Fic: All According to Plan, Except for One Thing by dreamingoctober (The H/C Challenge)
Title: All According to Plan, Except for One Thing
Author: dreamingoctober
Rating: PG-13 (for decapitation by energy beam)
Genre: hurt/comfort
Characters: Sheppard/McKay, team
Word count: ~6000
Notes: Timeline: Between “Midway” and “The Kindred: Part I”, mostly because I wanted to give Sheppard a chance to sneer at Rock Band, which wasn't released until just before that point in time. I bet that secretly Shep can play the guitar parts on “Expert”, but he hates the idea of hearing his teammates try to sing.
Also, this is my first fanfic attempt ever, as well as my first post to SGA_Flashfic. Apologies for the length - it's not exactly flashy! Except for the flashbangs...
All According to Plan, Except for One Thing
McKay didn't even look up when he heard Sheppard walk in. He knew what he was going to say. “No, I haven't got it hooked up yet.”
“Aw, come on,” Sheppard groused. Like an impatient kid. “We've had the box for three weeks already!”
Every once in a great while, McKay wondered what his teamleader had been like as a kid, really. He had two theories; one, that Sheppard had been a hyperactive little shit, always taking things apart, getting into things, running ahead and waiting for everyone else to catch up. The other was that he'd been one of the thoughtful kids, one of those who hang back and watch and wait for the wonder moments before learning to seek them out.
That's when you learn impatience, McKay thought, reflecting a split second on his own childhood - when the wonder moments don't come fast enough or often enough, and you're compelled to chase after them. Sometimes at the expense of things that later turn out to be important.
All these thoughts flitted through Rodney's mind at light speed and were dismissed just as quickly. He didn't care to dwell on the past, his or anyone else's because if you did that, the future slipped away that much more quickly, and you missed out on... stuff.
Raising his head, he gave Sheppard a half-hearted warning look, indicated with an irritable sweep of his hand the progress he'd made in the last half hour. For the most part, that progress amounted to modifying one of the converters they used for interfacing the tablets and laptops to the Ancient technology, then wiring it to the console. “Integrating our tech with Ancient tech doesn't happen in a matter of minutes, and this is the first free hour I've had in the last three weeks, as you ought to know. It'll be done when it's done.”
Sheppard made one of his faces and scrubbed a hand through his hair, but McKay knew he'd be the first to remind anyone else who bitched that recreation had to take second place to things like, say, keeping the Gate up and running, the sensors, the shield, the stuff that kept them in the land of the living, precarious foothold such as they had in the Pegasus galaxy.
Setting down a handful DVD cases, green plastic in variously printed wrappers, Sheppard leaned down for a closer look at what McKay was doing.
“What games did they leave us?” Rodney asked, looking down again to tap at his tablet, fiddle with the converter, move that wire to there, yeah, maybe that's it. He squirmed around to look up again at the screen that filled part of one wall behind him. It was still blank - not so much as a flicker.
“Halo 2, The Orange Box, Madden NFL 06, Project Gotham 3, and,” Sheppard picked up the last case, made another face at it, “...Rock Band?”
“The Daedalus didn't bring any of the instruments, so that's pretty much useless.”
“Thank god,” Sheppard muttered. “OK, well -” He looked down at McKay sitting in the middle of a pile of wires, tablet on his knees and the long-awaited XBox 360 on a low table in front of him. Folding himself down beside Rodney, he reached for one of the wires and got his hand smacked for his trouble. “Can't you get that thing working before we have to...”
The city intercom clicked. “Unscheduled Activation.” Atlantis had stolen McKay's snappish comeback. “Colonels Carter and Sheppard to the control room.”
“Goddammit. I knew it.” Rolling his eyes up to the ceiling and glancing regretfully at the game console, Sheppard pushed himself up from the floor and jogged out of the rec room. McKay grabbed for his tablet and followed. Interfacing the XBox with what Sheppard called the “Big Ass Ancient Widescreen” would have to wait for another free hour, whenever that was likely to be.
###
“It's Major Lorne, Colonel,” Chuck said as John strode into the control room. Below them, the Stargate shimmered, reflecting its weird watery glow around the gate room.
“Major Lorne.” Sheppard leaned over the console. “What's up?” He heard Rodney's footsteps, and then Rodney leaned over the console beside him, nudging an irritated Chuck out of the way.
Colonel Carter's light steps were next to enter. “What's going on?” she asked, nudging in between him and Rodney, edging Rodney out of her way, ignoring his indignant huff. Sheppard tilted his head at the console in answer, as Lorne reported in.
“Nothing good, Colonel.” Lorne's voice sounded strained.
“Wraith?” Carter asked.
“Raiders,” replied Lorne, “of some sort. Came through the gate in some sort of hover vehicles, attacked the settlement, and carried off a number of villagers. They worked unbelievably fast, with stunners and smoke bombs. It looks like they do this a lot. We couldn't get a bead on them through the smoke without risking the hostages...”
“Did they go back through the gate?” Sheppard asked.
“No,” Lorne replied. “We're holding the gate. I left men at the gate when we went up to the settlement, and they radioed us when the hovercrafts came through. Those vehicles don't look like they're meant to fly, just hover, and they don't have dialers. The raiders sent someone ahead to dial up the gate, and we've got him. That's the good news... the bad news is that Dr. Keller was with the villagers who were taken. They've taken the people and holed up somewhere. We're blocking their getaway, but...”
“Crap.” Sheppard and Carter spoke at the same time, and McKay was looking at them with his What do we do? expression.
“Okay.” Sheppard scanned the control room. Ronon and Teyla were standing there, Ronon with his kill someone now look, and Teyla's posture broadcasting concern and readiness to kick ass. He glanced at Carter. She gave him a nod: Go ahead, whatever you need, within reason.
“Lorne, I'm going to send you backup and a jumper - no, two - to hold the gate or help in search and rescue. Teyla, Ronon, McKay and I are coming through to assess, get information from the folks in the settlement, and then we'll get to work tracking these raiders, wherever they're holed up.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ronon nod and head for the steps down to the gate room, Teyla beside him.
Sheppard straightened and caught Carter's gaze. “Colonel?”
“You have a go,” she said. Bring them all home, she didn't say, but he heard her loud and clear. He was pretty sure she knew he'd obey that unspoken order or die trying.
“Right.” Touching the radio behind his ear, Sheppard called up the jumper teams. Once they were through the gate, he turned to the doctor. “Come on, Rodney.”
“I didn't even have time for lunch today,” Rodney muttered, but he was right behind Sheppard's left shoulder as they made their way down to the gate. “Working on that stupid game console. You already have a Play Station - why do you need an XBox?”
Sheppard let him talk; grousing about inanities was Rodney's way of dealing with serious situations. He took a power bar out of the tac vest he'd grabbed from the control room and tossed it behind him, heard McKay fumble to catch it. Rodney probably had a power bar in his own vest - Sheppard glanced over his shoulder to make sure McKay hadn't forgotten that vest; he hadn't - but it was the closest thing to a gesture of reassurance that Sheppard could offer. McKay snorted in disgust, but the sound of a crinkling wrapper echoed in the corridor.
Teyla and Ronon met them at the bottom of the gate room steps. Ronon gave McKay a WTF look as the scientist stuffed the rest of the power bar in his mouth. McKay shrugged at Ronon, Teyla gave Sheppard a worried look, and the four of them stepped through the event horizon together.
###
“Status?” Sheppard asked Major Lorne, who waited for them at the bottom of the ramp.
The Stargate for this world was located in a forest clearing, with a straight, wide path leading to the village. Distant rooftops were visible over a slight rise down the path. Refugees from a culled world had settled here on what had previously been an uninhabited planet. Sheppard thought the settlement might be about three years old; one of the early resettlements since their arrival in Pegasus. Rocky hills and cliffs made up the terrain, with patches of forest and brushy scrub. Sheppard thought he remembered a system of dry canyons not many miles distant, the remains of a river long since dried up.
“The head councilman has some information on the raiders for us.” Lorne indicated a silver-haired man dressed in a bright blue homespun coat and trousers who stood, arms folded, glaring down at a man trussed up at his feet. The man, dressed in a tight-fitting shirt, leather vest studded with metal, and leather trousers, refused to look up at the councilman. He stared off into space, working his wrists together idly against his bonds. He had to know that would get him nowhere, not surrounded by soldiers, but Sheppard saw a man bent on escape. He kept half an eye on the prisoner while he moved to meet the councilman.
“I'm Colonel John Sheppard,” he said. “My team: Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagen, Dr. McKay. What can you tell us?”
“Councilman Yoran Tavis,” said the councilman. His eyes were sharp, intelligent, his features determined. “These... raiders... are called the Hai'anao. Their society preys on people less advanced in technology, kidnapping them and using them for slave labor. In this way, they keep their population intact, leaving the slaves on the surface as fodder during cullings, while keeping their scientists and technology well away from the Wraith. After a culling, they raid more settlements to replace the slaves they lost. Their ways are both cunning and cowardly, but also swift and effective.” Yoran aimed a boot at the captive's ribs and connected, hard. The man groaned, then turned to spit at the councilman. Yoran nimbly avoided the spit and administered another good kick before motioning Sheppard away, out of the prisoner's earshot.
“You know their gate address?” Sheppard didn't flinch at the kicking and kept one eye on the man as they moved away. Yoran shook his head. “Let me guess - they're not big on talking, either.” Behind him, Ronon - master of intimidation and making people talk - made a low, threatening growl that barely subsided at Sheppard's terse gesture telling him to stand down.
Yoran shook his head. “Even if he would talk, he doesn't know where they are. They cut their losses with no remorse. And if they can't get to the gate, they will kill their captives rather than release them.”
Teyla stepped to Sheppard's side, then. “Will they negotiate for release of their captives?”
Yoran shook his head. “Doubtful.”
“How long before they decide they'd be better off killing the people and hiding out for a chance to escape?” Ronon asked.
“I don't know,” said Yoran.
Before Sheppard could stop him, Ronon made a graceful leap at the prisoner and hauled him to his feet. Slashing the man's arm with that big knife of his, then holding the knife to his throat, Ronon dangled the gasping man in front of him like a rag doll. “What will your people do if they can't get through the Stargate?”
“Aagghh!” The captive curled in on himself like a bug, his eyes bulging at the blood running from his arm. He thrashed, and Ronon tossed him to the ground.
Sheppard and Teyla moved in, but Sheppard touched her arm. She gave him a concerned look but kept still. Behind him, McKay was gagging at the smell of blood. Probably wishing he hadn't scarfed down that power bar.
“Answer me, or I'll cut your head off,” Ronon growled. “Slowly.”
“They'll kill your people,” the prisoner gasped. “If they can't get back through, they'll kill 'em.”
Ronon shook him, banging the man's bleeding arm on the ground for emphasis. “How long before they kill them?”
“I don't know. Before sunset. You need to get out of their way, or your people are as good as dead.”
Ronon raised his knife, coup-de-grace-like, and that's when Sheppard stepped in. Thin fingers on Ronon's thick wrist, behind the hand holding the knife. Sheppard didn't put any pressure into his grip, didn't pull Ronon back. Just said his name.
Ronon gave him a look and backed off. Sheppard nodded. The captive man would talk again if they needed more information, now that Ronon had put the fear of hell and sharp knives into him. A subtle good-cop, bad-cop play, although Sheppard had no doubt that Ronon would have killed the man if he hadn't intervened.
Sunset. It was already well past midday. Sheppard scanned the clearing, taking stock of what he had to work with. Two jumpers, parked on either side of the gate. Twelve men, plus his team.
“Ronon, go ask the man how many people were in his party. Don't kill him.”
Ronon's dreadlocks swung out as he spun around to pummel the prisoner again. In a moment, he was back. “Three hovercraft, twenty men, armed with their version of guns. Projectile.”
Sheppard nodded, trying to work out a strategy that wouldn't get all those people killed. Projectile weapons; all the raiders had to do was fire at the prisoners the minute they felt threatened, and the game would be over. “We're going to have to take them out all at once.”
“How are we going to do that without taking out the hostages, too?” Rodney snapped.
“I'm thinking, Rodney.” Sheppard rubbed the back of his neck.
“Let them believe that they have a clear path,” Teyla said, “and then we ambush them.”
“Yeah.” Sheppard agreed. “Spider holes, just inside the treeline. We need flashbangs with charges and...” He motioned Lorne over. “I want the jumpers back through the gate. Yoran, take your people back to the village and lock them indoors. Let the raiders think we've given up and gone home. Lorne, take half the men and scout the area. Find out where they are, then report back.” Lorne nodded and was gone.
Waving at the pilots to dial up the gate but hold position, Sheppard touched his radio. When the gate activated, he said, “Sheppard here. Colonel Carter, do we have enough Wraith stunners in the armory to equip fifteen?”
A pause, and then Carter replied, “We do, Colonel.”
“Good. Send 'em over - we're going to need them.”
###
In his time in the Pegasus galaxy, Dr. Rodney McKay had watched more plans go awry than should be allowed under the laws of probability. Well... Actually, that wasn't mathematically true, given the infinite number of variables in every encounter. Nevertheless, they always seemed to land on the bad side of the coin.
And this plan? It left so much room for a bad outcome. Sheppard's hair was sticking out every which way; that meant he'd been running his fingers through it every few seconds, something he did when he was trying to anticipate every angle of a tactical problem. Rodney wouldn't say that his team leader was nervous, exactly - that word didn't suit Sheppard's rock-solid attitude of determination - but definitely worried.
So it was a total surprise to both of them when everything went exactly according to plan.
The raiders had holed themselves up in a canyon. Lorne set his men to watching their movements, radioing when their scouts made their way back to the gate. McKay, flat on his belly beside Sheppard in their shallow, hastily-constructed camoflauge, fought the impulse to scratch his nose as the boots of one raider passed right in front of it. He also wished he hadn't eaten that power bar. It churned relentlessly in his stomach, making him queasy in his nervousness.
As soon as the raider was out of earshot, Sheppard radioed Lorne to keep his men out of the way of the scout. Moments later, Lorne radioed back that the raiders were on the move, prisoners and all.
Crudely fashioned hovercraft appeared, three of them, unwieldly engines sputtering loudly. They hung back on the path, spread out, as one man dropped from the craft and came forward to dial the gate. He swung his gun left and right, but seeing nothing, hearing nothing, he punched in an address and motioned the hovercrafts forward. The lead craft paused to let the man swing up, the other two bumpering up behind. Rodney could see the prisoners in the middle of each craft, huddled down, and he searched for Jennifer's face among them. Before could find her, Sheppard hit the detonator for the flashbangs, and everyone in the spider holes came up firing bolts of blue. It was all over in seconds.
Of course, some of the prisoners ended up stunned, too, but better stunned than dead. The raiders never had a chance to raise so much as a hand to the prisoners, and Rodney saw Ronon leap on one raider still moving and casually slit his throat. Soldiers dragged the raiders off the craft and piled them on the ground in a heap, guns aimed to kill if they so much as twitched.
Rodney climbed up a rusty ladder into the first hovercraft, looking for the off switch. He brushed his hands over his pants to get the dirt off, then looked at the controls. He pulled one of the levers and the hovercraft settled to the ground. Hopping out, he shouted to Teyla, who was standing over the controls in the second craft, “Second lever on the right!” She waved at him, put the hovercraft down, and turned to pass the word to whoever was manning the craft behind her.
Teyla and the other soldiers were helping groggy villagers to their feet. Ronon lifted a limp body from the middle of the second craft - Dr. Keller. He laid her gently on the ground, and Rodney hurried over. “Is she ok?”
“Just stunned,” Ronon said. “I think she'll be fine.” He hunched over her possessively. With a grimace, Rodney took the hint and moved away.
Yoran was supervising the raiders; the villagers would mete out their own justice. Sheppard, making a last survey of the treeline, turned to come back across the clearing when Rodney saw him jerk up and backward, snarling and trying to turn and get at the man who had appeared behind him.
Yelling, Rodney charged across the clearing, stunner aimed, but the raider - the former prisoner, still bloody from Ronon's beating - had Sheppard up in front of him, as a shield. The raider must have stabbed him, Rodney thought, from the look of pain on the Colonel's face. The raider got hold of Sheppard's wrist and took the stunner away from him with a nasty twist.
The soldiers were trying to circle around behind the raider to get a clear shot. Ronon had his gun aimed at the man's head. The man pulled a knife - out of Sheppard's back! Rodney felt sick - and held it to his captive's throat. No one moved, and one-handed, elbow locked around Sheppard's neck, the man dialed a gate address. He dragged Sheppard back with him, to the edge of the event horizon. Rodney rapidly scanned the DHD, trying to memorize the symbols, fearing the man would drag Sheppard with him. Then Ronon's gun blast sent the raider's head through the wormhole, leaving the rest of his body behind.
Rodney's power bar ended up as a mass of chunky vomit in the grass at his feet.
###
Wiping his mouth, McKay rushed toward the gate as it disconnected. Keeping his eyes on Sheppard and away from the headless body, he got to the Colonel's side at the same time as Ronon and Teyla. Sheppard was trying to sit up, and Ronon was keeping him down.
“I think the guy stabbed him in the back,” Rodney said, crouching beside Ronon, who nodded.
“That'd be right,” said Sheppard in a weak voice.
“Let's get him off the ramp,” Rodney said. Ronon picked up Sheppard's thin body like it weighed nothing, and Sheppard didn't even protest. This sent off alarm bells in Rodney's head - if Sheppard was okay, he'd be wanting to walk. When the ramp was clear - except for the headless body - Rodney frantically punched in Atlantis's address, smacking the symbols much harder than he needed to. The wormhole's vortex disposed of the raider's remains.
Sam's voice sounded over their radios, strong and clear. “Status report,” she said.
A thought shot across Rodney's mind. For a distracted second, he wondered how she felt, now being the one to stay behind, waiting for everyone to come home, when for so many years she'd been the one venturing out into the vast reaches of the galaxy. Then he heard Sheppard moan in pain, and snapped his mind back to the present time and place. “We need a medical team in the gate room, now,” he said, his voice sharp. “Colonel Sheppard is injured.”
“What about Dr. Keller, and the people from the settlement?”
“I'm here.” Jennifer appeared at his elbow, her elfin face pale and pinched. “We're all fine. And thankful.” He put a hand on her back, and she looked up to give him a tiny smile, and then she was gone, following Teyla through the gate. Ronon had already stepped through, carrying Sheppard in his arms.
Rodney left Lorne to wrap things up and hurried up the ramp and onward to Atlantis.
###
By the time Rodney crossed the event horizon, Keller had Sheppard on a gurney and was disappearing with him, Teyla, and Ronon into the corridor beyond. Rushing after them, Rodney had to almost slide to a stop when Samantha Carter placed herself squarely in front him.
“Sam, I've gotta...”
Carter put up a hand. “They've got him, Rodney. If I know Dr. Keller, he's going to be fine.” Rodney wasn't so sure. He shook his head and tried to step around her. “I need your report, Dr. McKay,” she said.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Scouted, found raiders, made plan, set ambush, flash, bang, raiders incapacitated, everyone rescued, etc. Somehow the raider prisoner got loose, attacked J...Sheppard, stabbed him, used him as a shield, and would have dragged him through the Stargate if Ronon hadn't shot his head off. The end. Can I go?”
Hands raised in an ironic position of surrender, Sam stepped out of his way. “Thank you,” he snapped, hurrying up the steps.
“He'll be all right, McKay,” he heard Sam say quietly behind him. He turned to her, walking backwards up the steps. The bright eyes that had once caught his fancy and could still tug at his heart turned up to him with an expression of confidence in the ultimate benevolent outcome. She'd seen people come through much worse, he knew. But this was Sheppard, who was no Daniel Jackson and who in the last few years had gone through more lives than the luckiest cat.
“Yeah,” he said, because he felt like he had to say something. “Thanks.” She nodded, and he turned around and jogged down the corridor. The gate activated again with its signature whooshing sound, and he could hear Sam speaking with Lorne. Her voice faded as he hurried toward the infirmary.
###
Dr. Jennifer Keller put out a hand to steady herself against lingering dizziness from the effect of the Wraith stunner. Suck it up, she told herself firmly. John Sheppard lay on the scanner, and the news was not good. The knife had punctured a lung but fortunately had missed any other vital organs. That wasn't the problem.
Ronon paced in the small exam space, and Teyla stood still and silent, waiting for Dr. Keller to speak. A clatter behind her announced the arrival of Dr. McKay, and Teyla moved smoothly around the scanner bed to intercept the doctor and keep him out of the way. Ronon took that opportunity to move forward and loom over the scanner across from her.
“How is he?” Ronon leaned on the scanner bed above John, and Keller wanted to scream at him to get his hands off the goddamn scanner bed and let me do my job thank you very much. She clenched her teeth, then almost lost it again when McKay popped up beside her. “Will he be alright?” McKay asked.
Jennifer closed her eyes. “I don't know,” she said tightly. “I need you all to leave, right now, so I can work.”
“Rodney?” John's voice was soft and slurry. “Dr. Keller? My tongue feels numb.”
Jennifer pushed Rodney back with one hand, moving the equipment around with the other. “I've given you morphine for the pain, Colonel Sheppard,” she told him. “Just lie still, please.” A turn of her head, and she caught Teyla's eyes with a look both pleading and fierce. Get them out of here.
Teyla nodded and put a hand on Rodney's arm, gently and firmly drawing him back. A flick of her eyes, and Ronon followed her, and Jennifer set to work, calling the nurses over.
###
“The knife must have been poisoned,” Dr. Keller explained. “It's a neurotoxin of some type, resembling tetrodotoxin, and it's acting fast. I've got Colonel Sheppard on a ventilator, as respiratory failure seems likely. It would help to have a sample of the poison - do you have the knife that stabbed him?”
Rodney shook his head. “The... body of the raider was on the ramp when we activated the Stargate. The vortex incinerated everything.”
“Crap,” Jennifer said, and she brushed her hair impatiently out of her face. “Okay. Maybe the other raiders carried poisoned knives, too. Can someone go back to that village and get one?”
“I'll go.” Ronon stood up.
Jennifer shot him a grateful look. “See if you can get them to tell you what they use for the poison - if it's plant-based, animal-based - a sample of what they use to make it could give me an antidote...”
“They'll talk. I'll get you everything you need.”
“I will accompany you,” Teyla said.
“Okay. Teyla, Ronon?” The two warriors turned back. “Hurry. I don't know... just, hurry, okay?”
Jennifer turned to say something to Rodney, but he wasn't on the bench anymore. He'd moved to John's bedside and was looking down at him in a way that made Jennifer's stomach knot up. She had a crazy moment where she thought Rodney was about to reach up and brush Sheppard's unruly hair out of his face. But Rodney didn't move; he just stood there, looking down at his friend, with an intense expression that raised the hair on the back of her neck. If he ever looked at her, like that...
She must've sighed, made a noise - something broke the spell, and McKay looked up, and his expression switched from... whatever it had been... to something a little irritable and something a little lost. He was a complex man, Jennifer knew, and his rapidly changing features expressed that complexity. She moved closer to the bed and caught McKay's eye. “We're doing everything we can,” she said.
McKay nodded. “I know.” His eyes flicked from her to John and back again.
She looked down and with light fingertips brushed back the hair from John's forehead. When she looked up again, Rodney's mouth was tight, and his gaze was cast off somewhere in the middle distance. Moving around the foot of the bed to stand at his side, she drew him down into a chair and pulled one over for herself.
“What happened, exactly?” she asked.
He stared down at his clasped hands and shook his head. “Everything was going so well - I mean, it went perfectly. The raiders went down, you were okay, and then - Jennifer, I didn't even see the guy. He came out of nowhere. I didn't know anything was wrong until he'd already stabbed John. I should've been able to warn him, but I just wasn't paying attention.”
Touching his shoulder lightly, she said, “You can't know that. No one saw - there were more than fifty people out there, Rodney, and no one saw it happen. Look at me.”
Stricken, he raised his eyes to hers, and she mustered as much firmness to her voice as she could make believable. “He will be okay. Even if I don't have an antidote, even if we just have to let the poison run its course, he'll live. We'll manage the symptoms until the toxins clear his body. He is not. going. to die.”
“I know a little about neurotoxins,” Rodney said, quietly. “If he survives twenty-four hours, he may live, but he could have permanent damage to his vital organs, or to his brain. Or he could be paralyzed, partially, or totally...”
Jennifer felt sick. “Yes, that could happen. But let's hope for the best.” She reached out to touch his shoulder again, but he moved away from her ever so slightly, glancing over at John. She let her hand drop and stood up. “I'm going to go rest for a little bit. You should rest, too.”
“I'll stay here,” he replied, like she knew he would.
“Call me if there's any change. Or if Ronon and Teyla get back before I do.”
He nodded, moving his chair closer to the bed.
It was like she wasn't even there.
###
Nothing in the world makes for a worse awakening than a tube down your throat. Sheppard wanted to gasp, to struggle, unable to talk, feeling the tube down his throat, the apparatus over his face. Gentle hands pinned his shoulders to the bed, and he looked up into bright blue eyes.
“Hey,” McKay said. “You're okay - just lay still, and I'll get Dr. Keller.”
John tried to say something, but of course he couldn't talk, so he made a weak, frantic grab for Rodney's sleeve and caught the tips of his fingers. McKay turned around. John's hand fell away.
“The knife...” Rodney sat down so he wasn't looming over Sheppard, “the knife the raider stabbed you with was poisoned. A neurotoxin. You were in danger of respiratory failure, so Dr. Keller put you on a ventilator.”
John looked up at the ceiling and wished he could go back to sleep.
“Do you hurt?” Rodney asked. John moved his head slightly to the left and then the right. He couldn't feel much of anything. His arms, legs, hands, feet felt boneless. Rodney patted his shoulder and was gone.
A moment later, Dr. Keller was leaning over him, looking into his eyes with her light pen, checking his pulse. John could hear people talking just beyond her, and she turned to say, “Just a minute.” She looked down at him again. “Colonel Sheppard, I'm going to give you a mild sedative to make you more comfortable, okay? Ronon and Teyla just got back, and they may have something that can help. Just... hang in there, okay?”
Whatever she gave him was strong; she was getting blurry already. He cast his eyes around to see if Rodney was back. He was, in the chair by the bed, and Rodney and John looked at each other until John's eyes flickered closed again.
###
Ronon handed her a bag of... toads. Tiny toads. Jennifer took the bag with her fingertips and set it down on the specimen table. “That's what they use,” he said.
Teyla handed her a piece of paper. “This is the antidote formula,” she said.
“Did the raiders give that to you?” Jennifer asked, mistrustful of it if that was the case.
“No,” Teyla replied. “A woman in the village, an herbalist and a healer, knows of the poison, its making and its cure. This is not the first time her people have encountered the Hai'anao and their poisoned blades, and it was on her former world that they gather these toads to make that which has poisoned Colonel Sheppard.”
“Okay.” Jennifer was already reading down the page. She turned away from Teyla and Ronon and got to work.
###
The second awakening wasn't so bad. His throat was sore, but there was no tube, and his mouth tasted like something rotten. His feet and hands tingled slightly, and he opened and closed his fingers, wiggled his toes. Crap, his back hurt, probably where he'd been stabbed. And Dr. Keller had said something about poison, or Rodney had, or someone. John rolled his head to the side and saw Rodney slumped in a chair at his bedside, snoring faintly.
“Psst,” he hissed. “McKay.” His voice sounded raw and weak. He tried again, going for his best drill sergeant voice. “McKay!” That was better. Sort of.
Rodney jumped awake. “What?” he said, looking around, disoriented.
“Did you get that XBox set up yet, McKay?”
“What?” Then he was awake, and he grinned when he finally focused on Sheppard. “Hey, you're awake.”
“Most of me is.” Sheppard struggled to push himself up so he could talk sitting up instead of lying down. That felt awkward.
“Whoa, whoa!” McKay put a hand out but didn't touch him. He turned around and gestured wildly, and a nurse appeared, on cue. “He wants to sit up.”
Lips compressed into a line, the nurse tried to convince Sheppard to stay lying down, but he wanted to sit up and he'd do it with or without her help. “Oh, thank you,” he said, giving her his most charming smile as she reluctantly raised his bed and put pillows behind his back.
“You won't thank me when Dr. Keller sees you sitting up,” she said, turning on her heel.
John shrugged at her back, then turned to Rodney. He couldn't resist another dig at McKay, just one little dig to take his mind off the soreness in his back. “Seriously. Did you get the console set up?”
McKay made an exasperated noise. “Sheppard, I've been just a little bit busy.”
“Three weeks, Rodney!”
“Will you let it go?”
“Not until my XBox is set up.”
"It's not your XBox."
"According to the requisition log, it's mine."
"It is not."
"You're not seriously trying to start an 'is not, is too' are you?"
“That's it, I'm getting Dr. Keller.”
“Get me a wheelchair instead, and we can go set up that XBox.”
“I think the poison damaged your brain.”
“You've got an endless supply of excuses, don't you?”
“You know what? Get Zelenka to set up your lousy XBox. I've got better things to do.”
“Rodney, are you shouting at my patient?”
“What? No! Jennifer, he's...”
“Hey, look who's awake!”
“Ronon, don't squash him!”
“Relax, Doc.”
“Don't squash me, either!”
“It is good to see you awake, John.”
Grinning, Sheppard looked around him. He still felt like crap on a stick, but this was one of those moments, the ones he wanted to hold close, forever, a moment to remember in the days he knew lay ahead of them, when it would feel like tomorrow might not come. Rodney at his side, sputtering angrily and not meaning a word of it; Teyla sitting gracefully on the bed with her bright smile beaming over all of them; Ronon and Jennifer poking each other in the side; and he could see Colonel Carter leaning on the doorframe, watching them all with a little half smile. For a moment, everything was as it should be, here in his city.
Author: dreamingoctober
Rating: PG-13 (for decapitation by energy beam)
Genre: hurt/comfort
Characters: Sheppard/McKay, team
Word count: ~6000
Notes: Timeline: Between “Midway” and “The Kindred: Part I”, mostly because I wanted to give Sheppard a chance to sneer at Rock Band, which wasn't released until just before that point in time. I bet that secretly Shep can play the guitar parts on “Expert”, but he hates the idea of hearing his teammates try to sing.
Also, this is my first fanfic attempt ever, as well as my first post to SGA_Flashfic. Apologies for the length - it's not exactly flashy! Except for the flashbangs...
All According to Plan, Except for One Thing
McKay didn't even look up when he heard Sheppard walk in. He knew what he was going to say. “No, I haven't got it hooked up yet.”
“Aw, come on,” Sheppard groused. Like an impatient kid. “We've had the box for three weeks already!”
Every once in a great while, McKay wondered what his teamleader had been like as a kid, really. He had two theories; one, that Sheppard had been a hyperactive little shit, always taking things apart, getting into things, running ahead and waiting for everyone else to catch up. The other was that he'd been one of the thoughtful kids, one of those who hang back and watch and wait for the wonder moments before learning to seek them out.
That's when you learn impatience, McKay thought, reflecting a split second on his own childhood - when the wonder moments don't come fast enough or often enough, and you're compelled to chase after them. Sometimes at the expense of things that later turn out to be important.
All these thoughts flitted through Rodney's mind at light speed and were dismissed just as quickly. He didn't care to dwell on the past, his or anyone else's because if you did that, the future slipped away that much more quickly, and you missed out on... stuff.
Raising his head, he gave Sheppard a half-hearted warning look, indicated with an irritable sweep of his hand the progress he'd made in the last half hour. For the most part, that progress amounted to modifying one of the converters they used for interfacing the tablets and laptops to the Ancient technology, then wiring it to the console. “Integrating our tech with Ancient tech doesn't happen in a matter of minutes, and this is the first free hour I've had in the last three weeks, as you ought to know. It'll be done when it's done.”
Sheppard made one of his faces and scrubbed a hand through his hair, but McKay knew he'd be the first to remind anyone else who bitched that recreation had to take second place to things like, say, keeping the Gate up and running, the sensors, the shield, the stuff that kept them in the land of the living, precarious foothold such as they had in the Pegasus galaxy.
Setting down a handful DVD cases, green plastic in variously printed wrappers, Sheppard leaned down for a closer look at what McKay was doing.
“What games did they leave us?” Rodney asked, looking down again to tap at his tablet, fiddle with the converter, move that wire to there, yeah, maybe that's it. He squirmed around to look up again at the screen that filled part of one wall behind him. It was still blank - not so much as a flicker.
“Halo 2, The Orange Box, Madden NFL 06, Project Gotham 3, and,” Sheppard picked up the last case, made another face at it, “...Rock Band?”
“The Daedalus didn't bring any of the instruments, so that's pretty much useless.”
“Thank god,” Sheppard muttered. “OK, well -” He looked down at McKay sitting in the middle of a pile of wires, tablet on his knees and the long-awaited XBox 360 on a low table in front of him. Folding himself down beside Rodney, he reached for one of the wires and got his hand smacked for his trouble. “Can't you get that thing working before we have to...”
The city intercom clicked. “Unscheduled Activation.” Atlantis had stolen McKay's snappish comeback. “Colonels Carter and Sheppard to the control room.”
“Goddammit. I knew it.” Rolling his eyes up to the ceiling and glancing regretfully at the game console, Sheppard pushed himself up from the floor and jogged out of the rec room. McKay grabbed for his tablet and followed. Interfacing the XBox with what Sheppard called the “Big Ass Ancient Widescreen” would have to wait for another free hour, whenever that was likely to be.
###
“It's Major Lorne, Colonel,” Chuck said as John strode into the control room. Below them, the Stargate shimmered, reflecting its weird watery glow around the gate room.
“Major Lorne.” Sheppard leaned over the console. “What's up?” He heard Rodney's footsteps, and then Rodney leaned over the console beside him, nudging an irritated Chuck out of the way.
Colonel Carter's light steps were next to enter. “What's going on?” she asked, nudging in between him and Rodney, edging Rodney out of her way, ignoring his indignant huff. Sheppard tilted his head at the console in answer, as Lorne reported in.
“Nothing good, Colonel.” Lorne's voice sounded strained.
“Wraith?” Carter asked.
“Raiders,” replied Lorne, “of some sort. Came through the gate in some sort of hover vehicles, attacked the settlement, and carried off a number of villagers. They worked unbelievably fast, with stunners and smoke bombs. It looks like they do this a lot. We couldn't get a bead on them through the smoke without risking the hostages...”
“Did they go back through the gate?” Sheppard asked.
“No,” Lorne replied. “We're holding the gate. I left men at the gate when we went up to the settlement, and they radioed us when the hovercrafts came through. Those vehicles don't look like they're meant to fly, just hover, and they don't have dialers. The raiders sent someone ahead to dial up the gate, and we've got him. That's the good news... the bad news is that Dr. Keller was with the villagers who were taken. They've taken the people and holed up somewhere. We're blocking their getaway, but...”
“Crap.” Sheppard and Carter spoke at the same time, and McKay was looking at them with his What do we do? expression.
“Okay.” Sheppard scanned the control room. Ronon and Teyla were standing there, Ronon with his kill someone now look, and Teyla's posture broadcasting concern and readiness to kick ass. He glanced at Carter. She gave him a nod: Go ahead, whatever you need, within reason.
“Lorne, I'm going to send you backup and a jumper - no, two - to hold the gate or help in search and rescue. Teyla, Ronon, McKay and I are coming through to assess, get information from the folks in the settlement, and then we'll get to work tracking these raiders, wherever they're holed up.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ronon nod and head for the steps down to the gate room, Teyla beside him.
Sheppard straightened and caught Carter's gaze. “Colonel?”
“You have a go,” she said. Bring them all home, she didn't say, but he heard her loud and clear. He was pretty sure she knew he'd obey that unspoken order or die trying.
“Right.” Touching the radio behind his ear, Sheppard called up the jumper teams. Once they were through the gate, he turned to the doctor. “Come on, Rodney.”
“I didn't even have time for lunch today,” Rodney muttered, but he was right behind Sheppard's left shoulder as they made their way down to the gate. “Working on that stupid game console. You already have a Play Station - why do you need an XBox?”
Sheppard let him talk; grousing about inanities was Rodney's way of dealing with serious situations. He took a power bar out of the tac vest he'd grabbed from the control room and tossed it behind him, heard McKay fumble to catch it. Rodney probably had a power bar in his own vest - Sheppard glanced over his shoulder to make sure McKay hadn't forgotten that vest; he hadn't - but it was the closest thing to a gesture of reassurance that Sheppard could offer. McKay snorted in disgust, but the sound of a crinkling wrapper echoed in the corridor.
Teyla and Ronon met them at the bottom of the gate room steps. Ronon gave McKay a WTF look as the scientist stuffed the rest of the power bar in his mouth. McKay shrugged at Ronon, Teyla gave Sheppard a worried look, and the four of them stepped through the event horizon together.
###
“Status?” Sheppard asked Major Lorne, who waited for them at the bottom of the ramp.
The Stargate for this world was located in a forest clearing, with a straight, wide path leading to the village. Distant rooftops were visible over a slight rise down the path. Refugees from a culled world had settled here on what had previously been an uninhabited planet. Sheppard thought the settlement might be about three years old; one of the early resettlements since their arrival in Pegasus. Rocky hills and cliffs made up the terrain, with patches of forest and brushy scrub. Sheppard thought he remembered a system of dry canyons not many miles distant, the remains of a river long since dried up.
“The head councilman has some information on the raiders for us.” Lorne indicated a silver-haired man dressed in a bright blue homespun coat and trousers who stood, arms folded, glaring down at a man trussed up at his feet. The man, dressed in a tight-fitting shirt, leather vest studded with metal, and leather trousers, refused to look up at the councilman. He stared off into space, working his wrists together idly against his bonds. He had to know that would get him nowhere, not surrounded by soldiers, but Sheppard saw a man bent on escape. He kept half an eye on the prisoner while he moved to meet the councilman.
“I'm Colonel John Sheppard,” he said. “My team: Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagen, Dr. McKay. What can you tell us?”
“Councilman Yoran Tavis,” said the councilman. His eyes were sharp, intelligent, his features determined. “These... raiders... are called the Hai'anao. Their society preys on people less advanced in technology, kidnapping them and using them for slave labor. In this way, they keep their population intact, leaving the slaves on the surface as fodder during cullings, while keeping their scientists and technology well away from the Wraith. After a culling, they raid more settlements to replace the slaves they lost. Their ways are both cunning and cowardly, but also swift and effective.” Yoran aimed a boot at the captive's ribs and connected, hard. The man groaned, then turned to spit at the councilman. Yoran nimbly avoided the spit and administered another good kick before motioning Sheppard away, out of the prisoner's earshot.
“You know their gate address?” Sheppard didn't flinch at the kicking and kept one eye on the man as they moved away. Yoran shook his head. “Let me guess - they're not big on talking, either.” Behind him, Ronon - master of intimidation and making people talk - made a low, threatening growl that barely subsided at Sheppard's terse gesture telling him to stand down.
Yoran shook his head. “Even if he would talk, he doesn't know where they are. They cut their losses with no remorse. And if they can't get to the gate, they will kill their captives rather than release them.”
Teyla stepped to Sheppard's side, then. “Will they negotiate for release of their captives?”
Yoran shook his head. “Doubtful.”
“How long before they decide they'd be better off killing the people and hiding out for a chance to escape?” Ronon asked.
“I don't know,” said Yoran.
Before Sheppard could stop him, Ronon made a graceful leap at the prisoner and hauled him to his feet. Slashing the man's arm with that big knife of his, then holding the knife to his throat, Ronon dangled the gasping man in front of him like a rag doll. “What will your people do if they can't get through the Stargate?”
“Aagghh!” The captive curled in on himself like a bug, his eyes bulging at the blood running from his arm. He thrashed, and Ronon tossed him to the ground.
Sheppard and Teyla moved in, but Sheppard touched her arm. She gave him a concerned look but kept still. Behind him, McKay was gagging at the smell of blood. Probably wishing he hadn't scarfed down that power bar.
“Answer me, or I'll cut your head off,” Ronon growled. “Slowly.”
“They'll kill your people,” the prisoner gasped. “If they can't get back through, they'll kill 'em.”
Ronon shook him, banging the man's bleeding arm on the ground for emphasis. “How long before they kill them?”
“I don't know. Before sunset. You need to get out of their way, or your people are as good as dead.”
Ronon raised his knife, coup-de-grace-like, and that's when Sheppard stepped in. Thin fingers on Ronon's thick wrist, behind the hand holding the knife. Sheppard didn't put any pressure into his grip, didn't pull Ronon back. Just said his name.
Ronon gave him a look and backed off. Sheppard nodded. The captive man would talk again if they needed more information, now that Ronon had put the fear of hell and sharp knives into him. A subtle good-cop, bad-cop play, although Sheppard had no doubt that Ronon would have killed the man if he hadn't intervened.
Sunset. It was already well past midday. Sheppard scanned the clearing, taking stock of what he had to work with. Two jumpers, parked on either side of the gate. Twelve men, plus his team.
“Ronon, go ask the man how many people were in his party. Don't kill him.”
Ronon's dreadlocks swung out as he spun around to pummel the prisoner again. In a moment, he was back. “Three hovercraft, twenty men, armed with their version of guns. Projectile.”
Sheppard nodded, trying to work out a strategy that wouldn't get all those people killed. Projectile weapons; all the raiders had to do was fire at the prisoners the minute they felt threatened, and the game would be over. “We're going to have to take them out all at once.”
“How are we going to do that without taking out the hostages, too?” Rodney snapped.
“I'm thinking, Rodney.” Sheppard rubbed the back of his neck.
“Let them believe that they have a clear path,” Teyla said, “and then we ambush them.”
“Yeah.” Sheppard agreed. “Spider holes, just inside the treeline. We need flashbangs with charges and...” He motioned Lorne over. “I want the jumpers back through the gate. Yoran, take your people back to the village and lock them indoors. Let the raiders think we've given up and gone home. Lorne, take half the men and scout the area. Find out where they are, then report back.” Lorne nodded and was gone.
Waving at the pilots to dial up the gate but hold position, Sheppard touched his radio. When the gate activated, he said, “Sheppard here. Colonel Carter, do we have enough Wraith stunners in the armory to equip fifteen?”
A pause, and then Carter replied, “We do, Colonel.”
“Good. Send 'em over - we're going to need them.”
###
In his time in the Pegasus galaxy, Dr. Rodney McKay had watched more plans go awry than should be allowed under the laws of probability. Well... Actually, that wasn't mathematically true, given the infinite number of variables in every encounter. Nevertheless, they always seemed to land on the bad side of the coin.
And this plan? It left so much room for a bad outcome. Sheppard's hair was sticking out every which way; that meant he'd been running his fingers through it every few seconds, something he did when he was trying to anticipate every angle of a tactical problem. Rodney wouldn't say that his team leader was nervous, exactly - that word didn't suit Sheppard's rock-solid attitude of determination - but definitely worried.
So it was a total surprise to both of them when everything went exactly according to plan.
The raiders had holed themselves up in a canyon. Lorne set his men to watching their movements, radioing when their scouts made their way back to the gate. McKay, flat on his belly beside Sheppard in their shallow, hastily-constructed camoflauge, fought the impulse to scratch his nose as the boots of one raider passed right in front of it. He also wished he hadn't eaten that power bar. It churned relentlessly in his stomach, making him queasy in his nervousness.
As soon as the raider was out of earshot, Sheppard radioed Lorne to keep his men out of the way of the scout. Moments later, Lorne radioed back that the raiders were on the move, prisoners and all.
Crudely fashioned hovercraft appeared, three of them, unwieldly engines sputtering loudly. They hung back on the path, spread out, as one man dropped from the craft and came forward to dial the gate. He swung his gun left and right, but seeing nothing, hearing nothing, he punched in an address and motioned the hovercrafts forward. The lead craft paused to let the man swing up, the other two bumpering up behind. Rodney could see the prisoners in the middle of each craft, huddled down, and he searched for Jennifer's face among them. Before could find her, Sheppard hit the detonator for the flashbangs, and everyone in the spider holes came up firing bolts of blue. It was all over in seconds.
Of course, some of the prisoners ended up stunned, too, but better stunned than dead. The raiders never had a chance to raise so much as a hand to the prisoners, and Rodney saw Ronon leap on one raider still moving and casually slit his throat. Soldiers dragged the raiders off the craft and piled them on the ground in a heap, guns aimed to kill if they so much as twitched.
Rodney climbed up a rusty ladder into the first hovercraft, looking for the off switch. He brushed his hands over his pants to get the dirt off, then looked at the controls. He pulled one of the levers and the hovercraft settled to the ground. Hopping out, he shouted to Teyla, who was standing over the controls in the second craft, “Second lever on the right!” She waved at him, put the hovercraft down, and turned to pass the word to whoever was manning the craft behind her.
Teyla and the other soldiers were helping groggy villagers to their feet. Ronon lifted a limp body from the middle of the second craft - Dr. Keller. He laid her gently on the ground, and Rodney hurried over. “Is she ok?”
“Just stunned,” Ronon said. “I think she'll be fine.” He hunched over her possessively. With a grimace, Rodney took the hint and moved away.
Yoran was supervising the raiders; the villagers would mete out their own justice. Sheppard, making a last survey of the treeline, turned to come back across the clearing when Rodney saw him jerk up and backward, snarling and trying to turn and get at the man who had appeared behind him.
Yelling, Rodney charged across the clearing, stunner aimed, but the raider - the former prisoner, still bloody from Ronon's beating - had Sheppard up in front of him, as a shield. The raider must have stabbed him, Rodney thought, from the look of pain on the Colonel's face. The raider got hold of Sheppard's wrist and took the stunner away from him with a nasty twist.
The soldiers were trying to circle around behind the raider to get a clear shot. Ronon had his gun aimed at the man's head. The man pulled a knife - out of Sheppard's back! Rodney felt sick - and held it to his captive's throat. No one moved, and one-handed, elbow locked around Sheppard's neck, the man dialed a gate address. He dragged Sheppard back with him, to the edge of the event horizon. Rodney rapidly scanned the DHD, trying to memorize the symbols, fearing the man would drag Sheppard with him. Then Ronon's gun blast sent the raider's head through the wormhole, leaving the rest of his body behind.
Rodney's power bar ended up as a mass of chunky vomit in the grass at his feet.
###
Wiping his mouth, McKay rushed toward the gate as it disconnected. Keeping his eyes on Sheppard and away from the headless body, he got to the Colonel's side at the same time as Ronon and Teyla. Sheppard was trying to sit up, and Ronon was keeping him down.
“I think the guy stabbed him in the back,” Rodney said, crouching beside Ronon, who nodded.
“That'd be right,” said Sheppard in a weak voice.
“Let's get him off the ramp,” Rodney said. Ronon picked up Sheppard's thin body like it weighed nothing, and Sheppard didn't even protest. This sent off alarm bells in Rodney's head - if Sheppard was okay, he'd be wanting to walk. When the ramp was clear - except for the headless body - Rodney frantically punched in Atlantis's address, smacking the symbols much harder than he needed to. The wormhole's vortex disposed of the raider's remains.
Sam's voice sounded over their radios, strong and clear. “Status report,” she said.
A thought shot across Rodney's mind. For a distracted second, he wondered how she felt, now being the one to stay behind, waiting for everyone to come home, when for so many years she'd been the one venturing out into the vast reaches of the galaxy. Then he heard Sheppard moan in pain, and snapped his mind back to the present time and place. “We need a medical team in the gate room, now,” he said, his voice sharp. “Colonel Sheppard is injured.”
“What about Dr. Keller, and the people from the settlement?”
“I'm here.” Jennifer appeared at his elbow, her elfin face pale and pinched. “We're all fine. And thankful.” He put a hand on her back, and she looked up to give him a tiny smile, and then she was gone, following Teyla through the gate. Ronon had already stepped through, carrying Sheppard in his arms.
Rodney left Lorne to wrap things up and hurried up the ramp and onward to Atlantis.
###
By the time Rodney crossed the event horizon, Keller had Sheppard on a gurney and was disappearing with him, Teyla, and Ronon into the corridor beyond. Rushing after them, Rodney had to almost slide to a stop when Samantha Carter placed herself squarely in front him.
“Sam, I've gotta...”
Carter put up a hand. “They've got him, Rodney. If I know Dr. Keller, he's going to be fine.” Rodney wasn't so sure. He shook his head and tried to step around her. “I need your report, Dr. McKay,” she said.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Scouted, found raiders, made plan, set ambush, flash, bang, raiders incapacitated, everyone rescued, etc. Somehow the raider prisoner got loose, attacked J...Sheppard, stabbed him, used him as a shield, and would have dragged him through the Stargate if Ronon hadn't shot his head off. The end. Can I go?”
Hands raised in an ironic position of surrender, Sam stepped out of his way. “Thank you,” he snapped, hurrying up the steps.
“He'll be all right, McKay,” he heard Sam say quietly behind him. He turned to her, walking backwards up the steps. The bright eyes that had once caught his fancy and could still tug at his heart turned up to him with an expression of confidence in the ultimate benevolent outcome. She'd seen people come through much worse, he knew. But this was Sheppard, who was no Daniel Jackson and who in the last few years had gone through more lives than the luckiest cat.
“Yeah,” he said, because he felt like he had to say something. “Thanks.” She nodded, and he turned around and jogged down the corridor. The gate activated again with its signature whooshing sound, and he could hear Sam speaking with Lorne. Her voice faded as he hurried toward the infirmary.
###
Dr. Jennifer Keller put out a hand to steady herself against lingering dizziness from the effect of the Wraith stunner. Suck it up, she told herself firmly. John Sheppard lay on the scanner, and the news was not good. The knife had punctured a lung but fortunately had missed any other vital organs. That wasn't the problem.
Ronon paced in the small exam space, and Teyla stood still and silent, waiting for Dr. Keller to speak. A clatter behind her announced the arrival of Dr. McKay, and Teyla moved smoothly around the scanner bed to intercept the doctor and keep him out of the way. Ronon took that opportunity to move forward and loom over the scanner across from her.
“How is he?” Ronon leaned on the scanner bed above John, and Keller wanted to scream at him to get his hands off the goddamn scanner bed and let me do my job thank you very much. She clenched her teeth, then almost lost it again when McKay popped up beside her. “Will he be alright?” McKay asked.
Jennifer closed her eyes. “I don't know,” she said tightly. “I need you all to leave, right now, so I can work.”
“Rodney?” John's voice was soft and slurry. “Dr. Keller? My tongue feels numb.”
Jennifer pushed Rodney back with one hand, moving the equipment around with the other. “I've given you morphine for the pain, Colonel Sheppard,” she told him. “Just lie still, please.” A turn of her head, and she caught Teyla's eyes with a look both pleading and fierce. Get them out of here.
Teyla nodded and put a hand on Rodney's arm, gently and firmly drawing him back. A flick of her eyes, and Ronon followed her, and Jennifer set to work, calling the nurses over.
###
“The knife must have been poisoned,” Dr. Keller explained. “It's a neurotoxin of some type, resembling tetrodotoxin, and it's acting fast. I've got Colonel Sheppard on a ventilator, as respiratory failure seems likely. It would help to have a sample of the poison - do you have the knife that stabbed him?”
Rodney shook his head. “The... body of the raider was on the ramp when we activated the Stargate. The vortex incinerated everything.”
“Crap,” Jennifer said, and she brushed her hair impatiently out of her face. “Okay. Maybe the other raiders carried poisoned knives, too. Can someone go back to that village and get one?”
“I'll go.” Ronon stood up.
Jennifer shot him a grateful look. “See if you can get them to tell you what they use for the poison - if it's plant-based, animal-based - a sample of what they use to make it could give me an antidote...”
“They'll talk. I'll get you everything you need.”
“I will accompany you,” Teyla said.
“Okay. Teyla, Ronon?” The two warriors turned back. “Hurry. I don't know... just, hurry, okay?”
Jennifer turned to say something to Rodney, but he wasn't on the bench anymore. He'd moved to John's bedside and was looking down at him in a way that made Jennifer's stomach knot up. She had a crazy moment where she thought Rodney was about to reach up and brush Sheppard's unruly hair out of his face. But Rodney didn't move; he just stood there, looking down at his friend, with an intense expression that raised the hair on the back of her neck. If he ever looked at her, like that...
She must've sighed, made a noise - something broke the spell, and McKay looked up, and his expression switched from... whatever it had been... to something a little irritable and something a little lost. He was a complex man, Jennifer knew, and his rapidly changing features expressed that complexity. She moved closer to the bed and caught McKay's eye. “We're doing everything we can,” she said.
McKay nodded. “I know.” His eyes flicked from her to John and back again.
She looked down and with light fingertips brushed back the hair from John's forehead. When she looked up again, Rodney's mouth was tight, and his gaze was cast off somewhere in the middle distance. Moving around the foot of the bed to stand at his side, she drew him down into a chair and pulled one over for herself.
“What happened, exactly?” she asked.
He stared down at his clasped hands and shook his head. “Everything was going so well - I mean, it went perfectly. The raiders went down, you were okay, and then - Jennifer, I didn't even see the guy. He came out of nowhere. I didn't know anything was wrong until he'd already stabbed John. I should've been able to warn him, but I just wasn't paying attention.”
Touching his shoulder lightly, she said, “You can't know that. No one saw - there were more than fifty people out there, Rodney, and no one saw it happen. Look at me.”
Stricken, he raised his eyes to hers, and she mustered as much firmness to her voice as she could make believable. “He will be okay. Even if I don't have an antidote, even if we just have to let the poison run its course, he'll live. We'll manage the symptoms until the toxins clear his body. He is not. going. to die.”
“I know a little about neurotoxins,” Rodney said, quietly. “If he survives twenty-four hours, he may live, but he could have permanent damage to his vital organs, or to his brain. Or he could be paralyzed, partially, or totally...”
Jennifer felt sick. “Yes, that could happen. But let's hope for the best.” She reached out to touch his shoulder again, but he moved away from her ever so slightly, glancing over at John. She let her hand drop and stood up. “I'm going to go rest for a little bit. You should rest, too.”
“I'll stay here,” he replied, like she knew he would.
“Call me if there's any change. Or if Ronon and Teyla get back before I do.”
He nodded, moving his chair closer to the bed.
It was like she wasn't even there.
###
Nothing in the world makes for a worse awakening than a tube down your throat. Sheppard wanted to gasp, to struggle, unable to talk, feeling the tube down his throat, the apparatus over his face. Gentle hands pinned his shoulders to the bed, and he looked up into bright blue eyes.
“Hey,” McKay said. “You're okay - just lay still, and I'll get Dr. Keller.”
John tried to say something, but of course he couldn't talk, so he made a weak, frantic grab for Rodney's sleeve and caught the tips of his fingers. McKay turned around. John's hand fell away.
“The knife...” Rodney sat down so he wasn't looming over Sheppard, “the knife the raider stabbed you with was poisoned. A neurotoxin. You were in danger of respiratory failure, so Dr. Keller put you on a ventilator.”
John looked up at the ceiling and wished he could go back to sleep.
“Do you hurt?” Rodney asked. John moved his head slightly to the left and then the right. He couldn't feel much of anything. His arms, legs, hands, feet felt boneless. Rodney patted his shoulder and was gone.
A moment later, Dr. Keller was leaning over him, looking into his eyes with her light pen, checking his pulse. John could hear people talking just beyond her, and she turned to say, “Just a minute.” She looked down at him again. “Colonel Sheppard, I'm going to give you a mild sedative to make you more comfortable, okay? Ronon and Teyla just got back, and they may have something that can help. Just... hang in there, okay?”
Whatever she gave him was strong; she was getting blurry already. He cast his eyes around to see if Rodney was back. He was, in the chair by the bed, and Rodney and John looked at each other until John's eyes flickered closed again.
###
Ronon handed her a bag of... toads. Tiny toads. Jennifer took the bag with her fingertips and set it down on the specimen table. “That's what they use,” he said.
Teyla handed her a piece of paper. “This is the antidote formula,” she said.
“Did the raiders give that to you?” Jennifer asked, mistrustful of it if that was the case.
“No,” Teyla replied. “A woman in the village, an herbalist and a healer, knows of the poison, its making and its cure. This is not the first time her people have encountered the Hai'anao and their poisoned blades, and it was on her former world that they gather these toads to make that which has poisoned Colonel Sheppard.”
“Okay.” Jennifer was already reading down the page. She turned away from Teyla and Ronon and got to work.
###
The second awakening wasn't so bad. His throat was sore, but there was no tube, and his mouth tasted like something rotten. His feet and hands tingled slightly, and he opened and closed his fingers, wiggled his toes. Crap, his back hurt, probably where he'd been stabbed. And Dr. Keller had said something about poison, or Rodney had, or someone. John rolled his head to the side and saw Rodney slumped in a chair at his bedside, snoring faintly.
“Psst,” he hissed. “McKay.” His voice sounded raw and weak. He tried again, going for his best drill sergeant voice. “McKay!” That was better. Sort of.
Rodney jumped awake. “What?” he said, looking around, disoriented.
“Did you get that XBox set up yet, McKay?”
“What?” Then he was awake, and he grinned when he finally focused on Sheppard. “Hey, you're awake.”
“Most of me is.” Sheppard struggled to push himself up so he could talk sitting up instead of lying down. That felt awkward.
“Whoa, whoa!” McKay put a hand out but didn't touch him. He turned around and gestured wildly, and a nurse appeared, on cue. “He wants to sit up.”
Lips compressed into a line, the nurse tried to convince Sheppard to stay lying down, but he wanted to sit up and he'd do it with or without her help. “Oh, thank you,” he said, giving her his most charming smile as she reluctantly raised his bed and put pillows behind his back.
“You won't thank me when Dr. Keller sees you sitting up,” she said, turning on her heel.
John shrugged at her back, then turned to Rodney. He couldn't resist another dig at McKay, just one little dig to take his mind off the soreness in his back. “Seriously. Did you get the console set up?”
McKay made an exasperated noise. “Sheppard, I've been just a little bit busy.”
“Three weeks, Rodney!”
“Will you let it go?”
“Not until my XBox is set up.”
"It's not your XBox."
"According to the requisition log, it's mine."
"It is not."
"You're not seriously trying to start an 'is not, is too' are you?"
“That's it, I'm getting Dr. Keller.”
“Get me a wheelchair instead, and we can go set up that XBox.”
“I think the poison damaged your brain.”
“You've got an endless supply of excuses, don't you?”
“You know what? Get Zelenka to set up your lousy XBox. I've got better things to do.”
“Rodney, are you shouting at my patient?”
“What? No! Jennifer, he's...”
“Hey, look who's awake!”
“Ronon, don't squash him!”
“Relax, Doc.”
“Don't squash me, either!”
“It is good to see you awake, John.”
Grinning, Sheppard looked around him. He still felt like crap on a stick, but this was one of those moments, the ones he wanted to hold close, forever, a moment to remember in the days he knew lay ahead of them, when it would feel like tomorrow might not come. Rodney at his side, sputtering angrily and not meaning a word of it; Teyla sitting gracefully on the bed with her bright smile beaming over all of them; Ronon and Jennifer poking each other in the side; and he could see Colonel Carter leaning on the doorframe, watching them all with a little half smile. For a moment, everything was as it should be, here in his city.