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The rain hadn’t let up from the moment they stepped through the gate.
The gathering darkness and foggy gloom made it hard to see. The rain trickled down his face and into his eyes, smarting. The slick muddy ground made his boots wallow and slide treacherously. The sounds of yelling, sporadic gunfire and stunners, the chaos distantly echoed through the wooded area where Sheppard now stood.
John, however was locked into his own singular fight with a particularly persistent done warrior. The bone mask was hideous and off-putting. At least with the wraith commanders you could see their eyes and facial reactions. Out of ammunition, knife in one hand he struggled to stop the drone from retrieving his dropped stunner. He darted in to slash the feeding hand, but skidded in the mud.
A vicious backhand propelled him backwards into a tree trunk. His nose and cheek crunched and burned with pain, warm liquid dripped down his face joining the rain. Wet bark scraped at one palm as he pushed himself off and advanced with a yell at the warrior who had picked up the stunner. He threw his knife, knowing as soon as he had that it was a bad throw, the rain slicking the handle and he was still reeling woozily from the head swipe. He watched in horror as it hit a small panel on the drone’s central chest plate. The drone stopped in its tracks, and brought the stunner to bear. John frantically changed direction and back pedalled hoping for cover, knowing he had seconds.
The boom of the self destruct came a split second after the zing of the stunner. Stunned, John was unaware of the percussive force that pushed him further backwards. He fell over the lip of the clearing and down a steep grassy slope. Limp, he tumbled and slid gracelessly, landing heavily on his right side with a muted splat at the bottom.
-0o0-
Teyla jogged back to where the fighting and chase had split, searching for the Colonel. It was hard to see in the wet mist. He was not answering his comm. He was not back at the gate with the others. As much as Rodney could be both clever and irritable at the same time, he would have hated the steady rain. Rodney usually had the LSD and helped track movements but he was not with them today. Some convoluted problem to do with a power drain and water purification tanks was keeping him deep in the labs with Radek and the science teams.
“As if you need me to make small talk and barter for Flaninan Pobble beads*!" he'd sniffed dismissively this morning, his mind already elsewhere and rising from his chair in the mess hall. She had opened her mouth to ask about the beads when John slid his tray onto the table and sat down next to her and murmured with a grin "I'll explain it to you later," and he'd dug into his breakfast oatmeal with relish.
Thick forest, hilly areas and steep sides and a village with a cave system made communication tricky. The coms had been intermittent. But she was sure she'd heard a muffled explosion. The nomadic market traders didn't obviously have that kind of technology. Maybe The Others had set traps.
The afternoon had started out so well despite the grey skies and rain. It was time to meet up with itinerant traders who had used this planet for the last few years with no problems. Message were passed at gatherings, news was shared about safe worlds and places of refuge. Details of raids or misplaced people and warnings of bandits, slavers and worse were discussed and passed on. Through a network of contacts that she, Ronon and Lantean teams had cultivated, they kept track of goings on. They were still after news of Todd ,the hive wars and Michael and his creations , she shuddered in remembrance. A sudden longing for the calm of Atlantis and her child and partner swept through her. Focus, she thought to herself, it was no time for self-indulgence.
Meeting a new group of travellers near the gate the Alanteans had been welcomed by them and had been pressed to meet the main group. "Lots of news, great opportunities to exchange information and make new friends!" She had missed how the overly happy demeanour had hidden a darker secret. She had thought it was nice to meet happy people and to disprove Rodney's pessimistic grumblings when they got back. “You will have no need of weapons, when you meet our partners.” Ronon was wary about new and big groups of people after finding and being betrayed by his countrymen. The Colonel seemed easy going but she knew he had assessed their hosts too.
They'd walked in on a few drones and one wraith rounding up the traders. The wraith were being helped by other humans. Wraith worshippers. The scum of Pegasus galaxy. She had got an inkling mere moments before arriving at the village hub. She didn't understand how she hadn't sensed them before this.
"What have you done?" she’d cried out horrified, and turned to the woman who had been so interested in them as they’d walked towards the trading post.
“We and maybe you will be rewarded. Good service and skills are paid in full.” the woman replied smugly.
“You can’t be partners with the wraith!” shouted Ronon angrily. He’d only just recovered from his last encounter with them.
“ Reward? Does that mean what I think it means?" John asked his face ashen. He'd been given life force back by Todd. They couldn’t fire into the crowds to stop this, not with children and families being held at stunner point.
As they came to a stunned halt, the wraith commander stuck his hand out and began to take life and then gave it back, the middle aged man with lightly greying hair now had dark air and was about 10 years younger. He smiled in delight.
"No!" John shouted before he could stop himself. Ronon's gun flared and a red glow enveloped the commander wraith, the drones immediately started firing their stunners at the captured traders. Some children managed to run away, the so called traders but obviously wraith worshippers tried to hold the team and remaining people and a melee broke out. A stunner beam glanced off Ronon's arm and he lost his grip on his gun as his arm fell uselessly. He automatically grabbed at it with his other hand in a practised move and carried on firing. John fired his automatic weapon into the downed wraith commander. Together they fought out of the human pack and then had to split up. John veered off one way after a lone drone chasing some children, and she and Ronon to help the original traders and visitors like themselves to deal with the worshippers.
"Keep an ear out for any darts!" John ordered. He sounded like he was running.
"They must be parked elsewhere or they came through the gate like we did. Maybe it's just a small recon team." Teyla reasoned.
"Sheppard- we’re gonna need help mopping up here when you’re done." Ronon requested.
There was a long pause, then a clipped static filled “Busy!” reply from the Colonel.
Some time passed before Teyla realised how dark it had become while she had found and returned the terrified children and that the Colonel hadn’t come back. Again she tried her radio but got no reply. Pushing through the traders and penned up worshippers she found Ronon keeping guard.
"Ronon, can you call the Colonel? He's not answering me," she asked, glad to see his reassuring presence.
"Sheppard! Check in!" Ronon blurted.
There had been no answer.
She itched with impatience to search for her lost team mate. Maybe he’d triggered a warning device. But a quick word with the locals revealed her suspicions to be unfounded. The worshippers couldn’t understand why the promise of so called Rapture did not appeal to the Alanteans and those they betrayed.
“I know which direction he went. I’m going to look. “ She decided.
“I’ll get help,” Ronon nodded at her in agreement and he set off immediately.
She ran back into the dusk, the rain finally beginning to ease. She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath in and out, calming herself and reached out sensing for wraith. Nothing. No more drones or wraith. But more could be on their way.
"Colonel? John shout out if you can hear me!"
She came to a small clearing, it was difficult to see clearly but it looked like something had happened here. Churned up ground, split tree branches, and disturbing lumps...was that a foot? The remains of a stunner lay off to one side. It was now dark. Carefully she walked over the ground searching in the trees for John. The drone had triggered its self destruct, which meant it had been in peril. If John had won the encounter he wouldn’t have just run off without contacting anybody.
Circling again, a wet glint caught her eye. She bent down. John's knife. This was the right place. Stubbornly she searched again, this time coming to a steep slope that angled down into pitch black nothingness. Darkness. Silence. She shivered. She tried the slope but it was slick and too dangerous in the dark on her own. There was nothing she could do but wait for the rescue team from Atlantis and keep trying the com and calling out.
Half an hour later Lorne arrived with a fresh team of Marines. Their efficient and orderly manner of setting up lights and a rope pulley system reassured her, after the LSD had pin pointed the Colonel's position at the bottom of the hill. A Jumper couldn't fit down there, so Jennifer and a Marine medic were going to go down and assess the situation. Another team would follow with a stokes litter.
Ronon and Rodney joined her. None of them was voicing their fears at the silence from their team mate. Ronon joined the team following the doctor with the litter. Rodney hovered and they all waited.
"He’s here, found him!" Dr Keller radioed back.
"Is he...?" Rodney blurted. There was a long pause in which Teyla reached out and grabbed Rodney's arm.
"He's banged up but alive. Hang on he's coming round."
"Oh, thank God." Rodney said with relief, echoing all their thoughts.. She squeezed his arm in reply.
-0o0-
When they finally pulled John onto level ground strapped into the litter, it took a few moments for him to realise the motion had finally stopped. Nausea burned up his throat as he squinted into the lights they had set up. Dr Keller knelt on the wet ground checking his responses after the bumpy haul. His team crowded round. He’d kind of expected to see Teyla and Ronon, but Rodney was a surprise.
“Rodney?”
“What? Did you think I’d be able to sleep knowing you were missing or fed on again?” his friend replied, looking tired and worried.
“Thought you had impo’tnt stuff on Lantis?” he wheezed as Keller adjusted the neck brace and peered into his eyes.
“Pffft, this was important. I have minions,” Rodney said “You look like crap by the way.”
“Thanks. You too. “ John broke off and grimaced as Keller continued to assess his injuries “Teyla? Ronon, okay? The wraith?”
“John. Stop worrying, we are here. The few wraith have been dealt with. Ronon went back for help.”
“Yeah, Buddy. Everything’s cool.” Ronon loomed over Keller’s shoulder.
"The...the scumbags? What...?"
"Worshippers!" Ronon scowled "They're being dealt with by the locals. Not our business here."
"The traders are very grateful for our help, so we’ve made some contacts and goodwill," Teyla added.
“Did the wraith get you? Because....” Rodney trailed off uncertainly.
“What? No!” John tried to sit up and look at his chest, he was restricted by the brace and board but the tiniest movement sent bolts of agony throughout his body making him shout.
“Stop. Don’t move!” Keller ordered. Her hand pushed lightly on his good shoulder keeping him flat.
“wh’ht do I look like?”
“ Rodney, he’s fine,” Keller butted in “It’s the drying mud in his hair making it look grey,” She lifted up her gloved hands-muddy from checking his head for injuries. After quickly swapping to a clean pair, she and a medic attached an O2 mask and IV for fluids. The inevitable flashlight in the eyes made John groan. Then they strapped his right arm to his chest before putting a brace and icepack around his right knee.
“Sorry colonel, I know you're cold but I have to reduce the swelling and bruising.”
“’kay.” He murmured agreeably.
Everyone looked cold and wet and tired. He certainly felt like it. His face head, back and whole of his right side throbbed in pain. He shivered. He was ready to go home.
-0o0-
Back in Atlantis he dozed through the scanner before Keller woke him up so they could remove his dirty mud encrusted garments and clean him up. Then they started in on the cognitive and physical assessments, wrapping and suturing. Basically a medical stitch and bitch. After some awkward shuffling and gentle pushing and pulling, the medics had him tucked up in a gown. The final indignity was another ice pack on his knee and one wrapped round his arm and shoulder.
“You’ve had a hard knock to the head, but no bleeding,” Keller informed him. ”Just a concussion. So you’ll be woken up every few hours and you’re staying here for a couple of days minimum. You’re not going to feel like moving tomorrow or the day after with that lot anyway - so don't bother asking.”
He swallowed and nodded automatically, only to stop as it made his head hurt. “’bout the rest? I’m okay? Busted anything?”
“Two cracked ribs and severe bruising and contusions down your right arm and shoulder. Sprained your knee pretty good though. Oh, and you've a lovely black eye and cracked cheek bone- I'll have to reduce that when the swelling's gone down a bit more.”
“Dammit.” He gritted out. His face felt like an over ripe melon about to burst. Icepacks, warm packs and an arm sling and knee brace loomed large in his future. Cracked, battered and bruised described his current condition.
“Just need a bit of rest and time,“ Keller smiled reassuringly at him. “Giving you something to take the edge off.” She fiddled with his IV line.
“Lots a' therapy an' PT...” John sighed, knowing the routine. “I’ll try and land better next time.”
“How about no next time Colonel, huh?”
“Sure thing, Doc,” he grinned sloppily at her as the drugs nudged into his system and everything went soft focused and his body relaxed from its pain stressed stiffness.
"Still -it could have been much worse," Keller said.
"Hmmm?" John struggled to concentrate on her words.
"The rain soaked muddy ground gave you a much softer landing than you'd otherwise have had." she explained, her voice fading as he drifted off into a welcome sleep.
The first time the nurse woke him up he tried to ward her off, thinking he was still on the planet fighting the drone. His automatic reaction jerked his body and woke up every strained and bruised muscle sending him into a confused tail spin. After that his team took over, Keller correctly deduced that a friendly voice was less stressful for the Colonel. The team had hovered and pestered her for hours anyway. Might as well put them to good use.
-0o0-
Several days later, he'd been let out for moderately good behaviour, back to his room. Dr Keller had been correct; the bruising strained many muscles making it hard to do much of anything- not to mention the cracked ribs and his face. The PT nurse had gone over what he could and mustn't do while he was recovering. He was tired and things hurt. The bruising was coming out making him look and feel like a car crash victim. R and R was the order of the day with supervised minimal exercises- Teyla and Ronon were clued in on those so that they could help.
Teyla brought candles and talked to him as he lay on his bed trying to rest. Kanaan brought Torren for a visit and that distracted him for a while. He felt restless. He closed his eyes sighing. Then he felt a small weight next to him on the bed.
"What?" he started and opened his eyes.
"Shushhh!" Teyla cautioned, softly.
Torren had settled next to him, a warm snuffly content lump. John was afraid to move and wake him. It was great seeing the kid. Made life more real. Sure there was still the worry over Michael, but they'd deal with it.
"John, stop worrying. Relax."
"I know, Teyla...it's just....you know...I don't....weeks of shuffling around like some decrepit thing!" he said frustrated.
"You've been hurt before. You recovered. Has Dr Keller said anything to suggest something will prevent a full recovery?"
"No!"
Torren made a sleepy murmur. John peered at him without trying to move anything that hurt. He closed his eyes again and listened to the quiet calm in the room like Teyla had suggested earlier. It was too quiet and made him twitchy, but it was Teyla, so he did it anyway. He fell asleep thinking it was never going to work.
END