AN: Alright everyone here's Chapter 13, hope you like it. Please don't forget to show that review button down there some love by clicking on it and letting me know what you think! :o)
Chapter 13:
Elizabeth sat there staring at the blank screen horrified, she couldn't believe what Kolya had done to John. She hoped they could find him soon but she knew Kolya was right in the fact that they didn't have much of a chance of doing it without intimate knowledge of the tunnels.
"Dr. Weir!" came a voice that Elizabeth didn't recognize.
"Jocelynne, what are you doing here?" Rodney asked apparently knowing the girl.
"I need to speak with Dr. Weir and Major Lorne about the whereabouts of Colonel Sheppard and his team." She said quickly.
Elizabeth turned around to stare at the beautiful young lady before her. "How do you know where they are?" she asked skeptically.
"Is there someplace private we can go?" She asked immediately, not wanting everyone around to hear.
Elizabeth nodded and led Jocelynne to her office, Major Lorne and Rodney following. They all sat down and listened while Jocelynne explained her gifts and her conversation with Colonel Sheppard and Atlantis.
"How do we know you can do what you say you can and you're not just leading us into a trap?" Rodney asked. He wasn't suspicious at all of Jocelynne, in fact he believed her, but he knew that Elizabeth needed to know and she wouldn't put it as bluntly and blunt is what they needed to be right now.
To their surprise, it was Major Lorne who spoke up for her. "She's telling the truth. We need to get back to that planet and get Colonel Sheppard and his team out of there NOW." He said, urgency punctuating every word he said.
"How do you know?" Rodney asked sarcastically.
"Atlantis told me." He said succinctly.
"Can everyone with the natural gene talk to Atlantis?" Rodney exclaimed.
"Rodney, now's not the time." Elizabeth said firmly. She turned to Major Lorne and Jocelynne. "Go, bring them back. Jocelynne, I would like you to accompany them."
"I'm sorry, I can't. I must stay here on Atlantis but there is someone there who CAN lead you even though he will not admit it at first." She said cryptically before she turned to Major Lorne. "You know whom I am talking about."
"Yes." Lorne replied angrily. He looked at Elizabeth for one more confirmation.
"Go." She said and watched him jump out of his chair.
She didn't say anything when Rodney jumped just as quickly and joined Major Lorne. She knew that he'd be wanting to join the mission when it came to his friends being in danger. He had a courageous streak that many did not see since they didn't look much passed his arrogance. Not that she blamed them, it had taken her several months to get passed his arrogance and get to know HIM and even then he didn't really start to come out of his shell until John came along. Hang on John, we're coming!
Teyla sat quietly holding John's hand, which seemed to be the only part of him that wasn't bruised or injured, while Carson examined him. Ronon paced the cell furiously, looking like a caged animal. John was still passed out thankfully, the last thing any of them wanted was for him to be in more pain while the doctor examined him.
The first thing Carson attended to was John's shoulder which was bleeding profusely. The bullet seemed to have ricocheted off John's shoulder blade and exited out by his collar bone. From what Carson could tell the shoulder blade was broken in several different places, possibly indicating it had been shattered. The collar bone seemed in tact but he didn't know if any minor damage had been done to it. He already knew John was going to need surgery to repair the damage to his shoulder. At least it was the left shoulder since his left arm was going to be of no use for several weeks as well. He grabbed several pieces of cloth, using 2 to stop the bleeding and using 2 others to wrap those in place and bind the shoulder.
Carson then moved on to examine the rest of John which wasn't looking any more promising than his shoulder. He had 6 broken ribs on his right side which Carson quickly bound to try to help prevent further injury. His left hip was fractured which Carson couldn't do anything about until he got John back to Atlantis. His feet had hairline fractures in them but were not totally broken. His right shoulder had a bad gash on it and some muscle damage near the shoulder blade where the bar struck, but was not broken. John's lower back was one big, deep bruise making Carson think that there was some kidney damage. He checked John's stomach and chest and, sure enough, found signs indicating internal bleeding but he didn't know how bad it was.
Carson did what he could for John and then stepped back and sighed. He looked at the other two. "We need to get him home and fast. He has some slight internal bleeding which will cause problems on it's own, he has broken half of his ribs on his right side which could puncture a lung if he's jostled too much. The bullet wound is already getting infected as are many of the scratches from the metal rod." He told them sadly. "I've done all I can but I fear it won't be enough if we can't get him back to Atlantis VERY soon."
"How soon?" Teyla asked, tears still streaming down her face.
"I'm not sure but I don't think he could last until the next contact with Atlantis." Carson said. "If the internal bleeding gets too bad I could try to drain some of the blood in his chest cavity which can help him last a little longer, but he needs to be able to replace the blood he's lost and right now his body is so drained it can't keep up."
"How are his other injuries?" Teyla asked.
Carson let out a big sigh. "Well as I said, he has 6 broken ribs on his right side, I believe his left shoulder blade is broken in several places if not shattered. His left hip is fractured. His feet aren't too bad actually and providing that Kolya doesn't do anything else to them should heal well before any of his other injuries. His right shoulder seems to have a wee bit of muscle damage that should heal without too much trouble." He took a deep breath. "Basically, he'll be in surgery for SEVERAL hours. Most of his injuries will require surgery to fix, whether it be minor or major."
They all sat quietly, keeping watch over John, lost in their own thoughts. The sound of footsteps drew their attention and then they saw a face they didn't expect to see.
"How is the Colonel doing?" Aiden Ford asked with a malicious glint in his eyes.
"Aiden, you knew about this?" Teyla asked not fully shocked but thoroughly disappointed.
"Yes, who do you think told them where to find you?" He asked
Ronon wasn't saying anything but the look on his face said "I'll kill you when I get a hold of you."
"Why did you do this?" Carson asked appalled by what Ford had helped do.
"Because I felt like it." He said simply. "You all left me alone, cut off from the only home I had out here."
"We tried to bring you back Aiden but you would not let us." Teyla replied angrily.
"You wanted to change me, not help me." He said.
"You're still using the drug aren't you Lt.?" Carson asked, slowly piecing it all together.
"Yes. I've found that I can use it intermittently without causing myself any long-term effects." He said. "When you guys had shown up, I hadn't taken it for a couple of days so it was out of my system. I waited until I got back on Atlantis before I took it again."
"Why would you want to get back on Atlantis?" Teyla asked.
"To see if the Genii's plan had worked. I was sorely disappointed to find out that it was only McKay's lab that had been destroyed and that Colonel Sheppard was fine." Ford replied, the malice lining his voice.
"Why do you want to harm the Colonel so badly?" Carson yelled.
"Because it was HIS choice to leave me out there! His choice to turn me in to what I was and then you all decided I wasn't worth trying to get to know again. You decided that there was something wrong with me that had to be fixed and he enforced it. He made it look like he wanted me to come back but he barely put an effort into it." Ford spat.
"Colonel Sheppard did as much as he could Aiden! He did not want to harm you trying to get you back." Teyla told him.
Ford just laughed, "It's too bad the feeling isn't mutual." He responded with hate in his eyes. "So how is he doc?" he asked Carson.
"He'll be dead within the next 3 hours if we don't get him back to Atlantis." Carson told him.
"Huh, guess Kolya went a little rougher than I thought he would." Ford said shrugging as if to say 'Oh well'. As much as he wanted Sheppard to suffer, he didn't want the man to die. However, he didn't want THEM knowing that either. "Are any of his injuries debilitating enough that he'll always have a reminder of this trip?" he asked the doctor with a sneer.
Carson just stood there, his mouth gaped open. He couldn't believe the Lt. had just asked that, why would he want to know that of all things? Ford must have read his mind because he continued, "I want something for him to remember me and this trip by."
"And you choose to have that something be an injury?" Carson asked appalled.
"What better way to always remind him of his failures?" Ford countered with a malicious glint in his eyes.
The team stood there stunned. Carson was the first to speak again, "What happened to you lad?" he asked sadly.
Ford shrugged, "I got abandoned by my friends and family, learned how to survive on my own, had to battle a few Wraith to do that and during that time I grew up."
"No, you grew vengeful." Teyla countered.
"If that's how you want to see it sure, but I realized how weak HE made me. Fly when you can fight? Nah, that tactic is for the weak, the strong fight." Ford replied, his voice rising in pitch with every word as the hurt and anger made itself known.
Ronon just stood there dumbfounded. He hadn't realized how much of an idiot he sounded like until he heard Ford talking. He too used to believe that and sometimes he still did but it took time on Sheppard's team to get him to understand that they weren't running away, they were picking the battles they could win. Once he got to know Sheppard, Ronon understood that he wasn't weak or afraid to fight (Hell, the man had been in more fights with him than any other!), he was just tired of all the killing and violence. Sheppard was a laid back, easy going kind of guy if he didn't have to get into a fight or kill someone then he'd try to avoid it. How could this man have spent so much time with Sheppard and not know that?
They all sat quietly, not caring to debate the matter any further. It was obvious that Ford was back on the drug and out of his mind and they knew it was futile to try to get him to see reason so they didn't even try.
"You never answered my question doc. Will he have something to remember me by?" Ford asked
"Aye, you're right, I didn't answer it and I never will. I'm not going to feed your psychosis. What his injuries are is between him, his doctor and his friends. Since your are neither, I suggest you leave." Carson said with a more confident air than they had seen since he got there.
"Hm, that sounds like a "No" to me. I'll send Nehemiah to fix that." Ford replied casually, knowing full-well that it might be a "Yes" and Carson just didn't want to admit it.
"You can't do that!" Carson exclaimed. "Alright you bastard if you really want to know the truth, yes he might have limited mobility in his arm and possibly his shoulder! There are you happy?"
"Unfortunately no. See, I know that it's his left arm which he doesn't use very often." Ford responded.
"Aye, it's not his dominant hand but he does need it to fight and to fly. It will take him MONTHS to recover from this which means NO flying and you know how much he loves to fly." Carson said. Truthfully, while he knew that it would take months for the Colonel to recover, he didn't know if there would be limited mobility or not. He just wanted to give Ford something to keep his goons off his already badly injured patient.
Ford's smile chilled their hearts. "That may work, besides I know he'll always have scars. Maybe I'll talk to Kolya about it for his next session." He said just before he walked away, the malicious glint ever present in his eyes.
"Did he really just say that he wants me to have something to remember him by?" John asked while he did his best to lay still. The pain he was in was very evident on his face and in his eyes but there was also a Really? kind of expression as well.
"I'm afraid so lad. How do you feel?" Carson asked
John just groaned, "Like I've been thrown out of the Daedalus, landed on Atlantis and then run over by a bus." He said. "I actually think I might have preferred that to being kidnapped by two psychos who only really want to torture me. At least if Colonel Caldwell threw me out of the Daedalus I know he'd have a good reason." He quipped.
Carson smiled, "Aye, I'm sure he would." He said as he tried to get John to drink some water. He managed a little but couldn't do very much, the action of it all wearing him out way too fast.
Carson's heart dropped when he heard footsteps approaching again. He checked his watch and new that it was Kolya's men coming to get them for their next "session". John couldn't take any more abuse, especially the way Lt. Ford wanted it but he had the sinking feeling that Kolya would gladly help the Lt. out just because it would do more damage to the Colonel.
Nehemiah came forward, a gleeful hatred in his eyes. "Time to go." He opened the door and waited for the 3 friends to carefully pick up John and start to carry him to the torture cavern. Kolya was there waiting for them looking positively giddy.
"Ah, Colonel. My men tell me that you're awake and talking so I thought we'd get you out of your cell a little early." He said as the Genii doctor when over and gave him shots in his injuries to numb them. "See doctor," Kolya said while addressing Carson. "I am a humanitarian. I would not dream of hanging Colonel Sheppard up with all his injuries while he could feel them."
"Not right away no but I can assure you that he will be able to feel them later." Carson said, unable to hold his response back.
"Another problem for another time doctor." Kolya said as he waved of Carson's reply with the air of someone who couldn't be bothered with such things.
Carson watched in horror as Kolya and his men proceeded to beat the Colonel. He didn't know what was worse for John the pain from the beatings on his already severely injured body or the fact that he couldn't do anything to defend himself. Carson knew that John hated feeling weak and being unable to help in a fight, especially if it was HIS fight, and this was no different. He could see the fury and pain in John's eyes and he wished he could do something to help him but Carson helpless to stop them and therefore sat there watching in horror, tears dripping down his eyes.
The assault only lasted a few minutes when a commotion in the hall leading to the torture room broke them from it. The sound of P-90 fire stirred Ronon and Teyla into action and the first man to John's 5 o'clock position fell dead. Ronon easily overpowered the men guarding he, Teyla and Carson since their attention was on the 30 marines flooding the room. He took them out in less than 2 minutes and handed Carson and Teyla the guns that were aimed at their backs only 2 minutes before.
Teyla needed no telling to go kick some butt. She was tearing through the men who tortured John while Carson quickly ran over and got John down as gently as he could. Ronon turned on Ford, who had led the group into the cavern, as soon as he was free tackling him with bone crunching force and the two men began to fight each other like wild animals.
A shot rang out, whizzing over Carson's shoulder and nearly striking John. That was all John needed to grab the gun from the doctor with his one and only working hand and immediately shot back, hitting the shooter with deadly aim in the head. Carson turned around to find the one man HE wouldn't mind killing and found him taking a back tunnel trying to escape. He hadn't known that anyone else was looking for the man either until he heard a roar of pure rage.
"KOLYA!" Ronon bellowed, his voice echoing off the cavern and ringing in their ears. He threw Ford at Major Lorne, who was more than willing to release some anger of his own but held it back knowing that his CO wouldn't approve, and ran after Kolya with such speed that only a man who had been a runner for 7 years could possess.
10 marines quickly followed the runner, all clearly wanting the man dead just as much as John's friends did. Carson saw Teyla start to go after him as well but he stopped her. "Teyla, I need your help with the Colonel. We need to get him to the Jumper and back to Atlantis ASAP." He told her, the seriousness in his eyes burrowing into her. "We need you to help us, you're the only one who can keep him calm when he's hurting this bad."
She hesitated but when John groaned something that sounded oddly enough like "Teyla" she immediately knelt down next to him, soothing him into a pain-free but induced sleep.
2 marines came up behind Carson and put their CO on the travois they had made while he was examining John. Once they got him situated, Carson nodded to Major Lorne who gladly threw Ford into the tunnel and pointed his gun at the Lt.'s back and said, "March!" Ford was no stranger to force but he knew that their anger was strong enough to make them unpredictable so he gladly complied, hoping they'd let him keep his life at the least.
Major Lorne came up to Carson while they were walking through the tunnels. "Colonel Caldwell is waiting in the Daedalus to transport you from the village to the gate where 20 more marines are waiting to immediately dial Atlantis." He informed the doctor.
"Thank you Major. I'm afraid that right now, every second counts and the trip from the village to the Jumper alone might take too long." Carson replied darkly. He wanted to say SO much to the Major, mainly thank you for coming when he did, but he waited until later.
They reached the brightness of the sunshine and the fresh air of the outdoors and Carson breathed a small sigh of relief at no longer being kept in that dank cell. Major Lorne alerted Colonel Caldwell that they were ready and the tickling sensation and the white light of the transporter beam engulfed them all transporting them directly to the gate where the marines immediately dialed Atlantis. The group quickly went through the gate, eager to get the Colonel to safety. Carson breathed his last sigh of relief knowing that this would be the last time he visited this planet and walked through the gate to quickly assist Dr. Keller with their most frequent and troublesome patient.
Ronon caught up with Kolya easily and tackled the former Genii commander with concussive force, his head smashing against the stone floor. The marines that followed Ronon surrounded him. They weren't going to help but they certainly weren't going to allow Kolya to escape either.
Kolya kicked out, striking Ronon in the stomach sending him stumbling back enough fro Kolya to stand up and get in a fighting stance. They danced around each other calculating and measuring their opponent. Having the patience born of a runner, Ronon was able to keep up the dance until Kolya drew tired of it and struck out, sending his right fist to Ronon's head which he blocked and struck out at the former Genii sending his fist forward striking Kolya in the face, Ronon's fist connecting with his nose, breaking it upon impact. He followed up with a swift kick into the stomach, sending Kolya stumbling back trying to catch his breath.
Kolya knew that Ronon had more than one advantage. The main one being he was allowed to watch Kolya's fighting techniques while he practiced on Sheppard. Ronon knew how to block each of Kolya's strikes and was able to follow up with swift and sure strikes of his own easily wearing down the former Genii commander. It's time to finish this Kolya thought. The next time Ronon attacked he was able to fake falling over enough to grab a baseball sized rock. When Ronon came at him again Kolya brought the rock up and swung, smacking the ex runner across the head, causing him to stumble back. He was then able to grab the 6in long knife he kept on him and use it to try to stab Ronon.
Ronon saw the knife just before Kolya brought it down to stab him and was able to roll enough to where the blade missed his stomach. It sliced across his bicep, cutting deeply enough for blood to swiftly run down his arm. The red-hot pain of the cut radiated up his arm but he ignored the pain, there was no way he was going to let this man try to get the best of him. Ronon saw the marines raise their weapons but with a look at them he waved them down. The look clearly said He's Mine!
Ronon quickly re-took the fighting stance and began to once more dance around the Genii. He noticed Kolya had started staggering slightly. Between the head injury of the fall and the blood gushing down his nose, Ronon was surprised it hadn't happened earlier. He became patient and waited for Kolya to come at him and then with a swift side step and a quick kick to his back the former Genii went down again, landing on his stomach.
The marines decided this was the time to step in and quickly restrained Kolya, binding his hands with some zip ties, making sure they tied him up tightly. While they were restraining Kolya, one of the marines came over to him and silently tied a field bandage around the cut on his arm. Ronon would have growled at the man but he knew that it was necessary and merely glared as the marines hauled Kolya to his feet and began marching him out.
Dr. Rodney McKay had come with the marines and had found the source of the interference. He had been able to shut it off so the soldier's scanners and LSD's worked and they were able to find their way out of the tunnels easily.
Rodney was waiting for them when they emerged. "You didn't kill him?" He yelled.
"No McKay, I didn't." Ronon replied gruffly.
"Why not?" Rodney continued. "I would think that of all the people down there more likely to kill him it would've been you!"
Ronon turned to look at his friend. He saw the hatred coming from Rodney's eyes and the disappointment as well. "Because if I'd killed him, Sheppard wouldn't be able to finish this." He said simply. Ronon knew that Rodney wouldn't understand and waited for the response that he knew would come.
"Finish this? What is that some sort of military, tough guy talk?" Rodney spluttered. "I swear you military men have your own language. If the man is dead, it would be finished." He said sarcastically.
"McKay." Ronon said in a very Sheppard way.
Rodney knew that tone very well. Sheppard used it on him often. He let the matter drop but brought up another subject. "You're spending WAY too much time with Sheppard, do you know that? Not only can you two speak your own language but now you're starting to sound like him." Rodney continued his non-stop babble almost the entire way, leaving everyone to fall into their own thoughts.
Lt. Morgan half listened to the scientist. How does Colonel Sheppard keep from shooting him? He thought, knowing that if it was him he would have by now. His mind took him back to when they arrived on the planet, fully equipped to take the village and the tunnels underneath it by force.
They arrived to find Lt. Ford standing in the center of the village, waiting for them. The smile on his face chilled Morgan to the bone. It reminded him of a guy daring the enemy to approach knowing full well the enemy wouldn't get close. However since Major Lorne had trained with Ford's military he knew well enough about their tactics to have sent marines to dispatch of the men that were waiting for them.
Major Lorne approached Lt. Ford like a lion during the hunt, FAST, tackling the surprised Lt. to the ground. "Here's how this is going to go." He spat. "You're going to lead us to Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Dr. Beckett. You're going to help us get them out safely. You're then going to help us grab Kolya. If you so much as make a move I don't like, I will let Sgt. Andrews shoot you and believe me he REALLY wants to."
Lt. Morgan had never seen the Major act this way. Usually the Major was laid back and joking around, much like Colonel Sheppard, but almost from the instant that the Major had learned who the Colonel was taken by he had been out for blood and Lt Morgan believe that Major Lorne would get it one way or the other.
Morgan watched as Lt. Ford nodded, the sneer on his face completely gone. Once he was let up, the Lt. glared at each of them seeing how far it would go. Morgan watched a few of the newer recruits back up a step or two as the non-human eye landed on them but he held his ground, completely unafraid of the former Lt. He was not afraid of him and if he had the chance, he would love to give the man a good beating of his own.
Major Lorne kept his hold on Lt. Ford, using his gun as a reminder to the Lt. of what would happen should he flinch. The former Lt. was able to lead them directly to the chamber where Colonel Sheppard and his team were being held. The marines quickly spread out around the room, firing on the Genii guards, killing them instantly.
Lt. Morgan caught sight of Colonel Sheppard strung up like an animal, his body covered in livid bruises, blood dripping down his shoulders, his arm and knee in make-shift splints but obviously broken. They came in time to see one of the guards land a hard blow to his injured shoulder, causing the Colonel to whimper. Morgan immediately took that guard out and then followed with the others. At the moment his eyes landed on Lt. Ford, Morgan wanted so desperately to beat the living hell out of him but he was saved by Ronon flying passed him and tackling the Lt. letting his fists come in contact with any part of Ford's body he could find.
Morgan watched as Dr. Beckett quickly lowered the Colonel on to the ground and began examining him while the Colonel tried his best to not cry out in excruciating pain. He saw the shooter behind the doctor but was too slow to act and the man was able to fire a shot that was aimed at the Colonel and essentially Dr. Beckett because he was in front of the Colonel. His aim was off and just barely missed them but that sprung the Colonel out of his pain induced state and quickly grabbed the gun from the doctor and shot the man through the head.
A loud bellow caught him off guard and the sudden flurry of dreadlocks and leather whizzed passed him before he knew what was going on. Once he caught up, he and 9 others ran after the ex runner and helped box Kolya in, understanding that Ronon wanted him to himself but not giving the man a chance to run and hide like the sewer rat he was.
They watched the two fight and couldn't help the grins that crossed their faces as they watched Kolya getting his ass beaten. They growled in anger when they saw the former Genii fight dirty and slice Ronon's bicep but held their ground. None of them wanted to come across an angry Ronon later during training, they still had bruises from the last time that happened and it was over 2 weeks ago!
When it was obvious that the fight was over, 3 of the marines surrounded Kolya and pulled their zip ties out of their vests and secured his hands while Morgan went over to bind Ronon's arm wound to stop the bleeding. The cut didn't look too deep but it was still bleeding more than he liked and he knew Dr. Beckett would be annoyed if they didn't do anything about it. Second to an angry Ronon, an angry Dr. Beckett was one of the marine's biggest fears. Dr. Beckett had the power to take them off duty for as long as he liked and he'd been known to do that to certain members of the military contingent (Sheppard) for not obeying his orders, none of them wanted that and the man seemed to have an unfailing memory.
The sight of the Stargate and the rest of the marine squadron snapped him out of his musings. He hadn't noticed that Dr. McKay had stopped talking but he was thankful none the less. They dialed Atlantis and the marines escorting Kolya stepped through first followed by Ronon and Dr. McKay, then the rest. They were all thankful that this nightmare of a day was over and breathed a collective sigh of relief when they walked through the gate and found Dr. Weir waiting for them with a small smile on her face.