The Wishing Well
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of the characters associated with it.
May contain spoilers for Season One and Two.
Chapter Twelve
Anna awakened with a start, transfixed by the sight of Chaya standing over Sheppard's body tenderly sweeping her hands across his face with a look of deep longing. "You love him!" Anna blurted out, startling the other woman.
Chaya snatched her hands away from Sheppard with a look of guilt and sorrow. "Yes, I do." She replied in a subdued voice. "I have come to care deeply for John and his friends, even though they do not trust me." She looked so saddened by the thought that Anna felt compelled to console her.
"I'm sure they will come around in time. After all, if you care for them, you would never hurt them, right?" Anna asked softly.
A fleeting smile graced Chaya's face. "One can always hope." Turning back to Sheppard's unmoving figure, she reached out and lightly shook him. "John, you must wake now. It is time to continue on this journey."
"Umm…stop…M'ka…tired…" Sheppard mumbled as he turned away from Chaya. She shook him again but received no response this time.
She raised her hands, which began to glow with a bright white light. She passed the glowing orbs across Sheppard's upper torso, lifting and turning him back towards her. Sheppard grunted and tried to block the bright light of her hands from penetrating his closed eyelids. Once Chaya had him settled, she passed her hand over his face. Sheppard shot up in the seat with startled eyes open wide as he scanned the room for some unknown enemy, his hand reached automatically for his non-existent weapon.
Chaya placed a restraining hand on his rigid arm. "John, you are safe."
Sheppard glared at the glowing woman beside him. "Chaya! What did you do to me?"
"Nothing, I simply woke you, John." Chaya responded. "Time is passing and your bodies are beginning to feel the effects of being in this place. We must continue the journey."
Sheppard thought he saw a trace of sadness in her eyes but it was gone before he really registered the emotion. He stood and stretched, yawning deeply. "I'm still tired. I could sleep for a week!"
"The journey takes much energy from your conscious self. You shall rest again after Anna has shared her life with you."
Anna rose and traded seats with Sheppard, giving his hand a tight squeeze as she passed by. Once settled, the room revolved until they faced Anna's wall.
Chaya was prepared, this time, and took her spot behind Anna's chair. "I will assist you with the pain of remembering, as I did with John." She placed her hands on Anna's temples. "Anna, close your eyes and clear your mind."
As Anna complied, the images on the wall blurred and shifted to reflect a cool blue lake that shimmered like the event horizon contained in the circle of a stargate. Sheppard leaned closer to Anna. "Now we see into the mind of a genius!"
Abruptly, the image on the wall altered, the lake turned to ice and then altered again to reflect Sheppard standing in the center. The ice near his feet began to groan, cracks spread out in small webs away from his feet. "You're on thin ice, John!" Anna said with laughter in her voice.
"Hey! That is just so wrong!" but her creativity and wit secretly charmed him.
Chaya watched the two with a small, sad smile mixed with a hint of jealousy. "All right, it is time to concentrate, Anna. Clear your mind…again!" The image of Sheppard on thin ice changed back into the cool blue lake. "Anna, just like I explained earlier, go back to the day you last saw John."
The lake morphed into the deep pinks and purples of a beautiful evening sun setting behind a city vista. John and Anna were walking, hand in hand, down a snowy sidewalk. He was in his dress uniform and she wore a stunning red dress and matching coat with a sparkly snowflake design on the front. They were laughing and kissing as they moved down the street. When they reached John's car, he leaned her back against it and kissed her long and deep, uncaring of whom might see, or that he was in uniform and breaking military PDA (public displays of affection) rules. She thought it was worth the risk of a few demerits, besides she would make sure Daddy didn't allow that to happen!
John settled her into the passenger seat and quickly jogged around to the driver's side. They drove away, smiling and reminiscing over the nice evening they'd had with their friends. As Anna turned to say something to John, she screamed in horror. A large vehicle, maybe an SUV, she couldn't tell and wouldn't remember later, smashed into the car, into John. Sheppard gasped as the images on the wall turned an angry rolling black, and then faded into a vast view of dark nothingness.
Anna sat unmoving as Chaya massaged her temples and spoke quietly. "Anna, we are here. You are safe. Please try to continue with your memories."
The wall remained a solid black, devoid of anything at all. John staggered to his feet, feeling ill. He fell to the ground at Anna's side and took her hand. Wetness bathed his face and he raised a hand to dash it away. "Don't you see, Chaya?" He exhaled harshly, on broken breaths, "That darkness is her memory after the accident. She disappeared deep inside of herself, where she felt safe!" He choked out a sob and laid his head in Anna's lap. "Oh Sweetie, I'm so sorry…"
"John…" Chaya whispered, pointing to Anna's wall. "Look…"
Sheppard raised his head and looked toward the wall as Chaya indicated. Small spots of rainbow colors began to radiate across the wall, randomly at first, then in a strange pattern, finally coalescing into the cohesive image of her father's distressed face peering down at her asAnna lay in her hospital bed.
Once again, images began to filter across the wall. Anna physically recovering from the accident; Anna hearing about his death; Anna locking herself away from life; Anna's father fighting to save his beloved daughter; thoughts of death—of joining John the only way she knew how; panic attacks, lots of panic attacks every time she was forced out of the house to see her doctors or psychiatrist; years of mental healing, building bridges back to a normal life.
Sheppard held tightly to Anna's hand, tears flowing freely as she showed him her pain, her deepest secrets and fears. How in the world had she survived?
The image of a college campus appeared. Anna hurrying to class, scared to death, dropping her books while suffering a panic attack; A much younger Rodney, with more hair and still pretty damn smart, scooping her up, holding her in his arms and crooning soothing nothingness until the attack ended; Anna and Rod getting to know each other, both shy and sweet; Rod coaxing Anna to classes, coaxing her to dinner, coaxing her to a movie, coaxing her back into a car, coaxing her back into love, back into life; Anna receiving her doctorate; Anna, beautiful Anna, walking down the aisle and into the arms of an ecstatic Rod; Anna and Rod on their honeymoon.
Sheppard groaned and looked away. He couldn't watch the honeymoon. His heart raced with both pain and joy, pain for the loss they'd both suffered and joy for the happiness she'd found with Rod. The man really had saved her.
Anna shifted in the seat, restless. Sheppard watched her face as a lone tear crept out from under her closed lid and glided downward on the silken sheen of her cheek. He was stunned when one of his tears dropped, melding with hers. With a gentle finger, he reached out and captured the escaping memories reflected in the prism of their combined teardrop. He fisted the moisture deep into his palm, trying to absorb them forever, trying to relieve her pain and make it his own.
Chaya's worried voice broke his reverie. "John, are you all right?"
"Yes." How he managed to answer, he didn't know. His chest hurt worse than waking up from a Wraith stunner blast. "I'm good." Chaya motioned to the wall and Sheppard turned, almost against his will, to watch.
Images of the stargate program replaced the honeymoon scene. He watched many years of Anna working with Rod in a lab trying to decipher what, exactly, all those strange devices from other worlds did and how they worked. Anna and Rod shared a life of laughter and a friendship that was shocking in its depth and intensity. He experienced Anna's joy at being picked as the Atlantis expedition leader. He felt her fascination upon arriving at Atlantis, saw her excitement at all the scientific discoveries she and Rod made together; realized she lived in a beautiful and peaceful Pegasus Galaxy. He lived her pain and her joy, her fear and her happiness. He was overwhelmed by the fullness of her life, her relationship with Rod, and the abounding goodness that personified the Anna he knew and loved. He learned the true meaning and value of friendship and love.
Just as before, the images stopped, frozen on the sight of the well were Anna had last been conscious.
Sheppard was flabbergasted. Her life had something his had lacked for a very long time. Her life was rich with love. Her life was carefree and happy. Her life was overflowing with goodness. Sadly, he didn't think she realized any of these things.
Sheppard was startled when Chaya placed a hand on his shoulder. "She must rest now, to prepare for the next step in your journey home."
It was almost comical, his attempt to rise from Anna's side. If he hadn't been so mentally exhausted, he might have laughed. Instead, he sat where he landed on the floor and watched Chaya recline Anna's seat and settle her in for a rest. Then, Chaya was at his side, helping him up and into a chair, soft words of encouragement trickled through his ears. His eyelids must've been wearing weights for they pressed downward no matter how hard he struggled. He felt Chaya's hand brush the hair from his face, the gossamer soft press of her kiss upon his lips before darkness surrounded him, and he was lost.
When they arrived at the outpost, the beautiful and tranquil appearance of the well surprised Weir. Such power contained in a deceptively sweet and enticing package. She was well aware of the danger and still had to fight the urge to run her fingers through the sparkling water. It was almost hypnotic in the way the water moved and glowed. She could see why Rodney felt it was alive. She dragged herself away from the well and headed for Sheppard's bed.
Weir was aghast at the sight of Sheppard lying on his cot, his body racked with shivers. Occasionally he would thrash and flail as if trying to fight off some unseen enemy. Carson took one look and decided this called for soft restraints.
"Why restraints, Carson?" Weir watched him attach the butter soft cloth strips to Sheppard's wrists.
I have a feeling he will get worse before he gets better, and, following the Colonel's own advice, I am going with my gut." He tossed Weir a sad smile as he tied the last knot.
Rising, he stepped up to McKay, who stood frozen at the foot of Sheppard's cot. Taking the scientist by the arm, he pressed him into a chair near Sheppard's head. He searched McKay's pockets and handed him a power bar. "Rodney, you look a bit pale. Eat something, lad."
McKay stirred, glanced at the power bar as if it had grown two heads, and then put it back in his pocket. "Not now Carson." He sat pensively for several moments before turning to Beckett. "What if I'm wrong?"
"You!...Wrong? Impossible." Beckett gave his friend a quick smile as he continued to examine his patient.
"Seriously, Carson! What if Sheppard hasn't really gone to some other reality? I mean, why is his body still here? What if it's just the water that made him sick? I've been going over this in my mind and I feel like I'm missing something."
"Relax Rodney, we covered everything. You said yourself that the ancient text and the poem both support the alternate reality theory. You're worrying for nothing, son." Carson patted his arm and went back to work.
Weir took the seat opposite McKay and folded her hands on the edge of the cot. They remained there for quite a while, not talking; content to watch the rise and fall of Sheppard's chest as he breathed. The steady rhythm was soothing just by its existence. Soon, Teyla, Ronon and Lorne pulled up extra chairs and joined the silent group.
After a while, Weir broke the silence. "So, Ronon, any idea how we'll know the 'time of choice' is here? What can we to do to help John?"
"I think we will recognize it when we see it." Replied Ronon, cryptically.
TBC