HALF-LIVES

CHAPTER 6

The look of relief that crossed Rodney's face when his friends appeared in the lab would have been comical, had everyone not been in such a serious mood. Sheppard had called Ronon on the way, and since he was only down the hall on one of his runs, he met Sheppard and Teyla a few moments later.

"Oh, thank God," Rodney breathed, then added after Sheppard's puzzled look, "you said twenty minutes!"

Sheppard looked down at his watch, then shot Rodney a glare. "It's only been another five. What's your problem, McKay?"

McKay crossed his arms and stuck out his bottom lip. "My 'problem', as you so succinctly put it, is that you woke me up at the butt-crack of dawn, told me to meet you here, and – wonder of wonders! – you're late!"

Sensing what was coming next, Teyla stepped between them then, and rested her hand on Rodney's arm. "Rodney," she soothed, "we are here now. Let us focus on that."

Rodney watched her eyes for a moment, unconsciously letting her calm bleed through into him. Then, he sighed and dropped his arms. "Fine. Yes, you're right."

When she backed away, Sheppard leaned down and murmured, "Thanks," into her ear, and she nodded imperceptively. She sat in a nearby chair, and Ronon rested his hands on the back of it, smiling down at her when she happened to glance up. She smiled back, glad to see that he was back to normal.

"So," Rodney said, clapping his hands and then rubbing them together. "You said you think you knew what was going on with the ventilation problem. Wanna fill us in?"

Sheppard nodded, and glanced down at Rodney's monitor. "The reason the computer is sensing that the vents are blocked, is because they are."

Rodney cocked his head at him. "But Zelenka and I checked them. They're all clear."

The Colonel nodded again. "And they are."

Now Rodney was completely confused. "But you just said…"

"Whatever is blocking them is not solid. They're some sort of energy."

Sheppard could see that he was beginning to confuse not only Rodney, but Teyla and Ronon as well. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I think the dreams we've all been having, and the ventilation problem, are related. The loved ones in our dreams are actually these…beings…trying to wear us down, weaken us. And they use the vents to hide out or rest during the day."

"But, if this is true," Teyla said slowly, "then where did they come from? Did they follow us back from a planet we have recently visited?"

Sheppard shrugged. "Honestly? I'm not sure. Although, my dreams didn't start until I came back with Kanaan." As soon as the words left his mouth, he winced. He hadn't intended on mentioning the man's name. Teyla's face remained neutral despite it, however, and he rushed on. "All I know is, we've got to find a way to contain them, before one of us passes out and doesn't wake up."

"I say we kill 'em," Ronon suggested, his dark eyes serious.

"And how do you suggest we do that, Conan?" Rodney asked with a scowl. "We don't even know what they really are, much less how to get rid of them!"

"What do we do now?" Teyla asked them, and received nothing but blank stares in return. Ronon shrugged, his original idea having been shot down by the others.

An idea seemed to come to Sheppard, and he turned to stare at Rodney. "Can we block them in?"

"Block them in?" Rodney repeated, and Sheppard nodded. "Um, let me think…" he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, a frown turning down the corners of his mouth. "You believe they're some sort of energy, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Then no. No, we can't. There's no way to contain them in the ventilation shafts, and even if there were, there's no telling how long it would take them to find a way out."

Sheppard blew out a breath. "Any time is better than none," he reminded his friend.

"Yes, well, right now, we're at 'none'." Then, a thought popped into his head, and he did a kind of excited little hop. "Unless…"

"McKay?" Sheppard prodded.

Rodney rushed over to another bank of computers, and pushed a few keys on a board in front of him. "Okay, we might have a chance to capture them, if we can lure them to this storage unit," he replied, pointing at a dot on the screen.

"What's so special about that one?" Ronon rumbled, coming to stand behind Sheppard's right shoulder. Sheppard could feel Teyla move to stand on his left.

Rodney stared at him for a moment, his mind not comprehending how Ronon couldn't see the solution as clearly as he could himself. Then, he shook his head, and explained, "This was Herrick's Pattern Storage Module. Remember?"

Ronon nodded. He clearly remembered Jamus trapping Teyla inside it. If the guy hadn't died from his injuries, Ronon would've shot his head off for that mess.

"Well, it was made to hold an enormous amount of energy patterns. Like a, a...super-capacitor for human energy. The sheathing is an extremely dense metal, and if we can lure them into it, they can get in…"

"But not out," Sheppard interjected, and Rodney nodded emphatically, as if to say, 'See, he got it.'

Some time later, after they had formulated a plan, they all stood there in the lab, each one lost in their own thoughts. That is, until Ronon sighed out loud and flopped into an empty chair.

"So, how exactly do we lure them?" He asked. "I mean, what do we use as bait?"

Sheppard shrugged, a grin that bordered on sheepish plastered across his face. "Me?"

Once again, blank stares met him. When they understood what he was saying, each of his friends reacted differently. Ronon scowled heavily, his heavy brows knitted, and Rodney shook his head, disbelieving that one man could stare death in the face so many times, yet be almost willing to do it again.

But it was Teyla's expression that crushed his heart, and almost changed his mind. Her eyes, shining with tears, were open wide, and her hands clenched at her sides, the fabric of her skirt caught in her fingers. Sadness tugged at the corners of her mouth, and when she opened it to speak, that lower lip began to tremble as it had a few days ago.

"John, no," she said, but he held up a hand to stop her from saying any more.

"Teyla, I have to. I think the one that's after me is the leader of the group. If it goes, the rest will follow."

"But, you promised Kanaan," she argued, her voice little more than a whisper.

As a tear spilled down her cheek, he took her by the shoulders, and peered straight into her eyes. Though there was a small smile on his face, his green eyes were solemn. "And I am keeping that promise by doing this. Please, Teyla."

She knew that he wasn't really asking permission; Sheppard usually did what he felt was right, no matter what anyone else said. But he was asking her to support his decision, to stop worrying about him, and despite the sickly hollow feeling inside her, she slowly nodded. If this was what he wanted, she would not stop him.

Sheppard used his thumb to flick away the tear that by now had tracked down to her chin, and then touched his forehead to hers. "I'll be okay."

She simply nodded, not trusting her voice, and he pulled away from her.

"Rodney," he said then, "how long?"

McKay checked the computer monitor, and replied, "Five minutes. You should just have enough time to get to the module."

"Good." Sheppard turned to Ronon. "No matter what happens, don't come after me."

Ronon breathed in deeply, clearly showing his displeasure, yet he nodded. "You got it."

Sheppard took a step forward and leaned in toward his large friend. "And make sure she doesn't, either." He nodded toward Teyla, who was looking over Rodney's shoulder at the computer.

"I'll try my best." Sheppard started to walk away, but Ronon grabbed his arm, and he turned back. "If you make it out of this, you're gonna tell her."

Sheppard sighed. "This again?" The Satedan stared daggers into his eyes at that, making Sheppard instantly nod. "All right. You win."

Ronon grinned and released his arm, and Sheppard quickly made his way out of the lab and down the hall.

Toward the OK Corral, he tried to joke with himself, but it fell short. This was no time for jokes. He'd had so little sleep in so long, these creatures just might be able to overpower him, and that would most definitely not end well. Teyla was right; he'd made a promise to care for her and Torren, and it would be hard to keep that promise if he was dead. But now, he had a chance to protect not only them, but everyone on Atlantis, and he had to take that chance. He wondered if Rodney's constant criticism of his was accurate – if he was so enamored by being a hero that he rushed into situations before a second thought. He hated having any extra attention focused on him, but he had to admit, the adrenaline rush he got in the middle of a fight was almost addictive.

As he reached the bottom of the staircase he'd been walking down, he had the same feeling as he'd had in his room earlier, and he knew they were nearby. He clicked on his radio, slowly bringing his gun level and peering through the sights. He could feel the hair on his arms rising, and though it was comfortably warm in the hallway, he suddenly shivered.

"Guys, I think I'm close."

"Okay," Rodney replied, watching the dot that indicated Sheppard's position on the small screen he held in his palm. "Now, try and get them to follow you."

"And how do you suggest I do that, Rodney?" Sheppard hissed into the mic. "Leave a trail of jellybeans?"

Ronon wasn't quite sure what jellybeans were, but from Sheppard's tone of voice, he knew that leaving a trail of them for the beings was not a good idea. He chuckled aloud until Rodney glared at him, and Ronon was forced to turn his head so the moody scientist wouldn't see his smile.

"Hey, this was your idea, remember?" Rodney asked testily, ignoring the look Teyla was giving him at the moment – the one they jokingly called the "Mom Look".

"Calm down, McKay. I'll figure something out," Sheppard replied, reaching up to switch off the radio once more.

As he turned around to do his visual sweep, a fist suddenly crashing into his face caught him off guard, and he staggered back, his sight suddenly blurry. He shook his head to clear it, and was shocked to see who stepped into his view.

"Major Lorne?" He asked in disbelief. The Major didn't reply at first, only stood there staring at him.

Then, slowly, as if talking were somehow difficult, he replied, "Just give in, Sheppard. It's…not so bad."

Sheppard shook his head, letting his anger boil over inside him. "Whoever you are, leave my men alone!"

"But, I need him," Lorne replied, his face taking on the evil sneer Sheppard had seen on his mother's face. Sheppard could feel himself starting to shake, not with cold this time, but with rage. No one took control of his team – of his friends – without a fight. "Besides, he was too tired to put up much of a struggle," the creature within his friend and colleague replied, again reading his thoughts.

Gotta stop that from happening, Sheppard warned himself, letting his tired mind throw up a protective wall around itself. When it was in place, Sheppard cocked his head at Lorne and asked, "You wanna take over my mind, right?"

Lorne just nodded once, slowly, and Sheppard had to admit that it creeped him out more than any horror movie he'd ever seen.

"Okay, then," he said, "you can have it. But we have to do this in a more…" he glanced around the halls, for effect, "…private place."

Lorne eyed him for a moment, trying to discern if he was telling the truth. Then, he nodded. "Very well."

The two of them walked toward the room the stasis unit was left in, and though he couldn't see them, Sheppard could feel the other beings were close by; their energy bristled against his skin like sandpaper with every step. So far, the plan was working quite well, but he was careful not to celebrate yet. There was still one more step to this mission that hadn't been reached yet…how to get them into the storage unit.

"Well, Colonel?" Lorne drawled, the wicked sneer returning.

"Okay, how do we do this?" he asked, glancing down at the module in front of him. He'd noticed a small switch on the main panel, and was slowly reaching out to touch it. "Do I have to give you permission, or…"

The creature inside Lorne soon noticed him moving, and growled deep in his throat. Before Sheppard could freeze and try to distract him, Lorne swung both fists into the back of Sheppard's head, smiling when he heard it connect.

Sheppard fell against the machine, blackness beginning to edge into his field of vision. He fought against it, unwilling to go down so easily, and waited until Lorne had grabbed his shoulders to try and spin him around to lift his foot and swiftly kick the Major in the kneecap. He heard a sickening snap, but didn't stop now that he had the upper hand. Sheppard punched Lorne in the face twice, then three times, but the man still wouldn't go down. Though the Major was quite a bit shorter than Sheppard, he seemed to be twice as strong; Sheppard didn't know whether that was the alien influence or not, and really, he didn't much care either way.

Lorne grunted and fell to his knees, but was able to stand and get in a few punches to Sheppard's kidney before he could try for the switch a second time. Again, Sheppard's vision turned fuzzy, and his stomach lurched with every breath, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Why don't you give up?" Lorne asked him, and as Sheppard turned to face him, he managed a grin of his own even as he wiped a trickle of blood from his nose.

"I'm stubborn." He pulled out his standard-issue knife and swiped it at Lorne's chest, but narrowly missed. Lorne easily flipped it out of his hand and plunged it into the top of Sheppard's thigh, causing an agonized scream to erupt from the Colonel, then dragged it down an inch before pulling it back out. Sheppard immediately gripped his leg, trying in vain to hold the wound closed, but his hands were soon too slippery to do any good. Blood was pouring down his leg, forming a pool at his feet, and the dizziness was becoming much worse.

"I see." Lorne took a step forward, noting the way that Sheppard's pupils refused to refocus. That is good, he thought; he is slowly losing consciousness. "That's really too bad."

"Yeah," Sheppard rasped, still trying to settle his roiling gut. He felt seasick, as if the entire room was tilting around him. "Well, it comes in handy, you know."

"For what?"

Sheppard winked his eye, and too late Lorne saw his hand slam down on the switch. The machine glowed blue, and a loud, purring noise came from within it. Sheppard could feel the energy around him being pulled toward the module, and he knew he didn't have long to escape it himself. The modifications Rodney had made on it gave him only ten seconds to get out. It wasn't enough time, he was sure of that. If – no, when, he corrected; think positive, John – the creature released Lorne, the Major would most likely be unconscious, meaning that he'd have to drag the man out of the room as well. Sheppard shook his head. His sight was still way off, and his entire body felt as if he'd been through an industrial metal press. The wound on his thigh burned, as if someone had stuck a cattle-brand into him.

Luckily for them both, as soon as the creature inside Lorne had been torn free of his body (which Lorne would later recount in painful detail), he was able to escape the room on his own accord. Nodding in approval as the man ran past him, Sheppard half-dragged himself through the doorway and waved over the controls, then pressed a few buttons, effectively locking the door.

"Rodney," he ground out, "blow the hatch."

At the sound of his voice in their ears, his friends all jumped up from their seats, glad to finally hear him again. Rodney made a few keystrokes, and then tapped his radio.

"Done. Are you okay?" he asked, and when he didn't get a reply, he turned toward Teyla and Ronon, a clear look of terror on his face. "Sheppard? John, are you there?"

Major Lorne spoke up then. "Rodney, get Dr. Keller. We've got a man down."

Teyla ran from the room at top speed, heading for Sheppard's location, while Ronon followed behind at a more reasonable pace. Rodney summoned Jennifer, then took up the rear, praying that Sheppard wasn't hurt too badly.

Sheppard awoke face down on the cool floor of the city, a few moments after he'd radioed Rodney. His head was pounding mercilessly, and he was too weak to even roll onto his back. A shadow fell over his shoulder then, and Major Lorne's voice reached him, though it sounded far away, muffled by the hammering in his brain.

"Colonel Sheppard, can you hear me?" Lorne asked, pressing his cool fingers against Sheppard's throat to feel for his pulse.

"Mmph," Sheppard groaned, wisely shutting his eyes against the lights in the hallway. He tried again to move, then gasped when his leg throbbed in protest. His pant-leg felt stiff and wet, and he found that he'd recently started shivering. Must be in shock, he told himself, glad that at least for the time being, his stomach had lost its desire to dump its contents. It still growled loudly, but the churning had since stopped.

"Don't move, Colonel," Lorne said, unzipping his jacket and pulling it off. He spread it over his superior's shuddering body, hoping it would at least cut the chill until Keller's medical team reached them.

Sheppard kept fading in and out of consciousness every few seconds. He heard Teyla's voice once, and though he struggled to speak to her, he couldn't get his mouth to work. He groaned instead, and she settled her hand against his forehead, wiping away the drops of sweat that stood out there.

"Shh, John," she murmured. "Save your strength."

Just then, Jennifer arrived, and assessed his wounds. When he was safely laid on the stretcher, she started ordering everyone around, including Ronon, who remained stoic as ever, even when he was forced to hold Sheppard's arm still so Jennifer could insert the IV.

"Major Lorne," Jennifer called to him, and he stepped smartly over to her.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I'm going to need to see you in the infirmary, too."

Lorne nodded. "I'll follow you down."

TBC...

Notes: So, I know it kinda took a while to get to the Whumping...but I think it was kinda worth it. Shep doesn't go down easy very often, huh? The next few chapters may take a little while, as I get distracted sometimes from my stories to do other stuff. But I'm definitely gonna try...hope you enjoy!