THE AFTERMATH – PART FIVE
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CHAPTER EIGHT: THE HEARING
It was Teyla who came to fetch the major the next morning, to bring him to the hearing. He felt worn down still, but it didn't show on his face as the transporter doors opened to reveal the large, sunlit mess hall. He was there for Rodney, not the other way around.
Sheppard paused a minute as they arrived, taking in the large, open room. It looked very different from the one where they ate everyday--and he did not like the transformation.
Ten chairs had been placed in rows about ten chairs deep, in two sections divided by a corridor. Just about all the chairs were filled, but there were also empty ones, especially near the front. A number of people had opted to stand in the back instead, leaning against the walls, whispering. People were in clumps—engineers, biologists, physicians, chemists, physicists, marines, air force—and they all waited, expectant, staring towards the glass partition on the raised platform in the middle of the room, where Weir was standing.
She was talking to Bates, Dr. Heightmeyer, and an auburn hairedengineer Sheppard didn't know very well. Travis, was the man's name, and he apparently had some legal background. He had been appointed long before they arrived here to sit in on any proceeding like this. He was currently gazing around the room as Weir spoke with all of them, with a sharpness of gaze that made Sheppard uncomfortable. It reminded him a little of that actor who often played counterpoint to Steve McQueen, the red haired guy…what was that actor's name again? He noticed as well that the tables had all been folded up and pushed to the side, stacked against the wall, except for three.
"Not a trial," Sheppard muttered, seeing the position of the tables still in use. "So much for that idea."
"Sorry, major?" Teyla looked at him, her eyebrows raised curiously. "What did you say?"
He grimaced, then waved towards the set up for the "hearing."
"They've set up the room like a courtroom back on earth," he explained. He pointed to where Weir was, "the head table facing the crowd is where the judge or judges sit," then he pointed to the other two tables, "and facing the judge in front of the crowd are the defendant's table and the prosecution's table." He frowned, "Not that I know why we have a prosecution's table."
"Ah, I believe that table is for us," she smiled up at him. "Doctor Weir has asked Lieutenant Ford, myself, Sergeant Markham and Corporal Johnson to all speak today, as well as yourself. To get the clearest picture of what happened."
Sheppard snorted, "Did she now."
"Yes." Her head tilted, still watching him curiously, "Is there a problem with her request?"
"And McKay sits at the other table, by himself?"
She frowned, looking again towards the room before them. Rodney was indeed sitting at a table by himself, his back straight in the chair behind it, his hands tightly clasped on the table before him. He was staring at his hands, almost as if afraid to look away at anything else.
"Ah," she nodded in comprehension, "I understand."
Sheppard gave a small smile. "What say we ruin their little seating system?" And without waiting for her reply, he stepped up the stairs to the main floor of the mess hall and walked over to Rodney's table. Grabbing a chair from the "front row" behind the scientist, he slammed it down next to Rodney and sat down.
McKay couldn't avoid a slight jump at the clatter, and stared at Sheppard with a furrowed brow. He opened his mouth to speak, but found himself dumbfounded as Teyla grabbed a chair as well and sat down on his other side. She gave him a small smile and a nod, before turning her gaze to the front.
"Um…." He looked at a loss for words, turning back to the major. Sheppard just glanced at him, arched a playful eyebrow, and settled back. Rodney focused back on his hands, though his brow was still furrowed.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth had seen Sheppard's little act, and she met his eyes dispassionately. After a moment, she simply nodded and looked around, checking to see that everyone was here. Sheppard followed her gaze. He saw Ford first, standing off to one side, looking uncomfortable, his hands behind his back. The lieutenant was gazing at the three of them with something akin to longing. He found Markham and Johnson next, the two men disengaging themselves from conversations they were having in the "crowd," and moving forward to sit at the other table.
The room sensed the mood change, and quieted.
Elizabeth's jaw muscles flexed, but, with one more whispered word to Dr. Heightmeyer—the two appeared to have been arguing--she pivoted to face the room. Heightmeyer took a deep breath, turned and stepped away, moving over to where Doctor Beckett stood.
"Welcome," Elizabeth greeted. "I would first like to point out that this is an informal hearing. This is not, in any sense, a trial, a formal hearing or any other similar kind of proceeding. We are not here to judge anyone, or to attack or punish anyone. This hearing is for information only, and, while, at Dr. McKay's request, I have permitted this attendance, I will not stand for any kind of interruption or discussion. Only those requested to speak may do so." She paused, letting that sink into the room for a moment before continuing.
"Now, as you know, we were provided strict guidelines regarding how to proceed with any investigation into questionable circumstances concerning expedition members. Should anything be discovered here which would warrant a formal review, then we will proceed as the guidelines have laid out. However, we are not at that stage. And, to that end," she gazed slowly around the room, meeting a number of eyes, including a few of those younger members of the scientific team she knew to be Doctor Gall's friends, "I would ask that you respect the intent of this session and respect that we will do what is right. Is that clear?"
No one in the room said a word, so she nodded. Shifting over to the table, where Travis and Bates were already sitting, she sat herself down on the central chair. A few other folks in the crowd, heretofore standing, sat as well, but most stayed where they were.
"Major Sheppard," Elizabeth looked directly at the major, who raised his eyebrows in return, "If you would, I believe it's best we hear your tale of events first. Then I'd like to hear from Teyla, Corporal Johnson, Sergeant Markham and Lieutenant Ford. And finally," she shifted to her gaze to Rodney, who's eyes were still downcast, "Doctor McKay."
When Rodney failed to acknowledge her,herjaw muscles flexeda little, the only sign that he was scaring her.Steeling herself,shereturned her eyes to John, and he nodded at her, standing up.
Slowlybut surely,the major proceeded to describe everything that he could remember, even the many different encounters with the glowy bugs.He placed the greatest emphasis, though, on his ordering McKay over the radio to give Gall the gun, andon McKay's appearance at the end, painting a heroic picture of the scientist, not noticing the way McKay slumped even more at the description.It took him close to fifteen minutes to completehis tale, and, when he was finally done, ending with the arrival of Ford and his team,his ribs hurt unmercifully and the pile driver had resumed its attack on his right temple. When Weir nodded at him to sit down, he did so gratefully, blowing the air out of his cheeks and closing his eyes. He didn't see the worried glance McKay gave him, or the concern Beckett was showing from the other side of the room.
Teyla stood next, describing the long flight, and the desperate attempts to contact the people on the planet as soon as they could. Like the Major, she was detailed and descriptive. After her, both Johnson and Markham filled in what she had missed, which wasn't much. Ford stood last, going into more detail about what happened on the planet after their arrival, including retrieving the bodies and finding McKay working swiftly to repair the puddle jumper while the major was fast asleep on the floor. McKay had wrapped Sheppard's arm and had obviously done what he could to keep the major comfortable. When the young man was finished speaking, he stepped back into the half-shadows he'd been standing in. His voice was quiet, reserved. It was not lost on the crowd, who had to strain to hear him.
Elizabeth thanked him, then turned, green eyes focusing on McKay.
"Doctor?"
McKay looked up, almost startled. His fingers were still tightly clasped, to the point where the fingers had turned white. He released the death grip they were in and pulled them back off the table.
"My turn?" he asked, obviously not totally with it.
Weir smiled softly, and nodded, "Yes."
"Oh, okay." He pushed the chair back away from the table and stood, rubbing his hands on his thighs. Standing up as straight as he could, he looked around at the room, then back to Weir.
"First of all," McKay said, "the Major has not told you the whole truth."
Immediately, there was increased whispering behind him, but he plunged on regardless, almost as if to drown them out.
"When I finally showed up at the end, I…I did nothing to help the major. I tried to, shot every bullet I had, but the Wraith barely felt it. It just kept coming and coming, heading towards me now instead of the major…" he grimaced, "I presume because I was healthier." He closed his eyes, swallowing convulsively, "I was basically useless. All I did was distract it for a moment and maybe piss it off more. Like shooting…a 9MM at a grizzly. I…."
"That distraction," Sheppard interrupted, glaring at the doctor, "was what saved my life McKay. If you hadn't come when you did—"
"Oh, sure," McKay said dismissively, "I won you a few more minutes, but if you hadn't attracted the glow bugs and Ford hadn't…."
"Gentlemen," Weir snapped, "Please. Major, please refrain from speaking to Doctor McKay directly. Rodney? You were saying?"
McKay stared at her, looking somewhat taken aback by her officious tone, while Sheppard's expression just darkened. She ignored both. McKay gripped his hands into fists as he tried to get back his train of thought.
"Uh…I was…what I was trying to say was….Nothing I did meant anything…. The major's story isn't an accurate—"
"On the contrary, it is Doctor McKay's perspective which is skewed," Ford announced loudly, stepping forward from the half shadows he'd been standing in. "Doctor Weir, his description does not match the facts."
McKay flinched, and Weir's eyebrows lifted.
"Skewed?" Rodney challenged, frowning at the young man, "How would you know? You weren't—"
"I didn't need to be. Doctor Weir, may I?" Ford didn't look at McKay, waiting patiently for Elizabeth to acknowledge him. Her jaw flexed, seeing the tension in Rodney's face, then nodded.
"Is it actual factual evidence?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Then go ahead."
Rodney's jaw fell open, but Ford simply stepped forward more.
"Doctor McKay saved the major's life—we saw that clearly from the jumper's monitor. Doctor McKay stood his ground, even as the Wraith approached him. We heard the fire clearly over the comm. as he did everything he could to distract the Wraith, including putting himself at risk, in an attempt to help the major. He gave both of them enough time for my team to fire upon the Wraith. There is no question in my mind that Doctor McKay acted bravely and without concern for his own well being, and should be commended for those acts, just as the major has described. And if you don't believe me, simply call up the ship's records and see for yourself. He never moved, even when he ran out of bullets, even as the Wraith closed in on him."
His voice rang through the room, much louder than the young man's previous tone. Even McKay was staring at him with open surprise, amazed to hear such conviction…and conviction in his favor.
Elizabeth's eyebrows lifted, "Well, that is new information, lieutenant," she noted. "And of a tone quite different from the one you used when you first debriefed me after the mission."
"That's because I had blinders on then, ma'am," Ford replied firmly. "I've removed them now."
Again her eyebrows lifted, "Are you sure, lieutenant? Are you sure that the passage of time has not swayed or influenced you to think—"
"No, ma'am. I have gone over the events again in my mind, and things that should have been obvious to me at the time were glossed over in my shock at discovering Doctor Gall. And I also realize that I have a lot to make up for."
He said the last words to Weir, but then turned to look directly at where McKay was standing. "I'm sorry, doc. It won't happen again. I promise you that."
The doctor just stared at him, clearly not sure what to think.
Next to him, however, Sheppard smiled again, feeling much better all of a sudden, and Teyla stood up, grabbed another chair from the row behind them, and placed it next to hers. Ford finally smiled back, and walked over to take it. McKay watched him the whole time, but didn't object or complain, he just let it happen.
The whole room watched their actions, not entirely sure what to make of it all. But Sheppard was still smiling, looking extremely pleased, and, had she allowed herself to, Elizabeth would have grinned as well.
McKay turned his gaze to stare down at the table in front of him, his right hand twitching again, his expression more puzzled than ever.
Elizabeth nodded, "Well, thank you, Lieutenant. I presume the other members of your team can confirm what you just told me?"
"Yes," Teyla affirmed loudly. Over on the other table, both Johnson and Markham nodded their heads.
"Well, good. So," Elizabeth looked back to Rodney, "then that just leaves…."
"What happened inside the Wraith ship," the doctor finished softly. Elizabeth nodded.
McKay closed his eyes. Around him, everyone waited silently, no one wanting to miss a single word.
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TBC