"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Elizabeth Weir went to the control room and stood over the console. "Its Sheppard's IDC ma'am."
"Lower the shields." The invisible barrier around the Atlantis Stargate went down and Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard's four-man team stepped through the gate. Teyla and Rodney came through first and then Ronon and John carrying a…tiger?
"Clear a path!" John ordered as they rushed from the gate room and towards the infirmary. Elizabeth got on a comm line with Becket.
"Carson?" she asked.
"Yes Dr. Weir?"
"You're about to get a rather unusual patient in a moment."
"What are you…dear lord! Elizabeth I think you should get down here."
"I'm on my way." She shut down the comm and went to the infirmary, standing in the doorway and out of the way. The tiger had been set down on a bed and the nurses and orderlies were straining to see.
"One gunshot to the chest, lost consciousness before we went through the gate." John said and Becket started to look at the animal.
"Prep a room for surgery, we have to get this bullet out." he said and Teyla moved away from the bed where she had been holding one of the cats' large paws in her hands. Blue blood matted the white fur on the animals' front paws and around its mouth. It took John, Ronon and several orderlies to lift the tiger up again and bring it into surgery.
While Becket was working, Elizabeth took the team aside.
"You want to tell me why Carson is removing a bullet from a tiger?" she asked.
"We were about to head on back to the village when it was attacked by three Wraith wasps." Johns said. "We managed to shoot them down, two of them exploded on impact, one crash landed in the forest. By the time we got there, the Wraith had already gotten out and was in the forest."
"I was tracking him when I sensed another presence around us." Ronon said and she looked at him. "The Wraith attacked Rodney, before I could get a shot, the beast comes crashing out of the trees and tackles the Wraith, sinking its claws into his chest and ripping its throat out."
"How did it get shot?" Elizabeth asked.
"That was my fault." Rodney said and Elizabeth perked an eyebrow at him. "It was going to attack Ronon!"
"It was not. You just got jumpy." Ronon said.
"So you carried it back to the Gate and here we are." Elizabeth said.
"Here we are." John echoed.
"Tell me Dr. Weir." Teyla said. "What is it?"
"It's looks like a tiger, a large cat indigenous to Earth." She said.
"How did it get here?" Ronon asked.
"I have no idea. Maybe the Ancients brought a few with them when they left Earth." She said and Becket came out of the operating room. "That was quick."
"Aye, it was, but she's going to be fine all that same." Becket said as he removed his mask.
"She?" Ronon asked.
"Aye, the tiger is a fully grown female. She's heavily sedated, but I'm a doctor, not a veterinarian, so I don't know how long she'll be under. I suggest we get her into a holding cell as quickly as possible." He said.
"Holding cell?" Teyla asked, shocked. "Why would we put her in a holding cell?"
"Because Teyla, tigers are extremely dangerous. They've been known to attack and even eat humans." Becket said.
"But she killed a Wraith."
"The blood on her fur made me aware of that, but she's still an animal, and a lethal one at that. Tigers are the largest and deadliest of all the wild cats on Earth."
"Becket's right." Johns said. "She may have saved Rodney, but she's still dangerous. Get her into a holding cell."
Insert line break.
Her roar echoed throughout the holding cell.
"I don't think she's happy!" John yelled over it.
"Would you be!" Elizabeth yelled back. The tiger crouched at the far corner and pounced, rebounding off the force field. The otherwise invisible shield glowed blue as she hit and shimmered for a moment before going clear again. She roared again, showing long, deadly incisors and sharp teeth. She had already ripped the cot mattress of the frame and torn it to shreds, the stuffing and material scattered on the floor in bits.
"I see she's woken up." Teyla said as she entered and the cat roared again. "I am suddenly glad she's in a holding cell." the tiger paced the cell, giving out short, angry roars every now and then at them. Rodney entered the area and she attacked the shield again, standing on two legs with her front paws on the shield, claws extended.
"How sweet! She remembers you!" John said, a smirk on his face and received a glare in return. She hopped down off the shield, her tail lashing back and forth. Ronon came into the area and she stopped pacing, sitting down very neatly and looking at him with large gold eyes.
Without a word, he went right up to the shield fearlessly and she got up, walking up to the barrier and looking at him. He went down to one knee and she sat in front of the shield, meeting him eye to eye. She got up and turned, walking away to the corner of the room and laying down. She curled up with her back to him and quickly went to sleep. Ronon stood and joined the others.
"What was that all about?" John asked but Ronon's eyes stayed on the sleeping predator.
"Its an animal thing." He said after a long moment.