The Control Room was still dark, and nearly empty. Elizabeth looked around at the space with one last sweep of her eyes and shot a look at the very last technician who was just finishing his station lock-down. The tech was about to walk away, when, with a brief double-take at the readouts on his semi-glowing panel, he returned Elizabeth's gaze and said, "Generator station 2 just went offline… someone shut down another naquadah generator…"

Elizabeth only nodded and the tech finally shuffled away, "Good…" she breathed to herself. That meant John was still on course.

When she was certain that everyone had left and the room was empty, she jogged down the wide beautiful steps into the lower gateroom platform and took her place just in front of the silent Stargate. Nervously she peered into the shadowy space under the stairs and into the also-darkened hallways that led off towards the infirmary and other rooms of the tower. She could just barely see a couple of Edison's men crouched in waiting positions, holding stunners at the ready. The two wary paramedics were a bit more obvious, their anxious looks revealing their discomfort with the combat-like situation. She gave them a reassuring nod, then waved them deeper into the shadows until they were also out of sight completely.

With a deep breath, she thought through her plan one last time and then tapped her headset. "John?" She spoke calmly and somewhat softly. They had switched radio frequencies throughout security so that John couldn't hear her giving orders, and now they couldn't hear her talking to John. "Kolya's sending for reinforcements. More Genii are going to come through the gate. You have to stop them…" She winced at the last, not really wanting to motivate him into the violence he'd had to wield the last time. But she wanted to give him a nudge in this direction. Make sure he was sticking with the memory that would bring him to the gateroom, and, God willing, bring him down the steps to her… again.

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John was silently crouched at a corner, peering around it down long bronze and teal corridor. He'd been watching the pair of security guards unnoticed for several minutes, stationed outside one of the larger and more sensitive research labs. He'd been hesitating, even though the grief and rage drove him to kill any and all Genii he encountered, some deep reserve of control had held him back. It would be ridiculously easy to surprise them, he thought, caressing his P-90 unconsciously. Still he hesitated.

"John? Kolya's sending for reinforcements…" Elizabeth's voice spoke softly into his ear, but at the moment he didn't quite recognize it as hers. Elizabeth was dead. But he understood. He had to get to the Stargate and somehow stop them from letting even more Genii soldiers through.

With one last glance at the still unwary guards, Sheppard creeped away and found another route to the gateroom…

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Elizabeth paced across the gate room floor, looked at her watch, paced some more. Worried she had missed something, or that John had skipped into other memories, she kept glancing anxiously up at the DHD and shield controls looking for a glimpse of him. She kept telling herself that he would come. After disabling the 2nd generator, he had gone to the gateroom to raise the shield and stop Kolya's reinforcements. He had to come.

She looked at her watch again. And looked up at the control room again.

Her heart leaped when she caught a faint shadow moving stealthily among the Ancient controls, but she hadn't heard anything, so she wasn't sure. John could be quiet in boots and full battle gear… with bare feet and nothing but a T-shirt over pants, he was silence incarnate.

Finally certain that he was in fact skulking about the upper deck, she risked calling out a hesitant "Hey!" hoping to draw his attention and begin to coax his memories into the later version she wanted…

With frightening speed, John popped up over the railing, leveled his weapon at the gateroom floor and opened fire.

Realizing her mistake she had only an instant to throw herself to one side and scramble closer to the stairs, out of his line of sight and fire. Panting and letting slip a curse that impressed Lt. Edison as he scuttled up beside her, she struggled to shake off the near miss. Furiously waving Edison back into hiding, she called out to John, hoping he would hear her, and that he was still there… "John! Wait! It's me. It's Elizabeth!"

Another round of fire showering sparks into the gateroom floor at least reassured her that he was still around. For the moment she was at a loss, and frightened of showing herself…

A moment's low rumble and then a slight flash of the Stargate's luminous chevrons dragged her attention towards it. Incoming wormhole, she thought to herself? What else could go wrong…

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With a last flourish of button poking, John finished locking in his command codes that would seal the gate and keep the shield up indefinitely. Urged by the memories, he turned to dash back into the city towards his next shadowy, uncertain task…

The Stargate hummed, then sang it's mechanical song as chevrons locked rapidly one by one. Culminating in a splash of reaching energy, the gate opened a connection and then sat quietly gurgling sparkles of light into the otherwise dim space. Distracted, John halted before taking his first step, mesmerized by the sounds and flashes. He touched the shield control and it too hummed into life.

He'd done it. The Genii couldn't get through.

Remembering that he should run, should try to leave the gateroom, he instead stood transfixed by the blue-white flicker. Image after image after image flashed by as the memories of countless Stargates on countless worlds opened before his eyes…

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Rodney's swagger had developed into a full-blown strut as his breathless group finally reached the lonely looking Stargate that stuck up out of the otherwise featureless field and its DHD. With a grin and a pompous command to "Hold on a moment while I reinsert the control crystal…" he dropped to a squat in front of the device that would activate the gate and send them home.

"Just hurry…" muttered Jones, taking up a sentry position at McKay's back and sweeping the plains restlessly with his eyes and weapon's muzzle. Dr. Brown and Dr. Jones stumbled up to the stone platform underneath the Stargate and sat down, looking hot and disgruntled.

"Why?" McKay was feeling nonchalant and immensely self-satisfied. "Any more dog-things show up, we'll just show them who's Alpha!" Amused at his cleverness, he finally got the panel door open and was digging in his pocket for the crystal.

"Because, McKay, you used up my entire clip." He waggled the P-90, then let it drop against his chest in disgust. "All we've got left to show those dogs "who's Alpha" with is a pair of 9 mils. And you're a lousy shot. Besides… I've got a bad feeling. Like someone's watching me. Just hurry…" he repeated.

Suddenly anything but amused, Rodney hurriedly shoved the small disk in place, lunged to a stand and began dialing quickly. Smiling with relief at the satisfying whoosh of a connection, he fumbled for his IDC and took a couple of steps towards the platform where the Drs. were now standing and facing the puddle…waiting for him to lead them through or give them an order to. At least they remembered protocol to that degree, he thought.

"More dogs, McKay!" Jones called, sounding resigned.

Just as Rodney finished punching in his code and was about to say, "Go ahead," his radio crackled into life and instead he shouted frantically, "WAIT!" listening closely to his headset.

Elizabeth's voice was urgently…whispering?…to them, "Incoming party, our protective shield is still up. Regardless of IDC or other forms of confirmation we can't lower it at this time, do not enter the gate or you will be killed!"

Rodney jumped onto the stone platform, feeling like he was at least putting his back to something and turned to look at where Jones was steadily aiming his 9 mil. A large lone canine was approaching them from the same direction they'd just come. Something about it's size, or maybe the way it held its ears led McKay to believe this was the same creature they'd watched do battle and drive off the smaller male. It was clearly hunting, but hadn't yet lowered into a stalking crouch. And sure as they watched, it also shook its head drunkenly and staggered once or twice as it continued to near.

Grabbing the radio in its chest pocket he dipped his chin and snapped, "Elizabeth! What's going on? This is Rodney! I've sent my IDC, let us through!"

"We've got a situation here, Rodney, you'll have to wait." Again her voice was oddly hushed, although the annoyed urgency came through loud and clear.

McKay looked back at the canine, who'd begun snarling aggressively at them and dropping its head. Jones poked him and pointed a bit off to the south where another, smaller animal had come into view following the first.

"We have a bit of a situation here ourselves!" His voice rose in pitch with anxiety, and this time he could hear the concern and worry in Elizabeth's reply.

"I'm… I'm sorry. Try to hang on, we'll try to get the shield down as soon as we can. Weir out…"

Exchanging dumbfounded expressions, Rodney stepped again shoulder to shoulder with Jones and raised his own 9 mil at the second canine. "Can't go that way," he told the marine.

"I heard."

Shifting nervously, the group warily watched the large male growl closer. Just when McKay was shooting looks at Jones, waiting for a signal to fire, the smaller animal barked several times, flapped its ears and yowled at its partner. The larger animal, momentarily distracted, turned its head and snarled back, then resumed glaring at McKay… or at least that's what it felt like the animal was doing.

Pouncing almost playfully forward a few steps, the smaller animal barked again, and again the first was distracted for a moment. McKay looked at Jones, who looked back and shrugged, never lowering his weapon, but puzzled by the odd behavior. Suddenly Dr. Miles piped up from behind them, "Hey! I wonder…" just as the second animal finally trotted up nose to nose with the first. The invasion of space earned it a snarl and a snap, but suddenly aggressive itself, the smaller animal snarled and snapped back. Then, tail held high, it walked with a prancing trot right past the first, past the DHD nearly by the feet of the unmoving humans on the Stargate platform and off several yards further into the meadow. Its look back towards the large male was almost sultry. If you were a dog that is.

Shaking its head again, the male suddenly seemed to forget all about glaring at Rodney and bounded after its flirting companion. For a second thinking that they were about to witness another vicious fight, the snarling and snapping and ear flapping suddenly turned into…

Jones blushed furiously. Katie giggled a little, but didn't sound embarrassed.

"Oh…my," said McKay.

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"Weir out…"

Elizabeth chewed her lip and took deep breaths, uncertainty and fear, and worry now for Rodney's team, almost overwhelming her. Suddenly reckless, she rose quickly and took two long steps out into the gateroom, looking hurriedly up at the upper deck's railing, and preparing herself to dodge quickly again if John was about to fire at her.

Nothing happened. Afraid he had already left, she took two more steps back to scan more of the area above her. She spotted him at last, standing by the DHD, staring vaguely at the Stargate, his weapon held loosely at his side. Even from that distance, she could see the fatigue in his frame, and the flickering gate reflected only dully in his glazed, mesmerized eyes. He looked shockingly pale, but then, maybe that was only a trick of the light…

Hope began to bubble into Elizabeth's chest and tapping her headset so he could hear her without yelling, she finally recited the lines she'd rehearsed in her mind since she first formed her plan… "John, this is Elizabeth. Kolya is dragging me through the gate. You have to stop him from taking me off Atlantis."

Never taking her eyes off of him, Elizabeth watched Sheppard turn his head slowly and look down at her. To further re-create the situation, she backed up quickly several steps towards the active gate and the humming shield. "John, Kolya says… 'You'll serve the Genii as payment for what you've done.'" She took another feigned-lurching step backwards. Idly, she wondered if the shield itself was dangerous from this side…

"Ford! Change of plan, you get McKay." Elizabeth could hear John's words through the open radio, although they were too soft and breathy to be heard otherwise. She actually smiled as he next raised his weapon and darted towards the steps. "Kolya!" he shouted, this time making himself heard as the harsh word echoed through the room. She waited.

At last he was at the bottom of the stairs and his movement became slow and predatory. His weapon was held high and he sighted carefully through its scope. "You're not going anywhere," he hissed, sounding almost amused. He took two more slow deliberate steps. "I will shoot you if you don't let her go." The quiet fury and frighteningly calm anguish in John's voice drew shivers down Elizabeth's spine. She'd been too scared to notice the chilling intensity of his emotion that day when Kolya had actually been holding her.

She managed to choke out her next line, dredged from her own memory and the nightmares… "And risk hurting Dr. Weir?"

"I'm not aiming at her."

Even expecting the shot to come, she still flinched when John fired a single round so close over her shoulder that she could swear she felt the breeze of its passing. Biting her lip, she could hardly stand the anticipation… would he get close enough?

Blinking wearily, Sheppard lowered his gun, staggered forward and muttered "Sorry about that, I had to…" His voice trailed off as it had before, but this time he closed his eyes and winced ever so slightly before opening them to lock onto her face. "You OK?"

Her own heart pounding in her ears with hope, she shook her head slowly and said, "No." Then holding her breath, willing him to reach for her with every ounce of her soul, she waited and watched, not daring to move too soon or risk startling him…

Blinking again, his voice was low and quiet, "You will be. Come on…" and slowly he reached out an unsteady hand.

Just as slowly and allowing a relieved smile to dance on her lips she took it. And held on. He closed his eyes again, gasping a little, and she pulled in even closer, brought her other hand up to hold onto his elbow firmly. Looking at Edison who had made his way out from under the stairs, she gave him a small nod to begin approaching very slowly. The rest of the team also began closing in.

"And you will be, too, John," she told him, hoping it was true. She gave his arm a reassuring squeeze.

He tugged a bit and leaned towards the stairs. Before, they had run together up them to help Rodney raise the shield and save the city. But she planted her feet and held on, keeping him in place as Edison's team edged even closer. Like Carson, she could feel his hammering pulse through his light sleeves. He radiated damp heat. "You gave us quite a run, John!" She couldn't resist. He threw a puzzled look at her, and then studied her face for so long she squirmed.

"I'm really tired, Elizabeth…" he whispered at last. She watched him fighting through the fog, and the fear she'd seen there before had given way to pure exhaustion.

"I'll bet you are."

Closing the last two or three steps quickly, Edison and Toreil each grabbed an arm while Mitchelson deftly stripped John of his arsenal of acquired weapons, and then, with amused respect, emptied his bulging pockets of generator parts. John stiffened and bucked back as if to struggle, but Elizabeth quickly put a soothing hand on his chest and called out firmly, "Post mission medical check, Colonel. Beckett's waiting. Standard procedure after all." He relaxed a little but remained focused on her, as if she were a lifeline. "Trust me, John," she added very softly.

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He was tired. Oh, so tired. And his chest hurt, in rhythmic stabbing jolts of agony.

The exhaustion worked to one advantage in that he no longer felt compelled to respond to every flash of memory that was still assaulting him. He was slowly sinking into his past and starting to simply watch it crawl by.

He felt hands grab him, firmly but not roughly, and he suddenly realized his own felt cold...empty. Elizabeth had let go. He struggled feebly for a moment, but then heard her voice and felt a light touch. She was still here. Post-mission checkup. Infirmary. He had memories of that.

With supreme effort he concentrated through the visions and finally found himself at the surface, if only barely.

"Trust me, John," Elizabeth was saying.

Betrayal, fear, rage, grief, relief all hit him simultaneously, but he held on... Elizabeth was still watching him hopefully, expectantly.

He trusted her.

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Nodding wearily to himself, John leaned in the direction of the infirmary and allowed Edison and Toreil, closely followed by Mitchelson, Abramowicz and the paramedics, to escort him off the platform and into the hallway.

Elizabeth watched for a moment, trembling a bit with reaction. If she weren't so damn worried, she'd be amused at the sight of 4 heavily armed soldiers guarding one man in bare feet and a T-shirt. That about summed up John Sheppard she decided. There was so much more to him than appeared on the surface…

Gathering her composure, she trotted off after him. They still had work to do.

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McKay sat swinging his legs on the Stargate platform, watching the palm life signs detector and idly arguing with Jones, who was sitting just below him on the ground, leaning against the stone. He had to squint a bit in the sunshine and tilted the screen this way and that as he prattled.

"I'm just saying… Sheppard always keeps a spare bullet-thingy in his vest."

"Let it go, McKay." Jones' retort was mild and he shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a spot that didn't tweak tender ribs.

"I just mean, it seems really handy to have extra bullets around and you might consider…"

"I DO carry a spare…and the word is magazine… when there's any chance I might meet a wraith, but the rest of the time…"

"Sheppard always has a spare."

"You were the one that managed to empty the thing in 5 seconds…!"

"I'm just saying… There is it again." Rodney poked at the sensor and unconsciously aimed it at the reading he was puzzled by. The jumper was parked near the DHD, its back hatch resting open on the sunny ground. Dr. Brown, Dr. Miles, Lorne and the rest were spread in a wide line some distance out, walking slowly away from the Stargate, studying the ground closely as they went.

The group had watched the canine couple with varying degrees of amusement until Atlantis had finally radioed them that their "situation" had been resolved, but that it would take some time to break Sheppard's code and get the shield down. Sheppard himself was apparently in no condition to offer much help in that task. Since by then the dogs had finished their antics and had trotted happily away together, pouncing and wagging their tails like two young pups, they'd decided to wait here and spend their time looking for a flower that hadn't burst its seeds and pollen yet. Lorne wanted to get Jones to the infirmary as soon as possible and then return to continue looking for Ronon, but in the meantime, he was grudgingly assisting in the flower-hunt.

"There's what again?" Jones sounded as if he'd be interested in anything Rodney had to say that wasn't about carrying spare P-90 clips…

"I keep seeing a signature that comes and goes, as if it's only moving a little every few minutes, or moving so slowly that the LSD only catches it now and then…"

"Where, McKay!" Jones was suddenly excited and had his hand on his radio waiting impatiently for the answer.

"Um, just south of Lorne and Dr. Brown…"

"Lorne, this is Jones. We got a bogey just south of your position, moving too randomly to be a canine so…"

"You think it might be Ronon!" Rodney hopped off the stone and stopping only briefly at the jumper to grab a stunner, he lumbered into the field towards the suspicious dot. For the moment it was conspicuously absent on the small screen. Lorne and Walker had already broken their line formation to move southwards. He was huffing and puffing and steaming up his mask by the time he neared where he thought the signature might have been and decided that maybe the atmosphere on this planet was a bit thin. Or maybe he should work out with Ronon a bit more once they got the man home and all cured. Rejecting that ridiculous thought, he felt sure the atmosphere was probably just lacking in oxygen…

McKay had just jogged past Dr. Brown and Dr. Miles who were standing close together, idly watching the odd activity, when Katie unexpectedly shrieked. Rodney whirled around to see Ronon suddenly standing there, looking wild and filthy, holding Katie into his chest with a knife pressed to her chin. She looked terrified, her eyes darting ,wide-eyed, between Miles and McKay and back again.

For the moment, Rodney decided that looking non-threatening was the best approach. If Ronon were re-living memories of cutting Wraith throat, he wanted to look as little like a wraith as possible. Or like anything else in the "enemy" category for that matter. Noticing suddenly that they were all wearing bug-like filter masks, he realized with a jolt, that looking non-threatening was probably going to be difficult. They'd had them on so long, he'd forgotten how odd they actually looked.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he saw that Lorne and his team were also moving his way, but were out of position to help. They also seemed cautious, recognizing the need to stay calm. Raising his hands in what he hoped looked like a calming gesture, Rodney called out to his teammate, "Ronon! It's me Rodney. Dr. Rodney McKay. From Atlantis. We're all your friends here. We might look a little…odd…but it really is me. Your best friend and all." Ronon only squinted with a calculating dart of his eyes, and swept the meadow as if numbering off his opponents. "Well, actually I suppose Sheppard's probably more of the best friend type, maybe even Teyla, but hey we're buddies right?" McKay paused again, hoping that Lorne was thinking of something to do…

Dr. Miles, however, seemed to find the waiting unsatisfactory and, standing not far from Rodney, he puffed himself up and took an aggressive step forward. With alarm, McKay saw that he was brandishing some sort of gun, although not of any design he was familiar with. "Unhand her!" he yelled pompously, and wrapped both hands around his weapon as if to fire.

Shouting, "Back off, Miles!" Rodney watched in horror as Ronon braced himself and just as he'd feared, curled his lip into a snarl that signaled an oncoming act of sure-to-be-spectacular violence. Having no plan but sheer panic, Rodney simply rushed Ronon, yelling something that he hoped sounded like, "Stop, Ronon, we're here to help," and threw himself at the delusional runner.

The mindless act worked to the degree that Ronon was forced to fling out his knife hand, away from Katie's throat to fend off Rodney's flying body. Miles apparently took the action as a cue, because while McKay went slamming breathlessly down on his back, the biologist also moved to rush the larger man. This time Ronon merely threw Katie at Miles, giving himself ample time to draw his huge ugly energy weapon and aim it at the falling couple.

Still out of breath, Rodney gasped out a ragged, "NO!" as the weapon leveled. Then he blinked as Ronon was engulfed in a blue flash and grimacing with pain and the effort of trying to resist, he slowly toppled onto the ground.

Rodney shook his head and Lorne jogged up to him out of the grass to drop on one knee and offer him a hand up. Rodney took it to help himself sit, but wasn't planning on standing just yet. Rubbing his chest where Ronon had struck him, he looked around for Katie. Dr. Miles was just reaching down to help Katie stand, who was staring up at him with doe eyes of admiration. "Thank you, Nathan…" he heard her say breathlessly.

"It was nothing, Katie." Nathan shrugged smugly, and wrapped his arm around her in a wholly pathetic gesture of support. "I'm just glad you're OK."

Rolling his head and grimacing with disgust, Rodney just muttered to himself, "This is so not fair…" He was finally distracted by the activity surrounding Ronon.

"Sir, I don't like his vitals. Can we get to Atlantis yet? I think he needs medical attention." Walker was the team's field medic, and was hovering worriedly over Ronon's motionless form, hand on the man's limp wrist.

"Go! Dial in and see if we can get through. If not, have them send a medical team here." Lorne snapped at Stackhouse who darted off immediately.

"What's wrong with him? Accelerated heart rate?" Rodney managed to speak and stumble over at the same time, "Because that's what was wrong with Sheppard…"

"Actually," Walker frowned, then suddenly active, he leaped on Ronon's chest in CPR compressions and bellowed, "Very slow pulse, his breathing and heart rate are both depressed and falling."

Rodney watched blankly, thinking that here again he sat facing the certain death of a friend. He didn't know what saddened him the most: That this was the 2nd time in a single day, or that he was actually getting used to it…which meant he panicked less and could think more. He tapped his fingers together rapidly, searching his mind for anything he could do or have that would help.

Suddenly digging in his very front vest pocket, he held out the Epi Pen he had made such a show of tucking away just this morning. "Would this help?" he asked, squatting and holding the device up for Walker to see.

Walker looked panicky, and thought it through for several long moments. "I…I think it might. Do it McKay."

McKay looked briefly around for Lorne to see if the Major also agreed to the risk, and realized that Lorne had disappeared, pelting across the meadow towards the jumper to retrieve the portable defibrillator if needed. So with trembling fingers, he snapped off the cap, shifted the cylinder into his fist and jabbed the spring-loaded needle into Ronon's thigh, counting out the seconds before he removed it. Then they waited. Walker moved his fingers to Ronon's neck.

After a long minute that seemed like a year to Rodney, Walker whispered hopefully, "Pulse is picking up…feels a bit fast even." With a sigh of relief McKay sat down heavily in the flowers next to Ronon and tried to drop his forehead on his knees until the bulky mask jammed his chin painfully and he settled for wrapping his arms around his crossed legs.

Lorne joined them a few minutes later, lugging a couple cases of gear. He set them down and wiped his brow, looking not at all unhappy for them to be unneeded. "Shield's down," he announced after catching his breath and sounding almost cheerful once he'd learned that Ronon was stabilized for now. "We can go home. Let's get this big guy to Beckett…"

Wearily McKay stood up and helped Walker and Lorne heft the heavy, unconscious Ronon upright, then, feet dragging behind him, they each slung an arm over their shoulders and headed towards the Stargate.

Rodney picked up the medical gear and trudged along behind, feeling like this day couldn't end soon enough and worrying about whether anything they had done would help his friends recover. A couple wilted cups of flowers seemed like little accomplishment for the time and effort. They had recovered Ronon too, at least, he reminded himself.

Dr. Brown and Dr. Miles walked just ahead of the grunting Lorne and Walker, chatting amiably about the stupid dogs. "Unhand her!" McKay muttered mockingly as he noticed they were now holding hands as they walked, "Who talks like that!" He must have said it out loud because Lorne snorted with amusement, and McKay felt a little bit better.

Sweating and irritable, McKay paused at the jumper to drop of the medical boxes and the stunner, then ran to catch up with Lorne and Walker. They planned to walk through the Stargate and leave Stackhouse to bring the jumper in after. Rodney plodded the last few steps to the Stargate, trying and failing to add up the number of miles he'd walked today. Dr. Miles was still holding his strange gun and waving it around carelessly and Katie was laughing airily at some witty thing he had just said when Ronon suddenly came to life just as Lorne had heaved him up the tall step onto the gate platform. Unbalanced, Lorne fell off in a sprawl, and Walker tumbled over just as easily at the vicious shove Ronon gave him.

Ronon swiped the strange gun out of Miles' hand, and the two Drs., clearly finished with adventures for the day simply dove into the Stargate and were gone. Whirling, Ronon found only one target in his vicinity left standing and fired at a very confused and frozen Rodney…then exhausted and ill, he collapsed in a heap. Lorne scrambled up, kicked the weapon away and, signaling Walker to drag Ronon on through the gate, he leaped off the stone and ran to where McKay stood swaying.

The world began to feel very strange to Rodney, and looking stupidly down at the prick in his leg, he saw a small feathery tranquilizer dart sticking out of his thigh. "Oh," he thought to himself with an amused giggle. "That's what kind of a gun it was."

He dropped to his knees as Lorne rushed up. Rodney looked at him with a wide bemused grin. "I wonder if he had that with him the whole time, the ass." He fell further onto his stomach, managing to catch himself by his elbows before his face and mask struck the ground. Staring blearily into the leaves and stems below him, he saw a very tiny, perfectly pristine flower petal, neatly wrapped up around itself.

"Hey!" He said too loudly, but slurring the words out nonetheless, "I found an unopened one!"

As he sagged further towards the ground, his mask just barely touched the little flower's leaves and with a tiny warm puff of air that he could feel on his eyebrows, a burst of pollen and seeds sprinkled his hair.

"Figures…" he said. And blacked out.