RATING: PG
SEASON: Season 5
MAJOR CHARACTERS: McKay and Sheppard with Teyla and Ronon
DISCLAIMERS: The characters, Atlantis, etc, all belong to Sony, MGM, Gecko, Showtime, the Sci-Fi Channel. 
SUMMARY: McKay is blinded by an Ancient Device, giving a special new type of vision
FEEDBACK: Yes please! comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
DATE: Complete December 3rd, 2008 with Chapter 13:

Swamped
By NotTasha

PART 1: BOG

The bog stretched out in all directions on the planet P9H-992.  It looked fetid, soupy and terribly moist.  A fog clung to the countryside, a miasma that seemed almost alive as it flowed over the endless bleakness.  The ground seemed ready to swallow them up at any moment.  The air was heavy and stank of long dead things.  One could almost taste the decay.  The gloom dampened and they trudged through it.

Ronon led, picking a path through the unsettled looking soil, avoiding the large pools that appeared to have hardly any depth at all, but one ill step might send a soul into murky oblivion.  He carried a stick and gauged the earth ahead of them -- tempting it, trying it, assuring that it would hold their weight.  In his other hand, he held his blaster ready.

Behind him was Teyla, who kept her gaze moving, scanning the unwelcoming landscape on all sides -- a stretch of spare trees and miserable looking bushes, ponds and pools and murky lakes, hemmed in by a ring of high cliffs.

She paused a moment, thinking she saw something coming through the mist, and gasped when she was bumped from behind.

There was a softly voiced, “Sorry.  I wasn’t looking,” from behind her, and she moved forward again, following the path that Ronon had blazed.

Rodney followed her, his head down.  He sniffled, clutching his coat against the damp, and watched where he placed his feet, careful to step only where someone had stepped before.  His feet sunk in a half-inch or so.  The wet, peaty earth would squelch and would make a quiet ‘slurp’ when he pulled his boot loose to take his next step.

Sheppard came last, walking more backward than forward, scanning the land behind them as they moved.  He’d given up the lead to Ronon, knowing that the Satedan would have better luck in finding the best trail.

From time to time, a group of frog-like creatures would fire up, filling the air with the shrill noise.  They’d die down once the interlopers had passed.

A black-winged bird took flight.  The clatter of its large leathery wings broke the strange silence of the place.  For a moment they all stopped, transfixed by the bird’s flight and the whine of amphibians.  The bird looked like an old coat fluttering on a clothesline.  It dipped and rose and dipped and stretched out its talons to perch on the branches of another blighted tree. The frog-like things quieted as the bird stood, wearily, warily, and hunched in its place.

The team kept moving.

John watched the dark spaces under dark brambles.  Things moved in that dimness.  Little creatures whisked and scurried across the land – too small to worry about being sucked into the muck.

The bird shifted on the branch and ducked its head.  Black eyes watched them.  The frogs were quiet.

John kept moving backwards as he eyed the bird that eyed him. There was a soulnessness to its gaze as if it had seen everything it had ever needed to see.

Suddenly, John’s foot sunk in deeply.  Startled, he fought to keep his balance, shuffled his free leg, fought for footing, and with a sickening sounding squelch, pulled his foot from the quagmire.

The bird blinked at him, hunching on his perch.  The frogs said nothing.

“You okay?” Rodney asked.  His voice sounded odd after the long silence.  The dampness of the air seemed to harden the tone.  “Sheppard?”  McKay twisted in his spot as if afraid to take his feet from the path that Ronon had forged.

“I’m fine,” Sheppard grunted, frowning at the black sludge that covered him to his knee.  “Just fine.”  He made an attempt to shake some of the muck off, but it wasn’t going to happen easily.  He considered grasping hold of Rodney for support, but the scientist look precarious at that moment.

He wanted to scrape it off, but he’d prefer to keep his hands clean of the dirt.  The mud, would, dry, he figured, or fall off without his help.

Teyla glanced toward them, ascertaining that all was well.  Ronon hadn’t stopped probing the ground and stepping forward.

With a sharp nod, John ordered, “Keep moving.”   Teyla complied.

McKay just looked at him, his expression bleak. “But we’ve been walking over an hour already, and we’re getting nowhere.”

“We’re getting closer,” Sheppard told him.  

Rodney continued, “Not by much!  It’s not easy walking in this stuff, you know?  And I’m cold.  This sort of weather just eats right into me.  I’m bound to catch a cold – one heck of a cold.”

“That’s why we need to keep going,” Sheppard stated, keeping his voice even.  “Standing still isn’t helping.” When McKay didn’t immediately react, Sheppard stated, “And you’re the one who was all excited about coming here.”

“Secret lab,” Ronon muttered from the front of the line.

“Yes,” McKay snapped back.  “A secret lab where the Ancients were working on a way of deterring the Wraith.”

“And they figured a bog would be the perfect place to hide it,” Sheppard grumbled.

“I’m the one who suggested we use a jumper,” McKay countered.  “That would have saved us a lot of trouble.”

“The ground won’t support a jumper in that area,” Sheppard returned.  “It’ll sink right into this sludge.”

Rodney looked annoyed.  “The outpost should be huge,” he muttered.  “I don’t understand why we weren’t getting a better reading off the place during our fly over.  It must be totally underground, and that means that the landing site should be solid.”

“Well, the sooner we get there the better,” Sheppard replied.  “We don’t need to be walking out here, in danger of running into the… what was it called, Ronon?”

“The chubbock,” Ronon reminded.

Ronon and Teyla were both vaguely familiar with the planet, having heard of it often, but neither had visited before.  “There is a … beast,” Teyla had told him earlier, with some embarrassment.  “A creature that lives in the bog.”

“A bog beast?” Sheppard had tried.

She’d smiled, chagrinned, and told him, “They are tales from childhood, meant to frighten children.  Nobody truly believes that the chubbock exists.”

“And what is a… chubbock?” Sheppard had asked, cautiously.

“There used to be a civilization here, up on the cliffs,” Ronon said, nodding to the high lands above them.  “Then the chubbock came.  It’s fast, taller than as a man.” He held a hand up to his own height – so obviously he meant a ‘big’ man.  “Walks upright some of the time. Huge body. Has this pointed snout.  Long bare tail.  Claws.  Lives in the bog.  Chews off your face.”

Teyla shook her head, and explained, “It is simply a story told to frighten children,” but she looked a little rattled by Ronon’s descriptions as if she had been one of those frightened children at one point.

“If the people lived up there,” McKay said, pointing.  “How did the bog beast get them?”

“There is no game in the highlands,” Teyla explained.  “To survive, people needed to enter the bog.”

“They have these on other planets, too?” McKay went on.

Teyla nodded.  “Any large swamps has legends.  As children, we often believed that a small marsh might even have such a creature, but that was unlikely.”

“Great,” McKay kept his hands on his weapon as he looked about at their surroundings.  “And this is the first we’ve heard of these creatures?  I’m pretty certain we’ve been near bogs before in our explorations!”

“They are legends,” Teyla went on.

“Just stories,” Ronon added.

Rodney harrumphed, and didn’t look convinced.

“Keep moving, McKay,” Sheppard cut in with a discontented sigh.  “We should be there soon.”

McKay faced forward again and looked about nervously.  “Bog beast,” he muttered.

“Chubbock,” Ronon said from in front of them, his voice tight.

“Stupid name,” McKay muttered, and gamely tried to catch up to the others in the slurping sloshing swampy bog.

Teyla waited for him and offered him a quiet smile before she turned and continued after Ronon.

Sheppard sighed and followed, walking mostly backward, keeping an eye on the landscape around them, heading into the fog.

The black bird watched them with black eyes.  It watched them until they disappeared into the mist.  And then it took flight again, swooping down from its perch in the gloom of the bog.

Something leaped beneath the black bird.  The mist and bog and something more substantial swallowed it up

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As they trudged onward, Sheppard regarded the time. They had several hours before dark, but they weren’t getting anywhere fast.  They’d had to make two lengthy backtracks when they’d ended up surrounded by water.

The fog was settling in, getting thicker around them and reducing visibility.  Sheppard hated it.  If something was out there, he wouldn’t be able to see it until the last moment.

Around them, things schlomped and burbled.  Something splashed and something went ploink.  Sometimes the frogs fired up and the air was filled with their shrill voices.  Sometimes they trudged through a section of particularly foul smelling earth that made them clamp their mouths shut against it.

Rodney sighed loudly – again – and sniffled.  The Canadian carried his firearm as if he was lugging an armload of firewood.  After another snuffle, the scientist asked, “I hate to ask, but… are we there yet?”

Ronon grumbled.  “No,” he said tersely.

“How about dry land?” Rodney went on, a whine in his voice as he squelched onward.  “I know my boots are never going to be the same.  I bet they rot right out from under me, and you just know I’m going to get some sort of awful foot fungus from all this moisture and NONE of you get to complain if I end up with some horrible funk when I take off my shoes.”

“No,” Ronon said again, his voice a low growl.

“No?” Rodney shot back, not knowing how to take that.

“No sign of dry land,” Ronon ground out.

“Oh,” McKay replied and kept walking in that same disconsolate trod.   “I’m just sayin’, it’ll be nice to get out of this stuff.”

“Yeah,” Sheppard replied because he figured he had to say something.

“No sign of the… the bog beast thing, right?” McKay asked tentatively.

“Not yet,” Sheppard responded.

“Good,” McKay stated.  His voice grew high as he started, “You really think we’re going to…”

“We’re not going to see it,” Sheppard reassured mechanically as he scanned the misty surroundings.  “We’re going to be fine.”

“Good, good…” McKay responded.  “Because that would be… good… if we never see the thing.”  And he sighed again, loudly.  “If we could just stop for a bit and rest though…”

“Yeah,” Ronon suddenly proclaimed as he tossed down his pack.  Amazingly, it didn’t sink.

“Yeah, what?” Rodney called.

“We’re here,” Ronon stated.

“I thought you said that we were…” McKay started, but Sheppard shoved past him, eager to get to the firm ground.

“Thank God,” Sheppard muttered, stomping a foot and happy to find it didn’t shake like gelatin beneath him.  Clods of mud dropped from his leg.

Teyla sighed, pausing long enough for McKay to also reach terra firma before she joined them.

“We’re here!” McKay said with a sigh.  "Finally!"

Sheppard turned around slowly, taking in the sights.  In the mist and the fog, the Ancient structures didn’t look that different from the trees.  Here and there stood a little shelter, an alcove, an obelisk.

It was hardly impressive.

Rodney pulled his data tablet from his back and gamely began punching at it, pausing to stretch and manipulate his fingers.  “I can barely work my hands,” he grumbled.

“Just get it done,” Sheppard ordered as he moved through the foggy structures.  They’d flown over earlier with the jumper, and mapped the area – finding little of interest.  They’d hoped that there’d be more to see once they were amongst the structures.

Apparently not.

They were standing on a shelf of rock – solid ground in the morass.  Maybe there was a facility built into this stone and McKay only needed to figure out the key to let them in.

“I found something,” McKay uttered happily.  Sheppard turned as Rodney popped open a panel.  The scientist grinned.

“Good,” Sheppard responded.  “Open up the secret door and let us in.”

“Patience, patience,” McKay responded as he examined the controls.   His eyebrows knitted as he watched Sheppard step closer.  “Aren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye out for that bog monster thing?  We really need a couple of guys watching out for that, because, well, nobody wants to have their eyes eaten by a bog monster.”

“I assure you,” Teyla repeated, “The chubbock does not exist.”  She stood beside the scientist, ready to help him with his work, ready to protect him if any mythological beast drew near.

“Yeah, well… just give me some room here, okay?”  McKay said.  “I have to figure out how to read this monitoring device.”

Since McKay and Teyla seemed to have the technical things under control, Sheppard turned to the fog.  He could see nothing – just different gradients of gray.  The mist was chilly, his clothing was damp, and his leg was wet with bog water.  His shoes were soaked.  Last thing he wanted to do was spend much more time on the surface of this unpleasant place.  “You about done?” Sheppard asked.

“Come on!” McKay responded sharply.  “I just got started here.”

“I could have a look at it if you want,” Sheppard said slyly.

“No, no, you just keep watch for scary things.  I’m going to see if… oh!”  He made a happy exclamation.  “There we go.”

Sheppard glanced to McKay who was grinning brightly at Teyla. “Ah-ha!”  The panel was alight and McKay leaned closer to it as he continued his examination.

“Almost done?” Sheppard asked.

“Give me a minute!” McKay shot back.

“Okay, you get a minute.”  Sheppard turned his back on the pair so that he could watch area.  After a moment, he dropped his gaze to check the time.

There was a piercing zzzzttt and everything went white.

A bright, piecing white.

PART 2: CHUBBOCK

Sheppard dropped to his knees, slinging up one arm up over his eyes to shield them as he reached for his weapon with the other hand. Someone was shouting -- Rodney.  It was too bright, too goddamn bright.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he pressed his arm across his face – as he tensed, ready.  Every muscle in his body seemed to thrum as the light died.

The tinny buzz stopped and the whiteness fled as quickly as it had started.  The shouting continued.  His eyes burned.  He dropped his arm to find everything blurred.  Huge black spots floated, turning his vision into Swiss cheese.   Sheppard blinked rapidly as he fought to see.  He kept his weapon up and ready.

Behind him, on the other side of the structure, Ronon gritted out, “Sheppard, do you see anything?”

“Nothing,” Sheppard responded, trying to will his vision into working order, wanting to wrestle away the big blank spots.  He tipped his head one way, and then the other, trying to see around the gaps.  It was maddening!  “Ronon!  Do you have a target?”

“I got nothing,” Ronon responded tersely.   “The light came from behind me.”

“Yeah, me, too.  Rodney, Teyla?”  Convinced that the attack had come from within the complex, and not from the foggy land beyond, Sheppard turned to face the other two members of his group.  There was no sign of further threat.

“I am all right,” Teyla said tightly. Her head was bowed and her eyes squinted. She had Rodney pulled closer to her, his head against her chest.

Rodney had stopped shouting, and was now uttering a quiet keening sound as he pressed his hands to his face as he curled up next to Teyla.

“The light went off directly in his face,” Teyla explained, still unable to truly open her eyes.  “I had glanced away, otherwise…” And she stopped speaking as Rodney shuddered.

Sheppard gave the area another look, then crouched down beside them as Ronon drew nearer.  “Rodney,” Sheppard called. “Rodney, you okay?”  He pressed a hand to his friend’s shoulder.  “Come on, buddy, talk to me.” 

It was hard to clearly make out everything.  His vision was still so blurred, so burnt out, he could hardly see his teammates.

“Something went wrong!” McKay exclaimed, hands tight to his face.  “You’re going to need to shut it down.  I don’t know if I can do it.  I don’t know.  We have to get away from it.”  He struggled a little to get up as Teyla and Sheppard kept him in place.

Ronon edged closer to the panel.  “Doesn’t seem to be active now,” he decided as he narrowed his eyes to slits and tried to look at the thing. “Screen seems dark.”

“It shut down on its own, Rodney,” Sheppard explained.  He frowned as McKay lowered his hands to blink rapidly, and then clamp his hands back where they were.  “Rodney?” he called.

“I, I don’t think I can see!” Rodney moaned, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes.  “It hasn’t suddenly turned into night, has it?  Because that would be improbable.  Can you see okay?  Can you see anything?  Oh God, I can’t see!”

Sheppard grabbed one of Rodney’s wrists and pulled.  “Stop messing with your eyes.  You just have to blink a bit more, and your vision will come back.  Mine’s getting better already.”

“It hurts,” Rodney hissed as he sat up, pulling away from Teyla.

“Yeah, I know,” Sheppard said sympathetically.  “Hurts like a son of a bitch, but it’s getting better.  The spots are mostly gone already.”

“Yes, Rodney,” Teyla added.  “My vision is improving as well.”  But she still squinted.

Ronon had gone back to surveying the area around them.  “The spots won’t last,” he stated.

“Yeah?” McKay tried hopefully.  He drew back his hands and opened his eyes again. His eyes darted as he blinked rapidly.

“Getting better, right?” Sheppard tried.

“No!” McKay snapped. “No it isn’t.”

“Are you seeing spots? Dark areas?” Teyla tried.

“No!” McKay grumbled.  His blue eyes kept moving, not focusing.  He turned his head to the fog, and then toward the structure.  “It’s just black and …” he winced and closed his eyes tightly.  “Flashes.”

“Flashes?” Sheppard repeated.

“Bright lights,” McKay continued.  “Lines and flashes, like tracers.”  He winced again.

John passed a worried look between Ronon and Teyla.  “Rodney,” he said.  “Look at me.”

“Did you hear what I just said?” Rodney growled.  “I can’t see anything.”

“Turn your head toward my voice,” Sheppard demanded, and then grabbed McKay by the chin to direct his head.

“Hey, you don’t have to be so rough,” McKay complained, keeping his eyes squinted shut.

“Can you keep your eyes open a minute?” Sheppard asked.  “I just want to see if there’s any visible damage.  You might have something in them.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rodney responded, and blinked a few times before opening his eyes wide for examination. “Don’t touch my eyeballs,” he warned.  “Seriously, that would be uncool.”

“I’m not touching anything,” Sheppard promised as he tried to get a good look at Rodney’s eyes, looking for debris or something obviously wrong.  It was impossible though.  His own vision was still blurred and spotty.  Rodney's eyes were red, but that might have been from McKay rubbing them.

Sheppard looked toward Teyla who was squinting at Rodney.  She lifted her gaze and him an unsure glance.

Great.

“I don’t see anything wrong,” Sheppard finally voiced. “But, we’d better get you to a doctor.”

“You think?” Rodney snarled, bringing his hands back to his face.  Teyla gently, yet firmly countered his movement.  He jumped a little when she touched him.

“How long until Atlantis checks in?” Ronon asked.

“Not until after nightfall,” Sheppard said with a sigh – hours away.  Someone could walk back to the Gate in that time.  He considered their options – sending Ronon back to the Gate for help would mean splitting the team when there was the possibility of a bog beast in the area.  Sheppard had learned to listen to the myths of Pegasus.

Anyway, there was no good landing site for the jumper when help did arrive.  They’d have to use ropes to get people into the ship.

Sheppard didn’t trust his own sight at that moment. The spots were still there, and too much of his vision was blurred.  He figured that Teyla and Ronon were experiencing the same.   It would be better if they stayed together.  Three sets of flawed vision would be better combined.  Perhaps between them, they’d be able to see trouble coming.

They could wait, but he’d rather get Rodney to help as soon as possible.

“Rodney, do you think you can walk?” Sheppard asked casually.

“Walk?”  McKay squawked.  “Of course I can walk.  I hurt my eyes, not my feet.”  He grimaced as he suddenly realized something.  “Oh,” he sighed.  “We’re walking back to the Gate,” he surmised.

“Yeah,” Sheppard responded.

“But I can’t see!” McKay whined.  “Seriously, I’m not kidding. It’s really bad.”  He blinked at Sheppard and John was damn glad that McKay didn’t know how vulnerable and young he looked at that moment – with his honest but sightless eyes searching for his friends.  All of his fears were laid bare.

“If you’re not hurt otherwise, you should be okay,” Ronon told him.  “Worst danger would be falling into the bog.  The ponds are pretty deep.”

Rodney looked alarmed, and Sheppard grimaced.

“You’re not going to fall in,” Sheppard assured.  “We’ll make sure of it.”

“I don’t have the best balance when I can see,” McKay said softly.  “This is really a bad idea.”

Yeah, Sheppard thought.  I know.  “We better get started,” Sheppard said.

Beside him, Teyla reached into her vest and pulled out a cloth.  “Rodney,” she said softly.  “I’m going to put something over your eyes to protect them.  We don’t know if there is debris or other damage, and I think this might be best.  Will that be all right?”

“What?” he turned to her, and she bit her lip a little as his eyes sought her, but never found her.  “Okay,” he finally said.  “Yeah, good idea.”

Sheppard moved to the edge of the firm ground to stand beside Ronon, not wanting to watch Teyla blindfold their friend.

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The trip back toward the Gate was quicker than the journey out.  They followed the path they had blazed earlier – finding their footsteps flooded and disappearing into the bog.  Sheppard led, his vision being the best of the group.  He had been lucky enough to be looking down when the flash had gone off, and avoided much of the fog’s reflection.

Ronon followed, with Rodney directly behind him.  The blindfolded scientist was tied to Ronon by a rope around both of their waists, an assurance that he wouldn’t be falling into any of the lakes that dotted the area.  Teyla kept Rodney corralled at the tail of the group.  Rodney muttered and grumbled as he was alternately yanked by the cord or nearly ran over Ronon as the mud caused everyone to walk at an uneven pace.

Rodney would sometimes murmur a “sorry” when he ran into Ronon and other times groan an exasperated “big oaf!”

In spite of being nearly ‘flat tired’ a dozen times, Ronon was amazingly stoic about his part in the ordeal, and simply kept them moving forward, watching the surrounding countryside.

They moved as quickly as they could.  They were lucky that the land was so featureless.  There were neither rocks nor roots to bar their path, and so there was little to trip up Rodney – although he’d fallen to his knees more than once when he lost his footing.

He’d swear and blame Ronon or Sheppard, and moan about how unfair it was.  Teyla would help him to his feet and then they’d keep moving – trying to get back to Atlantis as quickly as they could manage.

Yeah, it was unfair, Sheppard thought.  But what else could they do?  It wasn’t as if Ronon could carry McKay all the way back, especially when the man was ambulatory.  He doubted that either of them would have appreciated the suggestion.

Their best bet was to get home quickly, get out of this miserable place and have Keller check on Rodney’s eyes.  And certainly, Rodney was going to be okay.  Everyone else was getting better, weren’t they?

John squinted at the fog, and was pleased to discover that the spots were nearly gone from his vision.  He blinked and was certain the blurriness was better.  With a grin, he stopped and turned to face Ronon.

The Satedan halted, and regarded the colonel.  Before he could ask the question, there was a thud as Rodney crashed into the back of the big man.

“Warn a guy!” Rodney cried as he sloshed in the muck.

Sheppard met Ronon’s glance, and then looked to Teyla.  Both seemed to greet him with clearer eyes.  Yes, they were getting better.

From behind Ronon, Rodney whined, “Are we there yet?”

“Getting closer,” Ronon told him.  “Should be seeing the Gate soon.”

“See… yeah, some of you will be seeing it,” Rodney mumbled.

“How are you feeling, Rodney?” Teyla asked to distract him.  She drew closer to his side.

“Tired and cold and wet and hopelessly blind,” Rodney grumbled.  “This sucks.  Have I mentioned how much this sucks?”  He held tightly to the cord that bound him to Ronon as if he was afraid to lose it.  “When I started my day, I didn’t expect it to end with me being led through a cesspool on a string.  Do any of you have any idea of how hard it is to walk through this stuff when you can’t see anything?  It takes concentration!  Lots of concentration.”

“Are you still seeing the flashes of light?” Teyla asked him.  “Does it still hurt?”

Rodney seemed to think for a moment, and then shook his head.  “No.  The flashes are gone.  And my head – not hurting so much.”  He twisted a grin.  “Good sign, right?  Hey, are you guys seeing better?”

“Yeah,” Ronon admitted.

“Yes, my vision has improved,” Teyla told him.

“Great!  Then, I can get rid of this, right?”  Rodney fumbled for the blindfold with one hand.

Teyla stilled his movement, getting a flinch from Rodney again.  She winced a little in commiseration, sorry that she had startled him. “You had best leave it in place until Dr. Keller has seen you.”

“But it would make things a lot easier if I could see where we were going,” Rodney continued.  “And since the rest of you are getting better, then it’s only logical that I’m better, too.”  He smiled then, looking damn pleased with himself.

“We’re almost to the Gate, Rodney.  And what we’re doing seems to work,” Sheppard said with a sigh.

“For you it works,” Rodney grumbled.  “You’re not the one being pulled through the blackness by an ox.  No offense.”

Ronon grunted.

Rodney went on happily, “There’s no reason for this.” And he jammed a thumb at his blindfold.

“Leave it be.  I don’t like those flashes that you were seeing.  You might have some damage to your retina or something.”

The glee fled Rodney’s face.  “You think?” he asked, sounding lost.  A hand reached toward his face and dropped.  “Do you think it’s serious?  I’ve always been so careful about my sight.  Never played hockey because I heard about a kid in another town who had his cornea scratched by a hockey stick.”

Sheppard closed his eyes a moment.  “It’s probably nothing, Rodney.  Like you said, the rest of us are better now.  We just want to err on the side of caution, so just leave the blindfold alone for now.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Good idea.”  Rodney’s hands fidgeted at his side.  “Almost home, so might as well just keep going.  So, let’s go, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ronon said, his voice low. “Let’s move.  Something’s out there.”

“What?” Rodney shot back.

“Out there,” Ronon stated, his voice a hiss.  He pointed into the fog.

Sheppard followed where Dex had indicated.  “I don’t see anything. Just fog and bog and logs.”  He smiled a little at the rhyme.  “At least we haven’t seen any more frogs.”

“Give it a rest,” Rodney grumbled.

“Let’s go for a jog,” Sheppard went on cheerfully, but the smile quickly fell as he saw something move.  “Damn!”

Teyla reached for her weapon.

“What is it?  What?”  Rodney cried, turning toward Ronon when he heard the sound of the blaster powering up.

It moved, scudding the bog, and then it submerged.  Ronon aimed, but didn’t fire.

“What's happening?” Rodney asked again.  “I’m in the dark here!”

“Keep moving,” Ronon ordered.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay and fight?” Sheppard asked.

“We’re in its territory,” Ronon responded.  “It has the advantage.  We have to get to dry ground”

“What? What?” Rodney shot back, turning his head this way and that.  “It’s that bog beast, isn’t it?” he asked in Teyla’s direction, but the Athosian’s gaze was on their surroundings.

“The Gate should be just beyond that rise.  The soil turns to rock,” Ronon went on.  “Once we’re on the rock we’ll have a chance.”

“Against what?” Rodney moaned.  “What’s happening?”

“Let’s move,” Sheppard responded, nodding to Ronon to let him take the lead.

“Move it, McKay,” Ronon ordered, grabbing McKay’s arm.

Teyla came alongside, grabbing Rodney’s other elbow to hurry him as he tottered and fought with the gooey surface of the planet.  Sheppard fell in behind.

“What is it?” McKay demanded again, his voice rising in irritation and fear.

“There is something out there,” Teyla told him, her voice low.

“Yes, I got that much,” McKay grumbled.  “What do you think is out there?  Teyla?” Rodney called, his voice a quiet plea.  He turned his blindfolded face toward her as they jogged.

“We saw a shape in the bog,” she explained.  “We have not yet seen the creature and we are not sure what it is.”

“But it might be that bog beast?” Rodney continued, stumbling a little as his toes caught in the mud.

Teyla and Ronon kept their grasp of his arms, tugging him along and keeping him steady. 

“It is possible,” she told him.  “There are other creatures that live in the bog: the tambire, the udloo, the mackett.  It could be any of those.”

“But we’re running,” McKay said.  “It can’t be good.”

Teyla didn’t respond, continuing to keep him moving.

Sheppard kept close behind them, glancing about as he moved through the fog, trying to catch sight of the thing again.  A hidden enemy is a hundred times worse than one that is in the open.  He hated not being able to see the thing.

Somewhere near them, the bog undulated.  Little froglike voices put up a sudden chorus.

They ran.  “Don’t let me fall, don’t let me fall,” Rodney chanted as he galumphed through the swampy ground.

The ground squished.  Rodney stumbled. He shot out one hand and steadied himself against Ronon , gaining his balance. He let out a sigh at his success.

The frogs’ cries stopped as if someone had cut off the high strings in a horror movie.  Ronon stopped, causing Rodney to run past and get swung around by the rope as Teyla let go.

“What the hell?” Rodney cried as he staggered.  He fell to his knees as he tried to find Teyla again.

The Athosian drew her weapon and lifted it to the shadow behind them.

Sheppard kept his P90 on the shape that lunged from the bracken.

Ronon fired, but the beast ducked, avoiding the beam of the powerful weapon.  They saw little more than its whitish pointed snout and a big hunched body before it plunged into the soupy mess beside them.  A long and hideous bare tail slapped the surface before it disappeared.

With one quick movement, Ronon grabbed McKay’s arm and yanked him to his feet and into movement.

Still disoriented, Rodney let out a flustered, “Hey!  What the hell was that?”

“Run!” Ronon demanded.  Sheppard and Teyla fell in behind.

John could hear the thing – something slapping and slopping near them.  He held his weapon ready, and when the thing came into sight again, he fired.

It was fast, plunging back into the mud and muck before he had a chance to truly target it.  The fog worked against them, and the creature seemed well aware of this fact, using it for cover.  It melted away.

Ronon and Rodney were pulling ahead of them.  Teyla and John struggled to catch up as the muck pulled at their boots.  Rodney fell once or twice, but never hit the ground as Ronon kept hold of him.

They ran as the thing moved around them.  When something showed itself, Sheppard fired.  He hit a bird on one attempt, and something that looked like a marmot, but the bog beast – which looked a little too much like a possum – eluded him.

Ahead of them, Ronon suddenly stopped, turning abruptly and swinging Rodney around with him.  Rodney stumbled, confused, and simply hung on.  Teyla and Sheppard ran alongside a pond, and they watched the surface, waiting for another attack.

Sheppard kept up his pace, breathing hard as ran over the impossible soil that kept trying to un-shoe him.

He could feel his heel coming up, pulling away from his boot, and Sheppard paused, getting a better grip with his toes to pull free, but the boot wouldn’t budge.

He turned to release himself, and looked at the pinkish clawed paw gripped his foot.  The creature was huge and hideous.  Its mouth opened, showing sharp needlelike teeth.  Red eyes gleamed and the thing hissed.

He brought his weapon around sharply to fire into the thing’s head, but Teyla was already beside him.

It flinched as Teyla’s P90 tore into the its hide, and disappeared almost instantly into the muck, releasing its hold on Sheppard’s foot.

The second he was free, the pair ran, tearing toward Ronon and Rodney who waited for them – Ronon with his blaster held ready.  Rodney ducked, raising his hands above his head as he waited an unexpected attack.

Ronon’s gaze raked the surface of the bog, and when Sheppard reached them, Dex said, “Didn’t have a clear shot.”

“Figured as much,” Sheppard responded, and then exhaled as his feet hit solid ground.  He never thought he’d feel so happy to be standing on rocks again.

“The Gate should be just over there,” Ronon said, nodding to some location behind him.  “The chubbock won’t come onto the rocks if it can help it.”  He glanced to Teyla.  “And I think it’s going to want to steer clear of us for awhile.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Sheppard stated and turned to Rodney.  

The scientist hadn’t said anything to them, which was strange in most situations, but understandable when the man didn’t know what was going on.  He still cringed, covering his head.

“Hey, Rodney.  We got away from it,” Sheppard explained.

“Good, good,” Rodney huffed.

“Hell of a thing,” Sheppard said.  “Put up a good fight, but we put up a better one.”

“We were lucky,” Ronon countered.

Rodney straightened slowly, and cocked his head as if listening for it.  “So it’s gone?”

“Teyla got a couple of good shots into it,” Sheppard explained.

Ronon shrugged.  “Won’t be enough.  They’re tough.  Probably just hiding right below the surface.”

Sheppard sighed.  “Which is why we need to get away from the edge of the bog.  Let’s move out.”

Rodney nodded, and then grumbled, “This place totally sucks.”

“Yeah, literally,” John replied.

Ronon was still scanning the bog, ready if the thing came at them again.  He gave a curt nod and they started moving again.  Sheppard stayed beside McKay, helping to guide him.  He sliced the rope that had bound Rodney to Ronon.

“What did you do?” Rodney asked when the rope went slack.

“I cut the rope,” Sheppard told him.  “We don’t have to do the single file thing anymore.  We're on the rocks, so we don’t have to worry about falling into the swamp.”

“Oh,” Rodney replied, and then he asked, “What did it look like, the bog monster?”

“I swear to God, the thing looked like a giant possum,” Sheppard told him.

Rodney raised his head, his mouth twisting as he considered what Sheppard had said.  He was probably trying to figure out if Sheppard was joshing him, but unable to see his expression had to figure that Sheppard was telling him the truth.  “Possums skeeve me out,” Rodney said in a low voice.

“Yeah, me too,” Sheppard said.

“But how bad could a bog possum be?” McKay went on, trying to psych himself up.  “Sure, they look weird as hell, but what do they do beside freak you out by suddenly appearing out of the darkness?”

“Probably mostly harmless.”  Sheppard figured it would be best to keep any descriptions of the thing to a minimum.   “Come on, let’s go home.  The sooner we get off this planet, the better.”

“It’s just so weird, being unable to see anything.  Everything is strange.   I…” he stumbled a little, but Sheppard kept him from falling.  “I really hate this.”

“I can imagine,” Sheppard responded, not wanting to imagine.

“It’s like my worst nightmare.  Well, not my worst, but pretty darn close!”  He frowned a little.  “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever had a nightmare where I’m blind and trying to escape space possums before.  Ow!”  He stumbled as he tripped on some rocky protuberance.  He hopped a moment, and turned to Sheppard, accusing, “You’re supposed to be watching out for me!”

“I am,” John insisted.  “I didn’t let you fall.”

“I very nearly fell!”

With a sigh, Sheppard changed the subject, “Let’s go see Keller.  I’m betting things are a lot better now with your eyes.  You’re not seeing any more flashes right?”

Rodney paused, turning his head.

“What?” Sheppard asked him, recognizing something in Rodney’s stance.

“That’s just the thing.  The flashes had stopped, but they’re back again.”  He gestured vaguely with one hand as if trying to catch them.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” John tried, not believing it.

“Gate should be just around that bunch of trees,” Ronon told them and they moved a little further until Rodney suddenly pulled up short, grimacing.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Sheppard asked.

“Head hurts,” Rodney responded.  He reached one hand to touch the side of his head.  “Gah.  The flashes are getting stronger.”

“We’re almost there.” Ronon told him.

“Well, let’s go,” Rodney grumbled, rubbing at his head.  “Because this really bites and I’m fed up with it.”

“Suck it up an inch and get moving,” Sheppard stated, trying to break Rodney’s mode.  He gave McKay a smile, only to let it fall when he realized Rodney couldn’t see it.

They moved, but with each step, Rodney seemed to curl up a little more, clutching both hands to his head.

“Flashes?”  Sheppard asked.

“Yeah,” Rodney responded.  “Getting really bright.”

The Gate came into view.  Sheppard nodded to Teyla.  “Dial it,” he ordered.  She took off toward the DHD.  “We’re here, Rodney.  We just have to get home.”

“Yeah,” Rodney said again through gritted teeth.  “Almost there.”  But he was moving slowing – barely inching forward.  His face was taut with pain as he continued to hunch.

Ronon came alongside and grabbed hold of one arm.  Rodney let out a little ‘eep’ of surprise, and then let Ronon lead him as Teyla dialed.

They were nearly to the Gate when Rodney whispered, “Oh God.”  His legs gave out.  He crumbled.  Ronon’s firm grasp kept him from hitting the ground.

“Rodney?” Sheppard called as Teyla finished the dialing sequence.

McKay was gasping, his face pale as he clutched at his head.  When the wormhole engaged, he let out a final groan and went limp.

“Damn it,” Sheppard exhaled.  “McKay?  Rodney?  Can you hear me?”

Ronon didn’t wait.  He easily slung Rodney over one shoulder, waiting only long enough for Teyla to get clearance from Atlantis before he sprinted through the event horizon.  Teyla and Sheppard followed close behind.

PART 3:  BLIND

John made his way into the infirmary, pausing when he found it quiet.  No one seemed to be about. He scanned the room and quickly spotted what he was after.

Rodney sat upright in his bed.  His head was bowed, his eyes downcast and his arms tightly crossed over his chest.  He was alone and the utter picture of dejection.

He lifted his head for a moment as if he’d heard something, and Sheppard saw the loneliness and the apprehension of his expression.  Eyes blinked and Rodney dipped his head again.

Sheppard silently berated himself for taking so long to return, and called out, “Hey, McKay,” before he walked further into the infirmary.  Rodney’s head shot up.  Eyes sought, but never found him.  “It’s me, Sheppard.”

Rodney grimaced.  “Well, of course,” he snapped.  “I can hear you.”

“How are you doing?” Sheppard asked, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“How do you think?” Rodney responded with a snap.  “I’m blind.”

Sheppard sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Yeah, and not only am I sightless,” McKay went on, “but I’m trapped in the infirmary.  I may as well be chained to my bed.  And then, everyone leaves!  I can’t do anything.  Nobody even bothered to get me my laptop, not that I can use it right now.”  The arms tightened at his chest.  “I’m bored out of my mind.”

“You?  Bored?  I thought you liked the chance to just sit and think.”

“Not when it’s forced upon me.  Not like this.”

Sheppard sat down in the chair next to his bed and regarded his friend in silence for a moment.  Rodney stared out into nothingness, his brow furrowed with a continuing headache.

Rodney turned slowly toward him.  “If you’re doing something over there, I can’t see it,” he commented glumly.

“I’m just sitting,” Sheppard countered.  “Sitting here to keep you company.”

“Sitting silently isn’t going to cut it.  What are you doing over there?  Pantomimes?  How do you plan to entertain me?”

“Well,” Sheppard admitted.  “I haven’t figured that out yet. Where are Keller and the rest of them? Last time I looked in, there was a whole bunch of doctors around you.  Dr. Gupta was going at you.”

Rodney tightened his arms at his chest.  “She’s pigheaded!  Kept wanting me to perform the same worthless tests over and over again, in spite of the fact that they gave the exact same result every time.  How pointless is that?  I don’t know how many times she said, ‘can you see the light’?  Of course I can see a light.  I see lights and lines all around me!   I just can’t see anything real.”  He sighed.  “She must have shone that penlight into my eyes fifty times and I never saw it.”

“Where’d Keller, Gupta and the rest go?”

Rodney sighed.  “They’re in conference, trying to figure me out.”

“Good luck.  I don’t think anyone will ever figure you out,” Sheppard said with what he’d hoped was a joking tone.

Rodney snorted in response.

Rodney had awakened shortly after they’d brought him to the infirmary – disoriented, with a horrible headache and still bafflingly blind.

Jennifer had brought in the expedition’s optometry specialist, had performed brain scans, neurological exams and other tests, trying to determine what had happened.  There was no noticeable damage to the scientist’s eyes, but the scans had revealed that his brain was no longer listening to his eyes.

There was no good explanation for it.

And no reason for the lights that continued to plague him – bright ‘neon’ lines that made Rodney wince.  The medical team had been stymied and had left to confer about the possibilities – leaving Rodney alone for the first time since it had happened.

“Do you think I’ll get super hearing?” Rodney asked, fluttering a hand at one side of his head. “That always seems to happen in the movies.”

“Wasn’t there a superhero like that?” Sheppard asked.  “Daredevil?”

Rodney shrugged. “I heard the movie sucked.”

“Yeah, I didn’t see it.”

“It just seems like in any movie where someone goes blind, they’re suddenly hearing individual raindrops, and conversations from two rooms down.  They can tell tiny differences in scents, sounds, touch.”

“I don’t know,” Sheppard replied, then added, “I think people because more sensitive because they’re paying better attention.  Nothing ‘super’.”

“Oh,” Rodney said with a sigh, letting his hand fall.  “I guess it’s a blessing that I don’t get ‘super smelling’.  I mean, I do have to be around Ronon from time to time.”  He stiffened suddenly and asked in a worried voice, “He’s not here, is he?”

Sheppard smiled at that reaction, but the smile fell as Rodney's sightless eyes roamed.  “If he was here, you’d know it.  He wouldn’t let you get away with that comment.”

“Yeah,” Rodney responded as he turned his head away.

“Besides, you smell kinda ripe yourself.”

“It’s the bog!” Rodney returned.  “I haven’t had a chance to wash up properly yet.  I need a good bath and that’s not going to happen while I’m here.”  He let out a long sigh, “And I don’t think I’m ever going to stop having nightmares about that bog beast.”

“You didn’t even see what it looked like,” Sheppard stated.

“And that makes it much, much worse.”  McKay tapped the side of his head.  “My mind is an impressive piece of equipment.  Imagine the horrors I can construct using just the sounds and your terrible description of the thing.”

“Well,” Sheppard drawled, and then tried, “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Right,” Rodney replied with a click of his tongue.  His head bowed again and they sat in silence for a moment.  Finally, Rodney said softly, “They don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Sheppard watched as Rodney slowly turned toward him again.  Those familiar blue eyes looked strange as they failed to focus as they looked beyond him.

“No damage to the structure of the eyes.  They’re just not working anymore.”

“They’ll figure it out,” Sheppard promised.

After a moment, Rodney closed his eyes and pressed his hands to his face.  “They’d better do it out soon,” he muttered.  “I can’t do anything like this.  My whole world is visual.  How can I use my laptop?” his voice raised a little with that question.  “And yes, I know there are programs to help the blind use the computer, but have you ever tried to use that narrator software?  It’s horrendous!  And even if I were able to find an adequate version that could keep up with me,” and he paused a moment.  “How could that possibly work when I’m trying to translate Wraith and Ancient and Genii?  How’s that going to work for me when I’m trying to reroute power or increase the efficiency of the desalinization plant or save the city at a moment’s notice?”

“They will figure it out,” John assured quickly.  He wanted something fixable, something that could be saved or corrected or just blown up.  He hated trying to come up with reassurances when there were none to be had.

Jennifer suddenly entered the room, with the rest of her staff dispersing behind her.  Sheppard watched them, noting the way that the other doctors glanced toward Rodney and then looked away. They seemed disturbed and regretful as they quickly and quietly left the room.

Rodney turned his head toward them, frowning.

“Rodney, it’s me.  Jennifer,” Keller said as she approached, and Rodney drew into himself a little.  She went on, “How are you feeling?”

“Blind.  Very blind,” Rodney responded.  “Have you figured out how to bring back my sight?”

“We’re still working on that,” Jennifer explained as she met Sheppard’s gaze.

“See, told you,” Sheppard stated.  “They’ll take care of this Rodney.  No worries.”

She gave him a grateful look before returning her attention to Rodney.  “How’s your headache?”

“Miserable,” Rodney replied.

“You’re still seeing the flashes of light?” she asked.

“They’re more distinct than ever,” Rodney told her.  “But they’re solid lines now.” He cocked his head.  “And glowing orbs and bright shapes.  Everything else is black.”  He squeezed his eyes shut.  “And the lines are still there if I close my eyes.  It’s awful.”

From her pocket, Jennifer withdrew a bottle.  “I’ve prescribed some pain killers,” she said.  “I want you to take two if the pain gets too bad.  No more than eight in one day.”  She shook the bottle so that the pills rattled, and said.  “Put out your hand.”

McKay frowned, but did as he was told.  She placed the bottle in his palm.  “You didn’t put a child-proof top on it, did you?” he asked.

“I hate those,” Sheppard said.

“No childproof lid,” Jennifer assured as she moved the table away from Rodney’s bed.

Rodney listened to her movements and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Getting you out of this place,” she told him, and smiled.  “I think you’d be more comfortable in your own quarters, where you know where everything is.”

Rodney’s mouth quirked as he jammed the bottle into a pocket.

“Come on, Rodney,” Sheppard said.  “Let’s take a walk.  You can go to your room, take that bath and get some sleep.  After that, you can figure out what you want to do.”

“Oh, okay…” Rodney didn’t move.

“What are you waiting for?” Sheppard asked.

Rodney lowered his voice and asked, “How do I get to my room?.” 

Sheppard closed his eyes a moment at the quietly voiced question.  “What do you think?  I’ll go with you,” he stated.  “Won’t let you run into a wall or anything.”

“Gee, thanks,” Rodney replied, pulling back the blanket and tentatively swung his feet over the edge.

“I have some slippers here for you,” Jennifer said, pressing the mentioned items into Rodney’s hand.  “Your boots were kind of… well, caked with mud.”

“You can clean them tomorrow,” Sheppard told him, “after the mud has become good and dried on.”

Rodney fumbled with the slippers, managing to get them on the right feet somehow.

When Jennifer realized that John was looking at her, she turned to him and put on a resolved expression.   “I believe he’ll be more comfortable in his own room.  He gets rather grumpy if left in the infirmary for too long.”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Rodney asked.

“Not as grumpy as you,” Jennifer said lightly, and Rodney frowned, obviously not sure how to take her statement.

“Great.  Thanks,” Rodney turns his gaze toward his feet.  “This is so weird.”

“You can handle it,” Sheppard told him.

Rodney’s expression seemed to say that he wasn’t sure of that fact.  He sat a moment, and then asked in Jennifer’s direction, “Do I look okay?”

“You look fine,” she assured him.

“I was covered with bog juice when I got here and only had a sponge bath to get it all off,” he went on.

“You used the shower,” Jennifer reminded him with a sigh, pointing toward the infirmary’s restroom, but let her hand drop as she remembered he couldn’t see the gesture.

“It’s not a real shower,” Rodney grumbled.  “It’s one of those handheld shower things.  How am I supposed to use something like that when I can’t see where I’m pointing it?  I probably hosed off more of the room than myself.”

“You’re clean,” Jennifer told him.  “At least, clean enough to walk to your room.”

“At least you’re cleaner than when you got here,” Sheppard told him.

Rapidly, McKay ran his hands over his hair as if to straighten it.  “I’m wearing scrubs?” he confirmed as he dropped his hands and touched his clothing.

“Yes, you’re wearing scrubs with pink with kitties on them,” Sheppard told him.

Rodney looked aghast, turning in Jennifer’s direction. “How could you do that to me?  What were you thinking? That is totally unfair!”

Jennifer laughed lightly, saying, “He’s kidding you, Rodney.  They’re blue.”  And then, with a smile added, “But they do have fire trucks on them.”

Rodney seemed to consider this.

Sheppard reached out and settled a hand on Rodney’s arm, trying to ignore the little jerk of surprise.  “Let’s get moving,” he said.  “Jennifer needs the bed for sick people.”

Rodney took a moment to find his balance, before he sighed and said, “Could we take the ‘back way’ to my room?  I really don’t want to be seen shuffling through the halls by my entire staff wearing pajamas.”

“I’d hope that they’re wearing pajamas,” Sheppard commented, purposefully misinterpreting him.  “Most of them are asleep.  It’s almost midnight.”

“Really?”  Rodney replied.  “Huh.  I didn’t know.”

“Come on, let’s get moving,” Sheppard commanded.  “It’s late and I want to get to my quarters, too.”

“Oh, okay,” McKay responded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jennifer told him, sounding as if she genuinely wanted to do so.

“Yeah, yeah,” was Rodney’s response as he reached out an arm to feel the way.  Sheppard took it and started guiding him.

“He says, he can’t wait to see you again,” Sheppard told Jennifer.  "He'll be back in the morning."  Which gained a sputtering confirmation from Rodney and another laugh from Jennifer. 

“Seriously, fire trucks?” McKay tried to confirm.

“They were out of the Batman print,” Sheppard told him.

Rodney looked dejected for a moment, and then turned toward Jennifer.

“Kidding!  He’s kidding you again, Rodney,” she called.

“Sure, tease the blind man,” Rodney grumbled.

“Just keep moving,” Sheppard told him.

John moved slowly, making sure that Rodney wasn’t getting overwhelmed, ensuring that Rodney wasn’t going to run into a wall.  After a few steps, they gained more confidence and John brought Rodney to a quicker pace.

Not bad.  They were moving along nicely.

“This whole situation is insane,” Rodney continued to complain as they walked.  “What the hell was that light for anyway?”

“What light?”  Sheppard asked.

“The light that blinded me,” Rodney returned incredulously.  “What else would I be talking about?”

“Oh, I thought you were talking about those blinky lights that you’ve been seeing.”

“They don’t really blink,” Rodney told him.  “But they kind of throb.  They’re like neon lights everywhere.  Weird as hell.”

“Yeah, weird.”

“But that blinding light, why do you think it was there?”

Sheppard shook his head.  “I have no idea, Rodney. It was a crappy thing.”  He kept one hand under Rodney’s elbow, doing little more than touching him now as they moved down the hall.  “Something just went horribly wrong.”

“I didn’t mess it up,” the Canadian insisted.  “I was trying to activate the device.  It didn’t overload.  I didn’t set off a security system.” He gestured as he walked.  “It was as if that thing was designed to do exactly what it did.  The monitor was situated so that I had to lean into it to see.  What the hell?”

Sheppard guided McKay rather effortlessly as he listened. “You think so?  You think it was just being a bastard?  Like some sort of Ancient ‘punking’?”

Rodney shook his head.  “Seemed like a poor idea if it was just meant to piss off a group, and blind one person in their party.  I admit that the Ancients were total ass hats sometimes, but they did everything with a purpose.”

“But why?” Sheppard questioned.

“That’s the big question,” Rodney said with a sigh, and took a turn when they reached a crossroad.  He came to a quick halt when Sheppard released his hold.  “What?  Where’d you go?”

Sheppard stood, stunned.  “How did you know to turn there?” he asked.

“You’re the one guiding me,” Rodney remarked.

“You turned on your own,” Sheppard said definitively.  “I was going to take you straight through.”

“But that direction would have brought me past the mess hall.  I wanted to go the back way.”

“Yeah, I remember now.  Jeez, you aren’t kidding when you say that you know Atlantis like the back of your hand.”

“I know how to get to my room.”

“But you knew exactly where to turn.”

“You must have paused,” Rodney said.  “Unconsciously or something.”

“Seriously, Rodney,” Sheppard went on.  “I was going straight through.  I wasn’t even thinking of going this way.”

Rodney frowned and then tipped back his head.  He turned slowly.

“What’s up?” Sheppard asked, ready to step forward and keep Rodney from running into a wall, but he managed the turn without any trouble.

Holding out one hand, Rodney brought it around slowly.  He took a step forward to lightly touch a control panel on the wall. He withdrew his hand quickly.

Sheppard smiled slightly.  “That’s pretty cool, Rodney.  How’d you do it?”

“I can see,” McKay said in a whisper.

“Wait a minute.  You can see?” Sheppard reiterated, his voice rising hopefully.  “You mean it’s cleared up?”

“Everything is black.”  Rodney’s voice remained low. “Except for those lines, the dots and glowing things.”  He turned his head toward John, his gaze not really meeting anything.  “But, it’s clear now – or at least clear than it was.  It’s like a blueprint, like I’m standing in a schematic.”

Sheppard watched him carefully.  “What are you saying, Rodney?”

Rodney swallowed slightly and gave a little nod.  “I can see Atlantis.”

PART 4: SIGHT

“Do you have any decent civvies?  What’s up with these pants?  Seriously, McKay, you shouldn’t wear these things.  Do you have any idea how you look in them?  Where do you shop? Value Village?  Do they have those up there in Canada?  If your wardrobe is an indication, they have a seriously bad selection.  What the hell is this?”  Sheppard rustled through his clothing drawers and apparently left something stacked on his dresser.

McKay listened as Sheppard moved things in the room, adjusting a table, sliding his desk chair into place, shoving some things across the floor.  “I’m just straightening a bit,” Sheppard told him.  “I’m sure you know where everything is, so I’m not really changing anything.”

He stood there, listing to the clattering as John complained about people who don’t make their bed every morning, and about those who would do anything to get out of work.

As Sheppard moved about his room, Rodney tried to ignore his headache as he watched the glowing lines, mesmerized, because that was all he could see.   And he listened to Sheppard, trying to figure out what was being moved. 

“If you need me to find anything for you now, just say so,” Sheppard stated.

Rodney stared at the lines, fascinated by the fact that they perfectly outlined his room.  He’d been discounting them before, thinking they were just a sign of his infirmity, but he realized they had purpose.  With that awareness, they’d become more distinct.  It was as if the ‘vision’ was waiting for him to figure it out before they really showed off their use.

Sheppard started talking about the expedition’s optometry specialist, Dr. Gupta.  He said she was the best, even though her personal skills sucked.  “She’s a good match to treat you.”  And then, after saying ‘good match’ he talked about Keller for a little while, and then seemed to run out of steam.

“So, you’ve gone deaf now?” Sheppard finally asked.

It took Rodney a second.  “I’m tired,” he responded because he didn’t know what else to say.  “And my head still hurts.” He could see the lines, but it didn’t change the fact that he was blind.  He was blind, his head hurt and Sheppard was straightening his room and laying out clothes for him.  He couldn’t even remember his mother doing that for him.

How embarrassing.

“Yeah,” Sheppard.  “I’m going to contact Keller and Zelenka before it gets any later.  Let them know about these lines.  They must mean something.”

“Obviously,” Rodney had responded as he stood in place.

“You see them everywhere?” Sheppard asked.

“They seem to be outlining anything Ancient,” McKay explained. He looked around the room.  “The things I brought from Earth aren’t lighting up.”  Sheppard kept moving around him – picking up.  It was humiliating.  “I’ll call Zelenka and Keller,” Rodney said.  “I can use a radio, at least.”

“No,” Sheppard countered.  “Right now, you sleep.  Nobody will be able to do anything for a while anyway.”

“Zelenka’s up.”

Sheppard continued in the same easy tone.  “Radek’s already searching the database for info on that planet.  I’ll just give him something new to look for.  I bet he’ll have news in the morning.  Good thing you had him on the night shift this week.”  There was a pause, and then, “What did he do to deserve that punishment?”

“Night shift isn’t punishment!” Rodney grumbled.  “He doesn’t like to be assigned to away missions, and he’d been complaining about the hours he was getting so I set up him up with something new.”

“Yeah, you gave something to really complain about.”

“Shut him up for a while,” Rodney replied.

Sheppard chuckled as he moved away.

“But night shift isn’t that bad,” Rodney continued to plead his case.  “It’s quiet after dark.  I get a lot of work done when no one else is around.  He should enjoy it.”

“Not everyone is like you, McKay,” Sheppard’s voice took on that echoing quality that meant he’d stepped into the bathroom.  He was puttering about again -- straightening things about on the counter.

Rodney watched the weird neon blackness.  The pulsing of the lights continued to make his head throb.

God, this was so wrong.  Rodney closed his eyes, and still saw the lights.  He wished he could just flick a switch and put everything right again. Sucked.  It sucked so hard!  He didn’t think he could handle this for long.  He always hated it when power went out back home – hated sitting in the dark, trying to figure out things to do when there was no electricity – not fun for anyone.  He hated fumbling around, trying to find things in the blackness.

He remembered one long night with his family during a windstorm.  The lights had flickered, and then went out.  There’d been a moment or two of excitement as he found a flashlight in the blackness – the hero for saving his family from the night!  With it, they’d found candles and matches, and the hurricane lamps.  His mother and father closed themselves off with books, leaving him to ‘entertain’ his younger sister and keep her from freaking out over monsters in the dark.

There are always monsters in the dark – like that bog beast.  He shuddered, remembering how helpless he had been when that thing attacked.  There’d been splashing and crashing, shouting, shots going off as his friends fought.  And all he could do was huddle against the earth in terror – waiting for it to be over.  He’d been worthless at that moment – a liability.  He didn’t know what he would have done if any of them had been hurt.

“Rodney?” Sheppard’s voice was close again, and Rodney blinked in surprise.

“I’m fine,” he said quickly -- too quickly.

“You look pretty set up here,” Sheppard said.  “You probably already know this, but just in case -- your toothbrush and a water glass are right next to the sink at 10 o’clock.  Your toothpaste is at 2 o’clock.  Your hairbrush is behind it.  I found some hair gel.  I set it next to the brush.  Seriously, you use hair gel?”

“Sometimes!” Rodney snapped, running a hand over his head.  “Sometimes, I use it. Not as much as you, by any means.  Do you take stock out in the company?”

Sheppard went on, “Your bubble bath stuff is at the edge of the tub, to the right of the faucet where you left it.  I suggest you bathe soon.  You stink.”

“It’s the bog.  It’s not my fault that I kept falling down!  I couldn’t see where I was putting my feet, and the ground was trying to suck my boots off me.  I did the best I could!”  He kept talking, his voice getting louder and faster.  “I was just trying to keep moving and not run into Ronon, and I don’t think you know how hard it was for me.  I couldn’t see anything and it was difficult enough to do it when we walked out there the first time.  Then, there was the blackness and the headache and the damn bog possum, and all I could do was fall over and hope I didn’t get eaten.  What else did you expect me to do?”

Sheppard said nothing, so Rodney fumed on, “Then I was stuck in the infirmary.  You could go back to your own room to shower and get freshened up.  I can’t do anything until someone decides to help me. I can’t even find the right clothing without help.  I wouldn’t have been able to find my toothpaste without feeling around in a drawer and maybe putting antibacterial cream on the brush by mistake.  It’s surprising that I haven’t tripped and broken my skull open yet.”  He didn’t know what to do.  He didn’t know how to move or where to go, so he stood there, shouting and staring forward, knowing that he really wasn’t looking toward John.  “I feel like an imbecile, like an infant.  I can’t do anything on my own.”

John stepped closer.  “Hold out your hand.”

“Why?  So you can lead me to the bed?  I think I can handle that on my own.”

Sheppard grabbed him by his wrist and turned his hand over.  Then, he pressed a radio against Rodney’s palm.  “Just keep it with you.  Give me a call if you need anything.  I don’t mind coming.”

Rodney held the device for a moment, staring at where it should be, but seeing nothing – just blackness, and the bright lines of the floor beneath him.  He grimaced, hating the idea of having to bother Sheppard for stupid things -- as if the colonel didn’t have better things to do.

“Can you think of anything you need before I go?” Sheppard asked, his voice even.

Rodney didn’t move, continuing to stare where the radio should be in his hand. He figured that Sheppard must have already set it to the right channel, had turned it on.  Only the microphone would need to be activated if necessary.  John was a thorough guy.

He considered asking for his laptop – he didn’t know where it had ended up after they returned to the base.  He knew how to turn on the ‘narrator device’ – but the voices on those things always sounded like depressed robots and he feared for his psyche if he had to listen to that voice for long.

He could ask Sheppard to set up some sort of music player for the evening, but he didn’t feel like listening to anything at the moment.  He wanted someone to turn off the glowing lines and turn on the regular lights.  He wanted the electricity to come back on.  He wanted everything to be normal again.

Sheppard said nothing, and so Rodney finally said, his voice low and hoarse, “I’ll be fine.”

After a short pause, Sheppard said, “Use the radio if you think of anything.  I’m not far.”

“Thanks,” he said softly, knowing that there was nothing he could say to truly thank his friend for this help.  It must have really sucked for Sheppard.  He knew he should apologize for his foul mood, but Sheppard spoke instead.

“No problem.  Tomorrow, we’re going running, so get up early.”

“What?” Rodney sputtered.  “No!  No running!  I’m in no shape to…”

“Well, you’re shape is always the issue, but if you can see the walls and floors of Atlantis, you can come for a run with me.  Do you have any running clothes? Kinda doubt it, but I can have another look.”

“No running!  Are you insane!  You’ve done enough rifling through my drawers already.”

“Fine.  I’ll come around tomorrow and we’ll grab some breakfast, think about a run, then we see Keller.   I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you and run some more tests.  And more running afterward.”

Rodney frowned, wondering if he’d heard a smile in Sheppard’s voice.  “Breakfast, yes.  Running, definitely no.”

Sheppard continued, “Zelenka will have all night to come up with some ideas.  He’s not too shabby in the brains department either.  Plus you’ll have the night to think on it.”

Rodney considered this and said, “I often do some very intuitive thinking as I’m drifting off to sleep, and some of my best ideas come after a nice soak.”  And he gazed toward the big tub, seeing its outline in the glowing bands.

“Speaking of which, get soaking.  The sooner the better.”   Sheppard sniffed loudly, and then opened the door.  “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” Rodney replied, wishing that he could say the same.

Sheppard seemed to linger a moment, but he slipped through the door and was gone.  McKay stood in the room, listening, wondering if he'd truly left.  He tried to hear the sound of breathing, and after a moment, he voiced a quiet, "John?"

No answer.  Apparently, he had gone.

Okay then, now to get on with your life.

McKay set his radio by his bed and shuffled around the room.  It was fairly easy.  He knew where every piece of ‘Earth’ furniture was placed, and could see the Ancient things outlined.

He filled the tub, carefully feeling the water level so that it didn’t overflow, and took the promised long soak, thinking it was entirely weird to bathe in the darkness.  Some folks liked to bathe by candlelight, but that never made any sense to him.  How was someone supposed to take notes?  To do research?

The hot water soothed him.  His tense muscles relaxed.  His head hurt a little less.  The bubbles were lavender scented, which is supposed to help with sleep.  It seemed to be doing the trick.  He could feel himself start to drift in the warmth and the serene aroma. 

And the boredom.  There was something entirely dull about sitting in a bathtub with no ability to pop onto his laptop for information or to record his latest deep thought.  Bored, and tired, he coerced himself out of the water.  The lines seemed more bearable now that he was used to them, and he smiled a little as he prepared for bed.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.

He sat on one side of the bed, and pulled back the sheets.  He was about to slide his feet under the covers when his hand glanced against an object.  He jerked back, surprised.  Realizing that nothing was moving, he felt about until he found it.

What the hell?  He grasped the thing.  It was rubbery and long and… a bit obscene.  What the HELL?  He jumped to his feet, disgusted, as he dropped it, hearing the light thud of it against his sheets.  Why did things like this have to happen to him?  He couldn’t see this thing, couldn’t figure out what it was or why was it in his bed.

The problem was, he’d either have to figure it out on his own, or call Sheppard for help.  He glanced toward where he’d left the radio, knowing what he had to do.

If he could only turn the lights back on...

He reached out, feeling around until he touched the strange thing again.  Rubbery.  Gross!  Fleshy… disturbing!  It seemed to have… a beak.  And then an understanding dawned on him – rubber chicken.

Son of a bitch!

The rubber chicken had been on his dresser earlier, a gift from the colonel.  It had been jammed in the gap between the wall and the furniture in an attempt to get it out of the way.  He’d situated it in such a way that it seemed to be peeking out of that prison.

Stupid rubber chicken!  He drew back to fling it into the corner, but realizing that it was a bad idea because throwing it would only bring another surprise encounter with it.  He dropped it under his bed instead.

Madly, he felt about the sheets, finding a balled up sock at the foot of the bed.  He was about to blame Sheppard for that too, but couldn’t remember if he’d left the sock there himself the last time he went to bed with cold feet.  He decided to blame it on Sheppard anyway.

Satisfied that his bed was cleared, he laid back and tried to sleep.  It didn’t happen, not even after popping a couple of pain pills.  His head still hurt and the bars of lights would not go out even with his eyes closed.

It was like trying to sleep in the middle of a Tokyo city street.

He kept still for a while, watching the lights.  They glowed in reds and blues.  He could see his room and the handful of Ancient devices that had been scattered about – bits and bobs that he’d brought in to study in his down-time.

And he wondered if he could see further than just his room, so he concentrated, letting his mind reach out to the spaces beyond these walls.  And with a small smile, he managed it.  A floor plan of lines expanded  – delineating the hallway outside his room, running out to draw in the other rooms along the corridor.  He banked upward as if in flight and the lines kept going – illustrating the main tower, the infirmary, the mess hall, and the control room.  Every room was drawn out to show the Ancient devices, the structures that had been here when they arrived.

He kept expanding the vision, pushing it further, enlarging his map of Atlantis.  It was amazingly detailed, and he smiled a little in spite of his growing headache.

He explored rooms, coming in close, and he winced as he found the Gate Room.  He drew back almost immediately as the glowing became brighter, as if the technology present there was too powerful, swamping his senses.  A stab of pain shot through his head.  He held out a hand as if to push back as he grimaced and let his mind fall away from the design, drawing back – back – back and the pain lessened until he saw only his room.

He let out a breath.  That was wild.

Why… why did the Ancients believe that anyone needed this sort of sight?  What was the purpose to it?  It wasn’t as if he was seeing anything special. This strange vision only outlined what was already visible – Ancient design.

It wasn’t as if this place was hidden.

He frowned in thought, and then sat up.  Atlantis wasn’t hidden… but…

He fumbled for the radio, eager to talk to Sheppard about his thought, but paused before he activated the microphone.  It had been after midnight when they left the infirmary.  It was deeper into the night now.  Sheppard and Keller and nearly everyone would be asleep – everyone except Zelenka!

Yes! 

He considered using the radio, but what the hell.  He could walk to Zelenka’s personal lab. After all, he could see the corridors.  He could see the entire route even before he left the room.   It would be a snap!

Feeling better, Rodney stood and began moving about his room.  It must have been nearly morning.

He found the toothpaste as promised.  A bath sponge had been shoved in his drinking glass.  He sighed and squeezed the thing before finding a place for it behind the faucet.

He didn’t bother with a shave, or the hair gel, but ran the brush through his hair, hoping that he managed to get his thinning locks into a decent shape.  He found the clothing that Sheppard had left out for him.  After running his hands over the material, he was able to figure out what was set out – a uniform.  Typical.

It took a little while to get dressed.  He had to figure out tops and bottoms and ensure that everything was on right-side-out, but he managed the feat without too much difficulty.  He only hoped that Sheppard hadn’t done something to his uniform as well.

He found his shoes and his still-muddy boots.  Shoes it was!  Jammed inside one was a half-dozen stress balls.  Fantastic.  He pulled them out and tried to corral them against the wall.  Sheppard – you couldn’t trust the man.

He then figured out which shoe was the right one, and which was the left -- and put them on.

Dressed.  He’d managed it.  He allowed himself a smile at his achievement, and then sighed as he recalled an old ribbon he’d seen on his niece’s bulletin board -- “I can dress myself”.  Great.   Jeannie had probably given that to Madison when she was two.

He had just achieved something any two-year-old could manage.

Glum with that realization, he ran his hands over his clothing, hoping he didn’t look too horrible.  Finally, knowing he could do no better, he strode to the door and hesitated.

You can do this.

He touched the controls for the door and it snicked open.  Outside, he could smell the saltiness of the air, feel a breeze on his face.  Someone must have left a balcony door open, letting the night air into the hall.   Far below, the sea tumbled, creating a quiet wall of white noise.   It was nice.

You can do this.

He took a step into the outlined hallway, seeing the proportions of the walls clearly with his strange vision.  He held out a hand and edged forward, knowing that a table brought from Earth was nearby.  He stepped and stepped and reached until he touched the corner of it in the blackness.  Yes, he thought as he ran his hand along the cool, hard surface.  He grinned. 

I can do this.

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Chapter 5

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