The Last Piece

AN: I thought this was an excellent episode for all the team members. The only disappointment was that the issue of shooting Rodney was later made to be funny. I think it should have been treated more seriously. However, I've tried to add what I thought might transpire after the fact.

Others have written wonderful stories about the beginning of the episode, so I've kinda skipped that. Since I'm not in the medical profession ,I appologize for any medical facts that are incorrect.

This will be my first fan fic in this universe ,so I hope you like it. I would love to hear from everyone as to what you think.

This story was started just after the episode aired, so I hope no one else has come up with this idea.

Disclaimer: All things related to Stargate Atlantis belong to MGM/Sony. No profit was made from this, but it was a whole lot of fun to write!

I would adopt David Hewlett as my brother in a heart beat.

---------------------------------

Chapter 1 - Denial

Rodney couldn't believe it when he saw Sheppard put Teyla down ,then aim the P90 at him. Teyla tried to warn Rodney, but there wasn't time to duck or hide or do anything except raise his hands and say NO!

The bullet's impact spun him around and sent him crashing to the ground. Even though the pain that followed was intense, his fear now was not what the pain meant,

but whether or not Sheppard would shoot him again.

The whole scene kept replaying through Rodney's mind. Sheppard had apologized to him, but it had seemed forced and the colonel still acted very distant and unfriendly.

Hell, after what they all went through, even Rodney felt weird. The whole situation creeped him out.

Rodney and Carson were walking next to the gurney carrying the young Lt as they boarded the Daedalus. He was glad the young man had made it; Carson had saved the Lt as well as stopping Rodney from bleeding to death.

But in truth , Ronon had been the one that had taken charge of Rodney's wound once he came back to his senses. The big guy obviously knew something about battlefield triage having done it on himself a number of times. He had sent Sheppard looking for Carson, while he bandaged Rodney. Teyla held Rodney's hand through the whole ordeal, somehow feeling responsible for him being shot. However, he had told her not to feel guilty for there was nothing she could have done.

After all, it was his own fault since he hadn't finished shutting down the generator. His mind had been affected as well.

Fortunately for all of them ,Teyla had listened to Rodney when he had explained the machine and how he planned to disable it. Then with his pleading ,she was able to convince Sheppard to help her shut the damn thing down. If she hadn't, they'd all be dead now, just like the Genii and the other team.

Beckett watched as the Gurney with the Lt was pushed down the hallway to the infirmary. He was anxious to follow behind, but Rodney had pulled him aside in the hallway for a moment.

"Carson, just let me go to my quarters. I don't want to be underfoot in your infirmary. " He was pleading, he hated being in the ward. People would be asking questions about what had happened to him.

How would he tell them, "Oh, my friend went crazy and shot me, but he said he was sorry."

The whole thing sounded ludicrous even to him and he had been there.

Carson was exhausted and just a little tired of McKay. The scientist was very lucky. If the bullet had hit him a little further up, he'd be dead.

"All right, Rodney, but I want you back here fist thing tomorrow to have that bandage changed. Also, if you feel hot or think you're getting a fever, back you come as well. I don't like the looks of that wound, you seem to be a bleeder and that means the healing process will be very slow. There's risk of infection if we're not careful."

Rodney nodded in gratitude, then left for his assigned quarters.

All he wanted to do was get away from people, put his head down on a pillow and make it all go away.

Like it never happened.

It was later that afternoon when Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard gathered in the mess to have lunch together.

Ronon looked around for McKay, as he sat down holding a tray laden with food. Just because the Satedan had been shot didn't mean his appetite had gone away.

"Where's McKay?" he finally asked his other team members.

John smiled slightly, " Probably telling half the crew about how I shot him!"

Ronon smiled, but he knew better, Rodney wouldn't do that unless it had been something insignificant. Being shot in the chest by your team leader was not insignificant. He knew McKay had been deeply hurt by Sheppard's actions. Somehow just saying he was sorry wasn't enough; Sheppard needed to do more, McKay needed it.

Ronon knew if he'd shot McKay, he'd have felt terrible and would still be trying to find a way to make amends to the scientist. They had come very close to losing Mckay.

Sheppard however, seemed to be acting like it was insignificant and having apologized felt that was enough. Their leader was acting very strange about the whole event, he was distant and hard to read.

Ronon mentioned all this to Teyla earlier and she'd said to let it go. She'd told him Sheppard had some ghosts that he needed to put to rest and right now wasn't a good time for criticism of his handling of Rodney.

So Ronon dropped it and as they all sat around the table after lunch and talked, none of them mentioned McKay again.

In his quarters Rodney tossed fitfully in his sleep ,still seeing the look of hatred on Sheppard's face as he pulled his P90's trigger; only this time the gun kept firing and Rodney knew he was a dead man when he felt the bullets impact.

No, no, his mind screamed for his friend had just killed him.

He sat up suddenly, wide awake. His chest felt like it was on fire; the area around his wound was throbbing. The resonance of the bullet's impact was still fresh in his mind.

Sweat covered his face and he wiped it away with a shaking hand, he was so hot. The nightmare had left him so exhausted he was hardly aware of his surroundings. His wound was aching and bleeding again, but he ignored it. After a few moments he realized where he was; safe on the Daedalus, no one would shoot him here.

He leaned his fevered head back on the pillow,

I need to get my mind focused on something else. My nerves are shot.

Finally, exhausted from the past days trauma and the nightmare, he went back to sleep. Trying once more to forget it ever happened.

John Sheppard holding a P90 seemed to follow him into that sleep...

It was dinner time and once again the three members of the team assembled for the meal. This time Beckett joined them.

They were all talking about small events and how amazing the ship was. It was so big compared to their little puddle jumpers. The arrival of the Daedalus was always an event looked forward to by all of Atlantis. There would be mail from Earth as well as fresh supplies, coffee and other amenities that were so hard to find in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Beckett leaned back from his plate. "I ordered a lot more equipment and supplies for the infirmary and Colonel Caldwell informed me that he was able to bring it all with him this trip." Smiling he looked at the people around him.

" It's a good thing too, cause with the four of you going off world it looks like I'll need all the supplies I can get!"

Ronon and Teyla laughed, knowing how many times they had come back injured. They were finally starting to mend from the previous days events and could enjoy laughter once more.

They looked like a motley crew, with Teyla still on crutches from her leg wound and Ronon with a bandage around his arm. The only one seemingly unscathed, was Sheppard, but his wounds were of another sort.

The colonel half- heartedly smiled , unable to join in since the pain of not saving Holland was still fresh in his mind.

Carson started to pick up his tray, "Well, I'm heading for my bed, it's been a busy day. Goodnight to you all."

Everyone must have felt the same ,for they all started to get up and after saying Goodnight to each other left for their assigned quarters.

A space ship could be a very interesting or boring place to be, depending on whether you were a passenger or part of the crew. The days went by quickly for most, but John was restless, unable to settle down. The events on the planet had reminded him of bitter memories that he had tried to bury. Failures had a way of coming back to haunt you.

He rose early, then went for a quick run around the flight deck of the big ship. The few people working there waved and he smiled and waved back. He knew there was an exercise room, but preferred to be down here ,away from all the people who made it a regiment to exercise every morning.

After taking a shower he headed for breakfast and was pleased to see Ronon and Teyla there. McKay was no where to be seen, but that was just McKay.

He's probably already eaten with some of the SGC crew instead, since he has worked with many of them at the headquarters , he told himself.

Ronon had also noticed that McKay wasn't here again and he started to worry. Sheppard seemed to be getting back into his old self, making a few jokes and smiling and Teyla was probably adjusting the best, laughing at Sheppard's jokes about things that he found amusing on the ship.

The satedan had seen this behavior before from soldiers who had returned from fighting a battle. At first they seemed shell shocked, but eventually they adjusted and became their old selves again.

The only one missing was McKay and Ronon wanted to know where he was.

He had a very bad feeling...

After breakfast, Ronon stopped at the infirmary to have his bandage changed and to also check if Carson had seen the elusive scientist.

Carson carefully finished taping the gauze around Ronon's upper arm, "That's healing nicely!"

"Thanks, Doc. Have you seen McKay anywhere today?" Ronon inquired.

Carson had to stop and think, "...can't say that I have. When you find him though, you tell him that he bloody well better get his arse in here to have his bandage changed, or else."

Ronon smiled, knowing McKay was in trouble. The Doctor was normally a patient man, but McKay somehow managed to make even him angry. "I will."

It wasn't hard to find out where the quarters were for the few members of the Atlantis team. They were't together and Ronon found himself having to check each door that had an occupants name ,trying to find McKay's.

When he found it he knocked then waited , half expecting an angry Dr. McKay to suddenly open the door and say some abrasive remark about waking him up. When that didn't happen, Ronon frowned.

Finally he decided to check the room just to be sure that McKay wasn't using the shower, or didn't hear his knock.

When he entered he found McKay sprawled on his bed, out like a light.

Smiling, Ronon decided to wake him up and tell him what Carson had said. He reached for McKay's arm to shake him and found it very warm to the touch.

Something wasn't right, for McKay didn't even stir at his touch. Ronon quickly turned on the room's light and went back over to Rodney to get a better look at him.

He didn't like what he found,

blood was on the sheets and covered Rodney's T-Shirt.

He called Beckett immediately.

Ronon stood silently at the foot of McKay's bed in the infirmary, listening to Carson explain what was wrong with McKay. The doctor and his team had arrived quickly after Ronon called and they'd taken Rodney to the infirmary.

"Rodney's a daft bugger, I told him to let me know if he had a fever. Now's it so high I have to give him a larger dose of meds to try and get it down as well as stop the infection. Not to mention the fact ,that he lost a lot of blood as well." Carson shook his head, "I've half a mind to strangle him when he wakes up!"

Ronon chuckled, "Maybe you could just shoot him, like Sheppard always tells everyone to do."

Carson immediately looked serious, "I don't think Colonel Sheppard will be saying that again anytime soon."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Ronon had to agree.

"To make matters worse, I don't think Rodney's eaten anything in 24 hours. His blood sugar is very low and it's causing havoc with his system."Carson sighed, "With Rodney involved, nothing is ever simple."

Ronon smiled, knowing exactly what Carson meant. "Is that why we all like him so much?"

"Aye, it would certainly be dull without Rodney around." Carson nodded his head. He actually considered the abrasive scientist a friend.

"How's he doing ?" Ronon asked as he looked at the sleeping scientist.

"Well, he's still unconscious, but that could be due to the fact that I gave him a whopping dose of meds. He's not out of the woods yet and hopefully he'll wake up in a few hours. There's no way he's getting out of here until we reach Atlantis. I'll need to keep an eye on him and watch that infection closely."

"All right if I stay with him? There should be someone here if he wakes up."

Ronon knew waking up in a strange place might upset Mckay and right now the scientist had about as much stress as he could handle.

"You're a good person, Ronon." Carson said. "Stay if you like"

Ronon pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed prepared to do the bedside vigil.

"He'd do it for me," was all he said.

Carson smiled, "Aye, that he would indeed."

After leaving Ronon with Mckay, Carson went back to his other patient. He knew that the Satedan was protective of Rodney, especially after McKay had located Ronon on Sateda when the wraith had recaptured him.

Carson had been a part of the rescue team and both he and Rodney had been thanked by the large man. They'd been instrumental in killing the Wraith commander before he killed Ronon.

Rodney himself was a true enigma, arrogant and annoying on the outside, but there was a hidden sensitive and caring person just below the surface if you looked really hard. He had saved them all many times by using that brilliant mind of his. It was truly amazing that he hadn't been killed considering all the risks he took in doing it.

Yes , Rodney was indeed a handful, but Carson wouldn't want him to be any other way.

John decided to take a tour of Daedalus' bridge. The last time he'd been there was when they were trying to rescue Rodney and Ronon from the Wraith ship of their so called allies. That had been a close call. He had almost lost both of them.

Caldwell saw John enter the bridge. "Colonel Sheppard."

John smiled, "I thought I'd see how we're doing and where we are in relation to Atlantis."

Caldwell was well aware of what Sheppard and his team had gone through on the planet. Weir had informed him and asked that he be sure to take good care of them. He also knew how it felt to not be in control and sympathized with all of them.

"We'll be there first thing tomorrow morning. Is their anything you or your team need?"

Sheppard smiled, " No we're fine. The accommodations are great, and the food's good, " he added with a silly grin.

Caldwell looked serious for a moment, "How's McKay doing?"

John was surprised that Caldwell asked about him, but then McKay had worked with Caldwell on several occasions. "He's fine."

Caldwell looked puzzled, "I wasn't informed that he'd woken up."

John was really surprised by that response."What are we talking about here?"

It suddenly dawned on the Daedalus' Commander, that maybe Sheppard hadn't been told about McKay's condition.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew that Dr McKay was taken to the infirmary. He's in critical condition. Beckett told me an hour ago that he was still unconscious."

Hearing this made John's guts twist inside him, like a knife had cut through him.

Rodney in the infirmary, critical? The words echoed through his head.

"Hell no! No one, told me." He was stunned and very upset.

His world had just started to crumble again; it seemed that the planet had not finished with him yet. It had taunted him with his failure to save his friend Holland, and now it wanted another piece of him... McKay.

The planet wasn't satisfied that John had almost killed him.

He suddenly found himself running down the hall toward the infirmary...

TBC