Loyalty (4/?)
Chapter 3
Chapter 4:
Ronon sat watching movies on a portable DVD player while John slept. He was sure that John wouldn’t get into any trouble while asleep but he also knew the Colonel to be stubborn and didn’t want him doing something stupid like trying to go on a mission before Beckett has had a chance to clear him.
When Beckett returned three hours later John was still asleep. Ronon gave him a look that said, You must have given him something strong - he is so going to hate you when he wakes up. Carson decided to ignore the look and wake his sleeping patient. “Colonel?”
John grumbled but merely turned over and fell back asleep.
“Colonel,” Carson said again, shaking John’s shoulder, “Come on lad, it’s time to get up. I want to check ya over one last time.”
John’s eyes snapped open then looked around the room frantically for a moment before he remembered where he was and who was waking him. “Doc?” he confirmed gruffly.
“Aye lad,” Carson answered. He walked back up to the bed and around to the foot of it so he could examine John’s ankle. “I just want to make sure you didn’t do any more damage to your foot,” he prompted before flipping the covers back and taking the limb into his hands.
A small gasp escaped through his barely parted lips and his eyebrows furrowed, neither of which escaped Ronon’s curious eyes nor John’s alarmed ones.
“Doc, what is it?” John asked at last after more than five minutes of utter silence.
Carson kept examining the ankle for a couple minutes longer before he placed the leg back on the bed and pulled up a spare chair, one of many. He turned to Ronon first, completely ignoring John’s question. “Has the Colonel done anything or gone anywhere?”
“Nope, just lay there sleeping like a very heavy tree.”
“Sleeping like a log Chewie,” John corrected with a smile in his eyes.
“Are ya sure? I won’t be mad if ya tell me,” Carson asked again, making sure to get that he really just wanted to know the truth.
“Doc I’ve been here passed out and dreaming of warm summer days on a beach,” John interjected in Ronon’s defense. “It actually got a little hot in here.”
Carson frowned slightly and Ronon minutely cocked his head to the right.
“Are ya hot now Colonel?” Carson asked. Considering it was a cool 67 degrees in John’s room, there’s no reason at all for the military man to be so warm.
John’s forehead wrinkled when he realized that, no he wasn’t. “Nope.”
Remembering the heat that had radiated off John’s leg, an idea occurred to Carson. “Colonel,” he began, leaning forward with his arms on his knees, “was your entire body hot or just a certain part.”
“A certain part,” John answered warily, wondering where the Scottish man was going with his questioning. Suddenly he felt a connection with Atlantis open like a sudden static charge surging through the air.
Atlantis, Carson’s voice called gently in his head.
Yes Doctor Beckett. Atlantis answered patiently. She’d been listening in on their conversations and while Doctor Beckett wasn’t nearly as smart as the annoying one, he was just as clever.
Were you connecting with the Colonel while he was sleeping?
Yes.
John saw Carson nod shortly before the man spoke again, Did you heal him?
Of course, Atlantis answered succinctly, I sensed that something was happening and knew that John was the only one who could stop it.
The hairs on the back of both men’s necks stood on edge in warning as they listened to the city speak. It was beyond their understanding that Atlantis could heal but that wasn’t what they were focusing on at the moment. Well, Beckett was, John could feel it.
What is happening? John asked, more worried about what was so unnerving that the city felt the need to heal him so he could help.
An old foe awakens and begins to grow stronger. An army is being formed against you to withstand the power of Atlantis. And a new foe is beginning to grow interested in the power we possess.
John shook his head. While she was a sentient city, she still had a lot to learn when it came to riddles of warning. The static that coursed through the air, rippling around them and sending shivers down their spines.
I must go, Atlantis announced heavily. The cheer and warmth in her voice had long faded and a weariness began to fill it Healing you has taken a lot from me and I must rest so that I can protect my people from what is to come.
With that the static faded and the room fell back into the normal feeling of friendship and home.
“Does she always sound like that?” Ronon asked at last while the others pondered over what the city had said.
Two sets of astonished eyes turned towards him. “You heard that?” John asked, pointing his hand in no specific direction.
Ronon shrugged, “She told me that she needed for me to hear her warning as well as you two and Major Lorne. She said the more that knew, the better prepared we might be.”
A chime sounded through the room announcing someone at the door. John opened the doors mentally and a flustered Rodney and a calm but anxious Teyla came into the room.
“What the hell was that?” Rodney exclaimed loudly, looking around the room like he expected someone to jump out at him.
“What was what Rodney?” John asked with his usual feigned patience. In truth he wasn’t really ready to deal with the over zealous scientist right at the moment.
“That voice, what are you deaf?” Rodney snapped, blue eyes still searching the room.
“Wait, you heard that too?” Carson asked, pointing at both the scientist and the Athosian.
Both of them nodded but only Rodney felt the need to actually voice his experience loudly, “Yeah, it felt like a static charge had just surged through me then a voice in my head rang loudly about some sort of old foe, new foe and an army.”
“Yeah we all heard the same warning,” John said interrupting Rodney’s tale.
“Should we not go and talk to Elizabeth?” Teyla asked hesitantly.
“Colonel Sheppard this is Doctor Weir, please respond.”
John smiled at the perfect timing of their leader and judging by the barely controlled calm in her voice, he knew exactly what she wanted to speak of. He grabbed his radio off the bedside table, put it in his ear and activated. “This is Colonel Sheppard, go ahead Elizabeth.”
“John, could you gather your team, Doctor Beckett and Major Lorne and meet me in the conference room ASAP?” Elizabeth’s voice asked hurriedly.
“We’re on our way,” John answered.
“You’re altogether?”
“With the exception of Lorne-“
“Who is on the way as well,” Lorne’s voice cut in, interrupting John. As an afterthought, Lorne said, “Sorry Colonel.”
“That’s okay Major. Elizabeth we’ll be there in a few minutes,” he told her, nodding his head to all in the room and heading for his door.
Being used to taking their cues from John, the rest of the group followed closely in his footsteps while he coordinated with a couple of the Marines to make sure that they were not disturbed unless it was a matter of life and death and that no, despite what the scientists thought, getting approval for ANY sort of experiment that could wait another couple of hours was NOT life and death.
Knowing that it would likely be a long meeting, the group quickly stopped by the mess hall to grab some dinner, since it was already five o’clock, and drinks before heading to the conference room. Since there were five of them, getting enough food to suit them all was not a problem. John and Carson each carried a spare tray while Ronon and Rodney carried extra trays of their own, thoroughly intending to eat the lot by themselves.
They skipped up the stairs leading to the conference room with John in the lead and all but ran into it just in time for Atlantis to begin closing the doors. Rodney grumbled about the lazy city when he had almost had a door close on his pant leg but after an annoyed and withering stare from John, he quickly sat down and began munching rather loudly on his food.
Carson and John handed Elizabeth and Lorne the trays of food they had brought then began nibbling at their own. All remained pensively quiet while they ate what wouldn’t be good cold and drank a bottle of water to wash it down with.
”Alright,” Elizabeth began once she’d determined that they’d all had plenty of time to eat, “I think you all know why I called you here.”
“Atlantis,” John announced after taking another drink of water.
Elizabeth nodded, “Yes. I’m assuming that if she contacted me then she has also contacted all of you.” She waited impatiently for them all to nod their acknowledgment. Her nerves were on fire with anticipation, anxiety and a little excitement.
She’d never heard of the city speaking to anyone else except those that had the stronger ancient gene. The mere thrill of it was not lost behind the city’s message however which was a worry in and of itself.
Turning her attention to John, she began again, “Did she tell you who this enemies were and what we could expect from the army that was rising against us?”
“No,” John announced gruffly, shaking his head to push the point, “she didn’t have enough energy to maintain the connection.”
Elizabeth and Teyla wrinkled their brows in concentrated disappointment. “I didn’t know that connecting with us took so much from her,” Elizabeth said at last thinking it wise that she voice what she knew they were both thinking.
John was very protective of the city and it’s people and she wasn’t sure how he would perceive a misguided verbal attack on Atlantis.
“It doesn’t,” John answered, throwing Carson an inquisitive look. When the doctor nodded he continued, “She’d used a lot of her energy to heal me.” He cringed at the pretentious sound of the words. His injury wasn’t life threatening and to know that the city chose to expend her energy on healing his minor wound when there were many others daily who needed the healing more, it made him ashamed among other things.
Astonishment crossed all faces in the room with the exception of Carson who had not only heard this before but had been the one to figure it out. The others looked around at one another, giving incredulous expressions along with doubt.
“She can do that?” Elizabeth asked finally, a mixture of amazement and doubt in her voice. John could also hear a bit of accusation in there somewhere and the sheer force of it made him wince.
“Apparently,” John answered not wanting to make it sound like he knew all along.
“Why has she chosen to help now?” Teyla asked evenly. She read Elizabeth’s emotions easily enough to know that the Atlantis Leader was growing angry and she guessed that it was all aimed at John who, if she had to guess, didn’t deserve it.
“She said that she had done it because she knew that I was the only one who could stop it,” John answered hesitantly. God he hated how arrogant that sounded!
“Pretentious much?” Rodney interjected with a snort. He quickly shoved chocolate pudding in his mouth as they all turned to him with “Pot calling the kettle black” looks. John chose to follow his look with a glower worthy of a military man.
Elizabeth took a pause from the conversation to draw in a deep, calming breath. “Okay,” she said on the exhale, “let’s go through the list. Who are old enemies who could build an army against us?”
The group around the table laughed mirthlessly. She slit her eyes at them showing them that she already knew how silly that question sounded.
“The first two that pop into mind,” John said in order to divert Elizabeth’s attention, “are the Wraith and the Genii. Both are capable of returning to claim Atlantis out of spite if for no other reason.”
“Yes but the Genii couldn’t possibly think that they have weaponry powerful enough to beat ours,” McKay argued.
“No,” Elizabeth said, “but they are cunning enough to sneak someone onto Atlantis under the guise of being someone else with the intention of crippling it from the inside first then attacking later.”
The congeniality of the group faded as each member contemplated this latest thought. They all knew that the Wraith were more than capable of taking them on with numbers alone but the very thought that they had been infiltrated from the inside sent chills throughout the room.
“Lorne,” John commanded deciding that taking action was better than doing nothing, “compile a list of ALL new recruits to Atlantis. That includes everyone from the cooks, cleaners, and recently rescued to the scientists, Marines, and/or hierarchy. If the Genii are going to get someone on Atlantis that’s the best place to start. ”
“Yes sir,” Lorne said. He gave Elizabeth a look, waiting for her to officially excuse him before he scampered quickly out of the room and to his office.
“What of the new foe warning?” Elizabeth asked after Lorne had left.
“Well,” John said, inhaling with a sigh, “since we can’t really suppose that everyone is out to get us and we aren’t going to suspend all off-world contact, I think it best that we just be wary of what all we say,” he threw a look at McKay who spluttered noisily, “and watch our backs.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly, allowing his logic to sink in. She looked around the room, looking at the determined and anxious faces. “Very well,” she granted. “I suppose that this will mean that you want to go on tomorrow’s off-world food mission?” she asked with a humorous glint in her eyes.
John offered his trademark smirk, “If you insist.”
Laughter echoed throughout the room, spreading infectiously until all in the room were laughing. “Fine,” she said while doing her best to calm down, “you and your team report to the Gateroom at seven hundred hours.”
“Oh you have got to be kidding me!” Rodney objected. “Just because Colonel ADD wants to go off-world does not mean that the rest of us want to join. Especially not at seven am.”
Ronon and Teyla shared a look before Teyla said, “We do not have a problem with the time Rodney and, like the Colonel, we are quite anxious to go off-world again.”
Rodney crossed his arms, pouting fantastically, “Fine.” He immediately got off the chair and walked out, leaving a petulant air in his wake.
Smiles broke out on all the faces left in the room. Rodney was always good for a little comedic entertainment.
“Just make sure that you’re all ready to go,” Elizabeth said as she stood up and left.
Knowing that the meeting was over, Carson quickly exited to return to the infirmary where he could run simulations and blood tests on all affected by Atlantis including himself. Ronon and Teyla went to spar and John followed not unwilling to join if the occasion arose.
Tomorrow would be an interesting day and they all needed to get out some pre-mission jitters. Getting Rodney up, fed and ready to go by seven am would be a chore in its own.
Chapter 5
Chapter 4:
Ronon sat watching movies on a portable DVD player while John slept. He was sure that John wouldn’t get into any trouble while asleep but he also knew the Colonel to be stubborn and didn’t want him doing something stupid like trying to go on a mission before Beckett has had a chance to clear him.
When Beckett returned three hours later John was still asleep. Ronon gave him a look that said, You must have given him something strong - he is so going to hate you when he wakes up. Carson decided to ignore the look and wake his sleeping patient. “Colonel?”
John grumbled but merely turned over and fell back asleep.
“Colonel,” Carson said again, shaking John’s shoulder, “Come on lad, it’s time to get up. I want to check ya over one last time.”
John’s eyes snapped open then looked around the room frantically for a moment before he remembered where he was and who was waking him. “Doc?” he confirmed gruffly.
“Aye lad,” Carson answered. He walked back up to the bed and around to the foot of it so he could examine John’s ankle. “I just want to make sure you didn’t do any more damage to your foot,” he prompted before flipping the covers back and taking the limb into his hands.
A small gasp escaped through his barely parted lips and his eyebrows furrowed, neither of which escaped Ronon’s curious eyes nor John’s alarmed ones.
“Doc, what is it?” John asked at last after more than five minutes of utter silence.
Carson kept examining the ankle for a couple minutes longer before he placed the leg back on the bed and pulled up a spare chair, one of many. He turned to Ronon first, completely ignoring John’s question. “Has the Colonel done anything or gone anywhere?”
“Nope, just lay there sleeping like a very heavy tree.”
“Sleeping like a log Chewie,” John corrected with a smile in his eyes.
“Are ya sure? I won’t be mad if ya tell me,” Carson asked again, making sure to get that he really just wanted to know the truth.
“Doc I’ve been here passed out and dreaming of warm summer days on a beach,” John interjected in Ronon’s defense. “It actually got a little hot in here.”
Carson frowned slightly and Ronon minutely cocked his head to the right.
“Are ya hot now Colonel?” Carson asked. Considering it was a cool 67 degrees in John’s room, there’s no reason at all for the military man to be so warm.
John’s forehead wrinkled when he realized that, no he wasn’t. “Nope.”
Remembering the heat that had radiated off John’s leg, an idea occurred to Carson. “Colonel,” he began, leaning forward with his arms on his knees, “was your entire body hot or just a certain part.”
“A certain part,” John answered warily, wondering where the Scottish man was going with his questioning. Suddenly he felt a connection with Atlantis open like a sudden static charge surging through the air.
Atlantis, Carson’s voice called gently in his head.
Yes Doctor Beckett. Atlantis answered patiently. She’d been listening in on their conversations and while Doctor Beckett wasn’t nearly as smart as the annoying one, he was just as clever.
Were you connecting with the Colonel while he was sleeping?
Yes.
John saw Carson nod shortly before the man spoke again, Did you heal him?
Of course, Atlantis answered succinctly, I sensed that something was happening and knew that John was the only one who could stop it.
The hairs on the back of both men’s necks stood on edge in warning as they listened to the city speak. It was beyond their understanding that Atlantis could heal but that wasn’t what they were focusing on at the moment. Well, Beckett was, John could feel it.
What is happening? John asked, more worried about what was so unnerving that the city felt the need to heal him so he could help.
An old foe awakens and begins to grow stronger. An army is being formed against you to withstand the power of Atlantis. And a new foe is beginning to grow interested in the power we possess.
John shook his head. While she was a sentient city, she still had a lot to learn when it came to riddles of warning. The static that coursed through the air, rippling around them and sending shivers down their spines.
I must go, Atlantis announced heavily. The cheer and warmth in her voice had long faded and a weariness began to fill it Healing you has taken a lot from me and I must rest so that I can protect my people from what is to come.
With that the static faded and the room fell back into the normal feeling of friendship and home.
“Does she always sound like that?” Ronon asked at last while the others pondered over what the city had said.
Two sets of astonished eyes turned towards him. “You heard that?” John asked, pointing his hand in no specific direction.
Ronon shrugged, “She told me that she needed for me to hear her warning as well as you two and Major Lorne. She said the more that knew, the better prepared we might be.”
A chime sounded through the room announcing someone at the door. John opened the doors mentally and a flustered Rodney and a calm but anxious Teyla came into the room.
“What the hell was that?” Rodney exclaimed loudly, looking around the room like he expected someone to jump out at him.
“What was what Rodney?” John asked with his usual feigned patience. In truth he wasn’t really ready to deal with the over zealous scientist right at the moment.
“That voice, what are you deaf?” Rodney snapped, blue eyes still searching the room.
“Wait, you heard that too?” Carson asked, pointing at both the scientist and the Athosian.
Both of them nodded but only Rodney felt the need to actually voice his experience loudly, “Yeah, it felt like a static charge had just surged through me then a voice in my head rang loudly about some sort of old foe, new foe and an army.”
“Yeah we all heard the same warning,” John said interrupting Rodney’s tale.
“Should we not go and talk to Elizabeth?” Teyla asked hesitantly.
“Colonel Sheppard this is Doctor Weir, please respond.”
John smiled at the perfect timing of their leader and judging by the barely controlled calm in her voice, he knew exactly what she wanted to speak of. He grabbed his radio off the bedside table, put it in his ear and activated. “This is Colonel Sheppard, go ahead Elizabeth.”
“John, could you gather your team, Doctor Beckett and Major Lorne and meet me in the conference room ASAP?” Elizabeth’s voice asked hurriedly.
“We’re on our way,” John answered.
“You’re altogether?”
“With the exception of Lorne-“
“Who is on the way as well,” Lorne’s voice cut in, interrupting John. As an afterthought, Lorne said, “Sorry Colonel.”
“That’s okay Major. Elizabeth we’ll be there in a few minutes,” he told her, nodding his head to all in the room and heading for his door.
Being used to taking their cues from John, the rest of the group followed closely in his footsteps while he coordinated with a couple of the Marines to make sure that they were not disturbed unless it was a matter of life and death and that no, despite what the scientists thought, getting approval for ANY sort of experiment that could wait another couple of hours was NOT life and death.
Knowing that it would likely be a long meeting, the group quickly stopped by the mess hall to grab some dinner, since it was already five o’clock, and drinks before heading to the conference room. Since there were five of them, getting enough food to suit them all was not a problem. John and Carson each carried a spare tray while Ronon and Rodney carried extra trays of their own, thoroughly intending to eat the lot by themselves.
They skipped up the stairs leading to the conference room with John in the lead and all but ran into it just in time for Atlantis to begin closing the doors. Rodney grumbled about the lazy city when he had almost had a door close on his pant leg but after an annoyed and withering stare from John, he quickly sat down and began munching rather loudly on his food.
Carson and John handed Elizabeth and Lorne the trays of food they had brought then began nibbling at their own. All remained pensively quiet while they ate what wouldn’t be good cold and drank a bottle of water to wash it down with.
”Alright,” Elizabeth began once she’d determined that they’d all had plenty of time to eat, “I think you all know why I called you here.”
“Atlantis,” John announced after taking another drink of water.
Elizabeth nodded, “Yes. I’m assuming that if she contacted me then she has also contacted all of you.” She waited impatiently for them all to nod their acknowledgment. Her nerves were on fire with anticipation, anxiety and a little excitement.
She’d never heard of the city speaking to anyone else except those that had the stronger ancient gene. The mere thrill of it was not lost behind the city’s message however which was a worry in and of itself.
Turning her attention to John, she began again, “Did she tell you who this enemies were and what we could expect from the army that was rising against us?”
“No,” John announced gruffly, shaking his head to push the point, “she didn’t have enough energy to maintain the connection.”
Elizabeth and Teyla wrinkled their brows in concentrated disappointment. “I didn’t know that connecting with us took so much from her,” Elizabeth said at last thinking it wise that she voice what she knew they were both thinking.
John was very protective of the city and it’s people and she wasn’t sure how he would perceive a misguided verbal attack on Atlantis.
“It doesn’t,” John answered, throwing Carson an inquisitive look. When the doctor nodded he continued, “She’d used a lot of her energy to heal me.” He cringed at the pretentious sound of the words. His injury wasn’t life threatening and to know that the city chose to expend her energy on healing his minor wound when there were many others daily who needed the healing more, it made him ashamed among other things.
Astonishment crossed all faces in the room with the exception of Carson who had not only heard this before but had been the one to figure it out. The others looked around at one another, giving incredulous expressions along with doubt.
“She can do that?” Elizabeth asked finally, a mixture of amazement and doubt in her voice. John could also hear a bit of accusation in there somewhere and the sheer force of it made him wince.
“Apparently,” John answered not wanting to make it sound like he knew all along.
“Why has she chosen to help now?” Teyla asked evenly. She read Elizabeth’s emotions easily enough to know that the Atlantis Leader was growing angry and she guessed that it was all aimed at John who, if she had to guess, didn’t deserve it.
“She said that she had done it because she knew that I was the only one who could stop it,” John answered hesitantly. God he hated how arrogant that sounded!
“Pretentious much?” Rodney interjected with a snort. He quickly shoved chocolate pudding in his mouth as they all turned to him with “Pot calling the kettle black” looks. John chose to follow his look with a glower worthy of a military man.
Elizabeth took a pause from the conversation to draw in a deep, calming breath. “Okay,” she said on the exhale, “let’s go through the list. Who are old enemies who could build an army against us?”
The group around the table laughed mirthlessly. She slit her eyes at them showing them that she already knew how silly that question sounded.
“The first two that pop into mind,” John said in order to divert Elizabeth’s attention, “are the Wraith and the Genii. Both are capable of returning to claim Atlantis out of spite if for no other reason.”
“Yes but the Genii couldn’t possibly think that they have weaponry powerful enough to beat ours,” McKay argued.
“No,” Elizabeth said, “but they are cunning enough to sneak someone onto Atlantis under the guise of being someone else with the intention of crippling it from the inside first then attacking later.”
The congeniality of the group faded as each member contemplated this latest thought. They all knew that the Wraith were more than capable of taking them on with numbers alone but the very thought that they had been infiltrated from the inside sent chills throughout the room.
“Lorne,” John commanded deciding that taking action was better than doing nothing, “compile a list of ALL new recruits to Atlantis. That includes everyone from the cooks, cleaners, and recently rescued to the scientists, Marines, and/or hierarchy. If the Genii are going to get someone on Atlantis that’s the best place to start. ”
“Yes sir,” Lorne said. He gave Elizabeth a look, waiting for her to officially excuse him before he scampered quickly out of the room and to his office.
“What of the new foe warning?” Elizabeth asked after Lorne had left.
“Well,” John said, inhaling with a sigh, “since we can’t really suppose that everyone is out to get us and we aren’t going to suspend all off-world contact, I think it best that we just be wary of what all we say,” he threw a look at McKay who spluttered noisily, “and watch our backs.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly, allowing his logic to sink in. She looked around the room, looking at the determined and anxious faces. “Very well,” she granted. “I suppose that this will mean that you want to go on tomorrow’s off-world food mission?” she asked with a humorous glint in her eyes.
John offered his trademark smirk, “If you insist.”
Laughter echoed throughout the room, spreading infectiously until all in the room were laughing. “Fine,” she said while doing her best to calm down, “you and your team report to the Gateroom at seven hundred hours.”
“Oh you have got to be kidding me!” Rodney objected. “Just because Colonel ADD wants to go off-world does not mean that the rest of us want to join. Especially not at seven am.”
Ronon and Teyla shared a look before Teyla said, “We do not have a problem with the time Rodney and, like the Colonel, we are quite anxious to go off-world again.”
Rodney crossed his arms, pouting fantastically, “Fine.” He immediately got off the chair and walked out, leaving a petulant air in his wake.
Smiles broke out on all the faces left in the room. Rodney was always good for a little comedic entertainment.
“Just make sure that you’re all ready to go,” Elizabeth said as she stood up and left.
Knowing that the meeting was over, Carson quickly exited to return to the infirmary where he could run simulations and blood tests on all affected by Atlantis including himself. Ronon and Teyla went to spar and John followed not unwilling to join if the occasion arose.
Tomorrow would be an interesting day and they all needed to get out some pre-mission jitters. Getting Rodney up, fed and ready to go by seven am would be a chore in its own.
Chapter 5