My thanks for all the marvelous FB. You guys keep me motivated. Many thanx to Kodiak for fixing things.

The homeworld was nothing to write home about. It looked like a dozen other places the Wraith had culled. Trees, grass, some scorched areas, otherwise deserted. But the team followed Rodney, who was trying to coax an energy reading out of his scanner. John could almost feel McKay's frustration. It pretty much matched his own.

After a time John commented, "We do know where we're going, right? I mean, the cave hasn't moved, has it?"

"No it hasn't moved!" Rodney snapped. "But there's something here, something different!" He waved the scanner near John's face. "I'm just trying to figure out whether it's a good something or a bad something. Do you mind?"

"Nope, figure away," John drawled, falling back into step with Teyla. He hoped it was something good or nothing. He felt jumpy enough as it was. Rodney was right. Something was different. Off. He glanced over at Teyla who seemed hyper focused as well and he figured she was feeling it too. Ronon looked the same as always. He was always searching and watching. Seeing things no one else did. Part of why John was so glad to have him on his team.

The walk to the caves took three hours. With minimal complaints from McKay, who was intensely focused on his scanner. They gathered the crystals Rodney decided they needed, stuffing them in a backpack that Ronon carried. Then they took a few minutes for a lunch break. John took a few bites of a powerbar and stuffed the rest in his pocket. He wasn't hungry. The jumpy feeling was getting worse and he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. When he glanced at his team, he could see they were feeling the same way, so at least it wasn't just him.

"Pack up and let's move out!" John ordered, helping Rodney pick up his power bar wrappers. He was rather surprised when McKay didn't protest. Then again, they all knew how important the crystals were and it was time to get back home. He just wished they could have brought a Jumper, but the area was too densely populated with forest areas, and once near the caves there were too many big rocks and a bit of climbing involved.

The walk back was made in double time. As they neared the gate, John knew something was wrong. He hated the fact that they were in twilight hours. It made everything around them shadowy. Made it harder to see.

Rodney piped up at that exact moment. "I'm reading lifesigns. Lots of them."

"Lots as in how many exactly?" John hissed. He liked doing the math in terms of how many each person had to take on.

"Lots as in we're in a lot of trouble!" Rodney snapped back. Then he turned pale.

John had his P90 raised and he started firing. Warning shots. He heard primal screams, coming at them like a wave, and it didn't help that it was hard to distinguish shadows from actual movement. John didn't want to kill anyone if he didn't have too. But when he saw the wave of bodies coming towards him he realized they were going to have a bloody fight on their hands. Ronon was already stunning them, Teyla was shooting, and John joined in, all the while pushing Rodney behind him, crowding him back in the direction towards the gate.

Rodney had his gun out, but he was babbling more than shooting. A loud cry from him had John turning, and firing, but not in time to prevent something stabbing into his shoulder. He bit back a cry of pain, kicking out at the body closest to him. It fell at his feet and John stared at the object imbedded in his shoulder. It looked like a bone carved into a knifepoint. He yanked it out, hissing from the pain, and he was about to shoot his attacker when the man started crawling away from him. To John's surprise, the others who had attacked were doing the same. Crawling or running, jumping over the bodies of their dead.

"What the hell was that?" John demanded, staring down at the crude weapon in his hand. But he meant in general.

"I have never seen them before," Teyla replied.

Ronon was kicking a few bodies over. "Never seen them either," he stated. "No guns."

John realized Ronon was right. All the weapons left behind with the dozen or so dead bodies, were primitive at best. Crude knives or thick, heavy branches carved into clubs. "Guess the Wraith didn't get everyone," he stated, dropping the bone knife. His shoulder burned and he felt the wet patch spreading over his t-shirt.

Teyla was by his side, undoing his vest. "Let me tend to you," she said, firmly.

"It's fine till we get back," John said, lightly batting her hand away. He turned to McKay. "Rodney, dial the gate. Let's go home." John wasn't happy about the fact that he would wind up in Beckett's clutches again, but maybe it was just a scratch. The blade part had only gone in a couple of inches. Painful, sure. But nothing really serious.

"It's not working," Rodney interjected, sounding incredulous.

John frowned and moved to his side. "What's not working?"

Rodney glared at him, then stabbed a finger in the direction of the Gate. "That is not working!" he snapped.

"Did you dial it right?" John wasn't being facetious; he figured maybe Rodney was a bit rattled.

"Of course I dialed it right!" Rodney looked ready to explode. "But be my guest and try for yourself."

John shrugged, instantly regretted it when his shoulder screamed with pain. Oddly enough though, he almost welcomed it. It was a distraction from the headache that had formed long before they had even reached the gate, and it almost made him forget about how jittery he was feeling. It had gotten progressively worse since they'd left the caves. He'd started feeling anxious enough to want to crawl right out of his own skin. At the moment, he was feeling anxious in a different way. Reaching out with his good arm, he dialed the gate. Nothing happened. "What the hell!" John hissed.

Rodney looked both smug and scared. "Good question. I doubt the primitives could have messed with the gate."

"Do you have any idea what might be wrong?" John asked, pointedly. He wanted to get back to Atlantis for a multitude of reasons. Getting the crystals back. Getting some tea, and a half a bottle of Aleve would be great about now.

"Of course I can fix it!" Rodney looked insulted. He muttered under his breath even as he dropped to his knees to check out the DHD.

Teyla had moved to John's side. "We have time enough for me to tend to your shoulder," she said gently.

When John turned to face her, to offer a protest, he realized she wasn't going to back down this time. So he offered a weak grin and let her push him down to the ground. He sat still as she slid his vest off, then she was ripping his t-shirt sleeve open and using gauze from her vest and stuff to bind his shoulder.

"It's not too deep," Teyla said as she worked.

"It's fine," John replied, automatically, although he really wasn't feeling all that great at the moment. In fact he was feeling a bit lightheaded, even sitting down.

Ronon was suddenly there, crouching down in front of him. "Eat this," he said, shoving a power bar in John's face. "You didn't eat much at lunch break."

John realized that was true so he accepted the power bar, which Ronon had already opened, and took a bite. It tasted like cardboard and was dry and hard to swallow. He was grateful for the water Teyla offered him and managed to wash it down with a few swallows. One bite was about all he could manage. "How's it going, Rodney?" John called out. He had tried rising to his feet but both Teyla and Ronon had pushed him back down.

"Hold your horses!" Rodney shot back. Then he was pushing back up to his feet, still muttering to himself, then he dialed the address again. "Yes!" he cheered, once the puddle appeared. "We can go home now."

"Great." John started to rise, finding Ronon's hand hooked under his good arm to help him. It was easier to accept the help than argue about it. But once standing, he shrugged off the helping hand and moved to Rodney's side. "What happened?"

Rodney shrugged. "I'll let you know when I know." He gestured to the gate. "Ready?"

John was more than ready. "Head out," he called to his team. "Time to go home." He watched Rodney go through, followed by Teyla. Then Ronon was nudging him through, so John went, but he turned back once through to Atlantis to make sure Ronon followed. But when he turned back he was met with chaos. And darkness. Shadowy darkness. There was emergency lighting only. "What the hell?"

Zelenka came running over to them, looking frazzled. "We have problem," he stated, rather unnecessarily.

"What's going on?" John demanded.

"Good question." Zelenka pulled at his hair, making it stand up on end more than usual, then blurted out a reply. "The moment you left various systems began shutting down. We tried to contact you but could not dial out. Then no power." He paused to wave his hands around. "As you can see. We have fluctuations at times. One just before you came through."

Rodney raised a hand. "That was me," he piped up.

John was not happy to hear this. "How bad?" he asked Zelenka, and he was surprised that Rodney hadn't asked first. But McKay was staring about, looking distracted. Sort of like he just couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. Which was exactly how John was feeling at the moment.

"Is bad," Zelenka replied. "No life support in some sections."

"Great." John huffed out a sigh of frustration. Then a thought occurred. "Where's Doctor Weir?"

Zelenka looked upset. "She went missing. Major Lorne has a team. They are searching for her."

John rubbed a hand over his face, using his bad arm and regretting it. But he shoved the pain back to be dealt with later. "How long has she been missing?"

"Since soon after you left." Zelenka was rubbing his hands together, looking like he was about to unravel from nerves.

"Dammit!" A very unsatisfactory realization was hitting John, with the force of a Mack truck.

Apparently Rodney was reaching the same conclusion because he suddenly turned to John and whispered, "She can't be doing this. No...it's not possible."

John wanted to believe that, but one plus one was always going to add up to two. Especially when you were good at math. But John was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. He turned back to Zelenka. "Is anyone else missing? Any scientists?"

"No one, as far as we can tell," Zelenka replied.

"Figures," John muttered. Just once he wished he could have a boring day. Just once. But at least this present crisis was helping to keep him distracted from his shoulder and the jittery feeling he couldn't quite shake. Grabbing for Ronon's backpack, he shoved it in Rodney's arms. "You and Zelenka see what you can do about fixing Atlantis."

Rodney clutched the backpack to his chest but he looked distracted, like he hadn't heard a word John had said when he muttered, "Maybe she's been taken hostage."

John got in McKay's face. "No one else is missing!" he snarled. "Get it together, Rodney. You have work to do!" He was pleased when McKay seemed to snap out of it, confusion clearing away to concentration. When McKay glared at him then snapped at Zelenka to "Move it!" John knew Atlantis was in good hands, so he could focus on other things. Like finding Elizabeth. He had a sinking feeling that he had missed something. That they all had. That he should have listened to his instincts. Finding Elizabeth and bringing her back home from Pyrdia had been too easy. John focused his thoughts and looked at Ronon and Teyla. "You're both with me to find Doctor Weir."

"You should see Dr. Beckett first," Teyla countered, touching his good shoulder. "Ronon and I will search for Doctor Weir."

"I'm fine," John insisted. He was not being shut out. He was in charge of Atlantis again, for the time being, so he was calling the shots.

Rodney interrupted though. He was at one of the consoles on the second level, tapping away. "It's her!" he called out. "It has to be. I've locked on to her code." He looked up and shook his head. "She's doing this, but why?"

John swallowed a sigh and said, "We'll worry about why later. We need to find her and stop her first."

"Oh no!" Rodney gasped and turned pale.

"What?" John surged forward, running up the stairs, adrenaline surging as well, washing away the pain of his injury and the jitteriness that had been plaguing him. "What?" he repeated, when he reached Rodney's side.

Rodney was still shaking his head, his fingers now flying over the keyboard. "Somehow...and she should not have been able to do this...but she's set up an overload in the Naquadah generators."

John had an idea what that meant, but it was better to be sure. "Meaning?" he prompted, finding it hard to keep his voice low and calm. And he really needed to be calm right now.

It was Zelenka who answered him. "She's going to try and blow up Atlantis!" He looked queasy at the thought. Queasy and terrified.

"She can do that?" Ronon asked, as he and Teyla joined them.

"In theory, yes," Rodney replied. He was still typing furiously.

John grimaced. "How do we stop her?"

Rodney went still. He stared up at him. "Hell if I know! I get one system up and she's shutting it down."

"How?" John was not liking the fact that Rodney, the resident genius, couldn't counter whatever Elizabeth was doing. She didn't have the same knowledge or intellect. Rodney was right. She should not be able to do this.

"Virus," Rodney whispered. "Oh god!"

Zelenka had been looking over Rodney's shoulder and now he turned pale as to almost be translucent. "NO!"

John gripped Zelenka and shook him. "What?"

"I created virus to erase data during Siege," Zelenka explained. "She's using it now. She had watched me then. Asked questions. Is my fault." His knees buckled and he would have fallen if John hadn't had a grip on him.

Easing Zelenka down to the floor before releasing him, John asked Rodney, "So how do we stop her?"

Rodney turned pale himself, one hand lifting to scrub over his face. He looked defeated. "I don't know."

But John suddenly knew. "The chair," he whispered. Then he was off and running.