The air was thick, heavy, and smelled distinctly of pine needles and rain. Why was it always raining lately? John crouched behind a natural rise, overlooking the square stone building just beyond them. Ford lay behind and to the left of him. He couldn't see them, but John knew that Ronon and Duggar were circled round the far side of the building by now with their men. Far off to his right, Sheppard could just make out McKay fidgeting in his position with Lorne.

The building looked out of place here. This planet was highly forested, nothing but nature in any direction. Yet this one lone building - gray and drab - tried to act like it belonged. It'd fit in more on Earth, some small town court building or a factory even. Not some alien prison house.

There weren't any guards outside. No protective fences or barriers. Rodney said that he wasn't even picking up much of an EM pulse. That at least let them know that a ship wasn't nearby, something John had been very concerned about when Rodney had figured out that the gate now on this planet was the space gate that had once floated near its orbit.

Whomever these people were, they weren't too concerned about being found. John was still cautious though. Anyone who had access to a ship had technology. And technology usually meant someone setting something off that led to them trying to shut something off that planned on blowing them up or running from someone who wanted to shut them up...permanently.

It was almost time to strike. Waiting sucked. Especially when they were this close. Teyla could be in that building - suffering - and he was just sitting here waiting for night to fall. John clenched his jaw. He had to focus. All emotional crap had to drop right now. It'd just get in the way.

"Unscheduled off world activation."

"Raise the shield, Drew." Woolsey positioned himself toward the gate.

"We're receiving a radio transmission, sir."

Intrigued, Richard walked around to stand behind Drew. "Put it through, please."

Brief static came through the time. "Atlantis, come in. This is Lt. Aiden Ford. Do you read?"

Confusion was Richard's first reaction. There was no Lt. Ford enlisted under this expedition. And then he remembered. Before he came - Lt. Ford, the one who had gotten addicted to the Wraith enzyme. Woolsey motioned for Drew to patch him through.

"This is Richard Woolsey of Atlantis. We read you," he paused, "Lieutenant."

"Good. Where's McKay?"

"I don't hold the gate open for long distance phone calls, Mr. Ford. Do you mind telling me what this is about?"

"Fine. But you'll call for him when you hear what I have to say anyway."

"Do continue."

"I heard you've been looking for a man that had been one of the missing?"

"How did you hear that?," Woolsey asked, suspicious.

"Word gets around."

When Ford didn't continue, Woolsey asked with exasperation, "And?"

"And I'm your man."

Richard couldn't help but find that highly convenient and even more unlikely. "What a very small galaxy we live in, Mr. Ford."

"Believe me or not, I bet you've got next to nothing on these guys. You don't even know who they are. And I know where their base is. Don't you have people among the missing, Mr. Woolsey?"

Richard raised his head at the condescending tone Ford had taken on saying his name. "You have my attention. What do you expect in return for this information?"

"Supplies and food. That's all I ask."

"Food should not be a problem. Depending on the supplies you are inquiring about, possibly."

Rodney stumbled into the control center after having been summoned. Before he could so much as gripe about being pulled away from his lunch, he heard, "I want a box of the flashy little sunglasses your teams are wearing these days. Full medical supplies. And McKay."

"Ford?"

"McKay! It's about time you showed up. Get ready for a mission. Me and you are going on a little field trip."

"Are you out of your mind? Why would I go anywhere with a Wraith druggie?"

"Because I know where Teyla is."

Rodney's face blanched and then grimaced. "Oh. Well, I guess that's a good reason."

Richard cut in. "Why don't you just give us the address, Mr. Ford? We'll give you your supplies in return for the information."

"It's a little more complicated than that. I don't know the address. McKay will have to figure it out."

Rodney replied hotly, "Who exactly do you think I am?! Do you KNOW how many gates there are in this galaxy?! No, of course you don't! Well over a thousand..."

"What happened to the Dr. McKay who could do anything while telling everyone exactly how stupid they were for not figuring it out themselves? I know the planet, McKay, just not the address. Trust me. You'll be able to figure it out."

Richard cut in again. "And how is it that you do not know the address?"

"It's a long story. Do you or do you not want to find Teyla?"

Woolsey could hear the growing impatience on Ford's part. "I still don't understand why you feel the need to go?"

"I have a man in there, okay?!," Aiden shouted.

His annoyance seeping heavily into his tone, Rodney asked, "How does your knowing the planet help me determine it's gate address?"

"You've been there, McKay. You'll get it."

Rodney looked over at Mr. Woolsey to find the man staring back at him. Rodney pointed at the open gate agape. "If you think I'm going out there alone with that overgrown hippie wannabe, you are out of your mind!"

Before Richard could respond, Ford did. "Send Lorne's team. We'll need the help getting into the complex. They'll protect you from the hippie wannabe."

Woolsey frowned. "Give us a few minutes. We'll call you back."

The gate shut down. Ronon looked over at John. "You think they'll do it?"

John didn't even look up. "Yeah. He's got nothing to lose and it could end this whole fiasco."

"If he chooses to trust me," Aiden added.

"Don't go looking all sullen over that," John pointed at the younger man. "You're the one who left."

"Yeah, well I didn't see you offering to call home for help. Wonder why that is."

They stared at each other, each annoyed. John broke the contest. "You never mentioned a man."

"You never asked."

Papers from a chart flipped back and forth. His tongue clucked against the roof of his mouth as he opened it. Licking his index finger, he turned another page.

"You are healing quite well, Eleven. Quite well, indeed."

Snapping on some gloves similar to those Dr. Keller used on Atlantis, he prodded her right thigh. It felt badly bruised but Teyla withheld her wince. It was nothing compared to the pain one week ago when he had had one of his men break the bones from her thigh down.

He smiled gleefully. "What a breakthrough. A little more time and I may have you at Wraith quality yet."

A voice that sounded remarkably like John's sarcastically shouted 'Yippee' in Teyla's head. She smirked at the voice, causing a slightly confused expression from Him.

He would start more 'treatments' tomorrow. Depending on how much he liked the progression of the treatment, her next experimental injury could be in a few days or a week. It didn't really matter but Teyla kept count anyway.

She had undergone twelve treatments - ten successfully. Her right leg had been broken five times, her back once. Teyla tried to remember the various chemical tests done on her but ultimately could remember nothing but the pain from those experiences. She remembered these things for Dr. Keller. Jennifer would need to know as much as possible when she was rescued. She would be rescued.

Torren was six years, nine months, and three Atlantean days old. She had been gone ten months and twenty days. These Teyla remembered so as to not lose track of time. She chanted them in her head every day so as to not forget. It would be so easy to forget. It felt as if she had seen nothing but these four bleak walls for years. She chanted them to fuel the dwindling fire in her soul. For when she did escape, Teyla would know exactly how long He kept her away from those she loved, how long she heard the screams of others confined like animals, how long she had suffered by His hand.

"It's time."

John's voice spoke abruptly through Connelly's radio. Ronon looked over the expanse of open ground they would have to cross while the Lieutenant acknowledged Sheppard. It was dark, which would give them some cover, but not so dark that they were blind. There were two moons on this planet, both only partially full but they provided enough light to give an eerie gray glow to everything around them.

Ronon hadn't wanted to wait, but he couldn't fault Sheppard the logic of his choice. The area was open and exposed. There'd be no way to get to the entrance of the building during the day without alerting someone to their presence. John wanted this done right, no rash decisions, no screw ups. They'd both waited too long for this moment to blow it now.

Setting his stunner to max, Ronon rose from his cover - Lorne's man following behind. Once he and Connelly got inside, Duggar and Rogers would make their way in.

When left alone, it grew so quiet in her cell that Teyla could hear her own blood flowing through her veins, her heart pulsing in her ears. There had been several weak moments when Teyla willed the beating of her heart to slow until it stopped, taking the pain with it. But then she would remember her son, her beautiful son. He needed her. She could not give in. She would not give in.

Torren was six years, nine months, and three days old.

Teyla heard a stunner faintly in the back of her mind. It would not be the first time. Though, normally she dreamt of a P-90. Even as she thought it, Teyla heard it - and much louder than the stunner. She smiled. She used to call for him when she would hear it but Teyla had long since realized that these sounds were tricks of her mind. Besides, He had grown tired of her shouting and had since muzzled her.

Teyla could still hear him shouting her name in her mind, a mix of urgency and desperation. But then the door never opened. He never came.

Rodney stared into his life signs detector.

"My god, these are all cells."

Lorne pointed his P-90 down the different hallways. They'd already taken out three guards on their path here but so far no alarms had been set off and it had all gone down fairly quietly. "Which one?"

"Which one?! Pick one. There's got to be over a hundred in this section."

Evan started down the hallway on the left. "Well, at least there's windows."

"And door codes." Rodney frowned. "Oh, I really hope they aren't different for each door."

"We'll just shoot our way in if we have to."

"Yeah, great stealth there, Rambo."

Lorne scowled. "I said if we have to."

Rodney's eyes widened as he looked over Lorne's shoulder. "I think we have to."

Evan whipped around just as another guard in a blue uniform aimed his weapon. Lorne didn't hesitate firing.

"Well there goes stealth," Lorne commented dryly, hearing Ronon's stunner in the distance. "Let's get these doors open, McKay."

Ronon shot open another door with his stunner. Every room was the same. A lone individual strung up by chains or strapped down to a table. Connelly guarded the hall, directing the captives which way to get out. So far they'd released twenty five people. Most were able to walk out on their own, but some were supported by others, limping out on broken bones or other various injuries. A few had picked up weapons off fallen guards, the first to do so following Connelly's instructions on how to get free of the building.

This rooms occupant did not even raise her head when Ronon threw open the door. Her body hung limply from the chains in the ceiling, a thick fiery red braid falling over her right shoulder.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, Ronon shot the chains to free her. Her arms fell heavily at her sides. It wasn't until Ronon started to move that she recognized he was there. Then she panicked. Lashing out, she went to strike with a fist to the side of Ronon's head but he caught her wrist.

"Woah! Calm down. We're here to help. We're getting you out of here."

She fought weakly for a second more before breaking down in tears. Her face was black and blue and from the way she grabbed her torso - instantly trying to stop her tears - Ronon surmised her ribs were badly bruised if not broken as well.

Ronon cupped the side of her face in his hand to direct her face toward his. Hers was so badly swollen that there was no way she could see him.

"Cora..."

Her brows furrowed as much as her face would allow. "How...how do you know my name?"

"Bryn told us we might find you."

"Bryn? No. She's not here, is she?" Cora's hands unconsciously reached for Ronon's chest in inquiry.

"No. She's safe. You're safe now too." Ronon looked over her and back out the door. "I need you to stay here. I have to free the others but I'll come back for you."

"I...I..." She looked terrified at the prospect of staying there alone.

"I will come back for you."

His voice was deadly serious and she nodded, steeling herself just the way Bryn had. "Okay." Cora felt for the wall behind her and then slowly and painfully sank to the floor to wait. "I'll be right here."

"Ronon!"

Ronon ran out the door at the sound of Connelly's voice, gun raised.

"They found Teyla!"

People shuffled past John to the exit, more than ready to fight their way out if need be. Ford shot open a door.

"Ford, what the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be leading the people out of here!"

"It's quicker this way." Aiden kicked open the door when it didn't fully budge. John growled. Ford wouldn't know how to stick to a plan if he was a bug on flypaper.

"Sheppard, come in!"

"What is it, Rodney?" John used his stunner to open another door.

"We found Teyla!"

He froze, his whole world narrowing down to the radio strapped to his chest. "Is she okay?"

"I dunno. I mean, yeah - she'll be fine."

She'll be fine. Not she was fine. A piercing sting stabbed into John's shoulder and he flinched and hissed against the shock. The world shot back into focus and the frightened gasps and screams of the newly released captives reached his ears. John whirled to his left and found a guard immobilizing people one by one with a weapon that John idly thought looked like the Cricket from Men In Black.

Sheppard raised his weapon, his left arm throbbing as he did so but there was no way he could get a clean shot with the people in a panic between them. John barrelled his way through the remaining people, in effect swimming against the current, feeling or rather loosing the feeling in his left arm. Finally getting in better range John lifted his weapon and fired, downing the guard. Unfortunately, there was more than enough to take his place.

More Cricket fire shot beyond the far wall and John turned for cover in the nearest cell he could find. Where the hell was Ford?! A few people who had been shot were downed in the hall, in various stages of pain or shock.

Diving in a room, John reloaded the P-90, heat exploding in his chest. When the zing's of Crickets stopped, John shifted to open fire out the door - doing little more than catching a guard in the arm before he ducked behind cover again.

Belatedly John realized McKay was yelling in his ear. "John! John, what the hell is going on over there?!"

"Oh, nothing Rodney. Just playing a little game of tag with the guards is all. Get Teyla and the rest of the people out NOW. No waiting."

"Where are you?"

"NOW, Rodney!"

There was an annoying pause in which John's hands started to shake and his heart beat far too rapidly that he began to wonder if somehow the Cricket had caused him to go into an alien induced heart attack when Rodney replied, "Okay. We'll meet you out there."

Satisfied with the answer, John positioned himself partway out the door to return fire. Ford poked his head out a door two down from where Sheppard was currently seeking cover and shouted, "Yo, Sheppard! You think you can cover me?"

"If you hurry!"

Ford took that as a yes and made a run for Sheppard's position, diving into the room over John's head right as he ran out of ammo in his P-90. Sweat pored from John now and he barely got another clip in his gun.

"They got you with one of those stinger's, didn't they?"

"That's what we're calling them?," John asked incredulously.

Aiden shrugged. "You got puddle jumpers." Frowning, Ford sheathed a blue blood stained knife and pulled something out of a pocket. "Damn, Sheppard. You better be glad there was more than one."

John shot blindly down the hall. "One what?"

Aiden stabbed something in his leg.

"Ow! Son of a bitch. What was that for?"

"It'll keep you from dying. Everybody else is out. I suggest we do the same."

John's heart rate wasn't slowing down but his vision started clearing remarkably. He eyed Ford suspiciously. "What'd you give me?"

Aiden smirked and pat his leg. "Later. Let's get out of here."

And with the stupid impulsiveness that John was shocked hadn't gotten him killed yet, Ford shot out the door and down the hall toward the remaining guards, determined to take them out.

John scrambled to his feet, dumbly following after Aiden. He tripped over a body, one of the prisoners that had been hit with a stinger. Her eyes stared blankly up at him. John gripped his weapon tighter and rounded the corner.

Taking out the immediate danger and getting another shot with a stinger for his trouble, John called over his radio. "Are all the prisoners out?"

Lorne responded. "Yes, sir. All out and away."

"Duggar and Rogers?"

"Charges set, sir."

"Good. Head toward the gate. We'll catch up to you. Sheppard out."

Ford and Sheppard continued making their way cautiously down the halls. It was eerily quiet now. There had been little defense of the building - nothing they hadn't been able to handle. It didn't sit well with John. Surely an operation that had efficiently struck hundreds of planets in this galaxy had a better protective measure than a few measly guards.

John itched with energy, skin crawling with the desire to hit something, someone, do something. "Ford," he hissed, "what the hell did you give me?"

Without taking his eyes off the path in front of them, Aiden said, "Found out last time I was hear that those stingers didn't have as much effect on me as everybody else. Figured it had something to do with the Wraith enzyme."

"You gave me Wraith drugs?!"

Ford flicked his eyes at Sheppard. "You're alive, aren't you?"

John glared at the back of Aiden's head. "You didn't have a man in here at all, did you?"

"I plead to their precious sensibilities."

"You mean it sounded better than 'I'm going to get a fix'."

"Means to an end, Sheppard."

The sound of shattered glass had both men whipping to an open doorway they had just past. John slowly entered the dark room, gun raised. It was a lab of sorts - no doubt to gather the findings from their "patients".

"Ford, get your glasses on and check the room."

Aiden pulled the glasses out of his pocket as Sheppard did the same.

"What's in the box, Rodney?"

"TGD's." Connelly opened the box and Rodney pulled out a pair. "It's just a rough model, I haven't had time to perfect them yet."

Ford grabbed a pair.

"Careful!," Rodney shouted, body tense as if trying not to lunge to save his precious creation.

John took the pair out of Rodney's hands. "They look like sunglasses," he said skeptically.

"Sunglasses that can detect thermal readings. With Torren giving us that Teyla just disappeared, we figured some kind of cloaking device was used. Unless it had some way of completely voiding their heat signature, they would still be visible using these. Originally we had the SGC send some equipment to us but it was bulky and in the way so I..."

"And Zelenka," Lorne added.

Rodney frowned briefly before brushing off that tidbit of information. "...I made these. Lightweight, somewhat durable..."

John cut in. "Somewhat durable?"

Grimacing, Rodney said, "Well, by somewhat durable I mean they break really easily."

Giving them a once over, John put them on and pushed the lone button on the side. Everything was green or blue except all the bodies around him, varying pieces of them ranging from yellow to orange to red.

"Cool."

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that either. They don't last very long before they stop working."

John turned it off and frowned at McKay. "Do they have any good features?"

Rodney looked a cross between indignant and nonplussed. "I said it was just a rough model."

Ford walked slowly down the center of the isle, aiming his weapon in the gaps between tables. John stayed at the door, blocking escape. Something crunching under foot caught John's attention and he aimed his P-90 at the noise.

A lone figure shakily rose to his feet with his hands raised in the air.

"P...please, do not shoot."

"Ford, is the rest of the room clear?"

"Yep. All clear."

John leveled a glare at the figure before him. "Take off your cloak."

Slowly reaching up, the man pulled a device out of his temple. With the glasses on, he didn't look any different. John lifted them enough to see if the man was truly visible before he fully took off the TGD's.

"I beg of you. Please, do not kill me. I'll do anything. Tell you anything."

"Do you work here?"

The man hesitated. "Yes."

"You run experiments on people that you steal from their homes?"

"Our people are dying."

"And that makes it okay to use other people as your lab rats?!"

"What we do is for the benefit of all - to make a better race, to solve the ailments we all face. Here we will find a medical breakthrough to change the face of..."

John tightened his grip on his weapon, shaking it slightly. "I don't care about your bull shit! What you do is torture and kill people."

Sheppard's mind shot to one of the first cells he'd opened today. A man had been burned all on the right side of his body. But the scars on the other side...the man had begged that John kill him, the pain being more than he could bear. Instead John half carried him, getting another man to help carry the burned man out of the building.

"If you were really so humane you'd do the tests on yourself!" John's nostrils flared, his control stretched to the breaking point. He would love nothing more than to make this man feel every bit of the pain he had caused. "Where are the others?"

"The...the others?"

John raised his weapon slightly in warning.

The man blanched and stuttered, "They have hidden away. In the unlikely event that we were found, all the researchers were to head to locations hidden throughout the complex until the threat was terminated."

"Thank you."

John shot him point blank in the head. The man fell, a death so quick he didn't even have time to register fear or pain on his face. Sheppard turned to Ford. "Let's go."

Neither man said anything until they had escaped the confines of the building.

"Must say I'm a little shocked."

Not that John needed to ask..."About what?"

"Point blank in the head after he surrendered. Not very humane of you."

John pulled a detonator out of his pocket. "I disagree. He's not going to get crushed or burn to death." With the flick of a switch, the building exploded behind them - crumbling as if it was no more than a house of cards.

John and Aiden set out at a jog to catch up with the others. Sheppard's leg twinged in discomfort where he was hit with the second stinger. The Wraith enzyme seemed to be holding back the full brunt of its effects. John just hoped that the withdrawal from the dose of enzyme wasn't too terrible. They still had a two day hike to the gate. Longer with injured among them. He didn't need to add himself as a liability.