Hello friends! Been a minute since I updated and I know I left John and Kai in a not so great place...I make zero promises to not continue to torture us all, but...to make it better...how about an original adventure? As always, thank you all for your amazing support. I never expected this story to get as big as it did.

Happy Reading!

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John startled awake the next morning. He thrashed, confused about where he was. The soul deep emptiness that had been his constant companion the last few weeks was choking him once more, making his body believe he should be waking in his quarters at the SGC.

The light streaming through the windows was disorienting. There weren't any windows in the barracks of the SGC. Cheyenne Mountain complex was deep underground. He sat up in confusion before the sound of the waves hit him. He was back on Atlantis, but the emptiness in his chest persisted like a knife slowly twisting in the wound.

That emptiness meant Kai was gone.

John thrashed out of the blanket and onto his feet. She had been there when he fell asleep, not as strongly as before, but the Bond had been there. It was the only way he had been able to sleep. Now he felt like he was drowning.

Without thought or hesitation John ran out of his room. He found Elizabeth and McKay in the control room speaking quietly near one of the terminals. They both looked up in surprise.

"John," Elizabeth said, her eyes wide at the Colonel's sudden appearance.

"When did she leave?" He demanded, his voice harsh. He couldn't believe his friends had let her go without telling him. Kai wasn't a coward, she normally faced problems head on, so it was out of character for her to have waited for him to be asleep before slipping away.

"Kai?" McKay asked, frowning a little in confusion. "Like an hour ago," he said glancing at his watch.

John wanted to wring McKay's neck. How could he not know what he was talking about. "She's gone?" John asked, looking stricken.

"She and Teyla returned together to New Athos," Elizabeth explained, suddenly understanding that John had woken up, somehow knowing Kai had left. "Teyla needed to work things out with her people and Kai was planning on retrieving the Mortii fighter."

John froze for a second as his mind raced. She hadn't left left. Well, she had, but she was coming back. He heaved a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling stupid for panicking.

"Is there a reason you aren't wearing shoes?" McKay asked.

"Or a shirt and pants?" Weir added frowning at McKay. How the scientist managed to fixate on only the lack of shoes when the Colonel stood before them in his boxers was beyond her.

John glanced down. He had been in such a panic he hadn't even stopped to consider the fact that he went to sleep in nothing but his boxers since he didn't have any pajamas here.

"Colonel." Elizabeth said meaningfully, careful to keep her eyes locked on his face. "Why don't you go get yourself put together," she suggested.

John nodded. He didn't have it in him to be embarrassed. There was only Elizabeth and Rodney here. He ran a hand over his face and walked back through the halls to the transporter. It opened and Ronon stepped out.

Ronon frowned down at him. "What happened to you?" He asked, more curious than surprised to find his commanding officer mostly naked.

John just shook his head. Rather than ask more questions, Ronon just stepped around him and gave him room to enter the transporter. John often appreciated the fact that it wasn't in Ronon's character to pry. He wasn't so lucky however when he ran into Beckett as he stepped off the transported, while the doctor was headed to the control room.

Twenty minutes later John was back in the control room, with clothes this time. He wouldn't go as far as to say his hair was neat, but it was neater than when he had awoken. He came in just in time to see the Mortii fighter come through the gate and go up into the jumper bay. As soon as the small, one man fighter crossed the event horizon, John felt like he could draw a full breath for the first time since he woke up.

Kai returned to the control room a short time later. She was careful to not meet Sheppard's gaze, and instead turned her attention to Doctor Weir. "Teyla estimated she would be ready to return to Atlantis full time in a little over a week. She is planning on sending food over as she believed there wasn't likely to be much here since the Replicator occupation."

Elizabeth nodded. "That's kind of her. Woolsey and General O'Neill left this morning on the Daedalus to return to earth. The SGC will begin organizing the effort to staff Atlantis once more, but it's not likely to be finalized until their return. Until then," she said looking over their group. "It's just us six."

"We should set up some kind of rotation," Rodney said. "The control room sensors need to be monitored at all times."

Elizabeth nodded. "Six hour shifts?" She asked. Six hours was the normal shift in the control room with four shifts in a typical Lantian day. Most other shifts on Atlantis were eight hours, but the amount of focus required to monitor so many systems made for an intense shift and fatigue delayed response times.

"Sounds good," McKay agreed. "I'd like to start the shifts with the four of you," he said gesturing vaguely to Elizabeth, Beckett, Sheppard and Ronon. "In the mean time, kai and I need to figure out what systems the Replicators changed and what we need to do to change them back to accommodate our more human needs."

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Ronon asked looking over the terminals with a frown.

McKay rolled his eyes and made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. "Look Conon, even you can watch the terminals and call Kai or I if any of the blinkly lights start to go."

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Four days later Kai was awoken to the sound of her comm activating.

"Kai," Ronon's voice was clear and calm.

She picked up the ear piece off the bedside table and put it in her ear. Not because she couldn't hear him clearly, the earpiece could have been across the room and she would have been able to hear him, but so he could hear her.

"Ronon?" She asked. It was the middle of the night. Something had to be happening for the Satedan to have awoken her.

There was a pause as though he considered his words. "...one of the blinky lights is going off," he finally settled on saying with a heavy sigh.

Kai bit back a grin as she climbed out of bed. She pulled on her clothes and was headed out the door as she strapped on her belt. "I'm on my way, have you notified McKay?"

Ronon made a noise in the back of his throat. "No, I don't know what it is."

Kai could understand not wanting to give the acerbic scientist any more ammunition. Atlantis was a big place for so few people to manage and tempers had been running short the last few days. It was the first night Kai had allowed herself time to sleep. She and McKay had been working almost around the clock going through all the programs and systems. There had been a few surprises, but so far she and McKay had managed to make the necessary changes.

The transporter opened and she stepped out into the control room. Ronon was standing over a terminal, glaring down at it as though it might attack at any moment. He glanced up at her and gestured.

"That one."

Kai would have bit back a grin at the Satedan's obvious discomfort, but as soon as she saw which terminal it was she cursed under her breath. She strode across the room, her fingers gliding over the controls to the long range sensors.

Ronon gave her room to work, but stayed close watching the viewing screen as she activated it. An image of the Lantian solar system appeared and right at the edge of it, a small dot blinked.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ronon asked.

Kai frowned as she stared at the information the sensors were providing. She nodded slowly and reached up, activating the comm to alert everyone on Atlantis.

"We have a situation in the control room," Kai said, not wanting to cause a panic. Knowing however that wasn't quite enough information to get the group motivated she activated it again. "We have a Mortii ship in bound."

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"Why did the scanners not pick them up before this?" Elizabeth asked. All six of them were gathered around the long range scanner terminal now, many if whom were still looking bleary eyed.

"They were likely in hyperspace and dropped out at the edge of our system. The calibrations I made to our sensors to detect Mortii ships long range were not put back in place when the Replicators rebuilt the control room," Kai explained. It was something she should have checked. They should have picked up the Mortii's approach days ago.

Elizabeth's mouth was set in a grim line. "How long?" She asked.

McKay was practically bouncing in agitation as he worked next to Kai. "Maybe an hour."

Elizabeth turned to Kai. "Do they know we are here?" She asked.

It was John who realized what Elizabeth was implying first. He scowled at her, hating that she would even consider that Kai would betray them.

When Kai didn't appear to immediately understand Elizabeth continued gently. "Did you contact the Mortii during our absence? No one is blaming you if you did," she continued smoothly.

Kai shook her head in disbelief. "Of course not."

"Cloke the city," John said without hesitation. Elizabeth hadn't been there when Kai had faced the last Mortii who came to visit and John wasn't interested in a reunion.

Kai moved to the main terminal and did as Sheppard asked. She lifted her chin once it was done and met his gaze. She nodded once.

"What could they want?" Elizabeth asked.

"Kai," John said tightly. And they weren't going to get her without a fight. The chair had drones, he would blast them out of the sky before he let them get close to her.

Kai shook her head. "They value my kai more than they do me," she said gesturing towards the Blade at her hip.

"That's what they came for before," John said tightly.

"Why didn't you just give it to them?" McKay asked. "They could have gone on their merry way and we never would have had to hear from them again."

Kai turned to McKay, knowing he hadn't meant for his words to be hurtful. He simply didn't understand what he was saying. "Because to take a Blade from a Mortii, it means killing that Mortii."

"You have two," Beckett observed cautiously.

Kai hadn't realized the extent to which John has protected her privacy. She had assumed they all knew she had killed the Xerxe who had come looking for her. Only Weir and Ronon didn't look surprised.

"I do," Kai agreed tightly.

Beckett's eyes widened at the implication and turned back to the screen to try to hide his expression. It wasn't that he was surprised to here Kai had killed someone. He had seen her in the field on more than one occasion, and in theory knew what she was capable of, but sometimes it was hard to rectify his friend, the mechanic with the stone cold assassin of her past.

"Do they have a way of finding us?" Elizabeth asked tightly.

Kai shook her head. "They have no scanner technology that can penetrate our cloak," she responded confidently. "They have cloak technology themselves, quite similar to what we use here, but they have not engaged it."

"Any idea why?" Elizabeth asked.

Kai just shrugged.

It was a tense hour. Kai stood like a statue staring at the sensor screen while John paced up and down like a caged animal. He didn't like how still and quiet Kai had gone. When the first Mortii had come, his Kai had been full of fight to keep her life here. Now, he wasn't so sure she wouldn't hand herself over to spare them all. He wouldn't allow that to happen, he couldn't.

"They are close enough for short range scanners," McKay reported and everyone stood, converging on the terminal once again.

Kai tapped a few keys and her frown deepened.

"What?" Sheppard asked.

Kai glanced up at him, surprised he had read the subtle change in her expression.

"It's one of the smaller ships," she told them.

"How small?" Elizabeth asked.

"Maybe three times the size of a jumper. Small crew, few weapons. Nothing very powerful," Kai said and then she tapped another key.

"They just set down on the mainland," McKay told the group.

Elizabeth leaned forward. "What are they doing there?"

Kai studied the scans. "I think..." she dragged off. "They are being polite."

"Polite?" McKay asked in disbelief.

"Kai, please explain," Elizabeth said, glancing at the small Mortii.

"They dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of our solar system. They knew where they were going, it wasn't necessary. They made themselves highly visible, even going as far as to disengage their cloak. Then they approached and are sitting still, allowing us to see them. They are being polite...for Mortii."

McKay scowled. "That doesn't make sense."

Kai arched a brow. "Mortii are masters of concealment, infiltration and deception. Our trade is based on our cunning and subterfuge," she gestured to the screen. "These are none of those things. They are allowing you to see them because they want you to. They are being...polite. I would assume they want to talk."

"How can we be sure?"

Kai tilted her head as she stared at the screen. It was difficult to make them understand the nuances of her culture and her people. "This ship is not one they would send if they meant us to be enemies."

"You said it has weapons," Ronon pointed out.

"Of course they do," Kai said with a score. "They aren't foolish. All Mortii's have weapons. But this ship is more one you would send a delegation in, it is not a warship."

"Do they have those?" John asked in surprise. He and Kai had never discussed the Mortii at length. He had never wanted to push her to discuss something she wasn't comfortable with. Now, he was regretting that decision. They needed to know everything they could about their new potential enemy.

"One, maybe two," Kai said thoughtfully. "They have more individual fighters. Mortii don't attack en masse. They go in after hours, in the dark, and eliminate a target while they are sleeping. They leave nothing to chance. They are not so straightforward as all of this." She said gesturing to the screen.

"So what do we do?" Elizabeth asked.

Kai pressed her lips together. "They are likely waiting for us to contact them. They will be able to back trace the signal to the city however. I believe we should take a jumper to the upper atmosphere where it won't matter if the signal is traced. But in the mean time one of us should man the chair, just in case."

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After a lot of debate, it was decided that Beckett would take the chair with McKay in the control room and Ronon to watch their backs in case it was a trap. Elizabeth, Kai and Sheppard went up in the Jumper. Once they were at the edge of the atmosphere, far away from the city Kai opened the comm.

"Mortii shuttle, identify yourself and your intentions," she ordered.

Elizabeth paid close attention to all of Kai's mannerisms. Each culture was different and getting the upper hand in a diplomatic situation was important. Kai's strength in her first address surprised her. She probably would have been more polite.

"We seek an audience with the leader of those that occupy the city of the Ancestors," came back a male voice.

"For what purpose?" Kai barked back, her voice carefully sharp and filled with false impatience.

"They have something that belongs to us," came a female reply after a moment. "We know the city of the Ancestors lives again. We are not here to cause...problems. No harm is intended, we simply wish to meet."

Kai closed the channel and looked at Weir and Sheppard expectantly.

"What do you think?" Elizabeth asked with a frown.

"Mortii lie," Kai said without apology.

"I say we have Beckett use the drones and blow them away," Sheppard said decisively.

"Do we know for a fact that other Mortii don't know they came here?" Elizabeth asked thoughtfully. She was watching Kai's face carefully, trying to discern if John's blood thirsty response to her people in some way offended her. She didn't think so. Which surprised her. She expected some element of connection to her people.

"It is a team," Kai said with a shake of her head. "That means they were sent with direct orders either from the High Council or the Tribunal. To wipe them out could be viewed as an act of war."

"Could?" Elizabeth asked with a frown. "There's a chance it won't?"

"It could also be viewed as an act of supreme strength. If the Mortii were to attack us and we killed them, their deaths would not be seen as an act of war, but as strength on our part and a justified kill."

Elizabeth shook her head. When Ronon had come, she thought the Satedan's had been a warrior race of the highest degree, but Kai's people put the Satedan's to shame.

"All right," Elizabeth said after a moment. "Let's find out what they want."'

Kai activated the comm once more. "You have an open link with the leader of the city of the Ancestors."

"We wish to meet in person," the male Mortii came back without hesitation. "To look into the eyes of those that took that which belongs to us."

Kai tightened her jaw. She didn't like this, not one bit. In person was dangerous. There were two Mortii. She was good, but not good enough to protect her friends from two of her people if they decided to attack.

"We will give you the chance to discuss it," the female Mortii said and Kai could hear the deprecating tone, despite there being almost no emotion in her voice.

"We do not need to discuss it," Kai responded without taking the time to check with the others. To do so, would have made them all look weak, and they couldn't afford to look weak right then. "We will meet. You will wait," and she ended the transmission.

Elizabeth turned to her with arched brows, waiting for Kai's explanation for her sudden decision without regard for the usual chain of command.

"If we had taken time to deliberate it would have told them we were worried about the meeting. We couldn't afford to look weak," Kai said.

"So basically any hesitation is viewed as weakness?" Elizabeth asked.

"Hesitation, fear, indecisiveness...all weaknesses," Kai told her. "Think of Ronon. The Mortii wouldn't view him as weak. They would respect his strength and therefore not feel the need to test it."

Elizabeth let out a shaky sigh. "Maybe we should go back and get Ronon," she suggested.

"The longer we take, the more likely it is they will assume we are planning something. Mortii are incredibly straight forward among themselves, but will happily lie, cheat, and deceive others. Honor is only applicable among their own people. Outsiders are seen as less."

With no other options, Elizabeth turned to Sheppard. "Take us down," she said.

John's jaw was like granite. He didn't agree with this, didn't like the idea of bringing Kai straight to the people who had come for her, but he couldn't argue with her logic. If he had, he certainly would have opened his mouth.

Elizabeth chewed on her lip. "Would it be better for Colonel Sheppard to present himself as the leader since he is the Military commander and male?" she asked.

Kai shrugged. "Gender doesn't matter to the Mortii. Strength does. You taking charge of such a strong soldier will be seen as a reflection of your own strength. And they will see Sheppard as being strong." Kai kept her eyes off of John as she spoke. It was one of the many things that had drawn her to him in the first place.

"Anything else we should know?" Elizabeth asked.

Kai thought for a moment but then slowly shook her head. "I'm surprised they came. If the chance comes up, it would be worth it to find out how they found us. The Xerxe I faced wouldn't have shared the information."

"Well then," John said glibly, the humor in his voice masking his obvious displeasure. "Let's go meet our new friends, the Mortii."

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I hope you are enjoying the story! I was planning on waiting to introduce some of the Mortii until later, but when some of you asked I couldn't refuse...also, I wanted Elizabeth to meet them...

Originally this was going to be just one update but it was super long, so I split it in two. Expect another update soon!