Chapter One

Unexpected

Major Evan Lorne struggled for breath. His chest rising and falling haltingly, and irregular pause augmenting the effort it took him to capture the air his body so desperately needed. His thoughts were fragmented. Confused. Disjointed. "Beautiful cerulean blue sky. Forest. Large Red Trees. Dark. Shadows. Enemy. His CO, Colonel Sheppard shouting a muffled warning but too late. His last conscious thought was the irony of dying in an unknown world to an unknown threat. The enemy had yet to reveal themselves.

Major Lorne recalled stepping through the stargate onto the lush green Jungle that was as of yet an unexplored planet known only as MX345-32. A possible Alpha site. The life sign scan had revealed an ambiguous population of 1,500 or so. A speck of humanity on a planet covered in forests and oceans and deserts and canyons.

Things had been surprisingly uneventful on Atlantis as of late and his CO had talked him into an off world trip. An uneventful jaunt to a "safe" world, so to speak. A break from the monotony. He had a feeling that Sheppard had just wanted a chance to catch up with his next in command. To have a joint endeavor to talk about. Some much needed down time away from the sterile walls of the alien city they each called home. They never expected… this.

Surprisingly enough, McKay was the first to notice something odd. They had been walking through lush forests of trees that resembled hardwoods only somewhat taller and bigger, maybe comparable to the Redwoods. Ronan, stoic as always led the way. Colonel Sheppard covering the six o'clock position, with Lorne an McKay in the middle. Lorne was just glad to get away from the tedium of rosters and reports, most of which his CO had quite unceremoniously delegated or rather dumped on his second in command. Oddly enough, the forest was eerily quiet, lacking the normal hum of insects or the soothing sound of leaves rifled by breeze or of water rippling happily downstream. Of course the quiet was short lived. McKay was on the team. Five minutes max.

"Umm, guys. These readings, well, I've never seen them before. And when I say never, I mean never. The fluctuation in radion and gamma. Well, it's scientifically impossible. Well…. Improbable to the one-millionth…"

"Rodney" interrupts John. "English, please" as he rolls his eyes and catches Lorne's eye in a commiserating sort of way. That's the last conscious thought that flashed through Evan's mind as he was suddenly seeing the forest in a distorted view, the bright blue hue of the sky that he had previously thought to be the most unusual and vivid hue he had ever imagined….one that he'd might try to emulate on paper with oil and water…turned upside down as he fell face down onto the damp, dark earth and a fiery stab of red hot pain gripped the right side of his torso, from his ribcage down to his lower hip and even down to the bottom of his knee cap.

Evan heard an unearthly scream of anguish and almost called out to ascertain who needed help until he realized it had emitted from his own mouth. The rest came in blurs of grey and black and red until finally he succumbed to blackness of a sky devoid of stars or pain or conscious thought…..

XXX

One moment Colonel John Sheppard had been walking peacefully in a quiet wooded forest of giant red trees, reveling in the boringness of a planet possibly untouched by war or wraith or whatever. He distinctly remembered turning back towards Evan, his second in command, to quirk a grin and roll his eyes at something Rodney had said that was so unremarkably "Rodney" when in horror he saw a shadow of a figure crouching 10 meters or so to the right of Major Lorne and moving with a ghostly speed. He remembered yelling a warning and watching but unable to help as the right half of Major Lorne's body blossomed red in a sickly and surreal effigy of color. It took too long to raise his P-90, but in actuality was only hairs of a second, as he burned round after round into the darkness of the forest where the dark shadows had turned into nothingness.

A quick glance ahead revealed McKay curled on the ground in a near fetal position, face frozen between shock, self preservation and the desire to glean information from his data pad that was now screaming at him in almost human shrieks.

Lorne, on the other hand was face first in the moist ground, inhuman moans emanating from him as he struggled to battle his pain and his desire to get up to battle whatever threat was now surrounding them.

John locked eyes with Ronan who was crouched several meters to his right, eyes vigilantly scanning the dark woods. Ronan shook his head almost imperceptibly and whispered, "whoever or whatever it was, they're gone now. Quicker than a human, for sure." he growled. Ronan then glanced at Major Lorne and Sheppard gave him a nod and quickly closed the last remaining meters between himself and his second in command, quietly cursing his decision to ask the Major to join them on this "excursion." He gently knelt beside Evan, turning him over and prying his hands from the P-90, that even in his obvious pain, he still gripped with dying devotion.

" Lorne. Major. Evan! Can you hear me? I need for you to open your eyes. Come on man. Can you do that? Major Lorne," John said somewhat louder and sharper "I'm ordering you to wake up. Open your eyes, NOW!"

Even while talking, Colonel Sheppard's hands were swiftly but gently moving over the Major's torso trying to ascertain the extent of his injury. "McKay!" John whispered almost harshly. "Some help please."

McKay, in all fairness, had acted reasonably well under the circumstances. You might say he was semi-used to this sort of thing by now. Unseen danger and imminent death that is. As soon as he had heard John's shout and witnessed the Major falter and then slide to the ground, Rodney had repeated the move, albeit more jerkily and clumsily and had somehow managed to pry his 9mm from his holster as it was pinned underneath him and was now lying on his stomach, alternating between trying to decipher the life signs detector and well, it couldn't be defined as scanning but more sort of peering into the encroaching darkness. Yes. Darkness. While it seemed scant minutes ago the almost surreal blue of the sky that had filtered through the trees was almost nonexistent. They had had little warning of nightfall, but obviously it came very suddenly on this planet and with it a dramatic drop in temperature.

McKay heard John call out to him and although torn between wanting to help Lorne and wanting, no, needing to monitor his equipment, he knew there was really no choice and so glanced at Ronan now crouched at their 6 o'clock and scanning the wood line, then clumsily scooted over to where John sat hovering over Lorne.

"How is he?" whispered Rodney, "Oh, no. Oh no. That looks bad. Really bad. I don't think…"

"Rodney!" interrupted Colonel Sheppard as he grasped him by his shoulder with a steady hand forcing him to stop and look up. "Calm. Down. You're of no use to him, to us…like that…" he ground out, jaws clenched. Colonel Sheppard maintained eye contact with Rodney for several more seconds, his gaze strong, unfaltering, as he tried to infuse his confidence into McKay. Finally, he let go, satisfied that there would only be one person in shock and not two, and focused once more on the prone form of his second in command lying motionless and bloody on the soft floor of the forest that scant minutes ago had lulled them all into a false sense of serenity.

"Bandages, Rodney and something to clean these wounds with!" snapped John. Rodney quickly complied, happy to avert his gaze from the ghastly looking wounds on Major Lorne. Already he could smell the sickly sweet tang of fresh blood. A stench that drew and repulsed simultaneously and one you could never forget once smelled, which of course Rodney had had the misfortune of smelling too many times to count.

Colonel Sheppard, having failed to rouse the Major, quickly felt for a pulse and was at least grimly satisfied to feel a strong beat beneath his fingers. But for how long? He glanced at Lorne's profile and even though his eyes were squeezed shut, it was obvious that he was in pain. Normally, Lorne's long eyelashes, pale smooth skin and soft brown hair, not only made him look quite younger than his 34 years but lent him a quality of boyish charm that even the Colonel couldn't quite emulate. It played hell on the ladies though, although most of the time he thought that his second in command was oblivious to the broken hearts and disappointed glances that he left in his wake. Always a soldier no matter what. On top of that, Sheppard had placed quite a load on the younger man's strong shoulders. A pang of guilt ran through him but he quickly chased it away. This wasn't the time or the place. Right now Lorne needed him. They all needed him and he wasn't about to let anyone down. Again.

John gently eased Lorne out of his Tac Vest and then made quick work of his BDU top, shredding it into strips to be later used for bandages if necessary. John drew in a sharp intake of breath as he lifted up the Major's t-shirt and viewed the extant of his injuries.

It appeared as if multiple shards of a black crystalline substance had pierced the Major's body, from his collarbone to his lower right hip and even down to his knee. Some pieces of the dark substance no more than 1 inch thick at most, seemed to be embedded deeper than others, as he could only see the tip protruding from the skin that was already turning a mottled purplish green color from what he could see under the coating of blood.

Grabbing the bandages that McKay thrust under his nose, he secured them around the more heavily bleeding wounds. Colonel Sheppard could only hope that nothing vital had been pierced. If so, it was only a matter of time. John tried to assess his options, silently cursing his lack of foresight in preparing for this mission. Teyla had requested a few days off to visit with a people whom she had come to know during trips off world to trade, back in the days when she lived on Athosia. Although they were not Athosian like her, she stated that they were like family.

John had thought this the perfect opportunity to invite Major Lorne along, as he had been hoping to discuss some "guy" issues with him and not just as a CO talking to his right hand man. John had noticed the surreptitious glances that Evan had as of late been throwing the beautiful dark haired woman on his team, when he thought she wasn't watching. And in reverse, he had noticed a dreamy thoughtful expression cross Teyla's face when she was in the vicinity of a certain Major. In John's opinion, it was about time someone made a move!

There had once been a time when John would have made that move. Would have chanced his heart for the beautiful and elusive Teyla Emmagan, but somehow throughout the past couple of years, his desire for her had not diminished, but rather coalesced into something different. Something stronger and more intimate. She was his conscious. His best friend. His sister. His fellow comrade in arms….and so much more…

Colonel Sheppard snapped out of his reverie with a fleeting wish that Teyla be here. She was so much better at assisting the injured. Her very essence invoked calm and tranquility. He should know, as he had been the recipient of her ministrations time and time again. And hell, he was pretty sure that Major Lorne would much prefer Teyla's soft yet strong hands to his inelegant fumblings. With that in mind, Colonel Sheppard finished bandaging Lorne up as best he could, somewhat worried that he was unable to remove any of the "projectiles" or whatever they were.

He looked behind him to catch Ronan's eye, only to find that where Ronan had been vigilantly watching the forest there was now only darkness. Dad grammit! Hadn't he just talked to him about the whole following orders thing? "Umm. McKay. Did you happen so see which way Ronan went?"

Rodney, who had been alternating between fumbling with his life signs detector and furtively glancing at Lorne, looked up with a blank expression on his face. "No. No. You didn't tell me I needed to watch him. He's gone? Why? Where would he go? Shouldn't he…"

John swiftly interrupted his ravings with an "All right already. Look at the scanner. Any life signs other than us nearby?"

"I uh. I should've thought of that. Umm. Yep. Here we go. Here's us obviously," he stuttered flipping the scanner momentarily in John's direction, "and here is someone else, presumably Ronan. He's about ½ a Klick that way" stated Rodney as he pointed back over his shoulder in the direction they had come from.

"Okay. Stay put. Watch Lorne. Keep him as comfortable as possible. Ronan's only 500 meters away. I'm gonna go get him. Bring him back. Then we need to figure out options" said John in one long breath, pausing to look Rodney in the eyes, mentally assuring him that yes, he could do this and yes everything was gonna be okay.

Various expressions crossed McKay's face but in the end he simply lowered his head and nodded, muttering to himself, "I can do this. Yep. All me. Nothing I haven't done before. I'm horrible with dogs. Cats. Babies. Kids. Sick people. Sorry Lorne. I'll do my best."

John gave Rodney one final glance before handing him Lorne's P-90 to supplement his 9mm, just in case. "I'll be back in 15. If I'm not, then you take care of Lorne. Wait for day break and rescue. They'll know something's wrong in another 3 hrs. If you hear gun fire, be ready, but stay put. If I don't come back do NOT come looking for me! Got it? Good." At that Colonel Sheppard took off into the dark without a backwards glance.

Rodney knelt down beside Major Lorne and worriedly checked his pulse. Still there. A little weak. A low moan emitted from Lorne's mouth and Rodney immediately felt guilty.

"Keep him comfortable! But with what? Did they have morphine? Was it safe to use? Why didn't Sheppard tell him what to do. He just wasn't good at being nurse maid. Plus, the Major hated him. Well, that might be overstating it just a bit, but he was pretty sure that he was not one of the Major's favorite people, especially after the incident with the sunscreen and being shot with a wraith stunner and oh yeah, being stuck with him under a collapsed building and almost breaking his other leg in his claustrophobic attempts to get out. Yeah, he was pretty much on the Major's s list. Not that he really cared. Or at least that's what he tried to tell himself, because, contrary to his normal un-people pleasing self, for some odd reason he was drawn to Major Lorne, kinda like with Colonel Sheppard, and no, not in a romantic way, just in a fellow comrade-in-arms sorta way. He had never experienced anything like it before. The bond of brother hood so to speak. Or technically the bond of almost getting killed, blown up, captured, eaten, tortured, turned into giant bugs etc etc so on and so forth again and again. But no, really in all actually Rodney had to admit that he looked up to and to a degree (his pride wouldn't completely allow him) he admired the Major. He was able to appreciate the Major's ability to maintain his innate professionalism even in the face of utter chaos. He wished he had the Major's stoic calm. Hell, he even appreciated Lorne's wry sense of humor, somewhat similar if not as scathing (or as witty) as his own.

McKay's thought were interrupted by a deep groan that almost sounded like, "I must be'n Hell. Only you would be there McKay." The words were slurred and laced with pain, but Rodney was pretty sure he had just been insulted. He opened his mouth to retort back, when he realized that Major Lorne's face was screwed up in agony and his breath was coming in and out in short staccato breaths to control the pain he was obviously enduring.

"Major Lorne! I'd give you something for the pain, but I don't know where… how… Colonel Sheppard's not here… and Ronan took off and…." McKay gestured helplessly and moved to place his hands gently on Lorne's shoulders trying to immobilize him as he inadvertently writhed on the forest floor.

Lorne finally relaxed and Rodney almost thought he had slipped back into unconsciousness when he suddenly opened his eyes and softly said, "how bad Doc? Tell me the truth Rodney. "

McKay gulped and nervously wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Umm. Well, we really don't know. We're not even sure what did this to you. What's out there. You seem to be breathing okay, right? So, that's good. It didn't pierce a lung. We've managed to control the bleeding….."

"No, not that," interrupted Lorne lifting his head up slightly off of the carpet of leaves and then obviously regretting the move as his face paled with pain and he slowly lowered his head to the ground. "What are our chances on getting out of here. On getting back to the gate? I don't want anyone else injured If I can help it… and speaking of…where in the blazes is Shep…umm…the Colonel and Ronan?"

The effort of speaking more than one sentence, appeared to have taken its toll on Lorne and despite his concern, Rodney observed his eyes slowly drift close of their own accord, as he slipped back into a restless sleep. Suddenly Rodney's conscious mind became aware of another presence in their midst and he snatched his gun from where it lay beside Lorne and jerkily pointed it into the darkness.

"Easy there Tiger, just us" came the familiar and well, much appreciated voice of Colonel Sheppard, who soon came into view with his hands up in a mock position of surrender along with the tall Satedan at his side.

"How's he doing?" asked John, concern evident in his facial expression and voice, as he fell to his knees beside them.

To be continued….

Ideas anyone??

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