Lineage: Episode 3 – Sentinels and Protectors

When the plane landed at the small airport in Colorado Springs Hotch, Morgan and Spencer quickly disembarked and walked towards the waiting military vehicles. When Spencer looked up and saw who was waiting he went perfectly still.

“What are you doing here?” Spencer eyed the man standing there next to the vehicle.

“Reid?” Aaron came to stand next to the young Guide grounding him because Aaron could feel the fury pouring off Spencer.

“Dr. Daniel Jackson.” Spencer stared for a long-time at him before he spoke again. “One of Tara’s Archeology mentor’s. He came to her to help with a project he was working on, then he disappeared around the same time she did.”

“It worked Spencer.” Dr. Jackson tried to smile. “The project, it worked.” Daniel frowned as he took in the young man he had once known and cared about.

“Is that why she’s gone? Was it the damn project you got her involved in?” Fury rose on Spencer’s face as he stared down the scientist.

“I,” Daniel’s jaw was working back and forth as he was trying to deal with his own emotions at seeing Spencer for the first time in years. “I don’t know, I won’t lie because it’s very possible.”

“You son-of-a-bitch.” Spencer’s whole body was vibrating as he was trying to keep his emotions in control. He did not want to go feral it was uncommon for Guides to go feral, but not unheard of. There were several instances in the archeological and historical records of Guides pushed to that point. Aaron just hoped that they wouldn’t have to deal with a feral Reid. He had an idea that it would be a very bad thing.

“Hey, pretty boy.” Morgan moved up next to Spencer and put his arms around his shoulders. “You need to calm down, we’ll get more information, okay?”

“Fine, but he stays away from me.” He looked at Daniel as he stalked off to the other vehicle.

“Morgan why don’t you go with Dr. Jackson and I’ll go with Reid, he’s on edge.” Hotch squeezed his hand and walked over to the other vehicle.

“I’m SAIC Aaron Hotchner, I’m sorry for Dr. Reid he’s been on edge the last few days.”

“Colonel Samantha Carter, General O’Neil and Daniel told me a little bit about what’s going on. Believe me you don’t have to explain. Come on once we get to The Mountain we’ll talk more.”

Hotch got in the back of the SUV with Spencer and pulled the young man to him trying to help settle him. Sam didn’t say anything as she drove the FBI agents to The Mountain figuring that they needed a moment to ground. Once they got there the Agents signed in and surrendered their weapons. Sam led the three men to a conference room then told them she would be right back with the General.

Spencer was pacing back and forth, almost like a caged animal unable to settle as they waited for the General.

“Good, afternoon Agents, I’m Major General Jack O’Neill, and you’ve met Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson. Agent Hotchner are you now prepared to tell me what is going on?”

“What’s going on? I’ll tell you what, this man..” Spencer pointed angrily at Daniel, ”Got my Sentinel involved in some project that came and bit us on the ass. You want to know? Read this.” Spencer threw the letter on the table towards Jack.

“Spencer,” Daniel looked miserable as he stood. “You can’t know how sorry I am.”

“No, I don’t want your apologies. What I want is for you to get her back.” Spencer’s shields were thin, and he was angry which made his emotions leak out everywhere.

“Reid,” Hotch used his Sentinel voice on the young man to try to help him calm down.

“What? Nine years Hotch, nine years. You cannot begin to understand, none of you can.” Spencer closed his eyes as silent tears fell. When Morgan tried to approach him he ducked off to another side of the conference room away from him. “Don’t handle me Morgan. I’m tired, I’m tired of not knowing where she is. I’m tired of the constant pain in trying to keep that tiny thread of our bond alive. I want her back, please if you understand what Gideon did, where she’s at please, get her back.” He was against the wall and slid down trying to keep himself from the encroaching breakdown he always felt on the verge of. Aaron was at his side immediately and pulled the young man onto his lap.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad Spencer?” Aaron carded his fingers through his subordinate’s hair trying to ground him more. Spencer fisted Aaron’s shirt as he took comfort in him.

“Spencer you need to build your shields, they’re a mess. You need to stay with us, okay? You need to stay with us.”

“Agent Hotchner, do you have a bond with this young man?” Jack watched the two critically.

“Not a bond, but myself and my Guide have formed a tether with him. But, it’s been a difficult eight months. I thought his shields were better than this.”

“I didn’t want you to worry. After the incident I’ve had trouble sustaining them,” Spencer cried as the stress of the last few months got to him.

Jack took a deep breath then picked-up the letter and read through it. The young man’s grief was being projected through the mountain and he knew if he opened that door every Sentinel on base would be there wondering just what was going on.

Just as Jack was about to start asking questions Walter’s voice came over the intercom.

“Unscheduled offworld activation.” Jack looked over at Sam and Daniel as they all got out of their seats.

“Spencer, why don’t you come with us. I think you will want to see just what that project was.” The young man instantly felt safe and cared for in the presence of the Alpha Prime. Slowly getting up Jack pulled him close as they walked towards the activation room.

“What have you got?” No teams were ready to report in yet, so Jack watched critically as a wormhole opened.

“Holy shit.” Spencer’s eyes widened as he watched the activity in the gate room.

“It’s a signal sir.” Walter captured the signal then the gate closed immediately after.

“From where?”

“It’s….from Atlantis sir. An .avi file and….a date with a song?” Walter looked up at Jack with furrowed brow.

“Can you play the .avi Walter?”

“Yeah, give me a minute.” He worked on the file to decrypt it then put it up on one of the other computers. “It’s on screen two.” He pointed to the monitor to the right of him.

Spencer, Jack, Sam and Daniel crowded the monitor while the video was being booted up. When the face of a young woman appeared Spencer’s knees buckled and he fumbled for the chair.

“Pen,” Tara tapped on the recording device as she smiled into the camera, “Pen, miss you. Need you.” She closed her eyes as tears fell slowly down her face, “F-f-father d-d-drug me. Woke on ship. four months, crash on p-p-planet. Found Wraith-” She growls out and her eyes darken dangerously and small teeth extend.

“Calm down Sentinel, come on keep going but you need to calm down.” Rodney could be seen next to Tara holding her wrist, trying to keep her centered. Tara took a deep breath then turned back to the camera.

“Pen,” She pats her chest “Alive. Need you Pen, hard to hold on. Feel hole here.” She rubbed her chest as she bit her lip trying to pull back on her emotions.

Rodney moved in front of the camera as he kept his hand on Tara’s wrist.

“Jack, if you are listening to this seek out Dr. Spencer Reid, he’s a fucking genius, not as smart as me but then again who is? Anyway, he’s goddamn smart and you are going to find a way to get that boy here I don’t care what you have to do General, but you will do this. She’s barely keeping it together. We’re doing all we can to help her, but we’ve figured out she’s been feral so long that we’ve been bringing her down slowly but it’s not working. She can’t stay like this. Sam, I need you to look at these,” He held up the papers that had the proofs from Tara, “These are proofs done by this girl in a feral state. I can’t even imagine what she would do with her Guide at her side.” He held each piece of paper up to the camera.

“Rodney move,” Tara growled out as she got back in the view of the camera, “Pen, I love you,” She holds up her ring, “Never take off, marry you. Love you Pen, love you,” She moved off camera and another person comes into view.

“Hey kid, if you are seeing this, god, I’m sorry Penny. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I let my fight with Dad keep me away when you needed me most. Shit kid, if I had been there,” John took a breath before he spoke again, “If I had been there then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I know you probably have questions and I know you probably hate me, but Penny, I do miss you. If you see them tell Alec and David I’m alive and hopefully, hopefully we can get your scrawny geeky ass out here. Love you kid.” John pressed his lips in a hard line as he turned the camera off.

The video faded out and there was nothing but silence in the activation room.

Jack and Sam both placed their hands on Spencer’s shaking shoulders as he silently broke down.

“Walter, what else was in the data burst?” Jack asked quietly.

“As I said sir, there’s a date I’m working on translating it, and a song. Do you want me to play it?”

“Dr. Reid? Do you want us to play the song?” Sam somehow knew it was for him. When the song Some Enchanted Evening came over the speakers, Spencer curled up on the chair and wrapped his arms around his legs trying to hold it together.

“What’s the date?” He asks softly almost imperceptibly, but he knew the General heard him.

“September 18 7:45 p.m. Does that mean anything to you?”

Spencer smiled through his tears, “It was our first official date. We were thirteen, and they had a Rodgers and Hammerstein retrospective playing at this little theatre called The Rialto in Pasadena. Our conservator took us. He stayed three rows behind, she sat curled in my lap the whole time. They were showing South Pacific and Showboat. She loved musicals.” He reached out and ran a finger down the monitor and closed his eyes against the memories.

“Dr. Reid, I think it’s important for some reason. I think there maybe something in the code. Why don’t you stay a few days, let us figure this out. September 18 is only a few days away, I’m sure we can understand it before then.”

“You’ll let me stay?” The hopefulness on the young Guides face was almost more than even Sentinel Prime Jack O’Neill could take. He blew out a breath before he spoke to settle his own emotions over this whole fucked-up situation.

“Yes, Dr. Reid. I think you should be here.” Spencer had never felt such relief as he did right in that moment.

“Another thing, what did Major Sheppard mean? He seemed to know you as well.”

“John is my brother.”

“Excuse me?” The General looked at the young man and shook his head. “Why am I not surprised. Why do you go by Reid?”

“It’s for my Mom. When I went to school I wanted to do it on my own, not because my Father had anything to do with it.” Spencer rubbed at his temple as a headache started forming behind his eyes. He looked up sharply as he felt that Hotch had come into the room.

“Hey, you okay Reid?” Aaron knelt next to the chair Spencer was in and wasn’t surprised when the young man slid into his lap.

“She’s alive Hotch, oh God I knew it but, she’s alive. And John, he’s with her.” Spencer buried his head against Aaron’s neck and cried. He finally let all of those emotions he had been holding onto since he woke-up dreaming about Tara three days before.

“We’ll figure this out Reid, I promise you.” Aaron wrapped an arm around the Guide and held him through his purge. He just hoped he could keep his promise. 

__________

“Mer, what if we try the chair?” John was pacing their room almost like a caged animal. He was anxious because this was taking too long to bring Tara’s senses back down and every Guide on the city was on edge wanting to help but not knowing how. All the Sentinels were on edge because their protective instincts were on high alert. No one was sleeping well and the situation was getting worse by the day.

“I, I honestly didn’t think of that. Why didn’t I think of that?” He got up and shot out of the room and hurriedly made his way to the med lab. “What if we use the chair?” He practically yelled as he flew into the room startling Dr. Keller.

“Jesus McKay,” Jennifer was going over the latest round of tests on Tara trying to make sense of her secondary characteristics.

“Sorry, well, not really but what do you think? Would it cause any more damage? Would it bring her down too fast?”

“Honestly I don’t know.” Jennifer sat back and frowned and considered the idea for a moment. “She is aware and cognitive enough to give consent. I’m just worried that Atlantis may try to fix her all at once.” Dr. Keller got up and walked to the observation window for the Isolation room they currently had Tara in. They all were watching her closely hoping that she wouldn’t relapse into the emotional drop that caused her suicide attempt.

“Did you get the message back Earth?”

“Yeah, that address Tara gave us that had the those Generators from Ariana Prime was on point. I wonder what else she remembers, though I kinda wish she knew where a ZPM was.” Rodney was also watching Tara as she was trying to talk with Kate. She had been working with her for a few days now and she seemed to be stabilizing a lot more. Rodney knew though, that the only thing that was going to truly make her whole again was her Guide.

“There is something I’ve been meaning to talk to you and John about. Couple of things actually. I’ve been studying Tara’s biology and there is something unusual about it, in fact I’ve never really seen anything like this.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes at Jennifer, “Something you’ve been keeping from us Dr. Keller?”

“No, not exactly. It’ s just I wanted to be sure and I wanted to run additional tests. I think I know why she’s having speech difficulties and it has nothing to do with her being feral. In fact it’s, well get the Colonel and I’ll tell you both at the same time.” Jennifer walked back to her desk while Rodney left to go in search of his Sentinel.

Rodney found him in the gym sparring with Ronon. The sight was always spectacular watching his Sentinel, especially now. The two men had their shirts off and were only wearing knee length shorts. Rodney couldn’t help his body’s reaction to seeing those long lean muscles being worked out as he and Ronon were sparring with the Banto sticks. Rodney didn’t want to stop them, so he just sat back and watched. After another few minutes the two were done and when John turned to look at him he smiled wickedly.

“Oh I see where this is going,” John pulled his Guide to him and gave him a deep heart-stopping kiss.

“I swear you will be the death of me Sheppard,” Rodney laid his head against John’s forehead and let himself be held by his very sweaty partner.

“But what a way to go McKay,” John bent down and kissed him once again. “Okay, going to go shower then you can tell me whatever it was you wanted to tell me.” He reluctantly let his Guide go so he could shower and change.

Rodney was tempted to follow him, but he decided to get some work done on his tablet. When John came back out and sat next to him he could tell that his Sentinel wanted to ask but he took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“She’s not getting better.” Rodney started to fidget with his tablet which John grabbed and laid aside.

“No, she’s not. What are you thinking Mer?” John touched his cheek concern for his Guide clouding his eyes. He also wanted Tara to be okay for Spencer. He didn’t know how or when, but he knew he was going to get his brother here one way or another.

“The chair. I want to give her the choice to sit in the chair. I know it’s a risk and we’ll tell her what they are, but nothing is working. I think you were right, all she’s known for years is running, moving from planet to planet. And I’m sure each encounter with the Wraith pushed her deeper and deeper into her overdrive state and no Guide to balance her, it’s a goddamn fucking miracle she is even here and alive. Yeah she’s a huge mess, but it’s our responsibility to help her.” Rodney took a deep breath to center his emotions but he didn’t truly settle till he was pulled into his Sentinel’s lap and tightly held.

“Yes it is, and we will. We will help her anyway we can. So let’s offer her the choice, but I want us to be there along with Ronon and Teyla. She’s formed a sort of tether with them and she trusts them. Also Miko, they’ve been fairly inseparable. Dr. Keller keeps telling me that she checks on Tara constantly. If anything goes wrong we’ll be there to help.”

“Good, okay let’s do that.” Rodney slid off John’s lap and grabbed his tablet, “Jennifer wanted to see us about some unusual discoveries she said she’s made in Tara’s biology.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good.” John did an unconscious check of everyone on Atlantis and found them all to be safe. He did this quickly as they walked back towards the med lab with almost no effort at all.

“Okay Kellar, what do you have?” John walked to one side of the doctor’s workstation while Rodney was on the other.

“What you saw when you first encountered Tara, the teeth and claws? It wasn’t as strange of an anomaly as you thought. Here, look at these scans” Jennifer brought up the scans of Tara and let Rodney look them over. “Especially here and here,” She pointed out the hands and the scan of Tara’s jaw.

“Are those vestigial bones?”

“No, these are like a feline’s claws, they have very similar properties. I bet if she wanted to, or tried to she could retract them at will. But, it’s during the full feral episode that they come out of their own accord. Now the teeth, look here, again not vestigial. Her eyes also have some odd properties, again they are more like a felines. She can widen and retract to see better and farther as well as the ability to pinpoint and narrow down for prey.”

“What does all this mean Dr.?”

“I have absolutely no idea. I was hoping you might have found something like this in the records from Ariana Prime.” Jennifer was staring at the scans. “But that’s not all I wanted to show you. Come here,” On the back wall there were several screens with a series of brain scans currently up. “This is the scan I took of Tara’s brain when you first brought her in. Each subsequent scan is one week apart. Look here at the left frontal lobe, this is the area that deals with speech. Here you see damage to that part of the cortex. But then look at the scan a week later, the damage is being written over and slowly absorbed in the body. Each week it’s repairing itself.”

“So you’re saying because her brain has this fuzzy patch over it, that it’s messing with her speech,” John intuitively looked up and through the observations window. “So do you know what happened to cause this?”

“I think a Wraith tried to feed on her, but got interrupted or was stopped somehow.”

“It’s an interesting theory and we won’t be able to know till she can regain her full speech abilities.”

“I’ll talk to Ronon and see if he’s seen anything like this from the Sentinels from Sateda. Then I’ll find out from Elizabeth if there is anything in the historical records we brought back from Ariana Prime.”

John started to leave medical when he moved over to Rodney and took his hand, “We’ll figure all this out, I promise.” John squeezed Rodney’s hand before going in search of Ronon to talk to him to see if he knew anything at all as to why this girl had these odd traits about her.

__________

“It’s a hell of a thing Elizabeth. Have you come across anything in those historical records to indicate what could be going on, or why she has these traits?”

“When you first called me I started going over my notes and something stood out. Here read this, I think I’ve translated it correctly, the Ancient was a little different than what we’ve seen so far. You may not like what you read.” Dr. Weir sat back in her chair and waited while John went over the information she passed over.

“You’re sure about this?” John stood up and started pacing.

“Pretty sure, everything fits John. And, I think she’s going to have the urge to imprint on you when we finally figure out how to bring her down. She’s also going to seek out her second guide.”

“This girl has already gone through hell, how is this going to help her? What if she feels like she’s cheating on Spencer? God Elizabeth the last thing my brother asked me about was waiting till they were eighteen, they hadn’t even completed their bond.” He took a deep breath as he stopped in the middle of the office when a cougar came in and started to weave in and out of his legs.

“Who’s you’re friend?” Elizabeth looked up with amusement in her eyes.

“It’s Tara’s spirit animal. Ever since that day on the dock he’s been an almost constant companion. I wake-up and he’s been curled around my legs. I patrol, he’s next to me. He even has slipped between me and McKay in the mornings,” He unconsciously reached down and scrubbed his head with his hand.

“I think Tara is already starting to imprint on you.”

“That’s to be expected-“

“No, I mean yes you all have done an imprint as a pride, but it isn’t a pride imprint and you know it.”

“Well crap, what do I do with this Elizabeth? I’m not going to take advantage of my brother’s Sentinel. I’ve done enough hurt when it comes to them.” His guilt bubbled up as he flopped back down in the chair he had vacated.

“Well, you’re just going to  have to be ready when she decides to come to you and I have a feeling she’ll be ready soon.”

“You think she’ll choose the chair, don’t you?”

“Yes I do. Dr. Keller thinks that her speech issues are due to a possible Wraith trying to feed on her. Then they got interrupted somehow, but again we won’t know till we can have an actual conversation.” Elizabeth sat back in her chair and studied John for a few moments. The man had been a little different since the girl came to Atlantis and Elizabeth wondered, not for the first time, what the break was with his family that caused John to stay away from his own brother. She wasn’t going to ask though, that was between them when they figured out a solution to their problem.

Ariana Prime had been a gold mine of a planet. When AR-1 landed on the planet they weren’t sure what to expect. Tara had been able to write out the reason she thought the planet was important and a map to a large temple that she had found herself. The planet appeared to be uninhabited, but no one could be sure. They had made that mistake before. What they found at the temple was an almost exact replica of the Temple that Jim and Blair had found on Earth. Not many knew about the temple because Blair, at the time, had hidden his research. Only a select few, like Rodney and Spencer, had been privy to it.

The temple had pictographs from floor to ceiling and encompassed all four walls. It was going to take months for them to go through and decipher all the images they recorded. The Ancient tech wasn’t a surprise and it responded to John like most ancient technology did. They got as much as they could out of it and that was when they found the generators. They were of ancient design. They weren’t ZPM’s but they were very similar. Rodney and Zelenka knew they would be able to at least get a few messages to Earth in short data bursts. At least The SGC and General O’Neil would know that they were alive.

“I think we have no choice. We have to talk to her about using the chair and just hope for a good outcome.” John just hoped he knew what he was doing.

__________

Aaron was pacing back and forth in the conference room like a caged animal. Morgan was watching him closely but was having trouble sorting the conflicting emotions churned up in his Sentinel.

“Hotch, Reid is going to be okay.” Morgan got up and intercepted the pacing man. He wrapped a hand around Aaron’s wrist, in an effort to calm him down.

“It’s not Reid,” Aaron said so softly that Morgan almost didn’t catch it.

“What?” the Guide reached up and cupped the back of Aaron’s neck, trying to ground him further.

“It’s not Reid,” Aaron laid his head against Derek’s and sighed deeply.

“Tell me Aaron.” Morgan cupped Aaron’s cheek and gently stroked his thumb along his Sentinels cheek.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Aaron breathed out as he pulled Morgan against him kissing him deeply. Morgan wrapped his arms around Aaron’s waist and pulled the man in close. After a moment he pulled away.

“Tell me. If you don’t I will use my Guide voice on you Aaron Hotchner.” Morgan glared at him, but there was no heat behind it.

“It’s,” Aaron took a deep breath before he spoke again, “it’s the General.” He let his head fall against the darker man’s as he tried to calm the strange conflicting emotions. “I have this irrational need to imprint on him.”

“He is the Prime, Aaron-“

“No, Derek, Jim is the North American prime and I’ve never felt like this around him and we’ve known each other for years. I have no idea what’s going on.”

Derek let out some of his empathy and wrapped his Sentinel up in it. He scanned Aaron quickly then pulled back a moment, “This is hurting you isn’t it?”

“Let’s just get Reid through this and go back to the hotel. I’m sure a little rest will be all I need.” He buried his face against his Guide’s neck and held him close.

A clearing of the throat towards the front of the room let them know someone had entered, but Aaron had already felt who had come in and stiffened slightly in his Guides arms. As he was pulling back to face the General his spirit animal appeared and started to weave in and out of the General’s legs.

“Okay, this is interesting.” Jack reached down and ruffled the fur on the Lioness as she weaved around the man’s legs, “And just who do you belong to?”

“She’s mine.” Aaron looked up at the General and almost groaned in the back of his throat. Derek kept a hand wrapped around his Sentinel’s wrist to help keep him grounded.

“Okay.” Jack scrutinized the other Sentinel and he felt that the other man was in pain. “Are you okay Agent?” Jack frowned and started to take a few steps forward, the lioness keeping pace with him. Aaron took a few steps back. Closing his eyes and trying to get control of himself he opened and knowing he couldn’t lie to another Sentinel he told Jack the truth.

“So, imprint.” Jack stood there and quirked up a brow at the Agent.

“No, not without your Guide here.” Aaron’s breath was shallow and ragged as he was trying to gain control of himself. Not even his Guide’s grounding was helping.

“You’re in pain Sentinel, I can feel it from there, come here and take what you need.” Jack’s voice was calm and Aaron almost stepped forward but he gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists and stood his ground.

“Not without your Guide here and not without his consent.” Aaron’s scent pile was a mess of emotions and both Derek and Jack felt it.

“Okay, let me just make a phone call.” Jack frowned not really understanding what was going on, but he wasn’t going to leave this man in distress. Jack walked to the conference room phone and called for Daniel.

Sam had entered the conference room looking for Jack and was taken aback by the force of the emotional distress she was feeling from the Agent on the other side of the room.

“Agent Hotchner, are you okay?” Sam frowned as she watched the older man pacing, in her mind she likened it to a caged predator pacing in distress.

“Sam, he feels like he needs to imprint on me.” Jack just kept an eye on the agent.

“It’s not uncommon Jack, you are the Prime of basically the planet.” Daniel had come in then and saw the lioness and narrowed his eyes as he watched the spirit animal stay around Jack.

“I don’t think this is the same Daniel.” Jack was trying not to reach out to the man in distress, he wanted to help, but he had a feeling that Agent Hotchner kept quite a tight leash on himself.

Daniel frowned as he slowly sat down in one of the chairs and blew out a breath, “Can I ask you a question agent?”

Aaron looked towards the archeologist and practically growled at the younger man. After a few seconds he got himself under control as Derek kept a hand on his neck.

“What do you want to know Dr. Jackson?”

“I’m sorry if this question seems rather personal, but I need to ask and if I suspect what is true,” Daniel looked towards Jack then back to the agent. “It’s going to change your whole life.” Daniel took a deep breath, “Have you ever gone feral agent?”

Morgan heard the angry snarl then saw the glare and knew Aaron’s control was on the verge of snapping.

“Yes, twice. Once in Chicago when I was wrongfully arrested for murder and some information about my childhood came out.” Morgan worked his jaw a moment not wanting to bring up those memories again especially with people he didn’t know, or have yet to build any kind of trust with, “It took about seven police officers to hold him down and by the time they released me to help he was close to sensory overload. The second was when,” Morgan didn’t want to bring up that wound if it wasn’t necessary.

“It’s okay I don’t need the details. Agent Morgan, when he went feral was there anything, say unusual?” Daniel was scrutinizing the pair. He could tell that Morgan was working out something in his head.

“Yeah, it was weird and we’ve never really talked about it but,” Morgan looked at his Sentinel who had closed his eyes and nodded his head giving Morgan consent to continue. “He grew claws and sharp teeth, his eyes also changed. They took on the look of his spirit animal. As you can see it’s a lioness. The center always found that very unusual because most Alpha’s they’ve dealt with have male predatory animals.”

Daniel rubbed a hand over his face and expelled a harsh breath.

“Daniel, what’s going on?” Jack stood next to his Guide and put a hand on his shoulder helping to ground him.

“We always thought it was a myth. I can’t believe it’s true.”

“Daniel, what’s going on? What is it?”

“When Blair brought me his research from the Temple of the Sentinels there was something very strange that we both were trying to make sense of. He wanted me to double check his findings because he had trouble with the Ancient.” Daniel got up and started pacing as he told the group what he had translated.

“You see there were Sentinels called ‘Protectors’ and from what we could figure out these were Sentinels who had fiercer, more animalistic instincts. Their job in the pride was to protect the Prime. For every Prime, one of these protectors would emerge. Much like each Prime only has one true match, each Prime only has one Protector. They often have a primal need to imprint on their Prime and form their own bond. This bond lets the Protector always know where the Prime is at all times. It’s an imperative drive and the need to form this bond can become rather,” Daniel watched the man who was pacing , “Painful till the imperative is satisfied. This also means the Protector needs to stay close to the Prime because their instincts won’t let them do otherwise.” Daniel frowned again and swallowed hard as he held back the hardest part of this whole scenario.

“Okay Dr. I know that look, it’s the look Reid gets when he’s onto somethin’ and it’s unpleasant. Spill.” Morgan kept his hands in Aaron’s trying to keep the man centered.

“These protectors, when they would go feral it was often more ferocious, their need to protect their Prime was their only driving force. When all threats eliminated it often took more than one Guide to help them dial back down.”

“What are you saying Daniel?” Sam looked at him confused.

“What we could glean from the records was that these Protectors often had two Guides and it was almost always one male and one female.”

“You’re saying I’m this Protector and that not only do I need to bond with the General, but I have to find another Guide?” Aaron’s breathing became shallow as this news hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Yes,” Daniel had been part of Jack’s team for enough time that he knew drawn out explanations would not be appreciated at a time like this.

“Well that’s certainly fucked-up.” Aaron didn’t know how to take in this information but it made a few things clearer, “Morgan,” Aaron took his guides’ hand in his own, “Do you think Jack is..?” He shook his head not wanting to consider that possibility.

“It’s possible Aaron. It’s very possible he does have a fierce need to protect those around him. Look what he did with that kid that was bullying him. He made him a friend and protected him.”

“Is your son online Agent?” Jack was trying to wrap his head around all this new information and he wasn’t sure what any of it meant for any of them.

“Yes, he came online during…” Aaron closed his eyes and tried to calm that particular emotional storm, “My ex-wife was murdered, the trauma caused my son to suddenly come online. It was difficult for all of us.” He tightened his grip on Morgan’s hand and closed his eyes trying to calm his emotions. “And please, Aaron or Hotch. I think in this situation that’s best.” He took a deep breath and slipped on that stoic mask that Morgan knew all too well.

“Look, why don’t the two of you come back to my house and we can talk about this and help you with what you need.” He slowly took a step forward towards Aaron trying not to spook the younger man.

Aaron shook his head yes as Jack laid a hand on the back of his neck. Almost immediately there was some relief. The physical pain of the imperative receded just a little.

“Aaron, I think we should take the General up on his offer.” Morgan was on his left side with his hand around Aaron’s wrist.

“Alright,” he breathed deep as he let his head fall against Derek’s. When he felt more settled he nodded to the General that he was okay.

“I’ll have Daniel take you there. And Spencer is welcome as well. I think he’s going to need the grounding the two of you obviously give him.”

“Thank you General, for everything.”

“Please, call me Jack. I have a feeling we are going to be to fairly cozy for a few days.” He smiled and Aaron actually laughed. The mood lightened and finally everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.

A moment later there was a knock on the door and a young officer stood there.

“Lieutenant, is there something we can help you with?” Sam stood and let the men continue talking while she dealt with the newcomer.

“Ma’am. I ah, I heard a rumor that a Dr. Reid was here?”

“it’s true Lieutenant Sheppard. Do you know him?”

“Ma’am, he’s my younger brother. If he’s here I request to see him ma’am.”

“You’re John Sheppard’s brother. I’ll take you to him. I believe he’s still in Gate Operations.” Sam gave him a quick smile and led the young man from the room. She took one look back at the four men and knew they needed some time to figure out what was going on. Stepping out the door she led the young Lieutenant towards his brother.