Westward to Pegasus

The readers have spoken - John Sheppard walked away too easily in the SGA showdown with Kolya. Well, that won't happen here.

Chapter 25

"John, NO!" Teyla shouted as she saw her friend's eyes slide shut. Heedless of any danger that might still be lurking in the streets, she looked up at Ronon in desperation. "We must get him to Carson. Now!"

With a quick nod, Ronon stood up and, with Rodney's help, gently picked up their fallen comrade while Teyla attempted to hold a rag over the wound.

Rodney and Lorne managed to clear a path through the curious citizens who now felt safe enough to come out of hiding. A hush followed them as they moved quickly into Carson's surgery.

"BLOODY HELL!" Carson raged when he saw who his patient was, but he quickly got to work with Jennifer silently assisting him.

"Trust me, the other guy is worse," Ronon told him, but the doctor found little solace in that. Muttering about soldiers too stupid to stay out of trouble, Carson carefully removed the metal breastplate that Rodney and Radek had made and concentrated on the delicate task of extracting the bullet from John's right shoulder without further injuring his patient and friend. With Shappard, things were rarely easy.

No longer needing to assist, Teyla stepped back into a corner, unable to do anything else. She felt herself start to shake as she thought back to the fight that had taken place only minutes earlier. She had been stationed to the right of John and Ronon, between the hotel and stables. She could not aim her shotgun without giving away her position, so instead she stood poised for action as she watched the scene played out in front of her.

Teyla had never been more terrified in her life. The Wraith Gang had destroyed her people, Ronon's people, and the lives of countless other communities. Kolya had personally tortured John in the worst ways imaginable, causing physical and mental scars of which John would never be fully rid, simply for the pleasure of causing pain. Now, the two most important men in her life were standing in front of this monster and his gun, with nothing to save them but their own reflexes and the grace of the Ancestors.

She had contemplated shooting Kolya herself and ending this farce, but she feared that bullets would start flying in all directions and even more people would be hurt, especially as John and Ronon had no cover. It was not what they would want to happen. Therefore, she could only watch and wait.

Everything had happened so quickly. She heard the shot, but only later did she realize that both men had fired at exactly the same time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kolya stop and fall to his knees. His second fall at the sound of Ronon's big gun when he tried to avenge his leader. But her attention was focused on John, and she found that she could not take in a breath. She had seen him jerk involuntarily.

Her heart in her mouth, she ran toward the Lantean men. John was still on his feet, and a part of her hoped that perhaps the bullet had merely grazed him or hit the body armor. But when she reached him, she could see that something was wrong.

John was focused on Kolya and did not seem to notice that he was injured. She called his name several times until his eyes shifted over to her. He seemed unfocused and confused.

She jumped when she realized that Rodney was now talking to John over her shoulder. She turned toward him for a moment but instantly turned back when she saw a look of horror on his face.

As if in a dream, she could not reach out fast enough to catch John as he fell. Thankfully, Ronon had been standing next to him and seemed to understand something was wrong. He had moved into place behind the man and slowly lowered him to the ground before he could be hurt further.

Teyla did not realize she was holding her breath as she reached for John. He was wearing a black jacket, and it was impossible to tell how badly he was hurt. Then she saw a bullet hole in the shoulder and carefully pulled back the flap of his jacket. A growing stain of red coated his shirt underneath. The shot had hit him in the shoulder only millimeters away from the edge of the alloy breastplate.

Then his eyes closed, her name on his lips.

The rest seemed like a blur as they carried John as quickly as possible to Carson. Since Jennifer was in the surgery helping Carson, Teyla could only stand back instead of focusing her nervous energy on helping John. Now, she stood propped in the corner watching Carson neatly stitch the wound while Jennifer went to check on other patients. His lips moved, but Teyla thought he must be speaking to himself since she heard nothing over the hum in her ears. At one point he looked up at her and seemed to say something, but Teyla could not bring herself to move beyond the numbness that seemed to envelop her.

She jumped when a hand suddenly fell on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ronon's concerned gaze staring down at her.

"Come on," he said. "You should get cleaned up. Sheppard'll be okay."

Teyla looked back down at her unconscious friend. He looked younger when he slept. She could see the rise and fall of his chest, but otherwise he lay motionless. It did not look right for such a vibrant man.

Ronon squeezed her shoulder, reminding her that he was still there. She looked at Carson, surprised that he seemed to be watching her rather than focusing on John. He nodded in agreement with Ronon.

Teyla suddenly felt very tired, unable to fight their decision despite desperately wanting to stay at John's side lest something happen to him. With effort, she pushed away from the wall and walked slowly toward the door.

Carson and Ronon exchanged one last look and Ronon gave the doctor a quick nod as he followed Teyla out the door. He could see why the doctor had called him into the room, saying that Teyla appeared to be in shock. He had arrived moments later to see her in the corner, pale and shaking and barely able to stand. There were streaks of blood on her face and in her hair, and her arms were coated with it. The dress she was wearing was most likely ruined, although Ronon hoped he could distract one of the women in town from the horror of the Wraith attack by scrubbing the dress straight away.

"You stay here and wait for news on Sheppard," Ronon told a worried-looking Rodney, who stood up as he walked in to the front room of the surgery holding Teyla's elbow.

"Is she okay?" the scientist asked in a low voice, so far from the obnoxious behavior he usually displayed. Ronon managed to hold in a snort – Sheppard would be incredulous when he found out McKay had been worried enough to be nice.

"She will be," Ronon said, leading her to the door. Rodney sighed and sat back down in the chair.

TBC

Up next: Sheppard on morphine.