A/N: Sorry I've been away so long. I'm sure your all wondering what happens next in the gizmo tales but don't worry, that shall be answered... soon. Don't kill me >

This is more a serious start than I predicted but as with the majority of my stories... expect some humour hidden away. So enjoy! And... did I mention review?

Prison Blues

Part one

If there was one thing Major Lorne completely despised, it was being unconscious. Not moving. Not thinking. Just alone in a vast expanse of darkness… Entirely oblivious to the situation around you while times keeps on moving. Brief moments where your own fate in no longer in your hands, but in the hands of others… sometimes of wicked intent. Utterly helpless…

As the force holding him, against his will in the dark, ebbed away, a steady small rhythm bet at the very edge of his senses. As each beat grew more insistent and heavy, his mind felt drawn to the sensation. The beating that had invaded the empty silence might be able to lead him to consciousness. As time went on, though by how much it was impossible to tell, the beating had become a sharp, searing pain that plagued his mind. A pain strong enough to pry him from his comatose state as rational thinking began to take over from bleak emptiness.

The disorientation was still strong and with his body unresponsive; panic was gaining a foothold. He probed his head with questions, looking for details to explain his current predicament but things came up blank. Frustrated with himself, he concluded he was probably still unconscious and there was nothing he could do to hasten the progress to consciousness and so he waited.

Time continued to pass and still he was held. Things were moving too slowly for his liking so he knew he had to push himself to wake up. Nothing but the dull thud in his head was driving him mad. He knew he was in some sort of danger but he could only guess at what had happened. Gunfire… he could distinctly remember gunfire. 'My team was attacked? Huh. Seems likely. People in the Pegasus Galaxy either attack you or befriend you… or in the case of the Genii both. Heh.' But he couldn't help thinking there was more to it. Sure he'd been knocked unconscious, that's for sure but it didn't explain this floating between reality and unconsciousness he was experiencing. He tried to move his limbs, but they felt as if they didn't even exist. 'Could I be dead? Oh no no no no… if this was how death was supposed to be it won't be much longer until I go raving mad…'

No, he wasn't going to go down that train of thought. Though something about the situation roused suspicion that he wasn't dead. There was something about the gunfire that was unusual… he remembered he had gotten hit… but he didn't remember blood… and if he'd been shot with a standard gun he didn't think he would have gone down so quick… and he'd of remembered the pain if that was the case. Now, there was no pain only numbness… 'Aha! Stunners! …Hell no! I hate those things! No wait… how could they possibly have stunners? They live in a fair deal of poverty… they would have sold any they had gained for hard currency.' At least things where clearing up for the incapacitated Major… However the idea of being stunned greatly unnerved him. For all he knew he could be in a hive ship, though the idea of the wraith being hidden in a simple fishing village seemed downright ridiculous, but hey this was another galaxy; weirder things have happened.

As far as Lorne was concerned, he was stunned without any idea of where he or his team was and unable to contact Atlantis… 'Face it, you're screwed.' The phrase echoed in his head, he didn't think he was naturally a pessimistic person but in circumstances such as this, he doubted anyone could be optimistic about it. 'So what, I may be stunned and have no idea where I am or the rest of my team… but at least I'll be well rested. Pfft. There's optimistic and then there's stupid.'

He supposed at least the stasis was showing signs of wearing off and that at least Dr Lindsey had been able to escape. Though he'd recently determined the source of that annoying drumming in his head… it was some sort of headache, probably a mild concussion… stone floors aren't the most pleasant thing to pass out on after all. There was a mix of voices coming from nearby but he couldn't distinguish anything beyond mumbling all meshed together. He'd regained feeling of his limbs, though the numb sensation had only been replaced with the most aggravating pins and needles known to man. Last time he'd been hit with a stunner, and had been his first time and he'd been hit by Lt Ford.

Which was on the mission on P3M-736, otherwise known by the majority of Atlantis as planet 'Skin cancer' or 'Don't-bring-a-botanist-period' …Yeah, he'd started the latter one, but Botany really didn't appeal to him when there were bigger problems with the Wraith mass culling entire planets. However that particular mission left a bad taste in his mouth. It was his first real mission, to prove that he was cut out to be the Colonel's second in command, he knew from the moment he was assigned with McKay that Sheppard was testing him. In the end, he didn't think it turned out too well.

He'd come very close to losing his temper at McKay, and he hadn't of really thought of himself as someone who gets angered easily. Then again McKay is just… McKay. He has this amazing ability to be as big a hindrance as possible, while still pulling through where it counts… well that's the impression he got from the mission reports and his own experience. The mission had been one giant headache with people disappearing left, right and centre… including himself at one point. It really wasn't his fault he got stunned; Ford had the enzyme on his side… Though in the end everyone was safe, they got the aid of Ronon Dex unfortunately Ford disappear along with a wraith dart. So it seemed the mission was almost a bust… The Colonel had clapped him on the back afterward, and said he'd done good for his first true Pegasus style mission… though always a part of him thought he could have done better. From that moment, he'd upped his training significantly in the hopes he'd get better and live up to his role in Atlantis.

And for a while he did. He'd worked hard to make Weir…Sheppard… hell even Atlantis proud… He wanted to stop the wraith with every fibre in his being, but wanting something and the reality of trying to get it are two separate things. And where was he now…? Nowhere, of no help to anyone and it was beginning to piss him off. He'd worked too damn hard to give up and die now!

Feeling a surge of strength he pushed with his strained half awake muscles and was rewarded… With a jolt of energy striking his chest, overloading his head with pain, as the absolute numb feeling spread all over his form again. 'Just brilliant! Just bloody brilliant!' His mind roared as everything again faded to black…