Sheppard began to come to aware of a familiar smell and sound. He quickly placed them as originating from the infirmary. Opening his eyes he saw the depressing décor that he knew all too well. Almost as soon as his eyes had opened he felt something grip his hand, turning he saw Teyla standing above him.
"John?" She questioned.
"What happened?" Sheppard asked as he tried to recall why he was in the infirmary. As he began to remember he gasped. "Bomb." As he tried to sit up, causing great pain to ripple down his side.
Teyla quickly released his hand and placed her hands on his shoulders, carefully pushing him back down.
"It is ok." She tried to reassure him. "The Apollo arrived in time to beam Dyson and his men out before the bomb could be activated."
"Everyone ok?" He asked.
"You are the worse injury." Woolsey said from Sheppard's other side.
"And Dyson?"
"He is about to be beamed down here for testing." Woolsey said.
"Is that safe?"
"He will have a full security detail." Woolsey answered. "He will be unable to do further damage."
"I meant for Dyson."
"I have every confidence that the personal here are professional enough to show great restraint." Woolsey answered without sounding confident.
"I'm sorry, I thought you had met Ronon." Sheppard said whilst grimacing with pain.
"It's ok I have sent him to the mess hall to get me some food." Jennifer replied as she approached Sheppard's bed.
"Hey doc. Should you be up?"
"No." Woolsey and Teyla answered.
"I'm fine." Jennifer replied. "And if Dyson and his men have suffered some sort of infection or parasitic attack, I need to be here." She shot back. Despite his grogginess Sheppard could clearly see the strain and weariness in Jennifer's eyes.
"At least sit down." Woolsey requested tapping on the top of a nearby chair.
"Where is McKay?" Sheppard asked as Jennifer took the seat, whilst reading Sheppard's chart.
"We don't know." Teyla replied.
"Why not?" Sheppard asked sounding concerned.
"He won't tell us." Woolsey answered. "We have been in contact with him and he insists he is fine, but he does not want anyone knowing where his hiding place is."
"He doesn't?" Sheppard asked.
"Nope." Lorne answered from a gurney to the side of Sheppard. "Which I think means he is somewhere really embarrassing. But don't worry Zelenka is trying to locate him as we speak." He said smiling as Woolsey received a radio transmission.
"Dyson is about to be beamed down here for the scan." Woolsey said moments before the bright light of the transporter lit the infirmary. As the light faded the group saw five armed marines surrounding Dyson, who was sporting several bruises. Despite his bruised jaw he was ranting and raving. His armed guard roughly manoeuvred him towards the scanner, before they reached it however, Dyson moved with unexpected speed and knocked two of the guards flying, relieving one of them of their weapon. Lorne immediately jumped of his gurney and ran towards the scene as the remaining guards recovered from their shock and began firing at Dyson. Sheppard knew he would be of no use in a fist fight so instead hopped of the gurney, trying to ignore the burning pain in his side and dragged Jennifer away from the scene, pulling her into one of the adjacent rooms. As he leaned against the wall wheezing Teyla and Woolsey quickly appeared.
"Was it just me or did he seem to moving faster than…" Sheppard panted, straining too hard to think of a witty end of the sentence.
"He did seem to have unusual speed and strength." Teyla confirmed as a sickening thud sounded from the main infirmary. Sheppard's hope that it was Dyson was short-lived as he heard Dyson's rants continue. As Sheppard struggled against the morphine induced fuzz he heard a familiar sound, Ronon's blaster. Then he heard it again and again and again.
"Maybe you should give him an eye test." Sheppard said to Jennifer. "Sounds like he needs help aiming." Teyla glared at him as she carefully looked out into the main infirmary.
"He keeps hitting Dyson." Teyla said as more shots rang forth. "But he appears unaffected." As a stray bullet from Dyson's gun headed towards the side room Teyla quickly brought her head back into safety. They then heard Ronon growl and the sound of his blaster cease. Jennifer immediately headed towards main infirmary, only for Sheppard to grab hold of her.
"Stay." Sheppard ordered as he nodded to Teyla who once again peered out into the main infirmary. She was immediately relieved to see Ronon still standing. As she moved into the main infirmary she saw that Ronon had Dyson pinned to the wall, his forearm across the Texan's neck.
"Ronon." She warned, although she was not too upset when Ronon ignored her. As she approached the far wall she saw that Dyson was even more battered than he had been when he entered the infirmary. The pressure that Ronon was applying to his neck was causing the man to gasp in what air he could.
"Remember they wish him to live." Teyla said calmly causing Ronon to slightly release his grip on the Texan. As he did so Dyson drew enough breath to say something that Teyla could not hear. It was however, apparent that Ronon could hear it as he roughly dragged the man out of the infirmary, ignoring Teyla's calls. She quickly hurried after them, a couple of dazed marines following behind. She soon found Ronon standing on a storm swept balcony looking down. As she ran to his side she was half-relieved to see that Dyson was not dead. Instead Ronon, with rage swirling in his eyes, was holding him by his ankles over the edge of the balcony.
"Ronon, bring him up." Teyla ordered as they were joined on the balcony by Woolsey, Jennifer, Carson and Lorne.
"He doesn't deserve to live." He growled shaking the IOA representative, who was now silent.
"Ronon, please." Jennifer tried. "I don't want you getting into trouble. He will get what he deserves." She added as she gently touched Ronon's shoulder. Ronon turned to face her and gave into her pleading eyes. He roughly pulled the Texan up over the balcony and tossed him to the floor. Carson immediately noticed the lack of movement and crouched down over him. Rolling Dyson over Carson exclaimed.
"Bloody hell, he is bleeding out. We need to operate."
As Dyson was moved onto a gurney and wheeled back to the infirmary Jennifer leaned into Ronon.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"You should have let me kill him." Ronon replied, clearly far from happy that Dyson was still breathing.
"And what would have happened then? You would probably have been thrown out from the city. I don't want to loose you."
Ronon turned towards Jennifer and wrapped his arms round her and said, "you won't."
