FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SPLITTING APART
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They reached the old, abandoned barn where Sheppard had hidden the meeners almost an hour and a half after they'd first reached the kitchen courtyard. The distance to this small structure wasn't more than a couple of miles from the city's outskirts, but, between constantly having to dodge the many patrols of now very awake guardsmen and the sudden upsurge in the population as the regular city folk finally emerged from their homes, it had taken an incredibly long time to move even this short distance.
At some point, when they were close to the edge of the City, the bells had starting tolling up in the Citadel, now over a mile away from their position. Within moments, bells started ringing across the whole valley as every watch tower from Garillion to the Gate took up the call. They'd watched helplessly as birds bearing a striking resemblance to the extinct carrier pigeons on earth were released from high up in the Citadel's walls, the creatures winging their way to guard stations elsewhere along the main roads and thoroughfares of this planet with orders.
"Oh dear," Elizabeth had said, her green eyes tracking the birds as they spread out overhead. It had come out more resigned than worried.
"Yeah," Travis agreed, the doctor rubbing at the back of his neck.
"Keep moving," Sheppard had ordered, nudging the tired doctors in front of him.
So they'd moved.
Sheppard checked his watch as they hit the barn hidden inside the forest curtain, noting it was almost 8:30.
He wondered if Connam was up yet.
Mid-morning, the man had said. What was that? 9:00? 10:00?
What did it matter. He wasn't going to get back there in time.
He fingered the radio on his jacket, though he knew the distance was far too great for it to reach him.
"John?" Elizabeth was watching him, noting his distraction.
He looked up, finding all eyes on him, waiting.
Grimacing, he ordered Ronon to stay outside to scout and keep watch, and indicated the others to follow him into the barn.
"Travis," he said, stopping the doctor at the door, "let me know if Ronon sees anything."
The scientist nodded, stopping just inside the large doorframe, intense brown eyes unblinkingly following Ronon as the big man patrolled outside, blending in surprisingly well with the scenery. He looked much more comfortable now that he had his sword strapped to his back again.
Teyla and Elizabeth followed Sheppard to where he'd tethered the five meeners he'd purchased, regarding them with a weary eye. They needed to be saddled. He'd purchased saddles, but had carried them on one horse rather than leave them saddled and uncomfortable all night long. They may not be horses, but they sure seemed like them, and he wasn't about to treat them any differently from how he'd been taught.
"This our way home?" Elizabeth asked, a hint of trepidation in her voice. She looked at the tall animals with something akin to fear. Sheppard glanced at her, then at Teyla. The Athosian also did not appear too happy. He remembered now that Teyla had not seemed particularly comfortable riding the meeners to the Citadel when they'd first arrived, and she'd winced and limped a little the following morning.
"We don't have much choice," he informed them. "It's a lot faster than walking, and time is sort of limited right now."
"I just," Weir swallowed, her nervousness increasing, "I'm a little scared of horses."
"Meeners," Teyla corrected, reaching up to touch one of the horses' necks, gently running a hand down the thick, soft hide. The meener lowered its head, clearly appreciating the touch. She smiled slightly, then let it fade. "But I must admit, I too am a little concerned. I am not sure any of us are experts at—"
"Actually," Travis called from the door, raising a hand, "I used to race horses." He shrugged, "They were rodeo races, not racetrack, but a race is a race."
Three very surprised faces turned to the open doorway, and Travis quirked a smile at their expressions. He shrugged, "My parents owned a ranch. Lots of horses. I rode before I could walk." He looked past them to the animals, noting they weren't saddled. "Do you need me to saddle them?" he asked.
Sheppard's jaw finally closed. "If you're an expert," he asked, "then why did you ride in the wagon with McKay and Weir on the way to Garillion from the Gate?"
Travis shrugged, "Are you kidding? Eight to ten hours on horseback versus a cushioned wagon with food and drink? Which would you choose?"
Teyla arched an eyebrow at Sheppard, indicating her answer to that question. Elizabeth let loose a soft chuckle.
"Orrin," she said, "Like everyone else on this expedition, I don't think you people will ever stop surprising me." Travis grinned in reply, obviously pleased with the compliment.
Sheppard snorted, "Okay, Doctor Travis, yes...I'd love it if you saddled the horses for us."
"Meeners," Teyla corrected again.
"Meeners," Sheppard amended, gritting his teeth into a smile. He looked at the Athosian, "Take his place?"
Teyla nodded, moving to cover the door while Travis went to work on the horses.
Sheppard and Weir tried to aid him as best they could, but in the end, they clearly got in the way more than helped. After the first couple, the colonel and the expedition leader were more than happy to just watch.
It gave the colonel his first real chance to think since he'd started this rescue, and, as if mocking him, the faint nausea he felt from earlier, when he'd first left McKay, started to surface again. He raised a hand to touch at his radio again, the nausea rolling more thickly in his stomach...Maybe he wasn't too far away...Maybe he should just check...
"Colonel Sheppard," Teyla suddenly called from the entranceway, her eyes never leaving her watch on the outside, "Where is Doctor McKay?"
Sheppard froze, surprised at the almost telepathic nature of her statement.
Still, the question was obviously one the Athosian had wanted to ask for a long time. He could tell by the slow way she'd asked it, and the slightly lower tone of voice. He'd spent too much time with her now not to understand that she was incredibly worried, more so than her stoic demeanor pretended.
Elizabeth, who had been leaning against a wall near the colonel turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised. She too wished to know. Where he was saddling his fourth meener, Travis also paused to listen.
Sheppard closed his eyes, and the nausea grew. He let out a slow exhale.
"Is he dead?" Elizabeth asked, her voice very soft. It trembled slightly.
"No," Sheppard said, opening his eyes and looking at the straw strewn earthen floor at his feet. "Not yet."
"Not yet?"
He grimaced, then looked over at Teyla. She still wasn't looking at him, but he knew she was listening by the tilt of her head.
"He was shot through the leg," he said, his eyes never leaving the curve of the Athosian's jaw, watching as it tensed. "It bled...a great deal. We ran as far as we could, despite his wound. We were on foot for several hours before McKay wasn't able to go any further, collapsing into the ground. Lucky..." he swallowed, "Lucky for us, we came across a trader soon after, who, in exchange for a few items, was willing to watch McKay while I came back to rescue the rest of you."
Teyla shook her head a little at the story, and she finally looked over at Sheppard. "A trader? What kind of trader?"
"He was what we'd call a, uh, a traveling salesman," he answered. "He seems to live out of his wagon, mostly, going from world to world to trade whatever he can." He met Teyla's eyes evenly. "Have you ever heard of a man named Connam? Eric Connam?"
Teyla's lips parted slightly, then shut. She gave a slow nod. "Yes. I have met him...once or twice. But only fleetingly. He frequents many of the same markets as my people do." Her eyes narrowed, "I have never traded with him. He sells only...useless items. No necessities—just toys, pretty cloths, unreliable medicines, unusual technology and the like." She looked down, then away again, out the door. "However, he does have a reputation for being...mostly honest."
Sheppard gave a short laugh at that.
Elizabeth cleared her throat, watching John carefully, "And you trust this," she frowned, "Connam...to take care of Rodney?"
"No," Sheppard admitted. "He promised to watch Rodney. He didn't promise to take care of him, per se."
Her eyes narrowed, "But I thought you said Rodney...that he was wounded. Badly."
"He is." Sheppard took in a deep breath, then let it out. He looked over at Travis, and noticed the doctor had stopped moving. He frowned at him, "How's it going, Travis?"
"Oh," the doctor jumped a little, and immediately got back to work.
"John?" Elizabeth prompted.
Sheppard looked at her, then shook his head. "Fact is, Rodney can't be moved. He's lost a lot of a blood, Elizabeth. Best thing for him now is rest. Connam has taken him to a place where he can lie down. Sleep." He shrugged, "If I'd tried to get him all the way to the Gate, or brought him back here with me, I don't think he'd still be alive." He sighed. "I said we'd go back for him, but..."
"If we try to put him on a horse, it'd potentially make his wound worse," Elizabeth finished.
"Yes."
"What about finding a cart?" Teyla asked, her eyes still presumably tracking Ronon.
"At this point," Sheppard grimaced, "I don't even like the idea of him being on a rickety cart. The roads here are just dirt and wagon ruts. He can't take that much jarring."
"So," Elizabeth stood up and walked over to one of the horses, touching it gingerly, then more bravely as it leaned into her touch, "What you're saying is...a puddle jumper."
"Yeah," Sheppard said.
Teyla stiffened, turning her head so she could see them out of the corner of her eye.
"And," Elizabeth added, "I assume...it would be easier for us to get through the Gate without a wounded man." She looked at John, "Because we are going to have to fight our way home, yes?"
"Definitely," Sheppard agreed. "It'll be hard just getting you and Travis through."
"If we ride as fast as we can cross-country directly to the Gate," Elizabeth said, obviously thinking along the exact same lines as the colonel, "How long would it take us?"
Teyla turned to stare at them with wide eyes. "What are you saying?" she demanded. "We can not leave Doctor McKay."
Sheppard shook his head at her, "We're not talking about leaving anyone, Teyla." As he spoke, he could taste the bile on his tongue, as his soul continued to rebel against this line of thinking. He lifted his head, "What we're saying is, we go home first, get a puddle jumper, and return...with Beckett and a medical team. We fetch Rodney, and take him home."
Teyla just stared at him, as if he had two heads. She looked down, as if searching the floor for answers, then up again. Her eyes narrowed, "Then one of us should stay with him. Not leave him here alone. If he is, as you say, badly wounded, I assume he could die, yes? And if we're not there...?" She frowned, "Someone needs to be here to care for him. If you are right, Connam will not do it. Who knows how long it could take us to get past the guards on the Gate..." She lifted her chin, "Someone needs to stay. I am willing to do it."
Sheppard shook his head, feeling Elizabeth at his back, supporting him. "I'll need both you and Ronon to help me get through the Gate, Teyla. I'm guessing there will be a full troop of the King's man guarding it, and it'll be hard enough with just the three of us and both Travis and Elizabeth to protect."
Teyla blinked, then shook her head, "Then Doctor Travis? Or Doctor Weir? Perhaps one of them could stay—"
"I won't leave either one unprotected, Teyla, you know that. I can't send one of them off to be with Rodney unless I send one of you with them."
"But you would leave Doctor McKay alone?" she snapped back, her chin lifted.
"Rodney's safe," Sheppard stated firmly.
Teyla stared at him.
Aw hell.
She knew him as well as he knew her. She knew he was not certain what he had just said was true.
She shook her head, "I do not agree with this plan," she stated firmly. "My apologies, Colonel, you know that I normally do not disagree with you but—"
"Yes, you do," Sheppard interrupted, his tone dry. "You did when we were on Orrin's planet. Remember?" Travis perked up, hearing his name, but, glancing at Sheppard and Teyla, he knew that they weren't talking about him. Vaguely, he remembered the group or refugees the Colonel and Teyla had rescued from the planet the Wraith destroyed prior to reaching Atlantis.
Teyla's jaw set, then she nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "I did. And I do so now, for the same reason. Doctor McKay is a lot tougher than he looks, but he is fragile in other ways. We can fetch him now, borrow a cart or a wagon, and get him to the Gate with us. Doctor Weir and Doctor Travis can help him through, while Ronon, you and I take out the guards."
Sheppard's eyes narrowed, "And if we fail to get through?"
"Then at least we will go down together," she replied.
The colonel swallowed, and turned his eyes away, looking again at Travis. For the second time, the doctor had paused in his work, but he quickly got back to work when Sheppard glared at him, saddling the last horse.
"Teyla," Elizabeth said, stepping around Sheppard, "I understand your conviction, I do. But," she clasped her hands before her, "I believe Colonel Sheppard's plan is a sound one. He is trying to do what is best for all of us, as a group, not just Rodney." She shook her head when Teyla frowned at her. "He made a valid point. Both Travis and I may be able to handle weapons, but we're not fighters. We will need all three of you to get us to the Gate and through. Plus, if all five of us try to get through the Gate, the greater the likelihood of one of us succeeding and bringing back the cavalry for Rodney." She gave a small smile, then looked down. "I know you're worried about him. Believe me, so am I. But he is probably the safest among us right now. So long as he stays hidden, he probably has a greater chance of staying that way." She looked up again, "We just have to believe that he will be okay until we can come back."
Sheppard was staring at the far wall now, not meeting anyone's eyes anymore.
Teyla continued to frown, then, abruptly, turned her head away to look outside.
Elizabeth sighed, closed her eyes, then looked up again.
"All set," Travis said suddenly, patting the last meener. "I'll just need to adjust the stirrups for each of you, after you climb on."
Elizabeth smiled at him, then looked at John.
The colonel saw her looking, and turned to meet her eyes.
"We'll make it home," she said to him, almost as if she were seeking confirmation. "And we'll come back for Rodney, guns blazing."
"I know," he said, quirking a weak smile. "We came up with this plan together, remember?"
She nodded, "Yes, just—"
"Don't worry," he said. "I agree with you."
Weir smiled genuinely at that, the expression lighting up her face. Sheppard's brow furrowed slightly, confused by the brightness of it, and watched as she nodded and turned away, walking over to check the saddle on the horse she'd chosen.
"What?" he asked, wanting to know the reason behind the smile.
"Oh, nothing," she replied, still smiling, though it was a little more sheepish now. "It's silly. It's not the right time to be thinking about such things."
The colonel's eyebrows lifted, "Not the right time to be thinking about what?"
Over by the door, Teyla looked back at the two of them, her expression dark still.
"Just," Weir shrugged, looking at Sheppard again, "for the first time," she smiled again, "I feel like we're on the same wavelength. That, uh," she made a motion with her hand to encompass the two of them, "we really are thinking the same way. Normally, I'm trying to stop you from following through on some crazy plan of yours and Rodney's, but this time..." she trailed off, her smile faltering when she realized what she had just said, the light in her eyes fading at the flat stare Sheppard was giving her. "Anyway," she turned back to the horse, "I think we've got ourselves a good plan. The best under the circumstances. And that we plotted it out together so easily..." Again, she shrugged. "It's nice..."
Sheppard's eyes narrowed, "to be on the same wavelength."
"Yes."
"Because normally I think one way, and you think another."
She nodded, patting her horses' flank. She glanced at Sheppard again, and found he was looking down, a stark grimace on his face.
Elizabeth's expression softened, assuming that his unhappiness stemmed from the main fact that they were, temporarily, leaving Rodney behind.
"We'll get home, John," she asserted suddenly, "and turn right back around with a jumper and get him. Carson will be with us, and we'll find him and bring him home. I'm sure of it." She stepped closer, tilting her head to see his face better, to encourage him to look up at her. "It's a good plan, John. In fact, it's a great plan."
Sheppard snorted, "Yes, well, it'll be a great plan if it works."
She touched his arm lightly, getting him to look up, and, in her most frank voice, repeated, "It's a great plan, John."
She was so earnest, that he had to smile. Then he shrugged, "Sure it is. Besides, as I said, you helped."
She smiled in gratitude at his acknowledgement. "Yes, well, you know what they say," she said cheekily, reaching to pat her horse again, "two heads are better than one."
"Ha," Sheppard snorted, chuckling. "It's a common misconception."
Over by the door, Teyla inhaled sharply, her hands tightening around the P90, drawing it closer to her chest as if hugging it.
Weir stopped moving, her hand resting on the meeners neck. Slowly, she turned, her eyebrows furrowed. Had that been a slight?
"What did you say?" she asked, her tone a little indignant.
What she found when she looked at the colonel was even more disturbing. Sheppard had frozen mid-motion, his eyes were wide and his face completely unmasked, showing everything he was feeling. His lips parted to release a slow exhale.
The man himself was at a loss. What the hell had possessed him to say that?
"Colonel Sheppard?" Weir asked again, her voice soft.
Like a jolt, the lightning quick argument he'd had with Rodney in the Brotherhood's underground temple ran through Sheppard's head. It was crystal clear in his memory—the puzzle in front of him, Kolya and his goons holding him and the others hostage, demanding they solve it in order to get the ZPM, Rodney at his shoulder...and the knowledge that, if Rodney and he didn't solve the puzzle, he'd likely die before they could execute their escape plan...
Anytime you want to start...
I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
Alright...We tried...one to nine.
Thank you, yes.
Well, how about nine to one?
Look, possibly! Look, Pranes was right. The center stone is the only one that locks into place. All the others must move around it. I'm just trying to think of a combination that makes sense with five in the middle.
Fifteen! It's gotta have something to do with fifteen...or nine...or five...
Shut up, please? I'm trying to think!
I'm not going to shut up, Rodney. My life's at stake!
Exactly! So simmer down and let me save it!
Ever heard the term, two heads are better than one?
It's a common misconception!
Give me the gun. I'll shoot him myself!
He looked at Weir, his eyes clear for the first time in what felt like months. "That...that two heads are better than one." Sheppard swallowed harshly. "It's a common misconception."
Elizabeth shook her head, "That's what I thought you said." Her eyes narrowed—she even looked a little hurt. "But I don't understand. What does it mean?"
"It means," Sheppard lowered his head, "that we're not on the same wavelength, Elizabeth. I'm sorry." He shook his head, "I just realized I can't go with you." He turned burning eyes to her, "I have to go get McKay."
And like that, the nausea was gone. He felt whole again.
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TBC...! There he is! About time, eh? LOL! And, because you have all been so incredibly sweet to me, I'm going to post one more chapter tonight. Three, instead of my usual two! Thank you so, so much!