Heartbeat by AndromedaMarine
Complications
Don't die, don't die, don't die... John pleaded silently with the unconscious Elizabeth as they ran back towards the stairwell. As he passed each member of Hunter's team they left their positions and followed the colonel and the leader. Hunter himself brought up the rear.
"Colonel?" he asked frantically when the group in front of him disappeared. "Anyone?" A Replicator came out of nowhere and tackled him, but he got of a few rounds from the P90 into the monster.
Hunter struggled to get up and when he did he ran for it like crazy. It was only a matter of time before the others' wristbands failed as well. He tapped his radio. "Stackhouse, this is Hunter. The cloaks are beginning to fail; be prepared for a fast getaway once everyone is on board both Jumpers. Understood?"
"Yes," Stackhouse replied, hearing echoing sounds come from the stairwell already.
Rodney's cloak fuzzed out and he stared around. "Oh, crap," he said; they were still a few minutes away from the Jumper. He gripped his P90 with ferocity and barreled as quietly as he could – which was quite difficult – down the hall toward the stairs. He didn't want to be walking through any of his teammates when their cloaks fizzed out too, so he gave it all he had.
He reached the Jumpers and saw Evan and his team inside.
"Where is everyone?"
Lorne rubbed his chin anxiously. "I don't know. We aren't in radio contact, remember? Your words," he added, giving Rodney a small glare. "My cloak gave out halfway up the stairs." He paced nervously and kept one hand on his P90. "As soon as Colonel Sheppard gets here we're leaving," he said. "Everyone else in the other Jumper. We'll rendezvous at the gate."
--
John's cloak neutralized and immediately he activated the one attached to Elizabeth. But in that moment of vulnerability a Replicator had taken a shot at him, wounding him in the leg. He cried out in pain and staggered some, almost dropping the helpless woman in his arms. It would take a miracle for John to carry Elizabeth up the stairs and to safety with an injury such as the one he bore. The mission was becoming too complicated. Elizabeth was still unconscious in his arms and he was just feet from the stairwell. If he wanted help carrying the one he loved he would have to reveal himself for radio contact. And if he ceased holding – touching – Elizabeth, he would lose her. He had to try to walk up the stairs. He took a step and faltered; he couldn't do it. Not this time. With difficulty he reached for his radio. "Any men cloaked please respond, this is Colonel Sheppard."
"Colonel Sheppard, this is Lieutenant Barker from Captain Hunter's team. Are you in need of assistance?"
"I'm at the bottom of the stairs with a wounded leg – I can't carry Elizabeth far without collapsing. I'm also sharing a cloak with her."
"Understood. Two of my men and I will come to help." Two minutes later Barker, Hudson and Warren joined John at the bottom of the stairs, still all out of phase. "Colonel?"
"When you take her I will no longer be cloaked. Take her up to the Jumpers – I can manage on my own without carrying her."
"Sir, are you sure?"
John nodded, starting to transfer Elizabeth when Warren – the man who was going to take her – de-cloaked. "Change of plans!" John yelled and deactivated the band straining to conceal the both of them. He handed her off to Warren and the Sergeant started quickly up the stairs. John limped behind and not too long went by when Barker and Hudson began firing shots down the stairwell – the Replicators had found them.
The wound on his leg was bloody and torn, caused by an energy blast kind of like what Ronon's gun used. Twenty more steps. He fought against the pain – this was nothing, he'd run through worse in Afghanistan. Fifteen more steps. He'd carried men through scorching heat with wounds worse than this. Ten more steps. Niam's voice echoed up the stairwell.
"We will find Atlantis, Sheppard! You cannot hide forever under the cloak! You cannot escape inevitably!"
Eight more steps. Warren faltered with his footing and nearly fell back down. John braced himself against the sergeant and pushed, helping the soldier regain footing. Elizabeth can't die. Six more steps. He could see light pouring into the stairwell. Four more steps. He heard Elizabeth groan. "Get her into the Jumper!" he yelled, getting a burst of adrenaline from Elizabeth's movement. Get to the Jumper! He ran out onto the sunlit roof and into the Jumper that Evan was piloting. His Jumper. They were in the air before the hatch even fully closed.
John rushed up to Elizabeth, who Warren had laid on the bench, and knelt next to her. In that silence it seems only the movies can create he heard it. Almost impossibly he saw it pulse through her body: the heartbeat. She stirred again. "Elizabeth," he whispered, grasping her hand and tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. Rodney came up behind the colonel and spoke so only John could hear.
"If you keep that up you won't have an excuse to take away my coffee." He stood and coughed, glaring at the soldiers who were just sort of staring at their commanding officer and the leader.
John smiled. "Right now I don't care." Eventually he ended up so Elizabeth was supported and being restrained protectively by John. "Right now she's alive."
Elizabeth was severely injured, but that didn't matter because they were going home.