A/N Thanks for the reviews so far, they really do help.
togitnj "Sure, he drank off world, but that's not killing someone" EXACTLY! Hope they are more in character now they have realised their errors!
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Teyla watched with disbelief as Sheppard was hauled away in front of her and before she could stop herself she was dropping her sticks to the floor with a loud clack and pursuing Elizabeth down the corridor.
"Doctor Weir?" she called out.
Elizabeth watched Ambassador Raynu disappear down the corridor with their escorts, stopped and twisted towards the voice.
She missed Leena going the opposite way whilst she had her back turned, "Teyla?" she said congenially.
Teyla stopped beside her, panting slightly, and looked up at her, "Major Sheppard is not capable of murder."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at the statement. It seemed somewhat oxymoronical considering his job description.
"Not without genuine motivation," she finished.
Elizabeth threw a glance over her shoulder to make sure they were alone before answering, "I know."
"I believe that somebody else is responsible." She looked up at the woman before her and saw she no more believed Sheppard was a murderer than anybody else did.
In fact, she looked tired.
Tired of having to make all of the difficult decisions.
Tired of being caught in between.
"Why have you allowed him to be locked up?"
Elizabeth shuffled from one foot to the other, "I've bought Major Sheppard time by having him detained for the night here, I just wanted to give us room to think," she said honestly, "I'm not happy about it, believe me. My Commanding officer under lock and key is not ideal."
Teyla nodded and rubbed at the sweat that had formed on her hairline from stick practice, "I believe Leena has something to do with it."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed and she ran a hand through her hair, "You do?"
"In my experience, she has spent a lot of time around Sheppard. She was with him the night he disappeared. It makes her a likely candidate." She chewed on her lips for a moment before adding, "We know Major Sheppard's character and very little of Leena's."
"I thought his reactions to her were just-" she paused and turned away. She let out a shaky breath, "I was angry he lied to me," she said glancing at Teyla, "This isn't the first time he's disobeyed my orders."
"I understand," said Teyla stepping forward. She reached out and touched Elizabeth's shoulder, "But your anger at him and your good natured desire to provide for Atlantis has clouded your vision. Sheppard is innocent."
Elizabeth closed her eyes and swallowed the guilty lump in her throat, "I know."
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Mckay jammed the rest of the power bar into his mouth as he rounded the corner to his lab.
His lab which he was expecting to be in the dark, was fully lit up, and there was a figure standing at the centre table.
"What are you doing here?" he asked loudly.
The figure turned around sharply and knocked something to the ground.
"Leena?" said Mckay taking a step forward, "What are you doing here?"
Leena smiled and bent down to pick up the fallen object, "I was just-"
Mckay noticed that she was holding something behind her back as he took another tentative step forward.
"I-"
"What's that behind your back?"
"Doctor Weir said I could stay," she said biting her lip in an obvious display of nervousness.
Mckay shook his head, "I doubt that very much."
She moved away, and Rodney mimicked her movement, "What's that in your hand?"
"Nothing," she said her eyes not moving from his.
"Okay, well we'll see about that," said Mckay and he began to reach up for his earpiece.
"Don't," she said suddenly.
"Don't what?" said Mckay, his hand hovering over the earpiece.
"Don't do that!" her eyes pleaded.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
She was licking her lips, her eyes roaming around the room in search of escape and she was beginning to look flustered.
Mckay's mouth twisted and he moved to depress the earpiece.
What happened next was in slow motion.
He saw Leena take the device from behind her back and instantly recognised it as the one that had emitted the stun blast that had knocked out Sheppard.
She activated it with deft fingers and Mckay could hear the familiar high pitched whine begin.
"Oh no," he managed to mutter before turning on his heel and running out to the corridor.
He hadn't gotten far enough away.
He felt the blast at his back. It coursed through him and he could feel it pulsing through his extremities. He slid down the opposite wall onto his knees and managed to look around as Leena stepped out of his lab.
"You did it, didn't you?" said Mckay breathlessly, "Shep…pard was right."
Leena looked down at him with the same painted on smile she had worn for her duration at the base, "I have plans and you wont get in my way."
"They involve Sheppard right?" he said feeling the ripples of energy through his legs and spreading up his spine, "Otherwise you wouldn't have stayed around so…long."
She activated the stunner again and Mckay watched as it rippled out towards him.
Everything faded to black.
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Sheppard put his head in his hands as he sat on the cot that had been bought in for him and tried to figure out how exactly his life had taken this strange course.
He thought he had been doing the best for his team; they needed a break after all.
In his eyes, a happy team, was a productive team.
He had even insisted on a drink limit to ensure that they wouldn't get drunk and made it mandatory that all of them carry a handgun under their clothes in the unlikely event of them needing them.
No matter how hard he tried, he always seemed to screw up.
"Shit," he muttered as he rubbed at his eyes.
Sheppard could hear his own Commanding Officers words echoing in his ears, telling him he was no good.
It was times like this he actually believed it.
He was rubbing at his temples to try and dispel the beginnings of a headache when the scraping of a chair across the floor forced him out of his reverie.
He looked up and he could see Elizabeth on the other side of the bars.
"John, I need you to tell me exactly what happened that night."
Sheppard looked across to her, "After everything we've been through, you don't believe me."
Elizabeth looked back at one of the guards, "Could we have a minute?"
The guards seemed uncomfortable with the request but they disappeared nonetheless and she stood up, "I will do everything in my power to get you out of this, but I need something to work with."
Sheppard stood up and walked over to meet her.
For the first time in days, she could see how tired he looked. His face was pale and there were dark rings under his eyes that spelt out bad dreams and ill sleep.
She cursed herself for not noticing and wondered what he thought of her for ignoring his obvious discomfort in favour of providing for her city.
At the expense of her friendship with him, she swore silently in that moment, that she would never ever do that again.
"John, I know you couldn't have done this…unless," she paused, "Perhaps under the influence you could have-" Even now she wanted, needed a good explanation from him. Some kind of solid information that they could put in the Ambassadors face.
Sheppard laughed and held his hands up, "In any state, I would not turn my weapon on anyone," he said.
His mind was already beginning to reel through the catalogue of men he had killed and he knew that Elizabeth was probably thinking about Koyla and the Genii. "And I wasn't drunk."
Elizabeth nodded, "Okay." She said, "But I need proof, otherwise we have nothing."
"Leena admitted to giving me something called Abysthas…or something," he said waving his hand dismissively, "She said that they use it on her planet because it helps to loosen you up or-" he stopped and breathed out, "Anyway, it made me pretty sick. She took me back to hers and I'm pretty sure I passed out."
"Pretty sure?"
"I'm Sure," said Sheppard bringing his hands up to the bars.
He was grateful that they hadn't put the force field up or that would have hurt. "Elizabeth, why would I lie to you? You're the only one who has ever treated me as me," he said and their eyes met. "You ignored my file, when others wouldn't."
"You know how this looks right? You're drinking off-world, Ford tells me you were arguing with the guy they're saying is dead, that you hit out at him, you disappear over night and then return with a bullet missing. A bullet which has somehow become lodged in-"
"Yes I know," said Sheppard.
"I thought you were just stressed," she said pacing back and forth.
"Leena whilst being here hasn't done anything wrong, so I guess I've kinda looked crazy myself."
"No, I missed it all," she said bringing her hands up in defeat, "I didn't see it." She turned away and groaned, "I've been so concerned with securing Atlantis's future I……." she turned back to him.
"What you do…its important," he countered.
"I'm sorry," she said. Elizabeth looked back at the door and then found his eyes again, "This is ridiculous, you're coming out of that cell."
"Elizabeth,
look. We need this, Atlantis needs their help. I'll stay here
tonight and tomorrow we'll sort this out." He looked over at the
uncomfortable cot, "If I leave now it'll cause more problems. If
I stay it shows we're serious. If we can it would be good to
salvage something from this."
"You shouldn't be locked up in
your own home John," she said quietly.
"Its okay," he reassured her, "They're formidable," he said going up to the bars, "They have food, advanced weaponry. Their alliance would be invaluable. If we can somehow prove I'm innocent they may be willing to remain allies." He shrugged.
"I can't just let you step through that gate," she said desperately.
Sheppard nodded, "We cant let them through and have a fight on our own doorstep. Like I said, their weapons-"he shook his head, "They're impressive. No, we have to be smart."
Elizabeth didn't look happy at the prospect, "You go through willingly?"
"Semi-willingly," he smiled.
"Beckett would like to step through the gate with you, and examine the body."
"That would help," said Sheppard. He reached out and touched her hand that was on the bar.
She smiled ay him briefly before a puzzled expression graced her face and she put her hand up to her earpiece.
"What?"
"I'm needed down in the infirmary"
"Go," said Sheppard with a grim smile, "I won't go anywhere."
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"I'm telling you, it was her!" the voice cried out as Elizabeth walked into the infirmary.
Mckay was sitting up on one of the beds, whilst Beckett had his hands on his wrists and was trying to restrain him, "Calm down," he was saying and sounding increasingly frustrated.
"I will not calm down. Don't tell me to calm down!"
"You're recovering from a hefty shock to your system-" Beckett was saying.
"Rodney?" asked Elizabeth as she approached the bed.
Beckett turned to her, "He was found outside his lab on the floor." He would have continued but Mckay was wrenching his wrists free and now rubbing at the spots where Beckett had held him.
"Leena, she was there," he said blinking through the haze in his head.
Elizabeth looked to Beckett, "Leena went through the gate with the others," she said.
"Maybe she made a detour?" said Mckay sighing, "Look she was there and she had one of the devices." The angrier he got the redder his face went and Elizabeth wondered how far he would go until he had a stroke.
"Calm down Rodney," she said touching his shoulder.
"Who knows what else she could have taken or seen," he said exasperation filling his features.
Elizabeth nodded.
"You need rest," said Beckett.
"Don't you believe me?" he muttered as Beckett gave him some sedatives through the IV.
"Rest," she said and they watched as his eyes closed.
"Do you believe him?" asked Beckett.
Elizabeth looked to him and shrugged. A lot of things were throwing doubt in her direction these days.
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The next morning Ambassador Raynu stepped through the gate to be greeted by Elizabeth.
"I am ready to take the prisoner," he said gesturing to his men.
Elizabeth nodded, "And you will be allowed to, after you have spoken to me. Please, my office," she indicated and they ascended the steps.
As the door closed behind her and Raynu sat down in the chair opposite her desk, Elizabeth found herself feeling nervous.
"You have spoken to Sheppard?" he asked.
"Yes," said Elizabeth trying to keep her tone serious and her eyes focused on Raynu's, "Major Sheppard has expressed that a number of hours are unaccounted for, for some of the time he was on your planet."
"How convenient," said Raynu clasping his hands together.
Elizabeth breathed in steadily and tried to diffuse the anger she was feeling at this arrogant little man.
She was being diplomatic and co-operative and he was being downright difficult.
"Your daughter, Leena, she gave him some Absyntas which caused him to be unwell. You mentioned your son was killed that night, well ,can't you see. Sheppard was indisposed."
"My son was killed with his weapon."
"We're not denying that," she said bringing her hands together, "But I am suggesting that a number of people, with access to his weapon, could have equally pulled the trigger."
"He had access to it. Nobody else," he pursed his lips together, "And might I remind you, that your people were instructed not to carry weapons around on my world. I insisted they be kept at their accommodations."
Elizabeth nodded, "Major Sheppard is a very cautious man. I validate his decision to carry a weapon." She leant forward in her seat, "Are you not carrying a weapon now?"
Raynu's eyes flickered down to his holster and back up to her face.
"If you would allow my chief medical officer to examine your son's body, we may be able to determine more about the nature of his death."
"How?"
Elizabeth cleared her throat, "The entry of the bullet can determine much about the person who fired it."
"How?" he asked again. His tone reflected his irritation at being interrupted from publicly humiliating her commanding officer.
"For instance, whether the shooter was left or right handed. How close they were standing?" She could tell he wasn't listening to her.
"This Doctor-"
"Doctor Beckett."
"Beckett," stated Raynu, "He would disrespect my sons body?"
"No," said Elizabeth, "I assure you. This would be handled with the up most delicacy. Doctor Beckett is a professional."
Raynu seemed to think about the proposition, "If not Sheppard, who do you propose killed my son?"
Elizabeth looked out towards the gate room before looking back at him, "The only other person who had access to his weapon, was Leena."
"My daughter?" Raynu stood up so quickly he nearly knocked over the chair, "The evidence is damning isn't it? My daughter would not kill her own brother."
"Can you be so sure?" she asked hearing her own voice waver.
Raynu was silent, "She wouldn't," he said.
Elizabeth was standing now, "Please, let us explore this avenue. I know Major Sheppard and he is not a killer."
"He is a soldier is he not?" asked Raynu.
Elizabeth swallowed hard.
Of course Sheppard was a killer.
"I repeat, he is not a killer."
"Fine, your Doctor may look at my son, but Sheppard comes with me today."
Elizabeth nodded. "I want your personal assurance that he will be unharmed."
Raynu was working his jaw, "He wont," he lied.
"And that you will give him a fair trial with all of the evidence?"
Raynu nodded, "Where is he?"
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Morning arrived abruptly and Sheppard was woken to the sounds of boots scuffing across the floor and then hands grabbing him under the armpits and hauling him upright.
Sheppard was pushed out of his cell and down the corridors to the gate, "Look cant we talk about this?" he muttered before he was prodded forward. He had yet to wake up fully and confusion was overriding his brain.
When he entered the gateroom he could Elizabeth stood at the base of the steps and surrounded by most of his team. Raynu was stood beside her, his arms crossed at his chest.
Sheppard looked over to Elizabeth, "Your trial will be tomorrow," she said her eyes not meeting his.
"I guess you couldn't fight my cause huh?" he asked feeling a prod in his back.
"Hey," Mckay stepped forwards and gave the guard the evil eye.
Sheppard found himself smiling.
"You'll be there, right?" he asked curling his lips upward.
The gate was being activated and with each coordinate that locked the pain in his head grew.
Beckett was standing at the base of the steps beside him and a team had assembled.
"You'll be escorted up to the complex," said Elizabeth. "And of course we'll be there."
"It is time," said Rayne with some finality.
Sheppard nodded and scanned the faces of his friends.
"See you soon," said Elizabeth and she took a step forward and gave him a hug.
She noted how strong his shoulders were and how good he felt to hold. Guilt made her feel even worse for the past few days and she wanted nothing more than to pull him back and refuse his departure.
Instead, she could only eye the guards weapons and realise that they were better suited for a fight.
If Sheppard said they would win, they would win and she had to trust his judgment. This time.
Behind her Mckay rather clumsily knocked into one of the guards, he dropped his gun to the floor with a clatter which echoed around the gate room, and whilst their vision was elsewhere Sheppard felt Elizabeth's hands roam under his jacket and something pressed into his waistband.
"See you soon," repeated Sheppard with understanding and he gave her a smile before stepping through the gate.
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As Sheppard stepped out onto the other side of the gate, he could feel the electricity in the air.
A spark which indicated something was about to happen.
He continued to walk forward, trudging across the mud, and keeping his head down to the ground.
"Aye its lovely weather," he suddenly heard Beckett say.
Sheppard licked his lips and looked up.
Beckett continued, "Lovely. Not too warm," he said.
Could he detect nervousness in his tone?
The guards beside him ignored him and Raynu up front approached the cities gates with gathering haste.
Why did he think Raynu was going to break his promise?
Sheppard looked briefly over his shoulder and could see Ford giving him a hand signal. He knew what it meant.
It meant all hell was about to break loose.
TBC
WHUMP NEXT CHAPTERS
You know me, I've got it in for shep. (In a good whumpery way of course!)
