Chapter 15: Rescue

John had finally managed to find time to take Teyla and their son to earth to meet his brother Dave. Things had been much better between him and Dave since his father's funeral and he wanted him to meet his family. He loved Teyla so much that he wanted everyone to know that they were together.

It was Christmas time on earth, so what better time for Teyla to be back on earth. He had asked Dave to find his mother's ring, so that he could ask her to marry him. He had told Dave what he planned, and Dave couldn't be happier for them.

Dave had gotten engaged a few months ago, so he was finally going to get a chance to meet his fiancée Jane on Christmas day as well.

Turning to look at Teyla, who was holding their son in her arms, he took a deep breath and smiled at her, before knocking on the door.

Before anyone had a chance to open the door, Teyla spoke, "John you can't stay here, this is not real."

He looked at her with confusion, "what do you mean I can't stay here, Dave has asked us to stay here?"

Teyla put her hand up to his cheek and slowly stroked it, "this is a dream, and you must wake up, because you may be dying?"

"What do you mean I'm dying?"

"You are trapped in a cave and Carson is with you, but help is on the way. Please wake up, you have to live, so that you can come and rescue me."

John watched as she started to fade away, "Teyla, please don't leave me, please come back?"

Teyla disappeared and then everything faded to black….

John awoke with a start and was disappointed to find that Teyla was right, he was trapped in a cave and his time with Teyla was just a dream.

He took a deep shuddering breath and started to cough. It was incredibly painful, and he immediately knew that he cracked or brokens some ribs, he was trying to catch his breath when someone gently helped him sit up. Once the coughing had subsided, he was gently laid back down again.

"Thanks…" he whispered looking up to find the worried face of Carson looking down at him.

"Hang on a bit longer John, Rodney has come back with reinforcements and they are trying to get us out of here."

"I…knew…he…would."

"I need you to try and stay awake until we can get you some help. I don't think you have internal bleeding, but I can't be sure until I can get you to a hospital. I'm fairly sure you have a concussion though."

John felt his eyes drooping and the last thing he wanted to do was fall sleep, because he didn't want to die, "Sure…I'll…try…doc."

"Good lad."

"Doc…am…I…dying?"

"I'm not sure John, hopefully we can get you out of here soon and we'll be able to get you fixed up in no time."

John remembered back to his dream and he wondered whether he had taken Teyla to earth or not, "Doc…where's…Teyla?

John kept his eyes on Carson, and he could see that he was worried, "John Teyla isn't here. Do you remember that you are 50,000 years in the future?"

That was the moment when it all came back to him, the accident that stranded him in the future, Michael capturing him, being experimented on and the fact that he was stuck in a cave, which had collapsed on him, all because Carson had tried to blow up Michael and his work. Thinking about it brought tears to his eyes, or perhaps it was the pain that he was in.

"Can't…I…go…to…sleep?" He asked knowing that if he did, he might dream of Teyla again. And in his dreams, he and Teyla were together with a son and that had to be better than reality right now.

Carson grabbed his hand, "No John I really need you to stay awake for a little bit longer."

John sighed, knowing that Carson wouldn't be asking it of him without good reason, so he lay there thinking of Teyla and her son and all that he had lost. And everything that he would never see again if he were stuck in the future for the rest of his life, which he hoped would be a long life.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rodney immediately started to panic, he had no idea how they were going to get Carson and John out of the cave, "do you have any idea how we're going to get them out of there!?" He asked Rohan.

"We may be able to transport them out depending on how thick the rock is, but if not, we have equipment that should help us dig them out." Rohan told him before contacting the ship.

"General Lux to specialist Jinx, come in please?"

All Rodney could do was stand and listen to a one-sided conversation.

"Can you manage to detect two life signs in the cave near my position and if you can, beam them out?"

Rodney began to feel a little worried as an intense look came over the general's face.

"Okay, let me know when you can, Lux out."

Rodney didn't waste a minute in questioning him, "so what did they say are they going to be able to get them out or not?"

"They are recalibrating the sensors now, to try and see if they can get a lock on them. If they can, they will beam them up to the ship's infirmary. Then they will transport Dr Jarvis up to the infirmary, before beaming us to the bridge."

"What about Michael, did your people find anyone else down there!? Rodney asked, beginning to panic again.

Rohan sighed and Rodney knew that he wasn't happy, "no, they haven't detected any other life signs, but I will leave a contingent here, to sift through the rubble to look for bodies and hopefully they will find Michael among them."

"Thank you for being honest with me Rohan," Rodney told him and all the while he was trying not to start panicking again.

Joe took that moment to say something and Rodney could see that he was extremely worried, "I sure hope that John's injuries are not too severe. I've had a look at the infirmary on the ship, but I can only do so much with the supplies and equipment they have on board. I hope that New Sateda has a fully equipped hospital, that we can use when we get there."

"Don't worry Dr Jarvis, the presidential palace has and infirmary and an OR. It also has its own doctors and nurses to assist you if necessary." Rohan assured him.

"And Carson is with John right now, so I know that he's being well looked after. Carson will be able to assist you as well." Rodney stated proudly.

Joe smiled at him, "I'm looking forward to meeting him and I hope that between us we will be able to help John."

Before the conversation had a chance to continue, Rohan spoke, "John and Carson have just been transported to the infirmary, so Joe you will be transported momentarily."

Rodney was about to continue his conversation with Joe when Joe was enveloped by the transporter beam and disappeared. A minute later he felt the familiar feeling of the transporter beam surrounding him as well.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Carson sat beside John gently soothing and encouraging him, he really hoped that someone would be able to get them out of there soon, because John was becoming paler by the moment. Although initially he thought that there was no internal bleeding, he was really beginning to think that he'd been wrong.

"Come on John, you're not thinking of giving up on me, are you?"

"No, well…I…was…thinking about…it."

Carson grabbed his hand and looked into his face, "well you just have to hold on for a little bit longer and then Rodney and the Satedans will be able to get us out of here?"

"Ronon," John whispered, and he was obviously disoriented.

Carson sighed, John was certainly confused and it was beginning to frustrate him, how many times would he have to explain to him where and when he was," no, remember you're in the future, John."

"Oh, …Right, "John panted, and Carson didn't miss the tears brimming in his eyes.

Tears were not something that Carson saw from the stoic Colonel very often and when he did it was usually when John was a great deal of distress or pain.

"Never mind John pretty soon, you'll be in a hospital and I'll be able to fix you up in no time."

"Good…drugs?" John whispered.

"I'm sorry lad, I'm not sure what we can give you, until we know how much of the Iratus toxin is still in your system."

Carson sat and watched John's eyelids dropping and he had no idea how much longer he was going to be able to keep him awake. Just as he was about to shake him again, he felt a familiar feeling surrounding him, as he and John were transported to a spaceship.

As soon as the transporter beam dissipated, there was a nurse by his side, but the last thing he needed right now was to be checked out, he knew that he had to be there for John. Standing up he walked over to where John was laying on the floor and began to give the medical staff a rundown of John's condition.

"He has a gunshot wound to his lower left leg, the ulna and radius bone's are broken in his left arm, I'm pretty sure he has a concussion, he has possible internal bleeding, a couple of cracked ribs and to top it all off part of the roof collapsed on his already injured leg. He had an Iratus bug attached to his neck as well, so I am not sure how much of the toxin is left in his system."

A short round man with greying hair and brilliant blue eyes introduced himself, "Hi I'm Dr Joe Jarvis and do not worry we will take good care of John, so why don't you let the nurse check you out? You won't be any good to John if you collapse, will you?"

Carson conceded to him and sat on an exam bed so a nurse could check him out. He watched as an IV was set up and Joe was obviously using some kind of portable scanner to detect John's injuries. Next, he set up a blood transfusion, then he started to wave a strange device over John's head. That was too much for Carson to take, so he pushed the nurse aside and went over to John's bed to see what Dr Jarvis was doing.

"What are you doing to him?"

"I'm just closing the wound up on his head and trying to reduce the swelling. Now if you sit down Dr Beckett, I will tell you what is going on in a moment."

Caron nodded and allowed the nurse to lead him to the exam bed, all the while keeping his eye John.

His eyes were torn away from John a few minutes later, when Rodney came barging into the infirmary, "what's going on, how is he?"

Carson grabbed Rodney's arm and made him sit down next to him, "Rodney, Dr Jarvis will let you know what is going on when he has finished examining him."

Rodney seemed to calm down and for that Carson was relieved, "it is good to see you Carson. How are you?" Rodney asked.

"I don't really know, the first face I saw when I woke up in this time period was Michael's and then he captured John, experimented on him before breaking his arm and then shooting him. Then when Tuart and I tried to blow up Michael and his experiments I was caught in a cave in. And then to top it all off, I had to sit with two good men while they died, so all in all, it's been a couple of crappy days."

Rodney looked at him with horror, "What happened to Tuart and was Roget with him?"

"Michael turned Roget into a hybrid, and he didn't live long, and Tuart died in the cave in. He threw himself on John to try and protect him."

"Shalite is going to be devastated," Rodney commented.

"Tuart asked us, to look after her and their son." Carson informed him, "and he told us to make sure that John got home."

"This will just become and alternate time, even if John goes back in time," Rodney surmised.

Carson smiled at him, despite the situation they found themselves in, "yes, but Teyla and her son will be safe, that is more important to John than anything else."

"Yeah, he'd do anything for her," Rodney said softly.

Carson sat in silence; he really had no idea what else he could say to Rodney. This wasn't necessarily the Rodney he knew, and he wondered how much he was like his long dead friend.

His contemplation was interrupted when Rodney elbowed him in his ribs, he looked up to see that Joe was on his way to talk to him.

"How is he Joe?" Rodney asked immediately.

"The Iratus toxin has left his system, so I have given him some pain medication. I will be able to fix his broken bones using a bone healing device, but I will have to wait until we get back to New Sateda to do that. I have closed the gash on his head and managed to reduce any swelling, but he'll probably have a headache for a day or two. I believe he has internal bleeding and I will have to operate when we get back to New Sateda, but he is stable for now."

"Can we see him?" Carson asked, feeling a little relieved that his friend was alright for now.

Joe looked at little concerned by their request but he allowed it, much to Carson's relief. "I don't see any reason why you can't sit with him for a while, but as soon as we get back to New Sateda, I'll need to take him straight in for surgery though."

"Thank you, Dr Jarvis, "Carson said as he walked towards his friend.

"Please call me Joe?"

"In that case please call me Carson?"

It wasn't long before Carson was sitting beside John's side and holding his hand. No matter how many times he had seen John looking this vulnerable he never got used to it and this time it was worse, because he didn't have his team there for him. Sure, he was there, but he was just a clone of a clone and he had no idea how many time's he'd been cloned so that didn't really count. Rodney was a hologram of the original, so he was positive that didn't really count either. His reflection was interrupted when he heard a moan from the bed. He looked down at John to find that his eyes were wide open.

"John it's Carson. We are heading back to New Sateda, where you will need to have surgery for some internal bleeding."

"Don't…feel…so…good…Carson."

"Aye lad, I know, but we'll be in an infirmary soon and we can fix you up."

"Sure…doc…" John said before he lost consciousness again.

Carson sighed, here he was 50,000 years in the future sitting beside an injured John Sheppard; some things never changed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shalite awoke to someone pounding on her door and she had no idea what time it was, or who would be at her door. The last thing she remembered was crawling into bed early, after an intense dinner with the President of the New Satedan empire and two of his archaeological advisors, so the last thing she wanted now was to get up and answer the door. But then maybe it was someone bringing her news of her friends and husband.

Deciding that she needed to answer the door she slowly climbed out of bed; she was much slower these days as her stomach was getting bigger each day.

She crossed the room and didn't open the door at first, "who's there?" She asked through the closed door.

"It's Julian, I'm just wanting to let you know that they have found John Sheppard and he has just been transported to the infirmary."

She opened the door in a flash, ready to rush to the infirmary, but there was one question she needed to ask before she left, "did they find Tuart or Roget? What about the crew of the Phoenix?"

"I'm sorry Shalite, but Tuart or Roget didn't make it and at the moment they don't know if there were any other survivors."

Suddenly she felt as if she needed to lay down, so she slowly walked back into her room and laid on her bed again.

"What happened to them?" She asked trying to hold back the tears.

Julian came and sat alongside of her. "I'm not really sure what happened, all I know is there was an explosion and John, Tuart and a friend of Johns named Carson were caught in it."

She nodded, trying to come to terms with what she'd just heard. When she had last seen her husband, she had been incredibly angry at him and now she would never get a chance to say sorry. She had wanted to tell him how much she loved him when she saw him again, but now that would never happen and the thing she regretted the most was that her son would grow up without a father.

"Can I see Tuart's body?" She asked not really sure whether it was a good idea or not.

"They haven't recovered it as yet. There are still people on the planet searching through the rubble and looking for survivors. We don't know whether Michael was killed in the explosion, but we sure hope so."

She sighed, she knew that at some point in the near future, she would have to arrange a burial ceremony for her husband and she'd probably have to do it for Roget as well, but for now John was very much alive, so she felt as if she needed to be there for him. "Is there a place I can wait until I can see John?"

"I will take you to the waiting room for the infirmary. "Julian offered, before looking her up and down, "would you like to get changed first?"

She looked down at what she was wearing and she realised that she must have looked quite a mess, all she had on was a white singlet top and her daggy jeans that she'd had on for two days now. "I don't have any other clothes with me, other than my shirt."

"I will make sure that I have some sent to your quarters to change into. Do you have any shoes and socks, or would you like some of them as well, "he smirked?

She laughed at him and it actually felt good. "I will go and put them on now and then I would like to go and wait to see John?"

"I will wait outside the door and when you have finished I will take you to the waiting room."

"Thanks Julian, "she said as she watched him leave the room.

She was amazed at what a down to earth friendly man he was and he was the president of an empire. She had never met anyone like that on the Coalition council, or the Louisa planetary council, which made her wonder what they were hiding.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Carson was beside himself when he was transported down to the infirmary waiting room. He was supposed to be the one in the OR performing the surgery on his friend, but Joe had insisted that he could manage it and he should sit and wait with Rodney.

Rodney was already pacing backwards and forwards and it was driving him nuts, he really hoped that he would stop before he wore a hole in the floor. But hoping didn't seem to accomplish anything, because he just kept pacing.

"Rodney can you please sit down, because you're driving me insane?"

"Sorry Carson, it's just that the original Rodney McKay was used to this, but I am not."

"Well I don't know how many copies of me there has been throughout the ages, but I am definitely not the original Carson Beckett. Although I do remember many times, where the original version of myself has sat by John Sheppard's bedside and believe me when I say it doesn't get any easier."

"You know Carson, as much as I've appreciated him being around, I really hope he gets home. I don't know whether Jennifer would have still died from complications from the Hoff virus, but I sure hope that the original Rodney could have a chance to be with her. Ronon and Sam died to young and they deserve a chance to live. I think that John really needs to have a chance to rescue Teyla and her son, since I always thought that they would end up together."

"Aye me to lad."

"Who should have ended up together?" Shalite asked entering the room and surprising Carson.

"John and Teyla," Rodney answered.

"Yes, he does seem very fond of her doesn't he." Shalite commented with a smile.

Carson studied the new arrival, he was a bit worried that she might go into labour right there and then, but looking at her size he realised that she had at least five weeks left. "Hello I'm Dr Carson Beckett, and you are?"

"Oh, hi Carson, I'm Shalite Flensing."

"I'm so sorry about your husband Shalite, he was a good man and he died saving John?"

"Thank you," She said choking on her tears.

Carson watched her with concern, he suspected that she was only just holding it together, so he went over and pulled her down into a chair, "If you need anything lassie, just let me know."

"Thank you, Carson."

"Yes, yes, I'm here for you too." Rodney spluttered.

"Thank you, Rodney." She said before turning to Carson, "can you please tell me what happened?"

"Tuart and I decided that we needed to try and blow up Michael and his ship, but as we were trying to escape the caves we were in Michael's hybrids surrounded us, so we detonated just before we were able to get out, unfortunately the ceiling came down on top of us and Tuart threw his body on John's to try and protect him."

"And how is John?" Shalite asked and Carson could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"He was experimented on by Michael." Carson took a deep breath before continuing, wondering if this was something that she needed to hear. "An Iratus bug attached its self to John's neck and Michael wanted to see if the toxin would prevent him from feeling any pain, if he was injured, so he broke John's arm and shot him in the leg. We managed to get the bug off of him, but when we were in the cave-in he received at hit to the head, a couple of cracked ribs and possible internal bleeding and then his leg was injured further when more rubble fell from the ceiling."

"Will he be alright?" Shalite asked her eyes wide.

"I don't know, they threw me out of the OR and told me that I needed to rest, because I was trapped in the cave-in as well." Carson grumbled.

Carson felt Shalite's hand in his, "never mind Carson Joe is a fantastic doctor and he will look after John."

Rodney chose that moment to start complaining, "how long is it going to take, surely they should be finished by now?"

"Rodney I will tell you what I used to tell the original McKay, it will take as long as it takes." Carson said in an attempt to placate him. "And if you want to know they've been in there for around and hour now and depending on the extent of the damage they could be in there for a lot longer."

"Oh great, I'm hungry, is anyone else hungry, I think I should go and get some food?" Rodney rambled.

"I think I'd like a cup of tea thanks Rodney?" Shalite answered him.

"Coffee for me thanks?" Carson answered feeling a little surprised that a hologram felt the need to eat, but he was also amused at how much he sounded like to original McKay, "since when do holograms need to eat?"

"I've received a few upgrade's since I've been hanging around with Joe." Rodney huffed, before heading out of the room.

"I hope he knows where he's going," Shalite commented with a smile.

Carson snorted, "well if not he'll be back before we know it and our peace and quiet will be cut short."

They fell into silence and Carson could see that Shalite was exhausted and would probably appreciate some sleep, so he closed his eyes as well. Although he didn't feel to bad considering he had been in a cave-in he did feel totally drained and he would have been happy to sleep for a week.

He awoke with a start sometime later when Joe entered the room, looking around, he realised that Rodney was back and Shalite was fast asleep.

"How is he?" Carson asked with apprehension, as he really hoped that John had pulled through.

Shalite was awake and alert, before Joe had a chance to answer him, "I think he'll be alright. We managed to repair his arm, so it's back to 100%, we have removed the bullet from his leg and fixed the bone, so that will be alright within a few weeks, we've repaired his cracked ribs, and closed the wound on his head and he doesn't have a concussion. The major concern was there was heavy bleeding from a tear in his liver, I believe we have fixed it, but he will be sore and slow to get around for a week or two."

"Can we see him?" Rodney asked and Carson nodded his head in agreement.

"Sure, go ahead, but he is still unconscious at the moment and he needs his rest." Joe told them all with a serious tone to his voice.

A few minute later, Carson walked into the area designated as the ICU and he had to admit that Joe seemed to have done a good job of looking after John. Carson took a seat and held his hand, Shalite took a seat on the other side and held his other hand and Rodney took a seat next to Shalite. He had to admit it reminded him of the good old days on Atlantis where there was always someone by John's bedside when he was sick or injured, just so he didn't have to wake up alone.

TBC…