Chapter 22: Underground

John awoke to a strange beeping sound coming from his bedside table and he had no idea what it was. One thing he did know, was that he had no intention of getting up yet. He'd been up late the night before helping Rodney with ancient devices in the lab, so he hadn't crawled into be until 0300 hours this morning. Thinking back to how tired he'd been the last few days he realised what a bad idea that was.

The beeping sound continued, and it was really beginning to annoy him, so he rolled over and looked at his bedside table and it didn't take him long to realise that it was his alarm clock. Slapping the top of it he managed to turn it off. Finally, he opened his eyes, and was surprised to find it was 0600 hours and he had to be up in half an hour. Closing his eyes, he decided to go back to sleep for another half an hour, he was sure that he'd hit the snooze button after all.

The next time John awoke there was sun streaming through his window, looking over at the clock he realised that it was 0800 hours, and he was due in the jumper bay in an hour. Today was the day that they were heading to the underground eco-system on New Ngering. In the end they had decided to camp out, despite what had happened on their last camping trip. The difference was that this time Teyla would be joining them.

He still felt apprehensive about camping out on New Ngering, considering that he had almost lost his arm from the spider bite that he had received the last time they were there. But he hadn't thanks to Rodney, Carson, and the biologists on Atlantis. In fact, the biologists had created and antivenom for the spider bite that he had received, and it was in plentiful supply, so if the worst-case scenario happened and he was bitten again, the bite could be treated quickly.

Rolling out of bed he looked around for his clothes and was happy to find that he had neatly folded them on the chair in the corner of his room. He quickly dressed, grabbed his rucksack, which he had packed the night before and sleeping bag, then he went to pick Teyla up from her quarters, he really hoped that she hadn't left already. As there wouldn't be time for breakfast, he would grab a coffee and a piece of fruit on his way to the jumper bay.

When he arrived at Teyla's quarters he pressed the door chime and wasn't surprised that Teyla answered the door straight away.

"John you appear to be running late this morning."

"Sorry I overslept. I spent way too much time in Rodney's lab last night, so I didn't go to bed until 0300 hours."

"I really hope that Rodney is on time then John, I know how frustrated you get when he is late."

Looking around the room he noticed that there was a bowl of fruit on her bedside table, "hey Teyla are you going to eat any more of your fruit."

"I have finished with it, so if you want it go ahead. I just need to pack a few more things and then we can head to the jumper bay."

"That sounds great, I really need to do some pre-flight checks and I need to make sure the jumper's stocked with plenty of food for Rodney."

"You are so considerate John," she teased.

"Well, I try to be," he replied with a smirk.

"I am ready now John," she said appearing in front of him with her sleeping bag and rucksack.

Taking her rucksack off of her he walked towards the door, "great let's go, I want to make sure I get there before Rodney and Ronon."

"Well, I am positive we will get there before Rodney, but when I saw Ronon earlier, he seemed very excited to finish your camping trip."

They continued to walk towards the jumper bay and John shuddered at the thought of the last camping trip, "I'm glad that someone is, I hope that we don't run into anymore mutant bugs on the planet, you know how much I hate bugs."

"I am sure it will be alright and if you get bitten by a spider, I will kiss it better." Teyla said with a twinkle in her eyes.

He certainly liked this playful side of Teyla, and he looked forward to seeing more of it in the future.

When they arrived in the jumper bay a few minutes later, he was relieved to find that Ronon hadn't arrived as yet, so he entered the jumper and put his and Teyla's bags in the overhead lockers in the back. When Ronon arrived a few minutes later, the jumper was stocked with plenty of power bars and MRE's, and he was in the middle of doing the pre-flight checks.

"Hey Sheppard, Teyla are you ready to go?" Ronon asked putting his things in the overhead locker next to theirs.

Looking at his watch he realised that it was 08:55 and the only person they were waiting for was Rodney, "as ready as I'll ever be."

"Good I brought you guys some hunting knives to use. I know that we didn't get to use them last time." Ronon told them, before pulling out to giant knives to show them.

"Thanks buddy, I can't wait."

He turned back to the front console and continued what he was doing really hoping that Rodney wouldn't take too much longer to arrive.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rodney slowly awoke to a disturbing buzzing sound from beside his bed and he had no idea what it was, but one thing he knew for sure was he wished that it would stop. He'd only stumbled into bed at around 0300 hours this morning after spending most of the night in his lab. Rolling over in his bed he finally worked out that it was his alarm clock making the horrible noise. Finally, after about five minutes he managed to switch it off and then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next time he awoke he felt much more refreshed than he had earlier, but he was sure that there was someplace he was supposed to be this morning. Closing his eyes again, he thought about it for a bit longer. It took him a while, but eventually he realised that he was supposed to be going to explore the underground eco-system with Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon that day. In the end they had decided to stay overnight and do a little camping and he didn't really know what to think about it, their last trip had been the vacation from hell, so they probably all needed their heads read to be going back there. Looking over at the clock he realised that it was 0840 hours and was supposed to be meeting them in the jumper bay in twenty minutes time and he hadn't even packed.

Groaning he rolled out of bed and tried to think of what he might need for the trip, it should be simple, because all he needed was whatever he took last time, plus his computer. He didn't have any knives so that idea was out. Sleeping bag check, warm clothes check, comfortable pillow check, Epi-pen check. He had seen enormous spiders and bees, so who knew what other insects they may find this time around.

Once he was sure that he had packed everything that he needed, he decided that he should probably have a shower, because he knew that is would be at least twenty-four hours before he was clean again and knowing his luck it would be even longer.

He finished his shower and entered his room at 09:15 hours. "Crap," he muttered, he knew dam well that he was late and Sheppard and Ronon would not be amused. He was convinced that he was caught in a time loop, because exactly the same thing happened on their original trip.

Grabbing his clothes, he tried to get dressed as quickly as he could, but obviously it wasn't quick enough, because before he had a chance to get his boots on his com activated.

"McKay here."

He wasn't happy when he heard Sheppard's voice on the other end. "Where the hell are you McKay you were supposed to meet us at 0900 hours?!"

"Sorry but I overslept. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"What is it with you and oversleeping you overslept before our last trip as well."

"And as I said last time have you ever heard of an alarm clock," he heard Ronon mumble in the background?

If he could have hit him, he would have, but he knew that Ronon was far too strong for him to hit and there was no way he'd be able to beat Sheppard up either. He couldn't even beat Teyla up, but at least when they went off world, they were there to protect him.

"I'll see you in a few minutes, McKay out."

Before the others had a chance to say anything else, he cut off the connection and grabbed his bags, wondering if he should just cancel the mission and go back to bed for the day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had been five minutes since he had contacted Rodney and he still hadn't arrived at the jumper. Ronon was pacing and Teyla was sitting in the co-pilots chair in quiet meditation.

He had finished his pre-flight checks ten minutes ago, so all he could do was sit and watch Ronon pace and it was really beginning to annoy him, "Ronon buddy, can you please stop that pacing, it's really driving me nuts?"

"Sorry," Ronon muttered, before sitting down again and continuing, "it's just that we always seem to be waiting for McKay."

Taking a deep breath and running his hand over his face he replied, "I know buddy, but we didn't get to bed until late last night, so we're both feeling a little bit tired."

"It's still no excuse to be late," Ronon mumbled before closing his mouth and looking at the back of the jumper.

John also turned to stare at the back on the jumper and he was wondering how much longer McKay was going to be. Sure, there was no particular time that they had to be on the planet, but the sooner they could get going the better and then there was the fact that he was becoming increasingly more impatient.

"Are you ready to go?" Rodney asked as he entered the jumper a few minutes later, "I hope you have left me some room to store my gear."

He glared at his friend and indicated that there should be some room in the back, before turning to the front again, to begin powering up the jumper.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive Sheppard?" Rodney asked walking up and sitting in the co-pilots seat, luckily Teyla had moved a few minutes earlier," I do know where we're going after all."

"No thanks McKay, I'd really like to get there in one piece," Sheppard quipped, before he realised that the last time Rodney had been flying the jumper, he'd crashed it and he probably didn't need to be reminded of that fact, "I'm sorry Rodney that didn't come out like I wanted it too."

"Don't worry about it Sheppard, believe me when I say that I'm happy for you to fly this thing. I have no desire to crash in one of these things ever again."

"Yeah, the storms that come up on that planet are not the best, so it's not really your fault what happened," he replied, hoping that the conversation wouldn't turn into an embarrassing one anytime soon.

"Okay, let's get going." Rodney stated, "do you know where we are heading?"

"Yep," he replied, relieved that he didn't have to endure another embarrassing conversation.

They sat in silence as the jumper descended into the gate-room and he was relieved a few minutes later when they finally went through the gate, half an hour behind schedule.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rodney watched as the jumper approached the clearing and he felt relieved that the day was bright and sunny again. The few times he'd been on the planet in a storm it had terrified him. The storms came up quickly and were fierce and he defiantly didn't want to be flying in one again even if he wasn't the one piloting the jumper. He was relieved when the jumper set down smoothly a few minutes later.

"Everyone out!" Sheppard said with excitement as he opened the back hatch of the jumper.

Sheppard was the first out, followed by Ronon, Teyla and then he brought up the rear, he had no idea why Sheppard was so excited to be on this planet again and given what he knew about the underground eco-system, Sheppard wasn't going to be impressed by the bugs.

"How about, you lead the way Ronon and then I'll bring up the rear." Sheppard suggested, with a gleam in his eye that Rodney hadn't seen since before the vacation from hell.

Rodney fell into step beside Teyla and they followed behind Ronon, part of him was looking forward to finding a lab underground, but another part of him shuddered at the thought of what the ancients were trying to do there.

It wasn't long before they found the door that they had entered by the first time they had come to try and find the lab.

"Hey Sheppard, think open and then hopefully we won't have to open the door manually?" Rodney suggested.

"Sure, why not," John replied, and Rodney was amazed to find that when John closed his eyes the door opened straight away.

Ronon was the first to enter, his weapon at the ready. Rodney entered next and turned his flashlight on to reveal a staircase leading down into the depths of the earth. Teyla followed him in and turned on her flashlight, her beam joining his in cutting a swath through the menacing darkness. Finally, John entered and the whole place lit up revealing just how steep the staircase was.

Rodney switched his flashlight off and Teyla quickly did the same, before Ronon started to walk down the deep narrow staircase.

The steps seemed to go on forever and they became steeper as the journey continued on, he still had to wonder why the ancients felt the need to conduct their research so far underground? But given the size of the spiders and bees they'd discovered and knowing what else was down there, he was glad that they had.

It wasn't long before he reached the bottom of the stairs and as he wasn't really paying much attention to what was happening in front of him, he bumped into Ronon who had stopped.

"What now?" John whispered, as he came up beside of him.

"Shall we not continue on?" Teyla asked from somewhere behind him.

"Why not." Ronon answered and started moving again.

Rodney quickly followed Ronon and Teyla followed him, with John still bringing up the rear. Rodney knew that Sheppard was going to be surprised and perhaps even excited when he saw what was up ahead.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

John wasted no time in following his team down a musty passageway and he wondered why the air wasn't stale this far underground. He got his answer a few minutes later, when they came to a large cavern and he was totally shocked by what he saw in front of him. The entire cavern lit up to reveal an entire eco-system functioning underground. There were trees and flowers growing by an underground river with a waterfall cascading from a large cliff. He assumed that there was probably a large variety of wildlife as well. Slowly looking around and taking it all in, his question was answered, when the first creature that he laid his eyes on was a spider and it had to be at least twice as big as the one that had bitten him.

A flash of red light enveloped the spider and it fell to the ground, before it had a chance to pounce. He stood frozen to the spot breathing heavily and stared at it, and when he finally found his voice, he wasn't sure if anyone was going to understand him, "umm…thanks."

"You're welcome buddy." Ronon replied patting him on the shoulder.

All he could do was stand and stare at the spider and he wondered if he could continue on, so he barely noticed it when Teyla came up alongside of him a few minutes later, "are you alright John?"

"Yeah, let's get going, before I change my mind."

Teyla nodded, "Shall we continue," she suggested to Rodney and Ronon.

John was relieved when Ronon didn't look back and continued on down a path which appeared to go around the underground paradise. He very quickly followed him, and the large cavern continued to light up as they followed the path. He looked around amazed at everything he saw, there were creatures that were as large as dinosaurs, but he was positive that they were probably more like earth tigers and lions and some of the birds that were flying overhead were as large as pterodactyls. It took him a while to realise that none of the animals were walking or flying anywhere near the path that they were on. Before he had a chance to speculate as to why, Rodney provided him with an answer.

"Incredible, the whole area is shielded to try and prevent the animals from getting out."

John was incredulous at that comment, "well obviously something did get out and I almost lost my arm because of it."

"Yes, well, clearly something went wrong and some of these creatures were able to get out." Rodney replied sheepishly, "whether it was their intention to release all of the creatures to the planet or not, I have no idea."

John wasn't in the mood to stand around talking about what had happened, he just wanted to find out as soon as possible, "well let's get going and find out!"

"Yes Rodney, I would have to agree with John, the sooner we find the ancient lab, the sooner we can get out of here for today." Teyla replied in a gentle tone.

"Yeah, let's get going McKay," Ronon agreed and walked off.

John was relieved when Rodney followed Ronon, which left Teyla walking along next to him and when she offered him her hand, he gladly accepted it. They walked along hand in hand for another twenty minutes, until Rodney stopped and boldly stated, "I've found something."

John looked to what Rodney was pointing at and rolled his eyes, "great Rodney you've found another set of stairs."

"Ha, Ha," Rodney replied, "I believe it is a staircase leading to a lab. Perhaps it may hold the final answer as to what the ancients were doing here."

"But I thought that we already knew what the ancients were doing here Dr McKay," Teyla stated and a confused look crossed her face.

All John could do was smile, because he loved any expression that crossed her beautiful face, and her confused look was one of his favourites.

"Yeah McKay, I thought we already knew what they were doing here," John teased with a serious look on his face.

"Well, I know what they were doing, and I have a fair idea why they were doing it, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out would it?" Rodney said defensively.

Ronon and John burst out laughing at the look on Rodney's face and they laughed until John caught the look on Teyla's face and she wasn't overly impressed. Once he had managed to stop laughing, he looked up at Rodney and saw a blank look on his face and immediately he felt guilty for laughing at him, "I'm sorry Rodney," was all that he managed to say.

"Shall we go and have a look then," the scientist suggested not bothering to look at him and for the moment he felt suitably shunned.

"Sure," Ronon agreed and started moving again.

He waited until Rodney and Teyla had followed and brought up the rear again, wondering how much longer it would be before this would all be over, and he could head back to the Jumper, they had decided to go to the same clearing as they had done on their first camping trip.

He'd only been back on duty active duty for three days and he still felt tired at the end of the day, even though Carson had assured him that he was well and truly well enough to perform all of his duties.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rodney couldn't contain his excitement when he finally reached the control room, he had been waiting eight weeks to get a good look around, but because of what had happened with Sheppard and then the relocation of the Ngerans to this world, Elizabeth had put the mission on hold.

Looking around the lab, he soon realised that it was exactly the same as any other ancient facility they had come across, which probably meant that Sheppard would need to activate it, but he thought that he'd give it a try with his fake gene anyway. He concentrated and thought on and much to his chagrin nothing happened.

He knew the minute Sheppard arrived in the lab though, because the place lit up like a Christmas tree, "stupid fake gene," he muttered to no-one in particular.

"What was that McKay?" Sheppard asked with a crooked grin on his face.

Sometimes he really hated it when Sheppard used that look and he used it far too often for his liking. He used it when he was flirting, he used it when he was overly excited about something and most annoyingly, he used it when he was teasing him.

"Never mind. Now that the place is active, I think I'll download some files and do a little research."

Sheppard sighed and he didn't look impressed, "how long will you need?"

"Give me an hour and then we can head back?"

"Alright, Ronon and I will do a little more exploring and Teyla can you stay with Rodney?"

Rodney didn't miss the death glare that Teyla gave Sheppard, but she reluctantly agreed anyway.

"We'll see you in an hour then," Sheppard said, as he left the lab, with Ronon following behind.

Ten minutes later when he had started a download of the data base, he got to work looking through, some of the data and he was quite interested in what he read, he knew that the information that he downloaded would keep him busy for years and it seemed that the ancients were up to more than just genetically engineering the wildlife.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

John left the lab intent on doing a little exploring, but the only problem was that he was beginning to feel tired again and it was really beginning to annoy him. How would he ever get back to normal if he felt like sleeping all of the time. The missions that he had been on since he'd been on active duty had been relatively sedate, but what happened if something went wrong and he suddenly found himself having to run for his life. He knew that he was at maximum fitness, so he really had nothing to worry about, but he just wished he weren't so tired. But it could also have something to do with the fact that he had spent most of the night before in Rodney's lab.

A voice interrupted his thoughts, "are you alright Sheppard?"

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a bit tired, but Carson said that it was nothing to worry about. Apparently the longer I'm on active duty the better I will feel."

"There were times when I was a runner and I felt absolutely exhausted, but I had to keep going until I could find a safe place to rest. It's nothing to be ashamed of, you could have died, so it may still take a while for you to be back to one hundred percent." Ronon said with a surprisingly gentle voice.

"Thanks buddy, I really appreciate your encouragement, but can we get on with some exploring, since I'm not really in the mood for an emotional talk right now."

Ronon nodded and walked off down the path in front of them and he quickly followed, the scenery was no different to what it had been when they got there. They walked around for the next half an hour and were convinced that there was nothing new to see, so they decided to go back to the lab early.

Arriving in the lab half an later, he found that Teyla was sitting on the floor and she looked incredibly bored and Rodney was muttering to himself as usual.

He went and sat next to her and took her hand, "how are you doing?"

"Well, nothing seems to be happening, so I would have to say that I am feeling incredibly bored."

John put his arm around her, she was looking as tired as he felt, "well hopefully Rodney will be finished soon and then we can head back, move the jumper and set up camp."

It wasn't long before he found that his eyes were drooping, looking at his watch he decided to give Rodney another half an hour to continue with his research, so he gladly closed his eyes, and it wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep.

He awoke sometime later to someone gently shaking him, "John it is time to go."

Slowly opening his eyes, he looked into the face of Teyla, "Teyla, is it time to go?" He whispered still feeling a bit disoriented.

"Yes, Rodney is finished for now and it is time to go and set up camp."

"And you have no idea how much information I have already found out, not to mention the fact that I've downloaded most of the database and it should keep us busy for years studying it!" Rodney ranted in an excited voice.

He just rolled his eyes at his friend, Rodney always got excited about ancient databases, "that's great, but can we get going now?"

"Yes, of course, I'll tell you all about it over dinner." Rodney said and John could see the delight in his face.

"I look forward to it," John replied, before heading for the stairs.

He walked along in silence, taking one last look around him. He knew that he would probably never come back here, so he would marvel at his surroundings while he was here. His last thought before he reached the steps heading for the surface was, "it's just like the story, 'Journey to the centre of the earth.'

TBC…

One Chapter to go.