Note: Sorry for the delay. RL finally caught up with me and I've been fighting the whole "have to have a few hours of sleep" thing. Thanks a million for all the wonderful and entertaining and motivating reviews. This is the last chapter, so you're almost done.

The Bad Luck Charm – Chapter 10

He faded in and out, barely aware of voices and touches, as if they were far removed. The pain in his leg was the only constant, making the other aches scattered across his body seem insignificant. At least until the buzzing started, loud and heavy in his head. He didn't know what it was, but it seemed as if an earthquake was shaking his skull, rattling his teeth from their very sockets. The pain was sharp and intense, almost blotting out the fire in his leg.

"Colonel? I need you stop fighting me and stay still."

He recognized the voice, but he hadn't realized his struggle against the pain had been a physical one. Pulling his eyelids open enough to see, he tried to find words to ask for help. John thought he saw Beckett hovering over him, but his mind felt disconnected from the rest of him, as if wrapped in wool and tucked away. He needed the static in his head that now seemed to radiate down into his body to stop.

Beckett had been running one more check on Sheppard's vitals when the jumper began descending into the jumper bay. The injured man had drifted in and out of consciousness all the way back from the mainland, but lay relatively still. As the jumper neared the floor, Sheppard suddenly began to writhe in the litter, pulling and groaning against the straps that held him secure.

After several seconds of getting no response, the doctor finally got down in his patient's face. "Colonel? I need you to stop fighting me and stay still." He was afraid Sheppard was going to injure himself further if he continued the struggle. The pilot opened his eyes and seemed to hear him, stopping his relentless thrashing. He looked at Beckett through partially open lids a few seconds before taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"Stop it," he whispered before closing his eyes tightly against obvious pain.

Beckett didn't have time to wonder what Sheppard meant, because the back hatch began to slide open at that moment. He could see the requested medical team waiting outside the jumper with a gurney. Before he could move to get up, several marines had latched onto Sheppard's litter and were moving out to the waiting stretcher. The doctor turned to a worried looking Halling and Jinto.

"Halling, do you remember the way to the infirmary?"

Halling nodded. "I remember. I will take care of Jinto and you go with Sheppard. He needs you now."

Beckett nodded, the relief and gratitude evident on his face. "Thanks." Hurrying out the back hatch, he was already on the radio to set things up in the infirmary. He gave a quick wave to Elizabeth as he passed by, walking just behind the gurney, knowing she would understand.

Elizabeth fought the urge to run after Beckett, instead turning to Ronon and Teyla as they emerged from the jumper. "How is he?"

"The Doc says he broke his leg and banged himself up," said Ronon. "He was kind of out of it until just before we landed, then he seemed to get restless."

Teyla nodded. "I am afraid it may be because we are back in Atlantis. Elizabeth, I know of a place that may hold the answers to what has been happening to Colonel Sheppard. I wish permission to visit the place and see if he can be helped."

Elizabeth frowned. "Where did you get this information?"

"While on the mainland, I stayed with Sani, an old friend of Charin. She told me of a world where things such as this are sometimes sold to others. This is a curse against the Ancestors, but since Colonel Sheppard has the gene, I believe it is causing him harm. Sani told me you may also purchase the cure to the poison found in the mark. I wish to go to this world to find more."

Elizabeth was torn, desperately wanting an end to the parade of disasters affecting John, but at the same time, not wanting to endanger Teyla. "How dangerous is this world?"

Teyla slid a glance at Ronon before looking back to Elizabeth. "It can be dangerous if you go to the wrong areas. I will be careful. Please, let me do this for the colonel. He told Dr. Beckett he could not do this any more, and he should not have to."

Elizabeth looked lost in thought for several seconds before looking back at Teyla. "You can go if you take Ronon with you."

Teyla seemed relieved. "I will do as you ask. I have the gate address and would like to leave immediately. I fear we need to be quick for the colonel's sake."

Ronon nodded his agreement and Elizabeth sighed. "All right, let's see you two off and then I'll check on John."

oOo

John felt like someone with an extremely shrill voice was screaming in his ear. He kept trying to open his eyes and focus on the noises and touches, to find out who was screaming. He really needed them to stop because it was becoming unbearable. He was finally able to see enough of the fuzzy blobs around him to discern a face he recognized.

Nick Strauhan pushed a struggling Sheppard back down on the bed. "Colonel, you can't get up. We really need for you to be still." Sheppard kept lunging forward, as if trying to sit or throw himself off the bed. They had the rails up and had already decreed that he was not to be left alone, but he was still scaring the doctor.

Sheppard suddenly stilled and his eyes seemed to focus on Nick. "Tell . . . them . . . to stop."

"Who? Tell who to stop?" Nick wasn't sure if the colonel meant the medical personnel or if he was referring to something else.

"Sc . . . screaming," John said so softly Nick barely heard him. Then he squinted his eyes shut and pushed his head back into the pillow.

Nick looked up at Carson coming up on the other side of the bed. "I have his x-rays and I definitely think surgery is the way to go. We should get him prepped."

Nick glanced at John and hesitated before looking back up at Carson. "I think there's something else going on here. He told me to tell them to stop screaming."

Carson furrowed his brow and looked down at their shifting patient. "Probably something to do with that dang mark and whatever it's doing to his system. I've sent off a new blood sample, but I think we need to go ahead and take care of this. Why don't you take care of Jinto and I'll get Biro to lend me a hand?"

Nick nodded. "Okay, Jinto's x-rays should be back soon. Do you want me talk to the crowd that will undoubtedly be waiting?

Beckett smiled. "Aye, I'd appreciate that. Tell them I'll come see them as soon as we're out of surgery."

"Will do. Uh, Carson, be careful. Watch out for falling foam and big holes in the ground."

Carson looked a bit panicked for a second as he realized that people around Sheppard seemed to get caught up in his disasters sometimes. He had a brief flash of all kinds of things going wrong before he squelched the thoughts and began giving instructions to the nurse.

oOo

Elizabeth leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands. She had come down to the infirmary earlier, only to find they had taken John to surgery. She returned to her office in hopes of getting some work done while simultaneously distracting herself. She smiled as she remembered one of the techs advising her to give it up and just wait with the others in the infirmary after she had sat staring at the same piece of paper for almost an hour. She still had no idea what was on that paper.

Elizabeth jumped as Rodney elbowed her in the side. She looked up at him and saw a slightly frightened, sheepish expression creep across his face as he realized what he'd just done. "Oh, sorry, I, uh, forgot who . . . anyway, Carson is coming." He quickly stood up and moved forward, away from the moment. Elizabeth shook her head lightly and joined him.

Beckett looked at the two people before him and raised his eyebrows. "Is it just you two?"

"Teyla and Ronon have gated to another planet to find a cure for that mark on John, hopefully, any way," reported Elizabeth. "I told Lorne I'd call him when we knew anything and Halling finally convinced Jinto to get something to eat."

Beckett nodded. "Well, he made it through the surgery okay. He was so agitated, we had a problem getting him under enough to perform the surgery. He's now the proud new owner of a titanium rod in his femur, along with a few screws. I'm afraid the recovery time on this will be while, so he's not going to be happy."

They both nodded and breathed out a long breath. Rodney looked back up at Carson. "Can we see him?"

"Not yet. I'd like to get him out of recovery, after which I need to check his arm and give him a new cast. He managed to crack cast number two in the fall. I'll let you know when we've finished working on him. He's a bit of a mess this time."

"This time?" asked Rodney. "Where have you been the other times? This whole thing has been one big mess."

"About that," started Carson. "Have you figured any of this out yet?"

Rodney smiled smugly. "As a matter of fact, I think I have, but I'm not telling until I check a couple of things out. I need to be sure before I share." His expression sobered as he paused. "I just hope Teyla finds that cure, because while I think I can explain what's been happening, I'm no closer to figuring out how to stop it."

oOo

John felt disconnected. Sounds faded in and out, but were never clear or close. They always sounded like he was under water or had his head in a jar. Sometimes he could feel things touch him, moving him or hurting him, but he never knew what they were. Blurry and distorted images, almost like reflections in a funhouse mirror came and went, but he was never sure if they were dreams or if they were real. His body hurt and his head threatened to explode until he seemed incapable of thought, only of trying to withstand the anguish that tore at his every fiber.

Teyla. He realized he was watching her and she was talking to him, although he couldn't seem to process what she was saying. He was only aware of her voice, calming and soothing him. He stared blankly at her, unable to comprehend her actions. Then she was touching him, making the mark on his chest cold and then hot. He was not aware when he groaned and pulled away, the heat making him gasp for breath. The vision was lost as he felt himself sinking into unawareness again as hands held him and kept him from struggling one more time.

oOo

The first thing he was aware of was the humming. He felt the tension in his body beginning to ease as he let himself go with the melodic song, dozing in and out without ever coming to complete awareness. When he was finally ready to open his eyes, he knew everything was all right. The screaming static in his head was gone and Atlantis was singing to him again.

He lay quietly, observing the collection of sleeping forms around him in the dim, early morning light. Rodney was lying in the adjacent bed, snoring rather loudly. Elizabeth and Teyla were in chairs backed up to Rodney's bed, their heads leaned back, resting against the side of the mattress. Ronon sat in a chair on the opposite side of the bed in his usual form, feet propped up on the lower bed rails and head nodding toward his chest. John couldn't help but smile as he decided the big man would probably have serious neck issues when he woke up.

"Welcome back."

John slowly turned his head toward the source of the whispered voice. Nick grinned down at him as he checked his IV. "How long have they been here?"

Nick glanced around at John's team. "Better part of two days for the most part, and they've been a rough two days. How are you feeling?"

John took an easy breath. "Better than I have in a while, I think." He looked up into Nick's face. "The mark's gone, isn't it?" Even as he asked, he brought his left hand up to feel a bandage over the area with the mark, feeling a mild burning pain underneath.

Nick tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrows. "Yes, it is. How did you know?"

John just smiled, his face more relaxed than it had been in over a week. "She's singing to me again, welcoming me back I think."

"Atlantis?"

"Yeah. It's . . . like finally being home again. What happened?" John was thinking the bandage and pain meant that Carson had done as he asked and cut the thing out.

"You owe Teyla for that one. Sani told her of a planet to go to for help and she found the cure there. It turns out there is a mixture of plant extracts in the paint that Karyan lady used to make the mark and they interact with the Ancient gene to cause the bad luck you've been having. There is another mixture of different plant extracts . . . " Nick paused and made a face. ". . . along with some other things you don't want to know about, that can dissolve the stuff right out of the skin. Actually, I think it was closer to chemically burning it off the skin, but anyway, it got rid of it. It's bandaged because you have the equivalent of a pretty nasty chemical burn."

John nodded. "I don't care, if it stops this endless parade of disasters that has become my life."

"Yeah, that's kind of what we thought you'd say."

John frowned for a moment. "I understand how a chemical in my blood could mess up my temperature and I can imagine how that chemical working against the Ancient gene could maybe result in the fire retardant being dumped on me and the puddle jumper not functioning, but how could it have had anything to do with the rest of that stuff?"

Nick shook his head. "Dr. McKay has explained what he thinks happened, but I'm not even going to try. I would probably mess it up and besides, he doesn't take kindly to other people explaining his theories."

The corner of one side of John's mouth turned up in his trademark lopsided grin. "Yeah, he'd probably make you regret that one. I'll just wait til sleeping beauty over there decides to take a break from his snore-fest." John looked around the infirmary. "What about Jinto? He go back to the mainland?"

Nick chuckled. "Hardly. He refused to go back until he had a chance to talk to you. He said you had to sign each other's cast. Halling was perfectly willing to stay and make sure you were okay once we told him we had plenty of room and wanted them to stay. They should be by later."

John nodded. "I'm just glad he's okay. I feel like it's my fault since I'm the one having the bad luck. Poor Jinto was just hanging out with the wrong person. Did someone get him a marker of some kind? I told him about the Earth tradition of signing someone's cast."

"Oh, yes, he informed us straightway that Colonel Sheppard said he could have a Sharpie to get his cast signed, so we came up with several colors for him. He's been happily collecting signatures for the past two days when he wasn't here checking on you."

John grinned, glad that Jinto didn't seem any worse for wear after their little incident. He noticed that the ache in his leg was starting to ratchet up, along with the more minor pains that were scattered around the rest of his body. "What about my leg?"

Nick sighed. "I was wondering when you'd get around to that. You fractured your femur, so we put in a titanium rod and several screws to stabilize it. It should get you up and moving faster and easier than a cast, but you're not going to be doing any running or active duty for a while."

John grimaced and shifted slightly in the bed. "How long are we talking?"

"Several months before you running or doing anything very strenuous. I'm afraid you're in for some physical therapy to get you back on your feet."

"Yeah, I figured as much." John tried to shift again, the pain in his leg beginning to get on his nerves.

Nick looked at his watch. "Kelly will be here with your next round of pain meds in a few minutes. Can you hold out til then?"

John nodded. "I'm good."

"SR for Sheppard," said Rodney from the room as he stifled a yawn.

"What's SR?" asked Nick.

"Standard response," said Ronon, sitting up in his chair and setting his feet back down on the floor. He stood and stretched, moving his head around to work the kinks out of his neck.

The additional movement and talking had wakened Elizabeth and Teyla as well and they also sat up straighter, moving around to stretch their cramped muscles. Elizabeth noticed John and jumped to her feet. "John, you're awake!"

John smiled lazily. "Yeah, it happens occasionally."

Teyla also moved closer to the bed to stand by the expedition leader. "You have seemed to be in much distress the last two days and we were greatly worried. I am glad that you seem better."

"He's even coherent . . . more or less," commented Rodney as he took his place behind the ladies.

"Thanks, Rodney," said Sheppard in an annoyed tone. He shifted again, trying to find a position that didn't make either his arm or his leg hurt. That position apparently didn't exist. A groan escaped his lips when he jarred his leg. A hand on his shoulder stilled him from further movement.

"Colonel," Nick said as he held his shoulder still. "Are you hurting?"

John was painfully aware of the concerned faces and listening ears surrounding his bed. He hated admitting pain or weakness to the doctor, much less an audience of his friends. "I'll be fine."

Nick grinned. "That's not what I asked you, but I think I can guess the real answer. I'll see what's keeping Kelly." He patted Sheppard's shoulder and walked away from the bed.

John looked up at Rodney, wanting to shift the conversation in another direction. "Nick said you figured out how the chemical was causing my bad luck. Care to fill me in?"

Rodney beamed, anxious to share his findings with the colonel. "I'd love to." The others surrounding the bed rolled their eyes and sighed, having heard the explanation at least three times each. "There is a chemical, or rather a mixture of chemicals, in the mark Karyan put on you that we know interferes with the Ancient gene. What's weird is the way it interacts with it. You know how the Ancients had great powers like levitating things and healing people and directing bursts of energy, right?"

John closed his eyes and sighed briefly. "Six months trapped with a bunch of people trying to ascend, Rodney. Yes, I know they had powers we don't really understand."

Rodney stood with his mouth open a second. "Oh . . . right . . . forgot about that. Anyway, they directed these things with their mind and utilized the gene to enhance or push the actions. You gave off a bit of an energy signature during this fiasco that spiked when bad things happened, like the foam burying you. It's my belief that the chemical caused the gene to seek out negative things and enhance their happening on a subconscious level. The foam, for example. Radek and I found a fault in the system that discharged on you. It would have done that eventually anyway, but the energy sent out by your gene activation caused it go ahead and happen to you."

John frowned, not sure he understood any of this and not sure he was buying any of it. "That sounds kind of . . . unlikely, McKay."

Rodney shook his head. "Not really. The puddle jumper that wouldn't work? It had a problem in the drive system, but your drugged up gene caused the problem to go crisis a little earlier. The other jumper didn't have any built in problems, so it got you to the mainland, no problem."

John made a doubtful face. "Explain the food poisoning."

Rodney grinned and crossed his arms, rising to the challenge. "You were the only one in line that night that even saw the potato salad. Not even the staff saw it when they cleaned up after lunch. I think it was in a weird, hidden place and the gene led you to it. As for the laundry detergent, I think it probably enhanced your negative response. Carson said you had the worse reaction of anyone and you're never allergic to stuff. It isn't creating bad situations, just enhancing the probability that when problems exist, they reach the critical stage when you're around."

Teyla had been listening with increasing interest. Rodney had explained his theory to them, but hadn't elaborated on each situation. "What about the fighting soldiers?"

"Easy," said McKay. "They were fighting and giving off all sorts of negative emotions. The gene picked up on that and directed it toward the colonel. It was probably just dumb luck that he was standing in front of a staircase at the time."

Sheppard still looked extremely doubtful. "So you're saying that sinkhole would have opened up on the mainland at some point anyway, but me being there just sped it up."

Rodney nodded. "Yep. As a matter of fact, we had a team survey the soil in the area around the Athosian camp and they said the ground in that whole field is of an odd composition and very unstable. They found two other spots like it and have warned the Athosians about them. Fortunately, they aren't in areas traveled frequently by them."

John rubbed the side of his head, closing his eyes and wincing at the increasing pain in his leg. "I don't know Rodney. It's still all conjecture."

The smile faded from Rodney's face as he noticed the pain on Sheppard's. He turned to Elizabeth. "Where's Nick with the good drugs?"

Elizabeth opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when they saw Nick approaching. Lines of tension were visible around his eyes and mouth.

"Colonel Sheppard, I'm sorry for the delay. The door to the drug room seems to be locked and stuck. We've got someone on their way to look at it, but all the narcotics are in there. I can give you something milder now or you can hold out til we get the room open."

"Maybe I can help," John said softly. He would never admit it out loud, but he really wanted something to knock the pain back far enough that he could breathe without wanting to scream. He closed his eyes and visualized the drug room door opening while pleading with Atlantis to help him. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and looked up at Nick. "Go try it now."

Nick hadn't gone but a handful of steps when Kelly came quickly through the door with a syringe. "We got it open and I've got the colonel's morphine."

Nick looked back at John in amazement. "You were right. She is glad to have you back."

oOo

Rodney had been shocked when Carson told him where John was. Mostly he'd been amazed that the doctor let Sheppard out of the infirmary, even if it was only for a few minutes. He stepped out onto the balcony, first seeing the nurse sitting in the lawn chair reading a book. She looked up and smiled at him and nodded toward the figure in the wheelchair.

It had been a week since Sheppard woke from the surgery, coherent for the first time in two days. They had watched him thrash and moan, as if caught in the midst of a frightening and physically painful nightmare for those two days. Four hours and twenty-seven minutes after Teyla had rubbed that pasty, stinky goo on his chest, he'd gone still and quiet, scaring them all. The instructions were that when that happened, they were to remove the concoction. Beckett hadn't been very happy at the severely reddened and blistered skin under the goop until they realized it had actually removed the mark.

Rodney stood quietly in the balcony doorway, watching the recovering man, sitting in the wheelchair with his head leaned back against a pillow shoved partially behind his shoulders. His right leg was elevated and his arm was back in a sling. Carson said he had banged it up some when he fell in the hole. A blanket covered his lap and his hair gently moved in the light wind. Rodney at first thought the colonel was asleep, he was so quiet and still. But as he studied the pale features, he noticed John's eyes were open about halfway.

Rodney walked over to the nurse. "I'll bring him in."

The nurse smiled and looked at her watch. "Okay, but no longer than ten minutes. Dr. Beckett wants him to get something to eat and rest a bit before his physical therapy."

Rodney nodded. "Okay, ten minutes." He glared at the nurse as she stood looking at him, her brows furrowed. "What? You think I can't tell time?"

She closed her book on the carefully placed bookmark. "You have been known to not take note of the time on occasion. I'd highly suggest this not be one of those times. Dr. Beckett is keeping a close eye on the colonel this time around."

"Yes, yes, I know. We'll be there in ten minutes. I can build a nuclear weapon, for heaven's sake, I think I can wheel a man back to the infirmary without damaging him."

The nurse looked skeptical, but nodded and left them alone. Rodney grabbed her lawn chair and pulled it up to sit beside Sheppard, who as far as he could tell, hadn't moved an inch. "I'm surprised Carson let you out of the infirmary."

"Just needed a few minutes outside." John continued to stare at the horizon, lids at half mast, as if he might drift off at any moment.

"You're quiet," commented Rodney. Sheppard had been quiet all week and it was starting to freak Rodney out.

John sat watching the water for several seconds before answering. "Nothing to say right now."

"People are starting to talk, to wonder if this is the one that drove Sheppard over the edge."

A small smile flickered across his lips. "People will always talk about something. I'm okay, Rodney, just thinking about some things."

Rodney frowned as he studied the man closely. He didn't expect Sheppard to tell him if things weren't fine, so he felt the need to see for himself. Problem was, he couldn't always read the colonel. "What are you thinking about?"

"Hard stuff . . . luck, fate, home . . . friends." He turned his head so that he could see Rodney.

Rodney looked down at his feet. "I'm . . . sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you on the mainland."

John smiled, an easy laid-back smile. "You were where you needed to be, here, trying to find an answer."

Rodney ran one hand through his hair as he sighed deeply. "Not that it did any good, not really."

"Don't sell yourself short, McKay. Everyone did their part. I'm back in Atlantis and she's talking to me again. Nothing new has happened in the last week, so this curse thing seems to be genuinely over. It'll take a while, but I'll be okay again." He chuckled, but it sounded strained. "Just not for a long while. Piece of advice for future reference. Try not to break your arm and your leg at the same time. With crutches out, I'm stuck in this thing for who knows how long."

McKay nodded absently. "I can help you get around, once Carson lets you out, that is."

"Might not be for a while. I can't get up and down by myself and he doesn't want me left alone."

Sheppard seemed depressed at the total lack of privacy and Rodney remembered how intensely closed he could be about some things. "Maybe when you're stronger he'll let me take you out on a day pass kind of thing and bring you back when we're done."

John looked back at Rodney, the lop-sided grin in place. "You'd do that?"

The grin made Rodney feel better than he thought it should. Funny how that one little thing seemed to signal that maybe everything would be all right. "Sure. We could go harass Zelenka or make fun of Lorne or something equally obnoxious."

John smiled and leaned his head back against the pillow. "That'd be great. I have this really bad feeling I'm going to go stir crazy before this is over. I've already spent so much time in the infirmary lately that I'm about to lose my mind."

They sat watching the waves below for a few minutes, just enjoying the warmth of the sun and the sounds of the water. It seemed very soothing, in direct contrast to recent events.

"Do you believe in luck?" asked John suddenly.

Rodney thought for a moment before answering. "I don't know. I think things happen sometimes that are beyond our control, and that sometimes those things are good and sometimes they're bad. I think your chances for one are as good as the other. Why, do you?"

Sheppard frowned, uncertainty filling his expression as well as his voice. "Like you, basically. I think we make our own luck most of the time. Sometimes I feel like the bad stuff follows me and then I realize I caused it most of the time. But then I realize that I've walked away from a lot of stuff I shouldn't have, and in two galaxies to boot. By all rights, I should probably be dead. I guess there's just some things you can't control."

"Like having the ATA gene," said Rodney.

John nodded. "Yeah, like the ATA gene. I still haven't completely decided if that would classified as good luck or bad luck."

Rodney smiled as he looked at John. "If you could choose to give it up right now, would you?"

John looked at him as he listened to Atlantis sing and felt her almost stroking him. "No. At this point, it would be like cutting off my leg."

Rodney smiled as he stood and released the brakes on the wheelchair. "Then you have your answer."

THE END

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