Thanks for the Reviews and encouragement. This installment is slightly longer than the others, but I'm not sure if that will help the anxiety or not. I've upped the rating for this one as it involves pain and anxiety and the fear of losing a friend.

OoOoO

Before either Ronon or John could move, Gilo flayed the scourge across Carson's back. The doctor tried his best not to react, but a soft moan escaped from his lips. Ronon let out a bellow, and charged towards the doctor. John was just a step behind him. But before they could get very far, they were forced to slide to a halt. Between them and the doctor, were two very large men, carrying equally large guns.

"Not a good idea, gentlemen," Mikal said. "And every time you have a bad idea, the good doctor will feel the consequences." With that, Mikal signalled to Gilo, who seemed to take delight in using the scourge on Carson's back yet again.

John and Ronon looked at each other, pain and frustration reflected in both their eyes. John sighed, then nodded at Ronon. Both men turned, and silently picked up the swords that had previously been offered to them. The two men looked at each other again, bowed, and then cautiously circled each other within the stone ring.

OoOoO

"Aren't we there yet?" Rodney whined for the umpteenth time.

Teyla and Lorne exchanged glances. Lorne often wondered how someone as obviously intelligent McKay could prove such a liability in the field. He didn't know how Sheppard could cope with having him on his team all the time.

"Dr McKay," Lorne said, trying to keep his voice soft. "Since we are almost there, please keep your voice down so we don't get spotted."

"Why didn't you just say something," Rodney said indignantly.

"I thought I just did!" Lorne said, almost losing his patience.

At Lorne's signal, the team crouched down behind a rock formation. They could now hear the voices of the Renegades as he started to cheer the fight we were watching. Teyla and Rodney exchanged worried glances.

Rodney carefully raised his head above the rocks, to see what was going on. What he saw, did nothing to alleviate his worry. Within a stone ring, John and Ronon were cautiously circling each other, large swords in the hands. Even more worryingly, he saw Carson. He was tied to a stake, blood running down his back. He looked as if he was unconscious.

Rodney slumped back down to the ground.

"What is it, Rodney?" Teyla asked worried by his reaction.

"I'm not sure if Carson is still alive," he said his voice shaky. "If he is, he would be for long. And John and Ronon look as if they are about to cut each other to pieces."

Lorne gave him a sharp look. Then carefully lifted his head above the rocks. Moments later, he too slumped to the ground looking anxious.

"For once McKay," Lorne said. "You're not exaggerating."

"We've got to do something quickly," he said. "If we don't, three people could die out there while we're here just watching."

"We can't do anything until we've heard from Sandro," Lorne said emphatically. "We can't possibly take on all those men ourselves. We need the distraction and we need the extra men. Without that, it'd be a suicide mission."

OoOoO

John and Ronon circled each other cautiously. Neither wanted to strike the first blow, but if they did nothing, Carson would suffer more. It was John who took the first action. He swung his sword in a clumsy arc towards Ronon's head. The large man easily parried the blow. The Satedan looked at John, his eyebrows raised. Sword fighting was obviously not one of John's accomplishments. He would have to adjust his own actions to suit.

Ronon slowly swung his sword around his head, and equally slowly swung it down to connect with John's sword. John always dropped his weapon with the strength of the contact.

Ronon tried to hide his smile.

"If," he thought. "No, when," he corrected himself, "we get out of this, I'll need to give Sheppard some lessons in the use of swords."

John again swung his sword, and this time aimed at Ronon's body. The blow was easily parried again.

"Now, gentlemen," Mikal said. "You need to do much better than that. I like to see blood. Since you can provide it, I'll have to find it from another source."

With that, he again signalled to Gilo. John and Ronon both turned in horror as the Renegade again flayed Carson. This time there was no reaction from the doctor. John wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

OoOoO

Rodney looked on in horror. "We need to do something, now!" he said to Lorne, an urgency in his voice. "They're going to whip Carson to death right front of our eyes," he said his voice close to tears. Teyla put a comforting hand on his arm.

"I think it's a scourge," one of Lorne's team said, rather unadvisedly.

"I don't care what it is," Rodney said his voice rising in anger. "It's killing him."

Thankfully, his voice was masked by the noise from below. The clashing of swords was accompanied by the baying of the crowd. Rodney raised his head again, to see what was happening.

OoOoO

Both men in the ring realised that need to do something, anything, to stop them scourging Carson. John started to swing his sword around and aimed a blow at Ronon's arm. Ronon made a half-hearted attempt to block it, but allowed the sword to slice into his arm. John nodded in acknowledgement of the sacrifice.

The men sitting around the ring started to cheer and shout encouragement, obviously excited by the sight of blood.

As the two men circled each other again, John glanced up and noticed a familiar head above the rocks behind them. He managed to manoeuvre himself so he was close enough to Ronon to whisper that help was on the way. Ronon nodded very slightly to indicate that he had heard.

OoOoO

Lorne looked at Rodney, wishing for once, but he wasn't leading the team. The thought that his actions, or inaction, could lead to a man's death, was bad enough. But that man should be Dr Beckett, one of the most popular people on Atlantis, made it even worse.

Just as he was deciding what to do, his earpiece sprung into action.

"Major!" The disembodied voice said. "We've freed to the children, and we're now in position."

Lorne said a silent prayer of thanks. Turning to his team, he signalled them forward. They moved with a speed that showed their impatience.

Organised chaos ensued. An explosion rang out, distracting the Renegades as planned. The two teams then rushed into action, charging towards the ring of stones and the Renegades who were sitting around it.

When they were planning the attack, Sandro had said he didn't want any of the Renegades killed unless it was absolutely necessary. With this in mind, the teams were armed with Wraith stunners as well as P-90s. As instructed by Lorne, they firstly targeted the two Renegades who were carrying guns. Then, almost simultaneously, Mikal and Gilo were stunned into unconsciousness.

Ronon and John, already alerted to their colleagues' presence, reacted quickly. Turning from fighting each other, they focused their attentions on the Renegades sitting around the ring, baying for blood.

The Renegades put up surprisingly little fight. Most of them were at least half way to being drunk. They also hadn't fought for themselves in so many years, that they didn't really recognize a threat when it hit them in the face (sometimes literally).

Within five minutes of the start of the fight, it was all over. Mikal, Gilo and the others were tied up and sitting in the stone circle. The guards who had been in the caves had been brought out and were placed with their comrades.

John and Ronon smiled at each other and slapped hands in celebration of a fight well fought. Teyla and Rodney ran over to join their team-mates.

"Did you see that," Rodney said to John. "I shot that Renegade. That one there!" he said, pointing to one of the men who was lying unconscious on the ground.

"Was that before, or after Ronon had hit him over the head with his sword hilt?" John asked. Teyla smiled.

Then, suddenly, a thought hit them all at once.

"Carson!" Teyla was the one to voice it. They hurried over to the doctor, who was being gently cut down from the stake. Two members of his own staff pushed their way through the crowd of people to tend to him.

As he slumped on the ground, John's heart was in his mouth. The doctor looked gray and lifeless. His eyes met Ronon's where he saw his own fear reflected in them.

The doctor who was examining him looked up, a look of almost panic on her face.

"I can't get a pulse!"

OoOoO

OK – another weekend cliffhanger for you. There are probably just another chapter or two to go before you, and Carson and the others, are put out of their misery.