CHAPTER TWO
A/N: Here's chapter two, the final chapter.
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Doctor Carson Beckett nearly leapt a foot in the air when Elizabeth appeared in front of him.
"Bloody hell!"
Elizabeth blinked. "Carson! Look, I need to know what date it is."
Carson's expression softened a bit. "You've been gone nearly two months, love. Rodney said you'd been moved in time but we thought you'd be on Earth."
"I was. I'll explain later." She knew she probably wouldn't. Nearly two months. "I need to speak to John!"
Carson frowned. "Uh."
A cold hand grasped Elizabeth's heart. "What?"
"He's off world," Carson told her, looking a bit confused.
"Where? Which planet? How long has he been gone?" Elizabeth questioned desperately.
"I don't know which planet, he's been gone a while. Look, lass, maybe you should sit down," suggested Carson worriedly.
"No. Sorry, Carson. There's no time," Elizabeth apologised then sprinted out of the infirmary, shoving the Ancient machine in her pocket. People were looking at her curiously.
Elizabeth skidded to a halt infront of Lorne. "Major!"
He looked startled. "Ma'am! When did you get back?"
"Just now. I need to know which planet John went to."
"Okay." After years in the SGC and Atlantis Lorne was used to strange things and recovered quickly. "They've gone to M3X 5P2, but they're due to check in, in five minutes."
"They won't check in," Elizabeth told him. "I need you to assemble a team and be ready to go to M8N 6D9 ASAP. I want a medical team with you."
Lorne frowned. "Ma'am…"
Elizabeth held his gaze. "Trust me, they'll come to M8N 6D9. Please gear up."
Lorne studied her for a second. "Yes, ma'am."
He hurried off.
Elizabeth went to get herself geared up. There was no way she was staying behind.
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In a wraith hive ship above M3X 5P2 Rodney half-carried John into the dart bay, while Teyla and Ronon cleared the way of wraith.
"How're we going to fly the dart?" asked Rodney panickedly.
"I can still fly it," John insisted, as stubborn as ever.
Teyla shook her head. "You are badly injured."
John held her eyes with his own. "I'll manage. How else are we gonna get out of here?"
Teyla hesitated; John was incredibly pale and was still bleeding heavily.
"He's right," said Ronon gruffly. "We don't have a choice."
John gritted his teeth and gestured towards an empty dart. "Help me in."
As soon as Teyla and Ronon had helped him into the dart and stepped back the dart canopy closed and the little wraith ship rose steadily into the air. Then the beam came down and swallowed Rodney, Teyla and Ronon.
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Elizabeth stepped out onto M8N 6D9 with Lt Mills and Lorne teams and a medical team led by Carson.
"Head east!" she called to the teams. "Lt Mills, stay here and keep an eye on the 'gate."
They all had their doubts, Elizabeth could see that much, but she was thankful when nobody argued.
Rodney, Teyla and Ronon had been to late, she would not be.
Lorne came to walk along side her.
"With all respect, ma'am, what are we doing?"
"Just bear with me Major. This is important," Elizabeth informed him.
"Yeah, I believe you," Lorne assured her. "I just wanna know what's important."
"The Stargate just activated," announced Mills over their radios.
Elizabeth felt herself almost shaking with anticipation. This was going to work.
"Has anything come through?" she asked, controlling her voice.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Mills. "We have a wraith dart! Wait… Ronon, Teyla and McKay have just beamed out of it. The darts falling and its headed your way. Colonel Sheppard is likely flying it."
Second after Mills had finished talking the dart skimmed over their heads and crashed to a halt a hundred meters in front of them.
Lorne looked admiringly at Elizabeth. "You have quite some intuition."
Offering him a quick smile, Elizabeth turned to Carson. "Get to the dart! Quickly!"
Carson didn't question her, just yelled a quick instruction to his medical team and bolted for the wraith dart, Elizabeth sprinted after him, leaving Lorne and his men to follow.
As Teyla had said, when they reached the dart the canopy was already open. Elizabeth knew what they were going to find, but it still shocked her to see John slumped in the dart covered in his own blood.
Carson swore. "Bandages! I need bandages! Get the stretcher ready! Get me morphine, it's a knife wound!"
He and his medical team got John out of the dart and onto the stretcher, John groaned softly.
"Son, can you hear me?" asked Carson urgently.
John just groaned again, he was obviously barely conscious.
"Cut his shirt off! We need to apply pressure and bandages!" Carson flung the order at his medical team.
Elizabeth hovered in the background anxiously while Carson bandaged John's wound with amazing speed. There was a brief pause when he'd finished.
"That should hold," said Carson. "But we need to get him to the infirmary."
He and his medical team leapt back into action, carrying John back to the Stargate on the stretcher.
Again Elizabeth and Lorne jogged after them.
Lorne looked at her worriedly. "A knife wound? D'you reckon he'll be okay?"
"I don't know," Elizabeth answered truthfully.
She would've said more but at that moment Ronon, Teyla and Rodney (lagging behind as he tried to keep up) ran into view and stopped when they saw the stretcher. Mills wasn't far behind them.
"W-what? Huh?" gasped Rodney, trying to get his breath back.
"We'll explain later," offered Elizabeth.
"Dr Weir?" commented Ronon in confusion.
"Elizabeth?" asked Teyla.
"As I said, we'll explain later," Elizabeth replied.
Ronon looked at Lorne, who shrugged.
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Elizabeth, Rodney, Lorne, Teyla and Ronon waited impatiently outside the infirmary.
"You still haven't explained how you knew," huffed Rodney in annoyance.
"Yes, I have." Elizabeth didn't want to argue about this, but she doubted they'd like it if she told them the truth. Particularly Rodney, he moan about changing time though he probably would drop the point if it really hit him what would've happened if she'd left things as they were.
"That was no hunch," Rodney complained.
Ronon shrugged. "No it wasn't."
"You did know exactly what was going on," pointed out Lorne.
"I bet I know how you knew!" Rodney announced suddenly. "You went forward in time and found out! You've created a paradox, haven't you?"
Teyla turned to Elizabeth and her raised eyebrows inquiringly.
"It was a hunch," insisted Elizabeth. Would they ever stop asking her about it? Rodney probably wouldn't. Still, she didn't regret changing time.
And she had changed time. Carson had already told them that John had survived surgery, despite massive blood loss, and was going to live. Now they just had to wait until Carson let them in to see John.
Carson came out, preventing Rodney from continuing his argument, at least until later.
"He's awake and you can go in now." Carson paused and wagged a finger at them. "But don't stay long, he's on painkillers and will be feeling a wee bit woozy."
Elizabeth struggled to keep her pace at a fast walk as she entered the infirmary, but managed to be first to John's bedside, he looked up at her with tired hazel eyes.
"Hey, how're you feeling?" Elizabeth asked softly.
He managed a half smile. "Drugged. Carson told me you were back."
Rodney snorted. "Yeah, she's back and has already led a rescue mission to the planet, before we even got there."
"I know," John told him. "Carson said."
"So the doc filled you in with the details before we came in?" asked Lorne.
"Something like that," admitted John.
"Of course I did," grumbled Carson from behind Elizabeth, Lorne and John's team. "I couldn't have you surprising a patient who's just had surgery near his heart."
John raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh."
"So how d'you think she did it?" questioned McKay impatiently.
"Oh, I dunno yet," John replied, then smiled at Elizabeth. "I'll figure it out eventually."
"Elizabeth does not seem to want to tell anyone," put in Teyla.
Ronon grunted his agreement.
"Well, if Rodney's right and that machine messes around with time, anything could've happened," said John, looking at Elizabeth slyly.
Elizabeth decided he'd reached the same conclusion as Rodney- the right one.
John yawned.
Carson's eyes narrowed. "He's tired, it's time for you all to leave."
John rolled his eyes. "Doc, they just came in."
But he did look very tired, so Carson shooed them out again. Elizabeth hung back until Lorne and John's team had left, then went back to John. Carson tutted.
Elizabeth squeezed John's hand. "Don't ever scare me like that."
"How close was it?" asked John quietly, looking her in the eye.
"Too close," Elizabeth replied.
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A/N: I hope you liked it…. and please review. As I said, this is my first serious story, if no-one reviews then I'll have to assume I failed miserably (If I did fail miserably, please review anyway and tell me).