Word Count:
12,173
Rating:
PG13
Category:
Angst. Action/Adventure
Story Status:
Complete
Summary:
Set Season 3
– sometime after ‘McKay and Mrs Miller’.
Carson and
Rodney get captured by Wraith and have to escape on their own, despite
injuries.
Beta:
Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading and to Luna for the wonderful cover art.
Cover art by Luna - for
further artwork check out her LiveJournal here.
Chapter
One – Lost
The Wraith stood in front of them, smiling, if that could be called
smiling.
“Oh crap,” Beckett said, fumbling for his 9 mil.
Rodney had already brought his gun up to bear on the creature facing
them. It moved closer, and he fired. Each bullet
hitting
the Wraith in the chest. Dead centre. Carson was
surprised. He had rarely seen Rodney firing, and the last two
times Rodney had panicked. One time he had winged the
Colonel…okay, the Colonel had been taken over by another
consciousness at the time…but it was still
Sheppard. The
other time he’d been spooked by a rat. This,
however, this
was steady, accurate and deadly.
“Carson, some help,” McKay’s voice
brought him back
to the present, realising that McKay was reloading, and the Wraith had
started moving in closer again. Damn, what did it take to
kill
one of these things? He aimed his gun, and started
firing.
Not dead centre, but the Wraith was so close now, even he
couldn’t fail to hit it.
And then Rodney’s gun joined his. And the Wraith
fell. And didn’t get up.
“We need to get out of here,” McKay said, panic
flaring in his eyes, and voice rising an octave or two with fear.
“Aye.”
They turned and headed away from the fallen Wraith, running through the
caves, hoping the tunnel they were following would lead
outside.
He was aware of McKay on the radio, calling to Sheppard, Teyla and
Ronon, telling them of their run in with the Wraith.
The cave system was used by the locals of this world to hide when a
culling occurred, but this time it hadn’t helped
them. When
Sheppard’s team had arrived here to renegotiate a
long-standing
trade agreement, they had found the two villages deserted.
Teyla
had sensed no Wraith, and Sheppard had asked for a team to join them to
look for survivors. And for a doctor, meaning him.
He
really needed to stop going off world, except that he was unwilling to
let any of his staff go in his place.
So, they had looked for survivors. And the search had led to
the
cave system. A rock fall had separated Rodney and himself
from
the others, and only Carson’s quick reflexes had pushed
Rodney
out of danger. As if things weren’t bad enough,
Teyla had
started to sense Wraith in the area, and the life signs detector was
buried under a pile of rocks, so they had no way of checking for
them. Sheppard had told them to keep an eye out for trouble,
whilst the team tried to find another way to get to them.
Rodney
and he had followed the tunnel they were in, hoping to find an
exit. Instead they had found a Wraith.
“Light,” Rodney hissed, somewhat out of breath.
“What?”
“There’s a light ahead. Maybe an
exit.”
“Good,” he, too, was panting from running.
They continued to run towards the light, but as they got closer Rodney
suddenly stopped, and Carson ran into his back, nearly toppling the
astrophysicist to the ground.
“What the… Rodney…” Carson
started.
Then Rodney was holding his gun up, aiming at something Carson
wasn’t able to see. Only whatever it was, was upon
them. Carson only had a moment to realise it was another
Wraith,
as it grabbed Rodney and threw him violently into a wall. And
then it pushed him down, grabbing the gun from his hands before he had
time to aim it, throwing it into the same wall as Rodney.
“No,” he whispered, fear paralysing him as the
Wraith held
up its hand, ready to push down onto his chest and start feeding from
him.
There was a shot, and then another, and the Wraith pulled away, turning
to face McKay, who kept shooting. Carson realised that Rodney
had
both of their guns, and when one was empty, he brought the other one up
and continued shooting. The Wraith fell, dying,
dead.
Carson pulled himself up, and headed towards McKay. As he got
closer, he could see he was in pain, and cradling his left arm against
his chest.
“Rodney.” He sat next to his friend.
“Ow…” Rodney’s eyes were
closed against the pain, “this is…so
unfair.”
“Oh crap.” Carson said, reaching for
Rodney’s arm, “let me see it.”
“Think… it’s broken,” McKay
hissed.
“Let me check it out.”
“No, guns. Reload the guns first.” Rodney
grimaced, “and contact Sheppard.”
Okay, that made sense he guessed. He quickly grabbed both
guns
and reloaded them, grateful that they had had more than one spare clip
each. He then radioed Sheppard to update him on their
situation,
even though there was little the Colonel could do right now, except
keep looking for them.
He then grabbed some supplies out of his med kit and gently took
Rodney’s arm, checking the radial pulse, which fortunately
was
still strong. Rodney tried not to cry out, instead finding
release in low level cursing, some of which he was amused to hear
sounded suspiciously like Czech. He gave Rodney something to
take
the edge off the pain and then splinted the arm, strapping it securely
to Rodney’s chest. There was little else he could
do until
they got back to Atlantis.
“Okay, I’ve done,” he said,
“are you injured anywhere else?”
“Just bruises…” Rodney said through
gritted teeth. “Got to get out of here.”
“Aye, let me help you up.”
Rodney wasn’t too steady on his feet at first, but regained
his balance after a few moments.
“Give me one of the guns. I can still shoot with my
good hand.”
“You sure? I’ve seen your shooting.”
“Been practising.”
“You have?” he asked, handing him a gun.
“Never know when you’re going to be down to one
hand, even
been practising shooting with my left.” Rodney smiled grimly,
and
headed towards the light. Carson followed closely, keeping an
eye
out for more Wraith.
The cave opened onto a plateau, so fortunately there was no need to
climb down anything, and about thirty metres from the cave exit was the
start of the forest that covered most of this area. Not that
he
knew which way led to the stargate, having had no way of keeping track
of their direction due to the twists and turns of the cave system they
had just exited. He decided to ask Rodney, just in case
he’d had more luck.
“Rodney, any idea which way to the gate?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Rodney
responded,
“those tunnels twisted about so much, we could be
anywhere.”
“Aye, that was what I was thinking myself,” he
sighed,
before contacting Sheppard again, letting him know they had found an
exit, and asking for advice, which basically amounted to find a
defensible position and staying put until the team were able to find
them. The Colonel didn’t want them to get lost in
the
forest, and as he and the others were working their way around the
mountains, they should come across the two of them eventually.
Rodney looked less than pleased at this, but with no way of knowing
which direction the stargate lay, there wasn’t really a lot
of
choice in the matter. Getting lost in the forest would be a
bad
idea.
They were looking for a defensible position, both keenly aware that
they didn’t have much ammunition left, maybe enough to take
out
one more Wraith, two if they were lucky. Though, if they were
lucky, no more Wraith would find them.
It became a moot point though, when a dart came screaming over the
mountain, scooping them up before they had a chance to hide.
----------------
Rodney came round, to find himself lying on a floor. Studying
his
surroundings told him two things; one, he was in a Wraith cell, and
two, Carson was lying nearby and starting to regain consciousness.
Oh, this was bad. Very bad. Still, a cell was
better than
one of the cocoons. At least there was a chance of escaping
from
a cell, whereas not from a cocoon. Not unless you happened to
be
Ronon and carried several hundred knives on you. Well, okay,
maybe not hundreds, but…
Okay, that wasn’t helping any. He struggled into a
sitting
position, hampered by his left arm. So, stuck in a cell on a
Wraith ship, most likely a hive ship. Could be worse, well,
not
by much, but it could
be worse. Could also be an awful lot better.
If he could get out of the cell, he could cause damage to the
ship’s systems. He’d learned a lot from
the hive ship
they had captured, even in the short while they had had it
for.
And maybe, if they were extremely lucky, they could grab a dart and he
could, possibly, work out how to fly it, maybe. Okay, that
was a
lot of maybes, but it was possible. Maybe. After all, he was
a
genius.
“Rodney…” Carson struggled into a
sitting position, “you alright?”
“Alright? Oh, I’m just fine!
Broken arm, pain.
Sitting in a Wraith cell, waiting to be fed on, but, you know, other
than that…did I mention the pain?”
“Rodney!” Carson interrupted him, and then added,
“sorry, stupid question.”
“You think?” he closed his eyes briefly, reining in
his terror, “sorry, not having a good day.”
“Aye, neither am I,” Beckett agreed.
There was the sound of footsteps approaching.
“Oh crap.” Rodney looked round wildly,
“that’s
not good. Damn it, I was hoping there might be time to figure
out
a way out of the cell before they came…”
The person standing outside of their cell, flanked by two drones, was
not who they were expecting to see.
“Oh crap,” Carson breathed,
“Michael.”
“Dr Beckett, Dr McKay, so nice to see you again,”
Michael said, though the tone was more menacing than polite.
“Um, and so not
nice to see you again,” Rodney said, “thought you
were dead. Pity you’re not.”
“Ah, the bombardment on the camp was very effective, only
myself
and three others survived it. The hive picked us up after the
destruction of your hive ship. I didn’t believe you
had
died with it. I was right.”
“Is this just some sort of unhappy coincidence, or some part
of a
plan?” McKay asked, “because I don’t
think even
our luck
could be this bad. What do you want?”
“It was not coincidence. I was able to gain the
location of
some of the worlds you regularly trade with from Dr Beckett last time
we met. I merely waited for one of those worlds to be
culled. I knew that you would search for survivors, and that
there was a good chance the doctor here would be one of those
searching. It was an added bonus that we were able to take
you as
well, Dr McKay. Though anyone would probably have
done.”
Michael opened the cell, entering it with the drones, who grabbed
McKay, pulling him to his feet, and then pinning him against the
wall. He cried out when they jostled his arm, just managing
to
choke off a scream.
“Leave him alone,” Carson said, standing.
Michael
approached him, and it took all of Beckett’s will power not
to
cower back from him.
“As to what I want, Doctor; the retro-virus. You
are going
to show me how to produce it, and,” he paused, moving closer
to
Carson, “you are going to work on perfecting it, so that the
change is permanent.”
“No bloody way.”
Michael turned away and approached Rodney. The drones held
him against the wall, keeping his arms to one side.
“Then you will get to watch Dr McKay die. Slowly
and painfully.”
Without warning, Michael pushed his hand onto Rodney’s
chest. This time he was unable to hold back the screams, as
pain
flowed through his chest and through his body, like fire. He
was
vaguely aware of Carson’s cries to stop in the background.
And,
as suddenly as it started, it was over. Michael drew back,
turning to face the shocked physician.
“I have only taken a few weeks, this time. But next
time,
be assured that I will take more. It is up to you, Dr
Beckett, as
to whether there is a next time or not. I will leave you to
think
about it.”
With that, the drones let go of Rodney, who collapsed to the floor, and
they were left alone in the cell. Carson rushed to his side.
“Rodney…”
He wanted to respond, to let Carson know it was okay, but he could
hardly breathe. The pain was beyond anything he could ever
have
imagined. Oh crap, make it stop. Please make it
stop.
He wasn’t aware that the pleas were
verbal.
For a while there was nothing but the pain, overriding everything, but
slowly it started to recede, and he was aware of Carson’s
voice,
talking to him, trying to reassure him, telling him to just hang
on. After a while, he realised that he was leaning against
Carson, who was holding him tightly to his own chest, and
apologising. Blaming himself for making the retro-virus, for
testing it, creating Michael, for this.
“Not… your…
fault…” he managed to
say. “Don’t… blame…
you…”
“Back with me, Rodney?”
“Yeah,” he felt weak, drained.
Literally. “How do I look?”
“He took a few weeks from you, not even a year. At
least
that’s what he said. Anyway, you don’t
look any
older.”
“Hate… to think… what it’d be
like… if he took more…”
“I’m not going to let that happen.”
“You can’t… give him what… he
wants.” He closed his eyes, “at
least…not
without… knowing more… like why he
wants…
it.”
“I’m not going to sit by and watch him torture
you! It was bad enough with Sheppard…”
He opened his eyes, grabbing one of Carson’s hands.
He
wanted to look him in the face, but moving that much just
wasn’t
on the agenda right then.
“Carson… you
can’t…” he stopped,
thinking about his next words, “you need… to find
out… why he wants the virus… why he wants
you… to
complete it. Even then… I don’t
think… you
should give him… what he wants.”
“I’ll ask him why he wants the
retro-virus. But I
won’t watch you die, Rodney. Don’t ask me
to do
that. I can’t.”
“Carson…”
”No, Rodney. End of discussion.” He
heard, and felt,
Carson sigh, “bloody idiot, you’ve been hanging
around with
Sheppard too much, picked up his stupid self-sacrificing
heroics.
Doesn’t suit you.”
“Believe me… I really don’t want to get
hurt… really, I don’t.
But…”
“No buts.”
“Damn stubborn Scot…” he mumbled.
“Anyway, to start with, I could stall him. And even
if that
doesn’t work for long, showing him how to produce the
retro-virus
will take days. As for trying to find a way to make the
effects
permanent, I have no idea how long that will take. But
I’ll
be buying us time.”
“Time for what?”
“Either for a heroic rescue, or a heroic escape.
Really, right now, I don’t care which one it is.”
“Escape,” he said, “it’s
unlikely…
anyone will be… able to locate us… to rescue
us.”
“Okay, so escape,” Carson shook him slightly,
“and
that’s another reason not to let Michael drain any more life
from
you. You think I stand a chance of escaping without
you?
You’re the expert on wraith technology, not me.”
“Flattery…”
“Will get me everywhere, when it concerns one Dr Rodney
McKay, PhD.” Carson finished.
He snorted at that, and then groaned.
“Please… don’t make me…
laugh…”
“Sorry.”
“Okay… you stall him… and
I’ll try and think… of some brilliant…
escape plan.”
“I’d take a not so brilliant escape plan, just so
long as
it works. Now, let me see to that arm again, and check out
the
wounds on your chest.”
He sighed, but didn’t argue. He knew there was
little point
in it, and his injuries did need seeing to, as best as possible without
a first aid kit. He distracted himself from the pain as much
as
possible by trying to figure out a plan of escape.
Chapter
Two – Virus
It was over an hour later when Michael returned. Rodney
hadn’t been able to work out how to escape from the cell
yet. He had bemoaned the fact he didn’t have a
whole slew
of knives to throw at the door controls across the corridor.
Apparently, this was how Sheppard and the others had escaped the cell
on the hive ship they had gone to with Ford. Carson
personally
didn’t think it would have made any difference, not being
sure
how good his own aim would be, and doubting Rodney would be able to aim
properly at the moment.
“Have you decided, Dr Beckett, the fate of Dr
McKay?”
“I’ll do what you want, so long as you
don’t harm him.”
“I knew you would see reason.”
“Why do you want the retro-virus?” Rodney asked.
“Why do you think, Dr McKay?”
“For food? Or some other reason?”
“Food will be the main use for it. But I also wish
to build
an army of Wraith such as myself. If I am to be rejected by
other
Wraith, then I will need more than just the three others such as myself
and a handful of drones to survive. And more than just this
cruiser. For those who are strong of mind, I would allow them
to
revert and join me, those weak of mind would be given the strain of
virus to cause a permanent change in them. Keeping them as
humans
without the need of drugs, until they are required for food.”
“So, you turn other Wraith into food or creatures like
yourself, and then what?”
“We survive.”
“Oh, is that all? Somehow I doubt that.
You must have
some longer term plans than just that.” Rodney said, adding
snidely, “or is survival all that you’re capable of
now?”
“You would be wise not to provoke me, Dr McKay.”
“Ah, but if you hurt me, Carson won’t help
you.” Rodney said triumphantly.
“Hurt and pain can last a long time before death.
Though
I’m sure I can find other ways to gain Dr Beckett’s
help
should you annoy me too greatly. In fact, with enough time, I
am
sure I can gain the information I need directly from his
mind. It
was a pity that the two days I held him was not enough time to do
so.”
Carson paled at the mention of the time spent as Michael’s
prisoner at the camp. Rodney, fortunately, had realised his
mistake and shut up. Good, he thought. Maybe if
Rodney
could control that mouth of his, they’d stand a chance of
surviving this with no further injuries… and without him
having
Michael inside his mind again.
“Now, Dr Beckett, if you will come with me.”
Michael
gestured out of the cell, and then turned his attention back to Rodney,
“and you, Dr McKay, will be moved to a cocoon for safe
keeping. After all, with your skills and expertise, I
can’t
risk you attempting to escape.”
“Um, really, is that necessary? It’s
just, I have
some bad memories associated with those things. You
don’t
honestly think I’d be able to escape?”
“I do not intend to underestimate you.”
“He could help me,” Carson suggested quickly,
seeing how
badly Rodney was effected by the idea of a cocoon, “I mean,
he
could help translate things into the Wraith language, and help me with
your medical equipment. I’m assuming it will be
different
to what I’m accustomed to using.” He
watched Michael,
hoping that he would buy it. It was partially true.
Rodney
could help things go faster, or in this case, he would be helpful in
slowing things down.
“Very well,” Michael said, “he will come
to the lab
with us. But if he causes any trouble, or I believe he is not
helping, he will be moved to a cocoon.”
Rodney threw Carson a relieved look. Hopefully, with him
still
loose, so to speak, he would be able to work out a way for them to
escape.
----------------
Two days had passed since finding themselves on Michael’s
ship. Two days of appearing to cooperate, but in fact stall
for
time. Fortunately, Rodney had been able to find excuses for
being
allowed to help Carson, with help from Carson himself, and so far had
not been thrown into a cocoon… or worse.
He was also, carefully, accessing computer systems. It was
difficult to do so without drawing attention, there was always either
Michael or one of the other three apparently nameless survivors from
the camp watching Carson and himself working. But he was
managing
to make some progress, though nothing that would help them to escape as
of yet.
It was only a matter of time before Carson would have to start doing
more, he could tell that Michael was getting impatient, and was perhaps
suspecting their delaying tactics. Oh, who was he
kidding?
He was sure Michael was well aware that they were stalling, but so far
seemed disinclined to interfere. But he had to admit to being
worried about what would happen when Michael’s patience ran
out. He had a feeling it might not bode well for himself.
Matters were not helped by his broken arm. It hurt like mad,
and
there was no pain relief to be had. At least Michael had
allowed
Carson to set it, even providing the necessary materials for a
primitive cast. But it was awkward and clumsy, and it was
slowing
him down. And it was painful. The marks on his
chest still
ached as well. Both he and Carson were waking from nightmares
caused by that feeding. Carson was also plagued by nightmares
caused by Michael’s probing of his mind at the
camp. All in
all, they weren’t getting a lot of sleep. And that
wasn’t exactly helping matters either.
He moved over to where Carson was working, as Michael entered the lab,
motioning to the Wraith who was watching them. Rodney had no
idea
what the motion meant, but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his
stomach. A very bad feeling.
“Dr Beckett,” Michael said, “I am getting
impatient. When will the retro-virus be ready?”
“Not just yet,” Carson replied, not looking Michael
in the
eyes, but remaining hunched over his work, “it takes time to
produce, especially as you want me to document the process as
well.”
The other Wraith approached Rodney, and he instinctively moved back
from it. And backed into the grip of a drone he
hadn’t
noticed coming up behind him. He gave a squeak of alarm,
before
pushing his fear down.
“What are you doing?” Carson demanded.
“Just reminding you that Dr McKay’s life is in your
hands. I believe you have been… taking your
time…
and that is not acceptable.”
The Wraith who had been watching them, placed his hand onto
Rodney’s chest, but did not harm him or start to feed.
“How much should I allow him to take, Dr Beckett? A
year, maybe two?”
“Don’t!” Carson cried in fear,
“please, don’t.”
“Tomorrow, Dr Beckett. If you have not completed
the
retro-virus by the end of tomorrow, Dr McKay will lose a year of his
life. And each day another year until it is
finished. How
long do you think he will last, doctor?”
Michael turned a predatory gaze onto Rodney, and motioned for the
Wraith and drone to release him, and then left.
Carson moved over to Rodney.
“Are you…”
“If you ask me if I’m okay I might have to award
you the
prize for the Person Who Asks the Most Stupidest Questions.”
He
looked at Carson, “he didn’t hurt me. Not
this time,
but…”
“Aye, I think the time for stalling is over.”
Carson returned to his work, occasionally casting concerned looks his
way. This sucked. Totally and completely
sucked. Time
was running out. He had to find a way to access the
ship’s
systems more quickly.
An idea hit him. Why hadn’t he thought of it
earlier?
Probably because he was so wrapped up in trying to stall Michael and
his crew, as well as survive, that he hadn’t been thinking
through all of their options.
He needed to talk to Carson tonight, but in the meantime, he would
concentrate on trying to get those overrides into the ship’s
systems. The drone had left, so there was just the one Wraith
watching them now, and at the moment his attention was on Beckett.
No time like the present, then. And if the Wraith wondered
what
he was doing, he would cover by translating Carson’s work
into
the Wraith language. He wasn’t going to kid
himself, there
were still a lot of ifs and maybes, but at least he had a plan.
If only his stupid arm didn’t keep getting in his way, damn
it…
----------------
Rodney slumped against the wall of their cell, and Carson slumped down
next to him.
“I have a plan,” Rodney said, “not a
brilliant one, but it should work.”
“About time,” Carson grumbled. Seeing the
Wraith come
close to feeding off Rodney again had shook him up more than he wanted
to admit to, and he couldn’t help shake the feeling this was
all
is fault, despite Rodney’s assertions otherwise.
Fortunately, Rodney decided to ignore his bad mood.
“Will you have the retro-virus ready tomorrow?”
“Of course I will. There’s no way
I’m going to let them hurt you…”
“I know.” Rodney cut him off. “What form
is it? Injection or gas?”
“Injection.”
“Good. Okay, sometimes they have just one Wraith
watching
us, let’s hope that’s the case tomorrow after the
virus is
ready. I’ll cause a minor blow out of the computer
console
I’m using for the translations, and you stick the Wraith with
the
virus.”
“What?”
“Inject the Wraith. It will put him out of
commission and
we can grab his stunner. Then it’s just a case of
stunning
the other Wraith on board. Well, everyone except whoever is
piloting the ship. That one will need to be persuaded to drop
us
out of hyperspace, preferably somewhere safe. Neither of us
can
pilot the ship, and Teyla isn’t here with her Wraith DNA to
do it
for us. I’d rather not be flying blind in
hyperspace.”
“That…sounds damn risky,” he said
quietly.
“Yes, well, as I said, not a brilliant plan, but unless you
have any other ideas?”
“No, I don’t,” he sighed, “are
you sure we can persuade the pilot to do what we want?”
“Hopefully his self preservation instincts will kick
in.
I’d take flying blind over being prisoner, and it’s
not
like we have a lot to lose. I doubt Michael is going to keep
us
alive once he has what he wants.”
“I guess not. And not much chance of him releasing us
either.”
“Huh, no chance of that.” Rodney huffed.
“We
know there are four male Wraith, but I’m not sure how many
drones. They all look alike to me, and just because we
haven’t seen more than three together at one time,
doesn’t
mean there aren’t more of them.”
“So, we can’t be sure we have got them
all.”
“Which means I need you to watch my back once we drop out of
hyperspace. I’ll need to work on gaining some sort
of
control over the ship.”
“Lovely,” he said.
“We’d better try to get some sleep.
You’d think
they could provide a bed, instead of making us sleep on this
floor,” Rodney grumped.
They settled down, making themselves as comfortable as possible, which
wasn’t much. Rodney fell asleep quickly, but Carson
couldn’t drift off. He was plagued by guilt and
doubts. Worried about all the things that could go wrong the
next
day, and the consequences of their escape attempt if it
failed.
He had no doubt Rodney would suffer if they didn’t
succeed.
And he really didn’t want to watch his friend be fed on again.
Eventually, sleep took over, but it was an uneasy sleep for both of
them, disturbed by nightmares and fear.
----------------
It actually only took Carson a couple of hours to complete the virus,
and he let Rodney know by a prearranged signal once he was ready with
the injection.
The explosion did the trick, drawing the Wraith’s attention
away
from Beckett, who was able to give the injection. The Wraith
fell
to the ground straight away, and Rodney grabbed the stunner, using it
to stun the Wraith into oblivion. For now, anyway.
A drone rushed into the lab, alerted by the noise, and was stunned by
Rodney. Carson grabbed the second stunner, and they made
their
way through the ship. It turned out to be quite easy to take
out
the other Wraith they came across. Apparently, they had
underestimated the humans.
Rodney counted three males and three drones taken out, at least
temporarily, as they headed to the flight deck. He hoped
there
weren’t many more drones. Michael had said a
handful, so
hopefully that meant there weren’t many more.
He took out another drone as they entered the flight deck, and
approached Michael, who was piloting the ship.
“Carson, keep an eye out for more drones,” he
ordered, indicating the corridor outside the flight deck.
“Right,” Carson moved into position.
“And you,” he said, looking at Michael,
“you’re
going to find a nice safe spot to bring us out of hyperspace
in.”
“Why should I do that, Dr McKay?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll stun
you. And then
we’ll be flying blind. I don’t know
whether this ship
will drop out of hyperspace when it needs to recover, or whether it
will continue until it is destroyed. Nor do I know where it
will
decide to enter real space if it does drop out of hyperspace on its
own. It could drop us into a sun, for all I know.
And right
now, I really don’t care. Dead is still dead,
whether
it’s now or later. And don’t try to
convince us you
won’t kill us when we are no longer of use to you, because,
sorry, but I won’t believe you.”
Michael looked annoyed, to say the least, but turned to the controls.
“Very well,” he said, bringing up a display of the
area of
space they were in. He pointed to some coordinates,
“as you
can see, that area is empty. It is close to a Wraith
territory,
but I believe far enough outside to avoid any contact.”
“Good,” he said, splitting his attention between
the display and Michael.
“It will take fifty minutes to reach that area.”
“Well, okay. You try anything, though, and I will
stun you, and take my chances without a pilot.”
“Rodney, how long will the stun work on the
Wraith?” Carson asked from the doorway.
“Damn, I’m not sure.” He thought for a
moment,
“bring up your internal life signs detector, or whatever you
call
it.”
Michael did as he was asked.
“Okay, so it looks like we got them all. Right,
that’s something. Carson, you need to go and stun
them all
again and move them to a cell.”
“Wonderful.” Carson muttered, “sure you
can handle him on your own?”
“Not much choice, is there? Can’t risk
them waking up
and storming us. Besides, I have the stunner. And I
don’t think he’s stupid enough to try anything
whilst
we’re still in hyperspace. Just make sure
you’re back
here before we drop out of it.”
Carson left, and Rodney turned all of his attention to Michael.
“Do you really think you will succeed, Dr McKay?”
“I’ve been known to succeed against far greater
odds than
this,” he said, knowing he was sweating from fear, but
pushing it
down ruthlessly. They had to succeed.
“If you give this up now…”
“What? You’ll overlook our
escape
attempt? You won’t torture or kill me?
Won’t
invade Carson’s mind to get what you want from him?
What?”
“I will allow you to live.”
“Yeah, sure,” he snorted in scorn, “and
if I believe that, then I need my head examining!”
“If you continue with this, you will fail. And I
will harm
you. But if you give up now, I assure you that you will not
be
harmed.”
“Nope, not listening.”
“Dr McKay…”
“No!” he shouted, “shut up,
or…” and
then he smiled grimly, “or I’ll make sure Carson
injects
you with the retro-virus again. I’m sure
you’d just
love that, wouldn’t you?”
Michael glowered at him, but fell silent all the same.
Chapter
Three – Communication
There was about eight minutes left before dropping out of hyperspace,
when Carson returned to the flight deck. He was pulling the
Wraith he had injected the virus into with him.
“Carson, what are you doing?”
“Bringing him somewhere I can keep an eye on him.”
He said.
“Carson…”
“No, Rodney, I gave him the injection, he is my
responsibility. And if I leave him with the others, they are
quite liable to kill him.”
“Carson, look…”
“Shut up, Rodney.” He checked the Wraith
over,
noticing the changes that had already occurred.
He’d known
Rodney would be annoyed, but he had a responsibility to his patients,
even when they were the enemy. And in a few hours, this one
would
no longer be much of a threat anyway.
“Damn doctor,” he heard Rodney mutter, but he
didn’t
interfere, for which Carson was grateful. Once he had checked
his
patient out, he moved over to join Rodney, pointing his stunner at
Michael.
“How you holding up?” he asked Rodney.
“Oh, fine. He seems to think we’re going
to fail and
should just give up, throw ourselves on his mercy, or some such
crap. I said no. Hope you don’t
mind.”
“No. I don’t think throwing ourselves on
his mercy
would be a good choice,” he glanced at Rodney, noticing a
sheen
of sweat on his face, and a paleness to his skin that was not
good. His hands were beginning to shake slightly as
well.
Oh crap. He thought back to when they had last eaten, and
suddenly realised that he wasn’t sure if Rodney had eaten any
of
the breakfast that had been provided a few hours earlier.
Which
probably meant he hadn’t eaten since the day
before. He
sighed, in frustration, but there was little point in mentioning
anything to Rodney just now. Even he realised that revealing
weakness in front of the enemy wasn’t a good idea.
“How long until we’re back in real
space?” He asked instead.
“Three minutes, more or less.” Rodney answered, not
taking his eyes off of Michael.
“Good.”
Time passed slowly, but eventually they entered real space.
He
sighed in relief, and then jumped as Rodney stunned Michael, three
times. And then slumped down against one of the consoles.
“Rodney…”
“I’m okay, just tired,” Rodney looked at
him, smiling
wanly, “I’ve just spent the last fifty or so
minutes
waiting for him to do something sneaky. Can’t tell
you how
glad I am that that is over.”
“I can imagine,” he replied, bending down to check
Rodney’s vitals.
“Carson…” Rodney moaned, slapping his
hands away.
“Now, now, why don’t you just humour me for a
minute
here?” he said, continuing with his checks, “and
just when
did you last eat something?”
“Yesterday.” Rodney admitted reluctantly,
“didn’t feel hungry this morning.
Don’t know
why, nerves usually have the opposite affect on me. Been
feeling
a bit off. Didn’t want to worry you.”
“Och, you bloody idiot! You mean to
say….”
“Carson,” Rodney interrupted him, “we had
to make our
move today,” he looked down, embarrassed,
“I…
er… think the chest wounds are… maybe…
infected a
little.”
“Damn it, Rodney!” He immediately started to check
his wounds, but Rodney pushed his hands away.
“I couldn’t exactly pop to the pharmacy for
antibiotics,
could I? Look, Carson…” he sighed,
“you need
to get Michael down to the cell. Give them all another stun
or
two to be on the safe side. And make sure he,”
Rodney
nodded towards the Wraith/human, “is stunned as
well.
Then…then you can check my wounds, okay? We
can’t
take the risk of them getting loose…”
“Damn it…”
“No, listen to me, make sure the prisoners are secure and out
of
it, then…then check me over. I can wait a few more
minutes.”
“Och, you’re a stubborn fool,” he said,
“fine. But you stay put until I get back.”
“I will.” Rodney lied.
“You’re a terrible liar,” Carson said.
“So I’ve been told. Look, we
don’t have time
for me to take things easy. I need to at least get subspace
communications working for us.”
“Just… be careful. I don’t
want to come back and find that you’ve
fainted…”
“Passed out…”
“Whatever. I mean it, Rodney.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll take it slow.” Rodney
gave a huff
of laughter, “not like I can go too fast anyway, with this
damn
arm slowing me down. How do you feel about being my new left
hand?”
“Not particularly looking forward to it, but I guess I
don’t have much choice. I’ll be as quick
as I
can.”
“Good.”
----------------
Rodney made an effort to pull himself together, and started working on
the subspace communications, but he soon realised that he needed two
hands to get anywhere, this being more complicated than trying to
install overrides into the ship’s systems.
Something which
had proved to be a waste of his time in the end, as he hadn’t
been able to do as much on the console in the lab as he had hoped.
He sat down and waited for Carson to return. He really
wasn’t feeling too good now, but he had to try and keep it
together. There was no way Carson could get them out of this
fix
on his own. No, it was down to him to get them out of
here.
With Carson’s help, they stood a chance. But not if
he
collapsed.
He wasn’t aware that he had fallen asleep until he felt a
hand shaking him gently.
“Rodney,” it was Carson, he realised,
“hate to do this, but you need to eat something.”
“Hmm,” he opened his eyes, and sat up. He
felt nauseous, and the food Carson offered him really did not look very
appetising. “No, I need get the communications
working for us…”
“True, but you also need to eat. I suspect your
blood sugar
levels are dropping. Bad enough your wounds seem to be
infected
without hypoglycaemia kicking it as well.”
“Oh,” he blinked, “okay.”
The food was every bit as unappetising as it looked, and he had to work
hard to force it down. The water Carson also offered him was
much
more welcome. Once he had eaten, Carson helped him up, and
they
started working on the communications.
It was very slow and very frustrating for both of them.
Rodney
found himself annoyed at how basic his instructions to Carson had to
be, and frustrated because he could do it so much faster if only he had
both his hands to work with. Carson was struggling to
understand
Rodney’s instructions, as he tended to assume certain things
that
caused Carson to misinterpret them. Not to mention
Rodney’s
bad mood was pissing Carson off, causing them to gripe at each
other. After all, Carson was doing his best, but he was a
doctor
not an engineer or physicist, damn it.
Every hour, Carson would check on the prisoners and stun them
again. He also checked on the Wraith/human on the flight
deck,
stunning him whenever he showed any signs of coming round.
Rodney
would take the time to rest. He knew Carson was getting
worried
about the infection, but he didn’t feel much worse than that
morning, so it seemed to be slow rather than fast moving.
He was concerned by Carson’s need to look after the
Wraith/human. He understood that Carson felt responsible for
him,
but… he just had a feeling this was going to end
badly. It
had taken Carson some time to really forgive Sheppard for giving the
order to destroy the camp, and to forgive Rodney for carrying that
order out. Intellectually Carson knew there hadn’t
been
time to rescue any of the dewraithified humans, but it had still taken
time for him to come to terms with their actions.
He also knew Carson carried a lot of guilt about creating the
retro-virus in the first place. It had ended up being used in
ways he wasn’t happy about, and had so far caused more harm
than
good. It was like Hoff, but on a bigger scale. And
he knew
Carson was blaming himself for their present predicament, despite his
attempts to persuade him otherwise. He only hoped Carson
would
get some help when they returned to Atlantis. He had no
doubts
he’d be seeing Dr Heightmeyer himself after being fed
on.
Probably be ordered to anyway. Damn, that whole being fed on
thing was going to give him nightmares for some time to come, he was
certain. He only hoped Carson would be sensible enough to go
and
see her as well.
It took over five hours to get the communications working for
them. He almost wished Teyla was there, with her Wraith DNA,
to
make things easier. Almost, but not really.
He was preparing to open communications, when the long range scanners
clicked on.
“Oh no,” he muttered, checking them to make sure he
was reading the information correctly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hive ship, heading our way.”
“Oh crap. How long until it gets here?”
“About… four and a half
hours.” Rodney closed
his eyes briefly. “Okay, contact
Atlantis. Maybe the
Daedalus will be able to get to us first, though I’m not too
sure
where it will be right now. Hopefully it should be almost
back to
Atlantis, which I estimate is about four hours away.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case,”
said Carson.
“Atlantis, this is Dr McKay. Can you here me? If
you can,
both Carson and myself could do with some assistance.”
There was no response.
“Is it not working?” Carson asked.
“I don’t know… they might be worried
it’s some
kind of Wraith trap. After all, we have been
compromised.”
He tried again.
“Atlantis, if you’re hearing this, we could really
do with
some help here. We were kidnapped by Michael and a small
group of
Wraith, but have been able to take control of the cruiser we are
on. That is to say, control in the most loosest of
terms.
Other than the long range scanners the only thing I’ve got
working for us is communications. And about that long range
scanner, it’s showing a hive ship heading our way.
It’ll take about four and a half hours to get here, and we
really
wouldn’t like to be here when it
arrives.” He then
gave them their coordinates and signed off, hoping for some sort of
response. Several minutes passed, and both Carson and himself
were beginning to think Atlantis hadn’t heard them.
“Dr McKay, Dr Beckett, this is Colonel Caldwell on the
Daedalus.”
“Colonel, you have no idea how relieved we are to hear
you.” Rodney shared a smile with Carson.
“Be advised that we are on our way, however we will be
cutting it close to get to you before the hive ship does.”
“Not too close, I hope,” he said, “as far
as we can
tell Michael has kept the fact that Atlantis is still intact to himself
this time, but I wouldn’t expect that to last. Not
to
mention what they might do to us…”
“We will do everything in our power to reach you in time,
doctors. But it would be a good idea if you could get weapons
working for you.”
“I don’t think I can do that in time.
I’m not working at full speed here…”
“He has a broken left arm.” Carson interjected,
“and
even with my help, acting as his left hand, so to speak, it has taken a
lot longer than it should have just to get communications up and
running… he also had some infected
wounds…”
“Yes, yes, all that.” Rodney snapped,
“we’ll do what we can, Colonel.”
“Good. We’ll have a medical team standing
by when we arrive. Is Dr Beckett injured as well?”
“No, just me,” he smiled wryly at that.
“Can you tell me what Michael wanted with you?”
“He wanted the retro-virus, and threatened Rodney if I
didn’t show them how to make it for themselves. He
even…”
“Yes, well, what he did isn’t important right
now,”
Rodney interrupted, throwing Carson a look, “what is
important is
making sure this ship and its crew don’t end up in Wraith
hands. As much as I hate to say this, but if you
can’t get
here in time, I may need to destroy this ship,” he sighed,
“I really can’t believe I just said that.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to
that. I assume I
don’t have to tell you to wait until the last possible moment
before blowing yourselves up?” Caldwell said.
“No, you don’t, but thanks anyway. Did
Sheppard and the others get back okay?”
“Yes, they returned safely to Atlantis and have not stopped
looking since. I am relaying this conversation to them as we
talk.”
“Oh, well, I’m glad they made it back
okay. Look, if
I’m going to try and get weapons up and running then
I’d
better get on with it…”
“Understood. Caldwell out.”
He turned to look at Carson.
“So, left hand?”
“You think we have a chance at succeeding in time?”
“No,” he answered honestly, “but if the
alternative might be blowing ourselves up…”
“Then let’s get on with it.”
----------------
Despite their hard work, when the four and a half hours deadline
arrived it found them with no control over the weapons system, and no
sign of the Daedalus.
The hive ship dropped out of hyperspace and approached rapidly.
“It beat the Daedalus,” he said, looking at Rodney
in
horror, “oh crap, we’re going to have to blow
ourselves
up.”
“Not yet we don’t,” Rodney disagreed,
“I have
the systems ready to overload, once started it will take one minute to
destroy the ship. But I’m not ready to sacrifice
our lives
just yet, the Daedalus could get here at any moment.”
“Okay, okay, so we wait and see what the hive ship
does.”
They both watched in dread as the hive ship drew closer, and then fired
on them. The ship shook violently, and there were small
explosions from some of the consoles. Rodney rushed to check
what
damage had been done, as another salvo hit the ship.
“They’ve taken out the hyperdrive and are targeting
the sublight engines.”
Carson had been thrown to the floor, and was getting up again as
another salvo hit the ship, forcing him back down.
“Rodney…”
“They’ve taken out the sublight engines, my guess
is
they’ll go for the weapons next. Better hold on
tight.”
There was another two salvos in rapid succession, and further
explosions occurred on the flight deck. He stayed down and
just
hoped for the best.
“Can you still cause an overload, Rodney?” he
called out, but received no reply. “Rodney?”
He managed to get to his feet, and spotted Rodney down by a burned out
console. Quickly, he moved over to him, checking him for
further
injuries. It looked like Rodney had taken a hit to his head
from
a piece of debris. Fortunately, McKay came around as he was
examining him.
“Oww… damn…”
“Easy.”
The hive had stopped firing on them, and Rodney pulled himself to his
feet despite Carson’s protests, to check on the situation.
“Hive ship… looks like they’re going to
board
us.” Rodney murmured, wincing in pain.
“I’ll
start the overload…
He was about to start the sequence when another hyperspace window
formed.
“The Daedalus…” Rodney sighed in relief.
“Oh thank goodness,” Carson said. For a
moment it had
looked like all was lost. But now it looked like they were
going
to get out of this alive. He smiled at Rodney, about to make
another comment, and there was another explosion, knocking him off his
feet and into darkness.
----------------
“Carson,” Rodney called, rushing over to the
physician’s side. It was clear he had taken a blow
to the
head, and it looked like he might have some burns on the back of his
arms.
Then the communication systems came alive.
“This is the Daedalus, do you copy us, Dr McKay?”
He moved over to the console, sighing in relief when he saw it appeared
undamaged.
“Yes, we’re here. Can you lock onto our
life
signs? And make it quick, Carson’s
unconscious.”
“Locking on now… we have three life signs close
together, and another seven elsewhere.”
“Okay, Carson and I are together. The other one
near us is
a humanized Wraith. I don’t think Beckett will be
happy if
we leave him here to die…”
“Sorry, sir, but the third life sign has just faded
out,” came the response.
“Oh,” he said, and then he found himself and Carson
on the Daedalus’ flight deck.
“Fire on the cruiser,” Caldwell ordered.
“Firing now…” there was a delay and
then, “cruiser is destroyed, sir.”
“Open a window and get us out of here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you,” he said to Caldwell, as a med team
moved in on Carson and himself.
“Glad to get you both back alive,” the Colonel
replied.
Chapter Four –
Friendship
The Daedalus was on its way back to Atlantis, and Rodney and Carson
were being looked after in the infirmary, when Caldwell was contacted
by Elizabeth for a report on the condition of her two missing men.
Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon were also present when the call was made,
anxious to know how their friends were doing.
“Dr Beckett suffered some minor burns to his arm during the
hive
ship’s attack and a concussion, but I have been assured he
will
recover quickly. Dr McKay, as you already know, has a broken
left
arm. He also suffered a concussion during the attack, but a
minor
one.”
“Carson mentioned some wounds that had been
infected,” Elizabeth prompted.
“Yes. The infection appears to be responding to
treatment,
but what Dr Beckett did not tell us, as I believe Dr McKay cut him off
before he could do so, was that the wounds in question were caused by
Michael feeding on him.”
“Oh crap,” whispered John. There was a
shocked silence.
“Is he… I mean…” Elizabeth
couldn’t
bring herself to ask the question, but fortunately Caldwell understood
what she wanted to know.
“Apparently Michael only took a few weeks from him.
It was
a demonstration for Dr Beckett as to what would happen if he
didn’t cooperate. I have been assured that,
physically at
least, Dr McKay will recover fine. He doesn’t look
any
older.”
“That’s… good,” Elizabeth said
quietly, “it sounds like they had a bad time of it.”
“True. I have to admit to being impressed that they
were
able to take over the ship, even if there were only eight Wraith
onboard.”
“They’ve proved themselves in the past to be
nothing if not
resourceful,” Elizabeth agreed, with a small smile.
“At least they managed to survive and find a way to contact
us. The cruiser was destroyed?”
“Yes.”
“Then at least Michael is no longer a threat.”
Teyla stated.
“About the only good thing to come out of this,”
Sheppard commented sourly.
“How long before you reach Atlantis?” Elizabeth
asked.
“Just over three hours. I’ll have Dr
Beckett and Dr McKay beamed directly to your infirmary.”
“Thank you.”
Caldwell signed off. The shocked silence descended again,
before
people moved off to handle the revelation in their own ways.
----------------
Guilt. It was a powerful emotion, and there was plenty of it
going around, it seemed. Carson, because he was still blaming
himself for the mess the retro-virus had caused, Sheppard, Teyla and
Ronon, because they hadn’t been able to protect them or find
them, or even be involved in their rescue.
As for himself, part of him felt guilty for being used against Carson
the way he had, even though most of him knew that was stupid.
But
as he said, guilt; it was a powerful emotion. And not one
that
dealt with logic or reason.
He was aware that many people on Atlantis knew he had been fed
on. And he hated the look in the eyes of those he’d
seen. Pity, or in some cases, curiosity. He
sighed.
His team didn’t look at him like that. Sympathy,
unspoken,
well except for Teyla, but also guilt. And maybe fear, for
him. For how he would cope with this. For whether
he would
remain on the team, or if this was the final straw, and he’d
retreat into his labs.
As if. He needed to go off world, needed to be part of a
team. Not that he wanted to go into dangerous situations, but
being part of a team, a family of sorts, was the best thing to happen
to him in a long time. He wasn’t about to give that
up. Besides, if he did, then it would be like letting Michael
take something more from him, and that particular Wraith had already
taken more than enough. So, no, he was staying as part of the
team.
Of course, he had no idea how he would react the next time he came up
against a Wraith. Now that he knew how painful and traumatic
the
feeding process was, he really didn’t know if he could handle
being close to a Wraith again. But he needed to be able to
cope
with it, should a situation like that occur, and with his
team’s
past record, it was highly likely one would.
Talking to Kate would help, a little, perhaps. He knew he had
no
choice but to see her, it would be mandatory. And hopefully
it
would help. But he needed more than that, this
time. He
needed… something more. He just didn’t
know what.
There was a noise from the bed next to his. He looked over to
see
Carson opening his eyes. Beckett needed help as
well. The
guilt was eating away at the man he knew, the man from Antarctica, who
had pressed friendship onto him against his will, pushed past his
acerbic personality. The only doctor here who usually had the
patience to deal with one Rodney McKay, in all his glory.
His friend. He was afraid of losing him, and he was damned if
he
was going to let it happen. He’d lost too many
friends
already.
----------------
Back home. That was the first thought that entered his head
as he opened his eyes to his infirmary, his domain.
Rodney. That was the second thought that entered his head,
and he
turned to look for him. He remembered waking up on the
Daedalus
for a short while. Rodney had been nearby, he’d
heard the
guy bitching at the doctors. He smiled at the
memory. That,
if nothing else, had told him that Rodney was going to be okay.
“Carson, you in there?”
“Um…” he looked at Rodney, who was doing
his best to
hide his concern. Funny how the physicist did that at
times. Rarely succeeded though. The man’s
emotions
were clear, especially to those who knew him well. And he
knew
him well.
“Well, that was enlightening, wasn’t it?”
Rodney grouched.
“Rodney,” he acknowledged his presence, and then
the doctor in him woke up, “how you doing?”
“How am I doing? Oh, well now that I have a proper
cast on
my arm, lots of painkillers, and antibiotics, I’m feeling
much,
much better.”
“Good,” he wasn’t fooled, Rodney still
looked pale
and sweaty, but he didn’t push it. He tried to sit
up, but
the combination of a headache and a spinning sensation defeated him.
“You’ve got a concussion, and some minor burns on
your
arms,” Rodney informed him, “a console blew near
you.
The Daedalus beamed us out of there before anything worse could
happen. Destroyed the cruiser, so Michael and his pals
won’t be a problem again.”
“Oh,” he frowned, “what about the one
that converted?”
“He died. I don’t know how, but his life
sign faded
out before they could beam us out of there. I suspect he was
injured by either debris or an explosion.”
He let that sink in, watching the emotions crossing Rodney’s
face. He wasn’t lying to him. The
humanized Wraith
hadn’t been left to die, as he had feared might happen, but
had
died before rescue came.
“Okay,” he said with a sigh, “maybe it
was just as well.”
“Maybe next time you say that you’ll actually mean
it.”
Trust Rodney to see through that. He had been responsible for
the
humanized Wraith. And he had failed in that
responsibility.
More concerned about Rodney and himself, than his other
patient.
Yet, what could he have done differently? And Rodney was more
important to them, to their survival. To him.
“It’s not your fault, Carson.”
“Isn’t it?” he said bitterly,
“it certainly
seems that way. I should never have created that damn
retro-virus. It has caused nothing but trouble.
First
Ellia, then the Colonel. Then Michael. That was a
complete
failure, and led to us being blackmailed and then double-crossed by the
Wraith. And the camp… and now this.
You.”
He heard an annoyed sigh from the direction of his friend, and then
movement. Looking over, he saw Rodney getting up from his
bed,
careful of the IVs in his arm.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re
doing?” he demanded.
“Going for a walk,” Rodney replied.
“Get back in that bed…”
“You’re not my doctor right now, so forgive me if I
ignore you.”
“Rodney…”
But by then, the stubborn fool had settled himself onto the foot of
Carson’s bed, having pulled the IV pole with him.
Carson
rolled his eyes.
“Why…”
“Shut up and listen for once,” Rodney interrupted
him,
“one; you had no idea Ellia would be stupid enough to take
the
virus despite hearing you say that it wasn’t completed
yet.” Rodney held up a finger as he made each point,
“two;
it’s not your fault the Colonel was infected. That was just
Sheppard’s bad luck kicking in. Three; you
didn’t
know the effects of the virus wouldn’t be permanent when you
injected Michael, that was discovered later in the
experiment.
And we had no way of knowing he would figure things out. Four; you are
not responsible for the actions of the Wraith that used us to get to
Earth, and if anyone should be blamed for that, it should be
me.
I allowed the information to be spread to various terminals, and
therefore for their worm to get the information they wanted.
And
five; you are in no way responsible for Michael’s actions
this
time, or for what he did to me.” Rodney paused,
looking him
straight in the eye, “so, let it go, for
goodness sake. And if not for goodness sake, then for your
own. And the sake of everyone else here.”
“It’s not that easy,” he protested.
“No, I guess not. But you need to start looking at
this
from other people’s points of view. Start getting
past that
guilt. That unfounded guilt. You were trying to put
an end
to a war. You had no way of knowing the outcome.”
“Oh, aye, good intentions and all that,” he
muttered,
“and you know what they say about good intentions.”
“Okay, so…” Rodney paused, obviously
thinking
deeply, and then looked back at him with a look of triumph in his eyes,
“so, when Sheppard woke the Wraith by rescuing Teyla and the
others, that was a case of ‘good
intentions’. Do you
blame him for it? For waking the Wraith? Do you
think he
should have left them to die?”
“No, of course not, you know that.”
“So in what way is this different?
Sheppard’s good
intentions, rescuing our people, led to a bad outcome. Your
good
intentions, trying to neutralize a threat to this galaxy and to Earth,
without causing mass destruction of said threat, led to some bad
outcomes. It’s not like either of you could have
guessed
what the outcome of your actions would be. If you
don’t
blame Sheppard, then you shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“I…” he sighed, “it
doesn’t feel the same.”
“Obviously not.” Rodney sighed in frustration,
“but I
can’t see much difference myself. Look, all
I’m
asking is for you to think about it. And I hope
you’re
going to see Heightmeyer about all of this. If I’m
going to
have to see her, then so should you. Besides, it’s
what
she’s there for.”
“I guess I should talk to her.”
“Good. Because really, I’m the last
person for this sort of thing.”
“Oh, I don’t know, you seem to be doing
okay.”
Rodney snorted in disbelief, but he could see underneath it that Rodney
was secretly pleased by his comment. And it wasn’t
a
lie. Whilst he still felt guilty for everything that had
happened, he did feel better. Less guilty than before.
“You should get back into bed,” he said with a
smile,
“you don’t want to upset whichever doctor has the
bad luck
to deal with you whilst I’m incapacitated.”
“That would be Biro,” Rodney said with a look of
dismay,
“why do I always end up with Biro when you’re
ill?”
“Probably because she’s the only other one here who
can
out-stubborn you,” he grinned at Rodney’s outraged
look,
and then looked behind him, “too late.”
“Dr McKay, what are you doing out of bed?” Came the
none
too pleased voice of Dr Biro. Carson laughed at the way
Rodney
jumped, looking briefly alarmed, before settling for annoyed.
“Talking some sense into your boss’ stubborn
Scottish head.”
“And you couldn’t have done that from your bed, all
the way
over here?” Dr Biro said snidely, pointing to
Rodney’s bed,
which was little more that an arm’s length away.
Rodney rolled his eyes, and muttered something unflattering under his
breath, but allowed himself to be led back to his own
bed.
Once settled, Dr Biro checked his vitals, and then did the same for
Carson.
“So, when do I get out of here?” Carson asked,
using his most charming smile.
“Tomorrow at the earliest,” Biro replied.
“Och, I feel fine…”
Rodney snorted.
“He tried to sit up, but as you can see, that
didn’t go too well. White as a sheet comes to
mind.”
He threw McKay a dirty look, and then turned his smile on Biro again.
“You’re worse than Sheppard, and he’s bad
enough.” Biro chided, “put that oh so charming
smile
away. You’re not leaving before tomorrow at
the earliest.”
She put extra emphasise on the word ‘earliest’.
“Och, now…”
“And don’t start. I’m not in
the mood to hear
your whining. Bad enough I have to listen to his.”
“I do not whine.” Rodney protested.
“Yes, you do,” Carson said before adding,
“but I don’t.”
“Believe me, Carson, you both do.” And with that Dr
Biro made her exit, glad to get the last word in for once.
“Bossy, stubborn woman,” he muttered.
“Maybe you should fire her?” Rodney suggested
hopefully.
“Oh no, then who would I stick on you when I’m not
around?”
“Great. Thanks.”
“Aye, that’s what friend are for,” he
said with a grin.
“Oh, go back to sleep,” Rodney grumbled,
“it was nice and peaceful until you woke up.”
He closed his eyes. Maybe sleep wasn’t such a bad
idea
after all. He turned on his side, facing Rodney, and peeled
open
one eye.
“You look like you could so with some sleep too,”
he said,
before closing his eye again. He heard a sigh, and then
rustling
of sheets. He opened an eye briefly, and smiled.
Rodney
appeared to be taking his advice, for once.
Quiet descended upon the infirmary, much to the relief of Dr Biro and
her staff.
----------------
The next day, Carson managed to finagle a release and returned to his
quarters to rest. Rodney, however, wasn’t so lucky,
due to
requiring IV antibiotics to fight the last of the infection.
When Sheppard entered the infirmary to check up on his team member and
friend, it was to find one very pissed off and bored astrophysicist
insisting that he needed
his laptop, and that, no, of course he wouldn’t overdo it if
they
let him work for a while. John grinned at that. It
was a
good sign if McKay was complaining. It meant he was starting
to
feel better.
“Hey,” he said, coming to stand by
McKay’s bed.
“Colonel,” McKay greeted him, and then looked at Dr
Biro
who was standing nearby. “Could you convince the dragon-lady
here
to give me my laptop.”
“Um, I’m not sure calling her ‘the
dragon-lady’
is putting you on her good side, McKay. In fact,
I’m sure
it’s not.”
Rodney rolled his eyes in frustration, and glowered at him.
“Anyway, you don’t need your laptop now
I’m
here.” He turned to Biro, “I’ll try and
keep him out
of your hair.”
“That would be good, Colonel,” Dr Biro said,
“he’s driving my staff crazy. How Carson
puts up with
him, I’ll never know.”
“Hey, I am right here, you know.”
“I know,” Dr Biro said with a false smile, before
turning
to leave. “Make sure he stays in that bed, other
than trips
to the bathroom, of course. Otherwise, I’ll take
your next
medical instead of Dr Beckett.”
“I will,” Sheppard said to her retreating back.
“Thank goodness she’s gone,” McKay
muttered, “so, could you get me my laptop?”
“No, I think not.”
“You’re just scared of her.”
“Too right I am.” He admitted with a grin,
“she sees dead people,” he whispered.
“Oh, that’s bad, Colonel.”
“Yeah, I thought so. So, how are you
doing?”
“Fine.”
“Uh huh. And the truth this time?” He
prodded verbally. McKay sighed.
“Better than yesterday. Better than for a few days,
in fact.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. I’m
sorry…”
“If you’re about to apologise for Carson and myself
getting
separated from you and taken, or for not being able to locate us, or
even, damn it, for not being on the Daedalus when we were rescued, then
don’t. It’s not your fault. Nor
is it
Teyla’s or Ronon’s, and I hope you’ll be
telling them
that soon.” Rodney said forcefully, and then gave a sigh,
“I’ve enough dealing with Carson and his misplaced
guilt
without my team starting with that crap as well.”
“Okay,” Sheppard said, drawing the word out,
“so I guess saying sorry isn’t a good idea
then?”
“If you were to blame, then yes. But
you’re not to blame. So, no.”
“Alright. Well, with that out of the way, how are
you coping with… well…”
“Being fed on?”
“Yeah, that.”
“It hurt like hell. But you know that.”
McKay looked
down at his hands, “at least he didn’t age
me. Well,
not noticeably. He said he just took a few weeks.
And it
didn’t last long, not like with you. And it was
only the
once.”
“Yeah, but you know, if I could have…”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Damn, I wouldn’t wish this on my worst
enemy. Well,
maybe with the exception of Kolya. I certainly
wouldn’t
have wanted you to go through this. You didn’t
deserve
it.”
“Neither did you.”
There was silence, awkward. He wasn’t sure what to
say.
“Sheppard… John…”
The use of his first name by McKay got his attention.
“I’m okay. Well, getting there
anyway. Sure,
I’m going to have some nightmares from this, and no doubt
I’ll be visiting Heightmeyer before too long, but
I’m
okay. And this, it’s not going to stop me from
going off
world. From being part of the team.”
Rodney paused,
“of course, I don’t know how well I’ll
cope when we
come across the Wraith again, but…”
“You’ll be okay,” John said quietly,
“because
even when you’re terrified, you’re able to do
whatever
needs doing for us to survive.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am,” he said, looking McKay in the eyes,
“I know you, and I trust you.”
He knew he should have said those words sometime ago. He knew
McKay was still unsure of his place even all this time after
Doranda. And he regretted that he hadn’t told him
sooner. Regretted a lot of things recently.
Including the
way he’d treated McKay when Jeannie was around. It
had been
so easy to tease him, that he hadn’t realised that they, the
team, had gone too far until it was too late to take it all
back.
And then they, and himself in particular, had pushed Rodney away,
spending more time with Rod, his alternative self, than with him.
“We haven’t treated you too well
recently,” he said
quietly, “I know that. It was too easy to tease you
with
the things Jeannie told us. And Rod… I’m
sorry about
spending so much time with him.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. We’re your team,
and we should
have stood by you. We should have seen how badly it was
affecting
you.”
“He was easier to get on with than me. I know
that.”
“Yeah, maybe. But he wasn’t
you. And what we
said, after he was gone, was all true. For a while, it was
fun to
be around him, but he wasn’t you. And I
wouldn’t have
trusted him, not like I trust you. I’ve known
people like
him before, friends to everyone on the surface, but in truth, friends
to very few, if any. At least you’re honest when
you deal
with people. That’s one of the things I like about
you.
“We weren’t there for you then, and we
weren’t there
for you this time either. I’m sorry about
that. I
know, I know, there was nothing we could have done to change things
this time. It wasn’t our fault. But we
thought
we’d lost you, and Carson. And that
just…
sucked.”
“I’m not good at this friendship thing.
Still
learning, you know?” Rodney said, “and
I’ll admit, it
was difficult, when Jeannie and Rod were here. It felt like I
was
losing everything, everyone, I held dear. But I could
understand
it. I guess, I’m trying to say, it’s good
to know you
still care. That I’m still part of the
team. That you
trust me. And I’m going to do everything I can not
to abuse
that trust.”
“I know. And this, this feeding, we’ll
work on it
together. Talk to Heightmeyer, but you also talk to
me. I
know what it’s like to be fed on. I’ve
been there,
done that, got the scars to prove it.”
“Thanks, Colonel. I’ll try…
I’m just not ready to…”
“That’s okay. I’m not too sure
I’m ready
to talk about it yet, myself. But I will, when
you’re
ready. Maybe we can heal each other, sort of.”
“Heal each other? Sounds sappy to me.”
“Yeah, but it might just work.”
“Maybe.”
Just then, Teyla, Ronon and Beckett entered the infirmary, heading
towards Sheppard and McKay.
“Hey, Doc, aren’t you supposed to be resting in
your quarters?” he said somewhat loudly.
“Hush.” Beckett said, “or next time
you’re in here I’ll make sure Reuben is your
nurse.”
“Reuben? As in ex-marine Reuben?” McKay
said with a shudder.
“Okay, Doc, as far as I’m concerned, you were never
here,” he also shuddered at the thought of Reuben.
“How are you feeling?” Teyla asked Rodney.
“Fine. Better.”
“We have brought you something,” Teyla looked to
Ronon.
“What?” Rodney asked a little suspiciously.
Ronon opened the bag he was carrying and removed a laptop.
Rodney’s eyes lit up.
“At last, someone who’s not afraid of the
dragon-lady.”
Carson took the laptop from Ronon, and held it.
“I shouldn’t be letting you have
this…”
“Oh, come on…”
“…but if it will stop you driving my staff
crazy…” Carson gave the laptop to
Rodney.
“just don’t overdo, for goodness sake, or Dr Biro
will have
my head.”
As Rodney fumbled to get the laptop open, Carson leaned over and gave
him a helping hand, which made John laugh.
“What?” Carson asked.
“Sorry, Doc, just thinking about you being Rodney’s
left
hand man. Literally. I don’t envy you
that.
He’s not known for his patience.”
“Aye, that’s true. But needs must and all
that.”
“We managed,” Rodney said, “though it
would have been
faster if Carson could follow instructions better.”
Carson rolled his eyes, and muttered about know it alls that
couldn’t give clear instructions even when their lives
depended
on it. Rodney chose to ignore him.
John decided a change of topic was probably a good idea, regretting
having started this one off.
“So, Carson, have you heard that Teyla’s got the
hots for one of the new marines…”
The End
