SGA FIC: Dog Tags Chapter 6
Dec. 16th, 2007 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
x_erikah_xDOG TAGS
By ErikaHK
Title: Dog Tags
Chapter: 6/9
Word count: 2.070
Rating: PG13 (language and graphic violent scenes)
Characters: mainly John Sheppard, but also features some Rodney McKay near the end, with appearances of Evan Lorne, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan and Elizabeth Weir.
Genre: Drama, Angst, H/C, Gen
Spoilers: for Sunday and post Sunday casting
Disclaimer: Stargate and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment. Not done for profit, just for fun.
Summary:After a team fails to return from a mission, Sheppard goes to find out why and ends up alone lost on an unknown planet with no means to return home. Shep Whump. Set in Season 3 somewhere after Sunday.
* * *
John’s eyes snapped open. He blinked a few times until he realized that it was pitchy dark. It was cold and he trembled slightly. His leg’s intense pain had eased to a burning throb that still climbed up his limb and looked very ugly. The red lacerations had grown even more swollen and were very warm to touch. Pins and needles could be felt when he pressed his fingers around the wounds shooting deep into his leg.
He wiped his wet face and felt his throat dry. He found the canteen and took a mouthful of water. He still had half of the canteen left, but figured that soon it would be over. He knew that an infection had set in and that was the reason he felt weak and feverish. He was out of field dressings, but he had to cover the wounds somehow. He tried to cut a piece of his t-shirt, but failed at a first attempt. He used his knife and cut the bottom of the black t-shirt, then folded it, watered it and placed it over the wound.
I’m so screwed. Alone, forgotten on an alien planet, bitten, poisoned, infected by alien bacteria, cold, feverish and unable move even to get the fire wood burning. What else he needed? Oh yes, hallucinations.
He looked around suspiciously. Were they gone?
“Still here,”
“Damn!” he swore under his breath.
“So, should we continue counting?”
He really wasn’t on the mood to talk to false superior officers. John closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn’t real.
“You should know better. We’ve been through this.”
Painful memories of their previous encounter flooded his mind. Images of scorched bodies, dead friends and agony passed before his eyes again.
No! Not again!
“You’re feeling guilty.” The man’s voice came from close to his ear. “You are guilty.”
Not-Caldwell was right. He was feeling guilty. He could’ve been there for each one of those people, but he had failed.
No. Focus. This is not the time.
“If this isn’t the time, then when is it?”
Once again the delusion was right. But John was like that. He never thought it was the time. He always pushed all aside and left the basement door locked and barricated. It won’t affect you if you don’t think about it.
“It’s time to deal with it all.”
“I already dealt with it.” John shot an angry glare at
“Well, there is still more from where that came from.”
“I don’t care. Go away.” It annoyed John that he spoke like a sulking child.
Not-Caldwell chuckled. John ignored and closed his eyes again. He was feeling like crap at the moment and didn’t need a hallucination to make things worse. Several minutes passed in silence. John was beginning to think that his childish tactic had worked.
“Do you know their names?”
John sighed and opened his eyes to look at it. It was sitting beside him in the same position looking rather sad. John was at loss. Not-Caldwell would do everything it took to get him talking. This time he was very nearly convincing, but he still resisted and continued to stare.
John didn’t know how long he could keep it buried while being so closely examined by his own subconscious mind and the closeness of the man next to him was making his throat constrict in nervousness. John knew that it wasn’t real, but still that inner voice inside him kept telling to keep away at a safe distance. If this isn’t the time, then when is it? He saw himself thinking about
“Yes.” John finally responded looking down.
Several seconds passed in more silence. “I don’t even know why they died.” John stared at his pants. “All I have to show about them are dog tags and if I don’t make it back their families may never know what happened.”
“You don’t know what happened either.”
John sighed. He knew that when someone hits the head that hard, the possibility of never remembering the moments that led to it was great. More silence crept between them. He tapped his vest and searched for the tags. He laid them out in front of him and simply observed for several minutes.
“What about your team?”
“I don’t know.” John answered on a defeated tone.
“Do you think they are dead?”
“I don’t know!” He repeated louder, still refusing to meet
“They made it out. If they weren’t scorched bodies they must have escaped. Unless they were captured, of course.”
“You’re not really helping.” John looked up at the delusion.
“I’m not here to sugar coat the truth, Colonel.”
“Look, I’m tired, why don’t we continue this later?” John said it already turning and laying down on the cold ground. He expected the hallucinations to be over by the time he woke up.
Day 6
John was feeling so tired on the previous night he had fallen asleep strait after closing his eyes. He hadn’t felt the throbs and pains of his body or even the cold that now enveloped him. His leg was really ugly, puffy, purple and red around the lacerations. Pain shot from it pricking and burning. Heat radiated at close proximity to touch and movement of his knee was very hard. He rubbed his face and dragged his body to sit against the wall.
He was feeling down and depressed and looking down at the dog tags still laid out on the ground didn’t help the feeling to go away. He sat still with a closed face fighting to not break down completely for several minutes before he was brought back with the noise from his stomach reminding him that he had to eat. He would settle with an MRE today. With the mood he had he was not wiling to crawl two meters to get a fruit.
Day 7
His mood didn’t change the next day. He didn’t even sit up. Just remained lying on his side. He didn’t even acknowledge time anymore. He lived inwards. Thinking of the pain of the others for not knowing what had happened to him and how long they would search before they finally gave up on him and called him MIA. Without antibiotics he wouldn’t survive so all he could do now was to accept it.
* * *
Seven Days. It had been one week without any news from Sheppard’s location. Rodney looked down the railing in the Control Room staring at Lorne’s team accompanied by Ronon and Teyla returning from another scout mission. From the looks on their faces, Rodney already knew the result. He scratched another planet from the mental list he had memorized. The fifty addresses collected from the planet’s DHD slowly turned into a big pile of nothing.
“Nothing again.” She said sighing.
Rodney stared at her for a moment then lowered his gaze to the floor saddened.
“We will find him.”
“Will we? We don’t even know if he survived. We have no idea if he’s alive, or if he was taken, or if-”
“We have been through this, Rodney,”
“All that means is that he bled. It doesn’t prove he’s okay. In fact it proves he’s not okay.”
“Why hasn’t he return home then? God knows what happened to him in that state!” Rodney waved his hands. “If he wandered out he could have gone anywhere. He could have run into beasts, wraith, stumbled and fallen from a cliff, stepped out of a space ‘gate and died several horrible kinds of death!”
“We need to keep optimistic, Rodney. Maybe there is something or someone preventing him to come back. Maybe he’s injured and unable to return home. We need to keep looking. John would never give up hope on any of us and we should do the same,”
“I-I’m sorry,
“I know Rodney. We all feel the same.” She looked sympathetically at him and smiled. It made him feel better and he smiled back. “What’s next in the list?”
“Right.” He nodded and walked back to his laptop playing with his hands in front of his body. “MG4-X22, the ancient database says it’s a desert hot planet with scarce vegetation and MXG-998, mostly covered by dense vegetation and wild.”
Rodney nodded and left strait down to the Gate Room to get the probe ready. On his way he crossed path with Teyla and Ronon that were coming from the Gate Room. They stopped before him and Teyla spoke.
“No one on the planet had ever seen one like us.” She wore a defeated voice and expression, but soon regained her composure. “But we can not give up. We are ready for the next destination.”
“Yes, I’m getting the MALP ready.” He spoke and continued his way brushing past her.
Without waiting any minute he set the probe before the stargate and signaled the technician to dial as soon as Rodney finished with the last minute adjustments. The ‘gate kawooshed and the probe disappeared to another destination.
* * *
Every time Rodney heard the Atlantis alarm for incoming wormhole he jumped off his seat. He waited anxiously for the technician to say whose identification code it was hoping it could be Sheppard’s or one of the teams bearing good news. But every time he got disappointed.
The last team of the day came in from MG4-X22 in bad shape. He was almost glad that Sheppard was not found there. That planet was a trap. It was hotter than any other planet they had visited and was full of wild animals eager to fight to the death for a tiny piece of food and the presence of an entire team of tasty humans didn’t make the creatures any friendlier. Teyla and Ronon had arms covered in cuts and tiny lacerations that Rodney figured must hurt as badly as the nastier of paper cuts. Lorne and the accompanying marines were in no better shape.
That plus the fact that another rescue team was also injured in a stupid accident made
Now she decided on at least one day without search operations because they ran out of teams in any condition on going off world. They were just that lucky. Lorne insisted that he was in good shape to go off to the next address, but Keller was afraid of infection from the cuts. She identified unknown organisms in the wounds and wanted to be sure they weren’t a threat to their health before giving a clearance from the infirmary. Unknown organisms could be dangerous and Rodney understood that perfectly, but sitting around made his sense of frustration and pessimism deepen.
* * *
TBC…
