On Any Given Day - The Watch Stander
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Atlantis begins tonight - Please watch it, so we have a season five!
Chapter Five - Unanticipated Consequences
Carson Beckett rested his head on his hand as he leaned on the desk and stared at his laptop computer screen. He was so tired, two months of work and he still was no closer to making the breakthrough, on what he hoped would be a retro virus, capable of reversing the changes of the Iratus bug and the Wraith enzyme.
Aiden Ford's half- human face stll haunted him at night as it did others - Colonel Sheppard included. Carson knew how desperate the soldier was to find the former young Marine. Aiden had been on the sun planet, where they went looking for him, but somehow they had lost Ford and ended up coming back with Ronon.
Two bullet holes and a minor wound on Rodney's leg, proved how unbalanced Aiden had become. Rodney told him that Ford had tried to kill him twice and if not for Ronon, would have finally succeeded the second time.
Carson didn't doubt the fact that Aiden had wanted to kill McKay, having been subjected to similar treatment by the unstable young man. The doctor hated the fact that he had given the Marine the Wraith enzyme.
Sighing heavily and rubbing his eyes, he decided it was time for a break, he desperately needed one, for his eyes were crossing.
Rodney it seems, had become reclusive in the last weeks following the debacle on Doranda and had walled himself away. It was time to go looking for his elusive friend.
Maybe he could use a break as well...
Carson headed for the labs, knowing that was the most likely place to find his friend. He had heard rumors about Rodney and Sheppard being on the outs, but he thought maybe that had blown over by now. The easiest thing to do was just ask him.
The man was a workaholic. The last few months had done that to him - so many bad things had happened - so many people had died. No wonder Rodney was wound up, working too hard and taking crazy chances in hopes of finding a solution to their Wraith problem.
"Aye, I think we're all a little crazy lately!", he said outloud as he headed out the door.
When he arrived at the labs he was filled in by Radek as to the scientist's whereabouts. It surprise him, but he was also relieved knowing that Colonel Sheppard was once more allowing him to be on his team.
Carson left the lab and decided to head for the cafeteria, stopping on the way to see if Dr. Weir would join him.
Elizabeth was both surprised and pleased to see Carson walking into her office.
"Carson! What a nice surprise," she greeted him with a smile.
"Why Thank you," he smiled back.
"Have a seat." She pointed to the chair in front of her desk. "What brings you here?" she asked once he had sat down.
"Actually I was originally looking for Rodney to go to lunch with me, but Radek said he had gone off world with his team. So, I thought you might like to join me."
Weir smiled with a look of regret, "I would love to, but I have a backlog of reports to write... including the ill fated trip back to Doranda and the resulting destruction."
Carson lost his smile. "How is Rodney handling all that? Radek mentioned he didn't think he was sleeping enough and not eating properly as well."
Elizabeth sighed, "He's right and that's why I sent Rodney off-world with his team. I thought getting out of the lab and back with his team might snap him out of his seclusion. Colonel Sheppard agreed to take him, so maybe they'll work things out as well."
"Aye, one can only hope," Carson smirked.
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Rodney was a mass of nerves as he started filling the backpack with the items he had piled up to take back with him. He tossed his other equipment haphazardly into one of the storage rooms. Most likely the Genii wouldn't find this outpost if the villagers didn't know about it, but he didn't leave anything of any value that they could use.
"Great, make a significant discovery and who shows up! Always something!, " he mumbled as he continued to pack.
His radio chirped again, Sheppard's voice asked, "McKay are you at the gate? We're about two miles away from it, so you can dial it up."
"No, I'm not! I need time to get my stuff together," Rodney replied as he shoved a few more items into the pack. He still had several more devices left and his tablet needed to be added as well.
"McKay, I'm coming to get you, so you better be on your way or else!"
"Yes, yes! I'm almost done."
The radio went silent and Rodney continued to pack the items inside, he didn't want Sheppard to arrive and find him still here as there'd be hell to pay.
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Sheppard was angry, but he didn't want the scientist to get so spooked that he lose his way to the gate, therefore he decided to go after him.
John turned to his two team members, "I'll get McKay and meet you at the gate."
"I'll go with you," Ronon offered.
"No, you go with Teyla. We should be there within 20 minutes or so. I'll radio ahead when we're on our way, so you can dial Atlantis and open the gate."
Teyla nodded and the three split up.
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John was almost at the ridge when he called McKay again, "You'd better be coming down this trail, McKay, or so help me..."
The scientist's voice came back, "Just getting ready to lea...What! Who are ...Crap!"
Rodney's terrified voice screaming... 'Sheppard!', against a background of gunfire, came clearly across the radio, followed by the sound of a 9mm emptying it's clip close by.
"McKay! What's happening?" John kept yelling into the radio desperately wanting an answer, telling him McKay was all right...but only silence answered him. The soldier in him took over as he started to run up the ridge, P-90 now in his hands.
"Ronon I need you up here now!" he called out on another channel as he ran.
"On my way," came the fast reply, without question.
"Teyla stay at the gate, we may need to leave in a hurry," John added.
"Understood, and John... Rodney's poster says dead or alive on it," she added.
Crap! He tried to run faster.
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John found the first body of what looked like a villager near the entrance. He had been shot in the back by a large caliber weapon. Possibly caught in friendly fire as the entrance still smelt of something that reminded him of gunpowder.
Inside the lights were off, McKay must have shut them off to get an edge.
John turned them back on at the entrance.
Another body, Genii uniform, blocked the doorway leading inside. This time there were several wounds both large and small caliber.
McKay's Beretta may have done some of these...
In the dark, any target was your enemy, that's why they tell you not to shoot unless you know who you're aiming at.
He came across one more body in a far corner, where the man must have sought cover. Again, he wore a Genii uniform and was just as dead as the others.
Finally, he found McKay, sitting on the floor, leaning back against the front of the console that was in the center of the room. As John came closer he could see that McKay's eyes were closed. The shattered earpiece of his radio lay on the floor beside him.
After re-clipping the P90 onto his vest, John knelt before McKay and noticed a steady stream of blood trickling down the side of the man's face. The wound was over the ear where the radio earpiece had been.It looked superficial as the bullet seemed to have just grazed him. Checking for a pulse, he found one, but it was very fast.
Sheppard released his breath as a heavy weight lifted off his chest. McKay looked very pale, but that could be from the shock of the whole incident. John's heart was still racing just from having listened to the scientist desperately calling his name for help. He would have to be a cold hearted bastard not to feel anything for the terrified man, no matter how angry he was with him. He gently shook the scientist's shoulder.
"McKay?"
John was relieved when blue eyes flickered, then started to open, staring straight ahead as if trying to focus.
He almost smiled, so glad to see the scientist awake.
"McKay, you did great, that was some shooting... you took them all out!" He actually felt proud of the snarky little guy.
Rodney slowly turned his face and looked at Sheppard. He wasn't sure what had happened, it had gone down so fast. There wasn't time to think, but he did recall yelling for Sheppard as he turned down the lights and drew his gun. What happened after that was confusing and he only remembered the pain that followed the shots.
"I'm sorry, ...I should have left sooner...my fault," he managed to stutter in a breathless voice. It was hard to talk as his heart was still pounding from the high adrenaline level caused by the attack. He closed his eyes against the pain.
Seeing the state McKay was in, John found he was no longer angry, even knowing the man had been late in following his orders. If McKay had left earlier, the Genii might have ambushed him outside, where he would have been a sitting duck carrying all this equipment.
Sheppard squeezed McKay's arm, "It's not your fault, Rodney. Let's get you up and to the gate before any reinforcements arrive." He tried to sound reassuring, even though he was still shaken inside by what had happened to the scientist.
Rodney looked confused, Sheppard was using his first name, maybe the soldier wasn't angry with him for what happened. There was also concern and relief written all over the Colonel's face, or was he imagining it?
The scientist smiled slightly, wishing that he could ask, hoping that maybe the Colonel had forgiven him, but there just wasn't anything left in him - his emotions were drained, washed out along with the adrenaline surge from the gun battle he'd just been in - his hands started to shake.
John reached for Rodney's arm that still held the Beretta. It was resting up against the scientist's chest and the hand that held it was starting to tremble. Before John could catch it, the gun slowly slid from the scientist's numb fingers and fell onto the floor.
John picked it up and noticed one side was covered with blood.
"What the..."
Looking closely at McKay, he noticed a large patch of red spreading on Rodney's chest, just underneath the open vest flap where the gun had been...
"Oh God... Rodney! Shit, shit ,Shit!"
Blood was soaking Rodney's T-shirt. John quickly searched his own vest pocket frantically looking for a pressure bandage to stop the bleeding. Finding it he looked back at Rodney's pale face, seeing the lost look and the pain and sorrow in the man's eyes.
It made John feel like a crud...this was his fault for leaving Rodney here... alone.
"This is gonna hurt, Rodney, but I need to put pressure on it..."
John held the pad against the wound and pressed against it with his hand.
Rodney gasped, then mumbled, "Can't take this anymore, " his eyes began to water from the pain. The wound oozed blood, quickly soaking the bandage and Sheppard's hand. John hated hurting the injured man, but there was no other choice...
"What's that?" John asked, distracted by the wound that continued to bleed around the bandage he was holding over it.
Rodney coughed suddenly as blood appeared on his lower lip. "Can't play this game ...you win..." he mumbled as his head slowly lolled forward.
John quickly looked up and stared at Rodney as he realized what the man had just said.
"Rodney..."
There was no reply - the scientist didn't so much as twitch when John touched his face with his fingers.
Ronon suddenly walked up behind Sheppard, then crouched down beside him.
"McKay do all that shooting?" he asked softly as he stared at the injured scientist.
"Yeah, got them all..." John said sadly, feeling like shit as he allowed his hand to drop from Rodney's face.
"Wouldn't have had to... if I'd stayed..." Ronon said softly.
John flinched at the remark, but said nothing, knowing he deserved it. He continued applying pressure to the wound.
"Looks bad..."
Ronon had seen many wounds and knew this one would be fatal if not tended to right away. If they lost McKay all of them would feel the hurt, but none more than Sheppard. He could sense the Colonel was blaming himself for this.
John took a deep breath, his emotions were in turmoil right now and Ronon wasn't helping.
"Get rid of the bodies, then come back here to help me move him to the gate. Also radio Teyla and tell her we'll call as soon as we have Rodney ready to travel."
The Satedan quickly left without a word. John kept putting pressure on the chest wound, while behind him he could hear Ronon quickly call Teyla, then start dragging the bodies outside one by one.
As John looked at Rodney's pale face, he felt a sharp pain go through his own insides - making him feel like he was being carved up by a knife.
"What have I done?" he whispered, knowing full well that this could have been avoided if he hadn't let his anger control his decisions.
The scientist never moved, his stillness and silence a testament to how badly injured he was. John looked away for a moment, eyes watering, but still unwilling to let that emotion win.
Finally, the bleeding began to slow and John gently leaned Rodney forward against his shoulder, so that he could tie another pressure bandage over the first one. He made a tight knot on the bandage ties behind the injured man's back.
After finishing off the knot, John took a deep breath, then allowed his left hand to rest against Rodney's back holding him for a moment.
Closing his eyes, John tried to control the pain he felt inside and the emotions that went with it. Wishing the scientist could hear him, he whispered ,"I'm sorry, buddy, I didn't mean for this to happen. I'd never put you in harm's way on purpose..."
All the anger he felt earlier toward Rodney seemed to dissipate, as he sat there holding the scientist against his shoulder.
Rodney never stirred, so John gently leaned him back against the console and checked his pulse again. It was very erratic - he needed Carson.
John knew that his own pain inside wasn't going to go away anytime soon, he'd allowed this to happen and knowing that hurt.
Putting aside his emotions, he finished administering to the other wound on the scientist's head by putting a sticky patch over it. It could wait till later to be properly cleaned and patched.
He slowly got up and picked up Rodney's backpack from the counter, pulling it on over his own shoulders, It didn't feel right leaving it behind, the scientist would want the contents.
Hell, they had cost Rodney dearly, he paid for these devices with his blood.
John took a quick look around for anything else of importance. When Ronon came back into the room, Sheppard turned to him.
"Where'd you dump them?" John asked with no pity in his voice. They'd shot Rodney and that was unforgivable.
"I threw them in the river and erased my tracks and theirs." Ronon felt the same, as he seemed very cold about doing that deed as well.
"That's good thinking," John said as he bent down and checked the scientist's pulse again.
"How is he?"The Satedan asked softly, already knowing the answer from the way McKay looked. The scientist was pale and unmoving - he looked dead.
"Not good. I've stopped the bleeding - help me get him up and we can carry him between us." John wanted to leave. His only thought now was to get Rodney to Carson as fast as possible.
Ronon held up a hand, "No, that'll only hurt him. I'll carry him."
John looked surprised, but knew it was a better idea.
He helped to stand Rodney up, so that Ronon could carefully allow McKay's body to drape over his left shoulder and gently shift into place.
Ronon quickly left with his burden - Sheppard following close behind. While stopping to close the outpost door, John suddenly realized they had left it open all along and thus allowed the Genii to sneak up on the unsuspecting scientist.
What was I thinking?
But there was no time now for second guessing - he quickly pushed that thought away as he radioed Teyla.
"Teyla, Rodney's badly hurt, have a trauma team meet us in the gateroom. Tell Carson it's a gunshot wound to the chest - keep the gate open - we'll be there soon."
"Understood!"There was no further talking as the Athosian knew what was at stake.
John clicked off and ran to catch up with Ronon.
TBC