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Chapter 2

John's laboured breathing made Rodney search for a place to stop and rest. It didn't take long to find the perfect spot. A felled tree and its branches formed a protective hollow in which they could sit for a while, hidden from view.

"Where are we?" John asked once his breathing calmed.

"Not sure. Somewhere south of the village, I think."

"No, what planet are we on?"

Rodney stared at him in disbelief, his breath catching in surprise. "What planet?! Caronaa, of course! Where the hell did you think we were?!"

John rubbed at his temples and sighed. "I don't remember anything, Rodney. I've no idea where we are."

"Oh, so you've conveniently forgotten the reason why we're here, huh? And I guess you don't remember how we've ended up without a Jumper?"

"I just said I don't remember anything."

Rodney stared at him for a long moment before he rolled his eyes, huffed with exasperation then leaned back on the tree trunk. "Oh, that's just great. And here I thought things were looking up when you opened your eyes."

"I'm sorry I just got blasted with living ammunition that scrambled my brain!" John growled and wearily glared at him.

Rodney cursed himself for his lack of empathy and did well to keep his mouth shut under John's frosty glare. It wasn't that he didn't care, of course he did. But he was frightened, and when he was frightened, he became more snarky than usual and wound himself up in his own feelings of inadequacy.

"Sorry," he said eventually and watched as John laid himself flat on the ground and took a long, deep breath.

Rodney worried over the man's condition. The usually fit and energetic Sheppard was weaker than Rodney had ever seen him— which was saying something. He'd seen John come through a battle with the White Death, watched him heal after the Jumper crash a few years ago. He'd even survived a bout of often-fatal Bontu fever with hardly a grumble. Through most things, John remained strong-willed and positive.

But this time was different.

When he woke, he was disorientated. When he stood, he shook all over. When he spoke, he did so quietly as if the uttered words tore at his vocal cords. As they ran, he made all sorts of pained noises and his ineffectual breathing slowed them down. And, whatever was wrong with him, it was rapidly worsening. More often than not John was spaced out, confused and yet completely uninterested in his own feeble condition. Looking at him now, sprawled out on the grass as if sleeping, Rodney saw a weakness in John he'd never witnessed before.

Perhaps the reason for this feebleness was that he'd had no time to rest since awakening. Maybe the creatures he'd removed from John's chest had drained him of… what? Energy? Vitality? Maybe they'd poisoned him, and Rodney shuddered as he remembered the time they'd almost lost John on a planet with a broken Jumper and poison in his veins. Even then John had fought valiantly through it.

As Rodney watched John rest and listened to his shallow breathing, he realised why it seemed so different this time. He saw that the very thing which drove the man before him to survive was alarmingly lacking in this scenario.

There was no fight in John Sheppard. No will to carry on.

Rodney's stomach clenched and his mouth dried. When he thought on it, the only interest John had recently shown for their predicament was over what planet they were on. He never asked how they got there, who attacked them or what attacked them, not even why they were attacked or why they were here at all. His disinterest in their current situation was a worry in itself. John always liked to be in charge and in the know, yet, he so easily allowed Rodney to take command of their situation. Let him guide the way, allowed him to find a hide and call time to rest. It was so unlike John that Rodney's panic only grew until he nervously bit at his fingers and worried about what to do.

"John?"

The reply was a soft grunt.

"Why haven't you asked me about what happened?"

John's eyes opened slowly. He turned his head to face Rodney and in those green eyes, Rodney saw confusion.

"I thought… didn't you tell me already?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't."

"Then tell me what happened." Though he spoke words of interest, John closed his eyes and turned away as if whatever Rodney might say didn't matter.

"We came to Caronaa to uphold a promise you so gracefully gave to one of the inhabitants. Kerria? Ring any bells?" When John didn't reply, Rodney continued. "As you know, Caronaa has no gate on the surface of the planet, so we used the one in the upper atmosphere. You flew us down to the surface, and we all mustered in the back and checked our supplies before heading out. You opened the door and from behind the trees and bushes outside jumped these… creatures. There were around thirty of them, I'd say. Not even Teyla or Ronon knew what they were, but it looked as if they were some kind of hunting party? Big, hunched, hairy things, with long claws and sharp teeth and these weird… weapons. As soon as you stepped out of the ship, the creature at the front fired its weapon. It looked like a pulse of energy came from it, blasted you full on. You went down like a scared opossum, all slacked-jawed and limp." Rodney smiled for a second, then frowned as he remembered John's collapse hadn't been funny at all. "A gunfight broke out, and Ronon took down a couple of the creatures. He ran after the others when they bolted and Teyla followed him. Last I saw of them they were heading into the trees. As for the Jumper? I'm not entirely sure what happened to it. One minute it was sitting there and I was going to drag you inside. Next thing it closed up and took off into the sky."

"By itself?"

"Of course, that got your attention. Yes, it closed up and took off all by itself. I had to drag you to cover and now we're stranded on this blasted planet with its giant, native bugs, and weird, hairy attackers. You don't remember any of this?"

John shook his head. "I remember coming through the gate and that's about it."

With a sigh, John closed his eyes again. He remained listless and disinterested. It was all just so wrong, that Rodney feared John was sicker than he first guessed. He crawled over and unclipped John's tack vest, pulled it to the side and raised his shirt. John made neither a comment nor a movement as he did so, as if unaware Rodney was even beside him, or uncaring of the fact. Where the creatures had burrowed into the flesh, the wounds were raw and seeping. But what alarmed Rodney most was the spreading darkness that moved out from the wounds. Like dark, pulsing veins, raised just beneath the skin, they snaked over John's chest until it looked like a macabre patchwork quilt. Rodney stifled a gasp as the intricate webbing of lines continued to grow and extend down his torso. He then noticed the wounds themselves seemed to pulse in time to the movement in the veins.

Rodney reeled back, unable to tear his eyes from the strangeness. This wasn't poison or an infection, but whatever it was, it spread through John's body rapidly and clearly affected him. Once he'd gained control of his horror, Rodney approached John again. He pulled down his shirt and clipped his vest back in place then pushed at John's shoulder.

"Come on, we have to go."

"Leave me alone, McKay. Can't you see I'm exhausted?"

Rodney wouldn't have it. He shoved John's shoulder and ordered him to get up. Pushed him upright when his shaking arms were unable to support him. Growing hysteria ate at his thoughts as John pushed him away with a feeble groan and cursed him for interrupting his rest.

"Get on your feet, Lieutenant Colonel," Rodney shouted in his best commanding tone.

This seemed to rouse John from his stupor, even if it had been more of a squeaked cry than a shout. Rodney watched as John shook himself then pushed all the way up to a standing position. The movement obviously drained him and he wobbled to the side until Rodney steadied him.

"I've got you," Rodney said and pulled John's arm over his shoulder.

"Didn't doubt it," John replied in a somewhat sad tone.

They left their resting place and moved deeper into the woods, staggering back and forth and tripping over branches and hidden rocks. Rodney just hoped he was going in the right direction to find the village.

To be continued! Feed meh cookies!