Authors Note: This hasn't been beta-read so I apologize if it has grammar/spelling errors in or if the characters sound a bit off. Please let me know what you think of this, complaints, suggestions; any feedback would be helpful as long as it is constructive.

Spoilers: For Season One episodes 1-14

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Stargate in any incarnations of course and I'm not making any money, this is just some harmless fanfic fun.

Chapter 7: When all is lost

"Well you seem to be ok, apart from your lack of decent sleep."
She nodded, slipping herself off the bed lithely.
"I'd prescribe some pills for it but I don't think that will solve the problem in this case."
She stopped, standing still at his hand catching her arm.
"Would it help to talk about it?"
Her eyes broke their stare at the floor to face his worried gaze.

"Come with me." he said gently, placing his hand against the base of her back.
She found herself confiding in the man, relaxed by his gentle coaxing of the issue.

"It felt so real."
Her voice silently pleaded for it to have been real no matter what that meant.
"Your dream?" he asked as he guided her into his office and toward a seat.

"I woke up in the quarters and there was this mirror, similar to the Stargate. I got sucked through to where he was, they were torturing him Carson." she tore a tearful look upwards from her wrying hands into his sympathetic expression.

The doctor moved across closer rubbing her back comfortingly.
"There there pet. Get it all out. No shame in crying" he said as he offered her a hankie for her watery eyes.

He studied her as she whimpered, trying to wipe the tears back faster than they came.
"If you don't mind me saying I think you need a more direct way to with Rodney's death. I know it feels surreal, especially since we have nothing of him left, nothing to bury. Perhaps it'd do you good to visit Narda, where it happened, just for closure. Otherwise your mind is gonna do itself in, fabricating these god-awful dreams."

"No, no and no."
Sheppard stood arms crossed defiantly, not budging one bit. Only he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up with Carson pestering him so diligently.

"Just for a few hours Major."
He felt bad denying the request and what was worse he was refusing the Doctor's orders which didn't settle well because he knew Carson meant well, the suggestion was meant to help Elizabeth.
"Its too much of a security risk."

Carson kept up with his badgering, moving on from his heartfelt pleas to a more direct insistence.
"Do you really think the wraith are going to come back to a planet they've just culled so soon."
"No but then maybe thats what they'd like everyone to think." he countered, rather doubting it but it was still a possibility.
Carson seemed to sense the flicker of uncertainty, homing in on his major weakness.
"Doctor's orders, Major. " said Beckett, as he mirrored Sheppard's stance.
"You're not going to let this go are you?"
"No, and I'm nearly as stubborn as you too."
Sheppard sighed, consigned to doing what was best even in the face of a high risk.

Carson beamed at him, patting him on the back briefly in his newfound good mood.
"I really think this will do Elizabeth a world of good."
"Fine, sure but I hope you're right."
He watched Carson skip off to the infirmary with the good news.
He had a bad feeling about going back to the planet but there wasn't much he could do if he wanted their leader back.

She stood in the gate room, watching the gate dial up. The symbols danced around the ring before finally settling one by one.
A blink and she missed the explosion of the wormhole establishing.
It had been a long time since she'd last been through the Stargate and she felt doubly nervous considering where they were venturing.

But she swallowed her fear thinking of Rodney and praying that she could cope with seeing the last place he had been before it had happened. Hoping too that it would make it sink in that he wasn't coming back, that it wasn't a bad dream and that her bad dreams weren't true.

Finding themselves through the gate she walked around idly, lack of consideration for any danger as Sheppard was annoyed about.
"Hey, back over here. We haven't secured the area yet." his eyes were harsh, a sour expression visited him.
"Sorry" she said not really agreeing with what she found her mouth saying.

The world was beautiful, fresh. Not the kind of planet she had expected something so tragic to have occurred on. That only made it more real.

"Where did it happen?"
The question was so simple and asked in a care free manner that it surprised him, he glanced up to her oddly calm face and pointed across the trees.
"Over there, bout 1000 yards, at the market."

He turned his back calling over to Ford for confirmation of his initial checks but he'd missed the signs, she was gone.
Looking sharply up he saw her figure sprinting on the horizon, heading straight for the market.
"Ford! Double back, we need to cover Weir, at the market." he radioed voice rough as he ran to catch up, Teyla not too far behind him.

He ran all the way to the beginning of the clearing, unable to catch up remotely with her. She was better than a track runner, had she been a runner for county in high school or something equally as grand. All concerns of how she'd managed to outrun him came crashing down in his mind when he saw her there, staring horrified at the body in the middle of the square.

It was a womans, placed bang where they had last seen McKay. And the resemblance of the corpse to Dr. weir wasn't lost on him.
He slowed down, walking and trying to get his breath back. As he closed in he noticed her shaking, she didn't turn around knowing he was there, just spoke out voice unbelieving.

"I know her. I saw here in a dream"
He looked over her shoulder a haunted mood on her face.
" He's alive, he's here"
And he knew who she meant, there was no other him for her to mean.

"Calm down and explain."
But she didn't want to be be told that..
"No, he's here John. That or they are."
"They? The wraith?"
He scanned the skies, ears listening out for the telltale noises of darts or any other ships. Nothing.
On the ground there was no moment either, apart from Teyla and Ford jogging to their position.

Ford landed next to him, taking his time to compare the woman's corpse with Weir. The lieutenant glanced between the two, mouth open slightly.
"Is that...?"
Sheppard didn't answer, he was still waiting for Weir to say something more. She seemed to think she knew more than they did.

"The wraith brought her here."
"And you know this how?" he asked skeptical.
"I dreamt it."
He drew in a breath, unsure what to make of what she said.
"Not exactly reliable but if they've been here then we need to go, before they come back."

His statement apparently broke her train of thought. Up until then she had been quiet, short terse sentences revealing the minimum information. On his words she swung round, face showing fury.
"No!" she shrieked before continuing in a less forceful manner "Do you know what this means, he could be here. We have to look for him."
He could hear the desperation in her voice and her eyes searched the tree line frantically.
"Elizabeth!" He grabbed onto her, knowing they needed to get her out of there fast.
She tried to twist out of his hold, scraping her nails against him futilely.

Carson had chosen to wait for the teams return, to see how Elizabeth would be, hanging around in the gate room even though they weren't long gone.

Suddenly the gate dialed up, Teyla's code transmitted rather unusually.
Then he saw why.

Sheppard and Ford entered after Teyla, dragging a hysterical Elizabeth with them.
Carson gulped, knowing this was all him fault. It had been his suggestion and it hadn't helped at all. Quite the opposite.
He called for a medical team, annoyed he hadn't thought to have any sedatives with him just in case.Several members of Atlantis watched aghast, nobody sure what to do. It was a bizarre scene to witness, the leader of Atlantis fighting tooth and nail against her own men.

She cried out, a few words spoken at last rather than her screams of protest.
"Let me go! We have to go back for him."
He had a sinking feeling who she meant was Rodney.
But what could have happened to make her act like this, what had gone on on the planet?

Sheppard and Ford continued to struggle with Elizabeth as the medical team arrived, Carson taking the sedative from one of the other Doctors.
As he approached he tried to warn her, settle her down, hoping that it might not be needed. It was still only a last resort.
She did indeed soften at his arrival and he saw in her expression she hoped he'd understand.
She started to talk, something about her dream, when the gate activated for a second time.

They all looked up to Grodin who was stationed at the controls.
He looked back at them equally as confused.
"No other teams are off world."

Sheppard took charge, asking the man the most important question, though not letting go of his friend.
"Got any identification?"
"Not yet but wait for it." was the technicians serene reply.
They all watched as he moved across to the laptop, face paling, mouth dropping open in surprise.
He looked up, in shock, telling them very quietly in his broad voice.
"It's McKay's IDC."