Summary: Something strange is happening on Atlantis, and things aren't always what they seem. Oh..and Shep gets whumped again. Go figure.

ECHOES OF A SCREAM

John was on page 36 of War and Peace when the lights went out. He cursed, jerking upright in reaction, dropping the book on the bed. He figured their back up power would kick in momentarily, but just in case he leaned over the side of the bed, reaching under it for his gear. Unerringly he grabbed his P90 and pulled it up, hitting the light switch. Several more seconds passed and he was still shrouded in darkness. John located his earpiece and tucked it into place. "Dr. Weir this is Sheppard. Got power?"

Her reply crackled back. "No, major. I'm in the dark. I take it you are too."

"Yep. Where are you?" John was slipping on his flak vest as he spoke.

"In my office. Sgt. Bates is with me."

John strapped on his thigh holster and checked his hand gun. Now he was ready to go exploring. "Heard anything from McKay?"

Another crackle and McKay's voice came through. "Can you hear me now?" he taunted, letting Sheppard know he had been listening. "And before you ask, no...I don't have any power. Which is odd, because the backup generators should have kicked in."

"Ford?" John called for his second in command.

"Here, sir."

"Where are you, Lieutenant?" Even as he asked, John was out of his room and heading down the corridor.

A moment of silence, a thud and a curse word, then, "I'm in the galley, sir."

John thought a minute. "Okay...gear up and head for McKay. You're closest. See if the two of you can figure out what happened and get the lights back on."

"What would you like me to do, Major?" Teyla's voice piped in. "I am in the North section near the workout arena."

"Check things out there while making your way towards the infirmary," John replied. "No doubt people are gonna get hurt in the dark. Dr. Beckett...you there?" John headed for the nearest staircase. His room was off by itself so he knew no one would be there. He would search his section then make his way towards the control room, checking things out as he went. There was a generator room in this section as well.

"I'm here," replied the Scotsman. "And I've already got two patients. So a little bit of light and power would be helpful."

McKay's voice crackled over the radio. "You think?" He was out of sorts and his tone was sharp.

John heard the sound of tin foil and knew McKay had to be opening a power bar. He said nothing but chuckled to himself. Nothing would ever stop the scientist from eating. "Dr. Weir...stay put. I'll have the rest of my men searching in grids and I want everyone to head for either control or the infirmary if the power doesn't come back on ASAP. Understood?" He got a chorus of Yes sirs. "And observe radio silence unless absolutely necessary. We want to keep all channels open in case of an emergency." With that John tapped off and entered the stairwell. He headed for below.

Rodney was miffed. He hated the dark, not that he was totally in the dark since he had his heavy duty, battery operated, flashlight clutched in his arms. But it didn't cut through much of the darkness and he felt like he was going to be swallowed up by it soon. "Where the hell is Ford?" Rodney muttered to himself.

"Here, sir."

"Dammit!" Rodney jumped a foot and nearly lost his light. "Don't do that, Lieutenant!" he hissed at the young man. Who had moved to stand in front of him now. Ford was dressed in, mostly, full gear and had his P90 in hand. "Where have you been?"

Ford shrugged. "Had to get my gun, Dr. McKay. Ready to go?"

Rodney muttered something rather unflattering beneath his breath, but nodded. "Let's get this figured out." He stalked off then realized it might be safer to let Ford lead the way. After all, he was the marine. "After you, Lieutenant," McKay offered, with a sweep of his hand.

"Yes, sir," Ford replied. He rolled his eyes as he passed and headed out.

They made their way to where the main generator was located. But before they reached the door a blinded light exploded in the corridor and Ford and McKay both cried out and shielded their eyes. When the light faded, both men were slumped on the floor, unmoving.

John made his way through his section. When he got to where one of the generators was located, he was surprised to discover it was humming. He tapped his ear comm. "McKay, you read me?" No response. John tapped again. "McKay?" A pause. "Lieutenant Ford?" John cursed and was about to order someone to their location, since he was too far away to get there with any speed, when he heard a moan. "Ford?"

"Here...sir," came the slurred voice.

"You okay? What's going on?" John hated being out of the loop and he felt a prickle of apprehension. Not that he wasn't already tense. Lights out in Atlantis was not a good thing and he couldn't seem to shake a bad feeling about it.

There was a moment of silence before Ford replied. "Not sure what happened, sir. There was this flash of bright light and I guess it knocked us out."

John did not like the sound of that. "Is McKay okay?"

"Fine," McKay could be heard grumbling. "I love getting knocked on my ass by some alien light show and waking up on the hard, cold floor."

"But on a plus note the lights are back on," Ford interjected, cutting off more of McKay's grumblings.

John stared around him. "They are?" He left the generator room and the moment he stepped out into the hallway the lights came on, almost as if sensing his presence. "Okay...that's weird," John muttered to himself. "Ford...get yourself and McKay to Dr. Beckett for a check up. I'll be there soon." John tapped off them to contact Elizabeth. "Dr. Weir...you got lights?"

Another long moment of silence then Weir's voice crackled through the link. "We do now. This is strange."

"Yes it is," John drawled. "Sgt. Bates, you there?"

"Yes, Sir," Bates replied.

John considered his next move. "I want you to put together a dozen two man teams and check every square inch of this place. Call in anything unusual. And ask if anyone was hit by a blinding flash of light or anything like it. If so, report to me immediately."

"Copy that, major," Bates replied, then he signed off.

"You still there, major?" Elizabeth queried.

John chuckled. "Still here. I'm going to check around a bit more then make my way to the infirmary to check on Ford and McKay. Sorry if I've stepped on your toes with the orders."

Elizabeth made an amused sound. "Not at all, major. This is your area of expertise. Just keep me posted."

"Will do. Out." John signed off then stepped back into the generator room. The humming had stopped. For some reason he could not explain, that made him nervous. But he shrugged it off and headed out. He wanted to make sure everyone was okay.

Dr. Beckett had examined both Ford and McKay and he found nothing wrong with either of them. He was further convinced they were fine by Rodney's sniping and insisting that Beckett do a more thorough exam. He didn't want to have caught any alien cooties, as he put it. "It was a light, Rodney," Beckett shot back. "How can it hurt you?"

"It knocked me and Ford out," Rodney shot back, as he peeled open a power bar then took a big bite.

"Good point." Beckett sighed. "But trust me...you're fine."

John walked in, in time to hear Beckett say that and felt a sense of relief. But it was short-lived. He looked at Ford and gave him the once over. The Lieutenant looked fine. But when John looked at Rodney he stiffened. He was shocked by what he saw but reacted instinctively, pulling his side arm free, flipping off the safety and pointing it at the being that was sitting on an exam bed, munching on a power bar. "What the hell are you?" John demanded. And he did not notice the reaction of the others.

Beckett moved to Sheppard's side. "Major! What the hell are you doing? Put that gun down before it goes off!"

"Get back!" John shoved Beckett behind him and took a step closer to the being. "What are you?" he repeated.

The being merely smiled at him and took another bite of the power bar.

Teyla moved to Sheppard's side. "Major...why are you pointing a gun at Dr. McKay?"

"That isn't McKay!" John was stunned by the question. How could Teyla think that creature was McKay? He risked taking a glance at Beckett and realized the man was looking at him as if he had lost his mind. A glance at Ford showed the Lieutenant looking worried as well. "What the fuck! You don't see it?" John was careful to keep his gun pointed at the being, but shifted a bit to face Teyla. She was always honest to a fault "Are you telling me that...that thing on the table looks like McKay to you?"

"Yes, Major...it does." Teyla offered a calm smile. "Perhaps something happened to you on your way here? You should let Dr. Beckett look at you."

John shook his head and took a step back, turning to face the being again. It irked him that the thing was smiling at him. A gaping smile that gave John the creeps. It was a humanoid being, yet not human. "That is not McKay!" John said firmly.

Ford had retrieved his weapon and he now pointed it at his commanding officer. "Please, sir...put down your weapon," he ordered.

"Not happening." John didn't budge. He glared at the being. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" John was pretty sure that whatever was happening, it was connected to the power going out. He took another step closer. "Where is McKay?"

"Major!" The shout came from Sgt. Bates. Ford had contacted Weir about Sheppard and since Bates was closest to the infirmary, had had responded to her order to control the situation.

John whirled in reaction to the shout and realized his mistake too late. Teyla came at him from one side, Ford from another. John felt a foot hit him in the back of one knee and realized he shouldn't have paid better attention in his sessions with Teyla. As he fell to his knees, a hand clamped over his wrist and his gun was wrenched from his hand. John struggled to remain upright but Sgt. Bates joined in the fray and he found himself pinned down on his back.

Beckett shouldered his way in, a syringe in one hand. "Just a pinch, major and everything will be all right."

"NO!" John shouted. "Dammit! Don't do this!" He let his eyes plead with Beckett but to no avail. There was a pinch in his shoulder and the lights swirled into pretty colors then faded to black.

"Anything?"

"Nothing. I know you want there to be something physically wrong with the major, but I can't find anything."

"He took a pretty hard hit to the head a few weeks ago. Could it be a delayed reaction to that?"

"Not likely. I'll have to wait until he wakes up to do more tests, Dr. Weir."

"How soon will that be?"

John didn't listen to the reply, since he was already awake. He had felt disoriented but listening to Weir and Beckett talk had reminded him of what had happened. That being was loose in Atlantis. John opened his eyes and made to sit up only to realize he couldn't lift his arms. He glared at the restraints wrapped around his wrist. "What the hell is this?" he demanded.

Both Weir and Beckett moved to his bedside. Beckett tried to take his pulse.

"Fuck off!" John pulled away as much as the restraints would allow. "Get me out of these things!" He demanded.

"They stay until we know what's going on," Weir replied. She laid a gentle hand on Sheppard's shoulder. "Take it easy, John. We need to talk about what happened?"

He glared at her. "You need to let me out of here so I can find that...that creature! Doesn't anyone want to know what happened to Rodney?" John prayed that the scientist was still alive.

Elizabeth sighed. "John...that Creature you held your gun on is Rodney. And he's fine. Or he will be. You scared the hell out of him."

"That wasn't --" John broke off, realizing by the look on her face, and Beckett's, that they didn't believe him. "You think I'm losing it...don't you?"

"I think you've been through a lot in the short time we've been here, John." Weir spoke in a gentle tone that was meant to be soothing.

John felt a throbbing in his temples and he wished his arms were free so he could rub them. He had no idea how he was going to convince them that something was wrong. But he realized he had to keep himself calm. John forced a smile and nodded. "Okay...you're right. Life in Atlantis is very stressful and I'm sorry if I freaked you out. But I'm okay now. Really." He offered up some puppy dog eyes but could see they weren't working on Elizabeth.

She rubbed his shoulder. "I want you to rest, John. Carson is going to run some more tests and everything will be okay."

"Sure." John had to force out the lie. He knew that Rodney was missing and some being was walking around like he owned the place. It shook John a bit to realize he was the only one not affected by whatever the creature had done to convince the others to see him as McKay. But he had to get out of this bed before he could do anything to stop the being.

"I'll be back later," Elizabeth stated then she smiled and headed out.

John looked at Beckett. "How long are you going to keep me tied up?"

Beckett sighed. "Look...major...I know this is difficult," he began, only to break off when a nurse came running in.

"Medical emergency in Horticulture!" she panted out. "One of the botanist's collapsed."

"I'll be right there." Beckett waved to her then turned back to Sheppard. "I'll be back and we'll talk," he said firmly. Then he was out the door.

John cursed and tugged at his restraints. He couldn't just lie here and do nothing. "Hello! Anyone out there?" He shouted. And a moment later a dark-haired nurse entered.

She smiled at Sheppard, hesitantly. "Can I get you anything, major?"

"I need the bathroom," John replied. It was a lie but he figured it would get him what he wanted. And he was right. He could see the woman hesitate but then she moved to the bed and touched his right hand.

"You'll come right back to bed, right?" she asked, hopefully.

John nodded. "I promise." He would apologize to her later. He watched her tug on the strap in an attempt to unbuckle it, only to jump away when a voice drawled,

"I don't think Dr. Beckett would like that."

The nurse looked guilty and nodded. "You're right, Dr. McKay." She looked at Sheppard. "Sorry, major," she told him then she fled.

John cursed then glared at the being who approached him. It had an almost shimmering aura around it that reminded John of ghostly characters from creepy movies. But he locked eyes with it, an icy glare shooting from his own. "Who the fuck are you?" he demanded. "And what have you done with McKay?"

"Don't worry, major," the being replied, as it lifted one arm and a scaly hand poked out from a long, draped, sleeve. "You'll have all the answers you desire...soon enough." That said the being pressed its fingers to Sheppard's temples.

John heard himself scream.