kriadydragon | Story - Lost and Found Pt. 2

Rodney didn't really think Sheppard was playing hooky. Ronon was right, Sheppard would never do that, not in the middle of a crisis. And just because they were back on an oxygen rich planet didn't mean the chaos was over, not with a damaged city ship and a lot of pissed-off Asurans looking for some payback.

He didn't hold it past Sheppard to be lost; possibly having taken a wrong turn into an unexplored section or hit the wrong destination on the transporter. Those transporters had been known to have a few hiccups, especially when the rest of the city's systems were struggling. Sheppard was lost, had probably tripped and dropped his radio - that was all.

Ronon's and Sheppard's jogging route had been a bust up until Ronon nearly slipped in a smeared puddle of yellow slime in front of one of the transporters. Had it not been for the crutch, Ronon – in his infinite lack of wisdom – would have crouched and touched the stuff. Instead, he poked at it with the crutch while McKay called someone down from biology to take a sample. Then they moved on.

“We need the scanner,” Rodney said. “Without it, we're looking for a needle in a bunch of other needles.” The biometric scanner had more fun features than the LSD. An LSD could be programmed to pick up on a subcu-transmitter, which was pointless at the moment since they all had them, but the bio-scanner could be calibrated to pick up on smaller nuances, such as the dab of wraith DNA in Teyla and Iratus DNA in Sheppard. It would also be able to tell them if the source of that slime puddle was a just leak or something more organic and mobile.

“At least the needles are all spread out,” Ronon said.

Rodney glared at his back. “You know what I mean.”

“Actually,” Teyla said, “that is the problem – we are all spread out, and there are too many places to search.” She then cupped her hand over her mouth and called, “Colonel Sheppard?”

They were in an uninhabited part of the city, now. The lights were off to help conserve what was left of the ZPM, and unable to be turned on thanks to all the glitches flitting around the systems. Rodney could easily picture John wandering around in the dark, trying not to look bewildered, and probably blaming this on Rodney just to keep himself from feeling like an ass.

Rodney wondered if they wouldn't even be in this mess if he – they – had just taken up John's offer to join him for dinner. Or maybe if he'd listened to Ronon's whining and stopped chasing that energy reading. It all depended on the time and circumstances surrounding Sheppard's disappearance, of course, and doing anything differently wouldn't necessarily have changed anything. Still, he couldn't stop considering...

Rodney's comm crackled.

“Zelenka to McKay. I have the scanner working. I am reading two bio-signs not far from you. One of them is not registering as human and it is slowly approaching the other.

Rodney's heart thudded and Teyla and Ronon exchanged tense looks.

“How far?” Rodney asked.

“Head north to where the hall branches and go right. And you need to hurry, whatever-it-is is getting closer.”

Ronon was already clacking down the hall, and Rodney and Teyla had to run to catch up.

Non-human entity – Rodney had to wonder if they shouldn't have gone to the mainland at all.

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

The muscles of John's body not yet numbed trembled. The lack of feeling had slowed to a barely a crawl on surpassing his hips and shoulders. He couldn't move his neck, but still had control over the muscles of his face. He wondered, hysterically, if what ever was coming for him liked its prey alive, warm, and screaming as it went down.

Not screaming. When John tried to call out, all he got was a dry croak. Alive, warm and terrified then, surges of adrenaline giving it a little extra flavor.

The thing hissed again, closer, right next to John. John flinched and forced his stinging eyes open to misty darkness, patches of wan light, and movement on the floor. John's heart pounded so hard it hurt. He could hear the soft rasp of scales, smell putrid breath like rotten meat, feel it puff hot against his cheek and the tickle of a forked tongue on his temple. He could almost see a flash of gray light off the thing's eyes or maybe it was its scales. It didn't matter because it was right frickin' next to John and he couldn't move.

The thing hissed again. John felt its body slide along his flank, moving toward his feet. It was going to swallow him whole, feet first, still alive. Bile crawled into John's throat and he gulped fast to keep it from spilling into his airway.

He was going to be eaten alive.

“Sheppard!”

There was a flash of red followed by an inhuman shriek. A muscled body thrashed and coiled against John's leg. Another flash of red and, suddenly, the thing stilled with a final twitchy thump.

“Colonel?”

“Sheppard!”

“John!”

It hurt too much for John to keep his eyes open, but he no longer needed to and let them slam shut. Hands touched his head and the tender skin of his chest, making him moan and whimper. He felt his head lifted to rest on something soft as a hand rushed back his hair.

“He's having trouble breathing...”

“We need a med team down here, now!”

“John, stay with us.”

John longed to talk and say that he wasn't going anywhere, and also to beg them to stop touching his chest. There came more noise – voices, demanding and questioning, clatters and thumps and tapping footfalls, all not loud enough to drown out the thunder of John's heart and his wheezing breaths. Something cool and plastic was pressed against his face and, oh, the heaven that was pure oxygen pouring into his desperate lungs. The band around his chest loosened and the cramping in his ribs flowed away as he sucked in greedy breath after greedy breath. His head spun when he became momentarily weightless, then throbbed harshly on being set down on a solid bed. The voices continued to talk, some shouting numbers and complicated words, while others spoke soft assurances that John would be all right, that he wasn't alone, and asking him to hang on.

John wanted so bad to say that he was hanging on, but also that he was tired. He couldn't help slipping away into darkness, even when they asked him not to. He was just so tired...

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

“... think it might have slipped into the 'jumper. Maybe hid up there with all the equipment.”

John wanted to open his eyes and tried, but something soft was pressed against his eyelids, keeping them from parting.

“Dr. Cole said it was an adolescent. It wouldn't have been able to swallow Sheppard but was certainly starved enough to try.”

Swallow him whole. Him? What had tried to swallow him whole? Where was he? Why couldn't he open his eyes? Why did his chest hurt...

Something next to John's head hissed, and he remembered. He jackknifed upright with a cry of warning strangled by his aching throat. Something next to him shrilled and hands against his shoulders pressed him back against a soft surface.

“John! Calm down! It is all right, you are safe.”

Teyla's voice. That was Teyla's voice.

“Easy Sheppard.”

Ronon's.

“Sheppard, you need to slow down your breathing before you hyperventilate.”

Rodney's, sounding strained and panicked.

“S – sna-ake...” John gasped, barely above a whisper. “S-s-na – snake.. snake...”

A small, cool hand brushed back the hair from his forehead, and he knew it was Teyla's. He would know that soothing action anywhere. “The snake is dead, John. Ronon has killed it.”

“And its corpse is currently resting in pieces in the biology lab,” Rodney added.

A few deep, satisfying breaths slowed John's heart and the rapid beeping of what could only be a heart monitor, which meant he was in the infirmary. “An – any... hurt? Any – o-one...”

Teyla's hand moved off his head to take his own hand and squeeze. “No, John. No one else was hurt.”

John's heart slowed a little more and a tension he hadn't realized was there melted out of his muscles, leaving him achy and spent. He felt a larger hand squeeze his shoulder, and a medium one his wrist. The numb, obviously and thankfully, had cleared up.

“That crap all over your face,” said Rodney, “was some kind of paralyzing agent. Knocks you out with pain, then numbness so the snake-thing can... you know. Kind of like a... um... you know...”

“Know,” John mumbled. He shivered, though his skin still felt too warm. He blinked and winced when his eyes burned. It took a lot of energy to lift his hand, sliding it across his bare chest, wincing again when the skin throbbed, and finally brought it to his face where his fingers encountered gauze.

“You're not blind,” Rodney quickly assured. “That crap did a number on your eyes but Keller promises they'll heal back to normal. That stuff – poison - supposedly soaks into the skin and wreaks havoc on the nerves on its way to your blood. You've got the nastiest looking rash on your chest, neck and face. They're probably going to hurt for a while.”

John dropped his hand back to his side, exhaling in a relief so consuming it made him shake. A nasty rash he could live with. Blindness – he didn't even want to imagine it, couldn't without his chest constricting and his heart tripping over itself. Being eaten alive he immediately pushed out of his mind.

All this constant stream of relief wore him out, and with his eyes already shut, it was impossible to fight sleep. He slipped away with the weight of his team's hands still holding on to him.

After that, waking was sporadic and sometimes difficult to tell apart from his vivid dreams. Once John's body was clear of the last of the toxins, Keller was able to give him painkillers, blurring the lines between reality and unconsciousness even more. Then, three - maybe four, or five, John couldn't say - days later the bandages on his eyes came off. The world was still a fuzzy blur, which Keller promised would clear up in time – maybe another day or two.

When that day or two passed and the world sharpened, John was released to his quarters to convalesce in quiet. The toxin had kicked his ass good – weakening his body down all the way down to his immune system so that his stay in the infirmary had added up to a week and two days. Even when “set loose” as Keller put it, he was still weak, just not as susceptible.

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

The face that looked back at John from his bathroom mirror was pale, gaunt – sickly: the face of a man who everyone probably thought should still be in the infirmary. His joints were sore, including his chest, and there were still patches of fading red on his skin. Keller, however, had sworn that his current appearance really was a major improvement.

Appearance wasn't what John was worried about. That snake's toxin had held him up in the infirmary for more than a week, time John couldn't afford to lose again if this toxin had left a parting gift before being flushed out. The shock on Keller's face when John suggested that he should probably remain in the infirmary a little longer would have made him laugh if he'd had the energy or the humor. But Keller's insistence he heal in his room, away from the constant, stress-inducing activity of the infirmary, had been just as shocking.

Tearing his gaze from the mirror, John finished dressing by slipping into his long-sleeve shirt, then headed to his bed. Exhaustion and building back his appetite was all John had left to contend with, and the more rest he got, the quicker he could get over it and get back to work.

John didn't know how long he was asleep when he heard his door chime. He sat up, wincing when his back and rib muscles pulled, and scooted back to sit against the wall.

“Come in,” he croaked.

The door opened and Ronon limped in, easily balancing two trays in his hands. He'd graduated from crutches to a sports bandage two days ago, and despite him still being slightly invalid, he'd been all grins about it. With surprising ease, he set one tray on the nightstand and swung the other tray around into his lap at the same time he dropped himself onto the foot of John's bed.

“Brought soup,” he said, already digging into his mountain of casserole.

John carefully slid the tray with its bowl of soup and bottle of juice onto his lap with shaking arms. It was vegetable soup, with alphabet noodles and thick broth – a step up from the watery chicken noodle of yesterday.

They ate in silence for the first three minutes, when Teyla and Rodney arrived carrying their own trays. John raised an eyebrow at Teyla.

“When did you get back?” he asked.

Teyla, taking the desk chair Rodney rolled toward her, smiled. “Not long ago. I wished to get back in time for dinner as I enjoy this casserole.”

Which was news to John – her food preferences, not when she got back. Although he was pretty certain that she was back early. When coherent enough to speak in discernible sentences, John had badgered Teyla into visiting her people as she had planned before the snake incident. It wasn't until after the bandages on his eyes came off that she'd went. He thought for sure she'd stay longer than two days – that she needed to stay longer than two days. Although, she did look quite refreshed: glowing and buoyant, even. A visit with her people, even a quick one, always did wonders for her.

Rodney plopped down beside Ronon with an equal amount of food on his plate.

“She's just saying that because she doesn't want to admit how sick she is of that root soup stuff her people always make,” he said.

Teyla's foot lashed out in a light, playful kick at Rodney's shin. “That is not true. Besides, I have seen how much of that “root stuff” you consume. You know it is not a food you grow weary of, quickly.”

Ronon gave Rodney a nudge in the ribs. “She's got you there.”

“Yeah,” John joined in. “You used to carry a thermos of the stuff around... until you lost a thermos.”

“Lies and exaggerations,” Rodney said, seemingly unfazed. “Although that does remind me – I do need to put in a requisition for a new thermos – hey!”

Ronon moved lightening quick when he grabbed a brownie from McKay's pile and shoved it into his mouth. Rodney's frown of indignation became a smug smirk and he grabbed one of Ronon's peanut butter cookies. It went on like this: escalating to mild pushing and shoving, Teyla trying not to laugh as she reprimanded, until they'd eaten each other's desserts.

When John finished and set his tray back on the nightstand, he curled up beneath the covers and drifted off to the gentle murmurs of his team. He awoke – according to his clock – four hours later to the Mack-truck rumble of snoring. He pushed himself up on one elbow in search of the source, and saw Teyla stretched out on the small couch and covered by a blanket, Ronon stretched out on the floor, and Rodney in the desk chair with his feet propped up on the end of the bed and his laptop still open in his lap.

John grinned at the line of drool on Rodney's chin stained blue by the computer's screen-saver. He tossed a wadded up tissue in a perfect arc that bounced it right off of McKay's forehead. Rodney snuffled, snorted and, thankfully, stopped snoring. John hunkered back under his covers and slept without dreaming.

The End

Back to Part one

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You write some of the best fics out there! A friend of mine and I were just discussing that in the last eight months there have been a lot of SHIT posted. But, you're fics are so above par! Right up there amoung the greats!

This is really great! Well done!

*Blushes* thank you :)

I great whumpy fic in the morning. Just perfect. Whump and monsters and teaminess and banter and whump and more whump.

Yes, one can never have enough whump. Glad I could fulfill the need.

I found this one of those stories where I read and can't stop reading until I reach the conclusion! Very exciting and tense. I loved the team's desperation to find Sheppard; they knew he wasn't playing hooky and that something was wrong. I also enjoyed McKay and Ronon's annoyance at each other! Very well done. :)

Thanks!

Wow, what a nice thing to wake up to! I love SGA team fics, and this one hits all my buttons--John in danger and hurting and the rest of the team pulling together to rescue him. Thanks for sharing. :-)

Thank you. I love team fics but have the hardest time coming up with team-involved plots, so really enjoyed writing this. Plus I'm also for the team saving john ;)

That was a great whump fic! I was right there freaking out along side Sheppard...being eaten alive CREEPY and YUCK, not a good way to go! You got the team perfectly and I loved the Ronon/McKay banter. Thanks for sharing!

Stargate Groupie

Glad you enjoyed it :D

Excellent! What a treat to wake up to -- and perfect font for migraine-achy eyes.

Well-done!

Thanks :)

Oh man! How many shades of awesome is this??? This was just the best way to start my day. :D *claps* FIC LOVE!

Hee-hee:) thanks.

Can't wait to read this tonight. You are one of my favorite authors in SGA fan fiction. Sheppard is the man. Among my favorites of your SGA fiction are Jabberwocky and Freak. Before reading those, despite the episode 'Conversion', which I really liked but didn't get enough action, I never could really get into the 'Sheppard transforms into an animal' or 'grows animal parts' theme. Your stories won me over. Sometimes Sheppy needs a little help in defeating the super bad guys. But Freak really touched me. Always looking forward to your next submission. - Diane

That was absolutely amazing as usual. What I always enjoy about your stories is that they are not exclusively about one thing. Like, this one had some character bits in the beginning and som hard feelings between Ronon and Rodney that worked themselves out, and it wasn't only about Shepp getting lost.

Apart from that, the descriptions of the pain and symptoms John was feeling were so detailed and just... wonderfully whumpy.

An all-around amazing story, though I must say I expect no less from you :)

Thanks - twice.

I can't really write a whumping for whumping's sake story, not unless there's more to it. Although the only reason I really whump is for the hurt/comfort at the end :).

This was great! I loved it. The little flashes we got of the snake were absolutely terrifying. And then John being blinded, in pain, lost, and pursued by the snake - totally intense. Well done! I liked that it was set right after they arrived on the new planet too. After everything that happened to get them there, they would all be extremely stressed out. I thought you did a good job of showing how that stress came out for each character, and then in the end, they're still a team and they pulled together. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! You liked it.

I love it when I'm able to tie a plot idea into one of the episodes, as many of my ideas rarely let me do so (which means having to make up new situations to lead to the current angst, whump and H/C, which means having to write a longer story.) I loved what Lifeline was able to offer the story, giving it something more than just John being whumped ;)

This was a nasty critter! Eeew, they idea of 'it' eating Shep like some huge Boa Constrictor?! Yeuch! i liked how you showed them all trying to xome to terms with thier recent losses and the fact that they are now on a different planet/ocean and mainland and that there are more unknowns out there. TPTB haven't really explored that part much. Poor John, i was getting annoyed with Ronon and Rodney's bickering as well! maybe he should have locked them in a room together until they sorted themselves out?!

another fine shep whump fic

That's what I've really liked about season three and four - all the losses and changes providing ample angst potential.

maybe he should have locked them in a room together until they sorted themselves out?!

Heh, that would have been interesting. Thanks for reading!

Absolutely brilliant. You didn't overuse the snake, keeping the gradual stalking by it of John on the edges but still sinister. And I'm sending you my therapy bill because I was ophidiophobic before...!

Thanks!

Hmmm, I should make my next story about giant spiders...

*claps wildly* I've been waiting and hoping for someone to have a giant snake encounter.

I'm surprised there aren't more whump stories using the snakes.

*happy sigh* Just what I needed - a nice Shep whumpin' with the team as support. I really liked how you began it with Rodney and Ronon at odds with each other and everyone out of sorts after all they'd been through. Then to come full circle at the end with them playfully teasing each other. And having John want to stay in the infirmary and Keller wanting him to heal in his quarters was a nice touch.

Thanks. I really enjoyed writing Ronon's and Rodney's argument. I actually enjoy their bickering more than John's and Rodney's, sometimes ;).

Aw!! I always love your Shep whump/team ending fics, and this one was no exception. Excellent job.

Also, I absolutely *love* this: "Without it, we're looking for a needle in a bunch of other needles." LOL. Great way to revamp an old saying. It really works here, particularly in Rodney's voice.

Thanks. I can never get enough of stories where the team cares for a hurt/sick John.

Also, I absolutely *love* this: "Without it, we're looking for a needle in a bunch of other needles."

I've heard it elsewhere because, logically, a particular needle would be hard to find among other needles. In a haystack, you just dig around into it pokes you ;).

Excellent shep whump story to end the week. Thank you.
I had been hoping that someone would pick up on the line in 'Lifeline' about venomous snakes on the planet.

Thank Coolbreeze1 for the snake idea. Glad you enjoyed it!

Love the style of this. It was a real tension builder. It was awesome that it started lightly then hitting with the whump in a completely unexpected way. Loved it. Now I must go get myself to relax. I believe some of the paralyzing agent worked its way through the monitor. I was so tense, I didn't move once Sheppard got hit.

Heh, thanks. Glad the tension worked. And don't worry, the paralyzing agent doesn't last for too long ;).

This is soooooooooooo unfair, As Rodney would say....
I thought Morticia gave me bad dreams and now this!!

Great story.....

Always a pleasure to read your continuing adventures of
Sheppard.

Hee-hee! Glad I didn't write a story about giant spiders, then *shudders* Glad you enjoyed it.

You must be reading my mind, because I almost said 'the only thing worse would have been had you written about a giant spider'........
ROFL

Very exciting story and great whump. The snake hunting John was so tense and the idea of Shep being swallowed whole was really creepy. *shudders*

*Smiles* thanks!

Love the tension between Ronon and Rodney - sounded just like them. I also love the way they worked together to find John. And I especially loved the team bonding at the end. You always do team support so well!!

Thank you :D

Wonderful work!!
I have been dying to sit and read this fic since I found it saturday, but had lack the time, but finally I did! even if it mean loosing some sleep time.

I loved it! wonderful job! how scary been eaten alive by a snake!!
I live in Florida and you hear some pretty crazy stuff about the everglades lol.

Thanks for writing this!!!
more whump like this please!

=)

Heh, I need to write less. People are always telling me how they sacrifice sleep in order to read my stuff.

So glad you liked it. I'd been wanting to do a story where Shep ends up lost and hurt in Atlantis, but could never come up with any plots. That seems to be my problem as of late. There are so many kinds of stories I want to do, but I can never come up with concrete ideas.

well you can always bounce them around like you have done in the pass with your readers, I mean I'm no writer but hey you never know if something someone says makes your head click.

Oh this was awesome! Loved, loved the tension in this, at how the poison slowly incapacitated John then paralyzed him. Scary image of him unable to move with the idea of a snake about to eat him! *shivers*

Wonderful tension between Rodney and Ronon, but I just adored Ronon's thoughts, immediately knowing that John was in trouble. Wonderful and very original!

Thank you! :D

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?! ;)

I wanted to save this until I had time to properly enjoy it. Wonderful, as always!

Heh, thanks :D

A wonderful fic. So whumpilicious! I loooove it when they all simply stay with the injured member. Sleeping there to give comfort by their presence. *sigh*

Thanks this was a really good read.

Thank you :)

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kriadydragon

July 2025

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Where the Wild Things Are

Story - Lost and Found Pt. 2

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