Chapter Thirteen – A Team United

Then, just as suddenly as Carson had appeared by his side, Teyla was there next to him.

"John," she whispered, and he saw a faint tear gleaming in her eye.

He didn't want her sad and he realized, with a pang of regret, that he would never be able to talk to her again, to comfort her, to laugh with her, to watch her spar.

"I don't want to say…goodbye…Teyla," he whispered.

"Then don't," Rodney said sharply, as he too knelt beside him.

Too far gone, John smiled faintly; glad to have his friends near him one last time, even though they were just illusions caused by his oxygen deprived brain.

Rodney watched in horror as the glazed and pain clouded hazel eyes lost their focus. "No, no, no," he said, more calmly than he felt. All the color had long drained from his face, the sight of Sheppard's blood having terrified him when he'd first laid eyes on him.

Teyla steadily and methodically applied pressure on John's chest, praying she was actually managing to prevent some of the remaining blood to seep out.

"No!" Rodney shouted in shock as the bandages applied was instantly soaked with bright red blood.

However, John Sheppard wasn't really aware of his surroundings anymore, he didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

"Will I see you again?" He rasped hopefully, looking directly at the spot beside him that Carson had just reclaimed.

"John?" Teyla asked carefully, gently placing a hand on his shoulder as Rodney hesitantly reached out to help applying pressure.

Carson smiled at John ruefully and nodded slowly. "Aye lad, you'll see me again, probably sooner than you think, although it might not turn out the way you expected it," he said enigmatically before the faint image he'd projected of himself disappeared.

"John, are you awake?" Teyla said softly, her voice betraying the inner turmoil she felt.

"You came," Sheppard rasped fondly. "It's really you."

"Of course we came," Rodney admonished, sounding offended that he would even ask. "And of course it's really us."

"Thought perhaps you..." John managed weakly.

"Perhaps we thought you were caught in the buffer?" Rodney filled in for him. "Yes, that occurred to me but after all we've been through I dared to hope it wasn't so."

"Gate," John whispered, his eyes closing as small hands started to prod his wounds. Renewed pain vibrated through his entire body and he managed a glare, surprised to see the golden eyes of Lani Nadim glaring back at him.

"It's not operational," Teyla said softly. "We came through the space gate by jumper."

Rodney gingerly rose from his position next to John, giving space to the M.E and glanced sadly over at the Athosian on Sheppard's other side.

Seeing the serious look on Rodney's face Teyla rose too. The scientist leaned forward to her and whispered in her ear. "He'll never make it back."

"Gate," John said again stubbornly.

Rodney knelt by his side again. "It's broken," he said.

"Shut up and listen," John wheezed, his voice surprisingly strong. "Another city, beneath this, Lantean, all ways to operations severed."

"I know about Askula but like you said she's pretty damaged, the Wraith did a good job on her," Rodney returned.

"Who are you people?" Katan demanded as he took a step forward only to be brought back in place by Ronon.

"Military Organizer Katan, head of military matters," Medical Examiner Nadim began the introduction with a smug look. "Meet Colonel John Sheppard, Military Commander of the Atlantis Expedition."

Katan stared at the fallen man before him as Nadim continued. "This is Teyla Emmagan, Specialist Ronon Dex and Doctor Rodney McKay their Head of Science."

For a moment the silence was deafening, you could easily have heard a pin falling before the chaos erupted. Katan stared at his counterpart in surprise. After all, he had taken Sheppard for a soldier, although his defiance and fighting style told of something else.

Klaxons blared above their heads, the ground shook beneath their feet and a small crack formed in the ceiling. The Wrath had penetrated the defense grid and the perimeter set up by the planets defenses. The door to the midway hallway between the Lantean city and the Experimental bunker was thrown open and several Alpha team members filled the long but small passageway, with weapons drawn.

"Release M.O Katan immediately," the man in charge of the group demanded sternly.

Ronon sneered angrily, not intimidated by the newcomers, instead of letting go of the military leader he pulled him closer, his blaster connecting to the skull of his prisoner.

"You must listen to us, all of you," Teyla begged softly yet in a steady voice. "We can help you end this. To get rid of the Wraith, but only if you let us, and every second count."

Katan lifted his eyes and levelled them with Teyla's, ignoring the Satedan. The woman looked determined, her features grim and her brown eyes darkening, all of it highlighted by the flashing red lights.

The military organizer nodded to his men who sceptically pointed their weapons downward and took a reluctant step back. "Trust doesn't go one way," he said coldly as he still felt Ronon's blaster against the back of his skull.

The Satedan shrugged. "I dunno, you don't appear so trustworthy," he said casually.

Ignoring the rest of them Rodney tried to rouse Sheppard who'd slipped into some sort of catatonic state. "Where, Sheppard?" he asked nudging the colonel's shoulder. "Where's the gate, have you found it?" he urged as he shook his friend by the shoulders earning a glare from Nadim and Teyla.

Judging by the state Sheppard was in he doubted the man would say anything more at all. Just thinking about it made the hairs at the back of Rodney's head rise. He refused to believe this was goodbye.

"The internal citywide transporter only works as close as midway-"Sheppard managed weakly.

"I don't understand," Rodney said in frustration and the fear of losing his friend made him snap. "Now is not the time to be talking in riddles."

ME Nadim looked at him with a sad expression on her face – one without hope. "I'm sorry Doctor McKay, he's-"

Rodney swallowed, "No," he whispered.

"-dying," Nadim finished.

"No, no, no he's not!" McKay returned fiercely and then began to snap his fingers. "Maps, charts. I need a city map. Why didn't I download it back at the museum," he questioned himself, cursing his own stupidity.

"She must be built exactly like Atlantis," Teyla deduced.

"No, there were variances, not many but enough to grow concerned," Rodney let on.

"I fail to see the relevance in this," Katan spoke up impatiently. "The city has been decaying for centuries, it is unstable. It's all that remain of a damaged civilization – some of the savages even claim it's haunted."

"It's not haunted," Rodney disagreed. "That's ridiculous superstition."

"Of that I have no doubt," Katan admitted. "However, there's no denying that various members of the expedition teams we sent in contracted and died from a disease that then spread like a wild flower through the populated outer areas of the city. It took us months to gain control of it."

"Trust me when I say – don't mess around with Lantean lab equipment," Rodney said, speaking from own experience, sadly thinking back on the incident where John had finally saved everyone by sending an EMP through the system and killed the nasty little replicators that Janus had been playing with.

"Also, none of the things we encountered down there worked properly. Most of the doors are sealed. There's simply nothing of value down there," Katan finished.

"Tensions has been running high ever since," a young communications officer filled in from behind the M.O. "That was over two generations ago."

"The tension escalated into superstition and, propaganda, distrust and political instability when Dadan and his savages waltzed in here to enlighten us about the prophecy. The resistance formed then. The government couldn't handle the situation properly. Ever since we've been on our way to the point of no return which we have now passed; thanks to you and those creepy things that's efficiently killing our people," Katan said coldly.

Nadim looked angry, her cheeks flushed as she defiantly looked up to face the military organizer. "You blame all this on Dadan and the prophecy. He didn't start it and Sheppard and his people certainly didn't start it."

"What's wrong with you people?" Rodney questioned irritably. "Every second counts. We don't have time for this."

"Rodney is right," Lani said as she once again knelt beside John casting a cautious eye at the newly arrived decorated officer behind Katan, namely his SIC, Sha Rodin.

The Atlantis team members sensed the tension in the air.

"Sha, it is time," Lani said seriously.

The blond forty-something man was stoutly built and had an aura of command above him yet he didn't appeared vicious or fearful, not like the military organizer.

Rodin nodded carefully to one of the Alpha team members standing next to Ronon. "Keep your weapons lowered. Time is of the essence here," he said and then turned to his superior officer. "M.O Katan you'll be held at detention in the experimental bunker while the government decide what to build your court-martial on."

Teyla and Rodney carefully glanced at each other, looking equally surprised.

"Lani and I are Triples. We are employed by the government to see to it that peace is ensured on this planet. Katan and Amni have constantly worked against one another for over a year. However, we haven't been able to gather enough intelligence against them when it comes to the chaos around here. Neither have we wished to expose ourselves and given away the identity of our group. These are dangerous times, some of us have disappeared. We have infiltrated several leads on both sides but it is not until now that we feel it safe to make our move," Sha finished and nodded at two Alpha members behind him who quickly moved forward to retrieve their former commander from Ronon's gunpoint.

"What's the latest on the government, Lani?" Sha asked.

"Most of the delegates are safe, there were some unfortunate casualties," she answered seriously. "And before you ask, Dadan and his people are safe."

Katan suddenly laughed. "You think you'll get away with this? You're a fraud. You're not government sanctioned, this is a coup. Let me tell you one thing, the resistance will not win this!"

"None of us will win if we don't do something!" Rodney returned testily. "Do you think the Wraith care about your feeble quarrels? Do you think we care? You know I'm sorry I ever laid eyes upon this gate address. Sheppard is dying, we're stuck deep underground and you've almost depleted the zero point modules so that Askula's defense system wouldn't work!"

"Rodney," Teyla cautioned.

"No, these people blame us for coming here, for bringing the Wraith while it's them who's tapped into things they don't understand and almost depleted the power source and by doing so weakened the shield allowing the Wraith free passage down here!"

Katan glared defiantly at the alien scientist in front of him.

"The Travelers would have flown over this planet anyhow, I don't know why, the Wraith would have picked up their trail and followed them here. The events taking place here would have happened anyway –with or without our presence," Rodney explained in annoyance.

"The prophecy-" Sha began only to be interrupted by a fuming scientist.

"I'm so sick and tired of that word," Rodney returned.

Sha frowned, his hands crossed over his chest.

"It's a long story, Sha, trust them, I'll explain later," Lani said softly even though her eyes never really left her patient.

"We need the chair, McKay, to blow those creeps out of the sky," Ronon said. "I've run from them enough."

"Ronon's right, Rodney. We don't know where the stargate is or if it's even operable," Teyla reasoned.

"The what?" Katan asked dumbfounded and still irritated that strangers seemed to know so much about technology they hadn't been able to decipher.

Rodney waved lazily in the air. "Round big thing with symbols," he explained sourly, as if the man who asked was only three years old.

Sha scratched his head. "The sacred ring, the monument that was destroyed by the spaceship?" He asked.

"It's not a…" Rodney cut himself short. "Why am I even bothering," he asked.

"It is a portal. It let us travel through vast distances in space," Teyla explained. "It should be situated in the Lantean city's top spire."

"How's he?" Ronon asked gruffly, having lost interest in the ongoing conversation, his question directed at the ME still kneeling next to Sheppard.

"I think I've managed to stop the bleeding but I need to go in and do extensive repair work and I can't do that here. I need to get him to hospital," Nadim explained. "The problem is that I won't be able to reach the facility with all the activity on the surface."

"Infirmary," John whispered.

Ronon seemed to understand his train of thought and nodded at Katan. "You come with us as insurance and if something happens on the way and he dies – you die as well," the Satedan explained coldly.

"Nadim and I will take John there, Ronon," Teyla said catching on to Ronon's train of thought and glanced over her friend's shoulder at Katan's SIC. "We could use some help though."

Sha nodded and took a step forward. "I must caution you. The ancient city was scorched after the original battle. Structural collapse has occurred in several places. The place is unstable in parts and those areas are not advisable to enter."

"We don't have to go far, we use the internal citywide transporter," Teyla reassured him.

"I've been there before. I left Tori there with a junior doctor and a nurse," Lani said and turned to Rodin. "Sha, I need a stretcher badly."

He nodded at one of the Alpha members who quickly nodded in return and set off at a run.

"I've heard stories passed on from generation to generation but they talk about a city so vast, so brilliant. A city floating on the ocean that wasn't built on this planet. Of a mighty people capable of travelling the galaxies, of powers beyond comprehension," Sha said dreamingly.

"Nonsense," Katan muttered. "There are no aliens, the prophecy isn't valid. It's only a wish, a reality that does not exist!"

"Not one but many cities," Rodney filled in as he glanced at his team mates. "They gathered here, a lot of them, Atlantis included. Then the Wraith came, Askula stayed behind to defend the others."

The ground suddenly shook beneath them and the lights flickered.

"Right, I still need a city map but at the time I'll trust my memory. On our way here we encountered the Hive. So far it's only one, let's hope it stays that way," Rodney said.

"The sooner we find the chair, the sooner we can blow those bastards sky high," Ronon muttered, itching to do something.

Teyla looked from the determined Satedan to the worried scientist. "Go now we'll take care of John and then I'll catch up with you," she reasoned with urgency.

Ronon didn't need to be told twice. He walked over to McKay and grabbed his arm, dragging the scientist with him as the Alpha member returned with the much needed stretcher.

"You must help them, Carson," John whispered and moaned as the two women carefully slid him onto a stark white stretcher. "They must find the chair."

"I'm sorry lad, I can't," he said dejectedly.

"You know," John persisted stubbornly, his voice so low that no one but Carson heard him.

He hesitated. "I can't interfere, John. I should never have appeared before you," he said regrettably.

OOOOOO

To be continued

/Thank you everyone, for following my story ;) I love to hear your thoughts!