A/N: I am becoming more like McKay every day, it's starting to scare me (not really, but it is quite funny because I'm the only one around me that notices (only one that watches SGA…) ). I'm finding myself snapping my fingers at people when trying to think about something and making snarky remarks, maybe because he's my favorite character to write.
Anyway… I know Sheppard's payback was somewhat mean… but hey… he was bald! And it was such a good prank!
And a reminder, this is rated Teen, so do expect profanity, not so much in this chapter, but in upcoming ones.
Chapter 2- Submersion
A very sleepy Lt. Colonel came back into consciousness in his bed, remembering the night before, mainly recalling how he left, went back to his room (to his stash of beer among other alcoholic beverages), and then went back to Rodney's room with a fresh supply. It had been a good break to sit around and just shoot the shit with Rodney after being through trust breaking times over the past few months.
He was feeling guilty for playing that prank on him; after all, it wasn't as if McKay knew what that little box did when he asked him to activate it, causing him to loose all of his hair, everywhere, even in places where no one had a right to be looking. That look Rodney flashed him had really cut into his heart.
But, after a few drinks and some alcohol induced talking about just about everything that was bothering the two, they had repaired the major damage, and were able to trust in each other more like they used to, before the blowing up of a solar system and a hurtful prank that trudged up long-forgotten feelings. Things had gotten pretty much back to normal, and Rodney was being more careful than he had been before with technologies.
John sat up in bed carefully, trying to fight back the dizziness swirling through his head, not regretting the occurrences of the night, but that they had a mission in four hours and he had a bit of a hangover. If he did, that meant McKay would to, but it was nothing the two men hadn't been through before. He stepped out of bed, planning to head over to the mess hall in a bit for a coffee pick up.
Xxx Xxx
Rodney had his head buried in his arms on his desk in his personal lab, a cup that had held coffee sitting in front of him, and the small reddish, pear-shaped device sitting next to it. He had drained another mug in an attempt to wake up and push out the steady pounding, and it had worked, to a point. Now every time he moved his head, nausea and lightheadedness would return.
His thoughts moved from his physical condition to the talk he had with John the night before, how they had hashed out just about everything after being loosened up from the flow of alcohol. Amazing what properties a drink has.
He just wished they would have had their little party some other night, like a Friday, when they didn't have a mission the next morning.
He sighed into his arms, recalling the coaster of emotions they both went through. Lost trust, lost faith, anger, sadness, and frustration had bubbled out of them through dreary eyes, swearing, yelling, and a few fought back tears.
In the end, it turned out alright. They had a friendship bought through blood, sweat, and danger. After all their differences, they had been through more than most people had been or would ever be, and it was hard to give up on a friendship, so they didn't. Theirs was just one of many strong friendships bred on Atlantis, one of many that the newcomers clearly had seen.
He remembered vowing the night before, while laid out on one of the orange couches, to never let his judgment be clouded by feelings again. John had come back with saying it was harder than he could imagine. Being military meant knowing that sometimes, no matter how strongly a person felt, they would lose people, that the many outweighed the few.
It didn't make it any easier when they lost people.
John had also gone on to vow that he would never bring up Dr. Garin Trelio again.
"Rodney."
He refused to lift his head, but knew by the accent who it was, "What do you want Radek?" He heard him set something down on the desk and felt the vibrations.
Radek spoke sternly, but caringly, "Take this. It will make you feel better."
Rodney lifted his head a little to see a clear glass with something blood red in it sitting in front of him, "What the hell is that?"
Radek stood with an identical glass in his hand, "Just drink and you shall see. Honestly, with a mission in four hours. You two are incredible."
"How do you know?" Rodney eyed the glass, sitting up more now.
"Please, seeing the Colonel wandering into the mess hall, trying not to sway, rubbing his head, muttering under breath, and then seeing you in same state walking in here. I can put pieces of the puzzle together."
Rodney scoffed, "You would know, that stuff you make is infinitely worse than whatever we had." He picked up the glass and swirled the blood red liquid, "What is in this anyway?"
"A little of this, a little of that, developed it in grad school."
"Is there a reason you never brought this out before?"
"You never had important mission with a hangover before."
Rodney sighed and lifted the glass to his nose, smelling it. It didn't have an odor at all, "If I die from this, I'm going to kill you."
"Hard to do if you are dead."
Rodney drained the liquid, smacking his lips after. "Humph, doesn't taste like anything either."
"It's not supposed to." Radek had noticed the device sitting on the desk earlier and brought it up now, "Any progress on that?" He pointed to it.
He set the glass down, "No. The only information known about it is that it was found in 756G."
"The room that can only be described as a small university lecture hall?"
"That's the one. Most likely some sort of teaching aid if the room is what we think it is."
Radek turned to leave, still holding the second glass, "Well, I am going."
Rodney noticed his headache clearing up and thought that Radek's potion really did work, "See you later." Radek walked towards the door as he caught his last comment, "Thanks."
"It's no problem, Rodney."
Radek left and headed down the hall being careful not to spill the liquid in the glass. He couldn't have two out of four people that were going on the mission being half out of it, not this mission anyway. They were also overall good men, ones that he considered friends. Rodney a little more than the Colonel though. That and Elizabeth would be angry, something that wouldn't fare well for the whole city.
He stepped in the transporter and a few seconds later was walking out of it, towards the mess hall where he had last seen John Sheppard heading to. He scanned the room, seeing a few new faces, military and civilian scientists that had arrived the previous day, and then the tell-tale dreadlocks of Ronon Dex who was sitting across from the Colonel.
Walking over, he inspected John's condition. He had his head propped up with his left hand and was picking at his tray absent mindedly. His eyes were droopy, looking down, and he didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on around him.
Radek sat down next to Ronon, who grunted and nodded in a greeting since he had his mouth full and the alternative of spitting food on the scientist wasn't any better. Zelenka saw how John didn't notice his arrival.
"Colonel, here." He set the glass down next to John's tray, "Drink that, it will help."
John's eyes passed from the tray to the glass and to Radek, "Where did you come from?"
"Prague. Now, drink all of it and you will no longer feel this way."
Ronon swallowed and glanced at the scientist, "He wouldn't take my remedy."
"That's because it smelled like elephant shit." John picked up the glass and swirled it around, his head still propped up.
"What is an elephant?"
John sniffed the liquid, "A rather large animal. You wouldn't want to get in one's way."
"Talking from personal experience, Colonel?"
He looked over at the Czech, "Let's just say I got a little too close to the railing at the zoo once as a kid and took a tumble."
Radek hid his inner laughter, "Drink that, it will pay off."
"If you say so," John began to drink, tilting his head back as he reached the bottom of the glass, finally getting all of it down into his system. "Just like red colored water."
"It's more than that."
Ronon stabbed at his hash browns, having mastered the delicate art of using silverware, "Mine would have worked also."
Radek questioned, "What is it made of?"
The two radically different men started discussing the content of their remedies, leaving John to his own thoughts. He remembered that day at the zoo, how he went with his baby brother and their mother and how he was holding out a peanut, trying to get it closer to the elephants so they would take it with their trunks. His mother wasn't looking; she was too busy chasing down Chris.
He stepped up on the bottom rung of the railing, then up to the next one, and then he fell over and found himself in the exhibit, with a whole bag of peanuts. The elephants knew he had them since he had been throwing them in before, so they pretty much rushed at him.
The eight-year old John followed his instinct.
To run.
But he still had the bag, so he was followed by a herd of elephants that over the years had been used to receiving food from people. He ran over the grasses, not hearing the people screaming from the sides for zoo security and the trainers.
He suddenly realized that he felt about 95 better after drinking Zelenka's personal cocktail, and how it made sense that he would have a hangover remedy. It wasn't really a secret that he had a hidden distiller somewhere in the city. Of course, only the original crew knew that.
His attention was caught from his rambling thoughts by a very loud "Colonel."
"Hmm? What Zelenka?"
"Feel better?"
"Yea actually. Thanks." He waved over at the red stained glass, "You should take Rodney some of this."
Ronon was now sitting in front of an empty tray, "He already did."
"Good." Guess I zoned out a little. "I'll see you both at the meeting." He stood up thinking about the strange pair Zelenka and Ronon made sitting next to each other.
Radek nodded, "Yes, in half an hour."
After turning the tray in, John grabbed two cups of coffee and began a search. Since Rodney hadn't been in the mess hall, he headed to the hall of laboratories, more commonly known as the 'Realm of the Geeks.' It was the second home of every scientist in Atlantis, except the ones that had taken residence aboard the Daedalus, but they even made trips to these labs.
He poked his head into the main research lab where he found him the night before, only to find the blonde German scientist that had worked on the crashed Wraith Dart with Radek, Kavanagh lurking in the corner, and a few others.
A door down was the personal lab and office of the Chief Scientist, and that's where he found Rodney McKay sitting at his desk, leaning back in the chair, arms folded, and staring down at the obstinate device. An empty mug and an empty glass were pushed to the corner of the desk.
At the scent of fresh coffee that wafted in with John, Rodney looked up and saw him in a normal, awake state, "Radek got to you too, huh?"
John set down a cup in front of the other man, "Sure did. Saved both our asses."
"Mmm, more coffee, just what I needed to fill my quotient for the morning." He took a sip and moved back to the subject, "I would have hated to have gone to the meeting and have faced Elizabeth in my previous condition."
"Same here, after this situation is cleared up, we would have been city-bound or worse for awhile." He almost shivered at the thought, when the Expedition leader got mad, she got even.
Rodney waved around the amazingly packed room, "At least I would have had work to do."
"Hey, I do plenty in the city." John sat down in the other lone chair that was directly across from Rodney's position at the desk.
"I didn't say you don't."
"Could have fooled me."
"That isn't hard."
"Isn't hard to find a nice, sandy planet to happen to leave someone either."
"You would never do that to me. But since we're on the subject, how about we throw a certain pony-tailed jerk through the Gate to a planet that fits that description?"
John laughed, "That would get us into more trouble than going to the meeting with hangovers and having a mission after."
"Would be worth it. Besides, who would know?" He pointed to John, "Here's what we do, you get a hand-stunner from the armory late one night while I make sure the Gateroom is devoid of people and call an emergency somewhere that needs every on duty scientist's attention, it would be late at night of course so less chance of witnesses, you stun him and bring him to the Gate while I activate it, throw him through," He smiled as he continued and kept moving his hands around, "and I erase any history of that address being dialed. Of course there are the problems of him dialing back here, or to the Alpha Site, so the DHD on the other side would have to be disabled somehow… oh it could just be one of the planets without one!"
"Okay… you're a little too excited about that."
Rodney's expression fell, "Oh right. Anyway, about this device Colonel…"
"No." He took a sip of his coffee.
"It'll take a second."
"No."
Rodney said out of frustration, "Fine. I'll go look for that new anthropologist…I wonder what his name is, he's French or something. Apparently his gene is supposed to be as strong as yours."
"You do that, because I am done with little pieces of Ancient technology. Things that we know what they do, I have no problem with."
They continued to chat awhile; killing time discussing John witnessing the bizarre friendship Radek and Ronon had seemed to strike up in the mess hall over a common interest, the other new people that had arrived, and a few other random topics. Before they knew it, it was time for the meeting.
After Rodney made sure to grab his laptop, the two friends strolled out of the lab and through the hall, making their way directly to the debriefing room where they found Elizabeth at the head of the U-shaped table, Teyla to her right, Ronon on further down the table, and Radek standing by the viewing screen. On it was an image of the ocean floor.
"John, Rodney. Glad you could join us." Elizabeth eyed the two men, noticing that they both walked in a tad sheepishly.
Pretending that he didn't get plastered the night before with Rodney, John responded sincerely, "Wouldn't miss it." He took a seat to her left wondering about the absence of Col. Caldwell and watched as Rodney talked with Radek quietly getting caught up. This meeting was more of review from the previous day's hectically thrown together briefing to fill in any new information that came up.
"We have the latest readings from the city's sensors and the Daedalus scans here," Radek pointed to the stats on the screen that were displayed next to a sketchy image.
Rodney continued, "They show what we've suspected. On the ocean floor is indeed a fissure that is giving off heat."
"The temperature has increased by fifty degrees Celsius since yesterday."
To round out the information Rodney added, "And it seems to be enlarging slowly, the increased wave activity is due to the small tremors radiating from it."
"So, it is volcanic?"
Radek answered Elizabeth's concerned voice, "We still do not know. Once the sub gets close enough to get some more detailed readings-"
Only to be cut off by Rodney, "The city and Daedalus sensors are still being slightly distorted. But once we get close for accurate readings, it would be blatantly obvious if it's a danger."
Teyla questioned politely and inquisitively, "How deep is the ocean where we are to be going?"
Rodney turned to Radek and they took the briefest moment to calculate it in their heads and simultaneously said, "20,170 meters."
Ronon said almost under his breath, "That sounds extreme."
"Oh it is, especially when you consider the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean-" Rodney snapped his fingers in thought.
"The Mariana Trench."
"Yes, thank you Radek. Is 11,000 meters deep."
John hid a small amount of uneasiness, "The submarines can withstand the pressure, right?"
Radek answered, "Yes, far as we know from data calculated from previous missions at shallow depths."
Rodney commented, "I wouldn't be going if it wasn't safe, Colonel."
"Well, that's good to know." John said with sarcasm underlying his voice.
Elizabeth looked around at the group, "The team leaves in two hours. We need to know if the fissure is dangerous to Atlantis."
Xxx Xxx
John passed through the first set of massive Submarine Hanger doors, and then through the second set. It still amazed him how large the room was and how it was freakily similar to the Jumper Bay, if one ignored the circular formation in the center of the floor, along with the one on the far side of the wall. The one in floor led directly into the ocean while the one in the side opened slightly above it.
The science team had discovered the submarines could fly in space like a Puddle Jumper if they needed to, most likely what the exit on the side was for. They were however, designed for underwater travel. They were narrower and their ends were rounded to cut through the water more efficiently. Their hulls were also double layered, and had several extra systems.
He greeted his team as he approached Sub 1, and they returned the greeting. All were dressed in mission gear, except Ronon who still opted to wear his tight fitting shirt and leather-like pants.
Rodney was checking a system in the back of the opened vehicle, Teyla checking a few pockets in her vest, and Ronon was rolling his hands across each other and playing with his fingers.
John noticed Ronon's behavior, "You alright?"
He turned his head in the Colonel's direction, "Yes, why?"
"No reason. Let's get on with this, guys."
They all filed into the sub, John taking the pilot's seat, Rodney beside him. Teyla sat behind the scientist and next to the Sedetian. The underwater vehicle was powered up by John's ATA gene and he took a hold of the controls, commanding it to rise from its resting place and fly over to the center of the bay.
Rodney hit the button that was above a smaller version of the Jumper's DHD and under another one that opened the side portal. The one in the floor opened very much like the Earth Stargate's iris and John lowered the sub through it, water rushing over the front window and in a moment they were heading to the bottom of the ocean.
John commented, "Another exciting mission."
"I thought you liked piloting this thing." Rodney checked over some readings he had brought with him that the city's sensors gave out.
Teyla kept her eyes focused through the front of the submarine, "I've always found the ocean fascinating."
"It's not that I don't like piloting, it's where we're going that's giving me the creeps. We've never been that deep before." John ran his fingers through his hair.
Rodney snarked, "You seemed fine when the city was at the bottom."
"Well, yea, but then there was a shield and everything and it wasn't all that deep compared to the trench."
"It's just water, Sheppard."
John thought Ronon said that not to convince him, "I know."
A/N: The consciousness will be coming out to play soon. Leave me something, you know how much I love to read them!