Chapter Thirteen

Lorne had nearly stumbled into Mathews when he came through, grabbing the radio tucked in his vest, he called out, "Colonel Sheppard, please come in!"

Static was the only answer.

"Sir, is everything all right?" Mathews inquired.

"I'm not sure Sergent. Just as I was stepping through, I'm sure I heard gunfire come from the edge of the town."

"Should we go back sir?"

"Give them a minute. If there was an attack they might have to take cover and if we break the connection it could cut them off from their only escape route. If they don't appear in the next few minutes, we'll head back."

"Yes sir."

All Lorne could do now was hope he was mistaken about what he had heard. He stood to the side of the gate, watching the innocuous rippling effect of the light.

John had switched to autopilot the second he heard the short burst from the automatic weapon and flung himself and Elizabeth hard onto the floor. The weight of his body pressed down on her as he tried to shield her as best he could. They had fallen just to the side of the gate next to what must have been the only bush in the field and scrambled on hands and knees to get behind it. It wouldn't stop bullets, but now the sun had set and the without the light of the stargate to cast them in silhouettes, anyone from the town would have a hard time seeing them.

"Oh my god! Where's that coming from?" Elizabeth panted as quiet as she could.

"Sounds like whoever it is was firing from near that last building," John told her. "Are you okay?"

"Under the circumstances...What are we going to do now?"

"We can't stay here, there's no cover, we'll have to make a run for it."

"Are you serious!"

John didn't need to tell her he was.

There was another random burst, the shots echoing over the open field and then a familiar voice called out to them. "Colonel Sheppard, I don't like being deceived! Come out now and I will forego killing both you and Dr. Weir."

John looked at Elizabeth. "Y'know, I don't quite trust Athen, he seems a bit unstable," he whispered.

Their lack of response resulted in yet another burst, bullets ricocheted off the stargate, much too close for comfort for John. He was about to say that if he kept shooting blind like this, he'd run out of ammo real quick, but the sound of buckling from the wooded supports holding the gate up, made him forget what he was thinking. Some of the rounds in Athen's last shot had cut through the ropes and with their reinforcement gone, the sudden shift in balance proved to be too much. The weight of the stargate cut through the inadequate structure like it were paper.

John and Elizabeth couldn't believe what they were seeing. From its elevated position above the ground, the stargte was slowly moving on its rim, inching closer to the edge of its platform until it found the end. The fall was only a couple of feet high, so when it hit the grass it continued to roll smoothly along the ground. The brusque descent was just enough to push it a little further so that when it caught up with the natural decline in the land, it picked up a bit of speed.

John wished right then, that he could just take a moment out of time to fully appreciate the situation. Here he was, being rescued by Elizabeth and escaping from prison before they took him away to be hung, they'd gone on the run trying to get out of town only to be shot at just as they were making their getaway and now the stargate was rolling off like a giant wagon wheel into the fading colours of the evening sky. It was so surreal you just couldn't make this up. But with each second that passed as he watched on with wonder, the gate was moving further away from them and leaving more open ground for them to traverse.

Elizabeth could only lie there in the grass, slacked jawed, watching. It was almost hypnotising, the way the gate spun, the coloured light of the puddle rotating inside the whirl of the illuminated star co-ordinates along the border. John's hands where on her then pulling her up off the floor and then, hand in hand they we running again.

Athen had seen the movement from the outskirts of the field and shook away the bewilderment that had seized him when his stray shots had ripped through the support ropes. They were running for the Ring, this was his moment, he could get them. He brought the weapon up to aim at the figures making a mad dash towards their escape. His finger curled around the trigger and began to pull it back, all the while never taking his eyes off his target. Bracing himself against the weapons' power, he forced his finger down and the noise rattled in his head as the gun spat it's bullets out. Something charged into him then from behind, knocking him to the ground. More surprised than anything, he wrestled around until he could see what had sent him flying only to come face to face with the young man Maten.

His anger, never far from the surface, flared, he jumped to his feet and pinned the other man down with a boot firmly on his chest. "Meddlesome boy, how dare you challenge me! What do you think you are doing?"

Maten stared at him defiantly despite his disadvantage. "I can not allow you to kill these people. An alliance with them could change the way we all live for the better. You would throw that all away because they would not bend to your will. Your pride can not be the price for the lives of our people!"

There was a dangerous glare on Athen's face as he spoke to Maten, the last words he would hear in this life. "I am the one in charge on this world and if I chose to, I will demand the highest price. The price I put on you, is your life." And with that, he took his foot off Maten's chest and fired on the prone man until he claimed his toll.

He turned back to the field just in time to see the gate teeter on it's side and crash forward. The light had gone now the wormhole had disconnected. He knew Weir and Sheppard would have made good use of his distraction and made it to the ring. They had alluded him when he had been so close. If it hadn't been for that interfering wretch Maten he would have killed them, he was sure. Outraged at his failure and with no one to take the blame, he looked down at the dead man and kicked him. Leaving the bloodied body where it lay, he headed back home. His father would have to be informed of the events here tonight.

They hit the floor of the gate room with an almighty thump.

"Ahh... man. Lets never... do that again."

It was just their luck. They couldn't come out somewhere near the bottom of the gate, oh no. They'd exited at the highest point of the wormhole and fell fast.

John had realised this was a likely scenario as they made their jump, he'd pulled her closer wrapping his arms around her back and put a hand protectively over her head, once they were through the other side he hoped to shield Elizabeth from the impending fall.

For the most part this had worked. He had meet the ground with his back, the force crushing the breath from his lungs. Elizabeth had landed right on top of him. He could have sworn they had bounced.

"Never again." She groaned in agreement. She lifted her head up from his chest "Hey, are you all right?"

He nodded his head yes from where he lay. "Just winded... Might have a ... bruise tomorrow... You okay?"

"I'm fine." She put her head back down on his chest listening to how his laboured breathing struggled to regain a steady rhythm and sighed herself. That was a close call.

"Sir, god, what happened? I heard gunfire just as I was stepping through." Lorne came rushing from where he had been waiting to where they lay.

"Tell you later Major. Right now, I'm not moving 'til Beckett's team gets here."

"I've already called Sir, they'll just be a minute or so. Are you sure you two don't won't a hand up? Looks a bit uncomfortable down there."

Elizabeth lifted her head again, but just slightly, "We just need to catch our breath Major, we'll be fine once the med team arrive."

Lorne didn't look all that convinced.

"Really Major, just give us a sec'," John tried to reassure him. "That was good work Lorne. Take the rest of the day off."

Lorne felt awkward standing over the two leaders of the Atlantis expedition while they refused to get up off the floor and was a little unsure what to do with himself, so he retreated back to the base of the stairs with Mathews just in case the Colonel needed him.

Both Elizabeth and John knew, after seeing the two of them literately drop back into the base, the people up at the control stations would be shocked at the sight of them, their bodies a tangled mess, but they didn't care. Within a few minutes one of Carson's teams would come bustling onto the scene to take them to the infirmary and neither felt like testing exactly what parts of them hurt the most, so they remained where they were on the floor of the gate room.

After a while, for propriety's sake, Elizabeth knew she had to move. Now matter what had just transpired, she wouldn't be able to provide a reasonable excuse for lying sprawled across John any longer. With Lorne being dismissed, no one else would come near enough to disturb them so she'd have to make the first move. She brought her arm up to support her as she began to sit up, but winced as she found it hurt to put any pressure on it.

John noticed the discomfort flash on her face. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Probably where I connected with the floor. It'll be fine" She gave him a brief smile and waved off his concern, scanning the room to see if their colleagues were wise enough to stare at them discretely. Everyone was politely ignoring them.

John reached up and caught Elizabeth's hand in his.

"Where'd this come from?"

She drew her eyes down to where he was looking. The tips of her fingers were stained crimson. She hadn't even felt the warm liquid that was clearly smeared up her hand.

"Where..."

She cut him off as he began to ask his question again. "John, your shoulder."

"What?" He strained his head round to where she was looking, but couldn't quite see.

"John you've been shot. Your shoulder, it's bleeding."

He moved his other hand up to the afflicted shoulder and fingered the wound. The material of his shirt was slightly torn, the blood had seeped through making it stick to the skin, but beside the sting he could now feel after prodding the cut, it was nothing. Superficial. He'd been lucky. The bullet had only grazed him and he doubted it was even bleeding any more. They'd been lying behind the bush taking cover when one of the bullets had ricocheted off the gate and hit him. He'd bit back the moment of pain, determined to hide it from her until they were safe.

He'd almost tuned the pain out, disregarding the wound. The panic in her voice had cause a moment of alarm, but he grinned as he went to look back at Elizabeth, to tell her in a week or so there'd be no sign of it, but as quick as it came the grin was gone again. Her eyes were wide in shock and her face was a deathly pallor. Unable to find the cause of her concern, he leaned forward to sit upright, gently placing a hand on each of her arms made her glance up at him.

"Elizabeth, what is it? What's the matter?"

"John, the blood. You've been shot." Her voice was quiet and shook a little.

"Yeah I know. It'll be fine. Just a little scratch is all. Look, it's not even bleeding any more."

"No. Your shirt. It's on your pants too." Her voice quavering a little bit more this time.

John looked down. She was right. There was blood along the bottom of his shirt, the black fabric making it hard to see in just a glance, but on the gray of his pants it stood out in stark contrast. It didn't make any sense. The nick on his shoulder had barely been enough to soak through. Where had all this come from?

Before he could think of an answer she was forcing him back down into a lying position. "Elizabeth, what are you doing?"

"John you've got to lay still, the medics will be here soon and then Carson can find the problem and fix you right up, okay?"

She was feeling light headed and in the back of her own mind Elizabeth could feel herself start to unravel. The sleepless nights, the buzz from their escape, their rough landing, the blood, were all too much and the energy seeped out of her. She couldn't see any other apparent injuries, but it was like there was blood everywhere. It was starting to pool now at his side in between where they sat, slowly creeping out over the surface of the cool floor.

Her shaking hand pushed her hair back from her face and dropped down again to her side, fingers found themselves being dipped into the ever expanding puddle. She had to fight then, the sudden urge to loose her lunch. Her reaction puzzled her. Never before had her senses protested against the sight nor the feel of blood, but the coppery scent of it drifted up now, invading her nostrils. She felt so weak. And what was taking the medics so long?

Watching her, John noticed, in less than a minute even more colour had drained from her face. Her eyes were franticly shifting all over him trying to find where the blood had come from, he could tell she was barely restraining herself from pulling at his clothes when no place was visible. Keeping herself sat upright looked as though it were becoming a challenge, her hands were trembling and when she choked back a gag he sprang forward to sit up again. This was all wrong. The fleeting worry he'd felt before had mutated into out right panic now. She wasn't the squeamish type and she was definitely no stranger to the infirmary when the life of one of her team was at risk. She'd seen the gory results of war up close as it came through the gate and she wouldn't even bat an eyelid.

Why was the sight of his bloody shirt bothering her this much? He gave himself a mental once over, just making sure there weren't any other injuries his mind hadn't registered yet, but he was fine. A few bumps and bruises as expected, the graze on his shoulder and the promise of a cracking headache sometime in the near future, but aside from that he was sure he was fine.

She had her hands on his shoulders again, intending to push him back to the floor, but she had little strength left in her. The ache in her shoulder flared through her chest making her inhale sharply and her arms fell back. Dammit! Her confused mind berated her feeble body. She had to get John taken care of first, her own pain could wait until later when there was time. Elizabeth thought she heard someone call her name then. She shook her head trying to chase away the distractions in her mind and looked up to find John's intense eyes inches from her own.

When she had put her hands on him, her movement jostled her jacket and it was then he had seen. She didn't hear when he called her name but their eyes connected seconds later. He placed a hand softly on her face, fingers gently cupping her cheek. Her skin was cold and clammy to the touch. Seeing that she had ceased her attempts to get him to lie down, his other hand reached up under the shoulder of her jacket, pulling it back to reveal what was hidden underneath.

The adrenalin from the chase on the planet along with the shock of their bumpy landing on their return, had masked the pain of the bullet that had perforated the area at the top of her chest, just underneath her collar bone. Only now as realisation kicked in could she feel the pain. Nerve endings were on fire as John carefully guided her to the ground. She couldn't believe it. She'd been shot. The pool of blood they were kneeling in was hers. What she had told herself was the stress of the last few days catching up with her, making her tired, was in fact, the life draining out of her. The edge of her vision was beginning to gray but the shock of the sudden lull into unconsciousness jerked her awake, her eyes focusing on one of the figures floating above her. It was John, he was trying to tell her something and by the look on his face she knew it must be important, but the level of noise in the room seemed to drown out his words, all she could hear was static. She blinked slowly and willed herself to concentrate, blocking out everything but him, she strained her ears, her eyes watching his lips form the words.

John was leaning over her, a hand keeping pressure on the gun shot wound as he tried to stem the flow of blood pouring out though his fingers. He turned his head to where Lorne was. "Lorne get over here now! Elizabeth's been shot. I need help!"

The Major had happened to look back at the two of them when he'd heard the distress in Elizabeth's voice and was already charging towards the pair on the floor, Mathews was right on his heels. "What happened!"

"She must have been hit just as we came through, we were running for the gate and she tripped. I didn't think anything of it 'cause she just kept going...I thought she stumbled, that's all."

Lorne took over, his hands replacing John's as he moved to shake her, trying to keep her awake. He looked up at Mathews who was on the comm, radioing for Beckett's team to get their asses in gear, if they didn't get here soon, they were gonna loose her. People up in the control gallery were aware now of what was happening and anxious faces lined the balcony. Eyes back on the task of his hands, he whispered to himself, "Goddamn, there's a lot of blood."

John had a hand around her jaw, holding it so she was looking up at him, his bloody fingers leaving smears on her pale white skin. "Elizabeth, look at me. Can you hear me? You have to keep your eyes open, okay? You have to stay awake just a little bit longer. Elizabeth? Please, just focus. Stay awake." He couldn't tell if any of this was getting through to her. She was slipping away right in front of him and he couldn't do a damn thing to save her. He couldn't help. He took her hand firmly in his, " 'Lizabeth, listen to me. You didn't come all that way to save my life just so I had to watch you die."

Her small hand wrapped in his, squeezed his fingers then and he could have cried. She heard him. The next thing he knew, the connection between them was severed as strong arms pulled him away. He tried to fight them off but they held him fast.

"Don't worry Colonel," It was Lorne speaking to him. "The med team have got her now, she's going to be okay. Come on, let's get you down to the infirmary too, let the doctors take a look at that graze, then we can go check on Dr. Weir. Come on sir."

John got up and obediently followed the Major. His legs were shaking and his body felt numb, but he kept walking. In the gate room, they left behind the confused and frightened people with nothing but a bloody mess for an excuse as to what had just happened.

A/N: If you thought I was evil before, how did you like that! Now go review or I won't tell you how it all ends...