PROTECTIVE INSTINCTS part 5
A/N the bunnies thank you all for feeding them so well. A slightly shorter chapter this time, and I'm afraid its all going downhill for the Major from here.
McKay came awake with a snort, and saw Beckett sitting in the chair by his bed, looking at him, eyes crinkled with humour.
"I was not snoring." He said crossly.
Beckett chuckled. "No," he replied, "Calling it snoring wouldn't be doing it justice." His eyes lost their humour, and he glanced across to the screened area where the Major was sleeping for the moment. Rodney followed his gaze.
"Carson?"
Beckett regarded him again. "How're you feeling now then, Rodney?"
"Apart from the brass band currently playing in my head, absolutely fine. How is he?" he gestured to the Major's bed.
"He's not good, Rodney. In fact, if you're up to it, I could use your help."
"Of course." McKay struggled to a sitting position, ignoring the slight dizziness. "What can I do?"
"I think the people on that planet may have implanted some kind of controlling device in the Major, but I can't find it on simple examination. I'll be doing an MRI scan shortly, but I was wondering how they're using it. Maybe there's a signal being transmitted from them to the device. If there is, maybe we could block it. It might at least give him some peace."
"Peace? How so."
"Major Sheppard is complaining of hearing voices." He paused at Rodney's look of dismay. "No, not those sort of voices. He says they are whispers that he can't really hear clearly, and that they're trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to do. He says when he resists, it causes pain. I suppose there is a similarity to schizophrenia, and I'm worried about what will happen to his mental state if we can't stop it."
Rodney swallowed. "You mean it could drive him mad?"
"Well, I don't really know. If he continues to resist, I think eventually he'll burn out. If he gives in, and does what they want, then he'll have to live with that for the rest of his life. And I don't think he'd do that for long."
Their eyes met.
Rodney got out of bed, holding onto it for a moment when the world briefly tilted. He looked at Carson again, hoping the doctor hadn't noticed. He didn't want to be sent back to bed. If Carson wanted his help for the Major, then Rodney wasn't going to let a little dizziness get in his way. He squared his shoulders, and put on the Rodney persona that everybody knew and loved.
"I'm not doing this in scrubs," he stated, holding out his hand with a double snap of his fingers. Carson handed him the clothes he'd been holding.
"Take your time Rodney. I won't be doing much until the sedative wears off." He walked away to check on the Major again.
oOo
Sheppard lay on the narrow confines of the stretcher that was part of the scanner. He'd woken from the drug-induced sleep, but was still a bit groggy. Already he could hear the whispers, the sound rising and falling, and he felt anxious. He didn't want to do this, but he wanted all of it to end. Beckett had removed the restraints, telling him they were out of place in a scanner, and Sheppard knew that Ford and Teyla along with several other soldiers were guarding him, but he still felt vulnerable. No, that was the wrong word. He felt like a time bomb waiting to go off.
From his position on the scanner, he could just see Carson bustling about, and Rodney standing to one side, looking anxious. He sighed, and it hurt his ribs. He didn't want to be putting his friends through so much anxiety on his behalf, but he acknowledged he needed their help. He wasn't going to be able to do this alone. McKay had told him they had checked him for signals being transmitted, but hadn't found anything. His own anxiety notched up a level. What the hell had been done to him, and why? The thoughts skittered around in his mind. 'They' wanted Atlantis, or they wanted it destroyed. He wouldn't do that, couldn't do that. Could he? The headache started again, blinding flashes of white light searing across his skull. It was so hard to think when it hurt like this.
He was aware that Beckett was talking to him, heard the machine powering up, and then Sheppard's world exploded in an eruption of white hot pain, raw agony exploding across all his nerve endings. He did the only thing he was capable of doing at the time. He screamed, and screamed…
oOo
McKay stood quietly and watched Beckett getting the Major ready for the scan. They'd helped him onto the narrow bed angling into the machine itself, and Beckett had been adamant in his refusal to tie Sheppard down again, arguing that the Major could resist for the few minutes it would take to perform the scan, and that anyway, Ford, Teyla and several other guards were there to stop him from doing anything. Sheppard, still not fully awake had just nodded, and sighed, lying down trying to find a comfortable spot where his aching body could rest.
Rodney had been horrified when he'd seen what had been done to the Major, and didn't know how the man could still be functioning. He felt guilty that his own efforts to help had come up with nothing. If the Suventans were using some kind of signal to control the device, then he, Rodney McKay couldn't find it. Yet. He watched as Beckett fussed with the machine, telling Sheppard to lie still, and powering the thing up. But he wasn't prepared when suddenly Sheppard's body arched off the stretcher and he began screaming like all the demon's of hell were after him…
oOo
Beckett saw the Major properly positioned on the scanner bed, then went behind the screen to check the final settings. The monitors recording Sheppard's vital signs were showing that the Major's pulse rate and blood pressure were up slightly, but in view of the amount of adrenalin already circulating, Beckett wasn't surprised. Still, John was going to have to keep still if this was going to work. He bent down to the microphone connecting him to the man in the scanner, and spoke reassuringly.
"Major, we're about to start. You need to keep still now, that's really important." He watched as the man stilled, checked again that the people he'd asked to come and guard the Major were all in place. This was the only way he'd managed to persuade Sheppard to have the scan done without restraining him, and he was not tying anyone down during an MRI scan. Checking the Major's vitals again, he noted the pulse rate was even faster. Time to get on with it. He turned the machine on, head snapping up in alarm as Sheppard began screaming.
Quickly he powered the scanner down, then ran to the stretcher where Sheppard was still thrashing and yelling. Gesturing for Ford to help, he slid the stretcher out, hoping that would be enough to calm the man, but to no avail.
"God, Doc! Make it stop!" Sheppard was grasping at his arms so tightly Beckett wouldn't be surprised if there'd be finger shaped bruises later, twisting and turning as if he was trying to escape some kind of torment.
"Major! John, you're alright. It's stopped. Calm down lad, we're here to help you." Beckett's words were having no effect. He nodded to Ford to take over holding the Major. Ford complied, eyes wide with alarm, but doing his best to talk his CO down. Beckett ran to the medical supplies and returned with a loaded syringe, but John, catching sight of it decided enough was enough. No more drugs, no more controlling him.
Drawing back his arm, he drove a powerhouse punch straight at Ford, knocking the lieutenant flying, grabbing the stunned man's gun in the process and leapt up, grabbing at Beckett as he did so. He wrapped an arm around the Doctor's throat, then used the other hand to smash the hand that was holding the hypodermic into the side of the scanner, once, twice. With an indrawn hiss of pain, Beckett let go the syringe, and it dropped to the floor, needle embedding itself harmlessly in the ground. Now Sheppard was using the Doctor as a human shield. Slowly retreating, dragging the struggling medic as he went, waving Ford's 9 mm around threateningly. None of the soldiers could get a clear shot at the Major, and anyway, they didn't want to injure their CO any more than he was. Sheppard exited the room, and fired the gun into the door locking mechanism as he went, ensuring no-one could follow him in the near future. Beckett was still struggling, so without compunction, Sheppard smashed the butt of the handgun against the side of the Doctor's head, then scooped up the unconscious man, ignoring his own screaming ribs, and started off at a shambling run down the corridor, trying to get as far away as he could go.
TBC