Title: Any Given Sunday
Author: SciFiDVM
Summary: Missing scene from Season 3 episode "Sunday"
Spoilers: Major spoilers for S3 episode "Sunday". If you have not seen the episode you almost certainly don't want to read this yet.
Disclaimer: I do not own any portion of Stargate Atlantis, nor do I receive any monetary compensation for this writing. It's all just fun and games (until someone loses an eye – then it's really funny)
Author's note: This is a little darker than my normal stuff, but hey, I was in the mood. This is my first Atlantis fic, I know there's not much dialogue, but please let me know what you think of my characterization.
Any Given Sunday
There was a brief moment where the group gathered in the control room was able to believe that the sound of their friend's voice had just been cut off by static. Very loud static. Then, almost instantaneously, came the unmistakable auditory rumble accompanied by the city's structure trembling. It was an explosion. That moment of hope was gone.
Ronon was out the door before the blast was even over. Rodney, just as quickly, began pulling the cords from his laptop, preparing to follow. John stared blankly into the space in front of him and tried his intercom again, "Carson? Carson, do you read me?"
The silence caused Rodney to pause and look up. He met the gaze of John and Elizabeth. That was when fear set in. As they all set out through the door at a determined walk, Elizabeth pleaded into the intercom, "Carson?" When nothing but silence responded, they broke into a run.
They caught up with Ronon at the beginning of the corridor leading to the surgical suite. He was already beginning to clear the rubble that was blocking their path.
Rodney happened to glance down at his computer's screen as he laid it aside to help. The two green dots that had been visible within outlined schematic of the hallway ahead faded and disappeared before his eyes. He stopped, picked the computer back up, and stood staring at the screen, as his friends and a few other expedition members that had reached the scene all worked feverishly to clear debris. "This is odd. Something is malfunctioning. The life signs detector was working fine just a minute ago. The blast must have disabled the sensors. Of all the inconvenient times for an equipment failure…"
John paused his digging momentarily to look up and lock eyes with Rodney. The scientist slowly realized that it was not an equipment failure that caused the life signs to cease. "No!" The statement held the emotion of a scream, but came out little louder than a whimper. He threw the computer down and frantically started clearing debris.
Radek appeared behind them, out of breath. "Scans show minimal structural damage. The corridor should be safe once obstruction is cleared." He inched closer to the people working to clear the debris, not wanting to get in their way, when his foot grazed Rodney's discarded computer. The czech recognized the program on the screen and quickly noted the lack of life signs in the section of corridor beyond them. "Ty vole! Ne!" He joined Rodney and Ronon in moving the last sizeable object blocking their path.
John was the first to dive through into the thick smoke. Two marines with fire extinguishers followed and quickly set to work putting out the few areas still emitting flames. Ronon and Rodney joined the search next, leading a small band of medical personnel.
"Doc?" John yelled out as they all turned a corner. They came across the remains of what had once been the explosive containment device. Fragments of charred helmet and shards of protective body armor were scattered nearby. John and his team hurried on, pushing out of their minds the knowledge of what must have happened to the marine previously wearing that gear. They continued to search for their friend. The smoke was so thick that their flashlights did not even penetrate all the way to the ground. They fanned out slightly to cover more ground.
A few yards down the corridor John suddenly stiffened and yelled out, "I've got him!"
Rodney was instantly beside him. As soon as he looked down at what John had found, his insides twisted and he lunged to the side. He used the wall to brace himself as he retched.
A medic quickly appeared and knelt next to the badly burned body. "He's not breathing. And I can't get a pulse. Get the stretcher!"
"No time." Ronon barked, as he leaned down, scooped up the body, and rushed back out of the corridor. "Out of the way!" was the only warning the crowd of helpers and on-lookers at the collapsed entrance got as he rushed passed.
Elizabeth followed in Ronon's wake with John and Rodney, as they rushed towards the infirmary. "Is he alright?" She asked. She received no answer as they entered the infirmary, Ronon placed the body on an exam table, and the other doctors and nurses began swarming around. "John, what is going on? Is he going to be alright?" She asked again, grabbing onto his sleeve to command his attention.
John turned and looked her in the eyes. As he opened his mouth to speak, the voice of one of the doctors rang out, "CLEAR!" Then the room got silent and an all too familiar "thunk" sound resonated, followed by an unwavering flat tone from the ECG machine. As the many voices in the room once again rose to a clamor, Elizabeth tightened her grip on John's sleeve, and buried her face, now streaked with tears, in his shoulder. He instinctively put an arm around her, but continued to watch the doctors with a numb, disbelieving stare.
Rodney was pacing in circles near the door, talking quickly and quietly to himself. "Fishing. If I'd only gone fishing…the dots just disappeared…. Bad dream... wake up Rodney… can't be happening… exploding tumors… ancient weapon... must be a way… some other technology… check the database…" His circles were getting tighter and tighter as he tapped out equations on his fingers. He stopped and looked up, as if maybe he had found a solution.
Before he could speak, "CLEAR!" was yelled again. It was followed by the same "thunk" then "waaaaaaaaaaa".
Though this time, the voices did not pick back up again. There was immediately another "CLEAR!" then "Thunk. Waaaaaaaaaaa".
"Charge to 400. CLEAR!"
"Thunk. Waaaaaaaaaaa"
"450. CLEAR!"
"Thunk. Waaaaaaaaaaa."
"Push another unit of Epi. 500. CLEAR!"
"Thunk. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."
"Charging. Go at 500 again. CLEAR!"
"Wait." Elizabeth stepped forward and intervened. She couldn't hide the shudder that racked her body as she looked down on the badly burnt and damaged body of her friend. "This…" she almost choked on the words, "this isn't working. As much as it truly pains me to say this, he is gone. It's time to let him go."
"No." Ronon stepped up, tears welling in his eyes. "If that were one of us, he wouldn't stop."
"Ronon." Elizabeth extended a hand and gently placed it on his shoulder.
He quickly shrugged it off and added angrily, "You have all these machines, all this research. You have the city and the tools of the ancestors." He looked back and forth between the burnt body and Teyla's still unconscious form two beds over. His expression softened, and he was no longer able to hold back the tears, "Why can't you just fix him?" He then brushed past everyone, out of the infirmary.
"Time of death 18:24" the doctor announced and pulled the blanket up over the body. The hushed crowd broke with muffled condolences and sobs. Some rushed out of the infirmary and some milled about a little while before leaving. Within ten minutes the only people left in there were the required personnel, who were all tending to other patients, and John, Elizabeth, and Rodney, who all stood silently at the foot of the bed.
Rodney broke the silence, "Somebody's going to need to tell Teyla. When she wakes up, of course."
"I'll do it." John replied simply.
They continued to stand silently for another few moments. "Could somebody give me a hand here." Came the voice of a female doctor pushing a stretcher by herself.
"Was this person injured in the explosion?" Elizabeth asked, as the men helped wheel the stretcher over to an empty bed and transfer the patient.
"No ma'am. This is Dr. Watson. I was still closing his incision when… when the explosion happened. They just got the level cleared enough for me to get him down here." The doctor made a note in the chart and went to speak to one of the nurses.
"Son of a…" John looked on in amazement, "He actually saved the guy."
"Did you really expect anything less?" Rodney asked.
"No. I guess I didn't." John replied.
"Colonel Sheppard, Doctor MacKay," Teyla's voice was still quite groggy, "I am not very clear, but I believe there has been great excitement in here. What has taken place?"
"Teyla," John sat on the corner of her bed, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."