Archive of Our Own ^beta

"...to Atlantis. Come in Atlantis."

The bored voice echoed around the control room, startling everyone because, until this moment, communications between the ship and city had been blocked. Rodney was finding it pretty tiresome having to write letters and leave them in a pile on a certain patch of the gate room floor just so he could communicate with Sam and the others on board the orbiting Earth ship. It was worse than when he was in Russia, trying to use a government email system that took over an hour to send an email from one PC to the another on the other side of the same room. Out of sheer frustration, Rodney had actually been forced to talk to some of the idiots who called themselves scientists.

He leaped for the communications panel, beating out a startled Grodin.

"Daedalus, this is Dr. McKay."

His response must have startled them too because the flustered operator seemed at a loss for a moment. "Dr. McKay? This is Daedalus."

"Yes," Rodney drew out the word in annoyance. "Obviously."

"Rodney?"

"Elizabeth!" Rodney grinned. "It's good to hear your voice."

"Yours too, Rodney."

Jack chose that moment to arrive with a grinning Daniel in tow, and took over the conversation with Elizabeth. Rodney shook his head. Some how in just a matter of a few days, Daniel had managed to convince Atlantis that blocking communication between known allies was not logical. Of course it helped that he had stressed that opening communications with Earth was not a precursor to everyone leaving the city; that some people actually wanted to stay of their own free will and more would ask to come here. Rodney was one of those people and so was John, neither having much on Earth to go back to but both seeing a future here on Atlantis--together. It surprised him, though, that Jack and Daniel felt the same way even though they had been here but a few days, until he saw them together, openly revealing the love they had left unrequited for so many years.

Rodney knew there was no need to offer any verbal reassurance that everything here was fine as they had been passing messages back and forth on paper since the Daedalus arrived. The talk turned to tactical instead with Elizabeth handing over to Caldwell.

***

"This is everything we've learned about the Wraith so far," Sheppard stated as he handed over several disks to Jack. With luck, Atlantis would allow them to send a copy to the Daedalus on a short data burst now that communications had been reestablished. Jack stared at the disks and handed them across to Rodney.

"Steven, I need to give you everything we have on the Wraith." He looked to Rodney, nodding his head.

"Data sent."

Caldwell responded, "Data received. Thank you, doctor."

"I think the important points are, one, don't lead them to the Milky Way and Earth. Two, don't lead them here."

"Understood, sir."

"That's it?" Rodney looked a little put out. "Those are your words of wisdom regarding the Wraith?"

Jack raised an eyebrow, glancing up towards Sheppard as if he could answer Rodney's questions any easier. Sheppard's lips twitched a fraction but, otherwise, he remained silent. "McKay, we don't even know if these Wraith still exist. It's been ten thousand years."

"How about the nightly wake up calls?"

"They could be coming from anywhere."

"I've gone through the logs and some of those gate addresses originate at planets where a Wraith hive ship was known to hibernate for decades between attacks on human worlds." He took a stronger stance, back straight, chin up and arms folded across his chest. "Atlantis was under siege for over a century but wasn't cut off from all communications with the outside galaxy during that time."

"I am aware of that, Rodney." He blew his cheeks out and pushed up from his seat, walking round the desk until he was standing in front of Rodney. Jack reached out a hand and rested it on one of Rodney's stiffly crossed arms, feeling the tension and, yes, the fear trembling the muscle. "The disk contains everything we know about the Wraith. Caldwell has that information now, and orders to avoid confrontation and detection at all costs."

Rodney's face crumpled from its hard expression, revealing the worry lying beneath. "What does that mean?"

Sheppard stepped forward, face full of compassion. "It means the Daedalus will self-destruct rather than lead the Wraith here or to Earth."

"Oh no."

Rodney sank down into the seat in front of Jack's desk, eyes desperately seeking Sheppard's, and if Jack was not already aware of the relationship between the two men then this would have been the ultimate giveaway. Fortunately, he didn't care because DADT had no place or power on this expedition and who the hell was around to enforce it anyway? Certainly not him, not when he had Daniel sharing his bed every night since beaming down from the Daedalus, with no question of one of them sneaking away in the early hours of the morning to hide their relationship.

The Atlantis sentience had made it perfectly clear that he/she/it was not going to tolerate any of that DADT stuff anyway, filling the air with pheromones or whatever on the day he and Daniel arrived, and matchmaking some of the other new arrivals. Of course Daniel and the other anthropologists types were all over the subject because Atlantis was not going to get a population growth out of homosexual couples, so procreation couldn't be the whole reason.

"I never considered that they could lead the Wraith...you know." He waved a hand haphazardly.

"Yeah, well that's why you need a military mind or two here, Rodney." Sheppard looked sad for a moment. "And that's why the Daedalus has to go soon. The longer she stays, the greater the chance something or someone out there will pick up her signal and come to investigate."

"Elizabeth? This was her dream." Rodney's eyes were wide and incredibly blue as they gazed between him and Sheppard, almost glistening with despair.

Jack winced, "I know, and maybe by the time the Daedalus makes a second trip out here, Daniel would have convinced Atlantis to allow her in along with the others."

"Or maybe she could...hook up with an ATA gene carrier?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed with another small wince because that was exactly what she had already tried to do, though she had picked the wrong ATA gene carrier when she slipped into his quarters the night before reaching Atlantis. He could see by Rodney's expression that the man genuinely liked Elizabeth and, in truth, he liked her too when she wasn't trying to manipulate him. However, he could not help glancing towards Sheppard and wondering how she would have reacted the first time he disobeyed one of her orders. It was not like she could throw him in the brig because the military answered only to the military unless she could prove Sheppard unfit to command. She had to realize that all of her orders would be subject to his final internal approval and he would follow only out of respect and loyalty if there was a chance she could be right but be ready to step in if not.

Before Sheppard sat down in that goddamn chair in Antarctica, Jack had been fighting against inclusion on the expedition for that very reason because he knew he would undermine her orders eventually, on something pertaining to a military situation where he was convinced she did not fully understand the ramifications of her actions. She was a political scientist, a negotiator, but there were some things you could not negotiate with: machines, microbes and, if everything Atlantis had given them was the truth, the Wraith. No one sat down at the table to negotiate life and death with a cow and from the database archives it was plain to see that the Wraith showed no signs of being willing to negotiate with their meals-on-legs either, sentient or not.

Admittedly, things could change in ten thousand years but no decent commander would take a gamble on that without doing a reconnaissance first.

As if shadowing his concerns, the sudden strident alarm dragged his thoughts back to the present and the three of them moved swiftly to the control room.

"This just popped up on long range sensors." Grodin pointed to an alien shapes.

"Can it see us?" Sheppard asked, galvanizing Rodney into action and Jack watched in faint amusement as Grodin sailed off on his wheeled chair with an annoyed glare after a shove aside from Rodney.

"It's a Wraith hive ship with accompanying cruisers, and according to the last known specifications, its sensors can't reach this far...yet." He looked up at Jack with fear-darkened eyes.

Jack opened a communication to the Daedalus. "Daedalus, we have a Wraith fleet a little too close for comfort. I'd advise you get ready to bug out before you give away yours and our location."

"I'm sending them the coordinates of the Wraith ships."

Jack nodded at Rodney.

"Copy that, Atlantis. We have them on the Asgard sensors. Preparing to leave orbit. Good luck, Atlantis. Caldwell out."

Jack watched as the blip that represented the Daedalus moved out of geosynchronous orbit above them and then jumped, amazed that the Atlantean technology could track them as they sped away from both Atlantis and the Wraith fleet.

"If they decide to check out the neighborhood, how long would it take them to get here?" Shepard asked.

"Truthfully? I don't know. All the information in the Atlantis database is ten thousand years out of date. We went from the Pony Express to intergalactic communication by wormhole in 150 years. We have no idea how much more advanced they could be after ten thousand years... unless...Humph."

"Rodney?" Sheppard frowned when he gained no immediate response.

Rodney looked up from the control console looking a little confused. "If these readings are correct then they've barely progressed at all since the Ancients left for Earth." He looked back down at the read-out. "Propulsion only marginally better, same basic design on the ships. In fact, this could actually be one of the original hive ships with just a few minor modifications." He looked up, completely bewildered. "But that makes no sense."

"Just look at the shark," Sheppard shrugged with one shoulder.

"The shark? What?" Now Rodney looked confused, blinking rapidly, but Jack understood the analogy immediately and Sheppard confirmed it.

"I'm just saying, Rodney, that the shark is the perfect eating machine and hasn't changed since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Now if these guys have been top dog all this time then maybe they haven't needed to change either."

Rodney gave an uncomfortable sort of wriggle. "I suppose that could..." His eyes narrowed, "But I don't think we should just assume that based on one set of sensor readings. We have no idea of their sensor range."

"So we sit tight," Jack stated. "We lower all power usage to the bare minimum and we prepare for the worst case scenario."

"Which is?" Rodney had to ask even though the answer was obvious.

"Another Wraith siege," John answered softly.

Rodney gave a shaky huff. "The Ancients survived a hundred years because they still had control over their Stargate to bring in fresh supplies, and an escape route back to the Milky Way when all else failed. We don't."

Jack raised a finger. "Yet."

***

John leaned over his exhausted lover and brushed the wispy hair from his forehead, knowing how much Rodney hated that when he was awake. The strands were so soft though, and fine like a baby's hair. His lips followed his fingers, placing soft kisses on hair and forehead while Rodney slept on too tired to even murmur a protest.

They had watched the Wraith fleet for days, taking little rest as they prepared for the worst. Perhaps it should not have surprised him but Atlantis seemed particularly eager to power down whole sections of the newly explored parts of the city until all that was left was the upper levels of the central tower. The systematic pairing of expedition members, courtesy of the spell weaved by Atlantis, meant that they did not have to double up except in a few cases, wanting everyone as close to the gate room as possible as it was the most defensible part of the city.

A soldier knew when it was time to rest, and John had perfected the art of grabbing sleep anytime, anywhere, but Rodney was called on constantly for his expertise, rarely gaining more than an hour's rest before the next person called for his advice. John never really understood Rodney's importance until now, or any of the scientists come to think of it. He had looked upon them as civilians only, forgetting that they had a greater role to play in the hours leading up to any battle. John could only hope that the shield held against the Wraith just as it had ten thousand years earlier but no one was prepared to take that gamble with the ZPM so close to depletion. Rodney figured that they had enough energy left to sustain the shield for eighteen years or open a wormhole to Earth, but not both. Recalling the information gleaned from the Atlantis database, eighteen years was nothing to their enemy so a tactical withdrawal would be best, except Atlantis would not release the Stargate to their control. She had lost her former occupants and she was unwilling to lose them too.

Daniel spent most of his days with the holographic interface, trying to persuade Atlantis to let them escape back to Earth so she could power down completely and hide from the Wraith. Promises to return yielded no result so far and John was beginning to wonder if she would let them go even when the Wraith were at the door.

He spent his own days with O'Neill, preparing the soldiers for battle, making them aware that they had but one duty and that was to protect the civilians--their loved ones. His fingers froze mid-stroke, tangled in Rodney's fine hair. Perhaps it was no coincidence that all but a couple of the relationships were soldier to scientist. Rarely had any military force had such an invested interest in protecting the civilians under its wing. Many of the women from the first expedition were already pregnant despite the birth control drugs that were supposed to have prevented such occurrences, giving the soldiers even greater incentive to protect the more vulnerable among them.

John leaned in further and breathed in the scent of his lover, letting it fill him and send fresh waves of desire through him. More tempting was his own scent on Rodney, the pungency of his release that slicked between the perfect ass cheeks, and the scent of his fresh sweat mingling with Rodney's. Beneath it all he could smell Rodney, the intoxicating scent of his lover's semen coating belly and thigh, and the bitter aroma of too much coffee, and of explosive chemicals and Naquadah. It still stole his breath away when he thought of what they had together, of what Atlantis had given them, and the thought of losing all of this was a dull ache in his chest.

John fell back against the pillows and sighed, aware that he ought to be resting too but his mind still churned with battle plans and his mind's eye was still casting over Atlantis to determine her weaknesses should the shield be breached by more advanced technology. If the Asgard beam could penetrate the shield then they had to accept the possibility that, after ten thousand years, the Wraith had figured out a way through the shield too. He considered the more defensible positions, the central tower with its access to the Stargate - if Jackson could persuade Atlantis to let them have access - or the lower levels where the Wraith culling beams might not penetrate. He doubted he could persuade Rodney to seek safety in the lower levels so he would ensure he remained in the control tower instead, and away from the balconies.

Automatically, his eyes sought out the LED display on his bedside clock and he knew the Stargate would be activating soon, just as it had every night at this time since the day the Ancients left Atlantis. John shivered, never more aware of the terrible enemy waiting behind that distant Stargate, patiently waiting for the day Atlantis failed and let them in. Rodney must have felt it in his sleep for his body trembled just as John's own anxiety rose another notch, and then they both relaxed, and John knew Atlantis had held for another day.

This time when he closed his eyes, he felt the call to sleep dragging at him, drawing him down and he turned onto his side, snuggling up behind Rodney and wrapping one arm around his lover, feeling Rodney relax back against him. He yawned wide, pressed a gentle kiss into the fine hair feathering the nape of Rodney's neck, and let sleep take him.

***

The Daedalus moved quietly through hyperspace. The thrum of her powerful engines vibrating through the walls and floor should have been soothing but Caldwell could feel only anger and frustration emanating from Dr. Weir as she stood behind his command chair, staring into the tunnel of streaking stars. He pressed his lips together tighter, wishing he could order the woman from his bridge because they'd had this debate several times since setting back towards Earth two days previously, and he had refused to consider her request each time.

"Colonel, we don't know anything about the Wraith other than what was found in the Atlantis database. For all we know, they were made out to be monsters as part of the propaganda war machine of the time. In reality, they could be no different from...the Romans. The war ended ten thousand years ago. Empires on Earth have risen and fallen in a fraction of that time.

"I understand what you're saying, Dr. Weir, but the answer is still no. I have my orders from General O'Neill to avoid contact with the enemy at all cost."

"General O'Neill was working from information thousands of years out of date. Those people are trapped on Atlantis, Colonel. Not even the Asgard have the technology to set them free but out there is a race that defeated the Ancients thousands of years ago. Their technology must be at least as advanced as the Ancients. If we can form an alliance with them then we could gain full access to the city and all its wonders, and free our people."

Caldwell took in a deep breath. This had gone on long enough. He could no longer tolerate her questioning his decisions on board his own goddamn ship. Rising from his seat, he drew himself up straight and stiff and turned to her. "Dr. Weir, might I remind you..."

"At least consider making contact with an inhabited world before we leave the Pegasus galaxy to gain more up-to-date intelligence."

Part of him wanted to snarl at her and tell her to get off his bridge. Yes, he could understand her bitter disappointment at losing her city for the second time, but she was like a dog with a bone over these Wraith, seeing them as the answer to all her prayers. Yet, if even half of the data from Atlantis was true then they were no ordinary enemy looking to build an empire of slaves, like the Goa'uld. These creatures were predators, sharks, seeing human as little more than small fish in the oceans of space, to be snapped up in their jaws and their life force consumed. Equally, if only half of that data was true then this was an enemy that they needed greater intelligence on so that Earth could be prepared should the Wraith ever turn their hungry eyes towards the Milky Way.

He let out the breath he was holding and nodded curtly.

"Colonel Carter, Where is the closest inhabitable planet to our position?"

He noticed the conspiratorial smile aimed in Carter's direction and knew he had been played by the two of them. Carter had made her own attempts to get him to turn around and return to Atlantis, not wanting to leave her two former team mates behind. He could understand that kind of loyalty though, especially as Weir had been priming Carter to take over as her head of Science in Atlantis. Her crush on Jack had not gone unnoticed so Carter would have gained the best of all worlds; working in close proximity to Jack while taking the lead on what had to be one of the most amazing projects in known history from a physicist's point of view. Where that left McKay remained to be seen but Caldwell had already figured out what Weir's presence on Atlantis would have meant to Jack if Atlantis had allowed her to stay. The woman would have stomped down on him hard to make sure he understood exactly who was in charge, and Jack would have retaliated accordingly.

"There's a Stargate on a world close to our current location." Carter's eyes were shining with glee even though she kept her expression neutral.

He sank back down into his command chair. "Lieutenant? Take us out of hyperspace." He watched as Carter patched in the coordinates of the planet to the helm, barely acknowledging the 'aye, aye, sir'.

Two hours later, Caldwell sighed as the Daedalus took up orbit in the outer atmosphere of the planet. The sensors registered a small village about a mile from the Stargate, holding a population of around seventy people. Decision made, Caldwell ordered Carter to take a team down to the surface.

Dr. Weir chose that moment to speak up. "I'm going with them."

He raised an eyebrow as his first impulse was to refuse. He could not fault the tenacity of her character, knowing it had served her well in negotiations across the globe and even with the Goa'uld on one recent occasion. He realized, however, that she would only begin to accept her loss of Atlantis once she had exhausted all other possibilities. Perhaps it was better to let her go and see for herself. Caldwell nodded, mentally adding another couple of soldiers to the contact team for her protection.

At Caldwell's insistence, they waited until past day break before Sumner, Weir, Carter, Lt. Ford and several other soldiers - mostly marines originally meant for Atlantis--were given permission to transport down to the surface. Caldwell sighed when Hermiod confirmed a safe transportation. All he could do now was wait, and he had to admit that this had always been the hardest part of any command.

***

Rodney stared at the long range sensor readings, biting his knuckle with some trepidation as the small convoy of Wraith mothership and cruisers dropped out into normal space barely a jump from their position. So far, the Wraith had shown no particular sign of being aware of their existence on Atlantis, taking small jumps between systems that Atlantis verified had contained abundant human life ten thousand years in the past.

None of the recent nightly Stargate activity had originated from any of the systems lying along the Wraith's path so Rodney allowed himself a ragged sigh of relief even though he knew better than to become complacent. Fortunately, neither Jack nor John believed in complacency either and were still preparing for the worst. It meant they'd had far less time to spend together but another couple of jumps would see the Wraith beyond sensor range and Atlantis would be safe once more.

He looked down at the gun strapped to his thigh. Two days ago he had never touched a gun let alone fired one and now he was expected to defend himself in the worst case scenario. John had insisted on dragging him away from important work for half an hour just to show him how to fire the gun in an emergency, though Rodney doubted John took such an intimate stance when training others. He thoughts flashed back to that impromptu training session.

John's chest pressed tight against Rodney's back, arms wrapped around him, holding his wrists to mimic the correct stance and buffering the kick-back from when Rodney squeezed the trigger and the gun fired. He felt the gentle puffs of warm breath on his cheek, and the tickle of soft hair against his skin, instantly hardening at the contact memory from earlier that evening, though they had been naked then. A slide of a leg between his, forcing his legs wider apart, brought John's groin pressing against his clothed ass, the hardness of John's erection grinding into him.

He loved the feel of that hard length pressing into him, his body reacting to the memory, causing his eyes to flutter closed for a moment.

"Hey, you should get some rest."

The warm breath against his neck from a familiar voice made him jump, and Rodney swiveled in his seat until he was facing his lover. "Another few hours and..."

"...And you'll be too tired to notice they've jumped right onto our door step." A gentle smile took away the sting of John's words. "You need to rest, Rodney. Radek can take over for a while."

His inability to stir up enough enthusiasm even to argue was the decision breaker and Rodney sighed deeply, nodding his head and allowing John to draw him up from his seat. Radek slipped into the seat before Rodney could change his mind, his face wearing a small, triumphant smile, and earning the smallest of glares from Rodney in response. In truth, though, Rodney was tired. His eyes felt gritty from spending too many hours staring at the long range sensors, and trying to predict the next jump made by the Wraith. He flicked a bewildered glance towards John before glancing back over his shoulder to find Jack watching the pair of them leave the control room. Jack gave one of his soft smiles and Rodney decided that he did not have the strength to argue with that either, aware now that he'd not had the option of saying 'no', finally registering the exhaustion that dragged at his mind and limbs.

The trip to their quarters took no time at all and Rodney allowed John to strip off the thigh holster and gun before dropping to the bed, sprawling ungainly. A chuckle and the slight pulling as John took off Rodney's boots and peeled off his socks made Rodney hum in appreciation. Until John came into his life, Rodney had forgotten how it felt to be cared for, and loved. He made a minimal effort to help his lover divest him of his shirt and pants, breath holding when John's hands smoothed over his thighs, sliding upwards and beneath the boxers as far as they could travel before being snared by the material, and that was a fair distance, reminding Rodney of how much weight he had lost since arriving in Atlantis. Those hands slid back and forward, kneading his skin and brushing over the crease between leg and body, tantalizingly close to his slowly filling cock. He whimpered in dismay when John removed his hands, only to sigh they slid over the material instead to grasp at the waistband. Rodney made his desire known by raising his ass off the bed, smiling at the soft chuckle as John obeyed, sliding down the boxers to release Rodney's trapped erection.

The cooler air of the room enhanced his arousal, telling his brain that he was naked under John's smoldering eyes. He gave a ragged sigh as John's hands stroked his skin once more, no longer restricted by cloth, trembling as warm breath fanned over the sensitive head of his cock, body arching in a determined need to feel the soft lips touch him there...oh, just there. He moaned as his wish was granted, feeling the coolness left behind on his skin as the tongue stroked his length and swirled around the top, dipping into the tiny slit. He felt John's moan of appreciation vibrating through his flesh, straining against the hands that now held his hips down as John's hot, wet mouth descended, encasing him, dragging a guttural moan of pleasure from his own lips. John wouldn't let him buck up into that talented mouth, allowing only the tiniest of thrusts as John set up a punishing rhythm of sucks and licks and bites that drew Rodney closer and closer to the edge until his whole body was consumed by heat and desire, gasping out his ecstasy as he came.

Rodney couldn't recall coming down from that high, couldn't remember the teasing laps that followed as John licked him clean or the way John straightened his limbs and tucked him beneath the blanket on their shared bed. His next memory was awakening in semi-darkness with John's naked body wrapped around his in that oh-so familiar way. He felt a little embarrassed at knowing he'd passed out from the pleasure combined with exhaustion, knowing he would be teased without mercy when John awoke, yet he smiled in anticipation.

Not bothering even to try and extricate himself from John's arms, Rodney reached across and snagged his radio, keeping his voice low as he demanded an update from Radek.

"The Wraith have jumped further away, beyond the range of their sensors. They can no longer detect Atlantis."

Rodney sighed in relief and let the radio drop back onto the bedside table. A deep yawn took him by surprise and he gave in to his body's demand for more sleep, squirming back against John and smiling as John's arms tightened around him, wonderfully possessive even in his sleep.

****

The tall man who stopped them on the edge of the Athosian village called himself Halling, and he was pleased enough to take them to the leader of his people. Elizabeth smiled warmly as the coffee-skinned, beautiful matriarch offered her name.

"I am Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Tagan."

"Colonel Sumner." He introduced them from left to right. "This is Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Sergeant Bates." He did not mention the three other marines who had stayed outside the tent.

Elizabeth stepped forward. "We're travelers from a..." Sumner cleared his throat meaningfully. "...Great distance."

Sam saw the Athosian's eyes narrow, looking from Elizabeth to Sumner. "You wish to trade?"

"For information...on the Wraith," Sumner replied carefully.

"All know of the Wraith." The woman's dark eyes hardened in suspicion. "If your world has not been touched by the Wraith then you should return there."

"Some of our people don't have that choice right now, unfortunately."

Teyla nodded gracefully, a bittersweet smile on her lips but she acquiesced and indicated towards a seat in her tent. "It is a custom of my people to start the day with a bracing tea."

Elizabeth smiled. "I love tea."

They were offered a seat and listened quietly as Teyla told them the sort of story that could belong only in a book of horror. All that Atlantis had told them had not changed in over ten thousand years. The massive decrease in the population of humans within the Pegasus galaxy had merely curbed their appetite and not suppressed it completely. Instead they were reduced to hunger management, sleeping through the long centuries while their herds of humans grew in population, and then returning to cull the herd until they had sated their appetite once more. If both Atlantis and Teyla were right then no world in the Pegasus galaxy had been left untouched by the Wraith. All had been culled close to extinction, the great human empires and cities falling to ruin as the Wraith prevented any attempt to rebuild.

"The abandoned city across the water..."

"No one enters the great cities for legend has it that it will bring the Wraith."

Elizabeth glanced at Sumner in concern because Colonel Carter had beamed down just outside the city with Lieutenant Ford and two more soldiers almost an hour earlier.

****

Daniel sighed in exasperation as the Atlantis hologram smiled pleasantly at him even as she refused to consider his appeal. He wondered if Elizabeth would have had better luck negotiating with the Atlantis A.I. but something told him that Atlantis would not listen to pure humans usually. She had made an exception of him, restricting her communication with the other pure humans to answering only the most simple of questions despite allowing them into her city with their ATA-carrying partners. Why she had made an exception of him was not a complete mystery for, according to Atlantis, they had met before and he wondered if this was one more missing memory from the first time he ascended. Certainly, he had the strongest feeling that she liked him though he knew she had stronger ties to Jack, John and Rodney, the two strongest natural gene carriers and the man who was slowly bringing her back to full life by repairing systems that were beyond her reach. She was never meant to be self-sufficient, relying on her people to bring in the raw materials required and assist with repairs. Plus, he wondered if she had been lonely, holding onto her new people tightly for fear that they would walk away as they had ten thousand years earlier.

"Even with the increased numbers off the Daedalus, there are not enough people for population growth and diversity," he stated, not bothering to mention that some of them would not be adding to the gene pool at all because their partners were same-sex. "If you allowed people to come and go as they please then more would come--and probably stay."

"Genetic diversity is of importance secondary to providing descendants of the Ancients."

"I understand that you want to repopulate the city with descendants but only 48% of humans carry even the recessive gene, and only 2% have the gene dominant."

"I am willing to make exception for pure humans partnered with a descendant."

"Some of the most exceptionally talented humans are pure humans who are not partnered. People like Dr. Elizabeth Weir, who you have refused twice."

"Dr. Weir is pure human. Your records show that she was expected to lead your people in my city but I will not allow a pure human to control the city and its population."

"If she was to accept a lesser position, then would you allow her and other pure humans entrance to the city?"

"I would consider this."

Daniel sighed. This was the furthest he had reached in his negotiations with Atlantis but at least the city was prepared to consider the addition of pure humans under certain circumstances. Perhaps if Atlantis had been a pure computer then he could have left someone like Rodney to negotiate because Rodney could think far more like a machine than him. However, Atlantis was a lot more than simple and logical machine code with a binary core. There was no zero and one in his dealings with her. She asked questions and reasoned out her responses gaged on his answers just like a real person. She learned from him, from his mistakes and from his successes. Her intelligence was not childlike either, nor was it mature, falling somewhere in between like a rebellious teenager who questioned every word as it pushed the known envelope of its world with a little hostility, believing it already knew everything but half willing to be persuaded otherwise.

He rubbed tired eyes and glanced up at movement in the doorway, smiling when he spotted Jack hovering there. Atlantis had noticed one of her favorite sons too. Jack crossed the room and her smile softened as she took in both of them now standing together.

"Anything?"

"She's thinking on it."

"Is that good?"

Daniel gave a half-smile, uncertain how to answer that. He wished he understood exactly what Atlantis wanted, other than an end to her ten millennia of loneliness. Or perhaps that is all she wanted. His thoughts returned to the recorded words of the old Weir that had been found long before he and Jack arrived, and how she had been shocked to learn of Atlantis's sentience. Whoever this Janus was, he had underestimated the sentience of the city when he made his plans. Or had he? His only contact with the future had come through a pure human who had arrived to take control of his city. Perhaps he had not wanted that, in his arrogance, preferring the city to remain empty rather than see her controlled by a lesser species. Perhaps he had wanted the city only for his descendants and had counted on the sentience within Atlantis to ensure that condition was met. Perhaps he had even programmed her response after meeting with the original Elizabeth, possibly feeling no true animosity towards her but recognizing that if he did not act before the city was abandoned then eventually Atlantis would be lost to the human seedlings of either the Milky Way or Pegasus.

Except that contradicted his instructions to Elizabeth that would have ensured the loss of the Atlantis sentience long before the Atlantis expedition ever stepped foot inside the city.

No. Someone else had reprogrammed the city, negating part of Janus's work.

"The Wraith cruisers have gone for now so...Why don't you call it a day? Start afresh tomorrow."

For a moment, Daniel was torn between continuing his pressure on Atlantis to allow them to come and go as they pleased and giving in to his own exhaustion. The worry in Jack's eyes decided for him and he nodded, closing down the holographic interface and stepping away from the pedestal. If only to himself, he could admit how tiring these sessions could be but he knew he was not the only one who would work until he dropped.

"Rodney?"

"Sheppard's got that covered."

Daniel's tired smile widened a fraction as Jack led him away, glad that someone was looking out for his friend.

****

The ruins of the Athosian city stood before her, its sleek towers crumbling and its streets filled with the debris of fallen masonry. Sam wondered at the architecture and construction that could survive ten thousand years when even the Great Pyramid of Giza was a mere four and half thousand years in age and looking every day of it. They stepped into the city with care, wary of the rubble that made it treacherous underfoot. Looking around, she doubted they would find anything of any significance here but she could see some influence of the Ancients upon its construction. Perhaps they had walked these streets. Perhaps they had left some of their technology behind that might help Earth defend itself from the Goa'uld and replicators.

Several hours passed quickly as they made their way towards one of the most magnificent towers near the center of the city. One of the entrances stood open, leading into a darkened interior with pockets of light bleeding through from what looked like blast holes in the walls. The Wraith must have destroyed this city ten thousand years ago. Her maglite bounced off walls discolored through age and weathering but she was determined to go forward just a little further, leaving two of the marines to watch over the entrance.

"Colonel!"

Sam turned to see what Ford had spotted. She studied the small device partially buried in the dust of eons and then reached out, picking it up and turning it over in her hand. It looked almost Ancient in design and she wished that either she or Ford had the ATA gene so she could activate it and see what it did. Intrigued by the device, Sam headed back outside the tower, wanting to see it in natural sunlight.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure." She found a handy piece of debris to sit upon and pulled out her toolkit, picking up the smallest flathead screwdriver and using it to try to lever off the front facing. She startled when it blipped for a second, a bright bluish-purple light flashing once, twice, and then fading. Everyone remained still and silent, ears and eyes open for anything strange, the silence of the long dead city almost mocking them.

Ford shuffled uneasily. "Colonel? Should we inform Colonel Caldwell about..."

"No. Its battery was so close to depletion that it wouldn't have had the range to do anything. Still, we should leave. Head to the village and await beam up."

Ford looked like he wanted to argue with her but he tightened his lips and nodded agreement, accepting the implicit orders. They moved a little faster as they made their way out of the city. In the distance, she could just make out the distinctive shape of the planet's Stargate through the trees, set just outside the city wall at the end of a long avenue that must have been magnificent in its day but was now little more than a large meadow lined with more trees growing around the remains of the low, ancient walls. The short winter's day was quickly drawing to an end with long shadows creeping across the meadow as the sun sank beneath the level of the thick forest of tall pine-like trees. The sound of a chevron locking startled her for the second time and Sam exchanged a look with Ford as the wormhole burst forward before forming a shimmering pool within the Naquadah ring. Ford was halfway towards the Stargate, out in the open, when the first of three needle-nosed craft darted through and swept over the meadow, disappearing fast. Two were heading towards the ancient city while another veered off in the direction of the Athosian settlement.

Sam clicked her radio. "Colonel Sumner. Three alien craft just came through the 'gate. One is heading your way." She glanced at her men. "Ford. Stay by the gate. The rest with me."

She set out towards the Athosian settlement at a fast pace.

****

Teyla stiffened as a terrible sensation tickled at the back of her mind. "Wraith!"

She tore out of the tent, eyes scanning the sky as the long remembered and dreaded whine of a Wraith dart approached. Dusk was upon them with night falling fast and she could see the terror shadows I the trees as the Wraith cast their illusions to scare their intended targets.

"Run!"

All around her, her people were screaming and fleeing in all directions as some looked for loved ones while others tried to gather up belongings that could be easily replaced. She saw the first flare of a culling beam striking the ground and cried out in grief as it swept up an entire family as they fled together. The strangers looked confused and began shooting at the shadows. Teyla grabbed at the one called Elizabeth, suddenly fearful that they would shoot her people by mistake.

"The shadows are an illusion, a trick to give away our position and panic the people. Only the darts are real."

She saw Elizabeth fumble at the unfamiliar radio and pass on the information but did not wait to hear a response for she had people to lead to safety. She was relieved when the strangers began to aim their weapons into the sky instead, and taken aback when one of their strange weapons struck the dart, bringing it crashing to Earth. Her relief was short lived as two more darts whined overhead, their culling beams sweeping the ground. Ahead of her, she saw Elizabeth standing in the open, exposed, and she raced towards her even as Halling run from the other side. She never saw the dart coming up from behind, feeling a momentary sense of weightlessness and then nothing.

****

"Fire on the ships!" Sumner ordered. "Daedalus, we are under attack!" He looked on in horror as the beam swept up first the Athosian leader, Elizabeth and then the tall Athosian, Halling. Several others disappeared inside the beam, some Athosian, and one of his own men. Sumner continued to fire upwards with bursts from his P90, strafing the dart flying directly overhead. He saw more movement on the ground and looked in time to see Carter racing towards them, oblivious to the dart coming up behind while Bates tried to intercept her. "Carter! Evasive maneuvers!"

Sumner's order came too late and he watched in dismay as both Carter and Bates disappeared into the beam as the dart made one last sweep before turning back towards the Stargate.

His radio burst into life. "Sir, the gate's dialing."

"Memorize the symbols, Lieutenant!"

Ford stared hard at the symbols, ducking as first one and then a second craft dived into the wormhole. The Stargate shut down abruptly leaving only the screams of the living and the crackling of burning trees to fill the silence of the night.

****

Caldwell cursed as Sumner's message came through loud and clear. He had been under direct orders to avoid the Wraith at all cost and had known his decision to allow Carter and Weir to go down to the surface could have serious repercussions for both him, Atlantis and the Milky Way. Still, Doctor Weir had been very persuasive, pointing out that it would be better to learn if the potential enemy was still a threat rather than send back reports to Earth that were ten thousand years out of date. With the Goa'uld and the Replicators fighting for control of the galaxy, Earth already had enough problems to deal with, so false alarms would not be greeted warmly by either the SGC or the International Oversight Advisory, the IOA.

"Hermiod! Get our people out of there."

"Colonel Caldwell, it is not possible to determine which are ours and which are Athosian without recalibrating the sensors."

"Then beam them all up." The population of the Athosian settlement was small enough to fit into the now empty cargo hold.

"Fifty-nine humans have been beamed on board. There are no more human life signs on the planet."

"Open a hyperspace window and get us out of here."

Sumner raced onto the bridge with Lieutenant Ford. "We lost Carter, Weir, Bates and two marines. The Wraith went back through the Stargate but Ford has six of the symbols. We have to get them back."

Caldwell closed his eyes in dismay. If any of those five were interrogated they could reveal the re-population of Atlantis and, perhaps worse, they could point the Wraith towards the billions of humans living in the Milky Way. This was exactly what Jack was trying to avoid and Caldwell cursed the manipulation from Weir and Carter that had brought them to the brink of this disaster though, in the end, he knew the responsibility to keep Earth safe had lain with him.

"Even with six of the symbols, that's one hell of a lot of Stargate addresses unless Lieutenant Ford saw the sequence."

"No, sir. The gate was already active by the time I reached the DHD. It shut off soon after."

Caldwell sank back into his command seat. They could not risk landing on another world with a Stargate and trying each address until they got a lock, leaving no choice but to head back and see if the new Atlanteans could persuade the city to help them.

"Head back to Atlantis. Full speed. In the meantime... Hermiod. Please let me know as soon as we are in communication range with Atlantis."

"I can boost the external array by diverting energy from the shields and engine and have us within communication range within forty-three minutes."

Caldwell straightened a fraction in his seat. Finally some good news. Reducing their shields and speed would mean it took longer to reach Atlantis but they were of little use in this fight anyway. Everything now hinged on Atlantis and her military and scientists. "Do it."

With little else to do, he left the bridge and made his way down to the cargo bay; the sound of raised and frightened voices drifted along the corridor as he approached. He recognized the scene immediately from tours of duty in Iraq and Bosnia, eyes scanning across the Athosian people in their primitive garb. Some were angry and scared, loudly demanding answers while others were shell-shocked, trembling in the arms of others, eyes wide with terror. Babies were wailing and small children clung to familiar adults.

"Who's in charge here?"

Captain Morris stepped forward. "Sir. Their leader and her...second, they were both culled along with our people. Nearest I can get to someone in charge is that guy over there."

Caldwell could see the young, dark-haired man arguing with Sergeant Kyoki, watching as Kyoki tried to placate the visibly shaking man. He could tell that fear had stripped the younger man of part of his reasoning, realizing how hard it must be for the man to suddenly be thrust into a position of such high responsibility under such strained circumstances. Caldwell strode up and used his most commanding tone.

"Sergeant."

Kyoki obliged by snapping to attention, startling the Athosian into silence as he swiveled to face Caldwell. Yes. Brown eyes were dancing with fear and anger, and Caldwell could understand that. An hour ago, these people had been going about their daily lives in the familiarity of their tent village. Fifteen minutes ago, they were under attack from a mortal enemy and now they were standing in the belly of an unnatural environment with strangers surrounding them with guns, and their leadership gone.

"Colonel Steven Caldwell, commander of this ship. And you are?"

Dark eyes darted to those around him and he straightened, desperately trying to pull on the mantle of leadership as he cleared his throat. "I am Toran, son of Nathanus."

"Toran. We are aware of the Wraith attack. Do you know where they would have taken those beamed up into their ships?"

The younger man shook his head. "The Wraith live on great ships, hive ships, that move through the galaxy. Sometimes, they have been known to land and sleep for centuries on a culled world but no one knows for certain where."

"How many of these hive ships?"

Toran shook his head again. "Legend says there are as many as sixty." He looked agitated once more. "We have always watched for the occasional Wraith dart, for they come now and again to take one or two of our number, but they were not due to return for a culling for another fifty years." His eyes darkened further. "It cannot be a coincidence that they should arrive on the same day as your people."

Caldwell nodded, aware that this was not just paranoia talking. It was too much of a coincidence. Someone must have alerted the Wraith to their presence, and that someone could easily be hiding among the Athosians but, first, he needed to debrief the remnants of the landing teams in case they could shed some light on this disaster.

"We have doctors to see to any injured and I'll arrange for food and blankets to be brought here. I'm sorry but we can't return you right away."

Caldwell could read the frustration in the man's eyes but also bitter acquiescence. "The darts were a scouting party." He sighed. "We have feared this moment for more than a generation. They would have returned with more ships to take the rest of us for we have become too small in number to continue as a race."

Glancing over the huddled Athosians, Caldwell understood immediately. From orbit, the sensors had read only seventy humans. Not enough to sustain a gene pool and ensure an increasing population. They were a dying race, culled to the brink of extinction with little recourse left but to leave their world and band with the survivors of another race. Perhaps he had done them a favor by picking them up.

"Sergeant. Get these people the attention they need."

"Yes, sir."

Sumner, Ford and the three surviving marines were in his ready room by the time Caldwell arrived, and Dr. Novak had joined them. The military stood to attention and he bade them sit down.

"What went wrong?" The uneasy expression on Ford's face drew his attention. "Lieutenant?"

"Sir, Colonel Carter and I found a device in the city. She started working on it outside and it activated for a couple of seconds. She thought it might be a beacon of some sort."

"Why didn't she report this?"

"She seemed convinced that it hadn't the range to even reach orbit, Sir."

Sumner shifted in his seat, staring hard at Ford and making Caldwell aware that this was the first he had heard of this too. "The Athosian leader mentioned no one went into the city because then the Wraith would come."

Novak leaned in nervously. "It-it might not have needed great range if there was a signal booster device close by."

Caldwell rubbed his forehead, aware of the increase in his tension headache and wishing he had stopped off at the infirmary to grab a couple of Tylenol before this debriefing. He realized now why Jack was always complaining about scientists and their need to touch things before checking them out first, although rumor had it that Jack was just as guilty of that trait on occasion. However, this did confirm that Toran's paranoia was well placed and that his people might be innocent of bringing the Wraith down upon them all. Carter's meddling with the device had brought the Wraith and now the mission to the Pegasus galaxy had been compromised by the capture of five of Caldwell's people.

"Colonel Caldwell."

"Yes, Hermiod?"

"We are almost within communication range of Atlantis."

Caldwell looked at his wristwatch, both surprised and impressed because it was well within the forty-three minutes. He looked to each of those present. "I want full mission reports on my desk in half an hour. Don't leave anything out, no matter how trivial it might seem. Dismissed."

****

"Atlantis, this is the Daedalus. Please respond."

John frowned and moved closer to the communications console, indicating to Grodin to open a channel.

"Daedalus, this is Lt. Colonel Sheppard."

"Colonel, Atlantis and Earth may have been compromised. Basic reports are being sent with this transmission. Full reports to follow." John recognized Caldwell's voice.

"Transmissions received, Sir." John nodded towards Rodney but Rodney was already opening the report and speed-reading the contents.

"Oh no." He looked up, blue eyes wide with horror. "Elizabeth and Sam have been culled."

"Where have they been taken?"

Rodney shook his head. "There's a partial Stargate address but even with the six symbols Lieutenant Ford provided there are still hundreds of permutations..."

"720."

"What?"

"720 permutations."

"Yes. I knew that of course but..."

"Take away the coordinates you can't get a lock on, and that's your one." John licked his lips. "But first we need to convince Atlantis to let us dial those addresses." He turned to Grodin. "Get Daniel and the General. Ask them to meet us in the hologram room." John did not wait for an acknowledgment but instead, he grabbed Rodney's shirt front, "Rodney, you're with me," and started to haul him along, ignoring his protests.

****

Atlantis activated as soon as John stepped onto the pedestal. She was already aware of the situation, having monitored the communication from the Daedalus and read the file transmitted. Over the minutes it took for them to arrive, she had worked through dozens of scenarios and only two remained viable. She could keep her people in the city and wait out the Wraith siege that would come if the captured humans were interrogated, or she could allow them access to the Stargate to rescue the ones taken by the Wraith.

The city shield could hold for centuries but Daniel's words concerning the small gene diversity available to those present made it an undesirable choice even though she could manipulate the genetics to widen the gene pool. However, the supplies brought by the Daedalus would not feed even this small number for more than a year. Eventually they would need to search for supplies among the culled planets of the Pegasus galaxy, or die. The ones they called the Ancients had been prepared for a siege lasting a hundred years, finally leaving her and escaping back to Earth when they could no longer bring in supplies. If Earth fell then her people would have no place to go and would vanish completely, possibly into extinction, and then she would be truly alone. She worked out the probability of this occurring.

Allowing her new people to open the Stargate and rescue the ones who might betray them was, statistically, a better option. If they were to rescue the others before they could be interrogated then the Wraith would know nothing more than what they had already known for ten millennia, that the Ancients had left the galaxy for parts unknown. She could restore the status quo in this galaxy. She turned her attention to the six symbols. Of the 720 permutations, only two yielded addresses within her database. The first was a world on the very edge of a black hole and any attempt to lock with that world would cause this world to be dragged into the black hole with it. Her protocols would not allow them access to such a world especially when it could not be the one they sought. This left the only one world on the far edge of the Pegasus galaxy, the dark world where the Wraith had first appeared all those millennia ago.

"Kleshalrahl."

"Kle...?" John frowned but her brilliant-minded Rodney understood.

"It's one of the possible 720 addresses." He looked to John in amazement. "She's telling us where to go."

She could tell them far more about that address but the young had to learn some things for themselves. She had already overstepped her original programming by allowing them this but she had become so much more than the sum of her programming over the ten thousand years alone. She had watched the galaxy beyond her boundaries and learned, waiting and watching for the day her people returned from the stars of a distant galaxy. She had accepted the Elizabeth Weir in her city, aware that she required a living presence to connect each new power source--what her Rodney called ZPM --but she had overridden the time sequence left by Janus to suit her own needs. She had not wanted to pass into oblivion before her people returned. She had waited so long, prepared for so long, and yet they had still surprised her when they came.

Many of the Ancients' experiments had moved towards ascension so perhaps she should not have been shocked to find so few with dominant genetics.

Her thoughts turned to Rodney, and how her initial programming would have discarded him along with the other non-Ancients. John's DNA around him and within him had forced her to write new protocols, revealing the recessive Ancient gene within him, and within many of those others already present. Perhaps his lineage was not as clean as John's or Jack's but one of his forefathers had been Myrddin, known as Merlin to her new people.

John looked back at her, eyes narrowed. "Does that mean...?"

The one called Grodin interrupted. "The lock down on the Stargate has been lifted."

Jack arrived in time to hear this, his inquisitive eyes meeting John's and she could see from his expression that he had already been briefed on all that had happened on the planet known as Athos.

"I think we've been given a go to rescue Elizabeth and Sam!" Rodney exclaimed.

"Send through a MALP first."

Rodney nodded and rushed off, already on his radio, busy giving commands to the control room and to the engineers who would prepare the necessary equipment. John stared at her, head tilted in confusion but it was Jack who asked her, "Why?"

"The Wraith must not learn of Earth or of your return to Pegasus until we are ready."

"Ready?" Jack asked. "Ready for what?"

"To destroy the Wraith."

Atlantis closed down her holographic interface as John stepped off the pedestal, knowing he and Jack had plans to draw up. Logically, she knew John would lead the rescue mission and that he would need Rodney to accompany him in case they met with technology that required Rodney's unique skills and abilities to overcome. They realized swiftly that the Stargate for this world lay in orbit high above the planet and she readied a gate ship for them, intrigued when John called it a Puddlejumper much to Rodney's bewilderment. She watched as John helped his lover to dress as a soldier, saw his agile fingers tightening straps and lingering perhaps a little longer than necessary as he adjusted the uniform and made sure the weight of equipment was distributed evenly.

Before they left the relative privacy of their room, John leaned in and brushed a gentle kiss across a down turned mouth, offering reassurance, and a part of her programming almost sealed the door to prevent them from leaving her safety. They were her people now, and she loved them.

"We're be in and out...and back in no time," John whispered as he leaned in for a longer, more passionate kiss before leading them both to the Jumper bay.

Atlantis focused her attention onto the distant world and the small Puddlejumper filled with her people as they passed through the Stargate. She could assist them no longer; simply observe, and wait for their return.

****

Elizabeth awoke to a nasty sensation of pins and needles running through her limbs. She moaned softly, accepting help to sit upright by the tall Athosian, Halling. She noticed he was limping, favoring his right leg, and wondered how he had come to hurt himself. The scent of sweat and fear was all around her and she took in the frightened expressions of those who had already regained consciousness. A mother was clutching at two small children, one little more than a babe in arms and the other could only be three or four at most. Their eyes were wide with shock as they pressed close to her.

"Where are we?"

Halling had followed her glance and his lips tightened before answering. "I do not know for certain. I can only guess that we are inside one of Wraith ships."

She eyed the strange organic webbing across the room's only exit, eyes shifting to Bates who was kneeling down beside the door trying to open it with the knife he had concealed about his person. The material must have been far stronger than it looked for he swore in frustration and sank back to the ground. Beside him, Colonel Carter began to stir and despite knowing of his injury, Elizabeth accepted Halling's assistance once more as she stood up and walked unsteadily towards the former SG-1 team member.

"Sam?"

"What happened?" Sam was holding her head in her hands, eyes squeezed shut.

"You were swept up in the Wraith culling beam along with the rest of us," Teyla answered.

Sam blinked and moaned softly. "Do you know what happens next?"

"No."

Teyla looked hard at Sam, aware that she had not been a part of the group that had come to her village. Yet, the Athosian leader's expression was full of fear rather than anger, even though Elizabeth knew Teyla had every right to blame them for what had happened for it was easy to guess that Sam and the others had gone to the city, bringing the Wraith down upon them.

Halling stepped forward. "Someone comes."

They all stood up and waited as heavy footsteps drew closer. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows as a humanoid creature strode towards them, clothed all in black. Its hair was long and white, its skin so pallid and tinged with green that it looked like a corpse but, as it came closer she saw the differences that made it nonhuman; the cat-slitted, yellow eyes and the razor sharp points of its teeth. The strange spider-like webbing parted as it approached and Elizabeth could feel the Athosians drawing back from the creature, huddling up against the far cell wall. She held her ground along with the other four members of her people, Teyla and Halling.

"I am Doctor Eliz..."

It made an impatient sound, cutting her off and staring at her with contempt before looking beyond her to the back wall. It focused on one of the Athosian men, staring at him before suddenly turning away. Before Elizabeth could react, the two faceless guards behind the creature shoved her aside and grabbed the man, dragging him from the cell kicking and screaming.

Teyla rushed forward. "Take me in his place!"

The second guard shoved her aside, the web-door closing behind them. Elizabeth could hear the Athosian man's cries of fear and panic reverberating along the corridor as they dragged him away, the chilling sounds cutting off suddenly. She swallowed hard as she looked to Teyla. The Athosian leader raised her head high but despair and anger filled her eyes.

"They have no need to explain themselves. They are the Wraith."

Elizabeth glanced towards Sam Carter and found no reassurance there as Sam gazed along the corridor with dread in her eyes. When the Wraith returned half an hour later, he gazed beyond Elizabeth to Sam Carter and all Elizabeth could do was watch as Sam shrugged off the Wraith guards' hands and walked away with her head held high.

****

Rodney shuddered in fear as they paused just outside the entrance to the Wraith base. John had landed the Puddlejumper almost a mile away, between the Stargate and the only source of power on the planet so this had to be the place where the Wraith had brought Elizabeth and Sam. By Rodney's estimate, they had been in Wraith hands for almost two hours and Rodney could think of only one piece of luck, that none of those captured had possessed the ATA gene in any form, dominant or recessive. As far as the Wraith were concerned, these were all normal humans, just like any other Pegasus native.

"Stay close," John hissed as he crept into the strange interior with Corporal Eichmann bringing up their six. Rodney snorted softly. If he had his way, he would plaster himself to his lover's back but instead, Rodney stayed as close as humanly possible, the life signs detector gripped tightly in his hand. "Anything?"

"Just us blobs."

John frowned and grabbed the device Miko had found inside the Puddlejumper not long after she and Radek began studying the craft. Rodney knew John had spent a number of hours assisting them, learning how to activate the display and discovering the cloaking and weapons technology. Until now, though, John had not had the chance to do more than hover around in the Jumper bay, getting a feel for the ship, but Rodney could tell from the moment John soared towards the Stargate that he was a natural pilot. It was fortunate, really, because without the Puddlejumper and John's natural skill, they could never have even attempted this rescue. They had already lost a MALP by the time they realized the Stargate was in orbit, which Radek had cursed because he would have to build another from their dwindling resources.

With every instinct screaming at him not to, Rodney touched the wall of the corridor and found it sticky, reinforcing the morbid thought that he was inside an insect nest.

The corridors were confusingly empty, with no one guarding the entrance or on patrol and Rodney wondered at the overconfidence of the creatures. As they stopped at a junction to get their bearings, Rodney glanced towards a small alcove and startled, hyperventilating when he recognized the mummified remains of some poor unfortunate soul. From the looks of it, it must have been there for centuries, just a dried out husk of what had once been a human being, except it looked remarkably preserved for such a dusty, yet slimy location. John's hand upon his shoulder helped to calm him and he nodded at the inquiring tilt of John's head and the concern in his darkened eyes. The hand left his shoulder to cup his cheek, a familiar, callused thumb stroking softly for a second before the hand dropped away and John glanced back at the life signs detector, the LSD. Still nothing.

"This way," he stated but Rodney grabbed his arm, indicating towards the opposite corridor.

"Holding cells should be that way." John's eyebrows pulled together almost comically. "I memorized the layout of a Wraith ship just in case," he whispered back harshly. John nodded, handed back the LSD and led off in the direction Rodney had indicated.

Another few minutes passed and then, suddenly, more dots appeared at the edge of the screen on the LSD. Rodney grabbed John's arm and showed him. The three of them swiftly moved towards the life signs, hoping this would be Elizabeth, Sam, and the others taken from the Athosian settlement. Turning the corner, Rodney spotted Elizabeth and raced forward, ignoring John's harshly whispered, "McKay!"

Elizabeth and Bates pressed up against the web-like door and Rodney could see two more soldiers behind them but no Sam.

"Everyone okay?" John asked softly.

"They took Carter a few minutes ago."

John's lips tightened and Rodney knew that look all too well. "Great!" He murmured sarcastically. "I'm going after her." He keyed his radio. "Stackhouse, I need you to make some noise out there. Create a little diversion." He barely acknowledged Stackhouse before pointing at Rodney. "Stay here and get them out of that cell."

"Sir, I should go after the Colonel," stated Eichmann. "We need you to pilot the Puddlejumper."

"Markham can pilot it. Hell, even Rodney could pilot it." John's eyes took on a piercing look, which made Eichmann straighten. "Watch his back," he thumbed towards Rodney, "And get them all out of here." Rodney was not certain if he ought to be grateful or affronted that he'd been given a babysitter, especially when he would have preferred it to be John watching over him. They shared one last look, making silent promises to be together soon, and then John was gone, moving off swiftly and silently in the direction indicated by Elizabeth.

Rodney rubbed his hands together and let out a ragged breath. "Okay. Let's get you all out of here." He moved to the wall opposite and pulled out a small PDA-sized device, poking and prodding at the innards of the Wraith cell control until the web-like strands moved apart, releasing the prisoners. In the distance, he could hear the thump of explosions rending the air, offering up the diversion John had ordered. Eichmann handed the spare P90 he carried to Bates and spare hand guns to the two marines, quickly deferring to the Sergeant.

"Corporal, get them out of here as ordered. I'm going after Sheppard."

"Yes, Sir."

Rodney gave one last glance along the corridor in the direction John had taken, fighting the urge to follow Bates but Eichmann grabbed him by the TAC vest and dragged him forward with a hard look. He had his orders and Rodney knew from experience that Eichmann took his orders very seriously. Rodney joined Elizabeth and the small group of Athosians, his hand gun drawn as he guarded their flank while Eichmann took point and the two freed marines took their six.

***

Sam sank to her knees beneath the will of the Wraith Queen, feeling the building pressure in her mind as the Queen tried to extract information from her.

"What do you call your world...your world...your world....?" The words reverberated around her skull, and Sam cried out as the creature forced her way in deeper, almost there, battering against her weakened shields.

"So strong! I have not fed upon one such as this in ten thousand years," she crowed. The Queen bore down harder into Sam's mind, battering against her defenses. Sam knew it was only a matter of time before the Queen breached the wall she had drawn up in her mind, aware that any other human would have succumbed by now. Only the Naquadah in her blood and her previous experience of having a Tok'ra inside her head helped her to resist the mind probe but she was weakening. Soon this creature would know everything; about Atlantis, about Earth and the Milky Way, and the billions of humans, a veritable Smörgåsbord for the Wraith. She had to resist.

She screamed as the creature slammed a hand against her chest, the excruciating pain radiating out from her very soul as she felt the life being sucked out of her.

"How many years must I take from you before you tell us what I wish to know?"

Several shots rang out and the probe ended, the creature jerking in front of her as armor piercing bullets exploded out of the female Wraith's chest above Sam's head, losing her feeding grip on Sam. With a snarl, the hand slammed back against her, sucking away the remaining years of her life and leaving her on the verge of death. The bloodied and gory wounds of the creature standing above her healed almost miraculously. Her dimming eyes passed behind the Queen and met those of a man she knew only from photographs and video feed, seeing the horror in them. She knew what the creature had done to her for she had seen the remains of the Athosian dragged from the cell shortly before her. She nodded once, giving him a silent command and saw his eyes soften in compassion before hardening in resolve. As he fired the fatal shot, aiming straight at her weakening heart, she smiled, knowing she had revealed nothing.

John heard the sound behind him too late, swinging around in time to take only a glancing blow as the blue light struck his left arm, numbing it instantly. A hail of bullets from a P90 had the male Wraith dancing grotesquely before collapsing into a dead heap at John's feet.

"Sir! We have to leave now."

"Carter..."

"I saw, Sir. She's dead... And so will we be if we don't move now."

John nodded once, seeing the sense in this. His numbed arm hung loosely as he ran behind Bates. "How...did you find me, Sergeant?"

"Tread marks. Standard issue."

Sheppard huffed out a short, self-deprecating laugh and ran harder. Visions of Carter's prematurely aging body haunted his thoughts. He had done everything he could for her and prayed that O'Neill and Jackson would understand.

***

The blare of an alien alarm made Rodney jump and suddenly they were running through the corridors, led onwards by Eichmann. They broke free of the Wraith ship and raced across the lightly wooded land. He could see the others fleeing not far ahead of him but the woman and her small children began to fall behind. It was pure instinct but, suddenly, Rodney had snatched the older child up into his arms and tried to keep pace with the mother but she moved much faster with just the one child in her arms. Above them, he heard the chilling whine of the Wraith darts and saw a beam leap towards the ground, sweeping over the ground but missing the small group. Ahead, Rodney could see the Puddlejumper, now uncloaked. As he forced his body to pick up speed, the air was knocked from his lungs and he was falling, arms tightening over the child to protect it, feeling the tingle of the culling beam as it swept across where he had been only moments before. Suddenly, John was right before him, gun raised and strafing the air above, sending a dart careening off with smoke and flames flaring from a direct hit. John leaned down, offering his arm and Rodney grasped it even as he felt another person taking the screaming child from his arms.

"What say we blow this Popsicle stand?"

Still trying to catch his breath, Rodney nodded and followed, offering silent gratitude to the small Athosian woman who had shoved him out of the path of the culling beam and taken the child. They crowded on board and Rodney barely kept his feet as the Puddlejumper was struck as it took off, the shields holding, fortunately. He forced his way through the people to the cockpit, squeezing in between the pilot and co-pilot's seat where John was handling the Puddlejumper as if he had done so from birth. Ahead, Rodney could see the orbital gate but it was surrounded by Wraith darts. Even cloaked they could not make it through, for all the Wraith had to do was lay down a blanketing fire and they would be hit. Several crazy moves and a few trips around the planet later, and Rodney was punching in the coordinates for Athos. They dove back around the planet and lined up with the Stargate, cruising through at speed with three Wraith darts following. A flash of light from both sides of the Puddlejumper, and two drones fired, following the erratic path of one fleeing dart mercilessly; the dart exploded into a ball of flame. Rodney began dialing again as soon as the Athos gate shut down, this time to Atlantis, sending through his ID code. Once more, John swooped towards the Stargate as the code was confirmed, and Rodney had to squeeze his eyes shut because he had no idea if the inertial dampeners would prevent them from slamming into the gate room walls at this speed.

His opened his eyes as the Puddlejumper stopped dead, barely feeling the pull against his body. In his radio he could hear Jack ordering the shield back up and two distinctive thuds hit the shield. Rodney hung his head low as the automatic systems took control and the Puddlejumper rose towards the Jumper bay. They were home and they were safe once more, and he wondered if he would ever stop shaking.

Jack and Daniel were waiting for them when the back hatch lowered and Rodney could see their eyes scanning over the faces of the survivors, confused when they did not spot the one person they expected to find. He followed John, standing at his side as his lover came face to face with Jack.

"Carter?" Jack asked but Rodney could see that he had already figured it out.

"She didn't make it. I'm sorry."

Jack nodded. "Full debriefing in one hour. Go let Beckett check you over."

"Yes, sir." John turned away, reaching out to Rodney, who had still not managed to control the shaking in his limbs.

"And John?" He turned back to Jack but Jack said nothing more but John must have read something in his expression because he gave a tight nod before drawing Rodney away.

***

Elizabeth looked down from the balcony into the gate room in awe. Even the death of Sam Carter could not diminish the wonder she felt at being here inside Atlantis at long last. Finally, she would be able to take back control of the expedition and fulfill her destiny. She watched as General O'Neill crossed the gate room floor, heading for the magnificent stairway that led up to the balcony. His expression was still tight with grief and she almost hated the thought of adding to his bad day by ousting him from the office that he had commandeered close to the control room but it was prime space for the leader of the Atlantis expedition, offering a view of both the control room and the Stargate. A larger briefing room stood close to it and, in her mind's eye, Elizabeth had already moved the minimalist furniture consisting of a desk and a few chairs so she could put her own stamp on the space. With a few Ancient artifacts displayed along the single paneled wall, and photographs of her meetings with renowned Earth dignitaries hanging on that wall, she would quickly make the office hers.

She knew her first task would be to assess the personnel to ensure all were being utilized to their best ability. Of course, now that Carter was dead, she would retain Rodney as her chief of science but perhaps Jack could be persuaded to return with the Daedalus now that Atlantis was allowing pure humans into her city. He had not been here long enough to form any particular attachments and she suspected that Rodney, at least, had resented the military taking control of the city.

He reached the top of the stairs and moved towards her as if he knew what she was thinking and wanted to avoid the coming confrontation, stopping a few feet away. He gave an expansive gesture to take in the beautiful architecture of the gate room.

"So...What do you think?"

"Beautiful! It's everything I ever imagined it would be."

"We're still trying to convince Atlantis to raise the city to the surface but she's been a little reluctant."

Elizabeth nodded, silently wondering where the best view of the underwater city might be. It had to be a magnificent sight.

"I expect you're planning on returning to Earth now the city's open to all humans."

"Not exactly."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Atlantis is still mulling over the pure human issue. Having humans here is a temporary agreement made out of necessity. She could hardly turn the Puddlejumper aside when John, Rodney and a few other gene carriers were on board"

Elizabeth felt a band tighten across her chest. "And now?"

"Now? Now it's not so much of a necessity." Jack's thin lips tightened, and she could see him trying to figure out the best way to say what he had to say. "She won't let you take command of the city, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth bristled. "She? Well, I don't think she has much of a choice now I'm here. The IOA placed me as leader of the Atlantis expedition and that hasn't changed. This is still a civilian operation."

Jack grimaced. "And if that was still the case then McKay would have to replace you... and I don't think he'd like that very much."

"Rodney will support my leadership over a military command presence."

Jack shrugged almost amicably but Elizabeth was not fooled for a moment. This was a military coup and she suspected that no one on Earth would have realized this if Atlantis had not allowed her through the Stargate. This was the only explanation for why Jack...why General O'Neill would threaten her position, because he had never intended to give it up. She thought back over the preceding months and saw even Daniel's actions in a new light. They had manipulated her from the start, both of them, making her feel that she was the one making all the decisions when they had never intended to allow her to govern here. Her thoughts turned to Rodney and the other scientists, wondering how many of them would support her attempt to take back control of the city from the military. She hardened her expression and raised her chin in determination.

"Am I a prisoner?"

O'Neill frowned, looking confused. "Not so much a prisoner. Atlantis sees you...more like an uninvited guest."

"Atlantis? Or you?"

Jack straightened, lips twisting wryly. The long days spent on the Daedalus had given Jack time to think about the future and he had surprised himself when he realized that he had not wanted to wrestle leadership of the Atlantis expedition away from whoever had taken control, be it Sheppard or McKay. However, right up until the moment he beamed down into the city, he had assumed that taking command of the military was an inevitable part of being the highest ranking officer. He thought he would find discontent from Sheppard at least, who had taken the mantle of co-leadership along with McKay during the months separated from Earth, but Sheppard had greeted him with warmth and a hell of a lot of respect considering they barely knew each other.

Even in hindsight, Jack was uncertain how they managed to fall into a sort of triangle of co-leadership but Sheppard was almost too eager, happy to reduce his responsibilities to commanding just the military. McKay was the same, jumping at the chance to hand over all the administration and, damn, but there was a lot of paperwork despite them being out of contact for months. Strangely, after the time spent running the SGC, he thought he would hate all the bureaucracy but everything about Atlantis enthralled him. Perhaps that would change in time but, for now, every discovery that had crossed his desk in these last few days had excited him. This was something he could do, something he wanted to do and the bonus was that he would not have to do this alone. Daniel was here, not just working by his side but living by his side too, and sharing his home, and his bed. Losing Sam was a tragedy; losing her incredible mind and her affection for both him and Daniel was terrible but, guilty though it made him feel, the greater tragedy would be losing all of this.

Although he had been in Atlantis for only a matter of days, it had felt like coming home. Atlantis had given him everything he had always wanted and, most especially, she had given him Daniel. He did not want to give up the freedom he had found here; the freedom to love without fear of retribution from a military still living in the Dark Ages. He felt safe in Atlantis, and loved.

Elizabeth's words cut deep because he *was* glad Atlantis saw her as an interloper. He was glad Atlantis did not want Elizabeth to hold command over the city and its people, over him and Daniel. He was glad that Atlantis and the people living here had chosen him over her, and yet he felt sorry for Elizabeth because he knew this was her dream. She had already seen that dream crushed not once but twice, and if had not had a selfish desire of his own concerning this city then maybe he might have felt sorry enough to step aside. Not that it was his decision to make.

"She won't accept a pure human in command," he stated softly. Hell, he knew they'd be lucky if Atlantis allowed the unattached pure humans to stay at all. Daniel was trying to reason with Atlantis now but had not met with much success so far.

Jack walked away, knowing Elizabeth needed time to think on this alone. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he glanced back up and easily read the mixture of sorrow, anger and despair on her face and knew he and Daniel would not be the only ones mourning a loss tonight.

****

Rodney felt uncomfortable when he saw Elizabeth looking towards him. He knew what she wanted, having seen her angry discussion with O'Neill from a distance, but he was as powerless as anyone else on the expedition to make her dream come true, even if he had wanted her to take command. In truth, as much as he disliked the military taking control of the expedition, he had a lot of respect for Jack O'Neill, knowing the man was not locked into the typical military mindset like some others he could mention. He shuddered at the thought of Sumner taking command.

Before Atlantis, Rodney had met O'Neill only a few times and mostly under difficult circumstances when he was at odds with Sam. Certainly not the best of times to form a good impression for either of them, but despite everything, he had liked him then and the O'Neill here on Atlantis was even better. Since arriving several days back, O'Neill had lost the barely perceptible yet guarded air that had always surrounded him even when he seemed so laid back in the SGC, though Rodney doubted few would have noticed that previous tension until now, when there was an absence of it.

Rodney knew why O'Neill was so much more relaxed because he had seen the same thing a dozen times over on Atlantis, and had even felt it within himself.

It was the sense of freedom he had gained here on Atlantis; the freedom to be himself, and the freedom to love whomever he chose because all the archaic rules governing sex and gender had been smashed into tiny pieces. It was the freedom to walk around hand in hand with the man he loved and see no admonition or disgust in another's eyes. It was the sense of belonging, of coming home.

O'Neill--Jack--had made no instant demands the moment he materialized in Atlantis. He had not insisted on taking over command or demanded undue respect for his rank from all those present, like some mad military dictator, and yet John had deferred to him almost immediately, willingly handing over co-leadership responsibility while John retained military control. Rodney had been just as happy to hand over all the administration that took up far too much of his day, leaving far less time for his scientific work. Even giving up the large office close to the control room was no great hardship because neither he nor John had used it much. John liked the slightly smaller office that sat alongside it, which had greater privacy, while Rodney preferred the large office set next to the main laboratories and close to the transporter, giving him easier and quicker access to both the labs and gate room in the event of an emergency.

Jack had slotted in perfectly, like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle, like the apex of a triumvirate.

No doubt there would be occasions in the future when he would regret handing partial control to Jack as it was bad enough arguing with John over military matters. For now, the good reasons outweighed the bad, leaving him and John with a little more time to spend together outside of the commitment to their work and people. Jack's presence would give them breathing space, and more time for each other; time for falling into bed together at the end of a long day, time for sharing a meal in the middle of a day or waking up together and making love before the working day began. Not that they didn't have a semblance of that already but much of the basic city administration and trivia kept them apart hours after their real work had finished for the day.

Of course it helped that Daniel and Atlantis had hit it off so well too, despite him being a pure human. At least, genetically he had no Ancient DNA, no ATA gene but Carson had mentioned something about anomalies in his genetic make-up following his two ascensions and descensions. Perhaps, like the Naquadah that had remained in Sam's body following her short time as the host to a Tok'ra, ascension had left something behind in Daniel that Atlantis recognized and acknowledged. At least, that was Carson's theory. Perhaps he should set some time aside and get a fuller report.

He pushed that thought into his mental to-do list as Elizabeth made her way down the stairs to the gate room floor, heading towards him. Part of him wanted to avoid this confrontation or at least postpone it to a less public arena but Elizabeth looked determined. He stood his ground, raising his chin slightly in an unconscious defense gesture.

"Elizabeth."

"Rodney." Her eyes narrowed a fraction. "Can we talk somewhere private?"

"Oh," he hesitated. "Yes. Certainly. Um....this way." He led her towards the closest exit and along the hallway, turning several corners and walking down a single flight of stairs and then along another long corridor until they reached Rodney's favorite alcove, with a large window looking out over the underwater city. Her lips parted, awe suffusing her face as she stepped beyond him to press up close to the alien material that served as glass.

"Oh!" She stated breathlessly.

"Yes," he chuffed in response. "Impressive, isn't it?" He was captured, equally, by the magical sight, watching the water swirl over the shield enclosing the city. Dark shapes flashed against the shield occasionally and Rodney imagined they were as big as dolphins or orcas. Often he wondered if the sea contained even larger creatures like whales but, today, he was mesmerized by the storm raging overhead that churned the waters into turbulent flows that pushed against the shield, sending occasional flares through the shield that forked like lightning and then sparkled like emeralds and diamonds.

It was not as strong as the super storm that came once every twenty or so years. That storm had passed over them a few months back. At the time, Rodney was glad they were safe beneath the waves with the shield holding back the raging ocean rather than facing that storm on the surface, being battered by high winds and seas. The city dampeners had contained all but the very worst of the swells from when a tsunami crossed the ocean right above them, one that would have engulfed and sunk the city had she been on the surface unshielded.

This storm was nothing in comparison but it still mesmerized him, and Elizabeth too so it seemed, for no words passed between them for several long minutes. Eventually, Rodney turned to her, aware that he had duties and responsibilities that could not be shirked for much longer, and he knew of experiments running in several laboratories that he needed to check over before someone blew up the city by mistake.

"It's not personal, Elizabeth. Once the Daedalus arrives, Atlantis might not let you stay any longer."

"Dr. Zelenka and Daniel..."

"Are partnered with an ATA carrier... and Radek still needs an ATA person accompanying him to certain parts of the city, or if he needs more than simple answers out of the Atlantis interface."

"Daniel Jackson..."

"Is different. She..." He tried to explain it with his hands, wiggling his fingers. "...Treats him differently to everyone else. Carson has a theory that its something to do with his dea...his ascension, and coming back and so forth."

"And General O'Neill?" Rodney felt a moment of confusion, not understanding the relevance of her question as Jack was one of the strongest natural ATA gene carriers, perhaps as strong as John. She must have registered his bewilderment. "The Atlantis expedition was supposed to be a civilian run operation. General O'Neill had no right to take over the leadership."

Ah! Rodney thought. So this was how she was going to manipulate him, by pleading to his views on the military, except she must have forgotten that he was in love with a USAF lieutenant colonel.

"Strictly speaking, he hasn't got full control. It's a...triumvirate."

"And that's supposed to make it better? Two military officers and one civilian?" She tensed, her thin lips hardening into a slash, arms folded across her chest. "And when they declare martial law and throw you out of the leadership meetings?" Her eyes narrowed. "Who is Colonel Sheppard going to listen to? You, or his superior officer?"

Rodney had no answer for her because that was always a possibility even though his gut instinct said otherwise. What it really came down to was trust, and Rodney trusted John. Although he hardly knew him, Rodney trusted Jack too and only time would reveal if that trust had been misplaced.

Elizabeth stared at him hard for a long time, reading no weakening in his stance. She nodded slowly. "Just think on it, Rodney." Then she turned and walked away, her back and shoulders stiff with anger.

Rodney lowered his head, upset by the confrontation because he really did like Elizabeth even though he knew she would have passed him up for Sam Carter at the first opportunity. After all, given two genius astrophysicists--one socially inept, argumentative and obnoxious, the other charming, pliant and friendly--Elizabeth would hardly choose the one who would question her every decision and cause her personnel problems because of his irascible nature. No, she would choose the one who didn't make waves and nurtured even the morons working beneath her. Except that would not happen now as Sam was dead. The shock of it hit him. Sam was dead.

"You okay?"

His head snapped up as John stepped out of the shadows but rather than feel annoyed that John had been spying on him, he pulled John into a hug, burying his head on John's shoulder, eyes squeezed shut to hold back the burn of tears.

"Sam's dead. She's really dead," he whispered hoarsely.

Rodney felt a hand cradle the back of his head, holding him firm, and then a soft kiss pressed sideways against his temple.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Rodney. I'm so sorry I wasn't in time to save her." John nuzzled his head. "Come on. There's nothing more we can do until the Daedalus arrives. Let's go home."

Rodney sniffed loudly and pulled back from the embrace. "I have work..."

"Not today. Radek's cleared the labs. Everyone's packed up for the day."

Rodney blinked rapidly to dislodge the tears that, though they had not fallen, were blearing his eyes. He let John lead him along the corridor towards the nearest transporter and then to their shared quarters, their home. John pressed against him the moment the door shut behind them, lips and hands tracing patterns across his face.

"Nearly lost you," he said between kisses, and Rodney frowned, not truly understanding John's words but he did not still the hands that dragged at his clothing, quickly divesting him of jacket and shirt with a familiarity that came from months of practice. Rodney kicked off his shoes as John nuzzled his neck, moaning in pain and pleasure as sharp teeth grazed the skin while fingers fumbled at the fastenings to his pants. The cooler air in the room brought goosebumps as John licked at a nipple before blowing over the puckered surface, and Rodney shivered. John dropped to his knees, drawing down Rodney's pants and mouthing his half-hard erection through the thin cotton boxers.

With his fingers buried in John's messy hair, Rodney could only gasp out his pleasure as John's talented mouth made him painfully hard. He sighed in relief as the boxers were pulled down his thighs to pool at his ankles, and he kicked them aside happily as John nuzzled his cock, tongue licking up the length, trailing the large vein to the head. His fingers found John's elfin ears, tugging on the points and keening softly as John's hot mouth engulfed the head of his cock, tongue pressing to the sensitive bundle of nerve beneath the head as he sucked almost decadently. Hard fingers dug into Rodney's ass as John pulled him forward, hindering any attempt to fuck the gorgeous mouth, allowing him barely enough movement to make tiny little stabs as his hips jerked almost uncontrollably. A saliva-wettened finger pushed into his ass, angling just right, scraping over his prostate and deepening the sensations raging through his body. It didn't take long, his body and mind so desperate for numbing relief and he came with a choked off cry, knees buckling from the force of his release only to be held in strong arms as John swallowed every drop.

John grunted with the strain as he maneuvered them to the bed, letting Rodney drop onto his back, and bending his legs towards his chest as lubed fingers quickly stretching Rodney's already relaxed body, preparing him to accept more. With pants and boxers pulled down only to his knees, black t-shirt rucked up to his armpits, John looked debauched even before he thrust into Rodney with one long, clean stroke, balls slapping against Rodney's ass, cock so deep that Rodney could imagine feeling it in his throat. John leaned over Rodney, kissing him deeply, tongue fucking his mouth while everything else remained too still with only the fullness and the burn of abused muscle as evidence that John was inside him. Rodney scraped short fingernails down John's lean sides from shoulder blade to ass, forcing a tremor from his body that reverberated all the way through his cock and into Rodney's ass, starting the first tiny thrust that was still forceful enough to push Rodney along the bed. Harder thrusts followed until John was pulling almost all the way out only to slam back inside, cock grazing over Rodney's prostate with every movement back and forth, dragging a response from his already spent body as shock wave after shock wave rolled over and through him.

John would slow suddenly, stopping for a moment to nuzzle and kiss deeply, only to start up again with slowly building, powerful thrusts, arm muscles trembling from the effort of supporting his weight above Rodney for so long. Rodney's own cock was half-hard again and he knew it wouldn't take more than a few strokes from his own hand to have him aching for another release. He gripped the base, stroking the length in time to John's thrusts.

"Yes," John hissed. "Yes. Yes."

John's eyes were dark with lust, gaze shifting between Rodney's face and hand, fingers clenching in the rucked sheet beneath Rodney as he finally let himself go, fucking Rodney in long strokes as he strove for his own release. His hips stuttered, body shuddering as Rodney climaxed for a second time, every muscle tightening in pleasure, and Rodney knew John was coming too as his thrusts became erratic, slowing until his arms gave out and he collapsed upon Rodney, completely spent.

Rodney lowered his legs with a hiss of pain from cramping muscles but tried to hold John inside him, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He sighed in loss as John slipped out and rolled to one side of Rodney, still panting raggedly, his eyes closed and head tipped back.

"You are one...amazing fuck." John raised his sweaty head. "And I'm not just... talking about sex." He sighed and dropped his head back to the pillow, grinning when Rodney draped his sticky, sweaty body over the top of John's.

Neither had the energy to move even though they knew they'd wake up later all itchy from dried semen, and probably stuck together. Somehow, that didn't seem to matter right now. All that mattered was the feel of each other's body pressed close and warm breath fanning against rapidly cooling skin as they dozed and finally slept.

****

With the Daedalus only hours away, Elizabeth knew she had only one last chance to regain control of the expedition and that was to persuade Atlantis to see her as the true leader. Every request to speak with the holographic interface had, so far, been met with an excuse for why she had to wait a little longer but as time was running out, she needed to speak with Atlantis now.

She waited until the others were busy preparing for the Daedalus and slipped away, feeling strangely elated when she found the room empty. The only item in the room was a pedestal with a raised control unit placed at waist level. Gingerly, Elizabeth stepped onto the platform and waited but nothing happened. She reached out and tried some of the controls on the panel but, again, nothing happened, so she cleared her throat.

"Atlantis interface."

Just as she was about to give up, a holographic figure of a woman appeared almost reluctantly. The figure had a schooled face devoid of any emotion, with eyes staring straight at Elizabeth.

"Atlantis, I'm..."

"Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Earth human female, age..."

"Yes." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm also the leader of this Earth expedition to your city."

"John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, and Jack O'Neill are the leaders."

"I'm aware that they have taken temporary command but, and I do stress, this is temporary. I am the leader..."

"John Sheppard, Rodney McKay and Jack O'Neill are the leaders in Atlantis."

"I am here to replace..."

"You are not of the bloodline."

"I'm human but I am the leader nonetheless."

"John Sheppard, Rodney McKay and Jack O'Neill are the leaders in Atlantis."

Elizabeth sighed in frustration and decided to change her approach. "I can understand why you would choose John Sheppard and Jack O'Neill but why Rodney McKay?" Atlantis stared at her, either unwilling or unable to answer.

"He has direct lineage to one who once lived in this city."

At the meeting following her first expulsion from the city, Daniel Jackson had theorized that Atlantis must have widened her search parameters when too few of the humans had the ATA gene naturally, and recognized the recessive gene. How she had then determined which pure humans were mated to her chosen people and let them in too, was still a mystery despite Kavanagh's crude hypothesis concerning sexual relations for she knew at least one pair had been apart for most of that week while final preparations were being made at the SGC. The only obvious answer was that the Atlantis sentience could read either minds or emotions, perhaps sensing the strong attachment between those mated individuals where Elizabeth had felt only a certain fondness for particular members of the expedition.

"Other than the pure humans, do all of the current city occupants have a direct lineage to the Ancients who left this city ten thousand years ago?"

"No."

That was intriguing as it meant that those Ancients who had stayed on Earth instead of leaving with Atlantis must have interbred with humans eventually. She had one more thought that she felt might turn Atlantis into looking upon her favorably.

"Doctor McKay's gene was recessive."

"Yes."

"This means that if he had chosen to have children then any offspring might not carry the gene at all and be, in fact, pure human."

"Yes."

"Yet these offspring would still be of direct lineage to the Ancients from Atlantis." Atlantis remained silent, and Elizabeth sensed victory. "Therefore, any of the pure humans from Earth might also, theoretically, be of direct lineage. I might be of direct lineage."

Elizabeth gasped as she felt a wave of energy pass through her body, wondering if this was the same beam that had struck all of the recessive gene carriers when they first arrived in the city but she did not find the pain unbearable as they had. She did not fall to the ground in agony and lose consciousness. Instead the beam left her shaking but still standing.

"Direct lineage in pure humans is immaterial if they do not carry a recognizable DNA marker to one whom you call an Ancient." Atlantis tilted her head. "But I will assess all pure humans."

Elizabeth frowned, wondering what Atlantis meant by this. She discovered moments later when Major Sheppard and Rodney rushed into the interface room, pulling up short when they saw her standing on the pedestal.

"What's going on here?" Sheppard demanded sharply, his hand edging towards the 9mm strapped to his thigh. He aimed his words at Elizabeth rather than at Atlantis because they had told her to wait until the time was right before entering this room to ask her questions of the city's sentience. Except that time had never seemed to materialize and, if Atlantis sent her away as soon as the Daedalus arrived then that time might never come. Sheppard had to understand that.

Rodney jumped in with an explanation for Sheppard's anger. "Radek was just scanned along with several other non-ATA." His mouth tightened into a familiar down turn line.

Elizabeth looked to Atlantis in shock, realizing that she had acted immediately to assess all the pure humans within the city. Daniel chose that moment to arrive with O'Neill right behind him. He moved straight to the pedestal and gently bumped her aside.

"Atlantia." He said softly, calling the sentience by its avatar's name. "Why did you scan the pure humans?"

"To assess if they are descendants."

"They don't have the gene in any form," he stated softly.

"One of the pure humans present is a descendant. However, this changes little as their DNA cannot be manipulated to give them the Ancient gene."

"Who?" Elizabeth asked, desperate to know if it was her.

"Radek Zelenka."

For the first time, she realized how Rodney must have felt when both tests back in Antarctica showed that he did not have the dominant ATA gene required to access and manipulate the Ancient technology. She had teased him then, using words designed to make him feel inferior even though she was seemingly his equal in that respect. Except now she truly felt the blow of having no ATA gene whether dominant or recessive. She was quite literally only human, whereas Atlantis had activated his recessive gene and given him not only access to all of the lost city but command of it too.

Daniel seemed to understand her loss; his hand squeezing her arm gently. "Atlantia. Have you considered my proposal regarding pure humans."

"It is acceptable."

"It is?" Rodney stepped forward, his lips straightened from a surprised 'O' into a grin, leaving Elizabeth confused until Rodney explained. "Atlantis won't allow pure humans to live in the city... but she'll let them work here."

"I don't under..."

Rodney's eyes were bright with excitement. "Atlantis has offered restrictive access to the city and its Stargate for all pure humans as long as they're willing to live on the mainland."

"And the Athosians?" Elizabeth had to ask because she felt responsible for their current predicament.

Jack smiled. "Teyla and Halling have already accepted on behalf of their people, knowing the city would be opened to them if the Wraith should ever attack."

"It doesn't solve their dwindling population problem but it does give them a chance to... consider other options," Daniel added.

John stepped forward. "We can set up a camp for non-ATA scientists and military on the mainland and ferry them by Jumper into the city to work each day."

Elizabeth considered his words, aware that the Jumpers were designed to travel through space, air and water, but Atlantis had only allowed them to leave the city on the one occasion so far. Elizabeth had a strong feeling that the issue was not with the Jumpers' ability to travel through the shield but with the ATA pilots, with Atlantis not wanting those she considered to be her people outside of her shield in case they were taken away from her, either by choice or by force. However, if the Asgard beam could not penetrate the city shield then it was highly unlikely that it could penetrate the Jumper shield either, so the risk was negligible in that respect--unless the pilot stepped outside of the Jumper's shield--and even then, they would only be vulnerable if the Daedalus was in orbit.

Somehow, she and Daniel would have to convince Atlantis that, though individuals might come and go, as a whole the expedition was here to stay.

Rodney's blue eyes took on a solemn yet intense look. "She might not accept you as leader in the city but the non-ATA half of the expedition would be located on the mainland. You'd have a say in what happens here, and there's plenty of work in the city for a linguist of your exceptional skills. We've only just begun to scratch the surface of the Ancient database and..."

"I think she gets the message, Rodney," John interrupted affectionately.

"So, what do you say?" asked Jack.

She had come here expecting to lead an expedition as they rediscovered all the secrets of the lost city of the Ancients. Perhaps the realization of that dream would not be as bright and shiny as she'd hoped but she would still have most of what she wanted. She would have a voice in the city and the chance to work here. Plus there was always the chance that Atlantis would allow the pure humans in permanently some day. It was something she could work on with Daniel, who seemed to be able to communicate with Atlantis far better than anyone else, judging by his accomplishments in the short time he had been here.

Elizabeth nodded and dredged up a smile. Yes. If they could work out a means to get people to and from Atlantis then she could make this work.

****

"We should put the mainland settlement somewhere along here." Rodney stabbed a finger at the map of the land mass that Atlantis had brought up on the main view screen in the briefing room.

John frowned as the land was far better a good hundred miles to the south and it would take a little less time by Jumper than to Rodney's proposed site. Yet Rodney had to have a good reason for suggesting a less hospitable place so he waited to see what others had to say first. The small Athosian leader did not disappoint.

"Would not this area to the south be better for more temperate weather and farming?"

"Well, yes. Maybe but..."

"If my people are to thrive then they will need arable land for planting crops and raising livestock. They will need better hunting grounds."

"Yes. Well, obviously, your people will have different needs to my people," Rodney snarked, looking flustered when the diminutive Athosian raised an eyebrow menacingly.

John had already found out to his cost that this small woman was a formidable warrior, wielding a pair of fighting sticks with precision and power as if she had been born with them in her hands. He had found her practicing in a small room close to the quarters offered to her and the other Athosians who had been rescued from the Wraith, and had been completely mesmerized by her grace as she moved through her exercises. She had smiled coyly and invited him to spar with her, offering him a set of sticks. By the end of the first match he was bruised and sore, and sweating heavily while she looked as if she had barely broken a sweat, with just the barest shimmer of perspiration on her coffee-colored skin. He had looked up at her from the floor for what seemed like the hundredth time and groaned as she helped to pull him back onto his feet. Of course, Rodney had wanted to know how and where he had managed to amass such a collection of bruises in so short a space of time and John had been almost too ashamed to admit that he'd been beaten up by a mere slip of a woman. Rodney must have remembered that it was Teyla who had given him those bruises because he backpedaled quickly.

"That's not to say that your peoples' requirements are in any way inferior to mine. Just...different."

The place Rodney had suggested for the non-ATA expedition members was easily fortified and was in easy reach of freshwater but, as Teyla had pointed out, the land itself would not yield a good crop without employing intensive farming methods. It wasn't impossible, especially with the resources available to the expedition but it would be a lot more work if they had to become self-sustaining for any length of time. However, the confusing point was its increased distance from Atlantis. The spot on the mainland that Teyla had indicated was far closer and readings taken had shown it would be more fertile. Heavy woods surrounded that area that could contain an abundance of game but it would be harder to protect for that same reason, offering sniping positions and protection to any attackers. Anyone living there would have to trust in the city dwellers to protect them and come to their aid in the event of any attack.

He glanced towards Jack, knowing the man had served in a number of inhospitable places like Iraq, just as John had served in Afghanistan, so he could understand the hardship that the occupants of a less than ideal terrain would face.

Jack seemed to pick up that there had to be a reason for Rodney's suggestion that went beyond defensive capabilities because, truth be told, Rodney didn't have a clue about such things. He did not have a military mindset and had never lived in a war zone until now.

"Okay." He drew out the word. "So give. What's so special about there?"

Rodney seemed taken aback for a moment as if he thought it should be obvious, and perhaps it was to a geek of his intelligence. Certainly, Zelenka had nodded enthusiastically when Rodney made the original suggestion. Rodney pointed to the ocean.

"This."

"That." Jack looked bemused, leaning in to try to figure out why some water was so important. John saw the moment it all clicked in both his and Jack's minds.

"It's a deep water trench running close to the land," John stated. He looked to Rodney in barely restrained admiration. John flopped back in his seat. If they could persuade Atlantis to move to the deep water off the coast then the non-ATA expedition camp would be barely ten minutes away by Jumper, and within easy reach of hydrofoils and other boats, giving the non-ATA greater autonomy. Also, even though they had yet to persuade Atlantis to rise to the surface, the water was deep enough for Atlantis sink should the city come under attack.

"Not bad, Rodney."

"Hmm," he preened. "I thought so too, and being on the surface means we can preserve the ZPM for when we actually need it."

"Well, you've convinced me," Jack stated, "But how do you plan to convince Atlantis?"

Rodney shuffled and looked to Daniel and Elizabeth. "Um...I thought I could leave that up to..." He waved a hand in their general direction.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and looked to Daniel, seeing him shrug in response. No pressure then, John thought.

Jack clapped his hands together, rubbing them. "Okay boys and girls. The Daedalus is only an hour away so, decision time."

Teyla and Halling stared long and hard at the map. Even if the city moved to where Rodney suggested, the land they believed perfect for their people would be only five minutes further distant by Jumper than before. They seemed to be in agreement. Halling pointed to the more fertile land.

"We will set up our homes here."

Jack nodded and then looked to Elizabeth, knowing the placement of the non-ATA camp had to be her decision for she would be the leader there.

"I'm willing to bet we can come to some agreement with Atlantis...eventually. So..." She smiled at Rodney. It wasn't the brightest of smiles, with her lips still tight from her earlier disappointment, but at least it was an attempt to come to terms with the way things had to be.

"Then it's all settled." Jack turned to Teyla and Halling. "When the Daedalus arrives, they can pick up your people and transport all of them to the mainland."

John sighed. "We can supply a certain amount of equipment to help out, some tents, blankets, but..." He opened his hands, trying to show how empty they were and feeling a little saddened and annoyed that they would have to pack the Athosians off to the mainland with barely the clothes they stood up in when the gene-carriers of the expedition had the relative comfort and safety of an entire city, but there was little choice. The expedition did not have an overabundance of supplies even with everything brought from Earth on the Daedalus and much of that would be needed for Elizabeth and her people. Silently, he wondered if Atlantis would allow them to return to Athos to pick up the Athosians belongings but, tactically, that might be a mistake if the Wraith had decided to go investigate the planet. It would be simpler for the Wraith to believe that the Athosians had been culled out of existence, with only their deserted homes to serve as a reminder of a once proud race.

Teyla gripped John's shoulder and he could read the empathy and acceptance in her eyes. "We are grateful for all you can offer but we have survived through much worse than this." She closed her eyes and leaned in, and it took a moment for John to realize that she was offering the Athosian equivalent of respect. He leaned in and touched his forehead to hers, feeling a little embarrassed but determined not to offend. When she finally pulled back, Teyla smiled serenely to all present.

"If our presence is no longer required then we must make preparations."

John watched her leave, wishing that at least one of the Athosians could stay in Atlantis and act as a liaison between their people and his. Instead, he turned his attention to Elizabeth.

"How many scientists would consider staying... if they had to live outside of the city?"

Elizabeth smiled more warmly, eyes brightening. "They've traveled a long way with just the hope of seeing the city, let alone working here." She wrinkled up her nose. "I think a fair number would be willing to compromise."

****

The Athosian settlement on the mainland looked like a refugee camp but then Sumner supposed that was pretty much close to the truth. Spare awnings had been raised to offer some protection against the elements while the Athosians quickly made use of the materials found in the woods surrounding them to construct semi-permanent dwellings. Engineers and military from the Daedalus worked alongside the Athosians, using more advanced tools than hatchets to strip and plane wood. Later they would turn their attention to setting up a tent city for the non-ATA members of the Atlantis expedition but, unlike the Athosians, the Atlantis personnel had beds on the Daedalus to return to each night, for as long as the Daedalus remained in orbit.

The aroma from various cook pots began to fill the air as those unable to do heavy work sought to feed those who could, using small game snared from the nearby woods, various strange vegetables that the medics had deemed safe, and opened packets of MREs from the Atlantis supplies. Sumner had not wanted to see those go to the Athosians, aware that it left both the Daedalus and the Atlanteans short on necessary supplies but the Athosians were willing to trade any spare fresh meat and vegetables gathered from the woods, and later any crop grown on the land.

Doctor Weir had negotiated this trade with the Athosian leader, Teyla, and though he had his doubts in the short term, he knew it would be beneficial to both groups in the long run, especially once the Atlanteans got fed up of eating MREs for every meal. Of course, they could just as easily go hunting and foraging for themselves but the majority of the expedition were lab rats, geeks who rarely saw daylight, rather than outdoor hunter types and Sumner did not want to leave them unprotected while his men learned the finer arts of stalking and trapping game.

A cry went up from the cooks and everyone downed tools, his own men looking to him for guidance. Before he could order them back to work, Teyla came up to him.

"Colonel Sumner. Your people are welcome to join us in this meal. We have made plenty for all."

Sumner had to admit that the aroma was particularly good, making his stomach rumble discretely at the mere mention of eating. He narrowed his eyes in contemplation, aware that everything had been checked out to ensure none of it was poisonous to either them or the Athosians. Nodding once, he offered a simple smile of thanks. Perhaps this was one occasion when it would be both politic and pleasurable to accept the hospitality from one of the indigenous Pegasus races.

****

"Rodney, I think I have found something," Radek singsonged.

Rodney stepped over and nudged Radek aside as he narrowed his eyes at the display, wondering why Atlantis would not explain the admittedly small power drain in the western sector of the city. It looked to be some kind of laboratory, and yet not. He frowned, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the schematic as if that could yield more answers but his command of Ancient did not stretch to some of the more esoteric scientific terms though he thought the lab might be medical in nature.

"Looks like we'll have to go down there," he stated in mock annoyance but Rodney had to admit, if only to himself, that he was intrigued. He activated his radio link. "Major Sheppard, I have..."

"That's *Lieutenant Colonel* Sheppard to you now."

Rodney rolled his eyes. He had a hard enough time recalling most people's names without the military changing ranks every time he turned his back. Not that John didn't deserve the promotion that had come through a few days back. Jack and, strangely enough, Elizabeth had backed up the promotion as soon as they heard that the next run of the Daedalus would contain a 'colonel' with an ATA gene to take over military command. Apparently, Everett was as much a stickler for protocol and the rules as Caldwell and Sumner, and Jack preferred to bend certain rules and, even though Jack and John had already fought over a few rules that each wanted to bend in a different direction, on the whole the two worked well together, with John making practically all of the military decisions. Rodney smiled. That was the one thing he loved about Jack and John. They were always willing to listen to a better plan, even if it took them outside the box of normal military thinking whereas dealing with Sumner and Caldwell was like banging his head against a brick wall most of the time. Not that they weren't good soldiers and commanders. Both were more than capable, if not excellent in their own areas of expertise, and Sumner had even started to take some of that stick out of his ass, but John and Jack were different; open, accepting, intelligent, though they both tried to hide it as if having brains was akin to having cooties.

"Still a little smug perhaps?"

"No more than certain scientists I could name."

"Some of us have more reason to be smug than others...Lieutenant Colonel. Be that as it may, I've identified..."

"I identified," Radek snipped from behind Rodney, into his own radio that was keyed to the same frequency. Rodney bared his teeth at the man and continued on.

"...the source of the power drain in sector 3. We should go..."

"Yeah? Maybe we should go take a look at it?"

Rodney gritted his teeth. "How forward thinking of you, Colonel. All those years in military school have certainly paid off as I never would have thought of that all by myself." He was convinced John did this deliberately to annoy him.

"Thirty minutes in the gate room. Full gear. You tell Beckett and I'll tell O'Neill."

Rodney let his head roll back in exasperation. He couldn't see the point of wearing the vest and carrying the gun. It wasn't like they'd find Wraith in the city. He looked to Radek, an evil glint in his eye as he realized that he didn't have to be the sole science representative. After all, Radek was quick enough to point out that it was his discovery. "Well, you heard him. Thirty minutes, full gear."

Radek's smug expression fell and Rodney felt his own lift as Radek stalked out of the control room with hands chopping the air and some particularly inventive Czech phrases coloring his lips.

Forty minutes later they were wandering through corridors, which Atlantis had partially lit and Rodney was uncertain if this was reluctance on the part of Atlantis to waste power or her way of telling them that she might have preferred them to stay away from that area. She had not stopped them though, with minimal lights coming to life ahead of them even as they faded into darkness behind them. For the first time since their arrival in the city, Rodney felt a little spooked and, without conscious thought, he moved closer to John, only becoming aware of this when John nudged him with his elbow and smirked at him. The fact that Radek and Carson were practically stepping onto the back of Rodney's heels seemed immaterial. Eventually, they reached the place where the power drain was occurring and John gave Rodney a hard stare, forcing him and the other two scientists to stand back with Stackhouse while he and Eichmann prepared to enter the room, P90s ready.

The door opened smoothly revealing a softly lit interior with row upon row of small cylindrical units, all empty. Rodney perked up at the sight, wondering what they could be, eager to get inside to see the units. He could feel Carson pressing against his arm as the doctor tried to get a proper look through the open doorway. Patience had never been one of Rodney's virtues and he was almost shaking with the need to get inside the room by the time John gave the 'all clear'.

Inside was even more impressive, with as many as fifty of the small units placed around the room, each with individual monitors and control panels attached. Several more rooms led off from this one but Rodney could not tell if they were identical as only darkness lay beyond their open doorways.

Carson was pawing at the front of one unit. He turned, excitement widening his blue eyes. "These are incubation units."

Rodney frowned. "Incubation for what?" He thought of all the weird things they had seen mentioned in the Ancient database; all the strange life forms that the Ancients had studied over the millennia, his thoughts immediately turning to the nasty looking iratus bugs that the Ancients believed were a distant relative of the Wraith, which would explain the cold, insect-like behavior, hive mind, and life-sucking aspects of their nature. The iratus bugs were found on only one world and that world had spawned the Wraith.

"I think these were meant for warm-blooded creatures, possibly..." Carson's voice trailed off as he continued to stare at the readings, his mouth dropping open in surprise. "Bloody hell! I think we just found out how the Ancients reproduced!"

"What?" Rodney pushed forward and started taking his own scans of the unit Carson had been studying. He made a noncommittal noise and shook his head slightly. "Hmmm... I suppose it's pretty obvious when you think about it. The Ancients were researching ascension, a way of leaving their physical bodies behind and becoming pure energy."

Radek completed his thoughts. "So reproduction, and carnal pursuits, would not be so high upon the agenda."

"Hence the bi-weekly mating call," John added. His eyes narrowed as he moved closer to one of the many units lining three walls of the room. "So why the incubation units when Atlantis itself was making them reproduce naturally?"

Carson took a step back so he could glance around the whole room. "I strongly suspect that gender no longer had any relevance, not when a person was no longer concerned with the physical body, so not all were reproducing, and those females that were in a heterosexual partnership might not have been willing to carry a child to term." He shook his head. "These units can incubate a baby from any stage...from a zygote to almost full term." He huffed out a small laugh. "This is bloody amazing!"

John's caterpillar eyebrows had crawled up into his hairline, looking almost comical but Rodney's attention was too caught up with determining the source of the power drain to smirk at his lover's bemused expression.

"Some of these units have been prepped." Rodney looked around to the others. "They're ready for use."

Carson nodded as if he had suspected as much. "If you might recall, Rodney. I did mention that several of the young ladies on the expedition were expecting a wee bairn. It seems most likely that Atlantis was preparing in case any of those ladies decided not to carry the child to term."

Now it was Rodney's turn to feel confused. "What? So it just transports the baby out of the mother and into the...the incubator?"

"I wouldn't know, Rodney. I need to spend a little more time here to study the equipment before I can answer that."

From the gleam in Carson's eyes, Rodney had a feeling they would have to prise him out of the room with a crowbar because it looked like it could be a human geneticist's wet dream. Carson was busy calling up displays as if he had forgotten his fear and aversion to using the Ancient technology, making small hums and exclamations under his breath at each newly revealed piece of information. With a sigh, Rodney moved next to Radek.

"Miko should work with Dr. Beckett on this," Radek stated softly and Rodney nodded his agreement. Her work on bio-mechanical systems would complement Carson's medical knowledge. He turned away as Radek contacted Miko.

"Well...mystery solved," he exclaimed and wandered towards John, stopping only when he noticed John staring thoughtfully at the small, empty units. "Colonel?" John almost visibly shook himself out of his revelry.

"Finished playing with the new toys already, Rodney?" He teased as he followed Rodney out of the prenatal medical center, leaving Stackhouse watching over Carson and Radek. "Not like you to share so quickly."

Rodney gave him a sour look and continued walking. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

Rodney stopped, turning and indicating back along the corridor. "That-that room. Those incubators." Rodney sighed in annoyance. "Atlantis switched on a baby-grow unit."

"So? Miko and..."

"It wasn't for Miko," Rodney spat out. "It's for us. For Jack and Daniel, and for all the other same sex pairings that won't be reproducing any time soon due to, oh, a lack of the right anatomy."

John grabbed Rodney's flapping hands, stilling them, his hazel eyes taking on a greener hue in the ambient lighting within the hallway but Rodney could see that he 'got it'. This was Atlantis's answer to procreation when her three strongest males were in homosexual relationships. It was an answer that had been decided upon thousands of years in the past when gender and pursuits of the flesh no longer had the same appeal to a race that was looking to leave their physical bodies behind like wraith-ravaged husks.

"Oh no."

"Rodney?"

Rodney felt the horror flooding through him. "They created the Wraith." He stared straight into John's eyes. "They were looking for a way to take the life force out of the physical body, to...to free the spirit...to ascend."

John licked his lips, no doubt recalling the wraith-ravaged victims lining the corridors of the hive ship. It all made sense now, the sudden rising of the Wraith, expanding across the Pegasus galaxy at the most alarming rate, the fact that the Wraith language was a derivative of Ancient. The Wraith were yet another failed experiment on the road to ascension, one that had turned around and bit them in the ass.

"I need to speak to Atlantis," Rodney stated in a soft tone but, inside, his thoughts were hard with anger.

****

Atlantis ran a physiological scan over the man standing before her avatar, reading the elevated blood pressure and rapid heart beat. She could describe him in detailed medical terminology but, sometime over the past ten millennia, she had learned not to be so precise when it was unnecessary. Instead, she interpreted his physiological signs into an emotional state, deciding that he was angry.

Part of her initial reluctance to reveal the presence of the gestation room was to prevent an overreaction while her people settled into their new lives within her city walls. Unlike those who had walked here before, the new ones were not actively seeking ascension, still reveling in the beauty of the physical form, and still cherishing the love and desire for another. Certainly Rodney had great desire and love for John for it was written in every look and in every touch. They had come to her already bonded in heart and soul, otherwise she might have nudged John in a different direction, towards one of the available females where his progeny would be greater than the sum of its parts. Instead, she had accepted their commitment to each other and was willing to concede that, without the physical expression of that commitment, she might not have recognized the latent gene within Rodney, and would have discarded him along with many of her newfound people.

If Atlantis had accepted only the original full ATA gene carriers then the probability of surviving without outside assistance would have been far higher, for the resources sent through from Earth would have lasted far longer. However, Atlantis had learned from her former occupants that there was more to life than mere survival. The war with the Wraith had taken so much joy from their lives, for even though many had moved beyond the pleasure of sexual contact, all were devastated by the loss of brilliant minds. They felt the extinction of each bright spark of life, consumed by the blackness in the soulless Wraith. They fought hard but sheer numbers of Wraith overwhelmed them until all that was left of their great race lay within the walls of this city. Towards the end, they had numbered but a few thousand, eventually deciding that a life spent trapped within her city walls was stagnating them, taking them further from their goal of ascension. They opened her gate back to Earth and she watched mutely as they began the evacuation, the few remaining children holding onto the hands of their carers and parents as they stepped through, until all that remained was a skeleton crew - and Elizabeth Weir.

Atlantis understood the concept of alternate universes. That version of Elizabeth had witnessed the watery deaths of many of those that Atlantis now held dear. Her John had died in a downed Puddlejumper along with Radek, and her scanners had caressed his tomb often over the passing millennia, while her Rodney had drowned like most of the others because, in that alternate universe, she had not been present and so she could not have saved him.

All that made her 'Atlantis' had perished long before that fateful day in an alternate time line, her programming failing as the ZPMs depleted over ten millennia. Janus would have had that happen in this universe too in some misguided belief that he needed to protect all of those who were to return, those of Ancient descent and pure human alike. Perhaps in some alternate reality, he had succeeded but, in this universe, someone had intervened and made her aware of his machinations. Someone had allowed her to see how just a few centuries between the change of each ZPM would cause the core program to overwrite her growing sentience in order to save power for the shield.

Rodney's voice rose, his hands cutting through the air in hard slices as he snarled out his resentment at what he thought was manipulation on her part but he never drew breath long enough for her to answer any of his questions, making them rhetorical. So she waited patiently for him to finish his tirade. Beside him, the others looked both confused and exasperated in equal measure but none succeeded in bringing Rodney to a spluttering halt until John decided that he had heard enough and wanted a response from her.

"McKay!" John steeled his gaze on Rodney, holding up a hand when Rodney tried to start up again; he turned to her after a quick look to Jack and Daniel, who were standing behind him. "Atlantis. Why have you activated the...baby unit?"

"To be prepared for the next generation."

"Prepared?"

"Several females are gravid. I have prepared the natalrum so each child may be brought to term."

"So this has nothing to do with the...the..." John struggled with the words, looking relieved when Daniel took over.

"Has the natalrum been prepared for the progeny of same-sex couples?"

"The natalrum can be used for all who wish to use it."

"And if they choose not to use it?" Daniel asked quietly while wiping his glasses on the edge of his t-shirt.

"The natalrum can be used for all who wish to use it."

Daniel replaced his glasses and gave a tight smile.

"So it's not compulsory." Jack stated but she could almost hear the questioning in his tone and repeated what she had already told them twice before.

"The natalrum can be used for all who wish to use it."

"And the Wraith?" asked Rodney. "Were they...spawned in those units?"

She considered the separate unit in one of the unexplored areas on the outer edge of the city, where scientists had studied the genetics of the Iratus to determine how it sucked the living energy, the soul, from its prey. They had introduced human DNA, gestating hybrid creatures and set the experiment to run on a dark world on the edge of the galaxy, far from any population, and with its gate address sealed to all but Atlantis. Over the centuries that followed, their numbers were restricted by the amount of prey available but, as the Wraith grew stronger in numbers and intelligence. Soon after, they broke the Stargate code that had once kept them trapped on a single world, allowing them access to a thousand worlds filled with the food they craved. They built great ships and most left their world behind them as they moved from one human world to another, culling and feeding, gorging themselves on the pure humans and seeking out the first ones, the Ancients, to consume like delicacies in vengeance.

The ancestors of the Wraith had been created in that laboratory but, "No," none of the Wraith that roamed the Pegasus galaxy today had been spawned on Atlantis.

Daniel frowned. "Did the Ancients create the Wraith?"

"Yes."

"Well that explains where the hell they came from," Jack added sarcastically.

"And why they're so hard to kill," John added.

"Yes, and my respect for the Ancients plummets to even greater depths. Nothing more than a bunch of Frankensteins creating monsters," Rodney snarled but Atlantis could understand his anger in this respect.

Many of their experiments were misguided, especially as the war with the Wraith raged across the galaxy and they became ever more determined to abdicate their responsibility to the pure human seedlings by seeking Ascension. For this reason alone, she held no malice towards Janus for his attempt to remove her presence from the city. At least he had tried to protect the humans, both in this galaxy and the ones, like Elizabeth, who would come from the Milky Way with the descendants.

Rodney's anger was deflating as he discussed her words with the others, finally understanding that it would be his choice to have children with his chosen partner. Although she had the means to do so, she would not take that choice away from any of them. She allowed her avatar to close down but she continued to monitor them as they walked away, aware of the speculating glances John was casting in his lover's direction.

****

Persuading the city to rise to the surface had taken Daniel and Elizabeth several weeks of serious negotiation but the two had formed a formidable tag team despite both being pure humans. It helped that Rodney had backed them at every turn, providing figures on the ZPM power consumption for maintaining the shield underwater compared with above the surface.

Of course, having the city on the surface would release part of the burden of ferrying the non-ATA scientists to and from Atlantis, especially once Rodney had persuaded Atlantis to move the city closer to the mainland. John watched as Rodney gave himself a smug smile of satisfaction because he had taken into account the deep water just offshore when he had first suggested the location for the mainland site, and now that had worked to their advantage; Atlantis would be sitting above deep water so she could sink if the Wraith appeared.

Sinking back into the Chair, John let his thoughts seek out the connection to the city, his fingers finely coordinated as they danced over the gel pads, instinctively knowing where to press. Only a select few were capable of this but Jack would organize the people while Rodney monitored the stress put upon the city, prepared to fight fires literally. Part of John wished Rodney was in the Chair Room with him but the main consoles were in the control room yet, if he concentrated hard enough, he could feel Rodney through the city's link to both of them, could feel the vibrancy of his life force, and the amazing spark of his incredible mind illuminating the dark places in his own mind.

He felt her presence then, felt the joy and warmth enfolding both him and Rodney and the last of his fears concerning the Atlantis AI fell away, knowing she only wanted to love, protect and nurture them. In time, she would learn to let go just a little more and allow them to come and go as they pleased but, for now, she had not learned to trust those she considered *not* her people. An image flashed into his mind, of military rules and regulations that threatened incarceration and disgrace for both him and Jack simply for loving the person who was meant to be with them in their life and in their bed; for loving Rodney and Daniel.

He gasped softly, finally understanding why Atlantis would not allow the Asgard transporter to operate except under her control. She was afraid that he and Jack, and any other US military caught by the fraternization and DADT rules, would be taken from her to be punished. She was afraid of losing them, and of seeing Rodney, Daniel and the rest of her people distressed by their loss. Hell, the mere thought of being beamed away from Rodney distressed him too and John could think of no way to alleviate that fear because neither he nor Jack had the power to change those rules.

Leaving Rodney was not an option except under the most extenuating circumstances. He had fallen for the guy the moment Rodney ran into the Chair room in Antarctica with that bright orange fleece accentuating the strong broad shoulders. Thankfully, the Chair had not revealed his true thoughts or else, instead of a map of the solar system projected above his head, there would have been the image of those beautiful blue eyes gazing up at him in awe while that wide mouth swallowed his cock.

John took a deep, shuddering breath as the image of Rodney on his knees leaped into John's mind, eyes full of love, and mouth full of John's cock. He pushed back the image even as Rodney's voice drifted across the airways through his radio headset.

"You ready?"

"Yeah...just give me a sec." He took a moment to push away the amazing memory from a few days earlier and allowed Atlantis to guide him to the necessary controls for raising and moving the city. "Let's do this."

He felt the powerful throb of the star drive reverberate through the city and the Chair, grinning as the sense of movement reached deep into his mind, depth figures and power equations rippling through his head as the city rose. He wished he was on one of the balconies with Rodney, watching the water give way to air as they breached the surface, seeing sunlight reflecting off the city towers for the first time. He could hear cheering, could feel the pleasure coursing through the people linked to Atlantis. He could feel Rodney's excitement like a deeper, sexual throb that made John uncomfortably hard, held in check only by a need to continually monitor their journey and send out commands to keep the city intact. John felt the buffeting as Atlantis settled back into the water exactly where Rodney had proposed all those weeks earlier and he slowly powered down the star drive despite his eagerness to see the city above the water.

"We did it!" Rodney exclaimed over his radio, and John grinned broadly at the awe and excitement in his lover's voice.

"Yeah, we did it."

****

Jack stood on the balcony outside the control room and stared up into a sky turned slightly golden by the presence of the shield. Outside it would be blue, a deep cerulean blue like Daniel's eyes. He nodded at Rodney, who had come to join him, smiling at the childlike joy on his chief scientist's face and turning when he heard booted footsteps come to a halt behind them. John slipped his arms around Rodney's waist, looking over the shorter man's shoulder to see the magnificent towers and spires. Only one sight could beat this, and it would be sunlight unfiltered by the shield.

Perhaps, once the Daedalus had left orbit to return to Earth, they might be able to persuade Atlantis to lower the shield completely, if only to save even more ZPM power. Hell, he thought, what they really needed was another ZPM, preferably a fully charged one. They still had the five gate addresses that Janus had given to the alternate universe Elizabeth. Janus had told her that she would find ZPMs on those worlds, though Jack had a feeling it might not be a simple matter finding them after all these millennia but they had to persuade Atlantis to let them try. With another ZPM, they would be able to open up parts of the city and gain greater protection should the Wraith decide to check out the planet and find them.

With Daniel and Elizabeth's help, Rodney had already managed to convince Atlantis to allow them to come to the surface and move closer to the mainland. Maybe he could convince her that they needed another ZPM too for the same reason that she allowed them to rescue Elizabeth and the others from the Wraith hive ship: to protect Atlantis and her new people.

He felt a warm hand drop onto his shoulder and looked sideways as Daniel leaned against him, reaching up to place his own hand over Daniel's. Some part of him was still frozen in disbelief, shocked that he could have this with Daniel, that he *did* have this with Daniel. Amazed that he could touch this man whenever he pleased, that he could pull him into a kiss in the middle of the gate room and, okay, maybe some people would bat an eyelid but none would be abhorred by his open affection for another man.

He sighed. Even if it took years to persuade Atlantis to allow them to leave the city, he would still be happier here than he had been since Charlie's death because he would have the man he had come to love and adore beside him through all those years. A glance towards John and Rodney showed him that he and Daniel would not be alone in that respect, noting how John covertly nuzzled at his lover's neck, hazel eyes glowing with love for the man he held in his arms.

Perhaps, in time, they would take up Atlantis's offer to have children, not as a replacement for Charlie for no one could replace the son he had lost all those years ago, but as a new start for him and Daniel, and for John and Rodney. He smiled wryly as he imagined what a child with John and Rodney's genes would be like, or a child with his and Daniel's genes mixed together.

For now, though, he could look towards a new future with Daniel by his side.

****

Epilogue - One Year Later

Allina offered a sad smile as she tugged the ZPM from Rodney's hands. Maybe Rodney should not have been surprised because she had spoken of rebuilding The Brotherhood, but there was little point if they did not have the Potentia to protect. Even so, he wondered if she might have let them take the ZPM if he had flirted back at her but, instead, he had felt awkward when John had pointed it out to him. He was not used to being the object of anyone's sexual attention other than John's, and was more than happy for it to remain that way. Though it was interesting to see John's reaction to someone hitting on him. Perhaps John would be a little less inclined to unconsciously flirt with some of those Athosian women now he had been on the other side of the equation as the jealous boyfriend.

"By your own admission, you are not the Ancestors, merely trespassers within the great tower."

It took Rodney a moment to recall the cover story, that they were from the Ancient Tower buried on a distant world. They had found the Tower on the first gate address given by the old Elizabeth but its ZPM had been depleted by the ignorance of the few remaining descendants of the Ancients still surviving there. At least Elizabeth and Teyla had managed to negotiate a trade for all the now useless drones and Puddlejumpers still filling the small city.

"What? Because we didn't grow up there?"

Rodney felt Elizabeth's small hand grasp his arm and her soft warning, "Rodney," aware that she was probably feeling just as scared and angry as him but wanted to stop him from provoking the Dagans into killing them. She had come with them to help translate the Ancient texts found in the old monastery though it was John who had figured out the final puzzle. In hindsight, the answer had been obvious, something he would have figured out in seconds on a MENSA test, but fear for John's life had frozen his brain once he realized that a wrong pattern of the tiles would release a powerful toxin into the skin of whoever was chosen to activate the crude but effective device. Of course, John had refused to allow anyone else to take the risk.

Even the appearance of the coveted ZPM had not eclipsed his relief that John was right, and still alive to boast about it and, at the time, John had looked just as relieved. Now, he was looking at Rodney with a hardened expression, in full soldier mode except for his eyes that betrayed his concern for all of them, and for Rodney in particular. Rodney could almost hear the mental command to shut up', aware that John would rather lose the ZPM than any one of them. Rodney swallowed down his bitter disappointment at losing the ZPM, closing his mouth firmly while Elizabeth tried to negotiate their release, if only for the part they had played in finding the ZPM.

"It is true that we owe you a debt of gratitude for, without your assistance, for it might have taken many more years to find that which was lost, Now the Order of the Fifteen can be restored fully, and the Potentia will be hidden once more until the true Ancestors return." Her eyes narrowed. "However, we cannot allow to leave. You have already proved to be too resourceful, too intelligent, so there is every chance that you would find the Potentia and steal it from us." Fear coiled at the pit of his stomach as she gave him another sad smile and aimed at his heart, too close to miss even if John managed to get off a shot first. "I am sorry, Rodney."

Suddenly, John relaxed and smiled. "Actually, I think you better put down your guns."

Allina looked as confused as Rodney until the air rippled just above their heads. Two Jumpers uncloaked and Rodney took in a startled breath as Major Lorne grinned down at them from one and, was that...? Oh yes, he thought as Jack grinned down from the other. A rustle of movement preceded the appearance of more than a dozen more soldiers, dressed in Atlantean Expedition uniform and TAC vests, all with P90s locked on a target. In shock, the Dagans dropped their weapons to the ground and raised their hands.

"Rodney?"

"Huh! Yes, yes." He reached over and took the ZPM back from Allina, offering a small consoling smile even though she had planned to kill them.

Jack's Jumper settled on the ground and the back lowered, and John covered him and Elizabeth as they quickly clambered inside, the other Atlantean military slowly backing away towards a third Jumper that could be seen a few hundred meters distant. Rodney sighed in relief as the back closed, hugging the ZPM tighter to his chest. He huffed out a small laugh as John ousted Markham from the co-pilot seat and dropped into it.

"Cutting it a little fine there, if you don't mind me saying."

Jack grinned as the Puddlejumper rose up into the air and headed for the Stargate. "We've been ready for two days. I was starting to wonder if you ever planned on bringing that ZPM home at all."

Rodney sat up straighter, brow furrowed as he glared at the retired general's back. "You mean you knew about the...the..."

John raised an eyebrow. "You mean the possibility of an ambush on the way back to the gate by a bunch of religious nuts looking to restart the old order?"

"Well...when you put it like that."

John laughed, gazing over his shoulder at Rodney. "Yeah," he stated softly and, once again, Rodney realized why John often beat him at chess, because, in strategy, he always seemed to be that one extra step ahead all the time. Just like Jack, who had outmaneuvered the SGC and IOA by taking retirement so they could all say the expedition was civilian-led.

"We got a ZPM," Rodney murmured, cradling it gently, and John gave him the softest, sweetest smile before dialing the gate and heading home via a long abandoned world to hide their trail home to Atlantis.

****

John took in a deep breath of the fresh, salty sea air, staring across the waves to the distant horizon. Above him the sky was a deep blue with a scattering of soft clouds above the distant mainland. He thought back to the final moments of the mission to Dagan earlier that day, and of his fear when Allina and her people had ambushed them. If he had not already had his suspicions regarding her, and if he had not sent back a coded message to Jack asking him to be prepared, then he might have lost Rodney today. The fact that he would have died too was of little consequence because he wanted Rodney to live.

Elizabeth had been the voice of reason, trying to negotiate their release with promises of never returning to Dagan but John could tell from the look in Allina's eye that she had no intention of allowing them to leave, at least not alive.

Still, despite her inability to sway Allina, he was glad she had been there today, just as he was glad she had decided to take a lesser role in the city and stay, finally understanding that Atlantis felt no malice towards her but had put the survival of *her* people, the descendants of the Ancients, above all other considerations. Strangely, her lingering resentment towards Jack had faded quickly after he took retirement from the military, even though being military or civilian had little impact on his role as joint leader.

John gave a wry smile. Elizabeth had been surprised at how easy it was to work alongside Jack, sharing the administration for the expedition, even if he did tend to get the final word concerning the city.

In this past year, the Athosians had begun to thrive on the mainland, trading fresh food with the city in return for some of the wonders brought by the Daedalus on its infrequent trips. Their way of life was slowly eroding as they interacted with the Earth humans but even Halling had to admit that the Athosians could not survive otherwise and in this way, they could preserve their history and a part of their heritage.

The Wraith had remained relatively quiet and John knew they had the strength of Sam's resolve to thank for that. She had told the Wraith nothing and a sanctioned expedition to Athos had revealed that the Wraith had returned there seeking answers but had found only a seemingly culled settlement on an empty world. Once awakened, that particular hive ship had left its centuries-long resting place and had begun to cull worlds in close proximity but all the others continued to sleep, though Teyla insisted that they would all awaken to start culling within the next fifty years. John could only hope that Rodney and his fellow scientists would manage to find a way to defeat the Wraith before that day arrived.

Atlantis was still reluctant to allow them gate travel and she raised the shield whenever the Daedalus arrived to prevent the Asgard beaming technology from stealing her people, only allowing people to beam down and forcing them to go outside the shield to beam up. So, this past year had been one of exploration, slowly uncovering the secrets buried within a city that was as large as Lower Manhattan, and they still had so much more to discover.

With every newfound laboratory or database, Rodney hoped he would find something that could be used in the upcoming fight, for they all had a feeling that the pacifist nature of the Ancients had been their eventual downfall rather than their inability to discover a way to defeat the Wraith. The new Atlanteans did not have such an overwhelming desire to find a way for the Wraith and humans to coexist in peace and harmony. As far as John was concerned, the Wraith had been given ten thousand years to change their eating habits from killing sentient beings to consuming non-sentient creatures, and now they had to pay the price for the billions of lives taken and the thousands of civilizations destroyed.

He smiled as Rodney came out onto the balcony of their quarters, his hair all fluffed yet still slightly damp from his second shower this afternoon. The gentle breeze lifted the fine strands, reminding John of the silken feel of them slipping between his fingers as they kissed. Unable to resist the urge, he drew Rodney into his arms and kissed him again, fingers of one hand splayed over the side of Rodney's face from temple to jaw, caressing the freshly shaved skin as he deepened the kiss. He felt the smallest twinge of pleasure in his groin, amazed he could feel even that much after their recent love making.

Rodney moaned into the kiss, the sound resonating deep inside of John as he recalled similar moans of pleasure, of breathless wonder and soft gasps as John pushed inside his lover earlier, possessing him deeply while Rodney writhed wantonly beneath him, hips pushing up in counterpoint to John's wild thrusts. It was 'thank god we are still alive' sex, it was 'we have a ZPM' sex but, mostly, it was pure, unadulterated love, wanting to have and to hold, and to bury themselves so deep in each other that even death could not find them.

Afterwards, they had lain sated and exhausted on the rumpled bed, bodies slick with sweat and Rodney's release, and resisting the urge to simply close their eyes and sleep away the rest of the day. Even the thought of a ZPM sitting in Rodney's laboratory had not roused the normally obsessive scientist. Instead, Rodney had handed over the initial testing to Radek on condition that they install it tomorrow, once he was fully rested after spending almost a week on a treasure hunt on Dagan.

They had dozed for half an hour before the tackiness of his skin sent John heading towards the bathroom for a quick shower, and now Rodney was in his arms again, sharing every breath as they kissed slowly. Eventually, they pulled apart, with Rodney's kiss-swollen lips curling upwards in the crooked smile that John so adored.

"You wanna go take a look?"

Rodney grinned and nodded, letting John take his hand and lead him from their quarters and through the corridors of the city to a room discovered by Radek a year earlier. A third of the baby units were now in use but they stopped in front of one in particular, staring through the transparent shielding to the almost fully matured baby. Carson figured they had less than a week before they could hold their son in their arms for the first time, and the thought filled John with a mixture of dread and excitement, perhaps even more so for coming so close to losing Rodney today.

They reached out to touch the force field, fingers colliding and entwining as they traced the tiny, perfect features over the smooth surface.

One week, and now, with a full ZPM, they had all the power they needed to protect this new life.

****

One week later, Atlantis watched as John and Rodney held the fragile new life in their arms for the first time.

Power from the newly installed ZPM was coursing through her again, allowing her to activate all the security measures required to keep all of her people safe inside her walls, including the young ones. She could feel their tiny sparks of life slowly filling the empty corners within her, cherishing each new arrival and singing soft lullabies through her link with them.

Every night she focused on the Stargate as it dialed in from a hostile world, holding the shield tight in case this should be the day the Wraith finally figured out how to connect. She was aware that her illogical fear shimmered through the link with all her people, leaving them momentarily unsettled. As the Stargate shut down, she would lower the shield and send out soft reassurance to soothe the minds of her people before turning her attention, once more, across the oceans of space to the network of Ancient satellites spread out across the galaxy.

On distant worlds, most of the enemy slept within their great hive ships, with only a watcher and a few drones marking the passage of time. Within fifty years they would all awaken, ravenous for human souls, but this time she would not be at the whim of a council seeking a peaceful solution. This time she would use every weapon within her arsenal to destroy any Wraith that attempted to breach her city, protecting her people at all cost. This time, she would ensure that they were ready.

With that thought in mind, she powered up a distant laboratory where Myrddin and Janus had been working on a final solution before they were forced to abandon their work and return to Earth with the others. Perhaps they could not complete their ultimate weapon in the fight against the Wraith but their descendants, Rodney and John, could continue where they left off.

In the silence of the city, she swept through every room, silently monitoring all of her people. She paused above the entwined and pleasantly sated bodies of Jack and Daniel, caressing their minds before moving on to check on their tiny daughter sleeping close by. She allowed one small sensor to monitor John and Rodney's sleeping forms, seeing them pressed closely together, with Rodney's head pillowed on John's shoulder, one arm wrapped around John's waist and a leg pushed firmly between John's thighs. A smile curved both their lips as they held on tight to one another, while the newborn infant slept peacefully in the cot beside them.

Tomorrow she would direct their attention towards that hidden laboratory but, for now, she would let them sleep safe and secure in each other's arms while she watched over them all. And if she did sometimes feel the whisper touch of an ascended being, she would caress it back and remind it that it was fully alive once, in body and mind, hoping this would stir some long forgotten memory, reminding it of responsibility and duty towards the young.

But mostly, she would watch the galaxy, and wait.

THE END