A/N: Reviews are god for a writer like me, tell me what you like, or... don't like. So PLEASE REVIEW.

John sprinted away from the gate, dodging gun fire, and coming to Teyla's side. She was completely incapacitated, only her eyes were alert. He could see the fear in them. He grabbed her P90, strapped it, with his, to his jacket, then hefted her over his shoulders.

"Damn you're heavy Teyla." He said as he began heading for the forest.

Once inside the trees, he began to weave back and forth along the path, avoiding the Genii troops who were sure to be after him. Teyla was like a dead weight, slowing him down.

He stopped after almost thirty minutes of non stop running. His entire body ached. He listened carefully for a few minutes. Silence was all that greeted him. He counted himself lucky, the Genii hadn't been hunting him to hard.

He looked around, examining his surroundings. Just off to the side was a thick patch of underbrush. He hefted Teyla over his shoulders again, then climbed into the underbrush.

He set Teyla down gently in the grass, lying her on her back. He then lay on his stomach, next to her. He set both of the P90s in the grass next to him. He started watching, waiting. He knew he needed Teyla to get off the planet, and he knew that he would have to keep her safe until she could move again.

"There must've been something you could've done." Elizabeth said, as calmly as she could.

"I assure you mam," Sergeant Bates replied. "there was nothing that could been done. There was no way we could've held our position."

"You are dismissed Sergeant." Colonel Caldwell said. As soon as Bates had left the room, he turned to Elizabeth. "Colonel Sheppard made a grave error."

"And what was that?" Elizabeth replied, he tone cold.

"He abandoned the mission and his duties here on Atlantis for personal reasons."
"Teyla is a critical member of his team, and his friend. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Frankly doctor, I'm concerned that Colonel Sheppard has not kept his feelings well concealed."

"Just what are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked pointedly.

"If you haven't noticed, then you don't need to know."

"Get out." Elizabeth said, the anger barely contained.

Caldwell left without a word. Elizabeth felt the world around her crash. First it was just that John and Teyla were now lost, but now Caldwell was trying to secure his authority.

Frankly doctor, I'm concerned that Colonel Sheppard has not kept his feelings well concealed. Images started playing in her head of every time she had seen John and Teyla together. She could easily admit that they were friends and she knew that John cared for Teyla, but they couldn't be romantically involved. She almost convinced herself of that fact, except that she knew that the two of them spent a lot of time down in their sparring room. Time in which they could've done anything. She stopped herself from thinking further. It was getting no where.

She got up from her office chair and walked down to the infirmary. Ford was lying on a table, an IV dripping red fluid into his body. Carson was monitoring him closely. The two marines snapped to attention as she entered. "At ease." She said. "How's he doing?"

"Better." Carson said. "With the additional serum, I should be able to ween him off of the drug, I hope."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just that... he's so totally addicted to the stuff." He pointed to the mess of dripping needles that were connected to Ford's right and left arms. "I've got him on every sort of vitamin I can find, trying to keep him alive. The wraith serum has practically subverted his body's ability to live on it's own. I'm just hoping it not permanent."

Ford groaned, then his one eye snapped open. "Doctor." He groaned. "Genii... I stole them from the Genii." Ford's eye closed again.

"The Genii!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I need to talk to Rodney." She ran from the infirmary to Rodney's lab, just down the hall.

Rodney was analyzing the ZPM as she entered. "How are you Elizabeth,"he said absently.

"The ZPMs came from the Genii!"

Rodney stopped and turned around, a look a dread on his face. "The same Genii?"
"As far as we know."

"Okay... okay..." Rodney started pacing back and forth. "The ZPMs may still be good. They certainly are scanning right, and we know the Genii are after them."

"If for no other reason than to make sure we don't have them."

"Right, but there's no reason to get over excited." Rodney tried to laugh, it came out more like a joke. "We'd better double up the guard in the gate room, in case Colonel Sheppard and Teyla are captured, and their IDCs stolen."

"I was thinking the same thing. The Genii tried it once, and I'm sure they'll try it again."

"Meanwhile, I'm going to go over these two ZPMs with a fine toothed comb. I am going to scan them backwards and forwards. We are not putting these into the city's power grid until I am satisfied that they are genuine."

"But wouldn't you already do that?"

"Ummm... yeah, actually I've already done every test I can." Rodney had a blank look on his face.

"That's comforting... I think." Elizabeth walked from the lab and back to her office.

John glanced around for the hundredth time. He heard the distinctive boom of thunder. He knew that he had to find cover, and quick. He reached over, placing a hand on Teyla's cheek and turning her head to face him. "I'm going to try and find some cover. I won't be gone long." He waited for a response. She blinked once. He understood enough.

He grabbed his P90 and stood up. He then walked a short distance before finding a small cave, partially covered by a fallen tree. I am extremely lucky. He said to himself before turning around to get Teyla.

Minutes later, they were both comfortably inside the small cave. The cave was small, but had enough headroom and was wide enough to lay down in. The floor was sandy and free of rocks but it was dark.

John turned back to Teyla, helping her face him. "I'm going to borrow your knife." He said. He then reached down to Teyla's booted foot, rolled up her pant leg just enough so that he could get at her knife.

He then began to cut firewood from the tree that partially blocked it. He couldn't cut much more than small pieces, but he could make a fire out of them. Once he had a sizable amount of small wooden sticks, he pulled out his lighter and carefully lit the carefully laid pile of sticks. As the wood slowly began to burn, he placed a ring of rocks around it.

He propped Teyla up next to him, allowing her to absorb a little of the warmth of the tiny fire. He stuck Teyla's knife in the ground near the fire, knowing he would need it soon.

"Come on Teyla." He said. "I need you." He glanced down and saw in her eyes that she understood. "It's all my fault. I should've remembered you sooner." Teyla's eyes were not harsh, but soft at his words. "The thing is..." He stumbled for the right words. "It wouldn't be the same without you. I hasn't been the same without Ford." Teyla looked away.

He gave her a brief squeeze with his extended arm. "You get better." He said.

As the night got even darker, Teyla fell asleep. John noticed his fire was dying down and he was running low on sticks. He gently set Teyla down near it, then grabbed his P90 and her knife and ducked out of the cave. He wandered around the area near the cave, checking for some wood.

He found a small fallen tree close by. He quickly used the knife to slice off some logs, then carried them back to the cave, put two on the fire, and set off again. He continued this process for most of the night, fighting fatigue and worry by constantly moving and cutting firewood.

The forest was wet from the brief thunderstorm, which made cutting the wood difficult. What I wouldn't give for a chainsaw, or even just a saw. He said to himself as he worked his way through a particularly difficult piece of wood.

At least we got the serum for Ford. It reassured him slightly to know that he had still succeeded in his mission, even though he was now trapped on the planet.

He finally sat down in the early hours of the morning. He was exhausted. He stuck Teyla's knife in the ground and checked her for a pulse before throwing another log on the fire. He pulled a ration bar from his combat vest, and ate it silently, forcing himself to stay awake and alert.

It wasn't easy. He found himself constantly drifting towards a less erect position. He eventually found himself lying on the ground. He shook his head and stood up. He took a short drink from his water canteen before peering out into the early morning forest.

The forest was incredibly quiet, the only noise being the sounds of his slow breathing. A layer of dew had accumulated on the grass, leaves, and moss. All in all, not a bad place at all. He thought to himself.

Teyla shifted and he jumped. He turned around and moved over next to her. She was twitching awkwardly as she tried to move. "Easy," He said to her. "What can you move?"

Teyla looked at him. "I can speak, and I can move my head. My arms and legs are still very numb, but I can feel them."

"That's good. My arms and legs are killing me."

"Why?"

"I spent most of last night collecting firewood from the area around the cave. Had to stay awake somehow."

"And what of the Genii?"

"Far as I can tell, they haven't been able to find us or they aren't even hunting us, but I don't really know where the star gate is. So our first priority is getting you moving again."

"Thank you Col... uhh, John."

"Hey... don't mention it. I've never left anyone behind, and I'm not going to start now."

"Sergeant Bates and the others?"

"They went through the gate. The mission was a success, even though we're stranded here." John tossed a handful of sticks into the fire. "You hungry?"

"Very."

John reached into his pocket. "This is going to be a bit awkward."

"Why?"

"You can't use your hands, remember." John smiled.

Teyla glanced at her still limp arms. "I am very hungry."
"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you."

They both laughed at that.