-1Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of its original characters.

You said you like whumping……well, there is a bit of it here. Thanks to all who read and reviewed chapter 8 and everything before that. When you review, it makes it easier to write more because there is a reason to write more. Her you go……chapter 9.

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When John's eyes opened, everything was black. He didn't know exactly where he was or how he got there but he knew that he wasn't in the hall where he started out. He felt his head ache from where he was hit with something really hard. He went to reach up to rub the back of his head but he couldn't. He was tied up to a chair against a wall.

"Must seem strange being the one in trouble this time instead of someone else." A voice said from just ahead of him. He strained his eyes to see who was talking to him but he saw nothing but blackness. "I mean, you are human after all."

He knew that voice. He had heard that voice many times but he couldn't place it. "That voice." John said in a whisper. "I know that voice." He thought and thought about all the people at Atlantis to pinpoint the voice he was hearing when it hit him. He knew who it was.

"Why are you doing this?" John asked in a calm voice

"You really shouldn't have to ask me that question." He said. "I've made my opinions and suggestions completely clear to everyone here and its like I don't even exist. I'm don't sitting back in the shadows while everyone makes decisions that are irresponsible and dangerous."

John couldn't see him but he had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. Suddenly, blinding pain sliced into his head like a hot knife through butter. He tried to stay quiet and act like it wasn't effecting him but eventually, the pain got worse. He screamed out in agony as the pain persisted non stop.

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Teyla ran as fast as she could towards Beckett's office but it seemed like she were standing still. She ran for what seemed like an eternity when she finally reached the door to his office. She opened the door and walked in to find the office empty. She leaned against the wall, winded, and looked up at the ceiling.

What am I going to do? John is still in the corridor and may be in danger. I need to find Dr. Beckett before something bad happens.

"Teyla?" Beckett appeared in the doorway with a shocked look on his face. "What are you doing here love?"

She stepped away from the wall, still winded and began to quickly tell him what happened. "It is John. He needs help. We were in the corridor and……" She had a hard time continuing after that as tears began to fill her eyes.

Beckett walked over to her and put a caring hand on her shoulder. "Hold on…..slow down…what is going on? Where is he?"

"He is in the corridor." She said as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I did not want to leave him there but he told me to." She covered her face with her hands and started to sob.

Beckett touched the small radio on his ear. "Dr. Weir?" he said into it.

"This is Dr. Weir." She said over the radio. She recognized the voice and continued. "Did you find him yet?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"We have a serious problem." He said. "Teyla just came to get me. John is in one of the corridors and from the tone of her voice, someone turned that device on again. I'm on my way out to go get him."

"Good. I'm coming too." Weir said.

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John felt weak as he sat there, bound and in complete darkness. He knew that this was bad. He had no way of defending himself and no way to contact anyone else. God…..I hope Teyla found Beckett. He thought to himself. He was desperate now. He was at the mercy of one of Atlantis' best scientists who must have had some sort of psychological breakdown or something because he was acting completely out of character.

"You still with me colonel or is this too much for you?" The voice in the darkness said.

John didn't answer the question. He knew Teyla and Beckett would be on their way soon. All he had to do was stick it out until then.……if he could.

"I asked you a question." He said in a harsh voice.

"What do you want from me?" John asked in a calm tone. Instead of answering the question, he turned the device back on but the pain didn't make him yell or anything this time. He just passed out from the pain.

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"I thought you said he'd be in the corridor?" Weir asked Teyla in a bit of a snappy tone not remembering how upset Teyla was to begin with.

"He was right there." Teyla said in a frantic tone. She started frantically looking around to find some clue as to where he was. I should have never left him here. I knew that something bad would happen. I had a bad feeling when we started walking. Suddenly, she felt two hands gently grab her arms.

"Hey….calm down." Beckett said with a concerned look on his face. "We'll find him." Teyla looked at him with tear filled eyes. She wasn't really gone that long and John was in no condition to just go running off or anything.

"I am worried Dr. Beckett." She said trying hard not to burst into tears. "I was not gone long and I….." Her sentence was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream. Teyla turned in the and looked in the direction of the scream with a look of raw horror on her face. It was like one of her nightmares. All the thoughts of the past few days ran rampid through her head as she fought to stay calm.

"John." She said in a whisper and took off running in the direction of the scream. After she start running in the direction of the scream, Beckett and Weir quickly followed suit and ran after her.

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"Why are you doing this?" John said after the pain stopped. The room was now well lit and he could see exactly who had been making his life a living hell the past couple days.

"I already answered that question." He said with a look of hate. He had the device firmly in his grasp and was about to press the on button when he froze. John closed his eyes and braced himself for pain but nothing happened.

"That would not be a good idea." Teyla appeared behind him with a knife in her hand, firmly pressed against his throat. "Drop the device." She said in a firm voice. He didn't do as she told him at first but when she pressed the knife harder against his throat, he knew that he didn't dare mess with her and did as he was told.

John felt a wave of relief crash into him. "Teyla." He said.

Teyla was just about to reply to him when Beckett and Weir finally caught up. Once Weir walked into the room, she froze in place with an unbelievable sight before her.

"Kavanaugh?" She said in a surprised voice. She couldn't believe it. She knew he was a pain in the ass and that nobody really liked him but she never in a million years thought he would stoop this low. She glanced over at John who was still tied up against the wall and then looked back at Kavanaugh. "What did you expect to accomplish by doing this." Kavanaugh had no reply.

Hearing absolutely no explanation out of his mouth made Teyla even more angry with him then she already was. She took her free hand and hit him in the head as hard as she could. He stumbled foreward a little and dropped to the floor.

After knowing for sure that Kavanaugh was out cold, Teyla walked over to John and knelt down beside his chair and started to untie his hands. She could barely concentrate on what she was doing because she her hands were shaking so bad.

I cannot believe that he would do this. What if John died? What if we did not find him? What would he have done to John? Questions swamped Teyla's brain as she fiddled with the ropes, trying to get them free. Her hands shook so much that she couldn't keep a hold on the rope. Beckett walked over toward them. He put a hand on Teyla's shoulder, whispered something John couldn't hear, and Teyla got up and walked away.

Beckett knelt down and started to untie is ropes. "What was that about?" John asked using what little energy he had left.

"Don't worry about that right now." He said as he continued his work on the ropes.

"I don't get it." Weir said turning to Beckett and John. "Why would he risk his entire career and do something like this? It makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense." John said cutting in. "Just think about it for a second……..he doesn't like the leadership here." He took a deep breath as the talking drained him of what little energy he had. "He takes me hostage and uses me to get his own way." Beckett finally got the ropes untied.

John pulled his hands in front of him and rubbed his wrists. "I'll tell you one thing though……when the Daedalus returns to Earth next time…..He's going to be the first person on it." John said. He was about to get up when Beckett put a hand on his shoulder.

"You aren't going anywhere just yet." He said. If John had more energy, he would have argued about it but he didn't. He sat back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. He felt so weak right now. He actually looked forward to going back to the infirmary so he could just lay down and relax and not get disturbed by anyone.

John lifted his head up again and let his gaze fall on the object of his pain. "That thing needs to be destroyed." He said in an angry but weak voice.

"Don't worry……It will." Weir said as she walked around the room, taking in the details of the walls and objects in the room.

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Teyla had ran the whole way back to the control room hoping that she could find SGT. Bates. She stopped and looked around. "Seargent Bates." She said in a somewhat loud voice.

"Teyla." He said a little shocked that she would even say anything to him.

"There was an……..incident……..I was told……to find you." She said still breathing hard from her run.

"What happened?" He asked in a firm but still surprised voice.

"It is Colonel Sheppard." She said as her breathing slowed down a little. "Dr. Beckett and Dr. Weir sent me to get you and your team."

"Where are they?" He asked in a firm voice.

Teyla turned and pointed in the direction that she came from. "It is the first corridor." She turned back to Bates. He nodded and went off to get his team together.

Teyla sighed and started walking towards her room. She walked for about five minutes until she finally made it to her room. Right after she walked in, she immediately put her radio earpiece on her ear. She touched it and began to talk.

"Dr. Beckett……Seargent Bates is on his way with his team." She said. She sat down on her bed.

"Thanks you Teyla." He replied.

"I am going to stay here." Teyla said as she layed down on her bed. "I will go visit John later." Beckett didn't say anything in reply but she knew that he understood and knew her reasoning behind it. She pulled the radio earpiece off her ear and layed back on her bed.

Feeling relieved that the person who stole the artifact was found, she closed her eyes and let herself drift away into a blissful and peaceful night sleep.

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There you have it. The thief revealed. The story is nearing the end. I will have at least one more chapter left. Possibly two but I don't know if there will be any more than that. I know that Kavanaugh may have seemed a little OOC but there is a reason for that. You will find out more than that.

Sorry to all of those whumping fans out there. There will probably be no more whumping left. I think Shep is all whumped out for this story. Time to get back to the relationships and things like that. Hope you liked this chapter and I hope you come back to read the next.

To be continued…..