The Greater Good
By Ann3
Writer's Note: Ah yes, that last chapter was a bit of a shocker...! And if you thought things looked grim then, wait till chapter five !!! ;o)Before then, though... well, Elizabeth's worst fears are about to come true... ulp...!!
Chapter Four
From Hope Into Hell
There was still so much noise and chaos going on around her that Elizabeth Weir couldn't quite place it at first – a niggling sense of wrongness, a mounting realisation that something... something... wasn't quite right.
Yes, her city was still being rocked to its foundations, just as it had been for the last several hours – just as it had done those precious few minutes ago, when Carson had managed to launch their drones, and... damn it, she now realised in quiet dismay, that was the difference which had been niggling at her.
The drones. They'd stopped firing. And that could only mean one thing. Carson Beckett was in trouble
Elizabeth felt little cause to panic just yet, though. After all, he had six fully armed Marines to protect him. And she knew launching those drones would be taking a heavy toll on both his physical and mental strength
Yet a selfish, terrified part of her still silently urged him to re-find that strength, just a bit quicker – hating that selfishness, her ingratitude, as another volley of explosions shook the floor below her feet.
'Come on, Carson, you have to keep those drones in the air... if we're to stand any chance at all, to...'
"Dr Weir...!"
Radek Zelenka's urgent yell broke into her thoughts – and quietly turned Elizabeth's blood to ice.
"The scanners, Dr Weir, they are detecting them now... Wraith... they are here, in – in Atlantis...!"
Acknowledging him with as much composure as she could manage, Elizabeth thumbed her radio – quietly praying that her voice sounded calmer to those around her than it felt, and sounded, to her.
"Carson...? It's Elizabeth... Carson...? Are you alright...? Carson...? Major Lane, can you hear me...?"
Silence. Total silence – one which made her close her eyes against a helpless, devastating realisation.
A lack of response from her CMO was one thing – such silence from his protectors quite another. And if the Wraith were in the city, mounting their main objective, then the first person they'd target –
'Oh, God...'
As if subconsciously bidden, a response did come now – shattering both her heart and her hopes.
"Dr Weir... how charming to hear your voice again, doctor... I trust you're well...?"
If she'd not faced an almighty fight to keep her voice level before... by God, she was facing one now – the single word of her reply kept carefully casual, even as Elizabeth felt pure despair claw at her heart.
"Michael..."
"The very same... and your recognition flatters me, doctor... yes, it is so very good to be here again... and I would imagine you're hoping to reach Dr Beckett, but... well, he's a little tied up right now..."
For sickening effect, Michael paused then – his next words as heartless as they were horrifying
"I must give him credit, though, Dr Weir, he is... well, putting up a most commendable fight..."
Another smugly gloating pause – filled, this time, by a piercing scream of terrified, helpless agony. Another. Then silence.
Fighting now to keep her emotions in check, Elizabeth signalled furiously for Zelenka to join her – roughly snatching his laptop from him, such was her desperation to tap out a silent, frantic message.
'Raise Colonel Sheppard and Ronon... now...!!'
The equal speed with which Zelenka responded was a precious comfort. And, God knew, she needed it. Even as silence returned to her headset, Elizabeth could still hear those screams rip through her mind.
What Carson was going through, what his captor was doing to him... God, it didn't bear thinking about
It took all the control she had not to give this sick bastard any more satisfaction than he had already. Her next words – tight, terse and to the point – refused to rise to Michael's sickeningly enforced bait.
"What do you want, Michael...?"
She'd prayed she'd succeeded in staying strong. Sneering flattery gloated at how close she'd come.
"Ah, spoken like a true leader... straight down to business, so determined not to yield to me..."
Yet again, silence. It stretched uninterrupted this time, from one terrifying second to the next.
Even when Michael finally spoke into it, his words brought no comfort to those who heard them – only further horror, the brutal certainty, that a much loved friend's suffering was only just beginning.
"I'm touched by your concern, Dr Weir, but please don't worry... I already have everything I need..."
