Epilogue
John dug his face further into the pillow and grumbled, "McKay, if you don't stop poking me, I'm going to tell Mom."
Rodney paused in his incessant poking of John's head to holler "Carson, I think he's still broken!"
John flopped over with his back towards Rodney, and muttered, "Show you who's broken."
He could hear Beckett's purposeful stride down the hall. It wasn't frantic like he'd heard it be a few times in the last few days, simply rushed. The boisterous tone to McKay's voice was a sure sign that John wasn't in any real trouble, just being annoying. "Colonel Sheppard? I need you to wake all the way up for me lad."
"Carson do you know how long it's been since I've had a good dream?" he groaned.
"I am fully aware of that lad, but I need to talk to you." The brogue sounded more rested than it had when he left, which told John that he was definitely better- Beckett didn't sleep when people were dying.
John flopped onto his back and muttered, "We were having a barbecue, Doc. One with burgers, and beer." He yawned and started to roll back over as he said, "I was surfing, and Teyla was in a swimsuit." John froze halfway through the turn and his eyes snapped open. He sprang up as his mind cleared. "Teyla! We've gotta go get Teyla!" Pain ripped through his head as he tried to leap past McKay and out of the bed. He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes and fell back to the pillow.
"I'm over here, Colonel." John lifted his hands just enough to keep blocking the light and turned to Teyla.
"You okay?"
She grinned and said "I've been awake for an half and hour, and Dr. Beckett has already given me something for the pain."
He nodded his head and murmured "Oh good," as his hands went back to his eyes. Carson began administering painkillers, stalling until Elizabeth arrived. Whatever talking needed to be done, it wasn't by Carson, just something he wanted to hear. Elizabeth came in with a gentle smile and went to her usual spot next to John's bedside, and asked him how he was doing. He played along and told her he felt just fine, "But where's Ronon?"
"Well John, while you were incapacitated..."
"AWOL."
"Colonel Caldwell assumed your command, and when Ronon confessed to getting you a naquada generator,"
"Confessed to stealing a naquada generator from my lab and stunning two of my scientists as part of your hairbrained scheme!"
"McKay, my painkillers haven't kicked in all the way yet, so I'm going to need you to turn off the howler monkey scream for just a minute. Lorne!"
The marine who'd been trying to be subtle about his guarding of the infirmary door stuck his head around the frame and cautiously replied "Yes sir?"
"Tell Caldwell that I thank him for filling in for me while...incapacitated, but I'm back now. And the first order in my return to command is to spring Ronon from the brig, since he was just following my orders."
Lorne suppressed a giddy smile at the return of his CO as he saluted Sheppard saying "Yes sir." John settled back and rested his hands behind his head, perfectly willing to let Elizabeth work up the courage to ask her questions.
"John, there are a few things that we need to discuss concerning what happened yesterday." Elizabeth paused and started running her hands over the top sheet, smoothing out her foot of fabric over and over again.
"No Elizabeth, I didn't get the generator turned on." She started and looked up him with the same intense gaze that Rodney and Carson were giving him. "The Ancient device saved us all of its own accord. I think it was waiting for us to come back so it could fix its mistake."
"But Colonel," Carson asked, "why would it do that? And Teyla wasn't even within the field, how could it have changed her?"
"When Michael kicked me, I flew over her and into the range of the field. The device was just waiting for me to make contact with Teyla, so it could channel to her through me, even though she was out of range." Carson's gaze dropped at the mention of Michael and John apologized. "I'm sorry Doc, but that was the Wraith tormenting me in the dreams."
Elizabeth wasn't to be deterred from her intended topic and continued, "John, how can you tell that the machine had intent?"
"Right after I blacked out and the machine started to work, I felt it apologize. And it explained this wasn't supposed to happen, but it got confused when dealing with Teyla and I. It took our energy into whatever it's protecting, but the time dilation wasn't supposed to react with us like it did."
"Rodney and Zelenka have been going through the database, but thus far there's been no mention of Ancient technology on that world. Their scans tell us that they believe the shield is protecting a faint power source, but that could be just be interference from the shield."
"So after all this, we still have no idea what's down there?"
Beckett harumped as he checked the Colonel's vitals and said, "I can tell you what's down there. Something that you're all to stay away from. Whether it apologized or not, doesn't change that it sucked the life out of two senior staff members and made nightmares come true!"
He waved Elizabeth and Rodney out of the room muttering to himself about the name of science being all well and good, but science didn't help anyone if they were all bloody insane. Alright, maybe Beckett wasn't as well rested as John thought. "Since they don't seem to be offering you any new information, Dr. Weir, I'm going to put them both to bed. A little uninterrupted rest will go a long way towards their recovery."
Elizabeth just smiled at the overprotective Doctor and said, "We'll be back to see you two later, enjoy your naps."
"Wait, Carson I have one more question." Beckett squared off against McKay with a steely eyed glare, and stumbled out, "Just one question Carson, that's all, I promise." He nodded his head and McKay quickly turned to John, not eager to try Beckett's patience further.
"Colonel, where did you learn the Viennese Waltz?" Beckett's face broke into a grin, and Teyla and John just blushed.
Well that's it folks. (Though I am debating a sequel.) I just wanted to say thanks to all you beautiful people who reviewed. Feedback of any and all types is greatly appreciated and makes me want to keep going. Thanks so much for reading, it means a lot!