Chapter Twelve
It wasn't breakfast, lunch or dinner time, so when the key unlocked the cell block door, John rolled off the small cot and walked to the bars, curious to know what this untimely visit would bring. He just hoped it wasn't more of the same, like the one he'd had last night when Athen had come to see him. His head was still thumping, a dull ache that made sleeping all the more difficult and he could taste the blood when his tongue passed over his split lip.
Elizabeth accompanied by a lone guard was the sight that greeted him. As he took in the serious demeanour of both of them he noticed she looked different. Still decked out in the familiar red and black Atlantis get up that she preferred over the grey everyone else wore, her soft, brown curls he was so used to seeing hanging loose, framing her face, had now been pulled back and pinned up at the back of her head. She never wore her hair up when she had to and it struck him as strange that she choose now to make a sudden change in her appearance, but kept the thought to himself.
Instead he asked, "Hey, what's up?"
The guard informed them, "You have five minutes to say want you need." Without another word from any of them he unlocked John's cell then once Elizabeth was inside locked it again.
The look of warning in her wide eyes told John to remain silent until the guard had retreated to outside the cell block.
Once the door creaked shut Elizabeth didn't waste a second. Her hands flew up to her hair and she released the clips holding it in place. "We're leaving."
"Excellent. Does our guard know that?" He asked as he watched her work.
"Not yet." Finished removing the clips Elizabeth shook her hair free and placed the small item that had been concealed within her curls into John's hand. "You're going to need this."
"I see Ronon's been giving you some styling tips." He turned the smuggled object over in his hands and could now see it was a shield device similar to the one McKay had discovered shortly upon their arrival to Atlantis. His eyes flashed in excitement as the adrenalin started to pump through veins in preparation to the jail break he was about to embark on. "Cool!"
She gave him a grin.
"Hang on a second, the last I heard, the landlord had barred you. Why's he suddenly changed his mind?"
"Things change." Was all the answer she'd give him before changing the subject. "What happened to your lip? Did they hurt you?"
"Didn't pay my rent! Don't worry, that's all I got." John didn't know why her tone didn't sit right with him, but he asked, "So what's the plan? Wait until they come to take me away then Lorne and co make a diversion..."
Any hint of a smile was now gone from her face as she interrupted his flow, "They don't want to keep you any more. You've been absolved."
"Then why... What's the point of all this?" The confusion was plainly etched on his face as he gestured to the device she'd just given him.
She inhaled deeply, knowing what she was about to tell him was more than going to upset him. "They think I'm taking your place. Right now they think we're having our last goodbyes and in a couple of minutes that guard will come back to escort you back out and I will remain here. I prefer my idea, in which we all go home. Right now."
Silence rebounded off the cell walls.
"What?" It was barely more than a whisper, but with the venom in which it was spoken, he may as well have screamed. Colour was rising up his neck into his cheeks and his hands had balled into tight fists at his side and his knuckles were beginning go white.
"Just listen to me John." She put her arms out in a placating manner. "John, this is the only way to go if you still want to get out of here without any more death."
He wasn't hearing her. "You agreed to stay here and be put to death? Are you out of your mind!" And now he was shouting. "And where the hell is Lorne!"
"I have no intentions to stay here any longer than the time it takes us to get to the gate - that's where Major Lorne is. I had to make them that deal in order to see you. After they agreed to release the others we were informed that visiting hours were over. There was no other way to get in here to give you the cloak."
"I thought this was a shield?" He spat the words out.
"Was a shield. Rodney's been working with Zelenka on it non stop since he got back. Now would you please listen to me and I'll explain how this is going to work?"
He nodded yes. He had managed to reign in his anger but obviously didn't trust himself to speak yet.
"Good. You are going to put on the cloak. Then when the guard comes back, once he's opened the door, you're going to have to knock him out." Just instructing him to physically harm another person didn't sit at all well with Elizabeth, even if their survival rested upon it and especially since she had learned to do these things herself. "And remember, just because no one will see you, it doesn't mean you can't be hurt."
He nodded again. "What if he doesn't open the door?"
"He will."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because one of his wards will have disappeared and the other one will be passed out on the floor."
He gave her a skeptical look.
"I know, but that's the best we've got." She apologised with a half hearted smile that came out as more of a grimace. "You ready to do this?"
"As I'll ever be. Y'know this isn't what I had envisioned when I said plan B." He raised his hand to place the cloak on his chest then paused. "Wait. What happens after that? I'll have the cloak, but they'll still be able to see you. How are we supposed to get past the rest of the town?"
Elizabeth only got as far as opening her mouth to respond before the bolt was unlocked again and the guard began his return.
"Quick." Was all she managed to whisper as she moved to take up position on the floor.
John engaged his cloak and moved into the corner beside the door so the guard wouldn't bump into him. Elizabeth had watched him with her breath held as the cloak enveloped him. This was the moment of truth, whether or not Rodney's modifications had worked and they could get out of here with as less fuss as possible. Watching him disappear was the sweetest thing she had ever seen.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor towards them. John turned back to Elizabeth to make sure she was in place. The footsteps stopped indicating the guard had arrived.
"What's going on here!" The question had come from the guard.
It was some what expected that the guard would be startled by the scene in the cell. What John hadn't expected was a response to that question. "I don't know sir, they were both here just minutes ago. The cell was locked, there was no way for them to get out."
John spun silently on the spot to face the rather nervous looking man that had brought Elizabeth down and another larger man who was obviously his supervisor. He cursed to himself at their bad luck as he rolled his eyes. Nothing's ever easy, he thought.
Nonetheless, the guards had taken their bait. "Get this door open and check on her." Ordered the larger man, while his eyes roamed the cell and the corridor around him, searching for the missing man.
The first guard hesitated, "What does it matter if she is well or not?"
"Because Athen wishes to demonstrate in public, that he can bring justice when our people are killed by strangers that come to our world with no value on human lives," the supervisor explained to him. "Now hurry up and open that door. We must have at least one prisoner alive and in our custody."
Readying himself, John looked on as the guard turned the key, pushed the door and tentatively stepped in, fully expecting whatever had incapacitated the doctor to pounce on him too. Not being one to disappoint, John took his cue and struck the man squarely on the back of the neck, downing him without any fuss. John sent out a silent prayer of thanks to Mr.Spock - inspired by the infamous Vulcan trick - his attack made it look to the outside observer that the man had simply fainted, luring the other man in behind him. This time when John hit the man, it wasn't as successful as the last. Only disorientated, the man swung about blindly, flailing his arms out and managed to catch John's shoulder. Shocked to have made contact with something that wasn't there, he began to back off out the door.
Careful not to tread on any bodies, John followed him at a charge, rugby tackling him around the waist, sending him flying out the cell door headlong into the wall. Judging by the crack the man's head made as it bounced off the wall, John guessed the big guy wouldn't be waking up until at least sometime tomorrow.
So far so good, the plan was working, all they had to do now was escape the through the building and high tail it through the town, back to the gate. Baby steps John, he told himself and disengaged the cloak. Offering his hand to help her up, he restated his previous question. "Okay Elizabeth, I know how I'm going to get out, what about you?"
She dusted herself off now she was back on her feet, inspecting his handy work, then looked back to him. "The same way you are."
The face he pulled clearly showed his confusion, so smiling again she took his hand in hers and said, "Like this."
Her actions did nothing to alleviate his troubles so she added, "Rodney tells me that if you turn the cloak on now, it should extend the field around me as well, and as long as we stay in contact it should work for us both."
"Should? He didn't think to test it?"
"There was an issue of time and if he had attempted it, the device would have been imprinted on the test subject, which meant he would either have to restart the modifications on another device or completely deplete this one of all its power then recharge..."
John got the point - time was an issue - he held up his other hand to halt her explanation "Okay, okay. Is there anything else I urgently need to know?" He'd asked not really thinking there would be.
"Actually, yes"
"Of course there's something else. Why did I think this was gonna be easy?" He rolled his eyes again, "Let's have it then." He knew he shouldn't have asked.
"We should probably get out as fast as we can."
"That's a given, Elizabeth."
"No, I mean, we couldn't accurately predict how long this thing is going to last and if we take too long while we're both using it, it may fail before we get back. Rodney assures me that we can make it out of the complex and at least some way into the town where at least there"ll be places to take cover, but beyond that..."
"It could go off line at any time." he finished for her. "Great."
Elizabeth wasn't exactly overjoyed at learning this either when Rodney had told her. He'd said that unlike the shield,the power output would spike only when something came in contact with it, the cloak would be using power all the time, to hide them and compensate for the displacement affect. Well that's what he said. She's stopped him when he started to reel off a stream of techno-babble that would only confuse her. She got the point; they had to be quick. She was just thankful that he'd been of mind not to mention this in front of Lorne, the last thing she needed was another fight. "At least it'll give us a head start."
"We should probably get on with it then."
With their fingers interlaced, he put the device back to it's place on his chest. Both breathed a sigh of relief as they realised it had worked.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Just don't let go." She told him.
Unfortunately Rodney's estimates had been spot on. They had manage to get up to the ground level of the building, where Maten, Phelo, Athen and several of his guards had been waiting in one of the offices. The doors to the chambers had been open, so when they had crept past, they had heard Athen demand, "What is taking them so long? I told the guard to give them five minutes then bring Sheppard up. You two," he pointed at a couple of the guards with him, "Go get him now. I want them off our world."
The two guards padded off down the corridors like faithful hounds, while John and Elizabeth dodged someone coming in through the main doors.
They could make faster progress now they were in the open area of the plaza and they ran for the cover of the buildings. The falling dark cast shadows over the deserted side streets, a meager protection as the power drained from the cloak. With the image of his hand flickering in and out of his sight, John pulled her to a darkened spot under the wooden scaffold of a dilapidated structure and pressed her up against the wall. The power was fluctuating wildly until it spluttered out and the cloak deactivated, falling from his chest, John caught it with his free hand and stashed it in his pocket. They were on their own now until they got to the gate.
"You okay?" He asked her as he searched her eyes.
"Yes." Her heart had been racing as they passed Athen and the others, but she couldn't help feeling just a little thrilled at what they were doing. She had never thought running for their lives could be this...Exciting! However she wouldn't object if this was an isolated incident. She'd leave the running to the marines in the future. Pulling the radio out of her pocket she gave it to John. "Here, you better contact Lorne, tell him we're on our way."
John took the radio, peering out for where they hid to make sure nobody had seen them first, he brought the radio up to his mouth and spoke softly. "Major Lorne, this is Sheppard,do you copy?"
"Sir, this is Lorne." came the immediate reply.
"We're just outside the plaza, in some side street, we're making our way back to you now. ETA is five minutes, get ready to dial the gate when I tell you. Oh, and please be advised - the cloak has been depleted of power."
"Copy that sir, we'll be ready."
John looked back to Elizabeth then, her hand still firmly in his. "Okay, any second now, Athen's gonna realise we've gone, so let's move out."
"What do you mean they have escaped!" Athen was livid. The two guards he had sent to bring up Sheppard had instead returned with the guard that had taken Weir down first.
"Sir, please forgive us, we were attacked, but we could not see our assailant!"
If anything, the guard's excuse only caused to further Athen's fury. "Useless creatures! Every one of you! Yet again I am forced to take care matters myself."
With that Athen stormed out of Phelo's office where they had all been waiting, he crossed the hall to Goran's empty chambers, then reemerged moments later. He headed for the main doors with one of the P-90's that had been confiscated from John's team, that were still in their possession and started to pick up his pace once he was outside.
Maten had been watching from the doorway to Phelo's office and seen him take the weapon. He had no doubt on how Athen intended to fix his problem. He couldn't let him have his personal vendetta at the price of the people's safety, they needed to stay on good terms with the people from Atlantis. Any future alliance depended on it. Slowly at first his feet moved him in the direction Athen had gone, he could hear Phelo call him back, but he ignored his friend's pleas. He had to stop him.
There had been a few close calls, but they had made it unseen to the edge of the town. John had stopped to radio Lorne to tell him to get the gate dialled and send through his IDC. He and Elizabeth had stayed in the last bit of covering before the town gave way to the open field where the stargate was being held up by the temporary, fragile wooden structure, pieces being held in place by rope support. It flashed into life and Lorne had came to meet them half way as they jogged over the small distance.
John didn't stop moving while he swiped the back of Lorne's head. "That's just for starters Major. Wait 'til I get you back."
Lorne was quite happy to let John crack him over the head, as long as the all got home in one piece, he'd take his lickings without complaint.
Sergent Mathews had stayed by the side of the DHD, looking back towards the town for any sign of a threat, but it all appeared to be still apart from the three approaching figures heading for the gate.
Ten feet from the gate, John urged the two men in front of him and Elizabeth to proceed. They'd made it, he couldn't believe his luck at how easy it had been. A quick glance at Elizabeth told him she felt the same and he offered her a smile, one she returned whole heartedly as she squeezed his hand.
Mathews disappeared through the event horizon, Lorne right behind him. He had heard the noise, identifying it immediately, but his forward momentum was such that it carried him unbidden through the wormhole, back to Atlantis, he couldn't turn back to see where the gun fire had come from.
A/N: Ha ha ha... You didn't think I'd let them get away that easy did you! Well for all of you who want to know what happens next, you must be nice and leave a review! So I'm nearly done now, there's just two more chapters after this and then we're all done, so stay tuned...