Hi, this was edited to streamline things and make it a little more aesthetically pleasing. The last two chapters should be out in the next few weeks. I finally like the rewrites. I hope you do, too!

Chapter Seventeen

After a few minutes of consciousness, John realized he was truly alone. He couldn't even see Ronon lurking around the shadows. Maybe the others had finally come to their senses and were now keeping their distance. Then again, John had no idea of what was really going on.

He wrapped his arms around his middle and rolled onto his side, drawing his knees up toward his chest. Damn, he hurt. The pain made it almost impossible to stop shaking. Looking down, he could see he'd left a swath of blood smears on the floor beneath him. That wasn't a good sign.

His breathing was rough. Each breath seemed to be a struggle and didn't bring nearly enough air with it. Yeah, that broken rib must have done some damage when it popped. He tried to recall his last memories before everything became a hazy blur of misery, but at least he was pretty sure the others were still safe.

He froze when he sensed the AI booting up its systems again. No, not yet, damn it!

He'd hardly been conscious five minutes – not nearly enough time to do anything. Crap, he'd just wasted precious seconds, seconds he could have used to cut that interface out. He tried to get to his knees, but faltered and fell back to his side.

More systems activated and he felt his limbs obeying this time as he moved to get to his knees – but they were obeying the orders issued by the AI, and his previous lack of muscular strength was now augmented by the suit. He fought to remain in place to no avail.

Soon, he was on his feet again. The laser unit appeared on his right wrist and flashed red. "Okay, here we go again," John whispered, setting his jaw and his attitude, preparing to battle the suit every step of the way.

As he began to resist, he realized the suit didn't seem to have the same level of control over his body that it had previously possessed. What the hell...

Then he smiled. It wasn't much of a smile, a tired, crooked half-smile really, but it felt like a huge grin. Okay, so maybe he hadn't been able to completely sever the neural interface, but it seemed he'd been able to cut at least some of the filaments before the rapid fire transformations took over his mind and body.

It was about time things started going his way.

The AI directed his body to move forward and John literally dug his heels in. The pressure to follow the AI's orders was overwhelming. It demanded his complete attention to keep it in check. In the back of his thoughts, John tried to put things in their proper prospective. He realized he might have wrestled a little more control away from the suit, but it was only a small portion of the overall picture. Still, he told himself it was progress, and that was all that mattered.

He heard a sound from one side and caught a glimpse of Ronon on the run. Good, now they knew he was up. Maybe the others would keep their guard up this time. One thing was for sure, he was going to do all he could to keep them alive.

oOoOoOoOo

Ronon jogged all the way back to McKay and Teyla while clutching his left arm as close to his chest as possible to immobilize the limb. There were sharp jabs of pain that flashed up and down its length with each step, but he forced himself to ignore it. Dwelling on the pain was a distraction and distractions were something they couldn't afford.

Finally, he arrived back with the others. McKay had made a lot of progress since Ronon had left them – at least, there were several more connections done than before.

Teyla smiled at him and raised an eyebrow as he approached.

"Rodney," she said softly, getting McKay's attention. She turned back to Ronon. "What did you find?"

McKay glanced at Ronon, then cursed as he finished what he was doing. "It's not good, whatever it is, I can tell you that much," McKay grumbled, accurately reading Ronon's expression.

Ronon nodded. "Time's up. You better be done."

McKay moved as quickly as he could while gesturing for Ronon to retrieve a piece of equipment lying at their feet. "Why is there never enough time to simply finish a project without the proverbial blade of a guillotine hanging over my head ready to drop any moment?"

"That's because you work best when you're about to die," Ronon said simply.

McKay grunted something indiscernible, and continued to work as Teyla finished what she was doing. "How is John?" she asked quietly.

"He was up and on his feet." Ronon started, then frowned. "But he's not doing so good. His breathing's off, probably a broken rib."

McKay grunted again. "Courtesy of that damned suit."

Ronon nodded. "At least he's still moving."

Ronon's voice trailed off and Teyla noticed it. "What is it, Ronon?"

"There was something in Sheppard's expression after he got to his feet. He was... well, he was... "

As Teyla waited for him to finish his thought, it was obvious her concern increased the longer he paused. "Ronon?" she said finally.

Ronon shook his head and put out a hand to put her at ease. "No, it's not bad – it's just he was... smiling."

"Smiling?" McKay said as he spliced some wiring. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Perhaps he's finally gaining some ground over the suit?" Teyla offered.

McKay shook his head without looking away from his work. "Well, we can ask him about it later, as in when this nightmare is over. Right now, you guys have work to do. Hurry, take these flux augmenters and connect them to that processor over there – that silver and white box with cables running from its side, while I run another simulation on my computer. And be careful. We can't afford to have any mishaps at the moment."

No one spoke as they completed their instructions. By the time they were done, McKay was finished with his simulation. "It, uh, well, it looks like it will work."

"What's the plan, McKay?" Ronon asked as he approached McKay with Teyla trailing behind him.

McKay looked around, chewing his lip. "Well, the way Damisk had it set up and by the way we found the skeletons, I believe Damisk waited for the suit at this end of the aisle and allowed the suit to enter the outer edges of the staging area over there."

"And you said Damisk only used the first phase of the magnetic field that was generated?" Teyla asked.

"Yes, but we've got everything set up now, so both phases should activate. It should go boom, then boom... and hopefully not boom, boom, boom as in blowing up the facility with us in it. I think Damisk must have set off the first phase and the suit attacked him, but the suit was deactivated before Damisk could do anything more. There's only a brief window of time after the first phase starts before the second phase needs to be triggered, if it is to work correctly. All we need is the bait for the trap."

He looked a little sick, then added, "Which, I guess, would be me."

Teyla moved closer to him. "Rodney, you do not need to put yourself in harm's way like this."

McKay shook his head. "You're wrong. We've got to do everything possible for me to get Sheppard in the right place, so I can activate the weapon at the first opportunity."

As McKay spoke, Ronon checked the aisle closest to them for Sheppard's approach. Unable to stay in one place, Ronon paced softly, but there was no sign of Sheppard. He turned back to McKay. "What if the suit tries to use its laser on you again?"

McKay swallowed hard, then shook his head. "I don't think the suit will. The end result of that would leave me damaged and the suit without another host. I don't believe it can take that chance."

Ronon nodded. "Sounds like that was Damisk's thinking, too."

McKay put up a pointed finger. "Yes, but he didn't know what I now know. Trust me, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it would work."

Teyla licked her lips. "What will happen to John when you activate the magnetic field generator?"

McKay's expression fell and his frowning gaze darted around the area as he took a deep breath. "I'm – I'm not sure," he said finally.

"Will it harm him?" Teyla asked cautiously.

McKay became defensive. "Well, uh, you know, harm can be such a relative term."

"Rodney," Teyla said firmly.

McKay sighed. "Well, I certainly hope not, but it's possible."

"Will it be a reaction similar to the kill switch?" she asked after a moment.

McKay's voice was grave when he answered, "No, this will be far more spectacular."

Ronon had moved down to another aisle and had to twist back to look at McKay. "What's that mean?"

McKay shrugged slightly. "I mean, there will be explosions. A magnetic field of this intensity will hit the electronics inside the facility particularly hard."

Teyla was still for a moment. "But there are electrical circuits within the suit holding John captive."

McKay looked a little more sick. "Yeah, among other things."

Teyla's eyebrow went up and Ronon asked the question so apparent on Teyla's lips. "Will the suit blow up with Sheppard in it?"

McKay shook his head. "No, not that. Well, not exactly. I mean, the dynamics of the suit are such that it should contain most of the disruption within its material."

He chewed on his lip for a moment. "I think he will be okay. It won't be good, but all we can hope for is that he survives it."

Ronon thought he heard a noise, so he glanced down the aisle, but couldn't find the source. There was still no Sheppard, which surprised Ronon a little. He walked a little ways down to the next aisle over and glanced down it, but it was empty, too. He wondered if he should do a quick reconnoiter.

As he came around toward the others, he saw that they were watching him, as if waiting for his proclamation of trouble. He shook his head and said, "He's not here yet, but he should show up any minute."

McKay sighed deeply in relief and Ronon thought it was strange. After all, it was such a little reprieve. They all knew Sheppard was bound to make it over to them – in fact, part of their plan depended upon it. Ronon didn't think his comment warranted the intensity of McKay's relief, but then McKay overreacted most of the time anyway – maybe more so now, since he was running on fumes. All of them were. There was no way around it, but Ronon understood McKay's apprehension. None of them wanted to cause Sheppard any more pain.

McKay started walking over to the other end of the magnetic field generator. He waved to Teyla. "You better get Ashina and get as far away from here as possible. Don't forget to take off your radio headset, Teyla. Don't want that blowing up in your ear."

When Teyla and Ronon didn't move on command, McKay swirled a hand in the air impatiently as he removed his own radio headset with his other hand. "Come on, get moving. As in now. We don't have all day."

McKay took his tablet computer and started limping away from Teyla and Ronon. Ronon rubbed a hand over his face as Teyla turned to get Ashina. He just wanted this whole thing to be over with, but Ronon knew in his gut there was trouble when he heard Teyla gasp and he drew his blaster.

When he looked over, he saw Sheppard was standing over Ashina down a nearby aisle. She was asleep on her pallet with Sheppard's laser pointed directly at her. Ronon had his blaster still aimed at Sheppard, but he wasn't quite sure what to do. McKay must have caught sight of Sheppard, too, because he cursed under his breath.

Ronon took a step closer to Sheppard, only to stop when Sheppard waved him off.

Fear and concern marked Teyla's drawn features as she said, "John?"

She shifted her position, moving slowly closer as she put a hand in Sheppard's direction. "Remember our vow to get Ashina safely back to her parents? If any of us survive this ordeal, let it be the child. I will be your hostage instead."

Sheppard closed his eyes, obviously at war with the dictates of the suit and he didn't seem to be winning in his battle to control the suit. Sheppard's face was dark red from the strain and to make matters worse, his breathing difficulties were so pronounced, they were hard to ignore.

"I... won't let... it hurt... Ashina," Sheppard said finally, opening his eyes.

The grimace on his face didn't reassure Ronon that Sheppard could actually avoid hurting her, but the fire in his eyes told a different story. Even so, Ronon moved to get a slightly better angle to attack Sheppard if he had to.

"Sheppard," Ronon said after he came to a stop, waiting for Sheppard to look at him. "How much control do you have? More or less than before?"

Sheppard's gaze darted away. "Can't control... the laser – at least... not completely," he said at last, guilt echoing in his hoarse voice. "But... I can stand... my ground... better now."

"Is it because of what you did when you tried to cut out the interface?" Ronon asked softly as he moved again to improve his position.

Sheppard gave a quick nod.

Teyla straightened, understanding dawning in her eyes. "It does not seem to be trying to stop you from speaking as it did before."

There was another quick nod, along with a slight smile as he spoke between gasps. "It can't... form the face mask now... wish I would have... realized that before... I got this far. I could have... warned you... I was coming."

The smile faded away as Sheppard stared at Ashina. "But I'm... not strong enough... to keep... the laser from... targeting her."

Teyla took a step toward him, preparing to touch his arm, and Sheppard shook his head. "Don't. Don't move yet. Any of you."

Sheppard closed his eyes, his rapid breathing going so fast, it was almost panting and it became the only sound in the area. After a long moment, he whispered, "No... you will not... hurt her. You will not... hurt any of them."

Sheppard forced himself to take a long, careful breath, his face sweaty from the intense effort of fighting against the suit's will, and then he let it out quickly. "Now, Ronon, get her."

Ronon didn't waste a moment. He scooped up the child and started moving down the aisle toward McKay, leaving Teyla alone with Sheppard. Ronon almost turned back to return to Teyla, to give her some backup, but then he thought of the young one in his arms and knew what was his greater responsibility.

Teyla said, "You can beat the AI, John. You already have in so many ways. Do not let it defeat you now."

With his eyes still closed, Sheppard nodded once. "Go," he rasped and Teyla complied immediately, moving down the aisle. She was almost to Ronon when she stopped and glanced back.

"You can defeat it," she said with unwavering resolve.

For a moment, there was no sound from Sheppard, except for his raspy breathing, then he opened his eyes, fixing his stare on his friends. There was something almost tangible in his gaze that connected with Ronon. Ronon was about to say something to him when Sheppard's eyes rolled up into his head and he started jerking.

Damn, not another seizure.

"Crap," McKay muttered from his position behind Ronon.

Sheppard fell to the ground, his limbs jerking to the random misfiring inside of his brain. Ronon knew Jennifer would have known exactly what was happening and why, along with what to do next. Ronon's best guess was it was most likely being caused by Sheppard's resistance to the neural interface.

Ronon handed Ashina to Teyla and returned to Sheppard's side. The seizure stopped as quickly as it had started, leaving Sheppard limp and motionless, except for the slight rise and fall of his chest. Ronon knelt down and put his fingers to Sheppard's wrist to reassure himself Sheppard's heart was still beating.

McKay waved a hand. "Forget all that, Ronon! While he's out, move him into position. We may not get a better opportunity!"

Ronon nodded. He took Sheppard by his feet and began dragging him down the aisle of the magnetic field generator, leaving behind a trail of blood. Ronon could hear Teyla and McKay discussing something in a way that almost sounded like an argument, but Ronon was too far away to hear specifics.

"That's far enough," McKay shouted. "Now, get the hell out of here. This won't be a very safe place to be hanging out in a few moments."

Teyla's voice was as firm as Ronon had ever heard it. "Rodney, I will only say you this one more time. You do not have to do this."

McKay waved his fingers to hurry her along. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but I'm the only one who can. Now, get moving."

Teyla hesitated. Ronon moved up behind her. "Come on, Teyla, let him do what he needs to do."

Ronon patted McKay on the shoulder as they passed him. "End this once and for all."

McKay nodded. "Yeah."

There was some noise from the other end of the aisle and Ronon could see Sheppard was waking up. McKay cursed again, then said, "Move it. We don't have much time. Just get as far away from here as you possibly can. It won't be pretty when I set it off."

Teyla nodded finally and started to move away. "Be safe," she said as Ronon ushered her along.

McKay nodded, but the look he gave Ronon told Ronon McKay didn't think their odds of survival were that great. Then again, that was McKay's personal opinion and he was almost always sure he was going to die at least once during every mission.

Still, Ronon felt more than a little unsettled as he left McKay alone with Sheppard.

oOoOoOoOo

"I seriously need to have my head examined," Rodney muttered to himself as he adjusted a setting on his tablet computer, then hefted the control for magnetic field generator in his other hand. "And I also need to forget that the last guy who did this wound up very dead."

Rodney took a deep breath. Never in his wildest dreams had he envisioned constructing magnetic fields on this scale and intensity. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, but if it would free Sheppard from that damn suit, then it would be worth it.

"Ah, crap, I almost forgot," he said as he pulled out his radio and put it on, then he tapped it on. "Major Lorne, I'm about to activate the magnetic field generator. Are all of your people on the surface?"

"Yes, sir, we are positioned right outside as per your orders."

"Good, stay there until after the fireworks are done and make sure all of your equipment is shut down. I don't think the EM field will affect anything on the surface, but shut everything down to be sure. To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I have a feeling it will be pretty big. And don't waste any time getting in here afterwards, though, because... well, because there are people in need."

"Understood. We'll be ready, sir. Good luck."

As Rodney took his radio headset from his ear and set it on top of the computer console beside him, he noticed John was beginning to move more. After a moment, John rolled over onto his knees and looked around. He nodded to Rodney at the far end of the aisle after catching sight of him. He got to his feet, but he was obviously battling the suit again.

"McKay... get out... of here!"

"You forget there's nowhere to get to. Don't worry. I've got it all figured out."

The movements John made were stilted, as if every motion was a major contest of wills.

"I already... told you... how to fix this – " John stopped, his gaze distant. Then, the drilling laser rose up on John's right forearm and he shouted, "The suit remembers... something about... being here before – about being... in this area before."

Rodney nodded. "With good reason. Hang on, this isn't going to be fun."

Rodney pressed the control for the magnetic field generator.

And nothing happened.

Rodney had been ready for fireworks and big explosions – end of the world kind of stuff. But nothing happened.

"Ah, crap," he whispered.

He grabbed his tablet computer and began running diagnostics, muttering, "It was working two minutes ago. What the hell happened?"

He glanced up and saw the laser taking aim at him. "Oh, double crap," he said as he darted behind a nearby storage bin, his fingers flying over the tablet.

"Rodney... " Sheppard started with his typical drawl.

"Hold on a minute," he shouted back.

"Hold on? You're... kidding, right?"

Rodney shook his head He's half dead and he's still giving me shit.

The diagnostic was running. Damn it, this should be working!

"Watch out!" Sheppard yelled.

A split-second later, a huge piece of equipment that must have weighed two hundred kilos landed with a thunderous crash several meters away from Rodney.

"Crap, crap, crap," Rodney said, shaking his head as he ducked further away. That was too damned close for comfort.

He briefly wondered if he should just turn tail and run, then sighed and checked his tablet computer instead. He couldn't abandon Sheppard when he needed him most. Besides, what was his alternative? To wait until the suit finally got him or one of the others? No, he had no other choice.

The diagnostic finished and it revealed a faulty link to the console he'd been working on earlier. It was across the aisle from him, but it might as well have been across the continental divide.

Reaching up, Rodney made an adjustment to the link beside him and hit the control device again.

Nothing.

"Damn, this just isn't fair," he whined.

"Incoming!" Sheppard shouted hoarsely.

Another piece of equipment came sailing through the air, this time closer, landing less than two meters away.

Rodney's head popped up, his thoughts flashing red with anger. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Not a... willing participant... remember?" John shouted, then groaned. Sounding much weaker, he said, "Get... your ass... moving!"

"What do you think I'm doing? Just standing around here smoking cigarettes?" McKay shouted back.

Sheppard didn't say anything in reply.

When Rodney peeked out, Sheppard was on his knees, gasping for air. He looked to be in very bad shape.

"Crap," Rodney said for probably the umpteenth time since they'd entered the facility.

Rodney glanced at the console and saw a light blinking at him. He looked up at the netting and sighed. The second barrage of flying equipment must have hit part of the netting and damaged one of the weaker circuits further. He studied the schematics on Damisk's recorder for a moment.

"Okay, okay, I can work around that," he whispered, though he had to admit it sounded more like a pep talk than a statement of fact.

Rodney finished his bypass and saw something he didn't like on his tablet computer. It seemed it wasn't the links to the computer console, but the console itself was malfunctioning. With a flash of inspiration, he realized he could bypass the console completely – if he had enough time.

He began to work frantically, praying Sheppard's silence was a good thing, but he jumped when he heard a noise behind him and he turned to see Ronon.

"Told you to get away from here," Rodney said breathlessly, putting a hand over his heart.

Ronon shrugged. "Figured you might need some help, especially after I heard the crashes. Why haven't you hit the button yet?"

Rodney grunted as he squinted at his tablet computer. "Not for a lack of trying."

Rodney cursed under his breath, staring at the console across from them.

"What's wrong?"

Rodney pointed a finger. "It's that damned console. I'd got to disable it somehow... "

His eyes widened as he grabbed Ronon's shirt. "Ronon, your weapon! That console is screwing up the works! Blast it to smithereens! I need for it to be offline ASAP!"

Ronon looked at him in confusion, but followed his orders.

"Stand back," Ronon said, pushing McKay behind him.

Two shots later, the console was a smoldering mass of junk.

Rodney peeked out and caught sight of Sheppard on his feet again and he was approaching them.

"Okay, it should work this time. All I've got to do is activate the control... " he whispered, thinking his whole life had come down to this moment as he fiddled with the control device. Whether he would live or die in the few seconds was completely unknown and he despised not having control over his fate, but what could he do?

"No more time," Rodney whispered finally.

Ronon clapped him on the back and said, "Do it, McKay."

Rodney nodded and pressed the button – and then all hell broke loose.

oOoOoOoOo