Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis is not mine *sigh*
A/N: Thank you so much to Len-chan, Kriadydragon, Ladyniko, and Linziday for the beta. Sorry for the delay, though. You guys totally rock!!
THE LOST TRIBE TAG
Lt. Col. John Sheppard stood with his back hunched on the top of the stairs facing their new Stargate, arms crossed and blowing out a heavy sigh.
The Travelers had left the city, most of the bigger debris had been cleaned, and the Gate's installation was on going. Things were almost back to normal. Barely.
A coat of dust still covered most of the room's surfaces. Damaged consoles in the Control Room hadn't been removed and they were still running operations from the auxiliary Control Room two floors below the original. Scorch marks were visible here and there. Two teams off world ended up getting stuck on the Alpha Site—unfortunately, they'd have to wait until the Gate was fully operational to get home.
John had to break both Marines and scientists into several teams to work in shifts on the repairs for the Gateroom and the Daedalus—yeah, no thanks to you, Ronon. Rodney and Radek had been involved in countless arguments—John found it rather amusing for the colorful cussing and metaphors they'd been throwing at each other—and currently were engrossed in another round of order-barking competition through the radio. As soon as the Gate worked, first thing he had to do was send back the SGC's precious Dr. Daniel Jackson, who was badly injured—he hoped General O'Neill wouldn't have his ass for that, it was Rodney's fault anyway—and a long detailed AAR to the IOA. But maybe he could just let Woolsey handle the latter. Fat chance.
"Colonel," Lorne came jogging in from his left. John took some time to study the younger major and came into conclusion that the man looked dog tired. But if he could find a mirror, he'd probably look just the same. Or worse. "All systems are back online. All we have to do now is wait for the geeks to finish the Gate's installation. And, uh, Banks just received a subspace message from Todd couple minutes ago. Said he apologized about the Daedalus. And he'll call when they're ready to make another go on the gene therapy."
"Figures." John had stopped caring whether he was imitating a whining 5-year-old or not some time ago. The scowl carving deep on his forehead would surely show everybody that he was in a very, very bad mood. And Todd's 'strategic retreat' was absolutely not helping on that part.
To tell the truth, John felt as tired as Lorne looked. He'd barely slept in three days, only managing a few irregular catnaps over his desk—which lasted 15 minutes, tops—before another dire situation demanded his attention, and he'd been relying on an unending stock of powerbars he snatched from any stash he could possibly laid hands on—mostly Rodney's. The building tension creating one hell of a knot deep down in his belly had been making him nauseous anyway. And above all, he had to sustain Atlantis' sad hum in the back of his mind, which was always unnerving.
Running on pure adrenaline was never a good thing. Right now, the uncomfortable tingling on his back had escalated into an unrelenting throb, sending painful spikes to every inch of his brain. Maybe he should've gone to the infirmary to change his bandages earlier.
"I think you should go see Keller." Great. Not only his teammates could read his mind, now his XO seemed to gain the same ability. Then, as if remembering his distaste towards that certain area of Atlantis, the major quickly added, "Sir."
Squinting dark-rimmed eyes like he was insulted, John quipped, "Do I really look that bad, Major?"
He got an instant reply from the grimace Lorne gave him. "Do I really have to answer that, Sir?"
Digging two fingers into his eyes and blinking furiously to clear his blurry vision, finally John dropped his head and answered resignedly. "Fine. No infirmary. I'll just head for my quarters, grab a couple of Tylenols, and take a short nap. Call me if you need me, okay?"
After that particular conversation with Lorne, John was practically running on automatic as he staggered on wobbly legs to his quarters, stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers, then crawled under the covers half-dead and dropped unconscious. Tylenols be damned.
* * * * * *
'Teyla, please.'
Teyla Emmagen could barely contain a shiver on remembering the dark look John had cast her when he begged her to leave the Gateroom before the Stargate blew up. In that couple of seconds, she grasped the rare moment where she could almost see the naked emotion thundering in his blazing green eyes, the raging anger and desperate plea, before his usual cold mask slapped back into place.
The fear she felt as the floor shook violently when the shield collapsed. The horror engulfing her as her thoughts rushed back towards John and Dr. Zelenka. The devastation when she frantically searched for the two between smoking debris accompanied by Marie Ko and other infirmary staffs. The relief she felt washing her upon hearing John's faint groan from a distance. The short-lived joy on actually finding John and Radek unscathed. Well, almost.
She would not say it was too much to handle for one day. But as the adrenaline rush passed, she felt emotionally and physically drained. Even now, holding the still sniffling-to-sleep Torren John close to her heart, she failed to suppress another shudder running down her spine.
The past three days had been hard for each and every one of them since the arrival of Dr. Daniel Jackson which was followed by the entire Attero device fiasco. Luckily Torren was with Kanaan on the mainland during the first two days, giving her less things to worry about and enabling her to concentrate on Atlantis alone.
The Daedalus had docked on the East Pier late at night with Dr. Rodney McKay, a gravely injured Dr. Jackson, Dr. Jennifer Keller, and a smug Ronon Dex on board, tailed by the Traveler ship bringing Colonel Sheppard. She had to cringe inwardly seeing Mr. Woolsey set weary eyes on the badly burnt Gateroom. The departure of Kitana Labrea unofficially signaled for the beginning of the repairing process on the Daedalus and the Gateroom, starting with the interstellar spaceship fetching them a new gate.
It was while waiting for the Daedalus' return that John arranged a young Marine, who continuously blushed, to fly her to the mainland to pick up Torren.
That was also the last time she saw her team leader. She knew John was running around the place making sure everything was under control, and knowing him, Teyla figured he was skipping rest and meals all together.
Convinced that Torren was fast asleep, she placed him into his crib and activated the baby monitor John had given her, pocketing the receiver. Keying her com link, she tried raising him through the radio. "Colonel Sheppard, this is Teyla. Please respond."
She kept her creeping anxiety at bay as she tried once again. "John, this is Teyla. Please respond." Again her hail came up empty. She quickly decided to try a different way. "Control, this is Teyla. Could you please locate where Colonel Sheppard is?"
"This is Control, Teyla. Scanning now," the warm tone of Chuck Campbell answered her inquiry. "He's in his quarters, Ma'am."
Exhaling a breath of relief, the Athosian mother continued on, "Thank you, Chuck. Please inform Dr. Keller to meet me in front of the Colonel's quarters as soon as possible." Realizing how it might sound, she then interjected hurriedly, "For precaution purposes only."
She said her thanks. Studying her slumbering son's face for the last time, Teyla steeled herself and exited her quarters. Binding her honey colored hair into a loose ponytail as she walked, she met Jennifer already waiting at John's doors. "Forgive me for bringing you here, Jennifer, but I have been most concerned by the colonel. I tried raising him through the radio and he did not respond."
The young doctor nodded rather nervously. "Okay. I'll use the medical override to open the doors."
By the time they finally entered John's darkened room and she set eyes on the lump on the bed that was John, Teyla lost her calm façade and rushed to the man's side. He was curled up on his right, face half buried to his pillow. Gently she placed the back of her hand to his forehead and was surprised to find heat radiating from him. "John? Are you alright?"
Dr. Keller sat on the other side of the bed, stethoscope in place as she counted John's pulse from his wrist. "Pulse normal and lungs clear. But, I'd prefer him in the infirmary now."
Started with a muffled groan, John Sheppard opened bleary eyes, tried lifting his head an inch but slumped back on the next second. "Wha—" Both women could see how John squeezed his eyes shut while grimacing in pain.
Teyla bent over, whispering near his head as she ran her fingers through his messy tuft of dark hair. "You have a fever, John. Jennifer wants you in the infirmary. Are you having a migraine, too?"
With a grunt, John made a feeble attempt on nodding, which seemed to send him another wave of pain.
"Colonel, can you stand? Or do you need a ride to the infirmary?" Jennifer's no-nonsense tone offered no escape for John.
Sighing dejectedly, the colonel lifted out one hand up, eyes till closed. "I'll walk."
So, the three of them spent the next 20 minutes in an agonizing drunken walk to the infirmary. After the umpteenth time vertigo almost sent him sprawling to the floor, Teyla and Jennifer had to literally drag him the last steps before dumping the limp colonel on the closest bed.
* * * * * *
Finally finishing off the contents of Daniel's tray, Rodney left it on the side table and muttered another awkward goodbye to the archeologist. Just when he was about to exit the infirmary, he caught a glimpse of Teyla sitting on a chair with Torren John gurgling softly in her arms behind a curtained area. Following his famous curiosity, he walked closer and instantly froze the moment he saw the figure sleeping on the bed.
"Hi, Teyla. What—" He never managed to finish his sentence since Teyla lifted her head and shot him a sharp gaze, warning him silently to lower his voice. Rodney cleared his throat and tried again in an almost hushed voice. "What the hell happened to him? I just met him at the Gateroom and he said he was fine. Well, not exactly fine, but so he said."
Teyla shifted Torren's position in her arms so the baby was facing him and he tried forcing a smile when the kid looked up and waved little fists towards him with a wide toothless smile while squealing lowly. "He has not slept and has been consuming powerbars alone since the time you and Dr. Jackson were abducted. It resulted on a migraine and a fever; combination of exhaustion and a mild infection he developed from the glass embedded in his back when the Gateroom exploded."
Rodney's eyes bulged widely to it. He knew absolutely nothing about Sheppard getting hurt during the explosion that left the city's Gateroom singed all over. "What? He was there when it blew up? Why didn't anybody tell me that? Was there anybody else with him?" Arms flailing in every direction, he ranted on. "Wait a minute. But I saw him Kirking the Traveler captain out there not more than an hour ago. When did this happen? And how come he just got sick all of a sudden? I thought they'd cleared him and gave him a shot to avoid these kinds of things from happening."
Bouncing her son, Teyla huffed in exasperation with a roll of her eyes. "You know John. He would not stop until he was sure everything will be alright before making amends on himself."
"Stupid control freak," he mumbled grouchily, jamming both hands into his pockets.
"Radek was there, too, when the Gate exploded," Teyla added and when she saw Rodney almost popped out his eyes again for the second time, she tried giving him a calming smile. "But he is unharmed."
Zelenka had officially kicked him out from the Gateroom during the last stage of the Gate's installation process. The Czech claimed him to be insufferably annoying due to exhaustion. Truth was, his 2IC had caught his hands slightly trembling and urged him to grab some snacks in the mess hall before he suffered a hypoglycemia attack. That was when Rodney decided to pay Daniel a brief visit and right before spotting Teyla, he was thinking of going back to his quarters and pass out in peace until the next week.
His previous three days were nearly beyond his limitation of suck. He couldn't even decide which was worse; getting kidnapped by an unknown race which turned out to be renegade Asgards, stunned twice, and constantly worrying about his hypoglycemia during those time, spending the rest of his journey back to Atlantis on the Daedalus repairing damages caused by Ronon—of all people—and faced with the fact the Gateroom would need major redecorating, or arriving home only to find his best friend and a man he finally acknowledge as a worthy colleague had almost died in an explosion while he wasn't around.
Suddenly Teyla rose from her seat and gently placed her son into his hands. "Hold him, please."
Rodney made a perfect impression of a fish dumped on dry land, trying to decline but he was far too late. By the time he blinked and looked down, he was met by a pair of brown eyes that shone in interest and it startled him. It was probably the first time he actually noticed. "Wow, he's got your eyes."
Turning back from reaching for a wet towel on John's side table, Teyla rewarded him with a smile Rodney learned she had only gained after she had Torren. "Thank you, Rodney. And it would be very much appreciated if you do not drop him this time."
"I'm not going to drop him," Rodney retorted hotly, realizing belatedly his teammate was just teasing him. His expression then altered to uncertainty and his throat bobbed nervously as he gulped. "Are you sure I won't drop him? 'Cause I'm not sure I won't drop him. Well, he's gotten bigger since the last time and it's easier to hold him now. As long as he doesn't wriggle too much."
Chuckling in an oh-so-motherly way, Teyla shook her head while she dipped the wet towel into the basin and wrung it. She sat next to the sleeping colonel's side, dabbing the cloth carefully to John's sweating forehead.
John was again curled on his right side. His dark hair tousled, sheets tangled between his legs. Other than the saline IV sticking on the back of his left hand and the pink coloring to his cheeks, others might have thought that he was merely asleep. But those who knew him well would read through the faint crease on his brows, indications of a bad headache. Not to mention the pale complexion.
Placing the towel back in the basin, Teyla straighten her back and faced Rodney again. "How is Dr. Jackson?"
Busy tickling the little boy's chin caused a late response from him. "Huh? Oh. The Asgards' suit protected him from getting totally electrocuted, but he still hurts all over from being hurled around. And those damned stunners. Can you believe they stunned us twice in a day? Do they even know what kind of effects might be inflicted on us by that thing?"
* * * * * *
All this time, Ronon Dex had thought Rodney McKay was confusing with all of his babbling and rambling. Four years later, he'd proven that the cynical scientist's bark was worse than his bite and decided that John Sheppard was far more enigmatic. How a man could get tangled into so much trouble in such little time was intriguing. Sheppard somehow managed to land his scrawny ass in the infirmary more than he needed stitches from sparring accidents that sometimes he deliberately made. Speaking of which…
Ronon snorted in disgust, laughing at himself on how stupid he was. Putting himself in harms way just to get to meet her in the infirmary while she was interested in another. No surprises there if she actually picked McKay. They were both from Earth and both were prodigies who would've faced similar troubles when they were younger. Rodney would probably understood her more and was a much safer choice.
That was if she chose McKay.
And now, he stood with crossed arms at the foot of the bed of his lethargic commanding officer. Said winner was perched uncomfortably on a chair at his side, staring blankly at the cooing baby in his arms and was clearly dazed by something. Did the baby do that to him?
Teyla sat on Sheppard's right side, where he curled his body towards her. He waved a weak hello before letting his hand flopped back to her lap, then simply whispered in a hoarse voice, "Hey, buddy."
The Athosian halted her ministration on wiping Sheppard's eyebrows, looking up to him and passed him her usual brilliant smile. "Ronon. I am glad you are unharmed."
"What ever," he grunted sourly before he could stop it, causing his teammates to leave their respective reveries and turned their heads to him.
"Whazzup, buddy? You okay?" The stupid bastard in bed actually had the guts to ask whether he was okay.
"I'm good."
McKay had the grace to roll his eyes. "Oh, please. Would you knock off the Sheppard impression already? He's absolutely not okay. Or Conan here won't be sulking like that. Or snapping at us, which is totally out of character. What is it with you?"
If only McKay wasn't the resident genius, if only he was somebody like that jackass Kavanagh, if only he wasn't a teammate and a man he considered as a brother, Ronon wouldn't be thinking twice on beating him into a pulp for out-witting him like this. Problem was, he wasn't even mad because of losing Jennifer to the irritating astrophysicist.
He was more mad at himself for reacting like a sulking child. Maybe 10 years out of practice had dulled his instincts in courting a woman. He should've acted more his age rather than a careless youngster because that was what Jennifer probably needed. His brothers would've laughed at him to death all over again if they knew a tough Satedan warrior who turned Runner for seven long years like him had acted childishly because of a girl.
Okay. He'd deal with McKay and Jennifer later. First thing's first.
Ronon watched the droopy-eyed Sheppard more closely. Once again, he'd let the man drag himself to the brink. He'd heard about the glass shredding his back. And he'd heard through the radio how Sheppard had been a steady presence giving orders and support during almost the whole exhausting time. He should've known Sheppard would end up like this after meeting him in the Gateroom earlier when he beamed down from the Daedalus along with the new Gate.
As if reading the troubled observation on him, Sheppard flashed the glowering ex-Runner his famous lopsided grin. "Relax, buddy. I'm fine."
With two fingers gripped tightly by Torren, McKay didn't even bother lifting his head while he snorted. "Yes, of course you're fine, Colonel I-can-live-without-sleep-and-food-for-three-days. That must be the reason Keller's been giving you the good stuff." Surprisingly, he didn't sound as loud as he usually did. Either he did it on the Colonel's account or under threats made by Teyla and her unforgiving Bantos sticks. "You have a fever, Sheppard. Could you do us a favor and go to sleep already? We'll still be here when you're lucid enough to engage more intelligent conversations anyway. Even the little guy here. Won't you, Torren?"
The goofy smile McKay showed the baby he'd been cuddling broke Ronon from his petulant sulking. So he lost to McKay—he would never live it down if Sheppard ever found out. The scientist would always be annoying as hell and Sheppard would probably never stop acting like an idiot. Thank the Ancestors they had Teyla around to straighten them up. And maybe for the little bundle of joy, too. But for now, he was content on being there for his family.
He grabbed another chair closer, turned it to lean over the back and sat with one hand poking the gurgling baby. When Torren aptly snatched a rope of his dreadlocks and made gestures on shoving it to his small mouth, McKay sputtered and abruptly pulled him away, causing the kid to erupt into making protest sounds, which then triggered a series of chuckling from Teyla and a very sleepy Sheppard.
Ronon smirked triumphantly. Yeah, he was cool. For now.