Chapter 5: Meeting of Minds
Rodney's POV
Two endless hours later, we were still searching, which was definitely not a good sign. Neither was the silence from a certain pint-sized trouble magnet. All I wanted at this point was for one or both of them to figure out how to go one week, just one, without causing nine kinds of trouble and giving me a migraine. I mean, really, was that too much to ask? Only one crisis at a time? Even geniuses have their limits, after all.
Currently, I was trailing behind our little group of Ronon, Teyla, Elizabeth, and Carson, pecking away at my PC tablet, trying to fix the internal sensors. Radek was in the Control Room coordinating the search parties, as well as working the problem from his end, not that either of us were having much luck.
"McKay!"
Ronon's low rumble brought my head up to see my companions stopped by yet another door that was currently without power.
"Again! At this rate, Sheppard'll be dead of old age before we find him!"
With an exasperated glare, I shouldered my team mate aside, not caring if I were once again being rude. The unrepaired damages to Atlantis were causing major delays for all the search parties, and I couldn't shake the dreadful feeling that it would result in us being too late. No matter how insane the man drove me, I couldn't imagine the city without that cocky, devil-may-care fly boy.
If he has the gall to be dead, I'll find a way to bring him back so I can kill him myself!
Frowning, I bent over the door controls, examining the configuration of the crystals. Just as I was about to connect my tablet in, though, the power came on, showering me with sparks. With a yelp, I leaped back, cursing as my com came on.
"Rodney, power should be on in your section now, yes?"
Radek, with his usual impeccable timing.
"Damn it, you almost electrocuted me, you Czech menace! If you fry me, then where will Atlantis be?"
"A great deal quieter and more sane?" My second shot back at me, irritation making his accent thicker than usual. "The door is open, yes?"
"Yes!"
"What is problem, then? Stop the yelling and start the finding of Colonel Sheppard!"
With that, Radek clicked off, leaving me to the impatient looks of my companions. Elizabeth's tight lips said quite clearly that I wasn't the only one whose gut was twisting into a knot over Colonel Murphy's Law. Damn the man.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming. Watch where you put your hands until I get the cover back on this thing."
I was exhausted, worried, irritated, and about to the point where I needed to eat or my hypoglycemia was going to kick in. Maybe that accounts for the brain-dead nature of what I did next. If my underlings find out about it, I'll never hear the end of it.
Without thinking, I reached in to grab one of the crystals that was slightly out of place, and the source of the sparks when the power had been restored. Dumb, since I knew it had live current running through it now. Just as I touched it, someone grabbed my shoulder and I heard a loud snap. I felt myself flung backwards and detected just the slightest whiff of burned genius in the air as I blacked outWaking up after getting yourself crisped is never pleasant. On the plus side, I could now compare notes on the fine points of being electrocuted with Sam Carter the next time I saw her. Granted, I'd then have to listen to her reminding me that her injuries were partially my fault in the first place, never mind that I was only trying to save the world yet again. Some people have no sense of gratitude. With a groan, I realized someone was talking to me... and that I didn't actually hurt anywhere.
Okay, not hurting and not drugged. Not good.
"-ney? Rodney, can ya hear me?"
Oh, goody, my favorite practitioner of voodoo! This infirmary bed's awful hard and cold, though!
"Go away, Carson, I'm too busy dying."
"Yer not dyin', lad, and I'd appreciate a little help figurin' out what just happened! We're in the bloody Control Room an' nobody's here!"
"What!" I sat up in shock, gazing around. "How did we get here? We were just in one of the lower areas of the West section looking for Sheppard!"
Who did what now!
My answer was an exasperated Scottish eye roll. "I know that, ya daft bugger! That's why I asked you!"
Whoops! The Scottish volcano is still plenty hot!
Without answering, I allowed the other man to help me to my feet, his doctoring gaze quickly assessing me for any possible injuries. I could have saved him the trouble by pointing out that I wasn't complaining, but why bother? I was more interested in our surroundings. Everything looked normal, with computers sitting open and running, a systems diagnostic pulled up, but there weren't any people.
Wait a minute! Systems diagnostic?
Eyes narrowed, I went directly for the desk, tapping away insistently to pull up the portion of the report I wanted.
"Come on, come on...YES! Internal sensors are on-line! Now... No, that can't possibly be right, you stupid thing!" I was muttering to myself when I felt my shoulder grabbed.
"Rodney! What the bloody hell is goin' on?"
What is it with people and interrupting me lately?
"This computer is showing all Atlantis' systems up and running, including the sensors, but its not detecting any people." I explained with a disgusted wave back at the offending electronic device. "And-"
This time I was cut off by a muffled cry and a tiny blur hurtling directly at a flabbergasted Carson. On pure instinct, the doctor held out his arms, catching the tiny little girl who flung herself recklessly into him. Immediately, the child buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing, as the Scot tried to sooth her.
"Easy, easy now, lass, its all right. Rodney and I won't be lettin' anythin' hurt you."
I could see my friend's hand gently stroking golden blond hair that tumbled down to just above the bow on the child's pink dress. The problem was I'd never seen the little rug rat before in my life. She certainly wasn't one of the Athosian children, and nobody brought families from Earth...
It can't be! It isn't possible, is it?
Carson, meanwhile, had hooked the rolling desk chair with a foot and sank down onto it, rocking slowly back and forth with his armful. Thankfully, his actions were at least lessening the annoying sobbing. I mean, really, is there anything worse than a snot-nosed brat making more snot accompanied by high decibels of noise?
Softly, a tiny voice actually started to speak coherently, albeit accompanied by sniffs.
"J-John's hurt, you h-have ta help h-him! The p-power surge!"
Well, that confirmed my suspicions as to who this was and what was going on. Somehow, Allie had managed to draw both Carson and I into the virtual world that Sheppard had described meeting her in. We were inside the computer! A gasp from the doctor drew my attention back to the sitting duo just in time to see the man pale by several shades. I smiled tightly. He'd just figured out at least some of what was going on.
"Are you Allie, then, lass?"
Gold curls bobbed up and down. Much as it pains me to admit it, Sheppard was right, the girl was adorable. For a rug rat, anyway. And she just might be able to help me save his bony butt yet again. Feeling the fool, I knelt down in front of the chair.
"Can you tell us where Sheppard is?" I asked pointedly, receiving a glare from Carson over the child's head. "What!"
"Don't be mindin' Rodney, lass, he has tha sensitivity of a plateful of haggis. Can ya give us any idea o' where ta look?"
"A plate of what!" I couldn't help it. I squeaked.
"Meat stuffed in sheep's intestine. It's a delicacy. I'll have Mum make ya some the next time we're on Earth." Carson calmly answered, causing Allie to giggle.
I could feel the blood draining from my face. "Ah, no, no, that's not necessary, really. That's just... gross!" Another giggle, louder this time. "Oh, so glad you find this funny, twerp. May I remind both of you that we were trying to figure out where the hell in this gigantic city Sheppard is this time?"
The child abruptly sobered at my sharp rebuke, giving me a sad, serious look. Suddenly, she reminded me strongly of Elizabeth when things were getting truly ugly. A single tear raced down one rosy pink cheek.
"I was afraid I'd keep hurting him, like you said, Dr. McKay, so I made a wall between us. It didn't hold when the power surge went through me, though, and he was hurting before that. I don't know where he was, just that it was on a balcony."
I could have quite cheerfully let Ronon pummel me at that point. If I'd just kept my mouth shut, we'd not only have known something was wrong sooner, Allie'd probably know where he was. Not even I could deny my own eyes. This wasn't some malevolent computer program trying to lull us into security, this was a child just looking for someone to love and accept her.
"I am such a jerk. You should never listen to me about things like that, just ask Carson." Another Scottish eye roll.
Allie, however, was leaning back against Carson, refusing to meet my eyes. "You were right, though. I was hurting him, even though I didn't mean to. I should go away."
"Ach, lass, no! That's no kind o' answer! We all hurt the ones we love sometimes, its part of being human! We make mistakes and we learn from them! Look at what happened with the retrovirus. I almost killed the colonel, but he doesna blame or hate me. Can ya touch him now at all, find out where he is?"
Well, duh! Some genius I am not to have thought of that!
Blond curls were violently whipping back and forth, though, and she quickly leaped down from Carson's lap, backpedaling from us.
"NO! No, no, no, no. I won't hurt him again, I won't! He's my daddy, an' you don't hurt your family, even if that means ya have ta go away!"
Oh, crap. Where are Elizabeth and Teyla when I need them? I suck at the whole emotions thing. One thing I do know, though...
Slowly, I sank down until I was seated cross legged on the floor.
"Allie, listen... I'm not good at this kind of thing, you've heard that. One thing that John Sheppard and the others on this expedition have taught me, though, is that its worth the risk." I paused, trying to decide how to say this without tangling Allie and myself both hopelessly up. "People mean that sometimes you're going to hurt, or cause pain to someone else, but not being around people, closing yourself off completely... That hurts worse. I think that Sheppard would tell you that if it were a choice between no pain and no you or you and the risk of some pain occasionally, well, he'd take the risk and you any time."
"Aye. Rodney's right, for once. He'd choose ya every time, lassie. Now ya need ta choose him in return. Open that channel back up. Can ya do that?"
A hesitant nod, bright blue eyes wide, then- she was gone. Just blinked out, leaving me with one enraged Highlander. Thankfully sans the sword. Not that he really needed one, since his tongue was as sharp as a razor.
"Ya bloody ignorant idiot! Daft bugger! Where'd ya learn how ta deal with people? A bloody institution! How could ya tell a child that she should cut herself off from the man she saw as a father? That's just bloody cruel! That's-"
"Damn it, Carson, don't you think I know that! I didn't mean- I didn't think-"
"Aye, ya bloody well didn't think, did ya? Rodney-"
"He's on the balcony near where you and he and Dr. Weir faced the bad man! He's really, really cold and hurting a lot! Please, go help him!" Allie's abrupt reappearance and words brought us both around. Before either of us could utter a word, though, the scene around us began to gray out.
TBC...
A/N Well, now they know where he is, and get to go pick up the pieces!
