TITLE: In the Mind's Eye

AUTHOR: Reyson

SEASON: Two

CHARACTERS: Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, Ronon and OCs. (Weir, Carson, Zelenka and Lorne also make an appearance.)

CATEGORY: Gen, Action&Adventure, Suspense, Mystery, Angst, HC

RATING: Gen, T for violence and language

SPOILERS: All episodes of Season Two can be considered as fair game.

SUMMARY: Sheppard and McKay are captured by an ant creature with mind probing and telepathic abilities. Lots of Sheppard and McKay whump. Teyla and Ronon run into trouble of their own. Atlantis tries to send a rescue team.

FEEDBACK: Yes, please, reviews keep the plot bunnies writing.

DISCLAIMER: This story was written for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. Stargate Atlantis, the characters, storyline and anything shown on the series itself belong to the respective parties who created them. All other original ideas, characters and story created here is the property of the author.

WARNING: This tale has lots of whump and angst in it, so if you don't like whump, don't read it.

AN: Please note that I haven't distinguished the way McKay pronounces the ZPM differently from the others, as you guys already know that. All mistakes are mine as I don't have a beta.

In the Mind's Eye

Part 1

The throbbing pain and persistent pressure digging deep into his skull woke Sheppard from the deep abyss of unconsciousness. With his eyes still closed, it took him a while to realize that his body was being painfully dragged backwards on the ground by something or someone. He instantly knew that something was wrong, for if he were injured, he would be carried and not dragged unceremoniously on the rough, dusty ground. It reminded him of an animal being dragged by a predator to be eaten in its dent. This didn't bore well for him. Worry about his team forced him to try to move and open his eyes, however, the attempt increased the throbbing in his head tenfold. The feat was too much for him, he gave a low moan and faded back into darkness.

oOo

Earlier that day

Sheppard and his team had arrived at planet P3X-279 on a cloudy and overcast day. As soon as they stepped through the Stargate, McKay took out the life signs detector and began scanning for power readings. His features lit up when it began registering strong power sources almost immediately.

"Whoa! I do believe that we may have struck gold, Colonel. From what I'm picking up, there's a real possibility that there could be a ZPM on this planet, maybe even more than one, if we're lucky!" McKay crowed in hurried excitement.

John glanced briefly at Rodney. "Oh yeah? Well, that'll be a nice change. The MALP that we sent through did indicate unusually strong power readings, which is why we're here in the first place. Usually we get zip." A ghost of a smile played at the corner of his lips as he continued to scan their surroundings. His casual tone turned a little teasing. "And the one time we did manage to get our hands on a fully charged ZPM off-world," he shot McKay an accusatory look, "you blew it, by revealing too much to that Sudarian girlfriend of yours."

"Hey-hey-hey! That wasn't my fault!" Rodney retorted indignantly. "How was I to know that Alina was part of the new founded Brotherhood? Besides," he continued, "Alina wasn't my girlfriend."

"Yeah, yeah." Sheppard replied, satisfied that there were no hostiles in the immediate vicinity. He gave Teyla and Ronon a knowing grin, to which both returned amused smiles at him, when they saw the scientist's flustered reaction. McKay's face was now turning a bright pink, either from embarrassment or anger, they could not say.

"Anyway," Rodney continued rapidly, "that was a long time ago. Are you never going to let me forget it?"

"Eventually, but not today." Sheppard quipped.

The scowl on McKay's face deepened. "Cos, I gotta tell you, this is getting really tiring, Colonel. You can only blame a guy for so long before it looses effect on him."

"Oh really?" Sheppard gave McKay an exaggerated look of surprise as he walked past him. "Well, obviously that day isn't today."

Rodney suddenly realized that by his very reaction, he was doomed by his own argument. "Oh yeah, well... I'm smarter than you!" he snapped in irritation.

Sheppard smirked, not needing to reply, knowing that he had won the first round. Ronon leaned towards Teyla and queried softly in a puzzled tone. "Brotherhood?"

Teyla smiled. "It's a reference to something that occurred a year ago before you joined us. We found a ZPM on one of the planets we visited. We lost it to a group called the Brotherhood after they discovered that we lived in Atlantis, but we were not the true Ancestors," she explained. "The Colonel sometimes like to tease Dr McKay about it, as you will have noticed." Ronon nodded, not needing further explanation.

John looked back at the now sulking scientist and decided to give the man a break. Sometimes, it was just way too easy to wind up the astrophysicist. "Hey, can't blame a guy for having a little fun, McKay. Now stop sulking and let's go find this new ZPM of yours."

McKay brightened, and he looked back at the life signs detector and pointed ahead. "Okay, it's this way, follow me." He hurried on, not seeing if the the rest of the team followed. "And for the record, I don't sulk!" he shot back.

Sheppard smiled and said softly to himself, "Oh yes, you do..." as he hurriedly followed in McKay's wake.

oOo

They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when McKay stopped in his tracks, looking a little perturbed at the life signs detector. "Huh, that's funny," he uttered in a puzzled tone.

"What's funny?" John asked, coming up to stand beside him.

Rodney looked up at him. "For a while there, the scanner showed a third, smaller power source approaching ahead of us. It dotted on the screen for a few seconds but now it's gone."

"Could it be a malfunction?" Ronon asked, giving Sheppard a nod, before taking a peek over the scientist's shoulder to study the detector's readings.

McKay shook his head. "No, I don't think so ... Wait, wait, on second thought, it could be. Perhaps, from all the interference from the other two power sources... A ghost reading!" he snapped his fingers, speaking rapidly. "Yes, I've heard of that happening. Sometimes, when two powerful readings inter-lap upon one another, it can cause ghost interference, like when an electrical thunderstorm causes interference to a TV channel."

This got Sheppard's attention. "Hang on, McKay, two power readings? And when you were going to tell us this?" Sheppard's tone was a little accusatory.

Rodney looked up, surprised. "Oh, didn't I say that earlier? We're following the trail of the stronger one, of course. It would be the best chance of it turning out to be a ZPM!" he said smugly.

Sheppard looked annoyed. "No, you didn't, McKay. A bit more intel in the future would be appreciated."

McKay didn't look apologetic at all. "Well, if you had been paying more attention to me when we first arrived, I did say that there was a possibility that there was more than one ZPM on this planet. What did you expect me to mean by that?"

Sheppard thought back and realized that McKay was correct. Round two to Dr Rodney McKay. "True..." he conceded, "Well, I promise to pay more attention to what you say in the future." He beamed Rodney a smile.

"Good." McKay said smugly, obviously pleased with himself. "Cos everything I say has significance."

"Now that we got that settled, do you still think it's a ghost reading?"

Rodney looked down at the Ancient scanner again and fiddled with some settings. "Well, I can't get it to show again, so, I guess the likely answer to your query would be a 'yes', Colonel."

This seemed to satisfy Sheppard. "Okay, then," he said. "Lead on, McKay. But keep your eyes peeled, if you see any ghost reading again, let me know. Teyla, Ronon, stay alert for trouble."

"Aren't we always?" Ronon grunted. Teyla just smiled and gave him an acknowledgment nod.

For the next quarter of an hour, most of Sheppard's team walked in relative silence looking out for signs of possible danger. McKay was the only one who was too engrossed reading the life signs detector to pay much attention to their surroundings. However, soon after, Teyla approached Sheppard with a perturbed look on her face.

"Colonel Sheppard, I sense a presence that disturbs me."

Sheppard paused, his stance going a little more tense. First, McKay's mysterious ghost readings, now this? If he had any spidey sense, it'll be tingling awfully loud right about now.

"Wraith?" he asked the Athosian.

Teyla closed her eyes, then shook her head in puzzlement. "I do not believe so, Colonel. Something else, yet," she paused, "I believe it is best that we tread cautiously, I do not like what I am sensing."

John nodded, it was good enough for him. The last time Teyla had mentioned she sensed something different, they had met Ellia. Then it went downhill all the way. He had gotten infected by the retrovirus from the injury he received from the crazed young female wraith, after she had injected herself with Dr Becket's experimental drug. He shuddered at the memory. The experience of slowly loosing his mind and turning into a bug in a matter of days was placed highly on his 'never-to-do-again' list.

Sheppard pushed the unpleasant memories from his mind as he studied the landscape around him. They were currently walking through an open field dotted with blue and white flowers that didn't provide much for cover. Further ahead, still quite a distance away, were some strangely formed boulders, situated in front of some hills. On their left, about twenty meters away, were a cluster of trees, evidenced of a thick forest nearby. Towards their right and back, where the gate was, the flat plains continued as far as the eye could see.

Sheppard saw the tall Satedan giving him a grim look and he knew what the former Runner was thinking. There was no cover in the immediate vicinity, the closest source of cover was a copse of trees approximately fifty meters away. Until they reached those trees, they would make easy targets out in the open should an enemy decide to attack. If the mysterious readings that McKay had picked up earlier turned out to be a Dart, they would need to get under cover fast.

The last time some members of the team were caught out in the open, they had almost lost Dr McKay and Lt Cadman. It was a miracle that they got both McKay and Cadman back in one piece, with their minds still intact and into their respective bodies again. There had been some dicey moments for sure, but Sheppard had to admit, McKay did prevail, coming up with the idea to use the Stargate to save himself and Cadman in the end. Sure, he had Zelenka's help, but for a self proclaimed genius, he sometimes did live up to his reputation. It was the reason why he had McKay on his team. Despite his over bloated ego, and self absorption, McKay usually delivered the goods when it mattered. Usually, that was the operative word, notalways, but it was good enough for Sheppard to trust McKay with his life. And that didn't come easily for John Sheppard. Of course, he would never admit that fact to Rodney, for he still had to make the scientist sweat after that disaster with Arcturus; destroying half a solar system was not easy to forget. That was why he had taken so much satisfaction in pointing out McKay's mistake with the Brotherhood when they arrived at the gate. However, McKay was slowly, if not surely, working his way back into Sheppard's good books.

"Rodney, is the scanner showing any extra life signs nearby?"

The scientist dropped his skittish gaze back to the life signs detector adjusting the readings. He had been looking nervously at their surroundings when Teyla first voiced her concerns to Sheppard.

"No, no. There doesn't appear to be any," he breathed out, the relief palpable in his voice. "Here, look for yourself." McKay turned the life signs detector to face Sheppard. John took it and he spotted four large dots, indicating themselves, but there was no indication of other life signs close by.

He showed the life signs detector to Teyla, who only shook her head in puzzlement. "I cannot explain what I am feeling, Colonel Sheppard. I can only to tell you that despite what the scanner is showing, I do believe that we are not alone."

John nodded, not happy with the situation either. "That's okay, Teyla. I believe you," he said handing the life signs detector back to Rodney. "McKay, fall back to the middle. Teyla and I will take point. Ronon, guard our six. We'll head towards that copse of trees over there," he pointed towards the left. "It should provide us with some cover against an aerial attack."

"But the power source is ahead of us, somewhere beyond those hills!" McKay pointed ahead. "And the life signs detector clearly indicated that there's nobody remotely close to us!"

Rodney was clearly disappointed that they were diverting off track from the power readings. He did not want the ZPM to fall into the wrong hands again. While McKay didn't show it, he still felt the sting of Sheppard's earlier remarks. He did not like being reminded of his previous mistakes, despite knowing that Sheppard enjoyed teasing him about them. After all, he had saved Atlantis and their collective asses on numerous occasions, why didn't Sheppard remind him about those times? As for the power readings he was getting from the Ancient scanner, he felt certain that it was a ZPM, and he couldn't wait to get his hands on it.

"I know that, McKay." Sheppard replied, clearly beginning to loose his patience. "But call it a gut feeling. For all we know, whatever Teyla is sensing, and that ghost sensor you picked up earlier, could be related. There could be hostiles waiting among those boulders ahead of us, for example, perhaps cloaked and ready to attack. So, unless you want to get your butt fried..." Sheppard left the rest unsaid, it was clear to the scientist what he meant.

"Oh." Rodney spluttered, paling slightly as he took a quick look at the boulders ahead, then quickly scrabbled back to stand close behind Sheppard and Teyla. He then turned for a quick glance at Ronon to make sure that the big guy was guarding his flank. Ronon lifted an eyebrow, Satedan blaster already in hand, and smiled wolfishly back at him.

"Don't worry, McKay. I'll watch your back."

"Uh, yes-yes, see that you do. After all, we can't afford to loose the most knowledgeable, smartest scientist on board Atlantis now, can we? Am I right?" McKay quipped.

John ignored the astrophysicist, his mind already focused on the task at hand. "Teyla, if you sense, whatever it is ... a bit of warning from which direction would be good."

"Yes, of course, Colonel Sheppard." Teyla replied, her own weapon gripped ready for use.

Sheppard got his team to spread out a little as they headed towards the line of trees. He didn't want them too close together so as to be an easy target, but at the same time they needed to be close enough to provide backup, if required.

They had just reached the edge of the forest when when the attack occurred. There were no shooting arrows, sudden energy beams, or a rush of attackers from all sides. Instead, Sheppard caught a blur of something small speeding towards them from the corner of his eye, at the same time, Teyla shouted out a warning, and Ronon whipped his weapon at the object that fell in the midst of their feet.

The round silver object, which was the approximately the size of a small golf ball, landed with a bounce, then rolled to a halt next to McKay's shoe. Rodney's eyes widened as he recognized what had just happened. "Oh SHIT!" he exclaimed, diving for cover. In that same instance, the object began emitting a high pitched sound, followed by a dazzling white light that covered an extensive range enough to stun all members of Sheppard's team.

o0o

Sheppard was the first to regain consciousness. He didn't know why, perhaps, because he was the furthest away from the stun grenade when it exploded. The first thing he saw was a blurred outline of something ominous and dark moving away from Teyla's unmoving body to stand beside the supine form of Dr Rodney McKay. It took a while for John's vision to clear, and when it did, he realized in horror that the creature standing next to McKay looked awfully like a dark maroon humanoid ant. It walked on two grasshopper type legs, but upright like a man instead of an ant. In contrast, its upper body was segmented almost like a real ant; its thorax, a hard and shinny exoskeleton, not covered by skin or tissue. It had two claw-like 'hands' (if you could call them that) instead of the normal six legs found on a regular ant. Its face was entirely ant-like however with two L shaped feelers attached to its forehead. Protruding from the sides of its mouth were two large, nasty looking mandibles. Its eyes were strange, luminous and unreadable. Currently, it was making strange clicking sounds as it examined McKay. One of its feelers reached out to lightly touch the unconscious astrophysicist on the face.

Sheppard grimaced. It was a giant version of a bug from his nightmares. Granted it walked on two feet and had claw like hands, which made it appear strangely humanoid, but it was a bug nonetheless; and John Sheppard hated bugs with a vengeance. Whatever, the creature's intentions were, John didn't like it. He couldn't allow it to harm McKay, no matter how annoying the scientist could be at times. Despite his limbs still feeling numb and not fully connected to his body, Sheppard forced his hand to move silently, reaching for the P90 that had fallen close by.

The creature's head snapped instantly towards him. Its compound eyes had obviously detected the movement, no matter how slight it was. Sheppard cursed inwardly, with his presence detected, stealth was no longer required. He lunged for the P90, grabbed it and turned to face the creature in a single fluid motion. At the same time, the creature gave a high pitched insect like scream, and three small stingers shot out from the tips of its mandibles, flying straight at Sheppard.

In alarm, John tried to roll away but he wasn't fast enough, his earlier encounter with the stun grenade had slowed down his reflexes. One of the alien stinger scored a hit, striking Sheppard in the left forearm. Looking down, he saw the stinger dissipate quickly into his forearm, melting almost like ice. It left only an ugly red mark on his skin. Almost immediately, he felt a painful burning sensation in his arm.

Sheppard cursed under his breath, ignoring the pain, he had more pressing matters to worry about. Getting his team out of this mess alive was first priority. He brought up the P90, aimed it at the ant creature and pressed the trigger. He was careful that his spray of bullets went high, for he didn't want to accidentally hit McKay, who was laying unconscious on the ground.

The creature however had other defensive abilities as it fazed out in a whirl, vanishing from McKay's side. It moved with incredible speed to appear before a startled Lt Colonel, knocking the P90 from his hands. Sheppard's bullets slammed harmlessly into some trees behind McKay. With sharp claw hands, it grabbed Sheppard from behind, screaming triumphant insect like shrieks as it rendered him to his knees. John was thankful that no more projectiles shot out from its deadly mandibles again, as he found himself staring directly into a set of ferocious golden black compound orbs. Its large opal shaped eyes were similar to fly eyes, but it differed in one aspect: the creature had eyelids that would fold vertically instead of horizontally whenever it blinked.

It studied him for a moment, then, one of its feelers reached out and touched the side of his forehead, making Sheppard cringe. At its touch, John detected the presence of something foreign enter his mind. He heard alien words and sounds that made no sense to him. The ant creature was trying to communicate to him, screaming in a language that he did not understand. Then an invasive force hit him and Sheppard felt an overwhelming sense of anger, frustration, and ... loneliness. For a moment, he thought that those feelings were his own, until he realized that he was experiencing the feelings of the being before him. The creature was trying to access his mind, and John fought it for all he was worth.

The invasive presence in his brain increased, and John let out a painful moan through gritted teeth. He knew that the alien wanted information from him, information that he could not, would not, provide. He would not betray the location of Atlantis; he would not reveal what had happened to the Ancients. His hand went reflectively towards the 9mm strapped to the hostler at his thigh, but the creature sensed his surface thoughts almost immediately. Before Sheppard could react, there was an angry shriek and his mind exploded into white hot pain. He felt something hard hit his midriff and Sheppard found himself flung into the air backwards. The last thing he heard was a loud thud as his head hit the ground first on impact, then everything went black.

o0o

Current time

When Teyla opened her eyes, she found Ronon looking down at her, grim faced. "You okay?" he asked in concern.

She blinked a couple of times to clear her dazed vision. "Yes, I am fine." she said. Then her eyes widened as memory of what had happened returned. "Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay?"

"Were taken," was Ronon's curt reply.

Teyla sat up now and looked around. She saw Sheppard's P90 lying abandoned on the ground some ten meters away. She frowned at Ronon's words. "Are you certain?" she asked. She keyed her comlink. "Colonel Sheppard, Dr McKay, come in please?" She received only static back in reply.

"I already tried that. There is no answer." Ronon informed her. "Whoever took them must have removed their comlinks." The tall Satedan nodded towards where the P90 lay. "There are signs of a struggle over there. Looks like Sheppard tried to put up a fight and lost."

Teyla's frown deepened.

"I found some tracks showing signs of two bodies being dragged away by someone. I followed the trail as far as the base of those hills," he pointed north. "Then, they disappeared. They were possibly taken into an alien vessel. There were signs of something large resting on the ground."

"That does not sound good. Why did they take Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay, and leave us?" Teyla wondered.

Ronon shrugged his broad shoulders. "Does it matter?" he asked. "At least we're still alive."

Teyla sighed in agreement. "That is true. How long have I been out?" The Athosian wiped a stray lock of hair from her face. A considerable amount of time must have gone by for Ronon to have done some scouting ahead and return.

"A while." Ronon replied. "I was beginning to get worried. Thought you might have hit your head or something when you fell, but I could find no injury on you."

Teyla examined herself once again just to be sure. "No, I do not believe that I sustained any such injury. Perhaps it's because I was in closer vicinity to whatever that knocked us out than you were."

Ronon nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. Sheppard would have been furthest away, which would explain why he had awakened first and put up a fight. It also means that McKay would still be out, as it literally fell right on top of him."

"Yes," Teyla agreed, clearly worried over the fact that the Colonel had lost the said fight.

Ronon seemed to have read her concern, for he stated, "The Colonel might have a few new bruises but I found no traces of blood."

Teyla felt relieved to hear this. "Have you contacted Atlantis?" she asked. She was surprised to see Ronon shake his head.

"I believe we should inform Dr Weir what has occurred and sent for reinforcements," she explained. "We will need the scanners from a Puddle Jumper to help us determine where Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay were taken."

"I agree," Ronon replied. "But the gate doesn't work anymore."

It did not take Teyla long to come to the conclusion that Ronon was waiting for. "Those who took Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay also disabled the gate?" The news was not good.

Ronon nodded. Teyla caught on fast. "Actually, there is only one."

"One?" she asked, puzzled.

Ronon looked at her in the eye. "One attacker," was the curt reply. "I also read that from the tracks left behind."

"I see," breathed Teyla. "How do we know if Sheppard and McKay were not taken off world through the gate while we were unconscious?"

"We don't," Ronon replied, "but I feel that they are still on this planet. The marks on the ground indicated a vessel larger than a Puddle Jumper."

Teyla knew what Ronon was getting at. She smiled in understanding. "Which means that it could not have flown through the gate."

Ronon smiled wolfishly back at her, and extended a hand. "Yes. We have six hours to track them down before Atlantis opens communication when we fail to meet the scheduled deadline." Ronon then asked,"Do you think they will be able to open the gate?"

Teyla considered this as she came to her feet. "I believe so. I think only the DHD has been disabled from this end. The gate should work fine for Atlantis to activate it. However, before we go, we should leave them a message."

oOo

TBC

AN: If you enjoyed it, please let me know as I would love to hear from you. It'll inspire me to continue writing and posting this story.