A/N: I don't even want to know what you're all thinking about doing to me. It's been... way too long since I posted and I wish I could make it up to you all. Hopefully this next chapter helps a little!
I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, trying to get it to come across the way I wanted while still not giving much away but also keeping you interested. I hope it meets everyones approval. Let me know what you think, any type of feedback is appreciated and I hope all enjoy this.
Shadows chased him, engulfing him as they took his mind and body. Over the past several months he had been steadily losing control until little remained of the unflappable major. Now, filled with rage and a need to fight, he no longer had control of his body, his mind or his life. For months the small part of his mind that held on, clinging to the faint memories of a city on water had diminished until all that was left was a grain of sand amongst a desert. He knew the cost of using anything Ancient –they had been explained in great detail to him as he lay withering on a metal table. It had kept him away early on, his fear of side effects keeping him from even going near the Stargate, the devices a painful reminder of what could happen. It couldn't keep him away for long though, his need for some small amount of what he had been forced from overwhelming everything else. After two weeks of keeping his distance from the Stargate, he had given in and was instantly hooked. The familiar warmth and static had washed over him, amplified by time and unbeknownst to him, the second device in his neck. An addiction began, only needing to walk near the gate to feel the effects. Each visit cost him greatly, sapping his control. It left him compliant while feeding off his own subconscious anger and frustration, turning it into an all-consuming fury they released at will. His training was doubled, then tripled as their visits became more frequent, turning his body into a hardened mass of muscle that moved with agility and grace. Simply put; they turned him into a killing machine. Pain became nothing but an annoyance until there was little that would bring him down. He was transformed into something his mind shied away from, locking what little of his freedom he had left in a box, unobtainable to anyone, including himself.
And now he was back, the place he had dreamed about. Atlantis. It wasn't how he remembered it though, the static built up with each second as the city made itself known, almost overwhelming his mind. The pain in his head was steadily building as his nerves became over sensitized, causing him to be aware of every detail, the most shocking being the gun he held steady in his hand. The rage pouring out of him gave little doubt to the question of whether he would shoot, having no control to stop it. He could already feel his finger tense tighter on the trigger. The small part that still made up who he was seemed to pulse outwards, pushing against the walls that held him in. He followed the sight of the gun, wanting to see who he had square in his sights. His heart jolted at seeing who it was, the gun twitching slightly with the realization. McKay.
. . . .
"Really? After all the crap this universe has put me through, you're going to shoot me?" His voice was steady, the indignation rising as he took a step forward. The little voice in his head, sounding scarily like a cross between his mother and Sheppard was yelling a t him to shut up. He couldn't seem to stop himself, his fear giving way to his mounting anger. Most people knew to walk away at this point, but Lorne wasn't thinking like most people. The bullet passed mere millimetres from his head, the heat of it causing his next step to falter. Lorne's blank face didn't change, bar the flash of warning in his eyes, piercing Rodney in place. He swallowed thickly, the bravo he had called upon fading.
Sheppard's voice had long since silenced in his ear and McKay recognized the need for it as the Colonel moved into position, hopefully covering Rodney's ass from his ex second in command. Lorne took another step forward, bringing himself just outside of being able to grab the stunned scientist. The gun was near enough for him to look directly down the barrel and McKay knew he would never forget that sight. A weapon, more so in Lorne's hands than others, Rodney had no doubts about it's ability to cause damage from this distance. More precisely, horribly bloody and painful damage. Where the hell was Sheppard with those stunners?
There was a reason that Rodney always kept to the busier hallways of Atlantis. Besides the fact it was the fastest and despite the daily occurrence of running into some of the more incompetent members of the expedition, McKay found he needed the energy and life any city seems to be full of. He would never consider himself a man who craved busy streets; no it was something else that drew him to the busier corridors of Atlantis. It was because the quieter, emptier ones reminded him too much of his time spent not only in Russia but also in Area 51. He had worked alone then, barely seeing another person but here it felt like someone was always there, watching his back and it was easy to begin to rely on it, even enjoy it. Here and now though he was overly aware of the only two people in the immediate area, him being one of them. Lorne hadn't moved since becoming dangerously close to violating Rodney's personal space and he couldn't help but grow a little more hopeful that the real Lorne was in there, fighting to get out.
Ignoring the narrowing of Lornes eyes, he took the smallest step forward, resulting in the gun grazing his forehead. His lungs, heart, head, everything seemed ready to explode as he looked directly at Evan, trying to think of the words to convey what needed to be said. This was not his area of expertise. Where was Teyla when you needed her? Hell, right now he would take Ronon. The two of them could knock each other unconscious. He gave himself a mental shake, trying to clear his head before Lorne decided to shoot it off.
It was at that moment that Rodney became aware of two things. One being that Lornes hand, no his whole body seemed to be shaking from the effort of not pulling the trigger. The second was the voice that was back in his ear, warning him that Sheppard was just around the corner, getting ready to take Lorne out and could he please not act like some sort of geeky Rambo and get himself shot.
His moment of relief was overshadowed dramatically by the way the shivering seemed to disappear as soon as John had spoken and it was then that he remembered the man holding the gun to his head had certain upgrades, some which they had yet to discover. He surged forward frantically, his mouth open to shout a warning to whoever was about to come around the corner. Lorne knew. He had heard everything. If Rodney hadn't figured it out then, he certainly did when Lornes arm moved up and around, moving over the top of his head and pointing instead at the adjoining corridor. There was another bang, deafening him even more than the last as he watched in horror as a body slid down the wall in front of him, a trail of blood staining the wall behind it.
In less than a second, McKay had gone from having hope, to trying not to throw up.
Lorne had shot someone.
. . . .
It hadn't taken long to put together the teams to go after Lorne. John wasn't surprised to see the members of the Majors old team had beaten him to the armoury, nor was he surprised to get the order of non-lethal force from the newly promoted Captain Reeds. With an eyebrow raised at the order from the lower officer, he nodded. As if he needed reminding of who it was out there. Choosing not to say anything, Sheppard quickly slipped on a vest and picked up his weapons. His hand hesitated for a second over his P-90, before squashing down his unease over this entire situation and resting the weapon comfortably in his arms. Looking up he met the eyes of each solider before him, the trust and determination in each of them reminding him of the man they were about to hunt down and capture.
"We all know what's at stake here. Major Lorne is one of us and right now he needs our help. Stick to your designated zones and keep an eye out for both Major Lorne and Doctor McKay. Knowing McKay he's a hostage and seconds away from being shot."
His flippant tone was barely covering his concern for Rodney, not having been able to get him to respond for the past ten minutes. After getting McKays suspected route from Zelenka he just knew Rodney had stumbled directly into Lornes path. Needing to organise the other teams –something, he realised with a start, that would normally form on his second in commands shoulders in a situation like this- Sheppard had sent Ronon and Teyla on ahead, having almost collided with them while running around a corner on his way to the armoury. Both had been briefed and taken it upon themselves to grab what gear them deemed necessary. With regular updates, he was able to follow their progress, Teyla doing most of the talking as neither Ronon nor himself were big on talking when friends got into trouble. Not saying that Teyla preferred sitting back and doing nothing but she had been raised a negotiator and did it very well, having talked the team out of trouble more times than he could count.
His steps were light as he lead Reed and Coughlin down the first hallway. Each of them had their Wraith stunners up and ready, the more deadly weapons clipped to the front of their vests, hopefully not to be used on this mission. They moved systematically, clearing each room they came across before moving onto the next one. It was slow work but John was not willing to make a mistake with this one, especially with McKay still unaccounted for. He glanced back to take in the expressions of the two men watching his back and vice versa. He had a moment of doubt about their ability to do what might become necessary if Lorne fought back. He would take him down if he had to but hoped to god that the Wraith stunners would do their jobs. Both Reed and Coughlin had been on Earth at the time of Lorne and McKay's disappearance, having been granted leave to visit family. Both had plenty of reasons to go and Lorne had known how much it would mean to the two younger men to get back home. Yet still they had hesitated, not wanting to leave their CO by himself. It had taken Lorne threatening to stick them with scientist sitting duty again to get them on the Deadalus home and although they had been grateful at the time Sheppard knew they both harboured guilt over not staying.
When the search for Lorne had been shrunk back to almost nothing Stargate Command had ordered Sheppard to appoint a new second in command or they would. He had handed the assignment to Major Teldy while reassigning Reed and Coughlin to her team. None of them had been particularly happy with the move but after three fights had been broken up involving the three they seemed to reach a peaceful understanding and while the team still didn't have the same camaraderie as the old SGA-2 had, they were starting to work well. Now things were blowing up in their faces yet again.
Sheppard signalled for them to continue onwards, knowing they were getting closer with each step. The three soldiers seemed to tense as one, the sound of a voice drifting to meet them. Sheppard cursed as he recognised McKay's voice. Did the man going looking for trouble? At least he's still alive and in good enough shape to be making that much noise. A silent Rodney was a lot more worrisome than a loud one. Holding up his hand to pause the two following him, Sheppard inched his way forward. He kept to the wall, wanting to stay as hidden as possible. As he stuck his head out slightly, he was met with a terrifying sight.
The sight of Lorne holding a gun that close to Rodney's head, made Sheppard blanch. He knew that Lorne wasn't in control, had seen the aftermath of his attacks. However seeing it now made it all the more real and all the more worrying. The slightest thing could set him off and with Rodney in the middle; he wasn't willing to take any chances. It took all of his self control though, not to jump out and shoot Lorne in the back with the stunner. There was too much of a chance that the shock would just piss Lorne off even more or getting stunned would cause an automatic reaction and end up pulling the trigger by accident. He blocked the mental image that was trying to push into his mind of Rodney, lying on the ground, bleeding.
Pulling back, he hoped to hell he was making the right decision as he informed Reed and Coughlin on what he had seen. The two men nodded grimly, both realising the gravity of the situation as quickly as Sheppard had hoped.
"So what do you want to do? We don't have a lot of time and I really don't want to take the chance of the Major shooting Doctor McKay" Coughlin paused, a pained look appearing on his face as he continued. "Although I hate to say it, Major Lorne would never forgive himself if something happened to McKay. He... He would want us to stop him before that happened."
Beside him Reed was nodding, although by his frown, Sheppard knew he was no happier with the situation than they were. John nodded, his thoughts having been following the same line as theirs. He wanted their input though. A team, especially one that spent as much time in combat situations as they did on Atlantis, created a bond that was both strong and dependent. You had to know what the others were thinking to be able to work well together and John knew that both his team and Lorne's did just that. If anyone knew what Lorne would be thinking now, it would be them. It took him only a seconds delay before he realised that the Lorne out there would be as different from the one they had come to know over the past few years as any of them could imagine.
"Alright, I agree that we don't have a lot of time and McKay is an unknown we have to take into consideration. I think our best bet is still to stun him as soon as possible. There is the smallest chance that he might recognise us but I don't want to have to rely on that. He's more likely to fire at us than talk to us. So I want you two to make your way around to the corridor on the left side so we can come at him from both sides. If you see an opening, take it. I don't think we'll get many chances here so let's take the first one we see. You both ready?"
Two short nods are the only answer he receives before Reed and Coughlin turned and hurried down another corridor. He watched them until they were no longer in sight before turning back towards where he knew McKay and Lorne were. His fingers tapped impatiently on the handle of the weapon in his hands. What he would give for this to be over.
His personal file had numerous statements, commending him for his quick thinking in tough situations, stating that although he was a hot-head, he always put the lives of his men above anything else. When the eerie silence he had been waiting in was shattered by the sound of a gunshot, every rational though left him. His body stiffened, his face becoming a mask of horror as the implications pushed their way through his stunned mind. Lorne had a gun… Lorne had Rodney…
Sheppard blanched, shaking his head clear. He didn't need his imagination giving himself nightmares. Real life did that for him just as well. As quietly as he could, he stalked forward, head poking around the corner. His knees almost gave out under him as he saw Rodney, looking considerably pale and shaken but not a mark on him. He took in both McKay and Lorne's position, the closeness of the weapon and the way Evans hand shook as he held the gun to McKay's head. His eyes drifted past it all to focus on the wall behind Rodney. The bullet hole stood out sharply to his mind against the familiar Ancient design. Frowning, he couldn't help but wonder if the miss had been deliberate or if the Majors shaking hands had been the cause. He slipped back down the hall, just enough that he wouldn't be seen or heard to wait for confirmation from Reed and Coughlin were in position. Hoping that waiting wasn't about to get one of his best friends killed, Sheppard realised that McKay still had his radio. He quickly ran through what he had seen on Lorne. No radio, he was sure.
"Sir, we're in position. Just waiting for your say so."
Sheppard paused, thinking everything through one last time. Making a decision he activated his radio.
"McKay, it's Sheppard. I'm just around the corner with Reed and Coughlin on the opposite side. We're about to come in with stunners so be ready to duck. I don't know what the hell you've been thinking but can you please stand back and stop acting like some over geeked Rambo and try not to get shot."
With a quieter order of "Go" for the two soldiers waiting on the other side of the corridor, he moved forward. Pushing off the wall and turning the corner he stepped out into the open with his stunner raised.
He barely had time to take in what he was seeing before a familiar white hot pain his him, the force of it pushing him back against the wall. The shocking realisation that he had just been shot was quickly overtaken by the weakness in his legs. They crumbled under him, his back sliding down the wall as his mind worked through what had happened. He's been shot. Lorne had shot him. His eyes shifted from McKay's pained face to Lorne's blank one. He heard the sound of Wraith stunners and watched in mild amazement as they enveloped Lorne's body in a blue light before disappearing. Blinking sluggishly now, Sheppard watched as Lorne seemed to brush off the shots, anger now lining his face. Everything seemed to fade out just as he felt someone press on his wounded shoulder. There was a flash of a familiar red light before he lost the battle to stay awake and they slid shut. John welcomed the darkened oblivion that followed.
A/N: Ok thats it for now! Hopefully that cliffhanger won't send you all chasing after me. I always had a plan for someone to get shot and Sheppard is just so easy to hurt so... yeah. Keep an eye out for the next chapter and hopefully you enjoyed this one. Let me know! Reviews make me uber happy!