Thanks for the reviews and encouragement! I'm so glad you all are enjoying this story:D

The Athosian crop report failed to hold Elizabeth's attention as she read the opening set of figures for the fourth time. Sighing, she pushed back from her desk and stood, before turning and staring at the inactive gate.

Sheppard's team was a half hour overdue to check in. Not a significant amount of time, but enough to worry her and given the Colonel's track record off world, she had every reason to worry. Elizabeth smiled slightly. She was probably overreacting, but…

Her smile faded as she turned and walked out of her office to the control room. She nodded once at Major Lorne who hovered behind Zalenka, seated at ops.

Lorne left Zalenka and joined her. "Colonel Sheppard's team is overdue, ma'am."

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "I know. Think there's trouble?"

"We don't have any reason to believe its more than just a simple delay, but…"

"You don't think so," Elizabeth finished for him.

Lorne shook his head. "No, ma'am, I don't."

"Intuition, Major?" Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at him.

Lorne's smile was grim. "Experience, ma'am."

Elizabeth stared at the Major for another moment before inhaling deeply and looking at Radek. "Dial M99-263." She turned back to the gate as once again the chevrons lit.

"I could be wrong, ma'am," Lorne ventured quietly.

Elizabeth smiled at him. "Maybe… maybe not. Let's be sure." She watched the wormhole flush into existence before reaching up and tapping the call button on her headset. "Colonel Sheppard, this is Weir. Do you copy?"

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John floated in a state of half consciousness. His fight to keep his eyes open and stay awake became harder by the second, until Ronon's prompts became the only thing holding him back from oblivion. The pain in his leg and arm had dulled; something he should've felt grateful for. A faint sense of concern over it set off an alarm within him, but his fading grasp on lucidity dulled it. Abruptly, loud static in his ear pierced the darkness in his mind like a knife.

"… Sheppard… Weir… copy?"

John's eyes snapped open. "Elizabeth," he muttered. He lifted his good hand sluggishly, but his fingers refused to cooperate and he couldn't seem to connect with his radio.

"I got it," Ronon tapped his earpiece. "This is Ronon, we copy."

"Ronon?… Sheppard… breaking up…"

John blinked hard as he tried to focus on the garbled message from Elizabeth. "Interference," he mumbled, his voice slightly slurred. "Teyla… Rodney?" He lazily turned his head and started at Ronon.

"Dr. Weir. You're breaking up," Ronon answered. "Colonel Sheppard is injured and we don't know where Teyla and McKay are. We need back up and Sheppard needs Beckett now." Ronon shook his head at the static that greeted his request.

"Not good." John fought his drooping eyelids… and lost.

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Elizabeth's concerned gaze found Lorne's.

"Weir…" Ronon's broken transmission was barely audible, "Sheppard… injured… backup… Beckett…" Abruptly, the transmission turned to pure static.

"Ronon, do you copy?" Elizabeth shook her head as only static greeted her hail. She looked at Lorne's expectant gaze and nodded once. "Get a team together to go after them. Take Beckett with you as well."

"Yes, ma'am," Lorne turned smartly and stalked from the control room already snapping orders in his headset and assembling his team.

Elizabeth watched him go. Only a few minutes ago she'd wondered if she had been worrying for no reason, but to hear Ronon's words, to know John was injured... She sighed, concern and frustration welling within her. We're coming...

Not twenty minutes later, Elizabeth hurried down the gate room stairs and walked up to Lorne's team. She looked left as Beckett, in full off world gear, complete with sidearm, vest and a backpack of medical supplies, entered the gate room. He walked up the side steps and stopped next to her and Lorne.

"We don't know anything about the Colonel's condition?" Beckett asked, his voice slightly tense.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. Ronon's transmission was garbled. All we could decipher was that Colonel Sheppard was injured."

"Ach," Beckett shook his head.

"We don't know the situation we're walking into either, Doc, so stay sharp." Lorne added.

"Oh, this just gets better and better," Beckett sighed before giving Lorne a stern look. "Are we going or not, lad?"

Lorne smiled slightly and looked at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth stared solemnly back at him before nodding once. "You have a go, Major, be careful. I want routine check-ins no more than an hour in between."

"Yes, ma'am." Lorne turned to the six, heavily armed, Marines that milled around in front of the active Stargate. "Okay," his voice captured all their attentions. "Let's move out. I'm on point, Simms you take the six. Doc," Lorne glanced at Beckett, "fall in behind me. Let's go." Lorne confidently crossed the event horizon, his team closely behind.

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"Sheppard."

Dimly, John heard Ronon's voice, but it sounded distant, as if called across a large field. John's mind wandered. Field… the warmth of the sunshine on his face…

"Sheppard!"

Ronon's voice was louder this time, accompanied by a shake of John's shoulder. John tried to speak but all that he managed was a quiet groan, which earned him another shake to his shoulder.

"Sheppard! Wake up!"

John felt himself grimace at the loud voice that assaulted him, kept him from the warm darkness… the comfortable oblivion he longed for… No! A panicked voice inside him pulled him back from the edge; forced him to face reality. "Ronon…" John slurred.

"Stay awake," Ronon's firm voice was commanding.

Slowly, John opened his eyes. "'m here… help?"

Ronon nodded. "Should be on its way now."

John blinked as he processed Ronon's words. Somehow, he felt some relief, as his pain lessened even more, no longer aggravated by intense shivering. A small voice inside him knew he should care that help was coming, but it was squashed by a numbing apathy.

"Sheppard!"

John cared less and less about Ronon's call, but something inside him, something his muddled mind couldn't identify, grabbed onto Ronon's voice and held it like a lifeline; one final connection between John and the conscious world. He opened his eyes slightly and even through his blurred vision, he could make out the intensity on Ronon's face. John opened his mouth, but no sound came from it.

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The instant Lorne emerged from the Stargate he trotted forward, his gun ready for any movement that may greet them. Behind him, his team fanned out immediately securing the area around the Stargate. "Clear?" Lorne asked, his eyes never diverting from his sector. He nodded to himself as each of his team members gave him an affirmative reply.

Lorne reached up and tapped his radio call button. "Colonel Sheppard, Ronon. This is Major Lorne. Do you copy?"

"Lorne… Ronon… where…" Ronon's broken reply brought a slight smile to Lorne's face.

"We just came through the gate. Your transmission is breaking up, Ronon. Where are you?" Lorne questioned. He glanced sideways as Beckett walked up next to him.

"Path… hole… injured."

"In a hole?" Beckett shook his head.

"That'd explain the spotty radio transmissions," Lorne reasoned. A sense of urgency gripped him. He clicked on his radio. "Sit tight, Ronon, we're comin'."

"Sir," Simms walked up next to Lorne and Beckett. "There's a trail right through the trees." He pointed.

Lorne nodded. "Looks like as good a lead as any." He waved his men over. "Michaels, Johnson, you have gate duty. The rest of you fall in. Let's go." Lorne started off towards the narrow path into the trees.

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