Reading Time: 101 Minutes

Title: Common As Fuck
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Action Adventure, Crime Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Suspense
Relationship(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Major Character Death, Violence-Graphic, Dark Themes, Minor & OC Character Deaths, Murder, Character Bashing, Illness, Poisonings, Virus
Author Note: I blame HarleyJQuin for the obsession with SGA, her fic started it. This was also supposed to be a one shot of about 2k. And HarleyJQuin, thanks so much for all the help you’ve given me on this one! Thank you as well, HarleyJQuin for letting me borrow her OCs, Dalton Cooper, Connor James and Adam Nero. You’re a STAR!
Beta: HarleyJQuin
Alpha: HarleyJQuinn
Word Count: 128,616
Summary: John is fighting to keep Atlantis and the Expedition alive, but fighting with Weir about every single decision has led him to work behind her back to make sure they come out on top. When John’s cold turns out not to be so common, his friends rally around him to make sure he’s not left on ice.
Artist: NotSally

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Chapter Forty-Four

John was seated at the round table that was in the conference room chosen for the meeting. “Right,” he said, “As some of you know,” he began, “Yesterday, we found the source of an energy spike that happened periodically since we’ve arrived on Atlantis.”

“Dr Weir, a different version of her was found in a stasis pod,” Rodney continued as he looked at Kate.

“What does that mean?” Kate Heightneyer asked. She was still grieving for her friend.

“This version of Weir is much the same as the other. Only, instead of being on Atlantis during the present time, she was sent into the past. She says that it was to make sure that Atlantis rose, but I think that there might be something else that she is working on, or at least thinking of,” John began.

“I don’t know why you are so against her,” Kate said looking at the two, a slightly disapproving look in her eyes, “she was a good friend to me-”

“And she tried to kill Rodney twice!” Carson yelled out, “She made Dr Grodin come through the gate, and stopped him from being treated for cancer. Yeah, she may have been a friend to you Dr Heightmeyer, but she was no friend to many on Atlantis,” he said, “I went into that room to treat her, and the first thing she did was warn me that I better keep her informed of things, and that it would be bad if something happened to Rodney!” he said as he got up and began to pace. “I did nae wanna come on this fucked up mission!” he called out, “I just wanted to research, but nooo, that bitch had to threaten my friend. And she made sure that I knew she could. Before we even got here, she had someone fucking poison him by giving him citrus, and then not three weeks before we came, something that caused a milder reaction. Just to remind me that I either go through the gate, or Rodney would be killed.”

Rodney got up, grabbing his friend and forcing him to sit down, “Carson,” he called. He could see that his friend was on the verge of a panic attack. “I need you to look at me,” he said, getting the other man’s attention.

John turned to Kate, “You knew someone totally different from the rest of us. You as well, Teyla, I know that you and Weir had become friends as well. I’ve learned several things about Weir. She was the one who poisoned me and nine others. Seven of them are now dead. Three of us are alive, only thanks to the tenacity of Dr Beckett, Dr Biro, and others. She was also blackmailing at least two people here on Atlantis. And there might be more that were working for her. She was also obsessing about Ascension. She under-supplied this expedition so badly, it’s a surprise that we’re all still alive.”

Kate was silent for a moment, “I have never seen a single hint at this.”

“She’s a diplomat, they know how to lie through their teeth and pretend it’s the gospel truth,” Bates snorted, “When she asked me to run roughshod over Major Sheppard in search of who the fuck was selling us out to the Wraith, she painted it like she believed it was the Major that was behind it. Or that it was Miss Emmagan. Since I already, at the time, disliked Major Sheppard, it was easy for me to push things a lot more than what I would have done with any other officer.”

Teyla nodded, “I see,” she said, “I was unsure of Dr Weir, she asked… odd questions at times. More about the myths surrounding the Ancestors, and the gifts that they might have left behind. I told her a few of them, but I do not think she listened to the warning that came with the stories.”

“Like I said, she was after ascension, anything that came with it as a warning was just ignored,” John sighed as he looked at Rodney and Carson. Carson no longer looked like he was a step away from a panic attack, though he was still upset. Rodney kept a steadying hand on his arm as they rejoined them at the table.

“Sorry about that,” Carson murmured, “I’ve had to live with that threat over my head for three years,” he said as he looked at Kate. “Three years, living in fear of what might happen to my best friend. I know she was your friend, but she was nae anything like that with me. She was the one who recruited me, even though Rodney was trying to keep me away from the program.”

“Wasn’t happy at all, when I found out you’d been recruited,” Rodney huffed, “Weir, lied, manipulated, and downright blackmailed people to get what she wanted. She knew how to get someone; it’s what made her a good diplomat. She was ruthless.”

“Not many in the SGC like her,” Bates added.

“I found that out quickly,” John nodded, “Not many of the military personnel I came across trusted her, or liked her. The civilians that talked about her were a little more indifferent, unless they worked and lived in the mountain,” he added.

“I wish you would all stop,” Kate snapped, “Elizabeth was my friend, and she-”

“She will remain that for you,” Rodney said, “But this meeting is not about our feelings about her, but more on her motivations, and what she was planning,” he told them.

“And why do we need to do that?” she asked. “Why can’t you leave the dead to their rest?” she carried on, shaking her head a few times in despair.

“Because we found another version of her here, older, much older, within the city. Claiming she came from the past to help us. We don’t believe her,” John was the one to answer her this time. “At this moment in time, she is in isolation and will not be having any visitors outside of myself, Rodney, and Carson.”

“That isn’t fair to keep her locked away like that, she hasn’t-” she began to protest the treatment that this older version of her friend was being subjected to.

“Dr Heightmeyer,” Carson snapped, “One of the first things this bitch did was to warn me that Rodney could still be killed if I did the wrong thing,” he told her, “Now, you may think she hasn’t done anything, but you’re wrong. She’s done a lot. You keep defending her, again and again, and it fucking stinks,” he snapped a little more as he looked at the psychologist. “When you stop doing that, then maybe I’ll start listening to you. You defend the indefensible. She acted like a fucking bitch to most people. Then there were others she was using. Then there were people she talked to like friends, which was you.”

“But this Dr Weir isn’t the one who poisoned people, or-” she began to counter the argument that Carson had begun.

“Didn’t you hear what Dr Beckett said?” Peter asked as he looked at her, “Didn’t you hear that this Dr Weir, the one who is now in the infirmary, as soon as she was able to get the good doctor alone, threatened to kill Dr McKay?” he asked her, waiting for an answer.

“You’re willfully ignoring what she has just done, and what both versions did before they came through the gate,” Rodney told her. “I think you’re going to have to sit this out,” he added, “You’re too biased toward her to a point where you’re not taking anything that we’re saying into account. And you are right, I don’t know if we should be able to keep her locked away. However, I’m not going to let her out into Atlantis; she is a risk that I’m not willing to take with the lives of the people here. And that’s the end of it; I’m not going to keep hashing out the same thing over and over again. This meeting was to try and determine what her motives might be, the original Weir and this one.”

“What do we know so far?” Peter asked as he looked at John and Rodney. Most of those in the room now ignoring the glare they were getting from Heightmeyer.

John was the one to sigh as he said, “I’ve been looking into Weir from the moment I took over the military side of things. I started noticing discrepancies in the supply list. A lot of what should be there was missing. Things we needed, if we’re going to survive out here. I was looking through the list that Sumner had, and nearly two-thirds of it is missing. Sumner had some notes about it in the files he had. I went through them, and Sumner put that Weir had him outvoted with the IOA about the supply needs for the expedition. But in the end he didn’t care what was done, he felt that the mission to Atlantis was a suicide mission at best. What would be needed for the year just wasn’t there. What was brought through was enough for two months, maybe three if rationed carefully. That’s what started me looking more into Weir with the files and information that were brought with us.”

“And what were you able to find?” Kate asked him.

“I found a woman who was driven by power and money. I came across several files that were about her during her time at the SGC, and they didn’t paint a good picture of her. Being brutally honest, she was power hungry, and wanted to make her mark on things. The way she went about it caused the death of thousands, and enslavement of millions, and she didn’t care. Under her command, four SGC teams were lost, and nineteen people within the mountain itself died because of her blasé attitude towards things. She had no understanding or care about the projects that were being done. She let Dr Peter Kavanagh take charge of two of those projects, four people died when they went wrong, because he didn’t have enough knowledge to be qualified as a project lead. She was the one who put him in charge. Just like she was doing here. I’ve been strict on who goes out and how they do it. Even the civilians will have weapons training before I let you through the gate on a mission. She was trying to argue against it,” John began, pausing to drink some water before continuing, “At every turn, she has tried to undermine my ability to command the military assets on this mission. She has tried several times to get me to take Kavanagh on a mission. Since he’s not qualified to use a weapon, I’ve been able to refuse, as I’ve been adamant that they all have weapon training before doing so. There is something between those two, which leads me to Captain Bates. Would you be able to bring him in?”

“No need, I’ve placed him in isolation in his quarters, with a guard. I found him snooping around where Dr McKay and Dr Zelenka hid the converter,” Bates answered him, “I’ll have him brought to one of the rooms we set up for interviews, when you are ready, Major Sheppard.”

“Thank you,” John nodded before turning, “As far as this new Weir is concerned, we know she’s not being truthful on what happened that led up to her being in the past and what she did there,” he added, “I’ll be talking to her again after talking with Kavanagh,” he finished. “Anyone else want to add anything when it comes to Weir and the things she was into?” he asked the room.

Grodin nodded, “Dr Kusanagi and I were able to get a large chunk of her private server unlocked. I’ll be sending the files and all that she had to you shortly. Dr Kusanagi is trying to open the last part of it. It’s encrypted, and even she is having to really work at it.”

“Wonder who set up the encryption?” Rodney murmured.

“I believe it was a code that was used to do it,” Peter answered him, “One that Dr Kusanagi knows of and has run into before. It’s why it’s giving her the run around, it’s because her rival made it to challenge her specifically.”

“Right,” Rodney nodded, snorting, “I remember the vitriol she spouted last time she came across it.”

“I believe I’ve learned a few more curse words in the last twenty-four hours that I have in the last decade,” Peter laughed.

“Right, I’ll look through what you’ve found as soon as I can,” John told him. “Well done in getting to it,” he praised, “Anyone else got anything? Anything at all that might help in figuring out what the hell Weir was up to?”

“She was very obsessed with ascension,” Carson said, “And getting the ATA gene. Though I believe that was more because Atlantis wouldn’t listen to her. She yelled about it a few times to me when she was demanding that I use your DNA to splice with hers to try and give her the gene.”

“But that wouldn’t work,” Peter frowned, shaking his head.

“No, it wouldn’t, and when I told her that. She decided that a child made from her DNA and Major Sheppard’s would be the best way to make it work,” Carson added, shaking his head.

“That would be-” Kate paused, shaking her head.

“Exactly, this is what Weir was willing to try and force people to do. I’m just glad that she wasn’t able to push things with it,” Carson told her.

“I’m glad of that, to think that she suggested…” John trailed off; even hearing it a second time didn’t stop the horror rising in his chest.

“Aye,” Carson nodded, “She wanted control of Atlantis, and she wasn’t getting it. She wanted full access, that I know Major Sheppard had.”

“Without Major Sheppard, I doubt we would have had as much access to the database that we’ve had,” Peter said, “It’s something that most of us who worked with the city have noticed.”

“I noticed as well,” Rodney nodded, agreeing with him, “When I got the gene therapy, things opened up, but it wasn’t as John described,” he finished, getting a few nods from Carson and Peter, both of whom had the gene and gene therapy, respectively.

“No more,” John said, “We’ve gotten nowhere closer to finding out what’s going on with Weir, the old one we have in the infirmary, and the one that’s sitting on ice,” he said, his words blunt. “I’m going to ask each of you to think about Weir a little, to come to me if you remember anything she has said, or mentioned in passing. Something she did or didn’t do that she should have done. Captain Bates, I’ll radio you as soon as I want to see Kavanagh. I’m going to talk with Weir first.”

“I’ll bring him straight away when you call. I’ve got Lt Ford watching him at the moment, but I want to head through the gate to the alpha site as soon as,” Bates said.

“Have Stackhouse or Markham take over guard. There are two that I trust implicitly,” John told him.

“I will,” he nodded.

“Dismissed, everyone,” John said as he looked at them all.

One by one, they got up. Soon, only Carson, Rodney, and Kate remained with John in the room. “Dr Heightmeyer?” John asked as he looked at the woman.

“I don’t like how you’re painting Dr Weir as a villain,” Kate said as she moved closer, not looking happy at all.

“I’m not painting her at all; she’s done that herself,” John sighed. “She poisoned me, tried to kill me. She also shortchanged this expedition. If I hadn’t worked around her, we would all be dead in the water,” he said. “Rodney, can you pass me my laptop from over there?” he asked, gesturing to the laptop he’d brought with him.

Rodney nodded, “Sure,” he said, getting up and grabbing it, handing it over, and he sat back down beside John.

John powered it up, and after waiting a few minutes, he pulled up a file, “This is a video file that I was able to find on the server that she had privatized. A security video of what she had done.” He looked at Carson, “This is to do with you,” he warned.

“Right,” he nodded, not sure he wanted to see.

“I found it this morning when I was looking through some of the files that Peter and Miko had been able to free up,” he said, “Watch and then tell me that she never did anything.” He pressed play and made sure that all four of them were able to watch what was going on screen.

It was of Weir’s office in the outpost back on Earth. Carson was in the room along with Weir.

“I told you that you will be going with us, Carson,” Weir said, her voice sounding almost sickly sweet. The camera was in such a place that the smirk on her face could clearly be seen.

“How the hell did you trigger it?” he demanded to know.

“How I do things isn’t for you to know. Just know that should you remain here, I will have him killed. Rodney McKay will be dead, and it’ll be your fault,” she threatened. “I’ve just shown you that I can get to him here, and I’ll be able to do it on Atlantis as well.”

“You cannae,” he began.

“Carson, I’m warning you now. In a few weeks, we’re going through the gate, you’re going to be the CMO, and you will be coming with us. There will be no more talk about you remaining behind. I will either kill McKay now, or I do it there, I don’t care which,” she snapped at him, stopping him from saying anything more. “Now decide, is your staying here worth McKay’s life?” she told him, “Get out of here, and I’ll see my answer when I receive notification on if you’ve accepted the position or not.”

John shut the video down, “Now, answer me this. Is this the Weir you knew?”

Kate was silent as she went over the video in her mind. “No, this isn’t the Elizabeth that I know.”

“Then don’t presume that we’re persecuting her without reason. This is just one video; there are five where she confesses to almost killing Rodney by triggering anaphylaxis. She confesses to ignoring Peter Grodin and his need to be on Earth for his treatment for the cancer he has. She even confesses to making sure that I had no choice but to accept the mission to Atlantis, or I’d face time in Leavenworth for insubordination. Weir had a reach on Earth, but she hasn’t got that here. I don’t doubt that there are a couple in this city that are within her grasp, that do her bidding, and I’m betting that Kavanagh is one of them,” John told her, “Now, if you want. I can send you more information about what we’ve been finding. Including all five videos, and you can then see for yourself what kind of person Weir actually was.”

Kate hesitated for a moment and then nodded, “Please.”

“I’ll have them sent to you now,” he said as he began to compose the email and send it. “Right, done,” he told her. “Dismissed,” he added.

Kate got up, nodding at the three men before leaving.

“I don’t think she’s going to believe the video, either,” Rodney said, shaking his head as soon as the door had closed behind the psychologist.

“She has a picture of Weir in her head,” Carson said, “One that she’s never going to shake. Weir was kind and helpful to her for a time. They became friends, I think, if I’m being honest, that Weir and Heightmeyer might actually be true friends. Weir never once used her at all, not once that I can think of. I know that Heightmeyer relied on Weir a little and is only on this mission because of her. I think Weir wanted someone who wasn’t going to stab her in the back at any moment. A true friend.”

“It’s possible,” John nodded, “Really highly possible,” he sighed and rubbed his face. “I’m hungry again,” he muttered.

“Then get something to eat,” Rodney told him, “I know we’re not exactly flush with food at the moment, since we’ve not been sending teams out to bulk up supplies.”

“I think we’re going to have to do so, but going from the alpha site and not here,” John said, “Get a few teams up and running, get some things out there to trade. We’re going to need to do something. I’ve been getting the mess to make our own make-shift MREs. They’ve been making and getting ready just in case we need them. But I’d rather we have fresh food if we can,” he said as he went to get up, and then stopped remembering quickly why he was still in the wheelchair.

“Oh, yeah,” Rodney nodded, getting up, “come on, let’s go to the mess and grab a bite to eat before I get you down to the infirmary to talk to Weir. While you do that, I’m grabbing Radek and getting the converter installed while Kavanagh is out of the way.”

“Good idea,” John said, nodding as Carson walked with them out of the room.

“I’ll see you both later,” Carson nodded as he went back to the infirmary, and the others went to the mess for a quick bite to eat.

Chapter Forty-Five

John looked at Carson, almost glaring at the man. “I need to walk in there, Carson, I can’t go in like this,” he said, gesturing to the wheelchair that he was in. Rodney had already left, knowing that the two would be arguing and wanting to avoid getting caught in the middle between his partner and best friend.

“John,” Carson said with the patience of a saint, “You might need to, but that doesn’t mean that you can,” he pointed out. “How are you doing with the dizzy feeling?” he asked him.

“It’s not as bad as it was. I know that I need the wheelchair at the moment, but I can’t have it for this. I will sit down as soon as I get in there, but I have to appear unfazed and strong in front of this Weir, also…” he paused, “I haven’t told Rodney, but I can sort of see the lies in the nervous system when people are speaking to me. If I concentrate.”

“You’ve tested this out?” he asked, frowning at the man.

“A little, not much. Enough to know when someone is telling me a lie, and not the full truth. I did this with Heightmeyer, which is how I figured out she wasn’t going to believe until she saw things with her own eyes. I also tested it for a little while in the mess, watching and observing some of the others. I could tell when someone is telling a lie, exaggerating the truth, and more. I’m my own personal lie detector, and it’s going to make talking with Weir a lot easier,” he answered him, giving a little shrug.

“I don’t like this, John,” he told him. “You should have come to me as soon as you noticed this little thing. How can we properly make sure that you’re safe if you do things on your own without telling someone?” he asked him.

“Sorry,” John said, but Carson could tell that he wasn’t really sorry. “I need to walk in their still, and I need to do this sooner rather than later. I also need to talk with Kavanagh after this, too.”

Carson sighed heavily, “I don’t like this,” he told him, “I don’t but I’ll allow it. And you want to go in there alone?” he asked, getting a nod, “Fine,” he said, “Fine, you can do this, but I will be monitoring you,” he added, “I want something on you to monitor heart rate, and such. Anything deviates from where it’s been, and it stops. I have her monitored as well. While I don’t like her or want her anywhere near me, I still have an oath to uphold,” he reminded him.

“Fine,” he muttered, giving in to the demand. Carson was quick to put a monitor on him, making sure that it didn’t show. “Am I good to go now?” he asked the doctor.

Carson nodded, “Go on,” he said, “But don’t forget I’m going to be monitoring you, and make sure you do sit down as soon as you get in there.”

“I will,” John said as he stepped out of the wheelchair. He stood still, letting himself regain his balance before he headed to the room. He was feeling a little lightheaded, but nowhere near as bad as it had been. He walked into the room, giving off an air of confidence and annoyance, the latter easier than the former, thanks to still feeling off.

“Major Sheppard,” Weir smiled from where she was sitting up on the bed. “I’m glad to see you. I have a few things to ask of you, if you don’t mind.”

“I do mind,” he stated, looking at the woman as shock overcame her.

“I don’t think you understand the seriousness of what I need to ask,” she began, her voice full of rage.

“I don’t think you understand the current climate on Atlantis to be able to demand anything. You have questions, well, so do I, and mine are not going to be what you think,” he said as he sat down to face her.

“I-” she began to protest once more.

“I’m going to be asking the questions, and be warned, I’ll know when you’re lying to me,” he warned her, a little smirk playing on his lips. “You see, while we’re sure you are a Dr Weir, I want to know what the hell you were thinking when you threatened Dr Beckett with Dr McKay’s life?” he asked her, “So what made you threaten him?” he repeated.

“That is none of your business what I do with the people who work for me,” she snapped at him, “You’re just one of the military personnel here. I demand to talk to my other self and Colonel Sumner,” she said as she turned to face away from him.

“Colonel Sumner is dead. He was killed in action, not even thirty hours after we got here, since your other self was trying to make a point in not letting a rescue mission happen when I said we should go. So not going to happen, as for your other self. Not going to happen either. I want to know what the hell you were thinking, threatening My CMO?” he asked, making sure to emphasize the my. He wanted her to know that she and the now-dead Weir had no power or control over Atlantis anymore.

Weir looked at him, staring at him, “I would do nothing like that!” she protested.

“Lie,” he said, snorting, “I can tell when you’re lying, Dr Weir,” he reminded her. He could see the way her synapses were firing as she lied, reading the signals going around her body. “Now, again. Why threaten my CMO?” he asked, pressing her once more.

“I demand to talk to my counterpart,” she stated. “I’ll not say another word.”

“She’s dead,” John said coldly.

“No, that can’t be right. She has to be alive. It’s what I made sure of,” she said, eyes going wide.

“Oh, she’s dead. I even saw the body,” he added. He’d insisted on doing so when he had been able to get up and out of bed. Seeing her in the morgue had helped to lift his spirits and even feel that little bit safer, and no longer having to watch his back like he had. Though that feeling of safety had ended the moment they had found this Weir.

“That’s just… I demand to talk to Dr Weir, and I want to talk with her now!” she yelled out, trying to sound commanding and failing.

“Like I said, not going to happen. We found the private server, as well,” he added, “Where you threatened Dr McKay’s life a few times, blackmailed Dr Grodin to come through the gate, and made sure that Dr Beckett also came,” he finished. “We found a lot. So what was it you wanted? Power? Money? Both?” he asked as he stared at her, hoping that something would give.

“I don’t have to talk to you at all,” she said, turning her head away from him. As if it would stop the man from reading her.

“You do actually,” John smirked, “because Dr McKay and I are the leaders of this expedition now. Not you, since you’re dead. There is no one else that you’ll be able to talk to. And since you’ve threatened Dr McKay’s life, he’s coming nowhere near you. No one will know that you’re here,” he said, “No one is going to come and help you, but us.”

“That just isn’t possible. I made sure that my counterpart would be fine, that everyone on Atlantis would live. That she… would be able to explore,” she stated, looking at John.

“Partially the truth. You do want to make sure your counterpart was fine. But you didn’t want everyone on Atlantis alive,” he frowned, “And you wanted her there, but not to explore, not really, there’s something you’re hiding,” he added, watching as the way her nervous system worked and showed John where the lies were, and the half-truths. “So, why the private server, the secret files, videos, and all that. We’re going through them at the moment, so they’ll reveal things eventually,” he finished quietly.

Weir stared at him. “I don’t believe you,” she said, “She’s alive, and you’re lying to me.”

“She’s dead, want to see her body before we dump it somewhere?” he asked, sneering at her, “Dr Elizabeth Weir, the one who came here with me, and the others, caused the death of seven people. Almost killed 8 more because of her agenda. So what is it that she wanted, because I have a big hunch that you know exactly what she was doing, and why she was doing it.”

“She wouldn’t have done that, she wouldn’t,” she protested, but John could tell she was lying; she knew perfectly well what she and her counterpart were capable of.

“Oh, she did, she poisoned ten people with a virus she and another of her victims created together. Then, since there is no cure, or rather, there wasn’t when she administered it. It would give her victim ten days, ten days to live before their heart and lungs would be too damaged to be able to work. Leaving them drowning,” he told her, “Struggling to pull in a single breath and feeling so weak that a kitten would have been able to take them out. That’s what she did. That’s what she caused for ten people. Thankfully, a cure was found and administered, and three of the ten she poisoned lived.”

“I demand to talk to someone else.”

“Not going to happen, it really won’t. You can demand all you like, you’re not going to be speaking to anyone but me and Dr Beckett when he comes to treat you. Oh, we are constantly monitoring this room, too. You’re always going to be under surveillance. I’m watching you, and watching you closely,” he said as he began to stand up slowly.

“You can’t cut me off from everything,” she snapped at him, “You can’t do that to me. I demand access to my files a-” she was cut off.

“Shut up,” he roared, “There is no way in hell that I’m letting you have access to anything. Demand all you like, but there is nothing you’re going to be able to do to harm anyone on Atlantis again. The thing is, even if you get out, no one is going to trust you. You betrayed them, you sold them out, and you started murdering them; that is what they are going to see. I have no idea what you did in the past, but I’m going to do what I can to figure it out, what you did in the past. Find out why you came back here. I’ll be looking at everything,” he warned her, “I will find out.”

“You won’t find out anything, there is nothing you can do that will help you,” she sneered at him, “Now get lost.”

“We’ll see,” he smiled at her, but it was cold, scary. One that promised death and pain to the one looking at him.

John walked out of the room to find Carson waiting there for him, a wheelchair near him.

“Are you alright?” Carson asked.

“Dizzy,” he said as he was helped to the wheelchair and settled back into it. “She’s hiding something big, and it’s to do with what she was doing in the past,” he said, feeling tired and hating it. “I need to look into what she was doing back then. I need to get into the ancient database, see if there is anything about her and what happened.”

“I’d go to Miko, she’s been dealing with the database since we got here. I don’t know how far into it she got, but I know that she’s working hard on it,” Carson said as he pushed John into his office. “Right, I have lunch being sent down, and I know that Rodney is with Radek getting the converter all set up. So it’s just us,” he added, as he let the door close. “I’ll be quickly taking in the food to Weir and coming straight out. I’ve got that place locked down, and Rodney’s made sure she can’t access anything from there.”

“Good, I’ve asked Rodney and Miko to make sure that there is no way that she’ll be able to get into anything,” John said as he sighed, “She’s done something, something in the past. Right back in the past. I just need to find it.”

“Then talk with Miko. After lunch,” he advised, “I’ll also tell Derek to keep you company; he’ll be on call when you need to go somewhere,” he added, already having told Derek that he was going to be doing that.

“Alright, I’ll do that. I know Rodney’s going to be busy for a while,” John said, “He and Radek should have the converter installed within the next few hours. I’ll meet with him later, after I talk with Miko and then Kavanagh, which I’m asking for Bates to join me with that, to keep him under guard.”

“Right,” he said, as they waited for lunch to arrive.

Chapter Forty-Six

Derek smiled as John huffed. The man was doing exactly what Carson had told him he would. Sticking beside him and pushing him around to the places he needed to go. “I would say thanks for this, but I hate it,” John grumbled as they headed to the lab where Miko was working.

“I know,” he grinned down at him, “but as your humble chauffeur for the day, tough.”

John snorted as they arrived at Miko’s lab. “Right,” he said, frowning.

“Don’t worry, I’m pushing you in there and then waiting outside, so you can talk privately. I know I’m not supposed to know a lot of things,” he said as he pushed him inside.

“Thanks,” John nodded, as he was then left in the middle of the room. Miko was working quietly at a computer setup that would make a hacker envious. He waited a few moments before Miko stopped and then called out, “Dr Kusanagi?” he said.

Miko jumped as she turned to face him. “Oh, Major Sheppard, I didn’t know you were here,” she said, smiling as she walked over. “Did you get here by yourself?” she asked, glancing around.

“No, I have the lovely Derek drive me here,” he grinned, answering her. “Sorry to come by like this, I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about what we’ve found. I know that Peter Grodin was supposed to tell you what’s happened, since you’ve been busy with the server that’s been uncovered and the database as well. It’s a lot of work you’re doing,” he said as he started to ground. He could see something wasn’t right around her stomach area. “Hmm,” he murmured, as he concentrated a little more. It reminded him of what was around Peter’s throat. The same type of gathering of nerves and blood, tumors.

“Well, whatever you need, you know I’m here,” she smiled as she went and sat down on a stool near him.

“Miko,” he said, his voice cautious. “You know how with the Iratus DNA that was used to cure myself and the others, it’s given us a little boost in places. For me, it’s eyesight, and to see beyond the skin, if you will. To your nervous system and blood,” he told her, looking up at her face.

“Yes,” she frowned, “But what’s that got to do with the database and server?” she asked him, leaning back a little on the stool.

“When I first saw Peter after I started to recover, I noticed a bunching of nerves and blood vessels that just weren’t around for anyone else. I’m seeing it in your stomach area. I think you should get Carson to check it out when you can,” he said slowly, wondering if he should have just told her to go and get tested with Carson and tell him what he saw instead.

“Cancer,” she whispered, “I…” she murmured. She was silent for a while.

“I’m sorry,” John said, “I didn’t know if I should have told you or told Carson. But-”

“No, no,” she said, her voice shaking a little, waving her hands in front of her, “You should have told me. And I’ll go and talk with Carson soon. For now, what was it that you came here for? As I don’t think you came to tell me that.”

John sighed and nodded, “I wanted to ask about the database. I was talking to the old Weir about what she had done in the past. But I’ve not been able to get much out of her. I know that she did something back then.”

“Oh, right, and you’re thinking that there might be something in the database about her. Yes, there could be,” she nodded as she jumped up, full of nervous energy, a pit of fear in her stomach at what John had just informed her of.

“Miko,” he called to her, “if you’re not up to this, yo-”

“Major Sheppard,” she said, her voice sounding sharp to his ears. “I know that this will be a shock for me, but I also understand that there isn’t much that can be done unless we get in touch with Earth and can get back there. Until then, all I can do is do my best to make sure that can happen. If that means deep diving the ancient database or tearing Weir’s server apart, then I’ll be doing that.”

John smiled at her, “You’re a damn warrior, Miko,” he told her, as he went to get up to follow her.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Miko said when she saw what he was about to do. “You were told to remain in that,” she said as she went behind him, pushing the wheelchair a little to make him fall back into it.

“Did I ever tell you that you’re terrifying?” John laughed.

“My five brothers would agree with you,” she said proudly. “Now, come on, I’ll even let you sit in the stool with the back, so you can at least rest,” she told him, as she stopped near her setup.

John shook his head, but got up and went to the stool with the nice back. It was just right for him to see everything Miko had up on the four screens she had set up. “So, old Weir was in the past, with the ancients, from what I can get from her. So the database might have what she did back then,” he said.

“Right, well, there is something that I came across when we first got here. It was coded for me, specifically for me. I didn’t think much of it because the video file had another code on it. But I believe it’s aimed towards you and Rodney,” she said as she pulled the file up.

John watched as it came up. “Yeah, yeah, that’s for me,” he said as he looked at the encryption and the clue that was within it. “It’s something I mentioned with Rodney when we were still at the outpost,” he murmured. “I think you need to send this to Rodney, and I’ll try to get him to look at it with me later on.”

“I will,” she nodded, quickly doing that. “I’m still going through the server; there is something there, something big, and it’s encrypted with something that my rival back on Earth did. Mostly to piss me off. I’m getting there, I just need another day, and I should have it cracked by then,” she told him.

John nodded, “That’s fine, as soon as you can would be great. I wish we could search the database for mentions of Weir.”

“I’ll have someone I trust to work on it. They might be able to find something as they go through it. I’ll work my way backwards through the database, I think. As she was still here on the city when they left, she would have been on it during their last days here,” she said as she sent a message to someone.

“Thank you, and get me what you can. Radio me when they have something. And I’ll corner Rodney when he’s done with the converter,” he smiled.

Miko smiled back, “I’ll make sure of that,” she nodded, “Now, are you good to call in your minder?” she asked.

“I’ll be good,” he rolled his eyes and got off the stool, swaying a little and feeling a small hand on his arm.

“John’s minder!” she called out, not knowing who it was that had come with him.

Derek entered the room. “I was summoned,” he smiled, then stopped when he saw John looking pale and swaying. “Okay, let’s get you in the chair, and maybe talk with Dr Beckett about this.”

“He’s running tests at the moment, so it’ll take a while longer before he gets them back. He’s working on a time-sensitive project with Dr Biro at the moment,” he added, remembering the proposal that Carson and Anita had come up with to help Peter, which now might also help Miko, if what he suspected was correct.

Derek nodded, “Alright, I know you’ve got one more thing to do before you can go and rest, but I would feel better if you tried to do so now,” he added, “Dr Beckett did ask me to keep him informed on how you’re feeling.”

“I know you would, and if I’m honest, I wouldn’t mind sleeping a little myself. But we’re just over two days before the storm hits. We need to get things sorted before then. I want this over with before it hits. Or at least a majority of it,” John said as he was helped into the wheelchair, “I don’t know why I’m so tired. I know that Yuri and Nathan are feeling like this as well.”

“Yes, but Yuri isn’t feeling or acting like you. She’s a little tired, but that’s all,” Miko said.

“I forgot you were rooming with her while she recovers,” John said, frowning.

“Yes, it’s working out well at the moment. She’s doing well. Except for this lingering tiredness. Dr Beckett is going over tests. Though she said she’s going to remain in the infirmary with Nathan for a while, for the day, just to make sure it’s nothing serious,” she smiled, “I think Rodney wished you had done the same.”

“He does,” John nodded, “But we have things to do, and I can rest when this is over.”

“We all know that,” Derek snorted, “Come on, let’s head to the meeting room. I know you said that Captain Bates was turning it into an interrogation room.”

“Yeah, so we have somewhere that we can use in case of problems in the City. We should have done a lot of things we never did when we got here. Weir put a stop to a lot of it,” he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “I should have just done things instead of waiting for permission.”

“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” Derek said as he began to head out of the room.

“Don’t forget to call Carson, and tell him to go to him as soon as you can. As soon as you know things, the better chance we have of finding something to help,” John called out as he was pushed from the room.

“I will, Major Sheppard,” she called back, “As soon as I set a few things up, I’ll go and get checked out.”

“Good,” he said as he left the room.

Derek was taking him to the interrogation room where he would be meeting Captain Bates and Kavanagh.

Chapter Forty-Seven

John was already seated in the room when Bates walked in. Kavanagh was in front of him, looking pissed off as he was made to sit down. Derek had made himself scarce, since he wasn’t going to be needed for this.

“You have no right to treat me like this!” Kavanagh yelled at John.

“I will treat you like a damn criminal if you act like one,” John retorted, “now, shut up.”

Kavanagh reared back, “How-”

“I said shut up, what part of that don’t you understand?” he asked, “Because seriously. People tell you to do something, and you find it hard to follow instructions. There’s no wonder that not one person among the scientists wants to work with you. You don’t know how to listen to the basics.”

“I’m good at what I do. I do everything I can to help this expedition,” he sneered at John. “Considering that you’ve been laid up for the last two weeks, leaves you in the dark about a lot of things.”

John laughed, “You think I’m in the dark about anything?” he asked him, “I know more than you think. I keep up to date on everything and anything going on in this City,” he sneered as he added, “Oh, and you’re lying about helping this expedition. You’ve done nothing to help at all. Just hindering the progress needed to keep us going and alive.”

“I’m doing my work,” he began.

“Lie,” John frowned, “Wow, you’ve never done anything that could be considered work. Dr McKay and the others have given you tasks, and you’ve never completed a single one of them. Instead, you interfere with others and the work they are doing. Often causing accidents and people to be hurt. You have so little care for the lives of those around you. What I want to know is what the fuck you did to get Weir to bring you along when everyone else tried to protest?” he asked, leaning forward, looking like he was solely interested in that answer.

“Dr Weir knows my value as a scientist, and brought me along as she knew that I would be able to help more than McKay and the others,” he said, sitting up straight, and looking down his nose at John.

“Wow, the ego,” John snorted, “Narcissist as well, maybe,” he murmured, “But no, that isn’t why she brought you along. That’s a lie as well. Why lie? Were you fucking her? But no… no, she was with someone for that. So you weren’t getting a leg over there.”

“How dare you say such things about Dr Weir? She knew my value and brought me along because of that!” he yelled at John, about to get up when he felt the heavy hand of Captain Bates on his shoulder, making sure that he didn’t get up and get near the Major at all.

“I say what I think,” John shrugged, “But again, lying to me,” he shook his head, “how about you tell me what the hell you were doing with the converter?”

“I wasn’t doing anything with it,” Kavanagh said as he turned to face away from John.

“Again with the lies. Really,” he rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. “Now, try again.”

“I just wanted to help. I know that McKay and Zelenka have a lot going on. I just wanted to make sure that it was fit for purpose and that Atlantis would still be standing at the end of the day,” he snapped, folding his arms in front of him.

John rolled his eyes as he got another lie. This time, he said nothing. There was just no point. At least he knew that Dr Peter Kavanagh wasn’t being a kind samaritan at all. “What about sabotage of the other projects that you shouldn’t have been near?”

“I didn’t sabotage anything,” he answered through gritted teeth.

“Lying to me on both counts,” he muttered, staring at Kavanagh.

“I am not. I didn’t know it was going to blow up and cause problems. It happens a lot, it’s science, full of uncertainties and more,” he told him, glaring at John, “It happens, all I wanted to do was help. Since I also got stuck with idiot jobs that any of the low-level scientists could complete without issue.”

“You were given them because no one trusted you. And since you decided to believe you were above instructions, you proved them right to not trust you. Everyone starts on the bottom rung, especially when something goes wrong, and they are the cause time and time again. They start again, at the bottom, and have to work their way back up. I did,” he said, staring at him, “It’s what a lot of people have to do. You, however, I’ve noticed, get away with shit you should never have done. And now that Weir isn’t here to protect your ass from your idiocies, you’re finally finding out how little you are trusted and wanted around here. Maybe if you had shut up and put up, then maybe you wouldn’t be sitting across from me, facing the rest of your stay on Atlantis in confinement. I can’t trust you to act like a decent human being at this moment in time. Dr McKay gave you a chance, and you blew it within hours. You blew it again when you decided to go into the room where the testing for the converter was happening. You shouldn’t have been in there, but you got in.”

“I just wanted to make sure it was going to plan,” he bit out.

John frowned. That was the truth; there was no lie in the voice. “What plan?” he asked, wondering if the plan wasn’t what Rodney and Radek wanted, or a plan that Kavanagh was following.

Kavanagh said nothing. Even when the silence stretched out between them, he remained quiet.

John watched him, observing his body language. He was starting to see a pattern. “You just interfered and knew you would be protected. You weren’t helping, or anything like that. You just wanted to make people hurt, or pay in some way for a slight you believe was aimed at you,” he frowned, “Why the hell was Weir sticking up for a fucking idiot like you?” he asked.

“Not my fault that people were idiots and weren’t paying attention to what they were doing,” he sneered.

“No doubt you made sure they couldn’t pay attention,” John replied, shaking his head.

“I was doing what I needed to do, nothing more or less than that. If they got hurt along the way, then maybe they are the incompetent ones that should read a fucking room,” he snapped at John, glaring once more at the man across from him.

“Hmm, you really believe you were doing what you needed to. In reality, you were doing things for selfish reasons, and not the altruistic ones you want me to believe,” John snorted, shaking his head. “I think I have an idea. You and Weir were working together on something. You know something about her, that she couldn’t take you out. So there are orders from someone to make sure you continue being a dick and blowing shit up and setting us back. Weir was doing something similar, but there is more going on with her.”

Bates pressed a finger to his earpiece. The action caught John’s attention. “Major Sheppard, you’re needed elsewhere. I’ll take Kavanagh back to his rooms. I’ve had someone review it to remove any potential access points. Dr Kusanagi oversaw it from her lab as soon as I took him from there.”

“You can’t do that!” Kavanagh yelled out as he got up, only to be pushed back into his seat.

“It can and has been done,” John told him, “You’re a risk to the very lives of the people around you. Weir might have put up with you. Dr McKay may have given you a second chance, which you blew. I’m neither of them. I’m a soldier, and I will deal with it like this is a military outpost from now on. You will be confined to your quarters until we make contact with Earth and can send you back through the gate with a list of charges that will be brought against you. If I can’t do this with you, then I will be stranding you on a damn planet of my fucking choice and leaving you there with no way to leave it. In other words, a planet without a damn gate.”

“I’ll have Sgt Stackhouse escort him back to his room. I believe I should go with you to our next port of call,” Bates said, a seriously pissed-off look on his face.

John looked at him and nodded, “Alright,” he agreed.

Bates called Stackhouse in to take him down. The younger man nodded at John, looking happy to see him up and about. Kavanagh was taken from the room, under guard. Bates then let Derek into the room. John waited for Bates to tell him what was going on before they headed down to the infirmary.

XxXxX

John frowned as he looked at Bates. “You’re seriously telling me that Weir tried to access the database from her hospital room?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir,” he nodded, “I’m having someone pull up the recording from the room,” he added. They were in Carson’s office, while the man was keeping Weir occupied with a random test, just to make sure she was out of the room. She was also under guard at the moment, making sure that there was no chance of her getting into anything else while they tried to find out what had happened the first time.

“Right,” he muttered, as they waited a few more minutes before someone walked in with a laptop. It was one of Miko’s people. “Jason,” he greeted. John had made it his mission to try to learn the names of everyone who had come through the gate.

“Major Sheppard,” he nodded as he walked over with a laptop in hand, “Sorry, Dr Kusanagi is a little busy, she said that she should have it decrypted by tonight. If all goes well,” he added as he set the laptop down.

John nodded, “That’s fine, though remind her when you see her to come and talk with Dr Beckett,” he added.

“I will,” he nodded and stepped back, “Just press play,” he said.

John nodded and pressed play. He watched as Weir got up from her bed, moving over to the tablet that had her chart on. She worked on it, using it to try to get into the database. “Right,” he said, “Definitely make sure that everything in the room that could be used to gain access to Atlantis, to our databases, anything, is gone. Nothing is to be left in that room at all,” he added as he looked at Jason.

“I’ll make sure of it,” Jason said, “I’ve already got someone else going through the room, but I’ll go and help.”

“Thanks, Jason,” John said as he paused for a moment before asking, “Can you see what she was trying to access at all? It might help us narrow down what she was up to,” he added.

“I should be able to figure it out,” Jason nodded as he went on the laptop and began to work while they waited for the room to be ready for Weir to go back.

“Thanks,” John murmured as he closed his eyes, letting himself relax and rest for a few moments. He was tired, but he’d been given a snack on the way down to the infirmary and felt a little better. He had done so after having something to eat each time.

“Found it, a part of the database is encrypted, but it’s not hard to work out,” Jason said, “I’ll send it to you and Dr Kusanagi, just in case she wants to have a look.”

“Thanks,” John said again as Carson walked into the room with another woman.

“Mila has finished going through the room,” Carson said, “Weir’s in there again, and not happy, since she’s noticed the missing items and how bare and locked down the room now is,” he snorted.

“Right, I need to speak with her again, see what the hell she was thinking,” he added, wanting to get up but knowing better than to try and do so around Carson.

“She was going for the database that Dr Kusanagi has identified as having recordings and files concerning the last few weeks on Atlantis for the Ancients, before they left for Earth,” Jason said as he looked up from what he was doing on his laptop.

“Good work,” John nodded as he looked at Carson.

“You can walk into the room, but the wheelchair will be right outside,” the Scot said, “And I should have your results tonight.”

“Thanks,” he said as Bates took the wheel this time and took him to the room where Weir was situated.

“I’ll be going in with you,” Bates said as he stopped the wheelchair and locked the wheels. “I don’t trust this woman.”

“Neither do I, Bates,” John admitted, “There is something very off-putting about this Weir and the other. I believe that the one we’re about to talk to has taken a life, more than one. I need to get into the last of her files, and what her agenda is, is no doubt in that part.”

Bates nodded as they walked into the room. Weir was sitting up in the bed, glaring at them as they walked in.

“About time you showed up. I asked for you or Dr McKay hours ago,” she snapped.

“Doesn’t matter who you asked for, you’re not important enough for me to interrupt my day for,” John said. “As for showing up now, did you really think you would be able to access anything from here?” he asked her. “We have you monitored, or did you forget that?” he reminded her with a smirk.

Weir stared at him, “I have things I need to do, while I might not be the Dr Weir you had before, I’m still one, and that should mean that I am in charge of this expedition,” she tried to bluster a little.

“Nope, I wouldn’t trust you to be in charge of an ant colony, let alone the Atlantis expedition,” John snorted as he went to the chair and sat down. “Now, you want to tell me what the fuck you were trying to do?” he asked her, staring right back at her, his eyes cold and hard.

Weir said nothing as the silence between them stretched out. John could wait, he knew this tactic, it was one his father had used often when he was a child. Stay silent, and eventually someone will feel the need to say something to break the silence.

“You can’t stop me-” She began.

“I can, and I have,” he smirked at her, stopping her from speaking. “You know what, there is something that I’d like to ask you. Why the fuck did you bring someone so incompetent as Kavanagh?” he asked her, tilting his head a little.

Weir paused, blinking. “No reason, I was told that he was good at his work and would make a good addition.”

“Lie,” he said, “So what’s the real reason?” he pushed her.

“That’s something you don’t need to know,” she replied through gritted teeth.

That was the truth, as she knew it, but John wanted to know, “It is something I need to know, as it concerns the safety of this city and all the people that work under McKay and me,” he said, “Now, try again. Why have you been helping Kavanagh? Why bring him along? I would love to know what the other Weir thought she was doing when it came to Kavanagh, as she stopped him from being punished time and again when he sabotaged the work of the other scientists in the city, setting things back weeks, if not months. He also harmed nineteen people in this city, almost killing two. Some are still recovering even now.”

“I helped Kavanagh as he is someone who deserves respect. I had my orders-” she said, before cutting herself off and turning away.

John smirked. “So he is up to something. Well, we’ll find out what you were both up to. We’re almost through the last of the encryption around your files. And all of Kavanagh’s electronics have also been confiscated. We’ll be looking into what both of you were up to,” he told her, standing up, feeling slightly lightheaded, he was only just able to keep on his feet without swaying.

“You can’t do that, it’s private information that is above your security clearance,” Weir said, “You go into that, and you’ll be the one that’s in trouble.”

John smirked, “Don’t care,” he said, “The files aren’t yours, they’re our Weir’s files. I have every right to go into them if I’m searching for a threat toward the expedition, and I deemed Weir a threat, and so are you.”

Bates nodded as he walked John out of the room.

“You can’t do this!” Weir yelled behind them.

“I think the tune needs to be changed,” John snarked as he walked out of the room. He could feel Bates keeping close as the door closed, and John stumbled.

Bates was quick to grab him and set him in the wheelchair. “Sir?” he asked, hoping his CO was okay.

“Damn, this is annoying,” John muttered.

“Do I need to get Dr Beckett?” he asked, standing above him, frowning.

John shook his head, “No, no, you don’t,” he said, closing his eyes for a few moments. “Right, I need to talk with Rodney. I want to go over something Miko found,” he said, “I need to message Rodney, and ask if he’s done yet,” he murmured, tapping his radio and calling out, “Rodney.”

“John, is everything alright?” the man’s voice came through the earpiece.

“Yeah, a video was found, and it needs both of us to decode it. So if you’re free, I want to come up and see you in your lab,” he added.

“I’m almost done here, should be another hour. Then I can meet you. Why don’t you rest up until then? There’s a nice couch in my lab, as you know,” Rodney replied after a few moments of silence.

“Alright, I’ll meet you there,” he said, hearing the click that said that Rodney had ended the call. “Bates, I need you to get Derek. He’s going to take me up there, and I want you to oversee the transfer of all of Kavanagh’s things to Dr Kusanagi’s lab. Remind her again she’s to see Dr Beckett as soon as possible before she gets to work.”

“I will, Sir,” he nodded as he left John alone for a few moments before Derek made his way over.

“Hey, Major Sheppard, I’m your escort again,” he grinned.

“I bet you’re getting sick of that,” John snorted, as he told him, “I need to head to Rodney’s lab, going to nap there until he gets there, I promise that I won’t be going anywhere else. So you can just get me there and be free,” he told him.

“Alright, if you promise, I will get it in writing,” he joked as he began to take John to Rodney’s office, where he lay down on the couch in the room and napped.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Miko was nervous; she had been trying to keep going on her work since talking with John. But the constant messages from the man, through others, made sure she couldn’t. So now she was in the infirmary, waiting for the results of the tests that Anita had run on her. Carson had remained in the room with her, talking with her. It was helping to keep her calm and reassure her that even if the worst news came, she would be able to get through it.

Miko jumped as Anita walked into the room. She could see that Peter was standing outside the room, and wondered why he was there. No one had called him. He remained outside as the door closed. “Well?” Miko asked, biting her lip and tightening her grip on Carson’s hand.

“Ovarian,” Anita said, “I was able to identify a small tumour, and I will be doing a biopsy on it to see if it’s benign or not, but…” she trailed off.

“It’s spread?” she asked.

Anita nodded, “It has, liver, there is a small tumor there as well as on both ovaries. You’ve most likely had a few symptoms for a couple of months. But with everything going on here,” she shook her head, “I think most of us would have ignored them.”

Miko bowed her head, “I don’t… what do I do?”

“There is a reason I brought Peter here, while his hasn’t spread yet, we’re keeping an eye on it because it’s a possibility,” Anita said, “And not only that, but I’ve spoken with Dr McKay to be able to tell you both what Dr Beckett and I have been working on since we were able to cure Major Sheppard and the others.”

“Can Peter come in?” Carson asked, “We’d like to talk to you both about what we have so far. It’s up to you if you want him to know of your diagnosis.”

Miko nodded, “I… don’t mind. It might be nice to have someone here who truly understands.”

Anita nodded as she went to the door, “Peter, come on in,” she said, a soft smile on her face as she let the man inside.

“Anita, Carson, Miko,” he nodded, greeting the three of them, “Is everything okay?” he asked, looking in concern at Miko.

“Cancer,” Miko said, her words soft and her voice trembling.

Peter went over to her, pulling her into his arms and holding her as she began to cry. “Oh, Miko,” he murmured as he comforted her.

Anita and Carson were silent as they let the two take strength from each other. They parted a few moments later and looked at the two.

“There is a reason that we brought you here, not only for Miko to talk with someone who knows what this means, but also, because Anita and I have been working on something since John and the others were cured. We’ve been testing it rigorously over the last few days. We’ve just got to do a few more tests before we might be able to use it,” Carson said, as he looked at the two.

“What are you talking about?” Peter asked, wanting clarification.

Anita sighed, “A cure for cancer. It attacks the cells that have a mutation. We’ll need to do more testing with Miko’s type as well, but so far, it works on what we throw at it. So I’m sure it will work for Miko as well. But…” she trailed off, looking at Carson.

“So far this miracle cure has been used on three people to bring them back from the brink of death,” he continued.

“Yuri, Nathan, and Major Sheppard,” Miko was quick to say.

“Yes,” Carson nodded, “They were given a very rough version of it. We noticed in Nathan that it’s helped with a chronic illness he has; it’s eased it a lot. We’re going to do two more tests, because there have been side effects on the three it’s been given to. All three are at the moment extremely tired. Testing on their issues is currently being conducted by Anita’s team. We’re trying to find the cause of that before we give the go-ahead for this to be given to either of you.”

Miko nodded, “So there’s a risk with it?” she asked.

“Yes, as with any drug, cure, or anything given to the populace, there are always trials. We don’t have that option here. So far, we know that this has worked on a virus. In testing it against cancer cells, it destroyed them and left behind the healthy cells. I have to write a report on everything for Dr McKay, and with his approval, we’ll be able to test on you both, if you both agree, of course. This is optional. We could find something that would be able to get us home tomorrow, or it might be a few months from now,” he said, his words chosen carefully, not wanting to pressure either of them into agreeing to something they didn’t believe was safe.

“I’m willing,” Peter said, “I don’t mind if you test things on me first, before Miko,” he finished quietly as he looked at Miko.

Miko smiled at Peter, but said, “Neither do I.” She looked back at Anita and Carson, “Science is always a look into the unknown,” she smiled slightly, “We’re all out here looking for things that can help back on earth. Maybe… This is something that could. So many die from cancer, so many,” she murmured, “If there is something that might be able to cure it, that could be sent back to earth to be used, then we have to trial it at least here. I don’t mind being the beginning of that.”

Carson smiled back, “Alright, we’ll see how things go with the last round of tests, and what Rodney says about the report is what we’ll be going with.”

Miko nodded, “Thank you for telling us,” she said softly, “I… need to get back to work. Major Sheppard needs me to get into the last of Weir’s files.”

Peter nodded, “If you want any help, don’t be afraid to ask,” he told her, “and if you just want someone to talk to that understands, I’m here,” he smiled.

“I will, thank you,” she said, nodding her head. Getting off the medical bed, she began to head out.

Carson nodded and smiled a little, “Let’s get back to testing,” he said as he looked at Anita. Peter had followed Miko out of the room.

XxXxX

Rodney walked into his lab and saw John fast asleep on the couch. He smiled as he went over, not sure if he should wake him up or not. He knew that John was tired, not exactly fully healed yet. Rodney made a decision and grabbed the blanket that had fallen off John and put it back, letting him sleep for another hour. Rodney could get a bit of work done before he woke him. Rodney turned to watch John occasionally when the man shifted in his sleep.

An hour later, Rodney shut down what he was working on, knowing that he would need to get back to it another time. For now, he was at a good stopping point. He got up, going over to the couch and kneeling beside it, “John,” he called softly, running his fingers through John’s hair. “John, time to wake up,” he murmured, slowly getting a response from John as the man woke up.

“Hey,” John smiled sleepily.

“Hey,” Rodney smiled back as John began to sit up, leaning toward him and kissing him lightly on the lips.

“Nice way to wake up,” he said, smiling as he yawned. “I feel so damn tired though,” he complained a little.

“Does Carson have the results back yet?” he asked as he reached out and helped John to his feet.

John swayed a little before he shook his head, “No, not yet. He said he should have them all tonight. I know he’s busy with the research and testing into the Iratus,” he said as he walked over to the table in the room, Rodney’s laptop already opened up on it.

“Yeah, I’ll contact him soon, after dinner. We’ll eat here, or we can go to the mess,” he suggested.

“In here, I’m sick of being pushed around all the time,” he answered, gesturing to the wheelchair that was to one side of the room.

“I know, hopefully, Carson figures out what’s wrong, and we can work on solving it,” Rodney said as he added, “So what’s this you found with Miko?”

“I asked her if there was anything she found that could help explain about Weir, and what she had done in the past. She’s also going to be working on unlocking the last of the files and has got someone working on the database to try and find out anything more. But she said she came across this video not long after we arrived. It is encrypted, but aimed at the two of us. Didn’t really understand it until Weir appeared. Showed me, and I recognised the clue for my part of the code. You just have to put yours in, and then we should be able to watch whatever it is she found,” he said.

Rodney nodded, “Alright, she sent me the file, but I haven’t looked at the clue yet,” he murmured. He brought up his messages and downloaded the file. It was of a format that was able to be used with their systems, which made them both agree that it was someone who was familiar with their tech. “Yeah, that’s one of mine,” he muttered, “Mine first and then yours after,” he said as he typed in the beginning of the code.

John moved and nodded, “Okay,” he said as he finished typing his own part of the code in. “Done,” he finished.

Rodney nodded as he pressed enter, and the file unlocked.

Rodney appeared on screen. “Right, I hope that you both get this,” he said, “When we went through the gate, Atlantis was on the bottom of the ocean. The ZPM powering it were done for. And with us arriving, it used up the last bits of power, and the shields failed. If you’re seeing this, then it means that Atlantis survived and kept you safe, and the fail-safes worked.”

Rodney shook his head a few times. “Do not trust Weir. She’s got an agenda, and I think it has something to do with the SGC and ascension. I’m not sure what the two mean to each other, but it’s something to keep in mind. I only know because I overheard her trying to recruit John. He was trying to tell me… she killed him. She killed him and left Atlantis. The Ancients who are here don’t want to help me keep Atlantis afloat. Janus is the only one that does. He’s an ass half the time, but a smart one.” He sighed, “Weir murdered John, murdered him, and he tried to warn me about Weir, but I can’t figure out what he was saying before he died,” he added, “In the database, I’ve put an encrypted file. It’ll have the message that my John gave me; hopefully, your John will be able to figure out the code he was using.”

There was a voice in the background. And another male came on screen. “I am Janus. I have been helping Rodney figure out a way to save Atlantis and those who came through the gate with him. My peers and others do not wish for me to help. John was murdered by Weir. But none believe that to be true. Weir is obsessed with ascension; she has done nothing but talk to the others about it and how to accomplish it. She is a danger, in more ways than one.”

“I think I’m next on her hit list,” Rodney sighed, “There are plans in place that Janus and I have come up with. I don’t know if I will be able to make it to my own time again. If I don’t, and Weir does, be careful. Don’t trust a damn thing she says, or even what your Weir says. I’ve left a list of places that I’ve sent ZPMs, those that I can smuggle out without the others noticing. They are locked away in places that only the two of you will be able to get to. And only working together. John is a good man, trust him with your life,” he told his counterpart.

“I’ll leave what I can behind as well, to help you with fighting the Wraith. If you’ve not come across them, they are in the database. In the file that Rodney is leaving, I will leave the words needed to search for anything, and an upgrade to the Atlantis AI. It will give it more control to be able to help you. I dare not have it put in now, as my fellows will not be happy with it. It will be hidden away on Atlantis; only the two of you will be able to access the area where it will be. Again, it will all be in a file that Rodney will hide away,” Janus said. “I hope that one day, I will be able to meet with you both, even in my ascended state,” he said as he moved away.

“Again, don’t trust any Weir,” Rodney said, “Chances are, I’ll be murdered soon, but I’m going to leave behind what I can.”

The screen went dark for a few moments before it came back up. This time, only Janus was on screen. “I’m sorry to say, but Rodney was murdered last night. No one believes me when I say that it was Weir,” he sighed. “They are putting her in the stasis pod that I had prepared for Rodney. I’ve tweaked it a little; it will let her age very slowly, but she won’t have long left by the time she reaches your time period again. She will be woken twice during this time, at least. To rotate the Potentia that we have on Atlantis to be able to keep it going. They have now agreed to help Atlantis because of her. I don’t know what she’s done to get them to agree when I, Rodney, and even John at the start weren’t able to. I know she made logs in the database to send to her other self. Find them, and maybe you’ll be able to learn what it is she promised them, or did for them. Weir has also been trying to get to John’s body. I am cremating both of your remains so that she won’t be able to do anything to them. I will not allow her to desecrate your bodies. I hope that is fine,” he said before signing off, and the screen went black a final time.

“I’ll get Miko and the others on the database to find those files. Hopefully, we’ll get something. And then we’ll look at the places that others have suggested,” Rodney said as he started to type into a secure file about what they had learned and what needed to happen next.

John watched and nodded, feeling tired. He rested his head against his arms and dozed until Rodney got a message from Carson to meet them in the infirmary. He had the results and some news.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Carson looked at the four people in front of him. Nathan and Yuri were calm; they didn’t look as tired as John, but there was still this weakness about the two. John looked tired and about ready to drop once more. Rodney was sitting beside John, all of them waiting for answers.

“Right,” Carson said as he looked at them, “I have some news as to what is going on.”

“And what’s that?” Rodney asked, leaning forward, holding John’s hand.

“One of the things that Dr James and Dr Cooper were able to find out about the Iratus bug was what it actually fed on when it latched onto a person. With the information we got from John after the attack on him. We narrowed it down to the protein strains we all have. They are the core of most of the body’s functions. Without them, it can eventually lead to death. Our bodies just won’t be able to keep going without protein. What’s going on now is that the body is draining it of protein. In Nathan and Yuri’s case, it’s lowered, and has caused tiredness, but nothing more. It’s easy to combat and just up the amount of protein that you digest,” he explained to the two.

“What about John?” Rodney frowned.

“John is a more severe case,” Carson said, “he’s going to need a higher amount of protein in his diet to counter what’s being taken. The cure we used, the DNA has changed the three of you to need higher amounts of protein to feed the changes the DNA has made to you. For Yuri and Nathan, the changes aren’t that large. For John, it is,” he explained.

“So because the Iratus needs protein to live, we now need higher levels of protein,” John summarized, sighing.

“Aye, that’s the gist of it,” Carson nodded, “In the end, you’re going to end up having to find higher protein foods to make up. It’s not really something that we can do at the present moment. But there are a few things we do have that might be able to help. We have protein powder, which will certainly help a lot. It’s going to be something that you’re going to have to take into account while on missions, John. Like Rodney, you’ll need to take protein bars instead of the ones that are there for his condition. We’re going to have to make our own, and these need to be packed with a lot of protein. Especially if any of you use the abilities that you received from the Iratus DNA.”

Nathan snorted, “Guess it couldn’t all be sunshine and roses,” he commented.

“Aye,” Carson laughed a little, “At least this is something that we can all work on controlling and being able to combat. For now, each of you is going to need a dose of protein to go to bed with. Tomorrow, the mess has been instructed on making all three of you a protein shake; it’s going to help with getting you all up and about properly again. John, Rodney, can you both remain for a bit? There’s something else I need to speak with the two of you about.”

“Sure,” Rodney nodded as John gave a tight nod and wondered if this was about Miko.

“Right, take these with you and drink them before bed. It’s a highly concentrated protein shake. Hopefully, this will get you all right by morning, and another will make sure that you’re fine for the rest of the day. If not, report back, as it’ll mean tweaking the recipe a little more,” he said as he got up and went to grab the three flasks that contained a protein shake. Each was labeled with their names. “Here we go,” he said as he handed one to Yuri and the other to Nathan. “John,” he said as he went back for the last one and handed it over. “Drink up when you can, either now or later. You should be able to see a difference in about half an hour.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Nathan said as he opened his up and began to drink. Yuri, quickly doing the same. When the two finished, they headed out, leaving the other three behind.

Carson closed the door and sighed, “Right, John. Your abilities will cause a massive deficit each time you use them. I’ve instructed the mess to make some extra packed protein bars for you to carry with you. They should be able to give you a boost. We’re a little short on things at the moment, so they might not be ready for a while. So the shakes will have to do for now. Yours is a higher dose than theirs,” he added before sitting down.

“Thanks,” John said as he began to drink his own. He grimaced a little at the taste.

“I’ve talked with Peter and another about what we’re doing. Anita is running the last of the testing now. Peter has volunteered to be the first to test it, to see if it works,” Carson said, “I’ll be doing that as soon as this damn storm is over with. I don’t know what the plan is for people, and where they’re going to be.”

“So far, Radek, I, John, you, and Bates are at the top to remain on Atlantis. I’m going to have Peter join us as well. But that’s more because I need people who will be able to switch over the towers so that the lightning can travel to the central tower and the converter,” Rodney informed him. “The notices will be going out in the morning. The last of the second wave should be going out tonight. Then there is the last of the essential personnel starting from tomorrow.”

“Right,” Carson nodded, “I’ll make sure to have Peter informed that since he’ll be remaining on Atlantis, that I’ll put off using the treatment until after.”

“That’s fine,” Rodney nodded, “Make sure that all the information gets transported to the alpha site, just in case. I don’t want anything lost should Atlantis fall.”

“What are we going to do if it does?” Carson asked, going a little pale.

“We have a jumper ready. It’ll be in the gate room, just in case, and the alpha site on speed dial,” John said, “I’ve been working with Stackhouse on that. I’m asking that Markham remain, as he’s another with the gene and can fly the puddle jumpers. Just in case I can’t. I want another that can.”

“I’ll send him the notice that he’ll be remaining,” Rodney nodded. “I have to admit that Bates said much the same thing when we talked about it last time.”

John yawned, “That was disgusting,” he said as he finished the protein shake.

“Petra in the mess said that she’ll be trying to make it taste better for the morning,” Carson smirked, “Though I suggest that you have dinner first and then get some rest. It’ll take a while for the shake to kick in.”

John was about to get up when Carson made a sit-down motion. “What?” he asked.

“Sorry, I forgot. Or almost forgot. I finished a round of testing with Anita and was walking past Weir’s room. I overheard her talking to someone,” he said. “I’m not sure what was said or who she was talking with. I entered the room, but no one else was in there. And it was locked; only the three of us can go in there,” he added.

“I’ll see about the security we had rigged for the room,” John said, “I can access it from my laptop,” he added quietly.

“I wonder who she was communicating with,” Rodney wondered. “For now, dinner, we can get to that afterward. You can also nap a little in my lab again,” he added as he looked over at John.

“Sure,” he agreed, “Dinner first, I’m hungry,” he added, smiling a little.

“Wheelchair for now, then we’ll see when it comes to the morning,” Carson said. “I’ll even make a house call,” he added.

“Appreciate it,” John said as he looked at the wheelchair, and little annoyed that Yuri and Nathan were fine to walk around still, but he stood up, and he became dizzy and unable to remain standing for long. He hated that his own body was working against him. He stood up, smiling a little when he didn’t immediately feel weak and shaky. “I think that shake is helping,” he said as he looked at Carson.

“Good, that’s what I hoped for it to help. Though write down when things change. If we can find out how long the shake lasts. Then, we can make a plan on what you will need for the day. Go from there,” Carson told him.

“I’ll do that,” he nodded as he reluctantly got in the wheelchair, and Rodney pushed him out of the room.

XxXxX

John looked at his laptop, frowning as he brought up the footage of what should have been the inside of the infirmary room where Weir was being kept. Instead, it started, showed Weir for all of a few minutes, and then static, like something was interfering. Half an hour after the visual and sound went down, it was back up, and Weir was going to sleep. “It’s wiped, I don’t think we’re going to get anything from this,” he muttered as he glanced over at Rodney.

Rodney looked up from what he was reading, “Nothing?” he asked.

“Nothing. No sign of anything. It’s just static. It’s been wiped, or something interfered with the recording. I’m going more with the latter,” he said as he yawned.

“Great, just fucking typical,” Rodney muttered, “If that’s the case, then there’s nothing to retrieve if it’s been interfered with. If it’s been wiped, then there might be a chance that Miko could do something, but she’s working on so many different things at the moment that I don’t want to put more on her plate.”

“No, wouldn’t be fair, I know she’s been working hard on things,” John nodded a few times, trying to stop a yawn and failing, “ugh, so fucking tired, I hate it. We have shit to do.”

“No, I have shit to do, running a few things and searching myself. Miko is working as well, in her lab. Though I’ve reminded her that she needs to eat dinner at some point. We’ve already eaten; otherwise, I would have grabbed her and made her join us,” he muttered, “Go on, go to the couch and get some sleep. I’ve got a few more things to run, and then we can head back to our quarters and get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll have a busy d-” he began, “Oh,” he said as a message popped up. “Damn,” he said as he read through it.

“What?” John frowned.

“Rikesh,” he said, “He just messaged me, he’s been keeping an eye on the approaching storm. It’s hit the settlement, but it’s started to speed up a little. It will be on our doorstep really soon. Within thirty to forty hours. A little sooner than expected,” he said, rubbing his face.

“Send word to everyone that’s remaining behind that they are staying. I’ll message Chuck up in the control room to start getting the last of the people through. I need almost around the clock now until everyone but those who are needed here are gone. I want this place as empty as possible. I don’t know if Carson will want to send Weir to the alpha site, but I’m going to advise against it and secure her in one of the protected rooms on Atlantis. Make sure there is nothing she can do or use for anything.”

Rodney nodded, “I’ll send a message to Carson about it. I did scope out a couple of rooms like that. I got Ford and Jason to check one of them out and clean it of everything that could be used.”

“Good,” he nodded, sighing, “Right, let’s g-” he began as another message came through, this time through John’s radio.

“Major Sheppard,” came Bates’ voice.

“Captain Bates, I thought you were told to get some sleep,” he said, shaking his head and smiling a little. The man was dedicated to his duty; he’d give him that.

“I was, I was just informed that Kavanagh has escaped from his quarters and is now loose within the City,” he informed him.

“What? Who was on duty?” he asked.

“Lars, he was out cold when he was found by Simons. Nasty concussion, according to Dr Biro. He woke up briefly, but wasn’t able to say much. We’ve got a few parties going out, armed to find him. Chances are we’re not going to. I’ve got three people on guard at the converter to make sure that it will be working. And I’ve posted two at each coupling tower. I’ve got them on staggered rotation, so each one will be changing guard at a different time,” he added, “I’m going out with one of the teams now.”

“Right. We have thirty to forty hours before the storm hits. If he’s not found before then, chances are he may end up dead when we use the lighting, as it’ll be conducted through the corridors of Atlantis to get to the converter to power the shield,” he said, remembering the basics of what Rodney and Radek had explained to him.

“Anyone not in a designated safe area will be fried,” Bates said, “I remember.”

“Keep me informed,” John said, signing off.

“Yes, sir,” Bates replied before the radio went silent.

“Kavanagh?” Rodney asked, before John gave him a rundown of what had happened. “Right, I’m go-”

“No, there’s nothing we can do that isn’t already being done,” John told him, “I want to go out there and search as well, but there’s no point to it. We need to focus on getting people off of Atlantis and getting Atlantis ready for the storm. Time is running out on that. For us, finish what you’re doing, and maybe let’s have an early night. I’m getting tired.”

Rodney slumped in his seat for a few moments. “Yes, I know, but that doesn’t mean I want that idiot running around where he could cause untold damage to our systems.”

“Then have them locked tight. Only those remaining here will need to be able to access them at all. If he tried, then we should be able to pinpoint where in the city he is,” John suggested, waving a hand towards the laptop.

“Oh, that’s an idea. I’ll get in touch with Miko; someone in her team will be able to do it. They are going to be some of the last to go through. They are trying to copy as much of the Ancient Database as possible before they leave. Just in case. This way, they’ll have something to work from while dealing with the Pegasus system,” Rodney said as he tapped his earpiece.

“Kusanagi here,” came the sweet voice.

“Miko, it’s Rodney. Kavanagh has gotten free, so make sure to lock everything down. I need everything locked down from everyone but those on your team and those remaining. As each member of your team leaves Atlantis, lock out their codes. Everything. I want the system as secure as it possibly can get while Kavanagh’s on the loose. Make sure you keep yourself safe as well, you may become a target if he finds out how locked out everyone is,” Rodney warned her, not wanting Miko in harm’s way.

“I have my wakizashi, if need be,” she replied, and Rodney could hear the smirk in her voice. A lot of people often forget that Miko was trained in martial arts, in a number of forms. She had trained most of her life with her wakizashi and still took time out of her day to train for at least an hour.

“Alright, you make sure to keep yourself safe,” he told her, “And make sure you go to bed on time. I don’t want to hear of you sleeping in your lab again,” he added.

“I won’t, but I’m getting so damn close to breaking through this encryption, so damn close,” she muttered, “So leave me to my work so I can get it done. I’ll get Nita and Jason on the case of locking those out. And making sure that fucking idiot won’t be able to get in.”

“Alright, just be careful, Miko,” he said once more, shaking his head as a little smirk played on his lips.

“She’s threatening people with her little sword again?” John asked, eyebrow raised as he sent a message to Chuck and Peter of Kavanagh’s escape so that the gate room and control room would be protected.

“Yep,” Rodney nodded, laughing, “One day, she’s going to carry out that threat, and part of me is a little excited to see her in action,” he added.

John laughed. “She’s so tiny, but I’ve seen her training; she’s strong as fuck. She and Teyla have spared a few times, and you know Teyla can throw down with the best of them.”

“I’ve seen,” Rodney smiled, “Why don’t you get some rest? I’ve got a few more things to do, and then we can go to our quarters and sleep.”

“Tomorrow is going to be busy,” John yawned, “I hate the shakes, but they’re helping a little,” he said, getting up and heading to the couch. “I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out, so Carson was right in the protein shit,” he muttered.

“Of course he was,” Rodney rolled his eyes, “He may not want to really be a medical doctor much these days, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good one.”

“I know,” he said as he lay down, shifting around to get comfortable, “Just… wake me up if something else starts up,” he warned.

“I will, but I’m hoping that Atlantis can go a good few hours,” Rodney said as he began to go through the messages that he’d been getting from his underlings over the last few days. He hadn’t had much time to review them and see the reports that had come in on the various projects that had been underway and were now being paused while they evacuated Atlantis.

John snorted, “You just jinxed us. So if anything happens, it’s on you, McKay,” he told him, closing his eyes, before opening them and grabbing the afghan off the back and covering himself.

Rodney rolled his eyes but stayed quiet as he let John fall asleep, tapping away on his laptop and consulting the tablet for the data he wanted. It was another two hours before he called it quits, having gotten through a lot of what he wanted to before bed. He walked over to John.

“John, time to head to our room,” he said, though John hadn’t officially moved in at all.

John yawned as he woke up, “I feel better,” he said again, “I’m gonna hate having to keep on top, it’s gonna be a pain.”

“It will, I had to do the same myself,” Rodney reminded him as he folded up the Afghan and put it on the back of the couch as John got up. “You sure you’ll be alright walking, or do you want to be pushed around a little more?” he smirked.

John gave him a look that promised pain. “Bring it, because if Carson finds out I left it behind somewhere, he’ll kill me.”

“Oh, that reminds me, he sent me a message and said that he’s put a few of the shakes into the small cooling unit in my room,” he said as he grabbed the wheelchair and began to lead the way out of the room. They only stopped when they were both out, locking it up for the night.

“Right,” John nodded as they headed to Rodney’s room for the night. “I could do with a good night’s sleep, instead of the constant naps,” he muttered quietly.

“You’re in recovery, I don’t know how many times I have to keep reminding you of that. If you were left to recover normally, it could have easily been six months before you were down for the damn count,” Rodney snarked at him, rolling his eyes.

John huffed, “So you’ve said,” he replied.

“Then listen to me,” he told him, giving him a look. “Now, let’s get some rest,” he added as they reached the transporter that would take them to the tower they were currently living in.

“Yeah,” he agreed easily. They stepped inside and headed for Rodney’s quarters.

Chapter Fifty

Rodney and John’s radios began to buzz and ring out. An urgent message was coming through. Both of them woke up, already alert as they reached for their radios and put them on.

“Rodney!” came the ecstatic voice of Miko Kusanagi.

“What the hell are you still doing up?!” Rodney exclaimed as he looked at the time, “It’s almost four in the bloody morning. I told you to go to sleep!”

“And I told you I was close, and I did it, I got into Weir’s files and fucking hell, Rodney, there’s a lot of shit she was into that you need to see. And I do mean see now!” she told him, “And John, this is fucking important. She… she’s Trust!” she continued, having gotten the two of them on the line so she could say what was needed and get them to her lab before anything else happened.

“Trust?!” Rodney shouted as he jumped out of bed, “Okay, we’re on the way,” he stated, as he motioned for John to move his ass.

John nodded, getting ready himself to meet with Miko and go over what had been found. “We’ll be at your lab shortly. Keep safe, Miko,” John told her as he signed off to get ready.

The two quickly dressed and rushed out, with Rodney grabbing a bar for himself and a shake for John to have on the way. John grimaced as he drank; he didn’t really like the shakes, while he knew Rodney loved the energy bars he kept on hand for himself.

Miko’s lab door was locked. They knocked and waited before they were let in. Lt Ford was sitting to one side, giving them a wave. “Captain Bates learned what Dr Kusanagi was doing, so he put me on protection detail. Not that the good doctor can’t take care of herself,” he grinned.

“He’s not bad to look at either,” Miko said as she waved the two over.

“So what have you found?” John asked as he walked over, standing beside her as Rodney took her other side.

“Right, so I broke into the files, the last one. That fucker is going to get it when I get back to Earth, going to make his life a living hell,” she muttered at the end as she thought of her rival back on Earth. “I’ve learned a few more tricks out here,” she smirked as she then pointed to one of the files. “This one,” she said, clicking it up.

The file came up, and both of them started to read what was in it. It was basically a journal of a kind, showing how Weir had been Trust for years. When she was at the SGC, she had been tasked to try to bring it to heel and for them to take over. It hadn’t worked, and she’d been left in the cold. The Atlantis mission had come up. She had a new assignment. To make sure that the expedition failed, but only after she had learned the secrets of ascension. Made sure that their secondary agent would be able to get them to them. And then to return to the SGC as an ascended being and make sure that in the end, the Trust could take over the SGC.

“Fucking hell,” John said, “That’s why she was constantly obsessed with ascension, she was going to use it to bring the gate program down.” he shook his head, “There’s another, though,” he murmured.

Miko nodded, “Here,” she said, clicking up a secondary file. “This mentions them,” she told them as she let them read.

“Fuck!” Rodney yelled out. “I knew it, I fucking knew it. That sleezy, idiotic, no-brained, fucking moron!” he ranted as he started to pace around the room, “Kavanagh, of course it was fucking Kavanagh. I knew something was going on with why he was always getting away with the stupid shit he did. Then there was the fact that he was coming along without my say-so. I was the one in control of everything, but Weir, fucking Weir, knew he was a fucking Trust bitch and brought him along!”

John stood in Rodney’s way and grabbed him, holding him and hoping he would calm down. “Now we know, we know what’s going on. For now, we need to confront Weir. Then we have to find Kavanagh, who the fuck knows what he’s doing without supervision.”

Rodney rested his head on John’s shoulder, taking a breath, “Yes, yes, talk with Weir. Find out what Kavanagh’s orders were. They were to wait until the Daedalus were to get here for everything to go into effect. I know that Weir was sending Kavanagh to mess shit up. But he also did a lot of things without her.”

“Right, so we go and talk with Weir. Find out what she knows,” John said, “Miko, good work. We’ve confiscated all of Kavanagh’s things-”

“Already on it, though I may nap for a few hours first. The encryption on Kavanagh’s things isn’t as complex as Weir’s. It shouldn’t take me too long. I’ve been looking at it while you were on the way. It might take a couple of hours at the most,” she smiled, still bouncing.

“How much coffee have you had?” John had to ask.

“Not that much,” she answered, looking as innocent as she could.

“Two whole carafes to herself, she wouldn’t even share,” Ford said from behind.

“Snitch!” she called out, pouting at the man.

Ford just grinned back at her, “She’s been bouncing for hours. I swear, Sir, I thought she was doing a Tigger impression.”

“The wonderful things about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things!” she sang out as she jumped around a little.

“Yep, way too much coffee,” Rodney said as he grabbed her, stopping her from bouncing anymore.

“Ford, can you make sure she gets to her quarters and gets into bed. No bouncing anywhere else?” John asked the Lt.

“Sir,” he nodded, getting up, “Come on, Tigger,” he said as he took Miko’s hand, “let’s bounce.”

“Bounce, Tigger, Bounce,” she giggled as she was escorted from the room by a laughing Ford.

John shook his head, “Well…”

“Not the first time she’s been like that, won’t be the last,” Rodney said with a little shrug. “Let’s go over these files a little more before we go and talk with Weir. I want to get as much information about what she was doing as I can. I need to know everything,” he said as he went over to the laptop and began to go through it. John went to the second one, and as soon as Rodney set it up to view the files, he joined him.

XxXxX

John rubbed his face, “Okay, so she was working against us all this time. All the times I tried to get something done and she blocked me, were her way of making sure the mission failed. The food shortages everything was her way of making sure. She seriously shot her own fucking foot off on that,” he muttered.

“If the mission wasn’t viable, then we wouldn’t have been able to get this far,” Rodney frowned.

“We got this far because Teyla and I started up trade routes,” John pointed out, “We would have run out of food a while ago, we would have truly been fucked,” he said, sitting back down, “Not only that, but we’re doing well. And she wasn’t happy, which was why I was targeted,” he said as he had read the part where she had decided he needed to be taken out. It had chilled him to the bone as he read the cold words that he was doing too much, that he was the one who was helping the expedition succeed.

“She was also in touch with old Weir through Kavanagh,” Rodney sneered a little at the thought of the man who was loose on their city.

“Let’s go and talk to old Weir, lock up here, and make sure Miko knows she’d better get some proper rest soon. She’s to head out to the alpha site mid-morning,” he added as he got up.

“I’ve already sent a message to her, so it will be there in the morning. She knows she’s leaving. If she can get Kavanagh’s files open before she leaves, that will be fine; if not. It can wait,” Rodney nodded and sighed as they began to shut things down.

They locked the door before heading towards the infirmary. It was still only five in the morning.

“Carson should be checking up on Weir soon,” Rodney said, knowing his friend got up with the sun most days.

“Right,” John said as they headed down.

It didn’t take them long to arrive at the infirmary. They nodded at Carson as the man walked in just behind them.

“Well, someone isn’t in his wheelchair,” Carson pointed out.

“I’m fine, I have more energy now than I have in a while, and yes, I know that you still want to get some tests done. So after we talk with Weir, we can do that,” John said before Carson could say anything more.

“Alright,” he said, shaking his head, “I’ll let it go, as long as you feel okay,” he stated. “Now, Anita checked on Weir about four hours ago. She was doing well,” he said, “But was argumentative,” he added. “She’s not happy with having everything taken from her.”

“Yeah, well, that’s tough shit,” John muttered darkly, “She’s Trust, Carson. Her goal was to make sure that Atlantis failed, gain ascension, and do the same with the SGC so the Trust could take it over.”

“Right,” he said, shaking his head, “Well, she’s doing well as of last night. I’ll do a check now, and then you can question her more.” Carson nodded to the two of them and headed to Weir’s room.

“I really don’t know why the hell I didn’t think of her being Trust, along with the fucking idiot, Kavanagh,” Rodney began, irritated that he hadn’t thought of it.

“John! Rodney!” Carson shouted, the door to Weir’s room opened, “You better come in now!” he yelled out.

John and Rodney shared a quick look before rushing into the room. There on the bed was Weir. Her eyes open but unseeing as blood dripped down onto the floor from the gaping wound on her neck. Her throat had been slit, and the blood wasn’t fully dry.

John reached up to his earpiece and tapped it a couple of times. “Bates, get down to the infirmary immediately. Bring two more that you trust. I need them to be on guard in the room, and I need someone who can wake one of the techs to review the security footage from the infirmary for the night. From four hours ago until now,” he instructed his second in command.

“Sir,” Bates said, sounding slightly sleepy. “I’ll be there shortly,” he added, signing off.

“Get Dr Biro in here, I’d like to speak with her,” John said, “she’s not in trouble at all,” he added, seeing Carson begin to protest, “I know she wouldn’t do this,” he finished.

Carson nodded, messaging for her to come to the room. John looked around the room; there was nothing amiss within it. Nothing missing, nothing added. Not even the implement that had been used to kill Weir had been left behind. John knelt, looking at the floor, “No footprints, nothing,” he frowned.

“Nothing left behind?” Rodney asked as he looked around, “Not even a splatter,” he frowned, “How is that possible?”

“Not sure,” John muttered, “Those personal shields you found?” he asked. “Could one of them have been used?” he asked as he saw that there was little blood on the floor, which had pooled from the bed to the floor. Not

“No,” Rodney shook his head as the door opened, “No, it would have created a human-shaped void. This… this has no splatter past the waist on the bed, there is some on the floor, but not as much as there should be, or even the splatter from such an injury,” he frowned as he stood up straight and looked at Anita, who had walked into the room and stopped at what she was confronted with.

John clicked on his earpiece and said, “Chuck, stop all gate travel,” he instructed. “How many have already gone through in the last four hours?” he asked.

Chuck took a moment, “Nineteen have gone through so far,” he answered, “All gate travel has stopped.”

“Make a list of those gone through, and send it to McKay,” he ordered. The door opened a second time, and Bates walked through with two of the enlisted behind him.

“Sir,” he said, looking at the bed, “I see,” he nodded, “Giles, Cradley, secure the infirmary. No one in or out,” he was quick to order. The two snapped a salute before doing their duty.

John nodded at the man before standing up straight, “Weir is dead, and we have a prime suspect in Kavanagh, as far as I’m concerned,” he said, “Have someone look at all footage.”

“You’re going to blame him for-” Rodney began, only to shake his head.

John looked at Rodney, “Rodney, the man was working with her on a mission. Fuck knows what he was doing.”

“I agree,” Rodney said, “For a moment, my mind just couldn’t believe he was smart enough to do this. Get in and out with no one seeing, and be able to murder.”

“Sgt Markham is in the control room overseeing the gate travel,” Bates began.

“All travel has stopped. Not sure if Kavanagh would have gone through, but I want to make sure I’m right,” John informed him, as he looked over the scene once more. “I want those who have gone through in the last four hours brought back. I want them interviewed and then sent out. I want all those outgoing to be talked to before they step through the gate. It’s going to take time, I know, but let’s be sure that he doesn’t have anyone else to help.”

“I’ll have them recalled, I’ll get some of those that I know have MP training,” Bates said as he got on his radio and began to call in people. Military personnel would be the last ones through the gate, with only a few going each time so many went through.

“She was alive four hours ago,” Anita said as she walked over carefully, not wanting to accidentally step in anything.

“I know,” John said, “I just want to ask if there was anything in the infirmary from the last time you saw her until now, that seemed odd, off, anything at all that you can think of?” he asked her as he walked around the blood on the ground and to her side.

Anita thought for a moment, unconsciously starting to pick at the skin on her lips. Only for Carson to come to her and stop her. She smiled at him, “Sorry, bad habit,” she said as she looked back at John, “Not that I can think of. It was… quiet. No one needed any help. We’ve not had any gate missions, and the only ones that have been in and out are you, Yuri, and Nathan for daily testing. Carson and I have been busy working on the treatment for Peter and Miko,” she added.

“Nothing at all stood out last night?” John asked again.

“No, nothing. Like I said, it was quiet. I almost fell asleep in Carson’s office as I worked on some paperwork for the treatment.”

“Thank you,” John nodded.

“I’ll have the body moved to Morgue room three. I can perform the autopsy there, if needed,” she suggested, “I would like a little sleep first, since I’ve been up for the night shift,” she added.

“Go ahead, there’s no rush,” John smiled at her and let her go.

Anita nodded and headed out of the room as Bates walked over, “Everyone has been recalled, and interviews are happening to everyone before they step through. I’ll have Lt Ford woken up shortly to help.”

“No, leave him to sleep, he was up until about two hours ago watching over Dr Kusanagi,” John snorted as he remembered how they had left Miko’s lab. “Let him sleep a little while longer. Won’t do for him to be too tired to help.”

“Understood,” Bates nodded. “I’m going to get a few small teams together to try and search the city again for Kavanagh, but I’m not holding out hope.”

“Neither will I,” John replied. “Let’s see if we can get everyone but those needed on Atlantis through the gate. I know we were going to use most of the day, but get them gone now. Less collateral damage for Kavanagh. We don’t know what he plans, but he and Weir are both Trust.”

Bates’ eyes narrowed, and his whole stance tightened, “I see,” he growled, “The Trust has caused the death of several service men and women over the last few years. They’ve gained traction in many places. I know that Colonel O’Neill was doing what he could to stop their influence, but to know they have infiltrated the Atlantis expedition…” he trailed off, shaking his head.

“I know,” Rodney murmured, “It’s been a problem for a while, NID, Trust, there are groups that know what the Gate is, and what we can get by going through it. They don’t have the ethics and morals to do it honestly. Much as what Weir was attempting when she was in charge of the SGC.”

“I’ll get people out to search and get everyone through the gate as soon as I can, Major Sheppard, Dr McKay, Dr Beckett,” he nodded, giving a salute as John agreed with him and dismissed him.

“John, check up and then you can help with the interviews,” Carson said, as Derek and Nina came into the room to take Weir to the morgue room three.

“Yeah,” John rolled his eyes, but went to follow.

“I’m going to see if I can find some of Miko’s minions and get started on looking through the CCTV,” Rodney said as he looked at John. They shared a smile and a look before they headed their separate ways.

Chapter Fifty-One

Carson looked at Anita. They had done the autopsy on Weir, and nothing had been found, just the cause of death and approximate time. This coincided with the CCTV in the infirmary and Weir’s room going down for twenty minutes. A terminal just outside had been used to shut it off, but it had been systematic. Several others had gone down in the area. Which meant that Kavanagh was still gaining access to the system. Miko had already started trying to find the leak. Now the two were working in the lab on the treatment for Miko and Peter.

“We got it, haven’t we?” she asked as she looked over at her colleague.

“I think we have a kill switch. It’s no good now with John and the others. But for Miko and Peter, it will mean we can use it, and there should be no chance of integration of Iratus DNA into theirs,” he grinned back at her.

“It won’t kill the host either, won’t do anything,” Anita said. “We’ve done as much testing as possible on the lab rats here,” she added, “We’re… going to have to test it on one of them,” she was cautious about doing so.

“I know, I’m… we know it works. There is nothing more we can do. Low doses, through a day,” he added.

“I’d like to see if one would like the treatment before the rest of us head to the alpha site,” she said. “Should we inform Rodney, Peter, and Miko?” she asked, looking over their results once more.

“I’ll get them all down here. Rodney is working with Miko at the moment on Kavanagh’s things,” Carson said as he began to call the three down to the lab.

It took almost half an hour for the three of them to arrive. Miko still looked a little tired, but she was no longer bouncing off the walls as she had done earlier that morning. Rodney was keeping an eye on her, but letting her work.

“Why have we been called?” Rodney asked.

“We’ve figured out how to make the treatment work without the integration of DNA, like with John and the others,” Carson said, “We have a kill switch for the treatment. So when it starts working, we monitor it, and then when it finishes its job, we can introduce the enzymes that will kill it. The enzymes themselves dissolve after four hours. They don’t linger at all. Causing no problems for the host. It… should work on you both,” he said.

Anita walked over with the results and handed them out so all three could look at what they had gathered. “We’ve been working hard, trying to make sure that we would be able to do this before we left for the alpha site. We don’t know if we’ll have all the resources we need to carry on out there. So we pushed for this to work. We’re hoping it will. The only thing left is-”

“To test it on someone,” Peter said, nodding as he looked up from the results, “I will. Test it out on me. I know that I’ll be remaining behind on Atlantis with everyone. We’re sure that the shielding will work. But I’d rather test it first, to make sure it’s safe for Miko,” he added, looking at her.

Miko smiled, “I don’t mind doing it the same as you.”

“I’d rather do one at a time. It should take around a day to see if it’s working,” Carson said, “It should only take a small dose before it gets to work. A lot smaller,” he added. “I’ll be doing a scan, and then we’ll use it. After an hour, I’d like to do another scan if we can, so we can get a baseline of how long it takes. Each hour, a scan. We have a portable one that I can use in the control room, so there’s no worry there,” he added, getting a look from Rodney.

“Alright, I’ll let you do this,” Rodney said, “Peter, get yourself ready for it and then head to the control room. Anita, Miko, you’re both due to leave within the hour.”

Rodney headed back to the control room, knowing that John would be meeting him there. The military was doing one last sweep of the areas of Atlantis that had already been checked before they were going to be heading out with the last few scientists who were finishing off things. For now, Rodney wanted to check on the converter and the systems he’d put in place to help with the power surge.

XxXxX

The wind was howling outside of Atlantis as the last of those in the City left through the gate. The sweep of Atlantis had come up with nothing new. Miko and her people hadn’t been able to finish decoding Kavanagh’s files before they had to do so, but they had taken most of it with them, hoping they could work on it at the alpha site. There were now only nine of them left on Atlantis. Peter was responding well to the treatment, but now it had to be put aside. The storm front had moved in, and Atlantis was shaking with the force of it. They had just over an hour to make sure that Atlantis was ready for the storm.

“Right,” Rodney said as he looked at Radek and Chuck. The two would be heading to the pylons to disconnect them. “You know what you need to do,” he said, “We have 90 minutes before the storm hits Atlantis. After that point, we need to activate. So best be back here by then,” he said, “I know some of us have a lovely walk ahead,” he added. Chuck had the one furthest away, but he was the fittest of the three, since he was also military. Chuck was heading out with Markham. While Rodney was going to have Stackhouse with him.

“We know what we’re to do,” Radek said, Chuck nodding along.

“Then let’s go,” Rodney said as he looked at Bates, who nodded.

The three groups headed out, and John watched them, Carson and Peter standing on either side of him. John wasn’t happy about not going, but he had been outvoted on doing so. Both Carson and Rodney had told him to remain behind and to watch their movements instead.

Carson rolled his eyes, “Here,” he said as he handed over a shake.

“Really?” John muttered, “Do I really need to have one now?” he asked.

“Yes,” Carson said, “I want to make sure you have as much as you can handle for now. This is more because we don’t know what’s going to happen. If this fails, which I know we’re sure it’s not. It might be a while before we can get some more to help. Eating the amount of protein you need is going to be almost impossible.”

John sighed, taking the flask and opening it. He drank it down quickly, still hating the artificial taste. He sat down at the control desk and brought up the feed from the three of them, watching their progress to the pylons. Radek was the first to reach his after under thirty minutes.

“Pylon two is disconnected,” he radioed in, “Heading back now.”

“Alright,” John noted.

“I’ll be at pylon one in five minutes,” Chuck said.

“Same here with Pylon three,” Rodney added.

“Race you, Rodney!” Chuck said through the line.

“Don’t run off!” came the voice of Markham as he tried to rein in his charge.

“Not racing,” Rodney said as his line went quiet.

Less than five minutes later, Chuck came over the line, “Pylon one is done. Heading back.”

“Pylon three also done,” Rodney’s voice joined in, not three minutes later. “Heading back,” he said.

“Alright, keep in touch,” John advised, watching the trackers all beginning to head back to the Control room. Radek and Bates were the closest so far, about fifteen minutes away from them. Chuck and Markham were quickly gaining ground. The two groups would meet before they reached the control room at their current pace.

Peter frowned, “Rodney and Stackhouse aren’t moving,” he stated, pointing to their position.

John clicked the radio, “Rodney, come in. Stackhouse respond?” he called out, “Come on, respond,” he added, as there was nothing but silence from the two of them.

Peter frowned as he got in touch with Bates and Markham, “Captain Bates, Sgt Markham, we may have a problem,” he stated. “Dr McKay and Sgt Stackhouse aren’t responding to calls. Their position hasn’t moved in the last few minutes. Meet with each other, Dr Zelenka and Chuck should return to the control room.”

“We’ll check it out. Time until you have to hit the switch?” Bates asked.

“Forty-five minutes. Hurry,” he warned.

“On our way,” Markham replied

They watched as the two groups picked up the pace to meet up. Stackhouse and Rodney’s trackers remained still. The radio crackled, and John waited, hoping to hear Rodney or Stackhouse.

“Sheppard,” came the sneering voice of Kavanagh.

“What do you want? Where are Rodney and Stackhouse?” he asked, needing to know if the two of them were alright. John could feel something churning in his gut. Bubbling out under his skin.

“You come here, now, and they’ll live,” he stated, “If you don’t, I’ll kill the bastard and the brat,” he warned.

“John!” Rodney’s voice called out; it was strained, as though the man was in some pain. “If you have to push the button. Do it. Atlantis must be saved. It has to be!” he yelled out, the radio picking it up as he then grunted in pain as flesh hit flesh.

“Shut the fuck up, I’m in charge here,” Kavanagh yelled as the connection cut.

John stood straight. His eyes narrowed as the air seemed to come alive around him. He could see where Rodney had gone and followed him. A faint version of him was on the ground in the distance. Another near him. John began to move, only to stop when he felt a hand on his arm.

“John?” Carson said as John turned to look at him. John’s eyes had changed. They were narrow slits, the irises now a brighter green-yellow than before, almost glowing. “John?” he called again.

“I have to go,” he stated, “I need to go,” he repeated as he pulled himself free. “If we’re not back by the time the counter hits zero, activate the converter.”

“If I do that, everyone not in the control room will be killed!?” Peter reminded him, eyes wide at the thought.

“We know, we’re prepared for it. Rodney is right, Atlantis must survive,” John told them, “Time is ticking. I have to go,” he repeated once more as he then ran off.

Carson and Peter watched him as the man was going faster than was humanly possible. Minutes later, Chuck and Radek entered the control room, catching up on what had happened as they informed Bates and Markhouse what they had learned.

Chapter Fifty-Two

John moved with inhuman speed through Atlantis. He could sense where Bates and Mackham were; they were heading toward Stackhouse and Rodney. But John would get there first. He had Kavanagh in his sights, and he wasn’t going to let the slippery snake get past him again. He could sense that Rodney was too close to Kavanagh for John was comfortable with. Stackhouse was slumped to one side nearby. He rushed into the room where Kavanagh was keeping them and grabbed Rodney, pulling him to him as he moved too fast for Kavanagh to stop him,

Rodney stood in John’s arms for a second before he was put behind a crate that would keep him safe. Soon enough, gunfire was heard as John returned with Stackhouse, who was starting to come around, blood dripping from the head wound he had.

John moved into Kavanagh’s sight.

“So this is what the might Sheppard has become, a bug,” Kavanagh grinned, “But a super fucking soldier all the same. Something that can be useful,” he said, twisting his hand with the gun.

John rushed toward him, not wanting to listen to a villain’s monologue; they were always pointless in films, and in real life, they were even worse to listen to.

Kavanagh fired his weapon, missing as John used his speed to dodge the bullets aimed at him. John grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet. Kavanagh’s weapon clattered to the floor as a loud snapping of bones echoed in the room.

John dropped the body as Bates and Markham appeared in the room, weapons raised.

“Sir!” Bates said as he took in the body of Kavanagh, “Good the fuckers dead,” he said, not standing on protocol for once.

“Yeah,” John nodded as his eyes started to go back to their new normal. The energy that thrummed through him was dissipating quickly. “Rodney,” he called out as he turned to where he had put the two men.

“We need to get back. How long do we have?” Rodney asked as he stumbled to his feet. Markham headed over to treat Stackhouse and get him to his feet.

Bates relayed the questions as Rodney put his earpiece back in. “Twenty minutes,” he answered.

“Then let’s move out now,” John said as Markham helped Stackhouse to his feet and supported him as Bates did the same on the other side.

They began to head back to the control. They were almost halfway there when John stumbled. Only just stopping himself from falling flat on his face thanks to Rodney.

“John?!” Rodney called out in worry.

“This… I pushed it too much,” he admitted quietly.

“We have around ten minutes,” Bates said. “We can’t slow down,” he added.

“I’ll be good, sir,” Stackhouse said, “help the Major,” he added.

Bates nodded and joined Rodney in helping keep John on his feet as they picked up the pace as much as they could while heading back to the control room.

“Five minutes,” came Peter’s voice, “You have five minutes. Hurry!” he said, they could hear the worry in his voice.

“If you have to press it, Grodin, do it,” Bates said, “We all know the risks in not getting back in time.”

The four others nodded, but they carried on going. Peter’s voice coming through every thirty seconds.

“One minute,” he called through the radios as they neared the control room. “Thirty seconds,” he said as they burst into the room, Markham and Stackhouse collapsed to the ground. As Bates and Rodney helped John into a chair.

“Push it!” Rodney ordered Peter.

Peter nodded and activated it. Seconds later, lightning hit the pylons and the current traveled through the corridors of Atlantis to the power room, where the converter got to work. Peter grinned, “Power is at full!” he called out, “Raising shield,” he added as he pressed a few controls and a second later a shield began to form around Atlantis, the waves heading towards them, now only crashing onto the shield instead of drowning the city back beneath the waves.

Carson looked at Stackhouse and John.

“I’m fine, just exhausted,” John said, feeling out of breath and tired as he waved toward Stackhouse, who was leaning against the wall, barely hanging on to consciousness.

Carson nodded as he began to treat the young man. The storm raged, but the shield held. Atlantis didn’t even budge an inch as the shield was battered by high winds, rain, and waves that reached the tallest of the towers. Peter and Chuck were recording the data to try to help Atlantis in the future.

XxXxX

Rodney nodded, “Right, the storm is passing. It should be fully over us in the next three hours,” he said four hours later. Everyone was still in the control room. The converter was working overtime to make sure enough energy was accumulated to last the shield for a good year. We should be able to couple up the pylons again now,” he said, “The corridors are not recording any currents running through them. It’s safe,” he looked at John, who was asleep on the floor in the corner. Nearby was Stackhouse, Carson watching over the two of them, as he didn’t currently have access to the infirmary until the pylons were reconnected and there was no charge within the corridors.

“We should do that now, so that we can bring a few more people over,” Chuck said as he glanced at Carson and the two who were resting.

Rodney nodded, “As soon as it’s done, ask Carson who he wants to bring back, and have them sent through,” he agreed, “We’ll start bringing everyone back when the storm has fully passed. Same way we did it last time. Just reverse it,” he said.

Chuck nodded, “I made sure everyone had their instruction before going through,” he said, giving a mock salute before going back to his own work.

“Chuck, Radek, let’s go. We can do this alone now. Kavanagh has been taken care of; we don’t have to worry about being attacked,” Rodney said as he got up.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Carson snapped as he looked at Rodney, “don’t think you could get away with the concussion you have.”

“I’m fine enough for this, Carson. It won’t take me long,” he said, getting up, “We have to do th-”

“They can take care of it; you stay where you are,” Carson ordered, glaring at the man.

“We can do it, Rodney,” Radek told him, shaking his head. “You were hurt yourself,” he reminded him, gesturing to the now dried blood that was on his head and face.

Rodney huffed, but allowed them to leave to get the pylons put to rights. He watched their progress, complaining occasionally. It took them almost two hours to complete their work and return to the control room. “Right,” he said, as he checked the weather going on outside. It was lessening a little as the storm passed. Another hour and they should be safe to allow more to come back to the city.

“Dialing the alpha site,” Peter said as he took his seat at the control panel and dialed it up. The whoosh of the gate engaging echoed around them.

“This is Lt Ford at the alpha site,” came the man’s voice as he greeted those on Atlantis, “I take it Atlantis is still standing strong then.” Everyone awake in the control room could hear the grin in the man’s voice.

“It is,” Rodney snorted, “We have a list of people we need you to bring through. We have two-”

“Three!” Carson yelled out.

“Three that are injured, though I’m FINE!” he snapped, glaring at Carson.

“We have three injured, two with a concussion, one minor, one major. The other exhaustion and protein deficiency. Dr Biro will know what I need help with,” he said as he listed three more to come through the gate to help bring people down to the infirmary and to treat them all. Though he had a feeling that Rodney would be escaping his clutches faster than he would like.

“I’ll have them sent over,” Ford said, “We’re doing well over here, but it’ll be good for everyone to know that Atlantis is fine,” he called out. “Signing off, and I’ll dial back in a moment as soon as I’ve gathered everyone.”

Peter closed the gate down, “Right, just have to wait.”

“Markham and I will retrieve Kavanagh’s body and put it in the morgue,” Bates said, “We’ll get that done now, since it’s safe.”

Markham nodded, “Sir,” he said as he went and followed the man out of the control room.

Half an hour later, John was resting in a room in the infirmary, and so was Stackhouse. Anita and Carson did a few checks on Peter and were going over the results.

“Well?” Peter asked, as he saw the two of them start smiling.

“The tumors are shrinking. If this continues, then it should be another fifteen hours before they’re gone,” Carson smiled, “It’s working. There’s no integration of the DNA either. Tomorrow, if there are still no problems, we’ll ask Miko if she wants the treatment as well.”

“That’s good,” Peter said, feeling choked up. The death sentence he had felt from the moment he realized that he had no choice but to go through the gate had finally been lifted from him.

Anita, seeing the well of emotions, went over and held him, “It’s okay,” she murmured.

Peter held her, letting the tears fall. “I…”

“We know,” Carson said, resting a hand on his friend’s back, “We’re all here with you. I… was hoping we would find something, never thought this would be it. But it’s working. It’s really working. I still need to run a few tests to make sure everything stays on track. But it should,” he said, hoping that they had found something that would help.

Peter remained there for a few moments before he pulled away, wiping and drying his eyes. “Thank you, both of you. I know you worked so hard on this. I know that I have Connor and Dalton to thank as well, since they did most of the work at the beginning of John and the others,” he smiled.

“We all worked hard on this, and we’ll pass along the thanks when they come back to Atlantis,” Carson promised. “Now, head on out, I think it’s you and Markham on dinner duty tonight,” he grinned.

“Don’t remind me, I’ve not had to do mass food like this since I was last with my family and they decided to host the holiday meal with everyone,” he rolled his eyes. “Over forty people came,” he added, “It was… unpleasant. My aunts like to gossip and weren’t happy I hadn’t settled down yet.”

Carson smiled and nodded, “Me Ma is the same at times. ‘When you gonna start havin’ some bairns for me to spoil?’,” he said, mimicking his mother, before laughing. He missed talking with her.

Anita laughed, “Hmm, my brother does the same. He’s happily married with three children. But I am vehemently child-free. I like them, but only if I can hand them back. I breeze into town, spoil them with loud toys, hype them up on sugar, and then hand them back,” she smirked.

“Oh, not nice,” Carson laughed.

“Right, I’d better go and see Markham and see what he wants to help with making for the meal. And yes, I know we need to do something for John, high protein, yes?” he asked as he got off the bed he had been sitting on.

“Yeah, we have the shakes at the moment. Not really the best, but they give enough that he’s not going to collapse unless he pulls a fucking stunt like that again,” Carson muttered, rolling his eyes.

Peter nodded, “That was… amazing to see,” he said, nodding a few times before he headed out.

Anita and Carson put the results in a file, ready for Rodney to check them later on. Just like Carson had predicted, Rodney had remained in the infirmary for less than ten minutes after his initial check-up. Now he was up in the control room, going over the list of those that had to come back and what would be reuniting in the form of plants and crops.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Two days after Atlantis survived the storm. Everyone was back living in the city or back at the settlement. Crops were being replanted, and more was done to protect them from the weaker storms that had formed in the wake of the large one that had almost torn Atlantis apart. Peter was cancer-free, which had caused a small party to happen in the mess with those who knew. Miko had taken to the treatment well; it had taken almost half a day more than Peter, but she was soon declared cancer-free as well. There was no celebration like Peter’s, as very few had learned of her diagnosis. She was happy to keep it that way.

John smiled as everyone gathered for the morning meeting. “Right,” he said, “let’s get on with this,” he began.

Rikesh stood up first, “The storm left a lot of damage, mostly trees blown over in the path it took over the mainland. The small islands that were in the path have been laid bare. The settlement is doing well, and recovery efforts to get it back to normal have already started. There are smaller storms, but with the data from the large ones, we’re better able to predict their movements and their damage level, if there is one,” he said, as he sat back down.

Teyla smiled at him, “Yes, the settlement is doing well. We’ve already begun to replant the crops that we have brought back. We did begin a few crops at the alpha site, and some of my people have asked to remain there to help with the farming. We also came across an animal that gives milk further afield, and a few that can be hunted for meat and fur. There is a high abundance of animals on the planet. Ranching will be something we could do there,” she informed everyone.

“I’ll make sure that it’s allowed. If we can gather a few more livestock for the alpha site, it could make a good place for it. Getting them to the mainland here will be a bit more of a task, but we should be able to get some at least to help supplement what you have available already,” John nodded, making a few notes.

Carson grinned, “As most of you know, we have a cure for cancer. At the moment, it’s not viable to send back to Earth, but we’re going to be experimenting to see if we can replicate it enough for it to be effective and be used to help. We need specialists from Earth in oncology to help, so I’m hoping when we get the chance to get in touch with them, we can request a few people to come through, or to at least be brought on the Daedalus, when it’s ready to head this way.”

“That’s good news, and I’ll put in the request when we get in touch. I’ll also be asking for an ob/gyn as well, maybe two, and a pediatrician, and more. I’ve noticed that more pregnancies are being reported from the mainland,” he said.

“Three more,” Carson nodded, “I’m monitoring, along with the midwife that lives on the mainland. Elder Rina has helped birth almost a hundred children since she began as a midwife,” he smiled, “she has a lot to teach me,” he nodded.

“Right,” John nodded as he looked at Miko, “Dr Kusanagi, you want to tell everyone what was found?”

Miko sighed, “I was tasked with decoding Weir’s and Kavanagh’s files. I was able to get through to Weir’s first. She was a member of the Trust, sent with us to fuck up this mission,” she sneered, “Kavanaghs mission,” she began, looking at John, “Was to kill Major Sheppard, secure his body for transport back to earth, and into the hands of the Trust. Weir was to make sure Atlantis fell, and she would ascend to cause trouble at the SGC for the Trust to be able to take over. Coded messages have already been compiled for Colonel O’Neill, so he is made aware of those that are Trust members mentioned in the missives that the two got.”

John nodded, “We have that ready to send. Now, Atlantis is doing well, but we had more good news recently,” he added, looking at Rodney.

“We do. There was a ZPM hidden on Atlantis. I was able to locate it, and with Radek’s help, we installed it this morning. Not only that, but the AI on Atlantis has now woken up and will be able to help with translating the ancient script on Atlantian to English at least. She will be able to help with more, but for now, let’s get ready for us to dial Earth,” he said, getting up.

They got up and headed for the control room. The gate was dial, the eighth chevron locked on. The wormhole stabilized, and the code was sent through.

“Earth, SGC, this is Pegasus calling. This is Major Sheppard,” John said, his voice loud and clear.

“Go ahead, Pegasus,” came the calm reply of one of the gate room techs.

“Sending a data transmission to you. Colonel O’Neill’s eyes only for now,” John added.

“Major Sheppard,” came the voice of the Colonel.

“Colonel O’Neill,” he greeted back.

“Where are Dr Weir and Colonel Sumner?” he asked.

John sighed, “most of that is within the data we sent you. The basics are, Colonel Sumner was killed within twenty-four hours of arriving in the Pegasus Galaxy. As for Dr Weir, the data on her is sensitive. She was killed over two weeks ago, closer to three weeks,” he said, giving no more away, unsure of whether there was Trust within the gate room.

“Understood,” O’Neill said, “Send through what you need, and I’ll make sure the ship heading to you in a few weeks is full of what you need,” he began.

“Everything we need is in the data file as well. As soon as you’ve read the for your eyes only, you’ll be able to send off everything else,” John said.

“Who’s in charge of Atlantis now?” he asked.

“Myself and Dr McKay. The place is running well, and it will not be easy for someone to come in and take over with what has happened. We will contact you again in one month. I suggest that we have a secure line so the three of us can talk about the next steps for Atlantis and the mission out here,” John warned him.

“I see, I look forward to then,” he said.

“Pegasus out,” John said, as the transmission cut and the gate closed down.

“He’ll listen,” Rodney said, “He does when he knows something more is going on.”

The gate room was quiet. A month later, John would get the notification that the black mark was wiped from his records with a formal apology. When it all went down, John had been due a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, and it had been rejected, repeatedly. So when they heard back from O’Neill, it was to the news that he’d been granted the appropriate promotions he’d been denied, and he was promoted from Major to Colonel skipping Lt Colonel entirely. But before all that, Rodney was going to get the chance to finally go on a Pegasus-style date with John, with a little help from Teyla.

 

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