Hello all! Here is the next update! I hope you are enjoying The Long Goodbye, it's always been one of my favorite episodes!

Happy Reading!

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The Long Goodbye Cont.
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Kai groaned as she fought her way back to consciousness. Her arms and legs were still tingling but she had to get up. She fought to shove herself to her hands and knees but she swayed dangerously. Caldwell groaned somewhere out of sight.

She heard footsteps in the doorway and her head snapped up to face their potential attacker. Of the two of them she was more equipped to defend them. It took a Herculean effort to move her hand to rest of the handle of her blade. She had no idea how she was going to pull it. Her fingers felt clumsy and like they belonged to someone else. She had it halfway out of the sheath when she recognized the sounds of Teyla and Ronon. She blew out a relieved sigh and let her hand drop.

"We have a medical emergency in lab three," Teyla called rushing into the room.

Large, gentle hands helped pick her up and set her onto her feet like she was a doll. She could hear and smell Ronon but her head was still pounding and she was pinching her eyes shut as she fought to take control of her body.

"You all right little sister?" he asked, resting his hands on her shoulders until she was able to stand on her own.

Kai opened her eyes and nodded. "Stunner blast," she groaned flexing her hands to get the feeling back in them.

"Colonel-" Teyla started, reaching for help pull Caldwell to his feet.

"I'm fine," Caldwell said briskly, taking a wobbly step away from Teyla.

"What happened?" Ronon asked looking around the room in shock. Both McKay and Beckett were still unconscious on the floor, as were the guards outside each doorway.

"She was playing us from the beginning," Caldwell ground out.

"Weir?" Ronon clarified. Kai took a deliberate step away from him. Her legs still felt like jelly and she used the computer terminal to steady herself so she didn't fall right back down on her ass.

"Sheppard too, it's both of them now." Caldwell reached up and touched his comm. "Control room, patch my radio through the security teams only," he waited a moment before continuing. "This is Caldwell. Both Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir are under the influence of alien entities. If at all possible subdue and contain them with non-lethal force."

Ronon stepped towards Caldwell a determined gleam in his eye. "We can track them now, fast." He assured the Colonel.

"There is a medical team on it's way," Teyla said glancing towards Kai, who was still leaning against the terminal for balance.

Caldwell nodded. "Go," he ordered.

Kai moved to followed by he reached out and caught her arm. "Not you," he said. Kai stiffened her eyes narrowing on where the Colonel was touching her. She didn't like to be touched by strangers and she liked Caldwell even less than that. "Not until you're cleared medically."

"I'm-" she began to argue, her eyes turning to Ronon and Teyla. She didn't want to be left behind not when Sheppard was in danger.

"If you don't obey my orders I will throw you in the brig to make sure you do," Caldwell threatened.

Kai blew out an angry sigh but turned to Teyla and Ronon and nodded. She would only slow them down right now anyway. They two of them nodded briskly and jogged out of the room, their guns in hand. She at least trusted Ronon and Teyla going after them more than she trusted Caldwell's marines.

Beckett sat up with a groan and Caldwell moved to help him. Kai waited impatiently while Beckett recovered. Once he was on his feet he and his medical team quickly looked everyone over. The marines who had been subdued by the man in Sheppard's body, Thalen, had been knocked out instead of just stunned and they were brought to the infirmary.

Once cleared, Kai followed Caldwell, Beckett, and McKay up to the control room.

"Report," Caldwell demanded as they descended the stairs.

"We just lost contact with Major Lorne," Chuck reported grimly.

Caldwell shook his head. "All right I want all non-essential personnel to return directly to their quarters and remain there until notified. The only people I want moving through the city are my security teams."

"Yes sir," Chuck agreed and he turned back to his terminal to convey the orders.

"We may be able to track them using the life signs detectors." Mckay suggested.

"How? They would read as human," Beckett pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to differentiate."

Kai stepped up to the screen lightly tracing her fingers along the halls, following the movements of the teams. "Security teams travel in groups of two and three, they would be the only individual signs traveling through the city."

Caldwell nodded. "Good." he paused when no one moved. "What are you waiting for?" he demanded.

McKay shifted his weight and glanced back towards Kai and Beckett as though he were looking for support. "Look I don't want to get all chain of command on you but I am a senior member of this expedition. So with Elizabeth and Colonel Sheppard out of the equation then-"

"I'm in charge," Caldwell snapped his tone brooking no argument.

McKay flinched a little but Kai was going to back him up if he decided to push the point. McKay was a senior member of the expedition and Caldwell had made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that he did not like her.

"No, I don't think that's technically true. I mean you're here what? One week out of six?" McKay challenged.

Caldwell tilted his head as he stared down at McKay. "Could it be Doctor that since I was host to a Goa'uld you don't trust me?"

"I never said that!" McKay snapped.

"I am the highest ranking military officer here and this is clearly a military situation. Does that clear thing up for you?" Caldwell asked tightly.

"Fine." McKay snapped and moved to the sensors terminal.

"Sir," Chuck called. "I'm picking up some chatter I think you'll want to hear."

"Put it on speaker," Caldwell replied.

Sheppard's voice came over the loud speaker and Kai sucked in a breath, stepping towards the terminal. "You're the one who likes to run. My ship ran out of fuel before I even had a clean shot," It was his voice, but there was something off about the tone and the way he spoke. It made it clear to Kai it was not John in control.

"That was my plan, Thalen," Weir's voice came through tight with rage.

"You didn't have a plan, you just wanted me dead Phoebus," Thalen responded in John's voice.

"Still do!" Phoebus agreed brightly with more malice than Weir had ever put into her voice.

In the background Kai could hear some shifting and what sounded like a cupboard opening. She closed her eyes and stretched her senses trying to pick up anything more that might be useful to tell where either one of them were located.

"As a matter of fact I can't wait to see that look of defeat on your face. Just one last time," she added.

"You mean the look on my face when you rammed my fighter making sure neither one of us could win. That was hatred not defeat Phoebus."

Kai could hear the humor in Thalen's tone that was similar in a way to John but there was a cruel edge to his words. Kai cut her eyes to Caldwell, remembering how much he had seemed like himself when the Goa'uld had been in control. Had one of them known him a little better they may have noticed the subtle changes in behavior and all of the pain could have been avoided.

"Is that any way to talk to your wife?" Phoebus teased. There was movement and a pause. "Thalen, run all you like. The moment I find you. You die."

When they stopped talking Chuck turned off the speaker.

"Well," Beckett said. "They're headed straight for divorce."

Caldwell nodded, his expression grim. "This confirms the whole thing was a ruse. In fact I doubt we were ever speaking to Doctor Weir."

"It was a remarkable impression, I'll give her that," McKay said. "The psychic link must give her access to Elizabeth's memories, which means Thalen-"

"Has access to all of Sheppard's," Kai finished for him ominously. If that truly was the case, they were all in trouble. The Colonel was nearly unmatched in tactics and strategy.

"From the sound of it we have two fighter pilots who don't know that their war is over," Caldwell said leaning against the terminal.

As badly as Kai had wanted to run out after them, being here for this information had been helpful. They needed to make a plan. "It's much worse than that," she said in a low tone. She looked up as Caldwell turned to her. He raised an eyebrow encouraging her to continue.

She drew in a breath. "They know everything about this city from the layout to defensive systems, how to access weapons..." she dragged off. "With access to the Colonel's memories, Thalen knows the strengths and weaknesses of every person that we might send after him."

Caldwell turned to face her as though he were seeing her for the very first time. "We just need to find a way to stop them without unduly harming the host," Caldwell said coldly.

"Unduly?" McKay snapped sarcastically, shoving himself to his feet so he was in Caldwell's face. "What does that mean?" he asked sharply as he looked back and forth between Kai and Caldwell.

Caldwell stared at them all in turn. "Obviously some force might be necessary," he said grimly and he stalked away from their sullen glares back to Chuck, who would follow his orders without question. "Contact all off world teams and let them know we are going to be suspending all gate activity until further notice. We're going to full alert status," he turned to McKay. "Shut down the gate Doctor McKay."

Rodney blew out a frustrated sigh and turned back to one of the terminals. He sat down and went to work, implementing a lock out protocol that would keep either Phoebus or Thalen from using Weir and Sheppard's knowledge from accessing the gate.

"I just located one of them near the power room," Kai called from the view screen. The next second the lights went out. Everyone shifted as even the terminals went dark. Only Kai could still see easily in the near blackness of the control room.

"Are you kidding me!?" McKay exclaimed.

"What happened?" Beckett asked flicking on a torch he pulled from his belt.

"The whole city is dark," Kai called. She stepped up to another terminal but everything was dead.

"Oh tell me you had someone guarding the power room!" McKay demanded exasperatedly spinning on Caldwell in frustration.

"Two marines from Daedalus," Caldwell snapped, he reached up and touched his radio. "Hutchinson this is Caldwell, report," there was no response. "Where is auxiliary power?" Caldwell asked.

"Naquada generators aren't kicking in," Chuck reported.

"They must have damaged the backups," McKay said shoving himself to his feet. There was nothing more they could do here. The control room had been rendered useless. If he had to guess he was assuming it was Sheppard who had done it. It was very much a tactic the Colonel would utilize.

"We've lost everything?" Caldwell asked in disbelief.

"Shields, communications, long range and biometric sensors," McKay reported standing over Kai's shoulder. He tapped a couple of keys, but nothing happened, they were sitting ducks.

"So we contact the Daedalus and use their sensors," Caldwell replied.

"Subspace communications are also out," McKay reported.

"I need you to get down to the power room Doctor and restore primary systems," Caldwell said.

"I should go along too," Beckett said stepping forward. "Marines could be hurt."

"Exactly," McKay exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air. "Marines may have been injured, we can't go down there."

"I will send two of my men with you-" Caldwell started to say. "Just in case."

"Well, how do we know that Sheppard isn't down there waiting in ambush?!" McKay exclaimed. Two of Caldwell's men wouldn't mean much against someone with all of Sheppard's skills.

"Because he isn't trying to kill us," Beckett said soothingly. "He's trying to kill Doctor Weir."

"Oh That is so much more comforting!" McKay yelled, he was getting worked up now and nothing was going to soothe him. His friends were in danger and a little part of him was convinced it was his fault. He had helped them do this. He should have stopped them somehow, should have seen this as a possible outcome. What had seemed like a simple humanitarian project had turned into a military nightmare.

"This is not a discussion!" Caldwell raised his voice to be heard over their bickering. "Let me know the minute you have a damage assessment."

Rodney stuck his chin out defiantly as he stared down the Colonel. "Fine!" he snarled. "But I want Zian with me," he said pointing at the Mortii on the other side of the room. If anyone could protect him from Sheppard it was her.

Caldwell looked back and forth between them before he threw his hands up in defeat. "Whatever," Caldwell snapped. He had been working to keep Zian as far away from military missions as possible. He didn't trust her or her past, but if it was the only way to get the power back up, she could certainly handle watching McKay's back, especially if two of his marines were going along as well. "Just get me power Doctor McKay." He swung back around. "Zian you're with McKay. Gear up," he advised glancing down at her civilian clothes.

Kai stood and slipped quickly down to the locker room. She pulled on her gear. Instead of grabbing one of the P-90's however she took one of the Wraith stunners from the rack in the armory. She had no intention of having live fire anywhere near either Weir or Sheppard. It was going to be hard enough keeping the marines in line. Her best hope was that she would get a shot at one of them with the stunner and they could stop all of this before it spiraled even more out of control.

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Kai led the way through the dark hallways down to the power room. Beckett and McKay were just behind her with Caldwell's marines watching their six. They didn't run into anyone. While it could have been an ambush Kai didn't think it would be. It felt too obvious. Phoebus and Thalen wanted to stop each other and seemed to be working on keeping everyone on Atlantis out of the way. An ambush wouldn't fit their objective thus far, but she kept her senses strained and McKay had a life signs detector just to make sure.

Once they got to the power room they found the two marines unconscious on the floor. Beckett dropped to his knees to immediately begin treating them. Kai paced a slow circle around the room, but there was no evidence that either Phoebus or Thalen were nearby.

McKay stepped over to the controls. He tapped his ear, activating his comm. "Well the good news is that the ZPM is still intact...the control systems seem to have been damaged by some well placed weapons fire..." there was another pause in conversation. "I just got here, I have no idea." Then McKay blew out a frustrated sigh and got back to work muttering to himself.

Another few minutes passed before city wide comms activated. "Medical team to the south port cargo hold, you have a man down."

Kai went cold. It was Sheppard's voice.

Caldwell's voice came over their small groups comms. "Doctor Beckett please report to the south port cargo hold. Zian, you are his escort. Rogers, Barnes, stay with Doctor McKay."

Kai left the two marines with McKay and led Beckett through the city towards the cargo hold. She hustled Beckett through the city as quickly as possible, while still being cautious. Leading their primary Doctor into an ambush wouldn't help any one. She kept her senses sharp, listening for any sign of Weir or Sheppard.

Phoebus seemed like the more determined of the two, but she was slightly limited being trapped in Doctor Weir's body. While fit, Doctor Weir wasn't a fighter which would limit the pilot to only her own knowledge and tactics. Thalen was a serious concern. John was fit, strong and his abilities would only serve to enhance the other soldiers.

The doors slid open on the cargo hold and she froze. Ronon was on the ground, his hands covering a bullet wound in his stomach. There was blood everywhere.

Beckett rushed into the room before she could clear it and she jogged after him, the stunner raised as she swung around, watching the shadows as she strained to listen for any sign there was someone hiding in the dark. She cursed herself for not taking the life signs detector from McKay. They appeared to be alone, but she didn't relax as Beckett worked over Ronon. There were too many small spaces and shadows for someone to hide and ambush them.

Beckett's medical team arrived a short time later and they got Ronon on the gurney and began hustling him back towards the infirmary. Beckett glanced over his shoulder when Kai didn't immediately follow them out the door. Her focus was still on the room around them.

"Kai dear," he called to her.

She glanced back at him and then off into the darkness. Torn between her orders from Caldwell and her desire to go after Sheppard. John had just been here, he could still be close. She fervently hoped whatever happened to Sheppard when Thalen took over he wasn't aware of what was going on around him. It would destroy John to know he had shot and seriously injured his friend.

Beckett checked over his shoulder, but his medical team had already disappeared into the hall and were out of earshot. He turned back to Kai, his gaze serious. "Can you feel him?" he asked.

Kai swallowed back her natural instinct to protect the Bond by keeping it secret. Beckett had always been nothing but kind to her and was the only person who truly understood the extent of the Bond as much as she did. He was the only one she had ever discussed it with. She shook her head grimly and chewed on her lip as she gazed into the darkness. "Not since the imprint," she confessed.

Beckett could see the weight of that knowledge on Kai's slim shoulders. It could mean any number of things. Kai herself would say she wasn't a very strong telepath, but having him gone completely from their Bond had clearly shaken her. Beckett didn't pretend to understand the depth of the Bond, but he had witnessed how deeply they seemed to care for one another the old fashioned way. It was enough for him, because in his heart Carson Beckett was a bit of a hopeless romantic himself. When he watched them together he saw two broken people who made one another better, even if they were too stubborn to admit it.

Their comms activated interrupting his thoughts. "Doctor Beckett I want an update on your patient as soon as you get him to the infirmary," Caldwell ordered.

"Aye," Beckett agreed. "Any word on Doctor Weir or Colonel Sheppard?"

"Teyla was tracking them at the base of the south tower but we've lost contact with her," Caldwell replied.

Beckett pressed his lips into a grim line. Kai was supposed to stay with him but with Ronon down and Teyla out of contact they didn't have a whole lot of options. It was no secret that Caldwell didn't trust Kai and Beckett knew the Colonel wouldn't use Kai to her full potential over something as stupid as prejudice.

Beckett switched off his comm and turned to face Kai. "Go get him," he told her resolutely.

Kai turned to meet Beckett's gaze. She studied the Doctor's face before she nodded. They both knew she would be going against orders, but she stood the best chance of finding Colonel Sheppard.

"I will," she said in a low tone. She pulled her cowl up so it covered the lower half of her face, turned and melted into the darkness.

Beckett watched in appreciation as Kai literally disappeared from his senses. He chewed on his lower lip, uncertain if he had done the right thing. Weir and Sheppard would both forgive her for disobeying orders, but if they were lost to them, Caldwell would throw Kai out on her heels first chance he got and she would be homeless. He wasn't sure if Kai knew that, or if she had just decided saving Sheppard might be worth it.

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I hope you enjoyed the update! I'm really looking forward to the next one! Thank you as always for your amazing support!