Part 14 – Sleeping Beauty

Although, the night was far from over and he still had a milliard of questions to ask, John had to admit that he would need his bed as soon as Beckett finished checking him over.

The doctor complained bitterly over every new bruise or scrape but John kept reminding him that it really wasn't his fault. Carson was most concerned about the dreadful pressure marks around John's neck but muttered something about him being bloody lucky that nothing was broken.

As soon as Beckett finished, he wanted to take Sheppard back to the hospital unit but John reminded him that his room was hardly inhabitable and he wanted to stay near the transmission center, so they compromised and found a comfortable sofa in an office not far from the control room.

Teyla volunteered to go back for some blankets. She softly smiled to herself when she returned thirty minutes later, as John was already fast asleep. So quietly unfolding several covers, she carefully placed them on his sleeping form before settling herself down onto a nearby chair to watch over him.

-SGA-

The morning came quick enough and being at the top of Sanjava, light filtered in through the milliard of crystal panels. Teyla stretched, and although she hadn't intended to sleep, she reluctantly admitted to herself that she had.

Looking towards the Colonel, she smiled at the sight of a disheveled tuft of dark hair sticking up from under the covers but nothing more could be seen of him. Then she noticed that it wasn't exactly warm in the room, so she tiptoed out to find some nice hot tea for John and herself.

Teyla returned fifteen minutes later with two piping hot mugs and she set them down near the sofa on a low-lying table. The Colonel still slept on and she was now reluctant to disturb him, although it was later than she'd thought and everyone else was up and about. Therefore, there was nothing for it because the Colonel would be angry if he overslept.

However, just as she was about to wake him, Rodney came bustling into the room and even though sleep deprived himself, he seemed to be full of the joys of spring. "Hey, sleepyhead," he bellowed towards Sheppard, "Colonel Caldwell wants to speak to you."

John's bleary face peeked from under the blanket, trying to focus on McKay. "What the hell time is it?" he croaked.

"Err…way past getting up time in anyone's book but seeing as you're a sick man, we'll forgive you." Rodney muttered.

"Oh…crap, I feel like hell this morning. What does Caldwell want anyway?"

Teyla and Rodney exchanged a surprised look, for Sheppard to admit that then he must really be ailing. Teyla moved over to him and placed a hand on his forehead. "Have you got a fever?" she asked.

"No, it's my throat."

Rodney gave him a critical glance, and deciding that John really didn't look all that great, a not often seen but much softer side of McKay emerged when he suggested. "Look, I'll put Caldwell off."

John reluctantly sat up and pushed the blankets aside. "No, you're not." Saying no more, he pushed himself up and staggered towards the transmission room, which thankfully wasn't too far away. Concerned, Teyla watched him go and then went to find Dr. Beckett. McKay stayed one-step behind Sheppard ready to support him if necessary.

The short trip to the transmission room seemed like the New York marathon to Sheppard and he breathed a sigh of relief when he finally arrived. Dizzily, John made a beeline for the transmitter but unexpectedly, Rodney suddenly rushed in front of him, nearly causing John to collide with the scientist as the man started to call up the Daedalus. Caldwell's voice came on a few seconds late and the usually calm Colonel seemed excited. "Is Sheppard there yet?" he asked.

"I'm here, Colonel." John managed to get out, although it was a little above a whisper.

"I got that but the transmission isn't very good. Could you speak a little louder?" Caldwell requested.

"I'll try," John croaked, clearing his throat. "But I've got a really bad throat and I've nearly lost my voice."

"Oh, sorry to hear that, I'll just tell you what we observed last night and then I want to you to find out as much as you can about their defense system. We could really do with something like that." Caldwell announced, but Rodney was really pissed. "He could have told me this," he mouthed to John. "Military." John mouthed back.

Caldwell went on and on to describe how the Hive ship had been destroyed by some kind of energy weapon after the ship and its escorts had been captured in a type of tractor beam that had held them in place. If he'd felt well, John would have been more interested but he relied on McKay to take the details in.

When Caldwell finally finished, Rodney signed off for John with a promise they would try their best, although McKay was still pretty convinced that the Capellan's didn't know how the system operated. In fact, the more he thought about it the more he vaguely recalled the Tyrell woman saying that she was the only one with that knowledge.

Rodney turned from his retrospect to find that Sheppard had collapsed into the nearest chair. "Hey, you should go back to bed."

"Yeah, but I don't think…"

"Don't think what, Colonel?" Beckett questioned as he came into the room.

"I can spare the time." John finished.

Carson looked at him with a sour expression. "Let me be the judge of that. Ya certainly don't look too peachy this morning."

They both heard Rodney mutter, "Nothing new."

Sheppard threw Rodney a dirty look as Carson asked him. "Aye, well, what exactly is troubling ya now?"

"Throat," John whispered.

Carson said nothing as he fished into his bag and produced a flashlight and a tongue depressor. "Okay, open ya mouth and say…ah…for me."

John complied and Carson made a few tut tut sounds before feeling for swollen neck glands. Then just as Teyla entered the room with some freshly made tea, Carson pulled John's tunic collar down to reveal some truly horrific bruising ranging from true black to a lighter blue. Teyla's gasp made everyone jump and she nearly dropped the tray. Even Rodney looked shocked. "Yuck…how the hell did he get those horrible marks?"

"He's here." John muttered.

"Oh, so sorry. I was just trying to save you having to use your voice?" McKay tone dripped with sarcasm.

Carson straightened with a sigh. "Aye well, ya certainly have a nasty sore throat there." The next thing John knew, Carson stuck a thermometer in his ear and took it out a minute or so later. "No fever, which probably means it's caused by severer trauma to the neck, but I'll take a swab just to be on the safe side."

Rodney wandered over and took a cup from Teyla's tray. "You still haven't told me how he got those marks?" Rodney asked before absentmindedly taking a sip. "Yuk, is this tea?"

Teyla looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "Of course it is, Dr. McKay."

Rodney was just about to give her a comeback when Dr. Ricaud entered. "Ah…there's our hero of the day."

Everyone looked around expectantly and Rodney stuck out his chest. "Well, I do my best."

"Oh no, Dr. McKay, although we are truly grateful for your cooperation and efforts," Dr. Ricaud embellished. "No, I'm referring to Colonel Sheppard here. He has finally rid Sanjava of the dreaded Aldrich. It's only taken over two hundred years during which there have been fifty assassination attempts, seventeen near death situations with medical procedures gone wrong and all it took was one sick and wounded stranger and we are finally free."

"I think destroying the duplicates played a big role in that." John muttered.

"Yes, of course that too." He got down to John's level and pumped his hand. "Congratulations." Then taking in John's appearance, he finished. "You don't look very well?" The next thing John knew his mouth was being prized open again and all he wanted was his bed, so when the doctor had finished, he lay back, switched off and let sleep reclaim him.

-SGA-

John finally woke up what could have been days or hours later. An IV drip snaked from his arm and he tried to recall what had gone wrong this time. As his memory returned, he cautiously swallowed and was relieved to find his throat feeling much better.

He eased himself up slightly and found that he was in a different room from previously. This one was pure comfort and luxury combined, but totally unlike the room Tyrell had first had him in. Surely, he couldn't still be in the hospital area?

It must have had some form of surveillance because the pretty blond nurse suddenly arrived. "It's good to see you awake again, Colonel Sheppard. I've informed the doctor and he should be along shortly."

"How long have I been asleep? I'm I still in the hospital unit?"

"Off and on for two days but you needed it and yes, you're still in the hospital. This is the VIP room," she smiled.

John started to look around sheepishly wondering why he'd been given such a privilege, just as Beckett and McKay came into the room. "Oh my, the sleeping beauty has finally awoken up at last!" Rodney proclaimed loudly.

Carson smiled. "Aye, he's certainly been sleeping but I don't know about beauty, Rodney."

The nurse giggled. At the present time, he may not be exactly beautiful but she knew, if given the chance, he'd clean up just fine. Saying nothing, she quickly left the room not realizing that three pairs of eyes watched her go.

"Now isn't she just lovely." Beckett sighed. His fellow Atlanteans agreed with him. "Right let's get down to business. Are ya feeling better now, lad?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

Beckett looked quickly into John's mouth and said. "That's good to hear. Let's pull up a chair and fill ya in on what's been going on."

Rodney turned around. "There's only one chair in here, Carson. Does that mean we have to share?"

"Not bloody likely! Ya can sit on the bed, if the Colonel doesn't mind."

John nodded. "Just don't sit on my toes. I don't need any more injury."

"Are you implying that I'm too heavy?"

John sighed and closed his eyes but Carson came to his rescue. "Give him a break, Rodney. He's only just woken up."

Rodney felt around for the end of John's long legs and gingerly sat himself down beyond them. "Well, now that we're all comfortable, I'll start by telling you that the Daedalus has gone home."

Sheppard looked shocked. "You're kidding me! How the hell are we going to get home?"

"That my friend is easy, I've found the DHD crystals."

Carson looked flabbergasted. "Ya found them? If I recall correctly, it was Major Lorne and Ronon, you were just along for the ride, so to speak."

"Ride?" Sheppard looked confused.

"Just a figure of speech, Colonel, actually they were hidden in the secret hideaway that Lena Tyrell had in her private quarters. Nobody, and I mean nobody, knew about its existence until our team did a methodical search with scanners."

"Ah," Rodney interrupted, "that's not all we found. There were hundreds of data discs not unlike our DVD's and a hand written journal, which she kept right up until the end. In fact, the last entry was kind of interesting as it went on to describe her fantasies concerning a certain Ancient, recently acquired, and all the things she'd like to with…"

John held up a hand. "I don't want to know, McKay and where is this journal? I want it destroyed."

"Can't do that," Rodney proclaimed. "It now belongs to the newly formed Council of Capella City, which is headed by a Mr. Batas. He tells me he's met you, so you'll have to take up the matter with him."

"Yeah, I met him once, early on. And the data discs?" John asked.

McKay looked at him. "Same goes for them, we've looked at some but most of it is gibberish about her fantasies for ever lasting life and other stuff like detailed maps of the dome etc.."

Rodney finished with that because there was no way he was telling John about the truly repugnant area Dr. Ricaud had shown them. Along with the very dead duplicates of Tyrell and Aldrich had been several more copies of Sheppard, equally as dead and already in a state of decay. It was a sight that Rodney or Carson won't be forgetting for a long time to come. Ricaud had promised to cremate the remains as soon as possible and had reassured them, unnecessarily, that the Sheppard in the hospital was the real one.

Then he had shown them the creation room with its acceleration vats and other gruesome paraphernalia, which enabled a living being to be reproduced overnight. Both men had been grateful to learn that John had been unconscious throughout the procedure. Ricaud had promised to destroy that equipment at the earliest possible date before it could fall into the wrong hands again, although the doctors responsible for the duplication had all died in the uprising.

John had nearly nodded off again when he realized that Rodney had stopped talking to him. He was just about to give into sleep when a sudden thought struck him. Drowsily he asked, "Wait a minute. What about Caldwell's request to learn about the weapon system?"

"Oh, that proved to be a dead end at the moment. It seems Dr. Tyrell was right and these people don't know much about it. The system was put in place thousands of years ago and it has never failed them. It seems that it is powered by something more than those generators we've seen and I'm speculating that it's a ZPM but I could be wrong." Rodney answered him.

"Are you trying to tell me that they will have to rely on something they don't know anything about?

"Yep, that's about it in a nutshell."

"Unbelievable," John muttered as he finally nodded off.

"Although, their scientists are going to do their utmost to understand and study the…." Rodney's monologue suddenly trailed off when he noticed that he was talking to thin air. Turning to Carson, he complained. "Do you see that, he's off in never-never land again."

"Give the man a break, Rodney, he's had a hard time, and the meds he's on are pretty strong. If we're going to get him fit enough to go home then let him have his beauty sleep." Carson whispered as they left the room.

Tbc

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