DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, or these characters; I just borrow them.
Weathering the Storm Part 5
As Kolya walked away from the two Atlantians, he radioed Sora to determine if his friend Athor's son made it through the gate. Idos was like his father in many ways one such way was that he was a brilliant soldier that Kolya himself had helped mold into the fighter he had become. "…Idos. Did he make it?"
"No sir."
At those two words a look of grief passed over Kolya's face. That look however was short lived to the anger that started to boil up at the idea of how he was to tell his friend that he was the cause of his son's death. No not me, Major Sheppard. The anger got more intense as he thought of the death of a good soldier… of many good soldiers. "Over sixty men killed!" Kolya stated in a voice that was more passionate than if he would have shouted it to the black clouds moving slowly across the sky.
"Defending his home and his people Commander… as we would," Sora stated. As the words spilled forth from her mouth, the realization that the Genii and the Atlantians were no different took a stronger foothold in her thoughts. Major Sheppard and the others from Atlantis were fighting for their lives, the lives of their comrades, and for their city. The Genii would do no less. She knew that she could not fault the Major for the deaths of those sixty men, as he was forced into that action by her hand, and that of her people. Her thoughts almost made her miss the question that her Commander asked next.
"When can more reinforcements be sent?"
Sora knew that Commander Kolya was not going to like her response yet again. She took a deep breath before stating, "it will take time…perhaps an hour." She hoped that time frame would appease him.
That hope was dashed when he barked back, "unacceptable."
Sora knew that she was stepping very close to the thin line before mutiny as she told the commander what she really thought. "Yes Commander, it is unacceptable, because by then we will be in the full force of the storm." And if we are still here then there will be more Genii deaths that do not need to occur, and will not benefit our people. Sora would have said more to her CO however she realized that the signal between them had been shut off.
"Probably sooner," Rodney McKay voiced after Sora's comment about when the storm would arrive. A glare from Kolya sent McKay back to looking at the floor, mentally berating himself for letting his smart ass comments fly in the midst of life threatening situations like this one. It's a defense mechanism, he reminded himself before he could feel too bad about his comment. Anyways it is the truth. As Rodney was looking at his shoes, he missed the look that passed between Elizabeth and Kolya.
Kolya was trying to figure out what to do now. The Major had messed up all of his plans so far. Except for the ones made on the go, in certain offices, Kolya sneered and glanced toward Elizabeth. She happened to be looking at him at the precise moment trying to measure what he was thinking, and if she was going to have to fight for their lives to be spared yet again. Kolya's grin got wider as he saw her eyes on him, and how she responded to his glance. He knew how to get back at the Major, and to get the city, and it all centered on her. For a second his thoughts strayed to what he would do once the storm was over, and he had those three, the Major, Elizabeth, and the city, within his grasp. That will wait for later, but for now "Major Sheppard. I have a proposition for you."
Dr. Weir knew that Kolya was angry at the Major for all the grief he had caused the Genii. She realized how angry he was when she had to literally pull the commander off Rodney. As she listened into his conversation with Sora, Elizabeth could tell that Kolya not only lost his soldiers, but also someone that he was close to on a more personal basis. If it was any other person, she would have felt sorry for the man in front of her that was grieving over the loss of good men. However as it was Kolya, it only made her fear his reaction even more. Dr. Weir tried to swallow that fear in order to study the Genii commander to watch out for how he might retaliate.
That fear stayed at bay only until Kolya glanced at her with a leer, and Elizabeth saw his eyes light up in a predatory fashion as he caught her looking at him. She quickly averted her eyes away from the creature in front of her and told herself to breath deeply to try and fight off the nausea that started to churn in her stomach as she saw the look in him eyes. She had seen that look before, and her mind started to play out the scene that happened afterward in her office. She clutched her knees to her chest, and the outside world started to fade away.
The wall that she was leaning against felt more like the smooth flooring that covered the floors in Atlantis. The rain pelting all over the tired leader started to feel like crawling fingertips across her skin. Her thoughts however were pulled away from her nightmare when she heard Major Sheppard exclaim through the radio, "Weir's alive," followed a few seconds later by, "Let me talk to her."
Elizabeth saw Kolya started to walk toward her. She flashed back briefly to him walking toward her in her office I've got to deal with this for my people, she thought as she straightened up to stand in front of Kolya and squared her shoulders, "Sheppard! We're both here!" she shouted over the storm.
Dr. Weir could hear the relief in the Major's voice as he replied, "It's good to hear you're voice."
"Yeah it's good to hear," she responded back. She heard Kolya go on to give Major Sheppard ten minutes to get the power back up for the grounding station, or she would die. Her thoughts played over the last few moments in her head. Dr. Weir hated that Kolya had seen her act so afraid. She started to put her stoic mask back up full force so that he would not see any reaction from her, but remembered that he was expecting to see her as a beaten puppy. This can still work out in our favor. I can't mess up now. These thoughts stirred her desire to help her people even more. She walked toward Rodney and sat down next to him to see how he was faring. He was the city's, and therefore it's peoples' best chance for survival. She had to stand behind him to support him through this burden.
Rodney was still glancing down at his feet when Elizabeth came to sit next to him. "How are you doing Rodney?" she asked as she sitting down.
"Great!" he replied in such a fashion that Elizabeth knew something else was to follow. She was not let down when he continued, "How do you think I doing! It's cold and wet. I'm going to catch my death out here. If the cold doesn't kill me, then the bacteria that is surely in the atmosphere is seeping into the gapping hole in my arm. It might need amputated when this is all over. And to top that off if I don't get something to eat soon I might go into hypoglycemic shock. That is if I'm not going into shock already from the blood loss. So I'm great, just great. How bout you?"
Elizabeth fought the desire to bite back at Rodney about how she really was. Let see. I've been raped in my office, there goes my safe haven, threatened with a gun, have a hole in my shoulder, and get to pretend as all is great to get this city back. So I'm great, just great. "Rodney!" she said sternly. Once she knew that he was looking at her she continued with her thoughts, "We will get through this. We must." Dr. Weir wished that she would have thought to grab a powerbar when she was in her bedroom. She knew that Rodney was not making up that part of how he was doing. "When the storm passes, you can have all the powerbars and MREs you want, ok?" She got what she was looking for as she saw a slight smile pass over Rodney's mouth. "And I'll personally make sure that there are no citrus products in the bunch, what do you think?" The smile got wider, and a small chuckle escaped through his parted lips.
"Do I have your word on that, the whole smorgasborddeal? Just need to make sure so the military guys don't get on my case about the food shortage again."
"Deal," Elizabeth said as they shook his hand on it. They both knew that it was made in jest as the food shortage was a big deal in the city currently. However that was a situation to deal with once the city was recovered, and then protected from the storm.
Silence crept back between the two and they stared out at the approaching storm. The silence gave both of them time to think about all had happened since the day started. Rodney's mind played over the infliction of the wound on his arm, and how he couldn't hold out to the pain. "I tried," he whispered to the swirling air about him. The only reason that Elizabeth heard his words was because they were sitting side-by-side trying to keep warm.
"What Rodney, what did you try to do?" Elizabeth asked. While she knew the answer to her question, she also knew that he needed to get his thoughts off his chest. She wished that she had someone with which she could talk to about her ordeal, but she knew her people came first. And anyway, her story would affect Dr. McKay's ability to do his work. Telling his story would help him, and as he would then protect the city, he was more important.
Rodney looked down at the wound in his right arm. "I tried to not mention the plan to protect the city from the storm, but I have a big mouth," his voice started to sound bitter with the anger he felt toward himself. More quietly he added more to himself than to Elizabeth, "I just wanted away from the pain. Why couldn't I be more like the John, or Aiden, they wouldn't have caved in so quickly. Neither would Teyla for that matter." His eye brows shifted together, and Elizabeth could see that his eyes held a few drops of moisture that were not there because of the rain.
If the situation was not as serious, Elizabeth might have made a comment about Rodney having a big mouth and devouring any food in sight. However, Dr. Weir took the route that she knew he needed to hear. "Rodney… Rodney, look at me." Once she was sure that his gave was locked on her face, and not on the knife wound in his arm, she continued. "You did nothing wrong! If it wasn't for you, Kolya would not know that this station needs repair. And then where would we be." Elizabeth saw the pensive look on Rodney's face as he thought about the truth behind her words. "The city would have no chance. Our people would have no chance. Kolya needed to know. You did not let our people down. You did not let me down."
Elizabeth knew that she was getting through to Rodney when he stopped chewing on the bottom of his lip as he pondered over the situation. Therefore, she decided to go onto the other topic that Rodney brought up; his inability to withstand the pain of torture. "Both Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford are military," she saw Rodney start to open his mouth to make a comment so she quickly placed her right index finger over his mouth in order to signal him into silence so she could continue. "They have been trained how to deal with torture and interrogation." Elizabeth saw Rodney grimace when she mentioned the word torture, and knew that he did not want to acknowledge the harsh word as being the truth, just as she knew she would react if someone would mention to her that she was raped. "Teyla has spend her life dealing with the Wraith threat to her people, and how to protect them. We all do what we are good at. Don't beat yourself up for having a different path then your teammates." Trying to lighting up the situation Elizabeth added, "I mean really, can you see John in your shoes. Do you think that he would be able to pull brilliant technological ideas out of the air in order to protect the city time and time again?" Elizabeth let out a chuckle picturing the confused look that Major Sheppard got on his face every time Rodney went into on of his technobabble speeches. The grin on Rodney's face at least let her know that he was starting to picture what she was trying to convey to him.
Dr. Weir let the silence continue her debate with Dr. McKay. She could tell that he was mentally going over everything that she had said to him, and was weighing the truth of her words against what he logically could see. After a few minutes Elizabeth decided to continue her thoughts hoping to make Rodney feel that he was not alone in his grief and anger. "I know it is hard to deal with all that has happened today. But we must for all of Atlantis." The way Elizabeth said these words, Rodney knew that she was talking on a more personal level. He was about to ask her how she could possibly know what he was dealing with when the lights came back on. The thoughts of this conversation, and his desire to question Elizabeth slipped from his mind when he saw Kolya start to walk over to them. He knew that it was time to put his thoughts aside and deal with helping Dr. Weir save the city.