Major Lorne crouched on the floor of the cell. The first thing he'd seen upon entrance was one dead Genii with a broken chair leg in his chest, the other unconscious, and he'd been expecting to see Cooper standing in the corner, arms crossed, wondering what the hell had taken them so long.

No dice. She was on the floor, pale as a sheet with bruises on her arms and face. She was holding on, but just barely. As he put a hand on her shoulder, her eyes fluttered open and she made a valiant attempt at a smirk. "Got 'em."

"You sure did, Lieutenant," he said. "Think you can make it out of here?"

"Maybe, if you hurry your ass up."

"You seem to be making it a habit for me to carry you out of danger. I mean, I'm a normal guy, I'm okay with dinner and a movie if you're that interested."

She let out a weak laugh and winced. "Don't flatter yourself, sir."

She was fading, in pain, and he didn't know what to do about it. He didn't know what was wrong, couldn't fix it. They should have brought Beckett.

"You need to hold on, Cooper," he said quietly. "We can go see that movie, if you want. You can tell me about that tattoo on your arm. I'm sure Ronon is curious how many enemies you had to kill to get that."

"It's a delta," she said softly.

"Great. Now you've ruined the surprise."

"What the hell did you do to her?" came Sheppard's voice over the radio. Someone was keeping the link open, allowing everyone to hear the scene transpiring between the two mortal enemies.

. . .

Kolya chuckled, his happiness inversely proportional to Sheppard's wrath. "Insurance," he said with a smile. "The poison I gave her will finish running its course soon. You have minutes, perhaps. Only I know where the antidote is. Now would you like to make a deal?"

Sheppard's jaw was so tight he thought his teeth would break. No one, no one, was allowed to kidnap his people, threaten their lives, and then use them like currency. He drew his sidearm, pointing it at Kolya's forehead. "I'm gonna give you one chance, Kolya."

"If you kill me, you will never find the antidote and your precious lieutenant will die."

He wanted to scream and cry and rage and fight, let this frustration explode out of him with some fireworks, but he did none of these. All he could do was glare at Kolya with every single ounce of hatred in his flaming soul. The last thing he wanted to do was give the Genii what he wanted. That would only perpetuate the cycle and more people would get hurt.

But then he realized the last thing, the only thing, he could take away from Kolya.

Himself.

He stepped back, holding the barrel of the gun against his own chin. Sure, Kolya wanted him dead, but not like this. Not on his own terms, not dying a hero, and not without taking payment out of Sheppard's own skin. If he took his own life, Kolya would have none of the revenge he wanted, and that was the only thing in the universe that could scare the commander.

"You don't give up that antidote, I will pull this trigger," he said, his voice low and rough. He didn't want to, especially not in front of his friends like this, but he was banking on Kolya not calling his bluff. "I'll end it myself, and then you'll have nothing."

. . .

The team in the cell instantly stiffened. What the hell was Sheppard doing? Lorne knew his CO was impulsive, but hadn't thought he'd ever pull a stunt like this.

"What?" Cooper said in a hushed voice, her breathing speeding up.

"Don't talk-" he tried to say, but in a burst of unexpected energy, she yanked his radio out of his tac vest and put it up to her mouth.

"Colonel, don't do this. Don't." She winced, letting her head fall back on the concrete. Lorne was terrified that she was using up all the strength she had left.

"This isn't your decision, Lieutenant."

Her eyes flew open, anger flashing within them. "It's my life you're about to kill yourself over!" She had to stop, resting for a moment after the outburst. Lorne held the radio so she wouldn't have to. "Sir, my life isn't worth more than anyone else's," she said, more quietly, her voice cracking. "If you do this, I will kill you."

"And if you tell me what to do again, I will have you court marshalled. Lorne, get her off the radio."

Reluctantly, knowing she'd hate him for it, he pulled the radio away and put it back in his vest. Tears were leaking out the corners of her eyes as she desperately prayed that Sheppard wouldn't do this.

. . .

"I'm gonna count to ten," Sheppard said, his hand surprisingly steady on the trigger. Kolya didn't seem to be buying this, and the only way to prove it was to do it. Please don't let it come to that.

"One."

"John, don't," Elizabeth said, stepping forward, but with a look from him, she hung back.

"Two."

They all wanted to talk him out of it. Hell, Ronon was glaring daggers at him, but they couldn't say anything. Talking him out of it would be losing the last bargaining chip. It would be trashing their plan B.

"Three."

Kolya was remaining silent, but he was no longer smiling. Apparently, things had gotten a little too dicey, even for him.

"Four."

Irritation was entering his voice. Talk, dammit! Time was running out. Time always seemed to be running out. Any longer, and they might not even get the chance to give Cooper the antidote before it was too late.

"Five."

He cocked the gun. Cocking his gun always told everyone he meant business.

"Six. Don't test me, Kolya, you know I'm a man of my word. Seven."

Teyla was pale, her hand itching to reach out and stop him. But she wouldn't. Not if he told her not to, with good reason. It occurred to him that no one in the room actually knew for sure if he was going to do this.

"Eight. Two more seconds, Kolya, now or never." The gun wasn't even cold anymore.

"Nine."

How would it feel to get shot in the head?

"T-"

"The infirmary, three doors down from her cell," he said in a rush, anger and resentment displayed on his face. "A green bottle labeled 'Nitrix.'"

Sheppard released the breath he'd been holding, the room starting to spin from the force of his relief. "Lorne," he said, his voice cracking embarrassingly.

"Stackhouse is already on it, sir."

Elizabeth was at his side, confiscating his sidearm. "If you ever do that to me again-"

"I know," he said wearily as she hugged him tightly. "Trust me, I'm not planning on it."

"Can I kill him now?" Ronon asked impatiently, his gun still pointed at Kolya's head.

"No!" Elizabeth said abruptly, turning around. "Laden has said wants him alive to be tried by his own people. We'll take him prisoner."

Sheppard looked down at her in incredulity. "Seriously? After all that?"

She shrugged helplessly. "We should honor the request, if we want to keep this alliance."

He sighed. "Fine. I'm gonna go check on Cooper. You guys, tie him up and throw him in the jumper. Four guards on him at all times." He left the room, eventually making his way to the cells. There were only two, strengthening his theory that this had only been a guard post. His men were in the first one, Lorne crouched next to a prone figure on the floor and the others standing at a respectful distance. He tried to force his heart to calm down. If they hadn't been in time, Lorne would have said something.

He was right. Cooper was awake, if only just, and the empty antidote bottle was on the floor next to her. He crouched on her other side, smiling as well as he could. "Good to see ya, Lieutenant."

She glared at him, then shoved him so hard he fell backward. "You are the most stupidly reckless person in two galaxies," she said, panting slightly from the strength of her anger.

"We think she's going to be fine, sir," Lorne said, completely deadpan save for the amusement in his eyes.

"Right," Sheppard said, frowning at the lieutenant. "We'll call Beckett over here. He'll get mad at me if we move her, and I've already got enough people that wanna hit me."

"Yes, sir. We'll wait with her."

He patted her on the leg, hoping she wouldn't kick him. "You did good, Cooper. I'll see you back in Atlantis."

. . .

Cooper was sitting on her bed in the infirmary, hooked up to an IV and a few monitors and reading Robinson Crusoe, when she received a visitor. She looked up to see Daniel coming towards her, and she closed her book on her finger with a smile. "Dr. Jackson."

He smiled back. "I'm gonna be leaving soon, so I figured I should say goodbye here since you're... indisposed."

She rolled her eyes. "You mean since Mom won't let me out?"

He chuckled. "All things considered, I think you deserve a couple of days' rest. Dr. Weir, too, although I'm having a hard time picturing her doing that."

"So you're telling me you don't want to stick around?" she asked. "I thought you had a good time here."

He gave an actual laugh at that. "Believe me, this doesn't even come close to some of the things I've been through. Not even very long ago, either. I'd love to stay, but the SGC wants me back." He patted her on the shoulder, a certain amount of gravity coming into his eyes. "I just wanted you to know that I consider it an honor to say I worked with you."

She blushed scarlet and looked down at the book in her lap. "I didn't even do anything. I just sat in a cell while Colonel Sheppard did all the heroics."

"Not true," he said. "You translated the Talasian language like a pro. You tried to keep everyone safe when you realized there was danger. And don't think Elizabeth didn't tell anyone what you did on Meenay. You repeatedly stood up for her, made yourself the buffer between her and Kolya. You told her to escape even when it meant you would probably die. That's not nothing, MJ, that's exactly what a soldier has to do."

She still wouldn't look at him. He'd called her MJ.

Like an equal.

"Thank you for coming," she said, finally looking up. "It really means a lot."

He nodded. "I need to be going. I've got a good report to give about the status here in Atlantis."

"Come back any time."

"I will."