John followed Ronon into the jumper bay and had to jump to the side to avoid colliding with him when the big man stopped suddenly so he himself wouldn't smash into Evan who was coming in from the other side.
Behind Evan came Ellis, Sanchez, and Brown, and everyone jammed up in the entrance.
Ronon let out a grunt and shoved his way through the group. He strode up the ramp of the nearest puddle jumper. "Sheppard! Let's go."
Evan waved his team towards a second jumper.
"Hold on," John said, stalling the others. Before he could explain that flying out with a pair of jumpers and a double team of armed military men was going to scare the hell out of the poor woman, Kiryk jogged into the room.
The former runner looked at the gathered group and frowned.
John opened his mouth to tell Kiryk he fully agreed with the man's assessment of not needing to take all these people when Rodney's wheezing whine interrupted him.
"Are you kidding me?" Rodney exclaimed as he walked into the open space with his hand on his side like he was pinching a muscle cramp. "Why are we running? I hate running."
Carson rushed into the room, out of breath, and Rodney instantly straightened up and puffed his chest out.
"Took you long enough," Rodney huffed.
"Sheppard!" Ronon called. "Let's go!"
John recognized the warning tone as Ronon's move now or I'm going to start blasting stuff. "Kiryk, Carson, you're with me. The rest of you, stand down." he ordered.
Kiryk immediately joined Ronon in the jumper.
"How come he gets to go?" Rodney whined, waving his hand dramatically at Carson.
Carson hurried towards the jumper. "Because I'm her doctor, Rodney."
The others looked ready to argue and John cut them off with a wave. "Okay, look. I know you're all worried about the Doc. But we can't to blazing in there with an army and scare the hell out of her."
"Sheppard…" Ronon's warning growl turned low.
John turned and headed up the ramp. As soon as he stepped into the cargo area he stopped so abruptly, his boots squeaked on the metal.
He twisted around and looked at Rodney, then Evan and his team. Then he glanced back at Ronon, Kiryk, and Carson. As he did a quick headcount, his brain began screaming a gut clenching warning.
"Where's Cadman?" he demanded.
"What?" Rodney frowned. "Why do we need to worry about her?"
"Because she's not here," Evan said, his eyes widening. "And if she's not here…"
"Then she's there," John answered. He took a step towards Rodney. "McKay, if Carson removed Doc's transponder, whose ID was out on the pier?"
"Cadman's," Rodney said, clearly confused. "I said that, didn't I? I mean… it was implied."
"There's a jumper missing," Sanchez called out.
John groaned. Great. They had a broken minded doctor at the end of the pier with the one woman who on a normal day could turn their CMO into a lunatic. There was no telling what kind of damage Cadman was going to do to try and help remedy Doc's condition. Of anyone inside the quadrant, hell, the damn galaxy, Laura Cadman was the one person who would happily blow up the city just to try and jog her best friend's memory.
"Load up!" John said. "Everyone. Now."
Evan rushed his team into the second jumper without questioning the order.
"Me, too?" Rodney asked hopefully.
John grabbed him by the arm and shoved him up the ramp. "Yes, McKay, you too."
.
.
The redhead was nuts.
Which in itself was an oddity because she couldn't quite understand how associating someone's mental state with a crunchy snack food was a thing. But the more time she spent with the weird woman, the more she began to sense that the weird medical treatments the woman was offering were starting to work.
Or maybe it was the beautiful city sparkling against the black of the night sky.
Or the miles of ocean that lapped happily against the side of the pier.
Or the warm breeze that smelled of salt and felt like a soft caress against her skin.
Or all of it combined.
"Okay," the redhead said, picking up a container filled with a wiggling red substance and handing it over. "Try this one."
Jennifer—the name still sounded weird in her head, but she liked the spin the redhead put on it. Jen sounded nice. Friendly. It made her feel like somewhere inside she was a good person.
Jen took the container, but she squeezed too hard, startling herself when the red goo rose up out of the top. She released her grip and the goo settled. She repeated it several times, giggling as the red stuff popped up and down in the little cup.
There was an incredible collection of strange items spread out across the ground around them, things to eat, things to smell, things to put on and take off. Some of them brought back fuzzy memories, like faded dreams she could almost get a hold of. Other things brought a name and often the face to go with it. And as she picked each one out of the darkness, they didn't fade or give her a headache, but stayed.
Like tiny dots of rain, they were starting to puddle together, forming bigger and bigger pools.
She remembered the city was called Atlantis, but couldn't quite grasp why the name made her think of being stuck underwater. The food called pizza brought memories of another city, this one called Chicago. She thought perhaps she'd been there once, but other than big buildings and a field where people wacked balls with bats and ran around in a tiny square, she couldn't quite grasp when or where.
The scent of a spicy red candle made her remember a childhood holiday with a small tree decorated in lights and a fat guy in a red suit that fell into a fireplace. She thought for sure she had most of it wrong but the redhead was so happy with Jen's explanation she decided she must have gotten it close enough to be partially true.
She could recall objects like computers, tablets, and cellphones. Recite the names of planets and solar systems. Point out parts of the body she couldn't see from the outside but knew exactly where they were on the inside.
There was so much information bouncing around in her head now, but everything seemed to be from before—before they came to this place. Jen knew home was somewhere far away. Through the gate to the stars.
But what she wanted to remember more than anything else, was the now.
She held her spoon above the top and looked at the other woman for confirmation. She'd already made the mistake of trying to eat something that wasn't food, which had the redhead rolling around on the ground laughing and crying until she couldn't breathe.
"Yes," the redhead giggled. "That one you can eat."
Jen poked the goo with her spoon. The first scoop jiggled awkwardly and fell into her lap.
The redhead snatched it up and popped it into her mouth with a grin. "Try again."
Jen took more care and managed to get a piece of the gloop to her mouth. She hesitated only a second before popping it in. She tried to chew it, but quickly realized she could just squish it around with her tongue until it was almost a liquid. It was super sweet, and very, very, good. Smiling, she dug in and finished the tiny container.
"Jello," the redhead said.
"Okay. So…what's this one supposed to make me remember?" Jen asked, slightly disappointed there was no great revelation with the tasty treat.
"Nothing. It's just jello!"
Jen then threw the cup at the other woman. "You're such a spaz," she snorted.
The redhead's eyes widened. "Ohmygod," she exhaled, then squealed and flung her arms around Jen's neck and planted a loud dramatic kiss on her cheek. "You called me SPAZ!"
Jen hugged the woman back. "I did? I did." With the speed of a light switch, Jen immediately knew that the redhead's name was, "Laura."
Laura stiffened and leaned back. She was grinning like a maniac, but her eyes were filling with tears. "Yes ma'am." Then she blinked furiously. "But for you? It's Spaz."
Jen laughed and waved her hand at all the other supplies that had come out of the flying machine the woman had shown up in. "Okay, what's next."
Laura hopped to her feet and started pacing around the mess of items. "Okay, we've done all the food…"
"Good, because I actually think I'm full."
Laura picked up a bottle of clear liquid. "I'd suggest the tequila but I'm not sure booze is good for a head injury."
"Definitely not. And I don't have a head injury. Well, I didn't." Jen prodded her head where the lump had been before, but there was almost no sign of it now. "Okay, maybe I did."
Laura wiggled the bottle and grinned. "Look at you remembering doctor stuff!" She unscrewed the top off and took a healthy swig. Then she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, put the top back on, and set the bottle down.
Jen stood up and tried to get a better perspective at the mess of things scattered about. Everything there had triggered a memory, but she had a lifetime locked away. "At this rate I'll be old and dead before I can remember everything." She looked dejectedly at Laura. "I wish there was a way to just…" she snapped her fingers. "Shake it loose.
Laura blinked. Then she blinked again. She dipped her chin and narrowed her eyes at the back of the flying ship. "Well…" she said slowly. "You know… there might be a way…"
"Anything!" Jen exclaimed.
"I don't know," Laura said, frowning. "I'm not supposed to—"
"Please," Jen hurried through the mess towards the other woman. She grabbed Laura's hands and squeezed tightly, pleading with the woman who she knew now wasn't just a friend. She was a best friend. The kind of friend who would cross a galaxy to help. "Whatever it takes. Please, Spaz. I need this."
Laura's worried expression slowly turned into a smirk, then a full smile, then a diabolical grin.
"Okay," she said with a gleeful laugh as she headed towards the ship. "But just you remember…when the shit hits the fan…this time, it was your idea."
Watching Laura skip happily towards the back of the flying machine, Jen was struck by a crystal-clear thought that when the redhead smiled like that, something really, really, bad was about to happen. Fire and brimstone kind of bad.
Now all she needed to do was remember what the hell was a brimstone.
