Okay... so... I'm nuts. Didn't I just finish a Whump story? I'm starting another one? I do have other writing projects you know... LOL

Bah. As Shep would say (and he does say it in this chapter) "Aw, hell!" ;) Chatper 1...

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Alone

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Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?

Marian Wright Edelman

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"Carrot?"

"Nope. I said 'animal', McKay," Ronon answered.

Sometimes, John pondered as he walked through the short grass and away from the Stargate on M55-912, he wondered about the almost quirky nature of his team's relationship. He didn't think he knew of many Earth military teams that would engage in game of 'Animal/Vegetable/Mineral' crossed with 'Twenty Questions' as they proceeded on a mission off-world.

Okay, so just how many of them actually go off-world He decided that really wasn't the point. From the brief encounters he'd had with General O'Neill he suspected the General might have done something similar in his 'Colonel goes through the Stargate' days, but beyond that?

"It's orange!" Rodney protested. "I don't know of any orange animals!"

"What about Garfield?" John threw the comment over his shoulder and refused to acknowledge the deeply annoyed stare he just knew was coming from Rodney, and was most likely bulls-eyed on his back.

"Hilarious," Rodney snapped, "since you're so smart, you answer!"

"I'm not the one playing this game," John retorted. He glanced at Teyla's amused expression as she walked next to him and quirked his eyebrows playfully, before looking up and taking a moment to admire the large, fluffy clouds that stood out in stark contrast to the dark blue sky. His gaze followed them to the ominous dark ones on the horizon. "Better make this trip short," he commented noting Teyla's nod in agreement.

"Fine!" Rodney's tone of voice was an interesting cross between annoyed and exasperated. "I give up. What is it?"

"A Warat," Ronon answered with a small smile.

Puzzled and not just a little bit curious, John stopped and looked back at the big runner. "Huh?"

"What the hell is a Warat?" Rodney protested before waving his hand vigorously. "Never mind! The rules of the game clearly state that you can only pick something that we all know! I have no idea what a Warat is!"

"Had one when I was a kid," Ronon answered, the hint of a smile wrinkling his eyes. "Thought I'd mentioned it…" he turned and continued walking down the path.

"No!" Rodney's voice cracked. He stared after Ronon for a moment before cocking his head slightly and trotting to catch up. "What, exactly is it?"

John chuckled quietly, and glanced at Teyla who was also laughing under her breath, before they both followed behind Ronon and Rodney.

"Pet. Four legs, makes noise when danger is around, protects you and is loyal. Sort of like your dogs."

"An orange dog?" Rodney made a face.

John stepped around Ronon and took point again. "Okay, enough of the zoology lesson. McKay? The database said this planet was inhabited. Picking up anything?" He looked back as Rodney pulled out his Life Signs Detector and lightly tapped a couple buttons.

Rodney nodded. "One life sign," without looking up, he pointed off towards the tree line that bordered the field they were in. "There." Rodney's eyes narrowed. "Faint…though."

John's gaze followed Rodney's gesture. "Edge of range?"

Rodney shrugged. "Maybe."

John sighed and looked down. "Path's well worn." He nodded once. "Okay, let's take a look." He walked off towards the tree line, his team following behind.

All thoughts of the game were put aside as he focused on the task at hand; his senses sharpening as they always did on a mission with so many unknowns. Was the brief life sign even human? Were the humans here friendly? They'd encountered their fair share of hostile human races in Pegasus and John really hoped this wouldn't be another one. He listened for a second to Teyla's light footsteps behind him, and Ronon's heavier ones further back. Still, they'd met a few friends here too.

John slowed his pace as he started into the woods. His grip tightened slightly on his P-90 as he expectantly looked back at Rodney.

Rodney gestured to John's left. "That way. Twenty meters… wait. It's gone"

John stopped. "Gone?" He looked back at McKay. "Are you picking up anything at all?"

"No," Rodney shook his head as he stared at the detector. "Nothing. At least it's not some sort of ambush…"

John nodded once and looked at Ronon who wordlessly joined him. Slowly, he walked next to the big runner and through the trees as they approached the last location of the life form. Suddenly, John froze in his tracks as one minute he was working his way through the trees, and the next he was staring down at the motionless form of a young boy. "Oh man," he lowered his gun and quickly walked up to the boy before kneeling and pressing his fingers into the child's throat, but he knew he was too late; McKay's detector had confirmed that. Staring at the boy's lifeless blue eyes and feeling the unnatural bulge of displaced bones in the child's neck, only confirmed his suspicions. John's shoulders sagged and he shook his head, silently conveying his findings to his team members. He pulled his hand away from the boy's neck and passed his fingers lightly over the dead child's eyelids, closing them. "Damn it," he muttered.

"Oh no," Rodney added quietly.

"Probably fell from the tree," Ronon looked up the length of the massive tree that shadowed them, before looking back down. "Broke his neck?"

John nodded. "Yeah." He felt a strong gust of wind ruffle his hair and lift his collar. He looked up, noticing the sunlight fade away. "Weather's blowin' in."

"Colonel, we cannot just leave this boy here. We must return him to his people." Teyla sighed. "He is young. His village must not be far."

John glanced at her before looking away. He felt the cold wind again and could see the hint of dark clouds through the trees. If they high tailed it, they probably could beat the weather back to the Stargate, but the boy… He thought about the boy's body lying untended in the rain, and about the child's parents… "Yeah." He looked at Rodney. "Any idea where the village is?"

Rodney pulled out his scanner again. "Life signs, just west of here, about a mile… Wait… another group moving this way."

"It is possible they are looking for the boy," Teyla said, "we may be able to intercept them."

John nodded. He pushed aside his P-90 and slipped his arms under the boy's body. He pressed his lips together and ignored the limp, lifelessness that greeted his grip and slowly lifted, before gently settling the boy's head against his shoulder. Sparing a quick glance at his team, he started west. "Let's go."

They'd only been walking for a few minutes when he felt Ronon's hand on his arm. At the same time, Teyla spoke.

"Colonel, we are not alone." Teyla's voice was low, but confident.

John stopped in his tracks. "Where?"

Ronon motioned slightly with his head. "Straight ahead."

"I'm reading about twenty-five of them," Rodney added. "Hope they're friendly…"

"If they're not, we'll know soon enough," John quipped darkly.

"Come out!" Teyla shouted. "We are peaceful explorers. We will not hurt you. We only wish to return this boy to his people." She gestured at the child in John's arms.

John slowly knelt and placed the boy's body on the ground, before he stood and backed up a step. Slowly and subtly, his hands drifted to his P-90 which he held tightly to, his index finger hovering close to the safety. The woods were quiet… too quiet for his liking. The natives were taking their time coming out, and that did nothing to bolster his confidence. "McKay, stay behind me."

"You don't think…" Rodney started.

John spared a brief, intense glare for Rodney who got the point.

"Right. Shutting up," Rodney added.

"Sheppard."

Ronon's voice grabbed John's attention and he looked forward again, in time to see a lone man suddenly appear. He seemed to materialize from nowhere, proving that these people at least knew how to conceal themselves. "Nice camouflage," John commented.

Ronon grunted. "May not be able to avoid culling ships and scanners, but bet they hide well from Wraith on foot."

John eyed the long spear the man confidently and adeptly carried from the smoothly cut bottom, to the jagged, stone point on the top, and grimaced slightly. "Probably defend themselves pretty good too." He turned his head slightly. "McKay?"

"Still about twenty-five, but they're spreading out in a semi-circle," Rodney answered.

"Moving to flank us?" John glanced at Ronon, who nodded.

"It's what I'd do," Ronon answered simply.

"Perhaps they are being cautious," Teyla ventured. "I do not believe we should assume them to be hostile… yet."

John nodded. "Always the optimist." He sighed deeply and tried to pull on the most trusting expression he could and took a step forward. "Hi." He flinched, barely keeping from raising his P-90 as the man jumped back and into a defensive position, his spear held threateningly.

"Sheppard."

Ronon growled a warning but John, never taking his eyes off the native, waved his hand back at the ex-Runner. "Hold on. Keep that thing holstered or this'll get ugly really fast." He waved his hand again for emphasis at Ronon's half growl, half sigh response.

John stood rock still, locked in a gaze with the native. For a few minutes, neither of them moved. Again, the cold wind blasted him, its presence almost foreboding.

"Oh, well, this is productive," Rodney snapped quietly.

John didn't have to say anything as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Teyla elbow Rodney and shush him. Aw hell, this is nuts! Forcing himself to let go of his P-90, John slowly lifted his hands. "We don't want any trouble, we just wanted to bring the boy back to you. He had an accident. We found him."

The native man's stance relaxed slightly, but he still held his spear high. "Cava nun tor?"

John resisted the urge to roll his eyes in frustration. "Either of you recognize the language or better yet, speak it?" He directed his question at Ronon and Teyla.

"No," Ronon's reply was curt.

"I do not either, Colonel," Teyla answered.

"Oh wonderful," Rodney's whisper was nearly a hiss, "how do we explain the dead boy? Because somehow I don't think he's in the mood for a game of Charades!"

John ignored the barb. "I'm working on it…" his voice trailed off as the native man slowly walked towards him. "Oh, here we go." He forced a strained, small smile to his face, trying to find the balance between looking friendly and yet, not looking happy in the presence of the dead youth. He distinctly felt like he was failing at both.

Barely ten feet away, the man motioned at John with his spear. "Naka! Naka!"

"I believe he wishes you to back away, Colonel," Teyla whispered.

John nodded slightly. It made sense. He stared the native man in the eye and backed away a few steps.

The man slowly knelt and passed a hand over the boy's face. For a moment his expression turned tragic and hurt, before he looked up.

John stiffened, his adrenaline spiking as anger and hate fell over the man's expression like a dark veil. "Whoa," John shook his head and raised his hands again, "we didn't do this. Really!"

The man's lips parted in a sneer. "Eaka!" He turned and started yelling loudly, his words meaning nothing to John, but his tone and body language meaning everything. "Crap. Time to go." He turned and pushed Rodney ahead of him. "Move!" He hissed. The words no more than left his mouth, before an arrow breezed out of nowhere and scraped across his thigh, leaving searing pain behind it. John stumbled hard, only to be caught by Ronon. He pulled his arm free and continued forward. "I'm okay, just a graze." He gestured at Ronon's blaster. "Keep that thing on stun." He looked up as Teyla led them through the trees. "Teyla! Wound only if you can!"

"They're trying to kill us!" Rodney shouted in disbelief.

"They don't understand!" John shot back as he pushed a branch out of his way and forced himself to run. "I don't want to kill any of them unless we have no choice!"

They no sooner cleared the trees, when the clouds opened up, dumping a hard rain on them. In the distance, thunder rumbled and the wind seemed to pick up even more.

"Shot at and bad weather," John groused as he kept running, "just isn't my day!"

"Thanks for bringing us all down with you!" Rodney shot back over his shoulder.

John didn't have a chance to reply as an arrow sung overhead before landing in the dirt just in front of him. "Whoa!"

John turned and fired his P-90 as the sound or Ronon's blaster joining the chorus. He stopped firing as natives burst through the trees at a dead run. He smacked Ronon on the arm. "That's it, no more time. Go!" John fired a few more rounds, scattering the dirt at the feet of the lead runners and causing them to stumble and fall in surprise, before he turned and ran after his team. He looked ahead. "Teyla! McKay! Keep going! Get that Gate dialed and the shield down! Ronon and I will try to slow our friends!" He could feel the blood soaking his pant leg but tuned out the pain as he drove himself to run faster. Ronon ran right beside him, and he knew the big runner was watching to make sure he kept up okay, but he didn't bother to comment on it.

Again, John stopped and fired back at the natives, trying buy his team some time. Ronon was right there, shoulder to shoulder and fighting with him, not that he'd expect anything else.

"Colonel! We are almost to the…" Teyla's voice trailed off into a scream.

John whipped around, his eyes widening as Teyla crumpled to the ground, a long arrow protruding from her side. "Teyla! McKay, grab her and get to the gate!" John turned back, cold clarity settling over him. He lifted his P-90 and sent several shots into the closest pursuing native. The man dropped like a stone.

John caught a brief glance of approval from Ronon before they both turned and ran after Teyla and Rodney. In the distance, he could barely see Rodney, holding Teyla up while he dialed the DHD. "Get over there and cover them. Then get though the gate. I'll try to keep them off our backs."

"Sheppard, your leg. I should…"

John fixed Ronon with the most commanding glare he could muster. "Go! That's an order!"

Ronon looked on the verge of protesting but he nodded once and took off towards the gate.

John followed him for a dozen steps before stopping and again firing on the natives. Two more went down from his bullets and three more arrows sung past him. He took a brief moment to thank the rain for bad visibility and the gusty winds that threw off the aim of their archers. The one that had got Teyla had been a lucky shot. His P-90 was slightly more accurate and the laser sight helped as well, but still, he missed more than he hit. That really wasn't the point though. Whatever slowed them down was good enough for him. Again, he felt blood soak his leg, the warmth creeping downward to blend in with his cold, rain drenched pants.

He ran again, nearing the Stargate and nodding to himself as Rodney, with Teyla leaning heavily on him, disappeared through the wormhole. Thunder crackled around him and the bright lightening illuminated the area around the gate for an instant, and as it faded he could see the shadow of Ronon, waiting just in front of the event horizon. He waved a hand. "Go! I'm right behind you!" John stopped, turned and fired. "Ronon!" He shouted. "Now!" As he turned back, he saw Ronon disappear through the gate and again nodded to himself. His team was safe and that was the single most important thing to him.

As he approached the gate, the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up and the air around him seemed to come alive with electricity. Instantly, it triggered a brief snippet of memory of his grandmother Eunice…

Some people, Johnny, can sense when lightening will strike. It's like pins and needles and the air around you is charged…

Dread swept through him. He'd never sensed it before, but was convinced he was about to get up close and personal with Ben Franklin's kite killer. The event horizon was right before him and he leapt, just as he felt the electricity around him come to life.

The blurs of the wormhole filled his vision for an instant before he felt himself rematerialize and get propelled from the wormhole. Briefly, he pondered on how much the hard Atlantis floor was going to hurt when he landed, but all thoughts were dismissed as instead of unforgiving deck plates, he landed face first in cold mud. John lifted his head and spat, clearing his mouth of mud before shaking it off his face and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "What the hell?" Could he somehow have doubled back to M55-912? He scrambled for his gun before realizing three things. One, it was colder… a lot colder. Two, there was no storm, only a light mix of snow and rain falling quietly but still drenching him, and three, the gate and he were perched on a steep, cone shaped, hill with jagged sides. It was as if it had been some sort of plateau at one time, only to have fallen victim to a geological disaster.

No. Definitely not M55-912. He pushed himself up and looked around. "McKay? Teyla? Ronon?" McKay, I swear, if you misdialed… but he immediately knew he was wrong. If they had come to this planet before him, they'd be right there with him, and they weren't. Deep in his gut, he knew he was alone. He couldn't explain it, had no clue how they got separated, only that they were and that he was alone.

Cold wind drove straight through his wet clothes and chilled him to the bone. "Nice planet, great weather, but forgive me if I don't stay…" He sat up, wincing at the pain from his thigh and looked in a circle around him. "Or maybe I will…" He had almost everything he needed to get home; a Stargate, a GDO...

The only thing that was missing was, next to the Stargate, the one thing he needed most.

A DHD.

"Aw hell."