Chapter 23
It's the Hard-Knock Life for Us
"Well, I got nothing," confessed Rodney. "Bates go ahead and stun us now, 'cuz here they come."
He received a hard, unforgiving glare. "I thought you were a genius, McKay. The tighter the situation the better you thought. Hmm, guess Kavanagh was right, nothing but show."
"All show, hunh? Well who got us this far? Certainly wasn't old Kavanagh slinking back to Earth with his tail firmly between his legs. He may have not been the saboteur, but he was hiding something."
"Dr. McKay, now is not the time," counseled Teyla. "Maybe, this discussion can continue when we have more time to discuss it at length."
The darts grew closer and closer to the Odyssey. One of the groups had already reached one of the Ha'taks. The Al'kesh, F-302's and Death Gliders intercepted all those they could. There were just too many. Plus, they were not even trying to get to the planet anymore and concentrated fire on the little armada.
"Taking evasive maneuvers," Emerson said throughout the ship. "Brace for impact!"
"Carter, anything? All I'm getting is babble from the peanut gallery." McKay looked at her expectantly. If anyone could think of a way out, it was Sam. She might only come in a distant second, but she too shined under the gun.
And by the look on her face, he was not about to be disappointed. "Ullr, can you home in on all the darts pilots?"
"Lt. Col. Carter, I will not transport them into space." He blinked a couple of times to show his resolve in this matter.
"I'm not asking you to. Just transport them out of their ships, we'll figure out what to do with them later, much later. Can they be held in the computer indefinitely?"
Everyone staggered as the ship rocked from another explosion close to it. The Odyssey made another sharp bank making them hang onto the consoles to keep their balance.
"That I can do…give me a moment…"
Rodney walked up to her and planted a big one on her lips. Carter eyes widened and she sputtered incredulously.
"Now you know what you're missing, Carter," he said without reservation. If he was about to die, no regrets. If not, oh hell, same reasoning. Carpe diem. Or the head of a blond you've had a crush on since you met her.
Ullr kept his head down and mumbled about monkeys and their strange carnal behaviors. Teyla looked away as well, but the big smile on her face was hard to hide. Bates just rolled his eyes.
After wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve, Carter contacted Emerson. "We're going to try and beam all the darts pilots into the matrix."
"Understood, feel free to do it at any time," Emerson replied as another explosion narrowly missed the ship.
Ullr's nimble fingers flew across his symbol board, "Engaging transporter, now."
Almost instantaneously, all darts floated dead in space continuing on their original courses. Without the pilots to guide them, they shut off and started to drift and wobble. The intercept ships had easy pickings and the little images of dart disappeared from the screen in satisfying increments. Hoots of joy came from all the pilots in the F-302's. Thanks came from all Jaffa pilots. Blinding Light listed in space and called for assistance from the Harbinger of Justice amidst cheers and songs.
"Well done Odyssey!" Master Bra'tac called out over the distance. "We will take care of our sister ship."
Everyone turned around and smiled at Ullr. "Please, do not think you need to press your lips anywhere on me."
"Wouldn't think of it Ullr," retorted Carter while giving Rodney a wary glance. The sounds of clapping and cheering from around their own ship came across the airwaves. "Guess you might want to go check on your teammates, hmm McKay?" Carter asked with a nervous lilt in her voice ready to fend him off.
Rodney and Teyla exchanged glances and gave nods.
"But first Ullr, can you do the same thing to those Wraith on the planet?" McKay asked snapping his fingers.
"Unfortunately, they are in too close of contact with the others. It is a little harder, but I will see what I can do."
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This Wraith is of a higher class, Ronon thought as a third punch landed on his jaw. He went staggering backwards and into an unoccupied bed. He watched the creature stalk forward and ready another hit. Ronon righted himself and cast his eyes around looking for his weapon. It had been knocked from his hand the first instant the Wraith materialized in front of him. This opponent had been ready to fight.
It was a fruitless search so he grabbed a tray off a small table. Keeping his full attention on the fight was not helped by Beckett's constant interruptions. He blocked the next punch with his upheld forearm and slammed the tray into the side of the Wraith's head. It recovered quickly.
This opponent was a warrior. It was not leveling taunts and trying to feed. There was something else on its mind. It fought hard and kept looking towards the gathering group. Ronon was sure that was where Sheppard was too. Leave it to his team leader to draw an audience.
However, he knew something this foul creature did not know. This Wraith was going to lose. Another security guard approached from behind and shot him with a Zat. The creature faltered and tried to force its way to the crowd. He was hit with another shot and dropped to floor. The third shot made him disappear all together.
By the Ancestors, he loved those weapons.
Another soldier brought him his beloved and went on to the next hitchhiker. Ronon went towards the silent group. As he approached, he heard gunfire in a rapid concussive succession, then a pause and one last shot. Dramatic, Sheppard was dramatic so that had to be him. Everyone else used the Zats to take the Wraith down. Sheppard preferred slugs. He easily made his way past personnel attending the injured and those trying to get a view of what was happening. Being tall helped. He could see where he wanted to go.
"Ronon, my lad, now would be a good time to come say 'hi' to your team leader."
Ronon heard a chorused Whoa! before the whole crowd started to move back. Now he felt like a Mulo river crawler trying to move against the current. He pushed and shoved his way towards the center of the disturbance. He smiled as he neared the center of the crowd. Sheppard was tossing soldiers left and right. He recognized some as his moves. He recognized some as Teyla's. And some, they were pure Sheppard.
"Ronon my fighting style is using a helo and big ass guns to annihilate a target. Hand to hand is not my primary thing. Homer Simpson is my hero…I'll introduce you to him later…his advice is to cower like a girl…not Teyla…and wait for them to turn their back. When they are laughing so hard that they forget you are even there, you pick up the two by four and hit them as hard as possible across the back of the head. Not very sporting, but it's effective."
Sheppard meant- you do what you have to do when battling for your life. Ronon wholeheartedly agreed with that philosophy. He also knew he had been right. Sheppard was a student. Correction, he was a sponge. Sheppard was using moves that he knew Teyla had only shown Ronon. There were other moves that Sheppard had only seen Ronon use on some of the more experienced and advanced fighters. Sheppard had learned them and now used them to defend himself from this perceived threat. Ronon also suspected that Sheppard was tiring. His breathes came in gasps and his muscles shook.
He stepped up next to Beckett and gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"Glad you could make it, lad. It's the enzyme." Ronon knew that weight all too well. He did not envy the colonel's withdrawal from the drug. Hopefully, it would be easier since- and he was guessing- it was natural and not processed. Also, he did not have a build-up in his system. If she fed on him, which seem rather obvious from the wounds, the enzyme would most likely have left with the life force or not been that great a dose to begin with anyway. Only one way to find out and that was with time.
He paused for another minute and watched for an opening. One well meaning young soldier was pushed hard and another who was trying to subdue the crazed pilot without hurting him was elbowed in the euphemistic bread basket. Stackhouse was trying to reason with his CO, but was not getting anywhere. He finally joined in only to be tripped and knocked flat on his back as a reward for his efforts.
Sheppard must have been lucid enough to know not to use lethal force. It did not stop him from breaking one soldier's arm and smashing his sidearm into another's head. Ronon stepped right on into the middle of the fracas without removing beloved from her holster. Sheppard dispatched the next contestant who had come on down and spun around to end up with his weapon aimed at Ronon's chin. The gun wavered with the rest of Sheppard's body. Tremors made his head shake and his eyes blinked in a quick series of flutters. The weapon remained trained and his grip remained tight.
Ronon grinned as wide as he could and showed as many teeth as he could. He hoped it had 'welcome home' written all over it. Others tried sneaking up from behind, but one quick glance from Ronon's eyes halted their movement. I've got it from here.
Sheppard's blinking slowed and a genuine smile of his own spread across his face. His fog lifted allowing him to recognize the long awaited familiar face.
"Why did they have to transport us to the embarkation room; why not down here?" An exasperated voice asked from somewhere behind Ronon. The know-it-all voice ripped through the assembly right to Ronon's ears. "Don't they realize I'm still trying to regain muscle strength and equilibrium from your…" The voice stopped for a second. "Why's it so quiet in here…oh."
Ronon felt Teyla's gentle touch on his back as well as mentally grimaced at McKay's chittering approach. All the while, he continued to grin at his team leader. Sheppard looked at each of his team members and let the gun fall to his side. His head shook even more and the blinking increased once again. His smile also remained.
"Specialist Ronon Dex, name and rank. Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Tagan, I like Ferris wheels…" Sheppard took a shaky step forward pushing past Ronon and stood nose to nose with McKay. He grabbed McKay by the back of the head and bent it forward to look at the back of his neck. The smile faded as he stared at the healing scars.
Rodney stood back up and Sheppard held him by the shoulders with the gun still in his hand as he peered into McKay's eyes. He swallowed before speaking, "Dr. Rodney McKay…"
"Don't you say it Sheppard."
"Supaaa Geeniuuus…and royal pain in my ass."
"I hate you so much."
The purity of the two men's smiles matched one another. The moment was broken by the trembling escalating to a near seizure quality. Sheppard stumbled. His arms fell to his side and the gun fell from his hand with a loud clatter on the floor. Sheppard looked at the floor and then at the ceiling. "At least the snow's melted here in Walton's Mountain."
Ronon caught him on the way down and Carson pushed his way in between the teammates. "Colonel? Colonel, can you hear me?" Beckett began his precursory checks. "Help me move him to that bed over there."
Stackhouse appeared and assisted Ronon in getting the quaking Sheppard to the bed. "The rest of the Wraith have been dealt with Doc. Should be no more interference from here on out. The Odyssey took the last remaining ones away."
"Anyone with medical training, get with Dr. Lam to help out! The rest of you, please remove yourselves, except those on security detail, of course." He looked at Sheppard's team. "You can stand back and out of the way. I know better than to try and tell you to leave."
Ronon looked around at all the beds with people in them and smirked. They had done a truly miraculous thing today. He wanted every Wraith out there to know that. He wanted them to squirm.
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Hands all over. This time he could fight them. But it was not like before. Softer, maybe? Gentler, definitely. But, he would not be able to handle someone touching him for a very long time.
He was home…as in Earth home and he knew it. Earth was safe. He was safe. But at what cost?
Still, they had no right to touch him.
"Colonel, the last thing I want to do is restrain you. But if you keep fighting me, I'm going to have to."
He could not stop shaking. Every ounce of energy flowing through him a few minutes ago was draining away. Yet, he could not quite trust his eyes and ears. He tried to shove all the doubts away; it just was not working.
And, he was a bastard. He had to tell them what he had let happen. He could still see their tiny little hands trying to pry hers off. He could still hear tiny high pitched voices begging, pleading, and crying for their mothers. He could still hear their little screams as she did the deed. The lambs were so loud. Bleating, yes, they had been bleating for him to help. He wanted to laugh, to silence them from inside his head. Silence those lambs, Clarice…with a nice Chianti.
He looked around. What if their parents survived and found out he had let their babies die because he would not endanger the children of Earth anymore than they already were? What if…
"Col. Sheppard." It was a rich, feminine voice. "Col. Sheppard, you must let Dr. Beckett examine you."
"Teyla? The little kids…"
A pair of hands grabbed him on both sides of his head. His eyes widened and he panicked. That intimate move was way too reminiscent of her. He locked his eyes on the pair of brown ones boring into him. They were not tangerine. They were not the blistering fire of fanaticism, sadism and hunger. They were familiar and warm and safe and Teyla's. It really was Teyla and Carson and Ronon and Rodney and Stackhouse…he was pretty sure, at least.
"I know, Col. Sheppard. She let me see. The children are all safe. Earth's children are safe. She is gone; you made sure of that. She will hurt no one else. You are home."
"B-but, their parents? What will I tell their parents?"
"We will cross that bridge when the ship plows into it."
He looked at her, confused.
"Uh, Teyla, it's- cross that bridge when we get to it."
"I know Dr. McKay, but I like Col. Caldwell's version better." She stood up and gently let go of his head letting it sink into the pillow. It was going to be a while before human contact became normal again and his skin stopped crawling from just the lightest of touches.
Sheppard allowed himself to relax. He still trembled but did not fight the hands anymore. "Hey Doc," he said to Beckett as the doctor checked his arms from where he had pulled out the needles when he removed the webbing. "I think my shoulder's doing better, but I really don't know what they had going on below the waist."
"Well Colonel, let's just say, you gave a whale of a burlesque revue," McKay piped in. "Those pantyhose don't hide much."
Sighing loudly and purposefully ignoring McKay, he continued on, "My back Doc…"
"We'll get there in due time. First things first, let's get you stable and warm and give you a thorough going over." Beckett patted him on the shoulder and nodded to Teyla. He pulled a curtain around as she stepped back out of the way.
Sheppard let his eyes close for the first time in a long time without reservations. He closed them without having to worry how he would wake up: a hand on his chest or screams from yet another meal devoured for his viewing displeasure. There was only one question left and he was not sure if he wanted the answer for that either…or a mirror.
His eyes flew open as Beckett began inspecting his feeding wounds. He yelled and tried to shove Beckett away. Okay, maybe he was not as relaxed as he thought. Maybe, he could not take anyone touching him ever again, especially there.
Beckett held his hands up and apologized, "That was stupid of me Colonel. I will warn you the next time."
Sheppard was not sure if that would even help. His heart raced and he felt like the air just could not get into his lungs fast enough. "I'm…sorry…" he panted out.
Beckett stuck his head outside of the curtain. "Tracy, I need your help." He turned back to Sheppard and smiled. "No Colonel, I'm sorry. I need to check the wounds though. I'll give you a minute."
Sheppard realized his stay on Earth might be extended. He could not do his job in this condition. That was a worry for another day and only after he mustered up enough courage to look into the mirror.
"OK Doc, as they say, 'Try, try again.' Give it one more shot." This time he grabbed Tracy's offered hand and kept his eyes open.
And tried not to scream as Carson's face turned into Lucy's stark, white, grotesque cartoon caricature for a pulse increasing second.
He could do this. He had won. It was Carson. It was Teyla. It was Rodney. It was Ronon. It was over. Lucy was dead.
"Colonel, I'm going to clean the area now…tender morsel…"
Carson went flying.
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A/N: Well looky here, another little ol' storm. Adios Alberto. Lucky, lucky us.
The bunnies are cozy in their hutch and snacking on carrots. They continue to appreciate the feedback from everyone. We're getting there folks and congrats to all those who've stayed with me. I knew this one was going to be long and it's been fun to write.