Title: All For Love
Author: Rayvin813
Chapter: 3/6
Summary: John pilots a risky rescue mission to the Asuran home world...and it's all for love. But will he succeed?
Pairing: Sparky
Spoilers: Adrift/Lifeline.
Rating: PG/PG-13 (to be safe)
Warnings: Violence/Action Sequences

All For Love

He wakes up in a cold sweat, the scent of the rose his dream-Elizabeth had given him mingling with the perspiration on his pillow. He lets out a deep breath and sits up slowly, running a shaky hand through his hair. The dreams of her still hadn't left him alone. Even weeks later, eight, to be exact, he was still dreaming of her.

Most often it was a dream of the two of them, him and Elizabeth, when they had been taken over by Phoebus and Thalan. Except, it is always actually him and Elizabeth. And they almost always...

His door chimes, and his earpiece buzzes from where he laid it on his night stand last night in the same instant, startling him out of his thoughts. He groans and rolls himself out of bed, fitting his earpiece into his ear as he pulls his fatigue pants on over his boxers. He consults his digital watch. 0300 hours. He grumbles to himself and presses the comm button on the earpiece.

"This is Sheppard," he croaks out through his dry throat. One hand reached up to massage his vocal cords, while the other runs through his perpetually messy hair.

"Sheppard! This is McKay," his voice is nearly squeaking, a sound that John has missed lately. Excitement in Rodney's voice is usually a good thing, not that John would ever admit it aloud. But now, of all times, it is especially welcome.

"Go ahead, Rodney," he replies as he takes the glass of water from his nightstand and takes a long drink.

"Sheppard, you really need to get down to the control room! You're going to want to see this!" Rodney squeaks again as John grabs the handgun from the drawer in his bedside table, and throws a hand out across his door mechanism. The door opens with a hushing sound, and he finds himself face to face with Major Evan Lorne.

"I'm on my way, Rodney," He replies as he nods a greeting to the major, sliding the weapon into the black leather holster on his belt and snapping the securing button closed. Something about having the gun at his hip, in his favorite cross-draw position makes him feel safer, more in control, even in this situation where he knows he has none.

He races toward the transporter, Lorne on his heels, and he presses the dot that represents the control room with conviction the moment he steps inside. He doesn't wait for Lorne to step across the threshold, it never crosses his mind, but the soldier leaps in at the last minute, before the door glides closed seamlessly. Lorne doesn't say a word. He knows better.

John silently thanks him for that with a simple glance.

His eyes seek out Rodney the instant the door glides open, and strides toward the self-proclaimed genius, purpose plainly written across his face. John is all business as he maneuvers around the various consoles in the control room, and all but ignores the people hovering around the Ancient devices anxiously.

He locates McKay in front of a laptop that is hooked into the console that controls the long-range sensors, and reads the expression on Rodney's face for what it is as the scientist stares unblinking at the monitor: a narrow ray of hope.

He knows Rodney feels guilty for what happened to Elizabeth, after all, it was his idea that got her captured in the first place, but John Sheppard is not a man to lay blame on anyone other than himself, so he places a reassuring hand on the scientist's shoulder as Samantha Carter groggily drags herself down from her office.

'Elizabeth's office!' his mind screams in silent protest, and he has to shake the thought away. He forces himself to focus on the task at hand.

He nods at the woman who has all but taken the place of the woman he loves, has loved for the better part of three years now, and she returns his greeting.

"Morning, Sheppard."

"Colonel," he replies, repeating his nod. He pretends that he hasn't heard the rumors about her appointment to head the Atlantis expedition. With everything in him, he hopes it isn't true. Where would such an appointment leave Elizabeth?

Rodney starts to talk as soon as he sees that both Sheppard and Carter have assembled in the control room, and John tries to follow along for the first thirty seconds, but the conversation morphs into McKay and Carter doing their technical talk back and forth, sharing smiles and amused looks that no one else, except possibly Zalenka, could understand. John's patience wears thin from within the haze of just being roused from his sleep, and interrupts.

"McKay! English!"

Rodney just smiles brightly at him. "We've found her."

:x:

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly as he engages the cloaking device on the puddlejumper. Ronon sits in the seat behind him, and Teyla occupies the one behind Rodney in the co-pilot's seat. Rodney's fingers tap the edge of the dialing console incessantly, and John's face curls up into a snarl as he glances over at Rodney.

"McKay," he growls, his nerves already on edge as they penetrate the perimeter of the Asurans' version of Atlantis. Rodney looks up in confusion.

"What?! I..."

Rodney receives one of John's patented glares, promising one of the most painful deaths imaginable, and he blanches.

"Oh. Ah...sorry," the scientist sputters and crosses his arms over his chest, tucking his hands into his armpits. From behind him, Ronon has to choke back a laugh and shares a look with Teyla. She grins at the exchange up front as well, but her smile fades quickly, knowing what is ahead. They all know what is at stake, and they all want to be as focused and positive as possible. Everyone knows that the smiles on each others' faces have been pasted on, but they fight to make them genuine.

Despite how hard they try to keep that positive frame of mind, John feels as if he could cut the tension in the jumper with a knife. In the rear compartment of the Ancients' ship sit Major Lorne and five Marines, readying themselves for the battle to come. They know that it is likely going to be a one-way mission, but they don't care. They had all put on their bravest faces and squared their shoulders when Carter had asked them if they knew what they were getting themselves into.

"No offense, ma'am," Lorne had told her. "But she is our commander and has been for the last three years. We're not about to abandon her to the replicators. Not when there's a chance we can save her."

Sam had nodded and given the men a sad smile. She understood completely. She had then turned and offered John a look that said that she would do the same thing he was attempting, if their roles had been reversed...especially had it been Jack O'Neill held captive, instead of Doctor Weir.

John put his game face on as he recalled the conversation, and set his frame of mind to positive. There was only one way this mission was going to end: with the successful rescue of Doctor Elizabeth Weir.

"Lorne!" John calls out to the rear of the jumper.

"Sir?" Lorne replies, standing and moving into the forward compartment.

"You know the game plan?" Sheppard asks quietly, trying not to disturb his own thoughts. Rodney glances over at him curiously. Lorne nods his reply.

"Yes, Sir," Lorne turns to walk away, but John catches the back of his black tactical vest as he turns around.

"Evan," he sighs. "Watch your back."

"Always, Sheppard. You just keep an eye on your own six," he replies before shaking John's hand and retreating to his seat in the rear of the jumper.

John hears him giving orders to the marines in the rear compartment, followed by the click-clacking of the men checking their P-90's over for jams or any other malfunctions and securing their ARG's to their vests for a quick switch of the weapons once they are inside the Asurans' citadel.

'This is going to work,' he tells himself as he takes a slow, deep breath. 'It has to.'

John calls up the HUD and checks all of the sensors. So far, they haven't been detected. If there was one thing that he could have on this operation, it would be to keep their presence a secret at least until they landed. He nods to McKay, and the scientist pulls his PADD out from under his seat and begins tapping away with his stylus. He scribbles a few things and then looks up at John.

"It's done," he tells him, and John smirks.

"Good. Then I'm going in," he replies before calling out to the men in the rear of the jumper. "Everybody hang on!"

A chorus of 'Yes, sirs!' meets his ears as he brings the jumper down on top of one of the south piers that their intel had shown relatively unused for quite some time. He brings the jumper down a little harder than he intended to in his anxiousness, and bites his lip to keep from making a noise.

"Sorry!" he calls out, and Rodney grunts in disapproval. John casts him a look and any protest McKay is thinking about making dies in his throat.

"All right. You all know what to do," John tells them, taking a good long glance at every single one of their faces. "Let's get this done. Everyone watch your asses, and God speed to you all."

"McKay," he turns back to address the man getting up from the co-pilot's seat. "You're staying here. Have the jumper ready to go when we get back...and no complaints. I don't want to have to drag you back to the jumper as well. Understood?"

Rodney nods, but the look of fierce determination never leaves his eyes. He wants to go in as well, but he also understands that it's a risk they can't afford to take. Someone else has to be able to fly the jumper home, should something happen to Lorne and Sheppard on the way in or out.

John nods at Lorne before punching the button to open the rear hatch of the jumper, and the Marines file out, each one covering the others as they move in formation around the sides of the small ship. Evan extends a hand to his superior officer and John shakes it, gripping the other soldier's hand tightly.

"Ready, Colonel?" Lorne asks, a cocky smile on his face. John nods, letting one spread across his face as well. There was a reason he wanted Lorne on this op with him, and it wasn't just because of his marksmanship with an ARG. The man knew how to handle himself in combat, and his optimism was always contagious.

"Let's do it, Major," he replies as he follows the Marines to the rear of the ship. Ronon pulls out his weapon, after strapping an ARG to his back, and exits the rear of the jumper boldly as Teyla fits her P-90 to her shoulder and sights down the end of the weapon, covering him. The ARG bounces against her back lightly, but makes no noise. He smiles as he watches her move stealthily along with Ronon.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think that there was something between Ronon and Teyla. Maybe there would be one day, and he knows he'd sure as hell like to be there to see it, so he focuses his eyes over the sights of his own weapon.

Sheppard and Lorne are the last to exit the ship and make their way around one side. Two new Marines, Jacobs and Taylor, are crouched by the port side of the jumper and Sheppard looks at them with complete trust in his eyes.

"You two stay with the jumper, no matter what happens. I'm trusting you to cover us when we come flying back with Replicators on our asses, and to protect McKay at all costs, understood?"

The Marines nod, and Jacobs tugs at his tactical vest nervously.

"Go get her, sir," he tells Sheppard. "We'll be fine here."

Sheppard nods and motions to Lorne to follow Ronon and Teyla. They enter the complex with the advantage of being unnoticed. He prays that they'll come out with that same advantage as well.

:x:

He consults the life signs detector as he points his P-90 down an empty corridor.

"Clear," he mouths to the rest of his team and motions them forward. He's had her located on the detector for the last five minutes, but hasn't said anything. Part of him thinks that if he doesn't announce it, they won't get caught. The rational part of him knows that it isn't true, that it's only a matter of time.

As if reading his thoughts, two more dots representing hostiles pop up on the tiny screen and begin rotating around the one he'd determined to be Elizabeth. Two others were holding position on the other side of the wall from her location. He immediately comes to a halt and holds up a fist, signaling to the rest of the team to follow suit. The members of his team shrink back into the shadows in the corridor and he curses mentally. Their task had just doubled in complexity right before his eyes.

Sighing, he leans out from his hiding place and peeks out into the hallway. He casts his eyes over the corridor in a quick sweep, and notes two of the new figures, sentries, standing on either side of the door they are looking to go through.

He leans back into his hiding place and grumbles to himself. So much for going unnoticed. He holds up two fingers to signal the amount of hostiles in the hallway, and motions to the Marines to go in ahead of the rest of the team.

The two men in the black tac vests nod and silently sneak down the hallway, using the shadows as cover. They have both long since switched their near-useless P-90's for ARG's, and point and fire at the sentries guarding the door. They hold up a hand to tell everyone else that it is now all clear as the two replicators fall into tiny pieces in the middle of the hall before anyone can be alerted to the presence of nine intruders. Intruders who should be long-since dead or gone.

John takes point, Lorne and Teyla flanking him, and Ronon bringing up the rear as they move from their hiding spots. He leads them down the dim corridor and, once he reaches the door with the two Marines standing guard, and presses himself flush against the wall. He now trades his P-90 for his ARG, and everyone else that hasn't already done so follows suit. Something in his mind wonders why they even brought the automatic weapons, and frowns at the thought. If it gets to the point that they have to use the P-90's against the Asuran forces, they'll be incredibly past 'screwed.'

He mentally smacks himself for thinking that way. Now is when it counts. Now is when he can't let her down.

He takes a deep breath, steps out from the wall, and readies his ARG as Ronon fires a blast at the door mechanism. He smirks and looks at Ronon. The Satedan smiles back at him as the door jams in its track. Whether or not it's a trick of the Asurans, he knows that they have more than enough manpower to get the door open and get in.

He and Ronon line up side by side, and Lorne joins them at the last minute. Casting a sideways glance at the other two, Lorne grins and sets his stance.

As the door mechanism begins its opening motion again, the three men move together in unison and level a loud, echoing kick against the door.

John smirks as the door opens before them and takes a deep breath.

"Game time," he murmurs as he leads the team into the room.