A BEE IN THE BONNET
By NotTasha -- again.. thank you for the lovely comments. :-) You've been so kind
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PART 13: UNCOMFORTABLE READINGS

"Come on, Rodney, I know that was you," Sheppard called, kneeling on the floor, near that black mark. "Make a sound… come on… make a sound." And he closed his eyes, listening.

There was a thumping, a clatter, and Sheppard held his breath, hoping… but the noise grew louder, coming toward him and he lifted his head to see a small army running toward him.

Beckett and Grodin were in the lead – both carried a case, one medical and the other technical. Teyla was outpacing them, nearly flying down the corridor. Marines were with them, along with Weir, pushing her way forward from behind.

"They're here," Sheppard whispered. "We'll get you out of there. I promise." And he patted the floor as if he could comfort the man beneath it.

Most stopped a few feet from him, looking in disbelief as Sheppard crouched, as if they were afraid to stand on that portion of the walkway. Teyla came all the way, kneeling beside him. She gave him a hopeful look, and squeezed his arm.

"Is he all right?" Weir asked, as she stared apprehensively at the floor.

"I don't know," Sheppard answered truthfully. "He was awake enough to send out an SOS. He flagged me down."

"Flagged you down?" Teyla asked, confused by the terminology.

Sheppard unclenched one hand, showing her the length of unraveled blue thread.

Teyla took it from him, looking curiously at the bit of string. "That is the flag?"

"Yeah," Sheppard responded, letting himself grin. "What was he thinking?"

Grodin had squatted down not far from them, opening his case and pulling out a gadget or two. He shook his head, asking, "Why didn't we think of it? We should have considered the floors."

"Because we dinnet think the balmy fool would get himself in there, did we now?" Beckett responded with a huff, crouching down beside Sheppard. "You really believe he's in there?"

Sheppard nodded, convinced, sure of this as he was sure of anything – which wasn't much.

"But there can't be much room, can there?" Beckett asked, his voice filled with wonder. Sheppard had no response for him.

Others were arriving, the maintenance crew. A tall, scrawny civilian with a weedy mustache carried a cordless circular saw. A big man with graying hair toted an impressive looking toolbox. The crew was ready to rip up this portion of Atlantis to get the scientist out.

Teyla said nothing, she reached out one hand to gently touch the floor near Sheppard.

John looked up at the man with the saw. He recalled that his name was Finn, but couldn't remember if it was a first or last name. "Hand it over!" he demanded as he reached.

Grodin shot up a hand. "No! Just a moment …wait!" He waved a scanner over the area, frowning. "Wait…" he uttered again.

"What?" Sheppard barked, grabbing the saw Finn's spindly hands. "He's not staying in there another minute."

Grodin shook his head, discontentedly. "There's too much power running through this area. I'm getting … uncomfortable readings." He glanced down at Sheppard. "We can't just cut through this surface… not knowing what's there. There are certainly data cables, water, electricity. We could shut down the power to this entire wing of Atlantis. Who knows what else is down there that can be damaged."

"There's only one 'damaged' thing that I'm worried about at this particular moment, Grodin," Sheppard growled as he gripped the saw. "And I'm getting him out right now."

Looking helpless, Grodin insisted, "But the power… Look, if you cut through the wrong line, it could electrocute you… me… Rodney…" and he let that thought hang.

John's face fell as he held the now useless saw. With a groan he let it rest on one thigh. Damn it…so close… He looked to Teyla, who kept her hand on the floor, her face compassionate and concerned.

Lifting his head to the scientist, Sheppard asked, "Can you figure out where the power cables are? Where can we cut through to get at him?"

Grodin nodded, but didn't look convinced as he swung the device.

The others milled about, waiting for orders, wanting to do something.

"There should be some sort of an access hatch," the big man with the toolbox stated, looking concerned. "He must be in a crawlspace."

"So we find the hatch!" Beckett declared.

The milling group seemed suddenly happy to have something to do. They broke off – to search for anything that looked like a door in the flooring.

Sheppard sat back with a sigh. Beckett grabbed his case, and started fiddling through it. The dark-skinned doctor came down the hallway with a gurney, and Beckett pulled out IV bags– getting set up. John tried not to worry as he watched the amount of material the doctor seemed to think he'd need.

Finn, looking nervous, took circular saw took it back from Sheppard and stood with it beside the wall, trying to look casual. The man with the toolbox put an arm over the other's shoulder. Grodin, and a couple of the other scientists were scanning the walkway, frowning, looking perturbed.

John looked up to Elizabeth who stood with a taut expression. She gave him a narrow smile and said, "He's going to be fine."

Yeah… John thought. But how much longer is this going to take? Rodney had been stuck in the floor for a good part of the day, and all of the night. Sheppard glanced up as the sun crested the horizon – and now it's another day.

He looked up as two more people arrived – Ford, with Zelenka huffing behind him.

"Got it!" Ford announced, holding out the bee. "It's charged!" He reached Sheppard and passed him the bee. "I know it's too late to help, but we got it charged anyway."

Zelenka came to a stop beside Ford, resting his hands on his knees and panting, his hair hanging down over his steamed lenses. "It should work," the Czech huffed. "It is no longer glowing, but I believe it will again, if you were activate it." He stopped to draw in a breath. "We may need to wait until we… can speak to… Dr. McKay to discover how he managed it."

Sheppard stared down at the little device in the palm of his hand. The bee had held such promise when they were using it earlier – it was designed for 'rescue' after all. It could still do some good.

Resolutely, Sheppard adjusted his radio and stated, "I'm going down there."

"But we know where he is," Zelenka told him.

Beckett looked alarmed. "No sense in puttin' both of you in there, now," he proclaimed. "We don't know what sort of trouble is down there and…"

"…and he's down there alone… in that trouble," Sheppard snapped. "Look, I can go down, check out the wiring and tell you where the hell to cut through."

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea," Weir said tentatively. "I don't want anything to happen to you… too. We should find the hatch."

"I have to see if he's okay." Scowling, Sheppard changed his position, laying down on his belly – thinking that if the space was tight, he'd might as well get horizontal. Teyla touched his arm, smiling gratefully at his actions, and moved out of his way. Ford gave him a tight nod, looking pleased, and handed him a flashlight.

Weir watched without speaking, and then when Sheppard looked up, she declared, "Do it!"

The bee's wings were wrong – they were higher than before. But Sheppard knew what to do. McKay had figured it out earlier… the wings needed to be fit into a lower position to put the device into a 'ready' mode. He pushed down, and instead of resistance, the disks clicked into place…and the stripes began to glow again. He glanced up at the others, long enough to see the encouraging looks, and then he pressed in on the disks, thinking about McKay and wanting to find him.

TBC -
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A/N -- see! they're getting closer to getting him out... soon... soon...