A/N: More positive reviews, thank you all so much but please feel free to offer criticism too.

It's strange, I have pretty much this entire story written in first draft form, so it's only looking at it chapter by chapter as you guys are seeing it that I realise how little Shep there is in some chapters, sorry about that. I'm afraid this is another Shep-lite offering but I promise you'll start to see a little more of him as the story progresses.

Chapter 5

Pressure Point

When the gate activated, Elizabeth and Colonel Caldwell stood watching the shimmering wormhole. Frischmann's voice came across the radio.

"We're coming in hot, under heavy enemy fire." She sounded out of breath and, in the background, gunshots could be heard. Elizabeth gripped the railing tighter and willed them all to come through in one piece. Teyla was the first one through, closely followed by a bullet that ricocheted off the steps leading down to the gate. Everyone ducked, an involuntary movement. Seconds later, Frischmann came flying through the gate backwards, P-90 still raised, and then finally Ronon, half carrying an exhausted looking Rodney and shooting backwards through the gate as he came. All four of them were caked in thick yellowish mud and their feet slipped on the smooth floor of the gate room.

"Shield up!" Elizabeth called out as she ran down the steps to greet them. "And get a medical team down here now!" She immediately noticed the blood on Rodney's head and grabbed hold of him. "Are you okay?" He managed a weak nod which slowly turned into a shake of the head.

"I've had better days," he panted, pointing at the wound on his head. "I got shot."

"McKay, it's just a scratch." Ronon said impatiently as he sat on the floor pulling off his water-logged boots. Frischmann stood with her hands resting on her knees and her head down, trying to catch her breath. Teyla removed her water-logged vest which fell with a slap, splattering mud across the floor.

Caldwell stepped up beside Elizabeth.

"You all okay?"

"I think so, sir," Frischmann said, looking around at the others. "We're damned lucky though."

"What the hell happened?"

"We do not know." Teyla answered. "We were attacked without warning."

"By the locals?"

"I do not believe so, Colonel. They are simple farmers, they do not possess weaponry anywhere near this advanced."

"I seem to recall that we thought the Genii were simple farmers too." Teyla dropped her eyes from him, a mixture of sadness and guilt in her expression.

"That's enough for now, Colonel." Elizabeth turned to see the medical team enter the gate room. "Carson, I want all of them given a through check up."

"Aye. No worries."

"And you are all off duty until Doctor Beckett says otherwise." She smiled lightly at them, relieved to know that they were all going to be okay. "Or at least until you've had a good shower."

ooOoo

The next morning Elizabeth wandered into the mess hall. She glanced around and spotted Teyla and Carson sitting in one corner. Grabbing a cup of coffee, she decided to treat herself to a pastry before walking over to join them. Carson welcomed her with a cheerful "Good morning" and Teyla shifted over slightly to let her sit down, a warm smile on her face.

"Good morning you two. How are you, Teyla?"

"I am well, thank you."

"Nice to see you taking time for breakfast." Carson was never fully off duty.

"Yes, mom." She deadpanned, before throwing the medic a mischievous grin. "Really Carson, I'm fine, I've been eating." He looked at her doubtfully. "I've just been taking meals in my office, I have had a lot work to catch up on."

"I thought as much. Well, you should make some time to catch up with your friends as well as your work."

"Well, that's what I'm doing now isn't it?"

"Then I guess you're forgiven…for now."

"Carson is correct, we have not really had time to talk to you since your return." Teyla added. "How was your visit to Earth?"

"Lots of very boring debriefings and reviews. I sometimes think my life is turning in to one big meeting."

"And a mountain of paper work." Carson added with a sigh that said he knew exactly how she felt.

"One of the benefits of being a warrior is the lack of paperwork." Teyla looked at them with a happy smile.

"You just make more for the rest of us." Elizabeth berated jokingly.

"Exactly," agreed the doctor, much to Teyla's amusement.

ooOoo

It was four steps from wall to wall, he'd walked back and forth 529 times that was 2,116 steps, the square root of 2,116 was 46, 2,116 times 46 was 97,336. He kicked out at the wall in frustration, momentarily forgetting that he was barefoot.

"Damn it." Slumping down on his mattress, he rubbed his foot before pulling the grubby blanket around his shoulders. How long, he wondered, was it before stir crazy turned into just plain crazy? Keeping his mind occupied was becoming ever more difficult; he couldn't even count the damn bricks because there were no bricks, just smooth walls. Not smooth like Atlantis but hard, cold rock. Atlantis. Caldwell would be in charge now. He found that a strangely comforting thought; the Colonel was a good man, he'd do his best for them. Do his best for who? Who was still alive? Who was dead? Maybe they're all dead. He hugged the blanket tighter around him. Maybe he was never getting out of here, maybe the reason they no longer interrogated him was because they didn't need him anymore because everyone was dead. Beckett and Caldwell, Zelenka, Lorne, all of them.

But if they were dead, why wasn't he? What was the point? There was no point. Nothing had a point anymore. No night or day, no purpose, no future, no past, just a dark little box and a dirty mattress. Death had followed him all his life, taken the people he loved and tainted his hands with blood, this was why you didn't let people get close because then you cared and if you cared it ripped you apart when they went away. But he'd let people in without ever really meaning to and now he was being punished for it.

ooOoo

"I went to see John's father." Her voice was quieter now. The atmosphere at the table shifted and Elizabeth hated the fact that the mention of his name immediately caused tension. Teyla and Carson's reaction was unconscious, but still she felt it. She found herself thinking how nice it would be for the wounds to be sufficiently healed for them to be able to talk of him and remember the good times rather than his loss. Though every time she found herself having such thoughts she admonished herself for giving up on him.

"It is strange, I do not remember John ever speaking of his family."

"No lass, can't say I do either."

"Well things aren't so good between John and his father. I didn't realise just how bad they were though. I have to say it wasn't the most comfortable experience of my life; to tell the truth it was awful, we ended up practically shouting at one another. There's a lot of bitterness there but then just before I left Earth I got a letter from him. It didn't say much, just an apology really, but I think it shows there's still love there. This photograph was in it." She pulled it out and passed it to Carson who let out a chuckle.

"Good grief. How did they ever let him into the air force with hair like that?" He passed the picture to Teyla. As she looked at the image a smile lit up her face.

"So young!"

"Who?" Rodney and Ronon put their trays down on the table, causing the others to shift over and squash their own crockery up to make room. The two of them appeared to have cleaned out the kitchens, both of their trays stacked up with assorted breakfast foods. They had barely sat down before Ronon was stuffing the food in to his mouth with his hands. Rodney, who wore a large white bandage across his temple, took a bite of his toast and a slurp of coffee before repeating the question.

Teyla passed him the photograph and, putting down his food, he took it.

"Huh…" If Sheppard had been there he would have delighted in making him squirm at the ridiculous pretty boy hair but right now he didn't want to look at the picture a moment longer than necessary; he handed it over to Ronon. As the Satedan turned it round, Rodney caught sight of the hand written note on the back. His stomach knotted and suddenly the thought of food made him feel sick. They'd left him behind.

"I'm sorry, I have things to do."

Getting to his feet, he hurried out of the refectory and down the corridors toward the lab, immediately regretting the loss of his coffee, angry at himself for running out of the room like a child; once again he'd made a fool of himself. When he reached the lab he was glad to see it empty. Throwing his jacket across the back of a chair, he opened the laptop and started bringing up the calculations he had been working on, losing himself in the figures on the screen.

Only a few moments had passed when a cup of coffee and a Danish were set down on the bench beside him. He closed his eyes and sighed, knowing someone had come after him. He looked up expecting to see Elizabeth or Carson, maybe Teyla, what he didn't expect to see was Captain Frischmann standing beside him, blowing gently on her own coffee. Taking a sip, she smiled at him.

"You looked like you could do with some caffeine and sugar."

"Um…yes." He looked at her, slightly confused and more than a little suspicious. "Thank you." He picked up his own coffee. "Much appreciated. Now was there something I can do for you?" Right now he really didn't want any company.

"Not particularly, I was just wondering how your head was."

"What?" He'd almost forgotten about the graze on his temple. "Oh, fine. It's healing up nicely. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Turning back to his laptop, he resumed studying his calculations.

"Whatcha doin'?" Closing his eyes, he counted to five.

"It's really very difficult to explain in layman's terms. I doubt you'd understand the complexities of it."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He nodded, once more turning his back to her and studying the screen. After a few seconds, he realised she was still standing behind him. Turning, he glared at her; she smiled back, "Oh, don't mind me. Carry on."

"I can't work if you're going to stand there looking over my shoulder. Don't you have soldiery things to go and do?"

"Not right now, we've all been told to take it easy today, remember?"

"So you thought you'd just come here and annoy me instead?"

"No. I just saw you making your escape from the mess hall, you looked upset, and I thought you could do with some company, even if you don't realise it." He looked at her in surprise, unsure what to say. "Look, I know you don't want me on the team but, for the time being at least, you're stuck with me, so we might as well try and get along."

"It's not that I have anything against you..."

"No, you just miss your friend." It was a simple statement of fact, but it hit home. McKay looked at the desk, the laptop, anywhere but at her. "It's normal you know, it doesn't make you weak, it isn't going to make anyone think any less of you, in fact it might make a few people realise you're human after all. And if everything I've heard about Colonel Sheppard is true, he would kick your ass for sitting here feeling sorry for yourself." With that she headed for the door, only pausing to say. "Enjoy your coffee, Doctor."

"Captain!" She kept walking. "Izzy?"

Leaning back around the door, she raised her eyebrows. "Yeah?" He swallowed hard, unused to making apologies, but knowing she deserved one.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Ah, you're okay. Geniuses are supposed to be cranky right? It's in the job description." And with a smile she left him to his own thoughts.

ooOoo

"Do you think one of us should have gone after him?" Elizabeth asked Carson.

"I don't know, lass. He's got to talk to someone sooner or later but we can't push him; you know Rodney, he'll just clam up even tighter. I've tried talking to him, Kate too, but he's just not ready yet."

"He blames himself." Ronon stated. "But I am every bit as guilty as he is."

"Ronan, that's nonsense lad and you know it."

"Carson's right, what happened was no-one's…" at that moment Elizabeth's earpiece activated, the message: "Unscheduled off world activation!"

Elizabeth ran to the gate room, Teyla and Ronon in tow. Colonel Caldwell stood beside the gate technician; he turned as he saw her.

"It's Ripley's team, they're coming in hot." A voice came over the radio but it wasn't Lieutenant Ripley.

"Ouvrez le bouclier! Nous sommes attaqués!" With the shield down, a shot came through the gate, causing everyone in the control room to duck. Etienne Lepreux ran through the gate, not stopping until he had reached Elizabeth. He clung to her arm, gasping for breath, a look of sheer terror in his eyes. They turned back to watch the gate but no one else came through. Caldwell tried to contact Ripley via radio but got no reply. A couple more shots came through the gate. Meanwhile, the French scientist continued to ramble incoherently. Elizabeth grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Qu'est-ce que s'est produit?" He looked at her in despair.

"Ils sont morts, ils sont tous morts." They are dead, they are all dead.