Nosophoros

Copyright 2008 awakethepassion

Disclaimer: All characters of StarGate and StarGate Atlantis belong to their respective writers and MGM. This is a work of fan fiction. I just want to play with them for awhile.

Chapter 1

John opened his eyes. It was dark and quiet.

He laid there for a few minutes. It was too dark, it was too quiet and for some reason he was naked and there was a sheet covering his face.

Okay, this was not looking good.

He sat up. He was in the infirmary. At least he thought it was the infirmary, or at least it was a room connected to the infirmary. A room that he had never expected to wake up in. If Beckett and McKay were trying to pull a joke on him this was definitely not funny.

He pushed the sheet off his face and sat up. "Rodney? Carson? Come on guys, jokes over!"

Silence.

He slid off the gurney, wrapping the sheet around his shoulders like a blanket. Something scraped on the floor and he looked down. There was something on his big toe. He lifted his foot and tugged the thing off and looked at it. It was a tag. A god damned toe tag and it had his name on it.

Dead. Oh god damn it to hell. If this wasn't a dream or some wise ass joke then those two were in for a whole world of hurt.

"Ford?"

Nothing. No Ford. No Rodney. No Carson.

"Okay, this has got to be a dream." John pinched his arm as hard as he could. There was no pain, the skin between his fingers didn't even turn red. "Oh, crap."

This was really not looking good.

He scraped a hand over his face, feeling yesterday's stubble. Stubble? He looked down at his chest and a feeling of relief washed over him. No stitches, no V incision. Thank God…Beckett hadn't had time to do an autopsy.

Autopsy? "Okay, Sheppard. Get a hold of yourself."

Instinctively his hand went to his neck. He felt for the marks where the Iratus bug had attached its self to him but there was nothing there. He shook his head, trying to remember what the hell had happened. He could remember the damned thing and he could remember Teyla and Ford trying to get the thing off him, Beckett giving them instructions for the most of it and then their desperate attempt to use the defib paddles. He could remember the shock and then the slow numbing cold as his heart had slowly stopped. He could even remember hearing Teyla and Ford and Rodney shouting something before the blackness had drowned out everything.

"Well, I guess that theory got shot all to hell." He muttered to himself. "Way to go, John."

Then a thought struck him. If the paddles had worked and the bug was dead then what…?

What the hell had that bug really done to him?

And what was he still doing in Atlantis and not in a box headed back to what little of his family he had left?

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. First thing he needed to do was get out of here and get back to his quarters. Then maybe after a wash and a decent meal he might not be in the mood to kill anybody for pulling such a stupid joke on him.

He edged to the doorway. Dim light spilled out into the hallway. There was a nurse on duty but her back was to him and she seemed to be pretty intent on whatever was on her computer screen. He watched her, vaguely wishing that she would move and then to his surprise, she did.

She stretched her arms over her head, yawning. "Be back in a minute, Chang. I think I'll go get some coffee before I fall asleep. You want anything?"

A soft murmur caught his ears, probably Chang answering. It seemed like forever before the nurse finally left and he was left alone with the unseen Chang. He eased around the corner.

She was sitting in the far corner, her head bent over, her fingers fairly flying across the keyboard of her lap top.

He was aiming to ease past her, to slip away before she looked up and caught sight of him but his body apparently had other ideas. Something white hot laced through him. Something so agonizing and horrible that he bent over, clutching at his belly. His foot caught on the edge of the sheet and he fell to his knees, grunting in pain.

He clutched at his head. The pain was worse than anything he'd ever felt in his life. He moaned, biting his lips to try to keep from screaming. Something was inside him. He could feel it crawling in his belly, spreading out from his core. Wrapping itself around him and digging its claws into what was left of his mind.

He groaned, curling into a ball on the hard floor. He pulled his knees to his chest, gritting his teeth until he thought they were going to break off.

Vaguely he heard noise, the sound of a chair scraping back and the sound of running feet. He'd fallen down behind one of the desks, banging his shoulder and making a hell of a lot of noise as he'd gone down.

"Oh, my God! Major!"

His head snapped up at the sound of her voice…and something else. His nostrils flared when the scent of her fear washed over him. He shook his head, but it was still there. He could smell it, could smell her, could smell the heady scent of her blood flowing hot and sweet through her veins.

"Get away from me…"

He tried to say the words but they came out like a guttural growl. White hot pain was clouding his eyes. He tried to scramble back, tried to drag the sheet back over him but all he could do was lay on the floor, panting and growling like a wounded animal.

Chang was hovering over him, her voice anxious. She got in front of him, crouching down, her hands reaching out to help him.

He lifted his head and looked at her and uttered one word. "Run."

Her face went white. She fell back, one step and then two more.

He was on her before she reached the door.