Hello Everyone! I'm back. I'm sorry, this chapter took a bit longer to write than expected. I couldn't quite decide the direction I want to go with it. I hope you are all safe and well!

Happy Reading!

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"Hey, how are you?"

Kai craned her neck to look up at John who had just come around the corner. She was crouched in front of an open panel with several ruined circuit boards sitting near her feet. She had been working on trying to repair just one of the many damaged systems on the Daedalus. McKay had spear headed the work and assigned her to try and repair the ship's backup CO2 scrubbers. The deeper she dug into the damage however, the more clear it became that there was nothing she could do to fix it. There simply weren't enough parts to put it back together.

"I'm fine," Kai said. Although the truth was she was already beginning to feel the effects of the lack of air. It had been several hours since the life support failed and with so many people on board things were going to get bad fast.

John frowned at her. She tried to flash him a reassuring smile, but he didn't seem to believe her. He snorted. "Yeah me too," he agreed wearily, but this close she could hear how much harder his heart was working to compensate for the lowering oxygen levels. "Any luck?" John asked. He turned and slid down the wall to sit on the ground beside where she was working.

"Not really," she heaved out a sigh. "All of the circuits were fried in the fire," She dropped down beside him. "Doesn't really matter anyway."

"Why?" John asked in surprise. It wasn't like Kai to give up so easily. Although he could smell the acrid scent of the burned out computer parts laying in a pile at their feet.

Kai sighed. "We'll run out of air first, then more than likely freeze to death before the CO2 becomes a real problem."

"So why the hell does McKay have you working on this?"

"Hermiod is working on the heat and he and Zelenka are working on the air. There's only so many oxygen tanks to go around. Priorities," Kai said with a shrug. "Besides, this is the first time I've ever worked on Asgardian technology. It's not exactly intuitive."

John grunted and leaned his head back against the wall. "So we'll freeze to death before CO2 poisoning, huh? Well that's something to look forward to."

Kai snorted, leave it to John to be able to find the humor in their impending death. "Probably we'll freeze to death," she allowed. "It depends on the relative density of the ships insulation."

John nodded as though it actually mattered. Dead was dead. "So what are the odds McKay can get the O2 back?" John asked after a moment. He already knew the answer. The fact that Kai had chosen to sit beside him rather than keep working was evidence enough.

Kai met his gaze from a foot away and held it, the truth in her eyes. Unless someone came up with a brilliant plan they would be out of air in less than twelve hours. Neither she nor John were ones to delude themselves when it came to the harsh realities of their lives. It was unlikely either one of them would live to a ripe old age. Although she had always envisioned herself going out in combat, not suffocating to death with people from another galaxy.

John nodded grimly. "Yeah that's what I thought."

The two of them sat together in the hall with their legs out in front of them. John turned his head towards her. It was rare for them to have this quiet moment together. He reached out and laced his fingers with hers. Her hands were so small and delicate. He was in absolute awe of all the things she could do with them. The same hands that had been trained to kill could fix and rebuild and fly almost as well as he could.

John frowned after a minute, just now realizing they had been in the hallway alone for quite some time. "Where's our guest of honor?"

"Ronon told Caldwell he would watch over him."

"Is he still alive?" John asked incredulously.

Kai shrugged, she honestly didn't care one way or the other if Michael was alive. "I would assume so," she said. If given the chance she wouldn't hesitated to kill him herself for what he had done to them.

John snorted in disbelief and shook his head. He went still then as his thoughts scattered. Probably a by product of the lowering oxygen levels, and John worked hard to focus. "The way he talks about your planet. The wraith seem almost afraid of your people."

Kai shook her head. "Not really. Perhaps more wary than afraid. My people supplied sacrifices in exchange for being left alone, remember?"

"How could I forget."

Kai scrunched up her nose thoughtfully. Her thoughts felt difficult to organize. One of the first symptoms of hypoxia would be confusion, it was one of the reasons those working on restoring the O2 had been given the masks. "It's more like a...mutual respect. Live and let live I suppose."

"You suppose?" John pressed it was rare for Kai to talk about her past so willingly and he had always been curious.

Kai shrugged. "I can't say for sure. I wasn't among those who made the decisions, I wasn't exactly popular among the tribunal."

"Can't imagine why," John teased gently. He could still see the shadow of pain in her eyes. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be betrayed by her own people.

Kai snorted. "I was too good. It's why I was chosen as the sacrifice."

"Being too good was a problem?" John asked in surprise.

"Those who are powerful lead among my people. I already told you I was only a half-blood Zian. Having a half-blood Zian elevate themselves would have been disastrous for the Mortii caste system. Throw in being too short, too headstrong, and too opinionated and I was all but guaranteed the spot on that planet."

"Headstrong, opinionated and stubborn, huh?" John teased. "I don't see it," he said squinting his eyes at her playfully.

Kai snorted. "I assure you, I was nothing but a thorn in their collective side. It's why they sent me to the Wraith."

"Maybe it was a form of attack. Sending a wolf in sheep's clothing, a hostile takeover."

"Or they figured I would be of more use to them with the Wraith," Kai went very still as her thoughts raced. With the Wraith...

"What is it?" John asked, frowning at the sudden serious expression on Kai's face.

Kai leaned forward and kissed him passionately. "You're a genius," she muttered against his lips and shoved herself to her feet.

"Yeah I know, but why this time?" called after her.

"Get Colonel Caldwell and Ronon. I need to speak to McKay," she yelled over her shoulder as she jogged out of sight.

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Sheppard did as Kai asked and she returned to the bridge with McKay and Zelenka in tow a short time later. Caldwell called everyone into his ready room so their conversation wouldn't be overheard by the rest of the crew. Ronon and Michael were already waiting for them.

"What is this about?" McKay snapped impatiently. "As much as I love our chats I would rather spend my last breath of air getting another breath of air."

"I know where we can get air," Kai announced to the room. "Enough for the entire crew to survive the trip back to Atlantis."

John caught on the fastest, but it was only because he had been part of the conversation. "With the Wraith," he said with a slow nod of approval.

"Hostile takeover," Kai agreed with a smirk. "We-"

"YOU MEAN THE HIVE!" McKay thundered as his overtaxed mind caught up to John and Kai's insane plan.

"The only breathable air within light years is on the Wraith ship," Kai replied calmly.

"In case you've forgotten there's also Wraith aboard the Wraith ship Zian," Caldwell reminded her unkindly.

"So we take them," John said not sounding as strong as he would have liked as he fought to catch his breath. "Beam an assault team in."

"You would be far outnumbered," Michael said hopelessly. While the Wraith wasn't as appalled as McKay about their suggestion it was clear by his body language he didn't think it was any less crazy.

"Well we're dead here," John snapped motioning to the broken ship around them. "I'll take my chances."

Michael stared into Sheppard's face, seeming surprised when the other man didn't look away first. "I admire your courage Colonel, but you will be dead there as surely as here."

Kai lifted her chin as she revealed whole the crux of her plan. "Unless," she said holding up a finger. "We send over the gas," she said.

Sheppard swung around to face her a slow, triumphant smile creeping across his face. They had all forgotten about the gas, but not Kai. This woman was a gift from the gods, she tactically outmaneuvered him without breaking a sweat. He had never wanted to kiss her so badly in his life.

"Yes, yes, yes," McKay agreed quickly, snapping his fingers as his mouth fought to keep up with his brain. "That could work!"

"The retrovirus gas would make them virtually harmless," Michael agreed.

"Do we still have it onboard?" John asked turning back to the other Colonel.

"Yes we do," Caldwell confirmed. "And now that Michael has disabled the jamming codes..."

"We finish the plan we started!" McKay finished exuberantly.

"We beam over the gas and wait," John agreed. "We wait long enough they won't even want to put up a fight."

"Because they'll be humans with no memories. I can't believe we might actually survive this!" McKay exclaimed excitedly.

Caldwell however did not look as convinced. "We're almost out of breathable air now, the retrovirus takes a minimum of ten hours to run it's course."

"Then we'll rotate the crew in and out of the 302's, buddy breathe for the rest of us," John spun around to face Michael. "If this works, can you fly the hive ship?"

Michael nodded once though his eyes were still wary. He seemed as hesitant to trust them as they were to trust him. "I could."

"What do you say Colonel?" John asked Caldwell, a crooked grin stretching his face. Sitting and waiting to die had never been his style. Finally there was something he could do.

Caldwell looked after the group, recognizing that he was outvoted regardless of his reply he exhaled and activated his comm. "Get us within beaming range of the Hive."

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The waiting was the worst part. Most of the crew were moved down to the bay and were rotating in and out of the 302's. This way they managed to buy themselves as much time as possible. Sheppard assembled his team and had them all prepared to go on the bridge. There they split into three man teams and passed the oxygen packs around as they waited for the green light.

John, Kai and Ronon were all sitting together with their backs against the bulkhead. As the O2 levels continued to plummet and the CO2 rose people became weaker and weaker. Kai shivered and despite the slightly oversized flight jacket she had borrowed the ship was getting cold. She shifted away from the metal as the cold bit through the many layers she wore. Even Ronon looked chilled.

"Our Co2 levels are getting dangerous sir," the technician reported as a quiet beeping started.

"The gas has barely had a chance to run it's course," Caldwell argued weakly.

Sheppard looked over his team. It had only been nine and a half hours but they were all looking weak. Kai had given the last of their pack to McKay an hour before and she and Ronon were both looking pale. Lorne and his men were no better. Most of the men who had come straight from Atlantis were still in t-shirts and had started shivering. It was looking like Kai was right about freezing to death first.

"We really don't have much of a choice," John said shoving himself to his feet. He couldn't wait any longer, he couldn't watch the strength leave his men. "We got to go now."

Ronon reached down and grabbed Kai's arm, pulling her to her feet and he gently pushed McKay to follow. "You up for this little sister?" he asked in a low tone.

Kai nodded. "Wouldn't miss it," she said flashing a weak smile, and she coughed.

They took their positions and were beamed over. They appeared in a side hallway Michael had indicated that would be away from the main populations. As soon as they appeared they all gulped in the oxygen greedily. Kai shuddered as her body woke back up.

John gave their people a moment to orient themselves before he gestured for the two men on point to move. The came around the corner to an open space littered with bodies. They knelt to examine them.

"Some of them are dead," John said.

"It looks like they killed each other," Kai agreed examining the bodies of the Wraith near her. Some had transformed fully to human while others were Wraith.

"What's happened?" someone asked.

They whipped around, pulling their weapons. A human wearing a wraith uniform with long white hair leaned against the wall and frowned up at the strike team in confusion.

"All right, it's all right," Sheppard called to his team gesturing for them to lower their weapons. He turned to Lorne. "Find a holding area and start marshaling the survivors."

Lorne nodded and gestured to two of his own men to follow him.

"The Queen's chamber should be that way," McKay gestured down a side hallway.

They continued to encounter more survivors as they went, but Sheppard, McKay, Kai and Ronon continued down through the halls. The chamber was empty except for the Queen who had collapsed near her throne.

"Hello?" John called from a distance. There was no sign she heard them.

Ronon and Kai fanned out to sweep the room but there was no one else there. Kai ended up closest to the Queen as Sheppard approached. The Queen moved, pushing herself up on her hands and knees, her hair spilling forward to block her face.

"You all right?" John asked warily.

The Queen moved faster than any of them could anticipate. She snapped to her feet, swung around and grabbed for Kai, who was closest. The Queen's skin was mottled and she smelled like rot. She wrapped a hand around Kai's neck, ripped away the neck of Kai's shirt and lifted her feeding hand to strike. All in the blink of an eye.

Kai's hand dropped to her Blade but she wasn't fast enough. Sheppard and Ronon both opened fire on the Queen immediately. The Queen absorbed several shots before she fell, dropping Kai. Kai hit the steps and rolled clear of the line of fire. As the two men emptied their clips into the Queen's body.

Sheppard ejected his spent clip and slid another home as he approached and toed the Queen's body. "It didn't work on her," he said.

"Beckett wondered if the females would be immune," McKay said.

John moved to help Kai to her feet. Kai rubbed at her sore neck and glared at McKay. "Something you might have mentioned before she tried to kill me McKay."

"I only thought of it now," McKay said defensively.

Lorne's voice came over the radio. "Colonel Sheppard. So far we haven't run into a single wraith."

"Understood," John replied and he switched frequencies on his radio. "Sheppard to Daedalus."

"Go ahead."

"You can start sending people over, sir. They are all human, the air is good, and they even have the heat on. I think we're out of the woods."

Sheppard turned to face McKay. "So about those changes they were making to the hyperdrive..."

"I'll get to work," McKay huffed and headed back towards the bridge.

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It took a few hours to get the Hive in shape to travel back to Atlantis. By the time Kai, Michael, Zelenka and McKay had finished the work all of the crew had moved over from the Daedalus. While Caldwell oversaw the transition, Sheppard and Lorne worked on gathering the Wraith who had survived the transition and put them all into the hibernation pods. Keeping them contained and sleeping was certainly easier than trying to explain to them what had happened.

The changes the Wraith had made to the hyperdrive were not in as good of shape as they had hoped and it would take them a little over thirty hours to return to Atlantis with the rest periods the hive would require. Michael and McKay spent most of the repair time arguing. Once the systems were stable Zelenka shooed Kai from the bridge, making a comment she didn't understand about cooks in the kitchen.

Kai moved to one of the side hallways and found Ronon sitting with some of the other men. Most were sleeping, laying in various positions stretched out on the floor, but Ronon still had his gun in his hand and was watching every movement around him. Kai lifted her eyebrows when their gazes met and his swept the area around them. She nodded in understanding and offered him a tired smile. She knew Ronon well enough to know he would never be able to sleep while on a Wraith Hive.

"I've got first watch," he whispered so low only Kai could have heard it. Then he jerked his chin down the hall, encouraging her to rest with the others.

Part of Kai wanted to argue, but she recognized that while Ronon had been captive he had probably been stunned and therefore he and McKay were the most well rested out of the group.

With a small frown Kai slipped down the hall, careful not to step on any of the men's legs. The hallway was filled and she turned the next corner to find an open spot. Sitting alone with his back to the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him was Sheppard. She smiled down at him and felt a pulse along their connection. His eyes fluttered open as though he had heard her, but she knew she had been silent. He had felt her through the Bond.

"Hey you," he said in a gentle, sleepy voice.

"Hey," Kai responded and moved to sit beside him. She was as exhausted as John looked. It had been well over twenty four hours since either of them had rested, and it hadn't been an easy twenty-four hours.

"Are we moving?" He asked and he yawned.

Kai nodded. "Should be around thirty hours. If Michael and McKay ever stop fighting."

She dug in her pocket and pulled out a protein bar. She opened it and broke it in half, silently offering the other half to John. She knew him well enough to know he probably hadn't eaten anything recently either. Kai settled in next to him and breathed out a tired sigh.

John took the offered food without comment, although inside he reveled over the casual, comfortable moment between them. The last few weeks of Kai being distant had been awful. The constant back and forth was losing its appeal to him. He was done. He was done with the secret, he was done sneaking around, he was done wondering. He was old enough to know what he wanted and damn anyone who stood in his way. Now he just had to figure out how to make that clear to Kai without scaring her off and how to not get himself fired.

Kai finished eating and her head dipped to the side, resting against his shoulder. She sighed contentedly.

"Is this okay?" She asked sleepily. Despite her exhaustion she was still thinking of the Marines just around the corner.

"Course," John whispered and he brushed his lips against the top of her head as she settled more comfortably against him. He didn't give a damn who saw them together at this point and frankly he was too tired to care.

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