Hi, guys! Sorry about going AWOL in the middle of the story. The truth of the matter is that RL has been keeping me busy – way, way, way too busy! I want to get back into a regular posting schedule, but things are still kind of up in the air, at least for the short term.

Rest assured, the story will be completed. I'm working on the last chapter now (that's Chapter 19) I really can't see it going longer than that unless the muse gets carried away in this last section. And then it's got to be beta'd. So maybe once a week for a week or two until I have everything ready to go. Thanks so much for all of your kind words and support!

Now, back to the story!

Chapter Fifteen

There was no denying the fact Rodney deserved to burn in hell for what he'd just done.

Rodney held a hand to his head in horror and disbelief. He couldn't believe he'd done it, that he'd actually had the gumption to press the button and put Sheppard through that nightmare a second time. It was the classic military 'us or them' mentality and Rodney hated it. He hated it because it meant the cowardly part of him was relieved they were safe again from the suit – at least for a little while.

Oh, God, what have I done?

The knot on his forehead was pounding to the racing thump of his heart. He couldn't stop his rapid breathing and knew he was in danger of hyper-ventilating, but none of that mattered. He kept blinking in disbelief and revulsion, and was barely aware that Ronon had taken Ashina's still form from his arms.

The ensuing silence was overwhelming, though piercing through the quiet were the distant echoes of Sheppard's screams still ringing inside Rodney's head. And every time he closed his eyes, he saw Sheppard's body contorting in painful spasms. Damn, what had he done? What the hell had he done?

Ronon set Ashina on the floor beside Teyla, and then patted Teyla's cheek with his hand. "Teyla? Can you hear me?"

"Is – is she okay?" Rodney asked, finally recovered enough to speak.

Ronon frowned and Rodney read a lot in what Ronon didn't say. Who knew what kind of new injuries she sustained in the last salvo?

Ronon shook his head. "Don't know yet."

He bent forward, checking Teyla's pulse and respiration, then ran a quick hand around Teyla's neck and limbs. Shaking his head, then he said, "I can't find anything broken, but... "

Yeah, but... Rodney's imagination filled in all kinds of terrible buts that might be going on for her but he stopped himself before he got too far.

He tapped his crutch nervously on the floor. Damn it, it was time for him to man up.

Focus. He had to focus. Prioritize. Save everyone's lives. Right. As if it were as easy as checking things off a to-do list. The suit was probably rebooting that very minute. They were all so very screwed.

Then he looked down at Teyla, bruised and bleeding, and then at little Ashina's still form, and the thought of what would Sheppard do right now passed through his mind. He'd figure out a plan of action. Sheppard always came up with a plan. Okay, they weren't always good plans, but they were plans.

Rodney sighed. He had no flashes of insight, no miracles to pull out of the air, but damn it, John was out of commission and so was Teyla, so it was up to him and Ronon to get them all out of trouble.

"We don't have much time," he said finally. "How can I help?"

Ronon sighed. "Find a way to put that damned suit out of action."

Rodney put a hand to his throbbing forehead. "Oh, yeah, that's a novel thought. I'll get right on it."

Knowing he should look to see if Sheppard was still caught in a seizure, he found himself unable to even look in Sheppard's direction. Ronon leaned back on his heels, pausing to rub the back of his neck before he glanced up at him. "You okay?"

Rodney shook his head, but didn't say anything. Ronon didn't pursue it. He was busy checking Teyla over and he already knew how Rodney felt about the kill switch and Sheppard.

Chewing on his lip, Rodney stared at Teyla's unconscious form, worrying about her and then the girl, but when he closed his eyes, images of the suit's rapid morphing flashed through his head. He put the palms of both hands to his forehead. God, what had he done?

He was still too afraid to look at Sheppard. Shaking his head, he straightened his shoulders. He couldn't think about Sheppard right now. They needed a plan – a real plan with at least an inkling of success. Sheppard would kick Rodney's ass if John survived and one of the others didn't.

If Rodney could only get a few minutes' time with Damisk's files on the personal recorder, he might figure out what the other device in his pocket was used for. He was pretty sure the key involved Damisk's notes that spoke of using magnetic fields against the suit. Now, he just needed the time to figure out how it was all related.

Ronon rocked back on his heels and sighed. He rubbed his injured arm, then caught Rodney staring at the recorder. "You think that's going to save us?"

Rodney shrugged a little, then toyed with the recorder again. He gestured with the device toward Ronon. "The answer is there, Ronon, I just need to find it."

Ronon nodded. He brushed an errant lock of hair from Teyla's face. "Sheppard wouldn't let the suit kill any of us," Ronon said with sad pride.

"Just barely," Rodney said as he rubbed his forehead. "We can't expect Sheppard to keep doing all the work. Short term, short term, that's all this kill switch is good for. Damisk designed it as a quick fix. We need to think bigger, broader... "

Rodney sighed. So much was riding on him. He glanced back in John's direction, finally able to overcome his fears of what he would find. John was lying on his stomach, his arms and legs splayed in different directions.

Rodney swallowed hard. "Damn – maybe I should go back and check on him," he said quietly.

Ronon shook his head. "Too dangerous. We don't know when that suit will come back online. That was our mistake last time – staying too close to Sheppard. After I get Teyla situated, I'll come back to keep an eye on him. We need to know when we are in danger of being attacked again."

"But what if he's dead – "

Ronon shook his head. "Then a little more time won't make any difference."

"But what if he's alive, but near death – "

"No buts. Sheppard told us to do whatever it takes to keep us alive. We aren't going to let him down."

"Yeah," Rodney said nervously. "I guess we need to get moving... but where do we go that's safe?"

Ronon's gaze darted around. "There's no safe place here, not as long as the suit can keep Sheppard mobile. Do you have a place in mind where you can work from?"

Rodney stopped to think for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I think I do."

He looked at Ronon. "Maybe I'll go ahead and get started?"

Ronon nodded. "Good idea. Where do we meet you?"

"Below the area that has all the netting, equipment, and cables."

Ronon nodded again. Rodney started to turn away, then glanced back at him. "We won't have a lot of time. We had an hour before the AI rebooted last time, but we can't depend on having the same time interval again. There's definitely a learning curve involved for the suit and the AI has an extensive module on adapting to situations. I will need every minute I can get before we take the suit on again."

Ronon nodded and Rodney took off.

oOoOoOoOo

The lesser of two evils. It was a saying from Earth. And if Ronon was honest with himself, he'd admit that staying with Sheppard and offering some morale support was much preferred to staying with McKay as his captive computer assistant. McKay seemed to think that he could train Ronon to play with his computers and master them.

The thing was, McKay was really, really off target. The fact of the matter was Ronon had no desire to work with computers. Ever. He'd never fully understand them if he had a million years to learn and he didn't really want to learn.

If Teyla had remained unconscious, Ronon might have stayed with McKay to help him, but Teyla had come around in time to save him from that torture. She had a knot on her head that dwarfed McKay's and Ronon was worried about her, yet she insisted she was able to assist McKay.

Ashina was still out, even after Ronon had tried several times to rouse her. Ronon had no idea of that was a good thing or not. Keller had told Teyla that Ashina might have episodes like that, but, even so, her lack of consciousness unnerved all of them.

And McKay had been so deeply involved in what he was doing, he barely noticed when Ronon left them to go check on Sheppard. Teyla waved him on as he turned to leave, saying, "Call if you require assistance, Ronon. And watch yourself with John. Do not let your guard down."

Ronon nodded and left without looking back. He was definitely more in his element in dealing with an alien artificial intelligence controlling Sheppard than he was with sick little girls or scrambled Ancient databases, but not by much.

McKay had been right earlier when he'd pointed out if the problem was something Ronon couldn't shoot, fight or kill, he was lost. The thing was Ronon's whole life had been about dealing with tangibles – an enemy to battle, a danger to defeat, an evil to stop, but this time the enemy was an artificial intelligence – and one that had control of his best friend.

All Ronon could really do was ensure the safety of the others and offer Sheppard some moral support. In this case, the lesser of two evils still meant Sheppard was screwed.

Ronon watched Sheppard warily for a long while, even after he'd regained consciousness, but all Sheppard did was pant for air and groan in pain. Thinking of the advice he'd given McKay to stay away from Sheppard, Ronon ignored it completely and approached Sheppard's side, but he did make sure to keep some cover between him and Sheppard as he moved.

"Hey," Ronon said as he looked over at him when he was about six feet away. "How are you doing?"

It was a stupid question. All he had to do was take one glance at Sheppard to see he was hurting. The suit hadn't recovered yet. Its appearance was again lackluster. The dripping effect had increased. Now, it was hanging in long strands along Sheppard's arms and legs. Not only that, but it was riddled with holes – big choppy holes that revealed several more bloody patches on Sheppard's body.

The first thing Ronon noticed about Sheppard was that his breathing was way off. It was raspy and shallow and no matter how hard he tried to slow it down, it remained a battle. Ronon worried about Sheppard's cracked ribs and the sort of pressure the suit could exert on them.

Sheppard had screamed right before McKay activated the kill switch the second time. It wouldn't take much to turn a cracked rib into a broken one, and there could be all kinds of problems involved with a broken rib, foremost being a punctured lung.

Sheppard didn't open his eyes, he just grunted in reply. After a long moment, he rasped, "How's Teyla?"

"She's doing okay. I told her I'd check on you and if the AI was still offline, I'd see if you needed anything... so do you need anything?"

Sheppard gave him a limp, crooked grin. "A way out of this damned suit?"

"McKay's working on it," Ronon said as he opened a bottle of water and came closer. "Think you can drink some water?"

"Stay back. You don't know when the AI could come back online."

"A quick drink won't take long."

Sheppard licked his chapped lips. "Okay, a quick drink," he said gratefully.

As Sheppard drank, Ronon eyed him closely. Sheppard's face was red and sweaty, even that long after all the excitement had ended. Ronon reached up with the back of his hand and put it against Sheppard's forehead. Sheppard's skin was warm... maybe a fever?

"Don't worry about that now, " Sheppard said, as if reading Ronon's thoughts. "We've got more important things to do. I just had an idea."

Sheppard held a hand to his ribs and tried to raise up. "We've got to disconnect that neural interface from my neck."

Ronon frowned. Of all the things he expected to come out of Sheppard's mouth, that was one of the least likely. He put a hand on Sheppard's arm to keep him down.

"How? McKay said it might kill you if it wasn't removed the right way."

Sheppard shook his head and made more motions to sit up. "It's got to come out while the AI is still out. I don't know how much time we have, but we need to move more quickly."

Ronon scowled as arguments for and against the idea came to mind. He shook his head and started to stand. "Wait, I'll get McKay. He knows more about – "

Sheppard put a hand on Ronon's arm to stop him before he stood. "No, there's no time to waste. It's going to be you and me doing this. Help me up," he said with determination.

Ronon didn't move. He took a deep breath and met Sheppard's gaze. "The med kit doesn't have any surgical equipment in it."

When he saw Sheppard was going to argue with him, Ronon shook his head firmly. "We need Jennifer to talk us through – "

"Radio's out," Sheppard said. "Ronon, face the facts – the radio's out, McKay's busy, Teyla's hurt, and it's just you and me. That interface has to come out."

Ronon swallowed hard, then frowned. "Let me get another look at it," he said finally.

Ronon knew to even consider this was wrong – way, way wrong. Sheppard could die if they screwed with the interface – no, check that, Sheppard could die if Ronon screwed with it.

Sheppard rolled onto his side away from Ronon and Ronon leaned down closer. There was a network of tiny filaments over a one-inch patch that were embedded into Sheppard's neck just below his hairline with the larger ones looking like they went in the deepest. He had no idea what would happen if even one of them were disconnected, let alone all of them.

"Damn," Ronon muttered as he wiped a hand over his tired face. "It's suicide to fool with this, Sheppard."

Sheppard shook his head. "No, it's suicide for all of you if we don't try it. This interface has to come out or else you guys are all dead. Take it out."

"With what?"

"Any one of the dozens of knives you carry around on a regular basis."

Ronon shook his head as he rocked back on his heels. "No, Sheppard, I don't think the setup works that way. It isn't something I can just hack away at – this goes into your nervous system."

A determined gleam came into Sheppard's eyes as he rolled onto his back again. "Then give me your knife and I'll cut the damned thing out myself. I lost mine in the fall. One way or another, this thing is coming out."

Ronon swallowed and paused in thought. Finally, he shook his head. "McKay could activate the kill switch again, that would keep the AI from doing anything."

Sheppard grunted, then he sighed. Shaking his head, Sheppard swallowed, and then looked up at Ronon, his right hand starting to move, as if to support his ribs. "Sorry," he said softly.

"About what?"

"This," Sheppard said, then he struck Ronon squarely on the jaw with a wicked right hook that took Ronon out before he even hit the floor. Lesser of two evils – yeah, right.

oOoOoOoOo