Now that I've finished the long NCIS fic I can get back to my Stargate Atlantis fics here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.

Chapter 4

"This is Lt Col. Sheppard is anyone out there"

McKay had been piloting the jumper when he heard Sheppard's distress call, Sheppard sound a little weak which wasn't a good thing, and it meant he was hurt; he shared worried looks with both Teyla and Ronon. They had been trying to contact Sheppard for the better part of an hour with no response, it must have mean that the communications were down somehow, had Sheppard actually fixed it himself McKay thought slightly surprised, maybe Sheppard does listen to him after all.

Knowing that John was alive gave them a renewed hope; McKay pushed the ship a littler harder, causing a slight increase in speed. Hopefully they would be in time, he also knew that John's jumper was almost out of power, and had no idea how long it would last. The only problem was getting Sheppard out of the jumper safely; maybe he could tweak the cloak again, turning it into a shield of sorts. I mean if it worked underwater, he guessed it could work in space. However, it meant that they would have no shields, and were in the middle of space. This is obviously a very bad thing, what with Wraith lurking around. He quickly scanned the vicinity just in case; he went to work on changing it over anyway. Maybe, Sheppard's jumper would have enough power to land at the closest planet.

"Sheppard, it's McKay, can you hear me?" McKay asked a little worriedly, it had only been a short message then nothing. No response.

"John, please respond" Teyla almost pleaded. Again nothing, McKay panicked, turned away from the radio looking for hope from his team mates, but finding only calmness.

"What if… what if he's-" he stopped suddenly, not wanting to voice the last bit. Teyla spoke up again.

"Perhaps he can only send messages and not receive them." Ronon nodded slightly in agreement, he knew that sometimes the radios didn't always work. Teyla continued noting that her comment hadn't calmed Rodney down "Or there could be what you call…interference" she thought about the word for a moment, she had heard him speak about it before.

"What…erm…ahh yes, you could be right" McKay scolded himself secretly, why hadn't he thought of that, he was meant to be the genius. He tapped rapidly on his tablet looking for any signs of interference, "Ah –ha, there is some debris from meteors in this system, we need to get closer" he went about piloting the ship again, trying to push the engines as fast as he could.

For the next 45 minute they tried in vain to contact Sheppard. They had tried every 5 minutes, and nothing, the last time they thought they heard a shuffle of sorts, but couldn't be sure. McKay had almost finished with the updates to the systems so they could get Sheppard out of the jumper. The atmosphere in their own jumper was tense, they were all worried now, and they were close enough that they could just about see Sheppard's jumper on the horizon. They could only hope that Sheppard was still alive when they got to him.

"McKay, go faster." Ronon ordered.

"Look, I'd be going faster if you'd stop asking every few minutes" McKay bit back. Ronon sent him and warning look, McKay ignored it and pushed the small ship even harder than before. He knew that Ronon was just worried.

They were minutes away when alarms went off, they had just been trying to get Sheppard's attention again, McKay looked at the readings, he immediately stiffened in his seat, both Teyla and Ronon realised this. They knew that it was going to be bad news, though they didn't want to hear it.

"What is it Rodney?" Teyla asked with trepidation. Please don't say what I think you're going to say she pleaded silently.

"He…the…the jumper just lost all power…" McKay struggled to get even this out, in his head he was willing there to be oxygen left in the ship Sheppard was in, but he knew that it was only a slim chance.

"Then you must go faster!" Ronon bellowed, half ordering him.

"Right…erm…but-" he stuttered trying to tell them it was no use before Ronon cut him off again.

"Just go McKay, Now!"

x-X-x

Sheppard was aware of the alarms blaring just before he slipped away again. he had watched the count down, he had no idea how much oxygen was left in his ship, he just knew that his friends were near, maybe, they would reach him in time. His hold on life slipped away between his fingers, covered in his own blood, surely he didn't have enough blood left to lose. Would his friends get there just in time to see him die, or would they be able to save him. He slumped in the pilot's chair, well at least his last image would be that of the stars and his friends...

TBC

The next chapter should be the last, it just seemed right to end this one here, hope ya'll liked it. Please read and review.