Team, Week 2: The Guardian

[sga_genadmin]

Title: The Guardian
Author: writerjc
Genre: Team
Prompt: Fear of heights
Word Count: approx 11,000
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: A search and rescue mission takes a wildly unexpected turn.
Notes: Thanks to the ever patient sharpes_hussy for a remarkable beta, and to the wonderfully laid back mods for making it easier on us writers. I apologize in advance for one sentence near the end of this story. I swear it wasn't consciously done, but once the character said it, he just wouldn't unsay it. Mea culpa.


It was one hell of a big mountain. Looming dark and majestic against a cloudless blue sky, it was at odds with the sprawling Omari village at its base. An equally out of place ornate stone wall spread in both directions away from an opening blocked by a heavy wooden gate. Brightly colored flowers, grains, and other food items were grouped in baskets on each side of the gated opening.

John frowned. There was something about the rocky obsidian peak. It was like having a half-formed thought in the back of his mind, but not being able to bring it into focus. It teased at the edge of his senses, enticing him to continue forward.

A rustle at his side signaled Ronon's presence. "We could make a run for it. We would be through before anyone could stop us."

John glanced over at the big guy, and then around at the bustling settlement behind them. Though the Omari were farmers and fishermen whose weapons were spears and arrows, it was obvious that they were watching for that kind of move. He had counted seven watchmen in the trees and in various points around the village-one for each member of his team.

"Our friends might not appreciate that," he said, gesturing toward the closer of the two watchmen-the ones with eyes on him and Ronon.

"I could stun 'em both." Ronon's answer was simple, given with a relaxed shrug. John knew he wasn't serious. It was his way of killing time, lightening the mood.

"We'll keep that plan in our back pocket," John allowed. "In the meantime, let's give Teyla and Woolsey a chance to try to convince the village elders to let us go up there." He thought about the large open sided hut where the meeting was under way. He could see them all still seated cross-legged around a low fire. His butt protested just thinking about it.

"Kremer and Bowen have been missing for almost a day. Do you really think we'll find them alive? Or that these people had nothing to do with it?"

John made a face. The jury might still be out on whether the Omari knew more than they were saying, but the bottom line was, their world was the source of some new mineral that someone higher up the food chain was in a tizzy about. Word was that they were to make nice with the natives until the research was complete.

"Let's see if McKay's found anything." John set off toward the stand of trees where Rodney, Zelenka, and Kazinksi had set up an array of computers and scanning equipment. The Omari seemed pretty willing when they'd offered hand crafted wooden tables for their use.

Rodney looked up at their approach, his gaze drawn to the mountain behind them. "It's really overbearing isn't it? It's like it's breathing down our necks."

"Teyla says that's why the Omari call it The Guardian. Because it watches over the Omari people." Radek spoke softly as he looked up at the giant landmark.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Well, there's a surprise. Of course a bunch of primi-"

"Have you gotten anywhere with the sub-Q transmitters?" John stopped him before he could really get rolling. Not that Rodney couldn't insult the locals and his colleagues while performing scientific miracles.

"Regrettably, no. Still can't get through that." He gestured behind them. "Something in its structure is seriously limiting the range of our scanning technology. It gets worse the closer we are. It's almost like it absorbs the signal, like a natural dampening field."

"What about last known location?" John asked. They were almost a day behind the two scientists, but something was better than nothing.

"Yes." Radek spoke up. "We have been able to clean up some of data gathered from the MALP which remained near the gate." He turned his tablet toward the group to show a display of the area with several green dots against the shadowy lines which John guessed represented the terrain. The large jagged peak with a thick line arcing around it was a dead giveaway.

"This is time lapse of their movements." Radek pressed a button and the dots moved in various areas together and separately around the village and surrounding forest. They faded occasionally as they moved closer to the wall and the mountain.

"This is nearer hour of disappearance." For a time all of the dots were together in one place. Then two of the dots broke off from the group before heading out of the village. They went deep into the forest while gradually moving closer to the wall. Eventually the dots flickered and then faded out all together.

"That is it," Radek informed. "Their signals have not reappeared. They were very close to wall when their signals disappeared."

"How far is that?" John asked. "Did the original team check that area?"

"About 3 kilometers, and yes, they did." Radek checked his data. "They searched along the wall for five kilometers in either direction from the village. They found nothing."

"Of course they didn't," Rodney said. "This is Mason Kremer we're talking about. All of the data suggests that the vein of mineral T-9 is stronger on the other side of the wall and probably up into that mountain. He wouldn't let something as simple as a stone wall prevent him from having his moment in the sun."

"If you were worried about his behavior off world, why did you authorize him for this mission?" John asked.

"Well, because aside from the arrogance, borderline obsessiveness, and occasional rudeness, he's not horrible."

John frowned. Had Rodney just given a fellow scientist a compliment?

"He is the one who discovered mineral T-9." Radek cleared it up for him.

Okay. So that made sense. "What about Bowen? Why would she go with him? Better yet, if he wanted all the glory, why would he take her?"

"She has crush, and he has ...." Radek searched for the right word.

"I get it," John interrupted. More details weren't necessary. He was saved from following up by the approach of Teyla and Woolsey. He read Teyla's look and knew he wasn't going to like what she had to say. Woolsey, on the other hand, looked like he was wishing he'd thought to bring a cushion before spending two hours sitting on the cold hard ground.

"How'd it go?" John asked, looking more toward Teyla. Woolsey might be the leader of Atlantis, but negotiations like these were so much more her arena.

"They would not be moved," she responded with a solemn shake of her head. "Nor would they allow the use of the jumpers in their airspace. They insist that it is the sacred domain of The Guardian. Even the watchers have to be blessed by the village elders before they can climb into the trees."

"Sounds more like someone in their history had a strong enough fear of heights that they pushed it off on the rest of their people." Rodney looked annoyed.

"They fear offending their Guardian," Teyla insisted.

"Do they know where Kremer and Bowen went?" John asked.

"They believe that they were called to the Guardian."

"Called? What does that mean?" John asked. They had been on this world for two hours, most of it talking or waiting around and they weren't any closer to finding their missing people. If Kremer had really left to gain an advantage among the political or scientific community, he would have to come back to take the credit. Which meant something had to be preventing him from coming back.

"The Guardian protects those who are preparing to pass on from this world." Teyla replied. "None who seek The Guardian has ever returned."

Great. "So they're saying they're dead?"

Teyla shook her head. "They did not say that specifically, no. My feeling is that it is an expression that is commonly used when ones go missing. They did agree to send scouts to accompany us should we desire to continue a search for our missing members. We may go where we wish as long as we do not go beyond the Guardian's boundaries."

John had no trouble translating that. The scouts would make sure they didn't go where they weren't supposed to go this time. He pierced Woolsey with a look. "I suggest we take them up on their offer with a slight modification."

"What sort of modification would that be, Colonel?"

John cocked an eye back toward the mountain before answering. "Well, the way I see it ...."

~*~

She thought of Torren each time she went through the ring with her team. In a galaxy full of uncertainties, there was always the possibility that she would not return. Yet her decision to remain with the team felt right. Her team would always find her should something occur. Just as they were now searching for Doctors Kremer and Bowen.

"Flight, Jumper One is cloaked and ready." John spoke calmly into the radio. A small green indicator lit on the jumper's left control console, indicating that they were in manual mode. The city's automatic systems would not control the vessel during the departure.

"Jumper One you are cleared to proceed." Chuck's voice sounded over Teyla's radio as well as the rest of the team. At the command, Rodney punched an address into the central DHD and looked back upward as the jumper began to move.

They descended smoothly through the opening into the gate room proper. Teyla caught a glimpse of Lorne and his team standing well back from the area in front of the activated wormhole. Having experienced the nearness of an active yet cloaked jumper, she knew that they could hear the low-level hum that ship emitted before John nudged the yoke, sending the ship through the event horizon.

The period that Rodney referred to as transit passed in the blink of eye and then they were soaring into a brilliant blue sky. John hovered high above the puddle as Lorne's team passed through after them, agreeing to return to the gate by Lorne's next scheduled check-in in 12 hours. He then turned the vessel smoothly and headed off toward the village and the dark mountain rising up from the surface of the earth behind it.

"One thing's for sure, we won't need navigation. Our destination is pretty hard to miss." John's comment was directed toward Rodney and was spoken half under his breath.

Teyla quietly agreed. Locations, in her experiences, could have a feel to them-be they evil or benevolent. This mountain had a feel unlike any she'd ever felt-as if it was waiting.

She shook the feeling off and allowed Rodney's reply to waft over her. "Not needing navigation is a good thing, because there isn't any." She noticed peripherally that he never looked up from the data displayed on his tablet. He had been tasked with trying to boost their sensors in the hopes of getting better range to assist in finding the scientists.

The HUD popped up, but the usual clearly delineated symbols were missing. There was a grid with limited information display. "Damn," John muttered. "Not even a terrain map. And the range sucks."

"Remember what I told you about scans not working the closer we got to the mountain. Well, this is worse. We're almost on top of the giant source of interference. We're lucky we're picking up anything at all."

"I suppose we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way, then," John announced, tilting his head over his shoulder to include Ronon and her.

"What's the old fashioned way?" Ronon asked.

"We're going to have to look out the window. And when that doesn't work, we land and look around. They shouldn't have been able to get far. We should probably start over near where their signals disappeared."

Teyla leaned forward to get a better view around the seats so that she could do her part in assisting. There were still many hours left in the day. Perhaps they would find their missing members before the darkness came.

He took them in slowly around the side of the mountain nearest the village, before crossing over the wall far below. As they village faded out of sight, Teyla began to look in earnest, trying to distinguish any signs of human passage. The terrain beneath them looked rugged. Should John need to land the jumper, they would have to be very careful.

In the distance as they moved farther upward along one of the slopes, mists obscured a portion of her view, but she thought she saw something glimmering faintly. Was that water? Perhaps a lake?

"Doesn't that look like one of those tower things like on Atlantis?" Ronon's deep voice drew her attention.

"Where?" Both John and Rodney spoke at once.

Teyla glanced toward Ronon and then tracked the direction he was pointing. It seemed to be in the direction of the body of water she thought she saw. She focused more intently. There, barely visible above the mists, she saw it. A spire.

"He's right!" Rodney's voice wavered with excitement as he went to work at his keyboard. "I might not be able to scan, but the communications may have fared a little better. If there's anything down there even remotely operable, the jumper should pick it up." He tapped several keys and a separate smaller section of the HUD appeared on the viewer in front of the copilot's chair.

"Good eye, Ronon," John said over his shoulder, then looked toward Rodney's display. The scene out of the viewer tilted as he changed course. "I'm going in."

The jumper descended easily into the deepening mists, white wisps billlowing quietly across the screen. As they moved farther, her guess was confirmed regarding the body of water. It was a lake, placid against an inset area along a large sloping side of the mountain.

"I'm getting something," Rodney announced. "It's erratic. I can't localize it, exactly. Damned sensors. It's jumping around."

"What is it?" John split his attention between flying and watching Rodney's screen. He dipped the jumper deeper beneath the mists.

"I don't know. It's ... weird. Give me a second."

The tension was palpable as they continued, John making minute adjustments as he leaned into the controls, flying in a manner that she had heard him call 'slow and low'. They reached the near side of the gray tinged waters and arced in toward an irregular incline grown over with spindly green shrubs. The spire rose up in the distance amid the greenery.

"There she is," John almost whispered, caressing the controls as he made minor adjustments that kept them above the level of large rock formations which grew up out of the lake on one side.

Teyla gazed at the overgrown area beyond the lake and imagined the pristine lines of Atlantis beneath nature's infringement. It was so easy to see. Even Rodney was drawn away from his computer screen, staring through the forward viewer.

"Are you getting anything yet?" John tilted his chin toward Rodney, but kept focused on the screen. "We're getting close, now."

"No ... just that ... Wait a minute ... Oh crap!"

Teyla didn't have time to process Rodney's exclamation. She heard ... no, felt a scream. It tore through her body, shot down her spine. Then a powerful thump sounded from the pilot's side of the jumper. Through the viewer she could see the sky tumbling as the jumper flipped out of control through the air.

The inertial dampers worked to compensate, but she felt much of the vessel's roiling in the pit of her stomach. She could hear no sound, though she could see her friend's mouths moving. John was working frantically, trying to get the ship back under control while yelling something to Rodney.

Rodney was doing what he could while trying to hold on to his computer and the console at the same time. Ronon was just holding on.

There was nothing she could do as the rocky side of the mountain filled the viewer. John fought it, but in the end, it didn't matter. Sound returned with stunning force. She caught the barest sound of something being viciously ripped from the jumper, before another more pressing noise intruded. On its heels, everything abruptly slammed to black.

~*~

Smoke. He smelled smoke. Oh God, was he on fire? His eyes flew open to hazy gray lines. The lines coalesced into the inside of the jumper. The memory of the crash rushed in on him.

He jerked into a seated position, panting frantically. He had been sprawled against the side of the jumper beside something that finally registered as the copilot's seat. It leaned haphazardly, only one of its bolts still attached to the wall ... no, floor ....

He blinked as he tried to make sense of up versus down. The pilot's seat was still fastened to what was now the wall opposite him, though it was oddly warped by what had once been the control console. A long jagged seam ran along its side where it had been shoved up against the pilot's position.

"Rodney! Are you okay?" Teyla's voice faded from inconsequential background noise to foreground clarity. Even her gentle tone made his head hurt.

He turned and her face hovered into view. Already he could see the beginnings of a painful looking bruise along her right cheek bone. It had already begun to swell.

"Yeah. I'm okay." He managed, though he was still taking stock. That his voice sounded so weak and dazed wasn't inspiring confidence.

Beyond Teyla, he could see Ronon. He was holding his arm in an odd way. A memory flared; Rodney knew this one. It was just like the time they'd been trapped on that moon with the ark. Ronon's shoulder had been dislocated. Rodney wondered if he had popped it back in on his own this time, too. Surely, Sheppard would . . .

He looked around. Where was . . . ? He noticed Teyla's attention had been turned away from him. She was leaned over what Rodney realized was the back of a messy head of dark hair. It moved and a soft sound escaped.

"You guys okay?" Sheppard rasped as he rolled slowly into a mostly sitting position. A grimace flickered across his features as he scooted into a less uncomfortable position. He stubbornly ignored the hands that reached out to assist him.

"I am fine," Teyla responded, not backing down on the hovering. She did have a point; Sheppard was looking decidedly pale.

"I'm good." Ronon's response was gruff as if a dislocated shoulder wasn't a big deal. Rodney was pretty sure he would have been screaming bloody murder.

"Shoulder?" Sheppard shot the question toward the big guy.

"Yeah. It's fine." Ronon didn't look all that happy about being called out. "Ribs?"

Sheppard didn't answer with words, but it was obvious the answer was yes.

Having waited his turn long enough, Rodney added his injuries to the pile. "If anyone is interested, my head hurts, my back hurts-I'm probably going to need to have it adjusted- and I think I might have done something to other parts of me but it's kind of hard to tell given that pretty much everything hurts right now."

Sheppard focused all of his attention on him, a frown creasing his brow as he conducted a visual scan.

Rodney winced, hoping to cover the twinge of guilt that sliced through him. "It's probably just bruising. I'm sure nothing's really broken. Although, Jennifer is going to have to give me the really good muscle relaxants when we get back."

Sheppard nodded and looked toward the half open rear hatch. The body of the jumper had been twisted, popping it out of its frame. Outside of a space battle, Rodney had never seen a more totaled jumper. "What the hell happened, anyway?"

"We collided with something. The proximity detectors decided to be useful a minute too late." Rodney rummaged around in the debris in search of his tablet. Hopefully it had survived the collision and managed to save some data, too.

"Collided? With what?" Sheppard started moving, too, looking for something in the mess. Rodney's guess was his P-90. He usually took it off when he piloted the jumper.

"Give me a second," Rodney replied, continuing his own search. His hand found the smooth surface of the computer. It was wedged in the space between two panels that had come off their hinges. It was a bit dusty but obediently responded to his input command. He briefly scanned the screen. "Whatever it was, it was big and it was moving pretty fast."

"That's not exactly helpful, McKay." Sheppard turned toward him, having found the object of his search. Rodney had been right. "Besides, I didn't see anything. The sky was clear."

"Like I said, it was moving fast. Maybe you looked away." Their instruments might have been handicapped by whatever this mountain was made of, but when something did manage to get through, it was accurate. Humans made mistakes. Even Sheppard.

"I didn't look away," Ronon said. "There was nothing there."

Rodney stared into Ronon's unsmiling features. He didn't think his first thought would go over well with the big Satedan, so he kept it to himself. Unfortunately, his mind wasn't being useful with coming up with another.

"Well?" Sheppard asked, rushing him.

"Well what?" Rodney demanded. "I can't tell you why you didn't see something the sensors said was there. Conan over here already shot down my first theory. Pardon me if it takes a minute to come up with another one."

"There was something . . . ." Teyla spoke uncertainly, then with gathering confidence. "It happened just before the collision. I believe I may have . . . heard something."

"I heard the thump," Ronon volunteered.

"I think we all did," Sheppard replied.

"No," she frowned thoughtfully. "It was before Rodney's warning. I am certain of it. However, I do not believe it was an audible sound, yet, it was very, very loud. For a time I could near hear the other sounds inside the jumper."

If anyone else had spoken those same words, in an identical situation, Rodney would have immediately dismissed them. But this was Teyla. She didn't have flights of fancy. Hell, if Teyla had heard but didn't hear it, maybe the scanners had, too. They had certainly seen what Sheppard hadn't. He began tapping his way through the scanning buffer history. And found it immediately.

"Here it is!" he exclaimed. "It was at near sonic level and lasted for 2.7 seconds. All I got is a frequency-it doesn't appear to be any sort of computerized transmission. It stopped shortly before the jumper slammed into the side of the mountain. Speaking of slamming into the mountain, it looks like we managed to land within 30 meters of where we think that Ancient spire might be."

"Anything on Kremer and Bowen?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney looked through his data, though he already knew the answer. "Nothing."

"Life signs?"

"No," Rodney answered, then corrected himself, "Well, nothing within our limited scanning range."

"All right." Sheppard looked over the broken and battered ship. "I'm assuming this jumper is toast?"

"Utterly and completely." Rodney confirmed. "It'll only be good for spare parts at this point."

"Okay, Rodney you and I are going to find a way inside that Ancient facility. Maybe there's still some power, or better yet, another ship just waiting for the picking." Sheppard worked his way cautiously to his feet, and then clipped his P-90 to the front of his vest. "Teyla, you and Ronon scout nearby to see if there is any sign of whatever we ran into.."

"Very well." Teyla eyed him for a long moment, then she and Ronon headed toward the damaged ramp where Ronon manhandled it the rest of the way to the ground.

~*~

John resisted the urge to wrap an arm around his ribs as he stared up the side of the large mound of overgrown whatever-the-hell it was. It had the vague shape of Ancient architecture, but the material seemed vastly different. Probably more of mineral T-9 or whatever they had dubbed it. Not completely unlike a few other Ancient sites, there was nothing that screamed 'door'.

"Anything yet?" he demanded of his companion who was doing little more than shooting annoyed glances between his lap top at the featureless surface before them. Thus far, John's part of the mission had been to cover Rodney's back. That task wasn't doing much to distract him from the uncomfortable ache around his midsection. Each breath reminded him of why he needed to occupy himself with something else. And since the grassy growth around them didn't seem to contain much a threat, that left harassing his friend.

"No, nothing yet." Rodney shot him a poisonous glare. "Just like the last three times you asked me. Speaking of which, isn't it time we, and by we, I mean you, checked in with Teyla and Ronon?"

"I just contacted them two minutes ago. Check in is every five minutes, if you'll recall. Signal was crap. At least the radios worked in the village."

"So, I guess that I'm supposed to somehow fix that, too?"

"I was merely making an observation," John said, mildly. "Maybe it has something to do with whatever makes the scanners not work. It wasn't a problem on the ground s'all I'm saying."

"In case you haven't noticed, we're stuck on the side of Giant-Mountain of Screws-With-Stuff, don't you think that . . . ." Rodney trailed off as a thoughtful look crossed his features. "Shut up for a minute while I think." He began tapping onto the computer.

John fell silent, giving the landscape a once-over. Not much had changed. He turned back in time to see Rodney's mouth curve into a grin.

"You know, radio waves are a little different than the Ancient scanners. Cross referencing the way they've both reacted to the effects of this mountain, I think their may be a pattern. It's much more obvious this close to the mountain. I may be able to write a filtering program to dampen the effects."

"That should be useful. I can't imagine why everyone is so up in arms about this stuff if it just interferes with our equipment."

"In large quantities it is a problem, but in small quantities it interacts with Naquadah in amazing ways. We believe it may be used in the crystals that manage the neural interface circuits in the control chairs. We still haven't figured out exactly how it works, and the Ancients didn't bother to leave around instructions, but can you imagine the applications? You wouldn't believe-

"Sh...rd." Ronon's voice sounded faintly in John's ear, interrupting Rodney's growing excitement. He reached a hand up toward the device, trying to concentrate on the other man's voice. "Get ....our....-cation...see...."

"That was clear as mud," Rodney muttered.

"But you're going to write a program, right?" John shot back.

"Oh, funny. I'll do that right before I find a way to rescue us from this mountain."

~*~

The temperature was much cooler than it had been in the Omari village. Teyla knew that was due to where they were in relation to the ground. Rodney had once given her a formula that worked on most worlds for calculating the drop of temperature based upon how high they were. Her breath puffed white in the air when she spoke.

"Let's go this way." She gestured downward toward the large gray lake that had first caught her attention. The decline led to a wide section of medium gray sand. Sparse green vegetation dotted the sand at intervals all the way out to the edge of the crystal clear waters.

"I'm following you," Ronon responded to her suggestion as they both started across the sandy expanse.

Teyla came to an abrupt halt halfway across.

"What is it?" Ronon whispered, instantly on alert. He held his blaster one handedly.

She cocked her head to the side, carefully scanning the area. She didn't know what it was, but something was off.

Ronon crept farther out, then gestured her attention to the expanse of sand off to their right. The green grass-like plants grew there as well, but the sand was unmarred. Not so with the section they were headed into. There were deep gauges and farther along to the left was part of one of the jumper's drive pods. It had likely caused the damage.

Teyla couldn't relax. Something still seemed . . . wrong, somehow. She took a deep breath, held it and listened. There were the sounds of the waters washing gently toward the shore. She could see a small creeping beetle moving slowing along the blade of one of the green plants, but there were no sounds of any other type of animal life. No scurrying creatures, not even the buzz of a flying insect. And the breeze ... the breeze felt ... off.

After a moment's hesitation, she opened her mind. There, something faint tickled at the edge of her senses. There was an impression of vastness and brilliance and perhaps an edge of uncertainty. She was relieved to find a total lack of the kind of malice that she felt when she opened herself to wraith minds.

"We know you are here," she spoke softly, trying to project reassurance. "We mean you no harm." She took another step forward.

Ronon silently followed her lead, his weapon still held loosely in one hand.

A vibration rolled through the air. Like on the jumper it was sound, yet not sound. She felt more than heard it. A faint sense reached her. Pain.

"Where are you? Are you hurt?"

Ronon raised his brows and looked askance. Teyla could only shrug. She could not explain what she was feeling in simple terms.

The vibration returned, but this time there was more. The waters at the very edge of the shore began to splash. It was as if someone was hitting the surface. The splashing grew, revealing the faint outline of a wing. A very large wing.

Teyla gasped as the air seemed to waver and reformed into the shape of a very large body covered in lustrous black feathers. One large powerful wing was stretched out across the sand, its tip draping into the water at the edge of the lake. The other wing was twisted and buckled under the barrel shaped form. A dark sticky substance leaked from gouges along its length.

The black feathers lightened to a pale gray at the feather covered head. One large dark pupil rolled in her direction as the bird focused on her. It blinked as it began to struggle, flopping its large body as it moved closer to the water by tiny increments.

She heard Ronon's voice as he told John and Rodney to join them over the static-filled radio connection, but her focus was divided. This creature was attempting to communicate with her. The feelings she had picked up from it were coherent, intelligent. Yet they were just out of reach.

"I do not understand," she told the bird.

The bird struggled more, splashing the water in a high arc so that it splattered across the rest of its body. The energetic motions began to slow, and the large eye lids began to droop.

"Ronon, it's the water. I think it needs the water." She ran the distance to the river's edge and first emptied then filled her canteen.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked, remaining up the shore. He kept a critical eye on the giant creature. She understood that her teammate did not understand the situation and preferred to remain cautious. It was a wise move, given the circumstances.

"I am certain," she assured him. "This creature is sentient and it needs our help." She moved in closer to the animal with the water. Its body was nearly as large around as she was tall making it necessary for her to reach upward to pour it atop the animal.

It turned its head, directing its damaged wing toward her. She immediately responded, pouring the water over the injured area. The canteen didn't hold much water and she was forced to go back for a refill.

"Teyla!"

She was bent over the lake when Ronon called her name. She rushed back, the canteen only half full. "What is it?"

"Look!" Ronon had moved closer to the bird. He pointed toward the damaged wing, his expression colored with surprise. Already the gouges were knitting themselves back together.

She grinned up at him as a wave of gratitude wafted across her senses. "You are most welcome." Her smile broadened to encompass the bird.

~*~

Ronon dunked his canteen in the water then followed Teyla's lead in taking it back to the big bird and pouring it on its broken wing. Whatever was in the water, it was doing wonders for the bird's injuries. When he had poured it over his own dislocated shoulder, it hadn't done a thing. The arm still ached. He had to shove his gun into his holster so that he could use his good arm to help Teyla.

As he started back up the beach toward the bird's damaged wing, he wondered what was taking McKay and Sheppard so long. The terrain might be rough, but they should have been there by then.

He was halfway to the animal when it changed position. Within moments, it was upright, standing atop a pair of huge talons. At full height, it was easily twelve feet tall. The wings stretched out to full span, a good twenty five feet. The injured one didn't look as sturdy as the other, but it was no longer warped like it had been when they first found it.

Unease settled over him. In the next moment, Sheppard and McKay appeared at the top of the low hill leading down toward the lake. McKay stumbled to a halt. It took Sheppard a few additional steps to come to a stop, by then he was halfway down the decline.

Effortlessly, the bird took to the air on powerful wings. It was a amazing sight to behold. It flapped it's huge wings twice, then glided toward the rise and his two approaching friends.

"Sheppard!" Ronon dropped the canteen in favor of his blaster. The gun was a familiar friend, and was up and pointing toward the large retreating bird, the control thumbed to stun along the way. But by the time it was aimed properly, Sheppard was caught in a pair of powerful talons and taken up into the misty sky.

"Ronon, no!" Teyla's scream reached him, just as he made the decision not to fire.

He dropped his arm with a growl of frustration and sorrow. It was too late. The bird was too high, and if it should drop Sheppard from that height, he'd be dead by the time he hit the ground. He couldn't take that risk.

He was forced to watch, helpless, with McKay and Teyla while the bird flew out over the waters. His heart followed as the creature plunged deep in the silvery colored lake, taking their friend under with him.

~*~

"Oh God, what just happened?" Rodney felt like crying. He stared between his two teammates, at a loss. For once, his brain seemed to have seized up. He didn't know what to do with the visual and emotional data that he'd just received.

"We have to go after him," he babbled. "Maybe if we swim out it's not too deep. Maybe there's something I can rig from the jumper. Maybe, maybe . . . Oh, God, maybe he won't drown. Maybe we can-"

He felt Teyla's hand settle against his arm. "Rodney, calm down. It is okay, we will get him back. We just have to think."

He stared at her incredulous. Surely she hadn't just said that. "Last I checked humans don't have gills! And since I don't see him coming back up for air, he's probably drowning!" He stopped himself, seeing his own pain reflected in Teyla's eyes. Sheppard was her friend, too. He looked toward Ronon, who shot him a fierce gaze.

"I'm sorry. Sorry." He turned away, struggling with the weight that settled more heavily on him as each second passed with no sign in the change of the water's surface. The ripples that had formed in the wake of the bird's dive were already dissipated.

"Perhaps there is more going than we are aware of," Teyla suggested. "When we first approached the bird, it was invisible; cloaked, like the jumper. It was also wounded. I believe he is what we collided with. I believe it was his scream that I heard before the crash."

Rodney frowned fiercely. That didn't make sense. In fact, that made so little sense he didn't even know where to start. He pointed out toward the ocean. "Ginormous killer eagle was quite visible. He ran off with Sheppard. He didn't look like he'd just run into a jumper!"

"No, Rodney, not at first. I sensed his presence. Once I assured him that we would not harm him, he uncloaked. I believe he was trying to communicate with me. He told me that the water would help him. It healed its injuries almost immediately."

"Wait, you're telling me that the bird is sentient," he stared hard at her. If that was true, it changed things. Lots of things.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Then we may be even more screwed than I realized." He could think of a dozen ways the situation could get worse than the currently completely fouled-up-beyond-all-recognition state of affairs.

"Why do you say so?" Teyla seemed genuinely confused.

"Because intelligent creatures the galaxies over tend to plot and scheme against one another. Animals operating on instinct kill for food. Intelligent creatures kill for no good reason other than they felt like it or they just happened to be a bad mood. And of course there are the Wraith who do it for a combination of both." His argument was sound. Having lived in Pegasus with the likes of the Genii surely she understood that.

"No." She shook her head. "I do not understand all that is happening here. But I do know that the emotion I felt from the bird just before he took John was one of protectiveness, perhaps. There was no malice. I do not believe he intended to harm him."

"That does not change the fact that he did." Rodney knew that Teyla had special senses, and that she could feel things that they couldn't in relation to the Wraith, but that didn't change the very obvious reality.

"We shouldn't have helped it." Ronon stalked off, pacing back and forth in the sand like a caged animal. He occasionally stared off across the water as if he might find a way to Sheppard based purely on the strength of his fierce anger.

Teyla frowned, uncertainty marring her brow. She looked out across the water. "Perhaps you are both correct," she said softly, then more loudly so that Ronon would also hear. "Regardless, John would not give up on any of us without absolute proof. It is the least we can do for him."

Rodney's anger drained out of him. "Look, maybe I can see if this thing picked up anything," he said, gesturing toward his tablet. He had been trying to take expanded readings since the talk about radio signals with Sheppard. "It picked up that sound you heard. Maybe you could see if you can ... um ... I don't know ... sense the bird."

Teyla smiled a sad thanks. "I will try." She looked across at their other teammate. "Perhaps Ronon remembers something that will be helpful as well."

Ronon stared a long moment before he approached. "Yeah. The water healed the bird, but it didn't work on me. I don't know if that means anything."

"It might," Rodney said, surprised that it was the truth. Healing properties in the water might be a huge clue. He felt a plan beginning to form in the back of his mind. "Okay, first we need to gather some for testing ...."

~*~

John didn't know what hit him. One minute he was looking at the biggest bird he'd seen outside of a science fiction movie, the next he was grabbed in a pair of giant talons like the day's lunch special. By the time the requisite oh crap! managed to form in his mind, he was far out over the lake.

He started to struggle. The bird responded by doing something with its wings, enveloping him as it started a steep dive toward the surface. They hit the brutally cold surface and kept going, diving deeper and deeper. Nothing John did broke the animal's iron grip. He remained pinned against the giant body, his heart rate galloping toward inevitable panic.

Lungs on fire from lack of oxygen, he searched the watery darkness for something, anything, that might give him even a hope of escape. But he was weakening. His struggles became more jerky and unfocused. Spots flickered before his eyes.

The spots grew to a beautiful vista. Snow capped peaks rose above a lush green valley, a lazy river meandered along far below. The only sounds were of brisk winds rushing by. He could feel his powerful wings flapping, allowing him to gain more altitude as he climbed higher and higher. The world belonged to him. He could go anywhere, fly anywhere. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind he wondered if this was the universe's way of softening the blow, by giving him a vision of something he loved. All things considered, it wasn't a bad way to go.

He gave himself over to the hallucination. The breath, when he took it, wasn't completely against his control. On some level he expected the pain of the water firing through his sinuses and into his body. He drew in deeply once. And again. And again. The pain and the hard work of it was immaterial, the action itself was like heaven. The haziness in his brain cleared. He was back in the grasp of his feathery cocoon, and he was breathing water!

As the elation shot through him at the realization that he wasn't dead, the water pressure around him changed. The bird arched upward and they broke through the surface of the water. He had a brief glimpse of a large darkened room that was reminiscent of a larger version of Atlantis' jumper bay. Then, the onslaught of actual atmosphere hit. The delicate balance of whatever miracle had happened in the water ended and John felt himself suffocating under incredible pressure in his lungs.

Everything went a little hazy as he started retching and gagging violently. His entire world became the painful struggle for survival as he fought for each breath. The more his body worked to expel the fluid that had invaded his lungs, the greater the pain. It became a bitter cycle until finally the coughs lessened.

He found himself lying on a hard surface, curled half on his side. He opened his eyes a fraction to find that someone had turned up the lights. Not a lot as it was still dimmer than what he was used to, but the familiar blue of Ancient lighting was evident. He even felt the accompanying tickle of ATA.

He lifted his head a bit to get a better view. The room still had the feel of a larger jumper bay. If he wasn't mistaken, the berths on the upper level were big enough for a couple of jumpers. Instead of an opening in the floor that would lead to the control room on Atlantis; this place had a large opening that no doubt led back into the bottom of the lake.

He turned his head a little farther and found that his new friend the bird was settled just behind his head, silently waiting. The creature was so quiet it was eerie. It made John's panting breaths seem louder and more obvious.

"Thanks ... for not ... killing me ... yet," John managed weakly, ending with another bout of painful coughing. Obviously whatever had happened between being grabbed and trying to breathe lake water hadn't done his ribs any good. Each ragged breath was a struggle. With the drop in adrenaline, the pain was heading quickly into unmanageable territory.

"Hope ... not hungry," John said, looking cautiously up at the creature. He was at its mercy until he could get his legs back under him. Never mind standing, he would settle for being able to sit up. He just needed a minute to rest before he tried. Getting warm and dry wouldn't hurt either.

With several talon-clicking steps, the bird moved around in front of John, lessening some of the neck strain of having to look back and up at it. He would have thanked it if he thought it had done it on purpose. He stared considering into the large dark eyes that stared right back at him. If he was about to make John his lunch, he was surely going about it strangely.

John blinked in confusion when the bird extended the tip of its wing toward him. John wondered bizarrely if this was the avian version of the fist bump. "All right," he muttered softly, and reached a hand out toward the animal.

It was like connecting unexpectedly with the control chair.

Brilliant images slammed through his mind, moving so fast that he could barely keep up. He saw himself soaring over the mountains searching for the source of a familiar sound. It was a sound he hadn't heard in so long it caused him to rush ahead too quickly. And then, suddenly, he slammed hard into something. Pain exploded in his wing before he began to fall toward the ground. He saw the little ship, the one he had been searching for as it suddenly appeared, no longer invisible to his sight. It was terrifying to realize that he had not lived up to his duty. He had awaited the return of the guardian for so long and now he had failed.

The images and feelings lessened in intensity as they went through what had happened when Teyla and Ronon helped with his wounds. And then he saw himself and Rodney appear on the scene.

John let go, disengaging himself from the literal bird's eye view of the events of the day. A deep inhale caught him by surprise as he worked to clear more of the liquid from his body. He wrapped his arms tight around his mid-section and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to dull the sharp ache.

When it was over, he lay for several moments, gathering his strength before looking back at the bird. It was still waiting. He had a deep sense that this creature was somehow tied to this Ancient facility in ways that they had never even dreamed up. But none of that was going to matter if he died here and Rodney never found out about it. He also had another mission he needed to complete.

"I need ... my friends ... and some others ... who are ... missing." He dragged his hand back toward the wing and brought images of Ronon, Teyla, and Rodney to mind. He tried to communicate as best he could that he needed to be taken back to them. He thought too of Bowen and Kremer, trying to get over the point they were missing.

The images that followed were slower and more distant. It appeared to be a memory of Kremer and Bowen climbing along the mountain before entering a cave.

John was forced to let go again as an especially sharp pain tightened around his mid-section. "I ... need ... my ... friends," he whispered once the worst of the pain passed, hoping that big bird meant big ears. Though he wasn't sure if his ribs or lungs could take another round of breathing that water, he really didn't want to die down here cold and alone.

When the images came again, John hadn't reached out to the bird, the bird had reached out to him.

~*~

Teyla was frustrated. Her head and cheek ached fiercely and she had yet to find anything that proved useful in their current task. The emotions, for lack of a better term, that she had felt from the bird were no longer present, and yet they were. Worse, they were conflicting. They moved in and out like a maelstrom. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps proximity to the mountain was affecting her as well as Rodney's equipment.

"Well, one thing is for sure," Rodney was speaking again. "This is not your normal everyday water. Water testing isn't really my specialty, but I do know there is much more than just water in this ... water."

"Like what?" Ronon asked the question.

"Well, like I said, not the expert. We should definitely take some back to Atlantis with us." He turned back toward his computer, continuing to manipulate the data.

Teyla was heartened that he hadn't added 'if we get back'. He had not given up hope. "I have some of it in my canteen," she offered. Rodney's acknowledging nod was distracted.

"Are you sensing anything?" Ronon approached. He had calmed from his earlier anger.

"It is all very confusing," she confessed. "There is something very strange about this mountain. I can feel it more the longer I am here."

"Can you feel Sheppard?" Ronon asked hesitantly. It was not one he had ever asked her before. He simply accepted her gifts with regard to the Wraith.

"I cannot sense people the way I sense Wraith. With the Wraith there is a cold shadowy darkness in their presence. It is a feeling of bone-deep dread." She answered him as honestly as she could. "But," she added, "I truly feel that John is still alive."

"Then we'll find him." Ronon spoke with determination that strengthened her own.

"Uh ... guys ...." Rodney's wavering call drew their attention. Following the direction of his gaze, they caught sight of three large birds standing along the beach. They were identical in appearance to the earlier creature and stood watching them with large, intelligent eyes. Very suddenly, the conflicting sensations that she had been feeling began to make sense.

Ronon pulled his weapon and leveled it at the center bird. Teyla rested her hand on his arm. "No, Ronon. They are here to take us to John."

"How can you know that?" Rodney muttered from the side of his mouth, edging closer to her and Ronon. "Nice giant birdies," he added aloud toward the creatures.

"Because one of them told me." She smiled encouragingly at her two friends and moved forward to approach the creatures. "They will take us by way of another path."

~*~

Rodney didn't open his eyes until he felt the bird put him down on the ground. He still wasn't clear on how Teyla had convinced him to climb onto the back of a giant eagle. It probably had something to with the promise that they wouldn't be going into the water. Still, he hadn't looked down during the whole of the journey.

As he slid off the bird's back, he took in the scenery. He saw mountainside, mountainside and oh, yeah, more mountainside. Surely this wasn't their destination.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" He turned as the birds took to flight in that creepy silent way they had. They cloaked nearly as soon as they were airborne. "Come back! This isn't helping!" He stared up into the empty sky hoping they'd at least try to listen.

"Isn't this where we think Kremer and Bowen went?" Ronon asked, looking around at the scrubby brush and low lying vegetation.

Rodney nodded. "Yeah. I think you may be right." Maybe the birds weren't so much against them after all. The odds might just be improving in their favor. He cringed even as the thought entered his mind. Thinking things were getting better was always a recipe for disaster.

"There is a cave there." Teyla gestured to a spot farther up the hillside. It was so well hidden by trees and other overgrowth, he almost missed it. The cave's opening was set in something of an alcove in the side of the mountain.

They moved as one to check it out.

Rodney did his best to scan it for crazy things like time dilation fields and doorways into alternate universes, but the effect of the mineral was still hindering his equipment. Best he could tell given what he had, the cave was just a cave.

He led the way inside. It wasn't very deep. In fact, it dead ended around a short section in an only-slightly-larger-than-the-size-of-a-closet room. Rodney stood looking perturbed for a long moment before he turned and pointed them back the way they'd come. This had been a huge exercise is nothing useful.

Just as they turned to go, a familiar tingle began to overtake him. He was being teleported. He rematerialized to find himself face to face with Nancy Bowen.

The blonde-haired scientist threw her arms around him and promptly burst into tears.

~*~

"John!"

John jerked at the sound of his name. He must have been drifting, and now he must be hallucinating. But then he heard lots of footsteps. "Sheppard!" Ronon and Rodney's voices joined in as well.

He opened his eyes and looked into the worried faces of his team. "Y'guys ... okay? How'd ... find?" Peripherally, he saw Bowen and Kremer standing a little behind them. There seemed to be more than a physical distance between the two scientists. He had a feeling, judging by his friend's reactions that the bird was gone.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Rodney said. Then, looking around at the room they were in added, "then again, you probably would."

Teyla pressed a hand along his sweat dampened brow. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Think ...in ... trouble," he confessed. "How ... far ... 'lantis?"

"Not very," Rodney responded. "And by that, I mean we don't have to climb all the way down a mountain. The cave these two geniuses found is a transporter. It brought them into this facility. Turns out, you have to have the gene to get any farther than that. So they've been stuck in a dark room for the past twenty four hours.

"Once we got inside, all of my equipment was functional again. Something within the facility must be blocking the effects of the mineral. Either way, I was able to find your sub-Q and track you down, not to mention pull some information from the database while I was at it. The way back to the cave is only two rooms over. Think you can make it? Or do we need to bring the cavalry to you?"

Though John's head was spinning at the speed of Rodney's speech, he did manage to catch the last two sentences.

"No ... c'n ... make it," he reassured. Getting his arms beneath him, he worked his way to a sitting position and then slowly got to his feet. Every breath was a struggle and he was exhausted, but he was back with his team and they were going home. He could do this.

As they moved through the rooms, Rodney continued excitedly about the possibilities of what the facility was used for. John wished he had the breath to explain everything the bird had shown him.

Words would take precious energy that he just didn't have. Already he was beginning to wonder how much longer he was going to be mostly upright. With Ronon's good shoulder on one side and Rodney on the other, he felt confident that they wouldn't let him hit the hard stone floor.

"Here we are," Rodney interrupted his monologue as they reached the exit transporter.

John made it all the way outside of the cave before his knees went out from under him. Hands caught him, slowing his descent toward the ground. The painful pressure that had been growing in his chest increased exponentially. It was as if someone had dropped a hundred pound anvil on his ribs. No matter how hard he worked, he couldn't draw in air.

The team was bent over him, calling his name, but their voices were beginning to fade. His last view was of their looking skyward before black wings and large pair of talons moved in toward him.

~*~

"Atlantis! This is McKay! We have a medical emergency! Clear the area in front of the gate, and whatever you do, don't shoot!"

Richard Woolsey looked curiously toward Chuck at the odd request. During his tenure in the Pegasus Galaxy, he had heard stranger things, but there was something a little odd about this one. "Doctor McKay, please state the nature of your medical emergency."

"Can't talk now, afraid of flying!" McKay sounded stressed. Perhaps he was having trouble flying the jumper.

He nodded toward the security team on the gate level, urging them to stand back away from the event horizon. "Please contact Dr. Keller and have her ready her team," he added in Chuck's direction.

"Yes, sir." Chuck went about the task.

Moments later, something broke the surface of the placid blue. A large dark body appeared in the gate room, before spreading large black wings wide and setting something on the floor. The something turned out to be a semi-conscious Colonel Sheppard. The huge bird then settled itself to the floor, partially folded in its wings and stepped to the side.

For a long moment, no one moved. Then the security forces stepped into position. Ronon, then Teyla, then Rodney appeared through the gate. They all ran immediately for Sheppard.

"We'll explain everything later!" Rodney yelled. "Sheppard needs help - he can't breathe!"

Chaos erupted.

Richard would never forget the events that followed. Sheppard's team was gathered around him, encouraging him to hold on. The colonel's skin was deathly pale and his eyes were mere slits as his body struggled to draw breath. Even from the distance of the balcony above, Richard could see the tinge of blue beginning around his lips.

He turned to Chuck, preparing to relay a message to Doctor Keller regarding the urgency of the situation when he heard her yelling below. "Coming through!"

Expressions of relief were shared as Teyla, Ronon, and Doctor McKay backed away from their fallen comrade to make room for Keller and her team. He almost missed another subtle movement. The tip of the huge bird's wing was resting against Sheppard's hand. It drew it back, drawing its wings tightly in about itself.

The security teams seemed confused as to whether the animal was a threat. Teyla, Ronon, and McKay didn't seem to mind, so Richard wasn't entirely sure what the state of affairs was either. But for all intents and purposes, it appeared to have been trying to save the life of the city's military commander, so he would grant it a bit of leeway.

For the moment, his bigger fear was for Sheppard himself now that he had been brought home. Doctor Keller had placed an oxygen mask over Sheppard's face, but his chest continued its jerky rise and fall. They picked him up and placed him on a gurney, rushing him out of the room. Sheppard's team followed.

Before he could catch his breath and move on to the next issue, the gate began to dial. He looked back at Chuck. "What's happening?"

"I'm not doing anything." Chuck threw up his hands, proclaiming his innocence.

"Shut it down!" Richard ordered, hearing the blue energy burst outward then collapse in on itself.

"Mr. Woolsey, sir. Look." Chuck gestured down toward the still-active gate.

Richard turned to see the bird's tail feathers clear the event horizon. The gate shut down behind him.

He looked toward the security forces, still holding their weapons, then at the rest of the control room staff. There were no words he could think to say. He was very sure that he didn't want to ask out loud if a bird had just dialed the gate.

Perhaps it was time he had a word with Sheppard's team.

~*~

He stood before Jaron, the man who had been guardian for many, many days. Hair that had once been raven dark was now streaked with white. This man had become his friend.

"It is no longer safe," Jaron said, looking upward at the growing screams of the enemy ships. Their lights could be seen as they wound above the trees in gathering dusk. "I have been called back. Until I return, you are the guardian. The things you and your brothers have seen and collected will be useful in our struggles against the Wraith and others. It must be protected. Guard well, my friend."

He felt the trembling in the hand that rested briefly against his feathered breast. As was his way, he sought to offer support, a lessening of Jaron's pain, but the man let go. And then he was gone, moving down the side of the mountain, his long robes billowing behind him.

Eventually, when the enemy ships were gone, he went back to the hold and added his memories of this event to the others. He joined his brothers, and it was decided that they would spread throughout this world, watching and waiting for a new human guardian to come. One like Jaron who would be his friend.

He soared the skies for days, finding solace in the beauty.

"I think he's waking up."

He remembered worlds he had flown. Especially one with snow capped mountains.

"No. He's just dreaming."

Far below was a winding ribbon of river amid a lush green valley.

"Sheppard, you awake?"

The feel of the wind rushing by faded to cool antiseptic air.

"Rodney! If he is not awake, then you should not wake him. Jennifer said that he will need his rest." That was Teyla's voice. John recognized it, and those of Rodney and Ronon, as well.

He drew in an abortive breath as a feeling of discomfort infringed on the hazy sensation that had invaded his brain. He recognized immediately the presence of the really good drugs floating through his system. With supreme effort, he forced open heavy lids and took in the faces of his team.

"John, it is so good to see you awake," Teyla smiled at him. She rested a warm hand against his cooler one, alerting him to the fact that an IV was snaked into the back of his other hand. Already the itchy tape was driving him crazy. The IV wasn't the only thing that was inserted into his body; a catheter was attached beneath the sheet, and the familiar pull of a chest tube was connected along his side.

"It's good to be awake," he acknowledged in a tired whisper. "Thanks for finding me. Thought I was a goner there for a minute." The words came slower than he wanted.

"We would not have given up," Teyla assured him. "Also, we had some help," she added, squeezing his hand. Ronon patted his leg, conveying his feelings with a look.

"Maybe next time you decide to get kidnapped by a giant bird you should consider giving us a heads up," Rodney said. "You know, in the interest of preparedness and what not."

John resisted the urge to chuckle. "I'll try to remember that."

"You know, while you've been laying here being waited on, I've discovered some interesting things about the facility in the mountain."

"It's a giant database," John said. "The birds went to different worlds to gather intel. They could download it to a person or the database as memories."

"Wait-how'd you know that?" Rodney looked annoyed.

"I experienced it," John said, too tired to really argue about it.

"Oh. Well, then, did you know that they have the ability to cloak?"

"Yes, Rodney," John breathed, struggling against the need to close his eyes for just a few moments.

"How about why they can cloak?" Rodney asked, but didn't wait for the answer. "It's because it's in their genetic makeup. The Ancient's introduced the ability into their genome. There are other smaller mountains all over the planet. It looks as if the Ancients were experimenting with ways of cloaking entire planets!"

Silence reigned for several seconds, and John realized he must have drifted. "Wow," he said belatedly, wondering when his eyes had actually drifted shut. He blinked them open and focused hazily on his friends.

"We will leave you now," Teyla said, patting his hand and piercing Rodney with a look.

"But, I'm not done! This is valuable-"

"It can wait," Teyla was firm.

"But ...."

"Come on, McKay," Ronon's deep voice sounded.

John didn't hear the rest. His body relaxed into the softness of the bed while his mind retreated to healing dreams of flying in clear blue skies above a lush green valley.