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Chapter 13: Offers on the Table

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Dr. Weir presided as judge, jury and possible executioner over her insubordinate teammates in the conference room off to the right of gate control. In was up for grabs whether Major Lorne was going to be among the tried parties but he looked decidedly ill at ease. Leveling a promised look of future retribution on Zelenka, Ronon, Teyla and Dr. Beckett, Elizabeth addressed the Major to get an assessment of just how badly things stood. "Major, you returned with neither the ZPM nor two of our people. I want a full account. Now."

Evan sat a little more erect in his chair, knew what he was about to reveal wasn't going to improve anyone's mood or his chances of career advancement. More like head him straight for a demotion, which he wouldn't protest if things didn't do a 180 as they were now. "Colonel Sheppard was able to track the thieves through five gates and then we came under fire. The Leader took Sheppard and McKay hostage. The Colonel thought he could negotiate a deal with them and ordered me and my men to return to Atlantis. His orders were to wait for his word on the compromise the thieves would agree to." Sure it was the abridged version but he'd put in the critical details.

But Dr. Weir looked like she knew he'd left out some things and was pretty pissed about the details he had shared. "Let me get this straight, you left Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay in the hands of people who murdered twelve of our people in some vain hope they would be interested in a peace treaty? After they already have the ZPM!"

Evan had the strong desire to restate that it was Sheppard's crazy notion about hammering out a peace treaty with their attackers, not him. Instead, all he allowed himself to reply was a short, militant, "Yes, Ma'am."

"And if they decide it's just cleaner and easier to kill their hostages? That seems a more logical outcome," Elizabeth's tone could have cut glass as she pinned her very angry look upon Major Lorne.

Lorne remained silent, in deference to his loyalty to John Sheppard. He wouldn't' throw the man under the bus just because he was taking heat for his decisions, like taking the ATA drug and being unable to retreat back to Atlantis with them.

Dr. Beckett could no longer hold back his worried inquiry. "How was Colonel Sheppard's condition?"

Before Lorne could decide on how to answer, Dr. Weir cut in, "Condition? What condition would he be in?" she directed to Carson, starting to feel she was wholly out of the loop.

Beckett paled, knew he'd wanted to expand on the information he had given to Dr. Weir but with treating the wounded from the bombing, it had slipped his mind. Now his eyes swept across Lorne, Ronon and Teyla, trying to read if any of them knew John had taken the ATA drug, would be an ally for him. Weir's sharp, "Doctor, answer my question," had him nervously clearing his throat. "When I told you the Colonel had taken the ATA drug to be able to track the thieves through multiple Stargates, I might have forgotten to mention that side effects the Colonel experienced after he took therapy drug."

Elizabeth's hands tightened together on the tabletop. Of course John had done something without worrying about the consequences, and he clearly had a room full of people here to cover up for him too. "Mention the side effects now," she bit out.

Carson sighed, resigned himself for the noose. "He had a grand mal seizure directly after he self-administered the drug," Elizabeth went pale even as Carson pressed on, "But he implored Rodney and I to get him to the gate, let him do what he had taken the drug for: to track the thieves, to get back the ZPM and restore Atlantis's shield. Against my better judgement….I let him go."

"Of all the …stupid, reckless…" Elizabeth ground out, heaped curses on the guy that wasn't there to hear them, was trying to save Atlantis, all of them. 'Damn egomaniac self-sacrificing noble idiot.' She struggled to get her emotions under control, had more people to worry about than John Sheppard. Her voice cooler than it had been moments before, she asked of Major Lorne, "Answer Carson's question, Major. What was Colonel Sheppard's condition when you left him?" Left him to die? To be murdered. Crap but now she was heaping condemnation on Evan's head he didn't deserve…well, might not deserve.

This was the direction Evan knew the conversation would lead to sooner or later and yet he still dreaded sharing the answer. "The Colonel was affected every time we went through the stargates. Was coughing up blood, nearly passing out. But he wouldn't stop…until…" Guilt tore through him that he'd allowed this sacrifice from Sheppard but he stoically finished his tale. "The Colonel had commanded us to continue helping him through the 'gates until we found the ZPM. He had another seizure when we came through the last Stargate."

"That's why the thieves got the drop on him, was able to take him and McKay captive," Ronon grimly put together. That made more sense than John letting down his guard and getting captured.

"Yes," Lorne acknowledged Ronon's direct hit.

"If the Colonel was so ill, you should have been the one to remain behind, negotiation this peace between their people," Teyla accusatorily shot to Lorne.

"I offered but…" Lorne began and Weir finished for him, "…John ordered you to let it be him that stayed behind. And let me guess, no way was Rodney not staying with him."

"There were…other factors for Sheppard staying behind," Lorne said, drawing all eyes to him. "Sheppard said he couldn't go through the Stargate, that each crossing was hurting him. He thought…" but he broke off there. Seeing the anxious faces of John's friends, he knew he had to repeat Sheppard's dire prediction. They had the right to know. "He thought it would kill him if he went through even one more wormhole." Everyone's faces lost all color at Lorne's recounting of Sheppard's self-assessment. "I wanted to stay, at the very lease let some of my men stay but the thieves' leader ordered us to go through the Stargate or he'd have killed Sheppard and McKay. I had no choice but to leave them there."

"I have to get to him, now," Dr. Beckett anxiously announced. Coming out of his chair, he headed for the conference room doors, his mind already planning what equipment to take and which personnel to bring along. But his arm was caught, and he found himself spun around to face Major Lorne.

"Doc, we can't get back to the gate we left him in. We weren't able to dial in again. And we don't know where they took him after we left. Maybe through another gate, maybe somewhere on that planet, which could have the populous of Earth for all we know," Evan bleakly pointed out the stalemate they were in.

Zelenka spoke up for the first time. "Most likely they removed one of the stargate's crystals so you couldn't come back through. And without knowing its location, we can't get to that planet by ship, or it might be lightyears away and that travel is impossible for us anyway." Suddenly acutely missed McKay's presence, knew he would have snarkily interjected 'Thanks so much for that ray of pessimism. Now how about thinking of some valid solutions.'

"What are you saying? That you're giving up getting Sheppard and McKay back?" Ronon growled at the scientist.

Weir soothingly intervened as peacemaker, "No, that's not what Dr. Zelenka is saying only that we have to think outside the box."

"We live outside the box," Evan undertoned before he quelled under Weir's dark look.

"Dr. Beckett, can you theorize about the Colonel's condition? Pinpoint what you think is causing his pain and if we can temper it so he can go through the wormhole to get back to Atlantis?" Elizabeth was deploying her best calm tone even as inside, she railed against sitting on her hands while John was going through who knew what. Hoped to God it wasn't like the last time when she felt helpless when John was being hurt. She didn't think she had the fortitude to watch John suffering again. Watching a Wraith draining his life from him, time after time still evoked nightmares in her. Carson's sigh brought her thoughts back to the current situation.

"Honestly, I can't give a valid explanation for the side effects without examining the Colonel. I have no idea how the Ancient genes already in his body are reacting to the ATA," Carson miserably admitted.

"Badly.." Ronon growled, hated all this talking when he knew his place was with Sheppard.

Grimly, Beckett agreed. "Aye. Badly indeed. Clearly, its overloading brain functions causing the seizures, the hemorrhaging and the pain through the wormhole could be his entire genetic code being over sensitized."

"Can you not…remove the extra genetic code?" Teyla questioned softly, knew she was no expert on medical matters but desperately wanted a way to bring John home.

"Maybe…I…I don't know," Beckett stammered, then he wilted on himself. "Damn it I should have locked the ATA up, gotten there before he took the bloody stuff…or not left him leave when I knew what he had done."

"That's not solely on you," Ronon cheerlessly confessed, earning all eyes on him. "I should have stopped him from going after the thieves, should have thrown him over my shoulder and taken him back to Beckett."

"I too let him go. He…" Teyla searched for the right word, "…thought it was his duty, to safeguard Atlantis. Implored for us to help him do that."…she looked at the test of the people gathered around the table, hoping they would understand her decision. "To prevent John from tracking the thieves would have been logical but not …an act of loyalty, of duty. Regardless of my personal affection and devotion to John, his first priority, his ultimate loyalty is to do what he must to ensure the security of Atlantis and the address of his home planet. He would not deem any risk unworthy to meet those goals."

It was eloquently put and too damn on the money for Elizabeth's tastes. "Even I wouldn't have been able to order him to not take the drug, to not play follow the leader. Fact that he didn't tell me his plans says he didn't even want to hear my objections."

Teyla fought back a smile as she replied, "Yes, that sounds like the Colonel."

Beckett couldn't let his part in all this be shoved under the covers. "The Colonel was very earnest and determined. He thought what he was doing was the best way to keep Atlantis safe. And McKay and I, we didn't feel that we had the right to belittle the sacrifice he had already made. With him already having injected the ATA, the milk was already spilled as the case was, it might as well not be for nothing."

"We all let him go," Ronon condemned the lot of them. Kicking a conference room chair as he surged to his feet, he began pacing the room. They had all had a part in this, in maybe killing John Sheppard. And he honestly didn't know if he could live with the guilt of losing the man that was closer to him than a brother because of choices he had made.

Knowing it was doing them no good to dwell on hindsight, Lorne announced, "We need to take measures to secure Atlantis. These thieves were well armed, efficient, knew Atlantis's layout and security measures. They may make another run at us. We need to shut down the second gate …and the main gate." He suddenly knew how it felt to have the weight of the entire base's security on his shoulders like Sheppard did, that his personal wants and needs had to play a far second fiddle to what was best for Atlantis. Because, if it were his choice, they'd keep every door open they had so Sheppard and McKay could find their way home again.

"The main gate won't open and if we shut the second gate…it might not reopen for us," Zelenka gave the bad news.

Processing that intel didn't change Lorne's mind. Turning to Dr. Weir he argued his point, "They knew about the second gate that we even didn't, they knew right where the ZPM was, they knew how to breach our security by setting off random alarms. They are a serious threat to us. We can't let the gate they came through stay open." Seeing her indecision, Evan played his ace in the hole. "Colonel Sheppard would shut the gates down, make Atlantis as secure as possible, even with people out there. You know that."

"Yes, he would," Elizabeth agreed sorrowfully, hating what she was forced to do. "Zelenka, shut down the second gate. We'll continue to post guards to ensure it no one reactivates it and tries to come through."

"What if Sheppard and McKay want to come through?" Carson posed huffily.

Zelenka had an answer, piped up, "We could do what we planned? Re-open it for small increments of time, then Sheppard or Rodney can send a message through. They'll know to put it on repeat."

"Is that acceptable Major?" Elizabeth asked of Lorne who nodded. "Well then, let's close the gates and we'll attempt to reopen them in an hour's time."

"What if John's condition is critical? That an hour is too long a wait to be returned to Atlantis, to have Dr. Becket treat him?" Teyla asked what no one else wanted to consider.

Elizabeth forced herself to smile. "This is John Sheppard we're talking about. He loves to defy the odds. So we'll have to have faith he does what he always does."

"What's that? Give us all gray hairs?" Beckett quipped.

Elizabeth smirked. "Well, that, and gets out of situations that no one else ever would." And she prayed he'd do it all over again today, not only getting back to Atlantis but surviving the damage he'd done to his own body.

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"That won't work!"

"Yes, it will, Rodney. You just have to sell it."

John and Rodney were arguing so loudly that they didn't hear the doors open or the stealthy boots tracking across the dirt floor until a throat was cleared. Their collective heads snapped up to see Kannar standing over them and way back by the door, so they wouldn't "catch" whatever illness John had, were three more soldiers.

"Hate to interrupt but you're about to prove your bragging has merit," Kannar addressed to McKay.

McKay pointed to himself. "Me?! You're talking to me."

"Bragging almost always equals McKay," John lowly quipped.

Shooting John a glare, McKay climbed to his feet. "Whatever you want, I'm not doing it," he mulishly refused, arms crossing over his chest in his most stubborn stance. As much as he wanted to trust Kannar, as their plans needed a coconspirator, the goon squad looking on meant he was bringing to them a council sanctioned request.

"I've argued your usefulness to the council. I'd hate for that to have been a waste of my breath," Kannar drawled in his laid back manner.

"Usefulness how?" Rodney suspiciously demanded.

"The power source, it won't work."

Rodney didn't even try to dampen his smug smirk. "I told you Ancient components are complex and require expert handling."

"Yup, so come on," Kannar waved McKay toward the door.

McKay held his ground. "No can do. Not without getting something back."

"Like what? Your freedom or your power source are not on the menu," Kannar restricted.

"Water, a doctor, a bed for Sheppard. Not a lot to ask of a supposedly civilized society." The slight to present company hardily meant.

"Our doctor won't come near him," Kannar nodded to Sheppard who was still sitting on the floor looking like a puny breeze would topple him over. "No one will."

"Fine. Medical supplies then. I'll do what I can with them." Rodney came off confident, but he was far from it. He wasn't that kind of doctor and for the first time, wished he was. John needed someone with real skills to help him.

Looking down at John, Kannar knew they had nothing to counter the gene therapy effects. At Sheppard's wane 'go along with it' smile, he knew it too. What Kannar said was, "I think I can get some herbs we use for pain. I'll also bring in a bedroll for each of you."

"And food," Rodney demanded. When Kannar looked at John's state, dubious he'd be up to eating anything, McKay clarified, "For me. I'm starving. Your hospitality stinks."

Kannar gave a shrug. "We don't get guests here."

"Often or never?" John perceptively asked.

"Never," Kannar pointedly offered up the truth. "Guess we're a little rusty on how to welcome visitors."

"Ya think?!" McKay scoffed. "Get me what I ask for first then I'll help get the power source up and running."

"Ok. I'll be back soon." With that promise, Kannar turned and left but not before something fell out of his pocket to lay on the ground beside John.

John waited until Kannar and his entourage had left and the door was closed (and presumably locked or barricaded) before he reached for the folded paper.

"Creating hysteria? That's your move?! By the way, look up."

John did as directed and saw a little face peering down from the rafters. At his look, the little boy scampered across the beam and shimmed out a hole in the side of the building. So that was Kannar's spy. A child. One who seemed to only report his eavesdropping intel to the soldier. John returned his attention to the note,

"He can pass messages to me.

We trade that other generator for your freedom. And you vow your people won't seek retribution. That's my offer."

It was unforeseen good news. And John didn't trust it. Wanted to but didn't. But, of course, if even Rodney couldn't get their ZPM to power their shield maybe Kannar really could uphold his part of the bargain. Clearly his people would do anything to keep out the Wraith..and apparently any other visitors too.

But the deal had to include the ZPM. Whether or not it had been damaged in the theft or simply Kannar's power source equipment was faulty or too old to get it to work, he wasn't leaving without it. Rodney was the tech whisperer, he was confident the genius would get it functioning again.

When Rodney crouched down beside him, John showed him the note from Kannar. Of course, McKay looked up as instructed and frowned. "Look up for what?"

"There was a kid up there, listening to what we were saying. He's scampered off. He's our go between."

"Oh great, that's all this day needed yet: a kid," Rodney grumbled, knew he wasn't good with kids, and they reciprocated by not liking him back. Reading the rest of the note, Rodney met John's gaze. "We trusting this?"

John wavered his hand in the air in an iffy gesture. "Don't have any other offers on the table. And he knows what we were planning."

"Thank goodness that plan's a dead duck." Rodney was wholly relieved that his acting abilities weren't going to be put to the test.

"I wouldn't say that plan's dead…more like on life support, could go either way," John drawled, mind whirling with how to pull all this off. If Rodney couldn't fix the ZPM, he was useless to Kannar's people. Like John was already. And if things went that direction, Kannar would need another bargaining chip to sell the trade of them back to Atlantis. (John didn't put it past these people to try and snooker Atlantis into trading one working naquadah generator for one kaput ZPM.)

But if Kannar's people thought they needed a cure against whatever John had, they'd have to show themselves worthy of the trade, have something decent to offer, like the return of two alive Atlanteans. 'Well maybe more like one and half alive Atlantean,' John sardonically corrected himself because, in fair estimation, he was feeling only partially alive.

Rodney's reaction to John's hesitation to give up on his hysteria plan was whining "Oh crap."

When Kannar returned with Rodney's demanded items, he slid a glance to John, watched the man pat the ground and saw he'd written in the dirt: ZPM. He stepped closer to the table to set down the medical supplies, scuffing the writing out with his boot in the motion. His eye flickered back to Sheppard's, waiting for his reply. He hesitated a moment before he gave a subtle nod that the terms were acceptable. "I'll give you ten minutes then we're leaving," he told McKay and then he and his usual tagalongs left their two captives alone in the building.

Outside, his father was waiting but he didn't meet his eyes, couldn't. He was setting things in motion that most of his people would consider a betrayal. And his father might see it that way too. But they hadn't been away from their planet, hadn't seen the vastness of Atlantis with their own eyes, not through the hazy memories they had inherited. Hadn't seen the devastation the Wraith left of other worlds besides their own. Their people needed the shield, yes. But they also needed to build an alliance and there was no bigger opponent to the Wraith's domination than the Atlanteans.

Moreover, he trusted John Sheppard to keep his word. That if they achieved this trade and he got them back home, there would be no retribution. And if they ever had need of them, he could call in his marker and Atlantis would make good on it. Because of Sheppard's oath, because he was that type of man whose word others would honor in his stead. He almost smirked at his good fortune. Since he'd elected to take a hostage, he certainly had picked the right one. Heck, the right two if McKay was as good as he bragged himself up to be.

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TBC

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Thanks for the encouraging comments and all the readers out there!

Shout out to Shepfan for being so awesomely supportive when I needed kind words of praise! Me enthralling readers…aww…you're making my head swell.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.