Chapter 3

"Rodney!' Sheppard realized McKay was falling, but there was nothing he could do. He was barely holding on himself. When the rocks and dirt around him settled, he turned his head to look down the hill. Rodney lay at the bottom, unconscious. He couldn't tell how badly McKay was hurt, only that he was hurt. "Rodney, can you hear me?" No answer. Sheppard closed his eyes again, focusing on clearing his head. He had to get down to McKay. He finally opened his eyes and began to carefully climb down. Several minutes later he reached the bottom.

McKay was lying on his back, arms sprawled out to his sides. There was a deep gash across the left side of his forehead, blood running freely down the side of his face. Sheppard nervously checked for a pulse. Getting one, he sighed with relief. He looked around. He needed to get McKay over beside the cliff, where they could be somewhat protected by the overhanging rock above. They were sitting ducks out in the open like this. He checked for broken bones as quickly as he could with one hand and then grabbed McKay by the back of his shirt and vest, dragging him over to the protected area near the rocks.

"McKay, can you hear me? McKay, time to wake up now." No response. Just great. What else could happen? He began digging in his vest with his good hand, looking for more bandages.

Almost an hour after McKay fell, his eyelids finally began to flutter open. Sheppard almost missed it because he hadbegun to dozeoff himself. McKay uttered a low moan as his eyes began to open and immediately put his hand over his face to block out the bright light.

"Ah, sleeping beauty awakens," commented Sheppard.

McKay still couldn't get his eyes open, but recognized the voice. "What does that make you, the frog prince?" he asked hoarsely.

"Actually, you're the one who sounds like a frog right now." Sheppard held the canteen up to McKay's mouth so he could take a sip. He wanted to lift his head a little to reduce the chance of strangling, but he didn't seem to have enough hands at the moment. McKay managed to get a few sips in his mouth, along with some that ran down his face.

"How about turning down the lights? It's awfully bright in here." McKay still had his hand over his face.

"Okay, McKay...I admit to an ability to activate a certain amount of ancient devices, but the last time I checked, I had no control over the sun. You may just have to learn to live with it."

McKay was still and quiet for a minute. "We're not in the infirmary, are we?"

"Not unless Beckett has done some serious redecorating. And I would definitely object to his choice of beds. " Sheppard put his good hand on McKay's shoulder. "Are you okay, because you're really starting to scare me?"

McKay finally pulled his hand away from his face and blinked until he managed to get his eyes open. "Oh, man. We're not in Kansas anymore."

"McKay?"

"To use your phrase, keep your shirt on. I'm okay. It just took me a minute to get oriented and remember what happened. At least up to the "Oops, I'm falling" part. Help me sit up."

"Okay, but take it slow and easy." Sheppard helped steady McKay as he slid himself up into a sitting position, back resting against the rocks.McKay was wondering at the wisdom of the move as his head throbbed and swam and his stomach rolled.

Sheppard watched with concern. He had a pretty good idea how McKay felt. "Keep your eyes closed a minute until the dizziness settles." He kept his hand on McKay's leg to help ground him. In a few minutes, McKay slowly opened his eyes again. "Better?" Sheppard asked.

"A little," replied McKay. He lifted his hand to feel the bandage wrapped securely around his head. He looked at Sheppard in confusion. "How did you do that with one arm?"

Sheppard just smiled. "I'm a man of many talents."

"Whatever."

"So what hurts besides your head. I couldn't find anything broken, but it was hard to check with one hand."

McKay began to move various limbs, looking for anything that didn't work right. It didn't take him long to find it. "Ow! Okay, something major wrong with the right ankle. That hurts!"

Sheppard moved down to McKay's ankle, carefully untied his shoe, and slipped it off his foot. He could tell the ankle was swollen. He peeled back the sock to see a black and blue puffball of an ankle. "Ah, crap, McKay. This is not good."

"Ya think? I thought you said nothing was broken."

"I said I couldn't find anything broken. Remember, I'm operating with one hand here. Besides, I don't think it is broken. I think it's just sprained."

"Just? Say that again when I try to walk on it."

"I can help you."

McKay looked at Sheppard as if he'd just grown a third eye. "Let me get this straight. You are going to help me walk? You can barely stand yourself, as I recall. By the way, how's the shoulder?"

"It throbs, but I'll live. We're gonna make it out of here McKay. You know that, right?"

McKay looked at his twice-its-normal-size ankle and the blood-soaked shoulder of his pale-looking helper and sighed deeply. "Sure," he said, wishing he believed it.

Back on Atlantis, Weir was getting very worried. Sheppard and McKay were several hours overdue and, with those two, it had to be bad news. She walked down the steps to the gateroom to meet the soldiers grouped there. "Major Lorne?"

"Yes, ma'm." Major Lorned approached Weir and stopped in front of her. "The team is assembled and ready to go."

"Very good, Major. Radio me as soon as you get to the temple ruins to let me know what you find. You have a go."

Major Lorne nodded and turned back to his team. Weir went back up the stairs as the gate was activated. She arrived at the top of the steps in time to see the men go through the gate. "Bring them home," she whispered to herself.

The first thing Major Lorne did upon arriving at the planet was to attempt radio contact with the missing men. The radio made some strange crackling noises, as if it was about to connect, but they never received an answer. "Okay, let's move to the ruins. Keep your eyes open. We know there's something going on here - we're missing two men." He motioned the men forward.

Sheppard and McKay had just managed to wrestle McKay's shoe back on and were getting up when the radio crackled. Sheppard listened intently. "...Lorne...Colonel...you..."

Sheppard tapped his radio mike. "Major Lorne, this is Colonel Sheppard. Do you read?" They heard a lot of static, followed by silence. Sheppard looked around. "Do you think all these rocks could be blocking our signal?"

"It's possible. Maybe if we can get away from here, we can try again. At least we know there's someone out there looking for us." answered McKay.

"Okay, let's go." McKay put his right arm around Sheppard for support. He couldn't drape it over Sheppard's shoulder, as he would ordinarily have done, because of the arrow injury, so he put his arm around the colonel's waist. The two men took several faultering steps until they worked out a rhythm that wouldn't throw them both to the ground. And so they went, one man hobbling on a sprained ankle and dizzy from a concussion and the other weak from blood loss and slowly drifting toward shock.

"Hey, McKay. You ever hear the phrase, 'the blind leading the blind'?"

"Yeah, so? Neither of us is blind...at least not yet. Of course the day isn't over yet."

"No, I was thinking we're more like the crippled leading the crippled. Or maybe the pathetic leading the pathetic."

"Oh, good. I'm feeling so much better about our situation now, with those words of encouragement. Why don't you save your strength and not talk."

Thirty minutes later, Major Lorne and his team reached the ruins. The team discovered many arrows and signs of gunfire. One of the men also found blood on some small trees just leading into the forest on the back side of the temple. He was about to contact the men he left at the gate to dial Atlantis and report when his radio came alive.

"Major Lorne, do you read me? This is Colonel Sheppard. Please respond."

Lorne smiled at the men around him. "Yes sir, we read you loud and clear. Please advise of your situation, sir."

Sheppard and McKay grinned from ear to ear as they looked at each other. "Good to hear your voice, Major. McKay and I were attacked by the locals. Guess they don't like strangers in their ruins. We're trying to make our way back to the gate taking the long way around. We've run into a couple of groups of them, but so far we've managed to stay hidden. I'm not sure what our ETA is. Probably a couple of hours or so."

"Are you and Dr. McKay okay? We found blood at the ruins."

"Well, we're both a little worse for wear right now. That's kind of slowing our progress. I took an arrow in the shoulder and McKay has a concussion and a sprained ankle."

"Give us your location, sir, and we'll come and get you."

"Negative. Move back to the gate and wait for us there. There's too many groups of natives and we're playing in their back yard. I don't want anyone else hurt. Just keep the gate secure and we'll be there in a while. I'll radio when we get close so you can advise of the current gate status."

"Yes, sir. We'll advise Atlantis of the situation. They were getting worried."

"Good. You might want to..."

About that time, Sheppard and McKay turned to the sound of people crunching through the underbrush and shouting at one another.

"Oh crap. We've got enemy approaching. Don't call us, we'll call you. Sheppard out."

Sheppard and McKay began moving as quickly as they could, which wasn't really very fast. Sheppard stopped and pointed to a rock cliff several feet in front of them. "Look, there's kind of a low rock overhang down near the ground. I think we can crawl back under it far enough they won't see us. I don't see us outrunning them,so hiding is our best bet."

They made their way over to the wall and crawled under the rock outcropping. When they got underneath it, they discovered it opened up into a small cave. It was just barely large enough to sit up in, but was far enough under the overhang to be invisible from outside. They took a place on either side of the small room and sat quietly, listening to the men moving around outside. No one made a sound for at least ten minutes after the sounds from outside had stopped.

"You think they're gone?" whispered McKay.

Sheppard nodded. "Yeah. Let's stay a while longer to be certain. We could both use a breather."

They sat in silence for several minutes. They watched each other with growing concern over the other man's condition. Sheppard's shoulder was soaked in blood again and he was obviously getting weaker. McKay's ankle was about twice the normal size and he was almost constantly dizzy from the bump on the head. McKay began fidgeting nervously.

"McKay, you got ants in your pants over there?"

"No...I was just thinking...I...well...you know, if something happens...I just wanted to say...thanks for being ...my friend...and...I...well, I care about you."

Sheppard, who had been getting a drink from his canteen about then, sprayed water across the cave and turned red in the face coughing. "Jeez, McKay! You don't say that kind of stuff to a soldier..."

McKay rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Colonel. That's not what I meant and you know it. I mean...like a brother. I always kind of wanted a brother. I have a sister, but we were never really close. I don't know why, really...we just never...clicked. I always kind of thought I'd like having a brother. Older...younger...I didn't really care. Just...a brother. You know what I mean?" He looked over at Sheppard, who was strangely silent, a far away look in his eyes.

"I had a brother," he whispered. McKay barely heard him. Sheppard's eyes drifted, unfocused, for a minute. McKay got worried he was about to pass out. Then he seemed to bring himself back to the present and made eye contact with McKay. "Brothers can be really cool You want to know the bad part about having a brother?" He looked down at the floor of the cave. "Losing him."

McKay didn't quite know what to say. He had just learned more personal information about Sheppard than the whole last year combined. He wanted to know more...he desperately wanted to know more about this crazy flyboy who had somehow become his best friend. But he didn't know how far to push. Sheppard was not to be hurried about these things. "Was he older or younger?"

Sheppard remained quiet so long that McKay thought he wasn't going to answer. "Younger. Three years younger." Sheppard rubbed his forehead. His shoulder throbbed and his head was spinning and he was spilling his guts to McKay for some reason he couldn't quite get a handle on. Suddenly he felt like the whole situation was spiraling out of control. And then, still not understanding why, he talked to McKay.

"Jacob...Jake was such a pest when we were kids. He kept following me around everywhere. I thought he was the biggest nuisance. Then...somewhere along the way...he became my best friend. Maybe because we grew to depend on each other so much. Our mom died when we were kids and dad...the year Jake graduated from high school. We just stuck together a lot through all that." Sheppard looked away for a second and seemed to be trying to catch his breath. McKay thought he saw him try to casually wipe his face.

"What...what happened?"

"He just kept following me...He joined the air force. We always talked about flying when we were kids...I guess he loved it as much as I did. We used to say it was in our blood." He smiled briefly, obviously remembering something about his brother. "God, I miss him so much sometimes. He'd have loved Atlantis. He always wanted an adventure." He bowed his head and closed his eyes a minute. Why was he doing this? He'd never talked to anyone about this and he had thought he never would. He just couldn't seem to stop himself.

"We were both stationed in Afghanistan. I got caught behind enemy lines and did several weeks as a POW. There were several of us that were determined to be...enemies of the state. They couldn't manage to beat anything useful out of us, so they made a big deal about how they were going to execute us. Our side decided to run a rescue op. and of course, Jake volunteered. He was part of the crew laying down cover fire from the air. After they got us out, they flew us straight to the hospital. It was two days before they took me off pain meds enough to tell me Jake was dead. Odd thing is, I think I saw him go down. I was kind of wiped out by the time they got to us, but as they were putting me on a chopper, I saw someone get hit and go down. I had no idea it was Jake. I've replayed that in my head about a million times. Sometimes I think I can see his face." He put his head in his hand and rested it there a minute. "McKay...how do you live knowing your kid brother died trying to save your life? I never have really gotten a handle on that one."

McKay was speechless. He knew Sheppard had never opened up to anyone like this. He was both honored and frightened. He felt a great burden of responsibility to say the right thing...to be the support that Sheppard needed. "That's why. I understand now. That's why you have this driving need to protect and save everyone, no matter what the cost to you. You're ...trying to ...to make it up to your brother...to make the most of his sacrifice."

Sheppard looked up at McKay. "I don't know...maybe...I just...I just feel so guilty when I think about it. I'm the big brother...I was the big brother...and I'm supposed to protect him, not the other way around. Sometimes...I just wish they'd left me there."

"No! That is not the way to handle it. That doesn't honor his memory at all. All you can do is...remember him to keep him alive and do your best. Remember what you told me. None of us are perfect. We just do our best and back each other up. That's all any of us can do. That's all he was doing." Sheppard slowly nodded. "Hey, do you have a picture of him?"

Sheppard smiled. "Yeah, back in my quarters. I'll show you when we get back." McKay smiled and nodded.

They sat in silence a few minutes. "Hey John, were you ever blood brothers with anyone?"

"Blood brothers?"

"Yeah, you know...when you were a kid. You each cut your finger and then smear your blood together and then you're blood brothers."

"No, I don't think I ever did that. Why, did you?"

"No, but I knew kids that did. I always thought it was cool, but I was never close enough to anyone to do it. I was just the weird nerd everyone made fun of."

"And you're telling me this why?" John asked suspiciously.

"Well...we're kind of like brothers."

"We definitely have the whole fighting/sibling rivalry thing down. Are you asking what I think you're asking, McKay?"

McKay looked a little sheepish and Sheppard grinned. At first McKay thought he was going to make fun of him and he wished he hadn't said anything. Then Sheppard suprised him. "Okay, but on two conditions. One, you never tell anyone. I'm not sure how this kind of thing might affect my position as military leader. Two, I'm not cutting myself. I don't need any more bleeding holes in my body, so I'll just use what's already available if you don't mind."

McKay couldn't believe it. Sheppard scooted across the floor until he was right in front of McKay. He reached up and touched the bloody bandage on his shoulder, his hand coming away red with fresh blood. That scared McKay more that just a little. McKay looked down and found a cut on his arm. He rubbed the dried blood until it started to bleed again and smeared the fresh blood on his hand. He held his bloody hand out and Sheppard touched his bloody fingers to McKay's. They rubbed the blood together and then gripped each other's hand in a sort of sideways handshake.

"Blood brothers," said McKay.

"Blood brothers," repeated Sheppard. Each smiled weakly at the other.

TBC