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Chapter 7: Doubts



“You do?” Rodney sounded shocked.


“It’s not unheard of you know,” said John. “I have actually come up with a plan before.”


“Yeah, but...”


“So what is this plan of yours?” interrupted Ronon, completely ignoring the fact that Rodney was still talking.


“This plan of ours - mine and Elizabeth’s.”


“Wait just a minute,” said Rodney hurriedly. “Yours and Elizabeth’s? You’re actually trusting her? I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an extremely bad idea to me.”


“McKay, it’s Elizabeth...”


“You don’t know that for sure,” he cut in. “There’s no way you could possibly know that. Sheppard, we are in the middle of a Replicator base in case you’ve forgotten. We can’t believe anything we see here. That woman that looks like Elizabeth Weir - she’s probably just some machine created so we’ll tell them everything they want to know!”


“Well she’s not!”


“She stuck her hand in your forehead. Are we not seeing the evil Replicator connection here? You and I both know the Elizabeth we knew would never do that.”


“Kedan forced her, she didn’t have any choice!”


“Of course she told you that! If she’s a spy do you think she’d tell you the truth?” He stared at the ceiling in exasperation. “‘Hi, John,’” he mimicked. “‘Oh, by the way, I’m working for the Replicators, now tell me all your secrets.’ Yeah, that’s bound to inspire prisoners to talk.”


“McKay...” began John dangerously. Rodney looked at him incredulously.


“Oh, tell me you didn’t tell her anything! Are you completely out of your mind? You realize they were probably monitoring every single minute she was in your head. Whatever plan you two came up with? Yeah, every single Replicator here now knows about it.”


“Shut up, McKay! You have no idea what you’re talking about.”


“Oh, I don’t do I?”


“No, you don’t. Them making her do that - that was just another way for them to torment her. The very fact that Elizabeth would never probe somebody’s mind like that is the reason they made her do it!”


Rodney was staring at him in disbelief. “You actually believe all that,” he said quietly. He looked at the floor and shook his head. “John, look,” he sighed. “I know you want Elizabeth back. I do too.” He raised his head. “But we can’t know for sure that this is really her.”


“He’s right, Sheppard,” put in Ronon. “We can’t trust her.”


John looked at both of them, frustrated by their skepticism. “This is our Elizabeth, I know it is. I can feel it. You... you just have to trust me on this.”


Rodney looked at him, determination, and a little sadness in his eyes. “Sorry. I can’t do that. You... you could have been compromised... or brainwashed... they’re too powerful, they could have planted that thought in your head...”


“Rodney,” John sighed, “you have to believe me. All you have to do is look into her eyes and you’ll know it’s her. There’s something there, it’s... it’s unmistakable.”


“Well she’s not here right now, is she? Look, I am sorry, but...”


“All I’m asking... is for you to have a little faith,” said John, “and believe me when I say that Elizabeth is alive, here, and ready to help us. Trust me. She - is - real. I wouldn’t ask this of you unless I was absolutely sure, you know that.”


He fell silent and looked at each of his teammates in turn, waiting for a response. He could see the indecision in their faces as they considered what he had said. He knew he was asking a lot of them. Trusting her would go against everything that their previous experiences had taught them about situations like this. But he had seen the pain and utter humanity that had shadowed her features, and he knew, with every ounce of conviction he had, that he was right about her - that she was their Elizabeth.


McKay looked up from the patch of floor he had been staring at and met John’s eyes. “Okay,” he said. “What’s the plan?”


John looked over at Ronon. The warrior stepped closer and nodded. “I guess I don’t really have that much of a choice.”


John nodded at them. “Good.” He glanced around the room; he hadn’t really paid much attention to it before. It was a fairly decent sized room, at least, bigger than the one he had been thrown in at first. Like the other chamber, this one was practically devoid of any kind of furniture, but had horizontal panels of some dark metallic substance lining the walls for decoration. Another difference was the presence of a door control panel - evidently this room hadn’t been designed to hold prisoners.


He turned back to the others, about to elaborate further on the plan, when he noticed something, or someone, was missing. “Where’s Shanna?”


Rodney and Ronon both spun around to look for her, their reactions making it obvious that they had forgotten about her as well. “They must have taken her out while they were searching our minds,” said McKay.


Ronon turned to John. “I’m guessing this just made things more complicated.”


“A little,” he admitted. Having to hunt the native woman down and then rescue her hadn’t exactly been part of the original plan. “We’re just going to have to make an extra stop.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the plan. Our gear is being held in a room on the next hallway. We get our weapons and a life signs detector and find Shanna that way. Then we head to a lab on the floor above us where Elizabeth will be waiting. We place some C- 4, and then we all get out.”


“Sounds like a piece of cake,” said Rodney sarcastically. “Easy as pie.”


“Yeah, I know it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds. And quit it with the food analogies will ya?”


“Oh, someone else is hungry too are they?” A glare was the only response. “Fine, but we have a few small problems. We all know P-90 fire isn’t going to do any good against the Replicators...”


“They’ll buy us enough time to get to the lab. There we can create an energy field like we did before, and maybe make ourselves a couple of ARGs while we’re at it.”


“Oh, and how are we going to do that? We don’t have the anywhere near the right kind of equipment...”


“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”


“Great,” Rodney muttered. “Once again...”


“McKay,” interrupted Ronon with a growl. “We don’t have time for complaining right now.”

Rodney sent him a glare. “Fine,” he snapped. He walked over to the door panel and pried off the casing. “And of course,” he said as he examined the interior of the panel, “the Replicators aren’t stupid enough to leave the control crystals inside where we can find them.” A few more minutes inspection. “This circuitry is set up completely different from the ones on Atlantis.” He straightened up and faced John and Ronon. “Without any equipment I’m not going to be able to get this door open.”


Ronon frowned at the news, and John looked at his watch. “You won’t have to. In about twenty minutes, a guard is going to come and bring us some food. He’ll open the door...”


“And all we have to do is take him out,” finished Ronon, a slight smile spreading across his face.


McKay was looking at John in disbelief. “How do you know...?” he began. The answer hit him a second later and he sighed. “Oh. Never mind.”



oOo



Twenty minutes later, exactly on schedule, the door to their prison slid open, revealing a brown haired man carrying a tray. John and Ronon stood casually on either side of the door, and the Replicator entered the room unaccosted. For the moment. As he bent to sit the tray on the floor, they slowly moved up behind him. In a lightning quick movement, Ronon grabbed both sides of his head and twisted sharply, causing the Replicator to fall to the ground motionless.


“That actually worked?” said a shocked Rodney.


“Not for long,” said John hurriedly. “I have a feeling he’s going to put himself back together any minute. We have to go. Now.”


He stuck his head out the door. Finding everything clear, he stepped into the hallway and moved to the side. McKay and Ronon rushed by him, and he swiped his hand over the control panel adjacent to the door, sealing the incapacitated Replicator inside. “Alright, follow me,” he said, and set off at a jog down the corridor, Elizabeth’s directions running through his head.


They stopped when they reached the intersection of the hallways, John taking a quick look around the corner. The fifth door down was the one they wanted. He cursed under his breath. Of course, it was the one with the guard in front of it. He pulled back and looked at his team. “Any suggestions?”


“How about this?” Ronon took a glance at their target and reached for his hair, magically producing a small knife out of the knot dreadlocks. He steadied himself against the wall, took aim, and threw the blade down the hallway, then hastily took cover behind the wall. Ten seconds later, as the Replicator guard began to turn the corner, Ronon snatched out did a repeat of the events in the cell. Once again, the Replicator collapsed to the floor and was still.



“Honestly,” said McKay, “Why does that neck snapping thing keep working? It shouldn’t have any effect...”


Ronon bent down next to the inert form on the floor and retrieved his knife from where it was sticking out of the Replicator’s forehead. “Would you rather it didn’t work, McKay?”


“I didn’t say that...”


“Shut up and let’s go,” ordered John brusquely. He checked to make sure the area was still clear before moving into the next corridor, and sprinted to the fifth door down. He waved his hand in front of the door panel and they ran inside, John sealing the door behind them.


John scanned the room, looking for their stolen gear. A few seconds search found their packs piled in a corner, their contents removed and spread out on a large metal table, along with their guns. “Alright, minimal gear. Just your weapon and some ammo.” He grabbed his tac vest and began to briskly gear up, stuffing extra ammunition in his vest pockets and checking his P-90 to make sure it was still in working order. Ronon had recovered his gun, spinning it around and flicking the settings switch to kill, and McKay had his tac vest on and was in the process of examining his life signs detector, his P-90 laying ready on the table in front of him.


John checked the safety on his sidearm and stuck it in the waistband of his pants. “Okay, the lab is a floor up. There’s a transporter not far from here, but I’m guessing the stairs are our best bet. We leave this room and head right, then right again. Stairs are on a connecting hallway to the left. Got it?”


“Got it.”


“Rodney, did you find her?”


“Yeah,” he said, not looking up from the tiny screen, “It so happens that the only other life sign I’m getting is in a room just down from that connecting hallway you were talking about. It’s gotta be her.”


“Right, let’s go. They’re bound to know we’re out by now, so be ready.” He faced the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.


The immediate area was suspiciously empty of Replicators. John cautiously led the others to the right and along the hall, gun at the ready, passing one gray door after another. They reached the next corner without incident and silently surveyed the adjoining corridor. There was one walking away from them in the opposite direction from the one they wanted to go in, but otherwise it was deserted. They waited until the lone Replicator was out of sight, then dashed to the right, past the stairs and down the hall until McKay came to a dead stop.


“This is the one,” he said, pointing at a door. John waved his hand in front of the control panel while Rodney and Ronon stood guard. Nothing happened. He did it again. The lights in the panel flashed a brighter shade of blue, but the door remained shut. “McKay, the door won’t open.”


Rodney pushed him out of the way and levered the panel’s casing off. While he fiddled with the crystals, John took his place watching the hallway. As the seconds ticked by and the door still stayed closed, he felt himself grow more and more tense, expecting fifty Replicators to come descending on them at any moment. “Come on McKay!” he ordered impatiently.


“I’m going, I’m going. Got it!”


The door slid open and John strode into the dim room. At first he didn’t see anything at all, but as his eyes adjusted to the low lighting, he realized that what he had taken to be a clump of shadows was actually a person huddled in a corner. He hurried over to the figure and knelt down beside it. “Shanna?” There was a stir of movement, a head lifted, and a pair of frightened and confused eyes peered out at him from beneath tousled hair. “It’s okay,” he said. Recognition entered her eyes.


“C...Colonel Sheppard?” she whispered in surprise, as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing.


“Yeah, that’s me.” He took her arm and lifted her to her feet. “Come on, we need to get out of here. I promised your husband I would make sure nothing happened to you, and I intend to keep that promise.” He kept a hold of her arm and gently pulled her to the door. “Let’s move,” he said to his team. Rodney took charge of Shanna, allowing John to take point as they backtracked towards the stairway. They managed to reach the connecting hallway before the first blast of laser fire hit them.


A second after the blast hit the wall next to their heads, John went into action. He spun around, grabbed Shanna and pushed her into the safety of the stairwell before letting loose a burst of P-90 fire at the oncoming Replicators. He shouted at McKay to take Shanna and head up the stairs. As Rodney complied with the order, John and Ronon took cover in the doorway and held them off until the other two had a decent head start. After a half a minute of constant firing from both men, John slapped Ronon on the shoulder. “Time to go!” he yelled over the noise, and began running up the stairs, taking them two at a time, his Satedan friend right on his heels.


McKay and Shanna were waiting on the next floor’s landing. As soon as Rodney saw them, he opened the door and dashed through it, dragging the poor woman behind him, and sealed it shut again the minute they were all through. They were in a small connecting hallway that closely mirrored the floor below in appearance. It was quiet for the moment, but they all knew it wasn’t going to stay like that for long.


John took a few precious seconds to catch his breath. “Okay. Lab’s that way,” he pointed, “around the corner. Elizabeth’ll be waiting for us inside. I don’t have to tell you to shoot at anything that moves on the way there.”


“I know now’s not the time,” said Rodney, “but this was one of the other things wrong with your plan. What if she’s not there? They probably have her locked up somewhere, not letting her roam around...”


“She’ll be there,” said John firmly. He adjusted his P-90 and took up position on the corner. “Ready?” he asked, glancing back at them. McKay and Ronon nodded, and he returned the gesture before bringing up his gun and preparing himself for the mad dash to the relative safety of the lab. He took a deep breath and wheeled around the corner, just in time to see an outstretched hand headed straight for his forehead.


He blinked and ducked, backing out into the hallway and letting off a short burst of bullets into the Replicator’s stomach. The Replicator wavered but didn’t fall, and continued his advance on John. Both Rodney and Ronon ran into the hall and added their firepower to the assault, but to no effect. Three other Replicators came out of nowhere and began closing in, walking towards them through the hail of gunfire as if it was nothing harsher than rain, forcing them to retreat down the passageway. Shanna gave a panicked cry and darted out from where she had been concealing herself to join them.


Alternate plans began racing through John’s head as he backed even farther away from their destination, all the while emptying his P-90 of ammo. If he remembered this floor’s layout correctly, this hall eventually curved back on itself. They could make a run for it and ultimately get to the lab that way. He just hoped Elizabeth had barricaded herself in there well when she heard the gunshots. He opened his mouth to shout the plan to the others, but was interrupted by a jarring blow to his shoulder from behind that caused his P-90 to fly out of his hand and skid across the floor. John staggered and spun around to face the fourth Replicator that had appeared, blocking his next blow with his forearm.


There were a few seconds of intense fighting before John managed to reach out in a blur of motion and snap the Replicator’s neck. He turned. In those few seconds distraction, the other three had moved too close for weapons fire and Ronon was heavily engaged in fighting two of them. John rushed to help, taking out the third in less than a minute using their newly proven method. Two more bodies hit the floor at Ronon’s feet. That was all of them for now. John looked over at him as he righted himself. The only indication that the former Runner had exerted himself was the slightly more rapid than usual pace of his breathing. “Everybody okay?”


They all nodded, even though Shanna, standing next to Rodney, looked near tears. John walked past them over to where his P-90 had landed and bent to retrieve it. As he picked up the weapon and settled it’s familiar weight on his right arm, he saw a blur of movement to his right out of the corner of his eye. Knowing his team was behind him, in a split second he brought up the gun and let loose a burst of ammo into the figure before he even saw it clearly. The figure froze where it stood at the corner of the lab hallway. “John?” it whispered in astonishment. His vision focused on the silhouette before him and his mind went blank with absolute horror. “Oh God,” he choked out, feeling sick. He ran and caught her in his arms as she collapsed to the floor. “Oh God... Elizabeth...”


She looked up at him, her eyes already half closed. “Come on, don’t do this,” he begged. Green eyes focused on his face, and the ghost of a smile flickered around her mouth. “Come on...” Her eyes slowly slid shut and she was still. “Elizabeth...” He shook her gently, but there was no response. “Elizabeth! Oh God...” He felt tears welling up in his eyes that he refused to let out. He reached up and brushed a stray curl away from her face. “Elizabeth...” he whispered, his voice breaking.


He looked up at his team and Shanna, who had gathered around. Rodney was looking at him and the woman lying dead in his arms with terror and disbelief. Ronon just looked shocked, and pity covered Shanna’s face. John looked down at Elizabeth. How could he have done this?


“Sheppard. We have to go,” said Ronon quietly a minute later. John nodded and reluctantly released his hold on her body, lowering it gently to the floor. He stood up, feeling shaky and ill, and silently moved away. As they headed towards the lab, he looked back once. And saw the still form lying on the floor disappear. In an instant, John’s world erupted in a blaze of pain and torment. His vision flashed black and red and he screamed.


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