A/N: Okay, so chapters 4 and 5 are really to show that Chi's developing relationships with other people besides Rodney (namely a spiky haired pilot).
Chapter 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rodney's eyes felt heavy and his body numb. He couldn't remember where he was. He remembered pawning Chi off on Radek. He remembered going through the Stargate in the Puddlejumper, seated in the co-pilot's chair while Sheppard steered them to a clearing by the village. He remembered Teyla's directions and that stupid drinking ritual they had to partake in, but after that things got a little fuzzy.
"Put pressure there," someone said. Rodney thought it sounded a lot like Ronon. He wondered if the order was directed at him, but he couldn't move to comply. He couldn't feel anything. Oh, God, he couldn't feel anything.
Suddenly, there was pressure and he could feel everything. He screamed at the tremendous pain. It felt like someone was pounding hot nails through his side with a sledgehammer. He reached down to the core of the pain and felt something sticky that could only be blood. His eyes flew open as he brought his hands to his face. Oh, God, he was bleeding. He was going to die. After everything else he'd done, he was going to die on some backwater planet where-
"You are not going to die, Rodney," Sheppard's voice penetrated the cloud of pain and panic. "I am not going to let you die, so calm down. Do you hear me, McKay? We're gonna get you home and Beckett with patch you up. So you are not allowed to die on me."
Something in Sheppard's voice made Rodney shift the focus from his blood covered hands to stare at the roof of the Puddlejumper. Teyla hovered into his field of vision followed by Ronon. He couldn't see Sheppard because, of course, Sheppard had to be flying the thing back to the Stargate. He concentrated on that image when Teyla shifted, bring a fresh round of stake-though-the-side pain to Rodney's body. He brought to mind an image of Sheppard in the pilot's chair, his body tense while his hands were light. He would steer Rodney to safety.
"Is there no way to go faster?" Teyla asked.
"I'm going as fast as I can. Dial the gate."
He screamed again when Ronon took over for Teyla. He vaguely heard the familiar tap of the DHD being dialed and Sheppard's voice, but he couldn't make out the words.
"McKay, stay with us!" someone yelled. Rodney couldn't tell to whom the voice belonged to as everything went fuzzy and then faded to black.
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Rodney came awake slowly. His right side throbbed with a dull pain, which could only mean one of two things: he fell asleep in the lab again or he was in the infirmary and Carson was using the good drugs. He remembered shooting pain and panic, so it must have been the latter.
He slowly cracked open an eye, waiting for the overwhelming deadly bright lights but the infirmary was dimly lit. Satisfied he wouldn't go blind, Rodney opened both eyes and shifted on the bed. The shift sent a sharp pain through his body, which caused Rodney to grimace.
"Easy there, McKay," Sheppard said from Rodney's left side. Rodney titled his head and took in perhaps the most disturbing, perplexing and adorable scene he had ever seen. Sheppard sat in a chair next to the bed with Chi curled up on his lap, her head pillowed against his shoulder, her arms flung around his neck. She clutched Nen's tail in one hand and the rest of the dragon-like animal hung down Sheppard's chest. She breathed easily in her sleep as Sheppard ran a hand up and down her back.
"What happened?" Rodney asked, his voice a little scratchy. Sheppard shifted and handed him a cup of water with a straw. Rodney drank a little then set the cup aside.
"You mocked the nice villagers' ritual and one of them stabbed you. There was a lot of blood and you…passed out. Then this one," he nodded at Chi, "met us in the jumper bay - and just how does she knew where the jumper bay is anyway, Rodney? - saw all the blood, and started to flip out. She touched something, and Rodney, she has the gene. I mean, the whole 'jumper lit up," the colonel said, his face bright was glee.
"How long?"
"Almost two days."
Rodney nodded. It took a moment for the words "touched" and "gene" to seep through Rodney's drug hazed mind. When they finally did click, Rodney's mind went into over drive.
"The ATA gene? Of course the ATA gene," he answered his own question. "What other gene could possibly light up the Puddlejumper? How could she have the gene, through? I don't think she's an Ancient, but then again, we have been fooled by an Ancient before." He gave a pointed look to Sheppard, but the other man just smiled innocently. "And I don't buy that 'innocent kid' thing at-"
"Ah, I see our patient is awake. That's funny, because I was sure Colonel Sheppard agreed to come find me when Rodney woke," Carson's voice rang out. Rodney stopped talking and moved his gaze to find the Scottish doctor standing at the foot of his bed, glaring at Sheppard.
"Sorry, Doc, but, um-"
"Why didn't you tell us she had the gene, Carson?" Rodney interrupted. Carson rolled his eyes as he rounded the bed.
"Because we usually don't test for the ATA gene, Rodney. She's the first person in this galaxy to have it, as far as I know. I took a sample of her DNA. All the tests haven't come back, but it looks like the lass might have a wee bit of Ancient DNA," Carson filled Rodney and Sheppard in as he reached for Rodney's blanket.
"I knew she was an Ancient - what are you doing?" Rodney practically squeaked as he swatted Carson's hands away. Undaunted by Rodney's slaps, Carson continued to pull the blanket aside.
"I thought I would check your wound to make sure it didn't get infected," Carson replied calmly without looking at Rodney. Rodney mouthed "oh" and stilled his hands so Carson could examine him.
"She's not really an Ancient, Rodney. Ya see, the ATA gene is the only gene that survived from our Ancient lineage, and it's rare at that. Genes like Colonel Sheppard and General O'Neill's are an anomaly. But, from what I can tell, that little hellcat has promoters, transcription factors, and a RNA-polymerase that I've never seen before. It makes her gene react much stronger to Ancient technology than even Colonel Sheppard's."
"Ah, English, Carson," Sheppard said, sounding more than a little confused. Carson sighed a little, but he started his explanation over.
"She has genes that work to strengthen the ATA gene, especially when she's near certain Ancient technology, that we don't have. But the DNA we took from Ch-"
"Ow, Carson," Rodney flinched when Carson pushed a little too hard on the sensitive skin near the knife wound.
"Oh, I barely touched ya."
"I bruise easily. Are you sure I'm not still bleeding, because that really hurt. I just want to be sure because, you know, I'm very impo-" Rodney's sentence was cut short when Chi launched herself at him.
"Rodney!" Chi squealed as she threw her arms around Rodney's neck. Rodney hissed and cried out when her knee came close to his stitches. When he was able, he turned to glare at Sheppard. The colonel merely shrugged, a half smile on his face and his arms across his chest as if he were enjoying Rodney's distress.
"You're okay, Rodney. I was afraid you wouldn't be okay," she whispered. She kissed his check and snuggled closer to Rodney.
Rodney felt the heat on his face and knew he must be red. He looked first to Carson and then to Sheppard. Carson smiled, but Sheppard had a hand over his face and was silently laughing. Then Chi shifted, her knee digging painfully in to his side, and Rodney bucked and yelled.
"Wounded here!"
Chi lifted her head. "I'm sorry," she said softly, her lip trembling. "I didn't mean to."
"All right. I think it's time we let Rodney rest," Sheppard finally said. With hardly any effort at all, he lifted Chi off of the bed. She struggled a little, but settled when Sheppard wrapped his arms around her. It made Rodney wonder just what the hell happened while he was unconscious.
"Can I come back tomorrow?"
"Of course, lass. I'm sure Rodney would love the company."
