The white-hot pain awoke John with an urgency. It crawled up his leg, spreading out causing muscle spasms as it went. The sickness he felt in his gut threatened to forcefully make its way out. And John had to breathe through his nose and out of his mouth a few times before the feeling passed. As he did, he became aware that he was sitting in a Wraith dart, one that appeared to have crashed. He looked down at his leg and saw that it was pinned between the ship and whatever he'd hit. Sheppard lifted his hand to key the release to open the ship but stopped and cocked his head curiously to one side.

'How the hell am I here?'

He had zero recollection of his journey to this moment. His leg nagged at him insistently to remind him he wasn't dreaming. John reached up and touched his head and felt wetness. His fingers were covered in blood. Perhaps that was why he couldn't remember anything, maybe he had concussion? So, one step at a time and assume nothing. He keyed the panel and it flashed at him, from what he could tell the ship had dumped its payload manually prior to crashing. If it were manual, then he must have done that himself. On previous missions John had zapped up his crew for transport because they couldn't all fit into one craft and while it had always been a risky move, it had saved lives. He had to assume he'd done the same again. Of course, he was assuming he'd meant to do it and that he'd crashed planet side rather than in space. Guess there was only one way to find out.

The release hissed, and the cockpit opened easily, John pushed up with his hands to get up when his leg reminded him that wasn't going to happen. Sheppard sucked in air raggedly and felt the wave of nausea hit him again.

'Be positive John, at least there's air, cos you didn't even think whether it was breathable, did you? No, John, you did not.'

Sheppard peeked out carefully and saw he was at the foot of a massive outcropping of rock. It was jagged, black and glinted in the light. To the left was a wasteland of nothing. Black sand shifted and moved with the wind. There were frequent dust devils dancing at the edges of nothing. In the distance, large rectangular shapes dotted the grey-blue horizon in a hazy silhouette. Between the skyline and where they were seemed like miles. The light was an ethereal blue, unlike the yellow of most suns. It sucked the warmth away. This place seemed barren and lifeless.

He looked back down at his leg.

'One life threatening problem at a time, John. Leg first, alien dystopian wasteland second.'

He wiggled his leg and wished he hadn't. The wave of pain hit him, skipped the nausea, and went straight to agonising. For the first time John allowed himself to acknowledge that the leg might be broken. Quietly, and more importantly, without moving at all, John examined how his leg was trapped. If he pushed down and twisted his foot, he thought he might be able to free it. However, if it was broken, he might make the damage worse. Staying here, in the heat with no water would mean dehydration and there was no knowing how long the day might last or if this was the hottest it would get. He had to move. Carefully he pushed his leg down and twisted his leg to the right…

John woke with a start. His leg was free and guessed he must have passed out from the pain. Not a good sign. It throbbed and the drum beat to the rhythm of his laboured breathing. In the moment John wondered where the others were. Safe or otherwise? His breath caught when he thought they might be in trouble. If they were alone like he was in this hell scape, injured or worse, he knew he needed to find them. He thought of Rodney as he lifted himself out, trying his best not to put weight on his sore leg. The how he'd gotten here was fuzzy to say the least. He remembered a test run of the puddle jumper, with Rodney, Teyla and Ronon, but anything after that was just gone. Sheppard concentrated and after a moment he remembered something…

'Are you sure this jumper is working properly?' said Sheppard.

'I told you, we fixed the power fluctuations and corrected the algorithm,' said McKay.

'Yes, I know what you told me, but that doesn't help me understand whether it works or not.'

'I would have thought the word fixed would have been the indicator.' McKay's eyebrows rose.

'Yes, well, you said it was fixed before…'

'It's not my fault Zelenka is inept. Besides, you tested it, didn't you?'

'It was a brief test.'

Sheppard made a slight adjustment for height with navigation and brought the jumper up above the tree line. Teyla came forward and peered at the panorama before her. She smiled her mouth slightly open eyes wide with wonder. It obviously gave her great pleasure to see the view.

'I do not think I will ever get used to the beauty that I am fortunate enough to see,' she said.

'I see trees, sky and a big rock in the distance,' said Ronon.

'I think you are missing the majesty in that description,' remarked Teyla.

'I think you and I see beauty in different things,' said Ronon, he pulled out his gun and stroked it.

Teyla smiled at Ronon fondling his gun and her eyes met Sheppard's who was watching the exchange with amusement. Something had changed recently in the team dynamic. They were quite capable; of course, but things just seemed to flow better lately. There was a level of comfort with each other that hadn't been there before. It pleased Sheppard to see how things had developed between them all. He knew it wasn't perfect but that didn't matter. All that mattered was the fact that they all had each other's backs and he felt they would all die for one another. Even Rodney apparently. That last thought made his gut flip, so in typical fashion Sheppard buried it.

Sheppard stole a glance at Rodney who was intensely involved with his laptop. He envied Rodney sometimes, his ability to absorb himself so deeply in his calculations and ignore what was going on around him completely. John wished he could separate his mind like that and concentrate on something else. You'd think that flying the jumper would be that absorbing but over time, it became second nature. Still though, that way of thinking had its costs, Rodney had missed spot shaving probably because he was thinking about something else.

'So, are we going to explode and die?' Asked Sheppard.

Rodney looked up from his laptop and frowned for a moment.

'No, the adjustments are working just fine. This was a good task to test the jumper on.'

'What is it we are doing again?' Asked Sheppard.

'We are dropping off much-needed medical supplies. The people here have traded with my people for decades. They asked for help and thankfully Carson has sent some treatments and water filters to help,' replied Teyla.

'Well, that's good of us,' said Sheppard.

'Yes, it is. In return, they are going to supply Atlantis with fresh food.' Teyla nodded, seeming pleased. 'Not that food in Atlantis is bad, just not what we are used too.'

In the distance, the settlement had started to appear. Vibrant green fields, of what Sheppard assumed was wheat like grain, filled much of the vista. The village itself was made from a mix of stone and logs to make rather comfortable looking mediaeval-type houses. It was picturesque. Sheppard had a feeling of foreboding. The last time they had come to a place that seemed picturesque he'd fallen through a crack in the ground and nearly drowned. He tried to discern whether this was an actual bad feeling or just a knee-jerk reaction to being in a similar situation again. Rather than dwell on that he concentrated on landing the jumper and not squashing the excited villagers coming out to meet them.

'Well, I did my bit,' said Sheppard. 'Teyla, you're up.'

Sheppard opened the back door and secured the jumper. The team exited and greeted the villagers. They were, of course, happy to see them. It didn't take long to unload the supplies and the folk here helped load up some fruits and vegetables they already had spare. A young girl came forward with a basket in her hands. She pulled out something that looked almost like an apple but oval. She offered it to Sheppard, and he took it smiling her.

'Thank you. What you call these?' He asked.

'It's called red fruit.'

'Catchy, I like it. It captures it perfectly,' said Sheppard.

The girl then went to Ronon and offered him a perfectly ripe red fruit. Ronon nodded and accepted the fruit. Unlike Sheppard, he sank his teeth into it straight away. John knew that although everyone here was human there was enough difference genetically that this fruit, as red and beautiful as it looked, could quite easily kill him leave everyone else standing. He saw that Rodney had accepted the fruit and was sniffing it suspiciously.

'It's not citrus,' he said. Rodney looked up and saw Sheppard hadn't eaten his.

'You couldn't possibly know that,' said McKay.

'It doesn't look like citrus,' said Sheppard, holding up the fruit and peering at it. Sheppard knew that what he said would annoy Rodney. The lack of scientific analysis and conclusion was guesswork. He grinned at Rodney.

'I genuinely wonder sometimes how you've managed to survive despite your instincts,' said McKay. 'It's like you're trying to die or something.' Ronon stood next McKay happily munching on the fruit. Sheppard suspected that he also was trying to annoy McKay. They both knew there was no way in hell Rodney would risk eating something alien unless starvation was involved. 'Do you really want to get into a debate about eating things or drinking things that are alien?' Said Sheppard emphasising the word drinking. Rodney looked at him, opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. He looked at the fruit in his hand and glanced at Sheppard. McKay took a bite of the fruit and chewed thoughtfully. Sheppard smiled.

'It tastes like custard,' said Rodney.

'Living life on the edge, McKay. You've changed man,' said Sheppard. 'Seriously though, the epi pen is in the jumper.'

Sheppard's mind snapped back to the present. It seemed like he lost himself for a moment. He tried to remember more but it wasn't forthcoming. He sighed and tried to stand, it was difficult, but he managed. The dart was, for want of a better word, fucked. It wasn't going to fly again. John put his foot down and tested it. Pain was the answer. He looked at the dart to see if there was anything he could use as a crutch. He pulled at various bits knowing before he'd even touched them that they would not separate from the ship.

A direction needed to be picked, but nothing looked particularly hospitable.

'This feels like the beginning to a very bad horror story,' he muttered to himself. Truthfully these were the sorts of situations he hated the most. Of course, no one likes feeling powerless but feeling powerless and alone was probably in his top five things he hated to do. The adage misery loves company was probably true in this case. You never wish this on your friends, but it was always easier with company. John arose, rubbed his shoulder which probably wasn't going to help the bruise any.

He leaned against the ship and tried to pull up his pants leg to get a look at the damage done there. It didn't want to budge past his calf but what he could see was black and swollen. There were enough small pieces of crashed ship to make a rudimentary splint but without some sort of crutch he knew it would be tough to travel. Shielding his eyes from the sun John looked out over the sand toward the possible buildings in the distance. They seemed like the best bet, though he'd seen enough worlds like this to know there probably wasn't anyone about. This was a hunting ground like the rest.

'Onwards then…' John drew an arrow to show which way he went and took a step forward into the sand.

The sun shone from slightly behind him and only time would tell if it was going to shine directly into his eyes in a few hours. John tried not to think about it and instead went over what he could remember before he woke up. There was something about trees… yes, he remembered being surrounded by forest.

A man stood on John's three o'clock and was hovering, seeming uncertain. Sheppard turned to face him. The man seemed surprised but smiled a faltering smile, which did not meet his eyes. John recognised the fear in his face, look of somebody who wants to ask for something but doesn't how.

'Hi, I'm Major Sheppard…' Sheppard began to introduce the others, but the man stepped forward clearly agitated.

'Can you help me?'

'That depends on your problem really,' said Sheppard. 'Why don't you tell us what matter is?'

'My wife is missing.' 'How long has she been missing?' 'Since last night. I'm very worried about her. She went for a walk in the forest and didn't come back.'

'Well, I'm sure we can have a look.' Another man stepped forward and he put his arm around the first man.

'Now, Sol, please don't be upsetting our helpful trading partners,' He gave a nervous look to the Atlantis group.

'But I can't find her she didn't come home last night.'

'I told you we will help you with that we already have people looking.'

'But they have a ship they can fly overhead,' said Sol looking at the jumper.

'To be fair,' said Sheppard, 'I don't think flying overhead would help much, these woods are thick. If you have enough people a ground search within sight of each other would be a far more efficient way to try and find her.'

'That is exactly what we were doing but we were aware of your arrival and didn't want to miss it. I'm Tarv by the way.' He held out his arm and Sheppard gripped it in their formal greeting. Ronon did the same.

'If we can help, we will,' said Teyla looking at Sheppard.

'Of course, we can help we've done stuff like this before. Show me where your search area is.'

Sheppard and the others walked over to the area Tarv told them about. It didn't take long to organise a group of people together to help search for the missing woman. Sol remained anxious about his wife but was grateful for the team's help. People fanned out in a long line stretching out as far as Sheppard could see in the woods. The sense of foreboding Sheppard had earlier did not leave him. Obviously, he hoped that the woman would be found alive and well, but something told him that wouldn't be the case. Of course, he would think of the worst-case scenario, but then that was to be expected given his experience. He tried to remain upbeat and positive about the situation. There was something about how everyone came together to help the couple. It pleased him to see people cooperating and acting with humanity. So many groups had been torn apart by the Wraith had lost their sense of… well humanity. It was refreshing to see some niceness. The ground in the woodlands was uneven and hard to traverse; Sheppard tripped up once or twice. It was only when he saw a ledge that he noticed a deep hole in the ground. He approached it carefully just in case the ground was not secure and peered over-the-top. On the ground, about 10 feet down a woman sat with an obvious cut on her head and a rather swollen ankle by the looks of it. Sheppard immediately called the others and together everyone helped her out. She seemed extremely relieved.

'I told her not to go walking at night that it was dangerous, and she could fall,' said Sol.

'I know he was right but sunset quicker than I thought couldn't get back out once I had fallen in. I feel so silly and I've caused so much trouble for everyone.'

'Don't be silly,' said Teyla, 'I have friends who get lost all the time, and I don't mind having to find them. Sometimes these things just happen; you should not fret over it.' Teyla patted the woman reassuring her. Luckily, for her, the ankle was twisted not broken and all she needed to do was rest it a little.

'Hey, Teyla, must be really annoying to have friends who lose themselves all the time,' said Sheppard.

'Oh, it's not that bad. I was just teasing,' said Teyla.

'Yeah, it's not like you do it on purpose or anything,' said Ronon.

'I'm hearing a heavy dose of scepticism there, Ronon, and I'm going to challenge you on that. You see your logic fails when you realise that I'm stuck with McKay for the entire time. I never seem to get lost with you guys, do I?' Said Sheppard.

'No, you don't seem too,' said Ronon smirking.

'You do know I can hear you right?' Said McKay.

'McKay, where did you come from?' Said Sheppard.

'I'm standing right next to you. I haven't moved at all,' replied McKay.

Sheppard patted him on the shoulder. John looked around and saw that people were gathering food together. They had jugs of drink and plates of food. Just behind him, somebody had started a fire and was grilling meat and vegetables. Not far away from them, a woman was rolling out circles of bread something like chapatis or tortillas which were thrown on to a fire headed rock to cook. The smells were amazing it looked like some sort of impromptu party had started up. Sol came over and hugged Sheppard. Sheppard patted him politely with a touch of awkward and noticed Rodney watching.

'Major, we 'd like to invite you and your team to stay and celebrate with us,' said Sol.

'What's the occasion?' Asked Sheppard.

'Finding my wife, of course. Everyone has spent the time they would usually spend cooking, looking for my wife. When something like this happens, we get together, cook together, and are grateful that she is safe. Please say you'll join us?'

Sheppard looked around at his team he could see they were tired from the hours of walking in the woods. He couldn't deny that the aromas wafting over were inviting. And he could tell Ronon was extremely interested in staying a bit longer.

'What do you think guys? Shall we report in and say we are building relations with the community?' asked Sheppard.

'I don't see any harm in it,' said Rodney, who was now also realising food was available.

'Teyla, what do you think?' Asked Sheppard.

'I see absolutely no reason not to and as you said it is a good opportunity to build relations with this lovely community.' She smiled at Sol as she spoke, and he seemed satisfied with her answer. He nodded and turned to tell the rest of his friends that Sheppard and co were staying.

'I guess we're staying then,' said Sheppard. He grinned, pleased to stay and socialise with new people. They milled around the spoke to people before eventually being told to sit down and enjoy the gathering. A big fire was built in the middle and stones were placed around to stop it spreading. The daylight was starting to fade, and the fire would help keep the insects away. People were happy dancing, eating, and drinking. Sheppard sat next to Rodney and on the other side Ronon. Teyla was far more involved in the chitchat and social etiquette. Rodney quite happily tried most of the food and Sheppard could not help but notice not once was the word citrus mentioned. The drink they were given was mildly alcoholic and Sheppard just drank one. After all, he was the designated pilot. Ronon was given licence to have a few more given that he had the muscle mass of two men. The feeling of foreboding that he had earlier gone, he was glad he was wrong, and he felt quite relaxed now. McKay got up to fetch himself more food of course he didn't ask anyone else if they wanted anything more. Sheppard didn't blame him there was so much choice. John saw two women approach McKay seemingly with the intention just to chat. They were quite pretty. McKay seemed delighted. Of course, McKay did not realise that they were flirting with him; John could hear him explain about his citrus allergy. They dutifully nodded seeming intrigued but clearly confused as to what an orange was and how that related to their food. Sheppard shook his head.

'He really doesn't know what he's doing does he?'

'That's not a new thing,' said Ronan.

'No, it's not, I'm just waiting for them to get bored, and walk away confused,' said Sheppard. 'And then he wanders back over here to ruin my calm.'

'I don't think you dislike him as much as you say you do,' said Ronan.

'Well, I will admit he grows on you whether you want him to not, but don't you dare tell him I told you that,' said Sheppard. 'His ego is already as big as it needs to be.' Ronan gave a look and then nodded. He continued to chew on the leg of a roasted animal.

It turned out that Sheppard was wrong, only one of the women got bored and wandered away. The other stayed, chatted, and listened charmed by whatever Rodney had to say. Sheppard didn't know why he was surprised but he was, and he watched with interest. As the night moved on Teyla signalled to Sheppard they should get ready to leave. He hauled himself up off the ground and felt his knees creak. He shook them out and prepared to get Rodney. If John was the insecure type might have felt threatened by the woman, but he saw it for what it was, a passing moment. He walked over to McKay and patted his arm gently to get his attention. When Rodney turned, Sheppard could see he'd had too much to drink. Perhaps the fermented juice was a lot stronger than he thought or more likely Rodney was just easily affected.

'Are you drunk?'

'No.'

'You seem awfully red cheeked right now.'

'I'm not drunk.' Sheppard gave him a stern look.

'Maybe… a little. This stuff is strong,' he said holding up the carved wooden cup.

Sheppard turned and spoke to the remaining woman who'd been chatting to Rodney.

'Do you have anything non-alcoholic,' she gave a confused look, 'Something that's not fermented?'

She nodded and came back with a pitcher and cups.

'What's that?' asked Sheppard.

'It's a brewed tea,' she replied and filled two cups and gave both Sheppard and Rodney one. 'It helps the food bloating to pass.'

'Thanks,' said Sheppard. He sipped the tea and found it to be pleasant and sweet.

As the memory faded John tried to recall the taste of the tea but couldn't, just the sweetness. He was so thirsty right now. He swallowed but there was little moisture, his mouth felt as sandy as his boots. The sun had moved round and predictably it was higher and moving into his line of sight. He stopped for a moment and used his shirt as protection for his head. No use in getting sunstroke as well.

That feeling of foreboding that he remembered was well and truly back. It lodged in his gut, turning and heavy at the same time. Guess he wasn't wrong after all.

The trudge through the sand was painful but concentrating on remembering had helped distract him for a while. The memories seemed far away, he tried to grab at more, but they were just out of reach for now. Instead he focused on the horizon and the shapes in the distance. As he reached the peak of a dune, he was rewarded with a clear panorama of the area spread before him.

Directly in front was a derelict city. The closer he got the more the feeling of hope deserted him. The dunes had moved in like a slow flood engulfing everything. The building themselves were vertical shells, an epitaph to a long-forgotten civilization. If nothing else, they would provide some shelter from the relentless heat. When he reached the base of the first building, he cautiously entered it, hand hovering over his side arm. There was nothing inside but sand, it really was a shell. He found the remnants of a staircase and eyed it, wondering if it would take his weight. John decided to take the risk. Getting a look out over the surrounding area might help him locate the others or give some other insight as to his location.

Sheppard took his time and slowly made his way up, his leg made it hard going. The architecture amazed him somehow it had stood the test of time, however long that was. The top floor had little sand in it although part of the roof had collapsed. He walked into the opening through the hole and what he saw caught his breath.

'Fuck.'

To the west of him were more rotting buildings of what must have been a thriving metropolis at one point. To the east… well, whatever he'd expected it wasn't a graveyard of crashed spaceships. All different kinds. Most he did not recognise but there were enough hive and other wraith ships dotted about for John to see. Maybe there were survivors? The wraith had proven they could sleep through most things and live, like little ghostly cockroaches.

John sat down in the shade and rested, looking out at the ships. They were his best bet of getting help. Perhaps one of them had communications or maybe there was something he could fly. Anything would help at this point. The wraith were familiar but he ran the risk of waking any wraith that were hibernating. He could risk walking to an unknown ship…He might not be able to work the tech. Where was Rodney when you needed him? John had seen no sign of the others and he didn't think he would have left them voluntarily. But here he was… alone. Derelict cities and being lost seemed to be theme of the last few months. Sheppard frowned. Something about that triggered a memory, the green gate, as John had begun to refer to it in his mind. But in the here and now his sun-bleached brain started to wander again, and a memory surfaced.

John tried to focus on Teyla's face, but the colours kept moving outside the lines. She seemed cross for some reason. Ronon's face came into view, he seemed amused.

'What have they been drinking?' asked Ronon.

'This…' Teyla held up the cup John had been drinking from before Teyla had taken it away. Ronon sniffed at the contents.

'Smells like milkweed,' said Ronon.

'It is leyweed.'

'So what's the problem?'

'It's had a strange reaction in them,' said Teyla.

'What both of them?' asked Ronon squinting at Sheppard.

'Yes, it must be an Earth difference or perhaps they've never encountered it before.'

'Perhaps the plant is different here?' Suggested Ronon.

'Yes, that also could be true. We should take a sample of the tea and the plant back to Atlantis to be sure.' Teyla took the cup that John had been drinking from and poured the rest into a container she held.

'Hey… I was drinking that,' John made to grab the tea but somehow his hand did not reach Teyla's in time. He looked at his appendage in betrayal turning it over, looking for some defect. Rodney also started to stare at his hand.

'Wassamatta with your hand?' McKay asked, speech slightly slurred.

'Don't know, seems slower somehow.'

'Come on you two, you can sleep it off in the jumper,' Ronon helped them both up and Teyla helped lead them back to the ship. It wasn't easy and seemed to take a lot longer than before. They put John and Rodney in the back of the jumper.

'You need to sleep now, John, and rest so you can pilot again,' Teyla nodded as though she wanted him to agree with her, so John nodded. 'Good, rest for a few hours and you should be fine.' The door soon drew closed and Sheppard looked across the bay to Rodney, who started giggling for no apparent reason.

'Whatsofunny?' John slurred.

'I don't know…' said Rodney, unable to stop laughing.

'I'm not even tired,' said John, 'Sleeping seems unlikely.'

'I dunno, I'm so full, I could sleep for a week.'

'Why don't you come over here then and keep me warm? 'Suggested John.

'I could, but I don't think it's rega… rula… regulations.'

John sat up and patted the bench beside him.

'Nothing against to comrades sitting together.'

Rodney got up and stumbled over to where Sheppard was sitting. He lumbered down next to him and smiled, happy with his achievement. Sheppard put his arm around McKay and pulled him in close.

'See… much better.' Rodney looked up at him, his eyes now a clear blue, no hint of the green from before. They were relaxed, not hint of the usual anxiety that lingered in the forefront. John reached up and cupped Rodney's face, smiling lightly whilst he did so.

'You have pretty eyes,' said Sheppard. 'They are usually cross though.' He let go and his hand dropped down heavily.

'John?'

'Yeah?'

'I think I might be drunk.'

'Me too.'

'Are we in danger?'

'No, I don't think so, I think we are just having a rest on a pleasant planet for once.'

'Good.'

'It makes a change from the last few weeks, getting lost, horrible people, exploited wraiths and abandoned cities. God, I hate abandoned places, they suck. I hate being lost and most of all, I hate being injured while all that shit is happening.'

'Could've been worse…'

'How could it have been worse, McKay?'

'You could've been alone.'

Sheppard jerked awake and his eyes snapped open. He'd fallen asleep whilst resting and he could see it must have been an hour, judging from where the sun was positioned. He peeked out from his heightened position and looked for any sign of life again. He sighed, nothing.

John got up from where he'd been resting, and his leg screamed at him. He'd almost forgotten it was there as the throbbing had dwindled with his nap. But it was back now. He used the edge of the wall to pull himself up and limp along to the other side of the roof. He could see more ships and even further, beyond the horizon, a thin column of smoke. A crashed ship perhaps? It made some sense that perhaps he'd escaped a wraith ship on a dart and maybe that ship had been affected like all the others here? It also meant his friends could've been on it. No, he wouldn't have left them. A horrible, prickling cold travelled up Sheppard's spine and he look back in the direction he'd come, to the ship he'd left behind. What if he'd scooped them up? It had happened before and in a last-ditch attempt at survival, he'd do it again. But the dart he used was completely without power.

'Fuck.'