Hello All! I hope you are doing well and staying healthy with all this craziness going on.

Happy Reading!

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Kai ended up going up to the Daedalus to work with McKay and an Asgardian they had on board named Hermiod. Between McKay and Hermiod it was almost a contest for who was the more difficult to work with, but Kai found that despite their egos they were at least efficient. The three of them were working on the program that would allow them to beam a nuclear device on board Hive ships.

"It's pretty interesting stuff, eh?" McKay asked without looking up from his laptop. "I think I've learned more about Wraith technology in the last hour than I have in the last two years."

Kai was responsible for continuing to run her translation program while McKay worked on the program in English. She was still the best at reading Wraith out of the group. McKay hadn't shown much aptitude for the language. She wasn't certain and he certainly hadn't let on, but she didn't think Hermiod could read Wraith either. Not that the egotistical Asgardian would ever admit to such a thing. She was shocked to have finally found a being with a bigger ego than McKay.

"Oh come on, I understand you're an Asgard and everything but even you have to feel a bit of an adrenaline buzz," McKay called to Hermiod. 

Hermiod looked up at McKay, blinking his strange black eyes slowly. "My body does not possess the adrenal gland that produces epinephrine in your system. And even if I did, I would not be so easily impressed," he intoned and turned back to his work.

"I get it, I get it," McKay snapped. "You think you're smarter than I am. Are you ready to go or not?"

Hermiod tilted his head. "I have been for some time."

McKay grunted in annoyance, but didn't bother arguing with him. He turned to Kai. "Zian? Are you ready?"

"I've been waiting," Kai said, biting back her smile. She couldn't resist the chance to rib McKay, he always took himself far too seriously.

"Ha ha ha," McKay snapped sarcastically. "You two are hilarious."

Hermiod turned to face Kai, blinking his eyes at her. It was difficult to tell, but she thought maybe the Asgardian liked her.

McKay activated his comm. "This is McKay, give me an open channel to the Hive."

"You're live, go ahead."

McKay cleared his throat and when he spoke again his voice was a little lower and had more authority behind it. Kai shot him an incredulous look, but didn't say anything.

"This is Doctor Rodney McKay aboard the earth ship Daedalus. We would like, uh with your permission, to begin attempting to beam an innocuous container onto your ship while you are actively jamming. Uh, we are hoping through trial and error that we can slowly disarm or break the codes. May we proceed?" he asked, the last question softer and more in his own voice.

Surprisingly it was the Queen herself who answered. "You may begin Doctor McKay."

"Oh ah, thank you," he cut off the transmission. "That was weird," he said looking at Kai who nodded in agreement. "Shall we?" he asked.

Kai turned back to her computer. "Ready...now," she said and they activated their programs together.

Kai and McKay worked on board the Daedalus for several hours. As they worked Kai couldn't help noticing the stream of security men who seemed to randomly walk through their work station. After the third even Hermiod seemed to take notice. By the time the fifth one came through he asked about their business there. The security personnel stuttered over their words and made excuses before backing out of engineering.

Kai however didn't need the answer. She was well aware Caldwell didn't trust her, and it was her first time really working on his ship. She had been on board a number of times but had always been accompanied by Colonel Sheppard. She hadn't realized at the time, but Caldwell must have considered Sheppard to be an suitable security escort. He apparently did not feel the same about McKay.

While being on the Daedalus was a little tense at times, it kept Kai clear of all of the debates and interactions on Atlantis with the Wraith. She was sure John felt better about that, he had been overprotective when it came to her interactions with their new allies. She had been frustrated with him at the time, but if she was honest in some ways it was a relief for her too. She didn't like the idea of letting the Wraith into their home and like Ronon she struggled with their presence.

McKay returned to Atlantis for a meeting, leaving Kai and Hermiod working on the program. When McKay returned he announced that the decision was made that they would test the gas on a rival hive that was in a nearby system. Since their program wasn't finished the Hive would send an envoy to the rival Hive in order to get the gas on board. Weir got the Queen to agree to allow them to observe the exchange.

McKay looked at Kai. "We're jumping into position now. You and Sheppard are taking a cloaked jumper in close to get scans."

Kai lifted her eyebrows in surprise. That was normally something McKay would have done.

"Well it was either that or me going, and lets face it I'm way more help here," McKay said gesturing towards Hermiod.

The Asgardian lifted his chin. "Actually-" he began to say.

"That's enough," McKay snapped impatiently. "Sheppard's waiting for you in the bay," he shooed her away. "You two enjoy that sort of thing right?" McKay asked.

Kai felt her throat tighten and she shot McKay a surprised look. Did he know? They had been working to keep what happened between them just between them.

At her look McKay sighed. "You know the devil may care, flying straight at enemy ships type of thing."

"Right," Kai agreed with a nervous chuckle. She scooped up her laptop, slipping it into a messenger bag and walked through the halls towards the bay.

The Daedalus was an impressive ship, but she couldn't imagine living aboard full time. She loved the sound and smell of the ocean that truly made Atlantis home. The constant low level vibration and humming of the engines she could feel was grating. She doubted the humans could feel it, but it made her not wish to spend any extended period of time aboard.

The doors slid open to reveal a fairly impressive fleet of F-302's and a single jumper from Atlantis. She recognized it immediately from the wear on the hull. It was one she had recently gotten back into service. She was a little surprised Sheppard had chosen Jumper 8, but there was no real reason not to. The rear hatch was down and she walked up. As soon as she was in the rear compartment the hatch started to close. Sheppard was sitting in the pilots seat running pre-flight checks and looking busy.

Kai set down her bag and took her seat in the co-pilot's chair. She set up her laptop, plugging into the port so all scans would immediately be downloaded and swiveled the chair around to face the main viewer. There was an uncomfortable silence hanging in the quiet of the jumper that she wasn't quite sure how to shake. They were both tense about the situation, but there had also been some tension between the two of them. Kai hated being unsure where they stood with one another.

"Jumper Eight, this is the Daedalus we are in position," Caldwell's voice came over the comm.

John activated their comm. "Understood, open the doors and we'll be off."

"Good luck Colonel, try and stay out of trouble. We are running quiet and out of sensor range so you're on your own out there."

"Understood Colonel, we'll be just fine," Sheppard replied. "Jumper Eight out," he reached forward and turned off the comm, returning the jumper back to the uncomfortable silence that he didn't know how to fix. The bay doors opened and Sheppard flew the jumper out into the darkness of space.

Once they were finally free of the blazing overhead lights aboard the Daedalus Kai felt like she could breath again. She let out a sigh and felt a gentle nudge. She turned her chair to face John, but his eyes were glued to the viewer as though there was something that required his absolute attention. They were still a twenty minute flight away from the Hives at full power and there was nothing between them.

Kai took a deep breath, feeling like she owed him some kind of apology. "I-" she started to say, but Sheppard had begun at the same time.

"Look-"

They both stopped and turned to face one another.

"I was an ass," John said heaving a heavy sigh.

"I was being stubborn," Kai allowed, swallowing. She hated the feeling of vulnerability she got when she was around John. It wasn't something she had been accustomed to in her previous life among the Mortii and it was so easy to pull away when things got uncomfortable. But as she stared at his handsome face the warring parts of herself were beginning to agree, that even the discomfort of vulnerability might be worth it when it came to John Sheppard.

John swallowed. He had never been much good at fixing relationships. He more specialized in ruining them. His ex-wife had always accused him of being a shitty communicator. He had never been good at talking about his feelings and this thing with Kai felt so fragile. She trusted so little and he felt like a bull in a china shop. Other than his failed marriage John hadn't been in any relationships since, keeping things casual and short lived. But Kai wasn't like that. 

"Norina-" He started to say.

"John you have nothing to explain," Kai interrupted quickly.

"No I do," John said resolutely. "Norina was interested, but I wasn't interested in her," he said quickly. He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I wouldn't be," he said firmly. He needed Kai to understand how he felt but he was terrible with words.

Kai stared at the Colonel's tormented face. The bond between them was wide open and she could feel his uncertainty through the bond. There was a gentle warm nudge and Kai startled to meet his gaze.

"It's just you," he said. "Okay?" he asked.

She nodded a few too many times, totally overwhelmed. "Okay," she agreed. When he still looked uncertain, Kai pressed her lips together and reached out towards him. She laid her hand over his and gave it a squeeze.

John looked up in surprise and quickly laced his fingers with hers for a brief moment before turning back to the view screen.

"I guess now we just wait," John said jerking his chin towards the two Hives.

Kai frowned down at her computer scans. "This trial's a little premature, don't you think?" she asked after a moment.

John tipped his head in agreement. "I guess that's what happens when the Wraith get too excited."

"What if this fails?" Kai asked. She didn't trust the Wraith to not blame Atlantis for their failures.

John shrugged. "Maybe they'll blow each other to kingdom come and we can all go home," John said hopefully.

Kai snorted. "That's our hive there on the left." She leaning forward in her seat to watch the small Wraith craft going from one Hive towards the other

"Our hive," John muttered. "That's Weird."

They watched as the small ship moved into the other hive. "The delegation is aboard," Kai said blowing out a sigh. She immediately started running the scans that would track the canisters. "Now we wait," she said tapping the key that activated the program. 

They sat in silence for a few long moments. At first it was nice, but then it began to stretch too long.

"Hold on-" John started to say.

All of a sudden the small Wraith ship reappeared, racing away from the other Hive.

"What's going on?" John asked activating the HUD. "What about the scans?"

Kai whipped back around towards her laptop typing furiously trying to determine what went wrong. But she couldn't find anything. All scans were reading normal. The canister was still intact.

"Daedalus be advised the delegation transport is returning to the hive ahead of schedule," Sheppard said quickly into the comm.

There was a flash and an explosion lit up the view screen.

"What was that?" John demanded.

"The transport has been destroyed," Kai responsed in shock. "The canisters too."

"That's not good," John muttered.

Their viewer was suddenly filled with streaks of light as the Hives attacked one another.

"Jumper eight be advised the enemy hive has opened fire," Caldwell's voice came through the comm.

John jerked the controls roughly, sending the jumper skittering back out of the way of the warring Hives. "Yeah we got that thanks," he growled.

Caldwell ignored John's sarcasm. "The friendly Hive has sustained serious damage."

"If they get boarded it's all over for Atlantis," John called back. "They'll give us up for sure."

"Jumping to the position," Caldwell assured them. "Be prepared to dock as soon as the other hive is clear."

"Roger that," Sheppard responded gruffly. He swung the jumper away from the battle happening behind them, trying to put as much distance between them as he could. "Talk to me Zian," he said. The comm was still open to the Daedalus.

"We Have achieved a safe distance, the friendly Hive is badly damaged."

As soon as the Daedalus appeared it was hit by several shots that reverberated through the ship.

"Sheppard get that jumper back in the bay, we aren't going to be able to keep this up for long!" Caldwell called. Through the comm they could hear alarms and chaos on the ship.

John wasted no time. As soon as they were through the bay doors Kai called it in. "We're clear!"

"Shields up!" Caldwell yelled.

Kai flinched as the comm was still open. John set down the jumper and opened the rear hatch. The two of them sprinted out towards the bridge. The ship shook again as it took another direct hit.

Kai was thrown sideways and John barely caught her, slamming his back against the wall with her in his arms. She grunted a thank you but they ran the rest of the way to the bridge. They came through the doors just as another direct hit shook the ship.

"Think we'll be able to give them enough time to jump?" John asked striding towards Caldwell's seat.

Caldwell shot John an irritated looked but before he could respond the captain sitting to his right spoke up.

"Our hive is entering hyperspace now," the captain reported. They watched as the hive opened a window and disappeared from view. The ship shook again and sparks flew. John braced himself against the back of Caldwell's chair. Kai stumbled but managed to keep her feet.

"Set a course for Atlantis," Caldwell called. "Get us out of here!"

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By the time they returned to Atlantis the Wraith Queen was already on the view screen speaking with Elizabeth. Sheppard, Kai and McKay were beamed into the gate room. Sheppard jogged up the steps to be part of the conversation. Kai and McKay were a little slower, but Kai could hear the whole conversation clearly.

"Our delegation was searched. They were killed immediately when your canisters were discovered. Our transport ship tried to escape but was destroyed. You must devised a better delivery method," The Queen snarled.

Kai and McKay stepped close but made sure they just out of sight of the camera.

"Or what?" Elizabeth demanded.

The Wraith Queen's smile was dangerous. Kai bristled and took a step closer to Sheppard and Elizabeth. She didn't like the threat implied in the Queen's look. "Or we will disclose your location to other Wraith."

"We kept our part of the bargain. We gave you the retrovirus."

"And it is useless without an effective delivery system," the Queen snarled.

"So we have to do everything?" John snapped.

The Queen looked behind Sheppard and Elizabeth, blinking calmly. The two of them turned to see Rodney fidgeting in the background.

Realizing he was now the center of attention McKay blew out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, okay I will figure something out," McKay snapped exhaustedly. He was running on next to no sleep and it made him a little more punchy than usual. "But no more holding back!" he exclaimed pointing a finger at the Wraith Queen. "I want to know everything there is to know about Hive ships. Schematics, power distribution, life-support configurations, everything you've got."

The Queen tilted her head, as though McKay had suddenly done something interesting. "Then you shall have it," she said with a nod of respect.

"For real?" McKay asked in shock.

The Queen turned to someone off screen and jerked her chin, signaling for them to send the data.

"Receiving transmission," Chuck muttered in shock. Kai turned to his laptop, looking over his shoulder as the data downloaded.

"Make sure it's secured," Kai said with a frown.

McKay hussled over to the terminal, shoving both her and Chuck out of the way. "Yeah, yeah, we're completely secure," he muttered as he began scrolling through the data. "Let me see that." He clicked a few times on the laptop and looked up at Weir in shock. "She actually did it," he said in wonder. "This is the mother load."

"What is, exactly?" Elizabeth asked, still not quite following.

"Only everything you ever wanted to know about Wraith technology but were too afraid to ask," McKay whirled back to the laptop, greedily reading over the data as though it might disappear at any moment.

Kai however, wasn't as easily convinced. "Why are you doing this?" she asked suspiciously stepping into the view of the screen.

The Queen's nostril's flared, and her eyes flashed at being questioned by Kai. "We have suffered extensive damage."

Kai scowled and Elizabeth stepped forward. She shared a long look with Sheppard before turning back to the Queen. "We could render assistance," she hedged.

"You would do this?" The Queen asked.

"We're supposed to have an alliance, aren't we?" Elizabeth asked rhetorically. "Sending information about Wraith technology was a remarkable act of good faith on your part."

The Queen shifted. "Your assistance would be acceptable," the Queen agreed.

"All right then, we have a deal."

The transmission went dark.

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Kai took the firewalled laptop down to the lab. There Zelenka divided everyone up into groups and they got to work. He offered to let people go to bed but no one moved from their seats even as the hours crawled by.

It was nearing midnight when John came down to the lab. He and Elizabeth hadn't heard a word from Zelenka or Kai since they were given the database. John held a tray with several coffee mugs on it.

"I know you guys have been burning it at both ends. So ah-" he started to say but several technicians converged on him snatching mugs before he could finish.

He handed a separate mug to Kai that had tea in it. She sniffed lightly and flashed him an appreciative smile. John was so rarely showed it, but the fact that he had noticed her preference was sweet.

John set the tray down next to Zelenka and picked the last mug up for himself.

"Doctor Vogel just went down to get some-" Zelenka said reaching for a mug only to find they were all gone.

"Yeah, caught him on the way down. He said he was heading to bed." John said taking a sip of what was supposed to be Radek's coffee.

Zelenka shot him a disgruntled look but went back to his screen.

"How's it coming?" John asked taking a sip of coffee.

"What?" Zelenka asked looking up.  "Oh phenomenal. It's like being handed a wraith encyclopedia. It's hard to know where to start."

"When I was a kid and got my first encyclopedia I started with S," John said.

"Why?" Kai asked with a confused frown.

Both Zelenka and Sheppard looked at her in surprise, then shifted their weight uncomfortably. Neither one of them wanted to explain. "It's ah...a good letter..." John dragged off lamely.

Kai frowned in confusion, feeling like once again she was missing some human thing.

Zelenka coughed over his laugh as the Colonel fought to save face.

"We've split into two teams. Team A over here is trying to find the best place or places to plant the gas canister. And team B over here is trying to come up with some fixes for the damage that the Wraith Hive has sustained during the last battle."

John looked back and forth between Zelenka and Kai. They were sitting across a table from one another, the backs of their laptops mirroring the other as they worked. "And you guys?"

Zelenka shrugged. "Most I'm just skimming the index."

"Anything exciting?"

"Oh yes. I've found an entire section on power distribution."

"Fascinating," John said dryly. He turned to face Kai. "Anything even more exciting than that?"

Kai bit back a smile. "Well the ships are massive, but because of their mainly organic design I've found they have a number or external weaknesses that could be exploited by a small fighter."

John flashed her a boyish grin. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

She smiled and sipped her tea. John shifted his weight but didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave. She tore her focus from her work and really let herself she look at him. There were lines of exhaustion around his eyes and his mouth was pulled in stern line.

"Any word from Rodney yet?" Kai asked gently. It was a shot in the dark but she knew how much Sheppard valued his friendship with the abrasive scientist, even if he wasn't willing to admit it out loud. Rodney and Ronon had been aboard the Hive making repairs for the last couple of hours.

"I'm sure he's fine," John said nodding. But Kai could feel the tension radiating off of John, his concern prickled along her skin like a limb that had fallen asleep.

Kai tilted her head and leaned close to John so no one else could hear her words. "You know your can't lie to me right?" She asked.

John flinched and startled to meet her gaze. He was surprised to find her only inches away. His eyes swept the room, but none of the other scientists were paying attention to them. Even Zelenka was back totally immersed in his work.

"I-" he started to make up an excuse but just nodded once briskly.

Kai nodded back holding his gaze, a small smirk lighting her face. Warmth blossomed in John's chest and he reached up and touched the spot. Kai blushed and looked away. She hadn't meant to send something through the Bond, she just didn't have every good control of it.

"I'll let you get back to your work," he called loud enough for the room to hear.

"Thanks for the tea," Kai said, biting back her goofy smile. 

A few seconds later Zelenka looked up cluelessly. "Why are you smiling? Did you find something?"

Kai bit her lip and turned back to her work.

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Kai had been up for almost forty hours when Sheppard and McKay came down the next morning to triumphantly tell them about their plan. In order to test the placement of the canister in a Hive's life support system they were going to use the Daedalus to beam it aboard. Surprisingly the Queen agreed, and McKay's part of the plan involved him and Ronon being aboard the Hive.

"So I need someone on the Daedalus," McKay said. "To-" he dragged off.

"Do your bidding?" Zelenka filled in sardonically without looking up from his screen.

"I was going to say assist me," Rodney snapped indignantly.

"I am overseeing the teams working on this database," Zelenka said dismissively. If Rodney wanted someone to chase after him to do his bidding he was going to have to find another minion.

"I didn't want you anyway," Rodney snipped back. He turned pompously to Kai. "I thought you were an excellent assistant before and-"

"Oh no!" John interrupted. "Tell her the real reason."

McKay shot Sheppard an angry look but blew out a frustrated sigh and relented. "Hermoid said you were the only competent humanoid on the project."

Radek coughed over his laugh. And Kai flashed him a brilliant smile. "Well in that case Doctor McKay, I would be happy to assist aboard the Daedalus."

McKay stomped out of the room, muttering under his breath.

John snickered and hung back as Kai packed up her laptop. She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and the two of them walked out into the hallway together.

"Gear up, meet in the Gateroom in twenty minutes," John instructed.

"But-" Kai started to say.

John looked down at her. "No Atlantis personnel goes off planet unarmed. I'm going with so I'll keep an eye on you," he said with a wink.

Kai rolled her eyes. "Caldwell is not going to be happy," she said but there was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

John took a step into her space. The hall way empty and he trusted Kai would hear if anyone was coming. "I'll keep a close eye on you," he promised his voice dropping an octave.

Kai smirked up and him and he tilted his head and kissed her. Then he pulled back and winked at her before sauntering off, looking pretty pleased with himself. "That's fifteen minutes now Zian!" He called over his shoulder.

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Hello all! I hope you enjoyed the update! Thank you so much for your support. I hope you and your friends and families are all doing well!!