THE WHITE ROOM...part 12
He could feel Atlantis sinking. He had to save her. He ran through the darkened corridors only to run into a solid figure. He stumbled back then gasped to see that it was Kolya who stood before him.
"This city will be mine, Sheppard!" Kolya stated.
John shook his head at him. "No! I'll kill you!" But he didn't have a gun.
Kolya laughed, almost falling over in his mirth.
John ran past him, only to skid to a halt when a Wraith dropped down from above. John knew him. "Steve," he whispered, recoiling as the Wraith approached.
Steve was smiling, dark fangs glistening. "I've come to take you with me, Sheppard," he drawled. "To take you away from here."
"NO!" John was both terrified and angry. He couldn't leave Atlantis. He couldn't let Steve take him away. He wanted to shove Steve away from him, but when he lunged forward, the Wraith vanished and John felt himself falling. He fell into a shadowy darkness, and he was alone and the voices were back, too loud, making his head hurt.
"Lantea," he whispered, over and over again. "Lantea...Lantea...Lantea..."
"Easy, Colonel." Carson had been dozing in a nearby chair, but when Sheppard started shifting around and whispering, he'd gotten up to try and calm him. But he seemed to have the opposite effect.
Sheppard pushed Carson aside, slipping out of bed, yanking out the IV before Carson could catch him. He moved to the far corner of the room, one hand pressed to the wall, the other clutching the disk. He kept whispering, "Lantea."
Carson sighed as he watched Sheppard. The man was jittery, even twitching a bit as he paced in a frenetic half circle, the fingertips of his free hand always touching one wall. Carson was debating whether to attempt to get him back to bed when the Colonel suddenly stuffed himself into the corner and started rocking. One hand was pressed to his temple.
Moving to Sheppard's side, Carson knelt down and gently reached for the Colonel's free hand. Blood was dripping down it from where he'd tugged out the IV. Carefully, Carson wiped it, taking note of the heat of Sheppard's skin.
"How is he?" It was Teyla who asked. She had awakened when Sheppard got up and had watched from her chair, until now. Now she knelt down beside Carson, her eyes locked on Sheppard's pale face. She could not hide her worry.
"He has a fever," Carson stated. He tended to Sheppard's hand, smoothing a Band-Aid into place, then letting the Colonel tug his hand back before turning to face Teyla. "We really need to get him home," he said firmly. "I think being on Atlantis might help."
Teyla nodded. "I agree. It was wrong to send him here in the first place."
Carson sighed, rubbing at his eyes to clear away the grit of slumber. "Hind sight is 20/20, lass," he conceded, not bothering to explain the expression. He figured Teyla would get the gist of it. Rising slowly to his feet, Carson stretched out a few kinks then said, "I'm going to go talk to General O'Neill. I want Sheppard back in Atlantis as soon as possible."
"But it is early," Teyla cautioned, grabbing Carson by the arm.
"Oh, bloody..." Carson broke off as he glanced at his watch. Two am. He should wait a few hours. But then he looked back at Sheppard, still rocking in the corner, and his mind was made up. "This is an emergency!" Carson declared. "The General can sleep later." With that he headed for the door, determination emanating from him in waves.
OoO
Rodney had been dreaming about cupcakes. Real, chocolate, cupcakes like the ones they had in the messhall tonight, when a heavy hand on his shoulder, shook him awake. He blinked his eyes open, saw a huge figure looming over him and panicked.
A heavy hand clamped over his mouth before his scream could erupt.
"It's me!" Ronon hissed.
Shoving Ronon's hand off his face, Rodney glared at him. It was bad enough he hated being here instead of in Atlantis. Worse that Sheppard was a mess and Rodney felt guilty about it, even though it wasn't his fault. But it was the last straw when Ronon, his supposed team mate, went around scaring the shit out of him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Rodney snarled at him. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Ronon shrugged. "You'd be dead already if I wanted that," he pointed out.
"Right." Rodney shuddered a bit at how true that was. He would have been dead without even waking up, had Ronon wanted to kill him. "Why are you here?" Rodney continued, as he sat up and tried to straighten out the covers that had twisted around his legs in his sleep. Apparently he'd been pretty restless.
"Something's up," Ronon said, ever succinct.
Glancing at the clock on the bed table, Rodney sighed. It was almost 2 am. "Yes, me," he said, pointedly. "Thanks to you." He wondered if Ronon ever slept properly. The Satedan had been observed roaming around Atlantis at all hours of the night and day since coming to live there.
Ronon grabbed the blankets Rodney was fussing with and tossed them off the bed. "Get up."
"Why?" Rodney wasn't doing anything without a good reason.
"I've been checking things out," Ronon rumbled. "I found that doctor you don't like."
That woke Rodney up a bit. "Purdie?"
Ronon nodded. "Yeah. With one of those naked creatures."
"Asgard," Rodney supplied. "And?" He was starting to wake up now, and his stomach was twisting into knots. He knew he wasn't going to like whatever Ronon told him.
"Purdie called the creature, Kel, and they were talking about Sheppard. I couldn't hear them clearly, but they mentioned Sheppard's name several times." Ronon looked grim as he stared down at Rodney. "I don't like that."
Rodney didn't like it either. He stood up and grabbed his pants. "I think Purdie had something to do with Sheppard being in his present condition."
Ronon cracked his knuckles. "Want me to find out?"
"Tempting," Rodney conceded, now reaching for a long-sleeved shirt. It was cold in the room, after the warmth of the covers. "But no. Not like that, anyway." Although if Ronon wanted to beat the shit out of Purdie later, Rodney would be all for. If Purdie was the one who had caused Sheppard to suffer like this, then Rodney wanted him punished. But that was for another time. Right now he needed to focus on the present. He grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on. "Keep tabs on them for now," he requested. "Keep Sheppard safe. That's the most important thing."
"Teyla's with Sheppard," Ronon replied. "He's safe."
Relief washed over Rodney. He knew Teyla would never let anyone hurt Sheppard. "Good." He headed for the door.
Ronon trailed after him. "Where are you going?"
"To talk to O'Neill. I want to take Sheppard back to Atlantis ASAP." Rodney locked eyes with Ronon. "We never should have brought him here."
"You were trying to help him," Ronon reminded him.
It didn't assuage Rodney's guilt. Even though bringing him here hadn't been his idea. "Yeah," he whispered. "I know." He was, however, going to do everything in his power to help Sheppard now. "Go skulk in the shadows," he ordered Ronon. "Let me know if they do anything sneaky."
Ronon grinned. "I'll let you know," he confirmed, then he slipped out the door.
A moment later, Rodney followed him.
OoO
Muttering to himself all the way down the corridor, Rodney wasn't paying attention to outside forces, so he ended up colliding with a solid form. He stumbled, caught himself by grabbing the other person's arm, and was stunned to recognize Beckett. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, not keeping his voice down. And here being outside O'Neill's door.
"I could ask the same about you, Rodney," Carson countered, rubbing as his ribcage where Rodney's elbow had connected.
"Aren't you supposed to be taking care of Sheppard?" Rodney felt his stomach drop. "He's okay, isn't he? Is he worse? Is he dying?" Panic set in and Rodney started babbling.
Until Carson cut him off by grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "First off, Teyla's with him. He's not dying, but he is feverish and agitated and I'm here because I want to ask General O'Neill if we can take the Colonel home." Releasing his grip on Rodney, Carson shook his head. "He just rocks in the corner whispering Lantea over and over again. It's breaking my heart. He needs to go home, Rodney. Right now."
The irony of this moment was not lost on Rodney, but all he did was nod. "That's why I'm here. We need to get back. Something bad is going to happen if we stay. I can feel it."
Sudden footsteps made Rodney break off, and he pressed himself against the wall as someone turned the corner. It was a pretty blond woman with a clipboard in one hand. She smiled at Rodney and Carson before continuing on her way. Rodney waited until she was out of sight before turning to O'Neill's door. As one, he and Carson raised one fist with the intent of pounding on the door, only it popped open and a fully dressed General stood before them.
Rodney and Carson looked at each other, both surprised.
O'Neill looked tired, but he grinned at them. "Let's see about getting you all back to Atlantis. But I'm going with you." With that he stepped out into the corridor, closed the door behind him with a click, then strode off.
Rodney ran to catch him, hearing Carson a footstep behind him. They were finally going home.
OoO
Purdie felt a full-fledged panic attack coming on. He headed for Kel's lab, shoes untied, clothes rumbled and eyes bleary. Martha had stopped by his room to tell him what she had overheard Dr. McKay and the Scottish doctor talking about taking Sheppard home to Atlantis. They had run out of time.
Stumbling into the lab, Purdie gazed about, searching for the Asgard. For a moment he thought he was alone, but then Kel appeared before him.
"You look troubled," Kel said quietly.
"They're taking Sheppard back to Atlantis!" Purdie blurted out. "They're waking up O'Neill to do it right now!"
Kel was silent for a long moment, no expression on his face. Not that there ever was much of one anyway. "They cannot just send him through right this minute," he stated. "We still have some time."
Purdie had been pacing, but now he stopped and glared at the tiny Asgard. "And do what?" he demanded. "They've already figured out something was done to Sheppard while beaming to and from the Daedalus. It won't be long before they figure out it was us. We have to leave. We have to leave now." He turned to run out, but cool digits gripped his wrist. Kel was tiny but strong. He held Purdie in place. "We have to go," Purdie hissed, hearing the desperation in his voice.
"You must calm down and be reasonable," Kel countered, his grip tightening painfully. "We will do what needs to be done." With something mimicking a smile on his face, Kel drew Purdie further into the lab, taking him into the back.
Purdie felt as if he were taking the final walk to the electric chair.
OoO
Elizabeth came awake with a start. Feeling foggy, she blinked hard and reached for the lights. Nothing happened. Then she realized it was cold in the room and she tugged the blanket up around her shoulders, trying not to shiver. A glance at her watch showed her it was about 2am.
Heaving a sigh, Elizabeth reached out for her radio when it beeped and made her jump. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed it and tucked it in her ear. "Weir here."
"I have bad news," Zelenka replied.
"Of course you do," Elizabeth replied. No one ever called to give her good news. Or so it seemed. "What's up?"
There was a moment of silence then Zelenka blurted out, "Atlantis is experiencing fluctuations. Mostly power fluctuations. It is as if she is very moody."
Elizabeth tugged the blankets closer around her. "My room is freezing," she stated. "Do we know what's causing the fluctuations, and can you fix them?"
"I am trying to fix," Zelenka replied. "As for what is causing them, I have theory only."
"Let's hear it," Elizabeth prompted. Zelenka was a brilliant scientist and he had done as much as anyone in keeping Atlantis running smoothly, so she knew whatever he had to say would be important.
Zelenka cleared his throat, made a noise like he was swallowing hard, then said, "If I did not know better, I would say that Atlantis misses Colonel Sheppard."
For some reason, Elizabeth was not the least bit surprised to hear that. Letting a soft sigh escape she said, "Do what you can. Weir out." The moment she was alone again she whispered, "I miss him too."
OoO
He tried to tuck himself deeper into the corner, but the walls were hard and cold at his back. Ungiving. He felt cold with flashes of heat, and his head hurt because the voices were too loud again. He wanted to go home. Lantea was calling to him. She was hurting and it hurt him in turn. He could help her, but they wouldn't let him. It made him angry on her behalf.
He watched the woman, the pretty one with the dark skin who sang to him earlier. He knew her name but it hurt too much to remember right now. She had been sitting on the floor, watching him, talking to him at times. The sound of her voice added to the cacophony in his head, added to the pain so he tried to tune her out. But she fell silent as she stood up and slipped into the other room. The tiny room.
The moment the door closed behind her, he got to his feet. He had to go home. He stumbled over to the other door, raising his fists and pounding on it. Demanding to be released. "Ethero mala fortaeau eil bast!" he screamed.
He was relieved when the door opened. He pushed past the man blocking his way, shoving him hard enough to knock him down, then he ran, the floor cool under his feet, the way dark and filled with shadows. But he knew the way home.
OoO
Teyla heard John shouting, heard a banging and she ran out of the bathroom in time to see the guard open the door and John run out. She raced over to the guard, checking on his condition. He was startled but okay. Teyla grabbed his radio and called for help. She wished she had her ear piece so she could call Ronon directly, but this would have to do.
"Colonel Sheppard has escaped his room!" Teyla broadcast. Then she clicked off and raced down the corridor, hoping she found Sheppard before anyone else did.
THE END...of part 12