Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or its original characters.
So here is the second chapter. It's a little longer and I hope that I got all the mistakes fixed. Please read and review. I will appreciate it.
Later on that day, McKay, Ford, Teyla, and John went to explore the same level they were in earlier that day. They, once again, came across the same laboratory. Teyla walked up beside John to talk to him.
"You sure this is a good idea? You know what happened last time." Teyla said. John stopped to look at her.
"Teyla…….I told you that I was fine and not to worry about it." John said. He started walking again motioning for Teyla to continue as well.
John could barely hear his own thoughts with the constant whining from McKay. Then, suddenly, his knees buckled from underneath him and he dropped to the floor.
"Colonel…." Ford said as he finally noticed what Teyla was talking about earlier that day.
"John….are you okay?" Teyla asked him as she went to his side. He didn't answer. He just sat there on his knees with his head cradled in his hands.
"Colonel….what's going on?" Ford asked. John got up and staggered back some.
"I need to get out of here." John said. He didn't look very good. His face was pale and he looked as thought he had seen a ghost.
"You okay sir?" Ford asked. John turned around and walked out of the room.
He stopped and leaned against the wall just outside the door. What the hell is wrong with me. I don't get it. Its just another room. God…..why does my head hurt so bad when I'm in there.
"John….are you okay?" Teyla asked as she walked out the door seeing him standing there.
"Yeah….I'm fine." John said trying to reassure her that everything was fine.
"You had the same thing happen the last time we were in there." Teyla said.
"Don't worry about it." John said. He turned to the rest of the team. "Fall back to the control room." They left and started towards the control room.
"John…..can I talk to you?" Teyla asked as she walked beside him.
"Teyla…..I'm fine." John said. He knew that she didn't believe him and he didn't blame her either. He was lying to her face. What kind of friend am I. Every time she asks me how I feel, I always blow her off and lie about stuff to avoid sharing.
"John……you keep saying that but I do not believe you." she said giving him a serious look.
"To tell you the truth, I don't really know what happened." He said. He left it at that and then they all continued to walk until they got to the control room.
The rest of the day, John spent thinking about what had happened. He couldn't figure out what was going on. He was eating good and getting plenty of rest. It didn't make any sense. Nothing made any sense. Except Teyla. She was always there wondering if he was okay and if he needed anyone to talk to. God…..what am I going to do? Everything is such a mess. Teyla's concerned and Ford doesn't know what to think. What am I going to do? This was the biggest mess he had been in yet. There was knock at the door.
"Come on in." He said and sighed when he saw Teyla open the door. "I already told you that I'm fine."
"John….why don't you ever admit when something happens to you?" Teyla said. "You can turn to people when you need help."
"I don't need help with anything." John said. Teyla had a look of surprise on her face.
"John I do not mean to insult you." Teyla said. "I am just a little concerned." She walked over and sat down at the edge of his bed. "You should go see Dr. Beckett. He might be able to tell you what has been happening to you while exploring the lower levels of the city."
John sighed and leaned forward. "Teyla listen……I know how to take care of myself. If I think that I need to see a doctor, then I will go and see Beckett. Until then, don't worry about it." He said in a calm voice.
"When something goes wrong, will you tell me?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.
John nodded. "Yeah." She nodded and gave the same innocent smile she did earlier that day and walked to the door.
"Oh……Dr. Weir told me to tell you that there is going to be a meeting in about an hour." She said. John nodded and then watched Teyla walk out.
About an hour later, John, McKay, Ford, Teyla, and Dr. Weir met in what they called the conference room.
"So……after exploring some of the lower levels of the city today, what did you find out?" Dr. Weir said looking to find that there was no danger and that everything went well and maybe that they found a new and useful artifact.
John and Teyla exchanged looks. "We didn't really find anything very useful." John said purposely leaving the unpleasant details out.
"On the contrary Colonel." McKay said. "I found something quite interesting." He pulled a small cone shaped artifact out of his pocket.
John could feel the same pain in his head come back but it wasn't that bad. He knew that Teyla was looking at him.
"I cross-referenced the notes I found with the ancient data base and learned that it actually detects broken bones. It's like a miniature x-ray device." McKay sounded so thrilled with his findings that John didn't want to rain on his parade by complaining about a headache. "Look….you just push this button and….."
There was a screech from the other side of the room where John was that made everyone turn in his direction and look. It was John.
"No….turn it off." McKay just sat there puzzled at the sight of John cradling his head in his hands. "McKay…..TURN IT OFF!"
McKay fiddled with it for a few seconds which was long enough for John to fall out of his chair holding his head.
"John…..what's wrong?" Teyla asked but he was in way too much pain to say anything. McKay still hadn't turned it off.
"TURN IT OFF!" John shouted as loud as he could manage. Finally, McKay figured out how to turn it off. Everyone was left stunned at the sight before them. The only ones who didn't seem surprised about it were Teyla and Ford.
"What's going on here?" Weir asked in a confused but serious voice.
"Well that answers that mystery." Ford said in a low voice not quite in a whisper.
John was still sitting there with his head cradled in hid hands. Teyla put her hand on his forehead and then gasped.
"What's wrong?" He asked after hearing the slight sound that came out of her mouth.
"You have a fever." Teyla said. "You should go see Dr. Beckett."
John got up. "No…I'm fine." He sat down in his chair anxious to get the meeting over and done with. Everyone was looking at him.
"John….your nose is bleeding again." Teyla said in a soft tone. John didn't seem too alarmed by it. He just reached up with the sleeve of his shirt and wiped it away.
"This has happened before?" Weir said.
"It did the first time we went to the lab where McKay found the artifact." Teyla said. She looked at John and then continued. "I asked John about it but he kept saying that he was fine."
"Colonel…..is this true?" She asked him in a stern but worried voice. John looked at Teyla, then looked at Weir and nodded.
"Listen….just keep that damn thing off." John said as he stood up.
"Colonel……go see Dr. Beckett." She said in a commanding voice.
"I said, I'm fine." John said. He began to walk towards the door he began to feel weak. He stopped dead in his tracks. God……what is wrong with me. I cant pass out in front of everyone. Come on John……keep it together. He felt his legs get really weak. He put his hands against the wall to keep himself up.
"John…….what's wrong?" Teyla asked in a worried tone as she walked up beside him. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know." he whispered making sure that only Teyla heard it. He thought that he had enough strength to keep walking. He opened the door and began to walk but didn't get that far. He took about 3 steps and the dropped to the floor.
"Oh my god." Weir said standing up. She touched her com that she had on her ear. "Carson…..we have a medical emergency in the conference room."
"I'm on my way." Carson said over the com.
Teyla went to his side again and put her hand on his forehead. "I don't understand. Why would he have a fever?" she even looked baffled.
"What I don't get is why he didn't tell us anything." McKay said.
"Well you know how he is…..always keeping to himself." Weir said but then turned to the door to see Dr. Beckett staring down at John in shock.
"What brought this on?" He asked in disbelief.
"We don't really know……actually, I don't even think he knows." Weir said. John's eyes slid open. He blinked a couple times and looked around.
"John…..are you okay?" Teyla asked him while helping him sit up against the wall.
"Yeah yeah I'm fine." John said as he tried to stand up. His legs were barely strong enough to hold him up. He used the wall for support.
"What could've done this?" Beckett asked John. John didn't answer which prompted McKay for another know-it-all speech.
"We were down in the city scouting the area and I found this thing.." McKay was interrupted by Beckett.
"What is that?" He asked.
"Well, after cross referencing the notes it had with the ancient database I've been able to conclude that……"
"McKay.."
"Its some sort of x-ray device." McKay started. "All you have to do is press this button…" He pressed the button that activated it and yet again, the pain returned to John.
"McKay……TURN….IT….OFF!" Sheppard yelled just before grabbing his head and dropping to the floor again in extreme pain.
"Oh….sorry." McKay said just before turning the device off.
"I see." Beckett said. He turned to John who was trying to stand with Teyla there helping him. "You need to come with me Colonel." He said.
"No…..I'm fine." John said.
"No you're not now follow me." Beckett said just before walking out the door.
As they were walking, Teyla kept glancing at John to make sure that he was okay. One time, he noticed that she was looking at him.
"What?" John said in an innocent tone.
"You told me that you would tell me what was wrong if it happened again." She said in a little bit of an agitated tone.
"I told you that I don't know what happened." John said. He had sincerity in his voice.
"You have no idea why you passed out?" Teyla said in an uncertain tone.
"Teyla……I don't know why these things keep happening to me." John said. He started to feel more and more like himself by the minute. The only thing that didn't get better was the chills he was feeling.
"Someone needs to get the heat turned up in here." John said. "I don't think its ever been this cold since we got here."
"John…..you have a fever." Teyla said. "That is why you are cold."
"Oh….well that explains a lot." They kept on walking in complete silence until they got to Dr. Beckett's office.
"Are you sure that you are okay?" Teyla asked with a concerned look on her face.
"I'll be fine." He said before going into Beckett's office.
To be continued…..