Title: Out of Control
Author: SlayersGrl
Summary: A routine trading mission goes awry when a member
of Atlantis's flagship team is taken hostage by a mysterious entity.
Author's note: Aww.. poor Shep. But I didn't whump him too hard my first time out. He'll be okay… eventually… Oh, and sorry for the shortness of these chapters. You can blame them on my obsessive compulsive tendencies. When I write a story, each chapter ends up matching the length of the first, which in this case was about two pages… So how about I just post two chapters this time?
Chapter 5: Questions & Answers
Teyla Emmagan watched silently as the monitors showed the steady up and down rhythm of the man lying on the hospital bed beside her. It had been six hours since they had returned from Argos. It was nearly seven hours since this whole ordeal had begun. And they still weren't any closer to finding out what was going on. The major had remained unconscious since he had been given the sedative. Even though Dr. Beckett assured her he would wake up soon, the tiny voice in the back of her head was still whispering words of doubt.
After the mad dash to the infirmary, all hell had broken loose. Medical staff was rushing about conducting various tests and hooking up a wide assortment of machines. Teyla, Ford, and McKay had huddled in the far corner, hoping they wouldn't be noticed so they could continue to observe what the staff was doing. Occasionally, Teyla would quietly ask about a particular machine's purpose and either man would offer a short explanation. She stopped asking after the third one. She decided she didn't really want to know.
Finally, Dr. Beckett walked over to his silent audience. He sighed and prepared himself to break the news. "Well, the good news is that he's stable. The sedative seems to have calmed him down and he doesn't appear to be in any pain. All of our tests are showing everything is normal."
"Wait a minute," McKay interrupted. The half-eaten candy bar in his hand was momentarily forgotten. "How is that possible? There's obviously something wrong with him."
"That's the bad news. We know there's something wrong, but we have no way of testing for it. This is Ancient technology we're dealing with it. Who knows what it's done to the major."
After much arguing, the trio was finally convinced to leave the infirmary for a few hours. They quickly debriefed with Dr. Weir since everyone was too distracted to dwell on recent events for long. Teyla then managed to get Ford and McKay to go eat something while she took first watch with Major Sheppard.
When she had first entered the room, she had been drawn to the major's pale face as he lay on the bed. Even though the doctor had assured he wasn't currently in any pain, he still looked stressed. She found herself softly humming a few of the songs she sang to the Athosian children to comfort them at night as she sat next to his bed.
She was startled when a voice came from behind her. "Hey Teyla. I brought you something to eat."
Smiling in appreciation, she eagerly took the offered plate. "Thank you Lieutenant. I had forgotten."
He smiled at the praise and then promptly sat down in the chair he had brought with him. Teyla was amused to see that it was a rather nice office chair like the ones in the science labs. She briefly wondered who he had confiscated it from.
"McKay should be here shortly. I think he was just finishing up his third desert."
She nodded, but soon found her attention drifting back to the major.
"How's he doing?" Ford asked softly, as if afraid he might disturb the object of his inquiry.
"The same. Nothing has changed, for better or for worse."
The young man leaned back in the chair, exhausting suddenly showing on his face. "I'm not really sure this situation could get much worse."
Just then, McKay appeared in the doorway. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and a laptop clutched underneath one arm. "So, how is he?"
"Still unconscious," was Ford's reply.
The scientist merely nodded, anticipating this response. Then he headed over to the small table next to the bed. He swept a few small items to the back of the surface and set up his computer. Then he snagged the only other chair in the room with his foot and dragged it over to the table. Soon, the only noise in the room was the gentle beeps of the medical machinery and the clacking of the keyboard as McKay worked to find some answers of his own.
She had started to drift off to sleep when she first noticed it. The major's hand had moved. "Ford, go get Dr. Beckett. I think he's trying to wake up."
Ford was on his feet and out the door in an instant. By the time he returned with the doctor, Sheppard was already trying to open his eyes. He shut them immediately after encountering the bright white infirmary lights. Dr. Beckett quickly reached over to one of the panels on the wall and the lights in the room dimmed to almost half strength.
The first thing he saw upon reopening his eyes was a feminine face with an extremely concerned expression.
"John?" she asked, hoping the major was once more in control.
"What did you do to me? I should kill him for this!"
Teyla slowly backed off, knowing that the entity had surfaced once again.
Dr. Beckett stepped forward cautiously. It was very disconcerting to be frightened of your own patient, especially since that patient was a very good friend. "I gave you a sedative to make you sleep for a while. You were causing too much stress to Major Sheppard."
"Do not do it again," it replied, emphasizing its newest demand with a glare that could melt ice.
"I won't unless you force me to. We just want to talk to you." The doctor was saved from having to continue his strange conversation by the entrance of Dr. Weir.
"You can threaten all you want," she began, moving to stand directly in the major's line of sight, "but I cannot risk the lives of all the personnel on this base to save the life of one man. The only way any of us will get what we want is if we agree to have a civilized negotiation."