Thanks for SlayersGrl for letting me borrow her story Ghosts as a kind of prequel to this and to pennydreadful for the beta.

Part 2 – Waking up from the nightmare

"Can you hear me?"

Ford groaned slightly as he fumbled his way towards consciousness. His mouth was dry, there was a dull ache behind his eyes and he had a pounding headache. The familiar quiet beeping of monitors informed him he was in the Infirmary.

"Lieutenant Ford? Can you hear me?"

He recognised Beckett's voice and memory flooded back over him - the planet, the attack, the desperate flight back to the gate, being shot, McKay screaming at Beckett to help... God, the pain had been so bad, he must have passed out. At least he couldn't feel a thing beyond the headache and for that he was grateful. His last coherent thought had been that he was going to die without seeing his grandparents again. He gave an involuntary gasp at the thought. The gasp turned into a groan as he remembered how badly he'd been hit. He honestly hadn't expected to wake up and now that he had, well, he knew it would be a long road back to health after a hit like that.

He groaned again and then opened his eyes, blinking as his pupils adjusted to the light. He focussed on Beckett's face, surprised at how quickly he could since, as witnessed by the lack of pain, he was so obviously on the good drugs.

Beckett gave him a cheery smile. "Lieutenant Ford, how are you feeling?"

Ford grimaced, "I've been shot, how do you expect me to feel?" His voice was much stronger than he'd expected it would be.

Beckett smiled a relieved looking smile. "Cheeky wee blighter," he said almost fondly. "Still, good to see you back in the land of living."

Ford scowled. He felt that the situation called for more gravity than this.

"Seriously, Doc, how bad is it? You must have me on the really good stuff, I can't feel a thing apart from a headache." Ford was careful not to move too much, not wanting to reawaken the pain.

"Tell me what you remember, Laddie," said Beckett evading the question.

"What I remember? I remember being shot!" Ford felt a little indignant at the lack of coddling he was receiving.

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked.

"What?" asked Ford incredulously. "Of course I'm sure! Someone shot me in the stomach. I was covering our six and took a hit from some sort of energy weapon." He swallowed against the remembered pain. "Teyla came back for me. She got hit too. Sheppard decided to create a diversion and draw off the unfriendly fire whilst Teyla and McKay got me to the gate. I think I must have passed out when we got back to the gate room. Things are a little fuzzy, you know?"

Beckett leant back, lips pursed in thought as he considered Ford's answer. Ford was now beginning to feel neglected and more than a little worried at Beckett's apparent lack of concern. "Come on, Doc. Tell me how bad it is. I will be able to walk again, won't I?"

Beckett gave a quick nod of his head, smiled and said, "No worries about that, Laddie, you can get up now if you want although you'll probably be a wee bit unsteady on your feet for a while."

Ford gaped at him.

Beckett nodded to emphasise his words. "You're fine, Laddie. Have a look yourself," and with that he leant forward, pulled back the sheet, tugged up Ford's top and patted him on the stomach.

"What? Are you crazy?" Ford flinched expecting an explosion of pain and then, when it didn't come he stared at Beckett in shock. He propped himself up on his elbows to stare unbelievingly at the familiar sight of his washboard midriff. Running his fingers over his stomach he remembered the blood, the smell of burnt flesh and the torn tissue. He began to panic. "H… h… how in hell? What happened, Doc?" he asked. "I… I… I was shot! I can remember it all so clearly. W… w… w… what happened?"

Beckett laid a comforting hand on Ford's shoulder and said quickly, "We don't know what happened, Lad. All we know is that you, Teyla and McKay all appear to have been suffering from some very convincing hallucinations." His tone was matter of fact and to some extent soothed Ford's panic.

"Hallucinations? What, like from drugs?" he asked.

"Aye," replied Beckett, "but not from drugs. Your blood work is clean and none of you have a fever but even if you did that wouldn't account for the group nature of the hallucinations."

"Group hallucinations? We all hallucinated the same thing?" asked Ford.

"As far as we can tell, yes," replied Carson.

"So what's causing it?"

"I don't know. I was hoping that you'd be able to tell me something that could give me a clue."

"Why don't you ask McKay? He'll figure it out. He's always telling us how smart he is."

Beckett gave a wry smile and said, "Unfortunately he's still unconscious. He hit his head when you all passed out in the gate room." Ford noticed the look of guilt that flickered across Beckett's face. "Right, since both you and Teyla are awake and coherent, I think I'd better call Dr Weir down here."

He stepped back and, putting his hand to his earpiece, he said, "Elizabeth, Carson here. You might want to come down to the Infirmary now."

"Yeah," said Ford not really listening. He stuck a finger in his belly button and wiggled it, giggling at the familiar tickling sensation. "Hey, Doc," he called as Carson turned to move away, "where's Teyla?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a soft voice spoke from his left. "I'm right here, Aidan," said Teyla.

Ford glanced over to see Teyla sitting on a bed; her left hand was running gently over her right elbow, the one that had been shattered by non-existent weapons fire, in a subconscious movement of reassurance that echoed his own fervent examination of his stomach. She looked subdued and more than a little worried but still she smiled at him, a serene smile intended to calm and to put him at ease. Realising that he still had his finger in his belly button he snatched it away and yanked his top back into place blushing furiously like a small boy caught playing with something he shouldn't …

He was still blushing when Elizabeth walked in accompanied by Peter Grodin.

Elizabeth walked up to their beds and stood for a moment looking at them trying to reconcile her memories of their behaviour in the gate room with what she saw in front of her now. She smiled and said, "Teyla, Ford, it's good to see you awake again. You gave us quite a scare." Then she turned to Beckett and asked, "How's Rodney?"

Beckett nodded towards the screened off bed to the right of Ford. "Rodney is still unconscious. I think that tumble he took in the gate room when he passed out has left him with a concussion." He gave her a weak smile and she felt his guilt for letting Rodney fall. He continued, "I called you down here because Ford and Teyla are awake and there is nothing in what they have told me that explains what happened to them. Initially on waking they were both quite confused and believed the hallucination was real although as soon as they saw the physical evidence they adjusted rapidly."

Elizabeth looked carefully at Teyla and Ford and noted the disquiet and uncertainty on both their faces. She listened as Beckett continued with his report.

"All three of them are mildly dehydrated and have some pretty nasty insect bites. Rodney is quite sunburnt. They are also all showing signs of a neural shock of some sort."

Looking at Teyla and Ford she asked, "Do you remember anything that could account for the hallucinations?"

"As I explained to Dr Beckett, it was a routine mission until the moment the attack started. We had no contact with anyone, in fact we believed the planet to be uninhabited," replied Teyla. "I remember arriving back in Atlantis and then I remember waking up here. I had a headache when I woke up but that has receded and was mild compared to the level of discomfort I felt before."

"And you really believed that you had been shot?" Grodin looked directly at Teyla who met his gaze levelly.

"Yes, Dr Grodin, the hallucinations were most convincing." Again her left hand had crept to her right arm and she was slowly running her fingers along the elbow joint remembering how the bone had shattered and how she had felt it as it protruded through torn skin.

Elizabeth exchanged glances with Grodin and then turned to Ford as if to ask the same question. Ford nodded his assent and added, "I've never felt anything like it ma'am."

She nodded as she remembered Ford's screams and sobs as he lay writhing in agony on the gate room floor. "I'm dying, Grandma, I'm dying….."

She opened her mouth to form another question but was interrupted by a groan from behind the screen around McKay's bed. Beckett quickly moved to McKay's side. They heard him ask, "Rodney, can you hear me?" from behind the screen. After a few minutes he emerged again and shook his head. "I think it will be another wee while before Rodney joins us," he said.

"Dr Weir, have we any explanation for what has happened and where is Major Sheppard?" asked Teyla.

Ford felt a momentary surge of guilt that he hadn't asked that question himself.

"Major Sheppard has not returned yet and we don't know what happened although Peter does have a theory," replied Elizabeth.

All eyes turned to Grodin.

"As Dr Weir said, we have a theory but we're really not sure," he said. "Dr Zelenka and I theorised that since you all lost consciousness at the exact moment the wormhole disengaged the facts must be linked so we started to review the gate logs of when you returned and we've uncovered some strange readings – transmissions across the spectrum of radio waves ranging from ultra low to ultra high. We don't really know what they are but we think they're the cause of the hallucinations"

"But how?" asked Ford.

"That's what we don't really understand at the moment but we're working on it," replied Grodin. "Dr Zelenka is going through McKay's equipment with a fine toothed comb, reviewing all the recordings he made on the planet," he continued.

"But what you are telling me is that you have no idea how these hallucinations were caused, how they were initiated and you don't know if we can protect ourselves against them?" asked Elizabeth.

Grodin looked at her and shrugged his shoulders expressively and spread his hands in a gesture of defeat.

"But what about Major Sheppard, Ma'am? When are we sending a team through the gate to retrieve him? If our injuries were faked maybe our attackers were too and we can easily retrieve him." Ford was propped up on his bed eager to go. "I could take a team there. We could be ready to go in half an hour."

"I can't send a team back in there until I understand what has happened."

"But the Major could be in trouble. He needs us."

"I know that, Lieutenant. However, I can't risk sending in another team until we know more about what happened. You are not yet fit for duty and you are staying in the Infirmary until Dr Beckett says otherwise and the planet is under interdiction. Have I made myself clear?" Elizabeth stared pointedly at Ford.

Fuming he nodded and settled back down against the pillow. She held his gaze until he said, "Yes, Ma'am."

Satisfied with his response she turned to Grodin and began issuing fresh orders, "Peter, have Zelenka continue reviewing the logs and Rodney's laptop. Give him all the resources he needs." She turned back to Ford and Teyla again, "Lieutenant Ford, you and Teyla will stay here with Dr Beckett." She then turned to Beckett and said, "Let me know as soon as Rodney wakes up and is fit to work. We need him on this one." Beckett nodded and Elizabeth, accompanied by Grodin, walked swiftly out of the Infirmary. They could still hear her speaking as she walked out of the Infirmary, "Peter, ask Zelenka to meet with me in at 20:00 hours, OK? And get Bates to join us too." Grodin's reply was lost as the door closed softly behind them.

"So, when are you going to clear me for duty, Doc?" asked Ford staring stonily at Beckett, his jaw set mulishly.

Teyla also turned to Beckett and gave him a questioning look. "Indeed, I am most eager to return to duty. I am deeply concerned about Major Sheppard."

Beckett sighed. "I'm going to want you to keep you here for another a couple of hours at least. I'll need to run some more neurological scans and keep on monitoring your vitals for a wee while." He hesitated and then continued, "I'd prefer to keep you here overnight but I understand you'll want to be back on duty as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Dr Beckett," said Teyla.

"So, when are you going to start the scans?" asked Ford.

Beckett looked at the impatient young lieutenant and sighed again. "Give me ten minutes and we can start," he said as he turned away to speak to his staff and get the equipment ready.

Two hours later most of the scans were complete and Ford and Teyla were standing in the Infirmary fully dressed and ready to go.

"So are we signed back on for duty, Doc?" Ford's expression was slightly belligerent as he stood waiting for Beckett's response. Before he could speak however his attention was distracted by a weak voice coming from the screened off bed. McKay had woken up.

"Erm, what happened?" McKay sounded tired and confused. As Beckett stepped around the screen to McKay's bedside to check his vitals he saw his patient propped up on one elbow rubbing his eyes.

He focussed blearily on Beckett and asked again, "What happened?" He winced as he came to the conclusion that he had fainted. "Oh, God, I fainted didn't I? It was all that blood. Oh my God, Ford!" he sat up suddenly then clutched his head as a stabbing pain exploded inside his head. He collapsed back against the pillow. "Ow, ow, ow... Oh my head. I'm dying here. Ow, ow, ow, make it go away."

"Bad headache, eh?" asked Beckett as he reached out to gently move McKay's hands from his face and then examined his pupils with a pen light and checked the dressing on his left temple.

"I think the answer to that question could be classified as a blindingly obvious, yes," replied McKay, "and shining a bright light into my eyes really doesn't help so stop it." He tried to bat Beckett's hands away as the examination continued. Realising his attempt was in vain he stopped resisting and then asked in a low voice, "How are Teyla and Ford? Did Ford make it?"

"I did, thanks for asking," came Ford's familiar voice.

McKay froze and then carefully rolled his head on the pillow to squint at Ford who had stepped around the screen to stand next to McKay's bed. He was grinning cheerfully. McKay looked at Ford and then at Beckett and then back to Ford.

"Did I hit my head when I, er, passed out? Because there is no way you should be sitting there like that..." Memories of Sheppard pushing Ford's ruined guts back through his stomach wall surfaced, the blood dripping to the floor, the smell of it… McKay's stomach roiled and he gagged as he turned on to his side and began to retch.

Ford and Teyla exchanged concerned looks. They'd been counting on McKay to come up with a plan to get them back to the planet so they could find Sheppard. Now it was looking as if he wouldn't be fit for anything except lying in bed for the next few days.

"Nurse," called out Beckett as he lunged forward to help McKay. "You and you get out of the way please." Obediently Ford and Teyla stepped back and let Beckett and his team do their work.

A quarter of hour later McKay was propped up on his bed, an ice pack on his forehead telling Beckett, Ford and Teyla what he remembered of the mission. McKay's voice was weak and tired lacking its usual edge.

"We got to the planet, I found some energy readings and then, after a couple of hours trekking around the desert planet from hell we found an Ancient outpost. A derelict, dangerous, broken down outpost. It must have been abandoned for thousands of years. There was no trace of any human population but the place was filled with insects," he paused to scratch a row of raised bites along his arm, "horrible, biting insects. It took us a good hour to get in and that's when we found the control chair." He paused to drink some water.

"The interfaces were like none I have seen before and there was so much damage that I needed to do a whole load of work arounds to get the thing working at all. I theorised that the chair must have been powered by a ZedPM but the structure was so unstable that it was impossible to follow any of the conduits down to where the power source would be. I tried to interface with it but decided, after trying for several hours, that I needed more equipment. We were just packing up to get back to the gate when Sheppard touched something, I thought it was an open power conduit, but it can't have been since it should have killed him but it didn't. Then the shooting started. We made our way back to the gate under heavy fire, Teyla and Ford were hit, Sheppard went off on a Captain Kirk and we came back here. We got to the gate room and then you all started looking at us as if we were stark raving mad and then I guess I passed out." He closed his eyes against the memories.

"You all did, Rodney," said Beckett.

"What? We all passed out?"

"Yes, Rodney, you did. And as you've seen, neither Ford nor Teyla was injured. You've all been suffering from some form of hallucination."

"Hallucination?" McKay looked at Teyla and Ford who nodded at him. McKay then turned his attention back to Carson, "And you're telling me that none of it was real?"

"We don't know what was real and what wasn't," he replied. "Obviously Teyla and Lieutenant Ford were not shot but from the state of your clothing and equipment you obviously spent a protracted amount of time in the desert-like conditions you describe."

McKay paused and then asked, "So, when did Sheppard get back? Was he in the same state as us? You know, I'd just hate for the humiliation to be limited to us."

"That's the problem, Rodney, he hasn't," answered Beckett.

"What!" exclaimed McKay lifting the ice pack so that he could take a better look at Beckett, Ford and Teyla. "Then why are you all still here in the Infirmary instead of being out there looking for him?"

"We're not cleared for active duty," said Ford throwing Beckett a sour look.

"But you're not concussed are you? Why haven't you been cleared? And how come I have a concussion? Huh? Why aren't they concussed too?" demanded McKay.

Beckett flushed slightly. "When you all passed out Ford was lying on the floor in the gate room, Teyla was sitting down and you were standing. When you fell you hit your head."

"But I was standing right next to you! You mean you let me fall? This is your fault? I thought you were supposed to fix people not break them!"

Teyla interrupted what was promising to be a major McKay melt down. "Dr Weir has placed the planet under interdiction. I believe that she is meeting with Dr Zelenka and Dr Grodin and Sergeant Bates now to decide upon the best course of action."

"You mean they are meeting without me? How can they possibly expect to clear this up without me?" McKay was offended.

"Dr Zelenka has been reviewing the data logs and has a theory about what has happened. He has also been reviewing the data on your laptop that you recorded on the planet," said Beckett.

"You've let Zelenka have my lap top!" McKay was outraged. "You can't do that! It's mine… It has all my papers on it, all my research notes…"

"Rodney," warned Beckett. "He needs it to review the data."

"Here, help me up. I need to be at that meeting." McKay demanded dropping the ice pack to the floor and pushing himself slowly upright. "Get me some clothes," he ordered and started picking at the IV lead in the back of his hand.

"Rodney, you're not going anywhere," Beckett pushed him back down onto the bed.

"Yes I am, Carson. Even concussed I'm smarter than anyone else in this city and you know it. And it's your fault I'm concussed so please don't make things worse by stopping me from sorting out this mess!"

Ford and Teyla exchanged meaningful looks. They'd known they could count on McKay to get them back to the planet.

"Rodney," Beckett's eyes narrowed warningly.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, Carson, can you imagine that we have argued about this for hours and now you have relented? It will save a lot of effort if you do."

"Rodney, you are concussed. You need to lie still and quiet and take time to recover."

"And whose fault is it that I am concussed? Huh? Do you want to add Sheppard's death to your list of achievements today? If so, go right ahead keeping me here. It's the only way to guarantee he doesn't make it."

Beckett's eyes narrowed, he didn't like his guilt being played against him. "Alright Rodney, you can go but Teyla and Ford will be going with you wherever you go and like it or not you'll be back here in two hours for a check up. OK?"

Half an hour later McKay walked, somewhat unsteadily, accompanied by Teyla and Ford into the conference room where Elizabeth was sitting with Zelenka, Grodin and Bates.

"Rodney, glad to see you're back on your feet!" exclaimed Elizabeth, "but should you be here?" she continued noting the pale cast to McKay's face.

"Of course I should. I'm the only one smart enough to fix this," he snapped.

Elizabeth turned to Teyla questioningly. "Dr Beckett has released Dr McKay from the Infirmary and has charged us to remain with him at all times."

McKay threw her a grateful look and then ploughed on, "Elizabeth, we have to go back to the planet. I have a theory about what has happened and am pretty sure I can block the transmissions that cause the hallucinations."

"When you say you're pretty sure you can block them, do you mean 90 sure?" she asked.

"More like 70," he replied.

"Which means 50," said Grodin quietly.

McKay chose to ignore him, "Look, if we don't go back soon I think that Sheppard's chances of coming out of this one alive will be minimal. In fact his chances are reducing by the minute. Let me take a team back, I think we can get him back. I'll need Ford, Teyla, Carson and Zelenka. Oh, and a couple of grunts to help me carry the kit I'll need. Bates, can you choose some that aren't too Neanderthal?"

He paused and looked at his colleagues sitting around the table and then turned his focus back to Elizabeth and spoke again, "Listen, if you want Sheppard back alive, you have to let me take a team back there and you have to let me do it now."

Please leave a review - I would appreciate any pointers and constructive criticism you can offer. Thank you.