Chapter 19: Beep ... beep ... beep.

Doctor Weir ran into the lab moments after Sheppard had made the transition into the virtual environment, followed closely by Doctor Beckett wheeling in a portable defibrillator and monitoring equipment.

"How's it going Rodney?" she asked in concern, watching as Carson began to hook John up to the monitors.

"Early days yet," Rodney replied, keeping his eyes firmly on a series of readouts that told him the status of the Aperio system.

Sheppard's team, Doctor Weir and Carson all watched closely as John's facial expression changed over the next minutes - at first determined and then resolved. They knew when things began to get serious though - John's face went from relaxed to disturbed in a heartbeat.

"His heart rate is accelerating," Carson reported. "Respiration is also somewhat erratic. Whatever's happening in there, it's not pleasant."

"Will we be able to remove him if we need to Rodney?" Doctor Weir asked something no one had even considered beforehand.

"I have no idea what that will do to his mind," Rodney admitted sickly. "We could end up causing more damage than if we just let this play out to the end. Atlantis is monitoring him anyway." Carson frowned at Rodney's choice of words but Elizabeth nodded, knowing Rodney was referring to the agreement for Atlantis to protect John within the virtual environment.

Sheppard groaned suddenly, the muscles in his arms and legs clenching tightly as he arched up from the chair. The monitors tracking his physical condition beeped rapidly.

"He can't keep this up much longer," Carson warned urgently. "He'll arrest or suffer a stroke from the pressure ... we need to be ready to remove him from that system."

"We can't do that!" Rodney protested. "If Sheppard could talk to us I know he'd tell you to give him more time."

"He would not want us to let him die," Teyla admonished sternly.

"It won't come to that," Rodney insisted, gesturing to his displays. "We're almost there."

"We'll wait just a bit longer," Elizabeth agreed, putting a hand on Carson's arm reassuringly.

Sheppard's scream of pain made them all jump ... his body shook with convulsions, eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids.

"God, this is insane," Rodney muttered, looking back to his screens impatiently. "Come on for God's sake," he pleaded heatedly.

"McKay," Ronon growled, pacing in agitation at the sight of Sheppard's obvious physical distress.

The sudden silence of all the machines ceasing to beep was followed immediately by one long and ominous sound. Simultaneously Rodney's screen showed that the transfer of the Aperio program was complete. "That's it!" he yelled, putting his hands on the console and yelling at it inside his head too. "Get him out of there NOW!."

Carson was already attending to Sheppard who was deathly still and silent. "He's gone into arrest," Carson said urgently. He got into position with the defibrillator and quickly administered the first shock to Sheppard's heart, watching the monitors for a moment before recharging and shocking John again.

Beep ... beep ... beep ... the welcome sound of Sheppard's heart restarting filled the room.

"Oh thank God," Carson sighed in relief, checking Sheppard's readings before relaxing just a little. "He's back." Turning away he tapped his earpiece and ordered a medical team to come down with a gurney so he could transfer John up to the infirmary.

"That was too close," Doctor Weir moved to Carson's side. "Is he going to be okay?"

"It's too soon to tell if he's done any damage," Carson admitted. "His readings look good but we'll get him under the scanner as soon as we can."

Doctor Weir moved back to where the others stood and looked at Rodney hopefully. "Did he succeed?"

"He did," Rodney said simply. "Aperio is completely removed and contained in here." Placing a hand on the portable data security device he nodded. "Another John Sheppard 'out of the box' idea saves the day. I honestly don't know where he gets them from because even Atlantis thought this one was insane."

"Rodney," Doctor Weir's tone reminded Rodney that to her knowledge none of the others knew John's secret.

"Well, you know," Rodney stuttered uncomfortably, "if Atlantis could think that is ... if it could that's what it would have ... thought."

Dr Weir shook her head at his pathetic attempts to cover up his slip, suspecting that Carson would be visiting her in the not too distant future to insist as John's doctor that he be informed of the true story.

"It is all right Elizabeth," Teyla whispered softly. "Colonel Sheppard informed us of the changed nature of his connection to the city."

Elizabeth nodded, glancing pointedly at the doctor so they'd all know that he was still unaware. It had only been a minute or so since Beckett had called for his staff to assist but already everyone was glancing impatiently towards the doorway.

"How long will John be unconscious?" Teyla walked across to where Beckett was continuing to monitor Sheppard closely.

"Hard to say," Carson replied. "The strain of what he went through on top of the fact that he still hadn't recovered from the coma could keep him out for a couple of days."

"That long?" Rodney almost slumped at the news. It was clear that everyone wanted to ask more questions but the gurney and medical team arrived and quickly transferred Sheppard for transport.

"Keep me informed of his progress Carson," Elizabeth requested. Beckett nodded, hurrying away with his team.

x

Sheppard lay motionless in the infirmary for almost three days before he finally showed signs of regaining consciousness. It was the hum of Atlantis that called him back to awareness.

"We are pleased you are awake," Atlantis greeted him. Sheppard opened his eyes and glanced around the infirmary ... as always seemed to be the case he'd woken in the middle of the night and the place was dark and deserted.

"Did it work?" was the first question Sheppard thought to ask.

"The Aperio system has been removed," Atlantis announced.

"So I guess the whole anchor thing worked then," Sheppard quipped somewhat flippantly, relaxing now he knew the crisis really was over.

"Doctor McKay was very ... strong in his demand that we act when the time came," Atlantis replied. "We utlised the mental barriers we had constructed around you for the purposes of stopping Aperio's manipulation - they allowed us to maintain some separation between your mind and Aperio even inside the data storage device. This was how we could withdraw your mind so suddenly without causing any permanent damage ... we apologise for the pain you experienced but the struggle to remove you was much harder than we had allowed for."

"It's okay," Sheppard excused. "It was worth it to get rid of Aperio."

"You have achieved something even your Ancestors could not," Atlantis intoned with a touch of awe in the chorus.

"Yeah, well they probably didn't have McKay or you helping them," Sheppard dismissed modestly.

"The Ancient scientists were quite accomplished and their connection to the city as deep as yours," Atlantis pointed out. "You think in ways we suspect are unusual even amongst your own race."

"I was just doing my job," Sheppard discounted. "I've been in a lot of tricky situations where if I hadn't come up with something unexpected I wouldn't have survived."

"Thank you," the chorus surrounded him with gratitude and ... well the closest word John could come up with was love, which just made him squirm uncomfortably. "We are astounded that you would go to such lengths to protect us."

"You've saved us in the past so I owed you one," Sheppard smiled at the very idea of that. "Besides, what I did was for us just as much as it was for you."

"Who are you talking to Colonel?" Beckett walked towards John's bed with a puzzled frown.

"Ah ... the city?" Sheppard made it sound like a joke, hoping Carson would just let it go as post unconscious confusion. "No offence Doc but I'm getting kinda sick of waking up here all the time!" he added.

"If you stopped putting yourself at risk you could avoid that," Beckett replied irritably. "I swear I spend as much time on you as I do on the rest of your team combined."

"That's because I work three times as hard as them," Sheppard joked.

"They'll be complaining about your timing waking up," Beckett joked in return. "Between the three of them you've had someone sitting with you for the past three days - I finally had to insist they all get some rest."

"Three days?" Sheppard blinked firmly in surprise. "Did Aperio do any permanent damage?"

"You were lucky," Beckett revealed. "You went into arrest at the end and I had to shock you twice." Sheppard paled at how close he'd come to dying. "Don't worry lad - with a bit more rest you'll be out of here fully recovered in a week or so."

"Thanks Doc," Sheppard said simply, slumping back into the bed tiredly as Beckett turned and walked back to his office. "Hey Carson?" he called when a though occurred to him. "What did Rodney do with the portable storage device?"

"He said he'll tell you when you wake up ... which isn't now," Beckett replied when John raised an eyebrow hopefully. "Your only job is to get some sleep."

Authors Note:

I can't believe this is almost over (sniffs tearfully) ... just the last 'wrap it up' chapter to go ...