titan5

"Nightmare on M3P-667 (2/2)"

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:42:18 GMT

Within an hour, arrangements had been made and a jumper was landing on the front lawn of the hospital, or what served as one in Eleri. Lorne had listened carefully to the chatter in the doctor’s office as well as to reports from his men. Penkawr was up to something, he just wasn’t sure what.

It turned out Dr. Crowther wasn’t quite as sure about the colonel’s diagnosis as Penkawr had been. There was no specific test for the disease . . . only symptoms to evaluate. And it turned out that Colonel’s Sheppard’s symptoms had not exactly fit those of Khahesian fever. While he did have the pain and confusion, he was lacking one of the main signs, namely, the fever. The physician had been baffled by the total lack of an elevated temperature. This discovery had only fed the increasing doubt in Lorne’s mind that his commanding officer was not merely suffering from some endemic disease.

“Major Lorne, the medical team is on their way in with the quarantine unit.”

“Understood. We’ll meet them in the lobby.” His voice catching the attention of Dr. Weir, Lorne reported to the others in the room. “The medical team is on their way in.”

Dr. Crowther, a tall thin man with gray hair and glasses nodded as he picked up the equivalent of a telephone. “This is Dr. Crowther. We’re on our way up to get Colonel Sheppard.” The man frowned and his mouth dropped open. “What? When?” He listened for a second before dropping the device away from his face. “Two soldiers collected Colonel Sheppard a few minutes ago. He’s gone.”

Lorne clenched his jaw as his gut tightened. Sometimes he hated it when he was right. He tapped his radio. “Jackson, Sanderson,” he said softly. “Two soldiers have the colonel. You guys see anything?”

Jackson’s voice came back, equally soft. “Not so far. That Penkawr guy was . . .wait . . . they’re here. Two soldiers coming out the back entrance and they’re dragging the colonel.”

“We’re on our way. Don’t let them leave.” Lorne began moving toward the door as he waved his arm. “Two men out back have the colonel.” Ronon almost beat him to the door and he could hear the others right behind him.

“Go down that hall,” Taran called, pointing to the hall on his left. “The door at the end leads to the rear of the building.”

Deciding to trust the man’s instructions, Lorne tore down the hall and crashed through the back door with Ronon still at his side. He didn’t notice if they left the doors on their hinges or not. Several yards to his right, Colonel Sheppard was putting up one heck of a fight, pulling and lurching and yelling at his captors to let him go. A third man was getting out of the driver’s seat of a jeep-like vehicle. Jackson and Sanderson had the soldiers covered and were commanding them to let the colonel go. The young one looked terrified, as if he’d like nothing better than to comply with the orders, but the older man kept urging him on.

To the sound of Ronon’s gun charging up, Lorne decided to take over. “You need to let Colonel Sheppard go right now. We don’t want any trouble, but we will shoot if you don’t release the colonel immediately.”

The young man hesitated and then let go of Sheppard, throwing his arms up in the air. The older soldier began yelling as he jerked Sheppard toward the waiting jeep and pushed him, trying to shove him into the automobile. As soon as he broke contact, he was enveloped by a red light and dropped to the ground, kicking up a small dust storm. The would-be driver took that as a hint and threw his arms up high in the air.

“Do not shoot . . . do not shoot!” the driver shouted.

Lorne and Ronon kept the two soldiers covered while Sanderson and Jackson ran over to Sheppard. As soon as they touched him, the colonel pushed away from them and staggered several feet before dropping to his knees and doubling over as he grabbed his stomach. “Stay ‘way . . . can’t have ‘er . . . my city!” Sheppard swayed and slurred like a drunk, but his men gave him leeway, knowing how dangerous he could be.

Keeping an eye on the two soldiers, Ronon walked over to stand by his CO. “Sheppard . . . Sheppard it’s me, Ronon. You need to come with us. We’re trying to help you.”

“Who?” Sheppard squinted in the sunlight as he looked up at the big man. Beads of sweat glistened like sequins on his face and neck. They stared at each other for several moments before Sheppard licked his dry lips and blinked heavily. “Not . . . not a Wraith worsh’per . . . are you?”

Lorne saw the flinch from his position several yards away, as if Sheppard had kicked the Satedan. But Ronon recovered quickly and shook his head. “No . . . I kill Wraith.”

Sheppard nodded. “Good . . . me too.” He wiped a hand across his face and then grabbed his chest, leaning over until his face almost touched the ground.

“Sheppard?” Ronon said, kneeling beside the sick man now that the others had taken over covering the soldiers. Lorne was aware of the rest of their little party easing out the door behind him. Sheppard seemed to relax a little and put one hand on the ground to push himself up a little.

“Don’t feel . . . s’good,” he whispered, his voice barely audible to his second in command. And then he fell over in the dirt. Lorne stepped closer as Ronon grabbed his shoulder.

“We’re going to help you, just hang on.”

The colonel curled up into a tight ball, his bare feet pushing against the dirt as he tried to pull in tighter. Lorne didn’t need to see his face to know he was in a lot of pain. “Please . . . make . . . make it stop.”

oOo

“Finally,” Rodney said, impatience making him emphasize the word. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew Carson would never keep them waiting longer than necessary, but fear and worry were keeping his mind too occupied to consciously acknowledge that right now.

“Sorry, Rodney,” said Carson, evidently hearing the complaint. “We’re having a bugger of a time figuring this out.”

“What can you tell us?” asked Elizabeth, standing between Rodney and Teyla. On the other side of Teyla, Ronon and Lorne stood straight, their bodies pulled tight with tension.

“Well, it’s not a bacterial or viral infection, of that we’re sure. There’s no sign of any form of illness or infection. Our best guess is that Colonel Sheppard’s been poisoned.”

“I knew it!” said Lorne, pounding his clenched fist into his thigh. “My money’s still on that Penkawr guy. He was a little too anxious for us to fall for that Khahesian fever thing.”

“I agree,” said Ronon, his eyes dark and narrow. “I say we go back and make him talk.”

“Now wait a minute,” said Elizabeth. “We don’t know anything just yet. Carson, do you know what kind of poison?”

The doctor sighed and shook his head. “No, not yet. We know it’s a mixture of several chemicals, but we haven’t identified them all yet. There are two that the chemists say are similar to toxins in plants on Earth, but the others are totally new to them.” Carson sighed and looked at the floor a moment, as if composing himself. That scared Rodney more than anything that had been said so far. When he finally looked up, his expression was troubled. “It’s going to take more time than we have to isolate the compounds and figure out an antidote.”

“Carson?” Rodney’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Colonel Sheppard’s liver and kidney functions are already dropping. This . . . whatever it is, is also acting as a neurotoxin causing extreme pain . . . not unlike the sting of a box jellyfish back on Earth. They are fascinating creatures, even if we know little about their –“

“Carson,” interrupted Elizabeth.

The doctor looked confused a moment and then his cheeks flushed slightly as he nodded. And people thought Rodney got distracted. “Right, well, there is also a component that is causing hallucinations and confusion, as we’ve seen. The problem is that the chemicals are interacting with one another and changing. His symptomology keeps shifting and I’m worried about a cardiotoxic effect and . . . “ Carson took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Basically, the colonel only has a few hours before his systems begin to shut down.”

“He’s going to die?” asked Ronon.

“Aye, if we don’t find an antidote in the next few hours. And that’s assuming there is an antidote. There is no way to manufacture one from scratch in time.”

“How long are we talking about?’ asked Elizabeth, her features almost as tight as her voice.

“I don’t know . . . there are too many variables we aren’t sure of. We don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with and I’d have to make assumptions about his deterioration rate that probably aren’t –“

“Just give us a number, Carson,” Rodney demanded. Everyone looked at him and he realized how much like Sheppard he sounded. For the first time he had an inkling what was going on in that pilot’s pea brain when he barked out an order for a time limit.

Elizabeth recovered first. “Can you just give us your best guess, something to shoot for?”

Carson scrubbed the top of his head, making his hair truly stand on end. “Aye, I can try. At his present rate . . . maybe four to six hours before the damage is irreversible. Death a few hours after that.”

“May we see him?” asked Teyla.

With a small nod, Carson led them to John’s bed, where the military leader shifted restlessly, groaning as he squirmed around onto his side. Rodney’s gut twisted with equal parts worry, guilt, and anger. He was furious at the colonel for letting this happen, even more so once he processed that Sheppard had been the only one without backup. The man had made sure everyone but himself was taken care of . . . so typical and frustrating. But he also felt guilty and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe he should have realized Sheppard was going out on his own and voiced his concern. Maybe he should have been aware that something was wrong earlier. He couldn’t put his finger on it, he just knew he should have done something.

“We have to go back . . . make them give us the antidote,” said Ronon.

“I’m inclined to agree,” said Lorne.

“An . . . anti . . . dote,” gasped Sheppard, causing them all to look his way.

“Did you say antidote?” asked Carson. “Do you know where it is lad?” The doctor had one hand on Sheppard’s shoulder, his face hopeful.

“P-p-penkawr,” John sputtered as he gripped the metal bed rails and scrunched his face up in pain.

“I knew that slimeball was behind this,” muttered Lorne as he turned to face Elizabeth. “Permission to go back and get the antidote?”

“N-no,” said John, opening his eyes and pulling himself closer to the edge of the bed. “Genii will . . . no . . . not there . . . wait . . . I don’t . . . “

“It’s all right, lad, take your time,” encouraged Carson.

“How can we trust anything he says?” asked Rodney. “He hasn’t been lucid up to now. He might send us on some wild goose chase. You said yourself he was having hallucinations.”

Carson sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Aye, he has been. I have no idea, Rodney. He seems more lucid right now . . . but I have no way of knowing if what he’s telling us is real or not.”

“Real!” John ground out in a loud whisper, panting and trying to pull himself up. “Young soldier . . . and . . . and woman . . . scientist . . . might help if . . . you can find them.”

“One of the soldiers trying to colonel nap Sheppard was really young looking,” offered Rodney.

“He didn’t look very happy about what he was doing either,” said Lorne.

“Maybe Taran still has him in custody,” said Ronon.

“We’re assuming Taran isn’t in on the whole thing,” said Rodney. Because that would really suck.

“I don’t think he is,” said Elizabeth. “Let’s go see him, ask if we can question the soldier.” She glanced at Sheppard when he groaned and drew his legs up to his chest. “We need to do something and we need to do it now.”

“You should let us handle it ma’am,” said Lorne. “Colonel Sheppard would have me thrown from the balcony if I let anything happen to you and we already know at least some of these people are dangerous.”

Elizabeth arched one eyebrow and Rodney was glad he hadn’t been the one to verbalize that suggestion, even though he had been thinking the same thing. “I am still the leader of this expedition and I think I’ve built up a good rapport with Taran. I’ll be able to tell if he’s lying or not. I am going.”

Lorne schooled his expression like the pro that he was and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I suggest we take a jumper and an extra team or two for backup.”

“Agreed, but have the extra men in a cloaked jumper behind us. No use getting them trigger happy before we have to.”

This time Lorne let a small smile escape. “Just what I was thinking. I’ll make the arrangements and meet you in the jumper bay in . . . twenty minutes.”

“We’re coming too,” said Ronon. Rodney nodded and he could see Teyla adding her own nod in his peripheral vision.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Elizabeth. Turning to lay a hand on Sheppard’s arm, she bit her bottom lip for a moment. “Hang in there John. We’ll be back soon with the antidote.”

Rodney wasn’t sure if Sheppard heard her or not. He was rolled in a tight ball of agony again, clutching his midsection and making small whimpering noises that made Rodney want to run from the room. He silently hoped Elizabeth was right. And if she wasn’t, then God help the Elerians because the wrath of Ronon . . . no, of Sheppard’s team would be upon them.

oOo

For a long time, all John knew was various levels of pain. Muscles cramped and burned, particularly those of his torso. His gut felt like someone was driving a spike through it over and over and over. Then it would feel like the muscles of his back were being stretched to the breaking point. When his chest muscles seized, he couldn’t breathe and the panic would make his heart dance a rapid-firing staccato.

He thought he was more lucid than before, at least when the pain didn’t freeze up his brain. He was aware of his team going for the antidote . . . at least he thought that was real. Of course the occasional drop-in by Kolya or Todd or the Wraith queen kind of bent things in the opposite direction. But when he had enough breath to yell, threaten, or curse at them, Carson’s voice would override the vision and bring him back to the infirmary. That didn’t stop him from begging Ford’s ghost to return to Atlantis so they could fix him.

John finally grew weary, his body completely exhausted. The cramping had intensified to the point he couldn’t draw in a single breath and it refused to let up. Time was up, as far as he could tell. He wished he had the breath to tell Beckett it was okay, that he knew they had tried. All he got was white light that faded back into nothingness.

oOo

“Rodney, if you aren’t going to be quiet, then you’ll have to leave. I’ve already told you that Colonel Sheppard will be fine.”

“So you say, but since he’s not awake and functioning yet, I’ll reserve judgment until I see it for myself. How do you know it didn’t permanently damage him? What if the stuff fried his brain or he has a nervous breakdown from us not getting here until the last minute or something?”

John licked his dry lips and frowned, annoyed to discover he couldn’t get his eyes to open. “John, are you awake?” He tried to turn his head toward Teyla’s voice and thought maybe he’d at least shifted in that direction.

“Aye, son, that’s it. Keep trying.”

The corners of John’s mouth turned up slightly with Carson’s encouragement. He gave his eyelids another boost and this time they responded, although slowly. Blinking a few times, the fuzzy blob in front of him finally sharpened to reveal a grinning Carson Beckett. “Well done, lad. Welcome back.”

John tried to clear his throat of whatever debris seemed to have taken up residence there, but that launched him into a coughing fit. He felt himself rising and that made the whole room shift so that he began falling sideways. Hands straightened him and held him upright until he unclogged his throat and was able to breathe again. Then a straw appeared at his lips and he took it in his mouth, drinking slowly until it was removed. The water took a moment to settle and decide to stay put. With a slow, deep exhale, John leaned back against the pillows of his now upright bed. That explained the flying sensation of earlier.

“Colonel?”

Focusing on Carson, John gave a tiny nod. “Okay, now.” He cleared his throat again. “What happened?” he asked, glancing around to discover his whole team was there.

Carson wrapped his hand around John’s wrist, taking his pulse even as he studied the monitors John was just now realizing were there. He must have been pretty bad off at some point, because they had him on a heart monitor, pulse ox clipped to his finger, and one of those automated blood pressure cuffs on his arm.

“All right, colonel,” Carson said, easing his arm back down to his side, “I think your team can probably give you a brief explanation, but then I want you to rest. This has taken a lot out of you and it’s going to take some time for you to get back on your feet.”

“I’m okay, though . . . right?” John’s body felt like it had been wound up a little too tightly and then hung out to dry. Every muscle in his body ached and every breath felt like it took a major effort, which was probably why nasal cannula now tickled his upper lip.

The smile Carson responded with did more to relieve John than the doctor’s words. “Aye, you’ll be fine in a few days. The poison has been neutralized and your liver and kidney functions are already returning to normal. The IV will help return the chemical balance and finish flushing the toxins from your body, but it will take a few days for everything to right itself. Just give it some time. The muscle weakness and soreness should improve with time as well. It was rather close there for a while. We weren’t sure we’d gotten the antidote in time, hence all the monitors. I’d like to keep them going for a bit longer, just as a precaution.”

“You know what a mother hen Carson can be,” said Rodney.

“If that means I take good care of my patients, then so be it,” said Carson. “I’ll be back in a moment to check on you and run your visitors off. Right now I need to inform Elizabeth you’ve decided to join the land of the conscious again.” With a friendly pat to his leg, Carson headed for his office.

“So, did you guys get Penkawr?” asked John.

Rodney rubbed his hands together and chuckled. “Oh, yeah, Ronon took him out with his stunner.”

John smiled, wishing he could have seen it. “What happened?”

“We went back with Elizabeth and confronted Taran about you being poisoned. Lorne had some marines in a second jumper as backup, cloaked of course,” explained Rodney. “Taran wasn’t as surprised as we’d expected him to be. He’d evidently been talking to their doctor . . . Crowhorn or whatever it was.”

“Dr. Crowther,” said Teyla, looking mildly amused as she traded glances with Ronon.

“Yeah, that guy. Anyway, they had apparently discussed the possibility of poisoning, which led Taran to hold the three soldiers that were trying to abscond with the colonel.”

“They didn’t want to talk,” said Ronon. “I offered to help loosen their tongues.”

Rodney rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. “Fortunately, Elizabeth had the good sense not to take him up on the offer. Teyla and Elizabeth basically guilted that young soldier into giving up Penkawr.”

“Taran did ensure him there would be no repercussions from telling the truth about what happened. I thought the young man seemed relieved to be able to tell us,” said Teyla.

John’s eyes kept closing of their own volition and the time it took to convince them to open again was growing longer and longer. Voices faded away until a snapping jarred him awake again. His head shot up off the pillow and the monitor revealed his escalating heart rate. “What?”

“Ow!” Rodney pulled away from Ronon while shaking his hand. “You didn’t have to hit me you behemoth.”

“What in the name of all that’s holy is going on in here?” asked Carson, flanked by Elizabeth.

“What?” John repeated, still not completely sure what had just happened.

Teyla sighed and rubbed her forehead for a second. “Ronon was just encouraging Rodney not to keep John awake if he needed to sleep.”

“What?” John asked again.

“Stop saying that,” said Rodney.

“What?” asked John, and then slapped his hand across his face when he realized what he’d just said. “I mean what happened after the young soldier told you what happened with Penkawr?”

All heads turned to Carson, who wasn’t looking happy. Throwing up his arms, he shook his head once. “Fine, you may as well finish explaining or I’ll never get him to rest, but hurry it up.”

“Allow me,” offered Elizabeth. “After Kibddar, that was the young soldier’s name, told us what happened, Taran called Penkawr in and confronted him about the poison. He denied it at first, but finally admitted what he had done. He was convinced that we were trying to . . . I’m not sure really . . . He seemed to think we were going to harm or attack Eleri in some way. He was particularly worried about John because he made some kind of room come on?”

John groaned, remembering the door opening and the consoles activating. “Oh, yeah. We passed by some room that was apparently Ancient and stuff . . . well, you know what happens. I tried to explain, but he didn’t want to listen.”

“The guy was nutso,” muttered Rodney.

Elizabeth pursed her lips a moment before continuing. “Well, anyway, he pulled out a vial with the antidote and proceeded to smash it on the ground in front of us, screaming about protecting the people of Eleri. Guards had to drag him out. I have a feeling he’ll be spending the rest of his days in their version of an insane asylum.”

John rubbed his face since apparently he was missing something. “Wait. I must have dozed off, because I thought you said he smashed the vial of antidote.”

“Oh, he did,” said Rodney, his voice low. “Just about gave us all a stroke. Ronon was ready to fry the guy, crazy or not.”

“Kibddar gave us the name of the scientist who had helped poison you,” said Elizabeth. “It didn’t take much from Taran to convince her to help us. She had more of the antidote.”

“And they got back here with it not a moment too soon,” Carson added. “I was . . . getting worried,” the doctor said, almost whispering the last few words. “You stopped breathing on us and we had to put you on the vent for a while.”

That explained why his throat was so sore. John clutched at the edge of the covers, thinking about how close he had come to dying and for nothing, save the insane paranoia of an old soldier. “I didn’t even do anything this time,” he said softly.

Elizabeth walked over and put her hand on his, careful not to disturb the pulse oximeter on his finger. “No, you didn’t. This was not your fault, or anyone else’s. Sometimes individuals do weird things and we can’t always see them coming. Penkawr . . . thought he was helping his people.”

John realized his face was taunt with frustration and anger and forced himself to relax his features, easing his head back against the pillows. “Someone please promise me that if I ever get that paranoid, you’ll tell me to give it a rest.”

“I could just stun you,” offered Ronon with what could only be described as an evil smile.

“Thanks, but I think you’ve done that enough already, Chewie,” said John with a grimace. He wasn’t impressed when everyone laughed. Swallowing, he fought the pull of exhaustion and looked at each of the faces surrounding him. “Thanks, guys . . . for not giving up . . . for getting the antidote.” He quickly averted his eyes down to his hands, the strong emotions making him uncomfortable.

“You are welcome, John,” said Teyla.

John chanced a glance up and found Teyla and Elizabeth drinking him in with their eyes, while Ronon and Rodney awkwardly looked around the room. He wasn’t sure why he found it so comforting to know that the male members of his team were just as awkward and inept during these moments as he was, but it did. The next thing he knew he was grinning at their expressions. When they looked at him with raised eyebrows, he began to laugh. One of these days, his luck would run out and there would be no last minute rescue. But he was even more certain that his team would always try, no matter what the odds. And that was enough.

THE END

Her request was a Sheppard-based version of the Nightmares episode of MacGyver - Sheppard captured by bad guys and, in an effort to make him talk/give up information, given a drug that will cause increasing pain and confusion and will be lethal within 24 hours unless the antidote (which the bad guys have) is administered within 12 hours.

I played around with the 24 hour limit, but I hope it otherwise meets her expectations. Merry Christmas!

Fic-"Nightmare on M3P-667" (1/2)

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:39:04 GMT

Title: Nightmare on M3P-667
Author: Titan5
Rating: PG
Set: mid-season 3 because I wanted Carson and Elizabeth.
Disclaimer: I don’t own them and those who do certainly do not appreciate them.
Summary: John is poisoned by a paranoid military commander on a planet his team is visiting.
Note: Thank you to sharpes hussey for her beta skills. This was written for alipeeps for the Sheppard H/C Secret Santa. The request is at the end of the story.
Oops: I posted first on ffnet because I was too lazy to do all the coding, but then came back to post on LJ. I should have started here. Sorry for my laziness.

John looked down on the fields of M3P-667, known to its inhabitants as Aelwyd, as he guided the jumper toward the large city that sat in a valley almost five klicks from the gate. “Looks like their crops are doing well. Maybe we could work a trade for some of that root thing that tastes like sweet potato.”

“It is Serian root,” offered Teyla. “I am sure they would be willing to trade.”

“Just stay away from the fruit. All of it looked citrus to me,” said Rodney as he rummaged through the pockets of his vest.

“What are you looking for?” asked Elizabeth, twisting around from the copilot’s seat to stare at the scientist.

“I thought . . . “ Rodney suddenly stopped his search and rolled his eyes, throwing up his hands. “Sheppard!”

One side of John’s mouth turned up. “Missing something, Rodney?”

“I told you to stay out of my stash,” Rodney said, his brow furrowed and his face beginning to redden.

“Your stash? You mean the stash of chocolate bars you lifted from the box intended for the whole city to share?”

“I didn’t take them all,” Rodney said, lifting his chin with an air of defiance. “Besides, I save the city at least twice a week so I’m entitled to a little special treatment now and again. And I’m hypoglycemic.”

“So you keep telling us,” John said, sliding a smile and wink to Elizabeth. The fact that she was smiling too let John know he wasn’t in trouble.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Rodney.

“It means I have your candy for safe keeping. I’ll be sure you don’t go into hypoglycemic shock or anything.” Spotting the city below, John headed for the designated landing area. “Put your tray tables up and fasten your seatbelts, folks. We’ll be landing in the fair city of Eleri in approximately two minutes.”

Buildings covered the floor of the valley below with a society more advanced than any they had encountered so far. They were slightly ahead of the Genii and living proudly above ground. John’s team had investigated the planet for the first time a week ago and been shocked to find a large, thriving city. They had apparently escaped the Wraith’s latest feeding frenzy so far by dumb luck, but John wasn’t taking bets on how long that luck would hold out. The people of Eleri had been interested in an alliance, hence the meeting they were on their way to now. They had insisted on meeting with Elizabeth, so John had brought extra security in the form of Lorne’s team just in case trouble broke out. Carson had ended up coming as well since medicine was one of the things on the bargaining table.

Landing the puddlejumper, the group from Atlantis disembarked to be met by four soldiers and Garym, the aid to Taran, the current leader of the city. Garym was Rodney’s height and build, with dark brown hair and eyes to match. He seemed to have a permanent frown, his eyes constantly narrowed and his brow furrowed. “Leader Taran waits for you. Follow me.” Without waiting for a response, he spun around and began walking away.

“Wow, he sure is . . . friendly,” Elizabeth said with a slight scowl.

“Ah, that’s just Garym. He always acts like someone just wrecked his favorite jumper,” John said, stepping off the ramp with Elizabeth. He was pretty sure one of the soldiers escorting them smiled.

“Delightful,” she responded in a deadpan.

“Isn’t he just?” added Rodney.

John could hear the ramp closing behind them, evidence Lorne was doing his job. There was a very good reason he’d brought Lorne’s team as backup. They walked down an alley and by several large buildings to the most elaborate one that served as their local government offices. Most of the buildings in what John dubbed the “downtown area” were between three and five stories, made of brick or rock. Residential neighborhoods stretched out in all directions, radiating away from the central business hub, made up mostly of one story wooden structures. Crude automobiles rattled by on the city streets, making John think of an old black and white movie.

Taran met them at the doors to the government building, welcoming them as he led the party to a large conference room. The Elerian leader was slightly taller than John, with wide shoulders and an ever widening stomach, as evidenced by the straining button holes on his jacket. His fiery red hair was thinning on top and his beard looked like a badly groomed goatee. John tried not to laugh at the look Elizabeth flashed him when they took their seat.

“You could have warned me,” she mouthed.

“Dr. Weir, I am so very pleased to meet you. I am hoping our two people can become trade partners and allies against the Wraith,” Taran bubbled.

“We are hoping the same thing. I must admit that I was surprised when Colonel Sheppard and his team told me about your city and how advanced you were. We haven’t met many civilizations that have come as far as yours has. Most are afraid of technology attracting the Wraith.”

Taran scowled and clenched his fist for a moment. “Yes, I know of what you speak. Our world was once afraid too. For many generations, our people lived a life of nomads, roaming the land and living simply to avoid attracting the attention of the vile ones. But one day we grew tired of such a life. We decided to stand and build our city, to fight the Wraith with what we have when they come. We have shelters of course, but we know that only a small fraction of our population would survive such an attack. Still, we refuse to give in,” he said proudly, lifting his chin. “But now, with your help, maybe we can prepare for them and more of our people will be able to survive.”

John couldn’t help but glance at Ronon, who gave him a quick nod. The Satedan could no doubt identify with the ideas of the Elerians. John only hoped the outcome was better than it had been for Ronon’s people. “We’ll do everything we can to help you protect your people.”

“We are most grateful for any help you are able to spare us. I believe we have some things that may be of interest to your people as well. Dr. McKay seemed rather fond of the Serian root on your last visit. Perhaps you would be interested in trading for some. Our harvest promises to be bountiful this season.” Taran continued to smile broadly, but it seemed nervous, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly as he twisted his fingers together.

“I think that is a definite possibility,” Elizabeth responded. “While we have a fairly stable source of food, we are interested in some variety and a backup in case something unexpected happens. We’ve learned the hard way that surprises of the troublesome kind are to be expected.”

“Indeed. Unfortunate, but very true, Doctor Weir.” Taran frowned at his hands for a moment before looking up and slapping his hand down on the table. “Enough of this somber talk. We are here to begin an alliance, hopefully a friendship between our two people, yes? This is a happy occasion, one to celebrate. I have a big feast prepared for later, but for now, we must get down to business.” Taran pulled his bulk to his feet and waved Garym over to speak to him.

The sigh John let out was a little louder than he had expected and he grinned sheepishly at Elizabeth, who was glaring at him with her I can’t take you anywhere face. Fortunately, Taran didn’t seem to have noticed. Someone kicked him under the table and he was pretty sure it was Teyla, judging from the way she was narrowing her eyes. He flashed his crooked grin at her and she narrowed her eyes even more until they were slits. It wasn’t the first time John wondered how he could take a good mission south so quickly. He noticed Ronon and Rodney smirking at him, but resisted the urge to see if he could reach their shins with his boot. No use digging the hole any deeper.

Taran turned to the group as Garym moved back to the door. “I have arranged some tours for you, to help inform you of our progress in different areas. I thought that would facilitate your appraisal of what we had to trade that would interest you and what things you have that could help us. You may all go together if you wish, but I thought it more efficient if I split you into groups based on expertise. I thought to send Dr. McKay to our power facility, Dr. Beckett to our medical facility, Colonel Sheppard and Specialist Dex to our military training area, and Miss Emmagan to our central food supply. Your escorts may of course accompany you,” he added, waving a hand toward Lorne’s team.

“What about Dr. Weir?” asked John, not liking the idea of splitting up his people.

“I thought to entertain her myself, with talk of our culture, economy, government, history . . . a way to get to know each other’s people so we can better negotiate.”

Chewing on his lower lip, John tried to figure out how to feel like Elizabeth was sufficiently protected without insulting their host. The alliance had great potential for both groups and John really didn’t want to be the one to screw it up. He looked at Ronon and waited on the Satedan to get what he was silently asking. At the man’s nod, he turned to Taran. “I think I’ll leave Ronon with Elizabeth if that’s all right. He’s from Sateda and their society seemed very similar to yours. He might can offer some insight.”

Elizabeth arched one eyebrow at him, but John was happy when Taran seemed intrigued. “Yes, I remember you are of Sateda. I have heard many good things about them . . . at least until . . . yes, that was very unfortunate.” He seemed flustered for a moment, but quickly recovered. “I would be very interested in you joining our discussion, Specialist Dex.”

“Ronon,” Ronon said, his voice flat. “It’s just Ronon.”

“Ah, Ronon then. How delightful. I will gather your respective guides if you but give me a moment.” Taran hurried out the door like a small child excited because he had friends over to play with.

John was trying to picture Ronon actually taking part in the conversation when the big man lumbered up beside him. “You owe me big for this,” he said quietly in John’s ear.

Cringing, John gave a small nod. “I know. But I can’t stay with her myself without possibly insulting Taran and I want her protected. You’re the next best choice after me.”

“What do you mean after you?” asked Ronon, his eyes twinkling.

“Funny, Chewie. Just keep her safe.” He didn’t wait for an answer because he knew Ronon would protect Elizabeth with as much determination as him. Turning to the rest of his men, he handed out assignments. “Lorne, you’re with McKay, Martinez with Teyla, and Sanderson with Beckett. Jackson, you can hang around here in case anyone needs backup. Just keep a general eye on what’s going on outside.” There was a flurry of nods and yes sirs. Taran returned a minute later with their escorts.

oOo

So far John was impressed with the soldiers and their training. He had visited the troops training with various types of weapons that reminded him of stuff he’d seen in movies about WWI, several sparring rooms, and a class that looked like martial arts training. An outside obstacle course had brought back some rather fond memories of his own training, many years ago. They were now on their way to an underground facility where research was being conducted on ways to fight the Wraith.

Penkawr, the tall man who was his guide, was apparently the number two guy in the military. He was built like Ronon, if not quite as tall, but his dark hair was cropped short. Although not overtly rude, John had the distinct feeling that Penkawr didn’t like showing John what their forces were capable of. He couldn’t really blame the guy. Taran had been surprisingly open with the Atlantis crew, open enough that it made John nervous.

“Penkawr, look,” John said, stopping to face the man in the middle of the corridor. “I know you’re uncomfortable with all this . . . with showing me around. If Elizabeth . . . if Dr. Weir had asked me be this informative about our defense capabilities to people we’d just met, I’d be pretty uptight too. I’m not trying to push things here, so just show me what you’re comfortable with, okay? I just need enough I can see if we have anything to get you guys ready for the Wraith when they come.”

Shoulders slumping slightly, Penkawr seemed to relax a little. “Yes, I admit that I was unhappy when Leader Taran informed me of the tour I was to provide. He tells me I am too nervous about these things.”

“Well, as one military guy to another, I’d probably nervous too. You don’t know us very well yet, but we only want to help. We’ve had our own encounters with the Wraith . . . lost our own people to them. I just want to work with other people to get rid of a common enemy.”

“I believe I can agree to that,” said Penkawr, resuming their walk down the hall. “This part coming up was part of an ancient facility already established when we began building ours. It seemed in good repair, although we cannot get anything in it to work. There seems to be advanced technology there, but it is apparently too old to be of any good. We will eventually clear it out to make room for our scientists, but in the meantime, it provides a short cut to other part of the complex.”

The structure had definitely changed and John immediately recognized the work of the Ancients. Since Penkawr seemed to know nothing of their legacy, he decided to keep quiet on the subject for now. It might have worked if the first door they passed hadn’t opened. Stupid ATA gene.

“What is this?” asked Penkawr, staring at the open doorway. “How did you do that?”

“Hey buddy, I was walking right beside you. I didn’t do anything,” John said.

Penkawr frowned at John and then the open doorway. “We shall see.” He walked over to stand beside the door and peek in. “Come here, we will make sure the room is clear. No one is to be in the older rooms because we are not sure what is here.”

John sighed. “Look, if it’s all the same to you, I’ll just wait right here.”

Penkawr turned to narrow his eyes. “Are you refusing?”

John threw up his arms part way and groaned. “Fine, I’m coming.” Everything just stay off, off, off.

When his foot hit the threshold, the lights came on and consoles began powering up. John slapped his hand to his face with another groan. “Why me?” When he dropped his hand, it was to see Penkawr staring at him through wide, fearful eyes while leveling a gun at his chest.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

John raised his hands out to the side. “Look, let’s not get all jumpy here, okay? I’m still Colonel Sheppard, here to make friendly with your people. I didn’t do anything. You were right here, did you see me do anything?”

“No, but just because I didn’t see you doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible.” Penkawr’s eyes suddenly widened, although John would have thought that impossible. “You are a spy, here to collect information about this technology so your people can steal it.”

“No, I’m not,” John said slowly, as if talking to a spooked animal. “Look, I can explain this, really. It’s all harmless, I can assure you. Let’s just go back to Taran and we can explain everything. Hey, this could even be a good thing. If we’re lucky, there’s some kind of shield we can help you fix or something.”

“Taran is weak! He was a good leader once, but peaceful times have made him soft. He does not know what kind of threats we face, but I do.” Penkawr straightened and jutted his chin out toward John. “I will interrogate you myself. It has been a long time, but I can still make people talk when I need them too.”

Okay, this wasn’t looking good. Spending alone time with paranoid Penkawr was not John’s idea of a good time. “Look, if you’ll just take me back to that conference room where we started, I’m sure we can straighten this whole thing out. If you aren’t satisfied with our answers, we’ll just leave and never come back. No harm, no foul.”

Penkawr’s lips slowly spread into a grin. “I don’t think so, Colonel Sheppard. I will get answers and only then will I decide what to do. You will come with me. Turn around and place your hands on the wall.”

John did as he was told, watching for a chance at escape. If he could get out of the underground complex, he could probably convince someone to take him to Taran so he could clear this mess up. “You realize my people are going to miss me in a little while.”

“You let me worry about that,” Penkawr said as he disarmed John, taking his sidearm and knife. The P-90 had been left behind at the conference room, not that it would make any difference right now. John had his head turned to the side, noting when his captor reached back for something to secure John with. Figuring it was now or never, John brought his elbow up and smashed it into Penkawr’s face. He was running before the man hit the floor. He sprinted down the corridor and swung left at the first intersection as he retraced his steps out of the facility. Unfortunately, he ran head long into a soldier coming from the opposite direction, taking them both down in a tangle of arms and legs. John scrambled to disengage himself from the man and began climbing to his feet. Then his head exploded.

oOo

“ . . . about this? What if he is telling the truth?”

“We cannot assume that. This is the first opportunity in a long time to put my skills to use and I plan on doing just that. I will know what Colonel Sheppard is doing here, whether it be to form an alliance as he says or to try to steal from us like the Genii.”

The groan escaped John’s lips unbidden when a sharp pain pinched his arm at the crook of his elbow. He then felt a pressure released from his upper arm and he knew the pinch had been a needle. Drugs. Great.

“Ah, Colonel Sheppard, you are awake again. I apologize for the headache, but you brought it upon yourself.”

John opened his eyes and blinked several times, his eyes slowly and painfully adjusting to the light. The back of John’s head throbbed, the pain radiating out to the top and front of his head. “What . . . wha’s goin’ on?” It took a moment for the memory of what happened to rush back to him as Penkawr stared down on him patiently. He groaned again when he realized how royally screwed he was. Not happy with his vulnerable position sprawled across the floor, John pushed himself up until he was sitting, but had to stop for a moment to wait out the resulting dizziness.

“Head injuries can be quite painful,” said Penkawr. “That is unfortunate since you are about to be in even more pain.”

Pushing himself against the wall for support, John squinted up at his captor. A young soldier stood to one side of the man and an older woman in a lab coat stood to the other side. While Pendawr looked pretty happy with the current state of affairs, the young soldier seemed troubled, shifting nervously. The older woman was hard to read, her face void of any emotions.

“What did you give me?” John asked, concerned at the hungry way Penkawr was staring at him.

“A little something we cooked up a few years ago when the Genii tried to steal technology and advancements from us. First it will cause intense pain. As the pain builds, you will become confused, disoriented. For a while the pain will lessen as the confusion grows worse and worse. The last few hours your head will clear some, but the pain will intensify so as to be unbearable. By then you will be begging me to let you tell the truth.”

“You poisoned me? Seriously?”

“Yes, Colonel, I poisoned you. You have twelve hours in which to tell me the truth. After that, it will be too late for the antidote to reverse the process and halt damage being done to your internal organs. In fifteen hours you will be dead.” Penkawr held out his hand and the woman put a small vial in it. He held up the vial with the slightly amber liquid. “This is the antidote. You have twelve hours to tell me the truth about why you are here. I warn you that you will be unable to think clearly for several hours in the middle, time that will be lost to pain and confusion.”

John sighed and wiped his hand across his face, noting that a sheen of sweat had begun to form and a certain tightness was already advancing across his torso. “Look, the problem here is that I’ve already told you the truth. We came to form an alliance. I can sympathize with the Genii thing, though. They tried to take over A . . . our home base a few years ago. Killed two of my men in the process.”

Penkawr crossed his arms and walked over to lean against a table. “Why should I believe that? Explain what happened with the door and equipment in that room.”

Pulling his legs up against the cramps beginning to move through his stomach and chest, John tried to steady himself. “The lab . . . it must have built by the Ancients. That’s what we call them, Ancients. They lived a long time ago, built a lot of outposts, set up the stargates. Very advanced. They eventually came to where we’re from and some of us have certain genes they had . . . a part of their makeup that allows characteristics to be passed down. Anyway, I have this gene that allows me to activate the technology they built, sometimes whether I want to or not. The room simply responded to my gene.”

Penkawr scowled and shook his head. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“Sir, there are tales of an ancient race that lived here before us. Someone had to build the old structure,” offered the young soldier.

“Think about it,” John said. “If I was trying to sneak around and steal technology, would I turn all that stuff on and alert you to what was going on? I’ve heard of stupid criminals, but really, do I look that irresponsible? I’m telling you, it was an accident.”

Penkawr studied John and the pilot could almost see the wheels turning in the man’s head. If only he could get him to listen to reason. “Look, why don’t you give me the antidote and we can go see Taran, explain things to him. You can tie me up or have ten guys with guns or whatever makes you feel safe. I know we can work this out. Maybe we could help you get the facility up and running.”

“You would do that?” asked the woman, her eyes wide.

“We’ll do what we can. We help our allies; we don’t steal from them. If we could just get enough worlds working together against the Wraith instead of all this in fighting we could have a much better chance of defeating . . . “ John doubled over as the cramping in his gut intensified enough to bring tears to his eyes. For a moment all he knew was pain. When it let up enough he could think again, he found himself lying on his side, curled up in a fetal position. His limbs relaxed as the spasm passed.

“Sir, perhaps we should –“

“No, not yet,” Penkawr cut her off. “I am still not confident he is telling the truth. We will wait until the pain becomes strong enough to convince him he will die unless he cooperates.”

John choked out a chuckle and shook his head. “You don’t think . . . my people will miss me . . . before long? That ship we came in is armed . . . and they aren’t afraid of using it to get our people back.”

Instead of looking concerned, as John had hoped, Penkawr smiled smugly. “I have a plan for that. It seems you have contracted Khahesian fever. It causes much pain and confusion . . . and nearly always ends in death. You must have picked it up somewhere . . . such a shame. Oh, and it’s contagious, so your people will need to be kept away for their own safety.”

John leaned his head down to his knees as another wave of cramps rolled through him, stealing his breath for what seemed like an eternity. He had a feeling Penkawr was just going to let him die no matter what he said. He couldn’t very well let John go back and tell Taran or Elizabeth what had happened. His only hope was that his team somehow figured out what was going on and rescued him.

John was jerked to his feet by Penkawr and the young soldier, pulled across the room and slammed into a chair. He bent over, arms wrapped around his midsection.

“Now, Colonel Sheppard,” said Penkawr. “Let us begin again. Why are you here? What do you hope to gain?” John groaned and silently called out to his team for help.

oOo

Penkawr drank water slowly from the flask, carefully watching Colonel Sheppard, doubled over in the chair as he panted in apparent pain. The man was trying his patience, to be sure. Wiping excess moisture from his mouth with the back of his hand, he strode over to the hunched pilot and jabbed him in the shoulder. “Sheppard . . . “

The prisoner rolled off the chair and over to the wall, using the surface to help him to his feet. Sweat beaded on his face and plastered his hair to his head as wild eyes darted around the room. Sheppard finally seemed to focus on Penkawr, but then confused his captors with words that made no sense.

“I let you live the last time we met and I told you then I wanted points for that.”

“What?” asked young soldier. “Is he talking to us?”

Penkawr held up his hand for silence, confused about what Sheppard was responding to. He doubted it was them. “Sheppard, who are you talking to?”

“Kolya! You owe me one.” Sheppard shook his head in disgust. “Knew I should have killed that bastard.”

“Sir?”

“Yes, I know,” admitted Penkawr with a heavy sigh. “His mind is muddled and our time grows short. We must move him to the medical facility and prepare for the questions his people will have. Hopefully we can keep them out of the way until his mind clears again.” Turning, he watched Sheppard lean against the wall.

“I’ve got friends,” the pilot said, groaning as he sat down and leaned against the wall. “And they’ll come for me. We don’t leave our people behind, Kolya. You should know that by now.”

“Wasn’t Kolya one of the Genii military leaders?” asked the young soldier.

Penkawr flinched, disappointed that the young man recognized the name. He’d been hoping the soldier too young to remember the planet’s unfortunate dealings with the greedy and corrupt world of Cowan and his goons. He didn’t want to foster sympathy for Sheppard that might interfere with what he needed to do. “Fetch Aberthol and Kynan to help us. Do not speak of this to anyone else or you will regret it,” Penkawr snapped.

oOo

Elizabeth paused in her comment to Teyla to watch Major Lorne enter the conference room followed quickly by Rodney. She didn’t try to hide the grin that erupted at the desperate look on Lorne’s face. She could hear Rodney talking about a hundred miles an hour before she got her first glimpse of him. Glancing at Teyla, she saw an equally amused expression on the Athosian’s face. “Excuse me while I rescue Major Lorne.” Teyla nodded, but her eyes held understanding.

“Rodney, it sounds like you’ve had an interesting day,” Elizabeth said, giving Major Lorne a nod. He shook his head slightly and mouthed thank you before heading over to join the rest of his men.

“You have no idea, Elizabeth. For a backwards society . . . oh, no offense . . . they have an amazing energy production and distribution system. If we could just . . . “ Rodney paused, looking around the room. “Where’s Sheppard?”

“He hasn’t made it back yet. Maybe you could hold this discussion until we’re all present so you don’t have to repeat yourself.”

Rodney nodded. “Yes, I suppose that’s wise because I’m sure you’ll all want to hear my report.” He looked anxiously around the room. “Is there food?”

“In a few minutes,” Elizabeth responded. “Taran has gone to see what’s keeping John and then we’re going to eat. That should give us some time to pool our information and prepare for negotiations.”

“Well, if they were giving demonstrations, he’s probably blowing something up and then you’ll never get him back here.”

Smiling, Elizabeth nodded, realizing Rodney was probably right. Hopefully his guide would take the lead on making him come back in a timely fashion. The sound of the door opening drew everyone’s attention. It wasn’t John, as she’d been expecting, but Taran. And he didn’t look happy. The way he was wringing his hands and the deep frown on his brow made him look anything but happy.

“I’m afraid I have bad news,” he began. “Colonel Sheppard has fallen ill and been taken to our medical facility. If you will come with me, it is but a short distance.”

“I was just there,” said Carson, his eyes wide.

“I believe this only happened a short time ago,” said Taran. “Come and we will find out.” He held out one arm, indicating they should follow him out the door and then led the way. Explaining it would be easier to walk the short distance since they were a large group, he led the way down a row of buildings to a sprawling tan facility that was three stories high.

Elizabeth shifted her position in the group until she was walking beside Carson as they entered the medical building. “I want you to take a look at him. These people seem nice enough, but we don’t really know enough about them to trust them yet. Plus, I happen to know you’re the best doctor in the galaxy.”

Carson smiled. “Why thank you. You know I’d insist on it anyway. I’m a bit obsessive about the care of my patients.”

“One of the characteristics I admire most about you,” Elizabeth said. After a brief conversation with Garym, who had been waiting on them in the lobby, the group was directed down a long hall, up a flight of stairs, and then down a shorter hall. What Elizabeth could see reminded her of hospital scenes in old movies. At the end of the hall was a room with a glass panel in the door. Penkawr stood looking through the glass, turning to meet them as they approached.

“Taran, I apologize for the turn of events. Colonel Sheppard became ill, so of course I brought him immediately here.”

“He is in isolation?” asked Taran, frowning as he looked through the glass. The panel was large and John’s team crowded around trying to see in the room.

It was a relatively large room with three beds on each side. Only one was occupied. John was dressed in white scrubs, squirming around on a narrow bed, his damp hair plastered to the edges of his face. Twisting, he curled up on his side, facing the crowd, his face scrunched in pain as his arms pressed against his midsection. Two nurses stood to either side, one of them wiping his face with a damp cloth.

“How does he go from perfectly healthy a few hours ago to this?” asked Rodney, his voice nervous and high pitched.

“The doctors think it is Khahesian fever,” said Penkawr, looking just a little too pleased for Elizabeth’s liking.

“What the heck is that?” asked Rodney. “And who ever heard of someone getting that sick that quickly after being exposed? Haven’t you people ever heard about an incubation period?”

Carson sighed. “It is rather unusual for someone to get so sick this soon after exposure. Is this something he could have been exposed to previously?”

“I’ve never heard of it,” said Ronon, his expression dark, his eyes disbelieving.

“I have never heard of this illness either,” said Teyla, also looking skeptical.

“It is rare, even on our planet,” said Taran, also looking doubtful. “It does, however, come on one very quickly. Many years ago, our physicians came up with an inoculation that prevents one from getting the disease. Khahesian fever is very painful, spreads easily, and has a high death rate, so preventing it became a priority. It was almost completely eradicated within a few years. Now many people do not realize the danger and no longer get the protection. We cannot let this get started again.”

Elizabeth watched John through the window, thrashing around in obvious pain. His eyes opened and he seemed to lock on her, realizing she was there. Throwing himself sideways off the bed, he knocked one of the nurses over and scrabbled to the door. The door was locked, so he set about beating on the window. Everyone had stepped back a few paces in shock.

“Not sick . . . he did it . . . not me it’s him!” John beat on the window again as the two nurses tried to pull him off. A door at the back of the room opened and two large men dressed in white rushed in to help drag John off the door and back to the bed. He fought like a crazy man, pulling and kicking and even biting, screaming the whole way. “Stop . . . don’t trust them . . . make them quit . . . “ They slammed him back in the bed, making Elizabeth cringe. Within a few minutes, they had attached restraints to his wrists and ankles.

Penkawr shifted his feet nervously. “The, uh, fever makes him hallucinate. He sees things that are not there. On the way here was shouting at someone named Ford.”

Ronon took a step toward Penkawr, his fists clenched tightly as his side. Elizabeth could feel the tension pulling almost every muscle tight as the powder keg next to her got ready to blow. She grasped his arm and squeezed, noting that Teyla had stepped up to do the same on his other side. When Ronon took a keep breath and gave her a tiny nod, she returned her attention to Taran. “I would like Carson to take a look at John and his test results.”

Taran licked his lips and then frowned. “I do not know. He is also from offworld and the disease is very contagious. What if he falls ill also?”

“We have special suits that we can wear to keep diseases out and protect the caregiver,” Carson said. “I’m afraid I must insist on examining the colonel for myself.”

Taran nodded, his features relaxing some. “Truly, you have such suits? We should be interested in making a trade for them if possible . . . when we have Colonel Sheppard properly cared for of course.”

“Actually, I’d like to move him back to . . . our home base, get him under the scanner for a proper diagnosis. Maybe we can find a way to treat this Khahesian fever,” said Carson.

“We have no treatment for the disease,” said Taran with a sigh. “Our doctors merely try to make the patient comfortable . . . try to keep them from hurting themselves during the hallucinations. But I am unsure about moving him.”

“I do not think that wise,” said Penkawr, his voice strong and firm. “To do so would endanger not only Colonel Sheppard, but also his people and our own who are not protected. There is no treatment or we would have discovered it by now. I insist that we leave him here.”

Taran straightened and narrowed his eyes at his military commander. “Since when do you insist, Penkawr? I think you forget your place. We will meet the physician in charge of Colonel Sheppard’s care and speak to him about the matter. You are dismissed.”

Penkawr stepped forward, looking as if he would argue with Taran. When the leader did not flinch or back up, Penkawr faltered and growled under his breath, stalking down the hall. Taran visibly relaxed and turned to Elizabeth. “I don’t know what’s come over him lately. He’s been restless . . . distracted these last few weeks. Perhaps he needs to take some time away. Anyway, that is not of importance to you. We shall find the doctor.”

Carson moved to walk beside Taran as they backtracked down the corridor. “I can assure you of our ability to transport the colonel without endangering your people or ours. We have pods capable of moving patients who are contagious so that others are not exposed. I would like to examine the colonel first, of course, to make sure he is strong enough for such a transport, and I would very much like to find out what I can from your medical personnel.”

“Of course, Doctor, I’m sure all can be arranged. I am becoming more and more impressed with the medical capabilities of your people. I truly hope this works out well so that our people can become allies. I think we have much to learn.”

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder at Ronon and Teyla, neither looking very happy. Redirecting her attention to Taran and Carson, she followed them while Major Lorne moved up beside her. Watching the Elerian leader in front of him, he leaned in close to whisper. “Something odd is going on here. I find myself doubting the whole sudden convenient fever thing, especially since it comes with hallucinations to explain away the colonel’s warning.”

“I tend to agree,” Elizabeth whispered back. “I think it’s safe to say Ronon and Teyla are skeptical as well. I’m not sure Taran is involved though.”

“I’m thinking whether he lets us take the colonel home or not will answer that question. My money is on that Penkawr guy. He acts guilty as sin, plus he was the one with the colonel.”

“Agreed. It might not be a bad idea to have someone keep an eye on him, subtly of course.”

“Already taken care of,” Lorne replied with a grin.

Elizabeth returned the smile. “Sometimes you remind me of Colonel Sheppard.”

“Why thank you, Dr. Weir.”

“Part Two”

My ticket came today!

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:39:53 GMT

The arrival of my ticket to the Stargate Convention next month made me realize that THIS IS REAL!!! I am actually going to go to a Stargate Convention. The ticket is beautiful!! I have row G seat 2. Are any of you guys close to that? I'm so excited and nervous and happy!!!

Exciting thing number two for the day is I bought a veiled chameleon. We've been watching him all summer at the pet store and he went on sale for 1/2 off - so we snagged him. He was beginning to look kind of bad - his color is dark and his ribs are showing. I think it's from being in a tank with no UV light for months. We've had him under a UV all day and he's already lightening up. He's so sweet - just crawls up your arm and sits on your shoulder. And you should see him eat crickets - flips out that LONG tongue and snags them from several inches away. AWESOME!! I've already ordered him a large screen cage, so he'll be living in style soon. Between him and Mushu (bearded dragon), the kids are going to love my room this year. Now we just need to think of a cool name for the chameleon.

Castle and wishes

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:02:16 GMT

I just saw an advertisement for Castle saying it would be returning this fall. I'm so happy. I watched it last season and really fell in love with it. It's not SGA, mind you, but it helps take away a little of the sting. Now if Joe would just get himself into a series in a supercool role with lots of action and danger and some occasional h/c and/or angst, I would have it made in the shade.

You know, in a "perfect" world, SGA would still be on (with Carson and Elizabeth and writing like the first couple of seasons). I'd still have SG-1 (with O'Neill) and Farscape and Firefly. Is it sad that all my favorite shows I want back are science fiction? It seems like shows I like that aren't scifi go on forever until they get into boring stuff and I quit watching, whereas the scifi ones get cut off almost before they get started (except for SG-1, which went the way of the others after RDA left).

Just my personal preferences.

Bugophobia

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:45:20 GMT

Title: Bugophobia
Author: titan5
Rating: PG
Characters: John, Rodney, team, Carson, Elizabeth
Timeline: Takes place in mid-season 3 because I wanted Carson and Elizabeth to be there.
Summary: A bug encounter during a mission gone south causes a rift between John and Rodney.

Bugophobia

“I’m receiving Colonel Sheppard’s IDC,” reported Chuck, automatically reaching to disengage the shield.

“Let them through,” Elizabeth ordered with a small nod. Walking over to stand by the rail, she spread her arms apart and griped the metal bar in anticipation. John’s team was several hours early, which admittedly could mean anything. Still, early for them usually meant trouble. She tried to comfort herself that there were no radio calls loud with gunfire informing Atlantis they were coming in hot.

The blue shimmering puddle blipped to admit Rodney to the gateroom, Teyla by his side. He held a wadded field bandage to his face, partially soaked through with blood. Elizabeth had already taken steps toward the stairs when John and Ronon came through the gate. John was almost white with some kind of dust and scattered bits of debris. That made Elizabeth notice that the rest of his team carried a light coating of the same powdery material.

Rodney whirled around and staggered into Teyla about the time Elizabeth reached the bottom of the stairs. “You want to explain what the heck is wrong with you?” he sputtered. It took Elizabeth a moment to realize the rant was directed at John, who flinched and took a step back when Rodney began waving an accusing finger with his free hand. “You broke my nose, you bullock! I thought you were an officer in the almighty Air Force, not some six year old fraidy-cat. They were stupid bugs, Colonel, not Wraith!”

“Rodney, you need to calm down,” said Teyla, pulling on Rodney’s arm. “We should get you to the infirmary.”

“What happened?” asked Elizabeth. Now that she was closer, she could see blood covering the left side of John’s face and darkening the edge of his hair. She thought for a moment it might be from Rodney, but then she noticed the edge of a cut that began just above his eyebrow and extended across his temple and into his hairline. “John, you’re injured.”

“He’s injured,” said Rodney in disbelief. “He’s injured? Are you kidding me? He broke my nose. I’ll probably have brain damage from blood clots in my sinuses or bone shards in my brain. Stupid military bugophobic klutz.”

“Rodney, I think you should get to the infirmary,” said Elizabeth firmly. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew Rodney needed to calm down before his mouth got so far ahead of his brain that he caused irreparable damage. She would admit any day of the week that Rodney was a genius (although maybe not within his earshot) and had saved Atlantis more times than she could count, but when he was frightened or in pain, he said things he didn’t mean, things that got him in trouble down the line.

The scientist in question gaped and fumed, his face red with anger and his eyes glittering with the same. “Fine,” he huffed in a muffled, nasally voice, one hand still pressed the bloody bandage against the center of his face.

Ronon glanced at Teyla and then Elizabeth and gave the women a slight nod. “Come on, McKay, I’ll make sure you get there safely.”

Rodney’s shoulders sagged as the anger seemed to diffuse a bit. “Yes, the infirmary, that’s good. Carson will have something for the pain. And you can keep idiot buffoons from bumping into me in the hall and causing further damage.”

“Right,” said Ronon, giving Rodney a gentle push towards the door. He took one short look at John before guiding Rodney out of the room.

Elizabeth returned her focus to John. His whole body seemed to slump and one hand rested against the top of his P90. She got the impression he simply didn’t have the energy to move it. “I repeat, what happened?” she asked, noting his eyes never left some random spot on the floor.

Teyla let out a slow breath and when John didn’t move to answer the question, she reluctantly turned her focus to Elizabeth. “We found the structure that was mentioned in the database. It was very old and not in good repair. While investigating one of the rooms, part of the ceiling above John collapsed. The larger pieces missed him, but much of the smaller pieces and dust hit him directly.”

John winced, as if remembering the events, and absently tried to dust off his arm. Elizabeth noticed small scratches covering the exposed skin for the first time, most of it hidden under a layer of white powder, almost like flour. “Is that how you got that head injury?” she asked, nodding towards John.

“No, I did that to myself,” John muttered, shifting his feet.

“John, none of this was your fault,” Teyla said firmly. “You know how irritable Rodney gets when he is in pain. Sometimes he says things he does not mean.”

“Yeah, and sometimes he just says what he’s really thinking without filtering out what you don’t want to hear first.”

Elizabeth felt her eyebrows go up. She couldn’t help it. “I wasn’t aware Rodney ever filtered anything out.”

John just shrugged his shoulders, then winced as if the motion hadn’t been a good idea. Teyla studied him a moment before returning her attention to Elizabeth.

“I admit that we may have . . . been amused at the way John appeared.” Teyla paused, her eyes narrowing as she continued. “But a few moments later, there was a strange sound, a creaking of sorts. The part of the ceiling that was still in place shifted downward a bit . . . and then a large amount of bugs seemed to spill out from between the supports, right on top of John.” Teyla sighed and John shuddered, brushing his arm again.

“They were large, about the length of my finger and almost as wide. John was understandably distressed at this.”

“She’s trying to nicely say I freaked out,” John said, finally meeting Elizabeth’s eyes. “I panicked. It was like my worst nightmare. I thought they were baby iratus bugs.” He looked down at some reddened marks on his hand and forearm, marks that didn’t exactly look like the surrounding scratches. “I think they were biting me. Anyway, I flailed around just trying to knock them off and I didn’t know Rodney had come up to try to help. I, uh . . . caught him in the nose with my elbow.”

Elizabeth nodded. She could well imagine the force with which Rodney had been hit and hit made her cringe with sympathy as her hand came up automatically to her nose. “Ouch.”

“Yeah,” John breathed out. “Ouch. I have no doubt I broke it. I was . . . well, I was . . . “ His voice trailed off as he twirled his finger around in a circle near his temple.

“Well, I have to tell you that’s understandable under the circumstances. I don’t have bug issues and I think I would have freaked at having those things dumped on me,” Elizabeth said with a shiver. “But how did you cut your head?”

John’s face reddened a bit and he returned his gaze to the floor. “I was still flailing around and knocking bugs off me and I tripped over some of the debris on the floor, smacked my head on the edge of a table.” He looked up at Teyla, his eyes dark. “At least I only damaged half the team.”

“John, it was an unfortunate accident. Weird things happen to all of us at some point in time. And as near as I can tell, no one was badly hurt, in spite of Rodney’s earlier rantings. Come on, we’ll walk you to the infirmary,” Elizabeth said with a smile.

“Elizabeth is correct,” agreed Teyla. “Everyone made it safely back to Atlantis and that is all that matters.”

John studied each of them, almost as if deciding if they were telling the truth, then finally let out a small huff. “Fine, I guess you’re right. Maybe if I give Rodney my dessert for a couple of days, he’ll get over it.”

“I would think that a gesture Rodney couldn’t refuse,” said Elizabeth as they began walking toward the infirmary. She noticed Teyla had taken John’s arm at some point and seemed to be steadying him as they walked. His steps faltered a couple of times, but Teyla kept him from staggering into the wall. Their team was the strongest and the closest. Rodney’s anger had been unsettling, but Elizabeth was sure that he’d probably calmed down a bit by now and everything would blow over. She couldn’t have been more shocked when they entered the infirmary in the middle of another angry McKay yell-a-thon.

“ . . . almost two years since the bug incident and he still jumps and screams like a little girl. He needs to just get over it! He’s supposed to be the military commander of Atlantis, yet he panics at the sight of a bug!”

“Rodney, it’s more complicated than that and you know it,” snapped Carson.

“Not really. It all comes down to the fact that he’s so bugophobic that he loses control. You shouldn’t be allowed to command anything if you can’t control your own fears. We can’t trust him not to freak out at some critical moment because he saw a bug!”

“Rodney!” The sharpness of Carson’s voice drew Elizabeth’s eyes to him. They were behind Rodney, but Carson was now aware of their presence and was obviously trying to shut Rodney up.

“No, I’m right on this. Sheppard has no business even being a team leader, much less the head of a base like Atlantis.”

“You don’t mean that,” Carson gasped, his eyes wide in obvious disbelief.

The sharp intake of breath next to her drew Elizabeth’s attention to John. His face momentarily lost all color and then began to get red. His open mouth closed and she could see the muscles in his jaw and neck tense, his fists clenching at his sides.

“You take that back!”

Jerking her head toward the new disturbance, Elizabeth found Ronon with one hand fisted in the top of Rodney’s shirt, almost picking him up off the ground. Their faces were only a couple of inches apart. She could now see the extent of the swelling and bruising on Rodney’s face and she had to muffle a groan of sympathy.

“Take it back now!” the Satedan demanded.

“Put him down,” John commanded firmly, his eyes dark with anger.

“He said –“

“I heard what he said,” John said. “He’s entitled to his opinion.” Ronon lowered Rodney down with a growl and stomped off to pace the other end of the room.

After straightening his clothes, Rodney glanced at Carson. “You could have warned me.” At Carson’s eye roll, Rodney turned back to the trio that had entered the infirmary and jutted his chin out. How someone could look embarrassed and smug at the same time was a trick only Rodney seemed able to accomplish. He and John stared at each other for only a moment before John turned around and was gone.

“John,” Elizabeth and Teyla both called, but he ignored them and disappeared around the corner. Elizabeth sighed and turned back to Carson. “He has a head injury, Carson.”

“Then we need him back here immediately. Head injuries can be tricky.”

“Ronon and I will search for him,” offered Teyla. At Elizabeth’s nod, the two of them left, Ronon obviously still angry.

“Are we done?” Rodney snapped, his face still red and his breathing fast.

Carson sighed and rubbed his temple as if he was fighting a headache. “No Rodney, I told you we need to run a scan, just to be safe. Sit back down and make use of that icepack I gave you and I’ll be with you in a moment. And I’m assuming you want something for pain. You’ll probably be needing it.”

Rodney frowned and then winced and then sat down on the nearest bed. Elizabeth moved closer to the doctor. “Is he all right?” His face was black and blue and the whole area around his nose swollen badly. It almost made her hurt just to look at him.

“Aye, he will be. It’s definitely broken, but it will heal. Mind you it’s going to hurt like the dickens for a few days.” Carson pulled his eyes away from Rodney to meet Elizabeth’s. “Do you know how bad the Colonel’s head injury is?”

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. “John said he tripped and hit his head against a table. From what they said, I don’t think he lost consciousness, or if he did, it wasn’t for long. I think I’ll go help look for him. I know a few places he likes to go.”

“That’s probably a good idea. I’d like to get him back here as quickly as I can, make sure the lad’s okay. I hate to see the two of them at odds like this. I know Rodney says things to all of us, but this . . .” Carson scratched his head. “Well, this was over the top even for him.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I hope they can resolve this. I’m not sure why, but they’ve actually become quite good friends,” she said with a smile.

“More like squabbling siblings,” said Carson.

Elizabeth laughed. “I guess that is more accurate. Take care of Rodney and hopefully we’ll have John back here in no time.”

“Sounds like a good plan, oh leader of Atlantis.” Carson chuckled when Elizabeth smacked him in the arm before heading out to search for her missing military commander.

oOo

Elizabeth ran into Ronon when she exited the transporter near the East Pier. After finding the usual balconies empty, she remembered that he liked to come out this way for solitude after particularly trying missions. Apparently Ronon was aware of the habit as well.

“I was just going to check the pier,” he said, pointing down the corridor.

“I think we had the same idea. Mind if I join you?”

Ronon shrugged his shoulders and they continued side by side toward the pier. The silence was a bit awkward, prompting Elizabeth to try and ease the tension. “You probably already know this, but Rodney . . . well, he doesn’t react well to certain types of situations. Pain is definitely one of those situations. I know he said some things . . . I think when he settles down he’ll realize he didn’t really mean them.”

Ronon didn’t respond right away, making Elizabeth uneasy. Before she could prod him, they reached the door to the pier and stared out through the glass. They watched as John paced back and forth a few times before stopping to stare out across the water. Putting her hand on the door, Elizabeth turned to Ronon. “Do you mind letting me talk to him?”

“Probably better you than me. I’ll wait here in case you need me.”

Relief flooded her, but she only let a small smile escape. “Thank you.” She started forward, but a strong grip on her arm stopped her.

“McKay will figure it out. And until he does, I won’t hurt him.” Ronon’s mouth quickly turned up in what Elizabeth could only describe as an evil grin.

“I would appreciate that. You never know when we’ll need him to save the day. Just don’t tell him I said that,” she said as she pushed open the door.

John never turned to look at her until she was standing beside him, but she knew he had sensed her coming. “Penny for your thoughts,” she said, and then cringed at the awful cliché.

“They probably aren’t worth that much right now,” he said in a bored monotone.

Elizabeth studied his features. He squinted in the afternoon light, the lines around his eyes speaking volumes about the headache he would never admit to. Dried blood still formed a mosaic on the side of his head and stuck the hair at his temple together in clumps. She finally realized he was watching her and tore her eyes away to cast them upon the waves crashing against the pier.

“I’m fine, just a little bump on the head,” he said.

Elizabeth snorted. “Well, Carson still wants to look at that little bump on the head.”

“I know,” he sighed. “I’ll go by in a little while. I just needed to clear my head.” His voice sharpened with the last few words and he clenched his fists for a moment before shoving his hands in his pockets.

“John . . . “ What did she say? How did she smooth this over? “Rodney . . . well, he’s Rodney. You know that by now. When he’s stressed his mouth runs about a mile ahead of his brain. He didn’t mean those things.”

John walked away from her and she thought for a moment he was leaving. But then he turned around and paced back, stopping to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet a moment. “I’m not so sure about that. Elizabeth . . . it wasn’t just anger . . . he doesn’t trust me. After everything we’ve been through, he thinks I’m unfit to lead our team, much less control the military presence here. We can’t work like that. What if he hesitates or ignores an order in the field? He could get himself or any one of us killed.”

Elizabeth stepped back and took a deep breath. “John, don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit? Rodney was just blowing off steam because his nose hurt. He’s probably over it by now.”

John shook his head and then swayed, wincing as he put his hand up to rub his forehead. Elizabeth grabbed his forearm to steady him. “You need to be in the infirmary. We can worry about how upset Rodney is later.”

“Elizabeth, I didn’t . . . they were all over me, crawling . . . I did freak out, but that doesn’t mean . . . he didn’t have any right to say . . . “ John suddenly dropped to his knees, his eyes glassy and unfocused.

“John, stay with me. Ronon!” Elizabeth saw the door to the pier fly open as she lowered John to the deck. By the time she eased his head onto the metal surface, his eyes were closed.

oOo

Elizabeth decided she was tired of pacing and sat down in the chair next to Teyla. She had wanted to call for a medical team, but Ronon insisted carrying John to the infirmary was faster. After notifying Carson that they were on their way in, she had called Teyla to update her as well. She had tried radioing Rodney once they turned John over to the medical personnel, but he wasn’t answering. Elizabeth hoped that meant he was in his quarters, knocked out on painkillers.

“Elizabeth.” Teyla’s voice brought Elizabeth from her thoughts to see Carson coming towards them. They stood up and joined Ronon to stand in front of the doctor.

“Mild concussion,” he reported with a brief smile. “I’ll be keeping him overnight for observation, but the scan looks clear so I imagine I’ll be releasing him in the morning. He’ll be off duty for a few days until I’m sure he’s recovered.”

Nodding, Elizabeth let out a deep breath. “John really worried me when he passed out like that. Is there anything else? I think he said some bugs may have bitten him.”

“Aye, I did find some bites on his arms and neck, but they won’t be a problem. There doesn’t appear to have been any kind of toxin or poison associated with them, so we cleaned them same as the scratches to prevent infection.”

“That is good,” said Teyla, looking relieved. Evidently she had been worried about them as well. “May we see him?”

“Just for a little while,” responded the doctor. “He needs to rest, especially in light of the emotional distress this whole affair has caused. It’s bad enough we’ll be waking him periodically through the night.”

“One of us should stay,” said Ronon.

“Ronon, I just said –“

“Nightmares,” Ronon said quietly.

Carson froze in the middle of his interrupted sentence and then dipped his head. “Aye, you’re right of course. All right, one of you can stay all night or you can take shifts, whichever you prefer. The lad will surely calm more quickly for one of you than anyone.”

“I will relieve you in a while,” Teyla said and Ronon immediately nodded. They followed Carson across the infirmary to John’s bed and found the pilot partially propped up on pillows and the head of the bed slightly elevated. His eyes were closed, but opened as they approached. The blood had been cleaned from his face and hair, the cut now covered with a bandage.

“Well, that looks a lot better,” said Elizabeth. “How do you feel?”

“Headache, but not too bad other than that,” John said. “They did a nice job of cleaning and stitching me up.”

“I have to admit that you gave me quite a scare,” said Elizabeth. “I’m thankful Ronon was there to help. Next time you come back with a head injury, how about not running off to the far side of the city.”

John’s expression darkened, a frown wrinkling his brow and making him wince. “Yeah, sorry about that. Guess I just . . . sorry.” With a shallow sigh, he turned his head away and shifted under the covers as if trying to get comfortable. “Look, if you don’t mind . . . my head kind of hurts.” He continued to stare at the opposite end of the infirmary.

“Right,” Elizabeth said. “Feel better, John.” She leaned forward to squeeze his hand and was relieved to feel him squeeze back, even if he didn’t look at her. She wanted to bring out the argument with Rodney, try to clear things up, but she was relatively certain this wasn’t the time or place. John needed some time to process and decompress. She would give him that time.

“I am glad you are alright,” Teyla said with a brief touch to his shoulder.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

After giving John a few seconds to look her way, Teyla finally let out a silent sigh and gave Ronon a nod before following Elizabeth out of the infirmary. Once in the hall, Elizabeth glanced at the Athosian. “Maybe they just need some time.” She wondered if the statement sounded as hopeful to Teyla as it sounded to her own ears.

“I hope you are right, Elizabeth. I have not seen either of them that angry with the other in a long time.”

Elizabeth nodded in silent agreement. She wasn’t sure she had ever seen them so angry, especially at each other. As melodramatic as it seemed, she hoped it wasn’t the beginning of the end.

oOo

Teyla hurried toward the mess hall. She had gone by the infirmary to see if John was being released in time to go to lunch, only to find that she had just missed him. She was hoping for a chance to talk to him about Rodney, who seemed to be avoiding her at the moment. Entering the busy room, she stood scanning the occupants for any sign of her teammates. She spotted Rodney sitting alone at a table near the wall about the time Ronon came up beside her.

“Wow, McKay’s face really does look bad.” And it did. The whole area around his nose was swollen and bruised to match his two black eyes. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. “How’d it go after I left?” Ronon asked.

“About the same as when you were there. I do not believe John got much sleep between the nightmares and the nurses. When I returned to the infirmary earlier, I was surprised Carson had released him.” Teyla spotted John just leaving the line with his tray, his face pale and his expression somber. He walked partway across the room, heading toward their usual table when he stopped dead in his tracks. Rodney looked up from his plate about that time and the two men stared at each other for several moments. Teyla mentally willed John to continue his former path toward his teammate’s table.

Rodney bowed his head, acting as if he hadn’t seen John and Teyla could almost see the vein in John’s neck begin to throb. Jerking to his left, he headed for the balcony without so much as looking for anyone else he knew. It was as if he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Rodney. Teyla sighed. This was going to be difficult.

“You want McKay or Sheppard?” Ronon asked.

Teyla’s eyes widened as she glanced up at the Satedan. “You would talk to Rodney?”

Frowning at her a moment, Ronon dipped his head once in a quick nod. “Right, I’ll take Sheppard and you take McKay.”

“Ronon,” she said, grabbing his arm to keep him from lurching forward. “This is a very awkward situation. Please be careful of what you say. Try not to make things worse.” She hated how that sounded, but diplomacy was not a strong area for Ronon and he had been pretty angry with Rodney in the infirmary.

“I know what to do,” he snapped, pulling his arm away and heading for the line. “You coming?”

Some days Teyla thought working with small children would be easier. This was turning into one of those days. After filling their trays, Ronon gave her a sheepish grin, his way of apologizing, before heading for the balcony door. Teyla steeled herself for the hurricane that was McKay and sat down across from him.

Rodney glanced up briefly and then waved his fork toward the balcony. “Sheppard’s out there.”

“Yes, I know. May I join you?”

Fork halfway to his mouth, Rodney froze for a second before lowering the utensil. “You want to eat with me?” His eyes darkened and narrowed. “Why?”

Remaining calm, Teyla stirred her cup of tea. “Is it so odd for me to want to eat with a teammate? We often dine together, Rodney.”

“Yeah, when the whole team eats together. You may have noticed Sheppard and I aren’t exactly buddies these days,” he said bitterly. He held up his hand when she started to speak, effectively cutting her off. “Yes, yes, I’m aware that the whole thing is all my fault for saying what needed to be said, so don’t waste your time laying on the guilt or trying to make me feel sorry for him. He . . . broke . . . my . . . nose.”

“Yes, he did. And it was an accident, as you well know. You came up behind John while he was . . . occupied.”

“Occupied? You mean while he was in full blown panic mode. Honestly, they were just a bunch of bugs.”

Teyla sighed and studied her friend. “When they first fell from the ceiling, did you know what kind of bug they were? Did you know they were harmless? Actually they were not completely harmless. They bit John several times on the neck and arms.”

Rodney looked up from his food. “Really? They bit him?” She almost smiled at the flash of concern that darted across his features.

“Yes, several times. Fortunately they were not poisonous. But John did not know that at the time. All he knew was that many bugs were crawling on him, biting him. He said he first thought they were small iratus bugs.” Teyla shivered at the thought of such a thing actually being true.

Rodney’s expression softened for a moment, leading Teyla to hope he was coming around. Then he clenched his jaws and snorted. “Well, they weren’t, were they?”

“Rodney, he apologized many times on the way back to the gate. He honestly meant you no harm,” she pleaded.

Slamming his fork down, Rodney glared at her. “You know, none of this matters. What matters is that the man in charge goes nuts at the sight of a bug. You have to wonder how long it will be until he develops a Wraithaphobia and runs from them as well. Then where will we be?”

Teyla narrowed her eyes. She could feel her heart rate increasing and her breaths coming faster. “That is not fair and you know it. What is really going on Rodney? Why are you doing this?”

Rodney opened his mouth to respond and then closed it, his face tightening as he watched something behind her. When Teyla turned to look, she saw John pound his tray on the edge of the garbage can to empty it before slamming it down in the return bin and storming out of the room. Looking toward the balcony, Ronon stood in the doorway and shrugged his shoulders.

The sound of Rodney’s chair scraping the floor made her turn back around. “You seem to forget that I didn’t do anything. I’m the victim here,” he said loudly before grabbing his tray and repeating John’s earlier moves emptying his tray. Teyla turned around to her uneaten meal and rested her chin in her hand. Suddenly she wasn’t very hungry.

oOo

The next week was slow and agonizing for everyone. The team was grounded while Rodney and John recovered and the two men did an excellent job of avoiding one another. Teyla had attempted to talk to each of them, as had Elizabeth, but neither one would budge. They were both allowed on light duty, much to the dismay of the people they worked with. Rodney was an even bigger tyrant in the labs than usual (Teyla didn’t understand Radek’s native language, but she recognized a death threat when she heard one) and John had his men spit shining jumpers and doing extra PT for every little infraction.

Teyla sighed and shook her head as she walked down the corridor with Ronon. “I do not know what else to do. I have talked to both of them numerous times, but they are both very stubborn.”

“Teyla, Ronon!”

Startled by the voice, Teyla turned with Ronon to see John coming quickly towards them from an adjoining hallway, waving with his hand. They waited until he caught up, her eyes drifting to the red line along the side of his head and the bruising around it. John seemed to sense what she was looking at.

“Carson took the stitches out, ran another scan, and released me to full duty,” John announced with a lop-sided grin. “So, you guys bored hanging around Atlantis yet?”

“Have been for a while now,” Ronon said as they continued down the hall.

“Good, me too. Come with me and we’ll see if we can fix that.” John’s step quickened as he struck out ahead of them. Teyla glanced briefly at Ronon to see him raise his eyebrows and shrug one shoulder at her. Silently they followed him through the control room and Teyla realized they were headed for Elizabeth’s office. She spotted Rodney working at one of the consoles and he looked up at them in surprise. His face looked better, but the bruising was still evident and the swelling not completely gone. His brow furrowed as he watched them enter Elizabeth’s office.

John entered the room and plopped down in a chair across from Elizabeth’s desk, prompting her to look up from the screen of her laptop and arch an eyebrow in his direction. Teyla chose to stand by the door and Ronon leaned against the doorframe.

“John?” said Elizabeth. “Ronon, Teyla. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, there is,” responded John, sitting up a little from his slouched position. “We’re bored.” This time both of Elizabeth’s eyebrows went up. “Carson just released me back to full duty, so I was thinking we could go on a mission tomorrow.”

Elizabeth rolled her bottom lip in for a moment and the clasped her hands on the desk in front of her. “I was under the impression Rodney would be out of action as far as gate travel for a while longer.”

“He will,” said John, sitting even straighter. “The three of us could go.” John’s eyes darted down to the floor, as if he was avoiding eye contact. Elizabeth apparently had the same impression because she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

“Is there some reason you’re anxious to go on missions without Rodney?”

Teyla was fairly certain that was what John normally called a loaded question. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, unable to hide his discomfort with the question. “I think . . . that is . . . “ Yanking his hand away from his shirt, he took a deep breath and looked at Elizabeth. “I’m pretty sure Rodney isn’t going to want to go on missions with me anymore. He made it pretty clear that he doesn’t trust me or my ability to lead the team. When he’s ready to go back to full duty, we should probably look at getting him assigned to another team, if he’s still interested in field work.”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open in a move that might have been funny if Teyla hadn’t been so shocked by John’s announcement. “Another team?”

“John,” Teyla said sharply. “You don’t mean that.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, John let out a shaky breath. “Look guys, it’s not what I want, but Rodney doesn’t trust me. You heard what he said. If he ignores me in the field or hesitates, he could get himself or one of you guys killed. He needs to work under someone he trusts . . . and can trust him. I don’t . . . I’m not sure I’m that person anymore.”

“You don’t trust me? Wow, this is rich,” said Rodney from the doorway, his face beginning to redden.

“That’s not what I meant,” John snapped.

“Well, that’s sure what it sounded like. So, what’s going on? It looks like a team meeting, but someone forgot to give me the message. Or are you kicking me off?” No one immediately said anything and John winced at the comment. “Oh my god, you are! You’re kicking me off!”

“No they aren’t,” said Elizabeth. “Look, just calm down a minute and come in. We need to talk.”

“You’re trading me in for Radek, aren’t you? I knew that rat bastard was up to something,” Rodney muttered.

“Rodney, no one is up to anything,” Elizabeth soothed, getting up to move toward the angry scientist.

Rodney stepped toward John, shaking his finger at the pilot. “You! After everything we’ve been through together you’re kicking me off the team! Well fine, if you guys don’t want me, then I have plenty of people who appreciate my talents.”

Jumping to his feet, John closed the gap between them, his features pulled tight in barely contained anger. “We aren’t kicking anyone off the team. I thought you were pretty clear in the infirmary last week about not thinking I can lead the team any more. You’re the one insisting on change, not me. I happen to think I can lead just fine, but I can’t have my people questioning my decisions because they don’t trust me. That gets people killed.”

“Well, people have been dying just fine while trusting you to make the right decisions or haven’t you noticed?” Sucking in air as if he’d just finished running for his life, Rodney blanched as last word left his lips.

John drew in a sharp, audible gasp. Pain flashed quickly across his features before the expressionless mask dropped back into place. The two men stared silently at one another for a few moments as everyone else stared on in shock. Rodney took a quick step back. “Wait, I . . . that’s not how I meant it,” he stammered.

John pushed past Rodney and headed for the door. Ronon stepped out to block his way as Teyla grabbed his arm. “John, wait. Rodney did not mean that as it sounded. You know him, he would never imply such a thing.”

Sadness filled John’s eyes as he faltered, struggling for words. “I . . . I thought I did. Now . . . “ He pulled away and began shoving past Ronon when the simultaneous sounds of gate activation and the gate alarm filled the room. Demeanor shifted as everyone headed for Chuck’s station.

“I’m receiving Dr. Winslow’s IDC,” the technician reported.

“They’re early,” said Elizabeth with a slight frown. “Let them through.”

A few moments later a marine walked calmly through the gate, followed by a man and woman carrying a plastic crate. The gate shut down as soon as they were through and the two scientists set their cargo down on the gateroom floor. Elizabeth headed their way, the rest of the team following behind her.

“Dr. Winslow, Dr. Cravens, you’re early,” the expedition leader said as she pushed off the last step. “Was there a problem?”

The red-headed woman, who Teyla recognized as Dr. Winslow, smiled and shook her head. “Oh, no, the exact opposite as a matter of fact. We’ve found some wonderful specimens,” she said, waving her hand toward the crate. She looked around at the audience gathered around her and bounced a couple of times, her excitement evident. The tall slender man next to her smiled as well, but seemed much calmer.

John frowned at her and then looked at the soldier. “Lt, I’m pretty sure when you left here there were four other marines with you on this little expedition.”

The young soldier stiffened, looking a little nervous. “Yes, sir. The others stayed behind with Dr. Stringer while he collects more samples. These guys just wanted to come back long enough to drop this crate off and pick up another one.”

John nodded and the soldier relaxed a little. While that conversation had been going on, Dr. Winslow had opened the crate, which contained many smaller containers. She pulled out a cylindrical one and held it up. “This one is particularly exciting,” she said as she opened the lid. A look of surprise crossed her face when the container jerked and then something black jumped from it, landing with a slight thud on the floor.

It was smaller than the iratus bug that had attached itself to John’s neck, but it was very definitely an iratus bug. John yelped as he threw out his left hand to push the woman behind him, even as he himself was backing up. With his right hand, he drew his gun and began firing at the large black creature only a few feet in front of him. People were yelling, those on the gateroom floor were scrambling away from the bug, and Ronon’s blaster had now joined John’s gun in decimating the creature. When they stopped firing, everyone froze, staring at the mutilated mass of exoskeleton and guts. Silence hung like heavy fog for a split second before one leg twitched. John shot the thing again as he took another step back.

“I really hate those things,” John mumbled, a slight tremor to his voice.

Rodney shook his head as if he were shaking off the shock and then turned on the woman. “Are you insane? You brought an iratus bug into Atlantis! What were you thinking?”

“That was an iratus bug?” she asked in a soft voice.

Rodney threw up his hands and paced once around in a tight circle. “How does anyone in this city not know what an iratus bug is?”

The woman took a deep breath and straightened, jutting out her chin in defiance. “Dr. McKay, I’ve only been in Atlantis for three months.”

“Seriously?” Rodney asked, his eyes widening in surprise. The woman looked smug until he continued. “That’s your excuse? Even Kavanagh came up with better stuff than that. You were given a packet of mission reports to read, part of the required Atlantis 101 packet everyone gets before they step foot in the city. Did you bother to read the thing?” When she didn’t answer immediately, he snapped his fingers in her face. “We’re waiting!”

“I . . . uh. . . skimmed it.” She said hesitantly before continuing at a much faster pace. “I had heard all the stories about the incident with Colonel Sheppard from some of the people who were here then, so I may not have read that one as closely as I should.”

“You think?” Rodney asked harshly, his face still red. “If you had done what you were supposed to, you would have found a detailed description of the iratus bug, along with the habitats it’s known to occupy and a whole host of warnings. It’s a wonder you aren’t dead.” He whirled around to face Elizabeth. “I think we need to start giving entrance exams to the city.”

“Where did you find it?” asked John, stepping forward as he indicated the bug with his gun.

The woman stammered around a few seconds, apparently intimidated by John’s stern look and commanding tone, before the man took over. “We’re camped out by a pretty deep ravine. We only moved from taking samples in the forest to taking samples in the ravine this morning and that’s when we found the . . . the, uh bug. It was crawling along the edge of the water and Dr. Winslow just scooped it up in the cylinder. I’m afraid I didn’t’ get a good look at it until just now.”

“When you left, what were the others doing? Were they still taking samples in the ravine?” John asked, his voice sharp with the same tension that stiffened his body. His eyes were dark and narrowed.

Dr. Cravens winced briefly. “Yes. Two of the marines were helping Dr. Stringer in the ravine and the other two were keeping an eye on the camp.”

“Then none of them know there are iratus bugs in the vicinity?” John asked.

“Uh, no sir,” answered Cravens sheepishly.

“I should go back and warn them, sir,” said Lt. Howerton, glancing down at the bug remains on the floor.

John nodded. “Radio them as soon as you set foot on the planet and tell everyone to fall back to the camp. My team will be right behind you in case there’s trouble, just as soon as we get geared up.”

Howerton nodded as Elizabeth yelled to Chuck to dial the planet. When the team headed for the armory to get their gear, Teyla paused to take Rodney by the arm, forcing him to stop. “Rodney, I thought you would be staying here,” she said.

“Why, because I’m not on the team anymore?” he asked, the hurt on his face more evident than any emotion she had ever seen him display.

“No,” Elizabeth said, stepping up to his other side. “Because you aren’t cleared for duty yet. You stay here, Rodney.”

“But –“

“No, you stay here,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Carson has a reason for keeping you off active duty. John and the others can take care of this one.”

Rodney sighed and bowed his head, but finally nodded in agreement. Teyla squeezed his arm. “We will miss you.”

“Yeah, yeah, just be careful.”

Teyla stepped away, but paused again when she heard Dr. Winslow. “Are you sure Colonel Sheppard is the right man to lead this mission, Dr. Weir? I mean given his bug issues and all. He practically knocked me over when he saw that thing and I’ve heard he’s kind of afraid of bugs. He just kept shooting the thing over and over.” Teyla rounded to let the scientist know exactly what she thought of her comments, but Rodney took over before she got the chance to say a word.

“Is Sheppard the right man? Are you kidding? He has people on that planet that might be in danger. The Colonel is exactly the right man to go after them. He doesn’t leave people behind, no matter what. He’ll bring them home or die trying, against any enemy, against any odds. He won’t quit. He may be afraid of bugs, but that doesn’t mean he won’t wade into a den of them if need be to . . . “ Rodney’s voice faltered and he made an expression like ‘OH’. Collecting himself, he cleared his throat and continued. “He’d wade into a den of them if it was to save any one of us. Just because he’s afraid . . . doesn’t mean he can’t do his job. He’s never failed us yet.”

With a huge sigh, Rodney’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head. “I’m such an idiot.”

“On occasion,” Elizabeth said, a big smile on her face. “But you always come around eventually.”

With an immense feeling of relief, Teyla turned and almost ran to the armory. She couldn’t believe she was this happy about going on a mission involving iratus bugs.

oOo

Rodney was in the middle of averting a crisis when Elizabeth called to say the team was back and everyone was basically okay, whatever that meant. By the time Rodney had fixed everything and properly berated his staff for their incompetence, John had left the infirmary. Carson assured him that everyone was okay, just scratches and scrapes and bruises. Apparently the team had arrived to find the scientist and his escorts trapped in a steep section of the ravine as a whole nest of iratus bugs descended on them. It had been close, but this time everyone made it home alive. P3X-666 (shouldn’t that have been an omen) had been added to the growing number of planets on the list titled “only suicidal idiots go here”.

After checking quarters, the control room, and the mess hall, Rodney finally found John on the balcony near his room, looking out over the lights of Atlantis. John’s back stiffened as Rodney approached and stood next to him at the railing.

“I hear you made it back with everyone,” Rodney said. The moon was almost full, revealing a nasty scrape on John’s cheek and a small cut over one eyebrow that bisected the scar from the previous week.

John’s hands tightened around the metal rail. “Surprised?”

Sighing, Rodney winced as he gazed out over the city. He had deserved that. “No, not really.”

The grip relaxed a little and one hand slid off to hang loosely at John’s side. “Teyla . . . Teyla told me what you said . . . in the gateroom.” Letting go of the railing with his other hand, John brought it up to rub the back of his neck before turning to face Rodney. “Did you mean what you said?”

“In the gateroom, yes I did. In the infirmary . . . I thought I did at the time. Then . . . “ Rodney shrugged his shoulders, trying to make sense of what had transpired over the past week. “When I went back and thought about it, I realized . . . look, I was mad and my face hurt so badly and . . . I say things, okay. But then . . . I think after that it was pride. I’m not good at being wrong . . . it happens so infrequently that I can hardly consider the possibility.”

John’s serious expression dissolved as he snorted out a barking laugh. Turning away, he tried to hide his face from the frowning scientist. “Well, I’m glad one of us is enjoying this,” Rodney snapped, wishing he’d stayed in his lab.

Turning back, John’s grin faded back to a small smile. “You really are bad at this whole apology thing, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Happy?” Rodney’s anger faded away with the genuine look of relief on John’s face. “Look, it was never really an issue of trust. I never really thought you couldn’t lead. That was just what came out because of the anger and . . . “ Rodney looked away, his chest constricting at memories he hadn’t entertained for years.

“What?” John asked quietly. Something about the tone of his voice, the actual concern that John could never hide at times like these, made Rodney want to answer.

“I . . . it just reminded me of something, that’s all.” Rodney took a few deep breaths, not quite believing he was about to spill his guts. “As you can well imagine, a geek like me was always fair game for bullies. Most of the time they name called and pushed you around a little, harmless stuff to make you feel inferior. But this one guy, Charlie O’Malley, moved in when I was in the eighth grade. Red hair and freckles and big as a house. Of course considering his probably IQ, he may have been several years older than the rest of us. Anyway, he was different. He was . . . dangerous.”

Rodney shuddered at the memory of how helpless and afraid the bully had made him feel. He was thankful that John was not hurrying him along, but patiently waiting, quietly supporting. “He would punch me whenever no adults were around, leave bruises all over me. It was daily, any time he saw me. Just about the only thing he ever said to me outside of the name calling insults was to inform me that one day he was really going to kick my ass all over the city. And I believed him.”

John shifted beside him. He still didn’t say anything, but Rodney thought he heard a low growl from his throat. “One day, I had just had enough. I was tired of being afraid all the time, of hurrying home to keep from being beat up. He was following me home, taunting me, threatening me, asking if today would be the day. So I stopped and waited for him to catch up. Told him I was tired of playing his little game so to just beat me up and get it out of his system. He was genuinely speechless for a few minutes and then he laughed, put his arm around my shoulder and took me in a kind of choking . . . headlock . . . hug thing.” Rodney’s arms flailed around as he tried to describe what had happened.

“Then he let me go. He said he was kind of amazed I had the guts to stand up to him and that he’d decided to let me go. I was shocked. All those months of being hit and punched and threatened and all I had to do was challenge him. I was so relieved that I never saw it coming. He started to turn away from me and then cocked his elbow up and drove it into my face. I woke up in the hospital with a fractured nose, a concussion, and a cracked zygomatic bone.”

“He hit you hard enough to give you a concussion?” asked John, his eyes wide.

“Actually I hit my head on the sidewalk when I went down. Anyway, I guess it’s not the same, but in some ways it was. I trust you, I do. But all I could think of was how much it hurt and I had trusted you not to hurt me. For a brief moment, I had trusted Charlie not to hurt me. I was trying to help you and . . . well, you know.”

John held his hands out in helpless gesture. “Rodney, I’m sorry. I didn’t even know you were back there. All I could think of was getting those bugs off me. I honestly would never do anything like that on purpose.”

“And I know that, I do,” Rodney said. “I just . . . chalk it up to temporary insanity brought on by pain. You know I don’t handle pain well, almost as badly as impending death.”

With a small chuckle, John nodded. “Yeah, I know. What happened to Charlie?”

“My parents wanted to press charges for assault. When the doctors found all the bruises on me, they suspected child abuse until I explained it was all Charlie. Then the police really got involved. I think they shipped him off to reform school. I didn’t care as long as he didn’t come back to school.” Rodney grinned. “At least the bullies left me alone after that. They were afraid they’d get shipped off if they came after me.”

“I had no idea,” John said softly.

“It’s not something I care to share with many people, so if you don’t mind . . . “

John nodded. “No problem. I guess . . . well, since you told me that, I should probably tell you that . . . my whole bugophobia thing didn’t start in the Pegasus Galaxy.”

“No?” Rodney questioned, intrigued by the possibility of actually getting some information about the elusive John Sheppard.

John rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I was bitten by a black widow when I was a kid, like eight I think. Three days of rolling around in a hospital bed while my muscles cramped with pain I hadn’t thought possible until then. My poor mom cried almost as much as I did. I saw the thing on my shoulder about the time it bit me. I was a bit of an arachnophobe after that. It was a long time before I didn’t go slapping and screaming every time a bug got on me.”

Rodney’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times. “I didn’t know. Well, obviously I didn’t know, no one did.”

“It took a while, but I finally got to the point I wasn’t so jumpy about stuff like that and then I kind of forgot about it. Until that whole iratus bug incident. I really hate those things.”

“Yeah, me too, although probably not as much.”

They stood in silence for a few moments, each looking out at the moonlight reflected off the surface of the ocean. After a while, John cocked his head a little closer to Rodney. “So, are we okay?”

A wave of contentment washed through Rodney, taking him by surprise. “Yeah, we’re okay. Teammates still?”

“Always,” John replied. “I need someone to watch my back and keep an eye out for bugs.”

“I can do that. Just keep your elbows to yourself.”

John snickered and elbowed him lightly in the ribs. That was when Rodney knew they were really okay.

THE END

It's HOT out there!

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:54:00 GMT

It's 100 degrees outside and June's not even over. This could be one hot summer!!

Obviously I'm crazy!

Mon, 25 May 2009 02:52:08 GMT

Why you ask? Because I just signed up for the SGA Big Bang. I apparently do not learn from past mistakes. I just keep thinking, "I've got all summer. I can do this." Then there's that nagging, slightly AU story I've been considering for a while now that would be perfect for this thing. I guess I just figured, what the heck! I was very excited about the prospect of reading all those stories until I realized the vast majority of them are slash - HUGELY disappointing. What's wrong with good old fashioned gen? Since that's all I write and apparently the huge majority of this fandom is into slash, I'm shocked anyone even bothers to read my stuff at all. One of these days I'll post a story and just get silence and maybe the sound of crickets (LOL).

On a more personal note, my youngest daughter got her hair cut last week and donated 22 inches to Locks of Love. She went from hair to her waist to hair to her shoulders. We all love it - including her. I think she was tired of brushing it all the time.

Honey, I'm home!

Sun, 17 May 2009 02:20:28 GMT

Back on the ground and at home, a good combination. I survived flying - twice! Reno is awesome. After two weeks of almost non-stop rain, we flew to Reno and six days of sun! I love the mountains all around the city - that is just too cool. Why, oh why was I raised in the flatlands - so boring! And Lake Tahoe is BEAUTIFUL!!! I think I could be happy living out west. A girl from our region (not my school unfortunately) won a second place Air Force Award and I think her dad said she got $1500 with that. I was gone for my sixth grade daughter competing in the regional elementary school yesterday and this morning, but she won third place in her category. So all is good and I have a LOT of reading to catch up on while I satisfy my internet withdrawal.

Bye bye for a week

Sun, 10 May 2009 04:09:16 GMT

Headed for Reno, Nevada in the morning for a week of International Science and Engineering Fair. The hotel has internet if you care to take out a bank loan to pay for a week of it, which I don't, so probably no internet next week. I might get one day because I have to send in a grant report by Friday and I don't see any other way to do it, but for most of the week, I'll be out of touch. See you guys in a week, if I don't die from withdrawal and manage to survive the plane trip (I HATE flying - scares the living daylights out of me).

A Dragon's Tale (2/2)

Tue, 05 May 2009 01:31:44 GMT

Title: A Dragon’s Tale
Author: Titan5
Spoilers:Brief mention of scattered events up through Search and Rescue.
Summary: When John gets separated from his team, he meets some interesting wildlife.
Author’s Note: This is for Fran, who sent my youngest child a ton of cool stuff from England, making her “country” project the very best one (not that I’m biased in any way).

A Dragon’s Tale - Part 2

A few minutes later, John came upon two men wrestling with the terrified dragon. They had her pinned to the ground, laughing and hitting her as she struggled. “Let her go!” John yelled, bringing up his handgun to point at the men. Glancing at each other, the men complied, letting Emma go and bringing their hands up. The dragon scampered off to hide in some low brush while John dealt with her would-be captors. One of the men smiled and John swung around, catching the man behind him off-guard when he brought the gun around to the side of his head. He went down quickly, but before John recovered, he was tackled to the ground, the gun skidding through the leaves when he lost his grip.

Rolling away from the man who pummeled into him, John was halfway to his feet when the kick caught him in the right side, just under his ribcage. He was thrown to his back, the wind knocked out of him. Gathering his wits, he was just able to bring his knee up as one of the men jumped on him and kick the man in the chest, pushing him back. When the second man tried to attack, he rolled to the side and brought his leg around, sweeping them under the thug and knocking him down. A swift kick to the side of the head ensured the guy stayed down and left John going after the last raider.

Unfortunately, the man got in a shot to John’s jaw as soon as he turned, making him stagger back. He expected another hit to follow, but instead he heard the guy yell and begin blabbering in another language. When John’s head cleared, he saw Emma chewing on the guy’s leg. With a big grin, he belted the distracted man as hard as he could and sent him sprawling in the dirt. Emma looked up and made a combination growl-purring sound that John took as her being pleased.

“Thanks for the assist. I guess we make a good team.” Emma rubbed her face against John’s leg.

Ten minutes later, John had all three men tied up and their weapons thrown as far into the forest as he could. They were still unconscious for now, but John wanted to be away from this place before they woke up. He glanced down at Emma, rubbing his aching head as he did so. His whole body seemed to throb in time with his heartbeat with his head hurting the worst. He really wanted to be in Atlantis, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the small dragon out in the open. He was fairly certain that the cave he had passed a way back was probably her home.

“I guess I’ll have to take you home so your mom can protect you and hope we don’t actually run into her.” Emma seemed to know he was talking to her and jumped up a couple of times, chirping like a huge bird.

“Right. We’ll just head that way then.” He began walking toward the cave and Emma followed as he knew she would. “You do realize you’re probably going to get me eaten, right? I mean your mom is probably going to think I dragon-napped you and be very angry. And I don’t exactly speak dragon to explain everything to her, you know?” John glanced down at the beast and sighed. “I’m starting to ramble like Rodney.”

His stomach twisted tighter and tighter as they got closer, until he was pretty sure he was going to puke after all. Stopping behind a tree, he could see the cave entrance thirty feet ahead. The stench of decay was heavy in the air, making his already unsettled stomach begin to buck. These guys weren’t vegetarians, that was for sure. Studying the entrance, he saw no sign of movement. Emma scratched at his pant leg.

“Don’t guess you’d just go strolling back in there for me, would you?” Emma just sat there looking at him. “No, I didn’t think so. Well, here goes.” With a deep breath and a slow swallow, John stepped out and slowly walked toward the cave entrance. Pausing in the doorway, he let his eyes adjust to the low light. Relieved when he still saw no signs of mother dragon, he walked in, Emma close at his heels. Ten feet in, the cave wall curved around to the left and revealed what looked like a huge nest of grasses and moss.

“Home, sweet, home,” John muttered, walking up to the bedding. A slow scan of the cave revealed no sign of momma dragon, so John picked up Emma and set her back in the nest as far as he could reach. “You need to stay here, Emma, okay? It’s dangerous out there. Stay here and wait for your mom. Please, Emma . . . don’t follow me this time.” She cocked her head at him and he thought maybe she frowned. Then her head jerked up and John felt the ground around him shake. Oh, crap.

John turned around very slowly, having no doubt that momma dragon was behind him. He was expecting her to be large and yet he was still surprised at her hugeness. She towered over him, her scales darker than that of her young, but still green. Her enormous snout was poised over his head, her breath stirring his hair. The adrenalin rush was so acute he thought it might cause his heart to explode for a moment. He’d been afraid when he flew the nuke into the hive ship. He’d been afraid, lying in the back of the jumper with the iratus bug attached to his neck. He’d been afraid when Todd was feeding on him. And none of those times could compare to this. Pure naked fear, through and through.

He envisioned the thing chomping his head off, like he’d seen in so many movies. Those same movies provided his imagination with a view of his headless body spurting blood everywhere before finally falling over. Would his team find his decapitated corpse or would the dragons eat him so that they never found anything? A loud snort brought his attention back to the moment at hand, along with the hot breath of the dragon as she bowed down closer. This was it. Maybe if he timed it right, he could roll forward and run through her legs and out of the cave. Right. Too many scifi movies. Still, he had nothing to lose by trying. Bracing himself, he crouched down and got ready to move.

He jumped back at the sudden motion in front of him, and momma dragon stepped back as well. Emma stood between them, jumping up and down and making strange chittering noises, punctuated by little high-pitched growls. He noticed momma dragon was paying close attention to her daughter and seemed to be ignoring him. Testing that theory, he slowly took a couple of steps back. There was no change in the large dragon’s demeanor, so he took another step to the side. Engrossed in baby’s story, she never seemed to notice John creep around her one step at a time. He was almost to the turn in the cave when he felt her eyes.

When he looked back, she was watching him over her shoulder. He waited, barely breathing, expecting her to come after him. But then the weirdest thing happened. She bowed her head, as if nodding at him, and then turned back to Emma, leaning over to lick the baby dragon until it squealed. His heart hammering away in his chest like he’d just run a marathon, John continued to walk out of the cave. As soon as he cleared the entrance, he began to run. Fifteen minutes later, he tripped over a tree root and went sprawling, giggling like some goofy kid that had just gotten away with the prank of the year. Then he was on his knees puking up the small amount he had in his stomach.

When he was finished, he crawled several feet away and then collapsed on the ground, laughing and panting and trying to catch his breath. When he’d finally stopped shaking, he lay there looking at the clouds through the canopy overhead. He’d thought nothing could shock him any more, but he’d been wrong. Very, very wrong. He thought about the dark green dragon and her apparent nod. Had he imagined that? Had it meant anything? Her eyes had looked intelligent, like she understood. Sitting up, he rubbed the side of his face. It didn’t matter. He was leaving and he’d never see either of them again. Either Emma or . . . Ivy. Yeah, Ivy. She had been the color of the ivy growing on side of their neighbor’s house when he was growing up.

He laughed as he got to his feet. Rodney would no doubt make fun of his names, insisting that dragons should have majestic names, not simple ones like Emma and Ivy. John didn’t do complicated names. And he was the one who found them, so he got to name them. Suddenly he wondered if they already had names. He hadn’t exactly thought to ask. What am I doing? I have totally lost my mind. I have got to get back to Atlantis while I’m still at least partially sane.

He staggered around for a few minutes like a drunk. If this day didn’t end soon, he wasn’t going to be able to move. Everything hurt and he briefly considered finding a sheltered place to rest and wait for his rescuers, but with raiders around, he knew that wasn’t smart. He’d just have to keep going a little longer. He’d swung wide to go around the men who had attacked Emma, but apparently he didn’t swing wide enough. He was halfway across a little clearing when six men came out of the trees and surrounded him. The guy who’d put the gun to his head before was in front of him now, rubbing his chafed wrist and not looking very happy.

“Friend, we meet again.” His eyes narrowed as he studied the pathway behind John. “What did you do with the creature?”

John grinned. “I returned her to her mother. And mother dragon is huge, so I wouldn’t mess with her if I were you.”

“We want the animal back. We can make quite a profit off her in the right market. You will get her for us.”

John’s expression hardened and he clenched his fists. “No, I won’t.” He started to say more, but the raider hit him in the jaw, knocking him down. Two of the other raiders took turns kicking him several times before grabbing his arms and jerking him up to his feet. When the world swam back into view, the head raider hit him in the stomach and his legs gave way, sending him to his knees. Blood ran down his face from a cut over his eyes, mixing with sweat to partially blind him for a moment. When his head cleared enough he could see again, he was looking into the barrel of his own gun. How ironic.

“Since you will not help us, you are of no use. And you have caused us enough trouble. It ends now.” He brought the gun to within an inch of John’s forehead and the pilot realized there was no escape this time. His body was barely upright and he didn’t have the energy or a clear enough head to get away. He might be able to fall over at the last minute, but that would only delay the inevitable. Glancing at the trees, he hoped for one of his team’s last minute rescues, but nothing seemed forthcoming. Maybe his luck had finally run out. Looking back up at the beady-eyed thug, he decided he could at least greet death with attitude.

“Go to hell,” he mumbled. The man grinned and tensed, readying to fire the gun. Then something huge and green dropped from the sky right behind the man and the next thing John knew, the guy had no head. Fascinated, John watched as bright red blood spurted up like a fountain. The body fell forward, spraying John with blood from the last couple of contractions before the heart registered that the man was dead. He couldn’t move, just staring at the gory scene before him and thinking about how different it looked from the movies.

As he looked up at Ivy, she stared down at him. For some odd reason, he wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t here to hurt him, of that he was certain. She leaned forward and touched her snout to the top of his head and then sprang up into the sky. The bottom of her wings was a light greenish-silver color, shining metallic in the bright sun, almost blinding him for a moment. He watched her beautiful form until he could see her no more and suddenly wondered what it would be like to fly like that.

The sound of gunfire jerked his attention back and he looked around to discover that all of the raiders had fled. He was still on his knees, now covered in blood and he was simply too tired to move. Hearing a crashing sound, he looked up to the treeline to see Ronon come running out with Rodney close behind. Rodney stopped after a few feet and stared at him.

“Oh my god, he’s bleeding out!”

John looked up at Ronon, who was now standing beside him. Ronon looked from John to the body and back to John. “Your blood or his?”

“His.”

Ronon nodded as Rodney came up beside him and then gasped at the state of the body on the ground. “You cut his head off? How did you do that? That’s just gross.”

John looked at the headless body lying in a pool of blood. He could see muscles and bone and even the man’s spinal cord. It was gross and yet he couldn’t seem to look away. “Not me. Dragon.”

“Did he say dragon?” Rodney’s voice was the last thing John heard as the world darkened around him until it was no more.

oOo

John opened his eyes to Teyla’s face smiling down at him. “John, how do you feel?”

“Kind of like I rolled down a hill, hit my head, and then got beat up. How are you?” After briefly arching one eyebrow, Teyla smiled and patted him on the arm. He was lying on the ground at the edge of the clearing. They had moved him away from the body and into the shade and someone’s jacket was currently acting as his pillow. John pushed himself up to his elbows, then Rodney and Ronon were there, helping him sit up.

“Would you like some water?” When the world stopped spinning, John took the canteen from Teyla and drank a few sips. He was really hoping his throbbing head didn’t explode because he’d had enough gore for one day. “Does anyone have a Tylenol?”

With a nod, Teyla pulled a blister pack from her vest and peeled the pills out for him.

“Thanks,” he said, swallowing the pills with some more of the water. “I take it I took longer than two hours?”

“It’s been more like four,” said Rodney. “You didn’t come back to Atlantis and then you wouldn’t answer your radio. We got worried.”

Rubbing his face, John realized someone had cleaned the blood from his face and hands, Teyla most likely. A bandage covered the cut on his head. “Yeah, I had a little accident involving the side of a hill and lost my radio.” Movement caught his attention and he looked up to see Lorne joining the group.

“Colonel Sheppard, Sir. It’s good to see you awake.”

“Yeah, it’s good to be alive to be awake. Kind of a surprise, too,” John admitted. “So, what’s going on?”

“We tracked you using your transmitter, but we couldn’t bring a jumper because of all the trees. We ran into some gunfire just before we got here, but they seemed to be in a bit of a panic, so were easy to overcome.” Lorne looked at the decapitated corpse in the clearing. “What happened here, Sir?”

“Did you say a dragon did that?” Rodney asked.

“Yeah, I did. Long story,” he sighed. It really was going to be a long story and he was too tired and dirty and in pain to go into it here.

“We should get you back to Atlantis, sir,” said Lorne, studying John closely. “You can fill us when after the doc takes care of you.” Lorne was once again affirming himself as a really good second in command.

“I think I like that idea, Major,” John said. “Help me up.”

Ronon pulled him to his feet a little faster than his aching head could keep up with, but then steadied him when he staggered. After a few moments, he took a tentative step. “Okay, thanks. I’m good now.” Ronon let go of his arm and they started forward with Ronon behind him and Rodney and Teyla beside him. His limp was a little more pronounced now that he’d spent the day further abusing his knee. His shins were also aching again, along with his side. Where was an infirmary bed when you really needed one?

“Seriously, a dragon?” Rodney questioned, obviously in disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s what I said, a dragon.” John glanced down, noticing the bandage around Rodney’s left hand for the first time. “You okay?” he asked, pointing to Rodney’s injured limb.

Rodney lifted his hand to look at it. “No, but Jennifer claims I will be eventually. Got grazed by a bullet while we were waiting for you at the gate.” The scientist glanced at John and frowned. “You hit your head, didn’t you? That must be it because there’s no such thing as dragons.”

“I would not be so sure,” said Teyla. “My people have many stories about such creatures existing long ago on many worlds.”

“No offense, but your people worship the Ancients too,” said Rodney.

“My people have stories of these creatures as well,” piped in Ronon.

“Well, we have myths about dragons in all kinds of cultures on Earth, but that doesn’t make them real.”

“Maybe we should keep an open mind about it, Dr. McKay,” suggested Lorne. “The Colonel isn’t exactly known to make stuff up.”

“I’m not suggesting he is,” said Rodney. “I think his head injury may have lead to some hallucinations.”

John let them argue and discuss around him, their voices fading into the background as he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Someone was doing demolition work inside his skull and between the fall and the beatings, his bruises had bruises. He just wanted a hot shower . . . a really hot shower and some pain medication and a bed. Maybe something to eat. His stomach alternately growled and threatened to expel everything again.

“We’re here,” said Rodney. John looked up to see the stargate and the relief felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders. Looking around, he realized they had picked up several soldiers on the way back and he hadn’t even noticed. Not a good thing. Glancing at his team, he fidgeted at their worried looks. One of the marines was about to dial the DHD when Lorne pointed up to the sky.

“We’ve got something incoming.”

All eyes went to the sky. Within moments, John knew what it was and smiled. “Stand down,” he said to the men pointing their guns up to the approaching figure. “it’s just Ivy coming to say goodbye.”

“Who?” Rodney asked. Everyone but John stepped back when a huge green dragon dropped down in front of them.

John walked up to her as she dipped her head in greeting. The pain in his head was momentarily replaced by a tickle that was almost like an itch just beneath his skull. Ivy lowered her body to the ground and a small figure dropped off her back and ran to him. John bent over as Emma leaped into his arms, partially spreading her wings as she did so. Catching her, John snuggled her to his chest in a way that never felt comfortable with humans. She made that low growl-purr noise in her throat as John scratched behind ears. After a moment, he put her down. “You be good and mind your mom, you hear me?” Emma jumped around like an excited lemur for a moment and then scrambled back to her mother. Ivy helped her climb to her back and then turned to face John.

It seemed natural to walk up to the dragon and John wondered why he had ever feared her. He could feel her presence almost like he could feel Atlantis and it was comfortable and natural. She nodded at him again, like she had in the cave, but this time he felt no uncertainty about her meaning. Leaning down, she allowed him to touch the side of her snout. Their eyes met and he felt himself drawn into them.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “And you’re welcome. You and Emma keep safe.”

She moved her face sideways, gently connecting with his arm and shoulder. Smiling, he patted her head and she snorted at him, blowing his hair back away from his face. “Me too,” he said. Stepping back several steps to join his team, he stood with them as Ivy jumped up and took off, flying gracefully up to the clouds. For a moment he seemed to be one with her and John could feel the wind at his face and weightlessness of flight. “Bye,” he whispered.

“There really is a dragon,” Rodney said, his eyes wide as he continued to watch the sky.

“Yeah, Rodney, there really is. Let’s go home.” The sound of the DHD being dialed had never sounded quite so beautiful. Three steps into the gateroom, John’s body decided it was time for a break.

oOo

When John opened his eyes, Jennifer Keller was smiling down at him. “I thought you might be waking up. How do you feel?”

John considered the question as he blinked his eyes to rid them of the pasty film that blurred his vision. He noticed the head of his bed began rising, but it quickly set off a bout of vertigo, so he squeezed his eyes shut and clutched the covers in an effort to ground himself. He must have zoned out for a few moments, because the next thing he knew the edge of a straw was poking him in the lip.

“Drink, Colonel.”

Following the command, John swallowed several small sips before the supply was taken away. The water was cool and seemed to clear his head a bit, if not completely relieving the ache. Glancing down at himself, he noticed a clean bandage around his left forearm and his right knee was raised a bit due to the pillow underneath. He was sporting an IV in the back of his right hand, but no monitoring equipment and no catheter, thank goodness.

“So, you wanna answer that question now . . . the one about how you feel?” asked Jennifer.

John let his head rest back against the pillow. “Not bad, considering. My whole body aches and some guy with a pick-hammer is trying to break out of my head, but all in all, not as bad as I was expecting.” Flexing his hand for a moment, he thought he felt the pull of stitches under the bandage. “What’s the official verdict?”

Jennifer checked his IV line and then leaned her hip against the bed, crossing her arms. “Well, you have a mild concussion, thirteen stitches in your arm, another six in your head, and an absolute myriad of smaller cuts and bruises. Twisted your knee pretty good, as I’m sure you’re aware. There was a little swelling, so we iced it earlier and I’m keeping it elevated for a bit longer. There’s no sign of anything being torn or broken, so I’m thinking you overextended some tendons or ligaments. If you stay off it for a couple of days, it should heal quickly. And you will be staying off it,” she added sternly.

“Nothing too bad, though, right?” he asked, ignoring the warning.

“No, nothing too bad this time. How about the head injury? Have you had any nausea or dizziness?”

John sighed, trying to decide how much to say. He wanted to get back to his quarters, but he knew head injuries weren’t anything to mess around with. “Some nausea off and on, but not too bad. I had some dizzy spells, mostly when I stand up or turn around too fast or shake my head.”

“Blackouts?” she asked, watching him closely. The way she was studying him, it was almost like she already knew the answer and was waiting to see if he would fess up. “I . . .uh, passed out a couple of times.”

The doctor nodded, seemingly satisfied her patient was telling the truth. “You were pretty exhausted and a little dehydrated, so I’m sure that didn’t help. You have a couple of bruised ribs as well.”

“Yeah, got those right before my team found me. I had a little run in with a group of raiders and they didn’t play nice.”

“So I understand. I also hear you’ve been making some odd friends . . . like maybe a couple of dragons?”

John sank a bit lower in the bed, realizing that by now, everyone on base probably knew about the dragons. He hadn’t anticipated the amount of attention such a thing would garner and one thing he really didn’t like was being the center of attention. He was a lot more comfortable fading into the woodwork. “Uh, yeah, so it seems.”

Jennifer chuckled, obviously enjoying his discomfort at the subject matter. “Don’t worry, Colonel. The excitement will fade soon enough. In the Pegasus Galaxy, something new comes along almost every week.”

Well, that was true. “I guess, doc, if you say so. Hey, how long have I been here and where is my team?”

Twisting her wrist, Jennifer looked at her watch. “They brought you in almost five hours ago. As to your team, they gave Mr. Woolsey a brief summary of what happened and have been here with you until a few minutes ago. I sent them to fetch supper before they finish serving. Are you hungry?”

Aware of the rumbling in his very empty stomach, John patted the region. “Actually, yeah. I haven’t eaten since breakfast this morning.”

“How’s the nausea right now?”

John grimaced, considering the conflicting messages being sent by his stomach. “Well, I’m hungry . . . but things are a little unsettled right now. I’m not sure if it’s the concussion or the fact that my stomach is so empty that it’s threatening to digest itself.”

Jennifer nodded, as if she had anticipated his answer. “One is about as likely as the other. I told them to bring you back something simple in case you were hungry.” She smiled briefly. “All I can suggest is to eat slowly so if things start to go downhill, maybe you can keep from throwing it all back up.”

“Gee . . . thanks,” John said dully.

The physician shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry, Colonel, best I can do. Although if things do take a turn for the worse, I can give you something to help.” They both turned at the sound of approaching people to find John’s team entering the infirmary armed with trays of food. “Looks like your team is here. Remember, take it slow and easy until you see if things are going to stay down. You’ll be due for more pain meds in a while, so I’ll be back.”

“I can do that,” John said, grinning at his team as Keller nodded to them and left.

“Hey, the dragon master is awake,” quipped Rodney.

“Funny,” John responded. “What’d you bring me?”

“And hungry,” said Teyla with a smile. “Does that mean you are well?”

John shrugged his shoulders. “Mostly. Kind of sore and I’ve got a wall banger of a headache, but I figure it could be a lot worse.”

Rodney snorted. “Yeah, at least you still have your head.”

“True,” John replied, watching Ronon set a tray on the rolling bed table and slid it over his lap.

“Turkey sandwich, some potato casserole, and orange jello,” the Satedan reported.

John frowned. “Orange jello? Who eats orange jello?” he asked, noticing no one else had any on their tray. “What happened to the chocolate cake?”

“All gone, Mister Always-a-crisis who makes us miss chocolate cake to rescue him,” complained Rodney.

“That’s Colonel Always-a-crisis to you, McKay.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. All I know is we missed dessert,” muttered Rodney. Looking up, he pointed his fork at John. “And for that, I want to know all about the dragon. Were you actually talking to that thing, because it looked like the two of you were old friends from high school comparing notes at a ten-year reunion or something? Why didn’t that thing eat you like it did that raider guy . . . well, at least his head.”

“Rodney!” Teyla snapped. “We are trying to eat. Could we not talk about people getting eaten right now?”

John almost choked on his sandwich and had to swig water in order to wash down the offending bite.

“Fine, I’m sorry,” Rodney said. “I never figured you for the squeamish type.” He dropped the bite that was halfway to his mouth with a jerk when Teyla kicked him in the side of the ankle. “Ow!”

Keller appeared quickly with her hands on her hips. “What is going on in here? I’m beginning to feel like a kindergarten teacher. Can you people behave or do I need to kick you out?”

“We will behave,” said Teyla, sliding her eyes over to Rodney. “Right, Rodney?”

“Yes, we’ll be good, okay? You people are dangerous.” He quickly stuffed a bite in his mouth and began chewing furiously, refusing to look up or make eye contact with anyone. Jennifer sighed, threw up her arms, and went back to her office.

“Have you noticed we seem to have that affect on people?” asked John, remembering all the times Carson had done much the same thing.

“No idea what you mean,” Ronon said between bites.

“Me either,” said Rodney. Cautiously looking up to make sure Jennifer was gone, he glanced back to John. “So, are you going to tell us about the dragons?”

“I would like to hear about the creatures as well, John, but you may eat first,” said Teyla.

John set his sandwich down. He was about three bites in and his stomach was beginning to sway a bit. He didn’t really feel nauseous, but he thought maybe he needed to stop for a few minutes and let things settle before he ate any more. After a drink of water, he capped the bottle and looked around at his team. He almost laughed at their curious expressions and he wondered how he would explain something he didn’t really understand himself.

But then he realized that it didn’t matter. He could tell them what had happened without analyzing how much communication had actually taken place between him and Ivy. When Rodney started asking the hard questions, he could just honestly reply that he didn’t know. What he did know was that he wanted to go back one day to check on Emma and Ivy.

“You have this really silly grin on your face,” said Rodney with a knowing smile. “You want to ride her, don’t you? Like in that book that came out not long ago . . . what was that . . . Eragon?”

John poked his potato casserole with his fork, trying to hide the smile that was forming. He had wanted to ride her, to feel the wind on his face instead of just imagining what it would be like. He wanted to touch the clouds. He wanted to fly without being surrounded by metal and glass, buffering him from the real sensations of flight. Imagining it, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible. “Maybe.”

They ate quietly for a few more moments before Teyla broke the silence. “Do you think that is possible?”

“I have no idea,” John said, but he was already making plans to try.

“We could, um, go back . . . you know . . . to the planet. Check things out,” offered Rodney.

“Really?” John asked.

“Would Woolsey allow that?” asked Ronon. “There weren’t any power sources or weapons or anything your IOA would want.”

“Who says?” asked Rodney with a waggle of his eyebrows. “The Ancients were obviously interested in dragons, so there must be some value. I think we might need to go back for another look.”

“You’d do that?” John asked, staring at Rodney. He knew the man hadn’t been fond of the planet. And Rodney generally wasn’t fond of going anywhere that didn’t hold the promise of technology or a power source.

“Sure,” Rodney said, waving his fork through the air as if it was no big deal. “But only if you tell us everything that happened from the time we left the research station.”

John grinned, already excited by the prospect of seeing Emma and Ivy again, as well as the hope of getting to fly with them. “I can do that, but you probably aren’t going to believe half of it. I’m not sure I do.”

“Try us,” Ronon said between bites.

So John proceeded to tell his team the tale of how he came to be friends with a pair of dragons.

THE END

A Dragon's Tale (1/2)

Tue, 05 May 2009 01:21:19 GMT

Title: A Dragon’s Tale
Author: Titan5
Spoilers:Brief mention of scattered events up through Search and Rescue.
Summary: When John gets separated from his team, he meets some interesting wildlife.
Author’s Note: This is for Fran, who sent my youngest child a ton of cool stuff from England, making her “country” project the very best one (not that I’m biased in any way). It seems to be too long, so I'm dividing it into two parts.

A Dragon’s Tale - Part 1

John paused and turned around to see if Rodney was as far behind as he suspected. It was worse, actually, and the scientist looked on the verge of an MI if he didn’t sit down soon. His face was beet red and he was sucking in air like it was going out of style. Glancing past Rodney to Teyla, bringing up the rear of their little group, he nodded at her concerned expression. “Let’s take five.”

Up ahead, Ronon came crashing back through the trees, a clear indication he was annoyed. Ronon didn’t do loud unless it was on purpose and to make a point. “We should keep on,” the big man said when he reappeared through the foliage. “I’m not tired yet.”

Grinning at him as he hooked his thumbs in his vest, John looked pointedly at the Satedan. “Well, some of us are tired and need a break.” He could see Ronon looking over his shoulder at Rodney’s red face before returning his eyes to John. His only acknowledgement was a grunt.

Satisfied that Ronon wasn’t going to stage a mutiny or run off on his own, John allowed himself to sit down on a fallen log and pull out his water. The planet was hot and humid and they’d been trekking through what amounted to a tropical rainforest. They had only been going for a little over an hour, but all of it had been uphill and they were soaked through with sweat.

“How much further do you think?” asked John.

Rodney finished drinking from his canteen and then poured some of the water over his head. “Probably not far but I really don’t know for sure. The part of the database we got this address from was pretty corrupted. All we really know is that it was a research station that was abandoned when the war started and it was built into the side of this mountain.”

“But they were working on some type of weapon, right?” John asked.

Frowning, Rodney shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know for sure. The bits and pieces we retrieved contained some language that could be interpreted that way, but there wasn’t enough to be sure.”

“So we might be doing all this for nothing,” stated Ronon.

“If we find an Ancient research station, it won’t be for nothing. We can always learn something, even if it’s not weapons related. The Ancients were about more than just war, you know.”

The two stared at one another for several seconds before Rodney threw up his hands in disgust. “Fine, yes this could all be for nothing. Happy now?”

“I am if we’re ready to go.” Ronon stood up and stalked off up the trail. John rolled his eyes and glanced at Teyla in time to see her do the same.

“Okay, I guess the break is over,” John said, getting to his feet. He glanced at Teyla, who nodded a silent agreement to keep an eye on their tiring teammate.

“So who died and made him team leader?” Rodney muttered as he pushed off the large rock he’d been sitting on.

Teyla sighed. “Ronon just has trouble sitting still. In some ways he is still very much like a child.”

“Not new information,” Rodney said, but the corner of his mouth pulled up in a twitching half-smile. That was when John knew he would be okay. The short rest and water break had helped a lot.

“Okay, kids, let’s go see what the mighty Ancients left us to play with,” John said, taking off after Ronon. As Rodney predicted, they were close, finding the structure ten minutes later. The station was indeed built into the side of the mountain, with the front entrance only protruding about five feet out from the rock cliff.

Rodney rushed forward, his exhaustion apparently forgotten, and began working on the keypad next to the door. Several minutes later, Ancient scanner in hand, his shoulders slumped as he dropped his head forward.

“Rodney?” John said, leaving the question unsaid.

With a dramatic sigh, Rodney turned around to face his team. “No power. We’ll have to open the thing manually.”

“What about when we get inside?” asked John, his eyebrows already starting to furrow.

“Were you not listening or do I need to talk louder? No power. None. Nadda. Not inside or out.”

“You can tell that from out here?” asked Ronon.

“Why do I continue to work with you people?” Rodney complained, stuffing his scanner back in his pack. “Here, Conan, make yourself useful and force the door open because that’s the only way it’s coming open.”

John stared at Rodney for a moment before decided the man was serious and not just making some kind of dramatic play. He opened his mouth to tell Ronon they needed to look for something they could pry the door open with just in time to see the Satedan shoot the door controls.

“Ronon!” A loud pop was followed by a small amount of smoke pouring from the blackened and melted controls. “I was going to suggest we pry the door open.”

Ronon nodded. “Now it should be easier,” he said as he began searching the ground for a suitable stick. Rodney was trying to calm himself and looking less and less like someone recovering from a wild bear attack, while Teyla just arched one eyebrow and shrugged one shoulder. John couldn’t help but think his entire team was crazy as he lowered his pack and dug through it for a moment before finding what he wanted. He’d almost forgotten about the last minute addition to his pack.

“Let’s try this,” John said, pulling out a long screwdriver and heading for the door. Rodney’s mouth dropped open a little before he did a fish impression and then frowned. “Wait, why would you have that?”

John pushed the end of the flathead tool into the slight crevice at the edge of the door. “Because stuff like this always happens,” he grunted out through gritted teeth. Pushing against the handle, he was suddenly yanked out of the way and the next thing he knew, Ronon was popping the door open and handing the screwdriver back.

“Oh, thanks,” he said, not sure if he fully appreciated being treated like he was more in the way than helping.

“That worked great,” Ronon said. “We should always carry one of those.”

Rodney watched as John eyed the slightly bent tool before returning it to his pack. “Okay, I have to admit that . . . wait a minute. Where did you get that? Did you take that from my lab?”

“Time to go in and see what the Ancients left us,” John said, completely ignoring Rodney’s questions, mostly because his lab was exactly where John had gotten the screwdriver. The room was completely dark, validating Rodney’s statement about the power situation.

“Oh, this is so not over,” the physicist mumbled as he stumbled in behind John.

John turned on the light of his P90 about the time Teyla did the same, and they slowly panned the room. It wasn’t big, maybe twenty by twenty feet with scattered desks. Some old equipment sat on a counter along the left wall. It looked to John like the office portion of the station. They slowly made their way to the door at the back. Ronon quickly picked up a piece of debris from the floor and used it to pry that door open so they could continue.

They next entered a hall that led to the right, with what appeared to be a small storage closet on the left. Following the corridor, they found three rooms that all appeared to be lab facilities of some sort, with stations scattered around the perimeter of the room. Rodney seemed to get more and more frustrated as they went.

“Can you tell what this place was used for yet?” asked John.

“And how would I do that?” asked Rodney. “There’s absolutely no power, so I can’t download anything or turn anything on. Although it probably wouldn’t matter if there was power.”

“Why?” asked Teyla.

“You may have noticed the almost nauseating smell of mold? This place is so damp that everything is corroded. There was no power to keep the air and moisture levels constant and everything is falling apart.”

“So . . . waste of time,” Ronon said.

Rodney sighed and opened his mouth to retort, only to close his mouth and shake his head. “Yeah . . . probably.”

“Might as well finish looking since we’re already here,” John said. They continued down the hall to the next room, which was twice as large as the others and had completely different equipment. After browsing around a few minutes, Rodney turned around and stared at John.

“I think this is some kind of nursery.”

“A what?” John asked, certain his hearing must be going.

“A nursery. Look, these three things over here look like incubators. Very, very large incubators. And those areas over there are almost like warmers.”

John looked around the room and then back at Rodney. “For what?”

Rodney looked uncertain and more than a little worried when he returned his gaze to the incubator. “I don’t know, but whatever it was, it was big.”

“Like T-rex big?” John asked, remembering the planet where he’d almost been eaten by what appeared to be a Jurassic Park escapee.

“Pretty darn close,” the scientist mumbled.

“Okay, then,” John said, wishing his voice didn’t sound so shaky. “Let’s finish this and get back.” He returned to the hall and continued down it several feet, only to stop and gape. It opened out into a huge cavern too large to see across with their limited lighting. Rodney dug his flashlight out and pointed it up one of the walls. They could see what appeared to be smaller caves within the rock wall of the huge chamber.

“What in the name of . . . “ Rodney mumbled. “What were they growing in here?”

“Not entirely sure I want to know,” John muttered under his breath. “Okay, let’s fan out and see if there’s anything else here.”

“Fan out?” Rodney questioned in a high pitched voice.

John considered the question, sending the light on his P90 roving slowly around the giant cavern. The beam got lost in the darkness when he hit the middle of the room. “Maybe we should pair off. Ronon, you and Rodney take the right side and we’ll take the left.”

“On it,” said Ronon without hesitation. “Come on, McKay, shine your light this way,” he said, grabbing Rodney’s back collar and steering him toward the cliffs to their right.”

“I’m going, you don’t have to shove me. I call Teyla next time and you can have Conan.”

Ronon let go of Rodney and threw John and Teyla a smirk over his shoulder without missing a step. John shook his head and flashed Teyla an innocent grin. With a small sigh, Teyla headed left, shining her light at the cliffs. Twenty minutes later, the groups met at the far end of the cavern.

“Can we go now?” asked Rodney. “No power, cold, dark, damp, possibly being stalked by huge creatures wanting to eat us for dinner. Oh, yeah, and I’m hungry.”

John rolled his eyes, wishing it wasn’t so dark so Rodney could see the level of his irritation. “Fine, let’s go. There doesn’t seem to be anything here any more anyway. Unless you want to collect mold samples for the mycology department.”

“We don’t have a mycology department and I wouldn’t collect mold samples even if we did,” Rodney snapped before stomping back off the direction he came. John exchanged a grin with Ronon, but had to squelch it when he saw the frown on Teyla’s face.

“You should not bait him, John,” she said patiently.

“Yes, mother,” he mumbled as he fell in behind Rodney.

“I’ll remember that at our sparring session tomorrow,” Teyla said from behind him, her silken voice in direct contrast to the meaning behind the statement.

Clamping his jaw shut so he didn’t dig the hole he was in any deeper, John continued to follow close behind Rodney as they made their way out. It was faster going since they were no longer exploring the place and they returned to the entry hallway within a few minutes. Stopping, John noticed a door he was pretty sure they had missed before. It was stuck partially open, so he leaned in and cast his light around the room. “Hey, Rodney, come look at this,” he yelled as he squirmed his way inside.

It looked like some sort of control room for the facility, with computer terminals scattered around the perimeter of the room. John stopped his light on a pedestal in the far corner, recognizing it instantly. “Well, now we know why there’s no power,” he said softly.

“They took the ZedPM,” Rodney breathed out from beside him, looking down at the empty chamber. “When they abandoned this place, they really abandoned it.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” John said.

“Perhaps they knew that the dampness would eventually ruin these chambers and all their equipment,” suggested Teyla.

“So why leave behind a perfectly good ZPM,” John said, finishing the thought. “Makes sense, really. They couldn’t afford to waste energy once the Wraith became a serious threat.”

“We’re done here,” John said, turning around and heading back toward the door. He pushed out through the narrow opening to find Ronon coming quickly toward him.

“We’ve got company out front,” he said, immediately turning to return to the entrance. John followed, having to hurry in order to keep up with the Satedan’s long stride. Reaching the front, John took a look through the partially open door. Not seeing anything, he was about to step out when a shot impacted the door facing to his right, causing him to jerk back with a yelp.

“Told you,” Ronon said with a smirk.

Flashing him a pained grin, John sighed. “Yeah, thanks. Wonder what they want.”

“They are probably scavengers, searching for anything they can use or sell. There are many such groups across the galaxy, people who are too lazy to make a living for themselves,” said Teyla with a disapproving frown.

“Yeah, we have those people too,” said John. “They rob banks or mug people or convince the government to give them a handout.”

“How dangerous are they?” asked Rodney.

Teyla shrugged her shoulders. “Some are harmless, but others are very dangerous, unafraid of killing anyone in their way.” Just then a series of shots hit the front of the building.

“I think these are the dangerous kind,” said John.

“There’s a back way out,” said Rodney.

“Yeah, McKay and I found a tunnel that looks like it leads out the other side of this mountain,” agreed Ronon.

Movement caught John’s attention and he looked out the door to see several men emerging from the trees, weapons that looked similar to those of the Genii held out in front of them. He stuck his P90 out the door and did a quick burst in front of their feet, leading them to turn and run back for the cover of the trees. Watching them long enough to be sure they weren’t going to charge the place, John turned back to his team.

“Okay, you three take the back way out and head for the gate. I’ll fire at them enough to keep them busy. With any luck, they’ll think we’re trapped in here until you’ve had time to get to the gate.”

“What about you?” asked Teyla. John could already feel his teammates bristling at his suggestion and he was both annoyed and greatly touched by it.

“I’ll be fine. Once you guys have a good enough head start, I’ll throw a grenade or two out and then make a run for the back door. They’ll have to approach carefully because they won’t know if we’re still here or not. That will give me time to get out the back and head for the gate.”

“I’ll stay and help you,” offered Ronon.

“No, there’s no need. Only one person can fire from this door and there are no windows. Good thing is they can’t sneak up on me that way. You guys go and radio me when you get close.”

“Colonel . . . “ Rodney started, trailing off with a worried frown.

“Thanks, guys, but really, I’ll be fine. This one is a no-brainer.”

“Then you’ll be fine because you’re certainly qualified,” said Rodney.

John grinned and was happy to see Rodney grin back, even if it wasn’t completely sincere. “Gee, thanks McKay. Now go.” Not waiting for an answer, he turned and fired a few rounds out the door to let his company know he was still watching. Ronon clapped him on the shoulder and Teyla came up beside him to give a small nod when he looked her way.

“Be safe, John,” she said before following Ronon out the door. He flashed her a quick smile before she turned away and then he glanced at Rodney.

“Uh, don’t wait too long. It’s chocolate cake night and you know how your marines are about chocolate cake.”

“We’ll be home in time to sneak doubles,” John promised.

“I’m holding you to that.” Rodney stared at him a moment before hurrying out the door to catch up with his teammates. “Wait on me,” John heard him call as he cleared the doorway.

Forty minutes later, John was nearly out of ammunition. The raiders had been getting braver and braver, making him have to fire at them more often. He sighed with relief when his radio activated.

“John, we are nearly to the gate and have encountered no resistance. You should leave now.”

“Music to my ears, Teyla. I’m pitching out the grenades and heading out the back door. By the way, where exactly is the back door?”

“Follow the path Rodney and Ronon took around the cave. About halfway around you will encounter an opening in the rock wall. It is easy to miss, so stay close to the cliff. Follow the passage and it will lead you to an entrance. A rock fall has covered much of it, but you should have no trouble getting through. Rodney was able to get past.” John thought he heard Rodney’s voice in the background asking if that was supposed to be a fat joke.

“Will do,” John answered with a laugh. Reaching into his vest, he pulled out two grenades, throwing one out the door to the right and the other to the left as he pulled the pins out. He ran for the door, reaching the hall as the first one exploded. A few steps later, he heard the second one go off, followed by people yelling. That should keep you guys busy for a few minutes.

Once he reached the cavern, his light again seemed pitifully inadequate and he made a mental note to get some stronger lighting for the future. He hurried as fast as he dared along the wall, wanting to put as much distance between him and the raiders as possible, while hoping once they discovered he was gone, they would be so happy to have control of the facility that they wouldn’t pursue him. A few minutes later, he came to the hole in the rock face of the cliff. He’d almost walked right past it.

The sound of angry voices and crashing furniture from the front of the research station put a bit of hurry in his step and he jogged down the dark corridor, light from his P90 bouncing along in front of him. After a few minutes, there was a slight incline that led through a narrowing of the passage and then his way was filled with skinny steps carved into the rock. The stairway wound around in a spiral and the narrow steps were slippery with moisture, which was why after the rough equivalent of three flights he slipped and fell forward.

His knees and shins slammed into the rough front edge of the steps, as did his chest when he continued forward at an alarming rate of speed. Sprawled across the cold uneven stone, he lay panting and gritting his teeth in pain for a moment before twisting around to sit with his back to the wall. Listening for his pursuers, he tried to be quiet, but his quick breaths seemed loud in the narrow stairwell. When he was convinced no one was coming for him, he pushed himself to his feet and continued the long climb out, reaching an opening several minutes later. His radio activated and he plopped down on the top step, soaking in the sunlight while letting his eyes adjust to the change in brightness.

“John, we are approaching the gate. Where are you?”

“Just now finding my way out. You guys could have warned me about the steps,” he said angrily, unsure of why they would not have relayed that important piece of information.

There was an uncomfortable pause before Rodney broke into the conversation. “What steps?”

John sighed and tapped his radio a little harder than was necessary. “You know, the million or so steps that are about five inches wide and slick as oil?” He was getting a bad feeling about this. How could Rodney not know what steps he was referring to?

“There are no steps, Colonel. Where the heck are you and why can you not follow simple instructions?”

“I followed directions,” John said in a forceful whisper, still afraid to make much noise. “There must be two passages or at least two branches. How was I supposed to know that? I could barely see my hand in front of my face. Look, are you guys at the gate yet?”

“Ronon is dialing,” Teyla said. “But we will stop and wait for you to catch up.”

“Nah,” John drawled. “You guys head back and I’ll be there shortly.”

“Sheppard, we aren’t leaving you here,” Ronon said.

John rubbed his face and let his hand drop to his side. His knees and shins ached, as did his hands, which he now noticed had been scraped up in his attempt at catching himself. “I appreciate the sentiment, big guy, but there’s no need. Our friends don’t seem to be after me, so they probably found the right way out, which means they might be on their way to you. I can pick my way back to the gate. Since I know those guys are out there, they should be easy to avoid.”

There was another long, awkward pause in which John figured they were discussing their options. Finally Rodney came back on the radio. “Look, Colonel, we’ve been . . . what is that . . . is that the OW!”

“Rodney!” John called, pushing himself to his feet in spite of the fact that he was too far away to help.

“Sheppard, there’s a couple of those guys headed this way and they’re firing on us. They must have sent some back to keep an eye on the gate,” Ronon said.

“What about Rodney? Is anyone hurt?” John asked anxiously, pacing around in front of the cave opening.

“A bullet grazed Rodney’s hand, but we are alright for now. I am afraid we must go to avoid further injury.”

John nodded at Teyla’s assessment. “Go! This will be good for me because they’ll think we’re all gone, which means they won’t be looking for me.”

“But John, we cannot just leave you here,” Teyla said. John could hear gunfire in the background and he knew they needed to get out of there.

“You aren’t. Look, give me two hours and if I’m not back, send a rescue team.”

“That’s too long,” said Ronon, the whine of his gun filling the spaces between his words.

“No it isn’t. I still don’t know where I am and I’ll have to move carefully. Now go, that’s an order,” John barked.

John could almost hear the reluctance in Teyla’s voice. “Be careful, John.” Rodney screamed, “Remember the cake,” in the background, making him smile as his radio went silent.

With a sigh, John finally looked around to see where he’d come out. He appeared to be at the top of the mountain. The ground was rocky, but shrubs and trees appeared farther down the slope. He walked around the area, trying to get his bearing so he’d know which direction to head. With no desire to listen to Rodney gloat about how he’d gotten lost twice on the same mission, he didn’t start down until he was certain of his direction. Once that was settled, John began to make his way down the steep, rocky slope. A loud and bizarre roar made his head snap up as the sound seemed to vibrate through the trees below him. He waited for a while, but the sound was not repeated, so he slowly returned to his descent, now a little more nervous about what he might run into.

He was just entering the area where the concentration of trees was beginning to pick up when the cluster of stones beneath his feet gave way and sent him tumbling head-long down the hill. The world spun as sharp rocks jabbed and cut at him and the rough bark of a tree occasionally clipped his flailing arms. Then his head impacted something hard and the rest of trip went on without him.

oOo

John’s first awareness was that everything hurt. Absolutely everything. From the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. He didn’t really want to move, but his arm was smashed underneath him and his watch was jabbing him in the sternum. Taking stock of himself, he realized none of the pains were sharp or severe, more a collection of aches and bruises. With a groan, he pushed himself over on his back and squinted his eyes against the sun streaming through the breaks in the trees.

Lying still for several minutes, John finally forced his eyes open a little further and stared up at the canopy above. After a few minutes, he moved each limb in turn to check for broken bones and was relieved to find none. His right knee felt like he’d twisted it good, but it didn’t seem to be anything severe. With a grunt, he levered his arms underneath him and pushed himself up to a sitting position. The flaring pain in his head combined with the dizziness that assaulted him told him one thing – concussion.

“Well, crap,” he muttered to himself. When the forest stopped doing its impression of a tilt-a-whirl, John glanced at his watch to see how close to the two hour mark he was, but all he could see was the crushed glass covering the face. He wasn’t surprised as much as he was disappointed. The adjacent cut on his forearm that was still bleeding made him pretty sure that he hadn’t been out too long. With a sigh, he took out a field bandage and proceeded to cover the wound while marveling at his growing expertise at bandaging injuries one-handed.

When he was finished, John put his hand to his ear to look for the radio he knew wouldn’t be there. As expected, he was two for two. A quick glance at the ground around him did not reveal the missing radio, but a long glance up the hill he’d just tumbled down did reveal that he wouldn’t be searching for it. He figured he might as well head for the gate.

Using a large rock that was probably responsible for some of his bruises, John pushed himself to his feet and wobbled for a few moments. His body protested the vertical position with a bout of nausea and dizziness that any self-respecting concussion would be proud of. John gave himself his standard “buck up” speech, reminding himself that he was basically behind enemy lines with no backup for a while. The world finally settled and he stepped forward to his right knee reminding him that it was twisted and really didn’t want to do the hiking thing right now.

“I could use a break here,” John pleaded to no one in particular. A few limping steps later he had his gait established and was happy to find there were no sharp pains in his leg, just a heavy, abiding ache. He could do this. He’d walked further with worse before. Not lately, but he knew he could still do it. “Piece of cake,” he muttered to himself. “And when did I start talking to myself?”

He moved at a pretty steady pace, following the side of the mountain as the rocky soil gave way to larger and more trees. The steep slope on his left evolved into a sheer cliff face until John stopped, staring at a large cave opening in a small clearing. The smell of death permeated the air and he could see scattered fragments of bones near the entrance, still twenty feet away. Looking up, he noticed the edge of the tree tops facing the cave looked scruffed and broken, making him shudder. He listened for several minutes, but could only hear the breeze through the trees and the sound of his own breathing. Shaking off the sense of foreboding, he decided now was a good time to veer away from the mountain and head for the gate.

His path began to slope downhill, which he saw as a good sign since their trail to the Ancient lab station had been uphill. His head was throbbing double time now and he kept swallowing to keep the bile at bay. The bobbing motion of walking was not helping either one and the uneven ground was giving his knee fits. John finally had to stop and lean against the trunk of a large tree. He twisted a little to reach for his water and that was enough to send the world spinning around and around until it finally just went dark.

oOo

John woke to something wet sliding across his cheek and he absently slapped at it with a groan. It seemed like only moments later that the wet feeling reappeared and this time he waved it away using his whole arm. When his hand struck something rough on the surface, yet soft and giving underneath, at about the same time as a high-pitched squeal cut the air, he jolted awake. Automatically scrambling back from whatever had been touching him, his back quickly met up with a tree trunk and stopped his progress. He sat panting for a moment, returning the stare of some kind of huge lizard. He rubbed his face vigorously when he realized the thing must have been licking him while he was out.

Staring at the animal, he slowly came to realize it wasn’t a lizard. It was as big as a good-sized German Shepherd and covered with green scales that looked almost iridescent when the sun hit them. The snout was kind of blunt, with two little whisker looking things hanging down from opposite sides of the lower jaw. Ears were laid back low, like an animal that was nervous. The body was long and lean, almost like a mountain lion with scales, and a long tapering tail. A small row of ridges ran from between the creature’s ears to about halfway down its tail. But the thing that really had control of John’s attention was what appeared to be a pair of wings folded neatly over the creature’s back.

Oh my god, it’s a dragon. A real live wing-bearing dragon. What the crap? I’ve got to be dreaming . . . or maybe hallucinating. Yeah, it’s the concussion.

Not daring to take his eyes from the creature, John leaned forward, trying to get a closer look. The animal’s ears slowly rose until they were pointed at the sky and then it began to inch forward, its neck extended as far as possible. Hardly breathing, he watched as the creature crept forward until it could sniff of his boot. When John inadvertently moved a little, it jumped back and stared at him, making a small whimpering noise. It was the liquid green eyes and the whimpering that got to him.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he said softly, extending his hand like he was trying to attract a small puppy or kitten. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He sat like that until his arm was tired, but about the time he thought about giving up, the baby dragon began to creep forward again. What in the world am I doing, he asked himself. And then the animal licked his fingers and made a low growling sound in its throat before rubbing its head against John’s chest. He couldn’t help the broad grin that spread across his face.

He found himself petting the dragon. He was sitting in the middle of a forest, petting a baby dragon. How weird was this? “Need something to call you, girl,” he said. She was a girl. Pausing, he thought about that. He knew, without a doubt, that she was a girl and he had no idea why. This was getting weirder and weirder. She licked him in the face and he turned away, chuckling as he pushed her out of his lap. “Okay, girl, enough of that.”

Pushing to his feet before she had a chance to climb back in his lap, he stood staring down at the small green animal. She looked up at him like a family dog would and he shook his head in wonder. That was followed by a flailing grab for the tree to keep him from toppling over when the world stood on end. Oh, yeah, concussion. No more shaking my head. You’d think the headache from hell would be a constant reminder.

“Em,” he said. “You’re kind of an emerald green, so we could shorten that to Em . . . or maybe Emma. Yeah, I like Emma. Well, Emma, I’ve got to get back home before they send the troops after me. It was nice meeting you.” With a final pat to her head, John began limping forward. His time on the ground had let his muscles stiffen and his aches take hold, including the one in his knee. After a few stumbling steps, he loosened up a bit and made better progress. At least until he realized Emma was following him.

When he stopped, the dragon ran forward to jump around at his feet, making squeaky growling noises. “You can’t follow me home,” he said, pleading with the animal. “I don’t see Woolsey letting me keep you. I can see it now. Hey, Mr. Woolsey, this dragon followed me home, can I keep her?” John laughed thinking about the expression that would probably be on the man’s face. “On second thought, it might be fun to try just to see the look on his face.”

A roar from across the forest made the ground rumble and the trees around him seem to tremble. John swallowed hard. “Uh, would that be your mom? Because I really, really don’t want an angry mother dragon after me. You’d better go home before we both get in trouble. Shoo!” John waved his arms at Emma, causing her to scramble backwards away from him. “That’s right. You get home before mom gets upset.”

Turning away, he began walking as fast as his sore knee would let him. He staggered a few steps when he turned too fast, but quickly regained his balance and surged forward. The sound of crashing leaves and brush behind him made him glance over his shoulder. Emma was running to catch up. “Damn it, Emma, you need to go home,” he snapped, now beginning to worry. He stood there, watching her for a minute.

“It couldn’t be that easy,” he mumbled. Looking around, he stooped over to pick up a large stick. Breaking off a side branch so that it was straight, he threw it a short distance. Sure enough, Emma ran after it, returning it a moment later. “Good, girl, Emma, good girl.” He threw it again, a little further. The next time Emma returned the stick, he threw it as far as he could in the direction they had just come. The instant the dragon went after it, he turned and ran, ignoring the complaints from his knee and his head and hoping like crazy he didn’t have to stop to puke. He ran for several minutes before dropping down behind a large cluster of rocks. After a few moments, he peeked over the top, but there was no sign of Emma. Guilt pulled heavy at his heart as he got to his feet and continued on his way. “I had to do it. I’m sorry, Emma.”

The next ten minutes, John tried to concentrate on getting back to Atlantis, but a small, green dragon kept popping into his head. He almost turned back to check on her, but then reminded himself that momma dragon was looking for her and it was best if he wasn’t around when she found her. He wasn’t sure what dragons ate for dinner, but he didn’t want to chance it being him.

The high pitched scream startled him so much he almost tripped over the fallen limbs he was currently walking through. Freezing in his tracks, he shifted around and listened. A few moments later, the call was repeated, followed by a panicked trilling sound. He knew it was Emma. He felt her fear and it unnerved him slightly as he ran back the way he had come, all the while mentally telling her he was coming.

"Part 2"

Muse tackles teacher during standardized testing.

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:03:10 GMT

While watching a room full of tenth-graders take an end-of-course exam and trying desperately not to die from boredom, my muse totally tackled me to the floor. I just kept wandering around the room mentally working on this story until I've worked the whole thing out in my head and now I'm going to have to type it up, in spite of the fact that I DO NOT HAVE TIME to be writing fanfiction right now. I have a final to give in my college class and senior grades are due next week and I leave for ISEF in Reno in less than two weeks. What is wrong with me????? Never mind, I know what's wrong - it's called addiction, or sometimes obsession. Maybe I could write up a short fic. Yeah, right, because that always works so well (insert sarcastic snort here).

OH, and you know how sometimes this one scene from a story you read ages ago kind of comes back to haunt you and you want to read it again, but you can't remember where it's from? Doing that too. I was remembering this scene where John had been sent to the Athosian village to recover from something I think. They sent him so he would actually relax, but he got the impression they didn't want him around and was kind of miffed at all of them. I have no idea what story that came from, but suddenly got the urge to read that part and what led up to it again. Crazy me. I've been doing some rereading of favorites lately - you know, late at night when I should be grading papers or going to bed. Back to that obsession thing again.

On a good note, IT'S FINALLY WARM!!!!!!!!!! (oops, I probably shouldn't have said that out loud).

Con in August

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:32:06 GMT

I'm slow. I JUST discovered that Joe will be at a convention in August in Chicago. I CAN DRIVE THERE! That means I could actually afford to go!!! Is anyone else going? The only hang-up is that I want one of the gold passes and there are only 100. I'll have to finish paying for my daughter's trip to Space Camp before I can cough up the money for the ticket and I'm terrified they'll all be gone. Maybe a third job??????

I think I'm back - maybe

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:15:59 GMT

I have a new appreciation for electricity. And I feel guilty for saying that because there are lots and lots of people who still don't have power around here and many of them won't for a long time. If you are interested, ice sucks in a major way. Two nights and one day of almost continuous freezing rain. Sure, it's pretty when the sun hits an inch or so of it wrapped around every surface in sight, but it's a little scary to lie in a completely dark room listening to trees snap all around your house. Hmmm, gives me a story idea - is that bad?

I have lots of emails and stories to catch up on and I'm just hoping the internet stays on this time. It came on twice before and blinked out before I had a chance to do much. I have to admit I'm looking forward to reading some, although I had a lot more time last week when we were sitting around watching the walls with flashlights. Ah well, at least we were warm - thank goodness for the wood stove. If the internet stays on and I can remember how, I'll post a pic or two.

It's over.

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 04:43:32 GMT

Well, after being depressed all day, I'm even more depressed now. I keep trying to convince myself that this is all for the best - the writers are screwing things up lately, John has become a secondary character in many episodes this season since it's apparently become the Jennifer Keller Show, and surely someone will grab him up to star in some really wonderful show as a strong lead with h/c potential. It's not working. I still feel like I just lost my best friend and I can't seem to stop the sniffling, eye-wiping thing, no matter how much I try. I keep remembering all the wonderful episodes and the great moments across the seasons. I'm going to miss the characters and Atlantis and the stargate and the messes they got themselves into. I'll even miss Todd.

I have to admit that the ending of their final show made me even more depressed (like we don't know what the IOA would do in that situation). That's two sucky endings in a row (well, at least from my POV). Plus, they end with a plug for Stargate Universe, you know, the show they booted SGA for. What a kick in the gut. And I need to go cry some more. Today really sucks!!

Ramblings

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:24:13 GMT

I'm playing with my journal, so don't be surprised if it changes around in the next few days. I decided to see what I could do with it as is since I spent the money I was thinking of putting towards a paid account. So staying with free for now. Since I'm computer-challenged, there's no telling what I'll end up doing to this thing.

I'm once again amazed at the fragile nature of life. A guy in his early twenties that my daughter used to work with recently died. He was wrestling around with some of his friends and hit his head. I'm not sure of the details, but I think he developed a hematoma (not sure where). I don't think he ever even regained consciousness. It was just a silly accident when a bunch of friends were clowning around acting silly. I don't even know the family and I want to go hug them. I can't even imagine losing a child, much less like that. So preventable if only they'd known or been more careful. Makes you really stop and think about how quickly and unexpectedly things can happen.

Still reeling from Vegas and the goodness that is Joe Flanigan. I think when the series . . . you know . . . next week, I'll go back to season one and start at the beginning, watching an episode every Friday. Some of those I haven't seen in ages, so it'll be almost like getting a new episode each week. And I can remind myself of what episode certain neat little events and quotes happened in. Anyway, that's my plan to put off withdrawal symptoms.

Paid Accounts

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:52:57 GMT

I'm thinking of upgrading to a paid account. I want a really neat site like some of you guys and all the really neat themes are for paid accounts. What I really want is to put some SGA pics or maybe one picture at the top . . . I think. Okay, so I really don't know what I want other than something that is less boring than what I have and a place to post/archive my fiction - maybe some original fiction eventually (if I ever get it to do what I want it to do). My oldest daughter has a day off later this week and has promised to help (because we all know I'm too technology-challenged to figure this out on my own).

So - any thoughts or suggestions on the matter???????

Who knew seeing Vegas was such hard work?

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:42:14 GMT

Well, I finally got to watch Vegas last night, after hours of slaving over a frustrating computer for several days. The first file I downloaded gave me sound, but no picture. My daughter and I worked all afternoon and half the night Christmas day (after all the family festivities) trying to get whatever codec we were missing, all to no avail. I gave up and downloaded another version yesterday. You got it - picture with no sound. After much weeping and gnashing of teeth trying to fix that one (you think I'm exaggerating?), I gave up.

You guessed it. I loaded one version on my laptop and the other on the desktop and played them simultaneously. It kind of reminded me of the old Godzilla movies when I was a kid - the voices didn't exactly match the mouth movements. After swinging back and forth trying to fix it for a few minutes, I just got it close and quit watching their mouths. All in all, it worked pretty well. And thank you again, Kristen, for all your help and advice. Never would have gotten to see it without you.

I don't want to spoil anyone, so let me just say WOW, didn't see that one coming. And if there is anyone out there planning a detective show in the near future, you need to watch this guy in action. He would be perfect and I hear he's out of a job right now, or soon will be. Go, run, call him now.

Book Recommendation

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:59:44 GMT

If you like to read, I have a recommendation. I just finished Melissa's (kriadydragon) book Amrin The Dreamer and it's wonderful. A few short chapters into it, I couldn't put it down. It has magic and wizards and cruelty and kindness and excitement and mystery all woven together in a way that leaves you desperate to get to the end and see how everything works out. She made me smile and she made me cry. I'm so relieved to know how it ends and at the same time, I'm so sad that there is no more to read.

Awesome job, Melissa!!!

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:37:36 GMT

An interesting thing happened on the way back to my room after the pep rally today. Two girls decided to tear each other up right outside my door, just about the time I got there. Lucky me. Usually when you get the fighters pulled apart, they calm down a little. Not these girls. They kept going at each other, punching and pulling and throwing us the whole time. So we have two high school girls throwing a punchfest and three women teachers trying to keep them from killing one another.

It seemed to go on forever and I kept wondering where all the guy teachers and administrators were, because these girls kept throwing us off and going at it again. Turns out the kids were packed into such a tight ball around us watching that they couldn't get to us. When the calvary finally arrived, I was on the adrenalin rush from you know where. A few minutes later, when I could breathe again, I found myself trying to teach while getting my hands to stop shaking. I guess adrenalin really does mask pain, because I know that one girl pounded on my back and shoulders, but I didn't actually feel until I sat down during my prep period an hour and a half later. Yeah, I'll be hitting the ibuprofen tonight.

All I can say is THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!

It's official - I'm crazy!

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:50:43 GMT

I have apparently taken leave of my senses. I just signed up for the sgahcchallenges Last Fic Writer Standing and I totally blame kristen999. I saw her little ad and went to check it out. I've been telling myself "you don't have time for this" for several days now, but insanity won out.

My reasoning is that the fics have to be short (translation = not much time) and it will be good for me to answer challenges in a few words (something I'm not exactly good at - the few words part). So good exercises for that stupid part of me that still wants to be a writer (can we say fantasy land?).

Anyway - if you haven't checked it out, you should go do that now. It looks like lots of fun both writing and reading.

sgahcchallenges site

Rules

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:12:23 GMT

Just came from reading a big pile of crap at Gateworld. Some mumbo jumbo about Atlantis going out on top and blah blah blah. How stupid do they think we are? Oh, and (shock, shock), by an amazing coincidence, just as Atlantis is dumped, Stargate Universe is picked up. I never thought there would be a Stargate anything I wouldn't watch, but this is it. I don't want to know what it's about or who's in it - I AIN'T WATCHING!!!! Partly because the "great powers" will just jerk it out from under the fans when they get attached to it and partly because I don't believe the timing indicates anything but that they dumped SGA for SGU. I think I'm finally tired enough of being jerked around to "just say no".

My only consolation (besides the hope of a possible movie - I know it's supposed to be a sure thing but . . . not very trusing right now) is the fact that some of my favorite authors are saying they will continue to write the fanfiction and my favorite sites are vowing to continue on. At least WE see the value and potential of the show, even if the people in control don't. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS!!!!

Yes, I am an obsessed freak. And I'm okay with that!!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:11:08 GMT

First day of school today and let's just say we got off to an interesting start. On the way to my room I pass a girl with a very tight, see-through dress and a thong glowing underneath for all to see. Yes, we sent her home to change. I have to wonder, did she not SEE herself before she walked out the door??? Then we all head to the auditorium for the "Welcome Back" thing they do every year and a teacher runs out yelling, "Get the nurse, someone is having a seizure!" This was all before 8am and I definitely did not have enough coffee in me yet. And people wonder why teachers have a high insanity rate. Only 177 student days left.

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:38:41 GMT

Okay, I'm trying my hand at adding pictures. Who knows if I'll get it right or not. Anyway, if this goes right, here's a photo of our bearded dragon, Mushu. Huge thanks to parisindy for the assist.

" />

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:11:16 GMT

I'm officially crazy. I bought a bearded dragon, you know, since I don't have anything else to do with my time (like teaching 4 different science classes at high school and now a new class for me at the local university at night). But he's beautiful and my youngest daughter loves him. We named him Mushu since he has a lot of red along his back. He's eating and pooping, so I guess he's properly recovered from his trip through the mail service. I have to admit that I'm a little excited about him.

The pet store in town had a veiled chameleon when we went to buy dragon supplies. We noticed he looked a LOT thinner than when we were in there scouting out their dragons two weeks ago. Daughter wants me to buy him and rescue him. I had to inform her that I don't have an extra $150 for the chameleon plus another few hundred for the supplies we would need to properly care for him (okay, so I thought about it and researched their care on the internet). I'm trying to find a grant that could get him for my room at school and keep him there. After all, we talk about them in Biology and AP Biology. Yeah, I'm a sucker for animals (unless it's a spider, then I squish him).

Oh, and muscle relaxers suck. I get these lovely tension headaches the knot the muscles in my neck and shoulders while someone pounds on the back of my skull. Doctor gave me muscle relaxers for them. I sleep good and wake up without the headache, but I'm useless the next day. All I feel like doing is lying around and sleeping. It's like I have NO energy at all and if I sit down for more than a few minutes, I doze off. She suggested I try a half a pill at a time. Anyway, I'm afraid to take them during the week when school's in session. I took one last night after mowing the yard for 2 hours finished cramping all the muscles in my neck and I've been totally useless today. Good thing I'm not working this week.

I have less than two weeks of freedom left before the late nights, early mornings, and the constant feeling of being hopelessly behind. And I'm looking at my long list of things to do this summer and not much got marked off. How did that happen - again?