Chapter 37: War Games

Pew! Ping! Pew!

Alex ducked around the corner, feet skidding silently on the floors, and just barely kept from careening into the wall. Thankfully, the shots were off in the distance.

These Marines were, arguably, better than most of the bad guys he had gone up against over the years. Though, admittedly, this was supposed to be some of the best of the best from Earth. It made sense that tracking a teenager – though they thought they were tracking other teams – was probably easier than some of the things they had had to track on an alien plant. Well, another alien planet.

He kept moving, keeping his steps light. Even the smallest out of place sound could give away his position and he wasn't entirely sure where the next group of Marines would be posted.

It was some kind of strange game of capture the flag. Only Alex was the wild card trying to get both flags without being noticed.

It just meant that he had to avoid stunners from both teams. Not that Alex was unarmed. Sheppard – and it was probably going to be a long time before Alex referred to him as anything else – had made sure that the game wasn't entirely stacked against him.

And had reassured him that the only sanctioned weapons were set to stun only. Deviation from that would be an immediate kick into the brig and return home on the Daedalus.

Security cameras in the B through D sectors had been turned off, under the guise that a non-participating squad member might see what was going on. Really, it was to keep Alex from being identified and Rodney had really just rerouted them to his own personal computer. If something happened, there would be record.

Alex waved his hand over a sensor, then pressed his back to the wall as the door slid open, listening intently.

Silence.

Alex led with his stunner, cautiously peering around the threshold.

With no immediate shots in his direction, he figured it was probably safe enough. He slipped through the doors, letting them close behind him and took stock of the room he was in. Sheppard had given him a little bit of time to study the layout of the sectors, but he was mostly working blind. He had a vague idea of where he had started, and a vague idea of where the two flags were – completely opposite sectors.

This was one of the botany laboratories – or whatever passed for botany ten thousand years ago – and Alex made sure to steer clear of the buzzing ancient tech he could feel at the base of his skull. Supposedly, everything dangerous had already been cleared out of the rooms, but… there was no being too cautious. Dr. Z had taught him well.

He crept across the room – someone could be hiding – and paused at the other door. He didn't remember where exactly the botany labs had been, but it was somewhere in Sector C. Which meant he was headed in the right direction if he wanted to get the flag from Team Bramble – he wasn't asking where the names came from, but had a suspicion it was Lorne's doing.

Repeating the same procedure from before, he opened the door, listened for any other persons, and then proceeded with his hunt.

His fingers were cramping, slowly loosening their grip as he tried to balance in place.

Alex readjusted his legs, wrapping them tighter around the piping, taking care not to make too much noise. Because they would hear him.

He held his breath, fingers digging in, as someone walked directly beneath him.

"Markham and his squad are down." It was a familiar voice. Probably someone from Sierra Squad, though Alex knew they were on Team Addleberry. Which meant they were impostors in this part of the territory just as much as Alex was. "No signs from Pilkes either."

Yeah…

Pilkes and his team weren't going to be showing up any time soon. Alex had come across them nearly an hour earlier and well… they were out and he wasn't.

"Bramble is on the offensive more than usual." Another voice said quietly, also moving to just below Alex. "Wonder if the Colonel told them to up their game."

"After losing the last four games?" There was a quiet snicker, before the soft thump of someone punching someone.

Alex's fingers slipped an inch and he readjusted his grip.

Tried to keep his breathing quiet.

"Be quiet." A voice hissed. And that was Greg.

If anyone was going to find him… it was probably going to be Greg.

The flashlights flashed into the overhead pipes in the hallway in front of them, but no one looked up. Not directly above them.

"We're getting close, so just… keep it quiet." Greg sounded frustrated and Alex wondered just what pair he had gotten stuck with. Sierra Squad was, in general, fairly well disciplined, but Sheppard also liked to pair the worst combinations together. All in the name of team building.

The blood was starting to rush to his head and Alex was starting to regret his choice of hiding place.

The trio started moving forward again, lights back off, and barely visible in the darkness.

Then, a pipe groaned in the distance.

Greg, because it had to be Greg taking up the rear, spun around and stared into the darkness, stunner at the ready. "Three-way search," he bit out.

That was it.

They were going to find him.

This time, Alex didn't care whether he made sound. He tightened his grip on the pipe and twined his ankles together – hopefully he wouldn't fall, because Dr. Beckett would probably yell at him for breaking his back. Again.

He released his finger-hold, engaged his core, and slowly leaned backward until he had a good aim on Greg.

Sorry.

Pew!

He could have done without the sound effect. Greg hitting the floor was enough of a signal to the other two, but really, they should have made evasive maneuvers, not just turned around.

Pew! Pew!

Trio, zero. Alex, three.

He slipped the stunner back into his holster, then reached up until his fingers found the pipe once again. Once he had a good grip, he let go with his legs and dropped back down to the floor. He took a moment to steady himself, before setting off in the direction Greg and co had been traveling. Someone would have heard the shots and would come investigate.

He didn't have any plans to be nearby when that happened.

"—Sheppard had to have put another wild card into the game since no one's fessing up." Greg made a wild gesture with his fork and Alex ducked out of the splatter zone. "Oops, sorry. But I mean… you should've been there."

Alex repressed a smirk and spun some noodles – real noodles – onto his fork. "Didn't you get knocked out of play two hours into it?"

Greg shrugged, enthusiasm not in the least bit dampened. "By a freaking ninja." He rested his chin on his palm, eyes almost glowing with excitement. "They were in the air ducts, or vents, or something. I can't fault them for out of the box thinking. Though how a team of three managed it..."

Alex snorted, then busied himself with his food. Following the five hours of the game, he had been expecting a little more frustration for getting knocked out early, or that no one seemed to know where the flags had disappeared to. Instead, they had all just looked even more determined to win the next time.

He really had been in the vents while he watched Sheppard give the final debriefing to everyone.

No doubt, rumors would spread to the teams participating in next week's games, so it would be even more difficult, but…

It had been fun.

He had been able to flex his skills without worrying about someone killing him. Low stakes. And if he did eventually get caught… well, Sheppard probably had a way to keep them quiet.

"What about you, you make any ground breaking discoveries?" Greg asked, fixing Alex with a stare.

Alex just shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Just finished a couple of equations for Dr. Z." And if he had finished those the night before… he wasn't going to tell anyone. Dr. Z had kept up pretenses well enough.

"Think Sheppard will let you off world again?"

Hah.

Not likely.

Instead, Alex just shrugged again. "Given the aftermath of the last time…?"

Greg grimaced. The bruising had cleared up almost completely, but Alex still hadn't given him a good explanation for why.

Even though Sheppard had told him to let Greg in on his secret – well, the ex-spy with some form of PTSD part, at least – he wasn't sure he was ready to find out how that changed Greg's perception of him. It felt almost like he had a… friend again. Even if there was a solid ten year age difference and the majority of the time Greg spent around him was because he was required to.

But even after the punching incident, Greg had voluntarily stuck with him.

So… that made them… friends.

"Right…" Greg pushed back his chair and grabbed his tray. "What say you to an evening run?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Fine." Even if running was about the last thing he wanted to do right now as his calves screamed at him. He had to keep up pretenses. So long as Greg didn't want to go too far…

"Now, verify power connection in crystals before attaching diagnostic software." Dr. Z typed a long string of code that was far too long for Alex to keep up with, but he made a dutiful note of the step on his tablet. It was all apparently a part of the process of standardizing the troubleshooting process for new gate techs - three of which would be coming in a few short days with the Daedalus.

Though Alex suspected the term gate tech made them sound a lot less official than they actually were. Most of them were engineers with numerous degrees in their own right.

"Diagnostic software reads out error codes A21 through G15, issue is in power modules K through X. Error code Z17, is fatal error." Dr. Z paused what he was doing, before slanting a look in Alex's direction. "Not to worry, complete error code listing is in manual." A manual that Alex certainly didn't have access to. Dr. Z stepped back from the computer, before clapping his hands together in satisfaction. "Okay, now you."

Right.

Because there was so little pressure.

Not like the two of the on-duty gate techs weren't watching with barely constrained amusement.

Alex supposed the saving grace was that Rodney wasn't also hovering in the background. Granted, if he were around, teaching anything probably wouldn't happen. Rodney liked to have things well and truly under his control – and expected excellence from everyone. Alex suspected that was why he had been assigned to Dr. Z.

So neither Rodney – nor Alex – lost their minds.

"Oh, no," Chuck, the most seasoned of the gate techs deadpanned, as he unplugged several of the crystals from the test bank Dr. Z had developed. "We had an electrical surge, and I've forgotten all of my training. Someone had better help me before I electrocute myself."

Alex snorted, before taking the proffered crystals and examining them for any visible damage – the first step. As these were already known to malfunction, there was no mistaking the chips and cracks in some of them. Repairs that may very well be possible, but were beyond the technology they had developed at this point. "These two will need replacing." The third was in better physical shape, but unless they had thrown a good one in with the rest of the bad, something would pop up on the diagnostics. Sometimes those could be fixed.

He grabbed the voltage meter off the table and connected it with the crystal in question. Using Rodney's previous instruction, anything over 13 meant an intact internal system. With the crystal reading at 15, there was a good likelihood of being able to resurrect the crystal back to a functional level.

Alex side eyed the more complicated part of the troubleshooting process, then started to set the crystal up in the diagnostic interface. It was important for all connections to be thorough, so as to not accidentally fry a perfectly good crystal.

That was a surefire way to get Rodney to snap at someone.

And while he was currently off planet, Alex wouldn't put it past him to come hunt him down if he messed up.

It also helped that the recent revelations hadn't even phased him. Related to Sheppard or not, Alex could still feel his wrath.

Of course, it wasn't his life that was getting turned on its head…

He lined the crystal up carefully, checking all the possible trigger points.

Then the gate started dialing.

"Oh, fuck!" Chuck shoved his chair away from the test bench and toward the main console. There was a faint click as he engaged the intercom system. "Unscheduled off world activation."

As if that would stop the gate from locking and engaging. The lights circled the gate, before each one locked into place. There was a flurry of activity from the gate techs, before a shimmer appeared in front of the gate.

"Not on the schedule?"

Alex jerked back as Woolsey appeared on the other side of Chuck's shoulder. It would make sense for the so-called expedition leader to have an office near the gate, but…

"AR1 and AR15 are out," Chuck said, pressing buttons on the console. "But neither should be dialing in for at least another eight hours."

"AR15?"

"Diplomatic mission to the Astrians. The ones with the explosives mine."

"AR1 then…" There was almost a fond sigh. Which… for all the grief Woolsey gave Sheppard and the others, really didn't fit with anything Alex knew about him. "It was an uninhabited planet, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir. With the weird gravity."

A moment later, something splashed against the shield.

There was a tense moment before Chuck's shoulders relaxed. "Dr. McKay's IDC, sir."

"Atlantis, sending IDC now." Rodney's voice – because he was unmistakable even with radio interference – was harried and out of breath. "And close that shield as soon as we're through."

"Shield is down, Doctor," Chuck said, while in the midst of pressing a sequence of keys that dropped the shield.

A moment later, they were through – Ronon and Rodney dragging Sheppard – and the shield crackled back to life – just as another something large and heavy thudded against it.

Thud.

Thud.

Thump.

Then, with a sharp sound, the wormhole cut off.

"Well don't just stand there, someone get the medics!" Rodney shouted, casting a scathing glance up at the control room.

Sheppard looked… rough. They all looked dirty and mused, but Sheppard especially so as Ronon finally lowered him all the way to the ground. The dirt caked to his clothes did nothing to disguise the bleeding head wound or the fact that his ankle was most definitely not supposed to be twisted that direction.

Alex glanced away, staring down at the crystal shards. Because that was a better alternative. He heard Chuck quietly call for a medical team to the gate room.

"And don't you dare send that hopped up, excuse for a—"

"Dr. McKay." Woolsey bit out sharply, heading toward the stairs. "I assure you the infirmary will be sending their best—"

Alex couldn't help but peek back over the edge, because Rodney was clearly on a roll.

"Their best!" He all but shrieked, waving a hand in Sheppard's direction and absolutely seething. "Like the best was reviewing the MALP footage? What absolute bottom breathing, moronic, blind, screening tech did you—" He cut off abruptly when Teyla laid a hand on his arm.

At least someone seemed to be able to calm him down.

Or they were going to have a second medical emergency…

"What Dr. McKay is trying to say—"

"Dinosaurs, Woolsey! Fucking dinosaurs."

Woolsey took a sharp step back, casting a clearly suspicious glance in Sheppard's direction.

Because, dinosaurs. Surely that wasn't something that could be missed on a planet survey.

"Whatever nut case said there was an energy source and missed the giant fucking dinosaurs inhabiting the entirety of the planet needs to be checked." Rodney showed no signs of backing down from his tirade, but was clearly distracted by the arrival of the medical team, because he spun on them with even more vitriol. "You be careful with him! Who knows how many bones that idiot broke."

There was no missing the glare Dr. Madsen – because who else would it be? – shot in Rodney's direction, before instructing her team to take over. There was also no missing Ronon's suspicious gaze as anyone came near or touched Sheppard.

At least someone was watching out for him…

"We need to leave," Dr. Z said quietly, appearing at Alex's side. "Back to labs. Something is… not right."

Alex swallowed, casting another glance down at the gate room floor. Sheppard was clearly out of it. Ronon was on edge. Teyla was keeping a wary eye on everyone involved. Rodney was fuming and spluttering.

Woolsey hardly looked phased.

Dr. Madsen and her team had arrived almost instantly. And while the infirmary team was supposed to be on a rapid response… it wasn't usually that fast.

Add that with Sheppard's already noted concerns about the doctor…

"We will finish testing in lab," Dr. Z said, clearly as an explanation for Chuck. After all, there was nothing saying they had to do their work with the control panels. At least, not now.

Alex grabbed his tablet and slid it into its case, before turning to follow Dr. Z through one of the alternative exits from the command center.

But…

Too late.

"What's he doing up here?" Woolsey demanded, pinning Alex with a scowl as he came up the steps.

Dr. Z, to his credit, just pushed his glasses up his nose, stepped in front of Alex, and met Woolsey's stare head on. "Reproducing troubleshooting process for fried crystals. Dr. McKay decided a more remedial course is needed for general personnel." He shrugged as if it didn't really affect him. "Who better to test than our resident newbie?"

Woolsey's lips just thinned into a tight line, before he continued on his way to his office.

"Don't you just—" The was a spluttering sound before Rodney stomped up the stairs – trailing mud in the process – not even paying attention to Alex and Dr. Z. "There are protocols—" He spat the word as if it were a curse, "—and don't you dare—"

His shouting was muffled by the glass walls, but there was no missing the fact that he was still shouting.

Teyla came up the stairs at a more sedate pace and tipped her head in Alex's direction. "Rodney is… very upset that we were sent to that planet." And that sounded like the most diplomatic wording possible.

This was different from Rodney's usual tirades against buffoons in the labs. There was an underlying thread of something else there was well.

"There was no energy source," Teyla said quietly, before covertly passing one of the life signs detectors to Dr. Z. "He wanted you to take this. Protocol five?"

It meant something to Dr. Z, because his eyes widened and his face paled dramatically before stuffing the device into a pocket. "Yes, yes. We will—I mean, protocol five," he breathed.

Teyla just tilted her head in his direction, before turning toward the office. "I will make sure he leaves Mr. Woolsey in once piece." There was an underlying threat to her voice.

Something else was going on.

And Alex had a feeling that it was something that he hadn't been privy to.

Perhaps something they were keeping from him.

Which… to be fair. He was a teenager. There was no reason for them to tell him everything. Every little politicking thing.

"Come, come." Dr. Z walked rapidly out of the command center and Alex hurried to catch up.

Curiosity killed the cat, and all that.

Alex couldn't help his knee bouncing nervously, as he waited in the lab. Waited for anything to happen.

Dr. Z had given him a string of code to search the database for – whatever Rodney had done to modify the life signs detector – and then had promptly disappeared behind his computer screen. And while Alex was definitely getting better at navigating the database, there was no missing the fact that this was something created by Dr. McKay.

It wasn't just going to pop up in a database search.

Which meant he wasn't really doing anything useful while it ran and that just let his mind… wander.

Sheppard had been injured. Bad enough that Rodney was flying off the handle and the rest of the team was looking for a scapegoat. And well… Sheppard was the only thing standing between Alex and getting kicked off the city by Woolsey, so if he was down and out for the count…

Well, at this point, Alex wouldn't put it past Woolsey to try to dial the SGC to kick him back through the gate. Or not even bother dialing the SGC…

"Zatraceně!"

Alex jerked his head up from the data pad and stared at Dr. Z. "Find something?" He asked cautiously. Because while Dr. Z didn't get upset by intrusions like Rodney did, he didn't exactly want to derail anything.

"Tampered." He bit the word off like a curse. "Rodney reconfigured device to record signatures from set period of time, however device shows larger than normal life signs. Not humanoid, if reports of dinosaurs are truthful."

Which… that wasn't what the life signs detectors usually did. From all the testing they had completed over the past several years – that Alex had read about, at least – the devices only showed humanoid life signs. Someone had experimented with detectors that showed more animals, but it had been impractical. Tracking every insect on a planet was about as useful has tracking nothing at all.

Dr. Z turned the device over in his hands, before prying up a panel and connecting the device to his datapad. "See if planet designation appears elsewhere in database. P42-SX9 or Damara."

Alex input the three terms – precise address, anglicized transliteration, and Ancient name – into his script and set it to run. After just a few short moments, several results pulled up – though were under subheadings he wouldn't have expected. Aviary species. "You know, they didn't specify if those dinosaurs were flying or not…"

Dr. Z swore again while crossing the room to look over Alex's shoulder. He scrolled through the information – picking apart the Ancient a lot faster than Alex could manage – before glancing back at him. "You did simple, straight forward search term, yes?"

"Yes…?" Alex answered, drawing it out.

"Rodney was right…" Dr. Z's shoulder slumped for a moment, before he fixed Alex with a stern look. "You must not share with anyone, but… someone purposefully withheld information when creating briefing. Protocol five…" He shook his head sadly. "Is not good for responsible person."

Alex had a feeling that they were dancing around some terms.

Attempted murder – or at least maiming – being one of those.

Sheppard kept the military under control and Rodney sometimes single-handedly kept the city afloat. Take either of them out and… While Lorne and Dr. Z would do a pretty good job at keeping up, things would definitely be a lot less stable. The perfect opportunity for someone else to make changes.

"I will save search, for inevitable investigation. Do prdele." Dr. Z blew out a long breath, before scrolling more in depth through the results. "Check progress of download, ano?"

Alex crossed the room to the laptop Dr. Z had connected the life signs detector to. A dialog box had popped up. "Do you want copy and delete, or just copy?"

"Jsi hloupý? Copy. Rodney kill us both."

True…

Alex picked up the life signs detector to move it off the keyboard—

His heart was pounding in his chest.

Annoyance.

Confusion.

Frustration.

It seemed to stretch out for an eternity.

Blips in the distance.

Large blips.

Sudden terror.

Fear.

Death.

Pain.

Certain calamity.

Heart racing panic—

"Alex?"

Alex jerked away from the device, letting it drop to the table, and turned for the nearest waste bin and promptly lost the contents of his stomach.

Fuck.

His heart still felt like it was trying to beat out of his chest.

Adrenaline rush.

But… nothing to trigger the adrenaline.

Except the device.

"Don't… don't let someone with the gene touch that," he finally croaked out, bile still burning at the back of his throat. "Has a…" He searched for the right words. "Emotional imprint?" Alex slumped into the closest chair and let his chin rest against his chest.

Dr. Z just stared at him with wide eyes.

If that was what Rodney had experienced… then the dinosaurs were not something to be messed with.

The terror and fear… He shivered and hoped he never touched something like that again in the future.

"Perhaps, is time to end your participation. Plausible deniability." Dr. Z regarded him for a long moment, before carefully resetting the life signs detector to a safe position on the table. "I will call Lieutenant Simmons."

Alex just nodded numbly. Greg would be good. Greg could get him all the gossip he needed. Because if Sheppard was down and out for the count like the terror and fear had implied… it was going to be a rough ride.

A/N: Oh, we're getting places now! Hope you enjoyed the little war games at the beginning - a little peace offering, olive branch from Sheppard.