Part 1
"They are coming, I must go, I must go, I need to hide"
Dr. Viktor Karol pulls his hair back in agitation as he started to pace back and forth in his lab. He stopped mid pace and grabbed two vials from his research rack and quickly put them in his pocket. 'This will protect me.' He whispered under his breath nervously
Dr. Eric Bauer came in to the lab "You're still here." Karol looked at him without answering, Dr. Bauer, gave him a bewildered look and threw a hard punch towards Dr. Bauer face so fast Dr. Bauer wasn't sure what had just happened. Karol then suddenly ran out of the lab screaming "They are coming!"
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From the lunch table next to the window Teyla looked at the sky "How long is the storm supposed to last?"
Looking up Colonel Sheppard glanced at the angry dark clouds "According to McKay, throughout the night"
Ronon scoffed down his last bit of food "Hey where's McKay? He never misses lunch."
"He said he'd be here but he probably (got) caught up trying to fix the ZPM glitches before the storm gets any worse." As soon as he finished that sentence his radio came to life
"Colonel Sheppard's team, please report to the control room immediately."
"Guess that's our queue."
Sheppard took one last bite of his sandwich, cleared away his tray and left, his team followed suit.
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Dr. Weir greeted them as they entered the control room, a concerned look upon her face.
"We have a situation, Dr. Karol has assaulted Dr. Bauer and has run off towards the east pier, we were tracking him, but unfortunately our sensors have just gone offline."
"I'm sensing there's more to this, like why he ran off in the first place?" At Dr. Weir's sighs, Dr. Zelenka answered.
"We believe he is under the influence of the plant that was brought back from MXP-345, Dr. Bauer said he was acting strange, and all of sudden just assaulted him and just took off, Bauer just reported it. "
"Ok has anyone tried talking to him? Does anyone know if he's armed?" Sheppard asked. Dr. Weir stepped in "We tried hailing him on the radio but he hasn't responded, we don't think he is armed, though we have no way to know for certain."
"Ok Teyla, Ronon lets go, we'll use stunners just in case and alert Dr. Becket"
"Already done, Dr. Becket is analyzing the plant we believe Karol was exposed too, we'll update you as soon as we have something, good luck."
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As they got off the transporter closest to the east pier Sheppard turned around to speak to Ronon and Teyla, "Ok there are still a lot of damaged areas so be careful, the life signs detector says the life sign is down that corridor."
They began their journey to the secluded formerly flooded areas of Atlantis. They walked on in silence until a flash and rumble of lightening startled them out of their thoughts. "Ok the life sign is just down those stairs and into that corridor." They quickly and quietly descended down the stairs.
They heard mutterings and glass shatter. Sheppard signaled to Ronan that he was going in.
Sheppard slowly peaked in the room and saw Dr. Karol pacing in circles muttering under his breath. Karol turned his back to the door and kept pulling back his hair; Sheppard took that opportunity to step into the room. But, before his foot touched the floor the ground shook with such force that it knocked him off his feet, he stumbled and felt something pierce right below his knee. He couldn't see what it was, or where Dr. Karol was as the lights went out and everything stilled.
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The lights came back on moments later, Teyla and Ronon, moved into the room carefully and saw the scientist terrified against the wall screaming "They are coming!" and saw the colonel picking himself up off the wet floor but before Teyla's could say anything Sheppard started to talk to the scientist.
"Who is coming?" But the man just continued repeating, "They are coming."
"Look, whoever it is that is coming, you can either wait for them here or you can come back with us and see if we can't figure this out."
Nervously Dr. Karlovs glanced at the guns they were all carrying but not aiming at him. "No I can't leave here or they will find me." Though it seemed as though he didn't quite believe what he is saying anymore.
Sheppard noticed Karol looking at his gun and raises it to aim it at the Dr. "Look, you can wait for them to come or you can come with us peacefully, what do you say?" Fearfully Dr. Karol nodded his head and slowly walked towards them. Surprised, Sheppard just shrugged his shoulder and whispered "Well that's new." Ronon and Teyla grin at him as Ronon takes Dr. Karlov's arm as steers him through the corridor and up the stairs "Sheppard to Weir"
"Go ahead colonel."
"We have Dr. Karol safe and sound and we're headed to the infirmary."
"Understood"
"Yeah, I was also wondering if anyone can fill me in on why we had an earthquake and the lights went out." Before weir could answer, McKay joined in, "It's under control, won't happen again." Weir sighed "I'll meet you in the infirmary and explain, Weir out."
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After Sheppard left Karol in Dr. Beckett's care, Beckett explained the drug Karol was exposed to was most likely wearing off as the hallucinogen in the drug is not that resilient.
McKay also explained that the ZPM glitches had been fixed. He further explained that the earthquake was a wave hitting Atlantis before shield was up and doesn't foresee much damage just some slight flooding.
Sheppard decided to get out of his soggy pants after his very ungraceful fall earlier so strolled off to his quarters, as he was changing he noticed that his leg was bleeding a little bit more than just a little cut and noticed that there seemed to be a small piece of glass there that he knew shouldn't be and that he also couldn't get at it himself without possibly damaging muscle. Huffing reluctantly he changed his pants and headed to the infirmary.
Sheppard spotted Beckett at his computer as he entered the infirmary. As he approached, Beckett noticed him. "Colonel, Dr. Karol has already shown signs that the drug is leaving his system, give it a day and it should be out of his system completely."
"That's great doc, but I also wanted to see you about something else. I was out chasing the crazed drugged scientist I fell on some glass and it embedded itself in my leg"
"Oh? Which leg?"
"Lower left leg."
"Come, follow me." Beckett steered Sheppard into a closed off bed
"Lift your pant leg up and hop on the bed so I can get a better look." Sheppard did as he was told. Beckett turned on the lights overhead and as soon as he got a good look he grabbed some latex gloves and began to gently probe the area. Sheppard winced as he touched a tender area. "Are you sure this is the only area you got hurt? And how did this happen in the first place?"
"Yeah I think so, and to answer your question I lost my balance when the lights went out and we had a small earthquake, I tripped and landed on glass."
"Ok, I'm going to get a scan of your leg to make certain you don't have any more pieces lodged in there, close you up with a few stitches and then you can go."
"Sure thing doc, let get this show on the road." Sheppard was relieved; he hated being bored in the infirmary.
After the scan Beckett removed the shard of glass he sent the colonel off to his quarters with instructions to see him if there were any signs of infection.
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Tired and weary, Sheppard headed to his room and promptly fell asleep.
He woke up warm and a little uncomfortable, he felt like crap and hoped that he wasn't getting ill but the warm feeling left him with a sinking feeling that he was, however he quickly shrugged at that idea. Looking at his clock he realized that he was late. He reluctantly got up and got dressed.
He headed for the mess hall and figured a cup of coffee is just what he needed. In the mess hall he saw Ronon, Rodney, and Teyla having breakfast together and headed over to join them.
"Hey guys."
"Hey yourself, you look tired."
"Thanks McKay, you always know what to say."
Both Ronon and Teyla shared a look. Teyla looked him over "Are you too unwell to accompany to the mainland today?"
He responded quickly. "No, I'm fine just a little tired I will meet you at the jumper bay in two hours."
She smiled at him "Thank you, I wish to meet with my people to see how they are faring after the storm."
"Sure thing" They continued to eat and chat for a while longer before heading off to their respective assignments for the day.
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"Ok Teyla, are you sure you want me to pick you up tomorrow? I can swing by later or send someone else?"
"Yes colonel I am sure and thank you."
"Ok, have fun" On his way back to the jumper he got the feeling being watched. He stopped and looked around, after searching and finding nothing he got in the jumper. Once he'd sat down he got the same feeling as before and double checked the puddle jumper. He nervously flew back to Atlantis. Still feeling a little tired, he decided to contact Lorne to rearrange his schedule so he could take a nap.
Sheppard headed to his room, for the entire length of the journey he kept looking over his shoulder, but every time he looked, no one was there. He put his jumpiness down to feeling like crap and couldn't wait to hit his bed and sleep. He stepped into his room, headed over to his bed and sat on the edge to take off his boots. He relaxed back onto his bed and dimmed the lights and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt something next to him; he snapped his eyes open to see 3 red beady eyes staring back.
Sheppard sat up and immediately crawled back. "What the hell!"
He saw a white lanky alien towering over him that looked almost like an Asgard, but its skin was translucent enough to see its organs, bony all over, 3 small eyes and teeth like the wraith.
The alien snarled back and lashed out at him, however, Sheppard blocked its swing by bringing up his left arm. The force the alien swung with was great and he heard a crack before pain exploded in his arm. He fell out of the bed and got up, only to be thrown across room, and before he can fight back any more, the alien pins him down to the floor. The alien's strength surpassed Sheppard's and is the way the alien held him down caused agony to rip through him as his already broken arm was twisted oddly, he tried not to scream but as the pressure was increased he could not help it. The alien finally let go of his left arm and swung at Sheppard again, this time across his head. Sheppard was in too much pain to see it coming and quickly descends into darkness.
Once the alien was satisfied Sheppard wouldn't awaken it looked at its own white bony hand and sharp nails, and it slashed Sheppard's arm. His blood started dripping to the ground and the alien greedily grabbed his arm and started sucking his blood, it then stops and grabs a small hand device that fits it between its 4 bony fingers, it seemed the length of its palm and in the shape of a small dish. He positioned it over Sheppard's bloody head and it begun to draw energy from Sheppard, his unconscious head lifted a few inches from his bed but he was completely unaware of what was happening. The alien abruptly stood up and began to shake uncontrollably. Soon its skin began to change to a beige color. A few minutes later it looked exactly like Sheppard. The alien inspected its new body and with an evil grin looked up to look at Sheppard knowing that the man could still escape the alien decided to fix that little problem.
The alien couldn't help but smile as it stepped out of Sheppard's room and almost bumped into Ronon. "Hey Sheppard, was just gonna come find you, are you trying to get out of sparring with me?
"What? Oh um no, I will be a little late I just have to… "The imposter trailed off as it walked away.
Ronon caught up though and stopped Sheppard. "Everything ok Sheppard?"
"Um yeah, but I have to go I'll see you later." He said as he dashed into the closest transporter and chooses the location to the chair room.
The alien stumbled as he walked into the chair room and the evil grin returned.
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The first sensation he recognized was pain. He opened his eyes and saw darkness, trying to get his bearings he tried to move his hands, he moved is left hand a little but stopped when a wave of agony made him a little light headed. He tried to move his legs and found that he couldn't move those either. He also realized he had tape on his mouth. He thought he heard McKay's voice calling him, but the pain returned and he drifted back to unconsciousness.
He drifted back to conscience a few minutes later. Trying not to panic he thought back to how he got into this situation and was rewarded with a sharp spike in his headache. Since that was no help to his current situation he tried to get out of his bindings. He managed to loosen his legs from the duct tape but found it difficult to do much more than that.
He didn't have the strength to get up, so he crawled his way out of the closet. He still had a serious headache, his neck hurt, his chest and back also hurt. He was sure his arm was broken; he could really use some of Beckett's good drugs right about now. He leaned against the closet door to rest a moment the headache was really getting on his nerves. That's when he heard his radio come to life. "Weir to Sheppard" He tried to crawl forward but a wave of dizziness and nausea made him sit right back down on the floor, after a moment he crawled toward his radio that was next to his bed across from where he currently was. It seemed so far but he was determined, something had happened to him and he didn't even remember so he started crawling to his destination.
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The alien walked towards the chair in awe, slowly touching the arm rest with its fingers. Its smile grew even wider and he slowly sat in the chair and reclined. The chair lit up and it ignited the star drive engine.
As the star drive powered up, McKay, who was in the lab, radio came to life; it (was) Zelenka "McKay someone has activated Atlantis star drive"
"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, meet me in the chair room now!"
McKay, Ronon, Zelenka, other scientist and security personnel arrived. "Sheppard what are you doing!"
Suddenly, the chair lights began to flicker, abruptly deactivated and the alien seemed to pass out. McKay reached to activate his radio to call for a med team, but his radio activated first. A weak, soft, and slightly slurred voice is heard.
"Sheppard to Beckett" It stopped everyone in their tracks. There is silence and stunned faces.