"How on Earth did I get here?" she looked around. She was definitely not where she had fallen asleep. She had gone to bed, well, in her bed. Now she had just woken up, looked around, hit herself, looked around again, burnt her finger, and decided she couldn't be dreaming. Of course, now she needed burn cream. "This isn't possible," she said, looking at the area where she had woken up. "Just not possible!" It was dark, cramped, and was similar to something off a TV show. Fumbling around in the dark, she had placed her hand on a surface and the space had slowly lit up. Then she realized, she was on a ship. "I have to be dreaming! This can't be real!" but the pain from the burn said otherwise. "Okay," she said, taking stock of her situation, "I'm on a fictional ship, in a fictional place where fictional people fight fictional bad guys in a fictional war on fictional planets transported by fictional devises as portrayed in a fictional TV show! Did I miss anything?!" she sighed sitting in a chair by the consol of the ship. She put her hand on the consol and the ships systems shivered to live. "Oh great! I have a FICTIONAL gene!" she liked the show, but this was too much.
"What have I done, I ask you! What have I done??" having gotten that out of her system, the girl left the chair. "Might as well," she said, figuring out how to open the door. Looking around, she noted several things, "Well, more impressive than the show," she muttered. "But what do I do now?" The girl returned to the ship interior, "Wonder what they left in here..." she investigated the shipping container that prompted the query. She found several guns and a few un-earthly weapons, along with some clothing that looked as if it might fit her. "Are these?" she asked, picking up one of the weapons, She figured out how to fire it and energy shot out, hitting the crates she had pointed the weapon at. "Yes, it would be..." she said, eyes widening, as she put the weapon down. She had no idea what was going on outside, so she grabbed to pistols and was about to take the energy weapon when she looked beck down at her clothes. She was wearing pick pajamas. "I didn't even know I had pink pajamas," she muttered. But she did, know that is, her mother had bought them for her the previous year, and she didn't think they fit. So the girl got out of her pajamas and into the black outfit that she had found. She ripped the patches from the arms of the jacket; they didn't apply to her, why should she wear them? The girl paused for only a moment, brushing her reddish hair out of her eyes as she glanced at the name on the patch she held in her hand. The name was not one she recognized, so she just tossed it back in the crate with the rest of the patches. Suddenly, she found everything funny. "I'm in a fictional person's clothes that were in a fictional crate, in a fictional spaceship, in a fictional room of a fictional city on a fictional planet, occupied by one group of fictional people, built by another group of fictional people, who came by fictional transport from a fictional galaxy. The fictional people have been fighting a fictional race of fictional aliens who fictionally eat people through their fictional hands!! And I have the Fictional gene that allows the fictional people to use the fictional technology!! I have a fictional gene!" She doubled over in laughter, having been gasping for breath from laughter throughout her whole spiel.
"I don't know why you think this is so funny," a guy's voice came from outside the ship. A young man, he looked about the girl's age, a teen really, walked into view. He also wore black clothes and had weapons on him. "I wake up to a blue light, see a gray face, and wake up in the city of Atlantis!! Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of surprise visits," he flashed the girl a wry smile. The teen girl looked at him, seeing him as a guy, he had dark, slightly mussed up hair that was rather long for a guy, but she knew many guys with longer hair, his eyes were dark as well, he was hot!! The guy was in good shape and he had a good smile, the girl thought, feeling her face grow warm as a slight blush ran across it. He had a good strong voice, too. She had known guys who looked all buff, but the moment they talked, you couldn't stop laughing because of how high their voices were.
Blushing slightly, the girl introduced herself. "I'm Dana," she said extending her hand to the guy. She couldn't help herself, there was no doubt about it in her mind; he was the hottest guy she'd met in years. No, she decided, he was the hottest guy she had ever met.
"I'm Jase, and NO, it's not short for Jason," he said, seeming to challenge her. Dana wasn't about to ask if it was short for anything, she wasn't the prying type.
"Nice to meet you, Jase," Dana smiled, "I like your name, it's nice," she looked around. "Soooo... were you about to head out into the city?" Jase nodded. "You want to go together? Safety in numbers, you know?" Jase shrugged and nodded, a slight smile played across his lips. Dana smiled and tossed Jase one of the energy weapons, which he caught. They left the room, walking out into the oversized hall that led to the room where they had been. The moment they had gotten out of sight of the room, a high pitched whine started to scale upwards. Both of them looked at each other nervously. The two teens made their way down the hall to a balcony overlooking a sea. They looked up in the sky and saw a shape similar to a fighter jet, only slightly more streamlined and looking almost grown, flying around. Both Dana and Jase blanched, readied their weapons and made their way into the city, away from the open air where they might be spotted. They were still a good distance away from the Jumper bay when they heard booted footsteps coming down the hall towards them. Wordlessly, they ducked into a doorway and got out of sight. The footsteps went past the room without hesitation. Dana peeked out the doorway in the direction that the footsteps had gone in and caught a glimpse of a figure in a long coat with long pale hair before she ducked back into the room. Without speaking, she indicated to Jase that they should get someplace safer. He nodded and headed towards a door on the other side of the room. They went through the door as silently as possible, shutting it behind them as more footsteps came down the hall. The tread they heard now was more stealthy than the first set of footsteps, and as she peeked through the tiny crack between the door and the frame, Dana saw people, humans that is, peering into the room, making typical military hand motions. The people went past the room in a rotating fashion, one paused right at the door after performing a sweep of the room with his gun and motioned the others on. Several men in uniforms darted past the doorway. Once the group was all past, the man in the doorway retreated in the direction his comrades had gone, gun pointed in the direction from which they came. Shutting the door the rest of the way, Dana sighed. Side by side, Dana and Jase raced down the new hall as quietly as possible, looking for a place to hide. They finally found a room where they could no longer hear the noise of the flying machines and they hid in a corner. Dana blushed as they sat there together, her head was on Jase's shoulder and his was resting on her head. They were both tired, so they slowly fell to sleep on each other.
Dana woke up first, and she blushed when she realized how they ended up. She quickly moved her hand and got up. She looked around and then headed down the hall they had come down on their way to the room. Pausing, she put her ear to the door they had come through before they slept and listened. Nothing. No noise came through the door. Dana guessed that the attack was long over. She made her way back to the room where she and Jase had passed out and began thinking out loud. "How did we get here? Why are we here? How will we get home?" She thought about her mother, the house she had grown up in, her pets, everything. The only thing she didn't have was a father. Well, she had one, but not even her mom knew who that was. Dana turned her thoughts away from home as she grew misty eyed and began to assess the situation. She and a guy of similar age were... abducted and taken to the lost city of Atlantis, which was obviously not as lost as people had been led to believe. Dana tried to recall something, focusing on Jase's face. There was something familiar about him. She thought about her own appearance and her personality, her slightly reddish hair, her attitude that her peers termed "snarky", and her intelligence that startled the teachers she had had in the past. She wasn't much like her mother at all, so she guessed she was more like the father she had never known. She wondered about Jase, did he know his family? Was there something they had in common that they didn't know? "I wish I knew who my dad is," Dana muttered wistfully under her breath. A short while later, Jase woke up. He and Dana talked a bit, but lapsed into silence almost immediately. Now that they stopped talking, they could hear bits of conversation; people were headed in their direction.
Dana listened closely to the voices, and was able to pick out certain voices. She could tell that there was one woman. There were two men with her. One voice had a familiar sharp "snarky" edge, and the other was smoother, as if trying to get the snarky one to calm down rather than killing the other man. "Two kids!" the fast paced, snarky one said. The voice, now that she could hear the words and the voice patterning, was a lot more familiar than she had thought at first, very much like her own voice. The other man's voice was heard, "Alright, calm down," it was a tone that made it clear that this was to be obeyed, not ignored; the voice was very much like Jase's. Dana looked over at Jase who she saw now was deathly pale and he mouthed "John" at her. Not more than half a minute later, the three people walked into the room. One was obviously military, this was one of the men, but he had a more laid back air than most people in the military have, almost as if he was just pretending to be in the military. He had slightly long hair that was jet black. The woman had light brown hair and olive skin only a few shades lighter than her hair. The woman was dressed in clothing of a type that was unlike any Dana had seen before, but it fit the woman's attitude. The last man had a slightly scruffy look; he was obviously not in the military. The expression on his face was an indescribable mix of shock, anger, and a scientific awe. Dana got to her feet and faced the adults. Jase did the same, accepting a little help from Dana to do so.
"How did you get here?" the woman asked. She had a slight accent, one Dana could not identify, not much more than a faint lilt to her voice. The relaxed military man was holding the scruffy man back while the woman asked.
"I'd love to tell you," Dana said honestly, "But I myself have no idea! Oh, I kinda burn my finger before," she held her burnt finger up, "Could I get some aloe or something for it?"
"Look," Scruffy snapped, "Tell us how you got here," his voice dropped ominously low on the last four words. As he spoke, a devious grin spread across Jase's face. Jase stepped forwards and smiled disarmingly. Spreading his arms out wide with a perfectly innocent expression on his face, Jase began to speak. He was doing his best not to laugh, Dana figured; because he was a picture of injure dignity.
"We walked of course!" his tone made it seem as if it was the most logical thing, which amused Dana because they had both seen how it would have been impossible to walk to the city. "It's the healthiest form of transport," by now, Scruffy was smoldering. Jase turned to the relaxed military man, "Besides, I like to walk, right, John?" Jase cocked his head slightly, letting his hair fall away from his ears, revealing a distinct, albeit human, point to them that had been just hidden by his hair. Dana glanced back and forth between the man, John that is, and Jase. John also had pointed ears. It was just enough of a point to be noticeable, but something that was liable to be overlooked, so long as nothing called attention to it. Jase's hair hid his ear tips, but John's haircut seemed to accentuate the point of his ears to an almost unearthly quality. Almost, but not quite.
"You know each other?" Dana blurted out before she realized that John must be Jase's older brother. She couldn't help but see the resemblance, John was hot too, in an older, more mature sort of way. She saw that everyone else was staring at her, and a moment later realized it wasn't just her, but the scruffy, snarky man as well. Then she realized why. They had said the same thing in unison, with perfectly matching tones. It was odd to her at first, but something about the snarky fellow was nagging at her, and she had no idea what it was about him that was nagging at her.
"Of course!" Jase smiled, "Dana, meet my brother, John," he turned back to his brother. "John, they told us you were dead. They said you were transferred and that you died. Why didn't you write? Why didn't you contact us at all? John, why? Mom was worried sick, she's been mourning you for dead for the past month, John," he looked at John with his intense eyes.
"But I did write!" John said defensively, but then he admitted, "Although I think the letters ended up as bookmarks..."
"Still reading War and Peace?" Jase smirked. John nodded slowly. While the two brothers spoke, Dana and the Scruffy guy were examining each other. They did look alike, mostly in the eyes, but Dana's hair was slightly redder in color than Scruffy's hair.
"Doctor Rodney McKay?" Dana asked slowly, pulling the name from her memories, remembering how her mother talked about her charming ex-boyfriend who had that name. Dana's mom had pictures of herself and a young man who looked slightly like a younger version of the scruffy man before her all over their house. She called him "Rod", and spoke about him often.
"Wait," the man said, his eyes widening, "How— how— Do you know me? She knows me! How does she know me?" the corners of his mouth twitched wildly up and down, making him look like an oversized rabbit.
"So you are Rod," Dana grinned slightly, of course, this man wasn't quite as charming as her mom had made him out to be, but at least she knew his name. "Mom talks about you. She said you were a good guy. She said that you were kind and sensitive. She misses you like crazy every moment of every day, Rod; she wants to see you again," Dana looked Rodney in the eyes, trying to draw out the man she spoke of, one who had obviously not come out of his snarky shell near the other two, to judge from the looks they were giving Dana.
"She said that about me? She wants to see me?" his face lit up with a giddy grin, but darkened just as swiftly as it had lit up, "Who's your mother?"
"Tanya Thaymore," Dana responded. "She's single, always has been. She has no idea who my dad is. She told me once that, if you ever came back, she wanted you to take that place, to act as my father. She loved you so much, Rod, she decided that no matter who my father really was, you should be him. She wanted to know why you left, Rod, it hurt her so much. She loved you! And you just left her. How could you do that to her? Didn't you love her in return?" Dana's eyes were moist with tears.
"Tanya said that about me?" Rodney asked under his breath, his voice husky. He did see something of Tanya in Dana, and in some ways, she almost looked like him. "I guess I could take care of you, at least until we can get you back home. For Tanya's sake," he smiled slightly.
"Thanks, Rod," Dana said, smiling up at him. "You know what would be real nice right now?" she asked suddenly.
"What?" everyone asked, everyone except Jase, who was grinning madly, because he knew what Dana was getting at and he felt the same way as Dana did.
"Food!" She said, sounding both exasperated and amused at once as Jase nodded his agreement, "I don't know when the last I ate was," she explained. Rodney smiled at Dana's comment, and for the first time since John and Tayla had met Rodney, it was a sincere smile, rather than his normal self-important one.
"Come on, Dana, let's get you some food then," Rodney said, putting his hand on Dana's shoulder in a caring manner. "You guys coming?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder as he and Dana left the room.
"Is Doctor McKay feeling well?" Tayla asked John.
"No idea. Come on, Jase, Let's not loose Dana or McKay," The three hurried down the hall that McKay had led Dana down. John found the two in what was used as the main dining room, chatting. He stopped so suddenly on seeing this that Jase and Tayla slammed into his back. It almost looked as if Dana and McKay had known each other for years, the way they were so comfortable with each other. John noticed something odd, Rodney was so relaxed and at ease with Dana, in a way that he never was with the other people John had ever seen Rodney with. Dana spotted John as he stood in the doorway gaping and she waved at him.
"I've been telling Rod everything that has happened to me since I woke up and found my self here," Dana explained to John. She smiled broadly as she looked at him and Jase.
"Sheppard!" Rodney exclaimed, "She has the Gene!" John looked at the ecstatic, although rather calm, scientist.
"Oh?" John asked, looking back and forth between the two. He figured that Jase would have the Gene, being that Jase was his little brother, but this girl, she was a mystery. She had the ability to transform the cynical, self-important, and overall annoying McKay into a caring, open man who you'd want to be with. Making up his mind on what he should do, he motioned for Jase to sit down and eat something. "I was going to take Jase up to see Beckett," he said to McKay, offhandedly. "You know, after he eats, to just get checked out. We don't know how he got here, so, it's a good idea. And if Dana has the Gene..." his voice trailed off for a moment, then he began talking once more. "Well, Dana might as well come with us. Just, you know, get Beckett to check it out, and just give her a once over, make sure she's clean," thankfully, while John was talking about Dana as if she wasn't there, she was too busy eating to realize that he was talking about her.
"I see your point," Rodney said, mulling the idea over. He cast a fond glance over at Dana as she finished eating a large sandwich. "Might as well," he said as Dana looked up at him. She nodded in agreement, and once Jase finished eating, they all got up and headed to the medical room. Dana had only one question, and that was if it was at all possible for the doctor to figure out who her father was. Doctor Beckett seemed surprised to see John and Rodney, but then he saw Dana and Jase. "Doctor Beckett," Rodney said in a warm but semi-formal introductory tone, "Meet Jase Sheppard and Dana. They both need physicals," he said, skating around how the two teens had arrived in the city. "Dana has the Gene, Carson," he said this only to pique Beckett's interest.
"Doctor Beckett," Dana said, her voice soft but hopeful, "Is there any possible way that you could figure out who my father is through my genetics? I don't know who he is, Mom has no idea either. I'd like to know, please,"
"Oh, you poor wee thing," Doctor Beckett said softly, looking at Dana. "Of course I can try," his accent was Scottish. Once John and Rodney left the room, Beckett began administering the physicals. He took several vials of blood from both teens and set about examining Dana's blood sample. Much to his shock, Beckett managed to find a 50 genetic match to Dana's sample. He checked the results several times before he let the news settle in his mind. Dana was sired by a member of expedition personnel. He picked up the genetic profile and looked at the name on it. As he digested Dana's heritage, he slowly made his way out of the lab to where Dana's spur of the moment guardian was waiting. "Doctor McKay," he started to say then he paused to gather his thoughts. "I have the results of Dana's genetic profile, and I found who her father is," licking his lips, Beckett tried to figure out how to say this.
"Really" McKay asked.
"Yes," Beckett looked up from the files in his hands, "Congratulations, Rodney. You're a father. Where's Dana? She'll want to know,"
"I'll tell her, thank you Carson!" Rodney actually hugged Beckett and picked him up in the air in the process. Leaving an exceedingly surprised Beckett behind him, Rodney hurried to Dr. Weir's office, jumping up and clicking his heels as Beckett watched. The doctor just shook his head as Rodney went round a corner towards Dr. Weir's office and thusly Dana. "Sorry to interrupt," Rodney said with a smile on his face. Dana turned and saw him there and she smiled broadly.
"Not a problem, Rod," Dana said.
"Rodney, this is between me and Dana, you have no part in the matter. And, Dana, treat him with the proper respect. You should call him Doctor McKa—"
No, Dana, you should call me Dad," Rodney said, his smile growing wider as he took a few steps and swept his daughter up in his arms, hugging her tight, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle. Then Rodney turned to Dr. Weir. "Dr. Weir, Carson just told me the results of the blood test. Dana's my daughter. And I want to spend as much time with her as I can, try to make up for lost time in a way," he put his arm over his daughter's shoulder, looking at Dr. Weir.
"Alright!" she said, "Dana can stay. On the condition that she contributes to this expedition and that she learns how to protect herself. Dana McKay, welcome to Atlantis."
"Here," Rodney said, pulling out an extra name patch from his pocket, "For you," Dana saw that it was one of Rodney's because it read McKay. Smiling, Dana placed the name patch on the Velcro spot on the chest of the jacket she wore.
"Thanks Dad," it felt wonderful to finally be able to call someone Dad. "And thank you, Dr. Weir," she said as she and her father left the room.
"I get the feeling that I'm going to regret that," Weir said to herself, shaking her head at the retreating forms of the two. Rodney and Dana found a room for Dana near Rodney's room. By now, Dana saw in full the man that her mother spoke of so lovingly and often. Hugging her father tight, Dana couldn't help but wish that he had been there for her all along, but she was glad he was there now. After Rodney managed to extricate himself from the hug, Dana and Rodney went up into one of the towers and bumped into John and Jase.
"Hi Dana," Jase said in what Rodney deemed a flirtatious manner, and that made the elder McKay bristle.
"Don't you even dare start!" the way Jase had spoken was only altogether too much like John's flirtatious voice.
"What?" Jase asked honestly, not understanding why Rodney had reacted like this to him (Jase) just saying hello to the only person his own age that was in the city.
"Roddnney..." John had been a little ways away, and he said the name warningly as he came near his brother. "Leave my brother alone, he's just saying hi to his friend," he stood up for his little brother.
"His friend just happens to be my—" Rodney was fuming, but Dana cut him off.
"Dad!! Calm down! Its okay, I can deal with guys. Don't worry, Dad," she turned to face John and Jase and was confronted with two very similar slack jawed faces.
"Dad?" they asked skeptically and in unison, looking back and forth between Rodney and Dana, eyes resting for a slightly longer time on Dana's name patch.
"Yes," Rodney said proudly, "I am Dana's father. Now, Dana is joining us, so you'll just have to get used to the idea of me being 'dear old dad', Sheppard"
"Well, Rodney," John said, the edges of his voice were chilly and sharp. "Jase is staying too, so you will just have to get used to the idea of my brother flirting with your daughter!" Dana and Jase rolled their eyes and waited for the fight to end.
"I don't think I'll be able to deal with much more of this," Dana confided in Jase. He nodded his agreement and the decided, much to Dana's disappointment to stay as just friends. An hour passed without the fight stopping and Jase began feeling around in his pant pocket for something, anything to pass the time. His face lit up and he pulled a full sized iPod. "How'd you get that?" Dana asked.
"I fell asleep with it in my pocket. Want to listen with me?" Jase blushed slightly. He unraveled the headphones which were wrapped around the body of the MP3 player. He turned it on and looked up at Dana with a hopeful expression on his face.
"What's on it?" Dana asked, intrigued in spite of herself. If there was some way to drown out this argument, no matter how awkward it would get for herself and Jase. She hoped he didn't have a lot of pop. All the stuff on the radio grated on her nerves. She couldn't stand most of it, because it all had the same tune and just praised the singer with a holier-than-thou attitude.
"Some pop, some rap, bit of rock, bunch of country meant for John, but he never got. I put them on here so I wouldn't forget John," Jase cast a glance to the arguing adults, "Not I wish I could just forget him," he shrugged and put one earpiece in, he held the other out to Dana and she took it, smiling. They sat there listening to the raspy sound of the Man in Black for three hours before either John or Rodney showed signs of running out of breath. "They'd make a great married couple," Jase said with a crisp edge to his voice. Dana smirked slightly, nodding in agreement. John and Rodney were arguing like an old married couple. It was enough to put a smile of the face of a dead man, or so Dana thought right then.
"Dad! John Sheppard!" Dana said, standing up and doing what ever she could to get them to stop, "The two of us just want to be pals, not..." she paused a moment, choosing the more tasteful set of words for the situation, "not get married. We are not about to go out on a date, at least, not any time soon. Just because the two of you have female friends, that doesn't mean you're dating all of them! Or any of them! Just stop fighting!! The two of you have been fighting for 4 hours!! FOUR hours!!! Please, no more fighting, okay Dad? Okay, John? NO MORE FIGHTING," Rodney and John looked guiltily down at their feet, embarrassed that this teen was telling them off as if she was their mother. "Now," she said, her voice resuming its normal tone, "I'm hungry again! Let's go eat!" she laughed and raced Jase over to the transporter chamber. The two of them waited for John and Rodney before entering the transporter.
"While the two of you were fighting," Jase said pointedly, "We solved our part of the problem," he looked imploringly at his brother and Dana's dad, "Will the two of you just make up? Please?"
"Rodney," John said, taking the incentive upon himself, "I'm sorry I acted the way I did," he looked down at his feet, the way a young child does when they are apologizing for something because they were told to. "I overreacted,"
"And I'm sorry I accused your brother of trying to Kirk my daughter," Rodney said sulkily. John bristled at this, so Dana spoke up again.
"Okay," she said quickly and powerfully, "Now that that's settled," now she turned to her father, "What's my family like? Do I have cousins? Aunts? Uncles? Grandparents? Second cousins? Great-aunts and or great-uncles? Tell me everything, Dad," Dana rattled off a list of possible types of relations, eager to know more about her family. "Names, ages, where they live, everything!"
"You have an aunt, an uncle, and a cousin. My sister Jeannie, her husband, and their daughter, Madison. But I haven't seen them since Jeannie married... Your uncle, Kaleb," he paused and was careful in his wording regarding his brother-in-law.
"I want to see them, Dad! I want to know my family! If you head back to Earth with Doctor Weir and John, take me home to see my family, pleeeaaasssseee, Dad?" Dana gave her best smile to her father, although had she been younger, she would have spun around and jumped up and down at various points in her statement. Rodney saw the hunger in Dana's eyes; that hunger to learn and couldn't tell her that he didn't WANT to see his sister, or Kaleb.
"Okay Dana, but only on one condition," he put on his best stern face, although the Sheppards only thought that Rodney looked ill. Suddenly, he smiled. "We have to go see your mother first. She's probably worried sick about you!"
"Deal!" Dana smiled back up at her father. He shook his head, how was his daughter such a charmer? he wondered. Then he remembered, Tanya was Dana's mother. That explained how Dana was so charming. Shaking his head slightly he thought about how much trouble Dana would get him into if she kept being such a charmer. A terrifying thought ran through his head: allow Dana to hang around near John for too long, and she might turn into a female Kirk. He shivered. There was no way he was going to let his daughter become a female Kirk.
"John," Jase spoke up, shocking Dana and Rodney, who had both forgotten that Jase and John were there. "I think you should visit Mom, tell her you're alright, tell her I'm fine," Jase had that odd, intense look in his eyes. Dana looked at Jase oddly. Didn't he want to go home and see his mother in person? Then she realized that it might be better if he didn't return. What would happen if the people in charge found out that two unauthorized teens, they'd see Dana and Jase as kids really, had managed to somehow end up in the midst of one of the most top secret programs in human history.
"Sure thing, Jase," John said, ruffling his brother's hair, much to Jase's annoyance. After they all went and ate, Rodney went to talk to Doctor Weir about bringing Dana back to Earth while Weir was discussing the future of the Atlantis Expedition with the General at the SGC. Finally it was agreed that Dana could return to Earth, on the condition that she signed a non-disclosure statement. Rodney didn't want to make Dana sign it, but when Doctor Weir explained why she wanted Dana to sign it; Dana was willing to sign the statement. Rodney explained to Dana how they would be returning to Earth, when they would return, and how, ultimately, they would return to Atlantis.
