Discontinuity

Summary: Well, a real summary would give it away, but I based this story on spoilers about the season 3 finale "First Strike." It's probably completely AU, but hey, who cares? It's Sparky, as usual.

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never have and never will.

"Who will guard the guardians?"

-Juvenal

She was broken, shattered into thousands of tiny pieces along with her once beautiful city. If she had to choose a way to go, she supposed she'd rather go down with Atlantis than meet her demise in some other way. At least this way she wouldn't have to leave her home and heart behind. Elizabeth could hear explosions, the smashing of glass, a roaring that filled her ears and shook the ground; after that, she heard nothing. The last blast had sent her crashing into the window, the sill of which she was now lying on, precariously close to falling over the edge. If she were to fall, it would be a very long time before she landed anywhere. She couldn't move, could barely even breathe with all the shock and pain her system was experiencing.

Pushing through the fog in her brain, she idly wondered where the rest of her team was. Most of the expedition had been evacuated through the 'gate at the first sign of danger; Danger…that triggered something in the back of her mind. That was why she was in this position in the first place, wasn't it? There had been an attack of some sort; her city and people had been in danger and she had volunteered to stay behind to…do something. What had that been? Where was Rodney? He was supposed to do something to save them all, wasn't he? Lorne and Zelenka had been beamed aboard the Daedalus to help with the relocation of the Athosians; Ronon and Teyla…she had no idea what had happened to them.

John…Was he okay? Had he gone somewhere? Yes, that's right; she had sent him through the 'gate to Earth with the last Jumper. There would be no suicide missions for the Lieutenant Colonel this time. Elizabeth heaved a sigh of relief, wincing when her sudden expulsion of air sent a burning pain through her chest.

As another explosion rattled the walls and sent tremors across the floor, it suddenly hit her that she was going to die alone. Given that anyone else who stayed behind would die too, she was glad that no one was with her; but on the other hand, it was awfully lonely lying there on the balcony of a slowly perishing city.

It was the Asurans, the technological offspring of the Ancients who had caused all this destruction. She could distantly remember arguing about whether Atlantis should launch a preemptive strike against the machines, worrying about the ramifications of such an action. John had told her it was their one chance at stopping the Asurans once and for all.

Elizabeth frowned and concentrated on bringing the arm in her line of vision back into focus. Where was John again? She was pretty sure he was safe, but couldn't for the life of her remember how she knew that or why she wasn't with him. Something wasn't adding up; John Sheppard would never willingly leave someone behind, least of all the leader of the expedition. She must have ordered him to evacuate the city along with everyone else; either that or someone from the SGC had given the command. It made more sense for her to stay behind instead of him anyway; he would be a great asset to Stargate Command, and was far more important to Earth and to humanity in general than she was. Plus, if John had sacrificed himself, she would have to go on living without him. His death would leave a permanent scar on her soul.

Huh, maybe she had left her heart behind after all.

Before she could really delve into that thought, a nearby blast spun her around and sent her careening over the edge. Adrenaline gave her the strength she'd thought lost and she flung her arms out, desperately grabbing for the ledge. She managed to grip the sill with her left hand and held on for dear life. The shards of glass cutting into her palm made her fingers slick with blood, causing her hold on the sill to falter. Just before she completely lost her grip someone grasped her arm, effectively halting her involuntary descent. Fear raced through her at the contact and she tried to pull her arm free. She would rather die by gravity's hand than at the hands of the Asurans. A second hand caught her wrist, then a third and a fourth and she stopped struggling, aware that any effort to escape would be fruitless at that point. She felt herself being slowly pulled up and it was all she could do to keep from screaming as the movement awakened a sharp throbbing in her side.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the pain, she braced herself for a possible struggle; although the idea of her actually putting up a real fight was laughable. Her elbows had barely cleared the sill when her captors' faces suddenly appeared over the edge. If she hadn't been hanging from a window she probably would have collapsed in relief.

Teyla looked like she was trying to tell her something, but Elizabeth couldn't lip read very well so she had no idea what the Athosian was saying. Ronon just focused on hauling her up, his lips pursed tightly together. Together they were able to pull her over the side and onto the floor with ease. Teyla immediately began inspecting her for injuries, frowning when she came to the deep gashes across her palm. The young warrior turned to the tall Satedan and after a brief exchange of words, Ronon tore a strip of cloth off of his shirt and handed it to Teyla, who then expertly bound her damaged hand. When Teyla began talking again, Elizabeth gestured to her ears and cleared her throat, "I can't hear you."

Teyla shot Ronon a worried look and he frowned. He motioned toward the collapsing doorway, indicating that they needed to get moving. She started to stand but her knees buckled instantly and she would have fallen had Ronon not been there to catch her. The former Runner quickly scooped her up in his massive arms, nodded to Teyla, and headed for the door.

She craned her neck around to meet Teyla's eyes, "Rodney?"

The Athosian woman pantomimed a Puddlejumper in flight.

"Is he still in Atlantis?"

She got a nod in response.

"And John?"

This time Teyla hesitated, then made the same gesture as she had for Rodney, watching Elizabeth for any reaction.

She frowned; something was very wrong with that scenario, "He's with McKay in a Jumper?"

Again Teyla nodded and Elizabeth's frown deepened. She could have sworn she had ordered him to take the last Jumper through the 'gate; of course, her brain had gone a bit haywire so she couldn't really be sure of anything.

A nearby blast nearly knocked Ronon over; as it was he partially lost his hold on Elizabeth and he had to scramble to keep from dropping her. Teyla was almost buried as a wall suddenly collapsed; and the hallway they'd been traversing gained a new, impromptu doorway.

Ronon took off again, this time at a slightly faster pace. Elizabeth had to bite her lip to keep from screaming as the Satedan's immediate objective changed from keeping her comfortable to getting to their destination more quickly. The farther they went, the more uneven Ronon's gate became and the more her insides were jostled. The former Runner was quickly tiring and Elizabeth found herself wishing that they'd get to wherever they were going sooner rather than later so the agonizing pain in her chest and head would cease being exacerbated.

Just when she thought her aching body couldn't take anymore, their little trio arrived in the gate room. Waiting for them was a grounded Jumper, its back hatch open and a wide-eyed Rodney McKay standing in the opening.

As Ronon rushed past him, Elizabeth could see thinly veiled guilt in the astrophysicist's eyes. She wanted to assuage that remorse, but she had not idea what had put it there in the first place; and Ronon's forward momentum carried the two of them past McKay's position and into the bowels of the ship so quickly she wouldn't have been able to say anything anyway.

The person she wanted most to see was predictably seated in the pilot's seat, but as soon as he heard them enter, John shot out of the chair and was by her side in an instant. Elizabeth could see her name form on his lips and judging by the naked fear and anxiety showing on his face, she must have looked pretty awful. Ronon gently lowered her into the copilot's chair, careful not to bump her around. John bent over and briefly touched her cheek with his hand, then straightened to converse with the other members of his team.

His face was the last thing Elizabeth saw before the darkness claimed her.

SGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGASGA

While he was waiting for Teyla and Ronon to return with Elizabeth, John could do nothing except sit and wait. His mind was free to wander, and wander it did; he could still see Elizabeth's face as she told him to take the last batch of evacuees across the intergalactic gate bridge to Earth; he could still hear her voice as she volunteered to stay behind and execute McKay's last-ditched plan to get Atlantis to fly. She had known the risks but had complete faith in Rodney's ability to beat the odds and coax enough power from their generators and lone ZPM to send the city to the stars. John couldn't bring himself to go and leave Elizabeth behind, so he'd disobeyed her orders and had the last of their expedition beamed aboard the Daedalus, filling the Prometheus-class vessel to capacity. When McKay's plan failed and the scientist was no longer able to raise their leader on her radio, John had sent the remaining two members of his team after her.

Best-case scenario, Elizabeth would be so infuriated with him for disobeying her orders that she wouldn't speak to him for a few days and might even have him court-martialed. He could handle that as long as she was safe and unharmed. As for the worst-case scenario, John didn't even want to think about it.

When Teyla and Ronon returned with Elizabeth cradled in the muscular Satedan's arms, John's worst fears were realized. His heart almost stopped when he saw the state of Atlantis' leader, and his fingers reached out to stroke her face before propriety had a chance to stay his hand. When Teyla informed him that Elizabeth was deaf he felt his heart come dangerously close to breaking; the Athosian added that she believed the other woman's condition to be worse than she let on. John didn't need to hear any more; he barked at McKay to dial the stargate and turned his attention back to the object of their discussion. When John saw that she had lost consciousness, fear ran ice-cold through his veins and he yelled at the rest of his team to strap themselves in. He knew that if he didn't get Elizabeth back to Earth quickly he was going to lose her. His whole being shook at the thought and anger flared in his stomach; he wasn't about to let the Asurans take her away from him.

John spared one last glance at Elizabeth's still form before turning steely eyes back to the wormhole engaging in front of him.

She wasn't going to die, not if he could help it.