*Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and ideas….and the plot bunnies in the corner. Please don't sue, I'm a poor college student that has no life and way too many video games.*

"When you're a kid, they tell you it's all… Grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that's it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It's so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better."

Time

Eli stumbled down the ramp as the small group exited the Event Horizon. Chloe bumped into him from behind and Eli nearly dropped the Kino remote as he tried to capture their first steps on a new world. They shared a smile as the group started to set up around the gate. Rush walked down the ramp last, military boots just a tad too large scuffing the stone ramp as Charlie assisted him with one of the many bags he was carrying.

"Secure the perimeter!" Scott called out as the military personnel started to fan out around the civilians.

"Welcome to the jungle," Greer's voice floated through the group as he approached the Lieutenant, eyes fixed on the surrounding foliage in search for anything classified as dangerous. It was difficult to see past the first dozen feet; the trees were thick, pressed together tightly, their canopy overlapped leaving few places for the sun to penetrate to the forest floor.

Scott gave him a rueful grin as he passed the Sergeant, turning to address the entire group. "Okay, let's get to work."

"So…" Eli started, shuffling around Chloe so they both could be seen by the Kino as she picked some sort of strange purple fruit from what could have been a bizarre cousin to a banana tree. "Your first alien planet! Everything you expected? More…less?"

Chloe smiled at him indulgently as Eli gazed up at the not-banana tree. "We saw what it was gonna be like on the Kino."

"Eh, true."

She sighed loudly, lungs trying to adjust to the oxygen rich environment. It was warmer here…Chloe had almost forgot what true warmth felt like. The Destiny was always just a tad too cold, and when the night shift hit, it was even colder. She was acclimating to it, or at least she thought she was. Now Chloe realized it for what it truly was, she was just so used to the cold that warmth seemed like a fading memory. "Although it is nice to get off the ship, get some fresh air…even if it is a bit sticky."

Eli gave her an incredulous look as she wiped the sweat from her lips. "So you're not nervous at all?" Voice dipping as he tried to scare her. "Afraid some giant alien insect is going to come out and bite you?" He hissed quietly, baring teeth as he gestured claws with his hands. The blank look Chloe gave him had him shuffling in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm sure it's perfectly safe."

Chloe's lips twitched into a smile as she reached for a higher bulbous purple fruit-thing. "Everyone has to pitch in and do their share."

"Including you, Eli," Matt added, voice blank as he walked by, not even sparing them a glance.

Eli stared after the Lieutenant as Chloe hid a grin behind her raised arm. "Yes, sir! Captain Awesome!" Eli mumbled quietly.

"I heard that!" Scott shouted back and Eli turned to Chloe, face red with embarrassment as she laughed at him.

Charlie glanced over at Eli as he foraged nuts from the base of a tall tree covered in vines. His student had all but collapsed on what either could have been a tree trunk or a rock covered in many layers of moss, it was hard to tell. A man in desert camouflage stood next to him, staring down at the younger man.

"What?" Eli snapped at the soldier, grabbing his nearly empty canteen and taking a long drink. "I need a break…so hot!" Another sip and Eli shifted under the Sergeant's accusing stare. "All you're doing is standing there!"

"Making sure nothing crawls up your ass," Marsden replied with a straight face.

"And I appreciate that," Eli mumbled back quickly as he took another drink before grabbing the Kino remote. He zoomed it over the Sergeant's shoulder and it focused on Chloe as she giggled. Matt stood across from her, a bright smile lighting up his face.

"So…" Eli started, focusing the Kino on Lieutenant James. "How's it going?"

Vanessa looked up from the shovel as she set it in the hole and gave the math student an exasperated look. "Good."

"Digging?" He questioned and Vanessa glanced at the hole before looking back at Eli.

"Yep."

"You doing okay? In general?"

Vanessa gazed up at him, nodding slowly as her lips pinched. "I'm fine," she answered, voice tight.

"Good, good. That's excellent…" he trailed off awkwardly, eyes darting around for a distraction. His attention fell on TJ and Marsden. Fiddling with the Kino controls, he walked over to the two Air Force soldiers as they laughed loudly, the Kino following behind. "What's so funny?"

TJ glanced at him, trying to stomp down her amusement as Eli smiled at them. "Oh, nothing," she got the words out between giggles, but she could not stop her laughter.

"No, no, seriously," Eli chuckled. "You're laughing pretty hard."

TJ and Marsden shared a look and suddenly lost it, laughing so hard that the medic had to turn away and grab her stomach to try and control herself. "Come on! Tell me!" Eli begged as TJ waved a hand at him, helpless as the laughter rendered her unable to explain. Still giggling, she turned and walked off as Marsden walked back to his post. "Why won't you tell me?"

The smile fell from his face as they continued to walk away. "It's about me isn't it?" He tried not to sound hurt, but it was difficult. Turning, he followed after the medic. "TJ!"

"So…" Eli started, sitting down next to Charlie as the professor laid out a blanket and started to pull the nuts and berries from his bag. "What do you think?"

Charlie spared him a glance, lips curled in amusement. "About…"

"About this, all of it…" Eli trailed off exasperated, hands flailing as he tried to find the words. "I mean, come on! We are on an alien planet!"

"This isn't the first alien planet we have been on, Eli!" Charlie reminded him, setting the food out on the blanket in groups.

Eli looked downright scandalized and Charlie had to hide a grin as he saw fire in his student's eyes. Very rarely did Eli get worked up about anything, but when he did he put his heart and soul into the argument. The professor braced himself for the litany of words about to spew forth but they did not come as a bout of laughter drew their attention away and their eyes were drawn to Chloe and Matt as the whispered conspiratorially to each other.

Charlie smiled softly, happy to see Chloe so carefree after her father's death, but the smile fell when he took in his student's face. Eli looked…sad. Corners of his mouth turned down and eyes drooping as he gazed at the young girl and the Lieutenant. Brown eyes flickered between his student and the Senator's daughter as understanding began to dawn.

Coughing softly to gain Eli's attention, Charlie attempted to draw the other's attention away from the scene of the girl he adored with another man. "Eli," his voice dipped, lowering so those around him could not listen. "How are you doing?"

Eli chuckled awkwardly, hand coming up to run through his hair as a nervous smile pulled at his lips. "Oh, you know…I'm fine." Charlie just gave him a blank look and Eli started to pick at the dirt on the ground before he sighed. "Okay, so I'm not so fine…I mean, it's just…" he trailed off uncertain, and Charlie remained quiet as he tried to pull his thoughts together. "I went and saw my mom."

Brown eyes flickered up and softened in understanding. "What did she say?"

Another long drawn out sigh. "I didn't tell her…it's just, what was I going to say to her?!" Frustrated, Eli flung a handful of dirt to the side. "'Hi mom, it's me, Eli. No this isn't my body, your son is actually stuck on a million year old space ship somewhere out in space a gazillion miles from home. But don't worry, it's not like we don't have enough food or water, no way of piloting the ship, and life support that has a tendency to fail…" he trailed of, laughing nervously as his professor sat there and listened.

The silence stretched between them for several long moments before Charlie finally broke it. "I haven't been to see my family."

Eli looked up at him in surprise. "Why?! I mean, I know you have an issue with the whole swapping consciousness thing, but I thought-" he stopped himself, uncertain.

Charlie gave him a rueful smile. "And what was I going to say to them?" They shared a small chuckle that did little to mask the resignation that settled over them. "Besides," he added softly, "what could their knowing do…the truth is not always the kindest of options. It's better if they don't know, if they don't ever know."

"But, what!" Eli nearly shouted, drawing the attention of several scientists foraging near them and one of the soldiers. Smiling ruefully, Eli waved at them before ducking his head and continuing in a conspiratorial whisper. "What if we die out here?"

The way he enunciated the word made Charlie smile softly at him. "I know my family. My dad and brother, they would…no. Besides, the math backs me up on this. Let the government figure out how to spin my death, just as long as it's not the truth. The truth would kill my father, for him to know that I was here." He gestured around him, but Eli was pretty sure he meant all of Destiny and the galaxy that they were in, not the planet. Because the planet part was kind of pretty awesome if Eli was being honest.

Perhaps he was right, perhaps it would be better if his mom never found out. If she knew that her son died out here, in a galaxy on the other end of space, away from everything he had ever known and everyone who had ever loved him. It was not a pleasing thought, and now Eli could see where his teacher was coming from.

"Hey," Eli interrupted the quiet after a few minutes. "Did you really create a math equation on whether or not to tell your family?"

Charlie glanced up at him in confusion. "Of course I did…why wouldn't I?"

Eli snorted loudly, smiling as the younger man's look of confusion just deepened. They were interrupted as Rush crouched down next to Charlie and started to pull out of his pack what looked like pears but also a little like potatoes. He began to set them in a pile next to the growing collection of various fruits, berries, nuts, and tubers. Chloe joined them and started to add to her own pile of large purple tree fruit when the others began to wonder over.

The young woman was the first to break the silence. "How are we supposed to know what's safe to eat?"

"We can't know for sure," TJ replied as she examined a small red tuber, passing the surprisingly heavy food between her hands.

"What's the saying?" Eli commented as he crouched down on the other side of Rush. "'A starving man…'" unable to remember the rest, he shrugged before picking up a small yellow fruit and bit into it.

"Eli!" Charlie did not quite shout, but Rush just placed a calming hand on his shoulder and mathematician returned to sitting on the ground. The others just stared at Eli in disbelief and curiosity as he chewed the fruit. Seconds later, he turned and spat it out in large chunks onto a nearby bush. Face twisted in disgust, he tried to scrape the after taste off of his tongue.

"Maybe it wasn't ripe?" Scott questioned as he snorted in amusement.

"You try it!" Eli tossed him the rest of the fruit as he spat on the ground.

Scott caught the fruit, reflexes playing against him before he dropped it on the ground. "Uh, no thanks."

Taste still in his mouth, Eli reached for one of the red tubers hoping that it would taste better but Rush caught his arm and pushed it away. "You've just exposed yourself now."

"C'mon, seriously?" Eli questioned loudly, gazing down at the Scotsman as Rush just stared placidly back.

"If you had a reaction, we wouldn't know which one caused it," TJ explained as Eli continued to spit on the ground. She was going to say more, mouth opened to explain, but Brody rushed over and drew their attention.

"Uh…Volker just puked."

"Have you eaten anything here?" TJ asked as she crouched down next to Volker. He shook his head in negative and tried to focus on the medic. Dale looked terrible, sitting on a tree stump. He was slumped forward, face pale but sweating so much he was drenched in it. Hair hung limp in his face as he swayed back and forth slightly. TJ rubbed a hand down his back, encouraging him to drink some water, but Volker seemed to be too out of it to notice.

"Are you staying hydrated?" She continued to question him while he was still lucid. She continued after his affirmative nod. "Okay, what about any numbness or how's your vision?"

"No, it's…my head's pounding and my neck's a little…" he trailed off before collapsing, and TJ fumbled to catch him as he tumbled sideways. Scott rushed to assist as Volker's heavier frame proved too much for TJ and together they laid him out on the ground.

"We should get him back to the ship," Scott announced as he eased Volker's head down. "Eli, dial back."

Eli rushed to do just that, trotting over the bushes as Scott murmured gently to the scientist as he tried to focus his dazed eyes. Rush moved closer to the group, hair slicked back from sweat and condensation. Next to him, Chloe suddenly went limp and collapsed, Rush reached for her, grabbing her arm to break her fall as others cried out in alarm.

Bracing her shoulders with his other hand, Charlie darted forward and helped him lower the unconscious girl down next to Volker. Lisa scurried through the worried onlookers and dropped down next to Rush, pulling Chloe's head into her lap. Still holding her arm, Rush situated her into a more comfortable position before standing and backing away a look of worry and apprehension in his face.

Guzzling the little water that was left in her canteen, Chloe nearly choked on the liquid. "I don't know," she told the medic who was crouched down next to her. TJ's hand was placed on her knee as she gazed at the younger woman in concern. "I just started feeling dizzy. It came on pretty fast."

Pressing the back of her hand to Chloe's forehead, TJ felt uneasy. "It feels like you're running a temperature."

Chloe frowned, trying to focus her eyes as her vision threatened to swim. "I thought it was just the heat."

Gaze darting to Volker, TJ shifted in apprehension. "Is your neck bothering you?"

"Yeah it just started. It's stiff at the back, mostly."

Scott clenched his teeth, worry making his heart jump in his chest as he pulled his eyes away from Chloe. "Eli?"

"Right," Eli mumbled and Rush turned to him as the math student pulled out the Kino remote. "I'm on it."

"Okay, guys, listen up! Get your stuff, we're bugging out!"

"Wait, wait, wait," TJ jumped up, hurrying over to Matt as the Gate started to dial and people rushed to pack their equipment. "We can't leave," she told him quietly. "If it's something that they got here, it could be contagious."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Scott questioned as Charlie shifted closer to hear better. Nearby he could see Rush doing the same.

Sighing loudly, TJ looked at the dialing Stargate before noting the time on her watch. "We have thirty-six hours before the Destiny leaves. For the sake of everyone else on board, I say we…we wait."

"Here?" Scott questioned incredulously. "For what?"

"At least for a little while. Just see how this plays out," she paused, waiting for Matt's decision. He ground his teeth but gave her a nod and she moved off to tell the others.

Charlie shifted uncomfortably as Scott moved over by Eli. Eyes darting around, his gaze settled on Rush. The Scotsman's face was twisted in a scowl and Charlie shuffled closer to him as scientists continued to pack their equipment. Doctor Rush sighed, taking in Charlie's apprehensive stance before clapping the professor on the shoulder and moving to help the others pack. Charlie stood their uncertainly before a sidelong glance from Greer had the mathematician darting over to Lisa and Brody to help.

"It could be anything, really…" TJ sighed out in frustration as she updated Colonel Young on the situation. "A virus, bacteria. There's no way to know if it's airborne."

"You've only been there three hours," Young replied, sounding uneasy and annoyed. Luck, it seemed, was never on their side.

"I know. If it's something they pick up locally, then the progression is unfolding quickly. Sir, until we know more, I'm recommending that we don't return to the Destiny with anything that might be contagious."

"Roger that."

TJ shifted suddenly, an idea coming to her mind. "Let us know if anyone on board is exhibiting similar symptoms. At least that way we'll know for sure if it has nothing to do with this planet."

"Will do," Young's voice carried over the radio. "Check in every hour, regardless."

"Copy that."

Standing nearby, Rush dropped his gear by the bottom of the ramp and threw his arms up in irritation as the Stargate disconnected. Eli turned to Charlie and just raised an eyebrow while his professor shook his head despondently.

Eli trotted over to Lisa and Charlie who were seated on a small rock and passing the water canteen back and forth. The clearing was filled with the sounds of loud annoying rock music. Greer sat a little further away, drumming his fingers on the assault rifle to the beat of the music. Scott pulled himself away from the conversation with Chloe in order to glare at the Sergeant. The conveyed annoyance was lost on the other however as Greer was facing the other way.

"Shut it off, Greer!" Scott snapped, patience finally losing to the irritation. Greer looked at him for a moment before reaching for his player as he rolled his eyes. Seconds later silence filled the clearing, only to be interrupted by an arguing TJ and Rush, the music no longer drowning them out.

"You must have some suspicions. I've seen you giving them shots!" Rush's accent thickened as he fought not to raise his voice further.

"I started them both on high doses of antibiotics," TJ didn't quite snap back as Rush huffed in irritation. "I hate to waste it, but given the symptoms of headache, fever and neck pain, it's better to be safe than sorry-"

"Okay!" Rush cut in before the medic could go into detail, hands twitching at his side as he fought down the impulse to gesture in annoyance. "So what is it? Bacterial meningitis?" The words seemed heavy, a sarcastic twinge hanging on the end and TJ sighed softly as she forced herself to calm down.

"I don't know, but if it turns out that's what it is, and I haven't done anything, they could die quickly," she admitted, pointing roughly at where Volker was sitting with Brody.

"You don't know," Rush sounded disbelieving and slightly annoyed. "You're using up our antibiotics on a hunch."

"Yes," she snapped at Rush's accusing tone. "That was my judgment call."

Rush raised his hands before him, palms up and fingers splayed as if passing to her an invisible object, or burden. "That's great!"

"I thought you said it wasn't far," Eli grumbled as they walked further into the dense jungle. Matt followed behind, rubbing his neck as he fought to roll his eyes.

"It's not," he replied quickly and Eli turned to look at him.

He took in Matt's flushed face and the tenseness of his shoulders and worry ate at his gut. "You doin' okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Over here," Greer's voice cut off the disbelieving snort that issued from the young math student and Matt found himself grateful.

Trotting forward Eli drew even with Charlie, his steps faltering as a pungent odor hit his nose. "Whoa! What is that smell?"

"Sulphur," Rush replied, grabbing a kerchief from his pocket and covering his nose and mouth.

Eli pulled his sleeve down and covered the bottom half of his face but it did little to keep the stench out. "Hate to see the ants that made those!"

They gathered around what appeared to be a mound made by some insect, just over a meter tall and billowing steam. Greer and Scott walked around the group in opposite directions, keeping a close eye on the scientists and their surroundings. Charlie tensed as Greer stopped a few paces from him, but the soldier's attention was fixed on Rush as the scientist pulled out his flashlight and peered down the hollow center of the mound.

"Hey, hey, hello!" Eli did not quite shout as he grabbed Rush's arm, pulling him away from the mound. "What are you doing? Haven't you seen Alien?"

Rush allowed himself to be pulled away from the mound, coughing heavily, before giving Eli an incredulous look. "You think this is what's making people sick?" Greer questioned, shoulder gently bumping the mathematician's as he stepped closer to the mound.

"I don't know," Rush replied, still coughing.

"They make chemical weapons from this stuff," Matt commented, shifting nervously as Rush stepped away from the structure.

"Yeah, I know," Rush bit out between hacking coughs. "But we don't know the exact compound or concentration."

"Well, there's more over here," Greer gestured, turning to lead them but stopped as Rush waved him away.

"No, no, it's all right. I believe you."

"Look," the Sergeant did not quite snap, but his voice took on a severe edge that made Charlie nervous and inching away from the volatile man. "I'm just saying I know she doesn't want to make anybody else on the ship sick, but what if us staying here," he used his P-90 to gesture around them, "Is gonna kill us?"

It was not a comforting thought.

The others stood around for a few minutes before they seemed to come to a silent agreement. Almost as one, the group turned and started back to the clearing where the rest of the off-world team was situated…well off-world did not seem to suit them. Perhaps it was more of off-ship team instead.

Rush's long impatient strides easily carried him to the front of the group. Matt let him pass with an amused huff before drawing even with Eli and letting himself be drawn into a useless argument of Star Wars versus Star Trek.

Greer brought up the rear of the group, drawing even with the Professor as he stumbled over what appeared to be his own feet. "You alright?" The soldier questioned softly, one hand around the kid's tricep as he kept him from crashing into a nearby bush. The baby genius was so thin that Greer's hand easily wrapped around his whole upper arm to close over his own fingers. Even with the Sergeant's diligence, the kid was still losing weight. He made a mental note to talk to Becker when they got back to up the boy's rations.

Charlie looked up at him, eyes a little glassy before clearing. "Yeah," he mumbled, pulling himself upright and out of Greer's grip. "Just got a little dizzy."

Greer gave him a dark look and Charlie had a moment where his brain seemed to kick into overdrive as the primitive flight or fight response reared in the back of his mind. His own stubbornness made him stay put before he remembered that this was Greer and that he himself could not actually fight. By the time he came to this realization, it was too late and Greer had already made his move.

Charlie ducked as Greer's right hand snapped up, but he still was not quick enough to avoid it and a heavy hand settled on the back of his neck. Strong fingers gripped his nape and pulled him nearly flush with the Sergeant as the others pulled further away. Charlie thought briefly about calling for help, but the fingers dug into the muscle there and his voice just seemed to leave him completely.

The sensation of Greer's fingers flexing against the muscles at the back of his neck had Charlie confused as it was both painful and yet pleasurable. "Neck stiff?" Greer asked, tone nonchalant as if he was unbothered by his action. Truth be told, Charlie believed that the man was completely unbothered.

"A little…" Charlie answered hesitantly when Greer shifted his grip, thumb resting higher up at the base of his skull. The young man tried to shift away, but then there was a brutal pain from where Greer's thumb pressed into where his skull met his spine. He opened his mouth to shout, but a moan came out instead as the pain abruptly became pleasure as the headache that had been gradually increasing for the last hour finally retreated. Charlie felt his hands come up and grip Greer's jacket…completely on their own accord as Charlie was quite certain he had not told his hands to do that.

Greer chuckled softly, dragging his thumb down once more before pulling away. "Come on, baby genius. Let's get back to the group."

The Sergeant moved abruptly, one second he was there and the next he was disappearing through the foliage. Charlie watched him go with a look of dazed confusion. The man was like mercury, ever shifting and unstable. His moods and reactions nearly impossible to follow. "The hell?" Charlie murmured before following after him.

"Well, this couldn't get much worse," Eli tried to sound cheerful, but he fell flat. Charlie could make out the military personnel only by their torches as the rain was so thick it was blinding him to anything more than two point eight six meters in front of him.

The tarp draped over them shifted as Rush turned to look at Eli who sat between them. "I'm afraid that's a failure of imagination."

"Top five desert island movies," Eli suggested, trying not to laugh at the nearly identical looks of disbelief from both Eppes and Rush. "What?! It'll help pass the time!" Rush turned away, shaking his head in despair while Charlie continued to look at him strangely. "Fine," Eli snapped. "I'll go first…Hackers, obvious, I know. The Matrix, uh, Old School," he laughed. "You've gotta have something to make you laugh, right? If trilogies count as one, then all three original Star Wars, but if only one, then-then Empire," he gestured widely with the hand not holding the tarp above his head. "Uh, four…man, this is hard. I could pick so many. Maybe it should be top ten!"

"TJ!" Scott shouted, barely heard over the din roar of thunder and rain.

"Yeah?" She called back and Rush shifted from under the tarp as Scott rushed to the medic. Abandoning their tiny shelter, Rush braved the cold and wet as he made his way over to them, stumbling over a root in his haste. Charlie watched him leave but did not feel up to vacating his small dry shelter to hear what was happening. Beside him, Eli kept listing movies, mumbling about something called Good Will Hunting.

"James is not doing well," Scott told her as Rush joined them under a tree that did little to cover them from the rain.

TJ turned to grab her gear. "Where is she?"

"How many does that make now?" Nicholas asked as he wiped his eyes clear of water.

"Uh, that's Chloe, Volker, Marsden, and Franklin," TJ replied, numb fingers flicking her torch on.

"Now James, too."

"Wait a minute," TJ shifted closer, bringing the torch up to Scott's face and took in his dilated eyes and pale complexion. "Let me look at your eyes."

Scott shifted back, trying to wave her away. "No, I'm fine."

"No, you're not," she snapped, stepping closer and laying her fingers on his overheated forehead. "You need a shot, too."

Scott turns from her quickly and at first Rush thought he was trying to avoid her, but then he heard rustling around them and something screeched from nearby. Seconds later Brody screamed. Chaos erupted around them and they could barely make out a sort of small creature latched onto his chest before the scientist fell next to the ramp and gunfire drowned out his screams.

Charlie stood so quickly that he got trapped in the tarp. It took what felt like ages to get free and he slipped on the wet ground, hands grappling in the slick mud as he rushed over with his student. "Dial out!" Rush yelled, skidding and stumbling over to Eli as the student scrabbled in the mud for the Kino remote. "Dial the Gate!"

It took seconds, an eternity, for the Gate to make a connection. But the wormhole was not whole. It flickered and fritzed, the sound of heavy static every time it disconnected for that split second.

"Destiny, come in!" Rush yelled desperately into the radio as the military continued to fire in every direction around them, creating a circle that was rapidly getting smaller as person after person fell to the creatures. "If you can hear, please respond!"

"What's wrong?" Eli shouted.

"I don't know!"

Charlie stumbled over the ramp, hands scraping on the edge as a soldier in front of him fell. He watched transfixed as the creature burrowed into his chest, blood spraying on his face as it burst through his side and hissed at him. The creature crawled after him and Charlie desperately scrabbled backwards, slipping in the muck and running into a pair of legs. The thing burst into pieces as bullets tore it apart.

"We've gotta get outta here!" Greer shouted, pulling Charlie up from the ground by the back of his shirt and the mathematician could say with certainty that he had never been happier to see the Sergeant in all of his life.

"We can't!" Rush gestured uselessly at the Event Horizon.

"Why's it doing that?!" Eli cried hysterically.

The screaming grew louder and a stray bullet took the Kino down. It tumbled to the ground just as Scott fell shouting as one of the creatures tried to borrow into him. Desperate hands joined his in removing it and Greer flung it away by its tail before killing it with a shot from his pistol.

Chloe tripped over the Kino, crying out as one of the things flung itself at her. It latched onto her between her breasts and she clawed at it, falling to her knees as its sharp teeth cut into her. It took but seconds as she lost her grip on its slick hide and she gasped in surprise before it burrowed completely into her chest cavity. Chloe fell, eyes open but unseeing on the forest floor. Her back seemed to arch before the creature burst out and crawled away.

The image on the Kino froze, leaving Chloe's dead body for the others to see as they leaned over Eli to look at the footage. Eli's hand shook from where he had hit the pause button and the silence was deafening in the small room. Beside him, Chloe stared at herself in stunned disbelief before bile tried to crawl up her throat and she gaged as she rushed out of the room, vomiting on the floor.

TJ rushed after her and Charlie stumbled backwards to avoid a collision. A hand rested on his shoulder to steady him, and despite his natural inclination to avoid the man, Charlie found himself shuffling closer to Greer as he rubbed his arms in a self-comforting gesture. The Sergeant shifted from his position in the corner, straightening his posture as the mathematician timidly pressed against his side.

Eli's look of horror was mimicked by the rest of the group and the young student pulled himself from the screen as if he could not physically stop himself from looking. "Okay," he mumbled, barely heard over Chloe's retching. "What…the…fuck!"

Volker rubbed his temples as a headache began to form behind his eyes. It was a tedious and laborious process to translate ancient and the screen was causing his vision all kinds of hell. Hurried footsteps had him looking up for any kind of distraction and he was met with the site of Brody rushing into the room.

"Hey, did you guys hear?" Brody asked, pulling Park away from her research as well as he came to a stop in the center of the Control Interface Room.

"Yeah," Volker replied. "There was a Kino already there," he phrased it like he did not believe the rumor.

"How is that possible?" Parker questioned.

Brody turned to her, just as confused as everyone else and answered with the only facts he knew. "We dropped out of FTL, the Gate dialed and we sent a Kino to check out the planet. They go through and there's another one already there, lying on the ground not far from the Gate. Turns out the databank was full."

"Well, what's on it?" Becker questioned as Spencer sat next to him at the table. Everyone else in the Mess Hall was silent as James told them about what the off world team had discovered.

"Us," she replied.

Spencer and Becker shared a look of confusion before Spencer turned back to the Lieutenant. "What do you mean, us?"

James stirred the oatmeal like paste around her bowl as she answered. "They're watching the recording now, but I heard that a bunch of us are on it."

"Doing what?"

"Going through the Gate to the planet to gather food, then apparently some people started getting sick. I think that I was one of them," she added the last part, sounding uncertain.

"But that didn't happen," Spencer reassured her.

"Obviously," she attempted to smile back to show her gratitude.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Spencer studied her. "You're fine, right?"

"Apparently," James continued, changing the subject. "They found human remains, too."

She shook her head uncertain as Becker and Spencer exchanged looks of concern. "It's weird, huh?"

They could only nod in agreement.

TJ guided Chloe back into Eli's room and Matt rushed to help her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, trying to sound reassuring but it only came off as tired. "It just hit me."

"You sure you're okay otherwise?" TJ asked, eyes stuttering over Professor Eppes' huddled form and Greer's plain look of indifference. Their eyes met over Charlie's head and the look in the Sergeant's eyes dared her to comment on it. Wisely, she turned away.

"Yeah," Chloe replied softly as she retook her seat next to her friend.

"Pretty understandable," Eli commented softly and Chloe looked at him sharply.

"Not to me."

Eli shifted in his seat uncertainly. "I was talking about the barfing."

"I was moving on," she did not quite snap at him but it was close. Eli nodded hesitantly at her and gave Scott a grateful look as the older male clapped him gently on the shoulder. "How is this possible?"

All eyes turned to Rush and the scientist shifted from his leaning position on the bulkhead and straightened. "I don't know."

"Ohh!" Eli interrupted before anyone could question the surly man. "What about an alternate reality?"

Rush looked at him thoughtfully and Eli gave him a hopeful look as he waited for a reply. "Sir," TJ turned to Young. "Given the illness that developed on the planet, I suggest that we quarantine everyone who went through to retrieve this Kino."

Young's eyes swept the room and he sighed in frustration. "Scott, Greer, Eli, Eppes, and Rush."

"And everyone they came into contact with since returning."

"Well, that's all of us," Everett gestured to everyone in the room.

"Here," she replied, arms crossing as she tugged on a loose strand of hair. Everett recognized the tell for what it was. She was worried. "I'll have to coordinate on the radio. Brody was also in the Gateroom when they got back."

"We were only there for, like…a half hour at most!" Eli argued.

"That's more than enough time to come in contact with a contagion."

Scott made an abortive sound of annoyance. "Wait a second. You're worried because people got sick on this recording, which never happened."

Rush sighed loudly, scrubbing a hand down his face as his eyes turned back to the screen and Ms. Armstrong's unmoving corpse. "Well, we don't know that."

Young's eyes flicked to the Scotsman, his tone absent from the hard edge that it usually took when he talked to Rush. "What are you saying?"

"That is clearly us. The recording happened somehow," Rush bit back his usual snappish response, remembering the sort of truce the two had fallen into since last month when Rush convinced everyone the ship was going to explode. The scientist was unsure if he liked the new development with the Colonel as it seemed to be just a different type of aggravation. Instead of cruel words and heated glares it was now stilted conversation and considering glances. And the touching, Nicholas especially did not like all the touching.

It seemed that the tentative acceptance of Young's hand on his shoulder those many weeks ago appeared to be some sort of green light for the man to invade his personal space in a 'friendly' manner whenever he felt like it. And Young seemed to 'feel like it' a lot. At first it was the touching of the shoulder then arm, to a guiding hand on the small of the back to the ruffling of his hair. And Young knew it bothered him, if Rush was reading his smirk right.

All the friendly touching left him flustered and confused. Nicholas knew how to handle aggressiveness, he grew up with a Da that had a quick temper and heavy hand and brothers that were worse. He was raised in an affectionless household and became an affectionless man. Gloria had been the only one to get through his spikey exterior and Rush hated it, hated that somehow, Young was wheedling his way in as well.

The damnable man acted like he cared, coming to check on him to make sure he was sleeping or eating. Guiding him to the Mess Hall with a hand on his back or pulling him down the hall to his quarters by his arm. Young did not do it as often as Sergeant Greer did with Professor Eppes - and that was a can of worms he did not want to go near - but that the Colonel even bothered to pay a miniscule amount of attention to Nicholas' own wellbeing honestly baffled him. The whole thing honestly left him with a headache and an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What do you think was wrong with the Gate?" Eli's question drew Rush back to the situation at hand and he flushed when he realized he had been staring at the object of his thoughts. Young raised an eyebrow at him in question and Rush turned away in embarrassment, gaze on the floor as he answered the young student.

"It looks like the wormhole connection was unstable. It would have been extremely dangerous to even attempt travel."

Silence followed his words as everyone seemed to absorb the information. Young gazed at Rush curiously, but the surly man refused to even look in his general vicinity. "Sir?" TJ questioned, silently asking permission to continue with her plan.

"Go," he replied tersely and Lieutenant Johansen strode quickly out the room, gaze momentarily landing on Eppes, but Greer's glare kept her moving.

Eli rotated in his chair, eyes darting around the dark room. "So, keep watching?" Young gave him a short nod and the group turned back to the screen, still displaying Chloe's corpse.

"Can you fast forward, please?" She asked sounding a little nauseous.

"Yeah!" Eli whispered quickly, fingers darting to the buttons and skimming the footage until the Kino went dark. Eli pressed the resume button when his own face came on the screen. It was daylight now, and the Eli on the screen looked like he had been through a rough night. His eyes were puffy and red rimmed, tear tracks cutting through the grime on his face as he stared at the Kino in despair.

"Chloe's dead," the voice rang out in the silence and Matt flinched harshly at the words. "James, Spencer-" he cut himself off, sniffling as he fought back more tears. "Marsden, Brody, all dead. Seven others, all military, are also deceased…I didn't even know their names…"

Greer shifted uncomfortably, settling sideways to offer Charlie more room as the kid tried to press closer. Ronald lifted an arm and draped it across the boy genius' shoulders and Charlie startled, doe eyes darting up to the Sergeant, but Greer kept his gaze on the screen. After a moment the young man relaxed and settled into his side as they watched the screen fritz out and Eli shook the Kino. One of Charlie's hands latched onto the fabric of Greer's military jacket under his ribs, but Greer did not comment on it.

The image blurred as Eli set the Kino on something and grabbed duct tape. "Something's wrong with the Gate. Rush doesn't think we can risk using it, even with what's happened," he paused, panting heavily before grabbing the Kino and began taping it to the top of a military helmet. "We can't reach Destiny on the radio either, so apparently we're trapped here. There's twenty-two hours until Destiny jumps back into FTL. The creatures seem to be nocturnal. They stopped coming once the sun came up. Hopefully the Gate will start working before it gets dark again. Apparently, we don't have much ammunition left."

"Eli," Rush's Scottish lilt could be heard off screen. "What are you doing?"

The image on the screen rotated as Eli placed the helmet on his head and everyone was greeted with the sight of TJ attending to an unconscious Matt, Franklin sitting nearby, and a sweaty, disheveled Rush staring at Eli in disbelief. The Kino fritzed in and out of picture before focusing on a blanket. They could see Eli's hand reaching down and pulling back the corner, revealing a deceased Volker.

"Volker wasn't killed by the creatures. TJ says he died of the illness during the night," the footage changed to those still alive, several working to gather supplies and maintain the perimeter, but many were lying down or sitting. "Everyone seems to be coming down with symptoms at this poi-"

"Eli!" Rush snapped angrily and the Kino focused on the scientist as he and Franklin attempted to cobble together a stretcher out of branches. Charlie sat near him, emptying magazine clips and loading others as Greer watched on, keeping one eye on the civilians and the other on the forest.

"Do I need to point out yet again that documenting this could be important?!" Eli shouted back just as angrily.

"See?" Eli gestured to himself on the screen, turning to look at everyone, especially Rush. "See!?"

"Who do you think is ever gonna see that?" Franklin questioned as he twisted some vine together to make rope.

"Us. Us! We are!" Eli shouted at the screen as if they could hear him.

"You look ridiculous," Greer told him, walking by and ruffling Charlie's hair playfully as he passed him. Professor Eppes spared him a glance that could have been a glare, but the young man looked too tired to put any real effort behind it.

"It won't fly. If someone hadn't shot it!" The image blurred as Eli turned quickly and made his way over to TJ. She pulled Matt's bloody bandage off and was replacing it with a new one while Eli continued to narrate. "Scott was bitten by one of the creatures. He's now in a coma."

"Eli, you okay?"

Eli chuckled darkly at her. "Compared to most everyone else," the screen panned to a line of corpses covered by blankets and a tarp. Charlie felt Greer shift uncomfortably next to him and glanced up to see the other's gaze fixed on the screen, eyes dark and jaw clenched. The hand on his shoulder flexed, tightening nearly painfully, but the other man did not seem to be aware of it.

"Eli," Rush sounded exhausted as the three men behind him tried gathered their gear. "Sergeant Greer has found a cave nearby. It could be our best chance to survive another night if it comes down to that."

"We could use some help!" Franklin snapped at the young man and Eli moved forward to assist.

The next few images seemed to be corrupted as the screen cut in and out, showing snippets of them walking through the jungle, Charlie tripping over several roots, Franklin drinking from his canteen, and Scott being carried on the stretcher. The images finally seemed to stabilize as Eli was taking a tour around the cave.

"So, at least it's a defensible position," Greer could be heard off screen as the Kino momentarily zoomed in on TJ tending to Scott and an exhausted Franklin resting nearby before panning to the outside of the cave. Rush, Greer, and Eppes stood together, taking in their location.

"Backs to the wall," Rush supplied, hands on his hips as Greer looked in the opposite direction for any weak points.

"At least it's better than being exposed on all sides," Charlie added helpfully and Greer gave him a vicious grin.

The image was corrupted again, focusing in and out of scenes. Greer eating a power bar, Charlie pacing along the cave wall, Franklin drawing on the sandy floor, before it finally settled on Eli. The screen went dark as Eli wiped it clean with the edge of his sweater before placing it back on his head.

"I have a lot of respect for people who do what you do. It's not easy," Eli told TJ as she took a seat on the cave floor. She looked exhausted and drawn out. Face pale and eyes bloodshot, hand clenched around her wrist as she gazed at the still form of Scott. "I can tell it really affects you when you can't help people."

TJ turned to him, adjusting her cap further on her head before placing her chin on her closed fist. "It does," she replied softly, almost sighing the words.

"My mom was a nurse. She got stuck by a needle trying to restrain a junkie in the ER…she got HIV," Eli looked down in shame as the words rang loudly in the small room. A hand rested on his shoulder, but he could not bear to look at anyone, let alone Matt. TJ's words of apology did little to console him. The image focuses on Scott's unconscious form instead, as if he could no longer endure her look of pity. "And my father couldn't handle it. He just…he just left. I was fifteen at the time."

"That must have been hard on you."

The Kino turned back to her slowly and Eli hummed noncommittally, changing the topic in a less then discreet manner. "Do you have any family?"

"My parents. My dad's retired."

"What did he do?"

"He was a tailor," TJ smiled, face lighting up brightly as she recalled happier times. "He's actually the one who taught me how to do stitches. I remember this one time, he cut himself pretty badly with some scissors, and he sewed it up himself and kept right on working."

Eli chuckled softly as TJ rubbed the palm of her hand, a fond smile on her face. "Brothers and sisters?"

"A sister. She has two kids…I miss them."

"I'm really afraid that my mom is just gonna give up if I die out here," Eli confessed. Matt took in his hunched form over the console and reached out, patting his shoulder, hand sliding to the back of his neck and squeezing gently in comfort. Eli gave him a watery smile, more of grimace, but he was grateful for the support.

The Kino fritzed and blurred before settling on the cave entrance, rain once again pouring down as Rush tied flashlights to sticks. Greer stuck the finished torches into the wet ground, making crude awkward looking crosses. "I remember as a kid, I was…I dunno, maybe seven or eight," Eli turned, the Kino focusing on TJ attending to the unconscious Franklin before stopping on Charlie who sat next to him. "My grandfather died and my parents took me to the funeral. Watching his casket getting lowered into the ground, it…it was the first time that I realized I was gonna die one day. I mean, I knew people died. I'm talking about the idea that my consciousness was gonna end. I wasn't gonna see what happened to the world, I…It was such an empty, dark feeling, like I was falling down a pitch black hole. It was…it scared the crap out of me."

Beside him, Charlie sat unmoving, face unreadable as he gazed out of the cave to the raining forest. He did not comment, ask questions, nor tried to console his student; Charlie just listened. He was never good at comforting people, having not grasped the basics of human etiquette and interactions as a child, but Charlie always thought he was a good listener…when the numbers were not dominating his mind that is.

"That fear," Eli continued after a moment. "It was almost too much to handle. I guess maybe I thought I'd just get used to it."

"But you don't," Charlie replied, voice thick and eyes clouded as if he was recalling a dark memory.

"No…no. It scared me just as much every time."

"Most people come to recognize their own mortality at some stage of life…some defining moment," Charlie told him softly. "And it changes you."

There was a long moment of silence as Eli took in his words. Chloe shifted in her seat, eyes darting to Professor Eppes' still form next to Sergeant Greer in the dark room, before returning to the screen. "What was yours?"

"Hmm?"

Eli cleared his throat, looking out of the cave where Greer sat in the rain, rifle at the ready and keeping steady watch. He appeared to not even notice the elements, as if the weather was beneath him. It was comforting. "Your defining moment."

Charlie bit his lip, running a shaking hand through his hair. The jacket he was wearing was standard military desert issued, mostly dry but still damp around the collar and back. He looked cold. "Caracas, Venezuela, 1998."

"What, uh…what happened?"

The young professor gave him a rueful smile. "It's classified."

"Oh, come on!" The Kino was jostled as Eli threw his hands into the air. Young chuckled softly as the present Eli, the one sitting before the console, made an abortive movement with his arms as if to attempt to mimic the gesture. "Seriously! Who am I going to tell?!"

Charlie's soft chuckle reverberated through the cave. "Well…I suppose it doesn't matter anymore," the humor died quickly as the smile slid from his face, eyes gazing around the room. "Alright, uh…let's see…"

Eli turned to Charlie who was still tucked into Greer's side, and they shared a smile before focusing on the screen. "It was, uh…late February, I think. I was working on my dissertation in the library when two men in suits approached me. I'll skip the boring parts, but anyways, three days later I found myself in Caracas, Venezuela, no passport, no clue as to what was going on, and no access to contact anybody. Didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

"Dude! What about your family, friends…did anyone notice you just disappeared?"

"My mom was worried sick," Charlie told him, smiling softly at the memory. "Doctor Fleinhardt, he was my teacher-"

"Doesn't he teach like, astronomy, or something, at CalSci?" Eli interrupted him.

"Theoretic physics, actually. Anyways, he called my family after the second day when I didn't show up and you can imagine their reaction. So, back to Caracas, I was taken to an underground base, blindfolded…it was all very covert. I was scared shitless."

Nearly the entire room turned to Charlie at the words and the genius flushed at the attention. "What?" He questioned, shifting uncomfortably as Greer laughed. He could feel the vibrations from the chest he was pressed against. Charlie tried move away from the man, but Greer just tightened his hold.

Matt grinned at him, sharing an amused smile with the Sergeant. "I didn't even know you knew how to swear," Greer told him, still laughing. The kid just flushed darker, turning his gaze to the floor but he stopped trying to pull away and his fingers tangled themselves back into the fabric of Greer's coat. Many in the small room saw, but no one commented.

"What happened?" Eli's voice brought their attention back to the screen and Charlie was only momentarily grateful before he realized what story was being told. He remembered Venezuela…he wished he did not.

Greer glanced down at him as the young male became very tense, but he did not ask questions. He chose instead to return his attention to the screen. "Long story short, I was there to help with running numbers, you know, longitude, latitude and stuff like that. I was never given details, just data, and me along with three others were supposed to triangulate positions. They never told me what it was for. Seventeen days I was holed up underground, running numbers and then I was on my way home, they were driving us to the airport when the van in front exploded."

"Jesus!"

"We uh, we came under fire. The windows exploded and the car flipped. It was mostly a blur at that point, I think I hit my head." Charlie reached up, running a hand through his hair in a self-conscious gesture of uncertainty. "But I remember Agent Markent pulling me out through the back window. It was chaos, people were screaming and I was being yanked down an alleyway along with Jennifer and Tom, two of the others there to help. Johnson was in the van, I don't think he ever made it out. Anyways, they led us down several streets and then into a building. Jennifer took a bullet to the thigh and Tom and I were carrying her between us.

"They took us up to the roof where a helicopter was waiting and then it took off. Jennifer was screaming the whole time while Tom tried to stop the bleeding. We were taken to a military base and three days later I was back home, like nothing had ever happened."

"Holy shit," Eli didn't quite shout and TJ glanced over but remained by Franklin when she realized there was no danger. "What did your family say…what did you tell them?"

"Nothing," Charlie admitted a look of guilt crossing his face. "I was told that if I were to discuss anything that I saw, heard, or experienced while I was under contract with the CIA that I would be arrested for terrorism and spilling national secrets. I told my family that it was classified and never talked about it again."

"Man that must have pissed them off."

Charlie laughed softly. "You have no idea…two weeks later, the Agent that had 'contracted' me showed up to hand me a metal for 'bravery and valor'," he scoffed, a bitter look twisting his features. "I burned the paper and destroyed the medallion."

"What?!" Eli exclaimed loudly, the Kino shaking as the young man gesticulated wildly. "Why?"

"Because I knew the truth, I saw it on the news, in the newspaper," silence enveloped them as the exhausted man seemed to be trying to find the words to say.

Greer tightened his hold on the young mathematician as he tensed to the point where the Sergeant was afraid he would flee the room. "We gave them nine locations. I didn't make the connection at first, the news stations only named the cities, not the coordinates. They declared them terrorist attacks, a war between the five most powerful drug cartels…"

"What was it?" Eli questioned softly as Charlie trailed off. The younger man looked down to the ground, shame coloring his face.

"AGM-65 Mavericks, air-to-surface tactical missiles. A fifty-seven kilogram warhead deployed by American fighter jets. There were 6,792 civilian casualties, 4,681civilian deaths. 914 unaccounted for. But all that didn't matter, because they got the people they were aiming for…all that death for 163 terrorists."

"Oh my god," Chloe mumbled, hand on her mouth as she turned watery eyes to Charlie, but his gaze was still firmly stuck to the floor, arm wrapped around himself in a self-comforting gesture as he clutched as Greer's jacket, trying to press himself into the soldier's side. His jaw was clenched, but whether it was in anger or trepidation, she did not know.

Eli hit the pause button as everyone turned to the mathematician. Rush pushed off of the wall, taking an abortive step closer before halting, his movements stilted and unsure. "What year did you say…1998? That would have made you, what?"

"Fourteen," Charlie replied and Young sucked in a sharp breath. The young male stood in the silence of the room for several seconds before exploding into movement, leaving the others stunned as he rushed from the room. There was a moment of hesitation before Greer followed him down the darkly lit hall.

It did not take the Sergeant long to find the kid as he did not go very far. Greer ascended the seven steps up the curved staircase in the Gate Room where he was sitting. The baby genius was shivering by the time Greer reached him, rubbing his bare arms to retain heat. Sighing softly, he removed his jacket and tossed it roughly on the professor's shoulders before sitting close enough to press the kid into the side banister.

Charlie looked up at him in surprise, hands fluttering on the jacket uncertainly before the dark glare had him pulling it on completely. It was tailored to fit Greer's wider shoulders and larger torso, so it practically dwarfed Charlie's much smaller frame. But it was warm and it smelled like Greer. It had Charlie relaxing into the heat pressed against his left side and ignoring the confusion that the volatile man had evoked.

Greer was a strange man, quick to anger, slow to cool, a mind that was geared for strategy, and a tongue that could cut anyone down with a few words. He was an intimidating figure, his presence taking up nearly the whole room. And for some strange reason, Charlie had evoked his interest and it terrified him.

Ever since their arrival on Destiny, the Sergeant had made himself a constant in the professor's life. Relentlessly in the background, yanking him roughly from one place to the other, Greer seemed intent on inserting himself into Charlie's life. Nearly three months they had been onboard this ship, the Destiny, and somehow, in that time, Greer's presence went from something to be feared to comforting. It honestly alarmed Charlie, but he was too tired and too desperate for any kind of human contact that Greer's callous handling was almost soothing.

They did not say anything for a long while, just sitting underneath the pale yellow lights. Eventually the silence was broken by Greer as he shifted to look at the younger man. "You gonna' be alright?"

Charlie drew his knees up to his chest and laced his fingers over ankles. Staring ahead, he half attempted a shrug before glancing at the soldier. "I'm always alright."

Greer's lips pulled into what could mockingly be called a smile, but it had too many teeth and looked a tad vicious. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

Turning away, Charlie huffed as he set his chin on his knees. "So people keep telling me," he mumbled. He was definitely not pouting. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Greer's question was casual, but his tone was sharp and his voice dipped into an almost growl.

Charlie tensed next to him, acutely aware that the man sitting there was trained to kill people for a living. He hesitated, eyes staring blankly forward as Greer's dark gaze bore into him, but eventually his stubbornness won out and Charlie refused to be cowed. "Are you alright? I mean…I saw how it was…how you-"

"It didn't happen," Greer cut him off.

Charlie shifted, shoulders tense as he clutched at his fingers and he curled into himself, almost expecting the soldier to lash out at him. "We're not exactly sure what happened."

Greer snarled at him and Charlie jolted in place, ready to flee if he turned hostile. But Greer made no other hostile action and Charlie felt himself relaxing slightly. "I know I didn't go to that planet and have all those people die under my watch," he growled.

Charlie finally turned to him, but Greer was the one looking away this time. "You know it wasn't your fault, right? I mean, it didn't look like there was anything anyone could have done differently."

The younger man flinched as Greer turned to him suddenly and glared. His black eyes volatile as his whole body shifted towards the mathematician. One of Charlie's hands darted to the banister, ready to pull himself up and flee. "I am not interested in what did not happen," Greer bit out before he turned forward again and Charlie nearly heaved a sigh of relief. His heart was pounding a mile a minute and his palms were sweating, but the soldier seemed more tense then he was.

Cautiously, Charlie let himself relax back into Greer's side. He was hesitant and careful, watching for any negative reactions from the unpredictable man. Greer was like a statue, jaw tense but unmoving. Limited to human reactions as he was, Charlie did not know what to make of Greer, and he could not tell if his presence annoyed the man or comforted him. Undecided, but hopeful, Charlie prayed that Greer would not kill him as he fully relaxed, pressing once again into the man's side. Greer sat completely still, neither pulling away or shifting closer, but Charlie called it a win as he was still alive.

If Charlie was a smart man, he would have just let it be. "It wasn't your fault," Charlie reiterated, wincing as he told himself to shut up. He may have been a genius, but nobody said he was smart. "You could not have known, none of us could," and there went his mouth. His brain screamed to stop talking, but he could not seem to get ahold of his thoughts and his mouth just ran ahead with them.

Greer glanced sharply down at him and Charlie failed to hide his flinch as he quickly averted his gaze to the steps. Greer smirked in amusement and bumped the younger man gently with his shoulder. Charlie looked back up at him hesitantly, hair falling into his face as if he was trying to hide. "Doesn't it bother you?"

Charlie's eyes darted around the Gateroom before he shrugged. "Like you said, it didn't happen. But I need to know what happened next."

"Why?" Greer growled the question.

"Because, all those people died and I want to know why," Charlie replied, head tucked into his knees. "Maybe it won't happen again, but if it does, that video is the only clue we have on how to stop it. Maybe this time we could save everybody."

When Charlie looked back up and met Greer's gaze with his doe eyes, Greer felt himself sigh in defeat and heaved himself to his feet. Charlie startled at the sudden movement, and again when Greer shoved a hand into his face. He stared blankly at it for a second before Greer twitched his fingers back towards himself and Charlie finally understood that he was offering a hand up.

Cautiously, the younger man released the banister from his white knuckle grip and took the hand. Charlie could see the other man's biceps flex under his t-shirt as he was hauled into standing. Greer's hand was strong and warm, and Charlie could feel callouses on his palms and fingers. Most likely from hard labor and constant use of a gun and knife. Once stable, the young mathematician yanked his hand back and started to pull the jacket off, but a tight grip on his wrist halted him like a deer in headlights.

"Keep it for now," Greer told him, dragging Charlie down the stairs and out of the Gateroom. "You're too thin, nothin' on you to keep you warm."

Charlie huffed in annoyance and tried to yank his arm back but Greer just tightened his hold and continued to pull him down the corridor. After several seconds of what obviously was a losing battle, Charlie conceded defeat and let Greer drag him along as they made their way back to Eli's room.

Colonel Young watched Sergeant Greer and Professor Eppes heading back to the room, Greer pulling the other man down the corridor. He smiled faintly in amusement at the Professor's disgruntled look at being manhandled. Young would have made a point to talk to the Sergeant about appropriate behavior with civilians, but he knew from personal experience how difficult it was to deal with them. His eyes darted to Rush who was standing with Chloe and Matt as the conversed quietly.

Besides, he knew that Greer had this weird protective behavior when it came to Charlie. He was unsure if it was because Charlie was the youngest person on the ship next to Chloe, or if it was because Charlie had saved everyone's life by holding the Stargate open. Greer was almost upon them with Charlie in tow when a surprise shout had him turning back into the room.

Scott was lowering an unconscious Chloe to the ground, Eli hovering anxiously while the Lieutenant braced Chloe's head and neck as he laid her down. "What just happened?"

Scott looked up at him, kneeling on the floor, hand still supporting the young woman's head. "Uh, she started complaining that her head hurt. Then she just dropped."

"It's been three hours since we dropped out of FTL," Rush commented, his Scottish lilt calm but suspicious.

"That's about the time people began to get sick on the planet in the recording!" Eli exclaimed as Greer and Charlie came up behind the Colonel.

"Well, shit," Greer commented unnecessarily as Rush helped lift Chloe into Matt's arms.

"TJ?!" Scott did not quite shout as he carried Chloe into the Infirmary. She hung loosely from his arms and he tried hard not to panic as her breathing became irregular.

"Yeah," TJ glanced up and saw them, worry coloring her eyes as she found an empty bed. "Right here," she gestured and Matt laid her gently onto the sheets. "They said she just passed out?" Matt nodded his head as Young came up behind them. "I've got four more cases. So far everyone who went to the planet or came in contact with someone who did."

Young sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he glanced around to the other occupied beds. "Can it be contained?"

"I don't know," TJ replied honestly, shining a pen light into Chloe's eyes as Matt hovered anxiously nearby. "But whatever it is, it's extremely virulent."

"On the uh…" he trailed off, approaching them and lowering his voice so the others nearby would not hear. "On the Kino recording, Volker died because of it."

TJ sucked in a sharp breath, the back of her hand coming up to wipe at her brow. "How quickly?"

Young blinked slowly and his jaw clenched as he took in her worried expression. "Within twelve hours."

She turned her gaze back to Chloe, eyes catching on the hand that was grasped with the Lieutenants own. It was not good news, and TJ felt her heart tighten at the mere thought of it.

"M-4 carbine," Greer told Eli and Charlie as they watched him handle the rifle. He demonstrated the proper grip and posture as he aimed into the forest. "Hold the grip firmly, stock braced against your shoulder. It's got a kick," he commented, demonstrating with his shoulder how the rifle would kick back when fired and how to adjust the stance so they did not lose their balance. Turning to look both of them in the eye, he continued, voice firm. "Keep your finger off the trigger 'til you're ready to kill whatever you're pointing at. Short bursts. We don't got much ammo," offering the rifle to Eli, the Kino's vision went the ground as the younger man tried to figure out the proper way to hold it. "Go ahead."

"Ooh, you mean shoot for real?" Eli's voice was excited as he raised the rifle and looked down the barrel.

Immediately Greer brought his hand over the top and pushed it to aim and the ground again. Shoving the rifle to the side, Greer pointed to the forest. "That way. Okay…safety's off."

Taking several quick breaths, Eli brought the gun back up and raised the rifle at a tree about fifteen yards off. He opened fire, finger clutching down on the trigger as bullets burst from the muzzle in a continuous spray for several seconds. When he let up, several smaller trees fell to the ground and Eli laughed in delight. "Ooh! Oh, man! That is so cool!"

He turned back to Greer as the other rubbed his head in frustration before pulling his cap back on. "What happened to short bursts?"

"Uh…oops?"

Sighing in annoyance, Greer turned to Charlie, gesturing for him to come out of the cave. Hesitantly the mathematician shuffled up to the two and Greer snatched the rifle from Eli and shoved it into the Professor's hands. "Your turn, little genius."

Charlie fumbled with the gun momentarily as Greer shoved him forward. "Uh, okay?"

"You know how to shoot a rifle?" Greer asked as Eli stepped back to give them room.

Charlie shook his head, a hand coming up to wipe the hair from his face where it had gotten stuck to his sweat. "No, just a hand gun."

"Alright then," Greer smirked at him, coming up from behind the younger man. He grabbed the gun and adjusted his stance and grip mechanically, like he had done it a thousand times to others who were learning to shoot. "Trigger's here, don't touch it unless you wanna kill what's on the business end. Stock goes here, hand there." It only took seconds to put Charlie into the right stance and hold as he aimed at the same tree Eli shot. "Short bursts only," Greer did not quite snap as he stepped back.

Charlie took a steadying breath and squeezed the trigger before quickly releasing it, allowing only three bullets to burst into the wood. He took another breath before doing twice more and then relaxing his stance and pointing the barrel to the ground. Greer came back up and took the rifle from him, snapping the safety back in place and roughly patting Charlie on the shoulder. Charlie winced and grabbed at the shoulder that the other had manhandled, feeling around and pressing into the muscle cautiously.

Greer laughed at the gesture, slapping his same shoulder again as he moved to place the rifle propped against the cave. "Told you it had a kick."

"Actually," Eli cut in, moving to get under the shade. "You told me, not him."

Greer's only reply was to laugh louder.

Greer held up the small block of C4, one side ragged from where it had been cut into halves. He hated having to ration explosives like that, the bigger the explosion the better, but they had no way of getting or making more at the moment, so Greer turned his four blocks of C4 into eight. He wished they had more, but not everyone carried explosives and four blocks of it was all they were able to find amongst the bodies of dead soldiers and his own supply.

Creeping forward cautiously, Eli shuffled back as Greer dropped the block into the mound that emitted Sulphur. Greer rushed back to him, walking backward to make sure one of the creatures did not climb out. Shuffling behind a rock, Eli crouched to the ground as the Sergeant took out the detonator and switched it on.

"We sure they're down there?" Eli questioned, voice soft as he was afraid to wake anything.

"Saw 'em go home last night."

"You really think this is a good idea?"

Greer smiled viciously at him. "Best defense is offence." He leaned forward, rifle ready as he turned to the mound. "Fire in the hole."

"Yeah, literally." Greer flicked the switch with a smile on his face. The mound exploded outward and Eli barely remembered to duck in time. "I hope we didn't just piss them off."

Standing, they both cautiously made their way to the hole in the ground where the mound used to be. Greer walked with his gun ready, stepping over bits and pieces of the creatures that attacked them the night before. Eli's breathing increased the closer they got, before they were finally upon the hole itself. "Oh, wow!" He laughed as he nudged a mostly intact creature as Greer stepped around the other side. A chittering noise had him turning quickly and Greer opened fire on the creature that had been rushing to Eli. The bullets tore through it, spraying its yellow green blood in every direction before its insides became outsides. "O…kay. That's disgusting."

Greer started walking away, stepping over a downed log. "Come on, we've got more of these things to hit." Eli stepped cautiously around the hole and followed Greer at a much more sedate pace.

Charlie entered the cave, stumbling over a rock as he tried to get the water out of his face. His hair was plastered back and his clothes completely soaked as the rain came down heavily from the sky. Rush and Greer followed him in and Eli stood from his place next to TJ. Franklin had fallen unconscious nearly six hours ago and Eli could tell that TJ was starting to get really worried. There was nothing she could do for him here, maybe if they were on the Destiny, but not planet side. That did not stop her from fussing though, and she took his vitals for the fourth time in an hour.

"Did using the other remote help?" Eli asked hopefully as he made his way over to the three. Rush and Charlie were standing close together, speaking quietly and sharing body heat.

Rush slicked his own hair back and gave the young man a pinched look as he shook his head. "We were able to get a connection, but the wormhole's unstable. Nothing from the Destiny on the radio."

"Well, is it broken?" Eli asked as Greer crouched down next to Lieutenant Scott. He placed two fingers on his jugular and checked his watch before making his way to the cave entrance and standing guard. "Or is there a chance it could resolve by itself?"

"There are a number of things that could be causing temporary interference," Charlie supplied distractedly as he moved over to TJ to see if she needed any help. They talked quietly together for a moment before TJ shook her head negatively and all but collapsed back onto the rock behind her.

She sighed heavily while looking up at the cave ceiling and tugged her hat down a few times in frustration. Charlie sat down gingerly next to her, and when she shuffled closer to get warm he relaxed into her. He started for a moment when her head hit his shoulder but TJ ignored the reaction and closed her eyes to doze for a bit.

"Well, we have eleven hours until Destiny jumps back into FTL," Eli tried to sound hopeful, questioning silently if that was enough time for the problem to be fixed. He had to remind himself to calm down before he started to hyperventilate. A lot could happen in eleven hours and the thought terrified him. Never before could Eli ever say that he wanted nothing more than to be back on the Destiny.

Rush glanced at him before shaking his head in defeat and gazed at the floor as he shifted about restlessly. "There's no way of telling how long it's gonna last."

"And I guess it would be crazy to just try and go anyway."

"Look," Rush bit out, hand gesticulating in the way that it does when he is trying to make a point. Frustration and anger made his accent thicker as the words poured from him. "We can't assume that the Gate is even connecting to Destiny. There'd be very little chance of surviving an unstable wormhole."

Eli turned to the others: Franklin and Scott on the stretchers, Greer on the rock as he kept watch, TJ and Charlie pressed together against the opposite side of the rock. He could not understand how it could only be the seven of them, less than half the number that came through the Gate. "A fire would be nice," Charlie commented wistfully as TJ moved closer to him to keep warm, tucking in sideways as she pressed her cold hands into his stomach. The Professor winced at the sensation, but neither commented nor moved away.

"I couldn't find any dry wood," Greer replied without taking his gaze off of the foliage outside. Rush grunted in annoyance and shuffled over to sit on Charlie's other side, pressing their arms and legs together. It helped to keep the shivering down at least.

Scott rung his hands together, pulling his fingers and worrying the skin at his knuckles. A nervous tick he had not indulged in since he was a child, but this time he could not seem to stop himself. Chloe lay unmoving upon the infirmary bed, her chest falling and rising at a steady but gradually slowing pace. Her eyelashes fluttered upon her cheeks as if dreaming and Matt reached up to grab her hand, but it was of no use. Her eyes did not open, and her fingers did not squeeze back.

His attention darted to the other corner of the room where Vanessa lay just as unmoving. It seemed so unfair. They had just been moving past the grudges and hurt feelings and were forming a friendship again. And Chloe and Vanessa just started to seek each other out in a tentative way. They could be great friends, he knew, if only given the chance…and the time. But time seemed to be something everyone was short of these days.

TJ cleared her throat to gather Matt's attention as he stared blankly around the infirmary. His dull gaze finally pulled to her and she tried to smile reassuringly at him but it came out more as a grimace. "Are they still watching the recording?"

His chin twitched as his bottom lip trembled for a moment, and TJ watched as he extracted his hand from the Chloe's and squeezed his own fingers in a punishing grip. "Yeah," he said after a steadying breath, his tone to calm to be anything but forced.

Eyes darting around the room, TJ lowered her voice and leaned over Chloe's prone form to remain unheard by the others. "I don't know what to do," she confessed quietly, worrying her bottom lip as she fought to control herself. "They just keep showing up and I don't have nearly enough antibiotics for all these people." I'm just a medic, not a doctor was heard but went unsaid. She was not qualified for this, but unfortunately she was the most qualified out of everyone they had. And that terrified her. "It would help if I knew the cause."

The Lieutenant did not know how to answer her, he was unsure if she was even looking for an answer. But if it was comfort she sought, he could not give it to her. Everything he had was for Chloe, and it was not enough. Movement from the entrance caught his awareness and he sighed in relief as TJ turned her attention to where Lisa was bracing herself against a table.

Vertigo overtook Doctor Park and TJ reached her just in time to steady her. "You're not feeling good?" She asked softly, gently turning her with hands on her shoulders.

"No," Lisa replied softly, voiced strained as the room seemed to spin around her.

"Okay," TJ guided her carefully out of the infirmary, one hand on her back and the other on her arm. "Let's go slow."

They walked slowly down a short hallway, Lisa relying heavily on the wall and TJ's support. The room next to the infirmary was bare except for a few crates and over a dozen makeshift beds lined upon the floor, nearly all of them occupied. TJ led her to an empty one near the back and helped her lay down. Lisa was pale and sweating as TJ tucked her in, laying a hand upon her forehead to check her temperature.

Frowning, she promised to come back with water as she left the room. What she said to Matt had not been an exaggeration. She had no idea what she was going to do. And it only seemed to be getting worse.

"See anything?" Eli yelled over the sound of the rain. It was falling hard enough to be mistaken as a waterfall. The young man held the rifle in his hands, grip slipping as the water made it hard to hold onto things. Behind him the light on the makeshift post flickered and Eli turned his attention to it briefly, but after a moment it steadied and held.

"No," Rush replied, slicking his hair out of his face as his gaze never wavered from the foliage. Charlie was crouched beside him, tying a bandana that belonged to Greer around his head, the edge helping to catch water and lead it down the side of his face instead of in his eyes.

"Good," Eli commented softly as Greer tugged on the bandana in an entirely unhelpful manner. The soldier only laughed as Charlie glared up at him and proceeded to retie it in place, shifting away so he was out of reach of the Sergeant. "Maybe we got 'em all today."

Forcing his attention back to the forest, Eli hummed to himself softly as the torch at the end of his rifle made careful sweeps across the plants and trees. Adrenaline pumping, the student reminisced briefly that the experience felt almost like a video game, but reality crashed in when he remembered that game over meant death. Huffing at the terrible visibility, Eli started as lightning flashed across the sky and lit up the whole area in dazzling brightness for a fourth of a second. It was long enough for his eyes to catch movement in the bushes, but not long enough to figure out of it was the wind or the parasites.

"Did you see that?" He yelled, turning to the others. "Did you see something? I-I think I saw something!"

Greer glanced over at him, rifle at the ready and pointed out into the darkness. "If you see anything move out there, don't ask…just shoot."

"Right…right," he mumbled to himself as the flashlight behind him flickered again and he turned back to it, briefly catching the sight of the Medic further back in the cave. She was standing between Franklin and Matt, gun at the ready should the parasites break through their first wall of protection.

The flashlight flickered twice more before fading out completely and casting Eli's side into darkness. "Hey, I think the batteries on this one are dead!" He shouted, tapping the torch as he prayed for it to work. It stayed stubbornly dark. "Damnit."

"The Kino has night vision," Eli commented at the screen in indignation, gesturing helplessly at his video self. "Why didn't I turn it on?" Seconds later, the Kino screen turned into black and white, the colors inverted to display the dark areas as the brightest. "Oh, never mind." Behind him, Charlie huffed in amusement. It was hard to see his face as Greer had nearly crowded him into the corner and pressed against his side.

Young was almost positive that Greer would have stood in front of Charlie to keep him from watching if the baby genius did not have a restraining hand in his shirt. Several times he had seen Greer move as if to block the other's view, but Charlie would tug on his shirt and make a low noise of annoyance and Greer would settle back against his side. Everett found his lips curling in amusement despite himself.

He honestly did not know what to think about this thing they had going on between them. At the moment it seemed to be bouncing between overprotective big brother, personal bodyguard, jailor, and occasionally it would seem to fall into the jealous lover category if he did not know any better. On any other posting, in any other assignment, with any other Commanding Officer, Young may have seen it as a problem and dealt with it accordingly. But this was not just any posting or assignment, and he liked to think of himself as an understanding Colonel, so Young let it be.

At the moment there strange relationship helped them function. It kept Professor Eppes healthy by giving control of him to someone else. Greer made sure he was fed and slept the minimal amount at least, something the boy genius seemed incapable of doing himself. And in return Greer had somebody who he could protect, which kept him out of trouble. Greer needed somebody to need him –whether Charlie knew he needed Greer was not up for debate– and when Greer was not needed, he got into trouble. Like that thing with Telford that got him locked in the brig.

Turning back to the screen, Everett forced his attention on the situation at hand. At first the footage seemed to be the same as the rest of the night: wet but calm. Then bright spots started to appear from the trees, dangling from the branches and falling to the forest floor. "Oh boy…" Dozens of the creatures started to pour out of the foliage and Eli immediately opened fire. The creatures started to shriek and chirp as the rest of the group fired upon them.

A few of the parasites explode from the bullets but then his rifle jammed and Eli kept squeezing the trigger as if it would work. He turned quickly to Greer, but the other man was meticulously taking them out, not a bullet wasted. Crouched between them, Rush and Charlie were the most surprising. Rush fired his rifle in short bursts as Greer taught them, and though his aim was not great, he still managed to keep the closest ones from getting into the cave. Charlie on the other hand seemed to know sort of what he was doing, finger sliding along the trigger as he took careful aim. And when his rifle clicked empty he dropped it and reached for the hand gun instead of wasting time trying to reload.

"Come on, come on!" Greer shouted as he opened fire in wide arcs, trying to create a barrier of bullets. There were just too many to pick and choose a target at this point. It seemed as if hundreds of the creatures were falling out of the trees. "Don't stop! Keep firing!"

Eli glanced helplessly between them and the creatures, pulling the near full clip out and shaking it before slotting it back into place and pulling the trigger. No bullets came out and Eli cried in frustration. "It's jammed! The rifle won't shoot!"

"Here!" Charlie shouted, tossing his own rifle at his student along with an extra clip.

Eli looked away from the screen as his counterpart struggled to change the clip, fingers slipping over the metal as the rain continued to pour. "I don't think we're gonna to make it…" he whispered in horror. Young glanced over at him as Charlie stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Beside them, Rush looked quite pale and his hands trembled at his sides.

The sound of a gun going off inside the cave halted Eli's frantic fingers as he finally snapped the full magazine into place. A parasite that got past the front group exploded as TJ shot round after round into it before another parasite got past the group and was met with the same grisly death.

The silence of gunfire from the front of the cave had Eli turning back quickly and once again opening fire as everyone else reloaded. Greer crouched down next to Charlie as the Professor tried to reload the clip, but he was numb from the cold and trembling in fear and his fingers kept slipping over the wet metal. Snatching the gun from him, Greer efficiently reloaded the clip with the ease of one who had done it hundreds of times before handing it back grip first.

Charlie grabbed the gun, but Greer refused to release his hold on it until the boy genius looked up at him. With his other hand, Greer grabbed him by the back of the neck and squeezed hard, pulling him forward slightly to be heard better. "Keep firing, we ain't gonna die tonight." He nearly shouted, giving the younger man another quick shake. "You hear me! We ain't gonna die tonight!" Only after Charlie closed his eyes and nodded his head did Greer release him to shoot at the creatures. Seconds later the Professor's bullets joined his.

Eli's rifle clicked empty again just as Rush threw his own to the ground and started to rummage through the bag next to him. Greer had the last of the rifle clips, but there were several hand guns within the bag. "Rush! I'm out!" Eli shouted, moving towards him and gesturing to the bag.

Nicholas' fingers finally skittered across the gun and he pulled it out of the bag along with the Kino remote. "I got this!" Greer shouted at him when the scientist glanced over. Rush stood and the Sergeant immediately began to lay cover fire as the scientist ran through the trees and towards the Stargate.

"Hey! Hey, where are you going?!" Eli shouted helplessly as Rush disappeared into the forest. "He's crazy," he yelled at Greer and Charlie as the opened fire in wide arcs towards the ground in front of the cave. Turning back to where Rush had disappeared to, Eli took several steps forward before shouting again. "You're crazy!"

Rush shifted off the wall in a moment of discomfort as everyone's attention in the room turned from the screen to him. "You are," Eli commented softly, but Rush just shrugged, equally confused at his counterpart's actions. On the screen foliage seemed to flash by in bursts as Eli ran through the forest. "Why did you run into the forest?"

The look Rush gave him was a combination of incredulousness and confusion. "Why did you run after me?" Rush replied diplomatically. Eli opened his mouth to reply but instead chose to take the safer route and sulk in silence instead. On the other side of him, Young chuckled softly to himself.

"Come back! Wait…dude, come on!" Eli screamed as he ran through the forest. It was hard to make out the surroundings with the night vision as the screen fritzed out every few seconds. Suddenly, all they could see was the ground as the night vision failed and Eli fell hard. "God, son of a b-" the screen fritzed again before Eli burst out of the forest and into the clearing where Rush stood, the Gate open before him. "Wait! Stop!"

Rush paused halfway up the ramp. His shirt was plastered to his torso and his hair was slicked back as the deluge continued to pour down. He looked like a drowned rat, and equally as miserable. "Someone's gotta try!" Rush cried. "You and I both know we're not gonna make it without Destiny! I'll radio if I make, then you'll know it's safe."

"If?!" Eli screamed, stepping closer as Rush shifted towards the Gate. "But…you said-"

"Hey!" Rush grabbed his arms, squeezing his biceps. It was as close to a hug as anyone had seen him get and the gesture was not lost on them. "For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble."

"What?!" Eli shrieked as Rush ran up the ramp and threw himself through the Event Horizon.

There was a long moment of silence in the small room after Eli paused the footage. His chair squeaked as he frowned at the surly scientist. "For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble?" Eli repeated back to him.

Rush gazed at him with what could be classified as affection, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but it was Young who answered the student. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," Everett's voice drew everyone's attention. Even a surprised Rush's. "It's Butch's last line before he and Sundance run out to face the Bolivians." He turned his attention to Rush, catching his eyes with his own. "One of my favorites, too."

"Well, well," Rush replied, amusement in his tone. "We do have something in common after all." It was said almost wistfully, as if he could not quite wrap his mind around the idea.

They briefly share a smile before Young gestured back to the screen. "Eli," he prompted. Eli let out a breath before he resumed the video.

"Destiny? Come in! Destiny?!" Eli barked into the radio, eyes on the Gate as the Event Horizon flickered unstably. "Come on, someone answer me! Rush!" The Gate shut down and there was no reply. Groaning in disbelief, Eli ran back to the cave, the sound of gunfire leading the way.

Charlie had moved to Eli's original position, taking out the creatures that got too close with his glock while Greer continued to make wide sweeps with his rifle. "Greer! Professor!" Eli called out, letting them know his position so they would not shoot him on accident. He was unsure if they heard him, but no bullets seemed to be coming at him so he ran for the cave regardless.

Just as Eli was pulling himself over a rock and back into the cave, Charlie abandoned his position and rushed to the other side as Greer went down. "Greer!" Charlie ran to his side, grabbing the creature that was trying to burrow its way into the soldier's chest. Its skin was slick and hard to get ahold of, but Charlie refused to let it go. "Greer! Get up! Come on!" Greer dropped his rifle, screaming as he tried to dislodge the one on his chest when another latched onto his thigh.

Charlie cried in frustration as the creature beneath his fingers dug in deeper despite his efforts. Changing tactics, he reached instead for the gun to blast it off when pain in his back suddenly blinded him. He fell next to the soldier, screaming as something seemed to stab at his back and shove between his ribs. Inside the cave TJ was screaming and for a moment that was all there was.

There was no more bullet fire, just screaming.

"Colonel Young, Doctor Rush," TJ's voice broke over the video and Eli was quick to pause it. Relief flooded the room as silence finally fell.

"I think I might throw up," Eli commented quietly, looking both pale and green.

"What is it?" Rush's voice was muffled as he continued to gaze down the microscope, watching as dozens of tiny critters swam through the clear liquid.

"Some sort of micro-organism," TJ replied as Young placed his hand on Rush's shoulder. Nicholas looked up at him, shrugging the hand off and moving quickly away. With a tilt of his lips, Young moved to the microscope, amused by the younger man.

"Something brought back from the planet?" Young asked as he took his turn to gaze at the organisms. Rush stood off to the side, arms crossed in an unconscious self-defense gesture. When Young looked back up at him, he did not know whether to be amused or offended that Rush had reacted to him in such a way.

"Not the planet they just went to, no; the planet you and Scott went to," she pointed at him, moving to lean against the nearby bench table on the other side of the room. "The ice planet."

"That was weeks ago," Young commented, shifting towards TJ and leaving a clear path to the microscope should Rush wish to take another look. The doctor frowned at him, reading his intentions accurately and confused behind the reason.

Young raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the device questioningly when Rush's frown only deepened. After a moment of silent staring, Rush hesitantly made his way back to the table, eyes locked on the Colonel as if waiting for the other foot to drop. When nothing happened, he seemed to become more suspicious and Young thought his paranoia was both humorous and worrisome.

"This is a sample of the water we've been drinking, isn't it?" Rush asked as he bent back over the microscope, reassured that if Young wanted to pull something, he would not do so in front of the medic.

TJ shifted uncomfortably, arms crossing as she gave the Colonel a questioning look. He only shrugged at her in confusion and shook his head. "When people outside the quarantine started coming down with symptoms, I knew we needed to look for another common source."

"But we tested it at the time," Young sighed as Rush all but sank into the stool next to the table. The scientist rubbed at his eyes before fiddling with his glasses, a look of despair and defeat coloring his expression.

"At the time, we couldn't see it," TJ replied. "The microscope just wasn't powerful enough. The organism was just too small," her voice was curt and bitter as she shifted closer to the microscope and closer to Rush.

The doctor shifted away from her, laying his arms on the table as his glasses were rotated between his fingers. "Well," he started, gazing up at Young. "It isn't now."

"It's possible," TJ began gazing between the two, "that a batch of water wasn't purified properly and it contaminated the rest."

"So we've all got it?" Young questioned, pulling his gaze back to the medic and away from Rush.

"Well, everyone's immune system is different. The time it takes for symptoms to emerge will vary. But once it's strong enough to pass from the blood to the nervous system, it works fast…and the antibiotics won't cut it."

Silence fell over the group and Rush shifted to place his hands in his lap, lacing his fingers as he gazed upon the floor. After a moment though, he looked up between them, the words flowing from his mouth despite his brain insisting he remain silent. "Well, for a moment there, I thought we were in trouble."

Young stared at him briefly before amusement had his lips quirking up at the corner. He moved before he quite realized what he intended to do and his hand fell on Rush's head, ruffling his hair before making a hasty retreat down the hall. Rush flinched under the action, looking scandalized at the Colonel's retreating form. Fixing his hair, Rush felt his face heat up as he shouted after the man. "Would you bloody well stop that?!"

"Not a chance in hell, Rush!" Young shouted back as he turned a corner.

Beside him, TJ tried and failed to hold in a snort of amusement. Hand coming up to hide her smile as Rush turned to glare at her. "Sorry," she supplied between chuckles, not looking apologetic at all. Rush just huffed in annoyance before he made his way down the hall as well.

The Kino came back on slowly, the screen flickering in and out of focus before finally adjusting. The image was tilted as if the Kino was on its side. It was unusual seeing it that way as the stabilizers usually corrected automatically. Eli's hand could be seen clenched in the corner, a small trail of blood in the sand, and Scott's prone form, still on the gurney.

Matt's sudden groan and shifting startled the group watching the footage and Eli chuckled awkwardly. On the screen, Matt shifted and grimaced in pain. Reaching for the bandage, he peeled it back and groaned at the wound before pressing the dressing back to his shoulder. It took longer than he hoped to prop himself up on his elbows, body soar and stiff from laying for so long.

"Eli?" He asked, turning to look straight at the Kino. Struggling to his feet, he stumbled over to the Kino, pulling the helmet off of Eli's head and setting it on the rock behind him. "Eli…" Scott whispered, fingers fluttering to the kid's neck, searching for a pulse. Unable to find one, he pulled his hand away and it came back bloody. On Eli's chest was a gaping hole, the other side near his shoulder another. Two of those creatures had burrowed their way through the student. "Oh, God…"

Matt scrambled away from him, stumbling over the gurney and spinning about the cave. Beside him Franklin lay on his own gurney, motionless. He was pale, his chest did not rise or fall and Matt knew without checking that he was most assuredly dead. TJ lay near one of the cave columns next to the entrance, staring up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. Just outside the cave, Greer and Charlie lay next to a fallen tree, Charlie tucked into Greer's side. There was blood everywhere.

Knees weak, Scott fell to the sandy floor, screaming as his friends lay dead around him. He dug his hands into the sand, anguish in his movements as he wept.

"It's uh…forty-five minutes," Scott sniffed, wiping a hand across his nose and eyes as tears poured down his cheeks. The footage shook with every stuttering breath he took as he held the Kino and talked into it. "Until Destiny jumps back into FTL." He broke off, crying. Tucking his chin into his chest, Scott clenched his teeth as he fought to regain control of his emotions.

"Everyone here is dead…except me," he took a deep breath, wiping at his nose. "I don't remember much after we were attacked the first night. One of the creatures bit me and I lost consciousness. I'd been starting to feel sick; headache, pain in the back of the neck. The bite still hurts like a bitch but everything else is uh…is better." The Stargate fitzed in and out cut over some of the words and lit up the side of his face in a pale, pulsating blue. His gaze turned to the Gate for a moment, eyes looking at the Event Horizon with both hope and despair.

"The uh, Gate still doesn't seem to be working. I can't reach Destiny on the radio," he turned back to the camera. Matt took a deep, stuttering breath before continuing. "I'm hoping it's just a communications problem and that everything else is uh…is okay up there. I'm sending this through and I'm expecting that you will send some sort of a signal that it is safe to proceed. I will wait as long as I can, then I'll head through regardless. On my own, I likely won't survive the night here."

The screen shifted as Scott trotted up the ramp and then he tossed the Kino in through the unstable wormhole. The footage whirled and distorted as the Kino rolled before coming to a stop at the other end of the ramp. The screen fritzed in and out before focusing on the jungle beyond the Stargate, the same jungle that it had just left. At the bottom of the screen was Nicholas Rush, lying face down in the ground…dead.

Eli's fingers flew across the screen to pause it as Rush and Young caught each other's gaze over him. Gawking at the screen in bewilderment, he shifted back suddenly, breaking the staring contest between the two men and pulling their attention back to the screen. "What…just…happened?!"

Young returned his gaze back to Rush, the scientist was staring at the screen in fascination as the answer finally came to him. "It's time travel…isn't it?" Charlie asked, stepping closer to his student. He asked the question as if dreading the answer.

"Yes," Rush replied, already turning to stroll down the hall. "It is."

There was a moment of stillness in the room before Young moved to go after him, limping just slightly as he darted to catch up to the willowy man. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure it hasn't happened yet," Rush replied, finally pulling to a stop in front of the control console in the Gate Room. Pressing a few buttons that Young still had not bothered to learn, the Stargate activated and began to dial.

"What hasn't happened yet?" Eli questioned as he followed the rest of the group into the Gateroom. Charlie moved closer to the dialing Gate, stepping around Greer as the coordinates began to light up as they locked.

"The solar flare," Nicholas replied quickly, accent breaking over the words as he rushed to explain. "It's the only explanation. If a wormhole's trajectory takes it too close to a star and it passes through an active solar flare, it can cause it move forwards or backwards in time. In some cases the wormhole can actually loop back around and connect to the same Gate in a different time. In this case, the past."

"Whoa, whoa," Eli cut it, shifting to lean against the banister of the curved staircase before shifting to look at Young and Rush. "Okay, this is making my brain hurt. Uh…oh my god! Back to the Future!" He laughed and everyone turned to look at him. "How could I not put that on my list?"

Rush huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes as Eli laughed quietly to himself. "The 'us' on the recording dropped out of FTL and went to the planet," Rush began, shifting to the other side of the console as Young leaned in closer to read the screen (as if he could actually make out the words). "Some time later," he bit out, glaring at the Colonel until Everett took the hint and backed away. "A solar flare occurred, preventing normal Gate travel."

"So, Lieutenant Scott thought that he was sending the Kino back to the Destiny, but he was really sending it to back to the planet, 39 years ago," Charlie commented absentmindedly as he wandered up the steps to where he could sit and still be at height with everyone else.

"Wait," Eli turned to him bewildered. "Sorry, 39? How did you get that number?"

"Plant growth," Charlie replied as he picked at his thumbnail.

Eli scoffed in disbelief. "Plant growth…really? You saw the screen for like, two seconds. How could you possibly come up with that number?"

Charlie smiled down at him indulgently. "The tree trunk."

"Yeah," Eli continued undeterred. "But seriously…how did you do it?"

"Simple, Eli, there was a severed trunk in the clearing…you saw it on the screen. It had rings just as Earth trees do, just as thick as if from the Amazon Rainforest indicating lots of water. That tree was 253 years old when it fell. We know from data collected and the planet's relation to the sun that it has 372 days in a year, 26 hours in a day. That would be 1 year and 38 days for Earth. So the tree was 280 years old Earth time. The growth and degradation of the remaining trunk showed that it was felled at least 31 years ago, that's 34 Earth years. As you saw by the circumference of the trunk, when the Kino rolled down the ramp the tree could only have been 248 years old, it fell five years after that and 34 years later…we arrived. Therefor, 39 Earth years, or if you like 36 years on the planet."

Eli stared at him befuddled. "Seriously! When did you have time to figure that out?!"

Charlie glanced nervously around the room, eyes darting to each person as they all gazed at him. Usually, outside of the classroom he would be ridiculed for the way his brain worked. But he was coming to find that things were different on the Destiny. "When we were walking down the hall," he supplied after a while.

"You figured all that out from several seconds of footage and a short stroll down a hall?" Young asked curiously. After he received a hesitant nod Young whistled appreciatively. "Your brain is terrifying." When Charlie continued to stare at him shyly, Everett could not help himself from smiling at the kid. "That was a complement."

"Uh, thanks?" Charlie replied hesitantly, hand reaching up to rub at his neck. It had started to ache not long ago. Young's eyes narrowed as he observed the younger man, but his attention was pulled away before he could question him.

"Okay," Eli clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention. "So that was really us…on the Kino? God that is weird?"

"Us in a previous, unaltered time line," Rush supplied as the Stargate locked onto its last coordinate and the Event Horizon exploded from the center. Charlie did not think he would ever get used to the site, or grow old watching it. "It's been modified now by the introduction of the Kino from the future."

Greer turned from the Gate, stepping closer to the scientist and the Colonel. "Why are we dialing the Gate back there?"

Rush sighed in relief as the Event Horizon held and remained undisturbed. "As I said, to make sure the solar flare that disrupted Gate travel hasn't happened yet, and thankfully it hasn't."

"Yeah," Greer replied, fists clenched down at his side. "But why do we care about that?"

"Because," Rush replied, turning his gaze to Young who was standing a little closer than he was comfortable with. "I think we may have to go back there."

TJ stared at the screen with a contemplative expression. Eli paused the video, halting Scott's speech mid-sentence as Rush paced the length of the floor behind her. He felt trapped in the room. Lieutenants Scott and Johansen stood in front of the console, Eli seated between them. Greer and Young were leaning on opposite sides of the bulkhead door, blocking the way out however unintentionally.

Professor Eppes had scampered off to the Infirmary under Greer's careful guidance. Charlie said he wanted to keep Chloe company, but everyone knew by the way his eyes pinched in pain and he swayed as he walked that he too was starting to feel the effects of the micro-organisms. If anyone else fell ill, there would be no one left to help fix it. Rush's own headache was starting to pound at the base of his skull, but he was unsure if it was just stress or the beginning stages of the parasites blocking the blood flow to his brain.

"It's possible, I guess." TJ commented quietly to the room, eyes catching briefly on Rush's ever moving form. His shoulders were hunched upwards in a defensive pose, but he was rubbing his palm in a self-comfort gesture, as if he could not decide to attack or flee. She understood the sentiment, wanting nothing more than to bury her head in her blankets and wake up to find this all some sick sort of nightmare. "The venoms of various animals: snakes, spiders, scorpions…they've all been tested for their antibiotic properties."

Scott shifted hopefully. "What? You're saying that thing that bit me can actually cure what's making…everybody sick?" 'Making Chloe sick' was unsaid but still heard.

"You fell into a coma," TJ explained. "It obviously releases some sort of venom when it bites. You apparently survived…said you were feeling better."

"But…" Eli interrupted, standing abruptly and moving to TJ's other side as he twisted the pocket of his jacket in worry. "You're just guessing. And those things were…" he gestured violently to the screen, eyebrows scrunched as he paled.

"Based on the video," TJ spoke abruptly, drawing his attention away from the footage. "People are going to die from this infection, and quickly." She turned swiftly to Young, startling Rush as he came to a stop near the other end of the room, arms crossed as he pressed his back into the wall. "I know it seems like a wild stab in the dark, but I don't know what else to do," her voice was strained, desperate.

Young sighed and everyone turned to look at him. "Well, we've all been exposed. I mean, how many are already in the Infirmary? Twenty? Thirty? Hell…Chloe, Park, and Charlie are already there. Brody's been complaining about his head and Volker's nearly catatonic. Pretty soon there's gonna be no one left on this boat to run it. It's just a matter of time."

The silence that followed was deafening. TJ's expression turned desperate as Young became somber. "I'll go, sir," Greer spoke suddenly, determined.

"Not by yourself, you won't," Young promised him.

Rush shoved his hands into his jean pockets, the right side giving more as the stitches had started to come undone. If he could not get them to stop trembling then he had to hide them. He watched with what he hoped appeared to be detached boredom as Young and the others clipped on tac-vests and checked ammo.

The Stargate lit the room with a blue haze; accentuating lines, bruises, and sunken flesh in a sickly manner. Young glanced around, watching how the light illuminated what he had been too tired to see. Everyone was exhausted and wrung out. They all had gone too long with limited sleep and rations that continued to be cut as each day passed. They were hungry, cold, and tired…and there was not a damned thing he could do about it.

Scott shuffled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his hand across his bruised eyes. Everett could tell by the way his eyes pinched that he was in pain. It would not be long before he too fell to the effects of the organisms. "Don't need a liability, Scott."

"I'm good to go, sir," Scott replied quickly. He straightened his spine, and looked him straight in the eye. That kind of stubbornness would have gotten him a dressing down if they were anywhere else, but Young needed that bullheaded determination if they were going to make it through this ordeal.

Eli cleared his throat and drew everyone's attention as he pulled up the live Kino feed. "Getting visuals now. It's night time and, oh hey…surprise surprise: it's raining!" He commented in a parody of excitement, but he was unable to hide the bitterness in his tone, even through his mocking imitation of a smile.

"Which means those things'll probably be out," Scott sighed.

Greer shuffled up to the Gate behind Young. "That's too bad. They looked to be easy pickings when they were sleeping in the nests during the day."

"We can't wait," Young reminded him softly as Scott and Spencer came up to his other side as he shrugged his own backpack into place.

Eli moved from behind the console, bringing the Kino remote with him as he stepped up to the armed group. He felt displaced, the situation surreal, as if he was a spectator watching someone parade around in his body. Never in a million years did he think he would be here, on a space ship, in space, directing military personnel, and feeling like he was a part of something. "According to the time stamp on the recording, you have an hour 'til the first team lost contact because of the solar flare."

"Forty-five minutes," Rush cut in, pacing forward a few halting steps as he caught Young's eye. "To be safe," he cautioned.

"How many do you think we'll need?" Scott asked TJ as he clipped that last strap across his chest in place.

"Hopefully a small dosage of the venom will do it."

"Dead or alive?"

"Alive," TJ answered after a moment. "I can't exactly anticipate the physiology."

Young looked around the group, from the three military men coming with him, to the medic and two civilians staying behind. "Not much time," he cautioned all of them before turning back to the Gate. He raised his fingers in a mock salute to Nicholas' near silent wish of luck and stepped through the Event Horizon.

Nicholas raised a shaky hand as the Gate powered down and rubbed the back of his neck as his headache continued to build. Both TJ and Eli look over at him but said nothing as his eyes pinched shut and he leaned heavily on the console. There was nothing to say…nothing they could do.

The Destiny seemed to shift around him as TJ helped Charlie into his own bed. It was as if the ship was in a storm, but it was not quantifiable as they were in space. Chloe was still prone on the bed and Eli took the chair that Charlie had vacated. He had wanted to sit with the young girl longer, but even in the haze he seemed to have fallen in, Charlie understood Eli's need to be with his friend. So he only complained a little when TJ pulled a blanket around his shoulders and pressed her hand into his forehead.

The medic reminded him of his mother when he was younger. TJ just seemed to have this air about her that was stern and caring at the same time…just like his mom before the cancer took her. It was only because of this that he allowed her to press his head down, check his pulse, and fret about him like a mother hen. And it most certainly was not because he found comfort in her gestures.

Charlie fell into a fitful sleep as TJ fluffed his pillow and sighed in fondness. He was even able to put the reminder that someone had died on this very bed not twenty minutes ago out of his mind. TJ, on the other hand, was not.

She moved quietly over to the math student as he held Chloe's hand. Trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, she quickly went about her business checking Chloe's temperature and pulse. Although TJ tried to hide it, Eli looked up at her in worry as she let out a shaky sigh.

"Her pulse is very weak." The words seemed bitter in her mouth. "I just want you to be prepared. I'm not sure she's gonna make it."

Eli shook his head, a bitter resemblance of a smile on his lips as denial soaked into every corner of his being. "Of course she is."

She looked up from Chloe's still form but could not bring herself to meet Eli's gaze. Lips pressed together, she gave a hesitant nod as she moved away to see to the others before Eli saw in her face what she already knew. Chloe was not going to make it, there just was not enough time. TJ had hoped, but the bitter press of reality weighed heavily on her. She wanted Eli to be right, but somewhere in the back of her mind, as her own neck began to ache and her head began to pound…she knew.

TJ moved past Charlie's bed and came to a stop beside her friend. Vanessa was still and pale as TJ pressed her hand to her forehead. Park came up to her, stumbling against the partition and the bed as TJ pressed one hand to Vanessa's wrist and brought the other up to read her watch.

"We're out of antibiotics," Park grunted, leaning heavily on the bed. TJ lowered her hand carefully, the numbers on her watch blinking as she smoothed the hair out of Vanessa's face.

They had not always been friends. In fact, when TJ first got assigned to Doctor Simms in Medical on Icarus, Vanessa and she got off to a bad start. It was not really anybody's fault, more of bad luck on top of bad timing. Four cups of coffee, three medic assistants, a guard, a lamp, and several desk ornaments began their rivalry. It took seven months of petty pranks, snide comments, and one cat fight in the mess hall before they saw eye to eye. After that they fell into their friendship with an ease that honestly terrified their commanding officers and the disciplinary board.

However they had started, TJ did not see how this could have ended up as their finale. Park gave her a questioning look, but TJ only sniffed lightly as she pulled the blanket up and over Vanessa's still form. She felt helpless, her eyes stinging as she turned to the sound of Eli's voice.

"Why do people always wait until times like these to tell someone how they really feel?" He laughed softly, voice trembling as he fought to keep himself from crying. TJ turned to him fully, eyes red as a tear tracked its way down her cheek. Her hand was still clasped around Vanessa's wrist as if she could not bringer herself to let go. "It's so stupid. I…I just…" Eli sniffed as he failed to keep his tears at bay, staring off at a point over TJ's shoulder before he returned to gaze at Chloe's unmoving face.

"Screw it," he mumbled, shifting around uncomfortably before settling as he placed his other hand over hers, clasping it between his two. "We haven't known each other that long," he started, gaze flicking from her hand to her face. "But I think…we make each other happy. When I'm near you, things are just…they're just better. You don't even know how amazing you are!" He chuckled, his smile falling quickly as his laugh nearly turned into a sob.

"It doesn't matter," he continued after a moment, subdued. "I've never had a best friend before. Never…never known anyone like that before. Never loved-" he cut himself off, unable to continue. TJ and Lisa looked away from him, unable to bring themselves to view his pain. TJ brought her sleeve up, muffling her sob as she turned her gaze back to her own best friend, tightening her grip on Vanessa's wrist one last time before she forced herself to let go.

When Eli continued, his voice was almost too soft to be heard, but the way it still carried across the room seemed unfair to TJ as they witnessed his confession. "I just…" he sighed loudly, looking up as he fought to keep the tears from falling. "I need to make sure that you know I'm here for you. Always will be. So please…please don't die."

He wanted to continue, wanted to say the words that stuck to the back of his throat and refused to roll of his tongue. Wanted to confess how much he loved her, how he could not dream of continuing on this ship without her…but the words would not come. After a moment, TJ shuffled over to him, taking Chloe's wrist as she gazed at her face. She could not bear to look at Eli as he gazed up at her with hope.

"Eli…" She stopped, as a fresh new wave of tears fell. "…she's gone."

No.

The word got caught somewhere between his brain and his mouth.

No.

Eli looked at Chloe, took in her pale face and the stillness of her. Not even her eyes twitched…she was too motionless.

No!

It was not supposed to go this way. This was not how their story was supposed to end. He left quickly, his long strides carrying him out of the Infirmary as TJ gently covered Chloe with her blanket. Eli could not leave fast enough.

…no.

"I don't see anything!" Greer shouted, voice barely heard over the dull roar of the rain hitting the forest floor.

"They've gotta be here somewhere!" Young yelled back, sweeping the torch on his rifle in wide arcs as Scott scrolled through the live Kino footage. The night vision lit the jungle up in contrasting whites and greys.

"Colonel Young?" The radio crackled and everyone came to a halt in a loose circle. "This is Rush, come in."

Young grabbed the radio, fingers slipping over the plastic before he adjusted his grip accordingly. Everything was soaked, even his socks. With every step he took, they squelched in his boots and weighed him down. Not one part of him was dry. "I read you. Go ahead."

There was a pause on the other side before the radio crackled back to life. "Checking in."

Young frowned as Scott answered him. That kind of hesitation only meant one of two things. Either Rush was about going to do something stupid and was avoiding telling him, or something was happening and Rush was avoiding telling him. Either way, Rush was not telling him something and it made him feel uneasy.

"Rush…" Young cut in as the Lieutenant finished updating the Scotsman. He said the word as if in caution, drawing it out like an accusation.

There was another long silence on the other end and Young allowed it. Nicholas had a way of phrasing things and he always did it in a way that was either profitable for him, or at the very least not damaging. It was annoying as hell, but Young learned early on at Icarus that it was better to let the man work out his own words in his own time then to push him. Rush did not like to be pushed, and sometimes would draw it out longer just to be able to gloat. Nicholas Rush may be a bastard, but he was a useful bastard.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you…we've lost four people. Doctors Franklin and Volker, Lieutenant James…and Chloe."

Young snapped his attention to Scott as the Lieutenant seemed to just sag in defeat. His rifle dropped downward and his gaze became fixated upon the darkness beyond there ring of light. "Copy that," Young sighed into the radio. "Check in again in ten minutes." He clicked the radio off before approaching the younger man. "Lieutenant…Lieutenant, we need you."

It was only when Young began to yell his name did the Matt finally turn to him and nod. The rain made the tears easy to hide, but not the redness of his eyes. Either way, no one commented.

A squeal from above drew Greer's attention. He shined his torch into the tree top, scanning the branches as he began to move backwards towards the group. Even with his diligence, he could not see the creature until it was upon him. It landed on his upper chest, catching on one of his straps and lunging at his neck. Screaming, he fell as the parasite forced its body downward into his torso, clutching the trigger of his gun as it began to fire wildly about in the clearing. A stray bullet caught Spencer in the leg as he tried to pry off the creature that was mostly inside of the Master Sergeant. Spencer only got a grip on its tail before another parasite launched itself at him, making quick work of its teeth. It was halfway inside him before he even hit the ground.

Scott turned as Young began to scream, shining his torch on the Colonel as the thing broke through his ribs and went straight into his chest. He stood there for a moment, the rain cascading down as the screaming finally stopped. It took several seconds for his brain to comprehend what it was that his eyes saw.

Everyone was dead. He was the only one left. Grabbing the remote he made a run for the Gate, shooting blindly behind him as he tripped over wet foliage and roots.

Shedding his backpack, he threw it to the base of the ramp as he fell to his knees. Fingers sliding over the remote as he dialed the Gate back to Destiny.

The sound of the Stargate dialing in startled Rush out of his thoughts. He watched in confusion from his position on the stairs as Eli wondered over to him. The young student had been hiding in the shadows for the past few minutes, dancing between the threshold of the room and the hall. Rush had let him be, unable and unknowing how to comfort him while he grieved.

Charlie wandered in behind him, passing Eli who was leaning on the banister and collapsing onto the bottom step below Rush. "Shouldn't you still be in the Infirmary?" Rush questioned lightly, rubbing the base of his neck as Charlie seemed to all but fold into himself. He looked small, Greer's military jacket practically swallowing the young man's much smaller frame.

"Shouldn't you?" Charlie bit out, tone accusing as he watched Rush drop his hand as if burned. "You probably felt the symptoms before I did."

He was right, of course. The base of Rush's neck ached and his head was pounding. It had been for hours. Rush felt light headed, dizzy, and weak. But that was not going to stop him for working. And it was not going to stop him from trying to save everyone's ass…again.

"Touché," Rush mumbled quietly as the Gate finally stopped spinning and the Event Horizon burst from the center. "They're early…" he added softly, worried. That could either mean good news, or something had gone very wrong. "Colonel Young?" Rush called into the radio. "Colonel Young, do you read?" Nicholas pushed the tight knot forming in his stomach to the back of his mind as worry began to settle in. It seemed to be making a home inside him, along with hunger, anger, cold, and tired. Pretty soon that would be all that was left of him…of anyone. It was becoming a state of being, a default setting. There was no room for anything else because there was no time for anything else.

"Colonel Young, respond…Everett!"

Only silence answered him.

Matt lifted the Kino, wiping the tears and rain from his eyes as he set it to record. "If you found this, it's because a solar flare interfered with Gate travel and I managed to send this Kino back in time," he pulled in a deep breath, dragging it in his lungs before expelling it quickly. "All right, listen carefully. There is a disease in the water we brought back from the ice planet. It is fatal and we have all been drinking it. But there is hope. There's a creature that lives on this planet…lots of them, actually. They could hold the key to saving you. In small doses their venom actually cures the disease, but be very careful. They're deadly, but they're also nocturnal. They only come out at night. You get them during the day while they're asleep in their nests. They're not far from the Gate."

He turned suddenly, pulling the pistol from his thigh holster and firing at the parasite that was creeping up behind him. It seemed to almost burst apart, its bright yellow blood explode around it. Matt turned back to the Gate and the stable wormhole it contained. "Come on!" He screamed, praying that his plan would work. Seconds later the Stargate seemed to emit a noise of static and started to pulse and fritz as the solar flare interfered. "Please believe me," Scott begged into the Kino. "You don't have much time. Act now, or you are all going to die."

Charlie tripped as the platform beneath him took a sudden dip down at a decline. He stumbled into Greer's back, catching himself on the man's tac-vest as he tried to regain his balance. The Sergeant turned to him, rifle at the ready as he visually swept the immediate area for hostiles, and Charlie flushed as the man leered at him. Mumbling a quick apology, Charlie hustled to where Rush and Eli were gathered just a few yards from the base of the ramp.

He came up to them just as Rush crouched down and Eli picked something up. "What's that?"

"Hey guys," Eli shouted, turning to the rest of the group as they started forward. "Check this out!" In his hands he held two Kino's. The group seemed to stare at them dumbfounded before Rush grabbed something else and stood. "Hey, you find another one?" Eli questioned.

"No," Rush replied tartly, before rotating the object in his hands and displaying it to the others. It was a human skull.

"Uh, Colonel Young?" Scott spoke into the radio as more people strolled down the ramp. "Sir…you need to see this."