TITLE: Wait Until Dark

AUTHOR: Susan Zell

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Gekko and Sci-Fi and to those luckier than I. All I know is that they aren't mine so no profit has been made by this venture.

SUMMARY: Nightmares and paranoia plague Major Sheppard and his team must determine why before he sinks so deep that there may be no returning.

SPOILERS: Everything up until after "Childhood's End."

RATINGS: PG-13

TYPE: Drama mainly and some minor hurt/comfort; also some very minor 'shipping though I haven't made my decision between the ShepWeir or the Sheyla camps. So I'm keeping both ends open for now. I always try to follow show canon so I'll leave that decision up to them.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: My first Stargate Atlantis fic so be gentle. If it goes well, I may write another.

Chapter Five

"Round Table"

Elizabeth Weir was with Dr. Beckett in the debriefing room.

"Nightmares? Doesn't seem like him." She sat at the large conference table.

"It isn't. And I think our groggy prisoner confirms some suspicions," Beckett replied. "We know the Wraith are capable of manipulating our minds. Would it be possible he has decided to target Major Sheppard?"

"But why? We know the Wraith tried a few mind tricks with the guards. But then he stopped."

"Because it didn't work. We use more than one guard as a back up. Our guards are also awake and well aware of what the creature can do. It can't frighten the guards away but perhaps he can torment those who captured him."

Doctor Weir nodded. "Sergeant Bates has informed me that Major Sheppard has visited the Wraith a couple of times since they brought him in." Not to mention that Kavanagh had been in her office ranting for hours. She resisted the urge to massage her temples.

"Could be he made himself a target," mused the Scotsman. "The Wraith figured out the unconscious mind is much more susceptible when left unguarded during sleep."

"And you think Major Sheppard figured that out?"

"I'm sayin' it's a possibility, that's all. Last night wasn't the first time the Major's lost sleep. His stress levels are well above his norm."

Elizabeth Weir sighed. "Couldn't that be due to all the crises of late?"

"I've been carefully monitoring all the teams. His levels changed only within the last week. It would seem odd for everything to start bothering him all of sudden, wouldn't you say?" Beckett shifted in his chair and leaned forward. "Do you know what happens to the human body, lass, if it is deprived of sleep for too long?"

Weir knew what happened well enough. Irrational anger, decreased reaction time, and eventually delusions and paranoia. None of it bode well for Major Sheppard.

The door to her left slid open and in entered the object of their discussion along with Ford and McKay. Weir knew that if Teyla were able she'd be with them. It's obvious the bond between the team was growing strong. It didn't surprise her either when Ford and McKay sat on either side of the Major, almost protectively.

Sheppard regarded her with his usual casual expression, but for the first time she noticed the dark edges to his eyes and the harsh lines that furled his brow. He had been under far more stress than she had realized, and if the Wraith was at the cause of it then something needed to be done about it, and soon. She couldn't afford to lose... She corrected herself, Atlantis couldn't afford to lose Major Sheppard.

Sheppard leaned back wearily in his seat. "Look, I know what you're going to say and I want you to know that I'm not crazy or anything. I know what I'm doing and I was going to inform you first thing...right after coffee."

Weir held up her hand. "Major, I think I understand the situation. I wish you would have come to us last night rather than thinking up your own solution to the matter."

"It worked."

Dr. Beckett interjected. "The drugs that the major was under last night probably didn't leave him much room for rational thought."

Sheppard almost kept the smile from this face. "Yeah, that's it. The drugs made me do it."

"Wait a minute." McKay waved his arms, struggling to understand what he and Ford had stumbled onto. "Are you saying that Major Sheppard shot our prisoner?"

"Well, not dead," Beckett pointed out.

"Not that he didn't deserve it," Sheppard pointed out.

"But why would you do that?" McKay demanded of the Major. The military mentality stunned him at times.

"Because, McKay, it's playing with my head and there's not a damn thing I can do about it!" snapped Sheppard irritably, his hand slamming down onto the table. "I haven't slept solid in almost a week. And I can't keep stunning the bastard, as fun as that is."

They all regarded him with surprise on their faces. Outbursts like that weren't typical for the easygoing officer. Beckett knew immediately that incessant interrupted sleep was creating some dramatic mood swings in his patient.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Ford wanted to know, breaking the awkward moment. "We can't let that thing keep at the Major."

"We don't intend to let it continue," Weir assured them.

"Carson, isn't there something you can do?" McKay regarded the physician. "I mean to the Wraith. Something to ward him off."

"If I knew how, I'd have done it a long time ago, Rodney."

"Well, the ancients must have known something," Ford offered. "Haven't we found any kind of device to block the Wraith's thoughts?" He was looking at McKay.

"Hey, I looked. I read every ancient text I could find. You're lucky I figured out the shielding for the cell." McKay slumped in his seat and regarded Sheppard. "I wish I could be more help. I guess that means I'll be studying the texts yet again."

Sheppard shrugged. "By the time you figure out how, I'll be past help and it will have moved on to someone else."

"Yes, we need to do something now," Weir said, but she was at a loss of what to do. The only thing that she could think of was getting rid of the Wraith. They couldn't just let it go free, which meant killing it. She wasn't sure she could do it so cold bloodedly. It was against everything she had ever believed in. But one look at John Sheppard and she knew that there was no choice in the matter. If it was either one or the other, she knew which one was the most important.

"We could move it off base," Ford suggested. "It has to have a range, right?"

"Teyla's people would be at risk then," Sheppard pointed out. That made it out of the question.

"Besides," McKay interjected, "the ancient detention cell isn't portable. And without it, the thing could get loose and wreak havoc, and worse call more of his flunkies."

"I'm thinkin' drug the bloody thing," Beckett said suddenly. All eyes turned toward him. "I mean we make it sleep when Major Sheppard sleeps. During the day it won't be able to manipulate him as easily. He'll be consciously alert like the guards on duty."

"Good idea, Doctor," Weir said, hope starting to creep back in.

"Bad idea, Doc," counted the Major. "Look, there are plenty of shifts here at the base. Once it doesn't have me to play with it will just go after someone else. I'm not letting that happen."

"We don't need you to be a martyr, John." Weir wrung her hands together anxiously. "We'll think of another way."

"There's only one way. Kill it," Ford stated bluntly.

"Do you volunteer?" Weir's eyes darted to Ford and watched his reaction carefully.

There was only a moment's hesitation. "If I have to."

Sheppard butted in. "Look, we captured the damn thing for a reason. We can't just kill it. We went through too much to get it."

"It hasn't provided any intel, John," Weir pointed out. "It's just sitting there...tormenting you. It's not worth it."

Sheppard wasn't sure how to read the expression that flitted across Weir's face, but he didn't let it distract him from his chain of thought. "Okay, so it isn't very chatty but the doctor here probably could learn a whole lot about its physiology, maybe something to help us out down the road when it counts."

"An autopsy would be just as informative, right?" Ford said.

Beckett shook his head. "Not necessarily. I've got all I can out of the hand we obtained and it isn't near what I need to figure out how to kill it. A living specimen would be far more beneficial."

"To experiment on, you mean," concluded Weir.

"Isn't that why we brought it back?" argued the major.

Beckett shrugged. "I'm not excited about it per se. I mean it's not really like the lab rats I'm used to. But I do see the logic of it. However, I'm not willin' to risk its life over yours. No one here is."

"My guess, it's targeted Major Sheppard for a reason." McKay frowned and regarded the Major as did everyone else in the room. "I mean, you're the closest of any of us to being an Ancient and I'm betting it knows it."

"What? So I'm nice juicy piece of steak for it. That's comforting, McKay. Thanks."

"What I mean is that maybe it won't go after anyone else if it can't have you."

"Great," Sheppard said practically defeated. He could feel a headache beginning to pound and he rubbed at his forehead wearily. He was about done in.

"How do we stop it from going after John, much less anyone else then?" This was from Weir.

"First we should test whether it's just after Major Sheppard," said McKay thinking like a true scientist. "If so, it leaves us with fewer questions and only a select number of possible solutions."

"How?" asked Weir.

"You mean knock me out."

McKay sighed with the exasperated patience of an overtaxed parent. "Well, that's one way. The other is getting you out of Dodge."

Weir regarded her second-in-command. "How do you feel about a little vacation, Major?"

"Does it involve surfing?"

She genuinely smiled, relieved to see the Major Sheppard she had come to know resurface. "It could. Lord knows you deserve some down time."

"That goes for all of us on the team, right?" McKay was just asking.

Weir almost rolled her eyes, but she finally conceded. The team worked hard; they all deserved some rest.

"You may all accompany Major Sheppard. Teyla too if she's ready to be released." She regarded Ford and McKay directly. "Keep John under constant observation. He will be under your care while Dr. Beckett considers other alternatives. If it doesn't work we'll think of something else."

"I'll bring some ancient reading material with me," McKay said. "Maybe I missed something."

Sheppard slapped his hands together in anticipation. "Surf City here we come."

"Major," Beckett interrupted. "I would be careful getting salt water on your wound. Not to mention all the beasties that could be in the water and possibly attracted to you."

"You mean Jaws could be out there?" Ford asked slightly disconcerted

"We don't know what's out there." Beckett spread his hands. "I saw some verra big things swimming by my window while the city was submerged. I'm just urging caution."

Sheppard laughed and rose to his feet, stretching a bit to ease the soreness in his shoulders. "We'll keep in contact."

"Do that," Weir said. Concern was still etched on her face. She knew in her heart this wasn't a solution. If anything it was a delaying tactic. She only hoped that Dr. Beckett and McKay could come up with something that would help in the meantime.

tbc