No Way Back - Act 3
Nov. 1st, 2009 05:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cedar_grove
Title: No Way Back
Rating: NC-17 (adult readers)
Spoilers: Some spoilers for S1-4. S5 The Seed
Summary: When Teyla learns that Michael is in Wraith hands many old feelings surface, and hoping to bring herself peace, she returns to Atlantis to ask for help in ending her conflict once and for all. Sheppard and the team join her in the mission to recapture Michael from the Hive, but things go terribly wrong, and though Teyla's struggle is ended, it is not at all in the way that anyone intends.
Disclaimer: MGM own Stargate: Atlantis. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no revenue is being made from copyright material. No infrigement intended.
Acts 1 to 3 now available.
Author's Note: Look guys, the rating says it all, but I'll spell it out. This contains explicit scenes. Many thanks
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gospikey for hard work in Beta.Previous Episodes:
Harm's Way (1), Chain of Command (2), Enmity (3), Mantle (4), In Truth... Freedom (5), Letting Go (6), Beyond the Third (7) and Deliverance (8) can be accessed here.
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No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 1
Date: 2009-11-01 09:59 pm (UTC)Because I can.
Let's see what I fished up. As I said, not as much as before, it's getting more serious so perhaps silly things will start to fall away. We'll see.
He had taken her from the pod into which she had been dragged, apparently screaming and begging for her life after her arrogance had led her to confess to the murder of one among the Handlers.
Is that something we’ll be hearing more about? I mean, what led her to do such a thing? Did the Hive Commander have her do that, or what? Which Handler was it? One involved in the Isla/Alicia/Hive Second incident? Oh – now that’s a nice threesome right there. :D
"That is why," he said, his voice even in spite of his growing ire, "she has decided that you will be publicly branded for your crimes."
Do I want to know what the ‘branding’ is all about? I mean, I’m imagining a hot poke and her forehead or something?
"If you do… then… perhaps… I will allow you to throw yourself upon my mercy."
That’s not too literal, right? I mean… Malcolm/Hanna? Nah. Right? *crosses fingers*
And whoa, he’s certainly giving her a lot of chances, isn’t he? That thing he has going on, the part where ‘the Commander will seek to undermine him in, to use it to prove his mastery of the Hive’? Is it big? Something that’ll unfold as we go on?
**
He wasn't sure that he would so readily have approved the mission if he had been the one making the decisions. It seemed like madness to him.
Gah. I kind of wish, if he felt like this, that he would have spoken up. I mean, everybody is going all like ‘are we doing this mission, freeing Michael?’, but nobody was saying that it’s the Elder Hive they would go up against, the big one that can shoot them to smithereens, and perhaps, definitely with so many cruisers around, it would be good to only go if a second ship was there to back them up.
**
The Queen ran her hand almost affectionately over the stasis container that her loyal sub-commander held out for her inspection.
Hmm, do we know yet what exactly she took from Michael? I mean, she did take his seed with those tubes, but seed to make what out? Did she only manage to make commanders out of it, or did she take what she needed to actually have a queen? The way I imagine things, and you can correct me in this if I’m wrong, in fact, I’d want you do to so, is that the boys can actually somewhat chose if they make a queen with the Queen or not. Like the common seed of a commander would only give her other commanders, but if he chose to release some other specific seed in her, they’d become a queen.
A while ago, Michael had a flashback to his older days, where he had to mate with the Queen? And he summoned the Hive Second to inform him that there ‘would be no queen from their union’? He was putting a purple, if I remember correctly, bottle in his pocket? What was that? Can we know yet? Something he gave the Queen, or himself? At the time, I kind of imagined it was a sperm-killing potion, but it’s not like you can give that to her. I mean, she was on her bed in all her glory, so if he treated her with something, she wouldn’t have been happy anymore. But if he only used it at the end, as he had to put it away, then it perhaps wasn’t something he used on himself… Did he totally knock her out of it for a bit, treated her, and then she woke up all happy, or what? I’m making too much of this again, aren’t I?
(cont.)
Re: No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 1
Date: 2009-11-02 04:26 pm (UTC)Poor deluded Hanna, that's all I can say. She's made some very silly choices in her time, the biggest of those of course was to get herself noticed by the HC. Of course as the Queen's Handmaiden that wasn't hard, but she should know better. The Handler issue may come up in Apostasy, though I'm not sure... the way my characters are with me right now, there's no telling.
As for the threesome. *falls about laughing.*
No, you don't really want to know about the branding. Not pleasant. It is hot branding, yes, but not to the forehead.
Gods forbid that Malcolm would have anything to do with Hanna. Nope, that throwing on his mercy is not literal - and the mood he's in right now, he's not feeling very merciful. And that's something that I only see getting worse, not better. As for the Commander, well... to say his days are numbered would probably be stating the obvious - no matter what he might try with Malcolm.
The Hive commander issue, that whole thing is /very/ complicated... and some people are going to come unstuck very soon.
**
Caldwell was perhaps right... it was perhaps folly to go after the Elder Hive by themselves... but it's done now, and they have to suffer the concequences.
**
No, we don't yet know exactly what the EQ took from Michael. It /is/ possible to work out what it might have been, but only by playing close attention to certain scenes in Deliverance that hinted at Wraith anatomy and the placement of certain organs. I'm glad you brought this up though :)
Let's assume for a moment that it /was/ Michael's seed that she took, (and I'm neither confirming nor denying that right now), in theory she could use it to make either new commanders, or a Queen. (but not both). The capacity is in the Queen's breeding state, in other words - unlike in humans - in Wraith it is the Queen's genetics that decide.
There was indeed a flashback to Michael's 'former life' where he had to mate with the Queen, yes. In that flashback we see that he indeed did something to prevent her from using the union to create a new queen. It's a safe assumption to suspect that it was a 'sperm killing' potion as you put it, and at that point he was oblivious to whatever he did to her, so I guess yes, he knocked her out.
You're not making too much, it was a fair question.
No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 2
Date: 2009-11-01 10:01 pm (UTC)Hmm, okay. Todd is a scientist, and so is Michael… She cannot be still thinking that Michael is going to ‘return’ to her, right? No. So perhaps not Michael. Who then? Todd? Why on Earth would she think he’d still return? He left what we can assume was unannounced, took his handmaiden with him, which he didn’t discuss, in retaliation she struck down his worshipper community, and her Commander ‘killed’ her handmaiden for leaving with him.
So, is this once more her insanity showing? Was he so convincing that she still thinks his world is centred around her, that he’ll come back and beg for her forgiveness?
All that remained was for her to conclude her business on this world before she could bring the Hive to join the sub-commander, and claim her prize.
And the contents of the box (a queen?) is the prize? It’s odd she thinks of the word ‘claiming’, that’s why I’m somewhat confused. Or is she up to something else again? Should we be afraid?
Is she thinking of Michael when stroking the chamber walls? If the prize would be a queen it’s hard won indeed, but she also mentions that they served her like her handmaidens serve her now, and I cannot picture Michael braiding her hair all day long. :P
**
Sensation rushed upon the Queen and she stumbled away from the wall, to trip and fall against the dais.
She. fell. on. her. bony. ass. Or close enough. Priceless. Bummer that nobody was around to see her fall. Though the Hive Second will see her like that. That’s at least something.
Teyla puts up a nice fight without Michael. Though I guess that in the long run she’d lose. Still, nice attempt, and it did hurt her. A lot. And then Ronon shoots her… *rolls eyes*
**
Pain and fear streamed back to him along those mental pathways, and filled him with a cold fury. Someone had dared to attack the Queen aboard her own Hive.
Chill, dude… You’re gonna love it, in one way. Michael’s chosen one shows her strength, and you’ll be impressed with it. I mean, he was, right?
A brief contact with that one had told the Hive Second all that he needed to know about the whereabouts and activities of the Commander, and of his inability to respond to the situation.
I pictured him either on the planet, commanding the worshippers, or in his room, testing the females he brought back from that planet Teyla was on. Wouldn’t that make him incompetent? :P
**
The Hive Second quickened his already rapid pace as he reached the Queen's Chamber and found the Queen sprawled against the steps of her dais.
Yes, again. I just love her being flat on her face for once. She needs to understand she’s not the Queen of the Universe. Or is that ‘Galaxy’? She probably thinks she is. Bummer though that next time they meet, she’ll be warned about what Teyla can do. Let’s hope Teyla’s gift grows when spending time around hybrids or just Michael.
And that once scene gets a bit of continuation. The one where the Hive Second questions Michael. So, he’s seen Teyla’s face, huh? Did the Queen? Because she was standing pretty much near him during the questioning, right? Or did he hide it for his own agenda? Hmm, if Teyla was on that planet after Michael got questioned, she most certainly didn’t share her looks with the Hive Commander…
**
"The medical kit has a portable defib machine, doesn't it?" Sheppard said.
Another nice picture. I imagined the pads being put against Teyla, perhaps her skull as that’s where the action is going on, them activating it, Teyla not feeling a darned thing, and the Queen getting zapped on the other end. Heh. Like I said, good picture. Didn’t Michael do something alike once? Good boy.
**
"Assist me to my throne," she ordered, and pulled away her bloodied hand only when he lowered her to the moulded comfort of its surface.
The Queen… mould… *Backflashes to one of our earlier convos* Entertaining one it was. How long did it take me again to understand what you meant with ‘if the Queen was really blond, and her skin is green…’ :P
**
(cont.)
Re: No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 2
Date: 2009-11-02 04:57 pm (UTC)That the Queen's insane though, is a matter for debate. She's certainly not quite in her right mind at present, she's still in Zenith, and has been for /far/ too long... but she's not insane.
And the contents of that box is the prize. And to answer your question - yes, she's up to something and we should be afraid - /very/ afraid!
She is thinking of Michael yes... she is thinking of Michael, and of evolution.
**
She /did/ fall on her bony ass - I thought you might like that... Teyla made a valient effort... but yes, she was hurt in the process, perhaps more than we yet know. And of /course/ Ronon shoots her... isn't that his answer to everything Wraith?
**
Malcolm, impressed with Teyla? Yes of course. It's why he warned her to back off, because ultimately he knew he had to obey his duty.
**
He was in his chambers, yes... with Hanna as a matter of fact.
**
Yes, it's a problem that she's had a taste of what Teyla can already do... but... let's just say there is some time between this meeting and the next, and a lot of things can happen during that time.
Yes, Malcolm saw Teyla's face... the queen has already had a certain glimps of her in any case, and definitely knows her psyche if nothing else.
**
The defib image was a cute one... nice try. And yeah, in essense Michael sent his pain into the wraith neural net one time he was being tortured. Probably couldn't do that right now though.
Re: No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 2
Date: 2009-11-28 03:07 pm (UTC)**
About the Queen having had a taste of what Teyla can do: hopefully that'll turn in Teyla's favour, as in her getting more powerful/more used to the bonds and strengths she has? Teyla wasn't exactly born into all of this, and the Queen was.
Me.
Re: No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 2
Date: 2009-11-28 11:37 pm (UTC)I'm sure Michael will teach Teyla everything she needs to know.
No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 3
Date: 2009-11-01 10:02 pm (UTC)But the explosion wasn’t caused by your people, not yet… But he is in no capacity to actually reach out and see if it’s them. Poor boy. He’s right, though. Pretty soon, in theory, he’ll have everything again. His freedom, and perhaps more importantly to him, his Teyla. :-)
**
"Now, Rissek," he said to himself, "let me see how accurate your targeting really is."
Okay. Two options. A) He’s not aware that talking to yourself is a sign of insanity; B) He’s talking to himself aboard the other Hive.
B isn’t really an option, so perhaps it’s A. But okay, he’s probably a bit lonely in his own way, too. How long has he been without company? And dying hybrids don’t exactly make good talking partners. Not that he needs conversations.
Interesting, though, to see that we now have a Rissek 1, and a Rissek 2? :-)
A while ago, again, Michael had a conversation with a hybrid, and he asked him back something alike ‘what should I fear/be afraid of, then?’ Was that Rissek 1 too?
only the coming and going of the worshipper assigned by the scientist to bring him food had saved him from starvation.
Something I’m always curious about with hybrids… where’s the loo? When ya gotta eat, you gotta go. And he couldn’t go.
-Teyla-
Soon, baby, soon…
What?
**
she began to realise that, at least in part – due to her battle with the Queen – she was somehow still connected with the Wraith neural network aboard the Hive.
Is that the web-thing that she created with the link? I’m a bit afraid to what that could lead to, should the Hive get damaged more. I mean, she gets dizzy when they start shooting at it, damage it, so that could be potentially dangerous.
I remember a time when she was with Michael, when she mentioned to him that they were in hyperspace… He was proud of her that she could sense that already? Is that comparable to what’s happening over here? Is she supposed to, or going to, form that kind of webbing when she gets on Michael’s Hive? Is it just a female Wraith/hybrid kind of thing, or do all the boys do it too?
**
-Teyla- -Teyla- -Teyla- -Teyla- -Teyla-
Ouch, was he kind of broadcasting his pain throughout the entire Hive, or what? Or is it because she now is somewhat connected to the Hive that she can hear him, he can access her alone? Though she doesn’t try to follow it back. And it’s good that she doesn’t, because it would probably still be dangerous.
**
He was running blind, having no clue as to which direction he should take to find the Dart Bay… but he trusted in blind faith and luck, for the most part at least so was not worried.
*Shakes head*
Boy still don’t get it, does he? If his gut feeling says he’s going north, he’s actually going south, so on the Elder Hive it probably gets translated to needing to go to the back of the Hive where the Dart Bay is, but actually running straight into the Command Centre at the front…
"Name's Sheppard," Sheppard said. "John Sheppard. Pleased to meet you… Malcolm."
I guess it could be worse than Malcolm.
---
So apparently it didn’t turn out to be short after all, as I started rambling. *sigh*
Spikey
Re: No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 3
Date: 2009-11-02 05:02 pm (UTC)**
When the hybrid in Todd's lab was talking to Rissek, he was taking to the guy in command of Michael's hive in his absense. It suggests he doesn't really have a very high opinion of his fellow hybrid.
There is only one Rissek.
The hybrid that Michael was talking to was indeed Rissek, yes.
There is a portapotty or something in the corner of the alcove. There /are/ toilets on the Hive after all.
You can't wait for Teyla and Michael to be reunited, can you?
**
Yeah, for Teyla to connect fully with the Elder Hive might be bad at this point... but yes, when Teyla comes aboard Michael's Hive I'm sure he'll want 'his queen' to connect with the Hive.
**
Yeah, he was broadcasting... directionless just... out there. At present he has very little control. Malcolm damaged his neural pathways... bad Malcolm.
**
Shep's in trouble, poor Shep.
Re: No Way Back: Act 3 - Review part 3
Date: 2009-11-28 03:12 pm (UTC)Let's just hope the Queen's quarters have a toilet. *grin*
Well, I've waited, haven't I? :-)
**
Poor broadcasting Michael... Silly boy. It was pretty useless to strain your pathways even more like that.
Me.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-04 03:27 am (UTC)He used to go by the name of Old Nick over here. Although I see he ended up with 'Malcom' :)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-04 11:11 am (UTC)Personally, I've been calling him 'Malcolm' since somewhere in the middle of Deliverance. It's been hard waiting until I can actually do it in script. It's much quicker than typing "The Hive Second..." all the time.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:57 pm (UTC)I mean, 'Malcolm'? :(
:P
Spikey