Author's Note - Okay I'm getting back to basic's here with a little suspense/mystery, and going on the assumption on an established Jen/Ronon and John/Teyla. :) First two chapters are here with more to follow ASAP! :) And yes, I'll post quickly - as always! - Nika

"I will not calm down!" John Sheppard's voice carried with such ferocity, the crew in the control room visibly winced as they tried not to get caught watching him through the closed glass doors of Woolsey's office.

And John didn't care. He didn't care who saw. He didn't care who heard. Because right now, at this exact moment, he was seconds from throwing everything away – his career, his future, his home on Atlantis – all to save her. To save them both. Disobeying a direct order to rescue his people. He'd done it before. He'd do it again. And nothing was going to stand in his way.

"Two…" He spat. "Two, of my team members are being held captive and you're trying to tell me to calm down?"

"Well, actually, only one is your team member." Woolsey started, immediately cut off again as John continued his tirade.

"Are you going to argue with me over semantics?" John was incredulous.

"I was merely pointing out that Dr. Keller is technically not on your team. Teyla Emmagen is. So the correct-"

"Fine! One of my team members and the CMO of the expedition are being held captive! Does that make it all better in your manual of diplomatic bullshit?"

John spun on his heel, taking two quick strides to the side, pacing a furious path across the area in front of what used to be Elizabeth's desk. Elizabeth would never have questioned his demand for rescue. And Sam… Sam would have been right there with him in the jumper. But not Woolsey. Oh no. The man wasn't going to be happy until every member of the damn expedition signed a permission slip before being captured or killed.

John fought to block out every nightmarish vision of what could be happening to Teyla… and to Jennifer… Every bad thing he'd ever seen, read, heard about, pictured, or could possibly think of was flashing through his mind. Two beautiful women and enemy soldiers. Images of torture, rape, beatings, blood, death… he couldn't stop them from coming. His mind was trying to reason that he was over-reacting. His gut was telling him he was right and time was running out.

John stopped his pacing abruptly and shook the visions away, his eyes locked on the floor of the gate room.

He could literally feel the tension radiating off Ronon as he watched the Satedan's pacing. Striding back and forth in front of the Stargate, spinning his gun around and around, dropping it into the holster and pulling it back out again. Spin. Drop. Pull. Spin. Drop. Pull. John knew the only thing stopping Ronon from going after Jennifer was John's request. And even then, he wasn't sure how much longer Ronon's rapidly sapping patience would hold before someone got hurt. Hell, he wasn't sure how long he was going to last before someone got hurt.

John felt his own anger and frustration surging as he spun towards Woolsey.

"Forty eight hours." John spat, the frustration of inactivity washing over him and flowing out without stopping. His voice climbing in volume and pitch as he ranted. "Forty eight hours of god-knows-what happening to them! This was supposed to be a trade mission. And why the hell did it take you so long to get back here?"

"I was negotiating for their release."

"And apparently that worked well…"

John spun towards the door, spun back around towards Woolsey, then turned back to the door again.

He didn't know whether or he wanted to hit Woolsey, punch a wall, shout, scream, or shoot someone.

He knew the instant the call came over the radio it wasn't good news. The twisting in his abdomen that came with years of surviving on a gut feeling. There was something very, very wrong. He'd been feeling anxious since early yesterday. He should have listened to his instincts.

This time – this time he heard his inner voice loud and clear.

Before he even reached Woolsey's office he sent McKay to prep a Jumper.

Ordered Evan and his team into standby.

And told Ronon to gear up.

A waste of time, actually, since the Satedan had been following him around for the past twenty four hours, armed and agitated about something he couldn't explain either.

"What exactly do they want?"

"Weapons." Woolsey sighed. "Of course."

"And you were negotiating with them?" John's voice reached dangerously low tones.

"I was trying to keep our people alive by leaving the doors of communication open." Woolsey sank into his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They were arrested within hours of our arrival. The Valian Overseer cited some type of standard law that prevented women from carrying concealed weapons of any kind. There wasn't much I could do while we were being herded about by several armed guards. It was all over rather quickly, once they'd discovered Ms. Emmagen's boot knife."

"But what about Jennifer? Why would they arrest her? She doesn't carry any weapons, concealed or otherwise!"

"Dr. Keller was technically carrying knives on her person." Woolsey angled his head.

"A scalpel is not a knife." John spat.

"Colonel," Woolsey frowned. "You and I are both aware of the technical uses of a scalpel. However the Valian law clearly states-"

"I don't give a rats ass what it states." John clenched his fists, his fingers digging sharply into his palms. "I want them released… unharmed."

"Which is precisely what I've been trying to accomplish for the past two days."

"When's the last time you saw them?"

Woolsey hesitated.

"You haven't seen them… have you." John leaned closer.

"No." He finally answered. "Not since they were taken away."

"Damn it! Why the hell didn't you contact us sooner!"

"I don't appreciate your tone, Colonel. I was prevented from leaving." Woolsey shook his head. "Our check-in time was not missed, and therefore additional gate contact was not required. I had no way of informing anyone of our situation until now. May I remind you that it was your Military team which deemed the planet safe and its people harmless and otherwise ripe for trade negotiations."

"Yeah well, remind me to reprimand myself later. Right now we have people to rescue."

"I was only returned after Overseer Bolan hinted at his true intentions. He would accept terms for their immediate release if we would be gracious enough to gift them with P90's, revolvers and sufficient ammunition to aid in their containment of what he called a minor inconvenience with some of the local villagers."

"P90's aren't used for mere inconveniences."

"I would tend to agree."

"It's blackmail. Pure and simple. Tell them we don't negotiate with blackmailers, and if they don't release Teyla and Keller they'll be on the receiving end of that list of weapons."

Woolsey sighed.

"There's more isn't there?" John prompted, threading his arms tightly across his chest.

"If I… we… return without the weapons…" Woolsey inhaled slowly, then exhaled. "Overseer Bolan will not guarantee the safety of our people any longer. They will lose his… ah… personal protection. Whatever that means."

"That means they're in deep shit if we don't get our asses in gear." John said furiously. "Do we know where they're being held?"

"All I was able to determine is they were taken to a facility outside the city."

"Well that narrows it down." John muttered sarcastically. "We can have Rodney adjust the scanners the minute we're through. Hopefully he can pick up their transmitters."

Woolsey shook his head. "We can not return through the gate unless we come bearing gifts."

"We'll cloak the jumper."

"I thought the jumper couldn't be cloaked until it was all the way through?" Woolsey asked. "They are watching the gate, waiting for me to return, with supplies in tow. Any show of force could put our people in further jeopardy."

"How much time do we have?"

"Twenty four…" He looked at his watch. "Twenty three hours and forty minutes."

John nodded. "Okay. We'll need a plan B. Or, in this case, Plan M."

"M?"

"M as in McKay." He spun on his heel, opened the door and moved quickly across the platform towards the stairs.

"Colonel!" Woolsey called behind him.

John glanced over his shoulder to where Woolsey was standing in the opening of his office.

"Try not to make too much of a mess?" Woolsey called.

John let a slow, purposeful sneer show as he jogged past Ronon, who fell in beside him.

"Now?" Ronon growled.

"Now." John answered.