A/N: Thanks for all the support for this story. I appreciate you staying with me since Welcome to Pegasus. No beta so all mistakes are mine.

Rodney spun in a circle. There were life signs all around them, some moved toward the gate and some moved away. He felt tears of frustration pressuring his eyes and a massive migraine coming on. How the hell do we know where Jennifer is? "There's so many of them," he finally whined. O'Neill and Ronon were ahead of him and Richards was close to his side.

"There's a river due east of here," the Marine said. "And a rope bridge to the other side."

"Jennifer could be planning on cutting it with Teyla's knife," the General said as slowed and looked at the life signs detector that Rodney held. "There are two groups near the river."

"And a single figure out in front…" Rodney stopped speaking because the single figure stopped moving and two others closed in. His anxiety increased and he started shouting at the soldiers. "We've gotta move. They're gonna captured her."

O'Neill and Richards took off faster than Rodney could ever imagine the older men capable of. The physicist stashed his detector, gripped the P90 dangling from his vest and ran after them with Ronon at his side.

Rodney's desire to get to Jennifer before those animals that beat Teyla could hurt her pushed his normally cautious nature to the wind. They encountered several groups of Bola Kai and cut them down with a hail of bullets from Rodney and O'Neill's P90s, Gunny's shotgun and Ronon's energy weapon. None of the men glanced at the bodies as they ran because there was no doubt the warriors were dead.

When they crested the hill Rodney saw a scene he'd prayed never to encounter. One of the Bola Kai was kicking at something, which had to be Jennifer. Rodney raised his gun, but knew he was too far to make the sounded from slightly ahead of him. Richards changed guns, took aim while on the run and put down the warrior with a single shot to the head.

Rodney screamed Jennifer as he saw the figure fall to let her know help was on the way.

Jennifer wouldn't allow herself to believe the voice was Rodney's. It had to be a trick of her imagination. The pounding sound continued, making her squeeze her eyes tighter and withdraw into a place where the savages couldn't touch her, a place where she was safe: in Rodney's arms.

Within seconds the physicist was cradling her against his chest as heartbeat drummed in her ear. He pressed kisses to her hair and his hand gently touched her face.

She felt someone lift her leg and screamed in pain. As in the jumper when Carson was trying to treat her, Rodney's voice angrily shouted at whoever hurt her. Her head was pressed to his chest and she slid her arms around his waist trying to mold herself against him. I'm safe. Those animals can't touch me because I belong to Rodney. "I love you," she said to her imaginary boyfriend.

"Oh, Jennifer, I love you too," he replied and she felt him hold her tightly in return.

A smile spread over her face. As long as he loves me, I can handle anything.

When she was extricated from Rodney's arms however she screamed and thrashed, sending pain shooting through her leg. Those animals couldn't take her away from him and she screamed Rodney, reaching for him as she was lifted off the ground.

"Jennifer! Jenny, calm down. It's me," a new voice spoke near her ear.

She twisted and tried to get away from this person whose arms were even stronger than Rodney's.

"Jennifer, I'm right here," Rodney replied. "Your Uncle Jack's gonna carry you. I need to coordinate with Lorne in the jumper. You're safe. We're going home."

"Uncle Jack?" Jennifer finally opened her eyes and looked into brown eyes that were full of pain and anger.

"I'm here, Jenny," Jack O'Neill replied as he held his niece in his arms. "We're getting you home."

Sudden gunfire made Jennifer flinch and look around. She saw Richards behind Rodney and Ronon in front of them. The men started shooting into the trees as Rodney shouted, "Here they come!" The physicist picked up his P90 from the ground and started shooting, while Jack crouched with Jennifer.

"Are you really here? I'm not dreaming?" she asked quietly as she raised a shaky hand to touch her uncle's face. She stopped once she saw the blood on her arm.

"No, Jenny, we're here," Jack replied with a grim expression on his face.

Jennifer's eyes zeroed in on the blood on her left arm and then looked at her right, which was covered with more red. Her eyes to the ground and saw the two dead Bola Kai. Her eyes widened and a tremor shook her body. "I killed him."

"Good girl," her uncle replied. "McKay, where's that jumper?"

"Lorne can't land too close. There's a clearing a quarter of a mile to the west," Rodney said. "There's about twenty or so life signs between us and them."

Ronon nodded to Richards, who grabbed a couple clips from his vest. "No problem," the Satedan said. "I'll take point. Shoot at everything the moves, McKay."

Rodney looked at Jennifer and smiled. "You're safe now." Given the fact that he just said twenty men were headed their way, Jennifer suddenly wasn't sure if this was reality.

Turning to look at her uncle, who was looking past the others, she let out a whimper. Jack's eyes connected with hers. "I-I… He's… I stabbed him."

"Jennifer, he was going to kill you," her uncle replied in a gentle voice.

Gunfire erupted and she clutched her uncle's vest with her bloody hands. "Not at first," she replied as her attacker's face filled her eyes.

"Then all the better you killed him before he did anything to you," her uncle's voice shook with contained fury.

"I…" The first sob shook her frame as she realized what might have happened to her.

Her uncle shushed her and held her closely. "Let's get back home and then we can talk about this." His brown eyes held gentleness only his most beloved friends and family got to see.

She couldn't hold in her tears anymore and buried her head against her uncle's neck. He stood and shouted at the men to clear a path. Gunfire continued, but Jennifer escaped back into her fantasy world. A world where Rodney McKay knows about Uncle Jack and still loves me.

TBC

A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but I wanted to leave the infirmary scene for a separate chapter.