Author's Chapter Notes: Sorry I took a while to update this chapter is a bit longer than the others though. warning though, there is some violence and Shep!whumping in this chapter.
“Alright.” Colonel Ellis announced. “We’re preparing to jump out of hyperspace soon. Colonel, Doctor, you’d better be ready.”
“Yes. Yes, we are.” Rodney snapped, walking into the bridge, “though I’ll have you know I have just achieved a virtually impossible feat, getting all the calculations done in time.”
“And I’ve just achieved a virtually impossible feat, driving the engines this fast.” Ellis shot back, “getting to the planet before the replicators and in time for you to go down and sort the cloak is a miracle.”
“Well, thank goodness we have so many genius’s onboard who can get the engines going and save the world again, all in one day then, huh?” Rodney said sarcastically.
Ellis just raised his eyes heavenward and turned back to Sam. “Colonel, is everything ready?” He asked.
“Yes Sir.” She replied. “Just remember as soon as you get there, stay a little away from the planet and we’ll try and make undetected contact with Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard. General O’Neill and Daniel will fly us down to the planet in a cloaked Jumper.”
“Fine.” Ellis agreed. “Let’s just get this done.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack tossed the paper ball at the Jumper’s DHD; Daniel didn’t look up from his tablet. He scrunched up a wrapper and flicked it in his direction; still no reaction. Tapping his fingers on the chair he began to hum the Simpson’s them tune as loudly and off beat as he could; nothing.
He gave groan and banged his head against the up-market dashboard, “ok, we’ve been sitting here for nearly three hours already. We must be nearly there.
“Elizabeth will tell us when it’s time.” Daniel said, without so much a glancing up. “And Sam will contact us, when she arrives and need’s to be taken down.”
“I know. I know.” Jack replied, “but c’mon, aren’t you the least bit concerned that something might have gone wrong?”
“You’re just bored.” Daniel answered.
“Well of course I’m bored!” Jack moaned, swinging his seat. “I come to the Pegasus Galaxy to escape having to sit around listening to boring speeches and what do I end up doing? Sitting around doing nothing!”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure things will brighten up later.” Daniel assured him absentmindedly, “they always do.”
“Well they’d better or else – ”
“General? Daniel?” Elizabeth’s voice came over the radio.
“Finally!” Jack exclaimed, “You took your time!”
“Sorry General, we came as fast as we could.” She replied apologetically, although he was sure he could detect a hint of laughter in her voice. “We’re in orbit around the planet now, there are still two replicator ships to arrive and the cloak isn’t quite sorted, but we don’t have much time. Rodney and Sam need to get down there as quickly as possible. They contacted me to say they’re just above the orbit of the planet. Once you get away from this ship it shouldn’t be too hard to find them.”
“Okay, great.” Jack said, bouncing up to the controls. “I’ll go right now.”
He carefully piloted the cloaked Jumper out of the hanger bay and rose further and further away from the planet. “Over there.” Daniel said pointing.
He uncloaked the Jumper and spoke into his radio. “Colonel Ellis, this is General O’Neill.”
“General, we have you on our screen, we are ready to beam aboard Colonel Carter, Doctor McKay, Ronon and Teal’c.” Colonel Ellis said.
“Colonel we’re coming too.” Colonel Ellis turned round to see Jennifer and Vala standing a couple of feet away from him with the others. Vala gave him her well-practiced grin. “You don’t mind, do you Colonel?”
He stiffened abruptly, “I suppose not, you could be useful. But I don’t understand why you’re planning to go Doctor, it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d normally volunteer for.”
“They need all the help they can get, besides a Doctor can be useful.” Jennifer replied, she looked pale and her hands were clammy, but determined.
He gave a curt nod, “Very well, I wish you all luck.”
“We are position. Beam away.” Jack ordered from the other end. His mouth suddenly seemed dry and he got the feeling he always got when he was in the middle of one of their highly risky, almost hopeless seeming plans. From this moment on, everything depended on them.
And boy, did he love it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minutes later, he had landed in the middle of city swarming with replicators and listened to McKay’s instructions. “Alright, there are ten shield/cloak admitters and if we get into pairs, we’ll only have to do two each. And one extra, whoever has spare time just get that done. I’ve already been through how to arrange the control crystals; Elizabeth will give us directions to all of the stations. Are will all okay will that?”
“I just wish I could be down there with you.” John’s voice said over the radio.
“Yeah, so do I. You and Elizabeth could do the last admitter.” Rodney said.
“I was actually talking in terms we’d be more likely to get out of the way in time.” John replied, “I feel a bit abandoned here.”
“Don’t worry Colonel, as soon as we’re done we’ll come and pick you up straight away.” Sam assured him.
“You’d better,” he warned, “especially as this was my idea in the first place.”
“Yeah, it’s just a pity it was impossible to do without me.” Rodney said sarcastically.
Everyone just exchanged despairing looks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ok, the door should be up the stairs and to the right.” Elizabeth directed.
“We can see it.” Ronon said, his voice rough over the fuzzy radio reception.
“Good, now the door shouldn’t be sealed, just go in. But be careful, it’s quite a public place, any number of replicators could be around,” she told them.
“If I see one, am I allowed to shoot it?” Ronon asked.
John grimaced, “Uh, well try to avoid it. The idea is to remain unnoticed, it’s called an stealth mission, more sort of sneaking around and less – ”
“Shooting stuff?”
“Yeah, you could stay that.”
“However, if our lives are on the line please feels free to defend me at all costs.” McKay added seriously. “Because otherwise, this whole plan is useless.”
“But if you’ve already finished rearranging the cloak admitter, you’ve already done what you need to do, so then it doesn’t matter if I let you get shot.” Ronon pointed out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There’s a replicator heading your way.” Elizabeth warned. “Try hiding in the small room off to your left.”
“Okay, they’re passing us right now.” Daniel hissed, as he and Vala squeezed into the tiny alcove.
There was a long silence, as they waited for them too pass. The radio buckled as Elizabeth clutched it, waiting for a sign from the other end.
“Hey.” John smiled reassuringly. “Don’t forget to breath.”
She forced a weary smile, “I’ve forgotten what this was like, how it’s much easier to be in danger, stuck in the middle rather than on the outside waiting to see whose going to come out alive and whose…”
“Not.” John finished he gave a grin. “Still at least I’m not in there at the moment.”
She rolled her eyes, “Yeah you’re the biggest magnet for trouble of all.”
He shrugged, “I did warn you, in fact I’m surprised you managed to first year at Atlantis without going completely grey. They could sell whatever hair product you use as anti-aging cream.” He gave an amused smirk at her furious scowl.
“Elizabeth, they’ve gone, where do we go now?” Daniel interrupted suddenly, as Elizabeth opened her mouth to retaliate. She shot John an icy glare, saying clearly, “we’ll finish this later,” and replied to Daniel.
“There are two admitters near you, one Jack and Jennifer have already done, so if you follow the central corridor, you should reach a balcony where the other one is located.”
“Ok, we will.” Vala said, “Vala out.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Alright, we’re done.” Sam said softly, as she fitted the crystal into the tray and watched it slowly slide in.
“Good.” Elizabeth said, “all of the others have already finished their two and that was the final one, head back to the Jumper, we don’t have much time left.”
“Indeed.” Teal’c agreed, as he and Sam set back at a run, “I heard a replicator say that the last two vessels have come into orbit.”
“No pressure.” John said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth looked over at the Ancient man; when they’d explained the situation he had been extremely suspicious and not very inclined to believe them. However they’d managed to convince him that they were his only way of escape and he could take it or leave it. (John had said that part) and he was now sitting stiffly in his cell, holding the gun she’d given him, his eyes darting in all directions. “When did you say we were leaving?” He asked irritably.
Elizabeth could tell it was taking all of John’s self-control to answer calmly. “I told you, as soon as our people finish their mission, you just heard them saying over radio they’re heading back to Jumper now. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes and then we’ll be out of here.” He said with gritted teeth.
The Ancient raised his eyebrows, “very well.”
John tightened his grip on his gun but didn’t reply, he edged over to the side of his cell and spoke to Elizabeth through the bars. “Did you mention to the others that there was going to be another passenger when they pick us up?” He asked in a low voice.
She shook her head, “no, I didn’t think to, there hasn’t been much time anyway.”
He glanced over at the man again, narrowing his eyes. “Maybe you should have, I mean seriously, this guy could compete with beat both Woolsey and McKay for the pain-in-the-ass of the year award.”
Elizabeth held back a smile, “ but just think of all the knowledge and everything we could learn from him.” She said.
John shot him another look, “yeah. If he’s willingly to share it.”
“I suppose – ” Elizabeth suddenly stopped talking and her face went blank, John drew away.
“Elizabeth?” He whispered. “Elizabeth?”
Her eyes gradually came back into focus and she took a deep breath. He watched her warily. “Sorry.” She apologised.
“The replicators?” He said.
She nodded, “yes. They need me in the bridge, another commander is demanding to know what is going on.”
“ Alright, but how long will you be?” John asked nervously, “We don’t want to miss our plane.”
She gave a slight smile, “I’ll be as quick as I can, I know its bad timing but I have to go.”
“Okay.” He gave in, “but be quick.”
As soon as she left, the silence seemed to stretch out longer and longer. John tapped on his leg whistling, trying to avoid the Ancients penetrating stare. “You know, you never told us your name.” He said eventually, trying making his voice sound warm and interested.
The Ancient looked at him blandly, “didn’t I?” He said.
“No. No you didn’t.” John confirmed.
“Oh.”
What is it with this guy? John thought frustrated, we’ve probably just saved his sorry little butt, (again) and he just sits there!
“It’s Marcus.” The Ancient informed him, refusing to meet eye contact.
“Oh,” John nodded politely, “uh, nice name. I once knew a Marcus, went to college with him, good guy, cool, brilliant cartoonist, yeah…” He trailed off. Marcus didn’t say anything. "Ok, well, so far so good, I know his name; maybe he can tell me more…if I work on it."
“So, ” He began, “where do you –” He broke off as the door slide open and a replicator walked in holding a gun out. He walked over to where John was standing. “So, you have awoken.” He said. “How are you feeling?”
“Not so good actually,” John said hoping they couldn’t see the gun strapped to the back of leg. “Got a bit of a hangover, you know and I’m starving. Uh, you don’t happen to be the pizza delivery boy do you?”
The replicator gave him a lazy smile, which sent shivers of ice down John’s back. “You know human, I am surprised that you are able to stand, let alone conserve like this. I can only assume our leader didn’t probe your mind as thoroughly as she seemed to think.”
John shrugged, “well it’s not the first time I’ve had a hand in my head actually, you get used to it after a while.”
The replicator eyed him threateningly, “quite. Now, I’ve been ordered to bring you down to the planet. You have been useful to us and perhaps you may be even more useful still.” He opened the cell doors and aimed his gun at John’s chest.
“Come.”
“Uh, can you elaborate a bit more on that “useful” thing?” John asked, “I mean – ” He didn’t finish his sentence before the replicator lunged forward and rammed him in the stomach, John was pushed him back and collided with the cell wall, the force field sent shocks through his body, like fire searing along his blood. He gave a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, crumpling at the replicator’s feet. “I guess – you turned the power up, huh?” He wheezed.
The replicator’s lips formed a smile, “maybe.” He grabbed John’s shoulder and dragged him upwards, twisting his arm. John gasped and pulled away, jarring it unbearably. The replicator twisted it again, forcing his arm even further behind his back.
Desperate now, John kicked wildly aiming for the shins, a furious howl told him he had reached his destination, wriggling away he reached for his gun, only to have his wrist grabbed with iron fingers and squeezed until his circulation was cut off. Stifling a yell as the replicator kneed him in the chest and slammed him against the cell wall again. John tried to writher away from his impenetrable grip, however the replicator held him locked in place as his slowly weakening body was electrocuted over and over again.
As he was sent into yet another reel of uncontrollable spasms, John fought with all of his remaining strength to stay conscious. Elizabeth would be back soon…if he could just hold on a little longer…he gave a silent scream as another wave of excruciating pain washed over him. "Let it end." He begged, "just let it end."
With one final effort he swung his free arm and connected with the replicators head, the hand holding him released and fell to his knees, his eyes suddenly stinging with tears of relief and pain. He grabbed his gun and whipped round to fire, however the replicator was already one step ahead of him, ripping the P-90 out of his hands, they used the butt of it to strike him round the face. John gave a gasp, feeling the blood flow down his face. “Stop it!” John yelled thoughtlessly.
The replicator hit him again: harder. “No!” He snarled, slapping John round the face with the gun. “I – won’t.” as he struck him with each word he uttered.
Soon John could taste the blood in his mouth, he suddenly felt light-headed and his legs were giving way. “No, no, no.” He muttered, his knees buckling.
“Is this all humans are made of?” He could hear the replicator jeering, “pathetic, weaklings?” John tried to ignore him, crawling his way towards the door. “Hard to believe I ever was one.” He added, aiming a vicious kick at his back. “Hey! You! Are you listening? I’m talking!” He grabbed John’s hair and yanked him back, sending him sprawling on the cell floor. John tried to sit up but the replicator kicked him in the chest, slamming his head back on the hard ground. He gave groan and closed his eyes; this was so not a good day.
He inched them open to see the replicator standing over him. Wonder what his name is? He wondered. Do they even have names?
“Wh-what’s your name?” He got out through swollen and bleeding lips.
The replicator looked surprised for a second, and then gave short laugh. “My name? You may call me Samuel, that’s what I was known as when I was still human.” He placed his boot on John’s chest as John tried to squirm away.
“You know, you should just have accompanied me when you had the chance, now I’m going to have to take you down unconscious.” He pressed down harder and John gave another cry of pain when he heard his ribs break. Samuel dealt him another agonising blow with the gun again, gashing him across the cheek.
“Stop…” John said hoarsely, “I suppose, I could come with you, I’m sure we could come to some sort of…arrangement.”
Samuel made no reply apart from moving his other foot to stand on John’s ankle, so all his weight was pressed down on him. He gave a quick grin and stamped down hard. The crack echoed around the room and John couldn’t control the scream that left his lips. He attempted to shove Samuel off his injured leg, but it was useless. Samuel continued to beat him with the gun; he even produced a knife and rammed it straight through John’s shoulder.
John gasped in agony and his cold fingers groped desperately for the handle, he reached it and managed to wrench it out of him, covered in blood. Aiming blindly upwards he tried to spear it into any part of Samuel he could reach, however the replicator simply tore it from his loose grip and slashed it down his leg.
John curled up on the hard floor, he was shaking uncontrollably and every time he tried to raise himself from the ground, he crumpled back down, even without Samuel crushing his fingers. “Stop…just stop.” He whispered, “please…” He hated to have to beg like this, so weak and vulnerable but he wasn’t sure how much longer his body could take this abuse, however if Samuel had even heard his pleas he didn’t respond, continuing to pummel him unmercifully, striking again and again.
John’s leg was definitely fractured, Samuel was still pressing hard on his chest, but from the fiery pain shooting through him every time he took a breath it seemed at least a couple of ribs were broken and he had no idea how bad the shoulder wound was.
Suddenly there was a sound from outside the cell, the door swished open and John forced his eyes open long enough to see Elizabeth step through the door. Her face was pale and a mixture of fury and horror blazed in her eyes.
John clenched his teeth and summoning every last ounce of strength he had, clenched his teeth and wrenched the repli-gun from Samuel’s hand. The replicator immediately gripped his ands around John’s neck and began to tighten. Blackness threatened to take over his vision and all John longed for was to sink into the blissful dark oblivion, to leave this place of pain and suffering.
“Just. Hold. On.” He told himself. At that moment, to him, pulling that trigger on the gun seemed to be one of the most impossible things he’d ever done. The minute the replicator released him; the gun dropped from his bruised fingers and gave up to the darkness. “Eli-za-beth…” He mumbled, before finally letting go.
Elizabeth stared at the other replicator, unable to control the anger threatening to take over. Stay calm. She told herself. Stay calm. “What were you doing?” She asked calmly.
“Taking the prisoner down to the planet, Commander.” He replied, “he resisted.”
“So I can see,” Elizabeth said, pasting a smile on her face. “If you leave now, I will take him down, the Ancient too.” To her relief he simply nodded and left. The moment the door shut, she ran over to John.
“Oh my – ” She whispered, horrified at what she saw. Her eyes scanned what was left of John’s beaten body. Samuel had been unbelievably vicious; he was bleeding in at least six places, she could barely recognise any of his former face features and it was obvious his ankle was broken.
Tears were building up in her eyes and she blinked to keep them away. She had to remain strong, for both of them. Taking a couple of deep, calming breaths she turned to the Ancient in the cell next door. He had been so silent, just sitting motionless she’d almost forgotten he was there. “You couldn’t have helped?” She demanded furiously.
The man didn’t flinch, “I am locked in this cell with no way out.” He replied. “You tell me Doctor Weir, how could I have helped?”
“Well you could at least pretend you care?” Elizabeth snapped. Her trembling fingers found John’s neck. “ Thank goodness, I can still feel a pulse.” Suddenly her radio crackled.
“Doctor Weir.” Jack’s voice came through, “We’re just landing in the hanger bay. Can the two of you head down here now?”
“Y-yes, yes of course General, we’ll just be a minute.” She answered, she closed her eyes and swallowed, turning back to the Ancient she tried to seem like she was still in control, when really she was still trembling all over and could only just contain herself enough to stop the tears spilling down her cheeks. “Well,” she said coolly, “now is your time to help. Let’s get him out of here.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What happened?” Rodney gasped, as the two of them dragged John into the Jumper.
“And who’s this?”
“Ancient that the replicators captured,” Elizabeth replied briefly, “ he was taken by the ones who took Atlantis, but escaped, then caught again.” She turned to Jack, “General, we need to hurry. I was contacted on my way here; they’ve detected the Deadalus and Apollo on their long-range scanners, they’re preparing to raise the cloak now.”
Elizabeth laid John down in the back compartment of the Jumper as it began to rise up in the air. His eyes were closed and he was deathly pale. “John.” She whispered softly, hoping no one could hear her. “Come on, you’ll be okay, we all will.”
Jennifer knelt down beside her. “His heart beat is weak and erratic, he’s obviously suffered some pretty bad flesh wounds and as for his internal injuries – I’ll check him our properly once we get back to the Deadalus.”
Elizabeth nodded without saying a word, just remained there, kneeling on the ground, holding his bleeding hands in her ice cold ones. The floor of the Jumper gave a sudden judder and John moaned as they rocked roughly. Elizabeth braced herself. Jack glanced back, “I know we were planning to head back to the Apollo or Deadalus, but that doesn’t look like an easy option right now, is there anywhere else we can go?”
“There’s a small planet, just over there.” Sam said pointing on the Jumper screen, “Shouldn’t take us more than ten minutes to reach.”
“Would it be suitable?” Teal’c asked from his place, standing in the shadows.
“Well there’s viable life support,” Sam replied, “is there anything we should know about on the surface?” She looked over at Elizabeth. “Is there? Elizabeth? Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth looked up at her, shocked out of her trance, “uh, no. No, it’s fine, there’s no Stargate but it should be safe to land.”
“Alrighty then!” Jack said brightly, “let’s go!” He steered the Jumper in a tight left turn and headed in the direction of the small green planet.
“Are we out of range of the replicator device thing yet?” Ronon asked.
McKay glanced down at his tablet. “Yes, we’ve broken orbit now, the cloak doesn’t go that far. The replicators should pick up the Deadalus and Apollo on their scanners any minute now, we just have to see if they buy it.”
“Hate to be the voice of gloom here, but what if they don’t buy it?” Jack said uncomfortably.
There was a long silence. “They will.” Elizabeth said softly. Everyone turned to stare at her, she gazed back.
“How can you be so sure?” Daniel asked.
“Because,” she answered quietly, looking down at John’s prone form. “They have to.”
No one said anything for a long pause. “Ok, the Deadalus and Apollo are moving, the replicators should be raising the cloak.” Rodney said at last, his face pale. No one moved, no one breathed; you could have cut the pressure of the air with a knife.
“Well,” Jack said impatiently, voicing all of their thoughts. “Have they raised it?”
Rodney looked at him, his eyes showing disbelief and fury, “No,” he whispered, “No they haven’t.” An icy silence settled over the group of them.
“Wait!” Rodney shouted suddenly, breaking the sacred quiet. “Yes! Yes, they’ve raised it, the cloak is up and …” He stopped again, clutching his tablet and tapping frantically on the screen. “Yes, it worked! The moment they raised the cloak, I detected a power surge from the city, obviously from the anti-replicator blast. It worked! There are no signs of any replicators on the planet! I think that actually worked!”
“Oh thanks goodness.” Jennifer gasped, sinking to the ground and closing her eyes. “We did it, they’re gone.” It was as if someone had opened the door from the Jumper and all of the tension had just evaporated.
“You’re absolutely sure, that they’re definitely gone this time?” Daniel said.
“Yes, of course I am.” Rodney snapped irritably, the effect ruined by the huge grin spreading across his face. “We can detect any readings from the city and there are no replicator ones.”
“I can confirm that.” Sam nodded, checking the Jumper screen.
Vala slapped her hands together, “Well!” She said brightly, “That was fun. What next?”
“I have a patient to attend to.” Jennifer said, feeling John’s pulse again. “It’s still very weak. I have to examine him as quickly as possible.”
“I’d love to have a quick word with you about some things.” Daniel said eagerly, turning to Marcus who had been sitting in the corner keeping up an expression of superior bored disinterest. “There’s so much we could learn, it wouldn’t take long.”
Vala rolled her eyes at this statement, “no, of course it won’t.”
Marcus nodded curtly, “very well.”
“There is also – ” Teal’c began, before a loud BOOM interrupted her and the whole Jumper shook with the impact.
“We’ve been hit!” Jack yelled, swerving the Jumper to avoid another shot.
“And it’s coming from the planet!” Sam cried, as the Jumper went into a tight dive.
“Well that’s not good news.” Daniel said grimly.
“Yeah, and I’ve got worse!” Rodney called. “These weapons firing on us are being picked up as replicator!”
“You know, I swear we just destroyed them.” Ronon said.
“Yeah, not all of them.” Rodney muttered, “They must have left some on the nearby planet, because there are definitely none left in that city.”
“They obviously didn’t trust me that much.” Elizabeth murmured, she checked on John. His pulse rate was increasing and he was developing a fever. However she and Jennifer were helpless to do anything. As the Jumper rocked to one side, she laid her hand on his forehead. He was burning up. Gripping his hand tighter, Elizabeth fought the tears that were threatening to flood down her cheeks.
The others were all yelling, as the Jumper dodged shot after shot, narrowly avoiding being blown out of the sky and blasted into oblivion, but at that moment Elizabeth didn’t care about any of it. All she could think about was John, lying there, frail and broken. She was sure they’d all get through this, they always did. But would he? "Of course he will." She assured herself, "this is John we’re talking about here." However a sinking weight in her heart was telling her that this time, his flyboy luck might just have run out.
“You know, I can’t keep this up forever!” Jack said, twisting the jumper on one side.
“Raise the cloak!” Daniel bellowed.
“He can’t, weapons and cloak were hit in the first shot!” Rodney said.
“Sir, look out!” Sam screamed. Elizabeth caught a glimpse of a glowing ball of light streaking towards them. “That looks like – ” Her words were cut off, as something slammed into the Jumper with a huge WHAM! They were all thrown to one side, as it fell spiralling out of control. Looked out the window she could see the distant stars and the small planet, all blurring into one. Rodney looked nauseous and Jennifer’s eyes were wide with terror.
“O’Neill, is there any power left?” Teal’c asked, steadying himself on the wall.
Jack punched a couple of controls, “No! We’ve lost all power that last shot took us out completely!” The planet was taking up all their vision now; it was getting nearer and nearer.
“Look out folks, we’re going down!” Jack called; the last thing Elizabeth remembered was the grip of John’s hand in hers as they smashed into the planets surface with a sickening crunch.
“Yes. Yes, we are.” Rodney snapped, walking into the bridge, “though I’ll have you know I have just achieved a virtually impossible feat, getting all the calculations done in time.”
“And I’ve just achieved a virtually impossible feat, driving the engines this fast.” Ellis shot back, “getting to the planet before the replicators and in time for you to go down and sort the cloak is a miracle.”
“Well, thank goodness we have so many genius’s onboard who can get the engines going and save the world again, all in one day then, huh?” Rodney said sarcastically.
Ellis just raised his eyes heavenward and turned back to Sam. “Colonel, is everything ready?” He asked.
“Yes Sir.” She replied. “Just remember as soon as you get there, stay a little away from the planet and we’ll try and make undetected contact with Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard. General O’Neill and Daniel will fly us down to the planet in a cloaked Jumper.”
“Fine.” Ellis agreed. “Let’s just get this done.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack tossed the paper ball at the Jumper’s DHD; Daniel didn’t look up from his tablet. He scrunched up a wrapper and flicked it in his direction; still no reaction. Tapping his fingers on the chair he began to hum the Simpson’s them tune as loudly and off beat as he could; nothing.
He gave groan and banged his head against the up-market dashboard, “ok, we’ve been sitting here for nearly three hours already. We must be nearly there.
“Elizabeth will tell us when it’s time.” Daniel said, without so much a glancing up. “And Sam will contact us, when she arrives and need’s to be taken down.”
“I know. I know.” Jack replied, “but c’mon, aren’t you the least bit concerned that something might have gone wrong?”
“You’re just bored.” Daniel answered.
“Well of course I’m bored!” Jack moaned, swinging his seat. “I come to the Pegasus Galaxy to escape having to sit around listening to boring speeches and what do I end up doing? Sitting around doing nothing!”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure things will brighten up later.” Daniel assured him absentmindedly, “they always do.”
“Well they’d better or else – ”
“General? Daniel?” Elizabeth’s voice came over the radio.
“Finally!” Jack exclaimed, “You took your time!”
“Sorry General, we came as fast as we could.” She replied apologetically, although he was sure he could detect a hint of laughter in her voice. “We’re in orbit around the planet now, there are still two replicator ships to arrive and the cloak isn’t quite sorted, but we don’t have much time. Rodney and Sam need to get down there as quickly as possible. They contacted me to say they’re just above the orbit of the planet. Once you get away from this ship it shouldn’t be too hard to find them.”
“Okay, great.” Jack said, bouncing up to the controls. “I’ll go right now.”
He carefully piloted the cloaked Jumper out of the hanger bay and rose further and further away from the planet. “Over there.” Daniel said pointing.
He uncloaked the Jumper and spoke into his radio. “Colonel Ellis, this is General O’Neill.”
“General, we have you on our screen, we are ready to beam aboard Colonel Carter, Doctor McKay, Ronon and Teal’c.” Colonel Ellis said.
“Colonel we’re coming too.” Colonel Ellis turned round to see Jennifer and Vala standing a couple of feet away from him with the others. Vala gave him her well-practiced grin. “You don’t mind, do you Colonel?”
He stiffened abruptly, “I suppose not, you could be useful. But I don’t understand why you’re planning to go Doctor, it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d normally volunteer for.”
“They need all the help they can get, besides a Doctor can be useful.” Jennifer replied, she looked pale and her hands were clammy, but determined.
He gave a curt nod, “Very well, I wish you all luck.”
“We are position. Beam away.” Jack ordered from the other end. His mouth suddenly seemed dry and he got the feeling he always got when he was in the middle of one of their highly risky, almost hopeless seeming plans. From this moment on, everything depended on them.
And boy, did he love it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minutes later, he had landed in the middle of city swarming with replicators and listened to McKay’s instructions. “Alright, there are ten shield/cloak admitters and if we get into pairs, we’ll only have to do two each. And one extra, whoever has spare time just get that done. I’ve already been through how to arrange the control crystals; Elizabeth will give us directions to all of the stations. Are will all okay will that?”
“I just wish I could be down there with you.” John’s voice said over the radio.
“Yeah, so do I. You and Elizabeth could do the last admitter.” Rodney said.
“I was actually talking in terms we’d be more likely to get out of the way in time.” John replied, “I feel a bit abandoned here.”
“Don’t worry Colonel, as soon as we’re done we’ll come and pick you up straight away.” Sam assured him.
“You’d better,” he warned, “especially as this was my idea in the first place.”
“Yeah, it’s just a pity it was impossible to do without me.” Rodney said sarcastically.
Everyone just exchanged despairing looks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ok, the door should be up the stairs and to the right.” Elizabeth directed.
“We can see it.” Ronon said, his voice rough over the fuzzy radio reception.
“Good, now the door shouldn’t be sealed, just go in. But be careful, it’s quite a public place, any number of replicators could be around,” she told them.
“If I see one, am I allowed to shoot it?” Ronon asked.
John grimaced, “Uh, well try to avoid it. The idea is to remain unnoticed, it’s called an stealth mission, more sort of sneaking around and less – ”
“Shooting stuff?”
“Yeah, you could stay that.”
“However, if our lives are on the line please feels free to defend me at all costs.” McKay added seriously. “Because otherwise, this whole plan is useless.”
“But if you’ve already finished rearranging the cloak admitter, you’ve already done what you need to do, so then it doesn’t matter if I let you get shot.” Ronon pointed out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“There’s a replicator heading your way.” Elizabeth warned. “Try hiding in the small room off to your left.”
“Okay, they’re passing us right now.” Daniel hissed, as he and Vala squeezed into the tiny alcove.
There was a long silence, as they waited for them too pass. The radio buckled as Elizabeth clutched it, waiting for a sign from the other end.
“Hey.” John smiled reassuringly. “Don’t forget to breath.”
She forced a weary smile, “I’ve forgotten what this was like, how it’s much easier to be in danger, stuck in the middle rather than on the outside waiting to see whose going to come out alive and whose…”
“Not.” John finished he gave a grin. “Still at least I’m not in there at the moment.”
She rolled her eyes, “Yeah you’re the biggest magnet for trouble of all.”
He shrugged, “I did warn you, in fact I’m surprised you managed to first year at Atlantis without going completely grey. They could sell whatever hair product you use as anti-aging cream.” He gave an amused smirk at her furious scowl.
“Elizabeth, they’ve gone, where do we go now?” Daniel interrupted suddenly, as Elizabeth opened her mouth to retaliate. She shot John an icy glare, saying clearly, “we’ll finish this later,” and replied to Daniel.
“There are two admitters near you, one Jack and Jennifer have already done, so if you follow the central corridor, you should reach a balcony where the other one is located.”
“Ok, we will.” Vala said, “Vala out.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Alright, we’re done.” Sam said softly, as she fitted the crystal into the tray and watched it slowly slide in.
“Good.” Elizabeth said, “all of the others have already finished their two and that was the final one, head back to the Jumper, we don’t have much time left.”
“Indeed.” Teal’c agreed, as he and Sam set back at a run, “I heard a replicator say that the last two vessels have come into orbit.”
“No pressure.” John said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth looked over at the Ancient man; when they’d explained the situation he had been extremely suspicious and not very inclined to believe them. However they’d managed to convince him that they were his only way of escape and he could take it or leave it. (John had said that part) and he was now sitting stiffly in his cell, holding the gun she’d given him, his eyes darting in all directions. “When did you say we were leaving?” He asked irritably.
Elizabeth could tell it was taking all of John’s self-control to answer calmly. “I told you, as soon as our people finish their mission, you just heard them saying over radio they’re heading back to Jumper now. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes and then we’ll be out of here.” He said with gritted teeth.
The Ancient raised his eyebrows, “very well.”
John tightened his grip on his gun but didn’t reply, he edged over to the side of his cell and spoke to Elizabeth through the bars. “Did you mention to the others that there was going to be another passenger when they pick us up?” He asked in a low voice.
She shook her head, “no, I didn’t think to, there hasn’t been much time anyway.”
He glanced over at the man again, narrowing his eyes. “Maybe you should have, I mean seriously, this guy could compete with beat both Woolsey and McKay for the pain-in-the-ass of the year award.”
Elizabeth held back a smile, “ but just think of all the knowledge and everything we could learn from him.” She said.
John shot him another look, “yeah. If he’s willingly to share it.”
“I suppose – ” Elizabeth suddenly stopped talking and her face went blank, John drew away.
“Elizabeth?” He whispered. “Elizabeth?”
Her eyes gradually came back into focus and she took a deep breath. He watched her warily. “Sorry.” She apologised.
“The replicators?” He said.
She nodded, “yes. They need me in the bridge, another commander is demanding to know what is going on.”
“ Alright, but how long will you be?” John asked nervously, “We don’t want to miss our plane.”
She gave a slight smile, “I’ll be as quick as I can, I know its bad timing but I have to go.”
“Okay.” He gave in, “but be quick.”
As soon as she left, the silence seemed to stretch out longer and longer. John tapped on his leg whistling, trying to avoid the Ancients penetrating stare. “You know, you never told us your name.” He said eventually, trying making his voice sound warm and interested.
The Ancient looked at him blandly, “didn’t I?” He said.
“No. No you didn’t.” John confirmed.
“Oh.”
What is it with this guy? John thought frustrated, we’ve probably just saved his sorry little butt, (again) and he just sits there!
“It’s Marcus.” The Ancient informed him, refusing to meet eye contact.
“Oh,” John nodded politely, “uh, nice name. I once knew a Marcus, went to college with him, good guy, cool, brilliant cartoonist, yeah…” He trailed off. Marcus didn’t say anything. "Ok, well, so far so good, I know his name; maybe he can tell me more…if I work on it."
“So, ” He began, “where do you –” He broke off as the door slide open and a replicator walked in holding a gun out. He walked over to where John was standing. “So, you have awoken.” He said. “How are you feeling?”
“Not so good actually,” John said hoping they couldn’t see the gun strapped to the back of leg. “Got a bit of a hangover, you know and I’m starving. Uh, you don’t happen to be the pizza delivery boy do you?”
The replicator gave him a lazy smile, which sent shivers of ice down John’s back. “You know human, I am surprised that you are able to stand, let alone conserve like this. I can only assume our leader didn’t probe your mind as thoroughly as she seemed to think.”
John shrugged, “well it’s not the first time I’ve had a hand in my head actually, you get used to it after a while.”
The replicator eyed him threateningly, “quite. Now, I’ve been ordered to bring you down to the planet. You have been useful to us and perhaps you may be even more useful still.” He opened the cell doors and aimed his gun at John’s chest.
“Come.”
“Uh, can you elaborate a bit more on that “useful” thing?” John asked, “I mean – ” He didn’t finish his sentence before the replicator lunged forward and rammed him in the stomach, John was pushed him back and collided with the cell wall, the force field sent shocks through his body, like fire searing along his blood. He gave a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, crumpling at the replicator’s feet. “I guess – you turned the power up, huh?” He wheezed.
The replicator’s lips formed a smile, “maybe.” He grabbed John’s shoulder and dragged him upwards, twisting his arm. John gasped and pulled away, jarring it unbearably. The replicator twisted it again, forcing his arm even further behind his back.
Desperate now, John kicked wildly aiming for the shins, a furious howl told him he had reached his destination, wriggling away he reached for his gun, only to have his wrist grabbed with iron fingers and squeezed until his circulation was cut off. Stifling a yell as the replicator kneed him in the chest and slammed him against the cell wall again. John tried to writher away from his impenetrable grip, however the replicator held him locked in place as his slowly weakening body was electrocuted over and over again.
As he was sent into yet another reel of uncontrollable spasms, John fought with all of his remaining strength to stay conscious. Elizabeth would be back soon…if he could just hold on a little longer…he gave a silent scream as another wave of excruciating pain washed over him. "Let it end." He begged, "just let it end."
With one final effort he swung his free arm and connected with the replicators head, the hand holding him released and fell to his knees, his eyes suddenly stinging with tears of relief and pain. He grabbed his gun and whipped round to fire, however the replicator was already one step ahead of him, ripping the P-90 out of his hands, they used the butt of it to strike him round the face. John gave a gasp, feeling the blood flow down his face. “Stop it!” John yelled thoughtlessly.
The replicator hit him again: harder. “No!” He snarled, slapping John round the face with the gun. “I – won’t.” as he struck him with each word he uttered.
Soon John could taste the blood in his mouth, he suddenly felt light-headed and his legs were giving way. “No, no, no.” He muttered, his knees buckling.
“Is this all humans are made of?” He could hear the replicator jeering, “pathetic, weaklings?” John tried to ignore him, crawling his way towards the door. “Hard to believe I ever was one.” He added, aiming a vicious kick at his back. “Hey! You! Are you listening? I’m talking!” He grabbed John’s hair and yanked him back, sending him sprawling on the cell floor. John tried to sit up but the replicator kicked him in the chest, slamming his head back on the hard ground. He gave groan and closed his eyes; this was so not a good day.
He inched them open to see the replicator standing over him. Wonder what his name is? He wondered. Do they even have names?
“Wh-what’s your name?” He got out through swollen and bleeding lips.
The replicator looked surprised for a second, and then gave short laugh. “My name? You may call me Samuel, that’s what I was known as when I was still human.” He placed his boot on John’s chest as John tried to squirm away.
“You know, you should just have accompanied me when you had the chance, now I’m going to have to take you down unconscious.” He pressed down harder and John gave another cry of pain when he heard his ribs break. Samuel dealt him another agonising blow with the gun again, gashing him across the cheek.
“Stop…” John said hoarsely, “I suppose, I could come with you, I’m sure we could come to some sort of…arrangement.”
Samuel made no reply apart from moving his other foot to stand on John’s ankle, so all his weight was pressed down on him. He gave a quick grin and stamped down hard. The crack echoed around the room and John couldn’t control the scream that left his lips. He attempted to shove Samuel off his injured leg, but it was useless. Samuel continued to beat him with the gun; he even produced a knife and rammed it straight through John’s shoulder.
John gasped in agony and his cold fingers groped desperately for the handle, he reached it and managed to wrench it out of him, covered in blood. Aiming blindly upwards he tried to spear it into any part of Samuel he could reach, however the replicator simply tore it from his loose grip and slashed it down his leg.
John curled up on the hard floor, he was shaking uncontrollably and every time he tried to raise himself from the ground, he crumpled back down, even without Samuel crushing his fingers. “Stop…just stop.” He whispered, “please…” He hated to have to beg like this, so weak and vulnerable but he wasn’t sure how much longer his body could take this abuse, however if Samuel had even heard his pleas he didn’t respond, continuing to pummel him unmercifully, striking again and again.
John’s leg was definitely fractured, Samuel was still pressing hard on his chest, but from the fiery pain shooting through him every time he took a breath it seemed at least a couple of ribs were broken and he had no idea how bad the shoulder wound was.
Suddenly there was a sound from outside the cell, the door swished open and John forced his eyes open long enough to see Elizabeth step through the door. Her face was pale and a mixture of fury and horror blazed in her eyes.
John clenched his teeth and summoning every last ounce of strength he had, clenched his teeth and wrenched the repli-gun from Samuel’s hand. The replicator immediately gripped his ands around John’s neck and began to tighten. Blackness threatened to take over his vision and all John longed for was to sink into the blissful dark oblivion, to leave this place of pain and suffering.
“Just. Hold. On.” He told himself. At that moment, to him, pulling that trigger on the gun seemed to be one of the most impossible things he’d ever done. The minute the replicator released him; the gun dropped from his bruised fingers and gave up to the darkness. “Eli-za-beth…” He mumbled, before finally letting go.
Elizabeth stared at the other replicator, unable to control the anger threatening to take over. Stay calm. She told herself. Stay calm. “What were you doing?” She asked calmly.
“Taking the prisoner down to the planet, Commander.” He replied, “he resisted.”
“So I can see,” Elizabeth said, pasting a smile on her face. “If you leave now, I will take him down, the Ancient too.” To her relief he simply nodded and left. The moment the door shut, she ran over to John.
“Oh my – ” She whispered, horrified at what she saw. Her eyes scanned what was left of John’s beaten body. Samuel had been unbelievably vicious; he was bleeding in at least six places, she could barely recognise any of his former face features and it was obvious his ankle was broken.
Tears were building up in her eyes and she blinked to keep them away. She had to remain strong, for both of them. Taking a couple of deep, calming breaths she turned to the Ancient in the cell next door. He had been so silent, just sitting motionless she’d almost forgotten he was there. “You couldn’t have helped?” She demanded furiously.
The man didn’t flinch, “I am locked in this cell with no way out.” He replied. “You tell me Doctor Weir, how could I have helped?”
“Well you could at least pretend you care?” Elizabeth snapped. Her trembling fingers found John’s neck. “ Thank goodness, I can still feel a pulse.” Suddenly her radio crackled.
“Doctor Weir.” Jack’s voice came through, “We’re just landing in the hanger bay. Can the two of you head down here now?”
“Y-yes, yes of course General, we’ll just be a minute.” She answered, she closed her eyes and swallowed, turning back to the Ancient she tried to seem like she was still in control, when really she was still trembling all over and could only just contain herself enough to stop the tears spilling down her cheeks. “Well,” she said coolly, “now is your time to help. Let’s get him out of here.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What happened?” Rodney gasped, as the two of them dragged John into the Jumper.
“And who’s this?”
“Ancient that the replicators captured,” Elizabeth replied briefly, “ he was taken by the ones who took Atlantis, but escaped, then caught again.” She turned to Jack, “General, we need to hurry. I was contacted on my way here; they’ve detected the Deadalus and Apollo on their long-range scanners, they’re preparing to raise the cloak now.”
Elizabeth laid John down in the back compartment of the Jumper as it began to rise up in the air. His eyes were closed and he was deathly pale. “John.” She whispered softly, hoping no one could hear her. “Come on, you’ll be okay, we all will.”
Jennifer knelt down beside her. “His heart beat is weak and erratic, he’s obviously suffered some pretty bad flesh wounds and as for his internal injuries – I’ll check him our properly once we get back to the Deadalus.”
Elizabeth nodded without saying a word, just remained there, kneeling on the ground, holding his bleeding hands in her ice cold ones. The floor of the Jumper gave a sudden judder and John moaned as they rocked roughly. Elizabeth braced herself. Jack glanced back, “I know we were planning to head back to the Apollo or Deadalus, but that doesn’t look like an easy option right now, is there anywhere else we can go?”
“There’s a small planet, just over there.” Sam said pointing on the Jumper screen, “Shouldn’t take us more than ten minutes to reach.”
“Would it be suitable?” Teal’c asked from his place, standing in the shadows.
“Well there’s viable life support,” Sam replied, “is there anything we should know about on the surface?” She looked over at Elizabeth. “Is there? Elizabeth? Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth looked up at her, shocked out of her trance, “uh, no. No, it’s fine, there’s no Stargate but it should be safe to land.”
“Alrighty then!” Jack said brightly, “let’s go!” He steered the Jumper in a tight left turn and headed in the direction of the small green planet.
“Are we out of range of the replicator device thing yet?” Ronon asked.
McKay glanced down at his tablet. “Yes, we’ve broken orbit now, the cloak doesn’t go that far. The replicators should pick up the Deadalus and Apollo on their scanners any minute now, we just have to see if they buy it.”
“Hate to be the voice of gloom here, but what if they don’t buy it?” Jack said uncomfortably.
There was a long silence. “They will.” Elizabeth said softly. Everyone turned to stare at her, she gazed back.
“How can you be so sure?” Daniel asked.
“Because,” she answered quietly, looking down at John’s prone form. “They have to.”
No one said anything for a long pause. “Ok, the Deadalus and Apollo are moving, the replicators should be raising the cloak.” Rodney said at last, his face pale. No one moved, no one breathed; you could have cut the pressure of the air with a knife.
“Well,” Jack said impatiently, voicing all of their thoughts. “Have they raised it?”
Rodney looked at him, his eyes showing disbelief and fury, “No,” he whispered, “No they haven’t.” An icy silence settled over the group of them.
“Wait!” Rodney shouted suddenly, breaking the sacred quiet. “Yes! Yes, they’ve raised it, the cloak is up and …” He stopped again, clutching his tablet and tapping frantically on the screen. “Yes, it worked! The moment they raised the cloak, I detected a power surge from the city, obviously from the anti-replicator blast. It worked! There are no signs of any replicators on the planet! I think that actually worked!”
“Oh thanks goodness.” Jennifer gasped, sinking to the ground and closing her eyes. “We did it, they’re gone.” It was as if someone had opened the door from the Jumper and all of the tension had just evaporated.
“You’re absolutely sure, that they’re definitely gone this time?” Daniel said.
“Yes, of course I am.” Rodney snapped irritably, the effect ruined by the huge grin spreading across his face. “We can detect any readings from the city and there are no replicator ones.”
“I can confirm that.” Sam nodded, checking the Jumper screen.
Vala slapped her hands together, “Well!” She said brightly, “That was fun. What next?”
“I have a patient to attend to.” Jennifer said, feeling John’s pulse again. “It’s still very weak. I have to examine him as quickly as possible.”
“I’d love to have a quick word with you about some things.” Daniel said eagerly, turning to Marcus who had been sitting in the corner keeping up an expression of superior bored disinterest. “There’s so much we could learn, it wouldn’t take long.”
Vala rolled her eyes at this statement, “no, of course it won’t.”
Marcus nodded curtly, “very well.”
“There is also – ” Teal’c began, before a loud BOOM interrupted her and the whole Jumper shook with the impact.
“We’ve been hit!” Jack yelled, swerving the Jumper to avoid another shot.
“And it’s coming from the planet!” Sam cried, as the Jumper went into a tight dive.
“Well that’s not good news.” Daniel said grimly.
“Yeah, and I’ve got worse!” Rodney called. “These weapons firing on us are being picked up as replicator!”
“You know, I swear we just destroyed them.” Ronon said.
“Yeah, not all of them.” Rodney muttered, “They must have left some on the nearby planet, because there are definitely none left in that city.”
“They obviously didn’t trust me that much.” Elizabeth murmured, she checked on John. His pulse rate was increasing and he was developing a fever. However she and Jennifer were helpless to do anything. As the Jumper rocked to one side, she laid her hand on his forehead. He was burning up. Gripping his hand tighter, Elizabeth fought the tears that were threatening to flood down her cheeks.
The others were all yelling, as the Jumper dodged shot after shot, narrowly avoiding being blown out of the sky and blasted into oblivion, but at that moment Elizabeth didn’t care about any of it. All she could think about was John, lying there, frail and broken. She was sure they’d all get through this, they always did. But would he? "Of course he will." She assured herself, "this is John we’re talking about here." However a sinking weight in her heart was telling her that this time, his flyboy luck might just have run out.
“You know, I can’t keep this up forever!” Jack said, twisting the jumper on one side.
“Raise the cloak!” Daniel bellowed.
“He can’t, weapons and cloak were hit in the first shot!” Rodney said.
“Sir, look out!” Sam screamed. Elizabeth caught a glimpse of a glowing ball of light streaking towards them. “That looks like – ” Her words were cut off, as something slammed into the Jumper with a huge WHAM! They were all thrown to one side, as it fell spiralling out of control. Looked out the window she could see the distant stars and the small planet, all blurring into one. Rodney looked nauseous and Jennifer’s eyes were wide with terror.
“O’Neill, is there any power left?” Teal’c asked, steadying himself on the wall.
Jack punched a couple of controls, “No! We’ve lost all power that last shot took us out completely!” The planet was taking up all their vision now; it was getting nearer and nearer.
“Look out folks, we’re going down!” Jack called; the last thing Elizabeth remembered was the grip of John’s hand in hers as they smashed into the planets surface with a sickening crunch.
Chapter End Notes: Yeah I know I kind of left it hanging there, I'll update as quickly as possible. As always love any reveiws you'd like to throw my way!