Pain tore him from the darkness. His right shoulder was numb and he was aware that he was lying on his right side, his Beretta digging painfully into his hip. His right arm lay outstretched in front of him, but something didn't look right. The shadows around him were too dark, and the world spun sickeningly.

When he tried to lift his head, the pain hit him again, stabbing through his temples and eyes so forcefully he had to squeeze his eyes shut until the throbbing died down.

Trying again, this time he kept his eyes closed, pushing himself to a half sitting position and biting back a cry of pain as the nerves in his shoulder flared. A very familiar, nauseous feeling started to build in his gut, and he gasped for air through his nose, keeping his mouth shut in a grim line as he tried to process what had happened.

Slowly opening his eyes again, he found his vision still off and lifted a shaky left hand to one eye and then the other. He was blind in his right eye.

What had happened?

He felt the right side of his head, fingers coming away sticky with blood when he discovered a deep cut swelling between his temple and the top of his ear. Another cut over his eye revealed extensive swelling around the eye socket. It wasn't swollen enough for his eye to be forced shut, and he blinked rapidly but still found he could not see. Probably something there had affected his optic nerve — hopefully not permanently. There was another sizable lump on the back of his head and more blood which had started to dry on his neck.

His shoulder was next. He could feel something grating under his collarbone next to the humerus. Each tiny movement lit the nerves in that junction on fire and he could feel tears beginning to leak from his eyes. Biting his lip, he probed the shoulder, finding his jacket soaked with blood and a small hole with no exit.

Had he been shot?

His chest and ribs ached and it was difficult to take deep breaths. Looking at the ground beneath him he saw a pool of blood beginning to dry where he had been lying. Checking his watch for the time and date he found it broken.

How long had he been out?

Pushing himself further upright, he found a rock at his back, and then realized with a start that he was on a small ledge, and beyond was a drop that looked fatal. Looking up, he saw stars beginning to emerge in a twilight sky, and a rocky cliff towering over him.

Did he fall?

Searching his tac vest and pockets, he found nothing missing except his P90. Pulling out his small flashlight he shone it up the darkening cliff face and saw several rocks had been dislodged, revealing what looked like his rough descent down to the ledge where he had found himself.

Peering over the edge again, he found the descent much further to the bottom of the valley and realized he was going to have to climb up versus down.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his med kit, unwrapping a bandage and pressing it to his shoulder wound, awkwardly taping it in place with one hand and hoping it would hold. He tore open a packet of painkillers with his teeth and swallowed them dry. Resting his head against the rock behind him, he willed the throbbing in his shoulder and the painful pulsing behind his eyes to calm down enough for him to gain control of his vision and stomach.

Breathing deeply through his nose for a few minutes with his eyes closed gave him a little more control over the nausea. Feeling better, he looked up at the cliff face above him and tried mapping out a way up.

The shadows around him were deepening, the air was cooling, and towards the south he saw twin moons beginning to rise over the valley. The light was bright enough for him to see by without the flashlight, and he could not shake the feeling that he needed to urgently get to the top of the cliff. He couldn't wait until morning.

Strengthening his resolve, he gripped the rock above him with his left hand, hauling himself to his feet. He was going to have to rely on his legs and left hand as his right shoulder was proving impossible to move without excruciating pain. He tucked his right hand into his tac vest to get it out of the way and started to climb.

Partial blindness did not help the ascent, on top of the injuries he had already sustained. He found that he missed the grips he wanted more often than not, purely because he had miscalculated with only one good eye. His legs also started to tremble under the strain, but the cliff face wasn't impossible to scale. It sloped just gently enough. He made it to the top, gasping for air and covered in sweat.

Flopping on the grass, chest heaving, he felt his stomach finally rebel and he flipped over just in time to expel its contents. He heaved until only bile came up, and then kept retching, even though there was nothing left. He couldn't feel any relief in the action as his ribs flared with pain at the violent movement. Tears of pain filled his eyes. His head was pounding and he found he couldn't open his eyes when his body finally decided it had had enough.

Barely keeping himself from falling face first into the pool of vomit, he pushed himself up on trembling arms, rolling away and gasping for breath through the stabbing pain in his ribs and shoulder. His shin brushed against something hard in the grass, and after he had a moment to gather himself together, he reached back to touch smooth metal and found his missing P90.

Suddenly, he remembered.

Kolya.

Kolya had his team.

He could feel the anger rising as the memories came rushing back in bits and pieces. He was still missing a lot. Head injuries tended to do that to a person. He couldn't remember how he had ended up on the ledge or where his injuries had come from, but he clearly remembered the fear on McKay and Teyla's faces as Kolya had grinned. He couldn't remember what had happened to Ronon.

Did he and Ronon get thrown over the cliff?

He dragged himself back to the cliff edge and peered down, clicking the light on his P90 and searching the rocks below. There was no sign of anyone else, unless Ronon had also fallen and had gone further than he had.

He didn't want to think about that possibility.

The pressure building behind his eyes was also not helping when it came to thinking. Even with the painkillers the migraine was pounding through his head even worse than the throbbing in his arm. Maybe if he lay down just for a minute …

His eyes snapped open. The twin moons were no longer on the horizon. They had passed over him and were starting to set behind the trees. It was still dark, but Sheppard knew he had lost precious time.

Cursing softly, he staggered to his feet and towards the tree line, clipping the P90 to his vest but grateful the forced rest had seemed to help his migraine.

First things first. He had to get back to the 'gate and get help. There was no way he was going to be able to track Kolya in his current state. The chances of the Genii leaving the planet were also high, so he needed to get Radek back to check the addresses that had dialed out.

The journey back to the 'gate took far longer than it had earlier that day. He found he couldn't walk in a straight line, and his blind eye meant that he miscalculated hanging branches and other obstacles more frequently than he would have liked. The light from the twin moons ensured he didn't need his flashlight, but the night sounds around him were far too quiet to put him at ease. Every step caused his shoulder and ribs to flare with pain, but he doggedly pressed onwards until he saw the gleaming metal of the 'gate through the trees.

Coming to a stop and pressing himself behind a tree before breaching the clearing, he knew that Kolya might have left guards at the 'gate. Peering out, he saw his instinct was right. Two armed men paced in front of the 'gate.

Did this mean that Kolya hadn't left the planet after all?

He gave himself a minute to gather himself, then looked out again, grateful for the bright moonlight. Not seeing movement from more than the two guards, he pressed his left shoulder to the tree and braced himself.

Sheppard had trained weapons with both hands in the Black Ops and was grateful for that now, knowing that his right shoulder would never be able to take the kickback from the gun. He was doubly grateful that the P90's unique design meant it was an ambidextrous weapon. Lifting the gun, he switched the dial to semiautomatic, and fired.

The men dropped quickly. Two bullets was all it took.

Sheppard ran to the DHD and started dialing, but stopped in confusion when the DHD refused to respond. The tiles thunked without lighting up.

Cursing, he looked around the base of the DHD, found a panel McKay had shown him during Stargate orientation, opened it, and let loose another stream of curses when he found a handful of crystals missing.

Slamming his left hand on the DHD in anger, he cursed yet again when the pain that flared in his ribs nearly caused him to black out, dropping him to his knees. Heaving in great, slow lungfuls of air against the pain and rising bile in his throat, he finally managed to get control of his body back and used the DHD to pull himself to his feet.

He searched the guard's bodies, hoping either one had the missing crystals and came up empty. Stripping them of their radios and weapons, he tucked the guns into his belt and strapped the radios to his right arm. He then searched the base of the Stargate itself. They must have missed their check-in with Atlantis, so why hadn't anyone come through to rescue them?

His answer came in the form of what McKay had labeled "a very important panel" at the back of the 'gate.

It was gone. No one was getting in or out. There would be no rescue from Atlantis.

He was on his own.