Author's Note: OK, I'm not really certain how ffnet works, but I posted chapter 6 yesterday morning and it didn't show up on this listing until today (and then ¾ of the way down the page!). I think the only people who read it were those getting 'alerts', either for the story or for me as an author. And it's my favorite chapter, too! (pout) Oh, well, on with the story…

Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis is not mine, and no profit is made from this story. It's for fan reading pleasure only. Enjoy!

THE CRASH

By KerrAvon

7. Rescue

"Colonel Sheppard? Doctor McKay?" Teyla called as the rescue party climbed the final stairwell. Turning to the Major, she puzzled, "I would have expected them to be waiting at the top."

"Well, it did take longer than we had predicted to get here," replied Lorne. "We may be six able-bodied people, but that was a lot of rock to shift back there."

"It was necessary to do so in order to safely transport the Lieutenant Colonel on our return trip," Ronon insisted.

Lorne threw up his hands in surrender. "No argument here; I'm just saying that they might have decided to wait somewhere more comfortable." He considered, then called down to the Marines following, "Just in case, when we reach the top landing, assume Recon Formation Beta. Teyla, you and Ronon will follow our lead until we're certain that there are no hostiles."

The two aliens nodded, Ronon in approval. Very sensible. They finished ascending in silence, gathering quietly on the top landing. Major Lorne used hand signals to deploy his men, then silently eased open the door to the anteroom.

No one was in immediate evidence, and the four soldiers spread out, weapons at the ready. Lorne raised a quizzical eyebrow at Teyla, who indicated the control room door with her chin. Entering it from the side where he would make the most difficult target possible, the team in the entry hall saw him glance down and to the right, grin broadly, and lower his weapon. Despite his obvious relaxation, however, he motioned them to remain quiet as they entered the room.

Teyla, confused, nevertheless followed his instructions and eased in. The first thing she noticed was that the central console appeared to have been completely disassembled, no doubt by one hyperactive astrophysicist they all knew and loved. Then her eyes followed Major Lorne's pointing finger to the wall near the door and she found herself smiling as well.

There, leaning against the wall sat both men, sound asleep. Sheppard's head rested on the wall itself, with his mouth in an 'O' through which soft snoring emanated. Rodney, seated immediately adjacent, had his head resting on Sheppard's shoulder with a small trail of drool coming out of his open mouth and puddling on the colonel's LBE. Cradled protectively in the unconscious scientist's arms was a ZPM.

"I guess we did take longer than they expected," commented Ronon upon seeing the two men.

'What I wouldn't give for a camera,' thought the Major, eyeing the scene. Still, he had enough respect for the two men before him not to say so aloud. Instead, he asked in low tones, "Who wants to wake them?"

"I shall," Teyla stated without hesitation.

"A woman's touch?" asked the Major in surprise.

"No. The quickest reflexes," Teyla replied as she fixed him with a 'don't be ridiculous' stare. "They can both be…grumpy upon awakening, and the colonel is armed." She pointed to the weapon clutched loosely in Sheppard's hand.

Lorne gulped and nodded. "Be my guest."

The Athosian knelt beside the scientist, deeming him the safer of the two, and gently shook his shoulder. "Doctor McKay, wake up," she crooned. "It is time to go home."

"Wha…? Huh….?" The scientist was clearly not firing on all cylinders. He raised his head and blinked at her several times without recognition before suddenly appearing to remember where he was. "Teyla…?" he asked in wonderment.

"Yes, Doctor. We have returned to take you home." The Athosian woman smiled reassuringly at Rodney as she spoke.

His glazed eyes raised and registered the entire party then, a blank stare flitting from face to face until he returned to Teyla. "Does anyone have a Power Bar on them?" he asked.

"Sure, doc, catch." Lorne fished the requested item out of a pocket and tossed it to the scientist, who snatched it eagerly and ripped the wrapper off, consuming the foodstuff in two bites. Chewing in satisfaction, he leaned back and closed his eyes, still keeping a possessive grip on the ZPM with one arm.

His relief was worrisome to Teyla, who had seen him like this before. "Doctor McKay…are you having problems with your…blood sugar?" After the incident in the shuttle with the Eratus bug, she had spent some of her waiting time in the infirmary investigating this 'hypoglycemia' that McKay had claimed to have. All that was ultimately clear was that he needed frequent food intake, or the sugar in his bloodsteam would drop to dangerously low levels.

McKay nodded, keeping his eyes closed. As he swallowed the chocolate, he could already feel himself start to revive a little. His eyes popped open as he found another bar being pressed into his hand. "Eat another; it's a long hike out of here." Lorne was quick on the uptake. "I have a few more of those if you need some on the way back."

Rodney nodded gratefully and tore into the second bar as Sheppard began to moan. Speaking around a mouthful of junk food, McKay volunteered, "I think he's gotten an infection in that leg, but we didn't have any spare bandages."

The Major squatted next to his commanding officer. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it." Easing the P-90 out of the colonel's hand, he tried the same tact as Teyla and gently shook his shoulder. "Colonel Sheppard? We're going to get you out of here."

Sheppard looked much worse for the wear than Rodney, who was improving by the minute. A fine sheen of sweat covered the pilot's face and at the Major's attempts to rouse him, the most response obtained was a partial opening of unfocussed eyes. From his near proximity Lorne had to agree with McKay; he could feel the waves of heat radiating off the man. Suddenly all business, he gestured to the two men with the litter. "Let's get him loaded up and back to Atlantis. The sooner he sees Beckett, the better off he'll be."

The stretcher was expeditiously unfolded and the LTC gently maneuvered onto it. The man swam in and out of delirious consciousness, but fortunately remained still. Rodney refused to relinquish possession of the ZPM until they had reached the bottom of the stairwell. In staring down the long, dark hallway before him, he decided that it might be in the interests of everyone concerned if someone younger and fitter were to lug it out of there.

McKay barely remembered the trek back to Jumper Two. After a few minutes it blurred into an interminable march along a poorly lit passageway which seemed to have stones strategically place every few yards to trip him up. The third time he almost fell Teyla stationed herself surreptitiously at his elbow to steady him down the remaining corridor.

To everyone's relief it was no longer raining when they reached the outside, and Rodney was too tired to tell them why. He opted to save the explanations for after a good meal and eight hours of sleep, and merely trudged along with the group. The rest of the trip back to Atlantis was relatively uneventful.

Upon arrival the Jumper was swarmed by medical personnel, led by Beckett himself. Taking one glance at Sheppard, he ordered, "Get this man on a gurney and get him to the infirmary. I'll be along in a moment."

Kneeling beside McKay, Carson placed a hand on the knee of the bemused scientist. During the flight he had regained possession of the ZPM and was now cradling it to his chest like a doll. "Rodney?" Beckett grasped the ZPM and gently began to pry it out of the astrophysicist's grip. "Let me have this so we can get a look at you, all right?"

Suddenly returning from his mental vacation, Rodney focussed on the physician's face and smiled beatifically. "Oh, hi Carson," he smiled. Beckett took the ZPM from the now-unresisting hands and passed it to a waiting technician.

"How are you feeling, Rodney?" Beckett pulled a penlight from a pocket and flicked it in and out of McKay's eyes. Blinking in irritation, Rodney batted it away.

"I was fine before you blinded me," he groused.

Beckett sat back in satisfaction. "Now there's the old Rodney McKay," he chortled. "I understand you had a hypoglycemic attack?"

McKay shrugged. "Nothing a couple of Power Bars couldn't cure. I'm fine now."

"Well, you do look all right, but we'll do a finger-stick glucose in the post-mission physical to be certain." Beckett called to an orderly, "Make certain Dr. McKay comes straight to the infirmary, would you?" then stood and went to examine his other patient.

---------------------------------------------

After determining that Sheppard was otherwise well, Beckett turned his attention to the LTC's right leg. Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon stood off to the side, lingering around Medlab following their physicals in the hope of finding out about Colonel Sheppard's condition. Carson didn't have the heart to throw them out, so he allowed them to stay as long as they weren't underfoot.

Examining the splint, he was impressed. He glanced up at Ronon Dex. "You do this?", he inquired.

"Yeah."

Carson nodded. "Nice work. Leg's nice and straight. I'll see if I can keep it that way."

He carefully started cutting and peeling away the bandages to expose the wounds, and whistled as he got a good look. The skin surrounding the wounds was red, puffy, and oozing purulent material. "You were right about the infection, Rodney."

McKay gulped. "You won't have to…you know…amputate or anything, will you?"

Beckett was aghast, "Good heaven's, no! It'll be painful for a while, but good wound care and some IV antibiotics ought to do the trick."

"Glad to hear it," came the weak comment from the exam table.

Carson whirled. "So, ye've decided to join the land of the living!" he exclaimed with a grin.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was McKay being so hypoglycemic that he nearly passed out."

Carson pinned Rodney with a glare. "Oh, did he now? Well, as you can see for yourself, he's doing fine now. However, I think a glucose tolerance test is in order."

McKay groaned and sat heavily in a nearby chair, hiding his face in his hands. He'd had that test before, and he hated it! All the needles, and that syrup you had to drink made him gag. No getting around the thing now, though.

"So what then?"

Teyla stepped forward. "When we arrived, both you and Dr. McKay were sound asleep. Dr. McKay had extracted the ZPM."

"Way to go, Rodney!" Sheppard's 'thumbs up' was but a weak reflection of its normal enthusiasm, but McKay appreciated it nonetheless.

Beckett smiled in satisfaction, then went back to business. "I'm going to ask the lot of you to leave, now. I need to sedate the colonel before we can clean up this wound, and as you can see, he's going to be fine." Shooing them out into the corridor, he had a nurse administer the drugs, then went to work.

TBC…..

AN: Almost finished. Thanks for hanging in there!