So this next part is one I have been looking forward to writing since I first considered writing this fanfic. I am beyond excited for this. I hope you are as excited as I am!

Happy Reading!

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Conversion
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Kai was in the infirmary. Again. It was beginning to become an uncomfortable habit and the nursing staff had become so accustom to her they were no longer intimidated by her scowls.

"Hold still," the nurse admonished as she treated the burn on Kai's arm.

Kai grunted in annoyance. Had she been working on the jumper alone she wouldn't have even bothered going to the infirmary. But Zelenka had been there when her bicep grazed the hot drive pod and he made a big deal out of it.

The nurse wrapped her upper arm in gauze and told her not to get it wet and to take the rest of the afternoon off, which they both knew Kai wasn't going to do. The burn was entirely superficial, barely second degree, and she was anxious to get back to work. She had almost restored a power core in one of the jumpers they had previously thought was beyond repair. If she and Zelenka could manage that there was a chance of them being able to utilize many others that had been abandoned.

The doors to her left hissed opened and a full medical team rushed Colonel Sheppard in on a stretcher. Kai straightened, her eyes narrowing in concern.

"This really isn't necessary Doc," Sheppard griped. The agitation in his voice made Kai release the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Yes it is," Beckett argued. "You've got a serious laceration on your arm and you've lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah well enjoy the ride Colonel," McKay huffed stomping along beside the gurney. "They're making me walk."

"You've got a splinter Rodney!" Beckett exclaimed.

"Yes," McKay agreed, sitting down on the bed across from John. "A very nasty, painful splinter."

"All right, let's have a look at this," Beckett said, gingerly cutting away the blood soaked bandaged the encircled the Colonel's forearm.

John wasn't paying attention however, instead his eyes zeroed in on Kai, sitting on one of the beds further down. He frowned at seeing her back in the infirmary. His gaze met hers briefly and then fell to the gauze looped around her arm. His eyes met hers again and he arched his brows questioningly.

Kai glanced down at her arm and back at him and shrugged so he would know it was no big deal.

He smirked. Kai could find trouble anywhere.

Beckett grabbed up a swab and dunked it in antiseptic. "This might hurt a wee bit," Carson warned Sheppard though the Colonel was barely paying attention to him.

"Ow! Ow!" Rodney exclaimed as a nurse pulled his splinter.

Sheppard glanced away from
Kai and towards McKay in disbelief. It was just a splinter for Christ sake. "I'm sure it will," he agreed.

"This doesn't sting?" Beckett asked in concern as he cleaned the area.

"No," Sheppard replied casually, still distracted by all the movement around the infirmary.

"I know you have a high threshold for pain but this..." Beckett dragged off with a shake of his head.

"This is what?" Sheppard asked turning to look down at his arm in concern.

"...gone." Beckett muttered in shock.

"What?" Sheppard asked sharply. He rotated his arm to get a better look.

"The feeding mark," Beckett explained blinking in disbelief. "it's completely healed," Beckett muttered half under his breath. Beckett's face shut down and he snapped into motion. He immediately ordered Sheppard be moved into a private exam room.

A nurse ushered the Colonel out of the room while McKay and Kai shared a confused look.

"You're free to go," the nurse told her.

Kai climbed to her feet, still frowning as the doors slid shut behind Sheppard cutting him off from the rest of the exam room. Kai moved over to McKay's gurney. The splinter was out and the nurse was obligingly binding his 'wound'.

"What happened?" She asked in a low tone.

McKay looked up at her. "Oh the usual," he huffed. "Ended up on an alien planet, running through a forest alone chasing after a Wraith infected with Beckett's brilliant Retro-virus," he snapped sarcastically.

McKay winced as the nurse pulled the gauze tight around his finger. "It almost tried to feed on me, then I got a splinter." He said holding his hand up pitifully.

Kai lifted a brow sardonically, "And the Colonel?" She asked jerking her chin towards the closed door.

"Oh right," McKay huffed exhaustedly once he realized she wasn't actually concerned with his ordeal. "Well, he chased after her to try to save her and she attacked him," he waved his hand dismissively. "I'm sure he's fine," he added standing up and moving towards the door.

Kai nodded and trailed slowly behind him, but she couldn't shake the ball of worry that started to grow in her chest. It persisted through the day and made it nearly impossible to focus on her work.

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Beckett spent the next hour running Sheppard through every scanner and test he could think of. While he waited for the results to process he pulled vial after vial of blood for testing. He was leaving nothing to chance. As much as he would like to say it was luck and that the Colonel simply hadn't been hurt he was a realist and this was the Pegasus Galaxy. No one was lucky in the Pegasus Galaxy.

"Maybe the wound wasn't that bad," Sheppard said watching as Beckett took yet another vial of blood.

"Then where did all the blood come from?" Beckett challenged, stress made his tone sharper than he intended, but his racing thoughts made it impossible for him to stop and apologize.

"I don't know, maybe it just looked worse than it was," John shrugged. He hated getting stuck in the infirmary. He didn't know exactly what was going on but he knew being moved into his own room wasn't a good sign.

"I don't see any evidence of any cut at all," Carson said tightly as he drew another vial.

"That's weird," Sheppard said thinking back on the encounter with the teenage Wraith who had been transformed by Beckett's retrovirus. "Because it hurt like hell."

"Are you sure the skin was broken?" Carson asked hopefully.

John scrubbed at the back of his neck. It had all happened pretty
fast. They had initially been trying to recapture Ellia. As much as Sheppard hated to admit it she had been different from any Wraith they had encountered. But once she took the retrovirus all
of that went away. Instead of becoming human like she wanted the young woman had devolved into something closer to the Iratus bug. She had been a whole hell of a lot stronger and faster than any Wraith John had fought. "Pretty sure, there was a lot of blood. Maybe it was hers," he said with a shrug.

"It was definately human," Carson said with a shake of his head as he began packing up his equipment. He had everything he needed, now it would just take time to run the tests and get the results back.

"I don't know, maybe it was a nose bleed," Sheppard offered as he climbed to his feet. He picked up his flak vest and headed towards the door.

"Is that supposed to be a joke Colonel?" Beckett asked grimly. It bothered him that the Colonel seemed so cavalier about what had happened.

John stopped and shook his head as he remembered the feral look in the once sweet girl's eyes as she tried to feed on him. "Believe me, this isn't funny."

Carson nodded in approval to see Sheppard was as concerned as he deamed the situation called for. "Give me tonight to run your blood work and analyze it with the data we already have."

"Until then?" John asked shifting his weight restlessly.

Carson shrugged. "Well you're welcome to look over my shoulder..." Carson offered, knowing he would be pulling an all nighter until this mystery was solved. There was something going on and it had his gut churning.

John's face pinched up. "That's tempting..."

Beckett snorted, pleased to see the colonel's sense of humor seemed to be in place. "Just go about your business as usual. I took a lot of blood. Get yourself some food and some rest. I will hopefully have some news in the morning."

John nodded. "Thanks doc," he called and headed out of the infirmary.

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John spotted Kai and Ronon eating together when he entered the mess hall. His head started to pound as the sight of Ronon and Kai chatting quietly together made something ugly in his gut twist.

At the table Kai was listening to one of Ronon's stories when a strange feeling hit her. It was like a fast wave of nausea that was gone as quickly as it came. Her jerked upright in her seat as her thoughts went unprompted to Sheppard. She had the sudden and overwhelming urge to return to the infirmary to check on him. Which didn't make sense. He had been fine when she saw him last.

"You okay?" Ronon asked staring down at the small Mortii.

Kai nodded and turned her attention back to her food. "Yeah," she agreed, shaking off the feeling that was rapidly fading. The mess hall was busy with the dinner crowd and they overwhelmed her senses. She didn't notice Sheppard behind her as she turned her attention back to Ronon. His proximity made the brief brush with their connection that much more potent.

John flinched as the errant thought caught him by surprise. It didn't make sense. He was glad the Satedan was settling in and that he seemed to have developed a friendship with Kai. They both tended towards solitude and with their pasts they could probably relate to one another.

Shaking away the strange thought his headache slid away, forgotten as quickly as it had appeared.

He went through the line loading his plate with a second helping.  He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he smelled the food. He added a third helping. He hesitated for a moment thinking he should head to his room, but Ronon caught his eye and jerked his chin at him.

Kai looked momentary surprised to see him. She ran her eyes over him critically and then relief softened her features. A tentative smile crossed her face before she dropped her gaze back to her food.

John swallowed, his fingers gripping his tray as he suddenly felt like he was back in high school faced with the pretty girl. Kai was so beautiful when she smiled at him it made something in his chest tighten. A sudden slice of pain in his temples made him finch and a wave of almost feral possessiveness washed over him. He eyes flashed back towards her face and then he locked them down on his tray, his fingers gripping the plastic so hard his knuckles turned white. He grimaced.

He and Kai weren't together, they couldn't be, and even if they were he had never been the jealous type with any of his past romantic entanglements. The weird feeling didn't make sense. He cared about her, but he wasn't possessive.

Kai rarely allowed herself the freedom to smile at someone and express her emotions. He was glad she was comfortable with him. It was a show of trust. He pinched his eyes shut for a moment and the pounding subsided. Maybe the Doc was right. He needed to eat and get some sleep. His body was exhausted and he felt hollowed out.

He cleared his throat and moved to their table and sat down beside the Satedan across from Kai. He kept his eyes on his plate as he worked to keep his emotions off his face. This wasn't normally a problem for him, but he didn't quite feel normal. He turned down to the food on his tray and his mood lightened immediately. The lines of tension smoothed from his face and shoulders as he relaxed in his chair.

"You good?" Ronon asked gruffly, his eyes raking over Sheppard in confusion.

"No injury," Sheppard reported brightly taking a bite of his steak sandwich. He nearly groaned in satisfaction. He was starving. That was the problem. He had pushed himself too hard again, and he was paying the price. It wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last. With that knowledge a strange sense of peace washed over him and he settled into his meal with more focus. He just needed fuel. Kai was entirely forgotten.

Ronon and Kai shared on confused look as the Colonel ate with an enthusiasm normally only matched by McKay. "Beckett kept you in there a long time for there to be nothing wrong with you," Kai observed.

Ronon was scowling. "I saw your arm," he said. "I helped you bind it, there was blood everywhere."

John seemed entirely focused on the meal in front of him. "Guess not," he said with a casual shrug. "Coulda been hers," he added around a mouthful of food.

Ronon's frown deepened into a full scowl. "No, nothing touched her. It took both of us to put her down."

Kai's eyebrows lifted. It was impressive and spoke to how strong the girl must have become for it to have taken the two of them together. Both John and Ronon were capable soldiers.

John shrugged again. "Doc's running all the tests," he said and he dug into his second sandwich. "He said I'm good to go about my business," John said flashing a pleased smile.

Kai glanced up at him from under her lashes. The knot of worry that had been in her chest since seeing him in the infirmary tightened another notch. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something slightly off about The Colonel. She was tempted to open the gate she had shut so firmly between them, even a small bit, just to see.

"So how's the arm?" He asked his tone brighter than normal.

Kai flinched guiltily and pushed aside the thought. Using the telepathic connection that way felt too much like invading his privacy. She glanced down at her arm, although her jacket covered evidence of the injury. "Fine."

"We still on for tomorrow?" He asked flashing her his most charming smile as he finished his food.

"If you're feeling up to it," she agreed the first small lines of a scowl began to form between her eyes.

Oblivious to her change in mood he grinned eagerly as he stood to clear his tray. "You're on," he challenged and he stalked away.

Kai realized in that moment what was bothering her about his attitude. He was expressing more emotion than he usually did which was odd in itself. But despite the possible danger he faced, he didn't seem worried at all.

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John had nightmares that night. Over and over it felt like he was being smothered, crushed, or buried alive. He fought to get away from it, but he somehow knew he was sleeping and he wasn't strong enough. He woke up early covered in sweat with his heart pounding in his chest. John didn't often have nightmares and the memory of them was fading behind the pounding in his temples. He grimaced and pinched his eyes shut, willing the feeling to go away. He was surprised when he scrubbed at his eyes and the headache was gone completely. He pushed himself to his feet expecting to feel tired from the poor night of sleep, instead he was incredibly energized. He had expected sore muscles from his run in with Ellia but he felt great.

He took a fast shower. He had a couple hours before he was supposed to meet Kai to spar and he thought a run might be nice. He knew Ronon ran every morning, sometimes he joined him. He headed to the track already the memory of being smothered in his own body forgotten.

John found Ronon stretching and the two of them started around the track. John stretched his legs and easily pulled pushed past the Satedan to set a grueling pace.

They finished the first lap and he glanced back at Ronon as they slowed. John wasn't even winded, in fact he felt like he could do better. "I thought you said you were a runner?" he asked sarcastically.

"That's funny," Ronon said as he gasped to catch his breath. He leaned his hands against the bars. He had been at an all out sprint to try to even keep Sheppard in sight. Sheppard was older than him by several years and Ronon had always set the pace.

"I can usually barely keep up, what's with you?" John asked. He wasn't even breathing hard.

"What's with you?" Ronon accused panting as sweat trickled down his temples.

"Water?" John offered holding his unused bottle of water out to Ronon.

The large Satedan scowled at him and snatched the bottle out of his hand roughly.

John bristled. "Hey sore loser. I don't act like a jerk when you beat me."

Ronon chugged half the bottle. "Yes, you do," he panted.

"Okay," John agreed slowly. "Then we'll go around again," he said casually.

Ronon stared at The Colonel like he was crazy. "Go ahead," he panted.

"Okay grumpy.  I will." Sheppard tore off running back the way they had come. The pounding in his head matched the beats of his heart. It tempted him to push himself even faster, to draw on the strength it offered. He stretched his legs this time enjoying the freedom of moving at full speed. He sprinted four more laps before he realized he was going to be late to meet Kai and jogged to the sparring room.

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Kai didn't sleep well. She tossed and turned restlessly all night. The ball of worry that had started in the infirmary continued to grow until it felt difficult to breathe past it. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling and couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening with Sheppard. It was an unnamed instinct she couldn't rationalize but she also couldn't ignore.

Unable to stand it she finally allowed herself to open the connection between them. Whatever the connection was, and whatever is meant didn't matter, she just need to know he was okay so she could get some sleep. But when she tried nothing happened. She concentrated so hard she broke out into a sweat and instead of finding a warm pulse on the other end, her head started to pound. She felt nauseas and dizzy as she tried to force it.

She quit, scowling in defeat. The honest truth was that she didn't know how it came to be in the first place or even what it was. It was foolish of her to think she could control something she didn't understand and closed herself off from so completely. She had never been particularity gifted telepathically and that weakness was showing itself.

It was nearly dawn before the feeling of anxiety faded and it was like she could breathe again. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she dressed and hurried to the sparring room early. She needed to see him, to reassure herself he was all right.

When he wasn't there she started stretching, but fighting against the tension in her body made it difficult to focus. The door hissed open a few minutes later and The Colonel swaggered in with a confident grin on his face.

"Morning," he called flashing her a charming smile.

Kai frowned for a second. She had spent most of the night worrying about him, but he seemed fine. In fact he looked better than fine. There was a bounce in his step and a slight flush to his skin like he had already been working out. He moved across the mats and picked up two rods. Turning around he tossed them at Kai as she climbed to her feet, still scowling. She startled and managed to catch them. He pulled two of his own, swinging them experimentally.

"How are you feeling?" Kai asked hesitantly.

Sheppard turned around to face her, already moving across the mat towards her. "Never better," he promised her. He smiled again and there was something about the glint of challenge in his eyes that made Kai's heart start to pound. He prowled around her an almost predatory set to his shoulders as he rotated his wrists as though testing the rods weight.

"Ready?" he asked eagerly. John felt amazing after his run. Instead of making him more tired he felt energized, like his reserves of strength and energy were limitless. It was a heady feeling and he was eager to try himself against Kai today.

Kai opened her mouth to say yes but he attacked before she could finish. It stunned her for a moment. Sheppard had never done anything like that. He was always so careful when the sparred together. In fact he had just lectured her about sparring with Ronon not two weeks ago.

Sheppard struck out at her and she easily parried, but she grunted at the force behind his strike. She moved to strike at his thigh but he twisted shockingly fast. He shoved her rod up, ducked under her guard and flipped her over his back. She landed hard on her back and the wind was knocked out of her.

Kai scowled as she fought to drag the air back in her lungs. "You've been practicing without me," Kai panted. The two of them were pretty evenly matched normally; while Sheppard was stronger than her he was also usually slower. That didn't seem to be the case today.

"Not really," he said casually. He turned away and uncharacteristically left her laying on the mat.

Kai frowned. Not that she needed it, but Sheppard was normally a more gracious sparring partner and usually offered a hand up if he knocked her on her backside. Instead, he spun the bantos rods in his hands, and with a cocky smirk he tossed one aside.

He turned to face her, tucking one of his arms behind his back. "Had enough?" he goaded when Kai hesitated.

It was in John's nature to tease, one of his greatest attributes was his sense of humor, but it was normally self-deprecating. John had mastered the art of teasing without being unkind. This had a hard edge to it that was not normally there. 

Kai narrowed her eyes, scowling at his overt show of confidence. A lazy, self satisfied smirk pulled at the Colonels face enraging her past noticing the possibility of something being wrong.

Kai threw herself to her feet, landing lightly and twirled her bantos rods.

John smirked and charged her. It was one of his usual moves, one that almost never worked. It was too overt and based entirely on brute strength. The agile assassin was always able to move out of the way in the past. Today however, John was on her in the blink of an eye. Instead of striking her, he shoved her back with a powerful strike, throwing her off balance. Then he charged her, slamming her backwards into the wall. He easily pinned her bantos rods above her head with a hand on one wrist and his own rod locked down against the other of the hers.

Kai grimaced as the wind was knocked out of her again from the strength of the Colonels charge. "That was impressive," Kai said cautiously, her breath was coming in shaky gasps. Their chests were pressed together as they both gasped for air.

Something was different. Kai had been fighting side by side with Sheppard for almost a year now. Unless he had been concealing his skills that entire time something had changed rapidly. Despite the increased power in his attacks she could still feel even more untapped power radiating through his body as he held her easily against the wall. She found it distracting as she tried to stay focused.

John often turned himself over to his instincts in a fight. Years of combat experience had taught him not to overthink, to trust himself and his body. That proved to be his undoing. When he let go to focus on the fight the pounding in his temples that he had been fighting all day unfurled itself like a great sleeping beast. It moved from where it had been building power in the back of his mind to the front.

His own uncertainty regarding his feelings for Kai made the beast's job so much easier as it slithered in, seeking control. Instead of an outright struggle the beast within sought to placate him. It shifted his instincts, prompting his more primal urges to the forefront of his mind.

John leaned into Kai, his body pushing closer towards her. The Beast was salivating. Her scent was all around him. The heat from the fight and their proximity made need stir in his groin. Sweat beaded up on the exposed skin of her throat, and when she swallowed the movement of her throat caught his gaze.

The rest of her smooth skin was covered, hiding the scars that proved she was a survivor, a fighter and most importantly a warrior worthy of them. She was keeping herself closed off, apart and contained and it infuriated the beast.

The problem was both John and the beast enjoyed when a spark of temper lit her eyes. They liked when they had managed to break her normally steely self control to reveal the fire beneath the icy exterior.

He wanted more. They wanted more.

Need, hunger and desire all moved through him leaving a firestorm in its wake. He closed his eyes once and drew in a deep breath as a shudder ran through his body. He could smell and hear so much more and she was so close, overwhelming his senses. Her breath was coming in fast pants and when he smelled her own desire The Beast shoved forward taking full control.

Oblivious to John's internal struggle Kai pushed against his hold once, but it did nothing to move him. Tightening her jaw she bucked her whole body against his experimentally. When his body didn't move Kai swallowed. Her heart started pounding in her throat as she looked up into his intense gaze from only inches away. Something was different about him. The hazel of his eyes gleamed brighter than usual. There was an intensity she had only seen on his face a handful of times and it made her breath catch in her throat.

"You should call me John when we're off the clock," he purred, his voice was lower, almost a growl. He leaned closer into her, drawing in her scent. He hovered just above her skin. There were reasons he should stop, but he couldn't remember a single one of them with her pressing against him. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her, every one of his ever enhancing senses knew that down to the marrow of his bones.

"John," she said his name, but it came out breathy. There was a faint tremble to her muscles but it had nothing to do with fatigue and everything to do with the way he was looking at her. Her eyes flickered instinctively to his lips.

Just hearing her say his name like that was enough for the beast to clench even more control. Something dark and possessive slid behind his eyes. "There you go," his voice dropped an octave and he moved his body against hers. He wanted her to say his name like that all the time. He wanted her to know she was his.

Kai sucked in a surprised breath, but she didn't pull away. Instead she stared into his hazel eyes as though she could read his thoughts. There was desire in her eyes, but also confusion.

In that moment John Sheppard knew something was wrong with him. He could feel it slithering through him like tar. It was trying to take something he treasured. This wasn't him. He cared for Kai, he would never use their training sessions to gain the upper hand and take advantage of her. Especially not after what she told him of her past.

She trusted him.

He fought and struggled against the pressure in his temples, but just like in his dreams he couldn't get away from it. He wasn't strong enough. He had inadvertently given The Beast so much freedom it was impossible to wrestle it back. The Beast leaned his body in closer to Kai, trying to feed John what it thought he wanted to placate him, but it was a mockery of what he truly desired. It was taking something he wanted and turning it ugly and John was stuck watching as The Beast ruined his life.

Kai licked her lips nervously and she looked down at where Sheppard's hands and body were pinning her to the wall. There had always been tension between her and Sheppard but he had never acted on it. He had always been so careful to keep the line of professionalism firmly drawn. What was different about today?

"Should we continue or do you-?" Her voice came out more breathy than she intended but she needed to break the tension before she gave into the urge to kiss his full lips that were twisted in a cocky smirk.

John's hooded eyes dropped to her lips as she spoke and it felt like a physical caress. There was the clatter of him dropping his bantos rod and he raised his hand up to cup the back of her neck. The warm pads of his fingers buried themselves in the hair at the base of her skull. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in, his breath fanning her skin. For one agonizing second she thought he was going to pull back, then he kissed her. His lips slid against her's sensually as his body pressed her back into the wall.

Kai dropped the sticks in her hands and her palms came up to rest against his chest. She only had a moment to doubt if this was the right thing, but the feel of John against her was too much. She had wanted him for so long. She sank one of her hands into his hair pulling his mouth closer as she kissed him back. A pleased growl rumbled through John's chest and she arched closer to him. The feel of him surrounding her was too much, she was drowning in sensations.

The Beast brought John's free hand around to lock around Kai's hip to anchor her in place. The little movement was enough for John to break free. The feel of Kai complaint against him, her tugging at his hair and the heat of her palms against his chest were enough of an anchor for John to wrench away control. He couldn't let this go on. He wanted her, god he wanted this so badly, but something was wrong with him.

He wasn't in control.

He forced himself to break the kiss. His eyes were wide as he stared down at Kai's moist, swollen lips. Then he forced them to snap back up to look her in the eyes. They were still pressed together intimately and he couldn't seem to gain control of the rest of his body. It was like it was on lock down.

"I'm not really sure what's happening," John told her honestly as he frowned down at her.

When John pulled back Kai let her hands slide back down so they were both resting against the hard planes of his chest. It took her a moment to catch her own breath and then another to realize his heartbeat wasn't slowing. It was raging inside his chest, thundering four or five times faster than it should.

She looked down where her hand was resting against him in concern. "John?" She asked uncertainly.

"That was interesting," he said looking away from her but he still couldn't force his body to let her go. The Beast wasn't in his mind anymore but it wasn't gone fully. It couldn't take control but it wasn't going to give it to him either.

Kai frowned up at him. The sting of rejection swirled through her for a moment and she moved experimentally to see if he would let her pull away.

As soon as Kai showed any desire to not be touched by him John was able to use that to take full control back. He snapped his hands back away from her tucking them across his chest.

He was gasping for breath now, sweat beading on his forehead as his hands trembled. Regret and concern flashed through his eyes. "Are you okay?" He gasped as he watched her. Whatever was happening, it had ruined everything.

Kai nodded slowly as she studied him. "Colonel," she addressed him formally although she was still fighting to get her own emotions back in check. "I think we need to get you to the infirmary."

She could hear his heartbeat continuing to accelerate. She didn't know how much more the human body could take.

"I think you're right," he agreed with false brightness. He didn't want to scare her any more but he was fighting to keep the pounding in his head from taking control once more.

She stepped towards him to take his arm and help him but he pulled back sharply before they could touch, nearly tripping over his own feet to keep his distance. "I'm okay. I don't need help," he stammered. He could feel the poison slithering through him again. It was taking all of his concentration and strength to fight it. That thing was messing with his instincts again and he needed to get as far away from Kai as possible. He wasn't safe for her to be around.

"Colonel Sheppard," Beckett's voice called through the comm in his ear. "Please report to the infirmary immediately."

"See," John assured her. "They're already expecting me."

Kai watched as he practically fled the gym away from her, when he was gone she ran a hand over her mouth, wondering what was going on. One thing she knew for sure, there was something very wrong with John Sheppard.

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So... what did you think? I know I was gone for a little
while, I hope this chapter will make up for it. M