Chapter the Ninth: Changes

Oh, yeah, this was fun.

Ronon rode one of the few remaining beast back to the rocky wall that had kept McKay. He and his steed had taken the herd lead, and they all followed him. He hadn't shot any for a few minutes, but if they rode off the path he chose, they suffered the consequences. These beasts were not as stupid as they looked; Ronon had killed many, but they did not stray anymore. It took only a gentle nudge and there he was, on the way back to his duty.

McKay was not stupid either, certainly not; he'd stay protected until someone came for him. No, until Ronon came for him. What had he been forced to point out to the not-man just a few weeks ago? Family takes care of family? Yeah. That's right; Ronon took care of his, just as Sheppard had asked him to when he'd first come to be part of the team. He had his orders, from a leader he respected and trusted. He would not trust blindly ever again, but they had accepted him and he accepted them and now he rode a wild beast closer and closer to the breach in stone.

Oh yeah, this was fun.

He passed the corner of the rocky rise and rose to his feet, balancing with lesser agility due to the twinge of pain from his leg. He saw the hole that held the scientist and jumped down from the beast, letting out a grunt. Arrow piercing his leg he could ignore, but long, dirty horns digging a trench gave him a little trouble. He resisted the urge to shoot the beast. There were a mere dozen left; they wouldn't cause any trouble. He re-holstered his weapon and ran the short distance to the alcove. "McKay."

The alcove was empty. "McKay." He entered, wondering if perhaps it went further than it appeared. No, it was small and there was no way the bulky man could hide there.

He came back out in the open. "MCKAY!"

He crouched and examined the ground. There, boot prints. Two sets, one heavier than the other. He followed them around the curve of the rock. More boot prints here, a smaller pair. He felt the tight grip of anxiety recede. McKay, Teyla, Sheppard. Big boots and smaller boots. The step pattern was recognisable as Teyla's, but Rodney and Sheppard's were less stable. Ronon supposed the colonel was injured. He followed the prints until he heard voices, familiar voices.

"…be here working."

Ronon was about to speak when the hard stone beside him was no more. He heard muffled curses and startled cries. He moved back in disgust as the rock wall morphed into a web and giant bugs crept all over. He ran to his team just in time for McKay to stumble into him. They shared a momentary dance before Ronon's heavy hands landed on McKay's shoulders preventing him from bolting.

Teyla was pulling John away, but he resisted. "We need to get in! That's what we want! We have to go in. I can't believe I'm saying that." He turned his head when Teyla stopped pulling him away and spotted Ronon. "Ronon. You guys grab those packs. Teyla, help me up, we have to go through."

Ronon eyed the web and nodded. He grabbed McKay's collar firmly with one hand and dragged him over to his pack.

"No, oh, no no. We can't go in there."

Ronon grabbed the packs with his other hand and handed them to McKay, who took hold of them as an automatic response, though he continued to struggle and refuse to cross. Ronon took his weapon out, as the bugs' interest grew toward them, and shot a wide circle through which they could pass. "Get that rock-device out."

Rodney nodded, wide-eyed with fear and grimacing in disgust. "Yes, yes. Device, turn it back to rock, yes."

"Wait until we're through," was Sheppard's contribution, which helped to settle McKay.

"Thanks for the tip." He closed his eyes as Ronon pushed him through the web.

Then, they stood between rock walls again, as did numerous bugs that had fallen to the ground. Teyla had her P-90 working, the sound rising up over the walls and escaping. Sheppard was struggling with a rather large spider that seemed to bring back unwanted memories. Rodney yelped and jumped back one way and the other as Ronon shot more than his fair share.

"Why aren't you rocks! Why aren't you rocks?" the scientist demanded of the bugs.

The last oversized spider was still climbing over Sheppard, a scared Sheppard.

"Kick it," Ronon advised, knowing his commander was not so good with bugs nowadays. He shot it when it went flying. Sheppard laid back, panting, the exertion of the simple fight too much to bear in his condition. Teyla helped him sit up, though he refused to recline against the bug-wall. Ronon eyed the opposite wall distrustfully; what hid within that stone?

Rodney fidgeted with the device and let loose with his usual babbling. Ronon pushed him forward so he would stand beside Sheppard. The colonel was much better with him than Ronon could ever be. Teyla retrieved the canteen from her pack and held it to Sheppard lips. He brought a hand up to take it from her, but she batted it away. She helped him drink before offering it to McKay. He wiped the rim, took a large gulp and then stretched out his arm, offering the canteen to Ronon.

Once they were hydrated, Teyla had practiced her first aid skills on Ronon and the packs were on their backs, all eyes turned to Rodney.

"Next one," Sheppard said.

McKay shook his head.

"Come on, Rodney. There's no other way to do this."

"I'll figure it out." Rodney moved to stand before the door and made a great production of studying the symbols.

Ronon knew it was all for show, as did Sheppard.

"McKay. Give me the device."

McKay turned to Sheppard, the device un-cleverly concealed behind his back. Ronon swooped in and snatched it in a second.

"Hey! That's mine!"

Ronon handed it to Sheppard who smiled tightly. "I need the other one."

Ronon took a step toward McKay, turning his menacing glare to its fullest. McKay took a step back, encountering the wall. Ronon stood mere inches away, as he had earlier. He knew using his size to intimidate his friends was not the best idea, but it worked well for their team, so he didn't mind it so much.

The pugnacious chin lifted, the shoulders squared and Rodney glared at Ronon, experiencing a sudden attack of what Sheppard termed as balls. Ronon moved away, allowing Rodney to snatch back the device.

"You're in no condition to be operating delicate technology," Rodney said haughtily. "And let me state for the record that we shouldn't be doing this. Who knows what's in there. There could be…there could be Iratus bugs."

Sheppard winced. "Low-blow, McKay. Way low, even for you."

McKay avoided answering. They all knew one did not talk of the Iratus bugs in front of Sheppard. It was a touchy subject, off-limit, forbidden. Mostly, they abided to the it-didn't-happen rule, but sometimes Rodney used it, because he lacked the filtration system most human being had on their brain, which caused him to blurt out whatever crossed his mind. They all knew that and forgave him much more than they should. He forgave them their underhanded tactics and merciless teasing, so it worked out well.

"Ready," Rodney asked, as he thought hard at the device.

Curses aplenty followed as more bugs flooded the small rounded space between the two rock walls.

The next three walls felt like déjà vu.

Then, there were snakes, and they discovered Teyla's phobia. Ronon picked her up with one arm and she was not too proud to cling.

"Some things are not meant to be explained," she said, once they had all turned back to rock. "They are just horribly slimy and we learn to live with it."

Rodney wondered secretly what Ronon was afraid of and whether they would face it today.

They would not, but two walls of snakes later, they were all on edge.

"This has to end eventually! We won't be doing this for long, eh? It's been, what, hours already and it's gross upon gross and –"

"Rodney, it's been half an hour at most. Just do it and stop thinking about it."

"Where do they get all these things, anyways? How do they get them all up here and turn them to stone. How many snakes can you have on one planet! It's ridiculous! So far we've encountered recognisable things. Oversized and disgusting, but recognisable. What if they've trapped Wraith, in here? Uh? What'll we do then? Giant Wraiths, a whole wall of them! Dozens and dozens of Wraith!" He groaned at the thought.

"You're just scaring yourself, stop thinking about that stuff, think at the device."

Rodney nodded and the wall dissolved.

Time after time, bugs, snakes and rodents. All oversized, all angry, all terribly disturbing. When they finally reached the last circle, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the smallest circle they had been within, allowing them just enough space to comfortably accommodate their personal space bubble, plus one. In the middle, at the very centre of the large circle encompassing all the others, rested a putrefying body. It was lucky that the walls rose high and negated the need for a roof, because the smell alone would've melted stone.

Sheppard, who, through bull-headedness, managed to walk without – much – assistance, carefully manoeuvred a rapidly greening Rodney towards the wall. Rodney was accustomed to death, yes, but new death or very ancient death, not in between death, with the rotting flesh and the maggots. Sheppard rested a hand on Rodney's back, as much to comfort the man as to avoid plunging to the ground in a show of manly suffering. "Breathe, McKay. Just breathe, it'll pass."

"I can't," answered Rodney between gulps of air. "It stinks. I'll be sick, I can't smell it." He held his breath again.

"Ok. You just do that and we'll look for what we came here for." Sheppard lifted an eyebrow at Ronon and Teyla who shook their heads. There was nothing there.

Sheppard pointed to the body and mouthed, "under", leaning further against Rodney's back, thus removing himself from the equation of lifter + lifted under.

Ronon kicked the body aside. There was nothing there…until Akhos the Thirty-seventh appeared from below the ground, pushing back a cleverly concealed trapdoor.