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Underground
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"No, how's that for an answer?" Elizabeth snapped. She looked back and forth between Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford in disbelief. She honestly couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"It pithy," Sheppard said shrugging casually. "I'll give you that." He hadn't expected Elizabeth to be excited about the Genii's plan to infiltrate a Wraith ship, but he had expected her to consider it for at least thirty seconds. It was risky, but the potential rewards were worth it.
"I'm sure you already agreed to this," Weir paced anxiously behind Sheppard and Ford as she massaged away the growing migraine. This trade deal with the Genii had started simple, crops for medicine, from there it had gone from bad to worse. Every couple hours Sheppard would step back through the stargate with a new, terrible negotiation.
"Only because we'll get something out of it," Sheppard reasoned calmly.
What he failed to add was Teyla and Rodney's lives were one of the things they would get out of it. The Genii had left them no choice, it was either help them or die, and it had taken a fair amount of smooth talking on his part to convince them they needed his team to help them.
"And we do need allies ma'am," Ford added helpfully. He was doing his best to help his superior office, but when Weir leveled a glare his way he dropped his eyes to the table submissively again.
"Allies?" Weir asked incredulously. "You just said these people were ready to string you up. How can you tell me you trust them?"
"Hey," Sheppard said pulling back. "I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. There's a reason they insisted McKay and Teyla stay there, and it's not just to help them with building their bombs. But we have something they need, and they have something we need. I thought that was what negotiating was all about."
"Oh, well it is," Weir agreed her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Personally though I stop short of offering nuclear weapons."
John frowned. He was normally the sarcastic one. It seemed he was rubbing off on Weir and he didn't like it.
"They were building them anyway," Ford said in a low voice as he stared at his hands. He looked like a kid who had been sent to the principles office.
Weir shot him a look of disbelief. "Oh, well if they were building them anyway lieutenant, why didn't you just say so?" she spun back around on John. "You realize I originally sent you out for food?"
Sheppard flattened his mouth and leaned back to glance at Ford. "I think we can still get that."
"I don't see why not," Ford agreed helpfully.
Elizabeth's anger was dissipating quickly, so John leaned back in his chair, relaxing into the conversation now that he was sure he wasn't going to get chewed out any worse. "We kind of moved past it with the whole atomic bomb thing," he joked lightly, hoping to get her to stop and really consider the possibilities here.
"Okay," Weir said after a moment. "Tell me the truth. Can you pull this off?"
John nodded slowly. "We'll have to watch our backs, but- I wouldn't put my team at risk if I didn't think so."
Elizabeth exhaled. "Okay go," she relented. "and then maybe we'll talk about nuclear bombs," she said with a disgusted shake of her head.
"Ah Elizabeth, there's one more thing," Sheppard called after her.
Weir stopped, sighing. This wasn't going to be good if John had saved it for after the nuclear bombs.
He flashed her that boyish grin he used when he knew he was in trouble. It never worked on her.
"They have a wraith data device that has given us some information regarding the hive, however they haven't been able to unlock all the information and before we go..."
Weir sighed again. "She has to agree to go. I won't order her to do it." She said sharply. "I mean it John, she's on a science team. It is not in her job description to walk into a Wraith hive ship." and she turned and walked away.
John exhaled and climbed to his feet. "I'll talk to Kai, you load up and inform Bates of the plan. We'll meet in the jumper bay in..." John glanced down at his watch trying to decide how long it might take him to talk Kai into coming with them. "Two hours."
Ford nodded and trotted away eagerly.
The conversation with Weir had gone better than he hoped, and though he hated to admit it, she was right about Kai. Kai had been incredibly helpful on several missions lately, but it wasn't her job. Her expertise on Wraith tech and her piloting skills had saved their hides more than a few times.
He hated to admit it, but he had been wrong about her. She was competent and dedicated. She had shown an ability to remain calm when shit hit the fan and she didn't back down when things got hard.
Up until Hoff he would have said she was cold, but he had seen her anger over the little boy there. Watching him die had been tough on all of them, and it made him hesitant to drag her back out into the field so soon. No matter how he looked at it however they needed Kai to take a look at the data drive and there was no way the Genii were going to give it up without a fight.
He found her sitting by herself in the mess hall. There was a tray of barely touched food getting cold in front of her as she read on a tablet. She was wearing the oversized mechanics jumpsuit again and her scarf was wrapped like a turban around her head with one end resting over her shoulder.
"Interesting reading?" He asked standing over her.
Kai jerked her eyes to him, her body coiling with tension. She released as soon as she realized it was the Major.
John recognized he had startled her. "Sorry," he said and he pulled out the chair across from her, sitting down. Whatever had happened in her past had made her reactive and hyper-aware. John would never ask, but it made him mad to know how bad it must have been to condition her the way it had.
"McKay found me some schematics for the jumpers in the database," Kai responded.
The Major was a mystery to her. He had spent so long being suspicious of her, but after their time on Hoff together it was like a switch had flipped and she was one of his people. Now, he was apologizing for startling her and making small talk. Their time in the hospital together secured her place here in his eyes and he hadn't looked back.
"Exciting," he said with a teasing grin. He glanced around them. "Where's Zelenka?"
"If you're looking for him he's on the east pier examining some power conduits."
"I'm not," John said quickly. "It's just rare to see you without him." He reached out and swiped a fry from her abandoned tray.
Kai shrugged and took a sip of her water as she waited for the Major to get to the reason he was here. She had gotten used to his little dance. He was uncomfortable asking her straight out to do things. She imagined it was a combination of her past plus the fact that she wasn't directly under his command. The Major wasn't the type of person who liked asking for help.
He reached for another fry. "No ketchup?" He asked frowning down at her tray.
"Ketchup?" She asked in confusion.
He made a noise in the back of his throat. "You're missing out." He looked around and spotted a bottle on a neighboring table. He dashed over and returned proudly with the bottle of red sauce. He presented it like it was some kind of prize.
"I'm about to change your life," he assured her smugly.
Kai watched him as he shook out the ketchup onto her tray. His hazel eyes were sparkling with humor but she could see the tension in him. Whatever had him here was weighing on him. She could see it in the lines around his mouth and the tension in his broad shoulders.
"Ketchup," he said dipping the fries. "Was the reason fries were invented." He ate his and then snatched up two fries and dipped them before holding them out to her.
Kai snorted despite herself. His smile was infectious. There was something about the Major's ability to put people at ease. She took the fries from him, her fingers brushing his and ate the food.
John was watching her carefully waiting for her reaction. She nodded in approval and reached for more. A wide grin broke across his face as she ate another.
"I knew it," he chuckled. He reached for a fry and Kai swatted his hand away playfully.
A small smile was on her face as she slid the tray towards him. He chuckled and shook his head. "Very kind of you to share."
She ate another bite before she glanced up at him. "Are you going to tell me why you're here?" She asked in a low voice.
She was enjoying her time with the Major far too much. She needed to distance herself and remind herself she wasn't here to make friends. She was here to survive.
John sat back in his chair as he stared at her, the smile falling from his face. The dichotomy of Kai rearing it's ugly head again. She had just moved them suddenly and completely back to business.
"I-" he started to say and stopped. "Have you heard of the Genii?"
Kai's eyes widened and she nodded. "Yes. They are...probably one of the most advanced societies in this quadrant," she said. "They're..." she drug off and pressed her lips into a grim line as she tried to think of how best to describe them.
"So you've had contact with them?" John asked in surprise.
"My people had," Kai replied tightly. This conversation had the potential to take a turn and lead to questions she wasn't prepared to answer. "They're very secretive."
"Understatement," John agreed. "We thought they were simple farmers, turns out it was a ruse they put on for outsiders," John didn't say it, but the fact that Kai's people knew their true face hung in the air between them.
"So McKay and I stumble on their secret underground city and long story short we find out they plan to make nuclear bombs to plant on hibernating Hive ships."
Kai frowned as her thoughts began racing. "Last I heard the Genii were not advanced enough for space travel...that aside, how would they even find the Hives?"
"Funny story, apparently in a battle generations and generations ago they happened to get their hands on the data drive of a Wraith dart."
Kai jerked up in her seat at those words. Her grey eyes widened and John could literally watch as her mind raced with all the possibilities. That one reaction from Kai was enough to tell him the basis of this mission was sound.
"Those are nearly impossible to get your hands on," she said quietly.
"Well they got their hands on one," John reported. "They've managed to rig up a pretty archaic interface and read some of what's on it, but there's a lot of holes in the data. They think they've found a Wraith hive in hibernation and want to go in and use the data drive to access the main data core. They think they will be able to find the location of all the hive ships in this quadrant."
Kai sat back in her seat. "Wow," she said. "That's incredibly-"
"Bold?" John asked.
Kai scoffed. "I was going to say stupid. I hope you didn't-" she started to say but stopped as she saw the look on the major's face. She sighed. "You agreed to go didn't you?"
Sheppard rocked back in his chair and at least had the good graces to look sheepish. "Maybe a little."
Kai made a noise of disgust in the back of her throat. "Did you at least bring me the data drive so I can get the rest of the information off of it?" She realized then the reason for the Major's visit.
"See, that's where we've hit a slight snag. The Genii won't let us leave with the drive...in fact, they wouldn't let us leave with Teyla or McKay until this mission is done."
Kai went very still as she processed the news. She shoved her tray back away from her and leaned forward. "So, they are holding them hostage and coercing you into going along with their ill conceived plan?"
"That about sums it up," Sheppard agreed eating the last of her fries.
"And you need me to..." she sighed. "You want me to see if I can get more data off that drive don't you?" she asked incredulously.
"Had crossed my mind," the Major hedged. "It would make our job a hell of a lot safer. But I need to be honest with you Kai. This isn't a walk in the park and I don't trust these people as far as I can throw them. But if we pull this off we might end up with more information about the Wraith than we could ever dream of, are you willing to do it?"
Kai sighed. There were too many unknowns. The plan was a logistical nightmare.
"Of course I'll do it," she heard herself agreeing.
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Kai and Major Sheppard were down in the locker room gearing up. "We made a mistake with the Wraith. I'm not letting you go in there in your civis," Sheppard said seriously. "These people might be our allies but they aren't our friends, and I won't have you walking in there with a target on your back."
"Understood," Kai agreed. She had changed into fitted black pants, a tight black t-shirt, and her own soft black knee high boots. She zipped up the charcoal and black jacket Sheppard had given her and knotted her scarf around her neck inside the jacket so it wouldn't be in her way.
John was digging through a pile of flak vests. He turned and looked her up and down. He sucked in a breath. They had managed to find a military uniform small enough, and it hugged her curves. He tore his eyes away from her and looked back at the vest in his hands.
He grunted. "I don't know if this will help," he muttered holding out the smallest vest he could find. She shrugged it on.
"There's-" he started to say and he gestured towards the laces under her arms. "Can I-?"
Kai lifted her left arm so Sheppard could tighten the laces to make the vest more fitted. Once done he nodded in approval and began gathering her gear. He named it off as he handed it to her and she tucked it away.
He pulled out a handgun. "Standard issue nine mil," he said handing it over.
She slid it into the holster on her belt. She looked at him. "How come you get a thigh holster?" She asked.
John swallowed. "Would you like a thigh holster?" He asked as the image went over him.
Kai forced herself to shrug, as though she had no preference. A mechanic would have no preference, although she did in fact prefer a thigh holster for a side arm. It was a faster draw. She had three of her own knives concealed on her but she was grateful for the standard issue military KA-BAR attached to the belt the Major had given her.
"I think that's everything," John said closing the supply closet and he turned around.
Kai stood in full military gear behind him. It seemed at the same time both strange and entirely natural. She looked badass and hot as hell. He wondered if maybe he had inadvertently just made things worse for them. Now she would be distracting for a completely different reason.
He cleared his throat. "Ready?" He asked.
Kai pressed her lips together. It felt so good to be back in full gear again, natural. It was strange to not have her head and face covered, but being armed and going off planet was a heady release. She loved Atlantis and she enjoyed working on the jumpers and with Doctor Zelenka, but there was a part of her that missed the excitement.
"Lead the way Major," she said as a pleased smirk stretched across her face.
"All right," Sheppard agreed. "Let's go see our friends."
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