The others had no hope of keeping up with Sheppard once he'd bounded out of the jumper. Teyla ran at full pelt through the corridors from the jumper bay to the Gate room, and though she and Ronon were by no means slow, neither of them could match the colonel's pace. Rodney, of course, was left panting along far behind them. Over the years of fieldwork, his fitness had improved a little, but he was still far more comfortable when sitting at a computer with a sandwich than moving at speed.

When she reached the control room, Teyla found Sheppard already demanding all the information Chuck had on the situation regarding Elizabeth's discovery.

'...and they were considering returning for reinforcements when Zelenka ran a bio signs scan and it came up with a life sign in the exact same spot as the replicator energy signature. When he double-checked, he realised the energy signatures of the nanites he'd detected identically matched the functions of those Dr McKay reactivated in Dr Weir, so they landed to check it out.'

Chuck glanced anxiously across at the rest of them, just as Rodney panted his way up to the steps to the platform where they had gathered for the update. Teyla could see a mixture of excitement and fear in Chuck's dark eyes. Clearly, he understood Elizabeth's discovery was not something to be celebrated unconditionally just yet. Teyla hoped Sheppard could be as detached in his thinking as he was. The colonel's sense of failure had been almost tangible since landing them safely on M35-117 without her, and she feared he would be so overwhelmed by relief to have Elizabeth back among them it might blind him to any potential threat she posed. She still had the nanites inside her, nothing had changed as far as they were concerned, so she still couldn't be fully integrated into life on Atlantis again.

'They know not to touch her, right?' Sheppard asked, his brow furrowed as he stared down into the gate room. 'We don't want anyone else becoming infected with her nanites until before we've ascertained they're still benign.'

'I told you, I programmed them so they couldn't communicate with the other replicators,' Rodney panted, pressing the stitch in his side in an attempt to diminish the pain.

'That was before she fell into enemy hands, McKay. She's been missing for three days; who knows what they did to her in that time,' Sheppard pointed out.

Teyla was happy to hear the colonel voice his scepticism so early in the proceedings. She hoped beyond hope that Elizabeth had been unaffected by the Asurans, but she couldn't shake the feeling they had found her far too easily. Why would the Asurans simply rid themselves of such an advantage after just a few days? Elizabeth had been the hub of life on Atlantis; nothing significant happened there without her approval. Perhaps the Asurans had simply raided her brain for the knowledge she possessed and then tossed her aside like a broken storage vessel. She couldn't believe they would do that, though. The part Elizabeth had played in Atlantis' escape would have angered Oberoth; surely he would have wanted revenge for such an act of treachery.

'Dr Zelenka has ensured everyone aboard the jumper knows the risks, and I've reminded everyone here. The team kitted up in hazmat suits to restrain her, and they're bringing her back to put her into the isolation room under Dr Keller's care.'

'Was she fully compliant?'

'I believe so, Colonel.'

Sheppard turned to look at them all now, and Teyla saw the doubt marring his expression. Though it was painful for her to see him so worried, she was glad he wasn't allowing his broiling emotions to override his common sense. She wanted to reach out to him, to tell him she understood how he felt and would listen if he needed to talk about it, but had no doubt he would reject the offer. Sheppard did not open up – that was just one of the many complex aspects of his personality, and the thing that made him most vulnerable in her eyes.

The 'gate activated, and Sheppard turned to the technician for verification of what was happening.

'We're receiving Dr Zelenka's IDC,' Chuck told them, and once again Sheppard was running.

'Drop the shield,' he yelled as he descended the stairs two at a time.

Teyla tried to follow him, but Ronon gently caught her wrist and stopped her. 'Leave him. He needs to do this.'

Though she wanted to pull free, she nodded and walked with him to the balcony overlooking the gate room. Sheppard stood to one side as the jumper swept in and landed, hesitantly approaching it as the rear hatch lowered. He remained in sight for a moment or two longer, his face scored with worry, then she saw him draw his sidearm and disappear inside the vessel.

Teyla glanced at Ronon and Rodney, seeing her own concerns reflected in their expressions. Though she wished they could give Elizabeth the rapturous welcome she undoubtedly deserved, she was glad the reception was going to be more tempered. She felt certain Dr Weir would understand their caution when dealing with her, after all, she herself had said they shouldn't have used the nanites to save her because it put Atlantis and its personnel at risk. Although angry at herself for even thinking such a thing, Teyla couldn't help but wish Rodney had just let Elizabeth's spirit go free when her body was failing. It had been her time; even now, she wasn't alive in the true sense of the word. Only those tiny machines stood between her and the afterlife. The Athosian couldn't imagine how she would feel knowing something so destructive lurking within her was the difference between survival and death.

After a few moments of inactivity, she saw the jumper team emerge first, each of them still wearing their protective suits and with their P90s poised ready for action. Next came Zelenka, studying his tablet as if his life depended on it as he picked his way down the ramp and across the floor. And finally, Dr Weir appeared walking slowly with Sheppard, who held his gun trained on her and kept a distance of just a little more than an arm's length between them. Looking shaken and fragile, Elizabeth cast her eyes around the gate room, looking tearful as she drank it all in. Teyla supposed she had never imagined to see the place again, and felt her own eyes fill with tears at the thought of how overwhelming being among friends again would be for her.

Sheppard activated his earpiece, and, listening carefully, Teyla could just about make out his instruction to Chuck. 'Have Dr Keller suit up and meet us in the isolation room. Make sure our route is clear.'

'Yes, Colonel,' Chuck replied, and was straight onto it.

'I'm gonna go talk to Zelenka and see what's going on,' Rodney mumbled, shuffling away with his head bowed as if looking at Elizabeth was too difficult for him.

Teyla considered following him, torn between wanting to support John and wanting to help Rodney, too. Both men needed support though neither would admit it, and attempting to ease the burden of guilt they both carried had been emotionally exhausting for her. Judging Rodney would probably prefer to be left to his work, she decided to keep an eye on John instead.

'We should go to the observation gallery and wait for Colonel Sheppard to join us there,' she suggested to the Satedan standing beside her.

The giant man looked down at her and shrugged his broad shoulders. 'Not sure I'll be much use,' he grunted.

'Just being there will help,' she assured him, giving his forearm a squeeze. 'I expect both Rodney and Colonel Sheppard will find this a trying time. We must show a united front to let them know we are behind any decisions they make.'

'What if they decide on different things, like McKay did when he reactivated those nanites?'

Teyla looked down into the gate room to where Elizabeth still stood beside Sheppard, awaiting her transfer to the isolation room. Even from that distance Teyla could tell she was trembling. She had never imagined she would see a woman like Dr Weir reduced to this. Sheppard obviously saw it, too. He spoke to Elizabeth now, and although his voice was too soft for Teyla to hear the actual words, she could tell from the pitch and the way he lowered his gun just a little that he was doing his best to reassure her. In response, Elizabeth nodded quickly, clearly biting back tears as she averted her eyes to the polished floor rather than face him. To Teyla, it looked as though Elizabeth felt ashamed somehow of what she had become.

Sheppard looked up to the balcony and met Teyla's gaze, giving her a brief and somewhat sharp nod before ordering the team to move out. The pilot took the jumper up towards the bay as Radek and Rodney, who had now joined him, lead the way out of the gate room, leaving Sheppard to bring up the rear.

Once they were all gone, Teyla spoke to Ronon again. 'Come, we must see what we can learn about Dr Weir. I wish to know just how she came to be on that planet.'

'Yeah, I'm wondering about that, too,' Ronon admitted, and they headed to the gallery in the hope of finding their answers.

*****

Elizabeth looked frailer still once dressed in infirmary scrubs and sitting on the raised bed of the isolation room. Several hazmat suited members of the medical staff tested her vital signs, took blood samples, and scanned her while she sat on the bed, her legs dangling a few feet above the floor and making her look like a lost and frightened child rather than a former commander of the city.

Teyla's heart ached for the woman she considered a good friend as well as a colleague. The one thing she needed – reassurance that everything was going to be fine, and that she had come to no harm – was the one thing no one was willing or able to give her. The Replicators were so much more advanced than they were, there was no way of telling what they could have done while leaving no sign of their deception. She suspected only time would tell – that and the continuous testing that would take up most of that time.

A few moments later, Sheppard joined both she and Ronon in the gallery above the isolation room, looking down on the one time leader of Atlantis.

'How is she?' Teyla asked him, more as a way of starting a conversation than needing the information. She had seen for herself how Elizabeth was coping, and the rest was yet to be ascertained.

'Scared,' Sheppard replied without looking at her, 'but physically she appears to be in good shape.'

Teyla couldn't help but mark the way he said 'appears', as if he didn't trust what his eyes were telling him. She understood his reticence, but could also see how much it hurt him to feel that way. His body language was tight and restricted, as if he was reining in the desire to lash out to vent his frustration. But she had come to understand that was how John Sheppard dealt with things. He bottled them up until he found ways to cope without facing them, each time leaving another deep scar etched in his psyche.

'What about the readings Rodney and Radek have been analysing?' she asked.

'So far, there's nothing out of the ordinary. The nanites are behaving in exactly the way McKay programmed them to, so no sign any capacity to communicate at the subspace level or to function at any other level than to preserve her life...which means they pose absolutely no threat to us.'

'But you are still worried,' she pushed, watching his reactions.

He grimaced, rubbing his chin as he contemplated his answer. 'I don't understand why they would have dumped her they way they did. I just need more answers before I'm comfortable with this.'

'That is understandable...and I'm sure Elizabeth also recognises that fact,' Teyla soothed. His hand was beside hers on the rail, and she felt the urge to lay hers on his as a gesture of support and comfort. She refrained from doing it, though, knowing it would only add to his apparent discomfort.

'Maybe they just didn't think we would find her,' Ronon suggested. 'The Pegasus galaxy is a big place – what were the chances they'd dump her on a planet so close to where we ended up landing?'

Teyla watched John's reaction to that, his profile highlighted by the light from the isolation room. His expression remained rigid, unchanging, but she could see his tension as the muscles of his jaw pulsed with the pressure of his gritted teeth. Evidently that was the problem; he obviously thought the chances of that were low, and yet it had still happened. She sensed he wanted to go to Elizabeth, to make the others stop poking and prodding at her and give her some space and time, but also understood there were protocols to follow and he had to let everyone do their jobs. Teyla, too, felt an almost overwhelming desire to rush to Elizabeth and embrace her friend to welcome her back to Atlantis, but shared his caution. The woman in the room beneath them, the one who looked like their friend and leader, was harbouring the most dangerous life form known to them in this galaxy, and as such, they had to keep their distance.

'How long before Dr Weir will be allowed to move freely again?' she asked, again watching for his non-verbal responses as closely as she listened to his actual words. It was a vital skill when trying to measure how Sheppard felt about things, and one she'd honed over their time working together. Though he was a man of few words, he expressed himself so clearly through expressions, gestures and his posture that she almost always knew how he felt.

He remained stiff and unmoving, his behaviour telling her he was barely controlling his anger at the situation they all found themselves in. 'I don't know, but I suspect it could be days at the very least. The Asurans are smart and patient; if this is a trap, they won't mind waiting a while to catch us out.'

A trap. Now Sheppard had voiced that thought she realised that was how she felt about it, too. The Asurans had given them back the one person they had managed to capture, and the fact Elizabeth had been found on a planet in the area of the galaxy they had moved the city to meant there was a chance they had at least some idea where they had escaped to. But then she doubted her own instincts. The Asurans were powerful, and they had seriously damaged the city in both their initial attack and by forcing them to flee Lantea. If they knew where they were, she felt sure they would have continued their assault and finished the job by now.

'So what happens now?' Ronon asked from beside her.

Sheppard sighed and pulled himself up straight. 'Now, I have to contact the SGC and let them know what's happened. I'm pretty sure they'll have their own ideas about how we should deal with all this.' After one final glance in Elizabeth's direction Sheppard walked away, his shoulders hunched and legs leaden, as if he literally carried the weight of the world on them.

Teyla watched him go, then felt Ronon's hand on her shoulder. 'I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now. I think we should give him some space to work out how he's going to deal with all this.'

'I agree,' Teyla nodded, reaching up and squeezing Ronon's hand. 'Perhaps we should retrieve Dr Weir's possessions from storage and take them to her personal quarters. Hopefully, we will be able to return them to her soon.'

'Hope so,' Ronon replied, giving her a warm, encouraging smile.

But even as they headed to the storeroom, Teyla felt in her heart that none of those items would never make it back to Elizabeth's office. The nanites keeping her alive meant life had permanently changed for Dr Weir. She doubted the SGC or the IOA would ever trust her to command Atlantis again. What Teyla hoped for most now was that she and her teammates would be able to see past the nanites and find a way to trust their friend again, whatever the IOA decided to do with her.