Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 One thing about Guide’s home that John found he really, really liked was that there were no windows in the bedroom. Just the faintest trace of light awoke John each morning, sometimes before the sun even finished rising. Most military officers weren’t the type to sleep in, mind you, but John wouldn’t say that he was a morning person willingly. No, if he had his way, he would be able to have a lazy Saturday where he slept in till noon every now and then when he happened to have a weekend off. The unfortunate fact was that his body just didn’t allow him to do so. It had been this way since he was small. This caused it to be quite a surprise when he and Guide were awakened by an entourage of Guide’s family around mid-day. 

First of all, there was Firstlight, Guide’s Sire. He was of the first generation to hatch as Wraith. A child of the original 100, to a departed father whom had been Athosian before he had become Wraith. He carried himself with a wisdom often possessed by those from Athos, and had similar mannerisms to Teyla and her people, and a similar way of speaking. He was dressed in something similar to what the Athosians would consider to be their best, and his hair was neatly brushed, with the top half of his hair braided behind him in a 5 strand braid at the back of his head, decorated with beads carved from bone. He looked uncannily like a Wraith version of Hailing. 

His facial tattoo was in the same place as his eldest son's was, and formed a similarly styled bat wing shape, though it wasn't quite as sharp as most of the other Wraith tattoos he had seen, but he supposed he was among the first to get one, when they were still finding ink that worked for their skin. John liked the look of it though. It reminded him of some of the facial tattoos he would see on older Inuit women, older indigenous peoples on earth, but without as much symmetry as he usually saw. Not that facial tattoo symmetry was a rule on Earth either. And it wasn't so much design wise that caused his correlation, but rather the way it aged. It was a tattoo that had known time, and faced the sun with its wearer. There was beauty in that. The classist tattoo elitists of Earth’s first world would turn their noses at it and say it looked like a “Shitty stick and poke” without understanding the history of hand poked tattoos and aspired for crisp, clean lines at all times. But John loved the look of a sun faded tattoo that took a slightly bluer tone than black, and the softened edges of a linework tattoo that had known the light of day for more than a few years.

 He did have to admit though that both tattoos reminded him vaguely of KISS. It may have just been association because of Guide’s tattoo being star shaped like Paul Stanly’s face paint and his father’s being a bit bat wing-like in shape, like Gene Simmons’s paint had been. It did give Guide a bit of a chuckle when he heard that thought though, since they had listened to some ACDC, and a few others John liked while working on the chair’s systems. Out of curiosity, he’d asked about the ensembles, and had seen pictures, and had to admit that he could see how John could make the association, and assured his brother that he found it amusing rather than offensive. 

Firstlight’s silk finer clothes were more muted than most of the civilian clothes he had seen on the planet, but he figured it was probably a personal preference. They looked more similar to Athosian traditional attire than most younger Wraith’s did. His cream tunic reached his ankles and had touches of brown embroidery, and, like he often saw, scenes of nature decorated the clothing. There were some wood and bone beads decorating the neckline, with a soft brown fringe at the bottom, but less flashy than he’d grown accustomed to seeing among Wraith Civilian clothing. The weave was a bit rougher and the stitching was more prominent as well. Almost like a mix of Wraith and Athosian, though an earlier version of Athosian if he had to guess. 

He seemed to be mentally shaking his son awake, if Guide’s annoyance was anything to go by. He was tired and sluggish. And, as John quickly realized as he started becoming aware of reality, spooning him with his arms around his waist, which only stubbornly tightened when the urging to get up grew insistent. John was about to say that it wasn't what it looked like, before they both reminded him that they knew. That they could literally hear him thinking right now. He felt his cheeks heat up a little at that. But now that he was paying attention, he could hear Firstlight’s thoughts through Guide as he sat two plates of food between them, Guide finally sitting up at the thought that John may feel awkward with his family there while they cuddled, for lack of a better word. He noted the sad look on Guide’s face, and the thought that sharing a meal from the same plate was done during intimate occasions like this between couples. It was a very strange thing not to have a shared plate after an egg was laid. Another social dynamic that was different in his mate’s absence that could be felt far too keenly. Normally, it would have been Iceyes waking him up, not his extended family. 

He became aware that Guide still needed to replenish calcium from Firstlight’s thoughts. And that he deserved to be treated like royalty right now. It was customary, though he was aware of how difficult this must be for him right now. That he would be celebrated as though he were a queen today. Because he had survived. Losing a brother to lay was not as common as it used to be, but it was a tradition they retained faithfully. And this was the closest Guide had ever come to not making it through this part of their lifecycle. But they all would perhaps find these celebrations to be bittersweet. Guide's family loved Iceyes as their own. 

Firstlight had been a steely Commander, and firm Sire, but could let his guard down and be tender. Especially with Guide. And now was one of those times where he needed it. Guide’s son had come into the world, yes, but he had never delivered without Iceyes. It was very different than this time had ever been for him in the past. Even the small things were different. And anyone he cared about being in lay worried him after losing Shade. Sorrow where there should be joy was something he was familiar with, even if he and Guide experienced it differently. He could hold space for grief. 

Nevertheless, he was firm when need be, and, along with Kenny, he was one of the few who could be firm enough with the Commander to actually win an argument with the man. He had to get his stubbornness from somewhere, and Firstlight seemed to be the culprit. So he urges the plate closer when Guide doesn’t take it and gives him a look that he would kick his ass if he didn’t take care of himself, drawing a chuckle from the younger Wraith, who takes the plate and eats mechanically beside John after the two of them managed to sit up, both still aching deeply from last night and only just acceptably cleaned up. And the thought of food wasn’t exactly the first thing on John’s mind in this current state either, but once he started, he was amazed by how good the food actually was. It almost made sitting up worth the effort. Almost.

He could see Bonewhite’s grin from across the room at that thought, as he had been the one to prepare it. He sensed Guide’s amusement at his clutchbrother mentally gloating about it, and he chided Bonewhite that he liked the dumplings better fried than steamed and he should have made them that way for John to try the first time. It was mostly just to be an ass hole older brother. Firstlight hits him upside the head at this with an eye roll as the hand made contact, and Bonewhite puts off bursts of yellow laughter as he turns away and shakes his head in amusement at his brother’s unconsciously posturing at him for John’s affections, and Guide just growls at the call out in front of the family and chucks one of the dumplings at Bonewhite’s head. 

Bonewhite takes half a step to the side. 

It hits the wall. 

Firstlight sighs and shakes his head, trying not to be amused. 

John wasn’t the only one blushing at what was being implied though, and the two of them turned their attention back to eating their breakfasts. Neither of them wanted to take anything too fast, but neither of them could deny their affection any more.

Seeming to acquiesce to this fact, though he would very much like to see his brother happy now , Bonewhite drops the train of thought. He lets his mind drift to their plans to take them to the hot spring to clean up later and Guide chuffs out a snarl at the idea of moving and Coldwind, Guide's grandsire, rolls his eyes at this and growls. Iceyes' father steps on his foot at what John would describe as “Ronan like behavior”. 

The formerly Satedian Wraith had a lot of similar mannerisms to Ronan, actually, and he wasn't about to write that off as a Satedian thing either. Even thousands of years and hundreds of generations later, his genetics were probably strong enough to be passed through his direct line for years and throw a mini me every now and again. He had a similar brow and eye shape to Ronan, and thick facial hair on the same parts of his face. He was definitely more aged than his human descendent, but their facial expressions matched in the movement of their eye muscles. His jaw was a bit stronger and his nose was wider, but the lips were similar enough. Both were well built, and tall, with wide shoulders. But the similarities went to the personality too. Both had a strong sense of justice, were very blunt with very few words, weren’t known for being polite, and always ready for action.  

Their tattoos even matched. Well, sorta. Ronan’s neck tattoo matched the one cold wind had on the left side of his face. The bottom of the three dots was level with the corner of his eye and the top about half an inch from the hairline. The vertical lines started about the distance of a thumb from his mouth to the start of the tattoo, with the line beside it touching the corner of his eye. Once the lines reached half an inch from the hairline, they stopped, and ran half way down his neck. The tick across the top of the tattoo spanned his forehead. It was bigger and positioned differently, but it was definitely the same symbol. John had assumed the mark was military related until now,and this didn’t rule it out, but it had him wondering about the specifics. 

He was dressed in black on black leather and silk clothing that had been decorated with bone beads and had his locks neatly braided in toward the back of his head rather than hanging loosely over his shoulders as they normally did. There weren’t nearly as many locks as there were braids that were now in Guide’s hair. They were about as thick as a human woman's thumb, though Guide’s were about as thin as half her pinky. He had a fierceness about him that belonged to someone who had been a warrior in both his lives; both before and after becoming wraith. He had a leather arm cuff on each wrist that covered the skin on the inside of the forearm that looked like what human archers would wear. His ears were stretched and the skulls of two small animals dangled from the saddles in his ears, and the locks woven into the braid were decorated with various bone beads and strips of leather. Small pieces of bone were tied to the fringe at the bottom of his shirt. If John had to guess, he would say that Coldwind was probably dressed in a ceremonial outfit or military uniform, which his mate confirmed in John’s mind. This was an outfit reserved for ceremony. Like a mess dress uniform. Normally, as the High Commander of their Clan’s hives, Guide would wear this style uniform when welcoming a new mind to the hive or celebrating that a brother has survived, and had a family of their own, but since it was the High Commander who had laid an egg, it would fall to his Grandsire, as he had served as their Hive’s previous High Commander. He's been Guide’s predecessor. He had been Firstlight’s commanding officer, and Iceyes' Father. 

He was named Redclaw, for a deciding move in hand to hand combat he was known for. It was said that he had torn the heart out of the ancient who killed his mate with his claws alone. His name had changed that day, as some Wraith’s did when a name now longer suited them. He had gone from being a level headed officer, to a warrior of legend. It wasn’t hard to believe looking at him, but he seemed to at least sympathize with Guide for the fact that moving right now would suck. He was a generation younger than Coldwind, with a Father who had been Terranian and a Sire who had been Jenvian. He was still older than Firstlight though, as his parents had been taken and transformed before Coldwind, and was about 750 years Firstlight's senior, though their sons were only about 350 years apart, and had grown up on the same street. 

His facial tattoo was a line from the center of his top forehead down to the bottom of his chin, where it had three intersecting lines, and blacked out his lips, extending the corners into a thin tapered line to elongate it, making his grin appear wider when he smiled at his former commander and thinks that perhaps he should mind his manners and remember that he could share memories of the pains of lay with him if he would like to rush them to bathe, then fixes Firstlight and Bonewhite with the same offer and a thought of allowing them to rest and eat a bit longer, as this wasn’t the typical clutch, and everyone’s quick agreement had John raising an eyebrow and turning to Guide wondering if other Wraith found him intimidating too, and the quick response was an assertive “Yes.”

He supposed that it was just as much his reputation and leer created by his tattoo that made him intimidating as the way he was dressed. If the Wraith military uniform was a 90’s cyber goth matrix look, than Redclaw’s civilian tastes were more the equivalent of a male version of Nancy's look from The Craft . He wore a long tunic with bell sleeves. It was made from a flowy black silk with blood red embroidery, Several carved bone beads decorated the fringe around the sleeves and there were long fanged teeth that decorated his neckline and shoulders. He wore jewelry that had clear glass beads filled with black and red liquid that John could only guess were wraith and human blood. Half his hair was short like Nancy’s as well, as he had cut his hair after losing Iceyes. The other half was still shaved. He supposed he was a bit like every high school guys one friend’s hot goth mom with big boobs who you dreamed about but never wanted to piss off because she probably knew how to kill you with a single mushroom she could find growing in her backyard. Todd goes wide eyed at the thought, while Kenny, Firstlight, and Coldwind all look between John and Redclaw, and Redclaw responds with a multi tonal cackle at that and nods his head, taking that as a compliment and confessing that he had wondered before what it was like to have boobs, and it hadn’t been a thought to cross his mind only once. Coldwind only looked relieved that Redclaw found that amusing. Redclaw redirected John and Guide back to their breakfast.

It was different from what many human cultures would call breakfast food. There were no eggs. John guessed eating them was probably taboo in their culture, and having a child who would be hatching from an egg was making him have second thoughts about ever eating eggs again if he could help it. Guide mentally confirmed it, and that that was a horrifying idea to him. Like human tales of Wraith eating babies. Instead, there was the dumplings, one of which Guide had thrown at Bonewhite, and had a pleasant tangy taste, like a sourdough, though the texture of a steamed wonton wrapper. The inside was a mix of vegetables and herbs with onions. He gathered that when Guide was eating solid food for enjoyment, or the rare need to replenish nutrients lost to the development of eggs, this was one of his favorites, and it was good. He did have to agree that it would probably be good fried though. There were a couple small pieces of some sort of pink fleshed fish that looked very similar to salmon, and by the texture and smell, it seemed smoked. When he bit into it, it confirmed the preparation method, but it had a more buttery or nutty taste than salmon, and the texture was more tender. The filet was much smaller though, roughly the size of perch. It was crusted with savory herbs on the skin side and topped with a citrus fruit that was both sweet and sour, had red skin and pink flesh. There was a dark green leafy vegetable that had been cooked well, like some sort of chard or collard green and it tasted similar to them, though it was spiced with something that tasted both garlicky and mustardy. There was plain yogurt in a separate wooden cup on the wooden plate. Cultivated in a lab by the look, but beautifully carved nonetheless, and sealed so it would last. It reminded him of some of the tableware at his grandparents. He wasn’t sure if he would even be familiar with the animal that produced the milk that made the yogurt, so he didn’t know what to expect with regard to taste, but if it followed the trend it would be savory. With that in mind, he took a bite, expecting something that would probably taste like it was made from goat milk. When he places the wooden spoon in his mouth and is met with a tangy yogurt with a creamy edge like cows milk, he appreciatively hums at the taste that was somehow both bold and mild. Somewhere between goat and cow milk. The whole plate looked like it had contained a lot of calcium. The only sweet thing looked like a fruit in the pear family, which was less sweet and a bit more grainy than the varieties he was used to, and the skin was more on the brown side, with redder tones to it than green, but it was better than a sweet pear would have been taking the rest of the plate into account. The whole spread smelled amazing. And tasted even better. The last time John had a home cooked meal like this was when he had been on New Athos for a harvest festival months ago. And it was absolutely incredible. It’s one of the things he had missed most about Earth. 

Next, Bonewhite served everyone tea. It was a deep red, and tasted very floral. John recognized it as being something very close to, if not the same as hibiscus and ginger. Hydrating and anti-inflammatory. To help them heal, and to help his clutch brother’s renal function when it had been on pause so long while in lay. Like their teas meant for health and not meant to be mind altering, it was served in a cup that was half way between the size of a coffee mug and a traditional European tea cup. The cup was also made out of wood, and had a carved handle and a leather strap to hang it, unlike the metal tableware he had been given on the hive. He supposed it was easier to clean a simple metal plate with a hive of thousands though, but he really appreciated the artistry of their traditional tableware they used at home. And the cup kept the tea at the perfect temperature. It was sweetened with honey, and there were subtle notes of cardamom. 

Once they finished, Guide scooted over to the side of the nest and pulled himself up to the edge and over to the hearth, where he lifted the lid on the nest’s incubation chamber. “This is not essential, but it makes it easier to keep a healthy temperature. We use this mostly at night or when we’re at home and are busy. The egg needs to be kept in a temperature range of 22 to 31 degrees celsius, though McKay says people from your country use a different system, and that it’s 72 to 88 degrees. He, Dr. Beckett, Jeannie Miller, and Zelenka all said the same thing about your country being stubbornly inconvenient.” 

John chuckles at this and takes note of everything he was being told, taking in the egg and the silk nest it was cushioned safely and warmly inside. It was orange in hue, with green specks and a couple blackish purplish veins on the shell. It was a bit softer than a bird’s egg shell, but Guide’s fingers moved across and around it with expert care and caution as he gently rotated the egg 90 degrees upward and to the right. “Always turn a quarter turn up and to the right. It needs to be the same direction every time. It will keep him from sticking to the shell. If he gets stuck to it, that could become lethal. This needs to be done every time we wake, and before we go to bed, but the more often this is done, the better it is for his circulation.”

Then Todd takes out a small spray bottle and gives the egg a small spritz. “The outer membrane needs to be sprayed twice a day at the very least, three times minimum when he starts showing signs of hatching. This will help keep any pathogens from passing through the shell. The dryer it is, the easier it is for germs to enter the pores of the shell. This is his skin for now. Keeping anything from getting to his insides. If your skin dries out and cracks all over, it's a gateway to infection. Think of that membrane the same way. And until he’s hatched and feeding on enzyme, it's his whole immune system. If it’s hotter out or dryer, it may need to be sprayed more often. Check his nest often. This will stay by it, and there will be one for travel as well. It’s hard to overdo. As long as the incubation chamber isn’t flooded in the bottom or the silk isn’t saturated he should be just fine. You can tell he’s alive and well because the egg is warm to the touch, but if you hold it over a light, you can see him inside. Right now, it will be hard to see anything because he’s so tiny, but in a couple days, I can show you.” he says. 

John nods his head to that, wide eyed, taking the bottle and spraying the egg. This wasn’t how he pictured his first interactions with his kid when he became a dad, but this wasn’t all that different. In the past, he had imagined being with Charlie and Allison. They had wanted a home birth if medically possible. So that had been the same as he had thought it would be. He thought he would be seeing a face when his child came into the world, but instead he felt a small kind, so trusting, and so cozy. He thought he would be changing his or her first diaper. Instead he was rotating him. He thought he would be feeding them from a bottle. Instead, he had a spray bottle. But the joy in these moments were the same. 

“So we take him with us when we leave? That makes me feel a bit better about going places, just in case something happens while we’re out, like a flood or a fire, but how do we move him around safely? He needs to stay warm, and eggs are pretty delicate, and I don't want to hurt him.” John says, looking down at the silk bundle and Guide smiles at this. His instincts for not leaving a youngling unsupervised were the same as their own. He was already a natural. 

“We have a device we make that can best be translated as an… egg basket? That's not right. Egg board?” He says and takes a leather item that had been in the chest where bedding was kept and places it in John's lap. “It's a bit like a portable incubator that you can wear on your back. Hatchlings will also stay in it when we're very active and need to keep him secure while moving. The bio leather we wear in space is thermoregulating, but it was originally developed for our egg boards, not our own clothing. This will keep him nice and warm. You place the nest inside it like this, and you add this bone frame until he hatches. It should hold tightly to the silk but it won't crush the egg. I may need to add a small buffer, like a hatchling blanket, because he's the only egg, to take up some space, but he won't slide around and the shell won't crack or tear. The frame keeps it from getting crushed.” He takes a very old, and very worn out tiny fluffy silk quilt out of the blanket chest and places it against the firm back of the leather covered board. He was aware the blanket had been Starborn’s. It was similar to cradleboards used by indigenous peoples of North America, Mexico, Scandinavia and central Asia. This was one of the few words he had learned before his grandparents had passed away that he was able to remember. It was smaller than the ones he had seen on Earth. But even a normal sized clutch of eggs would be smaller than a human infant, so that was only logical. They could also be used for the length of many human generations, like the ones on Earth, but he guessed that a Wraith infant may spend more time in one than their human counterparts, and more would have to be made as they hatched and grew to accommodate the number of infants. It had to be made of their self healing leather to be in this nice of shape, if it was as old as he suspected. 

Guide goes on to confirm, “Then you take your bio leather and close it over the frame and lace it up tightly. You don't want this coming undone. Him falling out would be disastrous. Make sure all these ties are secure. Then it's covered with a decorative silk cover. We all make our own cover so that we know whose is whose and don't accidentally switch egg boards. And it will help him sleep when he hatches. If they're awake in the egg, it's easy to know which youngling is yours without the decoration when other Wraith may have their eggboard’s in the same location, but if they're sleeping and you can't tell the egg board is yours, you're stuck there until your little one wakes up and you can pick them out from among everyone else’s. So these are made to be identifiable. You can easily recognize something you make. We also make one for each hatchling that they keep to use when they’re older, should they have younglings. They take the one their father makes. The youngling’s father and sire usually keep the egg board made by the father as a keepsake and they pass it along to the child it was made for, so he can use it for the clutch until all the eggs are laid. Before that, it’s impossible to know how many to make. We're using mine for now from when I was a hatching until we make one for him. I'll show you how to make one later when I make one for him, and we’ll work together to decorate it in a design we’ll both know.” He says, making sure the egg was ready to go. 

As they did this, Redclaw went to the clothing chests to find more things that were appropriate for them to wear and bathing attire. John got the vague impression that there would be a celebration tonight, and while it wasn’t an event where sobriety or formality were to be expected, they should still dress for a party where Guide would be the guest of honor, and John his right hand at the table so to speak. That in the past this would have been Iceyes. But if it had to be anyone else, Guide was glad it was John. He hadn’t been the one to crash on that cursed Genii planet with him, but he had been the one to leave that rock with him.

He felt Guide’s vague nervousness at the idea of the gathering, but it was from his uneasiness about the differences, as well as being the center of attention without him there. John sends him a soft mental squeeze of assurance, and the thought that a human taking the place of his late mate as a telepathically imprinted upon adoptive father may be novel enough to everyone to take some of the attention off of him and some of the harder emotions he had to process about this, and he would direct that curiosity his way if he started to get overwhelmed. He imagined it’s what he felt like when Allison got married and had a kid, and how he felt at her daughter’s first birthday party when she’d have been a surrogate for them. But Charlie hadn’t been there and it wasn’t their child. There was a forlornness he felt as the event took place, nostalgic for what it may have been like if he were still there. Wistful for a timeline that would never be. 

Guide projects his gratitude at his understanding and offer and inclines his head as Redclaw packs a bag with clothing, shampoos, conditioners, skin soaps, and skin conditioning oils. He packed a few things that looked like they might be snacks too, a few blankets and pillows in case a nap was needed at some point, and to lounge on later, shoes, brushes, combs, ties, and beads for everyone’s hair. He puts some shoes in the bag and then brings them each what looks like a pair of slippers. This was the norm after a clutch, and it wasn’t unusual to arrive at a hot spring in pajamas if you were arriving early in the morning or had slept in and were starting your day. It saved on laundry, and it wasn’t like they walked everywhere and you were walking down the street in a bathrobe. 

John got the vague impression of a Wraith engine system. It was gyroscopic in order to create enough propulsion to hover over the ground without the use of combustion. They didn’t want to live out of balance with their planet. Because of the introduction of insectoid DNA to the original Wraith and their descendants, they did thrive in the same environments as their human ancestors, but were very sensitive to environmental changes. They had never even considered taking technological development in a direction that created environmental toxins, and made sure to leave as little impact as possible to the ecosystems where they lived. Instead, propulsion was caused by muscular structures in the vehicle exerting pressure on the gyroscopic core, causing it to spin faster as greater pressure was exerted. Their terrestrial vehicles were roughly the length of a dart, but with the passenger capacity of a puddle jumper. They had a series of steering pods underneath them and on the sides. These looked like valves to a heart or a whale’s vent to John, and he could surmise that the ones on the bottom were responsible for elevation while the ones on the side steered. There was a large vent for the engine that had a keratinous structure covering the soft tissue that put off steam, where the gyroscopic core could be seen spinning so fast, it glowed red first, then blue white. 

The vehicle was shaped more like a concept car than a ship, with a sleek, tapered design that would fit on the paths they normally took when they had reason to be on foot, like short distance travel, hunting, or gathering wild fruits. They did have domestic livestock and agriculture, but they liked to maintain a balance with that, and made use of the food that was available. But the paths were narrower than the standard road lane while being large enough for the fauna, and the vehicle was thinner to accommodate this. Two individuals could sit side by side, rather than three, so rather than a car with two rows that seated 5, it had three rows that seated 6. The seats were well cushioned and did have a restraint system that was weight activated, and a retractable cockpit. There was a clear membrane in the front, and it was a nice day. He vaguely got the idea that Guide would prefer the membrane retracted on such a nice day.

Redclaw and Coldwind excuse themselves with the bag at that thought to go get the vehicle ready for them and their things situated before getting the two sore parents on their feet. The outside had a keratinous shell, similar to their hives, darts and shuttles, and took a similar aubergine hue, with doors panels shaped similarly to a car’s, but faced the opposite direction in the center row, allowing it to have a wider central opening to the back rows, with the idea that it would be easier to load up small Wraithlings and their belongings, as well as items required for their care and entertainment.

Before powering it up, they add a nutrient rich fuel made from their food waste, giving the muscles and cells the energy they needed to function, and the byproduct of this was the steam created by the engine. Like sweat in steam form. Then they open the doors and take a seat in the first row and telepathically link with the controls of the vehicle, Coldwind taking the right hand side, where the steering was located, and Redclaw taking the left, where the elevation controls were. Redclaw pressed a button to retract the membrane while Coldwind pulled up a holographic navigation display that would help them find their way around any obstacles on the road, and alert them to any dangerous wildlife in the area. 

Once the Vehicle was packed and prepared to Guide’s comfort, Firstlight helped him to his feet, while Bonewhite did the same for John, patiently taking their time on the stairs and out the front door, where they had directed the vehicle so they didn’t have as far to walk. They were bickering heatedly about the smell of Coldwind’s beard when they got there, and when Firstlight told them to knock it off, they each placed their hands in the openings and took hold of the nerve bundles that steered them, and they were off, John drinking in every detail of the world he saw around him, that was both so alien, but at the same time, so human. And aesthetically, so unbelievably beautiful. 

Chapter Text

The views from the vehicle allowed John to take in more of the surroundings of this amazing world as the stars, sun, moon and gas giant smiled at them overhead, the vehicle hovering over the surface of the ground. She was beautiful. Her surface seemed to be made up largely of a greenish teal soil that took its hue from the oxidized copper that formed a large percentage of its make up. From it, plant life sprang up with abundance, even in their population center, where there were many houses like his brother’s. Some smaller, and some even larger.

 In his brother’s yard, green, broad-leaved plants lined the building and fences with smatterings of red and deep purple leaves as well. Some of these were in bloom, with white flowers with ruby veins. Others had closed and started developing a deep purple berry, shaped like a blueberry with seeds impressed into the skin like strawberries. These were shaded by shrubberies, and tall pines, who’s needles were such a dark green they almost looked black. Guide’s yard was one of many that had a grove like this, and all these plants had their household uses. 

In the back corner, there was a pond that sang with insect and amphibian life. The ripple of a fish changing direction spread across the surface, which was dotted with merlot lily pads. What looked like small, red snapping turtles, with long necks, cat-like green eyes, a long, snake-like tail, and frog legs sunned themselves atop them.

Any extra space they had in their village was dedicated to the cultivation of various berries, herbs, vegetables, fruits, and trees that provided shade, and practical use, whether it was in the crafting of their sacred medicines, cosmetic products, or cleaning materials, if not for food for their young. 

Livestock roamed freely in their fenced in village, with what at first appeared to be foul that may have looked like a shaved chicken or duck, were it not for the small, spindly arms ending in weathered hands and gnarled fingers. Not that John would know what a shaved chicken or duck would look like. But if he had to guess, it would be like the poultry-like species they kept for food. 

The skin wasn’t pink like a chicken or Turkey he would see on Earth. Instead, it was a deep, mulberry purple, with mahogany combs, and burnt umber beaks and legs. They were occasionally chased around by various domestic species they kept as pets, and John wasn’t surprised to see the odd domestic house cat. They seemed to have made their way across the universe. What looked like several unfamiliar dog breeds also chased laughing children, engaged in play or chores, speaking to each other in a series of chitters, hisses and clicks. Some were singing, which sounded like the calls of cicadas, though more melodic, and had different arrangements to make recognizable songs. And of course, chasing chickens.

Larger animals were enclosed in paddocks, with beasts that looked like they were present to work and assist the civilian populations with heavier tasks, like tilling fields for planting, though they only had a few of these, and the seeds that had been sewn were rows and rows of flowers, in all different shapes, heights, and colors, to support the bees they kept, and other pollinators. 

These animals were about the size of a Clydesdale horse, with an extra set of front and back legs, making for a total of 8, deep, blue-purple chitinous plates, with mossy green veins winding on the sinuous, muscular, gray soft tissue visible between the plates. They had a ring of 8 small, keratinous horns that formed a ring around their head at the orbital process. These sat just above a larger, spiral pair that curved backward, toward their ears, which resembled those of bird’s. Small tufts of black feathers protruded from the ears, and formed a crest along the neck. Longer, whisper ones hung from their chins like the beard of a goat. 

They had sharp, wolf-like teeth, and a whip-like tail that was ornamented with luminescent black feathers that shone green when the light hit them just right. Their hooves were cloven, though the backmost and front most set of legs each had a third, spur-like toe that could be used defensively, or for digging. Their head took the shape of a deer’s, but had fractal eyes that looked like a dragonfly’s, the shades of which came in as many colors as you would see in dragon flies on Earth. Their nose looked something like a star nosed mole’s did, but the finger-like appendages rotated independently of each other. 

Several Wraith were even riding these, though both he and Guide would be too tired and sore at this point in time to consider them as a transportation method. Their version of a saddle appeared to have a high, chair-like back, and each one was different, from shape, to color, to the artistry of the design. Most Wraith on the backs of these animals carried long, hooked canes, and had heavy baskets full of nuts and bright, fragrant fruits that grew high up in the trees. These were gathered in the forest, off the main paths the vehicles used, and the animals provided more maneuverability. 

Not that John hadn’t noticed these animals in his previous days on the planet. No, it was just that he had been too distracted by Guide’s unusual extended absence due to the complications with the egg, and making sure that the little Wraithling inside would see his birthday, and he hadn’t bothered to observe them in quite so much detail. But now that he was taking the time to really really look at how and where they lived, he could see beauty all around him. Even as he looked up to the twinkling sky and lilac clouds streaking the deep blue. 

Birds called out, and insects' songs filled the air as they moved further out of the population center, toward the thick, lush forest, who’s twisting, root laden floor was carpeted in soft mosses. Little colorful flowers sprang up along the sides of the path, and towering trees older than most that grew on earth stretched up their branches to the sky, reaching for the faint, twinkling light overhead as if in worship. He could almost taste the water they released into the atmosphere as a mist in denser parts of the woods. He could smell how clean the air was, and taste its crispness. Very little light made it to the understory, but the Wraith could see just fine with the bit of light their vehicle’s put off.

 It felt like a sacred place, to be so dark during waking hours, and Todd confirmed this, saying they never said the name of this forest out loud. This had been one of the only ones to survive the siege of the planet when the ancients placed them under an orbital blockade, and their dead were buried among the roots of the trees in a specific area of the forest, and those who were members of his clan, and his particular hive, and relatives of those who served on the hive that took port in their village were still laid to rest here. Should they have left, every effort was made to return those who had been born here, to be among their ancestors, descendants and family. 

In times of hardship, the clan would come here to pray, and it had enough caves and crevices hidden among the massive roots they could slip into unseen. It looked like the type of forest where you’d find an iratus nest, and Bonewhite verified that the largest concentration of nests on the planet was in this forest, and there were many nearby that they harvested for silk as a means of textile production. His second nephew, from their third brother, knew where each of them were, and could produce some of the highest quality silk among their kind. Possibly in the galaxy, though they hadn’t the chance to compare theirs to human societies that lived on planets outside their territories.

There was wildlife he was familiar with on this planet, as well as the new. In the canopy, squirrels chased each other around the branches, familiar birds caught his eye in the faint light from the vehicle, and he even saw a variety of deer that looked familiar, though he couldn’t tell you what type. There were a couple small primates. Maybe not a species they had on Earth, but it definitely wouldn’t look out of place. 

Other wildlife was distinctly alien, though he could guess what part of the ecosystem each species filled. There was a small, large eared animal. Guide’s mind helpfully supplied that this animal was an herbivore. Rather than fur, it had feathers, but they were a very soft, downy feather that looked fuzzy to the touch. The feathers came in various browns, grays, blacks and whites, with several different patterns, from barred, to mottling, and had soft, round, dog-like eyes. 

It didn’t have a fluffy tail, instead, it had a tail more similar to what you’d see on an ostrich, and its front legs had hands with opposable thumbs. It did lay eggs prolifically, though they also nursed their young, according to Guide, and it ate grasses and plants that grew close to the ground. Domesticated versions were kept as house pets, and some were bred for food, though they left the wild ones alone, as there was no specific season where they either did not breed or have young in the nest. It made it very hard to know for sure you weren’t taking a gravid female, or a father. And raising young was done by mated pairs, so unlike some species, it wasn’t safe to hunt the males and leave the females. 

He also noticed a large animal slightly greater in mass than a moose. It had 8 legs, just like the animals that they used where human cultures usually used a horse. This animal had tri-cloven hooves, which gave it considerable maneuverability in the dense forest's maze-like, root-covered ground, as well as spurs at the back of each hoof. It had a long, whip-like tail, with a series of keratinous spines, ending in a mess of long, slender, iridescent feathers that were maroon on one side, and black on the other. 

It had patches of similar, though shorter feathers in a broad stripe down its back to its rump, with long feathers at the ankles, and double laced black and iridescent green feathers filled in the chest, stomach, neck and legs. Its head was shaped more like an ox’s, though the snout was longer, and ended in a mouth and nose more similar to a bison’s, though the height to width ratio was different. Rather than being 1:1, the proportions were closer to 1:2, though it wasn’t quite double the length. It had raptor-like, bright red corneas with a white iris. Strikingly like a bearded vulture, and similar, wispy black feathers hanging from the inner corners of its eyes. With the exception of these, its face was bald, and a sickly looking gray-green. 

Its front lip was slightly longer, and had a couple wrinkles on it, allowing it to grasp the vegetation it feasted on calmly, much to everyone’s relief. He could see that it had a bony plate on the bottom and top of its mouth, behind its teeth, to grind up plant material that had been stripped from the ground or stalks by the front row. Its ears were shaped like a cat’s with small feathers in a matching maroon covering the back, but had black puffs of feathers at the tips of the ears and over the channels, protecting them from debris. Behind these, were three sets of antlers, swirling around each other, like a mountain goat's horns at the base, before branching out in separate directions, taking a shape more like antlers, with the top most being heavily plated like a moose. On the two lower sets, there were sharp, forward facing, elk-like prongs. This animal could have done some serious damage to the vehicle, and to them. 

The last animal he saw walked right in front of their vehicle, with no fear of it, or the Wraith inside, and though its imposing presence had initially terrified John, he noticed everyone in the car was calm, and slightly amused at his reaction. He even felt notes of schadenfreude from Redclaw, who seemed to delight in mischief. It was the size of a polar bear. The hands on this animal were amazing, and about the same size as well, though there were many, intimidating differences as well. 

First, was that the claws were longer, and curved like a bird of prey. The digits were also longer, and opposable on both the front and back legs. It looked like it could walk upright or on all fours, and shuffled a bit like a chimpanzee or gorilla. It had a wolf-like mouth full of a double row of black, jackal-like teeth, and a dark, olive green tongue. Its head was shaped like a broad, hyena head, with intelligent, snakeish yellow eyes, with dog-like ears, though as thick as a bears.

It had a layer of thick, wiry, oily black fur that had a distinctive, musky odor to it that smelled very similar to cannabis. Guide’s brain supplied that the smell was an oil produced by the animal’s sebaceous glands. When the animal was briefly in the light of the vehicle, he could see that when it caught in the light, it refracted in a way that made it very difficult to see the animal against its surroundings. It was confirmed by bonewhite, that unless this animal was right in front of you, it was close to impossible to see clearly, like the silent guardian of the forest. The guard of their dead. The keeper of the planet, who sat at the top of the food chain. Its presence commanded respect from even the Wraith, though they did not fear it. 

It was after just a moment that John noticed another presence in the link. Its mind did not think in the same ways as Wraith or humans did, so he didn’t notice the non sentient telepathic presence at first, until Redclaw directed him toward it, like placing a thread he could pull on in the preverbal mental hand. The animal knew from the telepathy that they were no threat to her. This one was female. She could feel that they were not food, and he got the distinct feeling that Wraith wouldn’t have been appetizing to her. In fact, there were very few things in the galaxy who would eat a Wraith. Their green-black blood, like their soil, was rich in copper, and contained enough to give most living beings copper poisoning.

He was amazed to feel how this animal’s mind worked. He could feel a defensive, protective love for a nest full of young, who she was returning to, a mile in the direction she was heading, her satisfied, full belly, and her joy from the puddles she had been splashing in further up a mountain they were approaching. She’d taken her fill of some of the fish and other aquatic animals that lived in their water ways before playing with her own reflection in some surrounding puddles.

He could feel that she connected to other members of her own species, and that her younglings, which Guide informed him were referred to pups, were wrestling with each other back in the den, awaiting their mother to return so that they could leave the burrow to explore and try to hunt for sweeter foods, like berries or honey.

Shortly after passing the animal, they take a path up the mountain, with plenty of switchbacks so that the way up wasn’t so steep, and when their about half way up they come to a stop at the banks of what at first appeared to be a small pond, but when Kenny and Coldwind helped him and Guide exit the vehicle and they moved closer, he could see bubbles coming from the bottom as freshwater supplied the spring, and steam coming from the water. It was not boiling, as several wraith dressed to bathe sat inside relaxing. It was a ground fed, geothermal spring. 

Off to the side, set into the face of the mountain, there was the mouth of a small cave, and they headed inside to change. John wasn’t precisely sure what he would change into, but it seemed that Redclaw had thought ahead and fetched him more hand-me-downs from the chests of clothing that contained things Guide’s sons had outgrown. Once they passed the mouth, John realized that it had been turned into a locker room, of sorts, with cubicles for peoples belongings, and private areas to change. Coldwind and Redclaw each take a stall further from the mouth, leaving the nearest ones open.

Both he and Guide are both too sore and tired to change and walk the whole way to the spring, so Firstlight assists Guide, and Bonewhite takes John into a stall. He did notice the human had changed colors, but quickly reminded him that he’d assisted him in changing out of soaked clothing on their mission, and it was nothing he hadn’t seen before. He shows John how to tie the garment over his own pants, then helps John remove the sleep clothes, and helps him to stand as John ties the garment in place.

There was comfortable furniture scattered about, plush rugs that took definite influence from the athosian culture of the propagators of their own clan and culture. Bonewhite helped him over to what looked like a chaise lounge that sat atop a rug that was soft under foot. He seated him beside Guide, who handed him the egg board as they sat together, unlacing it to check the moisture level of the shell membrane, and gave it a quick spritz before closing the top of the silk sack and replacing the frame before relacing it securely, but let John continue to hold him. If he really focused, he could perceive his thoughts. They weren’t fully formed yet, but he could feel so much cozy warmth, and so much trust as he floated suspended, without a care in the world, inside his shell.

“You know, I was given my grandfather’s middle name. With spoken names, these are often passed down. We could call him_.” John starts, but Guide holds up a hand and smiles at him.

“I like that John. We will wait until our planet passes around the sun one time, since the day of the hatching, to tell others what we have decided to name him. It’s our tradition to wait this time, so that we may better learn their personality as they start to explore the world. It’s said that we wait that long, though we often settle on a name long before it’s officially given. Until then, a Wraithling is often given a nickname, which their parent’s will often use until they leave for their first deployment. After that, it’s often embarrassing, though we still do it to our kids for that exact reason.” he explains.

John nods, taking this all in, and hardly realized it had given Bonewhite and Firstlight enough time to change, prior to helping them to the spring. Once Guide is settled comfortably in waist deep water, though refusing to sit just yet, Firstlight takes the Wraithling from John and places him in a shaded area where there were 4 more, with securely wrapped hatchlings about the size of a newborn human child sleeping peacefully and securely. Once the child is safe, Bonewhite supports John as they step in until he’s comfortably settled on a natural bench before taking his leave to sit with Coldwind and Redclaw so that they could relax before seeing to washing. And so he and John could have a moment to themselves.

It was instantly soothing, though Guide made a face as he slowly sat down. John could imagine why. He’d had a kidney stone once. Felt like pissing razors. He couldn’t imagine how much it must hurt to push out an egg , let alone 38 of them. He found himself looking at him as he slowly sunk into a seated position, and couldn’t help but see his strength in an all new way . His fortitude.

When he finally sat beside him, Guide turned to him and said, “I appreciate your sentiments, Sheppard, though you are thinking quite loudly.” 

John blushes and looks down at the water, leaning back slightly against the wall, set into the mountain giving them something to fully relax against. “I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I’m not quite sure how to control it yet.” he admits. He’d more so been practicing opening up and letting others hear him, and allowing his thoughts to enter his mind, but as he became more skilled at it, he was quickly learning there was a balance to be had.

“It’s not me who found it awkward. Ember, and the three beside him are his clutch mates, and their father had the same thoughts when they hatched. However, they were too young to remember that, as they were my youngest clutch. My elder sons would have the courtesy to just put up a mental shield.” The last part was said loud enough for the 4 younger Wraiths to hear, and he quickly added, “Thank you for being the only one with common sense, Blaze.” All four of them turned a deeper green, though one more so than the others, and John figured he must be Blaze.

He noticed that the kid had a tattoo, like a small flame, running below his eye, along the cheekbone, and came to end level with the outer corner of his eye in a graceful arc, like he had earned his place as a crewmember, though he hadn’t seen him on any encounters on Guide’s hives. He wondered if he served on board one of his other hives, though with a thought, Guide informs him that humans are not the only ones who sometimes make a mistake before their body is fully matured. 

He hadn’t been on board as Guide had taken him off active duty, discovering this when he returned home, and had decided to perhaps stay in his house a while longer though he was old enough to leave. The eggboards that sat beside Guide’s were his, and had hatched last year, though only a third of the eggs had been mature enough to hold life. The 4 younglings inside were now just over what humans would call 12 months, though for them, it was closer to 13 months in a year. He’d known from experience how emotional the first 24 to 72 hours could be, and had just put a shield up, though he was the oldest of his clutchmates, and his father teasingly projected that he could have given his brothers more ribbing.

John was still caught up over just how small they were at 12 months, though he supposed, that given how small the egg was, about as big as a thumb was around, and long as the first knuckle, the growth was impressive, but to think that a being as formidable as a Wraith started life so small, and so delicate, truly blew his mind. It was hard to imagine Guide had been so small once. It was hard to comprehend that the small consciousness tucked against his own, so small, so trusting, would grow up to be feared by many of the humans who lived in this galaxy. That thought scares him, and he feels himself sucking in a breath, but Guide shoots him a soothing blue wave, assuring him that by the time he leaves this planet, if he chooses to join their military, he would be far stronger than any human he would encounter during his first deployment.

His shoulders relax at that, though now he feels gold eyes looking at him intently, and Ember and two of his brothers turn away, throwing up a shield and swimming toward the other side of the natural pool. Though he looked at John, his eyes watered and he seemed far off, and Blaze lingered back, as if deciding whether or not his father was okay to leave alone. With a tear and a thought of relief at not raising this little one by himself, and just how much John was acting like Iceyes, Blaze slid over to him and places one hand at his chest, one at his head, and leans their foreheads together, and seeing the singular dot of wetness on his face, Bonewhite makes his way over as well, sitting in the space between him and John, with Blaze on his other side.

He places his hands over his nephew’s, and each had taken one side of his forehead as they project comfort to him. That Iceyes would be proud that it was John who had taken his place. Because he was already a natural. Already panicking at the thought of his safety in a hostile galaxy, just like his genetic sire. So many things had changed forever, and it hadn’t been for the better. 

But now, Sheppard had become part of their family, and though things would never be the same as they were, things had started changing again, though this time, things had started to get better. The loss could still be felt deeply, but they were no longer broken. Complete just looked different now. And that was okay. 

Both their hands press to Guide’s chest, their fingers gripping slightly as if trying to hold a broken heart together. Bonewhite could tell that today wouldn’t be a good day to spend a lot of time on washing or hair, so instead, take out their grooming products to get it over with.

“You finished your hair. I am proud of you.” He says, noticing the last of it had been braided as he quickly applied a cleaning product to it. It was more a rinse than a shampoo, and though the lack of lather was unusual to him at first, he realized it was probably very harsh to their hair. Just touching Guides, he could tell that the individual pieces were a touch thinner, on average. The sulfates they used to make their soaps bubble were probably just too harsh for Wraith hair. 

“Sheppard completed them before we slept.” He says, mentally conveying to Bonewhite that John understood the significance of hair care, and though he had a limited exposure to it, knew that there was a reverence for it in his own cultural background. That sharing this after the egg had been laid felt like an appropriate way to share in each other's company after something so intimate. 

Bonewhite nods at this and smiles. “So you two?” He didn't quite finish, but was happy to distract him with conversation as he rinsed the cleanser and applied an oil to his scalp and roots, massaging it through and pulling it as close to the ends as he could, and really working it into his scalp to keep it from scaling before starting on his back.

As usual, Guide started on his ankles when this happened, and John noticed that the skin there was rougher, and almost seemed to be losing a plate-like texture as the product was worked in. He was able to wash himself, though when Blaze took the soaps and shampoos from him, he realized that grooming was social behavior as well. 

“I wouldn't say what we have is anything official just yet. We have an understanding.” Guide says, and Blaze nods to this, knowing that sometimes, there were complexities when a birth was unconventional, but approving anyway.

John just flushes a bit at that and says, “That's a good way to put it. We don't want to rush anything. What will be will be, and we'll work through it as we go. Labels don't work for us though.” 

“A fair assessment. They rarely do with my brother.” Bonewhite says

“That sounds like Todd.” John agrees. He had always been more of a wild card than most of the Wraith they had interacted with. Blaze laughs a little at that in agreement that his father was indeed unorthodox, and says, “Skin care is especially important to our health and wellbeing. It’s done socially, but it needs to be done for younglings. It’s important that you learn the different types of products and what they do. Our skin can harden into plates and split, which is painful, and makes hatchlings very fussy.”

“When washing, we use a product that scrapes away the outer layer of skin. Both our cultures call this exfoliation, however, we do not shed the dead cells and have to remove them manually. Some are mechanical, some are chemical. There’s all different sorts of scents and properties, but the important thing is that at least one of these is used. Our hair cleanser also is gentle enough for our hair, while strong enough to remove dead skin from the scalp. Then we apply oils to the hair while still wet to seal in moisture. We apply a layer of an oil to the skin too, when dry. What you use depends on skin type and personal preference. My father and uncle have opposite skin types. Father runs dry, while Bonewhite runs oily. Which way do you run?” He asks.

“Definitely dry. Sometimes my skin cracks too when it’s really cold out.” he says. Blaze puts some of his father’s soap on the sponge and starts on John’s back, letting him feel the right technique, moving toward the spine. When he was finished, they traded places, Blaze giving pointers and instruction around the spinal process and amount of pressure to use. Something John was grateful for, as he hadn’t considered how much more important bathtime was and wanted to be able to prevent his skin from hurting him when he hatched.

“How often do you guys bathe?” He asks. “It depends, but for a hatchling, the more often it can be done, the better. Their skin grows with them. Mine are bathed daily. If I’m unable to, someone in the extended family would have the time. If you ever are overwhelmed, the extended family is always here to help. Some human cultures are like this, though for us, it’s essential. It is incredibly uncommon to have less than 4, so support is important.”

As they talk, everyone stands, and walks out of the pool, wrapping themselves in towels and helping each other apply different scented oils to their skin, Bonewhite moving quickly, Blaze, taking the time to teach him about different ways they would apply it, from hand techniques, to special brushes or stone rollers, and what to use with different skin types, and sharing specific information about hatchlings.

When they were done, they were both able to go to the stalls to change on their own. Their muscles were significantly more relaxed. Though John’s pain was just muscular, from sharing in Guide’s pain, while Guide was healing tissues from tearing. The water had helped him speed up the process, with the minerals inside, and his movements didn’t appear as strained. John was glad to see.

They remove their bathing wear and change into a clean set of undergarments, and Bonewhite and Firstlight come in to help them dress in the nicest things they own. For Guide, it had been made for him for his first clutch. John’s had been made for Shade originally, when he’d had his coming of age ceremony, when he’d been acknowledged as an adult. It was the only other occasion when something so ornate was made. Had it survived the destruction of his childhood home, it would have been preferable for him to wear Guide’s, however the whole house, and everything inside had been destroyed.

Guide’s was a set of silk robes in lake blue, with silver and black embroidery, taking the shape of small starbursts, with obsidian drop beads at the center of each one. Black ribboning lined the hem, neckline, and sleeve openings, providing beauty as well as structure to support the glass beaded fringe. Black with silver iratus charms at the ends. Freshly polished by the gleam. The garment closed similarly to the black robe he wore, with a tie at each side, but it also had a couple closures at the neck using one of the silver iratus beads as a button for each. The sleeves weren’t as loose, though still were comfortable in his current state. Which was sore everywhere.

John’s were more of a shade that was technically referred to as deep blue. He only knew this from Lorne, who’d corrected his usage of  the term when he’d mistakenly applied it to the color of their dress uniform. He was partial to the shade though, and had a deep slit down the neck and chest that Bonewhite closed with a silver iratus pin. The neckline and slit were trimmed in a black and silver geometrically patterned ribbon, and it pulled over his head with long slits at the legs that went from the ankles to the waist. Three stripes of ribbon ran down his back, from the waist up to the shoulderblades, where a horizontal stripe of ribbon spanned to the sleeves. It had a short, standing collar overlaid in the ribbon, which was about 4 inches wide. It had also been used to line the seams around the sleeves, and at the top where the front and back met at the shoulders. It had three stripes going from the top of the shoulders, down to the blades horizontally, but had been doubled to make them thicker than the ones at the lower back. Bonewhite told him that Guide had told him that this one specifically, is something he thought that John would find special. Underneath, he wore a pair of silk pants that tied at the waist and ankles, lacing up the side with silver laces, and a black silk undershirt so that the pin didn’t rub on his sensitive skin. Overtop, he wore a leather belt, embossed with silver iratus reliefs, and had a black leather pouch at the side to hold important items. It sat where the stripes on the back ended.

They each wore a pair of comfortable, leather slippers. It felt like wearing pajamas, but it looked like formal wear. He decided that he liked the wraith version of formalwear better. He didn’t know why human’s status signaling with their clothing seemed to be directly tied to how uncomfortable their clothing was, but he liked this much better. 

Once they were dressed, Guide smiled at him as he sat on the chaise, the egg board beside him, as Bonewhite was pulling half the braids back, and braiding them down, forming one central braid at the back of his head made of many smaller ones to keep it off his face.

“It fits well. I thought you would find the design of it thoughtful. I’m glad it fits well.” he says.

“Yeah Todd. Thank you.” he says, knowing he must have seen certain images through the link, and noticed similarities to memories of similar ribbon work on Earth. “This is beautiful. And a very thoughtful choice. Thank you so much.” he says.

When he takes a seat beside him, he has a smile so big, it creases the corners of his eyes. This was truly special, in a way Guide understood not because of words, but by the meeting of their minds. Once his hair was finished, it was time to return.

Chapter Text

By the time they were ready to leave, Guide was feeling physically, in a much better state than John, though he was still more emotionally open than he usually was. Hormones seemed to be a thing that affected Wraith similarly to their human ancestors when their families grew, though the recovery went quicker with their healing abilities. The arrangement for vehicles this trip was a bit different, with Redclaw and Coldwind still comically arguing in the front, but Firstlight and Bonewhite had decided to take another vehicle back with Ember, Blaze, and two of Blaze's wraithlings, while their clutch brothers, Swift and Ash, rode in their vehicle with the other two. 

The two wraithlings were awake by now and were curiously looking at the strange looking creature in the vehicle with him, and John entertained them with games of peek a boo, just as amused by their fascination and curiosity through the link as they were by his game. It made the trip back pass much quicker. Before he knew it, they had made it down the mountain, back to the village, and parked the vehicle in its usual spot before heading toward the central area where the fire burned. 

Firstlight and Bonewhite had beaten them back by a few minutes and were already there, directing the flow of activities to set up for the day's festivities. The people of the village looked well fed, as though they had gone to the cocoons when their human guest wasn’t present, which did disturb John, though he understood now that they didn't choose for their dietary needs to be human life force any more than they needed protein, carbs and fats. 

The village was decorated with rows and rows of tapestries to form a makeshift wall around the central gathering area, with an open roof to look up at the sky. Seating areas with chairs and tables were set up for solid foods, and huge dishes laid out on them, with dumplings, fruits, meats, wines, vegetables, and even the odd cheese dishes here and there. 

Lounging areas were set up with furs and cushions. The trees had been decorated with small lanterns in some places, while others had the egg boards hanging from them, some still with eggs inside, others, with hatched wraithlings, curiously watching the goings on around them, or sleeping peacefully. Someone was always seated at these trees to keep an eye on them as their parents helped with the various tasks involved in making sure the celebrations went off without a hitch. Everyone knew what to do, and how they could help, and no Wraith, regardless of age or ability, felt left out of the effort to celebrate the continued life of their commander.

The only ones left out of the set up were Guide and John. They were seated in one of the lounge areas and attended to by the passing Wraith. At first, John felt put on the spot and didn’t want to impose on their hospitality, but at his first objection, he felt the stinging insult through his bond with Guide, and accepted the offering of food from the Wraith, understanding that he was not imposing and that the rejection hurt them more than eating their food ever could, and he projects his apology and misunderstanding of their customs, and the wraith projected his new understanding of John’s perception, and acceptance of his apology. It was a cultural difference, as well as John not being used to allowing others to care for him. Something that he was chided for by this Wraith, who gives his brother a pointed look at this too. Guides' only acknowledgement of this was an embarrassed snort.

The plate he had brought contained different dishes than he had been served at breakfast, and were suitably more heavy for mid day, and absolutely delicious. The first item he tried was made from the chicken-like animal he had seen earlier, and was in a thick, well spiced sauce that reminded him a bit of a curry, though the flavors were different. But the consistency and richness of flavor was there, along with the filling, satisfying, warm sensation you had when eating it. Guide was picking up the pieces with a crunchy, thin flat bread, and John followed suit. The crunch was so satisfying, and the nutty depth paired well with the rich sauce. There was a side of greens and vegetables. John would definitely call it salad, even if he had never seen some of these vegetables before, though he knew through the telepathic link they were eaten on human worlds. They had a couple pieces of cheese that had been wrapped in a flavorful leaf before being coated in starch and fried, and delicious when dipped in the sauce. 

The formal celebrations start around mid afternoon, and several Wraith take instruments from cases that were set up, and interspersed through the crowd instead of being at some central stage. Deep bellowing horns that resonated like didgeridoos, stringed instruments that doubled the voice of those who raised their voice in song. Cups full of wine, and refreshing, non alcoholic beverages were passed freely, and some younger and more spirited wraith were dancing together in a circle around the fire as upbeat “boinging” sounds like jaw harps on earth, though he wasn’t surprised to see such a familiar instrument. Several earth cultures had developed different variations of the instrument, and he had seen several in human cultures in Pegasus as well, and the simplicity made it almost as universal as the deep, booming drums that the dancers feet moved in time with.

Bonewhite was among these boisterous Wraith, and had joined in the dancing after imbibing in what he had previously explained was a sacred medicine and a couple drinks, and John had to cover his smile with his hand. His impression of reservedness seemed to be a bit off. Like John, he seemed to take his leave just as seriously as he took his job, and he could respect that. Sometimes, you needed to let off steam after an intense tour of duty, and it was a feeling John, and even Ronon understood all too well.

He had even pulled Ronon into the dancing after the man had enough drinks, and the two of them ended up on one of the tables, much to Guide’s amusement. The similarity of their steps didn’t go unnoticed, and John figured that Satedian dance culture was something they had retained after their transformation, and though there were differences which came with time and generations of separation, Ronon was clearly happy to share this with a group of celebrating people again like he thought he would never have a chance to. Bonewhite was always one of the ones who partied hardest when he laid a clutch and he became an uncle again, though his children’s grandparents were just as excited. Coldwind and Firstlight seemed to have more decorum than that and Redclaw was loudly telling anyone who would listen about just how happy and proud he was to have one last grandchild from Iceyes, and was honestly, a bit of a hot mess.

As this happens, different households approach John and Todd with gifts for the Wraithling, such as clothing, blankets and small toys. Nothing big, and much of it was second hand, but they preferred to reuse well made items, and some of these had been in the community since they had rebuilt. A few of the special items, like those from close family, like civilian sons, were things from even before that time. John could see distinct differences in the details of the craftsmanship of some of these items as opposed to the ones that came after, like some of the techniques had been lost, but they hoped to one day recover the craft. The newer items were growing closer, like generations of practice and experimentation was bringing them close to recovering lost arts, whether it was stitch work or carving, and it made John smile to see that even though so much time had passed, history and tradition was still being reclaimed right down to the way toys and infant clothing were produced.

Bonewhite had given his new nephew his baby blanket. John recognized it from the picture he had seen of him and Guide as Wraithlings. He had been holding it in one hand as he glared at him. His sons who still lived at home had brought about 50 pairs of socks ranging from too small for John to put on the end of a pencil, to the size a human newborn would wear. 

When mid afternoon gave way to the darkness of evening, even more Wraith gathered around the central fire, with Coldwind taking a seat in front row, Guide to his right, and John to his left. The egg board sat in his lap as they closed their eyes, left hand on the ground to protect the feeding hand of the Wraith beside them who placed it on top of their safe hand, and started drawing each other deeply into their telepathic bond. He can feel their breathing synchronize, their heartbeats, and their thoughts reaching to every Wraith in neighboring villages, and the joy spreading to the planet as a whole, and up to the hives in orbit, and amplifying that to the galaxy at large, and those who had the ability to focus their attention fully on the link joined in song.

John had never heard Guide sing before, but the multi-tonal chants rumbling from his chest and throat carried above the other voices in a melodic aria all its own, like a cicada that could carry a tune. It seemed one of his brother’s hidden talents was a beautiful voice, and Bonewhite’s private agreement was that his brother was one of their best singers and should join them more often, which John promptly agrees with, much to Guide’s modest embarrassment. 

Once they close their prayer, the dancing resumes, though people start to trickle back to their homes for rest, as the party grew more boisterous, and younger and single Wraith revel in the joy of another life joining their clan and telepathic network, as well as the ongoing survival of a leader and hero of their people safely bringing the last of his mate’s children into a world they had worked so hard to preserve for the sake of their future, and that he would get to enjoy a childhood better than those who came before him. Iceyes would be so proud.  

When Guide noticed Ember, Blaze, Ash and Swift growing tired, he nodded to John that it was time for them to take their leave as well. Ember had already dozed off and Swift picked him up piggy back style, chuckling at how much he smelled like honey wine and saying that Ember would surely be complaining of a headache tomorrow. Swift was the second oldest of this clutch, and like Guide, had always been a doting brother, though like his uncle, he could be annoyingly bossy. His hair was long and straight like Bonewhite’s and he had clearly spent a lot of time maintaining it, and the tattoo on his left cheek under his eye was positioned similarly, though the design was more fluid, and seemed to twitch with mischief, and plans of singing loudly and off key tomorrow morning flit through the bond.

Ash, who’s shoulder length hair was half back and braided, and was slightly taller than his older brother just shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “If you wake the Wraithlings Blaze, Ember and I will comb your hair into 3 huge mattes and braid them straight up like a pointed hat while you're sleeping, and it will take you weeks to remove.” His tattoo, which flowed like a vine down his face and rippled down his neck, rippled with his laughter at Swift’s affronted look. He just raises his brow ridges in a declaration of “fuck around and find out.” as he carried the bag of gifts. Hair was sacred in their culture, though John was under the impression that Swift had been the one to wake the baby frequently enough to irritate everyone. 

It was late by the time they finally made it back to Guide’s house, the both of them were spent, and Swift laid the gifts on an ottoman inside the front door to unpack tomorrow. It had been an early morning, and by now, the picturesque twilight of daylight had faded to inky blackness broken by the stars, moon, and gas giant, and they all found themselves looking forward to a decent night’s rest, and the unspoken consensus was that they would deal with it tomorrow. Bonewhite had already moved John’s belongings into his brother’s house now that the egg had been delivered and Guide no longer required the privacy he had when they’d landed. He was relieved to see his bags upstairs outside the door between Guide’s room and the one next to it. His clutch brother was unsure about the intended sleeping arrangements. He knew that they were no longer denying what was between them, but were taking their time to figure out the intricacies a relationship like theirs would require. They didn’t want to rush in too fast just to have it crash and burn.

But John was already comfortable sleeping beside Guide. Regardless of the fact that they weren’t ready to be intimate yet. So he drags the bags in and opens the larger one and grabs an air force tee shirt, a hoodie, and some sweats to sleep in before stoking the fire. It was still burning, but it was glowing coals and had to be nursed back to tall flames, and by the time he had coaxed it back to a roaring fire and turned around, Guide had already changed into a set of sleepwear. It was simpler than the set he’d worn the previous night, with blacks and pale, celadon greens in swirling geometric designs. These weren’t embroidered or beaded, like the day clothes, and the designs were dyed into the silk itself, like the dye had been hand painted. He was seated at the side of the nest and had unlaced the eggboard and taken the thread sack carefully from its confines to attend to him.

John sits beside him and smiles. “That was beautiful today Todd. Thank you for including me in this.”

Guide smiles and inclines his head. “Thank you for all that you have done. I’m glad that you enjoyed yourself, and were open to the experience. It would be improper of us not to allow your participation, and I’m not sure that I’m able to articulate how much of an insult it would be in our culture. He will be glad to see you there when he sees our memories of the event.” He says, spraying the egg and rotating it before carefully closing the delicate silk threads.

As he does this, John takes the cover of the incubation chamber off and prepares it for the egg sack, carefully fluffing the materials inside and Guide hands him the bundle and slips into the blankets. John carefully places him inside, making sure it was nice and warm inside, before sliding the lid closed and sitting at the side of the nest for a moment. He didn’t need to ask to know that he was welcome to stay there. He could feel that through their bond, but he needed just a moment to process the fact that he was a father now and grins before slipping in beside Guide, who sends a wave of electric pink, conveying that he shared his Joy.

And despite all the excitement of the day and running on an emotional high like nothing he had felt before fatherhood, he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes open, and Guide puts an arm around him and pulls him back against his chest, John feeling how much warmth and comfort his body heat brought as the sensation reflected through the bond and transferred the sensation to him like an electric blanket, and sleep quickly claimed them both. 

John wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke, but he found himself violently torn from unconscious to the house shaking, Guide, shooting up next to him and quickly crawls across the mattress and to the incubation chamber, pulling the lid off and tucking the sack into his top as he grabbed the eggboard and closing his eyes, his movements growing more frantic and quick as Ember, Blaze, Ash and Swift come into the room. John himself was half frozen, not comprehending the chaos that was penetrating his thoughts and the images he was seeing in his mind’s eye at first.

“It’s the link, John Sheppard. We are under attack, and the enemy isn’t one we’ve seen before.” He says out loud, drawing him out of the images, sounds and sensations that threatened to overwhelm his sensibilities, and he throws his shoes on.

That grey face, those glowing, blood red eyes, and the disturbing cybernetic enhancements. “I have. And we need to evacuate all the civilians. Now.” He says, shoving the memories of the events that had taken place aboard another universe’s version of the Daedalus not just to Guide, but as far out as he could, and the little bit that he knew about these guys. That their ships would not be safe. They wouldn’t be able to evacuate onto the ship and make it out of the atmosphere before being boarded by their small vessels.

Guide sends him a look, understanding that John hadn’t even been under the impression that these beings existed in their universe, and nods his head. It would not have been a practical option to try to take off under these conditions either. Flying a ship of that size in the atmosphere was a much more delicate operation than steering her through space. Gravity, wind resistance, and clear air space were required for such a massive vessel to leave the atmosphere.

The exchange took less than a moment. John hadn’t even finished putting his shoes on before Guide and his children followed suit, and scrambled out of the house where he’d lived with his mate and their children, none of which knew a life when it did not stand, just in time, as the ground started shaking again and the house was hit from orbit by a bright green bolt of energy. Ash thankfully had the sense to grab the bag of gifts they had received, so that wherever they were going, they would be prepared, not just for their new brother, but to care for Blaze’s 4 little ones as well.

He sees Guide freeze, and a similar image flashes into his mind of another house, of similar, though more intricate design, blasted from existence with his parent still inside. The fear. The pain. The devastation. He could feel it all around him from every direction. Grief. There were already so many dead. But through the smoke, he could see the glowing red of cybernetic enhancements and gives his brother a mental pull back to the here and now, but not before Blaze took off in the direction of Bonewhite and Firstlight’s home. John swears, but when he sees a mental image of the four wraithlings, he, his brothers, and Guide all follow, a couple survivors recognizing Guide and following along with them, and John is relieved when they make it across the few yards and streets safely and find Ronan and Firstlight scrambling out with the 4 wraithlings as flames poured out the windows, the light reflecting on wet lines that streaked Todd, Blaze and even Ronan’s face. It didn’t take a psychologist like Dr. Heigntmeyer to realize he had connected the destruction here to the scale of what had taken place on his home planet, and an empathy he had never seen him extend to a Wraith before.

A few neighbors were also scrambling out of their houses and joined up with their group, some, having had time to grab some basic supplies before evacuating their homes, others, completely empty handed with evidence of healed injuries, like singed clothing and burns healing before their eyes, and devastated horror as they felt the singed remains of their hair. 

“Kenny already headed for a dart. We gotta get out of the village. Any sign of civilization would be a target.” Coldwind says to explain his absence, looking up at the sky with worry.

And following his gaze, John feels his stomach drop. He could see 5 of the large ships like they had seen above Atlantis in the other reality. And that was just what was visible from their position on the planet. But they could feel that this was happening everywhere.

There was no question as to what this was. An orbital siege. He turns to Guide, squeezing his arm as he pulls himself out of his shock and puts off his panic attack at finding himself in this situation again and reaches out to find Bonewhite amongst the pilots, and was relieved to feel the walls of his shield open up and inform him that he had made it out of the atmosphere and was planning to dial the gate and go tell their allies in Atlantis about what was happening and ask for any help they could provide.

And knowing he was safe, and that he had survived this before, they start taking off toward the treeline, his brother the undisputed leader that their rag tag group of survivors were looking to to keep them alive, stopping at the untouched, abandoned house here and there to check for supplies. Blankets, warm clothing, bags, weapons. Anything they could use to help keep them alive, carefully staying out of sight to avoid the foot soldiers that were beaming down and exiting landing crafts.

There was fighting in the streets all around them as these aliens rounded up everyone they could, soldier, civilian, and child, executing almost every individual they came across, though a few were taken to another location. Among these, John saw two young queens, about the same age as Ellia, maybe a bit younger. There was no apparent motive for this that they understood yet, but any idea that came to mind was nothing good. Disturbing even.

It took about three hours, but they were growing close to the forest’s edge when Firstlight and Redclaw met up with them, thick, sickly yellow brown blood that stank of sulfur covering them. They had obviously run into trouble and gotten away. They stop for a moment behind a wall that had been an enclosure for some of the horse-like creatures he had seen earlier that day to try to plan their movements and collect themselves a bit, and see to any young and eggs who needed rotation.

Guide reaches back out to Bonewhite during their pause, who informs him that they were making progress toward punching a hole through to the gate and urges him to get his children and grandchildren to safety. That the hives in orbit had gone to hyperspace and that his sons on board were safe and going to negotiate help from their allies. The negotiations of course would be superficial. It was a hearth being hit. It would mostly just be a front to effect repairs and upgrades to their ships before returning with a whole armada, guns blazing. They were better off retreating to bring back help than dead.

Guide nods, agreeing with the assessment, and looks over the wall toward the treeline, and projects the image of 4 foot soldiers in the field where they grew wildflowers for honey bees that they had yet to cross, and Redclaw stands, his intent to fight clear as he grabbed a sharpened stick from the edge of the wall. It was about the length of a spear, and pointed at each side.

There was a silent argument between them that took place too quickly for John to even process, but the consensus wasn't lost on him. They needed Guide’s leadership. Not his. It was only about 50 yards off at this point. They were so close, but a group of 4 foot soldiers stood between them and the trees. More and more Wraith that John had never seen had joined their group as they made their way through the village, numbering 20 adolescents and adults, with children and Wraithlings, some, who didn’t belong to them and had been tossed out windows of burning homes by trapped parents into the arms of the strangers or family members who carried them or held their hands. They needed someone who had survived this before to keep them safe and alive. Someone who knew what to expect.

And despite his brother’s silent pleading not to, Redclaw took off across the field, drawing their attention to him and giving them the opening they needed, and trembling in anticipation, they run across the field to the treeline as quickly as they can, turning to look behind them once they were in the comparative safety provided by the tree cover, just in time to see Redclaw being impaled with the stick by the foot soldier in front of him, but the Wraith had a smile on his face as he grabbed the stick and fell forward, impaling the invader in front of him before falling back, skewering the other three and taking all 4 of them with him.

He could feel the shock and grief pouring off his brother and family as the bodies fell in a crumpled heap and puts an arm around Ember and Blaze as they sob, watching their grandparent sacrifice himself so his grandchildren and great grandchildren would have a chance to get away, and Coldwind sets to work at getting Guide grounded, telling him that there was time to mourn later, but not to let his shock to delay their escape and make his father in law’s sacrifice for nothing. 

Guide reaches back out to Bonewhite mentally and John could see the Gate opening, that Bonewhite had sent their code through the gate, he was flying toward it. When the dart is hit. Atmosphere starts venting from the cockpit, and he finds himself ejected. Then the connection goes blank, and Guide covers his hand with his mouth. If he were human, he would be vomiting. 

He could no longer feel his brother’s presence. And he had been so close. And now, he was the last of Firstlight and Shade’s sons. And Firstlight, for his part, looked frozen in place in shock and grief.

John looks at the group and says, “We have to keep moving. Find somewhere safe. Where did you go last time?” John asks.

Guide wipes his eyes and nods his head. “This way. To the cave systems.” He says dispondantly, and with one last glance at the burning village, they took off, into the trees. There was one thing Guide understood. It was the last thing Bonewhite sent him through the link: You have to live.

Chapter Text

“Unscheduled off-world activation!”

Teyla had been going over reports with Richard as they walked through the Atlantis control room when the gate whirled to life, and Chuck helpfully stated what was plainly obvious.

“Getting an IDC. It’s Todd’s.” This statement was decidedly more informative.

“Are we getting a transmission?” Richard asks.

“No. But we’re getting an energy reading hitting the shield. Looks like some sort of weapons fire we haven’t seen.” Rodney chips in.

“Lower the shield. If they're in trouble we need to learn the status of our people.” Richard orders as he and Teyla make their way down the stairs, Shade and Burning Heart not far behind them with obvious worry for their family and the people on their homeworld. 

When the shield lowers, two charges of green weapons fire hit the floor and far wall as a single individual comes falling through the gate, curled in on himself, his jacket, hair and lips coated in frost and collapsed in a heap.

“RAISE THE SHIELDS!” Richard yells as he and Teyla rush to the Wraith crumpled in front of the gate, and the hum of the energy field closing the wormhole is punctuated by several electric zips as the weapons charges hit.

Burning Heart and Shade’s eyes widen and they stop short at the bottom of the stairs in shock, and to Rodney’s surprise, fear.

When Teyla draws closer, she finally recognizes the Wraith. “Kenny?” She asks, coming closer. When she reached toward him, Bonewhite’s eyes open, and as her hand draws closer to check his pulse, he takes hold of her wrist with his safe hand, and looks straight into her eyes, and lowers his mental shields.

He was not in good shape. He knew this, and he pushed the scene off his dart being hit and the cockpit blown off, only 10 feet from the gate. The cold of space. His desperation being strong enough to try to fly a dart into their gate room in the first place. Him kicking off the wreckage of his dart, using the weightlessness of space to try to get through the gate when that didn't work. To get help.

The force of his mind is overwhelming. Almost as strong as one of their queens. It was no wonder he had naturally strong mental shields, or his telepathic presence would overwhelm everyone around him. She cries out in pain, the amount of information being passed causing her eyes to hurt as she processed so much information and his desperation to make her understand what was happening, incase he died right here right now. The Marines on duty guarding the gate raise their weapons, but Teyla holds up a hand.

Through gritted teeth, she tells them, “Lower your weapons. He is not hurting me intentionally. He is communicating a critical situation that is taking place on his homeworld, and he is not in good shape. He was exposed to open space, and is unable to speak as we do right now. Get Dr. Beckett.” She gasps as Shade hold’s his younger brother, Burning Heart, both of which have looks of shock and horror on their face at what they were seeing through the link through Teyla, as Bonewhite didn’t have the strength to project directly to them right now. Even that short distance was too far in his weakened state.

Bonewhite continued to project images of the foot soldiers and ships with a familiar symbol that she hadn’t thought they would encounter again. The hives in their orbit retreating for help. He had counted at least 20 ships, and the 3 hives they had in orbit didn’t stand a chance unless they went for help first. They had deployed all their darts that had been on the surface and fought for hours just for someone to get through the gate while their hives went to gather their allies. Most of the pilots that went up with Bonewhite were already dead, some had even sacrificed themselves to get him close enough to make it through. And he barely had. But civilian lives were at stake here. Children.

As the medical team arrives in the gate room, Shade and Burning Heart pull themselves together to join Teyla at their Uncle’s side, seeing all the images of destruction he had seen from Wraith all across their homeworld. And after he finally pushed everything he knew into her mind, and by extension, theirs, he fell into unconsciousness as Dr. Beckett and his team entered the gate room and pulled him onto a gurney.

“What did he tell you, Teyla?” Richard asks, squatting down in front of her and checking her over a bit to make sure she was okay and putting his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Even taking her pain into account, she looked disturbed, which made Richard worried.

“His homeworld is under attack and has been placed under an orbital siege. The attacker is a race we have encountered once before, but it was on board the version of the Daedalus that had been equipped with an interdimensional hyperdrive. Many are dead, and there have been what your people would call war crimes. They targeted civilian population centers, and the hives that were in orbit were unable to face an armada that size. Kenny counted 20 ships. His dart was compromised, and he hardly made it through the gate, and he had to pass through open space in order to reach us. He is not fully aware of the motivation for this act of aggression, though he was shown the image of their landing crafts sucking the fresh water from one of their lakes, and boring into the ground. His only theory with such limited information is that they were stripping their world for resources, but there is not much that he has to go on. If we are to have any hope of bringing John and Ronon back alive, we will need to provide our allies with assistance.”

Richard nods his head in agreement as the medical team gets to work, giving Bonewhite oxygen to prevent hypoxia and wrapping him in mylar blankets. “I agree. And, in spite of any historical differences, I do not feel that our alliance should be the determining factor in our decision to intervene in this. Simply put, if we can stop the destruction of a civilization, and in this case, an entire world, then it’s our moral obligation to protect life, no matter how different our own way of life may be. How many hives are in your alliance?” This last part was directed to Shade. Teyla was confused at first by Richard’s immediate agreement to intervene, but held her tongue. She got the impression that he had more information about something, and would ask him about it later, was it not offered, but for now, they did need to discuss strategy.

“My Father is now High commander of fifteen hives. Not all of these call our hearth planet their homeworld. Only 6 of these do. At the time of the attack, 3 were in orbit. My uncle was able to tell us these 3 were able to make it to hyperspace. They're going to bring back reinforcement. Of the remaining three, two of these were out conducting scientific research on outpost planets where we have labs set up. One of these is working on the life support systems we’re developing in collaboration with and we've already given you the gate address to this world, and the other is conducting a study of plant life, and looking for things that may be beneficial to skin and hair care. We try not to over harvest on our own home, or the worlds we visit, but this hive is mostly scientists and non combatants, though we may be able to temporarily staff it with soldiers from other hearth worlds in our alliance. The last remaining of these is my Father’s flagship, which was grounded, and targeted between the time my Father left his home with his family and John and met up with his Sire, Grandsire, Ronon and Father in law, but before his father in law sacrificed himself to allow everyone else a route of escape to the cave system where he survived when the ancients laid siege. My uncle is unsure whether the flagship could be repaired, but this is the ship that your team made improvements to. And it will be of no use to us in this fight.”

“And your Father? He had a clutch, did he not? Was he able to attend to that before this started?” Carson asks, inadvertently spilling the beans to the expedition about the reason Guide had to return home.

Seemingly not noticing the shocked faces of the senior staff surrounding them, save for Teyla who'd already known, Shade nods. “My uncle was able to inform me that he laid a singular egg. It did contain life, though it was a difficult lay cycle for him, and Lt. Col. Sheppard had to assist in the delivery. They were able to escape with the egg safely after my father had time to recover. Having to stop to deliver an egg will not slow them down if that’s what you're worried about.”

“Aye, and the medical complications losing it in these circumstances may cause.” Carson says.

Burning Heart nods his head. “Our Grandfather was in lay when the ancients laid siege. He hadn’t even seen it coming, but you are right that this is dangerous, especially for our young or those gestating eggs. If they are resource stripping, it will also be our young and those in a reproductive cycle who face food scarcity this time around. The ancients wanted to kill us. They did this by targeting individuals, especially those past the age of need for solid food. They could have cared less about our resources. Those that got destroyed were secondary. Not the target. If we are in the way of that which someone wants, the violence will be applied differently, and likely harsher than before, and we will need to organize aid for when we break through. Both medical, and nutritional for our young. To the ancients, we were a threat, but in small ways, our humanity was acknowledged. In this situation, we're being treated more like agricultural pests.”

“Right now, we have three ships that we can bring to your assistance." Richard begins. "I know that isn’t much, but I’ve recently heard from Larrin that worlds the travelers trade with have been destroyed. Their ships weren’t able to identify what weapons systems were used, but it didn’t match Wraith or replicator energy signatures. Also, this was different. This wasn’t just the destruction of civilization, the planet would no longer be able to sustain society on the same scale as before. Lake beds were laid dry, forests were laid bare, the ground strip mined. It seems that whoever these aliens are, they are targeting worlds that sustain life indiscriminately for resources. The information Kenny gave you and Teyla, was the last piece of the puzzle that only myself, and a handful of Atlantis staff have been investigating for the past week. Rodney, Teyla, what can you tell me about these guys?” Richard asks, waving them into his office and disclosing that bit of information Teyla suspected he knew that they did not.

“Not much I’m afraid.” Teyla says as she and Rodney follow Richard. “I’m afraid we were too preoccupied with trying to stay alive and return to our own dimension to study them.”

“All I can tell you is they used some sort of cybernetic enhancements. My best guess is that they also have some way of jamming communications to the planet. We were unable to communicate with anyone from their version of Atlantis our first time in that reality, and at first I assumed it was because they didn’t want to give away their positions, but once their F30-2s were launched, we were able to communicate with their reality's John Sheppard, which was honestly, mostly just them flirting with each other. Their single person fighters were designed to penetrate the hauls of other ships and use as a boarding vessel. Since these compartments no longer have viable life support, we can assume they have a physiological advantage that makes them more durable to low atmosphere or cybernetics that compensate for physical weakness, but that’s about the scope of it.” Rodney says.

Shade and Burning Heart look at each other and exchange glances. They seemed to be having a silent conversation, and Richard gave them a look that they recognized as a prompt to share with the group.

“My brother is concerned with a creature from old stories called the Azari. They are a myth that is meant to describe phenomena that take place in the mostly open space between galaxies, and are meant as a deterrent for those who would explore too far out, and find themselves stranded, unable to return. They are a warning and nothing more, of greed and self destruction.” Shade says.

“The stories said they had red eyes and grey skin, and showed no mercy, just like our uncle reported. Maybe, we just lost that part of our database in the war with the ancients. Myths often have their origin in true events.” Burning Heart argues.

“If you have a name it may be worth looking up in our database.” Rodney suggests, pulling out his tablet. He had tried searching for the symbol, but a lot could change in 10,000 years, and maybe they were sailing under new colors, so to speak. They already knew of plenty of entries in Pegasus alone that they had to manually update.

“Thank you Dr. McKay. Mr. Woolsey, I trust that you will communicate this situation up your chain of command, and get in touch with the traveler fleet who we have teamed up with before. If that is all, my brother and I wish to check in with the infirmary as to the condition of our uncle, and if he is in any shape to do so, see if he knows anything about the rest of our family.” Shade says.

“By all means.” Richard says, nodding to reiterate his point and waves them to the door. “I’ll send Major Lorne’s team to our research outpost to get in touch with your alliance and coordinate a joint effort, and see if we can get any further information about this situation.”

“I will accompany you two to the infirmary. I would like to speak further with Kenny regarding what he knows of John and Ronon. And to bring him some tea. He shared some with me that they use to treat hypothermia, and I’ve seen that it does work on the planet where they were created. This could help stabilize him, since we are unsure which of our medicines would work with their physiology.”

“Absolutely. Go. See if you can help Dr. Beckett.” He says, and she promptly gets up and goes to her quarters to prepare a kettle, and Shade sends her a mental image of where in his quarters he had warm sleepwear. He and his uncle were of a similar frame, and his quarters were on the way to hers. She sent him a nod, accepting his request to pick them up on her way, and asked if there was anything else she could do for them while she was at it, but they were unsure. She could feel that they were in shock and even a bit lost. She felt worry rolling off of Shade for a mate and children. She projects them a mental squeeze and promise to do everything in their power to help before quickly making her way to the personnel quarters, stopping quickly to get the warm pajamas for Bonewhite’s infirmary stay and brewing a pot of the tea blend he had shared with her.

When she made it to the infirmary, Marie directed her to the bed they had assigned to Bonewhite, though he was not there, and she set the pot, which she had placed in a cozy to retain heat, down on the rolling bedside table with the tea cups and Shade gave her a mental pull to the hydrotherapy room.

When she arrived, Kenny was submerged in shoulder deep water with Doctors Beckett and Keller monitoring him. His core body temperature was approaching normal, though it was still low, and he would probably have some ongoing temperature deregulation issues for the next 24-48 hours due to the shock, according to Shade, who’d seen more than one Wraith endure it after beaming them out of a compromised dart, but he was in a better state than when he first fell through their gate, and by all accounts, he would make it, and be fine.

Physically at least.

But she had been able to feel the trauma and fear rolling off of him in waves when they had made eye contact. His desperation to save his people, and the depth of fear at not knowing what fate awaited those trapped on the surface of the planet, and how helpless he felt not knowing what was going on. His confusion at the interference he was getting in their hive mind. He had only been able to connect with his brother a few times before getting through, though he had made the focused effort to keep his shields down to gather as much information as he possibly could. His confusion brought a fluttering nausea in the depth of her gut.

She bites her lip and kneels beside the tub, reaching for his safe hand and projecting her empathy and warmth into a fully encompassing mental hug, understanding in a way that only someone who had, at one point, found herself in a similar situation, where the fate of her people was veiled in unknowns, could. To feel these same emotions coming from a Wraith, in a situation she could empathize with all too well, had her questioning everything she had ever believed about them, without her even having to extend a conscious effort to try to overcome her own biases. Situations like these hurt when you had no way of knowing if the people you had known and cared about your whole life were safe, or even alive.

She leans over and places her forehead against his and closes her eyes, showing him what happened with her people and Michael. And that if he needed someone who could empathize while he was here, she would be happy to provide for him what nobody had been able to fully extend to her, as much as they wanted to be able to provide comfort.

And when she lifts her head, for the first time, she sees tears on the face of a Wraith, and understands that the depth of their emotions and bonds with each other were no less developed than their own. She squeezes his hand and says, “I have brought some of the tea blend you shared with me on the planet where we found the ancient outpost. I know it may be hard to stomach anything, but we need to try to get you warmed up. If there’s anyone who can organize a coordinated effort to save your people, it is the people on this base. They just need to hold on until then.” she says, squeezing his hand as Carson approached the hydrotherapy tub with a dryer warmed towel, and she, Dr. Keller, and Burning Heart help Kenny to his feet and get him wrapped up in it to dry him off, Shade helping him into the pajamas as Carson towel dried his hair as thoroughly as possible.

This was different from how hypothermia was treated in humans. Teyla knew that you should never immerse a hypothermic human in hot water to warm them up. Wet clothing should be replaced with dry, warm layers, and Shade had been directing the medical staff in part about how to address this, and she found herself grateful that they were here. Because Guide had the foresight to leave his sons here to spearhead their alliance in his absence, they were able to make sure that Bonewhite’s heroic effort to bring assistance to his people wouldn’t be his last act. That he would be there to see them through this.

But the main treatment for their cold blooded bodies seemed to be providing enough sources of external warmth for their metabolic processes to reregulate. The sudden cold would send them into a state of shock, and the warm water was regulating both his core body temperature, and the metabolic organs running up the length of his feeding arm. In humans, you didn’t want to provide heat to extremities as it would carry blood and warmth away from essential organ systems, though for Wraith, some of these organs critical to their survival were located in the core as well as the extremities, specifically their right hand and arm, meaning the whole body needed to be warmed externally until they were no longer in what was refered to as hypo-endothermic shock.

Once they get the pajamas on him, they help him to a chair to sit, where Jennifer finishes blow drying the ends of his hair and Carson slips a pair of socks onto his feet and gloves onto his hands to help retain the heat that he had. Teyla realized that had he and Guide gotten to this state on the outpost planet looking for John, then neither of them would have been able to get back to camp without being physically moved by someone else, and she wasn’t sure they would have been able to bring them back from this.

His limbs weren’t cooperating with him and his fingers and arms were curling into fists and hugging his chest. His knees were half bent and his toes were curled up with arched feet, just like an insect that was too cold, but he was no longer completely locked in a curled up state, and she couldn’t help but be relieved that their efforts were helping.

Once his hair was dry, they helped him into bed, where a red heat lamp had been set up in their absence, and covered him with warm blankets, and his growing physical comfort projected into the mental sphere eased some of Teyla’s worry about his condition. She did not want to rescue Guide just to have to explain that he’d lost his one brother that remained when she’d seen the evidence of how losing them had affected him so deeply. She didn’t want to see him hurt himself, especially after going through what he was presently experiencing. They just had to believe in him, his sons, Ronon and John to hold on until they got there.

Bonewhite nods his head in agreement as Teyla pours him a cup of tea, seated in one of the three chairs beside his bed, the other two, occupied by his nephews, and holds it up to his lips, allowing him to take slow sips as she tucks some stray hair behind his ear with his free hand. She can feel his gratitude that someone outside his species finally cares, and Shade and Burning Heart take their leave after getting word that Major Lorne’s team was ready to depart. They had insisted on going along, so that they could communicate with the commander of this hive using their telepathic communication. Human language wouldn’t fully communicate the details of what their uncle had shared through their hivemind, and time was of the essence. So she promised them that she would stay with their uncle until they returned.

“Is there anything that I can get you or that I can do to help you be more comfortable?” She asks as he finishes the cup of tea and she sets it down on the bedside table.

He shakes his head for a moment, though she could feel that he wasn’t being truthful. She could feel that he was hungry, and it was making it harder for him to heal and retain the heat that they were working hard to restore to his body.

This gives her pause, but she remembers what he had said about feeding and gifting, and she was seriously considering this.

Sensing her thoughts, he smiles at her and shakes his head. “It is kind of you to even consider Teyla. But what you are offering is something we share with our worshipers and our brothers. I cannot ask you to form a bond like that without your full willingness.” He says.

“So there would be a bond in place between you and like that which exists between John and Todd? I would not be bothered by that Kenny. You are a descendant of Athos. Wraith or not, you are of my people. We are already family.” She says.

Snippets of John and Todd’s developing relationship flit into her mind. Though she couldn’t say that she was surprised. There had always been a certain tension between the two, and Kenny’s mental burst of laughter at their awkward puppy love, but warmth at their awkwardness being out of respect for the other showcased in his thoughts to her. The knowledge that you couldn’t rush a relationship, especially one where they were also navigating a grief that they both understood all to well. 

But through these snippets, she comes to understand that when a bond like John and Todd’s was established, the relationship developing in the way it did wasn’t uncommon at all. It wasn’t guaranteed, but the relationship it created would run deep, even if it remained platonic. She would be as family to him, regardless of the nature of their relationship. Regardless of whether or not she chose to go through with this. 

The idea that she could develop feelings like that for a Wraith wasn’t a possibility she had considered before. Serving the Wraith was taboo in her culture, and to accuse someone of that was their greatest insult, but this wasn’t servitude. She considers what this would mean. Would this cause problems for her? For her position among her people? For her son?

She pauses to consider how her people had come to see Guide’s hive specifically. They knew very well that she was able to return home because of his willingness to form an alliance. They knew of how he came to their aid in the fight against the replicators. If it were another hive, there was a greater possibility of problems, but the involvement with Guide’s hive had been not only accepted, but provided hope of a future where their people could live in harmony one day, especially after learning that they had faced attempts at complete extermination, and the lineage of Guide’s clan coming from their people.

She decides that this would be okay, and even if some of her people took issue with this initially. As their leader, it was her responsibility to make sure her people were safe. That meant making sure their allies, those who would come to their aid, had their needs met where they could help meet them , so that they were able to be there for them when they were in need.

Furthermore, she wasn’t subject to the bureaucratic red tape the rest of the expedition was. She did not report to SGC or the IOA at the end of the day. She worked with them, which often did mean following their rules and decisions, but at no point was her autonomy in question. If this upset them, then she would deal with that later. This was her decision to make though.

Resolutely, she takes his right hand and looks him in the eyes, as though asking his permission. For a moment, he holds her gaze, seeking the same consent from her. She nods her head in affirmation, rubbing his fingers to help restore heat and circulation as she removes the glove, projecting her resoluteness to help not just him, but his people as well.

As his fingers uncurl and she presses his hand to her chest, placing hers overtop of his, once again leaning her forehead against his. He doesn’t start to feed immediately. Instead, he lowers his mental shield, promising her that he would not make it painful for her. He would not take in large amounts, like turning a tap fully. He would exchange in a small trickle, making it easier on her system, and it would use less of the addictive enzyme this way. He also projects comfort and warmth into the hivemind that the two of them could access, in complete privacy now that his nephews were off world to gather their forces, and she gives him a mental nudge forward and provides a mental nod in appreciation of him explaining how this was going to work.

When the feeding organ takes hold, there was a moment of initial discomfort, but it was not the same violent sensation of having your lifeforce ripped away like the survivors of partial feedings described.

No, this was different, and she found herself encompassed by the warmth, kindness, wisdom, and strength that was Bonewhite, hidden behind strong mental shields that appeared in the mind's eye as an impenetrable barrier. And neither of them took.

Instead, both of them made eye contact. 

And mutually, they gave. 

Chapter Text

Three days.

They had been holding out for 3 days when they first had to send a group to venture out for supplies. The younger ones amongst their group were growing hungry and thirsty. There weren’t enough blankets, and they had to sleep in shifts to stay warm, sharing what little they had.

They had found a place where they could safely start a fire to keep the temperature consistent without smoke giving away their location, but there was only enough wood inside the caves for them to make it survivable. Not comfortable. Because of this, most of the children were sleeping when Ronon and John did, with them gravitating to the exothermic humans in their sleep for precious warmth their little bodies had no mechanism to produce.

On that third day, John had to do something. Had to find some way of lifting the morale for Todd’s family. He had come to find out that most of this group was made up by his civilian sons, their children, children of his departed brothers, and their children, and John wasn’t surprised that they had sought the safety of family. A few of them were grounded military, but most of his non civilian sons were deployed, save for those who served on his flagship who had only just returned for leave. 

Each of them had noticed after the initial first wave that the hivemind wasn’t quite right. They weren’t cut off from it completely, but it seemed muddied. Communication wasn’t always clear, and it made it hard to know who was safe and who wasn’t. Though John was relieved most of Guide’s sons had been accounted for, though he worried for those who hadn’t made contact or been accounted for by someone who had, including Mystify and Foresite. 

John didn’t think the interference was because they were underground, and the Wraith were doubtful of this as well, but the only way to know for sure was to leave the cave and test it, and try to find food and water at the very least, grab some firewood, and if at all possible, try to make it back to the village and see if they could find blankets. And ideally, some warmer clothes. 

They were going out blind though, and when the inevitable came and they picked who would go out to try to alleviate their basic needs, John was quick to volunteer, and where John did, so did Ronon, who felt useless hiding out in a cave when he still had his gun. Coldwind and Firstlight also insisted, telling Guide to stay with his sons, grandsons, and nephews. Not because they thought he wouldn’t be able to handle himself. They knew he could compartmentalize to an unhealthy degree, after hundreds of years of war with the ancients. It was hard to unlearn that, even after thousands of years. But if enemy combatants were to stumble into their neck of the underground cave system, he knew the layout better than anyone and could lead them to safety. He had survived 10 months in this cave system, saving lives the whole time, right down to the last hours before their liberation. Even though Starborn hadn't made it. The ones they had been protecting had, because they fought just a few more hours. 

Frostfire, who John hadn’t even recognized in the retreat until he had healed the burnt flesh on the upper half of his right side, arm and face, had established a guard rotation with a couple of his clutch brothers,  Guide’s 5th and 7th, named Vortex and Scorch. They had also volunteered, and the three of them were arguing over who needed to stay and stand guard, with Scorch and Vortex insisting that Frostfire had the best eyesight and most sensitive sensory spiracles.

Eventually, their father had to step in and tell Frostfire that he was staying back with him. He was his weapons master and he would have none other aboard his hive. And that applied to this situation as well. They may not be on a hiveship, but they were still protecting their hive.

Once the decision was made, they started going through what little the group had to decide what would be useful to them in their venture to the surface. There were a few water tight containers, a couple bags they could use to carry some things, and one of Todd’s sons had fashioned a few rough cords from some iratus silk he had found in a long abandoned nest. He was trying to process the rest of it into a large, makeshift mattress to keep those who were resting off the cold ground. Losing heat seemed to be one of their biggest concerns. But they could use a few of these cords to bundle up and carry firewood. That, and water had to be their priority.

If they couldn’t get anything else today it had to be those two things. Those couldn’t wait. Sure, nobody was dangerously dehydrated. Yet. But that wouldn't last. They could gather limited amounts from the cave walls, but it wasn’t enough for long term hydration, and they didn’t trust that the mineral content in the pools was safe for drinking. They were able to wash in it, and keep the young comfortable enough to prevent scaling and skin pain, but safe to swim in didn’t always mean safe to drink. Human or Wraith.

They gather most of their supplies into bags that people had been able to grab before leaving their homes, and carry a few empty ones to bring back any supplies, and arm themselves the best they can, with Ronon, who was decidedly best equipped in this regard, taking point, with Coldwind at the rear.

When they emerge into the limited light of day, the first thing they do is start gathering wood and filling their watertight containers in a nearby stream, which thankfully, still had running water. The limited communication they were able to achieve with the larger percentage of the hivemind had indicated that they were sucking up water sources with their landing craft, and they had no idea how long they would have access to this water source, so they would also look for alternatives.

They spend about an hour bringing water back to the mouth of the cave, that those inside moved further in to where the rest of the group was, and several bushels of firewood, enough to comfortably heat the place they were sheltering, at least for now, for a week or two before setting out to try to find anything they could use to feed the young. But, if they ended up running into some kind of trouble, they did have heat and water if they couldn’t make it back right away. Or in the worst case scenario, ever.

Resolutely, the group sets out, approaching the tree line as they carefully watch for any patrols. There had been 3 three landing craft that had touched down near the village, but of these, they had only observed one to be heavily fortified, while the other two were being used as cargo containers for water, sucking up the contents of the ponds and a small lake after delivering their pay load of foot soldiers. Most of their fruit crop already was stripped from the trees, which were being removed by heavy machines that cut, stripped, and processed them into lumber, before spitting them out packaged for foot soldiers to return to the most fortified ship they had observed with a well practiced efficacy.

Their forces seemed to be concentrated in the central part of the village, using the structures that were still intact a makeshift base of operations, carrying themselves as though this was business as usual.

Patrols were thinnest where they had originally crossed, with their efforts being focused on water. That part of the village was largely unoccupied, having already been mostly stripped bare of agricultural resources and having little in the way of natural water sources. Though none of them liked it, they waited in the place they had originally paused when they had initially crossed the field when they took a moment to process the shock of Redclaw’s sacrifice. He wasn’t close enough to Guide to access the hivemind, but he didn’t need to to know that it was causing agitation to the family members in his company at this moment. They were able to see his remains from their position, and that they had been moved in a way that was repulsive.

They could tell that his remains had been abused, face down and in a state of partial undress, with the corpses of the foot soldiers still impaled on the now broken stick, and Ronon swallowed thickly, tasting bile at the back of his throat and John needed to practice deep breathing to keep from getting sick. Breaking the stick and removing his remains could only mean premeditated action. Beside him and several feet away, an organ system had been haphazardly thrown aside, and John could guess that it was part of the reproductive system, as though the invaders were trying to figure it out by dissecting their dead as an afterthought. It painted a dark picture of what may be happening to those who were taken to their ships alive, but a deep sickness born of empathy for everyone involved.

They didn’t need words between them, and the look they shared wasn’t even necessary to come to the mutual decision to bring him with them on the way back. The caves had an outlet to where their dead were buried, and even if they couldn’t lay everyone to rest, Redclaw deserved better than this, and if they could give him this small dignity, they must.

Nobody deserved what was happening.

This was sick.

And there was no reason to do that to anyone.

When they were clear to move, they shimmy across the field, disguising themselves with debris from the ground like makeshift ghillie suits, and file into the first house that doesn’t look partially burnt or damaged, and start raiding the stores of preserved food, clothing, and blankets. They could tell by the unmade beds and huge pantry that a large family had lived here, and their clothing was mostly silk. Their leather clothing articles had fur lining, and came in a couple different colors. This household wasn’t military. There wasn’t an officer's coat or stunner in sight. There were some kitchen knives and farming tools, but nothing that would be able to hold a flame to a large group with blasters. Their best protection against that was still Ronon and his gun.

But other than not finding means of mounting some kind of ground defense, this place had been a payload. Their sustainable way of life, making clothing well and holding onto it for future use, proved lifesaving. They were able to find plenty of clothing, in sizes that would fit everyone in their group as children's clothing was held onto for future clutches, and a large family had plenty of blankets and they had even been able to fit a few pillows in their bags. There were lots of things that were water right, and could be used to store more than the limited supply they had already been able to acquire. There had been a brief argument about the pillows versus taking more food or water containers, as Ronon had thought of it as a luxury item, but Scorch and Vortex argued that they could use them as makeshift mattresses for Blaze’s little ones so they wouldn’t lose heat to the ground. Their younger brother was removing his upper layers to improvise a mattress or blankets at the expense of his own warmth, so it was a matter of group health.

Coldwind, Firstlight, John and Ronon conceded to this point, knowing that it was already having a noticeable effect on his well being. He had lost visible weight and hadn’t gotten more than a couple hours of sleep, despite everyone’s urging and even sharing the blankets with him and the Wraithlings to try to alleviate some of the pressure. He wasn’t the only one in their group with infants, but he was the youngest, and the physical toll that took on his not fully mature body was becoming more and more obvious, even in such a short amount of time.

Coldwind had to give him a scolding just yesterday about sneaking his share of the water they had collected from the cave wall to his children, and to ask someone older for help with that if need be. He still had a greater requirement for water than any of the other parents here, simply because water was needed to digest solid food. Parent or not, like his clutch brothers, he still was at an age he needed some degree of regular food. The physical burden of making sacrifices to make sure their needs were met was taking a toll, and they needed to work together and be smarter to get everyone through this, but if he kept this up, he would end up sacrificing himself.

The memory of that reluctantly overheard conversation left John shuddering. So much of this didn’t feel real, but it was their gruesome reality right now. It was incomprehensible beyond staying together, staying alive. The hives in orbit got away. Help was coming.

But they didn’t know when.

They didn’t know how much.

They didn’t know who would show up for them.

Did Atlantis know, or had the wormhole shut down before Bonewhite could let them know what was wrong? Gods, he hoped he had gotten a message through. Not for selfish hope of rescue. At least not entirely. Sure, part of that hope came from a hope for survival, but knowing Bonewhite hadn’t sacrificed himself meaninglessly would make it easier to reconcile their grief for those who he cared deeply for. Culturally, it seemed to John that what they considered an honorable death was mentally, easier to sit with than a meaningless one. Neither was easy. Neither was better. But one was a little less confusing, and confusion was the enemy. 

He’s hit with a wave of rolling nausea, for not the first time, as he thinks about the fact that the person he loved had already lost two members of his immediate family.

He takes a deep breath, chilled as his back breaks out in a thin layer of anxiety fueled sweat, and starts stuffing warm clothing in one of the bags. Anything to feel less helpless, even if it didn’t feel like much. They decided that they shouldn’t stay long. Get in and get out quickly. Hopefully, recover Redclaw’s remains unnoticed. If not, he was counting on Ronon to shoot their way out. He was sure they would both love the chance to kill some of these bastards, but logically, they knew that evasion was the priority.

After making sure there were no patrols in the area, they start heading back, sticking to shadows for cover, and Scorch picks up a couple kittens in an alley they came across and throws them in his bag, the need for quiet preventing any further argument when he quietly stated that they had to worry about pest control and cleanliness.

Coldwind and Firstlight seemed to be giving him a look that congratulated him on outstanding mental gymnastics, but they privately agreed that even if they weren’t necessary, something like this could boost the morale for the children. But they couldn’t help but think about the kittens being more mouths to feed, and the doubt at the back of their minds as to whether they were making the right decision.

When they were half way across the field, Coldwind had a blanket at the ready and covers the body with it, turning him around so that he was face up, and wraps it around him, but not before closing his eyes, and returning his remains to a complete state, before they run for the cover of the trees, holding his curled up form with a tenderness that was reserved for someone who was more than a friend, but not quite a lover. A platonic other half, and his former second. 

When they make it to the stream star filling the additional water containers, Coldwind lays him down and rips off the corner of the longer part of his sleepwear, planning to change to something warmer anyway, and wets the scrap of fabric, and the rest of the family follows suite, all having the same thought. 

Even though it pains them, they unwrap the blanket and begin to wash away the evidence of what had been done to him after his passing. To preserve his dignity. And to preserve morale. They take the time to clean the blood from the finishing blow. To change his clothes into clean ones, removing the damaged, bloody remnants of clothing that showed in vivid detail where the finishing blow had been struck, for something clean that would cover the wound. They bury the clothing he had been wearing, but not before removing the glass orbs. The blood inside had belonged to departed family members from the first siege, and the human brothers he had lost over the millennia. He would want these mementos laid to rest too. The morbid realization dawns on John that even 10,000 years later, to the moment of his death, Redclaw had been wearing the Wraith equivalent of Victorian mourning jewelry. 

They use strips of cloth from the clothing they had removed that hadn't been tainted with blood to bandage the cuts to his abdomen that had been made post mortem shut, returning the organs that had been removed and those that were falling out to his body and hold them in place. Scortch pulled out pieces of his hair and spun it into a cord, stringing the baubles onto it and tying the ends together to form a necklace and places it around his neck. By the time they were done, John would have thought he was sleeping if he hadn't watched him die. And if the air around him didn't smell of death. But everyone felt better about returning with him shown the respect that he deserved, rather than letting the rest of their family see him as he had been. They didn’t need to know what had happened. Maybe one day, but right now, that would be too much.

Once John was able to feel the brush of Guide’s mind, he knew that the other survivors could feel their approach, and were gathering at the mouth of the cave to unburden them of the heavy supplies they carried, and the group awareness and relief at the recovered remains, though they all shielded the original state of his body from the group at large.

He could feel a more complete awareness from Guide about what had taken place, simply because he had been exposed to this kind of violence in a way that most Wraith had not. They didn’t do things like this to each other, and compulsions like that didn’t stay hidden in a hive mind. Dangerous individuals were isolated from their victim pool in appropriate ways. But that had not protected Guide, these crimes had been carried out before he had been able to fully comprehend what was happening, and though he hid his distress of what he understood to have happened from his family, he could not hide it from John.

As Redclaw is lied respectfully inside the entrance and essential supplies are unpacked, organized, and put “away”, which was just being stacked against the far wall of the chamber they had made their base, John taps Todd on the elbow and directs him into an Alcove off to the side, standing on a conveniently placed boulder, and wrapping his arms around him, at eye level, and leans his forehead against his before kissing it tenderly.

“I’m sorry this is happening all over again Todd. Words don’t mean shit, but I’m so sorry. I'm sorry about what happened to your father in law. To your brother. What's happening to your family.” He says. Guide leans his head on his shoulder, sniffing deeply, and wiping his eyes on John’s 3 days dirty hoodie, and saying, “Your words may not be able to fix what has happened, and what is continuing to happen, but your sympathy and support are about as far from meaningless as they can get. Every little bit of hope, of comfort, of things that help them feel better…” he gestures toward the chamber of the cave where most of them had gathered, “It increases our odds of survival. Giving into hopelessness is accepting death. Their death. I have to hold out hope, John Sheppard, and whether or not I believe hope is there, I still must cling to it. I cannot lie to myself and tell myself that I hope when I do not. I must truly hope, so they continue to. Giving up would spread like a contagion. A disease. And it would infect those who I care about, and need to make sure survive. Losing hope is something we simply cannot afford right now, and your strength, your presence helps me hold onto that. I know we do not wish to rush things, to put ourselves in a condition where we crash and burn, but I need to say this. Even if I refuse to give up hope, I also accept the reality that there may not be a tomorrow to say this.”

He pauses here and presses his lips to Johns. It was chaste, tender, and their mouths stayed close, it was no less passionate.

“I love you John Sheppard. I love you, and it lights up my world. You, and every single person here, you are my hope. Today we bury our dead, today we survive, so that one day, everyone here can thrive again. But if there’s one thing I learned surviving this once, as sentimental as it sounds, is that truly holding onto hope and belief in a resolution can make the difference between holding onto tomorrow, and giving up and allowing yourself and those with you to be taken alive. One day of fighting, even in losing my brother, saved everyone he and I had been protecting. While Starborn and I fought, another Wraith close in age to us lead the young to safety. Holding out for one more day made all the difference. And that Wraith who lead everyone else to safety later became my mate. Most of the Wraith in this group today are alive now because we held onto hope right to the very end. Even if we didn't all make it. We cannot give up on hope, even if it would be so much easier right now. Even if we know people will die. Because we also know people will live. We have to hold out hope, out of love for the people we care about.”

John wasn’t sure what to say to this. But in the safety of their telepathic and physical embrace, he didn’t feel insecure at his loss for words. He knew Guide could feel the thoughts and emotions they stirred in his soul. The hope in the face of hopelessness Guide gave him in return by telling him this. His love. His deep, consuming love and need to make sure he was safe. His family. That when everything was burning down around them, they had strength and hope in their love for eachother . Their need to see the ones they love safe.

Now, it was John’s turn to tear up, and together, they take solace in the temporary shelter of safety provided by their all encompassing embrace, before they set out for the emotional task of laying their departed to rest. They hold each other close for a few more moments before returning to the rest of the group, and Coldwind once again gathers Redclaw into his arms, resting his head on his shoulder.

Guide take’s John’s hand as he heads up the group and leads them through a twisting passage that emerges through gnarled, moss covered tree roots, to the darkest part of the forest, not close, but not far from the place they had passed the massive animal on their way to the natural spring only 4 days earlier. So much had changed since then.

The air in this part of the forest seemed heavier. Sacred in what it was, and sentient to what was happening, and after finding a suitably twisted cavern of root where he could be safely protected from the cruelty around him, they lower him inside, the young leaving small offerings of flowers and even a couple small toys.

There wasn’t a dry face, but there was an air of them acquiring some degree of closure. And a new resolve that they must survive so that he will not be forgotten. That his bravery be remembered. Redclaw had lived like a legend. And he had died like one.

He was a hero. How many of their group would survive because of him? How many children would be born because he had made sure they could get to safety? Only time would tell. But one didn’t need to see the future to see that he would be remembered as a hero.

He already was.

Everyone in the group believed that. Even Ronon. As much anguish as living this a second time was causing, he was seeing humanity in the alien. Their struggles were now his, and their children clung to him for comfort, placing their trust in him despite how different they were. It hadn’t even crossed their little minds to treat him and John any differently from the grown ups who had gotten them to safety on the scariest day of their short lives. Wraith or not, they were safe people. He was sure this was shattering many of his fundamental beliefs. 

John made a mental note to check in with Ronon later and see how he was holding up. He could see the weight on his shoulders that had to be unpacked, but as they return to the entrance, he decided to wait until later. When they could have a bit more privacy.

When they finish making their way back, they gather around the warmer central area, and open some of the preserved food for the young, allowing them to discover the kittens.

He, Ronon and Guide sit down together, allowing themselves to crack a grin at the way their faces lit up as they cradled the small, furry creatures, with full bellies for the first time in days. The food was cold. They should have grabbed something to heat it. But it was edible. And that's what was important. People drifted away from the central area, returning with their children in warmer clothes. Someone had carved a comb form one of the logs they had gathered for firewood that was being passed around and shared with joy, even if something like being able to comb your hair was small, and some of the mineral rich water they couldn’t drink was heated for bathing and washing some of the dirty clothing they had escaped in.

Things were far, far from being okay, but they were a little bit better. The children weren’t in immediate danger of malnutrition for the moment. Their mood had been lifted. They were warm. They were hydrated. And the little ones were smiling. 

One of the younger children climbs onto Ronon’s shoulder and puts a kitten on his head.

Ronon smiles and tickles his feet, drawing peels of laughter from the child, a little boy named Echo, who was a child born from the eldest of Shade’s children. Guide's oldest, who was still on Atlantis. Though his other parent was with the group as well, and all 6 of Echo's clutch brothers. 

And though they all still felt heavy, they did their best to foster a bit of joy and safety for the sake of the children they had with them, as Blaze, Ember, Ash and Swift join with them, letting Echo hold the one cousin who was actually awake. The liveliest of the bunch.

The other three were sleeping outside their eggboards, happy even in their sleep to stretch their arms and legs after so many days, on the pillows they had placed in deep sided baskets like makeshift bassinets, blanketed with some of the baby blankets that had been in the bag of gifts they had managed to grab before leaving the house. The supplies inside had been invaluable from the moment they first made it to safety, and though they knew not all was right in their world and were more fussy than usual, they were able to feel that they did not fear. They didn’t understand to fear it. They were irritable that they weren’t in a familiar place. That their routine had changed. But they didn’t feel unsafe. Their family was all around them. They were warm. And their little bellies were full.

And though Blaze didn’t want to make a big deal of it or put anyone at the center of attention, especially himself, Guide hadn’t forgotten what today was.

Today was the day they would receive their names.

Guide gestures for Blaze to sit in front of him, and the surrounding family members carefully slide the baskets to their proximity too, even as Blaze turned a sharper slightly darker shade of green in the cheeks, and one by one, they pick up each child, Blaze telling Guide what he wished to name each one, Echo helping them with the liveliest one. His oldest.

In the order of their birth, they were named Red Honor, Valor, Swift Claw, and Resolve. All named for their great grandfather, or the character traits he embodied. They made it to today because of him. 

In normal circumstances, this would be another occasion where their village gathered. Where they joined in prayer. But Guide still gave them, and Blaze the honor of remaining as close to their custom of naming as they would carry it out in times of peace. 

And although they had only been here for 3 days, the closure from laying their dead to rest, combined with the joy of celebrating these 4 small lives seeing their first year, brought the day to a close with them feeling a cautious peace that felt like it had been absent for a lifetime. 

Chapter Text

3 days turned to 3 weeks. The days blended together, slipping into a routine of survival. Every couple days, a small group left to gather supplies, though they were avoiding the village. Mostly trying to gather what they could from their surroundings. As the time passed, John could feel the mind of the Wraithling inside the egg developing and becoming more and more curious. Guide had held it up to the light for him several times so they could see how much he had grown. They could make out his head and neck, and Todd said that he was a bit big for his gestational age. Not alarmingly so, and he was in a normal size range, but he was definitely on the bigger side of normal. John often wondered how his mind could be so well developed when his brain wasn’t yet fully formed, and Guide had told him it was one of life’s great mysteries. They could measure and quantify some things, others they could not. Much like their telepathy. And John found he didn't want to understand after learning that. Sometimes, understanding something made it all the more amazing. Other times, the effect was opposite, and he didn't want to risk this thing of awe becoming mundane. 

He got to know more of Guide’s family, and see him outside of his role of commander and diplomat. See what he was like around the people he loved. What he was like off duty. He was just as much at home with children as he was at the helm of a ship. His grandchildren and grand nephews loved to play games with him, and listen to his stories. He made sure that they kept quiet, but he did his best to shield them from as much trauma as he could. To give them happy memories in the midst of the turmoil that they didn’t fully understand. He carried himself through this with the rare wisdom of someone who had been through this before and was consciously shielding them from the worst things he hadn't known how to prevent before. 

Slowly, things between them grew too. It was still new love. Still blushing when holding hands and kissing each other on the cheek. Todd's sons teased them relentlessly about it, while the little ones whispered to each other about Guide finally smiling again. John was glad that he had the support of Todd’s family, and though begrudgingly at first, Ronon’s as well. He had been forced to shift his perspective completely.

He and John had talked about this at length as they ran patrols around the tunnels that lead into the chamber they had occupied. First, he came to terms with how human they were. Then, he came to terms with his hatred. He hadn’t come to terms with all the trauma. Coldwind told him he likely never would, but he could grow beyond it. He could become wise because of it. But only if he allowed himself the time to organize his thoughts on all he had been through and took initiative to direct his conscious intent toward making sure something like this didn’t happen again. To become a forceful river flowing into the lake of people working for a more compassionate future. 

3 weeks turned into 3 months. It hadn't felt like 90 days. It felt like yesterday. Yesterday felt like another life. But it felt like their group, this little family, had been together for a lifetime. Their son had grown his limbs, and the veins that spread around the egg were retreating into his body. He was more aware, and had a distinctive sleep wake pattern. The time for him to hatch was drawing close. Both he and John could feel that, and it made them nervous. They were preparing to move deeper into the cave system, as the days were growing shorter and colder, and the wind picked up this time of year. They wanted to make sure they weren’t exposed. It was just a precaution, but it was better than being caught off guard. Especially with a hatchling.

So they decided that they would move today. But only after one last trip to the village to grab as much preserved food as they could. Guide was staying back with the survivors, as usual, though as they grew more familiar with the cave system, he had ventured out a few times. Located a couple water sources they hadn’t known about as the streams and pools slowly disappeared. They did what they could to hide the small bodies that hadn’t yet been touched, concealing them under piles of branches and leaves until they blended in with the forest floor.

They were also starting to face another problem. Hunger. Guide had made it clear John and Ronon were off limits, and that the Wraith in this group would respect that, but some were already starting to show signs of weakening. John and Guide had already fed and gifted from each other once so that he could keep the clarity of mind necessary, though he could feel his guilt that he couldn’t feed his family. Grown or not, these were still his children. His parentless nephews that he had helped raise. His helplessness and frustration that there was nothing that he could do to ease their suffering except keeping his own mind clear so someone could try to find a solution.

The supplies they had were already being lined up and packed into manageable loads as they made detailed notes of everything they had. They stacked these at the entrance to the tunnel to the chamber they were planning to shelter in as the weather outside grew harsher. It was about 8 hours deep into the cave system, so they wanted to carry everything in one go. Guide was overseeing this project with Frostfire, making sure that everyone would be able to manage the load they carried. This is what he was doing when John wrapped his arms around him from behind.

“Is there anything we should keep our eyes peeled for while we’re out?” He asks, leaning his head on Todd's back, off to the side of his spinal ridges, his hair soft against John's face.

“Socks. We’re going to need those this time of year and it’s going to take longer for clothing to dry. I don’t want anyone’s toes getting frost bitten and falling off. We also need more soap and sanitizers. But other than that we just need the usual supply of food.” he says and leans back into his arms, even though he was taller than John, nearly toppling them both over. The mischievous flutter of pink in the bond between them let John know that it wasn’t entirely an accident.

“You got it.” John says as Todd turns them around and kisses him on the forehead. The “Stay safe,” and “Be careful,” left unspoken, but still there. John putting his hand on Todd’s cheek was his way of saying, “I promise we’ll come back.”

Then, with a soft peck on the lips, letting their embrace linger for a moment, they reluctantly pull apart so that they could get back to each other later. The sooner they finished what they were doing, the sooner they could settle down in their new location and rest. 

John, Ronon, Scorch, Vortex, Firstlight and Coldwind gathered near the roots that concealed the entry of the cave with empty bags on their backs ready to be filled with supplies, and John let's them know to keep an eye out for cleaning supplies and socks before they start their hike. 

The first thing they noticed when they had the sky overhead was the rain, and they knew they would have to make this a short trip, and the second thing they noticed was the impressions their feet left in their wake. They quickly erase these, and tie pine branches to their feet to conceal any further tracks before hiking to the ever closer tree line. 

John didn't know what it was, but it was like there was something in the air. He could feel it the moment he went eyes on the village. There was almost a static in the atmosphere today. Scorch whispered that something was buzzing in the hive mind. They didn't have a clear idea about what. But they knew that something was happening. 

He could feel Firstlight’s intent to start a conversation about whether to turn back or risk pushing further when a thunderous series of explosions rocked the ground, and light exploded from the 3 ships stationed in the village for resource extraction, and they went up in flames, black, oily smoke spilling out into the atmosphere. A small group of 5 darts flew away, followed by a group of foot soldiers as they landed in the field. 

RECKLESS! That was the thought that Coldwind projected loudly as they landed so close to their strike and he started moving toward the field to the celebrating pilots as the group of about 20 surviving foot soldiers approached them with drawn weapons, and when these pilots turned to face them, it was with drawn hands. 

Landing out in the open had been to draw them into a trap. 

These Wraith had finally discovered something that they could use to their advantage against the invaders.

They could feed on them. 

Firstlight, Coldwind, Scorch and Vortex join them in the fight, with 5 hands turning to 9 and nearly half the aliens fall to husks at their feet. Others are subdued and wrapped in silk from one of the darts to take back to the others after the subdermal tracking device was pried from their foreheads. He could feel that these surviving pilots wanted these remainders to feed their civilians. 

John didn't recognize anyone in this group until they pulled off the headwear normally worn by their drone soldiers. Concealing their identity during the strike. He knew 2 of these Wraith! He joins the group gathering around them in joy. 

Mystify and Foresite. They were alive! John wraps his arms around them and holds Mystify’s forehead against his own for a moment. “Where have you been? Your father is worried sick!” John says, wiping some dirt off his face and straightening his hair a bit. 

John wasn't a bit surprised that Foresite spoke for Mystify to answer his question and said, “We haven't stayed in any one place. We’ve been going everywhere doing as much damage as we can. And spreading the word about our ability to feed on them. They aren't pleasant. But we can eat something gross if it means staying alive. About half the planet knows now.” 

John smiles at this. They could solve the problem of hunger. He looks over at Scorch. “Go get your Father. We’ll drag the cocoons to the tree line. We need to make sure everyone is fed before moving out. We’ll grab as much preserved food as we can too. We should use this chaos to our advantage. Will you come back with us?” 

“For a time.” Foresite says. “We'll head out in a few days after getting everyone here fed and supplied. But we have more targets in mind to take out and more strongholds where survivors are hungry we need to resupply. Like yours, many of these groups are populated largely by young and civilians who are reliant on a small group of military and survivors of the ancients’ siege who are able to help them stay alive. For now, we have organized strikes coordinating aid to survivors. We're slowing their progress well enough to have an impact on slowing environmental degradation. We need to make sure the planet stays habitable until help arrives.” 

“Your father will be proud. He won't like it. But he’ll understand.” Firstlight says, his own pride in the initiative they were showing evident in his smile. That they would be the subject of stories they taught their children and grandchildren. Mystify laughed audibly at this and shook his head. He could care less about that as long as they could prevent as many people from dying as possible.

The group of them make their way to the village and raid the pantries for preserved food while the invading force tries to save their most effective way of leaving the planet. They pilfered the cleaning supplies, and socks, filling their bags before heading back, moving slowly because of the cocoons, and John could feel Guide’s delight to feel his sons’ minds in proximity to his, and runs out to greet them, hugging them close and scanning their minds for all they had been doing, calling everyone else up to feed.

They clammer to the surface, knowing not to expect it to be pleasant, but hungry enough to try, and they split the aliens’ life force between them. The blood stank of sulfur and burnt rubber. But they were no longer on the brink of starvation, and knew that if they became desperate enough again, they could leave the caves to feed, thinning the invaders' numbers until they could drive them out of this galaxy for once and for all.

Mystify and Foresite scan the hivemind and smile, feeling their brother so close to hatching, and tell their father that they could stay a few days, and that they were glad that fate made it these few. That they would be here for his first few days exploring the world he had only been able to see through glimpses of the hivemind before. They couldn’t wait to see his little face.

John had to admit he was excited for that too, and wonders if he’ll look anything like Guide as they start pulling their packs on and making their way through the winding tunnels. He and Guide holding hands the whole way didn’t go unnoticed by Foresite and Mystify, who insisted on taking Guide and Blaze’s packs.

The amount of weight the younger wraith had lost was visible on his frame. Something that had everyone concerned. They had started feeding him separately from his children and not allowing him to get up until he finished his share. He had been caught dividing his portion of food among them by one of Todd’s older sons, who promptly reported what he had noticed to their father. It hadn’t been an easy realization for anyone, but they were watching the situation closely now, and the bit of lifeforce he had been able to consume negated some of the noticeable deterioration of his health. Now they had to minimize how much he exerted himself so it wasn't all undone.

Guide carried Swiftclaw, John had Valor, and Ronon held Red Honor, and Ember carried Resolve. Blaze looked like he was about to argue to carry one of them himself when Ember shot him a look, knowing that he needed to hold onto his strength. It left no room for argument, and Blaze wasn’t able to hide a brief flash of yellow embarrassment from flitting through the hive mind. Guide just hands him one of the containers of preserved meat to eat on the way, and gives him a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder. They weren’t angry. They were scared.

They make their way through the winding tunnels, darkness broken only by the torches they carried, bringing fire with them for warmth when they arrived just as much as for light.

About 6 hours into their hike, they sat their packs down as Guide came to a stop, the biggest grin on his face as he unlaced the eggboard, wiping some tears from his eyes. The location wasn’t lost on anyone. They all knew from his thoughts that this was where Guide and Starborn had taken one final, 24 hour stand that had saved the lives of all but one of their group. Guide’s last son was hatching where his brother had fallen. Perhaps it was coincidence, perhaps it was fate, but regardless, it was fitting. A reminder of how many were born because their hope had held out for one day longer. A legacy to his hope. Privately, he and Guide agreed at that moment on what his name would be in the hive mind, that they would share in a year as they gather around and carefully remove the thread.

The membrane was moving subtly as he started tearing his way through. There's a sharp clawed little hand, pulling a piece inside the confines of the shell, and little crunching sounds. John shouldn’t have been surprised that he would eat it. The part above his head came next, showing a wisp of silky white hair and wide yellow eyes, though only the top of his head and those inquisitive peepers were showing until he started chewing his way through the rest of the shell, locking eyes with Guide. Linking with his mind as he comprehended that this was his father’s face.

John couldn’t believe just how small he was! He was hardly the size of his thumb, but he knew just how fast he would grow. Still, it was hard to think of Todd as having been that small one day. He turns his tiny head as he pulls away the last of the shell and shoves it in his mouth before reaching out to John. With a small mental nudge from Guide, he reaches out and offers his hand, letting him wrap his little arms and legs around a finger, and he picks him up in absolute awe, carefully wrapping his free hand around him to warm him up as he feels his little mind brushing his, and the delight in the warmth.

“Someone bring me some sort of blanket.” he says, eager to help get him dry and stay warm, and Guide opens his pack. He knew this could happen at any moment and had kept some things at the top, including Starborn’s blanket from when he was that small and one of the little outfits that had been given to them when the egg had first been laid, and a little towel to dry him off with. After gently wiping him clean with a bit of fresh water and drying him, Todd slides the little socks and outfit on him with extra care, legs first, then arms, and finally pulling the hood of the quilted white silk onesie up over his head and carefully sliding, to John’s shock, 4 small, colorful wings through two slits in the back before carefully buttoning the singular button on the front. The hive mind supplied that these were an evolutionary adaptation so that they wouldn’t fall when they were so small.

They sparkled in the torch light, different panels lighting up with different colors that reflected on the ceiling of the chamber and off the walls: Greens, blues, teals and yellows that correspond to the different sections of his wings, like a stained glass dragonfly. He was amazed to learn that no two hatchlings’ were alike. As unique as a fingerprint. 

Once he was dried off and dressed, they carefully wrapped him up in the blanket, then, fresh silk from Guide’s hand filled the chamber in the egg board, providing further insulation as they soothed him to sleep, placed him inside, and laced it up tight. There was an opening up at the top, but he would be content to stay inside where it was warm for now, until they could give him their undivided attention, but his immediate needs were seen to. He had eaten his first meal, he was dry, clean, warm, and protected by the bone framework inside the eggboard, and they could move again. The new life brought a spring back to their step, and they made the hike in half an hour less than their initial estimate, not including the 20 minutes they had stopped to rest while he had hatched. In reality, the time almost equaled out, but it was less time spent on their feet, and for the little ones, some of whom were stuck carrying cats in baskets, the rest had been welcome. Vortex still elected to piggyback Blaze for the last half a mile.

When they finally arrived at the deeper chamber, it was obvious that the reason he chose it was heating. It was dome shaped, and would allow the smoke to rise comfortably, without escaping. It would char the walls with time at the top, but it wouldn’t give away their position or accumulate uncomfortably. It would eventually be pulled out a tunnel deeper into the cave system at the top, but this didn’t reach the surface for miles. The shape of the chamber would reflect heat back to them. There were still wooden boxes from the last time they were here.

He felt a wave of deep pain roll off Guide to be here again, to know that this place was untouched since the last time they were here. It felt like entering a sacred space. A space they were entrusting to keep them safe. They take off their packs, those with firewood moving to the center and arrange a pit in the center that they lit, then place the torches in some makeshift sconces they had fashioned last time.

Pillows were placed in the deep baskets once again as supplies were taken out and Wraithlings were placed inside to sleep. An area for everyone to rest was organized around this, with parents closest to the makeshift cribs.

Some heavier quilts were pulled out of boxes and animal furs, preserved for thousands of years until now, and these were arranged into rows of mattresses. They would still have to sleep in shifts with at least 25 percent of them awake at a time, but that seemed like a safe ratio for a reasonable night watch anyway. But the extra layers would provide them with more comfort and preserve critical warmth in the coming months, and sleeping quarters were kept close together. 

Solid food for the young was sorted and stacked along the back wall with supplies for heating it lined up beside it. Firewood was stacked up a safe distance from the fire in a way that doubled as a bench or a table where they could set food out, and water was placed in a safe location off to the side where it wouldn’t be in danger of being spilled. That was one of the major disadvantages of heading so deep into the cave system. The exit was a long walk away, and it would take any party leaving to resupply 16 hours round trip at least. Half of that would be carrying a heavy load. They couldn’t afford to be wasteful with what they had. Clothing was placed in boxes and the boxes were stacked around the sleeping area to make a sort of makeshift wall that curved around the fire and reflected heat back, while blocking any stray wind that may on occasion manage to make it all the way down here. It was rare, but still worth planning for. There was an area designated for washing dishes with cleaning supplies, a chamber off to the side was for personal washing, and a not quite hot but not uncomfortably cold pool could be used for communal bathing. A cooler one a few yards away could be used for clothing.

After a few minutes of burning and about an hour of set up, the place felt warm. Comfortable even. He and Guide sat down on one of the makeshift mattresses, side by side, kicking their shoes off and snuggling up to each other before unlacing the bindings to the eggboard and carefully scooping him out to decide on his nickname. What they would call him until it was time to tell the world what his name was.

Guide carefully places him on John’s lap as he yawns, stretching his little arms up over his head and blinking as he wakes up, happy to have their undivided attention, and lets out a happy little trill as he looks up at his parents.

“How do I… How does he?” John starts, not sure how to word his questions, but he allows his knowledge of human babies to flow into Todd’s mind. How much was the same? Did they need to support his head? Would they need to watch him when he was on his tummy? How would the bathroom work for him? The idea of changing such a tiny diaper scared the crap out of him.

“He can fully support his head, and will be perfectly safe on his stomach John. It is more comfortable with the spinal ridges. He will not suffocate or suffer a sudden death from laying in that position. If he needed to, he could fly right now, or at least slow his descent. As small as he is, in some ways, our young aren’t as vulnerable as human young. As far as his bathroom needs go, they need it once to twice a day at his age. He’ll let us know. They make a series of high pitch chirps. It’s a distinct sound for the bathroom. There's a distinct one for hungry. There’s one to let us know he’s uncomfortable. That’s similar enough to human infants actually. When it’s time for him to go you just undress him, push his feet up with your finger so that his knees touch his chest, and he’ll go. It may take a month or two for him to not need our help with that. Just clean him up after, dispose of his waste, and redress him and he’ll be good to go. Soon all you’ll need to help him out with is clean up and getting redressed.” he says.

“And his dietary needs?” John asks, reaching down and offering a finger to him when he reaches up for them, and he wraps his tiny arms around it, and Guide urges him to pick him up. John didn’t need to be told twice, and carefully lifted him to hold him against his chest, little patches of multicolored light sparkling against the white baby outfit they had put him in. It was a color most parents preferred when they still had their wings, so that the sparkle that reflected off them would be as vivid as possible. This time would be short, and they would only be there for about a month before they dried off, and he would eat those as well.

“For now it’s mostly our enzyme and fruit.” Todd says, pulling John against him so that he could wrap his arms around them, placing his right hand in front of the hatchling and retracting his feeding spurs. It was only John’s second time getting a good look at them without fear as he let his enzyme drip from the spurs and pool in his palm before offering it to the hatchling as Ember briefly entered with a bit of mashed fruit, placing the little dish in Guide’s safe hand before dismissing himself so they could get to know his little brother.

Guide nods his thanks to him as he leaves and smiles, thankful that he had saved him a trip, and gently mixes the enzyme in his hand with the fruit pulp, helping to make it easily digestible. He still hadn’t developed his own way of breaking down food yet. He’d needed some help as his organs continued to develop. Even now, having been a parent many times over, he still couldn’t help but be amazed by how completely developed those tiny fingers and toes were. How the nails were all there, even if they were small as the eye of a needle.

Each of them wanted to enjoy as much of this as they could. He would only stay this little for a short period of time. And as he got the hang of eating, they both watched in awe of just how amazing it was that someone so small could be so strong, lifting his head and eating all on his own.

After he finishes, he curls back into John’s hand and starts licking his little hands clean of the fruit residue and his mind firmly pokes curiously at John’s, and sort of starts wandering among his thoughts. John allows it, wondering what he was looking for. Eventually, his thoughts stop at a memory. The same curiosity and wonder they felt in that moment. The same peace. The same safety.

A memory on a planet, far far away.

A view of the sky.

The stars of another galaxy, side by side with his father.

A moment when everything started to change between his parents. When they both started to realize there was someone in the universe who understood them. A moment of understanding that paved the way to him being safely in their embrace. It was a defining moment between them. A feeling of safety in the companionship of the other.

John and Guide look at each other as he falls asleep, realizing the reason he settled on that memory. That feeling of safety in a whole new, unfamiliar world. That safety from the other’s presence. The safety he felt in their arms and their mental embrace. 

“So what did you wanna call him until we’re ready to tell everyone his name?” John whispers, carefully transferring the tiny hatchling to Todd's waiting hands.

Todd smiles and says, “Spark. His hatching sparked a ripple of hope. It will work until it’s time to tell everyone that we’re naming him after my brother.”

John smiled. He liked it. His presence already had a certain spunk. A certain spark. “It suits him.” He says.

John yawns deeply watching him sleep, and Todd lies him in the smallest basket crib they had made and pulls his brother’s blanket over him before pulling a blanket over them, wrapping his arms around John, and urging him to rest as well.

It didn’t take much convincing, and they fell asleep with their arms wrapped around each other. 

Chapter Text

          The next morning when John woke, Guide was already awake, and John followed the pull of his mind to a smaller chamber off to the side which had a fire lit as a space for more warmth and quiet conversation. What he wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee right now! With a yawn, he checks the space next to him before taking a seat beside him, leaning his head on Guide’s shoulder with a yawn. 

          “You're up early.” John remarks. 

          “I was discussing with Foresite, Mystify, Blade, and their companions what the state of the rest of the planet is in. We’re seeing small groups holding their ground across the planet. To the point where they’re not able to bring a second wave to the surface. But there's something about that which doesn’t quite add up.” Guide tells him as he places Spark in the pouch on John’s hoodie. 

          “Have they sent any soldiers back to their large transports in orbit?” John asks, pulling a hoodie around himself to provide more insulation for their little spark, who was chirping and hissing in displeasure at having been passed while he was trying to sleep, making everyone chuckle just a bit at how expressive he was. 

          “That’s the other weird part about it. Nobody’s been reporting any vessels retreating either. For some reason they don’t seem to be able to land with a second wave and they are not able to return to the crafts in orbit. We’ve not received word of any aid as of yet, but it’s almost as though there’s an invisible blockade preventing further invasion. Our sensors aren’t picking up on any additional ships nor are they picking up unknown weapons fire, now that we’ve learned to pick up on the enemy ship’s weapon’s energy readings.” Foresite says. “And we aren’t sure if it’s a thing to be hopeful of, or if it’s ominous.” 

          "I think that whatever it is, it’s buying time for Atlantis and reinforcements to get here. If it’s an enemy, we’ll get to it when it becomes a problem. Hopefully after help gets here. For now, we just focus on staying alive until they get here and keeping healthy. How’s Blaze?” John asks. 

          “Not well.” Todd says. “He is holding steady for now, though he has lost much body fat and muscle mass. His skin also shows signs of aging, meaning that some of this has caused permanent cellular aging. He can still recover from this, but he will look a bit older than some of his brothers. However, if he continues like this and this continues much longer, he may pass a point he cannot recover from this…” Guide pauses here and struggles for a word, before seeming to search John’s mind. “Malnutriton.” He settles on. 

          “Will more food help or does he need to feed on… What is it in others that you feed on any way?” John asks. 

          “Well… I think it would be a bit of both.” Foresite says. 

          “There are ways of intervening medically with food once help gets here.” John says. “Is there any way you can do the gift thing with him?” 

           “We feed primarily on what you would call stem cells, though we can consume certain cells of what you call cancer. Our body does not produce our own stem cells outside a specialized metabolic process, but once we have the building blocks from human cells, we can use those as a building block and synthesize more by combining compounds in the cell with the compounds in our enzyme. That’s why we can have an even exchange and both benefit, and why the feeding process keeps the host alive. We get what we need to repair our bodies at a cellular level and can create about three new cells from the compounds in a singular cell, using the compounds in human cells to create wraith stem cells. Ours are slightly different, but compatible with humans. Enough so that we can give back and then some while still benefiting, and the stem cells a human receives from their brother is what allows them into our telepathic mind.” Guide explains. “But to give to another Wraith requires more stem cells than I could take feeding from you safely and return to you, John Shepard, and more than my grandsire would be able to take feeding from Ronan and returning to him. We can give the gift to one other after feeding. There is not enough to give to two. We need to return a third of these cells, roughly, and that’s the full amount of what’s not immediately used by the body. He needs to feed off more invaders and eat more food to recover from this. We generally do not return life force to humans for this reason. We cannot trust them for the most part, and we prefer to give the gift to our brothers.”

          “That’s troubling news about Blaze. Definitely not what anyone wanted to hear. Once we get help, which has gotta be any day now, we can try some emergency nutrition treatments with Dr. Keller and Beckett. I wouldn’t know the first thing about improvising this and it’s too dangerous to try without medical training. But I’ve been thinking of making more frequent supply runs before conditions get too harsh outside. We should stock pile enough for him to feel comfortable with not sharing his portion with his kiddos. I know he’s going to want to but still, a bigger stockpile would mean more peace of mind. He’s still too young to forgo food entirely.” John says worriedly as he places his hand in his hoodie pocket and rubs Spark’s back with his thumb. 

          “Then let us pray they get here soon. Others have already begun to perish of malnutrition. The very young with young parents have been the most affected. We’re picking from abandoned pantries because our crops have all been picked over and it’s not safe to try to hunt. So Wraithlings who have a parent that still requires food and don’t have access to it… I’ve never…” Mystify says, shaking his head, unable to find words to express the cruelty and blatant disregard for life in these tactics. That he’d never seen anything like this. 

          John thinks of situations like this that have happened on earth though. Reservations in the United States and Canada and the rations that came with the relocation to reservations, the Irish potato famine, Holodomor in Ukraine, the Great Chinese Famine and the Bengal Famine. Starvation warfare was prohibited as a war crime on Earth, and John would consider what was going on here as starvation warfare as well, and most of humanity would frown upon what was happening here. He lets his thoughts in the hive mind provide a more nuanced understanding of the tactic, and what Atlantis’s reaction to it would likely be. He wished he had a way of getting word back home not for the first time that morning. 

          Guide lets his head roll to the side on top of Johns, mentally nodding in agreement as he wraps his arm around his shoulders and pulls the blanket around himself as well. “Going out for more preserved food is a good idea. For now we should make a morning meal for the young ones, you and Ronan. You both seem to have lost some weight too.” He says. 

         John nods. “I’ll see what we can bring back and see if we can capture any foot soldiers to feed the adults. But don’t worry about me. I haven’t lost enough to be worrisome yet. But regarding the supplies, could I ask for some help from our guests? More hands means we can carry more.” John asks. The resistance fighters looked well compared to some of their group and Mystify nods to this. “Cacoons.” he says, shooting his intention to bring some back through their local hivemind. 

         John nods to this. They needed to bring back cocooned foot soldiers and store them off in one of the side chambers if they wanted everyone to survive. The hunger was getting to everyone. In one way or another. And it was slowly getting harder and harder to find water nearby. 

         “Can we use the darts?” John asks. 

         Mystify nods to this, projecting water stores and lifeform storage into his mind, as well as a cargo hold. They would try to get them set for the upcoming season where nothing grew and the trees were bare. They had to hold on until help came to wipe out the blockade. But they would do what they could with what they had down here to protect those who lived here. They would turn the tide with the surface battle. 

          John passes the hatchling to Mistify and goes to start working on a morning meal. He wanted to allow him as much time with his brother before they left for supplies, which would be a 24 hour ordeal with how deep in their chamber was. 

         He puts a large pot over the fire and some water in it before grabbing a dried grain they ate like oatmeal or rice with something like a potato and some salt and other flavorings they had found picking around the woods and some preserved meat, making a sort of improvised stew. It wasn’t pretty, but it had some protein in it and it was filling. They would bring some with them for him and Ronan, and it would likely taste good. 

         As the smell wafts through the cave some grown ups start waking up and gathering around the fire with those who were already awake and were brewing tea, who offer John tired smiles and comb each other's hair. 

        Another starts stirring the stew John had thrown together after gesturing to John to sit and yet another hands him one of the cups of tea. It was sweet and piney. Made from dried berries and pine needles, and the energizing effects of it were appreciated on such a cold morning. 

        He was surprised when one of the early risers who drifted to the fire was Blaze, though he was less surprised to see Ember with him. They were dressed in comfortable, cold weather clothing with socks and fur boots that would keep their feet warm. John noticed that Blaze had a few extra layers on and Red Valor in his arms, who looked like he had only just fallen asleep. 

         “Little one demand you walk and only you walk with him all night again?” John asks. 

         “Yeah. He just cries all night for no reason. Some little ones do. I don’t know if it’s the same with humans, but normal or not, it’s exhausting.” He says. 

         “We call it colic. But human infants do this sometimes too. We have a lot of theories about it but we can’t say definitely which are true and which are not. But if you ever want me to take him and try to get some shut eye try and let me know okay? Maybe the fact I’m warm blooded will help him feel warm and secure.” He says and gets him his portion first once it was cooked and he and Ember sit with him as he eats. 

         “We’re going out today. Try and take it easy today Blaze. I think there were some piles of mending that we could really use some help with if you still need to feel productive. But take it easy. You had a long night.” John says, squeezing his shoulder as Guide and his older sons join them, along with Blade, who Ember gets up to greet with tears in his eyes. He was so happy he was alive. The past few days together had been such a relief for him.

         “Yeah I’m goanna try to nap now that he’s sleeping but I can’t just sit here. I need to at least do something with my hands.” Blaze says as he takes a few bites of his food. 

         “Understandable. You're a soldier right?” John asks. “Yeah. Dart pilot actually. Ember got Dad’s programing skills and I got his flying skills.” Blaze explains with a smile. 

         “Huh. You know, I’m actually a pilot too. But your dad’s flying has saved my life on more than one occasion so I imagine your probably quite skilled for your age.” John says. 

          “I may be the youngest battalion leader on my father’s hive. It has its perks.” He says with a lecherous smirk as coldwind sits beside him and gently hits him upside the head. 

          “And that’s how you ended up with fertile eggs. Hotshot, just like your dad. All dart pilots are.” he says. 

           Ronan was trying not to laugh so hard he spilled his tea looking at John. 

          “What’s so funny over there?” John asks, raising an eyebrow as Ronan sits the cup down on the ground where he was seated, still doing his best to remain silent but snorting and failing spectacularly. Then he looks over at Coldwind and says, “You know, I think it’s just a pilot thing.” 

          As Guide walks in, Coldwind looks at him and says, “You don’t say?” 

          Guide fixes himself a bowl of soup, the egg board strapped securely to his back, having taken Spark from their older brother, and probes their mind for context, then just smirks at John . 

          And John smirks back. Privately they exchange plans among the scouting crew for gathering important resources to stockpile and their use of darts in the plan. They would start with water. It would be the lowest risk, without having to go to any obvious population centers. Then they would forage what they could of the shrinking forest so that they would have a chance to gather some food in a low risk area. After that, they would raid another home for food and clothing. Though if John was being completely honest, these trips felt more risky each time, and they were exhausting, and the added distance this time around seemed daunting. He wanted to gather enough to last a few weeks this time, with the changing weather and the added distance. Every trip out was risking their life to begin with, but if snow fell their tracks would make it impossible to cover their trail. 

          Coldwind steps beside him and nods his head to his wandering thoughts. “We had best pray help arrives soon. It takes time to gather forces and we’re some distance from Atlantis. It will take them some time to get here, even at light speed, and to coordinate with allies. But by now they must know something is amiss. We’ve not had contact in months. I’ve little doubt they tried to make contact. How much they know though would be pointless to guess at. But with snow on the horizon our movements are about to be pinned  down more so than when it rained. I don’t foresee us surviving the season if we’re to have to try to hold out the entirety of it.”  

          John nods to this. “We need to add wood to the list then too. I know the pile gets bigger every time we go out but I have a feeling that’s about to change.” 

          Somberly, they finish their meal and go to get dressed in their outerwear, their regular team and the resistance trickling to where their outerwear was stored and joining them in their preparations, dressing warmly and gathering bags and water tight containers. 
 
          The hike up was rather uneventful, with Ronan and John snacking along the way instead of stopping for lunch before they reached the surface. It was long, and in places exhausting. And once they reached the chamber they had been staying in while it was warmer, they stopped to rest. 

          This gave Ronan cause to protest, though he was quickly placated by Coldwind, who reminds him that if this came to a battle, he would fight better well rested, and with that they all laid down. John's thoughts wandered to Guide and spark as he drifted off, wondering if they were warm and what they were up to, and as he falls asleep, he feels a warm embrace in his mind and the image of Spark curled up in Embers hair, trilling up a storm as he tries to burrow into his skull. He knew Guide had sent it to him, and sends his gratitude and joy at the sight as his eyes drifted closed. 

          Once John woke up, he found about half the group resting and the other half gathered around a small fire drinking something warm. When he joined, a cup of hot water was pressed into his hands. It wasn't much as far as flavor, obviously, but it was hot, and for that, he appreciated it. 

         A few minutes later the last of the group starts waking up, and the unspoken consensus was that those who had been awake longest would head out for firewood to optimize the time they had, and a couple groups head out as the rest of them drink and warm up, while a couple more start stacking the wood that had been gathered at the back wall. John privately sends Guide the thought that they would need extra hands and to form a fire line to bring everything back quickly as possible. 

         He feels a mental affirmative as he finishes his water and heads out to start gathering fire wood, grabbing the odd thing here and there he knew could be eaten and putting it in his bag as he gathered a bundle of wood, taking it in, and starting another one until everyone finished their hot water and the group started hiking out to one of the hidden darts. 

          After cautiously uncovering it from the debris Foresite climbs inside. “Water first. Then sit tight.” Ronan reminds him. “When we get the food just sweep over and grab it. Then we try to find where the foot soldiers are and nab what we can. Your brother eats first.”

         John and Foresite nod to this in agreement. The kid wasn’t looking good. Everyone in their group was losing weight. But Blaze more rapidly. Between constantly moving with his colicy baby and giving them their food he was burning more calories than he was taking in, but according to those around them, all the young with them were losing weight. They needed to find some fat heavy rations today. Even if it was just cooking oil. 

         Blade nods his head in agreement to this, telling them through the link to start searching for food while Foresite handles the water. 

         They make their way to the village carefully and begin selecting places to search, selecting new houses off a rough map that Coldwind had drawn, with them marking off places they had already been and places that still had stores marked. It was slow going, carefully making their way along buildings and fences, keeping out of sight before piling food, blankets and clothing outside the doors and letting Foresite know the location of each pile of supplies through the hivemind. The nice part about this was having the dart meant that they could take more while expending less energy. 

         As an afterthought, John adds some toys to one of the piles before raiding another pantry and hitting gold. He found a large pot of cooking oil and solid fat. He didn’t know if it was a plant based one like crisco or an animal based lard, but either way, these calories were precious. And when he finds some berry jam and honey,  he knew he had hit a payload to try to get some weight back on Blaze. He’d caught a glimpse of him in the pools they used for bathing the other day and he could clearly see his collar bones and ribs. As soon as the snow fell, he knew a recipe. When his moms side first landed in Alaska, they had learned this recipe, and it was hard to resist. It wasn’t from his mother’s people, but they had spent time with them for years, and it was an occasional treat while his mother had been alive. He couldn’t be more thankful for the exchange between his ancestors and the people of the land they lived for what could help save this kid’s life, even 200 years later. 

          A few houses later he hears from Foresite that he had filled the water stores on his dart and was on the way to pick up supplies, and the tell tell hum starts approaching overhead, dematerializing the items that they deemed valuable, and John even noticed a few mattresses in the piles. If John had to guess, someone (Probably Ronan) hadn’t considered how difficult that would be to haul to the inner chambers. 

           Once they got word the hold was full they make their way to the chamber to start offloading, and stack everything neatly before going to find more wood. They had been at the search for about 6 hours and they could already feel some minds in their party drawing closer to help fireline their findings to the inner chamber. 

          They headed back out to try to hunt down the next target on their list. But also the most dangerous. 

          The foot soldiers. 

          Ronan and John fell back on Coldwind to plan this tactically, supplying them with intel about the aliens to the best of their knowledge. The plan seemed straightforward enough. The darts would draw their attention and scoop them up with their beam and they would put them down far enough from the cave and cocoon them one at a time whilst removing their cybernetic implants to keep the location of their base concealed. 

          Still though, as straightforward as it seemed, it would be difficult to foresee everything that could go wrong, even with Foresite’s gift. So they had to proceed with caution. 

          Foresite reported that he spotted a group near the lake to the west of the hotsprings, and that they would remove the implants there. Rematerializing them in the hot water may have an effect on their cybernetics and it was worth a try. 

          Minuets later, their all scooped up by the darts beam and let off at the spring, John feeling a touch nostalgic for how much more joyful their lives were the last time they were here. It was funny how depression worked. His life was going well then, yet, he struggled daily. Now, things were so off the rails, he wasn’t even noticing the symptoms. 

          A few minuets later, Foresite takes off to search for the soldiers, and minutes later, when he still hadn’t returned, anticipation turned to anxiety before the dart could be heard buzzing overhead, but the news wasn’t good. They had moved on. All but one. He’d been beamed into the storage unit, but this wasn’t enough to go around. 

         The consensus was that this soldier would feed Blaze. 

          When the soldier is beamed onto the planets surface, Vortex promptly knocked him unconscious, hitting him over the head with a rock before prying the cybernetic implant out of his forehead with a claw before everyone sets to work cocooning him in a thick layer of silk before quickly beaming him back into the cargo bay along with the rest of the group and dropping everything at the cave before flying off with everyone but Vortex. 

          They weren’t hiding the dart so close, but nobody was traveling outside on foot by themselves. That would be foolish in these circumstances, and one misstep could put their whole group at risk. 

           It took them longer to get back than they would have expected, and both Ronan and Coldwind were pacing a half hour later when they still hadn’t returned. Which Scorch and Blade both found irritating. John just got more and more anxious watching them and starts chewing on his lip nervously, which irritated coldwind and made him start pacing faster. 

           Another half hour later, the first of the fireline group, who had made haste to get there, reached the outer chamber and search the hivemind for Vortex and Foresite, with Guide leading the group at a sprint when he felt their anxiety for their safety. 

          “John Sheppard, do you…” at this point words were lost but he felt a wave of worry and a million questions he didn’t have the answers to. 

           He was about to suggest a search when Vortex drops into the hidden entrance, carrying not one, but two bodies over his shoulder, one, covered in webbing, and another, with dried blood. 

           Guide rushes over and takes Foresite from his shoulder and lays him on the ground. 

          “What has happened? I thought you had been returning!” He says, examining him carefully. 

          “We were. We ran into some trouble with the wildlife and Foresite fought back to hold onto the one foot soldier we got.” He says, projecting the image of the animal that had eyes resembling a turkey vulture’s with rows of antlers. “Their hungry enough to start scavenging for corpses. A lot of what they eat has been stripped.” 

          “Damn fool. You know better than to fight one of those.” Guide says, cleaning the blood off him with a rag. “Is he…” 

          He didn’t want to say it. 

          Dead. 

          Vortex shook his head. “No, just healing. He took a hard hit to the head. The skull has mended but it had cracked. It will just take some time. I’ll start carrying him back to the inner chamber for rest.” He offers. 

          “No we’ll be carrying supplies for a while. Let's let him rest here while we do. Take that soldier to Blaze instead.” Guide says, laying him on a pile of blankets and covering him to keep him warm. 

          Somberly, they start forming a line, each running the item they were handed some distance before handing it off and going to retrieve another, starting with vessels of water and the firewood. 

          When they finally finished, everyone was exhausted and gathered on their mattresses to sleep, worried for Foresite making rest hard to come by, and Blaze’s difficulty processing the soldier as his body should have haunting their nightmares. The foot soldier seemed, for lack of a better word, gooey, when he was done, instead of a husk. 

           It painted a very grim picture for everyone. Blaze included. Something in his enzyme wasn’t right. He didn’t have enough solid food for his body to make it correctly. And he was having a very hard time keeping solids down. 

          He may have already been past the point of no return if help didn’t arrive quickly. And John couldn’t help checking on him as he slept to make sure he was still breathing, taking Red Valor for the night to let him rest. 

          If nothing changed soon, he knew Guide would be burying another family member before this ordeal was over. 

Chapter Text

          Bonewhite awoke cocooned in the warmth of Athosian textiles, and the comfort of body heat pressed against his chest, his arms wrapped around Teyla Emagen. Within the week, they would be dropping out of hyperspace on board the General Hammond. Getting the ship to Pegasus had been something of a fiasco, but they had help with them from the Milky Way. Or rather, they were already there, but they made a point of non interference. Nevertheless, they were stopping the conflict from progressing any further, completely out of sight.

          He wished they would do more, but it was against the ways of the Nox to engage in violence. But the Tollan had gotten the Nox where they needed to be in time to preserve life the best they were able to while they navigated the bureaucratic red tape on Earth. Thank goodness Captain Carter had the connections she did, and was tenacious enough to secure reinforcements. And The General Hammond had a crew full of Earth’s finest soldiers, who he had been training and briefing daily. More soldiers were sent through the gate, and more still were on Daedalus, Odyssey, Sun Tzu, Apollo, and Korolev.

          How she had managed to secure 6 ships was beyond him, but he was sure his brother would be proud of her maneuvering. Bonewhite had to admit that the woman was as impressive as his brother had told him. Though he thought that perhaps, he hadn’t done her justice. She was very much like one of their queens. They had become friends rather quickly, though not as close as he was to Teyla.

          He smiles at her sleeping form and puts a hand on her cheek, gently stroking it to try to rouse her. She opens her eyes with a sleepy smile and rolls over, returning the gesture before leaning in to kiss him. “I must still be asleep and dreaming to be laying next to such a beautiful woman. I hope I don’t wake up.” He says, leaning their foreheads together.

          “It is a pity then, that I must promise you that you are not, though I must say I'd not wish to wake from this dream either.” She says, a sleepy laugh lilting between them as they sat up reluctantly and shivered as they started searching for their clothing.

          After throwing on some undergarments and pants he turns his gaze back to Teyla, hardly able to believe his luck. He’d thought she was in a relationship after meeting her son, but things hadn’t worked out between her and Kaanan after his treatment to return his humanity. He couldn’t connect with her at the same emotional level as before and she couldn’t get past what he’d almost allowed Michael to do to their son.

          Unforgivable is what it was. But his loss was Bonewhite’s gain. He hadn’t meant to start a relationship now of all times, but she understood him so well. His fear for his people. His family. And as they talked they found they had so much in common, and their deep friendship grew to be more as time passed. And that constant feeling she had that John, Ronan, his brother, and their family were okay was a conviction she held so strongly he couldn’t help but believe it either. 

          He turns and grabs his shirt and finishes dressing so she wouldn’t catch him staring, though his thoughts were free to her in the hivemind shared between the two of them, and puts a sweater on as she finishes dressing. “We should head to the cafeteria to have a cup of tea and get you some breakfast before this briefing.” he says, grabbing one of their blends before taking her hand and stepping into the hall. “That sounds amazing this morning. I do not know for certain why it was so cold when we woke, but if I had to guess it's to divert more power to the engines.” She says. 

          Bonewhite nods and squeezes her hand, dressed in Atlantis issue BDU pants and an SGC hoodie. “Had we the time and facilities I would have suggested a hot bath. You've been working non stop to help me save my people, and I appreciate it. But that being said, I worry you're pushing yourself to exhaustion." 

          “You have no need to worry for me Kenny. I am fine. I just wish we could make this ship get where it's headed and get there 3 months ago.” She says, giving his hand a squeeze as they reach their destination. 

           When they got there Captain Carter was already there with a cup of hot coffee and a bagel. Only a few other people were there. But it was still early. And after getting 2 cups of hot water and some oatmeal, they take a seat with her. 

          “Kenny, Teyla, good morning. You ready for today's briefing?” She asks, looking up from the file she was reading over that had their latest orders and intelligence reports from Atlantis. “Yes. Is there any new information about my planet? My family?” He asks. 

          “Nothing specifically about your family. But we received word from the Nox that their field is holding and no new waves have made it to the surface. Smaller resistance groups have slowly been crippling their ground opps. The shrinking of forests and bodies of water has slowed considerably in some parts of the planet. Unfortunately this isn't the area you live but we'll be there in 4 days with our new power configuration.” Sa6m explains. 

          “Rodney has yet again found another way of squeezing  more power, I take it?” Teyla asks. 

           “Indeed. Though it is not without the help of Zelenka.” Teal’c says, joining their table with the two scientists, who were arguing about data quite animatedly. As usual. It seemed to Bonewhite the squabble wasn’t over science this time but instead over the terms of a bet that Rodney had lost over how long it would take Dave to figure out how to reactivate ZPMs. Not that it made any difference to The General Hammond. No, that was the 7th craft that would meet them there. The city herself. Which was where Dave had succeeded yesterday in recharging 3 ZPMs.

          Rodney had believed it would take him longer and that they wouldn’t be able to bring the city to the fight. And was trying to wiggle his way out of this bet. But as the two sat down, Rodney threw his arms up. “Okay fine! You win!” before leaning over the table and sticking his finger up Bonewhite’s nose and his eyes widen in surprise as he leans back reflexively.

          “Sorry Kenny. Loser had to try to pick a Wraith’s nose.” Rodney says before covering his hands in sanitizer with a grossed out expression and handing Zelenka his coffee. He was too grossed out to drink the rest.

          “Then am I to assume Shepard’s brother has the city armed and ready?” Bonewhite asks, wiping his nose with a napkin to try to rub away the intrusive sensation of a human finger. A few months ago he would have been able to make this man hide under his desk just looking at him the wrong way and now  this? Things had changed indeed for him to tolerate these antics, and even find the entertainment a welcome distraction from what was happening on his home planet.

           “Yep. The star drive is in working order and all weapons systems are online too. As soon as we get there, we give the word and Atlantis will join us. Together with your brother’s fleet, we should have the fire power to blow these ass holes out of the sky and send them running back to wherever the hell it is they came from.” Rodney says, grinning slightly. He was quite proud of his star drive. Not that Bonewhite could blame him. It was some impressive technology to be sure.

          “This is excellent news. I just hope it’s in time to save my brother, grandparents, nephews and their children.” Bonewhite says.

          “Well, our intel from the Nox looks promising. Most casualties occurred on the first night and they're only just now starting to pick up with some of the younger people who aren’t getting enough to eat, but odds are that if they survived the initial invasion and took shelter, there’s a good chance they're still fighting.” Sam says, handing Bonewhite a copy of the report to help ease some of his anxiety.

          “That’s promising. They were headed for where he and Starborn sheltered during the first invasion. The starvation aspect is deeply troubling though, and I’m glad that we brought extra rations.” He says, leafing through the papers.  

          “And there is more on New Athos. We’ve had a surplus in our fruit harvests. As soon as the gate is clear, we’ll start sending jumpers through.” Teyla reminds him, putting her arm around his waist and leaning her head against his shoulder. 

           He seems to relax at this and leans his head atop hers. “That’s good. Fresh fruits make up the majority of our little one’s diets. Our insectoid biology makes us require more natural sugars than humans do. Do you have medical treatments available for malnutrition?” He asks.

          “Yes and we’ve been working on a more wraith specific nutritional composition. Drs. Beckett and Keller have been working with scientists from your brother’s other hives on this with samples from younglings on other hearths to determine what your exact needs are as a species. That way you don’t get too much of one nutrient and too little of another.” Rodney says, flipping through his tablet to try to find the latest data and handing it to Bonewhite when he found it.

          He looks over the data carefully, noticing some differences based on age. “Are they developing multiple treatments appropriate for the developmental stage that a malnourished child may be in?” Bonewhite asks.

         “Yes we are.” Jennifer says, taking a seat with a bowl of cereal and a big cup of coffee. “It seems the younger they are, the more sugar their bodies require and as they grow they need more and more protein. Calcium  is another issue that we’ve been working on. Our bodies need vitamin D to absorb it but it seems like yours need both protein and vitamin K. Carson’s latest tests since adding the vitamin K have been very effective and the body readily absorbs it.”

           “That’s good. Have you had a chance to develop treatments for hatchlings?” He asks, worried about his nephew who would be hatching any day now if he hadn’t already.

          “We have. It’s been a bit more difficult so I focused on that singularly while Carson took the older age groups. I’ve come up with something that works well, but it needs to be supplemented with wraith enzyme and some fresh fruit.” Jennifer explains.

          “That actually isn’t all that shocking. That’s what a newly hatched wraith would eat at the beginning of their life.” Bonewhite explains. “During the cold season we’d normally bring fresh fruit back on deployments. Though we aren’t opposed to sharing baby food with humans to make our meetings more comfortable.”  He explains with a mischievous grin, causing Teyla to chuckle.

          “Do you remember the look on Rodney’s face when Todd said that?” She asks, gently hitting his chest in laughter instead of her leg, as she looks up at him with that beautiful smile of hers, and Bonewhite nods his head.

          “I had assumed he said that just to get a reaction from one of you. The Dr is most entertaining in his theatrics though.”

          Rodney sputters and stammers at this before deflating and looking into his cup of coffee before taking a sip, which made everyone else join their laughter.

          “So, when did this start?” Radik asks, gesturing between Bonewhite and Teyla.

          “I can’t say for certain. Kenny and I have started growing close since visiting the planet of their creation. I suppose it all started with a cup of tea.” She says.

          Bonewhite nodded his head in agreement. “The most important pot of tea I’ve ever brewed, as it happened. Because a simple question about ingredients started a whole discussion where we realized just how much we have in common. Both our commander’s keepers too.” He says and kisses her forehead.

          She blushes at that and leans her head back against his shoulders. “Not to mention that it was delicious as well. We have made a tea cabinet in my quarters on Atlantis, with a Wraith only shelf, shelf for both, and a humans only shelf. Though we can still enjoy the taste of teas that would otherwise be poisonous through the hive mind. It’s quite an interesting sensation.”

          “That's cute. Do you have tea sets too?” Sam asks with a smile, putting the files down at this.

          “Yes actually. Both Wraith and Athosian. Mr. Woolsey was also kind enough to bring me one from Earth as well.” Teyla says, brushing her fingers through Bonewhite’s hair.

          “That was nice of him. Does he ever join you?” Sam asks as a follow up. Richard could be high strung and a bit of a busy body, so she had a hard time picturing it.

          “He did not when he first took leadership of the city. That has, however, changed as time has gone on, and he may even relax as we share a cup, though it’s hard to tell.” Teyla says.

          “Oh, he does. He’s just very tense. His pheromonal scent does relax though his posture remains stiff.” Bonewhite explains. “I believe the proper term in your vernacular for a man like Richard is up tight?”

          Rodney chokes on his coffee at this and Zelenka provided him with a firm slap to the back as the rest of the breakfast crew laughs and nods their heads. “That’s a more than accurate assessment.” Rodney finally agrees. “So with us dropping out of hyper space in 3 days I think Kenny should take the reins today about where we’re going on the planet once we break through to deliver aid. Major population centers, places where people are likely to be hidden and requiring assistance. Really go over the terrain, city information and environmental information as well as any maps. Then we use the next three days to prep our fighters and make any weapons improvements before having one final briefing before we drop out of hyper space.”

          “That sounds like a plan. How is the medical bay looking, Dr. Keller?” Sam asks.

          “Ready to go. We are fully stocked with the nutrient solution for each age group. We’re synthesizing more but we don't have any cooler space for it and are going to need to start storing it in the mess fridges. We are also fully stocked for human casualties as well. We've added more beds and as you know, we've bulked up our medical staff. Carson said the same thing about the Daedalus med Bay and Marie of the Odyssey. Still waiting on a morning report from our other two ships and Atlantis. Though with how busy the city is we probably won't get our morning report until noon.” She says. 

          Sam smiles but makes a face at the mention of Atlantis’ lateness. “Well, I can't say you're wrong about Atlantis. Rodney, did you get your report from them yet?” 

          Rodney shakes his head. “Not today's but we finally got yesterday's.” He says with an eye roll. 

          “Rodney, do try to be more understanding. They are working round the clock and sometimes paperwork gets delayed. Who knows what has happened since we've been gone.” Teyla says. “I’m sure they’re sending reports when they can, but are also dealing with our usual problems as they arise." 

           “Yeah but that doesn't make our jobs any easier. Still, I do know how busy the city is and can't say I'm too surprised.” Sam says.  “If there was trouble they would let us know. As it stands this is just normal administrative delays. If they were in any real trouble we wouldn't hear from them at all.” 

          “Indeed. My Jaffa are ready to help. After Todd's assistant in dealing with Indra we are ready to assist in whatever way we are able to. Captain Carter, will we be deploying to the ground when we arrive?” 

          “Yes. Teal’c, the Intel we have from the knox shows the biggest concentration of landing vessels is right here. It's also closest to Todd's village. So keep your eyes peeled for Ronan, John, and anyone in Kenny's family. Have you had a chance to look at their pictures?” 

          “I have. Copies have been distributed to my troops. If we find them Kenny will be notified immediately.” Teal’c confirms. “Should our priority be locating survivors or pushing back the enemy line?” 

          “Push them back Teal’c. You and our Wraith allies are a bit more durable, I hate to say. We’ll have our troops focus on locating survivors, providing aid, and defending any medical evacuation sites. You’ll have some of our seal teams and special ops with you but we’re going to try to keep the more… squishy humans where they can stay alive and help the longest.” Sam says, looking vaguely uncomfortable with that part of the plan.

           Bonewhite, sensing the discomfort from her tone, shakes his head. “No, Colonel Carter, this is wisdom. The hives meeting up with us will be strong and well fed unlike the survivors on the ground. We’re far less likely to fall in battle, and to secure an entire planet, we need to keep as many soldiers as we can on their feet for as long as possible. This means setting the appropriate forces to the appropriate positions carrying out appropriate tasks. To put this in human terms, you wouldn’t ask a baker to perform brain surgery, correct?”

          General O’Neil sits down with a cup of coffee and a doughnut, chuckling softly and catching the tail end of the conversation. “That’s a good way of putting it Kenny. Sam just doesn’t want you to think we’re throwing your troops into the offence just because you’re Wraith.”

          “I’m sure some foot soldiers may see it that way, but trust takes time to build. They have not interacted with you as my brother, his sons and I have. I’m sure that liberating our home will go a long way to build that.” Bonewhite offers.

          “I sure hope so. Especially with how long the IOA tied us up. Sam speaking to the president to go over their heads is the only way we got this approved.” Jack says, dunking his doughnut in the coffee.

          “If nothing else, General O’Neil, They’ll trust the people of Atlantis, though probably not the entirety of Earth. It’s not that we misunderstand that the delay was because of politics, but because of these politics, we see that Earth and Atlantis may not always have the same agenda. These last three months, the agenda on Atlantis has been to save our civilians. Earth’s has been their own security. Atlantis is, however, dependant on the people of Earth for resources and man power. So you were unable to mobilize as soon as you would have liked. Perhaps, we should bring Mr. Coolidge to survey the casualties his delay has caused once we secure our home.” Kenny suggests with a slightly wicked grin.

          Teal’c’s lips parted into a smile at this. “I would like nothing more, my friend. If we can get approval, I will volunteer to personally escort him.”

          Bonewhite’s grin only grew at this and he cocks his head at Teal’c. “That is kind of you to offer, though I should insist I take the burden of undertaking this most unpleasant task myself.”

          Teal’c laughs out loud at this and says, “No Kenny, I assure you, it would be my pleasure! We could show him around together!”

           “Perhaps we could do it together then. Have you a method of making him unable to close his eyes?” Kenny asks.

           “Super glue.” Jack says, making the whole table laugh. Nobody sitting there could say they disliked the suggestion.

           “I believe Ronan Dex would approve.” Teal’c says.

           Teyla smiles at this. “That I believe he would. Kenny, has Teal’c spoken with you about the time he and Ronan saved Mr. Coolidge’s life and all of SGC.”

“Indeed.” Kenny says, with a small smile. “He told me that he was hiding behind them the whole time. My nephew was actually on midway that day. John and he saved each other’s lives that day.”

          “Was he?” Teal’c asks, visibly surprised at this.

           “Yes. He was not entirely willing and a former partner of his had leveraged him into joining him.” Kenny explains. “He made a threat against the hive that he couldn’t deliver on, though my nephew didn’t realize this at the time.”

           “Oh, you don’t mean the little guy with the chin tattoo who was with you during the delegation do you? The Wraith he had been working with was very hard on him and seemed to be thinly veiling threats if he didn’t achieve the results he wanted.”

           Bonewhite smiles at that. “That would be Tommy. His now ex died on midway though, so I must thank you for that.” He uses the name Atlantis had given Ember to keep from removing the feelings and sensations associated with his name as much as the word would in their hive mind.

           Rodney makes a face at this and Teyla frowns.

           “I’m under the impression that it wasn’t the healthiest of relationships. How did he hide that from the hivemind?” She asks.

           “Tommy, like myself, is able to shield, and so was the one you called Carl. By the time the hivesense was able to detect their plans their transport was already leaving our landing bay. Tommy and Carl didn’t have the natural affinity with this gift as I do, but were skilled enough to conceal the plot. But you're right. It was not healthy by any means. His current leman treats him right though. If they're both still with us that is.”

           Everyone looks into their respective beverages at this, the mood around the table changing with the weight of the situation they would be powerless to stop for another 4 days.

           Teyla gently takes his hand and leans her head on his shoulder sympathetically.

           Not for the first time, she says, “I’m so sorry this is happening Kenny.”

           Not for the first time, Bonewhite didn’t know what to say.

Chapter Text

          Very early the next morning, John wakes up snuggled up to Todd covered in a pile of younglings under their blankets that clung to John to warmth. He immediately knew something was wrong but he couldn’t place it right away. He peels his eyes opened trying to figure it out. Carefully, he wiggles out from the pile and manages not to wake any of the sleeping Wraith to try to figure out what had woken him when he hears it.

          Coughing. And it wasn’t Ronan.

          He had never heard a Wraith cough like this.

          Promptly, he throws on his shoes and goes to find the source, taking in the anxious faces of their night watch. One of their minds helpfully supplied a source, an he makes his way over to Blaze’s bed and puts a hand on his forehead. The kid was burning up. He didn’t think Wraith got sick! Wouldn’t their natural healing combat most viruses and bacteria, save for those their systems had never been exposed to?

          “We don’t.” Comes a voice from behind him, choked and worried.

          “Todd?” John asks, peeling back the blanket to try to cool him down.

          “We don’t get sick unless we are no longer able to heal…” He says, kneeling beside John at the side of his son’s coughing, sleeping form, a desperate look in his eyes. The unspoken knowledge in their telepathic link was if help didn’t come in a matter of days, he would die.

          And even if it arrived today, there was no telling if he would make it through. As it stood, they didn’t have the means to save him. They would have to rely on human medicine. And that was no guarantee. But without trying, he had crossed the threshold from which there was no return.

        John puts his arm around Guide’s shaking shoulders and leans his forehead against one of them. He knew there were no words to bring comfort and that there wasn’t much they could do but try to keep him alive and comfortable until help arrived.

          What John hadn’t known was that while they were out yesterday, Blaze couldn’t keep his breakfast down. Around lunch they had tried just giving him some fruit mixed with enzyme. It would have been gentle on his stomach. The human equivalent to baby food as it happened. And even then, his body rejected it, and he refused to even try his dinner. The knowledge hits him like a brick as Guide runs his fingers through his hair and blinks heavily as Blaze opens his eyes.

          “Do not try to stand. Save your energy.” Todd says.

          “Why?” he coughs, smiling sarcastically. “You and I both know that won’t do anything. I’m dying.”

          Todd shakes his head. “Don’t say that. Help could arrive in an hour. A week. You just need to try to hold on until then.”

          Blaze shakes his head, trying to sit up. “If help was coming it would have gotten here by now. I knew this could happen, but at least my children aren’t starving.”

          “No, but one of mine is.” Guide says, gently pushing on his shoulders to keep him laying down. “Please, try to hold on for another week. If help has not come by then, I will accept that you wish for rest. But until then please, just try to hold on a little longer. Your children deserve to grow up with at least one parent.” 

          Blaze laughs at this and starts coughing, and John helps him roll over onto his side. “Fine. We both know hope for me is gone though. But I'll hold on as long as I can. Only because I know your fear though. Fear of losing a child. It's why I did what I did. I would give my life for any one of theirs.” 

          “I know honey. I would do the same for you or any of your brothers. But that does not make seeing my own child suffer any easier. I know you can't keep food down right now but will you try some tea? Or even just water at least?” Todd pleads. 

          Blaze rolls his eyes, but mentally agrees to try some water, and John runs to go fetch it so Todd could stay with Blaze. He noticed more Wraith around them waking to the sound of coughing and is aware of many worried, confused thoughts. But John didn’t want to take the time to comfort everyone when Todd needed his help so that he could stay with his son. He would allow someone else to handle that. Instead, he presses his regret at not being able to explain and that he had to focus on helping Guide and Blaze and that someone need to keep an eye on Spark. 

          Vortex gives a stiff nod and goes to check on the baby with noticeable tension written on his frame as John returns with some water. When he got back, Guide was sitting behind Blaze, the younger wraith leaning against his chest. He’d clearly been doing his best to conceal his condition. But now he was too weak to expend the energy to stay upright. He wondered how it was even possible for them to have not noticed until it got this far. He was careful to conceal his guilt around Blaze though.

          He swallows thickly before they can notice him and schools his expression, sitting beside them and passing Guide the cup, who holds it to his son’s lips, who seemed to realize how thirsty he was after the first sip and tries to drink quickly.

          Guide pulls the cup away. “Slow down, little wild fire. We need to try to keep this down. We can still try to turn this around if we get you hydrated.” he says, brushing his fingers through his hair, carefully straightening it and tucking it behind an ear.

          Blaze gives him an annoyed expression of annoyed disbelief but nods his head, closing his eyes and leaning back against him. “Is there anything else you need? Anything that would make you more comfortable?” he asks.

          Blaze doesn’t say anything, but gets the distinct feeling of him shutting John out of his thoughts. Nevertheless, he brings Guide a pillow to lean against before saying, “Call for me if you need anything. I’m going to go see if anyone else needs anything.” He says awkwardly, wanting to give the two of them privacy.

          He wonders aimlessly around the chamber before finding himself at the central fire, completely at a loss of what he could do. How he could help. He didn’t want to see his lover lose his child. He didn’t want those babies to lose their only parent. He wasn’t sure what happened to the other one, but he clearly hadn’t been involved in quite some time.

          When he takes a seat, Frostfire gives his shoulder a squeeze. “There is one thing we can do to try to help.” He says.

          “I’ll do anything. Name it.” He says.

          “Wake everyone. We can pray.”

          With that, John springs to his feet, going to wake everyone who was old enough to understand what was going on, letting the children sleep, mentally letting everyone know what was happening and what they were doing.

            Minuets later, everyone had gathered around the fire, sitting in a circle so close their knees touched. John sat between Mystify and Foresite when he joined, feeling the urgency rolling off everyone as a couple of the older adults there stoked the fire to larger flames, everyone preparing mentally when Mystify reaches out to John directly. He had never prayed in their fashion before, and didn’t know any of their songs, and was nervous he was going to fuck this up. He rifles through his memories, both of spirituality and music and nods.

          It was rare for him to speak, but he pulled a memory of John’s grandmother to his mind before she passed, explaining their musical tradition. “It is not the words or how your voice sounds that’s important. It’s the feelings and the melody that’s important. What you speak to the air, to the earth, that’s what matters, and they don’t speak the same language as man.” Then offers him a small smile and places his left hand on the ground, and John places his right hand over the top of his, palm up, and places his left hand on the ground so Foresite can place his feeding hand onto his, still self conscious of the fact that he didn’t know how to harmonize as he did.

          Mystify reminds him that it’s not the sound. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t sound like them. Just that he joined them, and Coldwind, seated at the other side with his hand resting on top of Ronan’s begins their song, and slowly, as everyone was ready, they joined in his song, their mind joining his, and opening to the universe. One by one, everyone joined, until every Wraith’s voice rumbled in harmony, and even Ronan Joined. Until John was the only one who remained silent.

          Mystify gives his hand a reassuring squeeze and John swallows, taking a breath and starts chanting with their song, setting his discomfort aside. If ever in his life there was a time he should embrace the beliefs of his mother’s family, this was the time, and finds himself following their melody and his mind joining theirs.

          The sensation was intense. Like traveling through a stargate, but in his mind, sucked through a tunnel of consciousness and the lines between them melting. They were many minds, but each mind was one. Many consciousnesses joining as one singular stream of thought. The barriers of individuality simultaneously existing and obliterated before opening to the expansiveness of the universe, existing outside their bodies, but still tethered to them like an anchor.

          And just like that, his discomfort was gone, replaced only with urgency as they offer up their hearts to find assistance from their brethren.

          He was vaguely aware that while there was still interference in their day-to-day hivemind, their prayer was somehow unaffected, and their joy at this. That what remained of The Starborn Glory still held enough voice to amplify their prayer, and connect to any hives that may be close, as much of a long shot as it was. That if they could reach just one, they could relay the connection to the galaxy at wide.

          As he relaxes and forgets his discomfort, his voice gets as loud as everyone else’s, and though sounding different, it did not sound out of place. Instead he focuses on Blaze. Finding someway to help him, and other groups of survivors, also in prayer, feel and see the urgency of the situation, and join them. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but hundreds, maybe even thousands of minds joined, amplifying each other, connecting their minds to the ship named for Guide’s brother as a planet.

          And then, they feel something give way like breaking through a barrier as they manage to extend their consciousness past the planet, opening themselves to connect to anyone who may be praying in their corner of the galaxy.

        And when they do, it’s like a fire crackling and spewing licks of flames, and the pure joy of fireworks. Warmth and… 

           Familiarity?

          Then a voice. A familiar one, though not on a hive, in close proximity.

          “John?”

          The voice was female. She’d been in meditation when he reached her. And with that, the connection dialed in with the focus of a laser.

          “Teyla?”

          “Yes. How is this possible?”
 
          “There’s no time. Wraith prayer. We need help.”

          “We know. We have a fleet of ships from Earth, hives, and the city set to reach you in 3 days, as well as allies who, while being passivists, are preventing any more landing.”

          “We can’t wait that long. We have a medical emergency. Tell Kenny that he needs to pray with you. So we can connect to everyone on those hives. And send them the message to pray too. One of Todd’s sons is dying of malnutrition and we aren’t sure what to do.”

          “I will. For now, clear liquids.” Teyla says, going into mom mode. “Then broth. Made from bones if you can. If not, boiled meat will suffice. Slowly. Stick to clearer liquids.”

          Then there was pause as she turned to Kenny, opening her mind to him to let him in on what was going on. And then their mind was joined by another, to everyone’s surprise and relief to feel him alive. They’d hardly connected to Kenny when two more minds join. Shade and Burningheart. From there 4 turned to 16, and and 16 to over 250. From that the number jumped to thousands, 13 hives rushing to their location at their top speed amplifying the thin thread to the as many hives in pegasus as they could before a Wraith he didn’t even know, who apparently knew of him from Olesia. He decided to call him Shawn.

          He was younger than Guide, but only by a few thousand years, with children of his own. One of which had crashed his dart on an uninhabited planet during his first deployment. It was more of a moon really, with very little plant and wild life. He’d survived without food inside the remains of his dart, which had somehow, remained sealed and lifesupport functional. Though his state hadn’t been quite as bad, he still hadn’t been able to keep food down.

          “The human queen is right. Slowly rehydrate Guides son with water and broth. If you have salt, he will need small amounts of this. And herbal teas.”

          Images of herbs that supported electrolyte balance flashed into his mind. Nettle, hibiscus, raspberry and moringa. The Wraith had different names for these plants, and they weren’t just different among humans, but some clans had different names for the herbs in their tea. So it was easier to show them.

          “Do you have any of these?” Shawn's voice asks.

          “We do.” Coldwind confirms. He had found a tea cabinet in one of the homes they had gathered food from, as well as having picked some of them just yesterday when searching for any remaining edible plants.

          “This is good. Very good. Okay. Once he’s keeping liquid down easier, crack open some fresh bones and extract the marrow for it’s stem cells. You can feed on the foot soldiers?” 

          “Yes.” Came Foresite’s voice. “Thier bones?”

          “Yes. What’s happening right now is he’s too malnourished for his body to have all the nutrients it needs to complete his enzyme. So you need to make a supplementary stemcell enzyme blend to create more wraith stemcells for him. Have him feed on this. Not eat. Feed. To eat, a blend of soft, mineral rich foods and enzyme. Just like an infant.”

          “That will work?” a new, yet most familiar voice asks, clinging to hope. Guide.

          “It did for my son, though he was not as unwell as yours is now. As much as I would like to, I cannot give you my word.”

          Bonewhite’s voice joins now. “If it can hold him over for 3 days, Atlantis has already developed emergency nutrition treatments for our young that are pumped directly into the stomach through a tube inserted into the nose. We are close, my brother. Convince him to hold on until then, and there’s a good chance that he will pull through. Do you think you can handle it until then?”

          “Yes. We will establish round the clock prayer circles to keep you and Atlantis appraised of the situation, locations where civilians require extraction, and prepare a medical evacuation list by priority in advanced. I would appreciate it if you do the same on at least one hive.” Guide says, Slipping half way between his family role and his commander role, knowing that this was his best chance of getting everyone who needed help, his son included, the help they needed as soon as possible.

          “You have my word. It will be done.” Came Kenny’s voice as Ronan leaves the circle to start preparing the tea and cleaning the bones of the gooey foot soldier that had been placed deep into one of the passages to keep it from becoming a safety concern. The bones were still fresh enough to use and they didn’t have the time to hike to the surface to try to find another.

          “When you arrive, reach out to my clan. We’ll dial the gate and send our darts through. We’re too far to join with hives or transports, but we’ll head to the nearest stargate.” Shawn’s voice says.

          “Thank you, old friend.” Came Coldwind’s voice.

          “Think nothing of it. An attack on a hearth planet is reprehensible. And your hearth, was at one point, all of ours. Our allies will join us.” Shawn says. “Now go spread the word to the survivors to start preparing for aid, extraction, and for those who are still able to, a fight.”

          With a resounding affirmative, they spread the word to the praying Wraith on their planet that aid would be there soon. To prepare. And to have those who were most open to the hivesense remain in prayer in shifts so that they could continually update their allies of the evolving situation on the ground.

          And with a new sense of urgency, everyone starts dividing tasks, preparing a stretcher with sticks and blankets to move Blaze when the time came. Sharpening long pieces of firewood into spears and the longest into pikes. Most of their weapons had been on board The Starborn Glory when she’d been hit.

          They knew it wouldn’t be much use against their guns, but if the battle came at night, they could blend into the darkness and cast illusions to confuse them and take a few out to scavenge their guns. And of course, they had Ronan’s.

        Clothing was carefully selected for warmth and camouflage in shades of black, green and brown. Some families, which hadn’t had time to grab egg boards for their infants fashioned carriers from whatever they could, from baskets, bags, and scraps of blankets.

          Rations and water were portioned and organized into more bags so that they would be readily accessible and hair was braided and fastened away from their faces in case of inclement weather so it wouldn’t obstruct their fields of vision.

          Coldwind takes a roster of volunteers to lead the hike out and defend the non combatant members of their party. Even civilians were offering to take up arms if it meant getting their children to safety, and Coldwind and Ronan carefully select from among the volunteers who were strongest, healthiest, and preferably, without small children who would depend on them.

          It wasn’t that anyone in their group was expendable. Everyone was someone’s brother, father, lover or friend. But no child should have to grieve for their parents. This criteria was more about minimizing trauma for those who were still too young to fully understand what was happening.

          The wraith in prayer were relaying to Vortex a list of those in critical need of evacuation and sorting it by priority. Those in critical condition, like Blaze would be evacuated by jumpers, which would act as ambulances as soon as they were able to clear the sector where they were sheltering in place, and sectors that would make good field hospitals for those who were able to wait for treatment, but the most advanced cases would be taken to the med bays aboard the human ships. And Mystify was connected directly to his uncle relaying this information, as well as where the major extraction points would be and where large groups of survivors were hidden.

          He was relaying this information to Shade, who was aboard The Daedalus and filling Colonel Caldwell in with more detailed information than the Nox were able to provide from orbit, who had Chuck write intel reports to relay to the rest of the human ships to plan a more in depth strategy.

          For the first time in weeks, their hope didn’t feel forced. It didn’t feel like clinging to the edge of a cliff trying to pull yourself up. No, it felt like a firm hand clasping theirs and pulling hard to bring them back over the edge. There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel, and they just had to run to it.

          And whether it was a sprint or a marathon, they would be ready to reach the finish line.

          What the future looked like, that was uncertain. Because even after they reached the threshold, there would be work ahead to rebuild. To bury the dead. Orphans to find permanent homes for. And an eco system that was in danger. Trees would need to be planted when the weather turned warm.

        Things that could be replaced would need replacing. Other things, they never would be able to, whether it was photos or heirlooms. They’d need to secure enough food to last them the winter, and until they were able to harvest their own crops again.

          It didn’t seem fair that in only three months, more damage was done than could be repaired for years. Possibly even human life times.

          But for everything that wasn’t certain, there was one thing that was: Life was rarely, no, not rarely, never, ever fair. 

Chapter Text

          The next two days seemed to drag on forever, the sense of urgency in the air creating a static that was threatening to go up in a spark unless it was discharged soon. Guide was taking care of Blaze almost around the clock, only sleeping when John made him lay down and took over for him, one sleeping at his side, the other keeping watch. They slept in shifts, taking their 8 hours back to back, with Guide taking a 16 hour shift and John taking 8, spending his other 8 hours helping with preparation and strategic planning while they were both awake.

          Despite being younger than Guide’s youngest clutch by millennia, he could see some of the developmental differences in emotional control and decision making, and it had become easier to see them as the children they were, the youngest of Guide’s children of previous clutches being the age of newly enlisted recruits on Earth. Treating them that way was becoming more natural, though he tried not to overstep parentally because of his relationship with their father. Though Ember, and now reluctantly even Blaze, were a bit more open to the almost paternal role that he was naturally falling into, and John was doing his best to care for them with Guide while not overstepping.

          Ultimately, they had decided on 3 egress groups, with those strong enough to join the fight heading up first, followed by a group of civilians with 2 guards who would get to the chamber close to the entrance of the cave system set up to keep Blaze, civilians and the very young comfortable and covered until they could be evacuated safely, but they did want to evacuate this part of the planet since that’s where non-combatants would be in most danger of being caught in the crosshairs. This group would have 4 Guards, which would be him, Guide, Coldwind, and Ronan. They wanted their most fierce warriors with the children, and those who were most familiar with the aliens who were invading. Those with the most knowledge and experience protecting their most vulnerable.

          Todd had spent his time watching over Blaze helping with preparations from his bedside, tinkering with the few electrical devices that they had and the spears and pikes they had carved, retrofitting them to discharge a strong electric current when contact was made with conductive material, bringing a more lethal edge to their improvised weapons. Some had the blades of knives, handles removed, securely embedded in the sticks secured by the tangs with electricity running into the blade. Yet others had fragments of sharp stone, electrically charged bits of shrapnel, and broken glass hammered all around the top half, sticking out in every direction. Lengths of wire had been sharpened on one edge of the length and attached to two sticks as handles to form an electrically charged garrote as a last line of defense, that would cut into the throat if strangulation and electrocution wasn’t eliminating individual enemy combatants as a threat soon enough, whether killed or incapacitated. But he was hoping the electricity would help to damage the cybernetics they used while sharp edges injured and affect two birds with one stone until they could get their hands on weapons, which darts would beam down from their cargo holds while providing them with air support and armed drones and officers.

          What little time he wasn’t attending to or sleeping beside Blaze, he was in the prayer circle, coordinating with other stranded military leaders to plan strategy and relay these strategies to their nearing allies on the ever closer hives, as well as which groups of humans would be positioned where and which of their vessels would be positioned where around the planet in order to protect the ship that would be able to give them the most fire power. Atlantis.

          John had been surprised to learn about the plans for the city’s role in the upcoming operation. For one, this would have been impossible due to power constraints 3 months ago, but for two, because of who would be flying the city.

          They needed all their experienced pilots with the gene to fly the jumpers as ambulances to the med bay, as there would be little margin for error when moving children in critical condition. They would each be escorted by F-302’s so they could keep their path as smooth as possible. Once they were aboard, Carson would be managing the most critical cases on board The Daedalus, which had been retrofitted in route as an orbital field hospital with multiple wards. The other ships still had med bays and The Daedalus still had her role in the battle. She would need to keep air space around her clear and a safe route for jumpers with the F-302’s. But everyone aboard was either needed for the battle or to treat military and civilian casualties. So she was also the most heavily armed aside the city herself to protect those aboard, with the least staff using their life support systems to keep capacity open.

          But the city would be flown by the one who’d made it possible for her to even be there. His brother, Dave. His manifestation of the ATA gene wasn’t something that surprised John completely. They were half brothers after all, so there had been a 50/50 chance, he figured. He’d been curious about which side of the family he’d gotten it from in this prayer discussion and Bonewhite had been able to allow him a proxy based discussion with Carson, who explained that John had 2 copies of the gene and so did General O’Neil. It was why he and John were able to interface with the technology like it was second nature while most of the expedition members with the gene were only able to with training, practice, and concentration. Nevertheless, Dave, while only having one copy of the gene, was still the third most compatible with the technology, and had logged a lot of hours in the chair since solving the ZPM problem. It may have in part been due to him being more confident than Dr. Beckett, but it allowed them each the chance to serve in battle where it felt most natural to them, unlike the Doctor’s experience in the battle against the super hive. And when Dave found out his brother was one of the stranded personnel he wasn’t about to sit this out.

          John had also strategized by proxy with Bonewhite and Lorne about how to get himself to a puddle jumper to help with the evacuation effort, starting with Blaze. And what they decided on, being a pilot short, given that they already planned on breaking through the heavily populated and fortified area where they were stuck first, was that Lorne would fly down to him. John and Guide would board with Blaze, Spark, and Blaze's children to evacuate him to the Daedalus while bringing John back to fly the unmanned jumper. Each jumper would have medical staff aboard to stabilize the passengers, as well as a gunner, and a crew would be waiting on board for John when they got to the bay. And while they couldn’t play favorites just because Blaze was Guide’s son, John’s presence in the battle gave them the means to have him among the first evacuated.

          They already knew of enough critical cases in nearby groups of survivors to have patients and coordinates assigned for each jumper and he had been briefed regarding where he would be going in advance by proxy of Shade with Colonel Carter and Doctor Keller, who was coordinating intake and first round of treatment before they would be moved based on priority to wards requiring greater or lesser intensive levels of care. Carson would handle the most critical cases. Jennifer would make the most critical placement decisions. But there would be a different doctor at the head of each ward and they had all hands on deck.

          John just found himself grateful that the circumstances which necessitated his quick extraction gave them the means to get the kid they were seated beside help in the first wave of medical extractions when they broke through, hopefully, early in the battle tomorrow. Both he and John sat at either side of him, his children scattered across all three of their laps, and Spark curled up in his elder brother’s lap, sleeping soundly. A fact which Blaze was honestly, very put out with right now.

          That wasn’t to say he was put out with the babies. It was more John and his Father. Namely, because of their bickering at this moment. They were disagreeing over who would sleep and who would take care of him, and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Each was insisting that they could do it and that they weren’t tired yet, and that the other should so that they could be well rested when morning came. The problem he had was that whenever they argued, it bordered on becoming flirtatious, and he was right between his Father and the adoptive Sire of the younger brother he now held. He felt decidedly awkward about it.

          “Perhaps,” Blaze says, a crackling yellow of embarrassed annoyance flickering between the three of them, “You would both end up being tired if you decided to sleep together.” A pointed glare was affixed to the end of the statement, though his Gaunt face was more the picture of a displeased child pouting in the bathtub than intimidating at the moment. Guide would have found it cute, were the same expression on his face in a more healthy state.

          Guide and John’s cheeks both Flush and Guide nods his head in acknowledgement. “I apologize this has made you feel awkward. Perhaps your Grandsire can see to your needs, and both John and I will stay with you tonight. We will not deprive you of further warmth right now though.” He asks, looking over to John to see if he found this agreeable.

          “Yeah, I can do that. We’ll just have him wake us if anything changes.” John agrees, nodding at Guide, who mentally reaches out to Coldwind, appraising him of their sleeping arrangements. He’d just risen, having been unable to rest until now, and appeared with Ronan a few minutes later to place Spark in his egg board and put the babies in pillow-bottomed baskets for their older uncles to care for while their father slept.

          Guide slips behind Blaze, leaning against the pile of pillows, extra clothes and blankets against the cave wall to help him stay seated upright since it was easier to breathe, and leans his head on his left shoulder and the kid on his side to help him stay upright in his sleep, and pulls John flush against his other side, wrapping his right arm around him and supporting his head on that shoulder as Coldwind helped him with the blanket.

          Blaze would have been irritated were it not for the fact he was cold and that his Father was anxious about more than his health right now. The last time he had been in a battle like this had been the first time one of his clutch brothers had passed while having been trapped in similar circumstances for the past 3 months, and had somehow relived those 10 many times in these past few, and they could all do well to rest in these last few hours of comparative peace and predictability before mobilizing to what would most assuredly be chaos come morning. His father wasn’t trying to mollycoddle him so much as he was trying to ground himself in one of the reasons he had to stay focused. Why this fight was so important. To get himself to the right frame of mind. What he needed to focus on instead of his anxiety.

          But in the deepest recesses of both his and John’s minds, a space only they could access, each of them knew it went deeper than just preparing for battle. An itch that only the other could understand made getting there more difficult for both of them as it tried to distract them from that mental work that was taking place. A prickling of anxiety crawling over their skin. Blaze was also a keen reminder of why they could not indulge those thoughts right now. A physical reminder even as they slept that shut the intrusive thoughts down before they finished. That, and the other they fought for as well.

          Both he and John did sleep, though they did not sleep well, and woke as they all started making preparations for their egress to evacuate, and waiting to hear word that the hives were dropping out of hyper space.

          Their defensive spear heads had just finished getting ready and in the right headspace for battle when there's a ripple of activity that fluttered through the hivesense, and those who had been praying nod to those who weren’t. They could feel the activity even outside active prayer. The fleet would be here in 8 hours and it was time to start getting to their positions to flank the foot soldiers in their area and corral them to open spaces. Some of them would have to position themselves throughout the forest. A small group of those most telepathically sensitive join the group to start a prayer circle nearer to those in battle and send word back of what was happening to the two groups further back.

          The second group would bring supplies to hold them over a few days just in case it took more time than they would like for the invaders defenses to be compromised enough to evacuate safely, but they would only join the fight as a last resort. They were carrying the heaviest loads so their first line would be unburdened and energized when the fighting broke out. They would only join to protect the most vulnerable taking up the rear.

          John, Guide, Coldwind and Ronan would only fight before reaching the surface to allow the children to retreat if the cave system was overrun. They would only join the fight before getting their sickest young evacuated in the name of preserving their lives until help got to them. In other words, the worst case scenario. As it had been during the last invasion.

          They knew from experience that they could not succumb to adrenaline laced impulsive action and keep a clear head until civilians were evacuated onto The General Hammond or The Daedalus, and into the various earth ships respectively while gives, which were less maneuverable due to their size would take civilians last. Healthy evacuees would be ferried to Atlantis to evacuate to Shawn's hearth planet until life could be restored in a way to where it would be once again, hospitable for their children.

          But only when it was safe, and the food scarcity resulting from environmental violence had tipped back in the favor of the biosphere. Clevermen would likely stay behind to facilitate this once the invasion had been eliminated and the planet was secure. But even with intervention, access to the things they needed to recover would be more secure on a protected world with intact ecosystems and infrastructure. Hearths existed to put the needs of children first to begin with.

          The two hours between the spearhead group leaving and the civilian group leaving flew by when they got word to continue up. The path until then was secure and another two sets of guards posted at that location to join each group. Two more sets would be posted at another two hours up the system. It was their cue to move out. And they were ready. Guide and Ronan, who had managed to find some common ground in the regrettable situation that they had both done this exact same situation before, prepared blaze and a few sick young toddlers for transport. A few of the healthier members of the military who were also in their group who were strong and fast would carry them out. Coldwind and Ronan would carry Blaze out. To avoid distracting Guide, who would take point.

          John and the healthier young recruits would each guard a group of children healthy and old enough to walk and by the time they got them dressed, their two hours had felt like minutes. They steel their nerves and they move out, Blaze's arms wrapped around the egg board. Guide’s calming presence rolls over the group like a calming, yet invigorating wave, impressing on the young how they would keep them safe but it was important that they stayed quiet. And because of the presence he left in the hive sense, they were unafraid, but stayed quiet and did not complain. Hand in hand, they kept pace, piggy backing those who were just too young to do so without getting tired as they had more hands after the first check point.

          Everyone was in place. Their first line was in position and the prayer circle was set up in the outer chamber with guards and they had linked with the hives that would be dropping out in minutes to seconds. The stardrive was online and the city had 3 full ZPMs installed. The shield was running at 100 percent. It was ready to join them when given the signal. The pieces were about to join the board.

          The adults from the second group join the ones chanting behind their line in the security of the first chamber, and prepare aid and a secure location for the young and Jaffa to rest while establishing a foothold on the planet. There wasn't much they could do beyond strengthening the channels of their intelligence until the source of the interference in their day to day communication had been neutralized and order had been reestablished enough for it to be a clear path of communication.

          They had just gotten past the first check point when the hive sense crackled to life like atmospheric lightning all around them. Ships were dropping out of hyperspace outflanking the invading fleet. So much neural activity filled their senses as so many minds joined their proximity. A huge light fills the sky, reflecting off the ions in the atmosphere like an aurora as a window opens from the stardrive and the sky starts lighting up.

          Atlantis had finally come. The end of this was in sight. A new sense of energy filled their veins as they picked up the pace, some older civilian children the same age as Blade picking up younger ones and carrying them so they could move at double time as the battle began on the ground. They could hear the hum of darts through the hive sense before they could hear them overhead. Forces were dropping as close to their location as they could get, clearing a perimeter where they could safely get jumpers in while they cleared a safe route to the Daedalus.

          John almost couldn't believe the 8 hour hike was already done but they knew through the link that John, Guide, and his family had to get to orbit yet, and John takes the egg board from Blaze's tired arms before getting word to haul ass.

          Vortex, Ember, Frostfire and Mystify each carry one of Blaze’s children. Ronan and Coldwind book it with the stretcher and Guide leads the way. Lorne had gotten the jumper as far as he could through the dense forest but they were going to have to get to him. Several of his civilian sons came with skinny toddlers as well, making as efficient use of passenger capacity as possible as their eyes saw daylight, some, pale and squinting, for the first time in months. As they followed to their location, they wound their way through the forest, hyper aware of the possibility of lingering threats.

          They could hear explosions overhead, energy weapons, and bullet fire from every direction. It made it very difficult to know if trouble was just around the next bend. That’s how they almost ran into trouble when a group of three stranded foot soldiers, cut off from the rest of their unit, nearly heard them. John had been about to radio for back up, as he’d had the sense to take the batteries out until rescue came, when Guide held up his fist and held a finger over his mouth.

          He’d noticed the light refracting in the forest nearby, and when John concentrated, he could feel a mind very different from their own, though to his surprise, somewhat familiar as well. Guide looks at him as if to ask him if he was thinking what he was, and John nods. This bear-like creature they had seen on the hot springs, but it understood well enough what was happening on this planet was a danger to her and her cubs. They both focus in on the animal, assuring it on its own terms that they meant her no harm and that the three soldiers in front of her brought the danger to their home with them. As her musky, odorous scent reaches them, they hear her starting to roar and she makes quick work of them, clearing the path ahead, their dying roars quickly silenced between her teeth, her maw crushing their heads between a strong set of jaws.

          John’s radio crackles to life and a welcome voice fills his ears. “Sheppard this is Major Lorne on jumper one. Hold your position. There’s something near our position that just attacked a straggling group of soldiers the ground forces, darts, and F-302’s somehow managed to miss. We’ll come to you and neutralize it before it attacks.” Came Major Lorne’s voice.

          “Major Lorne, this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard.” John responds with that smirk of his. “That’s gonna be a negative. That thing’s got a psychic thing going just like the Wraith. It thinks more like an animal than a sentient species but with some concentration they can communicate. Todd and I just told that thing to attack and it’s a guardian of the forest in their culture. I’d appreciate it if you let it on its way in the interest of incurring as little collateral damage to the planet as possible. We’ll let it know you're friendly and make our way to you. It’s good to hear your voice. What the fuck took you so long?”

          “Politics Colonel. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it later. Now get your ass to the jumper! I don’t think I can keep Rodney and Teyla in formation much longer.”

          “Roger that. We’ll be to you in T minus 2 minutes." he says, nodding at Guide as he lets the creature know that the green tube had friends. He kept the message simple.

          No Touch! They hunt the danger!

          And with that, she shuffles back into the darkness, and they continue to the jumpers bearings at a full sprint the rest of the way, and as soon as a flash of red came into view, John Sheppard found himself in Teyla Emmagen’s embrace, forehead to forehead as the Wraith piled into the jumper, knowing the most dangerous part was yet ahead. Their destination was still in orbit overhead. Once everyone was on board, John took the pilot's seat giving Major Lorne a look that dared him to try, and took the controls in his hands. He holds up his hands in surrender and buckles up in the back as the jumper joins a defended position in formation with the F-302’s fighting overhead.

          John looks down to the surface, spotting a refraction in the forest the direction the animal had headed and sends another expression of his thanks before hopping on the radio. “Atlantis, this is Jumper One. It’s Sheppard. I’m inbound to The Daedalus with Ronan, Todd, and his family with sick minors, one critical.” he says as the medical team starts working on Blaze. “Please be advised that all jumpers will be in use until relieved of duty to rest.”

           “Sheppard, this is Atlantis. This is Sheppard. A team of F-302’s is on standby to assist you.” His brother’s voice says from the chair’s communications systems and John smiles. “It’s good to hear your voice. I hear you solved our little power problem. I trust they told you to be careful with those drones? We don’t exactly have an unlimited supply of them.” He says as they see the first flashes of the battle and John focuses a course on the Daedalus bay, narrowing in like a laser, his eyes simultaneously scanning for loose threats that may have gotten past their escort.

          “Well we managed to find some more from a friend of yours named Larrin. A few of her trade partners’ worlds fell under similar attacks and pointed us to a location that had a few. Their stretched thin providing aid to those who managed to survive those who held on and made it to safety but her tip proved helpful.” Dave explains as Sheppard gets closer, dodging weapons fire as smoothly as he can with the children on board, passing a Wraith cruiser that marked the start of their friendly line.

          “That’s good to know. Focus on getting these guys out of the air before they can get any more soldiers on the ground. Our guys will keep them off your ass. Tell Woolsey I said hi!” John says, pressing the last stretch of the journey behind friendly lines to the open bay.

            Ronan looks at Teyla as he hears the Sheppard brothers talking. “This remind you of the last time we met these guys?” He asks her.

           She nods her head once and offers one of the smiles she does when she’s about to admit something that she’d rather not repeat. “Yes, that had crossed my mind.”

          “Puddle jumper, this is Colonel Carter of The General Hammond. That won’t be a problem. We have some pretty powerful friends already here. SG-1 may have convinced some old friends that though war is against their ways, sometimes, keeping the problem from escalating protects the balance of life. They let you through a barrier on your way out but nobody’s getting to that planet.”

Colonel Sheppard pauses here, trying to think of allies who fit that description from mission reports. “You don’t mean the Nox?” He asks, finally putting the pieces together about the halt in the invasion.

          “That’s an affirmative Sheppard. Though their peaceful watching the extermination of an entire galaxy wasn’t something they could not interfere in. Did you ever wonder why the galaxy between ours is void?” a voice asks, this time Colonel Caldwell, letting the medical staff evacuate the children first as they reached the bay and Dr. Keller gets Blaze on the gurney and medical staff starts relaying vitals and preliminary scans.

          Dr. Keller nodded to John as they started rushing him back to Carson’s unit, her eyes conveying urgency as Guide follows the medical team, Vortex, Foresite, Ember and Mystify carrying the children and John hands him the egg board that had been over his shoulder, where a wide awake Spark had been waiting patiently for them to get to their final destination.

          “I figured that it just didn’t have the right conditions for life.” John says over the radio as he, Rodney, Ronan and Teyla run for their jumper and let Lorne and his team have theirs back, strapping in with their first set of evacuee’s coordinates already showing on his screen and John registering that this was jumper 3. “This is Sheppard on jumping 3. Switching channels.” Everyone straps in, nodding to the medical team.

          “They’re the reason that the galaxy no longer holds life. The Wraith call them the Azari. The Jaffa word best translates to locust…” Sam explains as the team takes off, ready for another 8 hours of fighting.

          The day was far from over, but he had gotten Guide and his children to safety. The hatchling was now in a more secure location, behind the protection of two hives on a ship free of enemy combatants. He could take another 8 hours before being relieved of duty. And with part of the burden lifted, John flies down to the planet for a second time of many as their hold of the planet slowly grew as the battle carried on.

          When backup had finally come to relieve them, John ran straight for the med bay before he could be debriefed. Straight for his family.

Chapter Text

     The day had been long, and reality still hadn’t caught up with John as he hauled ass through the corridors of the Daedalus, making his way to the critical ward of the med bay to check in on Blaze. As soon as he had been relieved of duty, he felt a sense of impending doom wash over him in a semi translucent muddy wave, like rough water, and Rodney shrugs at Colonels Carter, Ellis, and Caldwell as they stood there open mouthed as they stared after them and exchanged looks, trying to decide what to say. Other officers had taken over their battle post so that they wouldn’t make mistakes from exhaustion. Still though, there was plenty they had yet to get done before they could rest.

          “I’m going to see what’s so important.” Sam finally says with a slightly awkward smile and glance in the direction he left in. Abraham and Stephan just nod awkwardly toward the briefing room to let her know where they would be. She nods again in acknowledgement and follows him toward the med bay.

          When she gets there Carson says, “I know you came chasing down the Colonel but if you could give him a moment I could really use a moment to talk with you.” he says, implying a need for privacy as well as the urgency of what he needed to tell her.

          “Yeah, of course Carson. What’s going on?” She asks, using a soft, discretionary tone, acutely aware of which part of the ship they were in, and what he had been doing all day.

          “Well Colonel,” He begins, being quiet regardless of the fact that the door was shut. “I’m afraid that some of our young patients weren’t extracted soon enough. We’ve lost 1 in 4 patients on my floor. By the end of the night, we expect it to be closer to 1in 3. We still have enough empty beds for tomorrow, but this was worse than we had hoped.”

          Sam frowns, blinking quickly to try not to show an emotional response as she processes the information. “What’s going on in these cases? Does it show anything we can do differently?” At this point she was starting to connect dots with the potential need for privacy and John having completely failed to notice they were there. They had been advised of John's ability to connect to the hive via Todd because of the gift of life when they had made contact with Kenny, and had a more nuanced understanding of telekinetic abilities of the Wraith. She had a bad feeling about this.

          Carson closes his eyes and shakes his head. “What our labs indicate is that these Wraith, all young enough to, at least in part, rely on solid food like we would, are so malnourished that they’ve begun to suffer multisystem organ failure. In healthy Wraith, the metabolic process of creating new stem, and subsequently, organ cells, which prevents aging, would also heal their organ function before it got this far. And they’re unable to process new stem cells until their bodies are more nourished. But their organs are too far gone to process any form of emergency nutrition.”

          “Carson,” She asks, “Are you telling me that some of the children in your care are terminal right now?” She asks.

          “Acutely terminal, actually, though we expect more to experience complications in other wards from things related to electrolyte imbalances and any number of other things that can go wrong. Some families are choosing palliative care. Others are still trying to hold onto hope.” He pauses here. His tone was more cautious here. “Some individuals would also like to hear in terms that would be easier to process and make informed decisions from a source that’s closer to them.” 

          “You don’t mean to tell me that Todd’s son is?” She asks, the question seeming to linger. Carson nods. “Oh god.” She says, bringing her hand to rest at her temple and making a face of frustration. “You don’t mean the one who has children do you?” When he nods, she runs her hand through her hair in frustration, wanting to burn down the IOA, SGC, and a bunch of different governments for what felt like the millionth time in her career. She hadn’t joined the military so children could die of preventable causes while they waited on politics and paperwork.

          “I know Sam. Hearing from John may help Todd, Kenny, and Todd’s sons process what the best course of action is, but the child we’ve admitted under the name Blaise weighs what a 12 year old Wraith should weigh. Bear with me. When they're that young they age as we do and slow down around 16 to 18 years of age. So even though he’s thousands of years old he should be around the age of a Wraith who’s cellular maturity would be at the same level of an 18 year old’s. Because of this weight, his kidneys have started shutting down, his heart has begun to fail and as a result, his lungs are filling with fluid, and he’s developing bed sores. All we can do at this point is manage his pain. And that’s been hard to come to terms with without John there. They hid together for 90 days after all. It’s only natural. Especially after thinking they had gotten him out in time.”

          Sam nods in agreement and reaches for her radio. “Colonel Caldwell, this is Colonel Carter. John is checking up on a patient in our infirmary with four infants whose prognosis is terminal. He’s helping the extended family he hid with process the news. It appears to be time sensitive. We’ll talk to his team now and get John’s official report and debrief him later.”

          “Noted Colonel. We do need to speak with him at some point tonight to evaluate whether he’s fit to fly tomorrow.” Colonel Caldwel’s reply came over the radio. Nobody would blame him if he wasn’t though. He had just survived 90 days in a warzone where all members of sentient species were active targets. It wasn’t the same as being behind enemy lines in something as hellish as “legal” war. Europe came to mind, thinking of examples. Circa the 1930s and 40s. The Ottoman empire in the 20th century. There was something even more sinister about conflicts like this where there was clear and wide sweeping, systemic loss of autonomy in the name of facilitating widespread population death, without freedom of movement targeting non combatants specifically. War was never anything short of hell, but these were a special kind that went beyond that.

          “I’ll let him know when the time is right. You have my debriefing notes for today's operation. Can you take over for me? I’ll wait so we don’t miss him and brief him as soon as he’s done. I’m also getting a report from Dr. Beckett. I’ll update you when you're done with the jumper teams.

          “Roger that Colonel. Since you're taking care of what was next on my list of things to do I’m going to engineering for a damage assessment when we’re done here. Tell Sheppard he did great out there.” They were more worried about crossing everything off their to do list than who crossed what off at this point.

          “Thank you Colonel. I’ll keep you in the loop.” She says before turning to Carson. “If there isn’t a report in my inbox already, I need one soon. Not now, but before midnight unless there are lives that cannot be saved without your specific intervention. If someone else can handle it who’s technically on duty when you are not, then you have 3 hours. I need it by then though.” She says. They all were slammed. If there were things that he absolutely had to square away first then it was at his discretion, but she did need it to prepare for the morning briefing.

          He nods as she walks out the door and rounds the corner into the ward, making sure that she doesn’t approach unnoticed. Her first good look at John since getting off that jumper hadn’t been the good news they had been hoping for. 

          Her impression that there was something very human of this Wraith crossed her mind for not the first time. She couldn’t help but wish it was his macabre sense of humor. This was hard to see no matter what. John looks up, sitting side by side with Todd, who had Blaise in his arms. He was holding all four of his children and an even younger Wraith, seemingly impossibly small, was resting with his head on John’s shoulder. John was quietly explaining the difference between different terminology. Or offering to do his best too. There were lines in the dirt on his cheeks, washed away by his tears, running to an unkept beard. His hair was looking like an awkward mullet. But he had more important things to worry about. She wasn’t the only one who stood behind the flimsy divider and put a hand on Dave’s shoulder.

          “I know none of these are good choices but yeah, I’ll try to put it in terms that aren’t as technical. It’s hard for all of us to think. But basically our choices are how we want to spend what little time you have with us. You can hold out for a miracle, but there's nothing telling us that's anywhere in the cards. You may have a few more hours or even a day, but you're going to suffer and your body will be kept alive by machines. Letting nature take its course means you decline all treatment. You can even check out of the med bay to the quarters where your father and brothers are staying, but there won’t be medical staff with you. It will be more private and you’ll have more freedom, but it will be up to your family to take care of you. Palliative care means you will stay here and Carson will keep you as comfortable as possible. The pain management medication may make the end come a little sooner, but our team will take care of you and your family and their last memories of you won’t be of you suffering for a long time, and we’ll do our best to minimize the pain. If it gets too hard to be awake because it hurts so bad, we can give you medication to make you sleep peacefully until the time comes. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s just how you want this to go. Is that a bit easier?”

          They could see the young Wraith nod. “I don’t want them to see me in pain when they see the memory in the hive sense John. And I don’t want my family to have to shoulder this by themselves. The last option please. I already made peace with the fact this may be the outcome. They're safe. And they're near to what would be considered healthy. I wouldn’t change a thing because they're going to be okay. If I fight this, they may come to think I regret that, and they shouldn’t blame themselves for that. I want any memories that they may come to understand to reflect the peace I’ve made with my decision.”

          “Could the Nox not heal him?” Ember asks, looking like he may pitch a fit. He couldn’t believe they had gotten away, just to hear there was no hope! Of all his brothers, he was the one they least expected to control his reaction. When he starts to pace, John carefully stands and places a hand on his shoulder to stop it.

          “They could bring him back or heal him if it was trauma related or unnatural. But it took months to get here. Even though the mechanism which caused food scarcity was not natural, starvation is a natural outcome, so unfortunately, it’s a natural death, and it’s beyond their ability to do anything. This is the body forgetting how to function. We gotta respect his choices here Tommy. Don’t spend the last time you have with him pissed off that nothing can change what’s happening. Do that later. You can be mad for as long as you want then. But you’ll regret it if you and your brother part ways on bad terms.” He looks back at Dave when he says this. “Just be there for him.” John says, keeping his hand on the tiny Wraith’s back and he wrapped an arm around Tommy who made a noise Samantha didn’t have to guess to know was a sob. He hadn’t been alive yet when any of his older brothers passed. And John held Tommy as long as he needed it.

          They had obviously been sent to shower through the day to keep the hospital as clean as they could, and with John's help, had come to a decision about how to care for Blaze in the end of his life. “I’ll leave you to decide what you would like to happen to your children and make arrangements for who will care for them. I need to get cleaned up before I can stay here too long and I should probably update our personnel about your choice.” He says to Blaze. “They will be safe and protected. We promise you that.” He says, squeezing Ember’s shoulders before kissing him on the forehead, then leaning his forehead against Blaze’s.

          Sam got the distinct impression that John had been accepted as a member of their family, though she had no idea just how deep that ran or where the dynamic came from. She was aware that they had lost a parent though and figured John may have filled that role in their eyes while on the planet. From what she had learned, their other parent had been a pilot, served in their military, and could stand on even footing with Todd. So he was probably similar enough to feel familiar and for his presence to be comforting during such a horrifying ordeal. She didn’t think it was anything more than that.

          “John, take Spark with you. This isn’t good for his developing hive sense. Thank you.” Thank you for giving them safety in his final moments. For helping them come to a choice that was most respectful of his wishes. For relaying the information to their personnel so they didn’t have to leave his side. It was impossible for Todd to narrow the expression to just his words. 

          “Yeah, you got it. I’ll let you know where we’re at.” John says, nodding at him before slipping behind the cloth barrier and Sam holds her tongue for another moment as Dave wraps his arms around John. Dave wasn’t sure what to say at first. They did have a lot to talk about, that was sure, but that could wait. He was just glad he was safe.

          Samantha squeezes his shoulder as they pull apart and they start walking away from the med bay. “Colonel Sheppard. It seems you got in enough of a pickle that the only one who could help was another Sheppard. I trust no introductions are needed with our latest civilian contractor.”

          John looks at her and at Dave with that lopsided grin of his before asking, “Now who are you again?”

          Dave looks at him and smiles. They had promised each other they would try to do better after Patrick’s death, but John couldn’t help but joke because of the previous long standing tension. He couldn’t help but chuckle, even though John was trying to deflect that through nonchalant humor. Dave just hugs him nonchalantly and pats him on the back reassuringly.

          “I think the bigger question is who is this?” Sam asks once they’re in the hall as she looks at Spark, who was watching her curiously. “Well, for now, he's known as Spark. His name in the hivemind will be given to him at a year old though and we can give him a human name then too. But we need to wait for his personality to develop a bit more.” John says, and Sam and Dave nod, understanding it would be respectful for them to follow the same custom with human names. “He’s Todd’s.” John finished.

          “Kenny said you helped Todd when the egg was laid?” Dave asks.

          “Yep. Their mind is developed enough to remember the ones who were there for that, so he likes me and this many strong negative emotions are hard for him to understand this young. So Todd’s thinking to limit exposure without keeping him from his brother completely.” John explains.

          Sam nods understandingly. “ You need a shower then we’ll debrief. Your quarters are this way.” She says, directing them down the hall.

          “And a shave.” Dave adds and waves at Spark. The novel of aliens, let alone alien babies having not worn off just yet.

          “I don’t know. I was thinking about keeping it.” John deadpans.

          “Don’t even think about it, Colonel. We’ll have an informal briefing in civies once you shower. Do you need someone to keep an eye on that one?” Sam asks.

          “I’d appreciate it. He’d fall asleep in a sock if I hung one up but it would still make me feel better.” John says as the three of them open the door and John grabs a sock from the sock drawer that had been stocked for him before grabbing a pair for himself, a pair of clean boxers, some sweat pants, and a tee shirt he took into the bathroom before letting Spark climb into the sock. He had to remind him to explain to them out loud that it was common and that Todd and his family would think nothing of it. It was a bit like swaddling to them.

          After explaining this, he quickly shaves his beard with his electric razor and hopping into the first hot shower he’d had in months. He took longer than he would have ordinarily, but was trying not to be disrespectful of everyone’s time before dressing and returning to see spark sleeping in his bed in a sock. He plops down in one of the chairs and pulls some blankets over his tiny body. He’d never had such a smooth mattress to lay on before.

          Dave couldn’t help but notice what Sam hadn’t. John looked better. He had lost the beard. He smelled better, but he had been very attentive to that family. He’d kissed the one they had called Todd when he’d reached the med bay before Colonel Carter got there. He knew his brother had familial feelings for these Wraith specifically.

          Seemingly oblivious, or pointedly ignoring it, Sam asks, “John, can you walk us through exactly what happened? To the best of your ability any way?”

          John nods, “Well, a couple days after touching down, I helped Todd lay the egg Spark hatched from. This is a big occasion. It would have been impossible for the invading armies to know that, but there was a large celebration taking place that day. While we had been waiting on the egg, Ronan had been getting to know one of the first 100 Wraith to have been created who was from Sateda. We’d been staying with him until I provided Todd medical assistance and stayed with him after the fact so he could have some assistance and time to recover privately after the fact. The invasion started the night of the celebration and we evacuated Todd’s house quickly, meeting up with Ronan and Todd’s relatives, escaping Todd’s village with a small group of survivors. We hid out in a large cave system until help arrived making runs for limited supplies of food. Older Wraith were able to avert starvation by feeding on enemy combatants but those who were still young enough to rely on solid food started experiencing the effects of starvation as the enemy forces carried out what can only be described as planetary stripping. The fact that this planet was inhabited didn’t seem to matter to them.”

          Sam nods. “And your relationship with Todd’s family?” Sam asks.

          John looks at her and rolls his eyes nearly perceptibly. “You're asking if I’m compromised now, Sam?” He asks.

          Colonel Caldwell and Ellis knock at the door at this time, ready to join them, very interested in the answer to this question.

        “No sir. I am more invested in this alliance, but that’s because I’ve had three months to watch Wraith when their society is in a crisis. And what I saw was people who took care of each other. Even giving their lives, slowly, to protect the people they cared about. These are the types of allies I want for us when we do fail.” John says, crossing his arms flippantly and leaning back in his chair. He was trying to be the same old John. But they could tell he was on edge.

          “But you do feel some way about them?” Caldwell asks, sensing a but.

          “But in their culture, Todd giving me the gift of life would make me a member of their extended family. And they treated me as such. And I would be lying if I said I viewed it differently. This does not mean I view the importance of our alliance any differently or that my feelings will affect command decisions though. Ultimately, having these Wraith as allies, especially against an unknown enemy, will give us an edge. Especially when we’re so cut off from Earth. And like them or not, they are part of this galaxy. They're alive. And I would rather we find a way to work together than be the cause of more of the shit we’re seeing in the med bay right now. Those are children. If someone can look at children in that kind of condition and not have an emotional response they have no business commanding.” John says.

          It went on for what felt like hours. It was starting to feel more like an interrogation before John started to feel an urgent tingling in the hive mind. He needed to get to the med bay soon. “Look, you either believe me or you don’t. But I took an oath to this country. I protect my country and the values on which it was founded. The first of which is life. Something this child’s brother is about to lose. I’ve told you what happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go say my last goodbyes to a kid.” John says and makes his way to the med bay, knowing from the feeling that had washed over him what was happening.

          He has to take a couple deep breaths before stepping behind the curtain. Todd and Kenny were seated on either side of him, going over the last details regarding his children while they had the chance to. While he was still lucid. Burning Heart had done his hair and dressed him in some of his own civilian clothing so he would be comfortable. He had helped him to clean up his skin and hair before dressing him in one of his nicest sets, beaded with pearls and yellow jasper. A beautiful light blue that brought out his eyes. 

          He had tubes and wires running into his clothing, but he knew from experience that it was soft to the skin and he would be comfortable. It was clear from the sound of each breath that he was in a lot of pain. It was like a deep, gravely roar every time he tried to inhale or exhale. His skin tone had faded from green to ashen, and his lips and fingernails had a purple tint, and he was hardly responsive. 

          “Did you want to hold your brother again?” John asks, swallowing heavily as he enters.

          Blaze nods and reaches for him weakly, unable to fully lift his hand without help, and John steps to his side, carefully laying Spark against his chest and sitting on the bed, Todd scooting behind him, John and Kenny beside him helping him hold his children as well, 2 in each arm. His brothers were seated in chairs gathered around his bedside.

          Carson comes in with a sympathetic look. “I’m here with his pain medication. I do want to warn you that he may let go shortly after I give it to him. He’s ready to go but his body is fighting to breathe. I don’t want you caught off guard.” He explains to them.

          Todd looks at John after blinking three times and trying to digest this. “This may be his last dose of medication. Once he’s not in as much pain his body may stop fighting to breathe and let him go peacefully. Even in his sleep.” When John got the impression Todd wanted more, to know if he was making the right choice, John offered, “It’s what my mother wanted too. It’s not the medication that causes it. And you have no reason to be feeling guilty for respecting his wishes.”

          Death like this wasn’t what Wraith experienced often. So they didn’t have much to fall back on as far as past knowledge. He was looking to John for guidance more than anything. And with a nod of appreciation, he takes a deep breath, blinks heavily and nods at Dr. Beckett.

          “Let me know if any one of you needs anything Todd. I’m sorry I can’t do more for him.” Carson says and squeezes him on the shoulder and Todd nods as Carson lets them be. Kenny and John help Blaze hold his sons close as he smiles down at them, then up at his father one last time before closing his eyes.

          There wasn’t a distinct moment where he went from being alive to being dead. It was like a transition into deeper and deeper unconsciousness until he no longer had use of his body. The graveling roar of his breath tapered off to a hiss, a wheeze, then nothing. He occasionally called out to Redclaw. Something that spooked everyone until Carson reassured everyone it was perfectly normal. The machinery monitoring his life signs went from beeping slower and slower until emitting one slow, steady pulse. 

          Dr. Keller and Becket walk in and Jennifer reaches for his wrist, looks at Carson, and shakes her head. Todd, Spark, and all 4 older Wraithlings begin to cry as Blaze’s mind leaves behind an aching void, and John takes Spark and Red Honor from his arms, Todd taking Valor and Swift Claw, and Kenny taking Resolve as Carson Explains to Shade that they would hold his remains in the morgue until they could safely treat his remains in accordance with their customs on the planet. He seemed most able to process this as they moved him, and his father, John and uncle tried to soothe the children his kid brother left behind.

          Dave, who had been waiting behind the partition, steps inside after some time and says, “Perhaps you would like to sit for now where it’s private? Have you been to your quarters?” Dave had a feeling they had showered in the med bay, and the shake of Todd’s head confirmed this. He had been a bit older when John’s mother passed, and had been more present when their father had. So he had a bit more experience with the burden of responsibility members of the immediate family felt when making decisions about rituals and handling of remains.

          “Well, let's get you back there and off your feet. You have some time to process all this. I know first hand you feel some degree of pressure to start making decisions or just do something but you should take all the time to process that you need. Take the time to make sure you're doing what you really want, but also in accordance with his last wishes. There’s no pressure. Take all the time for this you need. You can stay on board the Daedalus or on one of the hives, whichever you would be most comfortable, hell I may be able to get you on Atlantis. But you don’t need to do anything right away. You and your family have been through a lot and you may need to take a few days to regroup and there's nothing wrong with that.” Dave says.

          “I think, I would prefer it if my family and myself could return to Atlantis until it’s safe to return home full time, though we would prefer to lay my son to rest as soon as the planet is clear. With most of his family who have departed. I have said before that the city has become a refuge to me, and it probably will be more so now, knowing that my children will be safe behind the city shields now that our home is not.” Todd says, taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes with his left thumb and forefinger.

          John smiles somewhat sadly at this, leaning into his side supportively. Having Todd on Atlantis and sworn into the SGC, as any of their other staff from off world, would solve a lot of the problems he had been thinking about. It would need to be approved, of course, but he was well aware some members of the IOA would prefer Todd to stay on Atlantis anyway. He didn’t think, especially given the circumstances, that it would be too hard of a sell.

          Brushing his mind against Todd’s, he knew that the city had become a second home to him. Largely because John was there. He squeezes the taller Wraith’s shoulder, leaning his head against it, reassuring him that he and his family would be welcome if it was up to him. And assuming he would get his post back, it was. He didn’t care that Dave was watching.

        “I’ll see about getting you some quarters approved on Atlantis. I think General O’Neil will approve it. He took over the chair from me but I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you both. But for now let's get you and your family settled in here and we’ll get your move to Atlantis finalized tomorrow. For now you all need to rest before making any big decisions. Your room is this way.” Dave says, showing Todd where he would be staying.

          The look he gave to John was a promise that they would talk about this another time. John was looking at a window pretending not to notice.

          “Nice mullet Colonel.” Cadman says, passing him and giving him an excuse to look the other way.  

          “Shut up.” He says, his tone sounding like the fly boy commander of Atlantis. His face showed his gratitude.

Chapter Text

          Several hours later, after Todd and his living family on board the ship were finally getting some much needed rest on what had to be one of the hardest days of their lives, though it couldn't be easy to pick just one, John was alone in his quarters. It felt like the first time in months. It was certainly the longest he had time to himself since they had flown to the planet by hive. He had already taken a nap and gotten something to eat and had been trying to read when there was a knock on the door. After reaching out with his mind he knew it wasn't Teyla, Todd, or his family. 

          “Come in.” He calls, putting the book he had been trying to read down. It was too hard to concentrate with the sounds of battle. It bothered him more than it normally would have. Because the sound of gunfire meant the planet still wasn't secure and he knew what the people on the surface were trying to survive. It made it hard to focus on War and Peace . When he placed the bookmark and looked up, he wasn't exactly surprised to see Dave. He sets the book on the bedside table and hops out of bed to the Keurig he kept in his room hidden from McKay and starts a cup for himself, gesturing to it with his hand to Dave to offer a cup. Dave holds up a hand and shakes his head. Though he had made sure it would be on the Daedalus for John until they could bring him back to the city. 

          “No thank you. I still haven't slept much these past few weeks. I'm going to sleep after we talk.” He says, taking a seat at the table and John nods his head, and after grabbing a MRE from one of the drawers. Major Lorne had suggested this for his and Ronan's quarters, given the food insecurity, and Dave was glad that he wasn't forgetting to eat or that food was available to him. John nods and starts heating up the meal and sits beside him. 

          “So national security my ass. More like Galactic.” Dave begins. John stops half way into a sip of coffee. “Look, I owe you an apology. What you've been doing… I thought you were exaggerating. When in reality you've been downplaying just how important your job is. It took multiple people to fill your role while you were trapped behind enemy lines. I know I put a lot of pressure on you, and our father did too. But I see now that expecting your presence for something like a wedding or holiday months in advance wasn't a fair commitment to ask you to make when you don’t know what tomorrow could bring. It's not that those things weren't important to you, but even civilian lives on Earth, including the lives of your family, would have been impacted if you failed to handle situations as they arose in the Pegasus galaxy. In fact, the only reason I was mad at you, is you did your job well enough for me to have no idea my life was in danger.” 

          He was relieved when John held up his hands. He hadn't been speaking as much as he normally would. His brother had always been mouthy. The silence was unnerving. “Stop. That was the point. You being pissed off meant I was doing something right, but I wish I could have been there for more but between my job and our father I just couldn't be there for as much as I would have liked. You never know how much time you get with your family and you're well within your rights to be hurt by that. I just didn't think you would want me around. Less fights and less drama if I just wasn't there.” 

          “John_.” Dave starts but John shakes his head and continues. 

          “No Dave, the long and short of it is he disliked my career choice, acted like it was the worst mistake of my life when Nancy and I separated, and he was disgusted by Charlie. He didn't want me around. He was embarrassed by me and we both know that.”

          Dave reaches over and takes his hand, waiting patiently. “Our father didn't do you any favors when he tried to set you up to take over the company. He did want you to have a secure future though, and your career choice was dangerous. Hell is dangerous, but there's no excuse for letting his fear control how he treated you. When you and Nancy separated, again, I make no excuses for how he reacted. He didn't know everything that was going on behind the scenes and refused to hear anything but his own narrative. I'm not gonna pretend it made sense, but I'm not our father and actually agreed with you about Nancy. But Charlie is something we need to talk about. Dad was right to be concerned about that, even if it wasn't for the right reasons.” 

          John snorts at this. “So I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess he told you he wrote me out of the will because I joined the air force and not the other way around? He actually found out I was bisexual and kicked me out during break during my freshman year in college. I signed with the force when I was still in high school. Finished out my degree before heading to the Academy. Ended up putting me back in when I married Nancy. Insisted he knew it was just a phase. But she was nosy. Controlling. Insecure. Doesn't go well with top secret work. To this day she still doesn't know how to recognize a boundary. Regardless though, he still took me back out when I started seeing Charlie and kept me out even after he passed. But Charlie and I’s issues don’t matter any more. He’s gone and so is our dad.” John says. 

          “No John, it does. No relationship is perfect but your issues weren't exactly healthy. Your grief is still valid, and you're correct in saying I hadn't had all the details about your falling out with father, but I think some of his concerns were valid even if they didn’t come from the right place. Nevertheless, grief is complicated and I respect it if that's not a topic you're comfortable visiting. But that kind of leads me into my next question. I recognize you're a grown ass man but you're still my brother. I couldn't help but notice you have something going on with Todd. He treats you better at least?” 

          A storm of emotion crossed John's face as he spoke. But John finally nods his head. “Yeah.” There’s a slightly awkward, but still comfortable pause before he goes on to explain. “Honestly yeah. It's the first time I've felt fully accepted. There are things he doesn't always fully understand. Namely related to human behavior. There are some things that are just foreign to him. To him, I’m the alien. But he still accepts me for me and doesn't do anything that he knows is hurtful. He wouldn't be unfaithful and he hasn't made any efforts to get me to change anything about myself or compromise on hard issues.” 

          “Good. I decided that I wasn't going to judge when I started reading over mission reports. We're on an aid mission after all, and are trying to turn over a new leaf with Todd and his allies at the least. And all that I can ever see him doing is everything he can to protect his people, and you too. And my first impression is all our intel says he could have eaten you at any time and had every opportunity to do that on multiple occasions. Instead, he protected you. He kept you with his own family. His own children in the face of odds that he didn't have the resources to fight. And that's good enough for me.” Dave says, patting him on the back as John took a sip of his coffee. 

          The last person he expected support from was family. But Dave wasn't Patrick. And they had to get to know each other again. But John was starting to realize that Dave may not agree with their father's idea of religion or politics. “It took me some time to come around.” Dave says. “But I majored in science. Not religion or morality. We were raised one way. And Dad benefited from those beliefs. But nobody on Earth is benefiting long term from how we've been generating energy. We've known that for a while. Hell, I started looking into alternative energy that won't cost our planet in the short or long term in elementary school. I started questioning creationism when I majored in green energy in college and realized it's still leaving too much of a foot print and green is a marketing term for bandaids when we need surgery. So why shouldn't I question what he told us regarding heterosexuality being the only thing that's acceptable too? It was once I got past that that I noticed reason to worry with Charlie. It had nothing to do with you both being men. It was the way you kept making excuses for him. The alien thing was a bit surprising, but if he treats you well and respects you then that's all that matters to me. I know you still grieve over him, and that's okay. I can't tell you how to feel. But you deserve respect going forward. And as long as you have that then you have my support. But I'm under the impression that you need me to stay quiet about this for now?”

          John nods his head in confirmation. “At least until they’re instated as members of our expedition. So I can’t be considered compromised. But after that, as long as we follow the proper channels, we would be okay. And he wouldn’t want me to risk my career.” As he finished the statement, the tell tell sound of knuckles against metal panels echoed through his quarters. He felt a familiar brush on his mind and snippets of the conversation through the link. He was dressed in civilian clothing supplied from some of the hives that came to their assistance. Different than their own but still familiar in how it felt against their skin. 

          “I saw some glimpses, John. When we were traveling to this planet. And this galaxy while on Atlantis. You think rather loudly. But mostly when you had been wondering about Tommy's previous partner. Like you, Tommy made a lot of excuses and ended up making some bad decisions to try to keep things from going terribly wrong. Like on midway and well, when you tried to rescue Charlie. I do not intend to personally gain from any of your resources or dwelling, or go behind your back to the arms of another. But as your brother said, grief is more complex than that, and I won’t initiate a conversation on the matter. Regardless, he's right. You deserve respect. I intend to give that to you. I’ve nothing else to say on that matter. But I did wish to speak to your brother about something.” Todd offers, taking the chance to brush John’s hand with his own in relative privacy to reassure himself that he was okay.

          “Thanks?” John says, squeezing his hand, not quite sure what to say out loud, but he truly did appreciate Todd’s assurances. John had often found himself bailing Charlie out of one stupid choice after another. He loved him even after John had found him cheating on a mattress he had paid for in an apartment in his name. Still loving him was why he tried to rescue him when his helicopter had been shot down, even when they hadn’t been on speaking terms. How John had always wondered if things would have been different if they had tried to work things out. He didn’t know how Dave knew. He wasn’t surprised Todd did. “Did you want me to step into the hall while you two had a word or?” He asks awkwardly.

          “No, it’s fine, John Sheppard. I wanted to thank him for his advice earlier. About taking a moment to breathe after everything. Death in battle happens far more often to us than death by starvation. It is a much more difficult thing to come to terms with.” He says this while turning to Dave and nodding appreciatively. “I had thought of something while you were asleep, John. I already spoke to Carson about this. Before he’s laid to rest, I would like Carson to study his remains and keep his organs in hopes that he can find effective treatments. He would not want his children, or the children of his children to face a death like his own, and if it can save someone else’s children from facing a fate like his own, it’s what he would have wanted. Though after he’s studied the remains outside organ systems, we’ll bury him in the same place as his grandfather once the planet is secure and we start stabilizing the ecosystem.” Todd explains, almost seeming to second guess his choice.

          John nods his head. “He would have approved, Todd. From what you told me about your brother and your husband, he must have been a lot like them, and would be happy to know that his contribution to science helped to save the lives of young Wraith. He told you what he wants to happen with his children?” John asks as Todd sits at the third seat.

          Todd nods his head. “Coldwind is going to raise them as his own, though in a few days time we’re going to try to find the Sire of his children and inform him of them. Though the reason he had not been told is because he is quickly rising through our command ranks and is set to command a hive one day. Blaze had not wanted to cause him distraction, which was not my decision to make, but this arrangement will allow me to focus on Spark while the children stay close and with family, while allowing their Sire the chance to focus on being able to protect and provide for them, if he chooses to. We will not force him to become involved in their lives, but he deserves the choice. Tommy and I will look for him in a few days, after we settle in on Atlantis. Coldwind will stay behind with them and Spark.”

          Dave nods to this. “All you can do is offer him the opportunity. They deserve the chance to know at least one parent but you can’t force it. I hope he can find a balance that includes him. Let me know if there’s anything we can do or that you need. We’re going to get you and John beamed back over to the city by the end of the day. That way you don’t need to wait to start settling in. The IOA will have to meet with you again when they get there, but they’re taking some time before meeting with you to assess secured areas of your planet. In order to see what we’re up against without an alliance, of course.” The last part was said with a smirk.

          John smiles at that. His brother had always been better at navigating politics. But he got the distinct feeling that the IOA’s boards of ethics and directors had been taken on a tour that was as much of a “This could have been us” tour as it was a, “You let this happen by refusing to act on the matter” tour. But he was able to keep a charming smile when dealing with aggravating people better than John ever could. John was charming, but he was always very direct. “I think that, and a med bay tour would be a good warm up. Pressure them a little. But I think Mr. Coolidge would be hard pressed to reject your request for allegiance with SGC based solely on the fact that your Wraith now, and he would be hard pressed to find a good reason to. I would have your bags packed, so to speak. It will be my say once Kate clears me anyway.”

          Todd makes a face at the mention of the IOA. His interactions with them in the past hadn’t really ever been what Todd would call pleasant. Antagonistic was pretty par for the course with them. Some days they were threatening. Some days they wanted something. Those were the days they were willing to try to negotiate with him, usually. He couldn’t imagine that they would just accept them as allies without good reason and moral and ethical grounds to object to their continuing to hold out on their alliance, as well as threat intelligence were good places to start forcing their hand. But a true alliance would still be a hard sell as would be accountability for their failure to be present when an ally needed them. John would argue that they had been compliant in the invasion.

          And of course there was the matter of transferring to Atlantis herself, and moving Blaze’s remains to the better equipped labs there. Doctor Keller had already informed Todd of what was referred to as an honor walk on Earth. Both the staff on the Daedalus and in the city would stop what they were doing and allow silence as they passed on their way to engineering, to the city, then when they reached the city, the expedition members who weren’t manning combat stations would do the same. Those whose guns were not active would also do this, combat allowing. There was a possibility this would be seen by IOA board members, but nobody was going out of their way to assure this. They would show the damage that they allowed to take place, but they wouldn’t use Blaze to manipulate a political outcome. Even if the IOA deserved to feel every bit of guilt they could for their failure to act, Blaze’s memory and remains deserved respect. 

          “For what reason will they be there?” Todd finally asks, letting his displeasure be known in both his tone and expression.

          “Basically, it should just be to ask you if you're able to carry out your duties as a member of our expedition without bias and following the proper chains of command. They should be in the boardroom by the time we get there instead of the control room. Some of them should already be there discussing their findings. Others are observing how we operate orbital operations so they’ll make their way there once you're settled. We’ll meet General O’Neil in the control room when we get there and we’ll show you and your family to their quarters.” John explains.

          Todd nods his head to this and relaxes, knowing he wasn’t about to face another interrogation from them. He didn’t want to deal with that today. John hadn’t seen him look so exhausted since they sat across from each other in Gennii cells. “Will we have a room assigned to us?” He asks. The accommodations usually weren’t what Todd would consider comfortable when he stayed in the city, though by John’s initial impression, he could tell that would change before he started speaking.

          “You’ll get personal quarters just like the rest of our personnel who live in the city. You could share a quarters with several personal rooms with several of your sons. I don’t believe we have a suite with enough rooms to accommodate everyone, but Jack probably set an entire hall aside for you and your extended family. I’d have to check my tablet to see if anyone sent me any info about that.” John says, reaching for the device on the table. Todd holds his hand up to that though. 

          “That is fine John. I just wanted to be assured first that our accommodations wouldn't be inhospitable for my children. I don't need to know the exact location in advance.” Todd says, gesturing to his drawers to pack up and then asking as a follow up, “How much longer until we're scheduled to beam to the city?” 

          “We head over in an hour.” Dave says, nodding to Todd that it was a good idea to pack up as John finishes his MRE chili and hops up to pack. He didn't have much here. But the extra clothes and his coffee maker were going back to Atlantis for sure. He half debated “forgetting” his tablet so he could have a couple days of peace before Atlantis Command assigned him a new one, but ultimately decided against it since it may be deducted from his pay check and it would probably involve paperwork. 

          “I will meet you when we reach engineering. Most of the family will meet you there. I'll be staying with Blaze until his remains safely reach their destination. Please keep an eye on Spark.” Todd says. “I’ll give him to you when we get to engineering.” 

          John nods. “I'll take him to my quarters where it's quiet. He normally naps in about an half hour to an hour. He’ll sleep better there.” John says. Todd nods thankfully. 

          “I need to go make sure Tommy and his brothers are ready. I'll see you soon John.” Todd says, catching his hands as he pauses in packing his belongings and kisses John on the cheek before leaving. 

          Dave smirks when the door closes, and John throws his dirty underpants that he had been wearing on the planet at him before taking off for engineering as pay back for the smirk. Colonel or not, younger brothers would always be younger brothers in some ways regardless of the fact John out ranked him, as a civilian. When he got to engineering, James Coolidge was there with Jack, discussing the hyper drive, preventing Dave from being able to retaliate. Coldwind, Kenny, Tommy, his brothers, and Blaze's children were already there waiting with their few belongings and bags, along with Ronan, who was glaring at Mr. Coolidge. 

          Lindsay Novak, to her credit, was doing her best to get his and General O’Neil’s attention. “Mr. Coolidge, General, if you could please…” she starts but wasn't heard over their arguing. 

          Hermoid mutters something in Asgard before finally saying, “Everyone stop talking please. Thank you.” At this point he presses the button to talk to the commanding officer who was at the bridge right now. “Major Lorne. We are prepared to beam our next group to Atlantis once Dr. Keller joins us.” He says. 

          “Roger that Hermoid. I have the control room cleared out and ready.” His voice came over the PA. 

           Mr. Coolidge was fussing over how important his discussion was, earning glares from the family, who were displeased that he wasn't in the boardroom yet and was beaming with their group instead, but steps into the open space in the center of the engineering room with them and Jack, who also glares, knowing what was about to happen.

          “Ladies and gentlemen in the West corridor, we ask that any tasks you may be carrying out or conversations be paused for an honor walk. Those who can, please stand. This young man is a donor so we can develop treatments, and perhaps transplants as well. Please give this young Wraith the same respect you would any human organ donor.” Evan’s voice says over the intercom on both Atlantis and the Daedalus as Hermoid narrows his eyes at Mr. Coolidge, reminding him of other allies who were not Tau’ri, or even human on this ship, and that he should mind his tongue, muttering about how fools were always the ones who spoke far too much in Asgardian before he and Novak turned to the controls.

          “Atlantis this is Dr. Lindsay Novak on board the Daedalus preparing to beam are you ready to allow our frequency?”

          “Daedalus this is Richard Woolsey on Atlantis. We’re ready when you are.” Richard’s voice says. He’d never been so relieved to hear his reserved, underwhelmed tone. It was a nice calm right now.

          “Roger that Atlantis, please be advised that since this is a group which does have an honor walk with them, we’re going radio silent. I’ll be sending encoded messages when the remains arrive and we begin the sequence.” She says before going silent.

          Everyone who was not actively involved in the beaming procedure was still and silent, with Jack stepping on James’ foot to keep it that way. Atlantis sends the Daedalus an encoded acknowledgement and relays that Atlantis has begun her standstill for the honor walk as well.

          A few moments later, the gurney wheels in with Doctors Keller and Becket, with Blaze covered by a sheet for the most part, though Todd was holding his hand. The argument leaves Mr. Coolidge’s eyes when he realizes this Wraith was close to Todd, the one who had negotiated their alliance in the first place, and Todd hands Spark over to John. Lindsay sends a message to Atlantis and nods at Todd, letting him acknowledge that he was ready. Todd double checks the sheet and nods back, and she presses the button to beam them over to the city.

          When they arrived, the walk to the morgue was silent until he was dropped off. John stayed outside with the hatchling, letting his immediate family say goodbye to him before his remains were examined and samples were taken. He mentally lets Todd know that he was on his way back to his quarters so Spark could rest and where they were located. As he passed back through the control room on his way, he heard Jack explaining to the few IOA representatives who happened to be along their route who Blaze was, and how he had passed away. And why he had made the decisions that he had during the invasion. How young and vulnerable he had been to be faced with such unthinkable choices.

          He doesn’t stay long and pulls a drawer out of his bedside table as soon as he gets there, emptying the contents onto his bed and grabbing a flat, memory foam pillow from one side of his bed. It was just the right size to be deep enough for him. He stuffs it in the drawer and gets it nice and flat before getting the small quilt out of the egg board and making the bed up for him nice and cozy. Then he places the pillow case over top to keep him from climbing out like a makeshift canopy before placing it out of the way near a heating vent on the ground. Then he dumps out his plastic laundry basket and flips it upside down over top so nobody would trip over it anyway.

          He looks out his window, down at the planet from space, and feels a tear run down his cheek, thinking of all the homes, belongings, animals, crops, and landscapes that had suffered. Of the yellow and purple sky and twinkling stars. For the last 90 days, that planet had been his home. He had watched the beauty slowly stolen from the very ground they walked on. This was where Spark’s egg had been laid and where it had hatched. It was where Todd lost his younger brother, his Father, father-in-law, and son. And it would be where each of them rested.

          He wasn’t sure how long he stood there with Spark sleeping, but eventually, he heard the intercom in his room summoning him to the boardroom. He wraps Spark in the blanket and brings the eggboard with him as he walks, but it would be easier to move him without waking him if he just carried him.

          When he sits down in the boardroom with Todd, his family, Jack, Mr. Woolsey and the IOA boards, Richard says, “We have decided to allow Todd and his family to join our team here on Atlantis. Our alliance will continue to provide aid to them and other planets impacted by the invading alien fleet as they continue to rebuild their worlds. Anyone from these worlds will be assisted in relocation until their planet has reached a point where it can once again sustain its population or be welcomed onto Atlantis. They will have to prove their loyalty but Todd has done that, as have your family in protecting Colonel Sheppard and Ronan Dex. John, I want you to think about where you would like everyone working when you return to duty and when they're ready to. I want everyone to get some regular appointments with Dr. Heightmeyer before returning to duty, but for now, I hope you’ll come to feel like this can be a second home to you. Hopefully your world can be restored soon, but even after it’s ready to rebuild, I hope you know that your alliance is welcome here and to work together in the future. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without their help. And I must apologize on behalf of the acting head of the IOA for how long it took us to get to you. The delay was inexcusably costly.”

          This was one of the first times John had seen Richard, Jack, Todd and Ronan all look equally heated, and they were all in agreement to his relief as they all fixed Mr. Coolidge primarily with a cold glare. “The IOA’s board will face an ethics review of its response time to the invasion of the pegasus galaxy from hostile alien life forms. Both from their internal ethics board and an international board of high ranking military officers who already have clearance in and involvement in the stargate program. The deliberations will be overseen by an oversight committee made up of civilizations other than those of Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. Neutral parties making sure we don’t put our own interests first.” Jack goes on to explain. “The Wraith of this world are also free to speak at these reviews. As are the affected people of other worlds. We’ve negotiated that 50/50 won’t be good enough to face this threat with both our galaxy's supporting so many ways of life. We all need to give 100/100 to stand a chance. For now, there’s a lot of work to be done, but for now John, welcome home.”

          John smiles at this. This was as good an outcome as they could expect with the IOA. And they were all tired. Further negotiations could wait until this planet was liberated. They expected full control of the surface in the next 12 hours. Resources were being offloaded from the grounded ships and refilling lakes. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. It didn’t hold life yet, but water was returning to where it should be and that was a start. The life that remained would spread where it would thrive. That would take time, but it would be within their lifetimes, with the help of the other allies and their technology at their side. Settlements would be rebuilt, and the animal population would bounce back. It would never be the same, but the fact remained that this was home.

          Teyla and Rodney knocked on the door. “We were told to show you where you, your younger children, and extended family where you will be staying for now, as well as to show John and Ronan, since they're the ones you are most familiar with.” Teyla explains, smiling at Kenny. Kenny takes Teyla’s hand with his safe one, and some of his family’s belongings with his free arm and follows her.

          John and Todd follow them out the door, the rest of the family who had been evacuated from this particular group not far behind, as they make their way to a hallway next to John’s, just around the corner. Todd had his own bedroom and one for the hatchling. It had a proper bassinet with a real canopy for spark, and a room for when he was a bit older off to the side, a living room, and a kitchen. There was a balcony with a view off to the side of the living room with floor to ceiling windows that would overlook the ocean when the city touched down on the surface of a body of water.

          For now though, as John helped them sort through their belongings and what would belong to whom, they both couldn’t help but look out over the stars. Once the bags were unpacked, and the younger, teen-equivalent children settling into yet another shared room on the other side of the suite’s living room, and Coldwind with Swift Claw, Red Honor, Resolve and Valor and Kenny. The older brothers were sharing another suite with Burning Heart and Shade, with Vortex, Scorch, and Frostfire joining them. Kenny and some of the older children had already settled in and helped put everything in its temporary place as everyone settled in for the night, one by one, with hopes of the tide continuing to change tomorrow. Soon enough, the only 5 left in Todd’s living area were John, Todd, Kenny, Dave, and Spark.

          John and Todd were seated on the couch with Spark sleeping on Todd’s shoulder with one hand against his tiny back. He had grown so much already. His back was already the length of Todd’s palm. When he had hatched, he’d been the size of John’s thumb. Dave and Kenny were seated in some chairs beside the living room table, and Dave had brought some beer from his quarters.

          Only one beer each though. They didn’t need to compromise their sobriety with such a young infant to take care of. But as they look out the window, out to the stars, John and Dave can’t help but smile at each other as they listen to Todd and Kenny telling stories about Blaze growing up on the planet below them and all the trouble he had gotten into growing up. How he had both the best and worst traits of both Todd and his Sire. How much he had been like Starborn. How Spark was so much like him when he had first hatched, himself. Very expressive from the start, but tired himself out so quickly being an absolutely chirpy little fellow and engaging with the hivemind so much.

          Todd talked about how he was so glad that they had made it back in time for him to spend Blaze’s last few months with him when they hadn’t had much of a chance before. And that he got to meet his younger brother.

          As they looked out over the stars, knowing life would never be the same, they consciously cling to the fact that they were safe now. The effort to rebuild had already begun. The rest of his children were either behind secure lines or onboard other hives that had come to their aid. But all of them were now accounted for. Word was still coming back regarding some of their descendants, though for now, they had been spared further heartache. So when Todd holds up his can, calling for a toast to Blaze and a life well lived, John and Dave look at each other for a brief moment and hold up their beers, and Kenny raises his.

          They all take slow sips, looking out the windows at the stars, remembering the joy they had known, and relieved that he had lived long enough his children had made it to safety over the next hour.

          The thought crossed John’s mind that Todd had told him that his people were more like Wraith than he knew. And he smiles when he begins to understand.

          Wraith were more human than they had understood. Just as humans were more Wraith than they wanted to admit.

          Todd finishes his beer with a tired smile at John, who disposes of the empty can so he wouldn’t need to stand with the sleeping baby. John was finally starting to understand what he had told him all those years ago.

          And finally, so were both of their people.