John and Elizabeth followed Stanton as he rushed back to the Infirmary. The sight that met their eyes was not a reassuring one. Rodney was a small, vulnerable figure, lying in a sea of medical staff.

As soon as she saw Stanton, the young doctor who was treating Rodney, sighed with relief.

"Thank God you're here," she said. "I don't know what happened. The alarm on his heart monitor just went off without warning. There had been no indication of problems when I checked on him half an hour ago. We've stablised him for the moment, but his blood pressure is very low, and his heartbeat is irratic."

Stanton immediately took charge, checking the readings from the multitude of machines that were connected to Rodney. One of the Ancient scanners had been set up too, and Stanton studied the results carefully, before springing into action.

"Get an OR ready!" he ordered, with a definite urgency in his voice. "He's bleeding out. We must have missed it before. Quickly now!"

With a professional urgency, the team quickly moved Rodney towards the operating theatre, leaving John and Elizabeth to watch in stunned silence.

It was then that Elizabeth noticed Carson. He had pushed himself up so he was half sitting, and he was straining to see round the curtains that enclosed his cubicle.

She went over to him, and he looked up at her fear, mingled with tears, in his eyes.

"Is he going to be okay?" Carson asked. It struck Elizabeth forcibly that question was usually hers to ask, and it was generally directed at Carson.

"They think he is bleeding," John answered the question.

Carson nodded, thoughtfully, his professional detachment kicking in momentarily.

"It's a common problem for someone caught in an explosion," Carson said. "Stanton is good, though." His last remark seemed as much to reassure himself as it was to convince John and Elizabeth of its truth.

"He is," Elizabeth said reassuringly. "That's why you hired him."

Carson nodded, and then slumped back on the bed, obviously exhausted from the short exchange. As Elizabeth watched, the Scot fought to keep his eyes open. It was a battle he was losing as fatigue overtook him.

"You rest, Carson," she said softly, giving him permission to fall asleep.

"Rodney . .," he slurred.

"We'll let you know how he gets on," John said reassuringly.

With those words, the doctor let his eyes shut and he was soon sound asleep.

John and Elizabeth moved to one of the waiting rooms that had been set up in the Infirmary. It wasn't long before Teyla and Ronon joined them. The entered silently, and sat down with just a look of acknowledgment. A little while later, Radek joined them, looking very weary.

"Have you found anything, yet, Doc?" John asked.

Radek shook his head, and ran a weary hand over his eyes.

"I have checked the Chair, and there is no malfunction in it," he said. "Now, I look at the ZPM, but there is not very much of it left. But there is something there, a piece of Ancient technology . . . . but I can't get it to work."

"I can give you a hand later," John offered.

"Thank you, Colonel," he replied simply, and then settled down with the others to wait.

John wasn't sure how long they had to wait. He hadn't noticed when the drama had started. Each minute of waiting seemed like an hour, and each hour, like a day. But eventually, a weary Stanton came into the room.

"How is he?" Elizabeth asked the question before anyone else could.

"He's stable, again," Stanton said, a small smile coming to his lips. "It was a slow bleed, though I'm not sure how we missed it the first time we scanned him. But we managed to close the bleed and repair the damage. He's still weak, and has a long way to go, but he has every chance of making a full recovery."

John sat back with a relieved sigh. Elizabeth, who had stood at Stanton's arrival, laid a comforting hand on the doctor's shoulder and gave him a smile. Teyla sat in her usual state of calm, but her eyes betrayed her relief. Ronon leaned back against the wall, and smiled slightly. Radek let his head drop to his hands, and sighed deeply.

"We must tell Carson," Elizabeth said, remembering her promise.

"I've already told him," Stanton replied. "He was awake when we brought Rodney back out of the operating theatre."

"I go back to search," Radek said, getting to his feet.

"I'll come with you," John said, joining the Czech scientist. "Ronon, would you and Teyla ask around, see if anything or anyone strange was seen around the Chair Room."

The Satedan nodded, and he and Teyla left too.

Elizabeth gave Stanton another pat on his shoulder, then left to go to her office.

oOoOoOo

When John and Radek reached the Chair Room, John was shocked by the amount of damage that had been done. When he had been there before, his focus had been Rodney and Carson; to the extent that he hadn't really looked at the chaos around him. But now he didn't have any other distractions. It was a wonder that both Rodney and Carson were still alive; the explosion had obviously been a major one.

"This is what I found," Radek said, turning to John and handing him a small device, which was very obvious of Ancient design.

John studied it for a few moments, his expression grave.

"Where was it?" he asked Radek.

"Over here," the Czech replied. "It was linked in some way to the Chair. I am not sure exactly how, and it was pointed at the ZPM. I know not if it was part of Rodney's plan."

John continued to study the device in silence. His heart felt heavy and a sense of dread filled him.

Radek, confused by his continued silence, prompted him. "Do you know what it is, Colonel?"

"Yes," he confirmed, finally. "I've seen it before. Just the day before yesterday. Carson had just discovered it, in some obscure part of the Infirmary. It is some kind of medical laser."

John looked down and the laser sprung into action, sending a beam of light towards some of the debris from the explosion. It cut a very exact line through part of the fallen ceiling.

"Perhaps Rodney wanted to use it to help increase the effects of the Chair," Radek said uncertainly, trying to find an answer to the puzzle.

John shook his head. "Rodney didn't know anything about it," he said, a note of regret in his voice. "Carson told me he hadn't had time to show it to any of the scientists."

"Then why was it here?" Radek asked, trying not to see the obvious conclusion. "It would serve no purpose here."

"No," John agreed. "It wouldn't. From what Carson could figure, it's only real purpose is to cut through things."

"But it was pointed at the ZPM," Radek said, a note of horror in his voice. "If it cut into it, it would make it explode."

"Well," John said, with a sigh. "It kinda looks like we know what happened."

"So it was deliberate sabotage," Radek said, sadly. "But who would want to do that?"

"And, more to the point, who had an opportunity to?" John added.

"Who knew about this device?" Radek asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Carson, me, and a couple of other medics who were there when Carson discovered how it worked," John replied, also not liking the conclusions to which they were reaching.

"Why would Carson want to kill Rodney?" Radek asked. "They are friends."

"I can't believe that he does," John replied. "Okay, I admit it is the obvious conclusion, but come on, this is Beckett we're talking about. He's patched Rodney up, dealt with his allergies and his whining more times than I can count."

"Then what else happened here?" Radek asked.

"That's what I've still to find out." John replied.

As they left, neither men noticed that they were being watched. In the shadows, he stood, a wide grin splitting his face. So the good Colonel was still trying to defend his friend. But they had found what he wanted them to find. And now he would have to make sure that the rumours continued. He didn't want the finger of suspicion pointing at him. He needed to make sure someone else took the heat. So that he was free to continue his revenge.