-hands out pennies to all reviewers-

Thank you so much. These 'review' things are strangely addictive.

emergencyfan- glad to hear it! 'Cause lord knows how many times I've been hooked to one of your fics. (:
nebbyJ- Think it's a good ol' fashioned fic, eh? (: Well, thank you!
angw- answers? Hmm... methinks you'll just have more questions after this chapter.

--Right-o, here's numba' 4:

(4)

.

I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling as thoughts of the tedious field reports swam in my head, denying me sleep. By far, the worse had been Kavanagh's. Describing every little thing, complaining about his various coworkers, even to go as far as criticizing the tools he was using -- and his report had been as long as six others put together.

Ugh. Just reading it had been almost as bad as talking to him in person.

I turned over onto my side, trying to get more comfortable by alleviating the pain from the back of my neck that I hadn't noticed before. Sighing, I glanced over at my watch resting on the bedside table.

Four. That meant I'd been laying awake in bed for over three hours.

Damn.

I threw the blankets off, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and rubbing the heels of my hands over my eyes. I was tired, yes, but it's not like I'd never had sleepless nights before. Especially after what happened with Gaul… and then there was Koyla…

I stood; freeing myself of those depressing thoughts and figuring a nice hot shower would refresh me enough to take on the day. I shuffled towards the bathroom in only my boxers, mussing up my hair and yawning deeply.

Well, as long as this day was nothing like yesterday.

-

It happened when I was in the shower.

Standing under the cascade of hot water, steam billowing all around me, I suddenly heard music. It was muffled, though, on account of the water pounding all around me, but I could make out that it was definitely an Earth tune, and it was definitely familiar.

Intrigued, and since I was pretty much finished anyway, I pressed my hand against the Ancient control that controlled the faucet.

Uptown girl …She's been living in her uptown world…

Listening, I tilted my head slightly to the side. The song was much clearer now without the water.

I bet she never had a back street guy …I bet her mama never told her why…

Stepping out of the shower, I grabbed a towel off the small hook hanging from the wall, wrapping it around my waist and starting to get a bit nervous. The music that seemed to be coming from nowhere still played on.

As long as anyone with hot blood can… And now she's looking for a downtown man…

I glanced around anxiously, looking for a radio or something it could be originating from, maybe Sheppard pulling a prank on me? although I knew it actually couldn't - it was much too clear sounding for that.

And when she knows what… She wants from her time…

I dressed quickly, decidedly unnerved that the music was still playing strong. This wasn't like when you remember a song and it becomes stuck in your head. This was like someone had crawled into my head, set up a radio with Billy Joel's CD, and pressed repeat.

And when she wakes up… And makes up her mind …She'll see I'm not so tough…

Okay - time for Beckett.

I resisted the urge to smack my head as I ran from my room - as if that would've stopped it.

-Carson had better be in the med lab.

The halls were nearly empty, what with it still being so early; I only saw two people and they just glanced at me curiously as I ran by.

Oh God, the song was getting louder.

Just because I'm in love with an uptown girl…You know I've seen her in her uptown world…

I reached the med lab, going so fast I skidded to a stop, sliding right past it. Spinning around, I opened the door yelling, "Carson! Carson! Where are -- "

"Aye! I'm here, what is it Rodney?" His gruff voice sounded from the little lab in the adjoining room, sounding drained, cluing me into the fact that he'd probably pulled an all-nighter too.

She's getting tired of her high class toys… And all her presents from her uptown boys…

Any thoughts of sympathy for Carson vanished with that, though. Barging into his lab, I immediately explained my terrifying situation to him. At the end of my little diatribe, he asked from his seat in front of his desk, "An' you say it's getting progressively louder?"

I nodded furiously, "Yes! Yes it is! What's going on? Why -- "

He held up a hand, actually silencing me; though that technique had never worked before. Man, I was feeling out of it. "Sit down." He pointed to the only other chair in the room.

Seeing no reason to argue with him, I sat.

He looked exceptionally grim when he said, "I'll be right back." He closed some books he'd apparently been reading before rising to his feet. "Don't worry." he added as he disappeared out the door.

I wrung my hands, biting back a sarcastic remark about the 'don't worry' thing. What was going on? Why was this happening? I didn't even like Billy Joel!

-

Five minutes later- and I knew, counting it fixatedly, trying anything to distract myself from the fact that a song kept repeating over and over again in my head- Beckett returned with Major Sheppard in tow, still dressed in sleeping attire and with probable bed-head. You could never be sure with him.

I was too freaked out to even ask why he'd brought John along. The song was getting really distracting now-- cheerful clapping not excluded.

You know I can't afford to buy her pearls…But maybe someday when my ship comes in…

They both stared down at me in the chair, with Beckett looking upset and Sheppard… I don't know. He looked strangely stoic- no emotion.

"Well? Are you going to fix me?" I asked after a moment, looking from one face to the other, thoughtlessly wiping away drips of water from my cheek that had run down from my wet hair.

Beckett started to say something, but suddenly I couldn't hear him - the music had abruptly cranked up to a much louder volume.

AND WHEN SHE'S WALKING… SHE'S LOOKING SO FINE… AND WHEN SHE'S TALKING…

"What!" I yelled over the song, waving at my ears in distress, "I can't hear you!"

They exchanged a worried look, then John turned back to me, yelling, though I could barely make it out, "Don't worry, it'll… it'll probably go away soon!"

AND WHEN SHE'S TALKING…SHE'LL SAY THAT SHE'S MINE… SHE'LL SAY I'M NOT S0…

"What the fuck!" I yelled, the song booming and echoing throughout my head. This was really bad. I always tried to restrain myself from using profanity-- though, for some reason, I didn't much care about that right now. "How do you know!" I turned back to Beckett, demanding desperately, "Fix me!"

Carson closed his eyes, pinching his lips together tightly. Then he said something to Sheppard it seemed, because John waved his arms about in an alarmed manner.

I stood, knocking the chair to the floor in my abruptness; my hands were clapped over my ears now. A futile attempt to stem the music. "This is…" I gasped, "I can't!"

Not even able to complete my thoughts -- the song was reaching deafening heights.

SHE'LL SAY I'M NOT SO TOUGH…JUST BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE… WITH AN UPTOWN GIRL…

Some one's hand was touching my arm; apparently I'd closed my eyes, because I had no idea who it was, nor did I care. It was painful, this all-encompassing noise.

SHE'S BEEN LIVING IN HER WHITE BREAD WORLD AS LONG AS ANYONE WITH HOT BLOOD CAN--

Silence.

The song stopped.

"… at him!" I slowly registered that Carson was in the middle of a sentence, apparently yelling at John, "Is it wor--" he stopped, noticing my sudden change in demeanor, "Rodney," he placed a worried hand on my shoulder, "can ya' hear me?"

I had taken my hands away from my ears slowly-- tentatively even.

"It -- " I swallowed nervously, glancing around, "It stopped."

They both looked immensely relieved.

"Good." Beckett said, though he didn't smile as he usually would, "Are you feeling all right?"

"No!" I cried, bringing a shaky hand over my eyes, "No I'm not! Why the hell was Billy Joel playing in my head like that?"

I think if I hadn't been so distraught John might've commented on the Billy Joel thing. But he didn't, instead he said, "That's very strange."

Staring at him in disbelief, I dropped the hand. Was that… all he was going to say?

He looked away.

I wrote him off as unimportant right now. Turning to the resident doctor: "Surely you can run some tests, or do some scans, or…" I waved my hands wildly, "or come on, you fill the blank here!"

He sighed, taking his hand from my shoulder, "Yes. I can do that. Come on." I eagerly followed him back into the med lab, with John trailing behind us.

Beckett directed me to sit on a bed.

"Carson…" John said carefully from his new post by the door.

"Don't worry Major." Beckett spat, not even looking at him. Then he said much more kindly to me, "Just a moment. I have to get some supplies."

After he disappeared into his lab, I raised my eyebrows at John, asking, "What was that all about?"

John made an attempt at smiling lightly, but failed miserably. "Oh you know. The usual." He glanced at the lab door Beckett had gone through. "I'm gonna' go hit the shower." he told me, already leaving.

He paused in the doorway though, saying in an uncharacteristically understanding tone, "You… you hang in there, all right?"

I gave him the a-ok symbol. "Beckett will fix it." I said, managing to sound more confident then I felt. He had to. There was simply no alternative.

John nodded.

The doors slid shut behind him.

---

---

tbc