Make me Bad
Elizabeth Weir had been up all night, trying to figure out how her ranking military officer had suddenly and without obvious reason appeared right at the exact location the team from Atlantis. More importantly, why Sheppard had tried to kill them? She had gone to the infirmary earlier to see how Rodney was doing. Carson told her that the bullet had missed major organs and with a bit of rest he would be his old self again in a couple of weeks.
John, however, was another matter. She didn't want to think about what kind of things he must have gone through. Especially, what had been done to him which turned John against his own people. There was something very wrong with all of this.
She had read the report from that unfortunate day four months ago for the umpteenth time by now and still the facts were eluding her. Elizabeth massaged her temples as she remembered the moment the team came through the gate and John wasn't with them. They had been running for their lives and something had gone terribly wrong. The search and rescue came up empty handed, it had been pointless ... he had disappeared without trace.
Her thoughts were interrupted at once as she heard the radio crackle to life, "Dr. Weir?"
"Yes Carson?"
"He's awake."
If Elizabeth was completely honest to herself, she really didn't want to see John at this moment. She knew that the person she was now on her way to see would not act like the John she had known before that mission four months ago. Worse even, he most likely wouldn't regret having shot Rodney.
As she arrived at the infirmary, Elizabeth didn't need to ask why everyone outside had an expression as if someone had died. John's angry screams could be heard from a mile away, and they weren't of the friendly kind either.
"You have no right for keeping me here! Let me go now! I fucking swear the moment I have the opportunity I will rip everybody's head off!"
Colorful… Elizabeth sighed heavily before walking inside. Carson was standing next to Rodney's bed, checking his vitals, when he noticed Elizabeth walking in. He gave her a nod, acknowledging her presence. Once Elizabeth came into John's view he shut up.
He stared at Elizabeth for a second, giving her a once over, "Oh… you." And immediately dropped his head back on the pillow.
His behavior shocked her a little as she watched him, finally able to examine the former ranking military officer. He looked thinner while his hair was no longer consisting of sprays of spiked strands and he had grown a beard. For some reason the man in front of her didn't look anything like the John Sheppard she remembered, and still he was that same John, just different. He had been restrained to the bed, probably the reason why he had been screaming earlier. Elizabeth could see blisters forming around his wrists and ankles.
"Hello." She finally made the first move. Unable to move much, John lifted his head and stared at her, while she simply continued, "What happened, John?"
He smirked, a cruel one no less, "That is not my name. I am Ignatius of the Genii and I demand you to release me!"
His new persona had finally come into the open, "Well… Ignatius, you attempted to murder three of my people. I have all the rights to keep you like this forever."
He gave her a hard stare back, "Then our conversation is over."
Elizabeth felt a rush of anger taking control of her body, "No, this is not over. You are Major John Sheppard and I demand you to explain your actions." Elizabeth couldn't believe the sudden strength that caused her to yell at the man in front of her. She successfully tried to show her seriousness of the situation on her face.
But John's face was riddled with smugness. "My actions are nothing more than the noble work of the Genii and if you are not here to talk about my release, then I suggest you leave. Because your pathetic attempts of interrogation are quite boring."
Elizabeth couldn't believe what he just said. Right at that moment she actually believed that the man in front of her wasn't the Sheppard she used to know. Elizabeth decided that retreat was now the best option. She quickly turned around and walked towards Carson, who was still standing next to Rodney, "Let me know when Rodney wakes up." Carson nodded and Elizabeth walked out of the infirmary, holding back a few stray tears.
The moment she stepped outside she could feel all eyes upon her at once and she knew she now had to face the rest of the team waiting outside. Once Lt. Ford saw Dr. Weir, he immediately wanted to know everything she could tell them.
"Lieutenant, let us take this up to the briefing room. Shall we say in ten minutes?" Ford nodded eagerly. "There we can decide on what to do next."
Elizabeth excused herself and left the rest of the team at the infirmary, knowing they would soon enough follow her towards the briefing room. As she made her way over there, she relived the events of that faithful day four months ago. She recalled being in the briefing room when the call of Sheppard's team coming in hot had come.
She had quickly been summoned to the control room. And as she had been waiting to ask the inevitable question 'What on earth happened this time?', Rodney and Teyla had come running through the event-horizon first, closely followed by Ford. All of them stopping at once, turning back to the open wormhole waiting for John to appear, but he never did and the gate shut down crushing almost every hope he might still be alive.
Ford had quickly informed her about the situation they had gotten themselves into. They had been attacked by what had looked like natives.
Elizabeth sent 3 teams, risking the fact they could all be attacked and possibly killed, but neither one of them had found one living being. It looked like Major John Sheppard had just vanished into thin air.
A month or so after that, they had searched the planet again and still there had been no signs of anything, not even natives. Which was extremely weird and now Elizabeth Weir knew why no one had been found on that particular planet. She knew now, that there were no natives, only the Genii. One of the few things she couldn't figure out was how the Genii knew they were going to be on this planet at that moment in time.
This brought her back to the matter at hand, determining John's liability to himself and decide what to do with him. It wasn't like Atlantis had its own mental facility. They did have a psychologist, Dr. Heightmeyer, but she wasn't sure the woman could help. She knew that eventually John would end up in the same cell they had used to keep the Wraith he so affectionately had named Steve.
-0-0-0-
Lt. Ford, Teyla and Sgt. Bates, who Elizabeth had contacted during her own walk towards the briefing room, quietly entered the room. She was already sitting in her usual chair. As soon as they were all seated they knew they had only one thing to discuss, what to do with Major Sheppard.
Carson came in a few seconds after the others, quietly taking a seat of his own. Elizabeth stared at the doctor, "How are Dr. McKay and ... the Major doing?"
"Rodney will be fine; we just need to regularly check his wound, so it doesn't develop an infection." Carson replied tiredly, dark circles forming under his eyes.
"What about the Major?" Asked Lt. Ford.
Carson turned grim, "We have him sedated at the moment. After you left he became a bit more violent. As for his mental status, he's definitely under some sort of mind control."
Elizabeth had been expecting this, "What about his physical health?"
"He's thinner, but he's not malnourished or dehydrated. I did a full check up and there are no drugs or chemicals in his blood. He doesn't have scars or marks of any type, so I doubt he was tortured physically. Everything they did was screw up his mind. And to be honest, that can be more devastating than physical torture."
This was Bates' time to chime in, "Dr. Weir, I would recommend putting him in one of the holding cells, at least for the time being."
Elizabeth nodded, "I've already thought of it. Once you get Carson's okay, you can see to it."
"Yes ma'am." Bates nodded, knowing he would do anything to keep the rest of Atlantis safe from the now maniacal Major.
Elizabeth then turned her attention to Ford and Teyla, "I am going to need both your help. I need you to take your time and talk to him. Nothing much, just to see what we can get out of him."
Ford answered promptly, "Yes Ma'am."
Teyla stared at Elizabeth, "How long do you think he will be like this?"
Carson glanced from Elizabeth to Teyla, "If we don't do anything about it, he could be like this forever."
Elizabeth turned to Teyla, "When you go see him, talk to him as a friend. Remind him of good times and simple things. Things that you know meant something to him. You don't have to do it right away, but once you do it let me know how it went. And that applies for all of you. Dismissed."
Sgt. Bates and Carson left the room together while Teyla and Ford stayed behind a little. "Dr. Weir, do you think we can bring him back?" Ford looked at her, searching for something, maybe reassurance that everything would be okay again.
Elizabeth gave the young Lieutenant's question some serious thought before looking back at him. She really wished she could tell him everything would be fine but she couldn't know for sure. She had doubts too. "I don't know, but at least we can try. I am not ready to give up on him just yet. No matter how big mouthed he has become."
Teyla stood up from her chair, "Do not worry Dr. Weir, we are not giving up on him either."
Elizabeth nodded and Teyla and Ford retreated out of the briefing room, leaving her to her own private thoughts.
Elizabeth really wished everything was going to be ok. But somewhere in the back of her mind something was poking at the possibility that hell was about to break loose and they wouldn't be able to stop it.
-0-0-
Rodney woke up with a sudden feeling of being completely lost. Where am I? Ok, obviously back in Atlantis. Then why am I in the infirmary? And why do I hurt so much? What happened to me? His last memories were of being off world. He was having a small conversation with someone from the nearby town, when he felt an incredible pain in his back. Which was like the last memory he could find that made some sense to him.
So now he was lying in the infirmary of Atlantis and all he could hear were Sheppard's angry screams. Wait, is that Sheppard? He heard another round of really strong curses coming out of John's very mouth. What is it with him?
Rodney tried to move but his chest and back hurt at the same time. Then Carson came into view, he was looking a bit shaken, but smiled when he saw Rodney awake.
As Carson moved towards Rodney, John's screams died down. Rodney safely assumed that John had been given the sleeping potion.
"Hey Rodney, how are you feeling?"
Rodney looked at Carson, "It hurts." The doctor was now looking absent minded to the monitor besides Rodney's bed, "You'll be fine, the bullet went in and out, and it missed major organs. As I said, you will be fine."
"Bullet wound? What the hell happened to me?" Rodney asked frowning.
"You were shot."
As simple as the answer was, Rodney couldn't fathom who shot him. Though he could tell from the way Carson looked at him he was not going to like the answer of his next question, "Who shot me?"
Carson waited for a moment, not sure if he should answer, "Major Sheppard."
"What?" Rodney looked at him in shock. "Sheppard was declared MIA, possibly KIA, four months ago!" Then his shock turned into suspicion. "Why would he want to kill me?"
"We think he was brainwashed by the Genii." Carson replied grimly.
Rodney looked around. "So… that's why he was so…"
"Big mouthed? Yeah, I know."
Rodney tried to sit, but his body didn't allow it. Carson placed a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from doing just that even though he knew the body would already be screaming not to sit upright.
"Let me get you something for the pain." Carson walked away, leaving Rodney to wonder about how things in Atlantis couldn't get any weirder. He had no idea how wrong he was.