Chapter Five

The Real McKay

McKay had been dragging me down corridor after corridor, except for the occasional transporter ride, for probably the last ten minutes. I had tried to keep a mental map, but my mind was grinding at half-capacity, why I wasn't quite sure, but everything was a bit off.

"What's up with the rat maze?" I finally asked, trying to control my breathing, which was becoming labored, and that stitch in my side was growing more demanding.

McKay paused as we came to another corner, and his eyes darted down one side, and up the other, reminding me of a nervous rat. "I want to make sure we're not being followed."

"I think you've done that," I panted. I gave in to my side, and bent over, sucking in a large mouthful of air. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

He opened a door. I hadn't even realized we were standing in front of a door. He yanked me in, which almost caused me to fall, because I was still hunched over. I yelped, as I flailed my arms trying to gain my balance. McKay grabbed my arm, steadying me, and shot me a sheepish look. "Sorry."

I bobbed my head, acknowledging his apology, before finding the nearest chair. Or, rather, I tried to find the nearest chair. "McKay, there's nowhere to sit."

"Look, I wasn't planning on this so soon, you ran into me, remember," McKay said defensively. "I was trying to find out more before coming to you, but apparently," and here he threw me a dirty look, "things went downhill faster than I anticipated."

"It wasn't my fault," I shot back. "Beckett was talking about looking at my brain." I couldn't help the shiver that danced down my spine. I'd prefer to keep my brain right where it was. The lack of a chair didn't mean I couldn't sit, it just meant I wouldn't enjoy it as much. I found a spot against some counter, and slid down, enjoying the cold support of the metal behind me. "This another lab?"

He rolled his eyes. "Aren't they all?" McKay headed over to a desk that the Ancients had installed against one of the walls. "I don't think these people knew the meaning of recreation."

I snorted. "And you do?"

"Shut up." He didn't even grace me with a dirty look for that one; he was too intent on the display he was reading.

I debated getting sucked into one of our usual exchanges, but frankly, I was too tired. I'd been hallucinating, drugged out, strapped down, and escaped from the infirmary, from the very people who should be helping me, not hunting me down. And, here I was, hiding in one of the many labs in the city, with McKay no less, and I still had no idea when someone had tossed me through the looking glass. Did I get exposed to something when I was flying the Athosian's to the mainland? Was it the food I ate right after? What, and when, I just wanted answers.

"So," I started casually. "Care to explain what's going on?"

McKay finished punching buttons, and looked up at me triumphantly. "There," he said smugly. "We should be hidden from the sensors."

That was cool. "Really?" I couldn't help being impressed.

"Why do you think I'm the head of the science department, because I'm the oldest?"

I smirked; he totally walked into this one. "The mouthiest, maybe the most arrogant, cocky, annoying "

"Ha ha ha, you're a regular comedian, you know that?" He came over and sat down beside me. "Do you want to know, or sling insults?"

Déjà vu, because hadn't we had this conversation before? I almost told him that I was partial to the insults just because he was pissing me off, but didn't he always, sometimes it just took a little longer to get there. "Tell me what's going on." I kept my voice remarkably neutral, even surprised myself.

He sat stiff beside me, and I felt the warmth of his leg against mine. McKay was always hot. He was like this miniature furnace. It's one of the theories I have on why he eats all the time. If he ever stops, his fire will die, and he'll burn out. "This is going to sound weird," he cautioned.

Like it wasn't already? "Welcome to my life," I spouted. For pity's sake, Weir had tried to seduce me, and Beckett had become a Wraith, I think I'd covered weird for the day.

Rodney seemed to consider my outburst. "Right, well, this is weirder, then."

I was losing my patience. "Get on with it, McKay."

He appeared flustered. "Okay, okay. Look, Weir and Beckett want to take over Atlantis. You're in the way, so they are trying to get you out of the picture."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. He was right, that was weirder. Was everyone on something? Maybe I wasn't the only one affected.

McKay must have been reading my mind, because he rushed into further explanation. "They spiked your food, some drug that Beckett said would cause you to lose it, then they could lock you away. I heard them, Major."

"You have proof?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. I was trying to get it when you made your," he paused and smirked, probably remembering my crashing into him, "great escape."

"If you hadn't been in the way," I defended, "It would've been a perfectly fine escape."

"Yeah, whatever." He seemed at a loss for any further conversation and settled into a lapse of awkward quiet.

I didn't know what to do. Can you believe that? Major John 'do it or die' Sheppard, did not know what to do. I'd seen a lot of things, done a lot of things, but I was like a fish out of water. Should I try and get McKay to do recon, should I even trust McKay, or maybe go back and force Beckett and Weir to explain their side? What if it was everyone, then nobody could be trusted, and if I tried to talk to Weir, I might end up back in the infirmary. That trick worked once, it wouldn't work twice.

"Do you need anything? You feeling okay?" McKay spoke suddenly.

I turned to him, not hiding the stupefied feeling. "I'm sitting here in scrubs, no chair, no food, no blankets, I'd say I needed some things, and no, I'm not feeling okay. If they drugged me, what's it do? Does it have some kind of half-life?"

"It's not radioactive," McKay snapped, offended by my reaction I suppose. It's not my fault. Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.

I let my head fall back against the counter, wincing at the thud, but in a way it felt good, to actually feel something normal, like the pain from hitting your head. "Just…get me some clothes, food, pillows, blankets…anything."

I guess I must've presented a pitiful picture, sitting there dejected, and unsure of even myself. He got up, brushed off his pants, and regarded me with a hard look. "I'll be back. It might be a while, trying to get away without being seen, especially bringing supplies," he paused, searching for the right words I guess, "just hang tight."

I waved a hand, not moving anything else. "I'm hanging," I muttered. Flying, hanging, soaring, screaming, running…who knew.

I heard the sound of his feet, and the whoosh of the door, bet you didn't know that those doors actually do make a whooshing sound, just like in Star Trek. I always thought it was a cheap sound effect, but nope, they really do. I debated on stretching out on the ground, searching the room, or staying where I was. In the end, staying won, and I let my eyes slide closed. Damn, but I was tired. If they'd drugged me, that explained a lot. Why I wasn't quite all there. I drifted off with scenes of Jack Nicholson's mad face flashing big, and bigger in my mind.

"Major."

Someone was slapping my face. It was a light tap, not hard, but they were trying to wake me up. I opened my eyes, expecting to see McKay, but Elizabeth was leaning over me, concerned, and kind.

I wheeled back, but realized the counter was behind me. I swallowed. "Elizabeth?"

"You'll be okay, we found you, and we're going to help you," she said. She pulled back, and revealed Beckett, who was standing beside a gurney, and he was wearing a white doctor's coat, latex gloves, one of those headlamps, and in his hands was a massive drill, like the kind you see on those home renovations shows.

"Wha…what are you…doing?" I stuttered. I was still trying to shake off my sleepiness.

"We're just going to help you, Son," Beckett crooned, and patted the gurney softly, beckoning me over.

Like hell, I thought, and scrambled to my feet. I felt behind me, looking for the end of the counter without taking my eyes off Beckett and Weir, and when I felt the counter come to an end, I backed away, searching out the door.

Beckett and Weir were staring at me, but they didn't come after me, or even talk. I felt the door open behind me, the breeze from the hallway cool on my skin. I turned and ran, willing the door shut, if anything to give me a few minutes head start. I didn't know where I was going to go, but I had to get out of there.

I ran till I couldn't go any farther. My side had me doubled over, gasping from the exertion. Something was definitely wrong. I shouldn't be this exhausted, and unable to run, or do any kind of physical effort. I threw my back against the wall angrily. I had my hands on my knees, and looked up and down the hallway, trying to figure out where I was. It looked like the south pier, where the entity had been found. When I had gotten enough oxygen back into my system, and my breathing evened out, I started heading towards that lab. Why, I don't know, but it was something familiar.

McKay had told me he'd fixed the sensors, so they wouldn't find me. Either he'd lied, and set me up, or Weir and Beckett had found me by luck, or some other means; maybe we'd been seen going in. I needed to find McKay, alone, and see for myself if he was on the up and up. The only problem was, could I trust my own senses?

"Major!"

Shit. Bates!

"Don't do it, Major."

I'd been getting ready to run. I don't know how far I'd make it, but I wasn't going to lie down like a dog, and be dragged away to the pound. "They're trying to kill me, Sergeant."

"Who's trying to kill you?"

"Weir and Beckett." I was stalling him, biding my time, as long as he was listening; his full attention wasn't on me. It was a little trick I'd learned in some of my more interesting military training.

"That's ridiculous," Bates spat. "You're under the influence of an alien chemical. They want to help you, Major." Bates' tone lowered, grew more cajoling, like he was trying to entice a wayward child to cross the bridge, even though they had the irrational fear they'd fall in if they did.

"It's not ridiculous," I shouted back, and I was still facing forward. I'd counted the paces to the corner. If I ran, took a dive, I could make it, and then I hoped there'd be something I could duck in. I tried to frantically remember if there was a transporter anywhere near.

I heard Bates coming closer. Now or never, I leapt for it, but Bates hadn't gone to the same school as Markham and Stackhouse, and I felt the blast from the stunner hit, before everything went black.

"Let me out!" I snarled. I had woken to find myself back in the infirmary, hands and feet strapped down, and I was scared to death. No one was there. I'd hollered for minutes at a time, and no one, not even a stray nurse, came into the room.

I was getting hoarse, and more than a little freaked out. Did something happen? Did they catch me, and then everyone left. "Anyone!" I tried again, but my voice broke at the end, and it hurt. I needed water, badly. I tried to lick my dry lips, but my mouth wasn't much better.

How long had I been here? I couldn't see the clock, and they'd taken my watch earlier. Where was McKay? I gave another violent tug on the straps, before closing my eyes, overcome by the frustration.

"Major?"

My eyes popped open so fast they would've suffered whiplash if they'd been my neck. "Doctor Weir," I drawled nastily, but the effect was kind of wasted, because it came out like a half-dead frog's last croak.

She frowned. "John, we're trying to help you."

"Then let me go," I snarled. Again, the words were lost by the state of my dry mouth. This wasn't any good. It was hard to be an ass when you were losing your voice. "Water?" I asked, giving in, and making a request.

She nodded, and I noticed a nurse had materialized by her side. The nurse was the blonde one I had socked, because her left eye was a beaut. I felt a small pang of sympathy, but it passed when I remembered the position I was in. Still, I sipped from the straw greedily. She had to pull it away, because I wasn't stopping.

"Better?" Elizabeth asked, and she actually seemed to care.

I nodded warily.

"You were exposed to an alien chemical while searching one of the labs, Doctor Beckett is trying to synthesize a counteragent, but so far he hasn't found anything." She explained, pulling up a chair.

I refused to look at her. I found an interesting spot on the ceiling and stared at it, acting like there was a dancing revue of half-naked girls going by. "I don't remember."

She sighed, and I could tell she probably had that half-worried, but half-annoyed look to her. "It's the chemical, Carson said it induces a type of amnesia."

Not buying it. "McKay said you two were trying to get me out of the picture, so you could take over." As soon as I said it, I realized I shouldn't have. If it was true, I'd just given McKay up. If it wasn't true, I'd dug my bed in the soft restraints even deeper.

"Really," and now I could hear the smile in her words. "That's…interesting."

Okay, now I wanted to look. I turned my head, and sure enough, she was smiling, and it was beautiful, and I realized how I longed to see it. Just a normal, nice, happy smile, on a face I'd come to know and trust. "I know it sounds crazy," I said. I wasn't quite ready to discard McKay's information, but maybe if I pretended to trust her, I'd find a way to get them to ease up on the straps, just enough. And maybe, I wanted to believe her.

"Did someone say my name?"

Elizabeth smiled wider. "John was telling me about the conspiracy you told him about."

McKay walked up to Weir's side, and clasped his hands in front of his legs, and he wasn't quite smiling, but he looked okay. He didn't look upset, or worried that Weir was going to arrest him, or kill either of us. "Conspiracy?"

"Yeah, you know the one where they drugged me with something to make me think I was losing it, and planned on taking over with me out of the way," I prodded his memory, and waited for his reaction, which was absolutely nothing. He didn't even blink.

"That's good," he crowed. "I'd like some of what he's having."

"No, you wouldn't," I snarled, and if I could've come up off that bed, I would've slugged the beady-eyed bastard. My whole world was coming unraveled, and he was making a joke.

"Testy, testy, who peed in your cheerios?" he said churlishly.

"Apparently the Ancients," I deadpanned. I didn't know who to believe. Was it all an act? Did it even happen? "I did escape, right?"

I saw the smooth skin between Weir's eyes wrinkle, soft furrows echoing her puzzlement. "Escape?"

"The infirmary, earlier. Bates shot me with a Wraith stunner, and dragged me back," I explained.

Bewildered looks met my words. I closed my eyes, tight, so tight I saw stars and moons flashing on the backs of my eyelids, like some Pink Floyd video. This could not be happening. This could not be happening. I opened them, and found McKay and Weir were gone. I yanked against the straps, rewarded with more chafing. Still bound. Why couldn't that change with the blink of an eye? I closed my eyes again. I wasn't getting out of here any time soon, and I didn't want to holler myself into hoarseness again. Who knew when I'd get more water, and I still had that slim hope, in the back recesses of my mind, that I'd wake up, and all of this would be a bad dream. A nightmare, and we would laugh about it over breakfast. It didn't take long for my mind to slide into the soft grip of slumber, the only place I could escape the growing insanity of my world.

AN: Just want to say another big thank you for the reviews, and rudhweth, seriously, I hope you don't feel bad. Drop me an email, I really don't want you to feel upset over your brilliant catch (and I do think it was)! Anyway, hope you all are feeling as mind-frelled as our poor boy here!