A/N: Hello and Welcome! Sorry for the delay in getting this next chapter to you, the fantastic readers. I'm right in the middle of exams and handing in assignments and haven't had the same joy I get from writing as I normally do. I blame the never ending hours of study that make my hand hate me.

Anyway here is the next chapter and once again thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, favorites and alerts. They make me very happy. This chapter is kind of all over the place but it builds up to the excitement I have planned for the next chapter. And yes I am evil and once again leave you with a cliffhanger. I really need to stop that.

And now onto the story! Hope you enjoy my tinkering with the Stargate Atlantis boys and girls.

Disclaimer: Just realized I haven't done one in a very long time so I shall just remind everyone that I do not own anything to do with Stargate Atlantis. In my dreams though...


Colonel Sheppard sat opposite Woolsey with his team members on either side of him. McKay had taken Jennifer's advice and had grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria. He hadn't taken a bite though and now it sat on his plate, being picked apart slowly as Rodney stared at it, his mind on other things. One in particular was Major Lorne. They had been in the briefing room for the past fifteen minutes and while the others had talked about what had happened on the planet all McKay could think of was the knife sticking out Evan's back. It looked bad and Rodney had seen enough injuries to know where on his mental graph it sat. He gave his sandwich another prod, a piece of like-lettuce sticking to his finger.

"Doctor McKay? What can you tell me about the scans you found? Is there a way for you to shut down the device you sensed in Major Lorne's body?"

"It was in his head, not his body. Big difference. If Keller tries to cut it out I don't know what might happen. It could explode for all I know. Shutting it down with my equipment might work. We'll still run the risk of it reactivating if we leave it in there though."

He shook his head.

" I'll need to run some test, computer simulations, that sort of thing. I started working on a program the day I was beamed down. It's still not finished but I should be able to expand on that."

He stood up abruptly. The room was quiet as they all watched him. He had a lost look in his eyes that seemed to vanish as he brought his head up to look at Sheppard.

"He recognised me, just for a moment. It was when you were in the tunnel. I called out to him and he turned towards me and said my name. It sounded like he didn't know what was happening. Then… Then he was stabbed and it was gone. His face went blank again. I an get through to him again, I know I can."

Woolsey was silent for a moment. The determination he heard in McKay's voice had been absent for quite some time. He still managed to save the city and everyone in it at least twice over the past few months but he had done it with barely a word. To see the old Rodney's passion back was reassuring. He gave a nod of agreement.

"You have permission to start straight away. I want an update every two hours. Major Lorne should be unconscious for sometime after this. Eat the sandwich to Dr McKay. We don't want you collapsing while working on a crucial part."

McKay scowled before picking up his plate and walking out. His team members watched him leave before turning back to Woolsey. Sheppard had a number of questioned he wanted answered.

"What are you going to do with him?"

Woolsey looked puzzled, his brow furrowing as he stared.

"Who? Dr McKay?"

Sheppard had an equally puzzled expression.

"What? No. Major Lorne. What are you going to do with him after the surgery? Lock him up?"

"He will be kept in restraints and with an armed guard watching his every move. Once he is better we will move him to a cell where he will continue to be guarded."

At Sheppard's annoyed look he sighed.

"I don't like it much either Colonel but do remember that this isn't the Major Lorne we remember. From what you've all told me, this is a violent, highly trained killer who is under the influence of an alien race that even after almost eight months we know nothing about."

John knew he was right. Even as he thought about it, he knew that he would do exactly the same thing. There was still one more thing he wanted to clear up.

"What about afterwards? When he doesn't have the chip in him and they can't control him? Will he able to return to work on Atlantis as my second in command? I want to know if you'll support the decision to bring him back."

No one said anything as Sheppard and Woolsey stared at each other, both trying incredibly hard to keep their faces blank. After a minute of silence, with the tension building between the two men, Woolsey leaned forward in his chair, his hands resting on the table.

"I want you to know that I will do everything I can for Major Lorne. For now, I just want to get past this first step. When Lorne gets out of surgery we will discuss further what to do. There is still the threat of the aliens. We don't know if they will come looking for Major Lorne or not. We'll just have to hope that McKay is able to break through to him and he can tell us what has been going on."

Sheppard nodded slightly, reassured for the moment. He stood, stretching his back as he did. Sheppard didn't anticipate the added weight Lorne had put on from the training he must have done.

"Look I'm going to have a shower and then find out how Lorne's going" He turned to his two team members. "I think you should do the same. I'll meet you at the infirmary in fifteen minutes."

Sheppard left quickly after that, his need to be moving making him ignorant of the path he was taking. He couldn't seem to focus on one thought. The reassuring feeling of being on Atlantis did little to calm him. With a start he looked up, finding himself on the same balcony he had found McKay those few months ago. Lorne's balcony. He swallowed thickly, looking out at the horizon that seemed to stretch on for years. He stepped forward, reaching the railing and leaning on it heavily. He felt like he had aged decades in mere minutes. He shook his head, trying to give himself a moment of clarity. It didn't help. Sheppard knew he should be having a shower, he promised Teyla and Ronon he would meet them in less than fifteen minutes. He sighed, pushing himself up and turning towards the door back inside. The crackling of his radio interrupted the quiet that surrounded him.

"Colonel Sheppard?"

John frowned at the usually strong and gravely voice of Lieutenant Hudson sounding stunned.

"What is it Lieutenant?"

There was a growing feeling of unease in John's stomach and it seemed to grow as the Lieutenant spoke again.

"Ah you should get down to the infirmary Sir, something's happened. And bring Dr. McKay."

Colonel Sheppard practically sprinted out the door. For any member of the military willing to admit they needed Rodney was never good.

. . . .

McKay sat heavily on his stool, a sandwich between his teeth and another in his hand. He shouldn't have been eating around his equipment, having yelled at some other so called scientist just days before for the exact same thing. Right now, he was too tired to care. He turned his laptop on, finding the right experiment while taking a bite from his sandwich.

"Rodney?"

Rodney jumped, the inquiring voice of Zelenka coming out of nowhere. He turned on his chair, his food falling forgotten to the ground as he tried to calm his pounding heart.

"Are you insane? You could have given me a heart attack. In fact, I think you might have."

He tried to calm himself while rubbing his chest as Radek stood in the doorway watching him with an expression caught somewhere between amusement and annoyance.

"I am sorry if I startled you Rodney. I merely wished to… to inquire about Major Lorne, Evan. It's true what they are all saying? He's back?"

McKay stared at him for a moment. He knew that Lorne and Zelenka had bonded, especially when McKay and Sheppard had been missing, which seemed to happen an awful lot. Evan had even persuaded him to accompany him on a number of missions off world. It was surprise to everyone when Zelenka said he wanted to go off world again with Major Lorne's team. Evan had just smirked before nodding and saying they had a mission coming up he could tag along to. Turned out Zelenka had lost a chess match to Lorne and his punishment was to go off world again. Rodney had chuckled at the very thought. He was surprised however when Zelenka had come marching back through the gate. He looked extremely pleased with himself when he told Rodney he had found a collection of ancient ruins, some that had proven very interesting.

Rodney dropped his gaze from Radek's, letting it rest on his ruined sandwich.

"It's true. He is back but…" He trailed off unsure of how to put what had happened into context. "He's not himself. The control chip is still an issue. I'm going over the readings now."

He spun around to his laptop, indicating with his hand to the spikes of energy he had registered.

"There's some other kind of device inside him. I haven't started working on that one yet."

Zelenka nodded, silently mouthing the words on the screen. He quickly scanned over the information that McKay had. It wasn't a lot, his chance to gain more cut short by the revelation of who the man attached to them was. Each bit helped though and after the medical staff had fixed his wound up, they could work on finding a way to deactivate the devices in Lorne. It scared him to think of what his friend had been through this past few months. The news of Rodney and his disappearance had spread like wild fire through Atlantis and beyond. Having been on the Deadalus at the time, Radek was unsure of the details until they had arrived. He was barely back for a minute before Ronon grabbed him by the collar, growling about them needing him and dragging him back to the ship. He chose to listen to him.

It hadn't taken him long to understand the severity of the situation, especially when they had arrived on the planet. The destruction there had turned his stomach, causing him to stumble as he looked on in disbelief. The thought that anyone could survive this was hard to believe. But they had to have hope. He had found over the years that it was a lot harder to kill Rodney than people first thought. And Lorne was a strong, skilled solider. He wouldn't go down easily. However as they spend more time investigating the planet, looking for survivors and ultimately trying to locate their missing friends, it became harder to keep going. When the order came for them to return to Atlantis and continue their work there, it was like admitting the first stage of defeat.

Then Rodney returned and it began again.

A frown creased Radek's forehead as he read over the next paragraph of information, his eyes shifting to the accompanying graphs and equations. That was odd.

"Rodney… I think we have a problem. These readings are worrying. I believe you need to take a look at this."

He moved to the side, allowing McKay to roll over and look. He frowned as he read the information, trying to make sense of it.

"That can't be right. We would have picked it up…." He was mumbling to himself, seemingly having forgotten that Zelenka was still there, desperately trying to read over his shoulder. "Oh this it not good, not good."

He turned back to Zelenka, his eyes wide, mouth gaping open.

"It's transmitting a long range signal. I don't know how far it goes out but I have a feeling the aliens who took us know that Lorne is no longer on that backwater planet. They know he's back on Atlantis."

McKay jumped up, almost knocking into Zelenka as he scooped up his laptop and began making his way to the door. Radek hurried after him, pushing up his glasses as he did.

"Radek, I want you to head straight to the control room and see if you can work on blocking the signal, shielding us, anything. We need to be on high alert for when these bastards return."

"What makes you think they received the signal already? Maybe-"

"There are no maybes! You saw what they could do. With that kind of technology, I bet you that they are already on their way here. It's just a matter of time before they arrive. Let's hope they're not anywhere remotely near us!"

He shouted the last sentence as he turned a corner, running towards a transporter that would take him close to the infirmary. Zelenka nodded, before turning down a different corridor and heading for the control room.

Rodney had barely jumped into the transporter when his radio clicked on.

"Rodney, I need you to make your way to the infirmary immediately. Something's happening with Lorne. They sounded pretty freaked out. I'll meet you there." Sheppard sounded slightly out of breath and McKay realized he was running. Talk about symmetry.

"Wait! I'm already on my way there. We have a problem with Lorne. The devices in him are transmitting a long range signal and you don't have to be a member of MENSA to figure out where it's going."

He heard John curse, followed by a skidding noise as he took a corner to fast.

"The aliens that took him. I kept thinking it was strange that Lorne was on a random planet with not one piece of technology. I was going to ask King Tartu about his arrival but then he got stabbed and it kind of took a back seat."

There was silence for a moment as they both thought about the implications.

"What were they doing with him there? I just don't get it. Hold on a second Rodney, I'm getting another transmission."

McKay was quiet as he hurried down the next corridor. He waited impatiently for Sheppard to finish, his mind running over the possibilities. They needed to talk to Evan but he was having surgery. Even then, it wasn't likely that he would help them. More likely he would try and kill them.

"McKay" Sheppard was back, his voice sounded even more stressed than before. "Lorne woke up and attacked everyone in the infirmary. Jennifer is still unconscious as is most of the guard duty Woolsey assigned. Lorne escaped and now he's on the loose."

There was a pause before Sheppard said what was truly causing him to worry.

"He has a gun Rodney. With the way he is, I think he'll use it with out hesitation."

Rodney faltered in his steps, his eyes listening as he heard footsteps coming towards him. He knew who it was and he knew he should move. However, his legs seemed to forget how to move, leaving him standing in the middle of a corridor. He could hear Sheppard's voice calling his name through the radio as Evan turned the corner. He stopped when he saw Rodney and for a split second Rodney thought it might be Ok. That Lorne would recognize him and ask for his help. Then his expression changed, a savage look replacing the surprised one as Evan raced the gun and pointed it directly at McKay's head.


A/N: So that's it from me for now! Hope you enjoyed and keep an eye out for the next installment. I'm going to try something a little different in the beginning of the next chapter so beware and read the Author's note that will accompany it.

Please review! I love to hear what you all think, even if it's to give me pointers or completely go nuts at me for ruining your version of the characters or story or whatever. I hope you won't but every review is eaten up with a smile!

Have a lovely day and Ciao for now!