Breaking the Habit
Sergeant Bates, Teyla and a full military team were gathered in the gate room. Their plan was to use a jumper as a decoy to clear the path. A full military team would follow the ship onto the Genii home world and would try to get their people back. They knew it was a rather dangerous plan, which could still lead to enough casualties but they had to try something.
Lt. Ford and another team were inside the Jumper. They had decided to take as many people as possible but without leaving Atlantis completely defenseless. For now, everyone was just waiting for the go ahead from Ford. Having that responsibility now, Lt. Ford did the job without question.
He walked in the jumper and informed the pilot to be ready. Then he walked back out and went straight to Rodney, who was at the bay doors, "Dr. McKay! I don't know how this will go. But have the gate room cleared at all times. Hopefully we'll be back by dinner." His attempt at a joke was lost on McKay and the others, and Ford only curtly smiled.
The only thing Rodney did was nod, acknowledging Ford's order. In turn Ford activated his radio and started giving last minute details about the plan to Sgt. Bates, who made sure the others, would know as well. They were talking to one another when the gate suddenly activated with an incoming wormhole.
Bates clicked his radio and sprinted upstairs towards the control center, ordering everybody to clear the gate area and take defense positions. "Lt. Ford, we have gate activity! Raise the shield! Do we have an IDC?"
Peter looked anxiously at the screen of his computer, "No, but we have a transmission coming in."
"Patch it through!" They were met with silence until Sheppard's voice came through.
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard, please lower the shield."
Bates looked doubtful and thumbed his radio. "How do we know it's really you and not some contingency of Genii soldiers?"
"Bates, lower the damn shield!"
"Sir, I can't do it. Where is Doctor Weir?" At that moment Ford joined Bates in the control area, as he had left his jumper as fast as humanly possible.
"Please, I'm coming in hot and Elizabeth needs medical attention. You can storm the jumper once I'm there, for all I care, but please let us in. I don't care if you throw me into the brig for the rest of my life. But I am one minute away from the gate and I'm going in with or without your blessing," Sheppard made himself very clear and Bates knew that if he was indeed going to enter the wormhole without having the shield out of his way, they would loose all hope of ever seeing Weir alive again. Ever see her again would already be a problem then.
Ford nodded and quickly ordered Peter to lower the shield. "Open the gate; raise the shield once the jumper arrives!"
Peter nodded, and then he lowered the shield and transmitted a signal through to Sheppard so he would now he was clear to come in.
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Ford knew that it could be a mistake to open the gate into Atlantis like that, but there was something strange about the whole event. Major Sheppard hasn't been gone long enough to prepare a possible strike against the city from the other side.
And now, it looked like a potentially dangerous move but that could be the only option they had right now. Ford turned the corner to the jumper bay and noticed his team was still standing near the jumper. He quickly told them what they could expect and then told them to take up defensive positions.
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John was getting really close to the gate when he heard Grodin's voice over the radio, "Major Sheppard, the shield has been lowered."
A sigh escaped his lips as he heard those words, knowing he wouldn't crash into oblivion. The jumper shook a little as it took a hit, but it was already entering the event horizon. Once on the other side, John noticed the gate room filled with people, both military and non-military. He opened the roof hatch to the jumper bay and all went automatic from there.
He was finally home. Yes, there was still a whole lot of mess to sort out, but John didn't really care. For some reason his mind seemed to be fully connected with him, since he started to feel incredibly tired and a stabbing pain shot across his ribs. He tried to ignore it, as he thought about what was going to happen next.
John landed the jumper in his rightful spot but waited for a moment. He could see Rodney and a bunch of soldiers outside in the bay. John took a deep breath and finally opened the rear hatch. He felt people coming inside the jumper and Lt. Ford's voice telling him to stay where he was. Then the young Lieutenant called Carson to the jumper.
John knew the soldiers were pointing their guns at him, he didn't care nor did he move.
Next thing he knew John felt a sharp sting going through his right arm. He looked at it and saw a red tranquilizer dart sticking out of his arm. He couldn't help but smile as he completely understood Ford's actions, but he knew there was no need for that. After all, he would've passed out in a couple of minutes anyway.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Ford had expected to find a Genii team inside the jumper, or maybe a sign of foul play but instead of all that it was just the Major in the pilot seat and Dr. Weir on the floor, looking like hell.
Ford knew that knocking Sheppard out had been the best option for now. He had remembered that Dr. Heighmeyer had restricted the use of a stunner so therefore he hadn't wanted to take any risks. He turned away from the Major and noticed Carson walking into the jumper. He went straight for Dr. Weir and as Ford could have guessed shock was written all over the doctor's face.
Rodney had followed Carson in and froze in the middle of his step when he caught a glimpse of Elizabeth on the floor.
He felt like his breath just got stuck in his chest. Elizabeth's face was covered in blood, indicating clearly someone had taken a hit to her nose. But Carson seemed to be more concerned about the injuries to her neck. Rodney continued his way into the jumper, making sure he wasn't in the way of the medical team and walked up to join Ford in the ship's cockpit. "What do you think happened?"
Ford was staring at John, his face set. He barely even shook his head as he answered Rodney's question, "I don't know? This is just..."
Rodney saw the incredulous look in Ford's eyes and finished for him, "...Unbelievable," Ford nodded. "Yeah," Rodney agreed.
Rodney took a closer look at John and noticed blood splattered all over his shirt. He really didn't like the sight of blood and John had plenty of it, like he had been in a shower of blood. He slowly turned the chair to look at John face to face. The amount of blood was truly impressive and Rodney hesitated. Most of the blood was splattered and couldn't have possibly been his, except on the left side of John's chest. Rodney carefully pulled John's shirt up a bit and saw a slash across his side, blood flowing freely. "Oh crap!"
"McKay?" Ford looked at Rodney and down to what the man was looking at. He immediately called for Dr. Beckett, who was preparing to leave with Weir. "Dr. Beckett, you better get in here."
Carson gave a few last instructions to a nurse beside him as they took Elizabeth out of the bay before he walked back towards Rodney and Ford. "What is it?" Ford pointed down at the gash and Carson didn't need a second to start his work on saving the Major from bleeding out. "Help me get him to the floor."
Ford helped Carson picking John up and placing him on the floor in the back of the jumper, where there was more space. As soon as he had the blood flow under some form of control, he escorted the Major out to the infirmary. Ford gave him two guards just in case.
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About three hours later a small group of people had gathered outside the infirmary. They were all silently gazing at each other, trying to read each other's emotions. Rodney was pacing back and forth, only slightly working on the other's nerves.
After what had seemed like days, Carson finally walked out, looking tired and worried.
They looked anxiously waiting what he had to say. "They are going to be fine. Elizabeth's neck injuries indicate someone has tried to choke her but changed his mind at the very last minute. Her state is a bit delicate, but I'm confident she will make a full recovery. As for the Major..." Carson suddenly turned grim, "Physically, he will be fine. It was just a deep graze on his side. Mentally, however ... I'm not sure, that's not really my field. He's been awake for the past two hours and he hasn't talked, resisted, or insulted anyone. And he woke up when one of the nurses was cleaning his wound; yesterday he would've made a racket in there, today he just let her be."
"What about the blood?" Ford tried to look past the doctor but he couldn't see a thing.
"I don't know. The blood on his side was mostly his. I took a sample from the splatters but I don't think we will know who it is from until we've tested it. I don't think its Elizabeth's, if that's what you're wondering." The group released their breaths simultaneously, which they hadn't known they were holding.
Ford walked forward, "Can we see him?"
Carson hesitated, "Not now. Maybe tomorrow, there are a lot of people in there now." They nodded understanding the necessity for rest. Carson continued, "I'll keep you informed if anything changes."
They all left, except Rodney, who lingered a little longer, "Come on, Carson!" He started, "Let's just pretend that you have to change my bandage again."
Carson sighed and looked at Rodney, giving his request a minute or two, "Ok, I don't want you bleeding to death again."
McKay smiled and followed the doctor back into the infirmary. The number of occupied beds was impressive; they never had so many people in there at the same time. As they continued walking, Rodney and Carson walked by Kate's bed, she looked like she was just waking up.
Carson was instantly by her side asking questions about how she felt and if she were in any sort of pain. She replied drowsily and looked at Rodney, "What happened?"
Rodney and Carson briefly exchanged worried looks, while Kate took a moment to look around her and noticed Elizabeth lying in the bed next to her. Her neck was covered in dark bruises and her face was swollen. Kate covered her mouth, trying to hide a gasp.
Carson placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, she will be ok." She nodded barely visible, and already guilt started to build up inside her as she knew only man had been capable of causing those injuries.
Rodney immediately picked up on her guilt-trip and stepped in between Kate's and Elizabeth's bed. "This isn't your fault. If we have anyone to blame for this, it's the Genii."
"Kate, can you tell us what happened in the brig?" Carson said as he looked from Rodney to Kate. "How did Major Sheppard manage to escape from his cell?"
Kate closed her eyes briefly, seeing flashes of what had happened flash by. She shivered lightly and her eyes shot open at one particular bad image. "I..."
"Take your time." Carson squeezed her shoulder. "Just tell us what you remember."
Kate closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, "He was making progress, and I finally managed to get through to him. But the moment he didn't like things..." Kate's breathing quickened at the thought.
"Is ok, we can do this later." Carson assured her they weren't in any hurry, even though they kind of were.
Kate shook her head, indicating she could go on telling. "He began acting like John, he wanted to kill himself. I couldn't allow that to happen so I ordered the guards to open the cell and then ... then he took me hostage."
Rodney nodded, "He hurt you, and used you as a shield."
Kate nodded, tears shining in the corner of her eyes. She winced as a stab of pain went through her upper body. Carson quickly grabbed a syringe and emptied it in Kate's IV. "You'll feel better in a second. And Kate..." She gazed up at him. "It's not your fault; I would've done the same."
She nodded absentmindedly, the drug starting to work, and before she knew it she was asleep again. "Rest now. You'll feel better when you wake up," Carson said this more to himself than Kate, since she had already dozed off.
As soon as he was sure Kate was going to be fine for now, Rodney moved on towards Elizabeth. As he stood by her bedside it finally sunk in how lucky she was to be alive. She looked worse from up close. Rodney jumped as Carson materialized next to him.
"All we can do is wait. I can only guess that someone tried to choke her ... to death." Carson sighed. "I believe she could have suffered from hypoxia but we're not going to be sure of the extent of the damage until she wakes up. Now she is just unconscious. None of the tests revealed signs of brain damage or anything else alike. But whoever hit her in the face, hit target. Her nose is broken."
Rodney pulled his gaze away from Weir and looked at Carson, "Why do I think you and I, know who did this to her?"
Carson turned even sadder, "Because he's lying in the last bed behind that curtain." He vaguely pointed ahead and all Rodney had to do was follow the doctor's finger.
Rodney nodded and then started walking towards John's bed, leaving Carson who in turn went to his office, "Just stop by my office before you go."
"I will."
As Rodney approached the bed, his mind raced through a thousand possibilities to do and curses to throw at John. But deep down Rodney had no idea what he should say to the man that hurt so many friends and colleagues. As he passed the curtain, Rodney looked upon the man lying in the bed. "Hello Ignatius."
John stayed quiet, staring at some non-existent point on the ceiling. His face as expressionless as it could ever be. Rodney didn't give up after one try and said, "Ignatius?"
Still there was no response so Rodney turned to leave. But at that moment he heard a strong voice behind him. "Don't."
Rodney turned to face John, "What?"
John's sight went from the ceiling to Rodney, "Please don't call me that again." This time his voice sounded weak and defeated.
Rodney was momentarily confused, but he had heard that tone before, "Hi John, nice to have you back."
John's sight focused back on the ceiling, "Not so nice, I'm sorry ... about everything." He closed his eyes, indicating he was done talking and wanted to be left alone.
Even though Rodney wanted to ask a thousand questions, he nodded and left, stopping by Carson's office as he had promised. As he left Rodney wondered whether this was just a moment of clarity and he would wake up as Ignatius again, or if John was really back to his old self.