Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or any of its characters. I do love to write about them though.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical health care professional. Although I have tried to research medical terms, they may not be 100 percent accurate.

Just a short story that takes place at the beginning of season give, sometime between 'The Daedalus Variations' and ghost in the Machine.'

Desert Planet.

John Sheppard stepped out of the puddle jumper onto planet TVC-119 and he wasn't happy. There were three suns in the pale pink sky and the clouds were a strange shade of brown. There was the odd dead tree and a few rocks scattered around the desolate landscape, there was coarse red sand as far as the eye could see and it had to be at least one hundred and ten degrees. The suns were beaming down on them, and it didn't look as if they were going to get relief from the searing heat anytime soon. Already he felt his skin burning and he'd only been in the sun for a few minutes.

Slipping his sunglasses over his eyes, he pulled a scarf out of his pocket and put it over his mouth and nose. Although there weren't any signs of a dust storm there was plenty of dust in the atmosphere – he sure hoped that there wasn't a dust storm on the way because that would be bad.

They were on this planet to look for some top-secret ancient lab that Rodney had found in the database, and he had insisted that he needed to come and look for it straight away – of course he had to be the one to go and look for it. When John had suggested that he should go with another team, Rodney had run to Woolsey and told him all the reasons why he needed to go with his own team. John had told Ronon about it and Ronon had offered to take Rodney down to the gym to give him some more combat training and that way Rodney would be too afraid to go on the mission with them – especially if Ronon was with them. Teyla had just simply used her fake smile to try and placate him and although Teyla's smile often made him feel comforted or at ease on this particular occasion it made him feel worse.

So, in the end, he had reluctantly agreed. It's not that he had a problem with going on missions looking for ancient technology, it's the fact that he had to go exploring a planet that was hotter than hell – he almost expected to see the devil roasting some poor soul over hot flames.

Sighing he turned to look at Rodney and he was covering himself in some kind of sunscreen and it smelt like coconuts, "What are you putting on your face?"

"It's my factor fifty coco-butter lotion and I am convinced that it will protect me from the three suns on this horrible planet."

Rodney was covered in the stuff, and he looked as white as a ghost, so he just rolled his eyes at him, "well, you know what McKay, don't walk with me because I hate the smell of coco butter."

Teyla walked up beside him and handed him some sunscreen, "Colonel Sheppard I do believe that you should put some kind of lotion on your face."

As a kid, he'd spent hours in the sun, and he had barely used sunscreen – except for when his mother or Dave had insisted. He knew that skin damage was very real as one of his air force buddies had died from skin cancer a few years back so he knew that Teyla was right, and he should probably put some on.

"Thanks, Teyla."

He took the lotion off her and put some on his face, neck and arms and he was happy that it had no smell to it – at least he wouldn't smell like a coconut. He offered it to Ronon who just grunted and walked off.

"The sky is a lovely shade of pink and purple, "Teyla commented looking around the area.

Before Rodney had a chance to answer and give them some long-winded scientific explanation that he didn't want to listen to, he gave her an explanation first, "it's fine dust particles in the upper atmosphere."

Next, he turned to Rodney and asked, "alright Rodney where the hell are we heading?"

"Just follow Conon, he seems to be heading in the right direction – for now."

"Do you have any idea when the primary sun goes down," he asked looking up, only to realise that it was still high in the sky.

Already he was feeling hot, and he wasn't sure that he could handle another few hours in the extreme heat and looking at Teyla right now he had to wonder whether she could.

"I think it will begin to set in about three hours," Rodney told him.

"Great," he muttered," how long until we reach the ancient lab, McKay?"

"About two hours and then we can do some exploring and walk back to the jumper when it's daylight again. Although if we'd landed the jumper closer to the ruins we wouldn't have to walk that far."

His frustration was beginning to grow, "McKay…. you told me that there was some kind of shielding covering the planet closer to the ruins and that there was no way we were going to be able to land much closer!"

"Oh yeah, that's right I did," McKay told him walking off in the direction that Ronon had just gone.

Turning to Teyla, he smiled at her – although he felt far from happy, "are you ready to go?"

Her voice was gentle, but he could sense the frustration and weariness in her voice as she answered, "yes, and I hope that this mission will be over soon so that I can get back to Torren."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I would like nothing more than to head home and have a nice cool shower and put on some clean clothes. We've only been here for five minutes and already I'm covered in dust."

"Yes, I agree John, but should we not catch up with Rodney and Ronon."

He looked ahead of him and realised that Rodney and Ronon had stopped, and were waiting for them further down the dusty path, and Rodney looked as if he was complaining already.

By the time they reached the others, Rodney's impatience was clear, "come on Sheppard? There are some medical instruments in these ruins that Carson wants me to check out and you know how much he likes to complain when he can't get what he wants. We'll probably have to listen to him for days."

"Really, are you sure that he's the one to complain, "Ronon mumbled before walking off again?

Rodney started to chase after the big Satedan, and John didn't miss Rodney's question. "Why would you say that Conon?"

John knew that it was going to be an incredibly long afternoon, so he took a deep breath and followed after them with Teyla by his side.

He was getting hotter by the minute as he trudged on in silence, Teyla was beside him and didn't seem that interested in talking either. Rodney was just ahead of him, and he seemed to be switching from complaining and rambling about ancient technology from one minute to the next. He had no idea who the scientist was talking to, but he wasn't really listening. Ronon was further ahead than Rodney was, and he didn't seem to be breaking a sweat. Come to think of it, Rodney didn't seem to be doing too badly either.

A dead tree up ahead offered a small amount of shade, so he thought that it would be a suitable time to have a small drink of water, "Hey guys, how about we stop and have a drink."

He had no idea why he felt so fatigued and thirsty, but he could only assume it was the fact that he'd just recovered from a virus – Teyla had suffered from the virus as well – and this was his first mission back. I need to get a grip as I'm sounding too much like Rodney, he thought as he sat down on a rock under the shade of the dead tree.

"Are you feeling okay, John?" Teyla asked coming to sit alongside him.

Wiping his brow with his sleeve, he took the scarf off his face and smiled, "don't worry I'm fine."

He was about to take a drink when Rodney sat beside him and glared, "yeah what's wrong Sheppard, we need to get going."

"Leave him alone McKay," Ronon growled kneeling in front of him.

"Don't worry Chewie I'm alright, so maybe we should get going, the sooner we get out of this heat the better.

Ronon helped him up and he was relieved that he didn't fall flat on his face since for some strange reason his head began to pound, and he felt dizzy.

He allowed his friend to help steady him for a moment and then he nodded at Ronon permitting him to let go, "I'm good to go."

"How are you feeling Teyla," John asked because he was convinced that she looked a little out of breath.

"I am fine John, but I would like to get where we are going before the primary sun sets and the temperature drops. Because I suspect that when it does it may become extremely cold."

"Yeah, I would give anything for a lie down right now."

"Are you sure you are alright John, you do not look too well?"

"I said I'm fine Teyla so perhaps we should get going and catch up with the others."

He was relieved when Teyla didn't argue any further since the last thing, he needed right now was for her to become a mother hen over him. Ever since she'd become a mother to Torren, she had started to mother the team more than normal and he was getting a bit tired of it, perhaps when they got back to Atlantis, he would have a word with her about it.

They continued on over the dry desolate terrain in the scorching heat, with the three suns still high in the sky. The thing that worried him the most though was that the wind was starting to pick up and the sky was beginning to fill with fine particles of red dust.

"How long till we reach these ruins, McKay?"

"We should come across them in about ten minutes."

"Well can you hurry up?!" John shouted which led to a coughing fit when he took in a mouthful of dust – although he still had a Scarfe around his face it didn't seem to be doing much good right now.

A canteen of water appeared in front of his face, and he was quite happy to take a sip – but no more, because he had no idea how long his water would have to last. Rodney had told him that the dust storms on this planet blew in quickly and could last for days.

Handing the canteen back to Teyla he took a wobbly step in the direction of the buildings that they had seen a few minutes ago. He wasn't feeling too good, and he knew that all he had to do was keep going until they reached the compound and then he could lay down and have a rest while Rodney looked through the lab for ancient technology.

Teyla was beside him as they walked through the thick dust in the direction of the compound. He felt extremely thirsty, and his head was pounding. The sweat was dripping off his face at an incredibly fast rate, his throat was scratchy, and he was convinced that he was badly sunburnt. All I need to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually, we'll reach the compound.

Suddenly his foot hit something and before he knew it, he was flat on his face in the sand and right now the Scarfe around his face wasn't helping him much. Trying to get to his feet, a dizzy spell hit him and before he had a chance, he fell to the ground again. He knew that he should get up and keep moving, but he was just too tired, so he closed his eyes and let the darkness that was beckoning claim him.

oOo

All Teyla could do was put one foot in front of the other as they neared the compound. The dust was becoming thicker by the minute, and she knew that she needed to get John inside as soon as possible. He did not look well and for the last ten minutes, he'd seemed confused and disoriented. Suddenly John stumbled and hit the ground face first and she knew that she needed to get help, but the swirling dust was just too thick to see anything.

"Ronon!" She shouted above the roar of the dust.

Two dark blobs appeared in front of her, and she assumed that they were Rodney and Ronon, "Ronon, John cannot stay on his feet any longer you may need to carry him."

She heard Ronon's deep baritone through the haze, "Rodney, can you help Teyla to the compound, and I'll carry Sheppard."

For the moment she was happy to let Ronon take control since she wasn't really feeling that well either. During the last half, an hour she had become increasingly thirsty, and she knew that she was badly sunburnt and all she wanted to do right now was to sleep.

She felt Rodney put his arm around her shoulders and lead her towards the compound – at least that's where she thought they were going. The dust continued to get thicker, and it seemed to be growing hotter. She had no idea whether the suns were still in the sky, but right now she didn't care.

A few minutes later they were finally inside, and she was thankful that the lights turned on the minute walked in – probably something to do with Rodney and John's ancient gene.

"Come and sit over here Teyla," Rodney suggested in a remarkably gentle voice.

He lead her over to a seat in the corner and offered her a drink from a canteen. She took a sip and then gave it back to him, "I should not drink too much because John probably needs it more."

"Drink some more Teyla," Ronon said as he placed John next to her, "We still have plenty left and once you're settled, I'll go and see if I can find some more while McKay looks through the lab for ancient technology."

"How is John?" She asked looking down at her friend and team leader, his arms, face, and neck were extremely burnt and there was sweat beading off his brow. His breathing seemed laboured, and his heart rate was probably a little too high. Looking further down she noticed that his ankle was swollen around the top of his boot, but she didn't bother to mention it because that was probably the least of his problems right now.

Ronon looked at her with a grim look on his face, "he's not good, I think that we probably need to start sponging him down as soon as possible."

"How about you go and look for some water to sponge John down with," she turned to Rodney before continuing, "and Rodney why don't you start looking for a way to get the shielding down around the compound while I look after John."

"Are you sure Teyla, you're not well yourself?"

"Do not worry Rodney, I am well enough for now."

Suddenly John started to retch, so she immediately knelt next to him and rolled him on his side, and he very quickly vomited up what little water he'd drunk in the last half an hour."

He started to moan as he opened his eyes, "Teyla," he whispered, "where are we?"

"We are on the planet designated as TVC-119."

"Really? Why?"

"We are exploring some ancient ruins."

"Oh…" he said before he started coughing.

She helped him sit up and gave him a drink of water, "John please do not try and speak, you are very ill, and you need to rest."

The look on his face was one of confusion and she knew that he needed cooling down soon, so she took one of the bandages out of her tac vest and poured some water on it so that she could start to sponge him down. She knew that it was probably a good idea to try and take his T-shirt off so that she could try and sponge his chest down as well. Rummaging around in her tac vest pockets she found a sturdy pair of scissors and started to cut through his T-shirt.

"Don't…" John muttered flapping his arms.

"Shh…," She soothed, "I am just trying to cool you down, so you may as well try and close your eyes and go to sleep."

She watched as he drifted off to sleep again and put a cold compress on John's head and one on his stomach.

Once she knew that he was comfortable, she took some Tylenol and leant back against the wall and closed her eyes, she knew that she probably shouldn't go to sleep, but she just couldn't help closing her eyes and before too long she drifted off to sleep.

oOo

Ronon stood and watched as Teyla tendered to their team leader and he wished that he could get them both some medical help as soon as possible. Sure, Teyla was still awake, but she did not look well, and he wondered how long it would be before she was in the same condition as Sheppard. He knew that he needed to find some water as quickly as possible if his friends were going to stand a chance of survival.

"Rodney I'm going to find some water, make sure you get that shielding down because as soon as the dust storm is over, I'm going to the gate, while you keep an eye on Sheppard and Teyla."

"You can't do that Ronon, it's at least a five-hour walk to the gate."

"Well, the only other option is that you go and get the jumper and fly it back here."

Ronon would have laughed when he saw the look on Rodney's face if the situation hadn't been so dire, "Umm… I think I'll stay here."

"Good man, now why don't you work on getting that shielding down and I'll go and look for a water source."

When Rodney nodded, he took one last look at his John and Teyla, turned and headed down a long corridor hoping that he may be able to find some kind of underground spring. Surely the ancients who had inhabited this facility must have had a water source, as he couldn't imagine them shipping it in all of the time.

oOo

Rodney watched as Ronon left, he knew that the situation was dire and John needed help as soon as possible. The thing he couldn't work out though was why were John and Teyla suffering from heatstroke and he wasn't – maybe it had something to do with his new sunscreen. He had drunk more than his fair share of water as well, so perhaps overall he was in better health than either of them right now.

Looking over at his friends he realised that Teyla had fallen asleep, but for the moment they seemed okay. He felt tempted to go to them, but then he knew that he needed to get the shielding down. As for looking for the medical technology that Carson wanted, perhaps that would have to wait for another time.

It was a simple task to find where the shield was being generated from and he had it down within ten minutes, so while he was there, he took the opportunity to look through the database to see if there was anything useful, but much of it seemed to have been erased. So, he would have to disappoint Carson and tell him that there didn't seem to be anything useful in the lab.

A moan from the floor caught his attention, so he knew that it was probably time to sit with his friends and wait for Ronon to return. Sheppard moaned again and this time he was by his side within moments.

"Where…am…I? Sheppard muttered incoherently.

"It doesn't really matter Sheppard, so how about you go back to sleep until we are able to get off this rock."

"Teyla," John muttered.

"I am here John," Teyla answered from beside him and Rodney had not even realised that she was awake.

Teyla placed her hand on John's forehead, "he's burning up Rodney, we must wet these bandages again and try to cool him off."

He did as she had asked and took one of the canteens and wet the bandages so that she could place them on John's forehead and stomach. This time he watched as she placed some under his arms as well.

Once she had finished, she sat and closed his eyes and Rodney could sense that she was about to fall asleep again. He put his hand on her forehead, she was a bit warm, but at the moment she didn't appear to have a temperature.

"How are you feeling Teyla?"

"I do not feel too bad Dr McKay, but I would like to have a drink of water."

He handed her a canteen and watched as her hand shook as she tried to hold it up to her mouth, grabbing her hand he helped her complete the task. The next problem was that they needed to get some water into Sheppard, so he knew that he needed to ask her to help.

"Teyla, can you help me sit Sheppard up so that we can give him a drink of water?"

Between the two of them, they managed to sit Sheppard up and give him a sip of water, although Rodney wasn't sure how long he would keep it down. They lay him back down and he started to ramble.

"No don't…. Dad…you…can't…Dave, stop him..."

He had no idea what his friend was rambling about, but he got the shock of his life when Sheppard sat up and tried to stand on his feet. For the first time, Rodney realised that his ankle was extremely swollen.

"Sheppard, lie down before you injure yourself further," Rodney chastised.

Teyla appeared to be fast asleep again by this time, so somehow he managed to get the delirious man to lie down. Once he was sure that Sheppard had settled again, he made sure that the compresses were still wet on his forehead and stomach and then he turned his attention to his ankle. After a careful examination, he decided that he should try and get Sheppard's boot off so that the blood flow was not compromised to his foot. It took a while to get the boot off his friend's foot and when he did, he was disturbed at how black and swollen his ankle was. He knew that he should probably wrap it in a wet bandage, but their water supply was getting low. In the end, he just bandaged it up as tightly as he could.

Now all he could do was sit and wait until Ronon returned and hopefully he would have some water with him when he did.

For the next half an hour he tried to keep his friends as cool as he could, but in the back of his mind he wondered by the time they managed to get back to Atlantis would it be too late for John. Although Teyla was unwell too, she was nowhere near as far gone as John was.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ronon entered the room a few minutes later, "hey McKay I managed to find a fresh spring under the compound. I have no idea how it can exist on this dull lifeless planet, but I managed to fill a couple of containers, so hopefully, that will keep you going until I can get back to the gate."

"You're not going out there Ronon, because the last time I checked the storm was still raging, the air was still thick with dust, and it was pitch black."

Ronon looked determined as he answered, "Sheppard won't last much longer if we don't get him some help."

"You know that Sheppard wouldn't want you to put his life at risk for him. When we don't arrive home in the morning Woolsey will send a rescue jumper and you can be sure that Carson will be on it, so I'm convinced that a jumper will get to us before you can get to the gate and now that I've got the shield down they can land closer to this structure," Rodney stated equally as forcefully.

"How long until morning then?"

"Probably around a couple of hours, so hopefully within three or four hours."

"What do we do until then McKay?"

"Until then I'm going to have a sleep and maybe you can keep an eye on Sheppard and Teyla for a while. Try to keep them as cool as possible and can you put a wet bandage on Sheppard's ankle because it's huge."

Without another word, he sat with his back against the wall, and it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Throughout the night he woke up and took turns keeping an eye on his friends and on one of those occasions Ronon remained awake so that he could do some exploring. In the end, he decided that this mission was a total bust and there was nothing to find, so when he fell asleep again, he slept until morning.

A whisper in his ear and someone shaking him brought him to awareness the next time he awoke and when he finally opened his eyes he realised that sunlight was beaming through the small windows in the ancient lab.

"Rodney Lad are you alright," Carson asked him as he handed him a canteen of water.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he looked around the room and realised that Sheppard and Teyla were no longer nearby, and a sense of panic overwhelmed him, "Sheppard, Teyla?"

"They're both suffering from heatstroke, Teyla should be alright in a few days, but I'm worried about John, so I need to get him back to Atlantis as soon as possible."

For the first time, he noticed that Ronon was beside him, so he allowed his big friend to help him to his feet and together they walked to the jumper.

The three suns were high in the sky and the sky was a brilliant shade of pink. The area was clear, and it appeared that the dust from the night before had cleared up. Although the sight was beautiful in an eerie kind of way, he knew that he never wanted to come back to this planet again.

Five minutes later he was in the jumper, and he couldn't take his eyes off Sheppard. The man was as red as a tomato and his skin was blistered on his face, arms and around his neck. Carson had an IV in each arm and an oxygen mask on his face, his ankle was elevated and still heavily bandaged. Teyla was lying next to John on the floor, and she had an IV in her left arm and an oxygen mask on her face, although she was sunburnt her skin didn't look anywhere near as red and inflamed as Sheppard's did.

Taking one last look at his friends he went up the front and sat next to Lorne, "How long have we been on this planet?"

"You've been here a little over twenty-four hours. When you didn't contact us this morning Woolsey became worried, and we put together a rescue mission. We dialled the gate and were ready to go when you were an hour overdue, but there was a fierce dust storm raging. It cleared up about an hour ago and we were able to come through the gate.

He nodded at Lorne and turned back to look out of the window. The mood in the jumper was sombre as they flew over the desolate landscape, and he was relieved that Carson was here to take over caring for his friends. During the night he and Ronon had taken turns looking after Sheppard and at time's he was quite delirious, and he had also vomited on quite a few occasions.

For now, all he had to do was look after himself, he knew that Carson would probably want to keep him in the infirmary overnight, but right now he didn't care since he had come out of this situation relatively unscathed.

oOo

Soft voices invaded his senses and for a moment he had no idea who they were or where he was until someone gently called his name, "John are you awake?"

That was definitely Teyla's voice and by the softness of his surroundings, he guessed that he must be in an infirmary bed. As he became more cognizant, he realised that there was an IV in his arm, a nasal cannula under his nose and he hurt from head to toe, with the worst pain in his left ankle.

Slowly he opened his eyes to find that Teyla was sitting beside his bed and for some reason, her skin looked bright red, "Are you alright Teyla?"

Another voice entered the conversation, "she's fine Sheppard, it's you we've been worried about."

He looked to the end of the bed and realised that Ronon was sitting at the end of his bed with his feet up, "Are you alright Chewie."

"Yeah, I'm alright and so is McKay. He's just gone to get Carson by the way."

As he lay there, he tried to remember what had happened to him this time and the last thing that he remembered was stepping foot on the planet from hell. There were a few blurry images after that, but he couldn't say for sure what had actually happened.

Before he had a chance to ask the others what was going on Carson walked into the room with Rodney in tow, "Hey laddie how are you feeling?"

"I'm not feeling too bad right now, but what happened to me?" He asked, his throat suddenly feeling scratchy.

"Here have a drink of water John, "Teyla suggested offering him a glass of water with a bendy straw.

"Thanks," he whispered after taking a few sips.

"How long have we been back from planet hell?" He asked looking at Carson for an answer.

"You've been back for five days and when you arrived back you were a real mess."

"What's the damage then doc?"

"You have second degree burns to your arms, neck and face thanks to the three suns on that planet, which led to heatstroke. You were severely dehydrated and by the time you got back, your kidneys were beginning to shut down. We have had you on dialysis on and off until this morning when your urine output returned to normal."

That was a lot to take in and he knew that he would be feeling unwell for a while longer, but the one thing he couldn't work out was why Rodney and Ronon weren't affected.

"Why weren't Rodney or Ronon affected and why wasn't Teyla as bad as I was?"

"Believe it or not I think Rodney's homemade sunscreen stopped him from getting burnt and he was more hydrated, to begin with, as was Ronon. You and Teyla were still a little dehydrated from the virus that you suffered recently. You were also underweight and although your appetite had returned and you were beginning to gain weight, your body just couldn't handle the kind of extremes it had to deal with on that planet."

Suddenly pain shot through his left ankle and he had to grit his teeth, "what the hell is wrong with my ankle doc?"

"I shouldn't worry lad, you have a severe sprain and you should be back able to walk on it within a week."

"How long until I can get out of here doc?"

"I want to keep an eye on you for a couple of days at least before I consider releasing you."

He nodded his head and for the moment he was happy to be in the infirmary surrounded by his friends, he knew over coming days he would become frustrated, but for now, he was happy to go to sleep and allow his friends to look after him.

It was another four days before Carson released him from the infirmary and by that time he was climbing the walls, when Carson had finally let him go he had insisted that he use crutches for at least another week. When he'd asked the Doctor how long it would be before he could go back on active duty, Carson had laughed and told him he'd have to wait at least two weeks, or possibly more.

At the moment he was heading towards his quarters after an exhausting afternoon doing a pile of never-ending paperwork in his office. Right now, he felt exhausted and was looking forward to having an afternoon nap. When he had told Carson about how tired he felt, the doctor had told him that it may be a while before he felt one hundred percent.

He was just rounding the corner to his quarters, when Rodney came up alongside him, "hey Sheppard I've found a top-secret lab that needs to be explored. I'm happy to wait until you're feeling better before I go exploring though."

Turning to glare at his friend he leant on his crutches before speaking firmly to him, "I don't think so McKay."

He immediately ignored his friend when he started to beg and a few seconds later he was relieved to finally be in his quarters where he could have a long-overdue nap.

Fin….

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, please don't forget to comment and review.