I am sorry, but this is another deathfic. I am still working on "Darkness Take Me", so my regular readers need not worry. I just felt like I had to kill my favourite hero, again. This one's going to be a little darker than my other deathfics, so rated T.

Through the shining blue portal they walked into a new kind of hell. The open clearing was eerily silent as Sheppard moved cautiously towards the trees, tense and alert. Ronon came next, just as alert, followed by Teyla, whose natural serenity meant that she did not appear tense, but there was an air of lethal competence in the way she walked. McKay alone did not seem to pick up on the sense of danger that reverberated through the entire air. The expression on his face showed that he was soon to erupt in a torrent of complaints, when he was silenced by a terse gesture from John. Even McKay couldn't help but notice the unease of the rest of the team by now.

John held up his hand for them to stop, then drew in close and spoke in a soft voice that was almost a whisper.

"As you know, we got a report from a Genii source of some serious fighting with the rebels not far from the gate. The fact that it's as still as it is has me worried, but we can't overlook the chance that our allies might be in trouble a few miles from the gate. So we're going to move north through the trees, carefully. Silently." He added this last with a meaningful glance at McKay, who looked indignant at the suggestion that he wasn't quite as stealthy as the rest of the team.

The flitted through the densely packed trees, or, in McKay's case, attempted to flit. To his credit, he didn't break every branch in the forest. Never for a moment did Sheppard's gaze leave the area in front of him. He knew that Ronon would have his right and Teyla would take his left, they had been working together as a team for long enough that they worked seamlessly in dangerous situations. McKay was not left out. He was in charge of having his eyes glued to the life signs detector.

"Sheppard, we might have a big problem here..." McKay's voice was less sarcastic and more anxious than normal.

"What do you have McKay?"

"Just take a look at the LSD."

John took the device from the nervous scientist. He saw a swarm of dots slipping behind them, cutting them off from the gate. He exchanged a worried frown with McKay, then gestured Ronon and Teyla over. "Take a look."

The Athosian looked worried, the Satedan deadly. "What are we going to do?" he asked with his usual directness. John considered for a moment.

"There's too many of them to take head on. We don't know that there hostile, but, judging from the way they are moving, I think it is safe to assume they are. They can see us, and the fact that they haven't contacted us yet means either they are afraid, or they're waiting for something." His brow contracted with thought.

"The only option I can see is to keep going. If I were them, I would have the gate heavily guarded. About the only thing we can do is to move into a defensible position and wait until Atlantis gets worried enough to send help, which, considering how often we tend to get in trouble shouldn't be too long." The rest of the team smiled at this, which had been the intention. He hated to see them worried, even when he was worried.

He looked at the others, silently asking their opinion. When no one else had a suggestion, he looked at McKay apologetically. "I'm afraid we have to run McKay."

"I thought we might." Replied the scientist in a resigned tone.

All four of them moved off at a steady run, again covering all the territory ahead of them, and McKay keeping an eye on the LSD. The dots behind them were remaining where they were, but new ones were appearing on either side.

"Sheppard, there closing in on us. Is it just me or are we being herded?" John swore as he realised that the scientist was probably right, that they were going where the enemy wanted them to go. He was beginning to feel like a sheep heading to the slaughter.

"You may be right on that one. Okay guys, change of plans. Ronon, McKay, on my signal, break left. Teyla, you're with me. We're breaking right. Head south, try and meet about three miles due south of the DHD. Radio me with your position if you get cut off, and I'll come help you out."

McKay looked afraid, and John hurriedly turned to him. "Trust me McKay, if anything happens, all you have to do is radio me and I swear I will get to you. Plus, you're with Ronan. You'll be fine, both of you."

"Okay the, let's get moving." Said Ronon, stalking of with his weapon at the ready, McKay following after and trying not to show fear. John watched them go with a pang of worry.

"Colonel?" Teyla was looking at him, and he realised that he had lingered to long.

"Let's get going."