A/N: I've made a small change here to better the flow of events up to and through chapter 11. Thanks for all the great suggestions, Hettie! And thanks also to my beta, who knows who she is and finally managed to come 'round to reading chapters 10 and 11!
Rodney growled at Radek irritably.
He couldn't help but admire Radek Zelenka's persistence. The man simply would not stay unconscious, despite having been strangled into silence several times before. Each time Rodney lost his temper, he slipped closer and closer to the edge of his sanity, and guard duty certainly didn't suit him at the moment. For what seemed like the umpteenth time in the hour since Carson had left, he found himself angrily grinding his teeth with rage every time the other scientist opened his mouth.
"You must listen to me," Radek pleaded, his eyes wide with fear. "You are not in your right mind! Please, let me go before it is too late!"
He wasn't sure how much longer he could take it. Rodney jumped to his feet and peered down, snarling angrily at Zelenka, his fists clenched tightly.
Again, Radek pleaded with him, pushing the line of Rodney's patience further back. "For pity's sake, Rodney, listen to reason!"
Rodney kneeled down next to him, moving agonizingly slowly. The mixed expression of pure hatred, rage, and annoyance on his face terrified Radek beyond conscious consideration of his next words, which faded to an unintelligible whisper as he shrank back against the railing as far as he could. Had he known that Rodney himself had been held captive in that same spot just hours before, bound by the same fiber-optic cable, perhaps he would have considered remaining silent until Rodney's rage had faded a bit. Now Rodney simply stared at him, as if daring him to utter another word.
Radek was silent for a moment and stared back, trying to mentally gauge how much more leeway Rodney would give him. Like each time before, he simply couldn't fathom that his fellow scientist could ever seriously consider harming him. He watched in horror as Rodney tentatively reached out a trembling hand for his neck; he held his breath for what he knew would follow.
But Rodney stopped. The trembling in his hands ceased for a small moment as he slowly pulled them back. Radek blinked in confusion as the anger on Rodney's face was momentarily replaced with shock and horror, and was then once again covered with that veil of rage and frustration. He watched Rodney sit back heavily against the wall, letting out a slow breath as he mused to himself grimly, but with some hope. Perhaps it wasn't too late to help his friend after all. All he could think of to do was to open his mouth and plead with him once again to think rationally, but Radek finally resisted the temptation. There couldn't have been any other reason for Rodney to have fought so hard to regain his senses, even for just a moment, if he hadn't just been about to kill him. The thought was distressingly sobering.
He was saved momentarily by the sound of someone wading through the water below them. Rodney was suddenly twitchy, standing up to get a better glimpse of who it might be, then visibly relaxed as he realized that the sound was being made by a single person. Carson was returning. When he appeared in the doorway, he stopped for a moment in the blinking luminescence of the damaged lighting to allow his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the flooded room. Rodney could see that he was carrying someone on his fatigued shoulders, and so he scrambled down the ladder to assist.
Carson said nothing, nonchalantly accepting the help as they dragged the latest victim of his rage up the ladder and onto the platform. Rodney recognized the man's face, but did not remember his name, figuring that he must be another one of those officers from the Daedalus that had been ordered to help with the search. He might have been tempted to ask how Carson had managed to separate his victim from his search party, but even if he'd been able to, he ultimately decided against trying. He didn't really care to know.
As voices and splashing echoed through the water-filled corridors, Rodney scowled in irritation. Carson had been followed. Shoving the burden back into Carson's hands, he gave him an annoyed glare for his carelessness and then shimmied back down the ladder as quietly as he could. He moved slowly at first so as not to agitate the water enough to give away their hiding place, then bounded through the ankle deep water further out into the hallways seeking to lead away the search party. He would just have to cause enough mischief to keep them too busy to bother with Carson. Rodney casually referenced the mental image of a map of Atlantis in his head, then strode off determinedly in the direction of nearest active generator, which was to the west.
There was just enough of a gap in the railing for Radek to see Rodney leave. An attempt to cry out for help was swiftly met with a kick to the ribs from his remaining captor. He cringed with the pain that stabbed him as he breathed, watching helplessly as Carson lowered the unconscious man onto the platform next to him and then ripped another fiber-optic conduit from the broken panels of the wall to bind him. A different pain, almost a burning sensation, was beginning to creep up his spine to the back of his head. His mind began to burn. Terrified, Radek clenched his eyes shut and denied his mind to it. The city fell away from his awareness as his mind and body struggled in its hopeless battle against the inevitable; the virus was taking him.
John peeked through the tiny window in the isolation room's door as he pulled on his jacket and put his radio's ear-piece in place. As much as he sympathized with their concern, he was determined not to let them stop him from doing what he knew he had to do. The orderly had informed him some time ago that they had isolated the anti-body in his blood and were in final phases of the process of synthesizing it into a treatment, so he figured that they didn't really need him any more. Despite not quite feeling back to 100-percent normal yet, John felt like he had slept far too much and was eager to leave his prison behind to go back to work.
The infirmary's isolation rooms weren't completely secure, and as he took the cover of the inner door panel off, he searched for the crystal that would override the lock when removed, praying that his memory wouldn't fail him as he tried to remember the security demonstration that Dr. McKay had given last month. He thought it ironic that McKay was now one of the reasons that John was defying orders and trying to sneak out.
The door obediently clicked, and a moment later John had managed to shove it open enough to slip through, much to his delight and surprise. He slid into the shadows of a nearby darkened corner of the infirmary and tried to visualize the nearest exit in his mind as he observed the goings-on of the infirmary. The nurses and orderlies working at their lab stations had not noticed him, but there were a few more people that could be seen sitting in chairs and sleeping in cots in an adjoining area of the infirmary. It seemed that Elizabeth had already enacted at least one of his suggestions; since the infirmary was obviously an essential area Atlantis, it'd been designated a safe zone and had been barricaded.
That meant the doors would be guarded, though. John peeked around the corner, carefully timing the patrol pattern of the single attentive guard as he strode between the two entrances at the opposite ends of that part of the infirmary. If he timed it right, he could slip past behind him and exit unheard.
"Colonel Sheppard!" He winced as Dr. Biro exclaimed protectively. "Just where do you think you're going? You're in no condition to leave the infirmary."
He knew he should've tried to shut the door to the isolation room behind him. Letting out a heavy sigh, he turned to face her wrath, making sure the tone of his voice was as insistent as he could manage. "I'm going to find them."
She gave him a stern look, her eyes narrowing crossly as she folded her arms. "What makes you think you can do that? Not only are you still recovering from your ordeal, but Dr. Weir has ordered a lockdown. No one is allowed outside of the designated areas without the escort of a search party."
"Fine," John said, scowling and clenching his fists in irritation. "Then call up the nearest search party and tell them to come by and pick me up."
"You're still too weak to leave the infirmary!" she insisted.
He said nothing, electing to instead give her his best, most stubborn stare.
She pondered the request for a moment, then touched her radio. "Dr. Weir, this is Dr. Biro."
The response came a moment later. "This is Weir."
"Colonel Sheppard is requesting to be assigned to a search team," she said flatly.
Dr. Weir sounded incredulous. "Is he well enough for duty?"
"Not really, in my opinion, Ma'am," Biro replied, "but he is insistent. We've only just finished our first batch of serum to counteract the effects of the virus."
With a few more moments of hesitation, Dr. Weir gave the word John was hoping for. "Alright, I'll send Major Lorne's team to the infirmary to fetch him."
At that moment, the lights dimmed and flickered, then disappeared. Dr. Biro shifted, peering around the infirmary with a concerned look on her face, and then spoke again. "Dr. Weir, we've just lost power in the infirmary."
"Damn," Elizabeth audibly cursed over the channel. "The power routed to the control room is gone, too. Dr. Biro, prepare as much of the serum for distribution as possible. Is Colonel Sheppard still there with you?"
"Yes, Ma'am," she affirmed.
"I'm here Elizabeth," John stated calmly as she proferred him her radio. He gathered up his weapons from the stockpile in the corner at the same time.
"One of Rodney's lab assistants is also with Lorne's team," Weir added helpfully. "See if you can't check up on the guards at the west lab, then get her to the Naquada generator in the south lab and buy her enough time to re-route power back to the control room and the infirmary. I'll route Teyla and Ronon's team to meet you there. We almost managed to track Carson down after he attacked Lieutenant Denton. We can't afford to lose the life-sensors!"
John caught sight of Major Lorne approaching the entrance. "I'm on it. Lorne just got here."
"Be careful, John." Weir said before closing the comm-link.
Before John ran off to join the search, Dr. Biro pulled him to the side for one more item of interest. "Colonel, you'll need this."
He looked down curiously as she placed three tube-like objects into his hand. "What is this?"
"They're auto-injector vials, kind of like an Epi-pen, filled with the first batch of serum and mixed with a heavy sedative," she explained. "They should put Carson or Rodney out of commission long enough for you to get them to the infirmary."
"Thanks, Doc," he mumbled in appreciation, making a break for the door before she could change her mind about letting him go.
As his team passed through the corridors by the west lab, John covered Major Lorne's back while the rest of his team helped up the single remaining of the two guards that had been posted to protect the generator. He spied a P90 lying on the floor completely spent of its ammunition. John circled the perimeter of the lab nervously, backed by two others from the Daedalus in his team, and the other three had gone inside to check on the generator. Rodney's young lab assistant, a pretty brunette who wore glasses, emerged a moment later.
"The activator disc has been taken," she reported grimly. "I can't the generator back online without it."
"We'll take him with us," John said referring to the guard. "Let's get to the south lab as quickly as possible."
As his team matched his stride, John touched his ear-piece to report. "Elizabeth, this is Sheppard."
"Go ahead," she responded immediately.
"One of the guards was unconscious and another missing when we got to the west lab," he reported solemnly. "Rodney must have taken him."
John almost thought he could hear her swear under her breath. "We're losing too many people."
"Tell me about it," John snapped with more irritation in his voice than he meant. "We're almost at the south lab."
Ronon and Teyla were already there guarding the entrance and were apprehensively awaiting John's approach. He strode up to and past them into the lab with feigned confidence. The young lab assistant didn't wait for the command and went right to work.
"Did you see anyone?" Sheppard asked Teyla as he oversaw the effort, motioning the rest of their teammates to take up positions guarding the doors to the lab.
"We did not," Teyla reported quickly. "But we only just arrived here a few moments before you did."
The faint chime and whoosh of a door opening echoed through the corridor behind them. With a singular motion, John, Teyla, and Ronon all turned their weapons in the direction of the sound and waited.