Disclaimer - I do not own SGA or its Characters. I do own Dr. Orla Grant.
Rated T for violence & threat.
This chapter is dedicated to LMBX. I had to add your imaginings. I hope you like it.
"Unscheduled off-world activation," Chuck announced.
Richard Woolsey heard the announcement and stepped out from behind his desk. As he came alongside Chuck he said, "Any IDC?"
"Yes, Sir. Dr. Beckett's IDC, Sir," Chuck replied.
"Lower the shields," Woolsey replied and began to descend the small staircase to the gate room floor.
As the wormhole settled the lone figure of Dr. Carson Beckett strode into the gate room.
"Dr. Beckett, it's good to have you back. How was the fishing?" Woolsey asked his face stoic masking his internal anxieties.
"Very good thank you, Mr Woolsey. Caught a space trout as I like to call it, released her back into the waters though," Carson beamed.
"I'm afraid there's been a little activity during your absence."
"Activity?" Beckett sighed, could he not have a day to enjoy his fishing without something happening.
"Let me explain," Woolsey proceeded to recount to the Chief Medical Officer everything that had occurred over the course of the day.
"Who the bloody hell thought it was a good idea to let a heavily pregnant woman go for a walk in an approaching storm?" Carson raged.
"We didn't know about the storm at the time, doctor and it was me who agreed to the visit,"
"Oh, I see. You are aware of Dr. Grant's ability to attract trouble? Well. I shall leave the fall-out from Ronon with you then, Mr Woolsey. I better ready the infirmary for any impending trouble. Now, if you will excuse me."
"Not so fast, doctor. We've had some direct deliveries from the SGC for the infirmary and for yourself. The Daedalus has been kept on Earth for emergency work to be completed. Any delays in shipments via The Daedalus would mean Atlantis wouldn't be able to replenish any medical supplies for over two months and therefore the SGC decided to send all supplies through the Stargate. The additional medical supplies you requested arrived at the same time meaning storage issues. They're now waiting for you within the infirmary, I'd appreciate it if a home for them could be found to avoid any potential accidents." Woolsey readjusted his glasses before turning to ascend the staircase to his office.
"What?" Carson asked confused at what could have caused difficulties. He tried to think of anything he'd ordered recently. He'd only… "crap," was the only word he said before he began to run down the corridors heading for the infirmary.
As Carson entered the infirmary, he could see the boxes stacked along the rear of the infirmary. Marie strode purposefully towards him, her expression showing she was less than happy.
"Marie, love, everything okay?" Beckett tried to sound reasonable.
"Actually, Dr. Beckett, no. What exactly have you ordered? They've taken over the infirmary," she turned to point at the large stack of boxes to the rear of the infirmary.
"Can we not put some into the usual storage cupboards?" Carson hoped.
"They're full with our normal medical delivery. We had no idea what these boxes are but as they had your name on them, we thought it best to let you see them first," Marie explained.
"Leave it with me," Carson said as he moved towards the boxes at the rear of the infirmary. He grabbed at the nearest box, it had his name and the company logo. No, No, No, he thought to himself. "I'll be back Marie, I just need to check something in my quarters," Carson shouted as he headed out of the infirmary hastily for his quarters.
As he entered his quarters Carson instantly reached for his laptop and fired it up. Whilst waiting for the device to connect to the Atlantis systems which were similar to a WIFI system, in that it allowed the transmission of information to be stored within a hub to be sent at a later time to the SGC via a data burst. He'd been communicating with Colonel Carter over the order he wanted to place for some time. She'd checked suppliers on Earth he recommended and found what Carson had been looking for. She'd sent him a screen shot within an email of what she'd found. In turn, Carson replied with his order and payment details. How could she have gotten the order so wrong? He quickly glanced at the email he'd sent. The error was his for sure. Instead of ordering two boxes he'd ordered two hundred, somehow. He closed his eyes and swore under his breath.
Carson trudged back into the infirmary and headed for the boxes at the rear. He took the nearest box and looked at the supplier, Amazon. He'd expected them, to arrive on The Daedalus in the weeks to come. He opened the box and removed the package, opened it to reveal his order.
Marie tentatively approached Dr Beckett and looked over his shoulder at the order and began to laugh, "seriously?"
"I'll have you know, Marie. These are very much appreciated by the younger generation."
"Who did you intend these for?"
"Ronon and Orla's baby. Thought as the wee young bairn grows, they might appreciate something less severe than we have in the infirmary. Problem is I think I miss ordered and now we have a life time's supply for all of Atlantis," Carson cringed as he looked at the pile of boxes.
"I think it's sweet, but we may need to use some on our other casualties otherwise we'll never be able to get rid of them," Marie answered trying not to smirk.
"I know, best we add them to the regular supply," Carson admitted flushed with embarrassment, he could see Marie's attempt to keep a straight face.
"Do you think the Marines will say anything?" Marie snickered.
"If they're really so tough, then a Care Bear band aid won't phase them."
"What about Ronon?"
"Maybe regular band aids for the big man," Carson replied as he and Marie burst into fits of laughter at the sight of two hundred boxes of Care Bear band aids.
Laura reached the opening to the small cave, adrenalin powered by worry and fear for everyone keeping her going despite everything. She easily spotted Orla and came to kneel beside her.
"Good news," Laura joked as she unclipped her P90 and removed her TAC Vest. "Jen says you have hours of this to come."
Orla scowled at Laura, the contraction ripping through her.
"No, no don't get upset. Come on, you're not a wuss, we can do this. Okay, you can do this and I'll be here to cheer you on," Cadman smiled. "Oh, come on, what are you going to do, punch me? You don't have the strength to waste."
"Don't tempt me, Laura!"
"Fine, Jen told me where the drugs are. Well, the gas stuff but you can't have that yet, she said to wait a bit. Besides, you can't push until you resemble a bagel."
"What?"
"You were like an Oreo before, right? Down there. Jen says you should be bagel size before you push. You also realise I may never eat bagels and Oreo's again, not without…," Laura squirmed.
Orla stared at Laura as though she'd lost her mind. It then occurred to her looking at the woman sat beside her that she was scared and cold too and that she was using her humor to get all of them through their situation. Instead she said, "I think you need a foil blanket too, Jen have any more?"
"This?" Cadman waved her hand at the storm raging outside the cave. "This is nothing, my basic training was far worse."
"It was?"
"No, not really," Cadman began to laugh. "Look, I need to time your contractions okay," she removed her watch and handed it over to Orla. "After your next contraction start timing them," Cadman fidgeted she tried to get as comfortable as possible on the cave floor. "Could really use a fire but everything is soaked," she rambled.
"The jumper has emergency supplies, maybe you could…," Orla began.
"Hold your horses, if there was another able-bodied person here to watch over you and Jen, I would go but I can't risk something happening to either of you. I'm not leaving you both alone."
"All right folks, let's get moving. Storms getting worse and it's going to be harder to get up to the retrieval site. I've got a good idea where we're headed but I need you to be extra careful you don't become a liability. That means look where you put your feet, keep your head down and watch the back of the person in front," Sheppard hoisted his bags onto his shoulder. "You sure you're gonna be okay, doc?" Sheppard looked directly at Dr. Biro.
Biro didn't say a thing, she didn't allow her worries to be vocalised, instead she smiled thinly and nodded.
"I'll be fine, Sheppard, we need…" Rodney stopped talking as he realised the conversation hadn't been directed his way.
Sheppard retrieved a similar small back pack from Puddle Jumper 1 storage that he'd taken from jumper 2. He stood, turned to Ronon and offered the man the back pack. "We might need these," was all he said before he looked at the rest of the group and continued, "let's go," Sheppard ordered shaking his head as he punched the jumper's door release.
The wind had increased causing the rain to come down almost horizontally. Checking the data pad one more time, Sheppard nodded at his team mates and bowed his head to the wind and rain stepping forward almost swaying on his feet as he did. Turning around he watched as Biro and McKay left the jumper swaying as Sheppard had but managed to stay on their feet. He wasn't worried about Ronon, it would take more than a storm to stop the big guy.
They moved on; heads bowed. Sheppard felt occasionally the small hand of the doctor behind him reach out to hold onto him for stability. He'd pause to allow her to right herself before they moved on. The further they moved on Sheppard had to grit his teeth against the storm as he tried to keep looking ahead for their direction. The light was fading, the storm blocking the sun. The path through the wooded area was well worn but not without dangers.
Rodney kept his head bent against the wind, he couldn't see through the rain and wondered if it was a solider thing that allowed Sheppard and Ronon to see. His foot caught on the rough path; he began to stumble until he felt a meaty paw behind him grab at his TAC vest stopping him from falling further. He was hoisted back onto his feet in one swift movement. Rodney turned to see the large frame of Ronon standing behind him, beckoning him to move on with his slightly bent head.
As they finally passed the wooded area into a scrub land, Sheppard knew they had to be near the site. He stopped and turned to speak to the group. Almost instantly, Dr. Biro walked straight into him almost knocking him over. She had a lot of determination for someone so small. Sheppard slowed the almost unstoppable doctor, trying to yell at the others in turn so they wouldn't slam into him either. He saw Ronon notice him and watched as the Satedan grabbed at the back of Rodney's TAC vest bringing him to a halt.
Sheppard knew based on the storm and distance Ronon was from him shouting would be pointless. He held up the data pad and pointed off the track to the left into the scrub land. As soon as Ronon acknowledged his intent he looked down at the doctor and pointed off the road to their destination.
A few minutes later they arrived at the site of three large walls, there was nobody to be seen. As they all gathered around the site, Sheppard moved over to Ronon's side. "They're probably safe inside a shelter. We've just got to find them," he turned towards McKay, "Rodney, can you find anyone on that Life signs detector?"
Rodney pulled out the device from the inside of his TAC vest and began to tweak it. He scowled as he did so, the storm not so much hampering the device but the user. He spotted two white dots away from the site. Turning to Sheppard and Ronon he shouted, "Two dots," he held up two fingers. "That way, nearby," he pointed in the direction of the trap.
Jennifer was shuddering with the cold, she'd been praying hard for the last few minutes as Lorne's unconscious body was beginning to slip, albeit slowly further down the stakes with the softening of the trap wall. She didn't have the physical strength to hold Lorne up. if he continued to move further down the stakes there was nothing, she could do. She rechecked his pulse. It was getting weaker. She could keep him unconscious but she had to watch he didn't in turn react against too much Morphine.
Her fingers shook, they were cold, and prune like from the rain. Her lips were turning blue and she was very pale. The blankets kept her internal core temperature but her extremities were beginning to suffer. She shuffled in the growing water; she could no longer feel her toes. She couldn't leave Lorne to die, not even to save herself. Laura was with Orla so she just had to do something to save Lorne.
"Are you sure, Rodney, there's nothing here but scrub?" Sheppard demanded, he looked at the life signs detector himself. "Alright, lead on, McKay."
"Aren't you the leader?" McKay responded shoving the device into Sheppard's hands.
"Fine, Ronon, you're with me, you two stay behind us," Sheppard glared at McKay as he unhooked his P90.
Ronon shoved the incubator into Rodney's arms, "don't drop it," was all he said as he came to stand alongside Sheppard. He rechecked his particle gun.
The small group moved on towards the two dots, with weapons ready for anything.
TBC ...