Friendly Fire
By: Antares Star
Chapter Eight: Code 99
PG-13: For character whumping, blood, and language
A/N: Almost done with this now! I absolutely loved Duet, what a great episode. I laughed so loud!
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Sheppard leapt from the Chair as though it was on fire. "McKay!" He caught the Canadian by his shoulders and eased him down. "What the hell was that?"
"I-I don't know, I feel funny." He licked dry lips. "I can't see. Oh God, I'm dying!"
"You're not dying, just calm down." Rodney was shaking and stared at him with glassy eyes. The Canadian took a deep breath and his taught muscles seemed to relax somewhat. "Wait!" That last word was to Zelenka who was about to radio med lab. "Give him a second."
Rodney lay very still and took shaky breaths. The black spots faded from his vision and he blinked owlishly up at them. "Okay, that was weird." He shifted away from Sheppard. "What about you?"
"What about me."
"I-I thought you'd be sick too." His quick words sounded slightly accusatory.
Sheppard was at a loss. He'd thought so too. "Let's get you to Beckett."
Slowly and steadily they made their way to the infirmary. A surprising sight greeted them. Teyla was sitting on a bed and being examined by Dr. Beckett, who remarkably looked back to his normal self, aside from the dark circles under his red-rimmed eyes. Carson dropped his penlight and turned. "Rodney?"
"He had some sort of faint-, uh, passing-out fit." Sheppard crossed his arms. "Teyla?"
She looked grim. "I too, experienced something odd…I felt weak and my vision went dark. Then I was simply recovered, although I still feel unsteady." It sounded like the virus was beginning to rear its ugly head.
Carson allowed himself a moment of release. "I don't understand a bloody thing that's going on!" He sighed, glanced up to see Sheppard standing nearby looking quite healthy. "Major, are you quite well?"
"Yup, I feel completely normal."
Carson studied Sheppard briefly and mumbled more to himself than them. "Honestly, this is bloody craziest thing I've ever seen."
"I dunno Doc. Maybe has something to do with my other…condition." It was said casually but as soon as he finished a pair of startled blue eyes snapped to him.
"I…nay, that's improbable." Carson pursed his lips.
"And you rolling over and getting up from death's door isn't?" McKay sounded desperate. "Knowing Sheppard he'll manage to get through this alive when no else does." Bitterness laced his words.
Carson wasn't deterred. "All right Major, let's say your theory is correct. You are carrying the virus but it's not manifesting because of the venom in your bloodstream. That means tests." Sheppard withheld his groan. Of course it did.
The doors swished open and Ford entered. Carson went still. "Did ya faint too son?"
"Yeah, I was in my quarters, trying to…how did…" He caught sight of his teammates. "Oh. This isn't good, is it?"
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Rodney stood on the balcony where he'd been dragged by a suicidal Sheppard just hours earlier. Funny, he'd never really looked at the ocean before. It was the deepest most amazing shade of blue. He'd been ordered by Beckett to return within the hour while they ran his blood and examined test results. Rodney found it odd that he'd been allowed to leave, even for a minute. An uncomfortable feeling that it was a sort of reprieve for the terminally ill nagged him.
A noise behind him caused him to jump. It was Teyla and she looked relieved. "Dr. McKay, why have you removed your radio, it worried Dr. Beckett when he could not reach you. He thought perhaps you had left the set boundaries. Or…" She looked over the edge.
Suicidal like Sheppard? No freaking way. He looked around to find his radio sitting a few feet away, he hadn't remembered removing it. "Oh, I was thinking."
She joined him on the railing. "It is quite beautiful." They remained in companionable silence. Teyla took a moment to study the man next to her. He was a series of conflicting personalities and emotions, arrogant and somewhat rude yet she truly enjoyed his company…most of the time. She hadn't known him long, but saw in him untapped potential.
Rodney looked up and noticed she was rubbing her temple.
"Headache?"
"Yes, and you?"
He nodded shortly. They looked out over the water again.
Her radio buzzed, causing her to start a bit. "Teyla dear, have ya found Rodney?"
She tapped it. "Yes Dr. Beckett, he is fine."
Rodney mumbled, "Define 'fine'. I'm not fine."
She spared him a quick glance. "We are in no immediate danger as of now."
"I need you both to return immediately." There was an undercurrent of worry in his accent.
They exchanged glances. "We are on our way Doctor."
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They entered the infirmary to the sound of arguing voices. Carson and Dr. Völker were standing face to face and both looked rather irritated with each other. The major was siting directly behind them and appeared highly uncomfortable with the situation. They didn't seem to notice Teyla and Rodney's arrival.
"…should have done full tests on everyone as soon as they returned!" Carson reprimanded quietly, which really was much worse than shouting. His voice was tightly restrained and more clipped than usual.
"We had our hands full! There was no reason to run their blood! They were uninjured. Mein Got!" The young German replied defensively.
Carson scrubbed his face with an exhausted motion and fiercely whispered, "Major Sheppard should have been monitored twenty-four seven! And son, you always run blood when…" Carson swung his gaze to the two patients standing awkwardly in the doorway. He straightened and cleared his voice. "Uh, hullo Rodney, Teyla. Dr. Völker, please see to Lieutenant Ford and Dr. Wallace's samples." He said the parting phrase quite kindly, perhaps to put the younger man at ease.
Völker nodded shortly, and Carson couldn't help but feel badly for the young German. He was an amazing surgeon, but nothing prepared you for situations like this. He'd done his best, that much was obvious.
"Up ya go." Carson patted a bed for Rodney and pointed to another one for Teyla. Rodney sat gingerly and looked sideways at him.
"Is this going to hurt?" He was beginning to feel weak again and wasn't up for the old needle in the arm right now.
"Same as last time, just a little jab." Beckett swabbed his skin, like it really mattered; he was a dead man anyway. The needle punched in just as McKay began feeling so very tired and ill.
"Wha--" He looked at Carson, eyes widened in fear as he fell forward helplessly into the Scot.
Carson fumbled to catch him without ripping the needle out. He gathered the man and gently laid him back. "Bloody hell." He glanced up to see Teyla falling back onto the bed like a ragdoll. Sheppard swore, this was not good. A foreign curse from Völker echoed him.
Dr. Beckett checked Rodney's vitals, uncomfortably aware that the man's panicked blue eyes were following his every move. "Rodney, if ya can hear me, blink twice." He did, spastically. "Lord, I think they're paralyzed." He scrutinized the four patients.
"I know what that's like." Sheppard moved Teyla's legs onto the bed. Her large eyes were fixed on him. "Don't worry, we'll fix this." He gave her arm a brief pat.
Dr. Beckett took a deep breath. "Okay, this isn't exactly a good development, but it confirms my theory."
"What's that Doc?" Sheppard took a second to thank the higher powers that Beckett had recovered. For some reason he'd developed a great mistrust and antipathy towards all of Carson's staff, especially the German. Oh yeah, maybe that had to do with overlooking a virus he was infected with for over twelve hours.
"Obviously the virus was contracted somehow on the planet, perhaps microorganisms in the water or air and such. It affected you sooner Major, because it reacted with the venom you received.
"Bad reaction."
"Aye." Carson drawled, leaning his hip against Rodney's bed. "You had two problems going on. The initial paralysis caused by the virus, and your aggression, a reaction of the venom."
Sheppard shifted uncomfortably and offered a half smile. "Uh, yeah, sorry about--"
"Now isn't the time Major." He smiled back tightly, but his eyes remained pinched worriedly. "The only thing I can think of to explain Lydia and my recovery is that our venom reacted with the virus as well."
"Good reaction."
"Aye." He repeated. "Although it took a wee bit didn't it? Almost thirteen hours, slow incubation for a virus."
That prompted a thought from Sheppard. "Wait! When I was in the Chair, the hologram, he said something like that about reactions and…stuff."
"What's that Major?" Carson asked distractedly, feeling for Teyla's pulse.
"It was something about how mixing non-carbon stuff could either worsen or lessen their effects." Beckett turned his full attention to him. "Yeah, they didn't know really. Does that make sense to you?"
"Perhaps. I wish you'd told me sooner." Beckett stared ahead thoughtfully.
Sheppard could almost see the wheels turning, and it suddenly struck him that this was one of the smartest men he'd ever meet. Sure, Rodney bragged about being a genius, but how many other people on this base shared that title without flaunting it? Sheppard could think of a few likely candidates.
"McKay didn't think it was important."
"Is Rodney a doctor?" snapped Carson.
Rodney's eyes blinked furiously and he managed a strangled grunt.
"Yes, so he reminds us." Sheppard translated.
Beckett bent over the physicist's prone form. "Sit tight Rodney. Right, let's go listen to this hologram thing, shall we?"
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The hologram flickered away and Carson stared incredulously at Sheppard. "Well, it just seems impossible, but I think this may be the answer to everything. It's all right there in the recording."
"Great, I'm ready for this crap to be over." Sheppard actually felt very good. He'd been informed it was temporary; the poisons hadn't thinned in the least. Unlike Carson, his toxins hadn't neutralized each other. And apparently his body didn't recognize them as dangerous and was in no hurry to rid itself of their presence. How come he had to have the venom with the bad reaction? It wasn't fair.
They left the Chair Room, security trailing as always, and began the walk back to Carson's domain. "Well, it seems straightforward enough; doing it's the actual problem. First I have to determine if it's safe to inject them with the pure form of venom or …"
Sheppard was only half listening. He knew it was important, but suddenly it didn't seem to matter. Virus this, venom that, it would all work out! He felt great, felt like relaxing a little. After all, it'd been a stressful morning.
"Hey Doc, how 'bout we get a bottle of that German Pillsner, the good stuff you know, and take it down to the North Pier. Quite a view, and it's a beautiful day!"
An abrupt halt and Carson was squarely facing him. "Major, are you quite sure you're feeling alright? No weakness, nausea?"
Sheppard laughed quite raucously and threw a comradely arm around him. "Doc! Carson old buddy, I've never felt better!" The soldier looked set to spring, but at a signal from Carson did not interfere quite yet. "My friend, never better." With each syllable on the last words he patted Carson's sore shoulders rather harder than necessary.
"Well…that's good Major, jolly good." Carson extracted himself and straightened his lab coat. "Let's just be getting back to the infirmary, I've got some excellent brew tucked away in my office. Not German, but it'll do." He smiled invitingly, trying to mask any nervousness he felt. He wasn't about to be on the receiving end of Sheppard's rampage again.
However he shouldn't have worried. The Major grinned even wider, if that was possible, and took off. "Beat you there!"
The security officer went after him to be sure he ended up in the desired place and not on the said North Pier.
"Pure mad dafty that one," Carson mumbled. He was sure they hadn't seen the last of Sheppard's behavioral problems, although he much preferred the man ecstatic than violent.
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Dr. Weir was waiting in the infirmary when Carson walked through. "He's back there." She jerked her head towards Beckett's office where the obvious signs of a search were going on. Through the window he could see papers flying about.
"Well, that should keep him busy for a while then." Carson began checking over the patients. "As you can see, they've taken a turn for the worse, but all their vitals are healthy."
Elizabeth frowned. "When I got your call, I must say I was concerned. But you think you have an answer to this?"
"Aye." Carson tried to think of the easiest way to explain the complicated procedure he wanted to attempt. "It's really just a matter of introducing the correct amount of venom into their system to counteract the virus. According to the Ancient doctor they should neutralize each other. The fact is we must do something soon; their immune system's don't recognize it as a virus and aren't making any move to get rid of it."
Crossing her arms, Elizabeth thought it sounded a little crazy. "And if it doesn't work, they'll end up like John?" They could hear him shouting at his security escort to help him get a filing cabinet open.
"I bloody well hope not. Rodney on a good day is bad enough; I can't imagine him like that."
Dr. Weir grimaced, knowing firsthand how true that was. "All right, do what you have to do."
At that moment Sheppard crowed in victory. "Got it!" He half emerged, waving his uninjured hand bearing a bottle of rich, golden liquid in the air and laughed victoriously.
At Elizabeth's raised brow Carson shrugged and called, "Jolly good Major, you go and start on it then." He turned to Elizabeth and lowered his voice, admitting, "It's just apple juice. Anyway, he's a few sheep short of a herd if ya know what I mean, and won't even notice…I hope."
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Carson and Dr. Padgett sat in the medical lab two hours later, concentrating fully on the task at hand. The biologists had drawn venom from the shark Ford had brought back earlier. Now, the doctors had the delicate task of determining how much to inject the patients with, what percentage, where best to inject it, and so on. He was running tests now, and was sure the right amount would soon be reached.
Although hurried tests showed his bodily toxins had been neutralized Carson still felt horrible. His head was pounding and his stomach rolled unpleasantly whenever he moved. Every now and then his vision would blur and then snap back into focus, a dizzying experience to say the least. Padgett's long, detailed reports on the venom's structure and makeup seemed to run into one long stream of undulating sounds. He tried to convince his body to keep it together, just a few more hours.
He clicked the microscope into a higher magnification. The newest blood sample from Rodney showed almost twice the concentration of toxins then before. What would happen if they got too high? Maybe nothing, likely something.
A soft knock on the door and Völker peeked in. "Dr. Beckett, the patients' vitals are changing, I thought you'd want to check on them."
Glad for an excuse to escape the microscope, he nodded and followed the young man. Elizabeth and a calmed Sheppard were sitting between Rodney and Teyla's bed. "Hullo Elizabeth, Major."
He bent over Rodney, whose eyes had closed. He was breathing evenly but a little slower than Carson was happy with. The heart monitor showed depressed readings. "They're all like that." He paced between the beds and checked several other monitors. "I don't like this, they're deteriorating, slowly, but enough to worry me."
Elizabeth stood and stretched. "How close are you to the treatment?"
"Nearly there--"
He was cut off when Dr. Padgett called out excitably from the lab, "I've got it! Carson, full neutralization!"
Dr. Beckett rushed back to the lab. "Are ya sure, did you double test it?"
She nodded excitably, dark hair escaping its ponytail.
"Right, we'll do a few more trials before--"
He was again cut off, but this time by the screaming of several monitors. "Lord, now what?"
Rodney's hands clenched at the sheets but not because he'd regained mobility, but as a result of the muscle spasms that coursed through him. The other patients stiffened as well, prompting the two on-duty nurses to rush over.
Rodney gave one last tremble before falling deathly still. His eyes were open and staring blankly ahead. "Lord, he isn't breathing, we need a crash cart over here."
The other three had stopped breathing as well. Dr. Padgett came up beside him with a syringe. "The antidote, or so we think. We don't have time for more tests." She met his eyes. "It's ready, I know it'll work."
It wasn't ready, hadn't been tested enough, but he would loose them all if something wasn't done. He felt a moment of panic, his mind took him back to the Hoff and Perna. He couldn't do it, couldn't inject them with something that may worsen their condition. Or kill them. His confidence had been shattered that day and he'd never truly regained it.
"Doctor Beckett!" Padgett was staring at him, hand hovering above Rodney.
He sanpped back into the present and allowed experience to take over. He knew what he was doing, the treatment was well devised and would work. "There's nothing else to it. Here, Rodney lad, you're just gonna have to go first." He took the medicine/poison and jammed it into Rodney's IV before turning to Teyla.
Elizabeth and Sheppard watched in silence.
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A/N: Hope you're enjoying the longer chapters. Reviewers, I love you! Thanks too, people who read and don't review, but I don't love you quite as much. :-P
Chapter Title Translation: Code 99 stands for simply: emergency!