Many thanks to lorellipsis for betaing and to drdredd for the help and for letting me use Schwartz.
The monster knocked Teyla off her feet. Ronon was already on the ground, trying unsuccessfully to get up. Rodney and Carson were standing about a meter in front of Elizabeth, not sure that they could do anything to protect her, but they still had a few bullets left in their guns and they were prepared to use them all.
They fired their guns and they heard a scream, then John was on the ground. Elizabeth rushed to his side and dropped to her knees, while Carson hurried over to see what had happened. As he and Elizabeth tried to assess John's injuries, Rodney helped Teyla and Ronon to get up off the ground.
Despite their attention on what they were doing, they noticed some people coming from the forest, dressed in outfits similar to John's, and babbling about fears and defeating the monster.
"And how exactly do you plan to do this?" Rodney put in, with his usual air of condescension.
"This monster is our creation. The creation of our fears – we must defeat it." The young, black-haired woman seemed confident, but Rodney couldn't believe that these medieval fellows could defeat the thing that had attacked them.
"Yes, yes… But how do you plan to do defeat it? If I may point out, you..." He found himself speechless, staring at the people who had gathered together into a circle.
"Now that's plain stupid. What do you think that's going to solve?"
The monster appeared again and, to Rodney's surprise, it disappeared just as quickly – as the villagers appeared to concentrate on it.
"Well... this is... odd. Hey, Guys! Did you see that?" He turned to see the others' reactions, and found them all gathered around Sheppard's unmoving body.
"What happened?" he asked anxiously. Nobody bothered to answer him. "Hey! What's going on?"
"We need t' get back to Atlantis. As soon as possible!" Carson replied. He seemed to be in a hurry, but Rodney figured it couldn't be anything too important or he would have explained further.
"Well, I'll just disconnect the ZPM and then we'll go back." He knew he sounded hurt, but he was annoyed that the others seemed to be ignoring him.
"There'll be no need for that." The young woman, who'd spoken to Rodney before, approached.
"Well, how do you suggest we get out of here, then?"
"You will be able to leave, but you are not to destroy the energy field. This is to remain a sanctuary for those who wish to ascend."
"Well, I don't know how you-"
"Rodney, we have t' leave. Now!" Carson's voice was harsh, more an order than a request. Rodney didn't appreciate the attitude, but decided he'd follow it up later.
Ronon hefted John up onto his shoulder and they left without looking back.
As soon as they stepped through the Gate on Atlantis, Carson started barking out orders to the Medical Personnel, ignoring everyone else in the gate-room.
"Elizabeth, what's going on?" Rodney inquired.
"I don't know. I'd have thought you'd be able to tell me. We'll have to wait and see what Carson has to say when he's finished."
Three hours later, Carson was sitting in his office, thinking about how he was going to explain this. Explain it to Elizabeth, to the rest of the team… to John – if he ever woke up. He had been in surgery ever since they'd arrived, and the prospects weren't good.
There were three wounds, each severe enough to be deadly on its own. The thing he couldn't get his mind around, was that they were gunshot wounds. The only people who had fired a weapon of any kind were Rodney and himself, and each of them had fired twice within those few moments when John was shot. They had hurt John… He had hurt John. He could be the one responsible for another death. Again.
When he finally went to Elizabeth's office, he was trembling all over. He doubted he'd be able to find the coherence to say anything.
"Carson, you look tired. We'll make this quick and then you'll be able to rest. Please, sit down."
He remained standing at the chair opposite hers.
"I... I'm fine."
"Okay." She replied carefully. "How's John?"
"His condition is stable for the moment. He's unconscious, we can't predict when he'll recover."
"But he's going to be okay, right?"
"Hopefully. We should probably move him t' a more comfortable area of the infirmary. I'll have to-"
"It's okay, Carson. It'll be taken care of. Can you tell me how he got wounded?"
Carson was sure he couldn't handle this. He looked at Elizabeth, then down at the chair in front of him. He decided to sit down after all, hoping he could ease the shaking of his body.
"Were you able to determine how he was injured?" Elizabeth sounded concerned, patient. How long would that last?
"His wounds were... We... I believe we shot him, Elizabeth." His head went down again, he stared at the floor and his shoulders slumped with the weight of his guilt.
"I don't understand. You, who?"
"Me! Rodney and me! Back on th' planet. We shot him."
Elizabeth was speechless. She should have thought of that, but it was still a shock. They had been shooting at something that had no physical form and John had come from behind that something.
"It's not your fault, Carson."
"Elizabeth, I shot him. It is my fault. Who else could possibly be t' blame? He could die. He probably-"
"Don't go there, Carson. He'll be okay. Have you told Rodney, yet… Does he know?"
"No. I... How am I supposed t' tell him something like this?"
"I believe it would be best if we kept this between ourselves for the time being. We'll see how John's doing in a few days."
"You should know that the chances o-"
"Carson, this is the end of our discussion." She was upset. She didn't know how to handle this, she was afraid of how it could end.
He left, feeling as guilty as he had when he came in. How could he keep this from Rodney? How could he not?
