Flossy's Corner of Insanity
Chapter 5: Meeting the Others
“Sheppard, wait up!” Ronon called as he jogged after the soldier.
John spun around and gave the Satedan one of his grins. “Hey, Chewie, what’s up?”
Dex snorted a laugh at the nickname. Ever since Sheppard had introduced him and Teyla to Star Wars, Sheppard had taken to calling the big man that. Ronon wondered if he probably should have been offended at being compared to a hairy Wookie, but it was better than ‘Conan’.
Actually, he sort of liked that one too, despite telling McKay he didn’t. It was fun trying to keep the little man on his toes.
“I heard about that mirror thing,” he offered as they started to stroll down the corridor to the mess – one of the ex-runner’s favourite places. The cooks loved him, mainly because he ate anything that was put on his plate and wouldn’t complain like McKay.
As they walked, Ronon found himself feeling awkward and useless. Science wasn’t his thing, as he was quick to regularly point out. He barely understood McKay when he started to explain something, even if it was in layman’s terms. Unless they needed someone dead, or something in pieces, the former Specialist pretty much felt out of his depth.
Still, he reasoned, that was why they had the little man on the team in the first place. He was the brains, Sheppard was the leader, Teyla the negotiator and Ronon was the muscle. Worked for him.
“Yeah,” John said, looking sheepish. “Looks like we’ll have company for a while.”
Dex hadn’t met their copies yet, but had heard how eerily alike they were to their counterparts. That he had to see for himself. “So where are they?”
Sheppard bit his lip. “Well, Dr McKay is in the lab with Rodney trying to work out how to fix the problem, and as for my… other half…” He trailed off and shrugged. “I think he was going to get some sleep.”
“Sounds like you, Sheppard,” Ronon replied with a grin.
John snorted, but his expression turned serious. “Ronon, you should see him,” he said. “It’s… weird. I mean, okay, there’s going to be differences, but… I dunno.” He shuddered. “I don’t trust them,” he continued, lowering his voice. “There’s something about them that isn’t…” He shook his head. “Forget it. I’m just freaked out a little.”
“Getting territorial, huh?” the Satedan suggested, grinning.
“Maybe,” he replied.
“Don’t worry about it. McKay’ll fix it and have them back where they belong in no time.”
Sheppard looked surprised at the statement, but Ronon had an unwavering faith in the scientist. McKay was intelligent, but when the ex-runner had first met him, he wasn’t sure why he went off-world at all. Scientists were meant to stay in their laboratories, not charge head first into war. Eventually, though, Rodney had shown his courageous streak and it had made Dex look at him differently.
If anyone could solve the problem, McKay could.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” John grinned at his team-mate as he had an idea. “How about we invite Sheppard Mark II to lunch?”
They stopped outside the guest quarters and Sheppard rapped on the door. Ronon tried to keep his face neutral as it opened to reveal the Air Force man’s double.
“Hey,” Sheppard greeted, smiling – but Ronon could see that it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Colonel,” the other John replied. “And you must be Ronon,” he said, turning to the ex-runner.
“Yeah,” Ronon grunted. Dr Weir had briefed them on the new people after she’d heard what had happened, and he knew that in their dimension or whatever, they never found him on the run. But they’d had no need to go to the planet. Their Ford never got infected with the enzyme. Ronon often wondered where he’d be right now if Sheppard and Teyla hadn’t found him. Still running, he figured – or dead.
“You hungry?” Sheppard was asking. “We were just heading to the mess. It’s mystery meat for lunch.”
The other John nodded. “I could go for that,” he replied amiably.
He was trying too hard.
Ronon couldn’t help but think that. Like John, this Sheppard was laid-back, easy going and friendly, but there was more to it than that, something underneath the surface. It gave Dex the creeps. People who were nice all the time had something to hide in the big man’s book. And when this other Sheppard smiled, he saw a glimpse of something dark in his eyes that made his hand stray to his gun.
As they headed for the mess, Ronon’s hand never moved an inch.
As Teyla entered Rodney’s lab, she couldn’t help the small gasp that left her lips upon seeing Rodney’s other self. Both men wheeled around in surprise, but the Athosian found her voice had left her.
“Teyla?” called Rodney. “You okay? Did you need something?”
She shook her head mutely, still staring at the other Rodney McKay. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm and looked away to see Rodney urging her to sit on his lab stool.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. “You look a bit peaky. You’re not sick are you? Should I call Carson? Do you feel faint?”
Teyla blinked and focused on his face, seeing a mixture of concern and puzzlement. “No,” she managed, noting the concern underneath the panicky babbling. “I am fine. It was just…”
“Shock,” the other Rodney said in a hoarse whisper. “Teyla.”
She nodded, knowing the reason for his unease. “You have nothing to fear from me,” she replied. “I can assure you.”
“What?” he asked. “Oh. Oh. No, no, it’s fine. We know. I mean, Dr Weir explained it to us. It’s fine.” He looked away uncomfortably.
The young woman offered him a smile. “Good,” she agreed.
“Was there something you needed, Teyla?” asked Rodney, still hovering nervously.
“I simply came to invite you to join me for lunch,” she told them. “I believe John, the other Colonel Sheppard and Ronon are already at the mess hall.”
Rodney gave his team-mate a beaming smile and she couldn’t help but return it. He rarely smiled these days, which was a shame – it suited him to be happy, Teyla decided, made him look younger. “I’m starving,” he said enthusiastically. “How about you?” he asked, looking at John’s double.
The other Rodney nodded eagerly. “Famished.”
She stood and held out her arms in invitation. “Shall we?” she asked, indicating the door. She felt their presence behind her and walked out into the corridor.
Teyla heard them talking as they made their way to meet the others, but allowed it to wash over her. She was still shocked to discover that somewhere, in some other reality, she had made a deal with the Wraith – and betrayed those closest to her. She wasn’t foolish enough to think it was herself – her copy might have shared her name and looks, but the Athosian knew that it was not her.
It never would be.
She knew of a few cultures that had made such pacts, trying to cheat death at the hands of the monsters, but the very thought repulsed her. Wraith worshippers were treated like vermin among most of the peoples in this galaxy, and having encountered a few, she understood why. She would rather die than serve the creatures that took her father from her, and would never willingly betray her new family.
Family.
That was how Teyla saw her team, along with Carson, Elizabeth and the others. She knew that her feelings were echoed by them. The fact that we were not related by blood did not make them any less close.
As they drew nearer to the mess, she felt her nerves increase. She wondered how well John’s duplicate would react to her presence. The Athosian wasn’t afraid, knowing full well that her team-mates would not allow any harm to befall her, but she hoped that the other Sheppard would realise that she was not the same as the one who betrayed him.
The doors to the mess opened and they walked in. Teyla looked around and spotted John and the others sat at one of the balcony tables and waved to him. He looked up with a smile and waved back. Then she saw his double.
The look he gave her was close to hatred for a brief moment before he smiled and nodded. Ronon had seen it too, and narrowed his eyes at the pilot’s double before whispering something to John, who nodded slightly. Teyla felt a gentle tug on her arm and noticed that her Rodney was watching her with a curious look.
“Teyla?”
“I am sorry,” she said, moving forward in the queue. “I was distracted.”
He frowned, and sent a sharp look to the table, but shrugged and resumed his conversation with the other John. Teyla knew that he had seen the exchange and felt reassured as they collected their trays and joined the others.
As the trio took their seats, Rodney moved to place himself in between the Athosian and John’s other self – a simple gesture, but it relieved her nerves. She smiled her thanks and he raised an eyebrow before turning to John and Ronon.
“Gang’s all here,” John said, grinning as he took a bite out of his apple. “Sorry we started without you, but Ronon was hungry.”
“He’s always hungry, Sheppard,” Rodney replied before switching his gaze to the Satedan. “Where the hell do you put it all?”
“It’s called exercise, little man,” Ronon replied. “You might want to try it sometime.”
“Funny,” Rodney said, tucking into his lunch vigorously. “I’ll have you know I do exercise.”
“I do not believe that running for the Gate in blind panic can be counted,” Teyla teased, the easy banter calming her further.
“Teyla’s right,” John said, his eyes gleaming.
“Thank you for your expert opinion, Colonel.”
“Hey, I’m sorry,” John said, looking to his other self. “My manners are dreadful. Teyla, this is Colonel Sheppard. Colonel Sheppard, this is Teyla.” He gave a small headshake, feeling weird at having to essentially introduce himself.
“Pleased to meet you,” the other John said in a pleasant tone of voice.
“As it is for me,” Teyla replied, dipping her head in a greeting.
Through the rest of their lunch, she ate silently, listening to the various conversations. Rodney and his counterpart were talking about a test for the device, while Ronon, John and the other Sheppard were discussing training and other military things.
“Hey.”
Teyla looked up from her cup of tea to see John staring at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re pretty quiet.”
“I am fine,” she replied. “I was thinking.”
Next to her, Rodney stiffened slightly at the dubious look from John’s double.
“Okay,” John replied. “Listen, we were going to spar. Wanna join us?”
She nodded. “Very well,” she said, trying to cover her unease.
“Cool. We’ll meet you in the gym in an hour?”
“I will be there.” She stood up and picked up her tray. “If you will excuse me, I have to attend a meeting with Elizabeth. I will see you later.” It was all she could do not to run from the table.
As she left them, Teyla heard John asking for a progress report on the device – it seemed he was as uneasy as she was about the others.
Chapter 6: We Have a Problem
From the moment that his other self saw Teyla, John knew that things weren’t going to go down as well as he’d hoped. Fortunately, everyone else had seen the way he’d looked at her – it was John’s usual ‘I’m gonna start cracking heads’ glare, but about ten times as murderous.
‘Anyone would think that the guy had seen a Wraith,’ the pilot thought as he pulled and picked at his sandwich. He had an hour before he was meant to meet up to spar, and Ronon had offered to take Other-John to the gym to show him around. Sheppard watched as they left, and felt troubled.
“Sheppard?”
The Colonel looked over to Rodney and saw him and his double staring at him. “Sorry, Rodney, zoned out for a minute.”
McKay snorted a laugh and shook his head. “How the hell did you ever pass the MENSA test?”
“That’s for me to know and you to never find out,” John shot back. Other-Rodney looked down at his tray, obviously uncomfortable. The pilot really wanted to talk to his Rodney alone for a few minutes, and was wondering how to go about it when he spotted Radek out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, Dr Z!” he called, waving his arm in a ‘come hither’ kind of way.
Zelenka walked over, smiling. “Colonel, Rodney,” he greeted. “And you must be Dr McKay.”
“Rodney,” the other McKay said, extending a hand.
“A pleasure,” Radek replied, shaking the offered appendage. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, Z, the thing is, I was wondering if you could keep Dr McKay company for a while,” John said, still feeling weird. “I need to go over a mission report with Rodney.”
“What?” McKay piped up, blatantly clueless as usual. Sometimes, John really wondered how he hadn’t managed to get himself killed off-world yet.
“You know, Rodney,” Sheppard said, staring at him meaningfully, “the report on M4G-002. The one that Elizabeth wanted us to review for the next meeting.”
“Oh,” he said, then, “Oh,” as he finally caught the coded designation.
‘Thank God,’ thought John. The boys had set up that particular system a couple of years ago, so that they could indicate when they needed to talk about important things without an audience. Like, for instance, their next prank on Kavanaugh, surprise parties for people’s birthdays and occasionally more personal stuff. They also had a private radio channel for the same reason thanks to Rodney’s inventiveness.
“Yes, of course. Radek, could you…?” He waved his hands around aimlessly. Sometimes John wondered what would happen if Rodney’s hands stopped their aerial acrobatics.
“Certainly,” the engineer replied. “How long will you be?”
“Uh, hard to say, doc,” Sheppard said. “Depends on how many typos there are.”
“Then we shall meet you in the lab,” he said smoothly. The man was a master at hidden meanings.
‘Maybe I should get him to give Rodney a couple of lessons,’ John thought with a smirk.
“Is that okay with you, Rodney?” Zelenka asked.
“What? Oh, yes, fine. Just don’t mess with my laptop. I’ve got three simulations running on it.”
“I would never touch laptop,” Radek assured him. “I have no love of death by enraged Chief Scientist.”
They all laughed, but John gave an involuntary shudder at how cold Rodney’s copy sounded. It was starting to get seriously creepy. “Great. Thanks, Z, you’re a legend.” He got up and nodded at Other-McKay, then practically dragged Rodney from the table, ignoring the complaints. As they passed the counter to dump their trays, John snagged a chocolate muffin and presented it to his friend as a peace offering for cutting his lunch short.
The boys walked in silence until they reached the east balcony, and once outside, John took out his earpiece, motioning for Rodney to do the same. He gave the Colonel a baffled look but copied him.
“So what’s with the James Bond routine then?” he asked. “Or are you trying to give the rumour mill a stroke?”
John sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Look, Rodney, I…” How the hell was he going to put this?
“Anything that has you speechless has me intrigued,” the Canadian said, grinning slightly.
“I don’t trust them,” Sheppard blurted.
There. That wasn’t so hard, was it? John stood and waited for the inevitable explosion and rant about how he was being paranoid. Rodney’s reply, however, shocked him.
“Neither do I.”
The pilot had to admit that he hadn’t seen that one coming, and he suspected that the expression on his face showed it. “What?”
“There’s something hinky going on,” McKay continued. “For a start, there isn’t a chance in hell that the mirror would be one way. The Ancients wouldn’t build something like that without having some kind of get out option. They may not have been completely infallible, but they weren’t idiots.”
“Makes sense,” John replied. “Did you see the way my copy looked at Teyla?”
Rodney nodded, a look of disgust settling on his face. “Yeah. I’m sorry, I know that they had a bad experience with their version, but that doesn’t excuse them from acting like she’s a serial killer!”
“How did the other you take it?”
Rodney chewed his lip – and John knew from experience that it was a sure sign that he was nervous. “He was polite, but there was something about his reaction that I didn’t like,” his friend stated after a while. “I’m not exactly the best at reading people, but there was a definite weird vibe going on.”
“Weird vibe? Since when did we travel back to the Seventies?” John knew that they were having an important discussion, but he couldn’t help the jibe.
“Oh, knock it off,” Rodney snapped. “I’m serious.”
“Sorry.”
The scientist stretched his arms over his head, wincing as his shoulders cracked. The man needed to spend less time hunched over a computer, Sheppard decided. “What do we do?”
“Send them back as soon as possible,” John answered, his words coming out at a speed that would rival his Canadian colleague’s.
John really wanted them gone, with every last atom of his being. It was more than just unease or paranoia now. Normally, he wasn’t one for bad feelings or ‘vibes’ as Rodney insisted on calling it, but the American was getting the distinct impression that the longer they stayed, the worse things would get. It was like a cold, churning feeling in the base of his gut – and he’d learnt to listen to that over the years.
“Leave it to me, Sheppard,” McKay assured his team-mate. “I’ll have them back where they belong in no time.” He pulled the now considerably squashed muffin out of his pocket and broke it in half, presenting the slightly larger piece to John. He devoured his own in a couple of bites and the pilot shook his head.
“So,” Sheppard said through a mouth full of chocolate flavoured gooiness, “wanna watch Indiana Jones with us later?” He deliberately changed the subject, mostly to try and shake the lingering apprehension and maintain his cool, calm exterior.
“Which one?”
“Temple of Doom.”
“Sure.”
He finished the muffin and chased it down with a swig of water from his bottle. “Rodney,” he started.
“Yes, that’s still my name.”
“Just… just be careful, okay?” Alright, maybe he hadn’t quite gotten rid of the nervousness.
Rodney looked at John like the man had grown an extra head – which usually meant John had done or said something that he thought was ridiculously stupid. “Oh come on! You don’t think they’d try something in broad daylight with witnesses, do you?”
“I don’t know,” John replied honestly, although he wouldn’t bet any money on his team-mate’s assumption. “I’m gonna post a couple of Marines outside your lab, alright? Just to be on the safe side.”
“I don’t need…”
“No, Rodney,” John said, holding up a hand to prevent the forthcoming diatribe. “I’m serious. Please.”
He scowled at the Colonel, but nodded. “Fine. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Never said you did, buddy.”
With Sheppard’s portents of doom ringing in his ears, Rodney made his way back to the lab, intending to get the translations finished. That way, he could find out how to switch the damn thing into reverse and get shot of their houseguests.
He was the first person to admit that when it comes to social skills, he could be a bit… naïve. After all, he was not a people person. It was one of the reasons he chose science as a career: that and coming from a dysfunctional family. But even he knew that their doubles weren’t being entirely truthful. Something was nagging away at the back of his mind, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
It was like not being able to find the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
Sighing, he turned the corner…
…and was thrown into the wall as an explosion ripped through the corridor. He let out an agonized scream as he felt something snap in his left arm, but his adrenaline rocketed, helping him to ignore the pain. Dragging himself upright, he staggered over to the door of the lab, trying to ignore the pounding in his head and the blurred vision. All he could think of was that Radek had been in there.
As he reached out, strong arms clamped around his chest and tugged him back forcefully. Rodney yelled wordlessly, struggling to free himself, not hearing the stream of words from the owner of the arms. He raised his head, intending to argue and fight his way in when he saw that his rescuer was none other than his second in command. “Radek!”
“Rodney,” he replied, dragging McKay away from the fire and smoke.
“I thought… I thought you were… The lab, in the lab…” Rodney’s words came out as jumbled as he was feeling.
“No,” the Czech confirmed. “Is not your lab, Rodney. Wrong corridor.”
McKay looked about and realised that he was right. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he must have selected the wrong level on the transporter display – they were two floors below, in the engineering department. “Guess so,” he mumbled, wincing as the pain behind his eyes started to resonate with the warning klaxons. “What the hell happened? And… where did you come from?”
Radek pointed upwards. “Your lab, priteli. We heard explosion, you see,” he added, obviously seeing the confusion on his friend’s face. “I came down to investigate, call in help and find you about to run into fire like man possessed.”
Rodney blinked furiously as his vision started to grey out. That was all he needed – another concussion to add to the one he’d received the day before, and a broken arm to top it all off. Carson was going to kill him.
“He will not. Yell, maybe, but never resort to physical harm,” Zelenka said with a wry grin. Rodney realised that he must have said that last bit out loud.
“Hope you’re right,” he replied before the blackness crept up and sucker-punched him.
When he woke up, Rodney found himself in the infirmary looking up at a very concerned and very angry John Sheppard. Luckily it was his version of the man or he might have wigged out. “Hey,” he managed to croak, his throat feeling like sandpaper. Glancing down, he noticed the cast on his left arm and grimaced.
“Hey,” John replied, the anger fading slightly. “How’re you feeling?”
“Like I was almost blown up,” Rodney told him with an eye roll. He regretted that instantly as the throbbing in his head upped the ante. Sheppard must have seen it because the next thing he knew, Carson had appeared and was injecting his IV line. After a couple of minutes, the pain was replaced by the comforting and familiar feeling of the Scot’s good drugs – the ‘makes you slightly loopy’ kind.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Beckett admonished, looking years older. “You half scared us all to death!”
“Sorry,” Rodney managed. “In my defence, I didn’t do anything. It was just an accident. I pushed the wrong button in the transporter.”
“More like right place, right time,” John growled.
McKay swallowed. “You think this was deliberate?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but I sure as hell intend to find out.”
Before he could ask Sheppard what he meant, Radek came running into the infirmary at full pelt. Rodney was amazed – the guy might have been small, but he could really run when the occasion called for it. “We have… Oh, Rodney, hello, feeling better yes? Good. We have a problem.”
“What?” McKay demanded, trying to fight through his drug induced haze. “What do you mean, ‘problem’?”
The engineer looked down at the floor, seeming to want to shrink away. “Is mirror,” he replied quietly. “The internal power source is broken.”
“Meaning what?” asked Sheppard.
“Meaning that it won’t work,” Rodney answered, a chill creeping though him. “Without the power supply, it won’t activate. Meaning…”
“That our new friends can’t go home,” John finished.
“Could you not just hook it up to a couple of Naquadah generators?” asked Carson.
Rodney sighed. Beckett was the king of all things voodoo, but when it came to real science, he was completely clueless. “No,” he replied, trying not to snarl. “For several reasons actually…” He let out a small groan and sank back down against the pillows, motioning for Radek to explain.
“They are not compatible,” he said simply. “Will not work. They do not create enough power.”
“So, bottom line?” asked John.
“Bottom line, Sheppard,” Rodney said quietly, “is that unless we can either fix the power unit somehow or find a suitable replacement, our twins are going nowhere.”
Chapter 7: How to Catch a Rat
“Carson!”
Rodney was not at all happy.
He’d been poked, prodded, blinded by a damn penlight and woken up every hour without fail to answer inane questions that even Teyla would’ve gotten pissy with, but he was finally being released from Beckett’s overprotective clutches. At first, he’d been overjoyed at his sudden freedom – until the Scotsman had dropped his (not entirely shocking) bombshell.
“No, Rodney, I mean it. You are not to go anywhere near your lab or that mirror for at least forty eight hours.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Rodney McKay, you listen up. You’ve had two concussions in the space of two days, not to mention pins in your arm! You need to rest and you’ll not be able to do that if you’re staring at a bloody laptop.”
The Canadian growled in frustration. The more time he spent away from the mirror, the longer it would take to send the alternate Sheppard and McKay back to where they belonged. “Please, Carson,” he asked quietly, his blue eyes pleading, “I promise not to overdo it. I’ll even get Radek to help.”
It was hard saying no to his friend, but Beckett stood his ground. “My decision is final,” he stated, placing his hands on his hips as he squared off against McKay. When he saw the flicker of hurt in the Canadian’s eyes, his expression softened. “I’m sorry, mo chara, but it would be irresponsible of me as a doctor to let you go back to work so soon.”
“I’m not going to persuade you, am I?” Rodney asked sadly.
Carson shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Uh, I could carry on if you’d like.”
Both men turned at the sound of the third voice to find McKay’s double standing in the doorway.
“Excuse me?” Rodney demanded.
“I… I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation,” the other McKay said, wringing his hands nervously. Seeing the unhappy look on his counterpart’s face, he continued quickly, “Look, me and Sheppard just want to go home, so why not let me help? I’m you, after all, aren’t I? We seem to share the same thought processes, so what harm could it do?”
“Well, for a start…”
“I think that’s a grand idea, lad,” Carson said, talking over his McKay before the ranting began. “What do you say, Rodney?”
“You’ll have to square it with Elizabeth,” the scientist eventually conceded sulkily.
“Already did,” his double replied with a smug smile.
“Guess it’s settled then,” Rodney grumbled as they watched the man walk away. “And don’t even think about saying it,” he growled at Beckett.
“As if I would,” the Scotsman replied innocently, knowing full well that was exactly what the Canadian would have done if their roles had been reversed. “Now go on with you and hop it, son. And remember, I’ll know if you’ve been in the lab,” he called to his friend’s retreating back.
“This won’t end well,” Rodney muttered darkly. “You’ll see.”
“Hey.”
John’s head jerked up at the soft greeting and he smiled at the owner of the voice. “Hey yourself, buddy,” he replied. “Did the doc cut you loose or did Z spring you?”
“Last time I checked, hospital escapes were your field of expertise, Colonel,” Rodney answered coolly, though his eyes glinted with mischief.
“You have a point,” Sheppard agreed amiably, but his boyish features hardened as he took in his team-mate’s battered appearance. Rodney was still far too pale for his liking, with dark smudges under his eyes and the uncomfortable looking cast on his arm. “Did you need me?”
McKay shifted guiltily. “I, uh, wondered if maybe… you wanted a hand?”
“You’ve only got one spare,” John retorted with a grin.
“Well, yes, but… you see, the thing is…”
The Air Force man raised an eyebrow as understanding dawned. “You were banned from the lab, weren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
John shook his head in disbelief. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he asked, knowing from experience what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Beckett’s wrath.
He still had the scars to prove it.
”Hey, Carson said not to go into my lab,” Rodney replied innocently. “He never said anything about engineering.”
The Colonel bit back an amused laugh. As much as he wanted his friend to actually follow Beckett’s orders, having the man with him was probably much safer. “Okay, Rodney,” he said with an affectionate grin. “On one condition.”
McKay’s eyes lit up excitedly. “Name it.”
John motioned to the stool next to him. “Sit down before I have to pick your ass up off the floor.” He nodded happily to himself as the Canadian did as he was told.
“What have you found?” Rodney asked, eager to get to the bottom of the mystery of the exploding lab.
Sheppard’s face darkened as he picked up a small object from the workbench in front of him. “Take a look.”
The Canadian frowned as he peered at the item in his friend’s hand, but it soon turned to a look of horror. “Oh my God,” he breathed. “Is that...?”
“C4,” John confirmed. “The explosion wasn’t an accident.” He took a breath before continuing, “I think someone planted a small charge and rigged it for remote detonation.”
“And all they’d need to do would be to hack into the security cameras and wait,” Rodney finished, feeling a chill creep up his spine. “Can I use your laptop?” he asked, pointing at the computer.
“Be my guest,” John replied, moving it across the table. “What are you doing?”
“Just give me a minute,” the scientist muttered, typing furiously with his good hand. While he worked, the pilot marvelled at how quickly his team-mate was working even with his obvious handicap.
“Ha!” Rodney crowed after a couple of minutes.
“What?”
“I just retrieved the surveillance footage from yesterday,” McKay replied, looking smug. He typed in a command and the boys began to watch the playback.
For several minutes, nothing happened. Seeing John growing impatient, Rodney hit the fast forward key, only stopping when a lone figure wearing all-black and a cap appeared on screen. From the person’s height and build, the boys knew it was a man and they watched as he entered the lab. Rodney typed on the keyboard again and the picture changed to the footage from the camera inside the lab. The mystery man pulled a small bundle from his pocket, attaching it to the underside of one of the workbenches before stepping back out into the corridor. Another flurry of typing and the video moved back outside again.
The whole thing had taken less than three minutes.
“Son of a bitch,” John breathed.
Rodney nodded mutely, allowing the recording to play on. When it came to the actual explosion, he shut his eyes and looked away, not wanting to see how close he had come to ending up as a smear on the wall.
John’s jaw clenched tightly when he witnessed the damage inflicted on his geek. He was glad that Rodney had kept the sound turned off, but when he saw the scientist screaming silently, it seemed even worse somehow. He’d been in the gym with the others when the announcement had come over the radio and for one horrible moment, John had feared the worst.
He glanced over to Rodney, noticing how the man had paled even further, and reached out to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. The small tremors he felt under his fingertips made his anger grow so he quickly reached over and stopped the recording.
“I’m gonna nail them to the fucking door,” the pilot hissed.
“Who?” asked Rodney, confused. They hadn’t seen the man’s face thanks to the way the cap had been pulled down low.
Sheppard gave him an arch look. “Who d’you think, Answer Man?”
“The other us? Come on, Sheppard, you can’t be serious.”
“Trust me, Rodney, I know the way I move when I don’t want to be seen,” John insisted. “And seeing as how I was out on the balcony with you at the time, that only leaves one explanation.”
“Your evil twin,” Rodney finished. “So, what? He planted the C4 while other me messed with the transporter?”
John nodded. “Had to have been.” He narrowed his eyes as a thought struck him. “Don’t your team have a… a what do you call it?” He snapped his fingers as he struggled to find the right word. “…A command input list or something?”
McKay thought for a moment before nodding. “Or something,” he agreed, once again typing on the keyboard. “There you go,” he said when the computer beeped happily at him. “The command code log,” he explained with rarely seen patience as Sheppard stared uncomprehendingly at the stream of numbers filling the screen. “If you give me a minute, I can find out who did the dirty on the transporter controls.”
Two minutes later, they had their answer. “You’re slipping, buddy,” John quipped, “but seeing as how you’re banged up and all, I’ll let it slide this time.”
“Oh, thank you very much!”
“Take it as a compliment.”
“Rat bastard.”
“Hey, I was only kidding!”
“Not you, dumbass.” He pointed at the screen, motioning to the code that had given them their suspect – his code…
“Oh.”
Rodney sighed. “Yeah… Oh fuck!”
“What?” asked John, alarmed by his friend’s sudden outburst.
“I let him help Radek!”
Before either of them could say anything else, the overhead tannoy exploded into life.
“Code Green! I repeat, Code Green! Security to Dr McKay’s lab!”
The boys were out of the door and halfway down the corridor before the announcement had finished. The proverbial shit had hit the metaphysical fan – Code Green was a hostage situation.
McKay’s double had Radek.
Chapter 8: The Art of Negotiation
The boys skidded to a halt outside McKay’s lab. The marine guard that John had posted was nowhere to be seen and the pilot felt his stomach sink. Beside him, Rodney looked ready to kill – nobody messed with his science teams and lived to talk about it. Silently counting down from three, John swiped a hand over the door control and they entered the lab cautiously, not knowing what they might find.
“I wondered when you’d get here.”
McKay’s double was holding a limp looking Radek in a choke hold, a knife pressed against the engineer’s side.
“Let him go,” Rodney demanded.
“Why would I want to do that?” asked his counterpart, genuinely confused.
“Let’s just calm down and talk about this,” John said, slowly inching forward. He held his hands out in front of him, in what he hoped was a non-threatening gesture.
Unfortunately, the alternate McKay didn’t see it that way. “Stay where you are!”
The Colonel froze on the spot, not liking the manic edge to Other-Rodney’s voice.
“Why are you doing this?” Rodney asked softly. “I thought you wanted to go home?”
“Christ, I can’t believe how naïve you are,” his double snarled. “This is almost too easy.”
“What are you talking about?” John challenged.
The alternate McKay simply tilted his head to the side and smiled, sending shudders down the boys’ backs. It was clear that the man in front of them was unbalanced and the last thing either of them wanted to do was tip him over the edge. After all, there was no telling what he might do to Zelenka.
It was only then that John saw his marines.
The men were slumped on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Sheppard looked over at McKay’s twin with a murderous glare. “What’ve you done to my men?”
Rodney two smiled serenely. “Oh, don’t worry about them, Colonel. They’re just asleep.” As he spoke, he switched the knife to the hand wrapped around Zelenka’s throat and pulled out a small device from his pocket: it was a tiny cube, about the size of a nickel. “Cute, isn’t it?” he asked, sounding like Rodney did whenever he found a cool new device to play with. “It’s kind of like an Ancient version of a flash-bang. Unfortunately, it only seems to work on non ATA carriers, but it looks like I got lucky in that regard.”
“If you’ve hurt them…”
“Please, Colonel, what do you take me for? A psychopath?” Other-Rodney asked, sounding upset at the implication. “They’ll be fine.” He frowned for a moment before adding, ”Well, they’ll have a bitch of a headache when they wake up, but other than that there’s no lasting damage.” An evil grin appeared as he added, “Although I’ve never tested it on live subjects before.”
“Look, just let Radek go,” Rodney pleaded, not liking the way the Czech was listing to the side.
“Can’t do that, Roddy,” the other McKay sing-songed. “But I’ll tell you what. How about you call off the reinforcements? Do that for me and I won’t kill your friend.”
“You even scratch him and I’ll make you wish you were never born!”
“Ah, ah, ah! Bad Rodney.” The man’s eyes flashed with anger and the knife was brought back into view. “Call them off or I’ll kill him.”
John and Rodney didn’t doubt that for a second.
Nodding to his team-mate, John quickly reached up to his headset and barked out the order along with a hasty explanation about it being a false alarm. Once he received a confirmation, he looked back to McKay number two. “Done,” he said. “Now how about you let the doc go?”
“I don’t think so, John,” Other-Rodney replied.
Before he could answer, something hard connected with the back of his skull, knocking him out cold.
“Sheppard!” Rodney cried out as he saw the Air Force man collapse in a boneless heap. This can’t be happening…
Sheppard’s double stepped forward from the shadows, throwing a length of blood stained metal piping to the floor. “Hi, kids,” he greeted cheerfully as he manoeuvred his way around John’s prostrate body. “Did ya miss me?”
McKay tried hard to push away the surge of panic gripping his gut. He went to move over to his unconscious team-mate, but the other John stepped in front of him.
“Now, now, Dr McKay, be sensible,” Sheppard’s copy scolded with a dark smile. “I hit him pretty hard once and you wouldn’t want me to cause any more damage, would you?”
Rodney wanted to scream but nothing got past his impossibly tight throat. Instead, he shook his head and backed off slightly. It was at that moment that he realised John’s double wasn’t wearing his original uniform but one of Sheppard’s.
The confusion must have shown on his face because the alternate John laughed. “You’re coming on a little field trip, doc,” he said.
“Where?” Rodney managed to croak.
“Now that would be telling, buddy.”
“Alright, why then?”
“Because I said so.”
Fuck…
“What if I don’t want to?” the Canadian challenged.
“Then it’s simple,” Sheppard’s twin replied with a savage laugh. “I’ll kill both of them.”
Seeing the murderous gleam in the man’s eyes, Rodney didn’t need to be told twice. “But won’t everyone get suspicious if both of us gate off-world?” he asked desperately, looking to his double.
Come on, genius, think! Rodney could hear John’s voice in his head, baiting him, and he found himself calming. Keep ‘em talking… He glanced over to the Colonel’s worryingly still body, feeling the band of panic in his chest easing as he saw John’s upper body rising and falling in a smooth, steady rhythm.
There was a dull thunk as the alternate McKay dropped Radek to the floor. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that,” he said. “No one’s going to see me.” He pushed up his jacket sleeve to reveal a Sodan cloaking device attached to his arm.
He was so screwed.
“So here’s how it’s gonna go down,” the alternate John stated, wrapping an arm around Rodney’s shoulders in a twisted parody of his Sheppard’s friendly mannerism. “Me and you are gonna walk out of here, calm as you like, and you’re going to act like nothing’s wrong. McKay’ll follow us. We’re going to go to the control room then gate off-world.” He leant in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. “And if you try to run or raise the alarm…” he trailed off, glancing pointedly at John and Radek.
The subtle threat wasn’t lost on Rodney. Co-operate or else. He nodded, trembling under the other Sheppard’s arm.
“Good boy!” Other-John declared. “Now then, buddy, what say we go on that trip?”
As he was ushered from the lab, he saw his counterpart activate the wrist band and shift out of phase. The alternate John led him towards the control room, greeting the various personnel they passed on the way – the act put on by the man made Rodney feel sick to his stomach. Why couldn’t anyone see that it wasn’t their John? Despite wanting nothing more than to scream for help, the physicist kept his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for something happening to Sheppard and Zelenka.
After what felt like hours, they finally arrived at the Gate room.
“John, Rodney?” Elizabeth called. “What happened in the lab?”
“False alarm,” John’s copy answered smoothly. “One of the marines I posted had a bet on who’d arrive first in an emergency.”
Rodney saw her lips purse, and for a split second, he wondered if she’d rumbled them.
Come on, Elizabeth, he pleaded silently. Come on…
“I see,” she replied. “I hope you dealt with the individual concerned?”
Oh hell, woman! Get with the programme! This isn’t our John Sheppard!
The alternate Sheppard smiled. “He’s learnt his lesson, right, Rodney?”
“Y-yes.”
“Rodney? Are you okay?” Weir asked, frowning.
The Canadian felt a not so gentle nudge in his ribs, a less than subtle reminder to keep up his end of the deal. “I’m fine,” he said, trying hard to sound convincing. “Just… just a little tired.”
“We were thinking about heading to P3X-433 for a couple of hours,” John’s double added. “Rodney could use some R and R.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” the dark haired woman replied. “But what about our new friends?”
“They’re holed up in the lab,” Rodney said quickly. Judging from the look he got from his captor, he was going to pay for that.
“Z wanted them for some test or other,” Other-John stated smoothly. “So we figured we’d give the guy some space.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Alright, boys, you can go.”
No! thought Rodney desperately as Chuck began to dial the Gate. He tried to tug his arm free of the alternate Sheppard’s grip, but the man’s hand tightened painfully.
“We had an agreement, Rodney,” he hissed, “and I’m not the sort of man who doesn’t make good on his threats.”
Realising that he wasn’t going to get out of this one, Rodney stilled as the Gate activated.
“Come on, buddy,” Other-John said cheerfully. As they approached the event horizon, a startled shout came from one of the technicians. Before he could cry out, Rodney was dragged into the wormhole.
John’s head was pounding unmercifully as he ran down the corridor.
He could feel the blood trickling down his neck, but he ignored it along with the confused looks he was getting from passers-by. He had started to come round just in time to hear what his twin’s plan was, but had played possum for fear of endangering Rodney or anyone else. Waiting in the lab was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do, so once he figured the coast was clear, he’d radioed for a med team and run.
He flew up the stairs leading to the Gate room to see Rodney being shoved through the event horizon.
Pushing past a technician, he launched himself at the wormhole… and landed with a painful thump on the floor as it shut down. Groaning, he dragged himself upright, swaying on the spot as the room span.
“Colonel Sheppard?”
He turned quickly, grateful that he was close to the Gate. Latching onto it, he focused his fuzzy vision and saw Elizabeth approaching him.
“No,” he said. “I mean, yes, but it’s me. John. The man with Rodney was him. You know, the other one.” He wondered if his slurred words were making any sense.
“What?” Weir asked.
John decided to try a different tactic. “Where’d they go?”
“John? But I don’t understand! You were just here…”
“Where did they go, Elizabeth?”
A look of horror passed across the expedition leader’s face as everything slotted into place. “P3X-433,” she replied quietly.
“Get Lorne and a jumper out there,” John demanded, sinking to his knees as his head injury caught up with him. He felt hands latch onto him as the ground rushed up to meet him and heard a panicked shout for medical assistance.
Then the world went blissfully dark.
Click here for Part 3.
“Sheppard, wait up!” Ronon called as he jogged after the soldier.
John spun around and gave the Satedan one of his grins. “Hey, Chewie, what’s up?”
Dex snorted a laugh at the nickname. Ever since Sheppard had introduced him and Teyla to Star Wars, Sheppard had taken to calling the big man that. Ronon wondered if he probably should have been offended at being compared to a hairy Wookie, but it was better than ‘Conan’.
Actually, he sort of liked that one too, despite telling McKay he didn’t. It was fun trying to keep the little man on his toes.
“I heard about that mirror thing,” he offered as they started to stroll down the corridor to the mess – one of the ex-runner’s favourite places. The cooks loved him, mainly because he ate anything that was put on his plate and wouldn’t complain like McKay.
As they walked, Ronon found himself feeling awkward and useless. Science wasn’t his thing, as he was quick to regularly point out. He barely understood McKay when he started to explain something, even if it was in layman’s terms. Unless they needed someone dead, or something in pieces, the former Specialist pretty much felt out of his depth.
Still, he reasoned, that was why they had the little man on the team in the first place. He was the brains, Sheppard was the leader, Teyla the negotiator and Ronon was the muscle. Worked for him.
“Yeah,” John said, looking sheepish. “Looks like we’ll have company for a while.”
Dex hadn’t met their copies yet, but had heard how eerily alike they were to their counterparts. That he had to see for himself. “So where are they?”
Sheppard bit his lip. “Well, Dr McKay is in the lab with Rodney trying to work out how to fix the problem, and as for my… other half…” He trailed off and shrugged. “I think he was going to get some sleep.”
“Sounds like you, Sheppard,” Ronon replied with a grin.
John snorted, but his expression turned serious. “Ronon, you should see him,” he said. “It’s… weird. I mean, okay, there’s going to be differences, but… I dunno.” He shuddered. “I don’t trust them,” he continued, lowering his voice. “There’s something about them that isn’t…” He shook his head. “Forget it. I’m just freaked out a little.”
“Getting territorial, huh?” the Satedan suggested, grinning.
“Maybe,” he replied.
“Don’t worry about it. McKay’ll fix it and have them back where they belong in no time.”
Sheppard looked surprised at the statement, but Ronon had an unwavering faith in the scientist. McKay was intelligent, but when the ex-runner had first met him, he wasn’t sure why he went off-world at all. Scientists were meant to stay in their laboratories, not charge head first into war. Eventually, though, Rodney had shown his courageous streak and it had made Dex look at him differently.
If anyone could solve the problem, McKay could.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” John grinned at his team-mate as he had an idea. “How about we invite Sheppard Mark II to lunch?”
They stopped outside the guest quarters and Sheppard rapped on the door. Ronon tried to keep his face neutral as it opened to reveal the Air Force man’s double.
“Hey,” Sheppard greeted, smiling – but Ronon could see that it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Colonel,” the other John replied. “And you must be Ronon,” he said, turning to the ex-runner.
“Yeah,” Ronon grunted. Dr Weir had briefed them on the new people after she’d heard what had happened, and he knew that in their dimension or whatever, they never found him on the run. But they’d had no need to go to the planet. Their Ford never got infected with the enzyme. Ronon often wondered where he’d be right now if Sheppard and Teyla hadn’t found him. Still running, he figured – or dead.
“You hungry?” Sheppard was asking. “We were just heading to the mess. It’s mystery meat for lunch.”
The other John nodded. “I could go for that,” he replied amiably.
He was trying too hard.
Ronon couldn’t help but think that. Like John, this Sheppard was laid-back, easy going and friendly, but there was more to it than that, something underneath the surface. It gave Dex the creeps. People who were nice all the time had something to hide in the big man’s book. And when this other Sheppard smiled, he saw a glimpse of something dark in his eyes that made his hand stray to his gun.
As they headed for the mess, Ronon’s hand never moved an inch.
As Teyla entered Rodney’s lab, she couldn’t help the small gasp that left her lips upon seeing Rodney’s other self. Both men wheeled around in surprise, but the Athosian found her voice had left her.
“Teyla?” called Rodney. “You okay? Did you need something?”
She shook her head mutely, still staring at the other Rodney McKay. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm and looked away to see Rodney urging her to sit on his lab stool.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. “You look a bit peaky. You’re not sick are you? Should I call Carson? Do you feel faint?”
Teyla blinked and focused on his face, seeing a mixture of concern and puzzlement. “No,” she managed, noting the concern underneath the panicky babbling. “I am fine. It was just…”
“Shock,” the other Rodney said in a hoarse whisper. “Teyla.”
She nodded, knowing the reason for his unease. “You have nothing to fear from me,” she replied. “I can assure you.”
“What?” he asked. “Oh. Oh. No, no, it’s fine. We know. I mean, Dr Weir explained it to us. It’s fine.” He looked away uncomfortably.
The young woman offered him a smile. “Good,” she agreed.
“Was there something you needed, Teyla?” asked Rodney, still hovering nervously.
“I simply came to invite you to join me for lunch,” she told them. “I believe John, the other Colonel Sheppard and Ronon are already at the mess hall.”
Rodney gave his team-mate a beaming smile and she couldn’t help but return it. He rarely smiled these days, which was a shame – it suited him to be happy, Teyla decided, made him look younger. “I’m starving,” he said enthusiastically. “How about you?” he asked, looking at John’s double.
The other Rodney nodded eagerly. “Famished.”
She stood and held out her arms in invitation. “Shall we?” she asked, indicating the door. She felt their presence behind her and walked out into the corridor.
Teyla heard them talking as they made their way to meet the others, but allowed it to wash over her. She was still shocked to discover that somewhere, in some other reality, she had made a deal with the Wraith – and betrayed those closest to her. She wasn’t foolish enough to think it was herself – her copy might have shared her name and looks, but the Athosian knew that it was not her.
It never would be.
She knew of a few cultures that had made such pacts, trying to cheat death at the hands of the monsters, but the very thought repulsed her. Wraith worshippers were treated like vermin among most of the peoples in this galaxy, and having encountered a few, she understood why. She would rather die than serve the creatures that took her father from her, and would never willingly betray her new family.
Family.
That was how Teyla saw her team, along with Carson, Elizabeth and the others. She knew that her feelings were echoed by them. The fact that we were not related by blood did not make them any less close.
As they drew nearer to the mess, she felt her nerves increase. She wondered how well John’s duplicate would react to her presence. The Athosian wasn’t afraid, knowing full well that her team-mates would not allow any harm to befall her, but she hoped that the other Sheppard would realise that she was not the same as the one who betrayed him.
The doors to the mess opened and they walked in. Teyla looked around and spotted John and the others sat at one of the balcony tables and waved to him. He looked up with a smile and waved back. Then she saw his double.
The look he gave her was close to hatred for a brief moment before he smiled and nodded. Ronon had seen it too, and narrowed his eyes at the pilot’s double before whispering something to John, who nodded slightly. Teyla felt a gentle tug on her arm and noticed that her Rodney was watching her with a curious look.
“Teyla?”
“I am sorry,” she said, moving forward in the queue. “I was distracted.”
He frowned, and sent a sharp look to the table, but shrugged and resumed his conversation with the other John. Teyla knew that he had seen the exchange and felt reassured as they collected their trays and joined the others.
As the trio took their seats, Rodney moved to place himself in between the Athosian and John’s other self – a simple gesture, but it relieved her nerves. She smiled her thanks and he raised an eyebrow before turning to John and Ronon.
“Gang’s all here,” John said, grinning as he took a bite out of his apple. “Sorry we started without you, but Ronon was hungry.”
“He’s always hungry, Sheppard,” Rodney replied before switching his gaze to the Satedan. “Where the hell do you put it all?”
“It’s called exercise, little man,” Ronon replied. “You might want to try it sometime.”
“Funny,” Rodney said, tucking into his lunch vigorously. “I’ll have you know I do exercise.”
“I do not believe that running for the Gate in blind panic can be counted,” Teyla teased, the easy banter calming her further.
“Teyla’s right,” John said, his eyes gleaming.
“Thank you for your expert opinion, Colonel.”
“Hey, I’m sorry,” John said, looking to his other self. “My manners are dreadful. Teyla, this is Colonel Sheppard. Colonel Sheppard, this is Teyla.” He gave a small headshake, feeling weird at having to essentially introduce himself.
“Pleased to meet you,” the other John said in a pleasant tone of voice.
“As it is for me,” Teyla replied, dipping her head in a greeting.
Through the rest of their lunch, she ate silently, listening to the various conversations. Rodney and his counterpart were talking about a test for the device, while Ronon, John and the other Sheppard were discussing training and other military things.
“Hey.”
Teyla looked up from her cup of tea to see John staring at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re pretty quiet.”
“I am fine,” she replied. “I was thinking.”
Next to her, Rodney stiffened slightly at the dubious look from John’s double.
“Okay,” John replied. “Listen, we were going to spar. Wanna join us?”
She nodded. “Very well,” she said, trying to cover her unease.
“Cool. We’ll meet you in the gym in an hour?”
“I will be there.” She stood up and picked up her tray. “If you will excuse me, I have to attend a meeting with Elizabeth. I will see you later.” It was all she could do not to run from the table.
As she left them, Teyla heard John asking for a progress report on the device – it seemed he was as uneasy as she was about the others.
Chapter 6: We Have a Problem
From the moment that his other self saw Teyla, John knew that things weren’t going to go down as well as he’d hoped. Fortunately, everyone else had seen the way he’d looked at her – it was John’s usual ‘I’m gonna start cracking heads’ glare, but about ten times as murderous.
‘Anyone would think that the guy had seen a Wraith,’ the pilot thought as he pulled and picked at his sandwich. He had an hour before he was meant to meet up to spar, and Ronon had offered to take Other-John to the gym to show him around. Sheppard watched as they left, and felt troubled.
“Sheppard?”
The Colonel looked over to Rodney and saw him and his double staring at him. “Sorry, Rodney, zoned out for a minute.”
McKay snorted a laugh and shook his head. “How the hell did you ever pass the MENSA test?”
“That’s for me to know and you to never find out,” John shot back. Other-Rodney looked down at his tray, obviously uncomfortable. The pilot really wanted to talk to his Rodney alone for a few minutes, and was wondering how to go about it when he spotted Radek out of the corner of his eye. “Hey, Dr Z!” he called, waving his arm in a ‘come hither’ kind of way.
Zelenka walked over, smiling. “Colonel, Rodney,” he greeted. “And you must be Dr McKay.”
“Rodney,” the other McKay said, extending a hand.
“A pleasure,” Radek replied, shaking the offered appendage. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, Z, the thing is, I was wondering if you could keep Dr McKay company for a while,” John said, still feeling weird. “I need to go over a mission report with Rodney.”
“What?” McKay piped up, blatantly clueless as usual. Sometimes, John really wondered how he hadn’t managed to get himself killed off-world yet.
“You know, Rodney,” Sheppard said, staring at him meaningfully, “the report on M4G-002. The one that Elizabeth wanted us to review for the next meeting.”
“Oh,” he said, then, “Oh,” as he finally caught the coded designation.
‘Thank God,’ thought John. The boys had set up that particular system a couple of years ago, so that they could indicate when they needed to talk about important things without an audience. Like, for instance, their next prank on Kavanaugh, surprise parties for people’s birthdays and occasionally more personal stuff. They also had a private radio channel for the same reason thanks to Rodney’s inventiveness.
“Yes, of course. Radek, could you…?” He waved his hands around aimlessly. Sometimes John wondered what would happen if Rodney’s hands stopped their aerial acrobatics.
“Certainly,” the engineer replied. “How long will you be?”
“Uh, hard to say, doc,” Sheppard said. “Depends on how many typos there are.”
“Then we shall meet you in the lab,” he said smoothly. The man was a master at hidden meanings.
‘Maybe I should get him to give Rodney a couple of lessons,’ John thought with a smirk.
“Is that okay with you, Rodney?” Zelenka asked.
“What? Oh, yes, fine. Just don’t mess with my laptop. I’ve got three simulations running on it.”
“I would never touch laptop,” Radek assured him. “I have no love of death by enraged Chief Scientist.”
They all laughed, but John gave an involuntary shudder at how cold Rodney’s copy sounded. It was starting to get seriously creepy. “Great. Thanks, Z, you’re a legend.” He got up and nodded at Other-McKay, then practically dragged Rodney from the table, ignoring the complaints. As they passed the counter to dump their trays, John snagged a chocolate muffin and presented it to his friend as a peace offering for cutting his lunch short.
The boys walked in silence until they reached the east balcony, and once outside, John took out his earpiece, motioning for Rodney to do the same. He gave the Colonel a baffled look but copied him.
“So what’s with the James Bond routine then?” he asked. “Or are you trying to give the rumour mill a stroke?”
John sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Look, Rodney, I…” How the hell was he going to put this?
“Anything that has you speechless has me intrigued,” the Canadian said, grinning slightly.
“I don’t trust them,” Sheppard blurted.
There. That wasn’t so hard, was it? John stood and waited for the inevitable explosion and rant about how he was being paranoid. Rodney’s reply, however, shocked him.
“Neither do I.”
The pilot had to admit that he hadn’t seen that one coming, and he suspected that the expression on his face showed it. “What?”
“There’s something hinky going on,” McKay continued. “For a start, there isn’t a chance in hell that the mirror would be one way. The Ancients wouldn’t build something like that without having some kind of get out option. They may not have been completely infallible, but they weren’t idiots.”
“Makes sense,” John replied. “Did you see the way my copy looked at Teyla?”
Rodney nodded, a look of disgust settling on his face. “Yeah. I’m sorry, I know that they had a bad experience with their version, but that doesn’t excuse them from acting like she’s a serial killer!”
“How did the other you take it?”
Rodney chewed his lip – and John knew from experience that it was a sure sign that he was nervous. “He was polite, but there was something about his reaction that I didn’t like,” his friend stated after a while. “I’m not exactly the best at reading people, but there was a definite weird vibe going on.”
“Weird vibe? Since when did we travel back to the Seventies?” John knew that they were having an important discussion, but he couldn’t help the jibe.
“Oh, knock it off,” Rodney snapped. “I’m serious.”
“Sorry.”
The scientist stretched his arms over his head, wincing as his shoulders cracked. The man needed to spend less time hunched over a computer, Sheppard decided. “What do we do?”
“Send them back as soon as possible,” John answered, his words coming out at a speed that would rival his Canadian colleague’s.
John really wanted them gone, with every last atom of his being. It was more than just unease or paranoia now. Normally, he wasn’t one for bad feelings or ‘vibes’ as Rodney insisted on calling it, but the American was getting the distinct impression that the longer they stayed, the worse things would get. It was like a cold, churning feeling in the base of his gut – and he’d learnt to listen to that over the years.
“Leave it to me, Sheppard,” McKay assured his team-mate. “I’ll have them back where they belong in no time.” He pulled the now considerably squashed muffin out of his pocket and broke it in half, presenting the slightly larger piece to John. He devoured his own in a couple of bites and the pilot shook his head.
“So,” Sheppard said through a mouth full of chocolate flavoured gooiness, “wanna watch Indiana Jones with us later?” He deliberately changed the subject, mostly to try and shake the lingering apprehension and maintain his cool, calm exterior.
“Which one?”
“Temple of Doom.”
“Sure.”
He finished the muffin and chased it down with a swig of water from his bottle. “Rodney,” he started.
“Yes, that’s still my name.”
“Just… just be careful, okay?” Alright, maybe he hadn’t quite gotten rid of the nervousness.
Rodney looked at John like the man had grown an extra head – which usually meant John had done or said something that he thought was ridiculously stupid. “Oh come on! You don’t think they’d try something in broad daylight with witnesses, do you?”
“I don’t know,” John replied honestly, although he wouldn’t bet any money on his team-mate’s assumption. “I’m gonna post a couple of Marines outside your lab, alright? Just to be on the safe side.”
“I don’t need…”
“No, Rodney,” John said, holding up a hand to prevent the forthcoming diatribe. “I’m serious. Please.”
He scowled at the Colonel, but nodded. “Fine. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Never said you did, buddy.”
With Sheppard’s portents of doom ringing in his ears, Rodney made his way back to the lab, intending to get the translations finished. That way, he could find out how to switch the damn thing into reverse and get shot of their houseguests.
He was the first person to admit that when it comes to social skills, he could be a bit… naïve. After all, he was not a people person. It was one of the reasons he chose science as a career: that and coming from a dysfunctional family. But even he knew that their doubles weren’t being entirely truthful. Something was nagging away at the back of his mind, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
It was like not being able to find the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
Sighing, he turned the corner…
…and was thrown into the wall as an explosion ripped through the corridor. He let out an agonized scream as he felt something snap in his left arm, but his adrenaline rocketed, helping him to ignore the pain. Dragging himself upright, he staggered over to the door of the lab, trying to ignore the pounding in his head and the blurred vision. All he could think of was that Radek had been in there.
As he reached out, strong arms clamped around his chest and tugged him back forcefully. Rodney yelled wordlessly, struggling to free himself, not hearing the stream of words from the owner of the arms. He raised his head, intending to argue and fight his way in when he saw that his rescuer was none other than his second in command. “Radek!”
“Rodney,” he replied, dragging McKay away from the fire and smoke.
“I thought… I thought you were… The lab, in the lab…” Rodney’s words came out as jumbled as he was feeling.
“No,” the Czech confirmed. “Is not your lab, Rodney. Wrong corridor.”
McKay looked about and realised that he was right. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he must have selected the wrong level on the transporter display – they were two floors below, in the engineering department. “Guess so,” he mumbled, wincing as the pain behind his eyes started to resonate with the warning klaxons. “What the hell happened? And… where did you come from?”
Radek pointed upwards. “Your lab, priteli. We heard explosion, you see,” he added, obviously seeing the confusion on his friend’s face. “I came down to investigate, call in help and find you about to run into fire like man possessed.”
Rodney blinked furiously as his vision started to grey out. That was all he needed – another concussion to add to the one he’d received the day before, and a broken arm to top it all off. Carson was going to kill him.
“He will not. Yell, maybe, but never resort to physical harm,” Zelenka said with a wry grin. Rodney realised that he must have said that last bit out loud.
“Hope you’re right,” he replied before the blackness crept up and sucker-punched him.
When he woke up, Rodney found himself in the infirmary looking up at a very concerned and very angry John Sheppard. Luckily it was his version of the man or he might have wigged out. “Hey,” he managed to croak, his throat feeling like sandpaper. Glancing down, he noticed the cast on his left arm and grimaced.
“Hey,” John replied, the anger fading slightly. “How’re you feeling?”
“Like I was almost blown up,” Rodney told him with an eye roll. He regretted that instantly as the throbbing in his head upped the ante. Sheppard must have seen it because the next thing he knew, Carson had appeared and was injecting his IV line. After a couple of minutes, the pain was replaced by the comforting and familiar feeling of the Scot’s good drugs – the ‘makes you slightly loopy’ kind.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Beckett admonished, looking years older. “You half scared us all to death!”
“Sorry,” Rodney managed. “In my defence, I didn’t do anything. It was just an accident. I pushed the wrong button in the transporter.”
“More like right place, right time,” John growled.
McKay swallowed. “You think this was deliberate?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but I sure as hell intend to find out.”
Before he could ask Sheppard what he meant, Radek came running into the infirmary at full pelt. Rodney was amazed – the guy might have been small, but he could really run when the occasion called for it. “We have… Oh, Rodney, hello, feeling better yes? Good. We have a problem.”
“What?” McKay demanded, trying to fight through his drug induced haze. “What do you mean, ‘problem’?”
The engineer looked down at the floor, seeming to want to shrink away. “Is mirror,” he replied quietly. “The internal power source is broken.”
“Meaning what?” asked Sheppard.
“Meaning that it won’t work,” Rodney answered, a chill creeping though him. “Without the power supply, it won’t activate. Meaning…”
“That our new friends can’t go home,” John finished.
“Could you not just hook it up to a couple of Naquadah generators?” asked Carson.
Rodney sighed. Beckett was the king of all things voodoo, but when it came to real science, he was completely clueless. “No,” he replied, trying not to snarl. “For several reasons actually…” He let out a small groan and sank back down against the pillows, motioning for Radek to explain.
“They are not compatible,” he said simply. “Will not work. They do not create enough power.”
“So, bottom line?” asked John.
“Bottom line, Sheppard,” Rodney said quietly, “is that unless we can either fix the power unit somehow or find a suitable replacement, our twins are going nowhere.”
Chapter 7: How to Catch a Rat
“Carson!”
Rodney was not at all happy.
He’d been poked, prodded, blinded by a damn penlight and woken up every hour without fail to answer inane questions that even Teyla would’ve gotten pissy with, but he was finally being released from Beckett’s overprotective clutches. At first, he’d been overjoyed at his sudden freedom – until the Scotsman had dropped his (not entirely shocking) bombshell.
“No, Rodney, I mean it. You are not to go anywhere near your lab or that mirror for at least forty eight hours.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Rodney McKay, you listen up. You’ve had two concussions in the space of two days, not to mention pins in your arm! You need to rest and you’ll not be able to do that if you’re staring at a bloody laptop.”
The Canadian growled in frustration. The more time he spent away from the mirror, the longer it would take to send the alternate Sheppard and McKay back to where they belonged. “Please, Carson,” he asked quietly, his blue eyes pleading, “I promise not to overdo it. I’ll even get Radek to help.”
It was hard saying no to his friend, but Beckett stood his ground. “My decision is final,” he stated, placing his hands on his hips as he squared off against McKay. When he saw the flicker of hurt in the Canadian’s eyes, his expression softened. “I’m sorry, mo chara, but it would be irresponsible of me as a doctor to let you go back to work so soon.”
“I’m not going to persuade you, am I?” Rodney asked sadly.
Carson shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Uh, I could carry on if you’d like.”
Both men turned at the sound of the third voice to find McKay’s double standing in the doorway.
“Excuse me?” Rodney demanded.
“I… I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation,” the other McKay said, wringing his hands nervously. Seeing the unhappy look on his counterpart’s face, he continued quickly, “Look, me and Sheppard just want to go home, so why not let me help? I’m you, after all, aren’t I? We seem to share the same thought processes, so what harm could it do?”
“Well, for a start…”
“I think that’s a grand idea, lad,” Carson said, talking over his McKay before the ranting began. “What do you say, Rodney?”
“You’ll have to square it with Elizabeth,” the scientist eventually conceded sulkily.
“Already did,” his double replied with a smug smile.
“Guess it’s settled then,” Rodney grumbled as they watched the man walk away. “And don’t even think about saying it,” he growled at Beckett.
“As if I would,” the Scotsman replied innocently, knowing full well that was exactly what the Canadian would have done if their roles had been reversed. “Now go on with you and hop it, son. And remember, I’ll know if you’ve been in the lab,” he called to his friend’s retreating back.
“This won’t end well,” Rodney muttered darkly. “You’ll see.”
“Hey.”
John’s head jerked up at the soft greeting and he smiled at the owner of the voice. “Hey yourself, buddy,” he replied. “Did the doc cut you loose or did Z spring you?”
“Last time I checked, hospital escapes were your field of expertise, Colonel,” Rodney answered coolly, though his eyes glinted with mischief.
“You have a point,” Sheppard agreed amiably, but his boyish features hardened as he took in his team-mate’s battered appearance. Rodney was still far too pale for his liking, with dark smudges under his eyes and the uncomfortable looking cast on his arm. “Did you need me?”
McKay shifted guiltily. “I, uh, wondered if maybe… you wanted a hand?”
“You’ve only got one spare,” John retorted with a grin.
“Well, yes, but… you see, the thing is…”
The Air Force man raised an eyebrow as understanding dawned. “You were banned from the lab, weren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
John shook his head in disbelief. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he asked, knowing from experience what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Beckett’s wrath.
He still had the scars to prove it.
”Hey, Carson said not to go into my lab,” Rodney replied innocently. “He never said anything about engineering.”
The Colonel bit back an amused laugh. As much as he wanted his friend to actually follow Beckett’s orders, having the man with him was probably much safer. “Okay, Rodney,” he said with an affectionate grin. “On one condition.”
McKay’s eyes lit up excitedly. “Name it.”
John motioned to the stool next to him. “Sit down before I have to pick your ass up off the floor.” He nodded happily to himself as the Canadian did as he was told.
“What have you found?” Rodney asked, eager to get to the bottom of the mystery of the exploding lab.
Sheppard’s face darkened as he picked up a small object from the workbench in front of him. “Take a look.”
The Canadian frowned as he peered at the item in his friend’s hand, but it soon turned to a look of horror. “Oh my God,” he breathed. “Is that...?”
“C4,” John confirmed. “The explosion wasn’t an accident.” He took a breath before continuing, “I think someone planted a small charge and rigged it for remote detonation.”
“And all they’d need to do would be to hack into the security cameras and wait,” Rodney finished, feeling a chill creep up his spine. “Can I use your laptop?” he asked, pointing at the computer.
“Be my guest,” John replied, moving it across the table. “What are you doing?”
“Just give me a minute,” the scientist muttered, typing furiously with his good hand. While he worked, the pilot marvelled at how quickly his team-mate was working even with his obvious handicap.
“Ha!” Rodney crowed after a couple of minutes.
“What?”
“I just retrieved the surveillance footage from yesterday,” McKay replied, looking smug. He typed in a command and the boys began to watch the playback.
For several minutes, nothing happened. Seeing John growing impatient, Rodney hit the fast forward key, only stopping when a lone figure wearing all-black and a cap appeared on screen. From the person’s height and build, the boys knew it was a man and they watched as he entered the lab. Rodney typed on the keyboard again and the picture changed to the footage from the camera inside the lab. The mystery man pulled a small bundle from his pocket, attaching it to the underside of one of the workbenches before stepping back out into the corridor. Another flurry of typing and the video moved back outside again.
The whole thing had taken less than three minutes.
“Son of a bitch,” John breathed.
Rodney nodded mutely, allowing the recording to play on. When it came to the actual explosion, he shut his eyes and looked away, not wanting to see how close he had come to ending up as a smear on the wall.
John’s jaw clenched tightly when he witnessed the damage inflicted on his geek. He was glad that Rodney had kept the sound turned off, but when he saw the scientist screaming silently, it seemed even worse somehow. He’d been in the gym with the others when the announcement had come over the radio and for one horrible moment, John had feared the worst.
He glanced over to Rodney, noticing how the man had paled even further, and reached out to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. The small tremors he felt under his fingertips made his anger grow so he quickly reached over and stopped the recording.
“I’m gonna nail them to the fucking door,” the pilot hissed.
“Who?” asked Rodney, confused. They hadn’t seen the man’s face thanks to the way the cap had been pulled down low.
Sheppard gave him an arch look. “Who d’you think, Answer Man?”
“The other us? Come on, Sheppard, you can’t be serious.”
“Trust me, Rodney, I know the way I move when I don’t want to be seen,” John insisted. “And seeing as how I was out on the balcony with you at the time, that only leaves one explanation.”
“Your evil twin,” Rodney finished. “So, what? He planted the C4 while other me messed with the transporter?”
John nodded. “Had to have been.” He narrowed his eyes as a thought struck him. “Don’t your team have a… a what do you call it?” He snapped his fingers as he struggled to find the right word. “…A command input list or something?”
McKay thought for a moment before nodding. “Or something,” he agreed, once again typing on the keyboard. “There you go,” he said when the computer beeped happily at him. “The command code log,” he explained with rarely seen patience as Sheppard stared uncomprehendingly at the stream of numbers filling the screen. “If you give me a minute, I can find out who did the dirty on the transporter controls.”
Two minutes later, they had their answer. “You’re slipping, buddy,” John quipped, “but seeing as how you’re banged up and all, I’ll let it slide this time.”
“Oh, thank you very much!”
“Take it as a compliment.”
“Rat bastard.”
“Hey, I was only kidding!”
“Not you, dumbass.” He pointed at the screen, motioning to the code that had given them their suspect – his code…
“Oh.”
Rodney sighed. “Yeah… Oh fuck!”
“What?” asked John, alarmed by his friend’s sudden outburst.
“I let him help Radek!”
Before either of them could say anything else, the overhead tannoy exploded into life.
“Code Green! I repeat, Code Green! Security to Dr McKay’s lab!”
The boys were out of the door and halfway down the corridor before the announcement had finished. The proverbial shit had hit the metaphysical fan – Code Green was a hostage situation.
McKay’s double had Radek.
Chapter 8: The Art of Negotiation
The boys skidded to a halt outside McKay’s lab. The marine guard that John had posted was nowhere to be seen and the pilot felt his stomach sink. Beside him, Rodney looked ready to kill – nobody messed with his science teams and lived to talk about it. Silently counting down from three, John swiped a hand over the door control and they entered the lab cautiously, not knowing what they might find.
“I wondered when you’d get here.”
McKay’s double was holding a limp looking Radek in a choke hold, a knife pressed against the engineer’s side.
“Let him go,” Rodney demanded.
“Why would I want to do that?” asked his counterpart, genuinely confused.
“Let’s just calm down and talk about this,” John said, slowly inching forward. He held his hands out in front of him, in what he hoped was a non-threatening gesture.
Unfortunately, the alternate McKay didn’t see it that way. “Stay where you are!”
The Colonel froze on the spot, not liking the manic edge to Other-Rodney’s voice.
“Why are you doing this?” Rodney asked softly. “I thought you wanted to go home?”
“Christ, I can’t believe how naïve you are,” his double snarled. “This is almost too easy.”
“What are you talking about?” John challenged.
The alternate McKay simply tilted his head to the side and smiled, sending shudders down the boys’ backs. It was clear that the man in front of them was unbalanced and the last thing either of them wanted to do was tip him over the edge. After all, there was no telling what he might do to Zelenka.
It was only then that John saw his marines.
The men were slumped on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Sheppard looked over at McKay’s twin with a murderous glare. “What’ve you done to my men?”
Rodney two smiled serenely. “Oh, don’t worry about them, Colonel. They’re just asleep.” As he spoke, he switched the knife to the hand wrapped around Zelenka’s throat and pulled out a small device from his pocket: it was a tiny cube, about the size of a nickel. “Cute, isn’t it?” he asked, sounding like Rodney did whenever he found a cool new device to play with. “It’s kind of like an Ancient version of a flash-bang. Unfortunately, it only seems to work on non ATA carriers, but it looks like I got lucky in that regard.”
“If you’ve hurt them…”
“Please, Colonel, what do you take me for? A psychopath?” Other-Rodney asked, sounding upset at the implication. “They’ll be fine.” He frowned for a moment before adding, ”Well, they’ll have a bitch of a headache when they wake up, but other than that there’s no lasting damage.” An evil grin appeared as he added, “Although I’ve never tested it on live subjects before.”
“Look, just let Radek go,” Rodney pleaded, not liking the way the Czech was listing to the side.
“Can’t do that, Roddy,” the other McKay sing-songed. “But I’ll tell you what. How about you call off the reinforcements? Do that for me and I won’t kill your friend.”
“You even scratch him and I’ll make you wish you were never born!”
“Ah, ah, ah! Bad Rodney.” The man’s eyes flashed with anger and the knife was brought back into view. “Call them off or I’ll kill him.”
John and Rodney didn’t doubt that for a second.
Nodding to his team-mate, John quickly reached up to his headset and barked out the order along with a hasty explanation about it being a false alarm. Once he received a confirmation, he looked back to McKay number two. “Done,” he said. “Now how about you let the doc go?”
“I don’t think so, John,” Other-Rodney replied.
Before he could answer, something hard connected with the back of his skull, knocking him out cold.
“Sheppard!” Rodney cried out as he saw the Air Force man collapse in a boneless heap. This can’t be happening…
Sheppard’s double stepped forward from the shadows, throwing a length of blood stained metal piping to the floor. “Hi, kids,” he greeted cheerfully as he manoeuvred his way around John’s prostrate body. “Did ya miss me?”
McKay tried hard to push away the surge of panic gripping his gut. He went to move over to his unconscious team-mate, but the other John stepped in front of him.
“Now, now, Dr McKay, be sensible,” Sheppard’s copy scolded with a dark smile. “I hit him pretty hard once and you wouldn’t want me to cause any more damage, would you?”
Rodney wanted to scream but nothing got past his impossibly tight throat. Instead, he shook his head and backed off slightly. It was at that moment that he realised John’s double wasn’t wearing his original uniform but one of Sheppard’s.
The confusion must have shown on his face because the alternate John laughed. “You’re coming on a little field trip, doc,” he said.
“Where?” Rodney managed to croak.
“Now that would be telling, buddy.”
“Alright, why then?”
“Because I said so.”
Fuck…
“What if I don’t want to?” the Canadian challenged.
“Then it’s simple,” Sheppard’s twin replied with a savage laugh. “I’ll kill both of them.”
Seeing the murderous gleam in the man’s eyes, Rodney didn’t need to be told twice. “But won’t everyone get suspicious if both of us gate off-world?” he asked desperately, looking to his double.
Come on, genius, think! Rodney could hear John’s voice in his head, baiting him, and he found himself calming. Keep ‘em talking… He glanced over to the Colonel’s worryingly still body, feeling the band of panic in his chest easing as he saw John’s upper body rising and falling in a smooth, steady rhythm.
There was a dull thunk as the alternate McKay dropped Radek to the floor. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that,” he said. “No one’s going to see me.” He pushed up his jacket sleeve to reveal a Sodan cloaking device attached to his arm.
He was so screwed.
“So here’s how it’s gonna go down,” the alternate John stated, wrapping an arm around Rodney’s shoulders in a twisted parody of his Sheppard’s friendly mannerism. “Me and you are gonna walk out of here, calm as you like, and you’re going to act like nothing’s wrong. McKay’ll follow us. We’re going to go to the control room then gate off-world.” He leant in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. “And if you try to run or raise the alarm…” he trailed off, glancing pointedly at John and Radek.
The subtle threat wasn’t lost on Rodney. Co-operate or else. He nodded, trembling under the other Sheppard’s arm.
“Good boy!” Other-John declared. “Now then, buddy, what say we go on that trip?”
As he was ushered from the lab, he saw his counterpart activate the wrist band and shift out of phase. The alternate John led him towards the control room, greeting the various personnel they passed on the way – the act put on by the man made Rodney feel sick to his stomach. Why couldn’t anyone see that it wasn’t their John? Despite wanting nothing more than to scream for help, the physicist kept his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for something happening to Sheppard and Zelenka.
After what felt like hours, they finally arrived at the Gate room.
“John, Rodney?” Elizabeth called. “What happened in the lab?”
“False alarm,” John’s copy answered smoothly. “One of the marines I posted had a bet on who’d arrive first in an emergency.”
Rodney saw her lips purse, and for a split second, he wondered if she’d rumbled them.
Come on, Elizabeth, he pleaded silently. Come on…
“I see,” she replied. “I hope you dealt with the individual concerned?”
Oh hell, woman! Get with the programme! This isn’t our John Sheppard!
The alternate Sheppard smiled. “He’s learnt his lesson, right, Rodney?”
“Y-yes.”
“Rodney? Are you okay?” Weir asked, frowning.
The Canadian felt a not so gentle nudge in his ribs, a less than subtle reminder to keep up his end of the deal. “I’m fine,” he said, trying hard to sound convincing. “Just… just a little tired.”
“We were thinking about heading to P3X-433 for a couple of hours,” John’s double added. “Rodney could use some R and R.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” the dark haired woman replied. “But what about our new friends?”
“They’re holed up in the lab,” Rodney said quickly. Judging from the look he got from his captor, he was going to pay for that.
“Z wanted them for some test or other,” Other-John stated smoothly. “So we figured we’d give the guy some space.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Alright, boys, you can go.”
No! thought Rodney desperately as Chuck began to dial the Gate. He tried to tug his arm free of the alternate Sheppard’s grip, but the man’s hand tightened painfully.
“We had an agreement, Rodney,” he hissed, “and I’m not the sort of man who doesn’t make good on his threats.”
Realising that he wasn’t going to get out of this one, Rodney stilled as the Gate activated.
“Come on, buddy,” Other-John said cheerfully. As they approached the event horizon, a startled shout came from one of the technicians. Before he could cry out, Rodney was dragged into the wormhole.
John’s head was pounding unmercifully as he ran down the corridor.
He could feel the blood trickling down his neck, but he ignored it along with the confused looks he was getting from passers-by. He had started to come round just in time to hear what his twin’s plan was, but had played possum for fear of endangering Rodney or anyone else. Waiting in the lab was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do, so once he figured the coast was clear, he’d radioed for a med team and run.
He flew up the stairs leading to the Gate room to see Rodney being shoved through the event horizon.
Pushing past a technician, he launched himself at the wormhole… and landed with a painful thump on the floor as it shut down. Groaning, he dragged himself upright, swaying on the spot as the room span.
“Colonel Sheppard?”
He turned quickly, grateful that he was close to the Gate. Latching onto it, he focused his fuzzy vision and saw Elizabeth approaching him.
“No,” he said. “I mean, yes, but it’s me. John. The man with Rodney was him. You know, the other one.” He wondered if his slurred words were making any sense.
“What?” Weir asked.
John decided to try a different tactic. “Where’d they go?”
“John? But I don’t understand! You were just here…”
“Where did they go, Elizabeth?”
A look of horror passed across the expedition leader’s face as everything slotted into place. “P3X-433,” she replied quietly.
“Get Lorne and a jumper out there,” John demanded, sinking to his knees as his head injury caught up with him. He felt hands latch onto him as the ground rushed up to meet him and heard a panicked shout for medical assistance.
Then the world went blissfully dark.
Click here for Part 3.
