"That's it. The last Athosians are gone," Elizabeth announced as the wormhole shut. John had guided the quick flight to the mainland and back, his pace rushed. Tears straining to be released, Elizabeth had spoken to the Athosians who were staying behind, whispering luck and speaking of their bravery. The memory, now so distant, of convincing Teyla and Aiden that they were needed at the Alpha Site, played through her head with a vengeance. Aiden had accepted it after a stern order from both she and John, but Elizabeth knew that he wanted to stay. He was a brave man. She didn't know him well, but she knew that if Atlantis did fall, he had the ability to take over John's position, just as Teyla could take over Elizabeth's job. Elizabeth sighed sadly, recalling all too swiftly when John had given her his final goodbye, holding her tightly to him as if he never would let go. John had grown on Elizabeth-in that irritating way, but grown nonetheless-and she was sad to see him like this. Never before had he looked so…lost.

Elizabeth turned around, pushing the thoughts away. Everyone who was staying behind on Atlantis stood in front of her, as many fitting in the control room as possible and the others spilling out into the hallway. Their eyes were on her, their leader. "If anyone would like to leave now and go to the Alpha Site, I insist upon it," her eyes scanned across them. "There will be no question that this is most likely a suicide mission." No one moved a step. Elizabeth smiled queasily as she looked over their faces. By nightfall, those very faces might be wrinkled and gray, their bodies food for the Wraith. She fought the shudder that threatened to overtake her. "If no one wants to go, then we should go over our game plan—" she was interrupted by Peter Grodin's urgent voice.

"Incoming wormhole!"

Elizabeth glanced at the group of sixty before walking over to Peter. "From whom?" she asked, her voice wary.

"It's from…" he spoke, his fingers touching the clear crystals hurriedly. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "It's from Earth." Elizabeth's own eyes widened as she hurriedly fixed her earpiece back on.

"This is General O'Neill from Stargate Command, can you hear me?"

Elizabeth was silent for a few moments, not believing it. "Yes, yes we can," she said, an amazed look on her face. "How…" she was far too shocked to form complete thoughts, not to mention whole sentences.

"We recently defeated a Replicator…" he paused, "base, I guess you could call it. We found two ZPMs," he said. The others behind Elizabeth looked at each other with hope in their eyes. If they could get two ZPMs, they could surely beat the Wraith! "As a gift the Asgards improved the hyperspace technology on Prometheus."

"We're under attack by a powerful enemy, General," Elizabeth said hurriedly, "If we had those ZPMs…"

"I figured you'd need them. They're on the Prometheus. Estimated time of arrival is in 3 hours."

"Why can't you just send them through the Stargate?" she questioned.

"Our Stargate suffered a direct hit from a powerful weapon," he explained, "We haven't had the chance to have it examined but wormhole connections have been shaky at best. I don't think either of us could risk losing a ZPM if the wormhole disconnected."

"You're right," Elizabeth said. "Tell the people on Prometheus that they're riding into a battle. We have about six jumpers."

"Jumpers?"

"Green ships built by the ancients, designed to fit through the Stargate," she explained, not knowing that realization was dawning on Jack O'Neill light years away.

"All right. Hang in there for a few hours," he said. The connection grew fuzzy and Elizabeth removed her earpiece. A moment later, the 'gate closed.

Elizabeth turned to the group, a full smile on her face. She couldn't believe their luck. Her eyes met with Rodney's, and she laughed aloud at his gaping expression. "You heard the man!" she shouted, hope instilled in her voice once more. The group there cheered in reply. They had their moment of happiness before Elizabeth brought the air back to serious temporarily. "Now, listen. Keeping them off Atlantis for three hours isn't going to be easy," she didn't think she had to remind them all of that. "They should begin attacking any minute," Elizabeth's eyes moved to Rodney again. "Have you got the shield working?" He nodded. "Good," she directed her voice back to everyone there. "The shield Rodney has been working on will encompass each jumper. It will not, however, protect you from Wraith shots. Yes, by some degree it will, but not nearly enough to count on. The shield is there to deflect the culling beam." She looked around at every person left behind, trying to keep her composure. "Good luck," she whispered. Slowly, the group disbanded. The pilots headed toward the jumper bay—everyone else toward the armory.

"John, can I talk to you for a second?" Elizabeth stepped up to the man. He looked over at her and nodded slowly, looking more disheveled than ever. Silently, they headed to her temporary office.

"What do you want to talk with me about?" John asked, straight to the point.

"I wanted to make sure that you're positive you don't want to go to the Alpha Site," Elizabeth informed him. She put up a hand as John began shaking his head, "I'm being serious, John. I know you and Teyla—" she paused, "I know you both care about each other," she hedged, not wanting to trespass onto emotional boundary, "and I know there's a billion reasons you should be at the Alpha Site and not here."

John shook his head. "With all respect, no. I'm staying here. The sooner we beat these bastards, the sooner we get Atlantis back."

Elizabeth smiled slightly, not surprised. "All right, then," she said, and he began to leave. "Wait!"

"Yeah?" he turned around.

"Be careful out there," she told him.

"Between blowing up UFO's, flying around in alien ships and saving hundreds of people…" he shrugged, "Yep, I'll try." Elizabeth smiled as he left. She sat down on the desk, intending to have a moment's peace before everything started happening, when Peter Grodin burst into the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, ma'am," he said quickly, his words nearly indecipherable through his heavy breathing, "But several more Wraith Darts have appeared."


Author's Note: Here's another chapter! I hope you guys like. Thanks to Orka, MacCartney and PurpleYinfor the reviews. Next chapter should be up next Friday or this Wednesday. Please review!
Here's another chapter! I hope you guys like. Thanks to , and for the reviews. Next chapter should be up next Friday or this Wednesday. Please review!