"Doctor McKay, this is Lieutenant Ford. What is your status?"
"Our status is we're running like hell," Rodney radioed in reply, short of breath. John, favoring his injured leg, peered around the tree they'd paused behind and quickly retracted his head. They'd gotten ahead of their pursuers, but not for long. Rodney hesitated before speaking again. "I've got Sheppard. He's hurt and we need back-up."
"Rodney, we've got to go," John told him, hearing the footsteps come closer.
"Where are you?" Aiden questioned urgently.
Rodney and John looked toward each other. In the mess of trees that all appeared to be the same, it was impossible to tell how far they'd traveled.
"I have a flare in here somewhere," Rodney muttered, dropping his backpack and rifling through it. Shouting reached his ears and his hands trembled as he searched for the flare gun. Pushing Rodney's hands aside, John plunged his hand in the sack, drawing out a pack of C4 and a detonator.
"Let's go!" he ordered, tossing the backpack to Rodney. They started running as fast as they could, Rodney clutching his backpack and trying to support John. As they passed by a large, leafy tree John tossed the C4 by its trunk. "Take cover!" he shouted to Rodney.
"What?" Rodney questioned.
John pressed the button on the detonator and dove into Rodney. They landed in a patch of thorny bushes as a loud boom lit the air, a wave of heat pressing over them. Debris flew around them, and they both covered their heads. When the raining debris slowed, John struggled to his feet and pulled on the handle on the back of Rodney's vest, trying to pull him up. Getting the hint, Rodney stood. He was shaky on his feet, but as soon as the dizziness wore off, he tossed his backpack onto his shoulder, put John's arm around his neck, put his own arm around John's waist, and moved quickly away from the fire the explosion had left behind.
---
"Rodney?" Aiden radioed again, but there was no reply, only a still silence that hung in the air. He looked over to Teyla, who simply raised her eyebrows. Holding his gun tightly in his hand, he began to jog down the hill. Teyla followed him closely, scanning the trees for any sign of her teammates. Just as they reached the bottom of the hill, a bright fireball erupted to their right, an ear-splitting bang reaching them milliseconds later.
"Found 'em," Aiden grunted as they both turned toward the flames.
---
"I think that slowed them down a little," John said aloud, risking a glance backward.
"A little!" Rodney exclaimed. "What'd you do to piss them off, anyway?"
John smirked despite the burning pain in his thigh. "That cube had the address to this planet inside," he told him. "I figured there must be a ZPM or something like that around here. I found this," he tilted his head toward his bag, "in an empty camp. When the natives came along they weren't exactly looking to chat about it, so I figure it's pretty important." He paused, looking at Rodney. "I'm guessing you and Zelenka will be able to figure it out."
Despite his overwhelming curiosity about the object John had found and the excitement of a new Ancient object to study, Rodney was disquieted about the news. John had come too close to dying in order to get the mysterious object. No matter what it was, he was positive it wasn't worth that much.
"Why didn't you wait?" Rodney asked, his voice softer than usual.
John hesitated, looking away from Rodney. "I…" he trailed off. "Can we talk about this later?" he questioned a moment later, and Rodney nodded silently.
"Major! Doctor!" Rodney's head snapped toward the sound of Teyla's voice to see her running toward them with Aiden beside her.
"Nice flare," Aiden said as he met up with them, his eyes quickly taking in John's injury. Teyla slipped beside John, wrapping his other arm around her neck, and helped Rodney support him. Aiden walked backward, his gun aimed behind the others. The natives had regained their focus, their silhouettes dark against the spreading flames.
"AR-1, this is Bates. Do you read?" a voice crackled through the radio, Aiden grabbing it moment the message came through and replied immediately.
"This is Lieutenant Ford; we read you. Major Sheppard is injured and we're heading back to the 'gate. Set a perimeter of claymores down; we're comin' in hot."
---
Elizabeth stared down at the 'gate. She knew far too well that any harm that came to John or Rodney would be her fault. It was because of her that John had been so upset, so emotionally unbalanced, that he would go off on his own like that. When they'd found out what John had done, Elizabeth knew Rodney would want to go after him. That was the kind of person he was. She only hoped she'd sent help in time for both of them.
"Elizabeth?" Carson Beckett's voice reached her ears and she turned to see him standing behind her.
"Yes?" she inquired, stepping toward him.
"Two airmen were found about ten minutes ago passed out in the hallways," he told her, and Elizabeth frowned. She hadn't remembered seeing anyone, but she doubted that she would have remembered even if they'd been right in her path. Her worry had engulfed her senses and everything but that worry had dropped away. "They've just come to. Elizabeth…" he paused before speaking again. "They claim that their attacker was Major Sheppard."
Elizabeth was silent as the pieces fell together. She'd wondered why no one had stopped John from dialing the 'gate, and now she knew why. "Are they all right?" she asked.
"They'll have a headache for the rest of the day, but other than that they should be fine." Carson peered at her closely. "Aren't you concerned that they're accusing the major of this?" he said cautiously. Her face was unreadable as she turned back to face the 'gate.
"I'm pretty sure he did it," she said finally.
"Wh…What?" Carson sputtered, walking up beside her. "What are you talking about?" he demanded to know, trying to catch her eye.
"I…" she glanced at him and then quickly looked away, sighing heavily.
Carson put a hand on her should reassuringly. "You can tell me anything," he informed her gently.
"I know," Elizabeth replied, meeting his eyes again. She trusted Carson; he was among her closest friends. But telling him everything that happened…she was ashamed of herself, of her actions, of the way she'd acted, of everything. Again her gaze strayed toward the 'gate, wishing they'd come through soon.
"The Stargate isn't going anywhere," Carson reminded her. He knew that look on her face. Something had upset her; a person, a situation… Elizabeth was a strong woman, but she held the misconception that she could get through tough times on her own. "Let's go into your office," Carson suggested. "We can talk there and if anybody comes back, the 'gate is just outside."
Elizabeth nodded and walked to the office with him. She knew needed to talk to someone, someone she trusted. Talking to Kate had helped her, but that was long ago and so much had happened since then. Carson deserved answers; everyone did. Her body felt numb, as if the tight ball of emotional stress within her had cut off the circulation of blood. Sharing her emotions with Carson wouldn't change what had happened, wouldn't change the fact that most of this was her fault, but it would lessen the overbearing load she had on her shoulders.
But whatever reassuring things Carson had to say wouldn't matter if John and Rodney didn't make it back to Atlantis.
---
Author's Note: Yikes! Haven't updated this in a while, have I? Sorry about that! I'll try to update sooner this time! Hope you all are having/have had a happy holiday! Feedback is welcomed, and thanks again to fififolle for beta-ing!