I am so hacked off at SciFi. They started rerunning Atlantis last night, so I was excited to finally get them on tape…and they edited them! The whole scene btwn John and Jack in the chopper "I don't know, sir, right at this moment whether I decide to go on this mission or not, seems to be about me."--GONE! The scenes where everyone is saying goodbye to their families--GONE! When Aiden and John are at the Gate and John asks what it feels like, they cut it to Aiden jumping through the gate with a squeal, no conversation before. Guaranteeing the sales of the DVDs in November are we?
Seventeen.
The tingling sensation remained, fogging his thinking and nearly relaxing him into slumber but another feeling started to grow. Rodney's eyes opened to frown at the ceiling. He raised a hand to his throat to wipe it away. Then someone was on either side of him. Bates and Carson, each bracing a knee and a shoulder, restricting his movement.

"Is this normal?" Carson' s worried blue eyes locked onto Saysha as Rodney fidgeted under his hands.

"There is no 'normal', Carson. We have never dealt with anything like this before," Saysha answered keeping her eyes on the display of Rodney's vitals.

"Ford."

Lt Ford turned to see Major Sheppard sitting, short of breath on the edge of his bed. He motioned to him, "Get me over there. I can't see anything."

"Yes, sir." Aiden knew the protectiveness of his CO. Even though he knew nothing about this treatment, he wanted to be close enough to help if possible. Aiden got beneath John's shoulder to maneuver him within eyesight of Rodney but still out of the way.

They could see Rodney's eyes open, unseeing, as he fought against Carson and Bates' restraining hands. Saysha had her eyes locked on the monitors and Malkim was punching keys on the handheld diagnostic device. Everyone was worried but no one was stopping.

Rodney's mind was screaming at the burning in his throat. It was as if someone had lit a bonfire in there. He heard voices around him, some talking to him, some about him. At one point he heard Major Sheppard yelling to stop but it continued. He tried at get his hands up to put it out but people were holding him. So he started to scream…and then everything went black.

A A A A A A

The healing room was quiet. Jotham sat in a corner of the healing room with Lt Ford and Sgt Bates talking quietly. Malkim went back to the lab with orders to call if he was needed. Carson stood at Rodney's bedside figuring out the advanced monitors. Teyla was at Major Sheppard's side with Saysha.

Saysha pressed the quarter sized reflective disk against Major Sheppard's ribs under his right arm. He wasn't going to let her lay one hand on him after seeing Rodney pass out from her treatments but Carson convinced him.

"This should keep you relatively pain free," she was explaining. "As long as you don't overexert yourself again." She pulled his shirt back down, laying a hand against his chest. She tilted her head, regarding him with bright eyes, "Carson must have his hands full with you."

Teyla nodded from his side, "You are perceptive, Saysha."

With a slight pout, John defended himself, "Me? No way but Dr McKay, now there's one we all have our hands full with. He gets to play with all the little things the Ancients made so he sees Beckett more than anyone on Atlantis…"

"Oh, yes, I run gung-ho into packs of Wraith with an ineffective weapon, I dangle food just out of reach of a starving Wraith then go in to shake hands with him, I run face first into big ugly Wraith bugs, I fight a pack of overgrown bobcats with only one good arm, I…"

Rodney opened his eyes to see Carson smiling back at him.

"Welcome back, Rodney. Ya gave us a scare. It appears ya suffered a bit of a sensory overload, kind of shocked yer system to get yer body back in it's original condition."

Rodney sat up, to meet John's lopsided grin and Teyla's surprised face.

Ford called, walking from across the room, "Yo, Doc, good to hear your voice again."

Rodney glanced at all the faces, eyes on him. "Did I say that out loud?" His eyes widened and he jerked slightly at his own voice. A goofy smile spread across his face. "It worked," he breathed. In a heartbeat he rounded on John. "What the hell were you thinking? Oh, I know what you were thinking…'shut up, McKay.' My god, what would have happened if you had been thinking of a turkey sandwich? Would I have been sliced and diced and served on toast? Or if you had been thinking of blowing something up, would I have sprouted a fuse and exploded, raining bloody body parts all over you? Or if…" He was stopped by Major Sheppard's undaunted smirk. "What? What?" He frowned at the eruption of laughter from his team mates and ended up leaning back, arms crossed in a pout.

"Thedevice wasn't quite that sensitive, Rodney," Saysha laughed. She stepped back as Teyla, Ford and Bates gathered closer.

Teyla squeezed his upper arm. "I am pleased you are once again yourself, Dr McKay. My people were concerned you would have to move out with them if you were no longer useful to Atlantis."

"Oh, ha ha." Rodney caught site of Saysha and Jotham, standing behind his friends. "Hey, I would love a tour. There is so much you could tell me about your technology that would help us in understanding the Ancient's…"

Jotham came forward interrupting, "I am sorry. You are all well again. It is time you went home. More of your kind have been searching for you and the daylight is nearly spent."

Carson turned to face Jotham, "But there is so much ya could teach us…"

The old man shook his head, a sadness falling on him, "You are not ready."

"But…" John started.

Saysha stepped forward, "Maybe someday our two peoples can converse on a higher level. Until then, be assured that we will dedicate are days to finding a way to defeat the Wraith. When we find that way, we will seek you out."

"We can't just forget you're here…" Rodney tried one last time.

Jotham strode to the corner, returning with his crested staff.

Carson recognized it instantly, eyes popping wide. He opened his mouth to protest when the room lit in bright bluish light.

"Forget." Jotham's gentle voice permeated the six Atlantis team members' minds, the light lulled them, each falling into a walking sleep.