Hello all! Wow, I'm blown away by the continued support! You guys are amazing! I'm so glad people are continuing to enjoy the story!
This one got a little long but I couldn't bear to cut out any of the Kai/Shepp moments ;)
Happy Reading!
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The Brotherhood
(Cont'd)
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"Kolya!" Sheppard bellowed angrily.
Kai flinched at the sudden noise near her ear, but the Major's eyes were glued to the top of the shaft.
A moment passed and two Genii appeared in the outline of sunlight. Kolya was one of them. "Surprised?" He asked with a predatory smile as he leveled a gun at Sheppard.
"You're alive," Sheppard growled.
"As far as I can tell. Did you actually think a single bullet to the shoulder would kill me? Your shot was conservative," he said with a smile. "I've often wondered why that is..." he dragged off, his eyes traveled to where Kai was standing a little behind Sheppard. His smile widened as though he had been given a prize.
"What'd you do to Ford?" Sheppard called.
"He's fine," Kolya promised turning his attention back to Sheppard, and he cocked his gun meaningfully.
"Then what do you want?" Sheppard demanded.
"The same as you Major, the lost treasure of the Quindosim."
McKay let out a defeated sigh. John lowered his gun. "What possible use could that be to you?"
"The Daganians have informed us that this ZPM, whatever it might be, is an object of great power, and great power is of use to all people. Especially the Genii."
"Sanir," Allina hissed and she slapped the other woman. McKay pulled back in shock.
Sanir cupped her cheek. "They offered us a great reward Allina-" she started to say.
Allina pulled her hand back to strike again. Teyla moved to intervene, catching Allina's wrist before she could cause more damage.
Above them Kolya chuckled as though the dissent in their group amused him.
Sheppard shook his head in disgust and turned back to his enemy. "They're no use to you Kolya, ZPM's only work on Atlantis," he knew trying to reason with Kolya was useless. The man hated him on a personal level, and the feeling was entirely mutual.
"Perhaps," Kolya agreed. "But I prefer hearing that from a Genii scientist."
Teyla stormed back into view furiously. "We do not have it yet. We have not found the ninth stone." More than anyone the continued hostility of the Genii made her feel immeasurably guilty. She had been the one to introduce the Atlantis Expedition to the Genii in the first place and their betrayal of her trust felt personal.
Kolya snorted as though her temper amused him. "We have an unbelievably large tactical advantage over you," Kolya explained unnecessarily. "Now if you would rather I just cover up the mouth of this chamber and forget about the whole thing, I'm more than willing to consider if for nothing but the opportunity to kill Major Sheppard and his pet."
John stiffened as his eyes cut to Kai, but as usual her face was an expressionless mask. It didn't seem to bother her to be referred to as less than human by the Genii but it enraged him.
"She's right!" McKay called suddenly. "We're closer but we aren't there yet. The ninth stone is hidden on another planet. All we have is the gate address."
Kolya leaned forward, cocking his head. "Doctor McKay, so wonderful to hear your grating voice again. How's the arm?" he mocked.
McKay stepped up so he could glare up the shaft. "Do you want to keep trading barbs? Or do you want to find the ZPM?" he challenged.
Kolya shifted thoughtfully as through he were actually considering the question.
"Look," McKay said tightly. "Lift me out of here and I'll help you find it, but then you let me team go," he bargained. McKay new the chances of Kolya staying true to the deal would be slim, but they had to get at least one of them out of the pit, and he was the one Kolya would consider the least dangerous.
"Shut up McKay," Sheppard hissed in a low whisper.
"What, you got a better idea?" he whispered back.
Sheppard sighed. "No," he confessed, staring up at all the Genii soldiers pointing guns at them. They could easily move out of range but as Kolya had pointed out there was nothing stopping him from closing the chamber and returning in a month to search their corpses.
"Do we have a deal or not?" McKay demanded.
"You and the two local women will be raised out. Along with everyone's weapons and radios," he called loudly. He paused for a moment and stared down at Sheppard. "Major, I know what kind of weaponry to expect from your Mortii. When you disarm It, I had better see all It's knives in the bucket," he said severely.
John bristled but Kolya continued. "The rest of you will remain here. If Doctor McKay finds the ZPM the others will be let go. I give you my word," and he got to his feet and disappeared from view.
Sheppard was scowling unhappily. "Well," he snapped acerbically. "We have his word," he mocked.
"I don't see that we have much choice," McKay muttered. "I'll do what I can," he promised in a low voice as he stepped up to the rope. "I'm coming up!" he called loudly.
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Teyla was crouched with Ford as he slowly regained consciousness. The Genii had tied his unconscious body to the rope and lowered him down, none to gently. His head hurt and he was still groggy but he was waking up fast as he realized what kind of danger they were in.
Sheppard and Kai meanwhile searched every stone and crevice for another way out of the chamber.
"This is pointless," Sheppard complained after nearly an hour of searching. "There are no trap doors or hidden passageways."
"There may be more than one way in here Major," Teyla gently disagreed. She helped Ford limp over to where their packs were leaning against the far wall.
Sheppard shook his head. "If you're trying to hide a chamber you don't put a bunch of entrances and exits all over the damn place."
Kai didn't necessarily disagree with the Major but she still kept up her search. She slid her fingers along the edge of another stone. "You'd rather just sit here and wait for them to come back?" she asked sharply.
Sheppard looked at Kai for a moment before he grunted. Kai was right. They needed a plan. He dragged his bag over to the others. "What do you have that we can use? I've got a couple MRE's, some ammo, and some med supplies."
Teyla unzipped her pant leg and pulled a knife out of her ankle sheath.
The Major smiled in approval. "Well, that's a start."
He turned to Kai. Without her tactical vest it didn't look like she had any more knives on her. He was sure her clothes were too tight to hide anything. Besides she had already given up five knives that they had sent up to the Genii, including her Blade. "You don't have-" he started to ask.
Kai flashed him a smirk and reached up under the back of her shirt and produced a knife. He nodded and opened his mouth to say something when she pulled another from her right boot and then yet another out of her left sleeve.
"O-kay," he dragged out the word. John let his eyes run over her once more, shocked she had been able to hide those. He paused for a moment. "Exactly how many knives do you usually carry?" he asked cocking his head to the side.
Kai smirked, "depends on the outfit."
Teyla chuckled behind her.
Ford dug in the top of his bag. "I've got a couple flashbangs, that's about it though," he said pulling two cylinders out and handing them to Sheppard.
"Flashbangs?" Kai asked, they looked a little like grenades with a pin on top, but were the wrong shape.
"They'll stun anyone with their eyes and ears open for about ten seconds," Sheppard explained.
Sheppard frowned looking from the shaft to the back of the chamber. He moved to the far wall and started digging in the dirt.
"What, are you going to dig our way out of here?" Ford asked sarcastically.
"Something like that, Ford give me a hand. Zian, see if you can hear anything useful up there."
"I'll need silence," she told them.
"Roger that," Sheppard said with a brisk nod.
Kai sat just below the shaft and closed her eyes, focusing intently. "There's three guards," she told them in a low voice. She could hear them chatting quietly together and walking around the shafts entrance.
She strained. "They're coming back."
"You're sure?" Sheppard asked.
"I can hear McKay from quite a ways off," she promised him. "His voice is...unmistakable"
Sheppard snorted. "You aren't wrong about that," he agreed. "All right, you guys know the plan," he said turning to Teyla and Ford. They both nodded. He turned back to Kai. "I don't know what those flashbangs will do to you. It's loud enough it will stun a normal-"
"Human," Kai finished for him.
Sheppard exhaled sharply. "Yes, a normal human. So you..."
"Understood Major," she said nodding sharply. She handed two of the three knives to Teyla and Ford. The she turned to Sheppard and held out her last knife.
John frowned down at her in confusion. She and Teyla were better knife fighters then he or Ford.
When the Major hesitated Kai grabbed his wrist and slapped her knife into his palm. "There's a good chance I'm going to be incapacitated along with the Genii. It doesn't make sense to keep weapons I won't be able to use."
John nodded understanding the significance of Kai handing over her knives. She was trusting them to protect her. Not an easy thing for her.
He snapped his fingers and pulled his aviators out of his pocket. He stepped up in front of her and placed them gently on top of her head. "Hopefully those will help," he said. "When it's time, get as far back there as possible, cover your ears and close your eyes." he stared down at her intently, wishing there was more he could do.
"Thank you Major," she said in a low voice, swallowing thickly in the face of his intensity. A gentle bump in her mind distracted her and she quickly looked away.
"Major!" Kolya's voice echoed down the shaft. Sheppard stepped away from Kai and back to the shaft opening.
"Oh hi," Sheppard called with false brightness in his voice. "Found it already?"
Kolya's jaw tightened irritably. "I want you and your team against the far wall with your hands on your heads," he growled. "If I see a hint of a threat I will not hesitate to shoot your companions. Do I make myself clear Major?"
Sheppard flashed an aggressive smile that had too much teeth. "Crystal," he promised and he stepped back to stand between Teyla and Kai.
The Genii came down the shaft with McKay and Allina. Three of the Genii soldiers leveled their weapons on Sheppard and his team. Kolya paced along the front of their line. He ran his eyes over each of them clinically as though he were taking the measure of them.
McKay ignored the men with guns as he and Allina stepped up to the console with the ninth stone. "I just assume we place all nine stones on the pedestal and have someone place their hands on the palm prints and we get the ZPM. The only question is what order do we put the stones in..."
"I think it's pretty straightforward," the Genii scientist, Pronos said impatiently as he stepped up to the console.
"Well, nothings been straightforward yet," McKay snapped irritably as he studied the stones.
Pronos motioned to the stones. "The last one is the only one with grooves that match the center position."
"So?" McKay snapped.
"So it fits snugly into place, complete the pattern and get the ZPM. Why would they continue to play games at this point?" Pronos said wearily.
"I don't think-" McKay started but was interrupted.
"McKay," Kolya snarled, leveling his gun at Teyla. "Quit stalling."
Teyla lifted her chin defiantly in the face of Kolya's gun as though she were daring him to shoot her.
"I'm not stalling, I just-" McKay stammered, swallowing thickly as Kolya threatened a member of his team.
Kolya turned to his men. "Pronos, arrange the stones and get the ZPM please."
Pronos listened to Kolya and as soon as he placed his hands on the palm prints metal cuffs snapped into place. They released him almost immediately, but there were deep burns in the center of each of his palms in the symbol of the brotherhood. Pronos blinked sluggishly and collapsed. The Genii quickly crouched over him.
"He's dead," Kolya said grimly.
Kai cut her eyes over to Sheppard. His eyes were hard and steely. They both knew something like this could send Kolya over the edge. Kai tensed, ready to intervene if he made a move towards any of their people. The Major bumped her shoulder gently with his own as though to reassure her. She glanced towards him, but his eyes were locked on Kolya.
Kolya stalked up to McKay. "You knew this would happen," he accused.
McKay lifted his chin arrogantly. "Yes, yes I did, which was why I was in the middle of telling you as much when you ordered him to activate the pedestal. You killed him," McKay snarled stabbing his finger towards the Genii commander. "Not me."
Kolya stared down at McKay a murderous expression on his face. After a minute he drew in a deep breath. "What's the correct order of the stones then?" he demanded.
"I don't know yet," McKay replied.
Kolya stalked over to where the team was standing in a line. "Well, you'll have four chances to get it right," he said running his eyes over them. He stared down at Kai for a beat too long and Sheppard tensed beside her. As soon as he reacted a pleased smile lit Kolya's face as he turned back to the Major. "You'll go first," he said directly John up towards the pedestal.
John started shifting the stones around, scowling down at the numbers. "Any time you want to-" John said in a low voice to McKay who stood next to him.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," McKay responded.
"We've tried one to nine, how about nine to one," John suggested shifting the stones once more.
"Possibly..." McKay said thoughtfully. "But Pronos was right. The center stone is the only one that locks into place. All the others must move around it. I'm trying to think of a sequence that makes sense with five in the middle."
"Fifteen," Sheppard said. "It's got to have something to do with fifteen, or nine...or five..." he dragged off desperately.
"Shut up, I'm trying to think," McKay snapped impatiently.
"I'm not going to shut up, my life's at stake."
McKay stepped up next to him and moved the stones around again. "Exactly so simmer down and let me save it," McKay said arrogantly.
Sheppard leveled a look of disbelief at McKay. "You ever heard the expression two heads are better than one?" He asked sharply.
McKay snorted. "That's a common misconception."
John looked over to Kolya. "Give me the gun, I'll shoot him myself," he snapped sarcastically.
"This is taking too long, choose and go," Kolya snarled, impatient with their bickering.
"What? You got somewhere you gotta be?" McKay challenged in disbelief. He just needed more time. If he had more time he could think of the answer.
"Choose and go," Kolya ordered. He turned to Kai. "I would start thinking. You're next Mortii."
McKay turned to Sheppard his eyes panicked. "I'm sorry I've got nothing."
"Thanks for the pep talk," John snapped, sharply. He licked his lips as he stared down at the numbers as though he could will them into making sense.
McKay pressed his lips into a hard line. "Look it's nine to one, that's all I can come up with."
"Okay," John said without really agreeing. "Step back," he advised. He cut his eyes to Kai. If she was next the least he could do would be to rule out a sequence so she stood a greater chance of surviving.
Her eyes were haunted as she stared at him.
"I'm sorry," McKay said, drawing John's focus back to him.
"Yeah well, I'm not dead yet," John promised him as he looked back at the stones.
"Yeah..." McKay agreed doubtfully. "Sorry."
"Now, Major," Kolya demanded, turning his gun so it was pointing at Kai's head. "Or I kill your Mortii this time."
Sheppard nodded, knowing his time was up.
There was a long pause. Kai closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could, trying to come up with a sequence of numbers that would make sense. The Major would die if they didn't solve it. He didn't deserve to die this way. The injustice of it sparked a rage in her like she had never felt before. It flushed her skin and her hands tightened into fists.
She had always hated numbers puzzles. They had been required at the Academy to hone their cognitive abilities. She remembered one similar to this. She tried to picture it in her mind.
Just like that it was as though she were staring down at the stones herself, but it wasn't her hands holding them in her mind. And just like that day in the academy the solution came to her. She held the image in her mind and opened her mouth to shout it to the Major.
"I've got it!" John suddenly exclaimed as he began moving the stones around. "The brotherhood of fifteen, the numbers one to nine can be arranged in a three by three grid so they add up to fifteen in every direction."
"You're right!" McKay exclaimed stepping up to the pedestal. "How did you know that?" he asked frowning as Sheppard easily arranged the puzzle.
"Just came to me. I sort of pictured it in my head," he said with a shrug as he rearranged the stones. "I like Sudoku," he added.
"Good luck," Kolya told John wryly. It was difficult to tell which Kolya wanted more; the ZPM or for Sheppard to die.
John nodded and laid his hands against the palm prints.
Kai couldn't breathe as she stared at him, waiting for something to happen. It had been so fast with Pronos, but the seconds dragged on into forever as she stared at his face for some indication they had been wrong.
There was a long moment of silence and then she could hear a faint grinding. One of the circular ornaments on the far wall shot out. Kolya chuckled and walked towards it.
While everyone else was distracted John turned to the team and nodded. Ford and Teyla lifted their feet off the flashbangs.
Kai flipped the Majors sunglasses down and as much as it pained her, she sprinted for the far end of the cavern as far from them as possible. She covered her ears with her palms and closed her eyes, but the concussion of noise was a physical thing. It threw her to the ground and everything went black.
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Teyla flipped both her and Kai's knife into the chests of two of the Genii guards. Ford charged the other. Sheppard went straight for Kolya. He jerked the gun out of his hand and punched him across the face. Kolya didn't go down, instead he only staggered sideways away from the blow. He slammed his palm into the Major's forehead. John reeled away, stunned for only a second before he slammed his fist into Kolya's stomach, kicked his knee out from under him and spun around, ripping the P-90 out of his grip. He leveled the gun at Kolya's forehead.
Ford and Teyla secured the other Genii's weapons.
"What the hell just happened?" McKay yelled.
"Kai?" Sheppard called. She didn't respond. He turned to the back of the cavern where she lay in the dirt. He swore under his breath. "Rodney get the ZPM," he ordered.
"It's a small miracle I can still make out shapes," he complained, but he did as he was told.
Sheppard squatted over Kai's prone body. He rolled her over with gentle hands. She shifted but was still out cold. He scooped her up in his arms and moved to the shaft. "All right, we're getting out of here. Ford, Teyla, you go up first. You guys can lift Kai out." He set her down gently, taking extra care to position her head. His actions didn't go unnoticed by Kolya.
John turned back to Kolya as Ford pulled himself up the rope. "I'm going to send a villager round to pick you up in about an hour," he told the Genii.
Kolya shook his head in disbelief. "The smart thing would be to kill me now."
Sheppard's eyes hardened and his muscles coiled as he stalked across the room towards Kolya. He leveled the gun at Kolya's temple.
"Major!" Teyla gasped but Sheppard ignored her.
He pressed the gun tightly against Kolya's temple. "You're right," he agreed. "I'll tell you what. I'm gonna want points for this in the future..." his smile was aggressive. "But if you ever do this again, I will kill you." Sheppard promised ruthlessly. "Deal?" he added with a charming smile.
Kolya leaned forward. "Tell me Major, are you mad because I almost beat you? Or because your Mortii was injured...again?" Kolya chuckled as he saw anger flash in the Major's eyes and knew his suspicions were correct. "You know, Cowen spoke so highly of It's skill, I didn't expect It to be so fragile. Perhaps you should ask for your money back."
John didn't hesitate, he fired the gun into Kolya's upper thigh. Kolya cried out, his body coiling around his injured leg. Sheppard stepped forward and used his boot to force Kolya upright against the wall. He stared down at the Genii commander as he panted in pain.
"Her name is Kai," he spoke slowly and clearly. He looked down at Kolya and reached for the handle of Kai's Blade that was tucked into Kolya's belt. "And I believe this is hers."
"Major," Teyla called to him.
Sheppard turned and strode over to them. Kai was blinking awake. She had shoved herself up onto all fours and was shaking her head. He reached down and caught her arm pulling her to her feet. She swayed and would have gone down if Teyla and Sheppard hadn't caught her.
"We good?" John asked briskly. The violence was still too close for him to be anything but The Major right now.
Kai nodded and groaned. "Let's not use those again," she said in a low voice.
John nodded. "You got it." He agreed. "Ford!" he called up the shaft.
"Yes Major?" Ford called back.
"Let's get the hell out of here."
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They were walking slowly back towards the gate. Kai was feeling better as time went on. She had a headache, and it felt like her ears were filled with water, but it was well worth it to get the ZPM McKay was proudly carrying.
"I thought we would never find one of those things," Ford said shaking his head.
"I for one am going to sleep pretty soundly tonight," Sheppard agreed.
"Not me," McKay said as he stared down at it in wonder. "I'm going to be up all night getting every system I can back on-line. Allina!" McKay called jogging to catch up to her. "I don't think I'll ever be able to properly repay you for this."
Allina smiled and turned to face him, her hand dropping to her bag. "You won't have to," she said pulling a gun and aiming it at Rodney's chest. Her people rose up out of the forest surrounding them with guns drawn.
Without hesitation Sheppard and Kai turned their backs to one another. Sheppard pointed Kolya's gun while Kai drew her Blade. Next to them Teyla and Ford had done the same.
"All right," Sheppard called As he stared into the faces of the determined villagers. None of them looked comfortable with the guns in their hands and he didn't want there to be an accident. "All right easy."
"Allina?" McKay asked in shock. "You involved the Genii?"
Allina shook her head. "This has nothing to do with the Genii. I'm a member of the new Brotherhood."
"Then what is this about?" McKay asked in disbelief.
"I am the new master handler. We thank you for helping us find the Portentia, but it must go into hiding again." She said handing the ZPM back to one of her people who quickly whisked it out of sight. "It will be put into hiding on another world and when the Ancestor's return our people will be greatly rewarded."
"Allina you can't believe that!" McKay said moving towards her. The others swung their guns towards them.
"It is time for you to leave." Allina said firmly.
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They had only just stepped back through the gate when Weir laid into them for losing the ZPM.
"Did you try to explain?" Weir started to ask.
"We tried," McKay defended. "Believe me, we tried," he emphasized exhaustedly.
"We could have used it," Weir said impatiently as she led the way up the stairs into the control room.
"Of course we could have," John agreed, he was upset about it to, but it wasn't like they handed it over willingly.
He was a little irritated Weir was berating his team so publicly over the failed mission. He was happy to accept responsibility, but it wasn't fair to blame them in front of the entire control room. Both Zian and Ford needed to be checked out by Beckett not be dragged into a debriefing.
"No, you don't understand," Weir resounded tightly. "While you were off world a wraith dart flew over the city."
John's eyes cut to the rest of his team and back to Elizabeth as she stepped up next to Zelenka and Bates. "I'm sorry?" He asked in disbelief.
Weir pressed her lips together. "We lost a jumper along with Markham and Smith," she reported coolly.
"We what?" he demanded.
"With our only two real pilots off-world we didn't stand much of a chance. Luckily it didn't seem to be here to fight. It scanned us," Weir said crossing her arms over her chest defensively.
John's temper snapped in his eyes as he took a step towards her. As military commander he should have been notified immediately. "We just lost two of my men and a jumper and this is the first time I'm hearing about it?" He growled. He suddenly understood why she seemed so defensive. With him gone she and Bates had run the disastrous military op.
"I tried to reach you," she informed his briskly. "but you've been out of radio contact for twelve hours."
"We were taken prisoner!" he snapped.
Weir ignored him and glanced towards the computer screen in front of Zelenka. "Now, that dart sent a transmission deep into space and then it self destructed before we could get to it."
"Yeah," Radek agreed. "We scanned the area with our deep space sensors and-"
McKay shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry," he interrupted unrepentantly. "We have deep space sensors?"
"Yeah," Zelenka said. "It's a long story," he said with a wave of his hand.
Elizabeth sucked in a deep breath to steady herself. "And we found something else...rather unsettling."
"I'm already unsettled," John growled his eyes flickering back and forth between Zelenka and Weir. "Show me," he ordered.
Zelenka moved his computer over to one of the overhead displays. Je connected the two and seconds later three yellow blobs appeared on the screen.
"What are those?" McKay asked, but Kai already knew just based on their basic shape.
"Wraith hive ships," Zelenka said. "Three of them. The system analysis just got back..."
"Right," Sheppard interrupted sharply. "Where are they headed?"
Weir's voice was ominous. "If they maintain direction and speed they'll be over our planet within two weeks."
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I hope you enjoyed the update!
I'm super excited to keep moving forward.
I'm getting into some of the episodes that really inspired me to create Kai's character!