Chapter 21: Things are looking grim.

It had been almost an hour since Woolsey had left the infirmary and in that time he had contacted Jonah from the Council of Giants and Ladon Radim and neither of them had ever heard of a giant having telepathic abilities. They had promised him that they would research the matter further though, as they were both wanting to do whatever they could to help.

After he had spoken to both leaders he had put the matter out of his mind and gone back to his normal mundane work. He had been at it for around ten minutes when his com activated.

He tapped his earpiece and was surprised to find it was Dr Beckett contacting him.

"What can I do for You Dr Beckett?"

"I'm just letting you know that Colonel Sheppard had a massive seizure twenty minutes ago and we have just conducted a brain scan and hooked him up to an EEG."

Woolsey sighed, this was not good news, he really needed his military commander back to one 100% health as quickly as possible and none of this was helping. "What have you found Dr Beckett?"

"Well the electrical impulses in his brain are way above what they should be for a man who is unconscious."

"Do you have any idea what is causing this?"

"At this point, my guess is it's probably an ancient device. Have you had any luck finding out if giants are known to have telepathy?"

"I've spoken with both Ladon Radim and Jonah and they both assure me that it is not a common trait amongst the giants. They are going to do some more research and question Goliath further, but for now we have nothing."

"Okay I'll contact Rodney and see how he is going with his research, Beckett out."

"Keep me informed, Woolsey out."

After breaking the connection with Beckett he really felt as if he needed to know what was going on as soon as possible, but he didn't want to have to contact Jonah or Ladon so soon, but he felt as if he really didn't have much of a choice.

He stood up and was just about to contact Ladon again when his com activated, tapping his earpiece he found Amelia at the other end, "What can I do for you Amelia?"

"I have a transmission from Todd for you."

"Okay put him through to my office and thanks Amelia."

"You're welcome Sir and I'm just putting him through now."

He sat down just in time to see Todd's face appear on his computer screen. "What can I do for you Todd?"

"I understand that JJohn SShheppard is still unconscious and having nightmares?"

Woolsey flinched as Todd barred his crooked yellow teeth into what he could only describe as a grimace. "Yes that is true and how do you know about it?"

"I have my sources, but the reason I am calling is to offer my help."

The last comment got Woolsey's interest, "how can you help?"

"I know of a device, which is inserted into a person's brain, so that they can be manipulated and controlled."

"And how does one control the device?"

"It is a Wraith device, so someone with Wraith DNA needs to activate it."

"Well they couldn't have used that then, unless they had a pet wraith on hand."

Todd's weird grin lit up the screen again, "unless one of the giants has some Wraith DNA don't forget that my people experimented on many races eons ago."

"Okay I'm listening. What do you propose?"

"I will come aboard Atlantis and work with Drs' Beckett and McKay to try and find the device and then I can switch it off remotely."

"Where are you now?"

"I am on one on my hive ships."

Okay, give us five minutes and then you can beam down and help."

"I'll see you then Mr Woolsey."

Todd's face disappeared from the screen and Woolsey wasn't at all happy, the wraith was a brilliant scientist, but he didn't really want to have to deal with him again so soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

John was walking through the forest in a set of hospital scrubs, he had no idea how he'd gotten there and he had no idea why he wasn't dressed. He looked around hoping to find someone who could answer his questions, but he saw no-one. He had a real sense of déjàvu about this scenario and he couldn't work out if it was real or if he was having a nightmare. He had a sneaking suspicion that he'd been in this situation more than once recently and in the back of his addled brain he suspected that it was a nightmare that became worse each time he had it.

When he heard the ghostly sound whistling through the trees and walked through the menacing darkness, he knew that he had been here before. The only problem was that he had no idea when, but he still felt compelled to continue, despite the fact that in his mind he didn't really want too. Up ahead he saw a light and he headed towards it. As he got closer to the light and saw a clearing in the distance, he became anxious. Who would he find when he got there; hopefully a friendly face.

Upon entering the clearing he had a good look around and saw absolutely nothing. That was good, so against his better judgement he decided to sit down and enjoy the fire that was already lit. It looked like a big bonfire and he wondered why someone would light such a huge fire and then walk away and leave it.

Suddenly he heard a branch snapping behind him and he turned around to see the biggest giant he had ever seen coming towards him and as he looked into the giants face he saw that it was Goliath. He turned the other way to try and run, but he saw two more giants coming towards him and they must have been thirty feet tall, joining these giants was a slightly smaller female giant with a baby, he looked at her face and saw that it was Teyla and the baby was Torren and if that wasn't terrifying enough he saw that the two largest giants were Ronan and Rodney. Rodney started taunting him and Teyla joined in. Then he felt himself being lifted in to the air towards Ronon's mouth only this time he didn't wake up, he felt himself falling down a deep dark hole and what disturbed him the most was that he just kept on falling, the darkness permeated his entire being and all he could do was surrender to it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ronon had spent the afternoon sparring with marines and he decided that seeing it was almost dinner time he would go and see Sheppard before he met Teyla in the mess hall. They had arranged it earlier in the day and he was really looking forward to sharing a meal with her and Torren. Even though he had been on Atlantis for four years now there was still only two people on Atlantis who truly understood him, one of them was Teyla and the other one was John Sheppard.

John had offered him a home when he'd rescued him from the life of a runner. Ronon had spent seven years being chased by the wraith, just for their pleasure and he swore that he wouldn't rest until every last wraith had been wiped from the galaxy; except for Todd of course.

He knew that Sheppard and Teyla shared a similar sentiment, so he was proud and honoured to be on the same team as them.

Arriving at the infirmary he walked past the doctors' office and was surprised to see that they weren't there. I wonder what's going on. His first thought was that something was wrong with Sheppard, so he raced down the corridor to find that both doctors were there and attaching leads to Sheppard's head.

He grabbed Carson by the arm and spun him around, "what the hell is wrong with him!?"

"We're not sure. All we know is that he keeps on having the same nightmare over and over and he's just had a seizure." Carson answered patting him on the arm.

"Well do you know what's causing it or not!?" He asked in a forceful voice.

"We're not 100% sure, but we think that it has something to do with an ancient device, or that giant Goliath did something to him when he was in the infirmary visiting Colonel Sheppard."

Ronon wasn't happy and he could feel his anger rising, "Well what are you going to do about it!?"

It was Jennifer who answered him this time. "We're doing all that we can. Rodney is researching ancient artifacts, Woolsey in contacting the Giants to see if they have telepathic abilities and we are monitoring him the best we can."

He felt much better after Jennifer's explanation, "can I sit with him for a while?" he asked in a much calmer tone.

"Sure why don't you go ahead and if you need anything Carson and I will be in our office," Jennifer explained while turning to head out the door.

Before she got very far, John started to yell and thrash about. Ronon stood up and held his leg as his muscles began to twitch and convulse.

"He's seizing again!" Carson yelled as he grabbed his head.

Jennifer sprang into motion and injected an anticonvulsant into his IV port, slowly the convulsions ceased and John was quiet again.

"What the hell was that!?" Ronon thundered.

"He's had another seizure." Carson explained while checking John's vitals.

"All I know is we'd better find a solution soon or he may end up with brain damage if he has another seizure." Jennifer explained to them with sadness.

Ronon looked down at his friend lying in the bed. Why did these things always happen to him? Sheppard was a good man, who only wanted to protect the innocent.

Ronon looked at the two doctors and then at Sheppard, he really wanted to stay with him, but he had promised Teyla that he would have dinner with her. "Well I have to meet Teyla for dinner, when I have finished I'll be coming back to sit with him for as long as it takes."

"I'll sit and keep an eye on him until then," Carson offered.

"Thanks," Ronon muttered, as he left the room and headed to the mess hall to meet Teyla. He knew that she would be worried, so he owed it to Sheppard too keep an eye on her. He knew that Sheppard and Teyla had recently admitted their feelings for one another and he really hoped that they would get a chance to explore those feelings in the future. If anything happened to Sheppard he knew that Teyla would be devastated. That is why he would do everything in his power to protect Teyla no matter what happened.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rodney had been in his lab all afternoon looking over the devices that they'd brought back from the Scavengers headquarters and he couldn't find a thing that would affect Sheppard in any way that would be detrimental to his health.

Radek had been in and out all day bringing him sandwiches and making him coffee and he had even sent Major Lorne back to the planet to see if he could find some more devices, but he still had nothing.

H was startled out of his thoughts when Radek started talking loudly in his heavily accented voice, "how is it going Rodney, do you want to go down to the mess hall for some dinner, or would you like me to bring you something back to the lab."

Rodney looked up at the little scientist with a frown, "No Radek I don't want to go down to the mess hall. I have been here all afternoon and I've found squat, so if it's all the same to you I will stay here until I find something that can help Colonel Sheppard!" Rodney felt his anger rising by the time he had finished

"Okay sandwiches it is then," Radek replied softly.

Rodney managed to calm down as he spoke to his friend again, "thanks Radek, some sandwiches would be great and I'd really like some coffee too."

Radek nodded and left the room.

Looking back at his computer again, he picked up another of the devices that Major Lorne had just brought back. It was the tenth device that he had researched in the last hour and he didn't think that he would have any more luck with this one than he'd had with any of the others.

Five minutes later when the computer screen was beginning to blur, he heard heavy footsteps as someone entered his lab, turning around expecting to see Ronon, he was surprised to see Major Lorne standing there with Todd.

He stood up, looked at the wraith and addressed him sarcastically, "Todd what an unexpected pleasure."

"It's good to see you again Dr McKay," hissed Todd, with a crooked smile.

Rodney rolled his eyes and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I am here to help with JJohn SSShhheppard."

"Yes well and exactly how is it you can help this time?" Rodney asked with as much patience as he could muster given the circumstances.

"I believe I know what is affecting JJohn SSShhheppard, so if you will allow me to sit down I will explain."

Rodney just stood there with his mouth open watching as Todd started looking through his computer, "please sit down?" He muttered under his breath.

Rodney sat down next to him as Major Lorne left the room; he was amazed by how quickly the wraith worked. It's good to have him on our side, he thought to himself for the second time in a week.

Watching him work was like being hypnotised, so as he watched he felt his eyes drooping and five minutes later he was fast asleep with his head on the desk in front of him.

TBC…