Scarce

Author: Cheryl W.

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Chapter 4: Nature Walk

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Four beasts ringed Lorne's position but he felt more frustration than fear. He had to get to Sheppard, damn it, didn't have time for this. Spraying the beast with bullets with a shout of outrage didn't do more than cause them to roar at him. But surprisingly, they weren't making a run for him, were pacing around but not attacking. Then they seemed to be growling at one another more than him, taking nipping bites at one another and then a fight broke out among them.

And Evan had watched just enough animal kingdom to start to understand. "Right, ok. While our Alphas hash things out why don't we go to our respective corners," he lowly spoke as he backed up and spared a look over the ledge. Sheppard nor the beast were visible and he cursed, honestly didn't know if that news was good or bad. Turning back to the prowling but not attacking pride, he watched as more nipped at each other, miraculously forgot about him. Realizing that they were in a contest vying for alpha position now that their own alpha was suddenly not giving them directions, Evan chanced to turn his back on them and began to plan a path of descent.

Giving one last look to the beasts, Evan stepped onto the shale and had to rebalance himself as his foot slipped. It would be slow going but he was going to get to Sheppard and with every step he prayed that picking a new alpha wasn't in his future plans, that his pack's alpha was still alive, kicking and coming up with smart aleck comments somewhere at the bottom of the incline. Because maybe the beasts' pride could survive losing its Alpha but Loren wasn't at all sure his pride could survive losing their own Alpha. Because Lt. Colonel John Sheppard wasn't just a leader, he was a champion of the people, a true hero, was selfless beyond measure and he was just so frigging likeable. Nope, he couldn't be gone, Evan wouldn't let him be gone, especially not on his watch, his mission. Besides Ronon would probably snap his neck if he came back with Sheppard's corpse, McKay would stage some chemical explosion in his quarters to blow him up and Teyla, he'd see her knife work, was sure she'd have a blade with his name on it. Then there was Dr. Weir and Dr. Beckett, both supposedly into peace and saving lives but he didn't doubt they'd make an exception for the neglectful Major who got Sheppard killed.

'Just stop! This is Sheppard we're talking about! He's a survivor,' Evan sternly coached himself trying to stem his growing anxiety, not for his fate but for his CO's, his friend's fate. Because honestly, if Sheppard was dead, he doubted he'd put up much of a defense against any retribution the Colonel's adopted family wanted to exact on him. He would deserve the worst they could dish out if he lost Sheppard for all of them.

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Ronon wasn't making any new friends but he could have cared less about that on a good day, under happy circumstances, which this was neither. So he continued his rough interrogation of everyone who came in his path. Had they seen Sheppard today? Did they know where he was? And the idiot who joked, "Who's Sheppard?" Got an elbow to his brow and Ronon let him fall where he dropped.

It was two hours later when he was browbeating his way through the visiting dignitaries when one of the escorts tried to get him to put a belligerently unhelpful politician down from his position half way up the wall thanks to Ronon's big hand clutching his shirt. "Whoa, whoa, Dex. VIP here. You break him, he buys Atlantis and fires us," Lt. Lucas Supplee tried to cajole the big man to not break any necks, at least not on his shift.

"He answers my simple question, I don't break him," Ronon snarled, not bothering to face Supplee.

"Hard for him to answer when he can't breathe. Why don't I take a crack at your question while he catches his breath, huh?" Supplee placated, glad when Ronon loosened his grip enough on the egomaniac jerk of a politician enough for the man's feet to settle on the ground. Trying to put himself between the politician and the furious Satedan, Supplee pressed, "So fire away, what's on your mind?"

Fixing his intent gaze on the interfering Lt, Ronon said. "Sheppard. Have you seen him today? Know where he's at?"

The Lieutenant was a little shocked that he could answer the question. "Sure, saw him this morning." Wasn't prepared for it to be him pinned up against the wall by Ronon but thankfully his feet were still on solid ground.

"Where? When? Do you know where he was going?" Ronon fired off, for the first time gaining hope he'd get at least a clue to Sheppard's location.

"About quarter of 6 in the prep room. I was gearing up for the mission when he came in, said he was taking my place. I picked up this assignment instead."

Ronon's tone turned almost beseeching. "What mission? Where did he go?"

"With Major Lorne to planet…ah crap, I forget the number assigned to it. We were going there to drop off supplies to the villagers we had befriended, thought might make an ok ally to go up against the wraith and do some trading with since they were farmers," Supplee answered wasn't expecting the intimidating tall man to smile widely, clap him on the shoulder and then turn around and run off. But hey, he knew his place, hadn't questioned the military leader of Atlantis when he opted to go on a simple supply run mission with the Major, wasn't questioning why Dex was so desperate to find Sheppard's whereabouts. It all was above his paygrade, thank God.

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After painstakingly making his way down the inclined ledges, Evan was finally on the forest floor below. It wasn't hard for him to pick up the beast's trail, simply followed the wreckage among the branches and underbrush. Allowed himself an undisciplined stumbling stop when he spotted the motionless beast, the blood soaked ground and the human arm peeking out from under the beast. "Please no," he fervently prayed as he rushed forward, crashed to his knees beside the animal carcass, calling out "Sheppard!" in a panic. Even up close the only part of the Colonel visible was his arm and Evan was terrified that it might not even be attached anymore, had to steel himself before he reached out, wrapped his fingers around the wrist, praying to feel a beat of a pulse under his fingertips.

Evan nearly sagged in relief when he felt life under his fingers, then he was giving the hand in his grip a squeeze, tried to not read too much into the fact that were was no receptive squeeze back and no smart aleck comeback to his , "Hang on Sheppard. Hang on." Was glad to see the beast wasn't reviving, knew it couldn't when he saw the knife protruding from under its jaw and its dead sightless eyes. Then he started to use all his strength to roll the beast off of Sheppard but suddenly froze. Now that he had shifted the beast, could see Sheppard's unmoving body, he realized that the beast wasn't just pinning John beneath its weight, it had its jaw clamped into Sheppard's shoulder. Cursing viscously, Evan traced his fingers along the beast's jaw, into its mouth, down its teeth, felt the blood sticking to his fingers as he met the junction between the teeth and John's flesh. Thing had latched on and not let go, had died trying to take Sheppard with it into the hereafter.

'Sorry he's mine and others. You don't get to take him with you,' Evan internally raged, thought Sheppard would be amused at him having a pissing contest over him with a beast, a dead one at that. But his boast was useless if he didn't get Sheppard free of the beast, back home and to Dr. Beckett's magic ministrations. So he grabbed the beast's jaw above the front of John's shoulder and John's back and tried to pry it open…but the damn jaw didn't move more than a centimeter. Giving a shout of frustrated outrage, Evan tried again and still he couldn't move the massive jaw. "I'll break all your teeth in your head if I have to," he threatened, then directed to the man pinned under the beast, "Talking to the fake wolf, not you, sir. Wouldn't touch your golden smile," he reassured, wished Sheppard would joke back, even threaten him instead of the unnerving silence and unnatural stillness.

Suddenly Evan wished he had paid any kind of attention to his strange uncle who did his own taxidermy on his kills, whether it was a skunk he caught rummaging in his trash can or the 4 point buck he got in his prime. The man would know how to unhinge a deceased animal's jaw. 'Again, who knew I'd need that know how in the armed forces, even Stargate?!' Evan exclaimed to himself before he pulled his hands back and fisted them, knew he had to calm down. "You could wake up, help me, you know?" he addressed to Sheppard but got nothing back in return. "Ok, so you're not helping so I'm going to improvise," he warned and still that didn't scare Sheppard into reviving.

Sighing, Evan knew he was on his own so he stood up, scoured the area and returned with a sturdy but thin branch in his hands. Carefully, trying to not catch Sheppard's shoulder, he slid the branch in the beast's jaw, tried to judge when it would give the optimum leverage. Then, with a prayer that he wouldn't kill Sheppard, he pushed down on the limb and the jaw moved. Evan levered more of his weight on the branch, praying it didn't break. Finally the massive jaw opened far enough to remove the teeth free of John's shoulder. Afraid to loosen his hold on the limb and consequently the jaw, Evan gave the beast's body a shove with his foot, trying to roll it off of Sheppard. When the massive jaw was resting on the ground and no longer hanging over John's body or face, Evan released the limb and used his hand to push on the animal's corpse. Had to use his legs to give him the strength to move the beast but finally, with a last heave, the beast's body tilted and fell away and Evan got his first good look at Sheppard.

It he hadn't felt the man's pulse, he would swear his friend and leader was dead. There was blood soaking Sheppard from the waist up, coating his hair, smeared on his face, his uniform was torn in so many places it was dangling in strips to his side and his chest. And if his chest was moving, Evan couldn't detect it with his naked eye. Quickly he leaned over, pressed his ear to John's chest, thankfully heard the thud thud of his CO's heart doing its thing, though slow, plodding, like it was effort, effort, effort.

Palpitating around John's neck, he searched for bumps, misalignments, indicators that he had a neck injury but there was no signs of that. So he gently grabbed Sheppard's jaw, rolled his heavy head to face him, sickly reminded him of John doing the same to Seison's corpse. "Colonel? Sheppard? John, can you hear me?" he bade but there was no response from Sheppard and from his new vantage he noted dark blood on Sheppard's temple. Reaching up gently he traced the blood felt the gash under the sticky deluge. Head trauma.

Then his hands examined the rest of Sheppard, searching for injuries and finding more than he wanted to. Possible cracked ribs, deep lacerations on his chest and side made by claws, not to mention his shoulder sporting teeth marks and his hands and arms were cut up, probably due to Sheppard clinging to the spiked back of the creature when he tackled it. "To save me, damn you! I'm supposed to be your protector, not the other way around," Evan railed at the unconscious man. Luckily he didn't detect any internal injuries but that was just his military medical training findings, wondered what Dr. Beckett would rattle off if he were there. But he wasn't there, all Sheppard had was him.

Pulling out John's medkit and his own, he set to work, doing what he could, what he knew how to do. Clotting powder and pressure bandage on Sheppard's shoulder and around a particular deep claw mark on his chest, bandages around his head wound and the bleeding claw marks on his arms, his badly lacerated left hand and then an antibiotic shot because he didn't want the word inflection let alone rabies to even get into his head. He debated the morphine but didn't administer it. As heartless as it might seem, if Sheppard could wake up, he needed him to. They were still in danger, were days away from being counted as missing and miles away from the stargate, maybe more than he calculated due to their detour down a cliff.

Through all his shifting of Sheppard's body, the applying of the bandages, the shot, John didn't stir, didn't twitch an eyelid, was all deadweight. And that was unnerving to Evan because Sheppard was a fighter, kept going when others would be down for the count, pulled rescues out of his butt when he was in worse shape than the people he was rescuing. "John, come on. You're not making this a very relaxing bromance moment for us," he taunted. "How about you wake up now and say something goofy and heartwarmingly hopeful and make this better for me, huh?" But all he got back was cold silence. "Course not," Evan grumbled. "I'm warning you now, as your superior on this mission, I'm officially writing you up for making me worry."

Then he gently hoisted John over his shoulder and started the trek west, toward the gate, toward help, toward home.

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"I know where Sheppard's at," Ronon announced, causing Rodney to spit his coffee as the man seemed to simply materialize at his side out of thin air.

"Ow, ow!" Rodney exclaimed, wiping the burning liquid from his hand before turning to Ronon. "Little warning next time before you pop in like a jack in the box." But then he replayed Ronon's words and turned to the tall man, demanded, "Where? Where is he? Is he ok?"

Ronon's smile faltered. "Don't know if he's ok but he went on a supply run with Lorne early this morning. He wasn't scheduled to, just tapped the guy on the shoulder who was supposed to go with the Major and told him he was going in his place."

But Rodney was frowning. "That doesn't make any sense. He took the day off to go onto an impromptu mission with Lorne?!"

"Hey, I didn't say I knew why he was where he was, only where he was," Ronon defended himself.

"Yes, yes, that's good and all," Rodney distractedly said as he got up, already heading for the gate control room. Ronon paced him.

"You think we can contact them, make sure …well….you know…" Ronon broke off, wasn't sure how far he could take this and not come off as some worried mother checking up on Sheppard.

But McKay didn't have any qualms about himself coming off weak and whiny and worried. "Course we'll contact them," like that was obviously what was going to happen, he'd make it happen.

So he and Ronon stormed onto the gate control room and Rodney promptly tossed a young technician from the control check and took over, checked the log, determined the planet, pulled the Major's itinerary and then sat back, not liking the info he was gathering. "It's a three day mission and there's poor radio connection. The Major thought he'd lose connection as soon as he parked the jumper and went into the woods for his…." McKay read more of the file and then rubbed his forehead, "Oh great, seven or more mile hike to the villagers, where he planned to spend a day before hiking out the next day."

"So we can't contact them," Ronon stated, not happy with being thwarted from feeling relieved that Sheppard was ok.

"Isn't that what I just said," Rodney snapped before his fingers flew over the computer keyboard again. "Ok, it's a straight jump." Then he was standing up, nearly plowed into Dr. Weir. "Oh, Elizabeth, didn't see you there," he almost apologized, didn't think she would approve of his plan and wasn't happy she was there.

"What's going on?" she asked in that gradeschool teacher tone for bad kids, her eyebrow raised.

Rodney was going to come up with a great story but Ronon spoke first. "We know where Sheppard went and we're going to go check on him."

"Oh really," she drawled and McKay really didn't like her tone. Or her, "My office, now."

Ronon and McKay shared a glare then reluctantly followed Elizabeth.

Leaning against her desk, she demanded when her visitors were inside her office, "Ok, where is he?" because she was about as curious as they were.

"He tagged along with Major Lorne's mission to planet M52-3212 for a supply drop-off," McKay provided, hands clasped behind his back, hoping they could get Elizabeth to see their way of thinking. "They haven't been in radio contact so I think it merits…"

But Elizabeth cut him off. "According to Major Lorne's account of the planet's atmosphere, he didn't plan on making radio contact with us once he landed."

Irritated that his ruse was detected so early and easily, Rodney stiffened, "I think his calculations are off and we should attempt contact, we might get through if it's a clear day and the signal's…."

"Rodney," and Elizabeth was using that placating tone with him but then her expression softened to one of gentle concern. "There's no reason to think anything is wrong. So John joined Lorne's mission at the last minute, it's not like he's not done that before."

"He didn't request the day off to join the Major," Ronon stated, knew he was right about that.

"No…but then again we don't know why he wanted the day off. Maybe he just wanted a nice hike, a day away…" but she faltered here, knew McKay got her meaning that she didn't speak when his lips tightened.

"Away from us, that was what you were going to say?" Rodney challenged and part of him couldn't find fault in her logic, was why he was so keyed up to find Sheppard in the first place. "If he'd have stuck around, we would have each told Sheppard we overreacted, maybe …a little, to his whole High Noon scene with Kolya."

"I understand you want to make amends but gentlemen, he's on vacation…" she held up a hand to forestall Rodney's objection. "And he can do whatever he wants on that vacation, even go on a mission."'

"But…" Rodney protested but Elizabeth was shaking her head.

"No, I'm not authorizing you to intrude on his getaway, not to mention probably intimidate the people we're trying to make our allies with your unscheduled appearance. Not without good reason," she amended when Rodney's face got all red with his angry frustration.

Ronon, who had remained quiet during Weir and McKay's give and take, finally spoke up, "You value Sheppard's gut instincts, have been known to follow your own….can't you trust ours, mine, McKay's and Teyla's."

"Gut instincts, yes, but I think this is more guilt talking," she chided but then sighed and clasped her hands in front of her legs. Staring down Ronon, she cross examined, "Tell me this isn't just that, you being worried you damaged your relationship with John. All of you worried about that."

"Ok, yes, that plays a part but still…" Rodney confessed and began to rationalize but Ronon spoke over his words.

"Please," Ronon entreated, steeling the air from the room and causing Elizabeth to stand up from her lean against her desk and Rodney to draw in a sharp breath, neither having heard the Satedan say that word or use that tone before. "Please let us go for him. If we're wrong.. no harm but if he's in trouble…and we don't go…." He broke off, didn't want words of doom taking root in any of them.

Elizabeth was thinking and the room fell silent. Then she nodded, "Ok, go but I trust the Major's information, don't think you'll have any better luck making radio contact if you head into the woods. So I won't send another team until the three days are up," she warned but the two men were already hustling out of the room, intent on getting to the planet, reassuring themselves their leader was ok…and if he wasn't…Elizabeth trusted Ronon, McKay, Teyla and Lorne to bring him back here so they could make him ok.

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It required a new level of balance for Lorne to maneuver through the forest with a limp, taller-than-he gave-him-credit-for Sheppard dangling over his shoulders in a fireman's hold. Had to not topple over himself when he stepped over roots and underbrush, had to maneuver around the downed tree trunks because he couldn't leap over them now and then there was the trouble of catching Sheppard's dangling legs or arms and hands on the trees and leaves and brushes. All that on top of expecting a beast to come roaring out of the woods at them and the alarming rate blood was seeping through Sheppard's bandages and soaking his shirt. All in all, it was one of the most trying, vexing, bad days Evan had had, and that was saying something.

And the worst wasn't over, not by a long shot. There was no shelter, no water, the lifesigns indicator turned out to be as fragile as McKay always whined it was because it was broke, probably in Evan's startled fall from the rockface. So there would be no tech support on locating the stargate and, even if he had a general idea where it was, a stupid ridge blocked him from getting on level ground with it. He was down here and it was up there…with the beasts of course. He nearly startled and dropped Sheppard when the other man croaked out, "Put me down."

"John?!" Evan exclaimed as he stumbled to a stop then crouched down and, as gently as could, leaned back and slid Sheppard off his shoulders onto the ground. Once John was settled on the ground, Evan spun around, knelt at John's side. "Thank God you're awake! How are you doing?" his eyes searching John's, knowing the man's propensity to downplay his pain.

"Awful," John croaked, wasn't up to the 'I'm just fine' game. Trying to get Lorne in focus with his blurry vision, he expounded raspy, "I fell down a hill, got rolled over by a lion dinosaur thing and I think it thought I was its chew toy."

Lorne grimaced in sympathy. "Yeah it did, scratched the heck out of you too."

That had John looking down at himself, seeing his shirt open to reveal bandages across his chest and torso and shoulder, saw they weren't that white anymore, most were red, some soaked with blood. He tentatively poked at the one around his chest, because he didn't know what had happened there, but instantly knew it was tender, blazed pain across his chest making breathing hard. "Ow," he choked out, letting his head drop back onto the ground, found it didn't clunk against the forest floor because Lorne's hand was bracing his neck, eased it's descent. "You hurt?" he asked Evan giving his second in command a visual once over before tensing, remembering the danger and looking around, "The other beasts?"

"I'm not hurt and once you sidetracked their alpha they started fighting among themselves, probably deciding who would step up to be the next alpha," Evan related, bringing his canteen up to help John take a drink.

Realizing the importance of rationing their supplies even in his current state, John just took a minimal sip, enough to wet his mouth and sate a bit of his thirst then drew back. From his vantage point sprawled out on the ground in a thick unknown forest, in a lot of pain and trying to not show it, Sheppard demanded of his second in command, "What's the situation, Major?"

Lorne reported the grim news. "We're hemmed in by the ridge but I've been getting us in the right direction of the 'gate. No water, no caves, no cover but at least our furry friends haven't begun stalking us again."

"They will," Sheppard cheerlessly conjectured. "The alpha is he…"

"You killed him, sir," Evan proudly assured, saw some relief cross Sheppard's paper thin complexion.

"Good, he sucked…worse than the others," John said a little breathlessly before he sputtered out a cough which erupted agony through his head right down to his toes, had him trying to roll over to minimize the pain.

Putting his hand on John's leg, the only place the man wasn't injured, Evan tried to keep him immobile. "Easy, you have some cracked ribs too."

Trying to lie still and ride out the pain, John rasped out, "Yeah, just figured that out." Closing his eyes, he formulated their plan of action, "Just give me a minute then we can get moving again."

"You want something for the pain?" Evan asked, would risk John passing out under the morphine's influence now that he saw the agony his friend was in.

But Sheppard stubbornly shot the idea down. "No. I'll be fine," he lied, opening his eyes and holding Lorne's to sell it. "Ok, get me up," and he reached his hand up, waiting for Lorne to lever him to his feet.

Lorne hesitated to do Sheppard's biding, didn't like the prospect of John moving on his own, couldn't imagine the pain walking, especially in this terrain, was going to put Sheppard in. "Today before the big pussy cats come back," Sheppard quirked and Lorne sighed but knew it had to be done. But he didn't yank the injured man up by his arm, instead, stepped behind him and slid his hands behind John's arms and pulled him up gradually until John could get his feet under him. Not surprisingly, Sheppard swayed but Lorne didn't let it go any further, was there, pulling John's arm over his shoulder and wrapping his own arm around John's waist. He tried to shut out Sheppard's grunt of pain as the man's cracked ribs and the clawed up flesh and his wounded shoulder protested every part of John's new stance.

Then they were moving, slowly, until John protested Lorne's babying him. "At this rate we might as well wear catnip and let them enjoy tearing us apart. Faster Major. I at least want to give them the thrill of the hunt."

Gritting his teeth like he was the one in excruciating pain, Lorne moved them at a greater pace through the forest but it wasn't easy finding passages that he thought John could maneuver. A time or two he had to go over a fallen tree trunk and then reach back, aid Sheppard in getting over, then he was practically back to carrying all of Sheppard's weight for a few minutes until the colonel got his pain under control and regained the strength to work his motor skills. But every step was draining Sheppard's strength and soon the man's head was barely off his chest and Lorne feared he'd pass out again and with his head wound, that didn't seem like a good thing.

Twenty minutes through their trek, Evan broke the silence between them. "Permission to speak freely, sir."

Evan's voice roused John enough to lift his head, move his feet in more a mockery of steps instead of slip and sliding. "Sure, this is your mission after all."

"Ok, then, from superior to subordinate…" Evan began evenly enough but then his tone shifted to down right pissed off, "What the hell did you think you were doing?! And from someone who actually considers you a friend, I should kick your butt for what you did back on the ridge!"

That got John's heart rate kicked up a few notches, shot a little adrenaline in his blood stream, giving him the gumption to lift his head and glare at Lorne. "Whoa, whoa. Cut the hostilities. I saved your life."

"By nearly getting yourself killed! No wonder your team's pissed at you if this is the type of crap you pulled last mission. Heck, knowing you, you do it every mission!" Evan fumed, was reliving the attack again, seeing John tackle the beast then fall, how he had felt …..fear and dread and anger. It made his heart pound in his chest and his hands itch to lay his CO out with a punch just remembering it.

Instead of getting angry or protesting Evan's accusation, John dared to shoot him a smirk, drawled, "I am not feeling the love."

And that was the old Sheppard charm, that both pissed off Evan and dampened his temper. Shooting his CO a look, he allowed, "I'm still pissed you did what you did but….thanks for saving my life."

Sheppard smiled a weak smile. "You're welcome." Then they trudged along in silence until John spoke. "I was wrong."

"Yeah, how?" Evan inquired, couldn't wait to hear this.

"This isn't Brotherhood of the Wolf," John admitted his error, smirked when Evan chuckled at his statement, that he was back to referencing movies.

"It's not, huh? Then do tell, what movie are we extras in?" Lorne drawled, appreciated the lighthearted banter. It was 100% better than a silent, unconscious Sheppard with him feeling alone and weighed down with both of their survivals.

"It's 'The Ghost and the Darkness'. About a lion terrorizing an Africa territory," John explained, trying to not stumble when his foot slid on some leaves and his ribs didn't appreciate the jerking motion.

Steadying Sheppard, Evan permitted, "Right kind of animal, at least," hiding a smirk because he actually knew this movie. "Does it have a happy ending?"

"One hunter survived," Sheppard announced cheerfully before he admitted a beat later, "The other hunter though, he bought it."

"The older guy, right? Couldn't keep up with his young partner?' Evan goaded, enjoyed the glare his elder superior bore into him.

"Are you hoping I'm Michael Douglas? Because if that's what you're saying you're so getting demoted if I survive this," John mock threatened back.

"With that hanging over my head, you're not giving me a great incentive to protect you, sir," Evan drawled, couldn't help chuckle at the startled glower Sheppard lanced into him.

"Now I know why people don't always appreciate my humor," John murmured under his breath. Then they were trudging along in silence for a while. It wasn't long before John was stumbling more and Evan felt Sheppard's side turn wet with blood, coating his hand.

"We've got to stop," Evan announced, already slowing their already slow pace.

"No, keep going. I can take it," John insisted in a wheezed breath, his head down, sweat dripping off his face, drenching his shirt.

Evan changed tactics. "Ok, I need to stop."

"Liar," John panted but he knew Evan had to be tired too, carrying his unconscious carcass who knows how long before he woke and now bearing a lot of his weight because he could barely manage a shuffle.

Figuring it was time to stop beating around the bush, the Major bluntly stated, "Fine, you're bleeding badly and I need to try and stop it before I'm carrying a corpse instead of my CO." Then, not waiting for the Colonel's permission, he halted their progress, eased John down to sit on a trunk of a downed tree, had to catch the man when he almost pitched backwards without his support. "Whoa, hey, steady," Evan soothed, hands gripping John's forearms as he crouched down to be eye level with the wounded man. He tilted the man to the left until his shoulder was leaning against a tree before he dared lose his supportive grip.

Pulling the meager remaining supplies from his medkit, Lorne fought down a curse. It wasn't much. So he stripped off his jacket, pulled off his t-shirt, put his jacket back on then started to rip his t-shirt into strips for bandages. "Bet you wish you'd stayed home, right? Your team's angry lectures gotta be better than this?" he joked, hoping to keep Sheppard lucid.

"Debatable," Sheppard hedged. "Once Rodney's on a roll, he doesn't shut up."

Lorne snorted. "Trust me, I know. Like that planet Ford was on. McKay was certain the sun was going to make him self combust. Strange thing is though, if you're in danger, he risks more than combusting to save you."

John had to smile at that. "Yeah, under the cowardly lion is a big hero. Used to surprise me how he risks his life to save everyone."

Evan noted that John didn't acknowledge his observation that McKay took the most risks when it was Sheppard in danger. "Most times I don't know why he's on your team until I see him in action. Then there are your two other teammates, neither from Earth."

John gave Evan an assessing look, like he thought his second was questioning Teyla and Ronon's value, just because they weren't natives of Earth. "SG1 has Teal'c."

"Yes," Evan accepted before he protested the comparison, "But he didn't hold any of the team members hostage before getting offered a place on the team."

"Ronon was backed into a corner, did what he had to do to survive. Besides, he didn't hurt us," John fervently defended his friend. But a second later, he was gasping in agony as Evan tighten his makeshift bandage around his shoulder and John thought he might pass out but Evan was talking again, distracting him from the pain.

"Ronon stunned you and Teyla both," Evan reminded, hoped John's fierce loyalty to defend his team would keep his mind off the agony he was putting him in to help him.

Evan's statement had a smile breaking over John's lips instead of a scowl. "Yeah and he's stunned me since joining my team, probably with a lot more glee."

Evan laughed at John's insight but wholeheartedly agreed, "I know he has." Wrapping the remaining portion of his t-shirt around John's chest wound, he tightened it with a knot and then had to practically catch John as he slumped forward, his head coming to rest on Lorne's collarbone. Evan cupped the back of John's neck and wished Carson was there, that the Daedalus was overhead, could beam them into an infirmary, now.

"Sorry, John, I know it hurts," Evan said with true regret but John's muffled voice forgave him.

"Gotta be done, know that." Though he knew he was being weak, John didn't raise his head, tried to work though the lightheadedness and the pain.

"Still sucks," Evan retorted and John gave a low chuckle. "Yeah, yeah it does." Then John forced his head up, grabbed Lorne's jacket and looked into his second in command's eyes. "We can't be out here at dark. If these things are anything like our lions, they have great night vision."

"You're full of all kinds of fun facts," Evan sarcastically drawled but he was already helping John hop down from the tree trunk, again pulled John's arm over his shoulder and settled his own arm around John before they started their torturous journey again.

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It took absolutely no convincing for Teyla to join McKay and Ronon on their mission. In fact, she beat them in the jumper. But as the gate dialed, there was palpable tension in the puddle jumper. "We don't know anything is wrong," Teyla reminded which Rodney bleakly shot back, "And we don't know something isn't wrong."

"Well, let's get there and find out already," Ronon bluntly stated causing both his teammates to nod under his sage advice. Then Rodney piloted the jumper through the event horizon. Exiting the 'gate on the planet, he settled the jumper beside the Major's. Ronon and Teyla checked out the jumper, determined that there were no signs of a struggle or an emergency. But just because there wasn't a blood trail, Rodney wasn't cheering in relief. Instead he was studying the lifesigns indicator.

"Ok, we have a tight gathering of lifeforms to the west, and north, which I assume is the villages." Then he moved the device around to the east and south and tensed. "There are more scattered signals this direction."

Teyla came to look over his shoulder. "Two signals here.." she pointed and Rodney nodded, didn't berate her for pointing out the obvious because he did the same the next moment. "Yeah, and a scattering of signals here of three, four…five maybe, traveling together but at a little distance," pointing to the other section of his screen.

"The Major was going to go to the village, drop off supplies," Ronon said, but there was more a question there then a suggestion that they should head for the village.

"Yes, if things are as they should be, he and John should be there," Teyla agreed but there was hesitation in her tone.

"But if things are not going to plan, are going….well, like things usually go for Sheppard.." Rodney began but it was Ronon who finished his thoughts.

"Lorne and Sheppard are the two dots out there in the wilderness, off the beaten path and being pursued by those scattered dots." Then Ronon was heading to the west, as if they had already made the same conclusion. Without a word, Teyla followed Ronon but Rodney stood there, balked, "Can't we fly the jumper down there? Do we have to walk?!"

Taking mercy on him, Teyla stopped, turned back to him and patiently explained what he already know. "The forest is too thick to land anywhere near the signals, Rodney. This is our only way to them."

Rodney managed a whine, "I know, I know" before he trudged after his teammates. He grumbled under his breath what he did for John Sheppard was so not logical and if the man didn't continually return the favor by saving his life…well, he did, so that's where his rant stopped. He had said it once before, he and John saved each other's lives. It was what they did and he'd do it again today and John would owe him. And that would be just fine with Rodney, would even take being in John's debt as long as the man stuck around, didn't go anywhere, didn't do something totally unacceptable and die on him. Putting that highly disturbing thought out of his head, Rodney quickened his pace and promptly tripped over a tree root. Oh yes, John was going to owe him big time for this, even if he wasn't in danger.

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TBC

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See, no evil cliffie this go around. But it went against my grain. No promises for the rest of the story. HAHA. Thanks for every single encouraging review. They keep this story updates coming! And I also appreciate those silent readers.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.