Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis - and all the characters and settings related to the show - do not belong to me, obviously. That credit goes to MGM, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper. The plot of this little story, however, does.

A/N - Hello, and welcome to my second Stargate Atlantis story! Before you start reading, I just want to warn you that, like most of my stories, this one is going to be extremely angsty, with plenty of John Sheppard whump added in for good measure. I won't say much more now, but you'll definitely see what I mean by the end of this chapter. Other than that, all I'll say is that this is set post-season five, and that there are potential spoilers for anything. Oh, and I really hope you like it. Enjoy!

~ Alone ~

Part One

With heavy wind and rain swirling around him, John jerked his body from side to side and struggled like his life depended on it, but no matter what he did - no matter how damn hard he fought - he just couldn't get free.

But had to keep trying, he told himself forcefully. It couldn't end like this…

"Dammit, Rodney, let me go!" John shouted in utter frustration as he writhed against his binds, his voice hoarse with desperation. The strong winds buffeted in his ears and splattered heavy rain into his face, but John barely noticed the terrible weather that was beating down on his already battered body.

Instead his focus was on his team - on what they were doing to him…

"Teyla…" John tried, his breathing laboured, but the Athosian was unmoving. He turned his head towards Ronon instead, but found pretty much the same expression on his other friend's face as well. Still, he had to try. "Ronon, come on buddy, you've got to let me go…"

"Shut up, Sheppard," Ronon growled. John could feel his hope slipping away, but he didn't give up.

Half-sitting half-lying down on the wet, muddy grass, with his legs stretched out in front of him and his back against a large, thick tree, John continued to struggle with all the strength he had left in his aching body. It was futile though; the binds around his wrists – as well as the strong rope that Ronon had used to secure his chest against the large tree at his back - were too tightly knotted. He hated to admit it, even if just to himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get free.

And he was trying really damn hard…

John growled in frustration and anger at his own helplessness. It was hopeless. Even if by some miracle he did manage to pull himself free – something that was looking more and more unlikely by the second - the woods that surrounded the gate and DHD didn't offer him much of an escape; at least not with his team standing right there.

He supposed if he did manage to get free of the rope, he could've tried to escape into the forest, but he knew that Teyla and Ronon wouldn't have had to put in too much effort to track him down. Hell, he probably wouldn't even get that far. The way things were going, he wouldn't have put it past Ronon to shoot him as soon as he tried to take one step away from the lone tree that his friends had tied him to.

Still, John struggled like his life depended on it. It was in his nature to fight to the end. He had to…

"Dammit, let me go!" John continued as he blinked rainwater out of his eyes, straining against the binds as he tried to get through to his friends. "Don't do this!"

Please don't do this…

Rodney ignored him completely, his concentration fixed on the DHD. From what little John could see, he'd almost finished working on it.

All John knew about their situation – apart from the fact that he was in a hell of a lot of trouble of course – was that something was wrong with the DHD. He could see that Rodney was currently trying to get it back up and running - but John hadn't actually been able to take a closer look himself so he had no idea what was actually wrong with it…or how long it would take Rodney to fix.

Their jumper had crashed into the small clearing around the gate the second they'd gated through to this desolate, rain-soaked, godforsaken planet, and as soon as they'd crawled out of the dead wreckage of a jumper, Ronon had held him down and Teyla had hit him in the gut, knocking the wind out of his lungs and taking his fight away – at least momentarily. Then, before he could recover, they'd dragged him out towards the tree line and tied him to the nearest one…

Dammit, why the hell were they doing this…?

John shook his head, half-hoping he could shake the hurt right out of his mind. As the rain battered his aching body, John continued to struggle with everything he had left, but it was becoming harder and harder to find the will to keep going.

Please don't do this…

After a few minutes, when Rodney finally stopped whatever he was doing and nodded towards Ronon and Teyla, John increased his efforts, but deep down he knew it was all futile.

"Rodney, please…" John swallowed hard, shooting a pleading look towards his friend.

Without once glancing at John, and pausing only to wipe the rain from his eyes, Rodney immediately began to dial what John assumed was Atlantis' address. He squinted through the rain; it was taking Rodney longer to dial than normal – probably something to do with the glitchy DHD – but the first couple of symbols looked right…

John still felt a slight flare of hope that they wouldn't do this - that they wouldn't leave him here, alone - but that hope was diminishing almost as quickly as a flame would diminish in the damn rain.

But, John told himself, so long as his team made it back to Atlantis, someone would realise something was wrong with his team and fix it.

And then they'd come back for him…

John glanced at Ronon to his right, but the Satedan kept his own eyes fixed on the gate, watching as each symbol lit up. Teyla was almost smiling as she looked towards Rodney, but even that looked…wrong. It seemed almost manic, so out-of-character that John's concern for himself was briefly overtaken by his concern for her. She wasn't herself. None of them were.

John shook his head, trying desperately to ignore the dizzying panic that was rising up in his chest. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the hell was affecting his team – and there was no doubt in John's mind that they were under the influence of something, even if he didn't know exactly what - Ronon, Rodney and Teyla were his friends – his family. They wouldn't leave him trapped here alone. They would fight it. They wouldn't leave him…

Please don't do this…

He turned to Ronon and Teyla and made a concerted effort to keep the panic from his voice. "Guys, come on. This isn't you. Something's affecting you. Something that damn priest gave you is making you do this. Please, don't do this. Trust me. I'm your teammate. Your friend. You know me."

With frustration and just a little bit more fear rushing through his body, John wished with what little strength he had left that he'd never even heard of PX6-662. As soon as they'd stepped foot on that damn planet – at the time, expecting nothing more than a simple trade meeting with a fairly advanced yet apparently devoutly religious society – he'd had a bad feeling about it. John had done his best to squash it and keep an open mind, but that bad feeling had only increased as the day had gone on, particularly when it had become clear that their religion was more like a cult than anything else.

John shook his head bitterly as the rain soaked him to the skin – no matter how creepy it had seemed at the time, even in his most pessimistic moods he would never have expected the visit to turn out this badly…

"Let me go, dammit!" John yelled, his panic increasing each time a new symbol lit up. Rodney was moving slowly, almost robotically, but it wouldn't be long now…

John struggled again, ignoring the growing, sharp pain of the rope biting into his wrists. He was tied up, in pain, wet, and about to be trapped – by his own team, no less - on a completely different and unknown planet to the one they'd originally visited; a planet that they'd gated to without Atlantis' knowledge.

All of which meant that he was in deep trouble, and that no help was coming any time soon. John wasn't sure it could get any worse…

"I told you to shut up, Sheppard," Ronon growled, giving John a kick. "You've done enough. You've upset the Goddess, and now you must serve your punishment."

"The Goddess?" John muttered, anger bubbling in his stomach. "Damn cult…"

Ronon kicked out again, and John bit back a cry of pain. Well, he'd been wrong; it was getting worse by the second. John groaned, but tried to push through it. He couldn't give up.

"But…dammit, I haven't done anything!" John argued desperately, his hope vanishing by the second. He wasn't lying; he really hadn't done anything to deserve being tied to a tree and left for dead. Whatever was affecting his team, it had come on quickly. All he could hope was that Keller or Beckett could reverse it, or that Atlantis would send help back to him anyway.

Woolsey wouldn't fall the act, surely? Lorne definitely wouldn't, John thought with an internal nod. His second-in-command would know something was wrong the moment his team returned without him.

Feeling slightly more reassured by that simple yet undeniable fact, John turned his attention back to Rodney. The scientist seemed to have finished dialling, a fact that was confirmed a second later when the wormhole opened with a familiar whoosh.

John heard him briefly announce to Atlantis that they were coming through, then Rodney stopped for a moment and turned to face Teyla and Ronon. Even though Rodney's gaze was fixed in his general direction however, John knew his friend wasn't even seeing him. It was like he wasn't even there.

Like he'd already been forgotten.

John opened his mouth, intent of saying…something, anything to make his friends see sense, but no words came to mind. The truth was, he knew there was nothing he could say that would change what was happening. Whatever was controlling them, it was strong. Too strong for even the strongest people he knew to overcome it.

John had never felt so helpless.

Then Rodney turned and walked straight through the wormhole.

John swallowed back his hurt, but still felt it deeply. Rodney hadn't even turned back.

Ronon did, although only briefly. "See you in hell, Sheppard."

Before John could even think about responding, the big man strode up to the wormhole and stepped right through without a trace of hesitation, following Rodney back to Atlantis. John was finding it harder and harder to keep it together…

"Teyla," John began, struggling against his binds once again. His throat felt tight, painful. "Please…"

"You deserve this, John," she told him, his face a mixture of anger and sadness. It was an expression that seemed alien on her face. "You have disrespected the Goddess, and must be punished in accordance with her teachings. You will not be missed."

"Teyla…"

But before he could even get the words out, she was gone too.

He stared at the giant ring, watching with a dead weight in his chest right up until the moment the wormhole finally collapsed.

Then the gate went silent. John could hear the wind in his ears, feel the rain hitting his face, but none of it mattered. His team had beaten him up, tied him to a tree, and left him for dead. He hung his head in defeat.

He was alone.

A/N - So, is anyone interested in reading more? It's been a while since I've posted anything, and I could really use all the encouragement I can get, so please let me know if you want me to continue. I'm not going to say much more about the plot now - since I definitely don't want to ruin it - but I will say that there is plenty more angst and whump to come. Poor John - I do so like to make him suffer...

Anyway, I hope you like what I've written so far, and that you want to read more. For now though, and until next time, thanks for reading!