Chapter 13
Rodney held Elizabeth's hand in a tight, comforting grip as he led her through the tunnels and passages of his mind. Or was it her mind? Every now and then she would glimpse something out of the corner of her eye that seemed strangely familiar, but then they were passed it and she couldn't be sure she had seen anything at all.
"Where are we?" Elizabeth asked finally.
"It's… complicated." Rodney said. Elizabeth almost laughed when he proceeded to tell her anyway. "It seems our minds have become… er, slightly entangled so in some places you can't see where one of us ends and the other begins. So it's like a maze, but I've had time to look around. I know my way around your head better than you do." He grinned back at her smugly and Elizabeth couldn't help but smile in return.
"But it's only been a few hours!" she responded breathlessly. Then she shook her head. "Relativity. Right. Never mind. But… why does everything look like Atlantis? I mean, I definitely recognize that corridor."
Rodney shrugged.
"It's the place you and I know best—at least, in the last year or so. I bet if we could see Zelenka and Sheppard's minds, they would look the same. Carson's probably in Scotland somewhere, but he would be—"
"Focus." Elizabeth barked reflexively. Rodney flashed a lopsided smile over his shoulder.
"Sorry."
"Okay, so we're in… our minds. Where are you taking us?"
"To the 'Gate." Rodney said without hesitation. "Heightmeyer'd be better at explaining this, but—"
"It's a symbol of travel." Elizabeth said. "A… well, a gateway. I understand."
Rodney nodded absently and they continued to run through the empty halls of Atlantis.
Sheppard paced back and forth in the infirmary. Teyla stood quietly nearby and Ronan was stretched out on a nearby bed. Carson hovered over Elizabeth, checking her pulse. Sheppard was just passing him for what felt like the billionth time when he saw the Scot frown slightly. Sheppard froze instantly and whirled around to face the man.
"What?" he snapped. "What happened?"
"I lost count." Beckett responded, glancing at his watch. He looked up at Sheppard. "Would ye stop ye're pacin', man? I cannot concentrate wi' ye bobbin' back 'n forth like tha'."
"Sorry, Doc. It's just sort of hard to stand still right now." Sheppard said, glancing at Elizabeth's pale face.
"I understand, son. But if ye don' calm down, I'm goin' t' have t' ask ye t' step outside."
Sheppard immediately sat down on the edge of the bed Ronan was currently occupying. Carson nodded and turned back to Elizabeth.
"Thank ye." He said.
"Sure." Sheppard sighed. "I'm not going anywhere."
Rodney led Elizabeth into the 'Gate room, still holding her hand. He had been trying to ignore it, but her skin had slowly been becoming increasingly clammy and cold, as if she were coming down with the flu. She hadn't said anything about not feeling good, though, and they were essentially not supposed to feel anything, really. They were figments of their imagination—they were imagination. They were… well, Rodney was a scientist, not some voodoo doctor who cared that much about the brain unless it was his. Or Elizabeth's. He'd die to save Elizabeth's.
"Okay," Rodney pulled Elizabeth up the three or four steps leading into the room and stopped, turning to face her. "I've got to go dial the 'Gate. Don't leave without me."
"I won't." Elizabeth said softly. She was beginning to feel a little lightheaded and cold, as if she were coming down with a fever. She had never said anything, but Rodney had noticed. She was certain. He touched a hand to her face, one of the gentlest motions she had ever seen him make.
"Hey," he murmured quietly, "are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." Elizabeth murmured. "Just… hurry, Rodney. I think I'm running out of time."
Rodney paled and he nodded. He pulled her close to him and planted a brisk kiss on her forehead before he released her and ran up the flight of steps leading into the abandoned control room.
Elizabeth watched him as he ran to the DHD. She thought it odd that she had come here to save him, and now he was trying to save her. It pained her to know that it was her fault that he would fail. She only hoped that he could still somehow save himself.
Elizabeth felt the world staring to spin around her, saw her vision growing dim and hazy. She knew her body was dying and there was nothing she could do. So she stood rooted in place, watching the 'Gate symbols lock into place and heard the muffled roar of the wormhole forming.
And that was the last thing that Elizabeth knew before the floor leapt up to meet her and she collapsed into senselessness. She had just enough time to realize that it was really weird that she should be falling unconscious when she technically already was.
Sheppard didn't remember falling asleep. He did remember Ronan kicking him in the back until he moved to a different bed and he remembered lying down and closing his eyes. He must have fallen asleep, though, because the next thing he knew there was a shrill beeping and people running around and shouting. He slowly sat up and saw Teyla and Ronan staring towards Elizabeth's bed and John felt his heart stop as he realized his worst fears.
Elizabeth, once so still on her bed, had begun to seize. Her head snapped back and her pale features twisted as her body convulsed on the bed. Carson was holding down one of her arms as he tried to inject her with something, but he was having trouble as the unconscious woman kept thrashing out of his grasp.
"Goddammit." Sheppard hissed as he leapt to his feet. "What the hell…?"
"We do not know." Teyla said softly as Ronan stood beside her, grinding his teeth in helpless frustration. "She simply began to convulse."
"Dammit." Sheppard swore again.
"Beckett says there's nothing we can do but stay out of his way." Ronan growled. Sheppard, unwilling to do it but knowing there were no options left to him, nodded.
"It's all up to Beckett now."
"No." Heightmeyer said and Sheppard nearly leapt out of his skin when she stepped up behind him. He had totally forgotten she was there. He looked back at her and frowned.
"What do you mean, "no""? he asked. Heightmeyer sighed.
"it's not up to Carson anymore. It's up to Elizabeth and Rodney. We can't do anything anymore."
Ronan growled, a savage sound deep in his throat.
"We can't just stand here and watch her die."
"We will not watch her die, Ronan." Teyla said forcefully. "We will watch her live."
"I sure hope you're right, Teyla." Sheppard growled as the four of them watched Elizabeth fight a loosing battle.
Rodney watched the 'Gate activate and he grinned triumphantly. He was just turning away from the DHD when a thought struck him and he whirled to look at the 'Gate again. His eyes flew wide and he almost leapt up and down in excitement. He instead settled for slapping his palm against his forehead.
"The 'Gate, of course! Ah, you idiot, McKay, you are a genius!"
Ignoring his contradictory statement about himself, Rodney hurried down the steps to join Elizabeth, talking the entire way down to the bottom.
"Elizabeth! I've got it! I've figured out how to fix this! Of course, it doesn't surprise me that Zelenka or any of his cronies didn't figure it out, but now that I have it all we have to do is get you through—Elizabeth!"
Rodney's heart stopped as he reached the bottom of the stairs and found Elizabeth lying unconscious on the floor, pale and sweating. Rodney swore under his breath and knelt beside her, pressing a hand to her throat. Well, he could barely feel it, but there was a pulse. At least she was alive.
Rodney glared down at Elizabeth's still form as he struggled to lift her into his arms so that her legs were draped over one arm, her shoulders against his other and her shoulder lying still and heavy on his shoulder. He shook his head as he staggered for the 'Gate.
"How do you manage to fall unconscious when you're already unconscious?" Rodney growled. He looked down at her still, sweating face and the hardness around his mouth softened. "And you say I'm difficult."
Rodney sighed and, holding Elizabeth close, he hurried through the 'Gate and was lost in the brilliant flash of instant transport.
Sheppard felt his heart miss a beat when Elizabeth's body suddenly stopped thrashing and fell limp and heavy onto the bed. Even Carson hesitated, unsure of what was happening. But he was still for only a moment before he took Elizabeth's arm and prepared to jab a needle of… something into her veins.
"Don't you dare stick that thing in my arm!"
Everyone—nurses, doctors, colonels, aliens and Scots—yelped in surprise and leapt back in alarm as Elizabeth's green eyes glared up at Carson.
"You can put the damn thing down now, Carson, she's awake. Stop threatening me with your damned voodoo magic."
Carson, his mouth hanging open in shock, frowned and slammed the needle down on a tray next to the bed.
"Maybe if ye would stop convulsin' I wouldn't have t' stick ye in th' arm, Rodney!" he shouted. Elizabeth glared back at him.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked.
"Because Elizabeth's not so bloody rude!" the Scot snapped back. "An' where is she, anyway? Is she alright?"
"I'm here, Carson." Elizabeth said, her voice suddenly softer and more normal then when Rodney had been using it. Sheppard blinked in surprise.
"Elizabeth?" he asked slowly, stepping forward. "Rodney?"
"Yes, yes, Sheppard, we're both here." Rodney snapped irritably through Elizabeth's voice. He looked up and Elizabeth's face lit up in a brilliant grin. "And where's that blockhead, Zelenka?"
"Rodney…" Elizabeth said warningly and Sheppard blinked in confusion because it definitely looked like Elizabeth was talking to herself. But it didn't matter so long as she was alive.
He hoped.
"Why do ye need Zelenka, son?" Carson asked, seemingly perfectly content with talking to Elizabeth and calling her "son".
"Because." Elizabeth/Rodney grinned and tapped her forehead. "I've figured out how to get me out of here."