Part Six

The floor had come up a lot quicker than John expected, and pain resonated throughout his body. Despite the adrenaline that coursed through his system, every reaction felt sluggish and weighted down. He heard Elizabeth cry out and approaching footsteps as he grabbed for the contraband that he'd stashed behind an ornate section of the wall.

He rolled, pulling the pin as he went, and then tossed the smoke bomb beyond Elizabeth, into the space between Kolya and his man. Thick smoke began to pour out of the narrow canister. He inwardly cheered as Weir continued running until she was on his opposite side, allowing him to use the small advantage the smoke bomb afforded to gather several more items from their storage spot.

He twisted back toward the two Genii, and aiming through the growing smoke cover, squeezed off one shot with his .9mm. A surprised gasp of pain registered distantly as moved on to the next target. Before he could pull the trigger, an iron fist slammed into his chest. John only vaguely registered the jarring motion of being slammed backward onto the floor.

-- --

The life signs reader registered four persons somewhere up ahead. Aiden knew that all of those dots could not represent friends as Major Sheppard had clearly communicated that only he and Doctors McKay and Weir remained alive in the city. That was only three friendlies.

He glanced back toward Teyla and Beckett. Teyla was a solid warrior, Beckett looked a little nervous. Still, three against four really wasn't bad odds, especially with the element of surprise and superior fire power on their side.

"We need to get in closer," he whispered to his two friends, "find out who they are."

"How do you propose we do that?" Beckett asked. "I'd be surprised if they don't know we're already here what with all the noise that was made when we landed in that underwater bay thing."

Ford couldn't argue Beckett's assessment, but they had to move forward with what they had. They had gotten out of what he had already dubbed the lower jumper bay as quickly as they could and were winding their way through the lower levels of the city.

"It appears that they are moving toward us," Teyla pointed out. "Why do we not lie in wait until they approach?"

Aiden rolled the idea around in his head and decided he liked it. "Okay. But let's split up a bit." He pointed toward the device. "They're going to have to come up this cross-corridor. We can hide on either side here."

Both Teyla and Beckett nodded in agreement and they made their way quietly to the designated areas. Teyla and the doctor occupied one side of the hall, while he took up the other side. He kept the life signs indicator with him.

As the four dots drew ever closer, he nodded across the small expanse to his companions, notifying them that it was nearly time. Teyla nodded in understanding. Beckett swallowed hard and gripped his weapon more tightly. Aiden looked into the doctor's eyes, willing him the strength to get through this. He then flattened himself against the wall, preparing to wait out the few seconds before the group of four would appear.

He was preparing to signal Teyla and Beckett when he noticed that something was changing around them. The other two seemed to recognize it as well. All eyes were drawn upward in confusion as it dawned that the lights were getting noticeably brighter.

-- --

The world was hazy and insubstantial. But he felt an urgency that prodded him to fight against the desire to just quietly let himself be taken under. The sounds which floated about above him began coalescing into recognizable words.

". . . .can not do it, Doctor. You are not a warrior." Kolya's voice. As cold and nasty as ever.

"I'll do what I have to to save my people." That was Weir. That must mean. . . .

John's eyes shot wide. He blinked several times to be sure that the sight that greeted him through the rapidly clearing smoke cloud wasn't an illusion. Dr. Elizabeth Weir was standing, in a perfect policeman's stance, with his .9mm pointed toward Kolya.

The Genii had one foot under him as if he'd been on his way back to his feet. Blood was splattered along the side of his face, which confused John until he noticed that Kolya's weapon was a couple yards away and that there was a bloody looking tear near the shoulder of his uniform. That was when he remembered the shot he'd fired just before he'd gone down.

He'd been shot!

He struggled into a half-sitting position with a grunt. His chest, and every other part of his body, protested mightily making their complaints known. With all the dizziness, pain and nausea flying around, never mind the complete lack of a big bloody hole in his chest, no way was he dead.

A stiffening in Elizabeth's body revealed her awareness that he was back among the land of the living. "You okay?" she asked over her shoulder, never looking away from Kolya.

"I'm not dead," he managed, deciding that he'd take the pain if it meant that he was still alive. Then confusion settled in. "Why am I not dead?"

"Probably the materials in your flak jacket," she replied. "Our bullets are stronger than their bullets."

"Oh. Good." The nausea and dizziness was starting to abate, and John figured it was time that he crawled back into the fray. He got his uninjured leg beneath him, braced his uninjured arm against the wall and levered himself into a semi standing position. He gave things a moment to steady themselves before straightening completely and starting to walk.

"And you thought we had nothing to offer," he chided Kolya as he checked that the downed Genii soldier would not be causing them any more trouble. He took his gun for good measure. The weapon didn't even rate compared to his P90, but Elizabeth was looking pretty comfortable with the 9 mil, and he had no intention of dividing her attention away from Kolya to retrieve it.

He turned back to face Kolya. "So, how about we give you a tour of what we like to affectionately call the brig?"

"You should kill me." Kolya told him, not moving.

"Thanks for the advice," John snapped. "But that's not the way we do things around here."

"I will be your enemy forever, and I will always come back."

"Aw, threats. How touching." John gestured with the muzzle of the Genii weapon. "Get up. Slowly."

He held his finger on the trigger and his eyes locked on the other man as Kolya began to rise. He knew given even half a chance, the other man would try something. He almost hoped he did; it would give him a reason to make sure that he never had a chance to fulfill his words.

As he contemplated exactly what they would do once they'd completely taken Atlantis back, the overhead light inexplicably began to brighten. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he had just enough time to register the really bad feeling he had about it before the corridor was suddenly plunged into complete darkness.

He knew in the milli-second before the breath was knocked out of him that Kolya had made his move.

--

A/N: I have been having great fun writing and posting this story. You guys are wonderfully encouraging! Oh, yeah. . . .awfully sorry about yet another evil cliff. . . . And the whumping continues. . . .