John fought against the fog that had wrapped itself around every corner of his brain. Something kept knocking on his sub-conscience as if to say "Get your ass up John." It was becoming quite annoying. A continuous stream of noise kept pouring into his ears. A constant reminder that he needed to stop laying here and do something. But it wasn't that easy. God why wouldn't they just shut-up.
That's when the pain decided it was time to chime in with "I'm still here, didn't think you'd get away that easily did you?" Shit I must have a head injury, I think I've lost what was left of my mind. Pain doesn't talk . But the noise was becoming more focused….it was a voice. It was familiar but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Sheppard gave himself a mental kick in the rear end and forced his heavy eyelids open. John couldn't help but smile as the words began to make sense.
"What Major, you decided to use the entire case of explosives. I'm not a soldier but I don't think bringing down the ceiling on their heads counts as a successful rescue mission!"
Rodney. I never thought your voice could sound so good. His joy was cut short as gunfire erupted around him. John cringed, they weren't out of the woods yet. He was still having trouble seeing clearly, but he wasn't sure if it was due to his injury or the near cave-in. The thin coating of dust made Teyla appear even paler. I will not lose you now. He touched her face, she felt warm, and her chest was rising and falling at a fairly steady rate. She was holding her own for the moment.
The firing came to an abrupt halt. " Search the area, we need to find the Colonel and Teyla," John recognized the calm voice of Major Lorne. Fighting the nausea he managed to raise his head a few inches off Teyla's chest and scan the area. He couldn't see anything. Rocks around us, dirt and gun powder in the air, and dim lighting to top it off. Crap they'll never find us in this mess.
John opened his mouth to call out, but all he managed was a weak cough. His throat felt like sandpaper, and his mouth might as well have been full of cotton. This was so not good. He had a brief moment of insanity where he actually considered trying to stand up. But his legs refused to cooperate, apparently they had turned to jelly while he was unconscious. Then there was the dizziness, he was pretty sure that rock wasn't supposed to be spinning.
He closed his eyes just as Mckay's irate voice began again.
"Perhaps if you had been more careful we could actually see more than a foot in front of us."
Dr. Mckay, you're not helping. Shut-up and let us do our jobs," Lorne again. Rodney was really pissing him off, that's my scientist. John swallowed and willed his vocal cords to work this time. " Don't you ever stop bitching Rodney," his voice was barely above a whisper, and sounded foreign even to his own ears. Jeez, did I swallow a rat.
"Well I would if….did you hear that? This way, I swear I heard…." Mckay's voice was becoming louder as they approached. The sound of rocks cracking under their steps told him they were heading in the right direction.
"Really Doctor, I think you were hallucinating," Lorne finished with a soft cough.
John could just see him roll his eyes and get that exasperated look on his face. It was the same look his mom used to give him when he would ask her "Are we there yet?" for the millionth time in an hour. Before Rodney could launch into a tirade he took a deep breath and managed, "Over here."
"There you see, it's coming from over there," Rodney's voice was filled with relief.
John closed his photo sensitive eyes as a flashlight beam was aimed in their direction. "This way, next to those fallen rocks," Sheppard heard Ronan's voice for the first time.
He heard them stumbling through more debri, then he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.
"Colonel, are you alright?"
"I'd be a hell of a lot better if you got that damn light out of my eyes Ronan," he grimaced.
"Sorry," the offensive beam was immediately removed.
"I'll live, check Teyla." His voice became icy, " They tortured her."
He felt warm hands gently lift him up and off of Teyla's lithe body. A medic, he wasn't sure of his name began a cursory examination on her while John tried not to make a fuss over his now throbbing ribs. Must have been pounded by a rock there as well. Moving him into a sitting position had hurt like hell, but he hadn't made a sound. Teyla was more important.
'Maj,..Sorry I meant Colonel, are you okay?"
His gaze locked with his blue eyed friend now kneeling before him. Rodney looked like he could use a nap. "I've been worse."
"Why does that not give me any comfort?"
"That's because your such a pessimist McKay," he attempted to smile, but his lips weren't in the mood.
"Your pale, bruised, and your hair is awful. What have you been doing down here?"
John sighed, he knew what Rodney was doing. His gaze kept drifting back to Teyla's non-moving form. "Your not helping."
"Yeah well," he said sadly as he turned to look at the object of John's distress. "I'm sorry we couldn't get back here sooner. We got help right away, but there was trouble finding this place. Ronan had to scare the hell out of quite a few natives you know? Then there was…
"Rodney," he waited until he turned back, "You did good."
"Really?"
"Yep, now if you could just manage to be quiet for five seconds…"
"Nothings broken, whoever did this knew what they were doing," the young medic called out. "We have to get her back to Atlantis thought, she could have internal bleeding, can't be sure till the Doc checks her out." He stood, "You bring me that stretcher, Colonel we'll have one.."
"Belay that order, I will be fine. Just concentrate on protecting her, it's a lot easier to cover one injured person on a stretcher than two." He didn't miss the irate glances that were being sent his way. "That's an order people. Your job is to take care of her, got it?"
There were a few annoyed mumbles, but they did as they were told. It only took the team minutes to secure Teyla and insure their way out was clear. "Ronan, you guard Teyla, understand."
He nodded, "I will protect her with my life."
"I know, now" he turned towards a suspiciously silent Rodney McKay. "Guess what your job is…" he flashed his trademark grin and stretched his arms out toward the scientist.
"Oh sure now you want my help," he pouted but grabbed one of John's offered hands, and hauled him to his feet. Sheppard was unable to hide his distress, "Dammit, why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"
"Slipped my mind," he gasped. Rodney held him still until the pain and dizziness passed.
"You shouldn't be walking," he sighed. "Here," he carefully slid an arm around John's back, while John managed to wrap his arm around Rodney's neck. It relieved some of the strain, he just wasn't sure how long the out of shape scientist could handle supporting that much of his weight.
Major Lorne was studying them with a furrowed brow. To his credit, he said nothing about John's condition. "Let's move out, slow and cautious. Who knows what's waiting for us out there."
There were ten in the rescue party not counting himself and Teyla. The soldiers formed a circle around the unconscious Teyla, himself and Rodney. Ronan was taking up the rear, his eyes constantly scanning the area. Most of the dirt had cleared and visibility was almost back to normal for a barely lit, house of horrors. Lorne was on point, clearly anxious to get the hell out of dodge. The feeling was mutual. So they began their slow, journey back to the Stargate.
As they rounded a wide corner, John relaxed a little as he saw the sun up ahead. "Hey, you got any sunglasses, my eyes don't like the light right now." Probably a combination of being in a dark cave for days and my head injury.
He saw Rodney dig in his pants pocket. "Here," he said while placing them on John's face.
"Thanks," the throbbing in his skull seemed to ease slightly. His ribs on the other hand, were still screaming bloody murder with every step.
"You know, don't think this let's you off the hook?"
"What," he asked reflexively.
"You still owe me that twenty dollars," Rodney deadpanned.
John smiled and ignored the comment, "By the way in case we die…you were right," he said while they cleared the cave and he saw the sky for the first time in…he wasn't sure how long. He inhaled the fresh air, god it felt good to out of that cave.
"Of course I was," he shifted his arm, offering even more support to John's already protesting muscles. "About what?"
His stare landed on Teyla, "About telling her. It wasn't even that hard you know. Now I might…," he swallowed the emotion that he heard creeping into his voice.
"Now who's being pessimistic?"
"Not pessimistic, realistic," he snapped. He heard Mckay sigh, but that was his only response.
They traveled in silence, the only sound was the crunching of dirt and fallen tree branches as they walked toward the Stargate. Lorne signaled to head left so his friend began turning with the others. One of the young Lieutenants must have noticed his labored breathing and offered to take John of his hands. John began to let go immediately, but stopped when the scientists grip on him tightened.
"That won't be necessary."
The soldier looked unconvinced but backed off and resumed his position in the formation. "Umm, maybe you should take him up on his offer. I'm not exactly a light weight here."
"No," he practically yelped. He could see his cheeks redden. "I mean it's alright. Besides," he swallowed, "Look what happened last time I let you two out of my sight. You go and get yourselves kidnapped and …. You both could have died John. Died so I could live," his voice sounded distant and strained.
Not many people could surprise John Sheppard but damn if Rodney didn't do it at least once a week. He just called me John. Teyla, now Rodney. I must have started a trend. "Well," he decided to try humor, "Actually so both you and Ronan could live."
"That makes this so much better. Isn't sarcasm my job."
"I think we do a pretty good at sharing that particular burden," he gave him a sideways smile.
Rodney grinned wryly back at him. "You're sick'
"Yeah, look McKay me and Teyla. We know either of you would have done the same for us."
Rodney opened his mouth to protest, "Hey no interrupting. You know it's true, look at you now, look at what you're doing and tell me it's not."
Rodney blinked several times and stared at Teyla's unmoving form a few feet ahead of them being guarded by the final member of their team. He was quiet for a few awkward moments then, "What did that medic mean when he said they knew what they were doing?"
Another jolt, "Rodney I don't think you want to know that answer. You get pretty squeamish about torture."
"I need to know."
He nodded, big mistake as his head swam and pounded. He fought past it, "He meant they knew how to inflict the most pain without killing or causing serious injury." Sheppard paused to let that sink in, "That way they could keep it going for days, maybe even weeks."
Rodney had turned ghostly white. But he simply pressed forward, helping John to clear a fallen tree in their path.
John couldn't keep his eyes off Teyla. He wanted to run up to her side, hold her hand, kiss every bruise on her face, but he didn't. Telling Rodney was once thing, but a public display of affection in front of Lorne might not be welcome. Not to mention Weir and Caldwell. He had a feeling they might not be pleased. Team members involved in romances were frowned upon.
"She's not part of the military John, they can't stop you two", Rodney said in a hushed voice.
"How did you…"
"You had that look on your face."
"What look?"
"Never mind, but what I said is true isn't it?"
"Yes, but….I still don't know how it's going to go over. At the very least our team will probably be split up."
"You can't know that." Mckay huffed.
John smiled bitterly. But didn't' comment. He turned his head slowly so he could see his friends face. "I love her," he whispered.
Mckay stopped walking and met his gaze. "I know."
The two men behind them made an impatient noise. Rodney led them forward a few steps, "I'll help you two. If you want to keep it a secret I won't say anything, if you want to go forward I'll speak on your behalf. I'll tell them I don't think your relationship would impair..'
"Rodney," he gently interrupted "Thanks, let's just get off this planet alive first." His smile turned a little wicked, "But hey, if we have children I'll make sure they call you grandpa."
"That's real cute. You know how much I adore kids. Hey maybe I can…":his voice trickled to nothing, as he stared ahead of them. "Finally were there, I can see the gate," his relief was evident.
John felt better already. They were almost home, Teyla would get the help she needed, and he'd discovered they had a surprising advocate for their newly professed love. The day was turning out much better than he'd thought possible.
They stepped out of the forest and onto the dirt path a few feet from the Stargate. He and Mckay were really going to need a bath. Dirty and sweaty was not a good combination. And they were covered in both.
John exhaled, and watched the Major approach the DHD. The other men were spread out, P-90's raised. Teyla had been set down on the ground, Ronan stood next to her. The medic was adjusting the straps that kept her from being jostled to much during long march here. So far so good. No sign of any angry villagers.
"Hey Rodney you mind if we," he tilted his head toward the Athosian.
"Of course," they started toward Teyla.
Lorne was getting ready to dial home, when he abruptly jumped back from the device like he had been bitten. "Fuck, it shocked me."
"You're quite observant," called a voice that had become the devil's in John's mind.
Before anyone could blink, the air shimmered and Gwein appeared directly in front of Teyla's stretcher. He had a weapon trained at her head. " I wouldn't do that if I were you," he spat at Ronan who had been about to raise his own gun. "She'll be dead before you can kill me." The ex-wraith hunter looked ready to eviscerate someone. But he slowly lowered his rifle.
"Hello Colonel. I've been waiting for you," he smirked and gestured with his free hand. At least ten other natives appeared out of thin air. They were surrounded.
"I'll have that gate address now," he hissed.