Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do
By: Shadow Chaser
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn't get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.
Category: Action Adventure, Drama, H/C
Pairing: Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.
Notes: This chapter is very, very long. I was tempted to break it into two more chapters, but my beta told me that it interrupted the flow. So here is the final chapter and conclusion of Sleep Before I Do in its entirety. I would like to now thank all of my reviewers and future reviewers for your kind words and encouragement and fun debates on the various ships/non-ships in this story amongst other things. I would also like to thank my beta Algae09. Thank you again! I will see you in my next story for Stargate Atlantis!
Story:
Chapter 12 – Sleep Before I Do
It seemed like word of what John was going to do spread throughout the base like wildfire. Some of his men, whatever remained of them, had even help outfit him for his mission. Rodney had even come by to say a few words of consolation, but he saw the distance, the revulsion his best friend's eyes how he had failed his men. For the first time in his life, he felt self-conscious of the enormous and unforgiving task that had been set before him. He had even taken the time to write a few letters, record a couple of messages for those he knew he was going to leave behind.
But most of them had looked upon him with vindictive smiles, all thinking that perhaps he was taking the coward's way out. But John saw it differently. He was making his own last ditch effort in making things right and by doing this, by killing those Furlings, he hoped that perhaps, it would send a message back to those who had doubted him. That he would rectify things – that he was apologetic, that he couldn't be the son his father wanted him to be, couldn't be the soldier everyone wanted him to be, couldn't be the husband Nancy wanted him to be, couldn't be the man God wanted him to be.
He had to be who he was, John Sheppard.
So he stood stock still, as the lights flashed on the gate before the kawoosh of the wormhole engaging sealed the finality of his mission. He took a second to make sure the Sodan cloaking device was secured on his wrist and stepped towards the active stargate. He could feel the eyes of many on his back and wanted to turn to have one more look at what had been his home for the last three years. But it wasn't home anymore, not after he had fucked up so badly.
No, he did not allow himself the luxury of a dead man walking to look around his surroundings. He was a soldier, dedicated to the mission. He was going to metaphorically rescue his men from the front lines and complete his mission. He paused half a step from entering the stargate and brought up his wrist, staring at the glowing bracelet that seemingly mocked him. The corners of his lips twitched up in an ironic smile before he activated the device and stepped through.
The compression lasted less than half a second, to the point where his lungs were screaming for air, nerves tingling with barely restrained pain, when suddenly he emerged from the other side of the wormhole and immediately brought his P90 up.
A row of Furlings stood, their cat-like faces stoic, all of them holding za'kutus pointed at the wormhole. None of them had fired, and he smiled grimly as he realized they had not seen him exit the stargate and so he peeled off to the side, headed towards one of the large pillars in the forum of the Grecian temple-like structure the stargate seemed to be housed in.
He knew he could kill the guards right then and there, but that would only make his mission harder. His priority was to assassinate those in the pictures. Escape was secondary, even though his Special Forces training told him otherwise. Included in his pilots' training for various helicopters, he had done some Special Forces training to supplement his secret missions into war zones. Anyone going into a hazardous combat zone received some Special Forces training before being deployed.
He skirted the edges of the temple columns, keep his footsteps light. He seriously hoped that a Furling's sense of smell wasn't as great as perhaps their littler Earth counterparts. But it seemed that they were focused on the stargate instead of anywhere else. It was a bit odd, but John chalked it up to luck and continued on his way.
The deafening bang of another grenade going off made Apollo duck as the spray of dirt and debris impacted the back of his body armor. "Keep it up!" he shouted as he lifted his za'kutus and fired a few rounds into the deep cavern before popping back down into his cover behind a fairly large boulder. Beside him, Teyla peered out from her cover and fired a few rounds before ducking back as a few golden bolts lanced across where her face used to be.
"There are too many of them," she looked at him and he nodded, wiping what felt like a bead of sweat down the side of his face only to find his hands stained with black. When and how he had received a cut on his head was beyond him, but he knew that they needed a different way in.
"I think I know of a different way in," he searched his memory for the other entrance, the much smaller and more dangerous entrance, "but it may collapse at any time, especially if the Wraith'gul has now been activated."
Teyla nodded as she tapped her radio, "Major, Apollo thinks there is another way in." She paused for a few seconds, receiving her orders before she turned him again, "Ronon, Rodney, and I will accompany you." He nodded and gestured to two of his men, to follow him and they pushed themselves back into the woods, Teyla following them.
As soon as they sounds of gunfire were distant, he glanced around him and gestured for his men to take point while Ronon and McKay emerged from the bushes along with Major Lorne and two of his own men, the scientist looking a bit worst for wear as dirt covered his face and matted parts of his hair. Ronon however, gave him a feral looking smile before joining him as he navigated the woods to the back entrance.
"Where is this back entrance?" the scientist complained behind him as another rumble shook the ground, making all of them stagger in their spots.
"We discovered it over ten years ago when we first arrived on this planet, but it had been unused and we have been unable to activate the entrance. I believe now that it may have been activated using the Ancient gene," he remembered the numerous attempts at blowing the door up, digging it out, and trying every thing to hardwire the control panel to open it before Taethos had given up on it and decided to dig the main entrance of the Wraith'gul out by hand. That process had taken at least several more years as the thing was buried underneath tons of rubble.
When they had finally uncovered it, Taethos had launched his plan to use the Chappa'ai as a means of getting people through to test the Wraith'gul, but he also wanted people that weren't afraid of any superstitions like many of the inhabitants of this galaxy were. Most of their dealings with the Genii had been fruitless since all that they had tested did not have the gene of the Ancients, but they had discovered the existence of a new group of humans who had supposedly inhabited Atlantis.
Commander Acastus Kolya had given them pictures of the ones whom they knew had the Ancient gene and it was only through sheer luck that they had arrived on the planet just days ago. However, since he was the medical officer in the group, he had not been privy to such discussions and he knew that if he had been, he would have prevented such a thing from happening.
It was his hope that Taethos had forgotten about the back entrance which would make it easier for them to sneak in and reach the control center or at least a terminal where Dr. McKay could do some damage or shut the Wraith'gul down. However, even if the hyperactive scientist could shut it down, he knew he still needed to make sure Colonel Sheppard was out of Taethos' clutches. He knew that the Sujunor would not hesitate to kill him out of spite if his plans failed.
They encountered little resistance on their quick trek to the other side where he vaguely remembered where the entrance used to be - a good sign in his opinion. That meant that Artemis' forces and the Tau'ri strike forces were securing the area. It also meant that a majority of Taethos' men were either stuck on the Genii homeworld or were in the catacombs with their commander. He had given specific kill orders and though their people would mourn the loss of each soldier and the High Council would be angry at such an amount of loss, Apollo knew that there had to be no mercy towards traitors, especially those who sought to overthrow the High Council.
Taethos may be the only traitor who survived this whole thing, but even he wasn't sure what he would do when he saw him. All Agentus members had been trained to be ruthless and to kill without hesitation. His orders had been clear when he had been sent twenty years ago, if Taethos proved to be a threat, he must be eliminated. However, he knew circumstances have changed and with Artemis here, there was a chance she may want to question him or bring him before the High Council.
They came up to a seemingly innocent mound of moss-covered rocks, something some of the local native children from other villages far away used to play around before Taethos established his camp near by.
"Hmm, I'm getting faint energy readings," Dr. McKay murmured behind him before brushing past him and held up a small Alteran life-detector that he had apparently converted to Tau'ri uses.
"Doctor?" he queried stepping closer as the others took a protective perimeter around them, wary for any ambush.
He saw him rake a few moss patches away from the rock before suddenly a panel hissed open and Apollo was glad that the crystals were still intact. However, the doctor made a noise of frustration before leveling him with the most disdainful look he could manage. "What did you guys do? Play jigsaw puzzle with this?! It's going to take me-"
"Rodney, you can make it work," Teyla cut him off with a pointed look as another rumble shook the area, "you need to make it work."
"Working on it," the scientist grumbled before moving to the crystals and started to rearrange them.
Apollo inched forward, still unsure about his abrasive attitude. He had been wondering for sometime now, ever since he had found them in the cell, how anyone could work with such a Tau'ri with a disdainful attitude, but it seemed that Teyla and Ronon, even Major Lorne were more familiar with his pessimistic outlooks and were able to work around it. If he had been a Furling he would have already been ostracized from the community or arrested for treasonous acts against the High Council. "I believe I remember some of the patterns of the crystals, Doctor," he pointed out two of the crystals he recognized, "those two went there."
"Yes, thank you," the dismissal was evident and he frowned before catching Ronon's rolling eyes and suppressed a grin of amusement. So even the stoic Satedan could find some humor.
A few seconds later, the crystal components lit up and Dr. McKay gave a small cry of accomplishment before pushing the panel back in and hurried towards a small plinth that stood next to a rock and brushed away some more moss.
"Yes that is..." Apollo recognized the slanted plinth that they had tried to put their hands on to open, but it had never lit up or anything.
"I know, I know," the doctor waved his comments away before putting his hand on the plinth.
Nothing happened.
"Huh, I thought I-" McKay suddenly snapped his fingers and looked at Major Lorne, "Lorne, get over here!"
"Please would be nice," he barely heard the military man mutter as he abandoned his position and approached them.
"Here, put your hand on this," the scientist gestured to the plinth and Apollo saw him shuck his fingerless gloves off before placing his palm on the plinth.
The plinth immediately glowed and McKay gave a wiry grin to everyone, "I figured if the Wraith'gul needs a natural carrier, then it would be like them to set up a security system where only natural carriers can enter."
"Um, hey Doc, it's asking me how many are going down," Lorne looked a bit confused.
"Huh? How, it's not written anymore nor is there a display," McKay looked at Lorne and Apollo saw a slight bit of hesitation on the Major's face.
"It's...asking me in my head," even he sounded a bit bewildered.
"In your-" the pessimistic man's skepticism was rudely cut off as a deeper rumble, this time lasting for more than ten seconds shook the area, startling the birds higher in the trees as they took off with loud cries. "Okay," he stepped smartly up next to the Major along with Ronon and Teyla.
Apollo pointed to one of his men, "Rigel, Procyon, stay up here, contact Artemis and tell her what has happened. Ask Major Hicks if there are any others who have the natural gene of the Alterans-"
"-Dr. Beckett is a natural gene carrier," Lorne spoke up before pointing his two men, "Richards, Li, get Beckett here."
Apollo smiled grimly before joining the small group huddled by Lorne. "We're ready."
"Okay, hopefully this'll work," Lorne muttered quietly before closing his eyes and concentrating.
A second later, bright white lights filled Apollo's vision.
Major Evan Marcus Lorne honestly had no idea what would happen. All he was doing was going on pure instinct...and following the voice that was speaking in his head. If someone told him four and a half years ago he was going to be traveling through the galaxy to other places, other planets, meeting aliens, he would have called them crazy and sent an immediate recommendation for a psych evaluation. That was four and a half years ago when he had joined the Stargate Program.
If someone told him a two years ago that he was carrying some...unique gene that made him able to operate long dead equipment left by glowing squid-like things, he would have called them crazy and maybe, just maybe recommended to Dr. Lam that they get perhaps a full medical workup to check for any alien pathogen.
If someone told him a couple of days ago that he would be hearing voices in his head and opening the door to that could wipe life out of this entire galaxy, he wouldn't have batted an eye at all. It was funny how he had acclimated quickly to that particular idea more than the others in his life, but he figured such was life living in the Pegasus galaxy. All he knew he could do was hope that his own gene didn't end up blowing all of them up. His only consolation was that sometimes his CO had worst luck than he did when it came to Ancient equipment and combined with Dr. McKay's perchance to touch everything; sometimes it was good to be the second-in-command.
However, in this case, he knew that it was not luck, but rather misfortune that Taethos had picked Sheppard to be the guinea pig. His commander was counting on him and the others to get him out of this mess and Lorne was more than happy to make sure that they all got out of this hell hole alive.
So when they arrived in the dimly lit room, Lorne found himself the first one to recover and could hear the musical, feminine tone that had asked him if he wanted to enter, fading away. He wanted to say that he sort of recognized the feminine tone, having heard it somewhere else, but he didn't remember where. Filing that in the back of his head as another mystery to solve another day, he brought up his P90 and switched on his flashlight, advancing past the small group to take point as they recovered their eyesight.
Like clockwork, Ronon was the first one to recover, and stepped parallel to him, gun pointed up, eyes calculating. Teyla was next, followed by the human Furling Apollo, and finally McKay after nearly walking into the Furling. Lorne didn't quite know what to make of the Furling. He had read the mission reports when he was still with the SGC about the lack of mention of Furlings, but to find them here...it shocked him. The SGC, General O'Neill especially, was going to have a shit fit after their mission reports today. However, it still did not mean he trusted Apollo and knew that the rest of the team felt the same. Any false move on the Furling's part, human form or not, was going to find himself at the end of their guns.
"All right, where do we go now?" Ronon asked, looking at him and he was about to shrug when he heard a tinkling musical sound before a faint nudge told him what he needed to know.
"Um, I think...this way," McKay spoke up, pointing in a vaguely left direction as he stared at his life signs detector.
"No, I think it's the other way," Lorne immediately knew that it was the wrong direction he was pointing in.
"But I'm getting stronger power readings-"
"I know, but I think it's the other way," Lorne couldn't quite explain how he knew that it was wrong without sounding like a crazy man, "it's...complicated."
"What do you mean complicated?" McKay asked, giving him a puzzled look, "I'm getting higher power readings so that means it's that way. It's the same power readings I got when I first got here!"
"Look," he waved a hand at McKay just as another rumble shook the catacombs, sending a shower of dirt down upon them and they all looked up and around before he caught the doctor's gaze again, "look, you run towards the power readings, that's great. But what if it's a direct line, an ambush right where Taethos wants you? I think mine is a back route, better to ambush."
"He is right," Apollo spoke up quietly, "it may be a trap. I do not know if Taethos remembers this entrance way to the Wraith'gul, but we cannot walk headlong into such a trap."
"Fine," McKay huffed before drawing out his handgun, "lead the way then."
Lorne knew that he could have ordered McKay to shut up and follow his orders, but he did not want to be a forceful commander like his old CO, Colonel Edwards. He had been surprised at the amount of leeway Sheppard had shown towards the civilians and military personnel on Atlantis when he had arrived two years ago, and thought it was a byproduct of being isolated for a year. But Sheppard had proven him wrong in that aspect, treating those under his command with more of a friendly demeanor than a strict military commander of his rank. It had been a fast adjustment after that, and Lorne liked the loosened command structure, a definitive way of say that yes, they were part of Stargate Command, but yes, they were a civilian run expedition.
He followed his the nagging instinct that occasionally sounded like a tinkling musical noise, almost like his mother's piano, taking them through twisting mazes of blocky, angular dimly lit hallways that looked like they could have been built from Atlantis itself.
There were two more tremors through the ground that made them stop and find purchase as dirt and bits of debris fell down upon them. During one of them he had felt a sharp pain on the side of his face and found his hand slick with blood after he touched it, but it wasn't serious according to Apollo. The Furling had offered the same white paste that Teyla had used to heal Ronon's blast wound, but he had declined, more focused on getting his CO out than on his own health at the moment. Finally, just as they approached a set of doors, he halted, hearing a faint warning sound in his mind before it disappeared.
Holding up his left hand in a fist, he stopped and skirted to the side, P90 pointed towards the middle of the door. He saw McKay hurry over to the opposite side where a control panel faintly glowed.
"Give me a few seconds," the doctor murmured as he worked the control crystals.
"I hear voices," Ronon's deep voice rumbled behind him and Lorne strained his ears and heard that indeed, he did hear voices.
"Doc, hold on a second!" he quietly called over to McKay who stopped his work, looking up. "How many life signs do you see ahead of us?" he asked.
"Um...four, no, two...one?" McKay looked confused, "They all just suddenly disappeared. There's only one registering, maybe Sheppard?"
"They may be cloaked," Apollo looked grim, "I do not know if the life signs detector can read anyone wearing a cloak. We had developed the technology with the Teythan'thus, the Nox's help after the Alterans returned to their home galaxy and Ascended."
"That does explain how the Goa'uld got their hands on some ashrak cloaks," Lorne could see the little pieces, bits and pieces of mostly Goa'uld technology falling down like a puzzle piece that seemed almost complete. Stargate Command had always wondered how the Goa'uld got so much advance technology when their previous hosts were Unas as it seemed that most of the humans of the galaxy with the exception of a few like the Tollans, were primitive tribal types.
It was no secret that Goa'uld, Anubis especially, scavenged technology whenever and wherever they could, so it stood that they probably stole most of the Furlings' technology when they were in the Milky Way galaxy. The question that lingered in his mind was how they managed to do it under the Furlings' noses.
"Doesn't help us at all," McKay groused before glancing at the panel he was working on, "okay, I think I got it...now!"
The doors slid open with a quiet pneumatic hiss and Lorne immediately swept his gun and flashlight across the room. Seeing no immediate threats, he stepped in hurrying forward. The room was wide and circular, with a clear hallway that lead to three different areas beside the one that they had come from. The unearthly glow from the panels, clearly Ancient in design, cast a slightly brighter shadow over the room, enough for him to turn off his flashlight.
"McKay?" he called out.
"Still that one reading," he replied as they circled around the room cautiously.
"Major," Teyla's voice was raised and he hurried over to where she was standing, her face bathed in an unhealthy pinkish light. He turned to see what she was staring at and a sliver of fear shot through him. Sheppard was standing on a platform, encased in a forcefield that engulfed the whole circular platform. However, he was facing what looked like a massive control panel, hands by his side, eyes closed. However, that wasn't the part that made him wonder what happened to his CO.
It was the sheer amount of pain etched on his face that made him nearly recoil. Sweat had beaded on his forehead, pouring down the sides of his face, and Lorne thought he saw a small tremor pass through his body, but he guessed it could have been a trick of the forcefield surrounding him.
"Colonel?" he called tentatively, reaching a hand out to touch the forcefield-
"No don't!" McKay's shout came too late-
-and Lorne found himself flying through the air, hitting one of the consoles opposite where Sheppard was. His vision exploded with stars, as he crumpled to the ground. His back ached fiercely from the impact and he found that his own breath came in ragged gasps as he tried to make his lungs work. Shit that hurt, he tried to blink the stars away from his vision and looked blearily up to see two, three Apollos trying to help him up.
"I-I'm okay, I'm..." he slurred as he felt an arm tugging at his own, trying to pull him up.
The distinct sound of a za'kutus staff weapon activating shut him up immediately and he blearily looked up to see the very familiar fur pattern of a Furling standing by him. However, the bulbous end of the weapon wasn't pointed at him, and instead, pointed at Apollo's head.
"I knew you would come," Taethos' voice rumbled above him.
Apollo turned his head minutely as he heard Taethos' voice rumble above him. He could also hear the crescendo of safeties taken off from the Tau'ri weapons as the rest of them pointed their weapons at the traitorous Klisan'thus. He had frozen mid-way helping the stunned Major up from his spectacular trek across the room after he had just barely touched the forcefield surrounding Colonel Sheppard.
He could almost feel the bulbous activated end of the za'kutus touching his cheek, but knew that it was just his imagination. "What do you want?" it was hard to keep his eye on Taethos when he could barely turn his head.
"You were always soft as an Agenti," Taethos murmured quietly, "it is a wonder that you adhere to your Alteran side and return for these second-borns. Tell me, I believe your half-sister, Artemis, is outside, is she not? Nonetheless prepared to fire upon the Wraith'gul on your orders, to destroy it, yet, you scurry back in here, tail between your legs like some lowly pet to rescue Colonel Sheppard."
"You are you asking me why?" Apollo knew that Taethos was deliberately speaking in the common language of the Tau'ri in order to gloat. He could have antagonized him in the Klisan'thus tongue, but he chose not to.
"I am just curious as to why you seemingly have an unhealthy obsession with the Colonel. Perhaps you prefer him?" the implied comment made Apollo flushed with anger.
How dare he assume, presume, or even think such thoughts! Since their species was long-lived and rarely mated, when one chose a mate, it was after some careful thought. For Taethos to insinuate that he had chosen another male as his mate, made him see red with anger. The Klisan'thus knew full well he already had a potential mate, Castalia, back on their home planet, if she would accept him.
"Or was it that you preferred your little admirer, Logios, who came to your aid? Oh yes, I knew about Logios. I let him be, knowing that you would eventually return here."
Apollo found that his breath was hitching with anger at each word, that his grip had tightened on Major Lorne's arm, making him recover from his initial dizziness as he had a new pain to focus on. But all he saw and remembered was the mental torture Taethos had inflicted upon him for that short while, but it had been enough, seeing his father die twice over before Logios had managed to inject the antidote into him.
He thought he heard three more hissing sounds of za'kutus arming themselves as the shuffle of feet from the others made them turn in their spots. They were surrounded, he knew that for certain. But...for the others to reveal themselves at this time, when Taethos had the upper hand...that was the biggest and last mistake they were ever going to make.
He slid his gaze sideways to Major Lorne who minutely tapped two of his fingers, spread out at an acute angle, telling him where Teyla and Ronon were. That left Dr. McKay. The man was a civilian, most likely unable to defend himself, which meant, if he was going to act, his first thing was to make sure that McKay would be safe.
"Do you like hearing yourself talk?" he snarled out as he slid his gaze back up to Taethos. He thought he could barely see the doctor from his angle, but it was hard. "And you did not know about Logios. You are only convincing yourself about that when you realized your plans have failed."
"Ah, but they are not," Taethos smiled, his pointed teeth wide and sharp, "even as we speak, Colonel Sheppard-"
Another tremor shook the room.
"-is preparing the Wraith'gul for its final blast that will kill certain members of the High Council. I would think about...now, is when the Chappa'ai will activate."
"Sir! The stargate just activated by itself! Outgoing wormhole!" he distantly heard the tinned voice of one of the Tau'ri left behind to guard the Chappa'ai from Major Lorne's earpiece radio.
Suddenly Apollo felt it before it even happened and knew that this was his chance. Just as the tremor started up again he made his decision. He was going to save these Tau'ri not because it was his mission to finish, but because it was what his father would have wanted – the second-born of the Alterans, destined for greater things. As the first violent tremor hit, he shapeshifted.
Nerve-wracking pain seared across his whole body in the split second it took him to transform, and he felt his heart squeeze tightly for a second, wondering it if it was going to explode from the deadly speed of his shifting before he let go of Lorne's arm and tackled Taethos, already meshing with his natural senses.
In that split second, he could already feel himself dying from what he had done, but he would finish his mission, and finish Taethos.
Rodney was nearly bowled over as two furry blurs crashed into him and the Furling that had been pointing a za'kutus at him. He managed to grab the edge of a console to prevent himself from sprawling to the ground before half turning and firing on the Furling that had held him at gunpoint.
His messy spray of bullets didn't exactly all hit their marks from his odd angle, but they at least shot the alien dead just as the rest of the room opened fire. He ducked, half covering his head as bullets and bolts lanced throughout the room along with the two fighting blurs, one obviously shorter than the other, but nonetheless putting up a fierce fight.
He hefted his 9mm, trying to find a shot to take from the two combating forms, but just as quickly they took the fight deeper into the caverns that they had come from and disappeared from view.
"McKay! Figure out how to shut off the thing!" Lorne shouted from his cover, firing several bullets into what looked like the remaining Furling left alive, still valiantly determined to kill all of them.
"Got it," he glanced up and made sure that said Furling was sufficiently distracted before getting up from his cover and hurrying around it, bringing his tablet to bear as he stared at the scrolling lines of Ancient text that was displayed.
It was obvious that they couldn't just rip Sheppard from the controls, so he had to figure out a way to shut down the forcefield and maybe they could then rip him from the controls. "Forcefield, forcefield," he muttered mostly to himself as he tapped a few keys on the control panel he was working at, and cursed silently as it scrolled some more data up at him.
He heard a yowling sound before a muffled thump of something falling to the ground and dimly realized that the last Furling was dead. However that wasn't his main concern as he tapped a few more buttons before grinning, finding the schematics that he wanted on the panel. "Ah ha, there you are," he whispered before quickly reading the text, his mind translating as much as he could as best as he could.
"Did you find it?" Teyla spoke in front of him, one of her hands rested on top of the control panel, the other still holding her P90.
"Yeah, just give me a second," he frowned as he read through the text, "this is bad...according to this, the forcefield can only be lowered when the user either steps away from the Wraith'gul platform itself or it has completed its task."
"Richards, this is Lorne, you have the doc there?" he heard Lorne tap his radio.
"Yes sir," came the quick reply.
"Send a team of marines down here. Taethos is still alive, but he's currently combating Apollo," Lorne replied before pointing to Ronon, "You're with me. Let's go hunt down that son of a bitch."
"With pleasure," he heard Ronon growl.
"McKay, hurry it up," Lorne shot at him and he gave the Major an annoyed look.
"I'm trying," he groused as the two of them left the way they had come in. He stared at them for a second before turning to see Teyla walking the half circle around Sheppard, a curious expression on his face.
"Rodney, there's something on his head," she murmured and he looked at her, confused.
"What?" he hurried over to where she was and saw what she was pointing at.
It was just a small thing, almost quarter-sized. But he had read enough SGC mission reports and even had Sam Carter describe it to him enough times that he instantly recognized what was on John's temple.
"Shit that's bad," he grimaced, "if I'm correct, that's a Tok'ra memory device."
"I'm not familiar with that, but from what John and Elizabeth have told me aren't the Tok'ra Goa'uld?" Teyla spread her hands out as another deep tremor shook the room.
"Eh," he shrugged as he hurried back to the console, "just don't call them that. They kind of get pissed when you compare them to the Goa'uld. Same species, but I guess different philosophy." He checked his readings before tapping his radio, "Lorne, Ronon, I think Taethos was controlling Sheppard through a Tok'ra memory device. If you get a chance-"
"-shoot it off of him, got it," Lorne's quick reply came back.
"What about," Teyla started again as yet another tremor rumbled the room, "the forcefield?"
Rodney was about to reply when this time the ground violently buckled, throwing him to the ground. He managed to grab his tablet as it fell from its perch and hugged it to his body as he and Teyla rode out the tremor. Glancing down at his tablet, he noticed to his dismay that the tremors were increasing in frequency. He looked up to see the console Sheppard was standing before was also glowing brighter, and a HUD had appeared overhead, a countdown in the Ancient language telling them how long until the Wraith'gul fired.
"We've found the Tok'ra memory device! It's been destroyed!" Lorne's static filled transmission was barely heard over the rumblings.
"Major, any sign of Apollo?" Teyla asked as Rodney managed to stand on steady footing through the tremors that weren't stopping now and staggered over to the podium, careful not to touch any part of the forcefield. He looked up at the HUD, his mind racing. The countdown was the last part until the Wraith'gul activated. There was no way he could shut it down, even if he had equipment to do it. He gritted his teeth in frustration, feeling completely helpless.
"No," he heard Lorne's reply over the radio before he activated his own microphone.
"Get out of here, Lorne! There's nothing else you or Ronon can do. Tell the Daedalus to evacuate everyone! Tell Atlantis to raise its shield along with Stargate Command!"
"What good would that do?" Teyla yelled at him, joining him as they both held onto the edges of the console platform, staring up at the HUD and John's still pain filled face. He had hoped that with the destruction of the Tok'ra memory device Sheppard would snap out of whatever funk he had been thrown into, but it looked like it wasn't the case.
"Sheppard!" he yelled his best friend's name, "come on! Snap out of it!"
"John!" Teyla joined in shouting his name, and Rodney thought he saw a twitch on his face, but he wasn't sure with all of the rumbling and his vision shaking heavily.
"John!" he shouted again and relief poured over him as he saw the man's eyes slowly twitch open, some of the pain melting from his features.
"R-Rodney....T-Teyla?" Sheppard looked blearily at them his eyes unfocused, but Rodney now knew that they at least had a chance.
"Oh good God, Sheppard, you-"
"Why...you...you're supposed to be dead," Sheppard wasn't even paying attention to him and instead his gaze was rooted on Teyla before his eyes unfocused once more, "no...mission. Have to...High Council..."
"Sheppard!" he shouted, snapping his best friend's gaze back to him. He suspected that there had to be a drug in his system to make him so delirious and unfocused. The John Sheppard he knew had a razor fine sense of focus and uncanny knack for picking up subtle hints that even he occasionally missed. "You're in the control center of the Wraith'gul. You were manipulated into activating it and it's going to kill us all if you don't shut it down."
"Kill us...?" Sheppard's hazel eyes had lost their focus once more, "no...stargate mission-"
"Goddamnit, just listen!" Rodney lifted a fist to pound at the forcefield when his brain caught up with his actions and he managed to stop himself from touching the forcefield, "shut the machine down! You don't have to go through with your mission!"
"Teyla's ghost..." Sheppard had a lazy, confused smile on his face, "'Lizbeth...only way...save face... Failed...Lorne, Ronon...failed..."
"Well you'll only fail if you-" Rodney felt his blood pressure rise as he glanced up at the countdown.
"Rodney," Teyla's calming hand on his shoulder stopped him and he glanced at her. She staggered forward and looked up at Sheppard.
"John, if you truly believe that I am a ghost, you must know that I will not condone your actions. If you kill," she hesitated for a second, "them, I will not approve of it."
"But...Elizabeth..." he looked so lost and confused.
"Dr. Weir would not order such a thing from you," Teyla shook her head. Many thought Rodney was unobservant of the relationships between the various personnel, but truth be told, he didn't really bother himself with the minute details. However, ever since Sheppard had proven himself to be the Captain Kirk of this galaxy, he couldn't help but notice how many women were drawn to him and his charm. It had made him a bit jealous, but he had noticed that in the long run, the two women to whom his best friend seemed more attracted to was Elizabeth and to Teyla.
The two with the coolest heads in the expedition that could temper the fiery rash anger that Sheppard was prone to unleash on more than one occasion.
"John?" the spike of concern in Teyla's voice made him look up to see Sheppard suddenly hold his head in a grimace before his eyes popped open and he leaned heavily against the console.
"What...what's going on?" he wheezed out, breathless.
"Sheppard?" Rodney asked hesitantly, squeezing his grip tighter on the corner of the console as the tremors grew in intensity.
"McKay?" John stared at him owlishly, "Teyla?"
"Listen, you're in the control center of the Wraith'gul, do you understand that?" Rodney asked frantically, hoping to God or whatever deity that existed that his best friend was coherent.
"...Yeah," Sheppard looked around him, still wincing, but nonetheless looking a lot more coherent than he was moments ago.
"Shut it down, or else we'll all die. That counter up there," he pointed up towards the descending numbers.
"Not good," he finished his sentence before looking down at them, "why...are you holding onto the sides."
"Tremors," Rodney shot back, "maybe a cave in." Just as he spoke, a horrible screech sound filled the air and a ton of debris and rocks came flying down from one of the entrance ways, making him stare at the pile with wide eyes. "Oh shit..."
"All right," Sheppard stared at the console for a second before placing his hands on them and closing his eyes.
For a split second, Rodney thought that Sheppard was concentrating on shutting the Wraith'gul down, when he started to feel a tingling sensation on his arms and legs. He looked up at his friend and opened his mouth, "Shep-"
Rodney suddenly found himself outside in the woods next to the entrance of the catacombs to the Wraith'gul. "-pard, what are you..." He trailed off, spinning around to see Teyla, equally shocked, the two of them all alone by themselves in the woods with only the recent signs of battle around them.
"What happened?" Teyla asked, shifting her P90 around, wary for any ambush.
"I...don't," he didn't finish his thought as he realized what his friend intended to do, "oh no..."
Suddenly, he heard the familiar whine and bright light of an Asgard beaming technology before the woody scenic was replaced by the cool metallic hues of the Daedalus and at least six guns trained on him and Teyla.
"Whoa! Hold your fire!" he called out, raising his hands and tablet up slightly in surrender.
"Dr. McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Colonel Caldwell is waiting for you on the bridge," one of the Daedalus' marines stepped forward as the rest of them lowered their weapons.
"Figures," he snipped as he brushed past the guards and stepped in the hallway and headed towards the bridge. He walked past some of the human-formed Furlings, some whom were triaged in the hallway, and caught Carson running back and forth between two marines, barking orders. Finally he arrived on the bridge, Teyla behind him.
"Doctor," Caldwell greeted in his ever present neutral tone, "Colonel Sheppard is not with you?"
"No, he booted us out of the Wraith'gul," Rodney was livid with despair as he knew exactly what John did to him and Teyla. He pointed out of the bridge's viewport, "He's still down there."
"What?!" Caldwell lost his entire calm demeanor, "Why didn't you-"
"Believe me we tried," Rodney was in no mood to go toe-to-toe with the by-the-book Colonel.
"Status of the Wraith'gul," Caldwell turned to his weapons officer on his right.
"It looks like it's about to fire, sir," Kleinman replied.
"Target the area around the stargate," Caldwell ordered.
"Wait, you're going to bury the stargate?!" Rodney blurted out.
"Yes, we hoped that it would act like a barrier to prevent the effects of the Wraith'gul to transmit to all the other stargates including Atlantis and Earth."
"Who the hell thought of that, Zelenka?!"
"Yes-"
"Never mind, it wouldn't work. The translations I was able to read said that the Wraith'gul will go through any barrier, including if you buried it in tons of dirt and rocks," Rodney remembered his initial dread at reading its effects before he pursed his lips quickly, "can we beam the stargate into the F-302 bay?"
"Excuse me?" Caldwell stared at him like he had grown another head along with some of the other bridge crews.
"Even if it is active up here, the Wraith'gul still needs a place to go and since it's connected to the stargate..."
"If we take it up into orbit there is nowhere for the weapon's discharge to go to," Caldwell nodded, understanding his reasoning before tapping his radio, "Bridge to Hermiod and Novak, can you configure a workaround quickly to beam the stargate into the F-302 bay?"
"Bridge this is Novak, Hermiod says he can, but it will take a minute or two," Novak's reply came back after a few seconds.
"It doesn't have to go into the F-302," Rodney quickly patched into the Daedalus' radio frequency, "we can just make it a space gate or something. I think the Wraith'gul is planet based."
"Actually it isn't," Hermiod's nasal voice came back, "the weapon is much like the Dakara superweapon, which means it transmits into the surrounding space around the planet. However, I believe I can make a work around."
"Do so," Caldwell cut in before turning to Kleinman, "Captain status?"
"Still the same," the officer replied.
"That's good, that's good," Rodney murmured to himself as he paced the side of the bridge, brushing past Ronon and Lorne who had come in before a thought stopped him, "wait, it's not firing or anything?"
"No sir," Kleinman replied pointing to his monitor where levels looked like they were in the red, an imminent sign that it was going to fire, "it's holding..."
"Sheppard?" Ronon rumbled near him.
"Could be," a slight sliver of hope filled him as he remembered his tablet and brought it around him. Indeed, he saw that the power levels, though high, were holding and in fact, it looked like they were slowly but surely dropping. Sheppard was actually doing it, was actually stopping the weapon.
Maybe they weren't going to die after all...
The scans of the surrounding planet showed no other human or Furling life form on the planet, Rodney and Teyla having been beamed up to the Daedalus. John breathed a quick sigh of relief before placing his hands once more on the control panel of the Wraith'gul. He still felt dizzied and wasn't quite too sure he was really in the right place, his vision still blurring with the twilight skies of the Furling planet. He was sure that it was the real place, but with Rodney's voice cutting into his own, the pain in his head, the static images that he had briefly forgot who he was supposed to kill...
Which one was real and which one the fake? Teyla had said that Elizabeth would never order him to his death, but he knew that if pressed, she would do anything, like him, to make sure that Earth was never discovered by the Wraith. She had not even stopped him when he had gone on his suicide run in the puddle jumper over a year and half ago to blow up the Wraith ships attacking Atlantis.
Yet, there had been something about Elizabeth when he had seemingly talked to her in her office that was off. He had not pegged it until now. It was the lack of emotion in her voice when she had spoken to him, the lack of empathy. He had been too consumed by grief for his failures and the supposed deaths of his men to really been paying attention. But Teyla had looked like she was alive and well, not at all bleeding to death in the medical ward that Taethos had dragged him and Apollo from.
Still...
He squeezed his eyes shut, seeing nothing of the darkness, willing his mind to be blank. Shut down, he thought to the machine, willing his own unique genes to shut the damned thing down. If McKay said that the Wraith'gul would kill them all, then he believed it – as he knew his friend did not lie about such things, not with the earth cracking all around them as the ancient machine came to life.
Are you sure? He felt more than heard the inquiry in his mind, a musical tinkling sound.
"Yes," he spoke out loud before he closed his mouth. Yes.
Why?
Because I don't want to kill everyone, he gritted his teeth as he could feel a metal push of defiance, oddly child-like against his own efforts to shut down the Wraith'gul. He did not know exactly how he was doing it, but suspected it was like the rest of Ancient technology, by instinct. He could seemingly see a way to lower its levels, but somehow, this...thing, A.I., presence, was stopping him.
It had the same feel as Atlantis herself, but this was his first time attempting to communicate with something like it. Atlantis had just seemed to hover at the back of his mind, occasionally seemingly laughing at him as he had explored the city during the last three and half years, but that was it.
But you have already activated it, is this not your desire now?
I was coerced. You know what that means? No, you probably don't. I need you to shut down, he commanded again.
It will hurt, either way.
That doesn't matter, John was already in pain, from his wounds, and from the drug running through his veins. He was sure now, as much as he could be sure, that he wasn't hallucinating anymore. That Elizabeth had not even suggested that he go on a suicide mission to regain the honor he had lost. That Teyla was not dead, and very much alive. That his men had not died in the ill-fated attack on M3R-154.
You have been in pain for a long time.
John started and nearly lost his concentration as he felt the power levels spike before he managed to force it slowly back down. He winced as he felt something rip out of him, but whether it was mental or physical he couldn't tell. Shut down, he repeated his command.
Do you wish to sleep the pain away?
No! He mentally glared at the voice; I want you to shut down so no one else has to die.
Your pain will not go away.
I don't care about that. It's mine to deal with, he could see the levels in his mind's eye dropping some more and nearly gasped as he felt something bigger rip away at him. He did not dare open his eyes, lest he saw perhaps blood spilling from him, but somehow he knew that wasn't the case. It was as if the Wraith'gul was eating him, slowly, but surely as he forced it to shut down.
If that was the case...
You are afraid...
John was silent as he trembled slightly.
You are afraid that it will hurt so much, that you will die as a result. You are afraid of dying...
I... He looked up, even though his eyes were still closed, I am afraid that if I die, it will be in vain. If I die without making sure this weapon is completely shut down and rendered harmless, then everyone I know...I care for-
Elizabeth...Teyla... The tinkling voice was now thoughtful, your teammates, Ronon and Rodney. The expedition members...
Atlantis...
You do not want to die, yet you want to shut me down...how very odd.
It was then that John realized why the Ancients never used the weapon at all. Why he had gotten such a skittish feeling from the Wraith'gul the two times he had approached it. The Ancients designed the thing as a last resort and had abandoned it because it was too much. Too much to ask a single person to sacrifice their own life to destroy others. There could have been volunteers, he had no doubt about that, but the Ancients must have realized that no matter the cost, every life was precious.
Life is precious, in this galaxy of mistakes... The musical tinkling echoed in his head.
To fire the weapon was to forfeit his own life. There was just no way of shutting the weapon down, unless...
I am afraid of dying, he thought to the machine, but if it means saving my friends, I will gladly do it.
You would have me shut down in exchange for your life?
Yes, there was no hesitation in his answer and John finally opened his eyes, staring at his hands which had bloody streaks running up and down his fingers.
Then, John Sheppard, you shall sleep, before I do.
With that pronouncement, John suddenly felt a spike of pain, raking across his body, searing through his veins, lungs, eyes, hands, feet, everywhere around him – compressing him, ripping and tearing through him until just as suddenly, he could not feel anything anymore.
The forcefield surrounding him suddenly vanished as the machine abruptly shut down, but John Sheppard was already dead as he collapsed to the ground.
"That's it! Tremors have stopped and the power levels are non-existent! Stargate has shut down," Rodney shouted joyfully as the bridge of the Daedalus burst into applause at the good news.
Many of the bridge personnel backslapped each other or shook hands, but Rodney was already on the move, "Colonel, can you beam us back to the planet? I know the Daedalus' sensors can't pick up any life signs within the Wraith'gul to beam Sheppard out, but we'll get him out."
"Will do, I'm sending down a squad of marines-"
"I would like to accompany them, if possible Colonel," Apollo's accented voice spoke up quietly from the corner of the hallway that lead from the bridge and Caldwell's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Shouldn't you-"
"Ach," Carson suddenly burst in, glaring at Apollo, "there you are."
"Doctor?" Caldwell stepped away from his chair and rounded towards them. It was then that he noticed the sheen of sweat on the man's face, the paleness of his skin and even the hidden pain in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but he's not going anywhere-"
"I am fine," Apollo protested.
"No you're not," Carson was not one to back down, especially in a medical situation, "you've nearly had pulmonary failure and the rest of your body is shutting down-"
"I need to see if he is truly dead," Apollo growled before wincing slightly and clutching a fist against his left chest. "It is my mission-"
"I don't care if it is your mission you are my patient and that'll be that," the doctor glared at the humanoid Furling daring him to contradict what he had said.
"Doctor, I am his commanding officer," a beautiful brown-haired woman suddenly walked towards them, "it is his mission to complete. I understand your need to treat and make sure Arileon Apollo survives, but you do not understand our ways." She turned her brown-eyed gaze to Caldwell, "Colonel, please beam Apollo down with your team. When he had reported in his confirmation of Taethos' death, you may transport him back up and let the good physician tend to his wounds."
"Before the Wraith'gul shut down, we didn't read any life forms on the planet or even near the Wraith'gul," Caldwell narrowed his eyes slightly, "I can assure you Commandant Artemis, there's no one alive down there."
"You may say that, but Taethos is resourceful. He may have cloaked himself or even gone through the Chappa'ai when the Wraith'gul was powering up to fire," Artemis drew herself to her full height, "it would be beneficial to our fledgling alliance, do you not agree?"
Caldwell pursed his lips slightly before grudgingly nodded, "All right. But make no mistake, if you happen to die down there-"
"My people will not hold it against the Tau'ri," Artemis smoothly replied before looking at Apollo and spoke a command to him in their language before he made an odd gesture and left the bridge, carrying himself ridged.
"Colonel, I would like to reserve a spot on the teams sent down for a medical personnel. Colonel Sheppard may be injured."
"Understood, get yourselves to the beaming room," Caldwell dismissed them and they all left.
As soon as they had beamed down in front of the catacombs, Teyla immediately sighted down her P90, wary of anymore cloaked Furlings or even worst, Taethos. The idea that the female Furling, apparently a higher ranking than Apollo, had suggested that Taethos was still alive did not necessarily scare her as much as it sent a grim feeling down her.
"Captain Pearson, your team has the entrance. Doc, you're coming with us," Major Lorne immediately ordered before they headed into the catacombs. "Apollo, I hate to ask you this in your condition, but can you..."
"Understood Major," Teyla glanced at the Furling that had helped them since the beginning and frowned. She didn't know all of the details, but the sheen of sweat and barely masked pain on the Furling's human face was definitely not a good sign.
Apollo must have noticed her concerned look as he gave her a wane smile. "There is a specific reason why my kind do not shapeshift so quickly," he closed his eyes briefly as he began to change, slower than ever, but after a few minutes, he was back in his natural form, the pain still recognizable on his face. There was a moment's hesitation and Teyla saw the small tremor run through his body before he gave her an equivalent of a smile. "Our bodies and internal organs need time to adjust to their different forms to maintain viable sustainability. To shapeshift so quickly..."
"It means certain death," she finished quietly as she realized that the instant he had decided to save them all from Taethos by shifting with a blink of an eye, he had essentially sealed his own fate.
"But, for the moment, since I am still alive and breathing, I can assist you all in making sure an ambush does not happen again," his smile disappeared, replaced by a grim look before his whiskers twitched slightly and he drew in a deep breath. "All clear so far, Major. I do not sense nor smell any abnormalities."
"Let's go," Lorne started forward along with Ronon as they made their way deeper into the catacombs.
The rough raw material of the catacombs soon gave way to the smooth angular design that was clearly Ancient and soon, they came upon the first body of the Furling that they had killed in the firefight. Teyla played her P90's light over the body before Ronon's gruff voice spoke up.
"I found him," he said and she immediately swept her light over to where Ronon was pointing.
Relief filled her just as immediately as it was replaced by dread as she saw that indeed it was John, but...
"Oh crap, he's not breathing!" Carson quickly brushed past her and immediately knelt down next to John's body, checking for a pulse before placing his ear against his chest.
When he ripped open the tattered remnants of John's tac vest and began compressions, Teyla immediately hurried forward and knelt by the side of John's head, ready to assist Carson in trying to revive him.
"Major," the radio crackled with Caldwell's voice, "we're getting a single life sign within the compound."
"Roger that," Lorne tapped his radio, turning away from their attempts to revive John, but Teyla saw the slight look of sorrow on his face. "Pearson, apparently Taethos may be in the compound-"
"The sarcophagus!" Rodney shouted and Teyla looked up after she had breathed twice into John's mouth and Carson started compressions once more.
"Yes, that may work," she remembered dying and waking up bathed in a soft warm glow of the sarcophagus, healing all of her wounds, making her strong and healthy.
"I will carry him," Akiesios had almost dashed away from them, still focused on his mission to make sure Taethos was truly dead, before returning and knelt down by Carson's side. "Doctor, if you will."
"What-" Carson looked utterly confused.
"There is a Goa'uld sarcophagus in Akiesios' medical lab," Teyla quickly explained.
Carson had not even stopped in his compressions, and looked like he was about to protest before he bit his lip. Teyla completely understood where the doctor was coming from. He would do anything that was humanly possible to try to save his patient. Telling him to trust a piece of technology that technically should not exist in this galaxy was telling him to hold back on his medical oath. However, at this point, John wasn't even reviving or moving and looked so deathly pale that she was willing to put him in the sarcophagus if it meant he was going to be revived.
"All right," he stopped his compressions and backed away slightly as Akiesios with surprising gentleness, picked John up and hurried out of the darkened control center of the Wraith'gul.
Teyla quickly stood up and followed him out as Lorne tapped his radio once more.
"Pearson, take your team and scout ahead. We're headed towards the compound. If you do see Taethos, do not engage, repeat, do not engage."
"Yes sir," Pearson's reply came back quickly.
"Daedalus, this is Lorne," he tapped his radio again as they ran through the woods, still wary of an ambush, "we found Colonel Sheppard and are taking him to the sarcophagus in the compound."
"Major, did you say sarcophagus?!" Caldwell sounded shocked.
"Yes sir," Lorne replied, "I also recommend sending down another team of marines to guard the stargate. If it is Taethos in the compound..."
"Understood, Daedalus out," Caldwell replied.
A few minutes later, Teyla saw the familiar entrance to the compound where they had initially escaped from and Rodney hurried forward to input Akiesios' command code and the doors hissed open. They along with Captain Pearson and his marines hurried in, but the Furling brushed past all of them, not even bothering with procedure as he hurried down the halls and finally arrived at his lab.
The sight that greeted them was the sparking remnants of the sarcophagus, half open and crystal components littered all over the ground.
"No..." Rodney breathed their collective denial.
Akiesios narrowed his eyes as he saw that the sarcophagus had been damaged but thankfully not destroyed. It had to be Taethos, he was the only life sign Colonel Caldwell had said was still on the planet, probably having hidden himself with a cloak during their evacuation. He had ultimately lost the hand-to-hand battle with Taethos, the taller and much stronger Klisan'thus overpowering him when they had reached the surface. The men both he and Major Lorne had stationed in the back entrance had shot at his fleeing form, but they had lost him when the Daedalus began beaming people up for evacuations of the planet.
At least he had managed to get the memory device off of the Furling's head before anymore damage could be done to Colonel Sheppard. However, he would have gone in hot pursuit if not for the sudden feeling of his heart being squeezed, so tightly that he thought would burst any second. It had left him winded and seeing spots in his vision before he thought he had blacked out from the pain and had awakened on one of the medical beds in the Daedalus' medical bay. He had also found that he had unconsciously reverted back to his human form then.
Shaking himself back to the present, he knelt down as best as his trembling form could allow and gently laid Colonel Sheppard on one of the remaining beds in his medical ward that hadn't been filled with debris or turned over. "Dr. McKay, I require your assistance," he growled before closing his eyes and forcing himself to revert to his human form.
It hurt, shooting pain spreading from his heart and through his nerves, but he pushed past that and finally, felt his organs realigning themselves before he opened his eyes once more. His world abruptly tilted and he grabbed the edge of the bed, steadying himself as he felt light-headed and dizzied. Strong arms grabbed hold of him and he shook his head slightly then stopped his motion as he felt his stomach doing flip flops.
"I will be fine," he waved away Dr. Beckett and Teyla's assistance before forcing himself to blink away the spots of white from his eyes and walk over to the sarcophagus where Dr. McKay was already examining it, picking up the small crystals and looking them over.
"Are you familiar with this technology?" he asked the scientist.
"Eh, not quite as much as Colonel Sam Carter, but I do have some experience with Goa'uld tech," McKay nodded absently before putting a couple of crystals back into a small slot.
"We will need to work fast," he picked up a couple of the crystals before staring at them and then placing them back into the panel, but on opposite sides. "There is a certain point until a body cannot be successfully revived, and I do not even know if the sarcophagus will be as effective."
"Look, it just needs to work, that's it," McKay snapped at him, jamming a few more crystals in before hooking his computer up with a small wire.
"Lieutenant Brown, you're on guard duty here," Lorne spoke behind him, "the rest of you, we're hunting down that single life sign."
Apollo started at Lorne's statement, hearing the anger in his voice and was about to open his mouth when he heard a shift of feet behind him.
"I'm sorry, I know it's your mission, but right now..."
"I understand," he replied. The Tau'ri were definitely like their predecessors. Hot-headed, passionate, and quick to anger. Colonel Sheppard was a lucky commander to find that his own men would get revenge so easily. He knew that in the Klisan'thus culture, such things were rare indeed. It was more of a subtle sense of revenge, followed by a quick strike which was also quite violent at times. He knew that there was nothing he could do to dissuade them. He had to help fix the sarcophagus and make it at least revive Colonel Sheppard.
There was more shifting of feet followed by quick steps walking away and it told him that Teyla, Ronon, and Major Lorne had left. Turning back to his work, he placed a couple more crystals in different slots before McKay shot a hand out to stop him.
"Hold on, I think we got it," the scientist looked excited before touching a crystal lightly and sarcophagus lit up. However, the usual almost silent hum was replaced by a light high pitched whine, a clear sign that it was not completely working well. "Okay, that's enough power for it, I think, but...I don't know if it will heal."
"One way to find out," he used the very human expression that he remembered his father always saying when facing the unknown and stood up, grimacing as he felt a new wave of pain wash over him, immediately making the world spin.
"You, um, don't look so good," McKay spoke up timidly and Apollo looked at him sideways before slowly shaking his head and walking slowly over to where Colonel Sheppard laid on the medical bed, still deathly still and pale.
Apollo knew he would deal with his own mortality when the time came. Right now, Colonel Sheppard was in graver straits than he was. "Lieutenant?" he glanced over Lieutenant Brown who immediately hurried forward and helped him carry Sheppard to the sarcophagus. They managed to get him in and he stepped back.
"Nothing is happening," Dr. Beckett peered over their shoulders.
"We may have to push the cover on," Apollo frowned before he and the doctor took one side, McKay and Lieutenant Brown on the other. Together, they pushed the parallel covers together until it locked with a pneumatic hiss.
"How do we know when it is successful?" Beckett immediately grabbed his shoulder and sat him down next to the side of the sarcophagus, flicking a pen light into his eyes. Apollo didn't voice his thanks, but he was grateful for the assistance. The last effort to push the covers together had nearly made him collapse from the sudden drain of blood from his face.
He slowly shook his head, raising a hand as it trembled slightly. "I...do not know," he made a fist, trying to stop the tremors, but they still continued to his dismay.
"Listen son, we need to get you back up to the ship, you're going into shock," Beckett's voice suddenly seemed so far away and Apollo looked at him sluggishly. He was moving fine just a few minutes ago, wasn't he? How could he suddenly go into shock? Yes, he had been dizzied and feeling faint for a while, but he had to make sure the Colonel was going to be fine.
"I'm...fine," he tried to work his mouth, but somehow, the words were hard to come by and he stared at his trembling hand, "Taethos..." He had to make sure Taethos was dead, then he could at least report to his sister that his mission was complete. That the threat to the High Council was eliminated.
As his vision dimmed, he thought he heard Dr. Beckett saying something about getting him through the Chappa'ai, that there was no time... But wasn't time immaterial to someone like him? Time was most definitely immaterial to the Klisan'thus... Apollo quietly slid into darkness, unaware of the panic around him.
Time was everything...
If heaven felt like a warm fuzzy blanket, then John definitely knew he was not in the right place. No one in their right mind would ever make heaven a warm and fuzzy place. Certainly not God, nor whatever deity was out there. Maybe he was in hell then?
"I certainly hope not, Colonel for your sake," the quiet Scottish brogue spoke up next to his right ear and he cracked his eyes open.
The familiar walls of Atlantis' infirmary greeted him as he blinked a few times before turning his head slightly to see the good doctor peering over his head, making a small note on a thick folder that he suspected was his medical chart. "Doc?" he cracked, feeling his throat dry and cotton-like.
Carson looked down at him and patted him on his arm, "Good to have you back with us, Colonel." He picked up a small squeeze bottle and squirted some water into his mouth. John sucked at it greedily, swishing it around his throat as best as he could before swallowing it.
"Where did I go?" his voice still cracked slightly from disuse, "last thing I remember..." Frowning, he tried to recall what had happened. The last thing he remembered was...
You would have me shut down in exchange for your life?
Yes.
Then, John Sheppard, you shall sleep, before I do...
"I..." he trailed off for a second before looking up at Carson, "I died...right?"
He saw the Scottish doctor bite his lip before nodding, "Yes. When we found you after the Wraith'gul inexplicably shut down, you were dead. Apollo and Rodney tried to fix the sarcophagus to revive you, but, they only managed to get it working for about twenty minutes before it shut down completely.
He saw a slight hesitation in the doctor's eyes before resolve filled them and he continued, "The sarcophagus only managed to revive you somewhat. You've been in a coma for the last two weeks."
"Two weeks?!" John started, sending shooting pain up and down his left arm. He twisted his head and saw that it was heavily bandaged from where the Furling holding him had gave him a nasty puncture wound to his upper arm and an IV was hooked up to the crook of his elbow.
Carson was immediately by his left side, pushing his arm back down and checking to make sure he did not rip any of the IV or lines on him. "Colonel, please," the doctor gave him an admonishing look.
"Sorry," he grumbled, "just...two weeks..."
"I know," he patted his shoulder, "for a while we thought we may have lost you there. It looked like you weren't going to wake up any time soon. Rodney even suggested that we send you back to Stargate Command and have them put you in a sarcophagus, but with the Goa'uld defeated and scattered..."
John looked at him sideway before nodding. He was glad that they didn't ship him back to Earth.
"Artemis also said that the Furling sarcophagus, while looking exactly like its Goa'uld counterpart is much different in that it does not produce a drug-addiction like reaction from multiple uses. Apparently the Goa'uld need such type of addiction in order to keep the naquadah in their blood functioning."
"Artemis?" he blinked, "as in the Greek goddess of the hunt Artemis?"
"Aye," Carson looked sheepish, "quite a fine looking woman too, whenever she's in her human form." He shook his head slightly, "She's apparently Apollo's commanding officer and part of the High Council. She is also the head of the Agentus, which is like some secret agent military thing I suppose, that only reports to the High Council."
John nodded, feeling slightly stronger and more awake, but he knew that it would be a while until he would regain his full strength. Being out of commission for two weeks meant that he would have to take it easy to recover. However, he did not want to spend it in the infirmary the whole time. He slowly shifted his feet under the blanket, "Hey Doc..."
"The answer is no," Carson looked at him for a second before holding the squeeze bottle of water to his lips again and he sipped a few gulps before he took it away.
"But you didn't-"
"Colonel, I want to make sure you are not suffering any ill effects from the sarcophagus, Wraith'gul, or the fact that you were clinically dead for over twenty minutes," the doctor held up a hand to stop his protest, "I can have you moved to a more private area and have privacy curtains drawn around you, if you want."
"How long?" John was a fiercely private person and did not want others to see him and feel pity for his condition – though he suspected that being clinically dead for over twenty minutes along with being stuffed into a half-broken sarcophagus probably already elicited pity from some people.
"For another two weeks, but if you feel stronger after a few days or so, I will clear you back for light duty until that wound on your arm and face heal," Carson looked at him sympathetically, "I'm sorry Colonel, but..."
"Yeah, I know..." John sighed. The doctor was only doing his job, as usual.
"Well then," Carson closed his folder, "you're doing fine so far. I'll notify the nurse on duty tonight to make sure you start getting some light solid food in your body. Do you want to sleep or can I tell your teammates who have been badgering me for the past two weeks by sitting by your side that you are now awake?"
John was startled at the fact that his teammates had been sitting with him the whole time he was not even conscious; startled and touched. He knew Teyla would be the one most likely to sit by his side whenever he was injured, but his whole team? Rodney included? His best friend was the last person he would have figured doing such a thing.
He shifted slightly in his bed before finally nodding and Carson beamed before patting him on the shoulder and heading away, tapping his radio before speaking quietly into it. As John waited for his team to arrive, he looked around the medical ward and was quite surprised to see a figure, swathed in a multitude of bandages, oxygen mask on his face, his artificial respirator connected to it pumping air up and down in a rhythmic fashion. A saline drip hung on one of the rungs along with another drip that he couldn't quite identify.
The person's hair was the only nearly visible aspect on the stark white bed and he swore the person looked somewhat familiar...
"Hey, sleeping beauty's now awake!" Rodney's sarcastic voice brought his gaze around to see him munching on a sandwich; tablet tucked underneath an arm, followed by Teyla and Ronon, the former of the two with a warm smile on her face.
He nodded to his best friend's greeting, "Guys..."
"Good to see you awake John," Teyla greeted and Ronon just nodded and made some sort of grunt that could have been a greeting for all he knew. Ronon was a man of very few words. "How are you feeling?"
"Eh," John shrugged as best as he could feel his muscles sort of respond to his mental commands, "just tired."
"Well, you'll be happy to know that the Wraith'gul, has been mostly deactivated and I've locked out all of the other addresses on the DHD the thing was supposed to dial to. We've also put the gate in space just to deter anyone else from messing with it," Rodney looked proud of himself before polishing off the rest of his sandwich.
"Mostly deactivated?" John raised an eyebrow.
"Well," he saw his friend look a bit flustered, "with Major Lorne's help we've managed to shut down most of the critical systems, but somehow, we can't get to a part...Lorne just says that he's hearing some kind of voice repeating your name."
"You let Lorne and the others near that thing?!" John managed to half sit up, eyes narrowed in anger.
"He was the only one with the natural gene that wasn't terrified by that thing," McKay looked a little chagrined, "apparently; he says that it talks to you if you have the natural gene..."
John fell silent at that statement and saw both Teyla and Ronon looking at him with oddly curious looks. Rodney was also looking at him, unconsciously hopping from one foot to the other. He honestly did not want to talk about what had happened in the moments that he forced the Wraith'gul to shut down and apparently kill him at the same time. Elizabeth would want a detailed account in his eventual report and Stargate Command would want to know how this was related to his unique genes...
"Look," he hesitated, "can we..."
"We understand," Teyla immediately took over, stepping forward and placing a comforting arm on his own, squeezing it slightly in reassurance before looking at McKay pointedly, "don't we Rodney?"
"But-"
Ronon placed a hand on his shoulder, shutting him up, "You look tired Sheppard, get some rest." He started to steer Rodney away from his bed side, the man spluttering the whole way before it was cut off with the doors to the infirmary hissing close.
"I will thank Ronon for you," the corners of Teyla's mouth quirked up in a half smile before she started moving away from the bed.
"Wait," John reached out and grabbed her fingers, "did everyone...?"
"Yes, everyone else survived, because of your actions. However," she glanced over at the bandaged man and her expression became sorrowful, "it seems that Apollo put himself in mortal danger to save all of us when we were trying to rescue you. He has been on an artificial respirator since then, and it seems the Furling High Council requests that he be returned to them to pass on."
John stared at the tufts of brown hair peeking out from swaths of bandages and indeed saw that it was Apollo, though pale faced and unmoving. He didn't know the circumstances that lead to the Furling being in this condition, but somehow, he felt responsible for yet another man dying under his command.
"Dr. Weir is fighting the extradition, but there is only so much she can do without breaking the tentative alliance we have with the Furlings," Teyla squeezed his fingers once before releasing them, "get some rest John. I'll let Dr. Weir know you are awake."
John nodded as she stepped away and headed out of the infirmary. He looked over to Apollo's still form, shaking his head slightly before making himself more comfortable on his bed and closed his eyes. He would never admit it, but that brief moment of his team visiting him had exhausted all of the initial energy he thought he had when he woke up.
He thought he heard a musical tinkling sound, warm and soothing, as he felt himself falling asleep. It seemingly told him not to worry, that he was safe and sound now, that everyone was safe; that he had done the best he could to save them.
Sleep, Little One, before I do.
~END~
Author's Final Notes:
The rest of this story is continued in a one-shot side story Recovery, which will focus more on Elizabeth and John's perspectives in the aftermath of Sleep Before I Do. I know I left Apollo hanging, but there is a good reason for that which will be explained in the side story. I will also put my usual Author's Q&A at the end of that one-shot so for those with questions for me, please leave them in your review and I will answer them at the end of the one-shot. Thank you again for reading and reviewing this fanfic!