"They are not working, at all." Her tone was utterly flat, as she stood with Carson in his office, the door closed as the two both attempted to get even a slight moment of quiet, but even with the door closed, they could hear the chaos that their sanctuary had been demoted to.

"So they have changed nothing?"

"The only thing I can say is it maybe slowed the fever down slightly in the past hour, but not enough to get people over this sooner." She leaned against his desk, her hands shifted back as she took a deep breath. "Castiel said his last counts are at around 80. Evan and Ronon just took up beds in the mess hall." She explained, as Carson rubbed his eyes, they both were not ready for this level of pandemic.

"So that rules out that it is Loonrian, I guess. But they should have had more of an effect, I will start to dig into our databases maybe there are more things I could try to mix up to help." He looked down at her, seeing the exhaustion in her eyes. She was back to where she was yesterday, drained and doing her best to fight against it.

"How are you feeling?" His focus suddenly on her, as he instinctively reached out, pressing his hand to her head. She didn't answer, but she leaned into the warmth of his hand. Enjoying the touch, before opening her eyes to his concerned ones.

"I'm fine Carson, other than tired I don't feel sick." He kept his hand against her face, she didn't feel feverish as he held her. "Aye, promise me if you do you will tell me? Don't try and hide it from me to keep helping." His voice held the demand, as she nodded.

"Only if you promise me the same?" He smiled, they both agreed to the other's demands in silence.

"Let's go check over everyone, run a few tests on Teyla. She still holding out?" He held the door for her as they walked out into the madness that was the infirmary.

"Yes, her fever has risen up to 103, but she has not started the itching feeling." Forrest explaining as they both walked over to where Teyla was asleep. She had managed somehow to fall asleep, considering how loud the entire place was they had been forced to sedate those who longed for rest. They had started to pull blankets from everyone, attempting to slow the rising fever inside. They stopped at the foot of the bed, looking at the vitals of the sleeping Athosian.

"John has been by a few times to check on her, he was not too happy she was asleep. I had to explain she needed all the rest she could get." Forrest commenting, as she looked up to see Castiel moving back into the infirmary with an empty cart. He had been running supplies to and from the mess hall and infirmary, all while helping those who asked.

*How are you doing Cas?* He really should be resting off his injuries, but Forrest knew she could only sway him so much.

*I am okay little one, I got much more rest yesterday than you did.* He bounded past them, heading for the supply closets without a glance to them.

*we will be going to give Elizabeth and Richard an update soon, would you be able to stay here and keep an eye on everyone? We do have the worst off here, and you can tell me something is wrong quicker than anyone else.* The dragon looked over to them, Carson knowing full well the pair were talking.

*of course, just let me know when you are leaving and I will run back up here.* There was no need to say anything else, as Carson watched the dragon start loading things onto the cart.

"He will come back here and keep an eye on those worse off when we head up to the control room. That way if anything drastic happens, he can tell me faster than a radio."

"Good, it makes things much easier." He explained as he took the tablet from the bed, ready to go over the most recent readings. "You know, I will say I am jealous of that. Would make my life much easier to just be able to send a thought to someone else. Those seconds could be the difference between life and death." She smiled, as she turned to follow him.

"That is why you have us in here, trust me it is not all happy conversations and fun." She had found that when he was stressed he tended to move, drifting from one place to another with whatever he was doing. His way of fidgeting as he worked. She was more the kind to sit in one place and focus down on what she was doing, but she did her best to keep up with him. Seeing as he could navigate the rooms and halls of his infirmary without even looking up.

"How is Jacob?" He asked, as Forrest took the lead heading for the bed that the young marine lay on.

"Not the best sadly." She rounded the corner, Carson looking past the curtain with a grimace. He had been bouncing between the mess hall and here himself and had left Forrest in charge of the more advanced cases. On the bed, the kid was drifting in and out, the monitor reading a temp of 105. His arms and legs twitching constantly; while not violent they were enough to be easily noticed. He could see raw marks on open skin where the man had been itching at his arms. But now, his hands were tightly wrapped in bandages, in an attempt to keep him from itching.

"I tried to sedate him, but even with a higher dose he drifts in and out. He has not been aware enough to say much to me. Last he spoke with a clear mind he said it even felt like his eyelids were crawling. A few others have stated this as well. I dare not give him anymore, but his fever has stalled a bit. I have had the nurses just keep ice bags along his body. I don't want to risk chilling him with how his body is reacting."

He could hear her worry, as they looked at the kid on the bed. He couldn't have been older than 22. "You're doing good with him." His tone was soft, as he looked down at her, watching as she sighed.

"The first and last time I worked with this many people was when I was trying to treat those hurt in the attack. I would much rather deal with wounds than disease… I can stitch someone back up, stop bleeding, mend bones without much thought. Sickness, much harder to deal with." Carson had understood, she had not had to deal with much when it came to disease on Loonrian. But she was doing well, given the situation.

"I trust your judgment on the matter, remember that." He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up again. "And if Mr. Woolsey wants to toss a fit over that, he will have to bring it up with me."

"And Cas, he really is waiting for a reason to push him down the gateroom stairs." He laughed, as he turned, leading her away from Jacob as one of the nurses walked in to replace the icepacks.

"Oh, I expected a much more subtle approach from him."

"Not this time, he wants to make sure everyone else gets to watch, and see him do it." She paused, knowing full well the dragon's threats were not empty.

Within half an hour, having made their own preparations and Castiel returned to the ward, they were walking up to the gate room. Quarantines were useless at that point in time, seeing as so many had fallen ill at such a high rate, everyone probably was infected or at least carrying the virus. Forrest had not realized how much her head actually hurt, till they were both no longer surrounded by constant noise.

The hallways rather empty, as they walked up the stairs to the control room. A few people sitting at their posts as they walked past, Chuck offering them both a warm smile. Forrest returned it, finding herself enjoying the friendliness of the entire base more and more. Even in shit situations, everyone was kind to one another. Loonrians in this predicament would have been in every one for themselves mode.

She stuck close to Carson, finding that being once again in the room with Woolsey making her uneasy. Without Castiel, she found she lost much of her boldness. Having him as back up made for bold statements and actions, seeing as she had him for support. Yet, now she knew she did have one more person in her corner, and that he would probably be just as ready to jump at someone's throat as the dragon. She could see that John had found himself in the office again, maybe Elizabeth had requested back up once again. But to her own shock, Rodney was also sitting in one of her chairs.

"I wondered where he had hidden away," Carson muttering, as he looked down at Forrest. "He is normally the first one to check himself into the infirmary." She laughed,

"Cas probably told him he was fine and to find somewhere else to whine." Both doctors had come to the agreement that Castiel did not put up with Rodney's bullshit. In fact, they both had known that within the first week of them living here.

He opened the door for her, letting her walk inside to the curious but worried eyes of the people inside. "Since your normal delivery guy is a bit busy." It was John who walked forward, holding a cup of hot coffee in each hand. Handing one to Forrest and then the last to Carson. She was not the biggest fan of the dark drink, but Castiel knew how she had come to enjoy hers. But at that moment in time, even bitter and black it was a welcome smell and taste.

"Thank you, John." He offered a reassuring smile, before leaning against one of the open chairs. The two were holding up well, considering the situation and their condition.

"So where are we at with things? I understand that Jacob is not doing the best?" Elizabeth had managed to get an update on the radio from Carson earlier, but even then she wanted details filled in.

"In general, where are we at with things? Have you all made any progress on speeding this up?" Woolsey's eyes focused once again on Forrest alone. She glanced over to Carson, who had managed to down the entire mug in a matter of seconds.

"Well, as of now we are leaning away from it being of Earth origin, along with it being a basic flu virus like we first thought." Carson explaining, as the room stayed silent for a moment, Forrest taking a chance to speak.

"When Carson returned from his last report to you, Jacob had started to show a new symptom along with a few other people shortly after. He explained that his entire body felt itchy, and it has been getting worse. Last time he was coherent enough for me to talk to him he said even his eyelids felt like something was crawling across them. Since then, even trying to sedate him has proven to not be all that effective. I will say close to 25 people are now showing this." She watched Rodney, who seemed to instinctively reach up and scratch his arm, but for once staying quiet on the matter.

"Jacob's fever has stalled out, holding at 105. This is still rather high but right now if it is holding we will take what we can get." She had hardly had a chance to finish when Woolsey spoke up.

"Do we know if this disease is fatal?" Both doctors exchanged glances before Carson answered.

"Right now if anyone's fever goes over 105, we may have issues. Not necessarily life-threatening, but brain damage is a risk." Rodney looked at the others,

"So how contagious is this?" Forrest now noticing how the scientist had kept his distance from them.

"We guess it is spread like the common flu, odds are you all have picked it up and just are not showing any signs yet." Carson encouraging as Rodney once again was quiet.

"I thought maybe I had started to get a fever, but Castiel did not let me even in the infirmary, he stopped me in the hall and told me I was fine for now." She held back a comment, seeing as the scientist and dragon had an interaction just as they figured.

"Staff Sargent Thomas has been on the mainland quite a bit hasn't he?" Woolsey looking up curiously from his reading, causing John to shift his weight from one leg to another.

"Yes he has, his entire unit has been helping the dragons with construction." He reported as Elizabeth looked between the two.

"Have any other members of this unit fallen ill?" Forrest quickly realized where the bald man was going with his questions, and she spoke up.

"Richard I can assure you that this illness is not Loonrian in origin. If it were my antivirals would have shown improvement. While there are known viruses that can transfer between dragons and humans, none of them match the symptoms you are seeing."

Elizabeth caught the tone, Forrest was slightly defensive over the accusation that she had sensed. But Woolsey only shook his head. "It has been many years if I am correct since dragons and humans interacted on this scale. Could the viruses have mutated beyond your medicine's abilities?" Before she could even speak, Carson pushed his way into the conversation.

"If that were the case the medications would have altered to combat it. Loonrian medicine by design was meant to be able to adapt to changes. That is why there are only a handful of different types. On Earth we have hundreds of different drugs for every ailment under the sun, we have to do the matching. Loonrian medicine does it for us."

Forrest had a feeling he had explained it to ensure she did not snap at the man, how someone could fuel such an anger in her, she would never understand. But somehow Woolsey nodded his understanding, looking to Elizabeth. "We have gotten in contact with the Athosians, and so far it sounds like no one has started to fall ill. We told them if anyone does that they need to get in contact with us."

Carson smiled, "Perfect." It was Forrest who looked to John and Rodney and then spoke.

"If I may ask a favor of you both?" They looked at her, waiting to hear her request. "I would like it if you were able to head to the clans. Talk to Malco and explain what has happened. See if he can have a few of his Mutes come to help us. The ones who were not muted would be best."

She was cut off by Woolsey, "How are they Mutes but not muted?" Carson could see the frustration in her eyes.

"When the lower class uprisings started, many did not have time to undergo the surgery. They also chose this so that they might be able to interact better with the massive amount of people in hospitals. They are younger, most of the mutes who still have their voice are under the age of 15. But John, if you both could go out there and see if a few could help us it would be much appreciated. Castiel can do the work of five nurses, a few more would make things much easier."

"We are leaving now." John did not wait for anyone else to speak or even approve of the order, he made his run for the office door with Rodney close behind him.

Elizabeth watched the two nearly run out of the gate room, quickly realizing that Woolsey's eyes were on her, and had a very skeptical look. "Speaking of Castiel, where is he?" He turned the look to Carson and Forrest, who both looked about ready to rake off running the same way John and Rodney had.

"He is currently keeping an eye on those who are worst off." So many damn questions, she was about ready to yell at the man to pay attention to other parts of the conversation, not just what he wanted to hear.

"Why is that?" Carson could feel how frustrated Forrest was becoming with each passing second. "The reason being is that Castiel can tell me the instant something happens. I can just about know it as it happens before him. It would be faster than anyone using a radio to get a hold of me here."

"How far is the range of communication between you two?" Elizabeth looked at Carson, who visibly swallowed as he glanced down to Forrest.

"Mr. Woolsey, as much as I enjoy teaching your people about mine, and the dragons, my time is better spent making sure no one dies from whatever is spreading like fire across this city. Now if you would excuse-"

*Forrest we have a problem.* She could feel Castiel's panic run rampant in her head, as she as cut off causing the entire room to sit in silence.

*What is it?*

*It is Jacob, you need to both get down here now!* She rarely heard her partner get demanding as he was right then.

"Forrest, what is it?" Carson had already figured that the dragon had made contact, rarely did anything cause her to stop mid-sentence.

"We have to go now." She did not wait, instead, she turned on her heels and took off for the door. Elizabeth was the first to stand, without a word she watched a bewildered Carson attempt to go after her.

"Coming?" She looked at Woolsey, who was still rather shocked by the words the silver-haired girl spoke. "oh of course."

The sounds coming from the infirmary were enough to tell Carson something was very much wrong, as he worked his way around people who had started to gather. He had just lost sight of Forrest's head, that had dipped below his viewpoint.

"Everyone out of the bloody way!" He rarely raised his voice like that, and quickly people were quiet, the wall of bodies parted out of his way. Behind him, Elizabeth and Woolsey had managed to get past the doorway, doing their best to wade around the nurses and patients that had gathered around.

"Okay Cas, start talking." Carson caught her words, as he finally found himself able to see the scene before him. Castiel had Jacob pinned to the infirmary floor, large paws holding the kid by the upper arm as the dragon's chest pressed against the marine's ribs. One of Castiel's hind paws had a hold of Jacob's lower leg, and strangely his tail was wrapped tightly around his calf, Carson was barely able to make out what looked like a white towel under the animal's tail. Jacob was struggling hard against the dragon's hold, his entire body seemed to tremble and move no matter what the dragon did to restrain him as he muttered and yelped nonsense to the room.

He stood for a moment, in a great amount of shock from events taking place before him much as his nurses were. He brought himself back to the moment and dropped to the floor next to Forrest who was doing her best to figure out what was happening from the dragon, who happened to be the calmest about the entire situation.

"What happened to him?" Carson asking, able to glance back and see that Woolsey and Elizabeth were both now behind them watching with the other nurses.

"Castiel said that he was checking on a few others when he heard a strange noise. Sounded like scraping and someone whimpering. He ran over here and found Jacob unhooked from all the monitors… and using a scalpel to attempt to skin his lower leg." She looked up to Carson, whose face had managed to lose a bit of color as he looked down at where the dragon must be holding the wound.

"He lost it the instant Cas tried to get the scalpel from him. He says he leaped out of the bed and tried to run off. He managed to get him held down but his body will not stop moving." Everyone had been listening in, as Castiel looked to Forrest.

*If I could talk to him I would.*

*I know Cas you are doing all you can*.

She leaned forward, able to see the wide terror-filled eyes of the marine on the floor. "Jacob, its Forrest. I need you to calm down." Her tone was almost motherly as she focused on the man. "We are here to help you know this, Cas only has a hold of you to make sure you don't hurt yourself"

"Everything.. anything all of it! It's under my skin and I want it out!" His words were not spoken, they were wailed as his body involuntarily squirmed under the dragon. She took a deep breath, and Carson watched as she moved down to where Castiel's tail held the wound tight. But with ease the dragon let go of the leg, using his tail to hold another section steady for his partner.

Carson felt rather helpless, as he watched the pair work. They did not need to speak to one another aloud, all of it was done in the mind. They knew what the other wanted before anyone else."What is happening? Why are you all so quiet?"

Carson spun around on the floor, his eyes locking onto Woolsey who was getting an equally as angry glare from Elizabeth. "If you would shut the hell up for more than ten minutes you might learn something." His tone was flat, but his voice louder than normal causing a few nurses to shift slowly back. Knowing full well that you had to have really messed up to bring about a reaction like that.

"Carson grab me some more bandages.. and a stunner." He spun around, looking to Forrest who did not even look up from the wound. He moved over to look over her shoulder and closed his eyes at the sight of the wound. The kid had managed to take flesh and skin off the entire top part of his shin. The bone showed the blood as it dripped onto the floor below. "We can't sedate him, I have already tried to give him as much as possible. A stunner might be enough to keep him down, then we cou-" She stopped mid-sentence again, only this time it was because her eyes locked onto the monitors that had once been hooked up to Jacob. "Scratch that, we need a tub of ice right now!"

The urgency in her voice changed, as Carson finally looked at the monitor. The last reading of body temp on the kid read 109.6, and that reading was nearly 15 minutes ago. "You all heard her!" He spun around, looking at the nurses who quickly were sent scurrying around the infirmary to gather what Forest had demanded.

"Cas get him ready to lift, we will have to keep that leg out of the water and try to keep the bleeding down till we can get him stitched. Right now we need his temp down." She could only assume that it was either still that high or had gotten higher as the marine struggled.

But in an instant, something changed. The sounds started to come as gurgles and grunts and his body started to go more ridged against Castiel's paws. The dragon spun his head around. *He is starting to seize, and his heart rate is spiking!* The dragon quickly wrapping his tail around Jacob's ankles, leaving the dragon's hind legs free to move.

Carson did not need to hear what the dragon said, he had already figured it out watching how the man's body reacted and moved. He did not even remember barking the orders at the remaining nurses or seeing Elizabeth put her hand to her mouth as she watched the events unfold before her. The nurses were starting to haul things in when Castiel's head shot up.

*his heart just stopped* Under him, Jacob's body went still. The dragon quickly letting go looking to Forrest and Carson who were starting to prep the crash cart. But he knew, right then something was not right with how things were playing out. He ignored Forrest's order to get away, the dragon sniffing the body curiously. His nose landed on the kid's head. He smelled it instantly, the blood deep inside the body where it should not be.

He looked up, seeing Carson grabbing for paddles. *it is too late.* Forrest spun, looking at her partner with confused eyes. The dragon's large head shaking as he looked down.

"What do you mean too late Cas?" Speaking out loud it caused a few eyes to go to her,

*I can smell an aneurysm inside. It is deep, maybe even more than one. There is nothing you can do for him* She stood quiet, and quickly grabbed a hold of Carson. "He said that he can smell an aneurysm deep in his brain. There is nothing we can do." She spoke out loud, but Carson shook his head.

"How can he tell that?" the tone rather frustrated. "He can smell the fresh blood inside, it has a different smell than when it is in our bodies as it should be." Carson was bewildered, as he looked at Castiel who nodded his head.

They both looked down at Castiel, everyone now looking to him as the dragon leaned down, his nose gently touching to Jacob's forehead as his claws carefully closed his eyes. *I should have been quicker to tell you something was wrong*

*you didn't think it was this bad of an issue Cas.* She knew the dragon was wanting to blame himself, as she reached out and placed a hand on the dragon's neck. Carson was still, before he set down the paddles and turned to look at Woolsey and Elizabeth, who were both wide-eyed, and concerned. "Guess that answers your question on if this is fatal or not."