Chapter 3

Elizabeth leaned forwards to grab John's arm, but he hit it away as he jumped out of the bed, pressing himself into a corner. His eyes were wild, almost feral as they darted from person to person. Dr Beckett stepped forwards.

"Calm down Colonel, you're in the infirmary." John's head started to shake; his voice was rough and full of anger.

"No." Elizabeth moved slowly past Carson, gesturing to Ronon and Teyla to stay back. His eyes locked on to hers, and she had to stop from gasping. His eyes were so full of pain and anger, his entire face was contorted into a grimace.

"Stay away from me" he snapped, biting off the words.

"John, we just want to help you."

"No. This is wrong. This is a trick. You're all dead!" Suddenly, he leapt at Elizabeth, grabbing her by the throat and hurling her towards Ronon and Teyla, leaving all three of them sprawled on the floor. He punched Carson, sending him spinning onto Rodney's bed, who looked on, shocked and powerless. John ran out of the infirmary, leaving his shocked friends behind.

Elizabeth was the first to recover. She rose slowly to her feet, breathing deeply as nurses rushed towards them.

"I'm fine, look after Dr Beckett. Ronon, Teyla, put together search teams. They are to be armed only with stunners." Ronon pulled Teyla to her feet.

"Yes Dr Weir." Elizabeth stared after them as they left, then she tapped her radio.

"Control Room, this is Weir. Lock down the city. All non-military personnel are to stay where they are, all military troops not needed by Teyla and Ronon are to secure the checkpoints."

"Right away ma'am. What's happening?" Elizabeth ran one hand through her hair.

"Colonel Sheppard has just escaped from the infirmary. He appears confused, and is violent. We need to find him. Have Zelenka locate him on the bio-scanner, and despatch teams as soon as you locate him." With that, she turned off the radio. As she turned to leave, Rodney spoke.

"Elizabeth?" She whirled around

"WHAT?" The nurses tending to Dr Beckett and the other patients in the infirmary all looked around as he jumped.

"I just wanted to say…. We'll get him." Elizabeth swallowed away the lump in her throat, and replied in a more normal voice.

"I'm sorry. You're right, we will get him." She left the infirmary and ran to the control room, passing soldiers already covering transporters and key rooms in the central tower. When she arrived, she saw Teyla, Ronon, Major Lorne, and dozens of soldiers standing in the gate room.

"Report." They looked at her strangely. She realised how cold and military her voice sounded. "I mean, what's happening?" Dr Zelenka pressed a few control crystals on the bio-scanner.

"One moment, I just need to...there!" They all crowded round the device. There were hundreds of dots spread out across the city, but most were staying still. Only one was moving quickly away from the central areas.

"That has to be him." Major Lorne remarked. "Oh shit!"

"What is it Major?" Elizabeth asked, wondering what else could have gone wrong.

"Look, he's stopped. Unless I'm reading this wrong, he's inside one of the secondary armouries."

"Jesus." Elizabeth pushed away from the console. "Put me on city-wide."

"John? This is Elizabeth. I know you can hear me, and I know that you're scared, and confused. We just want to help you John, please. Just walk back to the control room; we'll meet you on the way. Please." The dot on the screen didn't move, then it left the armoury, and moved rapidly away, in the direction of the Northern Pier.

"Damn. Where's he going?" She looked around the control room, and saw only confusion. Then Zelenka looked up.

"Wait, he's entering a transporter."

"What?" She turned on the control officer. "I thought you locked them down!"

"I, I did" he stammered. "Sheppard's ancient gene must have overridden the locks."

"Where is he now?" Zelenka looked frustrated.

"I have to reacquire him, one second. Ah, he's..." Zelenka's voice trailed off, his face turning white.

"What is it? Radek?"

"He's, he's heading for the main drive unit at the base of the control tower. Only one reason to go there. If he has C4, he can blow the power regulator systems, then he can use computer to cause energy surge, trigger chain reaction throughout the drive system. The whole city..."

"Oh my God" Lorne breathed as the realisation hit them. Elizabeth turned to him.

"Stop him. Do whatever it takes. Teyla, I want you and Ronon to go with the teams, try and talk him out of it. Ronon" The tall warrior cut her off.

"My gun's already set to stun. I can take him."

"Good. Go get him." They nodded and left the control room.

"Radek, why can't we just shut down power to the drive?" The scientist stared at her for a moment.

"Of course, but it would mean shutting down all main power. The drive systems are permanently interlinked with main ZPM in case of sabotage."

"Radek, this is an emergency. Cut power to the city."

"Ok, done" The lights flickered, then went out. "But he still has C4, lots of it. He can still do damage, cause flooding."

SGA-SGA-SGA

Ronon moved down the darkened hallway. Teyla and Major Lorne followed him closely behind. On the life-signs detector in Major Lorne's hand, two other teams of marines were closing in on the Colonel's position.

Lorne tapped his radio

"Team two, he's heading towards you."

"Copy that, we're holding position... I see him" Then, over the radio they heard "Colonel Sheppard, stop! I said stop godammit! Open fire!" Gunfire echoed around the corridors and through the radio."

"Shit. Let's go!" Ronon yelled over his shoulder as he ran towards the noise. They skidded to a halt as they saw the bodies.

"Doc, get a medical team down here. Sheppard just took out one of our teams. They seem to only be unconscious though. No, shit! Sgt Barrows is down with a shot in the arm, and the chest, but he's breathing ok."

"Understood Major, we're on our way. Catch the poor bugger before he puts anyone else in my infirmary!" Despite the situation, all three laughed

"Copy that. Lorne out."

"Alright, enough of this containment crap. Let's get him." Teyla and Lorne had Wraith stunner pistols, and Ronon had his blaster. They moved away as the medical team arrived.

"Ok, he's about 100 metres down this passageway. Weird, he's just standing there."

"We should approach slowly; we do not want to scare him." Teyla said.

"Agreed, but Ronon, be ready. That blaster works faster than our stunners and we have to take him down if he tries anything."

They moved slowly down the dark corridor, until they came to a triangular intersection. John stood there, a stunner in one hand, the C4 remote detonator in the other, illuminated by their flashlights. A P90 lay abandoned by his feet. Teyla moved forward, drawing his attention away from Ronon, whose hand was right next to his holster.

"Colonel Sheppard, please put them down." He didn't answer, didn't even blink. He just kept staring at them.

"Colonel, you do not wish to hurt us, and you do not want to destroy Atlantis."

"Atlantis is gone. This is a trick, and I'm going to end it." His voice was a low rasp, devoid of any human emotion save rage.

"Colonel, I don't know what you've been through, but this is no trick. If you press that button, people will die."

"No. You're already dead." He suddenly raised his stunner and fired, catching Lorne off guard and knocking him out. Teyla was also surprised, but Ronon drew his blaster in one swift move and fired at the hand holding the detonator. John dropped the detonator, and with a roar of rage hurled himself onto Ronon, hitting him with fists, feet, elbows. They dropped to the ground, still struggling. In the few seconds it took for Ronon to kick John away, Teyla had recovered, and shot John twice with the stunner. A shocked look crossed his face, as he tried to rise to his feet, then collapsed back to the ground, unconscious. Teyla helped Ronon to his feet.

"Nice shot."

"Likewise. Dr Weir, this is Teyla. We have captured Colonel Sheppard. I suggest that a demolitions team find and disarm the explosives."

"They're already on their way. Good work Teyla."

SGA-SGA-SGA

John once again lay in the infirmary bed. This time, however, he was in restraints. Two guards stood inside the infirmary, and another two watched the corridor outside. After seeing what the colonel had done to an entire security team, no one thought it was overkill.

"What's wrong with him?" Elizabeth asked, turning away from John to look at Carson.

"I don't know. We've run all the tests, this is our John Sheppard. The DNA is a match. I'm sorry Elizabeth, but at this point I have no idea what to do."

She nodded slowly, her face a grim mask of control.

"Let me know the second he wakes up. Maybe he'll be more willing to talk..."

Carson smiled sadly and nodded.

"Aye, maybe. Now you go and get some rest, doctor's orders."

Elizabeth walked out of the infirmary, and walked slowly and calmly to her quarters, greeting expedition members she encountered on the way. The mask of control lasted until she made it inside her room. Then she started to scream. It started out low, almost a moan, and then rose to an expression of all the anger and loss she felt inside. She grabbed a chair, and flung it away from her, sending it crashing into her bed. Stacks of paper were sent flying as she violently swept her desk clean. She collapsed onto the bed, scarcely able to breath, gulping for air around the sobs as she rhythmically pounded her sheets.

Slowly she came back to reality, the wave of energy spent. She looked around the room, seeing what she had done. She was numb, hollowed out and empty. She couldn't move, and couldn't fight the numbing tiredness that drifted through her as she slowly slipped into dreams.

To be continued...

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