I do not own SGA or any of it's characters. As I've said previous times I own Puren and my story. Hey there folks. Sorry it's been some days since I've posted a chapter. This is a short one but it's a fairly significant one too. Hope you enjoy. :)

Chapter Seventeen

As the stars began to show in the Lantean night sky the tension in Atlantis was palpable. Everyone seemed to be on the edge of their seats. The heads of the city were entering the conference room with looks of consternation on their faces. Elizabeth sat down in her usual spot and as the large doors closed the others could not decide between sitting or standing. Ronan stood leaning against the left wall with his arms crossed in front of him. That seemed to be a mainstay for him. Rodney sat down to Elizabeth's right and seemed to be staring at his hands which were wringing together almost constantly. He was nervous. Carson sat down across from the physicist and also seemed to be staring at Rodney's hands. Teyla stood with her hands on the back of a chair to Beckett's right. She was looking from person to person trying to gauge their emotions. The only person missing from their meeting was their resident Military commander. The object of their little get together. The silence lasted longer than probably necessary.

Elizabeth finally looked at her friends and colleagues and broke the silence. "So, I take it that the reasoning behind you calling this meeting is because you are finished with the repairs to the pods Rodney?"

McKay continued to wring his hands together as he looked up at her. His eyes were conflicted. "Yes. With Ronan and Teyla's help I've managed to get the two pods to their optimal operation. It took longer than I expected, but that's what you get with Ancient technology. There were so many redundancies to work through."

"So the question remains Rodney. Can we now use them to help John?" Weir asked with as much hope as she could muster.

"Yes. I believe so. I'll need at least one more hour to fine tune everything, but yes."

Elizabeth could see the excitement in his eyes but she could also see the conflict and fear. "Why do I feel a 'but' coming on here Rodney?"

McKay looked down at his hands for a few seconds and then turned his gaze back up to their leader. "But, I'm not sure what the final outcome will be if we do this. We've never used these pods before. I'm sure that we can get Puren out of Sheppard's mind but there's no saying what his mind will be like when we finish the procedure. I just want to let you know what the risks are before we do this."

Weir nodded her head slightly and kept her eyes on the man. "I understand Rodney. We all understand. Don't we?" she asked looking from person to person. She was relieved when all of their heads nodded in agreement. Especially Ronan's. "I'm sure that John would want us to at least try and get Puren out of his head. He trusts us and I don't want to ruin that trust. Are we all in agreement that this is the correct course of action for us as well as Colonel Sheppard?"

"We all want Sheppard back." Came Ronan's deep, but raspy voice. "I say we do it."

"Teyla, what about you?" she asked as she turned her head to the Athosian woman.

Teyla looked up from the table and a worried smile crossed her delicate features. "Yes. I believe that this is the right thing to do. I agree with Ronan."

"Carson?" she asked now turning to the Scottish doctor.

His brogue was thick with nerves and tension when he spoke. "Aye Elizabeth. This is the only way to keep Colonel Sheppard alive. I agree with the others."

She finally turned her gaze back to her head scientist. "Rodney, I know this is a hard decision."

"I don't want him to die. I say yes. We do it and get as much, if not all, of our friend back as we can."

Elizabeth smiled at the remark and noticed that he was no longer wringing his hands together. As she looked from person to person she realized just how close they had all become. One of their own needed their help and by god they were going to give it. Her Military commander and friend was going to come back to them. "Then we're all in agreement." She said as she placed her palms flat on the table in front of her and stood up. "We hook John up to the pod and get him back. Let's get to it."

There was only slight hesitation from her team and then they all made their way out of the conference room. The tension had ebbed and a form of euphoria had come over the quintet. An hour from now they were going to kill Puren and heal their friend. Things just couldn't get worse, they could only get better.

'Wishful thinking' did not enter any of their heads. But as things go for the Earth expedition, those two words should have become their mantra. Nothing was as it seemed and soon they would find out just how much wishful thinking would be required.

Thirty minutes later Carson, along with Elizabeth, were in the infirmary getting Sheppard ready for transport down to the pod lab. Rodney had called up numerous times over the com to let them know of his status. He would be ready in thirty more minutes as he had predicted in the conference room. The infirmary was in slight chaos as nurses were rushing around, following Beckett's orders.

They had kept Sheppard under sedation for fear that Puren would wake and figure out their plans before they were able to implement them. The pilot was also strapped to the gurney so that if he did wake up he would not easily be able to brake free as he did previously when he hurt Ronan and the others.

Carson kept a close eye on the man's vitals as he continued to prepare. Elizabeth was helping the best she could. He knew that she wanted to be there when they brought him down to the lab. She wouldn't be going anywhere. She would be by the Colonel's side throughout the entire procedure.

Half an hour went by quickly and when they received McKay's 'ok' to go ahead and bring Sheppard down they did some final scurrying around and then pushed the gurney out the door to the first transport that was big enough to carry them all. Two nurses followed Carson and Weir out the door of the transport when they arrived on the lower level of the city.

When they arrived at the lab they saw Rodney at the main console to the pods while Ronan and Teyla stood next to him with his data pad and a few other bits of equipment in their hands.

"Ah. You're finally here." Rodney said as he looked up at them. When he saw Sheppard his eyes flinched and then darted back to the console.

'He can't stand to see John like this.' Weir thought as she moved in front of Carson and headed for McKay. "So this is it?" she said as she looked around the room in amazement. "Different then I thought they would look."

"Yes, well, welcome to our saviours. So to speak." McKay said as he looked at her with a bit of trepidation.

Weir nodded her head slightly and then moved over to the closest pod. It was sticking out of the wall with the lid open as far as it would go. She placed her hand gently on it and felt how cold the grey metal was. She moved the tips of her fingers across it as she slowly walked up its length. It was so smooth. 'So this is going to save John.' She thought to herself. She looked up at Rodney from the other side of the pod. "Shall we begin?"

"Let's do it." McKay said and reached his arm out to Carson and waved his hand to motion them over.

Carson and the two nurses wheeled the gurney over to the empty pod and came up on the opposite side from where Weir stood. "Ronan lad, I'll need yer help." Carson said with his back to the Runner.

Without saying a word Ronan came over to them and helped Beckett un strap and then place the pilot inside the small pod. They took the extra straps and tied the man's hands in front of him and then tied his feet. They didn't want him to be too mobile while he was inside. When they finished one of the nurses took the gurney away and then Ronan and Carson stepped back to let Rodney do what he needed to do. They watched the man quickly work and then move back over to the console.

"Everyone stand back while I close the hatch and initiate the start up sequence." McKay said over his shoulder.

They all moved to the other side of the console and watched as the hatch closed and the pod slid into its berth in the wall. Through the glass of the lid they could only see the upper half of the Colonel. His legs as well as his lower torso were inside the wall. "Here goes nothing." Rodney said and then hit the button to start the sequence.

TBC in Chapter Eighteen….

A/N: Hehehehe!! So I've left you hanging huh? Sorry about that, but it was necessary. Not going to post another one tonight but I will post one or two over the course of the weekend so don't fret. Hope you liked. Later days. :)