Stargate Atlantis - Metamorphosis

Title: Metamorphosis.
Author: Shaded Mazoku.
Email: shadedmazoku@gmail.com
Part: 1/1.
Disclaimer: Not mine. They belong to MGM and others. Though I'd be happy to keep an eye on Todd if they ever needed a Wraith-sitter.
Warnings: Not a happy ending.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: On a mission to a seemingly uninhabited planet, John goes missing, the rest of the team get hurt, and the past comes back to haunt everyone.
Character(s): John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagen, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Todd the Wraith.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis.
Words: 3553.
Notes: This didn't go where I'd expected. Written for spook_me's 2010 challenge, with the prompt insect. I want to write a sequel some day, because there's more of a story to tell here.



The gate activated suddenly, startling everyone. There were three teams off world, but none of them were due back, or even to report back, for another few hours.

The IDC that came through was Rodney's.

Almost immediately after the shield was lowered, Rodney came running through the gate, followed by Teyla. They were dragging an unconscious Ronon between them. John was nowhere to be seen. On closer inspection, all three of them were injured, bleeding from what seemed to be a series of scratches and even bites.

Woolsey called for a medical team and tried to get some answers from the team, but Teyla and Rodney both seemed like they were about to fall over at any given moment, and Ronon was completely out for the count. Worried, he stepped aside and let the medical team rush them down to the infirmary, where they were examined, put into beds and all given all the medical care they needed. Teyla and Ronon had both lost a lot of blood, and needed transfusions. Rodney was marginally better off, physically, but he seemed to be in shock.

While they waited for the team to recover, Woolsey sent Lorne and his team to look for John. They took a Jumper through the gate, and returned with bad news. There were no human life-signs on the planet. They'd searched, though, and hadn't found a body, so at least there was still a small shred of hope.

The medical examination of the team showed large amounts of Michael's hybrid drug in their bodies. The drug needed to be given over time to facilitate change, so it had no doubt been intended as the first dose, but even without changing the genetic make-up of the victims, the drug did cause confusion and concentration issues.

Despite her smaller size, Teyla recovered the fastest. Carson theorized that her Wraith DNA helped stabilize her faster, as the drug was more natural to her system than to the others'. She was still weak, and understandably distraught, but she managed to tell them what she remembered.

The team had gated to M9H-874 after the Ancient database had indicated that it was rich with minerals and uninhabited. Their mission had been to verify both those statements. At first, that had seemingly been all there was to the planet. It was indeed a rich source of various minerals, including neutronium, and there were no human settlements to be disturbed by any mining activities. Apparently, the lure of rare materials had drawn others there as well, though.

They'd been attacked. At first, they'd assumed it was the Wraith, but the tactics hadn't matched. There had been a trap, as someone had known that sooner or later, the Atlantis crew would come to the planet. A ring of stunners had been set up to create cross-fire, forcing the team closer together, and then a stun grenade had gone off.

When they next woke, they'd been in separate rooms.

Teyla couldn't give them details about their attacker, but from how she described a feeling almost like Wraith but not entirely, and the presence of the hybrid drug in their bodies, it was assumed that at least one of Michael’s hybrids had gotten away with the drug, or at least the formula. The team had been kept in the rooms for a few hours, before Rodney had managed to override the controls, releasing himself, Teyla and Ronon, as well as something else entirely, something hungry and clawed, stronger and faster than even Ronon. They'd looked all over for John, but the creature, whatever it was, had attacked them repeatedly, nearly killing Ronon and hurting both Teyla and Rodney. Reluctantly, they'd decided to make a run for the gate, and have a team of marines sent back, with jumpers and guns.

They'd barely made it back to the gate, whatever that creature was chasing directly after them in the dark, moonless night, until it had suddenly stopped.

As Teyla finished her report, Woolsey decided to send another team to the planet. By then, it was day, and they hoped they could find more clues.

This time, the team brought back a body.

It was, as they’d guessed, a hybrid. In life, she'd been a woman in her thirties, and she wasn't of Athosian stock, but there was no clue to her identity. Her body had the same claw and teeth mark as the team, but clearly, she'd been unable to outrun her attacker, unlike the team.

Or rather, given the location her body was found at, half-way between a now empty facility and the Stargate, she'd gotten between the team and the creature, and had paid for that with her life.

DNA taken from the bite marks revealed little, except that her attacker wasn't human, nor was it Wraith, though it seemed to share some traits with both. Mostly, it shared traits with the Iratus bug, though. For a while, they suspected the bug hybrids Michael had created, but the wounds were not consistent with their claws and mandibles. Whatever had attacked the team and the hybrid had five digits and teeth, probably much like a Wraith's. In fact, the closest match they'd seen was the injuries Lt. Williams had died from when the Wraith had tried literally eating him.

However, even a starving Wraith wouldn't feed like that, unless there was something really wrong.

Rodney was the next to wake, and he was very agitated as he did, but he became subdued upon hearing that they'd yet to find John.

It took three more days before Ronon woke. By then, they'd searched the planet several times, retrieved the fifty last dialled gate addresses in case there had been more hybrids and one of them had taken Sheppard to another planet, and they'd contacted Earth for help.

On the fifth day, the latest team to keep an eye out on the planet were attacked out of nowhere. Two men made it back through the gate. When they returned with reinforcements, their team-mates were both dead and partially eaten.

On the sixth day, despite the numerous protests, Woolsey banned any further travel to M9H-874 until further notice. Everyone protested, John's team most of all, but Woolsey reminded them sternly that while they didn't leave people behind, they didn't risk their people getting killed without having a decent plan, either. The Daedalus was on its way with reinforcement. It'd take nearly three weeks, but they didn't have much choice in the matter.

By the seventh day, Rodney, frustrated by the knowledge that it had already been a week, had a plan. It wasn't the best of plans, but waiting another two weeks was not acceptable. With Radek's help, he made some quick modifications to the subspace communications array. He knew his plan had far too many ways it could go wrong for comfort, but he didn't see another way to do it.

Nothing happened at all on the eight day, causing tensions to grow even higher.

The tenth day brought Wraith to Atlantis. First in the form of subspace communications through what seemed to be a recycled MALP, then, when the need for help outweighed the bad feeling that working with the Wraith always gave them, in the form of Todd and two of his subordinates, walking through the Stargate as though they owned the place. The two other Wraith hung back as they explained the situation to Todd, standing together and presumably talking in their telepathic way. Once he had heard the story, Todd joined them, and they were all treated to the sight of a three-way psychic discussion. It would have been fascinating if they weren't all so stressed out.

In the end, Todd remained on Atlantis while his two subordinates returned to the hive. They would bring the hive, which was closer to M9H-874 than anything else they had, and they would scan the entire planet with their own scanners, and send a team of warriors to search properly. Whatever was down there, the Wraith warriors were probably better equipped to handling it than any of their marines. Todd, meanwhile, would help checking the Ancient biology databases.

Day eleven brought nothing new, just a series of muffled curses in many different languages, up to and including Wraith. Todd was semi-fluent in Ancient, but the database was vast, not entirely logical, and the technology worked against him at every moment. The closest they could find, in fact, were not in the Ancient database, but in their own. Michael’s abandoned experiments on that abandoned planet had caused damages similar to the ones on the team, and the ones that killed the hybrid.

Even Todd seemed frustrated at the end of the day, frustrated enough to accept a cup of Athosian tea from Teyla while he read through more of the database, occasionally pausing to take notes on the non-networked laptop he'd been lent, apparently enjoying the heat from the cup more than the flavour. Truthfully, the Athosian tea didn't taste like much except tannin, even with honey. Rodney was passed out across his desk, face on his keyboard, and Radek had squirrelled the coffee cups and breakable items away to keep him from knocking them over. Nearby, Ronon was sitting on a bench, keeping an eye on Todd, though it was obvious he was extremely exhausted. Teyla was leaned against him, eyes closed, a jacket across her shoulders.

Twelve days after the team returned, they found themselves once again standing on the planet. They had five teams there, John's team and four teams of all marines, ready to do a full scale sweep. They were joined by fifteen Wraith warriors, led by four of the higher ranked Wraith from Todd's hive. It said a lot about the state of things that even Ronon didn't do much more than snarl a little, which the Wraith returned perfectly. Todd himself went with Ronon, Teyla and Rodney, focused and solemn.

Medical teams stood by in case something went wrong, and they had five jumpers on stand-by.

With Ronon's tracking skills, it didn't take long before they found some sort of trail. Todd and Teyla easily kept up with him as he ran through the woods, but even Rodney didn't complain much, too focused on the task ahead,.

If they found nothing again, Woolsey would have to suspend any further attempts until the Daedalus arrived. If that failed, too, John would be declared MIA.

A lot was at stake, and they were all aware of it.

It was Todd who found the cave.

The area of the planet they were searching was currently mostly in shadow, but that mattered little to him. Wraith senses were sharp, perhaps more so in shade than in direct sunlight, and he managed to make out the rough shape of a cave opening against the cliff side. Unlike the rest of them, he didn't have a earpiece, which wouldn't have fitted his ears anyway, but he managed to get Teyla's attention through hand signals and, when that didn't work so well, a combination of hand signals and psychic signals.

They called the closest other teams. The cave proved to be only the gateway to a labyrinthine network of underground tunnels, most of which seemed to be naturally formed. To cover more ground, they split into groups of two or three, calling for the rest of the marines to come join them when they could. Nobody really wanted to be alone in the dark with a Wraith, and Todd found himself heading down one of the tunnels alone. In truth, he preferred it that way. Wraith hunted using all their senses, and the humans only interfered with his senses.

One of the marines shivered as he watched the Wraith disappear into the dark, eyes glowing.

They'd lost track of how long they'd been down there by the time Ronon realized that there was something in the tunnel with him and Rodney. He refrained from telling Rodney at first, keeping alert. Panicking wouldn't help them any, and whatever it was, it had been in there for a while without attacking. Still, he was ready to act at any sign of trouble.

Whatever it was that was in there with them, it wasn't Wraith. He knew how Wraith worked. This creature seemed far more feral than the Wraith, but not necessarily vicious. It was circling them, scaling the walls as though they weren't slippery limestone, but it didn't seem about to attack. Ronon couldn't quite see it, as it seemed to shy away from the light, but he caught occasional glimpses. It was a human-sized creature, but it was clearly not human. With patience he hadn't known he had, he signalled for Rodney to stand still as the creature crept closer.

Rodney yelped as the creature came a little too close, brushing against him. It was clearly not meant as an aggressive gesture, but it had startled him. Almost immediately, he clamped his mouth shut, but his cry had already alerted a nearby pair of marines, who came running, light and P-90s kept high.

The creature hissed as light hit Wraith-yellow eyes, making them reflect light, and launched itself against the source of its discomfort. The lights went down moments before the marines did.

Ronon grabbed Rodney's shoulder and shoved him out of the way, placing himself in between the scientist and the creature. It snarled at him, obviously unhappy with the situation. In the distance, more footsteps could be heard, rushing towards them, but it would take them a while to get there. The cave network was extensive. With the limited vision and not knowing if the marines were still alive or not, using his gun would be too risky. Ronon let it stay holstered and pulled out one of his knives. They were better suited for close combat than the gun.

The creature lunged forwards, pinning Ronon to the wall with frightening ease, but then it seemed to pause for a moment. Taking advantage, Ronon drove his knife into the creature's side.

Snarling, it buried its teeth in Ronon's shoulders, easily tearing flesh as its talons dug into his skin. It hurt, and he couldn't move. He tried to signal for Rodney to do anything, but he could barely wriggle his fingers and their only light source was lying abandoned on the floor just out of reach.

When something pulled the creature bodily away, it almost hurt as much as the initial bite had, the teeth scraping through flesh.

Growling angrily, the creature tried turning on its new attacker, but found itself repeatedly slammed against a wall with surprising force. It snarled, baring its teeth, but only got an answering snarl in return.

Pressing against his bleeding shoulder, Ronon watched with equal amounts of disbelief and anger as the creature struggled with the Wraith that was holding it. The light was too dim to make out either of them fully, but Todd seemed to have the upper hand for now. From the force the creature had attacked him with twice now, Ronon was fairly sure it was stronger than a Wraith, but it didn't really seem capable of coherent thought, which gave it a disadvantage.

It did seem to manage to get the upper hand eventually, digging its claws into the Wraith's side hard enough to draw a pained hiss from Todd, before taking advantage of his discomfort to wriggle loose.

Ronon knew he was probably going to regret helping the Wraith out later, but still grasped for one of his knives, forcing himself to stay focused enough to throw it into the creature's leg.

The creature roared in pain, the sound carrying throughout the caverns.

Teyla's voice rang out, too, telling them all to cover their eyes, only moments before a flash grenade went off, followed by Teyla and two marines coming rushing into the room. The creature screamed again, and Todd took advantage of its distress to get behind it, getting a headlock on it. In his corner, Rodney was frantically rifling through his pack until he came up with what looked like a syringe, darting forwards to bury it in the creature's thigh while it was still vaguely subdued.

Snarling, the creature kept struggling, but it tapered off soon enough, going limp in Todd's arms. Rodney blinked, surprised that it had worked. He'd gotten the tranquillizers from Carson, but hadn't expected to need them, considering the fire-power they had on the mission.

They departed the caverns, the creature slung over Todd's shoulders. The Wraith's injuries were already healing, and he was stronger than anyone else around. Outside, one team of marines were waiting with a Puddlejumper, as were a group of Wraith, the leader one of the ones who'd come to Atlantis with Todd. He helped his commander wrangle the unconscious creature onto a stretcher and secure it with heavy-duty straps, before sending his drones in to fetch the two marines that had been killed.

With the creature out in the light, the theory that nobody had been willing to suggest seemed to be proven. The creature looked very much like a fully converted version of the creature John had turned into under the influence of the Iratus retrovirus.

The journey back to Atlantis was a silent one. Ronon was half unconscious from pain and blood loss, and he was so busy worrying about his friend he barely seemed to notice Teyla binding his injuries, his eyes never once leaving the stretcher. Rodney was uncharacteristically silent, huddled in the corner, and looked decidedly pale. Todd stood quietly by the stretcher, ready to act should it be needed. Two marines were in the front, one flying the jumper, the other one reporting to Atlantis, her voice breaking occasionally as she looked over her shoulder and her eyes fell on the stretcher.

Within an hour of their return to Atlantis, Carson had the bad news they'd all half expected.

The creature was indeed John, who had reacted violently to the Hybrid drug. Apparently, there had been inert Iratus cells lying latent in his body, and the drug had triggered another transformation.

Woolsey ordered him to dig out the old treatment and get it ready as soon as possible, and went to report to SGC. The rest of them gathered in a corner of the mess, sitting around waiting for any report from Carson. Even Todd came, for once not followed by his usual guard. None of them spoke much, just waited in suspense.

The treatment didn't take. Carson had known it probably wouldn't, since it had been so long. From what he could tell, the damage was irreparable.

The SGC, predictably, didn't like that at all. They ordered John sent back to Earth so he could be studied, apparently in order to prevent it from happening to anyone else.

There was nobody on Atlantis that agreed with that. Woolsey spent the next days working very hard to keep John there.

They kept John in the Wraith cell, which meant they couldn't keep Todd there, too. Instead, the Wraith was kept in an old storage room converted to a holding cell. The team went down there often, trying to find even the slightest sign that their friend was still in there, somewhere. No matter how much they looked, they couldn't find anything. He still looked like himself, only blue and scaly, with Wraith-eyes and even sharper teeth and claws, but he didn't seem to recognize anything.

Still, they didn't want to admit anything until the day Rodney dropped a piece of Ancient technology, which wasn't anything but a glorified flash light, and it rolled into the cell. John picked it up and turned it over, clearly unable to identify it, and it didn't light up in his hands as it should have.

The same day, the order came from both SGC and the IOA to send John back to Earth in three days, where he'd be put in a cell to study, probably for the rest of his life.

Woolsey stared at the screen for what seemed like hours, then went and found the people involved, calling them all in for an extraordinary meeting. If the marines seemed to think it was strange that even the Wraith was summoned to the meeting, they said nothing.

The meeting lasted for hours, and everyone left there with a heavy heart.

Three days later, the SGC received a transmission from Woolsey, informing them that Atlantis was under Wraith attack, sending images of seven hive ships in orbit around the planet, and that their orders would have to be delayed.

Five days after that, again, they received another transmission, a message that the Wraith had been fought off, and a list over injuries and casualties. There was only one name on the list of casualties.

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was listed as killed in action.

One day later than that, a Wraith dart flew low over the uninhabited world of M3K-572, a planet with rich wildlife and no Stargate. There was a flash of light as the beaming technology activated, then the dart left the planet to join the hive that orbited the planet.

Far below, on the planet surface, yellow eyes blinked away the residual drowsiness of being stunned before setting about exploring the new territory.