The Return of Katie Brown

Part VII - Accountability

His head throbbed with every beat of his heart and his mouth was so dry his tongue felt like an old piece of leather. He took a deep breath and coughed. Well, the lungs worked. He moved his arms and legs. They worked too…sort of. Something was wrong with his left arm. He carefully opened his eyes. The light made the pain in his head worse but just for a moment. He saw Jennifer asleep with a firm grip on his left arm and hand. A nurse rushed over to check on him.

"Good morning, Dr. McKay. You gave us quite a scare last night. How do you feel?" He gave her a thumbs down and pantomimed drinking. She raised a cup to his lips. The water was cool and soothing. He swished it around in his mouth then swallowed. It ran down his throat easing some of the dryness. "Better? Good. I'll get Dr. Cole."

Rodney let his head fall back to the pillow and a few moments later Amanda Cole stepped up to his bed. A quick glance at his vitals then her eyes met his with a smile. "Welcome back. Do you remember what happened?'

He nodded and coughed again. She passed him the glass of water and he took a few more sips.

"I had an allergic reaction, my EpiPen didn't work and I passed out."

"Good. If you hadn't remembered…well, let's not go into that. You should be back to your old self in a couple of days." She touched her headset. "Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay is awake now." She paused. "Yes, he seems to be 'all there'. He can have visitors whenever he feels up to it." She clicked off. "I told him I would call when you woke up. He, Ronon and Teyla will be to see you soon. Let's see if you can eat something. Broth, tea and Jell-O to start."

Jennifer was awake and smiling at him. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

Rodney turned his left hand to grip hers and waggled his free hand. "Terrible. Have you been here all night?" His voice was rough and he coughed again.

"Yes. You scared the hell out of me." She reached up to smooth her hand over his bristled cheek, the whiskers tickling her palm.

"I scared the hell out of me too." They both smiled remembering when they'd said the same thing to each other two mornings ago. Movement caught his eye and he noticed two of Sheppard's men with stunners standing at the infirmary entrance. "What's up with that?"

"It was John's idea. He thinks someone is trying to kill both of us." At his stunned expression she explained, "Someone injected lemon juice into the candy in the box on your bedside table and replaced the epinephrine in your EpiPen with saline. It's a good thing you keep several on hand or we…I would have lost you."

"Well, you still have me and I have you. What else do we need?"

"Breakfast?" He nodded with a smile.

* * * * *

Pacing. Pacing. Door to bed to bathroom and back to the door. Over and over and over. Anger! Rage! Fury! Fists clenching and unclenching. She had only been injured and he was alive and would make a full recovery. One hand uncurled, grabbed the lamp from the desk and hurled it against the wall. "Dr. McKay will be punished, I promise you. Your death will be avenged!"

* * * * *

Lorne knocked on the door to Sheppard's office where he and Ronon had been going over the staff compliment for the tenth time looking for…who knows what. Or was it the eleventh? He'd lost track. He motioned Lorne in and the major carefully stepped over Ronon's long legs stretched across the floor. The Satedan had fallen asleep in the chair and was snoring loudly.

Sheppard rubbed gritty eyes. He'd been staring at the computer monitor for hours with nothing to show for it but bloodshot eyes. "What's up?"

"There's something you need to see." Lorne pressed the remote and a video popped up on the monitor. Sheppard leaned forward with an elbow on the desk and watched for a few moments.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sheppard's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, sir. And so is this." The images on the screen changed. "The time and date stamps prove it. There's more but you get the idea."

The colonel knocked his head against the back of his chair. "Incontrovertible proof that Kavanagh and Katie are not responsible for what happened to McKay and Keller. That sucks! Now we're back at square one…again."

"Sorry. It would have been so much simpler if one of them had been guilty. And we'd love to fill the up brig with something besides Wraith." Lorne turned to leave wincing at the sounds coming from the big man's throat as he slept. "Should we wake him so he can go to his quarters?"

"No. Just leave him. He'll be fine." They turned off the lights and carefully closed the door.

* * * * *

"What?!" Rodney exclaimed the next morning when told that the only two suspects in the case were unquestionably innocent. "How can that be?"

"Sorry, it just is. We'll have to look elsewhere for the guilty party or parties. Not to mention that neither one has the skills to tamper with an EpiPen. We will find out who did this Rodney. I promise." He was emphatic.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

Jennifer was standing at Rodney's bed side. He had made a remarkable recovery from his anaphylactic shock and would be released from the infirmary later in the day with orders to take it easy for the next 24-48 hours. "Just out of curiosity, what were they doing when all of this happened?"

John considered for a moment before answering. "I'd rather not say. But trust me, they were both elsewhere. And the proof is very convincing. Neither of them could have done it." He nodded and left them alone.

Rodney was puzzled by his friend's secretiveness and turned to comment on it to Jennifer. He was surprised to see her hiding a smile behind her hand. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"You know something, don't you? What is it?"

"Rodney," she asked softly, "you trust me, don't you?"

"With my life." He told her without hesitation.

"Then trust me when I say you do not want to know."

* * * * *

Sheppard, Lorne, Ronon, Teyla, Rodney, Jennifer, Radek and, of course, Woolsey, met in one of the conference rooms. They were there to discuss how to go about drawing out the person or persons who were after the physician and the physicist now that the only two suspects had been cleared. Many ideas had been brought forth and discarded.

Finally, Sheppard got up to pace. He'd only completed part of one lap of the conference room when inspiration struck. Lorne recognized the gleam in his commanding officer's hazel eyes as did the others. "You have an idea." It wasn't a question.

The Colonel nodded. "Yes, I do." He came back to the table and leaned on his hands. He glanced around the table meeting each pair of eyes to be sure he had everyone's full attention. "Here's what were going to do…"

* * * * *

He lay on his back, her naked body curled against his, his left arm across her back and the musky scent of arousal still clinging to them. Her breath was a soft whisper across his cheek. She shivered and he pulled the blanket up to cover them. He should have gotten dressed and gone back to what he was here to do but couldn't bear leaving her just yet.

He thought she had fallen asleep until she spoke. "I've been thinking."

"What about?"

"Us. Why are we keeping our relationship a secret?"

His right arm came up to snuggle her closer. He kissed her on the forehead and rubbed his cheek on her soft hair. "You know, I'm not really sure. It just seemed the right thing to do."

"Bringing it out into the open could only help our situation."

He thought that over. "Maybe. Maybe not. But you're right. I don't want to hide what we have together. We've only really known each other a few days but I fell in love with you that first night. And even if you don't feel the same…"

She covered his mouth with her hand to halt the flow of words. "Oh, but I do. I love you, too. I don't feel as if I have to compromise everything that I am when I'm with you."

"Is that how it was with…?"

"That part of my life is over. My life…our life begins now." She gave him a quick kiss on the lips then rested her head back on his chest. A few minutes later the steady thump, thump of his heartbeat lulled her to sleep.

* * * * *

Rodney was in the main science lab and he was not happy. Sheppard's idea would put Jennifer in danger. Actually, it would put both of them in danger but he was more worried about her than himself. He hadn't yet regained all of his strength but she was still limping and bruised from the fall. She might not be able to fight back if it came to that.

He and Jennifer were to go about their daily routines as if all were normal. To that end, he decided to go ahead with the romantic dinner he'd planned more than a week ago. Sheppard had promised that at least one of his men would always be discreetly nearby. Rodney sighed and turned his mind back to his work.

* * * * *

Jennifer and Rodney walked down the dimly lit corridor, her hand tucked into the crook of his elbow, not talking, just being with each other. It was night and they turned a corner onto one of the lesser used balconies on level fourteen overlooking the north pier. Jennifer gasped. In addition to the incredible view of Atlantis at night there was a table for two set with a white tablecloth, candles, a single red rose in a crystal vase, a bottle chilling in a wine cooler and two covered plates.

"Rodney! This is beautiful. What's the occasion?"

"You don't remember?"

Jennifer smiled. "Three months ago today I told you I loved you for the first time. I just didn't think you'd remember."

He pulled a chair out for her. "It was, by far, the best day of my life. Of course I remembered." When she was seated comfortably he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

When he was seated they both lifted the covers from their food. On their plates were several pouches. "Uh, Rodney…"

"Yeah, sorry about the MREs. I won't eat anything else until the person who tried to kill us is caught. And the 'champagne' is sparkling apple cider. Unless you'd rather…"

Jennifer smiled her understanding. "This is fine. Real food is so overrated anyway." At least we have the flameless heaters, she thought. Meals Ready-to-Eat are much more palatable when they were hot.

* * * * *

Fisher kept watch on Drs McKay and Keller unobtrusively. A small sound to his left had him instantly on alert, his stunner raised. He sagged in relief when he saw who it was. She had first appeared on his watch about five weeks ago. She would show up at random times and days bringing him a bottle of water and they'd talk for a few minutes. Her black hair curled gently around her face. Dark chocolate brown eyes made her look exotic and mysterious. Not to mention that her British accent drove him wild. She was cultured and highly intelligent. He couldn't understand why she would want hang around a guy like him. Yes, he went to college but had barely graduated with a 3.2 GPA. "Hey, what're you doing here?"

"Nothing. Just out for a walk. When are you off duty? Maybe we could…have a drink." She gave him a coy smile and peered up at him from under a fringe of long dark lashes.

I am so easy, he thought. "That would be nice. I'm due to be relieved in two hours. Maybe I could meet you…ow!" The hand behind her back came up and jabbed him in the shoulder with a syringe. A few seconds later he was out. She dragged him farther into the shadows, swept up the stunner and crept silently toward the balcony where Rodney and Jennifer were having dinner.

"Sorry, Jerry. You really are a nice guy but I have an agenda to keep."

* * * * *

Finally she would have revenge for the death of her brother. They had been closer than most siblings and his death nearly five years ago was Dr. McKay's fault. She'd been inconsolable and almost six months to the day afterwards her husband had divorced her.

Dr McKay took something irreplaceable from her and now she would do the same to him. She would force him to watch while someone he loved died. He would see her face and know that she was the cause of the pain in his heart just as he was the cause of the pain in hers.

She turned the last corner bringing Rodney and Jennifer into her line of vision. A warm breeze ruffled her hair reminding her of all the times she had gone horseback riding with her brother. The brother who had traveled to another galaxy just so he could work with a man he'd always admired and respected. But her brother had never returned home. There had been no body for the funeral, just an empty casket. A casket that was as empty as her soul.

Stepping into the light she raised the stunner. It whined when she powered it up and the sound got the attention of the two on the balcony. Jennifer's eyes widened in surprise. "Petra?"

"Who?" Rodney asked.

"Dr. Petra Wakeford from the UK. She's only been here a couple of months." To Petra she said, "What are you doing with that stunner?"

"What I'm doing is crashing your little party." She walked toward them stopping a few feet away. "Dr. McKay, I hold you accountable for the death of someone I loved very much and now I'm going to return the favor."

Rodney took a deep breath. "Me? Who did I kill?"

She leveled her gaze to his, eyes burning. "My brother, Peter Grodin."

TBC