Taken On Trust
By Ann3
Writer's Note: Okay, so Carson's been found - yay !!! Now all he needs to do is get away from the bad guys. It's a good thing the wee lad has such a hard head !!
Just a quick reference to that now famous scene from Rising, and Thirty Eight Minutes here, along with my eternal thanks to whoever invented the Glaswegian kiss !!
Chapter Four
All Sales Cancelled
Their first meeting may not have been the most promising where friendships were concerned. Even now, the merest mention of the 'd' word made both of them wince. And heaven help anyone who made the mistake of saying it anywhere near their CMO during their physical exam.
Yet from that mutually hair raising experience, John Sheppard and Carson Beckett had still forged a very special bond. Perhaps it was the unique genetic powers which they shared, but their minds seemed to be instinctively linked.
Just weeks after that first meeting, this uncanny linking of thoughts had saved John Sheppard's life – Carson the first to catch on to his desperate, make-or-break plan to get that damn life-sucking bug off his neck.
Their CMO's intuition and medical brilliance had come to the fore that day, never again to be doubted. John needed that same intuition now to get that CMO, his surrogate brother, back in safe hands.
Even as it reeled in pain and exhaustion, Carson's mind had already sensed their closeness. In spite of his terror and pain, the extreme strain he was under, he hadn't betrayed their position
Now, as his captors continued to drag him across the ground, Carson forced his lolling head upright – his eyes drifting sideways, thankfully unnoticed, to draw comfort and strength from unseen others.
Rodney. Teyla. Ronon. They were all there. All silently promising him that they would get him back.
When his eyes reached those of John Sheppard, the expression within them imperceptibly changed – a sudden calmness carrying the unique understanding that had always existed between them.
Within that change, John Sheppard had read something else, too, that none of the others had noticed. Something that made him, with undetectable smoothness, slowly adjust his grip on his P90 as he whispered an urgent alert to the rest of his team.
"Carson's planning something… get ready…"
To his open relief, McKay's potentially disastrous giveaway yelp of disbelief failed to materialise. Instead he just nodded, in still anxious acknowledgement, leaving Ronon to softly mutter it for him.
"He's no warrior, Sheppard… and look at the state of him… how can you expect him to fight…?"
"I kinda think that's the idea. They won't be expecting it either, so just be ready…" John hissed back – turning away again, to pass another of those vital, uniquely private messages to their captive friend.
'…whatever you're planning, Carson, we've got you covered…'
It may have been a trick of still blindingly strong sunlight, but the stricken face seemed to relax a little. There was no such doubt, though, over the abrupt, far more pronounced relaxing of Carson's body. Its sudden collapse came as a complete, shocking surprise to everyone who now witnessed it. And where his captors were concerned, that was exactly what Carson Beckett had been counting on.
As his startled captor struggled to haul his deadweight body upright, a single leg lashed outwards – the consequent doubling over of its target giving Carson just the precious few seconds he needed.
Taking advantage of every one of them, he wriggled and struggled until he regained vital balance.
With strength borne of pure adrenalin, Carson then slammed his forehead against that of his captor – a second, even harder impact causing captor and captive alike to stagger a few vital, precious feet apart
John Sheppard's P90 now gladly did the rest – which, all things considered, was really just as well. Having Glaswegian kissed his way to freedom, Carson Beckett was in no fit state for a second attempt
His next, groggy-headed awareness as he crashed to the ground was a flurry of motion and noise around him. Teyla was already at his side, standing protectively over him. John and Ronon were keeping his captors safely at bay under further volleys of gunfire, while Rodney gently untied his hands – two stricken blue eyes swimming back at him through rapidly falling darkness.
Carson tried, with all his strength, to find a smile for him. All that effort was wasted, though, as his face fell suddenly, and terrifyingly, slack - a horrified yell of his name falling on senseless ears.
"Carson...!"
