A/N: Happy New Years! Two chapters just for you. Aren't I generous? More whump then? More whump then.

Part Eight

Blazing Synapses

CJ didn't have to be near John to feel his distress like a constant explosion. Too much was going on for the man to handle, but there was little if anything CJ could do except get Rodney to help Teyla and let Carson stall whatever was going on.

He and Rodney were almost at a run through the blank halls that never altered say for the occasional door.

" You'd think the Ancients would give artistic creativity a little more consideration," he said, but knew Rodney was too close to the edge of panic to respond. " We're almost there," CJ said instead.

They were rounding yet another corner into another blank corridor when a massive body blocked the way. CJ passed right through, but Rodney collided with it to go falling onto his back.

" Whoa!" CJ cried, turning to stare at Jy's muscular back as the big man bent to pick up Rodney by the collar of his shirt.

" Where are you going, Dr. McKay?" Jy asked in that annoyingly flat, emotionless tone. These so called assistants could have been Ilian's genetically perfected clones. Jy released McKay and stepped back. Rodney cleared his throat uneasily, and CJ caught the constant stumbling block in his brain.

" Um..."

CJ popped in beside Rodney. " You're looking for Dr. Beckett, you seemed to have lost him."

" I'm... looking for Dr. Beckett. I seemed to have lost him. Um... you haven't seen him, have you?"

Jy shook his blond head. " No."

" Oh, well, if you do – tell him I'm looking for him. And..."

" This is no time to be wandering around..."

" That this is no time to be wandering around! Yeah."

CJ grinned. " Good boy."

" Shut up," McKay mumbled. He then made to pass Jy, only to have Jy move an inch and block the way again.

" He is not down that way."

Rodney stepped back. " Oh, well, um..."

" Maybe he is now," CJ said.

" Maybe he is now."

" No," Jy said, " he is not."

Rodney let out a sharp, nervous breath he was hoping passed as sounding impatient. No such luck.

" Look, there's something I need to do, and it's down this particular hallway where I need to do it, so if you would excuse me..." He attempted another veer around the big man. Jy's hand shot out, grabbing Rodney's wrist, squeezing and twisting. The smaller man screamed and dropped to his knees as the wave of agony slapped CJ in the face. Since the big guy obviously couldn't see him for some illusionary intervention, CJ entered deeper into Rodney's mind and adjusted his pain receptors to keep him from passing out.

Rodney, panting, tried to pry the thick fingers from his wrist. His pain might have been diminished, but Beckett did not have to be present to tell them that Rodney's wrist was broken. The crunch and snap of bone had been audible enough. Jy released Rodney's wrist to take him by the bicep and lift him up, then proceeded to escort/drag him down the hall.

" Ah crap," CJ growled. Between Rodney's pain and John's increasing terror, he felt like he was developing multiple personalities. " Son of a..." He followed Jy as he hauled Rodney to the same room where Teyla had been dumped. Ironically, it was the quarantine chamber Ilian had spoken of, accessible only from the outside. Jy pressed his hand on a glowing blue panel that turned green. The door slid open and Rodney was dragged inside, struggling feebly. Teyla was also inside, crouched in a corner and pressing her hand to the back of her head. Then the door slid shut and the light went blue.

CJ!

' Hold tight, Rodney. Help Teyla, she's hurt. And... Damn it, Someone's with Carson and John!'

This was getting bad. CJ studied the switch. It wasn't that high, and didn't require the gene to activate. He shifted from the facility to the guest room, materializing beside John just in time to see baldy coming up from behind Carson with a small, syringe-like item. Both CJ and John shouted, but the needle was already being plunged into the neck, and Carson went down.

" Son of a...! CJ barked. John, panting, tried to move himself from the chair to help the doctor. Then the dark skinned thug entered to drag Carson away as baldy took the handles of the chair and wheeled John out, leaving CJ alone in the room.

" CJ!" John screamed. CJ was getting first hand experience of why John hated feeling helpless so bad. The Colonel's emotional wave was actually making CJ dizzy. There was no one left to provide aid, and it seemed the only road to go down was to flit back to Atlantis and make himself visible to Weir.

A small, quiet consciousness whispered through the mental ambient. An idea that could only be born from desperation formed in CJ's ethereal mind.

There was always Little Jim. His small presence was tucked under the bed, frozen by animal wariness.

" Little Jim, I'd say it's your time to shine."

Jim poked his head out and barked.

SGA

John couldn't breathe. He was panting like a man in a race, but the air he took in wasn't enough for his half-starved lungs. He coughed, trying to clear the gunk out and make room, and choked on phlegm. The resonating pound of his own heart was deafening.

The bald man – orderly on steroids – hovered behind John as he wheeled the chair down the sterile rat maze that was the Ancient facility. He had one thick hand on John's chest in restraint more than to keep him up.

" No, no, no, no, no..." John panted between gasps. They went down corridor after corridor until they came to a door at the end of yet another hall. John wanted to vomit as the door slid open and he was pushed into a room with a rectangular metal table dominating the center, and a console on the far left side of the room. Ilian was standing behind that console as was Kelna prepping this new torture device.

" They are being unreasonable," Ilian was saying. " They have what they need at their disposal to save this man, and they refuse to use it. This is for their own good. Either this man must be healed or destroyed. It is the mandates of safety.

Destroyed? Killed? Death? Die? Death machine!

Images of pain and death ripped like knives through his brain, igniting a mountain of a migraine that felt too big for his skull to contain. His stomach roiled, threatening to expunge, and John's spine went stiff enough to snap.

" No, no, no, no, no..." he continued, but it was becoming a beg, a plea.

" Place him on the table," Ilian instructed. The bald man came around the chair and lifted John below the armpits like he was a child – albeit a very tall child. John's feet dragged. His terror accumulated into the need to escape the death device, and he planted his feet on the floor, trying to push back.

" No!" he screamed, pushing at the man, digging his heels into the smooth floor, then slamming his foot into the man's knee-cap. The man grunted, gritting his teeth.

" Oh subdue the man already. He is not threat. And I do not wish to use another dart, I have very few left."

The bald man's eyes flashed with fiery anger, and he threw John against the wall. John's head and shoulder connected with a crack, and he slid down the stainless metal into a heap on the floor. Pain was throbbing through his shoulder and his head, but there was a perpetual night hovering at the edges of his vision, and the spinning room made for a good distraction from everything else. He was lifted up roughly and dumped onto the cold table. There was something telling him, some voice or instinct, that he needed to move, to run, to fight, anything. He tried to move his arm, but that only awoke the pain that gripped it and caused the darkness to creep a little closer over his sights. He coughed, wheezed, and curled as best he could on the table.

Help me, he begged. Why can't I wake up?

' Hang on John,' said a familiar voice. ' Just hang on. The machine won't kill you. You'll be all right. Just don't give up...'

SGA

CJ wished he had powers, like that Cyclops guy on X-men. Laser-shooting eyes, that would hit the spot... that bald spot on Ilian's head. But all CJ could do was stare daggers and wish.

Kelna's hands moved fast over the console. Baldy had moved behind the console to join his master and cohort. CJ peeled his eyes from Ilian to look at John and continue his mental ministrations, which was all he could do until Little Jim came through. John was huddled on the table, shaking as though freezing, but cold wasn't exactly a major concern for John. Even being half-conscious couldn't stop the fear, but it was preventing his heart from stopping out of fright.

If John could see himself, he'd be pissed at how small and frail he appeared to be on the table, like a discarded corpse. CJ had thought for sure that John was dead the moment that hair-less gorilla threw him against the wall. But if Sheppard was anything, it was resilient. He'd survived too much to be bested by a freakin' wall. Still, CJ was aware of John's struggle just to get enough air into congested lungs and ignore the pain of shattered bones. The man really was falling apart, but he wasn't going to fall without a fight. The virus couldn't stifle everything.

" It is ready," Kelna said. Ilian nodded, and she pressed something that caused a rectangle of glass in the ceiling over John to light up bright as day, and a glittering beam of blue light to surround John. A hologram of readings opened up before Ilian and Kelna, scrolling slowly. Between the writing was an image of the virus.

CJ read over the information quickly, thanking Rodney for the quick 'how to read Ancient' lesson. He lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

" Seems the Ancients knew about this thing after all." But not for very long. It appeared that the effects of the virus was different for different beings, yet most potent with those carrying the Ancient gene. CJ really wasn't liking what he was seeing.

" Hm," Ilian said. " Seems to be less of a contagion than I supposed. Still, safe than sorry."

CJ shot his angry gaze at Ilian. " Knew you were a lying little weasel... Bastard." He went back to the info, memorizing it. Carson would need to know of this. He then looked back at John when the rapid, wheezing pants echoed in the chamber. Sheppard's dazed state was wearing thin.

" It's okay, John. It's just a scanner. You're all right, it's almost over. Just hang on... And remember the scalpel in your sleeve..."

SGA

When the blue light vanished, John moved quick, pulling himself to the edge of the table and puking all over the floor even with pain screaming through his ribcage.

" Oh dear, look at the mess he is making," he heard Ilian say. " You see? Warriors have no respect for science and technology. They are good only for defense and study. Now stop him before he violates the chamber further."

John gagged, coughing and inhaling as deep as his ribs would let him.

' Scalpel, John. Scalpel. Act now while you can. It won't last. Teach these SOBs what it means to be a soldier.'

John felt the scalpel cold against his skin within his sleeve. He pulled his hand into his sleeve and wrapped his fingers around the metal handle. Thick hands grabbed him by the bicep and pulled him from the table, letting him drop to the floor. The thug then began dragging John to the chair. Pain was having a field day with John's body. He used it, and his terror, to force the little adrenaline left existing in his body to come together and give him what he needed. He managed to get his feet under him, then maneuvered the scalpel through his sleeve. With the floor firmly beneath him, he whipped around quick as a striking snake, throwing his arm out and slashing baldy across the throat, right on the jugular. Blood spurted from the wound and gushed down the man's bull neck to soak into his white shirt. Baldy gurgled, gasped, clutching his throat, then fell to the floor in a lifeless heap.

John stumbled back, locking his knees to stay upright though the room spun and wavered.

" Now you know how it feels!" he screamed at the dead man. He rolled his fevered, hate-filled eyes up to look at Ilian, and felt a surge of cold satisfaction at the fear turning Ilian's face white and making Kelna's jaw drop.

" Kick his ass later John," CJ said from beside him. " You need to get out before the calvary comes in. Their calvary, not yours."

John nodded. Yes, that was what he needed to do. Bring in others. Take Ilian down. John turned and stumbled from the room, leaning against the door then the wall for support, the scalpel dripping blood onto the floor in soft pats.

SGA

Carson looked Rodney's swollen wrist over.

" Ow, ow, ow, ow..." Rodney hissed. Carson sucked in a breath through his teeth.

" Sorry, lad. Looks to be broken. Teyla? How are you doin'?"

Teyla, pale but alert, swallowed. " I am fine."

Carson's mouth turned up a crooked, nervous grin. " Aye, fine, right. You may have a concussion, lass. Those big lads have quite the punch." He winced when pain tapped danced about his skull. Ilian's sedatives had an even worse punch.

When Carson finished his feeble scrutiny of Rodney's arm, Rodney pulled it against his chest. " You think they put John in the X-ray device?" he asked.

Carson sat back against the wall, sighing heavily. " I hope not. The stress would kill him."

" What can we do?" Teyla asked. Carson could only shrug as thoughts of John screaming in terror flitted through his thoughts. He didn't want to think about it, let alone admit to it, but chances were that once Ilian was finished with John, John would barely be alive – if he was alive at all. Carson closed his eyes.

" Poor lad," he mumbled.

" Who, John?" Rodney asked.

" Aye, who else. Gaw, we should never have brought him here."

Rodney looked away, and Teyla looked to the floor. It was like they were mourning.

Just then, the door slid open. All three scrambled to their feet, ready to jump which ever of the gorilla-goons stepped through. Instead, a golden otter head poked in, making whuffing grunts as it sniffed the small chamber.

" Um..." Rodney began.

Carson shook his head. " Never mind, let's just go while we can." He led the way from the cell and down the numerous corridors with Little Jim bounding behind, still whuffing. Carson let the scalpel hidden up his sleeve slip into his hand, it being the only weapon they had.

" Where might they have taken John?" Teyla asked.

" Isn't that the million dollar question," Rodney mumbled. " He could be anywhere, strapped to any device, screaming his lungs out right now. So if we keep real quiet long enough, we might be able to hear him."

" I think we should try that X-ray device," Carson suggested. He turned right, and stumbled to a stop on seeing the dark-skinned thug jerking to a halt, only to resume stalking toward them but at a quicker pace.

" Oh bloody hell," Carson gasped, quickly backing away while holding the little scalpel out before him. They didn't get far when the bigger man did another jerking halt, his eyes rounding and glazing over, then his body falling forward like a chopped tree. A scalpel was sticking out of the back of his neck, and standing at the man's feet was an unsteady, wild-eyed John, breathing fast and hard.

" John!" Carson cried.

" Sheppard?" Rodney said.

Carson took three steps toward John, and John stumbled four steps back, wavering until he fell against the wall and slid down into a cringing huddled mass of skin and bones. Carson stepped over the body and crouched in front of John, dropping the scalpel with a clatter and raising both his empty hands.

" Steady lad, steady. It's all right, you're safe now."

John coughed, and the feral look gradually melted into heavy-lidded weariness. " I – I'm – I'm... really tired, Carson," he said, his voice quiet and hoarse. Carson slowly reached out to place his hand on John's shoulder. John flinched, but did not pull away.

" I know, lad. I know. We're going to take you home."

" There's something we need to do first."

Carson looked up to see CJ standing behind John.

" What?"

CJ's face was strangely blank. " Not here, top side. We'll be needing a little privacy."

Carson nodded, then turned to Teyla and Rodney. " Teyla, lass, if you're up to it, help me get the Colonel to his feet."

" I am," Teyla said, and walked over to Carson. They both placed John's arms around their shoulders, and their arms around his back. Slowly they rose up with John's head lolling about his neck.

" Easy now," Carson said as they proceeded to move. CJ led the way through the corridors, Little Jim grunting behind. No one spoke as they went, and even the smallest sound made them jump. It was slow going having to carry John who moved in and out of consciousness, his head dangling from his neck like dead weight. But they reached the transport, and were only ten steps away.

" Hey!" A deep voice boomed.

" Ah crap, It's Jy!" Rodney cried. " Hurry!"

Carson chanced a glance over his shoulder to see the man running toward them, fast. Rodney and Teyla quickened their steps, with Rodney stumbling behind. But Jy was gaining quickly, and already reaching for McKay when he suddenly fell face-first to the floor, crying out. Looking back again, Beckett saw the man trying to kick Little Jim off his leg, and ended up sending the little creature sliding across the floor toward the portal just as the others were about to enter. During the time it took for Jy to stand, Rodney hit the switch and the rings came shooting down to zap them back to the surface in a flash of light.

Hot, moist air met their faces, and Beckett had never been so glad to feel it. The moment they stepped from the rings, Rodney bent, picking up a huge rock and smashing the portal switch embedded in the ground. sparks flew, and the rings did not come up to deliver Jy.

" He likes that facility so much, he can just die in it," Rodney growled, and his dark tone sent cold radiating through Carson. Rodney looked at him and shrugged.

" What? There's another way out. But by the time they find it, they'll be so sick of each other that one of them's bound to kill Ilian."

They continued on to the house, still following CJ.

" Why are we going back there?" Carson asked.

" I'll explain when we get there," CJ stated. " I will say this, there's some equipment inside we're going to be needing." He took them inside, then to the second floor and the guest room.

" Lay him on the floor," CJ said. Carson relayed the instructions to Teyla, and they both gently lowered John so that he was lying down. The man's eyes were half closed, and his breathing unnervingly shallow. Carson felt his pulse and was shocked at how weak it was.

" Why are we back here?" Teyla asked. Carson looked at CJ.

" We don't have a lot of time," CJ said. " All that crap John just went through is slowly killing him with exhaustion. His body's giving up, and he isn't in control enough to fight it. Listen, they put John in a device. It scanned him and discovered the nature of the virus. Ilian lied, it isn't as contagious as he said except to those where the gene has a stronger presence. It was attacking the Ancients, which is why they built this facility, to quarantine and heal the sick. Apparently, it worked, but obviously the virus found a way to linger, maybe in an animal or something... I don't know. The thing is – there is a cure. The problem is – you're not going to like it."

Rodney knelt at Sheppard's head. " What? Wait, don't tell me, it involves blood sacrifices, right?"

Teyla looked at Rodney oddly. " What?"

McKay rolled his eyes. " Oh knock it off, CJ, just appear to her already."

The healthy John visage scowled. " Fine!"

Teyla gasped when she looked where Rodney was staring. " What...?"

Rodney shook his head. " No time for this. Teyla, CJ. CJ, you already know Teyla. Teyla, just think of John's little twin over there as your friendly neighborhood alien spook who can take any form. He's been helping us out. Now, shall we continue while the Colonel's still breathing?"

" What do we have to do?" Carson asked.

CJ looked genuinely worried, even scared. " The virus weakens its host by attacking the mind. You called in an organic computer virus, and that's what it is. It sends the brain into overload, raising stress levels, stifling functions such as the immune system. The virus is at it's most contagious when the body is dead, which was why any who died had to be incinerated. But, no worries, your ATA genes aren't quite the delicacy as John's. This virus, despite the crap it's doing, is actually very weak. Were John's brain functioning right, this virus would have been killed off long ago. You need..." at this, he faltered.

" Need!" Rodney pressed frantically.

" To reboot John's brain!" CJ blurted. " You need to set his synapses right, and the way the Ancients did it was through electro-shock therapy."

Carson blanched. " You mean... we have to electrocute John's brain?"

Rodney's shoulders sagged. " Why is it with all the technology at our disposal we're still forced to resort to cruel and primitive methods?"

" Well, it's what they did. But here's the biggest problem of them all. The farther along this virus has progressed, the greater the shock needs to be. And it needs to be constant, so no, doc, the defib won't work. John's almost at the end game, here. We're going to need something a lot bigger."

" And you couldn't have told us this sooner before I smashed the portal controls!" Rodney shouted.

" Are there items in the house we could use?" Teyla suggested.

" We'd have to test them," Rodney said, already glancing around in hopes of spotting something within reach.

Carson looked back up at CJ, but the entity's face still held that blank, emotionless quality.

" There's one thing..." he began.

" What?" Carson pressed.

CJ stepped around the three, stopping by Rodney and waving him away. When Rodney moved, CJ knelt at John's head. " I can physically enter John's mind. Force a power surge within his brain. Just enough for the reboot."

Carson was liking CJ's expression less and less. " All right. But I'm guessin' there's a catch or you wouldn't be lookin' as though your favorite pet just died."

CJ grimaced. " Well, it's never really been done before – entering a mind with our whole essence instead of just our thoughts. I mean, I've heard stories, but... they were usually told to scare the hell out of us and keep us from doing it. I honestly think..." he looked at Carson, and the fear on the familiar face was the same fear John had been wearing since the madness took him.

" It might kill you," Carson finished.

CJ nodded, swallowing though he was only an entity.

Carson looked from CJ to John's still form, his chest barely rising, his eyes unfocused as they stared upward. It would have been easy to assume him already dead had they just walked in to find him like this. He was a wasted, fragile, shell of himself, soon to be just a shell if they didn't do something. Then Carson looked back at CJ, and his naked fear. He'd aided them without rhyme or reason, and now he was suggesting self-sacrifice. Carson was at a loss.

" It's your choice, lad," Carson finally said. " We won't force you. You've done enough for us already."

CJ shrugged, smiling weakly. " Not really. I wanted to help John, and this is my last resort to do so. You'll need to get the defibrillator ready. This just might kill him too."

Carson shook his head. " You don't have to do this."

" I want to. Besides, there's still a chance I might live. And even entities believe in an afterlife. Now get ready."

Carson looked at Rodney. " Get the defibrillator from my bag."

Rodney jerked his head in a single nod and stepped around Teyla to retrieve the bag. Carson looked back at CJ. CJ had his hands on Sheppard's head.

" Hang on, Johnny," he said. Then CJ's form misted, evaporating into a shimmering cloud wavering with ripples of soft colors. The cloud surrounded John's head and appeared to seep like water through a sieve into John's skull. At first, everything was quiet. Rodney crouched down beside Carson with the defibrillator between them. They all watched John, but since they didn't know what to expect, didn't know what they were watching for.

Then John screamed, his mouth gaping wide, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. The scream ripped the air, tearing from his throat in one endless howl of utter torment. His back arched, his ribs spread, and his hands clawed at the rug, then the air. And the scream continued, forcing the others to cover their ears.

When the scream died, John's body dropped back to the floor. He convulsed, choking, then his body stiffened until it finally went limp, his head falling to the side. The room went painfully quiet.

Carson sprang into action by placing his ear to the Colonel's chest.

" His heart's stopped!" he barked. He pulled John's shirt up to his neck, then lifted him enough for Teyla to unwind the bandages from around his chest as Rodney lubricated the paddles of the defib.

" Not again," he groaned, passing the paddles off to Carson. John's chest was patched in various colors that only came with severe bruising. Carson placed the paddles on the appropriate places on John's chest and waited for them to charge.

" This had better work, because there's no way to do CPR without crushing him."

The machine was charged, Carson zapped, and John's body jerked, arching. Carson then moved the paddles and placed his ear on the Colonel. Nothing.

" Again."

Again, the machine charged, Carson zapped, and John arched. Again he listened, and again heard nothing.

" Come on lad," Carson breathed, placing the paddles back on the Colonel. " CJ, if you're in there and can hear me, help us out, just one more time."

The machine whined as it charged, Carson zapped, John arched. Carson listened again.

" Damn!" he cried, placing the paddles back on. " Come on John! Come on!"

The whine, the charge, a zap, then a listen. " Bloody hell! John, wake up!"

Whine, zap, listen. Whine, zap, listen. Carson's eyes burned with moisture that obscured his sight. He quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand.

" John, please..." he said, placing the paddles back on the bruised chest. " Please, fight lad, fight. You can do it. You've always done it. Don't let this thing beat you. Don't go out weak. Fight!"

The machine charged, Carson readied to zap.

He was never given the chance when John's body arched on its own as he sucked in air until his ribs seemed ready to rip through the skin. Carson, Rodney, and Teyla started back in alarm, then moved in closer to the man struggling to breathe. Rodney cried out, Teyla began to weep while taking Sheppard's rigid hand into her own, and Carson sat back, slack jawed as the previously hindered tears were finally allowed to fall.

Then he began to laugh, taking John by the shoulders. " That's it lad, come on. Get in a good lungful."

John began coughing hard. Carson, with Teyla, raised him into a sitting position as Carson wound the bandages back around John's chest to secure the broken bones. He could feel John shaking uncontrollably as he kept sucking in air and coughing air out. Teyla put her arm around John's shoulder and let him slump against her. Carson had his hand on the Colonel's shoulder, Rodney his arm, and Little Jim had his paws on John's thigh.

" You'll be all right now, John," Carson said, smiling through the tears. " You're gonna be all right."

Thank you CJ.

There came no reply.

SGA

A/N: CJ, nooooo! Watched 38 Minutes a couple of times and thought 'hey, John needs to get zapped more often'. Nothing spells whump like cardiac arrest. But what of CJ? That's for me to know and for you to find out in the next chapter.