Author's Note: So sorry for the delay. Loads of love to all my wonderful reviewers who prove there is someone out there still waiting for more of this story. So here's the next chapter, finally!

SGAT

Chapter 28: Some Like it Hot

SGAT

McKay came at John's summoning, was of course talking before John could. "As if we didn't need another thing to worry about, Kannar decided now was the time to mention this planet gets hot, like baking in our skins hot…after sundown. He might have brought us here in the morning, given us more time."

"Rodney, it's not like we mapped out this day. If we had, it would have been escape a burning house in the predawn, followed by a leisurely walk into an ambush, then before breakfast, take a trip off planet before an entire town lynches us," John retorted to his friend's compliant.

"As if anything we plan ever stays on schedule anyways," Rodney grumbled before it hit him that he was talking with a now conscious John. "Oh hey, how are you feeling?"

John gave a fake smile and an even faker answer, "Oh just wonderful, nothing clears the mind like a seizure."

Rodney exchanged worried glances with Ronon. Though he didn't like it when John brushed off his concern with his brand of sarcasm, he liked it less when John actually mentioned the elephant in the room, namely his seizures. Rodney was trying to think of something comforting to say but gave up the notion, remembered giving out reassurances wasn't in his wheelhouse.

Before his two friends attempted to give him a pep speech, John got down to the problem that he hoped he could solve. "Rodney, fact check me on this: Atlantis still has protocols for containment breaches setup, right? Possibly even some hidden ones we didn't manage to dig out of the programing? Like when we first discovered the nanites, Atlantis kicked into an automatic lockdown. I couldn't pass through any section door without wearing a containment suit. What if the city is again acting in its best interest, if it sensed the nanites in that 2nd stargate when we kickstarted her up? Maybe the 2nd stargate, in that long ago inaccessible wing of Atlantis, tripped yet another protocol, one we didn't know about."

McKay was fast getting John's point, wore that excited look he got when he was on the right trail for a genius breakthrough. "A protocol that locks down the main stargate, so no one affected would go through. So they wouldn't infect anyone else…or, more likely, they feared there might then be nanites in that gate too that would target their Ancient gene!"

Then Rodney and John in unison declared their matching theory. "Shutting down the main stargate is a safety measure!"

It led to Rodney excitedly snapping his fingers. "Yes, yes! We need to convince Atlantis there's no longer a containment threat."

Carson had entered the ship in time to catch that important revelation, joined the ranks of the enlightened with a stammered apology. "I never thought of it that way. In the medical wing, they have hundreds of protocols for the safety of Atlantis. I haven't been able to read over them all." Said with chagrin, "I should have thought about this as a medical emergency, that there was probably a protocol for it."

"Don't sweat it, Carson. Rodney's still reading the manual to operate his room shower," John quipped.

"Hardy har," Rodney retorted at the slam John made, but he was distracted by working through how to shut down the protocol and get the gate open. "So we need to shut down the containment alert, trick Atlantis into thinking the nanites are no longer a threat, haven't infected anyone." Here he looked to Carson, announced, "We need to find the protocol for nanites in your medical sector, determine its parameters. Radek has to get working on this.. before we all become burned marshmallows in this planet's heat wave," after sharing that encouraging dark imaginary, Rodney stormed off the ship.

Carson stayed behind, studying Sheppard with concern. "How are you feeling?" he prodded, pressing his fingers against John's wrist to track his heart rate.

Feeling uncomfortable being a bystander, Ronon made his own departure from the ship and John wished he could escape too. Was royally sick of everyone asking him how he was feeling! How did you politely tell people who cared about you to stuff their concern and stop hovering like they thought he'd explode into antimatter at any second. But he curtained his anger, knew it wasn't justified, mumbled with bitterness he'd not revealed to Ronon or Rodney, "I feel like I lost more brain cells than I can afford to have go missing."

Carson paled at John's retort, knew how close to the bone his friend's statement was, just didn't know if John knew that. Busied himself checking for fever, seeing the same bruises Ronon had examined, all in uncomfortable silence.

"That's the truth, isn't it?" John quietly interrogated, winced when Carson jerked back a bit at his bold question. But John was the guy who, unlike Han Solo, always wanted to know the odds, had to know them so he'd know how to beat them. 'But are these odds I can win against? Has the house finally outplayed me, is about to shut me down permanently?'

That looming defeat was practically confirmed when Carson gave him a look of regret instead of his usual soft encouraging look.

"Tell me," John hoarsely demanded even as he felt unprepared to face the reality of his situation.

Carson claimed the seat at John's side. "I can't confirm anything without running tests back on Atlantis. Our first order of business is to get you there, through the main stargate."

"But you have a pretty good idea, don't you?" John pressed, saw Carson pale. It made John make his own leap of logic, but his voice still conveyed his stupor at the outcome he hadn't let himself contemplate. "I'm not going to regain my memories, my mental capabilities, am I?"

"I would never give a diagnosis without facts and …" Carson began to deflect but John gripped him by the forearm, stopping his hedging ramblings. The doctor saw the fierce ache in John's eyes to know the truth, to be told the truth. "I can't be certain…anything could change with more research into this enzyme Thupr told us about. All this is unprecedented so we can't know the outcome.."

But in every word of Carson's denial, John foresaw his grim future. His memories, his mind, he wasn't going to ever be as he was. Through the ATA injection, the nanites, the seizures, he had suffered irreparable damage, just like the traumatic brain injury his buddy Frankie had gotten from an IED blast that threw him fifty feet in the air.

His hand sliding limply from Carson's arm, John closed his eyes, leaned his head back against a coat someone had considerately positioned there for him. Mumbled, "I'm tired, think I'll catch a few winks before we gate back."

"John.." Carson began even as he didn't know what reassurances he could offer. Nor did he know how to bring up the subject that, even if they could open the main stargate, John would be hurt going through it. Would suffer another seizure which would cause further damage to his neural pathways.

Without opening his eyes, Sheppard ordered, "Go help Rodney figure out this protocol problem with Radek. I didn't bring my sunblock so let's leave before the gamma rays burn us instead of tan us, ok?" John felt when Carson got up, heard his footsteps on the ship flooring and knew when he was alone. Only then did he open his eyes, hated they were burning with tears. This wasn't how he wanted to go out, feeling less than himself, broken. But who gets to decide that? How things end? Especially as a soldier.

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Ronon paced around the planet's stargate as McKay, Carson, Radek and Elizabeth went round and round with the boring science talk of protocols, lockdowns, computer overrides. Kannar seemed just as bored as he was after having done his part and put back the crystal into the gate to make it operational. Breaking from his pacing pattern, Ronon approached Kannar as the other soldier leaned against a tree, squinting against the sunlight.

"I haven't said it before, but thank you for risking what you did to keep John and Rodney alive," Ronon opened with, saw the man scrutinize him a moment, as if wondering if he meant it before Kannar simply nodded in acceptance.

Kannar, feeling a kinship with the soldier, who he sensed had been through his fair share of bad, just like he had sensed in Sheppard, honestly admitted with humiliation, "None of this turned out as my people planned."

"It rarely does when non soldiers make war plans," Ronon commiserated.

The statement had Kannar giving a surprised snort of laughter. "You're not wrong." Then he sighed, before he turned fully to Ronon. "I know your planet's fate. Sateda was a beacon of hope for a lot of us, to keep fighting. I'm sorry it ended like it did."

Ronon stiffened, wasn't used to openly talking of Sateda or its grim fate. "We were all sorry. I'm still proud of the fight we waged." Then he paused, before he quietly remarked, "Your people, they can be united again."

Kannar bitterly shook his head. "How? The common enemy thing? We couldn't agree on who that was? Atlantis? Sheppard? Anyone not one of us? Even each other? How can we be united if we can't even figure that out?!"

Ronon gave a devious smirk. "But you all hate and fear the Wraith, right?"

"That's a given but apparently one common enemy isn't enough to hold our community together. And if McKay gives me the code to the generator," Kannar rubbed a rough hand over his mouth in distress, "…then even the threat of the Wraith won't loom over us. I fear we will become more divided than ever."

"So maybe they don't need to know the generator works?" Ronon innocently posed, kicking a rock with his foot. "Maybe if they think that threat is still there.. even fear that Atlantis is coming to kick their butts, they might band together, seek to stay with leadership they know."

That got Kannar's full attention. "Lie to my people, keep them afraid?"

"Not forever, just until they stop trying to murder you and your father. Maybe hint that Sheppard will be back with reinforcements and if they come, you and your father would be the only ones to keep Atlantis from wiping your people off the map, in more permanent ways than the Ancients even had. There's no generational memory sharing if you are all dead."

"If John…if he doesn't.." Kannar didn't want to say the word 'die' or even use an euphemism, but he was a pragmatist, had to be as a soldier, needed to know what to expect, so he finished his question, "….will Atlantis attack us? After knowing the part our people played in Sheppard's illness?" Didn't want to also point out that his people didn't offer Sheppard any medical help, were quite fine with leaving him to die on the floor of the community center. Didn't want to reawaken Ronon's anger with them over their mistreatment of Sheppard, who he clearly had a strong bond with, the 'we either live together or we die together' type of brotherhood.

Instead of looking like he wanted to turn his weapon upon Kannar, Ronon almost wore a smirk. "You mean the part your long dead ancestors' played in putting nanites in the 2nd stargate? Which they did to escape oppression and to survive a fate the Ancients planned for them if they rebelled? No, the people of Atlantis won't punish you for your ancestors' actions."

"Mine do," Kannar grimly retorted, remembered as a child the trials the council had held after some murderous memories of a town member's relative were revealed.

"Yeah, that's kind of crazy," Ronon judged but his tone was light, learned that trait from John, to turn a dark situation into something almost humorous.

Kannar found himself smirking as he agreed, "Yeah, it kind of is."

Silence fell between them for long moments but it was nearly companionable.

"Maybe you don't lie," Ronon reconsidered, earning Kannar's intense inspection. "Maybe you tell them you have the codes to the generator, make yourself invaluable. Tell them to fall in order under your father's rule and you'll turn on the generator to protect them from the Wraith."

"Blackmail isn't the greatest way to earn respect," Kannar hedged, not liking the tactic.

"You're not earning respect, you are demanding it. After they think you turned against them to help a bunch of Atlanteans, you need to show them your strength. That you are in control, you and your father. And that you want what's best for your people, to keep them safe." Ronon's eyes drifted back to the ship Sheppard was in. "Sheppard prefers playing the good guy, being someone's savior but when it calls for it, he does the hard things that need done. Will bear the sins on his soul so they don't taint anyone else's. He…he might have gotten my initial trust being the good guy by helping me but he become someone I would follow into a Wraith hive by being relentlessly determined to not give up, not on his mission and… not on his people." 'Not even when I traitorously chose some stranger Satedeans over him, he would have risked his life to save me if I'd been in danger back on that planet.' Turning once again to Kannar, he advised, "Show your people you're not giving up on them, that you will do whatever you have to do to save them, even if they hate you for it."

Kannar couldn't imagine a break in the bonds he sensed between Ronon and Sheppard but still he asked, "Have you ever hated Sheppard for saving you?"

Voice raw with emotions, Ronon conceded, "Yeah, I have. The times I thought saving me would cost John his life, I hated him and his loyalty the most." Then he left Kannar's side, didn't want the man to see how much he was struggling with that very scenario right then. John had endangered his health, even put his life on the line to get back the ZPM from Kannar's people so Atlantis could reestablish the cloak and shield that protected the city and its people. A noble act that had Ronon aching to curse John to the hot pits of Sateda's volcano.

But even as he wanted to curse him, Ronon wanted even more to fight at John's side, even if it was a war against John's own body.

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John didn't know how hot it was outside, but inside the ship, he felt like he was being cooked alive, sans a frying pan. More like inside a microwave. It motivated him to get up…and then he nearly hit the floor as lightheadedness swamped him. Throwing a hand out, he steadied himself on the side of the ship, gave himself a pep talk, "You can do this, you've been walking nearly your whole life, John. So get moving." Then he was putting one foot in front of the other.

Coming to the ship's door, he pushed it open and a wave of super-heated air seemed to shove itself down his lungs, nearly choking him. It made him dread to take his next breath in. He didn't know when the sun had made its way down so far on the horizon. Time wasn't on their side. His exit from the ship was noted by all his companions but it was Kannar who was closest to the ship and therefore reached him first. Kannar grabbed him by the elbow. Instead of doing what John's fellow companions would have done, he didn't turn him back to the ship but helped him to cross the yards to the gate.

John could hear Elizabeth and Radek's voices coming through the stargate, caught the words 'system shutdown' and feared what risks they were contemplating. "You know there's a perfectly good stargate that the rest of you can go through, you know the one you have open right now and are communicating through," he sardonically presented the glaring option to the gathered group. After all, it wasn't dangerous for any of them to enter the 2nd gate. At Carson and Rodney's deadeyed look, he steely announced, "I can make it an order you go through."

Both men put up instant protests.

"I can't monitor your condition from Atlantis."

"Like you ordered me to not come along on this mission in the first place?! Think where you'd be if I hadn't disobeyed you!" Rodney smugly reminded his friend.

But John made it infallibly clear that he was in charge. "This isn't up for debate!" But at his two friends' cowering look, he lightened his tone, tried to joke, "Its self-serving really. More hands in a lab in Atlantis busy synthesizing the enzyme for me sounds good to me. Meanwhile I can just work on my tan here until you fire up the main stargate."

"Work on your tan?! More like turn to ash," Rodney scathingly shot down John's suggestion, didn't mention his internal snorting scoff at John's "self-serving" quip. Yeah right, Sheppard was so Mr. selfish.

Ronon posed to Kannar, "Can your ship stay here after dark or will the hot temperatures damage it?"

Kannar rubbed a hand over his mouth in contemplation. "Don't know about this ship but a previous one with a lighter frame made with less steel ended up with a superheated engine and offered boiling temperatures inside. The crew didn't survive the night."

"Oh what a bloody cheery story," Carson bemoaned. He didn't even like over hot showers let alone planets that cooked you alive.

"Yeah, a story I wished I'd heard before I booked this trip," Rodney gritted out the accusation between his teeth.

John brought order back to the group. "Ok, it's settled. Rodney, Carson, hop through the gate." Ignoring his friends stunned look of protest, John turned to Ronon. "Would it do any good to order you to go with them?"

"Nope," Ronon replied with a wide smile. He was sticking with his friend, was relieved that John was smart enough to accept that.

Seeing the unwavering set to John's jawline, Rodney knew there was no arguing with the man. Sheppard was pulling his Military Leader of Atlantis card. Turning to Kannar, he asked even as he dreaded the answer, "How long can you stay before you or these idiots melt?" jerking his head to indicate Sheppard and Ronon.

Kannar gave the horizon a measuring look. "Two hours, tops."

"That's bloody wonderful," Carson griped, feared it wasn't going to be enough time for them to get the protocols disabled and the main stargate open.

"Well, that's our time table then," John calmly accepted the parameters, like they were arranging when to meet up for chow time instead of when he might be forced to go through a gate and get the rest of his brain put into a blender. "Ronon and I will hop through a gate in two hours,.." At Carson's "Now hold on.." he spoke over it, "Regardless which stargate it is and what it will do to me, we're coming home then."

Of course Rodney ignored his 'I have spoken and this is law' tone and protested his proclamation, "Wait, we're acting like Atlantis' stargates are the only jump point available but you could go to another stargate address, one where Beckett could set up a medical station to treat you."

But John was tired of fighting so hard to just be conscious, to scratch and claw his way out of the black limbo each seizure dragged him into. Not to mention he felt like he only had one more gate trip in him. And if that was true, he preferred to be in Atlantis when his time ran out. "Two hours, Rodney. You've done more with less time."

"What if today's the day I run out of genius ways to save you?" Rodney, half in bitterness and half in torment, posed to his best friend.

Not wanting Rodney to bear any guilt for whatever the outcome, John smirked cockily, "I think you saved me more than your fair share already, Rodney. Besides, if this is my last hurrah, I think my stats of wins against bad odds won't be beaten any time soon. Make sure to put up a plaque in Stargate Command boasting my score."

Rodney snorted. "Command tracks our failures, not our wins."

Not liking the pessimistic atmosphere, Ronon, with a smirk, suggested another noteworthy Sheppard groundbreaking record. "A more impressive number is the times Sheppard went AWOL out of the medical ward."

Carson could wholly attest to this but pointed a finger at Ronon, "And how many of those AWOLs had an assist from you?" When Rodney snickered, Carson turned his way, "And don't think I don't know your part in those escapes."

Before either man could either take credit or deny it all, Elizabeth's voice came through the stargate. "Radek is off running with your idea about the embedded protocols locking our main gate. So how is John?"

"John is still kicking," Sheppard answered for himself.

Elizabeth's shock and pleasure were evident in her joyous tone and words, "John! It's so good to hear your voice!"

"It's good to hear yours, too," John admitted, wasn't sure if he'd ever talk to her again, or anyone else from Atlantis for that matter. Had a pang of regret that Teyla wasn't there with Elizabeth, had no idea the state he'd be in when he got back to Atlantis. Of course he didn't mention any of his concerns. "I'm sending Beckett and McKay home to you and I'll kick my heels here hoping you get the main gate open soon."

Rodney gave John a hairy eyeball for making it sound like he was going to be sunbathing on a resort beach not being BBQed alive. And his leader conspicuously left out the part where they only had two hours to get the main gate open unless they wanted John to come through the 2nd gate and infest himself with even more mind eating nanites.

"We'll get you home as soon as we can, John," Elizabeth vowed, blessed with no knowledge of the time restraints they were under.

"See you then, Sheppard out," John ended the communication then turned to Rodney and Carson. "Time to leave summer camp and go home, boys."

Instead of heading for the gate, Rodeny walked away from it, not to John but to Kannar. "You should be able to use the generator to not only power your shield to keep the Wraith out but also to put your town into the modern age of electricity." Then he turned back to the gate, took one step before he spun around, sheepishly stammered, "Oh…I … guess I should tell you the code." Then he rattled off the unlock sequence to the generator.

Even through the crappy events of the day, including his people's rebellion, Kannar found himself smiling. "You kept your word," not in surprise but a confirmation of a strong belief he'd clung to.

"Actually, I kept his word," Rodney nodded to John, knew Sheppard was the true humanitarian in all this. Then Rodney headed back to the gate, hesitated by John but knew his friend's mind was made up and he didn't want to say some poignant words and make it seem like he was saying goodbye to his best friend. So he said nothing but walked through the gate. Carson, with a worried look to Sheppard, followed him.

John deactivated the gate. Ran his fingers over the stargate dials that had meant so many things since he had come to this universe: escape, hope and home, and he didn't mean Earth. 'And now they might mean my death.' It was just his luck that something good was ultimately killing him.

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With a cushy eighteen minutes to spare and John standing at the portal determined to go through to Atlantis's 2nd stargate before Kannar and Ronon both doomed themselves to get incinerated with him, Rodney's voice came through the gate. "Sheppard, we got the main stargate up and running. But don't dilly dally. Come through now before Atlantis resets the protocols that we only managed to stall by initiating a system analysis scan."

"Roger that. Time to give up this lovely timeshare and come home," Sheppard responded, wiping a rivet of sweat from leaking again into his eye. Turning, he noted Ronon and Kannar weren't looking much better than he felt. They were both red faced and drenched in sweat head to toe as well.

Facing Kannar, John wanted to say something meaningful to the man who had risked so much to save his life and the lives of his friends. He extended his hand to Kannar, which the other man readily shook. "Big mouths like Olpwen are good at inciting violence but quickly prove that they aren't good at leading anyone anywhere but to anarchy. And anarchy never feeds anyone or makes anyone feel safe. Your people will soon look again to you and your father to stabilize everything. When they do, send Atlantis a Christmas card, I know that Elizabeth will be fair about considering opening up trade with you."

"I'm sorry for my part in all this," Kannar finally got to say what had been burning in his gut for a long while. "I should have never invaded Atlantis, caused you and your people such loss and pain."

John didn't brush off Kannar's words, only nodded in acceptance of the other soldier's regret and apology. "But the choice wasn't yours, was it? Your people made a decision, and your job was to achieve the goal they set for you."

"I'm never going to blindly follow orders again," Kannar vowed.

"That kind of resolve can get your people turning against you…oh wait, that already happened," was John's smart aleck return.

Kannar couldn't believe he found himself actually smirking about the events of the morning. "Feels better being hated for being in the right than hating myself for being in the wrong."

John understood that sentiment only too well, chose to joke instead of pondering that dark point, "Hey, you're talking trash about a guy I like. Hard not to like you after you saved my life, returned my people's ZPM and led my escape from a lynching crowd." His words having earned a relieved grin from Kannar, John turned toward the gate as Ronon was dialing in the code for Atlantis's main stargate.

"Hey? What's a Christmas card?" Kannar bewilderedly asked.

John smirked, called out over his shoulder, "Rodney will explain it to you when you make that call to Atlantis." Then Ronon had him by the bicep, was guiding him through the stargate. Encompassed by the blur of the stargate corridor swirling around him, John had a moment to tense, prepare himself for the pain to come. But it was all in vain.

There was no preparing for this level of agony. Not when it felt like the blood vessels in his head were all exploding at once. He heard a wild 'turn your blood cold' scream and didn't doubt it was his own. 'So much for going out strong' was his last coherent thought before everything turned to a fiery unrelenting torment and then… there…was…Nothing.

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TBC

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Thanks for reading! And I'm thinking I will only need one more chapter to wrap up this story but it might be longer than two weeks before I get it in shape to post.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.