Hold On

…Chapter Seven …

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The Wraith wasted no time in his bid to gain access to Atlantis and as soon as he had landed, he emerged from his ship like the black clad villain he was, walking in quick steps towards the double doors.

The two soldiers; eager to bring the grey giant down, fired their strange blue-lit guns they had in their possession, but it had little effect on the Wraith and they looked at the top of it in disbelief as it had not felled the alien like they had thought. Left with nothing else but side arms, they fired in quick succession of each other, not believing their eyes that they also had little, if no effect.

Sheppard understood there and then that the being must have fed recently to have the strength to ignore that many bullets without even stepping back once with the onslaught and then cringed as the Wraith reached for the men, bodily disposing of one of them easily into the air, and he landed with such a force his skull caved in and blood poured from it onto the ground underneath. The other soldier retreated a couple of steps as he witnessed the death of his friend and then felt himself picked up by the monster until only his toes met the solid ground. The Wraith raised his hand and forced it into the chest of the shocked soldier.

Sheppard risked a glance over at his enemy, wondering what his take on all this was, only to find the man slightly stand up from his hiding place, but strangely not lift a weapon to save his fellow soldier. He followed his eyes to look back at the Wraith as he started to feed and felt in the pit of his stomach the sick feeling that accompanied however many times he witnessed the death of a human being by their hands.

The doors were once again opening beside him and he pushed Carson further into the wall as far as he could go, shielding him with his body whilst he leaned heavily on the console for support.

The men that poured through the door at speed when they witnessed what was happening, were four fold, and the cutting equipment in their hands were heavy, cumbersome and not in any way, shape or form, any use against a very strong and satisfied Wraith with a mission in mind.

"Carson, things are going to get very heavy…I don't want you here, do you understand me?"

"John, I'm here to help you. I'm staying put!"

Sheppard fair whirled on the doc and held onto his shoulder in a tight grip with his one good arm. "You do as I say, doc. I am in command here and this is my territory…listen to me, you …you cannot witness this. You must find help; find Ronon. Get that damn shield up, cloak if you can. The Hive cannot find us, do you understand me?"

"John, what about you?"

"Nothing, and I mean nothing…no single life here on Atlantis is as important as protecting the whole city and in turn, Earth." It was the most he had spoken since he was injured and it left him sweating and panting.

Sheppard ignored his personal attacker for now and proceeded to move his attentions towards the console to see if it had the capabilities to help with getting the shield in action, but he already knew that special computer was in the command centre; still, if he could at least permanently shut these outside doors, it would slow the Wraith's progress, so he worked furiously with the crystals.

Carson slipped out from behind him, and hadn't stepped far when he stopped in his tracks as the man opposite started walking their way.

"John…?"

Sheppard whipped his head up at the plea in his friend's voice, annoyed at having to leave the crystals.

Damn.

Sheppard shakily stood up and after a quick look at the fighting going on with the Wraith, he turned back to face the man walking his way only to have to move out of his way fast when he produced a Wraith stunner from his leg holster and shot at Carson point blank.

"No ..." He shouted and fell to his knees beside the doctor, feeling for his pulse.

"He is just stunned." Klen said, smiling slightly.

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Ronon had had enough and as soon as the shield was announced that it was down again and a Wraith dart was landing as planned, he knew time was running out for them all. The majority of the soldiers had now left the gate room on their various assignments, so he made his move on the last man leaving, crashing his head into the wall with speed. He frantically reached into to the man's pockets looking for something to loosen his manacles and eventually found it and he was free. He acquired one of their handguns; they never did find his hidden knives in his hair.

His movements were fluid and well-practised, he next took down two of the men before they could even blink as he entered the gate room. Less there was a blessing Ronon was exploiting. He dropped suddenly when he heard heavy footsteps and rolled out of a blue electrical charge that was aimed his way. The man who had fired met his fate with a return shot from Ronon and he dropped in death like a stone. Realising the two fake scientists were working furiously at the computers, Ronon aimed his gun at them next, realising how vital it was to dispose of the two traitors first before they did any more damage. He was tackled by others and he fell to the ground as blow after blow was aimed at his stomach and already hurting head. He shifted quickly and managed to grab one the men's ankles and pull him down with him where one of his many knives was sunk into his stomach as he dropped.

Up on the gangway, the soldiers guarding Woolsey's office and all that were in it, split into two groups; three staying to guard and two more wanting to bring down Ronon. Seeing their chance, Teyla and Rodney wasted no time in running fast from the office and tackling the two that were left behind. Soon they were on the ground unconscious and left them for Woolsey and Chuck to step over quickly, securing them as best they could without the knowledge of the marines.

"Ronon!" Teyla shouted, catching the attention of one of the soldiers and together the warriors battled against their foes with ease, leaving Rodney to run towards the computers; the cloak and shield high on his list. He kicked the two traitors out of the way and got to work, but before he could even put in his command codes, the shields suddenly came on again and not wasting a minute to figure it out, he then concentrated on the cloak; all the time watching the worrying data about the position of the Hive.

With Rodney frantically busy and Ronon and Teyla disposing of the last of the soldiers; Gillam's exit from the gate room had been missed, and he quickly ran along the corridors towards where he had sent Klen. He knew the older man's experience could win out and he needed his help if he was to get off this city back to Earth, he was willing to bow down to his orders if it came to it.

At one stage he heard several alarms ring out and with sickening realisation, he grasped that the man named Rodney or somebody else had obviously managed to release the locks on all the doors, and he knew that soon the place would be teaming once again with heavily armed marines.

Shit. Just where had all this gone wrong!

At least he had studied the exact way to the west pier, so he headed straight there and slipped through the doors to a new outside world he had never seen before, straight into a scene from a horror movie.

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"What do you want, Klen?" Sheppard shouted through the rain and wind that was now picking up again.

Hearing his name brought Klen up short. "Wha…?" He cocked his head to the side and studied Sheppard, as if actually seeing him for the first time. He whistled slow and long. "Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. Is that you I shot earlier? No wonder my men could not find you! - I thought you were surely dead falling out that window…"

"Just shut the hell up, I have no time for you just now. You and your stupid men have just signed Earth's death warrant! You work for that idiot Stringer – you are a traitor to your country!"

Klen narrowed his eyes; not liking the way he was being spoken to and raised his stunner once more in the direction of the legendary man he had heard so much about; but a flash of admiration for the man stalled him just enough for him to hesitate on his next move and Sheppard moved with speed, barrelling into him and together they landed hard with Klen letting go of his stunner with the move, and it skidded away with a metallic scraping noise across the pier.

The jolt on landing did nothing for Sheppard's present condition and he could not get his next breath; the pain levels being too high. He did managed to roll onto his back but he was open for attack and stared at Klen stupidly as the other man managed to get to his knees, although he looked winded. Slowly, Sheppard watched him get one foot underneath him and then just like that he vanished from Sheppard's sight.

The rain was heavy now and Sheppard's eyes were blinking it away as fast as it was coming down, but he ignored the discomfort and managed to raise his woozy head that screamed in pain at the movement, overtaking all his other wounds. The sight that greeted him made him wonder about a serious head wound after all, because now he was seeing double - two Wraith's. Except, usually when you see double from a concussion, the object was not in two different places at the same time!

Ah, hell! There were two darts now landed on the pier. Shit!

Sheppard blearily looked between Klen being shot by the original Wraith's stunner and it in turn being assaulted by many of Klen's men; and the other Wraith stalking towards several of his own marines that had appeared in the last few seconds and were valiantly out to protect their commanding officer and in turn, Dr. Beckett, who remained on the ground, unconscious.

Great, this nightmare would soon be over if his men were now free and could help him kill the Wraith. Even though he could feel the soft fuzzy feeling of the shields protecting Atlantis, the cloak was still an issue, so he used all his reserves; of which were running on fumes, and rolled onto his knees, breathing hard and heavily.

Klen had been thrown to the side of the pier's high wall with the impact of the shot and was now slumped over on his knees, arms wrapped around his stomach and chest, but he was more or less upright and Sheppard was puzzled as to why he wasn't either flat out on the ground killed. Another man was now kneeling beside him and Sheppard watched as he helped the other man to stand, whilst looking about him nervously when he took in the horrific sight of a Wraith in fighting mode.

Sheppard tried to get up fully, but his left leg gave out with the pain of his several wounds and he landed with a bump on his hip and squeezed his eyes shut. Within seconds he opened them again and the violent scene still continued as before between the three warring factions with no one the clear winner as of yet.

His head was like it was full of cotton wool and through the muted thump of his heart beat breaking through, the screams and shouts contrasted loudly in the usually quiet area he visited every morning. He was finding it hard to get a grip with what was really happening, so he watched stupefied just waiting on his body to make its next decision on what he should do.

At the centre of it all, the man that had been crouching beside Klen had realised that one of the Wraith was heading their way after having escaped from the various fighting situations going on all around it. Suddenly panicked for his life, honour went out the window and he pulled the still stunned Klen in front of him as a human shield. Klen fought against his hold but it was too late, the Wraith fired it's stunner that it had managed to hold on to, and once again Klen took the blast in his chest and he fell to the side. The blast had went straight through the other man in front of him first and the gaping hole was enough for Sheppard to know that he had died instantly. At this angle though, Sheppard could not see if Klen had been killed, but some stability came back to his military mind and he braved another go at standing.

Sheppard was weak, he knew that, and the blood that was pouring down his leg and side proved he did not have long before he succumbed to unconsciousness from blood loss, so he relished the new flow of adrenalin to see him up and mobile and he spun around to see what best he could do in his situation to help save Atlantis from their two enemies.

He noticed Carson had regained consciousness and was staggering forward towards him and he raised a pointed hand towards the door, reiterating his earlier order to get away from the immediate area but was blocked from his path when the last of the intruders swarmed into the area and Sheppard watched on shocked as Carson was kept from his exit by both Wraith and the intruders alike.

He spun again to see about him and the only area that was free of fighting bodies was back towards the ocean itself and the two darts only a few yards away. Immediately his course of action became clear and he turned away from the fighting and staggered his way towards one of them, praying that he could hold on just long enough to get inside one and fly it over the area.

At one point he thought he heard his name being shouted out, but Sheppard could only concentrate on the job at hand, and eventually he reached one of the darts and biting his lip enough to draw blood, he hauled his pained and broken body up and into the tight cabin. He slid into the seat and familiarised himself with the layout quickly. Good, nothing had changed since the last time he had flown one.

Sheppard pressed his hands into the slightly marshmallow textured controls and immediately felt the canopy close over him. He blinked out rain and blood that was pouring from his head wound again, and willed the dart to lift up. The ensemble of pain was shoved to the back of his mind as he concentrated on flying the dart.

The dizzying height he reached in seconds was just about enough to cause unconsciousness but he rallied and swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat. He was a pilot, this was nothing, and he fed that thought into his addled brain with great fervour.

Soaring towards his men, Sheppard suddenly turned when he thought of the other dart and shot at it on his way forward, allowing himself a small smile of victory when he realised that it would never take to the skies against them again.

The explosion got the attention of the two Wraith and when they noticed the other one was coming towards them, they ferociously doubled their attack, wanting to take as many as they could and soon there was several marines sprawled in various positions. Sheppard could not see if they were okay, but he did know that within seconds the Wraith would have won the war and would be able to enter Atlantis where it would be more difficult to kill them.

Carson was slowly backing up towards the door but Sheppard could tell the Wraith would be upon him first. He willed the dart to go faster and got ready to fire, realising Carson could quite possibly be caught up in the blast.

The doors opened and Ronon ran out, his face the angriest he had ever seen him. Ronon took in the scene and ran towards Carson, wanting to protect him. Sheppard watched his face look towards the dart, not realising he was in it, and moved quickly out of the way when he risked firing a couple of rounds. Only one of them hit him, so Sheppard raised it up and back around again and flew straight towards them. The pressure was on and Sheppard realised that he could quite easily kill or injure his friends in this situation, so he did the only thing he could think of and engaged the culling beam, sweeping first Carson as Ronon pushed him to the side and then as Rodney and Teyla ran out with more Marines in tow, he turned around fast and swept up Ronon safely into the bowels of the dart.

A satisfying cacophony of bullets and explosions surrounded the two Wraith and then they were down along with the rest of their intruders.

Teyla took up a stance and aimed at Sheppard in the dart; also of course, oblivious as to who was in it - obviously of the assumption it was another Wraith. Her aim was true and Sheppard felt the dart tilt to the side as inside alarms foretold of its imminent destruction.

No!

Sheppard held onto the controls and willed it to turn one more time towards the pier. With horror he saw both Teyla and Rodney take aim again, so not having enough time to land it carefully, he put everything he had into activating the beam again to deposit Ronon and Carson safely onto the pier to gasps of surprise from Teyla and Rodney.

A blue blast from one of Stringer's men struck him this time and he flipped upside down and started to go down. He wrestled with the commands, willing it to land safely but he realised that as he managed to get it upright again, it was going to fall short and with a heavy heart he felt the power leave it and he dropped into the ocean, it's wing clipping Atlantis as it entered the water.

Ronon took a second after materialising again to look around him and watched in horror as the dart was hit from one of the surviving intruders. He span around and shot him and noticed Teyla and Rodney for the first time, looking at him and Carson, puzzled at the situation.

"It's Sheppard in the dart!" He shouted.

Teyla and Rodney by this time had reached Ronon as he put a hand on the rather shaky doc's back to steady him.

"Ronon…what the hell? What are you talking about?" Rodney replied, shouting through the rain.

"Sheppard survived the fall, he's the one flying the dart!"

They watched on in horror as the dart clipped the end of the pier and fell into the ocean.

Ronon took off towards it at a fast run.

"Ronon, wait!" Teyla shouted.

But there was no stopping him, and he ran as fast as he could until he reached the end of the pier and without a moment's thought, he jumped into the cold ocean in search of his friend.

Teyla, Rodney and Carson arrived at the end within seconds and stared down into the dark water, unable to see either the dart, Sheppard or Ronon. Seconds turned into minutes and the silence was palpable between the three. Where were they?

Teyla found she could not stand and fell to her knees, exhaustion hit her; and the stress of finding out that Sheppard had survived his fall but had now went down into the ocean in the very dart she had clipped was overwhelming to say the least.

Several surviving marines now surrounded them as well.

"Teyla. The area is now secure." Referring to her as the next in line to lead, but Teyla remained in shocked silence.

"Teyla, love." Carson was kneeling beside her now. Weary himself and soaked through, he looked like he was about to drop; but he took his friend's hand and gripped it tight. "It's been too long for them in the cold."

"Don't say that Carson!" Rodney said, but continued to stare into the depths of the ocean. It could not be possible that they had just lost two team mates in one day – one of them for the second time!

Sgt. Harrison stepped forward. "Shield and cloak are both operational. Both Wraith are dead and the surviving intruders are being taken to the brig, and …" But he too stopped talking as it became clear that neither Sheppard nor Ronon had survived the days attack, so backed off from the scene, leaving the three grieving friends to just stare at the water in disbelief.

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TO BE CONTINUED…..LAST CHAPTER!