The idea of the 'trap' I'm using in this one, is a modified version of one I saw in Xena, Warrior Princess, which I used to watch when I was really little.

This is kind of like a tag, or an AU of the Episode Harmony.

I can't reply to reviews in this chapter because I am at school, using a different computer, with a tempermental connection. I will reply to reviews in the next update. And don't worry, I'm not skipping. I'm ahead, so I have a free period ;) LOL

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(John's POV)

Ok, so when the sisters had mentioned taking care of their little sister, I thought they meant fresh, just out of her teens sister who'd be a total knock-out. Not, barely-in-her-teens-pain-in-the-ass-ironically-named Harmony.

Yeah, I knew she'd taken my power bar, and not Rodney. But did you really expect me to pass up a chance to annoy him? Rodney can be a pain, but he's never lied to me, or taken my food without my permission.

Not to mention, her little infatuation with me. Hey, I've got no problem with girls wanting to be all over me. Little girls, though? Uh, sorry, not my thing.

"Did I ever mention I hated baby sitting duty?"

So we saved 'Harmony', made her queen, although... I lit up that thing first, shouldn't that have made me Queen-err King? Well, either way, we finally got away from her royal brattiness, and took our jumper back to the gate, only to be shot down by Genii soldiers remaining on the planet.

"I could have sworn I've mentioned how much I hate baby sitting duty."

And here I am, trudging through the forest with irritable, annoying Rodney, listening to him complain about being picked on and how much he hated 'baby sitting' duty.

"And all because you thought the sisters were cute!"

"There was more than one, Rodney. And I really didn't hear you complaining earlier." I ground out as I glared at him.

He glared right back, indignant, as usual. "And you didn't even believe me! You took her side, every time!"

"I believed you." Staring at him, I showed him how sincere I was through my eyes, and watched his jaw drop. "Seriously, did you really expect me to call her a liar? A brat she might be, but a princess with the power to have us executed she definitely was. Dunno 'bout you, but I didn't want to piss her off."

"So you played her." He stated with an irritated sigh.

And you. I thought with a grin.

Suddenly, I stopped. There was the sound of a twig snapping, and that wasn't natural in these woods. Not that we've grown up in these woods, but we'd spent enough time for me to... Aww, to hell with it. Looking around, I raised my P90 and gestured for Rodney to be quiet, glaring at him pointedly when he opened his mouth to argue.

Another snap, a little further behind us. I spun around, trying to locate it.

Rodney stayed quiet, but he strapped his computer to his backpack and grabbed his hand gun, crouching down and shaking as he looked around wildly. 'Genii?' he mouthed, when he caught my eye.

I shrugged and frowned. 'Dunno' I mouthed back.

A strange bunny-like creature with wings jumped out of the bushes near us and took off with a startled squeak, and everything was quiet. Straightening up, I kept my eyes narrow, not knowing what to think. Well, beyond 'that was weird'.

"You think we're ok?"

I looked at Rodney. "Dunno. It's quiet." That's when it hit me. "Too quiet. Not even any birds are chirping." Taking a few steps back, I gestured for Rodney to stay quiet and follow me.

We were walking silently through the woods. I don't know how long we went for, or how far we got. All I know was it was a big, sudden surprise when I heard the sound of something solid whipping through the air. Turning on my heels, I saw something moving behind Rodney, and before I could even register what it was, I'd pushed him down and out of the way.

I heard him land, just as a massive weight slammed into my chest with enough force that I heard and felt things breaking. The pain was excrutiating, and I felt weightless, only barely being able to register that I was flying through the air. Then, there was another slam, against my back, and a fresh pain as I slid to the ground.

(Normal POV)

Staring in shock at the scene before him, Rodney couldn't even make sense of what happened. One moment he was following behind Sheppard quietly, about to start complaining about the crouch being hard on his knees and back, when he tripped over somerthing and John spun around, lashing out.

He thought he was attacking him, at first, it came as such a shock. Then he felt the push, heard the air rustle past his ears, and as he looked up, John went flying through the air in a way that didn't look healthy.

Briefly, Rodney remembered thinking humans shouldn't be able to fly like that, or bend like that.

There were sickening cracks and thuds.

"Colonel! John!" Jumping up, Rodney promptly froze as something swung next to him. Looking over, he saw a large log swinging on rope vines. That's all it was, a log on vines. But it was more then enough. Turning, he watched John lying on the ground, not moving and obviously struggling to breathe. "Oh, no!"

He ran over, dodging a tree trunk and a sapling. Landing next to the downed Colonel, he saw where his back had impacted, on the tree.

"John! John..? Talk to me, damn it!" He reached out, intending to shake him, but stopped last moment, recalling that his back had impacted hard, and could have been injured. "Come on, talk to me..." Instead, he reached out, past John's neck, and ran his hands down the back of his neck, over his spine, as he tried to recall how to tell if he was injured. Big bumps, um... Oh, come on! I'm a genius! I can do this! He fumbled along the spine, frowning and pinking as he made it to the lower back. Um, oh, uh... Nothing.

He sure as hell hoped there was nothing. Carefully, Rodney turned John over, and he felt the blood flow out of his face at what he saw.

John was white as a sheet, struggling to breathe. Blood trickled out of his mouth, and down his chin as he choked and gasped, there was also blood coming from his nose. His eyes were wide, but unseeing and his body was totally limp.

"Co-John?" For once, Rodney was really at a loss for words. He reached out and gently ran a hand over John's chest, trying to tell if there were any injuries. He could immeidately feel the broken ribs, and John gave a choked, agonized cry, despite the gentleness of Rodney's touch. "Oh, god!" Looking around, Rodney fumbled for his radio, before realizing he'd have to dial the gate before he could contact Atlantis.

The people at the castle would be all too happy to help him, but John was seen as a coward there, so they wouldn't help him.

Realizing what he had to do, Rodney carefully pulled off his pack, Turning John very gently, he made him lay sideways, making it a little easier for him to breathe, and he packed his backpack against John's back, so he couldn't roll over. Rodney couldn't help the winces as John choked loudly and cried out in agony at the movements. Covering his C.O. with his jacket, Rodney stood and without wasting any time, made the fastest mad dash to the gate, he'd ever recalled making. He knew every moment counted, and as dangerous as it was for John to remain there, out in the open, he couldn't bring him with him.

I have to do this. I can do this. I need to do this. He chanted mentally as he saw the gate. Oh god, I can't do this! I have to do this!! It seemed far too long, to get there, but without waiting, he dialed and sent his IDC through.

(Atlantis)

"We have an unscheduled off world activation!" Chuck looked through the information screening before him as Elizabeth ran into the control room. Looking over to her, he nodded. "It's Dr. McKay's IDC."

She frowned and immediately radioed Carson to meet her in the control room, knowing that something was wrong, if Rodney was the one sending his IDC. "Open a channel."

"...Zabeth? Elizabeth!"

Now her eyes narrowed, knowing that if Rodney was hurrying in trying to contact her, something was really wrong. "I'm here, Rodney. What's going on?" Where was John?

"I need a medical team, stat! Colonel Sheppard's been hurt and I mean really hurt! Not as in a broken leg, but like, can't breathe and internal bleeding and can't move kind of hurt!" He was speaking rapidly and everyone could hear him panting. "I couldn't move him! Elizabeth, you...you have to send Carson through with a...a...a stretcher! And I mean now!"

The urgency in his voice made her heart plummet as she glanced at Carson as he entered the room. "No time to explain, Carson, you're going off world. You need to get a team together, with a stretcher. John's been severely injured, from what I'm hearing."

Carson's eyes widened and he nodded before hitting his radio and contacting his team. Turning back to the screen, Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Carson's getting his team ready now, Rodney. Just hang in there. I'm going to shut off the gate and dial out to that world, so we can send people through, ok?"

There was no answer.

"Rodney?"

Still no answer. Turning to Chuck, Elizabeth's stern look told him what he needed to do, before she could even open her mouth. He activated the MALP camera and used it to look around.

Nothing.

"There's no sign of him, ma'am."

"No, but look." She pointed to the ground and the MALP's camera lowered and zoomed in on foot prints. "He didn't even wait. He must have run back."

"It must be bad, then." Chuck stated grimly as he called a small team to assemble quickly in the gate room. Shutting down the gate as Elizabeth promptly ordered him to do, he redialed out and sent the team through to scout the area and locate the members of Team Sheppard.

(In the Woods)

"Ok! Ok!" Running back, Rodney collapsed on the ground next to John, struggling to breathe and speak at the same time. "I contacted Atlantis. Elizabeth's sending a team, and Carson, yeah, I told her to send Carson. Oh, and a medical team." He sat upright and coughed. Checking through his pockets, he grabbed the bottle of glucose tablets and took one before turning back to the Colonel. "John?"

His eyes were wide. There was a puddle of blood around his face, and he was still choking as he struggled to breathe. His chest was rising, but only the tiniest bit, and his eyes were really glazed, but at least somewhat focused on Rodney. "G..." He choked again and his eyes closed a moment before opening half mast. "Good." It was hard to understand, with the blood spilling from his mouth.

Looking over his body, Rodney realized his chest must have swollen from the injuries. He carefully lifted the top and blanched as he saw the already blackening bruises forming all over the Colonel's chest and stomach. He was still lying the way Rodney had set him, obviously he hadn't moved. The pale color of his skin made the blackness of his hair stand out in a way that was almost scary.

"Rod..." Choking again, John's eyes slide closed, and for a moment his chest stopped rising all together.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Looking back the way he'd come, Rodney wanted to call for help, but he was all too aware that doing so could give away their location to the enemy. "John! Damn it, Colonel! You have to hold on!" He took John's hand and squeezed it with all the strength he had left, feeling his own heart pounding.

John's chest rose again before halting. Then it deflated, and halted. He was still breathing, but just barely. Even his lips were turning blue at this point, and he didn't open his eyes again. More blood gushed from his mouth, and his breathing stopped again.

"John! No! Keep breathing!"

There were footsteps running through the woods, and Rodney was aware of Carson calling him through the ear piece.

"Here! I'm here! We're here!" He called, feeling terror and relief course through his body. "Hurry! He's stopped breathing!" He didn't know what to do.

There. Another breath. He hadn't stopped totally. A slight squeeze on his hand.

Carson led the team, rushing into the woods, and seeing the log sitting in the air, he frowned before his eyes widened. "You!" He turned to his staff. "Get the stretcher set up! You! I need help over here!" Rushing over, his eyes widened in horror as he quickly pushed Rodney's backpack out of the way, and gestured for one of the medical staff to kneel behind him. "We're going to have to intubate him! Dunno what good it might do..." The last part was muttered almost under his breath, as he eyed the nasty bruises on John's chest. "Hurry, people, hurry!"

One of the marines ran over with a large medical pack. Handing it over, he undid it as two more began hurriedly setting up the make shift stretcher. The nurse grabbed a long tube and handed it to Carson who was cleaning some of the bood off John's face.

"He's got several broken ribs, at least one punctured lung, severe internal bleeding, minor trauma to his spinal cord and kidneys..." Listing off his injuries, Carson slipped the tube down John's throat, absently apologizing when he choked on it and his chest feebly rose. "We have to move!" He got the tube in, and attached a bag to it, which he handed to a nurse.

The marines managed to carefully get him on a stretcher, and a nurse straddled his waist as they carried the off, pressing on the bag to keep his, hopefully, uninjured lung working. Another marine helped Rodney to his feet and grabbed their things, hurrying behind everyone else as they ran back to the gate.

(Infirmary)

"I can't believe..." Rodney's eyes were wide. "Who would put such a trap up?? I mean, it's ridiculous!" Shaking his head, he looked at the others. "There was no warning, nothing we could do!"

Teyla nodded, her own face almost white from the news. She was standing next to Ronon as they glanced over to the bed beside the one Rodney was lying on, at the moment. Even Ronon, who was usually a strong one, was more quiet then usual.

Elizabeth had almost fainted, when she'd seen John. She was a strong woman, yes, but there's only so much some people can take, and when he'd begun to cought up a lot of blood, it had been too much for her.

"Lad, you need to rest. The Colonel will be fine. It was touch and go for a while, but we managed to get him stabilized.

"No, no, no. I need to go back and talk to Queen Harmony about that trap. That's just plain stupid. I need to make her understand there are better ways, less painful and lethal ways to deal with intruders."

"And why would this Queen Harmony listen to you?" Elizabeth asked quietly, in confusion, having newly joined the conversation.

"Why?" Rodney looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Because I'm the hero, of course! I mean, I know she thinks John's a coward, and everyone will think the same, but if I say something, maybe she'll change that."

"You're a hero, there?" Ronon threw in, his eyes going wide.

Carson looked doubtful and promptly walked over, grabbing a pen light and shining it into Rodney's eyes as he tilted his head back. "Did you hit your head?

Teyla removed her eyes from the pale form of John Sheppard. "John is considered a coward?"

"No, I didn't." Rodney pushed Carson away and glared at him. "And yes, yes. Twisted rules, evil little bratty princess. Blah, blah, blah. My point is-"

"We get it, McKay." Ronon put in with his deep voice.

Everyone slowly turned to John, any levity gone from the situation as they took in his pallid complexion, and how pale he seemed, dressed in the white hospital gown and white sheets. He was hooked up to practically every kind of machine, and an intubator, to keep him breathing.

"By no means is he out of the woods yet, but hopefully we'll have John up and around again in no time." Carson stood grimly with the others, eyeing the C.O. of Atlantis. "For the time being, I've put him in a medically induced coma. Without it, his body would be in too much agony for him to handle."

Elizabeth nodded at Carson for a moment and sighed. Before leaving, she ordered the others to get some rest, knowing that without the order itself, they'd exhaust themselves to the point of passing out, watching over the Colonel. Like Carson said, he wasn't out of the woods yet, but everyone was there, and Elizabeth had to believe he'd be all right in the end.

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Ok, so a slightly more serious one. Turned out a little different than I was planning, but (shrugs) It turned out?

Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi