Chapter 5: Reunion
Time had officially run out. The shield had failed precisely when Rodney and Zelenka thought it would and they were now on borrowed time. Rodney and Zelenka rumbled around in their suits.
"How's coming down there?" John asked anxiously.
He was in the control room ready to get into the chair in case Rodney and Zelenka did what seemed to be the impossible. If worse came to worse, one of them was going to have to hook up on of their naquadah generators and manually dial earth. With the mid-way station complete they would be able to evacuate to earth- the only downside is that someone would have to stay behind to set the self destruct. And no one wanted to think about that or who it would be….
"It's coming…." Rodney snapped through the intercom, seriously annoyed with John's constant check ups. "..and don't you go prattling on about how much time we have left. I am well aware that we only have like what, four hours of air left…"
"…about that-" John cut in apprehensively. "-I thought these things were supposed to have days worth of air in them."
"Well we got the discount models…" Rodney sniped in anger. "…now will you please let me and Zelenka work!"
"Sorry…sorry…." John muttered in apology as Teyla and Ronan darkened the doorway to the chair room. "….just do your best Rodney. I have faith in you."
"As we all do." Teyla added glancing at John.
There was an unspoken connection there. John to her was not only a friend, but the sword that would wield a new future for her people and the Pegasus Galaxy as a whole. She had known that he and his people would be able to start a change that would alter the entire make up of her world. And so far he had. The wraiths were in fighting among themselves, too concerned with wiping each other out to even think about the humans in the Pegasus Galaxy. Her people lived in relative peace on New Athos and while she worried for their safety she knew that the only imminent threat in the galaxy was the Asurans and they were only interested on Atlantis.
"When do you think he will be finished?" Ronan asked, his voice resounding in Teyla's helmet and John's. "I mean we don't have that much air left."
"I know." John answered, looking at his watch. "We have less than four hours, and he said that it would take at least three to hook up the gate and dial out…."
"…so not that much time left." Ronan interrupted, shifting from one foot to the other.
"No." John confirmed. "Not that much time left at all….."
John let his sentence trail off as his thoughts drifted to the jumper bay and jumper one where Dr. Keller, Major Lorne and Elizabeth were. He knew that at the very worst, he would have to dial the gate to let them go back to Earth- but he wondered how Elizabeth was doing…..
oOo
Elizabeth in the meantime was standing in the jumper next to Dr. Keller who was quietly talking to Lorne. They were speaking too quietly for her to understand them, but even if they talked louder she still wouldn't be able to hear them. She felt as though her ears were stuffed with cotton balls and she was underwater…. all the sounds were muffled and as Elizabeth stared at the inside of the jumper she felt as though she was fading away.
She then decided to walk past Dr. Keller and Lorne who were sitting in the front portion of the jumper, and walked right through the window. She turned back and still saw them talking, and she also saw the still figure in the back and knew that it was herself. Whatever it meant that she was separated from her body, Elizabeth knew that it wasn't good but she also knew that her friends and family were in trouble and she had to help them.
And help them she did…
oOo
When Elizabeth found Rodney he was frantically attempting to fix the hyper-drive engine but it was no use. He couldn't cobble together enough power to get the engine's started without the ZPM and he had totally and completely run out of ideas and he was beginning to pray for a miracle.
'Do not worry Rodney…' Elizabeth whispered, feeling his anxiety and worry. '…I am here, I will help you.'
And with that Elizabeth extended her hand and allowed her essence to connect to the mind of Atlantis and she coaxed the dying city into life once more. Circuits sprang to life all around her, and through the network of pathways she could feel the edge of John's consciousness as he sat in the chair.
'I am here John…' She whispered silently to herself, though she directed her thoughts to John, lending him all the power that she could give him. '…I am here with you and I am not going to leave.'
oOo
'Elizabeth?' John thought to himself as he felt the city rumble to life beneath him. 'Elizabeth is that you?' Of course there was no answer, but John could feel an added but of strength coming from somewhere within Atlantis and that strength allowed his weary mind to activate the proper controls to get the city flying and before long they were within hyperspace heading towards their new home and their rendezvous with the Apollo and Commander Elis.
oOo
The next couple hours went smoothly and Elizabeth gave all the power that she could to both the hyper-drive systems and to John. The effort was tiring, and somewhere at the back of her consciousness she could feel the itch of her dying body but she didn't care at the moment, she had to help get her people home. It was the least that she could do.
oOo
When they finally touched down Elizabeth felt her self get jerked back into her body and she was consumed by darkness. Although as the darkness closed in, she knew that they had made it to New Lantea and that everything would be fine from then on.
oOo
"It was the most amazing thing that I had ever seen…" Rodney muttered excitedly in the briefing with Ronan, Teyla, John and Elis present. "…all of a sudden the hyper-drive engines just sprung to life."
"Good for you for getting it working Dr. McKay-" Commander Elis began when he was cut off.
"You haven't been listening to me!" Rodney snipped, seeing out of the corner of his eye that John had a contemplative look on his face. "I did not get the hyper-drive engine to work, in fact I was almost positive that we were all going to die out there..."
"Something must have got the systems working-" Ronan suggested.
"It could have been one of the ancestors." Teyla stated, still clinging to her old belief that the ancestors/ ancients intervened in their lives. "One of them could have-"
"It was Elizabeth." John interrupted, causing all eyes to fall to him. "It was Elizabeth."
"And what give you that idea?" Elis asked sceptically as he looked down at his pad. "Dr. Keller tells me that Elizabeth has been in a coma this entire time."
"Yes." John agreed with a nod of his head. "But while I was piloting the city I felt- well I don't know what I felt, but it felt as though I could feel another human presence at the edge of my consciousness and I am almost positive that it was Elizabeth."
"How could that be?" Rodney asked equally as sceptically. "Elizabeth is still-"
'Colonel Sheppard come in-'
"What is it Dr. Keller?" John asked activating his radio.
"It's Elizabeth-" The young CMO answered, her voice wavering over the radio. "-she's awake, and she's been asking for you Colonel- all of you."
oOo
They were all tentative when entering the infirmary. John led the way with Rodney close behind and Teyla and Ronan kept their respectful distance while Commander Elis hung way back. They could all instantly see that she was better. Her face was less pale and she was sitting up slightly and there was a soft smile gracing her bruised features.
"Hey there…" She answered groggily as she saw her friends approaching. "…what did I miss?"
Her question was returned with grateful laughter and while Teyla, Ronan and Rodney chatted away to Elizabeth with all that had gone on in the last 24 hours John hung back and locked gaze with her every now and then and John mouthed 'Thank You' to her and she merely smiled her eyes saying 'You're Welcome.' They were connected as they had been when they were flying though hyperspace and the smile that they shared was an act that did not go un-noticed by Colonel Elis.
A/N- Hello beloved readers. I am SO sorry for the long delay, but I've been a little depressed where Sparky is concerned lately and it was only after seeing Torri at Polaris 21 last weekend that I got the-er- umph to keep going. So this chapter is up and the next one is on its way... I hope you enjoy and I hope that you guys will review this one. Oh, and thanks to JadedOne47, TerryFreak, SMBBooks, Sunny2006 and Suzotchka1 for reviewing! I love you guys and I hope that you five will review this chapter along with the rest of my beloved readers...