I do not own Stargate Atlantis. Not the show or any of it's characters (except for the villargers which I made up in this story - and my bad guy).
So here you go since you asked so nicely. Chapter two is up and running. I thank you soooo much for the reviews. I am a happy person that you liked my story so much. Now I only hope you like the rest. And there's plenty more to come. Have fun reading.
Chapter Two
When they stepped out of the event horizon onto the planet they had named P3J-448, they saw John standing by the DHD with is P-90 at the ready, waiting for the rest of his team to come through.
John turned when he heard them come through and smiled. "What took you guys so long?" he asked with that lop sided grin of his.
"You know us Sheppard," McKay said, "making sure we have everything we need before we go through."
"Well, now that we're all here we might as well go see what we can find, huh?" John turned and started to head off towards the forest. The others just looked at each other and then hurried off after their CO.
"What is going on here Teyla?" Rodney whispered. "Why is Sheppard acting so weird?"
"I do not know Dr. McKay. He is acting quite strange." Teyla said with a slight frown on her face.
"Strange is putting it mildly." McKay said.
Ronan just walked along quietly, keeping a keen eye on John who was a little ways in front of them. He didn't know what was wrong with this man who he had begun to trust with his own life. He'd never seen John so disheveled except when he had the flu or had been stuck in the infirmary. He also knew that John had a tendency to keep any illnesses or injuries to himself so that he wouldn't be a hindrance to his team. He was stubborn.
As they made their way through the large forest they listened for any out of the ordinary noises. Anything to tip them off that something was wrong.
After two hours of recon they finally came to an opening in the forest and saw what looked like ruins of some kind. McKay's eyes widened with absolute delight. "Holy crap!" McKay said.
He slowly moved forward and John reached his hand out and grabbed hold of the doctor's arm. "Wait a minute Rodney. Let Ronan and I do a check of the clearing and ruins first. We don't know what's out there."
"Fine. Fine. I'll wait here with Teyla while the two of you get to look at the ruins first."
John nodded, missing the sarcasm in Rodney's voice. Then he moved forward with Ronan in tow.
Rodney just stared after him with a surprised look on his face. Something was definitely wrong with Sheppard because normally he would have come back with his own sarcastic comment.
Rodney and Teyla watched as Sheppard and Ronan systematically checked the area.
John bent to look under a fallen chunk of ruin and then knelt there for a moment with his arm on his knee. He coughed and the others looked over at him. He stood up slowly and continued his search without noticing that his friends were watching him.
"Did he just cough Teyla?" Rodney asked with slight concern.
"Yes. He did Dr. McKay. I heard it too. There is something wrong with his health. And he is not willing to tell us it would seem."
"Typical Sheppard." Rodney said with a little bit of anger but concern still evident in his voice.
When the recon of the area was finished John and Ronan returned to where Rodney and Teyla waited to hear their findings. "Well Rodney. You're free to go and look at the ruins. Everything looks okay. Just keep an eye out for anything coming our way. We'll do the same." Rodney nodded and then moved towards the ruins that he so excitedly wanted to look over.
A little over an hour after Rodney had started, John and Ronan were on the northern edge of the clearing keeping watch when John cocked his head like he heard something and then slowly moved forward into the forest.
Ronan went to grab his arm and missed, catching air instead. "Sheppard. Where are you going?" John did not answer him. It was like he was in a trance.
Ronan turned back and looked at Teyla and Rodney. Teyla nodded and Ronan followed John into the forest. He caught up to the man and placed his hand on John's shoulder. "What's going on Sheppard?" John pulled out of Ronan's grasp and continued to walk, P90 dangling from the clip on his tac vest.
"Sheppard!" Ronan said trying to keep pace with his CO.
After walking about ten minutes Ronan finally made Sheppard stop walking. He firmly grabbed hold of John's upper right arm and pulled him around to face him. John immediately collapsed in to Ronan's arms. Ronan caught him before he hit the ground and held onto him. He set his friend down gently on the ground and knelt down beside him.
The man was sweating and felt extremely hot to the touch. He was quite sick and Ronan knew that he had to get John back to Atlantis. He opened John's eyes with his fingers and saw how vacant they were. He took the P90 off of John's vest and clipped it to his own belt. Then he grabbed hold of Sheppard's arm and pulled him up. He then bent over and pulled the Colonel over his shoulders. When he was able to stand up he had John firmly planted over his shoulders. He put one hand around John's left arm and one around his left leg. He kept a good hold on his friend and made his way back to the clearing where Rodney and Teyla were.
When he finally emerged into the clearing Teyla and Rodney dropped what they were doing and ran towards them. "What happened Ronan?" Teyla asked as they came upon the two men. They helped Ronan place John on the ground and then they all gathered around him.
"Sheppard was in some kind of a trance and when I stopped him from walking he collapsed in my arms."
"What do you mean he was in a trance?" Rodney asked as he knelt down beside the Colonel.
"He just continued to walk into the forest and every time I tried to stop him he just ignored me and continued to walk. I don't know what was happening to him."
"Well, we have to get him back to Atlantis. Now." Rodney said as he placed his hand on John's forehead and felt the heat radiating from him.
"That's just what I was thinking." Ronan said as he reached down to pick John up again.
Just as he took hold of John's arm a shot was fired from the tree line. The three team members ducked when more shots were fired. Ronan and Teyla held up their weapons and began to fire around them. They stopped when they realized they couldn't see anybody.
More shots were fired and they circled around their fallen comrade. Within minutes they saw a group of people come out of the bushes on all sides of them. There was no place to retreat to. Every exit point was covered by the enemy.
TBC in Chapter Three...
A/N: Sorry to leave you all hanging, but that's what makes you want to come back for more. Enjoy. Hehehehe. (Like my evil little laugh?)