Chapter 18: Safe at last.

John was barely aware of what was happening when a bright light enveloped him, he started to panic, until a he felt a soft hand in his and a gentle voice whispering to him.

"John it is alright, we are at the SGC and Carson is going to fix you up."

"Teyla," he whispered, hoping that it was really her.

"Yes John it is me. You are safe now."

He opened his eyes and found that he was in the SGC infirmary with a team of nurses around him tending to his wounds and cutting his clothes off, but none of that mattered, because he was safe and Teyla was with him.

A pair of bright blue eyes came in to view, "we're ready to take you into surgery now Colonel. We'll have you fixed up in a jiffy and when you wake up you'll feel much better."

"Thanks Carson," he whispered not taking his eyes off of Teyla.

He felt an oxygen mask put over his face again and he suspected that Carson had put something in his IV, because it wasn't long before he began to feel drowsy. He kept his eyes on Teyla and when his eyelids began to droop; her face was the final thing he saw before the encroaching darkness enveloped him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After she was transported down to the SGC, Vala found herself in Landry's office again. He had summoned her to meet with him the moment the Hammond was over Colorado Springs. She was worried about what he had to say, because she suspected that the general never really liked her much.

She sat down at his desk and looked at the empty chair opposite her. Typical Landry always making me wait. Standing up she started to look around the room, it had been a while since she'd been here and everything seemed to be in the exact same place as it had been the last time she'd been here.

Landry interrupted her thoughts when he entered the room, "Vala please sit down. I have something I wish to discuss with you?"

She sat down and rolled her eyes at him, before putting on his most charming smile, "What can I do for you General Landry? She asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"I want to thank you for risking your life to save Colonel Sheppard. Not only did you save his life, but you managed to get rid of Athena once and for all."

She was shocked by what Landry had said; he wasn't one to give out the accolades very often, Thankyou..," was all she managed to say.

Landry clasped his hands together and put his hands on his desk and took a deep breath before continuing. "Right, now, I need to ask for your help with something."

"I'm listening," She replied, still using her most charming smile.

"I would like you to work with Charlotte and help her come to terms with what has happened to her. She appears to feel incredibly guilty about what happened to Colonel Sheppard." Landry replied and it was obvious to her he was trying to put on his best smile.

She decided that she wanted to change the subject, "Where's Daniel?"

Landry frowned at her, "Daniel and the rest of SG1 are out on a mission. They are due to return tomorrow, now what is the answer to my question?"

She thought about changing the subject again, but decided that Landry was frustrated enough and she didn't want to make him angry.

"Yes I will help with Charlotte. Where is she now?"

"I have her housed on another level, because at the moment I don't want her anywhere near Colonel Sheppard. I don't know how he's going to react to seeing her here." Landry explained.

"Okay let me know when you want me to start." She said flippantly.

"Take some time to get settled in and you can start as soon as you're ready." He stood up to leave before he continued, "If you ever want your old job back, it's yours. After what you did for us today, you deserve it."

She sat in the chair stunned at what he'd just said, she didn't know whether she wanted to work for the SGC again, but it was certainly something that she would think about.

"Thank you General Landry."

He nodded at her and left the room, leaving her sitting there in stunned silence.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dave rushed through the corridors of the SGC, with Jane following closely behind. He had been contacted by Colonel Carter, to say that they had found John and he was at the SGC undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to his shoulder. She had transported him along with Jane to the Hammond twenty minutes later and then ten minutes ago, they had transported them down to the SGC.

He arrived in the infirmary waiting room a few minutes later to find that Teyla, Rodney, Ronon and a strange woman who he'd never seen before were already there.

He heard her whisper in Ronon's year, "is he a Sheppard, he's as yummy as his brother."

Ronon chuckled, "this is Dave Sheppard and his fiancée Jane."

She winked at him, "Hi I'm Vala and I am definitely pleased to meet you."

He just stared at her with his mouth open, wondering how she was connected to John. He had no idea what to say to her, so he was thankful when Jane introduced herself.

"Hi I'm Jane Dave's fiancée."

"How's John?" He asked when he was finally able to speak again.

"He is still in surgery." Rodney answered in his usual acerbic tone.

Dave glared at him; he couldn't understand how he could be friends with his brother, because Rodney was everything John was not. John was easy going, while Rodney was uptight, John always thought of others, while Rodney seemed selfish and Rodney was downright rude and not matter what he thought of John's manners at times he was never that rude.

He turned to look at Teyla and went to sit down next her, "how long has he been in surgery?"

"Where is Torren?" Teyla asked looking around the room.

He probably should have told her, the answer to that question the minute he'd walked in the room, but his worry for John was weighing heavily on his mind. "We left him with Claudia and Ellie, I hope you don't mind?"

Teyla smiled at him, "I am not worried as long as I know he is being well looked after. If you and Jane trust Ellie and Claudia to look after him then I do too and the answer to question is, It has been a little over two hours now. Carson said that he will let us know as soon he is out of surgery."

Sam walked into the waiting room, looking slightly flustered, "what's up with you Sam?" Rodney asked.

"I have just transported all of the prisoners down to Area 51 and believe me when I say that is a job I am happy to be finished with."

"What will happen to them?" Teyla asked with curiosity.

Sam shrugged her shoulders, "I suspect that they will be imprisoned there for the foreseeable future, while they are interrogated for information about the trust."

Before that conversation was able to continue any further Vala spoke up, "What I want to know is why the Goa'uld healing device doesn't work for me any longer?"

Sam furrowed her brow, "The toxin we gave you was a new and improved version of the original formula. We suspected that it may wipe any Goa'uld genetic markers from a person's system, but until you dropped the toxin we weren't sure…"

"I guess now we have our answer," Rodney interrupted.

Dave sat and listened to the conversation going on around him, no-one had bothered to tell him what or who the Goa'uld were, but he suspected that they were the bad guys and tied up with the trust somehow.

"Who the hell are the Goa'uld and what the hell do they have to do with my brother?!" Dave asked with indignation.

The room fell quiet as everyone turned to stare at him, "can someone please tell me what is going on?" he asked speaking a lot more calmly this time.

"How about I go and get us a plate of sandwiches and some coffee and then we will tell you what is going on." Sam suggested with a small smile.

He nodded; he suspected that they were in for a long wait anyway, given the extent of John's injuries. He felt Jane's hand in his and then he felt Teyla's hand on his shoulder; right now he was glad of the support. These people were his family, as much as they were John's family and after all the years of animosity between John and himself, he was glad that they were part of the same family again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Carson exited the OR and threw his mask in the biohazard bin beside the door. He had been in there for five hours trying to put John's shoulder back together. Once he had fixed the shoulder he'd put John's left wrist and right leg in a cast. He actually felt sorry for John, since he was going to be in for a long recovery yet again.

"Dr Beckett, do you want to go and talk to John's family and friends while I make sure he's settled in the ICU." Carolyn Lam asked him coming out of the OR.

"Thanks Carolyn that would be great."

Carson began the long walk to the waiting room of the SGC infirmary. He never really liked being in the SGC, because it seemed dark and dreary most of the time.

Arriving in the waiting room he wasn't surprised to find everyone was asleep and the remains of a meal were scattered across the table. He longed to be able to sit down and have a meal, but he knew that it would be a while, as he needed to make sure his patient was comfortable before he could go and rest.

Deciding that he needed to talk to Teyla first, he went over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Teyla luv, it's time to wake up."

He watched as she slowly opened her eyes, not wanting to scare her by tapping her shoulder again. The others were waking up now, so he thought that he might as well wait for everyone to be awake before he shared the news.

"How is he Carson?" Dave asked standing up.

"Well we have repaired the damage to his shoulder and he should regain full use of it with extensive physical therapy. His right leg was still not one hundred percent healed, so we have put it in plaster again and his left wrist is broken and we have put that in a cast as well. His temperature seems to be up and his has a deep cough, so were pumping him full of antibiotics to try and prevent pneumonia."

"Thankyou Carson, can we see him now?" Teyla asked standing alongside Dave.

"Aye lass follow me," he turned around and looked at the others, "you can all see him, but I only want two people sitting with him at once."

He was relieved when they all nodded at him, "Come with me, you can have a few minutes each and then I want you all to go and get some proper rest, I know that I will be."

"Please just let us see him?" Dave pleaded.

Carson turned and left the room assuming that everyone else was following. Once he'd checked on John once more he'd decided that he would let Carolyn look after him for a while, so he could go and get a decent night's sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Teyla was the first to enter the area designated as the ICU. She had seen John injured many times, but she never quite got used to John looking so vulnerable, since he was usually such a strong and confident man.

She went up and stood beside his bed and looked for a place to put her hand and all that she could find was his left shoulder.

He looked younger and more innocent in his sleep. Perhaps it was the way he'd looked when he was younger, before he'd seen all the things that he'd seen since he'd joined the Airforce.

"John I am here now. I will sit with you till you awake," she said taking in his injuries as she sat down.

His right shoulder was heavily bandaged and strapped to his side, his left wrist was in a cast to his elbow and placed on pillow and his right leg was in a cast and placed on a large pillow. His face was showing signs of abuse, as there were bruises covering it in varying shades of purple and black. He had and IV in each hand one giving him fluids and the other giving him blood and there was a nasal Cannula under his nose. His colour was whiter than the sheet that was covering him and he looked a little too thin for her liking.

.

Dave came up and sat on the other side of him, "Hey little brother, don't worry I'm here as well and I'm not leaving until you wake up."

"Umm… Sheppard, Dave and Teyla are going to sit with you for a while, so I think I'll go and get some sleep." Rodney said tapping his leg.

Ronon came up and grabbed his good shoulder, "You still owe me a sparring session Sheppard, so you'd better get well soon."

Jane leant in and kissed him on the cheek. "Feel better John."

Vala leant in and whispered in his ear. "Get well soon gorgeous."

"I'll catch you soon John," Sam said, before she turned and left the room.

Teyla sat and watched her friends leave the room. Once they had gone she made herself comfortable in the chair, since she knew that she was in for a long night.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dave woke to a strange barking sound, why is there a dog in here, he thought trying to open his eyes and not succeeding? The barking sound continued and he wondered why he was sleeping in a strange chair. Slowly it all came back to him, he was at the SGC and John was in the infirmary. Opening his eyes he saw that John's bed was surrounded by doctors and nurses. The barking continued and he realised that it was John coughing. "What's going on," he asked with fear in voice?

"He's just having a coughing fit." Carson told him, "The antibiotics we're giving him appear to be working, so I don't think he's going to end up with pneumonia. But he is still very sick and we'll need to monitor him closely over the next few days."

Eventually John's coughing stopped and the medical personnel beside his bed left the room leaving Carson in the room with him.

"Are you sure he's okay Carson that sounded pretty bad?"

"Aye laddie, his temperature is not too high and believe it or not his cough is sounding better than it was when he had pneumonia when he first got here."

Dave looked at Carson with his eyes open wide, "but what if he gets worse again?"

"It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen, so why don't you go and get some rest while we do our jobs and look after John."

He looked around the room and realised that Teyla was no longer there and he seemed to remember Carson say that he was going to have a rest.

He rubbed his temples feeling another headache coming on, "I thought that you were going to have a rest Carson and where is Teyla?"

"Believe it or not that was six hours ago Dave, I have only just come back on duty and I have just sent Teyla to get some rest."

"I don't want to leave him in case he wakes up." Dave told him with determination in his voice.

"He won't be waking up for a while yet lad, since we're keeping him sedated for a while longer, to give his shoulder a chance to start healing."

"Are you sure Carson, because I want to be here when he wakes up?"

He felt Carson's intense gaze upon him and decided not to push it further. He was beginning to feel tired anyway and he was sure that Dr Young would have a fit if she knew that he'd slept in a chair all night rather than resting at home.

Dave opened his mouth daring to ask one more question, "what if he wakes up and he's alone?"

"Rodney and Ronon will be he soon and once you've had at least six hours sleep you can come back and sit with him again. Please believe me when I say he won't be waking up anytime soon and don't think that you can hide that headache from me, so off to bed with you before you end up in the infirmary under my supervision."

Dave sighed, he knew that it was definitely time to go; he probably needed to see Jane and let her know how John was anyway. Reluctantly he stood up and waved at Carson before leaving the room.

He slowly walked back to the room that the SGC had provided for him and Jane, he had no idea what time it was, but he was wondering if he should go and have some breakfast before he went for a rest. He looked down at his wrist looking for his watch and he soon remembered that he'd left it at home.

Arriving at his room he entered and found that Jane was still in bed, so he crawled in alongside of her fully clothed, which is something he never did at home, because he didn't want to wake up with crumpled clothes.

Rolling over to cuddle her, he got the shock of his life when he rolled onto a large ginger cat and the cat wasn't happy at being squashed, so it lashed out and clawed him, while it let out a screeching sound, then it just sat staring at him and hissing.

"Why the hell is there a cat in the bed!?" he yelled with indignation, as he jumped out of the bed.

Jane rolled over and looked up at him sheepishly, "apparently when they rescued John, Puss didn't seem to want to leave John, so they just beamed him up as well."

He raised his eyebrow at her,"Puss?"

"Yeah that's what John called him before he lost consciousness." Jane smirked.

"And why is he in our bed?" He asked feeling frustrated.

She almost seemed to be channelling John's puppy dog look as she answered. "Sam didn't know what to do with him, so she asked me if we could look after him until John woke up and for some reason he seems to like me."

He gave her an intense glare. "Will you stop looking at me like that Jane?"

Dave almost laughed as a look of confusion crossed her face. "What am I doing wrong?"

Puss didn't seem to like the way Dave looked at her, so he hissed even louder, "Am I going to be able to come to bed tonight or is that cat going to claw me to death before I get a chance?"

"I'm sure Puss will let you come to bed if you give him a nice pat and are gentle with him." Jane suggested, giving Puss a belly rub.

Dave sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. He headed over to the bed and cautiously climbed in the bed next to Puss; the cat eyed him wearily, but didn't attack. Rubbing his tummy he was relieved that Puss started to purr at him. Relieved that he might actually be able to get some sleep, he cuddled up to Jane the best he could with a large ginger cat between them and it wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

John was coalescing in the darkness when he heard a strange tapping sound, he had no idea where he was or how long he'd been there, but one thing he knew for sure was there was dull ache in his shoulder. It wasn't too bad at the moment, but he suspected that if he were to try and find out what the tapping sound was the pain would notch up several levels.

The tapping continued and his head started to hurt, he knew that if it didn't stop soon his head would split in two, so with great effort he managed to open his eyes and to his annoyance Rodney was in the room tapping away on his computer.

He lay still trying to alleviate the pain behind his eyes and quell the nausea in his stomach, telling himself not to speak, but he somehow had make Rodney stop making that aggravating noise.

"Rodney," he whispered, knowing that if he spoke much louder he would probably be sick.

The tapping continued and his head and shoulder felt worse, "Rodney, he said a little louder.

Rodney just continued on with what his was doing, oblivious to the fact that he was awake.

He knew that he wasn't going to get Rodney's attention by whispering, so this time he had to yell, which made his stomach lurch. "Rodney can you stop that dam tapping my head is about to explode and that noise isn't helping!?"

"Sheppard, it's good to see that you're awake, I just need to go and get Carson. He wanted to know when you were awake."

John just lay there trying to keep his stomach from expelling its meagre contents. For a while he was succeeding until Jane came in with a cup of coffee and the smell was definitely too much for his stomach. Trying to roll on his side, he lost his stomach contents all over the floor.

He lay back in the bed moaning, because his shoulder felt like someone was driving a sword through it and his head definitely felt as if it was going to split in two.

He vaguely heard Jane's voice pervade his consciousness, "John are you okay? Don't worry Carson is on his way."

"I'm fine," he whispered, not really wanting Jane to start fussing over him.

"How are you doing Laddie?" Carson asked a little too loudly, when he entered the room.

"Please keep the volume down Carson," he practically begged?"

"Sorry son, do you have a headache?"

"Yes and my shoulder is on fire, can you get me cleaned up and give me something, so that I can just go back to sleep until everything is healed?"

"Okay Colonel, let's get you cleaned up and then I'll get you something for the pain."

He nodded and immediately regretted it when his vision blurred and black dots started to dance in front of his eyes.

He barely noticed it when the nurses came to clean him up a few minutes later and he was relieved when Carson emptied his pain meds into the IV.

Once the Pain in his head and shoulder were muted he looked around the room and noticed that Carson and Jane were the only ones that were with him.

"Where's Rodney," he whispered?

Carson shurugged his shoulders, "I don't think he appreciated you being sick all over the place."

"I do know someone who really wants to see you though and I think he actually prefers you to Dave."

"Who?"

"Puss wasn't too impressed when Dave tried to come to bed last night and I was afraid that Dave would have to find another room to sleep in."

He chuckled despite the pain, "Thanks for looking after him Jane, I don't know whether I'll be able to take him back to Atlantis or not, but for a short time he was the only friend I had inside that compound and I guess he felt that way about me too that's why he didn't want to leave me." He had tears brimming in his eyes by the time he'd finished.

"Don't worry about anything right now lad, just close your eyes and go back to sleep. I'm sure that when you wake up again you'll feel much better." Carson soothed.

He felt Jane's hand on his shoulder and for the moment he felt safe, knowing that he was home among his family and friends, so he just closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off into a peaceful sleep.

TBC…