A/N: I have been asked to clarify a particular point about Jennifer Keller. To that end, I have updated chapter three. Sandy

The Return of Katie Brown

Part VI - Vengeance

Sheppard touched his earpiece. "This is Sheppard. Anything to report?" Lorne, Teyla and Ronon all answered in the negative. Katie was seen going into her quarters and at last report Kavanagh was in the science lab working. He checked his watch. "Okay. It's getting late. Let's pack it in. Lorne, who do we have on Keller?"

"Jones, sir. We're rotating every three hours. Lopez is up next then Fischer."

"Good. Thanks." He closed the connection, opened a new one. "Sheppard to McKay." Silence. "McKay, please respond." He broke into a run. "Ronon! Teyla! McKay's not answering!"

Seconds later the trio burst into Rodney's quarters with weapons drawn but the room was clear. Still on high alert, Teyla prowled the room peering under and behind furniture while Ronon went to the bathroom door. It opened only a few inches before coming up against Rodney's unconscious form.

"Sheppard!" Putting his shoulder to the door he was able to open it enough for them to enter. The injector tube was still in Rodney's right hand.

John took in the red blotches on his skin and the labored breathing, just two of the symptoms Rodney had told him to look for when he made sure he knew what to do if he should be incapacitated by anaphylactic shock. He held up the used injector. "He's having an allergic reaction and this one didn't work. I know he has more around here someplace. Find one!" He carefully turned his friend onto his back and pressed his fingers below the right ear and felt a rapid pulse. Another symptom.

Teyla and Ronon opened drawers, dumping the contents on the floor and finally located another EpiPen in the desk. John used it as he'd been instructed then handed both expended injectors to Teyla as she tapped her earpiece.

"Teyla to the Infirmary. Dr. McKay has had an allergic reaction. We are bringing him to you!"

*****

The medical team swarmed around the unconscious man as Sheppard and Ronon laid him on one of the infirmary beds. Teyla followed close behind handing the spent EpiPens to one of the nurses and explaining that the first had not worked so they had used a second one. Someone, they couldn't see who, attached a heart monitor and took his blood pressure while someone else inserted an I.V. and attached the oxygen sensor. Jennifer tried to help but she was still recovering from her fall and was held back by Sheppard. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to stem the flow of panic that had surged when she first saw the man she loved brought into the infirmary.

Dr. Cole and a dark-haired female doctor from the UK were shouting orders for medications and tests as familiar to Jennifer as her own name but which meant very little to Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla. Even so, they could tell that the blood pressure and pulse readings displayed on the monitor indicated shock.

After what seemed like hours, the medical staff moved away and the group was allowed to approach. Sheppard pulled a chair close to the bed and Jennifer dropped into it. She reached out and took Rodney's hand while Sheppard and the others moved a few feet away to speak quietly with Dr. Cole.

"You got him here just in time. A few more minutes…" She didn't complete the thought.

"Yeah. We got that. Thanks, Doc."

"You can stay for a while but he probably won't wake up till morning. We'll know more then." She gave them a small smile and moved away to give the friends privacy. They exchanged glances but said nothing. After a few minutes Sheppard nodded and they left Jennifer alone with Rodney.

Sheppard paused at the entrance a pensive expression on his face as he glanced around the infirmary. Something touched him on the periphery of his mind where he couldn't quite get a grasp on it. It nagged at him and refused to be disregarded.

"What is it, John?" Teyla asked.

He waved a hand over the sides of his head wiggling his fingers. "My 'Spidey-sense' is tingling. Not sure why." Something he saw or something he heard… He pushed it away for the time being. Whatever it was would make itself known eventually.

Out in the hall Sheppard called for another report on Kavanagh and Katie. He was still in the science lab and she was in the Mess Hall. Frustration stiffened his back and his resolve. He ordered a guard on McKay then took off down the corridor to the nearest transport, Teyla and Ronon on his heels. "He had to have gotten whatever it was that did this to him in his quarters. Let's find it."

Less than an hour later they returned to the infirmary with the box of candy from Rodney's bedside table. Sheppard had already had the box examined but the only fingerprints were Rodney's and Jennifer's. Teyla had gone on to her quarters because she would be getting up early with Torren but Sheppard and Ronon insisted on waiting for the analysis. The lab was nothing if not efficient and they didn't have long to wait.

Amanda's face was grim. "All of the candy in the box was laced with lemon juice. The mint flavoring probably covered the taste."

"I hear an 'and' coming." Sheppard prompted.

"And…the reason the first EpiPen didn't work is because someone replaced the epinephrine with saline."

*****

She glanced at the clock then tapped her headset. "Hey, it's me. I, um, I can't meet you tonight."

He hesitated a moment thinking she might be making an excuse, that she'd had her fun and was done with him. Not that he would blame her. She was smart, funny, beautiful and sexy. Her smile could light up the entire planet. It sure lit up his world the last two nights. What would a woman like that want with him? "Why?" I am so pathetic!

She made a frustrated sound. "Something's going on. There are a lot of soldiers prowling the corridors and I don't have clearance to be…where you are."

His voice was soft with relief. "Would it be okay if I…came to you?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful!"

He clicked off his headset and logged off the computer. Work could wait! He'd never believed in love at first sight until two nights ago when he'd found her alone on a balcony overlooking the west pier, the side that faced away from the mainland. She had looked so sad and he'd urged her to talk. Instead, she'd surprised him by asking him just to hold her. She had needed to be comforted, why she didn't say, and he'd obliged. It didn't take long for the comfort to change, to turn to passion and the passion to ignite.

Out in the corridor he saw she was right. He'd heard that someone had tried to kill McKay and that was probably why Sheppard's stormtroopers were everywhere. But he knew the city and quickly mapped out a route that would take him to her without the necessity of explaining his presence in a place where he wasn't supposed to be.

*****

"Now my Spidey-sense isn't just tingling. It's screaming." He said to Ronon outside the infirmary. Anger at what had been done to his friend rolled off him in waves and he could feel the same from Ronon. As they made their way to a transport Sheppard touched his headset requesting another update and was informed that Kavanagh had left the lab headed for the Mess Hall and Katie was still in her quarters.

"Someone tried to kill McKay and probably Jennifer too. Where does that leave us?"

"It leaves us in the same place. Katie and Kavanagh are still the only people on Atlantis with a reason to want to hurt the two of them."

"That we know of." Ronon didn't say much but when he did it usually counted and it was best if you listened. Like now.

The colonel's eyes lit up. "Exactly. We need to take a second look at the staff compliment. See if anything or anyone else jumps out at us."

"And if it doesn't?"

"We keep looking until it does."

TBC