Today is the day. The day Meredith is finally going to get the ATA gene. (Finally, no stupid marines, no more getting distracted by her husband. NO MORE!) Because Carson finally feels ready to up the testing to human trials. Which, yeah okay, doesn't sound the greatest, but having no marines in her space makes up for it. She even has a device she plans on testing once she gains the gene. She found it in one of the labs the expedition discovered over three days after settling in Atlantis. It's a personalized shield that will completely cover and protect whomever puts it on. The best part is that it's a mentally activated device, so when she feels the need to turn it off she should be able to deactivate it. So cool!
"Are you sure you want to do this, Mare?" John interrupts her thought process.
Mare turns to look at her husband. He's lying on their bed with his hands resting behind his head. "Yeah, I am. I'm tired of having to wait for someone else to operate the Ancient devices we come across. Also, there aren't enough gene carriers in the Science department as there is, so if the Gene therapy works more of them can go through the procedure."
John gets up and walks over to where she's finishing with her hair. They lock eyes as he wraps his arms around her waist, "As long as you're sure. But you know," John smirks mischievously, "I never mind being your guinea pig."
Mare's mouth drops open, "John!"
John smiles innocently before kissing the right side of her neck. Mare shrugs away from his mouth as she breaks free from his arms, "Oh no! You are not going to drag me back into your bed!"
John licks his lips and starts corralling her toward the bed, "I think you'll find, that bed is ours sweetheart."
Mare chuckles as she ducks around him and heads to the door, "That may be true on any other day, but when you try to make me late, it's your bed, darling!"
Mare hears John groan in defeat as she walks out the door. She turns and blows him a kiss before it closes between them and she heads off to Medical.
It takes her about twenty minutes, two staircases, and one wrong turn (give her a break she's only had like twelve actual hours of the three days they've been in Atlantis to figure out where everything is and even then, she hasn't been to the Medical bay) to arrive at Medical. She walks through the infirmary part, heading straight to the lab area.
"Ah, there ya are Mare, I was beginnin' ta think tha' I'd need ta send out a search party for ya," Carson says when he sees her walk through the archway, "I'm no' quite ready yet, but it'll no' take but a few minutes."
Meredith nods as she looks around the area before her eyes catch on a glass cage filled with white mice. She walks over and crouches down to be eye level with the mice, "Are these the mice that were tested before?"
Carson glances over as he fills a syringe, "Aye, cute lil buggers, huh?"
"Depends on your definition of cute, but sure, I guess," Mare stands up and faces Carson, "I think I would have preferred looking at a cat. Now cats, cats are cute. I wish I didn't have to leave mine on earth. Poor Al. I bet John's happy about that at least. Al and John hate each other. It's hilarious."
Carson shakes his head before patting the bed next to him, "Sit down, I'm ready."
Meredith walks over and hops on the bed. She holds out her left arm, bared and ready to go due to her t-shirt. Carson raises his eyebrow and, grabbing her right arm, prepares her for the gene therapy, "I'm surprised ya were so eager ta volunteer for this, Mare."
"Are you kidding?" Meredith looks at Carson in disbelief, "A chance to not have to deal with asking marines to help out is a dream come true! With this I won't have to repeat everything in laymen's terms!"
"Tha' sounds abou' right," Carson laughs, as he wraps a rubbery tie cloth thing around her arm (she remembers it being used the one time she gave blood), "So do ya have any questions concernin' the process? I mean, ya are a scientist."
"Carson, you know I think medical sciences are a more advanced form of voodoo," Mare states as she watches him work, "But I trust you. As much as I can trust a voodoo practitioner."
Carson gives her a look, which Mare grins at, before taping her arm and wiping it down, "Aye, but ya are the first human trial."
Meredith's eyes widen, "I, uh, I thought you'd tested it at least once before."
"On animals, yes, but, well, withou' proper FDA approval, it was virtually impossible ta do a human trial on Earth. Let's jus' say it's uh, legal, here in the Pegasus Galaxy."
Meredith stares at Carson, who's holding the filled syringe, "Is it safe?"
"As far as experimental gene therapy goes," Carson sees Mare's unease, "I am manipulating your DNA. Here we go."
As Carson prepares to inject her, Meredith pulls her arm back, "Maybe you should tell me more."
Carson exhales deeply out of his nose, "We believe A.T.A. is caused by a single gene that's always on, instructin' various cells in the body ta produce a series of proteins an' enzymes tha' interact with the skin, the nervous system, an' the brain. In this case, we're usin' a mouse retrovirus ta deliver the missin' gene ta your cells."
"Are there any side-" Carson inject Meredith, "effects. Ow!"
"Dry mouth, headache, the irresistible urge ta run on a small wheel," he replies like nothing happened, cleaning and bandaging the injection spot.
"Very funny," Meredith glares, "About how long do you think it'll take for the gene to kick in?"
"It could take some time, why?" Carson queries as he picks up the area.
Mare pulls out the personal shield she found, "I wanna test this."
"Wha' is it?"
"I found it in one of the research labs yesterday," Meredith rolls it around in her hand, "It's supposedly a personal shield. Sounds interesting right?"
"You know how ta use it?"
"It had pretty simple instructions."
"Okay, lass. Have fun."
Meredith leaps off the bed. She glances over her shoulder as she walks out, "Don't worry I will!"
----------SGA------------SGA-----------
It takes her a while, but Meredith finally finds her husband working on some paperwork in one of the cleared rooms near the control room. He's not facing her, so she sneaks up and drapes herself over his back. She hears him chuckle before she finds herself being kissed.
"Hello, beautiful," he grins as they separate, "I see you're done being Carson's lab rat."
"Hello to you too, gorgeous," she maneuvers herself into his lap, "and yes, I am. I just need to test and see if it worked," Meredith lifts up the personal shield, "Wanna help?"
"Isn't that the shield you told me about," John questions.
"Mhmm," Meredith tilts her head to make eye contact, "I want you to shoot me when I put it on if it activates."
John jerks back a little, "Shoot you? Hell no."
Mare narrows her eyes, "Uh, uh. I know that look Mare, the answers no."
"But I don't trust anyone else," Meredith pleads, "Plus, we'd only do it if the shield activates. And it'd be in a non-lethal area."
"Yeah, no." John states, unmoved by her pleas.
"What about using a taser instead?" Meredith compromises.
John contemplates the alternative as he gazes at his wife. "Fine," he relents, only because he knows she would find someone else who would, "BUT, only if it activates."
Mare flings her arms around him, "Thank you!"
John shakes his head as he hugs her tight, "Just know I really don't like this."
Meredith listens to his heartbeat for a few seconds more before getting up, "I know, but science!"
John rolls his eyes. Mare smiles at him before looking down at the device in her hand. John gets up and walks over to her, staring at the device as well. It's oblong and tiny, only about ten centimeters end to end, and grey. One side is raised up, while the other is flat. John looks dubiously at the thing. Meredith takes a deep breath and raises it to her chest. She presses the flat end against the area above her right breast. A few seconds go by before the device starts to glow green and a transparent bubble expands outward until Meredith is completely covered. John raises his hand to touch her, but is stopped an instant before making contact.
Mare is thrilled. The gene therapy worked! IT WORKED! She looks at her husband, "You ready?"
John inhales sharply before nodding. He walks a few paces away from her before removing his taser and pointing it at his wife, "Are you ready?"
Meredith nods solemnly. John sucks in a breath and exhales. When he pulls the trigger, the two metal clips inside the taser fling out and head for Meredith. Right as it looks like the shield wouldn't work, the clips bounce off the bubble that incases Mare, causing a ripple of green to go around it.
"Did you see that!" Mare laughs, looking down at herself.
John walks up after retracting the taser. He smirks at her enthusiasm, "It looks like you're invulnerable right now."
Meredith starts walking out of the room, "Now I want you to push me off one of the balconies."
"What?" John exclaims as he follows her.
Mare stops at one of the balconies overlooking the Gate room, "I want you to push me off."
"Okay, why exactly do you want me to do that?" John inquires, because this is a weird ass response to invulnerability.
Meredith takes a deep breath in and out, "I want to determine how protective the shield is. By falling I can determine if it is affected by impacts or not. Plus, this is a relatively low balcony, so the chance of injury is fairly low."
John stares at her in disbelief, "You know what, I'm just going to do it. Because if I don't you'll probably just start jumping off things."
Meredith looks at him innocently, "I have no idea what you mean."
"Of course you don't," John mumbles as Meredith arranges herself at the balcony railing.
"Okay, I'm ready," she declares, facing him with her back against the railing. John shakes his head and places his hands onto the front of her shoulders. He pushes her hard enough for her to go over the railing and down to ground below.
"Oh, my god!" Dr. Weir exclaims from the balcony off the control room, where she is standing with Peter, "Major Sheppard, no matter how mad you get-"
Meredith jumps up from her landing place, unharmed and grinning madly, "I'm fine!"
Elizabeth, Peter, and John rush down the stairs, "Carson's gene therapy worked! I was able to activate this," Meredith gestures to the shield on her chest, "It's a personal shield! It acts as a, um, protective skin, and it must have inertial dampening properties. I didn't even feel a thing. Watch this."
Meredith looks to Peter, "Hit me," Peter looks at her for a second before taking a swing at her face. Before his hand could touch her, the shield reacted. Much like it did with the taser, a wave of green emanated from the area Peter hit and extended over the bubble until it dissipated. Athosian children in the room giggle at Peter as he groans in pain. Meredith tilts her head, "You didn't even hesitate. Got some pent up anger?"
Elizabeth looks on in disbelief, "I'm still trying to understand how you thought it was a good idea to test this device by having your husband toss you off a balcony."
Meredith grins at her, "That wasn't the first thing we tried."
"She had me taser her," John states. Upon Weir's look of shock, he elaborates, "If I didn't do it she would have found someone else to do it."
"I'm invulnerable!" Mare exclaims, because how cool is this!
"Aren't you the one who's always spouting off about how proper and careful scientific procedure must be adhered to?" Elizabeth asks in amusement.
"Yes, and I've read all there is about the device. It's mentally controlled so whenever I want it off, I can take it off," Meredith explains, "See look."
Meredith reaches up to remove the shield, but her hand is blocked by the shield. Meredith removes her hand before trying again. The same outcome occurs, "Oh no."
John reaches out for the device and is stopped as well. He sees the three others looking at him, "Just checking."
"Dr. McKay, I thought you said you could take it off whenever," Dr. Weir says slowly.
Meredith glances up from the device, "I should be able to. That's what the database said, 'Upon desire of removal, the device is removed by the wearer.' Then there was information about recharging and-" Meredith pauses. Her eyes go big as she remembers the final part of the entry, "God fucking damn it!"
"What?" John asks, concerned.
Meredith inhales deeply, annoyed with herself. "'If, however, the wearer feels unsafe, consciously or subconsciously, the device will remain on until safety is met.' For whatever reason I subconsciously feel unsafe right now, and the damn thing won't come off until I feel safe."
"And you didn't think that was an important message?" Elizabeth asks pointedly.
"Well, how am I supposed to know that this place subconsciously freaks me out or that it would affect my ability to take this thing off?" Meredith exclaims.
"Well, we're just going to have to deal with this later. We have a meeting to go to," Weir declares.
"I'll take Peter to get his hand checked out and meet you guys there," Meredith grumbles, "I need to show Carson the gene therapy worked anyway."
John goes to kiss her goodbye but is blocked by the shield. Meredith groans, annoyed, "This is going to get really old, really fast. Come on Peter."
----------SGA-----------SGA----------
Peter sits on one of the Medbeds as Carson wraps his wrist. Both are talking about the shield and what they think would be great superhero names for Meredith. Mare stands off to the side, near a table filled with coffee, pissed that they think her predicament is so hilarious.
"I'm thinking 'Mrs. Invincible,'" Peter waves his uninjured hand as if imagining the arc of the name.
"'Captain Untouchable,'" Carson smirks in amusement, finishing the wrapping.
"Oooh! That's good!" Peter points at Carson in agreement. They both laugh as Carson makes sure the bandage in sturdy.
"Are you guys done?" Meredith asks, miffed.
"I've been workin' on this gene therapy fo' months," Carson turns to Mare, "Forgive me for wantin' ta celebrate the fact tha' it worked on the first human trial."
Meredith rolls her eyes, and sarcastically replies, "Oh, yay! Let's all have a toast!"
Carson smirks and turns back to Peter. He resumes inspecting his wrapping before looking up and locking eyes with Peter. Both look at each other with wide eyes before staring at Meredith.
"Um... Just a thought," Peter peers at her, "but have you tried eating or drinking since you put that thing on?"
Meredith gawks at them for a few seconds, processing the question. Her eyes grow wide. She whips around to the coffee and pours some into a mug. She turns back around and looks at the two across from her. Gulping, she looks down at the mug for five seconds before taking a deep breath and raising the mug to her lips. She tips the mug so the coffee pours out toward her mouth, where it hits the shield and falls down to her feet, lighting up the shield as it goes.
Meredith shuts her eyes and ducks her head, dropping the cup in despair, "Great. Just great."
"This may be more serious than I suspected," Carson says.
"Thank you. I hadn't realized!" Meredith exclaims, "I haven't eaten in a while. I'll probably have a hypoglycemic attack in a few hours!"
"Well maybe when that occurs the shield will turn off," Peter suggests. Meredith groans and drops her head to her hand and starts murmuring to herself. He turns to look at Carson, "Is there any chance the gene therapy isn't permanent?"
"It's possible," Both turn to look at Mare.
"Never again," Mare groans.
"Um... Don't you need to head to the meeting McKay?" Peter asks.
"Shit!" Meredith rushes out of the room.
---------SGA----------SGA---------
Meredith rushed to the conference room, which is off the gate room. She enters the room, filled with senior members of the expedition, as Elizabeth is speaking to Teyla, "As we value all the Athosians. For now, there should be more than enough living space for everyone within the designated area."
"We have always lived in the shadow of the Wraith," Teyla states as she stands proudly, "but my people have never been in a place like this. They are afraid. Some believe the ghosts of the Ancestors remain."
"I don't think that's the case," Elizabeth replies, "but- but still, we're going to need a bit more time in order to explore the city."
"We're very cautious intergalactic explorers," John interjects.
"And," Elizabeth continues, "we don't want anyone else getting hurt the way Halling did. I mean, everyone needs to understand they are not to touch anything unfamiliar unless it's been cleared first."
"Yeah, don't follow my example." Everyone in the room turned to Meredith as she spoke, "Oh and, uh, by the way, if I faint in the next day or so, grab the device if it powers off and take me to Medical."
Lieutenant Aiden Ford looked at her from his seat at the table, "Uh, why?"
"Because I'm probably going to have a hypoglycemic attack from lack of blood sugar because I won't have eaten in over 18 hours," Meredith stares him down.
"Oh."
----------SGA-----------SGA----------
A few hours later the senior staff members of the expedition stand around Peter as he explains the self-destruct system they've put in place.
"The self-destruct system requires two separate codes," Peter types in some of a code onto the simulation, "Now, each code is unique, and everyone here is required to memorize their code."
Elizabeth looks at those gathered, "As far as we know, this is the only Stargate in the Pegasus Galaxy capable of dialing Earth. Which would make it the last line of defense against the Wraith. If they're going to attack, which we must consider a very real threat, we simply cannot let them gain control of this complex."
"If both codes are entered, the naquadah generator will overload," Peter explains, "It will only take thirty seconds."
"You sure it will do enough damage?" Ford questions.
"Ever seen a twenty-kiloton nuclear explosion?" Meredith replies.
John, still staring at the computer screen, pipes up: "I have."
The room goes silent as everyone turns to stare at him in astonishment, "Not up close. Look, I think we should tell Teyla what's going on here."
"At this moment, we don't know if it was one of the Athosians that alerted the Wraith to us being on their planet." Elizabeth says.
"I trust Teyla," John scoffs.
Weir crosses her arms, "So do I, but Teyla trusts her people. If we tell her, she'll want to tell them, and I need more time to get to know them."
With that, the group breaks up to go and do other things. Meredith is about to head to her makeshift lab/office when John grabs her around her shield covered arm.
"That is still really weird," John watches the green fade away from her arm.
"I really miss physical contact," Meredith says looking at his hand.
John wraps his arms around her and holds her as close as the barrier will allow. She sighs deeply before moving away, "It's not the same."
"I'm sorry," John smiles sadly, "but you know what might cheer you up?"
"Noooo."
"Story telling. I'm going to tell the Athosian kids a scary story. You want to come and listen?"
Mare looks at John in amusement. She knows the story he's talking about and knows that the kids won't find it scary in the least, "Which one, Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th?"
"Friday the 13th. It's going to be great."
"Yeah, I'm going to pass. I think the kids will be more focused on what a hockey mask is than the 'scary story' you'll be telling," Meredith chuckles as she starts to walk away from him.
"No they won't," John objects to her retreating back.
Meredith smiles as she heads on her way, a little happier.
---------SGA---------SGA--------
An hour after she left John he calls her over the coms, asking her to meet in the conference room and bring what she'd need to enable a DVD to play on the screen.
Meredith arrives to John, Aiden, and Telya talking about American football, of all things. (If you're going to talk about a sport you should talk about hockey. Now that's a sport). Meredith shakes her head at them and begins to interface her computer to the screen.
"Teyla," Meredith began as she finished, "You shouldn't let John brain wash you, hockey is by far the better sport."
"You're just biased because you're Canadian," John says as he pulls her down onto the couch he and Aiden had moved.
"At least hockey can't be confused with a different sport," Meredith retorts as she settles in, "I still can't believe this was the personal item you decided to bring with you."
"It's starting," John shushes her and for a few hours they were invested in the game. The only times their focus was broken was when Teyla needed clarification about the game and when Ford went to make popcorn.
As the last minute of the game starts, John sits up in his seat, "Oh, here it comes."
Everyone's focus is on the screen as it shows the quarterback gain control of the ball, "Flutie is back. Four seconds, three seconds, two seconds, one... Flutie throws. The game is over. Hail Mary, it is caught!"
"Oh! That is beautiful. Can you believe that?" John eats some popcorn out of the bowl in his lap.
Teyla looks at the rest of them in confusion, "Should I not?"
"Well," John looks at her, "the defense didn't cover the receiver because he didn't think the quarterback could throw that far."
"They seem very happy," Teyla agrees, obviously still confused. (But one can't blame her, American football is confusing).
"Well, they just won one of the best games of all time. Against all odds," John tries to explain, a losing battle if there ever was one.
"Flutie won the Heisman that year," Ford interjects.
"And then went on to play in Canada," Mare tacks on.
Teyla turns to her, "He played hockey too?"
Ford ducks his head, snickering, as Meredith turns to stare at Teyla. As Mare opens her mouth to say something, Elizabeth walks in from behind them, "Hey, what are you guys doing?"
All four turn to face her as John responds, "I'm teaching Teyla how football is the corner stone of western civilization."
"And you didn't invite me?" Elizabeth asks in mock offense.
John asks, surprised, "What, you like football?"
"No," Elizabeth admits, "Not really."
"Oh come on. It-it's real, it's unpredictable, it's full of passion and... beer, hotdogs..."
"It falls short of the excitement of hockey," Meredith cuts John off.
"Hey!" he throws popcorn at her, and she sticks her tongue out at him.
Elizabeth grabs some popcorn from Aiden, "I just can't understand. You're allowed one personal and you chose this."
"It's a metaphor," John insists, "Don't you see? This expedition is the biggest Hail Mary in history."
Teyla looks over at him baffled, "What is a Hail Mary?"
"It's a-a play that you just saw," John tries to explain, "It's named after a prayer. See, there's this woman, her name is Mary, and she... uh... Did I mention how much I like Ferris wheels?"
Mare rolls her eyes and leans over John to see Teyla better, "Hail Mary is a name given to a move that has a low chance of working out, but due to circumstances, it is the best option. When it works out, and even when it doesn't, it's given the designation Hail Mary. And John."
John looks at her stretched across him, "Yeah?"
"Everyone knows you like Ferris wheels. It's like one of the first things you mention when you meet someone new."
Aiden burst out laughing at the face his commander makes. Elizabeth and Teyla join him in the mirth, while John, forgetting that Mare can't be touched, goes to tickle her into submission. Mare, forgetting as well, jumps up and runs out of the room yelling a good night as she races to her and John's room.
He ends up catching her at their door and leans in for a kiss that's blocked by her shield. He groans and drops his forehead to hers, "Damn it. I forgot about the damn thing."
"Me too," Meredith sighs. Her eyes widen in horror, "Oh no."
"What?" John asks as he follows her inside.
Meredith starts trying to grab her clothes in an effort to change. All that happens is her hands being stopped by the shield, "Shit! I can't change in to pajamas. Fuck!"
Meredith drops face first on to the bed. John lays down next to her and can see her being almost suspended off the bed by the shield.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. But at least we know it'll come off tomorrow."
"Ugh."
----------SGA----------SGA---------
A while later, John is sitting up in bed reading as Mare continues to try and suffocate using the mattress. A knock is heard on the door, jerking both of them to attention.
"Major? Major!" is heard and John jumps up from the bed. Meredith sits up as the door opens. One of the Athosians, Halling, is standing there on crutches with one of the children, Wes, but not his son, Jinto.
"Jinto's missing," Halling explains, "I can't find him. I told him to be careful. Anything he touches could be dangerous."
Meredith walks to the door as Wes asks, "What if there are monsters here?"
John looks at him with determination, "Then we'll find him."
John grabs his jacket and turns to her, "Go to the control room and see what can be done from there."
"Okay," Meredith walks out after him and watches as he leads the other two off before heading to the control room.
When Meredith arrives Peter is already there, "I don't know if you have heard, but Jinto's missing."
The two begin going through the city's mainframe and finish as Elizabeth arrives, "Can we use the sensors to locate him?"
Meredith shakes her head, "We don't have nearly enough power to activate the whole city at one time."
"And even if we could," Peter adds, "the sensors don't distinguish," the power flickers, "...individuals."
"And," Meredith continues, "for all we know there could be shielded areas, or, um, malfunctioning sensors," she gestures to the ceiling, "We are getting some strange energy readings in one of the unexplored areas across the city."
Weir looks at the city schematic before turning away, "Activate the communication system."
Meredith presses a few keys, "Done."
Elizabeth glances at her in surprise before continuing, "Jinto, this is Dr. Weir. If you can hear me, please respond." Elizabeth's voice echoes throughout the city, "Jinto? If you're lost if you can't-"
Before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, the screens and electronic devices the expedition brought shut down. Only the lights remain on.
Peter taps on his computer, "We've lost power."
"We've still got lights," Meredith rushes up to the back console as does Peter.
He presses a button and everything turn back on, "I don't know why that happened."
The sound of the iris on the Stagate turning on causes everyone to jerk towards the gate. Elizabeth turns to Peter as Meredith stares at the gate in horror. Peter lifts his hand up and moves away from the console, "It wasn't me."
It turns back off. The three stare at each other, perturbed, until the DHD begins to dial out by itself. As the gate begins the encoding sequence Mare and Peter rush to the DHD.
Elizabeth commands, "Shut it down now!"
Meredith presses the cancel key, the button in the center of the DHD.
"What the hell is going on?" Elizabeth demands.
"I don't know," Meredith admits, mystified by the events that occurred.
"Nothing like this has happened before," Peter agrees.
"We've only been here for a couple of days," Meredith states, the two stare at her, "This stuff is pretty old. It's that, or there really are ghosts."
Peter and Elizabeth look at Meredith with skepticism. Meredith is about to say more when John coms in, "Control room, this is Sheppard. The lights just went out."
"Major, we're experiencing some technical malfunctions." Weir informs him.
Meredith begins to explain, "It could have something to do with the interfaces between our naquadah generators and the city. Well, that, or the way we isolated certain systems could be causing erroneous operations in the Ancient programming."
"I'll run a diagnostic on the power flow," Peter heads off to do it.
Elizabeth turns to Mare with a smirk, "I wouldn't have thought you would believe in ghosts."
"I never used to," Meredith states, "But then I came to a galaxy that has these beings called 'Wraiths" that can suck the life out of you with their hands. What the hell kind of evolutionary trait is that?"
"Doctor Weir."
Both of them turn to the Gate room staircase landing where Teyla stands.
"Teyla, I'll be right there," Elizabeth turns to Meredith, "Do what you can."
Elizabeth heads over to Teyla as Meredith sarcastically replies, "Thanks."
Meredith looks down at her hands. They were shaking. She swallows and looks around before putting her hands into her pockets and walking over to Peter to help run the diagnostic.
Over the coms Elizabeth says, "Major Sheppard, this is Weir. One of the Athosians is claiming to have seen what she's calling a shadow. Teyla says that she senses no Wraiths here, but I'm still concerned."
John's voice is heard next, "All right, all teams fall back to the gate room and wait for further instructions."
Over the next twenty minutes, Teyla pulls Elizabeth out two more times. Elizabeth walks back into the control room a final time and Meredith comes to stand next to her. A few minutes later, John and Halling walk in. John walks up to where Mare and Elizabeth are, "I've secured access to all the control towers and living quarters."
"Two more Athosians reported seeing the shadows." Elizabeth informs him.
"You know, I don't get that. That means the Wraith would be here."
"You don't think so?"
"I don't think they want to scare us. When they do decide to come, they're going to start blowing the crap out of this place with their ships."
"So what? The Athosians are just seeing things?"
"Well like Teyla said, it's a scary place for them."
"Not just for them," Meredith interjects as Teyla walks over to them from where she had been conversing with Halling.
"Halling wished to speak with Jinto." Teyla informs them.
"Please," Elizabeth gestures to the control panel.
Meredith walks over and presses a few keys, "Go ahead."
"Jinto... If you can her me I'm not angry. I just want to know that you're safe," Halling's voice echoes through the city, "So if you are lost or hurt, stay where you are. Make some noise if you can. We will find you."
Halling removes his crutches from under his arms. He stands with his hands in front of his chest, fingertips touching, head bowed down, "Pereh lumi... et tempo ateri."
"What is that, Latin?" John whispers to Elizabeth. Meredith leans on the console and shakes her head to relieve some dizziness.
"It's Ancient. 'Fathers of light of the everlasting temple'?" Elizabeth replies, looking at Teyla for confirmation.
"It is a prayer to the Ancestors," Teyla affirms.
Halling raises his hands and holds them level with his head, "If you are angry that we have unrightfully inhabited your great city, we humbly apologize. We mean no harm. We leave if it is your wish, but I will not go without my son."
Almost as if an omen, all of the lights in the control room go out, and Meredith drops to floor in a dead faint. The shield that had been on her for the past 16 hours turns dark and falls to ground as John lifts her up to take her to the infirmary.
--------SGA--------SGA-------
When Meredith regains consciousness it's to an IV, John holding her hand, and a murmured conversation. She inhales and tightens her hold. The conversation dies off as her eyes flutter open.
"Ah. There's Sleepin' Beauty," Carson says as he and John help her sit up.
"What happened?" Meredith holds her head, "One second I hear Halling speaking Latin and the next I'm in here?"
Carson starts to examine her, "Ya fainted. You're blood sugar dropped ta abou' 55mg/dL. Thankfully the shield popped off like ya thought it would."
Meredith looks at the IV, "Yeah, no kidding."
John squeezes her hand before radioing Elizabeth, "Doctor Weir, this is Sheppard. Mare's okay. Beckett's got her hooked up to an IV, and he says she'll be fine."
John kisses Meredith's head and walks out of the Infirmary.
"So... Can I have something to eat?" Meredith asks hopefully.
Carson laughs as he heads off to find her something.
---------SGA-------SGA--------
Meredith is called to the control room about twenty minutes later. Carson sends her off with a power bar, some juice, and a warning to eat every two hours for the next six. She arrives to find Peter and John briefing Elizabeth.
"It didn't look like the phantoms the Wraith make you see, but I can see how the Athosians would be confused," John says.
"What did it look like?" Elizabeth inquires.
"It looked like a..." John trails off, unable to come up with an accurate term.
"Darkness," Peter says, "It surrounded the naquadah generator and started to grow, like it was feeding off the energy."
"When it shut down, the whole... whatever it was, just went away," John explains.
Meredith looks at them with her arms crossed, "If this thing feeds off of energy, we could be in serious trouble."
"So we need to figure out exactly what it is and what to do about it," Elizabeth concludes.
"We know it's attracted to energy," Peter states.
"How about shutting down the generators," Elizabeth suggests.
"Well, uh..." Meredith speaks up, "people also give off energy, granted, it's negligible compared to that of a naquadah generator. But you take away this thing's only other obvious food source, and-"
"Are you saying it could come after us?" Elizabeth cut her off.
"I only know one thing for sure. And that is that flying darkness that eats energy, can only be very, very bad."
"Okay. We keep the power on. Grodin, figure out a way to detect it, and in the meantime, Major, establish constant surveillance on all the generators. If one of them is targeted, we'll it shut down remotely. I mean, hopefully we can keep this... thing busy until we figure out a way to get rid of it," Elizabeth turns on the radio, "Attention, everyone. This is Weir. For the time being, we need you all to remain in your quarters unless otherwise instructed. If you see anything out of the-"
"Hello?" cuts Elizabeth off, "Can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?"
"Jinto?" John asks.
"Major Sheppard!" Jinto exclaims. Meredith goes to a computer to try to figure where Jinto is communicating from.
"Are you okay?" Elizabeth inquires.
"I'm scared," he admits.
"Where are you?" John questions.
"I don't know."
"Jinto, start at the beginning. Tell us how you got to where you are," Elizabeth instructs.
"I was in the hall outside my quarters." John, Elizabeth and Meredith rush out of the control room and head to the Athosian living area. Along the way, Telya and Halling meet up with them. When they arrive at the hall they look around for an indication of where Jinto could have gone.
"Where did you go next?" John asks.
"I can't remember."
Teyla cuts in, "He's used to the forest, being able to see the stars at night."
"I found a small room filled with boxes from Earth."
Meredith and John look at the door at the end of the hall. They exchange a glance before walking to it. John opens it, only to find an empty little room, about the size of an elevator.
"No boxes," John states.
"They're here with me."
"Someone must have thought it would make a nice closet," Meredith says turning to look at the others.
John and Meredith walk into the room, as they enter, a screen uncovers itself. On it is a basic layout of Atlantis with glowing dots on it, "This is definitely not a closet," John whispered to Mare, "Jinto, did the panel start to glow when you stepped inside?"
"Yes!"
"Did you touch it?"
"Yes."
"What exactly?"
"I don't remember."
"Just before he disappeared we got an unusual energy reading around here," Meredith gestures to the top right area of the map. John goes to touch the highest dot in that area, "Wait, wait, wait! We don-" John touches the dot and the doors slide closed, "-t know what it could do."
The doors open to reveal, not the hallway with Teyla, Elizabeth, and Halling, but a darkened room with things in it. They step out, John with his gun raised and Meredith with starry eyes.
"It must be a transporter!" Meredith barely refrains from squealing, "That's so COOL!"
John rolls his eyes at his wife, "We'll name it later. We're looking for Jinto. Remember?"
Jinto's head pops up from behind a stack of stuff and he rushes over to the two of them, "Major Sheppard!"
John kneels down to Jinto's eye level, "Jinto. Are you okay?"
"Yes."
John radios out, "We've got Jinto. He's okay."
Meredith walks over to a console standing in the middle of the room. It activates when she reaches it and the room lights up.
John walks over to her with Jinto, "Do you know what this place is?"
"It's some sort of research lab," She replies, "We've come across a few of them. These consoles generally access central computer systems, so Jinto could've caused what we thought were malfunctions from here."
Meredith turns to look at Jinto, "Look, I need to know everything you touched in here."
Jinto looks at the couple nervously before pointing at the things he had touched at some point since he arrived in the lab. After determining what Jinto had touched, Meredith accesses the database through the console. As she goes through the files, a conversation occurs over the coms.
"Lieutenant Ford... This is Dr. Grodin. I'm tracking the entity heading your way. You might want to get out of there."
"Roger that... Uh, this is Ford. A bulkhead just blocked our way. There's no panel on the wall or any way to open it that we can see."
"Roger that."
Weir cuts in, "McKay?"
"We didn't touch anything. It could be the entity causing random malfunctions. The proximity to that large an energy disturbance could cause the Ancient technology to go haywire."
"Lieutenant, double-back and try the door on the east side of the hall." Elizabeth commands.
"This door won't open either."
"Pull open the console on the wall," Meredith orders.
"What next?"
"I dunno. What do you see?"
"Three crystals."
"Okay. Take out the middle one and move the top one down."
"It's not working."
"Um, bridge the two using the middle crystal."
"Are you sure about this."
"Uh, no."
The next thing everyone hears is a devastating scream. John and Meredith share a solemn glance.
"Man down. I need a medical team."
John and Mare stare at each other in silence until she breaks it, "Go check on Ford. Take Jinto with you so that he can return to his father."
"What about you?" John asks softly.
"I still need a bit more time to finish going through everything. I'll be fine."
John gazes at her for a few more seconds before placing a kiss on her head, "Okay, but I'm still going to assign a few guys here."
He leads Jinto to the transporter (STILL SO COOL!!!!!!!!) and they both walk in, the doors sliding shut behind them.
----------SGA----------SGA---------
Meredith had just finished determining what everything Jinto touched was, when John and Elizabeth walked into the lab.
"Apparently, it's also an elevator," John remarks as he walks up to his wife.
"Really?" Mare asks, interest piqued.
"We can stop taking the stairs everywhere," Elizabeth comments.
"What have you got?" John questions, getting back on topic.
"Well," Mare gets up from where she had been sitting, "Believe it or not, Jinto didn't touch anything of, uh, any consequence. Except this," Meredith indicates an object that looks like a medium sized generator. Meredith slides a switch on it and the cylindrical center lights up, "It seems to have its own power source, like the Jumpers."
"What is it?" Elizabeth inquires.
"Um, well it's some sort of containment vessel for the energy creature," Meredith explains.
"And Jinto released it?" John assumes.
"It seems that way," Meredith agrees, "As I suggested the entity's what's been causing most of our technical problems. It was captured for observation. The Ancients were researching Ascension."
Elizabeth looks at her, shocked. "Really?"
John looks between the two, confused, "What exactly is 'ascension'?"
"Well," Meredith begins, "at some point during their evolution, the Ancients reached an advanced stage of being where they were able to rid themselves of their physical bodies and rise to a higher plain of existence, one in which they live as pure energy," John gives her a skeptic look. "I know, it sounds insane. This, though, this is the first indication that there may have been some evolutionary intervention to get there."
"A little gene therapy on their own, huh?" John mused.
"Well, I haven't read all the notes, but I do know that the entity is energy, and it feeds on energy. Ford's lucky. The more it feeds, the bigger it gets, and the bigger it gets... Well, the bigger it gets the more charged it gets, and the deadlier it becomes."
"Is it intelligent?" Elizabeth asks.
"Not any more than a... a tree. According to the research it's sentient, but that's about it. This thing is going to suck the power out of the generators, and then it's going to turn its attention to us," Meredith says.
"All right, what do we do about it?"
"The entity has been trapped here since before the Ancients left."
"I know I'd be pissed," John quips.
"And hungry," Meredith adds, "The point is, this device, it was designed to attract it, capture it, and hold it for observation. There's a chance we might be able to get it back inside. I'll just need a little more time to figure out how."
Meredith goes back to the computer she had been using and starts scrolling. Elizabeth wanders around the lab looking at all the Ancient research. John stands behind Mare, looking at the Ancient text she's going through. After finding something worthwhile, Meredith walks back over to the containment device. John follows and leans against the table.
Elizabeth moves over to the abandoned laptop, pulling up the tracking program Peter set up, "It's not falling for the same tricks anymore."
"How smart is this thing?" John inquires.
"Mare?" Elizabeth asks after Meredith doesn't respond.
"I don't know. But this is much simpler than I thought," Meredith smiles as Elizabeth comes over, "It's like a mousetrap. But instead of cheese, it emits a signature of energy that attracts the creature. This button here," Meredith points to a button near the top of the device, "causes the device to emit the energy, this button here," she indicates to the button under the previous one, "shuts it in. The only downside, is that uh, someone is actually going to have to be here to push the buttons."
John sighs in resignation, "I'll do it."
"What?" Meredith turns to him in shock.
"Okay," Elizabeth agrees, "and Meredith can give you her shield for extra protection."
"No, I can't," Meredith denies, "It only works for whoever puts it on first. Kind of like an imprint."
"Well that's unfortunate," Elizabeth sighs.
"But maybe I could-" Meredith begins.
"No," John denies.
"I didn't even get-"
"No."
"But-"
"Hell no."
Meredith glares at her husband, who's glaring back. Their eyes stay locked for a minute before she blinks. Mare groans in defeat, "Damn it, John! Fine, you win."
John smirks before turning to Elizabeth, who had been watching the argument in fascination. "Let's do this."
---------SGA----------SGA---------
Meredith is standing behind Peter when Elizabeth walks into the control room with a candle.
"We're ready," Meredith informs her.
"You do realize that when we shut down the power, we're going to lose the sensors. We are not going to be able to track it," Peter states.
"We have security personnel posted around the living quarters," Elizabeth reassures, "At least we'll have some warning." She places the candle onto the console and lights it, "Teyla told the Athosian children that lighting a candle will help protect them."
"There's actually a higher chance of it enticing the creature more," Meredith muses. Elizabeth and Peter turn to look at her, "What?"
Elizabeth shakes her head and radios John, "Okay, Major, go ahead." She turns to Peter, "Now."
"Shutting down power," Peter begins shutting the power off. All of the consoles shut down and the lights turn off. The only light is coming from the candle and a few scattered flashlights.
"It's coming." Everyone in the control room exchanges nervous glances as John's voice comes over the radio, "I think we're going to need a bigger boat."
"Size doesn't matter." Meredith says.
"That's a myth."
Meredith chuckles, "It'll fit. The device traps the creature in subspace. You just need to make sure it gets all the way inside the containment vessel."
"Son of a bitch."
"What happened?" Elizabeth asks.
"Damn thing took one look and went away. It's a lot smarter than we thought."
"Okay, come back to the control room. Weir out."
----------SGA----------SGA--------
Meredith, John, Elizabeth and Peter stand around a console discussing what to do next, while Telya stands on the balcony gazing at the Stargate.
"We need to know where it is now," Elizabeth declares.
"We'll have to turn the power on to use the sensors," Peter informs her.
"You can't do that!" Meredith exclaims.
"Do it," Elizabeth orders, "but just the operations tower."
Peter turns the power back on for the tower and all of the consoles and lights come back on.
"What now?" John asks.
"It's headed this way now," Elizabeth states.
"Well, yeah. You turned the power back on," Meredith remarks.
"We can't go on like this," Elizabeth tells her.
"Do you think it wants to be here?" Teyla interjects, drawing the room's attention to her.
"What do you mean?" John questions.
"It's been trapped for thousands of years, alone," Teyla replies.
"It's not alone anymore," Elizabeth says.
"It doesn't think on that level," Meredith explains, "It just thinks about eating."
John looks contemplative.
---------SGA----------SGA-----------
"This is a bad idea," Mare whispers to John as he opens the naquadah generator holding container, on top of a MALP. She pulls out a palm sized tablet from the container.
"Do you have a better idea," John responds as she types away on the tablet, readying the generator.
"No," Mare says as he pulls out the generator from its foam prison.
"It's coming," Teyla informs them from the balcony.
"No, really?" Meredith mumbles sarcastically as she pulls the top of the generator up, twists it and pushes it back down. The generator starts making a high-pitched squeal as it lights up. Meredith places it back into the container, then closes the lid, "Let's just hope it follows this through the wormhole. Good luck."
Meredith kisses John on the cheek as she heads back up to the control room. She walks over to stand near Peter and sees the shield device sitting near her. She goes to pick it up, but is distracted by Peter, "It's almost here."
"Do you have an address?" Elizabeth asks.
"M4X-337, a barren wasteland," Peter replies.
Meredith walks over to the DHD. Elizabeth makes eye contact, "Dial it."
Meredith begins dialing the address. The Gate turns on and the MALP begins a slow pace to the gate. The entity arrives and begins to cover the room. It's Meredith's first time seeing it, and no words could do it justice. It looks like a black fog, almost void, like complete absence of color. But it isn't moving.
"It's not going anywhere," Meredith says as she stares at it.
"I can't see if the MALP got through," Elizabeth moves around trying to get a better angle.
"The entity could have drained the battery," Peter states.
"It could be feeding off the generator, the Stargate. This is bad," Meredith declares.
"Shut it down," Elizabeth commands.
Meredith pushes the shutdown button, but nothing happens. She presses it again, "I can't!"
"The consoles are dead," Peter says, stunned.
"There must be something we can do," Elizabeth insists.
Meredith turns to where the shield device lays. She continues to stare at it as Peter talks, "We don't know if the MALP is still down there. It's possible that the entity will still go through the gate once it's depleted the energy in the naquadah generator on the MALP."
Meredith walks over to the console and picks up the shield. She walks to the stairs as Elizabeth says, "Or it could just continue to feed off the gate's energy."
Meredith puts on the shield and walks down the stairs. As she reaches the fog of blackness, she hears John shout.
"MARE! DON'T! STOP!"
Meredith turns to look at him for a second before continuing on into the entity. As it pushes to reach her body, the shield protects her, turning a translucent green where the entity touches. Her head passes through and the way the entity appears changes. Meredith can see as electrified particles light up the area. She sees the MALP and rushes over. Grabbing the naquadah generator case, she walks over to the Stargate and tosses it through. The entity rushes past her into the gate. It doesn't take long before it disappears, and the gate shuts off.
Meredith's head drops back as she lets out a hysteric laugh, twirling to face the staircase. Arms wrap around her, lifting her off the ground, and the shield drops. Her feet touch the ground again as a face buries itself into her hair.
"Never, ever, ever, do that again," John breaths into her ear.
"I think I'll leave the hero-ing to you from now on," Meredith agrees.
"Ehhem." Meredith peaks over John's shoulder and sees Elizabeth, Peter, and Teyla. Elizabeth raises her eyebrow as Teyla and Peter smother their laughter, "Major Sheppard, don't you think Doctor McKay should probably be seen by Doctor Beckett?"
John takes a deep breath before releasing her, keeping an arm around her shoulders. He nods to Elizabeth and begins escorting Mare to Medical. Before they reach the door, Peter calls out to Meredith.
"Hey Mare?"
Mare turns to look at him. He's crouched in front of the gate. He grabs something before standing back up, "What do you want me to do with this?"
It's the shield, grey and inactive. Meredith looks at it for a second, "Put it in my lab. I think I can get it to work again."
They being walking again until John stops then at the door, "By the way Teyla, that, was a Hail Mary."
----------SGA----------SGA--------
Later, when John and Meredith are lying in bed, John wraps his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him. Her breaths are even, and her eyes are closed. She knows that he knows that she's not asleep.
"Please," He chokingly whispers in the darkness, his right hand over her heart, the other arm wrapped around her waist, "Please don't do something like that again. I can't lose you."
His arms tighten briefly before relaxing. She brings her right hand up to lay on top of his and intertwines their fingers, "I love you."
"God, Mare. I love you too."
Meredith smiles and snuggles deeper into her husband's embrace, feeling safe in Atlantis for the first time.