Author's Note: Here's the 4th chapter, thanks for the continued feedback. I'm getting more comfortable writing the characters. I guess the only way to learn is just to do. Plus, it helps that I've been rewatching episodes.

Chapter Four

Brainstorming

Shepard was watching McKay across the room. Rodney was in a chair, pumping one knee up and down, up and down...it was driving him nuts. They had been escorted to guest quarters, which were an improvement over the area they had been placed in initially. This room had one door, a table, four chairs, and a couple of beds. The furniture all reminded him of circa 1950's Earth, which struck him as creepy in an odd sort of way. Kind of like being transported back in time instead of in another galaxy on another planet.

Shepard stood from the chair he had been sitting on. McKay's nervous energy needed to be directed into something helpful, instead of rocketing his knee off the chair every second. "Anyone have ideas?"

McKay's knee stilled as he looked up, "Ideas?"

"Yeah, you know, the kind that you can apply and solve problems with."

"Cute. Really cute Major."

Shepard grinned, but didn't comment. He turned to Teyla and Ford sitting in the other two chairs, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Teyla shook her head and continued to stare glumly at the table's surface. Ford was quiet but Shepard could see he was thinking, "Even if we did get out of here, how are we going to get back to the gate?"

"Good question." Shepard said, wrinkling his forehead, "We could take one of them as hostage, make them escort us to the gate."

"Irradiated." McKay chimed.

Ford tapped his vest, "No permanent damage." He repeated back.

"I repeat, irradiated. Children are still on my agenda...eventually." McKay persisted.

"Yeah, right." Shepard snorted. "Do the world a favor McKay, don't reproduce."

"Funny."

Shepard tilted his head and smiled again, "Teyla, do you know anything about these people?"

She shook her head, "This was not one of the worlds we traded with. I have never heard of these people before today."

The room was filled with a low rumbling. Three sets of eyes trained on McKay. "What? I'm hungry!" He said defensively.

"Don't let us hold you back." Shepard offered wryly, indicating his pack with one hand. Their weapons had remained confiscated, but their packs had been returned, contents shifted indicating they had been rifled through.

McKay's face lit up, the obvious had escaped him, and he dug in his pack. After about a minute of digging, he was muttering under his breath.

"What?" Shepard asked.

Rodney looked up from his pack, a mixture of disbelief and anger, "They took them."

Shepard's grin fell, "What do you mean, they took them?"

"What I said...the energy bars...they're gone." McKay's voice had raised a whole octave by the end of his sentence.

The other three exchanged worried looks then began digging through their packs. After a couple of minutes everyone admitted defeat. All their food and water was gone.

"This can't be good." Ford said.

Shepard groaned, dropping back into the nearest chair, "All of this because of a stupid Frisbee."

"And a large lump." McKay added wistfully, "Don't forget the really large lump."

"Yeah." Shepard echoed. "Really big lump."

They had fallen quiet after that revelation, the implications bothersome. They were solely dependent on their hosts for food, water and shelter with no idea how to get back to the gate. Oh, and not to forget, they had arrived on a planet with an intercontinental war, nice, Shepard thought.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by another loud low rumbling; eyes riveted back on McKay.

He raised his hands, "Not me!"

Shepard and Ford shared a horrified look, "Oh shit!" Ford exclaimed, jumping up and running over to Teyla's location. Shepard headed for McKay. They grabbed them and started dragging them under the table, the only object that offered scant projection.

"What the hell are you doing Major?" McKay hissed, but letting himself be pulled.

"Duck!" Shepard ordered, as they dove under the table.

The reason for Ford and Shepard's action became startling clear as the roof began to cave in and come crashing to the ground. Some type of siren was wailing in the background. The cement overhead came hurtling towards their hiding spot, the table buckling under the impact, and smashing down on the four individuals underneath. Their bodies slumped boneless under the weight, unconscious.
Shepard was hearing something. He couldn't figure out what it was. He tried to remember what had happened...where he was, but he couldn't. Every time he would get close, it'd slip away, an elusive visitor.

Coughing...that's what he was hearing. Someone was coughing. That was something. Why would anyone be coughing? He struggled to figure out the information beginning to filter through his senses. He was cold...and heavy. Heavy? He felt an urgency to figure out the puzzle and he didn't know why.

He cracked his eyes, and everything was dark. For a moment, he panicked, thinking he was blind, but as his eyes adjusted, he could see faint outlines of objects around him. It was only dark. Why was it so dark?

He tried to push himself up, but a sharp pain shot up his right arm, and he bit his lip trying to not cry out. He didn't know why but he didn't think he should make any noise. He felt movement nearby, and that startled him more than anything. There was somebody with him.

"Major, despite the coziness, could you..." McKay fought for his breath, "Get off me!"

Shepard recognized the voice...McKay...the team...Atlantis. Memories were flooding back with alacrity, "Sorry." He grunted, and tried to roll off without using his right arm. A bit sloppy but it worked. The debris had shifted under their movements, leaving them mostly free.

"Ford? Teyla?" Shepard called, wishing he had a flashlight.

He was answered by more coughing then a tight voice, "Here...we're here." That was Ford.

"How's Teyla?" Shepard asked.

"She's unconscious. I think it's only a head injury."

Only. A head injury in this situation could be lethal if it were severe. Shepard didn't voice his concern, morale was lagging as it was, their situation continued to deteriorate with every hour on this planet.

"What happened?" He asked dumbly, still trying to put his addled thoughts back together.

"What happened?" McKay repeated, "An explosion happened...right over our heads apparently."

"Damn." Shepard knew they should be doing something but he wasn't sure what yet. He pushed himself free of the remaining debris with his good arm, and staggered up, "I can't see a thing."

"Now what?" McKay asked from his place on the ground. Shepard could see a darker blob, which was probably Rodney, and he could make out two other darker blobs farther to the right of McKay, Teyla and Ford.

"I'm open to ideas."

He was met with silence. He guessed they were thinking, well, the awake members were thinking. Seconds stretched into minutes. He was getting ready to say something when McKay beat him to it.

"Can't think of any."

"That helps. Thanks so much."

"I'm going to be sick."

"McKay?" Shepard hoped he really wasn't going to be sick and it was just that drama part of him rearing its ugly head.

"Really...if I go without eating too long, I get sick."

"How did you ever get onto this expedition?" Shepard questioned crossly, it was bad enough with the status quo, he didn't need a puking hypoglycemic physicist on top of it all.

"Shut up." McKay grouched back, really wishing he had an energy bar.

"Oh, that's mature."

"Both of you shut up!" Ford snapped then remembered whom he was talking to, "Sir."

A distinctly female moan alerted them to Teyla's return to consciousness. Shepard started to walk forward, forgetting he couldn't see a thing in front of him, tripped and slammed to the ground, jarring his arm painfully. "Damn it!" He swore, fed up. None of this ever happened to him back in Antarctica...well, there had been the drone attack in the helicopter, but still, none of this compared.

"You okay Major?" Ford asked, his voice partially contrite for snapping at him.

Shepard closed his eyes, not like they were helping anything open anyway, "No...no I'm not all right. My arm's broken, we are trapped in an underground bunker of some alien group, in the middle of their war zone, it's dark as night, we all feel like shit, the gate area is who knows where, and irradiated, as McKay keeps reminding us, and I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get us home!"

He finished his tirade and instantly regretted it. He should've kept his mouth shut. Way to go, flyboy, he thought angrily. "Sorry." He said hoarsely.

"Don't worry about it." McKay muttered.

Shepard remembered why he had been trying to move in the first place, looked in the general direction of Ford, "How is she?"

"I am okay." Teyla spoke, her voice was shaky, but she did sound like she wasn't in any immediate danger.

"Good." Shepard said. "That's...good."

"Major." Ford whispered.

"What?"

"There's a light."

Shepard strained to see what Ford was talking about. After a few seconds he could make out an area of lightness...lighter than where they were now at least. It suddenly occurred to him that the building, bunker, whatever, was eerily quiet. The sirens had quit blaring though he couldn't recall when. "Can everyone move?"

Everyone could. They struggled to their feet; Ford having to support Teyla who definitely was suffering from a concussion. McKay had managed to not be sick, and Shepard was holding his arm awkwardly, trying to keep it from moving as much as possible.

"Watch your step." He warned.

"How are we supposed to do that? I can't see anything."

"McKay." Shepard warned.

"Okay, okay."