Thank you all for your amazing support! Seriously, you guys keep me writing! I'm really enjoying telling John and Kai's story and I hope you continue to enjoy it as well.

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The Storm
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The storm was coming. Every single member of the science teams had been brought together to work out how to generate enough power for the shield so the entire city wouldn't be destroyed by the storm surge. Atlantis was going to take a direct hit from the massive hurricane.

Kai had been working in the conference room for five hours already, but they only had another seven until the storm hit. None of the other teams seemed to be having much luck either. She had been working on a program to see if they could draw power from the jumpers, but so far she hadn't been able to figure out how to convert the energy. She was afraid she wasn't much help beyond that. Her knowledge of the cities systems was limited and no one other than Zelenka stood even a remote chance of keeping up with McKay. She sat back in her chair and scrubbed at her eyes. Her shift had nearly been over when the call came in for them to meet in the conference room and she was exhausted.

Ford and Sheppard strode into the room still wearing their combat gear. "Well," Sheppard said stopping in front of McKay's work station. "We've got a green light from Smeadon and the Manarians. I'm not sure how pleased he'll be if we get stuck there, though."

Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably at the prospect of having to do a full evacuation to an alien planet. Kai was familiar with the Manarians. She had done some work on their planet during their last change of government. They didn't have much for advanced technology, but they were a complex society who would no doubt do what they needed to take care of their own. She personally wasn't inclined to trust them.

Sheppard waited a beat before he cast a look towards McKay. "That's not going to happen, right?"

"No, of course not. We can always gate off to another planet," McKay said distractedly without looking up from his screen.

"Comforting, thank you," Sheppard replied sarcastically as he perched on the edge of McKay's desk to look over the rest of the teams who were hard at work. "Anyone coming up with anything?"

"Well, we're-" McKay started to say.

"Not really no," Zelenka supplied.

Ford cleared his throat. "Are we sure there's no part of the mainland we could go to?"

Teyla and Weir walked in. Kai surpressed her sigh of frustration. She and the rest of the teams were trying to work. Having their meeting in here was just going to slow down the process.

Teyla sat down beside Major Sheppard. "Everywhere we have explored is in the path of the storm. No where is safe. My people are evacuating even now," she explained.

Sheppard frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Still, Ford's right, the mainland is the size of North America. You're telling me the entire continent is going to get hit? Because I'd rather not owe Smeadon any favors."

"If we lose Atlantis we'd be stuck on the mainland with no access to a star gate," Weir pointed out.

"Well, McKay will come up with something," Sheppard said pointedly.

McKay groaned dramatically. "I will try, but despite what you all may think, I'm not Superman."

The whole room went still. Sheppard raised his eyebrows in disbelief as he looked around at the group. "Was anyone seriously thinking that?" he couldn't help but ask.

There were a couple of snickers. The scientists around her shook their heads.

"No sir," Ford responded biting back a laugh.

"Never," Zelenka mumbled.

Kai peaked over the top of her computer screen. "Who is Superman?" she asked.

A wry smile broke across John's face as he spotted Kai. She arched her brow impishly before sinking back down to hide behind her screen.

McKay snarled in disgust and John turned back to him.

"Fine," Rodney growled. "My point is the storm will affect of 70% of the mainland and Atlantis isn't safe either. If you want everyone to live you gate them off-world."

Sheppard nodded grimly and he left the room to begin organizing the military side of things for the evacuation process. He didn't trust Smeadon and he needed to brief Bates on what they might be walking into.

Two hours later the teams were no closer to coming up with a plan. Kai had abandoned the jumper idea and resorted to skimming through the database for any information that might help them deal with the storm surges that would no doubt hit the city. The information on the available pumps and drainage systems were only useful if they survived the storm.

She heard Zelenka's comm and a moment later he stood and faced the room. "They are going to start the evacuation process of the science teams," Zelenka told them. "Please return to your quarters, get what you need and return to the gate room for relocation."

The group stood, but McKay and Zelenka hadn't moved. They planned on continuing to work and so Kai stayed where she was as well.

"You should go too," Zelenka advised her.

"I don't have anything to get," Kai told him. "I'll stay and keep working. I can go through with one of the last groups," she said without looking up.

Zelenka smiled appreciatively at her. "You know, in the Czech Republic we don't have to deal with Hurricanes."

McKay grunted. "We don't have that many in Canada either...once, something called Hazel."

"Interesting," Zelenka said unenthusiastically.

"Not really," McKay argued.

"Not really no."

"We don't have them on my planet either," Kai said.

"Is that so?" McKay asked impatiently.

"Yeah, my planet is very cold. Its snow covered most of the year. Though during our warmer months we have Dangerous lightning storms."

"I was once almost struck by lightning," McKay said proudly.

Kai arched her brow in interest but both men fell silent. They turned towards one another their eyes wide with possibility.

Kai looked up back and forth between them. "What?" she asked.

Zelenka shoved himself to his feet as he and McKay rushed for the door together. Zelenka turned back to her, pointing. "Look up everything you can find in the database about the grounding stations!" he called over his shoulder.

Kai sat back down in front of her screen and began typing rapidly.

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John walked with McKay and Weir down to McKay's lab. The city was eerily empty, their footsteps echoing down the corridors. McKay seemed fairly confident in his plan, but they had still evacuated almost everyone off the planet just in case. John didn't like it, but Bates could handle Smeadon and his men.

McKay was just getting around to actually explaining what this great plan of his was. When they stepped through the door however, John hesitated, surprised to find Kai sitting on one of the stools.

"Hey," he said in confusion, looking back and forth between her and McKay. "Zelenka's department was evacuated two hours ago. What are you still doing here?"

Kai opened her mouth to respond but McKay cut her off. "I'll get to that," Rodney promised stepping between John and Kai, forcing John to focus on him so his friend didn't get distracted.

"So," McKay said clapping his hands together. "There are dozens, possibly hundreds of lightning rods placed strategically around the city."

"Wait a second," John interrupted scowling.

"What?" McKay asked frowning.

"Why?" John asked.

"Why, what?" McKay asked in confusion.

"Why are there hundreds of lightning rods placed around the city?" John asked slowly as though McKay were the one who needed to keep up. "Wouldn't the shield protect them against lightning?"

McKay sighed in agitation. "Yes, but running your shield all the time is only good for one thing, draining power."

"Right," Sheppard agreed.

Rodney leveled a glare at Sheppard, convinced the Major was being obtuse on purpose. "You're aware there's a time element to what we're doing here?"

"Yes," John snapped back sarcastically. "It's been brought to my attention."

"Like I was saying," McKay huffed. "There are lightning rods, a lot of them, placed all over the city. Now, as it stands right now all the energy they capture is routed into four main grounding stations. In turn the stations ground all of the energy into the ocean below us."

"So instead of sending all that energy to ground-"

"We use it to power the shield, yes," McKay said nodding.

"How?" Weir asked skeptically.

"By directing it right down the corridors of Atlantis and into the shield generator," McKay finished triumphantly.

"The city can handle that?" Weir asked concern for her city evident in her voice.

"Yes," McKay responded confidently.

"Theoretically," Kai called from the other side of the room.

John turned to look back at Kai. McKay was arrogant enough to think his plans would always work. John was more inclined to trust Kai's mechanical approach to how things worked. He looked skeptically back at McKay. "Like 'Dinosaurs turn into birds' theoretically or 'Theory of Relatively' Theoretically?"

"What?" McKay asked in confusion. "Um...somewhere in between...now Kai here is going to take grounding station one and two. Major you are going to take grounding stations three and four. We don't know if the consoles are one of the things that require the gene to operate. So we're sending you two. Elizabeth and I will return to the control room so I can start working on the subroutines." He looked down at his watch. "We have about four and a half hours until the storm hits and we need them activated as soon as possible," he added, glancing meaningfully towards the door.

Taking the hint Kai climbed to her feet.

John glanced back and forth between her and McKay. "Are these things even close to a transporter?"

"Well..." McKay started to say looking back at the map of the city.

"Where are we?" John asked in disgust.

"We're here, in the tower," McKay pointed to the center of the map.

"And the grounding stations?" Sheppard asked.

Kai stepped up, ducking between the two men. "Here, here, here, and here," she said pointing out the far edges of each pier.

McKay cleared his throat. "They're a brisk walk away," he said.

"And by brisk, you mean far?" Sheppard clarified.

"And by walk," McKay hedged. "I mean run."

"Okay," Sheppard said tightly.

"You can think of it like a race," McKay said brightly, looking back and forth between Kai and Sheppard. When the Major didn't look amused he cleared his throat and looked down at his tablet. "You'll need to radio once you get to your first station.

"Right," John sighed. He turned to Kai. "Let's do it."

John and Kai walked out of the door together.

"So, how'd you end up getting left behind? You draw the short straw or something?"

"Straw?" Kai asked, quirking a brow.

John shook his head. "Never mind."

"I'm the only member of the science team other than Rodney to have the gene," she explained. "The information in the database led us to believe there was a chance the consoles will need to be accessed by someone with it. We didn't want to take a chance."

"Rodney could have done it," Sheppard observed.

Kai shrugged. "He could have..." she dragged off because they both knew it would take McKay at least three times as long as it would take her to get to the stations. "I volunteered."

John looked at Kai for a moment. This was the second potentially dangerous science mission she had volunteered for. He didn't like it. "You know you don't have anything to prove, right?"

Kai snorted in disbelief and shook her head.

"We better get moving," she said, then because things had taken too serious of a turn she turned back to the Major and arched an impish brow. "I'll see you when you get done Major," she said flashing the Major a challenging smile.

A pleased smirk crossed John's face as he watched Kai jog away down the opposite hall. He shook his head and turned to head towards his own power stations.

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John had never been in this part of the city. He opened the door to the grounding station and frowned. The horizon was black above the roiling ocean. The wind buffeted against his body, pushing him back. He stepped out onto the observation deck. He had never seen a storm quite like this one.

"Okay," he called into this comm. "I'm here."

"I told you to contact me once you got to the first one Major," McKay admonished.

Sheppard grimaced. "I am at the first one Rodney," he called back loud enough to be heard over the rising wind.

"Oh, sorry," Rodney responded. "According to my scans Kai's already done her first one."

"I have," Kai confirmed. Her voice came through the comm clearly.

"Well good for you," John growled. He hated to lose, even something as stupid as this. He had jogged the whole way out to the pier. To be so far ahead of him she must have sprinted.

"Where are you?" McKay asked.

John growled in irritation. "I'm at the damn grounding station."

"No, not you," McKay replied.

"I'm almost to the second one," Kai continued, he could hear the teasing in her voice.

"Nicely done Kai," Elizabeth congratulated her laughter evident in her voice.

"Glad everyone is having such a good time," Sheppard snapped. "What do I do?"

McKay's chuckling quieted. "There should be a keypad right on the console of the station."

John walked back to the console. He squinted against the wind. "Got it!" he yelled back through the comm.

"Punch in the ancient equivalent of 0-3-1-5-4-7," McKay ordered.

The console hummed to life as soon as John touched it to enter the numbers.

"Is it working?" McKay asked.

The large metal pillar off the observation deck creaked and separated, breaking into two pieces. "Yep!" John called back.

"Got mine!" Kai's chipper reply came through the comm.

"Ah, three down one to go," Rodney was enjoying himself far too much. Sheppard was always so cocky when it came to anything even remotely athletic. It was entertaining for him to be taken down a peg. "They all have the same activation code, so get to the last one Major and we'll meet you in the control room."

"Roger that!" John called, and he took off running

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Kia was nearly back to the gate room when Weir's voice came over their comm. "We have wounded coming in," she called.

"That doesn't make sense..." the Major's voice dragged off suspiciously and Kai tended to agree with him. If their people were hurt Bates would never gate them back to the city. It was too risky.

"They said it was wraith related?" The Major asked, his tone still heavy with suspicion.

"We'll ask them ourselves when we get there," Weir promised.

"I'm almost to the gate room too," Kai told them. If there was a problem they were going to need all the help they could get. Only the four of them and two marines were left in the city.

Kai was thirty yards down the corridor from the gate room when she heard the faint pop of gun fire. She froze, straining her senses. There was another pop and she stepped back into a shadowed doorway for cover.

She could hear low voices, but it was difficult to make out what they were saying.

"Secure the room," a man's voice rumbled authoritatively.

"Cover the entrances," a female yelled. There was something familiar about the females voice but she couldn't quite place it.

"What the hell is going on here?" Weir's voice was loud both in Kai's comm and echoing through the hallway.

Kai crept to the next alcove and the next until she could see into the gateroom. She kept to the shadows but the dozen armed men had their attention and their guns on Doctor Weir and Doctor McKay. She immediately recognized the uniforms of the Genii. The Genii had somehow known to send a team when Atlantis was at it weakest. Alarm bells were going off in Kai's mind. There was a traitor on Atlantis. It was the only possible explanation. There were enough soldiers however for it to be an invasion.

"Where is Major Sheppard?" the leader asked reasonably. He was middle aged and had the look of a hardened soldier. Her brief glance over them told her this man was the real threat. "I would like to know the whereabouts of Major Sheppard."

Kai exhaled softly as she realized they hadn't found the Major yet. She needed to get out of here and rendezvous with him so they could come up with some kind of plan.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Weir challenged. Kai was impressed by Weir's ability to maintain her composure even as she stared down the barrel of a gun. Perhaps she had not given Weir the credit she was due. Beside her, McKay was uncharacteristically silent as he held his hands up meekly.

The smile the leader flashed was brittle and made a shiver run down Kai's back. This was not a man she ever wanted to be at the mercy of. "The only thing you need to know Doctor Weir, as of right now, Atlantis is under our control."

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Hope you enjoyed the update! Another one coming very soon! Stay turned!