Carson looked at the people gathered in the room, strongly reminded of when he would have to tell families their loved ones had died. Their eyes begged answers the doctor couldn't give, no matter how much he wanted to. Trying to remain the caring but distant doctor, he forced himself to stand there in front of them, instead of falling to the ground with them and cursing every person, place or thing that could have been responsible for this.
"Could you repeat that?" Rodney asked.
"The problem," Carson said, "isn't mental as I had hoped."
"You hoped?" Elizabeth demanded standing up, "you told me that he was fine."
"I know what I told you," Carson said, "there was a next to nothing chance that the problem was biological."
"Does that look like next to nothing!" she practically screamed motioning to John's limp form laid out beside them like some sacrifice. Carson closed his eyes, begging for the strength to deal with a nearly-hysterical Elizabeth. She seemed to realize what she was doing because she clenched and unclenched her fists, breathing in and out roughly before composing her features in a serene mask.
"He's turning into a Wraith?" Rodney asked breaking the silence.
"Not exactly," Carson said, "you see, Wraiths have thoughts, they make choices, distinguish between good and bad in their own way. What John is turning into doesn't do that."
"Do you have a timeline?" Elizabeth asked, her voice tight.
"Not really," Carson said, "but from the last time, we can guess he'll begin transforming—heightened senses and strength, no control over his emotions—then the physical changes, though I imagine they'll be more pronounced this time. Then, he'll go to find his kind, to get orders. I imagine after that point we'll see him when he comes to take over Atlantis with the rest of the Wraiths."
"We have to kill him."
Everyone's eyes focused on Ronon. He was sitting calmly, as if he had just asked what they thought about the weather. For the third time that day, Elizabeth was ready to kill someone. Ronon's eyes left the woman's enraged features and focused on John's pale face which was turning slightly blue. His vitals were consistent, the blue was his re-forming pigment. Looking back at Elizabeth he was surprised to see her standing before him.
"Listen to me," she said, her voice deadly calm, "no-one is going to touch John Sheppard, least of all you. Do I make myself clear? We still don't know anything about you and the only reason you're here is because of him."
He stood up, his anger radiating from him. Elizabeth didn't even blink as he towered over her, giving her a hard look. She returned it equally, her eyes blazing. Ronon sighed, turning around he walked over to the door and pressed it open. Looking back at her, his gaze softened slightly with pity.
"If you truly loved him, you wouldn't sentence him to this fate," he rumbled before walking out of the room.
Elizabeth sat down hard, covering her face with her hands. She let her hand fall down to cover her mouth and looked at John's limp body. She noticed the blue tint to his skin and imagined his eyes, reptilian and yellow boring into her as his hand wrapped around her neck. Covering her eyes, she tried to hold back a whimper and failed miserably. Teyla gripped her shoulder tightly.
"I'll go see what I can find out," she said softly. Elizabeth nodded. Teyla walked out of the room and looked around. The unmistakably tall figure walking away was Ronon and she ran after him, skidding to a halt in front of him, her anger stripping away most of her grace. She wasted no time in pushing him against the wall.
"What the hell was that about?" she snarled, using a word picked up from listening to John.
"I was only speaking the truth," he said, his eyes not meeting hers. Teyla stepped backwards, she had experienced many sides of the warrior but this side was new to her. If she didn't know better, she'd say he was afraid.
"That's not good enough. We deserve an explanation. I deserve one," she said hotly.
"It doesn't matter," he said pushing her away and turning to go. She let out a growl of frustration and Ronon snapped, advancing on her until she was pinned against the wall. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She wanted to be scared, petrified even, she wished she was. All she could think about was his lips inches from hers and how his eyes seemed to know exactly what she was thinking—because his hands had come up to pin her arms on either side of her, which only made her heart pound more.
"I know," he said hotly, "because it happened to me."
With that he left her pressed against the wall, her heart hammering in her chest and her mid spinning. Violently she shoved herself away from the wall and looked around but he was gone. Picking a direction, she ran down the hall, cursing her lack of height and the tears clouding her vision.
She was called back abruptly by someone screaming in her earpiece. Gasping she spun on her heel and ran back towards the infirmary. Ronon was already there, a look of quiet resignation on his face. Elizabeth, Carson and Rodney all looked horrified. Teyla frowned and followed their line of vision. The infirmary looked the same as it had when she left, except for one distinct difference.
John Sheppard was gone.