Fic: Clava Thessara Infinitas: 01 Gauisus Casualis - part 3 of 3
Segment Title: 01 Gauisus Casualis (serendipity) - part 3
Series: Clava Thessara Infinitas (key to infinite treasure)
Upcoming Segments: 02 Clava Atlantus (key to Altantis)
Author: pfyre aka§fyre
Summary: What if Major Sheppard had had a little more time to learn about the Ancient technology before they headed through the Stargate?
Webpage: http://pfyre.livejournal.com & http://pfyre.co.uk
Genre/Category: Stargate: Atlantis, angst, hurt/comfort, whumpage
Character(s): John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir, Carson Beckett, Marshall Sumner....
Pairing: none so far
Rating: M (language)
Spoilers: 1.01
Word count: ~13000
Status: Segment complete. Series WIP.
Warnings: none really
Disclaimer: "Stargate: Atlantis" and its characters and situations are the creative and intellectual properties of Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, Sony Pictures Television, Acme Shark, MGM Television, Pegasus Productions. This fiction was written solely for the entertainment of Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard whumpers and Joe Flanigan fans. No monies made. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: What if Major Sheppard had had a little more time to learn about the Ancient technology before they headed through the Stargate?
Beta: Gayle - betareader extraordinaire - Many, many thanks to Gayle. She is my PiaP. She's also been dragged into fandoms I'm certain she never would've touched if it weren't for me. Thankfully she usually forgives me and even does a bang up job making my attempts at writing sound coherent, intelligent - even literate. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
A/N: May I say this was quite a surprise to me? There I was minding my own business a few months ago and somehow I managed to blundered into an episode of "Stargate: Atlantis" - not even a full episode mind you, but about half-way through the second part of 'Rising'. But I managed to see enough of Joe Flanigan's John Sheppard that I *had* to see more. I found a copy of the full pilot and had seriously fallen for "John Sheppard" by the time he said, "Did I do that?" Mind you, I've been in fandom and fanfiction for more years than I care to keep tally of and online well before it became *the* way to keep up and share the goodness. So of course I had to go and dig up fanfic featuring John Sheppard and discovered to my great delight that hurt/comfort or whumpage is almost a requirement when Sheppard fic is written. Did I mention I've been a hurt/comfort fan since grade school - long before I even knew what it was termed?
Sooo I've been watching Stargate: Atlantis at any and every opportunity and reading as much as I can get my greedy hands on and one day I leave a feedback for a fanfic I particularly enjoyed and suddenly the muse gets bitten by a plot bunny. I learned the hard way long ago, that if the muse wants to write I have no choice in the matter. What you have before you is quite a surprise even to me. I had thought it was going to start a bit farther along. But this is what was insisted upon by the muse and there was no arguing with it. To top things off the muse actually helped with the title (giving me a bit of a panic attack when I discovered it was working towards multiple installments in a series) - usually I'm left dangling and have no clue what to name the muse's creations. Let's move on, shall we....
Feedback: Feedback is greatly encouraged. Flames will be ignored.
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Clava Thessara Infinitas (key to infinite treasure)
01 Gauisus Casualis (serendipity)
part 3
ooOoo
He was cold and his bed was rock hard. Hands were touching him and he heard voices floating above him, but for the moment he felt disconnected from it all.
"...happened?..." "What's wrong with him?...." "...lazy bastard was sneaking back in...." "Major Sheppard... can you hear me?..."
He sighed. The voices were getting more persistent, annoying even. "'m... here...." Was that his voice? Why did it sound so ragged? "'m tired...."
"I know, Lad. But I need ya ta open yer eyes for me first."
It took a lot of concentration and effort, but he finally managed to slit his eyes open enough to see an obviously concerned Beckett looming over him. Before he could even blink, the doctor was replaced by the angry face of Colonel Sumner. "Quit your shirking, Sheppard. I've seen it all before and if I had my way you'd be pulling latrine duty back at McMurdo. So don't-"
"Colonel, get the hell out o' my way!" Sheppard blinked and abruptly Beckett leaned close. "Lad, do ye know where ye are?" The room started to spin faster and tilt. John closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
Somewhere close by he heard Sumner growling about lollygaggers and bleeding-heart doctors and he figured the colonel had to be talking about him. But he could not concentrate enough to care. Right now he wanted the world to stop whirling and the guy with the sledge hammer to stop walloping the blazes out of the inside of his skull. His stomach convulsed and he saw stars as he started retching and someone helped turn him to his side. Some distant part of his brain realized that lunch was making an encore appearance and he had not even had time to see what was for dinner. And he had so hoped to not be doing the Exorcist thing again. Not that it mattered as his world turned grey then dimmed to blackness.
ooOoo
Elizabeth Weir took her time preparing her cup of coffee. She could feel the colonel's eyes burning holes between her shoulder blades as he sat ramrod straight in the chair facing her desk. Carefully she added a generous dollop of cream and a half-teaspoon of sweetener and stirred slowly. It was hot and barely sweet and went down smoothly. It should as it was her own private stock of gourmet beans ground fresh every morning by Peter Grodin. The scientist and she shared a passion for good coffee, really good coffee, so they had made an unspoken deal. She would supply the beans and he would grind them fresh daily and they shared the precious hot, caffeinated, gourmet beverage with few others. She was going to miss this when the nearest gourmet coffee shop was 300 million light-years away. This evening she needed the caffeine as much as the routine of making her drink to calm her nerves.
"Colonel," she turned and sat at her desk, with her mug cradled in her hands, "care to explain why you were in the infirmary making accusations against Major Sheppard? Accusing him of duping Dr. Beckett and myself in order to get himself on the sicklist?" Sumner did not look the least impressed by what he had just witnessed in the infirmary. If anything the man appeared even more belligerent despite the evidence he had witnessed for himself.
"Come on, Dr. Weir," Sumner sat forward in the chair, "it's obvious from the man's records that he's lazy and doesn't give a damn about authority. I'm sure he got tired of hanging around the scientific types and decided to take a nice vacation under medical supervision. Hell, if you need him supervised send him my way. My XO, Sgt. Bates, and I can certainly find enough jobs to keep him busy until departure time." He smirked. Wouldn't it just be too bad if the major was too busy to join them on the departure day? "I know the whole passing out thing was because he got caught sneaking around and decided to go for broke to cover his ass."
"Colonel Sumner," Elizabeth waited until he had finished his rant, "if you had really read Major Sheppard's records you would know that far from avoiding his duties, he's often volunteered for extra. There are many commendations for bravery in his records. Yes, the man disobeyed a direct order, but only so he could attempt to save two soldiers. Isn't that the military code? Never leave a man behind." Sumner said nothing, merely pressed his lips in a tight line. It was obvious that anything she had to say would fall on deaf ears.
"Fine." She took a long drink from her mug. "First, the Atlantis expedition is an international scientific endeavor. I am mission leader and you are its military leader. You need to be cognizant that Major Sheppard is assigned to my auspices as my military adjunct. He answers to me and is under my authority. Undoubtedly he will be called upon to work along side your men, especially on off-world missions once we are in Pegasus galaxy and in those situations he would be under your command." She saw the glimmer in the man's eyes. "To that end, if you have any non-time critical issues with my adjunct you will bring them to me and I will handle it." She paused and looked Sumner directly in the eyes. "Do I make myself clear, Colonel?"
"Yes, Ma'am." The man blinked, breaking eye contact momentarily. "If I might speak candidly?" At Weir's slightly wary nod, he continued, "Dr. Weir, I know that you are no pushover. I know that you were in charge of the SGC during a difficult transition period and I respect your abilities. I do, unfortunately, feel that your expedition's need for people possessing the Ancient gene has blinded you to potential problems in the making. Major Sheppard is a liability in his inability to be trusted to follow orders. His so-called laid-back style is nothing more than laziness and yet somehow he's managed to avoid the consequences of his actions, receiving little more than a slap on the wrist when he should have been court martialed. And now he seems to have fooled you and Dr. Beckett into believing he should be sicklisted instead of pitching in to help wherever needed as the deadline for departure gets closer by the hour. I just don't see-"
"No, Colonel," Elizabeth cut him off, "you obviously choose not see what is right in front of you." Sumner looked a bit flustered that she had dared to interrupt him. "Major Sheppard has *the* highest Ancient gene ability we've come across so far. Not only does he possess the gene to a high degree, he also possesses an natural ability to control his interaction with ancient technology to a degree never witnessed before or since. You do realize, Colonel, that we are planning to go to the homebase of the Ancients?" She leaned a bit across her desk. "We are going to need every ATA gene carrier we can muster in order to function in a world created by the Ancients for their own use. For that reason alone, we'd be foolish to not bring the major with us. Secondly, the man is a superior pilot and we know the Ancients created many ships that will without a doubt need the touch of a pilot - a pilot *with* the ATA gene." She shifted back in her seat.
"Finally, as to his dependability. Since his precipitous and unusual introduction to the world of Stargates, wormhole travel, Ancients and their technology, Major Sheppard has been one of the most diligent ATA carriers we have. He appears to instinctively know how to activate and manipulate Ancient tech with very little instruction and he has been an enormous help in just helping our scientists truly begin to understand the full potential of devices like the Weapons Chair in Antarctica. Twice now he's worked himself to exhaustion trying to help as much as possible." When it appeared that Sumner was going to comment, she held up a warning finger. "Before you question whether his need for recuperation is real, I must ask you - have you read the reports surrounding Jack O'Neill's use of the Ancient tech, including the weapons chair?"
"Well, of course I have." Sumner frowned. "But what's that got to do wit-"
"I've studied the general's report, the accompanying medical data and doctors' follow-up reports all of which state that working long-term with the devices can cause extreme disorientation as the brain chemistry alters and is draining to the point of physical collapse if not monitored carefully." When Sumner nodded, she continued, "Well, Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay have been a bit overly enthusiastic in their study of Ancient tech. First with the Chair and now with a huge catalogue of artifacts collected by the SGC and its counterparts. In short, the major collapsed from exhaustion because he had driven himself into the ground doing what he felt was expected, what was needed of him." A small sip of the rapidly cooling coffee and she continued, "So Carson and Dr. Lam have placed Major Sheppard on the sicklist. Hopefully he'll be fully recovered and ready for our trip to the Pegasus galaxy in three days. We do need him along, even if you don't happen to concur. So, have I now made myself clear about this, Colonel?" She could dish it out with the best the military had to offer.
"Crystal."
ooOoo
"...thought he was doing better.... We even managed a mostly coherent discussion yesterday afternoon and he didn't fall asleep or drool once. Though he was, drooling I mean, when I first came in.... Anyway, so why's he back under your voodoo magic with the tubes and monitors again?...."
"Rodney, keep yer voice down. I dunna want ta remind ye again." Rodney was pattering on about something with Carson Beckett. Some part of John felt he should be more interested in the subject of the discussion, but it was difficult when his head felt stuffed with the same cotton that lined his mouth. Besides, his stomach was rolling again and judging from the feel of his throat and taste in his mouth, it had already tried to expel itself from his body. "...I told ye that the major...." Ah, he was the subject.
He did not bother to open his eyes. "I'm right here," he tried to say. But what came out was a raspy half croak followed by a short fit of coughing that triggered gagging. Cool hands supported his head and shoulders as he was encouraged to roll to the side and he got rid of the vile stuff in his throat and mouth. A damp cloth wiped his face and mouth when the fit was done and he was settled on his back. Forcing his eyes open, he found Beckett and McKay looking at him with identical expressions of concern. He licked his dry lips and momentarily found a straw pressed to his mouth. The cool water tasted so good he fairly moaned as the liquid soothed his mouth and throat. And then the straw was pulled away and he sighed.
"Better, Major?" Beckett leaned close to study him. "Stomach settlin'?"
"Yeah." He frowned as he saw the doctor reaching for his ever present penlight. "Aww, Doc...."
"It'll just take but a moment." His eyes watered in the aftermath of the bright light. What the hell was it with doctors and torturing with bright lights? "Ah, good. Much better."
"What?" John frowned as he felt the I.V. now in his left hand. (Oh goodie he would have matching band-aids on each hand when he finally escaped from the damned infirmary!) "I thought we were done with this?" At a sudden thought, he carefully shifted just a bit and was thankfully able to conclude there was no catheter this time around. Thank god. "Then again I thought I was done with the headache and projectile vomiting...." He struggled to recall what had happened to change everything.
"Well, ye've had a wee bit o'a set back." Carson adjusted the earpieces and slid the cool head of the stethoscope under the shrub shirt. John realized someone must have swapped out his scrubs because these were a military green as opposed to the white ones he had been wearing. The doctor listened intently for a moment, shifting the head from one spot to another. "Sounds good."
"Doc, you gonna tell me what's going on?" John shifted up a bit on his elbows and a moment later Beckett adjusted the head of the bed up to support him. "Cause I seemed to have missed the last quarter." He grimaced as McKay dragged a stool closer to the bed, scraping noisily over the concrete floor.
"Oh, that would be you deciding to take a sudden nap on the floor." Rodney settled on the stool as he added his two cents.
"Rodney!" Beckett shook his head. "Wha' d'you last remember, Major?"
John bit his lip and tried to recall his last clear memory. "Not sure." He tried to make sense of random images of feet and a hard cold bed. "I remember talking to McKay and supper arriving.... I think.... I don't know... I think I remember doing another imitation of Linda Blair at some point only with chicken noodle soup."
"Well, according to Lieutenant Martins of SG-12, ye apparently decided ta use the facilities... wit'out ringin' for assistance, I might add." Beckett was not looking happy. "Major, ye do remember being told that 'til ye were more steady ye were ta have someone wit' ye? That includes usin' the facilities. We don't do these things ta make yer life difficult, Lad. Yer just lucky ye dinnae do yerself any real damage on yer way down." Though John could have sworn he saw a sudden twinkle in the doctor's eyes. "Though I cannae quite say the same for the colonel's shoes."
"What?" John demanded over Rodney's snickering. "Whose shoes?"
"The way I heard tell," McKay joined in still chuckling, "Sumner had to walk barefoot back to his quarters to change before reporting to Elizabeth's office."
ooOoo
"So we done here, Doc?" "Yeah, leave time is wastin'." "Well, never let it be said...."
He rolled over and tried to burrow deeper in the pillow. But there was a not quite comfortable tug on his hand and that brought him awake. Sighing, he tried to unroll himself and the I.V. tubing from the bedding without much luck it seemed. He was still struggling when the privacy curtain was shifted aside and Dr. Lam entered with a corpsman directly behind her.
"Good morning, Major." She quickly took in his predicament. "Here let me get that." Within moments, the tubing was untangled, the head of the bed raised and the bed linens resettled on his lap.
"Thanks, Doc." He wondered where Beckett was, not that he did not like Dr. Caroline Lam, but he had become rather more comfortable with Dr. Beckett since meeting him at the Outpost.
"You're welcome." She pulled his chart from the end of the bed and set it on the tray-table. "Well, since Dr. Beckett is tied up with meetings this morning, we decided I would do your morning check-up and then we'd see about getting you up on your feet for a bit."
"Sounds good to me." He sat up straighter. "Do you think I could get a shower? Even if I put on clean scrubs afterwards and head right back to bed?" He tried not to sound too desperate, but being cooped up in bed, even if he was not completely up to par, was starting to drive him buggy.
She saw the look on his face. "Maybe." Lam pulled her stethoscope from around her neck. "Let's see how you're doing this after this check-up and then we'll see about that shower." She waved her hand in emphasis to her follow up. "Supervised. Until we're certain you are steady on your feet, you will have someone nearby any time you're out of that bed."
He wanted to protest, he really did. After all, he was an adult and hardly needed a babysitter, but fuzzy memories of a not entirely successful solo trip to the bathroom the previous day made him reconsider. "Okay." He sighed. "Let's get this over with."
The check-up was quick. Dr. Lam was professional and her expression gave nothing away as she noted his stats in the chart. She nodded to the corpsman as she spoke. "Now, we'll just draw some blood and we're done for now." John resisted the urge to sigh again and quietly watched the corpsman wrap a rubber tourniquet around his right arm. He turned away.
"Can we ditch this thing, at least?" He lifted his hand with the I.V. attached.
She did not answer immediately as she finished her notations on the chart. "For the moment, Major," she looked up from the pages, "it stays. Your blood panels have been a bit off, your blood pressure is still on the low side of normal and that bout of vomiting yesterday left you a bit dehydrated once again. So the I.V. stays, but on the bright side after breakfast Corpsman James will accompany you while you take a shower." John smiled. It was better than nothing.
ooOoo
John nodded his thanks absently to the corpsman that took away the supper tray as he continued to read another SG team report. Two more in this batch and he would be ready for the next set. As dry and sometimes over detailed as the reports could be, he found them fascinating. Reading between the lines at times, he had to wonder sometimes just how any of this could become 'routine' to a team. A part of him wondered if they would encounter anything half as dangerous or even interesting in the Pegasus galaxy. The report finally done, he shifted and arched his back and stretched.
He was feeling almost back to normal after five days in the infirmary. The doctors had finally allowed him to get up unsupervised, though he was restricted to the infirmary and its facilities. That was fine with him; he was in no hurry to face Sumner after their last contact. He could not believe he had puked on the colonel's shoes. God, that was humiliating to learn. One more reason for the Atlantis' Expedition Military Commander to hate his guts. Sigh.
Beckett had assured him that he would be released in time for the expedition departure. Rodney dropped in frequently even in the midst of his pressing duties. Dr. Weir had been by a couple of times as well though he suspected she might just be checking to see if he was following doctor's orders. John was not stupid. He wanted to be a part of the Atlantis Expedition (even if he had never traveled via Stargate before and found the prospect just a bit daunting). And the only way he would be okayed for gate travel was for Beckett to give him the all clear so he was toeing the line like a good soldier.
Day after tomorrow was Departure Day. He could almost hear the capital letters anytime it was mentioned.
ooOoo
He woke early after a fitful night. The level of expectation and tension seemed to permeate the entire complex. Gating to other worlds had become routine for the SGC and its personnel. Gating to another galaxy was another matter all together. Even those not directly involved with the expedition were drawn in by the prospect of actually glimpsing the home of the race that had created the Stargates via the MALP.
Quietly, John showered and dressed in his new grey and black Expedition uniform. He had cleaned and oiled his 9mil along with his new p90 the night before and both were sitting on the bedside table with the jacket and vest. His backpack was organized and contained all of what he considered immediate essentials for when they arrived on the far side of the wormhole. The rest of his allotment was already packed and stowed with the other expedition members' supplies and few personal items, all ready for quick transport through the Stargate.
Dr. Beckett had cleared him for full duty as of the evening before, but John had slept in the infirmary as his temporary quarters had already been reassigned. Besides his was the only bed occupied at the moment so he had a fair amount of privacy for the past few days. He had chaffed at not being allowed to help Weir or McKay as activity had escalated at what seemed an exponential rate tied to the fast approach of Departure. But Drs. Beckett and Lam had held firm with Dr. Weir's approval; he had had no choice but to remain on the sicklist until last evening.
ooOoo
He adjusted the clip on the p90 as he threaded his way through the crowded corridors leading to the Gate room. For the most part, no one paid him a bit of attention and that was fine with him. It just felt good to be out of the infirmary and finally to be getting on with the mission.
"Colonel." Sumner did not reply, but he did not need to. The man's disapproval fairly radiated through to John. He turned his attention to Weir as she headed toward the ramp.
"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" She paused at the bottom of the ramp. "All right, here we go. We are about to try to make a connection. We've been unable to predict exactly how much power this is going to take and we may only get the one chance at this. So if we're able to achieve a stable wormhole, we're not going to risk shutting it down. We'll send in the MALP robot probe, check for viability and go. Everything in one shot." John watched as Weir looked over the assembled expedition members.
"Now, everyone of you has volunteered for this mission and you represent over a dozen countries. You are the world's best and brightest. And in light of the adventure we are about to embark on, you are also the bravest. I hope we all return one day having discovered a whole new realm for humanity to explore. But as all of you know, we may never be able to return home. I'd like to offer you all one last chance to withdraw your participation." John could feel the tension as everyone looked around, but no one spoke up. "Begin the dialing sequence." Weir hurried up to the control room.
John did one last check of his weapons and equipment as the Stargate's ring spun. "Let me make myself clear, Major. You are not here by my choice." He stiffened at Sumner's voice.
"I'm sure you'll warm up to me, once you get to know me, Sir." John could not believe the man was putting on a show of his authority here as they were preparing to leave the Milk Way galaxy, perhaps forever.
"As long as you remember who's giving the orders." Sumner stepped past John.
"That would be Dr. Weir, right?" Sumner turned as his XO clipped his backpack to his shoulders. The look the man gave him was nothing less than lethal in its intensity. A moment later he was aware of Carson Beckett standing on his right, fidgeting. "You okay, Doc?" Carson gave him a quick nod. The man looked nervous but determined.
"Chevron five encoded." John glanced up at the control room just in time to see McKay join Weir, General O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. "Chevron six encoded." He watched the tension in the control room notch up as he heard. "Chevron seven encoded." He turned and watched as the last chevron lit up. "Chevron eight is locked."
John was glad he had the opportunity to watch a couple of SG missions embark so he was not as tempted to duck when the wormhole established and the initializing wave shot out over the ramp. It was still startling, though he attempted to look cool and calm about the whole thing. The civilians clapped and cheered as the wormhole stabilized. The MALP moved quickly up the ramp as every second counted in this gate connection.
"We have MALP telemetry." He glanced up to see McKay sitting at one of the stations.
Moments later he heard General O'Neill over the murmur of voices and the gate siren, "Dr. Weir, you have a go."
"Let's go, people." Sumner pulled his telecom earpiece out of his vest. "We don't know how much power we've got. Security teams one and two, you're up first." The colonel led his men up the ramp. "All other personnel will follow on our signal. Once on the other side, keep moving. Clear the debarkation area. On my lead!" John waited at the foot of the ramp. He glanced back and saw McKay on his left.
"Hold on, Colonel." Dr. Weir moved through the crowd, grabbed her backpack and joined Sumner at the top of the ramp. "We go through together."
"Fair enough." Sumner hardly paused. He took the point with his p90 at the ready with Dr. Weir in the back of the first group. Sumner and his men stepped through with no pause. Weir looked back for a moment apparently looking at the general and Jackson and then she stepped into the event horizon.
Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford moved to the top of the ramp, awaiting word. Now, his stomach was clenched. His first gate mission and it was to another galaxy. How did he manage to get himself into these things?
"Expedition team, move out." He took a quick look over his shoulder at the general and reminded himself that O'Neill and Jackson had done hundreds of missions via the Gate.
"What's it feel like?" John looked at the young lieutenant.
"Hurts like hell, Sir." Ford sounded serious and John nearly missed the mischievous grin before the young officer leapt backward into the Gate with a whoop.
What the hell. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and stepped into the shimmering pool of light.
ooOoo
01 Gauisus Casualis (serendipity) - complete
onto 02 Clava Atlantus (key to Altantis) Summary: What if Major Sheppard had not accompanied that first SGA mission to Athos?
ooOoo