John struggled to emerge from the fog of sleep veiling his eyes. He felt as though some unseen force weighed upon his limbs. His frustration mounted as recent days flashed again through his mind. He fought harder to control of his limbs, to wake from reliving the nightmare over and over. Exhaustion wore away at his attempts to rise and little by little he fell back against the chair, unable to open his eyes and fully awaken.

Glimpses of the weeks after he abandoned her began to pierce his memory. Elizabeth's voice screaming "Go!" rained like nails upon his mind. The arrival of the Apollo in the nick of time and the almost crash landing of Atlantis in its new home. The planets multiple moons caused his heart to seize because Elizabeth was not there to witness its beauty. McKay sharing intel Carter had instructed be kept from him.

John knew Carter had glimpsed beneath his attempt to project a professional façade of regret. Maybe she understood, he always assumed there was something between her and Jack. Probably before he had even decided to steal the jumper and sneak out of Atlantis alone on a mission to rescue Elizabeth, Carter had known what he'd do. He'd bet she'd told McKay knowing he would tell John when she couldn't.

He gradually became aware of pain radiating throughout his limbs. It had gone as bad as Carter would have guessed. The last thing he remembered was closing in on Elizabeth when Obereth appeared. "You shouldn't have come Sheppard, we have no use for you." The pain intensified with the memory of a blast being fired toward him. He realized he should be dead.

"John? Open your eyes, it's over. We're safe, for the moment anyway." Elizabeth's voice softly cut through the fog.

His eyes finally flashed opened. Elizabeth was sitting in the pilot's seat of his jumper, her hand extended onto his arm as she read the diagnostic screen before her. The light was almost blinding from the sky beyond the window. He clamped his eyes shut. He was either dreaming or dead. Probably dead, as he'd ceased to have any pleasant dreams a long time ago. Also because Elizabeth didn't have the gene, she couldn't fly a jumper. Her voice faded and blackness enveloped his eyes.

The next time his eyes fluttered, it had grown dark. He was still in the co-pilots chair of the jumper. Alone. His limbs were painfully heavy, but now somewhat responsive. He tried to activate the controls to find out where he was, but they were dead, unresponsive. Much like he felt. He couldn't force his eyes to remain open, though he tried. It seemed he could feel each tiny molecule of gravity forcing them shut. His voice caught in his throat, suppressing his rising growl of frustration. He couldn't stop the darkness from carrying him away to his nightmares again.

"I found an abandoned village, John, found fresh water. You need to drink." The voice sounding closer with each word spoken. John's eyes flickered opened. Elizabeth was standing next to him, canteen in hand. He pressed his eyes back together. Perhaps he had not died and Obereth was just creating some false world in his mind. He tested his limbs, stretched out each leg and gingerly lifted each shoulder. Most of the pain had subsided. He hesitated only briefly before opening his eyes again.

Her green eyes were wide with concern. She made no move to stop him as he rose to his feet. He was weak, but better than the night before. He refused to maintain eye contact with her. She wasn't real, this couldn't be real. He turned to look out the window knowing the scene would be somehow familiar, Oberoth would have pulled it from one of his memories. Green and woodsy, just as hundreds of planets had been. Recognition gnawed at his core, but before he could figure it out Elizabeth spoke again.

"It's good to see you on your feet."

He forced himself to get a handle on his emotions. She's not real, this, is not real. "Nice job flying. Great landing. Of course, I know Elizabeth Weir doesn't have the gene needed to fly this."

"I was surprised myself. Terrified might be more accurate. I'd hoped you would regain consciousness, but the consoles came to life for me when I got you on board. Maybe you activated it subconsciously?" She looked thoughtful.

"How convenient that would be. So tell me, why isn't it working now? "

"We took fire, heavy fire. We encountered the Wraith as soon as we left the Asuran vessel. I'm not entirely sure how we landed safely or why the Wraith did not pursue. It's almost like they couldn't, like the ship was on some strange autopilot."

"Uh huh, whatever. I'm going for a walk, Oberoth. This little fantasy land you are trying to create is weak at best, you're not fooling me. "John put his hand down reassured to find his handgun still latched to his side.

"Oberoth is dead. I killed him when I saw, when I found you. You were in the floor, bleeding and I couldn't feel your pulse. I didn't know I had the power to, but it wasn't long before another rose to take his place. This is real." Elizabeth moved before him. "I'm real."

She had moved so close, he could smell the fragrance from her hair. He caught her hand reaching for him and could feel her pulse pounding in her wrist. He shut his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of her before pulling out his sidearm and firing. His heart recoiled to see her crumple to the floor, holding her arm. Her wide eyes were dazed and glazed over with pain.

"John?" She gasped. The hurt that filled her eyes made his gut coil.

"The nanites will take care of you, if this is real, that is. Do you think I don't realize what you did? If this is real? I should be dead. The Elizabeth I know wouldn't have tried to save me this way. I'm going to find a scanner and, so help me god if I am infected, I will find a way to kill us both, ARM's or not."

"I didn't, John, I promise. But I couldn't leave you. I wanted you to die in peace, not endure …" Her voice faltered.

John tried to ignore the blood still gushing from her wound as he escaped into the back of the jumper looking for a scanner. When he found it, he threw it to the ground. It, like the rest of the ship, was unresponsive. He left through the back hatch of the jumper, seeking reprieve from this false reality the Asurans were incarcerating his mind in.