Disclaimer: I own nothing. I made up Maria, Mrs. Steinburg, and Chuck but that's about it.

Just a Dream

"Alright, Maria, why don't you go next?"

Maria quietly got out of her seat and started heading for the front of the class. She had her report close to her chest with her arms rapped tightly around it. When she got to the front of the class, she turned towards her classmates. A big yawn escaped from her mouth as she started to speak.

"I did my report on one of my favorite TV show," she began.

"Which show, Maria?" Mrs. Steinburg asked.

Maria turned to her teacher and replied, "Stargate: Atlantis."

All of her classmates gave a heavy sigh in annoyance and leaned back in their seats. Maria turned to look at them, then back at Mrs. Steinburg when she heard her sigh. She saw Mrs. Steinburg shaking her head as she put a hand to her forehead.

"Maria," Mrs. Steinburg said as she once more looked at her, "this assignment was to be about something informational."

"But you said we could do it on a TV show, and I've got a lot of information on it."

Mrs. Steinburg sighed again and leaned back in her chair. "I meant an informational show like the ones on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel. Stargate: Atlantis is fiction, a story based on a myth." She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before she opened them again. "Thank you, Maria, you may sit down now."

Maria lowered her head and quietly walked back to her seat, another yawn escaping her mouth.

When she got back to her seat, she heard Mrs. Steinburg call another student to come up, but Maria never took her eyes off her paper.

Chuck, one of the students sitting next to her, leaned over and whispered to her, teasing her, "Hey, Maria, maybe the Dadealus will come and take you away to the Pegasus Galaxy so you can help Shepherd, and his team, fight the Wraith. Hahaha."

Maria sunk down lower in her seat, not even looking at Chuck, tears starting to run down her check. She lays her head down on her desk and closes her eyes, blocking out the student talking, Chuck's laughs, and all the other noise around her.

A flash of light appears, and when she looks around, she finds that she is on the bridge of a ship.

"Welcome aboard, Maria."

Maria turns to the voice, completely surprised. 'It can't be.' "Col. Caldwell?" Her eyes go even wider as she realizes she's on the Dadealus.

"Shepherd," he calls over the ship wide intercom, from his chair, "she's on board."

"I'm on my way."

Caldwell nods then turns his head towards the navigator. "Get us back to Atlantis."

Maria, still dumbfounded, just stands there with her mouth open and her eyes wide in shock, but when she hears Atlantis, she shakes her head a little, relaxes, and mutters, "This can't be happening."

"It's really happening, Miss Sinclair. We need your help with a little problem we're having," he told her, not even looking up from the tablet he was reading.

When she didn't say anything, he looked at her and smiled. "Pretty amazing isn't it."

"You're telling me. I never dreamed this could happen. I thought all this was just a TV show," she responded, still looking around the bridge.

"Well, that's just what we wanted you to think."

Maria stops, eyes going wide again, and turns toward the entrance of the bridge. There, standing in the entrance, was Lt. Col. John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla, and Ronnon showing up a few seconds later.

"So, this is the girl that's gonna save us?" Ronnon asks, eyeing her suspiciously.

Maria takes a step back as she takes in what's going on.

"For you information, Ronnon," McKay begins, "yes. Her idea for the shields may not only save Atlantis, but also save power too. Granted, she'll need my help, but her idea will be a great help to Atlantis."

"Rodney," Sheppard says a little annoyed, "let it go. Just because she came up with the idea before you, doesn't mean she's trying to replace you."

Maria, finally getting used to everything, takes a step closer to the group.

"Dr. McKay, you're the most brilliant person in the Pegasus Galaxy. There's no way I could compete against you."

Rodney turns toward Sheppard, pokes him in the chest, and says, "Ha." Then turns towards Maria surprised and asks, "Wait, you really think so?"

Before Maria can answer him, John turns to face her and says, "We try not to encourage him that much." Maria smiles as he continues. "It's gonna be two weeks before we get back to Atlantis, so you'll have plenty of time to work with Einstein here."

The group leaves the bridge and heads to a workspace set up for them to work.

"Right then, let's get started," Rodney says, clapping his hands together. "Show me what you've got."

Maria and McKay worked, argued, and finally came to an agreement by the time they got to Atlantis.

When they got down to Atlantis, people were running around like there was no tomorrow. Dr. Elizabeth Weir came up to the group.

"The Wraith are almost…"

"They're here!" one of the technicians yelled.

"Rodney," Sheppard yelled, "we have less than ten seconds to get that ZPM onli…" A blast from the Wraith ship hit the city, making everyone fall to the ground.

Maria fell and hit her head on the edge of one of the consuls. The next thing she knew, she heard Teyla yelling, "Maria! Maria…"

"Maria, wake up!" Mrs. Steinburg was yelling at her.

Maria lifted her head up, looked around, and saw that she was in her classroom.

"What…?" Maria asked, a little confused. "What happened to Atlantis?"

"Come on, Maria, get back to the real world," Chuck said laughing a bit.

Mrs. Steinburg looks at him and he stops laughing and looks down.

All is quiet.

Maria looks out the window. 'It was just a dream.'