Spoilers for everything up to The Kindred II included.

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"Well, that was different." John Sheppard said out loud as the white light stopped blinding him. He looked around but couldn't see much, it was some sort of dimly lit room and from what he could remember, about 1 minute ago he was standing on P2X-768 with McKay and Ronon on their search for Michael and Teyla and the next second he was beamed up to...here. Whoever beamed him here would be soon coming to get him and he made sure to be prepared. Clutching his P-90 tightly in his hands, he wandered around the small room, looking for a possible exit. His gaze dropped to an ancient writing on some sort of panel at his left. Now he was even more confused.

The door shwooshed open, more light pouring inside the room and John spun around, his P-90 ready, his senses in alert. Four men stepped inside the room and from what he could see they had no weapons.

"Hey." He greeted and eyed the men suspiciously, adjusting his hold on the gun..

"We mean you no harm, Colonel Sheppard." The tallest one spoke and John assumed he was the leader. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was worried that these people knew his name. His eyes narrowed and he waited for any movement from the four men. Eyeing their attire he froze and panic rose in his chest, though he didn't let it show.

"Y'know guys, you look a lot like the Asurans." He paused and waited for some sort of answer. None came. "You're not the Asurans are you? Because we destroyed them and it'd totally ruin my day if you were." The 'leader' smiled lightly.

"We mean you no harm, Colonel." He raised his hands in a gesture of peace. John's fears were more or less confirmed and he swallowed hard. This was not good at all.

"Right. You'll excuse me if I find that hard to believe. I'm really not in the mood for recreational mind probing." The tall man's smile unnerved John.

"Please, put down your weapons. We do not want to harm you, but if you don't comply, we will be forced to overpower you."

"Why am I here anyway?"

"Our leader wishes to speak to you."

"Well, we don't want to disappoint your leader." John sneered at the Asuran but the man merely raised an eyebrow. Rolling his eyes and sighing loudly, John unclipped his P-90 from his vest, undid the thigh holster and lowered them both to the ground.

"Your vest and your knife too, please." While he unzipped his vest, he wondered since when Asurans were so polite. Shrugging mentally, he threw the vest and his knife on the pile on the floor, feeling a little bit naked only in his black shirt and without his gun.

"Satisfied?" One of the other men retrieved John's stuff.

"Do not worry, Colonel, they will be returned to you later." That took John by surprise but mentally he was preparing for the inevitable mind probing. "Please come with us. My name is Alcaeus." The taller man motioned to the corridor and John went dutifully, aware of the two guys behind his back and one guy in front of them while Alcaeus fell into step by his side. As they walked the long corridor, John looked around with interest. The design was no doubt Ancient and soon he started to lose track of all the corridors they went through.

"I apologize we had to beam you to that dark room. Our ship was damaged recently and we did not have time to make the necessary repairs."

"Damaged?"

"Yes. We engaged in a battle with a Wraith ship not so long ago."

"And you won?"

"Indeed we did." Alcaeus's face was lit by a smile but almost immediately it was replaced with a look of great sadness. "We have lost many that day but in the end we came out victorious." John couldn't remember if he ever saw a replicator showing emotions. If he didn't know who he was talking to, he'd assume the person was an ordinary human; the emotions in Alcaeus's face were too honest.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence as they walked the maze of corridors, until the group stopped in front of a door. It looked like the door of the briefing rooms back on Atlantis.

"Please, come inside, our leader will be here soon to talk to you." Alcaeus ushered him in and the doors closed, leaving John alone in the spacious room. It was exactly like the Atlantean briefing room. Deep in thought, he crossed his arms and leaned against the table, his back towards the door.

He heard the door open but didn't bother turning around. His heart started beating a little bit faster when the door closed again and still no one spoke. He could feel their presence in the room and if he listened carefully, he could even hear their breathing. Maybe they just wanted him to turn around? Wanting to get over it as soon as possible, he did just that.

He was suffering a hallucination. Or maybe he was dead. He couldn't remember if someone ambushed them on the planet and killed them all quickly and painlessly. Or maybe he was just dreaming. Or they were indeed probing his mind and making up the sickest scenarios.

There was no way the smiling face in front of him belonged to Elizabeth Weir. No. Way.

"Hello, John."

Or maybe it was. He was sure his jaw was on the floor and his brain left the building, making him unable to speak. She regarded him with an amused expression.

"I know what you're thinking, so let me save you the trouble of asking me questions. One, no, you're not hallucinating; you're not dead, you're not dreaming and two, you don't have a hand stuck in your forehead."

"That's always nice to hear." He smiled and couldn't help but feel exhilarated at seeing her again after all this time, and this time he didn't care if she was a clone or not.

"Who created you this time?" Elizabeth chuckled and the sound made his chest tighten. He couldn't remember when he had last seen her laughing. Or even smiling.

"No one. It's me, John."

"But you're dead."

"As you were led to believe."

"What?"

"It's a long story, please, sit." He nodded, sliding carefully into the seat at the nearest table. She sat next to him and turned his way. He could feel the heat radiate from her body and he couldn't believe she was there, sitting next to him. He looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. She sighed and slowly began to speak.

"When you left me on the Asuran home world, Oberoth probed my mind several times, trying to break me down, trying to make me one of them. I'd resist him as much as I could, so he would get angry and eventually stop. That's when I was first approached by Alcaeus. He was one of the many who were in Niam's group seeking ascension. He wanted me to help them ascend but he knew he never could have done it with the other Asurans behind their backs. So we formulated a plan." The little self-satisfied smile that played on her lips got John intrigued and he listened carefully when she continued.

"Alcaeus and several others created a duplicate of me but with a major flaw that would kill the duplicate after Oberoth's next mind probing. Alcaeus, me and the majority of this group were able to escape only when Oberoth's attention was turned to the other group, who built the duplicates of me and your team. Part of Niam's group sacrificed themselves to ensure their kind would have the opportunity to reach ascension. Eventually, our clones found us and learned of the plan. They were sent to contact you and help you with destroying Asurans once and for all."

"And tell us you were dead." He leaned his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together. He glanced up at her.

"Yes."

"Okay. Why?"

"I know you, John." Her smile was laced with sadness. "You wouldn't give up searching for me just like you wouldn't give up searching for Lieutenant Ford. I needed you to believe I was dead because...because then you wouldn't have a problem with destroying the entire Asuran fleet. Knowing I wasn't with them anymore, nothing was stopping you. I know it was cruel to let you believe that, but trust me when I say there was no other way. I'm sorry." John nodded and his eyes slid towards the floor.

He was forced to relive every moment he spent thinking about her death only to find she was alive. Elizabeth watched him quietly; she really didn't want to put them all through this but she had no other choice.

"I understand. In your place I'd probably do the same." He nodded again and ran a hand through his hair but he couldn't help feeling betrayed somehow. Seeing the hurt flash across his features, she desperately wanted to reach out and comfort him; like she longed for such a long time now. Instead, she quickly changed the subject.

"But that's not what I summoned you here for."

"Then what for?"

"I'm here to help you." His eyebrows rose and he looked at her quizzically. "John, I know where Michael took Teyla and I know how to get her out."

"Elizabeth Weir, you're full of surprises today. How do you know Teyla was missing?"

"I've been keeping an eye on Michael when I first encountered him after my escape. I needed to know what he was planning, so in case I couldn't incapacitate him, I'd have contacted you should something go wrong. I have spies on many of his worlds and I have witnessed him taking Teyla. If we want to rescue her, we need to go as soon as possible."

"Okay, just let me get my team and a few marines -"

"No, John, you don't understand. We're already on our way to the planet. We need to go immediately with the smallest team possible."

"Alright then." John took a deep breath and stood up, running a nervous hand through his hair. "Care to elaborate on this plan of yours?"

"We have less than two hours until we get there, so there's plenty of time to work out the details. Come with me." She stood up and left the room, John by her side. Something in John's chest tightened as he watched her talking to Alcaeus and other Asurans, realizing how much he had missed her. After they would rescue Teyla, he'd do anything in his power to bring Elizabeth back home.

"Can we contact Atlantis? Or at least Rodney and Ronon? Just to let them know I'm fine." Elizabeth seemed to hesitate on his request but she eventually nodded to one of the Asuran woman sitting behind a console.

"We can contact your team through our subspace communicator. Audio only." The Asuran woman nodded at him, giving him the opportunity to speak.

"Rodney, Ronon? This is Sheppard, come in." For a few seconds he couldn't hear anything but static but then Rodney's frantic voice sounded through the room.

"Sheppard, my god! We have seen you beamed up! Where are you?"

"It's okay Rodney, I'm fine. I'm with a friend." He could feel Elizabeth's eyes on him but chose to ignore it. He guessed she probably didn't want anyone know yet, so he kept quiet.

"Friend? Who kidnaps you out of the blue?" Rodney's voice held the same level of sarcasm like Elizabeth remembered. "Oh my god, please don't tell me you've been kidnapped by a hot chick again." Elizabeth turned to John with a raised eyebrow, her face a picture of amusement, mouthing 'again?'. John face showed annoyance and a bit of embarrassment, so he just gave a small shake of his head in her direction. Before he could speak up, Rodney continued. "Is it Larrin? What does she want from you now?"

John was getting exasperated at Rodney and even quite a bit embarrassed, in front of Elizabeth of all people. She was studying him with an amused expression on her face.

"No it's not Larrin. Listen Rodney, I know where Teyla is. I'm going to get her out."

"What? You can't go alone!"

"I'm not going alone, Rodney. We'll be fine. I'll contact you once we have her back in safety. Sheppard out." The small click of the radio cut off Rodney's protests. John looked at Elizabeth and nodded. "Okay, let's do this."

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As Alcaeus promised, John's guns and his vest were returned to him. He zipped up his vest as he boarded the puddle jumper, finding Elizabeth in the co-pilot's seat and Alcaeus and other Asuran woman named Gallen in the back of the small ship, preparing what seemed to be pulse weapons.

"Ready?" He asked and sat at the pilot's seat, turning to Elizabeth who nodded her head. "Okay. I hope this works."

"You and me both." Elizabeth gave him a look as he maneuvered the jumper out of the jumper bay and out in the space.

"Nice little ship you got there." John commented when he caught a glimpse of the Asuran vessel. The ship's size was impressive and Elizabeth had to stifle a grin when she saw the look on John's face.

"Why thank you, Colonel, I'm glad you approve." He gave her a look before engaging the cloak and flying straight to the planet. He got a weird sense of deja-vu and remembered the last time he flew like that with Elizabeth by his side. That day changed his whole life and lives of many others.

The jumper penetrated the heavy clouds above the planet's surface and John searched for Michael's secret facility. The view from the jumper's front window was unpleasant, the weather was gloomy and everything felt grey and dull. The jumper alerted them to a few life signs in a building nearby.

Elizabeth nodded. "That's it. That's the facility." John didn't miss the worried look she shared with Alcaeus and something unpleasant stirred inside of him. Focus. He needed to focus on the mission.

"We need to park this as close as possible; we won't be able to move around with Teyla much." He set the jumper around the corner. Elizabeth looked at Gallen who acknowledged it with a nod of her own.

"Gallen will stay behind and watch our backs."

"Okay. Let's go." Grabbing his P-90, John tried not to look as Alcaeus helped Elizabeth with her gear and handed her one of the pulse weapons before taking one himself and offering John another one. She smiled her thanks at the tall Asuran and he squeezed her shoulder gently, smiling back. John grabbed his life signs detector and searched for any life form in their vicinity, fortunately finding none.

John hand-signaled Elizabeth and Alcaeus and they stealthily approached the building, their weapons ready. Once inside, the small team scattered and began sweeping the building systematically. The ground floor was a huge room, reminding John of a warehouse. There were boxes and tools scattered around the floor and he wondered what happened to this civilization. From the corner of his eye he checked what his other two companions were doing. He saw Alcaeus peering into the rooms which lined the building on each side. On his left, Elizabeth was doing the same, her hands steady on her gun.

"John?" She called out softly and with a last look around he went her way. She was covering her nose and mouth with her hand and when his flashlight seeped into the room, his stomach churned and he fought the bile that rose to his throat. The room was full of dead bodies; many of them had bite marks on their necks. The stench in the air told him they were piled up here for a long time. He closed the door and breathed out.

"I've seen this before. Remember, a year ago? Michael experimented on the people of Taranis to make those buggy things."

"Looks like we've found another one of his labs." Elizabeth looked around the building with unease. John watched as her eyebrows creased and she looked deep in thought. "Come on, Alcaeus found something." She touched his forearm lightly to get his attention and led the way, their senses on alert at all times. Alcaeus was waiting for them by some door, looking mildly disturbed.

"I've found something." He opened the door and John froze.

"Crap."

"Are those...?" Elizabeth gasped out in horror. John nodded.

"Cocoons. Michael's creatures." John's fingers tightened on his gun. "We should blow them up like the last time."

"If we blow them up now, we will alert Michael to our presence. As well as any creatures that have already hatched." Elizabeth reasoned with him but knew that it was inevitable. They couldn't risk it.

"I know but I can't risk having them hatching in the middle of a rescue." Elizabeth sighed. It was a no win situation.
"I will stay behind." Alcaeus spoke up slowly. Elizabeth turned sharply at him and John's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"What?"

"We will use your C4. I will stay behind and keep an eye on the cocoons. Go rescue your friend and if something happens I will detonate the C4." He nodded to Elizabeth. John could tell she was not happy about this.

"Alright. Come on, we should be as quick as possible." John checked the life signs detector, satisfied no creatures were nearby. He ushered her forward and up the stairs to the first floor and ignored her glare.

"You have no trouble sacrificing him, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He's an Asuran. You don't have a problem with him dying should something go wrong."
"He volunteered."

"Right."

"I don't trust him. He's a Replicator." Elizabeth stopped and looked at him with a frown.

"So am I." She gritted through her teeth and watched as John stopped a few steps ahead of her, his jaw clenched tightly.

"Stop it." John warned her sharply and turned on his heel to look at her. He didn't need the reminder.

"He saved my life. Without him, I wouldn't be here. And you'd probably still have Oberoth on your back." With one last look at him she started walking again, her jaw set, her hands clutching the pulse weapon tightly.

John closed his eyes briefly and sighed; this really wasn't the time. With a few steps he caught up with her, only to see two long corridors stretching to the distance.

"I go left, you go right." She commanded and before he even had the chance to object, she was already half way down the corridor. He sighed and went the other way, trying not to think of the creatures that could be lurking behind ever corner. Remembering the life signs detector, he picked the device up and moved forward.

"Colonel Sheppard, we meet again." He whirled around at the sound of a deep voice behind him, his weapon ready.

"Michael." John sneered and the Wraith hybrid smiled, his gun trained at John, unwavering. "Want to tell me where's Teyla?" Michael smiled again and John's stomach tightened when he heard a familiar screech in the distance. He hoped Elizabeth was okay.

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On the other side of the floor, Elizabeth was approaching some sort of cell blocks, sweeping her gun in each of them, afraid of those Wraith creatures that could be anywhere. In times like these she wished she had her own life signs detector. She froze when she heard a screech in the distance, a sound so unnatural she felt her skin crawl and the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. Swallowing hard, she continued looking around when suddenly her flashlight caught against something. She looked closer and saw Teyla, slumped against the wall, her hands caressing her protruding belly protectively.

"Teyla?" She called out softly and the younger woman lifted her head. Elizabeth could see fear flash in her eyes, so she smiled and encouraged her to get up.

"Elizabeth? This is not possible. This cannot be real."

"Trust me, Teyla, it's real."

"How?"

"It's a long story." She flashed her a quick smile. "Step away from the bars." Teyla did as instructed and Elizabeth fired her pulse weapon at the lock, easily destroying the primitive mechanism.

"Come on, we need to find John and get the hell out of here." To Elizabeth's horror, the screeching sound only got louder; the creature was close.

"John is here also?" Teyla eyed Elizabeth uncertainly and stood firmly rooted in one place.

"What's wrong?"

"This is not possible...I - this must be Michael's mind trick..." Elizabeth took Teyla's hands gently in hers and smiled sadly.

"I assure you, Teyla, it's me. If you want your child to live, we need to go, NOW."

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Michael looked thoughtful for a second before he cocked his head to one side.

"Your friend found Teyla." John's heart skipped a beat at this news. "However," Michael smiled menacingly and John heard another screeching sound, this time much closer, "they won't be alive for much longer." He paused and lowered his gun. "Neither will you."
Before John had a chance to react, Michael was around the corner and out of his sight, and something knocked him to the ground.

"Not again." He groaned and turned on his back and saw the creature hovering about him, ready to strike, saliva pouring from its mouth. It made a sweep at him with its clawed hand and John thanked his fast reflexes as he rolled away, the creature's claws missing him by mere centimeters. Getting a hold of his gun, he fired several times, the creature screaming in pain, the noise deafening. To his surprise, it went at him again, knocking the gun out of his hand. Looking around he saw he had no escape route. He was trapped.

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The two women hobbled inside the cloaked puddle jumper and Elizabeth lowered Teyla on one of the benches. Exchanging a worried glance with Gallen, she squeezed Teyla's shoulder.

"You stay here with Gallen, okay? I'm going to get John and Alcaeus." The pregnant woman only nodded and accepted gratefully a canteen of water from Gallen.

"Elizabeth!" Gallen called out before she completely exited the jumper. "A Wraith hive ship is in orbit of this planet. You need to hurry." Elizabeth nodded and ran as fast as she could. Inside the building, all hell broke loose. Alcaeus was fighting with the creatures that were closing in from every direction.

"He's upstairs, go!" He shouted at her and she swallowed, shooting her way through the creatures. Adrenaline was surging through her body, her muscles burning with energy, she ran faster until she saw John lying on the ground, one of the creatures hovering above him. Heart pounding in her ears, she didn't hesitate and shot the creature, the force of it sending it back with a deafening scream as it dropped dead on the floor. Elizabeth immediately hurried to John, kneeling by his side.

"You okay?" She touched his arm, needing to feel he was indeed alive. He raised his hand to the cut on his forehead and winced when he saw the blood on his fingers.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Teyla?"

"In the jumper with Gallen." John breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, slowly getting to his feet with Elizabeth's help. "We need to get out of here; it's not pretty down there."

"I had a run down with Michael. He disappeared when the creature attacked me."

"Hopefully he will get in the way so I can shoot him." Elizabeth muttered darkly as they descended down the stairs. Taking cover behind one of the big wooden boxes, they shot the creatures closest to them.

"Where is Alcaeus?" John yelled over the blazing sounds of firing guns. Elizabeth looked around worriedly.

"I can't see him, I'm going to find him." She began to stand up from her crouching position but John caught her wrist and tugged her back down.

"I see him now." John said and all the sounds suddenly stopped; the creatures stopped howling and everything was quiet.

"Colonel Sheppard!" Michael's voice penetrated the silence, echoing throughout the whole giant hall. John and Elizabeth stood up from their hiding place and she couldn't help but gasp when she saw Michael surrounded by his mutants, all perfectly lined up the wall where the room with the cocoons was. What shocked her was that Alcaeus was trapped in one of the monster's grasp, looking directly at her.

"And Dr. Weir, what a nice surprise." Michael sneered at her and looked sideways at Alcaeus. "Let's make a deal. You will give me back what was mine and I will release him or we will all die." John shared a worried glance with Elizabeth.

"What do you want with Teyla's child, Michael?"

"His parents both have the Gift. He is genetically unique. He will be a great help in my...experiments." He lips quirked into a small smile and Elizabeth felt nauseated just at the mere thought of Michael using Teyla's child that way.

Suddenly, a second consciousness pressed inside her mind; it was Alcaeus. Her eyes widened when he relayed the information.

"John..." She whispered to the man next to her, her eyes never leaving Alcaeus, her whole body shaking. "Alcaeus wants to blow up the cocoon room."

"But they're standing right in front of it." He looked at her in shock and she met his gaze, fear flashing in the green of her eyes.

"He wants us to go, now. It needs to be timed perfectly or Michael will blow us all up." John sighed heavily; he really didn't want to let Alcaeus die but there wasn't any other option.

"Alright. Give me a sign." Elizabeth nodded and watched Alcaeus. They needed to get as far away as possible from the explosion. Alcaeus gave an almost imperceptible nod and his hand tightened on the small detonator.

As if in slow motion, Elizabeth gave John a sign and they began to run away. Michael looked around bewildered and before he had a chance to react, the room behind him exploded, the flames swallowing him and the creatures whole. The force of the explosion sent John and Elizabeth tumbling to the ground, debris and shards flying all around them. Elizabeth covered John's body with her own as much as she could, knowing her injuries would heal quickly. She felt a sharp pain in her thigh before everything went black.

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John groaned when he felt the cold floor on his cheek and a weight on his back. He must have passed out after the explosion because he couldn't remember if something collapsed on him. Checking all his limbs, he was pleased nothing was broken, although he probably had a minor concussion. The weight on top of him groaned and belatedly he realized it was Elizabeth who tried to shield him from the dangerous shards and debris.

"Elizabeth?"

"Yeah?" She mumbled and lifted herself from his back before she asked: "You okay?"

"Yeah. Few cuts and bruises and probably a concussion but I'm fine. "You?" He slowly sat up and turned to her direction, noticing small shrapnel embedded in her thigh, cutting through the material of her pant leg.

"I'll be fine." With a small whimper she pulled it out and tossed it away and looked around the destroyed hall. "God...Alcaeus..." She trailed off and John could notice she was on the verge of tears. He reached out and touched her shoulder lightly.

"I'm sorry." He squeezed her shoulder and she nodded. "We better get going." He stood up and helped Elizabeth, wrapping an arm around her waist and supporting her as they walked back to the jumper. The two lone occupants looked up at their arrival; Gallen stood up and helped John get Elizabeth seated comfortably. The wound was already healing but it was still painful.

"We heard an explosion, are you okay?" Teyla wanted to stand up but Gallen laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Alcaeus?" Gallen asked when she noticed one person was missing and Elizabeth shook her head. Silence stretched inside the jumper for a long while before John spurred into action. He sat beside Teyla and gathered her in an awkward hug, but she didn't seem to mind. Elizabeth watched the exchange with a heavy heart. While she knew John wasn't a very tactile man, she couldn't help but feel hurt at the gesture she saw in front of her and the feeling wasn't connected with the pain in her thigh. Swallowing her disappointment, she made a small talk with Gallen and the younger Asuran woman flew the jumper back to the Asuran vessel.

"Are you okay? Did he give you something?"

"We're okay. He didn't inject me with anything since we left the first planet."

"Good. We'll have you checked up once we're back in Atlantis." Teyla nodded.

"Thank you. All of you." She smiled gratefully at John and Elizabeth. Suddenly she grabbed his hand, placing it on her stomach, letting him feel the baby kick. The gesture was so intimate Elizabeth had to look away and couldn't help but feel like the proverbial third wheel. Rising from her seat, she went to the front of the jumper, sitting down in the co-pilot's chair, ignoring the looks from Gallen.

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Back at the ship, Elizabeth was again in full leader mode as she turned to John and Teyla.

"Make yourself comfortable while we take you to the nearest planet with a Stargate." Teyla watched her friend and saw worry flash across her features. "I'm sorry, something came up. I have to go. I'll be back." She flashed them a quick smile and ran to the control room.

"Who is this Alcaeus they were speaking of?"

"He was an Asuran who saved her life back on the replicator's home world. He was her friend."

"Do you think she will be okay?"

"I don't know. But it's Elizabeth..."

A white blinding light enveloped them and suddenly they were standing near the Stargate on some planet. Looking around in bewilderment, John cursed inwardly.

"Warning would be nice." He muttered to himself just as a hologram of Elizabeth appeared in front of them.

"I'm sorry we had to beam you here without a warning. A wraith hive ship is close by. We can't take one right now as the ship is still damaged. As I speak, the Asuran vessel is on its way far from here."

John took a step forward towards the hologram and reached out to touch Elizabeth, but as soon as he did the image flickered and she smiled sadly.

"I'm still just an image."

"I don't know what to say. This is all very...weird, I-I mean..." He paused to recollect his thoughts. "I thought we could take you back home with us." Elizabeth's eyes dropped from his.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Teyla piped up from behind John and Elizabeth smiled, her eyes drifting towards the pregnant belly of her friend.

"Take care of each other, okay? Don't let them spoil the little guy too much." Teyla chuckled, although she was getting teary-eyed, placing a hand on her belly.

"You are going to ascend with them?" Elizabeth's eyes returned to John's and she nodded.

"We have come a long way; ascension is within our reach."

"A-am…am I ever going to see you again?" The expression on his face was hopeful and he could see emotions warring within her.

Silence was his only answer.

He swallowed against the knot in his throat and ignored the sound of Teyla crying behind him. He looked away from Elizabeth. He needed to be strong. He was going to lose Elizabeth again and he didn't know if he could deal with it. She was slipping through his fingers like sand. He hated the fact that he couldn't do anything. He was powerless. His chest tightened painfully and he couldn't breathe. He wanted to scream. Scream at the unfairness of it all.

His hands balled into fists at his sides and he fought the urge to reach out. He desperately wanted to touch her, one last time, and cursed himself for being so distant when he saw her alive and well. The only thing he desperately wanted now was to gather her in his arms, protect her from everyone and everything, and keep her from slipping away from his life again.

Elizabeth turned her head as if to listen to something and then faced her friends again.

"I-I have to go. The Wraith are here." She stumbled, panic written into her face.

"Elizabeth!" John cried out, his heart beating wildly against his ribcage, feeling helpless, not knowing what was happening. She looked at him squarely, her eyes filled with tears, searching for the right words to say.

"I-…" The hologram flickered several times before disappearing completely.