Hey all! Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted a new chapter. I promise I'll begin posting more frequently in the next month, when school starts and I lose my social life for another 8 months. Well I hope you enjoy. Please R & R.

Chapter 8: Poisonous Plants and Late Night Visits

Kristy and Alex left the infirmary laughing at the argument between Beckett and Sheppard. "Did you see the look on dad's face?" asked Alex.

"I thought he was going to freak out" giggled Kristy.

After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence between the siblings, Alex's stomach growled. "I'm hungry" he said stating the obvious.

Kristy checked her watch. "It's 1145. The mess hall's starting to serve lunch now. Do you want to go?"

"Yeah" he answered enthusiastically.

They entered the mess hall and Kristy sat down at a table while Alex got some food. When he sat down across from her he was surprised that she didn't have anything to eat. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked.

"Not right now. I'll probably get some later"

"Okay" he shrugged and started digging into his food. After a couple of minutes, Alex grabbed his fork and placed it half on his tray and half on the table. He grabbed a pea and placed it on the end of the fork. After a few moments of adjusting the fork, he hit the other end with his fist and it catapulted the pea a few feet into the air. It landed in a cup of coffee someone left behind several feet away from where he and Kristy were sitting. "Yes, bull's eye" said Alex.

Kristy smiled at her brother "Don't you ever get bored of doing that? You never miss"

"No" he answered. "Dad said that I should keep practicing"

"Yeah, that's typical of what dad would say"

Soon Kristy and Alex were joined by Rodney, Brian, and Sam. "Hey" they greeted.

"How's the work going?" asked Kristy.

"Slow" answered Brian sliding next to Alex.

Rodney slid beside Kristy nodding in agreement and started eating. Sam sat beside Rodney and he rolled his eyes wondering why he always attracted kids.

Kristy smiled at the young girl and then looked back up at Brian. "Did Sam pry you away from the computer?"

"Do you have to ask?" he answered taking a glance at his sister. Sam smiled victoriously and took a bite of her sandwich. Rodney just shook his head.

"Let's play eye spy" said Sam, after finishing her sandwich, turning towards Rodney.

"How about lets not" said Rodney.

"Why? You like this game"

"How would you know what I like?" he asked sarcastically.

Sam hesitated for a second. "B…because…" she looked at Brian, hurt evident on her tiny face, her deep green eyes searching for any explanation to their father's strange behaviour.

Kristy could see the conflict showing in Brian's eyes. "Sam, why don't you and Alex go grab some dessert" she said.

Alex nodded and grabbed Sam's hand leading her to the desserts. On the way there she turned to look back at Rodney with a sad face.

"What did I do?" asked Rodney extremely perplexed at the sudden change in the child's behaviour towards him. He looked at Kristy and Brian. Brian was shaking his head and Kristy looked at him in disappointment.

"You know for a genius you're not too smart" said Kristy.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked slightly offended.

Brian rolled his eyes at his father. "You're just going to have to figure that out on your own" he said and got up from the table following after Sam and Alex.

Rodney looked at Kristy for any help, but she just leaned back in the chair and shook her head at the physicist. Suddenly their radios crackled to life. "Doctor Beckett, we have a medical emergency in the gateroom!" called Peter Grodin.

Kristy and Rodney automatically bolted to their feet as Brian came rushing over to them. "Brian, watch the kids. I'll go see what's going on" said Kristy.

"But…" he started.

"No buts Brian. That's an order. I promise I'll tell you what's going on" she said following Rodney out of the mess hall.

When they reached the infirmary they could hear someone screaming. They noticed Teyla sitting by Sheppard's bed and went over to them. Kristy saw Teyla holding Sheppard's hand with both of hers, both extremely pale.

"What's going on? Who's screaming?" asked Rodney.

"Ford" answered Sheppard.

Rodney gasped and all colour drained from Kristy's face. "Wh…what happened?" stuttered Rodney.

"We heard Dr. Beckett mention that Lt. Ford was poisoned" answered Teyla.

"How?"

"We are unsure"

Ford's screaming suddenly died down and all that could be heard was Beckett and several nurses talking. After awhile Beckett emerged from behind the curtain of Ford's bed. He ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck, looking up and meeting four anxious stares. "Lt. Ford is stable at the moment" he said, answering the unspoken question. Everyone visibly relaxed. Beckett sighed, knowing that the rest of the news on the injured team member was going to get worse, and continued "He had three large plant thorns embedded in his left calf…" Everyone nodded their heads. "…and they secreted a poison into his system"

"Is it fatal?" asked Rodney.

"If we don't find the antitoxin soon…yes" answered Beckett. "I'm goin' to recommend to Dr. Weir that a team goes back to the planet to see if the people know anythin' about the plant toxin" He saw everyone's long faces and wished he could assure them that everything was going to be fine, but he couldn't. Feeling there was nothing else to say he left to go and contact Elizabeth.

Elizabeth watched as Sgt. Bates and his team returned from P4X-792. Bates rushed up the stairs and came face to face with her. "Sergeant what's the news?" she asked.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but the natives have no cure" said Bates.

"What do you mean? They must have a cure"

"They believe that if someone gets poisoned by the plant it's judgment by their gods. All, but a very small percentage die"

"What about any survivors?" she asked as the hope of curing Ford started to grow.

Bates sighed, he liked the young man and thought he was one of the finest officers stationed in Atlantis. "The last one died several years ago, ma'am. I'm sorry"

"You did your best sergeant, thank you"

Bates nodded and left Elizabeth to her own thoughts. She tapped her radio headset "Carson, its Elizabeth" she said. Taking a deep breath to get a grip on her emotions she continued "I'm afraid I have some bad news"

"What do you mean there's no cure!" demanded Sheppard. Still clad in burgundy scrubs he was pacing Beckett's office after he was informed of the news. Teyla stood at the door watching him very carefully, since just a few hours ago he could barely walk the length of the infirmary. Sheppard kept on going, his anger and frustration giving him strength "There has to be a cure!"

"I'm sorry major, but the people just don't have one" answered Beckett in a soothing voice to try and calm his increasingly upset patient.

"You're telling me that these people have dealt with this plant for what…centuries? And they don't have any knowledge whatsoever?" asked Sheppard.

"They're very primitive, major"

"That's bullshit and you know it" he hissed. "I'm going back to that planet and ask them myself" he turned around to leave, but Teyla didn't move from the door.

"I'm sorry major, but you cannot leave" she stated.

Sheppard arched his eyebrows surprised. "What?" he asked.

"She's right" said Beckett. "I haven't released you yet"

"Well then release me"

"You're not well enough"

"I'm fine, doc"

Beckett stood up from behind his desk so he was at eye level with Sheppard. "A few hours ago you had a hard time walkin' to the bathroom and just because you can now doesn't mean you are better"

Sheppard walked up to the other side of the desk and stared down the doctor. "I'm telling you I'm fine" he said and then started for the door. Suddenly the room started to spin and he stumbled. Two sets of hands grabbed him and started leading him towards his bed.

"We'll see how good you are tomorrow and maybe I'll consider releasing you to light duty" said Beckett, he then left. As he walked by Ford's bed he saw Kristy helping a nurse place cool towels on Ford's legs, arms and forehead to try and lower the fever that started since Bates' team went to P4X-792. He checked the monitors and asked the nurse "How's his fever?"

"Still high, but stable" she answered. He nodded and went to go check on Ford's lab work.

Later on in the evening, Beckett came out to see that Kristy was still by Ford's bedside. She was sitting in a chair holding his hand while she read a very old tattered copy of 'War and Peace' sitting on her knees. She turned a page not noticing Beckett's approach. "Kristy?" he said and she jumped.

"Jeez, you scared me" she whispered and gave him a small smile.

Beckett smiled back "I'm sorry. Have you had anythin' to eat today? You have been in here for quite awhile"

"I had supper not too long ago" she answered.

"I'm just checkin'" he said. "I don't want you to stay here too long. You need your rest as well"

Kristy smiled at Beckett's concern. "I promise I will"

Beckett nodded and then began to leave when Kristy yelled "Carson!" He spun around and saw Ford's entire body violently seizing. Running to the bed and saw that Kristy was trying to roll him on his side. He rushed over to help her.

After Ford settled back down they both rolled him on his back and Beckett reattached the monitors and IV which were ripped of. "Bloody hell, he's beginnin' to have seizures" He turned towards Kristy "How did you know what to do?"

Kristy shrugged and gave him a small smile "I learnt from the best" She looked back at Ford "He's getting worse"

"I'm afraid so, luv. I wish there was somethin' I could do"

"There wasn't any toxin left in the thorns?"

"They deteriorated minutes after they were removed"

"Did anyone go back and try to get samples?"

"I already asked Dr. Weir that and she doesn't want to risk infectin' anyone else"

"This sucks" she sighed.

"Aye, it does" he said. "I'm goin' to have a nurse stationed to watch him"

"Okay" she said and sat back down in the chair.

Beckett grinned at the young military officer. "Why don't you go to bed?"

"I'm not tried yet, but I will" she smiled.

"You better or I'm goin' to have to escort you to your quarters personally" he said in a mock threat and then left.

Kristy grinned at the retreating doctor and then grabbed some new towels to cool Ford's fever. She placed them on the side table when the nurse entered. They both cleaned up the area and placed the new towels on Ford. When they finished Kristy sat back down in her chair and held his hand. She closed her eyes to rest for a second, but soon she was fast asleep.

The rest of the night was uneventful until there was a sound of shuffling and a small person entered the infirmary clutching his stuffed animal. Alex looked around with tear filled eyes and saw Kristy asleep in the chair by Ford's bed. As much as he wanted to wake her to comfort him about his nightmare, he knew that she needed her rest. He went to leave except he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Walking over to the bed he saw Sheppard shift in his sleep. He came up to the side of the bed and tapped Sheppard gently on the arm.

Sheppard slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by one of the few people with the deepest brown eyes he's ever seen. He lifted his head from the pillow and saw Alex standing beside the bed looking around scared and wiping tears from his face.

"I'm sorry" mumbled Alex went to leave.

"Ww…wait Alex" he said propping himself up on one elbow. "What's wrong?"

Alex stopped and turned back around. He looked downwards being more interested at looking at his feet than Sheppard. "I…I had a bad dream"

"Okay, do you want to talk about it?"

Alex then looked at his hands which were intertwined in front of him and quietly said "No" He looked up and saw Sheppard contemplating what to say next. "I just want a hug, but Kristy's sleeping and…I don't want to wake her 'cause…she needs to sleep"

"Well you've come to the right person then" smiled Sheppard. He slid over on the bed pulling back the covers and patted the space.

Alex gave a small smile and climbed up on the bed, with Sheppard's help. After he was covered up he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He knew that the man beside him was his father, but in a way he wasn't. He looked at the man laying on his back who's never played with him or tucked him into bed at night or read him stories, it was like being with a stranger. Feeling that this was a bad idea, but too tired to go back to his quarters he rolled on his side, his back facing Sheppard and fell asleep.

Sheppard watched the young boy sleeping and wondered what nightmares a young child would have while living in the Pegasus galaxy. Even though the children have been on Atlantis for a short while, he could tell just by how they carried themselves that they've experienced things that no adult, let alone a child, should experience. As he folded his arms behind his head, he took another glance at Alex and silently wished the boy the best of dreams and then closed his eyes.

In the morning Beckett came in to tell Sheppard that he was being released from the infirmary and stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. He tried to hide his smile and wished he had a camera. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned his head to see Teyla standing beside him also grinning at the two occupants in the bed.

"Why don't we give them a few more moments" she said giving him a wink.

Beckett smiled "Aye, I believe you're right"

Still grinning, they left to check on Ford allowing the two Sheppard men at little more time to sleep. Alex was now facing John and was snuggled under his chin with his one arm resting on John's waist. John had both arms wrapped around Alex in a big hug. Alex shifted in his sleep pulling himself closer to the chief military officer. John reacted by pulling him closer as well and he tilted his head so his cheek was resting on Alex's head. Alex's stuffed animal was on the floor, completely forgotten, and both father and son were snoring softly.

(TBC)