Disclaimer: Stargate: Atlantis and all characters therein are the property of MGM. This story is for entertainment only and the author is in no way profiting from it, nor exercising any claims to Stargate Atlantis.
Title: A Time to Heal
Author: Pyrodragon2006
A/N: Thank you so much to all who review, as always!
Chapter 10: A Time for Truth
"Sheppard! Don't move!"
His tone of voice instantly told John that Rodney was deep into outright hysteria. Still only partially awake, the colonel tried to decide why his latest nightmare about an iratus would have his friend in such a state until his mind put an external location on the buzzing noise.
About two inches from the colonel's face, with a corresponding weight seated on his upper chest!
It was suddenly all he could do not to allow himself to descend into a mindless panic deeper than Rodney's.
"Get. It. Off!"
Gritted teeth, beads of sweat materializing on his forehead, and a frantically beeping nearby heart monitor all betrayed his slipping control even as the phobia rooted him in place, unable to move. He could feel his fingernails cutting into the palms of his hands where he involuntarily clenched them, the pain actually helping to re-ground him a bit. Frantically, he squeezed already shut eyes tighter, knowing if he opened them, confirmed what he already knew was there, he'd lose what little of his normally iron will remained. If that happened... He had to stay lucid, for Rodney's sake if not his own.
"And just how do you propose I do that?!"
Rodney's voice had hit a high falsetto. Struggling to answer his friend, John also fought to slow his increasingly rapid breathing, aware that the more his chest heaved up and down, the louder the insect got.
"Don't. Care. DO IT!!!"
His lungs were screaming that he wasn't getting enough oxygen, though he knew he was close to hyperventilation. Tears sprang to his eyes as he awaited the agony of the thing latching on to him, knowing he could do nothing to stop it. More voices abruptly entered the room, loud, angry, frantic, but he couldn't break his mind away from the bug long enough to decipher what was said until a Scottish brogue over rode the others.
"Bloody hell! Get that thing off him! John, I need ya to listen to me, son. We're working on getting the iratus off, but I need you to slow your breathing down. Concentrate on my voice, colonel..."
Carson kept talking, trying in vain to keep the other man calm, but John found himself tuning into the frantic conversation nearby.
"Maybe hit the thing with one of Sheppard's golf clubs?"
"No! You wanna get that close?"
"We must do something now!"
"Fine."
"Ronon! What are you-?!"
A familiar whine, which had never sounded so good, so welcome. The insect shrieked, the sound drilling through John's head even as the weight left his chest, a thud sounding off the wall of his room as the bug impacted.
John didn't open his eyes to look, though, too preoccupied with the odd tingling sensation taking over his body, spreading outward from his chest. The panic that had consumed him moments before was gone completely, his mind strangely detached, floating at one step removed from everything occurring, even his own emotions. A slight jarring of the bed near his hip signaled someone sitting next to him, his eyes idly sliding open to ascern their identity as he attempted to puzzle out just what he was feeling. Carson.
"Hey, doc, what'cha doin' here?"
With a slight smile, he greeted the other man, noting his own slurred speech with amusement. This wasn't quite an alcoholic buzz. Nope, more along the line of being doped up on something that provided a slightly loopy side effect, kind of like... He gave a short, breathy laugh, which had Beckett pausing in his exam to stare at him.
"R'dney on morphine!"
It was becoming more difficult to speak, which almost broke renewed panic through until he realized his mouth was simply going numb. Huh. Weird.
"I thought you said the critter didn't bite him, Rodney."
Carson flashed his penlight full in John's sluggish eyes, causing the colonel to squirm, not sounding at all happy as he questioned the astrophysicist.
"I- It didn't! At least, I don't think- I don't know, I was a bit busy at the time! And what about me on morphine?! I swear-"
"McKay! Shut up. Sheppard caught part of my shot, doc. Bug moved on me."
Ronon seemed to be a tad miffed about that. Probably more because he'd almost missed than because he'd hit his CO, John decided. Wait a minute! Ronon had just shot him! Again!
"Alright, that makes more sense, thank you, son." A pause and John watched idly as Carson leaned over him, gazing at something across the room. "Somebody get that bloody critter outta here before the thing wakes up again!"
"Well, don't look at me! Nowhere in my job does it say 'exterminator of steroid-overdosed ticks'!"
Rodney's response provoked several smiles, including a slightly numb one from John.
"The Ancestors forbid we even think of it!"
The colonel could picture Ronon's scowl as the Satedan most likely growled that very close to the scientist's face. The friendly teasing reassured John that his team was fine, just unhappy and letting off steam from the scare.
"I will remove it and report what has occurred to Dr. Weir."
Teyla, ever the diplomatic peacemaker, quietly taking charge of whatever needed to be done. Secure in the knowledge that everything was being handled by his family, John quite battling the effects of the partial stun and allowed himself to slip into sleep.
Noting the change in heart rhythm as his patient settled back into rest, Carson slowly removed his stethoscope and sat up, relieved. He had seen the terror on the colonel's face before Ronon stunned the bug, noted the tremors rattling the slim frame from head to toe as well as the sheen of sweat on his skin. Carson had been positive John would descend into a full panic attack, or worse, complete shock, but instead the colonel was relaxed back into the all important healing sleep he needed. Noting blood on John's hands, he gently turned them and bit back a pained moan. Both palms had four crescent shaped cuts where the man's fingernails had been driven into the skin.
"Oh, son..." He murmured sadly.
"Carson?"
The choked squawk from next to him reminded the physician of the two others waiting as close to the bed as they possibly could. Looking up even as he carefully began cleaning John's hands, he smiled reassuringly.
"The two 'o you better start breathing again before you faint."
Carson shook his head slowly in amazement, watching Rodney's bright red face slowly begin resuming a normal flesh tone. Ronon simply snorted, having momentarily still his breathing at the doctor's soft exclamation.
"He's fine, its just the effects of the stun, which was actually a wee bit of a blessing. Kept him from havin' a panic-"
The door sliding open behind him cut Carson off as Elizabeth, Lorne, Teyla, and Matt Sheppard filed silently in, causing the room to feel crowded.
"As I was sayin', the shot kept the colonel from going into shock, which is good, so long as it isn't simply delayed. The critter itself didn't touch him. He'll be fine with more rest."
Apprehension and worry faded from the group at the doctor's words, though Carson himself couldn't help reflecting on what might have been. This whole fiasco could have turned out much worse had John's luck not held yet again. The memory of last time, of being stuck listening, helpless, as a conscious man ordered his own heart stopped still haunted him. How much more could even John Sheppard take before he broke, physically and mentally?
"You're saying the iratus bug just sat there and didn't even try to bite John?!"
The startled question from the expedition leader grabbed everyone's attention. She was right, the insect had a tasty meal right there and another, in the form of one hysterical scientist, only a few feet away. Granted, when Carson and the other two members of the colonel's team arrived at their leader's quarters, the thing looked to be contemplating going after Rodney. Thoughts racing, Carson turned back to wrapping his sleeping patient's hands.
"No, it didn't, and the first one was leaping at you, Elizabeth, not to mention let go of the colonel."
"It found its way to Sheppard's office!"
Rodney blanched at the realization, face so twisted that for a moment, the Scot feared he'd need to borrow the colonel's wastebasket. Wouldn't be the first time Rodney's emotional reaction turned to a physical one.
"I'm going to run some more tests and blood work as soon as John's up to it. Might be as simple as some type of marker left in the blood, similar to what that Tok'ra left in Colonel Carter."
"Simple?! He's attracting the things, Carson!"
The mercurial scientist now had his arms crossed, glaring at the other man in challenge. The doctor grimaced in answer, doing his best to hide his other, darker fears. More than likely, it was his nerves talking, but what if the iratus hadn't fed because it sensed something wrong with its potential victim? That truly didn't bear thinking about, let alone suggesting aloud.
The truth was that everyone in the city relied on John, probably more than the man knew, a fact that had been made painfully clear last week when they were certain they'd lost him. Elizabeth had been sunk in her own private hell, alone in her office, but Carson had walked the halls, had seen the shock and grief ripple through the city as the news of what Kolya had done spread like wildfire. Rodney may have been the brains of the city, pulling scientific miracles to save the day, and Elizabeth the politician, turning enemies into friends, but John Sheppard was the heart and soul of Atlantis. He was the child, eyes lighting up the room with each new discovery, the optimist, bringing up the spirits of all when the seemingly impossible faced them, and, perhaps most important of all, he was the solid, steady rock who gave them the courage and strength to keep going.
"Any ideas where that thing came from, Rodney?"
Elizabeth had noted how Carson went a shade paler, obviously lost in his own thoughts as he tended to his patient, but stayed focused on the problem at hand. Time enough to sit down with some tea and drag it out of the doctor later. Hugging herself, she hid the shudder that ran through her as she glanced at her sleeping military commander. She couldn't imagine the terror he must have felt, waking to find one of those things not only in his room but on him! She'd have to meet with Kate and Carson, discuss how they'd approach this whole thing and any potential problems that might develop, not that John would easily admit to them. Rodney's loud 'harrumph' broke her from her thoughts.
"How the hell should I know?! Ronon and Teyla went to get breakfast for everyone while I went over more data from Radek. I look up, and that thing is sitting on Sheppard like some big, life sucking blob! Ask Conan over there, he's the expert tracker!"
A hand flapped in the direction of the Satedan warrior, who was prowling the perimeter of the room, sharp eyes darting over everything. A grunt.
"I'm looking, McKay. There's an opening near the ceiling above Teyla. Don't see any other way unless someone opened the door."
A pointed, thunderous scowl aimed was aimed at the scientist, who had begun tapping at the computer on John's desk the moment Ronon mentioned an opening. Irritation flashed across Rodney's face, but he didn't look up from his work.
"I'm not deaf, you know, I would have heard the door opening!" The astrophysicist snapped back, then his expression tightened and he straightened up from the computer. "According to the city maps, that opening is part of the central life support system for Atlantis when in space. The bug could have come from almost anywhere."
"Would the creature not have been picked up on the city-wide sensor?"
Teyla frowned, brown eyes flicking from the hole to the bed's occupant. McKay heaved a put-upon sigh.
"No, because we don't normally have any reason to scan for anything that small and setting the sensors to that level all the time drains too much power. We ran several sweeps yesterday, which were clean, but there are any number of reasons the bug might not have shown up."
Well, absolutely no answers there, something that was really beginning to grate on their nerves. Twice with no leads- two times too many, especially as John was the one being targeted.
"Dr. Weir! Rodney! We have found something!"
Radek's excited voice burst over the com, accent heavy. "Are you somewhere I may show you?"
Elizabeth hesitated just a moment, unsure if having Radek come there could disturb the colonel. He needed as much rest as he could get, but... She tapped her com.
"Acknowledged, Radek, just a moment. Carson? Should I tell him to wait and we'll come to him or can he report here where we can all hear it?"
Just behind the doctor, John hadn't stirred at their quiet deliberations, pale, strained face turned toward them on the pillow. Heart monitor leads trailed from the top of the scrubs he still wore, that alone telling the Atlantis leader that her military counterpart wasn't well. Normally, the first place John would have gone after slipping from the infirmary yesterday morning was his own room for regular clothes, yet he'd shown up at her office still in the infirmary attire, and now still hadn't changed though he'd been resting in his own room for over twenty-four hours.
"Have Radek come here, lass. I'd rather not leave the colonel and the regular conversation seems to be reassuring to him somehow."
Good enough. She tapped her ear piece again.
"Come to Colonel Sheppard's quarters, please, Radek."
"I will be there momentarily. Zelenka out."
A thick, uneasy silence descended on the room, the medical equipment sounding disturbingly loud in the small space.
Crash
The sharp sound of glass breaking had Elizabeth spinning around just in time to have Rodney barrel into her, knocking them both to the floor. The breath exploded from her lungs, stars erupting in her vision, chest burning with the attempt to suck in oxygen. Hands lifted her limp body, massaging her sides gently to release her cramping diaphragm.
"Easy, easy. Don't fight it, love, you just had the wind knocked out of you, that's all. Rodney's a wee bit jumpy."
A very embarrassed Scottish brogue sounded in her ear even as sweet air trickled into her abused chest and her vision began to return.
"Oh, and you didn't, Carson? I saw you covering Sheppard! Besides, Conan and Xena had their weapons out, too!"
Rodney's eyes were still wide, face pale, and Elizabeth realized that the team must have mistaken the sharp sound for another attack, covering those most vulnerable. Which flattered her, really, since when the expedition first came to the Pegasus Galaxy, she'd never expected to see the day that Rodney McKay would put himself between another and danger. She'd lost count of how many times he'd done it now.
"What happened?"
"Nooo..."
The low moan was of such pure emotional agony that it stole away the diplomat's newly recovered breath for a moment as they all looked to the source, Matt Sheppard, kneeling by the dresser. There, on the floor, was the obvious source of the sound that had so startled them all- a photograph of two women, mother and daughter by the age difference and similarity of features. Matt was gently, almost reverently, brushing away bits of glass from the broken frame, fingering a small slash in the portrait itself.
A soft inhalation, half sob, jerked Matt's head up to look past Dr. Weir toward the figure on the bed, and for one instant, he met his son's eyes-
Heather's eyes
-finding there a depth of pain that surpassed even his own-
Her son, my son
-then the walls built of thick anger slammed back up within each of them, both hastily turning away
the other. But not before Matt saw one tear, a crystalline sparkle in the light coming from the window, roll down John's cheek even as his son once again began losing the battle with his body to stay conscious.
Heather's hazel eyes, so beautiful, normally so full of joy and mischief, now closed forever, practically the only part of her body still recognizable under the gauze and medical machines. Gone forever, without him there, because of one young man.
Bitterly, he ignored the young colonel, ever so carefully freeing the photograph from the debris and placing it face down on the dresser. He hadn't missed the fact that it had been on the wall in a location easily seen from the bed but not likely to be noticed by the casual visitor. At least, until he'd knocked it off the wall by accident.
"Who...?"
Matt glared stonily at Dr. McKay the moment the question started, causing the man to trail off uncertainly, suddenly nervous. None of these people would leave well enough alone, constantly prying at his history with the their precious military commander. Fine. Maybe if they knew, it would shut them up for a while.
"I didn't... You don't... Forget I asked."
The apprehension slapped at Matt and he mentally cursed himself for once again losing control of his emotions around these people. While on active duty, he had often been called Colonel Steel behind his back because he never allowed emotions to show, an ability he seemed to have lost the moment he set foot in this city. A deep breath and the anger dropped behind his normal impassive mask.
"My wife, Heather, and daughter, Melissa, Dr. McKay. They were killed in a carjacking four years ago. Melissa was shot and killed instantly. Heather was thrown from the car on the freeway, her injuries were too extensive for her to survive. She died a week later in the hospital, waiting in vain for her son to return from Afghanistan."
The other man's mouth quirked in a silent 'Oh'. Before anything more could be said by anyone, the Czech scientist with the perpetual bed head busselled into the room, saving Matt from any unwanted and probably insincere expressions of sympathy.
Rodney, meanwhile, had to keep from snapping at his colleague for the timing of his interruption. Not only had Radek destroyed any chance they had to get more information out of Matt Sheppard, but why couldn't he have come in earlier when the retired colonel was giving him looks that could kill? Especially since when the astrophysicist had seen that familiar glare on the face of John Sheppard, the man's son, it was usually followed by large amounts of actual killing?
Come to think of it, though, he'd learned more about his friend and team leader in the last few days then he had in the previous two and a half years. And how had he not noticed that photograph on the wall, even tucked into the shadows the way it was? Every time he dared to think he had neatly labeled the damn fly boy, the man sent him another bad puck pass from the nose bleed seats!
"What do you have, Radek?"
Elizabeth's calm inquiry jerked Rodney's mind back to the present in time to see the Czech give a quick negative shake of the head.
"It was not me, Dr. Weir. Dr. Malenkov discovered that the Jumper logs had not been reviewed from their last return after visiting an iratus planet. They came back during Lucius." Winces all around at that one, though Matt looked confused. Radek, however, continued before Rodney could jump in with an explanation. "Atlantis automatically scans all returning Jumpers to ensure there is nothing hazardous aboard, but we must review the findings, yes? This was not done, and there were two of the creatures aboard."
Quickly, Zelenka tapped on his PC tablet, then swiveled the screen around to show a diagram of a Jumper, two small blinking red dots clearly shown up in the cargo nets.
"You are suggesting two of the creatures returned to Atlantis over three weeks ago? Why would they not have been seen before appearing near the colonel?"
Teyla's question received several nods, though Zelenka was already shaking his head.
"Dr. Malenkov believes the creatures can become dormant for long periods of time. Perhaps that was the case here. However, it means that another bug is loose in the city."
Rodney fixed his assistant with a whithering look.
"We've already found it, or rather, it found the colonel. Try to keep up, here, Radek. What did you do with the thing, anyway, Teyla? Don't tell me its still alive somewhere in the city!"
He could feel panic surging through him at the thought, frantically peering into the shadows around the room. After all, if the thing found Sheppard once, it could do so again, and this time it might not be so picky about its meal! A calming hand on his shoulder and the slight smile on the face of his team mate stopped him from continuing frantic gibbering.
"Relax, Rodney, I immersed the creature in salt water, then Captain Zhukov took the body to be sent through the Gate to one which is in space. It is gone."
If it were anyone other then Teyla, he would have suspected he was being mocked for his fears, but the Athosian sounded sincerely concerned.
"Sounds to me like you found your explanation for all this. The bugs were pure carelessness on the part of base security. As for the attack on me, I rather publicly stepped on a few toes when I first got here."
The contemptuous tone made it clear what Matt thought of such people, not to mention the base security protocols. Rodney found himself bristling, though, since even he was able to pick up the hidden slap at John in the statement.
"All right. I still want everything checked before I sign off on this as an accident. Major, that means I'd like you and Teyla to interview the personnel who were on that mission, make sure we aren't missing something. I'll speak to Colonel Sheppard about any possible changes needed in security protocols when he's up to it. Thank you, everyone, for all the work on this. Matt, I believe we were going over some mission reports, would you care to continue?"
"Good. Maybe now things can get back to normal around here and I can get some work done."
Rodney called after the Atlantis leader as she and their guest as they left the room, then he turned back to the others with a sour grimace. It was met by an identical look on the face of his Satedan team mate.
"Something isn't right about all this."
The scientist rolled his eyes at Ronon's dry comment.
"No, ya think? Radek, I want you and I to go over those sensor readings with a fine tooth comb. I don't trust Malenkov as far as you could throw her."
"Rodney, why would you wish to comb a computer?"
Teyla's innocent question met with strained laughter from Lorne, Rodney, and Carson.
"Its an expression, lass. Rodney means he's going to be very careful."
"Ahh." Teyla left it that. It was certainly not the first time she'd been tripped up by one of her friends' odd sayings, and they all knew it wouldn't be the last.
"Listen, why don't you get started on that, doc, and let everyone know if you find anything. I'm going to keep security heightened at least until I talk to the colonel tomorrow, maybe have some of the marines keep a quiet tab on Dr. Malenkov's whereabouts. At least this way the colonel can get some more uninterrupted rest."
TBC... Hmm... Are you sensing lots and lots of trouble ahead?