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Chapter Two

"Atlantis, this is Sheppard," Dr. Elizabeth Weir strained to make out Sheppard's words over the cacophony of gunfire and explosions. "We are taking enemy fire and are bringing in several children from Jakndaxta. We are pinned down near the stargate and need assistance." Sheppard's tone was urgent and angry.

Dr. Elizabeth Weir glanced toward Major Lorne standing beside her. They hadn't been expecting to hear from Sheppard's team until much later in the day. She cocked her head slightly to one side, as if that would help her to better assess his situation. "Did you just say children?"

Sheppard started to speak, but a loud explosion cut him off. Elizabeth stepped forward. "Colonel?"

When there was no answer, she shared a worried look with Lorne. "Colonel, please respond."

Her only reply was the screams of children in the background and more weapons fire. She remembered Sheppard's parting comment as he left. 'Don't worry, this is a milk run. We'll be back before dinner.'

'Some milk run, Colonel,' she thought.

She turned to Lorne. "Gear up and be ready to go through the gate on my order."

"On my way, ma'am," the major said as he took off running.

Lorne started issuing orders even as he moved down the stairs, "Okay, people, I want Teams Two, Three, and Four ready to gate immediately and two security details ringing the gate in standard formation. Alert status one, full gear, and double time it!"

She looked back to the gate, wishing Sheppard would respond. She heard concern echoing in her voice as she asked, "John, can you read me?"

Instead of Sheppard, McKay spoke up. "Elizabeth, Sheppard caught the concussion of a grenade blast. Looks like it rattled him pretty good, but I think he's basically okay."

"Rodney, how close are you to getting through the gate?"

Another nearby explosion caused Elizabeth to grind her teeth together in frustration.

"Holy shit," she heard Rodney curse. "We're-we're taking heavy fire. We could really use some help here, as in a lot of Marines coming to the rescue and we could use it like now-" McKay spoke fast, his voice rising with each word.

A low groan from Sheppard silenced Rodney's rant. "Oh, are you with us again, Colonel? So nice of you to join us," McKay said. He sounded like he was trying for biting sarcasm, but worry came through instead. "Just sit still for a moment, will you?" he added quietly.

Elizabeth didn't have the luxury of time to wait for answers when her people were obviously in trouble. "Rodney, what happened there? Why are you under attack?"

"Call it bad luck or bad timing," McKay muttered. "Look, there's no time to explain now, just-"

"Elizabeth, this is Sheppard . . . we've got about twenty kids that we've got to get out of here fast, but I don't think we'll be able to move them forward without a lot of extra fire power, as in puddle jumper drones and manpower." Sheppard sounded sluggish at first, as if still stunned by the explosion, and that worried Weir, but by the time he finished, he seemed more himself again.

"Children? Where are their parents?"

Sheppard paused for a moment, taking a quick breath. "Long story. There are a handful of parents with us, but that's all. Lorne, be prepared, it's pretty wild here. These bad guys are called Sinomean raiders and we've managed to piss them off in a big way. Unfortunately, they are loaded to the gills with some heavy duty ordinance. We're near the DHD, but there's too much activity to safely get to the gate."

"Did you get that, Major?" Weir asked.

Lorne answered quickly, "Yes, ma'am, I've got Stackhouse and his team warming up Jumper Three as we speak."

"Very good, Major. As soon as we dial in, I want your people on the move, understood?"

"Roger that."

Turning her attention back to the gate, she said, "Okay, John, help is on the way."

"I swear, Elizabeth, when I get my hands on those bastards – Damn it, they can come after us if they want, but not unarmed kids!" Sheppard still sounded winded, but more imposing was the rage that resonated in his words. It seemed to increase when he added quietly, "You better let Beckett know that there's also wounded incoming."

Elizabeth heard his anger, but she also heard his sense of responsibility speaking. Watching out for those children while trapped in a fierce firefight was pushing him hard. "Understood. We'll be ready to receive."

Weir watched as the first of Lorne's men began to assemble, and then tapped the mike on her headset. "Dr. Beckett, we have a group coming in with an unknown number of injuries, children included. Get a couple of teams down here right away."

As she finished, the gate went dark. A few seconds later, a puddle jumper, under Sgt. Stackhouse's command, was lowered down from the jumper bay to hover in front of the gate. With a nod to the technician beside her, who keyed in the dialing sequence, the gate came to life with a giant blue whoosh.

oOoOoOoOo

They were going to die. It was as simple as that, Rodney decided as he ducked from the detonation of a nearby grenade. He went face first into the dark, loamy soil, and then had to spit the dirt away from his lips. He brushed at his face in disgust. "Gives new meaning to the phrase, eat dirt," he grumbled, looking around to see if it was safe to move about.

"Adding fiber to your diet, Rodney? You do look a bit peaked," Sheppard said as he fired at the sniper that had them pinned down.

"I'll take care of my own dietary concerns, thank you very much," he said as he got to his knees.

The boulder they were hiding behind offered some protection, but not much. "Speaking of food, do you think we could move this along? I can't remember the last time I ate."

"It was this morning . . . " Sheppard paused as he fired again. "Eat a power bar and pipe down. You're distracting me."

"Right, as if the platoon of Sinomean raiders firing at us isn't entertaining enough, you have to verbally abuse me while you're at it." McKay was indignant.

Sheppard gave McKay a sideways glance of irritation. "You know what Conteale will do if we are captured again, stud muffin. The rest of us will be killed while you'll probably become her personal boy toy until she finishes playing with you, so shut up and let me do what I need to do."

McKay swallowed and smiled uneasily as the visual of what Sheppard had described became very clear in his mind, then he gestured with a wave of his hand. "Carry on."

Sheppard started to say something else, but then shouted, "Grenade."

McKay heard the faint whine of it rushing through the air toward them. He didn't bother to look how close it was. He'd learned to trust Sheppard implicitly when it came to life-and-death issues, so he ducked automatically. He was almost surprised to see him following suit. If the man had done that earlier, instead of trying to play Rambo, he wouldn't be covered in dirt and bleeding from both ears.

Rodney chewed on the inside of his lower lip. Even though Sheppard maintained his standard banter of smart ass comments, Sheppard kept squinting and blinking his eyes every little bit, like he was trying to clear his vision. He was probably seeing double. And about to pass out. Concussion. Then there was that whole slashed arm thing. Sheppard's field dressing was already red with blood. McKay almost gagged at the sight.

Sheppard was slow getting back to his feet after the blast and refused Rodney's outstretched hand, saying quietly, "I'm fine."

Fine, my ass, Rodney thought angrily. He decided that this wasn't the time or the place for them to argue, so he ventured to raise his head a bit more and said, "They're getting closer."

Sheppard paused in thought, then brushed the back of his hand across his chin. "Yeah, we should move."

"To where? It's not like we can catch the next bus out of town."

"Well, that boulder over there looks rather appealing," Sheppard said as he pointed.

McKay groaned with irritation. "Get serious. You're not looking at timeshares in Maui here. That rock isn't going to do much more in the way of keeping us alive than this one."

"Yes, but it will move us a little further from the DHD and stargate. I'd rather not have them blown to smithereens if I can avoid it." Sheppard gestured with his P-90. "Now, move. I'll cover you."

When Rodney had arrived safely at his new position, he waved Sheppard over, firing a few rounds from his 9-mil in the general direction of the snipers. Not that he would actually hit anything, but he thought it looked good. He couldn't help but notice how slowly Sheppard was moving, not at all like his usual rock 'em sock 'em self and McKay began to worry again.

The sound of P-90s being fired behind them interrupted his thoughts. Sheppard came to full attention with the noise and he scanned the area behind them warily. Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, and the handful of Marines who were armed with P-90s were all that stood between the children and the Sinomean raiders. Him too for that matter. Well, McKay had his handgun to use for self-defense, but Sheppard didn't often let him carry a P-90. Said he didn't want McKay to shoot him in the ass. Like that would happen. Well, not intentionally, at least.

Rodney sighed. Maybe they shouldn't have tried to save the children. If they'd just left once they'd escaped . . . ah, who was he trying to fool? Those kids had been given a death sentence, and they were all that stood in the way of that order. Maybe if his team had made a run for the gate while the others watched over the kids? He shook his head. And maybe he shouldn't try to second guess Sheppard. The man might have a screw or two loose, but he had good instincts.

McKay felt for the cylindrical object in the pocket of his tactical jacket and found it still there, then another wave of guilt flowed over him. Perhaps, if he hadn't snatched it from Conteale's hand, the raiders wouldn't be so hellbent on recapturing them. Damn, talk about a woman scorned . . .

Still, acknowledging his culpability in the situation gave him a sick feeling, and he hated feeling sick, but much worse was the feeling of guilt. He watched as Sheppard peeked around the boulder and was rewarded with a bullet that would have passed through John's head if he hadn't already been moving away.

"Hold on, there goes Ronon."

McKay popped up enough to see Ronon make his way toward the direction of the sniper. That sniper didn't know it yet, but once Ronon got a hold of him, it would be all over. The same went for the operator of the grenade launcher that had to be positioned pretty close by.

Rodney cursed when he heard the renewed sound of children crying and screaming. Sheppard must have heard the same thing, because the colonel's movements became tighter, like a cobra preparing to strike. Good God, Rodney thought, the man was seriously considering going back there.

Rodney sighed and looked back to a cluster of boulders and trees where he knew the children were hiding with Teyla, McMurphy's team, and the handful of parents that had escaped with them. He thanked his lucky stars he wasn't stuck back there with them. Those little hellions had much better lungs than anyone should ever possess.

He sighed nervously. He wasn't trying to be cruel, he just didn't have the kind of patience it took to deal with children, no matter the circumstances. Kids were always unpredictable, headstrong and emotional. They don't follow direction under the best of conditions and this certainly wasn't the best of anything. Missing their parents and scared shitless as they were, there was no way in hell they'd be able to get them through the gate without a lot of help.

"Teyla," Sheppard said, after tapping his headset. "What's your position?"

"We are about fifty meters behind and to the west of the DHD."

"Are the kids doing okay?"

Teyla paused. Rodney knew the duty of watching over the children weighed heavily upon her. Sheppard certainly hadn't intended on getting pinned down when they went to move forward; he was merely trying to get close enough to the DHD to dial Atlantis.

Finally, she spoke, "They are well enough. The parents that are with us are doing their best to keep the children calm. It is the wounded that worry me."

"Hang in there, help is only a few minutes away," Sheppard said, glancing back toward the gate.

Without warning, Teyla fired her P-90, and then said something to Sgt. McMurphy.

Sheppard's head popped up with the sound of gunfire. "What's going on?"

"The Sinomeans were merely testing our resolve. They will not overrun our position," she said firmly.

"Stay on your guard. Let me know if you need assistance."

"And just what the hell are you going to do about it," McKay asked incredulously as Sheppard tapped his radio off. "We can't move five inches without that damned sniper taking a shot at us or them lobbing another grenade our way."

"I could make it there if I had to . . . " Sheppard said with a glare, though there was more than a little forced bravado echoing in his tone. He wiped at the sweat dripping into his eyes and then sighed. "Think positive, Rodney, the cavalry is on the way."

With that, he resumed firing his weapon. Rodney toyed with the 9 mil in his hand in frustration. He wondered why he'd even agreed to come along in the first place. Oh yeah, bribery.

Sheppard had pulled him away from a very promising study of a newly discovered Ancient device. He'd left the relative safety of his cozy lab to face a life-and-death situation that he really could have done without. Yes, the enticement of a homemade meal made with the locals' fresh fruits and vegetables, a beautiful and amiable environment, and lots of fair young maidens had swayed him, but now he just wanted to get home alive.

"Some paradise this is," he grumbled, still glaring at Sheppard.

McKay wiped at his forehead and was startled to see the back of his hand come away with a red smear on it. He brushed his fingers along the same location to find them wet with blood. About that time, Sheppard glanced in his direction.

"You're bleeding," he said. "I told you to keep your head down."

"Yeah, well, you also said this wouldn't take long . . . am I bleeding a lot?" he asked as he gingerly touched his forehead again, discovering the wound was along his hairline.

Sheppard grunted and fired again without answering him. Rodney's worry grew. "What? Am I going to have a scar from this?

Sheppard flashed him a roguish grin. "Don't worry, women love scars."

Rodney smiled briefly. "They do, don't they?"

"I think if Conteale's men were trying to kill us, they probably would have done it already," Sheppard said after changing magazines on his P-90. "They're using concussion grenades to stun us, not kill us. I just can't figure out why they are so hot to get us back unless Conteale just wants to exact her revenge on us in person . . . "

Rodney gave Sheppard a sick smile. "It's probably – well, it might be – no, it's probably – due to this . . . " he pulled the Sinomean device from his tac vest.

"What's that?" Sheppard asked with a distinct frown.

"I don't know but it seemed pretty important to Captain Conteale. I'd venture to say it's probably a control interface device of some sort. It fell out of her hand when you knocked her out. I just picked it up on my way out."

"Damn it, McKay," John muttered, looking away as if to contain his anger.

McKay ducked his head, chagrined, then he glanced at the device, his fingers probing its contours. "Maybe if I can figure out this thing works, I can use it to cause some trouble for the Sinomeans . . . "

Sheppard grumbled something that McKay didn't bother to hear. The device was fascinating now that he took the time to really look at it. A touch at different locations along its cylindrical shape caused amazing configurations to appear at one end or the other, configurations that could access various equipment and computer interfaces.

He was about to comment on it to Sheppard when a man's voice came from deeper in the forest. "Give up now, and we'll spare your lives and those of the children. Fight us, and you'll all die."

McKay continued to work as Sheppard shouted back, "Somehow, I get the feeling if we give up, we'll all going to die anyway, so I think we'll just continue like we are."

"Suit yourself, but you're making a big mistake. You can only hold us off for so long before we get you."

Sheppard didn't pause. "Now, that's no way to conduct negotiations. You know how it goes, you give a little, then we give a little . . . "

"No negotiations. Surrender now!"

"He's a lot of help," Sheppard muttered. He let loose with his P-90, making Rodney jump.

McKay stopped working and glowered over at Sheppard in disbelief. "Didn't you hear the man? They're just waiting for us to run out of ammo, and I'm in no mood to save your ass once again."

"Oh, stop whining, McKay. You know Lorne will be here-"

Rodney cut him off before he finished. "I don't whine, I make valid observ-"

McKay stopped in mid-word when the stargate came to life, bursting forward and then back. Its bright, shimmering appearance was the best thing McKay had seen in a long while. "It's about damned time," he muttered.

Sheppard hit the button on his headset. "Okay, guys, let it rip. We've got to give cover fire for our guys coming in the gate."

As the air echoed with the sound of several P-90s being fired, the promised jumper came in and cloaked itself almost immediately. Then, a drone was fired at one of the raiders' unusually shaped reconnaissance planes circling overhead. The damaged aircraft's engines whined loudly before it exploded in the air.

Shrapnel rained over the area and McKay crouched down, trying to make his body as small a target as possible. "Shit, shit, shit," he repeated with his hands over the back of his head. "I thought they were supposed to rescue us, not kill us!"

The crying kids were wailing at full volume and Sheppard rubbed his lower lip with the back of his hand. Sheppard always did have a weak spot for kids, but the current danger surrounding the ones in their care magnified his concern many times over. Rodney sighed with relief when he saw Lorne and his men emerging from the gate. The proverbial cavalry had finally come to their rescue. Now, they might actually have a chance to go home, and he would really, really like to go home.

"Spread out fast," Sheppard warned Lorne as soon as he caught sight of them. "There are snipers and grenade launchers in the area and at least a dozen hostiles, probably more."

Even as the men were taking cover, a shot from the grenade launcher went wild. It hit an area far from any of them, and McKay couldn't see why until he heard the sound of Ronon's weapon firing several times.

"Ronon must be slowing down. He should have taken care of that grenade launcher minutes ago," Sheppard grumbled, but he looked relieved as he said it.

"Give the man a break," McKay muttered. "Even Conan is only human. Well, at least I think he is."

"Colonel, this is Major Lorne."

Smiling slightly, Sheppard said, "Glad to see you could stop by, Major."

He heard Lorne whistle. "I'm sure you are, sir. You've got quite a party going on here. Mind if we join in?"

"Be our guest."

"Where do you want us deployed?"

Sheppard started issuing orders and McKay found himself beginning to relax. He just might survive this nightmare.

oOoOoOoOo

While Sheppard waited for Lorne to position his men, the puddle jumper downed another Sinomean aircraft, hitting one of its wings. The plane pin-wheeled into the forest and burst into flames as it hit the hillside.

Other grenade launchers came to life very quickly. If the raiders hadn't seen the jumper when it first came through the gate, they were bound to know something was shooting down their aircraft by now, and it was obvious they weren't very happy with the latest development.

Grenade after grenade began to pummel the sky until they made contact. The cloaked puddle jumper became visible for a moment before the cloak was reactivated, but it was pretty easy to follow the plume of smoke as it headed away from them.

"That's not good," McKay whispered, and Sheppard cursed under his breath.

"Puddle jumper, this is Sheppard. Report your status."

There was no reply. His voice was louder and more urgent as he said, "Sheppard to puddle jumper, respond!" Gunfire pulled his attention away from the jumper and back to their own situation. All Sheppard could do was hope that they were okay as he watched the trail of smoke going over the mountain.

He took a deep breath as his arm seemed to throb more fiercely and his stomach did slow rolls. "No, it's not good, Rodney. It's not good at all."

The Sinomeans had an impressive ground force, but they were no match for Lorne's Marines. Soon, they had made a definite dent in the Sinomean offensive line. Lorne's voice came over the radio. "Okay, I think we've got them backed up enough for you to start sending people through."

Sheppard nodded in relief. "Elizabeth, we're ready to dial out."

"Understood. We'll see you soon."

The gate went dark and then one of Lorne's men dialed the gate address for Atlantis. Sheppard's voice was emphatic. "Major, just make sure you've got enough bodies providing cover for Teyla's group as they move. Those kids are our primary concern right now."

"Yes, sir, I've got an entire detail with them, along with McMurphy's team. They'll be safe . . . at least as safe as they can be under these conditions."

Sheppard nodded. "Okay, Teyla, move up the first group, but be careful. Even though Ronon knocked out one of the grenade launchers, we just saw there's a few more out there, and probably more snipers. These guys are good. They took down a puddle jumper without a whole lot of trouble. I don't want any new surpris-"

Something whispered at the back of his thoughts and he realized Ronon should have checked in by now. He looked in the direction of the sniper's nest. "Ronon, report."

There was no reply. "Ronon, this is Sheppard, what's your location?"

He turned and caught McKay's furrowed gaze. "Ah, crap," the scientist muttered.

Sheppard frowned and nodded. "Something must have happened to him. You have Teyla take the first group through the gate, McKay. It's your responsibility to make sure the next one is right behind them."

"My responsibility? When did I get promoted to line captain? I'm not good at this kind of thing," he whined.

"Just do it. Lorne will be nearby. You'll do fine. I'm going to go check on Ronon." Sheppard started moving out.

McKay wiped at his forehead again. "When you find him, tell him his stature as super soldier is slipping."

Sheppard glanced back. "You heard me. Make sure those kids keep a steady pace into the gate."

Sheppard faded into the brush and boulders, even while McKay was still complaining under his breath. Something was wrong with Ronon and Sheppard was pretty sure he wouldn't like what he would find when he caught up with the Satedan.

oOoOoOoOo