Fic: Sleepwalker 3/?
Ekeing out more. Vague ideas of where this will end, but my computer is still being glitchy so I can't promise 100% to get it done before Sparktober in June is over. :(
The doctor on duty paged Carson to the infirmary when Elizabeth escorted John there. John was in her bathrobe, as Elizabeth had decided not to waste time letting him change just in case. Keller was running scans when Carson arrived. "Oh no."
John winced. Elizabeth attempted to keep her dignity. "Once was an accident but Carson, I don't believe in coincidences."
"Probably wise around here," John muttered. She had to agree.
Carson and Keller began to look at the test results. The infirmary doors opened and Laura Cadman walked in towing Evan Lorne behind her. Both of them hesitated upon seeing Elizabeth and John but Cadman nudged Lorne forward. "Dr. Weir, Colonel, I just found Major Lorne sleepwalking in the hallway."
When Carson was in doctor mode, very little could fluster him. It showed when he asked immediately, "Was he nude?"
Evan blushed and Laura was clearly suppressing a laugh but she nodded. "Yeah he was. He was in the hallway outside my quarters." Her amusement faded as she got a look at the other faces in the room.
"This is definitely not an accident," John said before Elizabeth could.
Carson nodded. "You were both on the mission to Tlavarus. It's possible something happened that's affecting you."
John glanced pointedly at Elizabeth, who said was he was surely thinking. "I was on the mission as well and so far as I know, I haven't been affected." Even as she said it, she admitted to herself it had only been a couple of days. Her stomach dropped at the thought of being found wandering the halls in the buff. Like it wasn't hard enough to deal with the usual sexism of being a woman in charge, that was all she needed.
"Not yet," Carson said, grimacing. "We should do a full work up on everyone. Starting with the Colonel and the Major."
*~*~*~*~*
John and Evan spent a few hours being scanned, poked and prodded, and then everyone else who had been on the mission underwent the same thing. Aside from some slight hormone imbalances consistent with sleep deprivation in the two men, nothing odd appeared on any of the test results.
That left psychological reasons. Kate talked to both John and Evan and appeared as baffled as the rest of them. "I've never heard of contagious sleepwalking," she told Elizabeth. "But we need to find the root cause."
They were in Kate's office, for the sake of privacy. Elizabeth's primary concern, as always, was the city. "Are they a threat?"
"Neither of them has shown any signs of belligerent behavior. You said Colonel Sheppard did not seem to be fully awake, and Laura indicated the Major was in a daze of sorts. Honestly, aside from the taking off their clothes part, I don't see any indication of odd behavior aside from the sleepwalking."
Which was Kate's way of saying "not yet," she knew. Elizabeth decided to turn on the cameras overnight and post guards in the corridors in case anyone else started wandering around. Carson agreed with Kate and suggested the guards not interfere with any sleepwalkers unless a direct threat happened. "There must be a reason why they're doing this. The only way to find out what is to let things play out."
Elizabeth was trying to keep this as quiet as she could, but Atlantis had a small population and since John's entire team, aside from Teyla who was on Athos at the moment, as well as Lorne's had been summoned to the infirmary, pretty much everyone knew. Ronon volunteered to keep an eye on John for the night, to John's annoyance. He wasn't saying much. Elizabeth could see that he was worried, although he was good at concealing it. After what had happened with the Wraith retrovirus, she knew he was doubly worried about the safety of the city.
Not to mention her safety. Everyone had been delicately talking around the fact that John had ended up at her quarters twice in a row. John had spoken only once about Elizabeth walking into his quarters without a guard the second time when he was transforming, a single chastising reminder that she should never have taken that risk. He'd been speaking as her military commander, not her friend. She knew why. She knew it had been stupid. She knew her blind faith in him was a danger, just like she knew that her little crush on him (if three-plus years qualified as either "little" or a "crush" anymore) was a vulnerability.
She just didn't know how to stop any of it.
That night she waited, tense, unable to sleep, as the hours ticked by. Two a.m. came and went and nothing. Security reported no signs of any movement. After an hour, she started to relax. Maybe it really was a fluke? Some sort of post-stress reaction? She was reaching for the light when her comm clicked. "Dr. Weir?"
Shit. "Yes?"
"Major Lorne is leaving his quarters. He's, ah, not clothed."
"Aside from that, is he exhibiting any warning signs?"
"No ma'am. He's walking slowly down the corridor."
"Follow him. Don't interfere unless he poses a threat to himself or someone else."
Ronon's voice came into the channel. "Sheppard is leaving his room as well."
Please don't let him be coming here, Elizabeth thought, knowing it was futile. She waited, sitting on the edge of her bed, listening.
"Major Lorne has left the transporter on level 5."
"Is he heading for Lieutenant Cadman's room?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes on her own door.
"Negative. He walked right past it."
Okay that was weird. If this was a pattern of behavior, Evan should have gone to Laura's room, like he had the night before.
"Elizabeth," Ronon's voice warned low in her ear just before her own door opened and John shuffled into the room. Ronon scooted in behind him before the door closed on its own.
The three of them were frozen for a minute. John was staring at Elizabeth but she wasn't entirely sure he was seeing her. He didn't react otherwise.
"What's Major Lorne's status?" she asked.
"He's arrived at... it's Dr. Heightmeyer's quarters, ma'am."
Kate? This was not giving them any real answers, Elizabeth thought crossly. The two doctors had been adamant about not interrupting the sleepwalkers unless absolutely necessary, though, so she didn't give the order to wake them up.
John took a few steps forward and Elizabeth tensed as he approached her. Her overall confusion increased tenfold when he sat down on the floor next to her bed. She exchanged a baffled shrug with Ronon, who had been on the verge of stepping in when John came toward her.
Quietly, she asked for a status update. "The Major is sitting in a chair, ma'am, next to Dr. Heightmeyer's bed. I think he's fallen back to sleep."
Elizabeth looked down. John's head was leaning against her bed and he was, indeed, asleep.
The doctor on duty paged Carson to the infirmary when Elizabeth escorted John there. John was in her bathrobe, as Elizabeth had decided not to waste time letting him change just in case. Keller was running scans when Carson arrived. "Oh no."
John winced. Elizabeth attempted to keep her dignity. "Once was an accident but Carson, I don't believe in coincidences."
"Probably wise around here," John muttered. She had to agree.
Carson and Keller began to look at the test results. The infirmary doors opened and Laura Cadman walked in towing Evan Lorne behind her. Both of them hesitated upon seeing Elizabeth and John but Cadman nudged Lorne forward. "Dr. Weir, Colonel, I just found Major Lorne sleepwalking in the hallway."
When Carson was in doctor mode, very little could fluster him. It showed when he asked immediately, "Was he nude?"
Evan blushed and Laura was clearly suppressing a laugh but she nodded. "Yeah he was. He was in the hallway outside my quarters." Her amusement faded as she got a look at the other faces in the room.
"This is definitely not an accident," John said before Elizabeth could.
Carson nodded. "You were both on the mission to Tlavarus. It's possible something happened that's affecting you."
John glanced pointedly at Elizabeth, who said was he was surely thinking. "I was on the mission as well and so far as I know, I haven't been affected." Even as she said it, she admitted to herself it had only been a couple of days. Her stomach dropped at the thought of being found wandering the halls in the buff. Like it wasn't hard enough to deal with the usual sexism of being a woman in charge, that was all she needed.
"Not yet," Carson said, grimacing. "We should do a full work up on everyone. Starting with the Colonel and the Major."
*~*~*~*~*
John and Evan spent a few hours being scanned, poked and prodded, and then everyone else who had been on the mission underwent the same thing. Aside from some slight hormone imbalances consistent with sleep deprivation in the two men, nothing odd appeared on any of the test results.
That left psychological reasons. Kate talked to both John and Evan and appeared as baffled as the rest of them. "I've never heard of contagious sleepwalking," she told Elizabeth. "But we need to find the root cause."
They were in Kate's office, for the sake of privacy. Elizabeth's primary concern, as always, was the city. "Are they a threat?"
"Neither of them has shown any signs of belligerent behavior. You said Colonel Sheppard did not seem to be fully awake, and Laura indicated the Major was in a daze of sorts. Honestly, aside from the taking off their clothes part, I don't see any indication of odd behavior aside from the sleepwalking."
Which was Kate's way of saying "not yet," she knew. Elizabeth decided to turn on the cameras overnight and post guards in the corridors in case anyone else started wandering around. Carson agreed with Kate and suggested the guards not interfere with any sleepwalkers unless a direct threat happened. "There must be a reason why they're doing this. The only way to find out what is to let things play out."
Elizabeth was trying to keep this as quiet as she could, but Atlantis had a small population and since John's entire team, aside from Teyla who was on Athos at the moment, as well as Lorne's had been summoned to the infirmary, pretty much everyone knew. Ronon volunteered to keep an eye on John for the night, to John's annoyance. He wasn't saying much. Elizabeth could see that he was worried, although he was good at concealing it. After what had happened with the Wraith retrovirus, she knew he was doubly worried about the safety of the city.
Not to mention her safety. Everyone had been delicately talking around the fact that John had ended up at her quarters twice in a row. John had spoken only once about Elizabeth walking into his quarters without a guard the second time when he was transforming, a single chastising reminder that she should never have taken that risk. He'd been speaking as her military commander, not her friend. She knew why. She knew it had been stupid. She knew her blind faith in him was a danger, just like she knew that her little crush on him (if three-plus years qualified as either "little" or a "crush" anymore) was a vulnerability.
She just didn't know how to stop any of it.
That night she waited, tense, unable to sleep, as the hours ticked by. Two a.m. came and went and nothing. Security reported no signs of any movement. After an hour, she started to relax. Maybe it really was a fluke? Some sort of post-stress reaction? She was reaching for the light when her comm clicked. "Dr. Weir?"
Shit. "Yes?"
"Major Lorne is leaving his quarters. He's, ah, not clothed."
"Aside from that, is he exhibiting any warning signs?"
"No ma'am. He's walking slowly down the corridor."
"Follow him. Don't interfere unless he poses a threat to himself or someone else."
Ronon's voice came into the channel. "Sheppard is leaving his room as well."
Please don't let him be coming here, Elizabeth thought, knowing it was futile. She waited, sitting on the edge of her bed, listening.
"Major Lorne has left the transporter on level 5."
"Is he heading for Lieutenant Cadman's room?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes on her own door.
"Negative. He walked right past it."
Okay that was weird. If this was a pattern of behavior, Evan should have gone to Laura's room, like he had the night before.
"Elizabeth," Ronon's voice warned low in her ear just before her own door opened and John shuffled into the room. Ronon scooted in behind him before the door closed on its own.
The three of them were frozen for a minute. John was staring at Elizabeth but she wasn't entirely sure he was seeing her. He didn't react otherwise.
"What's Major Lorne's status?" she asked.
"He's arrived at... it's Dr. Heightmeyer's quarters, ma'am."
Kate? This was not giving them any real answers, Elizabeth thought crossly. The two doctors had been adamant about not interrupting the sleepwalkers unless absolutely necessary, though, so she didn't give the order to wake them up.
John took a few steps forward and Elizabeth tensed as he approached her. Her overall confusion increased tenfold when he sat down on the floor next to her bed. She exchanged a baffled shrug with Ronon, who had been on the verge of stepping in when John came toward her.
Quietly, she asked for a status update. "The Major is sitting in a chair, ma'am, next to Dr. Heightmeyer's bed. I think he's fallen back to sleep."
Elizabeth looked down. John's head was leaning against her bed and he was, indeed, asleep.