"How much further?" Making his way through the village on '177 John tried to ignore the knot forming in his stomach. Dr. Lindsay had radio Atlantis about thirty minutes ago requesting back up, Elizabeth had immediately sent John's team to check it out.

He knew she was worried, not only because Lorne's team was possibly in trouble, but because Skyler was also with them. With Axle still on medical leave Skyler's team was grounded and Skyler had been going stir crazy being stuck in the city with nothing to really do except paper work – Brain had work in the labs to keep him busy and Blue had work in the infirmary – so Elizabeth had taken pity on him and sent him out with Lorne's team to '177.

"Uh, just around this next corner." Lindsay replied nervously. She didn't like how quiet things were it wasn't all that late at night so there still should have been villagers out and about, but at the moment it looked like a ghost town.

"When was the last time you had any contact with them?" Teyla inquired calmly.

"Uh, they came under fire about half an hour ago. Uh, the major told me to head to the Gate and radio for back up. I haven't heard from him since."

"They were under fire and you didn't head back to help?" Ronon growled.

Lindsay looked at Ronon nervously, "Major Lorne told me to stay by the gate."

"You did the right thing." John cut in as they turned the corner. They all stopped, staring in shock at what they saw. The house ahead of them was burned out, smoke rising from the doorway and windows.

"Oh, my God." Lindsay gasped out.

"Is that the building they were in?" John really, really, hoped not. He felt his heart sink at Lindsay's horrified nod.

"Well, shouldn't there be villagers? Why aren't they trying to put out the fire?" Rodney looked around not seeing anyone.

"The fire's out. That's just steam and smoke." Ronon stated simply.

"Let's take a look." John looked over his shoulder to Rodney. "You stay here with Lindsay." He, Teyla and Ronon started towards the house.

"Right, sure. Oh, and hey -- if you hear gunfire, just know that that's me holding back our attackers all on my own, huh!" McKay spoke in a loud whisper to their departing backs.

The other three walked to the front of the house, looking around cautiously. Behind them, Rodney drew his pistol and cocked it, as he and Lindsay looked around nervously. At the closed door of the house, John put his hands on the wooden door to check whether or not there was heat behind it. It appeared to be okay, so he pushed the door open and the three of them walked inside.

Smoke was still rising from the burned-out room making it difficult to see. As they walked inside, wooden beams from the ceiling fell to the floor. They progressed carefully, shining the lights from their P90s around the room.

"A fire like this would have burned the whole village if someone had not dealt with it." Teyla stated as she looked around.

"Somebody put it out. They just don't wanna stick around to talk about it." Ronon spoke as another beam crashed to the floor. "Uh, it's not safe to be up here."

"Thanks for that." John shot over his shoulder as something caught his eye. "Ah, I got somethin'." John called as he shined his light around the floor spotting something underneath a fallen beam.

He kicked some of the debris away from what he was looking at then lifted the beam carefully tossing it aside. He found a burned body underneath the beam, it was so badly burned that there was no way of recognizing the person, nor what sort of clothes he had been wearing. John squatted down, taking a small knife out and using the point to lift up something around the body's neck: dog tags.

"Damn it!" The knot that had formed in John's stomach tightened.

"What?" Ronon questioned.

"Dog tags." John held the knife up higher so that he could look at the tags in the light of Ronon's P90. He started swearing up a mental storm at seeing the name on the tags. "They're Cain's." This was going to devastate Elizabeth and Aria…god he didn't want to think about what this would do to her.

--

Feeling the all to familiar after effects of a Wraith stunner Skyler slowly cracked his eyes open finding himself tied up in a cell of some kind. Trying to figure out how he'd ended up where he was Skyler thought back to his last memories before waking up there. He'd been on '177 with Lorne's team sitting down for evening tea. Dr. Lindsay had stepped outside to have a word with one of the villagers when a short time after the door had burst open and a group of men had entered shooting Wraith stunners and that was the last thing Skyler remembered.

Hearing shuffling to his left Skyler turned his head to see a man with dark hair standing over one of the still unconscious soldiers, drawing a blood sample. It took a moment for Skyler's head to clear enough for him to recognize who the man was.

"Who are you? And why are you taking blood from my men?" An awake Lorne asked from Skyler's right.

"My name is –." The man started but was cut off by Skyler.

"Ladon," Skyler spoke up. "His name is Ladon Radim…Genii."

"Have we met before?" Ladon looked at Skyler closer to see if he looked familiar.

"Not personally, no. But I was there for the aftermath of your attempted little raid of Atlantis and I've seen the footage that was taken by our security cameras." He felt rage begin to simmer inside of him as he remembered the day the Genii had tried to take Atlantis. "Don't suppose Kolya's running around here somewhere?"

"No." Ladon turned back to taking blood samples.

"Damn, and I was so looking forward to having the chance to rip his heart out with my bare hands."

Ladon paused for a second unsure if the man was really serious or not. Shaking his head at the pointlessness of it Ladon continued his work ignoring the rest of Lorne's questions.

--

When John radioed requesting a med team, Elizabeth felt her heart rate speed up at the solemn tone in the colonel's voice. Watching as John stepped through the gate followed by the first of the med team carrying a filled body bag a sudden feeling of dread wrapped itself around her like a blanket, freezing her to the spot as John climbed the stairs and entered her office.

"John?"

About to open is mouth John paused closing it; he had no idea what to say. Sure he'd told people that there loved ones were dead before, but for the life of him he couldn't find the words this time. Finally he just pulled out a set of dog tags handing them to Elizabeth. "There…there was a fire…I'm sorry."

Looking at the tags Elizabeth felt her heart stop; they were Skyler's. She couldn't help but see the irony in the situation; fire the one thing that scared the hell out of Skyler more than anything had been what finally killed him.

Taking a moment she pulled herself together now was not the time to fall apart. "What the hell happened out there?"

--

Standing outside of Skyler and Aria's quarters Elizabeth absently fidgeted with the dog tags in her pocket as she forced herself to knock on the door. She hated having to do this, but Elizabeth didn't want Aria to hear about Skyler through the city grapevine.

Opening the door Aria was a bit surprised to find Elizabeth on the other side. It wasn't uncommon for the older woman to stop by on occasion but usually it was when Skyler was home and they both knew he was off world at the moment.

Aria's greeting quickly lodged in her throat when their eyes connected. An icy feeling of dread automatically shot into her stomach, something was wrong and that was when the fear set in. She had never been an overdramatic person and never one to panic but the look on Elizabeth's face said it all; something really bad had happened.

"There's been a problem on 177." Elizabeth hadn't needed to say anything else, he had been on 177 and her face had told Aria all she needed to know. Closing her eyes she prayed that it wasn't what she thought it was. It couldn't be. He couldn't be gone. The burning sensation of tears began to prick her eyes and she knew even before the next words were spoken.

"They just brought the bodies back through the gate…I'm so sorry…" Elizabeth pulled the dog tags out of her pocket handing them to Aria.

"No, no, no…" Aria shook her head in denial as she clutched the dog tags tightly in her hand. Silently Elizabeth led her over to sit on the couch. Sitting down heavily Aria rested a hand on her stomach as she spoke more to herself than to Elizabeth. "He can't be gone…he can't…I can't do this without him…it wasn't supposed to be like this. We were supposed to do this together…" She trailed off rubbing her stomach absently.

At first Elizabeth wasn't sure exactly what Aria was talking about, but when the younger woman started rubbing her stomach Elizabeth looked closer and nearly fell out of her seat as she put two and two together. It wasn't out right noticeable but if one looked close enough they could see a bump forming in Aria's stomach area. Suddenly the dopey grins Skyler always seemed to have and the knowing looks that the two were constantly sharing all made sense.

"How…how long?" Elizabeth reached out a hand resting it comfortingly on the hand Aria had on her stomach.

"About five an a half months." Aria replied softly, not caring who knew about the baby anymore. She and Skyler had been planning to make the announcement at the Athosian harvest festival next week, but that wasn't going to happen now.

Sorrow and anguish washed over Aria as she began to sob. He was gone Skyler was really gone. Her gut twisted when she thought of never seeing him again. She pulled her knees towards her body and started rocking back and forth. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around the distraught woman offering silent support and comfort. The two women sat in shared grief for who knew how long before Aria gained back some resemblance of control.

Sniffling Aria glanced around their quarters and felt heart wrenching sobs threatening to take over again. She had to get away she couldn't take being someplace that reminded her so much of Skyler. "I…I…can't be here right now…I…I…need…"

"C'mon." Elizabeth, understanding, took Aria's arm and led her out of the room.

--

Elizabeth didn't know what had brought her back there, but after making sure that Aria was comfortably settled in her own quarters – the remaining members of Skyler's team watching over her – Elizabeth found herself drawn back. Standing in Skyler's quarters she found herself looking around her nephew's living space. In the stillness of the room, she felt alone and yet there was something about the place that had a calming effect on her.

Things in the room from the small pile of dirty clothes on the floor to the unmade bed to the guitar propped up in the corner to the soccer ball sitting in the chair next to his desk just screamed Skyler. She paused when she came to his bedside table, noticing the display of pictures he had there. There were pictures of Skyler and Axle – as well as other friends – from different stages of their lives as well as pictures of her and Skyler and of Skyler and Aria. He also had pictures of his parents and grandparents mingled in.

At the center of the pictures was a square case made of hardwood, a folded American flag visible through the glass lid. The brass engraving tacked on the bottom of the case read:

Colonel Mathew S. Cain United States Air Force

1957-1987

Inside the case there was also a set of dog tags hanging from one corner of the flag and propped in front of the flag were two pictures: one was of her brother-in-law, a million watt smile adorning his face, wearing his flight suit and sitting on the wing of a fighter jet holding a newborn Skyler, the second photo was a black and white photo taken on memorial day of a nine year old Skyler and his father standing in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. both father - dressed in uniform - and son stood with a hand stretched out, fingers gently touching the wall, their heads bowed in reverence - it was the last picture that had been taken of the two together before Mathew Cain had died and oddly enough Elizabeth found it to be a fitting one.

Ghosting a fingertip over the glass of the case in front of the picture Elizabeth felt tears stinging in her eyes. Withdrawing her hand she sat down heavily on the bed, wiping in vain at the tears that escaped. She put a hand to her lips and choked back a few aching sobs. But the sorrow that filled her heart became too strong, and Elizabeth soon shook with heart wrenching sobs.

She didn't know how long she sat there after the tears had dried up before the familiar chirp of her radio sounded in her ear. "Elizabeth could I see you in the infirmary?" Carson's soft brogue sounded from her earpiece.

About to answer Elizabeth had to pause and clear her throat, "On my way."

--

Standing in the infirmary Elizabeth held a facemask over her mouth and nose as she looked at the body that was supposed to be Skyler. The body was so burnt and charred that she couldn't make out any of her nephew's features; she only knew it was his body because it was the only one without a set of dog tags, which John had taken and given to her earlier and she had given to Aria.

"It's not them." Carson stated as he approached Elizabeth.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth felt hope surge though her as her gaze fell on the body in front of her.

"These bodies you found are not Lorne and his men." He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder his gaze following Elizabeth's. "That's not Skyler."

Elizabeth felt the veil of sorrow that had blanketed her suddenly lighten as she listened to Carson's words.

--

Sitting in a corner of the cell Skyler rested his head against the wall as he watched Lorne pacing. The rest of the men were now awake and scattered in various areas around the cell, some standing not looking happy at all, the others sitting like Skyler. So far they hadn't found a way out and any plan formulated seemed like it had zero chance of actually working.

Without much else to do Skyler let his mind wonder. Hopefully Lindsay had made it to the gate and a rescue mission was in the works. He knew that Elizabeth could be a pit bull when her people were missing and he had little doubt that a rescue was underway.

His thoughts had started to wander to Aria, hopping that she was okay and not freaking out about his being missing – that kind of stress was the last thing she needed right now – when there was a commotion heard in the corridor. The heavy footfalls and strange scraping sound alerted the prisoners before they could see what was actually happening. Soon Ladon leading a group of Genii soldiers, dragging a group of bodies towards them appeared. The cell door was opened and the bodies were tossed inside then the cell door shut again and the Genii soldiers left. It took a moment to realize who the bodies were but when they did the group's spirits lifted somewhat. After checking to make sure their fellow soldiers as well as McKay were okay the other's resumed their positions.

--

With McKay and the others still unconscious Skyler had started to doze when there was another commotion out side of the cell. It wasn't long before Ladon appeared with Sheppard in tow.

"Lorne." John spoke up surprised, as the cell door was unlocked.

"Starting to put it all together?" Ladon asked him.

"I'm getting there." John responded as he stepped into the cell. Lorne got up from the bench he'd been sitting on, moving towards him. "Major." Sheppard directed at him and then quickly took in his team. "Boys."

"Colonel." They watched as Ladon walked away.

"Way to be alive." Skyler couldn't help wondering why Sheppard sounded so surprised.

"Thanks, sir! So, uh, have you come to rescue us?"

"Well, until about a moment ago I thought you were dead, but now that I see you speaking and breathing, yeah, I'm thinkin' about it."

Hearing Sheppard's comment Skyler was on his feet before he even realized it. If he thought that they were all dead then that would have to mean that Elizabeth thought so as well and that of course would mean that she would tell Aria…Skyler didn't want to think about the nightmare she must be going through. He had to get out of there and fast.

When the sound of a soft moan drifted through the air sometime latter everyone turned to see that the strike team and McKay were beginning to wake up. Sheppard moved towards Rodney while the others checked on the marines.

"What the hell happened?" Rodney asked groggily.

"We got gassed." John replied.

"Are we in some sort of trouble?" Rodney glanced around.

"Was it the gas or the prison cell that was your first clue?" John questioned sarcastically as a Genii guard unlocked the door and Ladon approached. He stood in the doorway and pointed his pistol at John.

"Times up." Ladon said. Pausing for a moment, he looked pointedly at Sheppard. "Weir says that your Dr. Beckett can cure the people I sent through the Gate. Is that true?"

"Beckett's the best doctor in two galaxies. If there's a cure, he's got it." John replied calmly.

Ladon pondered this for a moment then turned to the other Genii, "We're letting them go." He lowered his pistol and stepped back.

John followed by the others stood up surprised, cautiously walking out of the cell. They all began walking down the hallway with Ladon and Sheppard in the lead. Suddenly, they were stopped in front of a door, with two other Genii officers standing there.

"It's alright. We're just escorting these prisoners." Ladon spoke up instantly. Once the two guards lowered their guns two of Ladon's men promptly raised their own pistols and shot them. Two other men ran to the door and checked to see that the coast was clear, then nodded to Ladon. "There's a hidden passage this way. We shouldn't run into any more resistance."

Sheppard nodded, and the group took off down the passage. The group soon made it to the Stargate, and Ladon and his men quickly took out the Genii soldiers that were there. Once the coast was clear Rodney dialed Atlantis and sent his IDC through.

--

Skyler sighed in relief when he walked back into the Atlantis Gate Room. Sheppard and Ladon followed shortly after him. He listened as Ladon spoke to Cowen over the radio. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Cowen. You have served our people well."

"Shield up." John ordered. The shield was raised, a blast of some kind hitting against it.

"Now please, I would like to see my sister." Ladon half questioned half demanded as he and Sheppard moved towards Elizabeth.

Elizabeth gave a slight nod to John. "She's in the infirmary."

"Come on, I'll take you there." Sheppard started to lead Ladon towards the door.

As the two walked away Elizabeth, not caring how unprofessional it looked, turned to her nephew and threw her arms around him tightly. Surprised at first by Elizabeth's unusual behavior it took Skyler a moment to react. Wrapping his arms around his aunt Skyler let her have her moment.

"Air, need air." Skyler joked a moment later, trying to break the tension.

Elizabeth gave a slight chuckle as she took Skyler's hint and pulled back a bit, discretely wiping a tear from her eye. Before either had the chance to say or do anything else Aria entered the room stopping in shock as she saw that yes Skyler really was alive and that the rumors hadn't been false.

Skyler's eyes lit up and he took a step towards her. That one movement was all it took to get Aria moving again. She quickly threw herself into his arms. Skyler grabbed hold of her and lifted her slightly off the ground, hugging her as tightly as possible. Aria wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head into his shoulder. After a moment Skyler put Aria back down but didn't let go of her.

"C'mon," Skyler whispered softly. He led the way out of the gate room head for the infirmary. Skyler would have preferred going back their quarters but knowing Carson if Skyler didn't appear in the infirmary within the next few minutes the Scott would be sending his minions after him.

--

Sitting on the exam bed Skyler waited for Carson or one of the other doctors to do his post-mission check up. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aria absently chewing on one of her nails the way she did whenever she was in deep thought and unsure of how to broach something with him.

"What is it?" Skyler reached over gently pulling Aria to stand in front of him, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.

Aria hesitated a few seconds, before finally looking up at him and took a deep breath, "You really scared me this time… I thought that you were really gone, that you weren't coming back." She lowered her gaze slightly, before nearly whispering, "I don't want you going through the gate anymore…"

Skyler quietly looked at her pained expression, conflicting emotions battling inside him. He didn't know what to say; he had a pretty good idea where this was coming from and in a way agreed, but another part of him balked and rebelled at the idea of never going through the gate again.

"Aria," he gently cupped her face forcing her gaze back to his. "Why now? After all the times that I've been injured and who knows what else off world what makes this the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak? Hell I don't hardly even have a scratch on me."

"Do you really need to ask that?" Aria took Skyler's free hand and settled it on her stomach. "I can't do this on my own. I don't want to loose you."

"Trust me when I say that you will never loose me." He kissed her softly. "Whether I continue to go off world or not I will do everything within my power to make sure I come back to you alive…I can't guarantee I'll always be in one piece, but I will be alive. You know why?"

Aria shook her head.

"Because you and our child are what I'm willing to live for. I would willing endure and survive the worse pain and agony imaginable just so I could see you again. Do you think that I wake up every morning and go to work because I like to get shot at, tortured, having the life nearly sucked out of me, and lord knows what else?"

"I would hope not." Aria lowered her head to rest her forehead against his.

"Good, because I don't. I actually really, really hate those parts of my job, but I continue to do it because it's the only way I know of to keep you safe. My job can really suck at times, but it can also be rewarding, but no matter whether it sucks or is rewarding I know that you'll always be here for me. And the only way that I know to make sure that you're always here for me is to continue doing my job."

"I know that, I've always known that in away," she sighed wrapping her arms around Skyler's neck. "But I don't know if I can keep doing this, keep wondering if this is going to be the time that you don't come back."

"We'll work this out, I promise." Skyler tightened his hold on his wife.

--

Knocking on the open door frame to Elizabeth's office Skyler was glad to find Sheppard there as well. He'd been thinking about the conversation he and Aria had, had in the infirmary several days ago and had finally come to a compromise of sorts and now wanted to run it by Elizabeth – Sheppard being there saved him the time of having to explain his decision again if anything came of his idea.

"Skyler come in," Elizabeth motioned for her nephew to step into her office.

"You guys have a minute?" Skyler moved farther into the room, hands stuffed into his pockets. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Of course." Elizabeth could see the nervous tension radiating off of Skyler.

"What's up?" John hadn't missed the nervousness either.

"I'd like to request reassignment." He was quick to reassure them when he saw the surprise flash through their eyes, "not back to earth or anything like. I was thinking reassignment to one of the security details that work more in the city than off world or something like that."

"What about the rest of your team?" Of all the questions John could've asked that was really the only one that formed completely in his head for some reason.

"This is only me requesting reassignment. You can find a fourth person to replace me and give Cooper command of the team. He's more than ready and qualified to command his own team. The only reason he hasn't requested his own command is because he has some misguided sense that he needs to be there to watch my back and keep me from doing something stupid, like getting myself killed."

"May I ask why you want this reassignment?" Elizabeth had been completely blindsided by Skyler's request; he loved going off world and she couldn't image what would make him not want to do it any more.

"A lot of reasons," Skyler shrugged. "Things have changed in my life, my priories have changed. Don't get me wrong I would still like to go off world occasionally, just not as regularly as I do now."

"This wouldn't have something to do with Aria and the baby you have on the way would it?"

John's head snapped up in surprise at hearing that. It was news to him, which was surprising since gossip in Atlantis seemed to spread faster than the Daedalus could fly. The fact that they'd managed to keep something like a baby secret for who knew how long, was impressive.

"A large part yes, but how did you…?" Skyler was caught off guard by his aunt's knowledge of his up coming fatherhood.

"I figured it out for myself the other day when I told Aria about…well you know." Elizabeth gave a small knowing smile. "As for your request I think something can be worked out, right John?"

"Uh…?" Elizabeth's question brought John out of his thoughts. "Oh yeah shouldn't be a problem."

After setting up a time to meet with Sheppard about possible reassignments and giving his thanks for their time Skyler left Elizabeth's office to go in search of his wife.