Rodney had fallen into a fitful sleep beside the unconscious Colonel, but he was jarred awake when the door opened to emit the tiny Netharian scientist from before. Rodney scrambled from the bed to position himself between the woman and Sheppard and took a predatory stance that would have impressed John if he had been aware enough to notice it.
"Why are you doing this to him?" Rodney demanded.
"Doctor McKay, I really do not have the time for your questions. Now let me by so that I can check the Colonel's condition," the woman responded indignantly.
Glowering in what he hoped was a suitably threatening way, Rodney took a few steps in the scientist's direction. Although he knew that he could easily overtake her and escape this room now that there were no guards present, he would not leave the incapacitated Colonel to do so. Instead he opted to find a way to obtain more specific answers to the numerous questions he had, and since John was no longer in any condition to give even scant answers, his only choice was to get the Netharian talking. Now was an opportune time since her goons were absent and since McKay figured that he was feeling angry enough to elicit from her the responses he needed.
"You don't get by until you tell me exactly what you're doing to him and why."
The woman's only reaction was to stare at him and shake her head sadly. Then, after considering him with what seemed astonishingly like amusement, she pushed a button on a panel of her hand-held instrument and said softly to him, "Really, Doctor McKay. I would have thought better of you."
Before Rodney had a chance to deliver the angry retort that came suddenly to his lips, he was pressed against a gilded wall with a very strong hand around his throat. Apparently the scientist had beckoned one of the goons with the innocuous machine that she was holding. Rodney cursed inwardly as he struggled against the hold around him. But he was powerless to free himself and could only watch as the scientist approached Sheppard and began to run some tests on him.
"What do…they feed you guys…anyway? Steady…steroid…diet?" Rodney was pleased that he had managed to croak out the words and convey a sense of sarcasm all at the same time.
The goon's only response was to press his beefy arm further into Rodney's throat. Rodney frantically gasped for air and was seeing stars when the hold around his neck was abruptly lifted. He slumped to the ground, rasping in breath.
"He will be fine by morning. I will check on him in three hours. I expect you will show better manners when I return."
The words were spoken haughtily, but Rodney could barely hear them through the roaring that had overtaken his hearing. He lay quietly until he felt that his legs could support him again and then stood before taking unsteady steps in Sheppard's direction.
The man was still unconscious, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. Rodney was happy to see that his color had improved and hoped that the change was an indication that the Colonel would regain consciousness soon. If they were going to make it out of the room before morning, they needed to do so in the very immediate future. And in order to escape, Rodney needed Sheppard conscious to work the technology that controlled the door. Rodney patted the Colonel's face lightly in a desperate hope to wake him. McKay was acutely aware of the time as he considered that the Netharian scientist would return in three hours. If Sheppard didn't wake up before then, their window of escape opportunity would be reduced to the few hours between the check-in and morning. And that was provided that only one more check-in was forthcoming.
But Sheppard didn't respond to Rodney's ministrations, and Rodney resigned himself to waiting. He clambered back onto the bed, but this time resisted the urge to bang his head against its extravagant headboard.
888
"Do I require a guard, Doctor McKay?"
The Netharian woman had returned but had not walked far from the door. Instead she had fixed her blank expression on Rodney and paid him some serious attention for the first time since their arrival.
"No, you don't. I'm nothing if not a fast learner," McKay replied bitterly while rubbing his still tender neck.
"I am pleased that you now see reason, Doctor McKay," the woman said. She smiled broadly, and Rodney realized with a shock that she was very young. How could he have missed that about her? Could it possibly be that the stress of being imprisoned, having his best friend experimented on, and lacking knowledge of his other teammates had made him less observant than usual?
To Rodney, it seemed like a reasonable explanation.
The Netharian scientist neared the bed where Sheppard continued to loll in frustrating unconsciousness. Since he didn't want the goons coming in to teach him any other new lessons, Rodney resigned himself to keeping his hands off the woman so long as she did nothing that would further exacerbate Sheppard's condition. He itched to take some action against her but instead just watched her carefully from his position on the bed.
She directed her hand-held instrument at Sheppard again and then frowned at the results that she saw there.
"What? What's the matter?" McKay asked anxiously while craning his neck at an awkward angle in an attempt to see the readout on the machine.
"It is nothing. Only that he has been over-sedated. The serum appears to be meeting our expectations, but I must inform Sandrina that conditions for further testing are not ideal. He needs time to overcome the effects of the sedative."
McKay was surprised by the amount of information that she had revealed, but could barely contain the anger that suffused through him. The serum. By that she meant the Hoffan death serum. He still could only wonder at the series of events that had lead up to the frightening re-introduction into their lives of those horrible events that had occurred on Hoff over a year ago.
"Has he regained consciousness since last I checked on him?"
The concern, which laced the question directed at McKay, surprised him. The Netharian scientist had not looked at him when she had asked it, and Rodney made a closer observation of the woman. She kept intent watch over Sheppard, and Rodney noted for the first time that her eyes had taken on a dewy quality as she looked upon the unconscious man. One of her delicate hands lingered on the Colonel's cheek, and Rodney practically choked.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed before he even realized that he had not answered her question.
"I beg your pardon?" Now the woman turned away from Sheppard, and annoyance darkened her brow. McKay noticed; however, that her hand had not left its position cupped around the Colonel's right cheek.
"Sorry. I'm sorry," he stammered, suddenly embarrassed although he could not understand why he cared about what she thought of his outrageous outburst. "Sorry," he muttered again. "No, he hasn't regained consciousness," he then lied in a smaller voice.
The woman's expression grew darker with concern, and she again returned her entire attention towards Sheppard, thus giving Rodney time to think about the situation.
Even unconscious the man attracted women far too easily! And although Rodney could be an idiot when it came to women (a fact that he would only admit to himself), he knew enough to recognize that this one was smitten with the Colonel. And maybe he could use her affections to help get them out of this mess.
"So, uh, what is your name, anyway?" he asked, haltingly.
She took only a moment to stare at him as if he were a flea not worthy of his notice before turning yet again to the object of her affections.
Shrugging off with difficulty the sudden burn of harsh rejection, Rodney tried again. "Uh, you know. I mean, just in case the Colonel does wake up, he's going to want to know the name of the woman who has cared for him through all of this," Rodney grimaced. Maybe he was laying it all on just a bit too thick.
But her response was immediate and acceptable.
"Torca! My name is Torca! Do you really think he will want to know of me?"
Rodney only took a moment to consider the utter ugliness of her name before plastering a bright smile on his face.
"Of course he will! And it's such a lovely name, too!" Oh God! Was he even doing this right? How had it happened that their lives depended on him flattering a woman who was attracted to another, unconscious, man!
"Oh, it makes me happy to hear of it!" Torca continued her concerted perusal of Sheppard's features, but now her face had taken on the visage of one who was definitely love-struck.
Rodney was struggling with deciding upon which of several different possible things to say next, when Torca seemed to shake herself from her reverie.
"I must leave. I will try to convince Sandrina to postpone the next testing. His condition is not ideal for such a trial," the woman said, absently.
Before Rodney could say anything further, Torca had sped lightly from the room.
"This is absolutely insane!" Rodney muttered to himself. He recalled Sheppard's earlier, taunting comments about how Rodney was winning the race to become the Captain Kirk of the Pegasus Galaxy and shook his head in further disbelief. He took a brief moment to check the Colonel's condition with the smallest hope that Torca's attentions had brought the man back into the land of the conscious, but was unsurprised to find the man still deeply unaware.
He settled back onto his now usual place on the bed and made a mental note to hassle Sheppard about the current Captain Kirk tally when he finally regained consciousness.
888
Sheppard returned to consciousness shortly after dawn and promptly threw up all over the bed coverings. He knew that he should care about the fact that he was covered in a sickening mess, but he didn't have the energy. Instead he slumped back down against the pillows and sheltered his eyes with his right hand in an effort to ward off the headache that was threatening to take over.
"Oh, ewwww. Oh, I mean, honestly, ewwww. Did you really have to do that!"
John didn't know whether he should be relieved or annoyed by McKay's obvious and complaining presence.
"Yes," the word scraped against the back of his throat, and he coughed. "Oh yes, I think…it's fair to say that that was necessary," John managed to finish.
"Fine, whatever," McKay snapped back unhappily. "I just want it made known that that was a highly inconsiderate and totally disgusting act."
"Whatever makes you happy, McKay," John muttered back. He didn't seem to have the strength to say anymore and took comfort in the sounds of Rodney's bad-tempered complaints as he gathered the blankets and tossed them in the corner of the room.
"Not in the job description, Colonel!" Rodney yelled, and John couldn't help but chuckle despite the fact that the hollering was causing his headache to notch up a few levels.
He didn't remember much about what had happened. He had vague memories of panic and fear, but beyond that everything was a blur.
"What's going on, McKay?" John asked, still with his hand over his eyes.
"What's going on is that you just vomited all over the bed, and I had to clean it up!"
"McKay…." John's voice was a warning, and he coupled it with a sharp glance at his friend.
"I apologize, Colonel. It's just been a weird night," McKay said, looking frightened, irritated and chagrined all at the same time.
"Just tell me what's happening," Sheppard said, trying to sound calming.
As Rodney explained the situation to him, remnants of memories began to surface for John, and he began to understand just why the physicist was so upset. It had been a trying evening for Rodney, filled with insomnia, uncertainty, and an apparently lovesick scientist.
"What does she look like?" John asked, interested.
Rodney stared at him blankly for a minute as if he was in shock. John was just about to ask his question again before McKay spectacularly exploded in a stream of infuriated words. "What do you mean, 'What does she look like!' Are you NUTS! Are you planning on asking her out on a date? Or maybe you're just worried that your record for attracting the BEAUTIFUL women of the Pegasus galaxy is at risk! I can't believe you! What kind of question is that!"
"McKay…."
"Or maybe I'm the one who has gone nuts," McKay continued, unabated. "Maybe I'm losing my touch. Because, I mean, I did notice how hot that disguised Wraith was on the Aurora. But, to be fair, she wasn't EXPERIMENTING on you! Forgive me if I was a little distracted by the fact that this particular woman was hurting you, and that I wasn't in the exact frame of mind to determine whether or not she's HOT!"
"McKay!" John's voice was now angry.
"WHAT!"
"I'm only asking so that I know what she looks like. You did the right thing by playing off of her emotions. I just want to go along with it if she wanders in here, and I can do that most effectively if I know what she looks like!"
"Oh." Rodney's anger was slow to dissipate, but at least he shut the hell up. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend," he eventually muttered.
John closed his eyes again and waved dismissively at McKay. "No offense. Just give me the description."
"Young. Long, dark hair. Oh, and like I said before, tiny. Very delicate."
"Okay, I'll try to schmooze with her when I get the chance. Now, you were saying something about the door mechanism?" John asked.
"Oh, yes. Do you think you can concentrate on the technology well enough to help me rig it to open the door? I know that you aren't feeling well, but…." Rodney's nose wrinkled with remembered disgust, and John sent him another warning glance.
"I'm fine, just help me over there."
With Rodney's help Sheppard had just managed a dizzying shuffle halfway across the room when the door opened. Both men lifted their heads to see four of the guards standing in a protective stance behind Sandrina and Torca. Torca still held onto her medical panel, and her grasp on it tightened when she saw the Atlanteans standing in the middle of the room.
"Ah! Do you see, Torca, I told you he would be well enough!" Sandrina moved to one of the bigger guards and motioned him over to the two men. "The testing will proceed as planned," Sandrina announced and then turned with a flourish and left.
When Torca unhappily followed Sandrina out of the room before they could speak with her, both Sheppard and McKay were plagued by the same thought.
Oh, not good. So, not good.
888
Rodney had been left behind in the extravagant prison room, and Sheppard wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Although having his teammate present would have been a small comfort, John knew that watching a Wraith feeding was horrific even when the menu didn't include a best friend. And so most of John was thankful that he was going through this ordeal alone, but he could not quite quell the small part of him that wanted the reassurance of a friendly face.
He tried to tell himself that in all likelihood the Hoffan serum would protect him from the Wraith feeding, but he still felt panic begin to engulf reason as the guard practically carried him down a bright hallway to a transporter. As the transporter doors closed around them, John idly noted that the technology was one that looked extraordinarily like those found on Atlantis. But then the transporter opened its doors, and John stopped considering the technology because he found himself being dragged through a darker, much more danker and ominous hallway. Panic continued to well, and he wondered when he had gained such a tenuous hold over his emotions. Usually he could manage much better than this. He speculated that his recent emotional distress from the Aurora pods could have sensitized him to this fear, or even that he was still affected by the Netharian sedative. Either would explain his current emotional status.
Or it could just be that the fear stemmed from the simple fact that his captors were planning on feeding him to a Wraith.
John suppressed the urge to laugh hysterically, an act which took an effort that distracted him sufficiently enough to allow him to contain his fear. Shortly after entering this new, disturbing hallway, the guard shoved him into a room where he found Sandrina and Torca in a quiet, but animated discussion. He ignored them, though, when he saw the Wraith standing proudly in the corner of a barred and fielded cell within the room.
The Wraith was as tall and powerful as any other that John had encountered, but this one was very obviously starved. He stared at John with abject desire, and John felt fear spike within him. They were going to put him in that cell. They were going to let that…thing…feed on him. It was horrifying and revolting both, but John fought the urge to give into the fear that was gibbering on the very edges of his sanity.
"Hey there! Name's John Sheppard. I'm breakfast!" he said with forced cheerfulness and a jaunty wave of his hand. He barely heard his own voice.
Sandrina and Torca broke off their heated conversation at the sound of Sheppard's voice, and John did not miss the angry looks that passed between the two women. He allowed himself to hope that they would call this craziness off, but then noticed the composed way in which Sandrina was holding herself. Yep, this was going to end badly.
Sandrina gave a curt nod, and the guard suddenly tore open John's shirt.
"Hey! It's cold in here!" John complained casually, but still could not hear himself clearly. A small part of him wondered if he was going into shock, but then he was pushed into the cell and had no further time to consider that possibility.
For a moment man and Wraith stared at each other in stunned silence.
John was the first to break the quiet.
"I'm poison to you. They've injected me with poison," he said quietly to the hungry creature. He had little hope that his words would be taken seriously.
And they weren't.
The Wraith lunged at him, and John had only a fraction of a second to realize that hunger had stricken the creature with its own kind of insanity before it was upon him.
His legs buckled, and he felt an unbearable, deep pain assault him.
Then nothing.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Hmmmmm…This was kind of an evil cliffhanger wasn't it?
Bad Emrys!
Mwa Ha Ha
I have two other fics from two other fandoms that I have to work on this week, plus a LOT of papers to grade.
But this was an EVIL cliffhanger.
Hmmmmmm….maybe I'll update again within a couple of days.
What do you all think?
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed up to this point. Those kind words really get me motivated to work!
Hope you liked this last chapter!
Em