Chapter 1: A Close Call

He knew he didn't have much time; lowering the shield would be dangerous for the whole City. He knew that the faster he was, the safer his men would be. But he wished he had been able to train first; he might be able to fly almost anything now, but it took hours of training to get to that point. He had never flown Atlantis before, and he had to do it under the enemy fire.

But he didn't have a choice. Lives were at stake anyway, and he had to save them.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes once more, and let his mind guide him. It was far from the first time he had to connect to Atlantis, but he always revelled in the contact. The link he shared with the City was one nobody could ever break.

"Come on, girl," he whispered. "We can do it. Let's save you."

He felt the exact moment the shield dropped, and he could redirect more power to the City's engines. It was time to leave this planet once and for all. He wouldn't have a second chance; it was now or never.

###

She couldn't resist the temptation; she had to see the City fly with her own eyes. Standing in front of the screen wasn't going to be enough this time.

The window was high and large enough to provide her with the view she wanted. She saw the shield dissolve and the asteroid protecting them from the Asuran beam.

They didn't have much time to complete the procedure, but if all went well, it wouldn't take long. John would make sure of that, she knew.

Just a few more seconds, and they would be safe again, and on their way away from a place that could no longer offer the protection they needed. Finding their footing on a new planet would probably take some time, but she was pretty sure it would be the easiest part of all this.

She watched as the shield started to rise again on Rodney's command. And she watched in horror as the beam shattered the asteroid, their only protection, to pieces. She reflexively raised her arms to protect her face, even though she knew it wouldn't be enough to save her life.

It felt like an eternity had passed when someone pushed her to the ground, and shielded her with their body.

The windows exploded above their heads, and the force of the blast made them roll down the stairs, while chaos broke out in the control room. She could hear cries from her team coming from the top of stairs even as the world spun around her. They hit the bottom of the stairs after what felt a long fall, the body of her protector pinning her to the ground.

Her entire body ached from their tumble down the stairs, but deep down, she knew it could have been much worse. Without that person, she would have been either dead or in very bad shape by now.

"You ok?" she heard a rough voice say above her, and she recognized it as Ronon's.

"Yeah, thanks. What about you?" she asked as he rolled off of her.

"I think I've dislocated my shoulder."

"Ok, lie still. Keller will be here in a minute." She attempted to push herself up, but stopped as she found she couldn't put any weight on her right wrist. "Ow!"

"What's up?"

"I think my wrist is broken." She touched it lightly with the fingers of her uninjured hand, and winced at the contact. "Yep. Broken."

"Sorry."

"You saved my life. You have nothing to be sorry for. God only knows what might have happened to me if you hadn't been there."

"You have to admit it was pretty reckless to stand before the window when you did."

"Believe me, if I had known the beam would manage to pass through that asteroid, I would have stayed safely behind a console."

"Somehow, I'm having a hard time believing that," he replied with a smile.

Running footsteps coming from the hallways prevented her from answering. She turned away from Ronon to find Jennifer and her medical team entering the Gateroom and facing the disaster.

Soon though, Jennifer was giving orders to her team, even as she ran towards them.

"What happened to you two?"

"We rolled down the stairs," Elizabeth replied. "Ronon must have dislocated his shoulder."

"And she broke her wrist," he added.

"I'm fine. You should examine Ronon first."

"I'm going to examine both of you, but I want to see your wrist, first."

Elizabeth knew better than to complain, and extended her arm towards the doctor. She winced when her fingertips brushed the injured wrist, and couldn't help but cry out, when Jennifer pressed her fingers into her wrist.

"Sorry. It looks like you're right, it's broken. I'm going to bandage it for the moment, and back in the infirmary I'll do a scan, and put it in a cast. Now, do you hurt anywhere else?"

"Pretty much everywhere," Elizabeth admitted. "We did roll down the stairs."

"Yeah, and it looks like you have a concussion," Jennifer noted after having examined her eyes. "It doesn't appear to be severe, but I'd like to keep you under observation for the night."

"I can't leave my team alone at a moment like this," Elizabeth protested, and this time, she refused to yield. "And I don't think I'll sleep much, if at all, anyway. If you want, you can have someone check on me every hour, but I need to stay here."

"Fine. But if the nurse says you need to go to the infirmary, you will."

"I will."

"I still need you to come with me so I can set your wrist. And this can't wait," she said pointedly, sensing another protest coming. "Now, let's take a look at your shoulder, Ronon." She manipulated it carefully, and even though she knew she must have hurt him at one point, he didn't even wince. "Your diagnosis is right, too. Once we're in the infirmary, we'll manipulate it back into position, and then you'll have to wear a sling for a few weeks, at least."

"Can't you do it now?"

"I'd rather not. And I'd like to keep you there for a few hours at least. And no buts," she countered before he could even open his mouth. "I'm going to take a look at the others, stay right here."

"Being the boss does have its perks," Ronon told Elizabeth as Jennifer walked up the stairs.

"Yeah…"

"Elizabeth!" John's voice interrupted her, before she could say anything else. "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked, dropping to his knees beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a broken wrist and a concussion. It could have been way worse if Ronon hadn't pushed me out of the way just in time," she added, nodding towards where the window had been.

"What were you doing standing in front of the window? You knew it could be dangerous."

"That's what I told her," Ronon replied, earning himself a glare from Elizabeth.

"And what happened to you, buddy?"

"Dislocated shoulder, but I'll be fine."

"John, could you go check on the others for me, please? Doctor Keller told me not to move, and I don't think I should try her patience today."

"Yeah, that's probably better. I'm going to see what Rodney has to say. I'll give you an update as soon as possible."

He squeezed her good hand, and they shared a long look, before he stood up. She followed him with her eyes, and watched as he climbed up the stairs, and joined Rodney at one of the consoles.

From where she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, she couldn't see if the scientist was hurt, but if he was, it wasn't anything serious, as he was talking and moving about. She just thanked whoever was watching over them that no one had died during their escape. Some had been injured, such as Ronon and herself, but as far she knew, none of the injuries were life-threatening, or at least, Jennifer didn't act like they were.

It was then that she realized that she hadn't even thanked John for getting them out of harm's way; she would have to fix that soon.

"When will you tell him?" Ronon's question jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Tell him what?"

"Nevermind."

"No, tell me. Now that you've started, I'm curious to know what you have to say."

"You're not going to like it."

"Why would you say that?"

"You're going to say that technically, you're my boss, and that I should mind my own business."

"And now, I'm even more curious, so just say it." Seeing that he was still unconvinced he should speak his mind, she added. "Look, you've just saved my life, I promise that whatever it is, I won't get angry at you for saying it."

He had become an expert at reading faces when he was a Runner; it was a useful skill that had saved his life many times in the past. He was using this ability now to be sure that she meant her words. And he could see that she did.

"That you love him," he finally said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, lowering her voice and enjoining him to do the same, as she didn't want anyone to hear what Ronon had to say about her relationship with John.

"What's the saying you have on your planet for this, again?" He thought for a second, and then continued. "It's staring at you right in the face."

"Ronon, no matter what you're thinking, we're just friends."

"Ok, if you say so."

She could see that he wasn't convinced by her words, but she didn't want to explain herself any longer. She and John were just friends; no matter what other people might think, they both knew that there was nothing else, nothing more, between them.

###

As he climbed up the stairs, John tried to push the image of Elizabeth sitting at the bottom of the stairs out of his mind. He had been worried from the moment he heard Chuck, and not Elizabeth, calling for medical teams, and had hurried towards the Gateroom. It was only when he saw with his own eyes that she was fine, that he allowed himself to think about the City again.

Until Jennifer cleared Elizabeth for work, he was responsible for the City and its inhabitants, and judging by the mess that was the control room, he was going to have a lot of work. Some people were sitting or lying on the floor, being checked over by Jennifer and her team. Two people were already on gurneys, and ready to be carried away to the infirmary, but as far as he could see they were both conscious.

There had been no death reported yet, and he considered that a blessing, given the state of the room. His eyes strayed to the bottom of the stairs where Elizabeth was sitting with Ronon, and shook his head, refusing to think about what could have happened. He had to know exactly what did happen, so that he could give her a report as detailed as possible.

He stopped briefly to check on one of the Marines sitting on the floor, who was holding a blood-soaked cloth to his head, and call for a medic, before making his way towards Rodney and Teyla.

"You two are alright?" he asked his teammates as he stopped beside them.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a few bruises and cuts," Rodney answered. "How are Elizabeth and Ronon?"

"Elizabeth has a broken wrist and Ronon dislocated his shoulder, but apart from that, they're both fine."

"Good, good."

Rodney's attitude surprised John. Usually, the scientist would be whining about the most insignificant scratches and bruises, but those weren't usual circumstances. One look at Teyla told him that she too was taken aback by Rodney's dismissal about his injuries.

"You wanted something? Because if you didn't notice, I'm quite busy at the moment."

Now, that was more like the Rodney he had come to know.

"Elizabeth asked me to find out what happened, since she's not allowed to move."

"Why? I thought you said she was fine, aside from a broken wrist?"

"I think Keller already knows that if she allows Elizabeth to move just one inch, it'll be impossible to convince her to go to the infirmary, so that she can take care of that wrist."

"That does sound like something Elizabeth would do," Teyla replied with a smile.

"So, what happened here?"

"The beam grazed the side of the tower before the shield was completely closed."

"Damage?"

"Minimal… I think. Look, I was able to get the shield up fairly quickly. It took the brunt of the blow."

Even though he had already guessed that it happened that way, hearing it from Rodney's mouth put it in a whole different light; it had taken too long to put the City into flight mode, and what happened was partially his fault.

He knew he shouldn't blame himself for that, but he couldn't help it. People could have died because of him, and it was only luck, and Ronon's quick reflexes, that prevented the worst from happening. He had vowed to himself to always protect the City and its inhabitants, and in a way, he had failed.

The sound of alarms all around them jolted John from his thoughts. He could see the surprise and confusion registering on Rodney's face, before the scientist turned towards the computer screen.

"Oh, what now?" he whined, clearly not ready to have another problem on top of the ones they already had.

John was about to ask what was going on when the room started shaking. It almost felt like an earthquake, but he knew it was just impossible; they were flying through space, after all.

"What is happening?" Teyla asked, getting her bearings more quickly than John.

But as soon as she said that, they knew the answer. They could feel the City coming out from hyperspace, and one look towards the window told them all they needed to know. They still were waiting for Rodney to say it out loud, though, hoping that it was some kind of mistake.

"We just dropped out of hyperspace," he finally said, after having checked the screens twice.

"Have we already reached M12-578?"

They didn't need Rodney to answer that one, either. They both remembered him telling them exactly how long the trip to their new home would last. And it was nowhere near that short.

"No. There's no way," Rodney still said, still looking at the screens. "It should have taken at least another few hours. The hyperdrive just shut down."

"Why?" John asked.

"I don't know."

"Get it back up."

He knew he was being blunt with his friend, but at the same time, he was responsible for the entire City, and he had to get them to safety, as soon as possible.

"I just said I don't know what's wrong," Rodney replied, getting rapidly frustrated. "I can't get it back up if I don't know what happened."

"Where are we?" Teyla asked, calmly.

"In the middle of nowhere. There are no planets, no moons, no Stargates."

All in all, John thought, they were in deep shit. He could see that Teyla was sharing his point of view by the look she was giving him.

"How much power do we have?" he asked, knowing that given their situation, they needed as much power as possible.

Rodney looked at his screen. He checked once, and then twice, his eyes widening in horror as the readings didn't change as he had hoped.

"This can't be right," he said barely loud enough for John and Teyla to hear.

"How much?" John asked again, even though Rodney's face told him everything he needed to know; this was bad, really bad.

"At current consumption, we've got twenty-four hours of power left. After that, there's no shield. No shield, no atmosphere. No atmosphere, we're ..."

He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence; saying the words would seem too definite. But at the same time, that was the truth, and short of some kind of miracle, nothing would change that.

At the same time, the next day, they would all be dead.

###

To be continued