Wake Me Up Inside – Chapter 16

Title: Wake Me Up Inside

Author: Thothkristen

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/Stargate SG-1

Relationships: John Sheppard/Evan Lorne, Carson Beckett/Radek Zelenka, Rodney McKay/Ronon Dex, Markham/Stackhouse, Daniel Jackson/Cameron Mitchell (Eventually)

Genre: ShapeShifter (Mythological Creatures and regular animals), Angst, Alternate Reality

Rating: M

Warnings for this chapter: Snark, Meddling!Atlantis, slight fooling around between Ronon and Rodney, Vala being Vala, plans for the future discussed, possessive!Ronon

Word Count: 32,702/ 35,000 (This update is 2,067)

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The next morning, the senior Atlantis staff along with SG-1 and General O’Neill sat in the conference room off of the gateroom.

“I know we’ve a lot to discuss but I think it might be useful if Atlantis also joined the talks. Does anyone mind?”

Upon seeing no objections, John uttered, “Please appear, Atlantis.”

“As you will, Protector of Atlantis.”

John could have sworn that he heard a choked sound off to the side and would have guessed that it was General O’Neill.

“Thank you, Atlantis. Now that everyone is present, let’s start at the beginning and go forward. Dr. Beckett, if you would, please?”

Carson gave his presentation about how he first noticed the symptoms in Evan Lorne but thought how weird it was that he was presenting signs of becoming a full shifter, despite his DNA not being complete. He further talked about how Lorne’s DNA had changed and what other changes he noticed in his baseline, which turned out to be usual things in people who went from not being able to shift to completely shift. So nothing too outrageous, except for the fact that Lorne shouldn’t have been able to shift at all, much less into a mythological creature. Carson continued his talk about how many of the half shifters turned shifters are lactose intolerant and the reason for it.

“As far as I know, all of the known half shifters have been turned or in the process of turning, excluding the new arrivals. Also, the people who were shifters can now shift into a mythological creature, except for Sgt. Markham. Although his shifter animal is considered to be a mythological creature already but he’s developed some interesting new “powers” so to speak.”

Daniel raised his eyebrow in question.

“Apparently, he can emit a smell that lowers out the Wraith and other animals, including other mythological creatures. Apparently, in the myth, the panther would use this smell to lower other animals to his cave so he would have his meal and then sleep for three days. Luckily, Altantis helped me create a serum so that the smell doesn’t affect any of us.”

“Useful. Anyway, back to your presentation.”

“Yes. For now, we have Atlantis’ promise that she won’t turn anyone, without their consent and permission from Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay or as Atlantis like to call them, Protector of Atlantis and Keeper of Atlantis.”

“So it’s a case by case?”

“At the moment. As it is, shifters are completely dominating Atlantis, which is what she wanted. We would definitely need a lot more supplies before we can hold too many more shifters.”

“Understandable. Have you been able to get the gate to work for long distance?”

Rodney spoke up since it was his department. He said, “Not at the moment. It is a bit unclear on why the gate isn’t functioning for long distance, unless she is purposefully blocking it.”

Rodney turned to stare at Atlantis. “Are you blocking our access?”

“Yes. I did not want you to leave. I want a new generation of Ancients on this city.”

“But not all of us possess the ATA gene naturally.”

“No, but majority of the people are mythological creatures. They contain some Ancient in them.”

“What will happen to the humans? Will they become shifters soon too?” General O’Neill asked cautiously. He realized that he needed to know the entire strategy for Atlantis and what her current thought process is.

“If they desire to be. It will be a bit harder for me to do so and will require more of my resources but I’m willing to do it, especially with the Healer of Atlantis, Dr. Carson Beckett.”

Carson gasped.

“Yes, I do see you as the healer for Atlantis. You’ve done an excellent job of keeping alive and figuring out the shifter situation with minimal help from my files.”

Carson was angry that Atlantis could have given him the information in a more concise, easily readable manner. Granted, he did enjoy the quest of figuring things out but he didn’t like to be made the fool.

“But why?”

“I wanted to confirm my suspicions about you. Your ATA gene is the third highest on Atlantis but you initially were against using it with in regards to the Ancient technology, which really confused me.”

“I had an incident before I came to Atlantis that made me very leery of ancient tech. I almost killed 2 people,” Carson averted his eyes so he would not stare into John’s or Jack’s eyes.

“You’ve become more comfortable with it?”

“Yes. The ancient tech in the medical area is amazing and can do things beyond anyone’s understanding of science on Earth. To have access to it is wonderful.”

“Not that this is interesting or anything but can we get back to the topic?” Jack commented. He liked to keep his meetings short and to the point.

“Even if can dial the gate for long distance, we would need to make sure that we have enough ZPMs.” Rodney commented as if the conversation before them was on a different topic.

“Do not worry about that. I have a list of locations that at least had them.” Atlantis responded. She did not add that they were recently verified by Jarod so that none of them would be killed unnecessarily collecting them.

“How useful. Also, the recharge station for the ZPM would be good too.”

“Even though that’s wonderful, it would seem that we still have a big, glaring issue in front of us. The people who come here and make the decision to become a shapeshifter will not be able to go back to Earth again. Don’t you think that’s a steep price to pay?”

“More so than what the initial price for the expedition was?” John argued. He knew that Jack had the best intentions for the new people.

“That was before we knew that we could keep in contact with you, granted not in the most efficient way, but it worked. Now, the people would have a chance to visit Earth, if they chose to.”

“You’ll notice that majority of the people who signed up for the initial expedition did not have much on Earth to hold them there. It still might remain true with this current batch of replacements but I could be wrong. Should we make it a requirement?”

“I might have a way so that the scent of the mythological creatures could be almost non-existent for a short period of time.”

“How short?”

“A few days. My findings show that it should not cause any harm to the user, unless it’s used for longer period of time. It would also be good if Dr. Beckett also tried it out on a few test subjects to confirm.”

“I agree. Would you be willing to do it?”

“Yes, sir, if Atlantis will give me the formula or the liquid or whatever it is.”

“It’s sitting on your desk in your office.”

“I’ll perform a few tests of my own and then I’ll need a small test group so we can see how it performs.”

“Keep me updated.”

“I’ll keep everyone updated.”

“So if this scent killer thing works, then anyone can come back to Earth via the gate. If we agree to keep people on Atlantis, assuming no big outbreak of plague or a war with too many causalities, will you keep helping our people here and look after them?” Jack said.

“Yes.”

“I’m willing to try this on a probationary period. It would be wonderful if Earth could keep this as a home away from home. I know the team on Atlantis has been very successful with meeting new races and learning new things about Ancient Tech. I would hate for this relationship to fall apart.” General O’Neill commented.

“Agreed,” John said.

“Is there anything else?” Mr. Woolsey asked. Seeing no objections, he dismissed the meeting. Everyone rose from their seats and went their separate ways, mostly to head back to work.

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Block. Parry. Block. Punch. Block. Kick.

Ronon and Rodney kept practicing their fighting moves. Rodney was able to surprise Ronon with a punch, which ended up with Ronon on the floor on his back. Taking advantage of the situation, Rodney straddles Ronon’s groin area and leaned down to grab his wrists and pushed them above his head.

“To the victor goes the spoils. I’m definitely going to enjoy…you”

Rodney leaned down and softly nuzzled Ronon’s neck before softly biting over the claim mark. Ronon moaned while pushing against him.

“Rodney….we shouldn’t….someone…” Ronon lost thought as Rodney continued to bite and lick up Ronon’s neck to his ear and pull softly on it.

“No one’s around. Everyone is busy with the new recruits.” Rodney replied softly before devouring more of his mate.

Due to the distraction of consuming his mate, Ronon took advantage and softly flipped Rodney on his back.

“My mate. Mine.” Ronon growled before he leaned down and bite Rodney’s claim mark before leaving love bites up his neck.

They continued to fool around, not paying attention to their surrounding area.

“My…what a pretty picture you two make. Dr. McKay, are you sure you’re supposed to be sleeping with another guy who isn’t your mate?” Vala said in a lofty tone.

Hearing the words through the lust veil, Ronon lifted his head and growled, “He’s not.”

“Ronon?” Daniel said cautiously. He decided to tag along with Vala to visit the gym and try to get in some workout time.

“Yes.”

“You cut your hair” Vala exclaimed.

“New life. New beginning.” Rodney was somewhat sad to see it go because he liked to gently pull on it during sex, especially when it was invigorating. Rodney did appreciate what the cutting of the hair represented and thought it was appropriate.

“It looks nice. If you two wanted to continue, by all means, I wouldn’t complain. If anything, I might add some of my own noises.” Vala said with a wink.

“No. Mine. Only mine.” Ronon growled as some of his lips pulled away to show some sharp teeth and deadly glint in his eyes. He slowly raised and stood in a grouch position, ready to attack if he needed to do it. He would protect his mate from anything and everything. His mate was his life.

“Vala, please stop. Now. They’re very possessive of each other.” Daniel envied Rodney and Ronon. They went from both being half shifters to full mythological creatures and mates due to Atlantis. Since his talk with Jarod and Atlantis, he’s been thinking long and hard about the offer from Atlantis. He realized that he didn’t have as much tying him to Earth as he initially thought. He knew he needed to have a talk with Cameron before he said anything to Atlantis.

“But they are both dropped dead gorgeous men. Who wouldn’t want to watch them?”

“Vala. Please. If you don’t shut-up, I will tell Atlantis and you don’t want to be on her shitlist. She is worse than Rodney’s.”

“Fine. Spoil all of my fun.”

“Now that we have that settled, why are the two of you here anyway?”

“I have a training session with Teal’c. He’s been teaching me more about his fighting style.” Vala responded.

“I’m just tagging along, hoping to get a work-out. The Daedalus had such a small gym that I didn’t really do much on our route here.”

“Just stay away from my mate.” Ronon growled.

“Duly noted, Ronon. If I apologized for Vala doing something wrong every single time, then well, I would be a neverending broken record. I do sincerely apologize for this and hope she will stop but no promises.” Daniel said with a small smile.

“Am I allowed up, Big Guy?” Rodney said from lying down on the floor. He didn’t want to activate Ronon’s more primal instincts by moving too fast.

Ronon reached behind him and pulled Rodney flushed against his body. Ronon leaned down and lightly nuzzled Rodney’s neck and kissing the claim mark.

“Come on, Ronon. Let’s go grab something to eat. All of sudden, I’m very hungry.” Rodney commented loudly while holding out his hand for Ronon to take as they exited the gym.

“What I wouldn’t give to be the fly on their wall when they are fucking.” Vala muttered while Daniel groaned. He kept hoping that Vala would develop some brain-to-mouth filter.