"Are you planning on taking me to Atlantis?" he jokingly asked.

"Yes sir, we are." Lorne replied, his body rippling with tension. "You and Doctor Beckett, we've come to take you home."

John's face fell flat, his eyes turning frighteningly dark as he raised the gun once more, aiming at Lorne's head.

"No, I don't think so…" John replied and pulled the trigger.

Just as John's finger tightened on the trigger, a blast of light came from the trees slamming into him.

John's gun swung away discharging, the bullet flying inches from Lorne's head; seconds later the Colonel dropped to the ground unconscious.

Ronon stepped into the clearing holstering his weapon, then ran over to John.

"Damn it, Sheppard." he whispered, frowning at the state of his friend.

He glanced at Lorne and the other men as they came forward, the tension rolling off them in waves at what had almost just happened. Keeping a careful watch of the surrounding tree line; they each took a moment to take in the sight of their leader.

"I was going to shoot him, I was a split second away from shooting him..." Lorne whispered, a haunted look in his eyes as he stood next to Ronon and looked down at John.

"After finally finding them…a split second…" Lorne slowly shook his head, the image of what could have been, etched in his mind.

"Ronon…thanks." he whispered.

The Satedan who was now on his knees next to John, glanced up at Lorne and nodded, then turned back to his friend who lay in front of them.

Lorne frowned, concerned. "Is that all his blood?" he asked as they stared at John's bruised and blood stained face and clothing.

"Don't know." said Ronon and for a moment he wasn't sure he wanted to know; fearful that they might have just found Sheppard only to end up losing him.

"Did you find Beckett?" Lorne asked.

Ronon turned and nodded at the tree line where a moment later Teyla and Rodney emerged, a semi-conscious Carson, held up between them; they lowered him slowly to the ground.

"We heard the call for help from your men over our comms." Teyla stated. "Your men...are they..?"

Lorne shook his head quickly and motioned towards the two bodies lying off near the edge of the trees.

Mouth tight, Teyla lowered her head and moved over kneeling by John; saying a quiet thank you to the Ancestors when she saw his chest rising.

"What happened here? The Colonel, he would not have…" she looked at the deceased men.

"I don't think so," said Lorne. "The guard radioed in that there were two men. I'm guessing the other man made his way through the Gate."

"Who shot him?" asked Rodney, fear in his eyes as he knelt by Teyla.

"I did." huffed Ronon; not taking his eyes from John.

"Did you beat him up as well? Sheesh...look at him!"

Ronon gave Rodney a dirty look as Lorne interrupted,

"We need to get them back to Atlantis."

The major glanced over at Carson and frowned. "They both look pretty bad. What happened to Beckett?"

Carson who was slowly becoming more lucid had rolled onto his stomach and was trying to pull himself towards the trees, one of Lorne's men blocking his way.

Teyla watched Ronon pick John up and answered, "Doctor Beckett was…hurt, confused and had to be stunned as well."

"By Ronon…" finished Rodney, gaining a look of distaste from his team mates.

"Okay...okay..." he muttered. "Let's just get them home."

Lorne already at the DHD began dialing; the state of their found friends making him dial as fast as he could.

It was the following evening before John slowly opened his eyes; wincing as the pain in his head throbbed in cadence with a strange beeping noise that had drawn him from his quiet darkness. Squinting in confusion at the light fixture overhead, he heard rustling nearby and turned his head slowly to see a woman standing over him staring intently at some papers in her hand.

Feeling eyes on her, Jennifer looked up from John's chart to find the man silently staring at her, his face showing his confusion.

"Colonel, you're awake!" she smiled as she put down the chart.

"Where…where's my father?" she heard him rasp.

Her smile faltered and concerned, she stepped closer to the bed checking the readings on some instruments.

"It's pretty late, your team has been camped out here since you came in; but I finally got them to take a break. They said they'd be back after they got something to eat and they checked on …"

She paused at the blank look on his face, and frowning reached for a cup of water next to the bed.

"Here, sir." she offered.

He ignored the water and continued to stare at her, so she put the cup down and gently touched his arm.

"Colonel, do you know where you are?"

John suddenly felt nauseous; he frowned, allowing his gaze to slowly wander around the room he was in then back to the woman by his bedside.

Something wasn't right.

"Who are you?" he asked; a wariness slowly rising within him.

"Sir..?"

His wariness slipping into dread, John's breath deepened, his jaw clenching.

"Where am I?" his voice was low, dangerous.

Jennifer glanced behind her, subtly motioning to an orderly nearby to come over.

"You're in the infirmary on Atlantis." she smiled, the smile not reaching her eyes.

John blinked, then his eyes slowly widened.

"No…that can't be…" he scoffed, slowly shaking his head.

"Colonel Sheppard..?"

John twitched, his eyes narrowing.

"What did you call me?"

Jennifer glanced at the orderly who stepped closer to the bed.

John looked around the room.

"Father?!" he called out, wincing as the pain in his head exploded.

Then suddenly… he remembered.

What his father had said to him, seeing the look of anger and disgust on his face before he abandoned him leaving through the Ancestral ring. He remembered Arex's men, their guns aimed saying they would take him home...to Atlantis…

Jennifer stood back watching in amazement at the rush of emotions passing over John's face. What started off as confusion ended in what looked like pained, angry desperation.

She gripped his arm. "Sir, it's me Jennif…"

John cut her off as he moved backwards trying to sit up; a sudden panic energizing him.

That's when he noticed the restraints on his wrists; ordered by Jennifer after she heard about the events in the clearing.

John froze for a moment staring at the restraints, his eyes moving then to the orderly standing at the end of the bed. In that moment Jennifer saw his eyes turn flat then darken and she subconsciously took a step back as he suddenly exploded in a vicious frenzy; the infirmary echoing the sound of the bed lifting off and smashing back down on the ground as John roared, arching his body and kicking out, twisting left and right trying to free himself.

"Colonel!"

Jennifer leaned over the bed trying to grab hold of his lower body, and was knocked backwards to the ground when John's leg struck her as he violently tried to leverage himself off the bed.

The orderly moved to help her up but she pointed wildly at John...

"I'm okay...I'm okay! Hold his legs!"

The lone orderly leaned his body over John's trying to use his weight to hold down his legs, but he could barely hold onto the man though restrained, it was like trying to hold on to an angry bull.

Jennifer gasped as a moment later with a loud shout, John twisted and the bed he was on screeched and flipped onto its side, pulling him, along with the instruments that were attached to him, and the orderly down with it.

Scrambling to her feet, Jennifer jabbed at her comm.

"Security to the infirmary!" she shouted, then ran around to the other side of the bed.

The orderly had been thrown over the side, a look of astonishment on his face. Jennifer turned to John who lay half on, half off the bed, his wrists still strapped to its sides. The stunned look on his face disappearing a moment later as he realized he was still restrained; and like a movie being unpaused he suddenly reanimated and with a growl he reached out with his legs knocking the orderly who was just starting to stand, off his feet and against a steel cabinet next to the bed.

The man dropped to the ground, the side of his head smacking against the cabinet momentarily stunning him. Gathering as much leverage as he could find, John reared his leg back and proceeded to stomp the orderly's head repeatedly against the cabinet. The bed screeched backwards as John pressed back against it and continued his attack, his expression a mixture of anger and satisfaction as he heard the orderly start to choke, blood pouring from his nose.

"Colonel, stop!" Jennifer cried out, and tried to pull the orderly away from the cabinet and John's legs, almost getting kicked by John in the process.

"Colonel, you're killing him!" she shouted, just as three members of the security team ran in, followed by the rest of John's team who had heard her frantic request over their comms.

The sound of the bed being righted echoed throughout the room, along with the gasping breaths of the orderly as he was pulled away by two more orderlies who had come to his aid.

Seconds later John was hidden from sight as the guards and Ronon tried to hold him down on the bed amid his guttural shouts ordering them to let him go. Teyla, Rodney and Woolsey stood back in shock at the strength of their friend, as the bed continued to move as John kept up the struggle to escape under the weight of all the men holding him down.

One of the orderlies was trying to add restraints to his legs, as Jennifer was quickly preparing a sedative when suddenly John stopped moving and cried out…

"STOP..!"

Then with a sob…

"S-Stop touching me!"

"Stop it!" shouted Rodney; the sound of his friend's cry causing him to break free from his shocked stance.

"Step back...move!" he shouted at the men around the bed.

Rodney pushed the men aside, his heart warring between joy that his friend was alive, and utter worry over the sound in his voice.

John looked miserable, his eyes wide and glassy, his breath coming in short harsh spurts.

"Sheppard!" Rodney began, reaching out towards his friend.

"N-no..!" John cried out, shaking his head.

"I'm better…This can't be real! I know...I know I'm better..!" he murmured frantically, his eyes squeezing shut.

Rodney froze, his hand hovering in mid-air not knowing what to do, what to say to ease his friend's pain. He watched as Teyla made her way to the other side of the bed gently grasping John's shoulder, ignoring his flinch and the fear in his eyes as they flew open; then placed her other hand over his heart. Everyone around the bed fell silent as she pressed down on his chest to steady him.

"Shhh…You are safe now." she whispered.

John's breath was heavy, his body tense as he stared into the eyes of the woman leaning over him.

She pulled back removing her hands, worried over the bruising on his face and the lost look in his eyes.

"John?"

"I'm sorry, father...I'm sorry..." he quietly cried, then turned his head away.

-Three days later –

"How is he?" asked Woolsey as Jennifer entered the observation room. They had moved Carson to an isolation room after he became agitated with the noise level and people moving in and out of the infirmary.

Woolsey, Teyla and Rodney watched as Jennifer had tended to Carson who lay strapped to the bed; Ronon choosing to stay by John's side.

"I had to break his ankle and reset it. Whoever tried to set it, didn't do a good job; he may end up having a permanent limp."

"Did you really have to restrain him?" frowned Rodney.

Jennifer sighed. "The restraints and a light sedative are the only things that are keeping him still…you saw what he was like, Rodney."

Becoming fully alert on the way to the infirmary, it had taken three orderlies to get a bruised and bloodied Carson onto a gurney, as he struggled and hyperventilated worrying everyone over his emotional state.

"After the surgery I didn't want him on his feet; he needs time to heal." she sighed, pushing a stray hair behind her ear and looked down at her friend.

"Colonel Sheppard struggled as well." said Teyla.

Jennifer could only nod, remembering how much John struggled and the pain the team went through watching him; they had moved him to an isolation room as well. Both men would need to be treated away from the noise and curious stares from the Atlantis crew for the time being.

"Has Doctor Beckett said anything yet?" asked Woolsey.

"No, but…" started Jennifer.

"But what?"

"God help me...I've never seen anyone look as scared as he does."

"Scared? What's he got to be scared of?" frowned Rodney. "He's safe now."

"I think...I think he's scared of us." she replied.

-tbc-