HAPPY EASTER! Have a new chapter.

John stood at the foot of the stairs, the blue of the wormhole casting light shadows around the room. Behind him the control was unusually full for the late hour. Impatience was building in his muscles, the need to go and get Elizabeth back building in him to the point it almost hurt. Rodney was stood at the ops station, chattering away to Zalenka on the radios while tapping keys on the console. John could only hope he was setting up the shield for when they got back, somehow he felt they were going to have to make a hasty exit back to the city. As the gate shut down, Teyla and Ronon came in, both kitted up and ready to go. Turning as Rodney came down the stairs he asked, "How're we doing McKay?"

"Everything's set," he said, zipping up his vest and rummaging in his pockets at the same time. Pulling out three personal transmitters he passed them around. No bigger than the palm of his hand, John turned it over, hovering his finger over the button there.

"What's this do?" Ronon asked, pre-empting John's own question.

"It turns it on and off," Rodney sneered, to him, he felt he was stating the obvious.

John clipped it to his vest, just below his radio before pressing the button to activate it. The effect was instant. Everyone around him stilled and silenced, Rodney's mouth open, about to form a word. Taking a step, John was surprised that he felt like he was moving normally, each step he took was no faster than normal, no longer than normal. It felt like it was everyone else that had stopped. Had it been like for Elizabeth the night she went missing, he couldn't help but wonder. Standing behind McKay he turned the transmitter off again, finally hearing Rodney get his words out, "Don't turn it on yet." The words tumbled out of his mouth, slowly quietening as his face crumpled into confusion. He looked over to Ronon and Teyla "Where'd he go?"

"I'm right here McKay." Instantly Rodney spun around, his mouth formed into an 'oh'. "How many more of these have you got?"

"A few. Why?"

"We're going to need three to bring back Dr. Weir and the other two missing personnel."

"Right," Rodney muttered before going over to one of the storage boxes the tech teams had brought up with them. Turing back to the 'gate, John first checked his P90, making sure everything was in working order before checking his watch. Only a minute to go. Rodney reappeared at his side pushing the spare transmitters into his pocket. Out of the corner of his eye, John watched Carson lead a medical team in, propping three stretchers against the wall. The thought that they might need them made his blood run cold, the impatience turning to nervousness.

As before, the control room grew quiet, only this time more hopeful. Beside him, Rodney's tablet bleeped. Quickly he silenced the alarm and nodded at Sheppard. Stepping back away from the gate, John watched as the wormhole engaged, the surge rolling back and making the blue puddle shimmer slightly before it settled. However, it was what John didn't see that worried him. There was no sight of a 'fluctuation,' whatever one might look like.

"Did it work?"

Rodney looked equally puzzled, "yes."

"Well, where is it?" John could hear the tension in his own voice.

For a moment the 'gate room was quiet, everyone looking around for something, although what they weren't sure. "I believe I have found it," Teyla shouted from behind the Stargate. Rounding the 'gate, John had to grab Rodney before he fell into the black hole in the floor. The sight of it shocked John. He'd been expecting something more interesting, not just a flat black hole in the floor.

"Is it stable?"

Again Rodney poked at his tablet before contacting Zalenka. Finally, both men agreed that it had worked. Relief flooded through John. Looking around him, he nodded to Ronon and Teyla, watching as they activated the transmitters, beside him Rodney doing the same, all three of them vanishing from view. Looking up to ops he shouted, "the moment we get back, you activate the shield." After receiving a chorus of 'yes, Sir's' he activated his own transmitter.

Instantly Rodney, Ronon and Teyla reappeared. "How are we going to do this?" Teyla asked, looking at the fluctuation in front of her with a touch of nervousness.

"Easy," Ronon grinned before stepping over the fluctuation and falling through.

"Oh yes, real easy." Rodney's grumblings were to hide his fears John knew. Looking from Teyla to Rodney John followed Ronon's lead, stepping forward and feeling the floor disappear beneath his feet. The fall was shorter than he expected, only like jumping down a flight of stairs. His feet hit the floor with a heavy thud. Ronon was already stood waiting for him, instantly pulling him up to stand by his side. The cold began to eat through his uniform in a matter of moments, chilling his skin. It took a few minutes more before Teyla and McKay fell through and joined them, Teyla landing neatly on her feet while Rodney hit the floor and ended up on his side.

"What took you so long," John whispered.

"Rodney thought it may be wise to remain behind to monitor the fluctuation." John couldn't hide his slight grin at Teyla's words. "He took some convincing."

"Yes well, if something goes wrong we may be stuck here." Even whispering, John could hear the grumble in McKay's voice. Turing away from them, John looked around the room they were in. Or at least he tried too. Outside of the pool of light cast by the ceiling, the room was in total gloom. Flipping the light on his P90 on he took a few steps into the shadows, swing his weapon around in slow motions catching sight of stairs that led upwards into the fluctuation. At least he didn't have to worry about an exit. Finding an opening, he signalled the others to follow him.

They'd only taken a few steps when Rodney's voice made him stop. "Wait, we can turn the transmitters off."

"Why?" Ronon's voice was quiet, but John was sure he was thinking the same thing as him; If they turned the transmitters off, they'd be at a huge disadvantage.

"Time here moves at the same speed as the rest of the universe," Rodney explained, reaching up and clicking his transmitter off. Quickly John nodded at Ronon and Teyla, the three of them mirroring McKay's actions. Again the began moving.

Taking slow, measured steps John followed the corridor, keeping the beam of his torch low, illuminating only a small space in front of him. Behind him, he could hear the quiet footsteps of his team following him. When the corridor split he came to a halt, shining his light up both corridors. "Which way?" Teyla asked.

Turing to Rodney he looked at the life signs detector in his hand, waiting for his verdict. "There's only one life sign to the left. Way more down there," he pointed to the right hand corridor.

"Can you tell if they're human?" If they could, it would make their job so much easier.

"No," Rodney shook his head. Exhaling slowly, John though. Splitting up in enemy territory didn't seem like such a good option, not when the stakes where so high. Nor did charging into a room full of potential enemies. Going towards one life sign increased the odds of successfully rescuing one member of the expedition. However, it may not be the member John wanted to rescue most of all. The thought made him feel guilty. Everyone on the expedition was important, and equally deserving of rescue, not just Elizabeth.

Signalling with his hand, John guided them down the left hand corridor. The walls quickly fell away into a bigger space. Lifting his weapon John shone his light around the room, the beam flashing off metal bars on either side of them. A moment later someone shouted them. Jogging over, John came face to face with Zeke Marshall. The young man looked terrified. His deeply tanned skin was pale in the weak lighting and his eyes were flicking around the room, not focusing on anything for longer than second.

From behind him, Teyla's calm voice echoed in his ear. "He's in shock." Nodding in agreement, John reached through the bars, grabbing him by the arm. The physical contact seemed to jar him, his frantic eyes finally going still, locked on John.

"Dr. Marshall? Are you with us now?" John asked, doing his best to break the scientist out of the state he was in. Finally receiving a nod, John exhaled, turning to the rest of his team. Rodney was stood beside Ronon, both of them examining a control panel. Ronon had his hands pressed against the switches, almost growling as he tried to press them, the strength he was exerting doing nothing to change their position.

Rodney was watching him with mild distaste. "Clearly that's not working."

"I'd like to see you try." Ronon grunted, still fighting with the switches. Turning away, John began inspecting the rest of the room. None of the other cells were occupied, they didn't even have bars. Swinging his light around, he was about to turn back to the others when the beam reflected off of something on the floor. His heart sinking, he went over to it. Tapping the liquid with his fingers, he was unsurprised to find blood. Another light appeared over his shoulder, brightening the pool, showing its extent in startling detail, in some places he could see where it had run down the back wall and dripped to the floor. In other places it was smeared along the ground, the drops dry and flaky.

Looking up at Teyla he saw the concern in her face. "It's fresh," she commented.

"Yeah." He tried to keep his voice calm and level, but part of him knew he wasn't doing so well at it.

"It's Lt. Shann's blood," Zeke called, finally speaking. Immediately John stood and went over.

"Are you certain?" He couldn't help but ask, but he had to know, to be sure.

Zeke nodded, "she wasn't doing so well. They took her and Dr. Weir a little while ago."

"Took them where?"

"Down the corridor you came through, after that I don't know." Again his worries about splitting up came to the forefront of his mind, but leaving someone behind wasn't an option he was ever willing to consider.

Teyla seemed to agree with him. "Dr. McKay and I will remain here and work on freeing Dr. Marshall." Relief unfurled in his chest, silently he thanked Teyla and her calm, rational understanding.

"Ronon, you're with me." Plucking the life signs detector out of Rodney's pocket, John headed out of the cell block with Ronon behind him.

We're almost done folks. Thank you for sticking with me for so long.