I do not own SGA or any of its characters. I own my story and my bad guy. Hey folks. Here I am again. Writing more. I'm glad you liked the last chapters. I love how this is going. And there's not going to be much left. Just to let you know. Getting near the end. So have fun with this one because there are some things that are answered. Later. :)
Chapter Twenty
John sat crouched in the corner of Elizabeth's office staring at the body of Lieutenant Aiden Ford. He had lost all track of time. Did not realize how long he had been sitting in the position he was in. His whole body felt numb and the tears were drying on his cheeks. Every now and then a stray tear rolling down. He had killed a friend. Someone he had used to trust until he had been infected by the Wraith. How could he live with himself? With the knowledge that he was capable of this? That kind of thought had been unimaginable until it had actually happened.
"Hang on John. Hang on. You'll be free soon." He flinched when he heard the whispered voice again. He blinked his eyes and looked around the room. Again it had sounded like it was all around him. "I know you can hear me John." He slowly backed himself up the wall until he was standing and began to turn in circles, trying to listen to the voice. "I hear you!" he practically yelled. "Who are you? Where are you?"
"John." He stood still when he heard it. It was not answering his questions. He knew there was nobody else on Atlantis so where was it coming from? Then it hit him like a brick. "Is that you Atlantis? Are you trying to speak to me?"
He received no answer, only silence. The pilot walked over to the wall and placed his right hand on it. He could feel the slight vibration of power but nothing felt new. No extra surge in power to show that she had heard him. Or even if it was Atlantis. He sighed and put his hand back down to his side.
When he turned and saw his friend lying on the ground anger broke out of him. His face contorted in a kind of sneer and then he stormed out of the room. He wasn't going to go into the self pity mode. No way in hell. He was going to find out what was going on and then he was going to get the rest of his crew back. No more crying. He returned to the armory to get more weapons.
When he finished arming himself again he left and headed towards the generator rooms to see if everything was still operating. Without Rodney he wouldn't be able to know one hundred percent but he would be able to get a very good idea.
Arriving at the first room he saw the small naquada generator sitting there humming along. He checked the connections, saw that everything was still hooked up and then left to go to the second one. When he was finished and satisfied that at least all the generators appeared to be working he headed back to the Control Room to see if he could figure out what happened with the Stargate earlier.
Halfway to his destination he heard the incoming wormhole alarm go off again. "Dammit!" he said and took off running like an Olympic gold medalist. When he reached the room he was out of breath and when he came to the gate room he saw that it was still active. He checked his watch to see how long it had taken him to get there. Less than three minutes. Had to have been a record.
He brought his P-90 up and surveyed the room to see if anybody or anything had come through. When he saw nothing he moved up to the Control Room. Again nothing. Then he slowly moved towards Weir's office and when he got to the door he dropped his weapon in astonishment. His P-90 dangled from its cord which was attached to his tac vest while Sheppard stood and stared.
Ford's body was gone. Not a trace that he had ever been there. No blood, no nothing. Then the Stargate abruptly shut itself down. "All right! Just what the hell is going on here?" he yelled out to no one in particular.
"What do you think is going on Sir?" came the familiar voice again. Sheppard grabbed his weapon and turned around in an instant. He froze when he saw the all too familiar form of Ford standing in front of him again.
"What the hell? Why do I get the distinct impression that I'm being screwed with? I'm mean, this sure isn't deja vu." The pilot said as he aimed his gun at the man.
"What do you mean Sir?" the young man said with a condescending tone as he moved steadily towards the Colonel.
"Just stay where you are Ford." He said as he held his P-90 up even higher. "You're not Ford. I just killed him. And you have no blood on you. So what… the… hell… is going on here? Tell me now before I shoot you."
Aiden's head cocked to the right and a smile broke out on his face. "That's very good Colonel Sheppard. You are starting to figure things out. You are strong and you will be a great vessel indeed."
A light went off in John's head and then an immense feeling of dread overwhelmed him. "Puren?" he said quietly.
The young man clapped his hands together. "Very good Colonel Sheppard. Very good. Yes, I am Puren. And you are now ready for the final process of my take over. You may drop your weapons and prepare yourself."
The dread seemed to dissipate from the Colonel. "Oh, I don't think so Puren. There's no way in hell that you're taking over my body. Not for good. So you can just kiss my ass. You got that?"
"Your weapons are not effective. You cannot harm me in this state." The creature said smugly.
"Yeah well… that's where you're wrong. This is my mind after all. Right?"
"You will not win Colonel Sheppard."
"We'll wait for the verdict on that, won't we?" and with that said he charged the alien.
"Oh crap!" McKay said. "His vitals are spiking. Something's happening in there."
"What do you mean something's happening Rodney?" Elizabeth said with fear. "Can't you help him at all?"
"It's all in his mind Elizabeth. What can we do from out here except keep an eye on things?"
"Then I'll go in to help him." Came Ronan's raspy voice from behind him.
"Wait. What? What are you talking about?" Rodney said with a mix of confusion and dread. "Are you insane? That's Sheppard's mind we're talking about."
"I know. But there is a second pod and if he's in danger of losing his life I want to go in and help him. I can help him fight."
"He has a point Rodney." Weir said from beside him. "Ronan can use the second pod. I mean, why else would there be two pods hooked up to one control system. It had to be there for backup. In case anything went wrong. It makes sense."
"Okay. But I should be the one to go. I have the technical expertise."
"Exactly Rodney. You have the technical expertise. Which means you should stay here to keep an eye on things. None of us are uniquely qualified to work this equipment. You are. Ronan has the fighting skills that none of us have other than Teyla. So he should be the one to go in and help John."
McKay just stared from Elizabeth to Ronan and then finally conceded. "Fine. But if you come back brain damaged it's not my fault." They all rolled there eyes at the comment and then Carson and the nurses helped Ronan prepare for the pod.
John landed with a thud up against the main console in the Control Room. He grunted and then slowly stood up. This was all in his head so he should be able to manipulate the pain. Make it go away. But the pain stayed. Which meant only one thing. Puren was in more control of his body than he thought.
They stood and stared at each other for a moment with anger in their eyes and then they both rushed forward at the same instant. When they hit each other they both went down, Sheppard landing on top. He took the sudden change in momentum and managed to get his P-90 up under the alien's throat while he sat on top of him. "It looks like I'm on top Puren." He said with only a bit of confidence.
Seconds later he realized just how wrong that statement had been because he found himself being thrown off the creature. He flew across the room and landed on the floor by the door to Weir's office. He lay stunned, groaning in pain. That had hurt. A lot.
Then he heard laughing. An evil laugh. "I told you that you could not beat me Colonel Sheppard. There is no use in trying. I will have you as a vessel."
"I don't think so." Came a vaguely familiar raspy voice from behind Puren. Sheppard looked up from his vantage point on the floor and was happy to see Ronan standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked pissed.
"Man do I feel sorry for you Puren." And then he put his head back down on the floor.
Seconds later he saw the form of Ford go flying over him and heard the crash as he landed on Weir's desk.
Then he saw a hand come into view. He looked at the Sateden with relief. "Thanks." He said and took the proffered hand. Ronan pulled the Colonel to his feet and then they both turned to look at the alien who was lying in a pile of rubble in Elizabeth's office.
"Having fun." Ronan asked as he took in the fact that Puren looked like Sheppard's old teammate.
"Oh… tones. Can we get the hell out of here now?" he said as he bent over with his hands on his knees. He was breathing heavily and the pain was evident on his face.
Ronan shrugged and they took off running. They knew they still had to kill Puren. But at least there were two of them now and that's what mattered.
TBC in Chapter Twenty-One….
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Did I answer any questions you had? Now that Sheppard knows that Puren was Ford what do you think he'll do to get revenge? I mean the thing let him think that he killed Ford. I'd sure kick his ass. Anyways, ta for now. Later days. :)