x_erikah_x | FIC: Devil Inside

DEVIL INSIDE By ErikaHK

Title: Devil Inside - Ch. 4/14

Word count: 1.333
Rating: PG
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Carson Beckett
Genre: Drama, Angst, H/C, Suspense, Gen
Disclaimer: Stargate and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment. Not done for profit, just for fun.

Summary: A mysterious entity takes over the bodies of the members of the Atlantis Expedition. Season 3 pre-Sunday. No spoilers.

Special thanks to my beta lauriel01 !

Chapter 4

He stood at his desk staring at the computer screen without really being immersed in the task of reading the content of the medical report. He was able to successfully enter the city of the Lanteans and just had to begin to put his plan in motion. His goal was simple, but he appreciated the thought of taking his time in order to extract the maximum pleasure from the situation. Make them confused at first, make them suffer next, only to kill them all at the end. The confusion part had already started.

Defense mechanism. He laughed at his brilliance. That would have them running around their tails. He had two people that hated medical leaves wondering why the hell they couldn’t remember hours of their lives. He’d have to leave the doctor after a few hours to have him think he was affected too. Then go briefly to someone else and keep jumping around. They would eventually put the pieces together, then he would move to the second part of his plan.

In the meantime, he could go around and do make use of the doctor’s body. Talk to people, explore, and maybe cause some accident. He spun his chair across the room.

He got up and exited the infirmary. He knew the doctor should be on his shift now, but he went outside, ignoring the nurse that called him. Too bad it was the night period now. Not a lot of people wander around the city at this time. He just followed the corridors without a destination, taking any turn he desired and going to parts of the city unknown to the host; to get to know the place. Possibly he could visit some critical areas and do some sabotage later. He smiled.

…

Morning came without any alerts from MX4-979. John Sheppard waited anxiously in the Control Room with Rodney when Elizabeth came from her office ordering the technician to dial the planet. They both approached her by the console and crossed their arms. There was a little voice inside John telling him that there was something wrong in that box. He was sure that Rodney felt that way too.

The ‘gate kawooshed and Lorne was called on the radio.

“Lorne here.” Lorne’s voice came from the comm in the Control room.

“Major, this is Weir. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay expressed their concerns about what could have been inside the box they opened yesterday. Is Dr. Zelenka there?”

“He’s here.” There was a pause.

“Dr. Weir? This is Zelenka.”

“Radek, anything unusual happened during the night?” Rodney asked abruptly.

“No, Rodney. Why?”

“We think some kind of entity could have been inside that box that we opened. Did you get near it?” Rodney’s voice was filled with concern.

“Yes, that would match my findings on that database we’re decrypting-”

“What findings?” Rodney cut the other scientist before he could continue.

“I’m not sure. It was just a mention of experimentations in that lab involving an energy being. I was going to check it.” His voice was carried with the accent.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea.” John spoke.

“Radek, are you sure about this?” Elizabeth came into the conversation.

“We’ve only been able to decrypt and translate a little information since yesterday. But it clearly indicated that lab is being used for these kinds of experiments. I think it escaped, but there is no residual energy anywhere in the ruins.”

Elizabeth stared a spot on the floor while she listened to the scientist’s explanation. “Do you think it could have died?”

“I will know more after working further on the data banks.”

“Ok Radek. Report if anything happens.” Elizabeth concluded.

“Anything at all.” Rodney added.

After that the stargate was deactivated and the three exchanged glances.

“I should go there to help him.” Rodney said after only a second.

“No, Rodney. Carson said-” Elizabeth began.

“Forget what Carson said.” Rodney interrupted her. “He needs my help.” He waved his hand towards the ‘gate.

“I’ll go talk to Carson. He’ll have the final word.” Elizabeth said diplomatically.

“Elizabeth, you know I’m the best person to figure out this problem.” Rodney continued.

“We don’t even know if we have a problem.”

She just kept repeating the same line and John got tired of it. “That thing attacked us both and is somewhere out there. We don’t know what it is or its intentions, but it’s hostile and a threat to us.” John finally spoke his mind.

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do.” He couldn’t explain. He just knew it. He knew it since he recovered from the blackout and it was just yelling at him now.

“How?”

“I don’t know. It’s a gut feeling.”

“Yes, I feel it too.” Rodney raised his finger.

“Your judgments could have been compromised by the energy blast. We’ll talk to Dr. Beckett first.” She lifted her finger and made that face that indicated that the matter was over and they both sighed in defeat.

…

“Elizabeth?” Carson stared blankly at her as she appeared right in front of him. She wasn’t at the infirmary before. And what happened to the samples he was carrying?

“Carson?” She starred back at the confused doctor.

“I…” He didn’t know what to say.

“I know that look. It means you blacked out too, doesn’t it?” Rodney pointed out what he was thinking.

“I think so.” He tried to make out the past events in his head. “I was taking the colonel’s samples to the lab…” and now he was here.

“You still think we don’t have a problem?” Rodney starred angrily at Elizabeth.

There was a moment of silence while Carson tried to work out what could be causing this.

“Carson, what do you think this could be?” Elizabeth asked.

“Honestly Elizabeth, I have no idea.” His best theory was that the Colonel’s nervous synapses could have been temporarily disrupted by the energy blast from the planet, but that wouldn’t explain the symptoms on himself. He just thought it was very strange and wrong. “Colonel, did you have any other lapses?”

“No new blackouts from me or from Rodney.”

“Rodney?” Carson asked confused.

“I had a blackout too. Right here, actually. You had just examined Sheppard-”

“Wait a minute.” Sheppard interrupted. “My blackout started right after the energy blast and ended at night when I was talking to Rodney. Rodney’s blackout started right when he was talking to me and ended here at the infirmary, right when yours started, doc. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Oh my God.” Rodney’s expression dimmed. “We brought it here with us. It’s here in the city.”

“What’s in the city?” He asked unable to control the heavy brogue.

“We believe that an entity could have caused the memory lapses.” Elizabeth explained.

“You’re saying that something got into us?”

“If something got inside us, there could be a security compromise.” Sheppard added.

“That’s it. No one gets in or out of the city until I have some answers. I also want to know what exactly you’ve been doing for the entire night and the people you met, Carson.”

“He went right past me last night in the middle of his shift, without even looking at me.” A nurse working nearby spoke. “I called you, but you didn’t respond, doctor.” She smiled, but it soon faded.

“Ow bugger! I am sorry Ana.”

“It’s okay, it was a quiet night.” She said casually. “Well, my shift is over now.”

“Yes, you can go dear.” Carson rubbed the back of his neck. Whatever he did the entire night, it made him tired.

“I’ll inquire about any suspicious behavior and try to find out what you’ve been up to, Doc.” Sheppard said before leaving.

“And I’ll need the database from Radek to work on it from here.” Rodney said.

“Okay, let’s go.” Elizabeth spoke and both left Carson alone in the infirmary wondering what they had gotten themselves into this time.

…

TBC…

( Chapter 1 ) | ( Chapter 2 ) | ( Chapter 3 ) | ( Chapter 5 ) |