Stargate Atlantis-Those Left Behind
"What do you mean they're sending someone through the gate? I thought they couldn't do that."
"They couldn't Lt., but apparently SG-1 found a renewable power source that will allow them to send us a shipment of Earth goods."
"Will we be able to send things back?"
"They're working on that. But Lt. don't mention this to anyone. At this point it's just an experiment; we don't want to raise false hopes."
Lt. Ford made a visible effort to contain his excitement. "Of course not, Dr. Weir."
Dr. Elizabeth Weir gave a half-smile to the retreating form of Lt. Aiden Ford. Sometimes this job made her feel like a den mother. She was pretty sure that Major Sheppard often felt the same kind of isolation from the rest of the inhabitants of Atlantis. It felt at times like she had completely closed herself off from her emotions, so that she could deal with the tremendous responsibities she faced. She couldn't even allow herself the luxury of homesickness because she never knew when the next eager young face would be barreling through her door.
The next face happened to be Dr. Rodney McKay, Atlantis astrophysics and resident worry-wart.
"Dr. Weir, there seems to be some unusual power build-up going on with the Gate."
"Yes, Dr. I'm aware, it's nothing to worry about."
"I thought you were as committed to energy conservation as I am."
"This isn't going to affect the power supply at all."
"Whenever we send a team out it most certainly effects-"
"Nothing is going out."
"Something's coming in?"
Dr. Weir stood up from behind her desk and headed for the Gate. McKay was close on her heels. She went to her customary place in front of the Stargate. She was surprised to find Major John Sheppard waiting there for her.
"I thought you were eating dinner Major."
"I was, but now I'm finished."
The iris activated and a malp came through. Several large crates followed. Some people started to move forward to open the crates when Dr. Weir held up her hand, asking them to wait. Then they saw first one foot and then the other appear through the gate. Then the gate closed. After a beat or two the young man turned to face them.
"Oh no, " moaned Dr. McKay.
The blond haired, blue-eyed young man in front of them laughed, "I've missed you too, Doc." He bent and picked up the duffel bag at his side. Major Sheppard glanced at Dr. Weir. She seemed as happy to see the young man as he was to be on Atlantis. She stepped forward. "I'm glad you're here Nathan."
"I can't wait to get started."
Nathan offered Dr. Weir his arm and they headed off down the hallway towards her office.
Major Sheppard walked over to where Dr. McKay was still standing shaking his head.
"So you know this guy?"
"Unfortunately, Nathan Bailey and I are well acquainted."
"So what's so bad, he kicks puppies, what?"
"Nothing."
"I need to know McKay."
"I mean nothing. He's gorgeous, he's 20, got 2 PhD's. I can't stand him. "
"You've worked with him before?"
"University of Chicago when he was the wunderkind. I wonder why he's here."
"Worried about your job?"
"No, we're in two separate fields."
"Dr. Weir seems to like him."
"Women find him charming."
Sheppard nodded, holding back a grin.
Dr. Weir and Nathan entered her office. She closed the door behind them.
"Have a seat."
"Nothing really describes it."
"Traveling through the gate? No it's a really singular experience. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Absolutely, Dr. Jackson wanted it, but General O' Neil refused."
"We don't really have that much yet,"
"Don't worry, you just collect the stuff and I'll figure it out."
"You're going to want to meet Teyla. She's the leader of the people that we rescued from Athos. "
"If you don't mind, I'd like to set up first."
"Of course, I'll show you the space we've set up and your private quarters."
"Before we go, Doctor, I have something from the General."
Dr. Weir turned back to face him, concerned. Nathan reached into his duffel and pulled out a large bag of Hershey's Kisses.
"I hope you have a lock on your desk Dr. these are going to be more precious than gold."
"I can tell you and Major Sheppard are going to be thick as thieves."
"Let's hope so. Is the Major available?"
"I'll have to ask him."
Nathan blushed a deep red that went all the way to the roots of his hair. Dr. Weir laughed, "Don't worry; I won't let Major Shepard know you think he's cute."
"I don't-"
"Leave that here, we'll get it on the way back."
Dr. Weir gave him a quick tour of the facilities. "This is only the part of the city that we've explored. There's still a lot more to do, but no wandering off on your own. "
Nathan nodded. "Have you found a library yet, or something like it?"
"No not yet, but we have found plenty of documents, instructions on how things work."
"I'd like copies, if you don't mind."
"Sure, but why would you want to look at that."
"Familiarize myself with language. The things people build and what they build them for can tell you a lot. Besides, it's important to look busy. I've found military types get testy if you aren't busy with something."
"We do, do we?"
Nathan and Dr. Weir turned to find Major Sheppard standing behind them.
"Nathan Bailey, Major John Sheppard."
The two men shook hands.
"So what is it that you bring to our happy family?"
"Cultural anthropology, ancient languages, plus I make a mean chili."
"I'll judge the last part."
"If you'll excuse me, I forgot something. Nice to meet you."
Sheppard and Weir waited until Nathan had turned the corner.
"So what do you think Major?"
"Not your typical nerd."
"I think I can safely say that Nathan has never been typical."
"So I take you two have worked together?"
"Yes."
"I'm surprised his folks would let him do something like this, he's more a kid than Ford."
"Nathan doesn't have any 'folks'."
Nathan was digging through the supplies he had brought with him. He grinned as he found what he was looking for. He extracted the orange mesh bag carefully from its crate. He walked up to the ever present Peter Grodin in the Command Center.
"Excuse me; you wouldn't happen to know where Dr. McKay is?"
"I'm not exactly sure; he may be in the Infirmary with Dr. Beckett."
"Thanks."
Dr. McKay was indeed with Dr. Beckett. They were discussing their favorite subject.
"I'm telling you, Teyla's fascination with Sheppard will be over soon enough. Once she figures out I'm the one who keeps things running around here."
"It's just you by yourself then Rodney?"
"Of course not."
"Excuse me, Dr. McKay."
McKay noticed Nathan standing in the doorway. "What do you want?"
"I came by to give you a gift from Lt. Col. Carter."
"You mean Major Samantha Carter."
"I don't keep track of this kind of stuff, but I think she got promoted."
"Obviously," McKay turned to Dr. Beckett, "We worked together back at SG-1 Command. What did she send me?"
"Looks like oranges."
"Aren't you allergic to citrus?" asked Dr. Beckett.
Nathan looked down at his shoes, rocking back and forth, trying not to laugh.
Teyla was walking down the hall. She stopped suddenly. She glanced upwards, "Wraith."
Lights all over Atlantis turned red. McKay in his rush to get to the Command Center shoved Nathan out of his way into the hall. At that same moment the Wraith transport beam swept over the spot where Nathan was standing. In an instant he was gone. The beams appeared at random all over the city, scooping up the unprepared. The lights returned to normal. McKay reached the Command Center.
"What happened?"
"I don't know, but it seems to be over."
Dr. Beckett stuck his head out into the hallway. "Hello?" He stepped out into the hallway and picked up the bag of oranges.
Teyla approached the group at the Command Center. She was relieved to see that Sheppard was their as well as Drs. Weir and McKay. She had met no one she disliked among the visitors, but sometimes the doctors did not listen as well as Sheppard.
"Teyla, do you know what happened here?"
"No. I know it was the Wraith. I do not know what their purpose was, but I do know the Wraith would not leave here until they had accomplished it. "
Dr. Beckett joined the group. "Dr. Weir, I think we might have a problem."
Nathan Bailey found himself in a small gray room. After exploring it for an entire minute he realized there was no way out. "Ok, this is an extreme time out." He yelled at the ceiling, "No sense of humor, eh McKay?" He let out a sigh of exasperation and sat down on the floor. "Nothing to do but wait I guess."
"What do you mean he's gone?"
"He was in the hall and then he wasn't. I cannot explain it any better than that. "
Dr. Weir fought back panic, "Do a scan for Nathan Bailey." Weir walked over to the Intercom. "Nathan, this is Doctor Weir. Please respond." "Nathan?"
"He's not here. He's not anywhere in Atlantis."
Dr. Weir took a moment before turning around. "Are you telling me the Wraith snatched one of my people?"
"Not just one, we're trying to get a headcount now."
"We don't know that it was the Wraith absolutely yet."
"Now is not the time to hedge your bets Rodney."
"You two enjoy your argument," said Sheppard, "I'm going to go get them back."
"How are you going to do that? You don't even know where they are or even if they're alive."
Sheppard ignored McKay. He looked around for Dr. Beckett. "Doc, I want a souped up med kit. Teyla find Lts. Ford and Stackhouse."
"Major, you know what the Wraith do to people. You aren't going to find them alive. "
"If it were you McKay, wouldn't you want us to bring you home?"
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Nathan had found a piece of string in his pocket and was making a cat's cradle when he heard footsteps. Untangling his fingers he shoved the string back into his pocket. Two male Wraiths appeared in the entrance of the cave. Nathan stood and backed up against the wall.
From behind the two male guards a female Keeper appeared.
"You are a human?"
"And you are?"
The Keeper hissed at him.
"You know where I come from, we like to be friendly, tell people our names."
"We have no need for- friendly."
"Conversation's over then."
"Oh no, it is just beginning."
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Two hours after their last meeting in Command, Sheppard came back wanting some answers.
"Ford's got the Puddlejumper packed. You guys ready to tell us where to go?"
McKay's mouth twisted. He might have been biting his tongue.
"I can't give you Gate coordinates, when I have no clue as to where the Wraith are."
"Not even an educated guess?"
"Here's my educated guess, the ships that flew over us were the same type ships you described after coming back from Athos. They aren't long range, but they do have transporter capabilities. Unless there's a gate we don't know about, or they were going back to some mother ship, in which case he is totally screwed. That narrows the possibility to seven planets. "
"I see eight." said Sheppard pointing at a dot on the illuminated map.
"The eight planet is Athos and we know they're not there."
"We do?"
"The big ship was gone. Obviously, they've left the planet."
"Why would you leave guards on a planet that you'd left?"
"What?"
Sheppard put his hand on Grodin's shoulder. "Let Dr. Weir know that Puddle Jumper 1 is leaving in 20 minutes."
"I'm not sure I can download all the gate addresses in that amount of time but I'll try."
"Doesn't Dr. Weir need you to work on the defenses?"
"That's what Kavanaugh and that other guy are for."
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Nathan was awake, but he didn't want to open his eyes. Whatever the Wraith had to show him, he didn't want to see it. The Keeper was truly a repellant creature, but the illusions were far worse. So far he had succeeded in not telling them anything important. He didn't know how much longer that would last. The physical drains were excruciating, he felt himself slipping further each time she placed that sucker palm on his chest. What truly terrified him though was the sensation that she was peeling his mind like an onion. He hoped the Keeper miscalculated soon and killed him. He had no way of getting back to Atlantis and they probably had no idea where he was either. Nathan curled into ball and prayed that it would all be over soon.
Dr. Weir sat behind her desk with her head in her hands. The tension was coiled in her stomach. She heard footsteps out in the hall. She pulled herself together, shuffling papers. Cavanaugh entered her office without knocking.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, I want you and Dr. Zelenka to put your teams together and figure out how the Wraith transported those people out of here and then figure out something so it doesn't happen again."
Kavanaugh started out the door and stopped. "Why did you want me to work on this? I mean it's no secret I'm not your favorite scientist."
"I figured this was right up your alley."
"I'm a astrophysicist how does that-"
"This assignment involves saving your own ass, so I thought you'd be properly motivated, don't you?" Dr. Weir replied, not looking at him as she did so. As Cavanaugh headed off to find his team Elizabeth wadded up a piece of paper and tossed it basketball style into the wastebasket. "Two points."
She knew something so trivial shouldn't make her feel better, but it did. Grodin's voice came over the intercom. "Dr. Weir, Puddle Jumper 1's ready for launch."
"I'll be right there."
Dr. Weir liked to be there whenever the Puddle jumper went through the Gate. She wanted to do more then simply stand there and watch, but their really wasn't anything else that she could do. Nothing she could do except send a silent message that she would be there waiting for them when they got back. Every time they went through that gate she had to reassure herself that they would be back.
"All set Major?"
John Sheppard turned and looked at Dr. Weir. She always looked so worried when they went through the gate. He wished there was some way that he could reassure her. He resisted the urge to rub her back and tell her not to worry, but he couldn't do that. She had to be tough or risk losing control of everything.
"We'll be back soon, with all of them."
"Be careful, be quick."
"You got it."
Nathan could no longer stand or even balance on his knees, so they had strapped him to a chair. The Keeper had grown bored with his resistance and had simply watched while the guards took out some of their frustration on him. Now she was ready to try again.
"How many humans are there?"
"On the 4th of July Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs."
"You are like us then?"
"I think we have a better dental plan."
One of the guards smacked him in the back of the head with his weapon.
"She's going to get really upset if you kill me before she's finished Sparky."
"If you die before I have what I want, then we will simply get another."
"Darlin' I'm an original, one of a kind."
"You are all food to us," the Keeper replied. Nathan closed his eyes as he saw her palm with its gaping hole moving toward him.
"So where do we start looking?" McKay asked Sheppard.
"Let's see what our ancient pda has to say. Locate Wraith." 10 little blue dots lit the screen. Sheppard studied the screen for a moment. The ten dots were in two distinct groups. The first a smaller group of four was close to where they had found the crater from the departure of the ship. The six other dots were more spread out.
"Separate out Wraith."
10 dots became 3. Two of the dots were together. One was off by himself, but still close." Make the Wraith red and other blue. "
The one blue dot was surrounded by Wraith. The other two together.
"Teyla, where do you think they would take them?"
"I do not know for certain, the planet is vast."
"Ok, we know they're in this area. Was there any place that was forbidden?"
"If there was, it was for a good reason." McKay chimed in. They ignored his comment.
"This way."
Once again, Teyla's knowledge paid off for them. Within moments of Teyla showing them the Forbidden Place; Ford and Sheppard had found the first two Atlantians. "Stackhouse, get them out and back to the jumper. Quietly."
Ford had moved slightly ahead of them and motioned to Sheppard. "Go."
Ford took point and Sheppard took up an opposite position. Ford held up three fingers. Sheppard nodded. As the group approached their hallway, the red-haired female paused for a moment, before continuing in the direction she had been going. Sheppard and Ford both breathed a sigh of relief. They headed down the hallway in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the Ancients' device started beeping wildly.
"Can you shut that thing off?"
"I wish this thing would turn off." The beeping stopped. "Guess so."
They looked at what was next to them. It was a smooth wall, just like all the others. Sheppard started running his hands over it. Something clicked. A panel slid open. Sheppard looked at Ford. Ford nodded. Ford covered the door while Sheppard went inside. There was nothing in the room. It was very dim, even dimmer than the hallway. Sheppard could make out the shape of what looked like a person slumped in the corner. He approached it cautiously and knelt beside it. It was Nathan Bailey. Sheppard wasn't sure he wanted to feel for a pulse. It looked like they had been too late. He put his fingertips gently on Nathan's carotid artery. There was a pulse there. Then Nathan opened his eyes.
"You do a really good Major Sheppard. Can you do Cameron Diaz?"
Sheppard grinned. "Afraid it really is me, Nathan."
"Play date over?"
"Yeah.
Sheppard slung his weapon across his shoulder and picked Nathan up. As he exited the room he sensed Ford's question, but there was no time. Within minutes the three emerged from the Wraith's lair. As Teyla spotted them she felt relief while McKay felt the added weight of fresh guilt. Teyla made a small gesture that caught the military men's eye. They joined them in their hiding place.
"I thought I told you to go with Stackhouse."
"We would not leave you behind."
Sheppard shot McKay a look. "You still got the med kit?"
McKay nodded.
"It will soon be dark; we must find a place to spend the night. We will not be able to reach the Gate soon enough."
"Then let's get where we're goin. Sooner or later, Red's going to realize he's gone and then this place is going to be swarming with Wraith."
Teyla nodded and after a careful look around the group moved on, with Teyla in the lead.
The woods were growing dark but using any artificial light was out of the question. It was possible that their movement might attract the Wraith, but light would be certain exposure. Sheppard was focused on the terrain, but in the back of his mind he was concerned about Nathan. The boy was easy to carry, too easy. He felt unnaturally light. Teyla kept up a steady pace. Unexpectly Nathan opened his eyes. "They're coming."
Sheppard stopped. "What?"
Nathan had lost consciousness again. Sheppard was pretty sure that he heard footsteps behind him. Hoping there were no bug webs behind him, Sheppard stepped back into the cover of the forest and fell straight down.
It took him a moment to get his bearings. Sheppard realized that he had fallen down a hole. The second thing he realized that he had lost Nathan. It was pitch black. He put his hand up in front of his face. He couldn't see a thing. He listened intently. All he heard was the sound of his own breathing. He needed to figure out how big the hole was, where the hell Nathan was. He could still feel the weight of his weapon on his right shoulder. That was a comfort. He hesitated to turn on the light that he knew was on the barrel because he had no idea of where the Wraith were and he sure didn't want to attract their attention. He needed to figure out how big the hole was. He reached his hand out in front of him, nothing but air. He swung both arms from side to side. Plenty of space it seemed. He reached upward and hit dirt. A shower of it came down on top of him. He quickly covered his mouth and nose to keep from breathing it in. He heard coughing in front of him.
"Nathan?"
The coughing continued. Sheppard got on his knees and inched forward until he felt something with his knee. He reached out and felt Nathan's arm. Nathan instinctively tried to pull away. Sheppard tightened his grip. "It's ok. It's Sheppard."
He helped Nathan into a sitting position. There was no mistaking the sharp intake of breath as he did so. Sheppard hooked his arm around Nathan's waist and pulled him along with him as he scooted back towards the wall. Once he felt the wall at his back he pulled Nathan up against his chest.
"Just relax, I've got you. It'll be easier to breathe this way."
Slowly he felt the younger man's body relax and the breaths though shallow were even. "I got you."