![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: Red Sky At Dawn - Part Eight
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellifer_fic
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis, that is,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
pegasus_b
Rating: Mild
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They come from the SciFi Original Series Stargate:Atlantis. Don't own, don't sue!
Summary - “I can’t stop the bleeding,” John moaned as blood flowed over the backs of his hands in rivulets and pooled around his wrists like morbid bracelets.
“Put it down, you’re not going anywhere,” John snapped, injecting raw command into his tone. He watched as Zorin readjusted his grip on the sidearm he was holding and although he outwardly appeared calm, inside he was screaming. He knew there was a better chance of Teyla being shot by accident than anything else.
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Zorin spat. “You go crazy and bed some alien bint and you get to come back and be in charge? What I did was nothing… nothing compared to that.”
John winced but moved a step forward, his hands out. “You’re scared and you’re angry and I understand that, but running away isn’t going to solve anything. We’ll work something out.”
Zorin wiped the back of his sleeve of his free hand across his nose, tears running down his cheeks. “You all blame me,” he said, his voice breaking and if he hadn’t had a gun to Teyla’s head, John might have found the man simply pathetic. “What the hell? You had nurses and a scientist up there. I was the least of your problems.”
“You ran Zorin, while the nurses and the scientist stayed. One of the nurses died while you were hiding and feeling sorry for yourself.” John’s tone was low and dangerous.
Zorin hitched in a breath and the gun came away from Teyla’s temple for a second. Teyla dropped, leveling an elbow at Zorin’s groin and snapping back violently. Zorin let out a pain-filled cry as Teyla rolled sideways, out of his grip. John launched himself at the smaller man and they both crashed to the floor, sliding out into the hallway. They struggled for the gun and dimly John heard it discharge twice, the first bullet grazing his cheek.
They both came up at once onto their knees and Zorin still had the gun gripped in his hand. He leveled it at John’s chest and just at that moment a huge shadow fell across them both. Zorin was lifted up and away, crashing into a far wall, impacting with a hurt puppy noise and sliding bonelessly to the floor.
“You okay?” a gruff voice asked and John looked up into the face of their newest addition, Ronon Dex. “I’m assuming that wasn’t just training,” he quirked an eyebrow and John accepted his hand when it was offered to help him up. John looked over his shoulder and saw Ronon’s usual minders busy securing Zorin.
John looked back towards his room and saw feet protruding from the doorway. He remembered the weapon discharging and a deep chill swept over his body. “Get the Doctor,” he said, his voice sounding hollow and faraway.
Ronon nodded and jogged back the way he’d come, the men usually guarding him paying him no attention.
John scooted back through his doorway and found Teyla on the floor, sprawled next to the bed. He saw a dark splotch of blood on the bedding and realized that Teyla must have fallen backwards and then toppled off. John dropped to his knees beside her and she looked at him, her eyes glassy. She had her hands pressed to her chest and there was blood welling between her fingers.
“John?” Her voice was a whisper and her face was full of confusion. John heard a wounded sound and realized that it had actually escaped from him. He leaned forward and placed his hands over Teyla’s own.
“Oh, God,” he moaned raggedly. Teyla’s hands were cold and there was blood on her lips. “No, no… hang on. The Doc’s comin’”
“I feel very cold,” Teyla stated matter-of-factly, her voice almost sounding normal. Her eyes were sliding closed and John grabbed her chin roughly, shaking her head.
“No! Stay with me,” he commanded, his voice roughened.
You’d better do something about that Johnny
Ford’s voice was so clear that John actually looked around, expecting the younger man to be standing behind him.
“I can’t stop the bleeding,” John moaned as blood flowed over the back of his hands in rivulets and pooled around his wrists like morbid bracelets.
That’s because you’re not even trying
“No,” John sighed, the denial thick in his throat. He felt pressure building behind his eyes and looked at Teyla, pushing it outwards, the denial, pain and horror of seeing her bleed to death beneath him. He felt sweat spring forth on his brow and there was a tingling in his hands. Teyla gasped raggedly beneath him and arched and John let go of the pain like a cable snapping.
He slumped sideways, one hand still on Teyla’s chest and felt the steady thumping of her heart beneath his fingers.
She turned her head sideways, brown eyes on green, a smile curving her lips.
~*~
"It was a through and through," Keelan said, holding up Teyla's shirt.
Elizabeth blinked at her and then looked at Jack, whose expression was unreadable. "Through the front and out the back," Jack murmured by way of explanation.
"Are you sure? Maybe it just passed through the shirt but missed her," Elizabeth said.
Keelan huffed patiently and then held up the shirt again. There could be no denying the dark, wine-red stain surrounding the neat hole in the middle of the shirt. The back of the shirt was worse, the bullet exiting raggedly and taking a lot of skin and blood with it.
"But she's-"
"Fine." Keelan nodded, turning toward the bed on the other side of the room. John and Teyla were sitting on it facing each other and John was teaching Teyla the fine art of thumb wrestling. As they watched, Teyla let out a triumphant cry as she pinned John, who scowled and accused her of cheating. Teyla apparently, from the way John was now nursing his abused thumb, was quickly proficient in all fighting styles.
"Did Major Sheppard-?" Elizabeth began but Keelan grimaced.
"They both know something happened, but neither know exactly what. I didn't push because...well, it's not really my area. I can patch holes and set bones but this kind of stuff is just beyond me. All I can tell you is that whoever was wearing this shirt was definitely shot and from the placement and blood, it should have been fatal." Keelan dropped the shirt onto a chair behind her, effectively dropping any further debate.
Elizabeth and Jack looked at each other.
"Maybe you should-"
"No, I really think it would be best if you-"
"Honestly, you're much better at this-"
"I just wouldn't know where-"
"Ahem," A voice behind made them both jerk around guiltily and John was standing there, looking a little rumpled and bruised but okay nonetheless. There was a bandage on his temple where the bullet had grazed him and he touched it absently. "Are you actually fighting about which one of you has to talk to me, while you're standing in the same room?"
Elizabeth said "No," at exactly the same time as Jack said "Yes," They both flushed the same shade of scarlet and John sighed.
"Alrighty, then. How about you fight amongst yourselves and I'll be over here." He cocked a thumb behind himself, indicating the bed he'd been on. Teyla was still sitting on it but had turned to face them and was swinging her feet.
Elizabeth watched her for a moment thinking, she should be dead and turned serious eyes on John. "Just what the hell did you do?" she breathed, hating the way it sounded but not sure exactly how else to phrase it.
xxxxxxxxx
The security detail that was supposed to be watching Ronon was in a mild panic because they had managed to lose him. They, of course, had been busy apprehending the man that had shot Teyla and very nearly Sheppard as well, but after the excitement had died down and Zorin was safely ensconced in the same cell Ronon had been occupying only recently, they realised that there was now an alien on the loose in Atlantis.
xxxxxxx
Daniel slowed to a halt when he saw Ronon standing patiently outside his room. It struck him as almost endearing that a man, who had been on the run for six years, ate with his hands and blurted pretty much anything that came into his head, would still politely wait outside a room rather than enter it without invitation. Ronon was slouched against the wall, cleaning his nails with a small paring knife.
Daniel sighed.
"Is this going to become a thing where I have to take a knife off you every time I see you?" he asked, holding out his hand. Ronon rolled his eyes but still handed it over with no argument.
"I'm hoping you'll trust me enough eventually to let me keep them."
"So, what, you're going to keep doing it until I stop taking them off you?" Daniel rubbed his temple when Ronon merely grinned. Daniel waved his hand and his door slid open obediently. He looked back at Ronon and indicated he should follow him in. "You know they're looking for you, right?" Daniel asked.
"You going to let them know where I am?" Ronon asked, quirking an eyebrow.
In response, Daniel unclipped his radio from his ear and tossed it onto the bed. "I heard what you did. You saved John and Teyla."
"Anybody would have done the same," Ronon shrugged and Daniel looked at him for a moment.
"No, not everyone. Plus, not everyone can just pick up a guy and toss them," Daniel admonished, not wanting Ronon to play down the fact that he most certainly had saved one life that day, if not two.
"He wasn't very big. About your size actually," Ronon jerked towards Daniel who squeaked and danced backwards. Ronon chuckled. "I see we're working on that trust thing still."
"Why is that important, that I trust you? So you can be free to wander the city?" Daniel asked, recovering.
Ronon took a few beats to look at Daniel, his eyes slowly traveling up and down. "Something like that," he said and even though he hadn't actually said anything, Daniel felt a blush heat his cheeks.
"I should really, ah... tell them where you are," Daniel said, indicating his radio. Ronon shrugged again, much the same way he'd shrugged off saving lives.
xxxxxxxx
John was back on the infirmary bed, Teyla's hand held between his own. As he talked, he played with her fingers, tugging gently at the nails and running his fingers between hers. The other three people in the room watched him patiently, waiting for him to work out in his own mind exactly what had happened. He grimaced and looked up at Elizabeth.
"I had this dream and... it was pretty much what happened. I think that's worrying me more than anything. I should've known something was up." John released Teyla's hand to thump his own on the side of the bed next to his thigh. Frustration was writ large in the lines of his body. "The guy got the drop on me. He could've shot me in the back."
"But he didn't," Elizabeth assured softly. "Major Sheppard, we need to know what happened."
John's focus seemed to turn inward and he sighed heavily. "I think he might've just been looking to be forgiven. Now that I think about it, he was just scared. Jesus, he's just a kid." John remembered being so angry that he wanted to choke the life out of Zorin with his bare hands, but the boy had merely been frightened. He'd endangered lives, but he'd been up there in the first place. He'd tried and John remembered joking with the others about how bad a pilot he was. John felt something cold grip his heart as he wondered if he wasn't partly or even mostly responsible for what happened.
"John," Elizabeth tapped fingers on his knee and John looked up, remembering there were other concerns, other things he could freak out about. It was starting to be a long list.
"In the dream Ford was standing near me and telling me that I had to help. When it actually happened I could hear Ford in my head, clear as a bell."
"You've heard Lieutenant Ford before though, haven't you?" Elizabeth prompted, looking confused.
John smiled faintly. "Not for a while. Not since... well, not since the last time. It'd been quiet in here for so long-" John tapped fingers to his temple, forgetting his cut and wincing. "That I was starting to think that maybe I'd gotten... you know, better."
"Perhaps this Lieutenant Ford does still speak to you, but not your conscious mind, fearing he would disturb your daily life," Teyla offered.
John quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, maybe. That's a little useless since I haven't been able to remember a dream for ages, except for the one that came true that is."
"You might not remember the events consciously but perhaps it helps guide your actions when you are awake regardless." Teyla said, drawing John's hands back into her own because he'd been clenching his fists.
"Now that's all kinds of disturbing," John frowned.
"Okay, we're getting a little off track here. How about the whole healing a person miraculously thing?" Jack interjected and John looked at him sharply.
"I don't know about that. Ford was telling me I should do something so I did."
"What did you do?" Elizabeth asked again.
"I just...I just didn't accept it. That's what it felt like anyway. Like I... denied Teyla being hurt."
Elizabeth blinked and Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair. "You think you could do it again?" he asked, a mixture of curiosity and something else John couldn't place in his tone.
John shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe it was like that 'woman lifting a bus off her baby' thing. You know, superhuman power when something really bad happens?" From the expression on John's face, it was clear he didn't believe his explanation either.
"Major Sheppard, there's a big difference between someone getting a boost of adrenalin and being able to lift something they normally couldn't, and someone actually willing a person back from death."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"We've been looking into the files on Ascendance-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nobody’s ascending!" John exclaimed.
Elizabeth held up her hands. "All I'm saying is that I'll ask Doctor Jackson to concentrate on those files for the time being. There may be something in there that could explain this. Now, I need to see Doctor McKay to find out what information he downloaded from the Wraith ship-"
"What do you mean downloaded? I thought the dart had exploded."
"It did. It's Rodney's device that will have stuff for us." John remembered the characters scrolling across the screen on the black device and how they had looked familiar. John shivered when he realised what that meant.
Wraith
Part Nine
Author:
kellifer_ficFandom: Stargate: Atlantis, that is,
pegasus_bRating: Mild
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They come from the SciFi Original Series Stargate:Atlantis. Don't own, don't sue!
Summary - “I can’t stop the bleeding,” John moaned as blood flowed over the backs of his hands in rivulets and pooled around his wrists like morbid bracelets.
“Put it down, you’re not going anywhere,” John snapped, injecting raw command into his tone. He watched as Zorin readjusted his grip on the sidearm he was holding and although he outwardly appeared calm, inside he was screaming. He knew there was a better chance of Teyla being shot by accident than anything else.
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Zorin spat. “You go crazy and bed some alien bint and you get to come back and be in charge? What I did was nothing… nothing compared to that.”
John winced but moved a step forward, his hands out. “You’re scared and you’re angry and I understand that, but running away isn’t going to solve anything. We’ll work something out.”
Zorin wiped the back of his sleeve of his free hand across his nose, tears running down his cheeks. “You all blame me,” he said, his voice breaking and if he hadn’t had a gun to Teyla’s head, John might have found the man simply pathetic. “What the hell? You had nurses and a scientist up there. I was the least of your problems.”
“You ran Zorin, while the nurses and the scientist stayed. One of the nurses died while you were hiding and feeling sorry for yourself.” John’s tone was low and dangerous.
Zorin hitched in a breath and the gun came away from Teyla’s temple for a second. Teyla dropped, leveling an elbow at Zorin’s groin and snapping back violently. Zorin let out a pain-filled cry as Teyla rolled sideways, out of his grip. John launched himself at the smaller man and they both crashed to the floor, sliding out into the hallway. They struggled for the gun and dimly John heard it discharge twice, the first bullet grazing his cheek.
They both came up at once onto their knees and Zorin still had the gun gripped in his hand. He leveled it at John’s chest and just at that moment a huge shadow fell across them both. Zorin was lifted up and away, crashing into a far wall, impacting with a hurt puppy noise and sliding bonelessly to the floor.
“You okay?” a gruff voice asked and John looked up into the face of their newest addition, Ronon Dex. “I’m assuming that wasn’t just training,” he quirked an eyebrow and John accepted his hand when it was offered to help him up. John looked over his shoulder and saw Ronon’s usual minders busy securing Zorin.
John looked back towards his room and saw feet protruding from the doorway. He remembered the weapon discharging and a deep chill swept over his body. “Get the Doctor,” he said, his voice sounding hollow and faraway.
Ronon nodded and jogged back the way he’d come, the men usually guarding him paying him no attention.
John scooted back through his doorway and found Teyla on the floor, sprawled next to the bed. He saw a dark splotch of blood on the bedding and realized that Teyla must have fallen backwards and then toppled off. John dropped to his knees beside her and she looked at him, her eyes glassy. She had her hands pressed to her chest and there was blood welling between her fingers.
“John?” Her voice was a whisper and her face was full of confusion. John heard a wounded sound and realized that it had actually escaped from him. He leaned forward and placed his hands over Teyla’s own.
“Oh, God,” he moaned raggedly. Teyla’s hands were cold and there was blood on her lips. “No, no… hang on. The Doc’s comin’”
“I feel very cold,” Teyla stated matter-of-factly, her voice almost sounding normal. Her eyes were sliding closed and John grabbed her chin roughly, shaking her head.
“No! Stay with me,” he commanded, his voice roughened.
You’d better do something about that Johnny
Ford’s voice was so clear that John actually looked around, expecting the younger man to be standing behind him.
“I can’t stop the bleeding,” John moaned as blood flowed over the back of his hands in rivulets and pooled around his wrists like morbid bracelets.
That’s because you’re not even trying
“No,” John sighed, the denial thick in his throat. He felt pressure building behind his eyes and looked at Teyla, pushing it outwards, the denial, pain and horror of seeing her bleed to death beneath him. He felt sweat spring forth on his brow and there was a tingling in his hands. Teyla gasped raggedly beneath him and arched and John let go of the pain like a cable snapping.
He slumped sideways, one hand still on Teyla’s chest and felt the steady thumping of her heart beneath his fingers.
She turned her head sideways, brown eyes on green, a smile curving her lips.
~*~
"It was a through and through," Keelan said, holding up Teyla's shirt.
Elizabeth blinked at her and then looked at Jack, whose expression was unreadable. "Through the front and out the back," Jack murmured by way of explanation.
"Are you sure? Maybe it just passed through the shirt but missed her," Elizabeth said.
Keelan huffed patiently and then held up the shirt again. There could be no denying the dark, wine-red stain surrounding the neat hole in the middle of the shirt. The back of the shirt was worse, the bullet exiting raggedly and taking a lot of skin and blood with it.
"But she's-"
"Fine." Keelan nodded, turning toward the bed on the other side of the room. John and Teyla were sitting on it facing each other and John was teaching Teyla the fine art of thumb wrestling. As they watched, Teyla let out a triumphant cry as she pinned John, who scowled and accused her of cheating. Teyla apparently, from the way John was now nursing his abused thumb, was quickly proficient in all fighting styles.
"Did Major Sheppard-?" Elizabeth began but Keelan grimaced.
"They both know something happened, but neither know exactly what. I didn't push because...well, it's not really my area. I can patch holes and set bones but this kind of stuff is just beyond me. All I can tell you is that whoever was wearing this shirt was definitely shot and from the placement and blood, it should have been fatal." Keelan dropped the shirt onto a chair behind her, effectively dropping any further debate.
Elizabeth and Jack looked at each other.
"Maybe you should-"
"No, I really think it would be best if you-"
"Honestly, you're much better at this-"
"I just wouldn't know where-"
"Ahem," A voice behind made them both jerk around guiltily and John was standing there, looking a little rumpled and bruised but okay nonetheless. There was a bandage on his temple where the bullet had grazed him and he touched it absently. "Are you actually fighting about which one of you has to talk to me, while you're standing in the same room?"
Elizabeth said "No," at exactly the same time as Jack said "Yes," They both flushed the same shade of scarlet and John sighed.
"Alrighty, then. How about you fight amongst yourselves and I'll be over here." He cocked a thumb behind himself, indicating the bed he'd been on. Teyla was still sitting on it but had turned to face them and was swinging her feet.
Elizabeth watched her for a moment thinking, she should be dead and turned serious eyes on John. "Just what the hell did you do?" she breathed, hating the way it sounded but not sure exactly how else to phrase it.
xxxxxxxxx
The security detail that was supposed to be watching Ronon was in a mild panic because they had managed to lose him. They, of course, had been busy apprehending the man that had shot Teyla and very nearly Sheppard as well, but after the excitement had died down and Zorin was safely ensconced in the same cell Ronon had been occupying only recently, they realised that there was now an alien on the loose in Atlantis.
xxxxxxx
Daniel slowed to a halt when he saw Ronon standing patiently outside his room. It struck him as almost endearing that a man, who had been on the run for six years, ate with his hands and blurted pretty much anything that came into his head, would still politely wait outside a room rather than enter it without invitation. Ronon was slouched against the wall, cleaning his nails with a small paring knife.
Daniel sighed.
"Is this going to become a thing where I have to take a knife off you every time I see you?" he asked, holding out his hand. Ronon rolled his eyes but still handed it over with no argument.
"I'm hoping you'll trust me enough eventually to let me keep them."
"So, what, you're going to keep doing it until I stop taking them off you?" Daniel rubbed his temple when Ronon merely grinned. Daniel waved his hand and his door slid open obediently. He looked back at Ronon and indicated he should follow him in. "You know they're looking for you, right?" Daniel asked.
"You going to let them know where I am?" Ronon asked, quirking an eyebrow.
In response, Daniel unclipped his radio from his ear and tossed it onto the bed. "I heard what you did. You saved John and Teyla."
"Anybody would have done the same," Ronon shrugged and Daniel looked at him for a moment.
"No, not everyone. Plus, not everyone can just pick up a guy and toss them," Daniel admonished, not wanting Ronon to play down the fact that he most certainly had saved one life that day, if not two.
"He wasn't very big. About your size actually," Ronon jerked towards Daniel who squeaked and danced backwards. Ronon chuckled. "I see we're working on that trust thing still."
"Why is that important, that I trust you? So you can be free to wander the city?" Daniel asked, recovering.
Ronon took a few beats to look at Daniel, his eyes slowly traveling up and down. "Something like that," he said and even though he hadn't actually said anything, Daniel felt a blush heat his cheeks.
"I should really, ah... tell them where you are," Daniel said, indicating his radio. Ronon shrugged again, much the same way he'd shrugged off saving lives.
xxxxxxxx
John was back on the infirmary bed, Teyla's hand held between his own. As he talked, he played with her fingers, tugging gently at the nails and running his fingers between hers. The other three people in the room watched him patiently, waiting for him to work out in his own mind exactly what had happened. He grimaced and looked up at Elizabeth.
"I had this dream and... it was pretty much what happened. I think that's worrying me more than anything. I should've known something was up." John released Teyla's hand to thump his own on the side of the bed next to his thigh. Frustration was writ large in the lines of his body. "The guy got the drop on me. He could've shot me in the back."
"But he didn't," Elizabeth assured softly. "Major Sheppard, we need to know what happened."
John's focus seemed to turn inward and he sighed heavily. "I think he might've just been looking to be forgiven. Now that I think about it, he was just scared. Jesus, he's just a kid." John remembered being so angry that he wanted to choke the life out of Zorin with his bare hands, but the boy had merely been frightened. He'd endangered lives, but he'd been up there in the first place. He'd tried and John remembered joking with the others about how bad a pilot he was. John felt something cold grip his heart as he wondered if he wasn't partly or even mostly responsible for what happened.
"John," Elizabeth tapped fingers on his knee and John looked up, remembering there were other concerns, other things he could freak out about. It was starting to be a long list.
"In the dream Ford was standing near me and telling me that I had to help. When it actually happened I could hear Ford in my head, clear as a bell."
"You've heard Lieutenant Ford before though, haven't you?" Elizabeth prompted, looking confused.
John smiled faintly. "Not for a while. Not since... well, not since the last time. It'd been quiet in here for so long-" John tapped fingers to his temple, forgetting his cut and wincing. "That I was starting to think that maybe I'd gotten... you know, better."
"Perhaps this Lieutenant Ford does still speak to you, but not your conscious mind, fearing he would disturb your daily life," Teyla offered.
John quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, maybe. That's a little useless since I haven't been able to remember a dream for ages, except for the one that came true that is."
"You might not remember the events consciously but perhaps it helps guide your actions when you are awake regardless." Teyla said, drawing John's hands back into her own because he'd been clenching his fists.
"Now that's all kinds of disturbing," John frowned.
"Okay, we're getting a little off track here. How about the whole healing a person miraculously thing?" Jack interjected and John looked at him sharply.
"I don't know about that. Ford was telling me I should do something so I did."
"What did you do?" Elizabeth asked again.
"I just...I just didn't accept it. That's what it felt like anyway. Like I... denied Teyla being hurt."
Elizabeth blinked and Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair. "You think you could do it again?" he asked, a mixture of curiosity and something else John couldn't place in his tone.
John shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe it was like that 'woman lifting a bus off her baby' thing. You know, superhuman power when something really bad happens?" From the expression on John's face, it was clear he didn't believe his explanation either.
"Major Sheppard, there's a big difference between someone getting a boost of adrenalin and being able to lift something they normally couldn't, and someone actually willing a person back from death."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"We've been looking into the files on Ascendance-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nobody’s ascending!" John exclaimed.
Elizabeth held up her hands. "All I'm saying is that I'll ask Doctor Jackson to concentrate on those files for the time being. There may be something in there that could explain this. Now, I need to see Doctor McKay to find out what information he downloaded from the Wraith ship-"
"What do you mean downloaded? I thought the dart had exploded."
"It did. It's Rodney's device that will have stuff for us." John remembered the characters scrolling across the screen on the black device and how they had looked familiar. John shivered when he realised what that meant.
Wraith
Part Nine
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