A/N: Thanks to everyone that have reviewed so far. Sorry it took so long I think the plot bunnies went on vacation. I have to thank my Dad who betad this for me, although all mistakes are my own.

"Look Elizabeth, there's nothing more we can do" he sighed heavily before adding quietly "I can't fix this."

She wavered slightly as his words sunk in,

"Rodney, you've been at this for over two weeks, surely you must have found something."

"Well, yes you would have thought so, wouldn't you, but no I have found nothing that could give us any indication of where Sheppard is. You know that I would never admit this lightly but there really is nothing I can do. I'm sorry" he added

"I know you're right, it's just so hard to accept that he's never coming back."

McKay moved gingerly around to Elizabeth's side of the desk, ignoring the fact that several people were now staring at them through the glass walls of her office, he pulled her into a strong embrace as she wept, struggling against the stinging tears welling in his own eyes.

This was it. This time he couldn't save his CO, and dare he say it friend. This time there would be no last minute reprieve. No plan to save the day.

Sheppard had sacrificed himself to save Mckay, probably confident that once his team got back to Atlantis they would go back for him. This time there would be no rescue, they had no idea what planet they had been on, or even how they had got there. There was just know way of locating him, they had committed the cardinal sin, they had left a man behind.

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Sheppard was barely conscious as they entered his cell. He wasn't aware of the strong hands grabbing him, as he was dragged down the now all too familiar hallways. He wasn't aware of the smirking face of Alcon as he was forced into the ancient chair. He wasn't even aware of the ever present hum that ran through his body as the chair came to life beneath him.

Alcon stood watching as the ancient chair of the ancestors lit up as soon as it came into contact with John. He laughed maniacally, realising that his hard work was about to pay off.

"Sheppard" Alcon prompted, seeing the man was barely awake

"McKay" was Sheppard's slurred response.

Alcon seeing that he could use Sheppard's earlier hallucination to his advantage, replied,

"Yeah, it's me"

"Sooo tired" Sheppard mumbled

"I know you are, you can sleep in a minute OK. First I need you to do something really important." He poked Sheppard slightly as he saw that his eyes were drifting shut.

"Kay" Sheppard replied, focusing all his energy on keeping his eyes open.

"There are wraith on their way, I need you to use the chair to destroy the hive ships."

Alcon watched Sheppard intently as different emotions played their way across Sheppard's face, confusion, fear, determination. It seemed like an eternity to Alcon before Sheppard replied,

"Kay"

Sheppard fought with all his inner strength to stave off unconsciousness. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong., that there was something important he needed to remember, some reason why he shouldn't be activating the chair. Rodney was here though, Rodney would never intentionally put him or anyone else in danger.

It was getting harder and harder to stay awake, harder and harder to focus. Atlantis needed him, Rodney needed him.

Alcon watched gleefully as Sheppard screwed his face up in concentration. He watched the radar screens excitedly as he saw dozens of blips headed towards Nacarus. He watched as Sheppard's eyes closed, this time though he let them stay closed. He had served his purpose. He had succeeded in destroying the Nacarans, once and for all. He signalled to the two guards to remove Sheppard from the chair, he had served his purpose.

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Elizabeth sat in her office pretending to do paperwork. It had been three days since her conversation with Rodney, three days since she had made the decision to give up on the search for Sheppard, it had been one of the hardest decisions she had ever made.

"Elizabeth lass", she was startled back to reality by the familiar voice of Carson Beckett.

"Hi Carson" she replied sheepishly. She knew what was coming, she hadn't been eating or sleeping properly since John had been kidnapped and Beckett had an uncanny knack of knowing these things

"When was the last time you had anything to eat?", he chided.

Just as she was thinking up a half convincing lie she heard the familiar sound of the gate activating. Knowing that there were no teams currently off world she tapped her comm, and asked,

"Are we receiving an IDC."

There was a slight pause as the gate technician checked the laptop. He could hardly believe his eyes as he replied,

"Yes ma'am, it's Colonel Sheppard"

All thoughts off their previous conversation forgotten, they sprinted from her office.

"Lower the shield", she shouted as she made her way down the stairs, followed closely by Beckett, who was already on his comm calling for a medical team.

The dishevelled figure of Colonel Sheppard had barely cleared the gate before he was falling towards the floor. Elizabeth ran to him, catching him just in time before he hit the floor. It scared her how light he was, she had wanted him back desperately but nothing had prepared her for this. She noticed as she held him that she could feel his shoulder blades prominently through his clothes. What little she could see of his body was covered in cuts and bruises. She didn't want to think about the hell that he had obviously been through these past three weeks.

She watched as if from a distance as Carson moved in with his medical team. Gently he was pried from her arms, loaded onto a waiting gurney and wheeled away.

A/N: If you are reading this please review, any and all comments are greatly appreciated J