Chapter 2
Sunlight crept under the curtain. It warmed his fingertips, then his fingers and the back of his hand. The unexpected warmth lifted him from sleep.
The first thing he remembered was he was alive. He was all accounted for and all parts in the appropriate position, even after discombobulation across space by an honest- to-god transporter beam.
The second thing he remembered was that he was hungry, and that he had a day off.
He'd go get Rodney and grab some breakfast. Or it might be lunch by now…
Instantly, the content feeling was gone. A dread settled in his gut that he couldn't explain. He hadn't seen Rodney since he'd disappeared into the jumper bay. The last he had heard had been the frantic call to Beckett that Zelenka was injured and that the jumper's interface needed calibration or they would lose the cloak.
Twenty minutes later, the Sergeant at Gate Control had reported that the cloak was ready to disengage and it had been done without ceremony. He hadn't even heard McKay gloat over his success.
Then there had been Caldwell's order, and Weir's little congratulations speech. There had been that weird sensation of seeing Atlantis as Elizabeth spoke. The memory was dream-like now. He'd walked Elizabeth to her room, and somehow ended up here. He glanced at his watch. He'd slept for ten hours and he'd needed it. The cotton wool exhaustion had fled, and the world felt clearer.
But he didn't know where Rodney was. Over the months on Atlantis he had developed a need to always know where Rodney was. It helped him to decide which direction to run when the crazy stuff happened.
They had started their own tradition of saving each other. And it made him uneasy when he was unable to pin-point the location of his favorite grumpy scientist.
The worry settled into the pit of his stomach. There would be no way he'd ever get back to sleep now.
He tried to convince himself to ignore the concern. McKay had been exhausted even before the siege had begun, surviving on less sleep and more coffee since the Wraith ships appeared on the sensors. Once they arrived no one caught more than a few quick naps, but Rodney had always been awake when Sheppard found time for forty winks, and he was still awake when John had woken again. The exhaustion told. He'd lost weight and become paler in response to the emergency.
Surely someone that tired would be sensible enough to take the first opportunity to curl up. This was McKay, of course and sensible rarely applied to him, but surely…
John pulled jeans and a sweater off the back of the desk chair. He tied his sneakers and packed a life signs detector and headset in his back pocket, just in case.
He would make sure McKay was tucked away, sleeping somewhere warm. Then he would check on his men in the infirmary, and then head for breakfast. Maybe he'd even find Teyla and celebrate being alive by trying again to beat her at personal combat just once.
--
Atlantis felt strange as soon as he stepped out of his quarters. He was sure he was just imagining that the interior lights were brighter and that the windows were cleaner. The most disconcerting thing, however, were the new people. He'd become used to knowing everyone on Atlantis; military, science, medical, even the admin lady. He could put a name to every face, and even a bit of background; family, hobbies, first kiss (there had been a fair bit of truth and dare on long Atlantis nights). Now officers walked past whom he'd never met before. After the cozy little village Atlantis had become, it was disconcerting to have so many strangers about.
The first port of call was Rodney's quarters. This would be the sensible place for Rodney to be right now. He should be asleep on his bed with maybe a teddy bear and a cold cocoa on the night stand, snoring away.
He stood at the closed door, and thought it won't be this easy. He pulled the life signs detector from his back pocket. Except for his own 'dot' it stayed blank. He waved the thing around in case there was a life sign hiding in a corner.
He opened the door with a thought. It was unlocked, and he hadn't expected that. The reason became obvious as the lights brightened. There was nothing in the room to indicate that it had ever been inhabited.
The bed was neatly made with sharp hospital corners. The desk was empty and the chair was tucked in neatly. There were no sign of personal effects. No photographs or posters. There wasn't even a notice-board. It was hard to imagine McKay ever being in these quarters. It was harder to imagine him coming here to relax.
It was a harsh comparison to the lab space McKay did inhabit. That place was imprinted with the man's personality; cups and stains and handwritten messages scattered everywhere. The work space in the lab was cluttered with ancient thingies and whatdyacall'ems all attached to wires and meters that he constantly fussed over.
But this room offered no hints to the scientist's whereabouts. Sheppard sighed. He'd known in the back of his head. Why wasn't anything involving McKay easy?
He let the door close on the empty room, and turned to find a young soldier wearing a red T-shirt staring at him.
"Do all the doors do that?" the lad asked.
"Only if you have the gene."
"Yes, sir."
"Although if you want some advice, you have to be careful which room you go wandering into." John appraised him slowly, then grinned. "And lose the red."
The boy looked bemused as Sheppard sent him on his way. What kind of preparation were these new recruits getting? Lesson one; always make sure someone else picks the red shirt.
He turned on his radio. "Dr McKay, this is Sheppard, come in please."
He hadn't expected an answer, and the airwaves remained quiet.
Damn it.
The next stop was the lab itself.
The main lab area was untouched by the Wraith attack, but, like the rest of the working areas of Atlantis, it was empty. No sign of any of the SGC team, or anyone from the Daedalus. And no sign of Rodney McKay, either.
Sheppard tried the radio again, but Rodney did not reply.
Instead Carson answered, "Have you found him?"
"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Sheppard asked, just because he had always wanted to say that to Carson.
"I've been asleep for hours, and they won't let me back in the infirmary." He sounded frustrated.
"I was going to check the mess next."
"I'll meet you there," Carson said.
"I'm on my way."
--
The mess was beginning to fill with familiar faces. A few turned to greet Sheppard as he entered. Sergeant Stackhouse waved him over to join him and Lieutenant Miller. Dr Miko was laughing at some joke Biro had made, and Kate Heightmeyer watched them all from the end of the table. There was a calm about the place today that he hadn't felt for weeks. A twenty-four hour holiday will do that, along with escape from certain death.
Despite the familiar faces, there was no sign of Rodney. The smell of the freshly cooked bacon and sausages should have been enough to attract him from any corner Atlantis. John was beginning to think he should be reporting this to Weir, and then remembered that Caldwell was in command at the moment. That was all the more reason to track the scientist down without involving the boss. The last thing any of them needed was Caldwell thinking the Chief Scientist was unstable.
Carson entered the Mess. He was casually dressed and looked less like the CMO and more like the eccentric family doctor. He had walking boots on and a sweater Sheppard would have sworn was hand-knitted.
Sheppard waved him over and handed over a mug of Athosian tea. Neither sat. There was an urgency now that Sheppard knew was irrational, but undeniable.
"Do you think he's sleeping somewhere, Doc?" Sheppard asked without preamble.
Carson shrugged and took another gulp of tea. The man could drink the stuff just off the boil. "He had enough stimulants to keep him awake for hours."
"You gave him stimulants?" Sheppard demanded, trying not to sound incredulous.
"I think he persuaded me with the 'I'm building a nuclear bomb' line," Carson replied. "I'd planned on keeping Zelenka on him, and he said he'd drag McKay's sorry ass back to the infirmary when it was safe."
"Only Radek's the one in sickbay."
"And we've one scientist unaccounted for."
John tipped his tea into the sink. "Damn, Carson, I knew I should have gone to find him last night." John let his shoulders slump.
"He's a big boy, Major. He should know better. If it's anyone's fault, it might be the so-called doctor who gave him enough stimulants to keep an elephant awake."
Sheppard recognized the guilt in Carson's tone and posture. "Doc," he started to say, but Beckett waved his hand.
"Forget I said it, lad. Let's just go find him."
John tried to lighten the sadness in the Doctor's expression. "He's probably curled up in a cozy closet somewhere, Carson."
"Aye. And if he's not, I'll just make sedate his ass for making us worry." He patted a pocket that chimed with the sound of glass vials knocking together. The grin he flashed Sheppard was pure wickedness.
--
They met Teyla outside the messhall. "Have you found him?" she asked, then added, "You were on an open channel," as explanation for how she knew.
"Not yet," Sheppard shrugged.
"He was exhausted, Major."
John nodded.
There was worry in her face. "I mean truly exhausted. After he fitted the ZPM, he was ready to sleep on the floor."
Carson and Sheppard shared a look.
"I told him he could not and he got up."
Sheppard put a hand out and touched her shoulder gently.
"I will search the jumper bay," she said.
In the course of their wanderings, Carson and Sheppard met others who offered their service. Sergeant Mitchell offered to look in the armory, and Dr Miko made her way to the store areas. Elizabeth came looking for them after a while. Dr Kavanagh offered his services with a casual shrug.
However, McKay remained elusive.
"I mean, for heaven's sake, Carson, half the base is looking for him, and he's out there hiding." They were making their way back to the power distribution room with its new ZPM for another look. John was becoming frustrated at the lack of progress. He suspected Carson understood, because he let John's angry words bounce off.
"Aye."
"I mean, there're still wraith out there, and we're hiding, and if something happened, we would need him. Because, god damn it, he's the only one who knows enough about this place to fix the problem. Then what would happen if we couldn't find him and he's not answering his radio, and…"
"Major," Carson stopped him. "Take a breath."
John stopped and stared.
Carson was grinning like a fool. "Laddie, you sound just like McKay."
Sheppard wasn't often speechless. "I… I…"
"Start waving your hands about and I'd be convinced."
"Hmph," John said. Surely not the best come-back, but a start. "Hit a guy while he's down."
Carson just grinned some more. He carried on walking.
"He's likely far gone into sleep deprivation now anyway," Carson said as John caught up to him. The words were quiet, as if the Doctor was talking to himself rather than Sheppard. The accent was stronger, too. "He'll no be thinkin' straight, just tryin' tae get somewhere safe, so why no the labs or his rooms."
John listened to Carson, trying to imagine what Rodney would do. He had found himself having "What would McKay do" moments more than he would like in recent months. Now, however, he realized he was going to have to try to think like a sleep deprived, high on stimulant McKay.
"Sleep deprivation can do cruel things to a body. Anxiety, tremors, hyperventilation, hallucinations…" Carson muttered.
So now it "was what would a sleep deprived, high on stimulants, anxious, tremulous, hyperventilating and, god-forbid, hallucinating McKay do?" John felt his head start to hurt. He found it nearly impossible to predict what regular McKay would do – he thought that was part of the appeal - but McKay having hallucinations!
As they walked, members of the search crew came on the radio to declare an area clear. Dr Miko found a dead wraith that had set off its self-destruct and resembled more a pile of goo than an actual wraith.
Caldwell eventually radioed to ask Sheppard what he thought he was doing.
He replied, "Looking for a friend."
Elizabeth took up the explanation from the auxiliary control room. Dr McKay was missing, probably ok, but not answering his radio. No, they would not require any assistance, thank you. It was up to the Atlantis crew how they spent their day off.