Chapter 13
Rodney leaned wearily against the corridor wall outside the closed infirmary doors. Beyond exhaustion and pain, his entire body was shaking, threatening to shut down at any second. He was running on the remnants of pure adrenalin that Lokii had instilled with his continual prodding and verbal threats using the shard of glass. The drug-crazed individual was no longer coherent, rambling continually about creatures climbing the walls and voices shouting from behind them. Rodney knew that he had to hold it together long enough, until Lokii was at his most vulnerable and wouldn't be able to withstand a fight, before he could make any attempt at stopping him.
"Open it," the ambassador's hoarse voice demanded from behind the scientist.
Praying that the room would be empty and that all staff had gone to bed long before they got there, he closed his eyes before placing his hand on the panel, activating the mechanism to release. The near silent 'whoosh' signaled access and was followed instantly by a sharp jab to the middle of his back. Rodney opened his eyes and glanced about the darkened infirmary.
At first, all the beds appeared empty; that fortune had decided to briefly smile upon him and make it so that no one else would get hurt. No one, that is, except for the dead Scotsman, would be taking up space here, and his body would most likely be in the morgue, if he'd even been found yet. But upon further inspection, Rodney noticed an area towards the back had a curtain drawn about it, providing privacy for its occupant. Hopefully Lokii wouldn't notice, and leave the individual in peace.
A clatter coming from the area of Carson's office caused both men to shift their attention in that direction. Before he had the chance to call out a warning, the scientist felt the ambassador's arm wrap tightly around his throat, the glass shard now pressed dangerously hard against his vulnerable neck. Within moments, a nurse appeared carrying a small tray of instruments, unaware of the two individuals standing beside the closed door. She moved silently across the room, coming to a startled halt at the sound of a muffled groan. Spying the hidden figures, she slowly began to walk backwards towards the safety of the office.
"Don't move or I'll kill him," Lokii menaced, moistening his parched lips with the tip of his tongue. Tightening his grip, he caused Rodney to gasp for breath in the strangle hold. "I want medicine," he demanded, "go get some."
Her mouth dropped open to protest as her eyes shifted to the corner bed and back. "I, I can't do that, sir. Only a physician has the key code to the dispensary."
Rodney wheezed as the corners of his vision began to gray. Pulling on Lokii's arm with both hands, he felt himself falling to the floor. The ambassador shifted his grip, his own trembling hand securing the scientist around the chest and forcing him back to his feet. Pressing a sharp edge of the broken glass against Rodney's neck, he drew a steady stream of blood before pulling it back. "I will kill him if you do not get me what I want."
"Sir, I, I..." she started to say, her eyes dodging about the room in search of help.
"She can't help you, but I can."
The quiet familiar brogue made Rodney fear that he had finally lost it and was beginning to hallucinate. "Now you've done it," he whispered, "you've brought him back from the dead." He felt a hysterical giggle form in the back of his throat at the thought. "Carson Beckett of the Clan McBeckett, back for your head," he was able to wheeze out before his knees buckled again, this time his captor no longer able to hold him upright.
Lokii's eyes narrowed as he stared across the dim infirmary, trying to make out the individual who was speaking. Dropping to one knee, he pulled the scientist up to his chest as a shield, the glass still menacingly close to the semi-conscious man's throat. "Show yourself," he demanded, his grip on McKay slipping because of his own shaking hands.
Carson slowly stepped out from behind the curtain. His right arm in a sling and tightly bound to his chest, he was dressed in a pair of burgundy surgical scrubs, his hair wildly sticking up in all directions, and moving slowly with a limp, he cautiously edged into position between Lokii and his nurse. "Let him go, Ambassador," he said calmly, his eyes never leaving Lokii's.
"No!" Rising to his feet, he waved the bloody glass shard in the physician's direction, "Give me the code."
"I can't do that." The Scot's heart was hammering in his chest, knowing that he needed to get to Rodney, but first somehow get him away from the ambassador.
Lokii reached down and grabbed Rodney's blood matted hair, yanking the scientist's head back. "I believe you can, Doctor Beckett, if you want this man to live."
"Stop it! Leave him alone," Carson pleaded, watching his friend's dazed blue eyes try to fix on his position while reaching weakly for the hand in his hair. "Rodney, stay still, lad."
"You're just a ghost. Can't tell me what to do," the scientist mumbled, his eyes sliding shut in resignation. "I saw you fall," he whispered in despair.
The physician felt a knot form in his throat at Rodney's slurred words. "Let me help him and then I'll help you," he proposed.
"No," Lokii said, his voice cold as ice. "Tell me the key code. When I get what I need, maybe then I will let him live."
Rodney's unsteady hand slapped at the man behind him, "Don't do it, Cars'n. I'm fine, jus' tired." His head lolled to the side, his eyes cracking open to find the Scot once more, "Don't…"
"Rodney," Beckett grimaced, stepping closer to his injured friend.
"…go." His eyes rolled back, his exhausted body succumbing to the inevitable darkness.
Horrified at what he was witnessing, Carson's gaze shifted to meet Lokii's maddened glare. "Fine, I'll do it if you let her go," he countered, tipping his head towards the nurse.
The ambassador looked at the terrified woman standing behind the physician and then back to Beckett. In desperate need of his next dose, he nodded, but made sure to keep McKay as a shield in front of him.
Carson cautiously stepped around the pair on the floor, keeping himself between them and his nurse. "Go, lass," he encouraged quietly while activating the panel, breathing a little easier when she slipped out the door.
Lokii let go of Rodney and unsteadily made his way towards the doctor. Reaching out with a bloodstained hand, he grasped Beckett's injured shoulder, giving the Scot a hard shove away from the exit. "Where is it?" he demanded.
Crying out in pain, Carson clutched his arm and held it tight while trying to control the waves of agony shooting down his injured shoulder. "Follow me." He turned to check on Rodney, noticing that he hadn't moved, before making his way over to his office, the ambassador close on his heels. "It's through here."
The entrance to the dispensary from his office was closed, the security panel activated. With an unsteady hand he reached out to punch in the code, knowing that when he opened the door one of two things was going to happen. Either the ambassador would go straight for the drugs and leave him standing alone, or the addicted man would make him show the different medications. Hoping for the first, he tapped the final number and watched the security lights go off.
Lokii's eyes traced over all the various vials and capsules stored throughout the room. Shelves of unknown substances lined up neatly in labeled rows tantalized his desperate senses. "Which one is it?" he barked, causing the Scot to jump.
"I don't know what you need. It could be any number of things in here."
Rummaging through the rows, Lokii began pulling bottles apart, spilling their precious contents on the floor. Finding one that looked like his medication, he thrust it at Carson. "What is that?"
"Valium," he lied, trying for the poker face of a lifetime when the man presented him with a stimulant.
"What does that do?"
"Makes a person calm, less anxious."
Lokii shoved it back on the shelf before sifting through more bottles. Opening another, he thrust it at over, "And this?"
"Aspirin. Helps with headaches." Watching the bottle of anti-depressants get shoved back on the shelf, Carson wondered how long the man would believe him. When he was thrust a bottle of nitroglycerine tablets, he had a feeling the ambassador was starting to disbelieve him.
"Take one," the angry man demanded.
"What?" Carson blurted.
Shaking hands shoved the medication at the physician, "Take one. I want to see what happens to you if you do."
"That doesn't work the same on everyone," he stammered, backing away slowly towards the open doorway. "I'm already on medication and it would react differently on me than it would on you." One more step and he could escape, he thought to himself.
"No more games," Lokii growled, grabbing another bottle and tossing the lid aside. Pouring the contents sloppily onto the shelf, while still holding the piece of bloody glass, he grabbed a small white tablet and advanced towards the retreating Scot. "Take it or Dr. McKay dies."
TBC
A/N: Pretty much out of cliffies so I guess this is almost done...almost.