Author's note: Moi shoot Sheppard three times? (innocent blinks) It was Koden, an evil meanie Genii, who shot Sheppard not a poor unpaid fanfic writer who only wishes to receive reviews. LOL. :-D
Thanks for the reviews! I did feel the inspiration! So, here's the next update! I hurried as fast as I could. :P I actually never expected this story to complete so quickly so your reviews made all the difference - what a motivator! Muchas gracias to winterelf, Titan5, MacGateFan, Ditzyleo, Baileysmom, drufan, auStraliS, chokolaj, sherryw, reen212000, Harm Marie (I think!) , PyroDragon2006, amsilcox, Reyson, TexasMom, Jules47, Mandy and TheNaggingCube. I was inspired, boy, was I inspired! So, here's the next chap, hope you enjoy!
Chap 8: Return of the Sheppard
"Let the boy go Koden, I'll take his place."
From afar, Rodney and Teyla recognised the voice as Sheppard's, as they approached the large crowd of Nonamers gathered to witness the confrontation between Sheppard and Koden.
"No no no no! What does Sheppard think he's doing? He's going to be so screwed!" Rodney voiced his concern as he tried to hobble as fast as he could while leaning on Teyla's slim shoulders for support. It felt as if hot daggers of fire were shooting up his leg with each agonising step that he took.
"Hurry Rodney, or we'll be too late!" Teyla said, her own voice tight with worry for John's safely.
"What do you think I'm doing? This is about my top gear with a toasted and shot up foot!" Rodney exclaimed. Nevertheless, he still tried to pick up the pace, as they continued to hear the conversation between Sheppard, Adric and Koden being played out ahead of them.
Pushing their way from amongst the crowd, they arrived just in time to witness the shoot out. To their horror they saw Sheppard stagger backwards as the bullet hit him in the chest.
"Oh God!" Rodney cried out in fear, while Teyla looked grief stricken at the scene they had just witnessed. The bullet looked like it had struck Sheppard in the heart, nobody could survive that!
His wounded leg be damned! Rodney ignored it as best he could and with Teyla's help, he hopped and hobbled as quickly as possible to the body of his fallen friend. No no no no no! The litany echoed in his head. There was a crowd now forming around Sheppard's body. However, before they could reach John, Ronon was there first, moving like the wind, roughly pushing the Nonamers out of the way, calling out Sheppard's name as he knelt beside their motionless friend.
o-O-o
Ronon Dex had been too busy targeting the Genii sniper in his weapon's sight to focus on what was going on between Sheppard and Koden. In the darkness of the night, he saw the concealed figure on the roof move, standing up to take aim at the colonel. There was no hesitation in the Satedan; he aimed and fired his long range weapon, feeling the comfort of the weapon's recoil and seeing the shadowy figure topple off the roof. However, his sense of satisfaction was short lived when he heard the twin shots go off a second later a few feet away. Whipping his head around, dreadlocks flying past his neck, he saw the bullet slam into Sheppard's chest and the pilot's body falling backwards by the impact. From the corner of his eye, he also saw Koden collapsing, taking young Adric down with him.
He cursed aloud, anger and fear racing through his heart. Sheppard had promised him that he would be fine if he took care of the sniper... He had done his part! He'll be damned if Sheppard didn't live up to his part of the bargain! Sheppard couldn't be injured again, worse yet, Sheppard couldn't be dead! But he had been in enough battles before to witness shots like that, and in all cases the person hit in such a way turned up dead.
He rushed to the fallen colonel, roughly pushed aside all the Nonamers who were now crowding around the downed man. As Ronon approached Sheppard, it was as he had feared. Sheppard's eyes were closed, his face turned sideways, his spiked hair damp with sweat, his face too pale, his body too still...
"Damn you, Sheppard!" Dex growled, as he knelt beside his team leader, his friend, the one person whom he respected above all else in the Pegasus galaxy. Sheppard had brought him hope; he was the one who had brought Dr Beckett to remove the implant from his back; the man who had saved him from a runner's death.
"We made a deal, Sheppard! You said you would be fine!" he raged at the motionless man lying lifeless on the ground beside him. He saw the fatal bullet hole centred on Sheppard's chest where the pilot's heart would be. The whole entire top half of John's Atlantian jacket was stained with blood. All three bullet wounds had been received on the left side. He was too late! Sheppard was dead! No one could have survived that last bullet wound aimed at the heart. A deep, overpowering grief started to overwhelm him, something that he had not experienced in a long time since the day of his capture by the wraith, the same day the wraith invaded his home planet and killed off all his loved ones, his friends, his family...
"Out of the way!" He heard McKay shout as the scientist pushed his way through the crowd. Ronon looked up, he felt a trail of something hot and wet stream down in his eyes. He grieved now, but a rage was slowly building within him. Soon, he would kill every single surviving Genii in the Nonamer village; he no longer cared whether they were injured or not, he would make them pay for the death of Sheppard. They would all pay for killing his brother-in-arms, his friend, his family.
o-O-o
"Oh god!" McKay looked down at the motionless form of John Sheppard. "Is he... Is he dead?" he asked, his blue eye wide as he stared in shock at his closest friend. "No no no no! He can't be dead!" Rodney stammered, unable to look, but seeing the look on Ronon's face and knowing the answer that he refused to accept in his mind, in his heart, in his suddenly empty soul.
"Have you checked, Ronon?" Teyla asked softly. Her face portrayed her deep grief; her voice although relatively calm had an odd tremor in it. "Have you checked whether he has a pulse?"
Ronon shook his head. "What's the point?" he growled, his rage reaching close to boiling point. "We all saw where he was hit."
Rodney shook his head. "No, no! He has to be alive, he can't be dead!" he repeated the words. With great difficulty, he knelt down beside Sheppard's still body, ignoring the pulsating pain of the burn on his lower leg and bleeding foot. In fact, this time, he welcomed the pain, it was nothing in comparison to the pain his felt in his heart at the loss of his closest friend: the crazy, infuriating pilot who somehow found a way through his sarcasm and verbal onslaught that he used as a barrier to keep most people at bay. The colonel had somehow, without Rodney even realising it, become his friend, in fact, his best friend. He felt a huge lump at the back of his throat and a heaviness weigh down his heart. His eyes was beginning to sting and he furiously blinked away the threatening tears. I will not cry! I will not cry! he told himself over and over again.
Suddenly Teyla gripped Rodney's arm and gasped aloud, "Rodney, Ronon! I saw him move! His hand... I saw it move!"
"What?" Both men uttered the words at the same time. The two men turned back towards John's hand. However, they saw no movement there.
"He is still alive. By the Ancestors' honour, I swear, I saw his finger move!" Teyla said with determination and anxious hope in her voice; it was as if she feared what she had just seen was but a dream.
One thing Rodney knew about Teyla was that she never exaggerated. He trusted her implicitly. Hope flared. Please be alive! Please be alive! The internal monologue ran in Rodney's head as he pulled open the blood covered Atlantian jacket. Underneath it was a black t-shirt also stained with blood. At any other time, the sight of so much blood would have made him queasy, but this time, the urgency of the moment overrode all queasiness that he may have had. He tore open the t-shirt and gaped in shock. Sheppard's chest was stained with blood, but it wasn't because of a bullet wound in the chest, but from the blood of his earlier left shoulder wound. However, at the area where a bullet hole should have been was a deep bruise instead. The chest below him pulsed weakly with life.
"He's alive!" McKay gasped out looking at Teyla and Ronon with growing excitement and an overwhelming sense of relief. "Oh, thank God! Sheppard's still alive!" The crazy smile formed at the corner of his lips that he couldn't seem to control.
"You sure?" Ronon asked, taking a closer look, needing to check for himself that what Rodney said was true. The Satedan's stance revealed the relief he felt as he found a pulse. Teyla closed her eyes and mouthed a silent prayer of gratitude to the spirit of the Ancestors before opening them again and giving her two teammates an overflowing smile.
"But I saw him take a direct hit in the heart, how is that possible?" One of the Nonamers on-lookers asked. By now, there were many Nonamers crowding around Sheppard's body and the Atlantian team. Everybody looked at Rodney for an answer.
Rodney, who was now grinning from ear to ear pulled out Sheppard's dog tags. In the middle of one of the dog tags was an indent the shape of a bullet's impact. Somehow, by some miracle and a millionth to one chance, the bullet had struck Sheppard's dog tags that he wore under his black t-shirt. Already weakened by his other two injuries, the force of impact was enough to knock the pilot to the ground and render him unconscious.
"He has been blessed by the Ancestors!" one of the villagers voiced in awe. "Never have I seen such a thing!" The others nodded in agreement.
"He is truly a great leader that you said he was, Adric." One of the young men said to Nonamer youngster who had just arrived. The murmurings and admiration of the villagers continued. Teyla smiled, wondering how John would feel to know that as he lay unconscious, he was gathering an entire village of adulating fans. Her smile widened when she realised that it would make him very uncomfortable indeed. He wasn't into 'hero worship' preferring to keep a low profile instead.
Rodney turned back towards Sheppard, checking his vitals. There was a pulse, it was weak and a little erratic but it was there. Rodney turned towards the Nonamers gathered around them, in their midst he saw the boy Adric staring at Sheppard looking at him in awe.
"Do you have any healers nearby?" Rodney asked as he quickly removed his jacket, noticed that half of it was burned, grimaced in disgust, then he folded it and placed it gently under Sheppard's head. While they could take Sheppard back to Atlantis, it was still a reasonable distance away. Sheppard would not be able to handle the journey there. He needed medical treatment immediately. It was better if Sheppard received treatment from the Nonamers first, even if it was voodoo science, but it was better than no treatment at all. One of the villagers nodded and ran off to get a healer. Later, Rodney would ask Teyla or Ronon to track back to the Stargate to radio Atlantis for a Puddle Jumper to come and retrieve them. They'll request for Carson to be included in the rescue team.
Adric removed his cloak and placed it gently on Sheppard's body like a blanket. All three of Sheppard's team nodded their thanks to the youngster. There was a moan, Rodney looked down and noticed movement from Sheppard. The colonel was beginning to regain consciousness...
o-O-o
There was pain, a deep throbbing pain in his left shoulder, in his left arm and even in his chest. John moaned. He hurt. Boy, did he hurt. He felt hands on him, one on his uninjured shoulder, and another, a smaller one on his forehead, gently stroking his hair. His head was lying on something soft. There were voices around him, lots of them. At first he could not make out the words, but then slowly the roaring in his ears subsided and he heard his name being called by the members of his team.
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Rodney, Teyla and Ronon all staring down at him with relief and worried looks mixed in their faces. "Hey, everyone all right?" he managed a weak croak.
"Yes, Sheppard, everyone's fine," Rodney said, giving his shoulder a reassuring pat.
"Adric?" he asked, wondering about the boy.
"He is fine, Colonel. It is you whom we were worried about," Teyla replied giving him a comforting smile, as she removed her hand from his head.
"Thank you, Sheppard. You saved my life," Adric said, staring at him brightly from where he stood.
John turned his head and saw the blond haired boy looking down at him with a grin on his battered features.
"You okay?" he asked again, frowning slightly at the sight of the boy's bleeding head and the impressive bruise forming on the youngster's right cheek. The boy nodded back at him.
"Good," John murmured before closing his eyes for a minute or two to gather his strength. He felt sick, weak, and everything hurt like hell.
"Sheppard? You doing okay?" he heard Rodney ask as the scientist's hand nudged his uninjured shoulder in concern.
He opened his eyes again to look quizzically at the hand, then down at the brown cloak that was covering his form. "Yeah," he muttered, pursing his mouth into a line and wetting his parched lips with his tongue. He frowned. The last thing he recalled was being shot by Koden. His right hand lifted and went towards his chest, feeling the soreness of a painful bruise there, but there didn't appear to be any new bullet wound to his astonishment.
"Your dog tags saved you," Rodney offered an explanation.
"What?" he asked, looking up at McKay, still confused.
Blue eyes met dazed hazel ones. "By some wild miracle, the bullet hit your dog tags instead. Otherwise you'll be flying with the angels. In fact, for a moment there, you gave us quite a scare."
"We thought you were dead, Sheppard." Dark Satedan eyes glared accusingly at Sheppard.
John remembered the deal he had made with Ronon and felt guilty about it. By some stroke of fate or possibly dump luck he had escaped death, otherwise he knew that he would be a corpse by now.
"You owe me one, Sheppard. You said that you were going to be fine if I took out the sniper," the Satedan said.
"I am, aren't I?" John tried to squeak out a defense, still stunned at his good fortune.
The Satedan shook his head. "It doesn't count, Sheppard. You still got yourself shot at. I thought you were dead."
Ronon did not say anything else but by the emphasis of his words, John knew how much he had scared and angered the Satedan at the thought that Sheppard hadn't kept his part of the deal. He nodded his head, accepting that he shouldn't have made a promise that he knew he couldn't keep. "So what do I owe you?" he finally asked wearily.
The former runner stared at him for a moment before replying, "You get better first, then I'll claim what you owe. Nothing major, just enough so that you remember to keep your word the next time we make a deal."
"So an apology wouldn't do?" John asked hopefully.
"No," the Satedan replied with a wolfish grin.
o-O-o
The healer that the Nonamers called soon arrived. It wasn't long before John had morphine, antibiotics and other necessary drugs administered to him. They were currently using the medicines that Atlantis that sent over as a sample of good faith when Sheppard's team had arrived on the second day of their negotiation with the Nonamers.
The healer also brought a stretcher for Sheppard, but John shook his head. He really hated having to lay on his back while he was carried on a stretcher like an invalid and preferred to go to the Nonamer infirmary under his own power.
"I'll walk," he said.
"Are you sure, Colonel?" Teyla asked in concern, looking doubtful at John that he was capable of such a feat.
With morphine in his system, the pain wasn't so bad anymore. However, he still felt weak and dizzy, which he knew accounted for blood loss and the fact that he was also suffering from a high fever due to infection from his injuries. The Nonamer healer had informed him as such, which was why he argued that John should use the stretcher instead. But stubbornness worn out. He considered Teyla's question and decided that he wasn't about to tell the Athosian the truth about how he felt. After feeling helpless for so long, tied to the stake, waiting for their execution, he felt the need to be in control of the situation. Even if it was something as minor as walking on his own two legs to the Nonamer infirmary.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Sheppard replied. "Here, give me a hand, guys."
Ronon and Rodney quickly helped him to his feet. He stood still for several moments, waiting for the ground to stop swimming and to settle, while he held onto Rodney's shoulder for support, while Rodney, with his injury foot and burned leg, held onto Teyla's shoulder for support. Ronon, in the meantime, went to retrieve his discarded weapon from the ground. They were about to leave for the Nonamer infirmary when a shout halted them.
"Sheppard!" Toga called out in an almost unrecognisable voice filled with hate.
John turned around to look curiously at the Nonamer leader, wondering what he wanted.
"You are not blessed by the Ancestors! I am the only leader of my people, you are nothing but a pretender and a liar! My people shall see the truth of your ways!" Toga screamed, his face crazed with envy and jealousy. He could not handle anyone else having the admiration of his people. That role belonged solely to him! The Nonamers were his people! They should only look up to him! Jealousy overrode all rational thought. His hand reached inside his cloak and he pulled out a weapon, aiming it at Sheppard. The colonel would not be able to escape death a second time. He would make sure of that! Before he could pull the trigger, there were multiple gun blasts. The first shot came from behind Toga, the second from Ronon's weapon, and the third from Adric's father.
John, Rodney, Teyla and the Nonamer villagers witnessed in stunned silence as Toga tried to say something before he toppled dead to the ground. With a low growl, Ronon turned his weapon to point at the person who had taken the first shot. He would have pulled the trigger if Sheppard hadn't stopped him with a firm command. "Ronon. No!"
Koden, the Genii leader, flashed John Sheppard a brief unreadable smile. He saluted John with his weapon and dropped the smoking handgun to the ground in a gesture of surrender.
"I personally never liked that man," Koden explained, his hand now gripping his wounded and bleeding shoulder. Sheppard's bullet had hit him ironically in the left shoulder, the same spot where he had first shot the colonel.
"You deserved a better death, Sheppard." Koden continued. "A death given by a warrior to a warrior. Not by some cowardly traitor who loved his own skin more than his people. After all, you have been an exceptional opponent, Colonel. You see, there is a soldier's code of honour even among the Genii."
Aldwen gazed at Koden after looking at Toga's dead body with disgust, then he approached Sheppard, gave him a respectful bow and said, "My Lord Sheppard, what should we do with him and the other surviving Genii? Should we kill them?"
McKay who was standing next to Teyla raised his eyebrows and mouthed silently to her 'My Lord?'. Teyla noted the query, knowing that the Adric's father had just given John the title reserved only for the most honoured among their people. Previously that title had been addressed to their leader, Toga. It appeared that the Nonamers now regarded Colonel Sheppard in that role.
Sheppard however did not see the respectful bow, nor had he noticed the title reference. His gaze was still locked on Koden. He was also having a hard time staying conscious and remaining on his feet. Blood loss and his injuries were finally taking their toll on him. However, he did hear the last part of Aldwen's query. What indeed to do with Koden? He frowned as he considered the question. He shot a brief look at his team before he finally turned towards the Nonamer and gave his reply.
o-O-o
TBC
Author's note: Did you believe that Sheppard had died when you read Ronon's POV? I was a little concerned that readers might abandon this fic if they thought so without continuing reading to the end. (Do you guys do that?) What did you think about Toga and Koden's actions, and Nonamers calling Sheppard 'my Lord', or anything else that you wish to comment about? I did my best to get this chapter out as early as possible as I really didn't want to give you guys heart attacks or any other health problems. The last few days, I've been busy working late, trying to meet deadlines, so this was the best I could do. Believe me, this update is earlier than what I anticipated (as I've been working on this chapter regularly every night), otherwise it would have been ready sometime only mid next week. So your reviews really did make a difference! For those who are reading and haven't reviewed yet, please review, and for those who have reviewed, thank you very much, and please continue to review, and I'll be eternally grateful. :) Only an Epilogue to go, then I'll be out of your hair. :p