Well hear is my second attempt at my first ever Stargate Atlantis fic. Early warning: this will contain slash in future chapters…just to let you know.

Set Season Three.

Disclaimer: I just write fanfic; Stargate Atlantis does not belong to me.

Thank you to AlfirinKirinki for allowing me to use certain names for characters…explanations next chapter.

He had to keep running, had to keep going, had to go forward; had to keeping pushing himself to go even faster, no matter how much it hurt.

He was as good as dead if he didn't.

The air was smoke-laden and oppressive, making his eyes sting and his lungs burn with every breath that he took but he had to keep moving.

He didn't know how long he'd been running or how long it had been since he was last safe, he couldn't even tell whether it was day or night. Somewhere along the line time had become irrelevant. All that mattered was surviving.

Run- get injured- get captured- get beaten- get healed- get released- run.

It was an ongoing painful circle, ending only if they decide that they'd had enough of you and killed you. He didn't know what 'they' looked like and he didn't want to. You'd only get to see their true faces the moment before they gave the killing blow, and he was nowhere near ready for it to come to that.

He still held on to the dream of someday being rescued; being taken back to the great city that he had once called home. To see the people that he cared about, the people that had become like an extended family to him. To see the person that had meant everything to him; the person who kept him fighting.

It had been so long though, it was becoming more and more unlikely that anyone was coming for him…there may not even be anyone there to miss him…

He didn't care though because at least false hope is better than no hope and even impossible had possible in it…or something like that. He had to keep going though; giving up was not an option.

He was nearly there. If he could keep running and remember the right way, then he'd finally have a chance…

His legs ached and his chest was tight but that little glimmer of hope was now just a whisper away…

He almost laughed out loud in utter relief as he finally found what he'd been looking for.

There amongst the dying trees was the Stargate.

He and an alien scientist, Boysdanlmead, had stumbled upon it while they had been trying to find somewhere to hide and get some rest. Boysdanlmead had worked out that there was not enough power to sustain and outgoing wormhole long enough to send a person through but there was just enough power to send a message through, one way only. They'd left the gate and run on further, away from the gate, just to make sure that their captors didn't find it instead. They still weren't sure whether they were being tracked somehow but neither of them had wanted to take any risks just in-case they were. Between them they had rigged together a radio transmitter from items they had on them, so that they would be able to send their message to his home, which they had agreed would be their best hope.

Then Boysdanlmead had been captured and killed and he could think of no better way than to honour the memory of the scientist by surviving.

He hooked up the transmitter just like Boysdanlmead had told him, and with trembling hands, dialled the gate. It had been so long since he'd dialled that particular address but he could still recall the sequence as if it had only been a few days.

Fear started to creep in though. What if he sent the message and no-one received it? He'd never have any way of knowing. What if there was no-one there anymore? What if they were all dead…?

He crouched down, clinging to the radio as if it were his last lifeline, which it pretty much was, and waited for the click that would signal the time for him to begin speaking.

There it was; the click.

He began to speak, not caring that his voice was shaky and that he sounded desperate and close to tears. He was finally getting to contact his home after so long; he was allowed to give in to his feelings just a little.

"Atlantis…Atlantis I'm not sure if anyone is there or if anyone's listening but, oh god, I hope you are…Please, please you've got to help me…My name is Sergeant James Markham USMC…I repeat, my name is Sergeant Jamie Markham…Help me…"

To be continued...