A/N: First of all, I own nothing but my own creations. And I just want to say, because I think some people misread my last A/N or misunderstood it, that I plan to finish this story and its eight remaining chapters (that number includes this one). I was referring to the catch up bits at the end. Which I think I'm going to end (and remove all the existing ones) anyway because, if you dislike one ship or you're not willing to bear it then you've probably not made it to Chapter 21. And, if you have, you probably won't make it much further and the story's only going to have a greater portion of shippiness as the series goes on.
Anyway, that's all. Thank you so much for all the reviews I've gotten so far, you've been awesome. ^_^ Enjoy the chapter.
Rodney picked up a croissant and tore half of it away with his teeth. At that point, nobody could blame him for it (even as he spoke through a mouthful of food to tell them that it was good to have decent meals again).
One of the kitchen staff had seen their food supply and managed to find the right ingredients to make croissants - Gate travel style. It wasn't just the scientists who carried them back to their places like they'd carry a ZPM. And, because of how (relatively) bland they were, more people could stomach them than some of the food's native to Alihn's planet. For about a day, Atlantis' diet was pure croissant.
"At least we don't have to see anymore fights over food," Daniel mused, with a kind of look that spoke volumes about what his work environment had been like.
"Maybe, but that doesn't stop all the incidents that're happening because of the Night or whatever they're called." Jennifer gave them all a pointed look, as she bit into a fruit whose name only the botanists could pronounce.
Sam leaned in closer, trying to get a better look at them all from her seat. "Have any of you noticed anything...else going on? In terms of that sort of incident, I mean."
Daniel placed down his knife and fork. "Why? Something happened?"
"Just a few changes to our quarters. Something's in one place in the evening and, when we wake up the next morning, it's somewhere else. First it was an empty tissue box, then a laptop, and a pair of Jack's old boots after that. The thing is, neither of us sleepwalk and I don't think we got up in the night on any of those occasions." With a frown, she lifted her cup to her mouth and took a long sip.
Rodney paused in shovelling food down his throat to say, "Try putting a lifesigns detector in your room and setting it to record lifesign activity too. Put a camera in with it too, then you'll find out whether one of you two did it and who it was if you didn't."
Even still, the blonde pursed her lips and uttered a quick, "Thanks." It sounded like a solution but it didn't feel like one - she wasn't about to tell Rodney that, though, in case it chipped his ego.
Before the conversation had chance to get any further, Jennifer's earpiece sprung to life and she made a hasty swallow that brought a tear to her eye. "Hello?" Whoever was on the other side rattled off sentence after sentence as she listened and the rest of the table paused in the hope they'd be told what was going on. Two emotions passed over her face: the first was annoyance and the second was one only she and Carson had perfected. The 'medical emergency' look.
It didn't really help anyone's blood pressure when she replied, "Restrain them and give them suitable painkillers until I get there. They can deal with their actions later, our job is to keep them alive. I'm on my way, Keller out." Then she started to rise from her seat.
"Hey, where are you going?" This time, Rodney's mouth was empty.
"There's been an assault, a fight, and Carson's asleep. It's my shift anyway so the nurses want me to come in and deal with them. Apparently, both of them are a mess and sound like they'll need to take counselling after they're in good enough health." She sighed and pushed her chair in. "They still haven't stopped trying to get at each other's throats. Makes me sick."
She turned to face the door and took one step forward before another voice interrupted.
"Wait a second." The doctor turned to look at Sam when she spoke, freezing on the spot. "What caused it?"
"Alcohol. They were both found with empty bottles of vodka that they probably managed to get their hands on when we were back on Earth. And I really need to go now, so..." She nodded towards the door, and the astrophysicist gestured for her to carry on.
Those who remained exchanged a mix of glances. Sam, in particular, called out. "Hey, Radek!"
The bumbling scientist turned around in the queue he was standing in. It didn't take long for his gaze to fall on their table. "Yes?"
"Can you help me out?" The czech scientist nodded and she continued, "I want you to get rid of your moonshine, or hide it and don't tell anyone where - there's been an incident. Don't worry about the rest of the alcohol on base, I'll get security teams to sort that out."
He nodded again but, by that time, the person behind him was coughing far too often for it to be authentic so he shuffled away and turned his attention to the staff serving breakfast.
None of them commented and McKay had gone back to stuffing food in his mouth, but nobody would miss the alcohol. Not if it came at that cost.
Elizabeth was out on one of the balconies when it happened, leaning against the rail with John beside her. There was no wind, just atmosphere and the stars around them as they drifted through space. The commotion from inside seeped in through the door, and it hit them properly when someone swept past the door. Nobody came to tell them; they already knew what kind of emergency it was.
"Stay here, 'Lizabeth. Just this one time. It's not your fault they're attacking Atlan-" he began, but she'd already started for the open door. So, with a familiar unease, he followed her inside as she stopped the first person to pass them.
"What's happening?" The scientist she'd grabbed froze; whether they'd been around when Elizabeth was on power, their hands fidgeted like they knew they couldn't say no to the ex-leader's desperation.
They stumbled to find words, letting off strings of pointless sounds before they said, "The plumbing in one of the lower levels burst and there are overloads everywhere, ma'am. We have fires, burns, the botany department are quarantined. You name it, we've got it."
"Thank you..." And, just like that, the grip slipped. "The lower level, it's where some of the Athosians live, isn't it?"
Just then, further down the corridor, a door slid open and someone stumbled out as sparks lit up the doorway. Their whole arm, from the shoulder down, was mottled red and pe eling. Smoke rose from the wound. Blood oozed from a gash on their forehead.
The scientist turned to them both. "I'll run them down to the infirmary. It's a nightmare down there but I can't leave anyone wandering around injured. Take care."
When she was gone, thy both started to approach the door. Inside, sparks danced about and (at such proximity) the rectangle in front of the room was heating up and boiling everything inside. She got there before him and the temperature - and 'common sense' - put her off going in. Until she saw the moving hand. Someone was on the floor, surrounded by flames.
She navigated her way inside, no idea where John was, and weaved her way in between seeding hot objects. She reached over and took the pulse of the slumped body.
There was more life in the way her fingers burned than that whole corpse.
And that was when John followed, wandering in and trying to find his route. Her eyes grew wide and she wound her way back to him. They locked eyes, at halfway, until the fire roared with the threat of bursting their eardrums. She made for the door.
But, when she looked back, she was standing there alone. John was sweating, limping along as the fire advanced behind him. She started to step over the burnt out part of the wreckage. John shook his head.
The next few seconds hurt as they squeezed down her throat.
When they were both clear of the heat, him looking more red-faced than her. She turned to him, eyes alight with a mix of emotion. "What were you thinking? You're too slow. You could've died, John."
"I could've died? Elizabeth, I 'could've died' plenty of times - like, I don't know, back on that planet."
She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't make it any easier. And of course I remember that. I'm having a hard time forgetting it, if I'm honest."
"Forgetting it? It could've paralysed me."
"It nearly did. All that I'm asking is that, for once, you watch your ass and don't let me see you in the infirmary next time we meet. You have to stop doing stupid things like that." She threw an arm out in the direction of the flaming room.
John sighed, deep and so that it leaked aggression. "You want to see me do something stupid? Stay right where you are and keep your earpiece on." Then he turned on his heel and sprinted down the corridor to the nearest transport.
Elizabeth frowned, taking a few steps forward. "John? John, what're you doing?"
At that moment, her earpiece came alive. "I'll give you a clue: water." After that, he disappeared inside the transport.
One minute passed. Two. Three. Four. "John?" All she heard from the other side was a splash and the scream of a small child. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Until...
"We're done, Elizabeth." His heavy breath came to her through the connection. When she didn't reply, he probed, "Elizabeth? 'Lizabeth, talk to me."
But her heart didn't stop pounding when the words came through her earpiece. Which was why she left the scene and didn't look back at the dark substance pooling on the floor.
Maybe she should've been watching where she was going - everyone was everywhere after an attack, with people from Gate Control ending all the way up in the furthest section of living quarters. So she couldn't really blame Sam when she walked right into her. Jack had been walking next to her but he was spared the incident.
"Oh god, Sam, I-" she began, but the blonde held up her hand.
"Don't be sorry, it's okay." She offered the other woman a smile but that disappeared and replaced itself with concern when she took in Elizabeth's state. "Everything okay?"
The diplomat looked down at her feet then back up again. "I... John and I just had a disagreement. It's nothing we haven't been through before."
"What did he do?"
"The Athosian children who got trapped, he went after them trying to prove a point. But, if he hadn't, I guess they wouldn't have gotten out alive." She let out a heavy sigh.
Before Sam could show any sort of sympathy, a gloved hand grabbed her arm. Its owner, a man with a hood, had stepped between Sam and Elizabeth like the latter was of no interest. Hot breath emerged from beneath the hood, prickling against Sam's skin.
"What do you want?" There was a bright glint to her eye, the hope that he - providing they were a he - would speak this time.
Then the hand tugged. Once. Twice. Almost absent-minded.
"Let go of me." Her voice carried more warning now, her hand clasped over his and her body set as if ready to twist it. She wouldn't need to. Because he switched tactics, using her backwards stance to push them both towards the wall.
It was then that Elizabeth interrupted and grabbed the hooded figure by his shoulder, keeping her grip tight even as he turned to face her. Movement stopped. He was frozen.
And then she hit the wall had to the sound of fleeing footsteps.
When the silence settled again, Sam glanced around and covered the distance between them to offer her hand to Elizabeth. "Are you still sure you're alright? He pushed you pretty hard there. Sorry about that guy, by the way, he's been following me and Jack around a lot. We haven't seen him for a while so we thought he might've been a Night thing that they stopped after they gathered the right data. Obviously not..."
"Mmm... Obviously," Elizabeth nodded, taking Sam's hand with the shake of her head. "It doesn't say anything about a man with a hood in the text I've been looking at."
"So far," Sam reminded her. She wasn't sure whose comfort that idea was for.
"For the last bloody time, sit still. Jennifer might be able to cope with your constant fidgeting but I'm not so lucky, am I?" Carson took the edge of the sheet from John's hands, smoothed them out over the bed and flicked the soldier's hands away from the gauze on his arm while he was at it. "If you're bored, get up and walk around the room for a bit. Might give your legs some more practise at walking."
Every bed was occupied. A crisis wasn't unfamiliar to Atlantis but this one has a different air. They'd had no idea how many would be injured, how many were attacking them, how long it would go on for. or their weapon strength (someone had said 'oh crap' when asked but nobody took it as a serious measurement). And, most importantly, they couldn't fight back.
As Carson retreated, John took a deep breath and got to his feet. His right knee ached like hell, but he wasn't sure whether all those aches and pains were from his fall still or there by his own doing because he pushed his body during the attack.
He passed Jennifer, stood at a bed with Rodney sat on it. She was bandaging his hands and paused, just for a second, to smile at him. Smiling back, and walking off, she heard him say that he was probably going to ignore her and go back to typing the minute he left the infirmary.
And then he stopped in front of a medicine cabinet, unlocked and wide open with at least twenty boxes missing and another ten in the wrong place.
Even the medicine cabinet had gone awry while he was gone.
"I'm tidying the cabinet, Doc...s," he called over his shoulder. "Just so you two know."
It was Carson who answered, "Aye, needs a good clean out."
Then the doors to the infirmary slid open again, admitting two bloodied soldiers - one supported the other, woman supporting man. But, when John looked them over, he realised they didn't have the burns or the cuts of bruises that all the other patients did. And guilt played the woman's face in the form of wide eyes and a creased brow.
Carson approached them, pushing them both towards the only spare bed in sight.
John's gaze followed them.
And Jennifer must've noticed because she finished up Rodney's bandages, planted a kiss on his cheek, and walked over to John. "It was a fight. Or an assault, rather, the victim just fought back this time. It happens a lot - the attacker brings their victim in looking all guilty and confused, and we patch them up and let them go once we're sure it's one of those cases. We just record it instead of reporting it. No use repeating ourselves."
Nodding, John mumbled, "Thanks. I'll just...go back to tidying this up. Remind me to have a talk with your nurses about putting empty packets back on the pile."
A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading! I'm not sure what my writing rate will be during the summer holidays, but I hope for at least a chapter a week (maybe more). I'll be focusing on this until all remaining 7 chapters are gone. After that, I'll be working on The Pod (fiction, not fanfiction). I'll talk more about any future plans once this whole thing's completed. Bye!