A/N: Here is another chapter, sorry it took so long, this is kind of the beggining of the end. I already have the ending, but I have it handwritten, I still have to put it in my computer, give it to my beta... you know the process. For all the medical stuff I did research, but if I got something wrong, I'm sorry I'm not a doctor. There's another chapter in the way, I'll have it in the next couple of days.

About the story, there's a bit more of torture here, so consider yourself warned. Also, Rodney McKay is a very difficult character to write about. Just in case I have inspired myself on the McKay we have seen in The Defiant One and Hot Zone. He's still McKay but not as arrogant and annoying.

Thanks a lot to everyone that has taken time to read this, your reviews is what keeps me going, so don't forget to review!

Enjoy!


Chapter X: The Wounds and the wounded.

McKay walked toward the stasis chamber and opened it. He asked Teyla for her knife to use to cut the ropes holding Amara in place. Once the bonds were cut, Amara sat up and looked at the team, "We must move now! I do not think Major Sheppard will be allowed to live past this day."

"Ok, but if I see any sign of shadow play, I won't hesitate to shoot you." Ford pointed his weapon at the woman for good measure.

Amara was taken aback by Ford, whose comment reminded her that this was all her fault, "I understand, now if you see things around you, ignore them."

The team had no idea of what she was talking about, but didn't hesitate to follow her when she started to walk away.

McKay started thinking it seemed rather strange that she hadn't mentioned anything about the Wraith being near. 'She must know, how else had she been able to evade a Wraith culling.' It was bugging him so much he almost tripped over his own feet.

They went past the main chamber into some darker hallways, Ford and Stackhouse with their guns at the ready. Suddenly Amara stopped, and told the team to stay put. Teyla and McKay were the first to see it; there were shadows around them. They looked almost Wraith, but the shadows moved, passed in front of two guards and led them to the end of the hallway.

Then they heard two soft thuds, indicating the two guards had been taken out. Amara signaled them to move on, and so they followed.


John Sheppard hung limply from the ceiling, his shirt had been removed and his chest and back were covered in bloody gashes and deep punctures. He was currently floating between consciousness and blissful unconsciousness. All he was waiting for was that killer blow he knew would come any moment now.

There was no way he could release himself from there, he doubted Amara was going to try to make a move of this magnitude and even if the team managed to come back, they would probably be too late.

Sheppard saw Maur taking a little break, the man was obviously savoring the pain he was inflicting on his prisoner. He might not be much of a talker but John was pretty sure that the man understood him very well.

Most of John's wounds were caused by the Major's own sarcastic comments. Me and my big mouth! John thought for a moment, being unable to control himself had always caused him many problems, but never like on this scale.

John wasn't paying any attention any longer to the pain in his body, as by now there wasn't a specific place where the pain wasn't coming from. His whole body was on fire, and without some miracle he would be dead by the end of the day.

Maur took a sip of water, while Elek was sitting on a chair next to the table, his face now very red and a nasty bruise forming where Sheppard had managed to kick him. Maur grabbed the spiked stick again and walked towards Elek. He whispered something to Maur, and as Maur smirked John just knew it wasn't a good sign to see Elek having an amused expression.

Maybe this was the moment he had been dreading the moment they had started their torturing. Sheppard grabbed the rope holding him up with his good arm which would give him some movement if need be. If the next blow was a lethal one, maybe he could move enough to make it non-lethal.

Maur moved around as if studying the prisoner, while Elek was still having that amused expression on his broken face, which made John wish he could just shoot the bastard. Elek in return, just stared at Sheppard, "You know Major, here in Toulnya we have a way to break our prisoners. It has never ceased to amaze me how by attacking this, men are suddenly so ready to face death."

John couldn't think of anything to say in return; he was just too tired. Elek got up and positioned himself next to Maur, "Once we attack their manhood, men just crumble."

Sheppard's eyes widened in fear. It didn't need much thinking to know where Elek was going with this. John started to move, trying to get the rope to release him or at least give him the opportunity to evade the next hit. But everything he tried was in vain as he saw the spikes in Maur's hand move in his direction, aimed right at his groin. John's mind was screaming, 'Not that! Anything but that!' He gathered all his strength and the moment the spikes were going to hit him, he swung himself aside.

Sheppard felt the spikes hit him nonetheless, but was happy at the same time that they had missed his private area. Instead the spikes had jammed in his thigh. John knew that wasn't good either, but for all he knew better there than someplace else. Maur seeing that the Major had prevented the original hit, dug the spikes deeper into John's thigh causing him more agony.

The wound started to bleed madly as Maur moved the stick with the spikes still inside John's thigh. Sheppard screamed in pain, letting his agony and anger finally take control. He was ready to give up all hope, as he knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself again if they tried this once more. The pain was now too unbearable and he happily slipped into peaceful darkness.

Maur took out the spikes and was about to hit John again with it, when the door was thrown open.

John's blood soon mixed with Maur's when Lt. Ford shot him. Maur's dead body fell to the floor just as Sgt. Stackhouse entered the room and pointed his gun at Elek. McKay and Teyla followed, going straight for Sheppard. "Oh my God!" was the only thing Rodney was able to say once he got a good look at John, "Major Sheppard!" Teyla tried to wake him while Rodney checked for a pulse. He found it and as could be expected it was very weak, "John, can you hear me?"

John opened his eyes and a weak smile appeared, "I've never been more happy to see you McKay." Rodney was looking for a way to cut the ropes, while he replied, "I know."

Teyla in the meantime had walked towards the corner where the rope was tide up and had untied it. McKay tried to hold Sheppard as the rope loosened its hold, but the Major was a little heavier than Rodney had hoped and he fell to the floor. Ford approached McKay and looked at his CO. "Major, we are ready to take you home!"

McKay did a quick check on John's condition now that he wasn't hanging from the ceiling any longer and noticed that there was something wrong with John's left shoulder. 'That's going to hurt.' Going further over the Major's body he stopped short at the look of the Major's leg. "Lieutenant, I need your help here!"

Ford went down on his knees next to his CO and gave McKay a concerned look, Rodney in turn pointed at the wound in John's leg, "They may have hit the artery, you have to put a tourniquet to stop the bleeding." Ford nodded and started working on the tourniquet when Amara entered the room.

She had feared they were going to be too late, but in reality she didn't want to face Elek. So in the end she had just dismissed those feelings and had walked into the room anyway. Elek looked livid. "How could you? You have betrayed your people!"

Now it was Amara's turn to look livid, "No, I have not! I just decided I was not going to allow anybody to use me anymore."

"You are condemning this planet to death!"

"I am not as cold blooded as you think I am. But I want you to think for a while what you would do when the Wraith arrive and I am not around to protect you."

Major Sheppard awoke when he felt the sharp pain that caused the tourniquet; he first looked around and then stared at McKay, "My shoulder..."

"I know Major, that needs to be put back in place." Rodney knew that John was in great pain, but he did not expect John's next request. "Pull it!" Rodney stared at the Major and replied, "No, you should wait"

"I might be able to use it" Rodney shook his head, "Carson might do a better job." Then Sheppard screamed, "Pull it!".

"Fine!" McKay shouted back at the Major, causing everyone to stare at him as he stood up and took Major Sheppard's arm. Ford held Sheppard to the floor, knowing of what was ahead.

"On three?" John glanced at McKay who nodded vaguely.

Then Rodney started counting, "One."

"Two" John followed.

"Three!" McKay pulled John's arm upward until he heard a crack. The Major screamed in pain, while Rodney checked if his shoulder had indeed been set back into place, "I think it's set." But he wasn't entirely sure about that, knowing he would have to answer to Beckett if he had caused more trouble.

In the meantime Sgt. Stackhouse had bound Elek's hands. Seeing the Sergeant to this, Ford added a little something of his own doing as he got up to attach the man with his wrists to the rope that had previously been used to hang the Major from the ceiling.

Sgt. Stackhouse followed in pulling the rope, causing Elek to hang from the ceiling with his toes barely touching the floor. Lt. Ford glared at Elek, "I hope you enjoy this as much as he did!"

Ford moved back towards the Major, who by now looked more alert but still very pale. It was a sure thing that he had lost a lot of blood and was going to be off his feet for quite some time.

"You'll never get out of here alive!" Elek snapped.

"We'll see!" Ford glanced from McKay to his CO. "We'll see!"

McKay looked at the state Major Sheppard was in and noticed he was getting paler with each passing minute. "Can you stand?"

"Not sure but let's try anyway, shall we." Rodney and Teyla helped John get up. He winced a couple of times, but once he was on his good leg he was able to hold on to his teammates.

With Ford in the lead, the team left the room, with Elek's voice shouting in the back, "Amara! You will regret this!"


A/N: Sooooo... what do you think, this is just... quoting something from ROTK, "The deep breath before the plunge". Let me know what you think!