The sound of his COs voice in his ear snapped Evan out of his stupor, prompting him to tug off his pack and start digging through it for the limited medical supplies they all carried.

Groaning, Ronon pulled himself over to see what had happened.

"Laura, I'm so sorry," he said, horrified at the damage he had unwittingly caused.

She shook her head to put off his apology.

"Yyou…ok...okay?" she stuttered. "Shot?"

Sheppard cursed at the reminder and quickly pulled off his own pack. Evan decided against dislodging Laura's shirt and pulling it up over her rib and began to pack the area with gauze. She fisted her hand in the material of his pants, slipping her fingers into his pocket and clenching tightly. Ronon sat beside her as Sheppard cut his shirt away and began examining his wound. To distract herself, she rolled her head to the side and looked around them.

"Where'd…hhhe…go?"

"Oh, so now it's a man?" Evan joked lightly, making his own attempt to take her mind off the pain.

She smiled weakly, but then gasped and flinched when he pushed a little too hard on the gauze.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he blurted out remorsefully before realizing what he was saying and who he was saying it in front of.

Sheppard didn't acknowledge his slip, however, as he patched Ronon up. There wasn't really anything he could do beside bandage the wound. They would have to wait until they got back to Atlantis and let Dr. Keller remove the bullet. He just hoped it didn't start moving around and doing even more damage.

When he was done, he patted Ronon lightly on the shoulder.

"All done, sweetheart," he said, sending a smirk in Lorne's direction.

Standing, he looked around and addressed Laura's previous question.

"I'm starting to think this guy is playing with us. He could have picked all of us off by now."

Evan nodded in agreement, not taking his eyes off his work.

"This is a pretty sick game, then."

"We should go before he decides to make another move," Ronon suggested.

Upon his suggestion, the three men looked down at Laura. There was no time to make a litter for her, as they would have preferred, and there was no way Ronon could continue to carry her.

"Just leave me," Laura said.

"Absolutely not," Evan spat out before she was even finished. "No way, Laura. I am not leaving you here."

"Lorne's right, Cadman," Sheppard added. "If we leave you here, even if someone were to stay with you, you'd both be sitting ducks."

"We're almost to the gate," she argued. "You can dial Atlantis and bring Jen back with a stretcher."

She was shivering now, absolutely freezing down to her very core. Shock was setting in, she knew. She didn't have much time. Seeing this, Sheppard pulled off his own jacket and draped it over her.

"We don't leave a man behind," he said firmly.

"You're not–"

Laura was interrupted by the crackle of John's radio.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Atlantis," Richard Woolsey's voice declared. "Do you copy?"

Evan visibly wilted in relief. He picked up Laura's hand and kissed, no longer caring about protocol. He was just happy they were going home. Sheppard grinned.

"Never thought I'd say this but," he clicked his radio on, "it's good to hear your voice, Sir."

Evan and Ronon chuckled.

"We're in a bit of trouble here," John continued. "We could use some backup and a med team."

Jennifer Keller's voice rang out, then.

"Who's injured?"

Everyone looked to Ronon, smirking because they knew she was really asking after him. He and the good doctor were trying to keep their relationship under wraps, but somehow everyone knew anyway. That's just the way things were in Atlantis.

"Ronon's been shot in the back, but he's still awake and sitting up. Lieutenant Cadman had a dislocated shoulder that we put back into place and a broken rib that has since become a compound fracture."

"We'll send a jumper immediately," Woolsey assured them.

"You'd better make sure it's cloaked," John told him. "Some wack job we can't see's been following us around all day taking pot shots at us."

"Understood."

Sheppard was surprised at the lack of questions by their leader, but was sure that a full inquisition would come upon their return. He crouched down next to Laura's prone form and lightly touched her shoulder.

"Almost there, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir," she said softly.

She continued to hold on to Evan's hand until the jumper arrived 15 minutes later. By then, she was struggling to remain awake, despite Evan's pleas for her to hold on just a little while longer. She drowsily insisted that the med team see to Ronon first.

"He's got…a bullet floating…around in there…somewhere," she said testily when both Ronon and Lorne started to argue.

As much as she was worried for her friend, Jennifer was only too glad to check on Ronon so she could see the severity of his condition. As Sheppard had originally noted, there wasn't much she could do until she could get him back to all of the technology she had available in the infirmary on Atlantis.

Ronon was deposited in the jumper with strict instructions to stay there under threat of death. A sight to behold, he actually nodded in agreement when faced with Jennifer's fiercest glare.

Moving back to Laura, Jennifer cautiously removed the gauze Evan had packed around her displaced rib.

"Well, geez, Laura," she exclaimed once the injury was in full view. "What did you do to yourself?"

"Got shot…fell…off a cliff…tossed into…into a river…chased through the woods…and then…then your boyfriend…fell on me."

Laura was completely spent after her teasing reply. Her grip on Evan's hand loosened slightly, but still she didn't let go. The med team came over to move her onto a stretcher, a process which, if possible, made her face go even whiter than it had been before. She cried out, before biting her lip to cut herself off.

"Hope you've got…some really…really good drugs, Jen," she whimpered.

Silently, Evan hoped that Jennifer had some really good drugs too. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand watching Laura suffer.

"I can give you something mild, but that's all until I can take some scans to make sure you don't have any lung damage," Jennifer told her apologetically.

The stretcher was lifted by two of Jen's team and Evan and Jennifer took up positions on either side. Just as Evan was wondering what had become of their mysterious shooter, weapons fire emanated from behind them. The four of them immediately crouched down low to the ground, Evan leaning his upper body over Laura's. Sheppard and the team of Marines that had accompanied the med team spread out and returned fire.

The attacking gunfire ceased and Laura was quickly rushed into the jumper.

"Damn it!" Sheppard exclaimed as he stalked up the ramp. "I really want to get that guy!"

Then an idea occurred to him. Making his way to the front of the jumper, he brought up the life signs display on the screen. He counted. He counted again, his mouth falling open. There were 12 life signs. Four were his team, four were Dr. Keller and her team, and four were the Marine unit. There were no other life signs in the vicinity.

"What the hell?"

"What?" Ronon demanded from the back.

"Nothing. There's nothing – no one – else out there."

"Maybe he's got some sort of personal shield or cloaking device," Evan offered.

"Sorry, guys, but we don't have time to stick around and find out," Jennifer said. "I need to get these two into surgery."

Frustrated, irritated, aggravated, annoyed, and every other word that was synonymous with being severely pissed off, Sheppard gave a curt nod and then insisted on piloting the jumper back to Atlantis himself.

Ten minutes later they were descending into the jumper bay, and Evan took his first full breath in hours. He put a hand on Laura's cheek, prompting her drowsy eyes to blink open. He smiled.

"We're home."