A/N: Firstly, for those of you reading my other story, I haven't abandoned it. I am still working on it, and it will be finished. I found out yesterday about NaNoWriMo, and have decided to give it a go, writing an SGA novel of course. I've had the idea for this story for a long time, just never got around to writing it, and now seemed like the perfect oppurtunity.

Anyway, this is a team fic, set in Season 3. What happens when you mix a severally sleep deprived physicist, with a severally sleep deprived Air Force Colonel in a city full of Ancient technology.

It's going to be a long one, seeing as I have to write 50,000 words in the next month for NaNoWriMo, but if the length of this chapter is anything to go I think that I might actually end up going over that.

Enough of my ramblings. Hope you enjoy, and if you do, please review.

Now been beta'd by the wonderful Jennifer, although all remaining mistakes are my own.

"I don't understand, Sheppard, why you would abandon your planet when it was being invaded by Giant Alien Spaceships." Ronon was glaring at him, and he seemed serious enough. Of course, as Ronon only ever seemed to have one default expression, it was hard to tell what he was really feeling.

Sheppard rolled his eyes as he heard Rodney suppress a snort in the background.

"I have tried to tell Ronon, several times," Teyla sounded exasperated, "that what we saw last night was simply a movie, that it was not real. However, he does not seem to want to listen."

Rodney snorted again, "Probably too much for his tiny mind to handle."

"Rodney!" Sheppard admonished. "I'm slightly confused though, what is he talking about? Giant Spaceships?" He quirked one eyebrow in a puzzled expression before turning back to face Rodney.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you weren't there." Of course he had known that Sheppard hadn't been at the weekly team movie session, he just liked to rub in at every available opportunity. "What were you doing again? On a date were we?"

Conscious of the fact that they were currently on an alien world, walking through an alien forest, John clenched his teeth, biting back any retort that he would normally have given. He had learnt long ago that it was really not a good idea to piss Rodney McKay off; when odds were you would be running for your life in a few hours. It was easier to protect a scared Rodney, than an angry Rodney. "You know full well that I was in my office, catching up on paperwork."

Rodney laughed out loud at that, "That's right; Johnny's been a bad boy so Elizabeth made you stay behind after class and catch up on your homework."

"You have an office?" Teyla was looking at him quizzically.

"Well apparently, yes. Three years. Three years we've been here. You'd have though that someone would have told me before now that I have an office, and that's where the majority of my paperwork's been going all this time. I was up all night trying to sort it out and I didn't even get half the way through. So, if I fall asleep, you may just have to poke me."

"Ok. I can do that." Ronon sounded a little too excited about that idea.

"Erm, yes well, I'd prefer if Teyla did the actual poking. No offence Ronon, but last time I think you nearly broke a rib." As if on cue, Rodney yawned from behind him. "Oh. How very mature of you Rodney. Rub it in why don't you.

"What?" Rodney was glaring at him now.

"The fake yawn. Very mature."

"That was not a fake yawn, thank you Colonel. I didn't manage to get to bed last night either. There was an emergency in one of the labs again, and I was up all night fixing it. Honestly, I think I work with a complete bunch of idiots."

Now that John really looked at him, Rodney did look tired. He knew Rodney didn't trust his staff, and that he liked to oversee every project on Atlantis, but he would have to put a stop to it. Rodney was going to make himself ill if he carried on the way he was.

John, not looking where he was going, didn't get a chance to reply as he walked straight into the back of Ronon who was staring at something in the woods. After regaining his balance (smoothing down his jacket in an attempt to convey to his team, that yes, he had meant to do that), he turned to Ronon.

"What is it?" he whispered, scanning the tree line at the same time.

"I thought I saw something over there, in that clearing." Never taking his eyes off the spot, or his hands off his blaster, Ronon pointed to a dark clearing 50 feet in front of them. John slowly scanned the same area and could see nothing, but then, he had learnt long ago to trusts Ronon's instincts. Seven years on the run had meant he had honed them to perfection.

Sliding his hand, slowly, hopefully inconspicuously down towards the trigger of his P90, he raised it towards the clearing. If there was someone (or something) there, he didn't want to spook them into doing anything stupid. Focused straight ahead, he whispered, "Rodney anything on the scanner? Teyla, you sensing anything?"

Really, he knew from experience there was no need to ask these questions. Rodney's eyes would be constantly glued to the life signs detector the minute they stepped through the gate, sweeping the planet for energy signatures and ZPM's, as well as life signs. Teyla's ability to sense the wraith was something that she could not switch off and on, and John knew she would have alerted him immediately if she had sensed wraith on the planet. He just liked to be sure, he was the team leader after all, responsible for bringing his team home safely.

"I am sensing nothing Colonel Sheppard; there are no Wraith here." Teyla whispered back, her eyes also fixed on the clearing, P90 in hand.

"There's nothing on the scanner. Just the four of us." Rodney's over exaggerated whisper made John wince. The physicist really did have no concept of how to be quite in these situations.

They stood for what seemed an eternity: watching, waiting, for someone, something to pounce out of the trees at them. When nothing came, John decided to put Ronon's sighting down to the fact that their senses were always heightened when they were on a mission. They'd run into trouble so many times, both off world, and back on Atlantis, that they expected it, waited for it.

"Ok" John broke the silence that had settled over the group. "I think that we should press on. We could stand here all day waiting for something to come out of that clearing. Odds are something would eventually, but it would probably be the alien equivalent of a bunny rabbit or something."

Ronon glared at that. "Are you saying you think I'm scared of a bunny rabbit, Sheppard?"

John turned around and glared at Rodney, knowing he was about to say something stupid. He had as much tact as an atom bomb. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that were all on edge, we expect someone to want to try to kill us. We're all hypersensitive to everything that's going on around us. We've been standing here for twenty minutes now, if anyone found us, it would look like we were playing a game of musical statues." At both Ronon, and Teyla's puzzled looks, he added, "Never mind. I just think that we should move on, there's obviously nothing here."

"Oh yes, and isn't that what you said last time, when you were captured by the Genii? There's nothing here McKay. You panic too much McKay. Then what happened, ten minutes later we're running for our lives back through the gate. I say we go with Ronon's instincts this time, as yours so frequently lead us into trouble."

Sheppard was stunned. He felt like someone had just slapped him in the face. Rodney was questioning his leadership abilities. Here he was, knowing that he could trust his life to any of his team, but it obviously wasn't extended the same way. Forcing himself to remain professional, he said, "Ok, Ronon. What do you think we should do?"

Teyla looked slightly shocked by John's clear deferral to Ronon; and if Ronon was too, he didn't show it.

"I agree with you. Could have just been a trick of the light, or something. In my experience if something is waiting to kill you, it's usually done it by now."

"Happy now, McKay?" Sheppard turned around to find Rodney engrossed in his scanner once again.

"Yes, yes fine. Whatever you say." He dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

That hurt John more. Rodney had no idea what he had just done, and he really didn't care.

"Okay then, we'll head over to the left, avoiding that clearing, just in case." John started off, P90 still raised, once again through the forest.

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"Colonel!"

"Oh, for crying out loud! What is it this time McKay? We don't have time to stop again." John continued to walk without bothering to turn round. He was used to Rodney wanting to whine about something, or another.

"I'm picking up life signs, straight ahead. A lot of life signs." This time Sheppard couldn't ignore the slightly panicked tone in Rodney's voice.

"Okay Rodney. First of all, how many is a lot, and secondly, are they human."

"Oh yes, because there's a magic little button I can press that tells me yes, that dot there," he pointed to one of the numerous dots now occupying his screen, "is the alien equivalent of a squirrel, and that one there, that one's a human, named Sarah, oh yes and that one…"

"Okay, I think I get it. You don't know if they're human or not. Why couldn't you just say that?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't realize I had to spell everything out for you. No, I am not in the possession of the Marauders Map, and no, I can't tell you whether we are currently approaching a group of people or a pack of hungry animals, ready to eat us."

"Marauders Map?" Sheppard quirked an eyebrow, sparing Rodney a questioning look.

"The Marauders Map. As in Harry Potter." Ronon stated matter of factly, as if surely John should know this.

"Yes. The map that can tell you where each individual is, whenever you wish to know." This time Teyla was looking at him as though he were stupid.

"Okay. Well. Okay." And John didn't quite know what to say when faced with the knowledge he was the only one of his team (consisting of an Astrophysicist, who barely had time to breath, let alone spare time to read, and two aliens, who he was only ten minutes ago arguing with over the difference between a movie, and reality) who hadn't read Harry Potter. There was something very wrong with this picture, and, oh right, whole bunch of life signs that he needed to be dealing with. "So we have somewhat long-windedly discovered that we don't know whether the life signs are human or not. Are they moving?" He looked at Rodney expectantly.

"Oh, right, sorry. Now you need me again." Catching the way that Sheppard was glaring at him, with his I'm-really-not-in-the-mood face, Rodney looked back down at his scanner before replying. "Well, yes, they are moving, but they seem to be moving within the group. They obviously don't know we're here."

"Perhaps it is a settlement of some kind." You could always rely on Teyla to come up with the most logical answer to a situation.

"Teyla's right. Just because we run into hostiles on most of our missions doesn't mean it's going to be the case all the time. I think we should go check it out." John turned to face the rest of his team. Although he was officially team leader, they worked on a system of mutual consensus. Hearing no dissenters, he turned to face back towards the direction of the life signs. "Okay then, let's go."

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As they approached what clearly was a settlement, John made a few quick observations. These people were clearly not technologically advanced, in fact as they entered the 'village' they seemed to be at about the same level, technologically, as the Athosian's had been when the Atlantean's first met them. He also noted that these people seemed to be nomadic. He could discern no evidence of any permanent structures; instead, all he could see were tents.

As they got closer to the settlement, people stopped what they were doing, and looked up at them.The Pots on the fire were momentarily forgotten by the women tending them, and all thoughts of the wood chopping were abandoned by the men as their eyes turned upon the strangers entering the village.

Thankfully, John wasn't sensing any hostility from these people. He always thought he was a pretty good judge of character, hence the fact he had asked Ronon to be the fourth member of his team when no one else had trusted the Runner. Although, he had to admit he wasn't always right about his initial perceptions of certain people. The Genii, to name but one. He had a good feeling about these people, although he could just imagine what Rodney would think if he could hear his thoughts. Honestly, Colonel, how can these people be of any help to us? I mean look at them, they look like they're living in the Stone Age. That had been his initial reaction to Teyla and her people when they first met, and look how that had turned out. There was a reason Rodney was a scientist, and it meant that he didn't have to deal with people too often, except for his poor lab teams.

John held up his hand, signalling for them to stop, as they came to what appeared to be the centre of the 'village.' Locking eyes with the nearest, least scared looking native that he could find he said, "Hi. My name is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and this is my team." He pointed towards Rodney, "This is Dr Rodn…" He didn't get any farther as the young man he had been talking too ran off, and disappeared into a nearby tent.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Oh, well done Colonel. Again your communicative skills astound me."

John glared at him, and was about to retort when he felt a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Colonel. Dr. McKay. Please. These people are clearly scared enough already and we do not wish to scare them further with your…bickering." Teyla said the word as though she wasn't sure of it. It was obviously one of those words she had picked up from her time around the Atlantean's. "Perhaps they would be more receptive to our presence if we were to lower our weapons." She glanced from Sheppard and McKay, to Ronon, who was looking rather petulant at the though of being told what to do.

John sighed. "You're right Teyla, as always. Rodney, Ronon, lower your guns. We have to show them we're not here to hurt them." He usually deferred to Teyla when it came to matters of first contact. She had been the leader of her people for several years before becoming a member of his team, and, therefore, had much more experience in first contact situations.

They stood silently, waiting, for what or who they weren't sure. From here, their missions usually went one of two ways. They would be hounded from the village/settlement/town, by the inhabitants, who would be brandishing guns/pitchforks/lasers, and would have to run for their lives back to the Stargate. Alternatively, if they were lucky (which wasn't all that often), they would be greeted by the leader of the settlement, they would sit and have tea/food, and the day would end well with them having made a new friend/trading partner.

Fortunately, for John and his team it seemed that today was their lucky day. The man that John had been talking to emerged a few minutes later from the tent he had disappeared into to, followed by a much older man. The man approached slowly, not through caution, but from the fact that John doubted he could move much faster even if he had wanted too. He was wearing dark brown, shabby clothes that hung too loosely around his thin, frail frame. His white hair hung shoulder length, where it met his long white beard.

Stopping in front of John, he looked him up and down, before moving his eyes over to Teyla, and then Rodney and Ronon consecutively. John felt slightly nervous around this guy, and couldn't shake the feeling he was being eyed up like a piece of meat.

Deciding he might have better luck introducing himself to this man, John tried again. Extending his hand towards the man, he began, "Hi, I'm Colonel John Sheppard," again indicating McKay, "this is Dr Rodney McKay, Specialist Ronon Dex, and Teyla Emmagen." The old man simply stood staring at John's outstretched hand. Realizing what he was doing he withdrew it. He frequently forgot that the people of the Pegasus Galaxy didn't greet each other in quite the same way as the people of Earth. The Athosian's did the whole head touching thing, whereas Ronon's, well John didn't know how Ronon's people greeted each other. He had only ever met one Satedan, and their first contact had been less than friendly.

Reaching forward, the man grabbed both of John's hands in his own and closed his eyes. The seconds ticked by. John didn't want to say anything to offend these people, but he was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable. After about thirty seconds of 'hand holding' the man let go, and moved on to Rodney, who looked like he was about to make some kind of a protest before he was silenced by a glare from both John and Teyla. He repeated the process for Teyla, before making his way over to Ronon. The runner, like Rodney, looked less than comfortable with the contact, but stood still long enough for the old man to do whatever it was he was doing.

Obviously satisfied with the greeting he turned to Teyla, "My name is Orbis, and you are welcome here. I sense you have the gift also."

"Gift?" Teyla looked at him questioningly.

"Yes. You are able to sense the Wraith, are you not?" Orbis looked at her, as though daring her to prove him wrong.

"Yes. She can. But if you don't mind me asking; how did you know that?" John was trying to be as polite as possible, but the fact he knew about Teyla just from holding her hand freaked him out a little.

"Oh. I know many things." Orbis began, a little too smugly for John's liking. "I also know you are of the Ancestors, Colonel, and your companion, Dr. McKay, has the ancestral code as well, although it is not quite the same as yours. It is not as pure as yours."

Ok, so now he was officially freaked out, and from the look on Rodney's face it hadn't done much for him either.

"You are correct about my companions and I, and please do not think that I am being rude, but how do you know such things about us, when we have only just met." You could always rely on Teyla, ever the diplomat. She had saved them from many tight spots before. Whereas Ronon was more of a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy, Teyla was the perfect opposite, she was all for the diplomatic approach first, and then if all else failed, she could pack one hell of a punch.

Orbis laughed, and for the first time John could see he was missing more than a few teeth. "As I have already said, I know many things. I am a Seer. That's why I took your hands when you first arrived. I like to know whom I am dealing with when strangers enter my village. I hope you do not mind, I did not mean to cause any offence, it is just the way we do things around here."

"Actually…" John could see that Rodney was going to go into a long-winded diatribe, and could only imagine that it would include such things as, it was an invasion of privacy, the fact that most of the things contained in his brain were classified, and that it wasn't just anyone's for the taking. That's when John realized he had been spending way to much time around Rodney.

"No, of course we don't mind." He could just catch the glare that both Rodney and Ronon were shooting him, as Ronon's hand reached down for his blaster. Ok, so maybe they weren't ok with this guy reading their minds, but really, did they have a choice. It wasn't like they had an abundance of people lined up to be there friends. They had learnt, since arriving in the Pegasus galaxy, they had to take each and every opportunity of friendship afforded to them.

Orbis clearly hadn't seen (or had chosen to ignore) the looks as he continued, "Oh, well good. Good. In that case, we were just about to sit down for evening meal. Would you care to join us?"

At that, both Rodney and Ronon's faces brightened considerably. John didn't think he'd ever seen anyone eat quite as much as Ronon, although Rodney did come in a close second. The two seemed to be constantly thinking about their stomachs. Whenever food was mentioned, they both had one-track minds. John was conscious of the time, but didn't even want to think about the hellish journey they would have on the way back to the gate if he refused Orbis' offer.

"That would be lovely. Thank you."

So if Orbis seemed a little too happy that they would be staying, that was just John's sense of paranoia setting in again. No one else seemed to have noticed, or looked overly concerned, so John chose to ignore it, promising himself that he would remain vigilant throughout the meal.

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John had been overwhelmed by the kindness of the Ranalians. They clearly didn't have much and yet they were willing to share what they did have with him and his team. Rodney however had been less than impressed.

"Huh. They call this food," he sneered as he dribbled the thin soup from his spoon back into his bowl.

"Rodney." John had to restrain himself from snapping at the physicist. "Just eat your soup and stop complaining, would you?"

"Soup? Is that what you call it? I've had better food back on Atlantis, and that's saying something." Rodney felt a swift blow to his shin. "OW!"

John plastered a fake grin on his face, and smiled back at the questioning looks he and McKay were receiving.

"You just kicked me." Rodney's face was shocked, and…hurt?

"Yes Rodney. I did. Because I told you to shut up and you didn't. We really can't afford to lose another ally because you can't keep your mouth shut."

"Oh well I'm sorry. If I'm such a liability, why do you keep me on the team?"

"OW!" It was John's turn to get a kick from under the table. He was about to ask McKay what the hell he thought he was doing when he caught the glare Teyla was currently directing his way from across the table. Ronon, for his part, seemed oblivious to the whole debacle and was busily tucking into what looked like a piece of chicken.

She needn't have bothered, though, because seconds later the whole room was silent as Orbis, seated at the head of the table, stood up clearly getting ready to make a speech.

"I would like to welcome our new friends, and I hope we have a long and lucrative friendship." John didn't like the way he smirked when he looked in his direction. Again, there wasn't a lot he could do about it right now without offending their newfound friends. It all just seemed too easy. In his experience, the forming of alliances usually took a lot longer and they were a lot more painful, sometimes literally. John saw Orbis reach for his glass and indicate that everyone else should do the same. He didn't usually drink on duty, but it was only a sip, and the Ranalians would be offended if he didn't participate in the toast.

He regretted his actions almost instantly when he felt a warm lethargy wash over him. As his eyesight began to blur he could just make out the shapes of Ronon and Teyla sliding sideways. As he drifted towards unconsciousness, his last thought was next time; he would go with his instincts.

A/N: If you liked it, please let me know. If you didn't like it, please let me know. I love hearing what you think.