Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment. I just like to mess with them in the universe they created!
Rating – T
Set in Season 3, just after 'McKay and Mrs Miller' – but there are no spoilers for any episodes
Chapter 1 - The Brink of Darkness
Sheppard parked the Jumper a short distance away from the energy reading they were going to investigate. He took point as he walked along the rear hatch and out into the rock-strewn landscape.
Wind blew along the ground and tossed dust up into the air around his feet. He looked up at the cliff a short distance away and noted there were some scrubby plants tenaciously growing from the face and a large rockfall at the ground.
He heard a harsh and exaggerated coughing behind him and spun around to watch Rodney as he covered his mouth and held his nose with his hand, "Are you sure it's safe Sheppard? I can't breathe," he muttered nasally.
John frowned and rolled his eyes, "Come on McKay. It's fine."
Ronon and Teyla followed behind and also peered warily around at the apocalyptic landscape. They were in a dry canyon surrounded by grey and dark brown walls of rock. A weak sun shone onto the tops of the cliff on one side. No light was able to reach the bottom where the team were, so they were left shrouded in shadows.
Sheppard looked at the rest of his team and shrugged, "Okay let's head out. Ronon take point, Teyla you've got our six."
The Satedan nodded and walked in the direction of the fairly obvious artificial structure several hundred metres away.
Sheppard hung back and stood closer to Rodney. He kept his eyes sharp for any dangers while the scientist stared at the scanner and angled his head down.
Another gust blew through the canyon and howled against their ears and made walking difficult for a while. Sheppard narrowed his eyes, but grit still got inside, making them water.
Beside him, Rodney started coughing again, a little more naturally this time. The scientist started going through all the pockets on his tac vest, but came up short. "I swear I'm going to insist on face masks and goggles being standard equipment in these things."
Sheppard smiled and blinked to clear his vision. He patted Rodney on the back, "I'll see what I can do when we get back. Just don't breathe too deeply if it's bothering you."
Rodney gave him a petulant look and shook his head as he went back to studying the tiny screen in his hand.
Sheppard turned around and looked at Teyla a short distance behind them. Her face was pinched together in poorly concealed amusement and her hair was full of dust making it a much lighter brown than normal.
Ronon kept ploughing ahead with his blaster in hand; ready to shoot anything that may try to attack. He seemed to be ignoring the conversation behind him.
Five minutes later they stood in front of the building they had seen on the sensors. Sheppard watched over Rodney as the scientist walked around the edge of the wall and frowned down at the scanner.
The building was only one storey high and dark brown like the rest of the canyon. One half had been on the losing side to a battle with a rockfall and it was completely buried.
Sheppard gazed at the pile of sloping rubble briefly and wondered if the building underneath was crushed. He then looked back at Rodney, who was watching him and smiling.
The scientist waved the scanner in front of him so that Sheppard could see the screen. But the movement made it impossible to read anything, so John just raised his eyebrows at McKay.
Rodney's face fell a little and he sighed before he spoke, "Massive power reading." He said it in an incredulous way; almost like it had been so obvious he could not believe Sheppard had not been able to figure it out.
Teyla kept lookout over the canyon and said, "How massive? Could there be a ZPM here?"
Rodney waved his hands about in paroxysms of delight and his face lit up again, "The power reading is certainly high enough!" He gazed at the building dreamily.
Sheppard found himself infected with Rodney's enthusiasm and grinned as he watched the happy expression on McKay's face. He could imagine that the man was now thinking about all the things they could now do if they found a ZPM. The city had been without one for several weeks and Sheppard had to admit that he found it hard to sleep sometimes, knowing that they would have no shield or cloak if the Wraith showed up again.
The corners of Ronon's mouth were also twitching up into a smile when Sheppard looked over at him.
Rodney shook his head after a moment and walked over to the blank wall. Sheppard frowned; he did not like it when the scientist tried to break away from their protection. He rushed over, "Rodney?"
The scientist touched the wall briefly and said, "Ah ha!" when a panel slid back to reveal a small switch.
"Rodney wait a moment!" Sheppard said, but before Rodney heard him, he had already pressed the button.
Sheppard raised his gun and pointed it at the door, which suddenly slid open in front of Rodney.
John ran over before Rodney could step through the doorway. The scientist had already begun to walk over to it. Sheppard put a hand on McKay's chest to stop him going in first and got an indignant, "Hey!" for his trouble.
Sheppard gave him a warning look and peered into the open doorway. He flipped the light on his P90 and said, "Teyla stay out here, Ronon, you're with us."
Sheppard heard Ronon approach behind him and another small squawk in protest from McKay.
John then walked through the door into the building.
Sheppard shone the light on his gun all around the room they stepped into. Ronon came in next and stood next to the Colonel.
One side of the room had been crushed by the debris from the cliff which had landed on it. Twisted and distorted metal slanted down one of the walls and in some places the wall had been completely breached and pebbles and dust were heaped on the floor.
Sheppard walked further into the room and noticed several panels and dirt-covered Ancient consoles what had probably been in the centre of the room, but now was right next to the damaged section.
Ronon went to the other side of the room.
Sheppard turned back to the door just as a sarcastic voice echoed around the room, "So Colonel is it safe enough for small children or must I stand out here and get suffocated by the tiny shards of rock when they get blown into the air again?"
Sheppard saw Ronon rolling his eyes, but he found himself smiling, "Yes it's fine."
Rodney almost ran into the room himself, but his eyes glanced around nervously when he noticed the debris and he slowed to a fast walk to avoid slipping.
Sheppard watched as he unhooked the tablet from his back and plugged it into one of the consoles. He muttered under his breath and started typing.
"Ah yes, here we go."
Sheppard blinked as the light in the room activated when Rodney powered up some of the systems. He could see the dust in the air through the beams of light now illuminating it.
Sheppard watched Rodney as he began to press the panels on the Ancient console directly. He then looked at Ronon, who was staring at the damaged wall as if it might fall down or explode inwards at any moment.
Suddenly there was a sharp intake of breath from Rodney and he fell over with a small pained cry as he went down with a crash.
Sheppard could not see him for a moment over the tops of the consoles. He rushed over and found Rodney sprawled on the floor with a hand pressing firmly against his chest and his brow furrowed.
John crouched down next to him and Ronon stood over them both. "You alright McKay?" Ronon asked
Rodney looked up at him and muttered, "What?"
Sheppard frowned at the scientist's confusion, "He said are you alright?"
Rodney gave a small gasp and closed his eyes, all the time pressing his clawed hand more tightly over his heart so that his fingertips went white.
"Rodney?" Sheppard asked in concern.
The scientist looked up at him and his pale and frightened face was not lost on Sheppard, "Uh… yes… yes I'm fine. I…I just tripped."
Sheppard narrowed his eyes and helped the man up when he finally released the grip on his chest and held his hand up for Sheppard to grasp.
Sheppard watched as Rodney leaned heavily against the console and took a few shaky breaths. He seemed to be deep in thought about something and Sheppard asked quietly, "Are you sure you're alright. We could head back and ask Beckett to check you over."
Rodney hissed and snapped, "I'm fine, Colonel. How many times do you have to be told?"
Ronon was now frowning at the strange outburst, "Did you find a ZPM?"
That seemed to work McKay up even more and his eyes darted from side to side in an unnerving way. Sheppard went over and grabbed his shoulder.
"No!" Rodney cried as Sheppard touched him.
John quickly drew his hand back like he had been burned, "What?"
Rodney looked up at him and spoke quickly, "I mean, no, I didn't find a ZPM. There is a large power source coming from below the surface though. I think it would be better if I take the data back to Atlantis for further study and bring a larger science team back at a later date."
Sheppard preferred the idea of getting Rodney back to Atlantis to be checked. After the strange things he had just witnessed he had no argument, "Sounds good. Let's head back."
Ronon and Sheppard locked eyes and shared a meaningful look for a moment behind McKay's back. The Satedan nodded in agreement.
Sheppard grew even more worried when McKay stayed strangely mute as they walked back to the Jumper. His breath would sometimes hitch as if in pain, but when John rushed over to him, he would be given a weak smile, but no words ever left the scientist's lips.
When they were settled in the Jumper and airborne back to the gate, Sheppard turned to look at Rodney and found his face had a fixed grimace and he was holding the sides of his seat tightly.
"Rodney?" There was no reply.
Teyla leaned forwards and grabbed McKay's shoulder. She easily spun him around in the chair and Sheppard also turned so that they were all facing the centre of the cockpit.
Rodney looked up at Sheppard with a fearful expression and Teyla frowned, "Rodney, what is wrong? You have been different since you left the building with the others."
He stuttered as he spoke, "I told you I'm fine. Just a little tired that's all."
"What about the ZPM?" Ronon asked.
"No…not sure whether there was…is a ZPM anymore. Need to send a science team back, yes."
His unsteady speech was utterly disconcerting to Sheppard who just nodded sadly and turned back to monitor the flight.
Sheppard saw Rodney flinch and close his eyes when Ronon patted him on the back after they were turned in the correct direction in their seats once more.
He shook his head in confusion and pushed the Jumper for more speed to get back to Atlantis.
Sheppard's frown deepened after he heard Beckett's report on Rodney after the mandatory check up on all of them after going off-world.
"There's nothing wrong with him, if that's what you're asking Colonel. His blood pressure and heart rate are a wee bit high, but other than that he's in perfect health. Well as perfect as he usually is, being Rodney."
Sheppard sighed, "If you say so. I still don't think he's fine though."
Carson shook his head, "Well there's nothing medically wrong with him."
Sheppard nodded and walked over to Rodney who was rolling his sleeve back down and glaring daggers at the nurse as she walked away to analyse his blood sample.
He saw the Colonel approaching from the other side of the room and quickly got up and left the infirmary. Sheppard chased after him, but he must have been walking really quickly or possibly even running as he was nowhere to be seen when Sheppard stepped out into the corridor outside the infirmary.
He frowned in frustration. He just hoped that Rodney would find the courage to speak with him about what was bothering him. He liked to think that McKay could confide in him about a problem, so he decided he would give the scientist a few hours before starting to force the issue.
Sheppard kept himself busy over the course of the afternoon. He went to the gym, sparred with Ronon and oversaw a training session in the shooting range.
He glanced at his watch and noted that he had a half hour break before his allocated time for writing up the mission report from that morning. He had still heard nothing from Rodney and his heart sank in worry.
He reached up and tapped his radio, "Sheppard to McKay."
There was a long and tense silence before a timid voice answered, "Go ahead."
"Where are you?"
The radio cut out for a few seconds and Sheppard frowned. He decided to head in the direction of the science lab, as that was usually where Rodney could be found. He tapped the radio again, "McKay?"
An even quieter voice answered, "I'm in the lab."
The radio then cut out again and Sheppard nearly ran to get to the transporter and find out what was going on.
Two minutes later, Sheppard entered the science lab and found Rodney hunched over the desk with a red face and looking like he had just run a marathon.
Two other scientists were in the lab with him typing away on computers on the other side of the room with their backs to Rodney. Sheppard could not recall their names.
Rodney straightened up and winced as Sheppard came closer. He took off his headset and tossed it onto the table, while muttering, "Sorry about that. I think there's something wrong with it."
Sheppard looked the scientist up and down and frowned when he noticed the gun strapped to the man's leg. He pointed down at it, "Why've you got that?"
"I…uh…" he wrung his hands together nervously and his eyes darted around the room in panic, "I forgot to take it off after we got back from the mission."
"Well you don't need it now," Sheppard said and held out his hand.
Rodney stood up and gasped as he slowly unclipped the belt and handed the gun to Sheppard.
"What's wrong with you McKay? You've been acting strangely ever since we left that lab."
"N-nothing! I'm just a little tired, like I said earlier."
Sheppard was still not buying it and Rodney saw it too, so he continued to speak, "Listen John, I've got a lot of work to do. I assure you there's nothing wrong and if there was, you know I'm always the first one to go to the infirmary straight away."
Sheppard nodded slowly, wishing he could believe what Rodney was saying. There was something about McKay's obvious discomfort as he stood there that was gnawing away at Sheppard and making alarm bells ring. He decided to give Rodney the benefit of the doubt.
"Alright Rodney, but if you don't join us for dinner at 6pm I'm calling Carson."
Rodney gave him a brave and grim smile, which Sheppard returned even though the expression made him feel even more concern for the scientist than he had done previously.
He walked out to head back to his quarters so that he could pick up a computer for his write-up. He turned in the doorway to the science lab and frowned when he saw Rodney holding his back and grimacing as he sat back down in the chair slowly.
It had only been thirty minutes since John had left Rodney in the science lab when his radio buzzed.
"Sh-Sheppard?"
He looked up from his computer as he sat in the Mess Hall and stopped typing.
"Go ahead McKay."
"John… I… I…"
Sheppard frowned and stood up quickly.
"Rodney? What is it?" He just wished McKay would say something about what was going on.
"I'm in the Jumper Bay." He blurted out in stark contrast to his previous stuttering speech.
There was a high-pitched cry of pain over the channel and then the radio cut out.
Sheppard tapped his radio as he ran out of the Mess Hall to the transporter, "Sheppard to Major Lorne. Meet me in the Jumper Bay STAT."
Sheppard was halfway to the transporter when his radio activated again, "Dr Weir to Colonel Sheppard."
He frowned in confusion, "This is Sheppard."
"We've just detected an unauthorised Puddle Jumper launch. It's currently hovering close to the Gate Room and we have been unable to contact the occupants."
Occupants? Who else was with Rodney? "I'm heading to the Jumper Bay now, something's going on with McKay. I was going to meet him up there."
Weir said, "There are three lifesigns on board the Jumper and we'd feel much safer if it wasn't so close to the Tower," she paused before she said diplomatically, "Do what you can."
"Understood." Sheppard said, praying it would not come to that.
Sheppard met Major Lorne in the Jumper Bay a couple of minutes later.
The Major nodded, "Colonel. Dr Weir has informed me of the situation. Do you think Dr McKay's flying the Jumper?"
Sheppard said, "I don't know, but it seems likely based on what he said."
He looked around the Bay and then turned to Lorne, "Fly my wing. Let's see what's going on."
The Major nodded and they both went into separate Jumpers and flew up out of the Bay into the sunlight sky of Lantea.
Sheppard brought up the HUD and immediately saw the solitary Jumper still hovering by the Tower. As he watched, the craft twitched slightly and turned to face the incoming Jumpers he and Lorne were flying.
Sheppard suddenly noticed there were only two life signs on the other Jumper and it made his heart skip a beat. He hoped he had misheard Elizabeth when she said there were three life signs on the craft.
He studied the readings in more detail and saw that out of the two life signs, one was getting weaker all the time while he watched. The small light fading from the screen steadily.
He opened a channel to the other Jumper and rigged it so that the Gate Room and Major Lorne could also hear.
"Colonel Sheppard to Jumper Ten."
There was no reply.
Suddenly two drones shot out of the other Jumper.
"Lorne, break right!" Sheppard ordered over the radio.
"Acknowledged."
Sheppard rolled the Jumper and flew it on full burn as he dodged around the single drone which tracked after him. He weaved in between the buildings and towers of Atlantis as he tried to shake off the drone.
He was just getting into a rhythm, when the drone suddenly lost power and fell from the sky to splash into the sea below.
Sheppard frowned, "Lorne?"
"I know Sir, it happened to me too. It just stopped, I don't understand it."
"Nor do I Major. Converge on Jumper Ten."
"Understood."
The craft was still hovering malevolently in its previous position. Sheppard watched the HUD and noted the two life signs were still on board. The radio channel was still fully open so that the people on the hostile Jumper could hear everything. If they're listening, Sheppard thought sadly.
He was just about to try and speak with Rodney, when another drone shot out from the craft. It headed straight and true towards the Gate Room.
Sheppard's eyes widened in shock and he did the only thing he could think of.
He channelled as much power as possible to the shields and intercepted the drone.
The resulting explosion strained the inertial dampeners too much and Sheppard was thrown roughly around in his chair. He managed to stay upright, but saw that the shield had been completely drained.
"Colonel?" Elizabeth asked in concern.
"I'm fine, but I don't think I'll be doing that again in a hurry."
He switched off the radio link with the other Jumper so that he could just speak with Lorne and the Gate Room.
Sheppard steeled himself before he spoke, "Major…"
To his surprise Lorne cut him off, "I know Colonel. But it's acting as an enemy ship. We don't have a choice."
Dr Weir said, "But if Rodney's on board, you'll kill him."
Sheppard furrowed his brow in sadness, "Don't…I think I may be able to disable the Jumper without destroying it."
Lorne said, "If you don't he could destroy the Gate Room and everyone inside."
Sheppard knew he had to act fast as another drone could launch from the other Jumper at any time. As much as it pained him, Lorne was right, the Jumper and whoever was on board had to be stopped.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he snapped them open he fired a single drone towards the stationary Jumper.
He detonated the drone close to the engines with a thought and a huge explosion tore through the pod, breaking it away and making the Jumper spin down slowly and out of control towards the ocean.
As he watched the other engine cut out too and the descent speed increased.
"Lorne! Grapple!"
Lorne's Jumper flew over and the grapple shot out. It missed the stricken craft by several metres and Sheppard heard the Major curse over the radio. Sheppard knew there was only one more chance or the Jumper and its occupants would be claimed by the ocean. With the hull likely to have been breached they would drown.
If there's anyone left alive to be drowned, Sheppard thought as he sped after the rotating craft.
He gritted his teeth and lined up the shot.
He fired the grapple and the thin thread flew out rapidly from under the hull as Sheppard looked out of the window and held his breath.
The grapple thudded into the rear hatch of the other Jumper just before it hit the water and Sheppard sighed in relief, but he knew it was not yet over.
"My grapple's reset." Lorne said.
"Help me out."
Lorne obeyed and now that the other Jumper was not moving so rapidly he did not miss.
The other Jumper swung around wildly under the grapple lines and Sheppard could not move it fast enough to avoid it from smacking into a building as he moved his craft over to one of the piers with Lorne to lay the damaged Jumper down on relatively flat ground.
He winced when he imagined what it would have been like to be shaken around inside a Jumper like that. He could almost hear snapping bones. He tried to block the thoughts from his mind as he carefully rested and released the Jumper onto the surface of the pier.
Sheppard and Lorne both deactivated the grapple lines and Sheppard noticed there was still one very faint life sign on the HUD.
"Son of a…" he muttered, "We need a medical team to meet us on the South Pier."
Both of the fully functioning Jumpers landed next to the one they had just shot down as a small plume of smoke leaked out from the wreckage and rose into the Lantean sky above.
TBC