Title: Chronos
AN: NOT A DEATH FIC. AU took out Teyla's baby and it's kinda set in the fourth season. There aren't really any spoilers for any episode in particular, kinda just mentions things. It's a WIP and I actually really, really tried to finish this one before posting but apparently that only means I get to work on it for almost five months without getting very far. So in hopes of me actually finishing this story, I'm posting it half written with good ideas about where it will go. Reviews would be lovely.
Warnings: Language…so far as I can tell.
CHAPTER 1
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When the call came John had answered the phone, then they had suddenly packed up and were on their way back to the airport. Teyla knew that nothing good could be happening and she understood why John didn't want her to go with him to the outpost but she knew that there was no way that she could walk away.
She had followed John in a military jet to Antarctica before the battle started. They landed as the pilots reported that enemy ships had just entered the atmosphere. She knew that John wanted to be up there with the other pilots but they both ran towards the chair after a frantically long wait in the elevator, knowing that it was the best way to win the battle without loosing too many lives.
The Earth suddenly shook and shuddered, toppling equipment and personnel everywhere. She fell into John and they had both crashed onto the floor, tangling into disorder. But John had barely a scratch on him and had been able to jump up and keep running.
She would have followed, she knew that she should have followed but others needed help at that moment and she couldn't bring herself to leave them because going with John meant that she would have to stand off to the side while he did everything. If she stayed here she could at least do something.
--
He woke up coughing and gasping for breath, instant fire ran up his sides. He tried to stop but hacked a few more times before he could. John fell back against the hard floor and looked up at a confused mess of concrete, rock, and snow. Blood slowly ran from his mouth, he could feel it dripping off his jaw and running down his neck but he hurt too much else where to care much.
He breathed heavily and tried to sit up but the moment he did something slipped further into his lower stomach and ground its way against his spine. Nope, not a good feeling at all. He moaned aloud and decided to stay put until he had a better understanding of his situation.
Grunting, he lifted his head and looked down. A metal beam had logged itself into his torso and beyond that he could see a large slab of gray concrete which trapped his legs. Beneath the fire that radiated up and down his upper body he felt nothing below his belt. Knowing that it couldn't be a good sign, John thunked his head back on the ground as the strain on his neck built.
The beam was probably the width of his palm and he had the distant thought that it was insane that he could still be alive with the amount of blood that pooled and soaked through his clothes. His eyes slipped shut and for a few moments he concentrated on trying to breathe enough to calm the agony.
--
It was over as quick as it had started and Teyla couldn't believe the amount of damaged sustained in less than half an hour. She had started helping the search and rescue teams dig through the rubble, knowing that the medical personnel were more than qualified to do their thing.
There had been so much noise before. Screaming and screeching following the explosions; cries from further down the corridors and echoes from other rooms. Equipment and people littered the hallways, and then the sudden crash of something directly dropping through the glass ceiling, the almost piercing silence as everyone knew what was next, and it was almost anticlimactic when the safety glass sprinkled down musically throughout the outpost.
Now the silence was gone, replaced with shouting and barked commands turning confusion into organized chaos. Teams of medical and military personnel were running around doing their best to account for everyone, and moving the most critically wounded onto waiting helicopters that would try their best to save them.
Teyla entered the tunnel towards the chair room along with a few others, they discovered the passage way blocked off with debris. Pieces of ice and chunks of rock obstructed the corridor and Teyla could tell right away that it would take more than a few hours to get through.
--
Torrents of hot agony threatened to pull him away from the world. He had to fight for every short, wheezy, and almost watery breath that he could take into his lungs and every time he exhaled he could feel a warm gurgle against the back of his throat which made him gag and choke and that was no good because then he would spasm and the pain only got worse. John was sure that he was going to slip soon because the fuzzy film over his eyes kept getting brighter and he knew that he had to try something or his fate would be sealed.
His arms were numb but he levered himself up and felt the beam slid in deeper. He slipped and fell back hard against the ground. Blood bubbled up and soaked into his shirt. Soon it would gush up with the rest of the blood and dribble onto the hard floor allowing him to feel the warm fluid under his palms.
His eyes drifted shut and he floated once again. Away from the blazing pain, spreading numbness, and cut off breaths he found a piece of space that allowed him serenity.
--
When they got the news it was already too late for them to do anything but they went through the gate nonetheless because…what else could they have done?
The trip back to Earth only takes half an hour but intergalactic law can't be bent and they had to wait at Midway for a whole 24 hours before the IOA, and thus the SGC, would let them pass. Rodney knew the laws were in place for good reason but right now things didn't seem to possess much sense.
Sheppard had gone home for Christmas, like half of the normal staff on Atlantis, and had taken Teyla along with him for her real first trip to Earth. It was supposed to be a few days gone from the confusion of the Pegasus Galaxy, a way for him to connect with his brother and his brother's fiancée. Of course things never turned out well when you're affiliated with aliens and Stargates and explosions and things that go faster than anything should. But Rodney knew that one had to make the best of things. He had wanted to visit Jeannie but the lottery told him that he was with the second group and he would be getting New Year's back on Earth. Now it looked like he wouldn't get to see his niece until after all the festivities.
God, he hoped that Sheppard was all right. The man had an uncanny ability to get himself into the direst of situations. But he had to be alright because he was, well… he was Sheppard. He was the guy who just always came out of it, maybe with massive blood loss and severe brain damage but he'd make it.
Rodney sighed and checked the time again. Only ten minutes had passed since the last time he looked and he supposed that continuing to check wouldn't make it move any faster but he was nervous.
The SGC had only sent news three hours after the outpost in Antarctica was attacked. Enemy ships had suddenly appeared on Earth's radar and the SGC had called in everyone who had the gene and anyone who could help to the outpost. Sheppard of course was one of the first.
The battle had lasted for less the 20 minutes but by the end of it the outpost was half collapsed and now personnel were digging though the damage. They had search and rescue teams investigating sites where pilots had gone down. It was a complete mess and it was times like these where Rodney truly wondered how the Stargate program was still a secret.
--
Ronon spent the first few hours waiting around in his bunk; he wanted to conserve his energy to help with the rescue operations. Then news came and Teyla personally sent the message to tell them that they couldn't find Sheppard. There was no body. At first he thought that was good news: no body equals no death.
Then Ronon went to Midway's excuse for a training room. He had tried to sit still because he and Rodney were going to Earth and there was probably something that he could help with but every time he sat down, he couldn't stop thinking.
Sheppard was not only his leader but his friend, a fellow warrior who understood the meaning of loss and realized that some things just weren't worth it to talk about. They both understood action and being inactive now, while his friend was out there, in trouble or dying was unacceptable.
He needed to be doing the physical because that showed immediate tangible results, instant gratification. But right now, everything was against him. He had no way of helping anyone on Earth, least of all his friend. And he had no idea what was happening. He had to leave it all up to people he didn't know but had to trust.
A few hours after that, Colonel Carter reported to them that the amount of blood that had spilled and dried on the chair room floor was at least 3 liters, 'probably more'. Too much, way too much to lose and still be alive.
No body but too much blood flooding and soaking into the snow and the stone gray floor. No body but too much blood equals… It was simple, simple and exact. Clear as crystal and so very, very obvious.
He was gone. Sheppard was gone which meant that for all intents and purposes he was…
