Chapter 11

“I hate it when people wander off.” John muttered as he and Rodney finally met up with Ziva and Tony.

“Amateurs.” Rodney nodded.

“I heard that.” Ziva smirked and pointed at what looked to be a fresh set of foot prints. “What time do these… Wraith come out?”

“They’re space vampires,” Rodney explained it as dumb as he could. “Aliens, sucking the life out of you with their hand, who, unlike the vampires in the myths, can go out in day light and there’s no real time attached to it.”

“It’s just very hungry for some reason,” John added.

“Do they at least sparkle?” Tony quipped.

Both Rodney and John didn’t get that particular joke. “They will for a bit when we shoot them with these.” Rodney pointed at their Zat guns.

“What are you going to do? Squirt them with water?” the agent asked.

Ziva rolled her eyes and poked him in the side hard on her way back down the hill to meet them halfway only to find John look at her with an expression that was a mix of concern and frustration.

“Until this is over, do not go off on your own like that,” John said. “You have no idea how dangerous those things are!”

Tony snorted. “Evidently you have no idea how dangerous our little ninja chick is here,” he laughed.

She glared back at her partner before turning back to Sheppard. “I can handle myself. Besides I thought I saw something and didn’t want to lose sight.”

“Ziva, you don’t want to take these things on by yourself,” John said slowly. “I don’t want you to get hurt, or any other person of your team, it’s hard to convince the Wraith to undo what they’ve done.”

Ziva didn’t actually respond but did hold back to let John take the lead. “I believe it went that way,” she said. “There is a small rock formation over there that could provide shelter.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t see any life signs around us apart from us and the team behind us.” Rodney snapped, getting impatient. “And who’s to say that they’ll return to this park anyway? There are different parks around.”

“We can investigate the area to see if there are indications that it has taken refuge here,” she pointed out.

“She’s right, Rodney.” John nodded and mentioned for Ziva to lead the way.

“Thank you,” she smiled and turned back up the hill to make her way towards the creek that led up to where she suspected the creature might be hiding.

Meanwhile, while the guys followed her, Ronon and Teyla led Gibbs and his group where the Satedan suspected the Wraith to have gone. Teyla continuously looked around confused, reaching out with her senses.

Ronon looked at her and rested his blaster on his shoulder. “You got anything?”

She was silent for a moment before taking in a deep breath. “I am not sure. There is certainly something but I cannot be sure of which direction.”

Gibbs decided not to ask what was going on, instead he was just walking around with McGee following him. “Why would they come back to this park anyway?” McGee asked. “They probably know we’ve found the bodies.”

“They don’t care,” Ronon replied. “The average person stands no chance against them and it would take a hell a lot of your bullets to bring even one to it’s knees before they heal themselves.”

“And after a Wraith has recently fed, they are even stronger,” Teyla pointed out.

“Yeah but why would they return here, they probably know we’re looking for them,” McGee responded.

“They know that Atlantis isn’t on Earth anymore. They’ll show up,” Ronon said gruffly before heading off into another direction based on the tracks he just picked up.

“Wait, what?” McGee responded. “Atlantis? As in the lost city of Atlantis?”

Teyla and Ronon looked at each other. They thought Rodney would have explained that part during the car ride but evidently not. “We will let Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard explain to you when we complete our mission,” she said diplomatically.

“Your Doctor McKay kept talking about how awesome he was, it drove the boss nuts,” McGee pointed at Gibbs.

“Rodney tends to do that.” Teyla smiled kindly and then looked at Agent Gibbs, who was looking at something. “Did you find something, Agent Gibbs?”

“No,” Gibbs replied. “Just someone’s dog tags.”

McGee immediately made his way over and started to take pictures of the area Gibbs was pointing at before Gibbs lifted the dog tags and put them in an evidence bag. “Petty Officer Nathan Bishop.” McGee said, “One of our bodies.”

“McGee, send Abby a text message, to look for same sort of bodies in other areas.”

“Right, maybe we can find a pattern, and maybe we can find out where they might be hiding,” McGee smiled, and Ronon chuckled, shaking his head. “What?”

“You’re not dealing with humans,” he pointed out.

He had noticed it before, but there was something about the way Ziva moved; she wasn’t making a sound when she walked, and she sort of looked like Teyla when Teyla would track something, like a cat stalking her prey. It was hard not to get turned on by it.

Rodney looked smug when there wasn’t anything near the rocks. “Told you so.”

Ziva glared at John’s friend as she began to climb up to the top of the rock formation where it would give her a better view of the overall area. From there she could see through areas of trees that led back all the way to the parking areas. If anyone was there, they would be able to see much more than they had from the ground for a better defensive response.

“What was that?” Tony asked spooked.

“What was what?” John answered.

“I thought I saw something,” Tony squinted. “It must be gone now.”

“Sheppard,” Rodney pointed at his life signs detector. “Something’s coming in from the South, entering the park, can’t tell if it’s a Wraith or not.”

“Let’s go,” he nodded and helped Ziva off her rock.

Ziva shook her head. “Wait, I think I can see it…” she said squinting and moving to a better angle. “Looks like someone forgot that Halloween isn’t for several more months…”

He blinked, did she just see the Wraith? They were minutes away from the South entrance! Maybe he needed glasses. “Ziva, get down from there.”

“Sheppard, another one’s coming in from the same entrance, not sure if it’s Wraith, but we have to hurry.” Rodney tugged on John’s vest.

Looking at Ziva, it didn’t seem like she was going to move any time soon and he just took Tony with him while holding the life signs detector. “You stay with her,” he told his friend and started to run towards the Wraith. “Teyla, Ronon, we have one,” he radioed his team mates. “Keep your eyes open.”

“Received,” Teyla replied over the radio and hoisted her weapon to a ready position as she turned to take in the surroundings. Looking at Gibbs and his young agent, she nodded towards their sidearms. “If you come into contact with it, fire at its’ head and don’t stop shooting.”

“So, we have to empty our clips in that Wraith thingy?”

“And hope it dies.” Ronon nodded. “Should we get separated, but we’ve got your back.”

Gibbs nodded in acceptance. He believed him. He took out his gun and double checked the chamber and patted his coat to make sure had spare clips with him after they had left the office earlier. “You’re in charge here,” he said simply and followed the two alien humans through the trees.

As John and Tony headed towards where the life sign was coming towards the group, Ziva hopped down after seeing something just off to the right where the two men where heading and went full speed. She was running faster than the guys were but John managed to keep an eye on her somehow. All of a sudden, the Wraith stepped out from behind a tree. “Ziva! Watch out!”

 

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