MSG – 28
John Sheppard paced impatiently outside of the surgical bay. He checked his watch for the twentieth time. He resisted the urge to tap his radio and ask for a status report from his teams. He watched helplessly as three nurses came out of the room and ran to get more blood or another bag of IV fluids or just make a bathroom break.
She was weak, very weak when they found her. Shanee had managed to keep the ailing Divya out of sight while one of the villagers sent out a mayday from the gate. Most of the off-world team was missing in action and a few were KIA. John had been down this street before, all with women he loved. Elizabeth, then Teyla and now Divya.
They survived, she will too, he kept telling himself. It gave him some comfort that Phillips was the one welding the knife, but maybe if Hank was there John wouldn't have a knot in his stomach. Or maybe I have a knot in my stomach because no one knows where Hank is … or Evan or Tucker or the other unaccounted for team members.
He ran his hand across his brow and rested his hands at his hips. Maybe I feel so crappy because I never really tell her how I feel, he thought kicking the wall with the toe of his shoe. I mumble it when we're intimate, but I don't tell her aloud, when it would really mean something. John looked down the corridor that emptied into the main infirmary. I can't even believe I'm thinking like that … but I don't want Div to be another one that got away. I feel different about her. She's going to make it John and then I'll tell her once and for all. "And then I'll kick someone's ass for doing this to her…to them," he mumbled under his breath.
He sighed heavily as he turned on his heel and headed the opposite way. What little information they had on the attack was conflicted. Some said it was the wraith, some said it was humans from another planet. After all they had done to rid this galaxy of the wraith in the past six years, it sickened Sheppard to the core to think that there might still be wraith worshipers out there. Doing what, he wondered to himself. He'd know soon enough as Lorne and Rivers were still out gathering intel.
"Colonel Sheppard," Dr. Phillips voice rang out in the hallway.
John spun around and stood firm as the air force lieutenant headed his way. "Lieutenant," John greeted Phillips formally. It seemed odd to call the man by his rank, but it was the only word that made it to his mouth.
"She's stable," the man said without preamble. He handed Sheppard a small glass container with two slugs in it. "Nine millimeter bullets. One was close range, maybe five or six feet, the other from farther away. They did some damaging. Shanee saved her life. She's going to be sore for a while."
John eyed the container and felt the blood drain from his face. "When can I see her?" he asked absent-mindedly.
"A few hours," Phillips commented. "Maybe less," he added when he noticed the hollow look on the colonel's face. "You think she was caught in the cross fire by mistake?"
"That's a good question," John replied just as Amelia called him to the gate room. "I'll be right there," he said into the radio. "I'll let you know doc."
…~…
Sheppard took the stairs heading to control by threes and was barely out of breath when he hit the landing. He breezed down the walkway to Woolsey's office and noticed Major Teldy standing in front of the leader's desk.
"What's going on?" John asked as he cleared the doorway.
"Nothing you're going to like Colonel," Teldy replied.
"Major, I haven't liked anything that has happened today, so any information is better than nothing," Sheppard remarked impatiently. He watched Teldy pull a nine millimeter gun out of her TAC vest and hold it out by hooking her finger through the key grip.
"Well, maybe you'll like this then," Teldy said. "Divya's gun."
John stared at it wordless and trailed his eyes from Woolsey to the Major. "What about it? I took it out of her holster myself." He rested his hands on his hips.
"It's not the weapon that she carried on this mission," Teldy informed him as Woolsey handed her a plastic bag. "It's the one that was stolen from her last month." Teldy dropped the gun in the evidence bag and sealed it shut.
Sheppard took it out of her hand and turned it over. He pulled the container Phillips had given him out of his pocket. "Phillips pulled these out of Divya," he said tossing it on Woolsey's desk.
"How is Ms. Katdare?" Woolsey asked as he picked up the container and studied the slugs.
"Phillips just finished the surgery," John said crisply trying desperately to hold back his emotion. "She's stable."
Woolsey nodded and set the bullets back down on the desk. "Are these nine millimeter bullets?" he asked.
"Yes," Sheppard said flatly. "And I bet this is the weapon they came from." He handed the gun back to Teldy. "Anne, have the armory run a ballistics check on the gun."
"Right away sir," Teldy replied. She hesitated slightly before leaving the room and Sheppard hooked her arm to stop her.
"We're going to find him Major," he informed Anne.
"I know," Teldy replied slowly.
John could see the hurt in her eyes. It was the same thing he had felt a few minutes ago. Except that Divya is here recovering and Hank is nowhere to be found, he reminded himself. "Don't give up hope Anne," he said locking eyes with her. "The fact they were taken is one thing in our favor."
"Otherwise I'd be looking at a body bag," she whispered barely audible. "I know."
John watched her pull out of his grasp and quickly leave the room. He glanced back to Woolsey who was sitting calmly at the desk. "Any thoughts?" John prompted the expedition leader.
"I have a lot of questions," Woolsey remarked. "And not a lot of concrete answers."
"Yeah, don't we all," Sheppard sighed. "Hopefully McKay has some answers for us."
…~…
Rodney McKay rolled his head on his neck and reached for his cup of coffee. He had been working on the damaged laptop since they returned from the rescue mission. Woolsey had made digital records SOP after Divya's weapon was stolen a month ago and it was a good idea. And if someone hadn't shot the hard drive of this piece of crap I could do something more with it! Rodney growled in his head.
"Please tell me you have good news," John Sheppard voice echoed through the lab.
McKay turned in his stool and watched as Sheppard and Woolsey marched into the room. "How's Divya?" Rodney asked.
"She's just out of surgery," John replied. "She's stable. It looks like she was shot with her own gun."
McKay guffawed wordlessly. "What'd'ya mean her own gun? Her gun was in the holster … what, did some freak shoot her and then put it back?"
"Not that gun," Woolsey informed him dryly. "The one that was stolen last month."
"Oh, um … that makes sense, sort of," Rodney mumbled turning back to the damaged laptop.
"It does?" Woolsey questioned.
"Yeah, well, sort of. I was able to pull some data from the laptop. Not much," Rodney rambled pounding the keys on the lab computer. He brought up some video and pushed the play button. "Everything seems to be a normal day at the doctor's office until here," Rodney narrated pointing at the screen. "Then there's some commotion in the background. Then Divya is shoved to the ground here. There's a nine mil in the frame here," Rodney pointed at the screen, "But Div's is clearly in her holster." Rodney watched the playback for a few seconds and then the screen filled with static and went black. "That's all I've been able to retrieve so far. The laptop is pretty much toast."
"So there's nothing to back up the villagers claim that it was the wraith," John asked.
"Only if the wraith have truly turned into humans and have resorted to using mechanical weapons," Rodney remarked. "So far it's only human's on the playback … unless there is something else locked up inside of here?" He waved at the broken laptop.
"Maybe it's time that we contacted our ole friend again," Woolsey suggested.
"To do what?" Rodney protested loudly.
"To give us some insight on what's going on with the other wraith in this sector," Sheppard said curtly. "Keep working on that computer," he said to McKay.
TBC
