Exploring the Pegasus Galaxy From Home

Title: Exloring the Pegasus Galaxy From Home
Rating: PG for language, and a really big bug.
Characters: Carson, Team
Synopsis: Carson, John, bugs... again.

A/N: I was going through my file for Flashfic stories and came upon this one. Initially, it was to be a three-things fic: three Ways to explore the Pegasus: Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral. But when I got to vegetable, the idea kind of fizzled out.

I decided to post the animal part since it is rather amusing. If someone else would like to tackle the other two elements, please feel free to. You can even use the idea I had for vegetable - Rodney, allergies, and sneezing up purple mucus, and I think the same pollen made Teyla a little typsy (because of her wraith gene.). I didn't quite know where to take it from there.

Exploring the Pegasus Galaxy from Home

Carson wasn't quick enough about jumping to the call for a med team. A quarter of the way from the infirmary, and Sheppard's team ate up the distance to meet him; Ronon and McKay holding Sheppard up by the arms, and Teyla nipping at the colonel's heels while peering down the collar of his shirt.

“We need a zoologist!” Rodney shouted. “Biologist. Maybe entomologist. I don't know!”

They were moving too fast for Carson to get a good look at his patient. Except for the man's pallor; any whiter and he would glow in the dark. Carson followed after with a heavy sigh and no immediate questions. He stepped inside his infirmary to see the team hoist their team-leader stomach down on a gurney, yanking off his jacket with little care and peeling off the sodden T-shirt with an unnecessary lack of finesse.

The rough treatment raised Carson hackles and he rushed forward to intervene. “What the hell do you lot think you're doing! He could have a bloody dislocated arm, you can't - oh bloody hell!” He stumbled, staggering back a step.

Sheppard was, once again, the unfortunate bearer of a cling-on, this time suffering the attachment to his back right over his spine. The little bugger – well, not so little bugger being the length of John's torso – was remarkably similar to those tiny prehistoric crustaceans with the ridged backs that archaeologists were always digging up fossils of. Trilobites? Or something like that, Carson could be wrong. This one was transparent enough to see the pulsation of its organs and the rush of violet blood through a web-work of veins and arteries. Numerous tiny glass legs were stretched thin hugging tight around the colonel's ribcage; the head was hunkered down pressing into Sheppard's back.

Smears of blood were livid against John's colorless skin.

Carson pushed his way through, cursing a mess of bloody-hells and barking orders. “Have you tried cutting the bugger off?”

“Ronon wished to stun it,” Teyla said, breathless. “But considering what took place with the Iratus bug, I did not think it wise.”

Carson nodded, sticking heart monitor pads to John's chest. “Good thinking, lass.”

“It just jumped out of the water and shimmied up his clothes!” Rodney squeaked. “Like it was made of damn Silly Puddy.”

The beep of the monitor was so rapid it was almost a continuous shrill. Carson stuck his stethoscope into his ears and placed the other end to John's sides between the thready legs. The colonel's breathing nearly matched the pace of his heart.

“Oxygen!” Carson barked. “Before he hyperventilates!” Too cool skin vibrated beneath Beckett's hand. “Damn it all, he's going into shock! We need to get this bloody thing off him now!”

Ronon yanked out his blaster that whined as it charged. “No problem, stand back.”

The reply was a reverberating chorus of, “No!”

Ronon snorted and lowered his weapon.

An electric blanket was pulled over Sheppard's legs to at least keep part of him warm. Carson tempted fate by lightly touching the giant prehistoric bug with a Q-tip, testing for potential acidity or hidden skin flaps where stingers or pincers might be hiding. Ga, if only his mum could see him now. He'd never have to hear another bloody lecture on horror movies and how they rot the brain again.

The glass-like skin was surprisingly leathery, and probably just as tough. Carson contemplated cutting through the legs, but he'd never gotten Sheppard's scream out of his head the last time they'd tried to remove a giant tick.

He became a little distracted by the quick-moving innards, the way the diaphanous body quivered, and the back seemed to inflate and deflate faster than Sheppard's breathing. If Carson hadn't know any better, he would have said the the creature was just as terrified as John.

Except he didn't know any better since he didn't know a blasted thing about this creature.

Carson sighed. “All right, we need to get this thing off without doing any harm to the colonel. Any suggestions?”

He was met with a lot of shrugging and wide-eyed looks. Carson continued to poke, this time using his hands. He must have hit a tender spot when the thing squeaked and the legs tightened, pressing into the skin hard enough to leave marks and restricting the ribcage's ability to expand properly. Sheppard whimpered.

“Oh, damn it all!” Carson hissed. He didn't really think about it when he started plucking at the legs to see of he could get them to loosen. When John didn't shriek in agony, Beckett grew more bold and pulled at the leg, his nurses joining the endeavor. Ronon jumped in when enough legs were pried, quivering, away from the body enough for Beckett to start lifting the thing from John's back.

The thing squeaked louder. It did a hard shudder before its body collapsed, squeezing out of the numerous holds to slip down John's back and bury itself against his right side.

And it was weeping. That's the only way Carson could describe the drawn out, high-pitched keening interrupted by hiccuping trills that jerked the rubbery body. An ant-like head with large, pitiful, iridescent blue eyes regarded Carson with so much fear that it blasted well broke his heart. He would swear on his dearly departed father's grave that there was no way the bugger was some mindless, man eating insect. Glancing at Sheppard's back seemed to confirm it. The skin over the spine where the head had been buried was smooth and clean. The source of the blood was from several thread-thin, clotted scratches most likely the product of the creature scrabbling up the vulnerable flesh of the back.

“Huh,” Carson said.

“Huh?” Rodney echoed. “Huh, what? The stupid thing's off. Grab it and chuck it into a furnace or something before it takes off and runs amok in Atlantis.”

Beckett rolled his eyes. “Settle down, Rodney.” He was taking a gamble, but since most of his theories hadn't made him sorry thus far, he felt brave enough to go with it. He snapped the glove off his hand and reached out to the thing while making soft cooing sounds. The thing cringed when his hand touch its liquid smooth skin, then relaxed under the Scotsman's gentle caresses. “There, there, little one. No one's going to hurt you. That's it, you just relax now.”

The thing whimpered, then launched itself at Carson, curling into a ball in his arms. Teyla, Ronon, and even McKay had their weapons out and aimed.

Carson panicked, then immediately bristled. “Put those bloody guns away! It's not going to hurt anyone or it would have done so. You need to take it back. It's probably some kind of infant, either lost or running from a predator. Took to the colonel as the nearest spot of safety is my bet. At any rate, it's not going to hurt anyone and I still have a patient to tend to.” He handed the thing off to Teyla, since she was usually a more calming presence to be around, ignoring her disconcerting look in the process. It pressed against her, hanging on but with a little less crushing tenacity.

Rodney stepped closer and poked it, nervous but getting over it. “So that's what Sheppard was freaking out about? A baby?”

When Carson put his hand on Sheppard's back, the colonel flinched, and he was still shaking. However, with the weight of the thing absent from John's spine, his heart-rate had started its descent toward a less worrisome speed, but it was still fast, as was his breathing.

“It's not funny, Rodney.” Carson turned his head to scowl a silent warning at the physicist to keep his mouth shut. “It's not damn well the least bit funny. Now take that thing home, already. The sooner it's gone, the sooner the colonel will settle.”

Teyla gave him a curt nod and hurried out, trailed by Ronon. Rodney hovered, shifting from one foot to the other uncertainly, fiddling with his own hands. “I wasn't, um... I didn't think it was funny. Just kind of, weird. I mean, because, usually, if it latches on to him, it's trying to eat him...” he stilled. “Is he going to be okay?”

As the nurse cleaned the scratches, Carson moved his hand lightly up and down Sheppard's backbone, letting him know the creature was gone. The pilot's increasing calm siphoned from Beckett any lingering urgency and irritation. He looked over at Rodney to give him a reassuring smile. “Aye, he should be. A bit of rest'll see to it.”

Rodney gave him an unsteady nod, then left just as stiffly. Now that privacy wasn't such a luxury, Carson crouched to be face to face with Sheppard. A little color was already returning to the colonel's face, the heart monitor was slowing, his breathing steadying, and his eyes were blinking lethargically. Bruises were already forming parallel or right on top of John's ribs.

“You all right there, colonel?” Carson asked.

John's hair and skin whispered across the pillow when he nodded.

“It wasn't an iratus bug, John. Some wee babe of a beast is my theory. Perfectly harmless, just scared. But I don't blame you for being frightened. I was a bit spooked myself seeing it.”

John closed his eyes as a shudder rippled through his body.

“I know,” Carson said, squeezing a still-pale shoulder, then patting it. “But it's all right. You're all right now. You get some rest.”

John nodded again with his eyes still shut. Terror could take a lot out of a man. Just to play it safe, Carson prepped a syringe with a mild sedative and injected it into the crook of Sheppard's arm. He followed it up with an I.V. as extra precaution, pulled up the warming blanket when the nurse was done, then the most comfortable chair Carson could find to settle down in. There would be nightmares, even with the sedative, and it wasn't right for anyone to have to wake up from memories with no one around to usher them back into the here and now.

Beckett made a mental note to speak with the zoology department. Since the SGC hadn't seen fit to include any type of a vet on the expedition, Carson might as well become somewhat of an expert on the subject. But he drew the line at distemper shots.

The End

radioshack84 did a very excellent picture of the creature. This way to see it.

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oooo lovely!

Cool. I love how Beckett wasn't all "Ah! Non-humanoid lifeform! Destroy! Destroy!" Too many authors automatically lump unfamiliar animals (and I use the catagory broadly) into the evil-must kill category. The poor guy even sounded kinda cute, in a creepy way.

And naturally, I love the terrified John calming down at the end under the soothing care of Dr. Beckett. **Fuzzies**

This was great! The bug had me squirming like crazy through the first half, but by the end I kind of...

wanted one of my own to cuddle.

What? Stop looking at me weird.

Thank ye.

Too many authors automatically lump unfamiliar animals (and I use the catagory broadly) into the evil-must kill category.

I like the oppostie - the team smitten by cute, adorable unknown animals.

Glad you enjoyed this. I love stories where someone cares for an ill or hurt John.

*Hands you a bug* they like to eat fresh water krill.

Thanks for reading.

This was great! There can never be too many fics with Carson, and your description of the creature was awesome. I love that it looked like a trilobite...I've always thought those things were cool. My sister actually has a fossilized one that she got from her college professor...yeah, okay, enough about my fascination with prehistoric rocks. ;) Cool story!

That's actually really cute -- a bug baby! Nice fake-out with the panic attack and the bug being, in reality, harmless. :D

Nice! Poor terrified John! *loves bugs + John*

Ohhh, this was great! Just seeing the phrase "light-hearted Shep Whump was enough to get me all revved up, and this story certainly satisfied *g* Loved Ronon and everyone else whipping out their guns, great visual! Then Carson handing it off to Teyla :-) And Sheppard's freaking out, totally understandable (hey, I'm there with him!) Awwwwesome *g*

That was just too cool! *claps*

Awww, poor woobie! I don't blame him for freakin' out...*huggles him* But nicely done. *chuckles* If that's the baby, dunno if I'd wanna see Momma. LOL *claps hands*

I liked this! Great team love, good care by Carson, and a not-quite whump by a scared scary-looking critter. I loved John's reaction to it - complete and utter panic. I've heard he hates bugs. :)

Can Carson come calm me down, now? I was freakin' out, myself! ::deep breath::

A lovely spin on the premise. I wasn't going to keep reading when I saw it was a bug, but I knew it was you. I knew it would be great. And it was!

Thanks!

That was great! I love that the "bug" turned out to be as scared as John and it figures Carson would be the one to figure it out. I have this cool mental image of Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla all drawing their weapon at the same time.

Oh, and being a science geek, I have a Trilobite fossil. Stop laughing. It's cool, really.

This was very sweet and sneaky. Loved how John's panic attack lead to the exact type of behavior form his team. Who could blame them, especially poor John. He's bound to have such a phobia and from such an exotic looking creature.

Very nicely done.

Thank you. I couldn't get the image of a trilobyte out of my head, so just went with it. It was either going to be that or a centipede.

Thanks!

Thank you. Yeah, I can never get enough John and bug fics myself.

Thank you. There was a bit of a temptation to make the whump a little heavier. Glad I didn't.

Thanks!

Thanks. I'll admit I'm a little obsessed with how Sheppard would react to having another bug attached to him. I love exploring the idea.

Thank you. I love taking John's fear of bugs to the next leve ;)

Thank you so much *nudges Carson your way*

Thanks.

And, hey, I used a giant alien trilobyte in a story. Can't get much geekier than that! ;)

Thank you. I'm rather addicted to the idea of a second bug-attack on John, with the added bonus of a little team angst :)

Excellent!! Loved Rodney's "So that's what Sheppard's freaking out about? A baby?" As if he wouldn't have gone completely catatonic had the roles been reversed. :-P

A great idea very nicely done.

Thank you.

As if he wouldn't have gone completely catatonic had the roles been reversed. :-P

Very true.

Loved it! Poor John, no surprise that he had a little meltdown. If I was in his shoes I think I would freak out if a ladybug landed on my arm! *give Sheppard a great big hug and a huge can of bug spray*

Stargate Groupie

Thanks. And I think John especially appreciates the bug spray ;)

Thanks. I miss Carson. I like him better as John's doctor.

Nice! Hardly ever get to read John having a panic attack. And what a good reason! Poor wee baby indigenous water creature... Hopefully Sherbet didn't scare it too badly!

John having a panic attack is tough stuff to come up with. But bugs, they are the key. The bigger and clingier, the better ;)

I think Sherbet was napping for most of the incident.

That was really a great fic. Carson to the rescue! Was it all a panic attack? It seems the creature was so scared that it was squeezing the stuffing's out of John not letting him breathe too well?

I imagine it scurried as fast as its many littley tiny legs could move back into the water ;)

Thanks :D Yeah, it was just scared, poor thing, and making Sheppard suffer along with it... not on purpose, of course ;)

Well done. Loved it very much. Poor John :) A second chapter would be lovely!

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