AN: Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

ABOUT A BABY...part 10

Elizabeth was plodding her way through some reports when Delmont buzzed her just seconds before the gate room klaxons went off. She ran out of her office and was about to ask what was going on when the gate whooshed to life. "Who is it?" she asked Delmont.

"Major Lorne's IDC," he replied.

Relief swept over Elizabeth, making her feel dizzy. "Lower the shield," she ordered, then she ran for the steps. Before she reached the bottom she heard the call go out for medical personal and that made her heart constrict. She hit the last step and in that moment two marines came through the gate, carrying Ronon. That stopped Elizabeth cold. Ronon had never been down and out on a mission. Never. But now he was still and pale and Elizabeth knew it had to be bad.

More people were coming through. Rodney next, leaning heavily on Teyla. A Rodney who was quiet and pale and looked ready to fall down. "Where's Beckett?" Elizabeth snapped. Her people needed treatment. Now! And as if on cue, Beckett appeared with nurses and another doctor in tow. They got Ronon on a stretcher and were wheeling him away even as two more marines came through supporting Sheppard. Elizabeth felt like she could breathe again. He was back. Safe. But he didn't look well.

Carson was already moving over to John. "I need a stretcher here!" he shouted. He looked over at Rodney for a moment, then he focused on Teyla. "Get Rodney to the infirmary."

Rodney wouldn't budge. His eyes were locked on John.

"What have you done to yourself now, Colonel?" Carson muttered to himself as he examined the man, who was now laid out on the stretcher. He did a quick once over then glanced at Weir. "I'll fill you in later...I need to go now!" With that he and his team were off and running.

Elizabeth glanced back at the gate in time to see Major Lorne stepping through with the last two marines. They were dragging something between them. Elizabeth moved closer, eyed the figure and gasped. "What is that?"

Major Lorne scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "Long story and I don't have all the details."

"Tell it to me anyway," Elizabeth ordered, already heading for her office.

"Take him to the cell and use the shield," Lorne ordered his men. He watched them drag the figure off then climbed the stairs.

Elizabeth closed the door behind Lorne then moved to sit at her desk. "What the hell happened out there?"

Lorne fell into parade rest. "When we got there all hell was already breaking loose. The creature we brought back is half wraith, half human. Colonel Sheppard calls him Goethe. From what Dr. McKay told us on the way back, the creature grabbed Colonel Sheppard and tried to hide him away. The Colonel was injured and has amnesia. When Ronon and Dr. McKay tried to rescue him, Goethe attacked and that's about the time we showed up. Goethe flipped out and the Colonel tried to protect him. We managed to use Ronon's stun gun to take the creature down."

"Why did you bring him here?" That was the burning most question in Elizabeth's head.

"Colonel Sheppard was insistent. He managed to grab a gun and he looked like he was going to use it on us if we didn't agree." Lorne shifted restlessly, then added, "Plus Dr. McKay figured it was a good idea. That maybe Dr. Beckett would like to study the creature. I've ordered him locked up with the shield."

Elizabeth nodded. "All right, thank you, Major." She waved him off then buried her face in her hands. She wondered if the day would ever come that trouble didn't wouldn't follow John Sheppard home.

OoO

Rodney was resting in one of the beds when Elizabeth appeared. He knew that she was worried about everyone, just as he was. Teyla was hovering nearby and she and Elizabeth moved as one to Rodney's bed. He knew they needed answers. He wished he had some to give them.

"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth asked.

"Lousy." Rodney saw no reason not to be honest. "But I'll live. Mild concussion, nothing compared to Sheppard. Some bruising. They're keeping me overnight for observation." Which Rodney was happy about. It wasn't like he was going to leave anyway. Not until he knew Sheppard was okay. Sheppard and Ronon.

Elizabeth looked relieved as she patted Rodney's arm. "I'm glad you're okay." Her eyes roved over to John's bed. "How bad is he?"

Teyla responded. "Severe concussion. He has been throwing up and he is not very lucid. When he is conscious he does not know us. Like on the planet."

"He has a cracked rib too," Rodney piped up.

"But he's going to be okay." Elizabeth said it as a statement of fact, not a question.

Teyla looked uncertain. "Dr. Beckett said he would heal, but they must watch him closely because of his head injury."

Elizabeth nodded. "I see. And Ronon?"

"We don't know yet," Rodney replied.

And they didn't find out about him for five more hours. Carson came out of surgery and informed them that Ronon had nearly died on the operating table due to internal injuries. He was in critical condition and they would simply have to wait and see.

Teyla asked to be able to sit with him and Carson allowed it. He then told Elizabeth to go get some rest and he'd keep her informed. With everyone else settled, Beckett checked on Rodney before examining Sheppard.

"How is he?" Rodney called out.

"No change," Carson replied, moving back over to his bed. "Get some rest, Rodney. You're exhausted."

Rodney crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "I'm not tired." He was lying and they both knew it. He wanted to sleep but he was afraid of dreaming and of missing something. What if John woke up and needed him?

Carson sighed, went off to fetch a pill and a glass of water. "Take this. It'll help you rest. I'll keep an eye on Sheppard. Don't worry. You need to be strong for him, Rodney. And for Lily."

That hit Rodney where he lived so he took the pill. But his eyes remained on John until he drifted off to sleep.

OoO

John snapped to awareness. He wasn't home. He was in some strange place with bright walls and beeping sounds and every face was that of a stranger. Panic hit him hard and he stumbled off the bed he was on. Only, when he did, his knees buckled and he hit the floor on all fours and that's when his stomach emptied.

There was a blur of time and motion as hands pulled at John and voices rushed over and around him. He searched the faces but Goethe was not among them, so he tried to pull away, only it was hard to move past the pain that stabbed through his skull. His vision was graying out and the hands were on him again. He found himself on his back, being pressed down. His side burned as he tried to twist away. He screamed at them to let him go only to find his wrists bound to the bed.

Elizabeth entered the infirmary to find John in restraints and struggling, Rodney hovering close by while trying to calm him, and Carson about to try sedation. She rushed forward, conscious of Lily squirming in her arms, yet at the same time needing to try and help John. She called out his name.

John turned at the sound of the new voice. He stared at the woman who approached but it was the bundle in her arms that made him freeze and finally relax. An angelic face with innocent eyes and a fuzz of dark hair and he knew her in his soul.

Carson looked terrified. "Elizabeth...now is not a good time."

She shook her head at him. "It's okay. Right John? Do you want to see Lily? Do you want to see your daughter?"

Daughter? He didn't believe the woman but he didn't care if she lied. Lily was something precious and alluring and he tried to reach out to her only to be stopped by the restraints on his wrist. John tugged at it until a hand touched his arm. The one called Rodney was watching him. His touch unsettled John but he didn't pull away. He returned his focus back on Lily.

Rodney looked at Elizabeth. "Let him hold her."

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth and Carson asked in unison.

"I'm sure," Rodney whispered, his eyes never leaving John's face. He undid just one wrist, John's right arm, then gestured for Elizabeth to bring Lily over.

John watched the strangers, warily, but then the woman was laying Lily in the crook of his arm and John felt the tension in his body fade away. He didn't know who he was, where he was or what the hell he was doing here, but he knew Lily. She felt like home.

Rodney drew Elizabeth and Carson back from the bed. They watched John with Lily, watched how he smiled at her and how Lily reacted. It wasn't long before both of them drifted off to sleep. Rodney moved back to the bed, smiling at the image before him. "He's going to be all right," he said of John to the others. "We just have to be patient."

Carson moved to the other side of the bed. "Rodney...I admit this was a good sign, but don't get your hopes up too high. Head injuries are tricky things and there are no givens with amnesia."

"I know that!" Rodney snapped, lifting his head to glare at Carson. "But he knows Lily. Maybe it's the bond between them, whatever. But he knows her and he will find his way back home to the rest of us."

"I'm sure he will," Elizabeth interjected, moving to lay a hand on Rodney's shoulder. "I'll take Lily back to the nursery."

Rodney nodded at her. "Okay. I'm going to sit with John for a while." That said he grabbed a chair and sat down. He didn't look away as Elizabeth moved off with Lily. Rodney knew he had to focus on the road ahead of them.

OoO

Elizabeth called a meeting. Everyone was present with the exception of Sheppard and Ronon, both of whom were still recuperating in the infirmary. Ronon was still touch and go. Major Lorne was taking Sheppard's place for the time being.

"What about Goethe?" Elizabeth asked.

"Can't get near him," Carson piped up. "The guards stunned him and I got a few blood samples. That's all I've had to work with."

Elizabeth gave him her complete attention. "And?"

Carson made a face. "He's half Wraith and half..." he paused.

"Half what?" Rodney demanded, impatiently.

"Half Ancient." Carson dropped the bombshell then waited for the reaction.

Rodney looked stunned. "Are you sure?"

Carson nodded. "Very sure. I ran the tests myself. Three times. I compared his DNA to the components in Chaya's blood."

"What's does this mean exactly?" Elizabeth prompted.

"I'm thinking it means that the ruins were a lab of some sort. Or at the very least a place where they kept the rejects."

Rodney looked ill. "You mean their mistakes."

Elizabeth looked a bit green herself. "Who are you saying ran the experiments?"

"I'm thinking the Ancients," Carson replied. "Given what we do know about the ruins."

"That's sick," Lorne interjected.

Elizabeth was thinking the same thing. She didn't want to have to process her thoughts on it right now so she moved on to another subject. "How is Sheppard doing?"

Carson made a face then he tapped the file in front of him. "Still no memory of anyone here but Lily. I've mentioned Dreya's name but he had no reaction at all to it. He's been drifting in and out of consciousness and he seems more relaxed around us. He even made small talk today. But what worries me is that he doesn't really ask any questions about us or Atlantis. He only asks about Goethe."

"Could Goethe have done something to him to make him forget?" Lorne queried.

"I don't think so," Carson stated. "I think the amnesia is due to the head injury."

Elizabeth folded her hands together and asked, "So what do we do to help him?"

Carson looked apologetic as he replied, "We just wait. There's nothing more we can do."

Rodney's reaction was to get up and leave. The other's watched him go in silence.

OoO

John felt restless. Lily had come and gone for a visit and without her he felt displaced. He was allowed to use the bathroom and he was finally allowed to shower, but other than that he was stuck in bed with all of these strangers. He had tried asking the doctor about Goethe, and the one called Rodney, but neither would say anything more but that he was safe enough. John needed to see him.

The nurse that had stayed with him during his shower had been helpful. She seemed a bit shy around him, but at the same time she was a bit flirtatious so he flirted back and found out that Goethe was being held in a cell in the lower levels. He found out how to get there even. At first she had been hesitant to answer his questions, but John had assured her that he was just trying to remember this place and that she was helping him. After that she had told him everything he wanted to know.

After forcing down a few bites of food, John had feigned sleeping. Dr. Beckett had come in to check on him and John had heard him talking to a nurse about someone named Ronon. John realized he had been the big guy who had tried to attack Goethe back home. This Ronon wasn't doing well and that bothered John for some reason. When he was finally left alone, John slid out of bed and moved to the curtained area where Ronon was. He slipped past the curtain and moved to the bed. He studied the man lying there and images flashed in John's head. They made his head hurt and he tried to dissolve them. He had to focus on getting out of this place. But first he had to find Goethe.

Slipping out of the infirmary proved easier than John had expected. The medical staff were called to some emergency and the other nurse and Dr. Beckett took off behind the curtain to work over Ronon when some machine starting beeping. John took off and stepped into one of the transporters the nurse had described to him. He studied the panel in front of him then touched it and the next thing he knew he was somewhere else.

Moving cautiously and quietly, his bare feet making no sound on the floor, John crept closer to the cell block area. He knew he had to be in the right place when he saw the guards. Moving quickly, ignoring the pull of his ribs and the pain in his head, John took out both guards, claiming their weapons. He then touched the panel on the wall and the doors slid open.

Inside the room was a cage. Inside the cage was Goethe. John ran over to him, reaching for the bars when Goethe screamed at him. He froze.

"No touch," Goethe whispered in his hoarse voice. "Hurt."

"Are you okay?" John asked, moving as close as he dared.

Goethe tilted his head as he eyed John. "Better now. Go home?"

John nodded. "Yes. As soon as I figure out how to get you out of here." John was walking the perimeter of the cage, searching for the way to free Goethe. There was a panel on the far wall and John moved to it, instinct guiding him. He touched the panel and the shield crackled then dissolved. He touched it again and the door slid open. "Yes!" John felt victorious. He moved to step inside the door and had just reached Goethe when he heard a sound. Turning he saw four soldiers facing him with guns. John recognized one of them from the ruins. Lorne or something.

Lorne looked unhappy as he moved closer to Sheppard. "Sir...I need you to step out of the cell now."

John's reply was to raise the gun he was holding, even as Goethe moved to shield him.

THE END...of part 10