I forgot to say something when I posted the last chapter… MY BAD! But thank you so much for the lovely reviews. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. I'm deeply flattered by the comments, encouragement and happiness I see from people really enjoying my work.

Thank you!

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"Colonel, please respond." Teyla listened for a tense moment. Her brow wrinkled deeply in concern. "John, please answer me."

"It's no use," Rodney interrupted, never looking up from his configurations. "Radio contact is spotty at best."

"Haven't you fixed that thing yet?" Ronon demanded as he kicked a chunk of ice out of his way.

"No!" Rodney shot back. "This is not an easy thing you know. It took us days to get the Jumper sensors properly calibrated."

"DAYS?" Ronon kicked another chunk of ice hard enough to disintegrate it, pieces flying over the snow field.

"I'm over the learning curve!" Rodney answered. "My point is, this can't be done with a snap of the fingers."

Teyla looked back and forth between the two of them. Part of her shared Ronon's frustration but another part of her saw the wisdom in Rodney's insistence that they go about the search methodically. Ironically, she mused, Rodney, for all his snappy emotions and tendency to panic was remaining surprisingly calm and rational. She inhaled deeply once again considering the demanding scientist who, she believed, was very much stronger than even he realized. At this moment, she felt Ronon walking the path of one extreme, while Rodney was walking the other. Between them, she stood; walking the middle road, breaching the gap between them.

"Rodney?" She questioned quietly.

He looked up, meeting her worried gaze with one of his own. He nodded slightly. "I'm trying," he said quietly, his gaze slightly pleading before he returned his attention to the detector. "I…" he inhaled sharply. "Got it!"

Teyla pushed her way through deep snow over to him. She stared at the detector, her gaze fixing on one, blinking life sign. "Is he…"

"Yes!" Rodney interrupted, "he's alive."

He's still alive… thank the Ancestors…

"That one's him?" Ronon pointed and questioned.

Rodney's expression turned annoyed. "I just said that! Unless someone tagged wild Malneks with sub-q transmitters, that's Sheppard."He looked up and pointed. "There!" Not waiting, he immediately headed the direction he'd been pointing, staggering slightly as he rushed through the uneven snow, his gaze spit between where he was going and the detector in his hands.

Teyla didn't hesitate to follow and from the sounds behind her, she knew Ronon had not either. "How deep is he?"

Rodney's voice was slightly out of breath. "At least four feet, probably more. It's hard for me to get an accurate depth."

Teyla's hand flew to her radio. "John? Can you hear me? We have located you. Hold on, we are coming." She didn't expect a response, nor did she get one, but whether or not he could hear her, even if he could not respond, she didn't know. She only hoped he heard her words.

Abruptly, Rodney stopped. He shoved his detector into his vest pocket, fell to his knees and threw aside a large chunk of ice. "He's right here!"

Ronon dropped to his knees opposite Rodney and pulled a long knife from his belt. He hesitated and looked up at the scientist. "You're sure he's four feet deep?"

Rodney glanced up. "Positive. At least that."

Ronon nodded once and plunged his knife into the packed snow, working it lose.

Teyla knelt next to him and pulled her own knife, as did Rodney. Loosening the hard pack, she dug.

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It'd been a long time since he'd been this cold. Even through a tour in Antarctica where he'd had his fair share of frosty missions, it was never like this. They'd been cold, but not killer cold. He could feel numbness spreading through is body. His breathing was shallow and his lungs burned; demanding more oxygen than each breath was able to supply. His thoughts drifted. He'd only ever been this cold once…

"John! John Sheppard!"

John wanted nothing more than to answer, but the rain, the cold the injuries to his body, all of them worked against him. One side of his mouth twitched; the closest thing to a cynical smile he could muster. He'd survived dozens of missions in Somalia, North Korea and points in between only to die on leave… on a hike no less. One careless step had done him in faster than any small arms fire that had crisscrossed his chopper more than once. Leg broken, it was all he could do to drag himself to marginal cover. That'd kept him alive this long.

Son of a bitch.

"John Sheppard!"

The voices were close. They must've had some idea where he was, he'd told Nancy where he was going. She'd never cared to hike with him… but these days they did little together.

John opened his mouth and tried to call out, but a garbled mumble was all he could manage. "Hre…"

He couldn't keep his eyes open but as a warm hand settled on his shoulder, he lost the urge to even care.

"Stay awake. We've gotcha…"

"…gotcha…"

"Got… me…" John whispered. His mouth open, his shallow breaths gained little air. His thoughts dimmed, facts scattering, his mind losing function. He wouldn't be awake when he suffocated and, as he clung to the last tatters of rational thought, John was grateful for that. Lurking on the edge of his vision blackness called, quietly encroaching, stalking the light and covering it in inky darkness. Silently, he succumbed.

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Teyla's arms burned. The snow was wet and heavy, refusing to yield. At this point, she would've traded just about anything for a shovel. Even through her gloves, she could feel the cold and sharpness of the ice and snow she furiously cast aside, but it did not matter, nothing did except getting to John as fast as they could. "John!" At her hail, all three searchers paused for a moment, but the silence that followed was foreboding. She looked up at Rodney, an unspoken question in her gaze.

Rodney whipped out his detector. "Life sign…" His gaze met hers and radiated panic. "Faint," Rodney whispered.

"Sheppard!" Ronon's hands locked onto a large chunk of ice and he threw it over his shoulder with a shout.

"John!" Teyla couldn't keep the break from her voice as she too dug furiously.

"I got something!" Rodney proclaimed.

Teyla's eyes widened as Rodney wiped snow from a black pant leg.

"Find his head!" Rodney demanded as they quickly brushed snow aside. "John!"

Teyla clung to her faint hope. The fact that he wasn't responding was an ominous sign she couldn't deny, but the blinking on Rodney's detector gave her hope. Maybe he was just unconscious…

The snow gave way to his arms. Limp and no longer supported, they fell heavily to his side and suddenly, the dark cloth gave way to light skin, pale and cold. Gently brushing the snow from his face, Teyla stared down at his closed eyes. She ripped off a glove and pressed her fingers into his neck. Ancestors… please… She drew in a deep breath and nodded. "He is alive." She moved her hand to his nose and mouth, but the cold air the met her palm struck a frigid blow to her heart. "He is not breathing!"

"Oh no…" Rodney's voice was barely above a whisper as he furiously dug away the last of the snow and freed John's legs.

"Move!" Ronon demanded as he reached down and grabbed the top of John's TAC vest. With a grunt he dead lifted the colonel from the hole they'd dug.

Teyla immediately knelt next to him and tipped his head back, pinching off his nose. She took a brief moment to thank Carson for insisting that they all know basic first aid, before she forced a deep breath into John's lungs.

She repeated the process again and again. Teyla's attention focused down on John alone, filtering out everything else. How many times had he saved Atlantis? The galaxy? Her? Another breath had Teyla silently begging the Ancestors or whoever was listening to help her… to help him! Save him! She pressed her fingers into his fluttering pulse for a moment before resuming.

"Damn it, Sheppard! You're too annoyingly stubborn to give up like this!"

Strangely, Rodney's words penetrated her self-imposed isolation. She could hear the fear in his voice. The same fear she felt from the deep silence Ronon kept… the same fear that blackened her heart.

Another breath. John! Please! Her plea was mental for she had not the strength or the ability to voice it. John!

When his movement came, it startled her. Her hand shifted to the back of his head as he coughed violently, his body wracked with shivers. "John? You are all right," she soothed as much for him as for herself. She could hear something that resembled a relieved sigh coming from Ronon. Rodney's words rang with the same relief.

"Oh, thank god."

"Tey…" John's words were cut off by a cough.

"Shh," Teyla soothed in a voice she used to quiet the children of her people; a voice she had never used on him before. "Be still, John." She panted slightly. "We have found you. It is all right now." She added as much reassurance to her expression as she could as she met gazes with a set of clouded hazel eyes. One side of his mouth turned up slightly, a shadow of a smile crossing his face, before it disappeared, driven from his expression by pain He tensed and groaned loudly.

"What is it?" Ronon demanded.

"He's hypothermic," Rodney immediately answered. "We have to get him warm, fast."

"M..or..e…" John's voice hitched awkwardly around his chattering teeth and intense shivering.

"John?" Teyla questioned, her voice still soft.

"L-eg…" he managed, "bro-ken…"

Teyla looked at Rodney, who nodded once before turning his attention to the colonel's legs. He ran his hands down John's right leg with no response, but when he did the same to the left, John tensed, and grunted sharply.

Rodney nodded. "Definitely broken."

Teyla pointed to where she'd left the emergency pack she'd been carrying. "The pack, Rodney." While they didn't take it on normal off world missions, it was standard procedure for cold weather missions and now, she was very glad to have it.

"Right." Rodney jumped up and quickly made his way back to the rocks.

Teyla looked down at John's half opened eyes, her worry increasing at the intense shaking in his body. "John? Try to relax. We will splint your leg, get you warm and get help." She looked up at Ronon. "Help me get him out of this wet coat." She let Ronon hold John as she shrugged out of her TAC vest and unzipped her parka. "I will sit behind him and share body heat. Once we have splinted his leg, we can lay an emergency blanket under him to get him off the wet snow."

"And you," Ronon unzipped John's TAC vest as Teyla steadied him. He threw the vest aside and carefully pulled John's jacket off as well. Ronon slowly leaned John back against Teyla.

Teyla pulled John as tightly to her as she could, his back crushed against her chest. She wrapped the edges of her coat as far around him as they'd reach. Her embrace strengthened as she was struck by how cold he felt. She held him tightly against his shivering.

"C-old…" John mumbled.

"John?" Teyla cocked her head and looked down at him. "John? You must stay awake."

"Think I should head to the gate," Ronon's voice was low.

Teyla looked over at him, but his gaze was fixed on John.

"There're probably more Malneks out there," Rodney interjected as he staggered back through the snow.

"N-no," John managed, "to dangr-s…"

"There is always the village," Teyla shifted her weight and settled John's head in her lap.

"They're primitive at best," Rodney's voice was colored with some of his usual annoyance. "As much as I hate to agree with Conan here, Sheppard needs advanced medical care." He opened the bag and tossed a compacted emergency blanket at Ronon.

Ronon glared at Rodney for a moment, before he shook open the blanket and covered John with it. Then, he abruptly stood. "I'm going for the gate."

It was all Teyla could do to hold on to John as an unexpected surge of strength had him pulling against her embrace.

"N-o…" John insisted, his voice weak.

"John," Teyla held tightly to him, "be still." She looked up as Ronon knelt next to her and put a strong hand on John's shoulder. The two men locked gazes.

"I'll be fine. I've dealt with Malneks before." Ronon squeezed John's shoulder. "Hang in there, buddy. I'll get you help."

John closed his eyes for a moment. "Ca-n't st-op yo-ou any-way…" His attempt at a smile was hollow. "Fir-rst be-er on m-e…"

Ronon smiled. "Deal." Without another word he jumped up.

"Wait!" Rodney's hail stopped Ronon in his tracks.

"What?" Ronon demanded.

Rodney picked up the Life Signs Detector and tossed it to Ronon. "Take this. "Zelenka can use it as a guide to modify the Jumpers and compensate for the planet's magnetic field."

Ronon shoved the detector into his coat, nodded once and sprinted off across the snow.

Teyla turned her head and watched him for a moment before she looked back at Rodney who was already opening the pack and removing medical supplies.

Teyla took a deep breath and calmed her mind, remembering the lessons Carson had drilled into each of them.

Hypothermia's tricky. If you find yourself with a hypothermic team member, their life could be in real danger. They need to be dry and warm as soon as possible. Now, it's best to get them back here or get advanced medical assistance, but if that isn't possible, there are some things you can do to save their lives. First, assessment. Are there any other injuries? How deeply hypothermic are they? Slurred speech, intense shivering and diminished mental capacity are all signs of moderate hypothermia. Anything beyond that, and they're probably in a stupor or unconscious. The tricky part is if they do have other injuries. Hypothermia is hard on the heart. Jarring or setting any broken bones can bring on arrhythmia…

"Rodney." Teyla waited a moment until Rodney stopped arranging medical supplies in neat piles. She could see the nervousness and even fear in his expression. With numbers and technology, he was at ease but, Teyla had found, when it came to the human condition, Rodney McKay was what the Earth humans called a 'basket case.'

When he met gazes with her, Teyla smiled reassuringly. "We must get John off of this wet snow and warm, but first we must immobilize his leg as Carson taught us."

"Bed-si-ide manrs…" John slurred, "suck…"

For a minute, Rodney glared at him before his expression softened. "Fine." He took a deep breath. "I can do this."

"We can trade places, Rodney and I will do it," Teyla offered.

"No," Rodney waved as he dug around in the medical supplies."I'm sure Sheppard would much rather lean against your chest than mine…" he looked up, "that is…"

"Rodney," Teyla tried to stay patient, but John's condition did not seem to be improving and sitting in the cold snow was starting to chill her as well. She thought that she felt a hitch in John's breath that could've been a weak chuckle, but she dismissed it.

"Right." Rodney pulled a wire splint from its box. Next, he grabbed a role of gauze, pulled the end loose and looked down at John's leg. He glanced up at Teyla who smiled slightly, encouraging him.

Rodney sighed. "Okay." Starting just below the knee, he wrapped the gauze around John's leg providing an extra barrier against the metal of the splint.

Teyla held tightly to John as he tensed, wincing as Rodney worked the gauze under his broken leg, jostling it slightly.

Rodney froze. "Sorry!"

"Rodney," Teyla tried to give him an encouraging look, but he didn't budge his hands motionless and John's leg half wrapped.

"Mc-ckay," John managed. "gon-na hurt… jst do it…"

Rodney stared at John's half closed eyes for a moment before he nodded. "Why can't this just be science?" he groused quietly as he slowly started wrapping again. "But no, you have to go and get all noble and get yourself hurt in the process." The tone of his voice rose slightly as he continued his work. "As if the snow wasn't bad enough, you had to add 'be a selfless hero' to the top of your list of things to do today."

In spite of the grave situation, Teyla smiled slightly. Rodney was dealing with his emotions in the best way he knew how to, by deflecting them onto someone else. She often wondered if one of the reasons he behaved the way he did, was because if people were too busy being mad at him, they wouldn't notice his discomfort, his pain or his vulnerability.

"Okay," Rodney sat back for a moment before he grabbed the splint and, again starting at John's knee, slowly wrapped the pliable wire around his leg.

Teyla shook her head. "Rodney, it must be tighter. There are gaps and if those are not removed, it will not immobilize the break."

Rodney looked up at her, hesitation written all over his face.

"Mc-ckay." John's hitched voice still, somehow, held a note of command. "D-o it… ri-ight…"

"But, that means I have to press…"

"Y-es!" John managed.

Teyla sat up straighter. "Here, come and hold him. I will do it."

"No!" Rodney waved a hand. "I… I got it." Pulling hard on the rolled remains of the splint, he took up as much slack as he could.

John grunted and tensed as Rodney's ministrations jarred his leg, but Rodney continued.

Teyla met gazes with him for a moment and nodded, before Rodney encircled John's broken bone with both hands and pressed lightly.

John's pained shout was strangled and his breathing quickened.

"That's it," Rodney whispered, "I got it."

Teyla nodded. "That is good. We do not want to do that again."

"A-grre-d…" John panted.

Teyla glanced down in time to see John blink heavily, before his eyes closed and remained closed. The shivering in his body lessened. In spite of her shared warmth, the trauma to his body and the cold around them were worsening his condition. "John?" she shook him slightly. "John. Stay awake."

"… m… h-ere…"

"John," Teyla insisted. "Open your eyes."

"Tey…" his whisper trailed off.

"John." She shook her head and looked up at Rodney, worry chilling her even more than the snow. "He has lost consciousness."

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Ronon pushed his burning legs through the knee deep drifts as he doggedly continued through the woods towards the gate. Sweating, he threw back his hood but kept going. He'd seen Sheppard roughed up before, but never as pale as he was when they pulled him from the hole. He'd looked dead and, not breathing, he'd been pretty damned close.

Ronon tried to force the image of Teyla, breathing for Sheppard, trying to keep him alive, from his mind. They'd come so close to losing him and in that moment, Ronon had been keenly reminded of the close friendship he and Sheppard shared.

When he'd first come to Atlantis, Ronon had been doubtful of the true strength of any of them; doubtful that, in spite of their guns and weapons, any of them were true warriors.

Satedan society had a code of honor all warriors lived by, a brotherhood and sisterhood of strength, tempered with honor and morality. No mercy for the enemy, but compassion for the weak. He'd seen the compassion in Sheppard's people right away, but it took him a long time to see the strength. Theirs was a different honor in so many ways, but, he'd come to realize, the same in ways that it mattered. And no one more embodied it than Sheppard. Ronon had see Sheppard show a ruthlessness that surprised even him… and had seen the humor and compassion Sheppard used to balance it.

Ronon grabbed a small tree and used it to haul himself up on a downed log. He jumped off, landing in knee deep snow before forging on. It'd take him a while to accept the different, but equal, warrior code Sheppard lived by and Sheppard, it seemed, had been content to give him the space. But, once Ronon had accepted it, the bond between warriors he and Sheppard shared, only strengthened. Sheppard would do this for him… just as he was doing this now for Sheppard.

Ronon staggered to a stop and froze, trying to listen over his pounding heard and deep, loud breaths. He thought he heard…

Ronon's head snapped right as a growl echoed through the trees. His gaze narrowed as his right hand settled on the holstered gun he wore. Malneks. How many, he wasn't sure, but they were definitely out there. Taking a deep breath, he continued his trek. With luck, he could get to the gate, before the Malneks got to him.