A/N: Hey thanks for the reviews once more, and all you reading for reading this!
Chapter 11-Unwinding
"No."
"Just for a little while."
"No, Sheppard." Ronon stared at John defiantly.
John sat in the pilot's chair, not letting on about the brain-melting pain that was now radiating not only through his head, but moving down his neck. "It really can't be that bad."
At Ronon's glare, John admitted, "Okay so it's my second worst nightmare, the first being stuck in his head."
"You know my position then."
"Yes."
"I'm not agreeing to it." Ronon crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair, hiding his own physical pain well.
John stated, "It won't be for long."
Ronon countered just as-matter-of-factly, "He said he didn't know how to release control."
"True." John relaxed down into his own chair, wondering if they would ever get back. He thought he should have turned the sub around the first moment D.W. began to yell at him. Then they would be back home, safe as they could be in the Pegasus Galaxy, Rodney wouldn't be fading away 1.2 leagues under the sea, and his copy would already be out of Ronon. If only.
"You cannot force him to do something he refuses, Colonel." Teyla said quietly but sternly.
"I know."
"It's his choice, and we will deal with the consequences." As she spoke, she kept an eye on Ronon, something he did not miss.
Ronon turned his attention back to the Colonel, "How could you be sure I wouldn't stay this way?"
"Because when we get back to Atlantis, Zelenka will fix this again, like he did the last time."
"He wasn't perfect the last time." Ronon came closer than he ever had to snipping and it reminded John and Teyla eerily of Rodney. They started to wonder if the scientist was influencing him.
"Well, if you wouldn't go touching things you didn't know…" He raised his forehead questionably, "why did you do that again?"
Ronon blew him off, "It doesn't matter, now."
"Yes it does."
"No."
John tipped his head forward a little to take the tension out of his neck, "Yes, don't make me order you to tell me, it's affecting the team."
Ronon scowled, "I was… anxious."
"Scared?" John asked.
Ronon continued to glare at him, "Nervous."
"Frightened," Colonel Sheppard teased as Teyla looked on amusedly.
"Uneasy!" Ronon practically jumped out of the chair to the protest of his body.
"Okay, okay." John went on sarcastically, "So you decided to browse storage rooms in the middle of the night."
"Yes…" He relaxed back into his seat.
Teyla interjected, "How would that help?"
"I thought it would help to know more Ancestor technology."
She continued, "Because you were going to go thousands of feet underwater in something of their design?"
"Yes."
"What a plan." John almost scoffed. "Next time, go along with one of the scientists or something. Speaking of scientists-"
"No."
"You do realize we're not going to get off the ocean floor and back to Atlantis without Rodney altering that generator and the engines, right?"
Ronon nodded to the Colonel, "Yes."
"Well then…just," John gestured with his hand, "let him out."
Ronon again glared at him.
"I know it's not exactly a … pleasant experience to look forward to, but if you have another option, I'm open to hear it."
"I don't, not with McKay back there unconscious."
"So…"
Ronon took a deep breath and closed his eyes without a word.
Teyla and John both knew it wasn't an easy thing they were asking Ronon to do, to let his body be controlled by someone else, but there wasn't another choice. Sure John could pilot the sub as it is but the Diagnostic system he nicknamed most likely wouldn't let him and by its calculations, he would wear out before they got out of the fields caused by the fissure and send them plummet back to the ocean floor.
They watched as Ronon breathed deeply, they saw his muscles relax, the rising and falling of his chest slow, and then his head twitch just enough to be noticed.
His muscles tensed back up and his eyes opened.
"McKay?"
"What Colonel?"
"It's nice to see… talk to you again but you have to modify the power generator now."
"Oh I do, do I? Is that all I'm good for, to fix things?"
Teyla placed her hand on his shoulder, "What he's trying to say is that we need more power to pull ourselves out of the force of the fissure, and soon because we need to get out of here."
Copy-Rodney turned around and glanced at the back, "To save myself, huh? Not to mention the rest of you. My last act as a living… consciousness. Doesn't beat dying saving children, but I'll take what I can get."
"Rodney…"
"No, Teyla, don't say anything, I know what will happen to me once we get back." He turned to John, "You said something about the generator?"
"Yea, D.W. said we needed more power to break away from the gravitational and magnetic fields."
"D.W.?"
Teyla shrugged, "The Colonel has named the Diagnostic and Warning System."
Copy-Rodney scoffed at John, "And you banned Ford from naming things."
"I thought it was good."
"So you actually talked to the system?"
"Uh huh."
"Well…"
"Well what?"
"Do I have to spell it out for your military mind? What else did it say, what was it like, did you see anything…?"
Teyla found herself laughing in her head at seeing such a personality as Rodney McKay's coming out of Ronon Dex's body. It was one of the bizarre things she had seen up close. But then her thoughts turned to the original Rodney…they really needed to get back. John also needed medical attention, not to mention Ronon who she knew also hid his pain as Rodney did when he had control, as he was most likely doing now because there were other more important things to do.
As the two men talked about D.W. and what exactly it had told John what to do, she went to the back.
Rodney was lying in the same position as she left him, her jacket still stretched over his chest. He still looked the same with a pale face and after a quick check of his vitals she determined the rest was the same too, still cold. She looked around the back section, looking for anything else to keep him warm, wondering why there weren't any of those silver thermal blankets around.
She assumed it was since no one had thought they would ever be needed, it wasn't as if they were going to leave the submarine and go out into somewhere cold, all there would be was water wherever a submarine mission was. Teyla settled back into the position she was in only a few minutes earlier, with Rodney's head on her lap and her leaning against the wall of the sub.
---
"Hey, are you ready?"
Dr. Susan Simpson looked over at the lieutenant standing at the lab door, "As long as you're here, we are." She helped Alexa pack up the last of their gear.
"Good, let's go fix our city." Laura Cadman clutched the P90 close and tapped her foot impatiently.
As she looked up, Alexa commented, "Just make sure you don't go getting into my head. I wouldn't be able to handle it. It's a wonder McKay didn't throw himself off the balcony."
"Hey! I'm not the only one with history with him. I recall getting a… apprehensive feeling from him every time you were around."
"So you've told me." She brushed past the lieutenant and the corporal that was with her.
"And two, there's no darts in the middle of the city and three, don't tease me, or you're not invited to the next Poker Night in my quarters."
"Then you don't get any beer, it's all in my room." Dr. Stroh grinned innocently while Susan and Corporal Tina Maywether made eye contact and held back laughter.
Laura stared right at Alexa, "Are you threatening me, Doctor?"
"Yes, Lieutenant, I believe that's the American expression."
"She'd better be coming, ma'am, or Katie will have your head." Tina stated, almost chuckling but she continued to hold it back, not wanting to laugh out loud at her superior officer, especially on duty. At the poker nights however…
"Are you kidding? That little woman couldn't stand a fight with me."
"No, but she does have a lot of friends in the other science departments. Dr.'s Stroh and Zelenka included, not to mention McKay, ma'am."
"And me." Susan joined Alexa further out in the hallway.
"Okay, okay, I get the point everyone. Sheesh! Wait, I thought the thing between McKay and Katie didn't work out."
"That doesn't mean he wouldn't take the opportunity to turn your hair blue, ma'am."
Laura chose to ignore that comment and turned to the other women, "You two said you were ready right?"
"Uh huh." They both nodded.
"Then why are we standing here?"
Alexa cocked her head, wanting to leave and get the generator's fixed. "Because you kept talking."
"I wasn't the only one." Lt. Cadman walked down the hallway, followed directly by the two doctors and Corporal Maywether stayed behind them, a classic sandwich move.
---
Lorne and his team were at a full run down the outer halls of Atlantis. He had just tried contacting Stackhouse and his team, but there was no response, only quiet. The Sergeant wasn't the type not to answer his radio, so he immediately head to where he knew they last were, hoping to find them all still… young.
They were finally in range and Lorne detected four life-signs, a good sign as far as he was concerned. There was the three-person team and one extra…
One blip moved from its stationary position and moved to another one that didn't move. The first sign engulfed the other and stayed there.
The Major urged his team on as he watched the blip move again, but leaving no others behind. There was a total of three now, and he cringed at the horrific conclusion there was a Wraith in the city.
As they came to the last hallway, he again watched as the first sign went to one of the other two and merge with it.
He signaled silently to the other two members of his search team and they took position as they approached the quiet hallway. Lorne was thankful there were stacks of cases and boxes from Earth along the sides, leaving an almost perfect set-up for cover.
He stayed on the right side of the hall, crouched behind a three-foot tall stack and the others went to the left side hidden in a similar manner.
It only took a second to see the Wraith's back turned to them as it was braced on its toes over a body dressed in a military uniform and obviously feeding.
The two junior officers commenced firing as soon as Major Lorne began to. The Wraith turned around snarling, firing its own weapon, and flinching at every bullet that hit its torso. The male managed to move behind a crate on its own side, but to the team they saw that it really fell to the ground.
They stopped firing, unsure of whether it was alive or dead.
---
As they walked, the marines kept an always alert stance, searching the area while Alexa and Susan remained quiet. The halls got less and less populated and more eerie to the group.
Dr. Stroh's thoughts kept leading from the generators, to the idea of a Wraith intruder, which led to the attack on Radek and the others, which then led her thoughts to an image of the Czech lying in an infirmary bed. She hadn't actually seen it, but her imagination conjured it up. After pushing it out and repeating that he was fine, she focused back on what they had to do.
They entered the room that housed Generator 6, the one where the others had been attacked and then carted off to the infirmary. It only brought up the images in Alexa's mind again, but once more she focused on their professional duty.
Lt. Cadman and Cp. Maywether stayed by the door as the two scientists unpacked their own gear. In their earlier rush, they didn't realize Costello, Zelenka, and Hong's gear would still be there and still packed.
---
Lorne looked at the detector and at the three life-signs before signaling to his men to move forward, that the Wraith was still alive, and to fix that problem. They got up from their positions with the caution of Marines and walked with their P90s ready.
The Major finally had the change to take a survey of the area. He counted three bodies, two on the farther side, the person the Wraith had been feeding on included. From his distance, he could see the withered skin of the two and he turned his attention to the other body.
He stood to get a closer look when he saw a flash of blue and one of his men go down, followed a second later by the other.
The Wraith sat up, weapon in hand and hissed at the inconvenience that was now plaguing him. It spied Major Lorne and raised its hand stunner in his direction.
Lorne immediately ducked behind the crates as a blast flew over his head. With his breath elevated the slightest, he opened a link to the other teams and to the Control Balcony.
"It's Lorne, I have five men down in corridor 23S. Request backup for the Wraith."
"On our way, sir."
Lorne grinned with relief at the voice that responded to him belonging to the man that took down three Wraith at once with a strategically placed grenade during the Siege, "Hurry up Captain. It's a mean one." He responded as another blast past over him.
He saw on the detector that the soldier the Wraith last fed on no longer had a life-signal. Anger bubbled through him as he saw the Wraith's blip walking away, further down the corridor.
He muttered, "No, you don't," and stood to follow quickly.
With his own P90 clutched firmly in his grip he passed his two men who were just stunned and then the other uniformed body. The first thing he noticed on the man's chest was a Wraith handprint and the corresponding blood around the wound.
Then he finally noticed the man's face, his non-wrinkled and still young face.
"You are one lucky son of a bitch." He bent down to shake him, "Come on, Stacks." The Sergeant didn't move, "Alright, be back later." He got up and ran after the Wraith, not having the time to think about why the creature had stopped feeding on the man. He passed two other withered bodies on the way out, in scientist uniforms.
---
"Request backup for the Wraith."
"On our way, sir."
Corporal Maywether looked at Cadman after the communications over their radios stopped.
Laura replied, "The Major and Captain's team can handle one Wraith. McIntyre has been here since the beginning."
"Yes, ma'am." Tina shifted her weight and kept her eyes glued to the hallway.
Alexa and Susan looked up from their work repairing the generator that indeed did have a malfunction. They questioned simultaneously, "Wraith?"
Cadman looked back, "Not anywhere near here doctors."
"Good."
"We're done, let's go." Susan unplugged her laptop as Alexa grabbed the rest of their equipment.
"Three left." Cadman checked the hall and led the way to the next generator. The group moved quickly, wanting to reach each one before they overloaded, a distinct possibility if the Wraith had gotten to all of them. Then there wouldn't be much a city left.
---
"What do you see?"
"Uh, a really long spiral… thing." John yelled from the front of the Jumper.
"And what is it doing?" Copy-Rodney snipped from the back as he was sitting on the ground, a panel open in front of him.
John focused on the image that was in his mind, "It's not doing much, just glowing a little, it's pretty faint." The Colonel was connected to D.W., but not totally like before since he needed to be able to hear and talk to copy-Rodney.
Rodney grumbled in Ronon's voice.
"I take it that's not what it's supposed to be doing?" Teyla looked over at him from her sitting position.
"Not if we want more power to the engines." He snipped again.
She looked back down at the original Rodney's face, it still looked the same and if she didn't know better, he was only sleeping. He did warm up though, snuggled under her jacket and laying on her lap. Teyla stroked his hair ignoring that her legs had fallen asleep.
Copy-Rodney scooted forward a little to better reach the inner workings of the submarine. He stretched Ronon's arm far into the compartment, needing to tweak a part. Even though D.W. couldn't exactly say how to modify the power system, the insight it was giving John was a substantial help.
They had been working on it for what seemed like forever when John yelled, "Hey! The spiral thing is getting bright!"
"How bright?" Copy-Rodney yelled equally as loud.
"Like I wish I could wear sunglasses in the virtual world bright."
"You should make it to the surface without problems now." The female computerized voice echoed in the Colonel's mind.
"Thanks D.W." He responded.
"Can we get going now or are you going to sit there all day?" He slammed the panel closed and stood.
"Yes, Rodney." John called from the front.
"Because the generator isn't stable right now since I needed to modify it so much."
Teyla asked concerned, "How unstable?"
"We should be fine during the time it will take to get back to the city but not much longer than that."
"This better work." The Colonel concentrated and the submarine lifted off the ocean floor again. This time, he wasn't straining himself to pilot it, and D.W. wasn't yelling at him.
---
Lorne slowed down as he approached the Wraith's position. It was moving to Generator 3, on the opposite side of the city than the one the repair team just left.
To his right was another hall and he spotted Captain McIntyre and his three-person team creep silently up the hall towards him. The marine waved to Lorne who waved back knowing how it was a little funny that the Captain always waved to everyone, even in times like these. It eased the situation.
They reached Major Lorne's position and he saw they each had a stunner, McIntyre handed him the fifth one he was carrying. They silently made a plan, signaling to each other.
Lorne and two of the others advanced further, following the Wraith as McIntyre took the other two with him, back down the way they came. That hall had another one branching off to the left, the end of which the Wraith had to pass.
The Major kept ahead of the other two marines that were with him, hurrying to get close to the saboteur before it passed McIntyre's hallway.
The Wraith walked through the corridor crowded with more boxes unknowingly walking into a trap. Lorne could now see it and by the clicking of his radio, he knew McIntyre was in position at the hall he could see opening into this one.
Then they all opened fire.
The air filled with stunner-blasts and the Wraith never knew what hit him. He was down on the ground, this time out for the count.
All the soldiers stepped cautiously towards it and while keeping his weapon aimed just in case, Lorne finally got a chance to greet the Captain.
"Well, nice of you to give me a hand."
McIntyre grinned, "Always, sir. Now, why don't we take this piece of trash to some accommodations?"
Lorne looked down at the figure, "Yea, before it wakes up."
A/N: I forgot to mention that Dr. Irene Costello, Dr. Jin Hong, and Corporal Tina Maywether are mine. The 'tree' people- Balsa, Pine, and Elm are too…that started in Phantom Thoughts with a corny joke with Captain Balsa and Dr. Wood, then I didn't want to think of names for characters that appear like, once. So there you go. If they're a tree , odds are they won't be back. Sort of my own redshirts. If TPTB ever actually name Alexa and Bryan and give Simpson a first name, then I'll change that.