Chapter Text
It was peaceful in the between. There was no past, no future, just the present. It surrounded him. As he reached out his non-physical hand, the unseen streams of energy flowed gently through his fingers.
The power was immense and the stabilising presence of Gar drifted closer.
Do not lose yourself in it Ev. It is the flame of creation. It burns brighter than any of us can cope with.
You call it a flame Gar, but I see no light.
We cannot see the whole for we cannot comprehend it, so we see the black instead. Smaller parts would be visible to you, as they are to me, but to see all this would be impossible.
Once Evan got used to the continuous blackness, and the lack of any tangible physical direction, he focused solely on the presence of Gar.
Drifting for an unquantifiable length of time, they conversed amicably, neither discussing the current situation. There would be time for that later, Evan thought. He relied on the stability of the dragons presence to keep him centred, to give him a lodestone, a beacon of invisible light in the endless dark.
After a time, he sensed change.
Gar? he queried.
I sense it too, replied the dragon as the drifting slowed. I think we have arrived.
Where? Evan asked. He could feel a pull, like a door blowing open in a strong wind, the outside turbulence drawing him forward.
Where we need to go, Ev. We will arrive whole. Be ready.
Evan opened his eyes.
There was no transition. One moment he was in between, then he was awake. Fully awake and fully aware as the antiseptic smell assaulted his senses; his clearing vision showing a wall of charts and medical paraphernalia.
With his hearing kicking in he knew Dr Beckett and Colonel Sheppard stood off to his left-hand side, a hushed conversation taking place. Moving his head on the soft pillow, Evan caught the eye of his commanding officer and the relief he saw on Sheppard face, and the resulting smile, made him smile in response.
A loud “What” from Dr Beckett was followed by both men appearing at his bedside. Carsons expression showing bewilderment.
“Doc, you okay?” Evan asked, levering himself up. He decided that to stay in another infirmary bed for a minute more, was a minute too long. But a hand on his chest, and a number of unfortunately placed tubes, stopped his progress.
“Major, do not move.” Carsons hand pressed slightly, Evans chest giving a brief twinge.
“Ouch Doc,” he objected, batting Carsons hand away. “Why does my chest hurt?”
“CPR Major. And that’s why yer staying in that bed.” Carson unwrapped the stethoscope from around his neck, his next order interrupted by a reverberating roar from outside.
“What the hell?” Sheppards hand went to his radio but before he could grab it, it erupted to life.
Evan could hear the frantic voice of his second in command.
“Colonel Sheppard come in, Sir.”
“Coughlin, what’s that noise?”
“It’s Gar, Sir. He just woke up, climbed onto the roof of the warehouse and is roaring like a jet engine. Is the Major okay, Sir?”
“Take a breath Lieutenant,” Sheppard said, with a surprisingly calming tone. “He just woke up and looks like he’s going to be fine.”
“Ye all think yer doctors. Bloody damn contrary soldiers, the lot o’ ye.” Carsons accent betraying the stress the doctor had been under. Because of him, Evan realised.
“Sorry Carson.” Evan said, feeling the need to apologise to the doctor who tended to put the weight of many worlds on his shoulders.
“It's okay, laddie,” the Scotsman said as he took a deep breath. “Ye are gonna be fine, and ah can tell that cause we’re having this conversation. But yer gonna have to tell that dragon of yours that he’s gonna have to wait a bit. I need to examine you and as ye can tell yer a bit tied to the bed.”
Evan gave the doctor a disproving look. Catheters were not fun.
Gar, you okay?
We are back, we are alive, I am happy.
That I can hear. The whole of Atlantis can as well. Carson’s got to release me first then I’ll join you in shouting from the roof. Thank you, Gar.
You are welcome, Ev.
“It’s very good to see you awake, Major,” Sheppard said with a smile, his hand resting on the end of the bed. “There’s going to be a number of relieved people and, as we can hear, one very relieved dragon. You had us worried.”
Evan could also see the strain on the Colonels face, knowing the man would be taking personal responsibility for what happened on Earth. Good commanding officers tended to take it badly when issued orders caused unwelcome outcomes.
“Sorry, Sir.” Evan sat up further, ignoring the disproving look from Carson. “But I think we need a full disclosure conversation.”
Carson threw his hands up.
“Well, I suppose, regardless of what I say, you’re going to need the Major out of here, Colonel.”
At Evans nod, Sheppard attempted diplomacy. “Doc, I know you want to keep him here, but I need him elsewhere, so how about we compromise. You can run all your tests and scans you want, and I will make sure he returns for a check-up later today. Deal?”
There was the full on Beckett glare and resultant huff. “Okay, deal. Hourly check-ins mind.”
“Yes, Carson. Promise.”
What followed was the most thorough medical Evan had experienced, and only after Sheppards insistence, did Dr Beckett finally release him.
“Thank you, Sir,” he said, finally heading to the central control tower. “Thought he’d never let me go.”
“You scared him Evan,” Sheppard replied, as they entered his office. “And he’s angry as hell. We nearly lost you because of some faulty equipment at Midway, so he’s channelling that.”
Evan could see that there was a healthy amount of guilt going around.
“We knew I had to go back to Earth, Sir,” he reasoned. “We had no other option. Could’ve been worse, I could’ve been on the Daedalus, three days into hyperspace, when it all went wonky.”
It hit home that if this path had been followed, there would have been no way to save him. The Daedalus would have been too far away.
“Trust you, Evan, to view the bright side of three seizures and one cardiac arrest.” Sheppard said, slouching in his office chair, as Evan sat opposite. The office was a rarely used space with Sheppard tending to hang about Evans office, both finding mutually done paperwork a less tedious task.
Evan eyed the in-tray on Sheppards desk as he positioned his cast on the chair arm. Thankfully it was the softer cast with the non-straightjacket sling.
“Yes, Major, I will get to that pile as soon as we’ve had your full disclosure chat.” Sheppard said, Evan plotting a way to appropriate the paperwork out of the tray. Sheppard was a great commanding officer, but filing was not his strong point.
He was surprised that the full disclosure talk went reasonably well. The Colonel listened to the possibility of the power of the between, of teleportation and the out of body experience without much interruption. It was only when Evan mentioned time travel did a frown emerge.
“Time travel, Evan. Very SG-1.” He said, concern creeping into his tone.
“Yes, Sir. Gar sounded very hesitant to discuss it. I got the impression that it wasn’t recommended. From what his memories showed me it was used at certain points to find people or dragons. I think they stopped using it for the chaos it could cause.” He could still feel the desperation, the panic of that time when he had explored the memory.
“I hope you follow those guidelines, Major. I also think that’s definitely one that we will keep between us.” Sheppard picked up a folder from his desk and handed it over. “This came for you from the IOA. They’re pissed that there was no meeting, no you and no dragon. They’ve sent you a bunch of questions.”
Evan leafed through the thick folder. “This is a bunch, Sir?”
“Nope,” Sheppard smirked, reaching over to take the folder back. Opening a drawer in his desk, he dropped the papers in. “This is the question equivalent of War and Peace, but as you’re on medical leave again, these will have to wait.”
“So, no more orders for me to head to Earth, Sir.” Evan asked, fervently hoping not.
“If there has been, General O’Neill has intercepted them and they didn’t get through to us. I’ve sent him your status reports over the last four days and, for a man who’s so laid back he’s almost horizontal, it’s only been on the last call that he’s been any calmer.” As Sheppard leaned back in his chair, Evan was reminded of their similarities. Sheppard continued. “A pissed off General will be the best buffer we could have against the IOA at the moment.”
A distant noise made both men look towards the side wall even though there was no window.
“That sounds like Gar has started up again. Demanding dragon you’ve got,” Sheppard said as he stood up. “Come on we’d better not keep him waiting.”
Following Sheppard out of the door he collided with his back as the Colonel abruptly stopped. Evan, stepping to the side, saw Dr McKay striding up to them, intently staring down at his tablet.
“Rodney, stop.” Sheppards warning was slightly too late.
McKay looked up with a glare.
“Colonel, there you are. Why are you standing in your doorway? You’re a hazard.”
“Are you on your way to see me, Rodney?” Sheppard sighed.
“Yes, well, no. Carson said you’d spirited Lorne away. I need him to help with something I found.”
“I feel so un-needed Rodney.” Sheppard attempted a mock pout. It went badly.
That garnered a McKay tut. “Yes, well, practise opening encrypted doors then Sheppard.”
It was well known the scientists walked a fine line with the natural born gene carriers on the expedition. Gene therapy had allowed more people access to ancient tech, with varying degrees of success, but no-one came close to the abilities of the ones who had the gene naturally.
Evan, being a natural carrier, had done his fair share of switching on and off gizmos. But with the Colonel, Beckett and a couple of others with a stronger gene, he had been mostly left alone.
With McKay searching him out, it hinted he had headed to the top of the list. It did not bode well for his spare time, little as it was. Thankfully, it seemed, Sheppard had other ideas.
“Sorry, you’re going to have to wait, Rodney. Major Lorne has a prior appointment.”
“Well, he’s just going to have to reschedule. You know how important my work is.” McKay was back to his tablet again.
“Have you heard the dragon outside, Rodney?”
“Everyone’s heard him, Colonel, wouldn’t like to get on his bad side.”
Sheppard said nothing and just waited.
McKay looked up suddenly, realisation dawning on his face.
“Oh, right, I suppose I can wait. Major, just put your hand here, will you?” The scientist brandished his tablet towards Evan, a red handprint symbol filling the whole screen.
“It’s not going to blow anything up Doc?” Evan queried.
“No, not at all. Just open a door.” McKay could see Evan hesitate. “Honest, Major, just a door.”
Evan knew that all the scientists had learnt the hard way. In the early days of the expedition, it was habit to just keep switching things on. Now, thankfully, they demonstrated more caution. Evan placed his hand on the tablet and watched as red turned blue.
McKay snatched the tablet away and brandished it at Sheppard.
“See, Colonel. Encrypted.”
As McKay stormed out through the gateroom, Sheppard turned to Evan.
“Might be best to get a lock for your office door, Major.”
……………………………………………………..
As the large freight transporter carried them to the wharf, heading to meet up with an impatient dragon, Evan used the time to question the Colonel.
“Any idea why I’m now at the top of the McKays go-to list, Sir. It’s not something I was trying to achieve.”
That got a genuine laugh from Sheppard as he leant comfortably against the wall, feet crossed in a stretch. It seemed the Colonel appreciated the space as well.
“Major, that’s an achievement I wouldn’t wish on anyone. He views us natural carriers as his own pet lap dogs that are at his beck and call for whenever he needs a light switched on. At least you’ve got this transporter as a buffer.”
That made no sense to Evan as transporters were widely used in the city, and with more ZPMs, they were accessible to everyone.
“Oh, you were on Earth by the time we realised,” Sheppard continued, spotting Evans look. “You programmed this one differently and Rodney can’t figure it out. It’s been the only entertaining aspect of the last two days.”
Evan winced at that.
“Again, not your fault, Major,” Sheppard said. Evan could tell from his body language the man was starting to relax. “Your reprogramming meant it can only be used by only certain people, and anyone not on that list has to get one of us to go with them. Ingenious really. I’m impressed.”
Evan had no idea how he had done that.
“Us, Sir? I assume you’re on the list?”
“Yes, Major and thank you for the inclusion. We figured out it’s me, your team, Carson, Stackhouse, his team, Rivers, also his team, Teyla and Ronon. Mackay’s a bit peeved. But as you’re currently occupying the top spot in his ‘go to guy to turn stuff on’, it’s probably for the best.”
“Any idea, Sir, how I’m able to do all this?” He didn’t feel any different. Apart from a slight ache in his arm and chest, he felt 100%.
“The general consensus, as you’d expect, is it’s your connection to Gar. But that doesn’t explain anything really and that’s why Rodney’s pissed. He hates puzzles his giant brain can’t solve.”
Evan knew that Colonel Sheppard took perverse pleasure in watching his abrasive teammate struggle with anything related to his mental capacity. Sheppard was the most loyal, fierce and focused teammate when any of them were injured or in danger, but with McKay he always thought a mental challenge lowered the head scientist to mere mortal level. He always said it made McKay less crabby.
Evan knew what needed done though. “We’re going to have to bring him into the full disclosure, aren’t we, Sir?”
“It looks that way,” Sheppard agreed, nodding. “If we want to figure this out, we need his giant brain. He can’t work with only half the information. He found a weird energy reading when looking at your blood tests but put it down to equipment variables. From what you said about in between, it may be that you have access to this power through your connection to Gar, so we need him. You know that you can trust him.”
As the transporter arrived at the wharf, Evan considered the Colonels words. After recovering from digging Dr Jackson out of the crevasse, Evan had been deployed to Atlantis when the city reconnected to the SGC. On arrival, he couldn’t understand how McKay was tolerated, let alone liked. The man was abrupt, narcissistic, egotistical and Evan was convinced he had a God complex bigger than probably God himself.
But over the following months his opinion of the man changed. McKay was fiercely loyal, driven by the fear of losing the people that meant the most to him, and extremely intelligent. That’s when Evan realised that the head scientist was under immense pressure and was expected to solve every problem when the shit hit.
So, he made an effort to get to know the man. McKay, at first, couldn’t comprehend what was happening but after a frank discussion with Evan, the scientist became less bristly. Now, in the rare absence of his team, McKay normally joined his team during mealtimes. He surprisingly got on well with Ortiz, drawn in by the man’s ineffable delight for life.
He came to a decision.
“Yes, Sir. I agree.” he said, relief showing on Sheppard face. “I’ll see if I can add him to the transporter list.” How he was going to do that, he had no idea.
“Thank you, Major.” Sheppard replied, making their way into the yard through the doors opposite the transporter.
The yard had changed considerably in the time Evan had headed to Earth. More chairs had appeared from unknown locations and he made a mental note to keep an ear out for any complaints. He was sure he spotted one of the conference room chairs and from Sheppards slight laugh beside him, he knew he had spotted it too.
Evan also identified a couple of structures that looked suspiciously like a barbeque and a bar, complete with bar stools. Where the hell they came from, he had no idea.
In the middle of the yard, a massive tail hung near to the ground. Evan’s gaze followed it up, and saw Gar lying on the canopy roof. He had been receiving the feeling of warm peaceful contentment from the dragon, ever since the second roaring had ceased.
You okay? He asked the dragon, not expecting much of a response.
I have eaten many trees Ev. I nap in the sun. Soon we fly.
Yes, he confirmed. Enjoy your nap.
“Sir.” A shout came from the opposite side. Evan looked over to see Coughlin and Ortiz rising from their seats.
“Good to see you awake, Sir,” Coughlin said, “and surprisingly out of the infirmary. Does the Doc know you’ve escaped?”
“Yes, Lieutenant.” Evan smiled, knowing that Beckett had a reptation for slow releases. “But he’s expecting me back later. Thought I’d better check in.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Coughlin said, returning the smile. “We’re all fine. Reed’s working through a few things, so is on an epic COD session. Sleepyhead up there decided to sunbathe and block out most of the sun.”
A swooshing noise made Coughlin duck his head as the dragon tail flicked in his direction.
“Sleepyhead?” Evan queried. “He been okay?”
Coughlin took a breath. “We’ve been concerned about him, Sir. He’s been mostly asleep for the last four days and for the first two he was fading in colour. He only just started getting colour back when you came through the gate.”
“Shit.” Evan replied, worry flaring for the slumbering dragon. It wasn’t just him that his trip to Earth had impacted. He needed info. “I think we all need to compare notes. Can you entice Reed off Call of Duty.”