As predicted, the shield had dropped once the sickness had been wiped out. Recovery would be slow for some of the first to fall ill, but thanks to Dr. McKay they would recover. An engineering team and a medical team had both been promised by Col. Sheppard to help rebuild the bridges and provide care for the recovering villagers.
In return for all this, the Village Elders were more than happy to welcome the people from Earth into their family of allies. They would be granted full access to the Ancestral Temple any time they wished, although the ZPM was nearly depleted to Dr. McKay's dismay.
They were now on their way back to the gate, and had planned to reach home long before nightfall. She and Ronon had taken point once again, but they walked as one group rather than two. Though she tried to focus on watching for possible threats, Teyla found her mind kept wandering back to what she had learned of Rodney. In the midst of helping the villagers and the need to contact Atlantis there had been little time to process the information.
She could understand a planet as vast as earth having people like the Genii, secretive and power-hungry. Teyla was not so naïve that she could not understand that earth had such people as those that had misused Rodney. But surely he must see that nobody on the Atlantis expedition, even had Dr. Kavanagh remained, would have considered exploiting him in such a way. He was foolish if he thought they would, and she had told Rodney as much.
But what truly concerned Teyla, was how these evil people had gotten him in the first place, and that nobody sought to save him.
There were many ways in which earth culture differed from not only Athosian culture, but from every other culture in the Pegasus Galaxy. From the beginning, bedtime stories that Colonel Sheppard would tell with the intention of frightening the Athosian children had shown Teyla that Earth truly knew no terror that could compare to the Wraith.
From her conversations with Dr. Weir, Teyla had learned that Earth had a great many diverse cultures, languages, and beliefs. The absence of culling's had allowed their population to grow enormous. Teyla had also learned that in the absence of a threat such as the wraith they fought amongst one another. It had been Dr. Weir's job to prevent or negotiate an end to such disputes.
It had seemed petty to Teyla. These people had no understanding of the true threats in the universe. Now she had learned of another difference the absence of the Wraith had created in Earth culture. In Pegasus, valuing and protecting children were a necessity of survival. They were not to be traded or passed to other communities for misbehaving. If anyone in her village had treated their child as a sack of poor grain, as Rodney's parent's had, they would have been ostracised.
Learning of this renewed Teyla's own appreciation for her people, and especially for the woman of her village who had taken her in when her father died, Charin.
Teyla found the lack of anger that Rodney seemed to have towards his parents for tossing him away to be disturbing. He seemed more ashamed of what had been done to him, than offended by it.
Now, when there was no chance of their conversation being overheard by others of Atlantis, seemed the best time to continue questioning him. She slowed her steps until she was standing beside him. Rodney didn't seem to notice as he had the back of the ancient scanner opened and was fiddling with it as he walked.
"What are you doing?" Teyla peered over his arm to see the array of tiny crystals and wires.
He barely looked up as he answered, "When I reconfigured it to emit a small energy pulse and configured it back to scan for life signs I was in a bit of a hurry. I'm just checking the connections and, you know, making sure it's completely right before I get it back to Atlantis."
"You mean so Zelenka can't tell you were messing with it when you tell him not to." Sheppard teased.
"Well yes." Rodney scowled at Sheppard but admitted, "There's that too."
Teyla observed the deep concentration. "I find it difficult to understand that your parents were not thrilled to have such an intelligent son."
The look of concentration evaporated. At first he looked like he might say something snippy, then Rodney seemed to realize it was Teyla and he looked half-heartedly back to the scanner. "I was a hand full. Actually, I was pretty difficult to handle. Impossible even. I mean the things I could do just weren't the sort of thing a normal family could possibly be equipped to handle. I was always getting into trouble."
"Was?" Ronon quipped in one word. He shrugged when Teyla threw him a glare.
"Oh, har har." Rodney snarked back, more comfortable with the normal banter than the serious conversation.
But Teyla didn't want to drop this now. She touched Rodney's arm to make him look at her. "Is that why this 'CIA' did not try to find you another family? Did they think you would be too difficult?"
"No!" Rodney looked at her and seemed to understand what her concern was. "Teyla, don't think that this is the norm for my planet. The people who found me wanted to put me in a safe-house with a family and a new identity. I wasn't interested so I ran away. When they finally caught me again I made it clear that the only way they were going to hold onto me was if they gave me other options."
"But why? You should not have been working for this CIA at your age. It should have been their responsibility to help you, not the other way around. A child should be in a loving home and made as safe as is possible." Teyla frowned at him in genuine confusion.
Her friend scoffed bitterly, "Safety is an illusion. The majority of accidents occur in the home and the majority of murders are committed by people whom the victim knew and stupidly trusted. Case in point, do you have any idea how many cleaning products contain citrus? Hmm? Besides, I didn't want their help. I wanted my freedom."
"Sounds like a normal teenager to me," Ronon observed.
Col. Sheppard nodded his agreement, "Pretty much… except for the acute paranoia."
"Oh please!" Rodney gave up all pretence of working on the scanner and rounded on Ronon and Sheppard, "You are not comparing me to a common teenager! I could make Atomic bombs! How could any family hope to understand or cope with THAT no matter how nice they were? And I am NOT paranoid. I'm just educatedly cautious."
Col. Sheppard shrugged unflappably, "I once knew a kid who could make potato canons. He used to shoot cows with it. I knew another kid who liked to make stink bombs. He'd set them off in class."
Rodney sighed and rolled his eyes.
Ronon actually smiled reminiscently, "I once put a doranthile bomb in my neighbours kitchen."
Sheppard narrowed his eyes at Ronon before asking, "A what?"
Teyla looked at Ronon is awe, "It is a very foul and near impossible to remove substance."
Ronon's smile only broadened at the description.
"Bad neighbour?" Sheppard simply asked.
"That is hardly comparable." Rodney snipped before Ronon could go into detail.
"Maybe it is." Sheppard suggested with another relaxed shrug. "I'm just saying that boys like to make things that go boom. Your things could just make bigger booms."
"I can't believe how simplistic you are." Rodney grumped.
"Well, often the simplest answer is the right one." Sheppard answered sagely, "You're still only human Rodney. No matter how smart you are. And Teyla is right, your parents sucked. And they're the ones that shouldn't be considered the norm for earth."
"Of all the…" Rodney glared angrily at Sheppard and jabbed a finger at the Colonel's chest, causing him to step back in surprise. The finger hovered there as Rodney's brows furrowed in confusion. "Something's not right…anger and…"
His eyes widened and he turned until his finger pointed towards one of the mountain ranges. "They're awake, they're angry, and they're coming this way!"
Ronon's gun was out and aimed in a flash. "I thought they were nocturnal."
"Well, they're making an exception for us! Something about me is drawing them out." Rodney snapped as he backed away. "There must be hundreds of them."
"Hundreds?!" Teyla repeated, her gun not quite out of her holster. "It is still at least a mile to the gate."
"Run." Sheppard commanded.
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The Gate Room was quiet, as it often was when a team was overdue and there was nothing to be done but wait. Elizabeth would sit at her desk for a few minutes, then get up and wander to the window. She knew that if anything happened she would be contacted immediately, but it didn't stop her from finding reasons to wander over to the control level, or anywhere to keep the gate in view.
The smug tone in Colonel Caldwell's voice when Elizabeth had taken up his offer for help had been difficult to swallow. He'd be courteous enough…on the surface. But most of what people communicated was rarely on the surface. There was a lot about that man that Elizabeth just didn't like, or trust. Still, he was going to get SGA1 home, and that's what counted.
The familiar sound of the gate coming to life broke into her thoughts and sent her jogging for the gate room.
"It's Colonel Sheppard's IDC," the Canadian Tech called out.
Elizabeth felt herself grin, "Lower the shield."
But her elation at finally hearing from them was short-lived.
'Atlantis! We're coming in hot! Be ready to shoot anything that comes in after us!' Sheppard's voice commanded frantically over the sounds of gunfire.
'I've got McKay!' the gruff voice was recognizably Ronon's.
'I'll cover you. Go!' Teyla yelled.
A small army of twenty gate-room security and a team that had been in stand-by surrounded the gate. Lorne motioned for Elizabeth to get back.
A heart-beat passed before Ronon came running sideways through the gate, with his gun aimed behind him, and half-carrying Rodney under his free arm. He dropped McKay unceremoniously at the feet of the marines then turned his full attention to the gate.
Close behind him, Teyla and Sheppard backed through the gate with P90's aimed. Elizabeth didn't have to wonder what was chasing them for long as two cat-like creatures, one made of lightening, leapt through the gate and were immediately shot dead to the ground. The energy creature vanished, leaving only the cat-like corpse behind.
"Raise the shield!" Elizabeth commanded before anymore could follow through. The gate shield popped and fizzled with the impact of whatever had been attacking her people.
With the shield raised, the marines let her back through. She went to Rodney first. He was conscious, but looked in pain as he moved to a crouching position and held onto the floor as though it would move out from under him. His eyes were open but unfocussed.
When the shield finally stopped fizzling, the liquid wormhole evaporated and the gate shut down. Sheppard lowered his weapon and joined Elizabeth beside Rodney, "McKay?"
He shook Rodney's shoulder and looked relieved when the scientist gripped his arm.
"Back up! Give 'im some room now. Can't ye see he's got a nasty concussion?!" Carson's voice came from behind the line of soldiers. He must have rushed down as soon as he'd heard the gunfire. He was already with Rodney. One of the nurses he'd brought moved to assist him. When he waved the nurse away to check on the others, Elizabeth realized that Rodney had no such concussion.
In aid of drawing attention away from Rodney, Elizabeth turned to Sheppard, "Are you alright? What happened on the planet? Why weren't you able to check in? What was that thing?"
"That was the night life, which apparently CAN come out during the day after-all." Sheppard shrugged, willing himself not to look too concerned about McKay as Carson slipped out with him. "They just don't normally like to. As for the rest, it's sort of a long story."
"I understand," Elizabeth nodded. "Why don't you finish getting checked over and then you can come debrief me. I have a call to make to the Daedalus."
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"Carson! Stop it!" Rodney wined loudly and dodged the needle, "No! … No means no! Get off me you sheep farmer! OW!"
The frustrated Scotsman grabbed hold of the struggling mans arm and jabbed a needle in to draw blood, "It wouldn't hurt as much if ye did nae struggle!"
Carson definitely wasn't chosen for the Atlantis mission for his bed-side manner.
Rodney winced and stopped trying to pull his arm away, "I'm fine! You've run absolutely every test imaginable. I'm fine! I was just a little disoriented. Having something like a hundred aliens dieing in my head does that."
Curiosity momentarily won out over the physician's anger, "What was it like?"
"I just told you! Disorienting!" Rodney repeated snidely. He obviously didn't want to go into detail. "And you're not going to find anything in my blood! Can I please go now?"
"Oh that's right, I almost forgot." Carson yanked the needle out of his patients arm and tossed on a cotton swab for Rodney to hold, "Ye don't need ME to give ye a diagnosis now, do ye? Ye'd just rather play stupid and let the rest of us fumble around like bloody idiots. Ye'r lucky Dr. Weir is so very understanding."
The patient let out a laboured sigh as he clung to the bit of cotton that was holding in his blood, "I already said I was sorry."
"Now, ye listen to me." Carson hissed as he slapped a bit of tape over the cotton, "As far as the rest of this city is concerned you're recovering from a concussion. So, you're staying right there until I say otherwise."
Rodney winced again at the rough handling and muttered, "This is so not fair."
"Serves ye right ye great liar!" Carson shook the pointy end of the now blood filled needle at Rodney, "And now ye've got me lieing for ye! What would mother say?"
"Ugh," Rodney groaned, while keeping his eyes glued on the needle being shaken dangerously at him, "Now that's just sad, as in a pathetic sort of way."
Carson carried on as though his patient had said nothing at all, "And I cannae believe how reckless ye were! Do ye still have a headache?"
"No!" Rodney snapped quickly when Carson produced a potent vial of pain medication. "You're the one that insisted I practice."
"Gradually! And in controlled conditions where I can bloody well monitor you! And ONLY to help gradually reduce the migraine's induced. I think it's like learning to use a disused muscle. It cramps up at first. I told ye it's too dangerous to try on yer own. So what do ye do? You go throwing ropes across chasms!
"I cannot believe you just compared MY brain to a disused muscle!" Rodney exclaimed, utterly scandalized, "And I already told you! I didn't throw it. I just accelerated the momentum exponentially so it would reach. It was more of a nudge than a throw really."
The glare Carson shot him could have sent a Wraith running.
Rodney shrank back, "... I promise not to do it again…"
Carson folded his arms.
Rodney tried again, "…..I'll stick to light duty for the day."
The physician heaved a sigh.
Sensing weakness, Rodney barrelled onward "…. I'll man the sensors in the gate room, and compress the data files, and…"
Carson rolled his eyes and pointed at the door, "Just go."
A breeze wafted through the room as Rodney shot out the door.
"And I expect you to keep an eye on him." Carson said sternly as he turned to where the Colonel had been standing very quietly by.
"Sure thing, Doc." Sheppard edged slowly around and away from the irate physician before speed-walking out the door after Rodney.
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Taking it easy didn't quite go as planned. McKay's idea of taking it easy by 'manning the sensor's' had somehow ballooned to involve a complete over-haul of the program. The amusement of the other staff on duty in the control room was not lost on Colonel Sheppard. It was a pretty usual site to see McKay back to work a little too shortly after being in the infirmary. It was an equally usual for John to be seen following Rodney around for at least half a day to make certain he took it easy and was alright.
Within minutes of watching the monitor, McKay became bored. He began to wonder if the sensors could reach farther.
"McKay… what are you doing?" Sheppard drawled from where he'd been chatting with a couple of marines.
"Hmm?" the 'resting' physicist responded distractedly as he scrolled through an impossible amount of information. "I just had a thought." He commandeered a second lap top from an unsuspecting technician and set it beside his own. Soon it was scrolling information in Ancient.
"What's that?" Sheppard left the two marines and leaned over McKay's shoulder when he didn't explain further. It always started this way.
"It's the programming for the long range sensors." McKay answered but waved Sheppard away dismissively. "I need another lap-top."
A scientist with her hair pulled back in a pony tail wordlessly handed McKay the requested lap-top. Sheppard glanced at her and pointed a finger at the now three lap-tops. "You're supposed to be taking it easy."
"Then stop distracting me and it will be easier!" McKay snipped.
"McKAY!" Sheppard answered warningly.
His scientist finally sighed and turned away from the lap-tops. "Oh, come on. It won't take very long! And if I'm right we'll be able to see further. It will be so much more interesting."
"Rodney, no! You're supposed to be… how much further?" The tactical benefit of that would obviously be good. Plus it would be neat.
Rodney shrugged excitedly, "Want to find out?"
An hour later, Rodney was at the top of a very tall ladder, with Sheppard and and Lorne holding it steady. The physicist's entire upper body had disappeared deep inside a large open panel. A nervous looking technician was a little bit lower on another ladder, and handing tools to McKay as requested.
Sheppard was sending up silent prayers that Elizabeth didn't choose then to walk in. How did he let this happen? At least he had good intel that Carson was on the Mainland with Teyla. A good friend of Teyla's, Charin, was ill. He hoped she was going to be ok. Teyla wasn't really close to very many of her people. John knew that Charin was probably the one person made Teyla feel at home among her people.
"Isn't McKay supposed to be taking it easy today?" Lorne asked innocently, with a not so innocent smile. Sheppard was reminded that Carson was going to kill him.
"All done!" McKay hollered. Then he came down the ladder and scampered back over to the sensor display. "Ooo! Hive ships! That's better."
"Better?!" Lorne whispered to Sheppard in alarm.
John shrugged and chased after McKay, "How is that better, exactly?"
"Relax," Rodney scoffed. "There's only two and they're not even close. Look, see!" He hit a few keys and the map zoomed out to show Atlantis' planet and its relative position in the galaxy compared to the Wraith Ships.
"Not bad!" Sheppard praised. They ships were indeed way out there, barely at the edge of the solar-system. The sensors had been given a powerful boost. He looked back to McKay and was dismayed to see a distant thoughtful look in his 'resting' friend's eyes. "Now what?"
"I was just thinking…." McKay answered distractedly as he turned back to his lap top.
Sheppard rolled his eyes and steeled himself. This time he was going to know what he was getting into before he let McKay get started. "Is that leaning back with a cup of coffee 'thinking' or three more lap-tops and a screwdriver 'thinking'?"
"Huh?" McKay half turned, "Uh, something in-between…but more towards the coffee."
"Ok, then continue." That was definitely better in Sheppard's book, but he decided to stay close just in case.
McKay typed quickly for a few minutes then pushed away from the lap-top and stood.
Sheppard moved quickly to block him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just going to that console over there!" McKay pointed innocently to a near-bye console.
Sheppard folded his arms and didn't budge.
"Oh, for crying out-loud!" McKay grumped and slumped back down. "You with the hair," he snapped his fingers at the Canadian gate technician. "Press the blue button, then the red one, then the yellow one."
The technician reached over to the console and obediently pressed the buttons. The sensor display changed. The little planets and stars now had softly glowing rings, and the two hive ships had little lines between them.
"Now that's interesting!" McKay grinned smugly and leaned back comfortably in his seat. "They're firing at each-other."
It had looked like the physicist might settle down then. Less than an hour after reporting the discovery to Elizabeth, Sheppard had resigned himself to following the scientist down the halls of Atlantis while he tried to do about twenty 'small restful' tasks at once. John supposed the high energy levels were a good sign.
At least this was more restful than being chased by freaky aliens. Besides, Atlantis wouldn't be home without McKay bouncing around it.
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