Story set sometime in season 2. No spoilers. I do not own any part of Stargate: Atlantis, and make no money from this. Unbeated, so any mistakes are my own. Let me know what you think.

"What do you mean they 'disappeared'? You were supposed to be keeping an eye on them, not letting them run around on their own!"

Colonel John Sheppard was not a happy man. Major Lorne had just come through the gate and informed him that Drs. Weir and Zelenka were missing. Some days it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

"We were keeping an eye on them sir. We had just gotten to the ruins. Sergeant Cyncad had taken point, and had just entered. Drs. Weir and Zelenka were right behind him, and I was right behind them. They had just entered when there was a flash of light and they were both just gone and Dr. Zelenka's backpack was on the floor along with his 9mil and their radios. Just like that."

John looked mulish, and then nodded. "Debrief in 10 minutes."

I should have gone with them. I shouldn't have sent Radek and Elizabeth out with such a light escort, no matter that the planet was uninhabited. Something always goes wrong! I should have told Beckett that I was going, and that he could take it or leave it.

Unfortunately, Beckett was right. A man with his arm in a sling and one eye swollen shut had no place going off world. Knowing that didn't make him feel any better. This is all Rodney's fault, came the bitter thought, as he made his way to the briefing room to hear in more detail that he had failed one of his good friends and the leader of Atlantis.

"Incompetent doesn't even begin to describe you! How hard can it be to look out for two people Major? Two!"

Rodney's in fine form, thought John as Lorne started to report about what had happened on the planet. Maybe his broken leg was contributing to his snarkiness, but with Rodney it was sometimes hard to tell.

"Rodney, we've been through this already. Let Lorne speak, so we can figure out what happened, and how to get them back."

Rodney just gave him a look of disbelief.

"Sheppard, this is Radek and Elizabeth. Our leader, and Dr. Jumps-a-lot. Radek shouldn't have even been there, you know what he's like off world, and Elizabeth isn't much better. Besides, Radek isn't the person who should have been looking at those ruins…"

"Well, we all know why he was there don't we Rodney," said John, before he could stop himself. It was only sort of Rodney's fault after all.

Two days previous

SGA-1 ran like they had never run before. The fact that a pack of very large, very mean and very hungry lion like things was chasing them may have had a small part in that. Rodney had so far managed to keep up, but was starting to lag behind. John had slowed down to keep him going, and so he wasn't left alone.

"McKay! Hurry it up, we don't want the cats to catch us."

Rodney, having no breath to spare, just glared at Sheppard and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as fast as he could, and that's when it happened.

It would have been funny if it had happened any other time. Rodney had to look up to glare at John, and as he did, he missed the large root lying in his path. His foot got caught underneath, and he went flying forward. Unfortunately, his foot stayed right where it was, breaking his leg. John tried to catch him before he fell, but that doesn't work so well when running for your life. Rodney grabbed onto him, and that, coupled with his forward momentum pulled him off balance, and he fell over Rodney. He landed awkwardly, hearing a snap and feeling an intense pain in his left arm. Somewhere in the confusion, Rodney also managed to either punch or elbow him in the face. Hard. They lay there, panting and in pain for a few moments until their brains started working again. Bloody hell, the cats.

In the end, it was a good thing Ronon was so fast. He managed to deter the cats from coming any closer as he and Teyla helped John and Rodney up, and back to the gate.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" demanded Rodney, as Teyla dialled the gate back to Atlantis. Ronon just gave him a look.

The next day, Major Lorne reported an Ancient ruin covered in writing and emitting an energy signature. Rodney naturally wanted to go, but Beckett had grounded him for a week to let his broken leg heal. Sheppard was also grounded for a few days, until his black eye and broken arm healed.

Elizabeth wanted a team out there as soon as possible, and asked Zelenka if he would go instead of McKay. It had taken some persuading on her part, for Zelenka was well known for his dislike of going off-world. She had also then insisted on going herself to translate the writing. John hadn't wanted to let her go, but she had a rebuttal for every reason he came up with for her not going. He should know by now that he would not be able to stop her from doing something she wanted. He wouldn't even be able to assign a large number of extra guards because she would protest that as well. He would be able to assign a hand-picked team, but not much more than that.

That was why he stood in Elizabeth's spot as wished her good luck the next day. He had a bad feeling about this.

Elizabeth stood in the gate room fairly quivering with excitement. She hardly ever went off-world, and she was looking forward to doing something other than administration tasks for a change. She was early, but everyone except Dr. Zelenka was there. She had thought that he would be the last one to arrive. Atthough he would try to delay going for as long as he could, he wouldn't be late.

She heard rapidly approaching footsteps, and Radek slid around the corner, tac vest undone, hair flying in all directions, and trying not to drop various pieces of equipment. He looked a little sheepish, and Elizabeth took pity on him, taking the laptop he was trying not to drop. She rather liked the quiet engineer with the ability to go toe to toe with Rodney and if not win, then at least hold his own. He gave her a grateful look and did up his vest. Finally ready to go, they looked to John, and the gate started to dial.

"Now, Sergeant Cyncad will take point, and then you, Dr. Zelenka with Dr. Weir, and I'll bring up the rear. The ruins are an easy walk from the gate. This is supposed to be an uninhabited world, but take no chances. Stay close, try not to get seperated." Major Lorne was a little leery about this mission. He knew that neither of the civilians had very much off world experience, and he was taking no chances with their safety.

Radek was nervous about this mission. He had allowed Elizabeth to talk him into going, against his better judgment. When he found out she was going as well, he felt a little better about being persuaded. He would never admit it, but he was a little bit infatuated with her. A chance to spend time with her, even if it meant going off world, was not to be missed. He gathered his equipment, and by the time Rodney stopped haranguing him about what needed to be done, as if he didn't know, he had to run or he would be late. He tried not to drop anything as he tried to do up his vest, and Elizabeth had to help him. He was embarrassed that he needed her help, but before he could say anything, the gate opened with its kawoosh and they stepped through into bright sunlight and warmth.

As they got close to the ruin, Elizabeth grew more excited. The weather was perfect, and the planet was beautiful. She was already starting to relax, and was enjoying the stroll.

They finally got to the ruins, and Sergeant Cyncad went in first to make sure nothing dangerous was in there. Elizabeth and Radek were waved in a few minutes later, when he found nothing other than dust. They grinned at each other at the precautions he was taking, and stepped forward together. The last thing they saw before everything went dark was a blinding flash of light and a sensation of falling.

tbc...