Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis although I have begged and pleaded. I'm just a poor college student not using her time wisely. I do own the plot :evil laugh:. I know, I know, with so many in the works, I should pay attention to My Bright Blue Eyes or something, but this just wouldn't let me go. Not a one shot, but I think you'll enjoy it!

John couldn't feel the shocks to his chest as he watched Beckett work on him. Work on him. It was a creepy thing to see your friend work on you. Beckett sighed and sadly placed the paddles back on the crash cart, "Time of death, 0402." He snapped his gloves off somewhat angrily as he turned quickly away from the wailing heart monitors and left the med.-bay. Sheppard followed, wanting to know what Beckett was going to do next.

Carson walked out of the door and stopped next to Elizabeth and Rodney. McKay was stooped over, head buried in his hands, left foot tapping nervously. Weir, on the other hand, was almost ramrod straight, still as death, her hand on Rodney's shoulder. Beckett kneeled before them, murmuring. Weir's head dropped but Rodney shot to his feet angrily, "First Zelenka, now Sheppard? Do we have a damned epidemic? Damn voodoo."

"Rodney!"

McKay stopped at Elizabeth's tone and he saw Beckett's down cast eyes. "I'm sorry, Carson." Carson nodded and left without a word.

"Rodney?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know if Zelenka had any of that Rot-Gut left? I could use a drink."

Sheppard sat in Rodney's vacated spot and watched them walk down the hall and away from him. He felt a presence next to him and turned to look. "Grodin…" he breathed.

"Colonel. Fine morning, don't you agree?"

"I'm dead."

"No, I'm dead. You're still alive."

"But I just saw…"

"Forget what you saw. What do you remember?"

"I remember Beckett shocking me."

"Did he?" They were suddenly in the infirmary watching Beckett slide him into the morgue freezer, the drawer bearing his name.

"Hey, Grodin?"

"Yeah?"

"If I can see you, why can't I see Zelenka?"

"He's not dead, either."

"McKay said he was."

"Mmhmm," Grodin raised an eyebrow and looked at Sheppard as if he didn't understand the problem. At Sheppard's look of lost confusion, he continued, "Colonel, he's not dead. Neither are you."

"Beckett just put me in a freezer!"

"Yes, he did." Sheppard looked exasperated and Grodin sighed, "Look, you trust Beckett, right?"

"…Yeah."

"And you trust Zelenka?"

"Mmhmm…"

"Then trust the plan."

"God, Peter, I swear, you're more cryptic dead than alive!"

Grodin smiled, "I choose to take that as a compliment. Look, sir, I can't help you until you remember. So…remember…" he was gone, leaving a very confused Sheppard in the middle of the infirmary watching the medical team clean up. He decided to go see what Beckett was up to.

It was a notorious fact that the good doctor holed himself up after a death and wouldn't see anyone for a good two hours—unless there was an emergency. He went through the doorway and only as he sat in one of Beckett's chairs did he realize the office door had been closed.

"Two in one day… Zelenka, you'd better be right with this," Carson reached under his desk and fumbled around for a second, Sheppard looking at him in confusion, and brought out a glass and a flask of whisky.

"Doc… I think I could use one of those."

There was a knock at the door and Beckett, after hurriedly tossing back the shot, hid the bottle back in its spot. He cleared his throat, "Come in."

It was Weir and McKay, holding glasses and a bottle of liquor Sheppard recognized as Zelenka's bootleg. Zelenka. It still confused him. If he was dead it made sense that he could interact with Grodin…. He supposed. But Zelenka was dead, too. Wasn't he? It just—

Sheppard moved quickly out of the way of Rodney sitting down in the chair. Weir, after Rodney poured everyone drinks, raised her glass. "To John and Radek."

The men lifted their glasses as well and murmured, "John and Radek."

After a sip or two in silence Weir leaned forward, "Carson, what happened? I mean… we all saw Zelenka die, but John was here."

Beckett nodded, "Aye. Whatever this is, it works fast. Radek was dead when he stopped seizing."

"Seizing?" Sheppard whispered.

"Sheppard held on a bit longer—long enough for us to get a crash cart but… I couldn't save him. It was the same before that. Fever, dizziness, incoherence, chest pain, difficulty breathing, fainting, seizure, death. All very quick. It was the span of twenty minutes or so for Radek, half an hour tops for the major."

"Colonel," Sheppard whispered, then paused. Since when had his voice have an echo?

He noticed Beckett pause, glass poised halfway to his mouth. "I knew that," Carson said, quietly chastising himself.

"Of course you knew that, everybody knew that! Everybody called him 'Major' anyway!"

Beckett sat his glass down, "Rodney, I-"

"No! I don't care. I… I'm going to Radek's lab. See if I can't find some way to keep the Genii out."

"Yes, Rodney. What's their ETA?" Weir asked softly.

"More time if I didn't have to answer these stupid questions," he snapped, then paused, "Not long. A few hours at most. This could not have come at a worse time." He left.

"Genii?" Something tickled at the back of his brain….

"Zelenka! I want that ZedPM up before the fall of Atlantis!" Sheppard sighed and looked down at the 'Gate, ignoring the two bickering scientists.

"I know!" The Czech's fingers furiously typed on the laptop as he checked the data in the computer against the files in the Ancient system it was hooked up to in the control room. The typing stopped abruptly for a second and McKay turned to the Czech. He didn't look right. Was he shivering?

"Radek?"

"I am working!" He snapped, turning away from his console to turn to another one, stumbling on the way, catching himself on the edge of the counter.

"Zelenka, how long have you been sick?"

This brought Sheppard's attention back to them.

"I don't know…few minutes, not feel so good."

"I think you should sit down. Maybe you're working yourself too hard."

"Am… am…." He fell into murmured Czech and doubled over the waist high surface. Sheppard went over to him and spoke quietly with him.

"I'll get Beckett," McKay toggled his radio. "Beckett, I need you in the 'Gate room, immediately."

Beckett sounded somewhat exasperated, "Aye? What have ye done now, Rodney?"

"Not me, Bones, Zelenka." A gasping Czech grabbed his attention. He looked over to find said scientist groaning in pain and clutching his chest.

"Radek? Come on, Radek, stay with me,"Sheppard laid a hand on Zelenka's shoulder.

"Beckett? It doesn't look good," Rodney sounded shocked

"Symptoms?" The Scotsman barked at his men to gather supplies as he took control of the situation.

"Um…" Knowing it would be important, Sheppard laid a hand on his friend's forehead. "Fever, dizziness…he's speaking Czech… seems like chest pain and his breathing's hitching…" Radek's legs suddenly fell out form under him and he fell into the American colonel. "Uff, loss of consciousness." He laid him gently on the deck.

"I'm here, lads. It's ok." Beckett leaned over the Eastern European man and checked some vitals. "His breathing is shallow and irregular, heart beat…"

Radek went into convulsions and Carson worked quickly, turning him on his side and moving dangerous things away from him. He suddenly stopped.

Beckett leaned down and took his pulse. "Oh God. He's dead."

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