Chapter Four
The Brothers and McKay had moved Sheppard as rapidly as they could. Sheppard had remained conscious the entire way, although it didn't take a doctor to recognize that he was disoriented. As they'd been hurrying down the corridors he'd actually asked if they could take a detour and go to the drive-through because he was hungry. Then he'd called McKay 'Jimmy' and McKay had gone from desperate concern to complete panic.
They entered the room, and the Brothers gently placed the stretcher on the floor. As far as McKay could see, at least there was one advantage. Apart from shoving Sheppard into Machine, no one seemed intent on hurting Sheppard any further. In fact, there was nothing reflected in the Brothers' faces except for genuine concern and for that McKay was endlessly grateful. He had enough to worry about and at least he knew that where Sheppard was concerned, the monks wouldn't be pulling any weird shit.
McKay was also grateful because he didn't actually know what to do anyway. The Brothers, focused on their task, had essentially pushed him into the background. They were currently trying to get Sheppard out of his soaking uniform but Sheppard, in his current state, wasn't cooperating.
Sheppard took an uncoordinated punch at Tibs as Tibs bent to start pulling off his jacket. He managed to connect with the side of Tibs' face. Tibs moved back out of range, but judging by Tibs' non-reaction, there had barely been any force behind the punch.
Darius was tackling the remaining combat boot. They'd left the other one back in the Benevolent Father's room. Sheppard kept trying to jerk his foot away.
"Leave me alone!"
He was starting to struggle in earnest and McKay couldn't blame him. Being stripped by a bunch of guys in robes would have been disconcerting for a person with all his marbles, let alone a guy who didn't even know where he was. It then occurred to McKay that he did have a role to play but it was a role he was going to struggle with because Meredith Rodney McKay just wasn't very good at this one particular task. It was more Carson's area because Carson was kind and empathic and tended to cry at the drop of a hat. McKay wasn't immune to suffering but he preferred to hide any soft side behind a wall of science. Showing that he cared had seen him betrayed too many times to count.
He took a deep breath and crossed over to the stretcher to get into Sheppard's eye line. "Colonel, you're okay. They just want to help."
Sheppard looked at him with glazed eyes and mumbled something quietly that McKay couldn't hear or understand. He bent closer.
"What did you say?"
Sheppard's eyes closed briefly and then he opened them again, seemed to think he was somewhere else. "I said you can take your stupid hazing ritual and shove it up your ass."
"I don't know where the hell you think you are, but it's not a hazing ritual."
"This coming from a man who's dressed like a monk. Who are you anyway? Tell Mitch and Dex that they're dead men."
"Okaaaayyyy. Let's focus here. I'm Rodney McKay. Remember? Annoying scientist that saved your butt too many times to count. Ringing any bells?"
Sheppard blinked, seemed to be processing the information as best he could. "Oh. Hey. Mckay! Hi."
"Hi yourself."
"What happened?"
McKay paused, tried to figure out his best approach. Was it really the time to do a massive recap? Judging by Sheppard's response he doubted Sheppard would be able to process the tale to date in his present condition. He tried for the shortened version.
"As per usual, you're proving that in a previous life you did something really, really crappy."
"I'm sick of being kidnapped. It really screws up the week."
"Tell me about it."
He felt a nudge in his ribs, and turned around to see Tibs indicating he should move out of the way. For once, Tibs didn't appear to be scowling at McKay. Possibly because McKay's approach had resulted in stopping Sheppard from trying to punch any more people.
"Do you think the Seer would let us finish now?"
McKay shrugged, he wasn't sure, but he turned back to Sheppard and hoped the pilot was still temporarily anchored in the here and now.
"You think you can hang on for a while longer? These guys want to make you more presentable."
"I guess. But if I wind up covered in shaving cream and having all my body hair shaved off, I am going to make you pay."
"You know, you're beginning to make me wonder just how kinky the US military is."
"Not kinky. Just a weird sense of team building."
McKay nodded to Tibs. The Brothers went back to their respective tasks and McKay tried to occupy himself by gathering up the sopping clothing and moving it to a pile by the door. Sheppard may have stopped trying to connect with his fists but he was writhing around so much that the Brothers were having a hard time trying to clean him up. He watched as the Brothers maneuvered Sheppard into the tub with as much consideration as possible.
Tibs seemed to be the most solicitous which surprised McKay. The same man who regarded McKay as a source of irritation that was worse than a small, yappy dog was a different person when fulfilling the role he was assigned to.
"Seer, is the water too cool? Do you need it to be warmer?"
Sheppard didn't say anything. He had closed his eyes and looked to be in danger of falling asleep. Tibs beckoned McKay over again.
"We might have to help the Seer."
Sheppard's eyes shot open at the statement. "There's no helping here buddy. Fuck off; I'm not taking a bath with an audience."
Tibs didn't seem to find Sheppard's attitude the least bit offensive. Instead he bowed slightly to indicate that he'd heard Sheppard's command. "Of course, Seer. We will put up a privacy screen. But for your own safety, it would be preferable if your friend McKay at least stayed with you."
"Believe me when I tell you that he's not that much of a friend."
"If you were injured in some way, we would never forgive ourselves. Please reconsider."
Sheppard shook his head, but the motion didn't seem like a good idea. He suddenly stilled himself. "Shit."
McKay moved into action. Well, what passed for action for McKay. "You're not going to puke are you? They just got you in there."
Sheppard didn't reply just leaned himself over the side of the bath, and took some deep breaths. Tibs hurriedly reached for an empty bucket and McKay got an eyeful of a back covered in large blood filled blisters.
McKay eyes went wide. He caught Tibs attention. "What are they?"
Tibs cast an experienced eye over Sheppard's back. "Machine draws energy from the Seer when she needs it. She's very careful. She won't hurt him."
"Won't hurt him?!"
"Lower your voice, McKay. We do not want to upset the Seer."
The man in question just groaned and kept his face pointed towards the bucket.
"If she's not hurting him, do you want to explain why his back is covered in those blisters?"
"She can use any organic source as energy but only the Seer can enter Machine. Otherwise we would feed her. With the Seer, she takes a small quantity of blood."
"You're telling me that Machine is some glorified vampire? Oh, that's just terrific."
Tibs made a shushing motion to McKay. "She is very careful. She takes only the minimum that she needs. Believe me, the Brothers have worked on this problem for centuries. We can find no way to regularly feed her as she will only admit a Seer. We are fortunate in that she needs so little energy to remain aware and functioning."
Sheppard managed to lift his head marginally. "Said food source still feels like he's going to throw up."
Okay, maybe this wasn't the time to be arguing about Machine and paying more attention to Sheppard, who bore a strong resemblance to a drowned rat that had then been dragged across some gravel. McKay made a mental note to ask Tibs about it later and he'd also find out more about the rash on the forehead.
Tibs immediately shouted a few commands to the rest of the Brothers. Darius went and filled a jug of water, the two other Brothers fetched a folding screen and placed it around the bathtub. When Darius returned with the jug and a cup, Sheppard made a grab for the cup, but fumbled and the cup rolled across the floor. Darius ran to get another one. Tibs seemed unimpressed.
"The Seer is still affected his joining by the Machine. You are going to have to hold the cup for him, Darius."
"Nobody is holding anything for me. Go away."
"You are in no condition, Seer. I am sorry but you need us to help you."
"Then who was the wise guy who promised me that I could take a bath alone five minutes ago?"
McKay sighed. Sheppard was being his usual obstinate self and if they sat here and tried to persuade him, the argument was likely to last the rest of the night. He hit upon a bright idea that he could probably pull off with Sheppard in his current addled state. Sheppard could make him pay for it later.
He straightened himself up, and put on his best imitation of a command voice. It wasn't great but maybe it would get Sheppard's attention.
"Colonel! Colonel John Sheppard!"
"What?" Sheppard was still hanging over the side of the tub. It couldn't have been comfortable.
"This is… Colonel Caldwell!"
"Caldwell? What are you doing here?"
McKay wondered that himself. "I heard you're giving these people a bad time. Do you realize they're here to help you?"
Sheppard shifted himself slightly, but didn't bother looking up from his view of the floor. McKay figured Sheppard must really be confused if he wasn't even checking for the source of a bad imitation of Caldwell. McKay wasn't good with military ranks but he had the vague feeling that Caldwell outranked Sheppard as Caldwell was a full colonel. Or maybe not. None of the civilians took any notice of all that rank stuff anyway but if it fooled Sheppard enough for him to settle down, that was all McKay needed. Besides, he wasn't even going to attempt to imitate Elizabeth. Sheppard may have been acting like his senile grandmother but even Sheppard wasn't so far gone that he'd mistake McKay's voice for Elizabeth Weir.
"Colonel, I'm giving you an order. You need to let these people do their job. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!"
"So we can expect your full cooperation from this point, Colonel?"
"Yes, sir."
McKay thanked God for the military's foresight in making sure that you couldn't say 'no' to a superior officer, even if the superior officer was a fake.
Darius filled a replacement cup with water, held it for Sheppard who started gulping it back without any further complaining. After three cups, the queasiness seemed to ramp itself down enough for Sheppard to stop grasping the sides of the tub. Darius and Tibs made short work of scraping the worst of Machine's fluids off of him – McKay refusing to participate. Sheppard was right. Friendships were ruined by this sort of up close and personal stuff. If Sheppard remembered any of this, McKay decided he'd have to avoid him for the next year.
McKay checked his watch. Sheppard had gone into Machine around eight-fifteen in the morning. It was now just after twenty-one hundred. A long day for both of them.
"McKay, go and fetch the Seer a towel."
He shook himself out of his reverie and did as he was told. It was an impressively good towel, lying on the table. He knew because when he'd been forced to bring it in, along with the endless rounds of water fetching, he'd thought it was the largest and softest towel he'd ever seen.
Taking the towel back, he passed it over to Tibs. Tibs and Darius hauled Sheppard to his feet, wrapped him up, helped him to step out of the tub and hustled him over to the bed. Sheppard was still conscious but definitely running out of steam because he'd gone from complaining to compliant and was no longer trying to yank himself away from the people helping him.
McKay did his bit for the team, and drew back the bed covers. Tibs grabbed a nightshirt, threw it over Sheppard, bundled him into the bed. Used another towel to dry off Sheppard's hair.
Which left Sheppard slumped in the bed, fighting hard not to go to sleep, even though he had five people staring at him. McKay noted that Tibs was beaming proudly at Sheppard and Darius was smiling just as much. The two Brothers who had helped out but as yet remained nameless just looked at Sheppard with a disturbing awe.
Tibs lowered his voice to a whisper. "I want this place cleaned up. Quietly. Darius, I want you to fetch some food for the Seer."
"Uh, he looks really tired. Maybe we should just let him sleep," said McKay.
"It is not healthy for the Seer to sleep without some food. He may sleep for some time."
Tiny alarm bells in McKay's head off all went off at the same time. "And when you say some time, what do you mean exactly?"
"The Seer may sleep the entire day. It's too long to be without food in addition to his time with Machine."
"Well, that makes sense," said McKay. Because it did. He couldn't imagine how anyone could go without eating for twelve hours let alone more than twenty-four. In McKay's world, a day without food was a day making a good impersonation of McKay's view of hell. Besides, the blood loss demanded that Sheppard get his own energy reserves restored.
Tibs bustled himself over to Sheppard.
"Seer, you need to eat before you go to sleep."
Sheppard ignored him. Tibs poked him in the arm. Sheppard's eyes opened abruptly.
"Wha…? Are we on alert?"
Tibs looked confused, and McKay once more found himself summoned to take Tibs place.
"No, there's no alert. You're supposed to eat something before you take your nap."
He didn't like the way Sheppard's eyes kept rolling around in his head. It seemed to be a combination of fatigue and the residual effects of whatever Machine had done to him.
Sheppard did manage to respond. "I'm hungry but I'd rather be asleep. Tell Mitch if he flies for me, I'll owe him."
"Colonel, you need to focus here for me."
"Caldwell?"
"Uh, try McKay."
Sheppard did manage to focus again. He gave McKay his all too disturbing hundred mile stare that seemed to have become part of his repertoire and smiled tiredly. "Oh. Hey. Hi, McKay!"
"Hello yourself."
Sheppard looked around the room as if it was the first time he'd seen it. "What happened?"
McKay sighed. Sheppard was in bad shape. "Well, your brain has been turned into pudding by an Ancient machine and the monks are trying to make sure you don't die."
"Oh. That's nice of them."
Darius had come back with a tray from the kitchen in record time. The kitchen had been ready to act for the entire day, concentrating on making a sophisticated array of food for the Seer, should the Seer be unable to decide between the local equivalents of pate or roast duck.
Darius had clearly decided that pate or roast duck for the Seer was overly ambitious on the first day. He'd come back with some bread and stew. The same thing the monks ate. It wasn't exactly luxury food but it tasted good, and it filled the stomach. McKay knew this because he'd had the same meal for lunch and dinner and more bread for a mid afternoon snack before Tibs had made nasty remarks about McKay resembling a pig and banned him from the kitchen until breakfast.
Sheppard seemed to be getting better at coordinating his hands and arms and when the tray was placed on his lap, he managed to wrap his fingers around the spoon before closing his eyes and starting to drift off.
McKay took over from Tibs and gave Sheppard a shake. "Eat first, sleep later."
Sheppard jerked himself awake, did he as told on automatic, in between bouts of head nodding. At some point he gave up holding the spoon for himself. It was like watching a sleepy toddler about to go face down in his oatmeal. Between prodding Sheppard to keep him awake, and simply holding the spoon and getting him to open his mouth, they managed to get half a bowl of stew into him and a couple of bites of bread.
Everyone seemed to collectively agree that it was enough. Tibs took the tray away and Sheppard collapsed, then and there. Tibs and Darius made sure he was half propped up on the pillows, at a forty-five degree angle.
McKay watched Sheppard sleeping for a few minutes, just to convince himself that Sheppard hadn't died. The Brothers busied themselves with tidying, cleaning and working on emptying the tub.
Tibs noticed McKay's glum expression, and seemed to take pity on McKay. Or maybe it was because once more Tibs had an audience and McKay knew that when Tibs had an audience he was all sweetness and light.
"You should not worry. He is just sleeping but it is a deep sleep and nothing will rouse him from this point on until he is ready to wake up."
That didn't make McKay happy. "So, basically, he's in a coma or something and he won't be playing a game of chess any time soon. Right?"
Tibs frowned. "You say some very strange things."
"You're not the first person to tell me that. Believe me."
Tibs nodded and then seemed to arrive at a way to distract McKay from his morbid thoughts. "Take the Seer's clothes to the laundry and then you may retire for the night."
McKay shook his head. "I think I'd rather stay here. Make sure he's okay."
"From now on, someone will always be with the Seer to ensure that nothing happens to him. You should not worry."
"Right. You keep saying that but so far worrying is all I've done."
"Finish your chores and then go to bed." Tibs command voice was back, signaling that he was running out of patience.
McKay reluctantly did as he was told.
((--))
Elizabeth Weir's office was crowded. She'd meant to have the meeting in the conference room, but the crisis had resulted in everyone conferring in a hurry. Ronon and Teyla had marched straight up to see her once they'd arrived back through the stargate and she'd promptly called in the appropriate personnel.
Her office now contained the following: local pottery, a wall hanging, a desk, a laptop, a pissed off Satedan runner, and a livid Athosian warrior. This was mixed with a concerned Scottish doctor, a gung-ho major and a rational but also concerned Czechoslovakian scientist.
At the moment, Ronon was proposing that they take a jumper through the stargate and start shooting. Teyla, somewhat unexpectedly, was in agreement. Lorne was siding with Ronon but opting for more intel, and Zelenka was saying something about further research. She held up her hands to quiet them down.
"Let's everyone take a deep breath and go over this one more time. Teyla…"
Teyla nodded to her and began relaying what they knew. "The local countryside is caught between many factions of local war lords. They control all commerce on the planet. They also fight amongst themselves for access and control to the stargate, as we found out."
Ronon added his own information. "When we came through, the 'gate was under guard by armed men. At the time they let us walk through without any further problems. Told us that they were just there to protect off-worlders but it turns out that they were more interested in making people pay a toll to travel back to their own worlds."
Elizabeth decided that Ronon was definitely concerned when he started speaking in more than one sentence. She crossed her arms. "Presumably they earned enough money to make control valuable."
"Seems they have an agreement for toll payments with several other races on the understanding that their trade wouldn't be hampered. The stargate looks like a major hub for the movement of arms and drugs," said Ronon.
"Economies based on the trade of contraband have a habit of being highly unstable," said Zelenka.
"We investigated the immediate area, and interacted with the locals. They did not pay too much attention to us until Sheppard walked past some Ancient technology in the town's square," said Teyla.
"There were a lot of flashing lights," said Ronon.
"Thirty minutes later Dren turned up. Colonel Sheppard ordered us back to the 'gate but we were separated," said Teyla.
"Deliberately," added Ronon.
"After that we were held at the stargate by a number of war lords with demands. That was when we were told by Syrus that Sheppard and McKay were being held at the Abbey of the Seer."
"Do we know anything more?" Asked Elizabeth, not really expecting a response.
Zelenka pushed his glasses back up to his face, tapped at his laptop. "Actually, we do."
"We do?"
Zelenka showed her his screen, containing Ancient text. "There is mention of a Seer in some of the Ancient texts. They are not very helpful as the reference seems to be contained in a type of private journal. Someone on Atlantis wrote about the Seer but does not offer any explanation."
Elizabeth came over to Zelenka, took the laptop from him to read the text herself. She read out loud to the group. "The Seer is the key to many locks. Locks which keep us from our answer. If we can reach an agreement on who the Seer is, I feel this experiment may solve our problems once and for all. The council will make a decision tonight."
She paused, looked back at Zelenka, as puzzled as he was. "Is there a record of the council meeting?"
"I cannot find anything that mentions the Seer or the council in any other capacity. I do not know if this is because the records have been lost or deleted."
"Or were never recorded in the first place," said Lorne. "If they wanted to keep it a secret, they wouldn't have left any records."
Beckett had remained quiet up until now. "We know from previous experience that the Ancients could be lax when it came to experimentation. I don't like the sounds of this."
Elizabeth nodded. "I have to concur. Okay, we need to formulate a plan for retrieving McKay and Sheppard. Suggestions?"
"We're going to need to get a lot more intel for a start. Determine the location of the Abbey and what its defensive capabilities are," said Lorne.
"Agreed. Major Lorne, take a squad in with a cloaked jumper. Perform a grid search from the air and see what you can find, then report back."
Lorne didn't need to be told twice. "Ma'am."
Teyla and Ronon both got to their feet before Elizabeth had a chance to say anything further.
"We would like to accompany Major Lorne to the planet," said Teyla.
"But lass, I haven't even had a chance to check you both out yet," said Beckett.
"We are fine, Dr. Beckett."
Beckett backed off. "Of course you are. Everyone is always fine in this place. Even when their leg is due to drop off."
"Carson, I'm sure they'd tell you if there was something wrong." Elizabeth smiled at him.
"Aye. I'm sure they will. I'm just never happy when Sheppard's team is off-world. They keep winding up in the infirmary and it's making me paranoid."
Elizabeth nodded and watched Teyla, Ronon and Lorne leave. "I know exactly what you mean."
((--))
Carson Beckett wasn't lying when he said that Sheppard's team had left him with a sense of paranoia mixed with concern. Call it a doctor's instincts but it was inevitable if they were delayed in coming back, it meant someone was coming back in less than stellar shape.
He trudged back to the infirmary and started what had become a familiar routine. He checked the level of plasma and blood products on hand and made sure he had Sheppard and McKay's blood types stocked up. He made sure he had a couple of empty beds. He made sure his anesthetist and surgical team had been informed. He pulled up Sheppard and McKay's medical histories, which were now about twelve-centimeters deep if he tried to print them, and reviewed them, even if he knew them off by heart.
Sometimes being the CMO of Atlantis just depressed the hell out of him.
((--))
Sheppard thought he was floating. Then he wasn't. Then he thought he was drowning and he woke with a start.
He wasn't the infirmary, he knew that much. No familiar sounds, no familiar smells. He wasn't a fan of the infirmary but it meant that if he woke up there, he certainly wasn't going to be waking up somewhere else. Like in a cell or face down in the dirt.
Still, if this was a prison, it was a comfy prison and if the smell wasn't familiar at least it wasn't an unpleasant stench. Just the smell of soap, and maybe some food. He had a vague recollection of eating but it occurred to him that he had no idea what he'd eaten or how'd he got here.
His thinking felt fuzzy, like he'd been drinking, but he didn't think he had – or at least he didn't have any recollection of a good time before suffering the after effects. Whatever had happened, it was time to try and get out of the mess. He struggled to get himself sitting up, and let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. He had a hell of a headache, his back was killing him, he needed to take a leak and he needed to find McKay. In no specific order.
He forced himself to wait a few moments longer, because he was starting to make out some shapes around the room. One of the shapes looked as if there as another occupant asleep in the room with him. The optimist in him hoped it was McKay but the realist – the one that had been at the receiving end of numerous beatings and kidnappings – said it was probably just his captors making sure he didn't escape.
Although, it was odd that his captor was asleep. Guards generally tried to stay awake when guarding. It was part of their job description.
Still, it did make his own job of escaping easier.
Slowly, he slid himself out of the bed, found himself standing shakily on his two feet and shuffled his way across the floor, also hoping he could find some clothes. It definitely wasn't going to be his finest moment if he escaped clad in nothing but a nightshirt, and an oversized one at that.
He kept shuffling, doing his best to remain coordinated and upright and had just reached the door when, as tended to happen when he was involved, the fates intervened and his captor suddenly woke up.
"Seer, is that you?"
"Um, yes," he replied. Winced at both his fantastic reply and the headache that seemed to get worse with speaking. Score one for inventiveness.
"Seer, you must not get out of bed. You need to rest."
The indistinct blob had gone from being horizontally positioned to vertical and he was moving towards Sheppard. Sheppard thought that about now he should make a run for it and not wait around for his captor to get any closer.
He reached for the large door handle and to his utter dismay, found he could only move the handle by a fraction. It wasn't locked. He just didn't have the strength.
"Seer, you need to rest. I can get you anything you need."
Sheppard felt himself beginning to experience a sense of fear and that was a sensation he tried hard to avoid. Especially in a situation like this, where remaining calm was essential. He rattled the door handle again, then wondered if he could take out his captor and then decided against it. If he couldn't open a door, his chances of punching anyone hard enough to take them out were non-existent.
Time for a change of tactic.
"Where's McKay?"
"I sent him back to his room. All the other Seers before you slept for at least a day."
"I'd like to see him." At least he knew McKay was alive.
"Of course. I can send Brother Darius to fetch him."
His captor didn't make any more moves towards him and seemed to be weighing up what he was going to do with Sheppard. Sheppard stayed where he was, even though he was beginning to feel cold. The monk observed him for another few seconds and then turned and went to a lantern on the table. He lit it and then went and found some more lanterns, which he also lit and turned up until there was enough immediate light for them to see each other, and for Sheppard to make out more of the room.
"You should be back in bed."
"I'm good. Thanks for the offer."
The man pointed at the door. "You will need to move if I am to summon Brother Darius."
"Sure," he replied. This was easy. The monk was actually going to open the door for him. All he needed to do was try to appear non-threatening and make a break for it when he had a chance.
The monk did as he said. He opened the door and stepped out into the corridor and Sheppard executed his move and made a break.
Sheppard didn't get very far. As his legs collapsed under him without warning and he hit the stone floor, it occurred to him that he should have figured out his chances of running were slim if he hadn't been able to actually use a door handle.
The monk hurried over to him, knelt beside him.
"Seer, are you hurt?"
"Nothing but my dignity," he rasped out and tried not to show any signs that he was sure that the top of his head was about to fall off.
"Would you like me to help you?"
"No, thanks. I'm just gonna lie here and wait until I see McKay." It seemed as good as choice as any. Besides, if he was going to have to suffer the indignity of being hauled off the floor and put back into bed without any choice in the matter, he'd at least like to delay it as long as possible. Even though lying down in a bed held a lot of appeal in his current condition. An appeal he would have to ignore until he could get back to Atlantis.
His captor stood up and went a short distance down the dimly lit hallway to a bell. Which he rang and Sheppard felt his one brief shot at escape vanishing from sight. Within five minutes, another monk was running towards him, looking exceedingly distressed by the sight of the Seer sprawled in a heap on the floor.
"Brother Tibs, what happened?"
Sheppard's captor seemed perfectly calm. "Ah, Brother Darius… The Seer decided that he should go for a walk. Go and fetch McKay. He refuses to allow me to move him until he has seen McKay."
Darius bowed and took off running back down the hallway. Leaving Sheppard and Tibs exactly where they were. Sheppard involuntarily shivered and cursed the fact that Tibs noticed.
"I am going to get you a blanket. I will be back shortly."
Tibs left without saying another word, and Sheppard was left alone in the hallway, the cold from the stones starting to seep into his flesh and a strange panic welling up in him as he found himself immobile and alone.
The sounds of footsteps signaled the rapid return of Tibs, who had kept his word and fetched a blanket. He placed it over Sheppard and then sat down beside him on the floor.
"This really is most unusual, Seer. You are supposed to be sleeping."
"Call of nature," he said for something to say and it sounded like a better excuse than, 'I was trying to escape'.
"You should have said."
"I just did."
More footfalls, the sounds of running and an out of breath McKay was beside him about twenty seconds later.
"What in the hell are you doing, you idiot?!"
Clearly McKay was happy to see him. "What does it look like, Friar Tuck? I tried going for a stroll and wound up lying on the floor."
McKay snorted. "You can quit it with the Friar Tuck thing right now."
"But it suits you."
"And we're getting you off this damn floor." McKay turned to the other monks. "Give me a hand."
McKay didn't seem to notice that Tibs bridled at the command but it didn't go unnoticed by Sheppard. Tibs was possibly more dangerous than he first appeared.
The three men managed to haul Sheppard to his feet, swivel him around and half drag him back to the room. Sheppard for his part tried to ignore the way his flesh crawled where hands touched him. McKay took over with getting him back to bed and Tibs proudly presented Sheppard with the equivalent of a bedpan.
"If only I had a camera with me," smirked McKay.
"That's cute, Friar Tuck. Wait until I tell everyone how cool you looked in robes and sandals and socks."
"Shut up," replied McKay with gusto, clearly enjoying having a chance to indulge in some repartee with Sheppard.
He was about to say something else when Tibs interrupted. It seemed Tibs had reached his breaking point when it came to witty banter.
"McKay, you must not speak to the Seer like that!" Tibs face was going red. With anger.
"It's okay. We do this all the time," said McKay.
"No! I will not have you speaking like this! Apologize immediately to the Seer and your penance shall be small."
"Tibs, come on, he's not insulted. Really."
Sheppard reached over and grabbed McKay's forearm before he said anything else. Tibs was angry and angry people weren't always in control. He hissed a warning at the scientist.
"Mckay…"
McKay swatted at Sheppard's arm lightly and that was enough to send Tibs over the edge. Tibs roughly grabbed McKay, pushing him away from the bed with enough force that McKay staggered before regaining his balance.
"The Seer is to be respected at all times. You will be punished for this transgression. Brother Darius!"
The younger man stepped forward, bowing to Tibs and Sheppard as he did so and waited for Tibs to continue.
"Take McKay to his room and lock him in. I will deal with him tomorrow."
McKay was indignant. "Hey! Sheppard's my friend and he asked for me. You're supposed to do what the Seer tells you!"
"Not when the Seer is clearly a danger to himself. Get him out!"
Darius manhandled McKay towards the door and Sheppard tensed because it looked like McKay might just put up a struggle and he was in no shape to help him or prevent him from being hurt.
"Rodney, it's okay… I'll figure something out."
"Sure, sure you will. Is this before or after Darius breaks my arm?"
"Enough!" Tibs shrieked. "You have too much love of talking McKay!"
"McKay, just do as you're told," said Sheppard, hoping it would calm Tibs down.
McKay relented without saying another word and let Darius guide him out of the door. Sheppard had no idea what Tibs had planned for McKay but he was going to make damn sure that he used whatever influence he had as the so-called Seer to give McKay a break.
Tibs took some deep breaths and seemed to rapidly calm down with McKay out of his sight. He moved around the bed, tucking Sheppard in and straightening the covers.
"That man will be my early death. How do you tolerate him, Seer?"
"He's my friend."
"I do not understand why someone so irritating could be your friend."
Sheppard shrugged. "He's the smartest guy in the Pegasus Galaxy and he's great at saving my neck."
Tibs regarded him silently and didn't bother to reply. Instead he crossed to a table, seemed to be putting some powder in a bowl and mug. He picked up the bowl, a cloth and the mug.
"If you are going to insist on being awake, then I should apply a salve to the marks on your back and forehead and give you a drink for the headache."
Tibs crossed back to the bed, placed the bowl on the bed, gave the mug to Sheppard.
"Drink this."
Sheppard regarded the mug suspiciously. "Thanks but I'm okay. Not in the slightest bit thirsty."
"It will make you feel better."
"No, thanks."
Tibs narrowed his eyes and Sheppard thought that he was in as much trouble as McKay. Tibs went to a chair, sat down and waited. Didn't say anything, didn't move and Sheppard was getting more uneasy by the second. The man's mood swings didn't bode well when it came to predicting the man's behavior.
It turned out that Tibs was waiting on Darius to return from his task of locking up McKay for the night.
"Brother Darius, I need to give some medicine for pain to the Seer and he is not cooperating. If you could assist me, I would appreciate it."
"Of course."
"He has been combative, so we will need to use force."
Force wasn't good, not in his current state. Sheppard held out his hands in a gesture of peace. Darius seemed more sensible and stable than Tibs, maybe he could make an appeal to the kid.
Darius and Tibs meanwhile had arrived at his bedside. Tibs gave his young Brother some more instructions. "If you hold his arms, I'll make sure he drinks."
Sheppard turned his full attention to Darius. "Darius, you might not like to hear this, but I think Tibs has got some problems. As the Seer, I'd just like you to stop and consider for a moment whether you should be doing this."
Darius it seemed, had considered. Seemed like a kind guy, sensible, always knew to obey his elders.
"I am sorry, Seer. But you are not well and Brother Tibs can help you get better."
Darius concluded his speech by grabbing Sheppard's arms and pinning him down on the mattress. Sheppard tried struggling but failed. Darius easily held him down. Tibs then grabbed Sheppard's nose and held it in the classic universal maneuver used by mothers everywhere.
Sheppard thought he had two choices. Hold his breath until he couldn't or just get it over and done with. Stubborn as always he elected to hold his breath, just to spite Tibs.
As they waited, Sheppard's body getting desperate for oxygen, Sheppard thought that Tibs was beginning to remind him of his father. He held out for another minute, and then he couldn't hold out any longer. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath and got a mouthful of fluid a second later. Before he had a chance to spit it out, Tibs had forced his jaw shut. Sheppard thought the fluid tasted vaguely like aspirin. He also declined to swallow.
Tibs regarded him with eyes that said he would not tolerate any more dissent.
"Seer, you can swallow this or I'll make sure that part of McKay's punishment is to have his tongue cut out."
Darius didn't say anything but he did give Tibs a curious look, as if he hadn't expected such a threat from Tibs.
Sheppard knew that he had no choice. He had to make sure that McKay was okay and at least one of them made it out alive. He swallowed. Tibs made a gesture for him to open his mouth and he got another mouthful. He swallowed again. Tibs repeated the process until the mug was empty.
"Now, Seer, there will be no more of this. You will let us take care of you so that Machine can continue."
Sheppard didn't respond because whatever he'd been forced to drink was definitely kicking in. Tibs head seemed to be growing larger and the room was spinning.
His last thought before the drug forced him into sleep was that he really, really did need to take a leak.
((--))
