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Chapter 12: Fear & Loathing

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With that resolve, John slid his arms under his weight and pushed himself upright. The world spun and he had to clench his teeth against a moan of pain but he was upright, kind of. He leaned back against his downed chair, confirmed he was all alone in the building. Nothing like a good possessed-like thrashing to panic the masses. Standing up didn't seem advisable and he didn't think undignified crawling would say the message he wanted to convey, so he was about to call out. Thought about something friendly but slightly vulnerable like, 'Hello?! Can a guy get some water in here? Or a mint? My mouth's kinda dry.' But his words got stuck in his throat when he heard the distinct sound of a riotously unhappy crowd just outside the building. Decided that being a quiet church mouse at the moment might be the better choice.

He strained to hear the words and then wished he hadn't. Yup, it was undoubtedly time for Plan C.

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Kannar, hoping to bring reason to the growing hysteria, sought out their doctor, Huzarn. But whatever hope he harbored that the doctor would offer sound medical reassurances went up in flames as the doctor started to address the crowd.

"We don't know the exact cause of the Lantean's seizures but many of you have the memories of our ancestors, know what this signifies," Huzarn called out to the crowd. It ignited more savage outcries, just as the doctor intended.

"He has brought death to us all!"

"Kill him now before he turns against us."

"Yes, kill him while he is weak, before he changes, becomes too strong to kill."

"When he passes to the other side, he will no longer be a threat to us."

"Death is the only worthy fate for his kind!"

Sensing his son was about to object to the banted about threats, Sakar latched onto his son's arm and pulled him through the crowd. Only stopped their motion when they were standing well back from other listening ears.

Immediately Kannar yanked his arm from his father hold, angrily protested, "Father they are talking about murdering him in cold blood!"

"They are scared but they know the laws, that if his life is taken, one of our people must die as well," Sakar reassured, hoped his son didn't read his lack of belief in his own words.

"What if they think the laws don't apply to him?! To any outsider ..like the lives I took to get our power source back were subject to our laws," Kannar heatedly argued. "They don't have to carry that sin on those lost lives on their hands and now they want to murder Sheppard just because he's sick?!"

"All this might come to nothing. You said so yourself, he's dying," Sakar soothed.

"Might be!" Kannar quickly qualified his doubt, hoped his initial flippancy was wrong. "So what?! We sit on our hands and pray he dies quickly, before our next meeting requires the use of the meeting room?!"

Sakar leaned closer to his son, dropping his voice, "And if we try and save him and he dies, the laws would say, as soon as we let our doctor put hands on him, we took his life by not saving it. We would be culpable for his death and one of our people would have to die. No, I say let fate decide this man's fate."

"It's not fate but murder if we don't help him," Kannar spat, had never thought his father would go along with this insanity.

Easily reading his son's disappointment in him, Sakar hid behind his role of head councilor. "Kannar, the laws about a life for a life are very specific…"

"Damn it! I know those laws even better than you do!" Kannar fumed, pointing an accusatory finger at his father. "I take care that my actions and my team's don't cause undo deaths, but it was the council who decided that I had to use the bombs in the city, deadly force to get the power source, because you said Lanteans only respected force, only understood fear. I took LIVES, knowing it was as if I was killing one of our people with each life I took! So don't lecture me on the ridiculous laws of a life for a life!

"Have you come to value other people's lives more than our own?" Sakar cross examined his own son's principles.

"No," Kannar grimly denied. "But I do value all lives! And this man…he could have ordered his men to attack us, but instead he offered himself up as a negotiator and a hostage."

Another voice replied to Kannar's words, Olpwen's. "Pretty politics that hide malicious intentions, the Lanteans have perfected that façade, but our people will no longer die because we failed to recognize their deceptions."

Kannar started to growl back to Olpwen when he heard McKay's raised angry voice. Apparently, the man was awake and royally pissed. Sighing, Kannar pushed past Olpwen and fought through the hostile crowd to reach the Atlantean.

"He's not a damn witch! He's sick," McKay spat on his feet and facing off with the volatile crowd. Seeing Kannar, he sought to gain his assistance. "Tell them! You know what's wrong with Sheppard. You made your grim diagnosis on the spot so don't pretend you're clueless now!"

But Kannar knew revealing that Sheppard got sick because he had the ability to track them through multiple Stargates would only convince his people Sheppard truly was a Lantean. And that wouldn't do more harm than good. So he cut off McKay before he could go into an explanation. Roughly grabbing the Atlantian by the arm and yanking him to him, he lowly hissed to the man, "You need to shut up! Now! Unless you want them to haul Sheppard out of there and kill him outright."

McKay's face lost all color and he, for one of the few times in his life, shut up. Numbly let Kannar turn him around, his spirits rallied when he realized the soldier was leading him back toward the doors of the building where Sheppard was. But on the journey, he didn't miss the murderous looks the townspeople were searing into him. He almost startled when Kannar whispered to him.

"I'll do what I can to help you leave here. But when I put you back in the meeting room with Sheppard, my people will believe you have been too exposed to his illness to remain uninfected."

"He's not contagious!" Rondey hissed back.

"I know that, and you know that but my people won't believe that." Kannar halted at the door, hesitating. He already doubted he could get his people to take any steps to save Sheppard, knew he might be condemning McKay to a death sentence as well with this plan. Meeting McKay's questioning look, he gave the man the right to make his own choice. "If you walk back into this building, your fate is tied with Sheppard's."

Rodney already knew that, didn't flinch from it. Heck, it was practically SOP that his and John's lives were always on the chopping block together. To Kannar he said, "He's my best friend, my brother in all ways but blood. His fate and mine have been pretty much inseparable since we came to your lovely galaxy."

Kannar found himself fighting a smile. Damn these Atlanteans were a loyal bunch. Quietly he suggested, "Ok, well so I don't get tossed in jail for supposedly colluding with you, be indignant about this."

Indignant Rodney could do without rehearsal or much prompting. He started to struggle to be out of Kannar's hold. "He needs a doctor, medical treatment! You can't let him die! It's murder!"

Suddenly one of the men decided to be helpful by opening the door so Kannar could tow a protesting McKay toward it. Rodney upped his performance as his entrance into the building was imminent, he looked over his shoulder to the malicious crowd and roared, "You let him die and I personally will do everything in my power to destroy the ZPM you took! I'll stomp into the smallest shards of glass, so you'll be crunching it under your feet for generations to come. Youre great great grandfather will be 'oh what's between my toes…oh yeah, the power source that could have saved us all from the wraith if we weren't such paranoid, prejudice, backwater… " Kannar forcefully shoved McKay through the door before he could complete the insult.

Hitting the ground kind of hard for a bit of acting, McKay nearly bit his tongue. He raised his head enough to see Kannar's grim features before he shut the door. But didn't give more thought to the soldier as he scrambled to his feet and ran toward where he'd left Sheppard. Came to skidding stop at seeing John sitting up. Ok, Sheppard was paper pale and was leaning heavily against the chair, but he was conscious, had had the strength to get himself off the ground. It was slim good news, but Rodney latched onto it greedily.

Dropping to his knees beside John, Rodney gushed, "Thank God you're conscious!" his hand coming to rest on John's closest leg. Then followed up with a scowled. "Would you stop terrifying me!"

John pulled on a smirk for Rodney's sake. "Seems like you're not the only one I'm having that effect on."

"Thanks to you, we are in the middle of a Salem witch trial." It felt good to Rodney, being snarky with John. Gave him a ray of hope that, if they stayed together, they could get through this. After all, they had an astounding record of surviving even when things looked pretty dim. In his book, tied fates that didn't equal death would be awesome.

But John didn't scowl at the news they might soon be burned at the stake, instead the insane man smiled…a smile Rodney knew only too well. "Oh crap. You have a crazy plan, don't you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," John bragged before he announced, "It's time for you to put your hypochondria to good use."

"I'm not a hypochondriac!" Rodney huffily denied but at John's stink eye, he allowed, "Ok, maybe sometimes, a little bit. But now is the time to suppress those tendances, in me and that wacko crowd out there. We need to deescalate the whole 'you're contagious' vibe, not escalate it."

"The thing about mass hysteria, it's more contagious than the common cold and…fear is the best leverage tool we have going for us," John drawled.

"So fear will save the day?! How?" Rodney demanded validation on this particular brainstorm of John's, kind of afraid the guy had lost more brain cells than he could spare today.

Instead of defending his plan, John asked, "Is it possible these people know about the Ancient's experiments? You know, the nanovirus, the Iratus bug bite presto Wraith stuff?"

McKay contemplated Sheppard's theories. "According to what I've overheard, they seem to genetically pass down their memories from generation to generation. Which is truly fascinating. If we could…"

"Rodney, stay on point," John growled. "So your bet is they would be aware of the Ancient's experiments?"

"It's a good guess." That conclusion got Rodney's mind reeling.

"And my passing out.." John began but Rodney interrupted him.

"Seizing," Rodney corrected, didn't want John downgrading how serious his condition was.

"Ok, seizing. It freaked them out, right?" John pressed.

"Like feral cats." Silently Rodney admitted, 'And put my own heart into arrhythmia.'

John slowly smiled that Cheshire cat smile of his. "Were they theorizing what caused my seizure?"

"I don't know, I was a little unconscious at that point," Rodney snippily retorted.

"Yeah, ditto," John zinged back.

Rodney paled in worry at John's comeback and was stabbed with shame for being self-absorbed. "Oh crap, I didn't mean..it's not a competition. How are you?" open concern there with clear fear in his eyes for his best friend.

John didn't want to go there so he demurred with "Still kicking. So how's your acting?"

"Oh, come on! You know I suck at lying?!" Rodney whined.

"Not lying. More like telling the truth, just a little exaggerated." Well John hoped it was going to be an exaggeration that his ticket was about to be punched. Needed time to implement his plan fully. "You need to recount that story about when I became half…well maybe three quarters Wraith to our new acquaintances."

Rodney paled at John's request. "I hate that story and they," he emphatically pointed out toward the lynching crowd beyond the doors, "will be more convinced than ever that you're a threat to them."

"Good," John beamed like Rodney had won the bonus round. "We need them to believe they have already been exposed, that it's too late to just bury me in their back forty. They need a cure…"

Rodney's eyes lit up with understanding and his finger wagged excitedly, "Which they can only get from Atlantis…if they trade us back."

"Us and the ZPM. We're not leaving here without what we came for, Rodney," John stated, without a shred of remorse for taking back what was theirs. And besides, these people kind of pissed him off with all their blind prejudice and 'burn them at the stake' mentality after witnessing one little seizure.

But, of course, Rodney remembered the one snag John was hoping he had forgotten. "Wait, you told Lorne you couldn't go through another stargate, that you thought you would die if you did. If we make this trade and you walk through that Stargate…"

"I exaggerated a bit, just to get the Major moving," John lied to Rodney's face, but for a really good cause.

"You did? You exaggerated?" Rodney asked with childlike hope.

"Sure. You might not be an Oscar winning actor but I have my moments," John boasted, praying Rodney bought it even as he was trying to find a way to ensure Rodney didn't feel guilty when they crossed through the Stargate and his corpse tumbled out on the other side.

Rodney felt such relief he crumpled down to sit on the floor beside John. "Good, that's…you had me terrified. Next time give me a clue when you're going for your Oscar."

"What fun would that be?" John zinged back with his trademark smart aleck smirk. "So remember that time you got that nanovirus and started seeing things?

"I'm not likely to forget it," Rodney muttered, before his eyebrows rose in displeasured shock. "Wait, that's your plan? I pretend to see specters? Freak out?"

"Rodney, you are the best guy at freaking out that I know," John drawled, trying to keep a straight face.

"Insulting compliments. Just great," Rodney grumbled. "Maybe you didn't notice, being passed out and all, but we are in here and your audience is out there," gesturing to the crowd lurking outside, probably gathering firewood for the whole burning at the stake thing.

"This place isn't soundproof, and they'll be curious about what's happening in here. And when you go pounding on the door, begging to be let out, terrified you're getting what I have…." John let his words drop off as he knew Rodney could finish his thoughts.

"How do we know they won't burn the whole building down with us in it? Save themselves the trouble of finding a stake to burn us at?" Rodney envisioned him and John dying of smoke inhalation, if they were lucky.

"They won't out and out kill us because you'll rant and rave and let slip that it probably doesn't matter if they don't let you out, that the whole town's been exposed, and they need a cure from Atlantis if they hope to survive." John was super proud of this plan, especially since he felt like half his brain cells had gone poof with each Stargate he stumbled through that day. 'See, you're not as bad off as you think you are,' he tried to reassure himself. Of course, Rodney had to poopoo his brilliance.

Rodney contemplated John's plan, slowly began to reveal his opinion, "It's probability of success isn't in the high numbers but…" he looked to John, saw his friend's need for him to be on board with this, so he relented, "then again, you like beating the odds. But what about Kannar? He knows why you were sick, that it's not something contagious."

"Seemed to me his opinion was being overridden by this council anyway. Chances are they aren't going to believe him when they are fearing for their lives." At least John was betting on that.

But Rodney had another take on things, his eyes alighting. "He might even go along with this, our charade. He did say he'd do whatever he could to help us. And when I wanted back in here with you, he warned me his people would think I'll get what you have. So your plan won't come off all that unsellable to him."

"He might not want our deaths on his conscience but that's a whole different thing than him siding with us and giving up the ZPM that his people need to protect themselves from the Wraith." Because John knew, soldier to soldier, that loyalty and duty came first with Kannar, the same way it did with him. "He's not going to give up the ZPM and I'm not willing to let them keep it in some goodwill gesture and make Atlantis vulnerable."

Rodney contemplated John's words, then snapped his fingers in a eureka moment. "We'll make a side deal with him. If he helps us create this hysteria and gets us traded back to Atlantis for a "cure" for his people, we'll give them the naqahdah generator. Win for us, win for them."

John smiled proudly at Rodney. "You're not the horrible negotiator I pegged you for."

"Don't get the Nobel Peace Prize engraved with my name just yet," Rodney demurred, didn't want John's praise until he deserved it. Suddenly thought maybe he could sell this whole contagious plan of John's after all, because he felt sick to his stomach already thinking about not getting John back to Atlantis in time for Carson to save him. So yeah, no pressure whatsoever on his acting abilities.

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TBC

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Thanks to my wonderful supportive reviewers! You keep me writing even when life gets a bit mean spirited. And I also appreciated everyone reading along silently at home too!

Have a great day. And for those in the US, Happy Labor Day!

Cheryl W.