Thanks for the reviews, and I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.

THE TIES THAT BIND

CHAPTER 14

Shrouded in agony, John took a shuddering breath, then crawled to the table and dragged himself up. He could barely stand, let alone walk, and knew he couldn't make it to the surgery on his own, so had no choice but to activate the bracelet once more. This time however, the small static burst that usually felt no more than a puff of air, was agonising.

In less than a heartbeat John arrived at his destination, but immediately fell to the ground struggling not to cry out as he waited for the pain to ease. It was intense, all consuming, and brought tears to his eyes as he curled up, and waited for the crippling pain to dull down a notch. When it didn't, John knew he had to get a grip and steeling himself, he managed to focus his addled brain long enough to deactivate the device.

More pain followed as another agonising spike tore through his wrist before the bracelet released, falling to the ground, leaving the raw tacky wound exposed. Now he did groan, as the fresh electrical charge set his nerves alight once more, and he tried not to gag at the rancid smell of his own burning flesh. His body was aching, on fire, and he wanted nothing more than to wallow in misery, but John knew he couldn't stay there. Using his good arm as leverage, he slowly struggled to his knees, then swearing through gritted teeth, grabbed the examination table and hauled himself onto his feet.

Like an old friend, his First Aid training came back automatically, and he forced himself to endure the cold spray of water as it helped douse the flames. It only gave temporary relief, but long enough so he could bear to dress the wound. Though with one hand useless and the other shaking, it wasn't pretty, but it at least did the job. By the time he was finished his head was pounding, and he longed for Carson's good drugs, but most of the cabinets were locked and all he could find was some Tylenol. It was a bad wound and John knew they would only make a dent in the pain, but they were better than nothing, so he snagged a handful, plus extra dressings, as he intended to hole up in his room for as long as possible. How long he would be accorded that luxury he didn't know, as Forant had made it pretty clear he had no rights. His room while luxurious, was still a cell. And despite his grand pappy's previous fine words that he wanted to know him better, Forant had finally shown his true colours, and John was under no illusion he was a prisoner. One thing was for certain, regardless of what Forant wanted, it would be a cold day in hell before he put that fucking bracelet back on again.

How he would get there under his own steam was something he was working on, but for once fate chose that moment to be kind as Janus suddenly appeared in the room.

"Can I help?" Janus asked, as he made his way towards him.

"Did he send you?" His heart was racing, the beleaguered muscle still trying to recover from the jolt it had received, and John was surprised to hear how breathless he sounded.

When Janus didn't reply, his silence spoke volumes, "No -" John answered, then immediately realised that perhaps it wasn't too smart to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Okay, maybe you can," he motioned to the bracelet lying on the floor, "Give Forant his jewellery back – it's not my style. And take me back to my room."

Janus' expression became confused. "That doesn't make any sense, John," he said, "without the bracelet you will have less freedom. I thought you didn't like me following you around?"

"Well, things change," John responded, then stumbled and would have fallen but for Janus catching his good arm. He wanted to throw it off, but pride was a luxury he couldn't afford as he needed to lie down, before he collapsed. "Could we get moving, please?"

"I can give you something stronger for your pain…" Janus offered.

His arm was killing him and John was tempted for a moment, but his damn pride kicked in, and he wanted nothing from Forant…nothing. "Keep it. And if you don't want to give me a ride, just say so."

Janus shrugged. "If that's all that you want, fine. Still, you would do well not to fight him, John." Janus pointed out, his expression fathomless. "I know it may not seem like it at the moment, but he cares for you. He already regrets what he did, but our father is a proud man who doesn't like being disobeyed."

The fierce biting pain was weakening his resolve and he could barely focus, but a surge of adrenaline gave him the strength to pull away. "What did you say?" He asked, hoping it had just been his foggy brain sending him the wrong message.

Janus looked at him strangely. "I said he cared for you…"

John interrupted. "That's a pile of crap, but what the hell did you meant about him being our father?"

He watched as the clone's face fell, and the color rose in his cheeks. "Well I know in Earth terms he is technically your grandfather, but we both share his DNA. He created me using some of his blood - we are kin, John."

Speechless, John could only stare as Janus dragged his eyes away, took his arm once more, and returned him to his room. John staggered on arrival, and barely managed to collapse in a heap on the bed. Janus moved to help, but at his glare, the clone backed off and after standing watching for a moment, finally left. Once he was alone, only then did he shuck off his boots and bury deep inside the covers. The chills had started, and now he was freezing, his body shivering despite burning inside out. Exhausted, in agony and completely demoralised, John hadn't thought his situation could get any worse, but he'd been wrong.

He'd already known he shared part of the Ancients DNA, so that was no surprise. What made no sense was the old guy donating blood to the clone, after he'd just recovered from his own body's degeneration. Then like a gut punch it hit him. It wasn't Forant's blood that was flowing though Janus, but his. It was his DNA that had helped make this freak of nature, and it sickened John to the core, knowing it was he who was actually father to the clone.

ooooOoooo

Rodney had to hand it to the devious SOB, Forant was a genius, and if it wasn't for the sign Sheppard had left behind, he would still be clueless.

In the end, the swab Beckett had taken didn't produce any viable DNA, but Rodney didn't need hard evidence to know it was John's handiwork. He'd known Sheppard long enough to understand how his mind worked, as right from the moment they'd met, it was clear they shared a connection.

Rodney guessed that to onlookers it must seem strange, the flyboy and the geek, who were total opposites, but had become unlikely friends. John, more of a nerd than people realised, and as for him – well, Sheppard had taken him out the lab and out of himself. Sheppard's trust, had restored his faith in the human race, and joining his team had shown him a world outside of his work. Now Rodney enjoyed a fulfilling life, with friends who were more like family, but not forgetting a cute girlfriend who actually loved him.

Now he knew who was responsible for John's abduction, Rodney abandoned his usual logical way of thinking, and forced himself into the same sneaky mindset in order to figure out the old guy's game plan. Weeks of work went by the board as for once he ignored the Trojan, and focused solely on Sheppard. John was Forant's obsession, so he scrutinised every thing his friend had done and every mission he'd undertaken since the Ancient left the base nearly two years ago. It was painstaking work, tracing each communiqué either sent by Sheppard, or sent/received concerning him, but finally Rodney found the answer. With it, the mystery of the Trojan was also solved – it was Forant who'd put it there to cover his tracks.

Outside of the window dawn was shedding its rosy glow upon the city, but Rodney didn't care how early it was. He knew for sure now who had his friend, and as far as he was concerned, this was good news that couldn't wait.

ooooOoooo

Bleary eyed, Dave was hauled out of bed, pushed into the shower then encouraged along the corridor by a determined Ronon. He didn't know why they wanted a worthless pile of garbage like him to attend a meeting. It was his fault John had been taken, his fault Beckett had gotten hurt, and he didn't deserve to be there. Why these good people were looking out for him, he didn't have a clue.

The conference room was filled with all John's friends when they arrived, and Mr Woolsey's expression spoke volumes as he fastened the top button of his tunic. It was clear by his tight lips and scathing look, he wasn't impressed at being summoned to a meeting at this obscene time of the morning. Dave could easily tell it was McKay who was the object of his displeasure, as the be-speckled man glared at the scientist while Ronon pushed him into a chair between Beckett and a weary Teyla. Lorne was there too and that cute doctor Keller. Dave knew she was off the market, taken, by Rodney of all people. Still, she looked damned hot, even at this time of the morning.

He was just about to ask why he was included when Woolsey spoke. "I apologise for calling this impromptu meeting, but Dr McKay has found something which he insisted couldn't wait until a more reasonable hour."

Oblivious to the rebuke, McKay beamed at everyone in the room, including his disgruntled boss. "Yes, I'm sorry about that," although Dave could clearly see he wasn't "but I thought you'd all want to know who has Sheppard – it's Forant."

There was only a small murmur around the large table, as Dave like the rest, was already aware of the suspicious information received concerning the mystery patient in 1975.

Rodney's smile slipped for a moment, the man clearly disappointed by the lack of response to his declaration. Then it seemed to dawn on him, as he rolled his eyes and scrubbed his hand through his hair.

"Okay, I get it. I know we've been down this road before, but this time I have proof." Rodney blurted out.

Suddenly awake, Dave noticed the rest of the tired group also perk up.

"It was an ingenious plan," McKay said, "and if it wasn't for the clue Sheppard left, we still wouldn't have been any closer to finding out Forant was responsible, or that it was him who used the Trojan to cover his tracks."

Before Rodney could prevaricate, Dave heard Woolsey, now looking slightly less pissed, address the scientist. "I trust your proof is more than a scratched sign on a workbench, Doctor?"

"Yes - of course it is," Rodney drew his boss a look, "Look, when I figured out it was probably Forant who was responsible, I decided to work at the problem from his perspective. He was obsessed with Sheppard, so I began to go through everything that John had done since Forant left the base. In the end I found a minuscule blip, practically undetectable, and if it had been anyone other than me on the case… well, it goes without saying we would probably never have found it."

"Found what, Rodney?" Teyla asked, her face alight with hope for the first time since John disappeared.

Rodney gave a smug smile. "When Radek and I first went through all the emails, we were looking for content - i.e. any suspicious conversations, or maybe even a secret code." He said. "Of course at the time we found none, but when I went back through all the emails concerning Sheppard, I realised they had been tracked." At the stunned silence, he explained, "After a lot of searching, I detected a tiny delay, less than a second, in some of the messages sent between John, Carson, the SGC - and yours too, Dave. They were small spikes, no more than stutters, that didn't appear in any of the others. Normally they would have gone undiscovered, dismissed as an innocent delay in the connection, until of course I started to look a little closer. When my eagle eyes discovered what Forant had done, it was a relatively simple matter after that to deactivate the Trojan."

Dave found himself suddenly alert for the first time in days. "What are you saying, Rodney?"

"Forant was waiting for John to return to Earth." Rodney pointed out. "It's looking more and more likely that his attempt to kill Sheppard was a very weird, sick, smoke screen, as he never intended it to succeed. From what I can figure out, the SOB realised we would find him in time, but after what had happened, he made us think we would never see him again. We were wrong. Now it's clear he's been lying in wait ever since, for just the right moment."

"So, this is still my fault then…" Dave said sadly, settling back into his fugue.

McKay waved his hands in the air. "No, no - no, I didn't mean that at all," he interrupted, "It wouldn't have mattered if John had been sent to Washington, or visited an old friend. Forant would have still found a way to abduct him. As it happened, he saw the emails between you and Carson regarding John's vacation and the rest is history – if you'll excuse the pun." Rodney paused for a moment, then snapped his fingers remembering something else. "Oh, yeah. There was another hit too, on John's medical records, soon after he was taken. So I think we can now be pretty sure John was the 'mystery' patient from 1975. From what your friend told you about the case, Carson, its looking very likely that Forant gave Sheppard something he reacted really badly to."

Teyla was smiling, even Ronon was more animated than he'd ever seen him, and Dave started to feel the burden of guilt which had been weighing heavily upon him, start to lift. John was still missing, but at least now Dave knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. He wasn't to blame.

"That's excellent work, Doctor McKay, and I'm relieved you managed to deactivate the Trojan." Woolsey congratulated the scientist, but then gave McKay a searching look. "I do however have one more question."

Rodney was standing back on his heels, with his arms folded, clearly very pleased with himself. "Sure, what is it?"

"Now we know Brantum Forant has Colonel Sheppard in his time machine…how do we get him back?"

ooooOoooo

TBC

Now isn't that a good question! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review, as I really like to know what you think.