I stood there in shock, my bullets all spent, and watched as the red-haired creature's hand turned my men into dessicated husks.
Then she turned her attention to me.
"Oh, shit," I heard myself breathe. "Toto, we are definitely not in Kansas anymore...."
She circled me, toying with me. Asking me things. I refused to answer her, but I felt her in my mind, prying the answers out of me anyway.
Then she forced me to my knees and her claws ripped my uniform away.
I glared into her eyes, defiantly. "You....won't win."
At that moment, I saw the face of Major Screwup Sheppard appear in the walkway. I may have hated the man – but Weir had been right. Thanks to his screwy genetics, Atlantis needed him.
And now --- we all did. "You will...never....take Earth," I growled, gambling he was listening.
His eyes widened. He was.
"Oh, we shall," she hissed into my face. "We shall come to your Kansas... your Earth....we shall feast."
I had to hand it to him – Sheppard was smart. He put two and two together in the blink of an eye, I could see it in his face.
But before I could react, her hand pounded onto my chest and I felt such agony as I'd never felt before.
Even in it, I managed to raise my eyes. I'm sorry, Sheppard, I thought. So sorry I'm leaving this in your hands. Don't screw this up, son. For G-d's sake, do not screw this up!
-Shoot me- I mouthed through lips gone increasingly dry.
His eyes widened even more and his head shook.
-Do it!-
Sadness appeared in those expressive hazel eyes – then they shuttered. They went absolutely blank. And I saw the barrel of his P-90 appear as he shouldered it.
His aim was perfect. I could see it. -Thank you- I mouthed.
-I'm sorry- he mouthed back.
Then I felt the sharp sting of a bullet entering my heart. My last thought was Save Atlantis, John Sheppard. Save Earth.
Then my wife was there to lead me home.
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