Now if you thought Chapter 2 was dark, you haven't seen anything yet. Well, you'll just have to read. Enjoy.
Stargate Atlantis - The Dark Side of McKay
Chapter 3 - Fallen Heroes
Beckett and a medical team arrive with gurneys.
"How bad is it, and who's been hit?" Beckett asked, knowing the someone has been injured.
"I lost two of my guys, Doc. But the rest of us are alive, thanks to…McKay."
"So he says." Sheppard said upset, but who wouldn't be?
Dr. Weir wasn't getting the answers she wanted, or needed for that matter.
"Rodney?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I wasn't even sure it was me, at first. But, uh, the correlation's impossible to ignore. I saw Lorne's team pinned down, the bad guys closing in, I just thought, uh, wouldn't it be great if all of their weapons jammed…at the same time." McKay explained.
Teyla studied McKay closely, shaking her head. Sheppard looks amused and openly doubtful.
"Look, next thing I know, they're all running away, so…"
"So you think because you wanted it to happen, it just did."
It was a little more than that.
Weir looked skeptical as well. McKay fidgeted, frustrated.
"Okay, you know what? Watch this! I'll uh…" McKay said looking around, finally pointing at Beckett, who is lifted off the floor and hung suspended in mid-air. Everyone watched in shock.
"Uh, Rodney!"
Weir approached worried.
"Rodney…?"
"Believe me, I find this as disturbing as you do." Rodney replied.
"Like bloody hell you do!" Came Carson's retort
"Put him down." weir calmly pleaded.
"Right."
McKay lowered his hand, and Beckett slowly drifted to the floor, sighing in relief.
"It's a shame you didn't think of this BEFORE my men were killed." Lorne snapped.
"Major!" Weir said sternly.
"He could have saved them, he let them die." Lorne said, then stormed out.
Atlantis - Infirmary
McKay lies in an infirmary bed. Sheppard and Weir stand at his bedside.
"Have there been any other instances of this…power manifesting itself?" Weir asked.
"Powers. Plural.." McKay snapped.
Weir paused, McKay was becoming something his colleagues have never seen.
"What else can you do besides telekinesis?" Weir asked.
"Well, super-hearing for one, and I'm not sure, but I may actually be getting smarter. It's hard to say for sure, because I was-I was pretty smart to start with, but, um, recently I've been having some ideas that I don't think even I would've thought of before." Rodney said quickly amid a few insults.
"Does superego count as a power?" Sheppard interjected.
McKay spotted a staff member bringing him a tray of food.
"Oh, finally! Look, keep it coming." McKay said.
McKay took the tray and began to cut into the food.
"He could also be dealing with a "super" appetite. Although, it's hard to tell, because he ate so much before."
"You want to knock it off?" Rodney chided
"You're kidding me, he's eating again?" Beckett asked
"I have a very active metabolism. Do you want to see me become hypoglycemic?" Rodney ranted.
"Aye, among other problems. The scans show a dramatic increase in synaptic interaction throughout all the sections of Rodney's brain, much higher than normal human levels.
McKay paused in his eating, looking momentarily concerned. He took his next bite more slowly.
"There was an incident at SGC just over a year ago. Weir began. "SG-1 discovered a highly evolved human being in stasis. Turned out, he was the result of experimentation by a Goa'uld named Anubis. He was trying to create a means of artificially accelerating the human physiology to the point of ascension.
"Well, gee. Maybe that device I found must have been some kind of an accelerator. We know that the Ancients developed all kinds of powers as they evolved. It was just a matter of bad luck that we didn't run into that lab earlier. Seriously, me a superhero. Who would've thought it?"
Obviously irate, he eats his meal with furious vigor.
Atlantis - Lab
A team worked on studying the device. Among them are Weir, translating the logs, and Sheppard, who stood nearby.
"Look, we all agree the Ancients were pretty screwed up." Sheppard said.
"We do?" Weir asked, she wasn't paying full attention.
"All the ones I met were arrogant and condescending, and not for good reason. They made giant mistakes and never fixed them."
"They were still human." Weir defended.
"Then there were all those crazy rules." Sheppard griped.
"Those only came after they ascended." Weir clarified.
"Whatever. I—maybe this thing doesn't work on everyone, who knows? But we do know it works on McKay." Sheppard began.
"It has only been a day." weir admonished.
"Assuming it's safe. Well, to be honest, even if it's not. If we can get a significant advantage over the Wraith and Replicators—" Sheppard began.
"John, I agree. This device may have great potential…" Weir warned.
"And with great potential comes great responsibility. I know." Sheppard was near to getting to his point.
"Like a lot of other things we have found in this city, it is a very advanced piece of technology. For all we know, it could also be very dangerous." Weir warned.
"I'm just saying…" Sheppard said arriving at his point.
"Yes, you can be next." Weir promised.
"Thank you." Sheppard said, smiling.
"John, can I ask you something? Have you noticed a change in Rodney?" Weir asked.
"You mean besides the super powers?" Sheppard asked.
"He's. . ." Weir began.
"Ruder than he was two days ago?" Sheppard confirmed.
Sheppard left. Zelenka approaches. He had overheard the conversation.
"You know, if you're compiling a list…I-I'd…"
"Could we stay focused, please?" Weir begged.
Atlantis - Infirmary
McKay waited in the infirmary. Guards waited at the entrance.]
"Come on, you can't keep me cooped up in here forever." McKay seemed angry, but kept his voice down.
"You might not be sick, Rodney, but I think we can both agree what's happening here is far from normal. And have you not noticed you seem quite . . . irritated." Beckett explained.
"Exactly, so let go out of here." McKay spat.
"I'm serious! We have no idea of the extent of your genetic mutation."
"Please, it's not mutation. It's an advancement." McKay corrected.
"Until we know exactly what's going on here…" Beckett began to explain.
"Carson, I'm still me. Anyway, it's not like you or, these guys could stop me from leaving any ways." McKay said gesturing to the guards at the door, who look on warily.
"No, but I could." Ronon said entering the Infirmary.
"Oh, you care to put that to a test?"
Ronon stepped up to Rodney, bringing his face to within a few inches.
"Do you?"
"Well…no. Not really." McKay backed down.
"Any ways, as I was saying, I think you're fine to go about your daily duties, as long as you have someone with you. And you—" Becket was cut off by McKay.
"Check in every couple of hours. Yes, yes. Ba-bye!"
McKay stormed out with Ronon warily as his heels.
"Thanks for getting me out of there, but I'm going to my quarters and taking a nap." McKay said then started to walk away. But Ronon grabbed McKay's arm, and was thrown back by a wave of telekinetic energy.
McKay looked shocked, and terrified
"I'm sorry. I-I . . . just reacted." Rodney said, then helped Ronon onto his feet.
McKay and Ronon continued down the crowded corridor.
"I don't know what happened." Rodney began stuttering.
"Forget it." Ronon said, there was genuine concern in his voice.
Passing Esposito, McKay stops short, then looked at Esposito.
"Really?" Rodney asked.
"What?" Esposito asked.
"I did not need to hear that.
"Great." McKay said sarcastically.
"What?" Ronon asked.
"She thinks I'm hot." Rodney said, pointing at Esposito.
"I-I didn't say anything." Esposito said, embarassed.
"Oh, no-no-no. I'm sure that you…uh… Oh, of course, no, I should've known." Rodney said then turned to Ronon. "She meant you."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Esposito said then hurried away.
"McKay, she didn't say a word." Ronon said, he also wanted to hurry away.
"Oh great. I can read minds. Oh, this is going to get old -- Real fast!" Rodney said, then walked away towards Weir's office
Atlantis - Weir's office.
Weir was working when McKay entered, Ronon following. Weir looked around, about to speak.
"Oh, I'm fine…No…No…And...no." Rodney said.
"What?" Weir asked, confused.
"I can read your mind. Uh, everyone's actually. I'm finding it a little disturbing, so I'm trying to tune it out as much as I possibly can." Rodney explained. "Well, um, sort of. Anyways, Look, I, uh, wanted to get your permission to access the control chair. I've, uh, got some, um, pretty interesting ideas for maximizing our ZPM by, uh, reconfiguring the city's power systems. It's too complicated to explain, but, uh, trust me when I say that you are going to be incredibly happy with the results.
Before Weir could speak.
"Look, Elizabeth, I-I know you have every right not to trust me, but, I'm going to make things much-much better. Okay?
McKay paused for the merest second.
"Fine."
Rodney turns to leave.
"I'm going back to my quarters so I don't take over the city for my own evil purposes." McKay said then turned and left.
McKay was almost to the chair room when Ronon realized where he was going.
"This is the way to the chair room." Ronon said.
"I know!" Rodney said, then Ronon heard a beep coming from his gun, looking down he accidentally gave Rodney the time he needed to turn and throw Ronon down the corridor.
Hitting the ground Ronon slid, and crashed through a window overlooking the ocean.
Is Ronon dead? Who else gets in Rodney's way? What other dark things befall Atlantis?