AN: Please accept this update as an offering to the great fanfiction gods! Don't hurt me, I'll update as soon as I can! :) Please enjoy.

Chapter Twenty Six

Destruction and Devastation

Ronon constantly felt guilt after his planet was destroyed and he was used as a play thing for the Wraith. But after leaving Anna in tears two days earlier, he was feeling a guilt he had never felt. He not only left her, the woman who birthed him a healthy and strong son, but his crying child. He felt like a terrible father. He felt like a terrible human being.

Elsa tried to tell him that he did nothing wrong, that she should never have asked him to pick between his people and his child, but Ahalo didn't say anything. Ronon knew it was because Ahalo had been married with a child before Sateda fell. Ahalo knew best how hard the choice actually was.

"Why didn't you just bring them with you?" Elsa asked annoyed while they all sat at a table outside of the least populated tavern in the village they lived in.

Ronon was apprehensive to answer the question. "I didn't know if the planet was safe at the time." He grumbled truthfully.

"Don't you trust us?!" Elsa shrieked.

Ronon glared at her quickly. "I trust my own eye more." He answered roughly.

"Fair enough." She mumbled sourly.

"How long are you staying?" Ahalo asked curiously.

"Not much longer." Ronon answered shrugging.

"You miss your son?" Elsa asked sympathetically.

"I miss my home." Ronon corrected.

Ahalo reached out and patted Ronon's shoulder roughly. "I'm glad you found another place to call home Ronon. It's good for you. For all of us." He said truthfully.

Ronon sighed and stood. "I'll come back soon." He promised.

Ahalo stood and pulled Ronon into a tight hug. "I know." He said without doubt.

"Bring them next time, and then she won't have anything to cry about." Elsa mumbled under her breath.

"Elsa!" Ahalo yelled, smacking her for her rudeness.

Elsa almost went to strike Ahalo but thought otherwise and instead hugged Ronon. "Stay well Ronon," She said gently.

Ronon patted her back firmly, knowing she could take it. "You too." He told her hopefully.

Ronon went back to Ahalo's home to get his things then walked with them back to the gate. They parted quietly, barely nodding before Ronon disappeared through the wormhole. In the mere seconds it took, Ronon was thinking of how he would begin to apologize to Anna but when he reached Atlantis he was consumed in chaos.

The entire gate room was flooded with people and dust. It was the most disorganized he'd ever seen Atlantis in all the time he had been there. Every other person he laid eyes on was injured in some way and his heart plummeted with one single thought. Were Anna and Gavin hurt as well?

One of the Marines he spared with on occasion, Morrison he was pretty sure his name was, ran up to him. "Ronon!" He called out, skidding to a halt in front of him.

"What happened?!" Ronon demanded, dropping his bag and reaching for his gun in case there was something or someone that needed to be killed.

Morrison caught his breath before he started speaking. "A device in the lower levels exploded and caused a lot of structural damage." He answered while trying not to cough.

The dread forming in his gut started to consume him. "Where's Anna and Gavin?!" He yelled fiercely, making the seasoned Marine jump.

Jen appeared in front of him through the mass of hysteria with a set jaw and bloodshot eyes. "Missing." She choked out.

Ronon's head started to spin. He felt like he was reliving the tragedy of losing his wife on Sateda. But somehow, it was worse now. The thought of losing his son and Anna was too much for him. Not knowing their true fate started to eat a hole inside him bigger than anything he'd ever been through in his life.

Jen angrily wiped the tears from her face. "They're part of the quarter of the expedition that's unaccounted for so go help find them!" She ordered pointing to the main stair case.

Ronon rushed passed her and started running through the halls. He'd have to get two towers over and three levels down from the top most floor, but he didn't care. He had to get there somehow. It was the last place he saw them and he knew that's where he would have to start searching.

He cleared one of the towers without much resistance but the passages to the next tower were clogged with rubble and people trying to get through, either to clear the rubble or to get out. Ronon forced his way through the crowd but when he saw John talking to a Major on one of the balcony's he ran up to him.

"Sheppard, why didn't anyone contact me?" He demanded angrily.

John sent the Major off and looked back to Ronon. "We couldn't, the gate won't dial out, we still have long range sensors though and the Daedalus is coming to help." He explained as calmly as he could. "We'll find Anna and Gavin, don't worry." He tried to promise.

Ronon sealed his eyes when he felt tears threaten to fall just at the sound of their names. "Who else is missing?" He choked out.

"Becka and Anya, Rodney just got dug out with Radek." John answered, running his fingers through his hair.

"What about Teyla?" Ronon asked fearfully.

"She took Molly to the main land just after you left." John said trying not to sound as relieved as he was, knowing the kind of hell his best friend was in.

"They're okay?" Ronon asked taking in a deep breath.

"Perfectly fine." John sighed thankfully. He had yet to contact them yet, but he at least knew they were on solid ground, away from all the troubles of Atlantis. "And I know Anna and Gavin are." He said patting Ronon's arm. "Follow me, there's a search party working its way up toward where they were last seen." He said jogging toward the stairs.

A path that normally took five minutes, now took twenty with all the caved in halls. Marines were working completely calm while the scientists were a tad more frantic. The more scientists Ronon recognized the worse he felt. None of them were Anna.

They came upon Lorne and a small team working on a completely caved in hallway. His home was only fifty feet on the other side of the fallen rubble. "How's it going Lorne?" John asked breathing heavily.

"Not much better than before, Sir." Lorne said glumly. "How is Rodney doing with getting the radio's back up?" He asked, moving rubble without looking up to John or Ronon. Neither were insulted.

"He says he's working on it." John said with a huff.

"Why aren't you working faster?" Ronon asked irritably.

Lorne stiffened and looked up, but wasn't angry, he was in fact quite worried. "It's as fast as we can go. We have to clear the rubble and secure the structure of the cleared area before moving on, or it's going to fall in on us all over again." He tried to explain.

Ronon couldn't stay still. He was too close to just stop where he was. "We can't keep waiting!" He yelled, turning to run to the balcony nearby.

"Ronon!" John yelled, following him out to the balcony.

Ronon ignored the yells from John and the Marines, scaling the side of the building to the next balcony that led to the common room of the floor, where we would have access to all the apartments. Being as motivated as he was, he made it easily across, even with the wind.

When he made it to the balcony he forced the door open and ran into the common room. It was littered with the ruin of the roof. John and Teyla's door was half covered, the door to his apartment was completely blocked but Radek and Becka's door was seemingly cleared. "Anna!" He yelled, banging on his door. "Anna!" He bellowed, making his voice echo through the room.

There was quiet at first and Ronon only wanted to scream again until he heard a familiar voice. "Ronon?!" He heard yelled through the walls. He strained his ears to hear where it came from, but he knew who it was.

"Becka?!" He yelled back.

"Oh, thank the Virgin Mary! Ronon, I have Gavin!" She yelled frantically.

Ronon felt one of the knots in his chest undo itself hearing that his son was just on the other side of the wall before him. He ran up to Becka's door and tried to pry it open.

"Where's Anna?!" He asked, trying not to hope.

"I don't know, she asked me to watch him and then left!" She answered.

Ronon felt the need to throw up clench his stomach but he forced it back down. He pulled his gun from his holster and set it to 'kill'. "Get away from the door!" He bellowed and hoped Becka got far enough away to be safe from the blasts.

He took two steps back and started firing at the door. When the hole in the door was big enough for him to force it open. Becka's head poked out from around the corner and she rushed out with a bag on her shoulder holding both the babies. Ronon followed her out and took Gavin as quickly as he could.

Gavin was squirming against him, coughing softly. Ronon was worried about the cough, but he was too relieved to have his son in his arms. "Are you okay?" He asked looking at Becka as she bounced Anya to calm her down.

Becka nodded, her brown eyes wide in fear. "I think so, there's been a lot of dust kicked up in here and I don't know what's actually in it." She said looking worryingly between Anya and Gavin.

Ronon's mind quickly went over all of the horrible things that could be trapped in the walls of Atlantis and rushed Gavin to the balcony. "Follow me." He ordered.

Becka followed and saw the Marines and John on the balcony fifty feet over and four feet down. "How are we supposed to get over there?!" She screeched.

Ronon almost rolled his eyes, but handed Gavin to Becka instead. "Stay here," He said pointing to the balcony. He wanted his son to get fresh air.

Climbing back was not as easy as the first time, but Ronon managed to get there without losing his life. He landed on the balcony and John was in his face as soon as his feet were planted.

"Ronon, what are you doing?!" John demanded.

"Becka, Anya and Gavin are over there." Ronon said pointing back to the balcony. Becka had stepped into the doorway to get out of the wind with the babies. "I just got them out, but they can't climb." He told the shocked Marines.

"Puddle-jumper! They're still getting to the jumper bay, but I can go wait there then fly one out once they do, go wait for me up there with them. I'll try to get a doctor or nurse to follow you up." John said hitting Ronon's shoulder then started running.

Ronon nodded and started back toward Becka and the babies while the Marine's rushed to clear the hallway. After slipping twice and barely catching himself Ronon swore he would never climb on the outside of Atlantis again. Unless it pertained to Anna and Gavin's safety.

He scrambled onto the balcony and Becka was quickly at his side. "What's going on?" She asked hopefully, passing Gavin back to him.

Ronon cradled Gavin close to his chest, protecting him from the wind and relaxed for a moment against the wall. "Sheppard is going to go and wait for them to dig out a puddle-jumper then he'll get us out of here." He answered tiringly.

They weren't close to safe. Anna was still missing and Ronon was sure there was something wrong with his son. But he had won a small battle he was at least thankful for that. Becka sank next to him, hiding Anya behind Ronon's massive arms. Ronon could tell there was something wrong just by the way she looked down at her daughter. It was the same look Anna had when she had first tried to talk to him.

"What?" Ronon asked concerned. He had learned his lesson, he was always going to listen to the women in his life from now on.

"They've been breathing strange and coughing a lot." Becka answered solemnly.

Ronon could feel it too. Gavin was almost wheezing against him and all the relief he had once felt had completely left him. Worry had taken over now. They waited quietly, listening keenly to their children and for help. Fifteen minutes later a weak voice could be heard with the wind.

"Hello?!" A high pitched, but male voice, asked desperately.

Ronon reached for his gun quickly. "Hold him." He said handing Gavin to Becka and jumping to his feet.

He ran to the edge of the balcony and saw a short male nurse with a huge bag slung on his shoulder. Ronon grunted and reached down, stretching as far as he could and grabbed the man and hauled him over the side. Once the man found his land legs he looked up at Ronon and gulped. "Th-thanks," He stammered.

Ronon pointed toward Becka. "Check the babies." He said seriously.

The man didn't need to be told twice. He rushed to Becka and started unpacking the supplies he brought. Ronon loomed over him and watched as he checked the baby's temperature, blood pressure and breathing sounds. His face changed when he listened to their chests and it didn't ease Ronon at all. Ronon and Becka didn't ask any questions, both too afraid to know the answers and let the nurse work until they saw a puddle-jumper start to slowly back toward them.

Ronon dragged everyone into the common room and waited for John to stop. He couldn't completely land the jumper since there wasn't enough and when the hatch opened there was three feet between the ground and the jumper. Ronon lifted Becka up into the jumper, then passed Anya and Gavin to her and John. The nurse climbed in on his own and Ronon did the same.

"How's everyone?" John asked as he closed the hatch and sat back in the driver's seat.

Ronon plopped into the seat next to him and shook his head while Becka handed him Gavin. "I dunno," He mumbled listlessly.

"Beckett is waiting with a team in the jumper-bay." John said quietly, looking at Gavin sadly.

It didn't take John more than two minutes to get back down into the jumper bay. Beckett was waiting with just one other nurse and two stretchers.

As soon as the hatch was open Beckett rushed in. "Becka, on the stretcher." He said sternly.

"I'm fine, I'm worried about them." She said looking down to Anya.

Beckett looked over Becka. She was dirty and looked a complete mess, but she didn't have a scratch on her. He nodded and reached for Anya. Becka let her daughter go with troubled eyes. Ronon stood and gave Gavin to the nurse that had scaled the side of the tower. He trusted him more at the moment. "We'll take good care of them." Beckett told them with a reassuring smile.

Becka and Ronon believed him but still followed him to the infirmary. Gavin and Anya were scared because of the chaos around them but their parents weren't worried about that anymore.

When they got to the infirmary and Anya and Gavin were in the cribs being attended to Becka asked John about Radek.

"He's fine, he's with Rodney getting the radios fixed." John answered knowingly.

She let out a relieved breath. "Does he know?" She asked more calmly than before.

"Yeah, he'll be down as soon as he gets the radios back up." John said, giving Becka a small smile of hope.

"Anna's missing, isn't she?" Becka asked sadly.

Ronon felt her words stab into his chest and he wanted nothing more than to disappear into the walls of Atlantis.

"Go look for her, I'll watch over Gavin." Becka said firmly.

While Ronon was normally annoyed with Becka, he knew from that moment on he would never feel anything less that admiration for her.

He nodded and left with John.

"It'll be okay." John said surely.

"I'll make it okay." Ronon corrected, stalking off, hoping his feet would guide him toward the one person he was missing more than anything.

AN: Review!