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Pain pounded in Kai's temples as she left John...no, Colonel Sheppard, in the jumper bay. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to staunch the flow of blood as she made her way toward her quarters. Her headache today was so much worse than the ones she had experienced on and off the day before.

She would get cleaned up and then head to the lab and start searching the database for any information about what might be happening. She needed to get to the bottom of whatever was causing her headaches and the visions so many seemed to be experiencing. She had slipped by Ronon and John once, but she knew she wouldn't be so lucky if they saw the headaches effecting her again. If she so much as winced around either of them, they would drag her kicking and screaming back to Beckett for a whole barrage of tests. She couldn't help solve the problem if she was confined to the infirmary and hooked up to machines.

Back in her quarters, Kai scrubbed the blood off over her sink and splashed water on her face. She still had a headache and her eyes were bloodshot, but at least there was no longer any blood on her face. She looped her scarf back around her hair and scooped up her tablet, ready to head down to the lab. She hesitated in her room for a second, staring down at the tablet in her hand. There was no one here to judge her, and only Zelenka would know if he went back and checked her logs, which she knew wasn't a likely possibility. Zelenka respected her privacy even though he was supposed to be monitoring her work closely as she was alien.

It felt like weakness, after all she had been the one to ask him for space. No, she had demanded it. Threatening to leave if he didn't agree. She knew John well enough to know he wouldn't risk her going out on her own. He was too protective to push her and she had exploited it. A brief wave of guilt threatened to rise, but she pushed it back down. She couldn't trust that he wouldn't leave again if the military asked him. She didn't blame him for that, he was The Colonel and she had gone into a relationship with her eyes open about who he was, she even loved him for it, but she couldn't allow herself to be vulnerable to him again.

Keeping her distance from John Sheppard was turning out to be one of the more difficult things she had ever attempted. Even now she could feeling the thrumming tension of the Bond at the edges of her subconscious. It was difficult to resist the draw when she was already fighting the pain in her head. All she would have to do to feel him would be to just stop fighting it for a single moment.

Breathing out a frustrated sigh at her own weakness, she activated the program that monitored the Jumper John and McKay had taken into the depths. She set up notifications in the event anything went wrong with their jumper. Satisfied by the current system's status she was able to set aside her worry and focus on her work.

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As John flew the jumper away from the city he couldn't shake the restless feeling in his chest. He hated leaving Kai when he not only knew, but could feel she was in pain. Whatever had been going on over the last 24 hours on Atlantis, it was getting worse, but she was wouldn't talk to him and for sure wouldn't let him help her.

"Are you going to be crabby the whole trip? Or just part of it?" McKay asked after a few long moments of tense silence.

John's head jerked towards his friend, a deep scowl lining his face. "I'm not crabby," he snapped petulantly.

McKay lifted his brows in disbelief. "Riggghhhttt..." McKay dragged out the word, turning back to his laptop.

"I'm not!" John demanded.

McKay shook his head. "Look this is probably the only chance we have to study the not-whales close up. If you're going to sulk-"

"I don't sulk! And I'm not upset!" John growled and then caught himself.

McKay made a noise in the back of his throat but kept his focus on his data. Sometimes it was better to let Sheppard fight himself rather than present oneself as a target.

John took a deep breath. He wasn't saying that McKay was right, but he and McKay only had a couple hours before they were back on duty. He needed to focus on finding the whale creature. He could worry about what was happening with Kai and how to help her without her noticing when they got back.

John set the jumper down gently on the surface of the water. He reached out and adjusted the inertial dampeners up to several atmospheres worth of gravity to ensure they would sink, but not too fast. They slowly began to descend into the dark depths.

John glanced towards McKay as the water rose up over the windshield and totally engulfed them. "You all right?" He asked when McKay looked a little green.

"I'm fine," McKay said unconvincingly. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "I just never feel safe in these things underwater," he admitted.

"But in space you're okay?" John asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" McKay asked as though the answer were obvious.

John snorted and shook his head. Sometimes Rodney baffled even him. He made a few adjustments to the controls and activated the external lights. "Zelenka you there?" He asked, activating the communications.

"Hi hello, I'm here," Zelenka's voice was clear despite the garble of white noise in the background. "The whales are deeper now, less than a kilometer from you in your two o'clock position."

Rodney leaned forward and activated the HUD screen. He seemed better now that he had something to focus on. "Well there they are," he said and he closed it. "We should have a visual on them at any moment."

A large whale emerged from the blackness moments later swimming gracefully through the dark waters. It called and they could somehow hear and feel the echo of the whale song even inside the jumper.

John grimaced as the beginnings of a headache began to pound in his temples.

"There's Sam," McKay said excitedly. "And there's mama," he pointed to an even larger whale creature further away.

"We need to get a closer look." John said, ignoring the pounding in his head as he nosed the jumper through the water towards the creatures.

"Not too close now," McKay warned. "We still don't know what these things eat."

The whales called again and John suddenly grimaced and rubbed his eyes as pain lanced through his head.

"What? What is it?" McKay asked in concern.

"Nothing," John brushed him off as he tightened his hands on the controls. "Just a headache all of a sudden," John told him.

"Oh," McKay said in surprise. He had never seen Sheppard react to a headache. He had a higher pain tolerance than just about anyone he had ever met.

McKay turned back to the window and frowned when there was nothing but blackness. "Where'd they go?" McKay asked craning his neck to get a better view.

"I don't know," John said suspiciously. He didn't like feeling vulnerable down here. The jumper reacted slower in the water than it did in space and it wouldn't take much for even the baby whale to make them lunch.

All of a sudden a huge whale eye appeared to fill the screen. Both McKay and Sheppard jumped.

"Oh, they're right in front of you," Radek said through the comm.

"Yeah, well, we're aware of that," John snarked, the pounding pain in his temples making his temper shorter than usual.

McKay suddenly flinched, hanging his head as he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes.

"What's wrong?" John asked sharply.

"Now my head is hurting too."

"That's not a coincidence," John said tightly, remembering the pain Kai had been experiencing. And by just thinking about it, it was like he could feel an echo of her pain even through the strained bond.

"I don't think it is," McKay agreed, grimacing.

"I'm pulling back," John told him.

"That's a good idea," McKay's voice was tight with pain and impatience.

Zelenka made a thoughtful noise through the comm. "Perhaps the whale's echolocation mechanism is creating uncomfortable vibrations which are-"

"Yes Radek, we're moving away," McKay snapped, cutting him off. "Try to keep up, okay?"

"Oh my," Radek said suddenly.

"Oh my, what?" John asked, not liking the tone of Zelenka's voice.

"I'm detecting several more whales," Radek told him.

"How many more?" McKay wailed.

"Ah, dozens more, they're still several kilometers from you, but they are heading towards your location," Zelenka warned them.

John turned to face McKay and his stomach dropped. "Rodney," he said with a scowl.

"What?" McKay asked, panting through the pain.

"Your nose is bleeding," he said, thinking back on Kai's bloody nose. If this was what had been effecting her, it was about to get a lot worse, for all of them.

"John, this is Elizabeth," her voice came through the comm. "How are you holding up?"

"Other than feeling like my heads about to explode? Fine," he bit out sarcastically.

Another whale appeared in front of them and it's song sent vibrations through the jumper so strongly John and McKay could feel it in their seats.

"I thought you were moving away from them," McKay snapped.

"I'm trying but they keep cutting us off!" John snarled back.

"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked in concern.

"The whales are getting way too close!" McKay wailed into the comms. Then he groaned and collapsed forward, slumping unconscious against the controls.

John reached out to slow Rodney's fall so he wouldn't hit his head. "Crap," John muttered. His pulse was a raging drum beat in his head, making it difficult to focus. He felt a  fresh spike of pain through the bond so strong it took his breath away. The pain flared white hot for a second before it disappeared completely. Kai was in trouble.

"John, what's happening down there?" Elizabeth's voice rose in alarm.

"McKay is passed out, his ears are bleeding. We gotta get out of the water," he muttered, mostly to himself. It was difficult to focus when every part of him wanted to get to Kai. The only time he had ever felt that amount of pain from her was when she couldn't control her emotions. The sudden break from it likely meant she had passed out or it had stopped just as abruptly. The former seemed more likely.

John grimaced and felt wet on the side of his head. He reached up, blood was coming out of his ears to. He threw the jumper straight up with all the power he could pull from her. The adjustments to the inertial dampeners made the g's more pronounced and he could hear the engines whine in protest. If they lived, Kai could yell at him for burning out power cells later.

"John are you okay? John?!" Elizabeth's voice was panicky now.

As soon as they cleared the water John felt like he could think again. "McKay's in trouble, have a medical team standing by," he practically shouted.

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief he could hear through the comms. "Already done."

"And make sure someone finds Zian," John called loudly into the comms.

"Zian?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

John wasn't willing to go into detail about the Bond when things weren't good between him and Kai. It was too private. "If it's this bad for us, there's no telling how much worse it is for her," John said grimly.

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They tried contacting Kai both via the comms and the speakers that ran through the city, but she didn't respond to either. Using the scanners Zelenka was able to locate her in one of the corridors.

"There is a chance she is working..." Zelenka dragged off thoughtfully. "There has been some issues with power conversion in those areas..."

Ronon made a sound of disbelief. No matter how focused Kai was in her work, she never ignored the comms. "I'll go check on her," he said, heading to the transporter.

Elizabeth nodded gratefully as she was explaining the situation over the comms to Beckett.

Ronon found Kai laying prone in the hall outside the lab with her tablet on the ground beside her. He jogged over to her and knelt down. With gentle hands he rolled her unconscious body over. Blood was dripping out of her nose and ears.

"Med team!" He called into his comm. "Kai is unconscious outside the science lab."

"We're just bringing Colonel Sheppard and McKay into the infirmary and will head that way," Beckett reported.

"It'll take too long," Ronon grunted impatiently. "I'm bringing her to you." He easily scooped Kai up into his arms and set out at a rapid pace towards the infirmary.

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John insisted on walking to the infirmary despite being a little unsteady on his feet. He followed behind as Beckett and his team wheeled the unconscious McKay through the halls. He could see the medic's mouths moving, but he couldn't hear them. Something was wrong with his ears. He couldn't hear any of the normal background of Atlantis and they hurt. He tried flexing his jaw over and over to relieve the pressure, but nothing helped.

When they arrived in the infirmary Beckett gestured for him to take a seat on the cot beside McKay. He stumbled over his feet and frowned.

"WHAT THE HELL?" He said and Beckett and his team all flinched as he yelled.

Beckett shook his head and his mouth moved but John just frowned in confusion. Beckett blew out a sigh and raised his voice. "IT'S LIKELY VERTIGO, FROM YOUR EARS."

John nodded and took a seat on the cot. McKay groaned as he woke up. He looked around in confusion for a moment before settling back against his pillows.

Beckett reached up and touched John's ear but when he moved his mouth, John couldn't hear anything he said. Beckett's face was grim as he looked in both their ears and nodded as though confirming what he had originally thought.

"EARDRUMS," Beckett shouted.

The door slid open behind Beckett and Ronon came in cradling an unconscious Kai in his arms. John shot to his feet. He staggered as the vertigo hit him, but quickly recovered.

Beckett said something John couldn't hear and Ronon strode quickly across the room to another cot. John followed but he couldn't hear anything anyone was saying. Ronon laid Kai down and took a step back. He frowned at the sight of John and asked a question.

John shook his head. "WHAT HAPPENED?" He shouted.

Ronon shrugged and pointed at Kai's ears and nose where there was still blood.

"BECKETT?!" John yelled

Carson glanced up from his examination of Kai. He had prepared himself to deliver a sharp tongue lashing to the Colonel about just who was in charge in his infirmary, but the worry in Sheppard's eyes stopped his tongue.

"I NEED TO EXAMINE HER. GO LAY DOWN," he yelled and patted John on the shoulder.

Kai made a noise in the back of her throat as she came awake. She frowned as pain began pulsing through her head.

Across the room John flinched. McKay's head snapped towards the sudden movement, but John was already moving towards Kai.

Kai glanced up as John, Colonel Sheppard approached the bed. She frowned when she saw a small trail of blood coming out of his ear. Without thinking Kai reached up and touched the side of his face.

"What happened?" She asked.

John's eyebrows pulled down and he shook his head.

"He and Rodney have perforated eardrums," Beckett explained quickly as he stepped up to the other side of her cot. "HE SHOULD BE RESTING," Beckett shouted loud enough for Sheppard to hear.

Kai flinched and John shot him an impatient look. Beckett raised his eyebrows meaningfully and John stepped away, causing Kai's hand to drop from his face. Remembering herself, Kai clenched her hand into a fist as she turned her attention back to Beckett.

Beckett looked Kai over with brisk efficiency. "Has the pain eased?" He asked her.

Kai shook her head, there was still a pounding in her temples and a pressure behind her eye.

"You should try and get some rest," Beckett advised. "I can give you something for-"

"No thank you," Kai said briskly. There was something going on, she didn't want to be slowed down by painkillers that could make her mind fuzzy. They needed to solve this.

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A short time later Zelenka and Elizabeth came down to the infirmary to check on the patients. 

"How are they?" Elizabeth asked Carson. He looked tired and there was a small line of worry between his eyebrows.

"Kai is still in a fair amount of pain, although she refused to take anything for it," Beckett said indignantly.

"Worlds worst patient," Elizabeth joked lightly, although her concern was evident.

Carson grunted his agreement and motioned towards where McKay and Sheppard were laying on their cots side by side. "Their ear drums have been perforated," Beckett informed them.

"How?" Elizabeth asked with a frown.

"The whales are emitting an intense low frequency pulse, like...like a sonar, as well as an EM field. The combination is very dangerous to humans," Zelenka explained. "Especially in such close proximity."

"Aye," Beckett agreed. "And even more dangerous to Mortii," he said jerking his chin towards Kai.

"Yes we believe-" Zelenka started to say but McKay cut him off.

"IT'S THE WHALES," he shouted.

All three of them flinched at his loud voice. Beckett breathed out a frustrated sigh. "Hearings been impaired, it should heal soon."

"IT'S THEIR ECHOLOCATION. IT'S CREATING VERY POWERFUL VIBRATIONS. THE CLOSER WE GOT, THE WORSE IT BECAME," McKay continued.

Zelenka grunted impatiently. "YES YES RODENY WE KNOW," he hollered back.

John turned towards them, a confused look on his face. "WHAT?"

Beckett just shook his head at their antics and turned back to Elizabeth. "They should rest."

"Agreed," Elizabeth said in a normal voice to Beckett. "I'LL COME BACK," she hollered to McKay and Sheppard.

The two men exchanged a confused look before Sheppard settled back against his pillows. Kai was in the cot across from his studying her tablet Zelenka had brought her. She tapped a few things on the screen and then scowled. Lowering it, she turned to him and raised her voice so he could hear her. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY JUMPER?"

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