Word Count: 6,422
Rating:
PG13.
Category:
AU. Angst. Crossover
with SG1.
Story Status:
Complete.
Summary:
Carter is kidnapped, and meets up with McKay. Can they escape?
Author's Notes:
This
is set in Season 3 SG1 – and occurs instead of the episode
‘Shades of Grey’. Also, the Season 5
episode
‘48 Hours’ doesn’t occur in my AU.
Beta:
Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading.
AU A Troubled Man
By Leesa Perrie
Samantha Carter was pissed. Kidnapped by rogue NID agents,
whilst
on a mission with her team, and being gated to another world, without
her GDO, and whose address she wasn’t allowed to see, was not
something that she had planned for today. Especially not in
the
company of this particular group of people.
The planet they gated to was a desert, at least around the gate and as
far as her eyes could see. She was marched off, walking for
about
twenty minutes in the hot, dry and dusty air, until they came to a
building, that was hidden under a sand dune with only the doorway
cleared of sand. There was little chance of anyone spotting
the
building from the gate, she realised. It was very well
camouflaged.
Inside, she was led into a lab area. There were four people
busy
working on various alien devices, and a man who approached her.
“Major Carter, so nice to see you. I’m
Newman, and this is my unit.”
“What do you want?” Carter was in no mood for small
talk.
“Ah, my unit is involved in acquiring alien technology that
can
be used to protect Earth from the Goa’uld threat.
Two weeks
ago we acquired a device that we believe is a powerful weapon, but our
scientists are having difficulty understanding how it works, let alone
how to reverse engineer it. You’re going to help us
with
it.”
“No,” Carter said.
“I thought you’d say that.” Newman
indicated to the
two men guarding her to bring her with him as he left the
lab.
They walked down a corridor and came to what was obviously a cell.
“Before we unfortunately lost use of the second stargate on
Earth, we brought someone out here who we believed would be willing to
help us; someone who would be, and has been, very useful to
us.
Unfortunately, he disagreed with our methods of acquiring technology
and we were forced to take some drastic measures to ensure his
help. For someone who had never heard of the stargate or
aliens,
he has picked up a great deal about the technology here very
quickly.”
Newman indicated for the cell door to be opened, and a man was brought
out. The guy looked too pale, and was clearly nervous, though
he
held his head high and glared at Newman.
“This is Dr Rodney McKay, a brilliant mind. A pity
about
his appalling lack of social skills, and his stubborn
streak.” Newman smiled. “Why
don’t you show
Major Carter here the device we placed on your arm?”
McKay glared at him, and crossed his arms in defiance. Newman
merely sighed, fishing a small oblong device from his pocket.
McKay’s face lost what little colour it had, and he
begrudgingly
thrust out his left arm, pulling the sleeve of his shirt up to the
elbow. There was a three inch bracelet running around his
lower
arm, and Sam realised that it wasn’t just on his arm, it had
in fact become a part of
his
arm; his skin melding into the bracelet almost seamlessly.
McKay
wasn’t looking anyone in the eyes now, and Sam had a bad
feeling
about what this device did.
“Interesting device. Once placed onto the skin, it
starts
to slowly burn the upper layer of the skin it sits on away, and
replaces it. Thin spikes enter the muscle beneath as
well.
The process is…painful, but only lasts a few days.
After
that, well, this control device is the key then. It has ten
settings. The first one is a low level pain that encompasses
the
whole body, the next increases the pain, and so on up until the number
ten setting. That is, apparently, agony.
Isn’t it, Dr
McKay?”
“Yes,” McKay gritted out.
“Now, I have a second one, which I will use on you if I have
to,” Newman turned to Sam, “But I’d
rather not have
to wait the initial few days before I put you to work on the
weapon. Your choice.”
Sam considered her options and decided that playing along was the best
choice for the time being. Hopefully, she’d be able
to find
a way to escape and having one of those bracelets on her arm would be a
problem. Of course, she would still have the problem of
trying to
take this McKay guy with her if she could, or at least finding out the
gate address to this planet so that a rescue could be mounted for him.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll take a
look at the weapon for you.”
“Good. Dr McKay has been in charge of the work done
on it
so far, I’m sure he’ll be willing to show what he
has
achieved.”
Newman left them as the guards escorted McKay and Carter to another
lab, and the weapon.
----------------
“This is what I’ve done so far,” McKay
said, pointing to a laptop on one of the tables.
Sam took a seat in front of it, checking through the schematics on the
screen. McKay pointed out some of his theories as to what
each
button and connection did. She couldn’t help but
notice how
nervous he seemed, and it was only a few minutes before she started to
work out why.
The data was full of errors. Errors that were so basic and so
simple they could only have been made deliberately, unless this McKay
guy was an idiot, and she got the impression from Newman that he
definitely wasn’t that.
He met her eyes, and she could see the fear clearly.
She got it then; he was afraid she would tell Newman about the
deliberate errors he’d been making. Errors that
were
obviously slowing down the process of learning how the weapon
worked.
She smiled reassuringly.
“Impressive,” she said quietly. “I think
I can work with this.”
He relaxed slightly, and nodded.
“It’s my fault they brought you here,” he
replied,
equally as quietly. “If I hadn’t
stalled… I’m
sorry.”
“You were doing what you thought was right.” She
looked him
in the eyes again, trying to convey that she didn’t blame
him,
but he looked away, guilt still in place.
“So, how long will it take you to catch up with my
work?” he asked more loudly.
“A couple of days, maybe. There’s a lot
to look through,” she replied.
“Okay.”
They continued to work on the data, McKay answering her questions, and
giving explanations for his findings. She wasn’t
sure how
long they could fool their captors for, but she knew that her team
would be looking for her, and although she didn’t hold out a
lot
of hope that they’d be able to find her, she wasn’t
going
to rule that possibility out. And there was bound to be an
opportunity to escape sooner or later. They just had to spin
this
out as long as they could and hope for the best.
----------------
After several hours of work, with only a couple of breaks for food,
they were taken back to the cell. Inside, Sam noticed that
there
was only one bed.
“Well,” McKay said. “Under other
circumstances
I’d enjoy sharing my bed with a hot blonde female,
but…” he stopped suddenly, and started to turn
slightly
red. “Um, that is…” he sighed
heavily.
“Sorry, I’ve been told my mouth has a tendency to
run
before my brain engages. Bad habit. I’ll
take the
floor…”
Sam shook her head, hiding a grin at his obvious discomfort.
“We’ll take turns with the bed.”
Just then the cell door opened again, and a mattress and bedding were
brought in and placed on the wall opposite the bed. Sam was
given
a pair of sweat suit bottoms and a t-shirt, and the guards left.
“Well, that sorts that out,” she said.
“I’ll take the mattress and the fresh
bedding.”
“Okay, fine.” McKay grabbed a pair of
sweats from the
bed along with his t-shirt, and disappeared into what Sam presumed to
be a bathroom. She sorted out her bed, and took her turn in
the
bathroom when McKay came back out. When she had finished, she
found he was already in bed, lying on his back and staring at the
ceiling.
“I should probably warn you,” he said quietly,
“I’ve been having a few nightmares
lately,” he huffed
a wry laugh. “Can’t imagine why.”
“How bad was it? The bracelet,” she asked.
“Bad. When they first put it on me, it felt like my
skin
was on fire. I guess it was in a way. So it was
bad, very
bad. Newman used it on the top setting after a few days, just
to
make sure I knew what it was capable off. I’ve
pretty much
towed the line since then. He’s used it on a lower
setting
a few times, when I’ve mouthed off about something.
I know,
I know, not intelligent, but sometimes I just can’t seem to
help
myself.”
“This weapon…”
“Is the worst thing I’ve had to work on.
The other
stuff didn’t worry me as much as that thing does. I
have a
really bad feeling about what they’d do with it when we get
it
working. Not much I can do about it though, not while Newman
has
that control device and I have this,” he said, waving his
left
arm briefly.
“I guess so,” she agreed, realising that there was
a good
chance the cell was bugged. “So, how did you get
into this
mess in the first place?”
“My ego,” he muttered in disgust.
“What?”
“Someone approached me, saying they were from the US
government,
and offering me a chance to work on top secret research. They
said some things that, I’ll admit, flattered my ego, and they
were very persuasive. I fell for it hook, line and
sinker.
Next thing I know, I’m being asked to step through a wormhole
to
another planet.”
“And you did?”
“Well, I still thought they were from the government, and
that
this was a sign of how important I was, you know, letting me know about
wormhole travel and all that. So, yes, I stepped
through.
At first I was happy to work on the tech here, but then I started to
get suspicious. Pretty quickly, actually. I was
only here
about three days before I realised the truth. Overheard
comments,
some hacking into their computers, and listening into conversations I
wasn’t supposed to hear. When I realised they were
rogue
agents, and that they didn’t care about how they gained the
technology, I was furious. And, of course, my mouth got the
better of me again. Should have kept quiet and played along,
I
might have found a way to escape.”
“Live and learn, I guess,” Carter said.
“Maybe. My cousin always said that despite my
innate
distrust of the human race, I was too naïve for my own
good.
Guess he was right, not that I’d ever tell him
that,” he
sighed. “And now I’ve got someone else dragged into
this,
because I’m not fast enough for them.”
“There’s a good chance they’d have
dragged me into
this eventually anyway. I’ve been working with
various
alien technologies for a few years now,” she tried to
reassure
him.
“Maybe.”
“I wish I knew how they were able to grab me. How
they knew which planet I’d be on.”
“They have an agent working with your people. You
see, they
send small items back to Earth for reverse engineering. The
agent
lets them know which planet his team is due to visit, via a
Goa’uld communication device, and they leave the item there
for
him to collect. We get the larger items here.”
“So there’s a mole within the Stargate
Programme.
That’s just…great.” Sam looked far from
pleased. “Any idea who he or she is?”
“No. Not that it matters. We’re pretty
much stuck
here. Well, I am at least, thanks to the bracelet of
pain,”
he closed his eyes, sounding defeated. “If you get
a chance
to escape, take it. Get out of here.”
“What about you?”
“Just get yourself out,” he said quietly.
“I made my bed, so to speak, now I get to lie in
it.”
“McKay…”
“No. I don’t want pity, okay?”
he turned over,
facing away from her. “I don’t deserve it in any
case. Now, I’m going to try and at least get some
sleep.”
She sighed, not sure how to respond to him, and decided to try and get
some sleep as well. She settled down on her mattress, but
sleep
was a long time coming.
----------------
McKay had been right, and twice she had been woken by his
nightmares. He had apologised both times, obviously
embarrassed. She had tried to reassure him that it was only
to be
expected, but it was clear he saw them as a sign of weakness.
They went back to work on the weapon the next day, both feeling tired
after a less than refreshing night. Or what passed for night
here.
Newman came down to check on them twice a day, and there were always at
least two guards in the lab with them. Sam counted four
scientists other than McKay and herself, five guards and
Newman.
Ten people in all.
The guards carried guns she didn’t recognise. McKay
told
her that they were some type of stun weapon. The first hit
would
paralyse but not knock a person unconscious. More hits would
knock a person out, and the length of time unconscious related to the
amount of hits taken. Unlike a zat'ni'katel, these weapons
were
unlikely to kill anyone, no matter how many times a person was hit.
She had a plan, simple, and not foolproof by any means, but it could
work. The problem was letting McKay know without tipping off
anyone watching or listening to them.
She waited until there were just the two guards in the lab with them,
and for McKay to have his back to them. It hadn’t
taken her
long to realised he wasn’t very good at the lying and
stalling
thing. He wouldn’t have gotten away with it much
longer
before someone realised what he was doing, she was sure of
that.
So she waited until his back was to the guards and his face was hidden
from them, before leaning forward, as if checking something on the
weapon.
“Can you distract the guards somehow?” she said
very
quietly. “If you can do that, I can grab one of the
stunners and take them out.”
He looked at her, eyes wide with fear, but then he swallowed and
nodded, steeling himself for what was to come.
Sam walked over to a computer set up near to the door of the lab, and
next to one of the guards. McKay fiddled with the weapon for
a
few moments, and then it discharged an arc of electricity, which he
only just managed to get out of the way of. Whilst the guards
were distracted by the light show, and McKay’s curses, Sam
slammed into the nearest guard, grabbing the stunner as he dropped it
in surprise. She stunned the second guard before he could
react,
and then the guard she’d taken the gun from just as he was
turning to attack.
“Some distraction,” Sam said with a grin.
“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite
so…impressive.”
McKay looked pretty shaken, but moved to pick up the second
stunner.
The sound of the guns had attracted attention, and Sam had to stun
another two guards that stood in their way. McKay tried to
stun a
scientist who came into the hallway, but missed him by a couple of
feet. Fortunately, Sam was able to stun the guy before he got
off
a shot; the scientists having weapons as well as the guards.
Once outside, they started to run towards the stargate in the distance,
with sounds of pursuit behind them.
Reaching the gate, Sam dialled in the address of the Alpha site, but as
she approached the event horizon with McKay next to her, she heard the
sound of a gun, and felt an impact. She fell as paralysis
took
over her body, but before she hit the ground someone, McKay she
realised, pushed her forwards and into the wormhole.
He didn’t follow. He’d had to turn back
from the
wormhole to grab Sam. As he pushed her through, a stunner
shot
hit him and changed his direction, moving him away from the event
horizon and over to one side. A second shot took him into
oblivion.
Then the gate shut down.
----------------
Sam landed on the ground at the Alpha site, and was surrounded within
minutes by the soldiers guarding the gate. She tried to talk,
but
found to her utmost frustration that she couldn’t.
Fortunately, it didn’t take the soldiers long to realise that
she
was paralysed and radio for a med team.
It was then she realised that McKay hadn’t made it through
with
her, and as she didn’t know the gate address for the planet
he
was on, rescue seemed unlikely any time soon. She was afraid
of
what they would do to him; whatever they did, she knew it
wouldn’t be good.
He’d pushed her through, made sure she’d gotten
away, and
in doing so had lost his own chance to escape. She
wasn’t
going to forget that. And she was determined to find him.
She owed him, and she intended to repay that debt.
----------------
It couldn’t have been more than forty minutes before Jack,
Daniel
and Teal’c entered the med tent she was in. The
paralysis
was beginning to wear off, though movement was still limited.
She
did, however, have her voice back, much to her relief.
She told them about what had happened. About Newman and the
rouge
NID agents. About McKay and the bracelet. About how
he had
given up his chance to escape to make sure she made it. About
the
weapon, and how she didn’t know the planet’s
address.
About how the smaller items were left on a planet that a SG team was
visiting, and the mole inside the SGC would pick it up and smuggle it
out of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.
Jack went back to update General Hammond on the events in person.
Three hours later, and Sam was able to walk through the gate and return
to Earth, to start a search for NID agents who might be involved with
the rogue off world unit.
----------------
A week passed, and no information about the planet or the rogue NID
agents was forthcoming, much to Sam’s annoyance.
Her team
mates were also getting frustrated at the lack of progress.
Research told her that the Air Force had been watching Dr Rodney McKay
with a view to approach him to join the Stargate Programme and
assigning him to Area 51, but the rogue NID had gotten to him
first. His file was interesting. While his
accomplishments
in his field were impressive, it seemed his character left a lot to be
desired. He was described by his colleagues as annoying,
irritating, rude, obnoxious, lacking in people skills, arrogant, petty,
stand offish, lacking in tact or diplomacy, suspicious and downright
difficult to work with. On the other side, they had to admit,
though begrudgingly it seemed, that he was a genius.
The man she had met had clearly been a subdued version, but she guessed
that being tortured, and there was no other word for what had been done
to him, would subdue anyone. Not that he’d been
completely
beaten; he’d been stalling on the weapon by making deliberate
errors in the data, even though he was clearly afraid of what the
consequences of his actions could be.
Would be, she thought to herself. There was no doubt in her
mind
that he would be hurt, and hurt badly, by Newman and his group.
“Sam,” Daniel interrupted her musings.
“General
Hammond has called a meeting. We have a
breakthrough.”
“We do?” Sam got up and followed Daniel towards the
conference room.
“Yes, we’ve found the mole in the SGC, or rather,
he has
come forward. Seems stealing technology is fine in his books,
but
torturing people from Earth isn’t.”
“Right. Seems like a fine line to me,”
she muttered disgustedly.
They arrived at the conference room and took a seat. Jack,
Teal’c and General Hammond were already there.
“We have a breakthrough?” Sam asked, eagerly.
“Yes, Colonel Makepeace appears to have developed a
conscience.”
“Makepeace? He’s the mole?” Sam
was surprised.
“Yes, Major. He has given us a gate address and
claims
it’s the planet you were taken to, and where Dr McKay is
being
held. SG-3 and 5 will be accompanying you in the
raid. We
just need to discuss tactics.”
----------------
He had lost track of time, but was sure it had been days since Carter
had gotten away and he hadn’t. At least five days,
maybe
more. Newman had been angry, to say the least.
Furious,
more like. Over an hour with the bracelet on the highest
setting,
after he’d been beaten pretty thoroughly by two of
Newman’s
goons. Even after that, the bracelet was left on the first
setting, and still was, well, when it wasn’t set to a higher
one
for an hour or so.
Of course, Newman had found out not long after that McKay, as well as
Carter, had been stalling on the weapon and falsifying their
data. This had resulted in several more beatings.
At least
once, possibly twice a day, two goons came in and beat on him for a
bit. Not enough to break bones or cause serious
injuries.
They wanted him alive, but broken.
And he was, broken. He knew he was. He’d
pleaded with
them to stop, told them he’d do what they wanted.
Newman
had come in, had heard him promise to work for him, to do whatever he
wanted, to not try to escape again. The guy had smiled
smugly,
and then turned and left. The beatings continued.
And the
pain from the bracelet. His bones ached, and when the setting
was
higher, his nerves tingled or screamed. He was beginning to
wonder if Newman was ever going to call his goons off, ever going to
switch off the bracelet, or if he’d decided McKay was no
longer
needed, and this was just the beginning of a long slow death.
But no, they needed him. They wouldn’t kill him,
but they
would break him even more than he was, if that was possible.
Reduce him to a shadow of himself.
He didn’t expect rescue. Carter wouldn’t
know where
to look for him. He doubted she or the people she worked with
would find the mole in their organization, and even if they did, would
they know this planet’s address? Or give it up, if
they
did? The Air Force, that was who Carter worked for, he
remembered. But he didn’t hold out much hope that
they
would be able to find this place. Newman obviously thought
the
same. If there was any danger of this place being found,
he’d have moved his people by now.
No one was coming for him. Why would they anyway?
They’d want to take out this group, stop them from using the
weapon, maybe take it for themselves. If he was rescued, it
would
be a by-product of that. No one would come just for him.
This would never truly end. The beatings and the constant
pain
would stop eventually, they needed him to work for them, they
wouldn’t kill him, so they would stop. But he
didn’t
know how long before that happened, and even when it did, the threat
would always be there. Always. He was alone, and no
one was
coming. What remained of his family would never know what had
happened to him.
----------------
SG-3 were left at the gate to hold it, along with a med team that would
be sent in once the building was safe. SG-1 and 5 attacked
the
building, quickly and easily disarming the people inside. It
would seem that Newman and his people were so confident that they could
not be located that their security was lax when it came to attacks.
It was Daniel and Teal’c who found the cell holding McKay,
and
seeing just how freaked out the guy was, they had retreated
outside. Daniel contacted Sam, asking her to come down, and
to
bring the controller for the bracelet device. He was hoping
that
if she gave the controller to McKay, he would calm down, as he would be
able to ensure it was not activated. He also radioed for the
med
team to join them.
Sam was shocked by the sight that met her when she entered the
cell. McKay was a mess. Beaten black and blue, and
clearly
in pain, he was huddled in the corner, terrified. Daniel had
made
the right call in not trying to approach him, she wasn’t sure
he
was able to tell friend from foe right now.
McKay looked up at her, seeing the control device she was
holding. His eyes went wide with fear.
“Please,” he rasped out desperately.
“Please, turn it off.”
Sam looked at the control device in surprise and shock, realising that
it was set to the number three setting.
“Shit,” she exclaimed, switching the device off
quickly. “I didn’t realise it was
on.”
She moved towards McKay, crouching down close to him. He
backed
away from her, not totally aware of who was approaching him, and
hunched over, as if to protect himself from any further
beating.
“Hey,” she said gently. “It’s
me, Samantha Carter, the hot blonde.”
He lifted his head and looked at her again, and this time she could
tell he had recognised her.
“You…” he closed his eyes briefly.
“You found
me…came back for me,” he whispered, looking at her
in some
kind of awe, and she realised he truly hadn’t expected to be
rescued; for her to come back for him.
“Yeah, I did.”
“He was pretty mad with me. More so when he found
out about
the stalling, on the weapon, you know?” McKay’s
voice was
hoarse, and shaky.
“Hey, easy now. Let us help you,” she
reached out,
touching his shoulder. She could feel the tremors racking his
body, but he didn’t flinch back from her.
“Can you
walk?”
“Maybe…probably not far…”
“That’s okay,” in the background she
could hear Daniel asking what was keeping the med team.
“I thought…no one would come…”
“I wasn’t going to leave you here.”
“Should have known…you’d find a
way.
But…not used to people…wanting to…
help me.
Used to being alone.” He put his head down onto his
drawn
up knees. Sam noticed that the shivering seemed to be easing
along with the tension in his body.
“Never leave a man behind,” Sam said.
“It’s something I’ve come to believe
in.”
He gave a short huff of laughter at that, and looked at her again.
“I never understood that sort of thing. Risking
your life
for someone else, especially someone you hardly know…I never
understood why people might do that,” he looked away, raising
a
still shaky hand to brush through his hair in a nervous manner.
“But I’m glad you came.”
Sam offered him the control device for the bracelet, and he looked at
it in surprise. He reached out to take it, and then stopped.
“No…you keep hold of it,” he pulled his
hand back. “I…trust you…not to use
it.”
“Okay,” she said, realising the level of trust he
was placing in her, and how difficult it was for him.
The med team arrived at that point, and Sam moved to allow them access
to McKay. He pulled back at first, wary and unsure, but a few
words from Sam relaxed him enough to let them check him over.
A few minutes later, he was strapped to a stretcher and heading back to
the gate, back to Earth. Sam stayed with him as he was still
jumpy and struggling to remain calm.
----------------
McKay was taken straight to the infirmary, where he was examined by Dr
Fraiser. Sam remained with him, though he seemed to be
calming
down now. The meds he was given for the pain probably helped,
having a slight sedative effect on him.
He fell asleep soon after the examination, x-rays and scans were
completed, and Sam waited to hear the results. The rest of
SG1
joined her.
“Well,” Janet Fraiser said eventually.
“He’s
going to be sore for some days, but there are no serious
injuries. A lot of bruising, but nothing broken and no
internal
bleeding.”
“They didn’t want him dead,” Sam stated.
“No. The beatings were brutal but carefully done,
insuring
they didn’t do serious damage, but enough to be
painful. He
was showing signs of hypoglycaemia, but fortunately his blood sugar
hadn’t dropped to a dangerous level. Nothing some
regular
food won’t fix. The worst problem is that bracelet
device. Removing it won’t be easy, and is going to
leave
substantial scarring.”
“Too large a wound to suture,” Sam nodded.
“Even
using skin grafts will be difficult. It’s a large
area to
cover.”
“Yes,” Janet agreed.
“He’s been through hell,” Daniel said
with a grimace.
“A pity he’ll be left with a physical
scar.”
“I could use the healing device. It might still
scar, but not as badly,” Sam offered.
“You sure about this?” Jack asked her, knowing she
still wasn’t confident with its use.
“Whilst I’m not as skilled with it as others, I can
make
things better for him. I wouldn’t have escaped if
not for
him. I owe him, sir.”
“It certainly wouldn’t hurt,” Janet
agreed.
“Not sure the General will agree. It’s
not like this
guy has signed any nondisclosure papers or anything,” Jack
warned.
“But he has been working with alien technology,”
Daniel
pointed out. “And he knows about the stargate. What
difference would it make?”
“He’ll sign the papers, I’m
sure,” Sam said
confidently. “And I think he could be an asset to the
programme. He’s certainly very
intelligent.”
“Fine. I’ll talk to Hammond,”
Jack said, leaving.
----------------
Rodney was persuaded to sign the nondisclosure papers, after it had
been pointed out to him that not doing so would make him a security
threat. He wasn’t sure what that would mean for
him, but
decided it was in his best interests not to find out.
Besides,
after the technology he had been privy to, there was no way he could
return to his former work, and he was hoping he might be offered a job
within this Stargate Programme. If they didn’t,
then he
would have to find a way to make them offer him a job.
Removing the bracelet had gone reasonably alright. When he
woke
up, the wound was healed, as were the scrapes and bruises he had
suffered. There was some scarring around his arm where the
device
had been, but not too bad. Not as bad as he had
feared.
They had explained about the healing device before they’d
used it
on him, but even with everything he had seen recently, he
hadn’t
really believed it until he had woken up, healed.
He was still somewhat jumpy, which he hated. And every time
he
slept, there were nightmares about Newman and his goons and
he’d
wake up shivering in fear. He was scheduled to see the
base’s psychiatrist and he wasn’t looking forward
to
that. But he’d play along, and maybe the guy could
help him
a little bit, though he was far from confident of that.
Daniel Jackson had spent some time with him, as had Sam. He
found
it easy to talk to them, well, easier than he’d ever found it
to
talk to anyone other than his cousin. And they
didn’t seem
affected when he was sarcastic or rude to them. Sam, he could
understand. She felt grateful, and maybe a little guilty,
that he
had gotten her to safety but not himself. Eventually,
she’d
get over that and then his personality was bound to drive her
away. But why this Daniel guy was willing to spend time with
him,
he couldn’t figure out. Unless it was gratitude for
helping
to save Sam. Maybe that was it, and it would run out
eventually
as well.
Yes, that made sense.
Either that or they were ordered to make nice with him. Which
was
also a possibility. He could be a useful asset to the US
government, and they’d want to keep him on their side.
He’d just have to wait and see what happened now.
----------------
It was over a week since McKay had been rescued when Sam walked into
the infirmary. McKay was doing better, according to Janet and
Dr
Jameson, the psychiatrist who McKay was the bane of right now, from
what she had heard. Anyway, he was being released from the
infirmary, and being allocated temporary quarters for a few
days.
He hadn’t really needed to be kept in the infirmary for all
of
this time, but Dr Jameson had wanted McKay somewhere he could be
watched without him feeling spied on. He had been a little
concerned about his patient’s state of mind and
didn’t
think being alone when the nightmares happened was a good
idea.
Now, however, McKay was doing better and could be released.
In the last few days, the guy had re-found the sarcasm that his former
colleagues had mentioned, as well as the ability to complain about,
well, everything.
His
arrogance was also returning, and it seemed his ego had no
bounds. She knew that normally she would find him annoying
and
obnoxious, but she had seen a different side to him when they were
prisoners. He had risked pain to try and slow down, even
stop,
the research on that weapon, afraid of what it would be used
for.
He had helped her escape, even giving up his own chance of getting away
to make sure she did. And he had paid for it.
The Rodney McKay she had seen was scared but also determined and
brave. And capable of feeling guilt, which suggested an
ability
to care even if he preferred to seem uncaring of anyone but
himself. She suspected there was a lot more to him than she
had
seen, and that there was definitely a lot more to him than he let
anyone else see. Daniel had also figured out that there was
more
to him than met the eye, and Daniel was a pretty good judge of
character.
She had to wonder what had made him like he was, but although she had
read the comments from his previous employers and workmates, she
hadn’t looked into his childhood or background, tempting
though
it had been, other than to know he was Canadian but had lived in the US
since his teens.
“Hey,” she said as she approached McKay.
He was
sitting on the edge of his bed, dressed and ready to leave the
infirmary, and looking impatient to go.
“Hi. Don’t suppose you can hurry up the
doctor and get me out of here?” he said grumpily.
“No, but I can talk about what you are going to do once
you’re well enough to go back to your life.”
“Oh, right. I’m supposed to just go back
to my life as if nothing has happened?”
“Well, we will give you a cover story…”
“Great, just great. And after studying alien
technology for
the last three or so months, I’m supposed to return to my
previous job? Stick to Earth technology? How can
you be
sure I won’t try and build my own stargate or
something?”
he challenged.
“Because you wouldn’t want to get into trouble with
the government,” Sam said with a smile.
“Humph. You’re wasting my talents if you
let me go. You should offer me a job here.”
“Oh, I don’t know. What was it your
colleagues said
about you? Oh, that’s right. Rude,
annoying, bad with
people, petty, arrogant, obnoxious and impossible to work
with.”
She looked at him thoughtfully. “Not sure I hate my staff
enough
to subject them to you.”
“Ack, stupid so called colleagues.
They’re a bunch of
un-evolved chimps. Really, hardly a brain cell amongst
them.”
“You told me yourself you have a tendency to say things
before
thinking them through. Hardly a sign of tact or
diplomacy,”
she said, trying not to grin.
“Oh, right. That’s nice. Quote
me against me, wonderful!”
“Actually.” Sam gave into the grin. “I
have a job
offer here that you might be interested in. Head of a small
team
at Area 51, researching the technology we have so far, and any that is
acquired in a more ethical way than Newman and his friends.”
“Who do you hate at Area 51, then?” he said
suspiciously.
“No one, actually. I just think you’d be
of more use
there than here,” Sam sighed. “I was only teasing
you,
McKay.”
“Oh, well, oh,” he stumbled to a stop.
“Okay, Area 51 sounds good.”
“Good. I’ll get the necessary paperwork
started
then.” She shook her head, wondering if she should
have
teased him. “Look, McKay, I was only teasing
you.
it’s what friends do, and I hope that we can be
friends.”
“I…I don’t really do
friends as such. I mean…that
is…” he sighed.
“I’d like that.” Then he
grinned. “Of
course, the fact that you’re so hot might distract
me…”
Sam hit him on the arm, scowling at him.
“McKay…” she warned.
“Okay, okay,” he held up his hands.
“Sorry. Just…teasing.”
“You’d better be.”
“So, when do I get a tour of this place?”
“As soon as Janet lets you out of here.”
Sam turned to Janet, who had entered just then.
“You can go, Dr McKay,” Janet said. “But
I want you to check in with me tomorrow morning.”
“Fine,” he muttered, turning back to Sam.
“So, are you my tour guide?”
“Actually, no. I’m going to take you to
see General
Hammond first. Then I’m sure he’ll find
someone to
show you around.”
“Okay,” he wasn’t happy about it, but
decided not to
argue. He didn’t want to ruin what could be an
interesting
friendship, at least not yet. He had no doubt he’d
mess
things up eventually, or she’d decide he wasn’t
worth her
attention, just like everyone else. Well, except his uncle,
aunt
and cousin. But that was different. They were
family.
