A/N: Oh where, oh where has our Johnny-boy gone?
Chapter 21
It was shortly after six o'clock that evening when several squads of armed men began appearing in the corridors of Atlantis. The few people that saw them gave them a wide berth since they obviously were men on a mission as they jogged on by, but then turned to watch them after they passed and speculated on just what exactly was going on. Then they lowered their heads and went about their business and thanked God they weren't a part of the weird crap that was going on.
Lorne and Ronon were currently in the damaged and surveillance-free lab on the second sub-level along with Stackhouse, Carpenter, and Stevenson. Zelenka was in the video monitoring room right now working on a glitch that cropped up in one of the server's cooling units, and Kolya was at dinner like he always was at this time. Lorne glanced at his watch – five more minutes and Zelenka would have that two hour video loop up and running before he got out of there. He made one last check of the equipment Stackhouse smuggled in for him and zipped up his tac vest. Their first goal for the evening was to get Sheppard and the woman to a place in Atlantis only he and Ronon would know about, and once they were safe then the rest of the players would do their part to neutralize Kolya's men. He and Ronon would take care of the colonel themselves. Hopefully this would be a bloodless coup and nobody would do anything stupid. His watched beeped and he nodded to the others.
They filed out silently, Lorne in the lead and Ronon taking up the rear. He really wished they could do this more subtly, but they were short on time and didn't have much of a choice. The explosion screwed up everyone's time table, and they were just going to have to take a chance. The corridors on these levels were convoluted compared to the ones above ground so they would be able to bypass the central hub and main elevators. Lorne knew there would be guards posted at quarantine, so when they came around the last corner it didn't surprise him to see Ford and Pedersen. They brought their weapons up. "Stand down, Lieutenant," Lorne said as they surrounded them.
"Sorry, sir – can't do that," Ford replied somewhat nervously as he eyed the weapons aimed at him. But he wasn't backing down, and that wasn't a good sign.
Ronon stepped forward as the doors to two labs in the hall opened and ten other armed men came out, weapons raised. He spun around, gun raised, and frowned murderously.
"The colonel knew you would try something, just not when," Ford replied more confidently. "So we just waited. Hand over your weapons."
Lorne glanced at his team, his mouth drawn into a tight frown. Almost ten seconds passed before nodded faintly. Damn, if he had had just one more day…. He handed over his weapon and they were marched off. The first wave may have failed, but there was the second yet to come.
They were placed in the holding cell next to Michael. The vampire was still lying on his back in a pool of congealed black blood. He smiled and started laughing quietly once the force field was established again, but he did not get up.
-oOo-
Zelenka left control without any suspicion and he headed for the cafeteria for dinner. He was pleased to see Kolya still there at his customary table. But while he was in line he suddenly felt a sharp stab of irritation behind him. He turned casually and saw Kolya tapping his earpiece, then his stomach dropped when the colonel stood and strode from the room purposefully. He took his tray to a table, but hardly touched his food. When he finally quit pushing things around on his plate and decided to leave he was a nervous wreck. He returned to his quarters without incident, but several hours later his door chimed. Seeing Ford and another armed man did not surprise him.
He fared better than Lorne and his team for awhile, anyway.
-oOo-
It was just around ten o'clock and Rodney was back in the lab that held the F-302 engine and running a simulation on its power output to waste time before it was his turn to make his move. He heard the door open, but he ignored it as he studied readings. Things were looking good – he may have figured out how to boost its efficiency by nearly eight percent without putting any strain on the power draw. He was hoping for ten, but eight was really not bad, considering. Then he heard someone clear their throat. "What? Can't you see I'm busy?" he snapped as he turned around. Then his irritation sputtered out when he saw the two armed men. "What do you want?" he squawked out a second later.
"Dr. McKay, please come with us," the one really big Marine said.
"Um, give me a second…."
"Now."
"Excuse me, but I need to make sure this shuts down properly or the big bada-boom that could result would even be strong enough to dent your thick skull," Rodney snapped back. When the big man frowned and lifted his P90 a fraction, Rodney's suddenly found snark crawled back into its corner and cringed. "Um, shutting down, thirty seconds, tops." He kept his nose plastered to his tablet, and the whole routine only took twenty-three, tops. He set the tablet down and turned to face his escorts. "Where are we going?" When they just gestured towards the door he got a really awful feeling and just stuck his jaw out, ducked his head, and walked. "We're not going to the basement, are we?"
"No."
Rodney sighed. That was at least somewhat of a relief.
-oOo-
Keller was in the infirmary – she had pulled night duty since they actually had three patients for a change. The two recovering from surgery were doing fine, and three of the others injured in the explosion had been discharged, but the guy they brought in with a severe concussion a few hours before was still in the nauseous stage and incredibly cranky. When Keller found out it was because John pounded on him, she didn't feel much sympathy. As a matter of fact she offered a silent good for you as she got an ice pack situated on the man's impressive shiner. Then two armed men showed up and asked for her to follow them. She asked why, and when they didn't reply she got really cold. The staff looked just as freaked as she did as she left the infirmary.
-oOo-
Carson was actually asleep when his door chime went off. He tried to ignore it, but a second later it went off again and the door opened. He sat up in bed as the light came on. "Here now! What in the bloidy hell!" Then his stomach dropped as he focused on the two armed men. One of them was Bates, and he knew it didn't bode well.
"Dr. Beckett, please come with us," Bates said, his expression unreadable. "We'll wait in the hall until you're dressed." He backed out.
Carson wasn't too surprised his hands were shaking as he pulled his clothes on.
-oOo-
Rodney let out an explosive sigh of relief when his escort hit the button for the topmost level on Atlantis. "Oh, thank God," he muttered. When the big Marine glared down at him Rodney grimaced. "I, I thought for sure you were taking me to the basement," he said. "Even though you, ah, said we weren't," he finished in a rush. The Marine just faced the door and remained silent until they opened again. Then with a jerk of his chin he gestured for Rodney to move. "Going. Going," Rodney said and stepped out of the elevator.
He was led to one of only a half-dozen rooms on this level – the astronomy lab that as far as he knew just contained a few telescopes and dozens of monitors that received direct feeds from observatories all around the world. It was more of an astronomy rec-room, actually. When he stepped through the door he stopped dead, and he didn't move again until the Marine pushed him forward. The telescopes had been shoved to the side and covered, the monitors dark. New equipment had been wheeled in, and most of it looked like it was possibly taken from the infirmary. But what stopped him cold for that brief second was what was under the two medical lights focused on the stainless steel table in the middle of the room.
John was lying naked on the table, straps stretched tightly across his forehead, chest and upper arms, thighs, and ankles. His wrists were secured by heavy braces, and Chaya was in the process of setting up an i.v. in his right arm. She didn't even glance up as Rodney was marched by, and he tried not to look too closely as he passed the table. But he could see the steady rise and fall of Sheppard's stomach and that made him sigh in relief again. The guy was pretty bruised up, but still alive.
"So nice of you to join us," Kolya said from just off of Rodney's left, and Rodney let out a startled squawk.
"Like I had a choice," Rodney snapped back and glared at Kolya. The colonel was standing in the shadows and in a position where he could see everyone enter, but they couldn't really see him because of the lights. Rodney was led over to a cleared area by the windows that curved up and formed part of the ceiling. He glanced up and was surprised he could see stars between the darting clouds. Wow, that didn't happen often this time of year, he thought absently. Then he was back glaring at Kolya. "You know, your goons here interrupted a potentially dangerous test. They're lucky…."
"Oh, please be quiet, McKay," Kolya said, voice low. He was holding something, a rod, about three feet long and with a heavy insulated handle. He was tapping the shaft lightly into his palm. "You are incredibly annoying sometimes."
Rodney fell silent with a gulp. Then Keller entered and did the exact same thing Rodney did a minute earlier. Her hands went to her mouth as she was pushed forward, but she started to slow down again by the table.
"Please go join Dr. McKay," Kolya said from the shadows and Keller let out a short, startled scream.
Keller retreated from him and a second later was next to Rodney. She grabbed onto his arm and he grimaced but didn't pry her fingers free. "What the hell is going on?" she whispered. Chaya was now applying monitor patches to John's chest and temples, her expression quite serene, and seemed completely oblivious to what was going on around her.
"My guess – mind games," Rodney whispered back. "Sick, demented, twisted little mind games." When Kolya turned and smirked at him, he swallowed. "Oh, crap," he barely said.
Lorne and Ronon were the next to arrive, and they had quite the impressive armed escort. They didn't get the chance to pause, but Lorne's face settled into that tight lipped frown and Ronon looked like he was about to start swinging. Then he saw Keller and forcibly calmed himself. When he got over to that end of the room she let go of Rodney and hugged him briefly, and he glared at Kolya over the top of her head.
"How touching," Kolya said and continued to smirk.
Zelenka was the next to be brought in, and he froze, his mouth dropping open. It snapped shut a second later as he was pushed forward so hard by Ford he almost fell. Zelenka caught himself on the edge of the table John was lying on, then he straightened up, pushed his glasses up, and muttered in Czech as he joined the rest.
The armed contingent outnumbered the prisoners now and fanned out around the edges of the room.
Chaya attached the last of the leads to her equipment and John's vitals jumped to life on several screens. A quiet, steady beeping filled the momentary silence in the room. She glanced at Kolya and smiled. "Ready."
Kolya glanced at his watch. "Just a moment, Tatiana. We're waiting for one more; then we can begin."
Chaya pouted.
Rodney thought he was going to puke. A quick glance at Zelenka, and he realized he wasn't the only one.
Carson was herded in a moment later, and his reaction was the most verbose. "What in God's name?" He charged forward and was at the table before Bates could even react. "You're bloidy insane!" he said as he looked up at Chaya. Then he was looking at John's stats and ignoring her indignant scowl. He only got a glance before Bates was pulling him away. He started to fight back but Bates yanked his arm up and behind him quite easily and quickly.
"Doctor, join the others, now, or I will have the sergeant dislocate your shoulder," Kolya said calmly.
Carson grimaced as Bates led him over to the group by the window. "You've gone too far!" he yelled as he was released with a rude shove. He whirled around and actually took a step forward before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He glanced back at Rodney and jerked his shoulder away. But he stayed put.
Kolya snorted softly and checked his watch again. This time he nodded and turned to face the little group. He shook his head sadly as he regarded them. "You are all such gullible fools," he said condescendingly. He gestured at John with the rod he was holding, and the two copper prongs on its tip gleamed in the glare of the bright surgical lamps. "I cannot believe you were all deceived by this animal. Really now, how could you possibly think it was even human?" He sneered in disgust and shook his head again.
"What the hell are you trying to prove?" Carson growled out.
"I just want to show you all the animal underneath the mask – the pretender for what it truly is." Kolya nodded to Chaya. "Wake it."
Chaya picked up one of several syringes on a table that held other surgical supplies and pulled its cap. She injected its contents into the i.v. port, and a couple seconds later the quiet beeping of the heart monitor kicked into overdrive and John gasped raggedly.
-oOo-
John snapped awake, his heart pounding so hard it made his breath catch. He couldn't see anything it was so bright, and when he took in a few stuttering breaths he noticed that the tightness he felt around his chest was external. Then his pulse began to slow and he started noticing other things. There was the same tightness across his forehead and thighs and ankles, and something holding his wrists, and that realization shot his pulse back up again.
And he was really cold.
He could barely move his head, but he was able to lower his chin down enough to confirm that yes, he was indeed naked. He squinted but couldn't see much beyond the bright lights shining into his eyes, but he could smell. His brain processed the scents quite readily and told him who was in the room just as accurately. The pressure on his forehead was awful so he lifted his chin again. "Say, anyone else feeling a draft?" he said and swallowed on a dry throat. His voice shook a touch. He wasn't surprised.
Someone giggled. It was nervous and bordered on the edge of hysteria, and John was just sure it was Rodney. A second later his suspicion was confirmed when he heard a couple shushes followed by a very faint, "Shutting up now."
"Tatiana, sit it up, if you would, please," Kolya said.
A second later the table started to tilt to the soft hiss of hydraulics and stopped when John was at a touch more than a forty-five degree angle. The pressure on his chest and forehead went from uncomfortable to painful as his weight settled to a new center of gravity. Now he could see the others in the room since the lights were no longer in his eyes, and if the strap across his chest hadn't made breathing difficult, the expressions and roiling emotions he could feel coming off of them would have done the job quite nicely. And he could see at least eight armed men keeping them in place, one that Ford kid.
Kolya stepped into view, and it took a moment for John to recognize what the man was holding. His pulse shot up even more and the fucking colonel smiled.
End Note: Ah, he's gone to hell...
