MORE THAN JUST PRETTY FACES
By TIPPER
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CHAPTER ELEVEN: CONTROL
There's always a control panel. There's always a control panel. There's always a control panel. Sheppard kept up the mantra manically as he searched the wall around the door, but it wasn't helping. Frustration was quickly overcoming his attempt to keep calm. There's always...oh...Damn it! "There's no control panel, McKay! There's nothing here!"
That earned him a strange look from Ronon, but he ignored it, rubbing his clammy hands against his trousers.
Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there! His imaginary McKay snapped in his head.
"Oh, please," Sheppard growled. "Why don't you just wake up and find it yourself then!"
"Sheppard," Ronon said, his voice tight. "You need to hurry."
"I'm trying," the colonel spat back, staring at the door and throwing every mental demand for open that he could think of.
Oh, yes, because that's worked so well so far.
He was about to respond snarkily again when Teyla suddenly started firing, her P90 rattling against the rocks. A sharp whine and the sudden explosion of white light nearby had him ducking, even though the range of the stunner was way off.
Damn it!
Ronon was firing now too, the vermillion energy bursts from the Satedan weapon shaking the walls. More blue-white light answered the blasts, and Sheppard ducked again. His fingers itched to grab his P90 and join them, and he took a step towards Teyla. Somehow, she heard over the rattle of weapon's fire and looked back at him, shaking her head.
"Colonel, no!" Teyla stressed, turning her head back to the firefight, "You have to get the door—"
He glared at her, "I said I'm trying!" He saw her flinch, and grimaced. Shit, what a mess! "But there's not control panel! I can't even—"
"There's always a control panel," Ronon stated sharply, deliberately, not even looking at Sheppard as he fired and took down a Wraith that broke cover. "You just have to find it."
"Well, I can't, clever Doctor Dex! Because there isn't one!" Sheppard spat, waving a hand at the door. "If there were, it'd be here, chest height," he pointed at a section of blank wall, "but as we can plainly see, there is nothing HERE!" And he slapped a hand against that section of wall.
Which promptly opened up to reveal three lit crystals set in a very familiar pattern.
For a moment, he just stared. Then he grinned.
Quickly, he pulled the middle crystal, put the top one down, then bridged the two with the crystal he'd pulled. And exactly as he'd hoped, the door opened...to reveal what looked a hell of a lot like a normal sized transporter.
"YES!" he yelled, quickly putting the crystals back and reaching for McKay. "Ronon! Teyla! Get in here!" Hands under McKay's arms, he dragged the man off the cart and inside the transporter, then pulled a grenade from his chest. As Teyla jumped in, still firing at the Wraith now storming towards them, and then Ronon, Sheppard pulled the pin and lobbed the grenade, then watched the doors slide shut. Turning, he looked for the panel to open to allow him to choose a destination, but nothing did. Instead, the transporter door just reopened behind him.
Aw crap. He spun around, lifting his P90 up, and three sets of weapons pointed out the door, expecting either Wraith, or an explosion...
...And found a small, completely white room.
Somewhere far away, shaking the floors and walls of the transporter, a muffled explosion signaled the grenade going off.
Sheppard collapsed against the side of the transporter door in relief.
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Teyla took a tentative step out, holding her P90 one-handed as she looked around the white room. Ronon reached down and took McKay, lifting him up until he was almost upright, then wrapping his arms gently around the man's chest and pulling him out of the transporter. Sheppard followed last, still trying to come to terms with yet another skin of their teeth escape.
The room was identical to the little anteroom under the waterfall. The same two benches and handful of chairs, same restful looking artwork...except that, this time, everything was in shades of white...and, of course, the lights were on. You could actually see the room this time. He wondered vaguely if the other room was similarly colored with the lights on. Probably not. If it had been painted white, most of it had probably faded under the omnipresent wet of the waterfall.
Ronon settled McKay on one of the benches, then knelt next to him, peering at the scientist intently, lips twisting into an unhappy grimace.
Sheppard glanced behind him as the transporter door slid quietly shut...and then went completely dark. Yup. One way trip. He noted another door along the same wall, and walked over to it. Resting a hand against it, the door slid open to reveal a dark stairwell, leading down into blackness. Yup, again. Backing away, he let the stairway door shut as he turned to look at Teyla.
The Athosian was walking to the other side of the room, towards another door. It looked like a normal door, leading to the outside, though there were no glass panels to tell them what was out there.
"What is this place?" Ronon asked, apparently giving up his study of McKay and settling on the bench opposite.
Sheppard just shrugged and moved over to sit next to him, slumping in the seat.
"I can not get this door to open," Teyla said where she stood in front of the other door, her voice a soft sigh. Uncharacteristically, she leaned against the wall next to the door, her shoulders sagging despondently. "Colonel, I think you—"
She stopped, her head lifting to look around the room as it suddenly filled with a soft hum. The lights in the walls brightened, until they were all squinting a little against the glare.
"Oh, great," Sheppard muttered, "Now what?" He looked up, as if he could see through the white painted ceiling, and opened his arms beseechingly, "Can't we get a break here!"
Even as he spoke, the humming grew louder, and the lights brightened, their intensity growing painful.
"Oh, damn it...Cover your eyes!" Sheppard ordered tiredly, getting to his feet and covering his eyes with his hands. "Teyla, get away from that door." He turned in her direction, intending to make his way over there, "I'll try to—"
Whatever else he was going to say was suddenly swallowed as the lights flickered, then flared so brightly, he could see it even through the fingers covering his closed eyes. He froze, feeling his entire body tingling, like pins and needles. Christ, what the hell was this? It felt like the after effects of a stunner blast!
And just as suddenly...it died.
Shaking like a leaf, he gingerly lowered his hands and opened his eyes. Spots covered his vision, then faded, allowing him to see that nothing had changed in the room. Ronon was still sitting on his bench, hands over his own eyes still. Looking over, he saw the Teyla had let her P90 hang loose and had thrown her good arm across her face. She was still leaning against the wall next to the door, breathing hard.
"You...you guys okay?" he asked, swallowing a little against a dry throat. Slowly, the other two uncovered their eyes and, with poorly hidden fear, blinked up at him. Teyla's brow furrowed, and she looked down as she pondered the question.
"I..." She paused, then looked up at Sheppard with genuine surprise. "Actually...I feel...I feel better. Calmer." She took in a deep breath, frowned, and looked down at her left arm. From the way she held it, it was obviously still hurting. Ronon, meanwhile, sniffed, then breathed deeply.
"I can breathe better," he said, arching an eyebrow. "I was having trouble before." A hand reached up and touched the still purple bruise covering part of his face, and he winced. So, not completely better then.
Sheppard nodded, thinking that the mania he'd been experiencing, which he guessed was similar to what Teyla had been feeling and which had been directly feeding the imaginary McKay in his head, had faded. He felt...clearer.
Then Teyla jumped as the door next to her slid open, revealing a long cave, at the far end of which they could see sun and jungle.
"What the...?" Sheppard stepped forward, looking out. The humid heat filtered into the cool atmosphere of the room.
"What just happened?" Ronon asked, looking up at the colonel. Sheppard looked down at him, and opened his mouth to say he didn't know...
...When McKay groaned.
Instantly, three people were next to the scientist. Ronon was kneeling again, studying McKay's face, and Sheppard and Teyla stood over the bench.
"Colonel, his neck," Teyla said, pointing to the puncture wound. It was still there, but the signs of infection were gone, as if they had never been there. Now it was just damaged skin.
Sheppard blinked at it, then, slowly smiled. A second later, he was grinning, his eyes bright. He whooped and knelt down next to Ronon, who moved to get out of the way, and rested a hand on McKay's forehead.
Cool and sweat covered.
He laughed, looking up at a confused looking Ronon and Teyla.
"I get it. It's a decontamination room!"
"a what room?" Ronon asked, frowning.
"A decontamination room," Sheppard repeated. "That's why the transporter sends you here instead of anywhere else. The one under the waterfall, by that bottom door, must be one too, but had no power. Maybe the entity was interfering with it, or the river—I don't know. But it makes sense! If the Ancients were using that place as a facility for biological and medical testing, they would want to make sure they didn't take anything potentially dangerous with them when they left to head back to Atlantis." He grinned, returning his attention to the scientist, "And so we've just all been scrubbed clean of any foreign matter...including whatever was poisoning Rodney." He rubbed his thumb affectionately across the man's forehead, then lifted his hand to rest on Rodney's shoulder.
"McKay," he called, shaking the shoulder a little. "McKay, wake up!"
The scientist groaned again, and the eyes moved behind the lids.
"Come on, Rodney," the colonel urged, a little desperately. Part of him was not quite willing to believe until McKay actually talked to him. "Open your eyes. Come on." Above him, Ronon and Teyla stood very still, almost holding their breaths.
The eyelids fluttered, and the brow furrowed deeply into a frown.
"That's it," Sheppard said, grinning again. "You can do it."
"Do..." McKay said softly, his voice as weak as a kitten's, "Do what?"
And the eyelids finally opened, lifting up partway. Clear, intense blue eyes focused on Sheppard from behind the long eyelashes, and the furrowed brow radiated confusion.
"Colonel?"
Sheppard gasped a laugh, and he clapped McKay hard on the shoulder. The scientist's eyes closed immediately, and a painful moan escaped his lips. The heretofore limp arms moved, shakily moving to protect his chest.
"Ow," he whimpered.
"Yeah," Sheppard laughed, "Ow."
That caused the blue eyes to open again, and this time, there was no mistaking the familiar irritated look on McKay's face. Sheppard's joy just shifted up another notch.
"I'm...in pain...and...you're happy?" McKay croaked, completely incredulous.
"Hell yeah!" Sheppard grinned, standing up again. He looked at Ronon and Teyla, seeing similar expressions of joy on their faces.
"Lovely," McKay muttered, closing his eyes again. "See...if I...care...next time...you're hurt..."
"Can you move, Doctor?" Teyla asked then, moving around so that McKay could see her face without shifting too much.
"...kidding?" came the mumbled reply.
"No," Sheppard said, his tone turning back to serious. "She's not. We're in danger here, McKay. Can you move?"
The eyes opened again, blinking blearily. He appeared to be thinking about it, then, slowly, the arms unwrapped and the legs uncurled stiffly. Ronon was suddenly there, helping as McKay struggled upright on the bench, putting his feet to the ground...then leaned forward suddenly, hissing harshly in pain. This time, Sheppard wasn't happy. He crouched down next to him again, to see Rodney's face better, his expression worried.
"What?"
"Feels like...ribs are broken...And my head...can't really feel my legs much either, numb...I just...feel weird..."
"Yeah," Sheppard grimaced. "I don't think your ribs are broken though. Least I hope not. Look, can you stand?"
McKay gritted his teeth, eyes fixed on the ground before him, and, with Ronon's help, pushed off the bench...and immediately fell forward into the Satedan's arms, crumpling with a cry of pain.
They quickly had him sitting down again, McKay leaning forward once more, gasping for breath, one arm across his ribs and the other holding onto his lower right leg, down near the ankle. Ronon quickly had his knife out, slitting the trouser fabric down and revealing the swollen limb. McKay hissed, staring at the purple bruise that covered most of the shin and calf, wiping a shaky hand across his face to get rid of the tears that had formed. Ronon ran a hand down the shin lightly, ignoring the sharp hiss McKay gave at one particular spot, and shook his head, looking up at Sheppard's dark expression.
"It's broken."
Sheppard just closed his eyes, then shrugged.
"All right." He looked at Ronon, "think you can carry him a little further?"
"Carry me?" Rodney said sharply, looking up. And, for the first time, he looked around, "Wait...where are we? What...what happened?"
"Don't worry about it," Sheppard told him, patting him on the head. Surprisingly, and proving just how much he hurt, McKay didn't argue, just lowered his head again and closed his eyes.
"Okay," he said weakly.
Sheppard grimaced a little at the uncharacteristic meekness, then turned to look at Teyla.
"Can you run with that arm?"
She gave a single, confident nod, "Yes. It will not slow me down."
Sheppard nodded back, then looked again to Ronon. "I have a feeling we're near the village. I'm guessing this was the entrance McKay was looking for when we first got here. Let's get him outside and somewhere hidden, just in case the Wraith, the villagers...or Blobby...sense that something just happened here. Then I want you to stay with him while Teyla and I go for the jumper."
Ronon nodded, and reached for McKay, who had been following the conversation with a bewildered expression. The scientist flinched a little, backing away, but at Ronon's hard stare acquiesced and let himself be maneuvered, lifted and then carried over the former Runner's shoulder. He made a pathetic "ouch" sound when Ronon shifted him a little, and muttered something about not being "a damned sack of potatoes." The Satedan grunted, smirked a little at Sheppard, but nodded to show he was ready.
The colonel smiled a little back, then looked to Teyla. She stood by the door, holding her P90 again in one hand. At his arched eyebrow, she lifted the other to hold it as well, to show that it wasn't a problem.
"Ready?" he asked her. At her determined nod, he grinned, feeling truly lucky for the first time that day. "Then let's go."
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TBC...
About time they got a break, eh? And, finally, McKay's awake! Yay! LOL! Nowhere to go now, but up! Right? Oh, and I've finally started writing the last chapter, so I actually know how long it is. Total chapters...are you ready for this? 16.