Cold Comfort complete

by obsessed1

When Sheppard gets sick off-world, he ends up fighting for more than his life.

"And as you can see, we've nearly all but evacuated the town. Perhaps it would be best for us to establish ourselves on our new world before we enter into a trading agreement."

McKay shot Teyla a pleading look as they wound a path through the bustling market. Only traders weren't peddling their goods, they were packing up, ready to leave. They didn't want to trade. McKay didn't want to trade. It was the perfect relationship.

Sheppard's sneeze startled them all. He looked up and wiped his nose. "Sorry."

The town's Guardian regarded Sheppard with narrowed eyes for a minute before continuing on. Teyla followed at his side, Ronon patted Sheppard on the shoulder before moving off and McKay fell in to step beside the colonel.

"This is a pointless waste of time," he said, huffing when a man carrying a burlap sack nearly stumbled into him.

"We'll be out of here soon," Sheppard told him, sniffing and running the back of his hand against his nose again.

"That's disgusting."

Sheppard scowled and pushed between two women that were packing away their stall.

"So, can we leave now? You heard the Guardian. They're leaving."

Sheppard rolled his eyes.

"Look, I don't know if you noticed, but I was in the middle of something very important back on Atlantis. " McKay sighed. "Are you even listening to me?"

Sheppard nodded.

"What was I saying?"

"Very important," Sheppard mumbled. "You want to leave."

What the hell was wrong with him anyway? In the last hour, he'd been skulking at the back, dragging his feet and giving monosyllabic answers whenever a question was directed his way. Usually Sheppard was irritatingly peppy, especially when McKay was miserable.

Sheppard shot him an irritated look when he realised McKay was staring at him. "I told you. Few more minutes."

"You said that a few minutes ago!"

Sheppard massaged his throat. "Teyla thinks they have-"

"Then she can negotiate and I'll head back. Just say the word."

The ghost of a smile curved Sheppard's mouth. He went to speak, but he'd hardly made a noise before he was erupting into a cough. McKay patted his back while Sheppard hacked up a lung. He noticed that some of the townspeople were watching them.

McKay handed Sheppard his canteen. "Here."

He took a gulp of water and finally straightened up. When he was able to, he said, "Thanks."

McKay refused the canteen when it was handed back to him. The last thing he wanted to do was catch Sheppard's germs.

Germs!

Oh god. He was sick! On second thoughts. Yes! Sheppard was sick. Now they could go.

He left Sheppard's side and pushed through the crowd to reach the others. "Teyla!"

She turned away from the Guardian and peered over McKay's shoulder. "Rodney?"

"Sheppard's sick. We need to head back to Atlantis."

Ronon seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief. Teyla reached for McKay's arm and asked him to steer her in the direction of Sheppard.

They found Sheppard where McKay had left him. He was leaning against one of the stalls and looked surprised to see everyone rushing his way. He was already going for the p-90 dangling from his vest.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking to McKay for an answer.

"Rodney informed us that you are sick," Teyla said.

Sheppard relaxed and batted her hand away. "I'm okay," he argued in a voice that was gravely and deep with cold.

Teyla managed to get passed Sheppard's defences and plant her palm against his forehead. "You are burning up."

Sheppard rolled his eyes, but then seemed to regret it. He reached up to the bridge of his nose and gave it a squeeze.

"Why did you not tell us you were unwell?" Teyla asked, taking on the tone of an aggrieved mother.

"It's just a cold," Sheppard told her, looking to Ronon for support.

"Looks like we're heading back," he said, clapping Sheppard's shoulder.

"Fine," Sheppard said, reaching up to wipe at his forehead.

"Thank you for your time," Teyla said to their escort. "But we must now return to our home world."

The town's Guardian stepped forward and gripped Sheppard's wrist. Sheppard winced and tried to pull his arm back at the same time that Ronon went for the Guardian.

"Please!" he said. He moved for Sheppard's arm again and turned his wrist over. "You have a prickly rash developing on your arm and your skin is oversensitive. It hurts to be touched? Am I correct?"

Sheppard retracted his arm and inspected the rash. "What is it?"

The Guardian lowered his voice. "It is a sickness that usually only effects the children."

"He'll be fine. Right?" McKay asked.

"I don't feel too bad," Sheppard said.

"I'm afraid you will be feeling rather unwell, colonel. Your condition will decline rapidly."

Teyla said, "If you can allow us access to your medical knowledge of the condition then we can return home and treat John there."

"I must insist that you all come with me to our infirmary to be tested for the sickness. Colonel Sheppard, I would advise you to stay here and be treated. The illness will run its course in a matter of days."

"If it runs its course in a matter of days," Sheppard sniffed. "Then why do I have to stay here?"

"The sickness is easily spread to the young. Although not fatal on our world, it has proved to be to for children who do not have natural immunity."

0000

"This sucks," Sheppard said, as they followed the doctor towards the ward.

"It's not our fault we're not infected," McKay told him.

"It will only be for a few days," Teyla said. "The doctor has explained that you will experience mild symptoms and then you will be free to leave."

Sheppard waved his hand dismissively. "I know, I know."

The doctor stopped outside a small room. Inside, the walls were white washed and bare besides one shelf. The only furniture was a narrow bed and a side table. "I hope that you will be comfortable here."

"This is fine," Sheppard said, allowing Teyla to guide him over to the bed. Other than feeling like he had a case of the flu, he really wasn't feeling too bad.

There were sounds of laughter followed by a scream across the corridor. The doctor rubbed at his forehead and then sighed. "I will return shortly."

"What the hell was that?" McKay asked, when he'd gone.

"Sounds like kids," Ronon said.

"Figures," McKay said. "Well, since this is a child's illness."

Sheppard started removing his tac vest. "No need to keep rubbing it in, Rodney."

The doctor returned looking a little crumpled.

"Is everything okay?" Teyla asked.

"Most of our people are already setting up on the new world, our traders leave tonight and the medical station will be the last to be evacuated. We have already transported our other patients. That leaves one ward left as we prefer to keep the children's move to the minimum of disruption. Hopefully they will settle down soon."

"How many kids are we talking about?" Sheppard asked.

"Seven," the doctor said. "They'll settle. They're just excited about there being a new patient."

"Hear that Sheppard? You have a mini fan club already."

Sheppard shot McKay a mutinous look.

"I will be staying tonight, as will one of the nurses and my assistant. Tomorrow we will all move to New Astraya."

Sheppard grumbled.

"Suck it up," Ronon said. He smiled broadly. Obviously, he was loving this as well.

"We have provided accommodations for the rest of the team on the level below. I must ask that you do not venture up here. Although you are not infected, we would like to minimise your exposure to the disease as a precaution."

"Thank you, doctor," Teyla said.

"I have some clothes that you can change into for your stay with us, colonel."

Sheppard had already noticed the neatly folded gown at the end of the bed. "No that's fine. I'll stick to what I'm wearing."

"It does not look comfortable."

"You get used to it."

"Very well."

Sheppard tugged off his boots and set them on the floor. He passed his handgun and p-90 to Ronon. "Stick them up there on that shelf." Ronon stared at him. "So the kids can't reach."

"You will not need weapons here colonel, I assure you."

"I know Doc, but I don't sleep well when I'm unarmed."

The doctor looked confused.

"He's military," McKay said. "It's like a very lethal comfort blanket."

"Oh." The doctor nodded, but it was clear he didn't understand. "Perhaps I can show you your quarters now?"

0000

Sheppard lay on his back and drummed his fingers against his empty thigh holster. He really wasn't feeling all that bad. Okay, so he had a headache. And his nose wouldn't stop running. And his throat was sore. And his stomach felt a little unsettled. But otherwise, it was all tolerable

McKay wasn't going to let him forget this. He could just hear the "do you remember the time Sheppard got that kid's illness" stories already. He'd have to go through their old mission reports for ammunition. Lesson number one; always be prepared to counter attack.

Light was flooding into the room and he wasn't tired. He pushed off the bed and walked out into the corridor. He looked both ways, but there wasn't anyone around.

In front of him was a set of double doors with circular viewing windows. Beyond them was a row of beds, but the kids all seemed to be up one end of the room sat around a younger child. For the moment they seemed quiet enough.

He turned back to his room and then looked down the corridor again. He knew he wasn't going to relax until he'd scoped out the place. Sure, the doc said that he didn't need to worry, but it didn't stop him wanting to at least familiarise himself with the layout. If he took a quick walk, it would ease his mind, and then he could maybe take that nap.

He turned left and deeper into the bowels of the building. The walls were white, but the panelling looked Atlantean. No doubt, McKay would've already noticed and was doing his own poking around. Doors off the hallway led to more wards and some smaller, equally sterile, rooms. On the other side a glass window looked out onto the valley below. The Stargate was just about visible in the distance.

"Colonel?"

He turned too quickly and pitched to the side. The young nurse managed to steady him before he could fall.

"Sorry," he said. "Thought I'd take a walk."

She smiled. "You are more than welcome. But, at the moment, you should be resting."

He straightened up and she released his arm. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. She pushed him back towards his room."You move every year, right?"

"It's the only way to keep from being culled."

"This place-"

"It isn't one of our constructions. It was here when we arrived. I believe it was an old bunker."

"So you haven't been able to get any systems online?"

"We can open doors and turn the lights on and off," she said. "We use what we find. This building has served its purpose well."

When they reached the kids ward, they were making a racket again. He hadn't been that bothered about it before, but if they were going to keep that up all night then he was switching rooms. "I thought they were sick?"

"They are nearing the end of their sickness. Some of them have been experiencing delusions. It makes them rather…overactive."

Sheppard hopped up onto the bed. "Delusions?"

"Adults have milder symptoms. You should not experience them." She reached into her pocket and produced two pills. "To dull the pain."

A squeal ripped down the corridor and Sheppard winced.

"They are just excited about the move. I will tell them to be quiet."

"Thanks."

"If you need anything else then let me know. I'm Nia," she said. She patted his arm. "Get some rest. I will check on you in a short while."

Sheppard stared at the ceiling. When he heard the nurse speaking authoritatively, he turned his head towards the ward. If only he had a door to close.

"As you know you have a guest tonight. Now Colonel Sheppard is sick just like you and I'm sure he will want to rest. Can we all stay in our beds and be quiet for him?"

One of the kids caught his eye through the crack in the door and waved

"What kinda name is Colonel?"

"He is a soldier."

"A soldier!"

One of the girls squealed again and there was a chain reaction of murmurs.

"He can protect us from the ghost!"

"Oh no. Don't start on that again. Please?" she said. "Go to bed. I will check in on you later."

She closed the ward doors. When she turned, she gave him a withering look.

"Ghost?".

"I told you," she said. "They suffer delusions."

0000

Sheppard groaned and rolled onto his side. His headache had gone up a notch and it was making it difficult to get any sleep. Hearing whispers, he opened his eyes. The kids from the ward were sitting on the floor outside his room and watching him. He edged up onto his elbow. "Hey."

"You're kinda old to be in here," one of the girls said. She looked about six or seven, maybe even younger. Her cheeks were flushed and there was a red rash covering both her arms.

"I know."

"Where are you from?" Another kid asked.

"I'm kinda tired. Was thinking of getting some sleep."

They didn't move.

He tried again. "Maybe you should go back to your beds."

"Is it true? Are you a soldier?" A boy asked, getting up and walking into the room. "Is that your weapon?"

"Where?" asked another, joining his side.

"Up there. There's some sort of weapon."

"Now," Sheppard said as he sat up. "That's not for kids."

"Can you show us how it works?"

"No."

"But you can help us."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and hooked his legs over the edge of the bed. "Help with what?"

One of the girls shuffled forward. "The ghost."

The nurse had mentioned that the kids were having delusions. But it wasn't often than people shared the same delusion. Was it?

"It appears all the time. It's a mechanical man."

"There aren't any ghosts here," he said.

"Yes there are. But we can't understand what it says."

Sheppard hopped off the bed and started to herd them away from his room. "Okay. Well if you see him then let me know. Until then, I'm going to sleep."

0000

McKay lay back on his bed and groaned. "Well, my back's going to ache in the morning."

Teyla shot him one of those looks that meant he was being ungrateful. He didn't care. For once, he'd like to stay on a world that understood the importance of a firm, supportive mattress.

"Stop being a jerk," Ronon said, testing his own bed.

"Where did you learn that word?" he asked.

"Sheppard."

"Nice. Speaking of which, I wonder how he's getting on up there. Do you think he's playing pat a cake with the kids yet?"

He waved off their confused looks and made a mental note that jokes like that didn't work with people who had no idea what Pat a Cake was.

"I am sure he is fine," Teyla said. But then she met his gaze. "Do you think we should check in on him?"

"And interrupt all that braiding of hair?" McKay smiled.

Ronon said, "He's probably resting. Wasn't looking too good when we left him."

"Hmmm. He was looking a little green. He's probably praying to the porcelain gods-oh forget it," he said, when Teyla and Ronon gave him blank expressions.

"Perhaps you should stop using earth terminology."

"Maybe Teyla, you should learn some."

"It's okay," Ronon said. "Don't know what either of them are saying most of the time. Just smile and nod."

"Exactly," McKay said. "Just pretend." He sat up and reached for his scanner. "Are you sure we can't just go and have a poke around? There's an interesting reading coming from two floors up."

"The doctor was quite clear that we must stay down here. We cannot risk contracting the disease."

"Teyla, we got the all clear."

"Yes, but we still do not know if prolonged exposure could make us sick. And I will not risk that."

"Come on. We were hanging around Sheppard all day."

"Just wait until everyone has left. You can check it out tomorrow," Ronon said.

0000

Sheppard was awake even before whoever had snuck in, started shaking his arm. He was conditioned to sleep lightly, even when he desperately needed the rest. He turned his head and one of the older kids was staring at him with wide eyes. In the ward beyond he could hear the kids screaming.

With some effort, he got to his feet. "What's wrong?" he asked, reaching up for his p-90.

"It's back!" the kid said. "The ghost! You have to fight it!"

Sheppard dropped his hand to his side. "What's your name?"

"Desla," she said. "Come on!"

"Desla-" He was going to say that there was no such thing as a ghost, but then he thought about how ridiculous that statement was after what he had seen and experienced over the years.

"Please!"

He followed her out into the corridor. None of the nurses had come to the kid's aid despite their screams, but then the doctor had warned him that they had been suffering from some vivid hallucinations, maybe they'd decided not to indulge them. If he went in there and assured them that everything was okay, maybe they'd be able to get some sleep.

Desla hid behind him as he opened the door to their ward. The other kids were on the other side of the room, hiding under one of the beds.

Sheppard scanned the room. He couldn't see anyone or anything. The lights had been lowered slightly and there were a few dark corners that he made a show of checking out.

When he was sure that it was clear, he said. "There's nothing here."

"It was here," one of the kids said, crawling out from under the bed.

"Where?"

"Where you're standing," she countered.

He didn't know what else to tell them. He'd never really been a 'kid' person. Sure, he could pull funny faces and smile in the right places, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with it. On the few occasions that he'd been left holding Torren he'd struggled with what he was supposed to be saying and doing with the kid.

Maybe they just needed reassuring. "I'm right across the hall. Nothing's going to happen to you while I'm there."

"You don't believe us!"

"He thinks we're lying, just like the doctor!"

Sheppard rubbed at his head. He was feeling crappy and now he'd left his bed, he was realising how much he needed it.

"Can you stay here?"

There was a chair by the door. Sheppard sighed and pulled it into the middle of the room. "I'll stay for a bit. Okay?"

0000

Teyla opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Usually, she could sleep while McKay tapped away at his tablet or laptop or fiddled with whatever trinket he had bought a long to stem the boredom, but tonight the incessant light from his scanner was keeping her awake.

"Rodney," she said, moving up onto her elbow.

McKay's face was illuminated in the darkness. "The screen's dimmed."

"Not enough," Teyla said. "Perhaps you can wait until the morning to do whatever it is that you are doing."

McKay didn't get the hint. Instead, he pushed off the bed and thrust the scanner under her nose. "Look! There it is again!"

Teyla looked at the screen. She was not entirely sure what she was supposed to be looking at.

"It's an energy signal. Weak, but it keeps spiking," he said, sitting on the edge of her bed and forcing her to shift back against the wall. "Whatever it is, it's located on the floor above Sheppard."

"What do you think it is?"

"Some sort of generator? A power cell of some kind?" He sighed. "I don't know and it's annoying me that I can't just take a peek."

"No, Rodney."

"Oh come on! It's just upstairs. I'll be up and out in no time. I just want to see what it is."

"You will have your chance tomorrow."

"But I can't sleep. Aren't you intrigued?"

"I am tired."

He stood up and stabbed a finger at the scanner. "Fine. I'll leave it. But I want to take a look at first light."

Teyla turned her back to him and closed her eyes. She heard McKay shuffle into his own bed and then his fingers tapping over this tablet.

0000

His chin dipped onto his chest and Sheppard snapped awake again. The kids had settled down and were now sleeping. He inched out of the chair. As he walked towards the door, he swiped at his forehead and fanned his t-shirt out in an attempt to cool down. Sweat prickled his arms and neck and he was starting to regret not taking that change of clothes.

He turned to check on the kids one more time and then saw it. Or rather him. An old man with white wispy hair was stood in the corner of the room. Sheppard took a step forward. The man flickered in and out. When he spoke, it was distorted, which would explain why the kids had mistaken it for robot-like. He'd seen something like this before. It was a hologram. A malfunctioning hologram at that.

He waved his hands. The man continued on a loop and didn't react to him.

And then one of the kid's screamed, which started a chain reaction that made Sheppard cover his ears. Loud noises, screaming, waking suddenly… his body was conditioned to react immediately. It was all part of his training. But today, the surge of adrenaline gave him palpitations and vertigo.

"It's okay!" he said, walking over to the hologram.

He passed one bed and a little boy grabbed his arm. "Don't go over there! "

He carefully removed his hand. "It's okay," he said, walking over and waving his hands through the image. "It's a hologram. It's not real."

The screaming and shouting died to a few whispers and murmurs. "What's a hologram?"

"It's a projected image," Sheppard said. "It's not really here."

He crouched down next to the hologram and could see the sensor on the floor. On the wall there was a panel, which he prised open with his knife. It popped and clanged onto the floor. He could see the problem straight away. A lead had become disconnected. He pushed it home and the hologram stopped flickering and remained steady. When it spoke this time, Sheppard could understand what he was saying.

"Power cells fading. Power at two percent. Failure of power catastrophic. Lockdown to commence. Warning. Power cells fading. Power at two per cent. Failure of power catastrophic. Lockdown to commence. Warning-" and it continued on a loop.

Crap. That didn't sound good.

Sheppard tapped his comm.. "McKay?"

"I'm here."

"That was quick."

"I can't sleep. Why are you up?"

"I can't sleep," Sheppard said. "Look, there's some sort of hologram up here. It's repeating the same warning that the power cells are fading, failure catastrophic, lock down to commence. You reading anything?"

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That something was going on."

"Then why the hell don't I know about this?"

"I knew about it, I didn't know what it meant. I wanted to check it out but Teyla and Ronon wouldn't let me."

"Well, it needs checking out now. You got a fix on these power cells?"

"Level above you. Give me a minute and I'll head up to you."

Just as McKay had finished that sentence, the hologram announced that power had failed, the hologram disappeared and an alarm blared overhead.

"What's that?" McKay shouted.

Sheppard ran out into the hall and watched as metal shutters came down over the windows. The rest of the facility grunted and groaned as doors closed all around them and sealed off the exits. The lights dimmed and after a few minutes the alarm died down.

The doctor, Nia and another man ran towards him, all asking at once, what was happening.

Sheppard held out his hand. "I don't know."

"I'll check on the children," the doctor said, disappearing through to the ward.

"McKay?"

"We've been sealed into our room. I'm not sure how much of the facility is in lockdown but I'm assuming from what we heard that it's extensive. Any luck your end?"

"Hang on," Sheppard said. He jogged to the end of the corridor. A metal door blocked the exit to the stairwell. The only way out. "We're sealed in too."

"I need to get to where that energy signature originated. But-"

"You can't do anything from there."

"We're trying to get out. I don't know how long that's going to take. There doesn't seem to be any power down here."

"Okay, okay. I'll see what my options are here. Keep the comms open."

Back in the ward, the doctors and nurses were attempting to calm down the kids. Some were crying, others looked intrigued, and a few fired questions at him as he entered.
Sheppard grabbed the doctor and another guy who he hadn't met before, that introduced himself as Solan.

"What's going on?" the doctor asked.

"There's been a power failure. I've got a guy downstairs, who should be able to fix it, but in the meantime we need to get upstairs and check it out."

Solan nodded. "Okay. But everything is sealed shut. How can we move between the floors? There is only one stairwell that leads up and we were unable to open that door before all of this," he said, waving his hands around.

"I've got a solution for that," Sheppard said, walking into his room.

0000

"You're going to blow a hole through the door? A door that is directly under the obviously temperamental and potentially unstable power cells."

"Just a little one," Sheppard answered.

McKay leaned against the wall and watched as Ronon tried to prise the door to their room open. It hadn't worked the first time. He didn't see how it was going to work the tenth time.

"I can wedge C4 into the lock. The door will blow off at the hinges."

"And what if it doesn't? What if you damage whatever's up there before I can get to it?"

"I'm not going to do that."

"Are you sure these doors aren't blast doors?"

"Even blast doors have their limits and this one's pretty rusted."

"Sheppard."

"Rodney."

"Fine. But it if doesn't work on your first attempt, that's assuming you don't blow us all up, can you wait until we're out of here?"

There was hesitation before he spoke. "Sure."

Teyla started to wave him over. "Rodney, Ronon has managed to inch the door open. We could use your assistance."

"Sounds like you're needed. I'll check in with you in a bit."

0000

The C4 made easy work of the door. It blew out into the stairwell and once the smoke had cleared he could make out a catwalk above them which appeared to have open doors on either side. Sheppard switched the flashlight on his p-90 and started up the stairs.

He pulled his LSD out of his vest.

"What's that?"

Sheppard looked up at the doctor. "It's a life signs detector."

The doctor's eyes lit up. "May I take a look?"

Sheppard handed it over.

"It's not working," the doctor said, as Solan peered over his shoulder.

Sheppard took it back. "It's calibrated so that I'm the only one that can use it."

As far as he knew he could trust these people, but he didn't want to take the chance that they'd take this opportunity to rob him.

There were no blinking dots, but it didn't mean that there wasn't anything up there. They'd encountered a race a few missions ago where the people hadn't shown up. McKay seemed to think that the ancients catalogued species as they came across them and then updated their systems so that they could pick them up on the LSD. If there was something up there, then it was likely it wasn't going to be human.

"What do you know about this place?"

Solan turned to the doctor and back to Sheppard. "As much as you do. It was abandoned when we arrived."

"It was just open?"

"Yes.."

"And there was power?"

"Yes," the doctor said.

"You've never come across any…. bodies or-"

The doctor shook his head. "No, no. Nothing like that. Why? Do you believe that there is something up there?"

"I don't know. But I've learned to err on the probably-something-lurking-up-there side of caution."

Solan took a steadying breath.

"Just stay behind me and if I say run, then get the hell out." He started up the stairs and then stopped. "There's probably nothing up there."

He climbed the stairs slowly, switching his aim between the two entrances. His companions were breathing heavily. He could hear Solan mumbling something to the doctor, but he wasn't willing to lose focus just to soothe his nerves again.

As he reached the catwalk, sweat dripped from his nose. In the commotion, he'd forgotten just how crappy he'd been feeling. He pushed the fever, the nausea and any other discomfort he was feeling to the back of his mind and edged forward. Now he was on the catwalk, he could see that only one of the doors was open. The other was firmly shut. He just hoped that the open door was the one that they wanted.

The room was expansive. Above, there were more catwalks with cells leading off them. In front of them were various work stations and panels. Beyond that, there was a circular dais; at its centre was some sort of device that stretched up to the ceiling.

"I had no idea," the doctor said.

His voice echoed. Sheppard threw an irritated look over his shoulder. "Keep quiet. I'm going to make sure the area's secure." Seeing that Solan and the doctor were standing there awkwardly, he reached into his boot and unclipped the gun that he'd hidden there. He passed it to the doctor because he looked less freaked out than the other guy. "Safety's off. Just point and shoot. Hopefully you won't need it, but just in case."

He never liked handing civilians weapons, but he didn't have any back up. He gave the doctor a quick demonstration and when he was satisfied that he wasn't going to blow his foot off he set out to secure the area.

He took a ladder up to the catwalk, knowing it would be the best place to get an overall view of the room. The cells checked out empty on both sides. There was nothing lurking between the equipment waiting to jump out. He dropped down on the other side of the room realising that this was the extent of the top floor. He was making his way back to Solan and the doctor when he saw the pods.

He counted ten. Behind them was something, or someone; he wasn't sure. The glass was fogged up. For the moment, there appeared to be blinking lights on each of the external panels, which he hoped meant that whatever they were, were contained for now.

"Clear," he shouted, walking up the dais and allowing his p-90 to dangle from his vest.

Solan and the doctor hurried over.

"Doc, I need you to keep an eye on those pods over there."

The doctor's eyebrows shot up. "Pods?"

"Just watch them. I'm not asking you to go over there. Okay?"

The doctor turned and raised the gun towards them.

Sheppard tapped his comms. "McKay?"

0000

"What can you see?"

"We've got a central pillar. Around that, panels with a serious lack of blinking lights."

"They're dead?"

"Looks that way."

"Can you see what the power source is?"

"It's not a ZPM. Doesn't look like anything I've seen before. There seems to be a liquid around a central metal rod."

"Conductive electricity, maybe?"

"Who knows?"

"Can you get into it?"

"There's a few loose panels. Hang on." He listened as Sheppard grunted and groaned. "Bunch of wires. Nothing looks frayed. No control crystals."

"Have you tried-"

"This isn't ancient tech. My genes not touching this stuff."

"Great."

"It doesn't look like there's much I can do up here. Maybe you can figure it out. I'll see how far I can get with the C4 and make my way towards you."

"Ronon's onto his third door."

"Rodney?"

"Oh no. What?"

"Checked this place out. We got a bunch of pod people up here. They look contained for now but I don't know how much longer."

"Pod people? You couldn't just stumble across a perfectly innocuous room."

"With our luck?"

"When you say pod people-"

"They're not human. I can't get a good look through the glass."

"There's probably a reason why they're in the pod in the first place. I'm guessing they're not going to be friendly."

"I don't know. Maybe they're…nice."

"With our luck?"

"Point taken. I'll monitor them-"

Somebody shouted in the distance and then there was the sound of a gunshot. Sheppard said something unintelligible over the noise, but then McKay heard him say, "Oh Crap!"

"Sheppard?"

0000

He pushed Solan towards the exit and turned to fire a volley of bullets at the pod people. His first indication that one of them had opened was when the doctor fired off a shot and seconds after the rest expelled their occupants. Sheppard hadn't got a visual until one of them had speared the doctor through the chest with dagger like talons. They definitely weren't human. They were entirely grey. Their skin was stretched over their bones. And their eyes were just the whites.

The one that was chasing Sheppard made a clicking noise, not unlike a dolphin, as it skittered after him. Yeah, they skittered. Moving on all fours, they jerked their angular bodies forward, their talons clipping the floor as they went.

Solan reached the door and stumbled down the stairs. Sheppard continued to fire at the creatures, catching one in the chest, as he went. It stopped and turned back to where the doctor was lying prone on the floor. It started ripping him to shreds along with the others.

"Go!" Sheppard snapped, pushing Solan forward.

They followed the warren like corridors, but nothing appeared to be following them. Finally, Solan ground to a halt and sagged to the floor where he vomited and only just missed Sheppard's boot.

"They were eating him!" he said. "They were pulling him apart like… like animals."

Sheppard kept his eyes trained on the corridor behind him. They needed to put more distance between those creatures before they finished…whatever was left of the doctor. He grimaced.
Solan suddenly grabbed him by the arm and jerked his flashlight and his aim away.

"Don't let them take me. Don't let them do that to me. Please. Colonel!"

Sheppard freed his arm and kept the light steady. Without looking at him, Sheppard said, "You need to stay quiet. I'm not going to let them get you. Okay?"

"But there were so many!"

"Yeah," Sheppard said.

"What were they?"

"I don't know."

"I have never seen anything like that before. The sound's they make." Solan retched.

For the first time since stopping Sheppard acknowledged the frantic radio calls from his team. "We're okay," he said, checking on Solan. "Kind of."

Ronon spoke over both McKay and Teyla. "What are you dealing with?"

"I don't even know how to describe them. Let's just say they're hostile. They-" he moved away from Solan. "They ate the doctor."

"Ate him?" McKay said. "Oh god! That's horrible."

"McKay, you've got a few doors between them and you."

"Not for long," Ronon said.

"How far away are you?"

Teyla said, "We have encountered several more blockades, but we are making steady progress."

"Just be as quick as you can. I'll try and hold them back."

"They're not after you?"

"I think they're digesting."

Solan vomited again. Sheppard could feel his gag reflex kicking in. Disturbingly, his wasn't out of fear. It was just because he was feeling so crappy with the super flu.

"Just hurry up."

0000

Sheppard had taken to walking backwards and relying on Solan to guide him back to the wards. He'd seen how fast those things could move, despite their awkward appearance, and he didn't want to take the chance that they could scale walls and pass straight over them. Solan was inconsolable and his babbling was beginning to take its toll. Sheppard was having a hard enough time staying focused as it was. His nose wouldn't stop running, sweat was stinging his eyes and he was fighting hard to suppress an irritating, tickly cough and the urge to throw up.

"Solan," he whispered.

Solan's fingers dug into his shoulder.

"I know that this is hard, but those kids don't need to be scared any more than they already are. When you see them, you get it together."

"How? They were eating him!"

"I know."

"I don't think I can do it."

"You need to."

"What about you? Why aren't you scared?"

Sheppard sighed. It wasn't going to help if he told him that there were worst things going on in the galaxy than this.

"Just try. Okay?"

Solan replied, but Sheppard had seen something flit through the light. The low level lighting that had lit the way before had all but gone as the power drained. Only now, knowing that something was hidden in front of him, did he realise just how dark it had become.

"Col-"

Sheppard backed up, pushing Solan to move forward in the process.

"Can you hear that?" Solan asked.

He could. He just couldn't see where it was coming from.

"Oh god. They're coming. It's one of them."

"Be quiet."

"They're coming. They're going to eat us!"

It passed through the beam of his flashlight again, but he still couldn't get a fix on it.

Sheppard depressed the trigger on his p-90 and fired down the corridor. There was a wailing sound, followed by the click of those talons. "Move!"

They sprinted to an intersection and turned right. Had Sheppard known the layout of the facility better he would have drawn them the other way, but there was no guarantee that they would all follow him in the first place and it wouldn't help the others if he ended up getting lost.

He turned and fired again into the darkness, hoping it was warning enough for those things to stay back.

Solan clipped his shoulder on a half opened door and Sheppard pin wheeled to a stop.

"Solan!"

The young man turned back. "You said move!"

"This door hasn't closed shut. Help me. We might be able to push it across and block the way."

"Or they'll catch us and kill us!"

"We need to buy us some time."

Solan looked towards escape and then back to him.

"I need your help!"

He groaned and took up position next to Sheppard so that they could force the door. For a second, Sheppard thought it wasn't going to work. Then finally it moved. They started to gain momentum just as Sheppard saw the pod people skittering towards them. And yeah, they could climb walls.

"Push!" Sheppard snapped, realising that Solan had taken a step back. "Dammit!"

One of the creature's talons swiped through the door. Sheppard managed to avoid it, but Solan was too close and got slashed across the leg. He clamped his hands over the wound and cried out.

Sheppard gave the door one last push and he heard a metallic clang as the offending weapon snapped off to the floor.

They were hitting the door. There was a sound, like nails on a blackboard as they attempted to swipe at the barricade. Sheppard reached down for the talon. As soon as it touched his fingers, he dropped it and sucked in a breath. Blood was seeping out of deep cuts. They had razor blades for fingernails.

"Come on," he said, reaching under Solan's armpit. He dragged him into a standing position, but Solan collapsed again, shrieking in pain. Sheppard pushed his hand away from the wound. Blood spurted out and struck him on the cheek.

Gushing blood usually meant that an artery had been hit. Sheppard had seen men bleed out in a matter of minutes from similar wounds in the field and unless you acted fast they were as good as dead. Solan was already pale and his eyelids fluttered. Sheppard dug his fingers into the wound and tried to find the artery to tie it off, but the tacky floor already spoke of massive blood loss. Solan's head lolled forward.

Sheppard looked towards the door. There were already fine scratch marks in the metal. As he watched, a long thin razor nail, slashed through like the tip of a circular saw. If anything, Solan's death would slow the creatures down when they got through that door. He just hoped they were still hungry.

"Ronon? Where are you?"

"McKay thinks we're nearly there. What's wrong?"

"Someone else got killed," he said, rubbing the blood off his face as he walked. "I'm down to three clips. Got my knife, handgun, bit of C4. I think it's going to take a lot more than that to bring these things down. We got lucky. Managed to trap them behind a blast door, but they're nearly through it already. I figure they'll be on top of me in around twenty."

"We'll be there in fifteen."

Sheppard signed off and picked up his pace. He turned a corner and suddenly dizzy, shouldered the wall. He pushed off and kept going. It wasn't much further to the kid's ward. He just had to keep going. He grabbed for support and emptied his stomach contents against the wall. When his stomach had stopped cramping he risked a glance behind him.

He could hear something.

Bringing up his flashlight, it caught the whites of one of the creature's eyes. They couldn't have got through that door yet. It must have slipped passed them earlier.

It screeched and backed up, blinded momentarily by the light. Sheppard took the shot and aimed between its eyes. It dropped onto the floor, but continued to writhe. He took another shot.

0000

Sheppard ran a hand through his hair, wiped his face with the hem of his t-shirt and plastered on a smile before pushing the doors open.

The kids reacted at once. They were all talking over one another and asking what was going on.

"Hey," he said. "Everything's fine." When they all just stared at him, he tried again. "See, I'm okay."

Sheppard steered Nia away from the ravel as they started talking between them.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking over his shoulder. "Where's the doctor? Solan?" Her eyes widened. "Your bleeding!"

He swiped at his face.

"Here," she said, retrieving a strip of gauze and passing it to him. "What happened?"

"We found something upstairs."

"They're dead?" she said, suddenly understanding what he was saying.

"I need you to stay calm," he said, reaching for hands and stilling them.

She raised her voice. "But they're dead?"

Sheppard waved at the kids. "We're just going to go outside for a minute. We'll be right back."

When they were outside, she sagged against the wall. Her eyes were welling up and she was breathing in short sharp pants.

"I haven't come across them before. They've got out, but-" He tried to get her attention. "But I'm going to keep them away from you. You just need to stay in there and make sure they don't find out."

"What?" she said, spittle flying from her lips. "You want me to be calm. We're trapped here! What are they? What do they look like? Did Solan, the doctor, did they suffer?"

"They didn't suffer," he said. "And you don't need to know what they look like. You won't have to see them."

She straightened suddenly. "I need to see Solan."

"No."

"He was my brother," she screamed.

Sheppard pulled her away from the ward. He felt a stab of guilt. "I'm sorry. But you can't see him."

She wrenched her arm away and started walking. "I need to go."

He gripped her hand and twisted her to face him. He knew he was being heavy handed and that he was scaring her, but he didn't want her to see what remained of her brother. "You go down there and you'll die. I can't protect you."

"But you said-"

"If you stay here with me then I can."

"But… my brother. Maybe… maybe he's not dead. You shouldn't have left him!"

"Nia-"

She hammered against his chest and he took it. "He's dead and it's your fault. You should have gone alone. You should have died."

She was right. He shouldn't have taken either of them with him. His judgment had been off. But he couldn't change that now.

"I will look after you."

"How?"

"This is the only route in. My weapons work on them. I can take them out before they get close enough to reach us." He pointed to the ward. "You need to stay in there."

"And stay calm."

"And stay perfectly calm. Can you do that?"

0000

"Where's the Colonel?" one of the kids asked as soon as Nia entered the ward.

They were all staring at her. She couldn't do this. How could she reassure them when she was so uncertain herself? This stranger from another world was telling her that he would protect them. What if he couldn't? What if he had already gone and left them to die? He had no reason to be loyal to them; risk his life for theirs. He hadn't protected the doctor or her brother. What made them any different? He hadn't wanted to tell her about what attacked them. That made it worse.

Nev pulled on her skirt. "Where is he?"

"He's just outside," she said, attempting a smile.

"Why doesn't he want to be in here?"

She turned away and wiped at her eyes. Tears were still threatening to spill down her cheeks. She forced composure. "He is a grown man. And you are children."

"But what's going on? What happened to the lights?"

"Where's the doctor?"

"Solan was going to read me a story!"

"Has he left us here?"

"Enough!" she shouted. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt shame. They all stared back at her with matching hurt expressions. "I am sorry. I'm just tired."

"What's going on?" Yan cried.

The doors opened. "Everything okay in here?"

Colonel Sheppard met her eyes. He had honest, kind eyes. She believed that he would protect them. Or at least try. She nodded. "We're fine."

"I was thinking," he said, glancing behind him and then entering the room. "that we could play a game."

The children started to get excited. Nia had a difficult time regarding them as sick. Despite their symptoms, they seemed to have endless energy. She envied them and their innocence.

"What game?" Meera asked.

The colonel bobbed up and down on his heels. She didn't understand how he could remain so composed. Soon he would be out there up against those things. All alone.

"How about we build a fort?"

"What's a fort?" one of them asked.

"You've never built a fort?," he asked. "Well, I'm going to have to show you."

"Colonel?" she asked, watching him push the beds towards the far side of the room.

He ignored her and tipped three over in a row. After that he started to place mattresses across the top. It was a barrier, not a…what had he said, fort?

She pulled him away as the children continued to add extra padding and push more beds towards it. He went to stand straight, winced and leaned into her. For a brief second, she was taking all of his weight.

"Are you okay?"

"Just this damn headache," he said.

"I have some painkillers."

"I need to keep a level head. But thanks."

"Are you going to be able to look after us?"

"Don't worry about that."

She swept her hand towards the barricade. "Then why this?"

"It can't help," he said. "I need to check outside. Help them build it up. When it's done, hide behind it; tell them it's a game."

"A game?"

".Get them to cover their ears and make as much noise as they can."

"Surely that will draw the creatures to us?"

"We don't have long before they're on us anyway and there's gonna be a lot of weapons fire. I don't want them to freak out." He realised he will still leaning on her and stepped away. "I don't know how long it's going to take for my team to get here. But unless I say otherwise, don't let them stop making that noise."

0000

"Where are you?"

Teyla packed C4 against the door. Ronon handed her a blasting cap. "We've got two more doors before we reach you. We are at the base of the stairwell."

"Time's up."

"Set a charge at the second door. We can come through and help."

"I don't have any left. I've had to plant them along the corridor. Figure if I can slow them, it'll make them easier to take them down."

"How is everyone else?"

"Holed up in the ward. Kids are screaming their heads off as I speak?"

"Sheppard?"

"Never mind," he said. "Dammit!"

"John?"

"They're here!"

0000

Sheppard set the first charge and the second, but he couldn't tell how many of the creatures he'd taken out. The charges had blown out a wall and debris was masking their approach. He fired into the smoke, hoping that at least some of those bullets would hit home.

An explosion in the distance meant that his team were getting closer, but he didn't have the luxury of waiting and retreat wasn't an option.

He lit a flare and over handed it down the corridor. The red light illuminated the creatures, climbing the walls, the ceiling, along the floor. Their mouths were dripping with blood. They started making that creepy sound again as they advanced.

He ducked out of the reach of one and pelted down the corridor, firing blindly behind him to get to his third charge.

Something smacked into his back. He went to his knees. Without turning, he tucked his handgun under his armpit and fired behind him. He felt the resistance fall away. How many was that? There'd been ten pods. Was that the fifth creature? The sixth? Or were there more pods that he hadn't seen? He smacked his head against the wall. Dizziness this time and not the creatures.

"Sheppard!"

"Busy!" he snapped, just as he slammed onto his back and fired up at the ceiling. The creature dropped and he rolled over to avoid being speared. It was still reaching for him. Its talon connected with his boot and sliced straight through the leather. Kicking out, he caught it in the face. While it curled onto itself, he fired a single bullet into his head.

"Sheppard! What's going on?"

"John?"

"Answer us!"

He was being pushed further down the corridor. Soon, he'd be out of time.

One managed to get passed him. He watched it move on all fours, racing towards the ward. He flicked open the remote detonator. Waited a second and depressed the button. The C4 exploded next to it. He felt a slash against the back of his leg, but it didn't break skin. Sheppard kicked out and dove out of the way as another one lunged towards him.

0000

The children had their eyes closed and they were shouting and screaming at the top of their voices. What child would not enjoy this?

Nia was not joining in. She watched the door, waiting for the colonel to arrive and tell her that it was all over. Even though she was hidden, she felt vulnerable and she couldn't help but think that something was lurking in the darkness with her. Not knowing what the creatures looked like made it worse. Her imagination was running wild with the possibilities and in each scenario she died in increasingly painful ways.

Over the children, she could hear and feel explosions. She wondered if the colonel was still alive.

There was an eerie red light outside in the hall. The children were oblivious, believing that this was all a game. She hated to deceive them, but she was responsible for their well being.

She looked to the corner of the room. Was that dark patch moving? Was there something there? She crouched back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. What if it had seen her? She was going to die? The colonel wasn't here. What if he was already dead? He couldn't protect them in here.

0000

Sheppard watched his p-90 slide away from him. Out of reach, he went for his handgun and that clattered away too. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding talons that left ridges in the hard floor.

Pushing to his feet, he staggered towards his gun. One of the creatures raced past him. He sprinted after it, jumped and they landed in a tangle heap. Sheppard punched it in the face. His fist slipped over its wet skin. He dug his nails into his eyes and it reared back and tried to cut him. Despite its size, it wasn't particularly strong. He managed to push it off and roll. As he was going for his knife, he felt a breeze by his stomach. He shook his head and jabbed the knife into the creature's throat. It gargled blood and dropped back.

He doubled over and pressed his hand against his side. It came away bloody. He didn't have time to dwell on it, as another creature advance.

His team were shouting in his ear. He wanted to answer, but it was taking all his effort to move towards his handgun. He was pushed to the ground in front of it. He stretched out his arm, felt around for his gun and bought it up under the chin of one of the creatures.

0000

Nia couldn't take it. She had to get out. It was here. It was going to get her. She moved into a crouch and started to move the bed aside.

"Don't."

Desla was staring up at her as the others shouted and screamed. She'd already had to convince them three times that they had to continue with the game. They'd probably stop soon. There would be no hiding what was outside.

"I'll be right back," she said, smiling tightly.

Desla hugged her knees. "No," she said. "You won't."

"I'm…I'm going to see the colonel. I'll be right back. Now stay here."

She closed the gap in the barricade, being careful to ensure that the children were all well hidden. Then she ran across to the door, waiting to be pounced. Relieved to be alive, she opened the door and looked into corridor. She could hear gunfire and smell smoke and…what were those sounds?

"Colonel?"

Something exploded and the wall ahead was showered with grit and plaster. She moved towards the red light, staying close to the wall and focusing on the sound of repetitive gunfire. Surely, this meant that the colonel was okay.

Silence descended just as she was about to turn a corner. This was it. Everything was going to be fine. She took one step and went down to the ground. Seeing a flash of grey, she let out a sigh of relief. "Colonel. I think there's something-"

Her vision tunnelled and she blinked. Something wasn't right. She lifted her hands from her stomach and they came up red. As soon as she realised she was bleeding, the pain suddenly surfaced.

"Colonel?"

There was a strange sound; like a clicking.

She heard gun shots getting closer, more screeches and then-

"Fuck!"

The colonel face appeared over hers. His kind eyes were crinkled and she knew bad news when she saw it.

"Colonel?"

His attention shifted and he fired at something over her. She turned her head and saw pure white eyes staring back at her.

0000

Desla led her friends out of the ward. They had played the game for as long as they could, but now their throats were hurting and they were worried because the nurse hadn't come back when she said she would.

There was a funny smell like smoke everywhere. Some of the others coughed.

"Look!" she said.

There was a light moving around up ahead. It would point up and then down and to the side.

"It's the colonel!"

They ran up the corridor towards the light. When the colonel saw them, he turned away and started wiping at his face. Then he turned and pulled his vest up to the top as if he was cold.

"You need to stay in the ward," he said.

"We got bored of the game. The nurse left."

He smiled. "I saw her. She's okay."

"Where is she?"

"She wasn't feeling well. So, she's taking a nap. I was just coming to make sure you were okay."

"What's going on down there? There's smoke."

"Yeah we can smell smoke."

The colonel was acting weird. He seemed all wobbly and strange. He leaned against the wall and slid down it as if he was really tired.

"Are you still feeling sick?"

"Yeah," he said. "Nose is still running. Headache."

"Don't forget the rash," Neema said, holding up her arm.

He scratched at his arm. "Haven't forgotten about the rash."

There was a really loud bang and the floor moved. Desla held onto the colonel's shoulder to keep from falling over.

"What was that?"

Desla shook the colonel's shoulder until he groaned and opened his eyes.

"There was a sound. An explosion. Something exploded!"

The colonel went to get up, but then he couldn't because he was too tired. He removed something from his ear and held it up. "Who's the most responsible?"

There was a chorus of me me me's. But he pointed straight at her. That was the right choice because she was the oldest.

"Here," he said, hooking the funny device into her ear. "Now, head back towards the stairwell. You know the one that you came through at the beginning?"

"That was really far away."

"I know. That's why you have my earpiece. Just click it on." He showed her how to do it. "As you're walking you can talk to my friend, Rodney."

"What kinda name's Rodney," Mal asked. "It sounds funny."

The colonel laughed. "They'll get you some place safe."

"What's wrong with this place?"

"All the lights have gone out," he said, coughing into his hands. The cold was the worst part. Desla's chest still hurt from all the coughing.

"Oh."

"Just keep walking and talk to Rodney. When you find them, tell them to come and get me."

"Why don't you come with us?"

"I'm pretty tired."

"I'm sorry. We kept you awake."

"No, that's okay. I'm just going to stay here and take a quick nap and you can get my friends to come get me. Okay?"

0000

"Rodney?"

McKay waved Teyla and Ronon quiet as they shifted fragments of the door aside. "Hello?"

"Is this Rodney?"

"Uh, yes. Who is this?"

"I'm Desla."

"Okay Desla. Where's Sheppard?"

The others stopped hefting rubble and watched him. Ronon clambered towards him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," McKay said.

"Who's Sheppard?"

"Colonel Sheppard?"

"We just call him colonel."

"Can I speak to him?"

"He gave me the ear thing and said to talk to you until we found the way out." She said. "It's not safe here because of the dark."

"He's not with you?"

"No, he was feeling tired."

"Tired?"

"He's sick like us. But it's okay because once he'd had a nap he'll feel a bit better."

"Okay, okay…uh…..just keep walking to the exit. Do you know the way?"

"It's difficult to see but we're using the wall so we don't fall over."

"Okay." he said. He deactivated his comm. for a second. "Something's wrong. Sheppard's handed his earpiece over to a bunch of kids."

Teyla raised her eyebrows. "He is not with them?"

"No. Apparently, he's taking a nap."

Ronon was already clearing a path, his blaster drawn.

"We will locate the children and then we'll bring them back here to safety. Ronon?"

"On it!"

0000

Ronon was on autopilot. He ran along the corridor with his blaster in front of him and his flashlight trained ahead. He found the children, who appeared unharmed, and sent them towards the exit towards Teyla and McKay.

Eventually, he rounded a corner and saw the beam of a second flashlight strafing across the floor.

"Sheppard!"

He followed the light to its source. Sheppard was sitting against a wall. His eyes were closed, but he was holding his gun across his knee and aiming it down the hall.

Ronon gave him a shake. "Sheppard!"

His eyelids fluttered open. "Hey buddy," he said.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here."

"I'm waiting. There's more."

Ronon aimed his blaster in the same direction as Sheppard and strained to hear anything. When there were no signs of danger, he prodded Sheppard.

"The kids?"

"They're okay. They're with McKay and Teyla. Is there anyone else?"

"No," Sheppard said.

"Come on."

Sheppard pushed him away when he tried to get him up. "We have to make sure there's none left. I didn't get them all."

"I don't see anything."

"They'll be eating," Sheppard said. "When they're done they'll come after us."

"Then let's make our move while they're occupied, huh?"

Ronon reached for Sheppard's hand and helped him up to his feet. Sheppard got half way up and then sagged down again, panting heavily.

"You hurt?"

Sheppard tugged at his vest. Ronon moved his shaking fingers and drew the zipper down. He pushed the vest open. His t-shirt was glistening with blood. He pulled it up. There was a deep gash just above Sheppard's hip. The cut was straight and clean around the edges, but it was bleeding freely.

"It's not too bad."

Sheppard chuckled. "Yeah?"

"Can you walk?"

"I can hardly stand."

"You can lean on me," Ronon said. "Why didn't you say something?"

Sheppard wrapped an arm around Ronon's neck. When he was up, he braced himself against Ronon's shoulder. "Didn't want to freak out the kids."

Ronon understood. And from how calm the children had been, he'd done a good job.

"Don't suppose you've got anymore C4?"

"Used the last of it getting to you."

"Figures," Sheppard said. He gestured down the darkened hallway. "I've got one more left. But it's down there."

"I'll get it."

"We're gonna have company soon."

Ronon stood and aimed his weapon down the corridor. "I'll get it."

"Ronon!"

When he looked at Sheppard, he gave him a nod and reasserted his own aim.

Ronon crept down the corridor. He held his breath and listened. The further he walked, the louder the sounds got. It sounded like dripping water and twigs snapping. He saw the unexploded charge on the floor and walked past it and towards the noise.

The hall went off to the left. He looked around the corner and saw them. And he saw the body that they were tearing apart.

Blood and bones.

The urge to blast them all away was overwhelming, but there were too many and for the moment they were occupied. If Sheppard hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have thought twice about it.

He backed up slowly, avoiding the creatures that Sheppard had managed to take out, snatched up the C4 block and blasting cap and retreated.

0000

"Where's the colonel?"

McKay sighed as he followed the kids down the stairwell. "He's on his way." They were moving slowly and he tried to push through, only to be accosted and asked more questions.

"Why do we have to leave?"

"Uh, because…" He looked to Teyla for support, but she was covering their six and obviously anxious about the lack of contact from the others. "Because," he said finally. "I said so."

At the bottom step, they noticed the door blown off its hinges. "What happened?"

McKay ignored the tiny person staring at him and pushed through to the corridor. He jabbed at the screen of his scanner to bring up the layout of the facility.

"What's that?"

McKay hated the way children always had to ask so many questions. "Teyla?"

She fell into step beside him. "I am worried about the colonel. They have been gone a long time."

"I'm sure they're-oh, there you go," he said, as Sheppard and Ronon walked up behind them. "See, they're fine."

"John?"

Sheppard waved her away. "We got a way out of here?"

McKay turned his flashlight onto Sheppard's face. The colonel closed his eyes and he dropped the beam. Satisfied that Sheppard was okay, he said, "If we follow this corridor it leads to the main entrance. It should be clear all the way. Obviously, I'm not expecting the door out of here to magically open, but I'll have to check that out when we get there. I take it you dealt with that other thing."

"We're alone. For now," Ronon said.

"That instils the greatest of confidence. Thank you," McKay said.

"Why don't you and the kids start walking," Sheppard suggested.

"But we want you to come?"

"Yeah, I want you to come."

"We don't like Rodney!"

"Wonderful. Well I don't like you either." To the others looks, McKay rolled his eyes. "What?"

0000

When McKay was out of earshot, Teyla turned to them both. "What is going on?"

There was no point in lying to Teyla. She already knew that something was wrong and if she was in on the subterfuge it might make it easier to get back to Atlantis.

"Sheppard's injured."

"John?"

"One of the creatures caught me in the side," he said. He watched Teyla's flashlight beam travel to where blood was dripping onto the floor.

"You did not want to scare the children," she said, understanding.

He nodded. "Stupid I know, but-"

"I believe if the children were distressed, then they would be difficult to handle. Keeping them calm allows us to get them back to Atlantis none the wiser."

"Thanks Teyla. For not kicking my ass."

"You are however bleeding heavily."

"We're gonna deal with that now," Ronon said.

"I will catch up Rodney. The creatures?"

"They haven't followed us yet. But we'll be quick."

When Teyla's flashlight had faded, Sheppard let out a groan and staggered over to the wall.

Ronon helped Sheppard down to the floor and unzipped his vest. "Bandage is already soaked through."

He uncovered the wound and shone his light onto it. Sheppard sucked in a deep breath. "That's going to smart in the morning."

"It's still bleeding."

"You're going to have to pack it."

"That's going to hurt."

Sheppard opened his vest pocket. "I know." Ronon took out a wodge of gauze and another field bandage. As he was unrolling the bandage, Sheppard remarked, "Just get it over quickly."

"Okay," he said. He positioned the gauze. "Ready?"

Before Sheppard had a chance to answer, he pushed the gauze into the wound. Sheppard held out for as long as he could and then screamed out and gripped his arm.

When he was done, Sheppard closed his eyes. He sucked in air and grimaced.

Ronon laughed. "McKay's going crazy in my ear. Thinks that sound was the creatures."

Sheppard met his eyes, but didn't look amused. "Let's just hope they didn't hear it."

"Good point."

0000

They made slow progress. Sheppard was obviously in a lot of pain, but he was refusing painkillers. Ronon knew why. Sheppard liked to keep his head clear. But, with an injury like that not taking the painkillers wasn't going to make a difference.

"You know, this has turned into a really sucky mission."

Ronon steadied Sheppard when his knees buckled. "MX992?"

"That the one with the moon dance?"

Ronon flinched. "Yeah."

Sheppard chuckled and went to activate his radio When he realised he wasn't wearing his, he said, "Have they reached the door?"

Ronon switched his grip on Sheppard. "McKay? You reached the door?"

"Well?"

"They've just arrived."

"And?"

Ronon tugged his earpiece out and positioned on Sheppard's ear instead. "You talk to him."

He listened as Sheppard snapped and bitched at McKay. Finally, he signed off and said, "He's working on it. Apparently there's some power he can work with. But you know Mc-"

Ronon held his hand up. Sheppard stopped talking.

"You hear that?"

Sheppard froze.

"Sounds close."

He let go of Sheppard and he braced himself on the wall, while Ronon went into a crouch on the opposite side of the hall.

"How you wanna play this?"

0000

McKay consulted his scanner again. There wasn't much power flowing through the door panel, but it was enough for him to work with. He was getting somewhere. He'd get there a lot quicker if he wasn't surrounded.

"Can't you wait over there?" he asked, pointing vaguely behind him. "It's hard enough to work on this as it is without-"

The rapport of weapons sounded and McKay looked up at Teyla. She aimed her p-90 and gestured for him to continue. The children were clearly agitated.

"I'm working on it!"

Teyla said, "I'm going to help them."

"You can't leave me here!" McKay snapped.

"They need assistance."

Before he had a chance to respond Teyla was disappearing into the dark.

"What's going on?" one of the kids asked.

"Is something wrong?"

"Is it the colonel?"

"What's happening?"

"Oh nothing," McKay said, turning his attention back to the door control. "Everything's fine. I just need to fix this and we can get out of here."

He felt the kid's come closer to him at the sound of inhuman shriek. He didn't blame them.

0000

Sheppard was fighting a losing battle. He couldn't stand up straight let alone hit the side of a barn his aim was so far off. He depressed the trigger and nothing happened. He fought to release the magazine and reloaded with shaky hands.

Ronon's flashlight clattered to the floor and he saw the Satedan running forward as one of the creatures advanced. He couldn't tell what was happening and whether Ronon was alright. He aimed his flashlight around, trying to seek him out and saw him snapping the neck of the creature. He looked up with a manic grin, ducked and fired.

Sheppard straightened his arm and pulled the trigger. He was dizzy and the shot went wide leaving him exposed as a creature managed to outsmart Ronon. He took a step back, but his balance was shot and he fell onto his back. Just when he thought he'd about had it, Teyla stood over him and the creature landed dead at his feet.

She didn't have time to help him up. She was firing on approaching creatures.

Sheppard managed to get up and sit against the wall. His side felt wet again. There were too many of them. They were firing but more were coming.

"Fall back!" he shouted. He pulled himself up to stand. "Ronon! Teyla!"

Ronon ducked out of the way of a slashing hand and pulled Teyla back with him. She continued to fire into the corridor.

"There's too many!"

"You want to run?"

"No," Sheppard said, firing off another shot. "You still got that C4?"

0000

There was a satisfying hiss, followed by locks disengaging and the door whooshed open. McKay sat back on his heels.

"Okay kids. Let's wait outside." He shooed them on, but they didn't move. "Outside. We need to leave."

"What about the colonel?"

"What about the noises?"

McKay peered into the darkness. There were no signs of the others.

"We can't go without them!" one of the kids shouted at him.

McKay stood up so that he could tower over them. Then, asserting his best "you're in trouble" voice, he snapped, "Get outside now!"

He smiled in victory as they shuffled passed one by one.

"Close the door!"

"I just opened the door!"

Sheppard did his best "you're in trouble" voice. "Well get ready to close it. We can't let these things out. Do it now!"

"Now they're things? Okay, this just gets more disturbing by the minute. Where are you?"

"We're on our way now."

McKay waited, looking between the dark hall and the panel. He hoped that the connection would hold and the door would close again.

He heard them before he saw them. Ronon was shouting something and Sheppard was making a pained noise. When they appeared, Sheppard was being dragged between them.

McKay stepped aside so that they could pass.

"Close it now!" Ronon shouted.

He'd only just initiated the door closure sequence when Ronon gripped the back of his vest and hauled him outside. Just as the door clicked home, he saw white eyes and bloodied teeth.

"What the-"

Sheppard pushed him away and pressed his remote detonator.

0000

McKay raised his head. Bits of glass and metal and smouldering leaves were raining down from the sky.

"That was-" He shook his head. "What was that?"

"An explosion," Ronon said, pushing up from the floor.

"No, not that. That!" he said, waving his hand towards the door.

"Something I never want to see again," Teyla said, checking and re-checking her weapon.

McKay looked up at the building. The blast had been contained within the halls but it had blown out the level above. Smoke was billowing out from the windows.

"We should leave."

Sheppard lifted his head from the ground. "Is everyone okay?"

The kids were lying down next to Ronon. One by one they lifted their heads. None of them appeared to be harmed.

"That was cool!" one of them shouted.

"Cool? You've been hanging around with Sheppard too much," McKay said. "I think you've burst my ear drums. You could have warned me!"

"Didn't really have much warning ourselves," Sheppard said.

The sun was beginning to rise. At least they wouldn't be walking back to the gate in the dark. McKay wiped his hands on his pants and Teyla helped him up to his feet.

Sheppard sat up slowly. "Rodney, Teyla you head towards the gate. We'll follow."

McKay gave him a pointed stare. Then he said, "Oh right. You just want to leave these kids with me again."

"No," Ronon said, wiping blood from his cheek. "We want to make sure nothing comes out."

"Oh."

Sheppard said, "You're welcome to stay."

"Oh no, no. That's fine." McKay said.

0000

They'd deliberately given the others a fifteen minute head start. Okay, so they had needed to check that nothing came out of the building, but also Sheppard was in agony and he didn't want the kids to see him struggling or worse collapsing before they got back to the gate. They were going to be distressed as it was when they discovered they were leaving this world without their parents.

They reached the edge of the tree line. Beyond that was a clearing where the gate was situated. Ronon lowered Sheppard down to the ground.

"That fireman lift never get's old."

Ronon massaged his shoulder. "You put on some weight, Sheppard?"

Sheppard went to make some sarcastic remark, but stopped when he noticed the blood covering Ronon's shoulder.

"They'll wait to dial until we're there," Sheppard said.

Ronon splashed water from his canteen onto his arm to wash off some of the blood. When he'd done that he ripped off a strip of his top and doused it with water. "I know."

Sheppard took a peek at his stomach. It didn't look good.

"So, we ahhh." He turned his face away from the cloth that had been forced into his face. "What are you doing?"

"Like you said, they're gonna wait. I'm just cleaning you up."

"I look that bad?"

"Thought you didn't want to scare the kids?"

Sheppard pushed him away again.

"You've got blood all over your face."

Sheppard allowed him to wipe it off. Ronon checked on his stomach and then zipped up his tac vest. He adjusted Sheppard's t-shirt so it covered his wound and finally attempted to spike his hair up.

Sheppard shirked away again. "Stop it!"

"Looking a little flat," Ronon said, with a smirk. "You ready?"

0000

As the shield dropped, Keller adjusted her face mask and waited patiently for her patients to step through. She'd been briefed on the children's and Sheppard's condition and had decided to set up a quarantine area next to the gate room. They could be filtered down the corridor to minimise their contact with other members of the expedition.

When the first of the children stepped through the gate, no alarms blared and the gate room didn't go into lockdown. Confirmed that the masks should be good enough, she moved to intercept them.

When everyone was through, the children seemed to get agitated. They formed a circle around Sheppard. One of the girls reached for his hand and his mouth twisted in discomfort when he turned to look at her.

"It's okay," she heard him say as she approached. "You're safe here."

Sheppard ushered her over.

Ronon managed to get the kids to move away, but they wouldn't leave without him and hovered at the edge of the steps, waiting for him to follow.

"Colonel?"

"Hey doc," he said, turning his back to the kids. "I've got a little problem."

She raised her eyebrows as he unzipped his vest with shaking hands.

"What seems to be the – oh my!" she said, as he lifted his t-shirt.

"I didn't want to freak the kids out. Enough's gone on today without them catching a glimpse of my insides." He was going for light-hearted, but she could tell that he was worried.

"Okay, we need to-"

One of the kids suddenly pushed passed Ronon and ran towards them. Keller zipped his top up to hide the wound as the little girl reached for the colonel's hand again.

"I'm scared. Where are we?" the girl asked.

Sheppard smoothed back the hair on her forehead. "This is where I live. So it's safe."

"They want us to go to a room with them. Will you come? I don't want to go alone."

Sheppard gave the kid a withering look. It was obvious that he was struggling to remain upright.

"That's fine," Keller said. She motioned for Ronon and without a word he took Sheppard's other arm. "I'll go on ahead."

Sheppard nodded and she took off towards the infirmary. She caught one of the staff nurses in the corridor. "Casey, I need you to get those kids into a separate room from the colonel. We'll need to get prepped for surgery. I want some O neg on standby and get Doctor Vasquez down here. I'll need a GI consultant on this one."

0000

Sheppard was operating on autopilot now. He was beyond tired and all he wanted to do was close his eyes. Ronon shook his shoulder and he realised he'd been listing to the side. Desla pulled hard on his hand as she walked ahead. Now that she was confident that she was safe, she was excited to see where they were going. Sheppard couldn't blame her. He just wished she'd let go of his hand because with every tug his side was protesting.

When he entered the infirmary, Casey prised Desla out of his hand. "Come on Sweetie. I'm going to take you through to your friends."

"You're coming too?" Desla asked him.

"I'll be through later. I just need to get checked over by the doctor."

She still wasn't budging.

"It's okay," he said. He leaned into Ronon, as his head began to swim.

McKay and Teyla appeared in his peripheral. There was movement behind him. They were gearing up to take him to surgery.

"You'll be fine," he said, finally pulling his hand free.

Desla looked up at him. "Are you still feeling sick?"

"Yeah."

"You should take a nap," she said, patting his arm.

Then without argument, she followed Casey through to the connecting room.

At that moment he legs started going and Ronon managed to catch him.

"Are you okay?" McKay asked, as Keller started stripping him of his vest.

"Woah," McKay said. "That's not okay."

Sheppard looked down. There was blood everywhere. His pants were soaked and his t-shirt was saturated. He blinked and tried to clear his vision.

"Sheppard!" Teyla called out and he was suddenly looked up at the ceiling. How had that happened?

He was aware of McKay talking over them all and Keller pressing her hands against his stomach just before he blacked out.

0000

He didn't know how long he'd been out for and part of him didn't want to wake up to find out. For the moment he was warm and comfortable and all he wanted to do was sleep.

"He's waking up."

"His hand moved."

Sheppard cracked one eye open and looked to his side. There were seven sets of eyes staring up at him from the floor. When Desla saw that he was awake, she propelled herself at him and hugged him around the neck.

"We thought you'd sleep forever."

"I'm okay," he said. But as Desla moved away an alarm started blaring. He went to get up, panic rising, until he noticed she'd dislodged one of the wires on his chest.

The curtain swept back and Keller put her hand on her chest. "Oh god!" she said. "I thought-"

Sheppard held up the wire as she switched the machine off.

"Now," she said, turning to the kids. "I told you that the colonel needs his rest. You're supposed to be in your own beds."

"But he was waking up."

"But nothing," she said. "Bed."

One by one they dispersed. Sheppard closed his eyes and sighed.

"They haven't left your side since you were bought back in."

"How am I doing?"

"You are incredibly lucky," she said. "Besides needing a blood transfusion, it was a fairly simple procedure."

She stared at him. He sighed. "I know you're pissed off but I was trying not to scare the kids."

"Children are surprisingly resilient."

Sheppard was beginning to realise that. "How're they doing?"

She checked his stats while she spoke. "They're doing well and responding to antibiotic treatments."

"And me?"

"You're also responding well."

"Nobody else got sick did they?"

She placed the dislodged wire back onto his chest and switched the machine back on. "No. It turns out it's easily treatable with broad spectrum antibiotics."

"Oh."

"You sound disappointed," she said, grinning.

"No. Relieved." And he was. He could feel the last vestiges of tension seeping away. "At least it's a good starting point for a trade."

"My thoughts exactly."

"What happens now?"

"You stay here and get better. You're no longer contagious so you're fine to have visitors."

"We need to contact-"

"Already done. The children are going home tomorrow."

The curtain whipped back and Ronon stood there, arms crossed over his chest.

"I'll leave you to it," Keller said, pulling the curtain closed around them.

Ronon smiled.

"What?"

"McKay's pissed."

"I'm sure he is."

"Feels outta the loop." Ronon leaned against the bed. "Kids shouldn't see that. You did the right thing."

"Yeah. I just wish I'd done the right thing for the others."

"If you hadn't been there none of them would have lived."

"You don't know that."

"The power failed. You had nothing to do with it."

"Still…"

"Don't beat yourself up over it. Get some rest." He patted his leg through the blanket. You look like crap."

"Thanks."

"And don't worry about McKay. He'll get over it."

0000

Ronon closed the curtain around Sheppard's bed. He'd have to find McKay and put him straight. Sheppard was feeling bad enough as it was without him being guilted about hiding his injury. Besides, he hadn't hidden it. Ronon and Teyla knew about it and he wouldn't have let anything happen to him. Sometimes you had to protect the people around you. There was no sense in those kids being distressed and McKay being distracted when they needed to get out of there quickly.

Besides, labelling Sheppard irresponsible was labelling him the same.

He noticed Desla sitting on the edge of her bed. She was staring at the closed curtain.

"What are you doing?"

Her focus didn't waver. "Watching the colonel."

"Why?"

"He watched us while we slept to look after us from the ghost. And now he needs looking after. Do you have ghosts here?"

Ronon sat on the edge of the bed and looked in the same direction. "No ghosts."

"Still. He should have someone looking after him."

She had a point. "Mind if I stay with you?"