(no subject)
For the: 2013 Shep H/C Summer Pix-Fix Challenge
Title: AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
Author: Black_Raven135
Rating: PG13
Characters: Sheppard, McKay, and Ronon
Spoiler: None
Word Count: 2100
Disclaimer: I am just a fan of Sheppard, nothing more.
Summary: As soon as the team steps out of the wormhole onto P7X-224 things begin to go very wrong, and continue downhill from there
Acknowledgments: Stella_Pegasi, Sherr57 (beta), Joaniexjony, Titan5 and Majace
Thank you one and all. Without your encouragement and help I would never have made it past my usual 400 words.
He sat on the cool ground with his back to a rough wall. It felt good; it was cool. The team had finally left; Ronon had been the sole hold out. He had demanded to stay but Sheppard would not allow it. There had been a heated argument and Sheppard finally ended it. He was tired of arguing with Ronon. He realized Ronon's intent but the responsibility was his alone. “The discussion is over, I am no longer asking you, I am ordering you. Now hand me some extra clips and move out.” Ronon had gathered and then piled brush and twigs he had found earlier outside and built a fire as soon as they had arrived in the tower. As Sheppard studied the fire, he wondered why he would need additional clips. It seemed the entire area was void of any sort of life form, two legged or four legged, at least that is what Rodney's LSD had noted.
Atlantis had received a signal from a gate address and had gone to investigate it; Rodney wanted to see about a ZPM possibility or anything else the Ancients might have left behind. Initial probes had also indicated no life form, but it was a totally different story once they arrived; all hell had broken loose.
His leg now throbbed as the morphine wore off; he had one syrette left. He had taken a bullet when they were at the earlier gate address. As soon has he was hit, it began to bleed profusely; the bullet was still lodged in the leg. The decision was to pack it in and return to Atlantis for some Carson care, as much as he hated to think about the infirmary AGAIN.
When they dialed the gate address all seemed fine, but that all changed shortly after they had stepped into the wormhole. There had been a bump. Sheppard was now reminded of the first time he hit Mach 1. There was just a bump, nothing more to note that they had reached that speed. He was riding pit and 'WOXOF' had remarked,“Sorry to disappoint, but not much to it.”
As he stared down at his leg, first noting that the field dressing had soaked through, he was taken back to Afghanistan. This was the same leg that had taken the shrapnel when his chopper had taken a direct hit by an RPG, his copilot killed. He rested his head on the cool wall behind him as he closed his eyes and thought about it. How easy it was when it was quiet and there was nothing to distract him. They had been on S&R and en-route home had picked up chatter regarding a Marine platoon which had been hit by Taliban and was now trying to extricate, calling for help. 'ANYBODY copy' was their constant call. Sheppard looked over at his copilot and Murphy nodded. It had been an easy approach; they had loaded successfully, some. . . . . .He needed to rearrange his leg as it was now not only throbbing but it was referring to his hip.. . . .The platoon had been shot up badly. His gunner had been helping them load the wounded and those who could still walk. A gunny was in charge; they carried the officer to the chopper, he was dead. Then as they lifted, they were hit. It blew the starboard side out. It all seemed now as though it might never have happened, save for his leg which was his lasting reminder, scars on his shoulder and upper arm and now the leg was once again hit. He also noted that THIS time HE was the only one who had been hit, a replay of earlier missions off world and then a smile came to his lips as he thought about how Carson would react, “Och laddie, no' again.......tsk, tsk, ye just cannie stay away, can ye? ” and of course it would be true. It always was.. . . . .
Rodney fiddled with the DHD trying to figure out why they had been redirected to this gate address instead of Atlantis and particularly given Sheppard's condition. As he mumbled about it not making any sense, monotonous lightning strikes kept posing a threat; frankly he was worried one might strike too near the gate, presenting additional problems. As soon as they had stepped into the nightmarish surroundings, Ronon had taken Sheppard to a distant tower to find shelter, but it made Ronon insufferable to deal with now. He stood off a distance glaring as Rodney worked feverishly to see if they could not dial Atlantis and get off this god forsaken rock. “Are you sure you've tried it all,” said Ronon, stepping in to take a closer look. “You can help me by getting out of the way so I can see better, “ replied Rodney. It was just a good thing he had taken his diagnostic equipment with him to the other site. At least he was not stuck here without any way to deal with this problem. Ronon had already told him that he was not sure they were alone; he sensed something was out there. Rodney replied, “I already told you my LSD shows no life form.” Ronon looked away from Rodney to the tower, “Maybe............” The tower appeared to be much further away and he was not sure what existed between the tower and the gate. McKay continued to mumble; where they were, what happened to make the dialer malfunction, and insufficient supplies in particular when it came to field dressings for Sheppard, Ronon rested his hand on his blaster unsure of many things and it was beginning to bother him.
As they had stepped out into the strange planet, Sheppard had immediately demanded that Ronon put him down; Ronon had earlier hoisted him over his shoulder, fireman lift, when they exited the other address. Ronon replied to Sheppard, “I can drag you or carry you. Which one?” Sheppard immediately replied, “Now that you put it that way, fireman lift might be less painful.” “That's what I thought you'd say,” mumbled Ronon. They headed to a tower which had been visible from the gate, although not immediately nearby. Ordinarily Rodney would be interested in inspecting the tower, but there were now more pressing problems. At least it might provide protection for Sheppard as they worked on the DHD to see if they could transport to Atlantis. Things were stark on this planet and Sheppard needed care soon as the bullet was lodged in his thigh and the wound bleeding steadily.
When Sheppard awoke, he suddenly realized that he was in the dark now with the exception of the fire which had now died down. The only light in the tower was now coming with every lightning strike, some of them fairly close. As he stared at the fire, which was now almost out, he realized while there was any light that he had better change his dressing and give himself his last Morphine. He struggled to retrieve the only field dressing he had left and pulling off the bloodied one, he quickly wrapped his thigh with the new dressing. He realized that it was just a matter of time until it too would be soaked. Finally, he also pulled the last Morphine syrettte from his vest, flipped off the cap and plunged the needle into his thigh. He would have to. . . . There was a brilliant flash of light in the area as another lightning strike hit somewhere nearby no doubt given its strength. For a minute he thought he saw some movement out of the corner of his right eye. Dismissing the idea because Rodney's LSD had not picked up any life form, Sheppard relaxed. With the next strike the tower area once again illuminated and there was no longer just movement, but instead a pair of amber eyes. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he realized they appeared to be much like cat eyes.
Sheppard had heard nothing and was still not sure he was seeing what he thought he had seen earlier. Things were beginning to take a decided movement downhill due to blood loss and more Morphine. The feeling that he had been right initially filled him with dread. Whatever it was had no doubt followed the scent of blood and was now in the area with him. Lightning flashed again and this time he saw the tufted ears and the spots. It was a lot like a Lynx he had seen once near the cabin in the mountains, a predator, but a four legged alien predator. Great. Sheppard waited and as he did he began to reach for his P-90 suddenly realizing it was not near him. Apparently when he had fallen asleep earlier, it had slipped off onto the ground, but where? He began to feel around on the ground nearby. A flash again and . . . .CRAP! It was closer now, still on his right creeping along the wall toward him. He had his sidearm but was not sure that would stop it soon enough; it was good size. He was now no longer sure how much time he had. He then heard a deep throated growl, and as he felt cold steel in his left hand, the cat lunged. It hit him hard knocking him sideways. It was clawing at his right arm and shoulder and biting him in the injured leg.
His left arm was thankfully free but it was making it awkward for him to point the P-90 in a direction that would not blow off his right arm and shoulder when he fired. He waited for what seemed like an eternity till the cat moved around closer to his chest and began clawing at his vest. He felt its hot breath in his face, not only hot but putrid. Predators. It made Sheppard nauseous. As it advanced its attack, he was able to direct the P-90 and during a momentary flash of lightning, he fired the first round. It was deafening, but the cat was not letting up as it headed for his neck. He fired a second round.
Rodney finally finished the repair and shutting the panel where he stood, packed away his equipment and said to Ronon, “It's finished. We should be able to dial home now no problem.” When Ronon failed to respond, he asked if he had heard him the first time. “Yes, I heard you, “ Ronon's replied. “Well don't just stand there staring at me, go get him.” Ronon turned and headed for the tower. He would be glad to get out of this place. The tower was within view when he heard the familiar sound; three rapid shots. He picked up speed and when he finally entered the structure, he ignited his light and saw the cat, what was left of it, draped over Sheppard. Sheppard was bleeding heavily from deep claw marks in his shoulder and arm and multiple bites in his injured leg. Unsure whether he was alive, he checked his pulse. He felt it; it was faint but it was there. Ronon began to untangle the cat from Sheppard and as he did, Sheppard said almost inaudibly, “About time you got here.”
He woke up. The infirmary was quiet. He heard nothing but the gentle beep of the equipment and little more. The IV had not only eased the pain but it was making him sleepy. Carson had dropped by a few minutes before to check his dressings. Not only had he taken a hit again on that same leg, but this time he had also reinjured the arm and shoulder which had taken the shrapnel before. Carson of course pointed it all out to him with a lot of tsk tsk tsks thrown in. He also felt compelled to add a description of how many hours of surgery it had taken to fix the leg and clean up and stitch the claw marks and bites. Then he launched into a description of some sort of special elixir he had concocted to protect against alien felines. Carson had not been gone but a few minutes when the curtains opened and Ronon came in. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and propping his feet up, asked Sheppard how he was feeling. “Fine. I am already thinking about our next off world, but hopefully less eventful.” Ronon replied, “I realize how much it ticks you off when somebody defies an order, but............” Sheppard smiled, “Thanks buddy, I'm glad you opted to do it, but you realize it is just THIS time........”
The end
NOTE:
RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenade
WOXOF - ceiling indefinite, vertical visibility zero
'gunny' - gunnery sergeant