The Long Way Home

Chapter Sixty One: A Friend In Need

Every step I'm takin'
Every move I make
Feels lost with no direction,
My faith is shakin'
But I gotta keep tryin'

Miley Cyrus – The Climb

The five of them were in the conference room, gathered informally as they talked through the options ahead of them. Cass knew she had only been invited to this meeting because of her relationship with the Colonel. If she was anyone else they would have left her out of it until they had a more solid plan of action but Carson had argued that she needed to be in on this in order to help with John's care.

The argument had been an easy one to win, the truth was that John was more calmer and lucid when she was around and the more information she had at hand the more secure she could make him feel. That also meant there was no possible way for her to get on this mission, her role on Atlantis was too important for her to be out in the field. Instead Carson had offered himself up forward in her place, Elizabeth had deemed him the best qualified for the task due to his knowledge surrounding the Iratus bug and the requirements for a counter serum.

If she was honest Cass wouldn't have felt comfortable going anyway, her job wasn't what was important here. As far as she was concerned she was John's wife first and foremost and he needed her now more than ever.

"The Ancient Data Base has a lot of bug information." Rodney told the room as he stepped into it, the automatic doors hissing shut behind him. "We know what planet it's on, we know that it likes cool, damp, dark places to lay it's eggs."

"Shouldn't be hard to locate." Major Lorne said knowingly already scanning his brain for possible locations.

He was perched on the conference tables beside Carson who was standing to attention, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He looked tired and Cass knew that the other doctor had been working solidly over the past twenty four hours in attempt to solve this problem. John was a valued member of this expedition and he had put his life on the line several times for the city and it's people. As soon as news of his illness had filtered through to the other doctors and amongst the military ranks people were flooding in trying to help figure out ways in which they could support their Commanding Officer.

Several of the more senior doctors had held meetings with Carson and had come up with the idea of implanting Iratus bug DNA into John's system in order to counteract the retrovirus. The only problem was they needed stem cells from a fresh egg which was why this meeting was being called.

"Wait a second, the last time we ran into one of those bugs we almost lost Sheppard." Elizabeth reminded the small group. "How do you expect to just walk into one of their nests?"

Cass had to admit the woman had a good point. John had accidentally ran into its spiderweb-like home before the thing had attached itself to his throat. Stepping into a whole nest of the bugs would be even more dangerous.

Rodney pursed his lips together for a second before he considered the problem. The man worked with physics on a daily basis but Iratus bugs were beyond his line of thinking. Ask him to hot wire a Jumper and he was fine but throw a strategic plan in the midst and his genius only stretched so far, it was the reason that Sheppard could always beat him at chess. His mind simply didn't think in that way no matter how huge his desire was to save his friend.

"I don't see any other choice." Carson said from his position in the group. "We need the Iratus stem cells and the best come from embryos. With them we might actually have a chance at saving Sheppard, without them he'll die."

Lorne bowed his head, his hands clasped in front of him as he regarded the information at hand. The situation was risky at best but the Major had no doubt that his Commanding Officer would do this for him if the roles were reversed. Sheppard was the type of man who upheld a strong morale structure, he had drilled the other military men and women on the base that they would never leave a man behind and so far he had been true to his word no matter what the chances were of him scraping through with his own life.

Seeing his wife standing across from him now with her hands clasped before her looking more quiet and reserved than usual was like driving a stake through the part of him that would have put the brakes on this mission. Cass Pierce was one of his people, they served on the same team together and he despised the idea of one of his people having their hearts broken like that. At the end of the day they had to try. Already varying people were volunteering for whatever the Colonel needed doing in terms of recovery. There was a team in place if they needed back up and Lorne had been proud to see the support network that was in place to help the Colonel and his team.

"So this is the only option we have?" Elizabeth confirmed as she scrolled through the data on her tablet.

"Time is also an issue." Carson told her pointedly.

They needed a decision on this as soon as possible, the narrow window of opportunity was shrinking with each passing moment and he couldn't bare the idea of the Colonel falling victim to this creature once more. He had seen the hybrid that Ellia had shifted into and if he was honest that monstrosity had haunted him through every single day. Not only was Sheppard his friend, but he was also a very skilled man when it came to fighting. There was no doubt in his mind that if he turned completely that they would be forced to put him out of his misery before he could cause harm to anyone.

His gaze shifted to Cass as she listened to the debate and he hated the idea of doing that to her. The two of them had been through more than their fair share of heart ache and although Carson knew that living on Atlatis would never make things easy, he thought it was unfair if the galaxy claimed her husband when she had only found him such a short while ago. The two of them had been destined for each other from the onset and he was determined no matter what happened he would fix this mess.

Elizabeth's sigh echoed through the room as the four others held their breath awaiting her decision. They were putting all of their eggs in one basket here figuratively speaking. Yet this seemed like the only way that they could help John. He deserved the same respect that he awarded others but she wanted to make sure that this group of people were aware of the risks before they sped off head first into a potentially fatal situation.

"You have no idea what'll happen." she told them.

"There is only one certainty and that is what will happen if we do nothing." Carson argued, his hands on his hips and his shoulders square to show he was done having this continued debate.

"We all understand the risks Doctor Weir." Lorne injected into the air between them as Elizabeth's brown eyes fasted on him. "And I believe that Colonel Sheppard would do the same for any one of us."

He fell short of asking anyone in the room to raise their hands if Colonel Sheppard had saved their lives. That would not be good manners and it was clear he must be the calm one in this situation. Everyone here had some personal connection to the Colonel at stake and he would be the one out there in the field giving orders. He needed to remain focused on the safety of the group and what was best for them. He knew that everyone here would lay their lives down for Sheppard in a heartbeat but he didn't want anyone to be reckless in this endeavour.

Rodney's gaze met Elizabeth as he nodded his agreement. How many missions had he been on when Sheppard wasn't pulling his ass out of the fire? He couldn't count the amount of times the other man had saved his life. Despite the fact they argued like cat and dog over ridiculous things, they were still comrades and there was a kinship in that. That and the fact he couldn't really deal with the idea of Cass moping around the city if they didn't do this.

Elizabeth stood regal and silent for a second before she bowed her head and nodded before the words escaped her lips.

"Permission granted."