Imposter

Part Eight

Ronon moved quickly, catching the doctor just before his head hit the floor. He was surprisingly gentle as he lowered Andrew the rest of the way down. Once Andrew was settled, the Satedan studied him, checking for injuries before standing up to survey the room.

As he caught sight of a small Atlantean boot under a pile of wraith, Ronon bounded across the room. Teyla was unconscious on the bottom and Ronon threw wraiths off left and right as he dug through the pile to reach her. Ronon lifted her gently once he uncovered her, cradling her close to his body as he stepped over the dead wraiths. He spied Rodney lying in a heap in the corner and protectively moved towards his fallen teammate, laying his precious bundle down next to the scientist.

John was huffing as he finally caught up with Ronon, the marine troop close on his heals. John took in the whole room in a quick glance: Ronon imitating a football player; Rodney curled up in the corner; Andrew lying awkwardly on the floor at his feet. On the far side of the room, John could see the lifeless body of the wraith queen. Out of her chest stuck a large knife, one that looked very alien to John.

John shuddered as he imagined what might have happened before they arrived. He knelt to check the doctor's pulse and was relieved to find it quickly. John could see Andrew's torn shirt indicating a wraith feeding, but he did not notice any difference in the doctor's appearance.

"Andrew?" John said softly, tapping the doctor lightly on the cheek. "Andrew, wake up. Are you hurt? Andrew, wake up!"

"He's exhausted, Sheppard. Let him rest," Ronon grunted. "Something happened here, and I need to find out what."

"It looks like Teyla and Rodney fought hard," John said, taking off his jacket and sliding the bunched up coat under the doctor's head. John stood and made his way through the devastation to reach Ronon and his charges. Kneeling down next to them, John checked both of their pulses as well.

"Michael did this. I can smell him. I need to find him and take care of that problem," the runner said shortly, standing and heading for the door.

"Ronon, not now! We have wounded and my only concern is getting these three, along with Lorne and the other injured back to Atlantis. You need to help us get them back to the Puddle Jumpers," John mustered his best commanding voice to rein him in. "I understand that you want to get Michael, but now is not the right time."

Ronon hesitated, eyes darting quickly around the room. He felt torn between his desire to hunt down the former wraith and his duty to obey John. With a frustrated growl he made his choice, turning he gently lifted Teyla off the floor and headed out of the room.

"Okay, which one of you is getting Andrew and which is getting Rodney?" John said, clearly stating to the surrounding marines that he was not going to be lugging either of the scientists back to the throne room. The marines silently checked with each other before two of them stepped forward to lift the two unconscious men over their shoulders. John and the remaining marines scanned the corridors as they made their way back to Lorne and the others.

By the time they joined the rest of the company, Rodney was beginning to regain consciousness. He had begun groaning while bouncing up and down on the marines shoulder. By the time he was lowered to the ground next to Teyla his blue eyes peeked out from under his eyelashes.

John took a moment to check over the rescued trio. Andrew looked exhausted. His breathing was shallow, but his pulse was good. Except for the obvious attempted feeding, he seemed unhurt. Andrew curled up in a ball, pulling his hands into his chest.

The damage to Teyla was very visible. Her neck bore the signs of finger prints in the form of bruises. Her breathing was harsh, sounding like sandpaper as she struggled to take in air. John was most concerned by her difficulty breathing than any of the other injuries. Ronon continued to cradle her protectively in his arms, rocking her back and forth gently.

"Rodney?" John said leaning in to pull the scientist's eyelid the rest of the way open. The scientist definitely seemed closes to waking up. "Time to wake up, sleepy head."

"Five more minutes, Jeannie," Rodney groaned, trying to pull away from the prying fingers.

"Rodney, come on, the marines don't want to carry you anymore," John sighed impatiently, tapping Rodney firmly on the cheek. "Andrew and Teyla don't look like they are getting up anytime soon, so you're it!"

Rodney mumble something rude in his sleep, before sitting up suddenly, eyes wide open. "Carson!" His eyes frantically swept the room until they landed on the prone doctor lying on the floor next to him. Rodney sighed with relief as he leaned back against the wall.

"See, Rodney, everything is okay. Andrew and Teyla are alright, we're going home now," John said in his best soothing voice.

"Carson," Rodney corrected, closing his eyes are rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Andrew! Andrew is right here with us. You must have been knocked on the head harder than I thought," John replied, giving Rodney a second look.

"Noooo, Carson," Rodney managed to turn Carson's name into three syllables, as his sleepy eyes met John's and he began to slide back down the wall.

"What is wrong with you?" John asked trading concerned looks with Ronon. John reached out and put his hand on Rodney's forehead.

"Nothin's the matter," Rodney said, trying to duck under John's hand, as he began loosing the battle with sleep. Rodney's eyes drift close and he was soon out cold again.

"Colonel, we're ready to move," Lorne said as he knelt down next to them. The major reached out with his good hand to steady himself on John's shoulder. He leaned over to get a good look at the former captives. "How are they?"

"We just need to get them back so Biro can take a look at them. Physically, Teyla and Rodney look worse for the wear, lots of bruises. Andrew – well he's another story. He looks fine, not a scratch. But he must be exhausted," John answered, looking at the doctor with sympathy. "But then, he's the doctor, not me."

"He was strong enough to try and hit me with a candlestick," Ronon's voice had a hint of humor as he weighed in on the doctor's prognosis.

"The dead wraith queen in the corner means it should be a good story, when everyone is safely back home," John said, standing up and turning to survey the group. Somehow he had to get seven wounded marines, one injured air force major, two comatose scientists and a damsel in distress, as well as one fallen soldier back to the Puddle Jumpers in only one trip. I never make it easy for myself. John thought, shaking his head as scanned the room one more time.

They managed to make it out of the grounded hive ship without any problems. Ronon continued to cradle Teyla, while two other marines hauled the two sleeping scientist. Only two of the wounded marines needed help walking, leaning on a couple of their friends. Lorne had shot John an annoyed look when John offered him aid to stand up. Despite the fact that his right eye was completely swelled shut, Lorne refused help, keeping his one good eye focused on the journey ahead.

As they limped to the Jumpers it became clear that Michael had disappeared again. The Dart which had been parked no more than twenty yards from the Jumpers was no longer there. John breathed a sigh of relief as he examined the undamaged Atlantean ships, realizing that Michael had the opportunity to destroy them with the Dart. The walk back to the gate would have been impossible. Damn, Michael just doesn't behave like a normal bad guy.

They all piled back into the Jumpers and got ready to return to the gate. John had to order Lorne to take a backseat and let one of the naturally gifted marines fly the other ship. Lorne had grumbled that he was fine but seemed relieved as he stretched out in the passenger seat next to John and closed his one good eye. Once the injured were gently laid out on the floor, the Jumpers lifted off and headed gracefully towards the Stargate.

John dialed Atlantis as the gate came into range. "Sheppard to Atlantis. We got our own back. We're coming home. Have a medical team ready."

"We'll be ready for you, John," Elizabeth answered simply.

John directed his Jumper through the gate as the second one followed behind.

∞SGA∞

The waiting room of the infirmary was crowded. John and Ronon paced back and forth worried about their teammates and friends. Elizabeth stood in the back staring at the door where Biro and the nurses fussed over the three former captives. Radek sat with a child on each arm, as Brador and Traysha cuddled up to him. Lorne sat in a chair with his feet on a table. His eyes were closed but his good eye snapped open the second Biro reentered the room.

"Teyla and McKay are both awake, both asking and answering questions. They will be fine. Teyla will need to drink lots of tea and liquids while her throat heals, and her body will be sore as she has a lot of bruises. McKay is his usual whiny self. He has a mild concussion but he's gonna be fine, as long as I get him out of here, before I strangle him," Dr. Biro said, a look of exasperation on her face.

"What about Andrew?" John asked, looking at the strange pathologist who, while he wasn't as vocal as Rodney about it, did make him nervous.

"Andrew is in perfect health. Kind of like you were Colonel, after you were captured by Kolya and fed on by the wraith. My hypothesis is a wraith healed him. There is evidence of a major trauma to his shoulder; lots of blood on his clothes. But his body is absolutely healthy. He is still unconscious do to exhaustion, but once we get him pumped full of fluids he should start to wake up. You may go into visit them," and with that, the strange women whisked past them.

The six worried friends filed into the dimly lit room. Three beds lined one wall. Teyla and Rodney were sitting up in their beds while Andrew slept silently in his. Brador and Traysha ran over to his bed. Brador patted him on the shoulder while Traysha grabbed his hand and kissed it. Radek stood protectively behind them, watching over them like an uncle.

Ronon took his position next to Teyla giving her a warm smile and touched her gently on the shoulder. Teyla smiled tiredly back. "Thank you, we weren't sure you would find us in time," Teyla choked out in as scratchy voice.

"You're welcome," the Satedan responded.

John and Elizabeth came to stand next to Rodney, watching him with amusement as he fussed with his covers and the angle of his bed.

"Dr. Death is not touching me again. Carson is my doctor and now that he is back, I'll just wait until he wakes up to get a second opinion," Rodney grumbled, giving his blanket one more tug before laying back in his bed.

"Maybe I need to get Biro back in here to take another look at you. There is something wrong with you," John said again trying to take Rodney's temperature with his hand. "That is Andrew. And he'll be mad if you start calling him Carson again."

"That is Carson!" Rodney glared at John. "He remembered on his own, the queen just confirmed it. Michael switched Carson with the clone. It was the clone who died in the explosion. This is the real Carson."

The room was silent as the gathered Atlanteans digested this statement.

John turned to look at the sleeping man before walking to the side of his bed. He reached out and laid his hand on the doctor's hair, patting his head softly. Memories of events from last few days flashed through his mind: the Scottish doctor had stopped in his office with a turkey sandwich, instinctively knowing that was his favorite food; another time when the doc had arrived after a sparing session against Ronon with an ice pack and Tylenol, John had gratefully accepted the medical attention, his nearly forty-year old body struggling to keep up with the Pegasus native; John fondly remembered the night after they had returned from "rescuing" Andrew, when John had him and his kids over to watch a football game; the doctor had teasingly gotten into an argument with John over what was real football. Somehow John had known.

Ronon also looked thoughtful as he watched the sleeping doctor. "Welcome back, doc," he said simply.

TBC

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