A/N: I'm back! Hooray for me! Sorry that it took me for-ev-er to post this, but I've been fighting a combination of apathy and writer's block. It shouldn't take me as long to update the next time though, so just hang in there. Enjoy!
John allowed his shoulders to loosen infinitesimally; they weren't out of the woods yet, but he felt a lot better about the whole situation with that giant guard out of the way.
He felt the tension he'd lost come rushing back when he noticed that Elizabeth wasn't moving.
Rodney turned an expression full of anxiety and dismay to the cockpit, and John had to swallow his rising panic at the look in the scientist's eyes.
Teyla, her gun never wavering, ran to their fallen leader, Ronon close on her heels.
John tried to slow his racing heart as he switched over to the headset, "Guys?"
"She's alive," Teyla's voice was full of relief.
Before John could relax once more, Ronon's gruff voice added, "But she's hurt bad, Sheppard."
He swallowed hard as he watched the Satedan bend down next to Elizabeth's still form, "How bad?"
"We must return to Atlantis quickly." The statement Teyla gave in lieu of an actual answer gave him all the information he needed.
John briefly passed a hand over his face, fear for Elizabeth and anger at those who'd harmed her warring for supremacy in his mind, He was fairly certain that if Tamesis wasn't already dead he would have done something rash—something like running out of the Jumper and attacking the pompous, abhorrent, rotten excuse for a human being. As it was he was keeping a wary eye on the other prisoners. Something about them set him on edge; and if one of them so much as looked at Elizabeth in a threatening way he wouldn't hesitate to fire a drone and open up a crater the size of a baseball diamond where that person was standing. Earlier he'd sent Rodney out armed, not only as a visual warning, but because he knew the destructive power of the Jumper's ancient ammunition and he didn't want innocent bystanders to get hurt. Now that he had a feeling they weren't all that ingenuous, he had no qualms about pulverizing the lot of them where they stood.
John knew he didn't need to tell Teyla to keep her guard up; the Athosian warrior was always on the alert. There was something about her stance though, that had him wondering if she was just as suspicious of the workers as he was.
Ronon, being gentler than John would have thought possible, lifted Elizabeth into the relative safety of his arms and started for the Jumper. At exactly the same moment, Teyla swiveled to cover his six, her eyes and gun never leaving the assembly. The prisoners didn't move though; they just watched silently.
It was a bit unnerving, but John wasn't about to complain.
His gaze still tracking the remainder of his team, he half-turned toward the Jumper's entrance, "Rodney, pack it in!"
Looking like he was going to be sick, McKay moved around and staggered through the hatch, his noisy arrival catching the Colonel's full attention. The astrophysicist seemed to be in shock.
John swore inwardly; now was not the time for any one of them to lose it. "Rodney, I need you to snap out of it," his tone was as brusque and commanding as he could make it.
"It was my fault," the scientist squeezed his eyes shut.
"No it wasn't McKay; it was mine," John answered forcefully, "Now I need you to do something for me. Contact Lorne and see if he can make it to the rendezvous point or if he needs our help to get out of that tower."
Rodney nodded numbly and tapped his headset as he sat in the copilot's chair. John felt a touch of relief; he could have just as easily contacted the major, but McKay needed something to distract him.
That momentary relief was squashed as the rest of his team came barreling into the Jumper.
John's breath caught somewhere in his chest when Elizabeth came close enough for him to see her condition. One arm was bent at an unnatural angle and it looked as though every breath she took was a struggle. Her face was a mass of cuts and bruises and her right eye had swollen shut; the eye he could see was clouded with pain. He would never be able to erase the image from his mind.
Rising out of his seat he reached soundlessly for her, nausea boring a hole in his stomach. He made as if to take a step forward, itching to run to her side; but guilt and shock kept his feet rooted to the ground.
"Sheppard!" Ronon's gruff voice cut through the fog, "We need to get moving!"
Purpose gave him the strength needed to tear his eyes from Elizabeth's face and stumble into his seat.
As if sensing his turmoil, the Jumper lurched off the ground as soon as his hands touched the control panel, before he even had a chance to formulate a conscious command.
"Lorne wants to remind you that if he leaves for the rendezvous point now, he won't be able to cover our passage through the city," Rodney cautioned, gripping the panel with one hand to steady himself.
"That's a chance we're going to have to take," John gritted his teeth.
McKay's confirming nod was nearly imperceptible as he relayed the information with the speed and precision of a soldier.
John could hear Teyla and Ronon conversing in hushed, strained tones as they tended to Elizabeth in the back; and he had to resist the urge to glance over his shoulder, knowing the thin hold on self-control keeping him in the pilot's seat would dissipate if he did so. She's going to be fine; it looks worse than it really is. She won't leave you; she can't di…"
"Sheppard; look out!"
Rodney's yelped warning was all it took for John's flight reflexes to kick in. His brain briefly registered that the Jumper was coasting too low and they were coming in on a rather tall building very quickly; then in the next second he had them spinning to the side and up, clearing the tower by inches.
A strangled cry sounded from the back during the sharp maneuvers and John broke into an icy sweat, his ears roaring as self-reproach and fear washed over him in a cold wave.
The snarky comment he expected from Rodney didn't come, nor did the silent disapproval of his other teammates. Instead he got a look of understanding from the scientist and a gentle touch on the shoulder from Teyla which soothed his frazzled nerves.
"She is stable," the beautiful Athosian calmly announced.
For now… John didn't need her to actually say the words; he could hear the addendum just the same.
Still, he was afforded enough peace of mind by that one statement that he was able to fly the remaining distance without further incident. Almost before they had even touched down, he was out of his chair and hobbling toward the rear. Elizabeth was lying completely still, her eyes closed, and for a moment he feared the worst.
"Dr. Weir is merely sleeping," Teyla hurried to reassure him, and it was then that he noticed the faint rise and fall of Elizabeth's chest.
John knelt achingly by the unconscious woman's side, wanting so badly to reach out and touch her, to reassure himself that she was alive and here, to offer her some comfort; but he held back, not wanting to do more harm than good. He had already done so much to hurt her. Now that he was watching her closely, he could see the little hitches in her chest as she inhaled. He had done that to her; he didn't know how or why she'd sustained her injuries, but he did know he was as much to blame for her pain as the scum who had physically caused her harm.
He stayed like that, just watching her breathe, Ronon and Teyla standing like silent sentinels at his back until Lorne reached the rendezvous point five minutes later. John quickly passed the metaphorical reins to the young major.
"Lorne, I need…" Sheppard paused, unsure of how to word his request without giving his true reasons for giving it. Luckily his comrade understood as soon as he saw Elizabeth.
The major's eyes widened and he cleared his throat, nodding as he did so, "We'll be home in no time sir." He quickly dumped his gear in the corner and snaked his way through the crowded jumper, yelling back as he did so, "Just keep her with us!"