John Sheppard awakes in agony with only Rodney McKay to help him. With no memory of what happened, John fights to win a battle of which he has no knowledge. What things await them in the forest? Where are the rest of his team? Let's find out...

So I'm back into SGA and rewatching it for the... let's just say, millionth time... I've fallen in love all over again :D I will be writing and updating this story between working on the fourth and final book of my Malevolence series. Therefore, updates may take a while. As always, cookies feed the storytelling Dragon. And by cookies, I mean, leave me a review! :P Mega thanks to my editor and best friend, Joelle. I love you!

Chapter 1

"John?"

The sound of his name filtered through the agonizing haze that kept him locked in his own dark and suffocating world. The word was drawn out and echoed through his pained-addled mind like a slowed down record played loudly in a concert hall.

"John?!"

Awareness slowly seeped through his mind and John Sheppard knew he was in a whole heap of trouble as every nerve in his body fired as one.

"This 'me saving you then you saving me' thing is out of synch. It's your turn to save me!"

John moaned and let Rodney know he was there, listening, even if he couldn't say more.

"Oh, thank God," Rodney whispered and John could hear the relief in his voice. "Can you move? Talk?"

John moaned again as an intense wave of agony flashed through his body.

"I'll take that as a no," Rodney replied, his words followed by the noise of shifting clothes and boots on hard ground.

Rodney hauled him by the tack vest across rough terrain with a grunt of exertion. "I hope to God you find your senses soon as we are in a crap-ton of trouble, Sheppard."

John tried to reply, tried to move his hands or do anything to help Rodney in his task, but to no avail. His body was as limp as a tea-dipped biscuit and his mind just couldn't cope with much more than listening to Rodney ramble.

"Ambush! An ambush of all things! Here?! I've no idea where the others are, or even where we are. If it wasn't for them, I'd have been hit with that same… the thing you were. And where would we be now, huh? The Jumper is gone, and I have no idea how we will get back home..."

John wished he could join in the conversation but he really couldn't understand what Rodney was talking about. The weapon that struck him had blocked his memories from the moment they set foot on the planet. It was hard enough just trying to figure out what planet they were on and why, though he thought it might have been a standard trade mission to one of their allies. Which was strange, considering the state was in currently. He heard a small cry just before his head hit the ground. Rodney groaned to his side and John heard the sound of hands smoothing fabric.

"Oh, that hurt. That really hurt. Stupid bloody tree!"

If John could have laughed, he might have.

"Oh, come on. I'm bleeding now, do you see this?!"

John couldn't see anything. Nor could he answer the question even if it was obviously rhetorical. Again, Rodney sighed, resigned, and began hauling him along. John could feel every rock and uneven bump, each knock sending another wave of pain through him. He had to wonder what the hell he'd been hit with. He'd suffered the effects of many a weapon, on Earth and in space, but nothing that hurt like this. And why couldn't he see? He was sure his eyes were open. He blinked over and over but it didn't shift the darkness from them.

He was thrown roughly against a solid object and slipped down as Rodney huffed and apparently sat beside him.

"Come on, John. Wake up. You're starting to frighten me. Not that I am frightened, no, no, terror-stricken is more like it. If you—"

John heard Rodney move, could hear his breathing louden as he got closer. Then a hand touched his chest and John could not stop the loud groan that pushed through his clenched jaw.

"Oh crap, I didn't… I should have… I…"

Blinding pain erupted in John's chest as if Rodney had grabbed hold of his ribs and pulled them from his body. Wave upon wave of fresh agony swept through him until tears flowed from his eyes and he felt his teeth grind so hard he thought they might shatter.

Then the pain stopped at once.

John tried to open his eyes, and this time, when he did, he saw Rodney McKay kneeling beside him, a look of horror on his face. In his hands, he held two strange black objects which squirmed grotesquely. Rodney threw them to the side with revulsion and looked to John. His eyelids fluttered as if he hadn't expected him to be awake, before he smiled his usual lop-sided smile and said, "That's now two you owe me."

His body trembling violently, John pushed himself upright with difficulties, gasping and choking down the air in huge gulps. "What the hell were those things?!" he spluttered.

"I've no idea. I thought it was some kind of energy blast that hit you, but they were stuck in your chest! I'm sorry I didn't notice them sooner!"

"I'm just glad you finally did," John said, taking a deep breath while patting at his chest.

His fingers felt the ragged holes in his tack vest. John looked to find the holes went right through, to the skin. John pulled off his vest, raised his shirt and was shocked to find the skin scratched and cut with two circular wounds where the black things had bored through. He wondered what kind of missile could go through Kevlar so easily and so thoroughly. John leaned forward and looked at the things Rodney had so violently thrown. They would be rather innocuous if they didn't move of their own volition. Two barrel-shaped creatures, with what looked like four small appendages, wriggled around in the grass as if trying to escape. Any other scientist might have taken a closer look. Might even have boxed one up to take back to Atlantis to study. Yet, Rodney pulled out his gun and bludgeoned them to death with the butt of the weapon. He looked utterly disgusted as he did.

"Don't want one of them crawling up the inside of my trouser leg," he muttered.

"You really don't," John replied. "Where are Teyla and Ronon?"

"No idea. They ran off chasing those who attacked us. Whatever the hell they were. Neither Teyla nor Ronon are replying to hails and I stopped trying in case they were hiding."

"Well, I suggest we get off our butts and go find them."

"Can you?" Rodney asked with a hint of humor. "Get off your butt, I mean?"

John eyed Rodney wearily. He pulled on his vest, checked his gun, and got unsteadily to his feet. "Let's go."

As they both made their way deeper into the vegetation and treeline, John fought to remember exactly where they were. Whatever the little black things had done to him, whether they messed with his head or closed his mind down while they were attached to him, he didn't know. Thing was, he couldn't remember a damned thing since stepping off the Jumper. He had no idea who it was that attacked them, nor what it was he was searching for. Relying on Rodney was all he could do, and this annoyed him greatly.

"Come on, flyboy, keep up!" Rodney said from up ahead.

John inwardly groaned and sped up as best he could, watching the back of McKay's head with narrowed eyes while being glad he had him as a friend.

Cookies... I'll update as soon as I can!