John stepped through the other side of the gate and into the world designated, Alpha Site. Waiting for him was Major Lauren. The Major looked bored. John couldn't blame him, this planet was a plain as they get. The stargate was in a small pit that was ringed by forest on one side and mountains on the other.

"Major." John casually saluted him. "How are things at the Alpha Site?"

Lauren turned and started walking into the forest, John followed him. "It's pretty quiet out here." Lauren replied.

"Just the usual."
"Yeah. We finally finished setting up most of the buildings. We've got the Athosians to thank for that. The three scientists that we have here are busy collecting plants and fungus."

"Your team's with them, I assume."
"Yeah. I'm the only one who's actually at the base, besides the four Athosians who live here." Lauren led John into the valley where the camp was constructed. "I know it's not much, but it's built from nature and when we're done with it, nature can come back."

The camp wasn't much. It was built much like a typical Athosian camp, with sturdy but easily constructed buildings. The buildings were built with wood and various products fashioned from the forest. John still admired the level of innovation that the Athosians had. Each building was unique, but each building was also the same. The same basic materials, the same basic structure, but inside, they each had a purpose.

Lauren stepped into the largest building the center. "This is our command center, for lack of a better word. We meet here in the morning and discuss what we're going to do for the day. The scientists said they'd be by a river to the north."

"Got anything for lunch."
"Right this way Colonel." Lauren led him out of the main building and into another next to it. The four Athosians were eating inside. "Do we have anything for Colonel Sheppard, Kalin?"

"Of course." Kalin replied standing. As with most Athosian men, he was significantly taller than John. Kalin walked into the back of the building and came back with a plate full of food. "Here you go. I know it's not much, but it's the leftovers."

"Thanks." John said, taking the plate. He sat down next to the Athosians at the long table. "Before I dig in, I think part of the reason Elizabeth sent me here was to thank you for all your help."

"Thank you Colonel Sheppard. We appreciate the gesture, even though it is not needed."

"Ahh, everyone needs a compliment sooner or later. It makes us better people." John quickly began eating his food. It was true to the Athosian standard, rich in spices and herbs, but not so much that it made his mouth burn. It was all around excellent. He could live off the Athosian cooked food.

"Major Lauren, this is Lieutenant Cunningham." Lauren's radio said. "We've got a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Lauren asked.

"We just found two of the scientists, they've been hit by a wraith stunner."

"You were supposed to be with them."

"Yes sir, but they insisted on splitting up."

"Other than that, they're fine."

"Yeah, we're going to bring everyone back now."

"Negative Cunningham, head for the stargate, go back to Atlantis. Colonel Sheppard and I will do a brief sweep of your area. When you've sent the scientists back to Atlantis, we'll regroup and recon the area."
"Yes sir."

Kalin stood. "We will set up a perimeter."

"You know where the weapons are." Lauren replied. "Colonel, shall we go?"

John finished the last of his meal then nodded. "Let's go."

Lauren led John out of the camp and into the forest, following a slightly weathered trail. All around them, the forest was quiet. There were no birds, no insects, no animals. John found this slightly unnerving. Though he admitted that he didn't miss the bugs.

They reached the river after a short few minutes. Lauren pointed to the ground. "Those are the scientists. Note the Nike footwear."

"Didn't we give them combat boots?" John replied.

"These three wouldn't wear it."

"Great. Looks like they went that way." John pointed towards some trampled underbrush.

"Wait." Lauren carefully looked at the ground.

John peered over Lauren's shoulder. He could see the scientists footprints and something else, larger prints. The more he looked at them, the more they looked familiar. They were wraith. John activated his radio. "The Alpha Site's been compromised. Kalin, evacuate everything now."

"Let's get..." Lauren was suddenly hit by a wraith stunner.

John dropped to the ground just as several more shots flew over his head. He grabbed his P90 and immediately ducked behind a log. He peeked over it just in time to see a single wraith, wearing a death black robe. He squeezed his P90's trigger.

Bullets shot from his gun and straight into the wraith's head. The wraith staggered, but didn't stop. John fired again. His bullets stitched the wraith full of holes from his upper torso straight up his face.

"We shall feed!" The wraith hissed as it staggered towards Lauren.

John stood and emptied the last of his clip into the wraith's body. The wraith finally stopped moving and collapsed to the ground as John ran out of ammo. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He then clipped his P90 to his jacket and lifted Major Lauren over his shoulders. Lauren was heavy, but John managed to balance his weight just so he could quickly race down the path. He began to hear the whine of wraith darts as he crashed through the forest.

He reached the camp as fast as he could. Kalin was waiting for him. Kalin helped John suspend Major Lauren between them so they could quickly race to the stargate. A wraith dart raced overhead. They were fast running out of time.

John called upon every once of strength he had, running as hard as he could. He knew they could make it to the gate. He wasn't even aware when they did. He could see Lieutenant Cunningham and two other marines laying down covering fire with a pair of machine guns.

He slipped Lauren's full weight onto Kalin and sent them both through. A wraith dart was coming in for an attack run. "Everyone through!" John yelled. The marines and Lieutenant Cunningham stepped backwards through the gate, still firing. John was the last through, the dart only seconds behind.

The instant he stepped through he yelled, "RAISE THE SHIELD!" Instantly, the shield came on line. He heard the distinct impact of a dart failing to integrate. He breathed deeply.

"What happened?" Elizabeth yelled from the control room.

"Wraith attack. Our Alpha Site's been compromised." John replied between breaths.

"Is everyone safe?"

"Yeah, that's everyone."

"I want to see you and Lieutenant Cunningham in my office."

John walked up to Elizabeth's office, Cunningham arrived just behind him. John knew Elizabeth was going to be mad. That would be the ninth Alpha Site that had been compromised since they started searching for one. It kept getting harder to find planets without the wraith knowing.

"Let's start with what we know." Elizabeth said, he tone diplomatic. "How did the wraith discover your presence."

"To be honest, I really don't know." John replied. "I had been there all of a half hour before we started having problems with the wraith."

"What exactly happened?"
"The three scientists were doing their thing, two of them were just beyond visual distance, when we heard the distinct sounds of a wraith stunner." Lieutenant Cunningham breathed in deeply. "We quickly found the remaining two. They had been hit, but there was no sign of the wraith that did it. I contacted Major Lauren, who ordered me and my squad back to the gate. We sent the scientists through and came back just as you know."

"Then I gave the order to evacuate." John finished. "However, the wraith that had been lurking around managed to get the drop on Lauren. I killed the wraith, then carried Lauren back to the camp where Kalin helped me to get him to the gate. There were at least two darts in the air, maybe more."

"Does it look like an ambush to you?" Elizabeth asked

"No. They seemed to be just checking the planet for life. When they found us, they were unprepared. That's the only reason for the ease of our escape."

"You both realize that we need to find a new Alpha Site."

"Yeah, we know." John looked over at Cunningham. Cunningham nodded.

"Good, but as it stands we're okay. I'll assign your team to look at it tomorrow John. You've got a mission briefing in about an hour and a half, don't be late."
"Don't plan to." John walked out of her office and back into the control room. He walked back to his quarters using the transporter to shorten the distance.

Once at his quarters he once again opened his laptop and made a journal entry. He talked about the wraith and how he was terrified of losing Teyla to them. He wrote about his dream, taking up several pages alone about it. It brought him some relief. He then opened his duffel bag and began searching for the one thing he had brought with him from Earth, besides twenty bags of popcorn.

He found it in a black velvet case at the very bottom of his bag. He knew how much Teyla missed her old locket. It had been a wraith transmitter, activated by none other than John himself. While he had been on Earth, he had looked around for some kind of replacement. He had eventually settled for one with a miniature plane at the end of it. He put it in his pocket.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd thought about doing this. Actually giving, Teyla the new necklace. It was less of a locket and more of a necklace, but it had come from him, so he thought the plane would be fitting. He had never actually gone through with it though. Several times, he'd been close, but he'd stopped himself, nervous at her possible reaction.

His reasoning now was that he had little to lose. He could feel her slipping away. As much as he wanted her, he wasn't sure if he was meant to. He knew that when he gave it to her, it would determine how she felt about him. He would know then if she shared his feelings, or if she didn't. He secretly prayed it was the former.

He headed out of his room and stopped just beyond Teyla's room. He thought about what he could do right now, before there was any chance of interference, from Ronon or otherwise. Immediately, as he turned towards the door, fear shot through him. His heart began to race uncontrollably. He stood there motionless, unable to control his body.

His heart rate tripled as he stepped up to her door. His hands began to shake uncontrollably. He clenched his fists several times in an effort to relieve the tension and the shaking. Then he reached out and knocked on the door. He felt himself remembering the last time he'd felt like this.

It had been a cold December morning. He had been in high school. At an age of 16 he'd decided he was going to ask the girl of his dreams out. He'd approached the door, after making sure that no one was within two blocks of her house. Then he'd knocked on the door, just like he'd done here.

"Come in." Teyla's voice was soft.

John fumbled for a few seconds with his almost useless hands to hit the door control. He finally opened it and just stood there for a second.

Teyla was sitting on her bed, still in her sparring clothes. She had one leg in front of her, the other behind. She arms were stretching towards one foot. She straightened when she saw him, pulling her legs back together to sit cross legged on her bed.

He'd felt the feeling of helplessness before, when he'd seen the girl of his dreams all those years ago. His legs seemed to melt, yet somehow he kept standing. He tried to regain his composure, not stand there stupidly.

"Is something wrong?" Teyla asked.

"What... ehhhh... no." John stuttered. He could feel the heat rising to his face, certain he was turning red.

"Are you alright John?"

John felt his resolve shatter as she said his name. "Yeah, I just came by to... uhhhh... to..." John decided to throw caution to the wind, but not really give anything away. He knew once he started talking he'd be fine. "I came by to give you this." He pulled out the new necklace from his pocket and held it in his outstretched hand, desperately trying to control the shaking.

Teyla stood and walked over to him. "What is it?"

"While I was on Earth, I remembered how much you missed your old locket. Well... I decided I would get you something to... ehhh... have in it's place. So I got you this necklace because I couldn't find a locket. It's got one of my hobbies on it, flying planes." He felt a little of the tension bleed away.

She looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Anyway... ehh... that's really what I had to say. Do you want to... ehhh.. put it on."

Her expression was still unreadable.

John suddenly felt the tension increase, threatening to overload his already stressed senses. He finally had too much. He was slowly finding it impossible to concentrate, his hands could barely hold on to the necklace. "I'm sorry." He said, turning around. "I shouldn't have even brought it up." He stuttered on every word. He started to walk towards the door.

He was almost out of her room when she said. "John, wait."

He turned around again. He let his hands fall to his sides. He didn't know why she'd asked him to wait. He thought he'd made a terrible mistake, just like he'd done in high school, an experience that haunted him to this day. He breathed before walking back to her. He looked down into her eyes. "Teyla?" He asked quietly.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning her head in. "Thank you John."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned his head down so that it touched hers, a traditional Athosian way of showing friendship and respect. He remembered the first time he'd done it with Teyla. He'd been unnerved as hell.

As she withdrew he managed to gather both ends of the necklace in his hands and reached around her neck. He fumbled a few times before finally managing to hook the ends of the necklace together. As he withdrew his hands he couldn't stop shaking.

"Why are you shaking?" Teyla asked quietly.

"I'm really nervous." John replied. "My legs barely keeping me standing." He let out a nervous laugh. "See."

Teyla placed her arms around him, pulling him into a gentle embrace. "There is no reason to be nervous."

Something inside John seemed to wither and die. He couldn't tell what it was. It suddenly seemed to make his heart lighter. He placed his arms gently around Teyla, returning the gentle embrace. He didn't want this to ever end.