Jeepers. I struggled with this chapter. It's kind of a filler chapter – not really a lot happening but it was needed to move the story along and explain in more detail some of what's been going on.

Shep's pretty much in the background in this section (though the guy's had a tough time of it recently so let's just let him have a bit of a rest eh?) but we've got some Mckay whumpage for you and some more Beckett and Weir introspection. And, oh look! It's Teyla and Ronon! Where have they been all this time:D

Still not too sure about this chapter – please review and let me know what you think of it.

Next chappy will be bringing back the Shep whumpage… and some more Sheppy blood:D

"Rodney?"

"Rodney!"

McKay physically started as fingers snapped right in front of his eyes. "Whaa?" Carson's face looked oddly blurred.

"What are you doin' out of bed, Rodney?" Beckett's voice seemed to come from far away, echoing strangely.

McKay felt odd. Disconnected. A tight fist clenched around his heart.

"Sheppard…" Was that his voice? It sounded so faint… wobbly.

There was a note of quiet concern in Carson's voice, his words deliberately soft and reassuring. "He's ok, Rodney. We got him back. He's ok.."

McKay's gaze was drawn irresistibly over Beckett's shoulder, back to where medical staff still clustered around Sheppard's bed. The sense of urgency in the atmosphere seemed to have faded and the staff were calm, no longer shouting to each other. What had happened? Rodney realised he couldn't actually recall the last few minutes and a moment of panic sent adrenalin flooding through him before Beckett's calm, repeated words finally registered..

He felt his knees go weak with relief. "He's alive?"

"Yes, Rodney. He's still alive. We got him back.." Carson's hands were firm on his shoulders, the doctor turning him back towards the main infirmary.

"He's alive…." McKay imagined he could physically feel the awful, cold fear draining from him. It took all his energy with it and suddenly his legs could no longer bear his weight. He barely felt Caron's arms tightening around him, controlling his descent, laying him carefully on the infirmary floor.

"Och, Rodney. What am I gonnae do with you?"

Carson crouched over the slumped form of Dr McKay, his face creased in mild exasperation. He could understand Rodney's fear, his need to check on Sheppard, but the man was exhausted and overwrought and in no shape to be wandering the infirmary. And of course he'd wandered into the recovery room at precisely the worst possible moment, just as hyperkalaemia had pushed Sheppard into a further cardiac arrest. In the flurry of activity Beckett had not even noticed McKay standing shell-shocked in the doorway until the crisis had passed and one of his team had pulled Carson's attention away from his critical patient, pointing out the frozen, pale form of Rodney standing motionless in the background, his vacant-looking gaze focused on the Colonel's bed.

Reasonably happy that Sheppard was stabilised, for now, Carson had left his team to clear up the detritus of their latest victory over death and had approached Rodney cautiously. A first year med student could have seen that McKay was in shock. The man had been white as a sheet and seemed to be staying upright through sheer force of will alone, his unseeing gaze locked on the activity around Sheppard's bed. In one swift glance Carson had taken in the clammy skin, shallow respirations and the fine tremors in McKay's hands and revised his diagnosis accordingly. Add hypoglycaemia to the list of complaints, he'd decided.

Rodney had been unresponsive when Carson had spoken to him and had been confused and disoriented when he had finally snapped out his daze. A collapse had been pretty much a foregone conclusion and Beckett had tried to steer the scientist back towards the safety of his infirmary bed but McKay had suddenly just folded, Carson barely having time to grab hold of him before he hit the infirmary floor.

"As if I havenae enough to worry about without you making yourself ill.." Carson gently chided the unconscious Rodney as a nurse hurried over with a gurney.

Beckett stood back as his team carefully lifted Dr McKay onto the gurney ready to wheel him back into the main infirmary. He felt a momentary pang of guilt at abandoning Rodney to the care of others but, as Elizabeth kept reminding him, he could only do so much at any one time.. and McKay would be fine. Bed rest, fluids and plenty to eat and he would bounce right back. Sheppard, on the other hand… Sheppard was still very much in need of Beckett's attention. He contented himself with giving instructions on Rodney's care to his second in command.

"Make sure you check his blood sugar levels. I've no idea when he last ate and I suspect we're dealing with an element of hypoglycaemia here on top of everything else.."

Beckett knew his team were perfectly competent and didn't need him to tell them how to care for their patient but he worried anyway. His staff knew him well enough now and they let him fuss, nodding their heads tolerantly as he told them what they already knew. When Carson caught one of the nurses smothering a smile he stopped lecturing, a rueful, if somewhat tired, grin on his face.

"Oh away wi' ye then, enough o my fussin'!" He shooed them off into the infirmary, trusting them to get McKay settled and looked after, leaving him to concentrate on the job of keeping John Sheppard alive.

Dr Weir was waiting in the gate room when the stargate exploded into life, the event horizon flooding outwards in a burst of power before settling into that familiar, fascinating puddle of energy that lit the whole room with ripples of light. No matter how many times she saw the wormhole open, the sight never failed to amaze and absorb her. It was beautiful… and yet it was also a source of constant danger and threat. Much like Atlantis itself - beautiful, fascinating, absorbing and yet deadly. There was so much of the city they had yet to explore, had yet to understand; technology so far in advance of their own that they had no way to know if it would help or harm them. And beyond that, the mere existence of Atlantis represented possibly the greatest threat to Earth.. if the Wraith should ever take the city, ever gain access to the ancient database and find a way to Earth…

She couldn't help the sombre direction of her thoughts… only the previous day Atlantis had again proven how dangerous she could be. Even without the overt threat of looming danger, even when they had thought themselves safe for just a moment, they were again caught by surprise.. and now her military commander lay close to death in the infirmary, kept alive by machines… and, she suspected, by sheer John Sheppard stubbornness.

Elizabeth had been at the infirmary almost before first light that morning. She had barely slept anyway and would probably have called in even earlier for a progress report if it weren't for the strong suspicion that Beckett would probably give her a stern lecture on getting enough rest and very possibly threaten to sedate her.

The infirmary had still been in near darkness when she had entered, the first tinges of sunlight just beginning to turn the clouds crimson and orange over the horizon outside. A nurse sitting by Rodney's bed had looked up and nodded in greeting as the doors slid shut behind her.

"How is he?" McKay had seemed to be fast asleep but Elizabeth couldn't help whispering as she spoke to the nurse.

"He's doing fine. He just needs plenty of rest." The nurse had gestured to the half-empty bag hanging from the IV pole. " We've started him on a glucose drip to counteract the hypoglycaemia."

"Hypoglycaemia?" Another thread of fear had wrapped tighter around Elizabeth's heart. Rodney had seemed fine earlier…

The nurse had smiled ruefully. "It seems Dr McKay decided to go wandering in the middle of the night instead of resting as he was supposed to. He had something of an episode but he'll be fine."

Elizabeth's throat had felt strangely tight and she had had to clear her throat before speaking.. but her voice had still sounded hoarse and unnatural to her ears.

"And Colonel Sheppard?"

She had seen understanding in the nurse's eyes. Sheppard was well-liked by almost all on Atlantis. This wasn't easy on any of them. "Dr Beckett is in with him now. Why don't you go on through?"

She'd found Carson hovering over Sheppard's bed, a nurse at his side as he took readings from the various monitors. He'd looked up from his work as the doors hushed open and she had taken a moment to study her CMO. He looked exhausted. Beckett had given her a tired smile as she had approached the bed, anticipating her question.

"He's hanging in there, Elizabeth."

She'd nodded, her eyes drawn irresistibly to the pale, still form of her 2IC.

"How are you holding up?" she'd asked quietly.

Carson's face had been drawn and tired, the fatigue evident in his warm, blue eyes. "It's been a long night," he'd admitted.

"The Colonel developed hyperkalaemia.. it's a relatively common side-effect with massive blood transfusion. We tried to correct it with drugs but it progressed too rapidly and he went into sinus arrest."

Elizabeth's mouth had been dry as she'd listened to Carson explain how they'd managed to bring John back from the brink of death, yet again. She was beginning to wonder how much longer this could go on, how much one body could take.

A disturbance in the shimmering wall of light brought Elizabeth's attention back to the present. The event horizon rippled as Teyla and Ronon stepped through, closely followed by a small group of Athosians, all of them carrying sacks of grain and baskets of vegetables, the fruits of what looked to have been a very successful trading mission on Teyla's part. The Athosian leader's ready smile changed to a frown as Elizabeth stepped forward to greet them. Ronon had already dropped his sack of grain to the floor, his hand unconsciously straying to his holstered gun. Trained warriors, both of them; their instincts told them immediately that Dr Weir meeting them like this could not mean good news.

"Dr Weir?" Teyla's gaze was questioning, Ronon's typically stoic, and Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, wondering how on earth to phrase this, how to break the news to the members of John's team. The decision was swiftly taken out of her hands.

"What's wrong?" Ronon was a man of few words and he had little tolerance for prevarication.

Elizabeth swallowed. "It's Colonel Sheppard. There was an accident… Ronon!"

The Satedan was already off and running, heedless of her shout, heading instinctively to the infirmary, and Elizabeth turned back to Teyla with a sigh. The Athosian's concern was clear on her face. One did not become a leader of people, a trader and negotiator, and not learn how to read people. Despite her outward calm, Elizabeth was certain Teyla could see right through her, could see the fear that sat like a cold weight in her stomach.

Though Teyla's voice was soft, the tension was evident in her words. "Dr Weir? Colonel Sheppard is.. injured?" Elizabeth couldn't help but pick up on the minute hesitation and she rushed to allay those unspoken fears.

"Yes. There was an explosion in the labs… Colonel Sheppard was caught in the blast…"

Teyla's face was unreadable. "It is.. serious?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"And Dr McKay?"

Elizabeth could help but smile at that. Trust Teyla to know that, if Sheppard had been in the labs, then he'd been there with McKay.

"He'll be fine. A nasty bump to the head is all.." The smile died as quickly as it had come. "Colonel Sheppard pushed him clear of the blast."

Teyla nodded. "And what of the Colonel?"

Elizabeth sighed. "He took the full force of the blast.."

She could see that Teyla was as eager as Ronon had been to get to the infirmary and see the Colonel for herself and Elizabeth understood that need. Sheppard's team were a close-knit unit, sharing a comradeship and concern for each other that came from working so closely together, protecting each other in a galaxy full of unexpected dangers.

"Dr Beckett can explain better than I.."

The Athosian leader inclined her head gracefully, acknowledging both Elizabeth's words and the unspoken intent behind them.

"Thank you. For being the one to bring us this news."

Elizabeth could only nod as Teyla left the gate room at a brisk walk.

TBC….