John's Point Of View:
Seven days on and Tyre was still coming down from his enzyme high. Everything around him and on him was drenched in sweat; he couldn't stop shaking but at least he didn't thrash about like he had previously. Keller said he was almost in the clear though and the enzyme was dissapating faster than she thought it would. However, Ronon was still missing, and with no more leads to follow we had to spend time twiddling our thumbs and that was making me crabby. Not only did I have all this on my mind but I also had to go about my usual duties as a commanding officer, like paperwork and staff problems that needed sorting, such as Teyla being unsure whether or not she wanted to come back to the team now she had Torren, and this new girl that still had to be placed somewhere. What had Rodney called her again? Tegan? Strange name, not very common but suited her at least. Currently I was walking to the mess hall, looking out through the windows at the sparkling blue waves was a good way to clear my head and I normally did it with Ronon when things got tense, but this time he wasn't here. However, when I got to the mess hall I found that it was pretty quiet. Just a few scientists grabbing a late lunch and...wait, was that Teyla? Yeah, Teyla, Kanaan and Torren were sitting at a four seater table tucked into the corner.

Kanaan was doing some hand clapping game thing with Torren (who was sat on his lap), before he kissed his forehead and handed him to Teyla and left, giving me a friendly nod along the way. My head still a jumble of thoughts, I turned to the buffet table and grabbed some lunch. When I turned around, I noticed that there was another person sitting with them. She was holding Torren awkwardly in her arms as Teyla nodded encouragingly. Noticing me, she waved me over and I relaxed slightly as I sat back in the chair to take a bite of my sandwhich, no one said anything to me until I had finished my sandwhich (five minutes worth of slow chewing later) which left me to observe the whole thing quietly. Tegan didn't seem to be experienced with children, her arms seemed stiff as she cradled him in them and she was constantly looking at Teyla to make sure she still had his mothers approval. I forgot that Tegan hadn't met Torren until today, but there was a wonder in her eyes that was really quite amusing to watch. Her eyes were a unqiue grey colour that I'd never seen on anyone before, blue grey sure but not pure grey like hers were. She had an oval face where all her features were perfectly proportioned. Her hair was a dark brown colour and she had a tan complexion; full pale pink lips too that I had yet to see stretch into a smile. She was slender but well built, like Teyla really now I had chance to think about it.

Torren started crying and Tegan bit her bottom lip gently, looking at him worriedly,
"Oh god what did I do?" she asked quickly, looking at Teyla who smiled a little,
"Bounce him." she suggested. Tegan looked way out of her comfort zone but tried it anyway, awkwardly bouncing him on her lap. I was by no means a child expert, heck I couldn't even stop my own marriage from falling apart before we got to the kids point, but I loved Torren. He was a funny little character for one so young, besides, Teyla had deemed me, Ronon and Rodney his uncles (sort of), and we all had spent a fair amount of time with him, I'd actually done some babysitting once but we'd kept that one quiet. Without thinking I said,
"Stand up, its easier that way." she looked at me for a minute before acting on the suggestion and rising gracefully from the chair. Shaking my head a little at the awkward position she had Torren in, I stood up and carefully rearranged her arms so Torren was comfortably resting on her hip as she rocked and bounced him until he quietened down. Moving her hand a little higher up his back I looked down at her. Being at least a head and a half taller than her gave me a height advantage here, even if she could beat my ass in a fight. She looked up at me with a happy smile on her face,maybe a hint of pride in her eyes.
"Thanks." she said, keeping her gaze locked with mine. For a moment, I felt like I sort of knew what it was like to have a family.

Shaking the thought from my head I sat back down to see Tegan smiling happily at Torren, "Hey there little guy, you like bouncing huh? Energetic kid. You're cute, I'll give you that." she said to him as Torren gurgled back at her. "How's Tyre? Is he in any condition to talk yet?" she asked looking back at me. She'd only known Ronon for a day yet there was genuine compassion in her eyes when she spoke about him. I ran a hand through my hair,
"Not really, Keller reckons it'll be a couple more hours, if not another day." I replied, unscrewing the cap on my waterbottle and taking a sip. I hadn't had as much time to talk to Tegan as I would have liked over the past week but her and Teyla seemed to have become good friends, and her and Rodney...well I'd caught them on the south-east pier with his arm around her shoulder and her head resting on his shoulder. I suppose now was a good time to have that conversation with her that everybody else seemed to have had the pleasure of having. Heck, even Lorne knew her better than I did and they'd only spoken once or twice. As far as I was aware though, Rodney was the only one who knew anything personal about her, she didn't give away any personal information. "So...I saw you and Rodney yesterday. South-east pier, you guys got it together?" I asked casually, trying to strike up a form of conversation, Teyla raised an eyebrow at that and Tegan looked at me with a blank face,
"No we haven't. Me and Rodney...it's not like that." she said, shaking her head as Torren started making little whines and reaching for Teyla.

Tegan suddenly seemed reluctant to hand him back, but did so reluctantly. Teyla stood up,
"Excuse me while I go and feed Torren." she made her way from the room, leaving me and Tegan alone. She looked at the table and the awkward silence grew between us, this time however, I was determined not to let it grow anymore. Tegan intrigued me, she was an observant, inquisitive, well trained soldier but what else could we expect from military personnel? My intrigue however, was fuelled by the need to know more about who she was outside of the military exterior.
"If it's not like that then...what is it like?" I asked curiously, narrowing my gaze as she shifted awkwadly in the chair,
"He...er... he's more like a brother to me than what you were suggesting. He was er...his family was really good to me when I lost my family." she said quietly. I frowned a little, suddenly feeling bad for prying so much.
"Sorry." I mumbled. She shook her head,
"Don't, I've heard that word enough over the years and it gets really old very fast." she said with a small smile. I nodded once when my radio suddenly went off.
"Colonel Sheppard? Tyre's coherent and he's asking for you." Keller informed me. I tapped my earpiece once,
"Okay, we're on our way. Come on lieutenant, Tyre's awake, we might finally get to launch this rescue mission." her eyes betrayed the relief she felt for having to cut short that conversation as we stood and walked in silence to the isolation room.

I had only been made more curious, how had she lost her family? How had she met Rodney? So many unanswered questions remained but I knew I couldn't press the subject, besides, I'd yet to finish evaluating her and we were still in a rather formal stage where she was more of an acquaintance than a friend. When I walked in, Tyre lifted his head and towards me and nodded slightly.
"Colonel Sheppard. Thank you for seeing me. I'm sorry for everything that's happening, for Ronon." he said. I felt more than a little irritated with him. Sure he was high on enzyme but Ronon was a good friend of mine, and it was Tyre's fault he was in this mess and not safe back here, at home, with us. But the better man in me won out and eventually I replied,
"Don't, you were high on enzyme anyway. But your going to help us now, do you know where they took Ronon?" Tyre nodded his head slightly and his gaze flickered between me, Tegan, Rodney and Teyla, both of whom had entered the room after me and Tegan had. Keller stood across the room, on hand incase he needed sedating. Tyre looked back at me, brown eyes meeting my hazel ones to express his sincerity.
"Yes I do, but I will only tell you if you let me come with you. I can lead you straight there and you can keep your guns on me at all times." he offered.
"Fat chance, don't you think you've-" Rodney began, but Tegan elbowed him in the ribs, "Ow, hey what was-" rolling her eyes she clamped her hand over his mouth and glared him into silence, which was the most amusing part of my morning.
"We'll consider it." I said, before turning and leaving the room and tapping my earpiece to contact Woolsey.

After explaining Tyre's proposal, I could tell Woolsey still seemed hesitant. "Sir he could really help us out here." I tried, getting frustrated. Every minute he didn't agree was a minute of Ronon's time wasted. It felt like every breathe I took was counting down to his eventual demise, or something deep like that. Tegan poked her head around the door and raised an eyebrow, 'Woolsey won't agree, any ideas?' I mouthed. She frowned a little and I could almost see the gears of her mind working, she was a smart girl and this was just another chance to prove herself, I think she'd clocked on to the fact we were testing her and was genuinely trying her best.
"Can he hear me or..." she trailed of gesturing to her earpiece, I pointed at mine in reply and she carried on talking, understanding my gesture. "Mr Woolsey? I think it'd be beneficial to Colonel Sheppard's mission if he took Tyre with him. From what he's told us he knows the layout of the facility very well, and from the way he spoke to us I don't think he's lieing. He genuinely wants to help and it would save a lot of time, the sooner we find Ronon the better and Tyre would be out-gunned, however quick he is if he puts a foot wrong he won't be able to out run three simultaneous bursts of P-90 fire." she said. The idea was clear and precise, with a backup plan if things went wrong, it'd be hard for Woolsey to protest against that. I was slightly miffed that I hadn't thought of it really. Woolsey was quite for a few minutes before finally he spoke,
"Very well, you have a go, however tell the Lieutenant that if Tyre hurts a hair on anyones head, it's on her." with that he signed off.

I turned to tell her but she looked up with a grimace,
"I heard." walking back in I nodded at the guys then to Tyre's straps as I tapped my earpiece again,
"Lorne, how soon can you and your team get geared up and meet us in the gateroom?" I asked.
"We can leave now and be there in five sir." he replied confidently. I smiled a little, Lorne was one of those people who was confident in everything he did but quietly so. He was a good guy with a willing ear when you needed it; he'd helped me make many a good decision and I was grateful he was my second in command.
"Good. Do it. James, you're coming too. Tyre, get changed, and Teyla? You can bring him down when he's done." I ordered as we left Tyre to change back into his own clothes. Rodney and Tegan were talking quietly behind me and I caught snippets of their conversation, not wanting to pry I tried not to listen but it was kind of hard.
"I don't understand, you're friends with Teyla right?"
"Friends is a strong word Rodney, I've only just met her. You're being pushy, just give me time."
"How much?"
"Rodney!"
"I'm serious."
"Rodders you've been so pushy since I got here, yes maybe I am back at square one but at least I'm building it up quicker than before. Now would you just drop it already." her voice was a little annoyed at the end as I entered the armoury and geared up, I watched in amusement as Coughlin all but shrank back from Tegan.

Her hearing must of been expert because Coughlin muttered something about crumpets and she clearly heard it from the other side of the room, whirling around and fixing him with a glare. "Let me make one thing quite clear, just because I'm British does not mean I like crumpets. I prefer coffee over tea, I haven't met the queen and for the love of bloody god we don't all have bad teeth! Infact, mine were straightened with braces and I think they're kind of pretty! One more word about my nationality and you'll be dead Coughlin, and I promise it'll be friendly fire." she said fiercely. Lorne let out a laugh as I snickered. Tyre walked in, and I handed him his sword. It was a sort of curved blade with a serated edge. Holstering it, he nodded at me in thanks and followed us out to the gate, where he told Chuck the address that needed to be dialled.
"Okay guys, we go in, we get Ronon and we get out clean. You know the rest." I muttered, loading my P-90 and aiming for the gate as I strode through with a purpose. We all tensed a little, preparing for the worst like we always did. However, Tegan took it to all new levels for me. I really was going to have to teach that girl to relax, I realised. She had straightened her back, kept scanning her surroundings and kept her weapon aimed high, her finger poised above the trigger, ready to fire at a moments notice. Her grey eyes scrutinised everything, observing it all, and I had no doubt that if we got lost she'd be able to get us back.

So far, she was passing all my tests and had easily fell into the formation we used without anyone having to tell her to. Tyre lead us through the forest and it took ten minutes for me to hear the scrunch of a wrapper that told me Rodney had eaten his power bar. Rolling my eyes a little I began counting, and found it took only five minutes after that for Rodney to start complaining he was hungry again.
"Here, have mine then." Tegan said exasperatedly, and I heard the thud of the power bar hitting his chest,
"Ooo yeah thanks it's...chocolate and orange." he said. sounding so enthusiastic then trailing of flatly. I smirked a little, having no doubt that Tegan probably knew about his supposedly mortal allergy to citrus fruits.
"Hey, I was going for shutting you up, not making your gut happy." she replied dryly. Finally, we got to the facility. It was an off white colour with moss and grass and trees growing all over it so it was camoflauged by the surrounding nature. Using some quick hand signals, I had us falling into in a line. My team were at the front, Lorne's behind us, and we all knew what to do when we got inside. We were ready to go and knew how to spread out, well Rodney didn't but Tegan quickly whispered it to him and smacked him upside the head in the process. Tyre opened the door and we burst around the corner, our gunfire echoing through the halls as we took down several wraith guards, with Tyre stabbing and chopping at them until they fell. Tegan was the last one to fire, with a crafty shot in the back of ones head before he could round the corner. Her face was impassive, it was as if she'd almost buried her emotion and blocked out the world. It was really badass but at the same time a little concerning.

With Tyre leading us through the corridors we went deeper and deeper into the facility, the purple organic walls creeping me out just a little as the tension in the air grew. Where the heck was Ronon? Surely he should be around here somewhere? After searching a few more labs we came to an intersection, with Ronon standing in the middle of it. Relief flooded through my body but I knew something was wrong, he had a creepy smile on his face and seemed way to relaxed considering he was standing in the middle of a wraith facility.
"Ronon." my voice held a hint of surprise as I stopped Rodney from venturing to close.
"Sheppard, good to see you." he said calmly. I pursed my lips thinking hard. Was it possible that we were actually too late to save Ronon?
"You too, ready to come home?" I asked suspiciously, eyeing him up and down. His eyebrows rose high on his head and a smirk twisted his lips, this one was cruel though, sadistic almost. He didn't say anything, just watched as a group of wraith warriors surrounded us in their rotten acorn masks with their long white hair. There was a collective huff of air as we aimed our P-90's around, forming our own circle with Lorne's team as my heart sped up. I had to get my people out now or we were in serious trouble. A wraith commander with the long black leather coat and tattooed face stepped around the corner, he smiled creepily at Ronon,
"You've done well. Tyre, what an unpleasant surprise. I left you for dead." he commented in that weird hissy voice they use.

Tyre shifted uncomfortably before grabbing Teyla and holding a knife to her throat, my stomach lurched and we aimed half our weapons at Tyre now.
"I brought them here, doesn't that deserve some kind of reward?" he asked, pressing the knife a little closer.
"Put down your weapons." The waith commander hissed. I hesitated at first and nobody moved, waiting for my signal. I needed to do what was right by all of them. We were outnumbered and there was definietely going to be at least one fatality if we didn't comply. So, ever so slowly, I grit my teeth feeling irriated beyond belief, and lowered my weapon to the floor. It was all so smooth and practised as they took all of our weapons (including our side arms) and dragged us into cells. Lorne's team was dragged elsewhere and mentally I cursed the seperation.
"Great how are we going to get out of this?" Rodney groaned. "Of all the people to work for the wraith I never thought they'd break Conan the barbarian, and Tyre double crossing us? What the heck's up with that?" he rambled, panic mode engaged now. Tegan sighed,
"Yeah, Woolsey's gonna have my head for that." she grumbled, running a hand through her ponytail that she'd recently re-done to catch stray hair, even though wisps still hung about her face. Her grey eyes had darkened with the negativity of her mood as she looked at the floor. It was true though, Woolsey had said if Tyre hurt anyone it was on her, which I thought was a lot of pressure for a young Lieutenant.

"He said if Tyre hurt anyone, he hasn't hurt us yet." I pointed out. She looked up at me with a greatful smile,
"Thanks...but somehow I don't think Woolsey will see it that way." she replied. Teyla patted her knee before standing to look out into the corridor through the sticky black web-like door. Rodney looked at her,
"What? So it's your fault we dragged him along? Great, I'm blaming you." he said, eyes wide and pacing the room. Tegan rolled her eyes,
"Doesn't everybody." she muttered darkly. For a while, we sat in silence, letting Rodney ramble until Tegan got up and slapped him hard enough to turn his cheek red within seconds and threaten that if he didn't shut up she'd knock him out cold. He hadn't spoke a word since and she had sat beside him with her back against the wall. She was inbetween me and Rodney, Teyla sitting across from us when I felt something land softly on my shoulder with a thump. Turning my head and trying not to jump I saw it was Tegan's head, she was blinking owlishly at the wall and staring at nothing, completely out of it. I watched her eyes flutter closed and she curled a little closer into my side, shivering as though she were cold. Rodney smirked a little.
"Enjoying yourself there captain Kirk?" he asked teasingly, I rolled my eyes,
"Bit of an inappropriate time to sleep don't you think?" I asked skeptically.

"She didn't sleep last night." Rodney replied simply before freezing slightly. I raised an eyebrow at him,
"Why do I get the feeling there's more you're not telling us?" I asked, seeing Teyla nod in agreement. Rodney shot Tegan a glance and pulled her into his side instead so her head was resting on his chest, where she quickly snuggled down a little more until she was comfy and was soon snoring lightly again.
"I'm not supposed to tell you, but she's got insomnia and she didn't sleep last night. You didn't find out from me though." He said quickly. We nodded quickly as I thought through this new information. She couldn't go on a team then surely? We couldn't have her just collapsing at random intervals, unless she didn't do that. Once again I found myself needing to know more about her.
"Does she just fall asleep when she fancies it? Because we can't have her collapsing all over Atlantis." I pointed out. He shook his head,
"No she doesn't. We've been here for hours bored as hell with nothing to do but sit and talk, so she's took the oppurtunity to get her energy back, she could wake up any second now and have the energy to single handedly get us all out of here. It 's weird but she knows her limits, if she needs time off she'll ask for it." he explained with a small shrug. It made no sense to me but what I basically got from that was that she wouldn't be a liabilty off-world at least.

Tyre came around the corner just then and opened the cell door,
"The commander wants to see you, Sheppard." he said. His voice was monotone, giving nothing away. Traitorus asshole, I thought, as I stood up and followed him after deciding it'd be best not to argue with him. Not when he had his sword on him anyway, though I wasn't to confident that I'd win in a fist fight either. However, when we had rounded the next corner, Tyre instead released my arm and looked at me, "Do not worry Colonel Sheppard, here, take these." he handed me two glocks and I raised an eyebrow at him, "I never intended to betray you Sheppard. Hurry, we can still get Ronon and your teams out of here." he said, turning and grabbing my arm again after I'd stowed my weapons away in my waistband and dragging me through the corridors until I was kneeling infront of the wraith commander, Ronon stood and watched impassively.
"Colonel Sheppard." the commander hissed. I turned to Ronon,
"Ronon buddy, remember we're you're friends, we came to recuse you. Come on, give a man a hand?" I tried, unsure of what Tyre's plan was. The commander laughed viciously.

"I have cracked him, he is broken Colonel Sheppard, he worships me now! You have heart, you are a strong leader, you would be an asset, join me." he hissed, making his voice softer now, which I knew meant he was getting a hell of a lot more dangerous. Frowning, I looked up at him and licked my lips a little before saying,
"I think I'll pass on that one thanks." The commander didn't seem to like my answer though and lifted his hand, preparing to strike.
"Then we can do this the hard way." he snarled, his hand coming forward fast to strike my chest and begin feeding. I tried not to flinch as Tyre whipped his sword out and cut his hand off. He fell back screeching in pain. Bringing myself up off of my knees into a crouch, I brought out my glocks and twisted my arms, firing them both in opposite directions so the commander was down on his back and the wraith trying to get into the room were falling too. It seemed to take forever, hearing the clash of swords behind me (letting me know Tyre and Ronon had engaged in a sword fight) as I reloaded and fired in rapid succession. I could hear Ronon grunting behind me and Tyre's sharp intake of breathe, and as I turned around I watched Ronon (who had straddled Tyre) beat the crap out of him. I was about to tackle him or something to help Tyre when the rest of my team came around the corner, Lorne's team following closely as Teyla fired the wraith stunner three times at him until he fell off of Tyre, who quickly pushed him off as the smell of coppery blood began filling the air.

I could see why, Tyre had a gash on his stomach from where Ronon's sword had hit him, his face was more blood than skin but he still pushed himself to his feet as Lorne and Rodney pulled Ronon to his feet to drag him through the corridors. Teyla handed me a P-90, having already reloaded everything so I had full ammo before I motioned for Tyre to lead the way,
"Come on, lets get out of here." I said firmly, watching as Tyre lead us down the corridor, there were more wraith there and Tegan had shot them both down before any of us could react, until once again we found ourselves surrounded. Tyre had dragged the commander along with us and stole the detonator...wait, stole the detonator?! Great! So he'd placed charges and stole my detonator, I really needed to start paying closer attention to what was going on around me. We stopped, hunched down in the corridor and Tyre looked at the commander,
"Tell them to back off or I blow this place sky high. Do it." he demanded, his voice low and harsh. The commander was gasping for air as he slowly he bled to death,
"What's to stop you...doing that...anyway?" he rasped, Tyre rolled his eyes,
"One last bargain, if you let the Lanteans leave, I give you the detonator." he said. I looked at him,unsure of what to say. That wasn't going to help in the long run but in the time it took me to mentally debate the problem the commander had already agreed and ordered the wraith to stand by.

"Move, now, go!" I ordered, letting the others go before me as they edged their way down the corridor. I turned to Tyre, "Come on, I'm not leaving you behind." my tone was firm as I could make it but Tyre just smiled and handed me his sword,
"I'll be right behind you." His actions made it clear he wasn't going to be. Tyre was sacrificing himself to save us, that was one debt we'd never be able to repay. I nodded slightly, knowing I wasn't going to sway him.
"Thank you." I said sincerely, I had never meant it more in my life than I did right then. This was going to play on my mind later, I realised as I hurried away through the halls before stepping into the blinding sunlight and blinking once or twice to gather my bearings. My team and Lorne's were waiting for me, and we quickly made our way back through the forest, moving fast before finally reaching the gate, but every step felt like it was weighing me down. Tyre should have been with us right now but he wasn't, and that was bugging me more than I could say. Tapping my earpiece I motioned for someone to dial the gate, Teyla did and as I spoke, they filed through the wormhole. "We're clear, it's been a pleasure Tyre, thank you." my voice was quiet, considerate. Tyre replied with one word, 'likewise', before I stepped through the gate and told Chuck to shut it down. I didn't want to hear the explosion or watch the event horizon ripple anymore than normal. Keller had already retrieved Ronon and taken him away, the rest of us headed to the armoury with the promise of debriefing Woolsey on events in an hour.

Rodney had already departed to the mess hall; Teyla leaving soon after to see Torren and Kanaan. Lorne's team had left to and the only people left were me and Tegan. She looked up at me and smiled briefly. Was that a look of sympathy on her face? I was hoping not, I didn't do well with sympathy, heck I didn't do well with discussing emotion full stop.
"You did the right thing you know." her voice was quiet but it rang in the air, and I looked up at her as I put away my weapons.
"Sure." my voice clearly told her this conversation was over but she apparently didn't understand.
"Then why do you have such a guilty look on your face?" she pressed on, unaware of the irritaion this was causing me. I didn't answer, hoping she'd get the message. I knew she was trying to help but I really didn't need it right now. Not knowing that I needed to see my friend anyway, so I left without another word, tapping my earpiece along the way to find out where Ronon was.
"Colonel Sheppard, he's in the infirmary, he's going through withdrawal too." Keller said quietly in reply. Frowning, I walked to the infirmary but I couldn't stay there long, none of us could while he screamed and begged us to kill him. Several days later, when I finally returned to the infirmary, no words between us were needed. Instead of saying anything I just placed Tyre's sword in his hand,clapped his shoulder and left again, heading for the pier or the balcony so I could do some serious thinking.