Disclaimer - I do not own any of these characters. Believe me, you'd know if I did :)

He tracked through the forest, keeping an eye out for his target. Through the sound of his rapidly beating heart, John heard birds singing, bugs buzzing, a brook in the distance lazily trickling through the heart of the woodland and yet none of these sounds were what he wanted to hear. A twig thirty meters to his left snapped under someone's immense weight, making him freeze and turn his head ever so slightly. Raising his gun, the Colonel waited, watching for a sign of his quarry.

A flash of black standing out starkly against the green breezed through the forest, weaving in and out of the trees and shrubs and John knew he'd found his target. Taking time to aim, he raised his gun and fired. It went down without a sound and John moved on.

Little did he know that behind him, another target approached, quiet as a cat that was ready to pounce. As he stalked through the forest so did the figure, silently following behind him, waiting for the opportune moment to attack. It stepped on a fallen leaf, bringing John's attention to his surroundings as the figure jumped, pinning him to the ground.

A rock dug mercilessly into his side, drawing a thin sheet of blood and creating what he didn't doubt would be a massive bruise later.

"Got you," a deep, husky voice growled in his face.

"Yeah, uh, listen," John wheezed, wincing in pain.

"I won," the other voice stated. Then a smile broke onto the face as the man slowly stood, holding out a hand for John.

"Is that how a person 'wins'?" Teyla's voice inquired, sounding confused and breathy.

"Are you an idiot? No, of course that's not how someone wins," Rodney answers, pointing down at John who was still on the ground.

"I took you down," Ronon replied matter-of-factly. "That means I win."

"It's called 'Laser Tag' Conan, not just tag. And Sheppard will you get off the ground already? I want to get off this poor excuse for a planet before it starts getting dark," Rodney snapped.

John glared at the physicist, hiding another wince as he reached up and grabbed Ronon's hand. Yep, he was definitely getting old if playing Laser Tag hurt.

"You okay Sheppard?" Ronon asked, catching John's pained expression.

"Yeah, Buddy, I'm fine," John reassured with unease when he noticed that everyone's attention was on him. After a minute he got a firm hold on his gun, brandishing it before him, "Let's get outta here."

"Thank you!" Rodney grumbled. The three other members of the team glared at him but he didn't seem to care. "I'm sorry but do you know how many diseases these bugs carry? Not to mention what could happen if it started to rain. I mean, have I told you that I'm prone to catching an illness like that," he snapped his fingers for emphasis, causing the rest of the team to roll their eyes. "What?"

"Nothing, Rodney," John assured, wrapping the arm with the uninjured side around the grumpy man's shoulders and pulling him toward the gate. He smiled at the perplexed look on the physicist's face, turning his head to see Ronon and Teyla sharing a smile with him. "Nothing at all."

Throughout the entire trek back to the gate and even during their trip down to the infirmary, Rodney never noticed the slowly leaking gash on John's side, though it stained the shirt he wore under the Laser Tag target a deep red. And as far as John was concerned, that was perfectly fine with him. He didn't need that much attention anyways – which is why he allowed Rodney to have as much as possible, even when it hurt.

~FIN~