CHAPTER 21

"I went to the bathroom and came back and she was there." Teyla waved a hand at the sleeping pair helplessly. Alista was glowing faintly as she healed Rodney even in her sleep.

"We couldn't keep her away from him." Keller said to Sheppard as he eyed the couple askance.

John crossed his arms. His eyebrows drew together in displeasure. "Did you try restraints? She needs to conserve energy not keep expending it."

"Yes, Colonel. I did." Keller retorted testily. "She phased through them and came down here. I made her a deal. Heal herself and then she could be near him." Keller smiled slightly. "I didn't mean this though." She waved at the two people sleeping in the hospital bed.

"I hope not." Sheppard shook his head then he grinned evilly and reached into his pocket and pulled out a digital camera and snapped a picture.

"Colonel!"

"Blackmail. You never know when it comes in useful with McKay."

"Come on. Let's leave them alone. At this point at least I'm sure she'll survive."

#

Rodney blinked slowly bringing the world into focus. Well, as focused as it would get without coffee. His body tensed as memories of being tortured filtered into his consciousness. When would the next round begin? Would Kolya have the knife or the poker? When was Sheppard going to get around to rescuing him?

Soft, female voices registered on his consciousness. His mind slowly processed the sounds and smells and sights of the infirmary driving away the terror of the moment before. Safe, that was the next thought that allowed him to relax against the pillows. The quiet sounds became comforting instead of threatening.

He blurrily studied the tile above him and listened to the beeping sounds. The infirmary. That piece of information brought home the aches and pains he felt in his face, chest, belly and legs. He groaned softly as his multitude of aches made themselves known in varying degrees of pain.

Wait! If he was in the infirmary, hurt, why was someone sleeping next to him? He glanced down and saw Alista snuggled against his side. Memory came back in bits and pieces. Being captured, Kolya's invitation to join them, the offer of high position and practically anything he wanted, his refusal. Okay maybe he could have refused a little more nicely because next came the 'persuasion' - the first round of torture. He barely remembered Alista re-growing his tongue, the C-4, Alista being shot and Kolya being definitely killed.

He thought he had dreamed her crawling into bed next to him, but here she was sleeping beside him. He hadn't realized how much he had missed her next to him until she was back. He heard the curtain rustle and looked up to see John grinning at him.

"Hey, Buddy! You're finally awake!"

"Finally? How long?"

"This would be day five."

"Five? You mean I slept through my entire infirmary stay?" They had never had to stay more than five days.

"I doubt you'll be getting out today." John said softly so as not to wake Alista.

"What? More than five days? She can't do that!" Rodney yelped even as he wondered at the haunted look in his best friend's eyes.

"So he's well enough to begin complaining." Keller arrived to smile down at him.

He glared at her until his eye hurt. "How long do you intend to keep me here?" He asked plaintively.

"Well, your kidneys and liver are okay thanks to Alista here and your eye is healing nicely. Your concussion is almost healed, but the wounds on your abdomen keep trying to get an infection and a couple of injuries on your legs aren't healing as well as I would like so I'd say another four days then we'll see."

"Four days!" Rodney yelped then flinched as pain flared in his face. "Ow!"

"Yeah, you're still a lovely green and yellow." John told him.

Suddenly, Rodney looked concerned. "Why isn't she waking up? We aren't being that quiet."

"She keeps exhausting herself healing you." John said bluntly.

"What? Get her away so she can rest and get better!" Rodney cast a frantic look at them and tried to push her out of the bed.

John stopped him. "Pushing her onto the floor won't help, Rodney."

"We can't. She keeps making her way back." Keller said softly. "We at least got her to finish healing herself."

"Finish healing…" Rodney's face lost color as he remembered her dripping blood on the floor after Koyla shot her. Rodney got a stubborn look and shook her. "Alista, wake up."

"Rodney!" John exclaimed. "She needs to sleep."

Rodney shot him a look and nudged her again. He groaned as his body protested the movement.

"Ro'ney?" Alista mumbled sleepily.

"Yes, wake up."

Alista blinked and struggled to wake up. "What? What's wrong?" She mumbled as her hands began to ghost over him.

He grabbed her hand wincing as the movement pulled his ribs. "Don't take this the wrong way because believe me I love having you next to me, but you can't stay."

"What? Why?" Alista blinked confused.

"You keep spending what little energy you get on healing me and you aren't getting any rest."

"Won't. Promise. Just..stay." She snuggled back against him with a sigh.

"Alista!" Rodney snapped.

"Don't heal." She mumbled. "Just sleep. Got it, Peege." She clutched the bottom of his scrub top.

Rodney sighed and shut his eyes in surrender.

"See," Keller said, vindicated.

Rodney huffed and looked at Keller and Sheppard. "Well, if I have to stay here, can I at least eat?"

"Yes, of course. If you feel like eating, that's a good sign."

John jumped up grateful for something useful to do. "I'll be back with your favorites." He grinned and patted Rodney's lower leg before hurrying out.

Rodney looked after him puzzled at the excessive show of affection.

"We almost lost you." Keller said quietly. "You've had quite a few visitors."

Rodney transferred his gaze to her.

"Your kidneys and liver were in bad shape not to mention the massive amount of trauma you endured. Add in shock, blood loss and your hypoglycemia and we were up against tremendous odds."

She twitched the covers around Alista. "We fussed at her for healing you every time we turned around, but to be honest your kidneys would have probably started shutting down if she hadn't healed them."

Rodney looked down at Alista. How stupid had he been to walk out on her?

"Very stupid." Keller said softly.

Rodney looked up startled and realized he had spoken out loud. He flushed.

Keller coughed. "Speaking of healing, I hear that she healed several injuries before you got here. Mind telling me what they were. Besides, the, ah, tongue." She shivered and looked ill.

Rodney looked ill as well. "She didn't tell you?"

"She hasn't been awake to tell us."

Rodney's face closed up. "They're healed. It doesn't matter."

"I need to know, Rodney. What if there are complications? She was exhausted."

"If they didn't show up on the scan then they're completely healed." He shut his eyes relieved to be spared that indignity. "I'm really tired, Keller. I should rest."

Keller made a sound of frustration. "I'll let it go for now, but I will need to know eventually." She twitched the curtain closed behind her.

#

"Your report isn't complete." Carter said calmly. Rodney could ramble on in great detail when he was excited about an idea or a project, but he could be just as vague when he wished to be. And on the subject of what Koyla had done to him he was being extremely vague.

"Yes, it is." Rodney replied succinctly as he continued to type on his laptop.

"It isn't and you know it, McKay." Carter glanced around the room looking for patience somewhere. It amazed her how the extremely precise McKay could be so….sloppy.

McKay pushed away from his desk and stared at her. "Why the morbid curiosity? Why does everyone need to know every detail of what he did? I do believe my medical files are quite explicit."

"And we all know there are injuries that were healed before you reached the infirmary."

He had been released from the infirmary, but limited to his room, the mess, and the team's quarters. Supposedly, keeping him out of the lab would allow him to rest and finish recuperating. The bruising had faded away and the injuries were healed. He still tired easily although he didn't like admitting it so he carped about the restrictions, but didn't try to circumvent them.

"There are psychological issues with any…torture situation, McKay. If we don't know what he did, then we can't predict how you'll react when you finally begin to deal with what happened."

Something clicked inside Rodney. "React? You want to know how I'll react?" Rodney shouted as he swept everything off his desk onto the floor. "The man cut my tongue out because he found my voice annoying, Sam! How am I supposed to react?"

Carter twitched at the sudden violence. She had never seen Rodney physically violent before. Oh, he could yell and argue with the best, but physical violence? No, he tended to shrink from physical violence.

"He very clinically and with great pleasure mutilated me over the course of several days because I refused to give him weapons to destroy worlds!" He heaved the desk over it landed with a loud crash. "And after he shot Alista, he offered to take me with him to do torture me again because it all such great fun!"

Carter stepped back from the unrestrained rage emanating from Rodney. His face was red and scrunched up as he continued to trash the room around her. He grabbed a laptop and flung it across the room.

"He taunted me," Rodney hissed. "Insinuated that no one was coming for me. He…he…shredded..."

"Get out!" Alista appeared in front of Carter.

"Alista…"

"Get out!" Alista screamed.

"He needs to get it out of his system."

"Get out." Alista's voice went cold. "Leave him alone or I'll…." She began to shimmer.

"Don't threaten me, Alista!" Carter snapped before Alista said something she'd regret later.

"Quit pushing him!" Alista snarled protectively. No one was going to hurt him again! No one!

Her voice was eerie in that phased-watery modulation. Rodney flashed on Kolya frozen in the wall. He stepped between them. "Ally Kat, quit."

Alista quit shimmering and glared at Carter. "He'll tell you all what he wants when he wants." She spat at her. "For now everyone will leave him alone."

Carter refused to show how shaken she was. "Okay, we'll go with this report for now." Turning, she left the room. She frowned worriedly as she made her way back to her office. She remembered Alista's first day here. "I could kill you in less than a minute…if I wanted to. I phase put something in his heart or head and let go. It becomes solid."

Rodney growled in frustration and stalked out onto his balcony shutting the door behind him. Why was it so important to know the details? He was tortured within an inch of his life. He was mutilated and of course he was going to be upset and angry and short tempered for awhile. Was he going to more upset and short tempered and angry over one injury than another? okay, yes. Some of the injuries affected him more than others, but couldn't they go with general torture and pussyfoot around him? Did he have to tell them the details and be forced to endure looks of horror and pity? And Alista…she knew. She had healed him at her own expense. How could he face her? Knowing that while her hands ran over him she would be remembering what had been done to him?

Alista stared after him for a moment wanting to go after him and comfort him, but she understood the need to deal with some pain on your own. He would come to her when he was ready to talk. Turning, she left his room as silently as she'd entered.