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Tempting Fate

It had been raining for most of the time that they had been on P79Z38. They had tried to take shelter in one of the many caves but John came to the conclusion that unless they were planning to stay for days the rain just wasn't going to stop.

Add to that that the possible "ZPM factory" that Radek Zalenka had discovered turned out to be empty both of ZPMs and information and it was no surprise that Rodney was in full gripe mode as they trudged back to the gate.

"I cannot believe this," he was saying. They were all soaked through to the skin and water was dripping into his eyes. Rodney wiped his face with an already wet handkerchief. "I shall probably catch pneumonia. You wait until I get hold of Radek. Zed P M factory my ass. I don't know how he managed to talk me into this. I'm gonna have him cataloging crap for a month."

"Now Rodney," John said as they slogged through the mud. "You know that you were just as excited as he was about the prospect."

"That's not the point."

"Complaining will not improve our situation," Teyla said.

"I could put you out of your misery," Ronon suggested from behind him. "And us out of ours."

"Oh ha !" Rodney said. "I am so sick of this God forsaken planet. Nothing could make my life worse at this point."

"Careful Rodney," John said. "Don't go tempting fate now."

"I don't believe in fate," Rodney sniffed.

They trudged on in silence for another thirty minutes. The sky was getting darker and the wind stronger as they got closer to the gate area.

Suddenly John noticed streaks of light in the sky. "What is that ?" he asked pointing up.

Rodney squinted upwards shielding his eyes with his hand. "Meteor shower," he said. "This atmosphere's a little thin but unless they're real big they shouldn't be a prob...holy crap !"

A large meteor smacked into the ground several hundred yards away from them leaving a fiery crater in it's wake.

"Those caves !" John yelled running towards some caves to their right. "Move !"

They ran as fast as they could to the shelter of the caves. Rodney slipped and Ronon picked him up and pushed him forward into the cave.

"Thank you," Rodney said shaking mud off his hands. "I think."

John was looking outside. Dozens of the giant rocks were falling now leaving the ground scarred with giant grooves. "Wow," he said. "How long will this go on ?"

Rodney was sitting on his pack towards the back of the cave. He had got one of his boots off and was wringing water out of his sock. "Depends," he said putting his damp sock back on. "On how many there are."

John turned towards him and pulled a face. "Oh that's real profound," he said.

"Well that's what you get for asking questions that I have no possibility of answering," Rodney said tying his bootlace. "Could be minutes. Could be hours."

Ronon sat down with his back to the cave wall and Teyla sat next to him.

John sat down against the wall next to Rodney. "Do you have to do that ?" he asked as Rodney took his other boot off.

"My feet are wet," Rodney replied taking his sock off. "Ever heard of trench foot ?"

"I could've done without that image," John replied as Rodney wrung the water out of his sock.

Several minutes later the rocks stopped falling. "Think it's over ?" John asked.

Rodney just looked at him sideways as he finished tying his boot.

"Well," John said. "We'll just give it a few minutes, then."

It took them another twenty minutes to walk the remaining distance to the gate. They crested the hill and stopped in place surveying the landscape.

"Oh no no no no no no no," Rodney said moving ahead of John.

The gate had been hit by at least one of the giant meteors. It was face down and half sunk into the mud. To add to that a smaller rock had hit the DHD which had a gaping hole right through the top. Black smoke was curling out from the remnants of the machine.

Rodney looked devastated. "There is no way of repairing that," he said. "The control crystals are toast."

"I don't suppose that Atlantis could dial here ?" John said. "Radio through."

Rodney glared at him. "If the gate had landed on it's back maybe but it landed on it's front. It won't form a wormhole like that !"

"Well at least it's stopped raining," John said.

"Wonderful."

"OK," John said. "Elizabeth will try to get hold of us and when she can't she'll send the Daedalus. We've got supplies. There's plenty of water.."

"I'll say."

"We'll be fine, Rodney."

"The Daedalus isn't even back from earth yet. It'll be at least a week," Rodney whined.

"We need to find shelter before dark," Ronon said walking back towards the caves.

"Just think of it as camping," John said smiling and slapping Rodney on the shoulder as he walked past.

"Oh. Joy." Rodney said rolling his eyes.

oOo

They sat in the cave that they were in when the meteors fell. John had taken the pack from Rodney and was checking the supplies. "Pockets, Rodney," John said holding his hand out.

Rodney sighed and slapped two power bars and a chocolate bar into John's palm. "I'll keep the glucose tablets if that's all the same with you," he said holding a tube in his left hand.

"No problem," John replied adding the power bars and the candy to the small pile that he had in front of him. "OK. We're going have to supplement this if we're gonna last out a week so tomorrow we're have to check for wild game and berries and such."

Ronon came back with more firewood and put it next to their campfire. "There are small animal tracks in the forest," he said. "Should be able to catch somethin'."

"In the meantime," John said. "Which MRE do you want ?"

oOo

John awoke to the sound of Rodney complaining. He kept his eyes closed for a moment. "This is going to be a long week," he thought.

"How on earth do you rest on that ground ?" Rodney was saying. "My back's killing me. I can barely move. What are you doing ? No... no... ow ! "

John opened one eye and looked towards the entrance where Rodney stood still arching his back as Ronon walked away.

"Are you insane ? You could've... actually that does feel better..."

"You're welcome."

"John ?" Teyla said from beside him.

John sat up and stretched. "I'm awake," he said.

"Ronon found some eggs," she said. "And Rodney pulled a flat piece of metal from the DHD to cook them on. Breakfast will be ready soon."

"I don't suppose there's plates and toast in this dream ?"

"I have found some shells for plates," Teyla said holding up four fairly large flat shells. "But no toast."

"Hey that's better than I thought," John said walking out into the open air.

"About time you got up," Rodney said.

"And good morning to you too, Rodney," John replied. "I hear that you've already been out and about," he said pointing to the flat plate with the eggs cooking on it.

"It was either that or eat them raw," Rodney said.

"I had no problem with that," Ronon said.

"Yuk."

"Nothing like incentive," John said.

oOo

After a few days they had moved their camp to a cave that was next to the river with a large open area between the cave entrance and the water. They had also settled into a routine of sorts.

Rodney had managed to get himself banned from hunting with Ronon (too noisy), fishing with John (ditto) and berry picking with Teyla (ate too much of the fruit). So his primary job became keeping the campfire going. Rodney was actually OK with this since he didn't particularly care for, as he put it, "tramping through the forest looking for some poor little furry thing to murder" or "playing russian roulette with berries". As for fishing...

So having shaved (he had a battery operated razor which he shared with John) he sat by the campfire watching the clear water flow by. He was bored to tears. With a sigh he got up to gather more firewood.

He had walked just a few yards towards the trees when the arrow hit.

Rodney fell to his knees with an arrow in his right thigh. He cried out in pain. "Oh no not again," he said gritting his teeth. He looked around trying to see where his assailant was. Holding his leg he tried to get to his feet as another arrow hit him in his right side. As he fell to the ground everything faded to black and he was dimly aware of someone walking past him.

oOo

John and Ronon strolled back towards the camp. "Oh crap," John said. "Rodney let the fire go out."

"Figures," Ronon said.

They walked on for a few yards. "Rodney !" John said as he saw him lying on the other side of their camp.

John and Ronon pulled out their weapons and checked the perimeter. Finding no one John ran over to Rodney's side as Ronon checked for footprints.

"He's alive," John said turning Rodney onto his back and checking his eyes. "His pupils are dilated. Could be some kind of drug on these arrows."

"Four of 'em," Ronon said walking around and in and out of the cave. "Maybe five. They took everything. Packs, food, water bottles..."

"You'd better find Teyla," John said. "She doesn't know that there's anyone else here."

"Right."

Ronon soon returned with Teyla. "I do not understand," she said. "I thought that this planet was supposed to be uninhabited."

"So did I," John said as he and Ronon carried Rodney into the cave.

"By the looks of the tracks they have been watching us for some time," Ronon said.

"Waiting for an opportunity."

"We would have shared our supplies," Teyla said.

"Looks like they didn't want to share," Ronon replied.

John was bandaging Rodney's wounds with bandages from his pocket. "Well we need to find something to at least hold some water," he said. "Wish they hadn't got the first aid kit. What about Rodney's weapons ?"

"Yep they got 'em."

"I will find some more shells," Teyla said.

"Go with her," John said. "Let's stay in pairs."

Ronon nodded and followed Teyla while John stayed with Rodney.

Rodney moved and winced. He opened his eyes slightly. "John ?" he said. "What happened ?"

"You tell me," John said. "Careful. Don't try to move. We found you unconscious and the supplies are missing."

"I...I don't know," Rodney grunted in pain as he shifted position slightly. "I was going to get firewood and someone shot me."

"You've been hit twice. Stay still. We've got no blankets or anything so we're gonna have to see what we can find. It'll be at least a couple more days before the Daedalus arrives."

"Did I ever tell you that I really hate arrows ?" Rodney asked. "And camping..." he added.

"Yeah Rodney you did," John said sitting down with his back against the wall facing the cave entrance.

oOo

It was a long night. Ronon manhandled a sloping rock into the cave so that they could prop Rodney up as he was having trouble breathing when he was lying flat. Even so John spent the entire night listening as Rodney struggled to breathe. By the time that the sun rose he was tired, hungry and getting extremely cranky. He had pulled the sleeves off his shirt and Teyla was using the fabric to try and keep Rodney's fever down by soaking it in water and laying strips across his forehead. Add to that the chill of the night and they were all miserable.

"I tell ya," John said to Ronon. "If I ever catch up with those guys this planet might yet be uninhabited."

"Perhaps they had a greater need of the supplies than we do," Teyla said wringing out a piece of cloth and placing it carefully on Rodney's head. "They may have children."

Neither John nor Ronon looked particularly convinced by this argument.

"Yeah and McKay's Batman and I'm Robin," John muttered.

"They still could've asked," Ronon said.

"How long before the Daedalus will be here ?" Teyla said.

"Tonight at the earliest," John said. "That's assuming that Elizabeth called them as soon as she couldn't dial the gate."

"Rodney is getting sicker," Teyla said.

"I know, Teyla !" John said sharply holding his head in his hands. "I know," he added softly. "I'm sorry. It's just so frustrating not being able to do anything about it."

Teyla was giving Rodney sips of water and she carefully pushed one of his glucose tablets into his mouth. Rodney pulled a face but he took it without complaint. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Teyla patted him gently on his shoulder and Rodney closed his eyes.

"We are doing what we can, John," she said.

"I can take over if you need to sleep for a while," John said.

"You did not rest either."

"So no sense in both of us feeling like crap," John said getting up and walking to where Teyla was sitting on a rock by Rodney's side.

Teyla nodded and got up. "Perhaps for a short time," she said moving to the back of the cave to lay down.

"I'm going hunting," Ronon announced. "I can't just sit here."

John nodded as he soaked another strip of his shirt. "OK," he said. As Ronon left John took the cloth off Rodney's head and replaced it with the fresh one.

Rodney opened his eyes. "John ?" he said.

"Yeah. Teyla's taking a break."

"Hum. Daedalus ?"

"Soon Rodney. Maybe tonight. Hang in there."

oOo

By that evening Rodney was still getting worse. The fever hadn't broken and Rodney was barely conscious. He was wheezing, coughing and gasping for breath. Teyla was next to him and she looked worried.

"Sheppard," Ronon said standing up.

John looked up. A young man dressed in a simple tunic was approaching them. He had one of their water bottles filled with a milky liquid in his hand. John stood and raised his P90. Ronon already had his gun raised.

The man stopped several yards in front of the cave entrance.

"I am Gath," he said.

"Good for you." Sheppard kept his P90 pointed straight at the young man. "I'm not in the mood for pleasantries," he said. "You didn't leave us with anything so what do you want ?"

"My uncle is a violent man," Gath said. "I am sorry for what he did to your friend."

"Yeah. So ?" Ronon said.

"I wish to make amends," he said holding the bottle of liquid out towards them. "This is the antidote to the poison that is on the arrows." When neither John nor Ronon moved Gath put the bottle down on the ground in front of him. "I don't blame you for not trusting me," he said backing away. He turned and ran back into the forest.

They watched in silence until Gath was out of sight.

"Cover me," John said as he went and retrieved the bottle. He was half expecting an ambush but there was no movement from the surrounding forest.

"So now what ?" Ronon said holstering his weapon.

"I don't know. Teyla ?"

"Rodney is getting weaker. I fear that he may not have until morning."

"And we have no idea where the Daedalus is," John said. "They could be hours away or days."

"What if it's poison ?" Ronon said.

"They have already poisoned him," Teyla said.

John thought for a moment and then passed the bottle to Teyla who unscrewed the top and proceded to give it to Rodney.

Ronon stared a John. "I know," John said. "I'm not sure about it either."

oOo

They took turns sleeping and keeping watch and John was sitting in the cave entrance looking out. It was about four o'clock in the morning and he was propped against the wall and dozing. He was suddenly startled awake by a chirp from his radio.

"Colonel Sheppard."

John got to his feet. "Colonel Caldwell," he said. "Boy are we glad to hear from you."

Ronon, who had been asleep, sat up and looked at John who was now smiling.

"Are you ready for us to beam you up ?"

"We need to be beamed directly to the Sickbay," John said. "McKay's hurt."

"We picked up Doctor Beckett on the way. We'll see you soon. Out."

Teyla stood up as well. She too had been woken up by John talking. "I am glad that Carson is there," she said.

"Yeah," John said as a beam of bright light engulfed them and they disappeared.

oOo

Several days later Rodney was sitting up in bed in the Infirmary back on Atlantis when John came to see him. "Hey," he said smiling. He looked more like his old self and was tapping away on an open laptop.

"Does Carson know you've got that ?" John asked.

"Probably but he's not giving me any grief about it."

"How are you doing ?"

"Great. Carson's gonna let me out this afternoon so I'll probably be back on restricted duty in a couple of days."

"What is that ?" John said pointing to Rodney's laptop.

"It's a list of the odds and ends of miscellaneous crap that's been waiting for someone to catalog it in detail. I'm sending it to Zalenka's inbox."

"You're not going to let Radek forget this are you ?"

Rodney looked at him. "After what I went through on that planet ? Hell no."

"I told you not to tempt fate."

"What do you mean ?"

" Quote "Nothing could make my life worse at this point" unquote."

"I told you I don't believe in fate."

"Well apparently it believes in you."

Rodney looked at him for a moment and then shrugged and went back to adding to his list.

"Want to watch a movie tonight ? The Daedalus brought in some new ones."

"OK but nothing to do with arrows or camping."

"There's always "Lost In Space"."

oOo

Had an idea of what would happen if the gate was destroyed (like in the volcano) and they were stranded. And then they had to lose the supplies (don't want to make things too easy) and of course we all remember the theme of this particular story...
As always I love reviews ;) (but be kind)

debbie