Chapter 22

Sheppard was left standing there with the transmitter and arming device and Ronon asked, "Now do you believe him, Sheppard? I had a feeling that he would be right — and he was. Good shooting on his part, I'd say — 6 guys down in less than 5 seconds?"

Sheppard nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess I better say something to him. You know something? He was correct about almost the whole plan — the way he said it would fall apart and the end result? Unreal."

Teyla added, "I think we should at least thank him for our lives — that's twice in two days he has saved members of Atlantis."

Sheppard walked away from the Jumper and said, "Yeah, true." Then he asked Ronon, "What was with the laughing in back there?"

Ronon smiled and replied, "The small guy had a minor problem with his voice-box — it was stuck on Goa'uld when he got in the Jumper and the science team was looking at him like..." He trailed off and started laughing again.

Sheppard shook his head and started chuckling and said, "Yea, I guess that would be funny, especially the looks from the science team. It had already been a hell of a day for them, and then to have Felix all geared up in the back, and his voice box screws up..." He trailed off and started laughing at the insanity of the whole situation.

Ronon added, "Now you see why I was laughing!"

Teyla just shook her head at the two and they all headed for the armoury to drop off their unfired weapons and tactical vests. After that was done they went to the control centre to check in with Dr. Weir and give her a rough mission debriefing.

As they arrived at the control centre they saw Dr. Weir waiting for them. She asked, "I gather that the mission was a success, Colonel?"

Sheppard replied, "Felix called that one almost exactly the way it unfolded." He went on and told her about them being captured by Genii soldiers, about how Felix kept in contact with them the whole way, about how accurate of a shot he was, and just how smooth the whole mission went, taking into account the potential danger that existed the whole time.

Sheppard added, "Elizabeth — I'm telling you — Felix was like a ghost when moving, he kept us in the loop the whole time, cool as an ice cube, that's for sure."

She replied, "What of the Genii soldiers? Are they prisoners or what happened to them?"

Sheppard paused while he looked at Ronon and Teyla, then Teyla spoke up, "The Genii soldiers that we encountered ... aren't a ... threat any more, Dr. Weir."

Dr. Weir looked at them suspiciously and asked, "There is more to this — isn't there? What happened to the Genii soldiers, Colonel?"

Sheppard paused and looked her right in the eyes and replied, "They are dead. When we were on the way back to the Jumper with our people, Felix went and checked the site and he found these things right where they had us hostage."

He placed the arming device and the transmitter in her hands and said, "He claimed he found a rather large explosive device that was under us, and that is what would have set it off, if not for Felix. Elizabeth — he was right all the way. They planned to kill us for the ZPM. I don't like what was done to them, but considering what they had planned for us..." He trailed off and left her to draw her own conclusions.

She tapped her headset and said, "Sergeant Grey, report to the control centre immediately."

Ronon spoke up; "Sheppard is right, Dr. Weir — Felix did pull our butts out of a bad situation. I remember seeing one person left alive — the officer that had the transmitter."

A moment later Felix showed up wearing just his sweaty t-shirt, combat pants, and the boots — he looked tired already and was still camouflaged on the face and hands. He came to attention and said, "Sergeant Grey, ma'am."

Dr. Weir looked at Felix and asked bluntly, "What did you do to the Genii soldiers, Sergeant? Colonel Sheppard hasn't exactly been giving me all the missing details. So why don't you fill in the blanks for me?"

Felix looked at Sheppard as if to say 'thanks buddy' and then asked Dr. Weir, "What exactly do you want to know ma'am?"

She replied, "What exactly did you do to the Genii soldiers?"

He replied almost too casually, "Oh that — well, they all received 320-grain pain relievers in their heads and ... now they don't feel anything."

She closed her eyes and asked, "Did you shoot them in the ... head, Sergeant?"

Felix replied in a frustrated voice, "Yes, ma'am - it wasn't as if I had any other fucking choice. I was about 1 klick away watching the boss man with Teyla and Ronon get captured, and at that range options are kind of limited as to where I can hit." He was starting to leak tears of frustration as he continued; "What did you want me do? Yell trick or treat at them? I was sent to get our people back, and I did that! I am so effing sorry that I didn't do it the diplomatic way! You know what? Piss on it - next time I'll just leave them to get blown up so you won't have to send me! You think I enjoy doing this? I hate it - but I'm also unfortunately good at what I do, so I have live with seeing those faces every dammed night!"

With that he turned around and stormed off, leaving a hurt Dr. Weir behind as she struggled to understand Felix.

Teyla spoke up; "He was correct with what he did, Dr. Weir and I do not believe he had any other choice. If he didn't shoot those Genii soldiers, we wouldn't be here to tell you this."

Weir nodded her head and turned around as small tears started coming as she headed for her office to grieve for the now obviously tormented Sergeant Grey. She sat in her chair and Sheppard came in to stand in front of her and he said, "Elizabeth — he really didn't have any other choice. Much as I don't like the decision ... he made the correct decision to save our people and he made sure we got home."

She looked at Sheppard and said, "So much pain in one person, John — how does he do it? I sure couldn't do what he does." She wiped her eyes and said, "I feel I should apologize to the man for how I just treated him."

Sheppard replied, "I know exactly how you feel, because I did almost the same thing in the Jumper bay. I was going to go see him right now — why don't you come with me and we can do it at the same time — sort of a group effort."

She nodded her head, wiped her tears away and stood up, putting on her official face and said, "All right, lets do just that."

Sheppard and Weir went down to Felix's quarters; Sheppard waved at the door buzzer and they heard, "Entrz-vous, aloha, its open, Ingemar come on down!" All the various greetings were said in different accents and Weir looked at Sheppard as if to say, 'Is this guy for real?'

Sheppard said in an official tone, "It's Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir — can we come in for a minute? Are you decent?"

The door opened to find Felix standing there, already looking better than he did a few minutes previous.

Weir stood at the entranceway while Sheppard came right into the room — neither of them expected to be seeing a flip Felix in his natural state.

Felix was looking towards the open door and he said, "Your door is ajar, your door is ajar," sounding like one of the vehicles back on Earth that used to talk to you.

Dr. Weir looked at Felix as if he was strangely touched until he said, "Uh ma'am — the door?"

She then noticed and replied, "Oh," and entered the room finally and looked around at the bare room and noticed that his big gun was neatly laid out on a table, ready to be cleaned and re-assembled when done.

Felix was looking at the two leaders of Atlantis and said, "I guess this where I get a new hole ripped where I already have one, am I right?"

Both Weir and Sheppard looked at Felix and were puzzled by his statement and Sheppard asked, "What?"

Felix sighed and said, "You two are probably here to rip me a new ass and then send me back to Earth because of today's effed up mission. Am I correct?"