Chapter 12 - Unlocking The Doors
"I've got General O'Neill on video transmission Colonel - he has something for you." Elizabeth spared them barely a glance as they stepped through the gate back into Atlantis and with a shrug at Ronan, John followed her up to the control room.
"By the way... the meeting went well... nice of you to ask." John's saracasm was not lost on Elizabeth and she touched his shoulder as he passed her to enter the control room.
"Sorry John, a little distraction by way of General O'Neill... this whole thing is turning out to be worse than what we thought." Curious now, John went straight to the video screen where an impatient General O'Neill was seen drumming his hands on the table in front of him.
"You couldn't have moved a little faster Colonel? Kinda waiting here..." A little taken by the look on the General's face and his obvious impatience, John's sometimes inappropriate humour leapt to the forefront before he could control it.
"Got here as fast as we could General... wormhole, another planet... you know how it goes. Next time, I'll take my cape, word has it that superman flies faster than a speeding bullet..." Huffing a breath and already regretting his outburst he spared a quick glance at Elizabeth who was fighting to cover a smile, but did manage to attempt to look sternly at him.
"I beg your pardon Colonel?" and John had the good grace to drop his eyes and shuffle a little on the spot looking for all the world like a rather naughty child.
"Sorry General... slip of the tongue. The gang's all here now, and we would be most honoured to hear what you have to say."
"You're digging yourself a damn hole Sheppard. No wonder we sent you to Atlantis, no damn respect at all. You're lucky that I actually LIKE you, or perhaps I'd find another galaxy to send you to... somewhere far, far away." But he was smiling as he said it, truth he told, he had a soft spot for Sheppard, and the kid certainly reminded him of himself at the same age. All guts, no glory and a mouth that wouldn't know when to shut up. Hard to get angry at someone who was more or less a carbon copy of yourself. "Anyway... to business. And you'll want to hear what I have to say, because this is a doozy!"
John pulled up a chair to seat himself a little more comfortably. "I'm all ears General."
"We've tried to be as discreet with our digging around as we could and while I can't get names yet, I've traced it back to US Government, possibly as high up as Vice President, though we cannot confirm or deny that as yet. We're talking an agency within an agency within an agency... deep down as it gets. From what we can pick up, they are contracting this group of ten soldiers out as 'soldiers of fortune' just as you surmised, payment though.. that's the doozy. They're only after mineral, any kind they can get. It's not being brought back to earth immediately,but stored off world and we've not been able to get that location. Then being auctioned off to overseas private organisations, to the highest bidder. Now, some of this mineral, is weapons grade ore, as I'm sure you're aware, so we've got nuclear capability in the hands of private organisations, in countries where we certainly don't want that sort of power to grow. Getting my drift Colonel?"
John had slumped down slightly in his seat and casting a glance at Ronan, saw that he appeared a little confused. Earth politics would be a bit beyond him. 'Oh yeah General, consider your drift gotten - well and truly. Have you still got eyes on the second stargate?"
"Roger that Colonel, and so far whoever activated it two days ago, has not returned through it, nor has there been any other activation. Looks like they remain offworld for long periods of time. My suggestion - we'll keep digging at this end, and you go ahead with the recon you have scheduled for tomorrow. This is far reaching and we need to catch all the players. Has Dani been able to provide any further info?"
"On my agenda for this afternoon General. I'm going to take her to see Dr Heitmeyer, see what sort of memories she had help dig up for her." John rose from his chair, assuming that the communication was about to come to an end. "Might just get into my own clothes... this fabric is itchy... don't know how you stand it Ronan?" The big man grinned and made a muttered reference under his breath about John's likely lack of manhood, earning him a swift punch in the stomach as John walked past.
Once more comfortably attired in his own clothes, John tapped on the door to Dani's private quarters, having been temporarily moved in there after being cleared to leave the infirmary. It slid open under his hand command after he heard her request to come in, and found her curled up in a chair out on balcony, the light breeze, lifting her long hair softly off her face. She was gazing out to sea, and turned now to acknowledge him with a smile. "You look out there John,and wouldn't guess that you were in another galaxy... it is the same as earth, at least the bits that I can remember. It's peaceful here, I know I don't feel fear and when I think of earth, that is all I feel. I don't want to go back there, I don't want to confront whatever it is that sent me here." The calmness she had shown when enjoying the sea breeze promptly left, and she arose to pace the balcony, suddenly agitated as unwanted thoughts began to creep into her mind.
"Hey there, calm down... we're not going to let anything bad happen to you... hell, I'm not going to let anything happen to you full stop. You need to believe that Dani."
"Damn it John, I feel like a coward though, hiding here. I can give you what you need, at least enough to help you - and it's all locked up here." She tapped her head sharply, angry at herself now. Coming up behind her he tugged on a long lock of her hair, gently, just enough to still her agitated movements and to get her to turn around to face him. "Do you trust me Dani?" He looked at her intently as though he could will the answer he wanted to hear.
"You know I do John, hell at this point, you're the only one I can trust, the only one I know who didn't do this to me..." she brought her hand up to the bruising on her cheek and he took her hand away and put his own there. "Come with me to see Dr Heitmeyer, she's trained in hypnosis and I think that will be enough to break down the barrier your mind has put up to shut out all the bad stuff." Her gray eyes calmed to silver and he found himself mesmerised by them, drawing his other hand to her face and dropping his head so that he could lightly touch her lips. Just a light touch this time, not wanting her to run and he made himself pull back and groaned. "I'm not going to apologise for that... hell, I needed to do that." She had dropped her eyes and he used the pressure of his hands that still rested on her cheeks, to pull her gaze back up to his. "I'll back off, just a bit, you need answers, hell, we need answers - but I want to spend a little time chasing these feelings I'm having... you ok with that?"
Her soft smile encouraged him and he grinned in reply, heart just a little lighter. Hell yeah, something to look forward to ..
Kate Heitmeyer was welcoming as they entered her rooms, but John could feel the reluctance in Dani's posture, mostly because it was pressed firmly against the side of his own body where she had unwittingly plastered herself as soon as she had entered the room.She doesn't make it easy for me to back off, even a little bit he thought, with just a touch of humour, and decided it was because he was the only one she felt non threatened by at this point. But enjoying the touch of her, even in this way, he thought that he would happily take whatever he could get at this point.
"Sit down Dani, on the couch over there. I can see that while you've agreed to come here, you're afraid and very tense, and I want you to be relaxed and 100% comfortable with what I am going to do before I do it. Now, John? Are you staying here with her?" She manoevered Dani toward the couch and at her imploring look as she left his side, he shrugged his shoulders at Kate, attempting to show a casualness he most certainly did not feel. "If that's what the lady wants... happy to comply. Dani?"
Her response was to hold out her hand, and relieved, he took it, following her over to the couch and sitting down beside her so that their thighs brushed and he felt her relax automatically at the touch of his body. He noticed that Kate frowned slightly at the contact, catching John's eye and giving him an assessing once over. He had spent more than his share of time in the presence of Dr Kate Heitmeyer, in a professional capacity of course, and knew that those clear blue eyes of hers saw everything and missed nothing. He gave her a slight shrug, but she obviously saw something in his eyes that satisfied her, so relaxed back into her own chair to begin the session.
Talking for a while about Dani's childhood, John learned that she had one older brother and no living parents, and had grown up in small town in Iowa. She had gained a political science degree and moved to Washington DC to take up an internship with one of the parties and was later to become a personal aide to one of the more influentual senators. John mentally filed these facts away, the information that she had been immersed in the political scene was significant and would likely prove to be an important piece of the puzzle. Once she had established a base line and found a comfortable place to which Dani could return, she took her under. It was quick, one minute she was reminiscing about childhood occurences and the next minute her eyes were wide and staring, and her voice changed and became uncertain and frightened. John picked up the hand that rested lightly on her leg and took it onto his own thigh, keeping it firmly trapped.
"Ok Dani, we've come to the point in your life, where what is familiar is starting to become blurred. Can you see the curtain that has come down over everything that has happened during these past six months? It's like a net curtain, that is opaque and doesn't allow the viewer to see through it clearly." She waited until she received Dani's nod. "You put that curtain there Dani, you hung it up because something bad happened and your mind didn't want to think about it any more. I'm going to tell you something, and I want you to believe that what I speak is the truth. Those things behind that curtain? They can't hurt you anymore. They've already happened, they're just memories now and if you get scared, John is sitting right beside you - can you feel his touch?" John tightened his grip just a little to reassure her that he was there and he felt her thigh shift a little closer to his in response.
Kate took a deep breath, wanting to tread carefully so that they could extract the information with the least amount of pain to Dani. "I want you to reach out and pull back the curtain, just a little, like you're going to take a little peak, then you can put it back again." Not wanting to give her too many instructions, she waited. Dani's eyes had shut now and she put her head back against the couch and her body had started to shake, just a little. 'Ok Dani, remember that calm place we talked about, with the good feelings? The lake you used to visit as a child. Look behind you, see it there, it's just a little way away - if you get really scared, you just have to take a step, and your toes are curling into the warm sand. Ok?"
The shivering did not stop, and John cast wary eyes at Kate, who nodded briefly at him, signifying that she was ok. "The curtain Dani,just reach out and pull it back a little... the lake is right behind you, just a step away."
Both John and Kate knew the moment that she reached out and pulled back the curtain,because her face changed to one of fear, and she collapsed then, pulling her hand from John's and curling in a ball, whimpering with fear. "Don't hit me anymore... I'll destroy it, I promise, please! There's only the one copy and if you let me go I'll get it and destroy it. Please don't hit me anymore..." she threw up her arm to cover her face.
"Dani!" Kate's voice was urgent now. "Who is hitting you. Look at his face and tell me his name."
"I can't! It hurts, I can't breathe.. oh God, he's kicking me and something just cracked inside me... I can't breathe. Please make him stop." John was gathering her into his arms, and casting an angry look at Kate, but Kate just shook her head.
"Dani! Look at his face. You need to say his name."
"Damn it - it'... God, he's supposed to be his friend, my friend? I can't breathe."
"Yes you can Dani. It's just a memory, it's not happening again. Breathe. In, out... another one...see... you can do it." She attempted to get off the couch now, but both the remembered and actual pain of her broken ribs had her collapsing slightly and John trapped her body against his own and lowered her back down to the couch.
"Dani - I need you to look around the room where you are being held. Do you see anyone else there? Is there another person in the room?" Dani attempted to take long shuddering breaths and her hand felt cold and clammy. "He's stopped kicking me now, he thinks I'm nearly dead... he's talking to someone, but he's standing in the shadows. I can't see his face."
"Dani - the shadows aren't real, not really. Picture a spotlight in your hand and you're aiming in into the shadows so that you can see his face. I need you to see his face!" Kate's voice was urgent now as she sensed they were about to make a breakthrough and John felt a surge of anger that she was being used in this manner, both then, and now to achieve the ends and means for someone else. She was sobbing now, clearly terrified and on the brink of collapse, and Kate knew that she would have to pull her out soon. "I see him, he's walking toward me now. There are two more men... oh God, one is Ted, Ted? How could he do this to me? He told me loved me, he told me we would be married. He's looking down at me, his eyes are cold... like death. And that is where I am nearly... he thinks I don't see him, but my eyes are not quite shut and I see his face. Cold, dead eyes - the eyes of a killer. There's another man - he's not happy and starts yelling at Ted. I know him. Oh God, I know him. Michael Rowan."
Before she could let the shock set in, Kate quickly brought her out, locking eyes with John who held tightly to Dani for just a moment, then pushed away in anger to move over to the wall, smashing his fist against it as he swore. "The damn vice president of the United States. O'Neill was right." He leaned back against the wall and furiously scrubbed a hand across his eyes and down his face, then looked over at the couch, where Dani lay back, eyes now shut, breathing calm. "She's out?"
"Very lightly under, I put the suggestion for her to sleep... I didn't want her coming out straight away to that memory, better it takes a little while to filter through. There's more John, a hell of a lot more, but it will take a while to get through it all. She's been through a lot, I'm not surprised her mind shut everthing out - betrayal, both personal and on a professional level - my God, the US Vice President, that's huge." Kate ran her own hands over her eyes, suddenly exhausted at what she had seen in Dani's mind. "Take her back to her quarters John, I'll bring her right out in a minute. She'll need rest, and support, lot's of it."
"Onto it Kate - though I'm sure you've pretty much worked out how I feel." He cast a sideways glance at her and saw her smile. "You're are a little transparent Colonel Sheppard. But a small word of warning – she's fragile right now, as I'm sure you're aware, so tread carefully because if you don't you will leave footsteps behind and you'd better be sure that is what you want to do. For both your sakes."