"Dr. Weir? Elizabeth, love, can you hear me?"

Elizabeth groaned and opened her eyes to the sight of Carson's pale face hovering frantically above her. The headache she had been nursing ever since the first explosion was making itself known with a vengeance, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep.

But she couldn't. With a jolt, Elizabeth remembered that her city was in danger. She remembered the sound of the third explosion, John's ragged warning through the comms, Ronon appearing in the door to her office. Except it hadn't been Ronon, it hadn't even been something using Ronon's body. There wasn't any way that he could have gotten out of the cells, and in the brief struggle that followed, it hadn't seemed very much like Ronon at all.

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," Carson said, turning away from Elizabeth. "Right now, I'm a bit more worried about you, son."

"Is that...Ronon?" Elizabeth asked. The deep voice was unmistakable.

Ronon stepped into view, holding his hands up placatingly. He was bleeding freely from numerous cuts marking his face, and his right eye was already caked closed with the stuff.

"I swear it wasn't me," he said quickly. "You can ask Beckett."

"I know," Elizabeth responded. "Are you alright? What...what happened?"

"It was a Replicator," Ronon said shortly. "I killed it."

"And almost killed yourself in the process," Carson murmured. He got to his feet, giving Elizabeth a hand up, and then turned to Ronon. He clucked softly, already reaching up to examine Ronon's face. "I mean, look at the state of you. And that's just what I can see…."

"I can wait," Ronon told him, knocking his hand away. "Sheppard can't. We gotta get back there, Doc."

Carson inhaled, hissing his breath through his teeth. "Right. You can tell me what to expect on the way."

Elizabeth was exhausted, groggy, in pain, and endlessly confused, and now she was worried on top of it all. "Sheppard? Ronon, Carson, what's happened to John?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't bloody tell me," Carson said in frustration.

"The Replicator got him. It broke his leg, really bad. The bone snapped, went through his skin. He didn't look good when I left him, and he's gotta be worse now. Now c'mon, we gotta go."

Ronon grabbed hold of the back of Carson's jacket and shoved him bodily towards the door.

"The bone...went through his leg?" Carson said, sounding horrified. He started walking faster, and Elizabeth swallowed hard. If Carson was that worried….

Ronon turned back and hauled her to her feet. It took her a moment to find her balance, but she was steadier than she expected to be. She must not have been out long. If it had been more than a couple of hours, the hunger would have caught up to her.

Ronon propelled Elizabeth towards the door, a little more gently than he had Carson. His hands left bloody smears on her arm.

"Where's Rodney?" Elizabeth asked. "Is everyone else okay?"

No one was paying any attention to her, which she supposed was fair. Ronon tapped the comms in his ear. Elizabeth automatically felt the side of her own head, but her earpiece was gone. It must have fallen out when the Replicator had taken her. She felt naked without it. "Sheppard? Yeah, I'm fine. We have Elizabeth, and she's okay too. We're coming back to the Gateroom now."

There was a pause, and Elizabeth heard the crackly sound of John replying. Elizabeth supposed things couldn't be too bad yet, if John was still awake and able to respond.

"Are the transporters back on?" he asked.

The answer must have been a good one, because he hung up on John and dragged them down a second hallway, towards the transporter. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure exactly where in Atlantis they were, but she thought if she had to walk all the way back to the Gateroom, she might faint.

"Is life support fixed?" she asked weakly. There had been so many things wrong, so many problems she had had to deal with, and she was still struggling to catch up on what, exactly, was happening.

"Yeah," Ronon grunted. He was cupping his eye now, and blood was leaking sluggishly from between his fingers. "It's all fine. Everything's fine. We just need to get back to Sheppard."

As soon as Zelenka had turned the city's power back on, John had deployed a team of marines to go fetch Rodney from the lab where Carson had left him. Teyla had asked to be included. Rodney had been alone for a while at this point, and he was drugged and in pain. Teyla thought it might be nice for him to see a familiar face.

With the transporters back up, it had taken less than ten minutes for Teyla and the rest of the team to reach the lab where Rodney should be waiting. Even though Teyla knew the crisis was all but over, her body was still humming with nerves. As much as she knew Rodney needed her, she felt horrible to have left John. As soon as Zelenka had powered up Atlantis, all the fight had gone out of him, and by the time she'd been leaving to get Rodney, she was sure he'd been going into shock. It wasn't really as if there was anything she could do, but she just thought things would be easier for him if she could be by his side.

She also had absolutely no idea what to expect from Rodney. He was badly injured, and he'd been pulled from the infirmary and forced to work on something both difficult and important with a nearly impossible time constraint. Then he'd been left alone with no doctor and no comms for the better part of an hour. She just hoped he was still alright.

Even with the transporters, it had taken longer than Teyla had wanted to reach Rodney. As soon as the door to the lab was in sight, Teyla hurried towards it, pulling away from the Marines behind her.

Rodney was lying on a gurney in the middle of the room, and for a moment Teyla's heart stopped at how still he was. But then she was beside him, feeling for a pulse. It was there, slow and steady. He was just asleep.

Teyla breathed out in a rush of relief, taking her hand from Rodney's neck and moving it towards his wrist. Now that the initial shock of fear was past, Rodney actually looked quite peaceful. Carson had warned them that he'd given the physicist a large dose of painkillers, and they seemed to have done their job.

The last time Teyla had seen Rodney, his face had been drawn with pain, every breath seeming a struggle. Finally, the lines on his face had relaxed in sleep, and although he still looked far too pale and still for her liking, he did at least look restful.

"Can you hear me, Rodney?" Teyla asked him softly, pressing his hand gently. If he didn't wake easily, she wasn't about to bring him out of the sleep he so clearly needed. But she would like to let him know that his efforts had been successful, that Atlantis was safe.

Rodney stirred ever so slightly, mumbling something that was more sound than words. His head moved on the pillow, further tousling his already unusually messy hair. But he didn't open his eyes, and he didn't rouse further.

Teyla smiled, moving her hand to Rodney's head and flattening his hair back to its normal arrangement. Rodney made a comfortable sort of hum and seemed to sink further into the bed.

"Rest," Teyla told him, and turned to the Marines, hovering at a respectful distance. "We must get him back to the Gateroom. I believe Dr. Beckett is on his way there, and hopefully, the other teams are making progress on digging out the infirmary."

The Marines nodded, and moved forward to the gurney. Teyla tapped her comms, relieved that she would have good news for John.

The crackling sound of the commlink startled John out of a half-doze, jerking him into awareness with an unpleasant jolt. For a moment, all John could do was sit and breathe, working his way through the cacophony of pain in his head and his leg. He just wanted to let go, slip into the sweet relief of unconsciousness, let someone else take charge.

But even though they were no longer at risk of immediate death, even though John felt more exhausted now than he ever had in his life, he couldn't allow himself that luxury yet. He was still in command, there were still a million more things that had to be done.

"'S Shepp'rd. Go ahead," he slurred, every word a challenge.

"John, we have Rodney, and we are heading back to the Gateroom. He is alright. He seems to be sleeping comfortably."

"'S good," John mumbled. He was relieved that Rodney was okay, he really was, but at this point, his processing was slow enough that he felt detached from the emotion. Later, when he could think about something aside from the pain, he would be elated.

"Are you alright?" Teyla asked gently. "You sound worse than when I left you."

John was not alright, but Teyla knew that. "'M okay. Lorne's here."

Lorne was indeed there, hovering above him and looking an inch shy of panic, now that the immediate crisis was over and he could focus on just how injured his CO was.

"Very well," Teyla said, although she didn't sound very convinced. "I will be with you again in a few minutes."

John ended the call and leaned his head back against the wall, wishing the world would stop spinning for a moment.

"Lorne," he finally said softly. "I hate to make you do this, but...you need to wake up Zelenka."

Lorne shot a panicked glance towards the scientist. The second he had reconnected the power, he had collapsed. John had been terrified for a second, sure they were about to deal with yet another crisis, but a Marine had rushed to Zelenka's side and confirmed he had a pulse. He had simply fainted.

She had been able to rouse him after a few moments, but he was still so exhausted they weren't even sure he knew where he was. He had been awake and working constantly for thirty-six hours, and John knew he needed rest more than anyone else on the base, with the possible exception of John himself.

But unfortunately, the danger hadn't really passed yet. There was power to the Stargate again, and they'd found the crystals. But the Stargate was not yet actually operational. It had been impossible to do the repairs on it with the central systems down.

And without the Stargate up and running, there was still no food.

"Sir," Lorne said. John detected a slight whine in his voice, but since it was uncharacteristic and the circumstances of the past few days had been quite trying, John decided to ignore it. "Shouldn't we just let him rest?"

John completely understood how Lorne felt - he felt like a monster for even suggesting that someone should wake Zelenka. But they didn't have a choice. They needed to get the Gate up and running as fast as possible, and he was the best person to do it.

"We still...need to get the Gate working, so we can get food. And we can't wait."

Lorne probably nodded, but John had already closed his eyes again. He heard the sound of his footsteps as he retreated, and then the sound of him murmuring softly to Zelenka. Zelenka answered, sounding tired and groggy but awake, at least.

John shifted position slightly, but the burst of pain he felt distant, muted. He decided he was going to pass out soon. It wasn't much of a choice at this point. He would hold on as long as he could, of course, but he couldn't take much more. He just wanted to see Rodney, and Ronon, and Elizabeth. He wanted to make sure they were okay. He wanted someone to tell him that it was alright, that he could rest now.

Rodney was moving. At least, he thought he was. By now, he was familiar enough with the feeling of drugs in his body to recognize that he was pumped full of them, so the motion could perhaps be in his mind. But it didn't feel like that, it felt like someone was pushing him.

Rodney hoped it was someone good, someone like John, or Carson, or even Ronon. He really hoped it wasn't the Replicator.

With a supreme effort of will that almost sent him spiraling back to unconsciousness, Rodney managed to open his eyes.

"Teyla?"

"Rodney," Teyla gasped, and her smile lit up the room and broke through even Rodney's fogged mind. A smile like that had to be good news.

"Did we win?" Rodney asked, trying very hard to make the words intelligible. His tongue felt thick and slow.

"We did," Teyla responded warmly, and he felt her hand on his. "Your device was very effective. Ronon killed the Replicator, and he has Elizabeth and Carson with him."

"Sheppard?"

"We are bringing you to the Gateroom. He is there as well. Rodney...perhaps I should warn you…."

But Rodney had stopped listening, because he was being rolled into the Gateroom and the crowd of scientists and Marines parted and he could see John.

His friend was sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall and looking terribly pale. Rodney dizzily thought that John looked almost as bad as he felt, and reminded himself that Sheppard needed to get more sleep. He looked like he might be sleeping now, his bruised-looking eyelids closed. Lorne was beside him, his usually-calm face creased with worry.

Rodney hated to wake John up, but dammit, he'd had a long day, he was in pain and on drugs, and he wanted to hear Sheppard call him a genius right now. No one had called him a genius yet, and Rodney didn't think that was very fair, he'd saved Atlantis even while being very badly shot. Still, if John was properly appreciative, Rodney supposed that would make up for everyone else. John's nap could wait.

"Sheppard," Rodney said, slightly alarmed at how whiny he sounded. He didn't think he could control that, but it hardly sounded like the way the hero of Atlantis would sound.

But John's eyes flew open, and even though he looked more exhausted than Rodney had ever seen him, his face twitched into a smile.

"Hey, McKay," he said quietly. There was something wrong with his voice, but Rodney couldn't figure out what - he was too sleepy and too high. "Alright?"

Rodney's brain seemed to be working very slowly. Too slowly. Rodney would have been alarmed, but he couldn't focus on his own mind any longer, because it had taken him until now to notice all the blood. It was pooled all around Sheppard, the floor tacky with it. John was covered with a heap of jackets to the waist, but Rodney looked at his face again and this time he could see that what he'd mistaken for exhaustion was actually pain. John was grey with it.

"Sheppard," Rodney said again, but this time the whininess was gone, replaced with alarm. He didn't care about being called a genius anymore, he didn't care about admiration or gratitude, he just wanted to be out of this stupid bed, next to Sheppard, making sure that he wasn't about to die on the spot. He looked like he might.

Rodney twisted and yanked out the IV in his right arm. It made a small spot of blood appear in the crook of his elbow. Rodney thought that that might be bad. But it also didn't feel very real. So he supposed that it would be okay.

"Rodney!" Teyla exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Rodney started trying to lever himself upright. He needed to get to Sheppard. He needed to make sure he was alright. He couldn't do that if he was stuck in a bed.

"Mckay, stop moving," Sheppard said. His voice was quiet, but filled with enough authority that Rodney immediately stilled. "I'm...I'll be alright. But my leg is broken."

"Your...leg?" Rodney asked. He was exhausted, and the words were slow to process.

"Yeah. The Replicator broke my leg."

That didn't sound good at all. A...a broken leg? That was bad, wasn't it? Maybe not as bad as a bullet wound, but John should have a doctor with him, he needed….

Rodney tried to push himself off the bed again. John couldn't have a doctor, not right now, but Rodney thought the least he could do was make sure Sheppard was alright. He should be with his friend.

Teyla put a hand on his shoulder. "Rodney, you are badly injured. Please stay still."

Was Rodney badly injured? That sounded familiar. But he didn't really feel injured anymore. He felt fine. Great. Tired. Was that other sensation pain? Maybe. It was hard to keep track of things like that now.

"Wanna be with Sheppard," he whined.

"You are with Sheppard," Teyla said gently. "He's right there. See?"

"Wanna see him." Rodney was in a bed, and Sheppard was on the ground. When Rodney rolled his head to the side, all he could see was the fuzzy top of John's head.

He figured he should probably get off the bed. Then he would be able to see John better. They could talk, finally. He didn't want to be on this bed, only able to see the top of John's hair, while John sat on the floor.

He rolled again. "Mckay," John said warningly.

"C'me here," Rodney whined. "Gotta make sure…."

"Rodney, I can't move," John said. "I hurt my leg, remember?"

That did sound familiar. How had Rodney forgotten? That was why John couldn't stand up. He hadn't stood up to see Rodney yet because he had hurt his leg.

Rodney started to roll off the bed. If John couldn't stand up to talk to him, then he would have to get on the floor to talk to John.

"Rodney, please," John pleaded, and he sounded desperate enough that Rodney froze. "Just...just stay still, okay? Please?"

Rodney didn't want John to sound like that, not ever. However badly he wanted to get out of the bed and talk to John, if it was going to make John sound that scared, then it wasn't worth it.

"Fine," Rodney grumbled, flopping back down and glaring at the top of John's head. "You can just stay there."

"Thanks," John whispered, and the top of his head drooped a little. Rodney watched as Teyla crossed to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Good, Teyla would make sure he was alright. It wasn't as good as Rodney getting to talk to John, but it was better than nothing.

"Does it hurt?" Rodney asked abruptly, peering over the side of the bed to try to get a look at John's face.

John laughed softly, closing his eyes. He nodded. "Yeah, Rodney, it hurts."

Rodney frowned. "Where's Carson?" When the doctor came back, maybe he could give Sheppard some of the same stuff Rodney was on, and John would feel better. Then, they could talk.

"He is on his way," Teyla responded. "I...I hope he will be here soon."

"Ronon, slow down," Carson said, sounding out of breath. Ronon slowed reluctantly, but he didn't want to exhaust the still-groggy Elizabeth, however much he wanted to get back to Sheppard. Besides, although he never would have admitted it, he was beginning to tire himself.

Even with the transporters up, it was about a fifteen minute jog back to the Gateroom from the nanite lab, and the fight hadn't exactly been easy. Ronon couldn't see out of his right eye, the scratches all around it were still bleeding freely, and he was starting to suspect that he'd cracked a few ribs when the Replicator had thrown him into the wall. If he'd been alone, he would have ignored it all and sprinted back to Sheppard, probably damaging himself more in the process. Having Carson and Elizabeth with him was making him slow down, and that might be for the best. John was going to need a lot of medical attention, and that would be easier if there were absolutely no distractions. Ronon's cracked ribs would keep, and the less he exerted himself, the longer he could keep the attention off himself and on Sheppard.

Besides, they were almost to the Gateroom.

When Ronon burst into the Gateroom, for a second, he was confused. Where Sheppard had been sitting limply against the wall before, there was now a hospital bed. Had one of the other doctors somehow managed to get here first?

Then, he recognized the hospital bed as Mckays. And now he could see that Rodney was still lying in it, not quite asleep but looking much weaker and groggier than he had been when Ronon had seen him last.

Next to Rodney's bed was Sheppard. He was still sitting on the floor - it appeared that he hadn't been able to move at all. He didn't look...worse than when Ronon had last seen him, necessarily, but he certainly looked no better. He was still leaning against the wall, looking pale, in pain, and exhausted, but he had angled himself slightly towards Mckay's bed. It looked like they were talking, but Ronon couldn't be sure.

"This way," Ronon said quickly, leading Elizabeth and Carson towards John. As soon as Carson caught sight of Sheppard, he put on a burst of speed, his exhaustion from earlier apparently forgotten.

"Colonel!" Carson exclaimed.

"Doc," John said weakly. "Good to see you."

"About time," Rodney groused.

Ronon and Elizabeth followed quickly behind Carson. Elizabeth seemed horrified to the point of looking a little sick, and Ronon wished he'd done a better job of preparing her for what to expect when she saw John. The amount of blood still pooling underneath him...it was enough to freak anyone out.

"Is that Dr. Weir?" John asked weakly. Ronon noticed his eyes weren't really able to focus anymore. His gaze bounced dizzily around the room, not quite locking on anything.

"Yes, John," Elizabeth said quickly, kneeling down next to him.

"And you're alright?"

"Yes, John."

"I...cede control of Atlantis," John said, raising his voice slightly. "This is...no longer a military situation. I-"

"I understand, John. I'll take over from here."

He looked up at her, seemingly still struggling to form words.

"Please, John. Rest."

John took a few deep breaths and nodded slowly. Then, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he crumpled sideways so fast that Carson had to shoot out a hand to keep him from hitting the ground. Teyla lurched forward, and together, they adjusted him so he was lying flat on his back.

Ronon hovered nearby, unsure what he should do. He was worried about Sheppard, yes, but Beckett seemed to have the situation under control. He would be okay now, Ronon thought. But Rodney was still lying curled on the gurney in the middle of the room, and Ronon had had other things on his mind during their brief reunion while Rodney made the weapon.

"You alright, McKay?" Ronon asked, drifting closer to Rodney's bed. Rodney's eyes swam around the room before locking on Ronon's face, and he frowned.

"You look bad."

Ronon chuckled, taking in Rodney's pale, ashy pallor, his overblown pupils glittering with drugs. "So do you."

"I know," Rodney mumbled, sounding highly offended. "Sheppard okay?"

"I think he will be," Ronon said, looking back towards John as Carson knelt beside him. John seemed a bit more awake now, and Ronon thought he could hear him weakly mumbling in response to Carson's questions, although he wasn't moving. "Are you?"

"I will be too," Rodney sighed. "'M on drugs, y'know."

"That's good," Ronon told him.

Rodney nodded sleepily, then seemed to remember something. "My weapon worked?"

"Yeah, it was good," Ronon told him. "I killed the Replicator."

"Good," Rodney muttered. "Looked like you. Creepy."

"Yeah," Ronon agreed, then fell silent. He hadn't really had a chance to think about it before, but Rodney had watched as something that looked like Ronon took a shot at him. He'd seen Ronon put a bomb under his bed. Was that...was that going to be a problem? Ronon knew Rodney very well by this point, and one of the things he knew about the man was that he seemed to have nightmares about anything and everything. Ronon didn't want to think about Rodney having nightmares about him.

"Uhh, you know it wasn't...me, right?" Ronon asked, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot. "That it wasn't me who shot you?"

Rodney blinked at him as if he'd just asked a very stupid question. "Course. You wouldn't do that."

"Oh," Ronon said blankly. "Uhh, good. Course I wouldn't."

Unsure what to do next, he patted Rodney on the shoulder. Rodney made an inarticulate sort of mumble, but Ronon didn't think it sounded upset, so he stayed next to Rodney.

"Ronon?" Elizabeth was standing up from her place beside John now, wiping bloody hands on her pants and looking much calmer than Ronon thought she had any right to. "How badly hurt are you? Please be honest."

"Fine," Ronon said automatically, then amended it as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Not bad. What do you need?"

"The infirmary is still blocked off, and we can't get through on comms," Weir said. "Lorne said that a team of Marines is attempting to clear it, but everyone is exhausted and we could always use more manpower."

Ronon shot a quick, involuntary glance at John, who was lying flat on his back and looking mostly unconscious. Ronon figured the only thing Atlantis needed more than food was access to the infirmary. Carson Beckett was good, but there were far too many injuries in the Gateroom alone for just one man.

"Alright," Ronon said. "Call me if anything changes."

"Thank you, Ronon," Elizabeth said.

"Good...good job, buddy," John said quietly from the floor.

"You too."