Chapter 2 He was so close

Doctor Parrish wanted me to come with him to this planet that could have new things to see. As much as I wanted to say no, John said it would be a good thing to get out of the city and go offworld.

It was me, Lorne and Parrish, "You know, when they told me I'd be travelling to another galaxy, visiting strange new worlds, defending humanity against unimaginable alien threats, this just is not what I pictured!" Lorne said, I laughed a bit as Lorne tried to trip me.

"We could be saving Earth, right here, right now, Major" Parrish said "Oh yeah? Hows's that?" Lorne asked, "Through a greater understanding of the long-term effects of severe ozone depletion on plant life. You may not want to admit it, but i'ts a real dange" Parrish said.

"Oh yeah! Sure! Global warming- Wraith attack. I see the similarity now, you're right! Yeah, its great!" Hey, not too far, Doct, OK?" Lorne said.

"Ah, not to worry, Major. I don't think there's much chance any animal could survive the long-term effects of exposure to the sunlight on this planet" Parrish repiled, "So not a place to build a summer home?" Lorne asked.

I laughed and tried to trip Evan, I looked over at him and smiled. I saw Parrish out of the coner of my eye looking at some planet. "Ah! It's the fact this vegetation is thriving! Somehow it's managed to persist despite what should be extremely destructive ionising radiation. Oh, would you look at that? Now what is a williamsonia suardiana doing here?" Parrish asked.

I started laughing but followed Parrish as Lorne stayed back a little, I was a little bit in front of Parrish when I saw something on the ground, "Major!" I yelled as I finally noisted what it was, it was a death Wraith. Evan squats down to check the Wraith out as we see bullet holes in him.

"Doesn't look like the sun killed him" Lorne said, "What do we do?" Parrish asked, "Kaufman, this is Lorne, any activity?" Lorne asked, "No, Sir" Kaufman repiled.

"We got a dead sucker here, looks KIA, no more than a day old. We're on our way" Lorne said, "C'mon, Doc, let's get you back to the Gate" I said.

"I-I don't understand" parrish said, "Well, neither do I. All I know is he didn't do that to himself. C'mon. Let's go" I said.

Me and Lorne were reporting to John and Weir, "Is the Gate covered?" John asked, "Kaufman and Reed, yeah" Lorne repiled.

"We found a dead Wraith. Shot several times" John said, as Teyla entered, "Looked like bullets, but it's hard to say. The guy was a mess" Lorne said.

"The Genii have such weapons" Teyla said, "Doctor Beckett is performing an autopsy. Oh! Here he is now" Weir repiled.

"I'm not done, not nearly, but I thought you might like to know this. The enzyme sac under the right arm has been removed" Beckett said.

"Ford!" John said, "What's going on?" McKay asked, "Thanks for coming, Rodney" John repiled sarcastically.

"What? I was right in the middle of a.." McKay said, "P3M-736. We found a dead Wraith, maybe killed by Ford" I said, "He could still be there" John repiled.

"Whoa, wait a second. 736? The UV index there during the day is something like a thousand" McKay said, "Bring your sunscreen. Be ready in ten minutes" John repiled. I laught but followed John, he walked so fast that it was hard to keep up but thank god, i've been working out lately because then I won't be able to catch up to him in time.

"John, I'm going back with you" I said, "No, your not" he repiled "Why not?" I asked, Because Fords not himself right now and I don't need you getting hurt, Alex" John repiled.

"John I need to go too. I knew Ford a long time, it might help to have me there" I said, "No, Alex. Thats the end of the story, I can't and won't let you get hurt because of him" he repiled as strong minded about it as anything he has ever set his mind too. Just as I was about to say something more about it, Caldwell walked up and started talking to John.

"Colonel!" Caldwell said, "Colonel" John repiled, "Something urgent?" he asked, "We think we have a bead on Ford" John repiled, "So I heard" he said.

"That was fast" John said, "Base protocol dictates all senior officers be notified of situations Code Orange and above" Caldwell repiled, me and John walked in the transporter and John presses a button on the panel. Caldwell jumped in right before the door closed.

"How does that go again? Red, Orange, Blue or the other way around? You mind if we go over that again when I get back?" John asked.

"Colonel!" Caldwell yelled, "You don't have to remind me of our respective positions or that you outrank me, sir" John said, "I was wondering if I needed to remind you that LIeutenant Ford is a significant threat to the security of this base" Caldwell said.

"He's also a friend in need" John said, "His condition forces him to seek out the Wraith. If he's caught, he would compromise" Caldwell said.

"Look, I'm gonna find him, and I'm gonna bring him back" John said, "According to Doctor Beckett's report, there may not be anything that can be done to help him" Caldwell said, "With all due respect, sir, I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying" John said.

"Lieutenant Ford has already proved resourceful enough to prentrate security and escape the city. I'm saying if you encounter him and there's any chance whatsoever that his capture might prove elusive, you are duty bound to eliminate the threat. Lieutenant Ford may have been your friend, but he's not anymore. I know you understand, you'll do what's right. You didn't seem to have a problem with mercy when it came to Colonel Sumner" Caldwell repiled.

John walked away after Caldwell dismissed him, I looked at Caldwell. I wanted to punch him in the face, I knew John still regeted what he did to Sumner. "Caldwell, I know that I'm not in the Air Force or anything but John is smart and he will do what he think is right wether that is bring Ford home or killing him" I said.

"I never said he wouldn't do what was right" Caldwell repiled, "Thats what you were thinking though, you have been wanting John's job for a while now but just because he may mess up once in awhile doesn't mean he isn't a good Colonel and won't do his job right" I said walking off without another word to Caldwell.

It was a very long day waiting for John and his team to come back to the city, I tried to keep my mind off the fact that Ford could hurt John, Teyla, Lorne, McKay or any of the other men on that planet. I got caught up on mission reports and did a lot of working out while John was off-world. Working out was one of the best ways to get my mind off John in dauger yet again. I always had time to clean up and shower before John came back but this time I heard from Zelenka that they were back, I ran up to the conference room as fast as I could to see what was going.

"I shot him once. Didn't slow him down" John said as I walked in, "I shot him too" McKay said as poud as he could be, "He ran into the beam" John repiled.

"Are you suggesting he wanted to be taken?" Weir asked as she nodded to me to sit down, "I think he saw it was the only way off the planet" John repiled.

"Well, I can tell you from the quality time I spent with Ford, he was definitely not thinking staight" McKay said, "Now thanks to you, he's in enemy hands with infomation that could compromise all of us" Caldwell said to John.

"I don't think he'll give us away" John said, "Oh, thank you so much for your ssurance, Colonel. I'll be sure to include your 'feelings' in my report" Caldwell repiled. Me and John headed back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner.

After dinner, me and John went back to our room to get ready for the night, I was sitting there thinking on the chair we had set up outside our room. John walked behind him and wrapped his arms around hugging me, I turned around and kissed his forhead. I knew he just wanted welcome the quiet, the down time and the alone time we got together. We either worked together off-world or I was stuck here while he risked his life fighting for this city. We both knew that Ford might be dead right now but we just didn't want to talk because if Ford was brought up, it would be to painful to talk about right then and there. All John said that night outside was "He was so close".