Title: The Ancient Lab of Dr. Moreau

Author: Titan5

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Some violence, blood and gore

Summary: The team investigates an Ancient lab, only to find they have dangerous company.

Author Notes: Written for Secret Santa at the Sheppard h/c community on LJ.

Ancient Lab of Dr. Moreau

Part 1

As the jumper burst through the event horizon, John immediately pulled up, gaining altitude steadily. "Okay, McKay, where are we going?" he asked, pulling up the HUD as he leveled off.

Rodney stared at his laptop screen for a moment before shifting his gaze toward the transparent screen. "Here," he said, pointing to a yellow blip. "That's right where the data base said the research facility should be and we're showing a low energy reading there. The ZedPM is probably almost depleted by now, but hopefully she's got enough juice left for us to download some information on their work."

John frowned. "Exactly what do we know about the research they were doing?"

Rodney sighed dramatically. "Honestly, colonel, if you aren't going to pay attention, why do you bother to come to the briefings?"

"Because Woolsey makes me," John said with a smirk. "Besides, I was listening. But you talked all around it and never really said what we do know about this facility. To be honest, I'm surprised Woolsey approved the mission based on that gobbledy gook report you rambled out." Ronon snorted from behind him.

Rodney looked indignant and huffed a little as his face reddened. "I did not ramble. Okay, maybe I gave more information than your pea brain could absorb in one sitting, but that's hardly my fault. Let me see if I can simplify it enough for you Neanderthals to understand."

Ronon growled, prompting Rodney to raise his hand. "Clarification. Colonel Neanderthal." After a brief nod from the Satedan, Rodney continued. John gave a quick over the shoulder glare to his unsupportive friend.

"Anyway as I was saying, the database was vague about the specifics, surprise, surprise, but it did mention research and development in the biological field. I'm hoping for either information about the Wraith that could lead us to a weakness. Or Woolsey insists something on crop enhancement would be useful."

"Crop enhancement, huh?" John said with a grin. "Fascinating."

"Oh shut up," Rodney snapped.

John continued to grin, but refrained from saying any more. He could feel Teyla's warning glare even if he couldn't see it. Fifteen minutes later, his eyebrows shot up. "Wow, look at that."

The research facility was huge, not the small outpost they had expected. The building was shaped like a giant V, with a rectangular front giving way to two wings. The back part of the wings were both covered with vines and plants where it looked as if the surrounding jungle was trying to swallow the structure. The closer they got to where the two wings merged, the thinner the covering of plants. The front of the building not only wasn't being taken over by forest, but there was actually a clearing of about forty feet, plenty of room to land the jumper.

"That is most odd," Teyla said.

"Not really," replied Rodney smugly.

"Failing shield?" John offered, grinning to himself when Rodney sighed in obvious irritation. He loved pushing the scientist's buttons, especially when Rodney was positive no one had the answer but him.

"Obviously," Rodney said. "It's doing exactly what Atlantis was doing when we first arrived. As the ZedPM fails, the shield falls back closer to the control room to save power. We'll need to land in that clearing because it's close to the main operation center."

John rolled his eyes. "Land in the clearing. Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

"Clearly that's just one more reason why I'm so indispensible," Rodney said smugly. Ronon snorted from behind them.

"Put your tray tables up and your seatbacks in the full upright position." John quipped as he brought the jumper down.

Ronon laughed. "Hey, I remember that. It's from that strange song by that guy with the big hair."

"Really?" Rodney groaned. "Weird Al?" The scientist swiveled around to look at Ronon. "And you commenting on someone having big hair is like . . . like the Genii accusing someone of being sneaky."

"Weird Al has some cool stuff and we're here, so grab your stuff." John was out of his chair and hooking up his P90 before Rodney seemed to process his words, making the colonel smile. The back hatch lowered a few minutes later to the sweltering heat and humidity of the jungle.

Rodney gasped about the same time the first bead of sweat tickled the side of John's face. "Just once couldn't the Ancients pick a planet with a nice, moderate climate?" the physicist complained as he wiped a hand across his forehead.

"The inside would have been a controlled temperature, as in Atlantis, would it not?" asked Teyla.

"Well yes, that's true, but it's not like they stayed inside every minute. We don't even know –"

"Rodney!" John snapped. "The quicker you get us in, the quicker you can get out of the heat," he said, pointing to the door of the structure.

Rodney shifted around to see where the colonel was pointing and seemed surprised that they had arrived at the front door. "Oh, right." In an instant he had completely switched gears and was working on getting the door open.

Ronon glanced at John, who grinned and shrugged his shoulders. They were used to Rodney being . . . well, Rodney.

"Got it." With a lot of groaning and creaking, the door began sliding open. It stopped before fully opening, but the team had no trouble getting through.

John went first, followed by Ronon. The lights flickered as he stepped inside, finally settling a few notches below bright, due to the low power levels no doubt. It was almost as warm inside, but not nearly as humid. John moved beyond the entrance, stepping into what appeared to be the main control room for the structure. Ronon moved up beside him.

"Clear so far."

John nodded. "Life signs?"

"No one but us." Rodney said from behind him. "Hey, it looks like the consoles are all intact. We might actually get something useful this time." And with that announcement he began to unpack his computer.

John watched him for a moment before shaking his head. "Fine, but keep your eyes open. Teyla, stay with Rodney while Ronon and I take a look around."

Teyla briefly arched one eyebrow as she made her do I have to face. "You would not be having me stay because I am a woman, would you?"

"No, I would not," John replied. "I simply think leaving you here instead of Ronon makes it more likely for Rodney to still be alive when I return."

Ronon snorted and Rodney glanced up from the computer screen. What?"

"I said stay here with Teyla," John said with a grin.

"Yes, yes, whatever," the scientist said with a wave of his hand.

Teyla smiled and let out a tiny sigh. "Your reasoning is sound. I will keep watch from here."

John nodded. "Let us know if anything exciting happens."

"Exciting, yes, got it. Hel-lo, what's this?" Rodney muttered as he worked, never looking up.

"And that is why he needs a keeper," John said, staring at his oblivious teammate.

"Sheppard, you coming?" Ronon had one foot in the room and one in the corridor, his gun up and ready, his brow furrowed in an impatient frown.

John waved his hand forward. "Right behind you, Chewie." When Ronon grunted his approval and stepped into the hall, John glanced back at Teyla. "I'll babysit the big guy."

oOo

"We're ba-ack," John chanted as he and Ronon returned. "Find anything yet?"

Teyla was sitting on the edge of an empty table, her back to the wall as she watched the door. She looked bored out of her mind. Rodney looked up from the console he was hunched over. "You're back already?"

"We've been gone an hour, Rodney. What have you found?"

Rodney sighed and flopped back in his chair. "Not much yet. I had some problems with the files because the power kept fluctuating. I've got it stabilized finally and we're just now really getting somewhere."

"What did you and Ronon find?" asked Teyla.

John took a drink from the water bottle he'd fished out of his pack and slowly screwed the lid back on. He frowned a little, exchanging a quick glance with Ronon. "We found a mess hall similar to Atlantis, only smaller. Looks like everyone left in a bit of a hurry. "

"What, like half-eaten meals on the tables?" asked Rodney, his eyes wide and his fingers still for the first time since they'd arrived.

"No, nothing like that. It's not like they panicked and ran, just like they . . . retreated very quickly."

"Food left in storage, cook pots on the counter, cabinet doors open," Ronon added.

John rubbed the back of his neck. His spidey senses were definitely tingling. Something was wrong here and they just hadn't found it yet. "Past the mess hall is mostly crew quarters and storage. It's mostly empty, but there's still some clothes and supplies and what's left looks . . . rifled through. Like they packed in a hurry and just grabbed what they could."

Rodney gave an audible gulp that would have been funny if the hairs on the back of John's neck weren't standing at attention. John looked at Rodney. "How long before you can access records or logs or something that might tell us what happened here?"

"That's actually what I was about to start on. Depending on how corrupted the files are . . ." Rodney stopped when the lights went out as they all glanced around the room. After a few seconds, the lights slowly came back on, slightly dimmer than before. The console the scientist had been working at made a droning whine as it powered back up.

"Great," Rodney muttered. "Better add some to that time estimate."

"You mean the one you never gave me?"

Rodney huffed. "Busy. I'll get it when I get it," he said and then began mumbling to himself as he hunched over the console.

John sighed and looked at Teyla to find her exchanging grins with Ronon. "Ronon and I will go check out the right wing, see if we can find anything useful. Keep your eyes open. This place is starting to give me the creeps."

Teyla nodded, the smile gone. "I am also uneasy. You and Ronon be careful."

John flashed her a lopsided grin. "Careful is my middle name." Ronon snorted loudly as Teyla rolled her eyes, but the tension broke, if only for a moment.

John and Ronon headed down the right corridor this time, silent as they strained their ears for any sound. Ronon came to the first room, leaning around to peer through the half open door. John joined him at the door at the big man's nod.

"Infirmary?" Ronon asked.

"Yeah, and it looks like they had a run of business before they left." The large room was a shambles. Beds were all askew, sheets crumpled and some stained . . . with blood? Spots and smears of similar dark stains were scattered across the floor amidst torn packaging for medical supplies. It reminded John of the Atlantis infirmary after a mission that didn't end well. As they walked around the room, he noted the open cabinets and half empty shelves. Ronon walked up behind him to look over his shoulder.

"Looks like the quarters on the other side."

John nodded. "Hasty exit, but with wounded." Running one hand through his hair, he turned around, studying the room. "What happened here?"

Ronon shrugged his shoulders. "Need to keep looking."

John nodded and rolled his shoulders to relieve a little tension. "Let's do it then."

The next few rooms were labs that also looked like someone had gone through, hurriedly grabbing what they considered most important. John tapped his radio. "Rodney, what have you got?"

"Scrambled files, so far. I'm running a program I wrote for just this situation, since it happens so often. I should be able to get in . . . in eleven minutes."

"Okay. We found the infirmary and it looks like they dealt with wounded before they left. The rest of this wing so far is labs. You might want to take a look before we leave."

"Any sign of what they were working on?"

Ronon chuckled and walked back to the hall. John let out a deep breath, knowing the man on the other end of the radio would not be happy. "Just some cages. And some of them were pretty big." One of them looked like it would easily hold an adult grizzly bear. Anything that big that got loose could certainly cause a lot of damage to anyone who got in its way. But that didn't explain the quick evacuation they were seeing signs of.

"Cages? Oh for . . . my luck they were developing a new breed of cattle or chickens."

"Not unless they were feeding Godzilla. Look, we're going to finish this wing and then head back. Hopefully you'll know something by the time we get there. Sheppard out."

John found Ronon trying to pry a large door open. "Having problems?" he asked as he joined the Satedan.

"This one is stuck."

Ronon had managed to open a large enough gap for them to stick their hands in. John put his below Ronon's and braced his feet. "Ready?"

"Ready," Ronon replied and they both began to push. The door inched forward for a moment and then shuddered before sliding the rest of the way open. Apparently they had broken through whatever had been hanging it up.

The room they stepped into was huge. John veered left while Ronon went right, both of them gaping at the structure. It was probably 80 feet wide and over 100 feet long, with a ceiling at around 30 feet high. There were work benches along one wall. What looked like a couple of huge garage doors were at the far end of the room.

"What is this place?" asked Ronon, his voice echoing slightly.

John was staring at the ceiling. He finally figured out he was looking at glass panels, no doubt there to allow for ambient light. The local flora had overgrown this part of the facility, blocking out the natural sunlight and leaving the room eerily dark. Shining the light from his P90 above him, he found what he was looking for. "It's a jumper bay."

Ronon's eyes follow the light upward to the same jumper bay doors they have in Atlantis. "You think they took them all when they left?"

"That's my guess."

"What do you think happened over there?"

John looked at the giant door on the left. The corner was crumpled, looking almost like it was folded back from the outside. "I have no idea," he said, moving toward it. They approached cautiously, the light spilling in through the opening providing them with a clearer view of the damage as they got closer. A hole that was almost as tall as John allowed them to step outside. It was wide enough to allow them easy passage without the danger of catching themselves on the jagged edges.

The jungle had grown right up to the building, which was no surprise since they were near the end of the wing. As John walked around, he noted the foliage close to the structure was thinner and looked as if it had recently been beaten down.

"This was done fairly recently," Ronon said from behind him. John turned to find the Satedan studying the edges of the damaged metal. "There's very little corrosion." His eyes scanned the forest. "In this climate, maybe a few weeks ago. Less than six months."

John let his gaze move away from the crumpled metal to look further down the wall. "Oh, crap," he muttered. Ronon came immediately to his side, whistling when he saw what had made John's heart stutter.

Deep scratches marred the side of the building for several yards in both directions. They were made by a variety of animals, as evidenced by the different sizes, patterns, and heights of the grooves. John's mouth went dry when he found the highest set nearly to the roof. "What . . . what do you think could have made that?"

Before Ronon could answer, a loud noise that sounded like a cross between a lion and an elephant seemed to come from all around them. And it was close. Both men reacted by lifting their weapons and scanning the forest, their shoulders almost touching.

"Sounds close," Ronon said quietly.

"Yeah," John breathed out. His heart was pounding in his chest as his mind conjured up images of a creature large enough to make those marks and strong enough to peel back metal like it was taffy. "I'm thinking we should go inside now."

Ronon chuckled. "I think this is where McKay would call you Captain Obvious."

"I keep telling you people it's Colonel Obvious." Another strange roar filled the forest, so loud it seemed to rattle the trees. "Now would be good."

Both men backed up to the untraditional doorway. There was a brief standoff as to who went first, but when John growled "Chewie", the big man relented and entered the building, growling back as he went. John's last view as he backed in was of rustling bushes.

"I think we need to hurry," John said as they turned to run for the door. The door at the opposite end of the room and now looked to be miles away.

Ronon's much longer legs got him there first. He turned around, already motioning for John to hurry, and then froze for a moment. The expression on his face gave John a split second warning before something crashed into him and his left leg erupted in bone-crushing pain above and below his knee. Before he could cry out, he was slammed into the floor, his forehead bouncing off the metal and knocking him senseless.

Pain, shouting, and growling filled his scrambled senses for several moments. When the pain in his leg suddenly intensified to the point he thought it was being ripped off, he snapped out of his stupor. His whole body jerked as whatever had hold of him tried to drag him away. Anger flared, fueling his effort to twist around and fight back. He had no intention of being on some animal's dinner menu.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of a giant lizard's jaws clamped around the middle of his leg. The animal was covered with grayish brown scales and had to be at least fifteen feet long. Blood and saliva sprayed from its mouth as it jerked its head back and growled. The resulting flash of agony grayed John's vision. Ronon was yelling at him but he couldn't seem to clear his head enough to understand.

Red light hit the ground beside them, startling him. Ronon was firing at the thing. Gun. He had a gun. The lizard picked then to jerk him to one side as it continued to drag him toward the opening to the jungle. John tried to ignore the thought that his leg was probably gnawed half off by now as he reached for the P90 just inches from his fingers. Anger and fear gave him the strength he needed to throw his upper body weight over just enough he could touch the gun.

"Sheppard, you've got it!"

John's hand locked around the tip of the weapon and he pulled it towards him. The jaws tightened their grip on his leg, his movement apparently making the lizard think his prey was escaping. The world disappeared in a fog until Ronon's shouts brought him around again. Somehow he'd managed to hang onto the gun. Setting his jaw, he shifted the P90 in his arms and bit his lip as he twisted around to fire at his captor.

The initial burst of bullets missed their mark, but were close enough and loud enough to startle the animal. It dropped John and took a step back before rushing forward to reclaim its prey. John had just enough time to roll over on his back and point the weapon in the right direction. This time the spray of bullets caught the huge lizard in the face and neck. John fired until it collapsed in a bloody heap on his legs.

He let his head fall back to the floor, the room swirling around him in a red fog. Pain consumed him and he closed his eyes, letting the darkness take him away.

oOo

Ronon had seen a lot in his years as a runner, most of it bad. Nothing compared to that moment of horror when he saw the huge scaled beast about to grab Sheppard and knew there wasn't a single thing he could do to stop it. He didn't even have time to shout a warning. He opened his mouth about the same time the big lizard grabbed Sheppard's leg, throwing him face down to the ground.

The next few minutes were a blur of frustration filled chaos. Ronon kept shouting at Sheppard, encouraging him to keep fighting or telling him to get out of the way. He was almost certain it would take multiple stuns to take the beast down and he didn't want to hit his teammate. Sheppard's struggles weren't getting him loose, but they were slowing the creature down and keeping its attention divided between them. Ronon had only managed to hit the monster once, a glancing shot on one leg, and it seemed to have no effect.

Ronon kept moving forward as the lizard tried to drag Sheppard off. He fired again, hitting the ground beside the creature. It jerked its head, yanking the pilot along and leaving a bloody trail. Ronon roared, realizing they needed to end this soon or Sheppard was going to bleed out. Then he saw his CO move. He was trying to reach his gun. Realizing that was probably the man's only chance, he yelled at him to keep going.

"Sheppard, you've got it!" he shouted when he saw the injured man's fingers curl around the barrel. The lizard seemed realize something was going on. It adjusted its mouth and looked like it clamped down even harder. Sheppard moaned and went almost limp, the gun sagging in his arms.

"Sheppard . . . John! Come on, wake up! Shoot it! John, quit lying around and shoot it!"

Then Sheppard was twisting around and firing, so Ronon tried again, clipping the animal's tail. Apparently startled, the lizard dropped his prey and stepped back. As Ronon started to fire, the colonel rolled to his back for a better aim and let loose a spray of bullets that almost took the creature's head off. When the echo of the automatic fire finally stopped, Ronon's ears were left ringing. The mutilated lizard lay in a pool of blood, one leg still twitching.

Shaking his head to clear it, Ronon turned and kneeled by Sheppard, gripping his arm. Sheppard jerked, his eyes flying open as he tried to bring the gun up. Ronon grabbed his wrist.

"It's okay, he's dead."

Sheppard stared at him a moment, then lifted his head to see for himself. With a sigh that morphed into a groan, the pilot eased his head back down. "Thanks," he breathed out.

Ronon grinned down at his friend. "Didn't do much. You killed him." Sheppard huffed and then opened his mouth as if to comment, only to slam his jaw shut with a moan. Ronon glanced back at Sheppard's leg, his BDU pants torn and bloody. He'd of smacked himself if he'd had time for wasting precious moments.

Ronon went for the field bandages that he knew were in Sheppard's vest. Assessing the injury, he found two rows of jagged holes where the teeth had been embedded in flesh, one about mid-thigh and one a few inches below the knee. He wrapped each separately, eliciting a moan when he pulled them tight. He had just finished tying the second when he heard Sheppard's low, raspy voice.

"Ronon."

He expected to find Sheppard looking at him, but instead found the man staring across the room. His hair seemed to stand on end as he slowly followed Sheppard's line of sight to the opening that led to the jungle. A huge greenish head on about four feet of neck was inside the door. The creature's tongue flicked in and out as its head moved around as if it was scanning the room.

"Big . . . ssssnake?" asked Sheppard in a whisper.

"Like in that movie," Ronon answered. The snake's giant head had stopped moving back and forth. It had stilled pointing in their direction and the former runner was certain that was a bad thing.

"Crap," Sheppard muttered, apparently agreeing with Ronon's analysis. "Uh, we . . . "

"Need to get out of here. Yeah, I got that. Can you walk?" They were both staring at the snake, who in turn seemed to be staring at them. It felt like a standoff in one of Sheppard's westerns.

"Not much choice, but I'll need help."

"Figured as much. We go on three." The tension built with this new rush of adrenalin. His heart raced and his muscles coiled in preparation for their flight to safety. Tightening his grip on his partner's arm, Ronon began. "One." The snake's head rose a bit and the tongue action quickened. It had their scent. "Two." The snake slid a few more feet of its body into the jumper bay as Ronon took a deep breath. He felt Sheppard tense up beside him. It was now or never, so he hissed, "Three," as he jumped up, jerking Sheppard to his feet.

There was a blur of movement from across the bay, but Ronon ignored it to run for the exit. They had a huge lead and the door was close, but Sheppard was barely able to keep upright as he was pulled along and that snake was moving fast. Fortunately it didn't move as quickly as the movie version. When they stepped through the door, he practically threw Sheppard to the floor so he could work on closing the door. The snake wasn't as close as he'd feared, but it was closing the distance fast. A burst of fire from Sheppard's P90 was suddenly loud in the narrow corridor, but it was slowing the huge animal's progress.

Luck was with them for once. As Sheppard's gun ran dry and went silent, the door slid into place. A split second later, they heard the snake crash into it. Ronon leaned against the wall, relief overwhelming him. He would never admit it, but there had been a moment when he thought they were snake food. Sheppard lay at his feet, his chest heaving. And then he started laughing.

Ronon watched him, afraid this was some sort of weird kind of shock. The colonel finally stopped with a groan as he reached down to squeeze his leg just above the blood-soaked bandage. "It's true. I . . . live . . . in a sss . . . science fiction . . . movie. Oh man, this hurts."

Ronon started to reply, but then realized the squawking he'd been ignoring was his radio. Both Teyla and McKay were frantically calling them. They had probably heard Sheppard firing his weapon.

"Teyla, it's Ronon. We were attacked by some really big animals and Sheppard is hurt. We're coming to you, so stay put."

"They okay?" Sheppard asked between breaths.

"We are secure here," said Teyla. "I am coming to help with John."

"They're fine," Ronon blurted before going back to the radio. "Teyla, I can get him there . . . wait. We passed the infirmary on the way here. Meet us-"

A loud crash against the door made them both jump. Ronon growled at the beast on the other side before continuing. "Meet us at the infirmary. Tell McKay if there's any way to secure the door to the jumper bay, it would be a really good idea." A loud roar, similar to the one they heard earlier, seemed to vibrate the walls.

"I will hurry," Teyla said.

Sheppard already had his arm extended so Ronon snagged it and pulled him to his feet, sliding the injured man's arm across his shoulders. Taking on most of Sheppard's weight, The Satedan hurried away from the sound of claws scraping the opposite side of the door. He tried not to show how alarmed he was at the amount of blood in the floor where his teammate had been.

"Hang on, Sheppard," Ronon said as he rushed toward the Ancient infirmary, not sure if it would actually be of help.

They arrived at the same time as Teyla and she immediately began supporting Sheppard's other side. They helped him onto one of the clean beds as he moaned from the effort.

"What happened?" Teyla demanded as she began checking the bandages.

"Some kind of big lizard bit him. Made two wound tracks where the teeth got him and that thing had some big teeth." Ronon was not offended by her sharp voice. She had the most field medicine training of all of them and he knew Sheppard needed help now.

"I need to clean his wounds and then we will need fresh bandages. I have water and disinfectant from our pack, but we will need something clean to wrap the wounds with." She began pulling things from the pack she had set down. Ronon began going through cabinets.

"Did McKay find a way to lock that door?" asked Ronon, grabbing a package of bandages he thought would work.

Teyla had placed a folded cloth under the injured leg and was removing the bloody field bandages. "Rodney said he could not access the door controls due to a lack of power in that part of the complex. We need to return to the control center and he can close the blast door to the wing."

Ronon used one of his knives to cut away the ragged remains of Sheppard's pants and then watched while she irrigated the nasty looking wounds. He got a better view of the damage and immediately knew it was worse than he feared. Apparently all that head-jerking the creature had done had ripped Sheppard's leg up pretty good. Sheppard had passed out almost as soon as they started working on his leg and Ronon knew that was for the best.

Teyla saturated the wound with disinfectant as the colonel's injuries continued to bleed. "This isn't right," he said as worry began to gnaw at him. "He shouldn't still be bleeding this badly."

Teyla nodded as she tore open a package and poured a powder on the wounds. "I agree and that is why we are going to help. This should help the blood clot. Put pressure here," she said, directing his hand to the cloth she had placed over the damage to his lower leg. She did the same to the other wound.

A loud thumping and screeching from the other end of the hall grabbed their attention. Growls and a strange trilling noise seemed to fill the hallway.

"That's new," said Ronon. "Sounds almost like those things in that movie we watched a while ago. The one with the dinosaurs in that park."

"I hope it is not them. They were very intelligent and dangerous and I believe we already have enough to be concerned with." At the sound of another screech, followed by a loud growl, she began wrapping bandages around Sheppard's leg, pulling them tight.

Suddenly the noise from down the hall intensified. His gun up, Ronon hurried to the corridor expecting to see a mob of oversized snakes and lizards coming after them. Nothing had made it through yet, but it was clear from the constant sounds that several animals were fighting in an effort to get in and they were close to doing so. Teyla joined him, her gun up and ready.

"Are they coming?"

"No, but it won't be long. Is he ready to move?"

"Yes," she replied with a sigh. "He has lost much blood and needs fluids, but the IV kits are in the jumper."

"The blood," Ronon muttered, mentally kicking himself. "I've been wondering how we attracted so many animals so quickly. Between Sheppard and that lizard, there was a ton of blood." And the pool in the hall right by the door to the jumper bay was leading them inside the complex. "We gotta get out of here."

The two of them went back in the Ancient infirmary to find Sheppard conscious and struggling to sit up. Rushing to his side, they each slid a hand behind him to help. Once perched on the side of the bed, he tilted sideways, leaning into Ronon with a groan as he fisted his hand in the big man's shirt.

"Wha's goin' on? They in yet?" Lifting his head, Sheppard looked toward the door.

"Not yet," Ronon said. "But we need to move."

Sheppard nodded and leaned forward to slide off the bed. His teammates took his weight as he sagged between them for a moment. Then he seemed to gather his strength and began shuffling forward with their help.

"We need to go back to the control room," Teyla explained. "Rodney can close off this wing and hopefully keep the creatures out."

"I'm all . . . for keepin' . . . them out," Sheppard ground out.

There was a loud sound like stressed metal and suddenly the animal growls and calls were much louder and clearer. Without a word, the three picked up the pace. Ronon could swear he heard multiple footsteps behind them when Teyla hit her radio.

"Now, Rodney."

The sound of huge, heavy metal doors slamming shut behind them was one of the most beautiful sounds Ronon could ever remember hearing.

oOo

John did his best to keep up with the fast pace and support as much of his weight as possible. The adrenalin rush, courtesy of the brawling monsters trying to break the door down and eat them, was a definite help. John was pretty sure they all let out a huge sigh of relief when the blast doors closed behind them, but they didn't slow down until they reached the control room.

Rodney was standing by the door looking suitably panicked when Ronon and Teyla helped John perch on the edge of a table in a corner of the control room. He wanted to tell the scientist to stop gaping and close his mouth. John already knew he looked bad, with his pants in shreds and blood smeared everywhere.

"I'm fine," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "It's not as bad as it looks,"

"That's not all that comforting considering you look like you had your leg ripped off," Rodney replied.

"My leg is still firmly attached," John said. Then he remembered how it had felt when the megalizard had clamped down and tossed its head around. It was almost enough to make John toss his breakfast. "It is firmly attached, right?" he asked, turning to Teyla.

She smiled, but it was small and obviously not heartfelt. "Yes, but you lost a lot of blood and I fear you will need many stitches. There may be muscle damage as well."

"I don't think it's broken, although I'm not sure why not. I thought that thing was going to take my leg clean off." John couldn't help the tremor that shook him, but chose to attribute it to the fact that he was cold.

"It almost did," Ronon said, staring at John's leg. His expression was as serious as John had ever seen. Between that, the escalating pain, and the sounds beginning to creep down from the blast doors now under attack, John was done with this planet.

"Rodney, I know you aren't done poking around and downloading stuff yet, but I think it would be in everyone's best interest to get out of the land of the lost before we become some lizard's dinner."

Rodney sighed and shook his head. John had expected the man to agree since some very large animals were pounding on the door. "I would love to colonel, but they have other ideas," Rodney said, nodding his head once in the direction of the front windows.

"They?" Without thinking, John stood up. If his teammates hadn't still been hanging onto his arms, he would have been in the floor. Gasping from the rush of pain, he closed his eyes until he no longer felt like the room was spinning and the buzzing in his ears began to clear.

"John? Maybe we should sit him back down," Teyla said.

"No," John said. "I'm okay now."

Clutching his friends, the three of them headed toward the window. "Don't get too close to the glass. If they see you, they might attack and I have no idea how strong that glass is," advised Rodney. He seemed surprisingly calm for the trouble they were apparently in.

Once again there was no way to prepare for the sight of the jumper crawling with very large, very scary creatures. Two, no, three lizards like the one that had attacked John prowled around the ship, looking for a way in. John had had the opportunity to observe Komodo Dragons in the wild once and was immediately struck by the similarities in both looks and in the way they moved. Only these were quite a bit larger. He shivered.

A huge snake was coiled up on top of the jumper, at least the size of an anaconda, but bright green. They watched as a second larger snake with brown and tan markings slithered out of the surrounding jungle. A bird-like animal that looked like a cross between a pterodactyl and a crane with weird purple feathers on its wings suddenly landed on top of the jumper. As John was wondering if the thing had a death wish, it opened its mouth to three times the size John was expecting and bit the head off the snake just before it struck. A collective gasp went out as the snake's body jerked and convulsed itself right off the jumper. It barely hit the ground before the lizards were on it, ripping flesh from the animal between grunts and warning growls.

"That's just gross," muttered Rodney.

"I think we have a problem," said John. A new creature, looking like a cross between a velociraptor and a small T. rex moved slowly out of the forest. It stopped, watching the feeding frenzy as it made a weird trilling sound. The lizards all looked up, saw the animal, and immediately began to run, all in different directions. Two more of the raptor/rex animals leaped out and a battle between the two species began. Oh yeah, they had big problems.

John's strength gave out, the adrenalin fuel long gone. Ronon and Teyla caught on quickly, easing him to the floor near the wall. He was shivering again as the cold really seemed to settle in.

"Did you see blankets anywhere?" Teyla asked. "I believe he is going into shock."

"Crews quarters," Ronon answered. "I'll get some." He was back a few minutes later with several. Spreading a couple out on the floor, they helped John shift over to lie on them and then covered him up with another.

"Thanks," John said softly. His leg burned and throbbed, with occasional spikes that had him grinding his teeth in an effort not to moan or whimper. They were trapped for the moment and he didn't want to make things worse for his team.

"How long til Atlantis checks on us?" asked Ronon, frowning as he crouched beside John.

Rodney sighed, running one hand through his hair as he began to pace. "I was very excited about this place, went on and on to Woolsey about the potential, but how I knew it would take a while to –"

"McKay! How long?" Ronon asked again, jumping to his feet and startling Rodney.

The scientist stopped in his tracks, his shoulders sagging. "I told them we'd be gone all day, might even spend the night."

Ronon growled, taking a step toward Rodney, who responded by taking a step back. "Chewie, back off," John ground out. He waited until his team calmed down and looked at him to continue. "Anytime we spend the night off world, it's protocol to . . . check in. You know that. When we don't, they'll call us and we can request backup. We just need to hang tight another six or seven hours."

"That's too long," said Ronon. "I can make it to the jumper and get the big medical kit. Teyla says you need an IV."

"No!" they all said in unison, with Rodney adding some rambling undertones about crazy barbarians.

"Absolutely not!" John said as firmly as he could. "No one is going out there and that is an order. I've lost some blood, but I think it's under control now. We just need to sit tight until help gets here. And I mean everyone, Ronon." When Ronon didn't answer, John pushed up on his elbows, staring hard at the Satedan. "If you go out there, I'm using the last ounce of strength I have to come after you."

Ronon stared at him as if trying to gauge the seriousness of his threat. "Try me," John growled low in his throat.

Rodney smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh my gosh, he's serious. I work with crazy people."

Ronon finally nodded. "Okay, we wait."

John relaxed back on his pallet, relieved he wouldn't have to make good on his threat. It was going to be one long, slow day.

TBC