Ronon pounded the metal grating beneath his feet, breathing heavily as the distance before him grew increasingly shorter.

They'd found Elizabeth.

On the thirty-sixth planet Lorne's men had radioed in with the details of a Genii complex located not far from the gate. The building itself wasn't enormous but that being said it twisted into multiple halls, corridors, levels and was heavily fitted with security. They'd agreed, Lorne's team included, that a pair of two could infiltrate where a larger group could not but now that he and Sheppard were inside, time was wearing away rapidly and with all they had to go on being the word of a threatened Genii solider, Ronon felt his nerves prickle uneasily.

"This looks like the place," he came to a sudden stop, panting as he checked to make sure they were still undetected while Sheppard worked on the door.

John turned the knob arching an eyebrow at it's fluid movement, "not locked."

"She's here by choice remember?" Ronon offered the reason, backing himself up against the wall. He could provide cover from the open position but ultimately it all came down to whether or not Sheppard could talk her round in the limited time they had remaining. "You've got about ten minutes and that's if she doesn't raise the alarm first."

He nodded, slipping his gun back into it's holster. It was a risk going in unarmed but he was prepared to take it, not wanting a repeat of their last encounter. "Just keep 'em busy as long as you can-" he took in a short breath mentally preparing himself.

Breaking and entering had been easy, it was something he was trained to do but this was going to be the hard part.

His clammy palms found the heavy metal and he pushed slowly, wiping the sweat against his trouser leg as he stepped inside. Despite being large and awkward the door made next to no sound as he carefully closed it again and he turned taking in the room. It was quite spacious adorned with a bed, an offset study and various decorative pieces that led him to believe they were personal quarters. Certainly not Atlantis standard but they did have a sort of homely feel.

A light click alerted his attention to the far left and his pulse quickened as Elizabeth appeared in the doorway to the study completely unaware of his presence. She was busy reading some document and he took the opportunity to take in her form, eyes falling over the standard grey Genii uniform; she definitely looked better in red.

"Elizabeth?"

She jumped and he felt for the small dose of sedative through his vest pocket. Hopefully he could talk her round, if not Ronon was going to have some extra weight added to his load for the trip back. "I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk."

The paper fell from her hand and she backed towards the dresser, using the chair as a barrier between them, "don't come any closer-" she warned, eyeing her radio. It's position on the table was well in reach but she hesitated. Clearly he had gone to a lot of trouble to breach the base and she was curious to find out why.

"How did you in here?" she pressed, remembering the weapon tucked securely in the waistline of her pants. Hopefully she wouldn't need to use it but the ability to defend herself was a large comfort and she prised her grip from the chair waiting impatiently for an answer.

John took the hesitation as a good sign, "Elizabeth we don't have a lot of time. Come with me and-"

"Seems to be a reoccurring problem with you Sheppard." She cut him off, responding tersely to the demand, "you said you wanted to talk, so talk."

He bit back his frustration reaching up into his pocket. Despite the nerves hampering his grip he managed to close his fingers around the object he was looking for. It wasn't the sedative. He had something else he wanted to try first.

Elizabeth reacted instantly to the movement, drawing her gun with steady aim and John flinched, displaying the silver trinket in his hand hesitantly. Just because she'd kept the safety on, it didn't mean he should proceed with any less caution. "It's okay, it's not a weapon..." he reassured gently.

The watch had been his idea, sparked by a comment Rodney had made about jogging her memory with a personal item. Unfortunately most of her things had been shipped back to earth but unbeknown to the scientist there were one or two objects he'd kept. They were reminders, not just of his failure but of her... and despite drawing more pain than comfort from them, they'd remained in a box under his bed.

Or at least they had, until two days ago.

Elizabeth eyed the glistening silver, frowning at it's familiar pull. While she did recognise it, the more she tried to focus on the memory the further it slipped from her grasp. "What is that?" she wavered, pointing her gun loosely at the object.

"It's yours." He stepped forward, dropping the watch down to the chair before returning to his previous position. He hoped that by keeping the distance it would place some trust between them. "I don't know the exact significance but you told me your father gave it to you."

She used her free hand, edging the rough material through her fingers. It was hers. But just because he was in possession of the trinket, it didn't give her any more reason to trust him and she let the object slip into her pocket, returning the hand back to her weapon, "how did you get it?"

John swallowed sharply, feeling his hope dissipate at her accusing tone. Part of him had naively thought the watch would be enough to convince her of his intentions but clearly it wasn't going to be as easy as that. "You left it behind on Atlantis. There was more but we sent most of it back to earth when we thought-" he stopped short, unwilling to dwell on irrelevant facts. For one they didn't have the time, "look, you don't trust me. I get that... but why would I go to all this effort if I was lying?"

The weapon in her hand shifted slightly. It was a valid point but if he really wasn't the enemy then that meant...

No.

Aldran had been so kind and patient, attending to her needs as if they'd been friends for years; it simply wasn't possible that he was the one lying. "The Genii found me," she challenged, reaffirming her grip, "they were out there looking for me."

"That's a lie!" John had to forcibly bite back his anger at the remark. She was testing him and he pushed forward with the truth hoping it would sway her, "maybe they found you but it was purely by accident. Back on Atlantis we were a team and I'm sorry but you don't mean a dam thing to them!"

She shook her head, trying to dislodge the splitting pain that had started throbbing against her temples.

He was wrong.

He had to be.

"Then where were you," she spat, matching his anger, "if I'm supposed to believe that we were a team, that I'm so important? Where were you when I woke up alone-" her hands trembled slightly, reeling from the memory of being cold and afraid with no idea who she was. The scene still haunted her and she took a deep breath, willing the anxiety to pass.

"Maybe they weren't looking," she eventually conceded, "but that's hardly a defence if you weren't either."

John felt his chest tighten, letting the admission fall freely from his lips, "you're right."

He should have been there. It didn't matter that there was no way he could have possibly known she was alive on another planet. Something should have clicked. An instinct, a sign from the ancients, a malfunctioning gate, anything. If he'd just found her first then all of this could have been avoided.

Stepping forward, he ignored the click as she released the safety catch from her gun, "don't-" she warned, willing him to stay back.

John didn't flinch as the aim wavered unsteadily beneath her shaking fingers.

If this was the truth she needed, that he would place his own life in her hands without fear or regret, then he would gladly give it to her. "If I could go back knowing that you were out there somewhere then I'd search every inch of every planet until I found that one you were on-" he continued edging closer showing no signs of hesitation, "I only stopped because I thought, because I knew, you were gone. It isn't fair to hold that against me."

Elizabeth found tears of frustration clouding her vision as she tried to make sense of the situation. She was losing control, falling into the very trap Aldran had warned about but her instincts fought every rational thought her mind tried to offer.

John Sheppard made her feel safe and that scared the hell out of her.

"Stop, just stop," she pleaded with him to stay back but he didn't, drawing to a halt only when the edge of her gun rested lightly against his chest.

"If it helps-" John took a deep breath steadying his voice, "if you think this will help," he motioned between them, "then go ahead."

"I-" she faltered, choking on the words. His eyes were serious giving her all the power and she didn't understand, didn't know what she was supposed to do. "Why-" her whisper rose in confusion, "why are you doing this?"

The desperation stung him painfully. She should know, should be able to remember that he would do anything to protect her even if it meant forfeiting his own life. "This is my fault," he admitted roughly, feeling the emotion claw at the back of his throat, "and I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you, that's a promise."

"So if I asked you to leave-" she let the question hang, doubting very much he would follow the request but at this point willing to try anything. She just needed a little time, some breathing space to come to terms with his overwhelming declarations.

In answer to her question John found the barrel of her gun, lining up the aim from where she'd let it drift, "you'd have to shoot me-" he held her gaze honestly, "because I am not leaving here without you."

Elizabeth broke the intensity of his stare, closing her eyes with a hesitant breath. Aldran had referred to him as a cold blooded killer but no man incapable of remorse would be taking such a risk, certainly no member of the Genii she'd previously encountered and she reluctantly lowered the weapon.

John felt a an immense wave of relief flow through him at the action and he swallowed sincerely, "thank you."

"What happened now?" she dismissed his gratitude, only sure she had made the right decision when an all too familiar spark lit up in his eyes.

She recognised the look and for some unknown reason, trusted it.

"Now, we get out of here-" he reached for her hand and she stiffened as the contact sent a familiar jolt running through her body.

She was cold, wet and he was there... asking if she was okay.

"Elizabeth?"

He shook her from the thought with an urgent tone and she pulled free, breaking ahead of him, "come on, this way-" she opened the door, jumping as a larger man suddenly blocked her path. Recognising him from the Ancient cave she brushed passed with a determined stride. If she was going with them Sheppard was right, they didn't have a lot of time.

"Is she-"

Ronon gestured with his arm and John nodded, "with us, yeah."

"Good." The Satedan sensed there was more but didn't press the issue, for now it was all he needed know. That and if they ran into trouble, his stunner was set high enough so that it wouldn't matter.

They moved quickly navigating the halls with more ease the second time round but John couldn't shake the sickening sense of deja'vu that settled against his nerves. The situation wasn't entirely dissimilar from his last mission with Elizabeth and he had to force down the unease in order to concentrate. Something felt wrong; so far they had only encountered little resistance and there should have been at least-

A shot whizzed past his shoulder and he turned firing back down the hall, "we've got company!"

He managed to get off two full rounds before Ronon stopped dead in front of him, encompassed by an electric blue pulse and he ceased shooting as guards closed in on them from either end of the corridor.

"Elizabeth..." Aldran pushed forward through the group, feigning a look of surprise, "care to enlighten me as to what you're doing?"

She hesitated, lowering her weapon in an act of faith. While she trusted Sheppard part of her was still naive enough to believe the Genii were also telling the truth, despite it being impossible for both conflicting stories to be correct. "Please understand," she tried appealing to his sense of reason, "this is something I need to do."

Aware she'd been compromised, Aldran didn't bother trying to keep up appearances. Maybe her turn would hamper his abilities to infiltrate Atlantis but it certainly wouldn't damper his personal revenge. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he nodded to the men standing beside him, "take them into custody."

"Wait you can't-"

Elizabeth ground her teeth together as one of the guards grabbed her roughly, earning a defiant protest from John, "hey, take it easy!" He begrudgingly surrendered his weapon, narrowing his gaze coldly as Aldran approached him, "don't suppose you'd consider just letting us go?"

The arrogant attitude didn't deter the Genii commander and he smirked, squaring his shoulders, "I'm afraid not Colonel. You see, you and I have a little score to settle."

John felt his stomach lurch at the threat.

Now that Elizabet had doubts he knew all bets were off with Aldran's 'concern' for her well being and their chances of getting back to Atlantis unharmed were diminishing rapidly. "Fine, but at least them go," he nodded towards the rest of his team acting as if it wasn't a futile plea, "they had nothing to do with this."

The smile Aldran gave in response twisted John's insides but his resolve didn't falter. Teyla, Rodney and Lorne's team were keeping a low profile by the gate, hopefully it wouldn't take them long to enact the backup plan and blow the place to hell.

All he had to do was buy a little more time.

Preparing to stall, he opened his mouth but winced as a sharp electrical current travelled through his body throwing the words into darkness.