A/N: This is my first SGA fic. Please be kind.
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis, but if I did you can bet your ass it would still be on.
Read and Review it's the kind thing to do.
Rodney Mc Kay groaned as he heard the incessant beeping of his alarm going off. He was tired, so tired he didn't know if he could manage the arduous task of getting dressed. He would get up because there was no way Dr. Rodney McKay misses work just for being tired. With what felt like monumental effort he slowly sat up and drug his feet to the side of the bed. He sat and panted with the exertion the move had required. Looking at his feet and willing himself to go on, he gave another push and heaved his aching, tired body upright. He smiled with triumph even as he stood wobbly- kneed and weaving back and forth.
There you are McKay; I knew you could do it! How sad is it I'm cheering myself on for getting out of bed? His musings were interrupted by the squawk of his earpiece from the nightstand.
"McKay? Come in McKay. Where the hell are you Rodney?" John Sheppard's irritated voice floated through the air as Rodney picked up the communicator from the table.
"McKay here. What do you want Sheppard?" His fatigue made Rodney sound bitchier than usual. The day was off to a great start.
The Colonel's anger was growing."Why aren't you here at the gate? We are all waiting for you to go to PX-5378. Remember? Come on McKay, you're the one who wanted to check this place out, it's your freaking mission!"
"Yes, of course I remember, Sheppard .Keep your hair on. My alarm… seems to have malfunctioned; I'll be there in a few minutes."
Sheppard heard the pause in McKay's voice it let him know that Rodney was hiding something. Whatever it was would have to wait. He wanted to hurry up and get this mission over with, so they could watch the DVD of the Super Bowl General Landry sent through the gate that morning.
Rodney was nearly out of breath from getting dressed and tying the laces on his boots just about did him in. Something was wrong, he'd been tired before, hell knows he was exhausted 30% of the time from lack of sleep. Every day this week he'd woken up after six or more hours of sleep feeling like he'd not slept at all. This morning was the worst, and it was now obvious this was not just being tired. This was bone-crushing fatigue. Maybe he was getting the flu. Whatever the cause he couldn't deal with it now, Sheppard had his BDU's in a knot and McKay knew better than to poke the tiger.
I'll ask Jennifer about it when we have our post mission exam.
Sheppard, Ronon, and Teyla were milling about the gate room waiting for Rodney, getting more and more aggravated with each passing moment.
"I'm two seconds from scrapping this thing."
Teyla looked at him and said "I too am frustrated John, but Rodney is on his way, and we will leave soon."
Ronon just paced in restlessly.
Rodney rounded the corner from the transporter and stood at the top of the steps to the gate, he was concerned as to how he would be able to walk down the stairs without his shaking legs buckling.
Sheppard looked up to see him hesitating and called to him "What are you waiting for McKay, a written invitation?" Though Sheppard's tone was teasing, he couldn't hide the obvious irritation in his voice.
"No, I-I'm coming," Rodney swallowed and started taking each step deliberately, praying he didn't end up in a heap at his teams feet.
It felt like it took him ages but Rodney finally made it to the floor of the gate room without collapsing. The power bar and bottle of water he chugged on the way seemed to have helped his weariness.
Guess my blood sugar was low.
Ronon growled "About time McKay."
Sheppard looked at him his mouth opened ready to chastise Rodney some more, but one look at McKay's ghostly hue and the dark bruising around his eyes stopped him.
"You okay Rodney?" The concerned tone made the other two team members, turned to look the scientists over for themselves.
"I'm fine Sheppard. Geez, I just overslept. Now can we get on with it, I want to check this place for a lab I found in Atlantis' database. It may be a drone facility."
John was skeptical but looked up to Chuck and nodded at him to open the gate. The gate whooshed open and they walked through.
The planet seemed to be a tropical one, a welcome change from the temperate evergreen forests they usually found themselves exploring. The gate was on a stone platform covered in huge vines now seared through by the event horizon. It gave the effect of standing in a leafy tunnel. As the team stepped out into the sunlight, a wall of heat and humidity hit them.
Rodney gasped at the heaviness in the air, his pale brow already glistening with sweat. Even Ronon seemed affected by the oppressive steaminess of the atmosphere.
"Well it's hot, that's for damn sure." John complained.
Rodney pointed and started giggling at his friend.
"What McKay? What's so funny?"
Teyla and Ronon began snickering too.
"What the hell is so freaking funny?"
Rodney caught his breath and stammered "Y-your hair …"
Oh hell, damn humidity's started it curling up .I'm never going to hear the end of this.
The murderous look Sheppard gave them, stifled the laughter instantly.
"Let's just get this over with so we can get out of this steam bath," he said coldly.
"Ahem yeah, I think we should head in that direction. I'm picking up an energy reading."
"What of life signs?" Teyla asked.
"Plenty of those too, but it's probably just insects." Rodney smacked his neck to kill an offending pest.
"Here," Ronon tossed McKay a can of jungle strength DEET.
They each sprayed themselves generously and began tromping off toward the energy reading.
The way was difficult and Ronon took the lead slashing through the heavy vegetation with his machete' like sword. The ground was uneven the vines and underbrush snaking through their path made walking somewhat treacherous. Everyone was winded from the trek and no one spoke.
Rodney began to slow more and more, his breathing becoming louder and more strained. Sheppard took note, and when they came upon a small clearing declared they should stop and take a break. The team halted and sat down pulling their water bottles from their packs.
"Drink up. You're losing more water than you think in this humidity." Their leader said.
Ronon and Teyla gulped down their waters but Rodney sipped his with what seemed like effort. He lay panting leaning up against what looked a lot like a rubber tree.
John watched his friend with growing concern, "Rodney, you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. Quit being such a mother hen." Only he wasn't fine. He was quickly becoming more and more not fine. Breathing alone was making him exhausted.
Teyla and Ronon looked at one another and then John, their expressions worried too.
"I don't know about you guys but I need a minute to rest in this heat." John said as nonchalantly as possible.
Rodney was visibly relieved to hear this and he sank back and closed his eyes. He was out in seconds.
John motioned to Teyla and Ronon to follow him to the other side of the clearing.
"John, I believe there is something wrong with Rodney." Teyla whispered.
"Me too," John replied.
Ronon shook his head in agreement.
"He is being too quiet. That is not a good sign."Teyla said.
They all knew if Rodney was quiet, something was definitely off.
"What do you want to do?" Ronon asked.
The Colonel looked at them and said, "We need to go back."
"Yeah." Ronon said.
"I agree as well John." Teyla's mouth turned down with worry.
"Okay, be prepared for him to throw a fit. Ronon you may have to carry him, he doesn't look too good. Teyla you need to be good cop I'll be bad cop." They all knew the plan and their roles. The group walked over to their sleeping teammate full of resolve and ready to face resistance.
Teyla knelt down and gently shook Rodney's shoulder. "Rodney, we must go now."
Rodney's head was facing away from the group but as he stirred, he turned his head toward Teyla. She gasped in surprise and fear. "Rodney, please wake up. You are bleeding."
"Mc Kay! Wake up." Ronon's gruff voice could not hide his fear.
"Come on Rodney wake up buddy." John was on the other side of Rodney shaking him as well. There was bright red blood pouring out of his friend's nose and running down his mouth and chin, the blue uniform shirt was soaked with the scientist's blood. God knows how much blood he was losing but it sure seemed like too much.
Rodney could hear them he just couldn't respond. He was too tired, he fought the blackness that threatened to pull him under, but he was losing the battle.
"Enough of this!" Ronon roared, bending down and picking his friend up cradling Rodney protectively.
The three of them walked back through the sweltering jungle, back to the gate, without talking. The only sound was their labored breathing. Rodney's being the loudest, though he lie unconscious in Ronon's huge arms. The friends were scared. Whatever was wrong with Rodney it wasn't good, and it wasn't anything they could protect him from. They felt a sense of urgency that spoke of how frightening the condition was.
"Wait!" John yelled to Ronon.
Ronon stopped at the panic in the Colonel's voice. John ran over to him and looked at the dusky blue around Rodney's too still mouth.
"Shit, he's not breathing!"
Ronon laid Rodney down on a patch of sand and Sheppard checked his airway and began performing CPR on his best friend. "Come on Rodney breathe."
Ronon stood up and started running towards the gate. Teyla stayed beside John ready to take over when he tired. John heard the sound of the wormhole opening and prayed Ronon would bring help in time to save their teammate.
When they heard the gate open again, it was not soon enough. Teyla and John were losing the fight for Rodney's life. Ronon, Carson and two medics, came crashing through the dense vegetation and ran to where McKay lay dying, in his friends' arms.
Rodney's blood was everywhere. John and Teyla's hands and mouths were covered in it, the scene was horrific and Carson was stricken dumb with shock at the grisly tableau. His medical brain took over and he gently pushed John away from Rodney and began assessing him.
"How long has he been like this?"
"Perhaps thirty minutes have passed since we noticed the bleeding. He quit breathing fifteen minutes ago on our way to the gate. John and I have been doing CPR since."
Carson cut open the blood soaked shirt and placed the battery-powered defibrillator's leads on his friend, praying there was a heartbeat. The reading was not good. Rodney's heart was beating but it was in ventricular fibrillation.
"Oh no you don't Rodney, I promised Jennifer I'd look after you. You'll not be dying on me today." He placed the conductive pads on his friends now bare chest, and rubbed the metal paddles together as the machine whined its build up of power.
"Clear!" John and Teyla jumped out of the way.
The few seconds they waited to see if Rodney's heart rhythm corrected, were agonizing. Carson looked at the read out, shook his head, and began charging the paddles again. It had to work soon. The charge on the defibrillator wouldn't last much longer.
Fortunately, the second shock worked. The two corpsmen loaded McKay on the stretcher and ran to the gate, Carson and SGA-1 following close behind.
They were through the gate and on the way to the infirmary within minutes. Woolsey stared at the blood-covered team in disbelief. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know." John replied, stunned and barely coherent in front of his boss.
"Was there an accident?" Woolsey asked, still trying to make sense of the situation.
"No Mr. Woolsey, there was no accident. I believe Rodney is ill. He was quite pale when we left for the mission but claimed he was just tired." Teyla explained quietly.
Ronon said nothing his arms crossed in front of him in frustration. His warriors vest also covered in McKay's blood.
"Alright, go and get cleaned up, and then you can check on Dr. McKay."
"We'd rather not sir." Sheppard replied.
"Colonel that wasn't a request, and I know how worried you are. Nevertheless, you cannot walk around the city with Dr. McKay's blood all over your face, hands and clothing. So go to your quarters, get cleaned up, and change. I'll meet you in the infirmary."
They nodded and jogged to the transporter.
"Where's Jennifer?" Sheppard asked Ronon.
"Yes, I believed she would be the one on duty," Teyla added.
"Carson said she was off world dealing with an outbreak of Pegasus Measles."
John knew Jennifer would be angry about not being here for Rodney, but he was glad she wasn't. The young woman would be beside herself at the sight of her fiancée's limp, blood covered form, and would be unable to focus on saving his life.
The transporter stopped on the floor with their quarters and they dispersed.
Richard Woolsey was a close to the vest kind of man but seeing the faces and clothing of his premier team covered in blood, chilled him to his core. He had a feeling he knew exactly what was wrong with Dr. McKay, and if he was right, things were not going to be better anytime soon. He rounded the corner to the infirmary hoping he was wrong about his suspicions, eager to know for sure what was wrong.