Stargate Atlantis Fan Fic: Trust But Verify Part 5/5
Trust But Verify
Part 5
McKay looked at his unconscious friend with increasing desperation. Even in the dim light of the small room, he could see that Sheppard seemed to grow paler by the minute. His breathing sounded increasingly labored. McKay could see no way out, literally or figuratively. He felt the walls start to close in on him.
“Think, McKay. Do what Sheppard told you. What got you here? What will get you both out?”
He paced back and forth. He thought back to the small room in Atlantis, and the box that started this whole mess. Clearly the Ancients had hidden it away. They had written on it, giving some idea of what it was for.
"If there’s a way in, there has to be a way out. I am thinking about this the wrong way altogether. Thinking… Thinking. John’s thinking got himself into this. Me, too. Could it be so simple?"
“Wake up, Sheppard!” Rodney gently shook his friend. No response. He shook him harder. Still no response. He had forgotten about Sheppard’s scrambled nerves. John probably couldn’t feel the shaking.
“WAKE UP, SHEPPARD!” the scientist yelled. He watched as his friend’s eyes started to flutter and slowly open.
“John, I might have an answer. I just needed to think differently about how we got here. I know that Ancient technology operates by touch, but there’s also a huge mental component.
I don’t think the Ancients would transport their people somewhere without giving them a way to get home. There's nothing that's obvious technology in the room, so we've got to look at what is here. Maybe, just like you thought open a door in the wall in Atlantis, you can do the same thing here
.
I think we have to use that to think our way out of here. Literally."
“McKay,” groaned the Colonel, “you are making even less sense than usual. Besides, there’s no Ancient device here. I would be able to feel it, if there were.” Sheppard’s eyes started to close.
“Oh, no you don’t. You need to stay awake. Listen, John. I really think I have this figured out and I think we can get back home, but I need you firing on all cylinders. Can you please try to stay with me?
I can’t find the portal because I’m a not a natural gene carrier. You can’t feel it because the transporter from hell gave you a neural shock and disconnected you from the Ancient technology”
“Are you sure, McKay? What if there is a gate and it sends us somewhere else? Then Atlantis might never find us.” The effort to speak was etched on Sheppard's face.
“You have to trust me, Sheppard. You need to try this. I need you to get us both home.”
Sheppard looked at his friend. He thought about how many times he had been asked to trust by McKay with disastrous results. And yet, despite all the disasters, he really did trust the scientist.
“I’ll try, Rodney,” he whispered, his strength failing. “I’ll try. And, no matter what happens, McKay. I do trust you.”
Rodney blinked hard. He pulled on his friend’s arms to slowly raise him to his feet. Putting his arms around Sheppard’s chest, he began to pull him towards the wall .
“Think open, John. Think, open and think home, and please trust me one more time. Think about going home. About Atlantis.”
Sheppard looked skeptical. He was having a really hard time staying awake. His jangled nerve endings were throwing mixed messages to his beleaguered brain. It took a huge effort just to keep breathing. He was afraid that thinking might be off the table at this point. He wanted nothing more than to give into the darkness again. But, he knew he couldn’t. If he was the key to getting them both home, he had to try. He also knew that Rodney would never be able to live with himself if they somehow got themselves out of this mess, but Sheppard died.
He reached out with his mind, searching for the link. And, he thought that maybe, just maybe, the familiar pull of Atlantis was beckoning to him. Maybe Rodney was right. Besides, he did really did trust the scientist. He watched as Rodney took his insensate hands and placed them on the featureless wall.
Sheppard thought, “Home.”
*****SGA*****
When the hazy shapes solidified into Dr. McKay holding up a nearly unconscious Colonel Sheppard, the gate room froze. Mr. Woolsey practically catapulted down the stairs. He had been monitoring the disappearance of his two colleagues from his office. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“We need help here,” McKay shouted. “Sheppard’s in trouble. And, I’m not doing too well either.”
He slowly slid to the ground, still cradling his friend in his arms. "Good job with the thinking, Sheppard," he murmured.
"Thanks, pal," replied the injured man. McKay could feel it when Sheppard lost the fight to stay with him.
“Medical team to the gateroom. Two men down,” Woolsey called out, “and someone notify Teyla, Ronon and Major Lorne.”
In a matter of minutes, the gate room filled with people, medical equipment, gurneys… all the familiar life-saving paraphernalia. The scientist was gently pushed out of the way by the medical team, who moved to assess the Colonel’s condition.
“Dr. McKay, can you tell us what happened to Colonel Sheppard?”
“I’m not that kind of doctor, you know, but I think he got kind of fried when he went through that box. Then, he hit his head. It was bleeding pretty badly, and, then he said that he could feel pain, but had no sensation of touch. He was breathing pretty funny, too.” McKay watched as the efficient medical personnel put an oxygen mask over his friend’s face and hastily slapped a gauze bandage over the angry cut on his forehead.
“Has he been conscious?”
“Yeah, he has. And, it was really hard for him, but he thought our way out of the mess I got us into.” Rodney seemed to falter. He watched as the medical team started to wheel his friend to the infirmary. “I’m coming with him. He trusts me…” The scientist seemed unable to continue.
“We’re going to take good care of him, Doctor. And, of you, too.”
McKay was ushered into a waiting wheelchair as his pallor hinted that he probably wasn’t up to a walk to the infirmary. It was an indication of his anxiety that he didn’t berate the medical staff for not putting him on a gurney too, or taking him first; his concern for his friend outweighed his concern for himself
*****SGA*****
The first thing Sheppard felt as he returned to consciousness was that he was home. He could feel his link to the city, and that Atlantis seemed relieved that he was back.
The second thing that he felt was that ‘numb’ was starting to seem like a better alternative to the most massive case of pins and needles that assaulted his whole body. He squirmed, trying to get comfortable when he realized that he could feel the movement of his body against the hard mattress of the infirmary bed.
Relief. That was the third thing he felt. He wondered if McKay was…
McKay! Sheppard’s eyes flew open and he bolted up, at least as far as his aching body would allow.
“Easy now, Colonel.” Beckett, his voice soothing, reached to support him as the bed was raised beneath him. “You’re doing fine. You had a bit of a neural shock from that Ancient contraption, but it’s resolving. How are you feeling? Sore? And, don’t you sugar coat it or I’ll decide myself how you’re feeling.”
Sheppard looked around him. “Where’s McKay? My team?”
“They’re fine, John. Don’t you worry. Rodney had a much milder shock that left him just a little sore. Some pain killers, a hot shower and a meal, and he’s feeling much better. He was here with you, as were Teyla and Ronon, but I threw them out for the night. They’ll be back in the morning, I’m sure.”
The Colonel tried to relax but the aching, and pins and needles seemed to overwhelm him. He felt the pinch of an IV in the back of his hand and the all-too-familiar ache of a catheter.
“How long have I been out? he asked.
"Nearly twelve hours, and you’ll be gracing that bed for quite a while yet. So, don’t you start your negotiating with me. You still haven’t answered me. How are you feeling, Colonel, and I want the truth.”
“I’m good, Doc.”
Beckett snorted his disbelief. “And, I’m the Loch Ness monster. I can see you’re hurting so I’m going to get something to help.” Sheppard could hear him muttering about stupid wee colonels as he went to fetch some medication.
“Psst.” McKay tried his best to move quietly as he stuck his head into Sheppard’s space.
“Rodney, get over here. Hurry, Beckett will be back in a few minutes. He’ll kill us both, if he catches you here.”
“I know,” the scientist replied, “but I had to talk to you.”
“I need to talk, too. What happened, Rodney? The last thing I remember is thinking ‘home’. How did that get us out of that room? And, did you ever figure out where we were?”
The scientist looked at his friend. He felt incredibly guilty for all the pain he had caused.
“I want to apologize, John. I asked you to trust me when I didn’t have all the information. I just plowed ahead and I put you in danger. Again. I am so sorry.
Turns out that we stumbled on yet another failed Ancient experiment. That box was intended to be exactly what I thought it was. A gate to an off-site ZPM manufacturing facility, but it never worked properly. As you demonstrated, it had the unfortunate tendency to incapacitate any natural gene-bearer who used it. That would be a pretty big problem for a city full of Ancients. The box was abandoned, the lab walled up and forgotten until I nearly killed you.”
“But, you didn’t, Rodney. I’m still here and I’m fine.”
Sheppard was getting increasingly uncomfortable. He found himself actually looking forward to submitting to tender care of Dr. Beckett and his medical miracles.
“You better cut to the chase.” Sheppard tried to keep from moaning. “I’m not sure I’m up to a long explanation.”
“Well,” huffed McKay, “typical Ancients. When you got pulled into the damn box, the portal delivered a massive neural shock. You were supposed to be able to think your way there and back, hence the really strong neural connection, and if it had worked properly it wouldn't have nearly killed you.
Luckily, this one time, my artificial gene was better than your super-duper one and it didn’t cause me nearly as much neural disruption, so I was able to figure out our way home.”
“Wait a minute, I seem to remember that I was the one who thought us out of there.”
“But, I was the one who figured out where the portal was. And, I told you to think us home.”
Sheppard had no intention of telling his friend that he had been on his way see if there was another gate before he collapsed. Let Rodney think that he saved the day. He had, after all. Sheppard was pretty sure that he would never have made it to the wall without his friend’s support.
Beckett hustled into the room, glaring at the wayward scientist.
“What are you doing here, you numpty?”
“Oh oh. Busted.”
“OUT,” the doctor shouted, “and don’t come back till morning. And, I don’t mean 1:00 in the morning. I mean not ‘til breakfast.”
McKay looked at his friend. “I’ll be back with Teyla and Ronon, Sheppard. We can eat breakfast here with you, if you think you’ll feel up to it.”
“I will,” replied the colonel, “and don’t eat all my bacon on the way here like you did the last time, McKay.”
“Trust me, Sheppard.”
“I do, McKay, but I’m counting the bacon. From now on, I’m going to trust, but verify.”
The End
Roo1965 gave me several interesting prompts. I used whump, h/c, ShepLantis and temporary disability. I hope I did justice to your requests.
Part 5
McKay looked at his unconscious friend with increasing desperation. Even in the dim light of the small room, he could see that Sheppard seemed to grow paler by the minute. His breathing sounded increasingly labored. McKay could see no way out, literally or figuratively. He felt the walls start to close in on him.
“Think, McKay. Do what Sheppard told you. What got you here? What will get you both out?”
He paced back and forth. He thought back to the small room in Atlantis, and the box that started this whole mess. Clearly the Ancients had hidden it away. They had written on it, giving some idea of what it was for.
"If there’s a way in, there has to be a way out. I am thinking about this the wrong way altogether. Thinking… Thinking. John’s thinking got himself into this. Me, too. Could it be so simple?"
“Wake up, Sheppard!” Rodney gently shook his friend. No response. He shook him harder. Still no response. He had forgotten about Sheppard’s scrambled nerves. John probably couldn’t feel the shaking.
“WAKE UP, SHEPPARD!” the scientist yelled. He watched as his friend’s eyes started to flutter and slowly open.
“John, I might have an answer. I just needed to think differently about how we got here. I know that Ancient technology operates by touch, but there’s also a huge mental component.
I don’t think the Ancients would transport their people somewhere without giving them a way to get home. There's nothing that's obvious technology in the room, so we've got to look at what is here. Maybe, just like you thought open a door in the wall in Atlantis, you can do the same thing here
.
I think we have to use that to think our way out of here. Literally."
“McKay,” groaned the Colonel, “you are making even less sense than usual. Besides, there’s no Ancient device here. I would be able to feel it, if there were.” Sheppard’s eyes started to close.
“Oh, no you don’t. You need to stay awake. Listen, John. I really think I have this figured out and I think we can get back home, but I need you firing on all cylinders. Can you please try to stay with me?
I can’t find the portal because I’m a not a natural gene carrier. You can’t feel it because the transporter from hell gave you a neural shock and disconnected you from the Ancient technology”
“Are you sure, McKay? What if there is a gate and it sends us somewhere else? Then Atlantis might never find us.” The effort to speak was etched on Sheppard's face.
“You have to trust me, Sheppard. You need to try this. I need you to get us both home.”
Sheppard looked at his friend. He thought about how many times he had been asked to trust by McKay with disastrous results. And yet, despite all the disasters, he really did trust the scientist.
“I’ll try, Rodney,” he whispered, his strength failing. “I’ll try. And, no matter what happens, McKay. I do trust you.”
Rodney blinked hard. He pulled on his friend’s arms to slowly raise him to his feet. Putting his arms around Sheppard’s chest, he began to pull him towards the wall .
“Think open, John. Think, open and think home, and please trust me one more time. Think about going home. About Atlantis.”
Sheppard looked skeptical. He was having a really hard time staying awake. His jangled nerve endings were throwing mixed messages to his beleaguered brain. It took a huge effort just to keep breathing. He was afraid that thinking might be off the table at this point. He wanted nothing more than to give into the darkness again. But, he knew he couldn’t. If he was the key to getting them both home, he had to try. He also knew that Rodney would never be able to live with himself if they somehow got themselves out of this mess, but Sheppard died.
He reached out with his mind, searching for the link. And, he thought that maybe, just maybe, the familiar pull of Atlantis was beckoning to him. Maybe Rodney was right. Besides, he did really did trust the scientist. He watched as Rodney took his insensate hands and placed them on the featureless wall.
Sheppard thought, “Home.”
*****SGA*****
When the hazy shapes solidified into Dr. McKay holding up a nearly unconscious Colonel Sheppard, the gate room froze. Mr. Woolsey practically catapulted down the stairs. He had been monitoring the disappearance of his two colleagues from his office. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“We need help here,” McKay shouted. “Sheppard’s in trouble. And, I’m not doing too well either.”
He slowly slid to the ground, still cradling his friend in his arms. "Good job with the thinking, Sheppard," he murmured.
"Thanks, pal," replied the injured man. McKay could feel it when Sheppard lost the fight to stay with him.
“Medical team to the gateroom. Two men down,” Woolsey called out, “and someone notify Teyla, Ronon and Major Lorne.”
In a matter of minutes, the gate room filled with people, medical equipment, gurneys… all the familiar life-saving paraphernalia. The scientist was gently pushed out of the way by the medical team, who moved to assess the Colonel’s condition.
“Dr. McKay, can you tell us what happened to Colonel Sheppard?”
“I’m not that kind of doctor, you know, but I think he got kind of fried when he went through that box. Then, he hit his head. It was bleeding pretty badly, and, then he said that he could feel pain, but had no sensation of touch. He was breathing pretty funny, too.” McKay watched as the efficient medical personnel put an oxygen mask over his friend’s face and hastily slapped a gauze bandage over the angry cut on his forehead.
“Has he been conscious?”
“Yeah, he has. And, it was really hard for him, but he thought our way out of the mess I got us into.” Rodney seemed to falter. He watched as the medical team started to wheel his friend to the infirmary. “I’m coming with him. He trusts me…” The scientist seemed unable to continue.
“We’re going to take good care of him, Doctor. And, of you, too.”
McKay was ushered into a waiting wheelchair as his pallor hinted that he probably wasn’t up to a walk to the infirmary. It was an indication of his anxiety that he didn’t berate the medical staff for not putting him on a gurney too, or taking him first; his concern for his friend outweighed his concern for himself
*****SGA*****
The first thing Sheppard felt as he returned to consciousness was that he was home. He could feel his link to the city, and that Atlantis seemed relieved that he was back.
The second thing that he felt was that ‘numb’ was starting to seem like a better alternative to the most massive case of pins and needles that assaulted his whole body. He squirmed, trying to get comfortable when he realized that he could feel the movement of his body against the hard mattress of the infirmary bed.
Relief. That was the third thing he felt. He wondered if McKay was…
McKay! Sheppard’s eyes flew open and he bolted up, at least as far as his aching body would allow.
“Easy now, Colonel.” Beckett, his voice soothing, reached to support him as the bed was raised beneath him. “You’re doing fine. You had a bit of a neural shock from that Ancient contraption, but it’s resolving. How are you feeling? Sore? And, don’t you sugar coat it or I’ll decide myself how you’re feeling.”
Sheppard looked around him. “Where’s McKay? My team?”
“They’re fine, John. Don’t you worry. Rodney had a much milder shock that left him just a little sore. Some pain killers, a hot shower and a meal, and he’s feeling much better. He was here with you, as were Teyla and Ronon, but I threw them out for the night. They’ll be back in the morning, I’m sure.”
The Colonel tried to relax but the aching, and pins and needles seemed to overwhelm him. He felt the pinch of an IV in the back of his hand and the all-too-familiar ache of a catheter.
“How long have I been out? he asked.
"Nearly twelve hours, and you’ll be gracing that bed for quite a while yet. So, don’t you start your negotiating with me. You still haven’t answered me. How are you feeling, Colonel, and I want the truth.”
“I’m good, Doc.”
Beckett snorted his disbelief. “And, I’m the Loch Ness monster. I can see you’re hurting so I’m going to get something to help.” Sheppard could hear him muttering about stupid wee colonels as he went to fetch some medication.
“Psst.” McKay tried his best to move quietly as he stuck his head into Sheppard’s space.
“Rodney, get over here. Hurry, Beckett will be back in a few minutes. He’ll kill us both, if he catches you here.”
“I know,” the scientist replied, “but I had to talk to you.”
“I need to talk, too. What happened, Rodney? The last thing I remember is thinking ‘home’. How did that get us out of that room? And, did you ever figure out where we were?”
The scientist looked at his friend. He felt incredibly guilty for all the pain he had caused.
“I want to apologize, John. I asked you to trust me when I didn’t have all the information. I just plowed ahead and I put you in danger. Again. I am so sorry.
Turns out that we stumbled on yet another failed Ancient experiment. That box was intended to be exactly what I thought it was. A gate to an off-site ZPM manufacturing facility, but it never worked properly. As you demonstrated, it had the unfortunate tendency to incapacitate any natural gene-bearer who used it. That would be a pretty big problem for a city full of Ancients. The box was abandoned, the lab walled up and forgotten until I nearly killed you.”
“But, you didn’t, Rodney. I’m still here and I’m fine.”
Sheppard was getting increasingly uncomfortable. He found himself actually looking forward to submitting to tender care of Dr. Beckett and his medical miracles.
“You better cut to the chase.” Sheppard tried to keep from moaning. “I’m not sure I’m up to a long explanation.”
“Well,” huffed McKay, “typical Ancients. When you got pulled into the damn box, the portal delivered a massive neural shock. You were supposed to be able to think your way there and back, hence the really strong neural connection, and if it had worked properly it wouldn't have nearly killed you.
Luckily, this one time, my artificial gene was better than your super-duper one and it didn’t cause me nearly as much neural disruption, so I was able to figure out our way home.”
“Wait a minute, I seem to remember that I was the one who thought us out of there.”
“But, I was the one who figured out where the portal was. And, I told you to think us home.”
Sheppard had no intention of telling his friend that he had been on his way see if there was another gate before he collapsed. Let Rodney think that he saved the day. He had, after all. Sheppard was pretty sure that he would never have made it to the wall without his friend’s support.
Beckett hustled into the room, glaring at the wayward scientist.
“What are you doing here, you numpty?”
“Oh oh. Busted.”
“OUT,” the doctor shouted, “and don’t come back till morning. And, I don’t mean 1:00 in the morning. I mean not ‘til breakfast.”
McKay looked at his friend. “I’ll be back with Teyla and Ronon, Sheppard. We can eat breakfast here with you, if you think you’ll feel up to it.”
“I will,” replied the colonel, “and don’t eat all my bacon on the way here like you did the last time, McKay.”
“Trust me, Sheppard.”
“I do, McKay, but I’m counting the bacon. From now on, I’m going to trust, but verify.”
The End
Roo1965 gave me several interesting prompts. I used whump, h/c, ShepLantis and temporary disability. I hope I did justice to your requests.