summary
in which mckay and sheppard get shot, and mckay is badly injured
relationships
john sheppard x tony dinozzo
cast
david hewlett as rodney mckay
jason momoa as ronon dex
rachel luttrell as teyla emmagan
joe flanigan as john sheppard
kavan smith as evan lorne
fandoms
stargate atlantis
ncis(mentioned)
—
They were in the middle of a firefight when the bullet pierced through his stomach, just below his vest. Rodney froze from his stance behind the pillar, his gunfire ceasing as he brought a hand to his stomach, eyes wide at the blood that came away. Across from him Sheppard looked over to find out why Rodney had stopped shooting, when horror filled through him.
"Rodney!" John yelled, watching the older man collapse and hit the grass with a scream of pain. Ronon looked over from where he was still shooting, AR-2 a few feet ahead. "Lorne, cover us!"
"On your six!" Lorne's team yelled back, and Ronon, John and Teyla made a dash for McKay while Lorne's team moved into a defensive position. "Steven's dial the gate!"
"Yes sir!" Stevens ducked behind the pillar to the DHD just as John fell down beside Rodney.
"Rodney!" John pressed his hand down against the wound, Teyla pulling out a pressure bandage and helping John cover the wound.
"O-oh god." Rodney gasped out, breath stuttering, and he blindly grabbed for their arms, catching Ronon's and Teyla's arms and squeezing while letting out another scream of pain as John pressed harder. He'd felt pain before, but nothing like the excruciating burning in his stomach and back.
"Gate's dialled Colonel!" Lorne called into the radio, and John brought a bloody hand up to his ear, shaking.
"Atlantis this is Sheppard. Medical emergency, I repeat Medical Emergency. McKay has a GSW to the lower abdomen!"
"Copy that Colonel." Chuck said over the radio. "Shield's down and med team is waiting in the gate room now."
"You heard the man! Fall back to the gate!" Lorne shouted. John and Ronon both helped McKay to his feet, supporting the man despite him screaming out. Teyla covered them and the two men practically dragged the scientist to the gate, ar-2 and Teyla moving through the gate after them.
In the Atlantis Gate Room was chaos. Doctor Beckett was barking orders as John and Ronon got Rodney onto the gurney, the older man barely conscious as he desperately grasped for John's arm. Carson was shouting medical jargon that none of them understood, but one thing stood out from everything else.
"I can't feel my legs." Rodney managed between desperate gasps of breath, and that even had Carson stopping for a moment and exchanging a look with John before they rushed off towards the infirmary, leaving the remaining members of ar-1 and 2 standing in the gate room as General's Carter and O'Neill came down the stairs looking confused, angry and concerned all in one.
"What the hell happened there?" Carter asked, but John seemed to be in a daze, and it was Lt Colonel Lorne who answered when it became apparent John wasn't going to.
"We went in for the rescue as ordered and got them out. The genii rebels shot at us on the way back, so we took cover behind the pillar's surrounding the gate when McKay took a bullet to the abdomen. We covered AR-1 while they assisted McKay and i had Steven's dial the gate. And you know the rest, ma'am, sir."
"Colonel Sheppard." John looked up from his feet and made eye contact with O'Neill, and the older man had never seen him look so pale. "You alright there?"
"You're bleeding." Teyla stated in concern, suddenly noticing the blood dripping down John's pant leg. He looked down in surprise, his hands were shaking slightly, and he felt dizzy, yet he didn't feel any pain.
"John..." Their voices faded out and the Colonel crumpled to the ground, and he faintly heard Carter calling for another medical team when he passed out.
Rodney didn't wake up for three days after the shooting, and John didn't leave his side even though he was supposed to be laying down and resting. Instead, he had Ronon bring him a second chair and propped his leg up on it, staying by McKay's side. Thankfully Beckett had let him wear his own clothes, and Teyla had brought him some soft t-shirts and flannel pants, as well as his dressing gown.
"John?" Rodney's weak voice filled his ears and he snapped his head up from the tablet, away from his math only to find the scientist staring at him with his wide blue eyes. "W-what happened?" His voice was scratchy and hoarse, and John helped him as best he could to get drink, sighing in relief at the cool ice chips John gave him.
"You got shot." John stated. "While we were off world."
"Oh." Rodney blinked. "Bad?"
"Bad." John confirmed. "I'm sorry buddy." Rodney said nothing else, and John noticed he'd slipped off to sleep, so John took the chance to grab his crutches and catch Beckett before his shift ended.
"Colonel, fer the last time you should'nae be on that leg!" Carson scolded the man when he saw him, but John interrupted him.
"Rodney woke up." Carson immediately darted off in the direction John just came, and John followed after him. After Carson had checked Rodney over again who'd woken up again, he noted that everything seemed to be fine apart from one thing.
"When you were shot, the bullet missed your internal organs thankfully, but it grazed your spine. When we did the feeling test while you were unconscious, your left leg didn't move."
"Are you saying i'm paralyzed?" Rodney asked in a low voice. Carson dragged a pen down the bottom of Rodney's left foot, and he didn't make any show of feeling it, but flinched when John did it to his right foot. "Oh my god."
John was discharged from the infirmary a week after McKay woke up, but was still on Medical Leave until Beckett cleared him for light duty. His wound was through and through and missed any major arteries, he was still in a significant amount of pain. McKay was still in denial, but Beckett was letting him do some of his work from the hospital bed to keep his mind off his leg.
It took a long time for McKay to come to terms with the fact he was never gonna be able to do all the things he used to do - like going off world on missions. He put himself and others at risk, and so reluctantly gave his position on the gate team to a physicist on his team who'd more than proven herself time and time again. His PT went slowly, but Ronon was patient and Evan and Zelenka built a lightweight leg brace that gave him full use of his leg again, and soon he could walk and run as well as he could before. The road to recovery was long, but he did recover, and that's the main thing.
—
authors note
i'm not sure i like how this one ended but here we go
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