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Author's Chapter Notes: This was the most dangerous part. When Oberoth had placed her in that chamber, he'd meant for her to never leave. He didn't reckon with Elizabeth's ingenuity, and she didn't reckon with the frailty of the human form...


It took hours for the program to finish. Elizabeth appeared to sleep the entire time, beyond reach either through the audio system or the computers. Occasionally she shivered, or her fingers moved and Sheppard spent the hours standing or sitting by the pod, just watching her, talking, even though he couldn't be sure she heard him.

Or was even paying attention.

At some point, the lights came on, not just the emergency backups. Every terminal activated, and around them the laboratory began to hum with life. Elizabeth was bringing all the systems back online.

And then they came to most dangerous part of their rescue mission; it was time to extract Elizabeth from the chamber. Before they began she reactivated the audio and once more her voice filtered into the lab.

'John? Rodney?'

'We're here, Elizabeth,' Sheppard replied, before McKay had time to speak.

'I wanted to say thank you. You came for me. I never doubted you would, I just doubted you might find me. I hope everything I've managed to salvage from the database is-'

'Now, wait a minute,' Sheppard began, 'we're about to get you out of there, you can say all this later. In person.'

Within the chamber, her eyes opened again, fixing on him and she smiled. 'I know you mean that, John,' it was odd listening to her voice though her mouth never moved. 'But you have to understand the risks involved here. When Oberoth put me here, he meant for me to stay. I don’t know if I’ll make if out of here alive, so I wanted to say how proud I was to serve with you all.' She paused. ‘John-‘.

'Yeah, yeah, we know. C'mon it's time to get you outta there. You ready?'

A moment of silence as she watched him, the exasperated look so familiar, he could've laughed but she capitulated. 'I'm ready.'

'Good. We'll be here every step of the way, ‘Lizabeth. Keller says you might feel some disorientation. Just listen to her voice and do what she tells you, okay?'

'Okay.'

There was nothing more to be said. Keller stepped forward, signalling her medical team. Rodney and his assistants joined them and Teyla caught Sheppard's arm, drawing him back. 'You have done all you can, John, it is time to let others take care of her.'

'I'm not leaving.'

'I did not say you should, but we must give them room to work. Come with me. John, come!' He allowed her to tug him away, Ronan joining them. The marines lined the walls of the room, giving the science teams room to work.

There was the sound of metal grinding, and the metal frame of the chamber, shifted, back and up, allowing the glass front, tightly fitted to the main pod, to open. With a rush of water, it emptied, the water gurgling into a reservoir below. Suddenly unsupported, her limbs feeling the pull of gravity, Elizabeth collapsed bonelessly to the floor of the chamber.

Keller ducked inside immediately, with another medic, and grabbed the prone form. John strained to see, he could hear her coughing and choking before the sound suddenly cut off. Frantic, he took a step forward but Ronan caught his arm.

‘Stay out of it, Sheppard.'

The Colonel bit his lip, but stayed where he was, watching them. They lifted her onto a gurney, surrounding her, and Keller immediately set to work, wiring her up to various monitors, her kit standing by. But Elizabeth was breathing on her own, and slowly the chaos around her ebbed until he was finally allowed back to her side.

'Elizabeth?'

She opened her eyes, but she didn't speak. Keller stood on the other side of the gurney, her face grave and he looked up, questioningly.

'She's exhausted, Colonel, but I think it's more than that. I'd like to take her back to Atlantis, but moving her now could be fatal, we'll wait a little longer until she stabilises and then we'll see. The lab may have the facilities I need right here. Just do what you've been doing, talk to her, give her something to hold on to.'

Sheppard nodded and Keller left him to try and find the words all over again.

In the end, they all sat with her, even Ronan although the speaking part consisted mainly of how many kills he'd managed to rack up since they'd last seen each other. Throughout it all, she never stirred, and when Keller returned, it was to find no change in her condition. She said nothing, her expression said it all.

Sheppard sat by the bed, holding her hand and began to hate the waiting game.

Keller announced her condition stable enough for travel nearly twenty four hours later. She had improved, but not nearly enough to assuage the fears of the medical staff. Sheppard understood the looks they exchanged, but he also knew of a future timeline where Elizabeth had nearly died after being retrieved, and yet she had survived. He'd seen her, spoken with her.

He knew that. They didn't, or rather, they did, in a general sort of manner. He'd let a few more things slip now, and Woolsey was waiting back on Atlantis to drag him over the coals for that one. He wasn't so far removed from the IOA that he could yet see the need to keep some things secret. Complete disclosure was good, ideal in fact, in the perfect world, but there were too many people apt to play with things they didn't understand.

It was slow going, back to the 'Gate, and they passed other science teams whose job it was to assess the planet for the presence of a space-Gate and potential colonisation. Some of them had served under Dr Weir, and they stopped working, watching soberly as the small procession went by. A few exchanged nods with Sheppard, they knew how the Colonel would do anything for every member of his team, and that had included Elizabeth. When they lost Teyla, he'd walked into the teeth of death, and worse, to rescue her, determined not to lose another.

‘Gate travel is stressful on the body, but everyday travellers learned to adapt. Keller didn’t know how long it had been since Elizabeth last went through a wormhole or how that would affect her ability to deal with it. 'Okay, folks, let's keep our eyes open, shall we?' Her team nodded and, surrounded by medics, Elizabeth was taken through the 'Gate.

They were met on the other side by more medics, and guns, pointed directly at the group returning from offworld. They'd expected no less, although Woolsey hadn't formally warned them, for fear Elizabeth's rescue was merely trap. But nothing so far had alerted them, and the only thing Elizabeth did on arriving in Atlantis, was stop breathing.


Chapter End Notes: This story is being edited and reuploaded before being finished.

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