He was hungry and cold and covered in purple slime in the middle of an alien forest with freakish plants out to eat him alive. Nope, life couldn't be better. Just another day in the catastophre filled world of Doctor Rodney McKay. Oh, and he was hungry. So hungry in fact that if it wasn't filled with slime, he could probably eat a Neshi or whatever the heck the nasty things were called, and did he just hear Thrush say… No.. couldn't be… but one look at John and his fear was confirmed. Yep, now on top of everything else, they had to stop in the middle of this delightful fairy land they found themselves in and go Neshi hunting. Maybe if he clicked his heels together or slapped himself silly he'd wake up and it would all be a big scary dream. Not likely. Seeing as the last few years would all be a big scary dream.
Rodney looked at John wearily and shook his head, "Let's just get this over with then. Can someone please enlighten me on the fastest, safest, most efficient and oh, least likely way to be killed, to catch a Neshi?"
Thrush, who now that Rodney thought about it had really really nasty looking teeth, did this civilization not hear of dentistry and proper tooth care?, quickly stepped forward and ignoring Rodney, directed his plan to Sheppard and Ronon.
"They are most active at this hour, we must simply rid ourselves of the plant nectar and play bait. Once they lower themselves from the tree they are the most vulnerable. Those of us still protected will be able to see through their mind games and we must go in for the kill. Here, he said," handing John and Ronon each a small contraption that appeared to be used in shooting darts. "This weapon will be most effective in taking one down without killing it. It in effect uses their own poison against them, paralyzing them."
"McKay, you and Esmis stay with Lorne. Ronon, Thrush and I are off to catch a Neshi." Taking note of Rodney's obvious distate of the idea by his oh not so subtle frown and crinkled up forehead, John added with a slight smirk, "and buck up Rodney, it could be a lot worse. At least Jen's not here." And with that the three men disappeared into the darkness.
McKay squatted down next to Major Lorne, his back against one of the ancient trees. He really hoped they didn't have tree mites or spiders or….a slight movement from Major Lorne put a halt to his train of thought and had him glancing warily at the Major, really hoping that he didn't wake up. Rodney was self admittedly even worse than Elizabeth at bedside manner. He felt awkward, and well… useless… and not used to giving words of comfort.
Another glance at the Major, and Rodney noticed that his movements and the odd sound he heard was actually that of Evan's teeth chattering. He was shivering and his whole body moved with shaking movements that could definitely not be good for him, considering.
Rodney, without allowing himself any self reflection, quickly shucked his jacket off and placed it over the Major's upper torso, taking care to tuck it in carefully on Evan's bad side. It seemed to help a little as his shaking subsided to occasional small quakes of movement. Evan remained blissfully unconscious, something that Rodney was almost wishing for as he rubbed his arms against the penetrating cold. He glanced at Esmis who had his back to them both and appeared to be searching the forest for any signs of movement or danger.
It had been 14 minutes and counting, Rodney thought to himself, his own teeth now chattering. Rodney slowed stood up to stretch his aching legs, how did Indians squat for so long anyhow?, only to be tackled full body by a hard human feeling object. He thought he heard a squawkish sort of scream emit from his mouth, before he landed in the soft needles and tried to reorient his spinning head and make a grab for his now cumbersome weapon and disentangle his arms and legs at the same time. He heard rather than saw the soft thwack of a primitive weapon being fired and then the angry scream of what could only be a primitive, hairy and very angry looking jungle plant, now lying comatose at his feet with a very angry looking Thantu lying next to it, his weapon still pointed at the Neshi and his breaths coming out in fast sucession.
"Why? Wh…" Rodney began sputtering, then noticing Esmis glance suggestively at Major Lorne. Major Lorne who was now covered in Rodney's jacket and Rodney who was now stripped to the waste and not covered in the protective plant juice….
His mouth gave a big "oh" and he gave Esmis a crooked smile and said, "well, that's one way to catch a Neshi, right."
Esmis gave a disgusted shake of his head, brushed himself off and walked over to the Neshi, which he began to poke and prod. Pulling out a small knife he efficiently cut into the outer layer or hide of the thing, and going deeper still cut into a small pouch several inches into the plant. He quickly severed the pouch from its sorrounding layers and deftly cut a small hole into the bottom.
"Hold him up" he uttered. He must drink this. Once the Neshi have been injected with their own poison they create their own anti-dote. This will go great lengths in eradicating the poison in your Major. He already has the fever. We do not have much time, he stated in his slightly accented English."
Rodney ungracefully stumbled to his feet and knelt beside Major Lorne, gently rubbing his chest in an effort to wake him. Lorne groggily opened his eyes to mere slits appearing once again confused and unaware. Rodney not having the time to go into detail simply told him that he was sitting him up and he needed to drink. Then without further adue, Rodney pushed Lorne up to a semi-sitting position, bracing himself behind the man who appeared too weak and confused to put up a fight or to hold himself up for that matter. McKay tried to ignore the obvious signs of pain on the Major's face, from the tightness of his expression to the quiet huffs he was making as he struggled to breathe.
Esmis quickly walked over and between the two of them got most of the foul smelling liquid down the Major's throat. Rodney was trying really hard not to gag and really it was a blessing that the Major was only semi-conscious, because he was quite sure he never would have swallowed that awful stuff willingly.
A sudden noise broke both men's attention from getting the final drops of the liquid into the Major's mouth and they looked up to see John, Ronon and Thrush breaking through the woodline to rejoin the group. They all carried looks of defeat in their faces and McKay watched as John's crestfallen look of hopelessness and failure slowly changed to one of hope and triumph as he looked from McKay to the large Neshi lying not 12 feet away.
McKay nodded his head in affirmation. "We went Neshi hunting too," was all he said and McKay didn't miss Ronon's slight bow of the head as he silently acknowledged McKay's feat. Rodney couldn't help but be a little proud, and was about to tell the glorious tail of the Neshi slaying until he suddenly remembered his not so smart move that precipitated the heroics. Maybe another time when Esmis wasn't around, McKay mused to himself. Yeah, he thought to himself, as he took another quick peek at Ronon who had a slight look of awe in his eyes, definitely another time.
SGASGASGASGASGASGASGS……………………………….............
The next two hours passed without incident, thank the heavens. The team was quiet but tense as they walked through the slowly lightening forest as dawn began to worm its way amongst the giant red trees and foliage far below. The major either slept or was unconscious as he was carried through the woods by his fellow comrades and Rodney surprisingly failed to utter a word throughout the remainder of the journey.
Finally the forest broke and John could see the outline of a small rural town with dark gray plumes of smoke rising from the rustic but sturdy looking thatched homes. At last some rest! thought John as he wearily shifting his hands on the travois and wiped a drip of sweat from his brow, careful not to touch his still swollen nose. Not exactly in the best condition or appearance for diplomatic relations…. He thought with a wry grimace. Esmis and Thrush beckoned them to wait at the end of the clearing while they announced the presence of strangers to those on watch. Definitely not the time for friendly fire, they advised. John could only agree and wearily lowered Lorne's travois to the soft pine-covered ground and glanced at McKay, who by all appearances looked like a walking goo-covered freakishly pale and dirty zombie. Although, sporting his own assortment of injuries, John thought that he probably didn't look much better.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, but in reality was only several minutes, Esmis, Thrush and a small contingent of both men and woman approached the Atlantis group, who wearily rose to their feet to greet their hosts and rescuers. Esmis quickly introduced the leader of the settlement, a stately looking red bearded man named Thorin, and John found he hardly had the strength to hold his hand out in greeting and mumble a few words of thanks. Noticing the need to get them off their feet, Esmis quickly ushered them all to a house near what appeared to be the center of the small village, as several of the Thantu quickly picked up the Travois even as John bent to bear the load. Giving the gracious Thantu a relieved smile and nod John trudged behind the small procession, hoping beyond hope that Evan was going to come out of this alive.
Ducking into the hut, John's first thought was that it was blessedly warm, smelled like freshly made bread and was much larger on the inside than the outside. Esmis bid them all to shed their gear and offered them chairs circles around a stone hearth type fire. The remainder of the Thantu's drifted away after wishing the newcomers welcome once again. Before leaving, Thorin asked if he might meet with them on the morrow, once the group had rested. Of course John agreed for them all. It was the least he could do to repay them for their generosity. Sipping a cup of piping hot tea that had a delicious nutty flavor to it, John let his eyes roam around the earthy room at his teamates who either sat or in Ronon's case sprawled, on their own respective seats. Rodney appeared to be reveling in a piece of spongy delicious smelling bread that had been offered to him after he had followed his nose to the oven and asked if it was ready. Ronon appeared deep in thought, eyes half open staring at the entrancing flames of the fire. Lorne however lay in a side room and was being attended to by Esmis's wife Thiota, the maker of the lovely smelling bread and the woman of the house they now occupied. John knew he needed to check on his second in command, and soon, just a few more minutes of relaxing his sore and aching muscles he told himself drowsily…..
Several minutes or several hours later, John didn't quite know, he found himself being gently shaken from the melded position on the chair that his body had seemingly betrayed him on. Opening bleary eyes he saw that both Ronon and Mckay lay on mats next to the hearth and a third mat, assumably for him, lay next to Ronon's. John thanked Esmis, who had woken him from permanent muscle cramps and disfigurement, and slowly lowered his weary body onto the mat, but feeling slightly guilty but not knowing why. Suddenly remembering Lorne, John sat up quickly almost bashing his already sensitive nose into the table leg. Esmis quickly turned around from where he was leaving the room and walked back to John.
"He is still asleep. We attended to his wounds as best we could and cleaned them with our best healing ointments. Although there may still be infection and internal damage, his fever has gone down slightly. My wife Thiota will watch him. There is nothing now that you can do to help your friend except rest," stated Esmis in a hushed and caring voice.
John simply nodded, relieved of his panic momentarily. Maybe that was the best thing he could do right now, he thought. He really needed to rest. And with that John turned towards the fire and let the slowly dwindling blaze lull him into a fitful sleep.
SGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGAGA
Major Evan Lorne felt the gentle hand of a woman, softly washing his forehead. Caught somewhere between wakefulness and sleep he softly sighed and imagined himself back to the years when he was a child and the few occasions where he was sick with fever and not too old or manly to care and he had allowed his mom to gently and lovingly stroke his face with a cool washcloth. The gentle murmurings of the woman who did so now slowly lulled him back to his dream like state and once again Evan was young and free of burden, sorrow or care. He was 7 years old and he walked hand in hand with Charis, his baby sister, barely old enough to walk. Evan had always loved being a big brother, even is his seven year old friends thought it was stupid to spend time with a "baby." From the moment she had been born, Charis had captured his heart. She was all bright eyes and glowing sun stroked hair. Forever getting him into trouble but always looking at him with eyes full of love and adoration. In Charis's eyes Evan was her big big brother and he could do no wrong. Except, he did. That day when the sun was shining its fullest and the grass was glowing in its greenness. That beautiful awful day in which the world forever changed and Evan was no longer a big brother, because he had allowed the world to take away his beautiful little sister.
Evan twitched and moaned in his sleep as he struggled with the memories unconsciously reliving that horrible day that had forever hardened him. It had been years since he had allowed himself to dwell on Charis and her death. He had lovingly wrapped her picture and put it carefully away in his chest, knowing that he had not the emotional capacity to look at her sweet smile and forever be reminded that he had failed her. That the world had failed him. Evan thought that traveling millions no trillions of miles from earth would allow him to bury… to forget… to move on.. . It hadn't. It had only made it worse. Subconsciously now he felt someone in the real world, a woman perhaps, attempting to soothe him but he would have none of it. Trapped in his dream world of guilt and anguish and anger Evan stubbornly refused to awake. It was his burden and his alone to bear.