Fic: Defender (General)
Title: Defender
Author: jadesfire2808
Pairing: None
Rating: Gen/PG
Recipient: pansychubb
Spoilers: Set in S4, but only contains spoilers for change of personnel.
Summary: "May I have your attention, please? This is Colonel Carter. Colonel Sheppard is to be considered an immediate and serious threat to the security of the city."
Author's Note: Huge, huge thanks to D for assistance, P for cheering and M_Z for giving me the ending.
Defender
"Colonel Carter? This is Keller in the infirmary."
"Go ahead."
"Colonel Sheppard is gone."
"What?"
"I don't know how he got away, but I just came back and he was-"
"Gone."
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll send out the search parties. Thanks.
It was too much data to handle at first. Too much input from too many sources giving him too much information. Sinking deeper into the shadows, he concentrated on his first priority.
Hide.
"May I have your attention, please? This is Colonel Carter. Colonel Sheppard is to be considered an immediate and serious threat to the security of the city. All non-essential personnel, please stay where you are for the time being. If you see Colonel Sheppard do not, repeat, do not approach him. All security teams, please report to your designated posts."
It was useful, adding the radio chatter to the data from sensors. Now that he was able to cope with the overload, he could incorporate what was being said into what was being scanned. They still had the numerical advantage, but that was about to become meaningless.
"Carter to McKay."
"What?"
"Rodney, we've got a problem in the control room."
"What?"
"We've lost control of primary systems up here. Lights, internal sensors, gate controls. Everything. Oh, and the doors have all shut."
"What?"
"Are you hearing a word I'm saying?"
"The radio's still working, isn't it? Hang on."
"I'm waiting, Rodney."
"I've got access to all the secondary systems. And the door's opening."
"Lucky you."
"I'll try to reroute things from here."
With everything else dark, he felt freer to move around. The sensors weren't offline, but he wasn't about to have them used against him. Inside his head, he could feel them, and he knew what he had to do. He'd made a trip to the armory, then start tracking them down. The sooner he started, the sooner it would be over.
The sooner everyone else would be gone.
"McKay to Carter. Sam?"
"We've still got nothing up here, Rodney."
"I know. And you don't have any gene carriers up there either, do you?"
"Not at the moment. This is ATA related?"
"I can't tell how, exactly, yet, but Atlantis has locked everyone out of its controls except gene carriers."
"Can you get us back in?"
"Working on it."
"Rodney, do you think-"
"Yes. And I also think he's quite capable of putting in an earpiece and listening to the radio channels, which is probably why you've still got access to them."
He didn't need the earpiece. The radios weren't his technology, but they were tied into systems that were. Everything that was said, on every channel, reached him. There were too many voices to listen to it all, so he only paid attention to the ones that mattered. Security teams. The control room. The people he needed.
As he slipped round another corner, he glanced down at his arm. The band was glowing gently, showing up in the gloom of the unlit corridors. It would be a dead-giveaway for anyone looking for him, so he slid his wristband down to cover it. Then he was moving again, silent and unseen in the abandoned corridors.
"Colonel Carter? This is Lorne."
"Go ahead."
"My teams have been through the main tower as best we can and there's no sign of the Colonel. We're spreading out to the North pier."
"Alright. Be careful."
"Yes, ma'am. Lorne out."
His trip to the armory complete, he decided to use the transporter, locking everyone else out of it in the process. This wasn't going to be easy, he knew. They wouldn't understand, would almost certainly resist, but then that was what the stunner was for. After a brief check on the sensors, he pressed the location on the transporter map and faced the closing doors.
First target acquired.
"Rodney?"
"If this isn't life or death, Radek…"
"Miko has found the bracelet in the Ancient database."
"That's great. Now all we have to do is ask Sheppard very nicely if he'll let us have a look at his and we're home and dry."
"I thought you would want to know."
"I do. Plough on with it and let Sam know what you're doing. Call me if you actually find something useful."
The security team had paused in the corridor, replying to the radio message. His next target was already acquired, but first he had to deal with this one. There were six in the group, all alert and peering into the shadows. Despite himself, he smiled. They were looking for something out of place, something to alert them to his presence. But he was the city. They could look straight at him and not see him.
Or not.
It must have been the gleam of the stunner that gave him away, because suddenly six guns were pointed in his direction and someone was yelling loud enough that it echoed round the corridor.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
Having lost the element of surprise, he stepped out of the deeper shadows, hands held loosely by his sides.
"Major."
"I'm going to have to ask you to come with us, sir."
He tilted his head, calculating. "That's funny," he said. "I was just about to say the same thing to you."
The first shot caught the man on Lorne's right, while the second grazed Lorne himself. There was just enough time to squeeze off a third shot but he couldn't check whether or not it hit because he was rolling away, using the stairs as cover. He got off two more shots before he had to move, retreating this time, forcing them to follow him. Rather than wait for them to find their aim again, he fired blind, hearing another body hit the floor, even as he dodged to the left and further into the darkness.
"Colonel!" That was Lorne. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but just come out and let's talk about it."
That was why he was doing this. They didn't, they couldn't understand. He had to make them understand. Another shot would risk revealing his position in the shadows, but he had a pretty good line on all of them. It wasn't his first choice, but then sometimes results were more important than finesse. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the stunner and began to shoot.
"Rodney? What have you got for me?"
"Nothing different to the last three times you asked."
"There's not much else to do up here. What with being shut out of the systems and everything."
"I'm working on it, Sam. Has Miller made it up to you yet?"
"Yes. He got the doors open, but the control room seems to have been deliberately cut off from the rest of the city."
"Alright. I've got Radek and Miko working on the bracelet, seeing what they can come up with. They're going to keep you updated when they can."
"And you?"
"You'll know I've got something when the lights come back on."
Lorne had managed to fall on his face. And despite his tac vest being convenient to drag him by, Sheppard decided he'd rather not risk having so many useful implements around someone trained to use them. It took a bit of work to get the unconscious man into the transporter then along the empty corridor, but it was worth it for the security the room provided. Without the transporter, it would take anyone hours to get here.
Still taking no chances, Sheppard made sure he secured the Major's hands and feet before making him relatively comfortable on the floor. Sometimes, you had to protect people from themselves. Once he was sure that the other man wasn't going to choke or suffocate, Sheppard headed back to the transporter, making sure the locking system sealed the door behind him.
One down, nineteen to go.
"Sam?"
"Rodney. Well, you got the lights on."
"Yeah, I'm working on the rest. Zelenka, you getting this?"
"We are here Rodney."
"Talk to me, gentlemen."
"Miko and I think we know what the bracelet that Colonel Sheppard found is for."
"I'm assuming it's not just the latest in Ancient fashion."
"Rodney, as you always say, you are correct."
"Could you two save the bickering for later? We've got more immediate problems."
"Apologies, Colonel. The bracelet is the next stage in Ancient technology. It is designed to allow the wearer to receive information from the computer directly."
"Okay. And it's gone wrong for John because he's not fully Ancient?"
"Could be. But, Sam, you realize that this means he's out there with all the knowledge of Atlantis as well as all the knowledge of Colonel Sheppard. I'm betting it's him who's shut us out of the systems."
"Hang on a second….One of our security teams just went dark."
"Then I'd say they found him."
"There were six people in that team, Rodney. Four of them marines."
"Trust me when I say that would not be a problem. Go re-read your Genii reports from a couple of years back. It's not like you can do anything else right now."
The conversation had given Sheppard his next target. There was only one lab currently connected to the database, and it had a transporter nearby. Convenient.
Jogging down the corridor, he checked the setting on the wraith stunner, cut the power to the control room lights again and erased McKay's clever work-round that would have given him access to the internal sensors with just a few more lines of coding. Sheppard was going to have to keep an eye on that: he'd forgotten how fast McKay could work when he was really, really motivated.
At the end of the corridor he paused, peering round the corner while checking the sensors again. There were three people in the lab, including the one he wanted. The guards outside the door had no way of knowing he was there, and barely had time to look surprised before he stunned them. Then he was moving, coming closer and opening the lab door.
A stun blast burst out of the open doorway, hitting the wall opposite. It looked like they were going to fight harder than he'd expected. Instead of charging in, he stopped just short, flattening himself against the wall. This time, he didn't need the sensors to track the person slowly creeping towards the door, stunner held out. That was their first mistake.
As the stunner emerged from the room, Sheppard reached out and knocked it away, throwing the man off-balance. As he stumbled, Sheppard brought his free hand round, palm forwards, catching his would-be attacker in the face and slamming him into the doorway. The shorter man crumpled, his glasses askew and Sheppard risked moving into the room, stunner raised. In the corner, two people in lab coats were cowering against the far wall. He gestured to the one on the right, the one he'd been looking for.
"You're coming with me." When she shook her head, he took another step forwards, lowering the stunner a little. "I know you're scared, but you need to trust me. I have to get you to safety."
"What?" The word wasn't much more than a squeak, and she backed further away.
"I have to get you to safety," Sheppard repeated, splitting his attention between her and the man standing half in front of her. He was also aware of what had to be a security patrol on the level above, as well as McKay calling on the radio, sounding increasingly hysterical. The unconscious man in the doorway must be Zelenka. "Please," he said, putting all the sincerity he could into his voice, "just come with me and I'll explain everything."
She shook her head, and her companion moved a little in front of her, obviously hoping to shield her. Which was a mistake. Without giving a warning, Sheppard lifted the stunner and shot him, moving almost before the body hit the ground. Grabbing Miko's arm, he pulled her with him as he strode from the room, ignoring her cries and half-carrying her when she tripped over the unconscious men. Once in the corridor, he hung the stunner from his belt and put a hand over her mouth, using the other to grip her arm and propel her to the transporter. She could scream all she liked later. Right now, he needed to get her away before they were discovered.
"Zelenka! Radek, do you copy?"
"Doctor McKay? This is Sergeant Calder. I've just found Doctors Zelenka and Horch, both unconscious."
"What about Miko?"
"I don't see her. Doctor Zelenka's taken a nasty blow to the head, but I think Doctor Horch has just been stunned. Doctor Keller's on her way."
"Good. Is the computer in there still running?"
"I've got two people down, sir. The computers are not my first priority."
"Sergeant, they were working on something that could help Colonel Sheppard. I'll go and cry over their hospital beds later. Right now, I want to know if they'd actually found anything."
"The screen's gone dark."
"Damn. Alright. Have you let Colonel Carter know?"
"Yes, sir."
"Right. McKay out."
"Sam?"
"Rodney, we lost the lights. And the doors have all locked again."
"I know. I must have been getting close on the sensors, because he wiped my program before I could finish it."
"He?"
"Sheppard. Look, Sam, I don't know what the hell he's doing, but I sort of have an idea."
"Right now, I'm open to suggestions."
"Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one. McKay out."
"McKay to Sheppard."
"McKay to Sheppard, please respond."
"Sheppard? I know you can hear me. You can probably see me too, can't you? Come on. I'm not going to shut up until you start talking to me."
"Sheppard, I said I wasn't going anywhere and not only am I capable of talking and typing at the same time, I'm more than capable of talking for pretty much the rest of the day until you-"
"McKay!"
"Sheppard?"
Sheppard closed his eyes, momentarily confused. Miko and Lorne were secure, and he had been on his way to round up two more when McKay's verbal prodding got through to him. He hadn't meant to answer, it had been pure instinct, although he couldn't have said from where. It wasn't a logical process, just an automatic reaction.
"Sheppard? You still there?"
"What do you want?"
"I was going to ask you the same question."
"I'll be there soon, Rodney. I have to find the others first. Then I'll come find you."
"Well, excuse me if that idea doesn't exactly thrill me right now."
"You'll understand."
"Not unless you tell me, I won't."
"I heard you talking to Sam, Rodney. I know you're only doing this because you don’t understand. But you will. I promise."
"Sheppard? Don’t think you're going to shut me up just by ignoring me."
Standing by the transporter doors, Sheppard shook his head, trying to clear it. The conversation with McKay was throwing him, making him forget what he was supposed to be doing. Sick of wasting time, he located the remaining targets through the city. Thirteen of them were in rooms that he could secure, although he'd end up with those he didn't want along with those he did. They could be dealt with later. With two safe up here and McKay wherever he was, that only left one in the control room and two on security patrols. They shouldn't take too long to find.
He hesitated before selecting the destination in the transporter, lifting his stunner from its holder. There were two lifesigns at the destination he needed, which could be a problem. On the other hand, there were only two, and it would take too long to hike round from the other transporter. With McKay on his tracks, so well-meaning but just so wrong, he couldn't afford the time. Gripping the stunner, he got as close to the side of the transporter as he could manage, then stretched out to press the glowing dot.
There was no immediate reaction when the doors opened. One lifesign had retreated to the right, while the other was still straight ahead. As he waited, the second one kept going, apparently summoned for another purpose. Sheppard had tuned out the radio chatter to avoid having to listen to McKay, so he couldn't be entirely sure what was happening. But the lifesign was well out range now, and the other still hadn't moved. Deciding to risk it, and counting on his own speed to give him the advantage, Sheppard burst out of the transporter, sprinting away down the corridor to his left. Behind him, he heard a distinctive whine, then the blast of an energy weapon. He dodged the first shot, but the second caught him in the shoulder, half-stunning him and knocking him to the ground.
As heavy footsteps came in his direction, he managed to match the whine to a name, dragged out of the depths of his memory. The stunner was pulled from his hand, and his captor reached down to turn him over, which was helpful, since all Sheppard's muscles seemed to have turned to water. He looked up into a distantly familiar face.
"Sheppard?"
"Ronon?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Rodney."
"I'm telling you, Sam, it's a bad idea."
"Look, he found the thing in your lab, the least you can do is get down here and try and get it off again."
"First of all, he opened that box despite my telling him not to, so that's not my fault. Second of all, he's completely flipped and if you think I'm walking into a room with a psychotic Sheppard again, you've got another thing coming. And third of all, I've got the gene, like Lorne and Miko and am I the only one seeing this pattern?"
"That's all you got?"
"Sam, I'm working on it, okay? Unless, of course, you can't manage without me."
"I'm sure we'll cope somehow."
He was getting better at recognizing the faces. Not of all the marines stationed at various points around the room, although he probably could have found the names if he'd needed to. Ronon, of course, was pretty memorable anyway, as was the woman sitting in the chair across the table from him, her hands folded neatly and her eyes never leaving his face. Teyla. Then there was the blonde woman just coming in, carrying a laptop and talking to someone over her shoulder. He managed to connect her to her name before she turned to look at him properly.
"Hello, John."
"Colonel. I'd get up but I think someone might shoot me if I tried."
She half-smiled, setting the laptop down and taking a black case from the airman behind her. "That's entirely possible."
"If you leave now, no-one will get hurt."
He had to give it to her, she was good. Her face barely flickered with surprise before she had it under control again. "What are you talking about?"
Shaking his head, he sat back in the chair, folding his arms. He'd given them their warning, which was more than he'd wanted to do. There was nothing more to say.
"Okay then." Taking a seat next to Teyla, Carter started unpacking equipment. "If you think of anything else you want to say, feel free. Until then, we're going to have to take a look at that bracelet you're wearing."
When Sheppard didn't move, Carter sighed. "John, I know you don't believe me, but we're trying to help you. Now, I need you to put your hand on the table. Please."
On the other side of the room, Ronon stirred, not moving so much as stretching slightly. It was enough for Sheppard to take the hint. Pulling his wristband back, he put his hand flat on the table, watching with mild interest as Carter attached a thin wire to it.
"Our working theory," she said to Teyla as she typed something into the laptop, and Sheppard wasn't entirely sure who she was talking to, " based on what we found in the database, is that something's gone wrong with the bracelet's programming. It's supposed to just let the wearer know what's going in the computer systems, but it seems to have set up some kind of feedback loop. There's too much activity here for what the device was meant to do."
"What does that mean?" Teyla's voice was patient, if strained, and her eyes were moving now, from Carter to Sheppard, to Ronon and back again.
"It means that instead of just delivering information, the computer is receiving it as well, adapting according to what it learns and feeding it back again. It's also trying to integrate John into its mainframe, treating him as another system like the lights or the shield."
"Will that damage his mind?"
"There's no way to be sure, but it's already been six hours since he put it on. The longer he wears it, the greater the risk that his mind will come to depend on it, or become completely assimilated."
"You do both know that I can hear you, right?" Resting his other hand on the table as well, Sheppard raised an eyebrow.
"That's good to know." Carter sounded distracted, only half her attention on him as she ran her eyes over the screen. "Now that is very interesting."
Sheppard let the words wash over him, vaguely aware of their meaning as he reconnected himself to the city's sensors. The laptop Carter was using wasn't on the network, but there were plenty more that were. It took Sheppard 0.005 seconds to confirm that all his people were still where he had left them. Seven were alone, while the rest were accompanied by at least one intruder. Eleven were using computers, and it should have been easy to work out which of them was McKay, except there was some kind of blocking in the system, rerouting messages and scrambling signals so that Sheppard was having difficulty pinning down the source.
Closing his eyes, he smiled to himself. McKay was trying to cover his tracks, do whatever he was doing before Sheppard could find him. They'd just have to see who was quicker, wouldn't they?
"Sam? You getting anywhere?"
"There's a lot of lines of code here, Rodney."
"Yeah. I'd help if I could, but you put that computer on the Atlantis network…"
"I know. What about you?"
"I may have something, but I'll have to bring it down to you. Every time I try to work from up here, Sheppard cuts me off again."
"What?"
"He's in the computer, Sam. He is the computer."
"So what have you got?"
"I'll tell you when I get there. Er, everything is secure, isn't it? I mean, I'm happy to come down, of course, but I could always just send it with someone and talk you through it by radio."
"Ronon and Teyla are both here, Rodney. Along with six marines. And me. That enough for you?"
"I guess."
"How are you going to get here? I thought Sheppard had sealed all the rooms with gene carriers in."
"Well, the door opens for me. Wonderful. Foreboding enough for you?"
"Just get down here, Rodney. Now."
"En route. McKay out."
The door opened for McKay because Sheppard told it to. He kept his eyes closed and his posture relaxed, but he knew this was the only chance he was going to get. If it didn't work, they'd lock him up so securely that he'd never get away. Carter was already hacking into his command controls, and without having her computer on his network, there was nothing he could do to stop her. He needed McKay away from the computers long enough to make him understand, then he could put him back in front of a computer and they could work together to sort this whole mess out.
By the time McKay arrived, Sheppard knew exactly what he was going to do. Straightening in his seat, he looked up as the door opened, willing McKay to understand just from his look, to understand hat everything would be alright if they could just leave, leave now, get out and just go. Sheppard became aware that he'd tightened his hands against the table, although everyone seemed too preoccupied with McKay to notice. As usual, his loud monologue drew everyone's attention to him, and right now, Sheppard intended to use that to his advantage. Even Ronon was distracted enough to glance away from Sheppard every now and then. That was definitely a good thing.
Sheppard waited until McKay came right over to the table, plugging something into the laptop and hitting a button. The world seemed to tilt, and he heard a triumphant exclamation from McKay.
"It's working. Sort of. It should at least cut him off from some of the more basic subroutines which means our chances of getting him back with his brain more or less intact just went up."
"Nice work, Rodney."
It was very, very bad. Data was blurring and jumbling, becoming confused and distant, and there was a rushing in Sheppard's ears, a sheer terror as he lost more subsystems. He couldn't take much more of this. Blinking hard, he looked up into McKay's worried face, now much closer to his own.
"Sheppard? You in there?"
"Yes." He'd hardly finished the word before he moved, feeling the wires pull from the interface as he rose from the chair, toppling the table and diving over it. Simultaneously, he cut the lights. McKay had stumbled backwards and Sheppard landed half on top of him, rolling them so that McKay's body was shielding him from the guns that were sure to be pointed in his direction. Carter's stunner had gone flying, and Sheppard managed to get a hand on it, firing blindly up and behind him, hoping the soldiers there would take cover for long enough.
McKay wasn't a dead weight, but he was heavy and he was fighting back as Sheppard got to his feet, taking two swift steps backwards so that he could get his back to the wall. He held McKay to his left, shielding him from Ronon and the others, while he pointed the stunner to his right, taking out three guards as they scrambled away from him. The whole maneuver, from 'yes' to shooting had taken 2.64 seconds, which was acceptable.
Everyone seemed to be yelling his name, but he ignored them, getting a better hold on McKay, curling his arm round to grip the other man's throat. He didn't really want to risk injury, but he didn't have that much of a height or weight advantage, and they were going to have to move quickly. Edging along the wall, Sheppard opened the door a fraction, just enough for them to squeeze through. In the dark, the light from the corridor seemed blinding, and he automatically dimmed them, but not before he saw Ronon's bulky form too close to his for comfort. Using the lifesigns detector, he fired quickly, dodging a hastily taken shot that nearly clipped his ear. There was no way to tell if he'd stunned everyone, but he'd just have to take the risk. Fortunately, McKay hadn't been hit and was standing very still, not fighting the grip and letting himself be pulled along as Sheppard made a run for the door. No shots followed them, so they had a few minutes' grace before someone woke up and started calling for help.
Sheppard locked the door behind him, checking for lifesigns before making for the transporter. He released McKay's throat as they half-ran down the corridor, shifting to grip his upper arm instead.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will stun you if I have to," Sheppard half-whispered, aware of a group of lifesigns getting uncomfortably close. He was going to have to start sealing corridors at this rate. With his attention already split in so many directions, he barely registered McKay's disbelieving snort. "And I don't care what you think," Sheppard added, opening the transporter doors well before they got there. "I can explain everything."
Then they were inside and he was pressing the button and finally felt safe enough to release McKay's arm, belatedly realizing that his fingers had probably been digging in hard enough to bruise. Free to move, McKay retreated to the far side of the tiny space, rubbing his arm and huffing to himself. He stood there even after the transporter doors had opened, until Sheppard had had enough of just staring at each other.
"Come on," he said, gesturing with the stunner.
With a wince as his fingers found another sore spot on his arm, McKay lifted his head and peered out into the corridor. Apparently satisfied that it was alright, he moved slowly forwards, shooting Sheppard a resentful look as he passed.
"You'd better have a damn good reason for all this, Sheppard."
Sheppard's stomach flipped in relief. McKay wasn't yelling or running or doing anything that would have required Sheppard to shoot him. He was waiting in the transporter lobby, watching Sheppard watching him, and looking as though he might even be prepared to listen.
"A very good reason," Sheppard said, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from him. "We need to take the city back."
"McKay to Carter."
"Rodney? Are you alright?"
"For the moment. You?"
"I'm stuck in a locked room with seven other people and without any light."
"Oh. Let me see what I can do about that."
"You're at a computer?"
"Sheppard's given me access. I'm…working."
"On what?"
"There you go. Fiat lux, I believe is the appropriate expression."
"Thanks. Rodney, what are you-"
"Can't talk. Just checking in to say I'm alright and so on, if anyone cares. I'll be in touch when I can."
"Rodney!"
"McKay out."
He'd let McKay make the call to get some peace and quiet, but now it was over, Sheppard began hovering again, watching McKay's fingers on the keyboard and feeling the city respond to the new commands. It was getting harder to tell the lifesigns detector from the temperature sensors from the pathogen filters, all the data blending into a single city-sense that made him want to just close his eyes and sink into it.
"Have you thought where you're going to send them?"
The question cut through his thoughts, and he just about managed to focus on McKay again. "What?"
"Where you're going to send them. All the people you don't want here."
"They don't belong here. They shouldn't be here."
"Right. Because I didn't understand that the first twenty times you told me." He turned back to the computer, typing and tutting to himself, and casting the occasional nervous glance towards the corner of the room. Lorne and Miko were still there, still tied up because although Sheppard needed McKay, he wasn't sure the others were quite on board yet. And no, gagging them hadn't exactly been the best way to win their trust, but he needed McKay to work uninterrupted, and not be distracted. Not now he knew what was going on. Their presence did seem to be making McKay a little nervous, but it wouldn't be for much longer. Soon, the others would be gone and everything would be the way it should be.
He realized that McKay was staring at him again, and forced himself to concentrate on the here and now. When he raised his eyebrows expectantly, McKay said, "Have you even thought how you're going to get them there?"
"Where?"
"Wherever it is you want them to go."
"I'll have them dial the gate-"
McKay snorted. "Oh, I'm sure that'll work, especially if you say please."
"What do you suggest?" There wasn't time for this. The urgency was overtaking Sheppard now, humming in his mind and making him bounce on the balls of his feet. He had to get the city back, had to get rid of them, had to make it safe. It was too confusing, having to interact like this, keep an eye on McKay and Lorne and Miko and all the others locked in their safe little rooms while all the time he just wanted to lose himself in his city, become fully part of her. Protect her.
For now, he had to listen to McKay's answer, which for once seemed to be blindingly simple. "Use a Jumper. Dial the gate from there and have them go through. You can open the doors selectively so that they don't go anywhere you don't want them, and you'll be safely in the Jumper."
"Nice." Sheppard smiled, already planning evacuation routes and starting to open and close bulkheads. "You're coming with me in case anything goes wrong."
"Fine. Whatever. Just let me…" Rodney hit something on the computer, then turned and nodded. "All set."
"Sam, this is Rodney. I managed to record this while Sheppard was away doing his prowling thing. I can't say too much in case he finds this, but I have an idea. There's no reason why it shouldn't work, but then there's no guarantees either. I just thought I should let you know that I've got it more or less under control. And if I haven't…well, look after the city for us."
It seemed to take an age to get to the Jumper bay, and Sheppard decided they'd have to expand the transporter network out here once all this was over. There were plenty of improvements and things that needed tidying up and he'd give them his full attention soon.
"Sheppard?"
He'd been staring into space again, he realized, redesigning the transporter network based on recent usage. The city needed so much attention, was giving him so much information that he knew he was being overwhelmed. That was why it was important that McKay was there, that McKay told him what to do. He could follow his command directives, take one thing after another and adapt as the situation changed, but the city wasn't meant to plan strategy, and he couldn't think long-term, not when she was so tangled up in his thoughts. The technology had been designed to interact, not act independently, and she was already reaching the limits of her programming. As she integrated him more deeply into her network, he was reaching his limits too.
"Sheppard!"
"What?"
McKay was standing in front of him, frowning at him as though he was a malfunctioning piece of technology. Which he possibly was, right at this moment, but that didn't matter. He'd function long enough to get his job done, and then- Well. It wouldn’t matter after that, would it?
"Do you want to do this or not?"
"It has to be done."
"So you keep saying. Come on then."
McKay hovered at his elbow as Sheppard made his way into the closest Jumper, bringing the nav system online so that he could dial the gate. As he dropped into the pilot's seat, he felt the engines respond to him, ready to go and really, flying like this would be amazing. He'd feel everything the Jumper did, pull off every twist and turn that his reflexes weren't fast enough to manage normally.
"Stop that."
The voice broke into his consciousness, startling him and breaking his concentration. "McKay?"
"Let me dial the gate first, okay?" McKay had one hand on the console, the other hovering over the gate control.
"Alright." The rest of the city's systems were nudging him now, reminding him of what he was supposed to be doing. Protect. "Punch it."
He felt the roar of power as the gate sprang to life, the surge of connection to a new world, and had to resist the Jumper's urge to take them down into the gate room. Except the urge wasn't coming from the Jumper.
Slowly, because his head was starting to feel much too full, Sheppard turned to McKay. "What are you doing?"
McKay didn't look over. "Taking us off Atlantis."
"What?" The word was barely more than a whisper, because the panic was suddenly very real and overwhelming. He felt the city slip further into his mind, trying to hold onto him as the Jumper rose and began to move towards the opening hole in the bay floor. "Why?"
"If I thought you were even vaguely capable of understanding the answer, I'd tell you. For now, just do as I say. Take us through the gate."
Sheppard wanted to resist, but his hands were already moving of their own accord. The Jumpers were pretty much on automatic pilot for gate travel, but the city's systems were resisting and he found himself caught between them.
"Take us through the gate."
He moved again, instinctively responding to the instruction and dropping the ship to hover in front of the event horizon. The city was still trying to stop them, making Sheppard freeze, one hand on the controls, the other clenched into a fist by his side. It was almost too much for him, the conflict between his need to obey the programming, and something more instinctive, something that was coming from him, not the city.
"John."
Turning his head took tremendous effort, but he forced himself to move, meeting McKay's wide, worried eyes.
"Take us through the gate."
He couldn't tell whether it was McKay's mental command or his verbal one or just a final straw that pushed the city's programming so far beyond her limits that she was unable to cope. But he found himself nudging the controls, pushing them forwards even as his vision blurred around the edges. It was too much for him, the paradox shattering in his mind and making him gasp in pain.
Then they were through the event horizon, the world exploding in light and color and speed, replaced by a sudden sickening feeling as they emerged on the other side and the wormhole closed behind them. Sheppard heard McKay yelling his name, the sound echoing in his suddenly empty mind, and he barely had time to register that he was falling before the world turned black.
"Atlantis, this is McKay."
"Rodney, what's your status?"
"We're both okay. I think."
"You think?"
"Sheppard's still out cold, but he's breathing and got a pulse and everything like that, so I think he'll be alright. I don't want to bring him back through until he wakes up, though. Just in case."
"Got it. The medical team should be with you in ten minutes."
"Thanks, Sam. I'll let you know if anything changes in the meantime."
He wasn't out cold. He was having trouble making his arms and legs move, or get his eyes open or show any sign of being even vaguely awake, but he wasn't out cold. Around him, the Jumper hummed unhappily, buzzing at the edge of his mind. It felt muted and gentle, barely stronger than the usual connection he felt to the ships. He could feel McKay moving about, running diagnostics and investigating all the Jumper systems that he kept saying he wanted to look at but never found the time for.
After another minute or so, Sheppard won the battle to get his eyes open, staring up at the Jumper ceiling and breathing hard. It was like trying to think with half a brain, and he found himself instinctively reaching out for something that wasn't there any more.
"Rodney?" The word was barely more than a croak, but McKay jumped, spinning round in the pilot's seat.
"Sheppard? That you?"
"Who were you expecting?" Sheppard coughed, trying to sit up. He was lying on the floor between the seats, and he belatedly realized that there was a blanket over him. "What happened?"
"Oh, nothing much. You tried to take over the city while it took over your brain."
"I remember that part." He was still getting flashes, tiny pieces of information that he felt he should be able to understand, but that slipped away before he could grasp them. "I meant-"
"How did I save your life? Again?"
"Are we counting again? Because I seem to remember being in the lead for a while back there, right before you stopped keeping track."
"Do you want to know the details of my brilliant plan or not?" When Sheppard, still not entirely upright, glared at him, McKay shrugged and gave him a smugger-than-usual smile. "Well, since you asked, I came up with the remarkably elegant and, it has to be said, obvious solution of removing you from the source of the problem. Once the gate closed, your connection to Atlantis was severed and here we are."
"Oh. That is kind of obvious when you think about it."
"Yes, thank you. Next time you can talk Robocop into climbing into a Jumper of his own accord, not to mention the whole battle of wills thing, which you have to admit I won."
"Congratulations, Rodney. Next time we give prizes for being a stubborn ass, I'll make sure your name's top of the list."
As usual when he was high on success, the sarcasm bounced right off McKay. "You're more than welcome. I'll let Atlantis know you're awake."
"Wait a second." Sheppard had a brief fight with the blanket, finally getting himself untangled and heaving himself into the chair behind McKay, whose hand was hovering over the DHD. "I can still hear the Jumper. In my head, I mean."
"You're still wearing the bracelet. It's attached itself to your skin somehow, but Carter was working on a way of reprogramming it to let go. Might take a couple hours, but since I'll be finishing it off when she sends it through, I wouldn't have thought it'd take longer than that."
"That wasn't exactly what I meant." Making a vague shooing gesture, Sheppard managed to get all the way to his feet without falling over. "Move."
"I'm not sure you should be doing this in your condition."
"Rodney, I'm not pregnant, I've got a headache. Move."
Frowning and grumbling, McKay did so, dropping into the co-pilot's chair with a harrumph. "What did you mea, then?"
"I meant," Sheppard said as he gently wrapped his hands around the controls again, "that I can still hear the Jumper. Which means I can fly her a lot better than usual." He looked over expectantly, seeing the smile tugging the corners of McKay's mouth.
"Okay. I'll have to admit that your usual is pretty good. So, er, what can you do now?"
"I have no idea." Turning back, Sheppard looked through the window, up at the sky above. "Let's find out."
Author: jadesfire2808
Pairing: None
Rating: Gen/PG
Recipient: pansychubb
Spoilers: Set in S4, but only contains spoilers for change of personnel.
Summary: "May I have your attention, please? This is Colonel Carter. Colonel Sheppard is to be considered an immediate and serious threat to the security of the city."
Author's Note: Huge, huge thanks to D for assistance, P for cheering and M_Z for giving me the ending.
Defender
"Colonel Carter? This is Keller in the infirmary."
"Go ahead."
"Colonel Sheppard is gone."
"What?"
"I don't know how he got away, but I just came back and he was-"
"Gone."
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll send out the search parties. Thanks.
It was too much data to handle at first. Too much input from too many sources giving him too much information. Sinking deeper into the shadows, he concentrated on his first priority.
Hide.
"May I have your attention, please? This is Colonel Carter. Colonel Sheppard is to be considered an immediate and serious threat to the security of the city. All non-essential personnel, please stay where you are for the time being. If you see Colonel Sheppard do not, repeat, do not approach him. All security teams, please report to your designated posts."
It was useful, adding the radio chatter to the data from sensors. Now that he was able to cope with the overload, he could incorporate what was being said into what was being scanned. They still had the numerical advantage, but that was about to become meaningless.
"Carter to McKay."
"What?"
"Rodney, we've got a problem in the control room."
"What?"
"We've lost control of primary systems up here. Lights, internal sensors, gate controls. Everything. Oh, and the doors have all shut."
"What?"
"Are you hearing a word I'm saying?"
"The radio's still working, isn't it? Hang on."
"I'm waiting, Rodney."
"I've got access to all the secondary systems. And the door's opening."
"Lucky you."
"I'll try to reroute things from here."
With everything else dark, he felt freer to move around. The sensors weren't offline, but he wasn't about to have them used against him. Inside his head, he could feel them, and he knew what he had to do. He'd made a trip to the armory, then start tracking them down. The sooner he started, the sooner it would be over.
The sooner everyone else would be gone.
"McKay to Carter. Sam?"
"We've still got nothing up here, Rodney."
"I know. And you don't have any gene carriers up there either, do you?"
"Not at the moment. This is ATA related?"
"I can't tell how, exactly, yet, but Atlantis has locked everyone out of its controls except gene carriers."
"Can you get us back in?"
"Working on it."
"Rodney, do you think-"
"Yes. And I also think he's quite capable of putting in an earpiece and listening to the radio channels, which is probably why you've still got access to them."
He didn't need the earpiece. The radios weren't his technology, but they were tied into systems that were. Everything that was said, on every channel, reached him. There were too many voices to listen to it all, so he only paid attention to the ones that mattered. Security teams. The control room. The people he needed.
As he slipped round another corner, he glanced down at his arm. The band was glowing gently, showing up in the gloom of the unlit corridors. It would be a dead-giveaway for anyone looking for him, so he slid his wristband down to cover it. Then he was moving again, silent and unseen in the abandoned corridors.
"Colonel Carter? This is Lorne."
"Go ahead."
"My teams have been through the main tower as best we can and there's no sign of the Colonel. We're spreading out to the North pier."
"Alright. Be careful."
"Yes, ma'am. Lorne out."
His trip to the armory complete, he decided to use the transporter, locking everyone else out of it in the process. This wasn't going to be easy, he knew. They wouldn't understand, would almost certainly resist, but then that was what the stunner was for. After a brief check on the sensors, he pressed the location on the transporter map and faced the closing doors.
First target acquired.
"Rodney?"
"If this isn't life or death, Radek…"
"Miko has found the bracelet in the Ancient database."
"That's great. Now all we have to do is ask Sheppard very nicely if he'll let us have a look at his and we're home and dry."
"I thought you would want to know."
"I do. Plough on with it and let Sam know what you're doing. Call me if you actually find something useful."
The security team had paused in the corridor, replying to the radio message. His next target was already acquired, but first he had to deal with this one. There were six in the group, all alert and peering into the shadows. Despite himself, he smiled. They were looking for something out of place, something to alert them to his presence. But he was the city. They could look straight at him and not see him.
Or not.
It must have been the gleam of the stunner that gave him away, because suddenly six guns were pointed in his direction and someone was yelling loud enough that it echoed round the corridor.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
Having lost the element of surprise, he stepped out of the deeper shadows, hands held loosely by his sides.
"Major."
"I'm going to have to ask you to come with us, sir."
He tilted his head, calculating. "That's funny," he said. "I was just about to say the same thing to you."
The first shot caught the man on Lorne's right, while the second grazed Lorne himself. There was just enough time to squeeze off a third shot but he couldn't check whether or not it hit because he was rolling away, using the stairs as cover. He got off two more shots before he had to move, retreating this time, forcing them to follow him. Rather than wait for them to find their aim again, he fired blind, hearing another body hit the floor, even as he dodged to the left and further into the darkness.
"Colonel!" That was Lorne. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but just come out and let's talk about it."
That was why he was doing this. They didn't, they couldn't understand. He had to make them understand. Another shot would risk revealing his position in the shadows, but he had a pretty good line on all of them. It wasn't his first choice, but then sometimes results were more important than finesse. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the stunner and began to shoot.
"Rodney? What have you got for me?"
"Nothing different to the last three times you asked."
"There's not much else to do up here. What with being shut out of the systems and everything."
"I'm working on it, Sam. Has Miller made it up to you yet?"
"Yes. He got the doors open, but the control room seems to have been deliberately cut off from the rest of the city."
"Alright. I've got Radek and Miko working on the bracelet, seeing what they can come up with. They're going to keep you updated when they can."
"And you?"
"You'll know I've got something when the lights come back on."
Lorne had managed to fall on his face. And despite his tac vest being convenient to drag him by, Sheppard decided he'd rather not risk having so many useful implements around someone trained to use them. It took a bit of work to get the unconscious man into the transporter then along the empty corridor, but it was worth it for the security the room provided. Without the transporter, it would take anyone hours to get here.
Still taking no chances, Sheppard made sure he secured the Major's hands and feet before making him relatively comfortable on the floor. Sometimes, you had to protect people from themselves. Once he was sure that the other man wasn't going to choke or suffocate, Sheppard headed back to the transporter, making sure the locking system sealed the door behind him.
One down, nineteen to go.
"Sam?"
"Rodney. Well, you got the lights on."
"Yeah, I'm working on the rest. Zelenka, you getting this?"
"We are here Rodney."
"Talk to me, gentlemen."
"Miko and I think we know what the bracelet that Colonel Sheppard found is for."
"I'm assuming it's not just the latest in Ancient fashion."
"Rodney, as you always say, you are correct."
"Could you two save the bickering for later? We've got more immediate problems."
"Apologies, Colonel. The bracelet is the next stage in Ancient technology. It is designed to allow the wearer to receive information from the computer directly."
"Okay. And it's gone wrong for John because he's not fully Ancient?"
"Could be. But, Sam, you realize that this means he's out there with all the knowledge of Atlantis as well as all the knowledge of Colonel Sheppard. I'm betting it's him who's shut us out of the systems."
"Hang on a second….One of our security teams just went dark."
"Then I'd say they found him."
"There were six people in that team, Rodney. Four of them marines."
"Trust me when I say that would not be a problem. Go re-read your Genii reports from a couple of years back. It's not like you can do anything else right now."
The conversation had given Sheppard his next target. There was only one lab currently connected to the database, and it had a transporter nearby. Convenient.
Jogging down the corridor, he checked the setting on the wraith stunner, cut the power to the control room lights again and erased McKay's clever work-round that would have given him access to the internal sensors with just a few more lines of coding. Sheppard was going to have to keep an eye on that: he'd forgotten how fast McKay could work when he was really, really motivated.
At the end of the corridor he paused, peering round the corner while checking the sensors again. There were three people in the lab, including the one he wanted. The guards outside the door had no way of knowing he was there, and barely had time to look surprised before he stunned them. Then he was moving, coming closer and opening the lab door.
A stun blast burst out of the open doorway, hitting the wall opposite. It looked like they were going to fight harder than he'd expected. Instead of charging in, he stopped just short, flattening himself against the wall. This time, he didn't need the sensors to track the person slowly creeping towards the door, stunner held out. That was their first mistake.
As the stunner emerged from the room, Sheppard reached out and knocked it away, throwing the man off-balance. As he stumbled, Sheppard brought his free hand round, palm forwards, catching his would-be attacker in the face and slamming him into the doorway. The shorter man crumpled, his glasses askew and Sheppard risked moving into the room, stunner raised. In the corner, two people in lab coats were cowering against the far wall. He gestured to the one on the right, the one he'd been looking for.
"You're coming with me." When she shook her head, he took another step forwards, lowering the stunner a little. "I know you're scared, but you need to trust me. I have to get you to safety."
"What?" The word wasn't much more than a squeak, and she backed further away.
"I have to get you to safety," Sheppard repeated, splitting his attention between her and the man standing half in front of her. He was also aware of what had to be a security patrol on the level above, as well as McKay calling on the radio, sounding increasingly hysterical. The unconscious man in the doorway must be Zelenka. "Please," he said, putting all the sincerity he could into his voice, "just come with me and I'll explain everything."
She shook her head, and her companion moved a little in front of her, obviously hoping to shield her. Which was a mistake. Without giving a warning, Sheppard lifted the stunner and shot him, moving almost before the body hit the ground. Grabbing Miko's arm, he pulled her with him as he strode from the room, ignoring her cries and half-carrying her when she tripped over the unconscious men. Once in the corridor, he hung the stunner from his belt and put a hand over her mouth, using the other to grip her arm and propel her to the transporter. She could scream all she liked later. Right now, he needed to get her away before they were discovered.
"Zelenka! Radek, do you copy?"
"Doctor McKay? This is Sergeant Calder. I've just found Doctors Zelenka and Horch, both unconscious."
"What about Miko?"
"I don't see her. Doctor Zelenka's taken a nasty blow to the head, but I think Doctor Horch has just been stunned. Doctor Keller's on her way."
"Good. Is the computer in there still running?"
"I've got two people down, sir. The computers are not my first priority."
"Sergeant, they were working on something that could help Colonel Sheppard. I'll go and cry over their hospital beds later. Right now, I want to know if they'd actually found anything."
"The screen's gone dark."
"Damn. Alright. Have you let Colonel Carter know?"
"Yes, sir."
"Right. McKay out."
"Sam?"
"Rodney, we lost the lights. And the doors have all locked again."
"I know. I must have been getting close on the sensors, because he wiped my program before I could finish it."
"He?"
"Sheppard. Look, Sam, I don't know what the hell he's doing, but I sort of have an idea."
"Right now, I'm open to suggestions."
"Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one. McKay out."
"McKay to Sheppard."
"McKay to Sheppard, please respond."
"Sheppard? I know you can hear me. You can probably see me too, can't you? Come on. I'm not going to shut up until you start talking to me."
"Sheppard, I said I wasn't going anywhere and not only am I capable of talking and typing at the same time, I'm more than capable of talking for pretty much the rest of the day until you-"
"McKay!"
"Sheppard?"
Sheppard closed his eyes, momentarily confused. Miko and Lorne were secure, and he had been on his way to round up two more when McKay's verbal prodding got through to him. He hadn't meant to answer, it had been pure instinct, although he couldn't have said from where. It wasn't a logical process, just an automatic reaction.
"Sheppard? You still there?"
"What do you want?"
"I was going to ask you the same question."
"I'll be there soon, Rodney. I have to find the others first. Then I'll come find you."
"Well, excuse me if that idea doesn't exactly thrill me right now."
"You'll understand."
"Not unless you tell me, I won't."
"I heard you talking to Sam, Rodney. I know you're only doing this because you don’t understand. But you will. I promise."
"Sheppard? Don’t think you're going to shut me up just by ignoring me."
Standing by the transporter doors, Sheppard shook his head, trying to clear it. The conversation with McKay was throwing him, making him forget what he was supposed to be doing. Sick of wasting time, he located the remaining targets through the city. Thirteen of them were in rooms that he could secure, although he'd end up with those he didn't want along with those he did. They could be dealt with later. With two safe up here and McKay wherever he was, that only left one in the control room and two on security patrols. They shouldn't take too long to find.
He hesitated before selecting the destination in the transporter, lifting his stunner from its holder. There were two lifesigns at the destination he needed, which could be a problem. On the other hand, there were only two, and it would take too long to hike round from the other transporter. With McKay on his tracks, so well-meaning but just so wrong, he couldn't afford the time. Gripping the stunner, he got as close to the side of the transporter as he could manage, then stretched out to press the glowing dot.
There was no immediate reaction when the doors opened. One lifesign had retreated to the right, while the other was still straight ahead. As he waited, the second one kept going, apparently summoned for another purpose. Sheppard had tuned out the radio chatter to avoid having to listen to McKay, so he couldn't be entirely sure what was happening. But the lifesign was well out range now, and the other still hadn't moved. Deciding to risk it, and counting on his own speed to give him the advantage, Sheppard burst out of the transporter, sprinting away down the corridor to his left. Behind him, he heard a distinctive whine, then the blast of an energy weapon. He dodged the first shot, but the second caught him in the shoulder, half-stunning him and knocking him to the ground.
As heavy footsteps came in his direction, he managed to match the whine to a name, dragged out of the depths of his memory. The stunner was pulled from his hand, and his captor reached down to turn him over, which was helpful, since all Sheppard's muscles seemed to have turned to water. He looked up into a distantly familiar face.
"Sheppard?"
"Ronon?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Rodney."
"I'm telling you, Sam, it's a bad idea."
"Look, he found the thing in your lab, the least you can do is get down here and try and get it off again."
"First of all, he opened that box despite my telling him not to, so that's not my fault. Second of all, he's completely flipped and if you think I'm walking into a room with a psychotic Sheppard again, you've got another thing coming. And third of all, I've got the gene, like Lorne and Miko and am I the only one seeing this pattern?"
"That's all you got?"
"Sam, I'm working on it, okay? Unless, of course, you can't manage without me."
"I'm sure we'll cope somehow."
He was getting better at recognizing the faces. Not of all the marines stationed at various points around the room, although he probably could have found the names if he'd needed to. Ronon, of course, was pretty memorable anyway, as was the woman sitting in the chair across the table from him, her hands folded neatly and her eyes never leaving his face. Teyla. Then there was the blonde woman just coming in, carrying a laptop and talking to someone over her shoulder. He managed to connect her to her name before she turned to look at him properly.
"Hello, John."
"Colonel. I'd get up but I think someone might shoot me if I tried."
She half-smiled, setting the laptop down and taking a black case from the airman behind her. "That's entirely possible."
"If you leave now, no-one will get hurt."
He had to give it to her, she was good. Her face barely flickered with surprise before she had it under control again. "What are you talking about?"
Shaking his head, he sat back in the chair, folding his arms. He'd given them their warning, which was more than he'd wanted to do. There was nothing more to say.
"Okay then." Taking a seat next to Teyla, Carter started unpacking equipment. "If you think of anything else you want to say, feel free. Until then, we're going to have to take a look at that bracelet you're wearing."
When Sheppard didn't move, Carter sighed. "John, I know you don't believe me, but we're trying to help you. Now, I need you to put your hand on the table. Please."
On the other side of the room, Ronon stirred, not moving so much as stretching slightly. It was enough for Sheppard to take the hint. Pulling his wristband back, he put his hand flat on the table, watching with mild interest as Carter attached a thin wire to it.
"Our working theory," she said to Teyla as she typed something into the laptop, and Sheppard wasn't entirely sure who she was talking to, " based on what we found in the database, is that something's gone wrong with the bracelet's programming. It's supposed to just let the wearer know what's going in the computer systems, but it seems to have set up some kind of feedback loop. There's too much activity here for what the device was meant to do."
"What does that mean?" Teyla's voice was patient, if strained, and her eyes were moving now, from Carter to Sheppard, to Ronon and back again.
"It means that instead of just delivering information, the computer is receiving it as well, adapting according to what it learns and feeding it back again. It's also trying to integrate John into its mainframe, treating him as another system like the lights or the shield."
"Will that damage his mind?"
"There's no way to be sure, but it's already been six hours since he put it on. The longer he wears it, the greater the risk that his mind will come to depend on it, or become completely assimilated."
"You do both know that I can hear you, right?" Resting his other hand on the table as well, Sheppard raised an eyebrow.
"That's good to know." Carter sounded distracted, only half her attention on him as she ran her eyes over the screen. "Now that is very interesting."
Sheppard let the words wash over him, vaguely aware of their meaning as he reconnected himself to the city's sensors. The laptop Carter was using wasn't on the network, but there were plenty more that were. It took Sheppard 0.005 seconds to confirm that all his people were still where he had left them. Seven were alone, while the rest were accompanied by at least one intruder. Eleven were using computers, and it should have been easy to work out which of them was McKay, except there was some kind of blocking in the system, rerouting messages and scrambling signals so that Sheppard was having difficulty pinning down the source.
Closing his eyes, he smiled to himself. McKay was trying to cover his tracks, do whatever he was doing before Sheppard could find him. They'd just have to see who was quicker, wouldn't they?
"Sam? You getting anywhere?"
"There's a lot of lines of code here, Rodney."
"Yeah. I'd help if I could, but you put that computer on the Atlantis network…"
"I know. What about you?"
"I may have something, but I'll have to bring it down to you. Every time I try to work from up here, Sheppard cuts me off again."
"What?"
"He's in the computer, Sam. He is the computer."
"So what have you got?"
"I'll tell you when I get there. Er, everything is secure, isn't it? I mean, I'm happy to come down, of course, but I could always just send it with someone and talk you through it by radio."
"Ronon and Teyla are both here, Rodney. Along with six marines. And me. That enough for you?"
"I guess."
"How are you going to get here? I thought Sheppard had sealed all the rooms with gene carriers in."
"Well, the door opens for me. Wonderful. Foreboding enough for you?"
"Just get down here, Rodney. Now."
"En route. McKay out."
The door opened for McKay because Sheppard told it to. He kept his eyes closed and his posture relaxed, but he knew this was the only chance he was going to get. If it didn't work, they'd lock him up so securely that he'd never get away. Carter was already hacking into his command controls, and without having her computer on his network, there was nothing he could do to stop her. He needed McKay away from the computers long enough to make him understand, then he could put him back in front of a computer and they could work together to sort this whole mess out.
By the time McKay arrived, Sheppard knew exactly what he was going to do. Straightening in his seat, he looked up as the door opened, willing McKay to understand just from his look, to understand hat everything would be alright if they could just leave, leave now, get out and just go. Sheppard became aware that he'd tightened his hands against the table, although everyone seemed too preoccupied with McKay to notice. As usual, his loud monologue drew everyone's attention to him, and right now, Sheppard intended to use that to his advantage. Even Ronon was distracted enough to glance away from Sheppard every now and then. That was definitely a good thing.
Sheppard waited until McKay came right over to the table, plugging something into the laptop and hitting a button. The world seemed to tilt, and he heard a triumphant exclamation from McKay.
"It's working. Sort of. It should at least cut him off from some of the more basic subroutines which means our chances of getting him back with his brain more or less intact just went up."
"Nice work, Rodney."
It was very, very bad. Data was blurring and jumbling, becoming confused and distant, and there was a rushing in Sheppard's ears, a sheer terror as he lost more subsystems. He couldn't take much more of this. Blinking hard, he looked up into McKay's worried face, now much closer to his own.
"Sheppard? You in there?"
"Yes." He'd hardly finished the word before he moved, feeling the wires pull from the interface as he rose from the chair, toppling the table and diving over it. Simultaneously, he cut the lights. McKay had stumbled backwards and Sheppard landed half on top of him, rolling them so that McKay's body was shielding him from the guns that were sure to be pointed in his direction. Carter's stunner had gone flying, and Sheppard managed to get a hand on it, firing blindly up and behind him, hoping the soldiers there would take cover for long enough.
McKay wasn't a dead weight, but he was heavy and he was fighting back as Sheppard got to his feet, taking two swift steps backwards so that he could get his back to the wall. He held McKay to his left, shielding him from Ronon and the others, while he pointed the stunner to his right, taking out three guards as they scrambled away from him. The whole maneuver, from 'yes' to shooting had taken 2.64 seconds, which was acceptable.
Everyone seemed to be yelling his name, but he ignored them, getting a better hold on McKay, curling his arm round to grip the other man's throat. He didn't really want to risk injury, but he didn't have that much of a height or weight advantage, and they were going to have to move quickly. Edging along the wall, Sheppard opened the door a fraction, just enough for them to squeeze through. In the dark, the light from the corridor seemed blinding, and he automatically dimmed them, but not before he saw Ronon's bulky form too close to his for comfort. Using the lifesigns detector, he fired quickly, dodging a hastily taken shot that nearly clipped his ear. There was no way to tell if he'd stunned everyone, but he'd just have to take the risk. Fortunately, McKay hadn't been hit and was standing very still, not fighting the grip and letting himself be pulled along as Sheppard made a run for the door. No shots followed them, so they had a few minutes' grace before someone woke up and started calling for help.
Sheppard locked the door behind him, checking for lifesigns before making for the transporter. He released McKay's throat as they half-ran down the corridor, shifting to grip his upper arm instead.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will stun you if I have to," Sheppard half-whispered, aware of a group of lifesigns getting uncomfortably close. He was going to have to start sealing corridors at this rate. With his attention already split in so many directions, he barely registered McKay's disbelieving snort. "And I don't care what you think," Sheppard added, opening the transporter doors well before they got there. "I can explain everything."
Then they were inside and he was pressing the button and finally felt safe enough to release McKay's arm, belatedly realizing that his fingers had probably been digging in hard enough to bruise. Free to move, McKay retreated to the far side of the tiny space, rubbing his arm and huffing to himself. He stood there even after the transporter doors had opened, until Sheppard had had enough of just staring at each other.
"Come on," he said, gesturing with the stunner.
With a wince as his fingers found another sore spot on his arm, McKay lifted his head and peered out into the corridor. Apparently satisfied that it was alright, he moved slowly forwards, shooting Sheppard a resentful look as he passed.
"You'd better have a damn good reason for all this, Sheppard."
Sheppard's stomach flipped in relief. McKay wasn't yelling or running or doing anything that would have required Sheppard to shoot him. He was waiting in the transporter lobby, watching Sheppard watching him, and looking as though he might even be prepared to listen.
"A very good reason," Sheppard said, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from him. "We need to take the city back."
"McKay to Carter."
"Rodney? Are you alright?"
"For the moment. You?"
"I'm stuck in a locked room with seven other people and without any light."
"Oh. Let me see what I can do about that."
"You're at a computer?"
"Sheppard's given me access. I'm…working."
"On what?"
"There you go. Fiat lux, I believe is the appropriate expression."
"Thanks. Rodney, what are you-"
"Can't talk. Just checking in to say I'm alright and so on, if anyone cares. I'll be in touch when I can."
"Rodney!"
"McKay out."
He'd let McKay make the call to get some peace and quiet, but now it was over, Sheppard began hovering again, watching McKay's fingers on the keyboard and feeling the city respond to the new commands. It was getting harder to tell the lifesigns detector from the temperature sensors from the pathogen filters, all the data blending into a single city-sense that made him want to just close his eyes and sink into it.
"Have you thought where you're going to send them?"
The question cut through his thoughts, and he just about managed to focus on McKay again. "What?"
"Where you're going to send them. All the people you don't want here."
"They don't belong here. They shouldn't be here."
"Right. Because I didn't understand that the first twenty times you told me." He turned back to the computer, typing and tutting to himself, and casting the occasional nervous glance towards the corner of the room. Lorne and Miko were still there, still tied up because although Sheppard needed McKay, he wasn't sure the others were quite on board yet. And no, gagging them hadn't exactly been the best way to win their trust, but he needed McKay to work uninterrupted, and not be distracted. Not now he knew what was going on. Their presence did seem to be making McKay a little nervous, but it wouldn't be for much longer. Soon, the others would be gone and everything would be the way it should be.
He realized that McKay was staring at him again, and forced himself to concentrate on the here and now. When he raised his eyebrows expectantly, McKay said, "Have you even thought how you're going to get them there?"
"Where?"
"Wherever it is you want them to go."
"I'll have them dial the gate-"
McKay snorted. "Oh, I'm sure that'll work, especially if you say please."
"What do you suggest?" There wasn't time for this. The urgency was overtaking Sheppard now, humming in his mind and making him bounce on the balls of his feet. He had to get the city back, had to get rid of them, had to make it safe. It was too confusing, having to interact like this, keep an eye on McKay and Lorne and Miko and all the others locked in their safe little rooms while all the time he just wanted to lose himself in his city, become fully part of her. Protect her.
For now, he had to listen to McKay's answer, which for once seemed to be blindingly simple. "Use a Jumper. Dial the gate from there and have them go through. You can open the doors selectively so that they don't go anywhere you don't want them, and you'll be safely in the Jumper."
"Nice." Sheppard smiled, already planning evacuation routes and starting to open and close bulkheads. "You're coming with me in case anything goes wrong."
"Fine. Whatever. Just let me…" Rodney hit something on the computer, then turned and nodded. "All set."
"Sam, this is Rodney. I managed to record this while Sheppard was away doing his prowling thing. I can't say too much in case he finds this, but I have an idea. There's no reason why it shouldn't work, but then there's no guarantees either. I just thought I should let you know that I've got it more or less under control. And if I haven't…well, look after the city for us."
It seemed to take an age to get to the Jumper bay, and Sheppard decided they'd have to expand the transporter network out here once all this was over. There were plenty of improvements and things that needed tidying up and he'd give them his full attention soon.
"Sheppard?"
He'd been staring into space again, he realized, redesigning the transporter network based on recent usage. The city needed so much attention, was giving him so much information that he knew he was being overwhelmed. That was why it was important that McKay was there, that McKay told him what to do. He could follow his command directives, take one thing after another and adapt as the situation changed, but the city wasn't meant to plan strategy, and he couldn't think long-term, not when she was so tangled up in his thoughts. The technology had been designed to interact, not act independently, and she was already reaching the limits of her programming. As she integrated him more deeply into her network, he was reaching his limits too.
"Sheppard!"
"What?"
McKay was standing in front of him, frowning at him as though he was a malfunctioning piece of technology. Which he possibly was, right at this moment, but that didn't matter. He'd function long enough to get his job done, and then- Well. It wouldn’t matter after that, would it?
"Do you want to do this or not?"
"It has to be done."
"So you keep saying. Come on then."
McKay hovered at his elbow as Sheppard made his way into the closest Jumper, bringing the nav system online so that he could dial the gate. As he dropped into the pilot's seat, he felt the engines respond to him, ready to go and really, flying like this would be amazing. He'd feel everything the Jumper did, pull off every twist and turn that his reflexes weren't fast enough to manage normally.
"Stop that."
The voice broke into his consciousness, startling him and breaking his concentration. "McKay?"
"Let me dial the gate first, okay?" McKay had one hand on the console, the other hovering over the gate control.
"Alright." The rest of the city's systems were nudging him now, reminding him of what he was supposed to be doing. Protect. "Punch it."
He felt the roar of power as the gate sprang to life, the surge of connection to a new world, and had to resist the Jumper's urge to take them down into the gate room. Except the urge wasn't coming from the Jumper.
Slowly, because his head was starting to feel much too full, Sheppard turned to McKay. "What are you doing?"
McKay didn't look over. "Taking us off Atlantis."
"What?" The word was barely more than a whisper, because the panic was suddenly very real and overwhelming. He felt the city slip further into his mind, trying to hold onto him as the Jumper rose and began to move towards the opening hole in the bay floor. "Why?"
"If I thought you were even vaguely capable of understanding the answer, I'd tell you. For now, just do as I say. Take us through the gate."
Sheppard wanted to resist, but his hands were already moving of their own accord. The Jumpers were pretty much on automatic pilot for gate travel, but the city's systems were resisting and he found himself caught between them.
"Take us through the gate."
He moved again, instinctively responding to the instruction and dropping the ship to hover in front of the event horizon. The city was still trying to stop them, making Sheppard freeze, one hand on the controls, the other clenched into a fist by his side. It was almost too much for him, the conflict between his need to obey the programming, and something more instinctive, something that was coming from him, not the city.
"John."
Turning his head took tremendous effort, but he forced himself to move, meeting McKay's wide, worried eyes.
"Take us through the gate."
He couldn't tell whether it was McKay's mental command or his verbal one or just a final straw that pushed the city's programming so far beyond her limits that she was unable to cope. But he found himself nudging the controls, pushing them forwards even as his vision blurred around the edges. It was too much for him, the paradox shattering in his mind and making him gasp in pain.
Then they were through the event horizon, the world exploding in light and color and speed, replaced by a sudden sickening feeling as they emerged on the other side and the wormhole closed behind them. Sheppard heard McKay yelling his name, the sound echoing in his suddenly empty mind, and he barely had time to register that he was falling before the world turned black.
"Atlantis, this is McKay."
"Rodney, what's your status?"
"We're both okay. I think."
"You think?"
"Sheppard's still out cold, but he's breathing and got a pulse and everything like that, so I think he'll be alright. I don't want to bring him back through until he wakes up, though. Just in case."
"Got it. The medical team should be with you in ten minutes."
"Thanks, Sam. I'll let you know if anything changes in the meantime."
He wasn't out cold. He was having trouble making his arms and legs move, or get his eyes open or show any sign of being even vaguely awake, but he wasn't out cold. Around him, the Jumper hummed unhappily, buzzing at the edge of his mind. It felt muted and gentle, barely stronger than the usual connection he felt to the ships. He could feel McKay moving about, running diagnostics and investigating all the Jumper systems that he kept saying he wanted to look at but never found the time for.
After another minute or so, Sheppard won the battle to get his eyes open, staring up at the Jumper ceiling and breathing hard. It was like trying to think with half a brain, and he found himself instinctively reaching out for something that wasn't there any more.
"Rodney?" The word was barely more than a croak, but McKay jumped, spinning round in the pilot's seat.
"Sheppard? That you?"
"Who were you expecting?" Sheppard coughed, trying to sit up. He was lying on the floor between the seats, and he belatedly realized that there was a blanket over him. "What happened?"
"Oh, nothing much. You tried to take over the city while it took over your brain."
"I remember that part." He was still getting flashes, tiny pieces of information that he felt he should be able to understand, but that slipped away before he could grasp them. "I meant-"
"How did I save your life? Again?"
"Are we counting again? Because I seem to remember being in the lead for a while back there, right before you stopped keeping track."
"Do you want to know the details of my brilliant plan or not?" When Sheppard, still not entirely upright, glared at him, McKay shrugged and gave him a smugger-than-usual smile. "Well, since you asked, I came up with the remarkably elegant and, it has to be said, obvious solution of removing you from the source of the problem. Once the gate closed, your connection to Atlantis was severed and here we are."
"Oh. That is kind of obvious when you think about it."
"Yes, thank you. Next time you can talk Robocop into climbing into a Jumper of his own accord, not to mention the whole battle of wills thing, which you have to admit I won."
"Congratulations, Rodney. Next time we give prizes for being a stubborn ass, I'll make sure your name's top of the list."
As usual when he was high on success, the sarcasm bounced right off McKay. "You're more than welcome. I'll let Atlantis know you're awake."
"Wait a second." Sheppard had a brief fight with the blanket, finally getting himself untangled and heaving himself into the chair behind McKay, whose hand was hovering over the DHD. "I can still hear the Jumper. In my head, I mean."
"You're still wearing the bracelet. It's attached itself to your skin somehow, but Carter was working on a way of reprogramming it to let go. Might take a couple hours, but since I'll be finishing it off when she sends it through, I wouldn't have thought it'd take longer than that."
"That wasn't exactly what I meant." Making a vague shooing gesture, Sheppard managed to get all the way to his feet without falling over. "Move."
"I'm not sure you should be doing this in your condition."
"Rodney, I'm not pregnant, I've got a headache. Move."
Frowning and grumbling, McKay did so, dropping into the co-pilot's chair with a harrumph. "What did you mea, then?"
"I meant," Sheppard said as he gently wrapped his hands around the controls again, "that I can still hear the Jumper. Which means I can fly her a lot better than usual." He looked over expectantly, seeing the smile tugging the corners of McKay's mouth.
"Okay. I'll have to admit that your usual is pretty good. So, er, what can you do now?"
"I have no idea." Turning back, Sheppard looked through the window, up at the sky above. "Let's find out."