Chapter 3: Right Hand of Fate

Elizabeth sighed as she watched the six forms walk through the wormhole, one pausing to give the same jaunty wave he always did. Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was back on the loose... Perhaps she should have sent out warning messages to the rest of the galaxy. A smile tugged her lips at the idea. There were times she wondered if fate didn't hate the man, the way trouble seemed to discover him on the simplest of missions.

"Worried about him already, love?"

A gentle hand on her shoulder alerted her to the presence of Doctor Carson Beckett just before he spoke.

"With John, its automatic. When he came to me yesterday with the mission proposal, I didn't know whether to hug him or choke him. How could he not tell me two members of SG-1 would be visiting us for several months? He was like a little kid bouncing around because he pulled one over on the adults. I wanted to chew his rear end out..."

"But?" Carson prompted quietly, having a fairly good guess as to why she didn't.

"But... It was the first time in weeks that I've seen that light in his eyes."

"The one that makes you wonder for a moment if the lad every really grew up, you mean?"

The doctor grinned, content that everyone in his care was once again well. It was when John was recovered enough from his latest injury for that glint to return that Carson knew the colonel would truly be alright. It was also when the nurses began demanding hazard pay.

"We almost lost him again. I keep wondering when his luck will finally run out. Not to mention what I'll do without him." Elizabeth gripped the railing hard as a shudder ran down her spine at the very thought of facing that. "Maybe we shouldn't have let him go so soon."

"He's as ready as he'll ever be to go back out there, love, and he's got extra help with him if they do manage to find trouble already. How many close calls has SG-1 gotten out of over the years?"

"True, Carson, but look at how often they found the danger to need to get out of it! If fate is kind, this will be just as easy as Rodney made it out to sound, but... Egyptian hieroglyphs in the Pegasus Galaxy? I can't shake the feeling that something's going to go very wrong."

Glancing at her companion, it didn't reassure her any to see the same unease in his expression that she was fighting so hard to tell herself was just nerves. Why couldn't she just lock her military commander in an office and never let him out again? Elizabeth was tired of the vigils in the infirmary, the knot of turmoil in her gut any time they were the slightest bit overdue, the inevitable emergency calls to the medical staff when they did come back... Couldn't the universe be gentle with them just this once? For her? With one last look at the now silent gate, she turned toward her office, intent on at least pretending to get some work done.

John was bored. Very, very bored. For once in his life, though, it wasn't a problem for him. No angry natives, no weird customs, no astrophysicist whining about said customs and natives, no manic former subordinates... and no bugs or Wraith girls trying to feed off of him. This was good. Just the kind of milk run mission he actually needed to steady his nerves about going off world again after his latest nasty brush with death, not that he would ever willingly admit that to anyone. Now, if their surroundings would be a little more cooperative at settling him, he'd be a very happy man.

The ruins themselves were at least beautiful in their own, abandoned for 10,000 years way, full of the typical graceful Ancient style and that virtually unbreakable pseudo-stained glass. It looked to John as if this may have been another outpost of some kind, and a fairly substantial one at that. There were several large buildings, each containing seemingly endless interconnected rooms, more or less intact. If there was a rhyme or reason to the layout, John had yet to figure out the pattern. There were lab after lab, then what was probably personal quarters, then another lab, a bathroom, a kitchen of some sort, more labs... Weird, almost as if whoever planned the thing had too much to drink that night. It was made even worse by the collapse of some of the ceilings and walls to certain rooms, leaving piles of rubble to catch the unwary in a dead end. Add the trees growing throughout the whole thing, both in the structures and between them, and it was enough to make any good soldier wary of unexpected surprises around any given turn.

Consequently, Ronon and Teyla were patrolling the outer ruins while he and Cam strolled through the inner ones, comparing their newest misadventures. They hadn't yet reached an agreement on which was worse, being convinced by your own memories that you'd killed a friend in cold blood when you were actually innocent, or losing your humanity as you slowly turned into a giant bug-creature that saw your friends as food. John, of course, went with the whole mutating thing as being a lot uglier than a few false memories.

"You know what this place reminds me of, John?" Cam grinned at his friend as they turned a corner only to find another wall, much more relaxed about the whole thing then his companion. Not that Sheppard didn't have plenty of reason to be jumping at shadows.

"The obstacle course at the Academy?"

"Nope. A corn maze. Everything looks the same so you can't really keep track of where you've been, keep goin' in circles."

"Great, that's all we need, something out of a Corn Belt carnival. Don't suppose you ever learned any tricks for defeating this little headache?"

Cam laughed softly at his friend's grumbling, glad he had successfully diverted his attention from every little sway of a tree branch. For a while, the SG-1 colonel had wondered if they would have a leafy massacre on their hands courtesy of John's nerves.

"Yep. Don't go in them in the first place."

"Oh, very helpful, thank you. You're as bad as Rodney."

John rolled his eyes, batting another branch out of his way as they made their way through the rubble in a doorway, only to find the subject of his comparison hunched over what was left of a console in the next room. Daniel wasn't far away, crouched near a wall, carefully examining some writing. Looking around, the Atlantis colonel swore softly, trying to figure out how they'd come in a circle back to their starting point without his being aware of it. He usually had a better sense of direction then that, even in a building. This place was starting to turn bored into creepy, don't come back until Halloween. He could have sworn they were about to exit the ruins near the far side, not return to the front. Unless...

"McKay, did you two move rooms without telling me?"

A distracted wave of dismissal from the preoccupied astrophysicist. "What? No, no... Unless we're in danger of imminent death or self-destruction, go away, Sheppard. I'm busy."

"So much for the place not sounding to interesting. Is he always such a courteous companion?"

Cam grimaced, beginning to see why his team mates had taken such an instant dislike to the man. He was certainly no comparison to Sam, who was smart, funny, nice, and knew how to shoot a weapon.

A chuckle answered him. "He hasn't even gotten warmed up yet. Wait until you see him in full snark mode. Okay, Rodney, we'll leave, but warn me if you're about to blow something up, please."

"Huh! That's normally your department! Just watch-"

John had turned to leave, only to trip over a chunk of rock he'd somehow failed to notice on the floor, sending him stumbling. Unfortunately, his recent illness ensured that he wasn't able to regain his footing with his usual athletic grace and he fell against a small crystalline pedestal with a soft curse. The thing immediately lit up, a bright flash momentarily blinding the four men and dizziness landed John on his butt.

"What the hell was that !" Cam blurted, only to have an energy bolt crackle past his ear, sending him ducking behind the farther, and larger, console McKay had been studying.

John rolled, heedless of the bruises he was undoubtedly picking up from the debris, not about to risk standing up with an unknown enemy firing at them out of nowhere. As he did so, he was able to catch a glimpse of their attacker standing in the door he and Cam had just come through. Son of a bitch. A Wraith. Where had he come from? The rattle of a P-90 told him someone was giving him the cover fire he needed to scramble around the console, joining the others.

"Sheppard! That's a Wraith warrior!"

"Very good, Rodney! Tell me something I don't already know!"

Before he could key his com to warn their companions, however, the thing clicked to life, Teyla's angry and alarmed voice filling the room. "Wraith! They are holding the Stargate active!"

"Shit! So much for a cake walk!"

John swore quietly as he and Cam returned their adversary's fire. The rattle of another P-90 from the other side of the room had the alien in a textbook cross-fire, taking the Wraith down. Eventually. Used to Rodney, who rarely shot if he could help it, John had forgotten that Daniel was almost as good as any trained soldier. Wearily, he pushed himself to his feet, surprised by how much the short fight had taken out of him, then was forced to grab the console once again as a wave of dizziness hit. Not even quite sure of why, he clicked on his com.

"Teyla, Ronon, fall back to the inner ruins! Signal me the moment you're within the city perimeter."

"Acknowledged, colonel."

Rodney, meanwhile, was gaping open mouthed at the now brightly lit pedestal console.

"Sheppard! What the hell did you do! You're not supposed to touch anything, remember!"

The Atlantis colonel, however, seemed utterly oblivious to his surroundings, focus totally consumed by the console on which he still leaned against. The whole thing was glowing now, cycling through pastel blue, purple, pink, and yellow, the lights casting an eerie reflection in John's suddenly glassy eyes.

"Jackson, keep watch for more party crashers. We may have a problem."

Cam grimly waved a hand in front of his colleague's face while Rodney glowered at the sudden wealth of readings on his tablet. John was completely non-responsive, which all three men were sure was a bad sign.

"Why do I get the idea that John's not supposed to be playing wax museum right now?"

Rodney rolled his eyes at the other colonel, exasperated. "Brilliant deduction, colonel. Anything else obvious you feel the over-whelming urge to share?"

Click. "Sheppard, we're in the ruins."

Ronon, sounding slightly out of breath. Rodney couldn't think of a strong enough curse for the mess this day was fast becoming. He really should have known better than to let Sheppard and his strong ATA gene anywhere near Ancient ruins.

"Damn it! Hold on, Ronon, we may have a problem. Sheppard's-"

A surprised yelp cut off the rest of what the scientist was saying as a shimmering blue shield arced to life over their heads. Then the console flashed one more time and John slipped bonelessly to the floor, unconscious.

TBC...

A/N: Thanks to all of you who have been reading and reviewing. Sorry this has been so slow in coming, life really got in the way for a while, plus my muse decided she had other things for me to do and wouldn't shut up until I complied. Now, time to bring in someone else to join the party...