A/N Since you guys are so good to me, I thought I would give you another chapter. So, here is chapter 7.
? Space?
John slowly opened his eyes, shielding them from the bright light that was streaming in. He could hear shuffling near his feet, and hoped it was one of his team. He braced himself and pushed up slowly, his head pounding with every beat of his heart.
"Sir? John, is that you?" Adien had awakened a few minutes before, but his vision was blank.
"I'm here. Where are McKay and Teyla?" John looked around. Now that his vision had cleared a bit, he could see that they were in a small room of sorts, possibly a holding cell. There was very little light overall, but it seemed to be pointing right in his face, which gave the illusion of brightness. It was difficult to distinguish Ford from the murky darkness that surrounded the light, and John moved his head to see a bit better. Once his face was clear of the beam, he could make out Adien lying on his back, down near his own feet. His hands were crossed over his chest, and he stared blankly at the ceiling.
"I don't know sir. I think I'm blind. I can't see a thing at all." Adien's voice was laced with panic, and he seemed almost on the verge of tears.
"It's a bit dark in here, Ford. Don't worry too much." John spied a dark lump on the far side of the room. It was vaguely human-shaped, but far to large to be Teyla. He slowly moved to his knees and crawled to the motionless form. It was then that he noticed his vest was gone, and there were no more shapes that would suggest either backpacks or their wayward fourth member.
"Whatever happened, Adien, it took our gear. And, I think it took Teyla too." John's voice choked slightly with the last sentence, but he fought to keep the emotion out of it. He reached McKay and placed his hand on the man's neck. He had a pulse, and was breathing, but John could make out a dark smudge on his forehead that led to the floor. He reached out and rubbed it gently, but it was dry. That meant they had been out for a few hours at least. After checking Rodney one last time, he turned back towards Adien. He still lay in the same position, having not moved the entire time John had been crawling around.
"Ford, why don't you get up and try to find a way out of here, huh? I'll watch over McKay here while you do." John sat back, leaning his head on the smooth wall behind him. He decided to check for injuries on himself, since he hadn't done that when he had first awoken. Neither his legs or arms hurt, aside from being a bit stiff, but his head was a different matter. John slowly ran his hands through his hair and winced when he found the large egg above his left ear. "That explains the headache, I guess," He whispered to himself.
"What did you say, Sir?"
"I found the reason for my headache. Ford, didn't I tell you to get up and look for a way out?" Adien had moved his hands, but still lay prone on the floor. One hand had snaked its way behind his head, but the other was slowly moving back and forth in front of his face. It started out close, then moved further away, then finally moved back in close.
"Yes sir, but I told you. I can't see." Adien stopped waving his hand around and let it hit the floor, his eyes never leaving the ceiling.
"First, drop the sir. I think I've told you that before." Ford just lay there, not making a sound. "And second. You say you can't see a thing? Not even blurs?"
"Not a thing, S-John." Oh, this was going to be a bigger problem than he first thought. One man was out cold, and the other blind as a bat. John resumed his crawling position, not ready to trust his legs just yet. He moved slowly but deliberately towards the fallen lieutenant, placing himself next to Adien's head. The beam of light that had been in his face before was now a few feet away, out of the way of his eyes.
John waved his hand in front of Adien's eyes, hoping for some sort of reaction. Ford's eyes remained fixed on some unknown point, not wavering when John's hand flashed across his face.
"Told you, I can't see a thing." John leaned back in surprise. If Adien was blind, how did he know he was waving his hand? After a few minutes of silence, Ford whispered, "Breeze. That's how." Before John could ask him how he knew what he was thinking about, the wall slid open.
Bright light flooded the room, temporarily blinding John. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, blinking forcefully a few times until the dancing balls of shadow left. In the light stood a young man, no, a kid. He couldn't have been more than 15 or 16, but had an air of superiority about him. His light-colored hair was cut short, almost short enough to be called a buzz cut, and framed a set of sharp features. He spoke very deliberately, as if he didn't expect them to know English.
"Whoever you are, you have trespassed on hallowed ground. You are lucky to be alive."
"I kind of got the lucky part, but what do you mean 'hallowed'?" John slowly stood, not wanting to have to look up to see this-this kid. "And where is the woman, Teyla? What have you done with her?"
"We have met Teyla Emmagen before, while trading on Athos. She is being helped in one of our medical centers now." He took a step forward, and the door slid shut, leaving a seamless wall behind him. "As for hallowed ground, we mean only that the trees are sacred, and will protect themselves if necessary."
John could hear groaning behind him, and turned to see Adien sting up, staring blankly ahead, and Rodney trying to sit up against the wall. John walked over to him and helped him into a sitting position, all the while examining his head before turning again.
"Is Teyla ok? What about the baby? Is-" John was cut off by the boy.
"Both are fine. Teyla is resting now. Her injuries were severe, but she will make a full recovery." John sighed and closed his eyes for a moment; glad to know his wife and child were ok. He opened them again when McKay groaned behind him, reminding him of their injuries.
"What about us? Don't we get to see a doctor as well?" John gestured to Rodney's sore head, nearly smacking the man in the process.
"We do not know you. If you would merely identify yourselves, we will see to it that you are helped." The man-boy stood straight as a rod, not even blinking. His stability was equally matched by John's weaving back and forth as he fought the battle to stay upright.
"Well, I'm John Sheppard, this here is Adien Ford, and the one bleeding on himself is Rodney McKay. He's a bit whiney, but besides that they're ok." John turned back and grabbed the scientist, who was slowly slipping to the floor. After righting him and making sure he wouldn't fall again, John turned back to Ford. He had assumed a cross-legged position right where he sat, his head pointing straight ahead.
"We are friends of Teyla. In fact, she is my wife. Now, can we get some help?"
The man-child looked at the three of them, then nodded his head and turned to the door. It slid open without a sound, and brightness once again filled the small chamber. The young man stepped outside for a moment and returned with three beds. All three of them were floating on air, like a lily pad on water. Six men accompanied the beds, all of them older than the boy, and he turned to them and whispered. They all nodded their heads and moved in pairs towards the three downed members of AT-1, not making a sound. John closed his eyes and rested his chin on his chest, wishing for his pounding headache to go away. It only intensified, however, when the silence was shattered by a frightened yelp.
"Who are you? Get away from me!" John lifted his head to see Adien fighting with the two men who were trying to help him. Shaking his head, he moved forward, speaking the whole time.
"Ford, Ford, its ok. They are here to help." Adien calmed immediately on hearing John's voice, and turned his head towards the location of the sound. There was a single tear in his eye, and John realized the problem.
"Say something, you guys. He can't see you, so he has to hear you." John didn't know what it was like to not be able to see the world around him, but he had a blind aunt. Every time he had gone to her house, he had to talk almost non-stop so she could hear where he was. Both of the men grumbled something unintelligible, each in turn, and John watched Adien's head snap towards each of them as they spoke. The tension eased out of his shoulders, and the second time they reached for him, he only flinched slightly. The bed holding Rodney floated by, flanked on both sides by one of the men. John thought something looked odd about them, but didn't think any more of it as he was gently pushed back onto a bed of his own.
"I want to see Teyla. I won't let you touch me before then, not until I see her." The men nodded their approval and set out towards a large building about a quarter mile away. 'I guess hospitals look the same no matter what galaxy you're in,' John thought to himself. As they got closer, he could see that the building was in fact, a small complex of buildings. The three floating beds went into the closest one, turning down a dizzying maze of corridors until they reached a large room. It was painted a stark white, and the light reflecting off the walls was almost too intense. But none of that mattered to John the moment he saw the table in the center of the room.
Teyla laid there, her skin almost as pale as the walls around her. Her hair had been cropped short, shorter than Liz's, and a white bandage covered part of her face. There was a nasty gash alongside her ear, and the one hand he could see was bandaged up. A circular device was placed in the center of her forehead and was blinking rapidly. The sheet covered the rest of her body, but John was reassured by the slight rise of her stomach. He slid off his bed and made his way over to her, tears welling in his eyes.
John figured it would have been bad, but this looked like she had fought a knife and lost. There were a number of small scrapes along her arms, but none of those were large enough to need bandaging. He figured he must look just as bad, but there were no mirrors around. John stood next to her bed for a moment before slipping his hand into hers, glad to feel its warmth.
"I'm here now, babe. I'm not going anywhere, except for right there to get cleaned up." John looked over to where Rodney and Adien sat on their beds, the men surrounding them. Now that they were in a brighter room, John took a good look at them.
Adien looked pretty well scratch free, but it looked like the back of his head had been hit with a sledgehammer. He couldn't believe the guy was conscious, much less coherent. That looked to be one nasty skull fracture. The doctors, or whatever they were, were trying to get him to lie on his stomach, but it was obvious they didn't speak any English. Rodney piped up and tiredly told Ford what they wanted, and he promptly did as told. Once on his stomach, they placed one of those circle-shaped things on his temple and John watched his second-in-command relax into a deep sleep.
Rodney was a different story. He looked like he had gone to war with the same demons as Teyla, and it looked like he had fared just as well as she did. He was covered in half a dozen large gashes, along with a black eye that was already quite dark. The same thing that gave him the bump on his forehead, which John figured gave him a concussion, probably caused that black eye. Rodney noticed his stare and smiled.
"You aren't a beauty queen yourself, you know." John figured he was right. Now that he had been awake and moving, all of his extremities hurt. His right hand felt like one or more fingers had been broken, and he absentmindedly wondered why he didn't notice that before. The men who had helped him to the 'hospital' were at his side, speaking in the same strange language as before. John leaned down over Teyla and pressed his lips to her own, glad she was alive. He turned to his bed and motioned for the men – what were their names? – to bring it closer, which they did. John sat on it while he was poked and prodded at, then he was gently pushed back until he was lying down. One of the circles was placed on his head, and he began to feel drowsy. As he fell asleep, John realized that Atlantis would be looking for them. Before he had a chance to say some thing, though, he was asleep.
? Space?
The blonde man-child stood in the doorway the entire time, not speaking the entire time. He nodded to one of the men, who turned back to his companions and spoke in perfect English.
"Heal them as best as you can, then begin the procedure."
? Space?
A/N Like they were going to get off that easy! If they had, would there be a story? And, What happened to Liz? What procedure? Will I ever stop asking questions and just type the next chapter? Find out next time on… Growing Up Ancient: Chapter 8!
