SGA - Dare You to Move
Title: Dare You to Move
Summary: John gets hurt...John has a hallucination/dream.
Pairings: John/Teyla
Rating: PG-13 just to be safe, some suggestive content, and John got shot. So, you know...just so I don't get in trouble.
Category: Hurt/Comfort & a bit of Romance
Characters: John Sheppard
Warnings: Well...John gets hurt. Um, no death this time :)
AN: A bit longer than my usual fare. :)
Breath was coming in sharp gasps. He couldn’t feel his entire right side. Taking a quick mental inventory, he recognized the signs of hypothermia coupled with the bullet wound that he was sure had punctured a lung and possibly clipped something spine-related. And yet, he was completely lucid. Somehow he had managed to use his good left arm to drag himself to this small indentation in the mountain face. He could see the fog that lay thick upon the valley, and the flashes of stunners that illuminated the mist. He could, if he looked hard enough, even see a red flash every now and again. He knew his team was coming. He knew they were only on the other side of the valley. But he also knew that the valley floor was covered with what he had counted as at least two battalions of wraith drones. And he knew that with each passing second, it became harder and harder to take in a breath. He knew the math, too. Already, in the time it had taken him to take the scene in, he was becoming woozy. It hadn’t been his brightest move to decide to check out the mountain on the other side of the Wraith camp. Plus, the fog and freezing conditions cut visibility don to almost nothing. He had considered that an advantage, until the fighting had started. He had even thought it was a good thing, up until the very second he had been taken down by a P-90 5.7 cal bullet. Thankfully he had been across the battlefield, and had been near this cave, so what should have been a deadly shot merely seriously injured him. He blinked and looked back at the battlefield below him, fighting to stay conscious. As usual though, he was losing. The last thing he remembered was the wind shifting to blow into the small cave.
----------------
John lowered his shades and glanced over to his right. Teyla was lying on her stomach, the top of her swimsuit untied so that she could get a seamless tan. His eyes roved up her only-scantily clad body, before arriving at her face. She had her head nestled in her hands, and was thoroughly engrossed in the book she was reading. Her eyelids were lowered, and she looked as though she might be dosing, if not for the occasion movement to turn the page. He watched her blink, those perfect eyelashes coming together and apart. He saw how her cheeks dimpled slightly when she read something amusing. Time passed slowly, but it was not boring. He didn’t know how long he stared at her, but soon she stirred, her eyes finally flicking over to meet his. She smiled lazily.
“Staring are we?” A delicate eyebrow rose in amusement, and suddenly John flashed back to last night, a moment frozen in time when she had raised that same eyebrow at his ‘innocent’ attempts to cuddle.
“Am I not allowed to stare at my wife?” He quirked his own eyebrow and grinned. She shrugged languidly.
“I am unsure of all your Earth customs. I do believe that it is appropriate for you to stare on your honeymoon. You are, in fact, supposed to be infatuated with me.” She winked, and suddenly blood flowed to John’s face. He glanced around the swimming pool area. When he returned his gaze to her, she was rising from her lounge chair, her swimsuit re-tied. In three smooth steps she was by the edge of the pool, and executed a perfectly smooth shallow dive. He watched as her bikini top surfaced…without an inhabitant. Her head broke the water and she smoothed her hair back. She grinned slyly at him.
“Join me?” John smiled back, slipping his shirt off, keeping his eyes on her the whole time. He frowned as her eyes suddenly went wide.
“John…” She breathed. He looked down in confusion at his chest, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. A bullet hole materialized in his chest and he crashed to his knees.
“John!!” Suddenly Teyla was at his side, pulling off a heavy coat and covering him.
“I-I don’t-t need…coat. Middle o-of…summer.” He croaked out. She frowned at him.
“John?” She reached out a hand and touched his face. Suddenly the scene shifted, and he was huddled against the back of the cave wall, Teyla’s jacket covering him, feeling nothing but her hand on his cheek. Her face blurred, and suddenly her hand pressed hard against his cheek.
“John! Stay with me, come on. The jumper will be here in just a few seconds. Hold on ‘till then.” Suddenly he couldn’t breathe at all, and then her face was gone again in a black blur.
---------
The next sound he heard was a steady beeping. His mind recognized it instantly as a heart monitor. His eyes hurt, so he didn’t both trying to open them. He just concentrated on listening. He could hear murmuring in the background, and the sound of soft breathing close by. He decided to take mental stock of himself, and realized suddenly that he couldn’t feel anything. His eyes snapped open in surprise, and he instantly regretted it. A bomb exploded behind his eyes, and suddenly he could see nothing. A low moan escaped his chapped and cracked lips. His headache was starting to dull since he had shut his eyes, and he heard stirring nearby again. He felt something move inside his hand, another hand. A voice whispered through the fog covering his brain.
“John?” He decided to risk cracking his eyes. This time he could see without blinding white lights floating around trying to kill him. He instantly knew why he couldn’t feel anything. His whole body was sitting in a tub of dark blue jell; the only parts not in it his head and right hand. In his hand, another hand clutched his. He followed the hand back up its arm and to the delicate tearstained face that belonged to Teyla. There were dark circles under her eyes and she had been crying. In her other hand she clutched a small locket.
“Hey.” Somehow what sounded perfectly normal inside his head came out as a whispered croak. Somehow, she smiled through her tearstained visage.
“I was so worried. Carson-he said you didn’t have very high chances.” John saw her eyes quiver with unshed tears.
“Hey, I’d never leave my wife behind.” Teyla looked confused at his statement. John frowned. “What’s wrong?” His question seemed to bounce around the near-empty room.
“You-you don’t have a wife.” Suddenly Teyla’s confused face twisted and blurred, replaced by rock. He was back in the cave, nearly dead, and all alone. He could distantly tell that the fight was over, and he could barely make out the sound of a jumper. He wanted to run outside, jump, scream, yell, bring them to him, but he couldn’t even crack his lips to whisper. He closed his eyes. They would never find him in time. He knew it was already to late. Even if they did find him, he was already too far gone. He laid his head against the rock, and suddenly the words to a song he had hear a few years ago came to him.
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to life yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to move like today never happened
Like today never happened before
He wished it were that simple.
And suddenly he was asleep again. He was asleep when the jumper landed, when his team rushed out, when he was loaded onto a stretcher and rushed back to Atlantis. He slept through surgery, and most of recovery. When he did awake, he was heavily drugged, and never remembered anything. He slept through the vigils his wife kept by his bedside, he slept through the horrific prognosis. He slept through the surgery. He always slept. He would not be lucid again for nearly two months, and he would wake a different man. Nothing would ever be the same again, but for him, it was enough to move.
Summary: John gets hurt...John has a hallucination/dream.
Pairings: John/Teyla
Rating: PG-13 just to be safe, some suggestive content, and John got shot. So, you know...just so I don't get in trouble.
Category: Hurt/Comfort & a bit of Romance
Characters: John Sheppard
Warnings: Well...John gets hurt. Um, no death this time :)
AN: A bit longer than my usual fare. :)
Breath was coming in sharp gasps. He couldn’t feel his entire right side. Taking a quick mental inventory, he recognized the signs of hypothermia coupled with the bullet wound that he was sure had punctured a lung and possibly clipped something spine-related. And yet, he was completely lucid. Somehow he had managed to use his good left arm to drag himself to this small indentation in the mountain face. He could see the fog that lay thick upon the valley, and the flashes of stunners that illuminated the mist. He could, if he looked hard enough, even see a red flash every now and again. He knew his team was coming. He knew they were only on the other side of the valley. But he also knew that the valley floor was covered with what he had counted as at least two battalions of wraith drones. And he knew that with each passing second, it became harder and harder to take in a breath. He knew the math, too. Already, in the time it had taken him to take the scene in, he was becoming woozy. It hadn’t been his brightest move to decide to check out the mountain on the other side of the Wraith camp. Plus, the fog and freezing conditions cut visibility don to almost nothing. He had considered that an advantage, until the fighting had started. He had even thought it was a good thing, up until the very second he had been taken down by a P-90 5.7 cal bullet. Thankfully he had been across the battlefield, and had been near this cave, so what should have been a deadly shot merely seriously injured him. He blinked and looked back at the battlefield below him, fighting to stay conscious. As usual though, he was losing. The last thing he remembered was the wind shifting to blow into the small cave.
----------------
John lowered his shades and glanced over to his right. Teyla was lying on her stomach, the top of her swimsuit untied so that she could get a seamless tan. His eyes roved up her only-scantily clad body, before arriving at her face. She had her head nestled in her hands, and was thoroughly engrossed in the book she was reading. Her eyelids were lowered, and she looked as though she might be dosing, if not for the occasion movement to turn the page. He watched her blink, those perfect eyelashes coming together and apart. He saw how her cheeks dimpled slightly when she read something amusing. Time passed slowly, but it was not boring. He didn’t know how long he stared at her, but soon she stirred, her eyes finally flicking over to meet his. She smiled lazily.
“Staring are we?” A delicate eyebrow rose in amusement, and suddenly John flashed back to last night, a moment frozen in time when she had raised that same eyebrow at his ‘innocent’ attempts to cuddle.
“Am I not allowed to stare at my wife?” He quirked his own eyebrow and grinned. She shrugged languidly.
“I am unsure of all your Earth customs. I do believe that it is appropriate for you to stare on your honeymoon. You are, in fact, supposed to be infatuated with me.” She winked, and suddenly blood flowed to John’s face. He glanced around the swimming pool area. When he returned his gaze to her, she was rising from her lounge chair, her swimsuit re-tied. In three smooth steps she was by the edge of the pool, and executed a perfectly smooth shallow dive. He watched as her bikini top surfaced…without an inhabitant. Her head broke the water and she smoothed her hair back. She grinned slyly at him.
“Join me?” John smiled back, slipping his shirt off, keeping his eyes on her the whole time. He frowned as her eyes suddenly went wide.
“John…” She breathed. He looked down in confusion at his chest, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. A bullet hole materialized in his chest and he crashed to his knees.
“John!!” Suddenly Teyla was at his side, pulling off a heavy coat and covering him.
“I-I don’t-t need…coat. Middle o-of…summer.” He croaked out. She frowned at him.
“John?” She reached out a hand and touched his face. Suddenly the scene shifted, and he was huddled against the back of the cave wall, Teyla’s jacket covering him, feeling nothing but her hand on his cheek. Her face blurred, and suddenly her hand pressed hard against his cheek.
“John! Stay with me, come on. The jumper will be here in just a few seconds. Hold on ‘till then.” Suddenly he couldn’t breathe at all, and then her face was gone again in a black blur.
---------
The next sound he heard was a steady beeping. His mind recognized it instantly as a heart monitor. His eyes hurt, so he didn’t both trying to open them. He just concentrated on listening. He could hear murmuring in the background, and the sound of soft breathing close by. He decided to take mental stock of himself, and realized suddenly that he couldn’t feel anything. His eyes snapped open in surprise, and he instantly regretted it. A bomb exploded behind his eyes, and suddenly he could see nothing. A low moan escaped his chapped and cracked lips. His headache was starting to dull since he had shut his eyes, and he heard stirring nearby again. He felt something move inside his hand, another hand. A voice whispered through the fog covering his brain.
“John?” He decided to risk cracking his eyes. This time he could see without blinding white lights floating around trying to kill him. He instantly knew why he couldn’t feel anything. His whole body was sitting in a tub of dark blue jell; the only parts not in it his head and right hand. In his hand, another hand clutched his. He followed the hand back up its arm and to the delicate tearstained face that belonged to Teyla. There were dark circles under her eyes and she had been crying. In her other hand she clutched a small locket.
“Hey.” Somehow what sounded perfectly normal inside his head came out as a whispered croak. Somehow, she smiled through her tearstained visage.
“I was so worried. Carson-he said you didn’t have very high chances.” John saw her eyes quiver with unshed tears.
“Hey, I’d never leave my wife behind.” Teyla looked confused at his statement. John frowned. “What’s wrong?” His question seemed to bounce around the near-empty room.
“You-you don’t have a wife.” Suddenly Teyla’s confused face twisted and blurred, replaced by rock. He was back in the cave, nearly dead, and all alone. He could distantly tell that the fight was over, and he could barely make out the sound of a jumper. He wanted to run outside, jump, scream, yell, bring them to him, but he couldn’t even crack his lips to whisper. He closed his eyes. They would never find him in time. He knew it was already to late. Even if they did find him, he was already too far gone. He laid his head against the rock, and suddenly the words to a song he had hear a few years ago came to him.
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to life yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to move like today never happened
Like today never happened before
He wished it were that simple.
And suddenly he was asleep again. He was asleep when the jumper landed, when his team rushed out, when he was loaded onto a stretcher and rushed back to Atlantis. He slept through surgery, and most of recovery. When he did awake, he was heavily drugged, and never remembered anything. He slept through the vigils his wife kept by his bedside, he slept through the horrific prognosis. He slept through the surgery. He always slept. He would not be lucid again for nearly two months, and he would wake a different man. Nothing would ever be the same again, but for him, it was enough to move.