Stole Soul Picnic 9/?

[ramblin_rosie]

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Chapter 8
Hello, Goodbye
Thanksgiving had gone much more smoothly than Henry had feared. Josie had fallen back into her standard mode of treating him as her married best male friend, and while that hurt a little, it helped more. He and Sam had already somewhat made their peace before Landry had called with their assignments, chatting about languages and discussing how to divide Janus’ journal, but after the call, they had just talked, gotten to know each other a bit better. They had parted on good terms that night, he thought. And then Dean... mercy, he didn’t even have the words for what Dean had done, giving him that glimpse of John as a man. He knew the perspective might have been skewed by coming through the eyes of a devoted son, but any image was better than none, and the Tok’ra device had been far better quality than home movies.

Regaining his composure afterward had taken a good half hour, and he had come down to find Sam and Rufus on the phone with the SGC, Josie and Lisa watching the game with Ben, and Dean talking quietly with Bobby in the language of the Tok’ra. Dean had been the one to invite Henry to join them, and they’d talked of inconsequential things until supper. And when the boys had left with Ben and Lisa, everyone had known it wasn’t to avoid spending more time with Henry-or Josie, for that matter.

They were finally adjusting to viewing Henry as their grandfather. And as hard as it had been to accept that his offspring could be hunters, never mind the Tok’ra side of things, Henry was finally finding a place in his heart for Sam and Dean as his grandsons. Even Bobby and Rufus were helping with that... their edges were rough, certainly, but they were as wise and scholarly as many of the elder Letters he had known.

All these thoughts chased themselves around Henry’s mind as he woke early Friday morning, got ready for the day, and finished the last of his packing. Rufus, with the SGC’s blessing, was coming with Bobby and Henry to the bunker for a week or two to help better organize and coordinate the hunt for the demons pursuing Purgatory, and Henry came down from his shower to find him fixing breakfast.

“So you’re John’s daddy,” Rufus observed, looking up from the omelet he was making.

Henry nodded. “Yes, sir, hard as it is to believe.”

Rufus chuckled. “Ain’t that hard. I know Sam, and I knew John.”

“Yes, Sam does remind me of John, quite a lot.”

“Say, if you’re wantin’ to stand around and talk, you mind fixin’ the bacon? I can’t.”

“Not at all.” Henry went to the refrigerator. “Would that divide your attention?”

Rufus looked at him oddly. “I’m Jewish.”

“Oh! Sorry, I-”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. You didn’t know. Most people don’t.”

Still feeling a bit awkward, Henry retrieved the bacon and followed Rufus’ directions to find a skillet. Once the first batch of bacon was sizzling merrily, Henry said, “So tell me about John.”

“Best damn hunter I ever knew,” Rufus replied immediately. “’Side from his sons, that is. Smart as a whip, tenacious, could find patterns out of piles of evidence like you wouldn’t believe. Prickly son of a gun sometimes, too hard on his boys, too bent on revenge for his own good-but hell, who wouldn’t be after what he saw?” He shook his head. “Did a hell of a lot of good in his time, though, saved a lot of lives. Not that I’d expect less of a Jarhead. I know your time with him got cut short, but... you did good.”

Henry was glad to have the bacon to focus on; that kept him from breaking down. It still took a couple of ragged breaths for him to be able to say, “Thanks, Rufus.”

Rufus transferred the omelet to a plate, squeezed Henry’s shoulder, and went to start the coffee.

By the time breakfast was ready, Josie had come down in her SGC uniform, and the boys, in their black Atlantis uniforms, had arrived with Ben and Lisa. Dean was practically glowing with excitement, which plainly amused Sam. Then Bobby, who was on one of the smallest of his phones, returned from taking care of some last-minute business in another part of his salvage yard, and the whole family sat down for one last breakfast together. But once the meal was over and the dishes were washed and it was time to leave, there was still no sign of Castiel.

“Cas said he’d meet us on the Daedalus,” Sam stated before Henry could ask. “You and Rufus still have some paperwork to sign, and the SGC’s assigning you a computer that’s connected to the Homeworld Command network so you can send secure messages and such.”

“Oh, okay,” Henry replied. “So how do we get to the Daedalus?”

“First things first,” Dean answered, slinging a pack over his shoulder at the same time Sam did. “We all need to have our bags in hand so nothing gets left behind.”

With a general murmur of agreement, everyone complied. Henry and Josie had borrowed duffle bags from the boys the night before, but Bobby and Rufus had their own, and Ben and Lisa had backpacks.

That done, Dean took what looked like a small loop of wire out of his pocket and looped it over his ear; part of it rested inside his outer ear, and part that was covered in something fuzzy stuck out toward his mouth. Then he tapped the part that went in his ear. “Daedalus, this is Winchester. We’re ready.”

A chime, a flash... and the family was standing in a room that did look like Henry’s picture of the future, complete with a window that looked out on what could only be Earth standing out against the blackness of space. He and Josie gasped.

“Winchesters,” said an oddly familiar voice behind them. “Right on schedule. Nice of you to be so prompt.”

Henry turned-and stared. The face, though older, was as familiar as the voice, but... it-it couldn’t be....

The balding man in the flight suit chuckled wryly. “Your grandsons had the same reaction, Mr. Winchester. Col. Steven Caldwell. Welcome to the Daedalus.”

Henry shook the proffered hand. “Thank you, Colonel, but... do you mind my asking....”

“Mom was Samuel Campbell’s daughter,” Dean explained, the skin around his eyes tightening in a clear Don’t ask.

But Sam frowned. “You knew the Campbells?”

Henry nodded. “Somewhat. We worked with them occasionally. Samuel and I... didn’t really get along.”

Josie chuckled. “Understatement.”

Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “Explains why he hated Dad, then.”

“Dean,” Lisa chided, amused.

Sam rolled his eyes and took care of the introductions. Then the boys and the Braedens went off with a lady whose name Henry didn’t catch to put their gear in their quarters while Col. Caldwell led him and Rufus to a conference room in another part of the ship. Once the paperwork was complete and Henry had put his new computer-which, unlike the silver one Sam kept at Bobby’s, was black and adorned with the SGC logo-into his bag, Col. Caldwell led them back to the bridge. Bobby was chatting with one of the officers, but Josie was still looking out the window at Earth.

“Incredible, isn’t it?” Henry asked as he walked up beside her.

She nodded slowly. “I’d never imagined that men could fly to the moon, even with... Sputnik and Mercury and all the rest. And now your grandsons can push a button and walk to another galaxy.”

“I don’t think it’s quite that easy.”

“But you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. I do.”

They were silent a moment, just drinking in the sight.

Then he sighed and turned to her. “I guess... this is goodbye, for the moment.”

She turned and tried to smile but didn’t make eye contact. “For the moment. You’ll... keep in touch?”

“Of course I will.” And somehow he knew they both knew he wasn’t talking about sending reports to her for the SGC.

She met his eyes then and held his gaze for longer than... well, longer than she should have, had he still been married. But something in the air shifted before he could make up his mind to kiss her.

“It’s time, Henry,” Castiel said.

Henry and Josie sighed in unison and turned away from the window.

“Hey, hey, whoa!” Dean called as he and Sam jogged onto the bridge. “Cas, wait up! We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye yet.”

“Oh,” said Castiel and fell back a couple of steps. “Of course, forgive me.”

The boys said their brief goodbyes to Josie first, and the officer Bobby had been talking to “beamed” her down to the SGC while they were taking their leave of Rufus. Then Castiel disappeared with Rufus while the boys and their symbiotes bade Bobby farewell, each brother giving Bobby a tight hug and a few teasing words that Henry didn’t understand. More strongly than ever, Henry got the sense that the boys considered Bobby their second father... and honestly, he could see why.

When Castiel returned for Bobby, though, the boys finally turned to Henry. “Henry,” Dean began, taking Henry’s hand in a firm grip but then pulling him into a brief but warm hug. Then he thumped Henry’s back twice before letting go and continuing. “You take care of yourself.”

Henry nodded. “I will.”

“We’ll be in touch. Let Bobby know if you need anything. And we’ll see if we can’t talk Woolsey into lettin’ you come out for Christmas.”

Henry couldn’t help smiling at that. “Thanks.”

Sam gave him the same kind of handshake-hug. “Stay safe, Henry.”

“I’ll try. You, too.”

They smiled in unison, and then Castiel pulled him away.

Bobby and Rufus were looking around in exasperation when Henry and Castiel arrived outside the bunker. “I’m tellin’ you, Rufus, it was right here,” Bobby insisted.

“Well, it ain’t here now,” Rufus shot back.

“What was?” Henry asked, confused.

“The door,” the elder hunters chorused, pointing to the hillside where the door... wasn’t.

And then it was.

Bobby crossed his arms as Rufus stared. “Toldja.”

Castiel tilted his head. “Interesting. It must be some kind of cloak that responds to the ATA gene.”

“The what?” Rufus echoed.

“Oh, this is gonna take a while,” Bobby groaned. “We’d better get inside.”

Deciding not to argue, Henry retrieved the key and led the way down the steps. Lights on, he thought as he opened the door, and sure enough, the lights did come on.

“Oh brave new world, that has such critters in it,” Rufus murmured as he followed Henry inside.

“You’re telling me,” Henry murmured back and started down the stairs.

Getting Bobby’s phone bank connected to the command center switchboard took less time than getting Rufus up to speed, even with Castiel’s help. Both might have gone faster were it not for the hunters’ tendency to bicker like Abbott and Costello, though Henry was never sure which was Bud and which was Lou. As it was, the briefing took until the end of lunch, at which point Castiel left after ensuring the pantry and refrigerator were well stocked. Then the hunters started feeding data about the Purgatory search and the resulting strange monster incidents into the command center computer while Henry set up his SGC computer in the library and went back to work on his translation of Janus’ journal. The computer had an Ancient-to-English dictionary on it, which helped him proceed faster.

Late that afternoon, however, he came across a section that gave him pause. He double-checked his translation as best he could and emailed a copy, with great trepidation, to Dr. Jackson. When Dr. Jackson agreed with his interpretation, he went to Bobby and Rufus, who were hard at work on the map table.

Bobby saw him walk up and straightened. “Got something, Henry?”

“Yes and no,” Henry replied. “Nothing on the order of whether a demon can capture an ascended being, but it’s... relevant to the Purgatory question. A complication.”

“Go on.”

“Janus records the story of an Ancient named Menva, one of the most accomplished Lantean scientists. He says he doesn’t know how old she was and had heard rumors that she was the scientist responsible for the creation of the Wraith. What he does know is that when the Ancients returned to Earth, Menva’s ascension was short-lived. Her thirst for knowledge led her to study life here to an extent she had never done in Atlantis, then to begin experiments of the sort that bred the Wraith.”

Both Bobby and Rufus were frowning by this point.

“He... goes into some fairly lurid detail,” Henry admitted, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. “But the upshot is, at some point, she earned names other than Menva or Minerva. Echidna and Tiamat were two he records, though she began to call herself Chavvah. More generally, she was known as the Mother of All-and Janus claims ‘all’ meant all monsters.”

Rufus swore.

“Finally she crossed one line too many. She created a race called Leviathans, unkillable monsters that could eat anything and that even she couldn’t control. The other Ancients were still trying to decide on someone to stop the experimentation when... ‘someone else’ intervened. Janus doesn’t specify, but I’m sure he meant Yahweh.”

“Where is she now?” Bobby asked warily, as if he had guessed the answer.

Henry sighed and quoted, “She was thrown with the worst of her creations into the dimension called Purgatorio, and thither all her works are doomed to follow.”

The silence hung heavy for a long moment.

Finally, Bobby took off his cap with a sigh and tossed it down on the table. “That’s one hell of a complication, son.”

Henry could only grimace in agreement.

Wraith did not measure time as humans did, but the white-haired queen who had probed the Tok’ra’s mind was aware that a good deal of time had passed since that meeting on the Wraith homeworld. In that time, the infighting among the various Wraith factions had been exacerbated further as commanders and subordinate queens quarreled among each other and with their Primaries over whether the information about the demon threat was even true, never mind what to do about it. She herself had had to sacrifice an entire hive to quash a rebellion within her alliance. Yet somehow she could not make herself forget what she had seen in the Tok’ra’s mind-indeed, it played itself over and over in her memory.

Oh. Hello, Dean.

And sometimes, as now, it played before her waking eyes, blinding her to her responsibilities to her hive. She had no idea why it disturbed her so, since there were points in Lucifer’s argument about humans that she could appreciate and accept, but there was something in that voice, the voice stolen from the other Tok’ra with his form... that was wrong.

Why would I want to destroy this... stunning thing, Father’s last perfect handiwork?

So she was unaware that her hive had stopped to cull one of its feeding grounds near the edge of the galaxy. Not that she would have cared if she had known.

Did you ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?

“My queen?”

With an effort, she pulled herself out of her thoughts. “What is it?”

Her commander bowed deferentially. “The first wave has returned from the culling.”

She drew a deep breath. “Very well. Bring me a selection here at once, for I hunger.”

He bowed again and withdrew, leaving her to her thoughts once more.

You’re not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach’s almost out of bile.

It was poor consolation to know that she’d been right about Sam and Dean. She had intended to probe Dean’s mind further while he showed her Sam’s possession, but that had been both impossible and unnecessary.

Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially when it turns out I was right.

And yet the screams, the fires, the torments of Hell that Sam recalled always intruded on this memory, echoing in Lucifer’s words, bespeaking hatred and cruelty worse than had ever entered the darkest dreams of Wraith. She shivered.

This time, however, she was not so far gone as to fail to note the doors of her quarters opening as her commander returned with a well-guarded group of prisoners, two males and two females. These humans looked young and strong, full of life and fear, and the queen hissed in anticipation.

Her commander stepped forward. “These have all passed the plague screening, my queen. The others are still being tested.”

“You have chosen well,” she replied.

He bowed and stepped back.

She stood and walked along the line of prisoners, examining each more closely. Both females and one of the males were shaking, but while the other male would not meet her eyes, something was odd about him, as if his fear were not wholly genuine. She regarded him a moment longer through narrowed eyes, then ripped open his tunic and began to feed.

Yet something about the life she drained away was wrong, as was the prisoner’s reaction-he made pained noises, but they were false, and his mind was hidden from her. She paused, grabbed his chin, and forced him to meet her eyes.

He huffed... smiled slowly... and began to chuckle, a deep, strange chuckle, as his brown eyes turned black from corner to corner.

I know what you are, she heard Dean Winchester say to Lucifer. You’re the same thing, only bigger.

She hissed and fell back a step. “Exorcisamus te, omnis immundus spiritus-”

The demon laughed. “Won’t work on me, sweetie,” he said, displaying a mark on his left arm, what the Tok’ra’s queen had called a binding link.

Without faltering in her speech, the queen looked at her commander, who promptly cut off the hand above the mark. Writhing, the demon lashed out with his mind, throwing the queen back against her throne and pinning her by the neck, cutting off her voice. Furious, she reached out through the mindlink and fed the exorcism through the mouth of every Wraith in the hive that could speak.

“How are you doing that?!” the demon demanded. “Stop it! STOP IT!”

But he couldn’t attack all the Wraith at once. And when the exorcism finished, with a cry as terrible as those in Sam Winchester’s memories, black smoke billowed out of the male’s mouth, and the pressure at her throat vanished as the human collapsed, weeping.

“My queen?!” her commander gasped.

But the queen ignored him for the moment, choosing instead to feed life quickly into the human male so that he would not die from the loss of his hand.

“Please,” the male sobbed as she finished and stood over him. “I’m just a kid from Cincinnati. I don’t know nothin’. Please let me go home.”

She blinked. “Cincinnati? Where is that?”

“Cincinnati, Ohio?”

She tilted her head in confusion.

“United States? N-North America? Earth?”

“Ha!” she hissed, and he flinched. “What are the coordinates of Earth?”

“I-I... I dunno. Honest. I don’t know nothin’. I didn’t do nothin’. It... it wasn’t me who killed those guys, I swear!!”

“But I cannot take you home if you cannot tell me the way.”

He started crying even harder.

She stooped to caress his cheek. “You saw what the creature did while it possessed you.”

He nodded.

“You know how it brought you to the planet where we captured you.”

He nodded again.

“You know what they are planning.”

“Please-”

“Show me everything,” she ordered, connecting her mind to his, “and I will ease your passing. Lie, and your life will be long... and painful.”

The images that immediately poured into her mind confirmed everything the Tok’ra’s queen had said, and then some. She probed only a little, seeking the name of the demons’ queen-Abaddon-and the address of the world from which the demons had come to her galaxy, which the human had failed to see.

When the flood of information ceased, she caressed his cheek once more. “You have done well, and you may have helped your own people as well as mine. Go now to whatever awaits humans beyond the stars.” And she drained him as quickly as possible.

As she straightened, refreshed but still unsettled, one of her sub-commanders entered. “Forgive the intrusion, my queen,” he said with a bow, “but the words you commanded us to speak caused smoke to come from several other prisoners from the first wave.”

She nodded. “Bring those humans to me and return these others to their cells. Repeat the exorcism in the hearing of the remaining waves and bring me any prisoners who react to it.”

“Yes, my queen,” he replied with a bow and left, leading the other prisoners away. Two of the guards carried out the Earthling’s remains as well.

She turned to her commander. “Prepare the emergency message. Broadcast to all ships within range, on all channels-Wraith, Travelers, even Lantean, it does not matter. Then send a team to investigate the planet’s surface-they are to exorcise any humans they may meet and capture those who react. Keep the Gate dialed out as much as possible, and have a scientist examine the dialing device to try to determine where in Earth’s galaxy these intruders may have come from.”

He bowed. “Yes, my queen. But if I may ask?”

“The demons have arrived.”

He bowed again and left.

Not until the door was shut did she allow herself to shudder and groan. The Tok’ra’s queen had been right not to keep this threat to herself; demons, it seemed, were indeed worse than Replicators. And while she still did not understand Dean’s jibe about “six impossible things before breakfast,” she would never admit to her hive that one impossible thing was true.

For the first time in her many millennia, she was afraid.

Sending the Winchesters and Braedens back to Atlantis via the Daedalus may have been O’Neill’s decision, but Landry had had a hunch that three weeks was going to be too long for the brothers to be out of contact. So he sent the SGC’s ZPM with Caldwell to power the ship’s hyperdrive, meaning that the trip took only four days.

Dean was just as glad. Once they were in hyperspace, the ship didn’t seem to be moving at all unless one looked out a window, so motion sickness wasn’t an issue, and neither were his usual flying nerves (though Dishon seemed to help with both problems). Still, by the end of Day 3, he was starting to feel claustrophobic, and Ben was getting antsy. The two of them spent a few hours that evening hanging out on the observation deck, watching the purple streaks of hyperspace flow by and talking about life, and that helped a little.

The fact that Kavanagh was on board didn’t, but Lisa and Sam got to be pretty good at running interference for Dean. Unfortunately, that meant that Kavanagh started getting ideas about his standing with Lisa-at least until Marks, who’d transferred back from the Hammond, started telling Apocalypse stories over supper one night. That, plus a quiet growl from Sam that Dean couldn’t quite overhear, pretty well convinced Kavanagh that he was dead if he so much as looked at Lisa again.

It was a relief, therefore, when Caldwell finally came to the family on Day 4 to tell them to get ready to beam. At the same time, Dean suddenly felt nervous. What if Lisa didn’t like Atlantis? What if she hated it so much that she demanded to go home after only a few days? Would she let Ben stay? Would she keep her promise to send him to Henry? Would she ever forgive Dean for dragging her all the way out here? Would he ever see either of them again?

Stop that, Dishon grumbled as Dean finished packing and zipped his backpack shut. There’s no law that says you must lose everyone you love.

Dude, how long have you known me? Dean shot back.

Long enough to understand your fear. But I have lived too long to share it.

Dean sighed, shouldered his backpack, and went to join the others on the bridge.

As he walked up to Lisa, though, she slipped her right hand into his left, twining their fingers together. She gave him a confident smile, but when she squeezed his hand, he could feel that she was trembling. He ran his thumb over hers and smiled back.

“There’s only one other kid in Atlantis?” Ben asked Sam.

Sam nodded. “Yeah, his name’s Torren. Some of the guys call him TJ. He’s only three.”

“Gotta warn you, though,” Dean added. “TJ’s a hugger.”

Lisa chuckled, and they all turned to watch as the Daedalus came out of hyperspace above New Lantea.

“Col. Caldwell?” Marks called a few seconds later. “Just received a message from Atlantis, requesting that you beam down with the Winchesters.”

Caldwell’s eyebrows shot up, but he stood. “All right. Send us down, and then set down on the East Pier to unload.”

Marks nodded once. “Yes, sir.”

One flash later, the five of them were in the Gateroom facing Woolsey, Sheppard, Teyla, and Torren. Dean wasn’t sure what felt best, seeing those familiar smiling faces, feeling Lantea’s warm sense of welcome, or hearing Ben and Lisa’s awed gasp.

“DEEEEEEAN!” Torren squealed and launched himself at Dean’s legs.

Dean laughed and ruffled his hair. “Heya, Teej. Missed you, too.”

Woolsey’s smile brightened. “Sam, Dean, welcome back.”

“Thank you, sir,” they chorused automatically.

Teyla stepped up to first Sam, then Dean for the Athosian head-touch. “You must be Lisa,” she said next as she moved on to Lisa and Torren went to hug Sam.

Lisa blinked and nodded. “Yes, I’m... Lisa Braeden.”

“Teyla Emmagen. Welcome to Atlantis.” And she bowed her head again.

After a slight hesitation, Lisa touched foreheads with Teyla.

Teyla smiled warmly as she stepped back. “It is good to meet you at last. Dean has told us so much about you.”

Did Lisa... actually blush at that? Well, it didn’t quite matter, since Torren scampered over to hug her at that moment, although he was considerably gentler in doing so than he had been with Sam and Dean.

“My son Torren,” Teyla said.

Lisa smiled and rubbed Torren’s back. Then she gestured toward Ben, who was still on the far side of Sam. “My son Ben.”

Torren looked, gasped, and looked up at Dean, who nodded once.

Ben was looking at the adults, however, and nodded once to them. “Hi. Nice to mee-OOF!” he grunted as Torren nearly knocked him over.

“Told you,” Dean said over Lisa’s laughter.

Sam was grinning as he shook his head. “Lisa, this is the leader of the expedition, Mr. Richard Woolsey, and the military commander, Lt. Col. John Sheppard.”

Lisa finally let go of Dean to shake hands with Woolsey and Sheppard in turn.

Then Woolsey took a deep breath. “Normally, I would be making a welcome speech about now. But I’m afraid something has come up that means I need to forgo such formalities and ask Sam and Dean, and Col. Caldwell, to join Col. Sheppard and myself in the conference room immediately.”

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. “All right,” Dean said with a shrug. “Teyla, would you....”

Teyla nodded. “Of course. Lisa, if you and Ben would come with me, I’ll show you to your quarters and give you a tour of the city.”

Lisa looked up at Dean nervously, and he brushed a kiss on her cheek. “We’ll catch up with you as soon as we can.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.” Then she kissed him and turned. “C’mon, Ben.”

Torren finally let go of Ben just long enough to grab his hand and start babbling about how “we are gonna be bestest friends, like Mommy an’ SamanDean an’ Unka John an’ Unka Rodney an’ Unka Ronon an’...” as Ben bemusedly followed Lisa and Teyla out of the Gateroom.

Sheppard shook his head. “Kid never met a stranger.”

All the other men chuckled at that.

Then Woolsey sobered as he turned back to the Winchesters. “It seems Gen. Landry’s concern was well founded. You’ve arrived not a moment too soon.”

Both brothers frowned. “What’s happened?”

“Come with us.”

“Your grandfather’s made a lot of progress on his half of Janus’ journal,” Sheppard reported as the five of them made their way up the stairs to the conference room. “Turns out, most of the monsters you guys have been hunting all your lives are Ancient experiments gone wrong. The scientist behind ’em all got crosswise with God, and he locked her up in Purgatory.”

The Winchesters and their symbiotes cursed in unison Goa’uld.

Woolsey nodded. “Mr. Singer and Mr. Turner fear Menva may be directing the increase in monster attacks as a response to the demons that are trying to find their way into her domain. But that’s not our only problem. About an hour ago we began receiving messages from the Alpha site. The demons have reached Pegasus.”

Another unison curse burst from the Winchesters. “Where?”

“M2Y-559,” Sheppard replied. “Populated world near the edge of the galaxy on the Milky Way side, just like we figured. Looks like they showed up less than a day before one of the hives you and Teyla briefed arrived to cull.”

The doors of the conference room opened to reveal Todd working on a Wraith tablet and muttering to himself. He looked up just long enough to make eye contact with the new arrivals and nod before going back to work, and the doors closed again.

Dean frowned and tilted his head as he looked at the tablet. “You get that from the Alpha site?”

“Yes,” Todd replied, not looking up. “The Primary to whom you showed Sam’s possession sent her report on it.”

Caldwell frowned. “How the hell did she get it to the Alpha site?”

“She doesn’t know the address, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sheppard assured him. “The locals helped the Wraith mop up the Lucian Alliance strike force, and the Wraith exorcised all the demons they could get their hands on. As soon as the queen had enough information, she sent a delegation to a pre-arranged uninhabited planet with instructions on how to contact Todd’s hive. Now, Todd’s hive had a data crystal with a macro developed by McKay and Zelenka that would allow them to contact the Alpha site securely without giving away the Gate address. After a little interstellar phone tag, we gave the Alpha site permission to have the delegation sent here, with the tablet.”

“You brought Wraith-”

“No,” Todd interrupted. “Only the tablet is Wraith. The Primary would never risk sending her warriors into a trap. These were humans-from Earth.”

Sam tipped his head back a little. “Former demon hosts. On Vihanta, most of the demons had possessed Lucian Alliance members, but if Abaddon’s calling the shots now....”

“She’d be sending demons who were closest to home,” Dean agreed. “And who cares if you strand a few hosts a few million light years from Earth when you’ve got seven billion more handy and plan to conquer the whole universe anyway?”

“Huh,” said Caldwell. “So where are they?”

“Isolation,” Woolsey reported. “As soon as Dr. Keller and her team finish examining them, she’ll select a spokesperson from the group to come brief us.”

Caldwell nodded, apparently satisfied.

Sam got Dean some coffee, and humans and Tok’ra sat down to wait. Only a few minutes later, the doors opened to admit Keller and a young woman who looked to be in her twenties. The stranger looked around the room timidly, then suddenly gasped in terror and ducked behind Keller. But she wasn’t looking at Todd... she was looking at Caldwell.

Bewildered, Caldwell frowned. “Okay, that’s a new one.”

“No,” the girl whispered. “Please, no, he’ll-he’ll kill me-”

“Hey,” Sam said as he and Dean jumped up in tandem and moved to block the girl’s view of Caldwell. “It’s okay. He’s not who you think he is.”

Keller looked at them and the girl in confusion. “What’s going on?”

Dean ignored her. “Can you look at me?” he asked the girl gently.

Shaking, the girl looked up at him.

“You recognize me?”

She nodded. “You’re Dean Winchester. The demon was afraid of you.”

“Me and my brother, we’re not gonna let anyone hurt you.”

“B-b-but....”

“He’s not who you think he is,” Sam repeated. “That’s Col. Caldwell. He’s a good guy.”

“C-Col. Caldwell?” the girl echoed as Keller eased around to stand beside her. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Dean glanced at the girl’s clothes, which were non-descript, probably fairly standard Lucian Alliance issue. “How long were you possessed?”

She shook her head. “Maybe a week, I think. But I was there when... when Abaddon brought him back. She said she’d bring his daughter back if he would....” She gulped.

“Help her find Purgatory?”

The girl nodded. “She took him to a place... it kind of looked like a prison, but... she s-said she n-n-needed to know if he c-c-c-could get results....” She shuddered hard.

“It’s okay,” Sam assured her. “You don’t have to give us the details. But if it helps any, those probably weren’t humans.”

“Did he get anything?” Dean asked.

The girl shook her head. “No, but Abaddon... said she liked his style. He said he probably needed an Alpha, one of the firstborn. Abaddon said Eve was stirring up trouble, so the Alphas should be easier to find. He said he’d contact his family and see what they could do.”

“Excuse me,” Woolsey broke in. “Who are you talking about?”

The brothers sighed, turned, and chorused, “Samuel Campbell.”

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