The night before Ronon and Teyla planned to leave Atlantis, Rodney was sitting in the control room, staring at a computer screen that had told him nothing about the Stargate malfunction on P39-X23 for the past twenty minutes. His mind was elsewhere, wondering what he was going to do without his team. Without his friends.

Teyla had asked him if he wanted to go with them. He was tempted. God, was he tempted. But ultimately, his loyalties lay with Earth and Atlantis, not its rakish commanding officer.

"I'll keep looking for him in my own time," he had told her. "Stargate Command doesn't have any say over what I do in my free time."

"And we will keep you informed of any findings," she had said.

Rodney shook his head as he stared at the blank computer screen. He was finding it hard to focus on work thinking about losing not only Sheppard, but also Teyla and Ronon. Maybe he needed to go to bed. It was two in the morning —

"Unscheduled off world activation."

Lights blared and McKay started to his feet. "From where?"

The technician studied the screen as the shield dropped into place over the wormhole. "Unknown, sir. We aren't receiving any IDC."

Woolsey, who had also been working late, bustled from his office, his eyes bleary from lack of sleep.

"What's going on?"

"Shield is in place, sir. We haven't received an IDC."

"Any incoming transmissions?"

The technician's hands flew across the controls. "Nothing, sir."

And then Sheppard strode through the Stargate, right through the shield as though it were nothing.

"Sheppard!" McKay gasped.

The man was walking with purpose, his stride long and unbroken as he made for the stairs. In his wake, six enormous pale aliens stalked behind him as the wormhole closed.

McKay clattered down the stairs, emotions conflicted between wanting to hug the man, slap him, and squeak in fear at the tall, white aliens behind him.

Sheppard paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking just like he had when he had disappeared, but somehow he looked more … dangerous. There was a glint in his eyes that McKay had seen only a few times before. The first had been when he took out the Genii invading Atlantis. It was a look of deadly intent.

"John." McKay froze, suddenly wondering if this even was the John Sheppard that they all knew, so deadly was the look in his eyes.

"Hi Rodney," Sheppard replied. Despite the hard look in his eyes, there was a breezy grin on his face.

The aliens stopped behind him. McKay gawked at their height and muscle. They looked like bald Wraith on steroids, but with burning red eyes and strange mechanical lights on their temples.

"Where have you been?" McKay accused. "We've been looking for you for weeks! Woolsey just declared you MIA! What have you been doing? Galavanting around the galaxy? Making friends? Hiding away from us?" His hands were working overtime as he sputtered, angry at Sheppard but just as relieved to see the man.

"I'm taking Atlantis," Sheppard said.

"Taking Atlantis - what do you mean? You live here for — Wait." McKay nearly staggered as he saw Sheppard's hand resting on his holster. And the gun nestled there was not a Beretta, nor a P90. It was a gun McKay had never seen before. And his clothes … McKay's eyes widened into saucers as he took in Sheppard's appearance.

He was dressed like the aliens, all in black, but the clothes looked more like soft leather than his usual military fatigues. The vest he was wearing was armored, and he wore leather wrist guards that McKay had never seen before. A small glowing green light in the middle of his chest reminded McKay of the Ancient personal shield. Besides the new clothes, there were fresh scars crossing his bare forearms and a long white line on his left temple that disappeared into the dark hairline. He had been in battle recently.

"Wait — did you … Did you defect?" McKay squawked.

Sheppard cocked his head, eyes narrowing. "No, no. Nothing like that. Don't worry, Rodney." He brushed by McKay, nearly knocking the scientist over as he strode up the stairs.

"Just don't resist and everything will be fine," he threw over his shoulder.

Behind him the aliens followed, and McKay nearly fell down the stairs trying to get out of their way.

"Where the hell are the Marines?" McKay shouted.

He clambered up the stairs after Sheppard and the aliens and found a stare down. Sheppard had stopped at the top of the stairs as the aforementioned Marines had surrounded him and the aliens, sandwiching them between an array of guns.

"Sir," one of the Marines said, "Please lower your weapon."

Sheppard had drawn his gun, his arm outstretched, the muzzle unwavering as it pointed towards the man in front of him.

"I can't do that, Corporal," Sheppard replied evenly.

"Sir, we will be forced to open fire if you do not comply!"

Slowly, Sheppard lowered his hand, then equally as slowly holstered the gun. Peering over the top of the stairs, McKay could see his back, and the slightest movement of muscle in his shoulders seemed almost like a silent command to the aliens behind him.

They all holstered their weapons. Then Sheppard attacked.

Somehow, he disarmed the man in front of him, flipping the stolen gun and smashing the man in the face with the stock. And it all happened faster than McKay thought was humanly possible.

The aliens behind him moved smoothly, also disarming and disabling the Marines around them.

McKay ran, because that was what he was best at in a fight. Especially a fight that seemed to involve highly skilled military combat.

He slapped at his earpiece as he ran, voice panicked. "We need backup in the control room! We're under attack!"

In front of him, Ronon appeared in the doorway with Teyla. Both were dressed in their sleepwear — but armed — and McKay briefly wondered if they were responding to the unscheduled off world call. Ronon had automatically drawn his revolver, but Teyla grabbed Rodney's shirt to arrest his panicked flight.

"Rodney!" she exclaimed. "What is happening?"

McKay pointed, trembling. "Sheppard. He's back."

Teyla's eyes widened as she saw the fight above them. Ronon hesitated before rushing forward, and McKay realized he had never seen the man hesitate in any fight.

"Sheppard!" Ronon bellowed as he leapt up the stairs.

The Satedan found Sheppard in the midst of the fray, moving with calculated purpose. Marines had filled the room once the breach had been made, but men were lying everywhere, and Sheppard was clearly taking them out, along with the six giant aliens who seemed to be under his orders.

Fighting his way forward, Ronon found the aliens formidable. His blaster did not work at all on stun. When he switched it to kill, it took several shots to finally take one of the aliens down.

On a cue from Sheppard, the aliens dispersed, leaping over consoles and heading for the exits. Sheppard himself started heading towards the door nearest to him at a dead run, and Ronon found he was barely able to keep up.

As the Colonel slapped the door's controls, Ronon caught him and tackled, sending both of them tumbling into the transporter.

"Sheppard!" Ronon grabbed the man by the lapels of his vest. "What are you doing?"

Sheppard responded by socking Ronon in the jaw then reversing their positions in a neat judo twist that had Ronon's head trapped between Sheppard's thighs on the floor. He flailed at Sheppard's free arm which was reaching for the gun at his belt, managing to snag it loose before Sheppard grabbed it, and tossed it to the side.

Releasing Ronon, Sheppard leapt to his feet outside of the transporter, crouched with one hand outstretched towards Ronon and a knife in the other. The look in his eyes was like nothing Ronon had seen in recent memory. He knew without a doubt that Sheppard would kill him if he let him.

Lunging towards Ronon and swiping the knife underhanded towards his gut, Ronon blocked Sheppard's blow with crossed hands as they grappled for the blade.

Shocked at the power behind Sheppard's moves, Ronon wondered where the man who had famously professed he was lazy had been hiding this talent for hand to hand combat. He had seen Sheppard fight in the past and knew the man had moves, but he had never seen this. This was Sheppard on a mission. This was the Sheppard he had been told about who had wiped out over 60 Genii in a matter of hours. This was the Sheppard who was going to kill him if he didn't do something fast.

Twisting and throwing his back towards Sheppard in an attempt to disarm him, Ronon managed to get the upper hand and shoved back, using his bodyweight against the slighter man. They both staggered backwards as Sheppard refused to let go of the knife, so Ronon continued the move, throwing them both to the floor. The impact finally made Sheppard release the knife, but the Colonel didn't stop moving, surging to his feet towards Ronon and slamming his shoulder into the Satedan's solar plexus, bringing him up short against a wall gasping for breath.

Cooly, Sheppard braced his hands against Ronon's shoulders and placed his boot on Ronon's left knee. A sharp, downward kick left Ronon screaming as his kneecap popped.

"Sorry, buddy," Sheppard said, nonchalantly. "You're getting in the way."

Panting as he slid down the wall to the floor, Ronon looked up at the Colonel, who had found his gun and was checking the cartridge.

"Why are you doing this?" Ronon demanded, gasping in pain as his torn knee began to assail him.

"Nothing against you, Ronon," Sheppard replied, his eyes steely as he held the gun low and scanned the remnants of the control room. Bodies lay everywhere, and the consoles were sparking and smoking where they had been shot. "We just have to take Atlantis," he continued, flashing a cocky grin before walking to the transporter and disappearing.

Cursing and struggling to find his feet with a mangled knee, Ronon barely heard McKay whisper loudly, "Is he gone?"

Whipping his head around to locate the scientist, Ronon saw McKay crouched behind a smoking console, tablet in hand. Teyla was with him, her gun in hand.

"Why didn't you help?" Ronon accused the Athosian.

Teyla raised an eyebrow. "Rodney made the point that we needed to disable the Stargate to keep Colonel Sheppard from retreating."

"Yeah, she's guarding me," McKay piped as his fingers flew over the tablet. "I wouldn't have been able to fight Sheppard on his bad day, let alone when he's like … like this." His hands motioned aimlessly. "What the hell is wrong with him, anyway? It's like he's brainwashed or something."

"He is not himself," Teyla agreed.

"But he knows who we are," Ronon interjected. "He said your name, McKay. He knew me." The Satedan scooped up his fallen blaster. "We need to find him. And we need to find out what's going on. Where's Woolsey?"

Searching through the bodies strewn throughout the room, they found that many of the Marines were actually alive. They found Woolsey in his office with four Marines unconscious in front of the door and the poor director hiding under his desk.

"Is he — is he gone?" Woolsey stammered, straightening his uniform and trying to find his dignity once more.

"I don't know where he is," McKay said, tablet still in hand. "His transponder doesn't seem to be working, or rather it's more like he and those aliens are cloaked. Maybe it's that thing that looked like a personal shield that he was wearing. I don't see them anywhere in the city, but I know they're there."

"And the Stargate?" Woolsey demanded. "Did you shut it down?"

"Completely disabled," McKay affirmed. "Unless Sheppard knows how to power it back up again — he should be trapped here."

"But what is he doing?" Woolsey asked, perplexed. "And what are those aliens that are following him? I've never seen anything like them in our database."

"I haven't either," McKay answered. "They vaguely looked like Wraith, but bigger and badder."

"I've never seen anything like them," Ronon said. "Whatever they are, they're strong. And stunners don't work on them. We need to shoot to kill. I got one back there." He jabbed a thumb behind his back.

Woolsey's face went white as he looked beyond his office and saw the destruction.

"Oh my God," he gasped. "Are they — are they all dead?"

"Not all," Teyla answered. "But we need to bring a medical team here immediately. And we need to post a guard with all civilians until the threat is secured."

"Agreed," Woolsey straightened, assuming his command face and tapping his earpiece. "All military personnel, we have a Code Nightingale. This is not a drill. Code Nightingale."

Ronon limped out of the office, deciding he wouldn't stick around to see what else Woolsey was going to do.

"Where are you going?" McKay shouted.

"To find Sheppard," he threw over his shoulder.

Teyla immediately followed him, grabbing his arm. "Ronon, you are injured. You cannot confront the Colonel like this."

Ronon bared his teeth. "I've had worse."

Cocking an eyebrow, Teyla knew she wouldn't be able to keep Ronon from tracking Sheppard.

"Then I will go with you," she said. "We will find him together."