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John and Kai set up a small camp while they waited for Beckett to finish his withdrawals. John had only brought the basics, but he built them a fire as Kai worked in the jumper on the sensors. He started heating water over the flames and pulled out protein bars for them all. There was no telling how long it would be before they had a decent meal again. Once Kai made the necessary changes to the sensors she came down the ramp to see John crouched in front of Beckett.

"How are you feeling buddy?" John asked.

Beckett frowned up at him. He looked over John's shoulder to Kai and back again. "What-?" he started to ask and shook his head. "Show me the data. I doubt we have much time."

The three of them waded through McKay's research together. They had all eaten their protein bars and all that was left was the emergency rations of tea and coffee. They were on a clock, there was no telling how long it would be before Lucius sent people after them.

John took a sip of warm tea and without looking up from his tablet held the cup out to Kai. Kai took the cup without looking up, her fingers gliding over his. She wrapped her hands around it's warmth and took a sip. She shifted and her thigh rested against reassuringly against John's as she focused on the laptop in front of her.

Beckett watched the two of them from across the fire. He wondered if they even realized how easily they worked together. When they didn't think they were being watched there was something incredibly natural about them together. He hoped one day they would allow themselves the opportunity to be happy. Beckett however, knew the Colonel well enough to know it was rare for him to allow himself to be vulnerable emotionally, and Kai would never believe she deserved a chance at peace. They were both so caught up in their past it seemed they were missing what was right in front of them.

Kai opened a second tab on the laptop and tried to decipher McKay's final research. It seemed as the drug took affect his focus had waned. He seemed to have been recording symptoms he may or may not have been experiencing. It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't as McKay was a hypochondriac but Kai did remember experiencing a headache for a couple hours before she became one of Lucius's puppets.

She tried not to think too hard about what it had been like to be so compliant to Lucius's every request. She had wanted nothing more than to please him, she had even led her friends into danger on the wraith planet without a second thought. Beside her John seemed to realize she was upset. He reached over and tangled his fingers with hers, giving her hand a squeeze. 

A steady beep started from inside the jumper. Kai jumped up and jogged inside. She activated the HUD as John came up behind her.

"Looks like they're coming," she said grimly. Kai shrugged out of John's jacket and rested it over the back of the co-pilot's chair. She shivered in the cold night air. The revealing halter top covered very little. She wrapped her arms around her midsection, trying to cover as much of her bare skin as possible. Even with John she was self conscious about the silvery scars that marred her skin. 

John hated how uncomfortable Kai was with so much of her skin exposed and he was conscious of keeping his eyes firmly on her face. Her eyes flashed over John's shoulder where Beckett was hovering. Unable to resist the protective swell in his chest, he shifted so he was blocking her from Beckett. "Are you sure you're up to this?" he asked quietly.

Kai's jaw hardened and she nodded. As far as she was concerned this was their only option. She put her wrists together and held them out to him.

John swallowed as he reached into his flak vest and pulled out zip ties. He hated doing this. Kai stepped up to his and held her hands up to him, absolute trust shining in her eyes. "I don't like this," he told her grimly.

"It was your plan," Kai reminded him as he tightened the zip ties.

"All the more reason to think it's a terrible idea."

Humor shone in Kai's eyes. "I trust you," she told him and she absolutely did.

John sighed as warmth flooded his chest. "Yeah I know," he said and he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"The ties aren't tight enough," Kai said when he took a step back.

John stared down at her and shook his head before he turned to Beckett with the other zip tie. Kai snorted and lifted her bound wrists to her mouth, she grabbed the end of the zip tie in her teeth and tugged it tighter. They were only going to have one chance at this.

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John stared into the smoldering flames, hating every minute of this plan. Kai and Beckett were both sitting side by side across the fire. Their hands bound in front of them. John pushed himself up to his feet and paced restlessly. Kai's eyes followed his movements. He hated turning her back over to Lucius, but it was their only play. He had just turned to pace back again when he heard the distinct sound of Ronon's gun powering up behind him.

The cold metal of the gun pressed against the back of John's head. "Don't move," Ronon growled.

Teyla stepped out of the woods. Her eyes scanned over Beckett and Kai who were sitting together with their hands in front of them. Convinced they were not a threat she turned her gun on Sheppard as well.

"That thing's set to stun right?" John joked.

"Yeah," Ronon growled.

"Good," John said with a nod and he made a move to attack Ronon. The stunner shot hit him square in the chest and he dropped.

"What did you shoot him for?" Rodney exclaimed stepping out of the woods. Kai's eyes flickered to McKay wondering if maybe he hadn't been as affected as they thought. The scientist crossed his arms over his chest grumpily. "Now we're going to have to carry him all the way back to the jumper," he complained.

"Carson are you all right?" Teyla asked, pulling a knife to cut him free.

"I will be once I get back to Lucius."

Ronon crouched in front of Kai. She held her hands up to him expectantly, and he cut her free. "Did he hurt you?" Ronon asked, his brow wrinkled in concern.

Kai shook her head. "No," she swallowed and forced the next words out. "Is Lucius all right?" she gushed, her voice sounding desperate.

Teyla turned away from Carson to approach Kai. "Yes, he is very anxious for your return," Teyla told her with a warm smile.

"Then let's hurry," Kai agreed, she made a point of stepping over John's body without looking down at him. She ground her teeth together, but had to trust in the plan.

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The flight back to the city was tense and silent. McKay happily handed over the controls of the jumper and Kai flew them back as though she were desperate to return to the city. As she flew she was all too aware of the fact that Sheppard was unconscious and vulnerable in the back of the jumper. She felt that like a weight in her chest. If this plan didn't work, she was flying them right back into the hands of their enemy.

Kai set the jumper down in the bay and as soon as the ramp lowered Lucius and Weir rushed aboard.

"Lucius!" Carson exclaimed in delight.

"Oh my sweet my love, thank the gods you are all right!" Lucius gushed as he moved past Beckett towards Kai. Weir was right on his heels. "Are you hurt?" he asked. "I can't even imagine how terrible it must have been. When I think of the things he could have done to-" Lucius stopped his rambling and frowned as Kai climbed out of the pilots seat. He looked back and forth between Kai and McKay in confusion.

"Wait, you can fly this thing too?" He asked as though he had never considered a woman was capable of being a pilot.

"Yes she can," Elizabeth jumped in saving Kai from having to respond. "Kai is one of our best pilots. She has the ATA gene."

"Well," Beckett interrupted importantly. "I don't know that I would even call it that. You see Kai's people are direct descendants of the ancients."

"Really?" Lucius purred, his eyes glittering as though he had just found a new toy.

Kai's stomach turned, but she forced a pleased smile on her face. "Yes, my people have undergone careful breeding to preserve the genetics," she filled in helpfully. She was struggling to remember exactly how she had behaved when she was under his influence. The herbal smell surrounding him was almost too much as it flooded her nostrils. She coughed once, trying to clear it out of her lungs.

"You know Lucius, you could fly one," Beckett said brightly. His wide smile hid his concern as Lucius leaned into Kai. They knew it was the herb that caused the compliance, but they didn't know how prolonged the exposure needed to be or how quickly they might revert.

Lucius turned to Beckett, greed glittering in his eyes. "Me?" he asked with feigned humility.

"Well maybe," McKay interjected.

"Ack don't be ridiculous Rodney," Beckett scoffed. "Of course it would work on him."

"What will work?" Lucius asked looking back and forth between the two of them.

"There is a gene therapy that would allow you to operate many systems. It also may..." Carson dragged off and glanced over Lucius's shoulder at Kai. "Make you more compatible. If you know what I mean," he dragged off suggestively, hating every word that came out of his mouth as he objectified Kai, but they couldn't risk Lucius not taking the injection. "Oh, who am I kidding of course you do you sly dog," he said playfully punching Lucius in the shoulder.

Lucius leered at Kai, never taking his eyes off of her cleavage. "Okay yeah, let's do this," Lucius agreed eagerly.

"Okay," Beckett said a little louder than needed. "I'll just need a little while to prepare the injection. I'll radio you when it's ready," Beckett said and he walked off towards his lab with a spring in his step.

Kai let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. So far the first part of the plan was taken care of. Beckett said he would need half an hour alone in his lab and they had gotten it for him. Now she just had to deal with Lucius.

"What do you want to do with the Colonel?" Teyla asked looking to Lucius for the answer.

"He needs to be locked up," Elizabeth said quickly.

Ronon nodded in agreement. "If you're going to keep him around, he's too dangerous to be loose."

"I mean kidnapping Kai and Beckett is just plain unacceptable," Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief. "We can't tolerate something like that."

Kai's jaw tightened as her muscles coiled. She would stick to the plan, but if they threatened John's safety in anyway she was ready to fight their way out. Everyone else be damned. She and John would figure out another way if it came to that, she wasn't about to take a risk when he was vulnerable. This conversation was beginning to feel a little too much like a threat.

Lucius stepped up to the bench to stare down at the unconscious Sheppard and Kai barely caught herself from leaping between them. "I mean it certainly wasn't nice," Lucius said. "But is he really that dangerous?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

"Absolutely."

"Ah, yeah."

The chorus of voices sounded together. Lucius looked over them all as though they were crazy for their strong reaction. Kai couldn't wait to see the smug look wiped from Lucius's face. She hoped he continued to underestimate them.

"Sir," Major Lorne said coming up the ramp. "I have to agree with Ronon's assessment, sir. Until The Colonel comes around it's best to keep him secure."

"All right then," Lucius agreed. "Far be it for me to interfere with all your military stuff," he said gesturing vaguely at Lorne.

Lorne nodded and gestured to two of his men. They each grabbed an arm and hauled John up and began dragging him away.

"Wait," Kai called. She stepped forward and glided up to John's unconscious body. She inhaled, letting the smell of John flood her senses and clear her of the noxious herbal scent of Lucius. She reached down and lifted the knife from John's belt. It was likely Lorne would have removed it once they reached the cell but she needed to make sure they had no reason to suspect her. "Colonel Sheppard can do a lot of damage with a single knife," she said and she turned away from John's unconscious body. "It was sloppy to leave him armed," she said looking pointedly at Ronon and Teyla. Both of them immediately looked ashamed.

"Good thinking," Lorne agreed. "I'd hate to think of what he could do with that."

"You know," Lucius said turning to Lorne. "I would like to see where you are keeping him. You know to make sure it's safe for my snuggly bear here," he said touching Kai's nose.

Kai beamed up at him, but inside she wanted to plant her blade in his heart for touching her. His eyes dropped back to her cleavage and she cursed this ridiculous top once more.

"Ronon," Lucius said turning around and snapping his fingers. "I want you to stay with my sweet dumpling here. Don't let her out of your sight. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her."

"Of course," Ronon agreed quickly.

"Oh and sweetling I had Teyla bring you something different to change into. You won't be going off world again so there's no reason for all that," he said gesturing to Kai's utility belt, leather pants and knee high boots.

"It's in your quarters," Teyla filled in helpfully.

Kai ground her teeth but nodded. "Of course."

"I'll radio you when I need you," Lucius said dismissively.

Lucius and Elizabeth followed Lorne and his men down the hallway. Kai waited until they had disappeared before leaving the bay. Ronon was right behind her. Her Satedan bodyguard was going to complicate things. She frowned as her temples began to pound, just like before.

Sheppard had been right. This was a terrible plan.

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John woke up in a cell. His head was pounding as he forced himself to climb to his feet. He hated getting stunned. It felt like the worlds worst hangover. Glancing around he saw he was alone, he hoped it meant the plan was working.

The door hissed opened and Lucius walked in flanked by two guards. "Good morning Colonel," he greeted. "I apologize for the harsh treatment. I hate that Elizabeth had to do this to you."

John sat back on the bench. "Cut the crap," he snapped. "So that herb of your's..." he prompted.

"One of my greatest discoveries," Lucius said with a smile. His smile faltered. "Well, it's my only great discovery, but you've got to admit it's pretty great," he added brightly.

"How did you get by before?" John asked crossing his arms over his chest. It didn't really matter, but the more he could find out about Lucius the better.

Lucius cocked his head to the side, surprised Sheppard had taken an interest. "I was a baker. Bread mostly. The occasional muffin at festival time."

"So the herb pretty much changed everything," John said.

Lucius chuckled. "Yeah, yeah I baked it into my own bread. I like to experiment, and I noticed that people started to like me. Well...hate me less, but it became like. So I perfected a potion. Worked great for years. Then the Wraith set up an outpost on the only planet I could get the herb. I knew I could never go back there-"

"'Til we showed up..." John filled in.

"I'm telling you, it was fate. And everybody wanted to help, so I let them. See, that's the great thing about this herb. Nobody gets hurt," Lucius said flashing a smile that made John want to slam his fist in his face. "They just want to help me all the time. What's wrong with that? I'm a nice guy. I never make them do anything they didn't want to do."

John could feel the rage pounding in his temples, but he fought to keep his face calm. "Six wives," John said as casually as he could manage. He had kept Kai from a similar fate, but he couldn't shake the mental images that kept torturing him.

Lucius smirked. "Sometimes all at once," he said suggestively.

John's hands closed into fists at his side. He fought with every piece of himself to not reach through the bars and strangle Lucius. The only thing that stopped him was knowing how much the forcefield on the other side would hurt.

"You know," Lucius said, his smile stilling on his face. His teeth glittered in the low lights. "When you get over this cold you and I are going to have a long chat, face to face. And I have a feeling we are going to become the best of friends. And then you're gonna want to help me too, all the time, and you'll love it."

John leaned forward aggressively, resting his elbows on his knees. "Just a warning Lucius, you get too close to me, it'll be the last thing you do," John promised him with a dangerous smile.

Lucius flinched, but quickly fought to save face. "That's all right Colonel, I'm in no rush," he assured him. Lucius paused as the new comm in his ear activated. "Go ahead Carson...All right, I'll be right down," Lucius turned his attention back to Sheppard. "I've gotta go get an inoculation. We'll talk after, yeah? You know, I'll send Kai down to bring you some food...she really is a lovely woman isn't she?" he asked. "It's so much better now that I've persuaded her to stop wearing all that crap. Such a gorgeous body should be appreciated."

"They giving you the ATA therapy?" John asked, ignoring Lucius's attempt to get a rise out of him. Sheppard pushed himself to his feet and moved towards the door.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Lucius asked. Then he flashed a smile and swaggered towards the door.

"Fantastic," Sheppard said half under his breath. He dropped back down onto the bench and sighed. There was nothing for him to do now but wait.

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Hi everyone. I know it's been a while since I wrote. Life got a little busy. I'm going to keep trying to keep up! This update is a little shorter than usual but I am already working on the next one.

Thank you as always for your amazing support!