Part 7 – The Aftermath


Everyone in the Jumper, including Zelenka, were now waiting and staring down at the giant rift which now spanned the entire valley. It seemed strange to them seeing what looked like Atlantis down there and they all wanted to go home and see their safe city again. Zelenka wasn't encouraged by the lack of information coming to his laptop from Rodney's Tablet.

Finally Lorne gave up on getting the sensors to punch through the distortion given off by the pulse and the mess caused by the quake. He stood and walked to the hatch of the Jumper. "Atlantis, this is Lorne. We still haven't been able to make contact with the team on the surface, permission to go down and find them."

Elizabeth was worried but managed to steady her voice. "Permission granted, Major. Be careful and report in at regular intervals."

"Yes, Ma'am. All right, Bent, Matthews, we're heading down. Mafta you stay here with the Docs in case you need to dodge anything coming out of that hole." Lorne pointed to the HUD while speaking to the only other pilot with the gene. The man nodded and took the pilot's seat.

Zelenka looked up at the comment and shook his head. "That is very unlikely. City is dead now. There is nothing to come at us."

Lorne just smiled and nodded to the scientist. "I hope you're right Doctor Z, but I'd rather not take any chances."

As the men started to get into their gear, Teyla walked over to Lorne. He put up his hand to stop her. "I know you want to come with us to find the rest of your team. I wouldn't expect any less. You're welcome to join us, Teyla."

Teyla smiled and nodded at Lorne as Bent offered to help her get into a harness. In a few minutes they had all being lowered into the hole by Mafta and Lorne had transferred Zelenka's map onto his Life-Signs-Detector. It was almost completely dark except for scattered small fires. The emergency lights had gone out with the generator. Their flashlights found incredible amounts of debris: stone, metal, glass, dust, dirt, and charred remains of consoles and fixtures everywhere.

No one spoke, but it was a grim reminder of what had almost happened to their Atlantis. And it still could. They were all from Earth, but now even the Daedalus crew felt like the Ancient city was their home and they had become just as protective of it as the original expedition members.

Lorne found the drone storage room and the team looked in awe at all the ones still left. It would be enough to bring Atlantis's weapons stores up to full again. They continued down the corridor carefully dodging fires, fallen beams and stone scattered everywhere. Lorne half expected to encounter problems from all the electrical wires that had been ripped apart, but like Doc Z had said, there was no power anymore. However, power or not, there were still collapses happening as they walked. They reached the transporter and saw where the panel had been pried off with one of Ronon's many knives. It had been smashed, a big rock covered the floor. They continued down the dark hallway to the door that had been pushed open and on to the next hall. They all stopped when they saw a single flashlight beam coming from one of the rooms on the right.

Lorne signaled Bent to stay behind at the door and guard their exit. Lorne, Matthews and Teyla moved towards the door and peered inside. It was the Generator Room, no question. Their flashlights shone on the large red and black oval-shaped generator and the hole Ronon had made in the wall to get into the Control Room. Teyla touched Lorne's shoulder and pointed up at a very large piece of ceiling which hung precariously over lower end of the room. Any vibration might bring it down on them. Lorne signaled Matthews to stay at the door and keep an eye on the damage and stay in visual contact with Bent in the hall.

Lorne and Teyla continued into the room shining their lights around, searching for their missing people. Teyla looked at Lorne, "We know Colonel Sheppard was in this room near the rear working on the power-down panel and Ronon was in the other room with Dr McKay."

Lorne nodded and they continued to look around for Sheppard. Lorne activated his radio. "Colonel Sheppard, this Major Lorne. Please report your position, Sir. We're in the city, now, searching for you."

They waited and then Teyla looked up at the ceiling as she called out. "John, Ronon, Rodney, can you hear me?"

Again they waited, hoping for response. Teyla saw Lorne frown as he looked up at the giant piece of ceiling and back at Matthews. The man by the door was still watching out for them. Lorne pointed toward the hole in the wall. It was difficult to see anything in the room, even with their flashlights. "Let's try getting closer to the hole in the wall. Maybe the Colonel was trying to join Ronon and McKay in there when the quake hit."

Teyla nodded and they headed to the wall. Lorne held up a hand to hold her back while he shone his light around both sides of the entrance to be sure it was safe. When he lowered his hand Teyla came up beside him and they both looked at the disaster inside the room. There were even more fallen pieces of ceiling, wall, broken panels and glass in this room than in the other. McKay wasn't kidding when he said that the room was falling apart. They found the body of the villager that had been McKay's guide. Teyla stepped forward and said a quiet prayer to the Ancestors over the body and then stood. There was a very large rectangular-shaped piece of ceiling blocking their view of the rest of the room. Teyla remembered that Rodney had said he was able to touch the leg of the other man. She directed her light at the villager's legs and found the smashed remains of McKay's Tablet next to the fallen stone before them. She quickly stepped around Lorne and moved to the other side and found her friends.

Sheppard was on his back, arms spread out on either side of him, like he'd been hit by something that had sent him flying backwards. Ronon could be seen spread out over McKay to protect his friend, his gun was gripped tightly in his large hand. McKay was unconscious, as were his teammates, lying on his side with his arms covering his head. It was obvious looking at the much smaller pieces of debris on this side that Ronon had been able to shoot most of the pieces raining down on them.

Lorne quickly stepped over to Sheppard and Teyla went to Ronon and McKay and they both checked vitals. Lorne was satisfied with what he found and looked at Teyla who also nodded. He stood up and touched his radio. "Jumper, this is Lorne. Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, lad. Did you find them? Are they all right? Do you need me down there?" Beckett's worried voice was the first one they heard. He now regretted leaving the planet during the evacuation but he was needed to help set up a temporary hospital on Rekalia and then he returned to Atlantis only to be cut off until the DHD regenerated.

Lorne saw Teyla smile as she carefully tried to see if McKay's legs were still trapped. "Yes, Doc, we found them and they're all alive. Atlantis, did you copy that?"

A shout of excitement went up in the Jumper and in the previously silent Atlantis Central Control. Weir smiled and took a deep cleansing breath as she nodded her head in relief. "Yes, Major, we hear you and we're thankful for the good news. Do you require any help getting them out?"

Lorne looked at Teyla who pointed at a rather nasty looking, mostly shattered piece of debris that has been holding McKay's legs down. She pushed a few small pieces aside and her hand came away with blood on it. Lorne knelt to get a better look himself then stood again. "Colonel Sheppard and Ronon seem to have been hit by falling debris but don't appear to be too badly hurt, we'll try to wake them. But it look like Dr. McKay's legs are still pinned and there is a lot of blood on the stones. Doc, I'm going to take you up on your offer to come down."

Beckett was on his feet and picking out equipment to take as soon as he hear the word 'pinned' and his nurse was putting instruments and drugs into Beckett's nylon bag to take down. "Aye, Major, I'll be right down."

"Lt. Bent, can you go back to the opening and wait for the Doc?" Lorne waited for the man to acknowledge and then knelt again next to Sheppard. "Hey, Doc, would it be ok for us to try to wake the Colonel and Ronon? They'd be a big help in digging McKay out."

Beckett stood still as Mafta helped him into the harness. "Do ye have a small light on ye to check their eyes, Major?"

Teyla opened one of her vest pockets and started digging. "I do, Doctor Beckett. I keep a pen light with Doctor McKay's spare epi-pen."

Beckett smiled. "Good girl, Teyla. I trust one of you knows how to check pupil dilation? I will be down there in about ten minutes."

Teyla found the pen, shown it against her palm to check and nodded. "I do and am checking now." She lightly touched Ronon's right eyelid and opened it as she quickly flashed the light over his eye and to the side. She repeated the process a couple of times. She was happy to see the eye responding well and continued to the other eye. By the third wave of the light Ronon moaned and started to wake up. "Ronon is now conscious. I am moving to check Colonel Sheppard." She performed the same test on Sheppard and found his eyes equal and responsive. Like Ronon, her leader was beginning to wake up. "They are both conscious now and their eyes are responding well."

"Good, lass. Try to find where they were hit and apply pressure to those wounds. I'm in the city now and we're moving towards you." Beckett allowed the soldier to take his bag and he pulled out a LSD to get some more information on his friends. When he reached the Control Room, Ronon and Sheppard where sitting up holding white gauze to their heads and watching Rodney with a mixture of worry and relief. Beckett carefully made his way through the clutter and over to the group. He did a quick exam of the two men and then turned his attention to McKay.

"Atlantis, Beckett 'ere, both Colonel Sheppard and Ronon have concussions and from what ay'm seein' Rodney's heart rate and BP are both high. It appears he's got some serious injuries to his head and lower legs. Please have a trauma team standin' by in the Jumper Bay."

"Understood, Doctor, they'll be waiting. Do you have and ETA on your return?" Elizabeth wanted her people back on Atlantis with no further delay. They could deal with the injuries here where there was no further danger.

"We have to be careful uncovering Rodney or we'll do more damage. Could be at least another half hour." Beckett tried not to wince as he looked at the amount of blood on the floor next to Teyla. He looked down at McKay and shook his head. "Ye always have to make me earn my keep, don't ye Rodney."

Ronon pulled the gauze away from his head and shifted toward Beckett. "Doc, I can help get that off him. Just tell me what to do."

Sheppard did the same thing and sat up straight. "Yeah, me too, Doc. I feel fine, really."

"Aye, ye may feel fine but that's because of that high pain threshold of yours, both a you for that matter. Now keep pressure on those wounds until I figure out the best way to get this off him." Beckett worked for another few seconds with the LSD and finally nodded. "OK, Ronon sit there, Colonel there, Major there and Teyla stay with me here."

He pointed to positions around Rodney's legs and then ordered the three men to slowly lift the debris off. As soon as the pressure was gone, McKay moaned loudly, but he didn't wake up. Beckett frowned at the lack of consciousness but talked the group through the process of lifting the scientist onto the portable backboard. He did some very quick patching before he let them move Rodney. In a few minutes they were on their way out of the room and down the last corridor to the opening with all the climbing lines hanging down through.

"Is there any way we could land the Jumper down here, ay'd really rather not lift Rodney up and risk him being tilted." Beckett looked at Sheppard knowing if anyone could maneuver the little green ship down it would be him.

Sheppard nodded, pulled on a harness and ordered himself lifted up. He quickly took the pilot's seat and brought up what he needed on the HUD. In seconds he was bringing the little ship down into the hole and spinning it around so the hatch was facing the rescue team. Mafta, Zelenka and the nurse had already cleared the climbing equipment away and the back of the Jumper opened. The rescue team quickly filed in and Beckett settled next to Rodney on the floor. Everyone sat around them watching in concern as Sheppard quickly returned them to the Gate and home.

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Several hours later, the entire rescue team plus Weir were sitting in the Infirmary hoping for news on Rodney. Sheppard and Ronon had been patched up but ordered to spend the night for observation. The others were in chairs around their friend's beds. There was some mild chatter for the first couple of hours but as the surgery dragged on silence fell leaving then all to worry in silence.

Finally Beckett appeared and they all came out of their reveries. Those who could stood up and Sheppard and Ronon sat forward. Beckett put his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it. "They're still workin' on 'im, but ay thought you'd like an update. The compound fracture in Rodney's right leg has been fixed but there is a possibility of some nerve damage. We won't know until he wakes up. As for his head, that thick skull of his protected him well. He has a pretty bad concussion but he should have no permanent damage from that. All in all, he's pretty lucky considering everything he went through there. However, ay am worried about the emotional trauma and the panic attack he suffered. Colonel, Ronon, Teyla, would ye mind stayin' near-by when he wakes up tomorrow mornin'."

The three looked at each other and then at Beckett like he had two heads. Beckett smiled wryly and nodded. "Of course, where else would any of ye be." He looked at Weir, Lorne and Zelenka next. "He's going to be sedated at least until tomorrow mornin', assuming nothing else happens. All of ye should get some rest. Teyla, is welcome to claim a bed on either side of yet team mates for tonight. But the rest should go."

"Thank you, Doctor." Teyla hopped up onto the bed next to Sheppard.

The others looked sheepishly around as they loitered. Beckett finally smiled again. "This is hardly the best place to get a good night's sleep."

Sheppard caught Lorne's attention and waved him over. "Major, I appreciate your concern, but you don't have to stay."

Lorne nodded, "If you don't mind, Sir, I'd like to stay. I guess Doctor McKay grows on you after a while. I'd like to know that he's ok." Sheppard nodded and Lorne sat on a bed on the other side of the room, watching the rest of the room's occupants.

Weir looked at Sheppard and smiled. "Well, my day is done anyway. So unless you'd like to get some sleep I can stay a little longer."

Zelenka followed her lead. "Yes, I also am done for day. I'm sure Rodney will want me here soon as possible in morning to yell at for letting Atlantis sink into ocean or explode until he is back in labs again."

They all had to laugh knowing how right the Czech scientist was. This lighter mood lasted for another couple of hours while they all talked, but finally Beckett ordered everyone out but Rodney's team members and turned the lights down for the night shift.

The next morning Ronon was the first to wake up. He looked around and saw that McKay had been brought in during the night and was sleeping. Sheppard was also still asleep. He began pulling leads off his chest, ignoring the screams of his monitor. Beckett soon hurried up.

A few minutes into a heated argument, Sheppard woke up and saw his teammate giving Beckett dirty looks because the Doctor would not let him for his morning run. "Doc, I've run across an entire village with a concussion when I was running from the Wraith. I'm fine."

"Aye, I'm sure ye are, lad, but standard rules on Atlantis are to rest after any kind of head injury regardless of the severity. So ye will not be doing any running or working-out until ay say so, understand?"

Sheppard smirked at the size difference as Ronon towered over the Scotsman but the doctor held his ground with his arms crossed over his chest. Beckett was average height, but everyone seemed short next to Ronon. His laugh caught their attention and he pointed at Beckett. "You better do what he says, he'll know if you don't and you'll pay for it later."

Beckett smiled at Sheppard then turned back to stare Ronon down again. Finally the big man gave up and sat back down on his bed as a nurse brought them lunch. Sheppard looked at Rodney noting the machines and not so steady beat on the heart monitor as Beckett checked it. He looked around again and asked. "Hey Carson, where's Teyla? Didn't she stay the night?"

"Aye she did. She left early this morning to join Major Lorne's team and help take the villagers back to their planet and get started rebuilding." Beckett said without turning around as he input some data into a computer nearby.

An alarm went off on one of the monitors next to McKay. Ronon and Sheppard both tensed as Beckett moved over to check it. He pushed some buttons, looked at some readings and then switched the machine back to monitor. He looked at the two men watching him and smiled as he waved both of his hands in a down motion. "Relax, lads, it's just saying that his medications have been changed. I don't like some swelling I'm seeing so I'm leaving him sedated a while longer."

Both team members let themselves relax a little but didn't take their eyes off McKay. It was Sheppard who finally asked. "So he's ok, right Carson? No unexpected scares coming that will freak us all out?"

Beckett laughed as he looked down at his Canadian friend. "Not medically speaking, no. He's very lucky his injuries weren't worse. As it is, the broken leg isn't anything he hasn't had before, though ay have no doubt he'll complain up a storm over the slight discomfort once the pain meds start to wear off. The only unknown right now is the nerve damage, and I'm hopeful that there may not be any."

Sheppard considered that. "If there is damage, it's nothing that wouldn't heal right? I mean we don't have to worry about him not being able to walk do we?"

"Depends on a lot o' things, Colonel. But from what ay see on the scans he should be fine." Beckett knew that worst case scenario was something everyone worried about until they knew one way or the other, but he felt hopeful.

"So when are you gonna let us out of here, Carson. I'd like to go help with the transport of the people back to their planet and I want to bring the drones home. Not to mention, I'd like to see if any of their Jumpers survived the collapse of the Tower." Sheppard gave the smile that made most women melt but Beckett just shook his head.

"You both can join the team as soon as you've finished breakfast." Beckett noticed that both men were very happy with this news and Ronon dove into his breakfast.

However Sheppard looked over at McKay. "Didn't you want us all here for when he wakes up?"

"Aye, it would be nice, but that's not going to be any time soon. Ay don't expect him to wake up until maybe late afternoon. That's what Teyla, Elizabeth and Radek were told this morning." He watched as Sheppard seemed to relax a bit again. Carson got himself a tray and joined them for breakfast. When they were done he gave them another once-over and let them go.

After a shower and change of clothes, Ronon and Sheppard arrived in Weir's office asking to go off-world to help with the relocation.

"Teyla is on Rekalia and Lorne is working from the planet moving the drones back here. It's going smoothly, so why don't you to take a Jumper and meet Mara to discuss payment." Weir noticed Sheppard's hand come up and smiled as she raised one of her own. "Yes, you can scan the debris of the Tower for any Jumpers that survived and add them into the negotiations."

Weir smiled as she watched them walk into the Control Room and up the stairs to the Jumper bay. A couple of minutes later one of the little green ships lowered into the Gateroom as the wormhole opened. A moment later it was gone.

Sheppard checked with Lorne as they came through and found out where Mara and the nobles were. Then he flew into the valley and took a look at the crack caused by the quake. He momentarily flashed back to the memory of the whole room shaking and Ronon shooting at big chunks of building coming at them.

Sheppard shook his head, quickly recovering from the memory, and flew up the hill into the area where the Tower had once stood. He brought up the HUD and starting looking for his favorite little vehicles.

"Ah HA! I knew these things were tough enough to survive the collapse. I'm picking up readings indicating at least eight that are still in one piece and three more we can fix or use for spare parts." Sheppard was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of getting some replacements for the Jumpers they'd had to sacrifice.

Ronon just smiled at his friend's enthusiasm and then checked the time. "We'd better go find Mara and get these negotiations started so we can get back before McKay wakes up."

Sheppard nodded and headed back to the camp as he stored the locations of the ships in the Jumper computer. They landed and Mara came over right away, curiously looking at the ship that had just flown in above her.

"You can make them work? All of ours have been dead for centuries." Mara said as she ran her hand down the hull.

"Yeah, ours still work and we think we can make yours work too. They just need to be powered up again. That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. We'd like to take then and remaining drones. You can't use either of them now that your power source is dead, but we can." Sheppard gave her his best negotiator's smile.

Mara nodded. "I don't see why not. As you said, we don't need them anymore, but we will need something from you in exchange. We are eternally thankful for all of your help here but I have noticed that some injuries my people suffered in our hasty departure were healed or the pain was taken away. Can you give us this medicine and teach us how to use it?"

Sheppard nodded with a smile. "Not a problem. I'm sure our Doctors can whip up a few batches of pain killers and other things for you. I'll have a couple of our doctors train your people in basic healing techniques and to use the medicine we give you."

Mara smiled. "Thank you, John. Also, since we have now met, we would like to be able to contact you again, should we need to."

"Of course. We'll arrange to come back here and help you get your new government going once you decide what it's going to be." Sheppard hoped that they would get away from the caste society that existed now.

"My offer still stands. You could stay here and help us on this new path even though we don't need your help with the chair anymore." Mara was not flirting, she had made the offer before and still felt it would be good for her people.

Sheppard smiled but shook his head. "Like I said before, my place is with my people in our home. We still have a lot of work to do against the Wraith."

Mara nodded as her brother came over to join her. Just as Mara had changed, her brother seemed to have matured during the disaster also. Tavius nodded to Sheppard and Ronon, respect replacing the sneer he had shown before. "I trust everything is well here?"

"Yes, we were just discussing payment in exchange for some of the old things from the catacombs. And how they can help us in future." Mara smiled at her brother.

"I see, we would welcome any help you could give." Then looking at his sister, he asked. "Did you ask them about…"

"I did and they agreed to give us some." Mara smiled.

"Excellent, well I'm not needed here." Tavius nodded and left.

Sheppard took the chance to make his own exit. "Well, I'll have our people make you a device that will allow you to contact us and set up the delivery of those medicines."

"Thank you." Mara smiled and left to help her people with their new beginning.

Sheppard landed the Jumper in its berth and came down into the Control Room. "Hey, Chuck, where's Elizabeth?"

Chuck nodded his head to the right. "Out on the balcony, Sir."

"Thanks." Sheppard found Elizabeth leaning on her favorite support, her arms wrapped around herself, looking out at the city and ocean beyond. He cleared his throat to announce himself and then came to lean alongside her. "Got the drones, got a few Jumpers, I even got the girl."

Weir turned slightly toward him with a smile. "You got the girl?"

Sheppard shrugged but didn't look directly at Weir. "Well, I mean, I could have got the girl. I turned her down."

Weir smiled and turned back to the view as Sheppard put his foot on the bottom bar of the railing. "What did you offer them in return for the drones and the Jumpers?"

"A supply of medicines and an IDC if they need to reach us. I also offered to help them come up with a new way of running things when the time comes." Sheppard was sure Mara's people would contact them again.

Weir looked slightly sidewise and smiled at the confident but playful expression on her friends face and decided to make a joke. "They didn't offer to make you King?"

Sheppard's smile deepened and he shrugged again. "I turned that down too."

Then they heard Beckett's voice over the radio. "Elizabeth, ay wanted to let ye know that Rodney is awake and there doesn't seem to be any nerve damage. He's already complainin' about the food and yellin' at Radek. So ay'm going to say he'll be fine."

Weir and Sheppard both laughed as they heard a crash and Rodney's voice in the background. Sheppard stepped away from the railing and laughed. "I'd better go do some McKay wrangling before he drives Carson crazy."

Weir also smiled as she imagined how much Rodney was going to milk this when Carson finally released him. "Tell him I'm glad he's ok and not scare us like that again. Oh, and tell him I'll be down on my supper break to see him."

"Will do." Sheppard mock saluted as he headed down to the Infirmary. As he stepped out of the transporter he could hear McKay's voice and sighed in relief knowing that everything would soon be back to normal.

"McKay!"

THE END

YAY it's finally finished. I am so sorry it took from Season 2 to Season 4 to get this done. But it is now and I hope you enjoyed it. Feedback as always is welcome. Thanks to everyone who kept emailing me to continue and big hugs to my beta Ashanome.

I am trying to work through my other unfinished fics over Christmas and New Years break, what one do you think I should tackle next? LOL