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Chapter 2: Uninvited Guests

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Guessing how crappy John must be taking everything, Rodney braved his CO's wrath and claimed the co-pilot seat beside Sheppard. And when John sent him a 'now what do you have to say?!' silent challenge, Rodney gave a sad sympathetic smile, tried to let the man know he was his friend, still, regardless of their earlier heated exchange.

John fought back a sigh at Rodney's mime routine but understood the man's gesture by taking the seat beside him instead of staying safely behind him out of his sight. But he didn't offer any words, simply activated the stargate in space and immediately was aware that there was a communication coming through from Atlantis. Activating his radio, he initiated contact. "Yeah, Sheppard here. What's going on?" His light tone concealing his true emotions and the gut instincts that told him Atlantis wasn't calling to learn something fun like if they traded some moonshine for a power bar.

And when it was Elizabeth's voice coming into his cockpit he knew it wasn't a low level issue that drew the commander of Atlantis to take time out of her busy day to chat with him. "John, we're getting more intruder readings like we did a couple days ago. And I would love to discount them but I have this …feeling we shouldn't be complacent about taking all these readings seriously."

"It's called gut instinct and you shouldn't ignore them, trust me, I should know. Ok, well McKay and I are heading back now so see you in a few minutes."

"Ok, good. See you then," Elizabeth said in closing before it hit her: John hadn't mentioned that Ronon and Teyla were returning with him. And John wasn't one to misspeak. Course that wasn't anything to be concerned about, John might have assigned his other team members to stay on planet for some reason…that he would tell her about it when she saw him face to face. But then again, her "gut instincts" were clamoring that warning again that said this separation wasn't just your run of the mill dividing up labor tactics. Then a Jumper was through the Stargate and being flown up to the hangar bay with the skills she'd know anywhere as John Sheppard's.

And it made her feel better, her military leader back and able to head up the reconnaissance into the sections of the city ringing with intruder alarms. Sure it was the third time this week it'd happened but like she told John, something was tingling down her spine every time those alarms went off. And if nothing else, the Pegasus Galaxy had taught her that things could always get worse.

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Debarking from the Jumper first, Rodney was all set to head to Weir's office without a word to John but his conscience wouldn't let him do it. Instead, he turned on the ramp, opened his mouth to offer up an apology for his actions on the planet but before he got further than, "Hey…uh…Sheppard…" there was a loud boom and the ground shook under them. "What was that?!"

But John knew exactly what that was, had become an expert at that sound in Iraq and Afghanistan: the detonation of explosive charges. Snagging his P90 from the floor, he took off at a run down the ramp, out of the hangar and toward the distinctive smell of spent explosives. Soon it was his ears leading him to the sound of frightened, raised voices and the creaking of shredded metal grinding together. Down another corridor and he came upon the smoke filled passageway. He didn't hesitate but entered the smoke and turned the light on his P90 to see through the pollutant in the air.

The first person he came upon was walking with their own strength, choking on the smoke but moving. John latched onto him and guided him back the way he had come, eased him to the floor as Rodney arrived, having not the ability to keep up with John's athletic dash through the city. Rodney could only exclaim, "Oh no," at the smoke and the injured personnel, knowing that what was beyond his sight was going to be terrible. Watched as John dived back fearlessly into the smoke like some firefighter, emerged again a few moments later with a person slung over his shoulders which he deposited on the floor by Rodney's feet and the other victim began trying to revive the woman.

When John entered the smoke again, Rodney followed him, raised his shirt over his mouth to cut down on the amount of smoke he was inhaling as John had already done. So when John found another person on the floor, Rodney bent down and was going to help get them clear of the smoke but John put a hand on his shoulder, stopped him. "He's gone already. We need to help the people still alive." And then John moved on, past the body and Rodney took one last look at the man at his feet and followed John. He knew John never left anyone behind so the dead would be retrieved but for right now, they had to concentration on the living first.

And it was a bitter truth that seeing dead people was sadly something Rodney was becoming familiar with.

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When Dr. Beckett and nearly every one of his staff members arrived along with half of Atlantis personnel, John left the rescue mission to them. He had already ordered Major Lorne to seal off the rest of Atlantis and post guards at all the vital systems, though it hadn't really been necessary. Lorne had done all that on his own, proving again why Sheppard had picked him as his second in Command.

But now as John headed to meet up with Lorne in the North wing, not via transporters because of the possible damage to them, he got another transmission from the Major. "Colonel, we have a serious problem."

"You mean besides an explosion, ten dead and five seriously wounded. Yeah, I figured there was more bad news headed our way," John caustically replied. "What is it Major?"

"The ZPM on the north tower…it's gone," Lorne reported.

"I thought you posted men there!"

"I did…immediately after the intruder alerts started. Both Marines are dead. Slit throats."

And Sheppard could hear the effect the loss of those men had on Lorne, like it did him. More lives he didn't save. Move lives that could have been saved if he had gotten back here sooner, hadn't wasted precious time arguing with Ronon, with Teyla, with Rodney back in the tribal camp, worrying about trying to keep their loyalty, their friendship. While lives here on Atlantis were being snuffed out.

"Damn it!" Sheppard vehemently cursed, putting the pieces together too slowly now. "The explosion was the decoy and somehow they have had access to us for the past month, have been setting off the alarms hoping we'd let down our guard after it happened again and again without proof we had any intruders. Then today they came for real."

"Seems like it, sir," Lorne grimly agreed with his CO's conclusions. "We have the Stargate lined with men so they aren't leaving that way. Trouble is, we don't know how they got in. Well, by water but where?"

His mind going a mile a minute, John realized where they were weakest. "Uninhibited sections of the city, even those not holding life support could be a conduit if they have oxygen and other gear to get through the bad gas sections. Crap! They know our city better than we do. Ok, get oxygen masks for your teams and branch out from the ZPM room to the north east where we have the Carbon Dioxide leak. I'll head north west where the flooding happened. And get someone from the control room to check their life sign systems for any blips."

"Yes sir. Lorne out."

Sensing movement behind him, John spun around, finger on the trigger of his P90 and he almost peppered McKay with bullets. "McKay, what are you doing?! You not having a crappy enough day, you want shot too?!"

Having skittered to a stop with his hands raised when he turned the corner and was faced with Sheppard's rifle trained on him, Rodney stammered, "Nothing….no, I mean…."

"Go to the control room, tell me if anything hinky is showing up on the uninhabited areas of the city."

"They are already two personnel doing that," Rodney stated as he came to Sheppard's side. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," John commanded, didn't need a scientist on this mission. What he did need was a squad of men who could take lives at his order without hesitation. Unfortunately, Atlantis boasted more scientist citizens than soldiers.

"I'm not letting you go alone! I got my rifle, am still wearing my flak jacket and grabbed a lifesigns monitor from the ordinance room. You can kick me off your team for not following your orders after we recover the ZPM," McKay stubbornly retorted then started off down the corridor, hoped Sheppard caught up to him before he realized McKay had no idea where he was supposed to be going.

"Crap but I'm really losing control," John groused under his breath before he ran a few steps and gained Rodney's side. He pointed a finger at the scientist, "Alright but don't slow me down."

"I'll do my best," was all Rodney could promise.

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Though Teyla didn't have the radio transmitter in her ear, she hadn't turned it off, had tucked it in her pocket. She startled when it squeaked with noise and she and Ronon both halted in their trek to seek out his people. Thinking…hoping it was John coming back for them, maybe agreeing to go with them, Teyla quickly put the transmitter in her ear, saw Ronon do the same. But the voice that came to her wasn't Sheppard's.

"Come in Dex and Emmagan, do you read?"

"Yes, we are here. Who is this?" Teyla replied, not recognizing the voice.

"Lt Ellis, ma'am. Sorry but we have an emergency and we've recalled all off world teams. I have your location on my radar and will be in position in a few minutes. Please move to the open field to the north."

Ronon's gut tightened at the news. "What's the emergency?" couldn't stop himself from worrying that it involved Sheppard or McKay, that they had left them go off alone and it was his friends who had found danger when he wasn't there to protect them.

"I'm not allowed to discuss that on an open channel sir. I'll brief you in the Jumper," was the Marine's tightlipped answer.

Ronon cursed but understood the caution. At his side, Teyla looked questioning to him. "Do you wish to stay here?"

But Ronon shook his head. "No, whatever's happening is serious enough to recall all teams."

"Still, you might miss your opportunity to speak to your people," Teyla gently pointed out.

Ronon, however, could see the big picture, had learned to do that being with John, at watching Dr. Weir make the decisions she did. "And if Atlantis falls, the wraith will have free reign over the galaxy and none of my people or yours or anyone else's will survive that culling. No, we go back, help where we can do the most good."

Teyla nodded in agreement, glad Ronon had made that decision because she herself had already known what her answer was. Not only were John and Rodney and the others she called friends and allies on Atlantis, but her people were on the planet too, possibly in danger as well.

As soon as he and Teyla entered the Jumper, Ronon bombarded the two Marines with questions. And the news was indeed grim. An explosion, ten dead, five seriously wounded, damage to the city. And the latest intel…a ZPM had been taken. Ronon slammed his hand against the Jumper's bulkhead, "Damn it!" Without all three ZPMs the cloak for the city couldn't be generated for long…or the shield. Making them easy target practice for any Wraiths. Or other enemies that came for them. Ronon wasn't even aware he was numbering himself with the Atlanteans, had stopped calling it Atlantis and had silently been referring to it as home. Without him knowing it, Atlantis and its people had become a part of him, and he had become a part of them.

And they had been attacked and he hadn't been there to defend them. Just like Satedan. But now he worried if John had been at Atlantis during the attack? Turning to the Marines, he leaned over the co-pilot's chair, demanded, "Sheppard, was he there when the attacks happened? Is he Ok, is Dr. McKay?"

The co-pilot provided an answer. "Explosion happened just after Lt. Colonel Sheppard landed. I think he and Dr. McKay were the first ones on the scene to rescue people. After that, I'm not sure what happened as we were ordered to recall any personnel with an orbital 'gate."

Teyla sank to the bench seat, knew John well enough now to know that he would take the deaths and destruction upon his conscience, would second guess himself, blame himself for not getting back sooner. Would think his delay arguing with Ronon and her had led to those deaths, though she knew those minutes couldn't have mattered…unless to maybe have John or Rodney arrive back early enough to be at the explosion site. To maybe be numbered among the dead. To be spared that tragedy, she could only be glad she and Ronon had delayed John's departure, regardless of the guilt she felt at valuing her friends' lives above almost all others.

Then Ronon was sinking into the bench beside her and she saw the guilt on his features, knew his thoughts had gone to John's headspace as hers had. Reaching out she gripped his shoulder. "We had no way of knowing."

"Minutes can make the difference between life and death," Ronon said with quiet anguish, had been a soldier long enough to realize that harsh truth.

"Yes…but …John's delay…maybe it spared he and Mckay." At that perspective, Ronon's eyes swung to meet hers, showed that he understood what she was implying and didn't judge her for it.

"That's good enough," Ronon hoarsely conceded before standing up and beginning to collect whatever weaponry he could from the Jumper, was going to enter Atlantis ready for the battle to come the instant the Jumper's ramp descended.

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Rodney honestly didn't think he would have insisted on accompanying Sheppard had he known how dangerous the journey was going to be. There was flickering lights, knee high freezing water, ceilings that looked ready to crumble apart, ok some of them had crumbled already and areas of floor had big holes in them that they had to jump over. So no, he wouldn't have gotten himself in this mess if he had known but here he was, trying to pretend he was a long jumper. And in spite of John's threats, Sheppard did wait for him and yes, he did reach his hand out and help Rodney clear the latest hole to the somewhat secure section of flooring. Then there was more running.

But they both halted in their tracks when a familiar noise came from somewhere ahead. "That sounds like…" John began, and Rodney's finished, "…a stargate activating."

Barreling ahead into an open room, they found a stargate they didn't even know existed. And a seven person team in black attire that covered them head to toe were stepping through the gate with the ZPM between them. John fired off some shots, taking down two of the team but the rest were swallowed up by the blue of the 'gate. Running forward, John dove for the 'gate …and landed harshly on the other side of the 'gate on the unforgiving floor of Atlantis as the 'gate shut down.

Even before he picked himself off the floor, John saw Rodney was searching for the gate dial…found it on the left side of the room but by then the symbols had gone dark, leaving them no clue what address the thieves had gone to. But John asked anyway, always asked the impossible from McKay because somehow the other man found a way to deliver it. "We need to find out where they went, what they dialed."

"Yeah, not happening. Like I've told you and Dr. Weir, I don't know, a thousand times, there's no memory stored in the system of the last number dialed. It's a failsafe probably so no one followed the Ancients home."

"Well, we need a way to star 69 this thing," John growled, wishing the controls worked like the Jumper and just obeyed his commands, without question, something his human subordinates apparently couldn't be bothered to do.

"Star what?" Rodney turned to John in confusion.

"Star 69. You know, on our old phones when we wanted to call back the person who just called us. Before caller ID was all the rage."

"Antiquated phone reference, sorry I didn't get that," Rodney sarcastically drawled. "Maybe because I was busy solving math problems for NASA when you were stumped what to do when you missed a phone call."

"'Least someone called me," John snarked back still studying the control dial. "The Ancients didn't want anyone following them home…"

"Yeah, that's what I said already."

"But they would be curious who was using other planet stargates and where they were going, were nosy buggers like that, right?" John posed.

"Yes, well, there were records of previous addresses, so they kept track of who they called upon. And Zalenka said he found a log for other gates, like the one with only the kids."

"But by all accounts, the Ancients never paid them a visit. So how'd they get addresses to places they never travelled to? I'm pretty sure I didn't see a Pegasus Yellow Pages at any of the planets we visited." After a moment, John got that eureka look on his face that Rodney absolutely hated. "Beckett…he talked about the Ancients being able to command the instruments to do more than I can..."

"We! More than we can. Why do you always have to think you're so special…" McKay interjected but John was on a roll.

"They locked out some addresses, remember that crazy scientist guy, he said his gate only went to Atlantis. So we know they could control the 'gate's dialing mechanism."

Rodney was starting to get where John was going. "Control…maybe. But that doesn't mean recall. And even if they could…we can't. Even if you and I put both our hands on the controls, it doesn't double our connection to the Ancient technology." At John's look. "Ok, yes I tried it with Carson but it didn't work."

"Right idea but you were thinking physically…not genetically," and with those words John started back the way they had come, was barking orders via radio to Lorne as he went. "Lorne, they left through a stargate we didn't even know we had in our back yard. Get command to track my location from two minutes ago and meet me there with two teams. I'll be back here soon as I can."

"And where are you off-roading to?" Lorne asked, a bit of worried frustration in his tone because he knew his CO only too well.

"I think I need to do that checkup Beckett's been pestering me to have," John cryptically replied. Behind him he heard Rodney's footfalls, knew he was trying to keep up with him.

Heaping curses on Sheppard's head, Rodney shouted at his best friend's back as he lagged behind the man's killer pace, "I know what you're thinking and it's a really dumb idea!"

That came over the transmitter and Lorne knew he just didn't want to ask, would find out soon enough what reckless endeavor his CO was going to do to save them all this time. "Sir, just don't get yourself killed before we even go after them."

"Ah, so refreshing to hear that you have your priorities in order, Major," John snarked back.

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Tbc

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Thanks so much to the wonderful people who reviewed this story's first chapter and gave me encouragement to continue it! I also appreciate everyone who took the time to check out this story and even stuck around for another chapter.

Have a wonderful day!

Cheryl W.