I've never been all that good with women. Despite the pilot persona, when it came to the morning after, things were never the same. It was awkward-- I was awkward. I don't think one woman (of the few) I slept with ever realized that I never took anyone home unless I wanted more from them.

But they weren't into more- they weren't into me; they wanted to score with the pilot that always went home alone. After Afghanistan the sound of their hollow laughter was more noise than I could stand.

McMurdo was my Eden- it saved me from nightmares of dying friends and the voices of lying women.

It brought me Atlantis.

It brought me Teyla.

I knew the moment I stepped through the Stargate I'd probably never go home – I knew it wasn't a casual change.

Meeting Teyla made me realize I hadn't accepted that reality. At all.

It was nothing really, a soft half-smile, a widening of intense brown eyes; an almost inaudible intake of breath as my fingers lingered on her shoulders when her eyes locked with mine. Perspective shifted.

I belonged.

She told me I saw her for who she was which was good because in the time it took to say hello, she saw me.

Fin