Chapter 12 – Landfall

The soft patter of warm rain on Rodney's face woke him up gently. He blinked up at the cloud strewn sky above and frowned. He was lying on his back on the ground. He felt grass brushing against his hands and when he tilted his head back slightly, he saw a nearby tree hanging over him. Its leaves rustled in a breeze which sent the rain sideways onto him.

He winced as the pain reminded him of his injuries. He tucked his elbow into his side, while he curled his hand against his inner leg over the wounds inflicted by the evil version of Jennifer.

He opened his mouth and let the water run over his tongue to soothe his dry throat. He hoped it did not contain any horrible diseases or acid, but he shook himself away from those thoughts as best he could. He thought he was probably still somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy away from pollution like that on Earth.

He was curious as to why he was outside and not on Atlantis after the latest reality change.

As quickly as the rain had started, the clouds moved on and the sun broke through and shone down brightly. Rodney rested his damaged hand over his eyes to block out the brightness from blinding him as he continued to lie there and gather his strength. The rain had soaked him, but the sun was so hot he did not feel cold as his clothes rapidly dried.

The blood loss had left him numb and sleepy, even after being unconscious for an unknown length of time. He gritted his teeth and pushed his uninjured hand on the ground to force himself upright. He felt a horrendous splitting sensation across his right forearm and closed his eyes as he swayed even as he sat there.

"Okay, that's not so good," he mumbled with a wince as he looked down and watched as blood welled up and ran out from under the bandage tied to his arm. He held the palm of his shaking left hand on the bandage and pressed as hard as he could. His broken fingers were still strapped securely and he was careful not to knock them as he leaked more vital fluids by the minute.

To distract himself, he blinked slowly and lifted his head to find out where he was and how he had become so lost and alone.

His eyes flew open when he saw the evidence of massive destruction all around him. Twisted metal and broken concrete were on the ground, the last remains of a catastrophic event some time in the past. Some of the debris rose up in frightening pillars and other pieces were deeply buried in the ground.

It looked like it has happened a while ago, as grass had grown up all around the final resting place and all that was left of Atlantis in this reality. Trees that had survived the calamity tilted, but remained alive as they grew sideways.

Rodney felt like a piece of wreckage from Atlantis himself as he lay there bleeding and trembling.

He thought the city may have crashed into the planet, but the lack of a crater and the still living trees which had obviously been displaced in the last few years made him quickly push that theory away. Which left another option. Rodney shifted the grip he had on his forearm and muttered, "The self destruct… but what happened to my bag and where's the arch?"

He looked down at his arm and lifted his hand away. It was coated gory and red, but the bleeding had stopped for now. He placed both of his arms over his chest and shifted until he was kneeling. He then very slowly stood up and staggered as he put his weight on his stabbed leg. He clenched his teeth and hissed.

Now that he was slightly higher up, he spotted his bag a short distance away in a clump of long grass and flowers which rocked back and forth in a warm breeze.

As the water from the recent downpour evaporated, Rodney could hear insects singing and chirping birds in the trees. He closed his eyes tightly in fear as a loud buzzing sound flew past his ear. He dreaded to think about all the allergens from the flowers and hoped he would reach his epi-pen in time if one of the bugs decided to sting him. There was also the possibility of predatory animals looking for an easy target and he would be at the top of their list in his current condition.

He limped over to the bag and pressed his hand against the cut on his leg as he sat down in the cushioned long grass and unzipped it. He had to pull out the Wraith stunners to get at what he needed. He wrapped another bandage over the top of the soaked one on his arm and then took some painkillers with the last of his water.

He pulled out the scanner and sighed as he placed it in his lap and activated it so that he did not have to use his damaged hand. He moved his left arm as close as possible to the device and rolled his eyes. He already knew that he was not home, but he could not help the relief that went through him. Atlantis had not been destroyed while he had been gone. At least he hoped it had not.

There was suddenly a change in the sounds of the creatures sharing the land with him and the rustling leaves in the trees. Rodney looked up in alarm.

He still could not see the arch and exactly how he had landed where he had as his eyes scanned the devastation. The noise that had caught his attention grew louder and developed a distinctly familiar tone as it increased in volume. He had heard the sound in his nightmares long after it had passed into his ears while he had been awake.

He said, "Oh, the Wraith!" He then sullenly looked across at the nearest flower waving close to his face and glared at it intensely as he berated himself, "Of course it's the Wraith. You're a runner, McKay."

The dampening field he had devised had either not worked in this reality or he had been too far away from the scanner to avoid detection.

He did not feel like running at that moment, so he quickly packed the bag and pulled out a power crystal. He shoved the crystal in his pocket along with the scanner and tucked the stunner under his arm after he pulled the bag over his shoulders.

He then stood up and started to walk as fast as his body would allow as he started his hunt for the escape route out of this reality in earnest. He had to find it before the Wraith found him or he would never stand a chance against them.

He breathed shallowly to minimize the pain in his side from the stab wound under his ribs. As he walked, he darted his eyes quickly around the debris, desperately looking for the archway as the Wraith Dart circled over him, but did not swoop.

"They want me alive so that they can play with their food first," he hissed through clenched teeth as he looked up at a massive chunk of metal which had smashed Ancient writing etched into the side. He did not bother to read it as it was not what he was searching for.

He glanced down at the life signs detector and saw in horror that there was a single reading approaching him. Rodney knew the debris would slow down the Wraith hunter a little, but he would not bet his life on it. He lifted the stunner and watched as the small blip got closer to his position.

Rodney took up cover behind a high dull-gold coloured bulkhead and leant his shoulder against it as he waited for the Wraith to get within firing range.

He turned his head to the side as he readied himself to leave the cover in order to try and prevent the inevitable for a little longer. The sun beat down hotly and he felt sweat forming on his skin as the last of the rain water evaporated in the heat.

He looked down at the scanner again as his hand wavered and shook. His involuntary movements made the stunner look like it was going to come free from his grasp at any moment.

As he lifted his head up again, something caught his eye and his mouth opened slightly. He had finally spotted the archway attached to the side of a tilting floor as a large section of the city remained partially intact. It was underground slightly and the hard compressed earth held it up.

Rodney tracked his eyes over the structure briefly before he concentrated all his thoughts on his immediate survival. He must have fallen down and rolled quite some distance after he had come through into this reality. He was glad for the softness of the grass, because above the constant dull ache throughout him, he could not feel any new bruises from the fall.

He saw that the Wraith was now very close to him. He twisted himself round out of the cover and saw that it was just creeping around the edge of a nearby piece of twisted grey metal. The shard could have come from any part of the ruined city. The Wraith looked at him in surprise, before Rodney squeezed the trigger quickly.

His first few shots went wide as it ran at him, but he eventually caught it in the arm. It staggered and stopped running just long enough for his next shots to be true. He shot it in the chest many times and it fell down.

Rodney was quaking in fear and panic as he spun around and limped over to the base of the structure holding up the arch where he needed to go. He could not see the control panel. It had probably been in the section which had now become nothing more that weathered and torn power conduits and a jagged edge of metal pointing up into the sky.

The archway itself looked like it was brand new and as pristine as it had been in all the realities so far. It was almost like no amount of fire or rain or impacts could harm it.

He furrowed his brow in frustration as he tried to figure out a way to escape. Climbing was out of the question as the surface was too steep and smooth.

He willed himself to think faster as he knew the Wraith he had shot would recover soon and come for him. He also knew that the Wraith would do their best to get him and keep on sending more and more soldiers against him until their game was over and he was dead.

He muttered to himself in his panic, "So, there's no power conduit to the arch…" he narrowed his eyes and then suddenly widened them in realisation. He pointed the stunner at the hoop of metal which was so tantalisingly close, but too far away for him to ever possibly reach.

He whispered, "It's so twitchy with just a tiny amount of power. I hope it's enough to give it a little kick to get going…"

He fired the stunner again and again and again until one shot hit the arch, followed by another. He prayed the stunner blasts would provide enough energy to enable it to start drawing some real power from a reality where it was still connected. He hoped it would then be able to lift him off the ground and pull him through without any unwelcome followers.

The arch remained inert and Rodney continued to shoot at it. About one in ten of his poorly aimed blasts impacted as his hand wildly shook and threw his aim off. He knew that his aim was not as good as Sheppard, Ronon or Teyla's at the best of times, but the blood loss was hampering his muscle control.

He smiled in triumph when the arch activated at last and he was pulled towards it. He leant against the place where the floor was embedded in the soil. He then rested his arms against his chest protectively as he was slowly lifted and dragged up the tilted floor and through the portal to another reality.

Rodney was deposited carefully by the shift between realities. He was already lying in a heap on the floor when he left the heat of the sun and the warm breeze of the latest reality and found himself back on an intact version of Atlantis.

The buzzing insects and scream of the Wraith dart had been instantly silenced and the only sounds left were those coming from him.

He pulled the bag from his shoulders and lay out on his back as he got his breath back in pants over the shock and adrenaline of his recent bout of immense panic. He willed his heart rate to slow down as he felt it hammering against his ribs in palpitations and closed his eyes.

He felt absolutely exhausted once his breathing had finally evened out. He knew he would fall asleep if he kept lying there, so he rolled away from the archway and dragged the bag along the floor behind him as he crawled over to the nearest wall. He sat down and leant against it with his head tilted back. He gazed up at the ceiling tiredly as intermittent tremors kept running through his body.

He knew that if he fell asleep now, he would probably not wake up again. He was so tired that his vision blurred as his eyes unfocused.

He unzipped the bag and pulled out the scanner and radio inside. He looked at the radio indecisively. If he used it there was no guarantee he would not call down an even quicker death than the one he was nearing.

He put the radio on the floor, picked up the scanner and activated it. He rested it on his left arm on the off chance that it would already be able to pick up the reality.

"Oh! That can't be right?" The numbers on the screen snapped him out of the darkness closing in around him in his excitement and he eagerly grabbed the radio.

"McKay to Sheppard!"

He was breathing heavily again trying to fight down the dizziness and it seemed like forever before there was a reply.

"This is Sheppard. Rodney, is that really you?" John's voice was hushed in disbelief, almost in awe.

"No, it's just some uncannily identical impersonator." He tried to sound angry, but his sarcastic bite was missing due to the weakness of his voice as he got closer to slipping unconscious. He gasped and then whispered, "What I really need to be concerned about is whether you're you, or whether you're going to try and kill me."

John asked slowly, "Are you aright?"

"Uh, not really," Rodney winced and his chest hitched when he sucked in a quick breath through his teeth, but he could feel very little pain. He lay down on his side and brought his knees up as closely to his chest as he could. He continued to keep the radio clutched in his shaking hand.

After a few seconds alone, Rodney heard John say, "I've called a medical team to meet me by the transporter. I take it you're in the room with the archway?"

Rodney sighed softly, "Yes."

He suddenly lost the feeling in his fingers and his muscles relaxed as he no longer had the strength to keep them taut.

"Rodney, where have you been for the last two weeks? Rodney…?" Sheppard's voice increased in volume and it sounded like he was running. "Just hang in there, we'll be down in a minute!"

He could not press the talk button or even consider lifting his arm it felt so heavy. Everything felt like it was weighing him down; even his eyelids were too heavy to keep open so he closed his eyes.

The ground vibrated under Rodney as he lay there and he squinted to see how he had found himself in the middle of an earthquake. Then he saw a woman with blond hair nearby holding a needle. She looked worried and then her face became a neutral mask.

He suddenly panicked as she reached for him to jab him with the pointed metal. Rodney moved out of the way and started talking quickly as she tried to calm him down, "No no no! I won't let you s-s-stab me again!"

She replied calmly, with her hands raised at him as he curled up even tighter and watched her warily, "Rodney, it's Jennifer. I'm trying to help you."

He flinched when John walked over and crouched down next to him. The Colonel rested a hand on Rodney's back and furrowed his brow when he saw up close the broken fingers and blood stained bandages wrapped around the scientist.

He asked, "McKay, what's happened to you? Who did this to you?"

Rodney blinked up at Sheppard and a stream of fearful questions fled his mouth before he could stop the flow, "Am I immune to citrus? Are Elizabeth and Carson still alive? Are the Replicators still around? Has Earth been culled by the Wraith? Have the Genii taken over Atlantis? Am I… Uh, am I…? Jennifer... does she...?"

He shivered violently as more questions surfaced in his mind, but his recently flustered speech had drained him so much he could no longer force any more words out. He completely lost his concentration and grimaced.

Talking was like trying to hold water in his cupped hands. The speech had started out sure and strong, but by the time he was halfway through the sentence, too much water had been lost and he could not remember what he was going to say.

John had his mouth open in shock and blurted, "No! What the hell, McKay?"

Rodney closed his eyes and relaxed, "Good. I just needed to be sure."

He felt a tiny sting as an IV line was pushed under his skin. He looked to the side as Jennifer and her team carefully lifted him up onto the waiting gurney and wrapped more bandages over the blood soaked ones.

He suddenly tried to sit upright, but gentle hands forced him back down. He turned to John and said, "There's a Wraith tracker in my back! It'll call them down on Atlantis!"

Sheppard's eyes widened in shock and he shared a dark look and a nod with Jennifer. He said, "Don't worry, Dr Keller will find a way to get it out."

Jennifer suddenly leaned in towards him. Rodney was too weak to get away as terror gripped his heart that she was about to pull out a scalpel and slowly gut him before he could escape. Instead, she squeezed his upper arm and whispered in his ear so that no one else heard, "I still love you."

Rodney sighed in relief and sunk down into the bed as he let a small smile turn the corners of his mouth. The calm feeling immediately sent him to sleep.

The last image he had was of Jennifer looking down at him kindly with the lights in the ceiling moving past above her head as the medical team rushed him to the infirmary.

TBC