Disclaimer: All characters of StarGate and StarGate Atlantis belong to their respective writers and MGM. This is a work of fan fiction. I just want to play with them for awhile.

Copyright 2009 awakethepassion

Nosphorous-Chapter 12

1.

“Rodney, have you...”

“Elizabeth!” He held up a warning finger. “For the last time...NO!” He was practically shaking with anger. “And if you ask me again...”

“Rodney...” Teyla laid a soothing hand on his arm, her tone soft and pleading. She looked at Elizabeth. The older woman's face was flushed a deep red, her eyes gleaming wetly with tears.

Pressing a hand to her face, she turned and hurried from the lab. Her shoulders shook and Teyla could tell that she had started crying...again.

“Rodney...must you be so rough with her?”

“Yes.” Rodney snapped and gave her an ugly look. “Especially when she asks the same damned question every time she sees me.” He banged his fist on the table. “God, Teyla! It's the same stupid thing over and over again!”

“And do you think you are acting any worse?” Teyla said just as angrily. “Do you think that you are the only one grieving?”

“It's not the same.” Rodney turned away from her. He stared at the screen in front of him. “He didn't...” he swallowed hard. “He didn't take anything away from her.”

Teyla sighed and rubbed a hand over her tired eyes. For days the city of Atlantis had been wound as tightly as a spring. Everyone walking on egg shells, afraid to speak...afraid to even sleep.

Sighing, she tightened her grip on his arm. “We did what was needed, Rodney.”

“Are you going to do the same thing to me?” He turned on her, his eyes hot, angry and a little afraid. “Are you going to do the same thing to me that you did to Chang?”

“Chang is dead.” Teyla released her grip, her mouth set into a grim line.

“Are you so sure?” Rodney's lips quirked into a ugly grimace. “We all thought Sheppard was dead too...but he wasn't.”

“Do not start this again, Rodney.” She held up a warning hand. “What we did, we did for the safety of this city and her people.”

“Then you will do it! You will lock me in a box and send me through the space gate! The first time any of you even think that I'm steeping out of line-” He shot up from his chair and began to pace rapidly, mumbling to himself. His fingers rubbed at the spot on his neck where Sheppard had put his mouth on him. Where Sheppard had fed on him and taken something that he would never get back. The marks had faded to nearly nothing but Rodney knew they were still there. He could feel them.

“Rodney, calm down!” Teyla shouted.

“Calm down?” Rodney shouted back. “How do you expect me to calm down when-”

“Be quiet!” Roughly, Teyla slapped him. He fell back against the table, his eyes wide with shock.

Teyla was breathing heavy, her heart pounding in her chest. His face was red where she had struck him, the outline of her hand clear on his pale face.

Before her temper left her, she turned and left him...afraid that her next blow might be his last.

2.

John burned. He twisted under the thin sheet, praying that the pain would end. His body was on fire. Invisible flames licked at him, tortured him. He felt like his body was being turned inside out and his mouth was full of glass.

Even worse was the rain. The pounding, pounding rain.

Sheppard groaned, turned on his belly and dragged the pillow over his head. It had been raining for days now, a hard driving rain that ground into his brain and left him nearly senseless with agony. He closed his eyes, biting down on his lip and trying to block out the horrible sound.

“Lying there with your head covered is not going to do you any good.”

A rough hand pulled the pillow from his hands and tossed it to the end of the bed.

He shrank back and pulled the sheet over his head so that he wouldn't have to look up at the figure standing over him. “Leave me the fuck alone.”

“Sit up.” Alyssa stepped back. She was holding a cup in her hand and the smell that wafted from it made him sick and even worse, made his stomach clench hungrily.

“Go to hell.” He ground out and turned away from her. His head felt like it was going to explode.

“I'm trying to help you.” She jerked the sheet off of him, exposing his naked body to the cool air. “Now stop acting like a baby and do what I tell you.”

He sat up with a groan. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and covering his face with his hands. He felt like shit. His body ached, every bone in his body screamed with agony and his nerve endings burned. All he could think about was laying back down, curling into a ball and praying that he would just burst into flames and get it the hell over with.

“Drink. You need it.” She took hold of his wrist and forced the cup into his hands. “Maybe you won't look like hell then.”

He grumbled but still he pressed the rim of the goblet to his mouth. The wine was sweeter and warmer than before and he tried to take a long drink of it but she pulled it from his hand.

“Not so fast. Little sips until you're used to it.” She set the cup on the table and pressed him back down on the bed. “I don't want you getting sick because you're too greedy.”

“Fuck you.” He finally managed to rasp out.

“If you had the energy I'd take you up on that offer.” She laughed, pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. “Now shut up and lay down. Give it time to pass.”

“Sit up, lay down.” He spat out angrily. “Make up your damned mind.”

She ignored him and only sat there staring at him, giving him that half smile that made him want to strangle her. Another pain hit him and he curled into a ball, pulling his knees to his chest.

“God damn.” He clenched his teeth and felt his sharp canines bite into his lower lip. “What...what the hell is happening to me?”

“Your body is dying.”

“I thought I was already dead.” He panted. Another spasm hit him and he cried out. His body jerked and then his muscles seemed to twist and bend, pulling him into knots and then leaving him sprawled like a rag doll.

“You are but not completely.” She grabbed his arms and pulled him back to the center of the bed. “Now, come on. You've got to sit up.”

“Leave me alone.” He groaned and tried to pull back in on himself but she wouldn't let him. He tried to resist her but she was strong. After a moment, her touch soothed him and he relaxed just a little.

Lifting the goblet, she pressed the rim against his mouth. “Take a drink.”

He took another sip and waited for the pain to ease. When it did, he looked up at her through pained eyes. “Why the hell are you doing this?”

“I told you. I'm trying to help you.”

“Why?” He rasped. “Why help me? You don't even know me.”

“I know enough.” Her hand trailed over the mark on his neck then she shrugged slightly. “Someone once helped me so I guess I'm returning the favor.”

“Yippee for me.” He groaned and hunched forward. A massive cramp gripped his belly, twisting his insides into hard knots. The tendons in his neck stood out as he strained against the pain. “Oh fuck!”

“Oh, no you don't.” Springing to her feet, she slipped her hands under his arms and yanked him off the bed. He went to his knees and she jerked him back up, making him walk.

He was in so much pain that he didn't realize what she was doing until she opened the door to the balcony and shoved him out into the raging storm. Thunder rumbled and lightening lit up the dark sky and he screamed when the water touched his burning skin. The sound of the rain was like a dagger ripping into his mind and he went to his knees, pressing his hands over his ears to try and block out the sound. But the pain was too much and he fell over. Scraping his knees on the hard stone, he tried to crawl toward the open door but she stood in his way and wouldn't let him back inside.

“Please...” he hated the whining beg in his voice but he couldn't help it. “Please, it hurts...it hurts...”

“I know it hurts but you must suffer through it to make the change.” She said and her voice was almost gentle. “Let it happen. It's easier if you don't try and fight it. Just let go.”

He shook his head, trying to clear it...trying to think. Then finally his body took over and did what she said.

It let go. His belly burned, his intestines seemed to turn to water and then he felt the hot rush of fluid between his thighs and down the back of his legs. The smell...the horrible, horrible smell of his own waste made him gag and he tried to crawl away from it but there was no where for him to go.

He screamed and screamed until his throat was raw and burned with a fire nearly as hot as the one ripping through him. His nerve endings seemed to burst into flame and the pain was like someone pouring salt over every ragged wound. He flopped on his back, letting the hard rain pound into him. Pressing his hands against his temples he let out one more soul shattering shriek. And then, just as he thought he was going to shatter into a million tiny fragments, he fell back as his body started to shake and shudder in the final stages of life leaving him.

Finally, when the pain was gone he lay there exhausted, sprawled out and panting hard in a puddle of his own filth while the rain washed him clean.

She let him lay like that for what seemed like hours before he felt the touch of her hand on his back. Then her arms were under his shoulders and she was lifting him up and dragging him back toward the bed. She dropped him on the floor and he raised his head slightly, watching her as she stripped the sweaty sheets off the bed and remade it.

When she was through, she picked him up and eased him back under the covers, covering him with a soft quilt and tucking him in like he was a child. Her hand was soft on his shoulder and through his hazy sight, he thought he saw a look of remorse in her dark eyes.