Cowards in a Brave New Galaxy
By Philote
oOo
Chapter 2: Fear
oOo
Ford gripped his other arm and urged him up and around the back of the building, into the cover of the trees there. Rodney fell to his knees again, gripping a tree trunk for dear life. Then, he remembered that it was important to breathe. He sucked in air, fighting to clear the darkness that was trying to steal his vision.
Ford crouched beside him, one hand on his gun and the other still gripping Rodney's arm, as if he could keep him together by holding onto him. He watched the young man, knowing that he was watching the Wraith. Dark eyes tracked slowly past their position, in the direction that the Major and Teyla had taken towards the beach.
After a few moments Ford spoke very softly into the radio. "Major, you've got a Wraith party coming up on your six."
"Wraith!" came the quiet, incredulous answer. "I thought we agreed it wasn't Wraith."
"I don't know what to tell you, sir. They're definitely here now. I count four; three of the guards with the masks, one without."
"All right. We'll try to make ourselves scarce. Stay put, Lieutenant. There could be more."
"Yes, sir." Ford released the radio and shifted his weight slightly, eyes never leaving the courtyard.
Beside him, Rodney gulped. His breathing was still erratic. His survival instincts said to run. His brain told him he wouldn't make it two feet before he collapsed. Through it all, despite the imminent danger, he still kept flashing to all of the bodies such a short distance away. He must have made some noise of distress, for Ford loosened the vice grip on his arm and kneaded his fingers lightly in a sort of comforting motion. "Easy, Doctor McKay. Stay with me here."
"Where else am I going?" he retorted, without any of his usual venom.
Ford rewarded him with a slight smile, then released him to reach for his pack and canteen, which he had apparently dragged into the trees with them. Rodney had forgotten all about them.
Ford handed them to him. "Drink some more," he instructed quietly, then turned his full attention back to their surroundings.
Rodney obediently screwed the cap off the canteen. As he sipped, it occurred to him that at least part of his disconnected feeling was probably due to low blood sugar. He should really eat a power bar.
But the mere thought of trying to force down food made him choke on a sip of water. He held in the coughing, trying to be as quiet as possible, and soon found himself breathless once more.
Ford gripped his shoulder to steady him, and he flapped his hand at him in a sort of way that was supposed to indicate he was all right.
The radio crackled. "Ford? You two all right?" came Sheppard's soft voice.
"Yes, sir. I haven't seen any more movement; I think the four of them are it."
"Good. We can hear them on the path above us. We're gonna take cover and try to take them out."
Ford grimaced, and Rodney gulped again. Four to two were not good odds when one was dealing with Wraith.
Ford spoke up again. "I can help you out, sir. I can come up behind them. They didn't notice us; I've got surprise on my side."
The Major hesitated.
Then, "Negative. Take McKay and head back to the Jumper."
Rodney found himself shaking his head. "I'm all right," he croaked, and it was possibly the biggest and most obvious lie he'd ever told.
But he had to be all right, because Sheppard and Teyla could easily be killed here. Ford needed to help them. Rodney needed to get himself under control.
But Ford was saying, "Yes, sir."
Out of it though he might be, Rodney still wasn't disillusioned about how much help he would be against Wraith. "Leave me here and go help them," he told Ford, and tried to sound authoritative.
Apparently it wasn't convincing. Or perhaps the fact that he was still pale and trembling had done him in. Whatever the reason, Ford eyed him and shook his head. "I can't do that, Doc. The Major gave me an order."
"Screw the chain of command." His voice cracked disturbingly, but he pressed on. "You have a responsibility to keep him alive."
"I have the same responsibility to you. So, you and me are gonna get out of here and head back to the Jumper. Come on," he instructed, pulling him to his feet and reaching to help him with his pack. That done Ford studied him for a moment, apparently weighing his options. Then he stepped close, reached to Rodney's thigh, and pulled the gun from its holster. He pressed it forcefully into his hand, and Rodney stared as his fingers seemed to curl around it of their own accord.
Then Ford stepped back, and caught his eyes. "You remember your training, right? Take the safety off," he instructed.
Rodney stared at him for a moment, then, still feeling slightly surreal, he did as he'd been told.
Ford watched, then nodded when McKay looked back to him. "All right. Only shoot if you have to; I'd rather get out of here without any encounters. Be as quiet as you can, and whatever you do," he winced and touched the barrel of the gun, pushing it away from himself, "don't point the gun in my direction or at yourself," he added when Rodney pulled it back and it tilted towards his own chest. He knew that, of course. He'd been taught. The information just seemed to be getting lost somewhere between his brain and his fingers.
Ford was looking a bit uncertain about this, but still said, "Okay?"
McKay nodded jerkily, though there was nothing okay about any of this.
"Stay close." With the one last instruction, Ford turned and began quietly making his way through the tree line towards the front of the settlement. Rodney took him perhaps too literally, walking so close that he almost ran into him three times before they'd passed two of the buildings. When Ford shot him a frustrated look he tried to back off, but quickly found if he wasn't immediately in Ford's wake he had trouble navigating the undergrowth. He felt clumsy and awkward and kept reaching out his right hand to steady himself, only to find that he'd forgotten he was holding the gun. Through it all his heart pounded and he fought for clear thought through a stubborn disoriented feeling that would not go away.
Then, from the direction of the shore, the gunshots started to sound.
Rodney violently flinched at the first round and almost dove for cover, despite the obvious distance of the shots. In front of him Ford tensed, glancing in that direction, and Rodney knew he was thinking that he should be over there. He might have even encouraged him again to go, if he'd been able to speak. As it was, he felt like he was being choked by his fear.
As the spurts of shots continued in the background, Ford motioned for him to move again.
A few tense moments and another building later, the radio crackled. "Ford—we've only got two on us," the Major informed them urgently.
If possible, the Lieutenant became even more tense. He held up a hand to halt Rodney's movement. "Understood, sir," he responded quietly.
With his thought process a bit befuddled as it was, it took Rodney a moment to figure out what that meant. Four…minus two…oh, God.
If they weren't focused on the Major and Teyla, they probably knew someone else was here. They were probably searching the settlement.
They were probably very close by.
Ford crept closer to the buildings, looking for any sign of movement. Rodney tried desperately to get his harsh, ragged breathing under control, fearing the Wraith would hear it.
Suddenly, he thought he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned, feeling as if everything was in slow motion.
There was nothing there.
He frowned, thinking absently that this was a lousy time to start having delusions. But then, there it was again. Like a shadow of something, moving quickly through the trees in front of him.
He tried to motion to Ford, but the lieutenant was focused on the courtyard. Feeling the adrenaline coursing through him, he raised the pistol. And a second later, when he saw it again, it was heading straight at him. He pulled the trigger.
The shot was near deafening in the silence.
The thing, whatever it was, vanished into nothing like a wisp of smoke. The recoil almost knocked him off his feet.
Ford spun back to him, eyes wide.
For his part, Rodney froze. Now he remembered…the Wraith make you see things that aren't there.
He was shooting at nothing, and now he'd given away their position.
Ford reacted, shoving him unceremoniously into the brush. He hissed, "Stay put and don't make a sound," then stepped away on his own with his P-90 raised.
Rodney scrambled into a sitting position, pressed hard against a tree trunk, eyes squeezed shut. He clutched the gun with both hands against his chest and tried not to hyperventilate.
He could hear heavy, hurrying footsteps coming in their direction. After a moment he hurriedly shrugged out of his pack, feeling suffocated by the weight. Then he screwed up what little courage he could find and turned until he could see what was going on.
Ford took up a stance a few yards in front of him, between the two buildings. He raised his P-90 and pointed it steadily, waiting for them to appear.
And, sure enough, it was only a matter of seconds before they came marching into view.
Two of them, one with the funky mask covering his face and the other without. Funny, Rodney hadn't realized how big they would look up close.
Ford opened fire. The masked one stepped in front of the other, taking the bullets and firing back with its stunner. Ford dodged, rolled, and came up shooting again. Rodney jerked behind the tree, cowering, and then finally peeking out again a few moments later.
Ford was hitting it, but it just kept coming. It had advanced to only a few feet away, the other one staying close behind it and hissing in what Rodney supposed was some sort of approval or encouragement.
Finally, Ford hit the masked guard in the head, and it went down. But then the other one, the one that actually had a visible face, kept coming. It stepped over its friend and reached him, then yanked the gun from his gasp. In one move, too quick for the Lieutenant to reach for his pistol, it sent him flying a good ten feet. Rodney could do little but watch in horror as Ford slammed into the side of the building. There was an ominous thud as his head cracked against the stone and a sickening crunch that was probably one or more important bones breaking.
Then he fell, limp and unconscious, to the ground.
The Wraith sneered, and moved towards him.
And, finally, Rodney got his legs to move. He stumbled slightly as he lunged from his hiding place and forced his body between Ford and the Wraith.
The Wraith paused, sizing him up like a brand new toy placed between it and its broken one.
Rodney raised the gun, and pointed it. He was somewhat concerned by how violently it shook. He brought his other hand up to support it, then pulled the trigger.
He missed by over a foot.
The Wraith took a step toward him, so he tried again. This time he clipped it in the arm. It rolled its shoulder and just kept coming. It smiled at him, lips curling upward to reveal a mouthful of sharp, pointy teeth.
And Rodney went somewhere else. His body stayed protectively in front of Ford, but his mind retreated to a clinical, scientific zone to ponder the development of such teeth in a species that did not consume through the mouth. The gun remained pointing as the Wraith advanced on him, but it did not fire. It was as if he were watching it all from above, unable to send physical messages to his body anymore.
It drew close enough to touch, then knocked the gun from his hand. It was still smiling that ethereal smile with those superfluous teeth as it reached for his chest.
When the shots rang out, succinctly and quickly, he could not quite grasp what was happening. The Wraith spun away from him, snarling. Five more shots, and it stumbled before falling in a heap at his feet.
In the now empty place where it had stood, he saw Sheppard lowering his gun and hurrying towards him. His eyes then traveled to the ground, staring at the Wraith.
"McKay?" Sheppard called as he went to Ford, checking for a pulse.
Rodney didn't answer, he just continued to stare. Teyla came closer, and he wondered why he hadn't noticed her presence until now. She pointed her weapon at the Wraith, prepared for it to awaken. "Doctor?" she questioned with concern.
Still, he couldn't answer.
"McKay! McKay, look at me!" Then there were fingers on his chin, gripping hard, turning his head until he was staring into Major Sheppard's face.
The Major's expression gave him pause. It wasn't angry really, but it was very intense, urgent. "Snap out of it. I need you here."
Rodney cut wide eyes from him to Ford's limp form. "Is he alive?" he finally choked out.
"Yes. He's out cold, but he's alive. Are you injured?"
"Huh?" he asked dumbly.
"McKay, are you hurt?" Sheppard asked more forcefully, grasping his shoulders and turning him so he could physically look him over.
"Oh. No. I'm fine," he answered distractedly, not even bothering to protest the manhandling.
Sheppard seemed doubtful, but apparently didn't find anything life-threatening. He released him, looking to the two Wraith. "I think the two on the beach are down to stay," he commented. He looked at the wounds Ford had inflicted on the guard. "Head shots seem to do the most damage."
He looked to Teyla, and she nodded, then took careful aim and shot two bullets into the head of the one she was guarding.
Blood and grayish matter spattered to the ground at Rodney's feet. He felt his stomach churn again and looked away, drawing in a deep breath through his nose. "I'm gonna just…sit," he announced, then plopped down beside Ford, shifting until he was facing the wall and not looking at any dead things.
Sheppard knelt beside them, touching Rodney's back briefly before shifting his attention back to Ford. He began to examine him more closely. "Probable concussion, broken arm, couple of cracked ribs…at the very least…" he catalogued aloud, concern clear in his voice. He pulled a bandage from his vest, folding it and pressing it to the oozing head wound. Ford didn't stir.
Sheppard kept his hand where it was and glanced to the two Wraith, then to Teyla. "We still don't know if there may be more out there. We need to get moving to the Jumper."
But even as he said it, the Major was grimacing at Ford's condition. As it stood, he would probably have to sling the young man over his shoulder and carry him. That could not be good for those wounds.
Teyla stated the obvious. "We should move him no more than we have to. You should go get the ship, and come back for us. I will stay with him." She shouldered her weapon as she spoke, coming over to them and offering to take the bandage from the Major.
Rodney felt panic flair again—he didn't want to stay here.
It was obvious that Sheppard didn't want to leave them here, either. But it was the best option available to him. He finally nodded acceptance and let her take over trying to staunch the blood flow. Then he stood, his gaze falling to Rodney.
He glanced to Teyla, then back to Sheppard. They were both watching him. He wondered if the fear was obvious on his face, and pointedly looked away.
Then Sheppard was kneeling again, this time directly in front of him. "McKay," he said, with an odd mix of gentleness and urgency. "Will you be all right here?"
It was hard, because it was the absolute last thing he wanted to say. But this had to be about Ford, not him. He nodded. "I'd only slow you down, Major," he said softly. "Go."
Sheppard met his eyes and held the gaze, searching. After a moment, he nodded and addressed them both. "All right. Get into the cover of the trees, and don't come out until I call you. Fix him up as much as you can with the First Aid kit. Stay in radio contact; I'll be back as soon as I can."
He stood, then paused. He went back to the Wraith bodies, and put two more shots in each head for good measure.
Rodney flinched with each report of the gun.
Then Sheppard nodded to Teyla, came closer again to give Rodney's shoulder a single squeeze, and turned to hasten out of the settlement.
oOo
tbc
