HALF-LIVES

CHAPTER 11

"I think I might've found it!"

Sam Carter looked up from her computer to see Rodney McKay standing in her doorway, a childlike, excited grin on his face, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"You're sure?" She asked, pushing her chair back from her desk.

Rodney looked slightly confused. "Not completely. I mean, I did say I 'think', didn't I? Out loud, I mean?"

"Yes, Rodney. You did."

"Oh. Okay, then. Anyway, I happened to be sitting in my lab, thinking about the time Colonel Sheppard touched that crystal on M3X-387, how we used the defibrillator to weaken the alien inside Sheppard enough to be able to get it back into the crystal." He knew he was rambling, but he was too far gone to stop now. "I know there's no crystal this time, and we already dumped the storage device, but maybe we could use the same basic idea on this energy being."

Carter stared at Rodney, her eyebrow raised, for what seemed to him like eternity. When she spoke, she did so slowly, enunciating every word. "You want to shock Colonel Sheppard."

"Well, yes. But just with enough…juice…to either incapacitate the being, or kill it entirely."

She was glaring at him again, and he wrung his hands nervously. "I'm not exactly sure how many joules it would take to kill it, or if it would even work at all, but it's the best chance we have," he finished emphatically. As much as Sheppard could irritate Rodney, he actually loved the Colonel like a brother – something he would never openly admit – and, just as importantly, he was desperate to even the score when it came to saving each others' lives.

"Rodney," Carter began, her hand rubbing a small knot of tension in the side of her neck, "you do realize that in doing this, you could kill Sheppard."

Rodney nodded slowly, a small frown wrinkling his forehead. "I know, Sam. But, if we don't do anything, and the being takes over him, the only way to stop him would be to kill him."

"So we're screwed either way."

"Well, that's one way of putting it, I suppose," he muttered, disturbed by her bluntness. He really shouldn't have been; he could often be just as blunt, just as tactless, but when it came from her, it just sounded weird.

"And if it works, and we can incapacitate the being, then what?" Carter asked.

"I'm still trying to work that out." He winced as she stared icy daggers at him. "Look, I've been trying to go one problem at a time, here. Right now, my problem is at least weakening this thing. Beyond that…" Rodney shrugged.

Carter felt the knot in her neck turning harder, like a pebble lodged beneath her skin. Being the leader of the Atlantis expedition was hard enough, with enemies like the Wraith constantly at your doorstep. But, she mused, at least they were tangible, solid enemies. These alien beings, wherever they were from, were fairly invisible, and that somehow made them seem more dangerous. And now, at least one of them was bent on controlling her military leader, or killing him altogether, and the only way they could save him was to possibly kill him. Again.

Out loud, Carter sighed. "All right, Rodney. Get what you need, and meet me in the infirmary. I'll fill in Doctor Keller while we wait."

Rodney nodded enthusiastically, glad that at least he wouldn't have to face the brunt of Keller's wrath after she heard their plan. "Yes, yes. Thank you, Sam."

She watched him leave without uttering a response, then stared up at the ceiling and muttered, "Thank me when it's over."

It was still dark, but at least the cold had subsided now. Sheppard still felt hot, as if he were in a sauna turned up all the way, but he could deal with that. The silence pressed on his ears, and he had the sudden ache to hear Ronon's rumbling voice, or Teyla's sparkling laugh. Even Rodney's inane sci-babble would've satisfied him at this point, anything but silence. He missed the constant lapping of the ocean waves, the smell of the salty air that permeated the entire city, but here, there was nothing. It was as if he were in a prison cell the same size as his body, unable to move and hardly able to breathe.

Finally, just to break the silence around him, he called, "Ben?"

Nothing but his own voice echoed back to him. He growled in frustration, and tried again. "Ben, where the hell'd you run off to?"

At last, Sheppard heard a mere whisper, and he almost cried with relief. It wasn't Ben, he realized then, but Teyla's voice that had somehow reached him.

"John," she said, though it was so quiet he had to strain to hear it, "Please, keep fighting. I am here for you."

"Teyla!" He shouted, but she didn't respond, and he felt his hope crushed once more. "Great, so she can't hear me."

The silence continued for what seemed ages, so every once in a while, he decided to talk to himself, hoping at least that hearing his own voice would keep him from going crazy. He recited lines from his favorite movies, hummed a few Johnny Cash songs, and interspersed these with calls to Ben. The being had yet to answer, however, and Sheppard was beginning to get majorly pissed.

"Ben, you sick son of a bitch, I know you're here. Say something right NOW!"

Ben's voice murmured back to him. "I thought you wanted me to leave you alone."

Sheppard laughed, and noticed with concern that it had sounded a little hysterical. "I do. Oh, how I do. But as long as you're here, you could at least tell me who these enemies of yours are."

Ben chuckled. "You are a persistent one, Sheppard."

"I told you before, I'm stubborn."

"That, you are. Very well. Our enemies are the giant beings that live in the water on this planet."

"Giant beings," Sheppard murmured, trying to understand who Ben was describing. Then, he shook his head (or the equivalent of it), and asked, "You mean the whales?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it."

Sheppard had always had some mixed feelings for the whales that lived near Atlantis. They were massive, as big as cruise ships, and weren't actually whales, but giant fish. Giant, friendly fish, he thought with a smile. Though, anything that big could still be potentially dangerous, and that was why he was wary of them, despite their helpful nature.

Sheppard heard an impatient sigh before Ben explained, "Their emissions – what you would call 'sonar' – can kill us. Those of us you have imprisoned in the device are likely already dead, as the…whales…would have already tracked them down."

Now Sheppard understood. "So you want to use Atlantis' weapons to kill the whales."

"Correct."

"I can't let you do that, you know."

Ben chuckled. "You do not have much of a choice, in your current state."

Sheppard felt rage boiling inside him again, but he forced his voice to stay level. "I will die before I let you control me."

"No, you will not."

Sheppard was startled. "What?"

"You have no desire to die. There is someone who needs you. Someone you love."

Sheppard growled, knowing Ben had somehow read his mind, maybe after their last struggle.

"If it's what it takes to protect them," he said, emphasizing the last word, "then I will."

"Hmm," Ben replied, then fell silent. Despite his anger, Sheppard almost dreaded the quiet.

A few moments later, Ben muttered, "Stop me, if you can, then."

The intense pressure of Ben's energy surrounded Sheppard again, and he steeled himself and pushed back. Ben surged forward even harder, and Sheppard felt himself slip a little. Then, the faces of his team – his life – drifted before him, and he used more of his draining strength to resist. He was rewarded by the feeling of Ben retreating slightly, but he refused to pull back, to regroup. He knew that if he did, Ben could again gain the higher ground. Sure enough, Ben pushed on him again, making the darkness even blacker than he'd thought possible. Sheppard gave a quick, determined snarl and lashed out against Ben with all his strength, already feeling it sapping from him, as if his very soul was bleeding out. Come on, Rodney, he begged silently. I don't know how long I can hold out.

"Are you ready yet, Rodney?" Keller asked as she watched him tapping away on his tablet. She hadn't liked this plan from the beginning, but as Carter – and later, Rodney – had explained, it was their best bet to getting the Colonel back.

She had just finished placing electrodes from the EEG on Sheppard's forehead, though she'd had a little trouble thanks to his profuse sweating, and was now checking the printout from the heart monitor. Except for the tremors that had begun to shake the Colonel's body once more, his vitals seemed as normal as could be expected, so she just stood beside the bed, her hands on her hips as she watched the man who was one of Sheppard's best friends, if not the best.

"Almost there," Rodney mumbled, then tapped a final time and looked up at her. "Okay. It's go time."

Carter appeared at the foot of the bed then, and was soon joined by Ronon and Teyla, whose stoic expressions effectively hid their roiling emotions. Beyond them, Major Lorne and one of his team members stood just inside the door, guarding it in case the plan went south. Lorne's face was a tangle of emotions; pain, fear and resolve all managed to somehow flick across his eyes, and it only served to unnerve Rodney even more.

He deliberately turned away from Lorne's gaze, and looked to Carter, who solemnly nodded once, giving him the go-ahead.

"Okay. Keller, ready the paddles," he breathed, mentally crossing his fingers that this would work.

Jennifer carefully placed the defibrillator paddles against Sheppard's damp abdomen, her gaze flicking toward the digital numbers on the machine, and shouted, "Clear!"

Rodney unconsciously took a step back, though he was already fairly far from the bed, as the defibrillator sent a shock through Sheppard's body. His back arched off the bed, and Rodney thought he saw the hint of crinkling around his friend's eyes, but this was no time to second-guess things. There was no going back now.

Jennifer removed the paddles, holding them out in front of her as she gazed expectantly at Sheppard, praying simply that his eyes would flutter, but nothing happened, and her shoulders fell in defeat.

"Up the, uh, power," Rodney said quietly, and she nodded and reached over to press a button on the machine.

"Ready," she said. Rodney nodded at her, and she repeated her earlier motions, shocking Sheppard with the paddles and waiting for a response.

She shook her head at the others.

"More power," Rodney nearly whispered.

This had to work.

Sheppard was losing ground, he could feel it. True to his nature, however, he refused to give up. Ben laughed at him, his chuckle buzzing through Sheppard's head like a ton of bees.

"Why don't you just give up?" Ben asked him. "It won't be that bad."

"I told you," Sheppard gasped, "I'm stubborn."

And that was when he felt it – a tingling in the base of his mind. It seemed to ease the pressure around him, allowing him to catch his breath, which he took in great gulps.

"The hell?" he asked aloud, though more to himself than Ben.

It happened again, and the tingling turned to a numbing sensation. Finally, he understood.

"Rodney," he breathed.

The pressure grew once more, but it seemed less than before, and he was still able to breathe comfortably.

Ben's low growl soon reached his hearing, and finally the extreme pressure returned, again blackening his vision.

"Your friends are interfering," the being said, and Sheppard rejoiced at the fear in its voice.

"You bet your ass they are. We never give up on a team member," he replied, now having gained enough of his strength back to be able to fight the being. He immediately shoved against Ben's thick weight, and was almost giddy when another numbing sensation jolted through him. Though Ben tried again to push into Sheppard's mind, his hold slipped as another shock immediately rippled through, this time strong enough to actually send pain through Sheppard himself. Ben let out a strangled scream, and then the pressure retreated quickly, as if it were being sucked into a vacuum.

Sheppard, completely drained of energy, curled in on himself, this time glad for the darkness that enveloped him.

"It's not working, Rodney. All we're gonna do is kill him." Jennifer said, turning away and tossing the paddles back onto the machine in frustration.

"No. No, no, wait. Just one more time. I think…"

"Doctors!" Teyla interjected, her eyes looking past them toward Sheppard's prone form.

Jennifer looked down in response, and was shocked to see Sheppard's eyelids fluttering slightly. He was also breathing again, his chest rising of its own accord, and the flushed tint of his skin had begun to fade.

"Oh, my God," Keller and McKay both breathed at the same time.

"It worked?" Ronon asked, stepping forward to gaze at Sheppard with his own eyes.

"It worked," Rodney mimicked, inwardly hopping up and down. He'd never felt this excited, this relieved, in his life.

"The alien being?" Carter asked him, her eyes serious.

Rodney's grin refused to leave his face. "Dead."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Completely."

"And the others?" She asked. Rodney seemed to finally remember them then, and looked down at his tablet.

"Um…retreating. Seems the one attacking Sheppard was the leader. Once it was gone, the others must've figured they'd been beaten."

Sheppard made a noise in his throat then, causing everyone to turn toward him. With his eyes still shut tight, he reached up to try and figure out why he was having trouble breathing properly.

"Hang on, Colonel, and we'll get that tube out," Jennifer said, stilling him with a hand on his arm. He opened his eyes then, and she was never so glad to see the color green as she did at that moment.

"Are you sure you should do that already?" Teyla asked, and Keller nodded.

"He'll be fine. He's breathing on his own now, so he doesn't need it. In fact, it's probably hurting more than helping right now." She glanced around at the group of people circling the bed. "But I need to close the curtain for a minute as I remove it." She leaned forward, as if to impart a secret. "Sometimes, the patient throws up. Gag reflex."

"Oh, gross!" Rodney muttered, stepping well away from the bed. The others followed, and with a wide smile, Jennifer slid the curtain closed.

Sheppard's friends all stood just outside the curtain, waiting. A shared realization seemed to hit them all at the same time, bringing a collective sigh of relief through the infirmary.

Sheppard was alive.

TBC...

Notes: Hey, so I know it's kinda a short chapter, but what're ya gonna do, right? LOL anyway, I promise that's the end of the Shep-Whumping. Next chapter will be pretty much an epilogue, of how things work out between Shep and Teyla, with some "awww" Shep & Torren moments thrown in for good measure. *Sighs* Nothing better than seeing a handsome guy geeking out over a baby...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the rollercoaster ride of emotions - let me know how you liked it. And to all of you awesome reviewers, THANK YOU!!!

PS - I know that my medical/scientific junk may be off, but it's a darn story, so I'm not too worried about it.