A/N: Wonderful Reviewers and Readers, I did feel guilty all this week for not updating sooner… However, I decided to wait a bit longer in updating, so I could give you a longer and better chapter! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

The second the alarms went off Sheppard was out of his chair and off to the control room thankful that adrenalin helped mask the pain his speed caused. "Chuck, what's wrong?"

"I don't know sir! There was a sudden power spike in one of the uninhabited sections of the city and then the alarms went off! I can't figure out why the city is reacting the way it is!"

"Can you pinpoint were the spike was?"

"Yes, sir! It was right here!" Chuck said as he pointed to a room on the Northwest part of the city.

"Alright, keep trying to figure out what it is."

John radioed Rodney to meet up with him at the lab, even as he began to jog towards it himself. Though he knew Rodney was tired, he also knew Rodney was still awake and that he was the best person to have on any ancient problem. Not to mention the fact, if John called Zelenka instead of him, Rodney wouldn't talk to him for weeks.

"Rodney, there was a powerspike and I need you to head over to a lab to help me check it out."

"Yes, yes, yes, I already know about it and am on my way. I should be there shortly as I'm in that section of the city."

"Great, I'll meet you there!"

Almost before Rodney finished acknowledging him, he was radioing Lorne and told him to get a team of marines and to head out to that position. After all the creepy and dangerous things they had discovered on Atlantis since arriving, John wanted to err on the side of caution and have backup already on its way.

As John pressed the section of the city he wanted to go to in the transporter, he gave a passing thought to how of all the ways he thought his conversation with Weir would end; this certainly wasn't it.

Though, he wasn't about to complain. He was glad to have been able to get out of there before Elizabeth could tell him outright she didn't trust him. Not that her actions didn't already show her lack of trust, but without her saying the words, John felt like he could live under the delusion that deep down she might believe him.

John almost laughed bitterly at the thought. Of course, she didn't believe him. When it came down to it the only people who ever seemed to believe him was his team. Thinking of his team helped ease the ache Elizabeth had caused; however, as he reached the lab he pushed all those thoughts out of his mind and focused on what could have caused the power spike.

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As Rodney quickly made his way to John's position, his glare, which was worse than even a few hours ago, showed how horrible Rodney's day, had been going so far. Yet, considering all that had happened, he felt fully justified in his frustration.

He had found nothing wrong with the jumper, even though he had stayed up all night trying to find a reason, besides pilot error, for why it had crashed the day before, making him think for a moment that he had lost one of his best friends. Plus, the tension between Sheppard and Weir hadn't abated at all over night and Rodney knew it was going to get worse as he was convinced there wasn't anything wrong with the jumper's controls. Leaving Rodney wondering what he could do to fix a seemingly unfixable situation.

Rodney did great with machines, technology, formulas…but people—well people were next to impossible for him to figure out. A fact that made him not even try for years. Yet, now here he was with friends that he considered a surrogate family, and him stuck between them feeling like there was absolutely nothing he could to make that tension go away.

Rodney's thoughts were interrupted when he finally reached the lab. He saw that Lorne and the marines hadn't reached it yet, which wasn't too surprising as it always took a few minutes for them to get ready. However, it was also no surprise for him to see Sheppard had already not only reached the lab, but had already entered it and was looking around for any dangers.

The lab looked identical to most of the labs on Atlantis; except for this one seemed to have experienced a recent explosion or something. It looked almost like parts of the room had been struck with lightening and Rodney shifted his feet nervously waiting for John to declare it safe for him to enter.

When John finally waved him in, Rodney went directly to the central consol in the room to determine what had caused the power spike. He tried to activate it, but it refused so he snapped his fingers and pointed at it.

Sheppard gave a long suffering sigh and placed his hand upon the consol. Immediately it lit up brightly and Rodney felt like patting John on the head and saying good boy. He didn't though—he was a genius after all.

As readouts began to flash across the screen Rodney smiled. This was something he could handle. It was his element and soon his thoughts were consumed by the wonderful world of 0s and 1s instead of trying to understand the true complexity of human interactions.

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It had taken a few minutes for Lorne to get a team of marines ready, but he was now on his way towards a transporter with them, so he could get to the lab to provide backup for Sheppard; a job he was extremely used to.

With every step he took, his mind contemplated what it had been considering since yesterday, how close he came to losing his CO. He had almost lost him many times before, but this was one of those times that gave an extra shock to it, since it wasn't while doing anything dangerous. They had been having some fun training new recruits in the safety of Atlantis. There were no angry natives, vengeful enemies, rabid monsters, haywire technology, or uncontrolled natural elements. There was no reason that Sheppard should have almost died.

Though Lorne had worked under many fine officers, there was no doubt about it, Colonel Sheppard was the one he was the most honored to have served under. He had never been under a commanding officer as inspiring as Sheppard was. Many men under Colonel Sheppard's command truly believed that Sheppard could do anything; for obvious reasons. He and his team pulled off the impossible with plans that seemed ridiculous—until they were pulled off. Of course, many times they still seemed ridiculous, but the results were hard to argue with.

Lorne even found himself falling into the trap of believing Sheppard could do anything and was untouchable. Still, being stuck in command while Sheppard was laid up in the infirmary under strict orders to not even think about work was an all too frequent reminder of the fact he wasn't invincible.

The many close calls were another such reminder; from Lorne's first real mission with Sheppard were Sheppard had gotten captured while trying to track down Ford to yesterday were John's jumper hurtled to the ground picking up speed as it went. A pilot himself, Lorne knew the skill it had taken for Sheppard to pull out of that dive and though crashing, doing it in such a way that he survived.

Which was probably part of the reason, he had wanted to bash in the heads of two, obviously new scientists, as no one else would be stupid enough to say what Lorne overheard them say at breakfast that morning.

"So, did you here the latest news on the jumper crash?"

"Yeah, apparently even though Dr. McKay spent all night on it, there isn't any sign of a malfunction."

"I personally believe it has to have been pilot error. It's clear he was showing off and then lost control of the jumper."

"Definitely, I don't understand why everyone isn't accepting that the great and mighty Colonel Sheppard isn't infallible. Though at least Dr. Weir isn't simply accepting his word for it and looking into it."

"I heard from one of the marines who came over on the Daedalus with us that she looked just short of furious when he stepped out of the wrecked jumper."

"True, but most people on Atlantis seem to be in awe of the Colonel and won't even listen to you pointing out that he could have made a mistake."

"Well, according to all the stories he has done some pretty amazing things and risked his life to save the city numerous times."

"Yes, but most of those stories are probably exaggerated or simply not true. No one could pull off everything they say Colonel Sheppard has. Come on think about it. They claim that before the Daedalus showed up the first time, he had flown a nuclear device into a hive ship. I mean seriously, do you really anyone would actually do that? Or what about how he supposedly took out over 60 enemy soldiers, on his own, while they were trying to take over Atlantis! Then there's..."

"Hey! I agree with you! I don't see how any one man could do all that either, but whether he has or not, he certainly has won the respect and loyalty of almost everyone on Atlantis."

"That doesn't mean he deserves it."

"No, it doesn't and whether he deserves the loyalty isn't my main point. I just think that everyone shouldn't put him on a pedestal. The simplest explanation for the crash is pilot error and usually the simplest explanation is the right one. Though, it seems not many of the expedition members are even willing to contemplate the idea of him being at fault."

"Exactly—oh great, I'm almost late. I have to go, but I'll talk with you later."

As the scientist had rushed out of the room, Lorne had forced himself to remain seated at the table instead of rushing towards either one of the men and explaining the error in their thinking and how all the stories about Colonel Sheppard were true and that Sheppard would never show off in that way.

Lorne and Sheppard had talked in length before the training session, and Sheppard had made it clear that though they could have some fun, they weren't to do any moves that were too tricky or dangerous. Lorne knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sheppard wouldn't have gone back on that.

Lorne had wanted to tell those two scientists exactly how great a commanding officer Colonel Sheppard was. Nevertheless, from past experience, Lorne knew Colonel Sheppard accepted the doubts some of the new personnel always had about him, and wouldn't want Lorne to do anything about it. Sheppard figured that either they would come to like him or they wouldn't and it really didn't matter which one. In fact, he seemed to think they were even slightly justified in their doubts, though Lorne tried to tell him otherwise. Sure, Colonel Sheppard wasn't perfect, but Lorne firmly believed he had done better than any other commander could have done in his position.

Besides, and at this thought Lorne suppressed an evil smirk, instead of explaining things himself to these hapless scientists he would just have to let Dr. McKay and Dr. Zelenka know about the conversation and then wait for the results. He was sure they would be entertaining and extremely satisfying.

"Sir," Lorne turned his attention to the marine in front of him. "The transporter's door isn't opening."

"What?"

"The door refuses to open, sir."

"Control tower, this is Lorne, do you know why the transporter's door isn't opening?"

"No, sir, but the city seems to have locked down all the transporters."

"Keep working on it."

"Yes, sir."

"Great" he muttered before tapping his radio again, "Colonel Sheppard, this is Lorne. For some reason the transporter isn't working and we have to go the long way to get to you."

"Understood Major. Just get here as soon as you can."

"Will do, sir."

Lorne clicked off the radio and sighed.

"It's going to take us at least an hour to get there without the transporters, sir."

"I know, we'll just have to double time it and hope they don't need us until we get there," but Lorne wondered as he said it if it was even possible for McKay and Sheppard not to get in trouble in that time.

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Carson's day had started early as he, Ronon and Teyla packed up their supplies to get back to Atlantis. They had originally planned on having a special meal with the Anthosians before they actually left, but while packing Ronon had cut his arm. It was serious enough to require stitches, but Ronon, of course, was all for staying until after they ate—for multiple reasons.

Carson, however, was firm in his desire to get it cleaned, disinfected, stitched, and antibiotics in Ronon as soon as possible to decrease the chance of infection. Though sad at the idea of not spending more time with her people, Teyla was in complete agreement and threatened Ronon if he didn't agree to leave right away. So, they had arrived back on Atlantis several hours earlier than expected.

Teyla went to rest in her quarters, since she had stayed up late in the night talking with Halin, while Carson hauled Ronon off to the infirmary to treat his arm. Not long after he began, Carson and Ronon were being updated on all the news on Atlantis.

"Well," explained the nurse helping Carson, "No one is certain what caused the crash. Though of course there are countless theories. Of those many theories there are two main camps. The one is that it's Sheppard's fault the jumper crashed and he had been racing Lorne down and lost control of the jumper. The other, which is held by almost all of the military, is that the jumper malfunctioned."

"Sheppard would never lose control of the jumper."

"Many would agree with you, Ronon. However, apparently Elizabeth isn't so sure if all the rumors are correct."

"She didn' believe John?"

"Nothings for sure, but there is definite tension between them."

Carson sighed deeply then asked, "Was John hurt at all in the crash, no wait let me rephrase that, how badly was he hurt?"

"Honestly, we don't know. He was able to walk out of the jumper without any trouble and he never stopped by to see us."

"Of course, he didn'," Carson sighed again while Ronon grinned. Seeing this Carson said in frustration, "Don' ye start! The pair of ye need ta learn ta come ta see me when yer injured—preferably before I need ta operate!"

Ronon didn't lose the grin at all and Carson shook his head in resignation. No matter how much he tried to get across to the two…blockheads, otherwise known as John and Ronon, the importance of letting him know when they were hurt or feeling sick, it usually took detective work or a serious problem for him to find out anything about their health.

"I suppose when I'm done with yer arm, I'll have ta go and hunt him down."

Whatever Ronon was about to say in response was abruptly cut off as the city's alarms went off.

Carson stood still, his heart pounding waiting for a call saying there was a medical emergency, an occurrence that happened all too often. When a minute passed and he still heard nothing, he called the control tower. They assured him that there weren't any medical emergencies and Carson had felt some relief, especially when the alarms were silenced a minute later.

He turned back to Ronon and decided he should finish up his arm as quickly as possible, just in case things changed. He had just finished when he got a call from Elizabeth.

"Carson, would you mind heading down to a lab? I'm afraid you'll have to walk as the transporters aren't working?"

"Of course. Are there injuries?"

"No, but it's a bit of a walk to get to that section and John and Rodney are in the lab alone right now. With their record I'd rather be on the safe side and make sure if something does happen medical personnel will already be on their way.

"Understood, I'll be on my way in a moment."

"I've just notified Lorne and the marines who are with him to stop by the infirmary to escort you and your team there as it's only a slight deviation from their path."

"Alright, Elizabeth."

Ronon had already hopped off his bed by the time Carson had turned to some of his personnel for them to get ready for whatever they might find at the lab. Though Carson hoped that Elizabeth was simply being over prepared he wasn't about to bet on it. Not with Rodney and John's luck.

It took Carson's team only a moment to gather any supplies they might need; and Carson smiled at their efficiency. Ronon twirled his ever present blaster in his hands ensuring that it was ready for anything and Carson didn't have to ask if he was planning on coming along. Part of his team was in an unknown and possibly dangerous situation, of course he was coming.

Lorne and his team arrived at the infirmary a moment later and soon they were all on their way to the lab hoping that this trip would be for nothing.

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As Rodney worked, John leaned back against the wall. His left shoulder was really aching and Sheppard was confused by it as that was one of the few parts of his body that hadn't been rammed into something when the jumper crashed. Though if he was honest to himself, he realized the rest of his body hadn't appreciated his running to the lab either. Go figure.

In fact, he was even beginning to debate on going to the infirmary to get it checked out after this crisis was taken care of. He just hoped that Carson still wouldn't be back yet when he did get checked out as he knew he would hear an ear full; not that Carson wouldn't find out anyway. John was convinced that Carson checked his file all the time just to make sure John couldn't get away with anything.

John sighed and shifted slightly to relieve the dull pain in his side. He just wanted this to be over and to stretch out on his bed.

"Rodney have you figured this out at all yet?"

"It's been like 5 minutes Colonel. Really, even a genius like me needs time to figure out what's wrong."

"It's been 20 McKay and just keep working as fast as you can."

Shifting again John bit his lip at the pain it caused and allowed his eyes to wander the room to distract himself. He noticed that in the far corner a smaller consol was giving off a faint humming sound a sound that as he thought about it had been gaining in strength since they arrived.

"Rodney," he said as he approached the consol and it felt like the very air around him was charged as if a in a thunderstorm. His skin began to tingle and he realized that there were slight discharges from the consol and he quickly stepped back. "I think I know were the power surge came from and it might be best if we get out of here."

"Wait a moment, I'm getting some readings."

John nodded as he licked his lips and listened to the increasing hum, a hum that had never been followed by something pleasant in John's experience.

John was proven correct as Rodney cried out, "It's going to explode! Come over here and try to power off the consol!"

Immediately John ran over there and desperately thought off at the device as Rodney frantically trying to avert disaster beside him. Yet, it was no use and John heard the hum grow louder and louder.

Giving up on the useless task John grabbed Rodney's arm and said "We need to get out of here!" Rodney clutched his computer to his chest as John began to pull and shove the scientist towards the door.

They were almost there when the humming reached a crescendo and John heard the crackling of lightning and heard the sound of something exploding. A sudden force shoved him and Rodney impacting them against a wall of the lab. John experienced an intense burst of pain in his side just before the worlds turned to black.

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To Be Continued

A/N: So, I have to tell all some mixed bad and good news. I am going to have to put more time between my updates, but when I do update it should be a longer and MUCH better chapter you will get to read, so please be patient with me, real life is extremely active right now… That being said, please continue to review as it inspires me to tell real life to go away and I go and work on this story instead ;-)

A/N 2: By the way dear anonymous readers I really appreciate your comments and wish I had time to reply to each of you individually. Thank you SO MUCH for reviewing!