Thanks for all the great reviews on chapter one. I had big plans to write the whole story and post it when I was finished (I think this one will be shorter than the others), but when I got finished with chapter one, I wigged out. I couldn't stand not to post it and start getting feedback. I can't help myself -addicted to reviews. I'll try to finish quickly, however, since I understand the frustration of waiting on the next chapter. Some of you know that I am rather impatient in that area. Anyway, on with our story.

Chapter 2

McKay and Sheppard moved quickly through the forest. They weren't running, but they weren't wasting any time. It had been almost an hour since McKay had removed the arrow from Sheppard's shoulder and bandaged it. John had to admit, it felt a lot better. He was still a little light-headed and his shoulder still hurt, but having the arrow out helped. The most important thing was having the injury tightly bandaged. It not only felt more secure, but the bleeding had slowed considerably. Sheppard knew from experience that the bleeding wouldn't stop entirely until Beckett got hold of him. It was probably a bad sign that he almost looked forward to that.

McKay eyed him warily. "You doing okay?" Although Sheppard looked better than he had earlier, he still didn't exactly look good. He was still a little pale and seemed wobbly. "And don't say..."

"I'm good," they said in unison. They stopped moving and looked at one another before breaking out in laughter.

"Am I that predictable?" asked Sheppard, still smiling.

"Oh, you have no idea," replied McKay. "That in mind, how are you really?"

"Not bad, really. Shoulder hurts, but not as bad as before. The bleeding had slowed quite a bit. I guess I'm still a little light-headed, but not too bad. I'll make it okay. McKay...thanks. You really came through for me back there. I won't be forgetting it any time soon." He smiled at Rodney, hoping he knew that he really meant it.

"You're welcome," Rodney replied rather quietly. "Thanks for trusting me."

The two men continued walking in silence...but it was a comfortable, friendly silence.

As they walked, Sheppard thought about how they ended up in this mess. They must be jinxed. This day had gone from a day off to a short, simple mission, straight to a living nightmare.

He had been sitting in Weir's office, chatting and drinking coffee, killing time on his day off. He would have to learn to run first and ask questions later when he saw McKay coming. But he hadn't done that. He had continued to sit there sipping his coffee as McKay strolled into Weir's office, ultimately ruining his day.

"Elizabeth, I need to run back to M4P-322. I've been going over the digital pictures we took of the text on the ruins and I can't read any of the ones taken off the back wall. I knew we shouldn't have tried to teach Ronon to use that camera. None of them are usable. Well, there is that one that I can see the last three letters..."

"Rodney," she interrupted, realizing when he got distracted like that he could babble for ages. "Today is supposed to be your day off. Why don't you take it easy and you can go back in a couple of days."

McKay looked shocked. "A couple of days? I can't wait a couple of days. Elizabeth, this could be important stuff, essential to saving our lives. You want me to wait two days?"

Weir sighed. McKay made everything sound like an immediate life or death issue. She made a face at Sheppard, who was trying to hide his grin behind his coffee cup. He was enjoying this a little too much. "Rodney, your whole team has the day off. Teyla and Ronon went to the mainland for the day, so they aren't even here. You already have a mission scheduled for tomorrow. You can go back the day after that."

McKay rolled his eyes. "I don't need a babysitter. We've already been to that planet three times and nothing has happened. I'll go by myself. It won't take me two hours. Thirty minutes to walk to the ruins, thirty minutes to take pictures, and thirty minutes to walk back to the gate. Less than two hours." McKay smiled, certain that she couldn't say no.

"No."

The smile faded. "What do you mean, no?"

"You aren't going to an alien planet by yourself, I don't care how many times we've been there or how benign it looks. How many times have we been caught off guard by just such a set of circumstances. The answer is no." She looked back down at her papers, her way of signaling the conversation had ended.

Sheppard looked at McKay's crestfallen expression and took pity...his first mistake of the day. "What if I go with him? I can watch his back while he takes pictures."

McKay looked suprised. "You'd do that? Give up your day off to go with me?"

"Yeah, I'm not really doing anything constructive. Just hanging out annoying Elizabeth so she doesn't get any work done."

Weir nodded. "Well, that part is certainly true. I haven't gotten a thing done since you got here." She looked at the two men with their playfully pleading eyes. They were so much trouble. "You realize the last time I let the two of you go anywhere alone, you blew up half a solar system."

John held up his hands defensively. "That wasn't me. I'll try to keep a better watch on him this time." McKay rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. He could tell she was thinking about it and he didn't want to ruin his chances.

"All right. Just don't blow anything up this time."

"Yes, ma'm," they said in unison as they left her office.

Sheppard laughed as they walked. "You want to let me in on the joke?" asked McKay.

"I was just thinking about this morning and wishing I'd kept my big volunteering mouth shut." He realized McKay was a little too silent and regretted his comment. "McKay, this was not your fault. We haven't seen a soul any of the times we've been here. We had no way of knowing there were natives and they would take personal offense at strangers in the temple ruins. This could just as easily have happened if we had waited and come later."

"Of course then there would be four of us instead of two and we would have had a better chance of scaring them off and getting back to the gate," he said bitterly. "You might as well stop trusting me, because I don't deserve it."

"Stop it!" Sheppard had stopped moving. "If I didn't trust you, you wouldn't be on my team. It's as simple as that. My trust is not based on never making mistakes. My trust is built on whether or not I can depend on you to back up the team...to be there when we need you and to always give your best. If it meant never making mistake, there wouldn't be anyone on the team...especially me. Lord knows I've made more than my fair share of mistakes." His voice softened slightly. "You don't need to be perfect...and you don't have to always be right. Just be Rodney. I can live with that."

McKay ran his hand through his hair uncertainly. He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay. I can do that."

"Good. Let's get moving. I want to make the gate before nightfall."

Over the next hour, they encountered groups of natives twice. Both times they managed to stay hidden in the brush and quietly change direction. Eventually, they came to a steep, downhill slope. They stood at the top, looking down the side of the hill, each calculating the risk of going down the slope.

Sheppard flashed an encouraging grin to McKay. "Don't worry, McKay. It's a piece of cake."

McKay looked at Sheppard. The bandages on his shoulder were wet and red with blood that had soaked through. "You've bled through. I should change the bandages."

Sheppard looked down at the soaked red cloth covering his shoulder. He was trying not to let McKay see how badly his shoulder was throbbing, but it was start to make him a little dizzy. He had to keep focused until they got down the hill. "Rodney, we need to get down the hill and out of sight first. We can't go around ...we've already tried that. We can do this. I'll go first and show you."

McKay shook his head. "No you won't. You only have one good arm. I'll go first so I can help anchor you...in case you lose your grip."

Sheppard thought briefly about arguing. It was his nature to try to protect others, so he felt like he should be first. But McKay was right. He could barely move his right arm and when he did, it sent waves of agonizing pain through his shoulder. This would be a one-handed climb. McKay was somewhat suprised when Sheppard agreed.

McKay slid over the side and began slowly picking hand and foot holds. "Don't look down," Sheppard called from above him. McKay, of course, immediately looked down and clutched the rocks even tighter. "I told you not to look down."

McKay sighed loudly. "Thanks for the advice. Are you coming anytime today or do you need an engraved invitation?"

"Keep your shirt on, McKay, I'm coming." Sheppard eased himself over the side, closely hugging the side of the hill. He found he had to grip the rocks with his right hand in order to move his left hand and not fall. He tried to find a rock close enough he didn't have to lift his arm much, but that wasn't easy. After a few feet, he was starting to grunt in pain with each effort. He could feel the blood flowing out of the wound a little more quickly. By the time they were halfway, he was getting very light-headed and nauseous. He pressed himself into the rocks, closing his eyes and panting shallowly.

"Colonel?" McKay sounded worried.

"I'm good... Just gotta...catch my breath a minute."

McKay took a step to come back up closer to Sheppard. He was afraid he'd pass out and fall. Even though they were a little over half way down, it was still several feet to the bottom. He didn't think Sheppard could handle even more injuries. He reached up to grab the rock outcropping near his right hand. As he shifted his weight to that hand, the outcropping broke off in his hand, throwing his balance off completely. He scrambled madly, trying to find another handhold, but it was too late. He felt himself falling, bumping against the hard rocks until something collided with his head and the darkness swallowed him.

TBC