Chapter 24

"That's the infirmary," Ronon told RJ. "Have fun."

"Thanks," RJ said carefully, wandering towards it. "Good luck with your hunt."

Ronon spun his weapon, holstering it and grinning at him before heading back the way he'd come. "Sheppard, where are you?"

RJ kept going, meeting Lorne just outside the infirmary. "Where's your escort?" the major asked, frowning at the empty corridor.

"Gone to look for someone."

"Zelenka. Yeah, I heard. Where are you going?"

RJ gestured to the door of the infirmary. "Gotta start my treatment."

Lorne leaned in the door, glancing around. "Doc? You expecting RJ?"

"Yes. Is he here?" Carson asked from inside.

"Yeah." Lorne looked back at him. "Go ahead. You know where Sheppard and the others are?"

"Looking for Zelenka."

"Right. Thanks." He headed on down the corridor and RJ continued into the infirmary.

"Ah, RJ, there you are. Good." Carson smiled at him, hurrying past. "Now we're still waiting for Dr Suresh, but I'm going to ask you to hop up here and we'll start the scans, is that alright?" He hesitated, studying the other man. "Are ye quite yourself?"

RJ nodded. "More or less. Touching is probably a no."

"Alright. I think we can work around that for now, at least. Can you hop up here?" He patted the nearest bed. "Lie down, if you don't mind. I'll be right back."

***

Mohinder glanced over the desk, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything he was going to need. Dr Beckett had seemed worried when he called; RJ was degenerating faster than they'd thought and they had to move.

One of the soldiers who'd come through from Earth with them paused in the doorway. "Doc? I thought you were gone to the infirmary?"

"I'm on my way," Mohinder said without looking up.

"Aw, don't do that." His voice had changed, and Mohinder looked up sharply.

Sylar grinned. "I thought we could have some quality time. Get all caught up."

Mohinder backed up, slowly, one hand out in front of him. "Sylar…"

"Oh, it's Lieutenant Starl now." He tapped his name tag. "Didn't you see?"

"Really." Mohinder hit the corner of the desk, easing around it. "Are you planning on continuing your Air Force career?"

"Oh, I don't think so. Might get a bit limiting after a while."

"What is it they say? Join the Air Force, see the world? Or worlds, I suppose."

"Yes," Sylar agreed. "You should probably stop backing away. You know it's not going to help."

It occurred to Mohinder that this was the second painting, and he had to fight the urge to look over his shoulder at the deep shadow in one corner. It was ridiculous; he knew he was alone, but on the other hand, Peter was in the city…

"Where is the missing crewman? Zelenka?" he asked.

"Oh, he's perfectly safe. Keeping fresh for me. Do you know what his ability is?"

"He hasn't manifested." Mohinder eased around the desk as Sylar came towards him, keeping it between them.

"Is that what they told you?" He laughed softly. "Well, that's just not true, Mohinder. He has manifested."

"And Joe Spencer? We know he was not manifested."

"I didn't kill him for his ability! I killed him for this. To get here." He gestured around. "Zelenka's ability will be very useful to me. And I'll take Peter's, too."

"Peter's not here," Mohinder said automatically, and then bit his lip. Sylar had walked through the 'Gate from Earth with them, he knew perfectly well that Peter was on the base.

"He's here somewhere. I'll find him." Sylar shrugged, unconcerned. "But I need you out of the picture." His face altered and Mohinder blinked, suddenly staring at himself. "Can't have you alerting people."

Mohinder turned, making it two steps before Sylar halted him. "I told you that wouldn't help. Turn around."

Mohinder did, eyes flickering briefly to the shadowed corner before looking back at Sylar. "They're expecting me in the infirmary," he warned him.

"They can go on expecting. It's such a shame, I got terribly lost and my guard had vanished!" Sylar spread his hands, looking innocent.

And then he was lying stunned on the ground and Hiro was crouched over him, wide eyed.

"Hiro?"

"Hello!" Hiro waved.

Mohinder waved back automatically, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

"No time! You must run. Find Peter!"

"Peter?"

"To stop Sylar!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Later! Run. Talk later!"

Sylar was stirring…

…and then Mohinder was two corridors away, staring at a wall, and when he turned no one was in sight behind him.

"Dr Suresh?" Major Lorne had emerged from a corridor ahead of him, eying him oddly. "Are you alright? They're waiting for you down in the infirmary."

"Sylar," Mohinder said urgently.

Lorne obviously recognised the name; he pulled his gun from his holster, scanning around them. "Where?"

"In the lab. He's…he was…masquerading as Lieutenant Starl. Then he looked like me. I need to…Peter needs to know. And I have to get to the infirmary."

"Yeah." Lorne lowered his gun, gesturing Mohinder towards him. "Come on. This way."

***

"Colonel Sheppard?"

John drew the group to a halt, tapping his radio. "Yeah, Major."

"We have a confirmed sighting of Sylar, sir. He broke into Dr Suresh's lab. He's been impersonating one of the soldiers on SG14."

"Where is he now?"

"He was gone by the time I got back there, sir."

"Alright. Broadcast an order for all non essential personal to stay in quarters, make sure your men stay in groups of two or more, and start a sweep. We're going after Zelenka; I'll check in with you when we know something."

"Aye sir."

"I should go," Peter muttered. "He'll be looking for me."

"You can't go on your own," John said firmly. "Not if Sylar can change how he looks."

Ronon jogged around a corner, coming towards them. John pulled his gun from his holster. "Ronon, stop."

"What?" Ronon stopped, eyeing him oddly.

"Sylar's definitely on the base and he can change how he looks. Prove it's you."

Ronon snatched the gun from him, so fast they didn't even see him move, and tossed it back to him before they'd reacted. John looked down at the gun and then shrugged. "Alright. Let's go, then."

Ronon took the lead; Casey dropped quietly back until he was level with John. "Who is she?" he murmured. Ahead of them, Dominic slowed slightly to listen.

"Her name is Alice. She's a research program here on the base. Scanners and memory banks."

"Eyes and mind," Casey said thoughtfully. "But not everyone knows about her."

It wasn't a question, but he answered anyway. "No. Teyla knows about her, and Zelenka, but they can't see her. Lorne can hear her but not see her. And you two." He glanced at Dominic, just ahead of them. "Alice tell you about the window?"

"I didn't see her," Casey half-answered.

"It's because we were Rangers." Dominic stopped pretending not to listen. "Morphing gives you an understanding of the Power. Bone deep and instinctive. Like you and the city."

"But you're not Rangers now, right?"

"It doesn't go away."

"We don't need to see her," Casey added. "You see a person. You hear words. But we don't. We just know."

"Sheppard!" Ronon called from ahead. John pushed through the group, pausing just behind his shoulder. Ahead of them a staircase led down, but water was lapping just under floor level.

"Flooded," he said with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked.

"The level below's flooded. That's where we need to go."

Theo shrugged. "We can swim."

"There may not be any air," he warned them.

"I'll check," Casey offered, pulling off his tshirt and passing it to Lily. He caught John's eye, grinning confidently, and then walked down the stairs until he could push off.

"Are we below the water level?" Lily asked curiously.

"Just above it, here." John was watching Ronon, crouched utterly still at the top of the stairs. "It's supposed to be shielded so it doesn't flood, but the shield broke down a while back and we haven't got to drain the whole city yet. There's pockets like this all over the place."

Casey burst up from underwater; Ronon caught his arm, yanking him bodily up onto the deck. "Thanks," he gasped, taking several deep breaths. "There's air," he added to John. "There's a great big room down there, two stories tall, and the water's only this high." He gestured to the opening behind him.

"Right." He looked at the three teens. "You, stay here. Casey, you can show us and then get back here. Peter, can you swim?"

"Yeah." Peter pulled off his sweater, kicking his shoes loose.

Ronon jumped as he was, which didn't surprise John. He left his gun behind, knowing the water would render it useless anyway, but that was the extent of his preparations.

The water was freezing, of course, and he swam as fast as he could to get though. He could sense Peter somewhere behind him as he kicked forward, following the trail of bubbles in Ronon's wake. He was trying to remember the floor plans for this sector…where was there a two-story area?...when he sensed air above and kicked sharply upwards.

Casey's hand was suddenly on his arm, dragging him to one side just before they cleared the surface of the water. John coughed, pulling free to paddle.

"There's an overhang," Casey said, gesturing behind him. "You nearly knocked yourself out. I didn't see it last time, sorry."

Peter shot to the surface behind them, sputtering. "Deeper than I thought," he explained weakly, reaching for the wall to brace himself. "Where are we?"

"Some kind of atrium?" John guessed, looking around. The ceiling, several feet above them, was glass or some kind of glass like material, and the whole room was bright and airy…or would have been, in the daylight.

"Nice," Casey agreed, pushing away from them slightly, "but where are we? I mean, how close to where we should be?"

"This is two twelve alpha. Zelenka should be…" He glanced around, trying to orient himself.

"There." Ronon pointed to a door just visible through the water.

"If we open that and it's not flooded…" Peter trailed off. "Hang on." Taking a deep breath, he dived, powering down to the door and then pushing through it.

"Cool," Casey breathed, drifting back towards the wall.

"You alright?" John asked, eyeing him.

"I'm a tiger. We're not big on water, as a whole." He caught hold of a protrusion on the wall. "It's fine."

"Why didn't you let one of the others come?" John asked, trying very hard not to roll his eyes.

"Because Lily and Theo are cats and Dominic can't swim. Not well, anyway. Hey, here they come."

Peter was coming back through the door; as soon as his head was clear he twisted, looking back as Zelenka followed him, gripping tightly to one hand. Once he was clear they kicked up to the surface, Peter bracing the smaller man to keep his head out of the water.

"Radek, you alright?" John demanded.

Zelenka answered in Czech, caught himself halfway through and shifted to English. "He hit me on the head and tied me up." He lifted one wrist to demonstrate, showing them the red marks there. "But nothing else. I am lucky, I think."

"That's good, I'm glad. Listen, we have to dive again. The way out's underneath us. Can you do it?"

"Diving is not a problem. Staying afloat, this is hard."

"Ronon'll be right behind you, I'll be right in front. We'll help you." He lifted his gaze. "Casey, go."

Casey nodded, taking a deep breath and diving. Peter was right behind him, and once they were gone Sheppard turned to Zelenka. "Ready?"

"Yes." He was shivering, Sheppard noted with concern.

"Stay right behind me. And Ronon, you stick with him, alright?"

Ronon nodded, waiting until they were both below the surface to follow them.

Zelenka flagged halfway through, and Ronon caught his belt, yanking him along. John glanced over his shoulder, saw them coming and sped up, bursting out of the water half a second ahead.

Peter was sprawled over the stairs, out cold. Lily was crouched above him, one hand on his arm but twisted to look down the corridor. Theo was at her shoulder.

And just down the corridor, Casey was fighting another Casey while Dominic watched helplessly. Both Caseys were soaked, both wore the training uniform, and really, if his team mates couldn't tell him apart…

"Which one is it?" John snarled, boosting himself out of the water. Lily jumped, looking back, but it was Theo who answered.

"We lost track. He was a soldier until a minute ago. Said he was looking for you, his unit went down? He knocked Peter over with telekinesis or something, and while we were trying to help him, he jumped Casey."

"Casey, stop!" John yelled, and somewhat to his surprise both backed off, glaring at each other. "Dominic, get back here," he added. Dominic was on the other side of the Caseys, towards the corridor.

Dominic ignored him, as he'd half expected. "Casey, what's my girlfriend's name?"

"Fran," both answered together, scowling at each other.

"Dom?" Lily pushed suddenly to her feet, stepping up to John's side. "Give them your morpher."

"Lil…"

"Sylar doesn't have the gene. He won't be able to work it."

"So he runs off with my morpher?"

Ronon powered up his weapon, the noise very loud in the enclosed corridor. "He won't be running anywhere."

"I'll do it." A Casey held out his hand expectantly.

Dominic slid the bracelet off his wrist, offering it to him. Casey's fingers closed over the other end and a bright red spark jumped from him to Dominic, lighting the whole area.

Dominic immediately yanked him forward, away from the other Casey, who raised both hands. "Dom, that's a trick. He's not me. He's just trick—uh!" He crumpled, energy sparking over him.

"Right." John stepped forward, patting him down quickly. "Think the brig will hold him?" he asked, looking up at Casey.

"I think so." He glanced at Dominic. "Thanks."

Dominic shrugged, slipping his bracelet back on. "Not a big deal."

"Now what?" Lily asked, shrugging out of John's jacket and offering it to a shivering Zelenka.

"Now I take him, Ronon takes Peter, and we go," John answered, lifting the body with a grunt. Either Casey was heavier than he looked, or Sylar tricked their eyes somehow without actually changing.

"You ok?" Theo asked Casey.

"Hmm? Yeah. I'll be glad to get out of here." He took the tshirt Lily offered him, staring at it for a moment before pulling it on.

John tapped his radio, turning away. "Major Lorne, where are you?"

"Base of the Control tower, sir," Lorne answered.

"We have Sylar. Get someone to meet us."

"Yes sir, we're on the way."

"And warn Doctor Keller she's about to have patients."

"Will do."

John put Zelenka in the middle of the group, with Theo and Lily, and let Ronon lead the way. Casey and Dominic seemed content to stay behind Lily, just in front of John.

It was obvious after a few minutes that Zelenka was having trouble, but as soon as he stumbled Dominic stepped up, ducking under his arm, He had to stoop a little to accommodate Zelenka's smaller size, but they seemed to manage well enough so John left them to it.

Cam met them just outside a transporter; the soldiers with him took charge of Sylar, and the medics took Peter. They'd only brought one stretcher, but Zelenka insisted he was able, and they all pretended not to notice of much of his weight Dominic was supporting.

"RJ," Lily said suddenly. "Do you know how he is?"

"Dr Beckett and Dr Suresh are still with him," one of the medics told her. "Everything seems to be going fine, though."

"Thanks." She glanced around at the others. "I'll go sit with him. Casey, you need to change."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Casey agreed.

"Are you sure, Lil?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, you guys go on. Put on something warm. I'll just sit in a corner or something."

They'd reached the infirmary; Dominic gratefully passed Zelenka to an orderly and stretched. "Call us if you need us," he told her.

"I will. Go on." She followed the orderlies inside.

"Sheppard, you need a few minutes?" Cam asked, gesturing vaguely to his dripping wet clothes. Ronon was dry already, John thought with irritation. His leathers never seemed to hold water.

"Yeah. Thanks. Go keep an eye on our guest; I'll be down in a couple minutes."