Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.

"We're coming in hot!"

McKay's voice sounded frantic over the radio and Elizabeth Weir called an alert. Soldiers surrounded the gate, their weapons at the ready, and Weir pressed a button. "Rodney?"

The scientist's voice rang through the room. "Have a medical team standing by! Sheppard's hurt bad!"

Weir felt sick but she pressed a button and said calmly, "Dr Beckett, we need a medical team in the gate room immediately." She had done everything she could and now she watched tensely as the team ran through the gate, Teyla first, then Ronon carrying Sheppard in his arms, and McKay bringing up the rear, firing back through the gate. "Raise the shield!"

The shield went up and she heard the thuds. She knew what those sounds represented, each one a life being snuffed out, yet as she hurried down the stairs, her attention was focused on the man Ronon cradled. His face was oddly peaceful, his wild black hair soaked with blood, and she looked at McKay for answers. He was bleeding too, from a bullet wound in his arm, and Teyla and Ronon both were cut and bruised. "What the hell happened?"

"We were ambushed," said McKay in a colorless voice, letting his machine gun fall to his side. "Kolya and his men...they were waiting for us and we never saw them until the shooting started. Sheppard was hit and when he went down, they rushed us. We fought them off, then Ronon picked John up and we headed for the gate…"

Weir looked at McKay more closely. It wasn't like him to be so calm reporting something this awful, and she saw that he was in shock. Staring down at Sheppard, she felt the same way. Then Beckett rushed in with a gurney and his assistants, the team was whisked away to the infirmary, and the waiting began.