the tenth of the United States
one hundred ninety-three days after Earth
"...No, no, would you just stop already?" Rodney turned his head up to the alarm and frowned deeply. "I know there's a problem. There's no reason you need to keep yelling at me."
"I don't think Atlantis is listening McKay," Sam answered dryly as she slid into the control panel next to him. "You're in lockdown?"
"Yes," Rodney snapped without looking up. "I'd think that would be fairly obvious. Although why absolutely everyone had to run off and do 'one last thing' and leave me here by myself is beyond me..."
"...what's the source of the contamination?" Sam interrupted without listening to his tirade. Jack watched her tuck a piece of stray blonde hair behind her ear and wondered if she was just going to let it keep growing.
"Chair room," Rodney answered without losing his place. "Of course it would be me who gets stuck here, no one would leave if it were Elizabeth or Chuck up here."
"Elizabeth?" Jack asked Sam as he leaned over her shoulder. "She had a virus of some kind, didn't she? Something Daniel got?"
Sam's face was tight with concentration and she barely looked up. "That was the opening act, I'm afraid. This is the real thing. Look at this McKay, in the areas directly connected to the chair room the virus is already spreading through the quarantine."
"That's not possible!" Rodney sputtered as he pushed the general out of his way. "It shouldn't be. Atlantis uses sub-micron filters for our air supply. Nothing gets through."
"Something got through, Rodney," Sam corrected as she pointed at the red areas on the diagram of the city. Whatever this is, it's already spreading through the civilian areas and moving towards crew quarters."
"Well who's in the chair room? Who started this mess?" Rodney slid back to his chair and started answering his own questions. He mouthed something and sighed heavily as the realization hit him. "Elizabeth's down there. That's why John made you beam him out of here." He rubbed his forehead and stared at Sam. "We're not equipped to deal with an epidemic."
"I can't do this from here," Sam muttered as she hit her hands against the edge of the controls in disgust. "I need medical equipment."
"Why don't you just beam yourself down there?" Rodney retorted as he fought with the computer. The friendly hologram was nowhere to be found and Atlantis was not in the mood to be fussed with.
"I hate to interrupt you two geniuses," Jack interjected sarcastically. "We appear to be entering hyperspace." He looked out the windows of the 'gate room and nodded to himself. "There we go."
"That has to be John," Sam talked to herself as she tried to finesse the computer into letting her through. "Hyperspace is a complex system, she wouldn't be able to stumble onto that."
Jack started to realize what she was saying. He'd been in a chair. Admittedly, he hadn't flown Atlantis; he touched her shoulder to get her attention. "Elizabeth was flying the city?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense," Sam answered and acknowledge him with a quick twist of her head. "Elizabeth was the only one in the chair room. She knows we're in trouble. Somehow, I'm thinking it has to be the virus, her condition advanced enough that she could control the city."
"But she's not a pilot," Jack interrupted with a whistle of respect. "Not bad for a diplomat, huh?"
"We probably would have been killed if we were fighting the Goa'uld or someone with any creativity," Sam replied with little confidence. "You saw the way she was flying. Amatuer, impulsive, completely reckless."
"When my ass is still alive I just say 'thank you', Carter and move on," Jack replied gruffly as he looked out the window. "Certainly prettier on this ship."
Nether scientist looked up, both of them were too immersed in what they were doing. He wandered over the unused navigation console and called up their course. Someone had been in a hurry when they set it, he knew that from the projection and the way they'd let the computer do the work of getting them around the obstacles. Jack could probably shave off at least part of a day if he got get into the system. He thought about it for a moment and blinked when the course obediently updated itself.
Wondering if he was seeing things, Jack put his hands on the console and thought hard about sensor readings. The sensors immediately told him that they were securely in hyperspace, and three smaller ships were in the wake along with them. Trying to shake off the strangeness of it, he started to open a channel to check in with the other ships. He stopped using his fingers when he realized he could do most of it with his mind.
"Caldwell?" Jack tried incredulously. "You doing okay over there?"
"Yes sir," Colonel Caldwell replied cooly without the surprise Jack had expected. "We would have missed the window, but Atlantis sent out a data burst of some kind that directed us right in."
"Good," Jack shook his head and tried to sound like he knew exactly what was going on. "We're having a bit of a problem over here, but we'll be in touch. O'Neill out." He looked over his shoulder and watched Sam and Rodney arguing about something. Deciding at least his wife looked like she had a little color in her cheeks, he contacted Teal'c's ship.
"Big guy, how are things over there?" Jack asked as he started to get the hang of thinking his way through the systems. "Everyone okay?"
"We are fine, General O'Neill," Teal'c's gruff certainty was exactly what he needed to hear. "We are making repairs and will be more than ready to fight when we arrive."
"We'll be here," Jack replied with a little bit of a smile. Of course Teal'c would be completely unperturbed by the entire experience and ready to fight again. Sometimes he missed the good old days when it was just him and his team. Before he'd had to deal with mysterious, mystical viruses and post-apocalyptic space battles.
He started to contact Walter on the Artemis and decided he did like the space battles, if not the post-apocalyptic part. "Walter, everything better be perfect on my wife's ship."
He could almost hear the technician snapping to attention. "Yes, sir, we're making repairs, sir. I can have a progress report..."
"...I'll trust you. Just keep a lid on things over there. Stay close."
"We can't get further away while in hyper--" Walter stopped and caught himself. "Yes, sir."
"That's a good sergeant," Jack looked at the console and wondered if he had other powers. The alarm stopped and he felt a pulsing ache in his skull go with it. Daniel might have an idea what was going on. Provided Daniel was even bothering to wear his wireless radio anymore that he was married and had better things to do.
Daniel had his hands full. He knew very little about viruses, beside what he'd learned running from or trying to cure them in the SGC. Doctor Keller shook her head and sank down against the wall next to him. She hadn't been exposed to the virus before like he had and just like the unconscious woman in his arms, the good doctor was fading quickly.
Vala touched his elbow and pointed him towards one of the tables in the mess hall. "It's not perfect--" she offered and he understood her meaning.
Daniel lay the unconscious psychiatrist on one of the diagnostic beds and looked back towards Doctor Keller. At first, he'd thought he was lucky to be sitting in on the preparatory meeting for the medical staff during some kind of outbreak. At first it seemed like a good place to be, but, it was quickly turning out differently than he'd thought. Kate Heightmeyer had been closest to the air vent and gotten the largest dose of whatever the contagion was before the city had screamed into lockdown. She'd only had a few minutes of fractured consciousness before she'd fallen into a fevered sleep.
Simon checked Keller's pulse before lifting her up. He nodded to Daniel and followed him over to set her down on a bed near Kate. "We've all had this before," Simon voiced as he thought aloud. "This isn't anything like what we were exposed too."
"Maybe it's a vaccine," Vala offered as she picked up an abandoned lunch tray and rescued a pastry from the floor.
"Not in the traditional sense," Daniel corrected as he started to see her point. "Is that possible?"
Simon lowered his head just above Jennifer Keller's chest and listened to the slow sound of her breathing. He tilted his head up towards Daniel. "Maybe the difference is type of virus. When we were exposed it was a contact virus and we all experienced epidermal symptoms. This is definately airborne."
"Which would be why the city sealed us in," Vala explained as if it were painfully obvious. "To keep the virus from spreading."
"I'm afraid I don't know much about the city," Simon replied politely as he started to roll up Kate's sleeve. "If I designed a quarantine protocol it would lock us down as soon as it detected a virus, it's probably not advanced enough to know this is a non-lethal virus."
He didn't add that this strain might have been lethal but Daniel knew they were all thinking it. "Are you going to need help? Daniel asked as he searched the infirmary for a computer terminal. "Vala likes to play nurse."
"Only for you darling," she retorted as she perched on the edge of a bed. Daniel only had to look over for a moment before she sighed and gave in. "Suppose it's better than being bored."
"That's the spirit," Simon offered gratefully as he pointed to his tray of tools. "Hand me an orange tube, a needle with a purple band around the handle, and that piece of tubing."
Vala put her pastry down and washed her hands before reaching for Simon's tools. "This should be exciting," she offered sardonically as she settled down to watch Simon work.
Daniel knew he should have paid more attention to Sam when she talked about computers. Yes, he could easily turn one on and perform most functions back on Earth, but here, unless the computer came out and told him what to do, he was a little lost. He supposed he had a lot of time to learn as he studied the file menu.
Teyla dropped back into human form and tried to ignore the tingling sensation that went with it. She needed them to trust her and she didn't know these new people from Earth. Rodney might have trusted her eventually, but he wasn't the kind of person she needed.
Ronon turned around and had his gun firmly on the side of her head before she had even finished forming her feet. "I'm going to kill you."
Teyla smiled and felt his quiet hatred seethe inside of him. "I knew you would," she replied softly as she turned to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry it became this way."
"You wiped out planets," Ronon confronted her with the same calm. "You became Wraith."
Feeling tears start down her face, Teyla lost herself in the ordered silence of his mind. "I became more."
"You killed Carson," Ronon reminded her as his hand tightened on the trigger of his gun. He pulled the trigger, but his gun was already out of his hand. No one moved faster than he could see, at least no one had before.
"Carson showed me," Teyla lifted her hand and held it just above his chest. His eyes pleaded with her and she saw the naked hatred in his face. He would die before he let her feed on him. She tilted her head and pulled his head down to kiss him, as she'd meant to once a lifetime ago. "You will understand."
Her hand slammed into his chest like a hit from an energy weapon. Ronon shuddered and fell backwards but something kept him on his feet. He expected to die. He expected to feel his life fading from his limbs as his vision began to disappear entirely.
Instead, he only felt Teyla. She was within and around him and she was in the heart of his thoughts. He hadn't been intimate since Melena and he felt Teyla go through those memories. His body shook with a thousand sensations at once and the sheer force of Teyla's mind was all that kept him from being overwhelmed.
He was beloved. He was safe and loved by his family. His mind was quiet and calm. His body was nothing more than an extension of the whole. He was a part of the greatness of being and his body was just a unit among many. He had a purpose and a greater plan. The plan was unfolding all around him and everything he did was part of the plan. He was invincible because he was one of the multitude and the many would never die.
Teyla was his breath and the blood in his veins. She was the beginning and ending of all life. All were born from the queen and in death they all returned home to be used again.
As a child, he'd been told the Wraith ate their dead. That they were vile creatures so terrible they ate their own kind.
Now his body insisted that eating the dead was his sacred right. The dead were part of the whole, part of the many, and they needed to come home. Teyla laughed and he felt himself begin to laugh with her.
He should be fighting her.
They were on the same side.
Ronon stopped; his body screaming in pain as he thought about breaking the connection. Leaving Teyla was like cutting out his heart and he wasn't strong enough to do it. He found his reserve, what lay beneath and had not been weakened by the Wraith energy pounding through his being. He reached for that.
Teyla found his power and let it wash over her like waves breaking on the rocks. His incredible rush of strength was useless because she was immobile. Unmoving, and forever untouched by everything around her. In her heart sat a knot of calm, like the eye of the universal storm.
All around her, Ronon could feel people. Rodney was frustrated and getting angrier as time passed. Lorne was worried because the virus was spreading. John was caught up in something greater than he was and he was barely starting to comprehend. Elizabeth--
Ronon lowered his eyes and met Teyla's dead on. What had been brown and deep were now glowing golden and completely endless.
"Now you understand."
"Viral pathology is not something we studied while I was working towards my PhD in theoretical physics," Rodney complained bitterly as he drummed his fingers along the desk. "Not that I'm a complete amateur, mind you, but this is entirely out of my jurisdiction."
"Then cut through the quarantine," Sam cut back as she ran her hand angrily through her hair. "Whatever you decide to do, stop complaining about it and just do it." She bit her lip for a moment and resisted the urge to cross her fingers. With a little luck, she might just be able to get the computer to give her what she needed.
Tapping a few keys on a laptop, she watched again as Kate Heightmeyer and Jennifer Keller collapsed nearly instantly in the security video while Daniel and Vala appeared to be fine. Every report Jack was collecting from the frightened civilians only said the same thing. People near doors or vent when the alarms had started were trapped in fevered dreams.
"Doctor Wallace," she started as she nervously bounced her foot on the floor. "Have you been able to isolate the virus from their blood samples?"
"I've run it twice," Simon sighed heavily through the commlink. "Either this virus is completely impossible to detect or it has already become integrated into their biochemistry."
"That shouldn't be..." she started to protest his results.
"...It's not possible," Simon finished for her and she could hear the defeat in his voice. "Both patients are stable but they're running high fevers and expending enormous amounts of metabolic energy."
"Something's happening; we just don't know what it is." Sam replied impatiently as she pushed herself out of her chair. "Are there other medics or scientists in with the general population who might have different results?"
"Our medical staff is dangerously small," Simon's voice carried more defeat through the radio. "Most of them were treating those injured in the attack. We've been in contact but the condition always presents identical symptoms. High fever, delirium and an immediate unconsciousness. I think the coma is an attempt to protect the brain from possible damage."
"So a virus that vanishes as soon as it enters the blood stream causes a high enough fever to make the subject unconscious?" Sam paced behind Jack and Rodney. "Doesn't seem like much of a survival tactic."
"It could be a leftover biological weapon," Jack pointed out as he took a sip of water from his cup. "Some kind of fluke of genetic engineering created by a crazy ascended woman who's going to kill us all in some version of a colossal bad joke."
"That would be our luck wouldn't it?" Rodney muttered almost more to his console than to anyone else as he tried to dig his way through dark alleys of Ancient code. "We survive the destruction of our home planet only to be cut down in our prime by the Ancient version of the ebola virus gone wild."
"I prefer the only things going wild to be on dvd," Jack offered sarcastically as he peered over Rodney's shoulder.
Sam tried to tune them out as a thought started to form in her mind. The ebola virus caused a fever when the body tried to fight it off. There was no reason this virus had to behave that way. There was no biological reason for the fever and that fact suddenly sparked her thoughts as if it had bit her. "The fever isn't part of the condition," she realized as she stopped and stared through the glass at Elizabeth's empty desk. "It's just a side effect."
Jack stopped pacing and waited with his eyes on her face, as if he was waiting for permission to celebrate.
Simon was silent and then Sam thought she could hear the gears of his mind click into place. "The virus is already rewriting their genetics. Instead of testing for pathogens I should be testing for ATA."
Shaking her head as she watched her husband start to smile a little in relief, Sam felt something cold settle into her stomach. She returned to her laptop and rushed through the rest of the security feeds from the city. Far below the tower, in the depths of the city, Elizabeth clung to John and tried to keep herself on her feet. Even without sound, the pain on her face was obvious. She was still in the early stages, but she was definitely in labor.
Jack's hand on her shoulder made her jump away from the console slightly. "They okay?"
"They're together," Sam answered as she left her laptop and put John and Elizabeth behind her.
All the resentment she could muster didn't change how his hand felt on her shoulder. The warmth of his touch, even through her shirt, made her stomach jump.
"Carter--"
"Later," was all she allowed herself to say. "Simon, Elizabeth's in labor."
"Probably what set off the virus," Simon agreed from the infirmary. "Though I still can't figure out why it suddenly became airborne."
Sam watched his research appear on the screen in the control room. The virus hung quietly, suspended like a web of light on the screen. "Does it have any effect on someone with the Ancient gene?"
Simon called up a piece of DNA and she heard him sigh through the radio. "This thing is so advanced I might be able to guess how it works years from now. It's mutated, even evolved since our limited exposure to it on Ceol. I can't even begin to fathom how that happened."
"There was an energy surge in the chair room," Rodney interrupted as he took over the screen with a new diagram. A white pulse of light flashed for a moment in the heart of the city. "Didn't seem important at first."
"Elizabeth must have done something," Simon thought aloud as he paced across the infirmary. "She doesn't have the gene strongly enough to fly the city. At least, she didn't three days ago."
"Elizabeth can't make a pulse of energy like that," Rodney pointed out as he reached for his nearly empty water cup. "I don't care what kind of virus she has. It's completely impossible."
"So something else was in that room?" Jack asked as he leaned back against the wall. "One of you geniuses want to tell me who it was?"
break
Ronon opened his eyes into the blackness of space. Tensing as he waited for his body to fail, he couldn't help noticing the beauty of the void in front of him. His hands moved freely and he could feel the emptiness welcoming his presence. Teyla's mind urged him to turn, to see what she needed him to see.
At first he tried to use his muscles, but as he struggled Ronon's mind quieted. Instead of moving his arms and turning himself in space, he simply thought about turning.
The Jaffa fleet came into view first. Somewhere in this system, a sun illuminated the mighty hu'tac vessels with flashes of red and gold. They waited in formation, facing down the invading force and glistening like jewels in the velvet of space.
As Ronon continued to turn, the Asuran vessels filled the horizon. The Jaffa fleet was large, one of the greatest he'd seen, but the Asuran vessels were a cloud of silver. The horde was still growing. Flashing blue as they dropped from hyperspace, small warships continued to join the fleet.
"This cannot be allowed," Teyla's voice rang in his mind as if it was his own thought. "They wait only for their city ship, then they will rain darkness over all worlds."
"Why don't you stop them?" he demanded as he felt the uneasiness of the Jaffa soldiers. They would die and they knew it. They would stand nobly and without thought of retreat, but they stand just long enough to be destroyed.
"What good am I?" Teyla answered softly as she brought him back to Atlantis. "I am Wraith. I am not human or one of the ancestors."
Ronon flexed a hand that was grey-green beneath his brown skin. His nails had already become black and he could feel the humans all around him. He could sense their life force and feel it calling to him. For his whole life he'd ran from the Wraith. He'd fought them when he could, but it always ended in running. His tongue ran over razor teeth and he lifted his hand to her chest.
His palm could feel the life inside of her. Teyla drew him like a beacon and he ached to touch her. Ronon felt the growl surface in his chest. Hunger as he'd never felt it was part of him now. Hunger was in every beat of his heart and each breath was in wanting.
Teyla stroked the back of his hand with a talon and hunger faded into love. She was the warmth and light of the universe. He fed to add to her glory; to become one with her strength. He was hungry because he loved her. "To the ancestors we were unexpected."
"An accident," Ronon agreed as he reached for her face. Touching her enhanced his senses and he could feel his friends burn with life in the city around him. Zelenka was frustrated and impatient. Lorne was quiet but simmering beneath his exterior.
John was purely terrified.
Emotion was part of life and it each feeling had a taste. Frustration was bitter and tingled his nose. He could smell it; feel all of it run through him as if he were standing in a great river. Experience, feeling, memory- all of the prey were part of the predator. The Wraith were not just the eaters of souls, but the collection of worlds. Within Teyla and him by extension, were the minds of billions and their lives were part of the whole. The chorus of many within him burned like a sun in the void of space.
The Asurans had no life. They were tasteless, metallic and dull. There was no emotion, no spark of life to add to the oneness. The Wraith had a place. Their accidental evolution was part of the whole of the universe. They reclaimed life. Recycled what was into what would be new. Teyla was the reservoir; the queen and the mother.
The Ancestors had not understood. Like their human children, they had struggled against their fate and created the abomination that called themselves Asurans. The universe had fallen out of order and needed to be remade.
Teyla's eyes were closed and when he lowered his forehead to hers, Ronon shared what she felt. The air of Atlantis was ripening. Something was changing and he could feel his mouth begin to water. New life was stirring and his friends, his beloved friends, would be greater. They were not ready for the oneness and he accepted that his path would be different.
"All begins," Teyla whispered as she shared her strength. "They will come to understand."
First they would change.
Sam zipped herself into the haz-mat suit and felt herself start to sweat. "Let's make this quick," she said into her radio as she met Daniel's eyes through the plastic. "How long did it take you to get up here?"
"Forty-five minutes too long," Daniel sighed into his radio as he nodded to Jack and Rodney. "They going to be okay together?"
"Rodney's afraid of him," Sam assured her friend as she waved to her husband. Jack moved his chin and his eyes were steadfast. Jack knew she'd work it out; he was just waiting for the moment she did. She concentrated on moving her feet in the bulk suit and fell into step behind Daniel.
"Too many cracks about scientists?" he asked lightly as they made their way through a blue-tinted corridor.
"He can be quite charming," Sam muttered sarcastically as she waved her hand in front of a door and waited for it to open. "At least, that's what I'm told."
They walked for a while in silence and Sam relaxed into the swishing and crackling of their suits. After a while, Daniel let her lead and she left him to his thoughts. Jack would never have agreed if she'd told him what she was planning. He would have even kept her forcibly in the control room and out of the infirmary, but she had to know.
"Do you think Elizabeth's going to be all right?" Daniel broke the silence and Sam was glad he couldn't see her face.
"John's with her," she replied curtly through the radio once she was sure her voice was level. "We can't really spare Simon or any of the medics. Having a baby isn't that complicated."
"Unless something goes wrong," Daniel reminded her with a quiet strength in his voice.
"I'm not sure what he told you," Sam began without trying to hide her hostility. "This has nothing to do with Elizabeth. This is about making the most of our available resources."
"The virus isn't life-threatening," he reminded her softly as he reached for her arm.
Sam pulled hers quickly out of reach as she pretended she was working with the door. "Unless something goes wrong," she retorted quickly as she started to walk a little faster. "I feel for them."
"I know," Daniel agreed gently and she was glad she couldn't see his face through the slightly foggy faceplate.
"Her vital signs were strong," Sam justified as she stared down at her map of the city. Trying to avoid populated areas and still make it quickly to the infirmary was more difficult than she thought. "Jack knows we have to manage our resources."
"Doesn't stop him from watching the video feed," Daniel reminded her as he drew close enough for her to see his eyes. "It could have easily been the other way," he added patiently. "Elizabeth's not a saint."
"None of us are," Sam murmured into her radio before she sighed and met his gaze. "I think the virus had something to do with why Jack and I." she swallowed before she finished speaking, "I don't have the gene. I've been reading Queen Mab and Doctor Beckett's notes. Fetuses without LK-476, ATA, abort on Ceol. She programmed it into the population that they need it to come to term."
"No one else has gotten pregnant since Earth was destroyed," Daniel realized as they started down another flight of stairs. "We're using hope as birth control and no one else has gotten pregnant."
Sam stopped walking and stared at her feet until her heart stopped pounding. "There's something about this--" she waved a hand at the soft lights of the city below the catwalk they were on and shook her head. "It's bigger than we are."
"Almost makes saving the world seem easy by comparison doesn't it?" he wondered rhetorically as he kept walking. "Building a new one is a whole new struggle."
"I was thinking about retiring," Sam admitted as she choose the left hand corridor. "Maybe going private sector? Teaching at a university?"
"I wanted to come here," Daniel admitted sheepishly. "I could spend a lifetime here."
"You couldn't have wished to win the lottery or something?" Sam teased as she took them down another turn. "Maybe just to keep your hair?"
"This is where it began," he explained as he fumbled with his suit. "Life, our life began here before it came to Earth. This city was living millions of years ago."
"Now it's just stumbling in the dark," Sam reminded him bitterly wishing they understood more of the systems.
"We all start out in the dark," Daniel replied sagely. "We all flail and scream until we find our way."
"Nothing really gets to you, does it?" Sam asked, somewhere between cheerful and annoyed, as they finally saw the door to the infirmary.
"We don't have any coffee," Daniel answered with great sorrow. "And it's going to be almost a year before we can harvest it hydroponically."
"What's the line for a cup look like?"Sam wondered as she ripped off her face shield and took a deep breath.
"Like a line for the fountain of youth," he replied with a wink as he flopped into a chair and started tugging himself out of the suit. "I traded the two cups of Jello I still had from the Odyssey to move up to twelfth."
Shaking her head as she peeled the suit from her legs, Sam grinned at him. "Vala didn't come up with something better?"
"She's second," Daniel admitted as he blushed slightly. "I don't really want to touch that."
"It wasn't illegal," Vala teased as she threw herself into his lap. "At least, not under our current system," she corrected as she kissed his sweaty cheek. "He's still working."
Sam nodded to Vala and rushed to the microscope across the room by Simon. She had work to do.
Sam held the gauze over the vein in her arm as Simon added her blood to his equipment and rubbed his eyes.
"How long have you suspected?" Simon asked softly as he pulled himself up to the microscope.
"I've been sure for three weeks," Sam admitted as she bent her arm experimentally. "I--" she stopped and shook herself before she finished speaking. "Kinda thought I'd lose it again."
Simon sighed empathetically and nodded towards the computer. "The fetal cells in your blood should be enough to show wether or not the fetus has the gene," he assured her as he waited for the computer. "I don't have to tell you, we don't know this is deadly. Jenn and Kate are still unconscious. If they don't start to show signs of improvement soon I'll have to set up an intravenous feeding process for everyone with the virus."
"Death by virus and death in another Asuran attack are pretty much the same," Sam answered darkly as she waited behind his chair. Her hands were shaking and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest to hide it. She'd known she was pregnant again, but she couldn't watch Jack's hopes be destroyed. Without ATA, she would have failed again; letting him down wasn't something she could handle.
"How much of a dose do you intend to give yourself?" Simon asked as he tightened his forehead in concern. "You and your fetus are both negative for the gene." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "This could kill the fetus."
Sam squared her shoulders and reached for the blood samples from Kate Heightmeyer. "How much can you replicate? Twice her dose?"
Simon inhaled sharply. "I'm not sure I can let you do that."
Sam wiped her sweating palms on her uniform pants and nodded to the doctor. "i'll let you monitor me," she decided as watched worry darken his eyes. "it's not impossible that this virus is actually the next step in our evolution. We all need this gene to run this city and keep ourselves alive or everything we are, everything we lost on Earth, isn't going to mean anything anymore."
Simon closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. "Four times Kate's dose is the highest I'd go."
Sam set the vial in the medical computer and began to synthesize the virus. Her hands were starting to settle and her heart was slow now that she was face to face with her plan. She rested her hands on the controls and set it for six times the count in Kate's blood. Jack would just have to forgive her.
John wiped his eyes with the side of his hand again and finally gave up. Elizabeth sat up weakly and tried to balance the baby against her chest. John's hands steadied the newborn's head near Elizabeth's breast and she watched in awe as the tiny red lips closed around her nipple.
Her little gasp of surprise made John chuckle, even though he still had tears in his eyes. "They're not really going to be the same, are they?" he teased as he stroked the back of his daughter's dark head.
"It's the strangest feeling," Elizabeth admitted as she beamed down at her daughter. "She's strong."
"She's like you," John murmured as his hand found Elizabeth's cheek. "You're beautiful."
Elizabeth started to laugh and winced as pain lanced through her stomach muscles. "I probably," she paused looking up from the baby and into his eyes. Smiling as she read his expression, she reached for his hand on her cheek. "I definitely look like hell."
"You're not looking right," John insisted as he moved to sit next to her. He yawned as he continued to stare at his daughter in awe. "She seemed smaller an hour ago."
"Not to me," Elizabeth sighed, exhausted, but she started to laugh softly when she noticed John's finger trapped inside their daughter's hand. "She's got you already," she murmured as she tried to change position. Her hand was starting to fall asleep and once she thought about that, her body hurt almost everywhere. Even her feet were sore.
John took the baby from her carefully as if he were lifting a bomb out of a casing. He held her in his outstretched hands for a moment before he realized Elizabeth wasn't immediately taking her back. As he cradled his new daughter to his chest, he watched as Elizabeth drug herself to her feet. She had to cling to the wall for balance; her knees were shaky but she drew herself up.
A few tentative steps brought her to the pile of her clothing on the edge of the chair platform. Elizabeth bit back a moan as she reached for her bra, but she was moving.
"Back to work all ready?" John wondered as she carefully pulled her bra back on over her swollen breasts.
"At some point..." Elizabeth paused and waited for the room to stop moving around her before she tried to put on her panties. "...they're going to come looking for us."
"Best not to be naked in front of Rodney?" John teased as he tried to decide if she wanted help.
Elizabeth waved him off as he started to stand. "I'm okay," she promised as she stepped into her black panties. "Just feel like someone ripped something out of me."
"I'm sure she feels bad," he offered on their daughter's behalf. Grinning foolishly as he watched the baby's lips move, John looked up as Elizabeth sank to the floor to start with her pants. "What's her name?"
"God," Elizabeth stopped and looked up sadly. "We didn't even--" She bit her lip as she buttoned up her pants. They already looked looser over the flattened swell of her belly and he couldn't help wondering how long it would be before she gave them back.
"I like Hanna," John volunteered as he started to stand. The baby complained in a bleat of sound as he jostled her and Elizabeth's heart melted when he started to rock back and forth.
She tried to name on her tongue and dropped her hands to her hips. Elizabeth could feel the dried sweat in her hair when it swung in front of her face. She wanted desperately to shower. There was dried blood and fluid on her legs and her pants felt strange against her skin.
"Hanna," Elizabeth repeated as he made his way to her side. She started to her feet but caught herself suddenly when more pain reminded her what she'd just been through.
John slipped the baby into his left arm and offered his right hand to help her up. Elizabeth looked up and he caught the surprise in her eyes. "I think I got it," John insisted shyly as he shook his hand towards her. "Neither of you are that heavy."
She barely let him have any of her weight, but just having him to hang on to helped. Elizabeth took a second to catch her breath before she left him to cling to the arm of the control chair. "Been doing research?"
"Rodney told me," John admitted sheepishly looking around the room. The emergency lights were still flashing blue. "I thought maybe 'Carson' if it was a boy, but she's not..." He lifted his daughter a little higher and touched her reddish cheek. "She kinda looks like a Hanna. I didn't know your mother--"
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes angrily and chuckled bitterly when he pulled her hands away. Letting her tears run freely down her face still felt awkward, more so than being naked a moment ago. "She'd like that," she finished for him as she bit her lip. "She'd be so excited to be a grandmother. Never really gave up hoping. Even when I ran off with the United Nations, I think she'd wait for me to make a mistake. Hope I'd come home pregnant one day, just so she couldn't have a grandchild."
Her daughter moved in John's arms and she saw the red fist over the gray of his jacket. Her eyes stung more as her tears flowed faster. The shaking terror she'd held in long enough to give birth rushed back. Maybe she was just too tired to hold it in anymore, but she couldn't stop.
John's chest let her forget about being strong. "Where is she?" Elizabeth asked suddenly when she felt both of his hands on her back. She lifted her head in immediate panic and John indicated the chair with his chin.
"Figure she'll end up there someday," John supposed as he tired to remember when he used to get a good night's sleep. "We can call her something else. I like a lot of girls names."
"No, no," Elizabeth whispered as she dropped her head back to his chest. Crying hurt her stomach almost as much as laughing but she had to get it out before it festered. "I- God- John--"
"I'd still like a little Carson," John teased as he found a part of her forehead to kiss. "Maybe another girl too."
Licking her lips made her almost able to speak again. Elizabeth wiped her face on his shirt and tried to imagine them with more than one child. The only thing that came into her mind was an image of John swarmed with children as he tried to feed them.
Elizabeth pulled herself away from him and decided she was better off of her quivering legs. Resting her head against his leg, she put her hands over her aching belly and tried to remember not being pregnant. "You think we'll be all right?"
"We make attractive babies," John pointed out as he sank down between her and the control chair. "I think she's going to look like you."
"Maybe a little more organized next time?" she begged softly smiling when he grinned.
"You were amazing, Elizabeth," he murmured as he rested his head on the edge of the chair and stared down at Hanna. He'd expected her to cry more. John almost laughed when he realized she'd only been in the world a few hours and he was already dumbfounded by her. Maybe she was a quiet baby or she was just waiting until he and Elizabeth tried to go to sleep to cry.
"I was terrified," Elizabeth broke the silence and snuggled closer into his arm. "I can't believe you were so calm."
John's hand found hers and held it close against her chest. "I wasn't," he replied ruefully. "You were just a little preoccupied."
"So that's how it was?" she teased and kissed the back of his hand. He hugged her close for a moment before he slipped down to the floor. When he passed her stomach, John touched it reverently, shocked by the change. Elizabeth recoiled slightly, but she forgave him with a kiss.
"This okay?" he asked as he settled his head onto her thighs. "Doesn't hurt?"
Running her hands through his hair always made her smile. "Might even be worth it if it did," Elizabeth mused as she reached back to touch her daughter. The baby was still asleep on the seat of the chair. "Thank you for this."
He sighed, barely awake, and she realized how much effort he'd expended. His hair was still damp with sweat and he was falling asleep on her lap faster than she thought possible. He'd held her up, dragged her against the wall when she couldn't stand. How would it have been without him? Would she still be in labor without his help? Her memory of it was already fading. She couldn't remember much more than his presence and the way he'd been the only thing in the room.
"Give me a little bit," she whispered softly as she trailed her hand down his neck. "Then we'll talk about a Carson. Maybe another girl--" Running her hand back to his neck, Elizabeth listened to his breathing and the quieter miracle of their daughter whimpering behind her. "You're a good man, John. I'm not quite sure I deserve you, but you're a good man."
break
Sam took the syringe from Simon's hand and filled it. It was almost clear, completely innocent in the plastic.
"Be careful," Simon warned as he hit her arm to make the vein appear. "We've been trying to reuse the syringes. Have to keep them sharp."
Simon didn't mention that she could be killing herself and Sam was grateful. He had the same look Janet had sometimes. The one that knew better but he kept silent. "Not many left?" Sam asked as she stabbed the needle into her own arm. There was something comforting in the pain. Pain was always real.
"We're not really set up to make more," Simon explained shrugging. "Is Elizabeth...?"
Sam's vision flashed white. She'd expected more time. Her lips moved but she wasn't sure she could feel them. "She's fine," her voice echoed inside her head. Was she sitting down? Simon was talking. Daniel was talking. Someone was touching her arm but something was exploding in her head.
Was she screaming?
Simon only had enough time to watch Sam's vital signs fall into chaos. Her heart stopped as her brain waves shot through the red line. He moved towards her slowly, as if the air had gelled around him. He took one step before the white wave slammed into him.
Daniel saw Simon drop like a stone and only had the time to reach for Vala before it hit him.
Vala wasn't watching. She knew Sam's pain, understood what it was like to have something within her turn against her. She felt Daniel's fingers latch onto hers before the light hit her.
Rodney lifted his hands from the console as if it had suddenly become too hot to touch. Light poured from the city, blinding him and everyone else in the control room.
Jack closed his eyes and felt it wash over him like a wave of warm water. Unlike Rodney, he'd seem enough strangeness to know when to give in.
John jolted in his sleep, startling Elizabeth as she as reached for the baby. Hanna screamed once, wailing her frustration at the indignity in her head. Elizabeth held her daughter against her chest and hushed her as she felt John relax back into sleep. If John was still sleeping, she knew it was all right.
Evan Lorne watched as the marines went unconscious one at a time. Falling like dead wood as the light cut through the walls and invaded the barracks. For some reason he smelled grass.
Zelenka had his head in a control panel and only felt the warmth a moment before it took him.
Teyla held Ronon's hand and kept him separate. The light washed over them and through them as if it were part of their souls. She opened her mind and let it in to feed on her strength. Teyla fed the blaze of light like an infusion of pure energy. What had been a glow became all encompassing. Ronon felt her soul in the air. Tasted the moisture of her lips in the air as it filled his lungs.
Everything she had taken, Teyla returned. She pulsed with energy and it poured from her into the city. The souls of worlds, Carson, Mab, the Genii, Michael: everything she had consumed had a place. Energy continued; souls went on after death. Ronon stood at her side and watched as life became otherworldly.
He opened his mind and saw what other's saw. Ronon felt Elizabeth's adoration for her daughter and her deep love for John. He shared Jack's patience acceptance that strangeness passed, and if it didn't, he'd had a good life. John just wanted to sleep because tomorrow was another day where he'd have to drag himself to his feet and keep fighting. That was the way John loved; his passion let him sleep when he could so he could stand when he was needed. He felt Sam's gut-wrenching sorrow and the knot of hope that kept her from darkness. Ronon touched Simon's regrets and Rodney's frustration.
In the center of it all, he shared Teyla's gift. Her insanity, her incredible power, and everything that made her the source of what was to come. She was the new world. The goddess who wiped away the old and made way for new growth. The fire that destroyed dying trees and left hopeful ashes.
Atlantis would grow. Atlantis would shine and hang in the sky as a beacon of hope. The city of light would be salvation for all who looked to the heavens for the answers.
Ronon felt the tugging at his soul. The needs of all the souls of Atlantis and the incredible amount of energy those bodies required. He could give in, let go and become part of the maelstrom. He would be in everyone, in the bones of his people and the beams of the city.
Teyla's mind pushed him back, gently like a mother, reminding him he had a different place. She was still standing. Still shining like she'd fallen from heaven. The Wraith were with her, adding their strength as she took what the Ori had corrupted and made it new.
Worlds went in circles. Fire made new lands and old ones fell into the oceans. Stars exploded and dust became new light for new worlds. All continued through darkness and hope, birth and blood led the way.
His eyes were stinging. Ronon raised his hand and looked at the single droplet of water he'd pulled from his cheek. In Teyla's light, it glowed like a star.
Jack balanced the baby in a practiced arm and lowered his hand for Elizabeth. "Just slip his head out, let him wake up slow," he advised as he grinned at her. "Just couldn't wait for my day could you?"
"What?" Elizabeth asked as she bit her lip.
He watched her manage to smile and knew the pain would fade. "I'd had good money on the fourteenth," Jack teased as he stared in proudly at the bundle in John's jacket. "You okay?"
"Hurt like hell," Elizabeth offered gruffly as she wondered if stretching would hurt more than she thought. "She's worth it."
"How old?" Jack asked as he steadied her back. "Three hours?"
"Three and a half," Elizabeth sighed and clung to his arm. "This is really happening, isn't it?"
"Yup," Jack replied as he lifted her chin. Her eyes were clear above the dark cirlces of exhaustion. "You look okay," he decided professionally. When he pulled her closer, Elizabeth almost retreated. He kissed her lips, quick, like a gentle brother. "You did great."
Fighting tears again, Elizabeth heard John start to stir at her feet. Mouthing her thanks to Jack, she made herself smile. "John did most of the hard parts," she insisted as John slowly dragged himself to his feet.
"I'm going to have the scars to prove it," he teased yawning into his hand and shaking is head. "How we doing?"
"The city released the lockdown after the surge," Jack explained as he slapped John's shoulder. "She's going to be lovely, kid."
John chuckled and shook his head, still shell shocked by his experience. Elizabeth slipped herself under his arm and let him think he was supporting her. "What was the surge?"
"Something fucking insane that Simon and my idiot, genius, wife cooked up," Jack complained with gruff appreciation. "They tried to explain it. McKay tried to explain it. That Keller tried to explain it..." Jack touched Hanna's tiny fist and started leading them to the transporter. "Everyone's got the gene now."
Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Everyone?"
"We lost a few," Jack admitted as he waved to open the transporter. "Forty-two, something about the virus. They went quiet."
Elizabeth's face went to stone and the arm John had around her shoulders was suddenly very necessary. "What happened?"
"Teyla," Jack raised his hand and just shook his head instead of explaining. "She says they were drawn in. That she tried to stop it, but sometimes being part of many is better than being alone."
"Teyla's here?" John demanded as they stepped from the transporter into the control room. "Is she all right?"
"Well, she was here," Jack led them towards an arguing mass of Rodney, Sam, Simon, Daniel and Radek. Vala brandished her sidearm at the general as soon as she saw him.
"Never leave me with this again," she growled as she tapped his chest with the barrel of her gun. "They aren't even listening to each other anymore. They're just seeing who can yell the longest without taking a breath."
Jack covered Hanna's tiny head with his hand. "Campers!" he bellowed towards the crowd. "Shut the hell up," he snapped in his most decisive tone. " Take a look at what these two decided to do while we were trying to fix the city."
"How much time until we reach the Asuran fleet?" she asked softly.
John turned into Elizabeth when she kissed his neck. "Not nearly enough to sleep," John complained as he watched his daughter meet her new family. "What do you think she's thinking?"
"That she'd rather sleep," Elizabeth murmured and held him closer as she watched Rodney's face light with terror as Jack suggested he hold the baby.
"When's the briefing?" John asked through another yawn as he buried his face in her hair.
"Oh-eight hundred," Elizabeth answered immediately as he groaned and shook his head.
"Some women take the day off when they have a baby," John reminded her as he dropped into a chair like dead wood.
"There are a lot of confused people out there," Elizabeth reminded him reaching for his hands and smiling patiently. "And in here. Teyla's given us an incredible gift and the city's already changing. Rodney just told Sam that there are hundreds of new systems coming online."
"How do you hear that?" John asked in surprise as he shook himself out of sleep. "They're all talking at once," he groaned and tried not yawn again.
"There's a reason I was so good at the UN," Elizabeth teased and ran a hand over the control panel. "It's like we've finally made the city home. Years of living here, and she's finally decided to let us stay."
He yanked her arms until her head was low enough for him to kiss her. Though she was laughing at his laziness, Elizabeth's lips melted into his. "Go, find out what Teyla's up to, listen to Rodney--"
She kissed his forehead and then lifted his chin to kiss him again. "You'll take her back to our quarters?"
"We'll be there," John stood slowly and yawned into his hand. "Just as soon as I get her away from the general." Elizabeth's fingers stayed on his arm and he looked down at her hand before he stared into her eyes. Behind her exhaustion, they were shining.
"You and me," he began sheepishly starting to blush. "Works pretty good, doesn't it?"
Elizabeth's shoulders shook with amusement as she nodded. Her chest was too tight and if she wasn't careful, she'd be crying in a moment. "I think we do all right, John."
He kissed her and wrapped her up in arms that she'd always be able to count on. "See you at home," John promised as he let go.
Elizabeth watched him removed their daughter from Jack's arms and the hands that patted his back. Hanna would sleep for her father. She'd grow in his shadow and learn to be as honorable and honest as the man who loved her. Dropping her hand to her still aching body, Elizabeth sighed. She'd heal and her body would return to normal but she already missed Hanna's presence within her.
Maybe a few more wouldn't be so bad.
"Elizabeth," Rodney started enthusiastically. "We need to set up the science teams to study our new systems. Maybe even pull volunteers from the civilians..." he stopped suddenly and his face split into a childish grin. "You're a mom now."
She laughed and felt her chest burst with emotion. "Yeah," she murmured in thanks. "Thank you."
"You'll be great," Rodney offered sincerely. He even just grinned at her for a moment before he lifted his computer. "Now...I think we should start--"
--fin--
Thank you for being here with me! Your comments and your support (even if you said nothing, thanks for reading!) has meant the world to me.