A/N: I am now the proud semi-owner of a once again fully functioning computer and to celibrate here's the next chap. There should be one maybe two mor after this and I think this stiory will be finished.
THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!
Making her way back to John's quarters Elizabeth tried thinking of some way they could save AR-1. She had no doubt in her mind that the gate was guarded like Grunt had said, so they couldn't send anyone on foot and there were too many trees in front of the gate for a puddle jumper to fit through. Stopping in front of John's door Elizabeth attempted to compose herself before going in just in case Kilik was a wake.
Entering the room Elizabeth found that Carson had left probably to take care of something in the infirmary and Kate propped in a chair attempting to read a book. Seeing that Kilik's bed was empty Elizabeth looked towards John's bed finding Kilik snoozing there. Hearing Elizabeth enter the room Kate put her book aside and stood up to meet her by the door.
"Something's happened?" Kate didn't like the look on Elizabeth's face one bit. Elizabeth glanced at Kilik briefly before backing out the door, Kate following.
"Kilik was right, something bad has happened to John, the others too." Elizabeth leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. "You remember John telling you about the Sa'tareeian he called Grunt?" Kate nodded yes. "Well I just had a little conversation with the man and he's holding AR-1 hostage."
"Any chance of sending a team in to get them out?" Kate didn't want to think about how this would affect Kilik - Elizabeth too - if anything were to happen to John.
"Not that I can see at the moment, the gates being guarded and we can't send a jumper."
The two friends stood in the corridor in silence neither one sure what to say. The sound of the door opening and Kilik shuffling out of the room broke the silence. His stuffed animal in hand Kilik, rubbing tiredly at his eyes, walked over to Elizabeth lifting his arms up wanting to be picked up. More than willing to oblige Elizabeth gently picked Kilik up placing a loving kiss on the top of his head. Content and with a small amount of the sedative still in his system Kilik soon dozed off again.
After a few more minutes of silence Elizabeth let out a soft frustrated sigh and carefully so as not to wake him, handed Kilik over to Kate and made her way to the briefing room. She had less than an hour to figure out away to get her people back; never before had she envied Rodney's talent for pulling answers out of thin air with impossible odds more than she did right then.
Sitting in the briefing room with Sgt. Bates, Dr. Zelenka, and Dr. Beckett, Elizabeth gave them a quick run down of what was going on. With John and Rodney not there Bates and Zelenka became Elizabeth's go to guys. There was no mandatory reason for Carson to be there other than the fact that Elizabeth always found him to be a calming presence when she felt frustrated.
"Since we can't send anyone on foot or by jumper I'm open to any other suggestions, no matter how far out there they maybe." As hard as she tried not to Elizabeth couldn't help feeling that this was all hopeless.
"Are there any planets near by with a gate on them?" Bates spoke up after a moment.
"Sergeant?"
"If we can't gate there directly why not get there another way? We gate to a near by planet and then we take the jumper from there to the planet our people are on."
"Radek?"
"That may just work..." Zelenka spoke absently already busy typing away on his laptop. "Ah yes here we are PX-1827. Only problem is it's at least a sixteen hour trip between planets.
"Well it's not the best I could hope for but it'll have to do." Elizabeth felt a small spark of hope. "Sgt. Bates I want you to prepare a rescue team, you'll take jumpers one and two. Dr. Beckett I want a med team ready to go with them just incase. You'll leave as soon as you're ready."
Elizabeth knew there was no way she could give the Sa'tareeians what they wanted, she could only hope Grunt would try to get his information out of John and his team instead of killing them right away when she didn't contact Grunt when she was supposed to. Elizabeth prayed they could hold out long enough for help to arrive and that they would forgive her for letting them go through the hell she was sure they'd be put through..
Aiden couldn't take it any more, couldn't take Rodney's pacing any longer. Rodney had been pacing back and forth for what felt like an eternity, ever since John had been taken. Aiden was about snap at the scientist when Teyla, standing near the door, gently grabbed his arm.
"Someone is coming." Teyla whispered.
Hearing this Rodney finally stopped his pacing and turned to face the door. The three watched as the door swung open as two guards dragged an unconscious John into the cell. Roughly dumping John on the floor the guards left. Once the guards were gone Aiden and Rodney were at his side in an instant, Teyla kept her post by the door but threw concerned glances in the men's direction.
It was at least half an hour before John came around. Gasping for air John felt like he had an elephant sitting on his chest and the little man with the jackhammer in his head wasn't helping things one bit. Before any one could ask how he was doing the door swung open and Grunt entered almost as if he'd been waiting for John to wake up before making an appearance.
"It seems your Dr. Weir finds you of no value, her time has come and gone and yet there is still no word from her. I can only assume her answer is no, which means I get the pleasure of taking my information out of your hide." Grunt spoke as he none to gently lifted John off the ground by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the cell, completely ignoring the other three in the cell.
John may not have been fully with it yet but he did know that Grunt ignoring his team was a good thing; it meant all the attention and focus would be on him; John just had to make sure Grunt stayed focused on him. Entering the same room as before Grunt shoved John towards two guards who quickly grabbed John's hands and had them tied above his head. The look of joy on Grunt's face was more than enough to tell John he wouldn't be enjoying what was to come.
It only took Bates ten minutes to get a team together and take the jumpers through the gate. Pushing the jumpers to their limits the group managed to make the trip in 15 hours instead of the estimated 16. It wasn't much, but every second counted and Bates was willing to take what he could.
Cloaking the jumpers and landing in a clearing about half a mile away from the complex AR-1 was being held in Bates and three officers made for the complex while the other four and the med team stayed with the jumpers. Moving through the trees the team made it to the complex undetected. Quickly and quietly dealing with a small group of guards the team entered the building.
Hanging limply from the ceiling John had lost all sense of time, he had no idea how long he'd been there, it could've been hours or it could've days. The only thing John was aware of was the pain; his whole body was on fire with it. John knew if help didn't come soon he wasn't going to make it. So far John had managed to give Grunt just enough, without actually giving him anything, to keep the man away from his team, but John didn't know how much longer that would last.
Floating between consciousness and unconsciousness John watched as Grunt entered the room, an evil smirk on his face. John frowned as Grunt began pacing around the room studying him instead of laying into him right away. Slowly Grunt approached John.
"Tell me Major, how's the boy?" Grunt's change in questioning caught John off guard momentarily. "I know it was you who took him the last time we met."
"What do you care?" John for the life of him couldn't figure out what Grunt was up to.
"Oh I care very much Major. The boy is my property, which you stole from me and when I conquer Atlantis I intend to take him back, but not before he watches as I yet again kill everyone he's ever cared for, starting with you."
Grunt was standing so close John, angry as hell, couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot at the man. Before anyone could react John had swung his legs up around Grunt's neck and started squeezing with everything he had left in him. Immediately the guards in the room ran to assist their leader, stopping on either side of John slamming their fists into his torso.
Arms still free Grunt began slamming his fists into John trying to get him to let go. The wind knocked out of him John gasped, but didn't let go. Pain raging through his body John began to slip into darkness. The last thing John was aware of was the door being thrown open and the sound of bone snapping as Grunt suddenly went limp.
It was now Aiden's turn to pace, Rodney and Teyla sat leaning against the wall trying to rest, but Aiden couldn't seem to sit still. The three of them hadn't heard or seen anyone since John had been taken the second time and Aiden didn't like it one bit. About to start another lap across the cell Aiden stopped by the door when he thought he heard what sounded like a scuffle. Straining to see out the small barred window on the door Aiden let a small grin form.
"Bates over here!" Aiden hissed as the Sgt. finished bounding and gagging the guard at the end of the hall.
Shaking Rodney awake Teyla stood up and was at Aiden's side in an instant. The three stood back as Bates blew the lock on the door. Taking the offered hand gun Aiden led the group in the direction opposite the way Bates and his men had come. Coming across more guards the team knew they had to be getting closer to John's location. Stopping out side a room where the sound of flesh beating into flesh could be heard Aiden peaked through the door's window. Nodding they'd found their missing man Aiden prepared to open the door while Bates readied his P-90. The door thrown open Bates stepped into the room taking out the guards with out hesitation.
Leaving the three other soldiers to watch the door Bates, Aiden, Teyla, and Rodney hurried towards John. A quick check of Grunt reveled a broken neck. Ignoring the dead man Teyla and Aiden supported John while Bates cut the rope holding John up.Carefully lowering him onto the floor the four did a quick check on John.
"Major can you hear me?" Rodney gentlly tapped the side of John's face.
"Sir, if you can hear us you need to open your eyes." Aiden felt for a pulse, it was weak but there.
"With all due respect sir, get off your lazy ass and let's go home!" Bates got right next to John's ear raising his voice slightly, more than ready to go home.
That got John's attention. Cracking an eye open the first thing John saw was Bates' face. "You know if you keep saving my ass like this, people are gonna start talking." John wheezed finding it hard to breath.
"They wouldn't dare sir." Bates covered their sixes as John's team mates hauled John off the ground and out of the room.
With an arm over each of their shoulders Teyla and Rodney supported John as the others led the way out. Reaching the jumpers Teyla and Rodney handed John over to the med team who set to work on John immediately. With AR-1 , the med team and a pilot on one jumper and Bates and the others on the second jumper the group headed for the gate.
Sitting in her office Elizabeth couldn't help but think about what was possibly happening to John and the others. She didn't even know if they were still alive, something in her heart told her they were, but she couldn't help the small pangs of doubt that crept into her mind.
Looking at Kilik sat in her lap Elizabeth feared how he - and herself if she was honest - would be affected if anything happened to John. Elizabeth knew it probably wasn't the greatest idea to have Kilik there with her, but she needed to be near him and he, her. Kilik was Elizabeth's last connection to John at the moment and the only thing keeping her grounded, she felt Kilik felt the same about her.
The sound of the gate activating startled both Elizabeth and Kilik. Carrying Kilik, Elizabeth hurried into the control room, holding her breath as she waited for Peter to confirm if it was their people returning or not.
"It's Sgt. Bates' IDC." Peter confirmed.
"Lower the shield!" Elizabeth rushed from the control room to the jumper bay.
Soon joined by Carson and Kate, Elizabeth stood waiting for the jumpers to land. Praying that everyone was ok Elizabeth watched as the jumpers landed and people started coming out. When Aiden, Teyla, and Rodney emerged Elizabeth was relieved to see they looked ok. Not seeing John right away Elizabeth felt her heart freeze, until a comotion in one of the jumpers brought her gaze to land on him trying to stand up while the medics were trying to keep him lying down.
Carson quickly shouldered past everyone into the jumper to try and restore order, but not even a determined Scottsman was going to keep John down. Limping over to Elizabeth and Kilik, John finally stopped. Kilik immediately moved from Elizabeth's arms into John's and latched onto his neck, with no intention of letting go, not that John was complaing, he was holding onto Kilik just as tightly. After a moment John, on impulse, reached over and pulled Elizabeth close too.
Seeing that John looked like he was about ready to drop Elizabeth wrapped a supportive arm around John's waist and more or less forced him to sit down on the gurney Carson brought over. When Elizabeth tried to take Kilik so the medics could take John to the infirmary neither Kilik nor John were having any of it. Relenting Elizabeth walked along side the gurney with John holding onto her hand tightly. Elizabeth didn't know who John was holding onto tighter: Kilik, herself, or his will to stay consious.
Reacthing the infirmary it took a while to convince Kilik to let go of John and John to let go of Kilik. With the promise they'd return the second they could Elizabeth followed by Kate took Kilik into the make shift waiting room. As soon as they were checked and cleared Rodney, Teyla, and Aiden joined them in the waiting room.
It had taken Carson two hours of surgery to take care of all of John's interal bleeding and while it had gotten dicey a few times, John had managed to pull through. Stripping out of the scrubs he wore over his regular clothes Carson headed stright for the waitng room knowing thats where the others would be.
Entering the waiting room sure enought there they all were. Teyla and Aiden were sitting in a couple of chairs sleeping; Teyla with her head resting on Aiden's shoulder and Aiden with his arm around Teyla's shoulders - Carson had suspected something more than just friendship was developing between the two lately, but kept his mouth shut about it. Rodney was sprawled out over a few chairs, sleeping as well, with Kate, sitting next to him, absently running a comforting hand through his hair - Carson had given up on trying to figure those two out, one minute they're giving every sign of being a couple, the next they're giving each other the cold shoulder and being nothing but proffesional towards each other. Elizabeth was sat wide awake staring at something only she could see, rubbing a soothing hand over Kilik's back. Kilik was sat in Elizabeth's lap tightly holding onto clumps of Elizabeth's shirt in his fists and his head on her shoulder, sleeping after his long day.
So lost in her own thoughts Elizabeth jumped when Carson crouched down next to her, placing a caring hand on her knee. Seeing the look on Carson's face Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief, John was going to be ok. The look said it may take a bit of time but John would be fine. With a silent agreement between the adults still awake the others were left to sleep while Elizabeth passed Kilik to Kate and followed Carson into the infirmary.
Taking a deep breath Elizabeth approached John's bed. Maybe it was all the machines that were attached to him: the EKG, the pulse, blood pressure, and respiration monitors, the IV, plus a few more pieces of equipment Elizabeth couldn't identify, but John looked worse than she remembered in the jumper bay, his face was too pale, there was a small gash along his right temple, that had been stiched up, and some minor bruising all along his face. What really got Elizabeth was John's stillness, John was always moving it seemed, even if it was just tapping a finger on something, it wasn't right seeing him so still.
"How bad?" Elizabeth asked as she sat in the chair by John's bed and took a hold of his hand.
"He had massive internal bleeding and a punctured lung, but we were able to that care of all that. Every one of his ribs has either been broken or cracked. There are so many bruises on his front and back it's virtually impossible to distingwish individual bruises and his left shoulder has been dislocted again. To be honest I'm surprised he was consious let alone able to walk out of that place. I've put him in a mild medically induced coma to help his body heal." Carson gave a quick run down of John's injuries.
The sound of the infirmary doors opening drew Carson and Elizabeth's attention away from John. As soon as the doors were open wide enough Kilik came shooting through the doors head in their direction, Kate Rodney, Teyla, and Aiden weren't far behind. Climbing up into Elizabeth's lap Kilik hesitanly reached a hand out and ran it through John's hair, almost as if he didn't quiet believe John was really there. Seeing the worried look in Kilik's eyes Carson approached laying a hand on Kilik's arm.
"You should try talikng to him it might help." Carson suggested. "All of you should try."
'He hear me?' Kilik signed not trusting his voice just yet.
"There's no way to be sure but it couldn't hurt."
Looking first to Elizabeth for reassurance and getting a nod of encouragment Kilik catiously leaned over onto the bed and started talking about everything he could think of no matter what it was. Watching Elizabeth sat thinking about what she could say to John. Talking had never been an issue with them they could always talk to each other about anything, but now the words just seemed to lodge in her throat.
Closing her eyes Elizabeth thought about everything they'd been through since arriving in Atlantis. John certainly had a talent for getting into trouble, it was like he had a giant, bright red, blinking bullseye on his back. Not knowing what to say Elizabeth and the others sat back and let Kilik do the talking for the moment.