Elizabeth Weir wanted a nice, quiet day. That was all. That past few days—it couldn't even have been a week since they had arrived in the city—had been rather hectic, to say the very least. The notion that they had already lost key members of their expedition still weighed heavily on Weir's mind and she wanted nothing more than to get a few details out of the way and then do a little exploring of her own—perhaps with Rodney to show her what he had already found.
Of course she should have known that it would be the very same Rodney McKay that would make this day just as eventful and hectic as the last handful.
"We're still in the process of making sure everyone's been assigned living quarters." Peter Grodin said in his soothing British accent. He walked beside Elizabeth, the two of them forming a list of things they wanted to see finished before the end of the day. "Major Sheppard seems to be taking his time okaying enough space."
Elizabeth nodded slowly. She agreed it was taking longer than she would have liked, but so far she had no complaints. John Sheppard had been doing, as far as she was concerned, a wonderful job in seeing to the comfort and safety of well over two hundred people—nearly a half of them aliens, no less. She said so to Grodin, knowing he would take her comments in stride.
"Well, the safety and security of this expedition are now his—"
"Okay, I'm ready!"
Elizabeth and Grodin paused when they heard McKay's overly cheerful shout echo across the 'Gate room. As luck would have it, they had managed to stop in a very good spot for seeing clear across the 'Gate room to the balcony opposite the control room. The two of them had a perfect view as John Sheppard, grinning from ear to ear, eagerly shoved Rodney McKay off the balcony—a balcony that hung a good two stories above the floor.
Elizabeth felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach as she watched her best friend tumble through mid-air before hitting the solid ground far below them. The breath was forced from her lungs and her heart seemed to freeze in mid-pound. Beside her, Peter Grodin stared in horror at the body on the 'Gate room floor.
"Oh, my God." Elizabeth gasped, fearing she had just witnessed the death of her closest friend. She felt as if she had been rooted to the ground where she stood, but a brief touch on the elbow from Grodin immediately brought her back to the present. She was immediately running for the stairs that would lead her to McKay's broken and lifeless body on the 'Gate room floor…
"Did you see that?" Sheppard laughed as he trotted down his own flight of stairs to meet them. Elizabeth felt as if a cold knife had been shoved into her gut—how could he be laughing?
"Yes!" Elizabeth snapped furiously. "What the—"
The words had barely left her mouth before she saw—amazingly—out of the corner of her eye, Rodney McKay leap to his feet. And he was wearing the same grin as John Sheppard. He raised his hands above his head and faced the crowd that had gathered around the tower.
"I'm fine!" he shouted, looking for all the world like he had just won the Super Bowl single-handedly.
Elizabeth's mouth fell open in shock. Rodney grinned at her, but even from where she stood rooted on the steps she could see the faint flicker in his ocean-blue eyes. He knew he had scared her and he regretted it. He paused, and then started talking at a lightening-fast pace as if in an attempt to explain himself and thus apologize—or as close as he would ever come to apologizing.
"Look! Beckett's gene therapy worked!" he shouted, pointing at a small turtle-shaped object glowing in the center of his chest. "It's a, uh, a personal shield! It acts sort of like a second, protective skin. And it must have inertial dampeners because I didn't feel a thing! Watch this."
As if trying to find a less dramatic example to prove to Elizabeth that he wasn't a totally reckless idiot, he turned to Peter Grodin.
"Hit me!" he said cheerfully.
Elizabeth almost laughed because Peter Grodin didn't even pause. His fist swung with all the strength he could muster and—didn't touch Rodney at all. Instead he impacted an invisible shield that glowed green when he touched it, a shield that floated just above Rodney's actual face.
Peter gave a shout of pain and cradled his hand against his chest. Elizabeth hadn't heard any bones break, but she was sure hitting a brick wall hurt about as much. And though she found the whole situation slightly less gut wrenching now, she still wasn't entirely amused. But she did notice that she was having difficulty keeping a smile off of her face. It was not the first time Elizabeth noticed that it was almost impossible not to be happy when Rodney McKay was happy.
"You didn't have to swing so hard." Rodney murmured to himself, frowning slightly. He glanced at Sheppard—his obvious co-conspirator in the whole mess. "And notice how he didn't even hesitate."
Sheppard, who was radiating the same giddiness as Rodney, laughed and grinned at Elizabeth. Both of the men looked like two children presenting their newest toy.
Elizabeth, not wanting to dampen their enthusiasm but obviously having to point out that scaring her half to death was a very bad way of getting her attention, raised an eyebrow.
"I'm still trying to understand why you thought it was a good idea to test this thing by getting yourself pushed off a balcony." Elizabeth pointed out. Rodney and John's grins grew even wider—if that was even possible at this point.
"Oh, believe me, that's not the first thing we tried." Rodney said happily, glancing at Sheppard. As if that was his cue to pick up the show-and-tell, John raised his head told Elizabeth proudly, "I shot him."
Both Rodney and John's smiles wavered when they saw how obviously not impressed Elizabeth was with that scenario.
"In the leg." John quickly added, as if that would make it seem like a slightly more intelligent plan.
Rodney laughed and spread his arms wide, as if trying to display himself to the world.
"I'm invulnerable!" he shouted. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, but Rodney saw the brief shadow of a smile on her lips.
"Rodney, aren't you the one who's always spouting off about how proper and careful scientific procedure must be adhered to?" she asked, though her tone was light enough so that he knew she wasn't that mad at him any more.
Rodney rolled his eyes and grinned at her again.
"In-vuln-er-able." He sang, doing a little mini-dance to punctuate each syllable.
Elizabeth shook her head—mostly to hide the smile on her lips—and turned to go back up to the control room.
"Okay. Take it off. We have a meeting." She said. She was not about to have Sheppard and Rodney playing with the stupid thing all through the meeting. Neither of them would hear a single word she said through the entire thing and would just have to repeat it to them each separately on a later occasion—something that she really didn't want to do.
"You're just jealous." Rodney said sulkily. Elizabeth, accepting the baited tease, rounded on him from her place on the steps.
"Oh, yes, green with envy." She agreed sarcastically. Rodney grinned—he always enjoyed their teasing games, even if it was at his won expense—and went to pop of the device. Elizabeth already had her back to him, but she quickly turned around when she heard a quiet, "This could be a problem."
"What?" she demanded in exasperation, realizing that she should have known that Rodney would somehow turn this game into an actual situation that she would have to stress over later.
Rodney looked up at her, his ocean-blue eyes wide.
"I can't get at it." He told her. Elizabeth's eyes widened and she watched as Sheppard reached for it, his fingers clutching uselessly at the glowing force field above his chest. He pulled his hand back and shrugged defeatedly at Rodney.
"Just checking." He mumbled.
The day had gone progressively downhill from there.
First they had discovered that not only could Rodney not get at the device, but that he couldn't eat or drink anything either. Outside of Beckett, Elizabeth was the only other person who knew about Rodney's hypoglycemia and she knew that no matter what that would become a problem within a matter of hours—partly due to Rodney's own sensitivity to it.
Secondly, Elizabeth was convinced that Rodney could get the stupid device off, but that he simply didn't want to because of his subconscious fear of getting hurt. She knew very well why the personal shield had been the first thing he tired and not one of a thousand other—potentially safer—things. Beckett had known, too, and now all they had to do was wait for him to get hungry or desperate enough to force it off. She certainly didn't want to have to watch Rodney fret over it, but if that was the only way she could convince him to get it off than that was what she would do—wait him out. Besides, she had promised herself that she would watch his back. She wasn't about to make him go through it alone.
Thirdly, they had a blasted energy-sucking ghost-thing haunting the city. That was definitely something Weir added to her I-really-don't-want-to-deal-with-this-today list.
And now her and Rodney's frayed nerves at having him having passed out once already due to his low blood sugar were conjoining into a very unwanted confrontation. For the first time since she had met him, Elizabeth felt herself growing truly angered with her friend. In fact, she would have been more than happy to slap him across the face at the very moment.
"Rodney, why can't you be the one to stay behind?" Elizabeth demanded. It wasn't that she enjoyed putting Rodney in harm's way, but he truly was the most qualified to do the mini-mission because of his personal shield. He was the only one in the entire city at the moment who could be completely impervious to the ghost-thing's destructive touch. As he had pointed out to her not long before, he was invulnerable.
But apparently he wasn't big on proving his invulnerability to injuries that were not self-inflicted. Which, frankly, pissed Elizabeth off no end.
"Why?" Rodney back peddled frantically to try and find a reason to not be there. He wanted to impress Elizabeth, sure. That was why he had found the personal shield and done the stupidest thing he could to get her attention. But everything he had done so far had been a controllable situation. This standing up to a life-sucking black energy creature was a bit too much like facing down a Wraith and that was defiantly not a controllable situation.
"Why—I—because…" Rodney was still trying to come up with a plausible reason as to why he, the only person who could do it, should not do it when suddenly the little turtle-shaped device ceased to glow. Rodney had barely enough time to catch it as it detached from his chest and fell uselessly into the palm of his hand.
Sheppard, Elizabeth and Rodney stared at the device in surprise. Rodney made the first move, digging frantically for a power bar he had stuffed into his pocket just before turning on the Ancient device. He tore it open and stuffed half of it into his mouth before he remembered that he would actually have to chew before swallowing.
He tried to ignore the stinging look of disappointment on Elizabeth's face.
"I thought so…" she murmured, as far from impressed as she could be at the moment. Rodney, unwilling to let that slide, glared at her.
"What do you mean?" he shouted through a mouthful of power bar. "You think I wanted this thing to come off just now? Huh? You think I'm afraid to do it? Because I'll do it!"
Rodney knew he was sounding like an idiot, spouting off lies and half-truths to his best friend and boss. He hated that he was such a coward, especially in front of Elizabeth, but he honestly believed that Sheppard was the man more appropriate for the job. After rescuing half a dozen men and women from the guts of an alien prison, he was pretty sure he could handle a scary big shadow. McKay, on the other hand, what could he do? Pass out from lack of food? Hyperventilate in small spaces? He knew he was useless, but he had tried so hard to prove to Elizabeth that he wasn't. But one damned slip of the tongue and everything he had worked so hard for over the last few months just went up in smoke.
"No, it's okay." Sheppard interrupted his private ranting. The look around his eyes was hard and Rodney felt like sinking through the floor. "You might feint again."
Rodney winced and Elizabeth glanced at Sheppard, thinking the man had gone one step too far, though mad she was with the scientist. But one glance at the major told her that he didn't know about Rodney's hypoglycemia.
"Look, it's just not working any more, that's all!" McKay shouted defensibly. He stepped around Weir and proved his point by attempting to attach the little device to the outside of Sheppard's jacket. It refused to attach and Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, glancing at Sheppard. The man did not look convinced, but he offered a slight shrug. McKay stuffed the device into his pocket. "See? It doesn't work on you either!"
"Look," Elizabeth said wearily, "I just meant that it wasn't going to let you die."
Rodney paused, wondering if she had actually meant "it" wasn't going to let her die, but than decided that at the moment she was too mad at him to actually be sympathetic right now.
So he had succeeded in doing one thing—he had proved once again why he should avoid the opposite sex at all cost. Even friendships—even really, really, really good friendships—could be ruined because of a few not so choice words. Well, at least he hadn't lost his touch, Rodney thought darkly. He forced the thought from his head.
"It's just a coincidence that it happened to stop working now!" he pointed out. He sighed, realizing that this was getting him no where and decided that the best thing he could do for any of them was to get the hell out of their way. "God, I need a drink!"
"Go." Sheppard said shortly. Rodney glanced at Elizabeth, hoping to apologize, but the woman refused to look at him. Feeling his heart sink into his shoes, and knowing there was probably no way he could repair this, Rodney turned away and hurried out of the room.
Weir's anger had waned somewhat by the time she reached the control room. She knew Rodney well enough to know that he would not willingly nor eagerly put Sheppard in any danger. She also knew that she had hurt him, but hoped that he would understand where she was coming from. She would apologize later, when they weren't facing immediate doom once again.
"Where are Rodney and Major Sheppard?" Peter Grodin asked when Elizabeth stepped into the control room, large yellow candle in one hand.
"Major Sheppard's in the Ancient lab waiting for the creature." Elizabeth said. "He's going to lure it back into the cage that Rodney found, after we shut off the naquadah generators. Rodney, I'm sure, is finding himself something to eat."
Grodin looked up at Elizabeth in surprise.
"The personal shield came off?" Weir nodded and smiled slightly.
"Yeah. It just "stopped working"." She smiled and shook her head, once again finding the situation amusing in hindsight. She looked down at Grodin. "He even tried it on Sheppard."
"It wouldn't work on Sheppard." Peter pointed out simply. Weir paused, already feeling the first tinges of anger welling up again.
"Why not?" she asked slowly, knowing full well that Rodney probably knew the answer.
"McKay didn't tell you?" Grodin asked guiltily, confirming Weir's suspicions. Sounding like a kid who had just spilt the beans, Peter continued rather regretfully. "The text we studied said the shield imprints on the wearer. If we're right, it wouldn't work on anyone else."
As if on cue, Rodney arrived at that precise moment with a sub sandwich in one hand and a huge flashlight in the other. Weir glared at him, but Rodney cheerfully ignored her now that he had a full belly and elevated blood sugar once again.
"We ready?" he asked through a mouth full of food. Weir sighed, hating the disappointment she felt, nodded to Grodin to shut down the generators. Peter paused and swiveled in his chair to look up at her.
"You… do realize that when we shut everything down we're going to lose the sensors. We're not going to be able to track it."
"We have security personnel posted around the living quarters." Elizabeth said quietly. "At least we'll have some warning."
She pulled a lighter out of her inside jacket pocket and lit the candle she had set on the control counsel. Grodin and McKay looked at her questioningly. Weir smiled slightly.
"Teyla told the Athosian children that lighting a candle would protect them."
"And you're doing it because…?" McKay asked through a, yet again, full mouth. Weir glanced over at him, her tone shifting to one that she hoped he would recognize as I'm-really-not-impressed-right-now.
"It's going to get dark in here." She pointed out.
"Hmm." McKay mumbled, seemingly ignorant of the hint, and flicked on the massive flashlight under his arm. He grinned at her, his face ghostly in the bright light, and huffed triumphantly. Weir sighed again and tapped her ear piece.
"Okay, Major." She said and took a deep breath. "Go ahead."
"It's on." Sheppard said through the headset. Weir nodded to Grodin.
"Now." She said.
Grodin took a deep breath of his own.
"Shutting down power."
A moment later every computer screen flicked off and the lights shut down. Everything ceased to hum, vibrate, beep, blink or work in general as every naquadah generator in the city shut off simultaneously. Everyone stood breathlessly waiting. When Sheppard's harsh whisper sounded over the head pieces, the three of them nearly jumped out of their skin.
"It's coming." The Major informed them quietly.
Weir heard McKay's rhythmic and cheerful chewing slow. She resisted the urge to look back at him, but she knew he had finally realized what he was forced the major to do. Well, it seemed she wouldn't have to speak with him after all.
"I think you're gonna need a bigger boat." Sheppard said, the comment obviously meant for McKay. Rodney answered instantly.
"Size doesn't matter." He said simply. Weir almost laughed. Of course they would tease each other at a time like this. It's what she would have done if she had been in either of their positions.
"That's a myth." Sheppard responded dryly.
"It'll fit." Rodney assured him sharply, trying to convince himself as well as Sheppard so he wouldn't feel so rotten about the whole situation. "The device traps the creature in subspace. You just need to make sure it gets all the way inside the containment vessel."
Several moments of breathless anticipation passed before Sheppard swore, loudly, into the comms.
"What happened?" Weir demanded in alarm.
"Damned thing took one look and went away." He paused and Weir, once again, knew the next comment was for Rodney. "It's a lot smarter than we thought."
Rodney had wanted to point and shout triumphantly as soon as Major Sheppard had joined them in the control room, "See? See? He's still alive!" Somehow, though, he had known the comment would not go over well and now, staring at the growing darkness engulfing the control room, McKay knew it was probably moot anyway.
"It's not going anywhere!" McKay groaned as everyone in the control room watched the darkness swell to fill the 'Gate room, but stubbornly refuse to leave.
"I can't see if the M. A. L. P got through." Weir said and Rodney recognized the slight tremor in her voice. She was afraid. The one person in the world who was never afraid was afraid and that terrified Rodney more than anything.
"The entity could have drained the battery." Grodin pointed out, his British accent making everything he said sound calming though the man was probably just as ready to wet his pants as the rest of them were.
Rodney shook his head, suddenly angry with himself though there was no real way he could have prevented this. But he had no one else to blame and so he figured he was as good a target as any.
"It could be feeding off the generator, off the Stargate… I mean, this is a disaster!" he shouted.
"Shut it down." Weir told him stolidly, though a hint of defeat tinted her voice. McKay immediately slapped the center chevron that controlled the Stargate.
And nothing happened.
He tapped it a second time—lighter, this time—but still the 'Gate would not deactivate. Rodney looked over at Elizabeth, his ocean-blue eyes wide with horror.
"I can't." he whispered.
"The consoles are dead." Grodin pointed out. McKay almost rolled his eyes.
Now he told him.
"There has to be something we can do!" Weir shouted in exasperation.
While Grodin continued to speak rationally, Sheppard continued to look grim and Elizabeth continued to try to think of something to do, Rodney reached into the inside of his jacket and looked down at the little device in his hands. As soon as Elizabeth had mentioned it, Rodney knew what he had to do. Once again he was the only one in the entire city who could do it, and this time he would prove that he was no coward.
He would prove it to Sheppard, as much as he would prove it to Elizabeth. But he had always hoped, somehow, that she already knew that.
McKay hoped that no one saw the look of pure dread on his features as he reattached the little turtle shell-shaped device. He felt the familiar tingle as the shield covered him, but suddenly it didn't feel adequate enough. So he was stupid enough to jump off a balcony, but this scared him?
He tried to ignore the fact that this was definitely the worst of the two scenarios.
McKay closed his eyes and focused. He couldn't back down from this. He was the only one who could do this. He was the only one who could save Atlantis and everyone inside. He was the only one who could save Elizabeth.
McKay opened his eyes and looked once more at the woman who had quickly become his best friend and the most important person in his entire life. He only hoped that she wasn't still pissed at him.
Taking a deep breath, McKay moved as quietly as he could to the top of the staircase that descended into the darkness-engulfed 'Gate room. He paused only a heartbeat before he started down the steps.
"McKay!"
Rodney refused to look back when he heard Sheppard call his name, nor when he heard rapid footsteps running out to the top of the staircase.
"Rodney!"
He almost did stop when he heard Elizabeth. There was so much worry and fear and compassion in her voice that he wanted nothing more than to turn around and tell her it was all going to be okay. But if he turned around he would probably chicken out and then the whole plan would be ruined.
And then everything would definitely not be okay.
Rodney took one last deep breath and then plunged into the destructive shadow.
It would have been almost beautiful if it hadn't been one of the most terrifying things Rodney had ever experienced. He could actually see particles of energy floating around him, bouncing off each other and sparking through space. He could see the fluctuations of the darkness, could feel it rippling past the outer layer of his protective shell.
Rodney paused a moment, suddenly overwhelmed by the notion of what he was actually doing—of what he was actually inside. But then the need to get this done and over with took a hold of him and he quickly marched up to the dead M. A. L. P. Hoping that this would actually work, McKay reached up and grabbed the heavy box holding the one active generator in the entire city and, gritting his teeth against the weight and pain, flung it with all his might. Though it probably wouldn't land far outside the event horizon, the thing had gone through the Stargate and that was all he cared about.
Rodney almost laughed. He had done it! Somehow he had actually done it. He knew it when he saw the generator disappear through the Stargate. He knew it when he felt the darkness pulsing past him, eagerly plunging through the rippling even horizon in order to find the vanished energy source.
He, Rodney McKay, had saved Atlantis.
The feeling felt rather good.
Grinning stupidly to himself, he began the trek back to the steps. But he wasn't half way there when he felt the first ripples—the familiar tingle. The shield was shutting down.
And he was still inside the darkness.
That last thought alone was enough to make him pass out.
"McKay?"
Elizabeth touched Rodney's chest, feeling for a heartbeat. When she touched the cloth of his blue shirt, it suddenly hit her that the device was no longer working. She picked it up and set it aside, setting her hand over his heart. She wanted him to feel her—to know that she was here with him. She wanted him to know that she hadn't abandoned him in the moment he had impressed her most.
Weir heard Sheppard call for a medical team.
"He's not burned." Elizabeth said—more to herself than anyone else. "And he's breathing."
But he still wasn't moving.
"McKay? McKay. Rodney."
Rodney's eyes fluttered open, his ocean-blue gaze immediately locking with hers. Elizabeth smiled, hoping to convey every ounce of friendship she had for him in that single look.
"What happened?" he asked groggily, still looking up at her. Elizabeth smiled and rubbed his chest with her hand.
"You did it." She murmured proudly.
"I did?" he asked, sounding mildly shocked. Elizabeth nodded.
"It went through the 'Gate." She said. McKay blinked slowly, obviously still a little groggy.
"You must have passed out." Sheppard said smugly—though he sounded just as proud and relieved as Elizabeth felt.
"Oh." Rodney looked a little more alert now. "Thanks for, uh, not saying the other thing."
After Rodney had been taken to the infirmary and after Beckett had given him a clean bill of health, Elizabeth came to see him. He looked pleased to see her, but then seemed to remember his earlier actions and he sank down into his bed.
"I'm surprised you still want to talk to me." He said glumly. Elizabeth blinked in surprise and sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I was a jackass." He told her bluntly. Elizabeth smiled and rested her hand over his.
"Maybe." Elizabeth said. "But I have to agree with Sheppard on this one."
"Oh?" Rodney eyed her suspiciously. Elizabeth grinned and leaned forward, kissing him gently on the cheek. When she sat back she smiled broadly at the surprised look on Rodney's face.
"That was one hell of a Hail Mary." She grinned.