Not so Straight a Line

by Lorr

Missing scene from Tabula Rasa. What happened on the flight back from the mainland?

Title: Not So Straight a Line

Author: Lorr

Genre/Rating: Missing scene for Tabula Rasa

Characters: Sheppard, Ronon, Puddle Jumper

Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis and all the toys therein belong to a whole bunch of people that are not me. I'm just here to play.

Spoilers: Since this is a missing scene from Tabula Rasa, it is a spoiler.

I hope you feel it fits, and that you enjoy it. Let me know!

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Ronon tried to watch the windshield and Sheppard at the same time on the journey to the mainland. It was challenging to say the least. Even though his confidence in the pilot's abilities was unshakable, a break in concentration could have easily been deadly.

More than once he told himself this was a probably a really dumb idea. On a normal day, the Colonel could fly the Puddle Jumper blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back while having an argument with McKay. Today was definitely not a normal day.

Sheppard remembered what he was doing only as long as they kept talking about it. Constant mental stimulus and reminders were necessary to keep the Jumper from flying into the vast ocean. It was plain to see that his friend's tenuous hold on memory was slipping fast.

They were both relieved when they landed, but Ronon cringed inwardly at the thought of the trip back. After mere seconds, John didn't even remember the flight out. The Satedan wondered how much of flying the Jumper was dependent on a coherent mind and how much could be done purely by the seat of the pants?

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"Come on." Ronon carefully took the weapon from Sheppard's hand as it was lowered, already almost forgotten. He turned the pilot and guided him to his chair, hitting the control to close the hatch on the way. "Sit."

The interior lights of the Jumper showed Ronon just how sick his friend had become. He regretted the need to stun him, realizing too late that it was probably not a good thing to do at this stage of the illness. John sat down and studied the controls for a several seconds before turning back to Ronon.

"What is this?"

"A ship. It flies."

"You the pilot?"

Ronon pointed to the activation pad. "No, you are. Touch this and think on."

Confusion grew in the fever brilliant eyes and he began to stand up. "No, no, no, no. I don't know how…"

"Yes, you do. You got us here." Ronon gently pushed him back into the chair.

"I don't remember flying anything." John shook his head slowly then looked at him with suspicion. "Who are you?"

The Satedan quashed the impulse to shout. He extremely worried if they were going to get back to the city at all. He took a deep breath. "We're friends. Listen, this is important. You can fly this thing."

Sheppard blinked at him. "Are you kidding? How?"

Ronon pointed to the pad again. "You have a gene that lets you fly it. All you have to do is think about what you want to do. Touch this and turn it on."

He looked skeptically from Ronon to the pad and back again as he put hesitant fingers on it. Nothing happened.

"You can do it. It'll do whatever you think. Just want it to come on." Ronon encouraged him.

The Colonel pressed the surface more firmly and took a deep breath. Almost immediately the Jumper came to life. He pulled his hand back as if he'd received an electric shock, but the engines continued to hum. He swallowed and looked up at the big stranger.

"Now what?"

Ronon stood next to his seat, looking for the needed controls on the console. He pointed. "Touch that and ask for the heads up display."

Sheppard did as he was told and whispered, "Heads up display."

The HUD obediently appeared. It was bright against the near darkness outside.

"Think about Atlantis and…"

"What?" The HUD wavered as Sheppard turned to him again.

Ronon jaw tightened. "Stop asking questions. Atlantis is home. Just think about going home and how to get there. Tell it to show us a map of how to get there."

Both men held their breath as the display sharpened, zoomed out and rotated. A line appeared, tracing the route from their present location to the city.

"Now what?" John didn't dare look away from the image in front of them. He was breathing heavily with the effort to concentrate while his hands moved across the controls. They felt so familiar, yet the identity of each just beyond his grasp.

Ronon stared at the console. He'd watched Sheppard a hundred times or more, but never really closely enough to know all of the fine adjustments and nuances of his techniques. He had a suspicion that Sheppard really didn't need to do more than to be in contact with the machine to fly it, but just liked the feel of having his hands on the controls. Flying a Jumper was something he, Ronon, would never be able to do and how the hell could anyone ever imagine this might happen? This definitely had a very high probability of getting rough.

"Uh, I'm not sure." He pointed first at the small joystick on the right. "I think that's for direction and maybe altitude. Speed, maybe one of the other things. I don't know, just try things. Think what you want it to do."

"Think what I want to do?" A hint of fear was visible in the hazel eyes. "I could kill us both, you know."

"Yeah, but you won't. You can fly this thing in your sleep." Ronon growled. "Uh, activate the inertial dampeners first then just try getting us in the air. Slow. Go slow."

Sheppard nodded with uncertainty. He had the headache from hell and he didn't know what he was doing, but he closed his right hand over the stick. The HUD dissolved. Before Ronon could say anything, it returned and the small craft began to rise. He closely watched his friend, who was desperately trying to stay focused on the normally effortless tasks involved in using all things Ancient.

"Al…al…how high?"

"Go to fifty klicks…kilometers." The altitude would cut some time off the trip back. It would also give them a cushion if there was a lapse in concentration.

Sheppard repeated breathlessly, "Fifty kilometers."

Ronon was grateful he'd remembered the inertial dampeners when the Jumper shot upward. They were quickly skimming the lower stratosphere. The sky above the cloud layer was full of stars and the fading light from two setting moons. John pressed the heel of his left hand against his forehead, the momentary distraction causing the HUD to waver and disappear.

"John, bring up the HUD again." Ronon squeezed his shoulder when he saw his friend's confusion. "Think heads up display."

"What's that?" He glanced up at the big man leaning over him.

"It's the picture that was up on the screen. Just think heads up display." Ronon kept his voice as even as possible. He wanted to shout, to hurry, but knew that everything rested on Sheppard getting them back to Atlantis. Crashing would seal everyone's fate. "And keep thinking fifty kilometers altitude."

The pilot's frown deepened as the HUD reappeared, but it revealed only their altitude and coordinates. He glanced back. "Where are we going?"

"Atlantis. Think about flying to home to Atlantis."

The image in front of them changed to show the way home again. The Jumper immediately turned to the correct heading and began to move forward.

"How fast?"

"Speed." Ronon pushed back and errant dreadlock as stared at the HUD. He would have loved to tell him full speed, but it was too dangerous. Even a relatively slow speed in the Jumper could put them in water in a handful of seconds. John needed to keep too many things going in his mind as it was. "We'd better go to fifty kilometers altitude and one-tenth speed. Just keep thinking those three things. Home. Fifty klicks high and one-tenth speed."

"Home. Fifty klicks. One-tenth speed." He repeated then took a few quick, shallow breaths. The Jumper climbed to the new altitude and accelerated until it reached the wanted speed. "Keep talking."

"Okay. Home, fifty klicks high and one-tenth speed." Ronon recited the instructions as he watched John closely. Sheppard was flushed with fever, sweat dripped from his face and soaked his BDUs. He was breathing too rapidly. "Slow, deep breaths. Remember, think about going home, to Atlantis."

"Home." John nodded then glanced up again. "By the way, do I know you?"

"Yes, we've been friends for more than two years." He watched the readings on the HUD for a couple of minutes. Their altitude and speed were dropping, and they were off course. "Think Atlantis, fifty klicks high and one-tenth speed."

"Yeah. Fifty and one-tenth." Sheppard repeated the words several times then paused. "Where we going?"

"Home. Atlantis is home."

"Home. Good. I'm tired." He wiped his left sleeve across his eyes, trying to keep the stinging sweat out. "Why can't you fly this thing?"

"I just can't."

Ronon was growing more concerned at the pilot's struggle to continue. They were less than halfway to the city and Sheppard seemed to be on the verge of collapse. The Jumper continued to descend and veer off course. He squeezed his friend's shoulder.

"John, you need to concentrate. Remember, fly home, to Atlantis."

Sheppard gave him an exaggerated nod, but seemed to not connect what he was being told. "Yeah. Home."

"Think one-tenth speed, fifty klicks altitude and Atlantis." Ronon read the HUD again. "Keep saying it. One-tenth speed. Fifty klicks. Atlantis."

"Okay. One-tenth speed. Fifty klicks. Atlantis." Sheppard swallowed. "One-tenth speed. Fifty klicks. Atlantis."

"That's it. Keep saying it." Ronon began to recite it with him. "One-tenth speed. Fifty klicks. Atlantis."

The Jumper climbed to the needed altitude again and leveled off. Speed and course steadied. Slowly, the point on the HUD indicating their tiny craft inched closer to the city. It was more like McKay's flying than Sheppard's but at least they were moving in the right direction. They just needed to do it faster.

"One-tenth speed. Fifty klicks. Atlantis."

Ronon closely watched Sheppard and their progress on the HUD, eyes darting back and forth every few seconds as they repeated their mantra. When Sheppard's voice trailed off, Ronon squeezed his shoulder and spoke more forcefully.

"One-tenth speed. Fifty klicks altitude. Atlantis."

What felt like hours later, but Ronon knew were only minutes, they were close enough to begin their descent. The high cloud cover made it impossible to see her lights, but the image on the HUD was unmistakable. He took a deep breath.

"Okay, we're almost there, so you need to slow down and start the descent."

"What?" Sheppard looked at him in alarm. The Jumper, completely forgotten in that split second, started to speed downward. Only the inertial dampeners kept them from being flung around the cabin.

"Crap!" Ronon barked as he looked at windscreen. The HUD was gone. How fast were they falling? "Tell it to stop. Uh, think…think ten kilometers and…uh…zero speed."

"What?" Sheppard looked around.

"We're flying into the ocean. Tell it to stop!" Ronon tried not to shout, but his voice boomed in the confined space. He lowered it. "Just think stop. Then bring up the HUD again."

The Colonel squeezed his eyes closed. Their uncontrolled plunge slowed and halted as the HUD reappeared. He opened his eyes only when the craft settled into a station keeping attitude. The display read an altitude of ten kilometers and zero movement in any direction. Below them, the cloud cover still masked any visible sign of the city.

"Now what?" Sheppard asked in a tight, breathless voice. He stared at the HUD, trying to retain the memory of what he was instructed to do.

Ronon exhaled out only part of the strain he felt. At the speed they were traveling, it would have taken only a few more seconds to collide with the surface of the water below them, condemning everyone on Atlantis. It would have left Teyla alone until the Wraith or the Replicators found the city.

"We're here." Ronon pointed to a tiny blip on the HUD that marked their craft. Atlantis was a much larger, nearby glow, dwarfing them. Most of the distance between the two points was altitude. "We need to land. Uh, think Jumper bay, slow speed."

"Jumper bay. Slow." Sheppard repeated as he wiped his face with his sleeve again. Before they moved, he looked at his companion. "The bay, where is it?"

"When we get close to the city, we need to head for the top of the tallest tower in the center." He pointed at the windshield. "Go slow and follow the map."

"Slow. Jumper bay." Sheppard nodded uncertainly. He was sweating profusely and his color was a pasty grey.

The descent went more smoothly than Ronon thought possible. He could hear his friend repeat the new chant over and over as he watched the HUD, occasionally blinking away the fever generated sweat. The cloud layer was thick, as it often seemed to be on their new home. The Jumper was almost on top of the city when they finally broke through.

Ronon, who had also been watching the HUD with intent, spoke firmly, but quietly. It was too dangerous to startle the pilot this close to the towers.

"Slow to a stop."

The Jumper slowed to a stop. It hovered about a hundred meters above and to the east of the central tower.

"Hold it there for a moment." His mind debated on how best to do this. "Okay, I think this thing can land itself, so let's try it."

Sheppard glanced at him skeptically. "Excuse me?"

"It does what you think. Tell it to land in the Jumper bay." Ronon looked over at him. "The bay doors should be open, but keep your hands on the controls. Just in case."

The HUD dissolved and John stared out at the city, focusing on the graceful tower. He whispered, "Jumper bay. Land in the Jumper bay."

The little craft obeyed the command, seemingly unaware of the compromised mind of the pilot. John appeared to go into automatic, touching one control then another as his focus remained on the changing perspective through the windshield. Ronon would have sworn later that, except for the outwards appearance of illness, for a few moments there was nothing wrong with his friend.

"We're home." Ronon said with relief as the Jumper settled on the on the bay floor. "Nice flying."

The End