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sga_flashficJohn came out of the light doze he was in to the sound of a whispered hiss.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“What?” a slightly deeper voice demanded innocently in the same hushed tones.
“Since when do marines carry swords?”
“Fine,” the second voice responded in irritation. “But I’m keeping the knives.”
“That’s better,” the first conceded. “The shed’s over here.”
Shifting, Sheppard bit off the groan the movement caused. He was pretty sure his wrist was broken along with several ribs. But that was English he heard out there, and mention of marines, and that had to mean rescue. It was dark outside, the thin sliver of the moon barely providing any light, but he could swear he saw three black shapes moving across the open desert that stretched out in front of the main house his captors used as their base of operation. The barking of a dog had the three freezing and dropping to the ground before they crawled the rest of the way to the door.
“Col… Major Sheppard, are you in there?”
They knew him, they knew his name, which meant they were looking for him. Holy shit, they were going to get him out! And that thought made it a little hard to speak. “Yes,” he managed to croak out softly. “It’s clear in here.”
“Hold tight, Major, we’ll have the door open in a minute.” The voice sounded familiar, although it was hard to recognize any voice being whispered the way it was. “Give me a little light here.”
A penlight clicked on, it’s light angling across the dirt floor through the thin slats of wood, and he could hear them working on the lock. Finally, it snapped open, the chain fell free, and the door swung open. John raised his hands to block the glare of the beam that was shining in his face, his own chains rattling at the act, and the three black-clad shapes filled the doorway. There was a pause, as if they were as shocked to see him as he was to see them and he took the time to try to force his one eye that wasn’t swollen shut to focus on them.
“Oh, they are so dead,” the tallest one growled and started purposefully toward the house.
“No!” the first voice hissed again. “Come back here!” When it seemed to have no effect, he ordered the third person, “Go after him and bring him back.”
Doing as he was told, the third marine took off into the dark. Clicking off his light, the first moved to squat beside Sheppard. After having the flashlight in his face, John couldn’t even see the man, but he could feel his hand gripping firmly yet gently on his arm.
“Can you stand?”
Truthfully, he wasn’t sure, but he planned to give it everything he had if he meant he was getting out of this shit hole. “Yeah, help me up.”
He did and John tasted blood as he bit into his swollen lip to keep from crying out at the pain it caused.
“Sorry,” the marine offered. “We’ll give you some morphine when we’re in the transport.”
Sheppard nodded in understanding, limping his way toward the door and nearly tripping over the chains on his ankles, so that the man wrapped his arm around John’s waist and took a little more of his weight. “How did you find me?” Because there was no way they could have tracked him. No fucking way.
“Uhm… intel. One of the locals reported American pilots were being held in the area.”
“Holland’s dead,” he told the marine, trusting the man completely to lead him along since he really couldn’t see anything with his compromised eyesight and the darkness.
“We know.” He felt the arm around him squeeze slightly in what he thought was comfort and reassurance. Surprisingly, he didn’t mind, which was odd seeing as this guy was a total stranger. But for some reason he seemed… familiar at the same time.
The other two met them, the one who had gone toward the house covering their escape while the third moved in on his opposite side to help him move a little faster. “Where’s the transport?”
John squinted and the marine who had been with him the entire time told him, “Straight in front of us. Can’t you see it?”
And in the murky darkness he could just make out the shape of the Hummer. “Yeah, I see it.” Oh, God, they were going to make it, he was going to get out of here. As long as…
The sound of gunfire behind him had the marine cursing then accusing of him, “You just couldn’t let this go down easy, could you?”
Behind him he could hear a weapon discharge, it sounded kind of like a laser gun from a sci-fi movie, and that seemed to piss off the marine at his side even more. “What the fuck are you doing using that?” He gave up on whispering at that point, seeing as he wouldn’t be heard over the gunfire anyway, and Sheppard found himself wracking his brain to recognize the voice while trying to move a little faster toward the transport.
The other man answered back, “Because it works better than the M-16.”
Wait a minute; he knew that voice, too.
“Enough,” the marine on his opposite side demanded… the marine who was obviously a woman. “Just get him to the vehicle.”
“Teyla?”
John’s shocked realization just had the man supporting him, cussing again. “Goddamn it, you two said you understood the plan!” The sounds of bullets ricocheting off the armor of the vehicle they were approaching had them ducking and his two escorts covering Sheppard’s body with their own. “Let me assure you, this demonstrates a huge lack of understanding of the plan!”
“Rodney?”
“Shut up and move faster,” was the only snippy answer he received and actually it was all the confirmation he needed.
Doing as he was told, they led him around the backside of the Hummer so they could use it as cover. Daring to risk a glance behind him, he saw his third rescuer fire the laser gun again. “Is that Ronon?”
“Who else would it be?” McKay demanded, practically heaving him bodily into the back of the vehicle before climbing into the driver’s seat. “Ronon, get your ass in here! We’re leaving!”
The large man fired off several more shots for good measure before climbing in himself. Rodney floored the gas pedal as soon as he was in, narrowed his eyes, and warned dangerously over his shoulder. “Don’t you even fucking think about an RPG attack. Do you hear me, Sheppard?”
“Uh, sure, McKay. Whatever you say.” What the hell was going on here? These people didn’t exist, at least not outside his traumatized and delusional mind, and yet here they were, driving him to freedom.
Ronon looked back from where he sat in the passenger seat and greeted, “Sheppard.”
“Ronon,” he greeted back warily, then winced when Teyla dabbed at a gash on his forehead.
“Sorry,” she smiled soothingly. “I was trying to clean out some of these wounds.”
Holding up a hand to stop her, Sheppard took them all in once again. “Look, not that I’m not grateful for what you guys did, because I am really, really grateful. But how…”
Rodney pulled the Hummer over before turning around and challenging, “Now do you believe me, Sheppard? We’re not in your head. We’re your team, your honest-to-God team. We got you out of one prison, now it’s up to you to get yourself out of the bigger one.”
“I don’t understand this, any of it,” he told them a little helplessly. Because this couldn’t be happening. Could it?
“Atlantis is real, John,” Teyla assured him, and Ronon just nodded in agreement when Sheppard looked to him.
But there was no way, this was the fantasy and Atlantis was reality. His wrist still throbbed, he could barely see the three people sitting in the truck; that sure the hell felt real.
“Okay, they evidently beat me worse than I thought they did, because this is fucking nuts.”
“Fine,” Rodney threw up his hands in exasperation. “Atlantis is make-believe and this little piece of hell on Earth is reality. Where to now?”
“What do you mean where to? You’re the ones who rescued me.”
“If Atlantis isn’t real, then neither are we. So we’re kind of at your mercy. I’m just hoping you can imagine a really big steak soon because I’m getting hungry… medium rare, not too much pepper.”
“Yeah, okay, I’ve definitely lost it.”
“Yes, you have,” McKay confirmed blandly. “And I want chocolate cake for dessert. Ronon, Teyla, would you two like anything?”
“Popcorn,” Teyla requested.
“A couple of beers would be good.” At Ronon’s suggestion, Teyla and Rodney added their own bar orders.
“You know, I had no idea I was such a masochist to create someone who is as much a pain in my ass as you, McKay.” Leaning back against the seat, John told them, “I don’t have to take this bullshit. You three can just go away; I don’t need your smartass comments anymore.”
“Oh, see, that’s where your little fantasy starts falling apart,” Rodney gloated. “You can’t make us leave. We can only go when we want to. And I don’t plan on leaving without you this time.”
John looked in confusion between the three and Teyla and Ronon simply confirmed their plans to stick around, too. When he turned his attention back to McKay, the smug grin softened slightly.
“We’re a team, Sheppard. Nobody gets left behind.”
John frowned, closed his one good eye, and concentrated really hard on them disappearing. Sure he’d probably end up back in the shed, but at least he’d be sane.
“What’s he doing?” Ronon asked.
“I have no idea. You’ll have to ask him.” Rodney answered.
“I’m willing you three to go away,” Sheppard told them. Eyes still closed, he thought harder.
“It does not appear to be working,” Teyla informed him.
“Why won’t you three leave?” John practically whined.
“I told you,” McKay insisted stubbornly, “I’m not leaving here without you.”
“And if you and McKay don’t go, there’s really no reason for me and Teyla to leave seeing as neither one of us can fly the Jumper back to Atlantis anyway.”
Ronon’s explanation had John opening his eye with a scowl. “Jumpers are pure science fiction.”
“Oh, yeah? Since when do Earth trucks have DHDs?” Ronon grinned and tipped his head toward the front where the tiles stood out against the black dashboard.
The device had John leaning forward to get a closer look. “What the…?” Reaching out hesitantly, he pulled his hand back when it actually touched the smooth surface of one of the tiles.
When he looked to McKay, the man simply shrugged. “It’s a start. Let’s see what else you can do.”
He closed his eyes again. Maybe he was nuts, or maybe… This time when he opened them, the Hummer was gone and the interior of a Jumper was surrounding them. The HUD popped up at his thought and he found himself looking longingly at the controls in front of McKay.
“Rodney, I believe you are sitting in John’s seat.” Teyla’s polite admonishment had McKay standing abruptly.
“Oh, right.” With a flourish he indicated the pilot’s seat. “Colonel, she’s all yours.”
Cradling his busted ribs, John stood, stopping when he heard the clatter of the chains he still wore.
Ronon raised a single, wry eyebrow at the noise. “Aren’t you getting tired of those things yet?”
The manacles simply fell away, landing in a jumbled heap on the floor when he agreed dazedly, “Yeah, actually, I am.”
Taking the seat, he wrapped his hands around the controls, noting somewhere far off and in the distance recessing of his mind that his wrist no longer hurt and his vision was clearing. The ship responded instantly to his touch, and before he could even form the conscious thought of up, they were rising from the sands.
He was flying. He was fucking flying! He was flying a Jumper. A goddamn Jumper! And it surprised even him when he heard himself laugh out loud at the thought.
“So where to?”
When McKay repeated his question, only this time from seat behind him, Sheppard knew the answer. “Home.”
Looking out the front window of the craft, a stargate appeared, the chevrons flashing, locking, and then the event horizon plunged out toward them before settling back into the rippled surface of liquid blue that he knew so well. He willed the ship forward, felt the familiar sensation of freefall when he passed into the wormhole, and opened his eyes to a world of gray.
“Don’t move, Sheppard.” Rodney’s hand stilled his arm before he could lift it, but not before he felt the tug of a needle under his skin. The scientist looked the same as he had in Afghanistan… face tense and haggard and like he needed a week’s worth of sleep… and yet, there was undeniably a look of relief there, too.
“Rodney?” He swallowed down the threatening bile and gave up on trying to sit.
“You’re safe, Colonel.” McKay seemed to exhale the reassurance, rapidly patting Sheppard’s arm a few times, before disappearing from view.
His attempt to track where Rodney was going was aborted by Teyla touching his opposite arm. “The sensation will pass.” Turning his head, he saw the Athosian standing with Ronon behind her. “The best thing to do is sleep.”
John nodded his understanding, his eyes already drifting shut again, but not before he saw the worried expression on Teyla’s face as she, too, moved away in the same direction as McKay,
“What’s wrong?” he asked Ronon, his voice slurring through the grogginess.
“Nothing,” the big guy promised. “We’re just glad to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back.” Sheppard found himself gripping the sides of the narrow pallet he was laying on in what felt like a Jose Cuervo inspired case of bedspins. “Thanks for getting me out of there.” Because as shitty as he felt out here, it was pure bliss compared to what it had been like in that shed.
“Don’t thank me, thank McKay. If it hadn’t been for him, none of us would have made it out.” John opened his eyes again at the news, Ronon’s face tilting sickeningly when he did. “He came in and dragged me and Teyla out of our own prisons.”
“Is he okay?” Because if that was actually the case and Rodney had saved them all, it wasn’t like him to be so reserved about it. Hell, normally McKay would be filing the commendation paperwork himself by now.
Ronon glanced over in the direction where Teyla and Rodney had both gone. “He’ll be fine.”
“Make sure.” John couldn’t hold his eyes open anymore, which didn’t go a long way in infusing his last request with the authority he wanted it to have. But he was pretty sure Ronon knew he meant for him to follow through.
And he was pretty much out when Ronon punched him lightly on the shoulder. “See you when you wake up, Sheppard.”
* * * *
Rodney had barely been able to keep his hands from shaking when he’d removed the needle from Sheppard’s arm, and he’d been afraid his legs would give out before he could make it to the opposite side of the room where he dropped to the floor, pulled his knees up, and rested his forehead on his kneecaps. He sat that way for a few minutes, concentrating on simply breathing in and out, feeling the adrenaline that had been maintaining him for so long bleed away, and trying his damnedest not to think about the what ifs that were creeping into his head now that they were all safe.
He sensed someone beside him, and just as he had in his dreams in his mental Siberia, he knew it was Teyla without even looking up.
“Rodney, are you not well?”
He straightened, nodding briskly, before hitching a thumb at the control panel beside him. “I need to fix the door so we can get out of the room when Sheppard’s ready to move. Then I need to work to shut down the auto-defenses in this place.” He laughed hoarsely. “Wouldn’t do to escape Alcatraz just to be eaten by the sharks.”
When she frowned, Rodney realized she probably didn’t understand the analogy. “Alcatraz is a prison on Earth and it was on an island, so that when someone escaped…”
Teyla cut him off by placing her hands on his jaws, turning his face to hers, and leaning her forehead against his in the traditional Athosian salutation. “We all owe you our lives and for that we all owe you a huge debt of gratitude.”
Rodney pulled in a stuttered breath, gripping his teammate’s arms as he fought the shaking he couldn’t seem to stop and tried to find his voice. “What if… what if I hadn’t… I hadn’t been able to get out?”
“But you did get out,” she reminded, her head still resting against Rodney’s, her long hair falling forward, brushing along his face, obscuring most of the light. He was reminded of hiding under the covers as a child when his parents fought and how safe it felt there in his own private little world. Only now he’d let someone in, several someones. It was funny how being alone used to be a sanctuary and now it defined his own version of hell. How he used to seek refuge from family and now the thought of not being able to save the one he’d found in an entirely different galaxy had him trembling where he sat.
“It was a fluke that I got out,” he confessed softly. “If I hadn’t been able to figure out that it wasn’t real…” The shudder that passed through him at the thought had Teyla moving her hands to his shoulders and squeezing.
“But you did figure it out.”
“Yes, I am more than aware that I did, but I could have just as easily not…”
Straightening slightly, she asked him. “What let you know it was not real?”
Blinking at her question, he stammered evasively, “I… I don’t know. It didn’t seem right, is all.”
“I do not believe that, Rodney. Something let you know that you were not supposed to be there. What was it?”
“You,” he admitted reluctantly. “And Sheppard and Ronon. I kept dreaming about you guys and my dreams seemed more real than when I was awake.”
Teyla smiled warmly, running her hands briskly along his arms. “Well, then, see? You have been worrying about nothing all this time.”
“What? Why would you say that?”
“Because we are your friends, your team, even in your subconscious you know we would never abandon you.”
Ronon joined them then, squatting down and telling them, “Sheppard was worried about you two and wanted me to check and make sure everything was okay.”
Rodney managed a smile of his own for Teyla at Ronon’s unwitting confirmation of her observation. “I think you might be right.”
* * * *
McKay had restored the door to working order, but that didn’t mean it was necessarily safe to leave through it. Whatever automated system had put them in stasis to begin with was still out there and still active. While Sheppard slept off the effects of the drugs, Rodney scoured the ships schematics and database looking for a way to override it so that they didn’t end up right back where they had started.
He was on his third powerbar when he finally thought he might have found the section that he needed. The stasis fields provided everything a living body needed to remain viable. Although these fields didn’t slow the aging process like the ones on the Aurora or the one that had kept the alternate Weir alive for ten thousand years… after all, the prisoners were being sentenced to death… they appeared to do everything else. But receiving molecularized nourishment through a form of osmosis didn’t come close to comparing to a real meal, and as soon as he found a way out of this place, and Sheppard was up and about, and they could head back to Atlantis, Rodney planned to stop in the cafeteria before he went any place else.
But all thoughts of the world’s largest sandwich went out the window when a voice crackled across the airwaves.
“Ju..per… This is Lor… Do y… opy?”
The radio. Lorne was calling over his radio. Lunging for his vest, Rodney practically pushed Teyla aside to get to it.
“Lorne, this is McKay. You’re breaking up but we copy.”
“Standb… Zelen…. ing to boost… ignal.” A few seconds later, Lorne was coming through clearly. “There’s a lot of shielding around the satellite. Do you copy now?”
“Yes, we read you.”
At McKay’s response, he heard a cheer go up on the other end of the radio. “Dr. McKay, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. Are the others with you?”
“Yes, we’re all here and we’re all fine… relatively speaking.”
“We’re going to dock with the satellite now.”
“No!” Rodney order, “It’s not safe. It’s a prison with an automated confinement system. I’m working to shut it down now so we can leave.”
“We are aware, Rodney,” Radek told him. “When we finally found satellite a few days ago and could detect life signs but not reach you by radio, we returned to Atlantis to research it. We have found how to override the systems.”
Teyla had retrieved her own radio by then. “Major Lorne, how long have we been missing?”
“You were due back on Atlantis twelve days ago.” The three of them looked to each other in shock at the news. Evidently time passed in the stasis chambers at the same rate as it did out here. “The satellite is in a lower orbit than the gate, so that when we first came to look for you, the prison was the opposite of the planet and we did not know if even existed, so we concentrated our search on the surface. We just got lucky when we came back for a second sweep a few days ago that we spotted it and saw the Jumper docked with it.”
“Rodney,” Radek called, “As soon as we are docked, we can interface with the satellite’s command systems. We should have the override complete within a matter of minutes.”
“Just let us know when the coast is clear and we can start back to our Jumper.”
“Of course,” the Czech assured. “I will speak with you shortly.”
When Teyla woke Sheppard, he startled away from her touch. Ronon and Rodney exchanged concerned looks at the reaction, but the Colonel recovered quickly when he saw who was standing over him.
“Sorry, I forgot where I was for a second.” He covered his admission by sitting and scrubbing a hand over his face and up into his hair.
Teyla prudently chose to ignore the explanation and instead brought him up to speed on the arrival of Lorne and the others.
Sheppard stood with a nod of acknowledgement. “So I guess that means we’re really going home after all.”
“Yes,” Teyla smiled. “I am looking forward to our return to Atlantis very much after this mission.”
“You aren’t the only one,” Ronon added.
Radek’s voice came across the radio once again. “Rodney, the automated systems have been shut down. It is safe to return to your Jumper.”
McKay looked to Sheppard, silently asking if he was ready. John’s nod had him responding to Zelenka. “We’re on our way now.”
Teyla and Ronon started gathering their things as Rodney began disconnecting his pad from the consol. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sheppard bend down to pick up his vest from the floor then brace himself against the wall when he stood again. The colonel was pale and Rodney didn’t miss the way his hands shook when he started fastening the bindings on his vest. He’d been in the unit the longest and yet had had the least amount of sleep coming out. Rodney seriously doubted the drugs had had time to wear off completely. Reaching into his own vest, McKay pulled his last powerbar and closed the short distance between him and Sheppard.
“Here. It actually helps to eat something.”
“Thanks.” Taking the offered snack, John wasted no time tearing into the package. When Rodney started to return to his packing, the colonel stopped him. “Hey, how many times did you come in there… where I was?”
“Three.”
Sheppard’s brow furrowed at the news. “And Teyla and Ronon?”
“Just the once at the end.” Now Rodney was frowning in confusion, too. “Why?”
“It’s… nothing.” With a shake of his head to clear it, John told him, “I just remember seeing you guys a lot more than that, is all.”
Wrapping the cables and stuffing them in his bag, McKay told him, “Well, if it’s any consolation, I saw you three in my VR, too, and none of you ever actually came into mine.”
“I would have.” Sheppard’s mumbled confession had Rodney looking up from his backpack. “That is if I could have figured out how to get in there.”
McKay started to roll his eyes and tell him thank God it had worked out the way it had or they never would have made it out, but he didn’t. Sheppard would have found a way, even if it meant towing the satellite back to Atlantis behind the Jumper so the science staff could figure it out. So, Rodney simply smiled and nodded. “You would have.”
“It helped, you know. You being there, even just… sitting.”
Rodney snorted at that. “I’m not sure how it could; it didn’t stop them from…” Unable to finish his sentence, he waved a hand to take in all of John. “… doing what they did.”
“It helped.”
With a duck of his head, Rodney finally asked what had been nagging at him for a while. “That shed… was it a memory, a real memory?” If possible, John paled more and Rodney along with him. “Oh, God, it was real.”
“No, not entirely,” Sheppard assured him. “Not the way it was when you were in there.”
John took a deep breath, before finally speaking again. “Holland had taken a turn for the worse. We didn’t have any water; he was hurt, hell, worse than I thought. I was practically dragging him and there were patrols in the area so we took shelter in a shed… that shed.” Turning his attention back to his vest, Sheppard cleared his throat. “Holland never made it out.”
Rodney nodded his understanding. Sheppard had watched a friend die in that little building and Rodney had been worried more than once during this ordeal that he would do the same. “But you were never captured? Right?”
Finishing up with his vest, Sheppard started securing his sidearm. “No. But honestly, I have no idea how I managed to avoid it.”
With a final zip of his pack, Rodney admitted, “I kind of wish we’d blown it. Brought imaginary C-4 and blown it sky high in your reality so that it didn’t exist anymore.”
“Yeah, well, some things will always exist, no matter what you do to them.”
Like a lab in Siberia, Rodney thought, his eyes drifting to each of teammates. Or an underground lair where Michael runs his experiments. Or a hospital on Sateda. And now those places were permanently logged with all the others in the prison’s database.
“They do now, that’s for sure,” Rodney told him. “They’re part of our permanent record.”
When McKay indicated the consol with his chin, Ronon spoke up. “You mean they recorded what we saw?”
“I came across hundreds of files on the prisoners who were kept here, including our own.”
“Can you erase them?” Teyla asked in concern.
“I could, but it would take time to make sure I got everything.” The four teammates looked to each other and Rodney could see the same thing in their faces that he was sure was written on his own. Do we want to take the time or just get the hell out of here while we can?
“Dr. McKay, is everything okay?” Lorne called through the radio and that seemed to make up Sheppard’s mind.
“Everything’s fine, Lorne,” he answered for his team. “We’re on our way now.” Starting toward the door, he told them, “Come on, we’re going home.”
They headed out the door into a nondescript hallway lined with doors that appeared to lead into rooms similar to the one they had been in. Rodney looked back toward their room once, and Sheppard slowed to wait for him to catch up.
“Why do I get the feeling we’re going to be logging some time on Heightmeyer’s couch?” McKay noted with a shake of his head.
Sheppard managed a grin at the thought. “Maybe we’ll get a team discount.”
“Our own group therapy for ex-cons. Maybe there’s an Ancient halfway house to help us reintegrate into society.”
“Maybe the Jumper ride home will do the job.”
“Hope springs eternal, eh, Colonel?”
“Hey, you sprung us out of jail, didn’t you?”
Rodney stopped again, looking back once more, thinking about the labs, the hospital, the shed. “It’s in there, Sheppard. They’re all in there.”
“Yeah, but we’re not.” John didn’t have to ask what he was talking about, he simply placed his hand on Rodney’s shoulder and gave a gentle shove to get him moving down the hall once again. “And the rest of it won’t be for long.”
McKay frowned in confusion before his eyes opened wide in understanding. “You’re going to blow the satellite.”
“No, McKay, you are.”
When they reached the docking station for the Jumpers, Lorne was waiting for them. After one look at the team, he offered, “Not that it’s not great to see you or anything, Colonel, but you look like shit.”
“Thank you, Major. I can honestly say that I feel about as good as I apparently look.”
“Do you need a pilot? I have Sawyer with me…”
But Sheppard was already shaking his head. “No thanks, Dr. McKay can fly us home.”
Lorne’s raised eyebrow had Rodney figuring he didn’t look much better than the colonel, but the short trip to the gate should be a piece of cake. Hell, Sheppard himself had flown in worse shape than he was now, but for some reason he wanted McKay at the controls.
“Yes, Sir,” the major agreed then indicated Radek who was standing behind him. “Dr. Zelenka wants to take a look at the database here on the satellite before heading back to Atlantis.”
Rodney had opened his mouth to say absolutely not, but Sheppard was already ordering, “No one touches anything in here. In fact, I want your Jumper to fall back so it doesn’t get caught in the blast.”
“You are going to destroy the satellite?” Radek stepped around Lorne at that point, cradling his electronic pad as he looked between Sheppard and McKay. “But there is much we could learn about the stasis units…”
“There’s nothing in there anyone needs to see.”
John’s observation had the Czech turning to Rodney. “You cannot be serious to destroy an Ancient system that we know so little about…”
“I know more than I ever wanted to know about this system, Radek. We all do. Believe me, there’s nothing in there worth remembering. I wish to hell I didn’t remember what I do.”
The fact was, the memories were already fading. After being free of the influence of the drugs for almost twelve hours, Rodney’s memories of his own VR were starting to feel more like a vivid dream than reality. And with more time, he hoped the sharp edges would dull a little more, for all of them. And, thank God, time was something they had.
Zelenka pushed up on his glasses, and nodded his understanding. “Of course, you are probably right, Rodney.”
But he couldn’t understand, no one could understand if he hadn’t experienced it himself. And as much as he hated to think about what his team had gone through, there was a part of Rodney that was relieved that they had all gone through it and come out the other side, and they had done it together.
“You’re really sure about this, Colonel?” Lorne couldn’t help but look back to where Ronon stood menacingly with arms crossed behind Sheppard and McKay. Teyla simply raised an eyebrow that he would question the order and entered the Jumper.
“We’ll see you back on Atlantis, Major.”
With that dismissal from his commanding officer, Lorne dipped his head. “See you on Atlantis, Sir.”
Rodney followed Sheppard into the Jumper and Ronon closed the back hatch as soon as they were in. It was odd seeing Sheppard sitting in the copilot’s seat and McKay hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t want to do this?”
John leaned back in his seat with arms crossed casually across his chest. McKay half expected him to prop his feet up on the dash. “You were the one who started this prison break, Rodney. It only seems fair you should be the one to drive the getaway car.”
Taking the seat with a dramatic roll of his eyes, the scientist grumbled. “Well, this is just typical; once again I have to do everything around here.”
Sheppard’s lips twitched and flashed an amused grin to Teyla and Ronon who were in their seats behind them. “I guess that means everything is back to normal again.”
“At least it’s a start,” Rodney relented, disengaging the Jumper from the satellite, and moving it to a safe distance before firing the drones.
The station exploded brilliantly before them and the entire team let out a collective sigh of relief to see it gone. They watched it for a moment, as if wanting to make sure it wasn’t going to reform as soon as they turned their backs. When it didn’t, Sheppard dialed Atlantis and Rodney finished what he had started and flew them home.
* * * *
It was morning when they arrived back on Atlantis. They were met by a medical team who escorted them to the infirmary past most of the expedition who had turned out to line the halls and welcome them back as news spread of their return. John realized that after nearly two weeks, most people must have written them off as goners. He didn’t blame them, if it hadn’t been for Rodney, they probably would be. He knew he hadn’t expected to live for more than a day or two longer in that shed. And even though he now knew that it had all been in his head, he was pretty sure that if he’d died in the fantasy, he would have died in reality, too. He thought about asking McKay, but glancing over, he could still see the underlying worry in the way the scientist moved, the slightly desperate look in his eyes as they darted from one team member to the other, as if to make sure they were all accounted for, even as he greeted people in the halls.
When his eyes found John’s, Sheppard gave Rodney a small smile and a bump to his shoulder as they walked. “I don’t know about you, but I see a party in our future.”
McKay snorted at the thought, then seemed to warm to the idea. “Do you think they’ll have cake?”
They did. Although it took until that night until they could eat it. The entire team was held for observation and tests for most of the day. None of them really minded seeing as they brought in the first real meal they’d eaten since their imprisonment and then they slept for a good twelve hours. John was the last to wake, but the others had found various excuses to hang around and wait for him. For the first time since coming out of the VR, he felt human again. The rest of his team looked infinitely better, too, and if you didn’t know them as well as John did and could see the remnants of strain in their faces and they way they carried themselves, you’d never know it was there.
They were released to their own quarters to shower, continue resting, and reminded to eat another good meal and return the next morning for reevaluation. They made their way to the residential section of the city, once again being stopped and welcomed back by various expedition members, and then slowly, reluctantly, drifted into their own rooms one by one. John spent nearly an hour in the shower, just feeling the water wash over him, the luxury of watching it spiral down the drain after weeks of relishing every single drop his captors had allowed him. No, he reminded himself, there hadn’t been captors, there hadn’t been cups of tepid water, or scraps of food, there hadn’t been beatings. None of it had been real. He knew that. After all, the details were already fading into the recesses of his mind. But that didn’t mean the shower didn’t feel great on the phantom aches in his muscles.
When he finally finished up, he walked into his bedroom just in time for his door to slide open. Teyla took one look at him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, blinked, then quickly turned her back. Ronon’s advance into the room stopped almost as suddenly, and Rodney glanced in from where he had been working to override the lock on the panel beside his door.
“What the hell are you three doing?” He demanded, his hand gripping the edged of the towel to make sure it didn’t go anywhere.
“We could ask you the same thing,” Ronon demanded right back.
Teyla spoke without turning around. “I stopped by to see if you were ready for dinner and you did not answer… for almost half an hour. I became worried and went to find Rodney to help open the door to make sure you were well.”
“I was taking a shower.”
“So we can see,” Rodney observed, his tone somewhere between embarrassment that they may have overreacted and annoyance that Sheppard had caused that reaction in the first place.
“And now I’m going to get dressed.”
“Good,” McKay told him. “That means we can go eat.”
But when the door remained open, John scowled at them. “As soon as you shut the goddamn door.”
“Oh, right, sorry.” And Rodney activated the door controls again.
Taking his clothes into the bathroom, just in case they broke into his room again, Sheppard dressed and met his team in the hallway. He had never doubted they would still be there, and to be honest, he probably would have done the same thing if the tables had been turned. But that didn’t stop him from teasing them.
“I’m pretty sure breaking and entering qualifies as a parole violation, McKay.”
“Hey, Bonnie and Clyde here were ready to blast the door in. I at least convinced them to let me use a little finesse.”
“We apologize, John.” Teyla was actually blushing. “But when you did not respond and then Rodney’s life sign detector showed you unmoving for so long… I feared that, perhaps, you had left the infirmary too soon.”
“Look, it’s no biggie,” Sheppard assured her. “Given what we’ve been through the past several days, it’s understandable. But we’re back on Atlantis now and the doctors said there was no reason to think the drugs would have any lasting effects, so we all just need to calm down and relax. Got it?”
“Got it,” Ronon agreed before his eyes narrowed. “But next time open your door or I will blast it in.”
Yeah, okay, asking his team to relax may have been a lofty goal at this point, but the celebration that dinner turned into went a long way in helping that. Rodney got his cake and even the steak he’d requested earlier in John’s VR. And Ronon wasn’t the only one to partake in the beer. But after a while, the press of people and the sincere well wishes and questions of what happened became a little much… hell, a lot much… and Sheppard managed to slip out onto the nearest balcony.
The air was cool, but he didn’t mind, it was refreshing after the warmth of a room full of people and the lingering memory of a sweltering shed. He sat with his back to the railing and just looked up into the sky, relishing being able to see the stars. It seemed like it had been an eternity since he’d been able to do that, just look up into an unobstructed view of the night sky.
A few minutes later, Rodney joined him. He wasn’t really surprised he was the one to find him seeing as, before he left the party, he’d noticed the man still surveying the crowd regularly for his teammates. “Hey.”
McKay took the greeting as a sign that is was okay to come over and sit beside Sheppard. “Hey. You doing all right?”
“Yeah, just needed some fresh air is all.”
Rodney simply nodded his understanding before following John’s gaze up into the starlight above them. After a couple of minutes, McKay asked, “So, do you want to talk about it?”
Sheppard didn’t miss the hint of dread in the voice, but that was okay since he really didn’t want to talk. “No.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No.”
John had told him the truth before. It had helped having him there, even if all Rodney had done was sit with him. And it helped just as much now that they were back on Atlantis. McKay didn’t say anything, simply leaned back and returned his attention to the quiet sky above them. The right to remain silent, it was a damn fine privilege. So they sat and didn’t speak, didn’t do anything except watch the stars and heal a little more.
And when Teyla and Ronon joined them a while later, wordlessly taking up their places beside them, John realized that this was better than any party, any cake or beer or damn near anything. Sitting under the stars with his team, with his family, this was the true definition of freedom.
And freedom was a thing of beauty.
The End.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 02:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 03:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 03:08 am (UTC)Rodney's showcased his loneliness, Teyla's was just plain scary and Ronon's so very sad. I'm glad Rodney was able to break them all out. I can believe that John would think his was real, he carries the burden of responsibly so heavily on his shoulders, the shed a manifestation of one of his darkest hours.
What I really liked was the shed was a nightmare, Holland died there but John was never a POW. That is so realistic, many writers like to make John some ex-POW, where in reality in terms of Afghanistan those statics are so very, very rare.
This was a wonderful team fic.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 03:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 03:49 am (UTC)And so is this fic. What a wonderful look at the team, I love how strong there are together and it especially made me happy that Rodney was the first one to figure it out and then literally go rally the troops. And of course John would be the hardest to pry free. This is such a great look inside their heads.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 06:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 10:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 11:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 12:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-10-01 12:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-10-01 01:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 04:34 pm (UTC)It made sense somehow that Sheppard would be the hardest to convince. A lovely scene with the team at the end on the balcony - that them just being there was enough to help him (and that McKay's presence in the VR did too).
A very good team fic. More please!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 04:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 05:48 pm (UTC)Which was why he was so convinced that these people were real… his imagination wasn’t nearly good enough to have dreamed up their names much less his feelings for them
A brilliant look at McKay. I love the fact he recognizes how empty his life was before Atlantis and only the reality that he has good friends is enough to overcome the prison.
Well done.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 08:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 11:06 pm (UTC)Great job!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-01 11:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 01:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:21 am (UTC)yay!
Date: 2007-10-02 01:29 am (UTC)Re: yay!
Date: 2007-10-02 02:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 01:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 02:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 01:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 03:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 03:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 04:36 am (UTC)I really love this because yes, plot, but also great characterization through plot. Yeah. :happy sigh:
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-02 01:43 pm (UTC)