A/N: I'm taking a break from Together Forever and writing this story for now. I'm not sure how long it's going to be or what it will entail, but I will warn you now, it's very SHEYLA, with strong team friendships.

"I have to." John said, staring Elizabeth in the eye. "And you know it."

Elizabeth stared in shock at him for a second, stifling the tears. "Go." She croaked her voice barely above a whisper.

John ran up the stairs and to the jumper bay doors. He took a deep breath, he knew what he was about to do was suicide. He opened the door just as a series of explosions ripped through the bay.

Combat honed instincts told him to duck and run just as Rodney and Zelenka came running out. Both scientists crashed to the floor as the shockwave hit. John slammed the door closed as a piece of shrapnel lodged itself in his arm.

He swore, realizing that his plan had just been foiled. The jumper bay was beyond saving, and there was nothing he could do. He forced himself to stand and drag the two delirious scientists back from the burning wreckage.

His arm screamed in pain, forcing him to stop before he'd gone more than a few feet. He tapped his radio earpiece. "Elizabeth, jumper bay's been destroyed. I need medical help."

"Hold on John." Elizabeth replied.

John swore again, the pain in his arm was building. Knowing he had to get the shrapnel out, he held his arm where he could see it, then reached in with his other hand and pulled the piece out.

Pain shot up and down his arm, causing him to groan with the effort it took to focus. He pushed it back, he had to stay conscious. He ripped his sleeve to make a quick bandage and wrapped it around his wound.

Four scientists carrying a pair of stretchers came running down the hall. John waved at them and stood up. "Get Rodney and Zelenka to the infirmary." He said, walking down the hall and back into the control room.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"Jumper bay got bombed, there's nothing left." John replied. He glanced back and forth among the control room personnel, recognizing no one. "Any word on my teammates?"
"Teyla and Ford are out of contact. We've also lost contact with Everett and most of the other teams."

"Start evacuating."

Elizabeth stared at him, in shock again. "What?"
"We're losing the city, I'll be damned if I let the wraith take us in this."

"What about Colonel Everett's orders?"
John raised an eyebrow. "He wants to stay, he can, but first, I've got to locate my team."

John darted out of the room just as Elizabeth gave the order to evacuate. He pulled the bio-detector he'd grown so found of out of his jacket pocket. It was lit up with blips; blue and red, all intermingled. He quickly remembered where Teyla had been ordered to go.

He stepped into the transporter and beamed himself directly to where Teyla's team should've been. The door opened to a pair of wraith just finishing off the last of her team. John opened fire, catching both wraith off guard and killing them both.

He quickly inspected the bodies, luckily, none of them had been fed on, but they were all stunned. Teyla wasn't among them. He tapped his earpiece. "Doc, I've got four casualties in corridor 22, sector 8-B."

"Affirmative Colonel, I'm sending a group of marines to pick them up."

John glanced down at the scanner. He was close to the armory and there was one blue blip in it. However, an entire group of wraith were approaching it. He took one last look at the Athosians lying on the floor, and then took off at a run towards the armory.

He tapped his earpiece. "Teyla, you've got four wraith headed right for you." No response. "TEYLA!"

Somehow, he managed to run even faster. He ran around the corner just in time to see the last wraith walk into the armory. He quickly rounded the corner, firing as he went. Teyla was lying on the floor, hit by a stunner. Thankfully for him, the wraith hadn't seen or heard him and he was able to quickly kill all of them.

He reloaded his P90 and grabbed several more clips. Then he reached down and picked Teyla up. For someone of her size, she was surprisingly heavy. Must be muscle. He thought to himself, remembering just how quickly she could kick his butt when they sparred. His arm rebelled against holding her weight.

He ducked into the nearest transporter and beamed into the hallway just outside the control room. He laid her down gently on the floor. "Make sure she makes it to the Alpha site." He told one of the scientists before heading back into the transporter, heading to where Aiden should've been.

He immediately came to alert as soon as he stepped out of the transporter. Gunfire was audible, along with wraith stunners and shouts of pain. He raised his detector and glanced down at it. He darted through the door just on his left and walked right into a battle.

John fired a burst that caught a wraith in the face that was only inches from one of the marines. He then turned to shoot another one that knocked Aiden against the railing. Aiden dropped to his knees and fired the final shot that took the last wraith down.

"Thanks sir." Aiden said.

"We're evacuating." He motioned for the marines to head for the transporter. "Get your squad and the wounded back to the gate room." He tapped his earpiece. "How's the evacuation going Elizabeth?"

"We've accounted for almost everyone, but we're still missing Colonel Everett." Elizabeth's voice was strained over the radio.

"Where was he?" John asked, already tensing.

"Corridor 7, Section 3B."

John took off at a run, ducking back into the transporter. He arrived in the almost silent section of the city. He could still hear the distant ambience of battle, and the whining of the wraith darts, but other than that it was silent.

He glanced down at his detector, two blue dots where just down the hallway. He took of at a full run, not caring about stealth. He came in to a gruesome site. Colonel Everett was lying against the wall, a dead wraith at his feet. Everett was bleeding from several gruesome wounds on his arms and face. The marine only a few inches away was on his back, bleeding from a chest wound.

John tapped his radio. "Elizabeth, I need a medical team at Everett's location now."

"I'm sending Carson; you'll be the last group out."

Carson arrived with a stretcher and two medics. "Dear god." He said as he looked at the marine's wounds. "Everett will be okay, but this poor lad needs immediate surgery."

John knew they didn't have time for it. "I'll carry Everett, get him on the stretcher." John grabbed Everett and made his way back to the transporter. He waited for the medics to disappear, and then stepped inside himself.

Carson turned to activate the transporter just as two wraith came around the corner. John instinctively flinched as the doors closed. He stepped into the control room, handing Everett to one of the medics getting ready to leave.

"How much longer?" He asked Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was holding a P90 in her hands. "Only a few more minutes."

He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We'll be fine."

One of the doors in the gate room opened and wraith began to pour in. John joined several marines in holding them at bay as the very last of the scientists and medics walked through the gate.

Elizabeth swore something John had never expected and opened fire on another group of wraith pouring into the control room. John abandoned trying to stop the wraith in the gate room and joined her in trying to keep the control room secure.

Elizabeth stopped firing and ducked behind a console, fumbling with the clip on her P90. John ducked and reloaded on pure instinct. He glanced over and noticed that she was having trouble. He handed her his P90 and took hers, reloading it in less than a second.

He motioned for her to head for the gate. She glanced at him, almost about to question what he said, but then stood and ran to the gate. John fired a burst of covering fire at the advancing wraith, and then stepped back down the stairs, converging as the last person through the gate.

"Good bye Atlantis." He said softly to himself as he stepped through.

XXX

Just after he left, explosions began to rip through the city, destroying key systems, blasting away the ancient computer core, and detonating all five naquada reactors. Just as the explosion racked the city's frame, the Daedalus arrived.

Colonel Caldwell surveyed the destruction from the bridge of his ship. He hit the intercom. "Novak, we need an escape solution ASAP. Atlantis has been destroyed. All rail guns to defensive positions."

Lieutenant Cristy Landren glanced over her shoulder at him from her station at the helm. "We're receiving an automated message."

"What's it say?"

"Atlantis has been evacuated; survivors have gone to the Alpha Site."

He hit the intercom again. "Novak, get Hermiod to set our drivers for the Atlantis alpha site."

"Yes sir." Novak replied. "Jump when ready."