Secret Santa 2012: T is for Team, T is for Trust
Title: T is for Team, T is for Trust
Author: Titan5
Recipient: Roo
Word Count: ~11,800
Rating: PG
Warnings: Some violence, mild language
Summary: Sometimes John’s new team is like his old team, and sometimes they aren’t.
Author Notes: Many thanks to black_raven135 for being beta. She weeded out a bunch of silly errors. I continued to play with it so any remaining mistakes are mine. Roo, I know I didn’t hit everything you wanted, but I hope I at least got part of it (prompt at the end). Merry Christmas a little late.
T is for Team, T is for Trust Part 1
Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan 2002
Major John Sheppard shut the water off and began to soap up. Real showers with constantly running water was near the top of his things I miss about being home list. He understood the need to conserve water. They were in the middle of a desert after all. Unfortunately that did little to make his three minute shower feel like the real thing.
He was just about to turn the water back on so he could rinse off when he heard something. John began turning toward the sound when a deluge of ice cold water dumped on him from above. As he stood gasping for air, his attackers laughed and scrambled around trying to make their escape. Wiping the shampoo from his face, all he could think of was how he was going to kill Mitch and Dex.
Ten minutes later John walked back to the B-hut he shared with seven other men. Three steps out of the building, the water from his wet hair was dripping down to blend in with the sweat rolling off his back. His ice dunking hadn’t cooled him off for long, but it had been startling none the less. When he reached the barracks, he threw open the door, needing the huge bang that it made, and marched in.
The building was 18 feet by 36 feet with a door at each end. A central hall connected the two doors and the space on either side of the hall was divided into four rooms. Each room was separated from the adjoining rooms with a paper-thin wall, but only a curtain stood between it and the hall. John’s room was on the end with Holland next to him. Across the hall were Mitch and Dex’s rooms. During the day they all tended to open their curtains so they could sit in their rooms, but still talk with each other.
Mitch and Dex were both in Mitch’s room on the end, sitting on his bunk playing cards. Holland was sitting in his room writing a letter, probably to his wife. All three looked up at the sound of the door banging open. John stood glaring at Mitch and Dex while they tried to look innocent.
“Care to tell me what that was all about?” John wasn’t nearly as furious as he’d been ten minutes ago, but he was still mad. Showering under the extreme water conservation rules was tedious enough without being interrupted by childish pranks. He supposed he should be glad it wasn’t the middle of winter, in which case he’d most likely be punching them instead of yelling.
Holland’s eyebrows rose up almost into his hairline. “What did you two do?”
Mitch and Dex both looked at their cards, making an exaggerated show of seeming unconcerned. “No idea what you are talking about,” said Mitch. “We’re just playing cards.”
“Yeah, well fifteen minutes ago you were dumping ice cold water on me in the shower. I heard the two of you laughing so I know it was you.” John turned a frown toward Holland when he snickered. “Don’t encourage them.”
“I wondered what the rush to play cards was,” Holland said with a chuckle.
The two pranksters finally gave it up and dropped their cards on the bunk as they began laughing. “You should have heard him shriek,” said Dex, falling over on his side as he continued to giggle.
John crossed his arms over his chest. “I did not shriek. I may have yelped. That water was cold. Mind enlightening me on the why or were you two just being idiots?”
Mitch wiped his face and seemed to catch his breath enough to answer. “You might think twice about taking the last piece of chocolate cake next time.”
John’s mouth dropped open a few seconds before he regained his composure and closed it. He looked at Holland, who looked almost as surprised as he felt, and then shifted his gaze back to the two crazy pilots he shared bunkspace with.
“Seriously? How old are you two? I just grabbed a piece of cake. I didn’t realize it was the last piece until you two pointed it out at the table. If it was that big of a deal, why didn’t you say anything?”
Dex shrugged his shoulders. “We shouldn’t have to. You should have offered to share.”
John didn’t even know what to say. He looked to Holland for help, but the man just cracked up and looked away, avoiding John’s glare. “Oh for heaven’s sake,” he complained as he headed for his bunk.
The instant his rear touched the bed, the door to the barracks burst open and Sgt. McMasters stepped in and looked around.
“Good, you’re all here. The colonel needs to see you in the ready room, pronto.”
All four men were up and moving before McMasters was back out the door. The meeting didn’t take long, the end result being two Pave Hawks on their way to pick up ground troops that had been trapped behind moving enemy forces. Mitch and Dex were in one chopper with medical personnel for the injured. John and Holland had the other craft to help provide cover and pick up the rest of the troops.
Soon after take-off, John radioed Mitch. “Hey, I’ve got a plan. Let’s circle around west of them and come in from the north. I don’t think anyone will be expecting that and hopefully it’ll give us a few extra minutes to get in and out without taking fire.” Holland gave him a nod from the other pilot’s seat, indicating he liked that plan.
The radio crackled briefly before Mitch’s voice came through. “Negative Shep. They’ve got injured so we need to get to them as soon as possible.”
John growled a little under his breath. “I know they have injured, but if we all get blown up trying to extract them we haven’t accomplished anything. I know a way to come in around a mountain that shouldn’t take more than a few extra minutes but will give us lots of cover and catch the Taliban forces off guard. Trust me on this.”
“It’s not a matter of trust, it’s a matter of expediency buddy. You do what you want, but we’re taking the direct path. Either way, see you there.”
“Crap,” John muttered. He knew he was right about needing the element of surprise. And Mitch could say what he wanted but it was a matter of trust. Mitch and Dex were two of his best friends in the world, but they never seemed to see the whole picture. They reminded John of kids in more ways than one.
“What do you wanna do?” asked Holland.
“I guess we follow them in and hope we don’t all get blown to kingdom come. We can’t let them go in by themselves and if we circle around, they’ll get there five minutes ahead of us. Idiots.”
Holland sighed. “They are idiots for sure, but they’re our idiots. I guess we should try to look after them.” Holland laughed and looked over at John. “New plan. Next time you and I are the main pilots; we make Dex and Mitch be our copilots. Putting them together is like pairing up Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.”
“Amen to that,” John muttered, watching the helicopter in front of him and hoping for the best. When they reached the pick up site, Mitch went in first to pick up the wounded. As John and Holland brought their ship in to position, he could see men carrying wounded swarming up to the side of the other helicopter, now sitting on the ground.
“Mitch, in and out as quick as you can. I’ve got a bad feeling a . . Mitch!“ John saw the RPG just before it hit the other chopper. The explosion rocked the ship that was still in the air and it took both pilots to hold their position. When the helicopter stabilized, John stared at the flaming wreckage below, his mind refusing to process what he’d just seen. He blinked a couple of times, hoping the image in front of him would change.
“S-Shep?” Holland’s voice was weak and strangled but it got John’s attention.
“Yeah, I . . . I know.” John took a deep breath and scanned the area. Several men were off to their left, picking themselves up off the ground. “We’ve got survivors. Jennings, keep your eyes open while we pick up our men.”
“Yes, sir,” the gunner answered, looking a bit shell shocked.
“Idiots,” Holland muttered under his breath, his eyes going back to what was left of the chopper. “I’m gonna miss them.”
John let out a slow breath, blanking his mind and refusing to think about it. He would have to deal with this later. Right now he had people to get back to base in one piece. Then maybe he could get really drunk and go pound on something.
Atlantis 2004
John blinked and rubbed his eyes. Staring down at the half full cup in his hand, he swirled coffee so weak it was one step beyond colored water. After six months in the Ancient city of Atlantis, they were at the end of their coffee supply and the mess hall staff was obviously trying to stretch it. He gave up on drinking it and yawned.
“Hey, Major.”
Glancing up, John watched an obnoxiously peppy Lt. Ford plop his tray down across from him and then plop himself into a chair. John grunted, too tired for much more of a response. He’d decided that getting old sucked and watching Ford be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed just cemented that particular view. “I take it you slept well?”
Ford nodded as he chewed. After a few moments, the young marine looked up at John as if to comment, then stopped and studied his commanding officer. “Uh, sir? You don’t look so hot.”
One eyebrow arched upward, almost on its own volition. He knew how he looked. He’d seen the dark circles under his eyes in the mirror. “Yeah, I know. My room alternated between meat locker and sauna. Then the shower turned into ice water about halfway through. Not my best day so far.”
“Wow, that sounds awful. You think your environmental controls were messed up?” Ford looked at him with such clueless innocence that it was hard to believe he was in the marines.
Looking past the lieutenant, John grimaced. “Oh, I think I know what the problem was. I just don’t know why.”
“What?” Ford looked totally confused as Rodney McKay set his tray down next to him and smirked at John.
“Major? You look a little tired this morning. Problems sleeping?”
John glared at the scientist, trying to push the anger down. His headache was escalating and shouting at Rodney was only going to make it worse. Letting out a deep breath, he calmly asked, “Care to tell me why you made my life a living hell the past eight hours?”
Teyla was just sitting down beside him and sent a questioning look to Ford, who shrugged his shoulders. John ignored them both to concentrate on Rodney. He had no doubt who was behind his latest misery and he was determined to find out why.
Rodney put on his best innocent expression as he chewed his food and sipped his coffee, making a face that mirrored John’s opinion of the watery drink. Then he wiped his mouth and looked at John. “If you had trouble with the environmentals, you should have called someone.”
“Don’t even try, Rodney, I’m not in the mood. I’ve had no sleep because every time I dozed off, the temperature changed drastically and I had to keep changing clothes and moving blankets. Then my shower turns to ice about the time I get all lathered up. Besides freezing to death, I got soap in my eyes. I have the headache from hell and right now I just want to know why? I’m assuming this is payback for something, but I’m too tired to try to figure it out.”
Rodney snorted. “Really? You don’t remember taking the last piece of cake last night when that was the last of our cocoa? And being greedy, you took the last two pieces and ran off with them.”
John stared at the physicist. He didn’t really know McKay all that well, having only met him six months ago, but he had become painfully aware of the man’s ego, love of food, hypochondria, and don’t forget his love of food (especially chocolate). And still he hadn’t expected this. The man had two PhDs.
“You have got to be kidding me.” John opened and closed his mouth a few times, but he couldn’t find the words. Mitch and Dex and their last prank flared bright in his mind, making him want to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. He started to get up, but Teyla put her hand on his arm, stopping him.
“John, let me explain.” She turned to Rodney, her expression tense and almost angry. “Last night I was sitting with Tamrin and his mother in the infirmary. He fell yesterday and broke his arm. He also hit his head, so Dr. Beckett wanted to keep him until morning. John was bringing the cake to them to help cheer them up. They were both missing the rest of the family and feeling very uncomfortable being away. John did not eat either piece of cake. He was merely trying to help two people from my village feel better about being away from their home. I believe you owe him an apology.”
If John hadn’t felt so bad, it might have been worth all the trouble to see Rodney look so flustered. He was apparently rarely wrong about things and not used to handing out apologies. The man began sputtering like an old water kettle, making John smile in spite of himself. Teyla looked like a monitoring parent and Ford was snickering like a younger sibling enjoying his brother get in trouble.
“Major Sheppard to the control room.”
John sighed and tapped his radio. “This is Sheppard. On my way.” Looks like he was never getting that apology. “Ford, you might want to teach genius here the rule about assumptions,” he said as he stood. Giving a nod and a smile to Teyla, he headed for the control room.
He found Elizabeth and Bates standing next to the railing overlooking the gate. Bates had on his stern, badass expression (but then when didn’t he?). Elizabeth looked relieved when she saw him approaching and that set him on high alert. “What’s going on?”
Elizabeth opened her mouth but Bates jumped in, cutting her off. This could not be good.
“Sir, Malcolm’s team is a half hour overdue. We’ve opened the gate and radioed them twice with no reply. MALP shows two men guarding the gate and they have weapons that look like crude rifles.”
Crap. This day just continued to go downhill and it was barely 0800. John thought a moment, mentally pulling up everything he could remember about the mission and the planet. “Okay, they were going to trade with the Cossnians, right?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yes, Dr. Beckett conducted a clinic there last week and we’re trading medical treatment and help with the planting and harvest for food staples we badly need.”
“Right. No sign of weapons beyond knives and bows and arrows so it’s likely they came under attack and our people just happened to be there.” John really hated bullies.
“With all due respect, sir, the Genii didn’t show any advanced weapons at first either. And we contacted these people through Teyla, again. Maybe they fooled your team into trusting them like the Genii did.” Bates had that superior, smug expression he pulled out when he thought he’d made his CO look like a fool. John was about ninety percent sure that’s exactly what Bates thought he was, a big fool.
Ignoring Bates, John turned to Elizabeth, refusing to acknowledge the jab. “I know there are trees close to the gate, but I can get a jumper through with some quick maneuvering.”
“Go in cloaked?” she asked, a smile forming as she picked up on his plan.
He nodded. “Two jumpers with lots of men and firepower since we don’t know what we’re walking into. If I remember correctly, there’s an ideal landing spot on the far side of the settlement. If they’re expecting us to come after our people, they won’t be expecting it from that direction. Hopefully we’ll catch them off guard.”
Bates shook his head and scowled at John. “Sir, I have to disagree.”
“Of course you do,” John muttered.
Bates ignored him and continued. “We have no idea what kind of forces they have or if the villagers are involved. We don’t know how effective their weapons are. And with all due respect, we don’t even know if our men are alive or not. For all we know, they’re already dead.”
John felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck as he bristled at the comment. “We don’t leave our people behind and we definitely don’t leave them in enemy hands. Until I see bodies, I’ll assume they’re alive and to be honest, I’d go after them even if I thought they were dead.”
“So you’d risk the lives of those in your command to go after the dead? But then I guess anyone who would crash a $15 million helicopter to retrieve a body is willing to risk anything,”
John felt the heat rise to his face as his anger almost boiled over. It was all he could do to keep from belting the sergeant. “It was $15.8 million if you’re counting. Holland was alive when I got to him. He died in the arms of a friend instead of alone or at the hands of the enemy. Even if I had known I couldn’t save him, I still would have gone. I hope somewhere out there is someone who would come for me if I was in enemy hands.”
“There is,” Elizabeth said firmly. John gave her a nod of appreciation. He knew she meant it. When you were in the hands of not so friendly forces, knowing people were looking for you made all the difference. He hoped his men knew he would come for them.
John turned back to Bates. “I’m going after our people. You can help or get out of my way. I’m assuming you don’t want to be a part of the rescue?”
“I need to be here in case something happens to you and Lt. Ford.”
John snorted. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He turned to Elizabeth, dismissing Bates from his mind. “Get Markam, Johnson, and Ramirez’s teams to meet me in the ready room and I’ll round up my team. We should be ready to embark in fifteen minutes.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Bring them home, John.”
“We will.” He just hoped they were bringing them back alive and not in body bags.
Fifteen minutes later, two jumpers flew through the gate to M3X-223, cloaking the instant they emerged. To cover their passage, Elizabeth threw an old coffee container through the gate with a message in it requesting a meeting to arrange the return of her people. The guards were so busy first aiming at the can and then scrambling to see what it was that they completely missed the jumpers.
“Well, step one worked out like we’d planned,” said John, more to himself than anyone else. The jumper was crowded with his team up front and Johnson’s team plus a couple of extra marines he’d picked up at the last minute in the back. When they reached the settlement, he flew a little lower so he could scope out the situation.
The settlement was comprised of around fifty small wooden homes radiating out from the center of town like spokes on a wheel. The center of the wheel was made up of four rectangular common buildings, each about the size of four or five houses put together. These were used for meetings, celebrations, trading, and festivals. The streets were usually filled with people moving about working or visiting or trading. They were almost barren now except for a few armed men that looked nothing like the Cossnians.
“It’ll be dark soon,” commented Rodney.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m counting on.” The day/night cycle on this planet was almost directly opposite that of Atlantis. The quickly approaching nightfall was messing with his mind, which was still stuck in morning mode. Shaking off the lethargy from no sleep, he headed the jumper toward the far side of the town.
Once the jumpers were secured and his men assembled in a small clearing, John explained his plan. “The easternmost common building has four men posted around it and it’s the only one being guarded. I’m guessing that’s where our people are. My team will take the front door and Markam’s will take the back. Be as quiet as possible. Johnson’s team take the eastern side of the building and Ramirez takes the west. Spread out and make a perimeter about thirty feet out. Let us know of any incoming problems you can’t take care of.”
Everyone nodded their understanding. John made eye contact with each team leader to ensure they knew what their responsibility was. “Our first priority is getting our people back. If we can do some pest control while we’re here, then I’m all for it. We can come back and finish the job later if we need to. Questions?” When no one said anything, John gave them a nod. “Let’s do this.”
It only took twenty minutes to quietly make their way to the common building. John and Ford quietly eliminated the two guards at the front door. Two clicks on the radio told John that the back door was clear as well. Nodding at Ford, he knocked twice on the door. A moment later it began to open. The lieutenant grabbed the man in the doorway and yanked him out while John rushed in, crouched over and gun up. Two men sat at a table, their eyes wide.
“Don’t move,” John hissed, aiming his gun at the men. The rest of his team filed in behind him. “Where are my men?” When they didn’t answer immediately, John walked around the table and stuck his gun right in the face of the first man. “Last time I ask. Where . . are . . my . . men?”
The man was unshaven, with stringy blonde hair almost to his shoulders. He audibly gulped as he studied John. “I . . . uh . . . “ He flinched when John leaned in a little closer. “Okay, okay, last room on the right at the end of the hall.”
“How many more of your people are in the building?” asked Ford.
“No one else. The door is locked. The key is on the shelf over there.”
Markam was closest to the shelves the man indicated. He looked for a moment before holding up the key. John nodded. “Tie them up and see if you can find out how many of these guys there are and what they want. We’ll go get Malcolm’s team.” Markam passed him the key as his team made their way across the large meeting room to a short hall with three rooms on each side. Not truly trusting the thug’s information, they proceeded cautiously with their guns up and ready. John opened the door that was supposed to contain their missing team and looked in.
The captured men were battered and bruised and huddled against the far wall. Their heads shot up as one at the sound of the door opening. Expressions of anger and apprehension gave way to smiles when they got a look at the team.
John held out his hand to Sgt. Malcolm and pulled him to his feet. “I heard you guys needed a hand getting home.”
Malcolm chuckled. “You heard right. Thank you, sir.”
“No problem.” John studied the other men as they got to their feet. “You guys okay? Anyone injured?”
“Yen got shot in the arm,” Malcolm reported. “Other than that, just some bruises and scratches. They wanted more weapons like ours and didn’t take too kindly to us refusing to help them get some. There’s about thirty of them, all armed with muzzle-loading rifles. They surrounded the village, just looking to raid it for everything of value. Once they saw our weapons, they decided to hang around until they could get more. I’m really sorry, sir. We let our guard down.”
John shook his head. “You were seriously outnumbered and if I know you, you were trying to prevent civilian casualties. I’m just glad you guys are all in one piece. Let’s get you out of here.”
John led the way back to the entrance. After a few minutes discussion, they decided there was no one injured seriously enough to make immediate return to Atlantis a necessity. With the encouragement and approval of the previous captives, a plan was formulated to neutralize the remaining raider forces. Once the prisoners were securely bound, they were locked in one of the smaller rooms in case any of their friends wandered into the building.
About a third of the marauders were bunking down in the adjacent common building. There was only one guard inside and he was quickly neutralized. The sleeping men were quickly bound and gagged. The Lantean forces then spread out to take care of the rest of the thugs that invaded the village.
It took the better part of two hours to rid the village and surrounding area of the raiders. The men were scattered around in groups of two or three, mostly keeping watch. The people from the settlement had been told to stay inside or they would be shot on sight and they had complied. That made it easier on the people from Atlantis. Anyone outside was to be taken down. Since they had the element of surprise, very few had been killed.
The bad guys were all moved into one building and secured. Johnson’s team was to stand guard until John could return with a fresh team. He met briefly with the village elders, who were very grateful for the Lantean’s intervention, to explain that he would return the next day to discuss the fate of their captives. On the plus side, they wouldn’t have any trouble getting their food supplies supplemented by the Cossnians, who were already talking about things they could add to the previous agreement.
Malcolm’s team had already headed for the jumpers with Ramirez’s team playing escort. Markam’s team joined John’s for the short hike. It was still dark and they were all tired, so they had set a leisurely pace. John tuned in to the conversation around him as they walked.
“And I’ll bet we could get some of that stuff that tastes like chocolate. I know they don’t have a lot and it depends on what they can collect from the forest, but they’re willing to give us just about anything right now,” boasted McKay.
“Surely you would not take advantage of their gratitude for your own gain. The Cossnians are a simple people, much like my people. They cannot afford to give too much or they will not have enough to make it through the winter. To cheat them would be wrong,” said Teyla. Her voice was strained, as if worried about how the people from Earth would treat their allies.
“No one’s going to be cheated here,” said John. “If they have a few extras they can throw in without leaving themselves short, then we can use it. They are also a proud people and will want to feel like they have done something to thank us.”
Teyla glanced at him and the frown across her brow relaxed. “You are right of course. I know you and Elizabeth will make sure the trade is fair.”
Thinking he heard someone coming up on his right, John stopped and began turning to peer through the dark. The sound of the shot seemed to echo around the cluster of trees as the impact sent John flying back. The pain of hitting the ground was quickly followed by a burning pain in his right side. There were shots and shouting and movement around him, but John was so focused on pulling in his next breath and not curling up in pain that he was only vaguely aware of it. Then someone was moving him around and pulling on his vest and shirt.
“ . . . all going to be killed. Maybe there’s more of them out there, just waiting to shoot us before we make it back to the jumper. Oh no, he’s the pilot! How are we going to get home? I mean I know I have the gene but he’s only taken me out once or twice and I’ve never landed or tried to go through the gate and what if -“
“McKay, shut up.” Ford sounded kind of pissed. “Just shut up. The major isn’t the only one with the gene that can fly. You need to calm down.”
“It probably won’t even matter because I’m sure we’ll all be killed before we get three -“
“McKay. I’m telling you, you need to calm down or I’m going to shoot you myself.”
“What? You can’t. Teyla, tell him he can’t shoot me. I mean you wouldn’t, would you?”
John had heard enough. He was aware of Teyla pulling a field bandage around him and it hurt like crazy. He didn’t have the patience for this. “Ford, no shooting team members.”
Everyone crouched down beside him, asking him all at once how he was. John groaned and then coughed. “I’ve been shot. It hurts. But I’ll live. I think.”
Rodney sighed dramatically. “Thank goodness. Can you drive us home because I don’t think I can get us there and even if I do, I don’t know how to land yet.”
“Major, are you sure I can’t shoot him?” asked Ford, looking annoyed.
“Yes. We might need him.” Rodney looked smug for about one second before looking hurt. “And McKay, you really do need to calm down. Donnelly’s had plenty of experience with the jumpers. He’ll have no trouble getting us back.”
Ramirez walked up and looked down at his CO. “Major, we’ve eliminated the shooter and done a sweep of the surrounding area. It looks clear from here to the jumper. I guess we just missed one.”
“Ya think?” asked Rodney.
“McKay,” John drawled. He was really going to have to work on McKay’s panic tendencies and people skills.
“Right, sorry. But can we go now?”
John grinned. “Yeah, give me a hand up.”
oOo
John opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to figure out why his mouth was so dry. Blinking, he opened his eyes to find his team watching him. His eyes drifted closed again, but the head of his bed rose until he was half sitting up, so he gave it another try. This time Carson Beckett was standing there grinning at him.
“Nice of you to join us, Major. Would you like a few ice chips?”
John kind of grunted in the affirmative and was rewarded with a couple of small slivers of ice. He moaned in contentment before he realized what he was doing, but it was worth it when he got more ice. His dry mouth seemed to soak most of it up, allowing only a small portion to soothe this throat.
His team had moved around the bed and Elizabeth had appeared from somewhere to join the group. He shifted a little and received a small burst of pain from along the right side of his ribcage for his efforts. It was muted enough that a hitch in his breathing was the only outward sign. Taking further stock of his condition, he made note of the IV and nasal cannula.
“John, do you remember what happened?” asked Elizabeth.
“Yeah. Shot by one of the raiders.” He looked up at Beckett and decided the good doctor’s expression didn’t look too foreboding. “So, how’m I doing Doc?”
“Not too bad, considering. You were shot with something resembling a musket ball. Fortunately the velocity it was fired with was not near what our weapons are. It broke a rib and nicked your lung and the liver. Damage wasn’t too extensive to either organ, though and I expect you’ll recover if you take it easy for a while and follow doctor’s orders.” Beckett checked his tubes and such and then left them to visit.
“How’s Malcolm and his team?” John asked.
“They’re okay. They’ve all been released to their quarters to rest for a few days.” Elizabeth smiled and squeezed his arm. “You did good. You brought all our people home safely.”
“Well, except for yourself of course,” added Rodney with a smirk.
“Did anyone send replacements for Johnson’s team?”
“I did,” said Ford. “What do you want to do about the raiders? The villagers don’t really have a prison as such and we don’t have room to bring them all here.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Major Sheppard is supposed to be resting, not making military decisions five minutes after he wakes up from major surgery.”
Ford shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I guess we can keep guarding them until the major is better.”
John rubbed his face. “The major is going to have a hard time resting with this hanging over him. Where are they from? Are there more of them on a planet somewhere?”
“They are apparently from a planet that was heavily culled about a year ago. Much of their town was destroyed. Many of their people began working to rebuild, but this group decided that was fruitless, as it would eventually be destroyed again. Their leader, Magness, has led them to several planets to take what they wanted. We found that many of the men in his group were barely more than boys, young and easily influenced.”
John nodded at Teyla, appreciating the information she had gathered. “Teyla, could you go with Markam’s team to their home planet to talk to them? Find out more about this group and about the people there. See if there’s anything we can do to help them. I need to talk to Markam before you go.” He wanted to discuss procedures for scouting the settlement out before they revealed themselves. “Then I need to talk to this Magness guy, find out if we should give him a chance or just dump them on a planet with a space gate.” Personally, John was voting for the space gate planet.
oOo
John jerked awake, the sudden gunshot in his dream startling him awake. Rubbing his face, he glanced around the infirmary and realized he’d slept for several hours. He’d only meant to doze for a few minutes, but either the drugs or the after effects of the anesthesia had pulled him under. His body was stiff, but he knew shifting positions would hurt and he was enjoying being numb right now. He decided the pain potential won out over the urge to move for the moment.
“John?” Elizabeth said softly as she approached his bed. When he looked at her, she smiled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be awake. How are you feeling?”
“Not bad right now,” he replied, returning her smile until he noted Bates trailing along behind her.
“Major Sheppard,” Bates said.
John grinned at the sergeant. “We managed to bring everyone home alive and in one piece. I guess my plan didn’t suck so much after all.”
Bates just grimaced. “You got lucky, sir. Things could easily have gone the other way.”
“I spoke to Malcolm’s team,” said Elizabeth. “The raiders knew the MALP was gathering information. They had decided if they didn’t hear from us by morning they were going to execute one of the men in front of it to see if they could get our attention.”
Bates pursed his lips and looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “I still think it was a bad-“
“You’ve made your opinion abundantly clear,” John interrupted. “Your unwavering disapproval of pretty much every decision I make is duly noted. Do you have any further information to report?” He knew he was being testy, but his side was starting to hurt and he still felt fuzzy from the drugs, making it hard to think and even harder to deal with nonsense.
Bates neutrally reported the status of the prisoners and Ford’s discussion with the settlement elders. Teyla had made contact with the raiders’ home planet and was due back at any moment. Bates had decided that it was too much of a security risk to bring Magness to Atlantis. When he finished, John dismissed him, glad to be rid of his security officer’s scowl. John was used to having his superiors look down on him like he was a bug. He was still getting used to having someone under his command do the same.
“Penny for your thoughts,” said Elizabeth.
John shook off the fog around his brain. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get your money’s worth right now.”
Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at him and started to say something, then closed her mouth and shook her head. “He really pushes your buttons, doesn’t he?”
John groaned and let his head fall back against the pillows. “I know, I know. He’s just doing his job playing the devil’s advocate, but I swear he gets way too much pleasure from questioning everything I do. I’m thinking he and Sumner must have been best buddies or something.”
Elizabeth was trying to hide her smile, probably to humor him. “He just doesn’t appreciate your somewhat unorthodox command style.”
“You can say that again. I can give you a long list of folks who would probably have a stroke if they found out I was in command of anything beyond my quarters. Bates doesn’t have the market cornered on having a low opinion of me.” John hadn’t meant to go this direction or say this much. It had to be the drugs.
Elizabeth’s smile softened and she touched him lightly on the arm as she leaned in a little. “I happen to disagree with them. I can’t think of anyone more qualified or better able to handle the constantly shifting chaos of the Pegasus Galaxy. And I have it on good authority that almost everyone here, military personnel and scientific community included, feel the same way. You’re doing a good job, John. Don’t let the Bates and the Kavanaghs tell you any differently.”
John stared at her for a moment, habit making him look for signs she was joking or teasing him. He hadn’t received praise or trust like that from commanding officers in a long time. And while she wasn’t his CO, she was his boss. Out here, separated from Earth, it was the same thing. He gave her a quick nod. “Some days I think I’m doing okay. Other days I’m pretty sure I have no clue and I’m going to get us all killed. This is all very new for me.” Snorting, he added, “And I’m not just talking about living in the fabled lost city of Atlantis while flying actual spaceships and fighting life-sucking alien vampires.”
Elizabeth seemed to study him, making him a little uncomfortable. The last person to trust him like Elizabeth and his team seemed to was Holland, and that hadn’t worked out so well for either of them. He was little afraid that if she looked hard enough, she would see that. But after a moment, she cocked her head a little to one side and asked, “Which way do you feel today?”
That was easy. “All our people are home and safe. I’m feeling pretty good today.” He grinned. “No matter what Sgt. Bates seems to think.” Then he grimaced when he inadvertently shifted positions while talking, which pulled at his injured side. Closing his eyes for a minute, he focused on breathing until the pain subsided. When he opened them again, Teyla was approaching his bed.
“Teyla, you’re back,” said Elizabeth. “How did it go?”
John nodded and gave the Athosian a small smile to let her know he was okay. Her tense expression eased a bit and she returned the smile and the nod. “Major, I am glad to see you looking better.”
“Glad to be getting better,” he said.
“Magness and his men were from a planet known as Nearc’tia. I met with the survivors of the Wraith culling and explained what has been going on. As you know, many of the raiders were very young men, what I believe you would call teenagers. Their families are anxious to have them returned and they vow to not let this situation be repeated. They are willing to take the others as well, but they will be locked up at night and made to help with the rebuilding during the day. They were very distressed to find out what their friends and family members have been doing.”
John sighed in relief. “Good. I really had no desire to actually abandon them on some uninhabited planet with a space gate and hope they survived. I don’t know that they’ve killed anyone yet, so maybe there’s hope for them.”
“I believe there is,” said Teyla. “From what the villagers said, they have all been good men in the past, except for Magness. He is what you might call the village trouble-maker. The culling made everyone a little desperate and he took advantage of that, leading many of the young men astray with promises of a grand life where they did not have to worry about the Wraith. I believe they see the deceit in his words now and will be most grateful to return home.”
“Good,” John said.
“Thank you, Teyla, for working all this out,” said Elizabeth. “You’re quite the diplomat.”
“She kicks butt out in the field, too,” said John with a touch of pride.
Teyla just bowed her head a moment and looked embarrassed. “I am only glad I was able to help.”
“Now, if she can just figure out how to teach McKay a little humility and how to not freak out in the field, we’ll have the perfect team,” said John.
Teyla sighed. “I am not sure even the Ancestors could do that.”
"Part Two"
Author: Titan5
Recipient: Roo
Word Count: ~11,800
Rating: PG
Warnings: Some violence, mild language
Summary: Sometimes John’s new team is like his old team, and sometimes they aren’t.
Author Notes: Many thanks to black_raven135 for being beta. She weeded out a bunch of silly errors. I continued to play with it so any remaining mistakes are mine. Roo, I know I didn’t hit everything you wanted, but I hope I at least got part of it (prompt at the end). Merry Christmas a little late.
T is for Team, T is for Trust Part 1
Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan 2002
Major John Sheppard shut the water off and began to soap up. Real showers with constantly running water was near the top of his things I miss about being home list. He understood the need to conserve water. They were in the middle of a desert after all. Unfortunately that did little to make his three minute shower feel like the real thing.
He was just about to turn the water back on so he could rinse off when he heard something. John began turning toward the sound when a deluge of ice cold water dumped on him from above. As he stood gasping for air, his attackers laughed and scrambled around trying to make their escape. Wiping the shampoo from his face, all he could think of was how he was going to kill Mitch and Dex.
Ten minutes later John walked back to the B-hut he shared with seven other men. Three steps out of the building, the water from his wet hair was dripping down to blend in with the sweat rolling off his back. His ice dunking hadn’t cooled him off for long, but it had been startling none the less. When he reached the barracks, he threw open the door, needing the huge bang that it made, and marched in.
The building was 18 feet by 36 feet with a door at each end. A central hall connected the two doors and the space on either side of the hall was divided into four rooms. Each room was separated from the adjoining rooms with a paper-thin wall, but only a curtain stood between it and the hall. John’s room was on the end with Holland next to him. Across the hall were Mitch and Dex’s rooms. During the day they all tended to open their curtains so they could sit in their rooms, but still talk with each other.
Mitch and Dex were both in Mitch’s room on the end, sitting on his bunk playing cards. Holland was sitting in his room writing a letter, probably to his wife. All three looked up at the sound of the door banging open. John stood glaring at Mitch and Dex while they tried to look innocent.
“Care to tell me what that was all about?” John wasn’t nearly as furious as he’d been ten minutes ago, but he was still mad. Showering under the extreme water conservation rules was tedious enough without being interrupted by childish pranks. He supposed he should be glad it wasn’t the middle of winter, in which case he’d most likely be punching them instead of yelling.
Holland’s eyebrows rose up almost into his hairline. “What did you two do?”
Mitch and Dex both looked at their cards, making an exaggerated show of seeming unconcerned. “No idea what you are talking about,” said Mitch. “We’re just playing cards.”
“Yeah, well fifteen minutes ago you were dumping ice cold water on me in the shower. I heard the two of you laughing so I know it was you.” John turned a frown toward Holland when he snickered. “Don’t encourage them.”
“I wondered what the rush to play cards was,” Holland said with a chuckle.
The two pranksters finally gave it up and dropped their cards on the bunk as they began laughing. “You should have heard him shriek,” said Dex, falling over on his side as he continued to giggle.
John crossed his arms over his chest. “I did not shriek. I may have yelped. That water was cold. Mind enlightening me on the why or were you two just being idiots?”
Mitch wiped his face and seemed to catch his breath enough to answer. “You might think twice about taking the last piece of chocolate cake next time.”
John’s mouth dropped open a few seconds before he regained his composure and closed it. He looked at Holland, who looked almost as surprised as he felt, and then shifted his gaze back to the two crazy pilots he shared bunkspace with.
“Seriously? How old are you two? I just grabbed a piece of cake. I didn’t realize it was the last piece until you two pointed it out at the table. If it was that big of a deal, why didn’t you say anything?”
Dex shrugged his shoulders. “We shouldn’t have to. You should have offered to share.”
John didn’t even know what to say. He looked to Holland for help, but the man just cracked up and looked away, avoiding John’s glare. “Oh for heaven’s sake,” he complained as he headed for his bunk.
The instant his rear touched the bed, the door to the barracks burst open and Sgt. McMasters stepped in and looked around.
“Good, you’re all here. The colonel needs to see you in the ready room, pronto.”
All four men were up and moving before McMasters was back out the door. The meeting didn’t take long, the end result being two Pave Hawks on their way to pick up ground troops that had been trapped behind moving enemy forces. Mitch and Dex were in one chopper with medical personnel for the injured. John and Holland had the other craft to help provide cover and pick up the rest of the troops.
Soon after take-off, John radioed Mitch. “Hey, I’ve got a plan. Let’s circle around west of them and come in from the north. I don’t think anyone will be expecting that and hopefully it’ll give us a few extra minutes to get in and out without taking fire.” Holland gave him a nod from the other pilot’s seat, indicating he liked that plan.
The radio crackled briefly before Mitch’s voice came through. “Negative Shep. They’ve got injured so we need to get to them as soon as possible.”
John growled a little under his breath. “I know they have injured, but if we all get blown up trying to extract them we haven’t accomplished anything. I know a way to come in around a mountain that shouldn’t take more than a few extra minutes but will give us lots of cover and catch the Taliban forces off guard. Trust me on this.”
“It’s not a matter of trust, it’s a matter of expediency buddy. You do what you want, but we’re taking the direct path. Either way, see you there.”
“Crap,” John muttered. He knew he was right about needing the element of surprise. And Mitch could say what he wanted but it was a matter of trust. Mitch and Dex were two of his best friends in the world, but they never seemed to see the whole picture. They reminded John of kids in more ways than one.
“What do you wanna do?” asked Holland.
“I guess we follow them in and hope we don’t all get blown to kingdom come. We can’t let them go in by themselves and if we circle around, they’ll get there five minutes ahead of us. Idiots.”
Holland sighed. “They are idiots for sure, but they’re our idiots. I guess we should try to look after them.” Holland laughed and looked over at John. “New plan. Next time you and I are the main pilots; we make Dex and Mitch be our copilots. Putting them together is like pairing up Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.”
“Amen to that,” John muttered, watching the helicopter in front of him and hoping for the best. When they reached the pick up site, Mitch went in first to pick up the wounded. As John and Holland brought their ship in to position, he could see men carrying wounded swarming up to the side of the other helicopter, now sitting on the ground.
“Mitch, in and out as quick as you can. I’ve got a bad feeling a . . Mitch!“ John saw the RPG just before it hit the other chopper. The explosion rocked the ship that was still in the air and it took both pilots to hold their position. When the helicopter stabilized, John stared at the flaming wreckage below, his mind refusing to process what he’d just seen. He blinked a couple of times, hoping the image in front of him would change.
“S-Shep?” Holland’s voice was weak and strangled but it got John’s attention.
“Yeah, I . . . I know.” John took a deep breath and scanned the area. Several men were off to their left, picking themselves up off the ground. “We’ve got survivors. Jennings, keep your eyes open while we pick up our men.”
“Yes, sir,” the gunner answered, looking a bit shell shocked.
“Idiots,” Holland muttered under his breath, his eyes going back to what was left of the chopper. “I’m gonna miss them.”
John let out a slow breath, blanking his mind and refusing to think about it. He would have to deal with this later. Right now he had people to get back to base in one piece. Then maybe he could get really drunk and go pound on something.
Atlantis 2004
John blinked and rubbed his eyes. Staring down at the half full cup in his hand, he swirled coffee so weak it was one step beyond colored water. After six months in the Ancient city of Atlantis, they were at the end of their coffee supply and the mess hall staff was obviously trying to stretch it. He gave up on drinking it and yawned.
“Hey, Major.”
Glancing up, John watched an obnoxiously peppy Lt. Ford plop his tray down across from him and then plop himself into a chair. John grunted, too tired for much more of a response. He’d decided that getting old sucked and watching Ford be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed just cemented that particular view. “I take it you slept well?”
Ford nodded as he chewed. After a few moments, the young marine looked up at John as if to comment, then stopped and studied his commanding officer. “Uh, sir? You don’t look so hot.”
One eyebrow arched upward, almost on its own volition. He knew how he looked. He’d seen the dark circles under his eyes in the mirror. “Yeah, I know. My room alternated between meat locker and sauna. Then the shower turned into ice water about halfway through. Not my best day so far.”
“Wow, that sounds awful. You think your environmental controls were messed up?” Ford looked at him with such clueless innocence that it was hard to believe he was in the marines.
Looking past the lieutenant, John grimaced. “Oh, I think I know what the problem was. I just don’t know why.”
“What?” Ford looked totally confused as Rodney McKay set his tray down next to him and smirked at John.
“Major? You look a little tired this morning. Problems sleeping?”
John glared at the scientist, trying to push the anger down. His headache was escalating and shouting at Rodney was only going to make it worse. Letting out a deep breath, he calmly asked, “Care to tell me why you made my life a living hell the past eight hours?”
Teyla was just sitting down beside him and sent a questioning look to Ford, who shrugged his shoulders. John ignored them both to concentrate on Rodney. He had no doubt who was behind his latest misery and he was determined to find out why.
Rodney put on his best innocent expression as he chewed his food and sipped his coffee, making a face that mirrored John’s opinion of the watery drink. Then he wiped his mouth and looked at John. “If you had trouble with the environmentals, you should have called someone.”
“Don’t even try, Rodney, I’m not in the mood. I’ve had no sleep because every time I dozed off, the temperature changed drastically and I had to keep changing clothes and moving blankets. Then my shower turns to ice about the time I get all lathered up. Besides freezing to death, I got soap in my eyes. I have the headache from hell and right now I just want to know why? I’m assuming this is payback for something, but I’m too tired to try to figure it out.”
Rodney snorted. “Really? You don’t remember taking the last piece of cake last night when that was the last of our cocoa? And being greedy, you took the last two pieces and ran off with them.”
John stared at the physicist. He didn’t really know McKay all that well, having only met him six months ago, but he had become painfully aware of the man’s ego, love of food, hypochondria, and don’t forget his love of food (especially chocolate). And still he hadn’t expected this. The man had two PhDs.
“You have got to be kidding me.” John opened and closed his mouth a few times, but he couldn’t find the words. Mitch and Dex and their last prank flared bright in his mind, making him want to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. He started to get up, but Teyla put her hand on his arm, stopping him.
“John, let me explain.” She turned to Rodney, her expression tense and almost angry. “Last night I was sitting with Tamrin and his mother in the infirmary. He fell yesterday and broke his arm. He also hit his head, so Dr. Beckett wanted to keep him until morning. John was bringing the cake to them to help cheer them up. They were both missing the rest of the family and feeling very uncomfortable being away. John did not eat either piece of cake. He was merely trying to help two people from my village feel better about being away from their home. I believe you owe him an apology.”
If John hadn’t felt so bad, it might have been worth all the trouble to see Rodney look so flustered. He was apparently rarely wrong about things and not used to handing out apologies. The man began sputtering like an old water kettle, making John smile in spite of himself. Teyla looked like a monitoring parent and Ford was snickering like a younger sibling enjoying his brother get in trouble.
“Major Sheppard to the control room.”
John sighed and tapped his radio. “This is Sheppard. On my way.” Looks like he was never getting that apology. “Ford, you might want to teach genius here the rule about assumptions,” he said as he stood. Giving a nod and a smile to Teyla, he headed for the control room.
He found Elizabeth and Bates standing next to the railing overlooking the gate. Bates had on his stern, badass expression (but then when didn’t he?). Elizabeth looked relieved when she saw him approaching and that set him on high alert. “What’s going on?”
Elizabeth opened her mouth but Bates jumped in, cutting her off. This could not be good.
“Sir, Malcolm’s team is a half hour overdue. We’ve opened the gate and radioed them twice with no reply. MALP shows two men guarding the gate and they have weapons that look like crude rifles.”
Crap. This day just continued to go downhill and it was barely 0800. John thought a moment, mentally pulling up everything he could remember about the mission and the planet. “Okay, they were going to trade with the Cossnians, right?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yes, Dr. Beckett conducted a clinic there last week and we’re trading medical treatment and help with the planting and harvest for food staples we badly need.”
“Right. No sign of weapons beyond knives and bows and arrows so it’s likely they came under attack and our people just happened to be there.” John really hated bullies.
“With all due respect, sir, the Genii didn’t show any advanced weapons at first either. And we contacted these people through Teyla, again. Maybe they fooled your team into trusting them like the Genii did.” Bates had that superior, smug expression he pulled out when he thought he’d made his CO look like a fool. John was about ninety percent sure that’s exactly what Bates thought he was, a big fool.
Ignoring Bates, John turned to Elizabeth, refusing to acknowledge the jab. “I know there are trees close to the gate, but I can get a jumper through with some quick maneuvering.”
“Go in cloaked?” she asked, a smile forming as she picked up on his plan.
He nodded. “Two jumpers with lots of men and firepower since we don’t know what we’re walking into. If I remember correctly, there’s an ideal landing spot on the far side of the settlement. If they’re expecting us to come after our people, they won’t be expecting it from that direction. Hopefully we’ll catch them off guard.”
Bates shook his head and scowled at John. “Sir, I have to disagree.”
“Of course you do,” John muttered.
Bates ignored him and continued. “We have no idea what kind of forces they have or if the villagers are involved. We don’t know how effective their weapons are. And with all due respect, we don’t even know if our men are alive or not. For all we know, they’re already dead.”
John felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck as he bristled at the comment. “We don’t leave our people behind and we definitely don’t leave them in enemy hands. Until I see bodies, I’ll assume they’re alive and to be honest, I’d go after them even if I thought they were dead.”
“So you’d risk the lives of those in your command to go after the dead? But then I guess anyone who would crash a $15 million helicopter to retrieve a body is willing to risk anything,”
John felt the heat rise to his face as his anger almost boiled over. It was all he could do to keep from belting the sergeant. “It was $15.8 million if you’re counting. Holland was alive when I got to him. He died in the arms of a friend instead of alone or at the hands of the enemy. Even if I had known I couldn’t save him, I still would have gone. I hope somewhere out there is someone who would come for me if I was in enemy hands.”
“There is,” Elizabeth said firmly. John gave her a nod of appreciation. He knew she meant it. When you were in the hands of not so friendly forces, knowing people were looking for you made all the difference. He hoped his men knew he would come for them.
John turned back to Bates. “I’m going after our people. You can help or get out of my way. I’m assuming you don’t want to be a part of the rescue?”
“I need to be here in case something happens to you and Lt. Ford.”
John snorted. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He turned to Elizabeth, dismissing Bates from his mind. “Get Markam, Johnson, and Ramirez’s teams to meet me in the ready room and I’ll round up my team. We should be ready to embark in fifteen minutes.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Bring them home, John.”
“We will.” He just hoped they were bringing them back alive and not in body bags.
Fifteen minutes later, two jumpers flew through the gate to M3X-223, cloaking the instant they emerged. To cover their passage, Elizabeth threw an old coffee container through the gate with a message in it requesting a meeting to arrange the return of her people. The guards were so busy first aiming at the can and then scrambling to see what it was that they completely missed the jumpers.
“Well, step one worked out like we’d planned,” said John, more to himself than anyone else. The jumper was crowded with his team up front and Johnson’s team plus a couple of extra marines he’d picked up at the last minute in the back. When they reached the settlement, he flew a little lower so he could scope out the situation.
The settlement was comprised of around fifty small wooden homes radiating out from the center of town like spokes on a wheel. The center of the wheel was made up of four rectangular common buildings, each about the size of four or five houses put together. These were used for meetings, celebrations, trading, and festivals. The streets were usually filled with people moving about working or visiting or trading. They were almost barren now except for a few armed men that looked nothing like the Cossnians.
“It’ll be dark soon,” commented Rodney.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m counting on.” The day/night cycle on this planet was almost directly opposite that of Atlantis. The quickly approaching nightfall was messing with his mind, which was still stuck in morning mode. Shaking off the lethargy from no sleep, he headed the jumper toward the far side of the town.
Once the jumpers were secured and his men assembled in a small clearing, John explained his plan. “The easternmost common building has four men posted around it and it’s the only one being guarded. I’m guessing that’s where our people are. My team will take the front door and Markam’s will take the back. Be as quiet as possible. Johnson’s team take the eastern side of the building and Ramirez takes the west. Spread out and make a perimeter about thirty feet out. Let us know of any incoming problems you can’t take care of.”
Everyone nodded their understanding. John made eye contact with each team leader to ensure they knew what their responsibility was. “Our first priority is getting our people back. If we can do some pest control while we’re here, then I’m all for it. We can come back and finish the job later if we need to. Questions?” When no one said anything, John gave them a nod. “Let’s do this.”
It only took twenty minutes to quietly make their way to the common building. John and Ford quietly eliminated the two guards at the front door. Two clicks on the radio told John that the back door was clear as well. Nodding at Ford, he knocked twice on the door. A moment later it began to open. The lieutenant grabbed the man in the doorway and yanked him out while John rushed in, crouched over and gun up. Two men sat at a table, their eyes wide.
“Don’t move,” John hissed, aiming his gun at the men. The rest of his team filed in behind him. “Where are my men?” When they didn’t answer immediately, John walked around the table and stuck his gun right in the face of the first man. “Last time I ask. Where . . are . . my . . men?”
The man was unshaven, with stringy blonde hair almost to his shoulders. He audibly gulped as he studied John. “I . . . uh . . . “ He flinched when John leaned in a little closer. “Okay, okay, last room on the right at the end of the hall.”
“How many more of your people are in the building?” asked Ford.
“No one else. The door is locked. The key is on the shelf over there.”
Markam was closest to the shelves the man indicated. He looked for a moment before holding up the key. John nodded. “Tie them up and see if you can find out how many of these guys there are and what they want. We’ll go get Malcolm’s team.” Markam passed him the key as his team made their way across the large meeting room to a short hall with three rooms on each side. Not truly trusting the thug’s information, they proceeded cautiously with their guns up and ready. John opened the door that was supposed to contain their missing team and looked in.
The captured men were battered and bruised and huddled against the far wall. Their heads shot up as one at the sound of the door opening. Expressions of anger and apprehension gave way to smiles when they got a look at the team.
John held out his hand to Sgt. Malcolm and pulled him to his feet. “I heard you guys needed a hand getting home.”
Malcolm chuckled. “You heard right. Thank you, sir.”
“No problem.” John studied the other men as they got to their feet. “You guys okay? Anyone injured?”
“Yen got shot in the arm,” Malcolm reported. “Other than that, just some bruises and scratches. They wanted more weapons like ours and didn’t take too kindly to us refusing to help them get some. There’s about thirty of them, all armed with muzzle-loading rifles. They surrounded the village, just looking to raid it for everything of value. Once they saw our weapons, they decided to hang around until they could get more. I’m really sorry, sir. We let our guard down.”
John shook his head. “You were seriously outnumbered and if I know you, you were trying to prevent civilian casualties. I’m just glad you guys are all in one piece. Let’s get you out of here.”
John led the way back to the entrance. After a few minutes discussion, they decided there was no one injured seriously enough to make immediate return to Atlantis a necessity. With the encouragement and approval of the previous captives, a plan was formulated to neutralize the remaining raider forces. Once the prisoners were securely bound, they were locked in one of the smaller rooms in case any of their friends wandered into the building.
About a third of the marauders were bunking down in the adjacent common building. There was only one guard inside and he was quickly neutralized. The sleeping men were quickly bound and gagged. The Lantean forces then spread out to take care of the rest of the thugs that invaded the village.
It took the better part of two hours to rid the village and surrounding area of the raiders. The men were scattered around in groups of two or three, mostly keeping watch. The people from the settlement had been told to stay inside or they would be shot on sight and they had complied. That made it easier on the people from Atlantis. Anyone outside was to be taken down. Since they had the element of surprise, very few had been killed.
The bad guys were all moved into one building and secured. Johnson’s team was to stand guard until John could return with a fresh team. He met briefly with the village elders, who were very grateful for the Lantean’s intervention, to explain that he would return the next day to discuss the fate of their captives. On the plus side, they wouldn’t have any trouble getting their food supplies supplemented by the Cossnians, who were already talking about things they could add to the previous agreement.
Malcolm’s team had already headed for the jumpers with Ramirez’s team playing escort. Markam’s team joined John’s for the short hike. It was still dark and they were all tired, so they had set a leisurely pace. John tuned in to the conversation around him as they walked.
“And I’ll bet we could get some of that stuff that tastes like chocolate. I know they don’t have a lot and it depends on what they can collect from the forest, but they’re willing to give us just about anything right now,” boasted McKay.
“Surely you would not take advantage of their gratitude for your own gain. The Cossnians are a simple people, much like my people. They cannot afford to give too much or they will not have enough to make it through the winter. To cheat them would be wrong,” said Teyla. Her voice was strained, as if worried about how the people from Earth would treat their allies.
“No one’s going to be cheated here,” said John. “If they have a few extras they can throw in without leaving themselves short, then we can use it. They are also a proud people and will want to feel like they have done something to thank us.”
Teyla glanced at him and the frown across her brow relaxed. “You are right of course. I know you and Elizabeth will make sure the trade is fair.”
Thinking he heard someone coming up on his right, John stopped and began turning to peer through the dark. The sound of the shot seemed to echo around the cluster of trees as the impact sent John flying back. The pain of hitting the ground was quickly followed by a burning pain in his right side. There were shots and shouting and movement around him, but John was so focused on pulling in his next breath and not curling up in pain that he was only vaguely aware of it. Then someone was moving him around and pulling on his vest and shirt.
“ . . . all going to be killed. Maybe there’s more of them out there, just waiting to shoot us before we make it back to the jumper. Oh no, he’s the pilot! How are we going to get home? I mean I know I have the gene but he’s only taken me out once or twice and I’ve never landed or tried to go through the gate and what if -“
“McKay, shut up.” Ford sounded kind of pissed. “Just shut up. The major isn’t the only one with the gene that can fly. You need to calm down.”
“It probably won’t even matter because I’m sure we’ll all be killed before we get three -“
“McKay. I’m telling you, you need to calm down or I’m going to shoot you myself.”
“What? You can’t. Teyla, tell him he can’t shoot me. I mean you wouldn’t, would you?”
John had heard enough. He was aware of Teyla pulling a field bandage around him and it hurt like crazy. He didn’t have the patience for this. “Ford, no shooting team members.”
Everyone crouched down beside him, asking him all at once how he was. John groaned and then coughed. “I’ve been shot. It hurts. But I’ll live. I think.”
Rodney sighed dramatically. “Thank goodness. Can you drive us home because I don’t think I can get us there and even if I do, I don’t know how to land yet.”
“Major, are you sure I can’t shoot him?” asked Ford, looking annoyed.
“Yes. We might need him.” Rodney looked smug for about one second before looking hurt. “And McKay, you really do need to calm down. Donnelly’s had plenty of experience with the jumpers. He’ll have no trouble getting us back.”
Ramirez walked up and looked down at his CO. “Major, we’ve eliminated the shooter and done a sweep of the surrounding area. It looks clear from here to the jumper. I guess we just missed one.”
“Ya think?” asked Rodney.
“McKay,” John drawled. He was really going to have to work on McKay’s panic tendencies and people skills.
“Right, sorry. But can we go now?”
John grinned. “Yeah, give me a hand up.”
oOo
John opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to figure out why his mouth was so dry. Blinking, he opened his eyes to find his team watching him. His eyes drifted closed again, but the head of his bed rose until he was half sitting up, so he gave it another try. This time Carson Beckett was standing there grinning at him.
“Nice of you to join us, Major. Would you like a few ice chips?”
John kind of grunted in the affirmative and was rewarded with a couple of small slivers of ice. He moaned in contentment before he realized what he was doing, but it was worth it when he got more ice. His dry mouth seemed to soak most of it up, allowing only a small portion to soothe this throat.
His team had moved around the bed and Elizabeth had appeared from somewhere to join the group. He shifted a little and received a small burst of pain from along the right side of his ribcage for his efforts. It was muted enough that a hitch in his breathing was the only outward sign. Taking further stock of his condition, he made note of the IV and nasal cannula.
“John, do you remember what happened?” asked Elizabeth.
“Yeah. Shot by one of the raiders.” He looked up at Beckett and decided the good doctor’s expression didn’t look too foreboding. “So, how’m I doing Doc?”
“Not too bad, considering. You were shot with something resembling a musket ball. Fortunately the velocity it was fired with was not near what our weapons are. It broke a rib and nicked your lung and the liver. Damage wasn’t too extensive to either organ, though and I expect you’ll recover if you take it easy for a while and follow doctor’s orders.” Beckett checked his tubes and such and then left them to visit.
“How’s Malcolm and his team?” John asked.
“They’re okay. They’ve all been released to their quarters to rest for a few days.” Elizabeth smiled and squeezed his arm. “You did good. You brought all our people home safely.”
“Well, except for yourself of course,” added Rodney with a smirk.
“Did anyone send replacements for Johnson’s team?”
“I did,” said Ford. “What do you want to do about the raiders? The villagers don’t really have a prison as such and we don’t have room to bring them all here.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Major Sheppard is supposed to be resting, not making military decisions five minutes after he wakes up from major surgery.”
Ford shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I guess we can keep guarding them until the major is better.”
John rubbed his face. “The major is going to have a hard time resting with this hanging over him. Where are they from? Are there more of them on a planet somewhere?”
“They are apparently from a planet that was heavily culled about a year ago. Much of their town was destroyed. Many of their people began working to rebuild, but this group decided that was fruitless, as it would eventually be destroyed again. Their leader, Magness, has led them to several planets to take what they wanted. We found that many of the men in his group were barely more than boys, young and easily influenced.”
John nodded at Teyla, appreciating the information she had gathered. “Teyla, could you go with Markam’s team to their home planet to talk to them? Find out more about this group and about the people there. See if there’s anything we can do to help them. I need to talk to Markam before you go.” He wanted to discuss procedures for scouting the settlement out before they revealed themselves. “Then I need to talk to this Magness guy, find out if we should give him a chance or just dump them on a planet with a space gate.” Personally, John was voting for the space gate planet.
oOo
John jerked awake, the sudden gunshot in his dream startling him awake. Rubbing his face, he glanced around the infirmary and realized he’d slept for several hours. He’d only meant to doze for a few minutes, but either the drugs or the after effects of the anesthesia had pulled him under. His body was stiff, but he knew shifting positions would hurt and he was enjoying being numb right now. He decided the pain potential won out over the urge to move for the moment.
“John?” Elizabeth said softly as she approached his bed. When he looked at her, she smiled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be awake. How are you feeling?”
“Not bad right now,” he replied, returning her smile until he noted Bates trailing along behind her.
“Major Sheppard,” Bates said.
John grinned at the sergeant. “We managed to bring everyone home alive and in one piece. I guess my plan didn’t suck so much after all.”
Bates just grimaced. “You got lucky, sir. Things could easily have gone the other way.”
“I spoke to Malcolm’s team,” said Elizabeth. “The raiders knew the MALP was gathering information. They had decided if they didn’t hear from us by morning they were going to execute one of the men in front of it to see if they could get our attention.”
Bates pursed his lips and looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “I still think it was a bad-“
“You’ve made your opinion abundantly clear,” John interrupted. “Your unwavering disapproval of pretty much every decision I make is duly noted. Do you have any further information to report?” He knew he was being testy, but his side was starting to hurt and he still felt fuzzy from the drugs, making it hard to think and even harder to deal with nonsense.
Bates neutrally reported the status of the prisoners and Ford’s discussion with the settlement elders. Teyla had made contact with the raiders’ home planet and was due back at any moment. Bates had decided that it was too much of a security risk to bring Magness to Atlantis. When he finished, John dismissed him, glad to be rid of his security officer’s scowl. John was used to having his superiors look down on him like he was a bug. He was still getting used to having someone under his command do the same.
“Penny for your thoughts,” said Elizabeth.
John shook off the fog around his brain. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get your money’s worth right now.”
Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at him and started to say something, then closed her mouth and shook her head. “He really pushes your buttons, doesn’t he?”
John groaned and let his head fall back against the pillows. “I know, I know. He’s just doing his job playing the devil’s advocate, but I swear he gets way too much pleasure from questioning everything I do. I’m thinking he and Sumner must have been best buddies or something.”
Elizabeth was trying to hide her smile, probably to humor him. “He just doesn’t appreciate your somewhat unorthodox command style.”
“You can say that again. I can give you a long list of folks who would probably have a stroke if they found out I was in command of anything beyond my quarters. Bates doesn’t have the market cornered on having a low opinion of me.” John hadn’t meant to go this direction or say this much. It had to be the drugs.
Elizabeth’s smile softened and she touched him lightly on the arm as she leaned in a little. “I happen to disagree with them. I can’t think of anyone more qualified or better able to handle the constantly shifting chaos of the Pegasus Galaxy. And I have it on good authority that almost everyone here, military personnel and scientific community included, feel the same way. You’re doing a good job, John. Don’t let the Bates and the Kavanaghs tell you any differently.”
John stared at her for a moment, habit making him look for signs she was joking or teasing him. He hadn’t received praise or trust like that from commanding officers in a long time. And while she wasn’t his CO, she was his boss. Out here, separated from Earth, it was the same thing. He gave her a quick nod. “Some days I think I’m doing okay. Other days I’m pretty sure I have no clue and I’m going to get us all killed. This is all very new for me.” Snorting, he added, “And I’m not just talking about living in the fabled lost city of Atlantis while flying actual spaceships and fighting life-sucking alien vampires.”
Elizabeth seemed to study him, making him a little uncomfortable. The last person to trust him like Elizabeth and his team seemed to was Holland, and that hadn’t worked out so well for either of them. He was little afraid that if she looked hard enough, she would see that. But after a moment, she cocked her head a little to one side and asked, “Which way do you feel today?”
That was easy. “All our people are home and safe. I’m feeling pretty good today.” He grinned. “No matter what Sgt. Bates seems to think.” Then he grimaced when he inadvertently shifted positions while talking, which pulled at his injured side. Closing his eyes for a minute, he focused on breathing until the pain subsided. When he opened them again, Teyla was approaching his bed.
“Teyla, you’re back,” said Elizabeth. “How did it go?”
John nodded and gave the Athosian a small smile to let her know he was okay. Her tense expression eased a bit and she returned the smile and the nod. “Major, I am glad to see you looking better.”
“Glad to be getting better,” he said.
“Magness and his men were from a planet known as Nearc’tia. I met with the survivors of the Wraith culling and explained what has been going on. As you know, many of the raiders were very young men, what I believe you would call teenagers. Their families are anxious to have them returned and they vow to not let this situation be repeated. They are willing to take the others as well, but they will be locked up at night and made to help with the rebuilding during the day. They were very distressed to find out what their friends and family members have been doing.”
John sighed in relief. “Good. I really had no desire to actually abandon them on some uninhabited planet with a space gate and hope they survived. I don’t know that they’ve killed anyone yet, so maybe there’s hope for them.”
“I believe there is,” said Teyla. “From what the villagers said, they have all been good men in the past, except for Magness. He is what you might call the village trouble-maker. The culling made everyone a little desperate and he took advantage of that, leading many of the young men astray with promises of a grand life where they did not have to worry about the Wraith. I believe they see the deceit in his words now and will be most grateful to return home.”
“Good,” John said.
“Thank you, Teyla, for working all this out,” said Elizabeth. “You’re quite the diplomat.”
“She kicks butt out in the field, too,” said John with a touch of pride.
Teyla just bowed her head a moment and looked embarrassed. “I am only glad I was able to help.”
“Now, if she can just figure out how to teach McKay a little humility and how to not freak out in the field, we’ll have the perfect team,” said John.
Teyla sighed. “I am not sure even the Ancestors could do that.”
"Part Two"