I do not own Stargate Atlantis; however, Joyce Andrews is mine!

"Andrews! Get to the 'Gate!" Lorne was shouting orders at me and I really, really hated it when he did that!

"Sorry, Major, but I don't take orders from you!" I shouted back as I dropped to one knee and started laying down cover fire so the rest of Lorne's team could get through the 'Gate. "I only take orders from Colonel Sheppard!" And truth be told, I followed his orders as infrequently as possible.

Lorne growled something that might have been a curse on me and my family for all eternity, but I wasn't really paying attention; I was slightly preoccupied with the big, ugly Genii soldiers shooting at us.

"Colonel Sheppard, come in please!" Lorne was beginning to sound slightly annoyed with his Commanding Officer. "Sheppard, please respond and tell Andrews to get the hell out of here!" No response.

I cursed as the Genii I'd taken aim at ducked for cover. Stupid bastard, you'd think he'd have the courtesy to stand still while I shot him.

"Andrews, if you don't get your-"

Sheppard chose that exact moment to come crashing thought the undergrowth; running at full speed and almost crashing into us before he managed to slow down.

He glared at Lorne. "Thought I told you to get the hell out of here, Major." Sheppard didn't often pull rank, but when he did, ouch.

Lorne gave me a pointed look. "I would have but Andrews wouldn't budge; she doesn't take orders from me."

Sheppard gave me an exasperated look. "Andrews!"

"Colonel Sheppard, sir?" So maybe I was going a little overboard on the sarcasm, but I wasn't military and I really didn't do orders. I took aim at a Genii who had idiotically stepped out from behind a tree and fired. They wouldn't be making that mistake again for awhile.

"Get to the 'Gate! And don't make me say it again! Lorne, my radio broke; call Atlantis and tell them to get a Jumper here ASAP!"
Something was obviously upsetting Sheppard and that was never a good sign.

"Sir?" Lorne was obviously worried too.

Sheppard suddenly seemed very interested in the forest in front of us. "Sora's here; and she has a ship ready to start firing on this planet if we don't give her what she wants."

I really didn't want to ask how he knew and apparently Lorne didn't either.

"What do we do?" Stupid question, really stupid question; we run like hell, we run like hell and never look back; except we couldn't because there were people on this planet. Innocent people; people who were our friends, people who would suffer and die because of us if we didn't stop Sora.

Sheppard adjusted his grip on his P-90. "You get to the 'Gate; Lorne and I will hold the Genii back until the Jumper gets here."

Reasonable plan; except, when I turned around to face the 'Gate there were some very ugly Genii pointed some very businesslike guns at us.

"Um, Sheppard, small problem; we're surrounded."

That look was in his eyes now, like a cornered wolf, dangerous; deadly.

"What now?" Lorne had the same look and I was suddenly aware of how under-qualified I was for this job. I was surrounded by men who were trained to fight; trained to kill, and who was I? Joyce Andrews, run of the mill police officer; in completely over her head.

"Now? Atlantis can't risk opening the 'Gate; so now, we take out the ship ourselves."

Great, fantastic, no problem; wait small problem; we were surrounded by Genii! I was about to point that out when the unmistakable sound of high powered engines came speeding toward us.

Time for a tactical retreat; in other words, run like hell! So, we ran, until the ship started firing.

"Get down!" Sheppard and Lorne yelled in unison.

Lorne tackled me, and I landed hard on the forest floor. Great just what I need five feet eight inches of muscle, on top of me. Logically I knew he was trying to protect me, but really, it was a completely unacceptable invasion of personal space; and a total overreaction. At least, that's what I thought until the forest around us exploded.

TBC...

Well, really, can't end the story there can I? More soon hopefully, soonish maybe? possibly in the near future. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!