Zelenka finishes fixing up the hyper-drive when the jumper door opens. Sheppard, Teyla and Carson run in followed by Ronon carrying McKay. He lays him on the ground and lets Carson do what he needs to. Radek stares at his friend.

"Oh my." He then says something in Czech to himself except this time it is not because of something McKay did to annoy him.

Carson gets the breathing mask out and gently puts in on McKay.

"We need to hurry. Without knowing the extent of the damage, I can't determine what medicine to administer."

Sheppard manouvers his way through the small crowd to the cockpit and looks out the window.

"We're out far enough. Jump into hyperspace."

"Understood."

...Nothing happens.

"What's wrong?"

"It won't work."

"Let me try." Sheppard takes the pilots chair and, sure enough, it doesn't work.

"Radek! What happened?"

Zelenka rushes to his laptop and tries to figure out what's wrong. He clicks at the keys.

"It must be something to do with the program Rodney created," he tries to fix it, "I can't do anything. I don't recognize the error," he keeps trying, "I'm afraid the only one who would have the slightest chance of fixing this would be..."

They all look at McKay, lying on the ground, barely alive.

Carson looks concerned. Sheppard makes his way back to the rear compartment.

"How long without the hyper-drive."

Zelenka looks at the ground. "Two days, at least."

Carson, still kneeling beside McKay. "He won't be able to wait that long. From what I can tell, he's bleeding internally. I can't do anything back here."

Sheppard thinks. "Is there any chance that Rodney could wake up and tell us what to do?"

"Colonel. Look at the state he's in. He can barely breathe as it is. I highly doubt -"

Suddenly, Rodney starts to move. Carson looks down and removes the mask. McKay flinches. Carson frowns.

"Easy, lad."

Sheppard kneels down to his friend.

"Rodney. You need to listen to me. We're in the jumper that you equipped with the hyper-drive and it was disabled. Zelenka tried to fix it, but he said you're the only one that can do it."

McKay's dark circled eyes look at Zelenka. If he could move, he would be laughing.

Teyla takes his hand. "Rodney. We need to get you back to Atlantis so you can get better. Can you help us?"

Beckett looks at Rodney then to John. "I'm not sure that he's able to stay awake for more than a few minutes and I don't think he'll be able to concentrate at all."

McKay blinks slowly and tries to speak, but instead coughs up more blood. Carson grows more anxious. He wipes away the blood and gives McKay some water.

McKay then lifts up one of his hands and slowly points a broken finger to Zelenka's laptop. Radek hands it to Sheppard and he rests it on McKays torso. He studies it then prepares to fix the hyperdrive. He needs to press on the keys, but can only use one finger so it takes quite a while. Everytime he does it he winces. He starts to slowly drift away. Sheppard lighly pats his cheek.

"Hey. Come on, buddy. You can do this."

McKay's eyes roll, but then focus on the computer as he remembers what he's doing.

He presses the 'enter' key finally and all of a sudden the jumper launches into hyperspace.

Radek looks out the window in shock. "He did it."

Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and Carson share a glance. Sheppard smiles down at McKay.

"Great job, buddy."

McKay wants to smile. He tries to whisper. All he can manage is a very quiet "Tha-" before he falls unconscious again.

--

Back at Atlantis. Weir has been informed that the jumper will be back in ten minutes. She takes her time to prepare herself at the jumper bay and she stands waiting with a medical team as she has been warned about Rodney. The jumper bay door opens and Jumper 1 lowers down and lands on the surface. The door opens and Carson runs out. He grabs the bed and wheels it over. Ronon carries out McKay and gently lays him on the bed. Weir can only manage a glimpse before he is wheeled off to the infirmary. Sheppard steps out of the jumper. Weir approaches.

"John! What happened?"

He looks at her, clearly very upset.

"We gotta go with Rodney."

"Okay."

Weir and Sheppard run towards the infirmary followed by Teyla and Ronon.

They reach the infirmary and run towards Carson.

Weir grows more anxious. "What's his status?"

"We're just getting him ready for surgery. You can come in and take a look while I'm setting up if ye like."

"Thanks Carson."

"But, be ready."

Weir and Sheppard enter the room. Carson looks at Ronon and Teyla.

"We will stay here. We do not wish to crowd him."

Beckett smiles. "Aye. I'll keep you updated. Don't worry."

"Thank you doctor." They watch him return through the doors.

Inside, Sheppard and Weir approach McKay who is lying on the bed exactly like before. Weir gets closer. Her eyes start to blur and sting and she can feel a lump in her throat.

"...Oh my god." She takes his hand. This is the man that would have taken a bullet for her and there he was, pale as a ghost, trembling, drenched and cold.

Sheppard takes her free hand. "I know."

She looks at the amount of blood.

"Who would have done this?"

Sheppard grows angrier. "Whoever wanted that information... We'll find 'em."

She feels reassured because she knows Sheppard means it. John then takes his backpack off and reaches in. He pulls out the tape and the clipboard. He calls over Carson. Beckett runs over.

"Aye?"

John hands him the clipboard and the tape.

"The clipboard has information on the interrogation and the tape...," he stops for a moment, "...the tape is a recording of it."

Carson looks horrified, but he knows it will help.

"Elizabeth, I'll read through this, but I think we should watch the tape together after the surgery. It will help us understand what we're dealing with."

She hesitates. "Agreed. John, I think it would help if you did too."

Sheppard really doesn't want to, but he really should.

--

Hours later, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and Weir are waiting outside the operating room.

Teyla breaks the silence.

"I wonder what Rodney did to help himself through his time in that place."

Sheppard keeps looking at the door.

Ronon stands and paces.

"Maybe he thought about the storm and the Genii and wanted to prove himself again."

Sheppard looks at Weir.

"No. He knew that what these guys wanted to know was far too important to give up."

Weir looks back.

"Whatever it was they wanted to know, we'll find out soon enough."

John looks back at the door.

"Elizabeth, I'm not sure I wanna watch the tape."

"John, I understand why you wouldn't want to. Beleive me, I don't either, but we have to or else what Rodney went through was for nothing."

John looks back at her then nods.

Carson comes through the doors and takes off his mask. The team all walk over to him.

"Well?"

"After reading that clipboard you gave me, I was expecting a long list of injuries and that's just what we got. We managed to stop the internal bleeding, but he still is suffering from numerous other inflictions. He has quite a few broken bones, he had a punctured lung which we were able to repair, he has severe bruising on his stomach, back and face and I assume that you caught a glimpse of the burn marks."

Sheppard looks at Weir and frowns.

Carson continues. "Not to mention the cuts. What worries me is the damage caused to the internal organs and also the fact that he's caught pnuemonia due to the lack of heat where he was kept. We have him on a breathing machine as he finds it difficult to breath on his own at the moment. It won't be an easy recovery, but if anyone can do it, it's Rodney."

He smiles. He has one of those infectious smiles which has made it's way to the team.

"Would ye like to see him?"

Sheppard steps forward. "Of course. Thanks, doc."

Carson leads the way to Rodneys bed. They stop beside him.

Elizabeth puts her hand on Carsons shoulder.

"Carson. Well done. If Rodney knew what you're doing to help him..."

"Aye. I know. I'll be damned if we're gonna lose 'em."

--

Later, Ronon and Teyla are sitting with Rodney. They've been chatting for a while.

Ronon looks at McKay. "I wonder if he can hear us."

"It has been said that speaking positively to people in similar situations increases their chance of waking up."

"But, I thought McKay was in a medically induced coma."

Teyla looks at Ronon as if surprised that he knows that term.

"Hey, I've been listenin'."

Teyla smiles. "Yes. I believe that Rodney's coma has been induced medically as to give him a rest from trying to stay alive on his own."

All of a sudden Rodney opens his eyes.

Teyla and Ronon lean towards him.

"Rodney! It's okay. You're in the infirmary."

McKay's eyes get heavy again and they close. This time, Teyla and Ronon hear a beeping sound and they turn around to see a flat-line.

Teyla shouts. "Carson!"

Carson runs over. He looks at the monitor. "He's not breathing." He lowers the bed and puts the paddles on McKay's chest.

"Charge to 200...clear!" The electricity shoots through his body.

-nothing-

Sheppard and Dr. Weir arrive. They see the fear in everyone's eyes.

"Charge to 250...clear!"

-nothing-

Teyla stares in hope. "Come on Rodney."

"Charge to 300...clear!"

Silence for a moment. The beeping starts to maintain a rythm again.

Carson sighs in relief, but is uneasy.

Teyla hold her hands together as if to thank the gods.

Sheppard bows his head and takes a deep breathe.

Ronon stands still.

Weir looks blind-sided. "What happened? I thought he was recovering."

Carson looks at Rodney. "So did I. He shouldn't have woken up during a medically induced coma and he certainly shouldn't have flat-lined... Unless..."

"What is it?"

"My only guess would be that he was given some sort of drug in that place and now it's reacted with the ones we 've given him to induce the coma."

Weir thinks silently for a few minutes then turns to John.

"I think it's time we watched the tape."

TBC