“Did they say what we would find here?” Rodney asked, looking around at the clearing they were standing in.

“For the hundredth time Rodney, no. All they said was that we would find something of interest,” said John.

“Well don’t we think that this could be a trap?”

“Of course.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because it might not be. Jesus McKay, give it a rest.”

Rodney grumbled under his breath, but went back to surveying the area around them. Two days ago they had received a tip from the Genii that there was something of interest to be found on this planet. The team had been understandably wary—they may have formed an alliance with the Genii, but that didn’t mean that they trusted them entirely—but they chose to go to the planet to see what they would find. They had been there for almost 3 hours and found nothing.

“Sheppard,” said Ronon, looking toward the brush. “There’s something there.”

The four of them turned in the direction Ronon was pointing.

“I can’t see anything,” said John.

“Trust me, there’s something there.”

John did trust him, which made it all the more worrisome that he couldn’t see what was there. He was just starting to think that it was a trap and was going to radio the two cloaked jumpers hovering above them when he heard a familiar voice speak from the bushes.

“Come on now Colonel, you wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man, would you?”

John was so shocked that he let his gun drop down to his side as he took a step forward. The man stepped into the clearing, grinning stupidly at the four of them. John was too dumbstruck to speak, and he could tell Rodney was having the same problem. It was Teyla who stepped forward, past Ronon, to meet the last person they ever expected to see again.

“Aiden?”

It took a lot of convincing to get Ford back to Atlantis, and when they finally managed it was under the condition that they were not going to attempt to keep him there against his will. John had finally managed to find his voice, but only barely. He had always hoped that the kid had made it off the Wraith ship, but he had never been able to completely convince himself. And now here was Ford right there before their eyes, and John could only think of how thankful he was that Aiden wasn’t attempting to kidnap them again.

Rodney stood as far away from Ford as he could get, clearly remembering the Wraith enzyme he was forced to take. Ronon on the other hand stayed about a foot away from the Lieutenant, for the same reason.

They stepped through the gate and Ford looked around. “Home sweet home,” he murmured with a smile.

“Colonel Sheppard,” said Sam as she descended the steps to meet them. “Who is this?”

“Colonel Samantha Carter, meet Lieutenant Aiden Ford.”

Sam shot him a surprised look.

“Hello Colonel,” said Ford. “You weren’t here the last time I was.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“You’ll find that a lot of things have changed, Ford,” said John. “And not all for the better.”

“Where’s Dr. Weir?” Aiden asked.

John sighed. “Both Dr’s Weir and Beckett are…well they’re dead Ford.”

Ford looked truly taken aback, showing real emotion. “How?”

John and Sam exchanged a look. “Perhaps we should discuss this later…”

“How!?” he said more forcefully.

“Dr. Beckett was killed in an explosion while saving the lives of many others,” said Sam. “And Dr. Weir was taken by the Replicators.”

Ford shivered in anger.

“I know this is a lot to take in Lt,” said Sam, “but we’re going to need you to accompany Ronon and Teyla to the infirmary...”

His head snapped up at that and he gave them a dirty look.

“It’ll be fine Ford, I promise,” said John and the man nodded. “We’ll come find you when you’re done and you can tell us what it was you wanted to tell us.”

Aiden reluctantly agreed, following the two Pegasus natives out of the gate room and off to the infirmary. As soon as he was gone Sam rounded on John.

“Colonel are you insane?”

“Probably,” muttered Rodney.

“Zip it McKay,” Sam said. “John do you have any idea how dangerous that man is?”

“Yes I do Colonel,” said John sharply. “In fact I think I know how dangerous he is just a little bit more than you do, having been there when he snapped in the first place. But he said he had valuable information and we took every precaution. He doesn’t know the gate address so he won’t be able to find us.”

“Excuse me? You’re going to let him go?”

“I promised Colonel, I can’t go back on my word.”

“The United States Air Force…” Sam started, but John cut her off.

“With all due respect ma’am, Aiden Ford no longer answers to the United States Air Force.”

“Well you do Sheppard, I hope you remember that.” With one last glance at John and Rodney, Sam turned and walked back up the steps to her office.

“One of these days you’re going to make a truly stupid decision,” said McKay. “More stupid than previous ones, and if it doesn’t kill you you’re going to lose your job.”

“Are you showing concern for me Rodney?” John asked sarcastically.

“No, I’m thinking about what’ll happen to me if you get fired or killed. I like my job,” he said. “I don’t want to lose it.” And with that he walked up the stairs after Sam.

“Thanks for your concern,” John called after the scientist. He sighed, maybe McKay was right. In the meantime he figured he should go look in on his current “stupid” decision. Maybe he would learn something useful; he hoped it was something big, he really wanted to rub McKay’s face in it.

“How is he?” John asked Dr. Keller as he came into the infirmary.

Jennifer glanced across the room to where Ford was sitting on a bed, being guarded by Ronon.

“Irritating,” she responded.

John looked at her.

“Sorry,” she said with a smile. “He’s fine as far as I can tell, I mean, aside from the levels of Wraith enzyme.”

“So he hasn’t changed since we last saw him?”

Keller shook her head. “According to the notes Dr. Beckett left, no, he’s exactly the same.”

Sheppard sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of. All right, I should go talk to him.” John walked over to the bed and dismissed Ronon with a look. “Well kid,” said John to Ford, “I’m not going to lie, we thought you were dead. How’d you get off that ship before it blew up?”

“That’s not important,” said Ford. “The point is that I got off, and I’m here now.”

“All right. You mind telling us why you’re here?”

Aiden shook his head. “Not yet. First I have a few questions.”

John sighed, but indicated Ford to continue.

“What happened to Dr. Weir?”

“I already told you…”

“No I mean details.”

“Ok, fine. She was hurt pretty badly in an attack on the city by the Replicators…do you know who…”

“Yeah, I’m aware of the Replicators,” said Ford. “I’ve encountered them a few times in my travels. They were annihilating planets.”

“Yeah well, who isn’t these days?” said John. “Anyway, Elizabeth had nanites in her system from a previous encounter with the Replicators. Rodney turned them on so that they would save her. Then she came with us on a mission to the Replicator home world and was captured, so that we could get away.”

“Then you don’t know that she’s dead.”

“Trust me Lieutenant, she’s dead.”

Ford sighed. “This place is so different than I remember.”

John nodded. “It’s pretty different to us too.”

Aiden nodded.

“Now will you tell us why you’re here?” John asked.

“Yeah. I need your help.”

“The last time you needed our help we all ended up with drugs in our systems,” said John warily. “McKay nearly died.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for that, but this is different.”

“How so?”

“Because you won’t be fighting the Wraith this time,” said Ford.

“And why is that?”

Ford took a deep breath. “Because you’ll be working with them.”

“Have you completely lost you mind!?” Sam snapped.

“Didn’t we go over this already?” asked John.

“Damn it John, I’m serious. Did you even listen to what you were saying?”

They were all sitting in the briefing room; John had just finished laying out Ford’s plan. Sure it was a little unorthodox, but it could maybe work.

“You’re talking about an alliance with the Wraith.”

“Not all of them, just a select few. And it’s not like we’ve never done it before.”

“And look how well that turned out,” mumbled McKay.

John took a deep breath. “Look. Ford hates the Wraith. If he’s willing to work with them, then I think it’s worth a try.”

Sam sighed. “It’s just…Wraith that don’t feed on humans? I thought that wasn’t possible.”

“Well technically it isn’t,” said Rodney. “The way Ford tells it these Wraith haven’t quite perfected their science yet, and they need our help. But in exchange they’re willing to help us with whatever we need.”

“And what is Lieutenant Ford getting out of all this?”

“Craploads of the enzyme,” said John. “And he’s willing to share.”

They all continued to stare at him like he was a crazy person. Rodney shivered involuntarily at the memory of what happened to him.

“Sheppard did you forget that some of us almost died the last time we used that stuff?”

“Well maybe if you hadn’t OD’d…”

“Damn it John!” Sam shouted. “What has gotten into you? You can’t honestly expect us to use the Wraith enzyme?”

John shrugged. “Why not? The Wraith have refined it. All of the pluses, none of the negatives.”

“Are you sure John?” Teyla asked.

“Fairly. Look, I haven’t seen Ford like this since he started on the enzyme. He’s controlled, calm. The doctor even said he was doing better. Look, I think we need to give this intel a chance. Ford went through a lot to get to us. And if we could ally ourselves with these Wraith, we might be able to defeat the others.”

Sam shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m even contemplating this, but, ok. You have a go. But I want to hear back every two hours, you got that?”

John nodded. “Absolutely.” He turned to the rest of his team, exchanging a look with Ronon, who seemed as eager as him to get their hands on the enzyme. Ronon had actually enjoyed it, well parts of it.

“I really hope you’re right about this John,” said Sam as they left the briefing room.

He glanced back at her with a reassuring smile. “When am I ever not right?”