Habeas Corpus, by Sophonisba [missing persons challenge]
-title- Habeas Corpus
-author- Sophonisba (saphanibaal)
-warnings- Gen. Creepy. Tag for "Conversion"; spoilers for that and for "Instinct." While this takes place in the same continuity as "Chuang Chou menq tye," I don't think it materially affects the plot.
-characters- Rodney, Teyla, Ronon, Sheppard, Elizabeth, Carson
-disclaimer- This completely isn't mine. If someone could tell me where the heck Sheppard is remembering "Odd and peculiarly unhelpful" from, I'd be grateful; I'm sure I heard it somewhere, and I can't recall where!
-word count- 803
-summary- When tracking the progress of an infectious disorder, it would perhaps be an idea to have the body of the first case.
Habeas Corpus
"Do you remember any of it?" Rodney asked.
Everyone else cluttering up the infirmary -- not counting the slowly-returning-from-the-inside-out-Sheppard -- glared at him. What was that all about? It was a perfectly legitimate question, important to, oh, his recovery and stuff.
"A little," Sheppard said, tongue once more a healthy red behind the blue-black lips. "Bits and pieces all out of order... did I climb the wall?"
"Yes," Teyla told him.
"My previous commander probably wasn't groveling in front of me, though."
"Not that we noticed, no," Ronon agreed.
"And... Ellia?"
"She's dead," Carson reminded him.
"I thought... I thought I went back and stood over her, and she opened her eyes and said 'I'm not dead.'"
(Technically, it had been "Ah ain't dot," but he rather thought that was an artifact of auditory hallucinations.)
"No," Ronon said. "No, we didn't go back."
Teyla looked... disquieted. "I had a similar dream."
"Check?" Sheppard asked, before turning sideways into his pillow.
"That'll be it for this visiting period, then," Carson said gently.
"Of course we will make sure," Teyla promised before the three of them were very politely and carefully swept out of the room.
"You want to what?" Elizabeth stared at the three of them. "On second thought... no, no, I don't want to know. Go. Collect. Come back safely."
"Thank you," Teyla said politely. Ronon was already out the door.
"You're absolutely sure?" Rodney said. He knew, knew, his voice was climbing too high and too loud, but... he stared at the fallen logs, devoid of any animal life larger than the occasional termite-analogue.
"This is where Ronon brought down Colonel Sheppard," Teyla said quietly, precisely. "And over here..."
"That's where she fell," Ronon grunted, waving towards the empty bit of ground.
"And there are no footprints closer than yours," Teyla observed. "Nor are there the marks that she would have made had she somehow got up again."
Rodney scanned the ground, slowly, carefully, changing frequencies after each pass. "There was... something... here."
"Culling beam?" Ronon asked.
"No, the energy signature's all wrong for that. Something got close, picked her up -- "
"Without visible traces," Teyla added. "Nothing touched the ground next to her, and nothing slid under her."
"It might have picked her up by her clothes," Ronon offered.
"There are no signs that part of her was lifted before the rest, but it has been several days," Teyla said.
"Is anyone besides me getting seriously creeped out here? Because I am. Really. Very."
"And you have nothing else to say?" Elizabeth said from the chair in the infirmary, absently resting one hand on Sheppard's arm. Sheppard tried to look as if he didn't want to jerk it out from under her palm and cradle it to his still-scaly chest, and didn't succeed as well as he'd have probably liked.
"I already reported our load of negatives. No corpse, it wasn't moved by the locals or by animals or by any Wraith device we know of, it wasn't washed away -- "
"If a flying machine had got through the trees, it would have blown away what tracks there were," Ronon put in.
" -- it wasn't beamed up by the Asgard, and it had been there when we left the first time, so she didn't dissolve after we shot her. Short of that, your guess is as good as mine, and you know how much I hate saying that."
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth told Rodney. "It's just that it's... "
"Odd," Sheppard suggested in a tone of voice that was itself rather odd, "and peculiarly unhelpful."
"I meant to say 'disturbing,'" Elizabeth said, "but yes."
"We will hold the team meeting you had planned once you are yourself again," Teyla told Sheppard, voice deliberately cheering.
"Team meeting?" Elizabeth asked.
"On how to be safer," Rodney said. "And, oh, avoid some of the problems we've recently been having, up to and including ways to not get bitten by things!"
"I... see... " Elizabeth said, sounding far too amused to actually see. Out of her line of sight, Ronon shot Rodney a glance of startled approval. Really, what did he expect?
Ignorant of the byplay, Elizabeth got out of her chair. "We probably shouldn't all tire John out at once."
"Reclining right here," Sheppard said, sounding marginally more himself.
"You fell asleep in the middle of the tale about the snirrok hunt," Teyla announced, sitting in the chair.
"So what did the baker do when they went through the Gate?" Sheppard asked her -- presumably brightening, although it was hard to tell with much of his face's skin as stiffened as it was.
"Baker?" Teyla blinked.
Rodney trailed out after Elizabeth and Ronon, pausing to dart one glance back at his other two teammates.
He couldn't quite decide whether or not it was depressing that he could tell that neither of them were at ease.
-author- Sophonisba (saphanibaal)
-warnings- Gen. Creepy. Tag for "Conversion"; spoilers for that and for "Instinct." While this takes place in the same continuity as "Chuang Chou menq tye," I don't think it materially affects the plot.
-characters- Rodney, Teyla, Ronon, Sheppard, Elizabeth, Carson
-disclaimer- This completely isn't mine. If someone could tell me where the heck Sheppard is remembering "Odd and peculiarly unhelpful" from, I'd be grateful; I'm sure I heard it somewhere, and I can't recall where!
-word count- 803
-summary- When tracking the progress of an infectious disorder, it would perhaps be an idea to have the body of the first case.
Habeas Corpus
"Do you remember any of it?" Rodney asked.
Everyone else cluttering up the infirmary -- not counting the slowly-returning-from-the-inside-out-Sheppard -- glared at him. What was that all about? It was a perfectly legitimate question, important to, oh, his recovery and stuff.
"A little," Sheppard said, tongue once more a healthy red behind the blue-black lips. "Bits and pieces all out of order... did I climb the wall?"
"Yes," Teyla told him.
"My previous commander probably wasn't groveling in front of me, though."
"Not that we noticed, no," Ronon agreed.
"And... Ellia?"
"She's dead," Carson reminded him.
"I thought... I thought I went back and stood over her, and she opened her eyes and said 'I'm not dead.'"
(Technically, it had been "Ah ain't dot," but he rather thought that was an artifact of auditory hallucinations.)
"No," Ronon said. "No, we didn't go back."
Teyla looked... disquieted. "I had a similar dream."
"Check?" Sheppard asked, before turning sideways into his pillow.
"That'll be it for this visiting period, then," Carson said gently.
"Of course we will make sure," Teyla promised before the three of them were very politely and carefully swept out of the room.
"You want to what?" Elizabeth stared at the three of them. "On second thought... no, no, I don't want to know. Go. Collect. Come back safely."
"Thank you," Teyla said politely. Ronon was already out the door.
"You're absolutely sure?" Rodney said. He knew, knew, his voice was climbing too high and too loud, but... he stared at the fallen logs, devoid of any animal life larger than the occasional termite-analogue.
"This is where Ronon brought down Colonel Sheppard," Teyla said quietly, precisely. "And over here..."
"That's where she fell," Ronon grunted, waving towards the empty bit of ground.
"And there are no footprints closer than yours," Teyla observed. "Nor are there the marks that she would have made had she somehow got up again."
Rodney scanned the ground, slowly, carefully, changing frequencies after each pass. "There was... something... here."
"Culling beam?" Ronon asked.
"No, the energy signature's all wrong for that. Something got close, picked her up -- "
"Without visible traces," Teyla added. "Nothing touched the ground next to her, and nothing slid under her."
"It might have picked her up by her clothes," Ronon offered.
"There are no signs that part of her was lifted before the rest, but it has been several days," Teyla said.
"Is anyone besides me getting seriously creeped out here? Because I am. Really. Very."
"And you have nothing else to say?" Elizabeth said from the chair in the infirmary, absently resting one hand on Sheppard's arm. Sheppard tried to look as if he didn't want to jerk it out from under her palm and cradle it to his still-scaly chest, and didn't succeed as well as he'd have probably liked.
"I already reported our load of negatives. No corpse, it wasn't moved by the locals or by animals or by any Wraith device we know of, it wasn't washed away -- "
"If a flying machine had got through the trees, it would have blown away what tracks there were," Ronon put in.
" -- it wasn't beamed up by the Asgard, and it had been there when we left the first time, so she didn't dissolve after we shot her. Short of that, your guess is as good as mine, and you know how much I hate saying that."
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth told Rodney. "It's just that it's... "
"Odd," Sheppard suggested in a tone of voice that was itself rather odd, "and peculiarly unhelpful."
"I meant to say 'disturbing,'" Elizabeth said, "but yes."
"We will hold the team meeting you had planned once you are yourself again," Teyla told Sheppard, voice deliberately cheering.
"Team meeting?" Elizabeth asked.
"On how to be safer," Rodney said. "And, oh, avoid some of the problems we've recently been having, up to and including ways to not get bitten by things!"
"I... see... " Elizabeth said, sounding far too amused to actually see. Out of her line of sight, Ronon shot Rodney a glance of startled approval. Really, what did he expect?
Ignorant of the byplay, Elizabeth got out of her chair. "We probably shouldn't all tire John out at once."
"Reclining right here," Sheppard said, sounding marginally more himself.
"You fell asleep in the middle of the tale about the snirrok hunt," Teyla announced, sitting in the chair.
"So what did the baker do when they went through the Gate?" Sheppard asked her -- presumably brightening, although it was hard to tell with much of his face's skin as stiffened as it was.
"Baker?" Teyla blinked.
Rodney trailed out after Elizabeth and Ronon, pausing to dart one glance back at his other two teammates.
He couldn't quite decide whether or not it was depressing that he could tell that neither of them were at ease.