Everyone who's given FB. You rock. I love you muchly. RL is crazy so I can't reply to it all, but you really REALLY Rock. And extra hugs to Kodiak for the beta.

John sat down in the chair and it felt like coming home. He hadn't been sure what to expect after what happened with annihilating the Wraith, but he seamlessly slid back into the connection with Atlantis. There was no sense of urgency to their connection this time. All he felt was a sense of warmth. She was glad to see him. He let her know he felt the same way, wondering if maybe he shouldn't be a little bit freaked out by the whole connection thing. But John knew that Atlantis was sentient in her own way. Or maybe he was just projecting his own wants and desires. Either way, she had delivered for him. For everyone. So he thanked her.

Then he got to work. After Rodney snapped at him a few times, John downloaded specs and things for the jumpers. Once that was done he disconnected, not wanting to push things further. Not wanting to risk a headache or any other physical reaction that might call the wrath of Beckett down upon him. Which reminded him about the mission tomorrow.

Rising from the chair, John moved over to the side table that had been set up, where Rodney and Zelenka were now hovering over various laptop displays. "How much of my conversation with Elizabeth did you overhear?" John asked McKay.

"Enough to know we're back on a mission tomorrow," Rodney replied, and he was almost smiling. "I'm rather glad about that," he confessed.

"Yeah?" John was a bit surprised. McKay was not big on danger, and they always seemed to run into bad luck in some form or another that ended up with them fighting, or running, for their lives.

Rodney shrugged. "I sort of...missed it. Sort of," he elaborated.

John understood completely. He clapped Rodney on the shoulder. "Just don't stay up all night. I need you wide awake come morning."

"Worry about yourself," Rodney shot back. "You're the one Carson's keeping an eye on."

"And on that note, I'm out of here," John drawled, beating a hasty exit. He went in search of Teyla and found her in the exercise arena. There were a couple of sets of fighting sticks on the window seat and John moved to pick one pair up, twirling them between his fingers. "Want to practice?" he asked, casually. Or at least he hoped it sounded casual. He wasn't allowed to go back to running with Ronon yet, but John was dying for some exercise.

Teyla had been stretching and she slid out of a split and rose gracefully to her feet. She was smiling as see approached John. "Has Dr. Beckett cleared you for physical activity?"

John grinned at her, feeling a bit smug. "He's cleared me back to full duty, so I'm good to go." Technically he wasn't cleared for heavy-duty activity of the physical kind, but he knew Teyla would expect that and set the level of their practice accordingly. Even though it wasn't as satisfying a work out, John knew he would benefit from it. It helped to make him more flexible and more focused.

"We can do a Lundii practice," Teyla replied, reaching for her own set of sticks.

"Sounds good," John agreed, falling into the proper stance. The Lundii was more of a warm up exercise than actual fighting, which was exactly what he had expected from her. He followed her lead then broke the good news to her. "We're going back through the gate tomorrow."

Teyla looked startled, but she was still focused and she blocked John's mock attack. "It will be good to go back out," she said softly, but then her eyes drifted over him. "Are you sure you are ready?"

John nodded. "I feel great, Teyla. I'm ready." And it was good to be able to say that and mean it. Other than a slight stiffness in his shoulders and ribs, John felt terrific. And more focused than he had in a long time. Which he promptly demonstrated by disarming Teyla with a series of moves that she had taught him months ago. Moves he hadn't practiced as much as he should have, but they served him well now that he was more aware of each action.

"You have been practicing," Teyla said, as she retrieved her sticks. And she sounded both approving and chiding.

"Not really," John confessed. "But I'm trying to pay better attention."

Teyla looked pleased and proud. "Shall we go again?" she invited.

John smiled. "Let's."

They practiced for half an hour, until Teyla called a halt to the session. She excused herself to head for the shower and John decided to do the same before heading for the mess hall. He was feeling hungry again. Once back in his room he stripped, showered, then dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He was still hungry, but he was also feeling a bit jittery and a dull ache throbbed in his temples, so John set about making a cup of tea first.

Reaching for his book, he read while he waited for the tea to be ready, then continued reading until he had drained the cup. After cleaning up he headed out the door and straight to the mess hall. He was starving. But it only took half a sandwich and a glass of milk to fill him.

Feeling a bit wired, John considered a run, but a glance at his watch and he knew he needed to chill out. They were going back through the gate in the morning and he didn't want to push his luck. He returned to his room, stripped down to boxers and a t-shirt and crawled into bed with his book. He didn't remember falling asleep.

Morning, however, came with a jolt and the memory of a nightmare fresh in his mind. John shook away the last traces of it, dissolving the image of himself shooting Ford through the heart instead of Sumner. A Ford who was very much alive and not disfigured. A Ford who had been begging him not to shoot.

Climbing out of bed, John set the hot pot going before heading for the bathroom to relieve his bladder and splash cold water on his face. He felt jittery and anxious, ready to jump out of his skin. He didn't wait for the water to boil before adding a tea bag and a shuloc leaf. He pulled on sweats and stuffed his feet into sneakers while it steeped a moment, then he grabbed it and gulped it down, fingering his temples as he willed the sudden ache to go away.

After a few minutes John could feel the tension leaving his body. He swallowed the last bit in the cup, cleaned up the mess then headed out the door for a run. Once back in his room he felt less anxious and more energized. Focused. He showered, got dressed and rigged up, then headed for the mess hall. Knowing they would have to brief for the mission, John grabbed a muffin and some juice, downed the juice then worked on the muffin while heading for Weir's office. His team was there, waiting, and she made short work of filling them in.

It would be a simple mission. They were heading to a homeworld address that Old Weir had given them before dying. That done she saw them off and John felt giddy with anticipation.

Only to return to Atlantis eight hours later feeling tired, cranky and frustrated. The headache that had lodged in his temples wasn't helping, and it took focus for John not to be snappy during the debrief. They had found a ZPM but it was depleted. He knew everyone was feeling the frustration, but right now it felt amplified to him.

"Maybe Atlantis could tell us where to find some ZPM's," Rodney was saying.

At which point John perked up. "How?" he prompted.

Rodney locked eyes with him. "Through the chair. You haven't really tried to find any before. Which we really should have thought of." He looked about to say more only Zelenka came barreling into the room, and without apology, moved to Rodney and hauled him out of his chair.

"We have fluctuations," he said, waving his laptop under Rodney's nose.

"What?" Rodney grabbed it, studied it then hurried out of the room with Zelenka in tow.

Elizabeth watched them go. "That doesn't sound good," she stated.

John agreed. "I'll check up on them and report back," he told her, pushing out of his own chair. As he walked out the door he decided to make a pit stop at his room. He needed a shower and a cup of tea. Then he could check on Rodney before heading for the chair room. John was going to ask Atlantis about ZPM's.

The moment John stepped into his room, he went for the hot pot. His headache was steadily increasing and he felt jittery enough to want to jump out of his own skin. What he needed to be was focused right now. He jumped in the shower, was out in minutes with a towel wrapped around his waist. The water was done so John steeped the tea while he dressed then drank it down. He strapped on his thigh holster then went in search of McKay.

He found both Rodney and Zelenka in the main lab, huddled over a laptop. "How are those fluctuations doing?" he offered in greeting.

Zelenka's head shot up. "Is gone," he replied, looking worried and confused.

"Gone?" John echoed. "You make that sound like a bad thing."

"Is bad since we cannot figure out where they came from in first place," Zelenka replied.

Rodney shifted on his stool to face John. "What he means to say is, after running diagnostic after diagnostic, there's no reason for the fluctuations in the first place."

John didn't like the sound of that. He really hoped something wasn't going wrong with Atlantis. Which was another thing he would ask about in the chair. "Are the fluctuations causing any problems?" he prompted.

"Not that we can tell," Rodney replied. "But it just shouldn't be happening."

"Maybe I can ask Atlantis about it," John offered, and he watched Rodney's eyes light up as he jumped off the stool.

Hands fluttering, Rodney reached for John, hauling him out the door. "Yes, of course. We'll ask Atlantis. How fortunate for us you can talk to her!" The latter part was said with much sarcasm.

John let it go. He knew Rodney still had a residual jealousy over the fact that John had the natural gene and he didn't. Once in the chair room he sat down immediately and it felt like coming home. The tea had helped his headache ease and the anxiety fade away, so he was intently focused as he connected with her. The first thing he did was ask about the fluctuations. The response brought up some holographic schematics, which had Rodney scrambling for his laptop. John downloaded them when requested to, then he went searching for more things. Finally he asked about the ZPM's and he was pleased when holographic text appeared.

Rodney made a strangled sound, but looked pleased. "Send it!" he snapped, waving one hand in John's direction.

"Sending," John replied, then he watched the writing fade away. He still couldn't read Ancient, beyond a few words of it that Elizabeth had insisted he learn, but he recognized it when he saw it. "Good stuff?" John asked, as he powered down the chair. He could feel his headache starting up again and he was pretty sure it was because his connection was so deep. But he didn't want to give Beckett any reason to ground him again. Better to play it safe.

"Good stuff," Rodney confirmed, then he waved John off. "Go away now."

Laughing, John did as he was told. He decided since he still felt energized, that a run would be in order. There were walkways that ran outside Atlantis and when it was warm enough he liked to run them, enjoying the fresh air. He went back to his room, changed for a run, grabbed Ronon to go with him and set off.

They ran for over an hour, then did a light workout in the gym. Another shower later and they met up with Teyla in the mess hall. John then checked on Rodney, who snapped at him, but that just made John laugh and he still left him the food he'd brought. Rodney did thank him as he headed out the door. He had his report to do, plus a few to read. He returned to his room and settled down in front of his laptop. Three hours later he started feeling jittery and the ache in his temples was back. He decided to make another cup of tea, read a bit, then head to bed. It was late.

As he drank the tea, John realized he had kind of lost track of how many cups he was drinking a day. Rala had told him one a day for peace of body and mind, but the extra cups didn't seem to be hurting him any. If anything they were helping him, so John shrugged off any concerns he might have. The tea was natural, which had to be a better thing than taking bottle after bottle of aspirin, and relying on sleeping pills to sleep at night. Plus the Shuloc did seem to help him sleep better, with less nightmares. John considered that a big plus.

Shrugging off any worries, John stripped off his pants and slid under the covers. He thought off the lights and let himself drift warmly into slumber.

OoO

He didn't have any dreams. But part of that could have come from the fact that someone was calling him on his radio. Peering blearily at his watch, John saw it was 3am. Which meant something bad was happening. "Sheppard here," he said, after sliding the earpiece into place. "What's going on?"

It was Elizabeth who replied. "We have a problem, John. I need you in the conference room now!"

"On my way." He was already slipping his pants on and stuffing his feet into his boots. One minute later he was running out the door. When he reached the conference room it was to find Elizabeth and Rodney there. Rodney was pacing. "What's wrong?" John asked, slumping into his usual chair.

"We have a virus," Rodney replied, and he looked frazzled.

John looked at Elizabeth and asked, "Computer virus or nano virus?" There hadn't been any lock downs and Beckett wasn't around, so he was guessing the former.

She grimaced and replied, "Looks like a computer virus, but Rodney can explain it better."

"I'm all ears," John said, turning to face McKay.

"Bottom line is this," Rodney began, looking more than a little flustered. "We're losing data, or at least we were. We managed to stop it and I have people going over the system to see what we've lost."

John nodded. "Okay, so how did you discover the virus? Shouldn't you have been sleeping?" He didn't need McKay pulling all-nighters. Hell, he didn't need to be pulling them either. In fact, he was feeling the effects of being up so early. His body felt lethargic and his temples were throbbing, warning John of an impending headache. And to top it all off he was feeling jittery again. He tried to mute out those feelings, because he knew he needed to be focused right now.

Rodney looked annoyed as he answered. "Third shift discovered the virus. They called me, I called Zelenka, who called me back to tell me about the virus and the sabotage."

"What sabotage?" John looked at Elizabeth who just shrugged at him, so he turned back to McKay.

"Crystals were removed and damaged, causing energy fluctuations," Rodney replied.

John pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm guessing that's a bad thing?"

Rodney looked at him like he had suddenly developed two heads. "Of course that's a bad thing. They don't grow on trees you know!"

"You're talking about the same crystals we found on MRZ-641, right?" John countered. He remembered how barren that planet had been except for the caves filled with the beautiful crystals. They hadn't been able to mine any at the time because the Wraith had popped in for a visit. Weir had locked out the address for the time being, but John turned to her now with a hopeful look. "I'm betting the Wraith are long gone," he said, helpfully.

"Probably," Elizabeth allowed. "And I already told Rodney you could go. But I want to deal with what happened here first."

John nodded, his mind at work, replaying what Rodney had told him. "So someone had to have done this deliberately," he said, voicing his thoughts aloud. "Do you think this is connected to the fluctuations from earlier?"

Rodney had been pacing but he stopped and waved a finger around. "Yes, yes! It has to be connected. I have no idea why, but it has to be connected."

"So the next question is who?" John grinned a bit, feeling almost revved up at the thought of a mystery. So long as things remained as they appeared to be for the moment. No harm, no foul. "If we find who did it, we can ask them why."

"Well look for a scientist," Rodney stated. "No one else has the intelligence to create the virus, download it, and know what crystals to remove to cause the most damage with minimal effort. Oh...and not get caught."

John had pretty much figured that out already. "I'll put Lorne on the investigation. Meanwhile I'll head out to MRZ-641 with my team." He looked at Elizabeth as he spoke and she was nodding. "Rodney...you coming or staying?"

Rodney looked undecided for a moment. "I should stay and help Zelenka," he said, then he made a face. "But you'll need me to get the proper crystals."

"Then go suit up," John ordered. "The sooner we get there the sooner we get back. I'll contact Teyla and Ronon, then send Lorne to you for briefing." The latter he directed at Elizabeth.

"Sounds like a plan, Colonel," she said firmly. "Make it so."

John arched an eyebrow at her comment. "Closet Star Trek fan?"

Elizabeth chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed. "Closet Jean Luc Picard fan, and I always wanted to say that."

"You people are hopeless," Rodney muttered.

"Go get ready," John said, pushing McKay towards the door. He gave Elizabeth a mock salute then followed Rodney out, falling into step with him for the moment. "How serious is this?" John asked, his amusement fading.

Rodney stopped muttering to himself to reply, "If we hadn't been able to stop the virus, it would have been catastrophically serious."

John winced, not liking the sound of that. "What was the saboteur trying to accomplish?"

"I don't know yet!" Rodney snapped. "When I figure it out you'll be the first to know!" With that he turned left, stalking away.

"Okay then," John drawled, turning in the other direction. A headache was looming and his first stop was his room. Before they left he needed another cup of tea, and a shower to wake him up. He radioed Ronon and Teyla on the way, made his tea, took his shower and met up with his team in the Gateroom, twenty minutes later. "Everyone ready?" he asked, staring pointedly at McKay who was fussing with his vest, as if searching for something.

Apparently Rodney felt the glare and he looked up, glaring back. "I'm ready, I'm just hungry." He removed a powerbar, peeled it open and bit into it with a smug expression.

John turned to find Elizabeth on the catwalk. "Be back soon!" he called up to her.

"Come back safe," she countered.

"Always," John replied, as he watched the gate whoosh to life. He signaled for the others to step through and as he followed them he hoped to God he could keep his promise. But he couldn't shake a sense of impending doom.