as Carson had told Caldwell he was. P3S-X63 was their safest bet, but in a galaxy this big, who knew where John and Elizabeth really were?
A few moments later, Lorne’s voice registered over the intercom. “Daedalus, this is Major Lorne. Sit tight. We’ll be jumping into hyperdrive in less than ten minutes, and should arrive at P3S-X63 within hours.”
Godspeed, Carson thought as he slumped back in his chair.
The Daedalus swept past the skyline just over the far eastern forest. Elizabeth stared up at it, squinting against the glare of the setting sun. It was far away, nothing more than a diminishing spot on the horizon, but Caldwell had tracked them here, to this planet - he’d find them.
Elizabeth lowered into a crouch, staring at the distant ship with narrowed eyes.
“Back to the jumper,” John rasped. “We need the cloak.”
They moved swiftly. The rush of greenery flashed by as they hurdled over broken logs and through dense forestry. But they never had the chance to reach the jumper again. The Daedalus covered the ground 1000x faster than they could outrun, and then it was dispatching several jumpers for recon. John and Elizabeth slid to a stop on the dirt floor, staring up.
There was a beat and Elizabeth watched as a single puddle jumper broke off from formation and landed not a hundred meters from them. The vehicle's back door lifted, and in pairs, six marines exited the back. She recognized none of them by name; they were all Caldwell’s men. They spread out through the woods the moment their boots hit dirt ground, aiming P-90s every which way. A few had stunners, and one man had a bio scanner.
One of the marines spoke up, “How many life forms are you detecting right now?”
“Over two dozen unknown,” the guy with the bio scanner said. “This planet is full of life.”
“Great,” the first marine responded. “So we could be tracking Sheppard and Weir, or two wild animals fucking.” A pause. “But I repeat myself.”
“Shut it,” another ordered. “Any of the Atlantis crew hear you say that, you’ll be dealing with shit duty every time we swing by the Pegasus. They’re crazy-ass loyal to Sheppard and Weir.”
The bio-scanner guy halted and looked around. “There’s two larger life forms one Klick west of here.”
“Alright, people. This is not a drill. Eyes focused and alert. Let’s do this right. If you can’t stun ‘em, bag ‘em. We’re not taking any chances anymore.”
A rush of adrenalin hit Elizabeth and only the sound of John's breathing near her ear kept her sane. They were both crouched low to the floor, using some low-hanging trees for cover. Her face grew serious as she turned back to the setting sun, watching as the twilight sky blackened. Eventually Elizabeth’s eyesight shifted, light-yellow eyes piercing through the darkness, enhancing the forest into de-saturated earth tones. They could see better in the dark; one point to their advantage. The second was the environment; the woods were more familiar to her, even after such a short time here.
She felt John’s stare and she turned. Together, they moved along the treetops, silently and swiftly, watching the Marines progress deeper into the forest. The two in the back were engrossed in the bio-scanners, and the one up front was clearly the leader. Elizabeth studied them, head tilted aside, and a spike of something savage and primal reacted to the threat of them. She tried to stay calm, to remember that these were good men doing their jobs, but the rationale was nearly washed away under a current of hormones.
“Wait,” a marine announced. “I got something weird on the scanner.”
“What?” another returned.
John caught her gaze again. He motioned with two fingers, pointing to his eyes and then hers, telling her not to leave his sight. She shook her head, knowing they needed to split up or else his focus would be too narrowed on her safety. She could handle herself.
‘Elizabeth,’ he hissed angrily.
‘Don’t need-’
A sudden noise erupted. Elizabeth was only a few feet away from John as a wash of bright light blinded her night vision. Elizabeth stumbled and emitted an alien high-pitched shriek, falling from the trees. She landed with a hard impact, then looked up, squinting to find the source of the light. She raised her arm to shield her eyes but everywhere she looked, there was nothing but a white brightness. Gunfire erupted. A second later, she felt John drop down and haul her aside by the arm.
‘A flash stun grenade,’ John told her, and he moved her quickly. At some point he must have found a safe hiding spot because he pushed her towards the ground. ‘Don’t move.’
‘Did it blind you?’
‘No, I closed my eyes. Stay here.’
‘John-’
‘Stay here!’
‘No heroics,’ she warned back.
She wondered if he rolled his eyes. Disoriented and blind, she waited and felt John move away. Her heightened senses picked up the crunch of leaves and the scent of those marines. Elizabeth didn't have the chance to see John working through the forest, then start attacking the men. The abrupt burst of gunfire filled the air again. A man screamed, followed by another, and then there was more gunfire and sounds of chaos. Bodies hit the ground - two men, then a third.
A fourth marine collapsed just as Elizabeth’s eyesight finally started to drift back. It was blurry around the edges, but the indistinct splotches cleared and then crystallized.
Her eyesight half-returned just in time to witness John take a hit.
The horrific moment happened in slow motion. One bullet pierced him square in the chest and he threw his head back, roaring. A second round hit the tip of his shoulder and a splatter of blood burst. He crumpled to the ground. Elizabeth screamed, and then she was moving, still disoriented and half-blind, but rage took her over.
Elizabeth lunged at the first standing marine she saw. She tackled him to the ground, the P-90 knocked loose. She ducked an incoming uppercut and whirled, grabbed both his arms and head-butted him in return. As he groaned and recoiled, she slammed an elbow and knocked her prey unconscious. Someone else fired and two rounds flew by her head. She dove for cover, then scaled quickly up a tree, blending in with her environment. The remaining marine scanned his surroundings, alert and waiting. When the moment was right, she leapt down from the treetop and tackled him to the ground, then used a series of blows to render him unconscious.
For a moment, she rose to stand amongst six fallen marines.
There was blood on her hands.
Then she heard John groan. Reality snapped back into focus. She immediately found her way back to him. He grimaced as he lifted his head to look for her, but Elizabeth automatically forced him to lie back down. She ripped open his shirt to examine his wounds, finding the blood pooling. The splash of red contrasted harshly against his bluish skin. Her throat tightened painfully.
He gritted out, “Go! They’ll send more men.”
She shook her head stubbornly.
"Finish what we came here for."
‘I’m not leaving you.’
Her eyes were transfixed with horror and welling with tears. This was a dance they had done before: watching him suffer, dying - and she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think beyond the blood. Her mate’s blood. Behind her, another jumper flew towards them and landed. John tried to shove her away, almost savagely, but she didn’t budge, pressing a hand to his most fatal wound.
‘Go! Carson will help me. Heal.’
Elizabeth ignored him, staring at the blood.
Men disembarked the jumper behind her.
‘Go,’ he urged harshly, the fear transparent. She thought furiously over her options, but she couldn’t think beyond the blood. His expression softened, but his eyes remained intense when they locked with hers. ‘You have to, and you know it.’
Elizabeth wanted to lower her gaze or look away, but she couldn’t. His gaze pulled her in, driving home the message that she refused to listen to. She exhaled sharply, and tears escaped her eyes. Men approached from behind. He grabbed her by the back of the neck, then pulled her in for a fierce kiss.
'Remember me,' he told her, desperately.
Confused - as if she could ever forget - she nodded and then pulled herself free from John’s reach. It ripped her heart apart to do it, but with one last fleeting look, she turned and disappeared into the forest.
Part 6