Nine
She has no idea how much time has passed since they took Jennifer away, but there's one thing she knows for sure now: Something is seriously wrong with her. After Jennifer had disappeared she'd started to getting worse gradually. Minute after minute her fever had gotten worse, and the pain in her thigh had started to get searing. And now she's finding it hard to breath evenly and keep her eyes open. She's not at her breaking point yet, but she knows that she doesn't have much time left until she becomes useless.
If only… "Thank you for your cooperation, Doctor." The voice is enough to make her open her eyes and sit up again, even though that just serves to increase her dizziness. She can make out the Genii and the Hybrids again, as well as Jennifer Keller… being pushed into her cell instead of the cell on the opposite side. Then one of the Hybrids tosses something else into the cell.
"Don't mention it.", Jen spits, and she's again surprised at how acerbic that little doctor can be. Their captor only offers a laugh and then leaves again with his Hybrid minions. Now she's sure that they are being monitored from somewhere else. There's just no other reason why they would let them in one cell together.
She takes a deep breath and turns toward Jennifer. "Hey… how are you?"
Jennifer throws her a dark look which tells her very clearly that this is probably a very misplaced question. God, she just hopes they didn't touch her. "I think the more important question is: How are you?" With that, Jen comes over to her with something in her hand that she now can identify as Jennifer's med kit. What the…? She wants to ask, but the doctor kneels down beside her.
"I'm… fine. Well… mostly." That's not entirely a lie, because honestly, there are a few spots on her body which are absolutely okay.
"I doubt that." With that, Jennifer reaches down and tries to tear open her BDUs' leg where the blood from the graze wounds has seeped through. She really wants to grit her teeth and keep silent, but whenever Jennifer so much as brushes against the leg, she has to gasp and clench her fists to stop herself from crying out. When Jennifer is done, she's only half-conscious anymore, but she's still clear enough to hear her whispered: "Holy crap."
She forces her eyes open again. "What is it?" Jennifer swallows, and it looks very much like she doesn't want to tell her what's wrong. "Jen, be honest."
After another swallow, Jennifer takes a deep breath and says: "It's the grazes. They've become inflamed. Either something was wrong with these bullets or you managed to catch some nasty bacteria on that planet. Anyway… I'm going to give you some broad-spectrum antibiotics and the strongest antipyretic I have. It's gonna be okay." They look at each other, and she can see very well that nothing will be okay if Jennifer doesn't get her to a decent infirmary and hooks her up to an IV soon.
"'Course." Shortly after that, she feels the pricks of various needles, and when the burning sensation fades to a dull itching – did Jennifer give her a dose of painkillers high enough to sedate a horse? – and the fever has cleared enough from her head, she finally realizes what's been bugging her ever since Jen started treating her. "What did you tell them, Jen?"
Jennifer averts her eyes and keeps hers fixed on the leg she's wrapping up provisionally. "Nothing. Keep still, otherwise the wrapping will hurt."
That just serves to raise her suspicions even further. Jen looks like she made a mistake and knows it. "Jennifer, this is important. What did you tell them?"
Jennifer keeps prodding and picking at her leg, and even with the painkillers it's starting to drive her mad, because the pain is still intense enough to irritate her. "Like I said: Nothing. Oh my… why didn't you tell me it was this bad?"
She takes a deep breath. "'Cause it wasn't." Jennifer throws her a look that says "Like hell, Miss." And she lamely gestures and says: "Before, I mean. Now, Jennifer, enough with the stalling. What did you tell them?"
The doctor doesn't say anything, simply keeps dressing the wound with grim determination on her face. In between, she puts a lose strand behind her ear, and she can see that Jen's hand is trembling. That doesn't bode well. "I… nothing."
And finally she realizes what this diffuse bad feeling she's been having ever since Jennifer entered her cell had been about and is ready to smack her head. She should have seen that one a lot earlier. "Good God… you did tell them something. You made a trade-off. You'd never be allowed to treat me if they didn't know something."
Now Jennifer stops dressing her leg and bends down on her face, as if she wants to have a look at something there… and suddenly she says in a very low voice: "No. They think they know something."
She blinks. Huh. Who would have thought? "Oh. Okay."
With a frown on her face and a little righteous indignation, Jennifer draws back and concentrates on her leg again. What the hell does she have to fiddle around with there for so long? "Yeah. I'm not as stupid as you all think."
Aw, come on. A little unnerved, she rolls her eyes. "Jennifer, no one thinks you're stupid."
Now Jennifer is obviously done with her leg and moves further down to her ankle. While she starts prodding and turning her foot around, she quietly says: "Teyla does." Then, as if she hasn't said anything before that, she continues: "I can't feel much through this boot, but I guess you'll still need that and will not be able to able to pull it back on if I pull that off now, so there's not much I can do at the moment. I'll try putting on a brace, but you'll definitely be on crutches a few weeks when we get back. And you really should be careful with that."
Playing doctor again. Just like that. As if she hasn't just offered her quite the insight. She sighs. "Jennifer, I don't care about that stupid ankle right now. Teyla does not think you're stupid. You're her kid's doc, for God's sake."
Seemingly unfazed by her reassurance, Jen continues taking rudimentary care of her ankle as if it was the most important thing right now. Obviously she's determined to make her forget her little slip of tongue. But that doesn't last very long. With sigh, she lets go of the ankle and says: "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that… every time I go off-world with someone like you or Teyla, I feel so… inadequate. You've got all these reflexes and know all this MacGyver stuff and I just… have to be dragged along. I always feel like… additional weight. Dead additional weight."
She sighs herself. "It's not like that. Honestly, Jen…" She takes a deep breath. Painkillers are starting to make her sluggish, and she knows she has to do something about this. "Alright… can we talk about this when we get back? I… may need some stims. To counter-effect the painkillers."
She hopes that getting Jennifer's mind back on the medical track will help focus the other woman and keep her from retreating into self-pity. "Laura… I know you don't want to hear this, but… I don't think I can take the responsibility of drugging you even more."
Frustrated, she groans. "And I don't think I can take the responsibility of falling asleep any moment. Remember what I told you my job was, Jen? Right. And I can't do that, if I'm asleep. Now, give me the stims or not?"
Come on, Jen. Keep me from falling asleep. Keep me from screwing up even more. Just come on. After another few seconds, Jennifer sighs. "Alright. Fine. But this is your responsibility, and yours alone. Anything happens, it's your fault." She nods, because she simply knows that everything that could happen if she was asleep would be worse than what could happen if she's awake. With another defeated sigh, Jennifer gives her another injection, and she feels the effect kick in almost immediately.
Relieved she leans back. "Alright, now… did they reveal anything about who they are and what they want?" The chances are very slim that they did, but if they really underestimated Jen…
"As a matter of fact… I think they did. That guy – calls himself something like… Alton – couldn't stop boasting about how great they are." Yeah, well, right, but what do they want? "He says he belonged to the Genii, but defected when John killed Kolya. For some reason, he actively sought out Michael and somehow became one of his men… or maybe some kind of subcontractor. Obviously, their job was to capture Teyla to get to Torren through her. But since he never got Teyla… he's using us as a bait for the others. I'm not sure what he plans to do with them once they're here, but… I don't think he'll invite them to discuss trading arrangements over tea."
She has to smile involuntarily, even with these terrible news. "And now tell me how I could think you're stupid." But she becomes serious very fast, because Jennifer's face hasn't lit up a bit. "What else?"
"Those… those traders? They… they were part of a set-up." She closes her eyes and nods. Yes, she's had her suspicions about that already, but somehow she'd still held up hope that they had nothing to do with this. "Michael forced them to do it, and Alton and his gang… they nearly wiped out the whole group as a punishment for letting Teyla and the Sergeant escape."
She's sure that by now Atlantis should have found out at least about the traders' part in this and really hopes that none of them – for some reason Evan and Ronon come to her mind as the prime suspects – do something rash and make the traders suffer even more. Yes, they betrayed them, but they are peaceful people… how were they supposed to fight against someone like Michael? "We'll make everything right, Jennifer. I promise."
She knows she'll probably not be able to hold true to that promise if she doesn't get out of here in the next hours, but she doesn't want Jennifer to lose faith just yet. For a while, though, the doctor doesn't say anything. Then: "I know. It's just that… that…"
With a groan, she struggles to sit up and puts her hand on Jen's shoulder. "Don't, Jen." Get her back on the medical track, and fast. "By the way… how long is this stuff you gave me gonna hold up?"
Jennifer closes her eyes again and swallows, obviously trying to ban all her thoughts on the traders' fate to the back of her mind. "Maybe one hour, maybe two… but not much more." Crap. That's…. not good. In fact, that's horrible. She has to think of something… and fast. And then, suddenly, it hits her.
"Uh… Jen… I have this weird thing at the back of my head here. Could you… just have a look?" Quizzically, Jennifer looks at her, and she beckons her to just comply with that request. After a few more painful seconds of failing to understand her, Jennifer finally shrugs and leans over, luckily just in the right angle that her ear is close enough to her mouth that she can hopefully whisper without having to worry about someone reading her lips.
"Alright, now listen, and listen good. When I'm done with what I'm about to tell you now, I'm gonna fake fainting, and you'll call out for the guards. Make sure to be really frantic and desperate. The moment they get into this cell and get close to me, I'm going to give them the beating of their lives and when I tell you to, you'll grab the nearest gun and leave this cell. You don't look back, you just run out and make straight for the local 'Gate. Take everyone out that you have to take out, and don't, under no circumstances, worry about me. No discussion about this. Understood?" Jennifer hesitates, and she can sense that she's about to contradict her. "When I said "No discussion." I meant no discussion. One of us needs to get out of here, and you're much more likely to make it than I am. And I can take care of myself." They both know that after a fight with these guards she probably won't be able to take care of anything, but this really isn't the place now to argue about it.
Then, suddenly, she hears Jennifer say with a shaky voice: "Huh, I don't see anything strange here, Laura… Laura?" Alright, her clue. In an instant she makes herself go limp in Jennifer's arms and closes her eyes. "Oh my God… Laura! Help! I need some help down here! Alton! Anyone! Please help me!" She nearly has to hide a smirk at how good an actress Jennifer Keller can be when she manages to push fear and hesitation side. And yes, there the boot steps are already.
Jennifer is still appealing to them, sounding very pitiful and genuinely distressed, and she has the distinct feeling that part of that is the nervousness at what is probably going to follow now. Now she hears the sounds of the cell being opened and tries to assess how many people just entered the cell… and then rough hands are gripping her and her instinct takes over.
Instantly she opens her eyes again to stare right into the impassive face of one of the Hybrids. Before he can process what just happened, she has already managed to land a fist in his face. As he staggers back, another one moves to grab her, but she aims a kick at his mid-section from below and squarely gets him in the chin because he bent down. Pain shoots through her right leg again, but she's in fight mode now and manages to kick the gun out of the one targeting her. As if by a miracle, the stunner lands right in front of Jennifer, who stares at it paralyzed. Crap.
"Go, Jennifer!", she yells, and that is all it takes to kick Jennifer out of her daze. Immediately, she grabs the stunner and jumps up. Then, from the corner of her eye… "To your right, Jen!" And the another miracle happens and Jen is fast enough to pull the trigger before Alton could have done it. She doesn't directly hit him, but she manages to graze him and irritate him enough that she can use the momentary window to really escape the cell and make it to the corridor's door.
Shortly before finally going, the doctor turns around and the look in Jen's eyes makes her heart sink. No, Jen, she thinks, don't look back now. "Fucking go!" The fourth Hybrid assaults her, and the only way of getting him away from her is giving him good kick with her left foot. The pain that now shoots through her foot and the sickening crack tell her that now her ankle is definitely broken and make her scream out in agony.
But that isn't nearly half as horrible as suddenly seeing Alton looming over her and saying grinning: "That, Lieutenant, was a terribly stupid mistake." The last thing she sees before falling unconscious is Alton raising his hand before he delivers the blow that sends her off into the black.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger :S But at least some plot development in this :P ;)