AN: Just a fast thanks for the great feedback, I'd love to reply to everyone and I still might try but it's the weekend and that's when I'm stuck dealing with things like the yardwork and errands and okay, some fun stuff, we just got home from watching Pirates 2! Anyway, here's the next part and if you're wondering, on my journal the parts are separated, here I'm combining the shorter bits into one chapter.
OoO
Sheppard woke up, disconcerted, because there wasn't any sound. He felt pretty good otherwise, but then again, he hadn't moved. Lifting his head caused the dizziness to surface, and he groaned at the resulting spike of queasy in his gut.
Still, no pain, no gain, right, John. So, up he went till he was sitting. Looking at the blurry numbers on his clock, he was surprised to see he'd slept for almost five hours…no…wait. Was that a three? Sheppard squinted, then tried with one eye, when suddenly none of it mattered, because McKay's blue shirt took up his line of sight.
Rodney's face followed, worried, then frowned and said something.
"I still can't hear you."
He jerked away.
Sheppard rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking that loud."
Moments went by, then the tablet PC was shoved into his hands, and Rodney went to get the lunch tray from Sheppard's desk.
If you were any louder they could hear you on the mainland. Trust me.
The tray with the now cold soup and even colder toast was settled on his lap and Sheppard felt he had a right to say, "I'm sure you're exaggerating." Because that's what Rodney did.
McKay snatched the tablet off his rumpled blanket and typed away with crooked fingers. When he was done, he flipped it in his hands and waited for Sheppard to read.
Cannons, Colonel. Every word is like a big iron ball fired from a massive medieval cannon.
"So now you're an ammunitions expert?" he asked, around a mouthful of…what was that stuff, anyway? It tasted like someone mixed chicken with pea soup. Suspicious, Sheppard swirled the spoon looking for identifying chunks. Maybe he should've stayed in the infirmary.
More rapid tapping.
After listening to you get blown up, yes, I am. Amazing what on the job training can do.
Dropping the spoon, because there was no way that stuff was going to go down and stay down, Sheppard pushed the tray off his lap and onto the bed. The toast was too hard. His head hurt, and he hated the quietness that blanketed him.
In short, Sheppard was feeling decidedly pissy.
"Amazing," he grunted, barely managing civility.
If he hadn't been watching Rodney, he would've missed it. The slight tilt of his head, the quicksilver annoyed frown. McKay stood, the tablet loose in his right hand, and turned away from Sheppard. He tapped the head piece in his ear, and Sheppard knew he was talking, to whom, though, that was the million dollar question. Probably not Beckett, he'd just come to Sheppard's quarters and look for himself. Weir? Or Zelenka – the two most likely possibilities.
"What is it?"
McKay's hand waved up and down in a shushing motion.
"McKay…"
Rodney turned abruptly and clasped his hand over Sheppard's mouth.
Startled would be an understatement to describe John's condition. Indignant came swiftly after. He pulled back and went to say something (this time a lot less polite) when McKay raised a finger and his mouth moved, before he tapped his ear piece for a second time, made a disgusted face at Sheppard, then lifted the tablet off the chair where it'd been discarded last.
You know…this not hearing thing was really beginning to get on his nerves.
We have a problem. How do you feel?
Sheppard read it, thought about it, didn't like it.
"What kind of problem?"
Ronon, Teyla and two scientists were exploring in the south pier. Before contact was lost they radioed in with complications.
Complications?
"The bleeding from the nose and exploding brain complications, or stuck behind a harmless door, come and get me kind?"
The tablet was whipped around, more furious typing, then…
Yes, Colonel, they had enough time to send a full report of everything that went wrong, how silly of me to neglect to tell you. Do you feel strong enough or not? I might need your 'Atlantis loves me, loves me not' gene.
McKay was waiting with patent impatience, the tablet now dropped by his thigh, his eyes widening in an 'answer me sometime today' expression. Sheppard paused, looked down; still had his boots. "I'm good."
The dizziness and deafness aside, he hadn't eaten enough of the soup and toast to throw up.
You're temporarily deaf and suffering from a concussion. I'm apprehensive of what classifies as 'not good' in your book, Colonel. Follow me, and bring your gun.
Sheppard narrowed his eyes, looked up from the tablet and met McKay's serious expression, who then tapped the screen, drawing John's gaze down for him to finish reading.
You never know, better safe than sorry, I always say. There might be more captured creatures for study kept in that area, and the odds of Ronon keeping his hands off are not so high that I'd forgo a little automatic, high velocity reassurance.
Sheppard didn't know which idea scared him more; that there might be more things like the black energy cloud in the labs just waiting for an accidental touch to free them, or, the fact that Rodney knew him so well that he'd added the tag to his first note without even needing Sheppard to react.
McKay lifted John's discarded tac vest and nine mil but they'd have to stop at the armory for the bigger guns.
Leaving his room, Sheppard followed McKay, surprised at how unsteady he felt. Wasn't so much the dizziness, though there was that, but the total lack of sound was becoming unnerving. At least he could see. Blindness…been there, done that. For a lot longer than this was supposed to be. And it'd been on another world where the situation hadn't exactly been friendly and safe.
Not that the nanovirus and energy creature were safe, but maybe Ronon and Teyla had wandered into an area that required the ATA gene to activate releases on the doors.
Simple enough to solve. They'd go, have a look around, wave their hands and poof, instant rescue. Didn't get much easier than that. Although, if the wall would straighten, and his stomach would settle, it'd be a heck of a lot easier.
The guard at the armory looked surprised to see them, but when Sheppard said, "Just going on a little search and rescue, Sergeant, precaution only," the guard stepped back, his face pained, and he quickly pulled the clipboard from the wall, flipped it around and handed Sheppard a pen.
His mouth moved in a 'sign here' kind of way.
As John signed on the dotted line, he realized no one had checked out any weapons since their trip that morning, which meant Ronon was armed with a dozen or so knives, and his super blaster, and Teyla had a knife and her nine mil, but nothing bigger. He'd have to talk to her about that. Standard procedure when scouting new areas was to have both pistol and automatic rifle.
Sheppard thrust the clipboard back to the man, staggered, straightened, and at the hesitant look, insisted, "I'm fine."
The sergeant chuckled and shook his head, before disappearing into the room.
A tap on his shoulder, and Rodney held up the tablet.
You've probably temporarily deafened half of the city by now. Are you still dizzy, because I can get Major Lorne.
"I'm not --"
McKay covered his ears, one hand free, the other still holding the tablet.
Rolling his eyes irritably (which made his head hurt), Sheppard tried to whisper. "I'm fine." He'd been about to say he wasn't dizzy but he realized he wasn't exactly fooling anyone with his steadiness issues.
The hands came down, more tapping, then:
Are you sure? Because if you think that you can't do this I'd appreciate finding out before you collapse, and I have to call Carson.
Sheppard took the weapon from the table. The sergeant had cleared the chamber and set both clips and gun on the counter for him to take. The man was still shooting him skeptical looks, so Sheppard shoved the clips into his pocket, leaving one for the P90. After it was armed, safety on, he clipped it to his vest, and turned back to McKay.
The stillness in his head was unnerving, but the adrenaline caused from the thought of going out there and facing the unknown was all ready pumping strong. Going back to his room and lying in bed wasn't gonna happen.
Realizing the sergeant was still watching them, Sheppard steered McKay forward into the hall.
And this time he managed not to walk into the wall.
Progress was good.
When it dawned on him why McKay still looked worried, Sheppard's mouth curved in a broad smile. "You didn't get Beckett's permission to take me."
Rodney visibly flinched, and Sheppard was pretty sure this time it wasn't from the decibel range of his words. McKay paused, typed, and held the tablet in front of Sheppard.
He said you were fine.
"He said I had to rest in my quarters."
And since when do you follow his instructions?
Sheppard snorted. "Only when I have too, but you, on the other hand --"
There's always exceptions. I was bored, and you look slightly less stunned. I would've asked Carson to go but he's more likely to activate a self destruct than deactivate one, so if you don't mind, shut up, and follow me. And Lorne is sleeping, something about a dog creature and lots of mud.
The little bit of chicken pea soup he'd managed to eat chose then to bubble uncomfortably in his stomach, so Sheppard actually did shut up. If his mouth was closed, hopefully the stuff inside would stay there. And, with Rodney in the lead, he couldn't see how badly Sheppard was wavering from a straight line. Realistically, he should probably have stayed in bed, but a concussion and acoustic hearing loss weren't fatal, just annoying, and the thought of Ronon and Teyla out there in possible trouble – well, thanks to McKay explaining it, he wouldn't have managed to rest, and Rodney was his best ticket into the action, even if they were both likely to get chewed out when this was over.
When he recognized they were heading to the Jumpers, Sheppard perked up a little and he forced his steps to be even steadier. This was getting better by the moment. Hatch down, he headed for his seat and brought power up.
Rodney hovered, tapped his shoulder and held the tablet in front of him.
You can't fly. You're concussed. Move.
Shoving the tablet to the side, Sheppard kept going through the short pre-flight steps. "I can see and think; it's all I need."
I'm not letting you fly me anywhere because I prefer, oh so amazingly, to remain in one piece. Either move, or I'm calling Carson. I hear the infirmary is having SOS for dinner tonight.
His hands paused over the controls. Sheppard glared at the tablet, then McKay. "That's playing dirty, Rodney."
The wince that followed gave him some satisfaction. Not much, but right now, he'd take what he could get. It took Sheppard a minute to make a decision: Teyla and Ronon or the infirmary and being bitched at now rather than later, because he was pretty sure no matter the outcome, he was going to hear how stupid this was…well, maybe not hear…hey…
The grin spread. There's only so much ranting a person is going to be willing to type. Sheppard stood, and slipped into the co-pilot's seat, but he tipped his head at Rodney as McKay settled into the now empty chair. "Threaten me with Carson again, and I'm calling your bluff, because ironically, McKay, you're the only one that'll be able to hear anything when he gets pissed."
See – not so concussed he couldn't string two logical thoughts together.
McKay finished bringing the Jumper online, tapped his ear piece and was talking while he typed something to John. He pushed the tablet across the DHD panel between the seats, and guided the ship into the air.
Carson has a long memory.
Sheppard's cocky smirk slipped. Shit. He shifted himself further into the chair and willed the dizziness, queasiness and deafness to just go the hell away all ready. Doc definitely had a long memory…he was still bringing up the nose bleed comment.
OoO
What the hell was he thinking?
Rodney wasn't moronic, he wasn't even like Sheppard who seemed to live with a thrill of doing stupid things on a daily basis, but taking the aforementioned Colonel with him on this rescue mission, even if turned into something as simple as doorman duty, was senility. Insensate moronic stupid dim-witted…oh, God, the Laufians were rubbing off on him.
It was purely, undeniably, insanity.
The ship responded jerkily under his hands, and Sheppard threw an alarmed look his way, but Rodney was too busy keeping them in the air to type on the tablet for Sheppard to just shut up with the 'don't hurt my precious Jumper' face. He hadn't crashed yet, and the same could not be said for flyboy over there. Considering the largest thing he'd ever flown was his model rocket in fourth grade, McKay thought he was doing a pretty decent job learning to fly spaceships.
"Rodney, Carson wanted an update on how John was doing before you left."
Elizabeth's worried voice filtered through, and almost reflexively, he darted a look at Sheppard, who sat oblivious to the call, still clutching the console in front of him as if Rodney was going to nose dive them into the ocean.
McKay was a decent piano player, an accomplished chess player, and an amazing physicist, but as far as his ability to lie went, he was woefully inadequate. He'd never seen a lot of reason in white lies, or blunting the truth, and for something he'd always taken a high degree of pride in, it was getting him into a lot of trouble since gating to Atlantis; both with the natives, and everyone else. Not that he minded the 'everyone else', but the natives part was proving to be a problem. A real, annoying problem.
"Sheppard was fine when I left."
See. He didn't lie. Sheppard had said he was fine when they'd left his quarters. Better to tell the truth, and the part they didn't know…
"I'll tell him that. What's your ETA?"
Rodney jerked, the ship shuddered and Sheppard went a little green. Damn it. He had enough to worry about; stop looking at Sheppard. The south pier loomed ahead, the open area that was meant for ships to land, clear and waiting. "Right now," he said. "Any word from Teyla or Zelenka?"
"No, we haven't heard anything after the last transmission."
Damn. Exploring Atlantis was like playing with old land mines. You never knew when it was going to blow up in your face. Teyla and Ronon had volunteered to escort Zelenka and Simpson on a trip to explore some newly found labs that looked promising. Teyla had radioed that they were having difficulties with transmitting and getting controls to respond in that area, then a garbled message came through that sounded like they had gotten trapped before the control room had lost all contact.
"Watch it!" shouted Sheppard.
Everything he said was shouted.
McKay cringed, and snapped, "I'm trying, thank you very much! If you'd quit shouting at me…"
Sheppard was watching Rodney's mouth move with an irritated but kind of sad look, and it caused McKay's annoyance to pause momentarily. That's why he'd brought Sheppard…some indefinable reason to make the colonel feel normal even in the middle of his silent world. And if Carson was wrong about it taking twenty-four hours, Rodney would never let him forget.
The landing wasn't going to get him on the Thunderbirds…well, actually, considering he was flying a spaceship, it should…the small bounce might have helped Sheppard's hearing because the colonel was shaking his head.
"Where's the hoop?"
Huh?
Sheppard stood, wavered, blanched then swallowed forcefully. McKay held his breath, waiting. God, if he threw up on Rodney, the naked jokes he was storing for later would be posted on the city wide memos. How many Laufians does it take to undress Colonel Sheppard…
…ten, one to pull off his clothes, the other nine to describe it.
Before he could bother typing 'what are you implying', Sheppard straightened.
"Lead the way, Rodney."
Yes, well, maybe later then. A good joke is like wine, after all.
McKay stood, handed the tablet to Sheppard, mouthing slowly, "Hold. That." He pulled the LSD from his vest and flipped it on, double checked his gear, then lowered the hatch, walking out into the fresh salt air.
The walkway to the doors was refreshingly brisk, and they were there in moments. With a quick glance back to make sure Sheppard was still on his feet and following, McKay ran his palm over the panel. The door responded like normal, so whatever had been causing problems was more localized to the lab section the others had been exploring.
The LSD showed four signals in a diagonal line from their current position, about twenty meters away. McKay showed Sheppard and the colonel nodded, winced, and turned his head to cough into his fist, the tablet still held in his other hand, P90 hanging from the clip on his vest.
Why had he brought Sheppard?
Impulsive. That was his problem. Rodney was too impulsive, always had been, and really, he needed to stop doing that. The pay off was usually in negative reciprocity. Like taking the ZPM from the planet filled with suicidal children – they'd almost gotten shot full of arrows, and culled by the wraith, all in the same day. Then his running off about needing a significant catalyst to start the nuclear explosion in the Genii's weapons, and 'of course we have something', and there was that time he told Allina…
"Rodney, is Colonel Sheppard with you?"
McKay's feet froze, and Sheppard ran into him.
Thinking fast, Rodney tapped his ear piece, and started walking again.
"-ay again 'rson….eaking up."
At Sheppard's puzzled look, McKay just beamed. He was a genius.
Before Carson could try again, Rodney turned off the radio. It'd happened to the others, so, instant believability, and when this was over, he'd conveniently find Sheppard napping in the media room or some other innocuous place, and that'd keep them both from getting into a lot of trouble. Elizabeth's patience had been wearing a little thin lately, and Rodney wondered if it didn't have something to do with that time of the month, but he had enough self preservation to keep those comments to himself. Impulsive only took you so far before it left you hanging by the noose.
"What was that about?"
Rodney gritted his teeth. "Volume control, Sheppard. Volume control," he muttered, snatching the tablet and typing.
Required check-in. We're good. Are you ready?
They had made unfettered progress and were now outside the door that separated them from the life signs. As they'd moved inward there were some disturbing signs of damage. Walls growing algae, puddles on the floor, shorted lights above.
"I'm fine."
The assurance boomed behind McKay. Cannons, little Sheppard volleyed cannons. Throwing a glance over his shoulder, Rodney narrowed his eyes because Sheppard looked a lot less than fine. He was still pale, and his eyes had lost what little ability they'd regained earlier in focusing.
Oh, god, this was a bad idea. Why had he brought Sheppard? Was he that desperate for reassurance that the colonel was fine and still alive after their little incident this morning that he was going to risk life and limb when Carson got his hands on them?
The appalling answer was standing unsteadily behind him.
Doomed. They were doomed.
Well, the bright side of one foot in the grave was it's a smaller step the rest of the way. McKay nodded curtly, and turned back to the panel, moving his palm across the control.
Nothing. Not even a sound.
Sheppard pushed McKay to the side and confidently ran his hand across the control.
The door remained stubbornly shut.
McKay rolled his eyes at Sheppard, and grabbed the tablet.
Think it open harder. If you can.
The last part he added because if Sheppard could do it to him (hello, 'we're all going to die so you better figure something out'), so could Rodney. A dare and a prod was the sure fire way to get the colonel focused.
When he'd found the personal shield, it'd taken forever for Rodney to convince Sheppard to shoot him. He'd finally gotten pissed and took the pistol from Sheppard and pointed it at his chest, pulling the trigger. The ricochet had taken out a row of beakers and sent scientists scurrying for cover, but he'd seen the delighted twinkle in Sheppard's eyes as he took the pistol back, ran a hand over McKay's chest and breathed, "Wow."
Then Sheppard had pointed at McKay's leg and fired without even warning him! It turned out his fear of the shield only protecting the immediate area was unfounded, but that would've been a very bad, painful way of finding out the shielded area was limited.
McKay had yelped (only a little and with perfectly warranted reason) saying, "My chest, Major! I didn't say my legs, arms or anything else sticking out from my body!"
Then Sheppard had dragged him off to the balcony and the rest was history…
"Hang on a sec."
Sheppard's thundering voice brought him out of his memories, and McKay watched as the colonel rested his palm on the panel, head against the door. The latter was probably an excuse to not fall over.
A second, two, three…time ticked and McKay was about to wake Sheppard back up because this was taking sleeping on the job to new levels, when suddenly the door jerked open, causing Sheppard to fall forward. In his rush to catch the colonel before he hit the ground, he lurched forward also, and his mind barely caught the shouted, "Do not let door – kurva!"
The door closed behind him, Rodney barely getting his feet clear, trying to keep Sheppard from hitting the ground. So far they were both upright, but McKay didn't think it was going to last.
"Now you tell me!" he snapped at Zelenka.
Teyla raised her head off her knees, dejected and weary. "Rodney, the doors will not respond from inside. You have just become as trapped as we are."
OoO
