Apols for the longer than expected delay in getting this updated... I got distracted by real life - in the form of a weekend in London meeting Joe Flanigan at the MCM Expo! sighs happily Now if that ain't a good excuse for not updating... ;)

At least one more chapter to follow after this... possibly two.. this story just seems to keep on going...

Rodney couldn't breathe. It felt like there was a solid, icy lump in his chest, as though his heart had frozen solid. A tight band of pressure was squeezing him, stealing the very air from his lungs. His legs shook under him as he ran down the street, barely controlled panic warring with a terrible, numbing fear.

He stumbled to a halt at the foot of a pile of rubble; shattered stone and wood and tile that used to be a building. The extent of the destruction awed and dismayed him and he found himself simply staring helplessly at the remains of the house; parts of the outer wall of the building were all that remained intact, a corner here, the edge of a doorframe there. The rest of the structure had been ripped apart, the remains of the upper floor and roof collapsing inwards in a tumble of heavy masonry and chiselled stone. He felt a wave of despair wash through him; he couldn't honestly see how anyone could have survived this.

Ronon had gotten there ahead of him and was already clambering impatiently up the heaped pile of debris, pulling stone and wood aside with his bare hands. "Sheppard!" The Satedan's voice was raw, almost angry.

"Rodney." Teyla was at his side, her hair wild and windblown, her face mirroring his despair and fear, "Is he..?"

He looked at her for a moment in blank incomprehension, his mind still reeling from the sight of the utter destruction of the house, before snapping back to himself with a jerk. He fumbled frantically in the pockets of his tac vest, cursing himself for an idiot, and finally succeeded in pulling free the Life Signs Detector. He held the compact instrument in his hand and, for a brief moment, he hesitated, dreading what the softly-glowing screen might tell him; sometimes, he realised, ignorance truly is bliss. Stone clattered loudly against stone as Ronon flung pieces of debris to one side and, steeling himself, Rodney activated the LSD. The small screen lit up and, after what was probably only a fraction of a second but felt like a lifetime, a pattern of glowing dots appeared. Three of them. For an instant it seemed like the world stopped spinning and he closed his eyes in despair. Willing himself to be wrong, he peered more closely at the screen and felt the world jerk back into motion as he realised that one of the dots was in fact two dots, side by side, right next to each other. Four dots. Four life signs. He held his breath in disbelief. He looked more closely at the four dots, looking around him at Ronon and Teyla's positions and comparing them to the screen, then took a couple of steps to the side and watched as another dot divided into two, his life-sign moving away from Teyla's. Standing so close together, their life-signs had been side by side, almost merged on the LSD's small screen. Five dots in total. Two for he and Teyla and that left three life-signs in front of them – one was Ronon, balanced atop the rubble and the other two, side by side…

The wash of relief was so great that for a moment he felt dizzy and indeed he staggered a little, Teyla's hand on his arm grounding him, bringing him back to himself. "Rodney?"

Her eyes were filled with a terrible fear, an expectation of loss, and he found himself grinning almost hysterically, hardly daring to believe what the screen was telling him.

"They're alive," he croaked. "He's still alive." He gazed in disbelief at the pile of rubble. Somewhere underneath that pile of debris, Sheppard was still alive.

Ronon, his attention focused solely on his goal of reaching Sheppard, heaved a heavy stone to one side and the rubble shifted dangerously, Ronon wobbling precariously for a moment, struggling to find his balance. Somewhere in the pile a wooden beam groaned and snapped, sections of the ruined house shifting and sinking, and Rodney could hear the clatter of small pieces of debris falling and settling.

"Ronon!" Teyla was already moving towards the unstable ruin of the house. "Come down from there! It is not safe!"

Ronon's answer was almost a snarl, his face angry as he crouched atop the rubble. "We need to find Sheppard!"

There were more creaking sounds as the precarious structure protested the Satedan's weight and something inside Rodney snapped, his voice cracking as he shouted, "She's not worried about you, you neanderthal! The structure is not safe – you'll bring the whole damn thing down on top of him!"

Ronon's usually stoic face was a war of mixed emotions; instinctive anger, dawning realisation and shock and, something Rodney had never thought to see in the fierce warrior, helplessness. The momentary anger drained out of him in a rush; they were all helpless here. Sheppard was buried under tons of rubble, trapped, almost certainly injured. The village was in disarray, more than half of the buildings damaged or destroyed, and these people didn't have anything like the technology needed to mount a delicate rescue operation such as this. He felt despair weigh heavy on his soul.

"Ronon." Teyla's voice was calm, as strong and sure as ever. He marvelled at her composure as she firmly held out a hand, her stance implacable as she waited patiently for Ronon to concede and climb down from the ruined house. She was a mess, her hair in disarray, her uniform coated in dust and grime, but as ever she was a calm focus, a voice of rationality and composure in the midst of chaos. He realised suddenly just how much they, how much he, relied on Teyla and her ability to deal with anything that life threw at her, to cope in the worst of situations. She remained calm, her expression one of understanding, as Ronon reluctantly jumped down from the rubble, rising from his crouched landing to tower over her, his frustration evident on his face.

"We have to do something!" he gritted out.

"We will, Ronon.."

"We need help," Rodney interrupted shortly. He forced himself to push his fear aside and think, to figure out a way out of this. He realised with a lurch of despair that it was usually Sheppard who held him together in these situations, made him snap out of his panic and focus on the problem at hand, allowing him to once again find a brilliant solution to save them all. Only this time Sheppard wasn't here to steady him; it was Sheppard who needed saving. He was relying on his team, on Rodney. The thought galvanised him into action and he snapped his fingers impatiently at Ronon as his mind already began spinning through ideas, calculating load and weight distribution.

"We need a jumper. We need structural engineers." He ticked his points off on his fingers as he spoke, his words as rapid as his thoughts. "We need climbing gear and safety equipment. Ropes and pulleys. And we need Beckett."

"McKay.."

He rounded on Ronon in a controlled fury, his fear and frustration spilling up into his throat, choking him, making his voice tight and painful. "We can't do this on our own, Ronon! These people," he waved a hand at the devastated village, the dazed villagers wandering shell-shocked in the streets, "can't help us! We need help!"

"He could be.."

"Yes, he could be. And nothing we can do right now can change that. We need to get help to get him out of there and we need to get it now. We are wasting time here!" He could feel the blood rushing to his head, knew his face must be flushed and wild. He was beyond caring.

"I am lighter than Ronon," Teyla offered. "Perhaps.."

"Yes, yes! Whatever!" He snapped distractedly. "If the rubble will hold your weight then great. Give it a go. You," he pointed at Ronon, "need to get back to the gate and get help, right now!"

Ronon gave him a long look and for a second Rodney thought he had pushed the angry Satedan too far but his reasoning was sound and Ronon knew it; he was the fastest runner out of all of them, Teyla was the smallest and the only one with any chance of being able to navigate the ruins without furthering endangering Sheppard, and McKay… McKay was doing what he did best, coming up with the plan to save the day.

With Ronon, to think was to act and, accepting the logic of McKay's argument, he turned on his heel and set off down the street at a dead run, villagers scattering from his path as he raced by. "And bring back food and water too!" Rodney yelled after him. He turned to find Teyla had paused in her careful ascent of the ruined building to cast him a long, level look. "What?" he demanded indignantly. "We have no idea how long this is gonna take and I really don't think serving us canapés and spiced tea is much of a priority for these people right now, do you?"

Teyla's gaze slipped past him to take in the ruins of what had been a lively and bustling community. "The villagers will need our help," she murmured sadly.

"Yes, yes. We can worry about that later. One thing at a time, if you don't mind, and right now…" He gestured pointedly at the rubble under which his best friend lay buried, maybe dying right now, even as he stood here helplessly. He swallowed, feeling the flutter of panic building again in his stomach, and watched as Teyla carefully negotiated the unsteady ruin.

As time passed, he found his attention transfixed by the LSD. He couldn't stop staring at the screen, watching those two unmoving dots that were all that let him know that Sheppard still clung to life. Teyla moved lightly and carefully over the rubble, testing her weight carefully before every step, slowly and gingerly lifting chunks of stone and tile, broken timbers, and throwing them clear of the debris field. Everything seemed to Rodney to be taking too long, far too long. Teyla's progress was necessarily slow and Ronon… They'd walked for maybe an hour or so to reach the village when they'd arrived. How fast could Ronon run anyway? How long would it take him to reach the gate? And then he'd have to explain what had happened, get the necessary people and equipment together, stock the jumper… He looked at his watch impatiently. How much longer, dammit?

"Doctor McKay?"

He tore his gaze from the LSD to find Enir hovering nearby. The Councillor was a different man from the confident, charming diplomat who had welcomed them to his village just hours earlier. He looked, tired, drained, his gaze hollow with shock at the devastation that had been visited upon his quiet community.

Rodney looked beyond the Councillor at the debris-littered street and for the first time he realised what this disaster meant to the villagers; their town destroyed, buildings crumbling, people homeless, crops ruined. It would take them months, even years, to rebuild and recover. Teyla was right, the Tarins would need their help.

He coughed uncomfortably, not knowing what to say or do to appease the desperate look on Enir's face. "Oh. Councillor Enir. Um, is.. is everyone… are your people alright?"

Enir nodded wearily, "There are some injuries but it seems that none were lost. We were very lucky. Were it not for your Colonel Sheppard…." His words tailed off as he looked helplessly around him, the enormity of the destruction overwhelming him for a moment. Rodney couldn't think of a thing to say, a guilty feeling of resentment tightening in his throat at the thought of Sheppard lying trapped and injured whilst these strangers had walked away from this disaster with just a few scratches. Enir's voice was distant, distracted, his eyes seeing only the ruins of his home as he mused, "The roundwind is unpredictable. Often it strikes without warning… many have been lost in the past, unable to reach the shelters in time." He met Rodney's gaze earnestly. "How did he know? Your friend? He knew the roundwind would come before we saw it.."

Enir looked around for Sheppard, his face creasing in confusion as he realised belatedly that only Rodney and Teyla remained of their four visitors. "Where are..?"

"Ronon has gone to bring help from our people," Rodney replied shortly, turning his attention back to the LSD.

There was a moment of silence as Enir processed that information, putting it together with the sight of Teyla digging by hand through the rubble of the building. There was an all too familiar look of despair on his face as he turned back to McKay. "And Colonel Sheppard..?" he asked faintly, the hopeless note to his voice confirming he already suspected the answer.

Wordlessly, McKay pointed at where Teyla continued to carefully lift away the remnants of the building, piece by slow careful piece.

"I'm so sorry.." Enir's face showed genuine sorrow and Rodney found himself feeling ridiculously, inappropriately, angry.

"He's still alive," he snapped, his fingers clenching around the LSD.

He sensed that Enir was doubtful, and looking at the pile of rubble he could certainly see why, but before the Councillor could speak they were distracted by the babble of raised voices and a wailing cry that rent the heavy air of shocked silence that hung like a pall over the village. A crowd had gathered in the street and Enir hurried over to them, Rodney looking on helplessly as a distraught woman separated from the huddle of villagers, clinging to the Councillor as he offered comfort, her sobs audible as she struggled to answer Enir's questions.

He turned back quickly at a loud cracking noise and saw Teyla freeze in place, her weight balanced precariously between one stone block and another.

"Be careful up there!" he yelled, his heart in his throat as she carefully, slowly, transferred her weight, backing up from the unstable section. Reaching safety, she breathed out in relief and cast him a sharp look, frustration heavy in her voice.

"I am being careful, Rodney." Her face was streaked with sweat and dirt, haggard with exertion and worry. Taking a moment to gather herself, she turned back to her task, stepping carefully across the rubble to lift a chunk of broken plaster and carefully lift it aside. Rodney watched helplessly, clutching the LSD like a lifeline, and regretted his outburst.

"Dr McKay?" Rodney turned to find Enir once again, his arm around the shoulders of the young woman who'd been crying in the street. Her face was pressed to Enir's shoulder now, her sobs muffled, and the Councillor's face was sombre.

"I am sorry for your friend, Doctor," Enir said gravely, "but it seems you are not alone in your loss." His arm tightened around the shaking shoulders of the young woman. "Ilyona's child is missing. We had thought she was taken to the shelter with the rest of the children from the school but in the confusion…" He looked away as words failed him, swallowing hard as he fought for control.

Rodney could have kicked himself. In his preoccupation with rescuing Sheppard, it had never occurred to him to let the villagers know of the second life sign under the rubble. Of course the child would have been missed. He looked at the distraught woman and felt like the lowest kind of heel.

"Uh. Would this be a small girl, blonde hair?" He winced in expectation of recrimination.

The young mother's head lifted, her face tear-streaked, her eyes red and swollen, and regarded him like he was some kind of saviour, a light of desperate hope in her eyes. "Anari? You've seen her?"

He nodded reluctantly, not relishing what was to come. "She's alive," he told them, figuring to get in with the good news first and wishing the words, "for now.." weren't also hovering on the tip of his tongue. He saw realisation dawning on Enir's face, his eyes drawn unwillingly to the crushed remains of the house, and he rushed to finish his explanation.

"She was standing in the middle of the street and the torna.. uh, the roundwind was coming. Sheppard heard her crying and he ran to save her but there wasn't enough time to get to a shelter… He ran for the nearest house and…"

He saw Ilyona's face crumple as she followed his gaze to where Teyla still balanced atop the precarious structure, carefully, methodically, digging through the rubble. No more words were necessary; she already understood. He shoved the LSD at her face, babbling now as he tried to offer some reassurance, however small. "She's still alive," he insisted. "They both are." He showed them the glowing dots on the screen, explaining, "This device, it detects life signs. It shows anything living as a dot on the screen. You see?" He pointed to the screen. "These dots here are you and Enir and me; we're standing close together so the three dots are almost merged on the screen. This dot here is Teyla and these two.. These two are Sheppard and your daughter. They are still alive. And help is on the way, we have men coming and machinery. We'll get them out, I promise…"

Ilyona's eyes were desolate, her hand pressed to her mouth as she stared in horror at the twisted pile of rubble before her, comprehending only that her daughter, her precious child, was buried somewhere under all that debris.

There was a sudden low rumble and the remains of the house trembled and shifted, dust filling the air as a section of the rubble suddenly collapsed and settled. Ilyona cried out and Rodney's heart leapt into his throat as Teyla abruptly disappeared from view.

"Teyla!" He ran forward, scrambling up the lower slopes of the piled debris, feeling sick to his stomach as he realised that, no matter what had happened, he could go no further. He couldn't risk bringing the entire structure down with him and killing all of them. Fear clenched like a fist around his heart and his voice cracked as he shouted once more, "Teyla!"

There was a dry, dusty cough from somewhere atop the rubble and Rodney felt as if his legs had turned to jello as Teyla's voice, rasping and strangely echoey, answered, "I am here, Rodney."

"Oh, thank god!" He staggered backwards, away from the ruined house, and for a moment felt so light-headed that he had to bend over, his hands on his knees, and just concentrate on breathing. Dammit. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been that scared. Oh, wait. Yes, he could, he thought bitterly. About an hour ago as he'd huddled in a dark and cramped cellar listening to a tornado rip the town apart above his head.

He sucked in a deep breath and straightened. He still couldn't see Teyla. He frowned and shouted up to her, "Are you okay?"

It was a moment or two before she answered, enough to make him worry, but her voice, when it came, was as strong and as calm as ever. "I am uninjured, Rodney. The debris has shifted and I slid into something of a hollow in the rubble. I believe I can climb out." He heard the clatter of small stones sliding as she moved.

"Be careful!" The moment the words left his mouth he grimaced, realising how pointless his advice was. Of course, she was going to be careful; she didn't need him to tell her that! He dragged his hands across his face in frustration. He felt useless here; his scientific expertise was no help to them in this situation, at least until they could get some equipment in here to start properly excavating the ruins, then he would have something to contribute but right now… He hovered impatiently, hating not being able to help and having nothing to do, before realising belatedly that he no longer held the LSD; in his panic at Teyla's disappearance he had simply dropped it as he ran to help. He spun in a circle, scanning the dirt road at his feet, and spied it lying abandoned at the foot of the rubble pile. He snatched it up and, with a silent prayer to a deity he didn't believe in, reactivated the device. For a moment he could see only two dots in the scanner field and his heart plummeted for a second time. Then one of the dots blurred and split apart and merged again and he realised what had happened. Teyla was moving about above the other two life signs. Wherever she was, John was almost directly below.

He opened his mouth to shout, to warn her, but his words were lost in an excited cry from atop the rubble.

"Rodney!" Teyla shouted. "I can see them!!"

TBC...